joined the group of people milling around one of the access points and scanned the crowd. There were people of all colours, desperate scavengers, which as much as I wanted to deny was me, professional mercs and general gangers. All looking for a leg up.
We were all waiting like others across the town for the tunnels to clear so we could descend. Enforcers marched, keeping the peace. Merchants hawking anything and everything, from weapons to rations and last minute supplies.
Not a terrible strategy.
After all no one knew what waited below us, which was in part why Glow Gate still thrived. Once the arcane defences dropped and the toxic smog was sucked from the tunnels we would be able to go down for an uncertain amount of time.
That was the risk. The Tidefall could last for days or even months, there was no way to tell until smoke started to fill the corridors once more. Then you'd better hightail it out of there and pray you were close enough to the exits.
The arcane defences were no laughing matter. I didn't know if it was true, but I had heard it killed off an entire troop of Astartes and tech priests.
After hundreds, maybe even thousands of years of scavenger teams you would expect all salvage to be picked clean, but each time a new Tidefall started, the tunnels changed. So, every Tidefall had new rooms and tunnels to explore. It was unique in that respect, with fresh salvage and dangers.
Mutants, traps, turrets, rogue servitors, even the environment. Not to mention fellow delvers. Occasionally, even nobles from up on high went exploring as a rite of passage. The deeper you went the worse these dangers got, but then the more likely you were to run across something life changing.
Or so the stories went. It could be just as likely that if you found anything you were strongarmed and ended up with nothing.
The air shifted as ancient fans flared to life, dragging the toxic fumes deeper into the hive. It would take hours for the gas to be fully removed, but the defences were now down. Not wanting to miss out I left the crowd and threaded my way through the rabbit warren of narrow streets until I ended up in a back alley overlooking the market I'd just left.
The small gap in the floor was overlooked by most, certainly the dozen or so souls now jostling for position to the larger tunnel at the market. There were dozens of these sorts of tunnels all across the Glow Gate.
The people below were all so different and yet the same. The same grime, with water far too precious to use to clean and sonic showers were a luxury few could afford. The same tension and coiled aggression, waiting to be set off at the slightest provocation.
Their similarities only overshadowed their differences. Cybernetic implants, mutations, loud clothes and hairstyles. Some armed, some not. Some had the cool calm demeanour of professionals, others the shifty, nervous energy of fresh meat.
Still, all were desperate and therefore dangerous, there was nothing they would not do to get ahead. They were down in the underhive, after all.
Squirming into the tunnel I followed the slimy pipe down through the twists and turns, even climbing in places before dropping onto a narrow platform running beneath the overhang the rest of Glow Gate sat on.
I'd found the path when I was very young, a tunnel far from the busier parts of the town and too small for most to use. The dirt and fine dust also marked it as uninhabited.
Looking down at the incredible view, the black void, I watched as the toxic fog slowly descended out of sight. Off to my right the platform ran along the underside of the town, damaged and broken in places until it reached the start of the Gulf and climbed upward. All illuminated by the now temporarily working lights.
From there it climbed out of sight to join the tangled mess of bridges that crisscrossing the Gulf. I knew this because it was this very platform, part maintenance ledge, part pipe that I used to cross the town all those years ago.
Moving along the ledge I headed in the opposite direction of the Gulf towards the distant wall, now revealed by the retreating fog. Already, I could see tunnel entrances both large and small, as well as people fighting for them. Some entrances were precarious, requiring climbed too, others had safe wide paths to and from them.
Even as I watched a fight broke out and just like that, fourteen people dead. I knew the exact same scene was playing out on the other side of the Gulf. It was probably mirrored all along the underhive, although I couldn't say for sure.
Reaching the wall, I used vents, pipes and ledges to climb down to the tunnel I was planned to explore first. It looked like an electrical one with cables spiralling through it, which might lead to some decent scrap. It was also narrow further decreasing the likelihood that anyone else would try for it.
A few paces in it opened out until I could stand but also darkened. The lights from the outside not penetrating here. Reaching into my bag I pulled out my trusty light, its dim glow, illuminating just enough to guide me.
It still annoyed me, how, in such a futuristic world, some items were so hard to get a hold of. A simple flashlight. Not some arcane item, just enough to see by. Four credits the greedy bastard asked for. Four! I could have a crappy autopistol for that.
So, I was using the next best thing: a mushroom in a jar. A significantly cheaper option.
Free in fact.
The tunnel wound around until I reached what I was hoping for, a room. Already my new memories were cataloguing it all. Showing me where I was likely to find items of interest. I would check everything, of course, but it was nice to know that the knowledge, however vague, could still be helpful.
Moving from room to room, I filled my bag with any useful bits and pieces before my internal clock reminded me it was time to leave. I had been at it for around eight or nine hours I would guess. I had enough that I was satisfied, but nothing that truly blew me away.
But I could take my time, I was lucky this Tidefall. Sometimes, there were only a few large tunnels revealed when the fog sank. Those cycles always led to a bloody harvest as everyone was forced into the same tunnels.
Happily, I had seen hundreds of entrances this time around. Making sure my bag was secured, I set off home, covering my tracks as I went. Rather than heading straight home, I sold off a few pieces of salvage, some metal scrap and a capacitor bank in exchange for nutria slime and some vitamin shots. Nearing home, I circled the area several time, keeping an eye out for anyone following me.
Slavers were a thing and just across town there was the slave pits, a death sentence for most people, especially a young child.
All clear, I started to climb up the outside of two nearby towers and there tucked away hidden from view, was home.
A nap and I was off once more, I couldn't afford to stay too long and was soon back out in the tunnels.
----
At first, I didn't find much of interest, mostly some scrap, but nothing truly noteworthy. I did find a few cronos and cogitators which I traded for some valuable supplies, keeping the best chrono. However, it was the second month where I made a significant find.
I felt nervous at the run up to the end of the month, uncertain about what would happen to my pulses although if the trend held they wouldn't really be pulses anymore, so maybe sparks were better. Sparks of knowledge or maybe knowledge fragments. Regardless I wanted to know if it would happen again. Would I even gain another?
All these flashed through my head until relief washed over me. My fingers started to tingle and a warmth spread out from my chest. Soon enough the spark blossomed into existence in my mind.
Like before, it just hung there, inert until I interacted with it.
Like before, it resisted interacting with my body and in anything even more so this time. If the trend continued, I doubt I would be able to force the issue in a few months. But with excitement I guided the spark to fragment I had made last time.
I had since decided that they were crystalised ideas which when I thought hard about them would sort of appear in my mind's eye spread out like a web. Well not quite yet as I only had one.
Taking control of the spark, I pushed it into the scavenger idea. This time forcing it to focus first on Imperium technology, then narrowing it further to hive cities. Once it had taken hold, it worked masterfully, with a deluge of information which contained the same amount of information as last time but was far more specific and therefore far more useful.
I felt the clear difference on my next dive, with items and things springing out at me that I might have overlooked. Like the concealed maintenance hatch that I would have walked past without knowing it was there. Or a random scrap item that I would have ignored that was in fact a valuable part of a data slate.
It was the second run that I came across the room. It was just a simple office with chairs and tables all around. But hidden in a drawer was the pistol.
I recognised it as a laspistol, similar to the many I had seen people carry in the settlement. However, it was far sleeker than those blocky designs, missing the bulky mag holder under the barrel and sharp edges that most of them had. Instead, it was a shimmering silver, with intricate patterns engraved into the metal.
Once I picked it up and settled it into my hands, I could've sworn I felt it shiver and mould itself to fit better in my hands. It might have been my imagination but regardless the gun felt like it was made for my hand. The temptation to fire it was almost too much, but flashbacks to some of the gangers I had seen have their guns blow up in their hands were enough to stop it.
Tucking it deep within a hidden section of my bag I took one last look around the room before heading home with my prize.
I couldn't use the gun until I'd checked it out properly and no way was I risking others seeing it. I knew little about guns but even I could see it was special. Luckily, I would only need to wait a few weeks before I could use a spark for a knowledge fragment on it.
I was a little concerned that I was relying on the sparks so much already but there was really no choice in the matter.
----
When the spark arrived several weeks later, I'd already decided on how to use it and directed it to form a fragment on las weapons with an inclination towards laspistols. As the new knowledge flowed through me, I found out that once again it was incredibly valuable knowledge and yet useless in some ways.
The knowledge was useful, but it gave me far more information on the workings of las weapons. For instance, I now knew what each component was called and its purpose. I even knew why some of them were as they were and how to create some of the more simple parts.
But it didn't provide the best way to use the weapon or maintain it. It was missing all the practical knowledge one would gain from experience. Fortunately, it was enough. It took a lot of work and I needed to go out and trade for some of the tools I needed but I confirmed that the gun wouldn't explode when used.
Unable to help myself the next day I went down and spent several hours shooting at targets in a room. From my knowledge I knew this battery which was slotted into the handle of the pistol could fire over hundred shots before needing recharging.
Like other weapons of its kind once depleted it just needed to be exposed to heat or light to recharge. Mine could do that too but it could passively recharged over time just not as quickly as if the power pack was removed from the gun.
My shooting taught me three things. 1) the gun fired like a dream even with my poor maintenance on it. 2) I was a terrible shot and 3) shooting things was fun.
I had the knowledge of how to aim and shoot but none of the experience or practical knowledge, like how to stand or hold the gun. It was enough to give me some confidence while diving but it did lead me to my next, hopefully clever spark use.
This was good as all signs pointed to this becoming a Major Tidefall. Where rather than lasting a few days or weeks, maybe a month or two it might last six months or even years.
This allowed people to go much deeper and find better salvage than usual. It also meant that it would take far longer to open again. So I pushed myself trying to gather as much salvage as possible but also avoiding the growing crowds.
With the Tidefall lasting longer and longer, more and more people arrived to try their luck. But not just the desperate. Nobles, and even professional explorers started to arrive, delving into the depths. I spoke to one guy who swore he saw a tech-priest and his guards enter as well.
The spark arrived and I got to try my idea, as with many of the others when I used it, it worked perfectly and yet not at all. With the knowledge I had been gaining I was reminded of a saying: 'you didn't know what you didn't know'. So, with that in mind I tried to be clever and gain knowledge of a profession. In this case, a soldier.
It succeeded and I gained knowledge of an Imperial soldier with experience using guns, as well many things I wouldn't have even though I might need. But it also failed as I ended up with a lot of information I didn't need. Like how to march in formation or how to polish my shoes just right and interesting, a crash course in prostitution.
Why that was in there, I didn't want to know.
So while not perfect it proved my idea was viable and the next month's spark went into the fragments I already had. But with a focus on combat and the exclusion of the other parts. This pushed my knowledge from someone who didn't know their arse from their elbow to that of a competent recruit a few months out of training.
The next fragment only pushed this further, so several months maybe even years of experience. But it didn't push me over the threshold which I could feel was there. Each fragment seemed to have levels, and when crossed gave far more knowledge like unlocking the next level.
The next point did it, as with all the others enhanced the fragments massively. Pushing it up to a soldier who had been in the heaviest combat zones for years.
Interestingly, when the fragments reached a certain threshold they gave muscle memory not just knowledge. I learned this, first when trying to pull my gun from its holster, it felt so natural, like I had done it thousands of time before.
When I caught myself in a reflection, I almost thought it was someone else I didn't recognise the gait so much. My frazzled state at the time didn't help. There had been signs that the cycle was coming to an end: vibrations through the floor as vast machines whirred to life and the lights flickered. This could still mean we had months left before the fog rolled back in and the defences activated once more.
With that in mind and the knowledge from my soldier fragment about the dangers of surprises, I spend my next spark on what could be best described as danger sense.
Learning from my past tries, I nailed what I wanted this time first go. I made it danger sense for hive cities, which was perfect as it was narrow enough that to avoid irrelevant knowledge but was also broad enough, unlike how it sounded. But hive cities could have a huge number of biomes within it due to their sheer size.
For instance, the swamp just outside Glow Gate. The first shard didn't do much, just gave me a great deal of information but lacked the practical skills or reflexes. This was further built upon with the next shard. But the third fragment expanded it massively, giving me actual reflexes, the kind that saved your life.
Interestingly, it also interacted with my other fragments, particularly the scavenger and soldier ones, further enhancing those and itself in particular areas, almost like they were synchronising, becoming more than the sum of its parts.
When that last fragment was slotted, a brilliant spark appeared. Far larger than any I had seen before, shimmering golden instead of the usual silver. Reaching out and poking it I got the distinct feeling of a goal? No achievement or better yet a milestone.
Unless I misinterpreted the feeling, I gained it from having ten knowledge fragments.
What this meant, or if this was going to be a regular occurrence I wasn't sure. But I wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth so used it without compunction.
After all the sparks I had used for combat I got back to what I enjoyed: technology. With little idea of what I wanted I let it go as broad as it wanted and used it on technology or maybe engineering, able to fix technology and maybe even fabricate my own. Either way the rush of knowledge knocked me out for a full day.
It had given me that much information. Not much practical knowledge but a huge amount of theory which would hopefully be useful in the future. It felt like a crash course in advanced technology, everything from mathematical formulas to physics and material engineering.
More to the point it wasn't knowledge from my old world it was tech for this incredibly backwards yet advanced universe. So it was truly a staggering amount of largely useless information, albeit useless in the short term.
One thing that struck me as odd: for all my combat knowledge, my soldier shard barely touched on close combat. It included some tips on using a knife but almost nothing on hand-to-hand fighting.
This could be the norm but to my mind it felt somewhat odd. It was only when I delved into the soldiers knowledge that it started to make a little bit of sense. It mostly came down to two things. First as a soldier you worked as a team so they could cover you and so didn't need hand-to-hand, theoretically. But the most important reason was the vast number of ways to die if an enemy got close to you, not to mention most if not all enemies were going to be stronger or more numerous than you so hand to hand combat was essentially a death wish.
Still this left me with an opportunity for experimentation. Feeling a little more secure with all my combat knowledge I decided to try to pull from my half-forgotten memories, just to prove they were real and I wasn't mad. I wanted to draw from the combat system called MMA. But with a far higher focus on actual fighting to the death.
I also tested to see if I could bank my sparks for later use. That was a most definite no, to the point I almost lost the spark.
I used, boxing, Muay tai and kickboxing as my striking component, with judo and wrestling as my grappling component and then at the end a little of jiu-jitsu for ground based grappling. It received less focus however, as if I was on the floor I was likely about to die.
This spark fought me the most before finally clicking into place, flashing through me and giving me theoretical knowledge and some experience of each combat art but no experience of them working together as a system.
The next spark was much the same, but I gained more muscle memory of all the combat styles. However again little skill in using them together to cover the others' weaknesses. It was the third spark that pushed me over that threshold and filed me with knowledge of a competent fighter using a system he had spent over a decade using.
I felt like a new man when it fell into place. I could see it in my walk. I was far lighter on my feet, but more than that I could gauge others' relative skill. Maybe not what style they knew but I could tell by the way they walked how to fight them. This also synergised with my danger sense fragment, helping me pick out trouble in people, not just the different environments as it was before.
Unable to help myself at this point I had to slot a fragment into the one I had created all those months ago. When I brushed against it with my mind I got back Technician. I wasn't convinced at first, but it had shown how valuable it was.
/4/2025Add bookmark#2With the discovery I would need six, maybe even seven sparks to reach the next threshold for the Technician I was trying to decide what to focus on next when what I had been dreading, happened. I wasn't sure why but the gangs in Glow Gate were stable, not like some who rise and fall within the month.
Maybe it was the abundance of resources, or maybe it was the Court stabilising influence. Rumour had it that the Bosses were from higher in the hive and had moved down for reason unknown. I didn't bother to listen to the rumours as each was more ridiculous than the last. The one I put the most credence in was she move into down due to her daughters mutations.
And even that I wasn't fully sure on. A sexy Amazonian space elf came to mind when I saw her, so the mutation was not a bad thing. Regardless, the Boss and the others she brought were more like a family gang, like how I imagine the Mafia are from my old life.
If that was the case, I doubted I would ever find out. Regardless the Court was far less expansionist than most. Happy with what they had. Or that's the impression they gave off, I was not naive enough to think that they might not have ambitions behind the scenes.
But the most dangerous time for anyone in a settlement was gang warfare. Well, that wasn't strictly true. A plague, death cult, mutant horde, were worse. So now thinking about it gangs violence was pretty low on the scale but it was by far the most common.
Anyway I was browsing through the commercia, if you could even call it that. Merchant called it that but to me it was just a small market not much more. I was looking for any good deals now that the Tidefall had finished. With it done many people were trying to trade off goods before they moved on so there were likely to be some good deals out there.
I focused on damaged components or items that I might be able to fix up.
I had just managed to get an amazing find, to the point I checked it hadn't been tampered with as I couldn't see a reason for selling it otherwise. It was a bit battered and would need some TLC but even my cursor look over it showed me why it wasn't working and was an easy fix.
My spark given knowledge called it a neural transductor. I wouldn't be able to use some of the more advanced functions as that required a mind link to function, but I could still manually control it. It was a black box about 30cm by 30cm and far heavier than it looked. Once activated it unfolded into a series of mechanical arms that could make incredibly precise movements. In the scale of nanometres and had many of the common tools and even some of the not so common. From wrenches and screw driver to more technical things like multimers and scanner to see more information on whatever I was working on.
Best of all it would give me some protection when working on more exotic or toxic items, because even with the googles and gloves I had, I didn't trust them to protect me.
I was striding home, moving with a purpose, when I saw a disturbance in the traffic flow. I had quickly learned that when moving you never want to look in a hurry, it makes people curious in what you are up to.
Maybe you had something worth stealing?
As I got closer I could see people shifting around a group of 7 hivers. Clearly gang members, all with The Midnight Courts colours and symbols. You could always tell how important a ganger was, or in fact anyone really with what they wore.
It wasn't fool proof but it was a solid start. Low level gangers had a simple black and red armbands while higher-ups had far more intricate symbols, tattoos and armour. These gangers were obviously well off with full shiny black armour over the important areas and the polarons had the court symbol, an eye with spike coming from the bottom eye lid all painted in red.
Some had cloaks other hoods covering their faces. They were as diverse as their cloths, some with heavy augments from augmetic eyes to full arm replacements. One was a brute of a man, easily standing at 7ft tall and with a hard, rocky texture to his skin marking him as a mutant or abhuman.
Which was basically an accepted human mutant. How this was decided that, I hoped to never find out.
In the centre of this group, clearly guarded, was a man I recognised. You would be hard pressed for someone on this side of Glow gate who didn't know him, Lanto the right-hand man of Selina, the leader of the Midnight Courts and if the rumour were true, her lover.
He was a hard looking man, with black but greying hair and well maintained beard. Clearly a strong body and at 6 feet an intimidating sight. But too me the most disconcerting part was how he carried himself.
I could clearly see the training in the way he moved, so maybe the rumours were true and he was a deserter from the Planetary Defence Force.
He was the best equipped of them all, with well-made armour that covered most of him. Although weirdly unprotective. I would have expected him to where the most protective armour he could. A lasrifle slung over one shoulder and I could even make out what I thought was a plasma pistol on his hip which were incredibly rare. So much so I only knew what is was from my spark given knowledge.
But they weren't what drew my attention. A handful of people were moving toward Lanto with a purpose in their step. Apart from moving against the flow of people I couldn't tell you why my intuition was screaming that they meant trouble and it was clear where they were heading. Not in words at least, it was just the feeling that they were bad news.
I couldn't spot any gang colours on them but that didn't mean much. They could be new or moving into the area for any number of reasons. Without thinking I loosened my pistol from its holster so I could be drawn at a moment's notice.
The group spread out with some moving ahead of the others.
Without thinking about it I moved up a broken set of stairs at the side of the street to get some elevation and a clear line of sight. By now Lanto had spotted them and nudged his guards. But it was too late, with a wordless cry the gangers threw themselves forward weapons drawn.
Those at the back drew autoguns, one even drew a heavy stubber, which was a rare weapon to find down here. Picture a heavy machine gun and then double it and you would get that monster. Those at the front mostly drew blades, shivs or knifes but 2 drew shotguns from their long jackets.
Now that I thought about it, maybe that was what set my eldritch given senses off. Down here in the hive and without proper ventilation it was incredibly hot, where most people wore next to nothing, except armour.
I had a split second decision whether I wanted to get involved, which came back as a yes. A high ranking gang member dying could only spell disaster for the gang and therefore me. Gun out I sighted it on the first ganger at the back, the one with the heavy stubber. I took a breath, released and it pulling the trigger.
My laspistol hissed kicking back slightly as the superheated bolt of kinetic energy left the barrel, followed by a cracking sound as it ionised the air around it. My shot was drowned out by the screams and gunfire, the heavy stubbers roar was deafening in the narrow street.
I didn't watch as my first shot struck the man in the heart, tearing through his weak armour and dropping him instantly. I was already sighted on the next. A breath, caress of the trigger and the next was dropped.
Then the next and the next. The fifth must have sensed something wrong, maybe it was his compatriots not firing but he was just starting to turn around when my fifth shot hit him high in the chest.
I glanced at the melee around Lanto, several of the court members had fallen but the two shotguns were dealt with and as the surprise wore off the ambushers were quickly overwhelmed.
Realising I stood in full view of everyone I started to slink down, hopefully avoiding notice when Lanto's voice cut through the noise. "You come here." Looking back, I could see him clearly pointing at me. For a moment I was tempted to ignore it and slink away anyway but he had seen my face and I was relatively well known by now.
Reluctantly, I moved towards him and his guards, forcing myself to remain calm, they were even more intimidating closer up. I had just helped them but even knowing that I could not help but want to slip into the shadows where I preferred.
As I neared the ring of guards standing around Lanto, they parted for me. The gang leader broke off his conversation with one of his men and turned his full attention to me. I could his piercing eyes dissecting me.
"Good shooting. What's your name?"
"Aleric."
"Thanks for the assist. Come by the HQ in, actually do you have a chrono?" He paused as I nodded, "Good then come to the HQ in 3 hours. Ask for me at the door, they'll let you in."
Nodding again I started to slip away, very much happy to leave. I had barley turned when he called out again. "Wait," turning back I saw him reach down to rip off a pistol which looked very similar to the colt from my past memories. My spark given memories called it a stubgun but I knew it as a slugger. It and the other slug throwing guns were the most common guns seen in the undercity.
Not that it was surprising. It was a simple weapon to fabricate, even by subpar manufactorums and the bullets were easy to come by. It was also mechanical making it easier to maintain. Which was a must since many of them were poorly made or maintained making them unreliable and inaccurate.
"To the victors go the spoils." he said passing me the gun as well as several clips. "Off you go." Dismissing me with a tilt of his head.
Thanking him I slipped away, breaking into a fast walk when I was out of sight, and headed home barely doing my usual precautions before shutting myself in, letting out a long sigh of relief. Sitting there, I could feel my body wanting to panic but my mind was dead calm, like you would expect of someone who had been through gunfights hundreds times in the past.
It was the first time I'd felt any cognitive dissonance and I did not enjoy it. Would not recommend. I was also beating myself up for getting involved, I still thought it was the best choice and hopefully this was my in to the gang and their protection. But I couldn't help but doubt my choice. Once I could feel both my mind and body settle and sync up again I turned to my prizes.
I placed the neural transductor in the corner ready to be tinkered with. Next, I placed my new gun aside. I wanted to work on it but something far more important was on my mind. Once the battle concluded a burst of reddish flame flashed in my mind, I had hit another milestone. Brighter than my regular ones but not nearly as bright as the one I received at ten fragments. I prodded it and quickly learned that it was for taking an active part in a large shootout.
They also had an inclination. Today I learned. This one, unsurprisingly was focused toward combat. I could use it for other things but it was far less effective. Without thinking too deeply, I already knew where it was going and slotted it into my soldier fragment.
As with all of them, I guided it, but let it spread out broader than some as I wanted this one to cover many different aspects of combat. I made sure it was more focused on the personal combat and safety than the team tactics. Still, there was a little of that in there as well.
As the spark took effect I barely had time to see the fragment's name change from soldier to warrior before the wave of knowledge knocked me out cold, fully this time rather than the semi-consciousness I'd experienced before.
A difference of size I supposed.
When I woke up I felt groggy until I suddenly remembered I had places to be. Scrambling, I looked at my chrono before slumping back down in relief. I still had two hours before I needed to be there. But the fragment had knocked me out for an hour, one of the longest yet, only surpassed by the technician fragment.
I poked around my new knowledge and was pleased with what I found. As I had hoped and as the name change confirmed, it was far more focused on individual combat rather than teams and squad tactics something I was unlikely to do much of.
Not that I'd trust any of them to have my back anyway.
It further enhanced my gunmanship and combat senses, which was a welcome bonus, tying all my combat skills together into harmonious hole. No longer would I have conflicting reflexes.
Finished inspecting my new fragment I moved over to my new snub. Pulling out a bioluminescent bulb otherwise known as a glowing mushroom I focused on the new gun. I wanted to get it checked as I planned to take it rather than my lasgun which I'd learned was far more than a simple laspistol. It was, in fact, a lost relic from the Dark Age of Humanity meaning it was significantly better than many of the guns I could get today. Compared to the mass produced laspistols today mine was heads and shoulders better.
I found a damaged one, which I took apart, repaired it and tried it out. My relic was more accurate, had more stopping power, more ammo, it was just better.
Breaking the slugger apart I started to inspect the components, cleaning them as I went. Several parts needed replacing, with hairline cracks running through them. My past self had planned ahead and I had a lot of scrap parts to replace the damaged ones, leaving me with a well cleaned and maintained gun. Dry firing worked like a dream, but I would need to do some test shots with it before I was fully happy.
But it would do, I was out of time.
Slotting the snub into the improvised harness I set off.
The various gang HQs were easy to spot, usually marked with massive symbols indicating their locations. You only needed to be in the area for a short time before you had a general idea of where it was. For the Court it was what used to be a forge complex until it collapsed. They set up there for two reasons, they were very close to the tunnels to the lower hive and it was also one of a few places to get clean water.
Well I say 'clean', not actively harmful would be accurate, as it tasted like ass.
The other gangs were very similar, with the nearest gang controlling the largest bridge across the Gulf also had their HQ near a water source. Although, from what I had learned it was not nearly as clean as the Courts. In fact the only gang that did not follow this trend were the Brethren of Bones who controlled the gladiator arena.
Even if you were not a local it was normally pretty obvious, the increased number of gangers and the increase in quality of equipment was a pretty good indicator. One thing new I did notice, care of my new knowledge was the sentries and what were now clearly guard post, where before they just looked like gangers hanging out.
The lookouts were all in good places too, clear line of sight and some cover. I wondered if it was all gangs like this and I had just never noticed it before or the court was an outlier. Reaching the door I told the guards I was expected.
He was having none of it and I was just about to turn away when a shout came from further within the building. "Io, you Aleric?" When I nodded he said "Good. Come with me Mr Frix is expecting you." Mr. who? Confused, I following him inside. I was surprised by how clean it was in there and also the state of disrepair everything was in. There were clear signs of things getting patched together in an effort to repair it, but they were doing far from a good job.
Another thing was the chokepoints. To the casual observer it looked like a pretty ordinary room, but I could pick up the signs that it was anything but.
When I entered the room and saw Lanto I realised who Mr Frix must mean. Lanto was talking to a group around him. These were clearly cream of the crop, that or mercenaries. They were all the best war gear I had seen in the undercity so far. All of them had excellent armour on, even helmets with well-maintained guns. Several carried lasrifles which were rare down here, particularly the Krieg variant which was much stronger than most others.
One even had a plasma pistol. But they all had some level of bionics, good quality stuff too. At least to my untrained eye they were anyway. I had gained some knowledge of them, but in a very limited way and mostly on some of the principles they worked on.
"Good you're here." he said as I neared the group. "I noticed your shots, five kill shots at 25 metres. Impressive. How are you with other weapons?"
"Better." I said telling the truth. Much of the knowledge I had gained was more focused on rifles than pistols even if I had not yet had the chance to practice with it.
"Good." he muttered, nodding in thought. He muttered it a few more times before seemingly coming to a decision. "Follow me." He led me to a well-guarded heavily fortified door. Stepping inside it was clearly an armoury of some sort with various weapons littered around. "Pick one for range."
Slightly confused I began to look through the guns. Many wouldn't be suitable for longer range shots like the more slick autoguns which could unleash a blistering number of shots but weren't very accurate at range. I also avoided the las rifles, which might be good, great or barely enough power to strip paint off a wall. Without knowing what was under the hood I had no idea how effective they would be.
If it was calibrated incorrectly or of an inferior construction, it could reduce the power by over 50%.
I finally settled on a gun that should not be a thing in the future. It was a bolt-action rifle very much like a world war 2 Springfield, but far more modern looking, made out of plasteel and equipped with an analogue scope. But it was a beautiful weapon that looked incredibly well maintained and when I did some dryfiring it was incredibly smooth, far better than many of the other more modern weapons.
Taking it to Lando, he grunted before leading me to what could only be a gun range. Nothing fancy just an empty corridor with targets at the end. "Shoot the far target."
Nodding, I set myself up making sure I was stable. Guesstimating the distance I'd say it was 100 metres out which should be more than doable. I couldn't think of many times I would need to shoot beyond that range in the undercity with its mostly claustrophobic corridors and streets.
Syncing my breathing, I sighted onto the target and gently squeezed the trigger, feeling the gun recoil far more than my pistol did, thumping back into my shoulder. Grimacing slightly, I knew if I shot many more of these I was guaranteed a bruise, though that was a small price to pay to getting to shoot it.
My shot had gone wide by about a foot. Resighting the scope, no fancy electronic one for me, I shot once more, hitting my mark. Firing a few more, I got a good spread, only an inch or so apart, or at least from what I could tell through the rifle's scope.
Good shooting for someone who's had never shot this gun before.
Glancing back at Lando, who I was very aware of as he stood close behind me. "Three more on the next one out. That's 300 metres out."
Turning back I once again got settled into position, taking my time for this one. 300 metres was much further and at the upper end of what I thought I could do having never tested it. The first shot was wide, but I quickly adjusted and on my final shot, hit the centre.
"Good, pack up." As I did I could just about hear him on a vox talking. I was too far away to make out what he was saying, but I could have sworn I heard 'kid' several times which I could only assume meant me.
Once I was packed up, safety back on the gun and no slugs in the chamber, I made my way over to him. He looked up as I drew near. "Hold onto the gun and stick around. Brant here will supply you with several clips."
Clearly dismissed and having an inkling of what would be doing, I allowed myself to be led away.