U.S.S.A HellField

Chapter 5 To hunt a beast

I loaded shells one after another, there's almost no feeling quite like loading and racking a good shotgun. I held it, barrel facing the ground then gave it a quick but satisfying pump. The receptionist's gaze darted away right as I looked up. I had to smile a little bit at that. "Ooo, I see why you humans love your weapons, if only I could take control of your arms and use it,"  Metis said, I could hear the envy in its voice.- "I'm not exactly fond of not being in control of my body; my arms especially. Maybe if you get your own body"  I slung the gun over my shoulder and waited for what to do next. The receptionist returned after a few minutes with a proud look on her face.-"You're all set to go I see, your bounty group will be here in 6 hours."  I looked at the time on my HUD. "11:55."- "You're kidding, right?"  Her professional demeanor slipped a bit.- "Um well uh I'm sorry, but that's as soon as we could get them available. Oh! I almost forgot, here's your bounty license."  I was surprised to see that this world was developed enough to have licenses of any kind, I took the license from her carefully with two fingers, but I still didn't have 100 percent control of my strength. now I just needed to do something to occupy myself for the next 6 hours.    

"I wish you luck on your bounty sir, though if you're as dangerous as you look, you won't need it."  I nodded and then went on my way. When I stepped out I took a minute to look at the scenery, I could tell just from looking at this place that it was filled with less-than-savory types and that surviving here was going to be an arduous task.- "What's on your mind, Damien? Are you thinking about that receptionist? She was pretty cute, despite being an alien." - "I don't have time to think about things like that. Besides, I need to find Alice. I just need a lead of some kind if this bounty doesn't pan out. Now we just need to purchase some supplies for this job"  I went back into the market, and I decided to look at what the weapons here were like first, then I would look for food and water. As I browsed through what each store and kiosk had to offer, I felt wary eyes observe me as I went about my business. 

I spotted a decent-sized shop that had weapons of all varieties locked up behind gun cages; I stepped inside to get a better look. -"These weapons look...primitive, and they look like they're barely held together with scrap and tape."  Metis noted.- "Yeah they're not exactly held to a high standard of quality that's for sure, but then again I don't exactly have the funds to buy anything fancy."  There were all the typical weapons one would find in a gun shop, rifles, shotguns, pistols, etc. Aside from a couple of strange, very alien-looking weapons, everything was pretty typical.- "Hey, is there anything I can help you find?"  A raspy voice from behind me asked. I turned around and saw that the clerk was one of those 4 armed aliens. The receptionist mentioned that I wasn't an Alsha, is that what these aliens are called?- "Yes, I'm looking for a long-range rifle. What calibers do you have?"  He looked at me with two vaguely reptilian eyes.-"So you're looking for ballistics, are you? An accelerator or just good old lead?"  I thought for a moment, I needed something simple and inexpensive, something that packs a punch.- "What do you have in 308.?"  

His mandibles vibrated as though he was about to say something, but no words came out. He stared blankly at me. Has anyone ever told these people that staring was rude? "Okay, how about 6.8, 5.56, 7.62? Jesus, what do you have then?"  He walked over to one of the gun cages and opened it with a strange metal key that had some kind of circular mechanism on the end. When he opened it I was intrigued to see even more types of alien weapons, but a few of the weapons looked familiar. What the clerk pulled out amazed me even more, he placed the blue and grey rifle on the counter. It was a USR 27A2, it looked like the one I was holding before I went through the portal. These old things were still chambered in 6.8mm, they were still damned effective at dealing with anything that didn't wear any body armor above level III. As I was about to reach for the rifle, he pulled it back.- "You recognize this weapon... don't you?"  He said while giving me what looked like a smile.- "I do, I even have a magazine for it."  I pulled a magazine from a pouch and presented it to him, he took the mag from my hand and placed it in the rifle. He pressed on the mag catch after inserting it. How did he know how to reload it? How long has it been here?