August 9th, 2008
The HK G36 was produced to fulfill the German Army’s need for a new rifle to replace the aging G3. The new weapon had to be lightweight and fire the NATO standard 5.56 mm cartridge. HK responded with the G36 weapon system. The G36 is a line of weapons that all use the same basic frame and short-stroke gas piston action. This action, borrowed from Eugene Stoner’s AR-18, is a radical departure from the roller-delayed locking action that had dominated HK’s military rifle line for the past forty years. Another departure is the use of a new magazine (incompatible with the standard M16 magazine) that is transparent to allow the shooter to easily see the rounds remaining. The G36K is a compact carbine version, similar in role to the M4 in the U.S. Army. It uses a 30-round magazine.
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August 9th, 2008
Chapter 12
There Are Worse Things Than Being on Trial For My Life
The blackness faded as I opened my eyes slowly. The world slowly came into focus. I looked around the cell I was confined in. Something was wrong. Something was out of place. Then, it came to me. Everything was black and white. I had shifted to wolf form in my sleep. I shed my wolf form for true form, feeling my body extend as I emotionally triggered the transformation. My senses became sharper and integrated themselves, making the environment around me more complete. A scent floated into the cell. I looked at the door, where the Guildmaster stood with one of the marshals that had been standing guard. The Guildmaster was in human form, strange for the Manor, and was dressed in a business suit, carrying a briefcase. Read the rest of this entry »
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August 8th, 2008
The KAC Master-Key is basically a Colt M4 carbine with a Remington 870 pump-action 12-guage shotgun slung under the barrel. The concept isn’t new, but what KAC brought to the weapon was the use of the Rail Interface System which allows the user to quickly detach the shotgun if necessary. The shotgun is slightly modified in that a Picatinny rail is mounted on the dorsal side, along with a shortened barrel. It holds five shells in a tubular magazine.
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August 8th, 2008
Chapter 11
There’s A Dark Cloud For Every Silver Lining
“It’s nice to see that you managed to almost get yourself killed,” the Guildmaster growled as I walked into his office. I had been rushed into emergency surgery as soon as Nick had returned us to the Guild. A lot of that had been hunters scrubbing out the remains of silver that contaminated my wounds and then letting my body take over before it shut down. From what Nick had told me when I woke up, it had been a close thing. I could feel that my body was still putting itself back together, but I was more or less operational. The Guildmaster’s expression told me he wasn’t happy that I had gone out with Nick, and even less pleased that I had managed to almost get myself killed. I kept my face neutral and sat down in my normal chair.
“What the hell were the witch-hunters doing in West Tampa?” I asked, completely ignoring the Guildmaster’s chiding remark. He growled a bit, but picked up a manila folder off of his increasingly crowded desk. The anger drained from his face to be replaced by an almost worried expression. The expression disturbed me. I knew that as the Guildmaster’s personal hitter, I was one of the few hunters that the Guildmaster could be totally honest and open with. It was one of the reasons that the personal hitter was usually a close friend of the Guildmaster. Still, it was disconcerting to see my leader look like he didn’t know what to do. Read the rest of this entry »
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August 1st, 2008
Heckler and Koch is known for its line of submachine guns, so it wasn’t surprising when the company delved into the growing Personal Defense Weapon niche. Although it already had a PDW version of its venerable MP5, the 9 mm cartridge was considered a drawback in light of the availibility of personal body armor. HK’s parent company at the time, British Ordnance, developed a new 4.6 mm cartridge that could penetrate basic body armor. Essentially, the bullet was a micronized rifle round rather than a similar pistol cartridge. The MP7 is designed to be fired single-handed (preferably in semi-auto mode) or two-handed using the retractable stock and folding front handle. The MP7 has a long accessory rail along the top for mounting of combat optics or other packages. It can use conformal fifteen round magazines or extended thirty round magazines.
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July 31st, 2008
Chapter 10
I Miss A Big Battle
The border between Hillsborough and Pinellas counties was odd in that part of it ran in the middle of Tampa Bay. It made pursuits sometimes interesting, because the laws governing crossing into a neighboring county “uninvited” were very strict. Even amongst friendly counties, the penalties for the offending lycanthrope could be very harsh. Leeches, on the other hand, had no compunctions. Their council system was city-based, not county-based like that of the lycanthropes, and their power was a matter of what each council could grab and hold. So, even though the Pinellas Hunters Guild warned my Guildmaster that some TCV vamps had been “recruiting” in St. Petersburg across the bay, we could not go over and wipe out the “press gang.” Since Lady Thames had declared that Pinellas was neutral, she wouldn’t allow the fighting on her soil. From what I had been told, she had tried to stoke the Clearwater Council into attacking their rivals working in St. Pete, but the vampires had been unable to find their opponents. At least that was what they told Lady Thames. The Guildmaster of the Pinellas Chapter hadn’t been convinced, but had been unable to set his hunters on the interlopers. Thames was being strict on the neutrality issue. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 28th, 2008
When the Glock line of pistols debuted over twenty years ago, there was a furor over the “plastic gun” that would evade metal detectors and cause all sorts of mayhem. Considering that the slide is a huge chunk of steel, those claims were quickly dismissed. What wasn’t was that the small Austrian firm had produced an ergonomic and rugged line of pistols with an innovative “Safe-Action” trigger system. It integrated what was essentially a double-action only system with a safety built into the trigger. Since the Glock’s initial introduction, the line has grown to every major caliber with full-size, compact, and ultra-compact sizes with models that are compensated for target shooting and even a fully-auto machine pistol.
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July 28th, 2008
The KAC Mk. 11 is the current sniper rifle system issued to Navy and Marine units. The Army is currently evaluating the weapon and will probably adopt it as well as the M-110. Before its adoption, the rifle was known by the designation of SR-25. The Mk. 11 is a 7.62 mm precision rifle system designed by the great Eugene Stoner of M16 fame. Looking at the weapon, it is easy to see the parentage, but the Mk. 11 is much more than a rechambered M16. Everything from the free-floating barrel to the enhanced trigger is designed to make the weapon capable of sub-MOA accuracy in battlefield conditions. Perhaps one of the most unique features of the Mk. 11 is that is actually more accurate with its suppressor attached.
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July 23rd, 2008
Chapter 9
Leeches on the Left, Ghouls on the Right
The St. Pete Times Forum was a massive structure in the Channelside District of Tampa. It was well within leech territory, but many lycanthropes went there to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning play. Hockey in Florida always seemed too bizarre for me, but I had to admit that it was fun watching humans bash each other around while speeding around on the ice. While the Peace was in effect, there was a kind of understanding between the TCV and Lord Vollen. The lycanthropes could attend functions at the forum as long as the lycanthropes left promptly afterward and did nothing that could be construed as hostile to the vampires. By the same token, the TCV had a responsibility to ensure that its members didn’t harass the lycanthropes or cause problems. It worked out fairly well. As far as I could remember, there had been only one problem, and I had resolved that one by removing the leech in a violent and lethal fashion. It was one of those jobs that I had been handed because I was the Guildmaster’s personal hitter. Read the rest of this entry »
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July 7th, 2008
“Warrant Officer Eric Stahl, reporting as ordered, sir,” I said as solemnly as I could muster. I was in the formal uniform of the Imperial Security Ranger Division, but I had not yet earned the coveted silver-star-within-a-circle that would make me a full member of that elite unit. For that prized bit of metal, I was required to make the “Long Ride.” If I didn’t make it, I would have to join one of the regular Imperial Security units stationed in Tam Bay, which was something that I really didn’t want to do. The Ranger captain gave me an appraising look as I stood ramrod straight. Captain Rodgers was an old Tam Bay hand, having ridden in the sector for nearly three decades. He had proved himself against almost any threat a Ranger was expected to handle, and done so with a solid record. He certainly looked the part. Captain Rodgers was easily two meters in height with a build that was solid, but not bulky. His black hair was worn long, and tied back. His dark eyes were notorious for being able to reduce even the toughest Rangers to stammering fools, or melt even the coldest lady’s heart. As I said, the captain was notorious. Right now, I was on the brink of becoming a stammering fool. Read the rest of this entry »
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