Skavit reluctantly approached the dark green warehouse, already hearing the muffled sounds of gunfire coming from within. His pointy ears and brown fur stood high on end while his toe claws clicked against the concrete beneath his feet. The place looked imposing, like a monolith of death, with the occasional gunfire not helping in the slightest to change the rodent’s mind about that. Fortunately, though, there was someone to reassure him, and that familiar face was Djit. He has known him for years, with more opportunities to get closer to his new brother in arms showing up in the last two years.
Djit was a brighter gray vermin from the Low Asleth Clan, and also his neighbour from a territory next to his family’s own. His clan established itself recently, just like Yllif Clan. Their families have been friendly towards each other, making deals and alliances in open cooperation. But now? Both of them were being trained together.
The darker rodent would reach out with his furless tail towards his brother in arms’ back, giving it a gentle nudge as he looked at Skavit. His face was sharp, with longer whiskers and a quite noticeable pink nostril alongside brown eyes that reassured him. That was enough for the brown vermin to at least straighten his posture before continuing onwards, getting closer to the entrance of the warehouse, greeting a few people here and there until finally grasping the door handle and opening it.
Immediately, the thundering sounds of gunfire would greet them, making their ears ring. The sound would echo through the metallic walls of the place, making it blast outwards in their faces. The duo reached up, hands sliding behind ears before pressing down, covering them as they walked deeper inside.
The warehouse was simple, a sort of waiting room greeted the duo, with a few humans walking back and forth, some only wearing their basic uniforms while others were in full gear. Most of the flow of personnel went first to the counter that stood right ahead of them before they moved to the east, where the gun range actually was.
Suddenly, Skavit felt a pat on his shoulder. “Hey, you two,” a deeper voice echoed, making the duo immediately turn. A tall and dark-skinned human who wore the basic uniform but with the usual red and white Military Police color scheme. “The drill sergeant is waiting for you two there.” He then pointed at the doors to the range, with the two rats briefly letting go of their ears now that the sounds of gunfire came to a stop.
With a quick nod, the two rodents hurried towards the double doors a bit too anxiously, causing them to hit the reinforced steel doors like a battering ram. The impact would produce a soft thud, double doors not budging, both because of its material and the fact that it was closed. After recovering from that impact, Skavit shook his head and gave Djit a couple pats before reaching for the handle and opening it.
On the other side, the air felt as chilly as a freezer. The scent of burnt gunpowder filled their lungs, like a thousand needles poking through their nostrils and all the way to their lungs. Skavit felt lightheaded for a moment, the bright lights inside not helping with it in the slightest before he finally got himself back together.
The place itself was large and felt weirdly empty. To their west, rolls and more rolls of small cubicles for people to shoot from, and as they walked past them, each had a table facing the long and empty range where several targets stood.
“That’s good for the day, you maggots! Now screw off!” The familiar voice of the drill sergeant echoed, with its usual menacing and coarse tone from so much screaming.
Right ahead, a small group of four marines stepped away from one booth, walking towards and past them, a few shooting the duo smiles and a wave or two before leaving through the same way the rodents entered. Finally, the sergeant himself stepped out of the cubicle.
The human male was slightly shorter than the average marine, but still towering over the vermin like a pale pole with black hair. Hazel eyes judged and inspected them from above, already gouging at what level he should keep his insults at while adjusting his campaign hat. Unlike other soldiers, he wore something more different and casual: a beige buttoned shirt with its sleeves pulled back past his elbows, brown pants, and the standard black boots.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. They sent me the sewer scrapings again?” Sergeant Nicholas roared, finally recognizing the duo. “I’ve seen roadkill look more promising than you two. PRESENT, ARMS!”
His voice poked something deep into the rodent’s mind, something akin to a sleeper agent codeword that immediately made the duo’s bodies tense and move without thinking, arms lifting as they adjusted their posture and saluted, whiskers twitching anxiously while they remained quiet. The sergeant took a moment to inspect their posture, a small smirk appearing on his face.
“Mmmmhm, good to see you two useless trash guards are still sharp.” He spoke, now in a more friendly and relaxed tone, letting out a small cough, grasping his throat while turning to grab something inside the booth. “Order, Arms.”
Skavit finally lowered his arm and guard, a small sigh coming out of his nostrils. It looked like the sergeant was going to take it easy with them today. The rodent still had that moment burned in his mind, with him keeping his salute while the sergeant kept screaming over and over that he was doing it wrong in order to test his resolve.
The duo’s first month in training was harsh in a way, mostly because of Nicholas’s creative use of insults towards them. Only when things were over, the drill sergeant tone things down. Deep down, he was a nice guy, but he certainly had a passion for his job since only later they found out that he was taking it easy with them. It was quite a bucket of cold water over their faces, considering that the rats felt like they’d get beaten if they made any mistakes, despite not a single finger being laid on them throughout that entire month.
“Here’s how this will work, you two idiots will not make a single mistake and I ain’t going to scream at your faces.” Nicholas began, gesturing for them to come closer and into the booth as the sound of a case being opened echoed. “My throat already feels like shit, so spare me the effort.”
Skavit quickly hurried in, with Djit following right behind. Inside there was a table both to the left and right in front of them, the metallic furniture being at neck level with them. The Sarge was in front of the one to the left of the booth, a small case on top of it and inside, a pistol.
“This, vermin, is the XM14.” The Sarge spoke, taking the pistol with a hand, with it perfectly closing around the grip while his index finger kept itself along the boxy shape of the grey weapon. He’d pull back the slide before allowing it to close with a loud snap. “This is going to be the gun you’ll be dealing with for now.”
That said, the Sarge offered it to the rodents, a simple smile on his face. Skavit stared at it in amazement, pointy ears pointing towards the high ceiling. Djit seemed to be in the same state as him, but reluctant, so the brown rodent took advantage of that.
Stealing the initiative, Skavit carefully took the pistol, clawed hand wrapping around the grip. It felt awkward, like holding a sword with a faulty grip. The texture itself was familiar, the cold metal of a weapon of death, while his digits couldn’t comfortably fit between the small mounds designed for a human hand.
He’d stare down at it for a while, his finger sliding into the ring where the trigger stood while inspecting its design. Hell, the brown rodent even turned it to himself to look down at the barrel. The moment that happened, though, Nicholas let out a long sigh.
Their heads immediately turned up to look at the human, who had his thumb and middle finger against his eyes, disappointed.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“What was I expecting from two cavemen? Competence? That’s on me.” He groaned. The two rodent’s ears would drop flat against their heads. They knew what was coming. “Boys! I think this is a brand record. You broke all four rules of firearm safety in less than a minute!”
The weapon got abruptly snatched away from Skavit’s hand as the human grumbled, with him now clearly in a state of rage… or perhaps it was just his acting? Honestly, it was quite hard to tell.
“Tell me something: is this a species-wide defect, or are you two just statistical outliers in stupidity?” Nicholas growled, his voice sounding like a low rumble. “It’s a good thing I triple-checked that gun before handing it to your twitchy little paws. Now answer: Were you two sewer warriors never taught the basic rules, or did y’all chew through the handbook before finishing page one? Because I’ve got a vocabulary waiting for you dumbasses and an even longer one for the geniuses who certified you.”
The question hung in the air for a few seconds, both Skavit and Djit tense, taking glances at each other. Finally, Djit straightened his posture to speak. “N-No one told me, Sir!” he blared, with some mild confidence.
Meanwhile, Nicholas stared at them for a few seconds before letting out a long sigh, shaking his head.
“Good, for a second I thought I’d have to send you two back to your families to beat rocks together.” That said, he took the gun again, keeping it high so that they could see it. “FIIIIRST rule of firearm safety! Treat all guns as if they are loaded!”
The human pressed something on the side of the weapon while his other hand stood beneath it. Swiftly, the magazine would slide off the weapon and right into his hand, with him then showing it off to the two, revealing that it was completely empty.
Skavit held back the instinct to lean in and inspect the magazine, keeping his posture straight while just glancing at the magazine. He knew the sergeant would extend his insulting spree into minutes if he did that, it has happened before.
“Remember, these are not toys! These are weapons of warfare! This is the first thing that should come to mind whenever you pick up a gun,” Nicholas explained, setting the magazine aside so that he could pull back the slide of the gun. “AND NOT JUST THE MAGAZINE! There can always be a goddamn bullet in the chamber of your weapon.”
He’d show off the chamber, the metallic inner workings of the gun completely empty.
“SECOND Rule of firearm safety! Don’t point your goddamned gun at something you ain’t gonna shoot!” The sergeant’s eyes immediately landed on Skavit, brows furrowing. “Say, are you proud of becoming the Marine Corps' best killer? Because with the way you were gawking at that gun, you’ve shown us that you could have killed me, your cave mate, and yourself in one fucking go!”
The words struck something deep in Skavit’s mind, a pull on a string that released a wave of shame in him. He didn’t even realize that he pointed something that could easily kill someone towards his friend and the sergeant. It was something stupid, he should have known better, but the moment the brown rodent glanced at his friend, those pointy ears would be up, small, almost inaudible high pitch chirps echoed. That traitor was laughing, and suddenly he didn’t quite regret it anymore.
“AND YOU! You monumental waste of a uniform!” The sergeant turned to Djit, suddenly scaring him and making the poor vermin take a step back and straighten up. “Someone points a sword at your neck and you do NOTHING?! Does that caveman brain of yours have no sense of self-preservation?! Everyday you two make me wonder how your species even survived to this point.”
The gray vermin stared up at him before those eyes drifted down onto the floor. Skavit felt weights being taken off his shoulder after that, no longer taking this scolding session alone.
“Rule THREE of firearm safety: Keep your fingers off the trigger until you have your gun aimed and ready to shoot.” Nicholas continues, this time holding the pistol by its grip, aiming it down the range while taping his index against its side. “See this? You keep your finger here, then aim, and finally, when you’re about to shoot, move it to the trigger.”
The human shifted his finger around, sliding it into the trigger ring and pulling it out against the gun’s side a few times. He’d do it slowly at first, before repeating the motions more quickly to show how smoothly the movement was.
“Now, finally, LAST rule of basic firearm safety: know your target and what’s behind it.” The Sergeant finally finished, his voice failing as the words flowed out of his mouth, with him lowering the gun and turning his head aside to cough. “Ahem, for example, shooting down range? There’s a thick concrete wall behind the targets that’ll stop bullets.”
He’d set the pistol on the table, his hand still over it while the other reached for his throat, massaging it for a couple seconds. After a deep breath, he looks down at the two.
“Understood?” Nicholas asked, and quickly, the two rodents nodded, both rehearsing the rules repeatedly in their minds. “Good, good… now look here.”
Slowly, he held the back of the gun with a hand and while pressing two pads on the sides, the slider quickly came off. Then he’d take out the barrel and the spring from the slider. After a few seconds showing off the parts, he’d assemble it back together before offering the weapon to Djit.
“Here, disassemble it. In combat, if shit hits the fan, you have to know how to take apart your gun to fix any potential problems.” The human explained, watching the gray rodent fumble around before quickly piece after piece of the gun came off while the Sarge looked away. “You also have to clean your gun to avoid any jamming and other issues.”
The sergeants’ eyes widened the moment they landed back over Djit, seeing how the pistol got taken apart while the rat quickly went back to putting it back together. Letting out a soft hum, he reached for his chin as he thought.
“Private Djit, do it a couple more times and hand the gun over to Skavit.” He ordered, straightening his posture before walking away. “I want you two to have done that thirty times by the time I’m back, I’ll get some water.”
Djit and Skavit looked at each other for a few seconds in silence before the gray rodent went back to diligently disassembling the gun while the other kept a close eye, taking in the details. A couple seconds would go by in silence until faint murmurs echoed before finally, the creaking sound of the metallic doors leading into the range creaked open.
A small group of three marines walked in, chuckling as they walked closer to the two rodents.
“Can’t believe they’ll actually let us use these things.” A taller and paler one blared, leaning closer to one of his buddies who was carrying an odd, larger weapon. The other guy, someone with a bit more of a tan and a short beard, seemed more composed.
“Yeah, but we’ll only be able to use smaller pellets, slug shot on this would be too overkill for the rats.” The one holding the weapon explained, with him being slightly shorter than the other two and dark-skinned. Finally, they seemed to notice the two rodents in one booth messing around with a pistol. At first he was just amused, but slowly, a small grin appeared over his expression, nudging his two comrades. “Hey, nice peashooter you two got. Wanna have a try with a real gun?”
The other two’s eyes immediately went wide, a grin appearing on their faces, the idea of the two rats wielding a comically larger gun was amusing. The gun itself? It had a design the rodents hadn’t seen before: a thicker barrel, something that seemed to shoot a bullet larger than their own eyes, while on the underside there was another barrel with a brown grip. The stock itself was also, just as big, with its brown coloration.
“Dude, that’s a goddamn four-gauge, you want to kill ‘em?" The third marine hushed, furrowing his brows in concern.
The two vermin glanced at each other, ears and whiskers twitching, a silent conversation until finally, came an agreement.
“Alright, now put the shell on the magazine tube.” The dark-skinned human instructed from three feet away as the two rats fumbled with the gun.
The large weapon was positioned on the table for support, with Djit pressing the stock against his shoulder while his index stood right above the trigger. Meanwhile, Skavit pushed the four-gauge shell, which was almost as big as his hand, into the tube. Then, as previously explained, he grabbed the forend with both hands and pulled it back, the metallic sound of the shell being chambered sounding heavy and sharp, but also oddly satisfying as the forend slid back into place.
“Feel that? It’s power little guy!” The taller and pale human encouraged the two, a small chuckle sounding shortly after while Skavit positioned himself behind Djit, holding onto the shoulder that stock pressed against so his brother in arms could have some extra support to fire.
“Now fire!” The dark-skinned human blared. Djit moved his finger towards the heavy trigger, closing one eye to aim at a target downrange.
“What- the hell is going on here?!” Nicholas’s voice echoed from the entrance door to the range.
Finally, Djit pressed the trigger, and-
The corridor was quiet, the strong white eyes slightly bothering Skavit as he anxiously stood still on his seat, fidgeting his claws against each other while the faint sound of the drill sergeant’s screams echoed from another room. “YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKHEADS-”
Finally, the door in front of him opened, a tanned doctor stepping half out of it to address the rodent. “You can come in.”
The vermin quickly hopped off and hurried, walking past the doctor and stepping into the emergency room. Skavit climbed onto a small stool right beside the bed, seeing Djit lying back over the mattress, staring up at the ceiling.
“< Djit!! A-Are you o-okay?! I-I’m s-so sorry! I should have h-held y-you better- >” he began apologizing, fidgeting his claws while his ears fell flat against his head. Djit finally interrupted him, reaching out with his left arm and grasping Skavit’s uniform.
“< D-Don’t… >” Djit softly whimpered, eyes twitching as he held himself back from crying in pain while his brother in arms was present. “< I-It was… w-worth it. >”
