Hal’s Weapon Inventory

Hal found himself in a lone park within the coastal city. No.5 wrapped the green-haired Netzian's arm in a red metal encasement as weapons were laid out on a large tarp. Once Hal had laid out all his weapons, he pulled out a series of cleaning supplies from his abilities space.

The Netzian soldier got to work as he carefully picked up each weapon, examined it, and applied the necessary treatment. Weapons he did not use in the last battle were the easiest to inspect. They were still in the pristine condition Hal had left them in—his checking of the weapons was more for his self-satisfaction.

Hal slowly began to put back his weapons in their place. Two spears, several more swords, an ax, a rifle, and many more were placed back into the space for later use.

The ability given by No.5 was one that provided storage. The space was limited and had a physical shape that resembled a sphere. There was no top or opening, and Hal could reach any point within to pull out what he needed, even in the sphere's center as it was fully packed.

He had to be mindful of how things were placed, as all space was valuable. He put each weapon back while paying close attention to a digital representation that No.5 set in his vision. He jostled his arm as he worked to put a spear in place. An outside observer would have only seen Hal sitting on the ground with half his arm missing.

In the past, Hal had worked with No.5 to add phantom translucent images of the items for when they were not in the space. It functioned as a shadow board to keep the limited space orderly. When the spear he fiddled with lined up with the phantom image guide, he let go and removed his hand from the space.

All that was left in front of Hal were the weapons he had used in the battle at Horizon. He picked up the wide and heavy-looking blade that had cleaved Savvy’s machines and began to examine them. The weapon he had dubbed: ‘Shatter Will, the blade that breaks the hearts and minds of those that oppose.’ The blade had been dulled, though only slightly, and Hal quickly sharpened it to the fullest extent.

The blade might seem too large for the Netzian to carry to an observer. However, Shatter Will was formed out of lightweight metal, and with the extra strength provided by No.5, Hal was able to move the blade with ease. He had surprised many opponents with the sword, and he reveled in the memories as he cleaned it.

With Shatter Will’s maintenance complete, Hal set out to work on the flintlock-esk pistols he had dubbed: ‘Twin and Gemini, sisters bound by the fury they emanate.’ He delicately pulled the weapons apart and laid the components on a towel he kept in his ability space for such maintenance.

The green hair Netzian began to clean off some of the scorches in the barrel from the hot laser. Once the metal was thoroughly polished, he applied a light oil coating and reassembled the dual pistols. After which, he carefully laid them back on the towel.

At this point, Hal would typically change the cores of the weapons, a source of energy for all guns on Resh. It functioned as a battery and could be replaced in a fire fight similar to a magazine. In shape, they looked like a dome that had been pressed in to give it two flat sides. The bottom, or top depending on how one thought, of a core, was a flat oval shape with several plugs to click into the matching gun.

Hal made a point to change the cores after every fight, even if he only shot the weapon once. Draco, who was the direct superior to Hal, often scolded the green-haired Netzian for doing so. However, even Hal understood that every shot counts in a travel situation. He gritted his teeth and slid the pistols back into the space.

Next to his items were two metal, fingerless gloves that acted like iron knuckles, deemed ‘Fury Fist, the gauntlets that crush the weak.’ Hal had used them in a rapid boxing match with Savvy, and they were largely undamaged. He closely inspected the gloves and applied a light polish before returning them to the space.

The last item on the tarp in front of Hal was the metal pipe that he had claimed from Savvy’s workshop. In length, it was slightly longer than his forearm and hand. The shape was hollow but resembled more of an oval than a circle. It was made from metal, but the metal was a clean white that looked unnatural.

Hal crossed his arms and stared at the pipe. All his cleaning and maintenance supplies sat next to him, but he had no idea where to begin on the item. He knew it was a weapon, Savvy had indicated as such, but how it operated was another question entirely.

The Netzian nodded and picked up the pipe at one end. He thrust the weapon forward like a sword while expecting some kind of beam to fire out. Nothing happened, but Hal repeated the movement while moving around the park. He tried swinging it, twisting it, tossing it like a baton. The pipe did not react. Eventually, some Aqueenian children laughed as they walked by, and Hal ceased the movements.

He laid the pipe back on the tarp and crossed his arms once again. After trying all the movements, he thought he might be missing another piece. Hal eyed the shape of the pipe once again. It was an oval that consisted of two parallel straight planes with rounded ends. He rubbed his chin as he thought of what it reminded him of, then the thought struck him.

He reached into his ability space and pulled out a core. It was one larger than what would go in Twin and Gemini, as it was used in his rifle, but the shapes seemed to match as Hal had thought. The core was slightly larger, but the pipe seemed to be made to line up with the plugs on the power source.

Hal held the pipe with one end pointed at him and slowly navigated the core to the bottom. Before connecting the two, he stopped and turned the pipe to point away from him. He shook his head as he recalled all his weapon safety training and then refocused on putting the core on the end.

It clicked in place and locked. Hal ignored the sound, however, as at the exact moment, a sizeable fiery blade erupted off the other end of the pipe—starting just above where his hand gripped it. It did not resemble a beam of energy or a plasma cutter but instead seemed like a long and narrow campfire.

Hal eyed the blade with his yellow eyes. Slowly, he began to slide his hand closer to the flame blade. It responded by moving up the pipe along with his hand; at the same time, it grew in size. Hal quickly realized that wherever he placed his hands on the hilt would change the blade from an average one-handed blade to a large two-handed blade.

He excitedly began to swing the fiery sword around while trying all options the differences in blade sizes could offer. As the sword swung, embers trailed behind the blade

Once he was done, he started the difficult task of figuring out how it was turned off. In the end, Hal just settled for unplugging the core. He cleaned the weapon as best he could and began to pack up the rest of his supplies.

All the while, he thought of what he should name his new blade.

As Hal finished neatly folding up his tarp, he settled on what he would dub the fiery weapon: ‘Passion’s Bite, the blade that truly came alive in the hands of a Netzian.’

He smiled to himself as he thought about the new sword.