Lt. Hu Xiang and Private Sofia Torres entered the astrophysics lab, where Private George Bond stood waiting for them. The mysterious blue box stood under the scanners, where it had been moved from Tertiary Storage. Sofia carried the strange alien weapon that the three of them were to analyze. It was small, roughly the size and shape of a doorknob - from back when doors had knobs, which they rarely did these days. It was black in color, with wiring running across its surface. It was obviously electrical in nature, though how it functioned was still unknown.
Sofia places the item on the scanner imager. "Well the wiring is basic enough. If we can figure out what is powering it, we should be able to figure out how it operates."
Lt. Hu called up the scans that Major Orlova had attempted to make of the blue box. None of her scans had penetrated its exterior, and he learned nothing new from them.
Sofia was able to figure out the basics of the alien device. It was actually bioelectrical, designed to work with the creatures' peculiar biology. A human would not be able to discharge the weapon...unless, of course, it could be rewired to interface with the human nervous system. Even then, it might not function properly.
OOC,[b]Sofia[/b], if you wish to attempt to rewire the weapon, please make a second Electrical Repair roll.
Sofia explains everything to Lt. Hu. and then. "So Lt. do you want me to try and re-wire this thing so we can test it? Or should we leave it be? There is no guarantee I can get it working. But I think I understand it enough to do so."
Hu contemplates it a moment. "See if you can rewire it. But carefully. Failure is alright provided you don't blow us up when you do. We don't know how much power this... thing... is holding." On that thought, he goes on to wonder if there was a way to harness the power that was possible from either of these contraptions.
Ok, Sofia takes a deep breath. Puts some shielding around the table and puts on any protective clothing (vest, face visor, etc...) and gives it her best shot. "Yes sir. Let me see what I can do." Then to the device, "Come to mama baby."
George also put on protective gear and helped Sofia. She was able to determine that the weapon functioned much like both a blaster and a taser, though more dangerous than either. The electrical jolt was enough to possibly stop someone's heart. It had an internal power source that seemed to recharge itself over time by drawing static electricity from its environment. It was fired by squeezing it tightly in one's fist while pointing it at the target, thus changing the device's electrical resistance. Sofia did a decent rewiring job, but she just couldn't quite get it to work - until George lent a hand and uncrossed two of the wires. "I think that'll do it," he said. "Now, how do you want to go about testing it, sir?"
"Thanks George. Of course your right. Would have hated to try and test it with those wires crossed. Well we don't know how powerful it is, other than it is stronger than a blaster. And I don't see a a power setting. Maybe the amount you squeeze adjusts the power. Makes sense if your body is changing the resistance. Interesting power supply. You know Tesla worked on this very theory, but supposedly never got it to work. Well except for the rumors that said he did, but the big energy companies killed him to keep it quiet. And here it is laying in our hands." Sofia thought about it for a minute. "If we could use the basic design of this weapon on a large scale, we could solve a lot of the energy problems of the world." She smiled, "my first thought is to shoot it outside the dome, but the suits would probably interfere with the connection. Perhaps we can get permission to set up a shooting range in one of the storage bays."
To both, Hu asks, "Is it solely pressure sensitive or does it use the handler as a conductor? If pressure, we could use a drone outside so we don't take any unnecessary risks to personnel. If the latter, we don't know how powerful it will be. Best suit up in a storage hold as a firing range, as you say. I can use it without a glove, and if things go wrong, I can just put the gauntlet on before depressurization." He also think of how varying weight on generators could increase or decrease power output to stations and the like, a sort of regulator.... hmmmm....
"It's not just the pressure," said George. "The weapon does need physical contact with the body in order to function. Now this one should work with the human body instead of the aliens' bodies. The pressure doesn't vary the power of the blast. Rather, the pressure causes the weapon to fire once a critical threshold is reached, in much the same way that a trigger works on a projectile firearm. I don't think using the storage bays to fire the weapon is a good idea, sir. We have vital supplies in there, and we'd risk damaging them. There's no telling what would happen if the blast is deflected." He thought for a minute. "Wait, I've got it! The simulation suites! They have built-in containment fields used for target practice, and there are quite a few target range and military simulation programs."
OOC,It's been a week and a half, and [b]Lt. Hu[/b] hasn't posted, though his player has been active elsewhere on the board. I'll go ahead and post to keep things moving.
Lt. Hu nodded and led the group to the simulation suites in the central module. None of them were currently in use, so he selected one and initiated a simple firing range program. The simulation suite suddenly became a dull gray corridor, some twenty yards long. About five yards in, a yellow line stretched across the hall. At the far end of the hall, a hologram of a man appeared. He was wearing the uniform of the American Resistance, one of the groups that defied Alexander Kaiser's rule, though it had been reduced to a mere nuisance since the end of the Unification War.
"I'm not much good with energy weapons," said George. "Would you like to do the honors, sir?"
Hu's brow furrows and holds a hand up to George. "One more try." Hu points the device down the range again. He presses it, almost willing it to work. "Come on. Come on, ta ma ni."