"Clearly, it is a-" He spots the trigger and pointedly keeps his fingers away from it. "-weapon of some sort, Lord." He looks at the magazine, goes to open his mouth and then hesitates. "No, Lord. I am not familiar with it."
"Abrax. Your master Lord Mahes is a God of War. That is his domain, and his mastery of it is rivalled only by other war gods. I am a God of Trade. My understanding of economics is superb, but my understanding of war is far more limited. No doubt Lord Mahes complained about me treating war as exercise in logistics?"
Good trigger discipline. And don't undersell the power of logistics and a secure supply chain. Without transport, an army cannot reach the battlefield quickly. Without ammunition, an army cannot fight as well as it could.
Without
food, an army
starves.
He hesitates again. "My god did inform me that it is unlikely that we would be sent into battle soon."
I nod. "You are here because I can't possibly produce products for sale without knowing what the end user desires. So speak to me as a warrior to an armourer."
Heh. Might be pushing your luck getting
that informal a response.
He looks at me askance. "That is not-. Ah, I do not question you, Lord Mammon. It-. This-."
I wave my right hand. "Speak freely and without care, Abrax. The worst I will do is return you to your god, and it is paramount that you and I understand one another in this exercise."
Probably less of a punishment than Abrax would expect, even if he understands that Paulmon isn't your
typical Goa'uld.
"I do not… Understand."
I raise my eyebrows. "Can you narrow it down a little?"
He seems all at sea when he's not expected to be worshipful. Definitely not accustomed to a more relaxed environment.
"Your manner, Lord. No god I have heard speaks as a mortal speaks, yet…"
He's tense. Bastet's underlords are less inclined to execute their jaffa and human followers for doing what they're told in a displeasing way than some, but there are still some fairly definite red lines.
Which seems like a rather sloppy way to do it. Consider the
investment in time and training each Jaffa represents. Executing one because they dared to have a modicum of independent thought?
"A king gives commands. A general issues orders. A merchant converses. People are far more likely to buy from someone who they like. That's why I don't usually bother with the voice. But if it would make you happier, I could do so?"
He nods. "It is… What I am accustomed to."
Just not the same without the bass reverb, huh?
"Very well. What else?"
"You tolerated the heretic speaking out in your court." He frowns, grimacing. "The child spoke in ignorance, and I understand why you were merciful. But I do not understand why you tolerated such blatant disrespect."
Why make an example when you can teach a lesson? And besides, I doubt the SGC would appreciate their people being executed for something as foolish and minor as that.
"Because she's too useful to discard. Because we do simplify things for our followers, and as mine learn more they need to know how they are supposed to deal with understanding what their grandparents would have simply called 'magic' and avoided thinking about. Because my job is to persuade those who disagree with me to see things my way, and sometimes that cannot be done in a single meeting."
In other words, a bit of 'It's above your pay grade, soldier' mixed with a bit of 'gods move in mysterious ways.'
He's still frowning, but he nods.
"Now, that weapon. Tell me your impressions."
Good plan, distract him with work instead of peculiar behaviour.
"It is… Short." He grips the stock, squeezing and shaking it to try and determine how solid it is. "As a melee weapon it has poor reach, through it may be more manoeuvrable than a Ma'Tok and so negate the need."
I nod. "There's an attachment point for a knife on the barrel, but the designers generally assumed that it would be used almost entirely for shooting."
Because
of course they expected someone would feel a need to fix bayonets.
I assume it's an
M16 rifle or
MP5 SMG, rather than the iconic
P90. More logical for real-world American forces than a fancy and less common submachingegun.
He holds the stock in his right hand and lightly grips the magazine with his left. "This is the source of its power?"
"No. Where a Ma'Tok staff or a Zat'nik'tel use a liquid power source that can fuel thousands of shots, these weapons use solid ammunition which is propelled by an alchemical explosive. It can fire only those shots physically placed inside. That-" I point to the magazine. "-is their container. Just press-" I point to the magazine release. "-there."
One of the limitations of Earth weapons, though. Limited capacity and the need to carry reloads, compared to Goa'uld energy weaponry. On the other hand, much higher rate of fire.
He moves the hand on the stock to hold the middle section of the gun, then presses the release. He nearly drops the magazine as it falls into his hand; perhaps it was just expecting it to come loose? Then he lifts it up to he can examine the rounds.
"They seem… Small."
Only about
three inches long. Still, they can do a surprising amount of damage, especially to people not expecting to get shot.
"They hit with considerably less force than-." Hm. "It just occurred to me that you have only used the standard issue Ma'Tok staff."
"I do not understand, Lord."
Ah, yes. The TV version. As in 'one simple squib and minimal acting out the hit'...
"The version issued to Ra's forces has a little more kick to it. A privilege of being sworn to the Supreme System Lord. A hit from a normal Ma'Tok will burn a hole in a man's chest. Ra's version would cave his chest in and send him flying as if kicked by a mule as well. But you are correct. Each bullet hits with far less force than a blast from a Ma'Tok staff."
...As opposed to the movie's 'deluxe pyrotechnics and wire-yank' version.
His frown deepens as he slots the magazine back into the gun and then shifts it to a from-the-hip firing position. Realising that that's clearly incorrect, he raises it to the off-the-shoulder position jaffa use for aimed staff shots. Then he thinks for a moment and moves it so that the stock rests against his shoulder instead.
"Is this correct, Lord?"
Impressive. Able to work out a correct posture just from the ergonomics of the weapon's shape.
"Just so."
"The small metal circle above the barrel is a sight. The magazine allows the ammunition to be drawn-." He moves the rifle off so that he can examine it again. "No. There is no source of power. It is purely mechanical. The ammunition is fed into the launching mechanism."
Yes, very impressive indeed. I suppose he can also work out that the charging handle along the receiver would cycle a round or clear the chamber.
He moves to a firing lane and releases the magazine again before putting it on the bench. Then he returns the rifle to his shoulder and pulls the trigger, which does not move. Frowning, he lower the gun and looks it over for a moment before finding the safety switch. He can't read the writing, but there are only three settings. He selects the first, single shot. Then he raises it to his shoulder and aims at the target.
Click.
Honestly, this seems typical for senior Jaffa. True masters of arms. Though specific bits like cleaning and maintenance might be a little tougher to work out without instruction.
"It is a hammer. A contact trigger. It strikes the ammunition. What is the delay between shots?"
"Less than a second. If you move that dial again, it will continue to fire again and again until the magazine is empty. Thirty shots, though there are larger versions."
No need to point out that the larger the gun, the less portable it is, he's familiar enough with that concept from the larger staff-based weapons like the emplaced
Staff Cannon or the gliders' armaments.
"I can see an advantage against an unarmoured foe, but against armoured jaffa surely it would achieve little?"
"That depends on their armour. Many gods only equip their jaffa with light armour, designed to absorb fire from energy weapons. These kinetic weapons will pierce it."
Especially when that 'light armour' includes things like a
bare midriff.
To be fair, Ra probably wasn't expecting any significant trouble, so why have his guards wear full-body armour?
His frown deepens, then he raps his knuckles against his own trinium heavy plate. "And against my armour?"
"Not easily. They would have to hit the joints, or shoot the eyes of your helmet to force you to expose your head. Or use a larger version."
Pretty sure a
50 calibre machine-gun would punch holes in his armour and him. Just a bit less likely to appear in a light firefight, though. Unless you're like Kawalsky.
He nods, returning the magazine to the gun. "This weapon seems… Simple, compared to the workings of the gods."
"Its designers are the tau'ri. The humans of the original human homeworld. They have no god to instruct them in the higher magics, but they have made considerable progress in mastering the lower ones by themselves."
And sometimes, simple is better. Even if modern guns are a bit fiddlier than an old arquebus or musket, the latter are still easy enough to produce with limited tech bases. Can't make a staff weapon with a forge and some iron. (Although such a gun might be more of a '
gonne' without good metalworking skills and precise machining.)
"If they have no god, then who do they make war upon?"
"Oh, each other. In the three thousand years since Ra left I don't think a single year has gone by without one group on their world making war upon another."
...Fairly accurate. Though sometimes the
wars are quite
small.
He shakes his head. "Foolish, and wasteful. They should be conquered and corrected as swiftly as possible."
I nod. "A fine warrior's answer. But I am a merchant. Now, try firing it. Though I will-"
And war is good for business and the advancement of technology, after all. Especially if you can sell weapons to all belligerent parties.
He raises the gun and fires, bullet narrowing missing the bull's-eye as he winces at the BANG.
"-warn you that it's a little louder than a Ma'Tok staff."
Might want to make some ear protection before he goes deaf.
