The Mechanical Era

The beautiful night sky, which was completely conquered by the stars, was fading as the sun was minutes away from coming up. Siphon, wearing his black police uniform, arrived at a wooden door inside a building. Using his left hand, he knocks on the door.

After a minute of getting no response, he knocked on the wooden door again, but harder. As he knocked on the door, he said.

"Hello? Ridge? Are you in there?"

Just then, the knob of the door handle turns, revealing a woman with very messy brown hair, with a feminine face that appeared nearly awake. She was wearing a nettle leaf brown hemp gown, used as a substitute nightgown, although she wouldn't have to wait very long. The woman looked very irritated by the constant knocking on her home's door.

"Good morning Mrs. Myers. Is Ridge here? I was passing this road and saw that I was close to your house, and thought I might as well come to pick him up." Siphon asked, full of energy.

"Good morning. Yes. He is getting ready. Siphon, isn't it?" she questioned. Her voice was a little slow, with less energy attached to it. Guess she got woken up earlier than she would have wanted.

"Yes! I am! Did Ridge speak about me?"

"Yes... he did. A few times. He told me about how what a good friend you were." The woman's comment made Siphon smile, glad that Ridge thought of him as a good friend.

"Thank you. Um... How long do you think it will take for him to get ready? I worry that I have come a little earlier than normal."

"Just a few more minutes. He should be about as energetic as you are when he gets here."

"Ah. Perfect!" A slight moment of silence enters before Mrs. Ridge decides to ask a question, to keep this conversation going.

"Say, Mr. Siphon, where do live in this part of town?"

"I just live 20 minutes from here, near the fruit store with a pineapple encased in a glass box. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing... it is just that I find it strange that you woke up an hour earlier."

"Oh! That! Well... I might have to bed earlier than expected. That is why."

"Well, that sure clears things up. Say, I got another question, do you mind if I ask another?"

"Go ahead."

"My husband told me that he needed to get to work earlier than usual. Why is that?" the woman asks. Siphon sort of expected Mrs. Ridge to ask that question. In response, he replied with a statement he was taught in training.

"Unfortunately, the information is classified and cannot be revealed to a civilian, even if the civilian in question has ties to the police in one form or another. I hope you aren't mad about that."

"Oh, no worries. If that is what your superiors say, then I don't think I should ask any further into the matter." Just then, wearing his black police uniform, and slightly combed chair, Ridge came over to the door.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ "Alright. Let's go, Siphon." Ridge said. He soon kissed his wife goodbye and walked along the streets with Ridge. As they walked, they looked up at the sky, admiring the beauty that the star-filled sky possessed. Knowing that it will soon fade in a few minutes, the men looked at it as long as they possibly could.

By the time they got to the knight hall, the sun had already risen. After filling in, they were allowed to walk over to the palace grounds. Siphon and Ridge spotted a bunch of wooden tables, all lined up next to each other. On the tables themselves, there was a single rectangular wooden box, all throughout the tables. In front of the tables, were circular wooden targets, with a red and white striped paint job on them, intended to be used to practice their aim.

Besides the tables, there were a few barrels on the ground near the tables, all lined up perfectly, as if there is meant to be two people standing next to it, taking whatever was inside the barrel, into use.

There were a few other policemen present, but not enough to start the exercise. As a result, they had to wait for a few hours. By the time all of the officers had arrived, the sun was 3 hours till it would reach the middle of the sky.

Till then, Siphon, Ridge, and the other officers chatted amongst each other, telling tales of their time as a police officer of Hoverdam so far. While most of their experiences were mundane, they made sure to tell the tale in a way to cause the most excitement. It was all going well until, from the corner of his ice-blue eye, he spots the door open, and 2 knights heading their way.

"Everyone. They are here." Ridge informs the officers. They soon form a line, ready to greet their instructors. The closer the instructors walked, the more they could recognize them. From what Ridge could tell, their instructors were to be Kristina Robin, the knight commander, as well as a knight called Leon De Vandel.

Kristina was wearing her usual uniform of a long-sleeved white shirt, a long purple skirt, and a pair of leather shoes, with black stockings. Leon, the man who was a little shorter than Kristina herself, was wearing a uniform similar to that of Kristina, except that he wore blue pants instead. The two soon made it over to the officers and greeted themselves.

"Good morning everyone. I hope you all have had a good sleep today?"

"Ma'am, Yes Ma'am!"

"Good. Because today, you will all be learning to safely operate the FLM-18. As you all know, due to the restrictions imposed in the treaty, his majesty has decided to issue 75 FLM-18s to each local police headquarters in the city to act as a suitable substitute for the lack of manpower in terms of knights.

The ones who are deemed to be worthy of operating the FLM-18 will be handed to them their own firearm to carry around, called the PCR-18. This weapon, unlike the FLM-18, is much smaller and can fire continuous 6 shots. Prove your worth, and we will make sure you will receive one."

The officers, upon hearing the news, get pumped for what is about to come. They stood up straighter than usual, taking the training even more seriously than before. Kristina extended her hand to point at Leon, who was holding a clipboard and a pencil on his hands.

"Your instructor for today is Knight Leon De Vandel, who has great experience in using the weapon beforehand and had taken his day off to teach you the basics of operating the weapon. Do you all understand?"

"Ma'am, Yes Ma'am!"

"Good. Now make sure you listen to him closely. He will be recording your performance and handing it over to me to look through." her head then turns to Leon.

"Knight Leon, take it from here," she orders. With that Kristina leaves the men all alone, allowing them to start training. Leon soon instructed the men to open the crates. Inside contained two rubber bongs, a small cup, and the FLM-18 firearm itself.

"Alright everyone, listen up! First, make sure that the musket is unloaded. This weapon had the power to defeat the knights. Point it in a safe direction, away from anyone, and pull out the ramrod inside." he instructed.

Ridge took out the ramrod, which was this long stick used to charge the weapon. He places it down on the table and checks to see if there is a projectile inserted. There appears to be none in this one.

"Now that you have made sure that the weapon is unloaded, the first step is to prime the pan. Pour a small amount of black powder into the priming pan. Use your cup for the job. You should only need a quarter."

It was then that the men opened the wooden barrel. The barrel appears to have a wall in the middle splitting the gunpowder from the metal balls into a quarter of the container. Ridge and Siphon, who shared the same barrel, took the amount recommended by Leon and pours it into the pan.

"Once you have primed the pan, now what you need to do is to charge the barrel. You will only need to fill up the cup with the right amount. Once you pour the gunpowder, use the ramrod to stick it inside."

Ridge followed along. He completely filled up his thin metal cup, removed any excess, and poured it inside the barrel. Using the ramrod, he made sure that it was all the way in the barrel. Afterward, once Leon instructed to place the ball, he continued to do so.

Once the gun had been fully loaded, Leon instructed the men on how to properly wield the weapon. They were instructed to take aim at their target, pulled the lever down from half-cock to full-cock, and pull the trigger on the commander's turn.

"Fire!" As the order was given, dozens of explosions propelled the projectiles inside the gun barrel into the direction of the targets. As they fired, the men experienced recoil from the firearms for the first time ever.

A slight adrenaline rush went through the officers, as they felt the sheer power given off by the musket. Leon, went over to examine the targets and record their accuracy. Once he finished, he headed back to the officers, to inform them of the situation.

"I have to say, for your first attempts, I am impressed. However, there is still a long way to go until you are able to properly wield the weapon. For your next training session, we will be practicing how to properly use firearms. Afterward, we will be training to reduce your recoil."