Tyranny of Steel

The King of Austria stood in the mountains outside of the Capital City of his realm. Beside him was the young Prince Hans, who was the age of five this year. In this child ’s hands was a rifle, specifically constructed with the purpose of training youth in the operation of firearms.

This rifle was a scaled-down version of the G-22 Service Rifle chambered in a unique center-fire cartridge modeled after the .22 Hornet from Berengar ’s previous life, the primary difference being its use of black powder. The King corrected his son ’s shooting stance before taking a step back and instructing the prince in the proper use of the firearm.

”Hans, you must line up the rear notch with the front sight post. After both are in line with your target, take a deep breath and squeeze the trigger. Make sure the stock of your rifle is embedded firmly in your shoulder before firing. ”

Hans nodded to his father ’s words before doing as instructed, after a few moments of preparation he took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger, in doing so a loud bang resounded in the air, and the .22 projectile flew down range and towards the steel target.

Berengar looked through his binoculars to witness the projectile impacting the target and boldly declared his success.

”Hit! ”

A smile formed on the Prince ’s face, as he heard the feedback of his successful hit shortly after his father ’s declaration. Having achieved his first successful shot, the boy looked over at his father with a wide smile in doing so, shifting the muzzle of his rifle toward the King.

”I did it! ”