Whateley Academy Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Whateley has a very aggressive combat training curriculum. The weapons ranges are part of this.

Ranges[]

Range 1[]

Range 1 is the rifle and lmg (large machine gun) range. It's may also contain the range offices. It's next to Range 2.

Range 2[]

Range 2 is the pistol, rifle and smg (small machine gun) range. It's either under Schuster [1] or in/under Kane Hall[2][3].

Range 3[]

Range 3 is presumably the laser range. It's only mentioned in one of the Tennyo stories. It's possible that it hasn't been rebuilt since she destroyed it.

Range 4[]

Range 4 is the heavy weapons range. It's somewhere along the northern boundary of the school. There's a high security weapons vault associated with it.

Range 5[]

Range 5 is the same as Arena 99.

Range 6[]

Range 6 is the unofficially named hangout for the Grunts.

Range 7[]

Range 7 is for testing defensive technology, It was created sometime between 2008 and fall 2016.[4]

This article was written by Joe Gunnarson and published in the Crystal Hall Forums, Canon Material: Range Control

Range Crew[]

The range crew is NOT set up along military rank organization. It just happens to (mostly) fall along that line due to seniority of hire. I.E. order of hire. Sam Everhart is only keeping an eye on Caitlin "officially" so the ATF and suchlike have a legal chain of custody over the range operations that Caitlin (a minor, legally) oversees. Caitlin could lock the ranges down without the supervision both effectively and competently. Everhart is there to keep up appearances, and also partly because Caitlin is not exactly stable.

In order of seniority for the range crew we have:

  1. Sergeant-Major Sean Burlington-Smythe (first seen in the Hive stories): Range Control Officer. Former British SAS. The Sergeant-Major oversees the overall operations of the ranges and handles the paperwork. He is a very hands-off manager, and rarely instructs the students directly, although when he does the kids are sure to learn something new. This is the HMFIC of the ranges. Even Carson is reluctant to override an edict on the ranges from him, even though she can.
  2. Gunnery Sergeant Oscar Bardue (First seen in Tea and Synergy): The visible leadership of the ranges, this retired marine answers to Smythe and handles most of the active, day-to-day dealings on the ranges, ensuring that the crew is appraised, alert and that Mahren and Wilson don't slack off on the mandatory paperwork. Gunny Bardue's Bailiwick is Range 1, the primary annex of the underground range, handling small to medium caliber rifles, concentrating on both static and combat marksmanship. Gunny Bardue is understood by the students to be the most intimidating yet fair man on the range crew.
  3. Cat McQuiston (KIA, Range position open as of Year 1 semester finals): Cat was the "odd man" of the Range crew, having been a member of the LAPD SWAT and mutant investigations division, having left the force shortly after her promotion to Lieutenant. Cat McQuiston alternated between teaching on range two, the pistol/SMG range and tutoring Manifestors and Avatars. Easily the most popular teacher among the students on the ranges, Cat was far more likable than her compatriots.
  4. Staff Sergeant Ryan Wilson (First seen in Upheaval): Ryan Wilson is an ex-army ranger and sniper. He avoided being shuffled to an M-SOC unit by weaseling his way into his Regimental C.O.'s good graces. An Exemplar six, Wilson much prefers to deal with people as thay are rather than taking a "I'm superior" position. Wilson is the teacher of the basics. Kids who learn to shoot on the ranges are required to sit in on his basic marksmanship and safety lectures. Currently Wilson is subbing for Cat on range two. Wilson is also the ammunition and supply manager for the ranges, keeping track of every bean, bullet and band-aid used in training, and procuring more.
  5. Corporal Erik Mahren (obviously pre-Caitlin): In the running for the top five most hated teachers on campus, Erik Mahren had, arguably, the most dangerous range position, handling Range 4, an outdoor area used for heavy impact and firepower. He oversaw the use of weapons and blaster-type powers fully capable of destroying tanks and buildings, and thus was a merciless enforcer of safety regulations. Remarkably quiet about his past, Mahren was the guardian of Range 4's "back cage", a repository of some very dangerous equipment, to include more than one devise or gadget that could represent a national security threat. Beyond that, Mahren is known for taking cocky students to the sims, and tearing them apart to show them that embarassing lesson in what baselines can actually accomplish, and he has startling insights on how to defeat dangerous mutant opponents.

Always before (and especially now) that order of seniority applies. Whoever replaces Cat and Erik as the official range instructors will be "Junior man" regardless of experience. it doesn't matter if one person WAS an admiral. If Smythe says jump, your ass better be in the air while he tells you how high to fly.

As a student, Caitlin is permanently "house bitch" in the ranges, mostly keeping track of gun counts and making sure that the cages stay secure, as well as doing whatever odd jobs the crew comes up with (realistically the crew lets her do what she always did, save for actual teaching).

Regulations[]

Ammunition transports happen twice a semester, with the entire range crew as well as one squad of Security Personnel in attendance (for varying reasons, mostly because Mahren and Wilson hate them, Platoon 3 of Security is NEVER allowed to do this escort duty). The ammunition is convoyed to the storage bunkers annexed to the ranges and stored. Without being one of the range personnel, or having Chief Delarose's willing compliance, one cannot access any of the ammo storage compartments.

Primary range regulations are as follows:

  1. treat every weapon as if it were loaded.
  2. never point a weapon at anything you do not intend to shoot.
  3. keep all weapons on safe until you are ready to fire.
  4. keep finger straight and off-trigger until you INTEND to fire.

Accident History[]

There have been firing accidents on every single range in Whateley Academy due to carelessness, inattentiveness or students ignoring instructors. In the last six years, since Bardue began using Mahren as the "house hatchetman" there have been no range accidents, and any student who violates range rules was turned over to Erik for his particular and unique brand of detention. Since 2000, twenty-three students have been permanently banned from the ranges, and ANY range crewman can terminate a student's range privileges with a word.

Getting those privileges reinstated takes a near-act of God. This has happened only once in the school's history, and Mega-Death went above and beyond the call of duty in redeeming his act of indiscretion during his first month at Whateley.

Restoring privileges requires a Teacher recommendation from a range instructor, and then the student must convince Carson, Delarose AND Smythe that they have mended their ways. The Ranges are a privilege, not a right, and the crews are absolutely merciless when it comes down to it. None of them are willing to have dead children on their consciences.

References[]

Advertisement