Apr 08 11:13:37 109 PA - Big Gun and Unhealthy Health
From Chronicles
Apr 08 11:13:37 109 PA.
PUBLIC FIRING RANGE
It's midday, and the firing range is extremely busy. It's as if everyone has decided to get in some range time. Far to the east, as weapon power increases away from the walls stands Pavel at one of the heavy stalls. A railgun is held in his arms as if it were made of plastic, with belts and drums of ammunition clustered around him.
Bernard steps into the firing range himself some time later, spotting the large fellow down the range with his railgun and he heads down himself, "Afternoon, Pavel." He says, taking a moment to cast a tongues spell afterwards as he nears, and says now, in your native tongue, "So did you all make it out of the camp unscathed?" he asks curiously.
Pavel turns and gives Bernard a narrow-eyed gaze, but responds politely enough, << Yes, I did. Three days of perfect health for a blacksmith in combat, armed with a bow and melee weapons and defeating enemies. I think that I did well for myself. You did, too. >> The final phrase is simply dropped like a stone, and then the way that he turns back to his weapon, may indicate that the subject has been dropped as well. He lines up the large weapon and it burps out *BRRRRRRRR* of a burst a few seconds later. A simple grunt is his estimation of the quality of the shot.
"Oh hardly. I barely got anything worth value. In fact I was paid less then I would have gotten to stop whatever it was attacking this time." Bernard replies, "I should have spent time actually casing the place a bit more. I'm actually a bit embarrassed with how poorly I did do, but oh well." He shrugs his shoulders a bit, "They seem to be quite well off financially however," he adds before watching you fire your railgun down the way.
The smith offers, << It is unfortunate that two had to die, but as they were attacking the compound, I am glad that it was them rather than us. Trying to do harm is different than petty theft. >> Briefly after that is another *BRRRRRRRR* as bullets accelerated by electromagnets fly downrange again. This time they do a decent job of smacking off a discarded robot vehicle's shoulder. << It is also unfortunate that one of the attackers was my tutor, and now I don't know what I'm going to do. >> Pavel shakes the weapon. << Right now I'm stuck with just enough skill to be dangerous. >>
"A shame, anyone I know?" Bernard asks curiously at that, "They're not terribly hard to use though. But you have to familiarize yourself with a variety of weapon systems, consider extreme ranges and the like." He adds, "Plus burst controls and such."
<< Does that mean that you know how to use these things? >> Pavel hefts the large weapon. << I'm doing rather well, but I need polishing. My friend was a Juicer, just recently a Juicer. But he sided with the Family and not only tried, but did cause injury and death, so while I mourn his passing, I do not mourn his end. But you know these? >>
Bernard nods his head at that, "Fairly well yes, when you're targeting the Splugorth for robbery and such you need something that packs a punch." He says, "Though railguns, I don't tend to carry, they're heavy, require large batteries, and you can't be really mobile with them. But I'm familiar though."
Chuckling, Pavel does a decent job of twirling the big gun like a baton once around. << It's not so bad. I need something to hit hard and at range. I have everything close and mid-range covered, I just need the distance. Lasers and such I don't like, because people such as yourself can just cast spells that make them immune. Not very handy. >> The weapon is then set down butt-first, him gripping the muzzle to steady it. << Do you think that you could try to pick up the rest of my training? I'd hate to waste away that time only to get to this point and stop. >>
Bernard hmns a bit, "I could possibly take some time to do it, yes. Though I have some studying of my own I need to do as well." He says, considering, "Perhaps I'll watch you shoot a bit and see how long it would take to get you up to speed. Normally we reserve our instruction for those learning our arts, but this I suppose is generic enough."
Pavel raises his brow. << It's not good to limit yourself to only one thing. I'm a very good smith, but I learn other things as well, >> he nods, then hefts the railgun back into a carry position. Slung so that it's tucked up under his armpit. He takes his time, then there's a very long *BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* as he fires off the rest of the belt, leaving the muzzle smoking. The rounds are really not bad, destroying most of the remaining pieces of the discarded robot. It might seem as if he has not just been taught, but spent hours and hours practicing. With a chuckle, he grabs the hot open end of the muzzle as if it had never been fired, then drops to one knee, beginning to work the action.
"You'll need to learn to use weapon sights for anything besides a railgun though." Bernard observes as you fire off the weapon, "I'll bring my grenade launcher out to give you practice on something else besides a railgun." He offers as well, "You'll need to get some training grenades though."
After a nod, Pavel says, << Training grenades would be fine. I don't have a problem with that. >> Bernard gets a brief smile. << I will be here, if you want to get the weapon. I would appreciate the instruction. >> He is at one of the heavy weapons ranges, currently hefting a large railgun in beautiful midday sun. Bernard is nearby, looking over what is clearly only a partially-trained heavy gunner.
Bernard is currently speaking in tongues, allowing anyone hearing him to hear him in their native language. He offers a faint nod towards Pavel, "Well, I could go get it, I suppose." He says at that.
When rigorous personal training, hours of magical study, and copious amounts of alcohol all fail to make Valeriya her almost content and tolerable self. Explosives help. This is what brings her to the range today. Its been a while actually, and she has been rather scarce from public for over three months now. So maybe walking in with a new look will draw attention as she pays for some time and practice rounds for her C-5.
The makeover may have already gained Valeriya some attention, and a fan. On the other hand, Leonard is also admittedly far from a marksman with the common rifle he arrives with. Were it obtained new, the original stickers might still be intact.
Pavel is intent on what he's doing, too intent and focused on something that is still new to him to actually pay attention to anyone entering the already insanely-busy range. He's on one knee, having just cleared the empty firing chamber of a large railgun. Dragging one end of a new belt out of a large ammunition drum, he takes deliberate time to seat the first round and lock the breech properly. Then the entire setup, including the drum, is hoisted as he stands back up, the muzzle toward the sky for safety. Eyes dancing from shredded target to shredded target, his big smith's fingers flex around the barrel.
Bernard's attention shifts down towards the new arrivals, "Well, look what's come back from the dead." He comments, "How are you doing, Val?" he asks with a bit of a smirk.
Valeriya smirks at Leonard's light rifle, showing some recognition. "I used to have a pistol by that brand. Think it was bigger than that though. I later realized more guns than hands to fire with made for too many changes and sold it." She remarks as she starts towards a doubles booth before pausing to regard Bernard. "Nearly dead, but my physician tells me I'm all better now." She replies with a smirk to the old acquaintance. "How are you?" She asks before continuing into the booth and hitting the button for a clean set of targets to pop up. Able to chat and aim, she's quick and efficient to have the C-5 loaded and ready. But slows dramatically when she can't seem to shake a tremble in her arm.
"If they were not constructed to be so clumsy," Leonard smirks in return, "I wouldn't need to use two hands to miss." He then nods to acknowledge Bernard, despite the fact that the greeting was made elsewhere.
"Leonard." Bernard offers with a nod of his head as he moves to join the two as Pavel focuses on his practice. "I've been doing good. Picked up a couple tricks that may prove interesting since I last saw you. Spent some time down at that refugee camp recently. Interesting things there."
Finally Valeriya forces her arm to still and pulls the trigger for a decent explosion of paint around the target downrange. She shrugs the issue off to take a moment to focus back on Bernard. "We've been reinvesting as well, about to pass some off to Leonard for him to learn and make copies of. Then they'll be one for you too. And Leo expanded the library too if you have any you want to study."
Leonard glances sidelong towards Valeriya and along her line of fire as she paints cardboard silhouettes. Her artistic side at work. "Bernard. Yes, we've been active, as well. I did inform him of the library expansion." The last is for Valeriya.
Bernard nods his head, "Indeed, I honestly don't do much research though, I find it a bit boring honestly. But, With the cost of my more specialized magic, I may need to look into some studying practices." He says with a shrug of his shoulders, "I'm pricing a scroll of Fly as an Eagle at the moment."
Valeriya raises a brow at that. "That would be a very useful spell. I'll trade you greater invisibility for it once I'm done with it." She offers without hesitation. Indeed nothing seems to be wrong with her bargaining nerves, just her aiming ones as the tremble returns with her next attempt. Her expression screws with consternation, trying to understand the unwanted twitch.
"Is something wrong?" Leonard asks Valeriya, spying the tremor now, where he only noticed the hesitation before. "Most of the weapons are clumsy, but maybe yours is misaligned?" That is as technical as he ventures where weapons are concern. "I considered flight, once. As much as I prefer magic, however, a jet pack seemed more simple for that use."
"A jet pack has certain disadvantages for stealthy travel though. It leaves a distinct sort of signature I suppose that many spells won't mask." Bernard shrugs a bit, "But I'd gladly make that trade. I'll tell you when I get it." He says to Valeriya. Taking a few moments to watch her try and shoot, "Perhaps there's still something lingering from your injury." He suggests, "Though I don't know I have anything that would help calm your nerves."
Meanwhile, down at the heavy end of the range, Pavel has burned through an entire ammunition drum, smashing old vehicles and stone targets beneath electromagnetically-accelerated rounds. The smoking muzzle is rested against a stand while he reloads.
Valeriya looks to Leonard at Bernard's suggestion to see if he concurs. Even though everything seemed perfectly fine before she came to the range. "It's not the gun. It's my arm, it won't steady to aim at a point unless I really concentrate" She explains, doing so. But even then the tremble never truly seems to go away, she just finds a moment in it to make the shot as aimed.
Leonard is probably the last choice in combat or medical advice and rolls his shoulders. "You recovered your strength enough to nearly take my head off, and that was weeks ago. That and I'm sure that Edgar would've noticed any lingering injury. Perhaps it's just lack of practice?" On the other topic, he nods. "True. I also considered techno-wizard devices, but the costs were exorbitant."
"If you want we can try some breathing exercises to try and calm yourself before you take your shots. I can't promise anything, but I've had some training in sniping techniques in my apprenticeship." Bernard offers to Valeriya, "Perhaps that could help. I'm no doctor though." He shrugs his shoulders, then offers a nod towards Leonard, "They're a bit bizarre to me. I've rarely encountered them, but useful. I carry a techno-wizardry pistol with me."
"Great. So there is nothing physically wrong with me, I've just lost my nerves. Exactly what I deserve." Valeriya hisses with a scowl, suddenly losing all desire to continue her practice. "Was doing that the last two times, like Bart taught me for the rifle. Didn’t stop my arm from trembling but it did allow me to find an acceptable shot despite. Still, I won't do nearly as well taking three times as long to make a shot."
"I didn't say that," Leonard clarifies, though that it happened before, and recently, does tend to kill his tentative theory. "You haven't lost your nerve, though. I'm certain of that."
Bernard shrugs faintly, "That's something for you to answer." He says, "Though it could be something besides you just having lost your nerves. But, like I said, I'm not much of one to talk on what it actually could be really."
Valeriya does not seem satisfied with the lack of qualifications from either party and will have none of it. Her eyes lock on Leonard with his admittance. "Do I look like I am fully in control to you right now?" She asks, or perhaps threatens. "Take me to a real doctor who can diagnose this. NOW."
Leonard blinks. Twice. "Well... no, you don't." That she looks ready to inflict bodily harm makes that easy to answer. "And I will. After you?" An arm gestures elsewhere. He didn't really want to fire his weapon, anyhow, she's done with practice, and walking behind her seems safest.
Bernard laughs at that, "Well, you could be cursed." He offers a bit, but seems in no way interested in getting in the way of the rapidly evacuating Valeriya on her hunt for a practitioner of medicine.
Valeriya scoffs at Benard's second suggestion. "Curses can't take hold on me for long. Can see and unravel their magic like any other." She hisses in explanation on the way out, letting Leonard follow.
"You aren't helping in the slightest," Leonard glances back to Bernard with a less than pleased gaze, "Her or yourself. Sometimes, it's best to be silent." He then moves after the upset Valeriya.
