Jan 05 10:47:58 106 PA
From Chronicles
The current game time is: Tue Jan 05 10:47:58 106 PA.
Midday nears and Desmond is quietly setting up at one of the stations along the firing line in the small arms range. Armored and armed as he often is these days, he is setting out clips for the practice laser pistol that he's got laid out as well. He's expecting his pupil to arrive soon enough and will be prepared when she arrived. His ears only occasionally flick toward some of the louder sounds of weapons fire, but he doesn't look up from his quiet busywork.
It's a sensible thing to be armored, especially outside the city proper. Even so, Valerie is unarmored as she opens the door and steps into the firing range. She scans the area quickly and efficiently, then strides towards Desmond. She appears to have gotten rid of her old coat... well, the rags that remained. Today she's clad in a nice black coat with a druidesque hood. "Desmond," she greets as she comes near.
Desmond turns when Valerie addresses him, paused a moment as he considers her new coat. There is a dip of his head in a nod as he rumbles, "Welcome, Valerie." He shifts to the side and motions for her to step up next to him. "Load the pistol," he directs her, "Then I wish you to unload it and reload it with another clip, other than the one you have removed, as quickly as you can." Right to business, though something more mundane to start.
Valerie frowns faintly as she draws her pistol. A relatively unfamiliar request there; she's never really focused on quick reloads. That shows, as she loads the pistol with decent speed for a relative newbie, but the rapid unload and following reload takes a bit longer. One thing that slows her down is that she focuses thoroughly on each of those tasks.
Desmond nods his head once after she's gone about the reloading attempt. "Not bad, but you should give that some practice. It may seem a strange thing to focus on, but in an extended battle, there will be a need to reload your weapon. And while you are reloading, you are not firing or prepared to act. The faster you can reload, the sooner you can fire again and the sooner you can focus fully on the battle." He pauses a moment, then adds, "So too, the goal is to be able to load without shifting your attention from the battle around you. That is harder.. even I am no master of such a maneuver. Try it again."
Valerie gives a nod. Tempting though it may be to voice a protest about something or other, she recognizes his experience and accepts his kitty wisdom. Click, the clip comes out. She slips it into her pocket and takes out another clip, which she then slaps into the gun. Faster this time, although she still focuses considerably on it.
"Better," Desmond rumbles approvingly. "You will need to practice this more.. when you have time to toy with such things, as it will help your body learn the movements, that you can do them with less focus on the act itself. Part of this depends on your kit." He indicates the longer pouches on his own utility belt, one of which he pops open to show a pair of e-clips slid in, side by side. "I know where all of my equipment is set and thus can take a clip out at once, knowing how it is positioned when in hand." He closes the pouch and states, "That is for you to decide, how you will carry your weapons and ammunition, in a way that best suits your needs."
Valerie squints and peers at the opened pouch. "Like a quiver," she finally decides with a nod. "I can see the point. I will make sure I practice it at home." Honest, teach! She unloads the pistol once more without being prompted, then repeats the actions from before. Slip it into a pocket, take out another clip, and use it to load the gun. Still not as swift or smooth as it should be, but a little better. "What now?"
Desmond nods his head once, showing no disbelief of her declaration. "Now, we practice something more challenging," he says, moving back a little as a hand lifts to her shoulder, lightly guiding her to step fully up to the station. "Before, your practice has been a slower thing. Taking time to aim, which occasionally you will be allowed. More often than not, it will be as in the battle we took part in.. no time for a good aim, you must fire with only a moment to aim. You did very well in that combat." The goal in this is not to hit the center of the target, but to fire rapidly, at a pace that is comfortable for you, while hitting the same region of the target. A tight grouping of shots is what tells the tale of a steady aim."
Valerie is thereby and thusly guided up to the station. "We were not in actual danger," she persists, but it's apparently not an argument she intends to follow up on just yet, for she slowly raises her pistol, focusing instead on the task at hand. "I understand. Let me know when to start."
"Were we not?" A curious question given, though Desmond doesn't stop the lesson for it, continuing, "You may begin firing at will and empty the clip. Start with your weapon lowered and unaimed. I wish you to lift your weapon and wait for no more than a second before you begin to fire. The point is to fire at a faster pace, but not wildly so. For all this pace of fire is different. For you, it will likely be a bit slower than I."
Valerie lowers her pistol again, then. And then she quickly jerks it up, waits for a second and fires the first shot. A miss, but barely. The next is a hit, and so is the next. All in all, she fires ten shots before she lowers the pistol. Eight hits, having been made with roughly a second in between each. Her grouping could be tighter, but it could be a lot worse.
Desmond watches the firing in silence, waiting until Valerie is finished before he speaks again. "Good. Your grouping improves, I do think. Now to mingle these two. Load a fresh clip, but this time when you empty this one, reload swiftly and resume firing. I think that we shall progress to make use of NTI's range soon, to do more mobile firing practice. I believe you ready to focus on that very soon."
Valerie does as the kitty tells her to. She ejects the clip, then slips it into her pocket and takes out the other clip, which she slams into the gun with a satisfying noise. She raises her pistol and waits for slightly more than a second before firing, but this time it's a hit. A second between each shot, and a total of nine hits. The grouping is, however, not much better than before.
Desmond shifts his eyes downrange to watch the shots as they play out, expression ever in that firm neutral space. Towards the end of the firing, he nods his head slightly and as she nears the end of the clip he will state, "Again, without pause. Load and fire." His deep voice firm in the way of a casual command. And should she comply he will grow silent again, watching the shots as they land. Though this time, as she nears to the end of the clip he will ask her, "What do you think about when you are firing?" His head turning towards Valerie then.
Again Valerie obeys. Click, ka-click. Screech, screech, screech, screech... screechscreechscreechscreech... screech, screech. Ten orange blasts of particle matter. Nine hits, slightly tighter grouping. Not by much. "Think about?" she asks, blinking sharply. "I think... I must hit the target?" Aye, a great philosopher is she.
Desmond nods his head once. "Good. When you are in combat that should be what fills your mind. Not just the target you assail, but the general status of your allies and your foes, that you best know where to apply your skills to push forward the battle. If your shot might be better placed against the target you shoot now or if it would be better to shift to a weaker target. The focus of fire is important, as you saw in our battle with the robots. Focusing ended each one faster, giving us the benefit of numbers."
"I go for the stronger enemies," Valerie tells Desmond, and explains her tactics with, "Thus they will focus on me instead of a weaker ally, and I will earn more glory." See, it makes SENSE! She nods. "Unless I see an ally in trouble elsewhere."
Desmond muses quietly for a few moments at her words. "It depends on the situation. Strength and weakness can vary and not be all that obvious. In a wide battle, it can be tempting to go for the largest, strongest looking foe. But if you face a group of foes with your comrades, and you can locate their leader, who may not be the biggest and strongest, ending that one would throw the odds strongly in your favor. Strong tactics are a deeper thing, though much of it is learned over time. Determining the best place to strike is not always simple." He breathes out deeply and adds, "So too, drawing attention is not always the best thing. It was a close thing for we two in that battle. Especially for you. You must remember your personal mission to your people. Something you will not be able to attend to if you fall in battle."
"Killing their champion may be more demoralizing than killing their leader," Valerie persists with a shake of her head. Best tactics ever. "And we were not truly in danger when we attacked the robots. We were not fated to die that day, Desmond. We were meant to win." She says this in a voice full of casual confidence. There's apparently no doubt in her mind about it. "That we took some blows on our path to victory was inevitable."
Desmond frowns faintly at that, it obvious at a glance that such thinking doesn't mesh with his strictly logical mind. Though he delays addressing the certainty briefly to rumble, "Decisions on the ground as to where to strike are ever a matter of circumstance." Relegating that to where it belongs. "So to fate.. it is a detriment to believe in such things. Surely it would give one confidence in the face of conflict.. a good thing. But being too certain of your path, that nothing can threaten the results, is a fallacy. Overconfidence of that sort can be deadly if a true danger is not recognized because of it."
"You are absolutely right. Believing in something false would only weaken you, be it from looking for enemies in every shadow, or thinking yourself invulnerable without reason. It is merely," Valerie states casually, offering the cat the faintest of smiles, "That I am right. I know that I will fall in battle, but also that it wouldn't be on that day."
Desmond cants his head slightly and considers the human woman briefly before he asks, "What tells you this? None can know just when their time comes. And it only takes one slip for it to come." His skepticism is obvious enough, though not scornful. "You are a seer?"
"Of course I'm not a seer," Valerie admits with a shake of her head. "I am a warrior." Nevertheless, she doesn't appear to find any flaw in her logic. "And I will know when it is time for me to die. At least if that day comes while I am away from home." She unloads the clip and puts it back into her pocket, but doesn't put in a new clip.
Desmond frowns faintly at that and is quiet again for another moment. Those thoughtful poses a constant thing for him. And, as ever, followed by more questioning. "Why? What gives you this certainty that you will know?" Though he seems more curious than doubting, if not truly convinced of the validity of Valerie's beliefs. He notices her unloading of the pistol and dips his head once. "I think we are done for this day, but you should practice what we have done here on your own. Firing rapidly and loading quickly to resume firing. So too, consider how you will carry your weaponry into battle and come to practice with it so carried."
Valerie slips the pistol into the same pocket. "I will make sure to practice diligently... and figure out a way to wear the holster comfortably." Comfort is important. Maybe that's why she doesn't wear her armor much. "It's an interesting challenge, if it's to look good." Which is also important. Style, kitty. She finally smiles slightly at Desmond. "I will be better next time. May you have a pleasant day."
Desmond maintains his frown as Valerie sidesteps his curiosity. But he allows it without much trouble. "Good. I will see about what it might take to secure NTI's training ground for some more active practice. Farewell, Valerie." And he will linger a moment to watch her depart before he turns and will start cleaning up the items laid out at the firing station quietly.
Tags: desmond, learning, valerie
