Sep 12 108 PA - Some assembly required
From Chronicles
Valeriya is again practicing with her old fashioned yet powerful rifle in a double booth. Though this time she is aiming accurately, anf hitting the target with good shots most of the time. Clearly she's been here a lot since Bart last saw her. Her aim shows it.
Bartholemew strolls up just as Val takes a shot, nailing her target dead on. Already puffing on a cigar, his chuckle would be the first sign he's there, "Nice. Your startin to get deadly with that thing." Unslinging his rifle to rest upon the small countertop, along with a holstered C-5. Bella ain't come to the range inna few whiles. Course she ain't had lotsa reason to. Now she's gotta good one. Carried on a sling when she comes walkin in. She could maybe use it outside but it's way harder ta get space out there. Which is funny cause there's way more.
"At a stand still at least." Valeriya agrees with Bart as he steps up, lowering the rifle to take a break. "Be a bit more before I'm accurate in actual combat. But its definitely better than when we started." She notes before looking over Bart and his weaponry. "So how would this one compare to that one?"
Bartholemew lifts his rifle back into his hands giving it a look over. Giving a small shrug, "Not too much different in the shooting. The reloading is alot different though." glancing between the two weapons, "Can you break down that weapon or is that not needed for your magic type shooters?"
Valeriya looks a bit uneasy as she nods in responce to the question. "My study of magic artifacts grants me the skills of the trade for assembly and disassembly but its no easy task. They are not really designed to be taken apart. Many are enchanted to maintain themselves to avoid that. Such is the case for this rifle." She explains, letting the rifle rest on the counter as she leans back to cross her arms. The leather of her suit creaking a bit. "But to be thorough you could show me how that works on yours. Never know when I might need to do it on another weapon.
"Guess I ain' the only one out fer some fun." Bella knows 'em both. Ain't fergettin Valeriya anytime soon neither. So she wanders thattways. "Blow up anythin fun?" She's got a sort shiny new gun too. Sorta snubby short but still looks big on her. "Nice't the place's open later too. More fun watchin stuff blow up 'r burn inna dark."
Bernard makes his way into the firing range, he only has a fancy looking flintlock pistol tucked into his belt as he looks across the firing lanes. He offers a slightly nod towards Valeriya, "Val." He says as he moves towards the small group.
Bartholemew nods affirmatively, a puff of smoke blown from the corner of his mouth. "I'll give ya a quick run through and then walk ya through it as you do it. Then we'll see if ya can do it on your own." With Bella walking up his attention shifts slightly, "It's all fun doll, cept for whats bein blown up. Ain't so much fun for it. You come by to watch or shoot?" offering a friendly smile in greeting, and then Bernard wanders in on the class which breaks his train of thought totally. Before that, he at least was still lookin like he was gonna continue on, "Howdy." and a nod as a friendly greeting for Bernard.
Valeriya smirks at Bella. "Only thning bretter than blowing things up[ for fun is blowing them up for money, thats my motto." She voices encouragingly before lowering her voice a bit for more of an aside. "And if you got time later i'd like to ask you about a different type of practice shooting." She notes to the diminuitive girl before nodding to Bernard. "Hey there." And then finally she's back to Bart. "Works for me, lead the way."
Bella grins at Valeriya. "Way better when yer gettin paid. Even if it's already fun." Then she tips her head. Perks a brow. "Uh. Sure." She ain't so used ta people askin her about shootin. Bart gets a smirk. "S'why ya make sure y'ain't the one gettin blowed up. Much's ya can anyways." Last is lookin at Bernard with a li'l "Hey."
"Cheers." Bernard says with a nod towards Bartholemew, followed by a nod towards Bella, "I've heard of some interesting Techno Wizardry coming out of Arzno. None of you happen to know where that place is, do you?" he asks curiously.
Bartholemew quickly gets back to business, only giving a shake of his head to Bernard's question. Making sure Val is paying attention he goes into the demonstration, explaining each step carefully. "Bolt must be in closed position. Remove receiver cover by turning lever near the receiver cover counter-clockwise and then pull outward, remove bolt carrier, bolt and spring." as he does this he sets the pieces on the counter in what would appear to be the start of some sort of order.
"West on this continent, near something called a grand canyon." Valeriya notes without looking up from Bart's demonstration. As he runs through she looks to be mimicking his steps on an imaginary rifle and for the most part looks to be very close to accurate.
"Never hearda it." Bella shrugs at Bernard. She don't pay much mind to the takin guns apart. She likes shootin 'em better. So she sticks with talkin on the place she dunno nothin about. "Why'd ya wanna go there? Name sounds kinda weird ta me."
Bernard hmmns, "Maybe I'll find something at the library then. A grand canyon, hmmn, wonder how grand it could really be." He shrugs his shoulders a little, "And I've heard interesting things about their Technowizardy. I'm lookin to aquire some."
Bartholemew continues on without stopping the breakdown of his weapon. He takes it slow to demonstrate to Val how each step is done, but its done with a smoothness that shows he has done this many times, making it look easy. Even when he pauses to pull a small screwdriver from a pocket, it doesn't detract from his pace. "Take the rifle and prop the muzzle of the barrel on the floor, making sure the safety is on or damage will occur, then, with a Phillips Head screwdriver or blunt tool," waggling the screwdriver in the air a brief second before getting to business with it, "push on the small indentation behind the trigger guard until you hear a click or trigger housing lifts up slightly. Now remove the trigger group as one assembly by lifting it out of the rifle." and that too get set on the counter in its place in line with the other parts so far.
Valeriya nods, following Bart's dissassembly with a riveted gaze. The intensity with which she examines his actions suggest a very deep level of study and observation and much like Bart's familiarity with the weapon, analysis looks natural on Valeriya. As if her mind was field stripped and rebuilt to learn things in one step.
Bella waves a hand towards the city outside. "If yer lookin fer stuff oughtta just shop 'round here. Somebody's always got somethin somebody needs. Course prolly costs more gettin stuff from way out somewhere. Also easier 'n goin wherever. Better'n gettin ate 'r somethin too."
"But what's the fun in not having a bit of risk?" Bernard asks, "It's quite easy to go to the store, but to actually get there makes it a bit more fun. So long as it saves you on the costs associated, I suppose."
Bartholemew gives a slight glance to the other two as they chat as if semi listening, though never hesitates in his work, his attention going quickly back to Val and the rifle as he goes into the next step. "Remove barrel and receiver from stock by pulling upward on receiver at the rear until barrel and receiver are at a 10 degree angle, then push slightly forward toward the front of the rifle." Setting the barrel and reciever onto the counter, he moves on, "Remove gas tube and gas piston by rotating lever on rear sight block clockwise to the 12 O'Clock position. Lift upward on the gas tube assembly from the rear without forcing it. Wiggling it a bit can help. The second piston, the operating rod, is located in the rear sight housing, and is removed by rotating the same lever to approximately the 1 O'Clock position with your other hand covering this area as the rod is spring loaded and will launch it's self when released." As it pops he gives a chuckle as he comments, "This way'll keep ya from puttin an eye out."
Valeriya nods slightly as the rod spring pops out. "Good to know." She says softly, not wanting her voice to distract her absorption of wha bart is conveying. It is certainly a lof to convey after all, she blinks every few seconds to keep her vision clear in registering it all.
"Can't buy nothin if somethin chops ya up inta li'l pieces though." Bella smirks at Bernard. Then she looks over ta the teachin stuff goin on. Listens a li'l. Watches Valeriya blink. "Ya still 'wake? I ain't barely listenin 'n dunno what he's talkin' bout but think he's still gonna put me ta sleepin with alla that." To keep things more bright eyed she asks Bart. "Don't ferget not ta take the thing apart when yer gonna need it." Bella thinks that's an important part of the whole taking apart rules.
"Well, you don't really need anything at that point either." Bernard counters, flashing a little grin. His attention shifts a bit towards the lecture Bart's giving, though doesn't really pipe up.
Bartholemew grins with a puff on his cigar, that, as usual, remains clenched between his teeth, tossing the shell of the rifle to Val. Easy enough to catch, "Now you put it back together." giving a chuckle. All the parts are laid out. Will she try? Will she want the reverse demonstration? Bella gets a chuckle from him, "Don't be too sure bout that. Just need to be able to do it quick. Weapons jam, break. Might have to take two to make one." then looking back to Val, "And usually, ya take some lubricant spray to clean all this stuff, and make sure there ain't no crap in any of it. But for now, it don't need any of that."
Valeriya does indeed try, and for her first time doesn't do too bad. She seems to have all the steps in her mind firmly, just the order got a bit mixed up. As such she hesitates every other part or so, unsure which to pick and looking to Bart for guidance. But other than that the reassembly goes fairly smoothly, at about half the pace of the disassembly.
Bella smirks. "Yeah. Don't need mucha nothin then. 'Cept fer gettin yer pieces back tagether." That's for Bernard. But Bart gets some smirking too. "Always got more 'n one. Sides. If yer doin't right there's gonna be lotsa other guns layin round ta use. Even if ya gotta just beat somebody with 'em."
Bernard glances over towards Bella, "Those old things are really only good for shooting a rabbit if you're hungry, and even then it's hit or miss wether it's a monster rabbit and will laugh at the slug."
Bartholemew watches Val, not paying any mind to the others by the looks of it, though Bella's comments do get a smile from him if one were to be paying close attention. He doesn't offer any hints or suggestions to Val, leaving it up to her to figure it out as his drill instructor did with him and his fellow grunts during boot camp.
Without any hints or suggestions Valeriya's pace slows fairly quickly to a crawl. She leaves the sections she is uncertain on to take up others that are clearly and gradually eliminate the number of pieces left to but back in. And one hopes that in the end, there will not be one small piece that is critically important left over.
"S'why I grabbed up this thing." Bella hoists her not so li'l gun and steps up in one of the firing spots. Pusing the shoot button makes a nice pretty stream of sticky plasma napalm burny stuff. Don't hit the target at first. Not hers anyways. So she just keeps sprayin and moves it side to side. Now she gets her target. And three or six others on the sides. And the wall. Floor. Maybe some ceiling. "Don't gotta worry bout no monster bunnies." Or hard things like aiming.
Jaxain arrives on the scene with a casual swagger, sporting a brand new looking duster and a bandoleer that seems pretty well filled with small odds and ends. Seeing a group of familiar people, he makes his way over with a wave.
One comes to quickly find out, that it can only go back together one way. Even without Bart's help, eventually, through trial and error, the puzzle will be back in one piece. When Bella fires the Plasma weapon he can't help but let it catch his attention. "Nice! Ya know, If your using your rifle properly, you won't have to get that close to need a weapon that heavy. The heavy guns are fun to shoot though."
"Hmmn, that's quite impressive indeed." Bernard says as Bella flamethrowers the range. "Though you might want to practice with it some more, get the hang of how to hose down people with hot plasma a bit better."
Valeriya shakes her head as she becomes momentarily distracted during a moment of backtracking in her task. Looking down range she shakes her head slightly at all the plasma burning the field. "Thing about that is its pretty slow to douse an area like that. Easy to avoid." She notes, making a pause to focus a moment before she seems to will a globe of fire into existance. "And mine's more potent." She adds, lobbing the globe downrange before returning to her task.
Stuff's crispy down the range. Extra tasty crispy with Valeriya helping. Bella stops sprayin and shrugs. "Yeah. Can get better. First time shootin it." Then she eyes the tall girl and smirks. "Hey. Ev'rybody's got their thing. Weren' like I's tryin ta whip things out 'n see who's's bigger." She tips her head at the others. "That's the boys' job."
Jaxain lets out a whistle, "Hell, glad I'm not a target right now!" Jax says with a smile. He examines the weapon Bella holds. "Whew, that looks like a good time to be had." He grimaces, "I still gotta get myself someting with some real kick, but what can ya do." He nods to all those present, looking at Valeriya in curiosity, wondering what she is doing.
"Plenty of heavy weapons out there. Plasma Cannons, missile launchers, things like that." Bernard says towards Jaxain, "I'm sure the Kingsdale stores sell plenty of them too."
Bartholemew just shakes his head with a grin, "All that burnt shit is great, but there goes all the loot up in smoke." Not catching the wave, but definately catching Jax as he comments on all the destruction, "Howdy. Maybe you reconsider bein a company man." he chuckles, "Least till ya get your own bank roll started. Maybe you know, you ever been to Arzno? Bernard here is lookin fer the place."
Valeriya eventually gets Bart's rifle back together, just after the fire she lit down range finally goes out. "Jeeze, that was hard. when you were taking it apart I thought I might catch it all like I can with magic but that didn't turn out. I'll have to repeat that a lot before I'm anywhere near as good at it as you." She notes to Bart with equal parts of admiration and appreciation
Bella grins and turns with Jax whistling. "Heya!" She comes out to meet 'im. With a friendly jab with the shooty end of her flame gun. "What? Ain't got nothin't's big 'nuff already?" Another jab.
Jaxain looks puzzled as the rifle goes together as well, not being used to so many fancy looking techincal type parts. "Yowza." He nods to Bernard, "Yeah, but with the price hikes herebouts and the cost-o-ammo, I don't got the creds for anthing that fancy." He shrugs, smiling at Bart and then looking back at Bernard. "Arzno... big merc town, right? Yeah, I think I've passed through there on a caravan run before. Something interesting over that way?" He chuckles at Bella after her jabs, both mental and physical, hit home. "Ouch, babe! Hey, nice shooty toy ya got there!!"
Bernard shrugs his shoulders, "I was considering looking into some of the Techno Wizardry equipment they offer for sale out of there. Might even try to get out that way myself some time. We'll see. And with all the money you made on that last job, not having any armor to repair, or anything. I'm sure you could afford something good, huh?"
Bartholemew nods giving a chuckle to Val, "Just keep doing it every day, won't take long before ya get it. Least you didn't have ta have a drill instructor yellin at ya the whole time. In a couple a weeks, I got something in the works for ya to put all this to practical use, see how all the teachin did ya. Speakin a which," he looks to everyone present, "Any yall up for a huntin trip?" his eyes falling on Bella with a smile, "And sorry doll, ya can't bring that one with ya, won't be good to turn it into a cook out."
Valeriya nods before rasing a brow at the suggested job. "A meat package. Sounds fun. But for the moment I have to run. I'll catch up with you guys on it later." She bids before packing up her rifle to head off for the night.
