A Troubled Soldier 01

[theriflespiral]

I: Delivery to Elysium
Elysium-the-city was far larger than Natalia had first assumed. Not that this was a problem for her-- a day or two among the rooftops, and she would know this place as well as anyone who lived here.

For now, though, she was momentarily relying on a map she kept carefully tucked away, and an address on a box with a memorized order form (and countersign, and counter-countersign, easily handwaved).

Being a delivery girl was hardly a novel cover, but it was precisely because such things were ubiquitous that it was easy to slip into the role as she came around the service entrance. Add perhaps a touch of bitter expression at the cold-- she didn't even have to try for that one-- and things would, hopefully, work just fine.


II: Blames Her Tools (Vault)
Natalia, after spending the better part of a day hitting targets from as extreme a range as the Vault could afford, was now overhauling her rifle, first cleaning the inside of the barrel with a cloth and a cleaning rod, and then disassembling it, screw by painstaking screw.

The casings were drying on a separate cloth nearby, with the scent of soap and water, waiting for an oven to finish getting up to the proper temperature.

It took up an entire gunsmith's bench, between the disassembly and the casings waiting for annealing and rolling and fitting and loading, but there was something to it. A peace, in an artisan's craft.

She looked at the tool rack above her and clicked her tongue.

She would have to go hunting for that particular tool.

Okay. Smooth hair. Stand properly. Act like you're supposed to be here.

Time to go among the other workbenches. Or workshops, if she had to.


III: Wildcard
Bug Natalia because she looks suspicious or because you need something.

Comments

I

[lightnovelexperiences]

One of Natalia’s special deliveries is to a bathhouse and beauty salon.

The staff are bustling, grabbing salves and salts and ointments from the shelves with a quick checkmark to indicate the expenditure.

The recipient is one Deedee Yeowoo, a foxkin woman Natalia may recognize from her earliest arrival, who is personally dropping some perfumed essence into a jar of neutral oil when she spots you.

“Oh, hey. Got something for me?” she asks, ears twitching.

Re: I

[theriflespiral]

She blinks, eyes fluttering, the most surprise her face betrays. She recognizes Deedee, even if she doesn't remember the name. "I can only assume. This is the address, isn't it?"

The package is damn near untouched. Natalia's eyes shift from Deedee to the sounds of ceramics and glass, and the staff moving about. Were they free to speak? "I don't suppose I can take a moment from the cold?"

It wasn't even a lie, really.

Re: I

[lightnovelexperiences]

“Of course. Let me get you a cup of tea - get to my desk so I can sign for this -“

Deedee gestures the girl in, standing to shield sight of her from any strangers.

Re: I

[theriflespiral]

"Thank you ma'am, it's bitter today. I think I spot it from here," she said, once she'd slipped in, and set the box down carefully.

She was sure there was both more to the package and the message-- This was, after all, intelligence and counter-intelligence, and physical objects are -- but she didn't have to know. All she had to know was 'wait inside and await instruction'.

Well. More accurately, 'wait inside and look relaxed', but the 'relax' part was... a little bit difficult for Natalia. Instead, she picked a bit of wall and shelving that didn't look like it was in anyone's way, leaned against it, and hid her hands under her arms to get the stiffness out of them.

The scents clashed with each other back here, but not unpleasantly so.

Re: I

[lightnovelexperiences]

Deedee hands Natalia a ceramic cup of hot, strong green tea.

“Sit tight for a minute, let me know if it needs honey. This should also warm your hands.

Deedee opens the box, which has a written note and otherwise… seems to be full of salves, creams and powders.

She takes careful inventory of it with a pencil and paper, frowning without scowling, before nodding and writing her own list.

“Okay. I thought as much, but… okay. How’s the tea?”

II-ish

[newmemorywhodis]

When she returns to the range, Natalia will find that someone else has taken up residence. A short young man with long blonde hair and pointed ears has re-arranged the targets into something of an elaborate obstacle course. Targets have been placed in all sorts of odd places, along with crates stacked upon each other throughout to create variation in height.

His goal, it seems, is to climb up the crates, jump off of them, and then shoot as many targets as possible while mid-air. Which it turns out is a lot of targets - because while mid-air, for a brief moment, he seems to speed up impossibly. In the space of a second, he shoots nine arrows into nine targets.

And then as he lands on the ground, he notices Natalia's return. Pauses. And then gives her a little wave. Hi?

Re: II-ish

[theriflespiral]

She blinks, and for a little bit, watches him work. The arm strength and endurance alone must be phenomenal, and was this one of those secrets of Ether she'd heard so much about? Her mind already began to race with possibilities.

In as much as she felt anything, she felt the power of that hard work. "Agility training. Interesting. Your hard work is apparent in the results, and I suppose it was a bit much to ask to keep this room dedicated to only one person's practice."

Now, she carefully loaded one cartridge into her rifle, and chambered the round through the bolt. "Live," she said, more out of habit than anything else.

"I doubt I can match you for speed, if only because I cannot chamber rounds faster than you can nock, but if I may?"

[newmemorywhodis]

"...You were here?" Link hadn't realised that someone else was using the space before he barged in, and started moving things around. But maybe he should have wondered harder about why there were already some targets set up in here...

Then he nods his head, and steps back - out away from any of the targets, out of the way from where she'll be striking.

But he definitely keeps a curious eye on her. How is she going to approach the course?

[theriflespiral]

"I was. I'd decided to clean weapon and hand-load cartridges before returning, so I shouldn't be surprised."

The course... was built for Link's particular technique, to be sure, but she considered the crates, and where the targets were, and began to formulate a plan.

She loaded the rest of the clip-- Clips! they still used damned clips for mass-produced rifles!-- and felt the ninth bullet barely restrained in the chamber. She slammed the bolt home.

She began from a standing position, rifle down. Closed her eyes. Let out a breath that steamed in the air. Opened her eyes. "Beginning operation."

She snap-raised the rifle, took the sight of the first high target that would be obscured by the crates. one.

While Natalia chambered the next round, she also enhanced her leg-- a brief exertion. Skidded to a halt behind the first crate, rifle already swung into position for prone fire. Sight. Aim. One of the low targets. Fire. Two

Chamber the next round while rising from prone to kneeling. She used the top of that crate to steady her shot. Fire. Three.

From kneeling to standing, now she used the stack of two crates for concealment and steady. Four. She bunched up and used a touch of enhancement to make the jump to the top of the stack of three crates, hitting the target she passed on the way in. Five.

Chamber, climb. Low angle, low-range shot, but she didn't need to adjust for it, she simply lowered it a little, opened fire, didn't stop. Six.

Highest point. Standing, seven. Kneeling, but more crouching for a jump than steadying her aim, which remained as steady as ever, eight.

The ninth, she knew, was directly behind her. She leapt, turned in the air in a somersault so she could turn around, and chambered as she did.

It was, to her, a beautiful, almost perfect moment as, as she'd calculated, the sights lined up at just the right time to confirm her final shot.

She landed on her feet and ejected her last casing. The gunsmoke wafted like icy mist. "Operation complete."

Natalia took a deep breath, and finally checked her accuracy. "As I said, not nearly so fast as you. ... Or quite as accurate."

True to her word, while she did hit all the targets, the hits were not quite as tight to the center as Link's. "That ninth, especially, was a bit wild."

[newmemorywhodis]

Not as fast, nor as accurate, no. But Link had an advantage she didn't; for him, in those moments where the entire world seemed to slow down, he could afford to take his time and line up his shots.

And she does as well - if not better - than Link might if he wasn't using that particular ability. He'd watched her close, taking note of her form and how she move with a soldier's eye.

"You're good," he says. "Like a Rito."

Give her the ability the fly, and she might give Tulin a run for his money.

II

[purplexing]

During the winter the turtlekin tended to favor a workbench closer to the heat of the forges. Things are usually relatively warmer in the armory but he still seemed to be able to tell the subtle differences between spaces, or perhaps it was some inherent thing, tugging at the back of his mind trying to coax him to bed for a long nap.

But he can't nap! Not when there's so much to be done! He has so much firing to do so things work out better this way.

His bench is kept nice and neat, pieces he's letting sit or that he's finished set well aside, the tools he's been using resting there, ready for the next task while others are stowed on a rack or in the tool box beside it. Donnie himself is busy stoking the flames in the furnace, trying to get the heat to the most optimal levels for his next piece.

Sitting nearby in a crouched position is a Feder armor, parts clearly missing, or rather removed as some rest in a small pile not far from it.

Re: II

[theriflespiral]

It's the Armor that draws her attention, first. She's seen them before-- only once before, but she saw them, on parade. Then, she considered them rather clunky things for a parade. She'd also wondered why they had to be shaped like a human. Tanks, in general, seemed to be more the thing.

Now, in pieces before her, she was starting to see how they came together, though half of these pieces she didn't know how to identify in the slightest.

Regardless of how intriguing it was, however, perhaps it was better to get this one's attention gently. "Pardon me-- if I take over the bellows, do you have a moment?"

[purplexing]

"Huh?"

Donnie blinks, only slightly startled at finding someone addressing him. He shoves up his goggles to look at her, a new face so far as he's concerned, maybe not all that much older than himself. Not that he considers himself an expert in ages, and humans seem to have a strange range.

It takes him a moment to mentally rewind her inquiry.

"Oh yeah, um. Sure? I'm assuming you know how to use them?" he says, though he's already moving to allow her space to switch off with him.

"Did you need something?"

[theriflespiral]

"I do." She squats down nearly on to her heels, and takes to pumping, in an even, strong flow, like she's sat working such things for hours and hours.

"Originally, I was going to ask if you had graphite dust-- Not sure I trust oil with the internal magazine of that rifle on the gunsmith bench-- but now I'm sort of interested in your friend here." She gestured her head at the Feder armor.

[purplexing]

He more or less had figured she'd know what she was doing or she wouldn't have offered in the first place, let alone be here. After she sets into the rhythm of things, Donnie nods approvingly.

"Graphite... Ah! I'd have to agree, dry would probably be a lot better. I should have some..." he trails off, eyes flicking about his work area as he simultaneously does some mental inventory. His attention immediately shifts to the armor in question and he grins brightly.

"Scavenged it off a crashed Imperial ship a couple of months ago. Titanium frame, but I need to fix the flight module and some of the plating. And get weapons I guess- it wasn't equipped when we found it."

II: Vault and Tools

[harlequinchimera]

Oki too, was one to seek the rifle range, or as near as the Vault could manage, and she too had skills to keep sharp and in practice. She was on her way in, carrying the instruments of her philosophy, when she heard and saw Natalia at the range and took up a space a respectful distance away, eyes afield, watching the other sniper work, and she let her work in relative silence. Once she had completed her set and headed oit, Oki took her own turn at the range, working out the proper cold barrel shot with the new weapon, zeroing the sights, even tasting and retesting the accuracy and then took rapid, practiced notes on the performance.

She rose after, with a chuckle, and returned to the workshops, in time to see Natalia once again, this time tending to every last nut and bolt, washer and toggle, with the intention of cleaning it thoroughly, complete with oiling. Oki set her own weapon on a gunsmithing table not far away, but wandered over, showing an interest in Natalia's regimen as well. She spoke clearly, from a few paces away, in full light. "We are of a kind, I can say with confidence," she said. "And forgive me, if I distract from your discipline." She tilted her head, gave a small smile. "It is nice to meet another, and not have them being on the other end of the scope for once."

Re: II: Vault and Tools

[theriflespiral]

The very first thing that happens is Natalia reaching for a holdout weapon as she turns. She's ready to draw, but then--

In full light. Plainly visible. No aggressive moves. And... She let out her breath. "Yes, it appears so." The Slavic accent is thick, and perhaps a little bit affected.

She doesn't relax-- not really-- but she does stand slightly less ready to kill someone. She notes a dozen other little things-- the ease with which she came into this particular workshop, the way she held the case. "So that would make you... Korobase, yes? I believe we had a brief exchange over... Ethernet." This last being an intentional stopping to use that word instead of a modern English one.

She has a wire brush in one hand, and a tin of graphite dust with a brush on the bench. Normally, she'd use oil, but she's still not sure about pooling. "I am Natalia. It is good, to put face to name."

Re: II: Vault and Tools

[harlequinchimera]

Oki stood quite still. She was fully prepared if the colleague sniper threw down, but showed no tension in her body, not even in her off-colored eyes, or indeed in her off-colored limbs. The readiness was there, certainly, but she was not one to twitch, in these circumstances.

She offers the slightest of smiles at Natalia's words, looking a bit wintry on her decidedly unusual features, but she followed it with a polite bow from the waist, her eyes not leaving Natalia for even a moment. A moderately formal movement of respect, from her own culture and she replied. "In my tongue, Korobase Oki, in others, Oki Korobase or simply Oki, among the other colorful titles. In circumstances where I am at work, the fewer syllables the better, of course."

She rose took a stride closer, despite her talons, her step was light.

"I can't blame you for wanting to completely clean and check a weapon like this, since I had as you can see, the same need."

She looked over Natalia's setup and smiled again, this time more warmly, a bit toothily. "It is good to put face to name, I completely agree. Perhaps, once we have both exercised our discipline..." She paused there, giving a shrug, a movement of shoulders and the slightest powerful flap of those wings of hers.

"Perhaps there is tea we can hunt in this place, and a bite to eat," She gave a tilt of her head and headed back towards the other workbench. "If you like, of course."

Re: II: Vault and Tools

[theriflespiral]

The calm with which Oki stood slightly chastised Natalia all on its own. When had she gotten so jumpy? ... No, it only took one person getting behind your sniper's nest to make you wary of further, didn't it? Natalia thought about the weeks on voyage as provisional Flotsam, hunting the krakens with the captain, going after that slavers' ship near Elysium.

When was the last time she didn't have to be ready at a moment's notice? Come to think, when was the last time she ate? Between all the various missions she's been helping with, keeping her cover as a delivery girl in Elysium, and social visits to Flotsam...

Natalia blinked. Too long. Had she been relying on her ki to husband her energy so much? That wasn't a good plan. Or rather, it was a good plan, always seemed like a good plan, until very suddenly it wasn't.

"I concur, that might be better plan than just going back to range." She hums and slides the tray and casings into the oven with a slight clatter of brass.

That said, as she continues to work, she spares a moment to look over Oki's planned maintenance.

Re: II: Vault and Tools

[harlequinchimera]

Oki could almost scent thee hesitation in Natalia when it happened, but she simply returned to her workbench. Her response came as she did in fact disassemble and organize the weapon with a very calm ease, eyes sharp and on the parts, as she too brushed and polished, refined, oiled and indeed, replaced with a practiced sort of ease.

She spoke again, voice quite calm, a note of warmth in it. "We are snipers. Our lives are spent on the range, in our minds, and in our hearts, we watch approaches, mark patterns, solidify routes, because that is what we do."

She assembled the weapon more slowly. "But we are still living beings, at least, mostly. The time for discipline also needs time for reflection, I think, and we can't be throwing thunder on empty stomachs and freezing our asses on perches every minute. Once I am done here, I'm boxing the beast and I'll be in well, wherever the commissary is."

She chuckled and finished a few minutes later, offered Natalia a nod, slung the case and simply started walking - though not too fast.

II; range

[edaciousness]

Malachiasz finds himself at the range only because he's taken it upon himself to explore every facet of this section of the Corsairs. If he's to help them develop weapons, and he will, he needs to know how they work already to be expanded upon. In this world is his first encountered with firearms, for instance, and he might be standing closer than she'd be comfortable with to get a better look. Tall, thin, and with hair unkempt, his ice blue eyes are watching the targets as they're dashed nearly the instant she pulls the trigger.

"Fascinating."

Re: II; range

[theriflespiral]

Oh! That fellow whom she wanted to test her self-escape on. Not that she blamed him for refusing; it was probably better served with proper tools and someone who knew how to draw out the stored Ether. "Malachiasz, wasn't it? We met after I helped board the Hand to Mouth, I believe."

She lifted and pulled back the bolt to eject the casing from the chamber. "First time seeing gun, then?"

[edaciousness]

"A gun." It was good to have a name for the weapon, and he nods. "And yes we did, but I'm afraid I don't remember your name." Mostly because he didn't put the effort into remembering it.

He steps closer, those, motioning toward the machine. "How does it work?"

[theriflespiral]

In response, she sets an empty brass casing on the little counter that blocks the targets from the shooter, and then reaches into a leather pouch to pull out a fresh cartridge. "In principle, it is very simple. Explosive charge is loaded into casing, then bullet."

She then turns both cartridges on to the side so he can see the impact in the spent casing. "Reaction is primed through striking brass casing with a small hammer inside the weapon. Resultant heat sets off the explosive charge, launching bullet towards target at high velocity."

She takes a breath. "There are a lot of particulars and problems that arise through it, but this is the principle."

[edaciousness]

"May I?" He doesn't wait for permission before stepping beside her, his motions almost birdlike, quick and striking, the motions of a trained assassin or, more accurately, a bird of prey. He takes both, one in each hand, inspecting them intensely. He noted the traits each possessed as she'd described and nodded, pocketing the spend cartridge and the fresh round of ammunition and nodded toward the target again.

"Would you care to demonstrate a second time?" While to was praised as a question, there was a note a bit like command in his tone. "Please?" And the latter seemed genuine.