ABS FIESTA REDUX

[CypherX]

"Gods, you can bitch up a storm. Keep it to give to a museum or give it to someone who will. The greatest travesty that can happen for items of significance is them being lost to time in a dusty attic. That's charity. Preserving the memory of the dead for future generations."

[Ad Bot]

[Qwepir]

"So you said you wouldn't loot the dead, what do you mean by that then? Why not donate to charities with your pay? You don't have to collect the medals of the dead to be charitable. Hell- I spend very little of my own pay, most of everything is covered by the Air Force. Only things I buy is stuff for the dogs, nothing more,"
Jaakko sounds somewhat calmer, but still upset.

"Gods, you can bitch up a storm. Keep it to give to a museum or give it to someone who will. The greatest travesty that can happen for items of significance is them being lost to time in a dusty attic. That's charity. Preserving the memory of the dead for future generations."

Arkhip glares at both of you, clearly uninterested in continuing the conversation.

[Mr. Hurricane]

"That's not my choice to make, as those are not my possessions," Jaakko replies sternly.

He makes a note to move the hat and medal to a safer spot, somewhere where they won't be 'liberated' from his possession.

[CypherX]

"They're not the captain's anymore either nor are they his family's. Give them to a museum."

Gus pauses and laughs.

"Or, you can give them back to the Zent military, where they came from. Tell me how that works out for you."

Mood thoroughly soured, Gus stands up and leaves, heading for mess.

[ZombiLoin]

Faw lowers his pistol and takes a look at the target. One shot to the center of mass at 30 meters wasn't terrible, but he could probably get more if he slowed down a bit. Faw raises his pistol again and fires a single aimed shot at the abdomen of the target.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko wonders if he should have given it to the Imperials in the medical ward. Perhaps one of them could have sent it back through a POW mail exchange. Jaakko bets that if he sends it overseas today, the box would be withheld by, or at worst looted by the personnel who are screening mail.

"Forgive me for believing that stolen items are still the property of the original owner," Jaakko remarks, "I'm sure that if those items get to Zentragorthum they will be in a far better place then they are now."

[CypherX]

Gus stops at the door and looks straight through Jaakko to Arkhip.

"Sorry for interrupting your book. Won't happen again."

With that he continues to mess, taking a look at who all is there before heading to grab a plate.

[NoZoner]

Sounds like someone else got here before I did. Lorens continues strolling to the base's gun range, curious to see who's firing the shots. He borrows a pair of eyes and ears from the armory attendant and puts them on as he approaches the firing line.

There's only two other people here, and Lorens quickly identifies the nearest as one of Mjolnir's pilots, particularly the one that saved his ass in the last mission. Simon, right? Aw stuff, it's been like three weeks and I don't remember saying a word to the guy. As much as he'd like to walk up to him and say something, he decides a greeting can wait until the safety officers issue a break and quietly heads to one of the firing spots.

Lorens unholsters his pistol and sets his gear down on the table. He picks out a magazine from the gun bag and starts loading it with typical steel-cased ball ammo. He locks the slide open, feeds a round into the chamber through the ejection port and releases the slide lock before sticking the magazine inside the gun.

Now that his equipment is ready to go, Lorens finds a comfortable stance and picks out a target twenty meters downrange to start with. He brings the sights up to the target's torso (Ugh, it's been way too long. I don't remember this thing being so muzzle-heavy), disengages the safety, takes his finger off the trigger guard and starts pulling back on the trigger, staging it right before the break. He finishes with a strong, confident pull and lets the hammer drop.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko sits quietly for a couple minutes, considering his options and trying to cool off. His gives Jalko some half hearted attention.

He eventually gets up and gathers his dogs. He glances an Eremit, then the door. He sighs.

"Sorry for being harsh, it's been- stressful," Jaakko says to Arkhip.

First, Jaakko goes to his dorm and relocates the hat and medal. He then heads outside with the dogs, leading them around the residential facilities and taking them passed the hangers. He notices some Raiden, but doesn't engage himself.

[Qwepir]

Faw lowers his pistol and takes a look at the target. One shot to the center of mass at 30 meters wasn't terrible, but he could probably get more if he slowed down a bit. Faw raises his pistol again and fires a single aimed shot at the abdomen of the target.

Faw's Ballistics Skill 30
Pistol Range 30
Target at 30m: Medium Range provides no bonus or penalty
Aim provides bonus of 20
Single Shot provides bonus of 10
Called Shot (Chest) provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 40
Roll: 17 - success
Result: 1 hit to chest
Magazine: 6/10
You hit the target again.

Sounds like someone else got here before I did. Lorens continues strolling to the base's gun range, curious to see who's firing the shots. He borrows a pair of eyes and ears from the armory attendant and puts them on as he approaches the firing line.

There's only two other people here, and Lorens quickly identifies the nearest as one of Mjolnir's pilots, particularly the one that saved his ass in the last mission. Simon, right? Aw stuff, it's been like three weeks and I don't remember saying a word to the guy. As much as he'd like to walk up to him and say something, he decides a greeting can wait until the safety officers issue a break and quietly heads to one of the firing spots.

Lorens unholsters his pistol and sets his gear down on the table. He picks out a magazine from the gun bag and starts loading it with typical steel-cased ball ammo. He locks the slide open, feeds a round into the chamber through the ejection port and releases the slide lock before sticking the magazine inside the gun.

Now that his equipment is ready to go, Lorens finds a comfortable stance and picks out a target twenty meters downrange to start with. He brings the sights up to the target's torso (Ugh, it's been way too long. I don't remember this thing being so muzzle-heavy), disengages the safety, takes his finger off the trigger guard and starts pulling back on the trigger, staging it right before the break. He finishes with a strong, confident pull and lets the hammer drop.

Lorens' Ballistics Skill 30
Pistol Range 30
Target at 20m: Medium Range provides no bonus or penalty
Aim provides bonus of 20
Single Shot provides bonus of 10
Test taken at 60
Roll: 26 - success
Result: 1 hit to chest
Magazine: 10/10
You also hit the target.

A few lanes down, Xiaomei is practicing with some sort of bullpup rifle.
Xiaomei's Ballistics Skill 46
Kintharian Rifle range 110
Target at 50m: Short Range provides bonus of 10
Aim provides bonus of 10
3-Round Burst provides no bonus or penalty
Test taken at 66
Roll: 5 - success by 7 degrees
Result: 3 hits to chest
Magazine: 28/30
And with moderate success.

Jaakko sits quietly for a couple minutes, considering his options and trying to cool off. His gives Jalko some half hearted attention.
He eventually gets up and gathers his dogs. He glances an Eremit, then the door. He sighs.
"Sorry for being harsh, it's been- stressful," Jaakko says to Arkhip.

He completely and deliberately ignores you.

[Tayasaurus]

Walter adjusts how he's sitting

"Do you think you would ever be able to take on Virvel? She seems very confident with her skillset."

"I'm confident in my own fighting ability yes. But first i have to give a stuff, and sparring isn't something I have much interest in."

[Badger]

"I'm confident in my own fighting ability yes. But first i have to give a stuff, and sparring isn't something I have much interest in."

Walter folds one of his legs over the other and rests his arms across it.

"I see what you mean, a proper incentive to act on rather than who's the better of the two."

Walter remains silent afterwards and taps his other foot. Not sure what else to talk about, he continues looking at tippy before looking around the room some more. He realizes most of the notable people have left.

[ZombiLoin]

Faw's Ballistics Skill 30
Pistol Range 30
Target at 30m: Medium Range provides no bonus or penalty
Aim provides bonus of 20
Single Shot provides bonus of 10
Called Shot (Chest) provides penalty of 20
Test taken at 40
Roll: 17 - success
Result: 1 hit to chest
Magazine: 6/10
You hit the target again.

The slug impacts the steel target and leaves a shiny quarter-sized patina of lead where the sternum would be, a little above and a little to the right of his first shot. At thirty meters it wasn't extremely difficult to miss. He starts eyeing some of the targets at 50m- beyond the ideal range of the pistol, but certainly within lethal range.

A few lanes down, Xiaomei is practicing with some sort of bullpup rifle.
Xiaomei's Ballistics Skill 46
Kintharian Rifle range 110
Target at 50m: Short Range provides bonus of 10
Aim provides bonus of 10
3-Round Burst provides no bonus or penalty
Test taken at 66
Roll: 5 - success by 7 degrees
Result: 3 hits to chest
Magazine: 28/30
And with moderate success.
He completely and deliberately ignores you.

Three bullets shatter against the target Faw was eyeing, evidently fired from his left. The sound of the rifle isn't entirely unfamiliar, but it's a rarity on the Valhallan base. Faw takes a few steps back out of his lane and scans the lanes to his side. Out of the people in the firing range he spots Lt. Lorens 4 lanes down from him, and Xiaomei two lanes further. He never followed up with Lorens after buzzing him with chaff, though that was admittedly mostly Faw's fault. Faw unloads the magazine from his pistol and pulls back the chamber, ejecting the unspent round, and starts walking towards the lieutenant.

Before that, though, he tries to catch the round he just ejected, and misses it. After muttering an expletive under his breath, he picks up the loose bullet and slips it into his pocket, and sets off towards Lorens.

As he nears Lorens, he puts on a faint smile. He raises his voice enough for Lorens to hopefully hear him through the ear protection.

"Hey. How's it been?"

[Qwepir]

Another two weeks pass, during which the footage of the Sol being shot down appears to have found its way onto the internet. Naturally, the brass is irritated, but because the footage ended up being a shot of morale to the Aesthian populace, Walt receives no punishment other than a slap on the wrist and a request not to do that again.

Then, the next day, the Imperials break through into Svirask, and everyone is called in for a briefing.
: The Goths have been a lot more cautious with deploying their airships lately, and as a result our own cruisers have been able to inflict heavy casualties on the army attacking Svirask over the past few days. However, while they did wipe out forty percent of the invasion force before it reached the city, the survivors have taken up position in places the cruisers cannot hit them, not without obscene collateral damage. We need you to provide support for the Army and local militia forces, keep both enemy armor and air units off their backs.

She looks at Walt and Yui.
: Keep in mind, these are our people down there, so be careful where you put your shots.

[NoZoner]

[two weeks earlier duh]

Pop! Pop! Pop Pop Pop!

Lorens sees that the target is hit roughly where he placed the shot. Maintaining his sight picture, he notices another target placed further out being struck by a trio of bullets around the same time his own shot lands. The metallic clangs, though clearly produced at different distances are heard almost in series.

The other one had a rifle, huh? Probably some MP guy. He didn't quite get a good look at the other person.

Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop!

"Pff!" He actually dumped his magazine! Taking the cackling report of Faw's pistol as a challenge, Lorens tries to do some fast shooting of his own, practicing with successive single-action trigger shots for the first time in what must've been forever.

Once the gunshots die down, Lorens hears a muffled voice calling out to him. He releases the slide lock, deroosters the hammer, engages the safety and holsters the gun.

"Oh, hey!," he greets Simon and takes his protective wear off, "It's been alright. Just thought I'd take a load off and come here to do some shooting."