Battletech: Planet's Fall

It had taken longer than Catherine had expected, but it was finished just in time. Now that Kenna Gaudin is working his mechtech magic on her Wolverine. She wants to sit and watch and ask him a thousand questions, but the young tomboy knows how prickly the old man is. Especially when it comes to someone interrupting his work.

She needs something to forcefully distract herself and this is her choice.

Sitting down on one of the simple chairs, the little lieutenant draws her laser pistol and begins with a simple maintenance check, prior to setting it to practice mode.

"Hey Cat," said Richard as he approached the new shooting range with his gun case. He had a big grin on his face and seemed to be happy, "I didn't know you were into the regular guns too".

The redhead looks up from her maintenance and brushes a side bang out of her face.

"Hey Richard!" She smiles. "I'm rubbish in any physical fight. I'm sure you can see that just looking at me." The young tomboy flexes one slender arm and laughs. "Couldn't punch myself out of a wet paper bag, so a gun is a good idea. I can't deal with strong recoil much either, which is why I have this laser pistol here."

She finishes the mode switch and holds her weapon up, as much as basic gun safety practice allows. Even in practice mode, it can burn little holes into clothes, or take an eye out.

Catherine's attention turns towards the case in his hand. "What did you bring?"

"A good choice Cat, even if I personally think that you should surrender in case of emergency, alone you hardly have a chance in a firefight" he said half serious, half joking.

"What do I have with me? My service weapon" he said and opened the case containing an assault rifle. "It's a long time companion of mine" he said with a smile, "But I'm a little rusty on how to use it, as I found out the other day..."

"That choice is for when I have that choice." Catherine responds with a shrug. "Fortunately I have 55 tons of machinery around me, when I am out fighting." She pauses to smile and dangle her legs for a moment, before turning her attention back on him.

And then the weapon he pulls out. "Oh wow, that is a pretty big one." The tomboy giggles. "Definitely scarier than my little laspistol. Not very convenient to lug around though. This thing snaps into my hip holder right easy."

She jumps up from her seat and snaps the weapon to her right hip with a click.

"Well, Richard, if you are a little rusty, lets go and shake some of that rust off."

He smiled, "Looks like you're a cat in more ways than one, eh? Small, slender, but with claws, ready to claw out your enemies' eyes," he said, shouldering his rifle and holding the magazines in the other.

"Am ready when you are, did you bring earplugs for the shooting range?" he asked just in case.

-----------------------

(Shall we agree on something? 50' (15m) range? TN 10 to hit the target, TN15 for the outer ring, TN20 for the inner ring and TN 25 for bullseye? and just see if the dice gods favor us?

"Rawr!" She mock roars softly and giggles. "I earned my callsign with good reason after all."

"I was hoping to do some shooting without them, but I brought some. I was taught to never step onto the practice range unprepared." Giving him a grin, she fishes the earplugs out and tilts her head left and right, as she works them in.

"Let's go over there!" The young redhead is speaking louder now, revealing more of the slightly squeaky nature of her voice. She points towards the part of the range labelled with a 300' sign.

____
This is the outdoor shooting range for long distance practice, so I don't think it has any targets closer than 50m.
Catherine will be aiming for 300' as a start.
Your target numbers look good, so lets use them. ^-^

"Well, let's get started then what?" Richard got ready, checked his earmuffs again and inserted the magazine. He then loaded a target onto the belt and let it move to the back after wich, with a loud clink, he loaded once and moved on to aiming.

"FIRE!" he yelled and pulled the trigger and fired three consecutive bursts.
300' -10
D11:EM:Target Practice LIW / Dexterity: 3#4d10o10k3 12 33 24
Shot#1: Miss
Shot#2: Inner Ring
Shot#3: Hit

"Your turn" he said to Cat.

The small tomboy gives a quick nod and follows him. She watches Richard prepare and shoot at the target. Catherine flinches at the first loud crack, but gets used to it pretty quickly.

She gives Richard a smile and a thumbs up, once he is done.

Then she gets ready herself. After assuming a stable firing stance, she slowly and methodically unclips the laser pistol from her thigh to raise it up in a firm two handed grip. She peers through the sight for a moment. Lowers the pistol. Raises it again. Lowers and raises. Then she carefully clips back into the holder on her right thigh.

"Firing!" She shouts and instantly whips the pistol from her thigh up to her face, firing three shots in quick succession.

Three smoking holes adorn the target, going from outer ring, to inner ring and right into the bulls eye.

Exhaling softly, Catherine clicks the safety of her weapon back on and clips it back to her thigh.

"Clear!"

Shielding her eyes with one hand, she tries to see how she did.

____
TN 10 to hit the target, TN15 for the outer ring, TN20 for the inner ring and TN 25 for bullseye
3 shots at 300' (-10 for range)
Going for the Distance (D11 EM, Outdoors Shooting Range) - Small Arms [Pistol]: 3 x 7k4 32 44 29
22: inner ring
34: bulls eye
19: outer ring

Richard let out a whistle, "Not bad, really not bad, you're really full of surprises, aren't you?" he said, thoroughly impressed.

"But wouldn't your gun heat up more if it wasn't in practice mode?" he asked, "I ask so suspiciously because lasers to me usually only belong on a mech" he said, laughing

After Cat answered his question, he went forward again and fired another three bursts.

D11:EM:Target Practice LIW / Dexterity: 3#4d10o10k3 13 15 12
Miss, Miss aaaaand Miss, seems like Richard shooting was off.

"Tsk!" he frowned, "I really need to work on my aiming skills."

----------
Cat vs Richard
0 Miss 4
0 Hit 1
1 Outer 0
1 Inner 1
1 Bull 0

"I sure am full of it!" Catherine laughs and shoots Richard a quick grin at the praise. "With my stature, it's pretty much the only self defence I have, so I have to be pretty good at it."

She nods at his questions. "Exactly. That is actually the main reason for practice mode in the first place. How do you train efficiently, if you have to do it slow? There's a temperature management training mode too, but I only do that sometimes to stay on top of it, since that only requires a little exercise here and there."

The smaller lieutenant watches him shoot three more bursts and tries to be diplomatic. "Well, that is what this range is for." She replies with a smile.

When it is her turn again, Hellcat does her shooting more deliberately, planting two into the inner ring and one into the bullseye.

After stepping back again, she gives his Assault Rifle a glance. "That thing looks pretty heavy and is as long as my leg. I don't think I would be any good with it."

____
TN 10 to hit the target, TN15 for the outer ring, TN20 for the inner ring and TN 25 for bullseye
3 shots at 300' (-10)
Small Arms [Pistol] - Series #2 -> 3 x 7k4: 3 x 7k4 57 32 32
47: bulls eye
22: inner ring
22: inner ring

Richard clapped when he saw Cat's performance. "Seems I could have saved my comment earlier, if it comes to a gunfight I'll send you ahead, you'll make smoking craters out of the enemies."

He held the rifle and weighted it in his arm "It may be the prosthetic, but it's not too heavy," he sighed a little, "I could bite myself in the ass, during my basic training in the AFFC I was better with the rifle, but no, laziness got the better of me." he went forward again and put on "I guess complaining doesn't help, just practice, practice, practice"

He laid on, took aim, and with a "fire" he began his next volleys.

Shooting at 300' -10: D11:EM:Target Practice LIW / Dexterity: 3#4d10o10k3 29 16 41
Shot#1: Outer
Shot#2: Miss
Shot#3: Bullseye

He squeezed his eyes shut and smiled. "Seems like I haven't forgotten everything yet, but still if I want to be more consistent I have to invest a few more hours".

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Cat vs Richard
0 Miss 5
0 Hit 1
1 Outer 1
3 Inner 1
2 Bull 1

"I'd rather go ahead in my Dúthracht." The redhead grins. "Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! And much bigger lasers."

She turns to give him a look at his suggestion and shakes her head playfully. "With the range on my pistol, I'd rather seek good cover and shoot from there. Unless they have some sniper, they'll have to come to me then."

For a very brief moment, her gaze flickers to the area he mentions as a target for his teeth. "That would be a sight to see." She giggles. "Like so many things in life, it does come down to constant practice. You may get a head start here and there, but that will never be enough on its own.

Catherine watches him shoot and smiles. "That's a good hit right there. Looks like you got back into this quite fast."

When it is her turn again, she places three shots onto the target in methodical succession.
____
TN 10 to hit the target, TN15 for the outer ring, TN20 for the inner ring and TN 25 for bullseye
3 shots at 300' (-10)
Small Arms [Pistol] - Series #3 -> 3 x 7k4: 32 58 40
22: inner ring
48: bulls eye
30: bulls eye

"Did you hear that we got hold of an Exterminator-4Db? Laser after laser with extra lasers! I know we have a supply chain, but I'd be happy as a clam if I could get it. Also,.." he pointed to his gun, "I'll trade my gun for a ton war machine any day. But what I can tell you from experience is that if you have the wherewithal, get yourself some good armor. It saved my life and almost cost Yori hers because she didn't have any. It doesn't take up as much space in the cockpit as you'd think."

D11:EM:Target Practice LIW / Dexterity: 3#4d10o10k3 16 16 26
Shot#1: miss
Shot#2: miss
Shot#3: Outer

When it was his turn, he concentrated on how the gun was in his hand and tried to pay more attention to the recoil. The result was not really better than before, but he had to find a feeling again.

----------
Cat vs Richard
0 Miss 7
0 Hit 1
1 Outer 2
3 Inner 1
2 Bull 1

"I heard about that. Some town sheriff came and traded a recreated royal for some basic simple mechs. No idea how that happened, but I'll take a look at the thing, once it is up in our Hangar. Maybe I can get to play with it for a round, until I get my better than ever before Dúthracht back."
She shoots Richard a beaming bright grin, showing excitement at the prospect. "Everyone will be astonished to see what we managed to come up with."

She sobers up a little, at his mention of armour and Yori. "What even happened to her? I only heard that she came back seriously injured three days ago." Continuing, she looks down at herself. "Good armour really is not easy to get in my size. Maybe Laks can help me out there. I should ask her about that. Thanks, Richard."

The little lieutenant with a laser pistol takes her round after him, and places three more shots onto the target, slightly less focused again.

____
TN 10 to hit the target, TN15 for the outer ring, TN20 for the inner ring and TN 25 for bullseye
3 shots at 300' (-10)
Small Arms [Pistol] - Series #4 -> 3 x 7k4: 25 39 31
15: outer ring
29: bulls eye
21: inner ring

"News seems to spread either too slow or too fast around here" he shook his head and put his gun away. "I know we technically have the same rank, but I wish you would listen carefully now."

Richard sat down on a chair and took a cigarette from his pocket. "The sheriff, the mech, and the fact that Yori was injured, it's all connected.... it's connected because I was too curious and greedy." he lit the cigarette and took a drag, "Yori and I had a date at the inn at Windyridge and there was a funny little anecdote in their menu, the caves under the house were used as smugglers caves many years ago and,.... well. that made me curious. It was hard to get in there on foot, so I got my Vulcan, grabbed Yori and went to explore the caves,...."

he took another puff and pushed the smoke cloud skyward, "unfortunately the caves weren't very deep,... we didn't find anything there at first, but we had an unknown mech signal that was suddenly there, so there must be something there, right? So we left the mech and searched and searched,... Until we found an entrance."

He made a small pause before continuing his story, "Behind it we found a mech hangar, with rare mech parts, like double heatsinks, endo steel, weapons, rare gems and piles upon piles of silver bars,.... and a person who was not exactly thrilled that we uncovered their treasure trove. She shot Yori right in the sternum,....." he let out a heavy sigh, "I'm glad she's still alive."

----------
Cat vs Richard
0 Miss 7
0 Hit 1
2 Outer 2
4 Inner 1
3 Bull 1

Cat won by a Landslide

When she notices Richard's serious tone, Catherine turns to listen to his explanation, while holding her laser pistol in a neutral position.

"That sounds like it started as an adventure, but had a pretty scary climax, even if the Angels as a whole profited greatly from it. Am I getting the gist of it right?" She asks after thinking the matter over for a while.

"I hope Yori recovers from the ordeal without any lasting problems. She is a good pilot and while I don't really get her way of thinking at most times, I would like to see her well. How is she doing now?" The small redhead asks in a concerned tone, her voice still a little squeaky from speaking loud enough to overcome their ear protection.

Richard frowned and pointed to his ear" Didn't they give you active hearing protection?" he asked in surprise, maybe someone was trying to play a prank on Cat. He took it out once as a precaution and continued, "That sums it up yeah, gained a super rare Mech and parts, made a deal with a corrupt small town sheriff, a few gunshot wounds and half a heart attack to boot."

he smiled a bit at the summary of events, "And Yori recovered well, I swear our doctor is a saint. Still, if I hadn't gotten lucky and caught her in a volley and my enemy hadn't run out of ammo and tried to stab Yori with a combat knife,..... who knows if Yori would be okay or I could be sitting here today?"

He looked at Cat with a mixture of concern and care, "You're really good Cat, a formidable mech pilot and a good shot, much better than me, in both terms,.... but,...." he shook his head, She was a 2nd lieutenant, a MechWarrior and, theorethically, an adult. It was not his place to tell her what to do and what not to do, yet,...

Catherine gives an embarrassed little shrug in response to the ear protection question. "I didn't expect anyone else to turn up this early, so I only brought the little earplugs, just in case." With the shooting clearly over for now, she carefully pulls out the tiny earplugs and places them back into their compact little container.

She continues as he does. "I can't really imagine how that was like. I never experienced anything like that." She indicates her laser pistol. "I never had to fight for my life with this."

Still listening closely to him, the way he had asked her to, the young Mechwarrior waits for him to complete his sentence. When the wait becomes awkward, the small redhead quietly asks. "... but?"

"But,...I worry a little too much. You're still quite young, so I wish you wouldn't need that gun in the first place." he sighed, "I know that's a luxury we can't afford, but that doesn't stop my head from overthinking everything."