fandomhigh | How to Blow Things Up: Period 2, Week 3

Today the class wasn't meeting in the Danger Shop. Following the directions in the note ~~handwavily~~ delivered, the students would find themselves in a clearing with sandbag 'bunkers' at one end facing a large pile of stones and twisted metal that had landed after the school exploded. On the other end, several rows of different types of grenades were laid out carefully. Aly stood in the middle, trying not to be nervous over her students' first experience in class with live explosives.

Once everyone was assembled, she spoke up. "Morning, everybody. As I hope you've noticed by now, we're not in the Danger Shop. Which means that the grenades over there are live. Today's not the day to fool around, and if I see anyone doing so, they'll be lucky if they just get detention."

Confident she had everyone's attention, she nodded. "This is going to be fun. Those of you who haven't handled live rounds before, don't be nervous, you'll do fine." She spent a bit of time going through the development and uses of different types of grenades before going on to the proper procedures for arming and throwing the weapons.

"Grenades aren't always the best choice of explosive," she said, wrapping up. "The delay between pulling the pin and the explosion means you can throw it, but the enemy could throw it back at you or it could bounce off a wall and roll back towards one of your allies. So what I want you to do today before trying them for yourself is discuss with a partner or two the tactical advantages of grenades. Why use them and not a Molotov cocktail that can't come back at you? Or a gun which has a longer range?"

"After that, come over and try them out for yourself."

[OOC: Whee, things go boom! Aly's completely serious about the penalties for horsing around in this class. If you want to get detention ping in the OOC thread, otherwise I'll give you a heads up if your character is skirting the line. ~~Please wait for the~~ OCD is up!]

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"Yeah, it's better to work with something that has a detonator that you can control. Even if you know exactly how long the grenade timer is, you still can't plan for everything."

"Yeah, and if you can't throw, you're kinda hosed," Cally said.

"Right. You can't just hide a grenade to be used later after you've vacated the area. The only way to use it is to throw it."

"So really, it's a heat-of-battle weapon," Cally said. "When an explosion is needed but you don't have time to set something up."

"And like with all explosions," Dib replied, "you need to have cover. Even if you're not in the blast radius, there's always the possibility of shrapnel, and stuff."

"Yeah," Cally said. "Which is why I don't like grenades."

Dib agreed. "I'd rather plant explosives. And if I'm going to fight face-to-face, there are much more reliable weapons."

"Plant explosives, and avoid face-to-face at all costs," Cally said.

"Well, sometimes you can't avoid a face-to-face fight. And if you're there, you can be sure that things go the way you want them to."

"I find running away usually works," Cally said.

Dib had to concede that point. "Running does help."

"Strategic withdrawal, of course," Cally said. "It's not simply fleeing."

How to Blow Things Up: Period 2, Week 3

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