fandomhigh | Spy Games, Monday, 6/15, Period 5

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Spy Games, Monday, 6/15, Period 5

Class met in the Danger Shop today. It was set up as a shooting range, with a stocked weapons locker and safety equipment at one side and targets at the end of the room.

"Hi," Sarah said, completely at ease. "Today, we're taking about weapons. Spy weapons aren't going to be too different from any other kind of weapon, except that it's more important you conceal them easily on your person. If I was working, I would probably have a small revolver strapped at my ankle and a knife in the small of my back."

She was working. She had that and more. Her hair sticks? Not just decorative.

"Basically, if we're talking weapons, we're talking knives and guns. The main kinds of guns we'll be working with today are sniper rifles, for long-distance work, and pistols for short distances." She explained briefly how the guns were loaded and how they fired.

"I expect you to follow all NRA gun safety rules listed on your handout. The only field rule I'd add is, don't shoot if you aren't ready to kill. If you're shooting to wound or to scare someone off, you probably shouldn't have your gun out to start with. Firing a gun makes a big scene and, as a spy, that's the last thing you want. Right now, we're in the Danger Shop and it's programmed so that if you aim your gun at anybody, the gun turns into a badger."

Sarah frowned at that part of her notes, clearly thinking about it for the first time. "... I don't know why a badger. Still. Don't aim your gun at people."

Shaking that off, she continued, "The other weapon we're talking about is throwing knives. I'm a big fan of knives; they're small, they're light, they're easy to conceal, and if you're good you can use them in a crowd without anyone noticing." She demonstrated her throwing technique, easily making a few bullseyes from the end of her lane. "And of course there are safety rules with those, too. The knives have the same Danger Shop protection as the guns -- if you do anything stupid with a knife, it turns into a badger."

"I think that is everything. You have the rest of the class period to practice with the weapons. I'm here to give pointers. If anyone's uncomfortable with this session -- or drunk, high or otherwise impaired -- come see me and we'll work out an alternate assignment."

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Triela nodded once Karla had loaded the gun (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/2143220.html?thread=138274036#t138274036). "Now aim downrange and fire. Don't worry too much about accuracy. Just get a feel for how it all works."

Karla carefully lifted the gun, cupping her hand with the other as she'd been instructed, just getting a feel for the stance. Once her gun was up and pointed at the target, she closed her eyes to focus on exactly what her body was telling her: the heft of the gun, the slight strain that it was putting on her arm muscles when they were extended like this, the way her body distributed the weight from the stance itself. When she felt ready, she opened her eyes and fired.

It was a good thing Triela had told her not to worry about accuracy. The bullet barely winged the bottom of the target, coming nowhere near the actual circle, never mind the bullseye. Even so, Karla still felt disappointed. "That kinda sucked," she said, frowning.

"You kept your grip on your weapon and you didn't lose your stance," Triela pointed out. "Which is the opposite of sucking."

Karla opened her mouth to argue--a lifelong habit, that--but closed it again. One did not argue with the Master of the Guard, as he--she--is usually right and can kick your ass regardless. "Being a Healer, I have a good idea what is of my body and what isn't, and, therefore, what affect things will have on me. Which makes it easy to adjust my stance to what the gun does," she explained instead. "It's practically instinctual by now, so it's not like I made the corrections deliberately."

"Good." Triela grinned. "If you're actually in a situation that involves shooting you won't have time to do much deliberately. It's mostly instinct and training."

"Now load another round and try again. You can concentrate on aiming this time, but it's still a bit early to worry about accuracy."

Funny that reaction, since Karla had provided that explanation to convince Triela that she hadn't done all that well. Guns were clearly quite confusing.

Karla loaded another round, then pulled the gun up into position, looking through the sight that Triela had pointed out earlier. She tried to do it faster this time, since her body was now aware of what the gun should feel like in her hands. She peered, aimed, and shot.

Well, this time the bullet hit the target. In the lower left hand corner. But it had hit.

And this time, she hadn't been so busy concentrating on the feel of the gun that she missed the exhilaration that came when she squeezed the trigger. "This is fun!" she exclaimed.

"Yes it is," Triela agreed with a grin. She held out a loaded magazine. "Now let's see how you handle shooting without reloading in between."

"Okay," Karla agreed. She slid the safety back on and carefully inserted the loaded magazine into the gun. Then she raised the gun again and squeezed the trigger. Nothing happened. "Wha--?"

"Pull the slide back," Triela suggested. "To pull the first round from the magazine into the chamber. And then check your safety."

"Oh, right." Karla would have facepalmed, except she was holding a loaded gun. "I'm sorry, Triela. It was a stupid mistake to make."

She did as she was instructed, pulling the slide and thumbing off the safety. This time when she squeezed, the bullet came flying out of the chamber, plowing into the outermost circle of the target. Part of Karla wanted to jump up and down and cheer "I did it!" but the whole 'loaded gun' thing acted as a deterrent from that, too. Instead, she kept firing until the gun was empty. Her third-to-last bullet actually made it into the next ring, though it was the only one to do so.

"It's interesting," Karla said, bringing her gun down and to the side, then turning to face Triela. "The gun seemed to grow a bit heavier while I kept shooting. It definitely grew warmer."

[Please forgive me if I say anything wrong about gun-details. I'm all ignorant.]

"The weight thing is because your arms aren't used to holding anything extended out in front of you for very long. Especially not with the sort of control it takes to aim a gun." Triela didn't have that problem, which was rather convenient. "But the gun is getting hotter. The barrel heats up with every shot, and when shooting rapidly it heats up faster than it can cool off."

"Still," Triela nodded downrange. "You did well."

[Nothing to forgive!]

Karla nodded, also looking at the target. "This weaponry is far more complicated than I'd assumed. On the teevee, everyone is always leaping through the air, or firing two guns at once or shooting for extended periods of time without tiring. All of which can likely be done, but almost certainly without the ease that they seem to display when doing so. Or, at least, not without a lot of practice to get that ease."

"Actually, most of that stuff is garbage." Triela hadn't watched much television back at the Agency, and her early exposures had made her roll her eyes often enough that she tended to avoid it here in Fandom as well.

"While theoretically possible, most of those things are so impractical as to be pointless. The basic techniques are still the best. Two hands on your weapon, firm footing, careful aim."

"Can I see you do it?" Karla asked. "So I can be fully aware of how much I have to learn?" she added with a grin.

"Sure." Triela held out a hand. "Pull the slide back to make sure the chamber is clear, then engage the safety, and only then do you hand anyone a weapon." Which wasn't strictly true. Sometimes you needed to pass a live gun, but they were on the range today.

"Yes, Lady," Karla murmured, unconsciously using the Kaeleeran modes of respect. She obeyed Triela's instructions and then handed the gun over.

"What was that?" Triela asked, her tone amused as she took the weapon and reloaded it.

"What was what?" Karla asked, confused.

"That you said?" Triela prodded as she chambered a round and set her feet into a proper shooting stance.

"I said 'Yes,'" she said, thinking. "Uhh...Lady? Sorry?"

"No need to apologize," Triela laughed. "I just don't think anyone's ever mistaken me for a Lady before."

"Lady is a term of respect," Karla said decisively. "I'm not misteaking you for anything. It's how I would address anyone who was displaying such a level of compentence."

In Kaeleer, anyhow. But Triela didn't need to know the subtle details.

"Fair enough," Triela nodded. "In that case, I'll demonstrate a proper stance. Then I'll show you a couple of tricks that are worth learning as you get more practice."

Karla nodded. "Ready," she said. She backed up a pace or two so she could watch everything with close attention.

Triela nodded once and raised the pistol. She fired a steady one round every second until the clip was empty, the holes made in the target at the end of the range all overlapped so that it was hard to tell where one ended and the next began.

"What do you see in my stance?" Triela asked as she lowered her weapon.

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