Valuable Asset

Participants:

kaylee2_icon.gif raith_icon.gif

Scene Title Valuable Asset
Synopsis While Kaylee gets some weapons training, she gives Raith the rundown of the 'muscle' offered for the rescue.
Date February 09, 2010

Old Dispensary : Basement


Two rather interesting days of rifle training have passed already for the rather gun illiterate telepath. She is starting to think that maybe Ethan was right about disappearing on her. While she learned rather well how to disassemble and reassemble that damn rifles.. how many times till she got it right?!? Course when it got down to it, the young blonde is a rather crappy shot, but then she's had very little experience with guns. Very little. Though at least he didn't make her 'fetch' the parts.

"Dear god… could that get any darker? Didn't look that bad last night." Fingers stretching the collar of her gray sweatshirt, Kaylee angles her head to eye the nasty bruising on her shoulder from the first day of shooting. Fingers of her other hand tenderly rub at it, grimacing slightly. "Hell of a way to learn how to hold the rifle properly." Something she'll be avoiding in the future. Lesson learned.

"Just be glad it's only a five-fifty six." Kaylee may be gun illiterate, but fortunately, Raith is willing to take the time to teach her. Primarily because the better she gets before the raid, the lower the chance of friendly fire from her. "Move up to a full-sized cartridge and the recoil's about three times greater. Just keep the butt firmly against your shoulder and you won't have that problem so much." While Kaylee looks over her bruise, Raith is busy running paper targets downrange on wires. Or, as downrange as they can be. The basement of the dispensary doesn't have all that much space to begin with, and wasn't really designed to serve as a shooting range. They improvise.

"Now, over here. Safety gear on-" The hearing protecting and safety glasses- "Lock and load. Today, we're going to learn about the position on the selector switch marked 'auto.'"

Letting go of the shirts, Kaylee gives the shoulder a roll. "It's one of the things Adam never did.. gun training.. Kept asking…" Hopping off the stool she's been occupying, she throws him a sloppy salute and snatches the glasses off the table. Glasses and funky ear muffs shoved into place, she gingerly picks up the rifle, still a bit nervous about it.

The barrel of the rifle is pointed at the ground and she moves up along side Raith, at least she was smart about that, one less thing to have to be taught. "Auto?" He is given a worried look, then an anxious look goes to the rifle. "Are…. we sure I should be even messing with 'Auto' Kinda of a big step.. like going from first base to home on a first date." Course, she's done that plenty of times, not that he needs to know that.

"Won't be a problem," Raith replies, "The rifle doesn't kick that much. Just line up with the target, brace it firmly against your shoulder, lean into it slightly so you can counter the recoil with your weight, and squeeze the trigger until you run empty. It's scary to do this the first time, so better you do it now where it's safe, instead of in an actual firefight where you're nervous enough already. Just get as many rounds as you can, on target, don't worry about bullseyes."

There is a little sound of worry in the back of her throat as Kaylee sighs. "Okay… " She doesn't seemed fully convinced, but she shifts her feet and lifts the rifle to her shoulder gingerly. A hand moves quickly from the rifle to shove at stray hair that escaped the confines of her ponytail. As she settles that rifle firmly against her shoulder, her teeth catch her lip and hold it as she does her best to aim down the lane there.

Quickly, Kaylee catches herself starting to squint, "Both eyes…" She chides herself under her breath, before it catches and hold as she pulls on the trigger as she sends a spray of bullets at the targets, praying like hell she hits something.

"Whoa…" Is all the blonde can say in appreciation after that first round is done, rifle lowering, she gives Raith a big grin. "Okay… that was kinda fun. More so then making the other guy do it. Though that can be satisfying, too."

"See?" At that, Raith begins winding the target back in. Once it's in front of them, he twists it slightly so it faces Kaylee. "Now. You just threw thirty rounds downrange. This paper-" Crinkle- "Has nine holes in it. What does that tell you about the 'rock 'n' roll' setting? Here's a hint. The answer is not, 'I'm a lousy shot.'"

"That it's — the — idiot proof setting?" Kaylee answers brows lifting slightly, a smile threating to show itself. "Hell.. I could actually hit the side of the barn with this setting. I like it.. Though.. seems like a lot of waste for a few holes" As she eyes those six holes, she looks highly amused. Eyes drop to the weapon in her hand, she could get use to this.

"Hey.. Raith.. Got a question for you." Blue eyes move to look at the man next to her, brows lifting a bit. "Well.. more like a request, I guess." There is a bit of a sheepish expression as she glances back at that target again. "Believe it or not.. Joseph's opinion of me.. does count. I know you said to just ignore what they all think. I can for the most part do that… but… uh… not him. Which means… I may hesitate."

"I want Bella dead.. I'm not giving her the same chance as we gave Danko. " She turns towards, Raith, her head tilting a bit. "She's Company.. and if what Adam told me about them is true.. it means she won't go to jail and she'll be free and clear to start all this shit up again." Kaylee's eyes narrow a bit at him, "I guess want I'm trying to ask is…. Can I count on you to shoot where I may hesitate, when it comes to this Sheridan? Lord knows I owe you as it is.. but I need some one that won't think twice if we find her."

"I built my life on not hesitating," Raith replies, "Just like I built it on doing what needs to be done, opinions be damned. I run into her, bang bang. Guaranteed. As for the automatic setting, yes, you could hit the broad side of a barn with it. But like you said, it's an awful big waste for just a few holes, which is why you don't use it."

"If you have friends who are pinned down and need to move to better cover, spray and pray. You probably won't hit anything with it, but you better believe anyone on the receiving end is going to be too busy ducking to shoot back. You want to actually kill anyone, use semi-auto. See, that's the thing with the five-fifty six by forty five millimeter NATO round. When it leaves the barrel of the rifle, it travels half a mile every second. The tip decelerates almost to zero the instant it hits something, but the back of it keeps moving forward. When it strikes the human body, it turns sideways, opens a wound channel almost two inches across, and then shatters. It's like having a small grenade go off in your stomach. That is why you use the semi-automatic setting at almost all times. If you hit somebody anywhere between their hips and their neck just once, they will go down immediately."

"And they will not get back up."

There is a firm nod, please to hear it from him, but she doesn't say anything else about it. Kaylee at least knows now some one will do what she herself can't do. Trying to be a better person has a few downsides.

"Okay.. whoa.." A hand comes up to prevent him from going on, her brows dropping into a confused expression. "Going a little fast there, but I got the gist that it kills them very fucking dead." Kaylee can't help but smirk a bit. "Admittedly.. I kinda miss this kind of thing." Gaze going to the rifle in her hands, twisting it a bit to look at it. "Guess I'm weird that way."

"Oh…" There is some reluctance, on. the telepath's part, in the next thing she has to tell him. "So… had a meeting with that John Logan guy." There is a slight grimace. "I don't know why Eileen made me take the lead on that… Not use to trying to play nice like that. Not exactly the negotiating type… anyhow…" With an unhappy huff, she turns a rather pained expression her instructors way.

"We've been given.. muscle for this.. but it's not exactly some one I would have picked" Fingers comb hair out of her face again, but then the hand stays resting on the back of her head. "But… he told us he wants us to use this…. really…. "There is no way to really say it nicely. "Well.. he's an idiot.. Magnes Varlane…" The way she says it pretty much gives her opinion on the whole situation. This mission just got more complicated..

Raith was looking so thrilled at the idea of additional muscle. His expression drooped when the name, 'Magnes,' left Kaylee's mouth, and then fell completely flat when it was followed by, 'Varlane.' And for five long, unblinking seconds, Raith simply stares straight at her, not speaking, seemingly not even breathing. Finally, that information seems to finally sink into his brain, and he vocalizes a reply that should tell Kaylee two things: That Raith and Magnes have met before, and even more tellingly, that they might be in trouble.

"You're… you're serious, aren't you?"

"Oh.. I see you met him. And that is about the sum of what I blurted out to Logan, too." Kaylee comments lightly, with a small nod of her head. "Eileen wasn't happy with me since he was offering help…. but… I mean….. have you seen him dance?" The look she gives him clearly states, that it is not something that should be forced upon ANYONE. "Said.. he learned from a comic book and we're suppose to use him on this rescue?"

"I really wish I wasn't seriously, but I'm dead serious." She murmurs rather darkly. "Said it would be on our heads he fucks up… I mean.. what the hell?" Kaylee glances back at Raith. "Totally not my idea.. I'm telling you, but I couldn't exactly turn him down either. We… sadly… need the help."

It takes him a moment, but if Raith was about to lose his composure, he isable to recover it before it gets too far away from him. "Okay," he says, briefly burying his face in the palm of his hand. "Okay, this is alright. I know how he operates." Folding his arms, the ex-spy ponders a moment before continuing. "I know how he thinks. I wish I didn't, but I do. In fact, you know what? No problem. Varlane is going to be a very valuable asset on this raid. I promise I'm not going insane. Insaner." Really?

"I'm sorry…." Kaylee says it and means it, a hand moving to rest on his shoulder, when he mentions he knows how the gravity boy thinks. "I've seen that little bit and I'd rather not have know that much." She offers the rifle up to him, lips tugging in a lopsided smirk, "Take out some frustration? As… long as you don't shoot the messenger?"

"I've seen a bit of what he can do.. I can't imagine that… as long as he doesn't fuck up.. " Kaylee thinks on that, brows twitching upward at a thought, "… Ah.. nevermind. So.. what are you thinking? Sit him on the top of the building and make him wait?"

Raith accepts the rifle, but at least for the time being, doesn't do anything more than remove the empty magazine and close the bolt. "Strange as it may sound, we're actually better off with him inside with us," he says, "He knows his way around a gun, and his ability is useful. He just, doesn't know how to think small. Bigger is better with him. A little direction, if he listens to it, and he could easily have one of the most useful abilities in whatever mix we end up with."

Watching what the instructor does thoughtfully, giving a little nod, "One thing I know, is your knows what your talking about… on stuff like this. So…" Hands spread out before her, shoulders giving a brief shrug. ".. if you say he'll be useful. I'll believe it, since this isn't exactly my forte." Leaning over to snatch the paper target down from it's line, so that she can look over it again, that amusement coming back.

"Well.. Abilities wise.. You know about mine…. Eric has… well puppetry. His ability makes me nervous, but I don't exactly let him know that." Looking up from the target, Kaylee gives him a wary smiles. "He's very quick with it.. and well.. I've been on the other end of it a time or two or ten. It's impressive. If we can keep him covered he'll have their own guys shooting. I can sort of do something somewhat similar.. just not on his scale."

"Hopefully, I'll have a final roster before before Friday. That way, I'll be able to work up some sort of effective plan utilizing everything." As Raith speaks, he replaces the shot-up paper target with a fresh one, and runs the new one downrange. "But for the time being-" He practically shoves the rifle back into Kaylee's arms, along with a full magazine- "Keep practicing. And if you have a wall you can work with at home, I want you to practice throwing a baseball too. Overhand, underhand, and from the side, low arcs and high arcs. Good practice in case the big day rolls around and you suddenly find that you have to lob a grenade at someone. If you release the safety, never hold onto it longer than two seconds, remember that."

A foot shifts as she is unbalanced some by the weapon being shoved at her, arms wrapping around it. "Yeah.. don't exactly got a home at the moment." Kaylee murmurs, "Occasionally, crash on Peter's couch.. and where ever.. I should fix that, but I've been.. occupied." She can't help but look a bit amused. "But practicing that shouldn't too hard, either way."

Turning back to practice, Kaylee starts to prepare for another round, "You are a much better instructor. Hands down."


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