Bot Training: Another Target Range

[Kup]

Once Kup has finished addressing the group as a whole, he strides towards the target range. There, in addition to the range itself, a crude table consisting of a sheet of metal laid across two boxes has been set up. Kup removes a standard pistol-blaster from subspace, checks the safety, and sets it on the table. Then he removes a standard energy rifle from subspace and repeats the procedure. Finally, he removes his musket, makes sure it's not loaded, checks the safety, and puts it with the others.

With this done, he turns towards the group. "First, I know a lot of you have built-in weaponry. Obviously, some of this stuff won't apply to all of you. Just as obviously, you should be able to figure out what applies and what doesn't apply on your own. I'm not going to list all the exceptions to all the points as I go along. You guys are smarter than that."

"Second, most of us have our own personalized weapons, weapons that we're used to and familiar with and prefer using. Everything I'm about to say does apply to us. Just because you have a weapon you like to use doesn't mean that one's always going to be available, and as the big fight at the power plant demonstrated, sometimes you end up using a teammate's - or even an enemy's - weapon. I expect those of us who can to be cross training on everyone else's ranged weapons. Each type has its own quirks, and the owner will know those quirks best."

Kup picks up the pistol, keeping it pointed off to the side, and checks the safety once more. "When you first handle a weapon, always assume it's charged or loaded, as the case may be, and that the safety is off, until you've verified otherwise. Some weapons don't have safeties. Just be leaking careful with them." Kup hefts the pistol up so that everyone can see a side-view. Again, it's handled in such away so that at no time is it pointed at another Transformer. "This is a standard blaster-pistol. Pretty simple to operate. It has what the humans would call a 'point and click interface.' Here's the safety," Kup points. "On a standard weapon, the safety is off when it's pushed in the direction that the barrel is pointing. That doesn't apply to every weapon that has a safety, though, so get to know the special cases of anything you might be handling." Then he tilts the weapon so they can see a bar along the top. "See that? Very simple. That bar means it's fully charged. More fully charged the blaster is, the more blue it is. If it starts getting red, you'll be hoping for another charge pack, but really, these things last a looooooong time."

He puts the pistol down and picks up the energy rifle. "This is another fairly standard weapon. It's a bit harder to aim and a bit heavier, but its advantages are greater beam coheshion over a longer distance and greater power output. In other words, bigger boom farther. Safety is here," Kup points, "and charge bar is here," he tilts the weapon to point again, "but the same rules that applied with the pistol apply here. These are what we're going to be starting any beginners on. They're common, basic, easy to operate, and recoiless. When a person gets to the point where they're hitting a target more than they're missing with these, it's time to move on and start trading out weapons.

Kup picks up his musket and holds it up for display. "This is an acid-laser musket. Now, you ask, 'What the blazes is an acid-laser musket?!' You're looking at one. It's got two modes." Kup flips a small switch on the side of the musket, turns, and fires at one of the further, smaller targets, hitting it directly in the center of the head area. When he's done, he turns back to the others, keeping his weapon pointed down-range. "It can act as a laser rifle." He flips the switch back, then removes a small, roundish object from subspace and loads it into the rifle's muzzle. "In acid mode, it's front loaded. Hence, the 'acid musket' portion.

"They don't make these things anymore. Why not? It has no safety beyond, 'if you're using it, don't be stupid.' In acid mode, it's got a hell of a kick, and in laser mode, it tends to pull to the left. So why do I still use it?" Kup turns back down range. Unlike the earlier makeshift one, this one's extremely long, to accommodate Transformer weaponry. He brings the rifle up, tilting it upwards, and fires. The glob of acid curves upwards, then begins to fall once more, splatting firmly on a vehicle that had been blocked by another target. Kup turns back and grins. "Because sometimes it's damned handy to be able to hit something that's five miles away and behind cover, and because damned few opponents properly prepare for acid, that's why.

"Now, no one's going to be practicing on the musket without my direct supervision," Kup puts that back in subspace, "but the blaster and rifle are available for anyone who doesn't have their own armament, and to trade off for those who do. I've got to head over to act as a combat dummy, but before I go, does anyone have any questions?"

[Gizmo]

Gizmo followed Kup to the target range first thing -- he's all for improving as a warrior, but he'd rather hone his abilities to take out an enemy from a distance first thing. If he's close enough to an enemy to resort to melee, he's TOO close.

He watches Kup fire the musket with fascination. How he'd love a chance to fire that! But he figures first he'd better learn how to use his shoulder cannon properly. He just shakes his head when Kup asks if there are questions -- he explained it well enough, and he's raring to get some practice in.

[Slingshot]

Slingshot had followed Kup over to the gun-range without any hesitation. He'll hit melee combat later on, but melee was a poor second to having a gun in his hands. Guns were comfortable.

The Aerialbots got a lot of things programmed into them by Vector Sigma when he gave them life and personalities. Basic gun safety wasn't among that.

"Yeah. Why've you been making sure the gun never points at any of us during your demonstration?"

[Kup]

"That falls under, 'if you're using it, don't be stupid,'" Kup answers Slingshot. "Ideally, you should avoid pointing any weapon at something you don't intend to shoot, just in case it goes off. Now, granted, a lot of folks have built in weaponry and can't always avoid that, but built in weaponry is generally less prone to accidentally going off, anyways.

"This becomes especially important with weapons like my musket, which, as I said, has no safety, but is just generally good practice with anything not built in as part of you, anyways."

Kup strolls along to the side of the range and points at the thick line he's dug up in the dirt. "Now, if no one's got anything else, this is the line to be firing from. For Sigma's sake, do not fire when there's another Autobot on the range, and only fire downrange. We don't want to give First Aid anymore work than we've already got here."

[Wheelie]

Wheelie lacks anything better to do, so he has decided to follow Kup and see what it is he could see.

He pipes up after Kup is done with his introductory material. "When it comes to his slingshot, Wheelie is hot! When it comes to firing guns, done that's something he's not."

[Perceptor]

To say that Perceptor would be far happier if he were back in his workshop, would be an understatement. He can fight, and he will fight - and happens to be an excellent shot, actually - but fighting takes a very poor back seat to his work. Kup, however, had "requested" that everyone be here, and getting hauled off over Long Haul's shoulder for a nap had been one thing.

Getting hauled off over Kup's shoulder in front of the entire assemblage of Autobots to come trip over his own feet is something else altogether, and something that Perceptor would very much prefer to avoid, thank you very much.

Given that, for all intents and purposes, he has no alternate mode suitable for two of the courses here, and getting pummeled, even lightly, this early in his day does not appeal to him, target range practice gets his attention first. At least until Kup notices his presence here and drags him off somewhere where he does need more practice.

To be perfectly honest, this range offers little challenge to him, except for the opportunity to practice with unfamiliar weaponry. His ranged abilities are significantly honed already, and he has little hesitation in firing upon inert, or even mobile targets which lack sentience or life.

There is a significant difference between being a sharp-shooter, and being a sniper; one is a set of technical skills, the other, a mind-set. The ability to reduce one's focus down to the target, to remain aware of the world and the dangers around one, and yet limit one's world to nothing more than the object at the end of one's scope, to be prepared for that one single moment and visualize, to know with utter certainty that it will be destroyed, that it will die at the simple flex of a single finger, the single pulse of a command from one's CPU... That is not a skill that Perceptor possesses, nor is it one that can be practiced upon unliving cars and metal standees.

Perceptor may be able to successfully target an object smaller than his hand after having it fired into orbit, however he will never be a Spinister.

"I have never had the opportunity to fire a slingshot before, Wheelie. Would you be willing to instruct me in the technique? And I could assist you with the pistol and rifle?" he asks after offering the others a polite nod of greeting.

[Gizmo]

Gizmo walks up to the line Kup has drawn out and readies his shoulder cannon. He minds what Kup said and lets his gaze sweep the range, making sure no one's out there before taking aim and firing.

The missile shrieks forward and strikes one of the targets dead in the chest, but rather than tearing it to shreds like an ordinary missile would, it covers the target in a thick grayish goop that solidifies quickly. Had the target been a real Transformer, they would find important joints and circuitry gummed up in a hurry, and a small enough target might even find himself adhered to the ground.

Gizmo scowls. Nice shot... but he'd been aiming for the vehicle about three yards to the left, not the standee. He senses he's going to be here awhile...

[Slingshot]

Slingshot pulls out his own laser pistol, which is pretty much identical to the one Kup demonstrated with. It looks newer and shinier, though, fresh from the factory. He checks the safety conscientiously, then checks the charge along the top. Fully charged, excellent.

Unfortunately, he's a bit careless about the 'not pointing the gun at people he doesn't plan to shoot' part of gun safety. None of his fingers are near the trigger, but he's not really paying attention to where the barrel is pointed.

His hand drops to his side, gun held loosely in it and pointing downward, as he saunters to the firing line.

Slingshot raises his gun and snaps off five shots at one of the standing targets.

His results are... erratic.

One of them, the third to any careful observer, goes where it's intended to - right through where a lasercore ought to be on a textbook-perfect Seeker. Another skims off over the shoulders - might have been a wing-shot, but here it just hits the dirt. Another hits a glancing strike on a target to the right.

Slingshot scowls at the target, not quite sure what the heck he'd done wrong.

[Kup]

"Don't worry, Wheelie. You learned the pistol pretty damned fast in my past, I imagine you'll do the same here, especially with Perceptor's help."

Kup has no way to know that Gizmo hadn't been aiming for that particular target, so he says, approvingly, "Good job," then he sighs at Slingshot’s performance.

"Y'know, asking basic questions is fine. It's how you learn. But that's provided you actually intend to listen to the answer, Slingshot." He notes a problem with the way Slingshot's holding his pistol, and for a moment the portion of him that's prone to lecture and storytelling wars with the part that's generally irked at being ignored, but the instructor wins out. He picks up the extra, practice pistol, checks safety and charge, and then grasps it firmly.

"You'll need to practice using it in different stances, using it off-hand, and so forth, but to start with, you push forward with your primary hand," Kup demonstrates, "then support and pull back with your secondary hand, holding it underneath the pistol, like so. The two sights near you and the one on the tip should be lined up even - otherwise, you're going to shoot low or high. The very top of the middle sight, you put that where you're aiming, then just... squeeeeeeze the shots off gently." Kup fires three blasts in quick succession, each hitting the same target, very close to each other. "Like that."

[Wheelie]

Wheelie beams at the praise from Kup, before returning his attention to Perceptor. "Wheelie'd be happy to show you the way, and in return, you can do what you say. We'll send those targets for a spin, and when it's all over, both of us win!"

Following his rhyme, he pulls out his slingshot and a firerock, lobbing a quick volley that hits one of the targets right where it's nose would be.

[Mirage]

Mirage ambles over to the target range, not so much because he needs the practice, but instead so he can observe the skills (or lack thereof) of his new comrades. After all, it's always a good idea to know who you don't want behind you in a firefight.

Of course, this wouldn't tell him scrap about how well these others can deal with moving targets.

He nods at Kup and company, though he does give Perceptor a slightly confused look. He then watches as Wheelie demonstrates his slingshot.

"Nicely aimed. How quickly can you reload and fire again? If you fail to incapacitate your opponent with the first, can you hit him again before he reaches cover, or overtakes you?"

[Holi]

It's a good thing the Autobots of Holi's era have no qualms about issuing firearms to the underaged. Or maybe it isn't such a good thing; that's what he has come to the firing range to determine, especially after his abysmal performance against Cannonball. But at least he can come down here, mostly unused laser pistol meticulously checked and rechecked long before he left his quarters. He has actually heard a similar lecture on weapons safety before, he realises as he listens to Kup, but far be it from Holi to pay the elder no mind.

The acid musket demonstration garners no small amount of interest with the Micromaster; Transformers of his time may come equipped with various guns like any other, but they have a marked preference for mêlée combat he hasn't really seen among most of the Autobots here. These Autobots, who rely much more heavily on their ranged weaponry, are just so different that he can't help being fascinated. How might some of the battles in his time gone, he wonders, if the Galaxy Defence Force had chosen to simply bombard the Decepticons rather than charge in close-quarters? How might the fight against Deszaras and his forces go?

Well, he decides as he edges toward Kup, doing his best to keep clear of those busy actually using the target range right now, he can bring it up to his superiors when he gets back.

"Kup, sir," he begins uneasily in the meantime, dutifully keeping his pistol – safety on – pointed earthward and his finger away from the trigger, "I don't think I'll be able to use the rifle…." The downside to being a robot only a little larger than a human is normal Transformer weaponry tends to be a little on the unwieldy side for you. "What should I do?"

[Perceptor]

"Excellent shot, Gizmo," Perceptor offers, tilting his head as he studies the distant target. "Your armament intrigues me. Would you mind sharing the specifications with me later?"

It's not often that Perceptor receives even subtle praise for his martial abilities, and so he's too busy offering Kup a curious and grateful smile to note that look Mirage casts him. Then again, not many often realize that the work-obsessed scientist even has martial abilities - beyond not shooting off his own foot, that is.

He isn't certain if the brash young jet would heed him at all, and so he leaves Slingshot to Kup's tender care. Not that Perceptor would be able to fault Slingshot for failing to take him seriously if such an occurrence were to happen. The scientist isn't exactly known for being much of a combat instructor of any type, even by those who know him. He's not a combatant, really; he just happens to be passable with his marksmanship.

"Thank you, Wheelie. I appreciate that," he replies, watching intently as the minibot demonstrates the use of his preferred weapon. "Hm... Far less likely to receive incapacitating damage in adverse conditions. Very useful," he observes.

From subspace, he removes a smallish laser pistol, utterly average in every way, that he'd brought today in anticipation of needing it for practice. His normal weaponry, with the exception of his scope, is not much given to leaving the target range in usable condition for other mechs.

"Targeting, however, appears to be relatively similar," he continues, demonstrating by kneeling beside Wheelie and taking aim on a distant target. After striking it dead center, he switches his aim to a nearer target and repeats, exaggerating his motions slightly so that Wheelie can see exactly how it is that the scientist is aiming.

"Here. You try." He flicks the safety on with a click, and then offers the pistol to Wheelie. "Greetings, Holi!"

[Gizmo]

Gizmo just offers Kup a blank look. "Uh... thanks, but I wasn't aiming for that one..." He turns to Perceptor next. "Sure, whenever. Just say when."

He turns back to the target range and fires again at the vehicle he'd been aiming at previously. And fires again. And again. And each shot manages to miss the vehicle by a good margin.

Splat. "Fraggit." Splat. "Fraggit." Splat. "Fraggit!"

Okay, so that last one did catch the vehicle's back end somewhat, but it still wasn't a square hit. But he's determined to stay out here until he can at least hit what he's aiming for on a regular basis.

[Slingshot]

"Huh?" Slingshot gives Kup a confused glance at the chide - what had he been doing wrong with gun safety? He'd checked his charge, treated his gun like it was loaded, left the safety on until he was read to fire... He'd done everything right, he'd thought.

Then Kup goes into instructing, and Slingshot decides to just ignore the chide and listen to what the veteran had to say. Okay, this was... well, different. Not how the twins and such fired their guns. Maybe Kup is doing it wrong?

Slingshot frowns. Nah, Kup's been alive for too long to get on without knowing how to shoot right. Especially since a lot of his stories involve him against the rest of the world. It's a different matter when you've got someone to watch your back - you can afford to screw up then. Like letting stupid blue jets set your wings on fire.

"What do you mean by primary hand, anyway?" He asks as he tries to mimic Kup's stance, even using the same main hand as the veteran is using.

Carefully, carefully, he lines up the gun on the 'head' of one of the standing targets. He takes half a minute to get it aimed to his satisfaction; the sights were tricky and weird. It wasn't as easy as just eyeballing what he wanted to shoot.

Then he squeezed the trigger five times, putting five neat holes into the target's 'head'. (Thank Prime for no recoil, because recoil would have thrown that off the four successive shots.)

"... Cool."