Steeljaw36
Inactive Member
- RP Date
- YE 40 One and 1/2 months after landfall
- RP Location
- Obsidian City/ Anvil Firing range
The sharp crack of an unsuppressed rifle could be heard echoing around the range, it’s rather unusual operator having taken the long range lanes as he continued to hone his trade. Said operator Aztec was prone behind the scope, somewhere he’d found himself a lot lately, considering the wildlife attacks on the cities construction crews, as well as the general short handed ness had certainly kept him in practice. This though, well it was an exercise, albeit an unofficial one. Downrange was setup a deck of cards and depending on the game, you had only a certain amount of rounds to hit them with. Currently, Aztec was trying to make hands of poker, his last round giving him a royal flush. He chucked slightly, his tail swishing idly behind him.
There were no footsteps or any other sound to inform the equine marksman somebody had entered other than the hushed hissing of a door sliding along magnetic rails, but sure enough somebody had entered the room - that somebody had been trying to stay strong for somebody who needed him but at the same time was angry at himself for not being able to stop it from happening in the first place, so David decided to give the range a quick visit and work off some of that steam. Standing just shy of 6' David could pass as a multitude of nationalities, a rare Human maybe? a synthetic Minkan? Nepleslian would be the easiest guess though even that wasn't a definite answer.
Aztec's tail reminded him of Neera's though hers had lay dormant for some time now... no, don't break down - sort your shit out and be the man she deserves.
He walked into the horse's peripheral vision to make his presence better known and stood there, something bundled underneath one arm as David spoke - "You don't mind another gun on the range?" David queried with a friendly nod, tanned skin, dark brown hair, beard and warm brown eyes that spoke nothing of his current inner turmoil - he appeared to be in his early to mid twenties as far as appearances were concerned
Aztec caught movement in the corner of his eye, he rolled onto his side, facing the newcomer, golden eyes focusing on him. Humanoid, but that was all Aztec could tell for certain. No wait. Something else, something Aztec sensed off about him? Weird...
”Not at all, though I figure everyone’s getting more than enough practice pulling sentry duty, the way things are, guarding the construction crews and all. Though I haven’t seen you around before?” Aztec posed the last question, not in a challenging way, but as a statement. He hadn’t seen this person before, then again, being as new as he was, that wasn’t really a suprise...
"Yeah things have been tense around here recently, and I doubt we've met before... I had to make a bit of an unexpected detour recently," David chuckled quietly to himself as he set the armoured box down on a nearby bench and turned, squatting down to offer Aztec a firm handshake. "David Maverock - it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure," he spoke to the Palomino, his form may not have exactly been the norm but David had seen odder things in his travels.
“Maverock, Ah! You’re one of the initial pathfinders that left the Anvil before Hades attacked it.” Aztec snorted. “Hell of a homecoming that must have been.” He finished, shaking David’s offered hand. “Jarimin Travers, though just call me Aztec. Detour huh? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” He joked, the humor evident in his eyes.
"Yeah that would be the one and only me," David mused as he moved back over to the recently placed box, flicking open a few magnetic clamps to reveal the collection of pistol parts he began assembling into a Type 28 General Service Pistol the Star Army of Yamatai no longer had in production. He looked back towards Aztec as the recoil spring was dropped in and had something to ask about the horse's surname.
"Travers... that's Nepleslian, no?"
“Born, raised, and spent the last fifteen years fighting in the military of” Aztec replied, sitting up. “And most of the time, managing to avoid some meatgrinder caused by some politician’s prick waving contest.” Getting a look at the frame of the pistol David was assembling. “Type 28? Either you’re a great deal older than even I thought, or you’ve done a fair share of undercover work. Those are ubequitous enough to not immediately give you away as an officer, and you’ve more than a few gangs that still use them, despite parts becoming harder to find. Imagine you’ve got a few interesting stories to tell, David.”
"Hm, little bit of both actually," David spoke as he finished reassembling the gun and now laid out two magazines, with a third being slotted into his pistol before the slide was racked back to chamber a round. "I was born back when they still called Funky City New Detroit, half Nep half Human and I enlisted in the Greens back before we became the DIoN - jumped in a Geshrin body along with my folks back then and eventually made my way to Yammie's Black Panels before they kicked Geshrins out, did some merc work and didn't join back when they let us back in and now I'm a recon specialist for our friends in red and black," David quickly explained, it seemed like a lot of people around here were rather astute but then again he wasn't exactly trying to hide the fact he was over half a century old yet looked like he was in his early twenties.
"So yeah, I've been around a bit."
Aztec whistled, a rather odd sound coming from him. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Recon huh? Spent most of my time as a sniper, so I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other here, won’t we?”
"I guess so, yeah~" the Geshrin mused as he put on some ear and eye protection before pointing the sidearm downrange, he hadn't used the old iron since rocking up at section six but some familiarity was good in these troubled times - still, David flicked the safety back on and turned towards Aztec with an apologetic look as the pistol's barrel drooped downwards slightly.
"I just need to get something out of the way so give me a minute and we can talk more, yeah?"
“Go ahead. Good mag dump always relieves a bit of stress” Aztec replied, indicating the pistol targets downrange.
"Appreciate it~" David reciprocated as he flicked the safety off and quickly aimed the pistol in once more, squeezing the trigger once, twice, three times in rapid succession until the magazine was empty - at which point he pressed the release down and caught the small metal thing in his now free hand before slamming his pistol down onto one of the other, previously set aside magazines which he then proceded to empty in a similar matter.
By the end of it all there was two magazines worth of holes punched through the distant target in exceedingly tight groupings and a rather pissed-looking David that let out a few heavy huffs before returning to his usual self - it felt good to get all that out of his system. The tanned man flicked the safety back on out of habit and turned back to Aztec with a small grin, giving the horse-man a nod before speaking, "So what part of Nepleslia are you from - if you don't mind me asking?"
Aztec gave David a look, cocking his equine like head to the side a bit, focusing him with both eyes. “Had more than a bit to work out there, didn’t you? Los Apagos and no...” Aztec started. “...I never was able to get much into the airbike scene, mainly cause the family didn’t exactly have that kind of cash around” He smiled slightly, “Didn’t stop me or my brother from wanting to though. Like every kid, it was awesome seeing the races every year, you always imagine what it feels like to be one of those guys, you know?”
"I get what you mean, definitely, though I must say I haven't been back to Nepleslia Prime in a while," David admitted as his arms crossed over his chest, pistol under one armpit as a small sigh left the Geshrin's lips, thinking it was probably better to just ignore that first bit and not dump his problems on the palomino.
"I'm a bit of a military brat if you couldn't guess, the Maverocks don't have anything named after them but we're good at war so yeah~ I hope you don't mind me asking but I can't say I've seen too many of your kind around before, parent's must've immigrated a while ago because you seem like a bog-standard Nepleslian in every department but appearance~ no offence," he queried with a warm grin, not wanting to seem too pushy but curious regardless.
Aztec laughed. “That’s because up until a few months ago, I WAS a bog standard Nepleslian, appearance included!” The anthro equine replied, getting to his hooves. “Had an accident the same day I joined up with S6, trashed my old body. Spent a few months in cryo acclimatizing to this body, to which I didn’t know I’d been put in, until the Anvil was boarded, then I was thawed the fast way. Hooves and a hangover. I’ve had my share of strange wake up calls, but that one is by far my strangest! Still, while there’ve certainly been odd times getting used to it, there are some advantages to having a horse’s body.”
“Police family myself, so I know somewhat where you’re coming from. None of the moving to different planets like you all tend to have to do, though. As for not having been there for some time, well, some things never change...”
A small look of surprised crossed the Geshrin's lips though he supposed that, given recent events, he had an excuse or two to be a little out of the loop - that look was soon replaced with the warm grin once more as David took a second look over the equine before him, certainly seemed like one hell of a body and he almost wondered who was keeping it around but shook the idea aside, it mattered not and Aztec seemed comfortable enough with it.
"Certainly wasn't what I was expecting, aye~ you said accident but the hell happened to mess you up that much if you don't mind me asking?" the tanned man inquired, despite his mind being half a century old he still managed to act like the 20-something year old man that David's body had the appearance of.
“Believe it or not, a car wreck. Swerved to avoid hitting a kid that managed to get onto the highway, went sideways in the ditch, and managed to strike the only actual bolder in the area. Right on the driver’s side. Completely crushed my truck’s cab, shattered three of my ribs, drove my shoulder into my clavicle, multiple fractures in my skull, whole bunch of internal damage, and then some. They had to amputate one of my legs to even get me out. Course, I didn’t feel any of that, impact knocked me out, which was probably a good thing. Either way, the docs managed to revive me in the hospital long enough to tell me I was going to have to be transferred.”
“Wasn’t a suprise, that, but this...” Aztec indicated himself “...this was a different story. Not sure where or even why S6 had this body, though. Gotta ask Carl about that one sometime....”
David offered the horse a sympathetic frown and put one tanned, somewhat leathery hand on Aztec's shoulder - giving it a small squeeze, "Wrecks are never fun, trust me on that, and I'm sorry to hear about losing your previous body but at least you're here right? could be worse, not saying the fact you didn't get the worst result is the greatest thing in the world but I would take that as a win," the Geshrin offered before releasing his equine friend's shoulder.
"Gotta ask though, is it all horse from head to toe? disregarding the obvious things," he began asking to change the mood a little bit, hoping to at least~ but he'd be lying if it wasn't one of the first questions that had popped into his head - he had a girlfriend sure but there was no harm in asking such a question, right?
“Hey, like you said, I didn’t go out with my previous body, so I’d count that as a good thing.” Aztec replied, then grinned. “Right to the important questions, hmm? Can’t say I’d not ask myself if the situation was reversed. Answer is definitely yes, though. Horse from head to hooves, and everything in between!”
"Everything huh~ hope it hasn't given you too much hassle yet," David reciprocated with a small smirk, a memory of the first time SAINT had thrown him into a new body coming to mind, he'd share it if the Geshrin didn't know just how deep the black-clad sect of Yamatai's invisible tendrils went, honestly those fuzzy digitigrade legs weren't the most jarring thing~
“No, nothing major. Most of it has been more of a benefit, there’s just a bit of an initial learning curve, you know? That, and a couple of weird feelings. Took a couple weeks before I really got used to that fact that my ears now turned toward sounds. That felt more than a little strange. So, you’ve obviously got something you’re pushing through right now, judging by how you came in. Something you want to talk about? I’m no counselor, but that’s always helped me before...”
"Yeah I guess it is kinda obvious, no harm in trying, right?" David spoke with a small huff as he regarded the horse once more, seemed like a good enough guy as far as he was concerned and that was good enough for him. "So you heard about the pathfinder business? well the ship got raided not too long after our bird gots its wings clipped and well~" he trailed off a little, eyes glassing up ever so slightly at the need to mention her predicament but otherwise David's expressions seemed unphased, some of that SAINT instinct to hide your compromising emotions bleeding through.
"My recent girlfriend, Neera Pine, she was caught up in it all and now she's in a coma we don't know if she'll be able to come out of," the Geshrin swallowed thickly, it was clear he had a lot of love for this woman, and even gave a sad chuckle before continuing.
"Kinda a fucked welcome-home gift if you ask me."
“Neera Pine? Oh shit, yeah. I remember them bringing her into the Medbay, she was caught in the hangar when Hade’s ship crashed into it during their boarding attempt. Damn, sorry man, that is fucked up. All I can say is that as long as there’s life, there’s hope....”
Aztec shook his golden head slowly. “We all ate a shit sandwich that day...”
"That's what I hear~ but fuck me, the fact nobody knows for sure which way this'll go is what's really getting me, she's a strong woman so I know Neera is fighting like hell in there... it's just that every conflict has a losing side," David reciprocated with some frustration, dragging his hand down his face momentarily.
Aztec put a hand on David’s shoulder. “Then expect she’s going to kick that coma’s ass so hard, it’ll still be spitting up white fur months from now” He said. “I know you’re not alone in pulling for Neera. She seems to have made herself quite popular around here.”
David appreciated the hand on his shoulder, giving a small nod to show that and removing the hand from his face before speaking further, "Yeah being the daughter of a lord has that effect on you, the Pines don't seem to fall easily so I'm just trying to stay optimistic... I like you, Az, you're a good man."
“I try to be. Figure if more people did, there’d be less problems in this life” Aztec replied. “Also, the Pines take retribution for kidnapping their family seriously too, I was on the mission that went after Adilis when she was taken. We didn’t leave anyone breathing behind.” The horse soldier grinned. “Neera’s not someone you’d want to break up with. Just sayin...” he joked.
"Don't really see myself ever wanting too either, but yeah, I'm aware of the full extent of her... powers~" David offered back with a slightly more muted smile but it was there nonetheless before the Geshrin's brown eyes drifted down to Aztec's rifle. "So what were you doing with that rifle again? care to jog my memory?" he queried, bearded chin nestled between a pointer finger and a thumb.
“Cards” Aztec replied simply. Reaching down, he picked up the spotter’s scope lying nearby. “Here, take a look” he said, handing it to the Geshrin. “You can set up almost any card game you can think of, using the same rules, only you have a limited amount of ammunition to use to build your hand. Of course, distance factors in as well. Makes a hell of a training tool, especially if you’re calling card shots. Also makes for a nice change from silhouette targets.”
"Huh," David offered as he accepted the scope and looked downrange, both brown eyes open as he looked over Aztec's handiwork, letting out a small whistle before lowering the spotter's scope and speaking further, "Didn't know anybody still did that, you seem like a decent enough shot too~ so want me to spot for you?" the Geshrin asked, honestly it would make for a nice distraction.
“Thanks.Yeah, it seems to be a lost art now, especially with reactive targets and all that tech.” Aztec replied, then joked. “Kids these days, right? Sure, if you want to, two sets of eyes are better than one”
"Happily," David confirmed with a warm grin before lowering himself onto his haunches and moving to aim the spotter's scope at the target once more before letting Aztec know he was good to go with a quick, "Green on my end, send it when you're ready, horseman."
Aztec nodded, before taking up his position behind his harbinger rifle again. “Only hand that’s gonna beat a full house is five of a kind, joker’s out there too. I’ve got six rounds to make it happen. Let’s see....” he said, eye scanning the deck through the scope for a moment. “Alright, black ace of clover, lower left corner of the deck.” the equine soldier called, then a moment later, fired.
"Hit," David called as he saw the round punch through the card, though by the tone in his voice he had more to add, "only just though, try adjusting right an inch and down two inches," he grinned, this brought back some fond memories.
“Mmn” Aztec made the adjustment in the scope, then scanned for his next card. “Black Ace of spades, center deck” he called, again pausing afterward before squeezing the trigger.
"Scope not the shooter, right? hit her true, call your next," David chuckled back, knowing this was only a temporary fix but that was good enough to keep some of his worry off of Neera for now... she was a tough one, she'd pull through.
“Sometimes, yeah” Aztec grinned. “The trick is knowing which, though yeah, always blame the equipment” he joked. “Black ace of hearts, bottom center of deck” he called and fired.
"Nothing quite like a Kuznyetski-forged reciever though, ever fire one of their guns? also miss, go a hair to the left," the Geshrin spoke, casting a sideways glance to the horse and waiting for an answer.
“Miss? Ah...” Aztec said, seeing the intact card still. “Well, can’t miss again....” he adjusted slightly, then glanced at the Geshrin. “A Kuznyetski forged receiver? I wish my salary was that good! Maybe I should have stayed a cop! Same target” Aztec fired again.
"Hit, dead on - but honestly a real Kuz will bet their latest creation in a simple game of cards, never met a friendlier bunch honestly," David mused, readjusting his squatted position slightly to rest his weight more on one boot.
“Huh. Heard about that, never got a chance to play cards against one though. Too bad, if I’d have known that, I may have gone looking for one of them! Black ace of spades, upper right of deck” Aztec replied, firing again, his tail swishing idly above his prone form.
"Right through the middle, I know a way to get you a good bit of lead-spitting nerimium lovingly assembled by a Kuz if you want? think of it as my treat for this," David replied, his eyes momentarily drifting towards the horse's tail before returning to the range.
“For this? I feel like I’m cheating you!” Aztec joked. “Last target for the hand. Let’s see...” the horseman scanned the deck for a moment, his tail swishing about excitedly. “There we go, black joker, dead center of deck” The crack of his rifle echoed after he pulled the trigger.
"Solid hit, but no - really, I have some favours back in Nepland if you want something custom, at least consider it," the Geshrin offered, insisting that the equine think on the idea a little more but it was out of his hands really.
“I certainly will, and thanks for the offer, David” Aztec replied, looking up at the Geshrin from where he lay. “Well, can’t get a higher hand than that...” the horseman started, as he ensured the rifle was safe. “...you want a run behind the scope?”
"You tell me, it's your rifle and I know how people can get about that sort of thing," David spoke with a cheeky grin towards Aztec as he lowered the spotter's scope to his lap and sighed, "I could go a round, sure."
“With how modular the Harbinger is, resetting back to me takes all of a couple minutes. Hell of a system, that.” Aztec replied. “If you don’t want to do that, pull one of the repairs out and use that. Give yourself a challenge, though I’ll allow a couple practice shots to check it’s point of aim”
The Geshrin tapped his chin as he thought for a moment, looking over the rifle before brown eyes settled on Aztec's long face with an answer for the golden horse-man, "It was more a courtesy thing, but I reckon I might just use yours then - won't go screwing up your optics though, trust me," David smirked as he reached across to hand his partner the scope.
“Wouldn’t be difficult to reset that, but I appreciate the look out” Aztec replied, taking the offered spotter scope. He set it up on a nearby bench, but didn’t seat behind it yet. “Alright, take a couple shots to sight it in, then let me know when you’re ready to deal.
David gave a nod before he tumbled to the side a bit and rolled once, coming into a prone position with the rifle pressed into his shoulder as the Geshrin looked down the scope for a few seconds, finger shifting from its resting position down onto the trigger - laying as he was with gravity now pressing down on his back David's clothes revealed a hint of the man's extremely well-cut body, aiming for the middle of a patch of mis-matching paint he now let out a slow breath and squeezed the trigger once.
Aztec leaned back against the wall behind the bench, waiting for David to finish sighting in, meanwhile the horseman looked over the Geshrin, noting the man's figure, the type which spoke of a regimented fitness program, even above the requirements of being active military. In short, the man cut quite a figure...
David fired off two more shots to get a feel for the rifle and empty the magazine, locking the bolt open he reached across to a nearby box of ammunition and began feeding them back into the magazine through the ejection port before driving the bolt forward to chamber a fresh round - glancing across to the horseman that the Geshrin could see was eyeing him up, "Ready to go when you are, unless you're busy looking elsewhere?"
Aztec grinned, giving David a half shrug. "Guilty as charged. What can I say? The view's easy on the eyes" He replied, laying behind the scope. "Alright, ready for your first target"
David snickered a little and sent two more rounds downrange to see what he was working with before speaking, "Well you're not exactly terrible to look at yourself but maybe in another lifetime eh?" the Geshrin shook his head and lowered it back down to the scope, aiming in at his first target before calling it.
"Black ace of clubs, upper right."
“Hit, high left. Try holding over, she likes shooting high” Aztec replied. “Maybe so. Never can tell where the wind blows”
"Cheers- ace of spades, black, right up mainstreet," the Geshrin responded, making appropriate adjustments before firing at his new target, body visibly untensing after each shot.
Aztec snorted. “Main Street, huh? Well, aim’s true and all, that certainly was right up that ace’s Main Street. Did it owe you money or something?” the equine soldier joked.
David smirked a little as he looked down the scope thoughtfully for a second before the Geshrin locked the safety in and turned on his side, head rested up on one elbow as he spoke, "I don't want to seem like I'm bitching out but I should probably get back to her, didn't plan to spend more than a minute or two here anyway but it was a pleasure meeting you - Az," David explained before rising up to a stand, offering his newfound equine pal a hand.
Aztec sat up from the scope rest on the bench before taking David’s offered hand. “Nah, I understand completely, don’t worry about it. Likewise, David, I’m sure we’ll see each other around”
"Definitely, definitely~" David spoke as he shook the horseman's hand with an iron grip, firm yet not painfully so before it was released, "You ever need a favour from a corporal though, just let me know and I'll see what I can do, alright?"
“I’ll remember that. Never hurts being able to call in a favor or two. Either way, Neera’ll be back up before you know it, David, trust me.”
"I..." David was lost in his own thought for a second as his grip released, warm brown eyes going somewhere very cold and dark before they returned to the situation at hand a few seconds later, "...I'm going to keep hoping for that outcome
“Do that” Aztec caught the hint of something in the Geshrin’s tone, only for a moment before it was gone. “Certainly better than worrying about something you can’t do anything about, anyway”
"That's the spirit~" David chuckled though his eyes weren't smiling as the Geshrin turned to make his leave, offering the horseman a small waving flick of his wrist before doing so, "~be seeing you."
There were no footsteps or any other sound to inform the equine marksman somebody had entered other than the hushed hissing of a door sliding along magnetic rails, but sure enough somebody had entered the room - that somebody had been trying to stay strong for somebody who needed him but at the same time was angry at himself for not being able to stop it from happening in the first place, so David decided to give the range a quick visit and work off some of that steam. Standing just shy of 6' David could pass as a multitude of nationalities, a rare Human maybe? a synthetic Minkan? Nepleslian would be the easiest guess though even that wasn't a definite answer.
Aztec's tail reminded him of Neera's though hers had lay dormant for some time now... no, don't break down - sort your shit out and be the man she deserves.
He walked into the horse's peripheral vision to make his presence better known and stood there, something bundled underneath one arm as David spoke - "You don't mind another gun on the range?" David queried with a friendly nod, tanned skin, dark brown hair, beard and warm brown eyes that spoke nothing of his current inner turmoil - he appeared to be in his early to mid twenties as far as appearances were concerned
Aztec caught movement in the corner of his eye, he rolled onto his side, facing the newcomer, golden eyes focusing on him. Humanoid, but that was all Aztec could tell for certain. No wait. Something else, something Aztec sensed off about him? Weird...
”Not at all, though I figure everyone’s getting more than enough practice pulling sentry duty, the way things are, guarding the construction crews and all. Though I haven’t seen you around before?” Aztec posed the last question, not in a challenging way, but as a statement. He hadn’t seen this person before, then again, being as new as he was, that wasn’t really a suprise...
"Yeah things have been tense around here recently, and I doubt we've met before... I had to make a bit of an unexpected detour recently," David chuckled quietly to himself as he set the armoured box down on a nearby bench and turned, squatting down to offer Aztec a firm handshake. "David Maverock - it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm sure," he spoke to the Palomino, his form may not have exactly been the norm but David had seen odder things in his travels.
“Maverock, Ah! You’re one of the initial pathfinders that left the Anvil before Hades attacked it.” Aztec snorted. “Hell of a homecoming that must have been.” He finished, shaking David’s offered hand. “Jarimin Travers, though just call me Aztec. Detour huh? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” He joked, the humor evident in his eyes.
"Yeah that would be the one and only me," David mused as he moved back over to the recently placed box, flicking open a few magnetic clamps to reveal the collection of pistol parts he began assembling into a Type 28 General Service Pistol the Star Army of Yamatai no longer had in production. He looked back towards Aztec as the recoil spring was dropped in and had something to ask about the horse's surname.
"Travers... that's Nepleslian, no?"
“Born, raised, and spent the last fifteen years fighting in the military of” Aztec replied, sitting up. “And most of the time, managing to avoid some meatgrinder caused by some politician’s prick waving contest.” Getting a look at the frame of the pistol David was assembling. “Type 28? Either you’re a great deal older than even I thought, or you’ve done a fair share of undercover work. Those are ubequitous enough to not immediately give you away as an officer, and you’ve more than a few gangs that still use them, despite parts becoming harder to find. Imagine you’ve got a few interesting stories to tell, David.”
"Hm, little bit of both actually," David spoke as he finished reassembling the gun and now laid out two magazines, with a third being slotted into his pistol before the slide was racked back to chamber a round. "I was born back when they still called Funky City New Detroit, half Nep half Human and I enlisted in the Greens back before we became the DIoN - jumped in a Geshrin body along with my folks back then and eventually made my way to Yammie's Black Panels before they kicked Geshrins out, did some merc work and didn't join back when they let us back in and now I'm a recon specialist for our friends in red and black," David quickly explained, it seemed like a lot of people around here were rather astute but then again he wasn't exactly trying to hide the fact he was over half a century old yet looked like he was in his early twenties.
"So yeah, I've been around a bit."
Aztec whistled, a rather odd sound coming from him. “Yeah, that’s an understatement. Recon huh? Spent most of my time as a sniper, so I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other here, won’t we?”
"I guess so, yeah~" the Geshrin mused as he put on some ear and eye protection before pointing the sidearm downrange, he hadn't used the old iron since rocking up at section six but some familiarity was good in these troubled times - still, David flicked the safety back on and turned towards Aztec with an apologetic look as the pistol's barrel drooped downwards slightly.
"I just need to get something out of the way so give me a minute and we can talk more, yeah?"
“Go ahead. Good mag dump always relieves a bit of stress” Aztec replied, indicating the pistol targets downrange.
"Appreciate it~" David reciprocated as he flicked the safety off and quickly aimed the pistol in once more, squeezing the trigger once, twice, three times in rapid succession until the magazine was empty - at which point he pressed the release down and caught the small metal thing in his now free hand before slamming his pistol down onto one of the other, previously set aside magazines which he then proceded to empty in a similar matter.
By the end of it all there was two magazines worth of holes punched through the distant target in exceedingly tight groupings and a rather pissed-looking David that let out a few heavy huffs before returning to his usual self - it felt good to get all that out of his system. The tanned man flicked the safety back on out of habit and turned back to Aztec with a small grin, giving the horse-man a nod before speaking, "So what part of Nepleslia are you from - if you don't mind me asking?"
Aztec gave David a look, cocking his equine like head to the side a bit, focusing him with both eyes. “Had more than a bit to work out there, didn’t you? Los Apagos and no...” Aztec started. “...I never was able to get much into the airbike scene, mainly cause the family didn’t exactly have that kind of cash around” He smiled slightly, “Didn’t stop me or my brother from wanting to though. Like every kid, it was awesome seeing the races every year, you always imagine what it feels like to be one of those guys, you know?”
"I get what you mean, definitely, though I must say I haven't been back to Nepleslia Prime in a while," David admitted as his arms crossed over his chest, pistol under one armpit as a small sigh left the Geshrin's lips, thinking it was probably better to just ignore that first bit and not dump his problems on the palomino.
"I'm a bit of a military brat if you couldn't guess, the Maverocks don't have anything named after them but we're good at war so yeah~ I hope you don't mind me asking but I can't say I've seen too many of your kind around before, parent's must've immigrated a while ago because you seem like a bog-standard Nepleslian in every department but appearance~ no offence," he queried with a warm grin, not wanting to seem too pushy but curious regardless.
Aztec laughed. “That’s because up until a few months ago, I WAS a bog standard Nepleslian, appearance included!” The anthro equine replied, getting to his hooves. “Had an accident the same day I joined up with S6, trashed my old body. Spent a few months in cryo acclimatizing to this body, to which I didn’t know I’d been put in, until the Anvil was boarded, then I was thawed the fast way. Hooves and a hangover. I’ve had my share of strange wake up calls, but that one is by far my strangest! Still, while there’ve certainly been odd times getting used to it, there are some advantages to having a horse’s body.”
“Police family myself, so I know somewhat where you’re coming from. None of the moving to different planets like you all tend to have to do, though. As for not having been there for some time, well, some things never change...”
A small look of surprised crossed the Geshrin's lips though he supposed that, given recent events, he had an excuse or two to be a little out of the loop - that look was soon replaced with the warm grin once more as David took a second look over the equine before him, certainly seemed like one hell of a body and he almost wondered who was keeping it around but shook the idea aside, it mattered not and Aztec seemed comfortable enough with it.
"Certainly wasn't what I was expecting, aye~ you said accident but the hell happened to mess you up that much if you don't mind me asking?" the tanned man inquired, despite his mind being half a century old he still managed to act like the 20-something year old man that David's body had the appearance of.
“Believe it or not, a car wreck. Swerved to avoid hitting a kid that managed to get onto the highway, went sideways in the ditch, and managed to strike the only actual bolder in the area. Right on the driver’s side. Completely crushed my truck’s cab, shattered three of my ribs, drove my shoulder into my clavicle, multiple fractures in my skull, whole bunch of internal damage, and then some. They had to amputate one of my legs to even get me out. Course, I didn’t feel any of that, impact knocked me out, which was probably a good thing. Either way, the docs managed to revive me in the hospital long enough to tell me I was going to have to be transferred.”
“Wasn’t a suprise, that, but this...” Aztec indicated himself “...this was a different story. Not sure where or even why S6 had this body, though. Gotta ask Carl about that one sometime....”
David offered the horse a sympathetic frown and put one tanned, somewhat leathery hand on Aztec's shoulder - giving it a small squeeze, "Wrecks are never fun, trust me on that, and I'm sorry to hear about losing your previous body but at least you're here right? could be worse, not saying the fact you didn't get the worst result is the greatest thing in the world but I would take that as a win," the Geshrin offered before releasing his equine friend's shoulder.
"Gotta ask though, is it all horse from head to toe? disregarding the obvious things," he began asking to change the mood a little bit, hoping to at least~ but he'd be lying if it wasn't one of the first questions that had popped into his head - he had a girlfriend sure but there was no harm in asking such a question, right?
“Hey, like you said, I didn’t go out with my previous body, so I’d count that as a good thing.” Aztec replied, then grinned. “Right to the important questions, hmm? Can’t say I’d not ask myself if the situation was reversed. Answer is definitely yes, though. Horse from head to hooves, and everything in between!”
"Everything huh~ hope it hasn't given you too much hassle yet," David reciprocated with a small smirk, a memory of the first time SAINT had thrown him into a new body coming to mind, he'd share it if the Geshrin didn't know just how deep the black-clad sect of Yamatai's invisible tendrils went, honestly those fuzzy digitigrade legs weren't the most jarring thing~
“No, nothing major. Most of it has been more of a benefit, there’s just a bit of an initial learning curve, you know? That, and a couple of weird feelings. Took a couple weeks before I really got used to that fact that my ears now turned toward sounds. That felt more than a little strange. So, you’ve obviously got something you’re pushing through right now, judging by how you came in. Something you want to talk about? I’m no counselor, but that’s always helped me before...”
"Yeah I guess it is kinda obvious, no harm in trying, right?" David spoke with a small huff as he regarded the horse once more, seemed like a good enough guy as far as he was concerned and that was good enough for him. "So you heard about the pathfinder business? well the ship got raided not too long after our bird gots its wings clipped and well~" he trailed off a little, eyes glassing up ever so slightly at the need to mention her predicament but otherwise David's expressions seemed unphased, some of that SAINT instinct to hide your compromising emotions bleeding through.
"My recent girlfriend, Neera Pine, she was caught up in it all and now she's in a coma we don't know if she'll be able to come out of," the Geshrin swallowed thickly, it was clear he had a lot of love for this woman, and even gave a sad chuckle before continuing.
"Kinda a fucked welcome-home gift if you ask me."
“Neera Pine? Oh shit, yeah. I remember them bringing her into the Medbay, she was caught in the hangar when Hade’s ship crashed into it during their boarding attempt. Damn, sorry man, that is fucked up. All I can say is that as long as there’s life, there’s hope....”
Aztec shook his golden head slowly. “We all ate a shit sandwich that day...”
"That's what I hear~ but fuck me, the fact nobody knows for sure which way this'll go is what's really getting me, she's a strong woman so I know Neera is fighting like hell in there... it's just that every conflict has a losing side," David reciprocated with some frustration, dragging his hand down his face momentarily.
Aztec put a hand on David’s shoulder. “Then expect she’s going to kick that coma’s ass so hard, it’ll still be spitting up white fur months from now” He said. “I know you’re not alone in pulling for Neera. She seems to have made herself quite popular around here.”
David appreciated the hand on his shoulder, giving a small nod to show that and removing the hand from his face before speaking further, "Yeah being the daughter of a lord has that effect on you, the Pines don't seem to fall easily so I'm just trying to stay optimistic... I like you, Az, you're a good man."
“I try to be. Figure if more people did, there’d be less problems in this life” Aztec replied. “Also, the Pines take retribution for kidnapping their family seriously too, I was on the mission that went after Adilis when she was taken. We didn’t leave anyone breathing behind.” The horse soldier grinned. “Neera’s not someone you’d want to break up with. Just sayin...” he joked.
"Don't really see myself ever wanting too either, but yeah, I'm aware of the full extent of her... powers~" David offered back with a slightly more muted smile but it was there nonetheless before the Geshrin's brown eyes drifted down to Aztec's rifle. "So what were you doing with that rifle again? care to jog my memory?" he queried, bearded chin nestled between a pointer finger and a thumb.
“Cards” Aztec replied simply. Reaching down, he picked up the spotter’s scope lying nearby. “Here, take a look” he said, handing it to the Geshrin. “You can set up almost any card game you can think of, using the same rules, only you have a limited amount of ammunition to use to build your hand. Of course, distance factors in as well. Makes a hell of a training tool, especially if you’re calling card shots. Also makes for a nice change from silhouette targets.”
"Huh," David offered as he accepted the scope and looked downrange, both brown eyes open as he looked over Aztec's handiwork, letting out a small whistle before lowering the spotter's scope and speaking further, "Didn't know anybody still did that, you seem like a decent enough shot too~ so want me to spot for you?" the Geshrin asked, honestly it would make for a nice distraction.
“Thanks.Yeah, it seems to be a lost art now, especially with reactive targets and all that tech.” Aztec replied, then joked. “Kids these days, right? Sure, if you want to, two sets of eyes are better than one”
"Happily," David confirmed with a warm grin before lowering himself onto his haunches and moving to aim the spotter's scope at the target once more before letting Aztec know he was good to go with a quick, "Green on my end, send it when you're ready, horseman."
Aztec nodded, before taking up his position behind his harbinger rifle again. “Only hand that’s gonna beat a full house is five of a kind, joker’s out there too. I’ve got six rounds to make it happen. Let’s see....” he said, eye scanning the deck through the scope for a moment. “Alright, black ace of clover, lower left corner of the deck.” the equine soldier called, then a moment later, fired.
"Hit," David called as he saw the round punch through the card, though by the tone in his voice he had more to add, "only just though, try adjusting right an inch and down two inches," he grinned, this brought back some fond memories.
“Mmn” Aztec made the adjustment in the scope, then scanned for his next card. “Black Ace of spades, center deck” he called, again pausing afterward before squeezing the trigger.
"Scope not the shooter, right? hit her true, call your next," David chuckled back, knowing this was only a temporary fix but that was good enough to keep some of his worry off of Neera for now... she was a tough one, she'd pull through.
“Sometimes, yeah” Aztec grinned. “The trick is knowing which, though yeah, always blame the equipment” he joked. “Black ace of hearts, bottom center of deck” he called and fired.
"Nothing quite like a Kuznyetski-forged reciever though, ever fire one of their guns? also miss, go a hair to the left," the Geshrin spoke, casting a sideways glance to the horse and waiting for an answer.
“Miss? Ah...” Aztec said, seeing the intact card still. “Well, can’t miss again....” he adjusted slightly, then glanced at the Geshrin. “A Kuznyetski forged receiver? I wish my salary was that good! Maybe I should have stayed a cop! Same target” Aztec fired again.
"Hit, dead on - but honestly a real Kuz will bet their latest creation in a simple game of cards, never met a friendlier bunch honestly," David mused, readjusting his squatted position slightly to rest his weight more on one boot.
“Huh. Heard about that, never got a chance to play cards against one though. Too bad, if I’d have known that, I may have gone looking for one of them! Black ace of spades, upper right of deck” Aztec replied, firing again, his tail swishing idly above his prone form.
"Right through the middle, I know a way to get you a good bit of lead-spitting nerimium lovingly assembled by a Kuz if you want? think of it as my treat for this," David replied, his eyes momentarily drifting towards the horse's tail before returning to the range.
“For this? I feel like I’m cheating you!” Aztec joked. “Last target for the hand. Let’s see...” the horseman scanned the deck for a moment, his tail swishing about excitedly. “There we go, black joker, dead center of deck” The crack of his rifle echoed after he pulled the trigger.
"Solid hit, but no - really, I have some favours back in Nepland if you want something custom, at least consider it," the Geshrin offered, insisting that the equine think on the idea a little more but it was out of his hands really.
“I certainly will, and thanks for the offer, David” Aztec replied, looking up at the Geshrin from where he lay. “Well, can’t get a higher hand than that...” the horseman started, as he ensured the rifle was safe. “...you want a run behind the scope?”
"You tell me, it's your rifle and I know how people can get about that sort of thing," David spoke with a cheeky grin towards Aztec as he lowered the spotter's scope to his lap and sighed, "I could go a round, sure."
“With how modular the Harbinger is, resetting back to me takes all of a couple minutes. Hell of a system, that.” Aztec replied. “If you don’t want to do that, pull one of the repairs out and use that. Give yourself a challenge, though I’ll allow a couple practice shots to check it’s point of aim”
The Geshrin tapped his chin as he thought for a moment, looking over the rifle before brown eyes settled on Aztec's long face with an answer for the golden horse-man, "It was more a courtesy thing, but I reckon I might just use yours then - won't go screwing up your optics though, trust me," David smirked as he reached across to hand his partner the scope.
“Wouldn’t be difficult to reset that, but I appreciate the look out” Aztec replied, taking the offered spotter scope. He set it up on a nearby bench, but didn’t seat behind it yet. “Alright, take a couple shots to sight it in, then let me know when you’re ready to deal.
David gave a nod before he tumbled to the side a bit and rolled once, coming into a prone position with the rifle pressed into his shoulder as the Geshrin looked down the scope for a few seconds, finger shifting from its resting position down onto the trigger - laying as he was with gravity now pressing down on his back David's clothes revealed a hint of the man's extremely well-cut body, aiming for the middle of a patch of mis-matching paint he now let out a slow breath and squeezed the trigger once.
Aztec leaned back against the wall behind the bench, waiting for David to finish sighting in, meanwhile the horseman looked over the Geshrin, noting the man's figure, the type which spoke of a regimented fitness program, even above the requirements of being active military. In short, the man cut quite a figure...
David fired off two more shots to get a feel for the rifle and empty the magazine, locking the bolt open he reached across to a nearby box of ammunition and began feeding them back into the magazine through the ejection port before driving the bolt forward to chamber a fresh round - glancing across to the horseman that the Geshrin could see was eyeing him up, "Ready to go when you are, unless you're busy looking elsewhere?"
Aztec grinned, giving David a half shrug. "Guilty as charged. What can I say? The view's easy on the eyes" He replied, laying behind the scope. "Alright, ready for your first target"
David snickered a little and sent two more rounds downrange to see what he was working with before speaking, "Well you're not exactly terrible to look at yourself but maybe in another lifetime eh?" the Geshrin shook his head and lowered it back down to the scope, aiming in at his first target before calling it.
"Black ace of clubs, upper right."
“Hit, high left. Try holding over, she likes shooting high” Aztec replied. “Maybe so. Never can tell where the wind blows”
"Cheers- ace of spades, black, right up mainstreet," the Geshrin responded, making appropriate adjustments before firing at his new target, body visibly untensing after each shot.
Aztec snorted. “Main Street, huh? Well, aim’s true and all, that certainly was right up that ace’s Main Street. Did it owe you money or something?” the equine soldier joked.
David smirked a little as he looked down the scope thoughtfully for a second before the Geshrin locked the safety in and turned on his side, head rested up on one elbow as he spoke, "I don't want to seem like I'm bitching out but I should probably get back to her, didn't plan to spend more than a minute or two here anyway but it was a pleasure meeting you - Az," David explained before rising up to a stand, offering his newfound equine pal a hand.
Aztec sat up from the scope rest on the bench before taking David’s offered hand. “Nah, I understand completely, don’t worry about it. Likewise, David, I’m sure we’ll see each other around”
"Definitely, definitely~" David spoke as he shook the horseman's hand with an iron grip, firm yet not painfully so before it was released, "You ever need a favour from a corporal though, just let me know and I'll see what I can do, alright?"
“I’ll remember that. Never hurts being able to call in a favor or two. Either way, Neera’ll be back up before you know it, David, trust me.”
"I..." David was lost in his own thought for a second as his grip released, warm brown eyes going somewhere very cold and dark before they returned to the situation at hand a few seconds later, "...I'm going to keep hoping for that outcome
“Do that” Aztec caught the hint of something in the Geshrin’s tone, only for a moment before it was gone. “Certainly better than worrying about something you can’t do anything about, anyway”
"That's the spirit~" David chuckled though his eyes weren't smiling as the Geshrin turned to make his leave, offering the horseman a small waving flick of his wrist before doing so, "~be seeing you."
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