---Shooting---
---Jaylah’s perspective---
My hands hover over the holsters at my hips while my eyes fly over the display.
I breathe out, slowly…
My hands seize the handles of my guns and draw them up to shoulder height.
*Bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang
bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang* is the sound of me unloading both my 12 shooters inside 4 seconds penetrating my ear defenders.
Ambidexterity makes it as easy as it’s always been to handle them both and, with the cybernetic eye I’ve had for half my life now doing half the visual work for me, shooting’s never been easier.
Twenty four popped balloons retract into their platforms as I twirl the gun in my right hand back into its holster, just for the moment, and flip out the cylinder on my leftie gun to the right, catching the shower of spent shell casings as they eject.
Picking up the speedloader on my right with my free hand, I deftly align the twelve rounds with the twelve chambers and release them inside before swinging it shut.
Holstering leftie, I unholster rightie and repeat the reload process, just mirrored.
I slot that one back into its holster just in time to see the tops of twenty four new balloons rising up out of different platforms than before.
Right when I’m exhaling, the countdown stops and the light at the end of the range lights up.
I turn to the door to see who just walked in.
Taking off my ear protection, I smile down at the little Goblin missus and say “Well howdy there, darlin’! What can I do ya fer?”
She holds up a mostly full bottle of brandy and says “I got this from the [Princess], earlier… Wondering if you wanted to have some with me before I take it back to the Twigg rooms… It’ll probably be gone quite quickly after that.”
“Awww! Well, ain’t you just the sweetest little lady I ever met!” I grin, shaking my head “Sadly no… Guns and drink t’aint the best mix(!)… That and I’m on standby case Hoss calls me in… Can’t be showin’ up ta work drunk(!)”
Her adorable little face falls in disappointment.
“D’aw… don’t be blue, sugar! Tell ya what, any time I’m off duty, ya can come by mine an’ we’ll have a drink together then… How’s that?” I reassure.
Her smile returns as she nods in an excited Terran ‘yes’.
“It’s a date then(!)… I warn ya though, don’t do brandy… More of a tequila gal, myself!”
“[Tequila]?” she asks, cocking her head at 45° in a way that makes me just wanna eat her right up!
“Yup… I like my liquor like I like my ladies; sweet, fiery, and with a bit o' bite(!)” I kid.
Green lips pull back over a set of fanged teeth.
The girl gives a single, playful chomp on the air.
I burst out laughing.
“Well now, well now, well now(!) Ya keep flirtin’ with little old me like that, I reckon I might come down with a case of the vapors(!)” I smile, fanning myself with my hand.
She giggles.
Then she notices all the balloons.
“What are those for?” she asks, curiously.
“Fer shootin’, darlin’!”
Her yellow cat eyes flick to my hips (basically at eyelevel for her) and then back out the range, interest piqued.
“Can you show me?” she asks, her tone mostly neutral but with a clear note of hope.
“I can, honey… but ya gotta put on some o’ these first!” I hold up the defenders to show her “…hate ta think how sensitive yer hearin’s gotta be with those ears o’ yers!… Don’t want ya needin’ ta go out in Parliament with busted eardrums ’cause o’ me(!)”
She frowns at the earmuffs.
“Those won’t fit me.” she says without any doubt or hesitation in her voice.
“They’re adjustable, darlin’… Ya see?” I say, showing her how the headband retracts.
“Yeah… but they’re still at the wrong angle for the ears.” she points out, eyes still on the thing in my hands.
I check, holding it up to compare it’s shape to the cutey’s head.
“Yup… Ya might need ta hold ’em down when I shoot… That alright, darlin’?”
“I can do that.” she says, holding out a hand for the adjusted pair.
I hand them to her and she takes them without a ‘thank you’.
Cultural difference, I guess… though I have definitely heard her kind saying ‘thank you’, even if a lot less than I was raised for!
She spends a few moments stuffing her long pointy ears into the cups and then holds them down to the sides of her head.
“Ya hear anythin’ through that?”
She lifts one side back up and asks “What?”
I laugh “That’s a ‘no’ then! Just hold ’em down like that when I say ta, Kay?”
I pick up another set and put them on, feeling the pair of eyes staring up at me from my right.
“Ready darlin’?” I ask, hearing my own voice, more through my skull than the air.
She holds down hers and I restart the countdown.
Deep exhale… and…
*Bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang
bangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbangbang*
Every balloon pops.
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I’m glad… It would’ve been an embarrassing misrepresentation of my skill if stagefright had made me miss any!
I give a cocky twirl of my pistols before reholstering them both and turning to my audience of one.
She’s got her mouth hanging open, looking at the scene of balloon carnage I’ve just left behind me.
Seems like she understands how impressive that was(!)
“Spirits!… That was incredible!” she yells before asking “Can I try?”
“Ya ain’t still drunk are ya?”
“No… it was hours ago that I had any [alcohol]…” she says.
I cock an eyebrow and ask “Mind if I check that, little lady(?)” thumbing my holo.
She answers by unnecessarily spreading out her arms.
I pick it up to scan her and find, sure enough “Blood alcohol at 0.0…”
“And you doubted(!)”
I chuckle “My mistake, darlin’!… Let me get ya something that’s a little more yer size.”
She frowns and points to my hip “Can’t I just use those?”
My lip twists and my eyes narrow down at her, playfully.
“Tell ya what, darlin’…” I say, taking one of my 12 shooters off my left hip, flipping out the cylinder to eject the casings and sparing a glance down to make sure every chamber is empty.
Crouching, I extend the handle to her.
“…hold this at arm length fer 30 seconds and I’ll let ya try firing it, alright? Keep yer finger off the trigger and point it thatta way.” I say, pointing at the range.
Her eyes narrow.
She takes the gun.
I don’t let go until I feel the force of her lifting it out of my hand.
Her face tells me she did not expect it to be so heavy!
With some effort, she lifts the gun up to shoulder level, pointing it out at the range.
She lasts longer than I thought but only 8 seconds have gone by before I see her arm start to tremble.
She grunts and heaves but, before long…
*Clunk* is the sound of the handle hitting the counter.
“That were 17 seconds, darlin’… longer than I thought it’d be… but not enough by a long shot!”
“It’s so heavy!” she says, breathless.
“Yup! That there shooter’s more ’an 2lbs… I’m about 130… I’d guess yer about 20!… It ain’t even 2% of my weight but it’s 10% o’ yers… Physics weren’t on yer side!”
“Couldn’t I just lift it up to shoot and put it down quickly?”
I shake my head and hold out my hand “Sweetheart… no… these guns kick like a mule! At yer size, ya’d get knocked off yer feet! Ya need somethin’ a bit smaller… That’ll be safer and more fun fer ya… even if it don’t exactly sound like it!”
“Alright…” she sulks, handing me back leftie.
I chuckle, reholster it for the third time in the same number of minutes and saunter over to the locker, placing my hand on the access pad.
“Let’s find ya somethin’ that ain’t gonna break yer arm ta fire, darlin’(!)” I say as the door slides open.
“By the Spirits!” she gasps as the door opens and reveals rows upon rows upon rows of firearms in clear cases on the walls.
Most are privately owned by members of ODR security, like myself, but there’s a pool of armory ones.
Coming in behind me, the 3ft tall girl looks up and asks “I thought weapons weren’t allowed on this planet?”
“Yer absolutely right they ain’t… but the ODR has what’s called ‘extraterritoriality’… basically means we get ta treat it like a little bit o’ the UTC, right here on Citadel!… Long as guns and ammo’re kept under separate lock and key and users are either licensed or supervised by a qualified instructor, it’s all gravy!… Now, if I was ta take any o’ these and walk out inta the street with it, that’d be a problem!” I answer, selecting an 8oz, 8 chamber revolver from a case, flipping out the cylinder and checking it’s empty.
“Just one?” she asks from behind me.
“Dual wielding’s an advanced technique, darlin’! Not the kinda thing I’m gonna start ya off on. Learn ta fire one first and maybe, one day, ya can try two!” I chuckle as I unlock the ammo storage below and take a box of .22 LR rounds.
She’s in my way a bit but gets the idea to back out as I walk toward her.
I make my way back to the bench and put the ammo box down before turning to the Goblin cutey.
“Now… before I give this ta ya and let ya load it up, we need ta talk safety…”
“No, no… Emiko already taught me what condoms are(!)” she smirks.
“*sigh*… We need ta talk gun safety, little lady! Even a little gun like this is a deadly weapon! Ya ain’t gonna take this serious, I can put this back and…”
“No, no! I’m sorry! I’m listening… I was just joking…” she says, hasty-like.
“Alright then… Rule 1) the gun is always loaded… even when ya ‘know’ it ain’t!”
Clearly confused, she opens her mouth to speak but I cut her off.
“What I mean is; don’t matter how sure ya are that there ain’t any rounds in the chamber, ya still treat this thing like it’s loaded! Only takes one time of ya bein’ wrong fer someone ta die! We understand eachother, missus?”
“OK… the gun is always loaded… even when it isn’t…” she frowns.
“Good… Rule 2) Ya never point the barrel at somethin’ ’less yer happy fer it ta stop existin’! Ya don’t point the barrel at anyone ya don’t want ta die… We clear on Rule 2?” I ask, my tone letting her know that gun safety is not a joke.
“Never point it at anything you like… got it.”
“Right… Rule 3) Ya never put yer finger on the trigger till yer ready ta fire… when yer carryin’ it around or gettin’ ready, yer finger stays on the handle, Kay?”
“Alright… only touch the trigger when I’m about to fire.”
“Cool… there’re some more rules ta know fer ownin’ and storin’ yer gun but you don’t need ta learn those now. The only other rule ya need ta worry about is never use a gun when ya been drinkin’, takin’ drugs or are tired… Anythin’ that might impair yer judgment… So, ya feelin’ 100%?”
“I think so?”
“Ya think so? If ya ain’t sure darlin’…?”
“No, I’m fine.” she says, looking very worried.
“T’salright, darlin’… Ya can relax just a touch… I ain’t gonna let ya hurt yaself on my watch, Kay?” I reassure her.
She smiles.
I stand back up and say “Ya ready ta start, little lady?”
“Mmm!” she agrees.
“OK, now… pick up the gun, keep yer finger off the trigger and point it at the ground… away from yer feet or mine.”
She follows the instructions.
“Now, I got ya a leftie, so the release catch is on the right side of the gun, above the trigger and behind the cylinder… Find it an’ slide it forward.”
She does that.
“Now give the cylinder a little push ta the right.”
It drops open.
“OK, yer doin’ well so far, darlin’… Now, see that box on the counter? Take rounds from it and slide them inta the chambers there with the round end pointin’ down and the flat pointin’ up. Do them one at a time until all eight are filled up.”
Her hands move between the box and the revolver eight times.
She doesn’t fumble once!
“Good work! Now press the cylinder closed until ya hear it click back inta place.”
*click*
Now that she has a loaded gun in her hands, I’m absolutely ready to safely disarm her if she starts doing anything stupid.
“Alright now, check yer footin’, make sure ya ain’t gonna slip on nothin’!”
She looks around her feet.
“All good?” I ask.
“Yes… I think so?”
“‘Think so’ ain’t ‘good’, darlin’… Ya need ta know so before ya start firin’! Now, is there anythin’ ya might trip on around yer feet?”
She checks again before saying “No. There isn’t.”
“Correct answer!”
I opt for voice commands so I can keep my eye on her.
“Range… give me eight balloons at a distance of 16ft out.”
Eight balloons rise up from platforms at nearly point blank range.
“Alright, missus… wide stance, feet a shoulder width apart. Bring yer gun up ta shoulder height, extend yer left and support it with yer right, like this…” I demonstrate “…look down the sights and just remember when ya fire, the gun’ll kick back inta yer hands so be careful ya don’t drop it from the surprise! I’m gonna get behind ya ta hold down yer cups… After that, ya can start shootin’!”
I take position behind her and press down her defenders to the sides of her head.
She trains the gun on the balloon furthest to the right, aiming down sight.
She squeezes the trigger.
*Bang*
The force of the gun being thrown back into her hands surprises her so much it makes her give a little yelp and do a heartmelting adorable little nervous jitter of her feet on the floor.
“It’s OK, darlin’… Ya were a little high on that one. Try again.” I encourage the little missus with her head in front of my hips.
She points the gun at the balloon again, aiming a little lower this time.
*Bang**pop*
“I got it!” she shouts.
“Good work, sweetheart! Now try the next one.”
She points the gun left.
*Bang**pop*
“*Hahaha*!” she laughs, triumphant.
*Bang**pop**Bang**pop**Bang**Bang**pop**Bang**pop*
I pull her defenders off and congratulate “Wow! 6/8! Shoot, fer a firsttimer, you’re a natural, darlin’!”
“Nowhere near as good as you, though.” she frowns, disappointed.
I laugh “Sugar! I’ve been shootin’ since I was yer height! I promise ya, I didn’t start off this good! There’s no way I’d’ve got 6/8 on my first try!” giving her a pat on the shoulder “Ya wanna try a few more times before I go an’ give Val his exercise?”
She turns to look up at me with a curious frown “Who’s Val?”