day at the range(mdu_ntr )

[Anonymous]

Seth walked with no hurry to the range. What he learned at the medical clinic annoyed him. The PA after examining Seth told him he had Bronchitus. The reasons were normally bacteria or smoking to much. Seth knew why and had decided to quite much to his regret.

He entered a large hanger and was not pleased to find it hot in there as well. Seth saw Demya was already there and waved to her as he walked to the range guard shack. Inside was a old human on a chair. "How's it going lewis?" The old man rubbed a arm against his forehead to reply. "Hot. Dragons must be pissed off to make us suffer like this. The range is set up for you and your friend." The old man handed Seth a box of 5.56 rounds. "I know, what is up with this heat! Im sweating my ass off! I know its against range policy but im shooting with my shirt off today. Its to damn hot to wear a vest. You know I'm no idiot. Demya is not one either. So you dont have to worry about us having a AD."

The old man was silent for a minute before he answered. "Fine, but wear your eyepro" Seth laughed to walk over to the weapon racks lining the hanger walls. "I dont think wearing eyepro will stop a round going through my head. The pilots need to change that rule" Seth took off his Uniform top and its undershirt to leave them in a folded pile on the bench.

The first thing one will see is Seth had been places. Unknown battlefields one could only speculate and imagine. He was littered with scars like a cut up turkey. One could almost become sick just looking at him. But Seth was not one to really care what others thought about him.

He looked over all the rifles on the rack and chose to take the MASADA. Seth pulled on the charging handle and locked the bolt to the rear to inspect the chamber for rounds. Standard safety procedures. Seeing it was clear he tapped the catch releasing the bolt. It slammed forward back in place with a clack.

Seth loaded two thirty round magazines and entered a empty shack on the firing line with the number 2 on it. He called over to the first shack. "you ready to get owned bird?" He started to laugh but it was ended short as he started to cough loudly. His dog tags bouncing against his chest from the violence of the it. He put a small plastic cup device over his nose and mouth. He breathed in deeply and it hissed as medicine was delivered from a small metal cylinder on it.

He did not want to unerve Demya and waved a hand to say to her telepathically. "I'm fine. Just got a touch of the bronchitus. Medics say it will be gone in three days. Its what I deserve from all the smoking I've done" Seth set the medical device down and pulled the charging handle of his weapon to lock it to the rear. Put in a magazine with a click to slap it again to make sure it was firmly seated. Hitting the catch the bolt slammed forward to chamber a round.

"Im ready to go when you are"

[Anonymous]

OOC: I'm not very good with military slang so could you define a couple of things for me as we go, either as an OOC or by pm? PA, AD, MASADA.

Demya was getting impatient by the time Granby, or whatever his name was, came to the range. She had been telling the truth when she'd said she hated guns but she hadn't mentioned that she rarely used them. Her weaponry consisted of vines and she was not looking forward to having to repeat the experience of using a gun. There was something very disturbing about using them. It seemed hypocritical to use a weapon that had been used to do what she detested most about humans.

She looked at the old 22" rifle in her hands, which Lewis had just shown her how to use then at Granby. 'Owned? Whoever said I would let myself get owned,' Demya said with a cheeky voice. She might be new to shooting, but she had one advantage: her vines. She was about to put on a little display when she finally noticed that he'd taken his shirt off.

Demya whistled as she inspected him. 'Good heavens! I thought humans didn't like taking clothes off. You've got an impressive body there too, where did you get all those scars? You've got more than an Adelan soldier after a vampire attack!' she exclaimed. 'If you're taking yours off, do you think it would be fine if I remove mine? You have no idea how irritating this uniform is.'

Demya stepped closer when he started coughing. It didn't look all that fun. She felt a mind touch the surface of her own. Odd, it was Granby. He was just next to her so it seemed silly to talk like that. Why don't you just stop smoking then? It's horribly polluting and makes you smell bad. She tilted her head as she continued looking at him. Why did you have to say it this way? Besides, I thought you didn't like things that are "unnatural".

'Oh, I'm ready,' she said aloud. She gave him a large mischievously grin and fired the extremely long piece of human machinery before she'd even aimed. It went about three meters down the range before a strangler fig burst forth from the floor and caught the small projectile. She grinned at him again and gave a happy chirp. Who need guns when they could do that?

[Anonymous]

OCC: PA is a doctor of captain rank. AD (accidental discharge) MASADA is a infantry rifle in development by Magpul industries. I would take it over a M4 anyday.

Seth continued to lean against the shack wall and laughed soflty speaking normally since Demya was just a short way off. "Some dont. I really dont care. Im sweating my... Well its hot. Damn dragons toying with us like this." He could not help but raise a eyebrow at her comment on his body. "Impressive? Well your the first to say that. I hate it personaly. I look like a monster out of a horror vid. Dont remember where I got all of these scars. In battle that much I know. The government wiped my memory for some reason. Ive been trying to get the pilots to let me access my military records and personal files. But for some reason they decided to make it classified. Even from me. Damn rediculous!"

He waved his claw at her. "Go for it, I dont care. With all those feathers you must be sucking worse then me"

Seth shook his head at the piss poor shot. His eyes widened as a strange plant came out of nowhere to catch it. He turned his head slowly towards demya. "Pff, show off" Seth raised his rifle to flick the fire selector from safe to semi and tapped a button on the wall. Targets started to pop up in front of him.

He controlled his breathing and trigger squeeze as he placed the dot sight on the 100 meter target. With a single shot the round hit center mass and the target fell down. One after the other targets fell with a single shot. As the 300 meter target fell Seth locked his bolt to the rear and dropped his magazine.

"Your out of your leag darling. If you cant play with the big dogs, stay on the porch with the puppys." He gave a cheeky smile. "Not a single miss, think you can beat that?" He started to cough again. Luckily after he was done shooting otherwise he would have missed targets.

[Anonymous]

Demya resisted the urge to want to touch Granby's scars but little vines did appear near his feet. 'I never said those scars weren't ugly, they are. I said they're impressive. They prove you aren't someone who stands back and lets things happen,' she explained. It was one of the things that had annoyed her about most hippies, they knew what the right thing was but they were too lazy to do anything about it. 'Eck! I'd hate to not know about my past. Can't you even find if they were blocked instead? If you make it past candidacy you'll learn how to get your memories back. What do you remember?'

The vines were starting to curl around his boots now. She realised them and pulled them back before giving the other candidate a sly look. 'After you've shown your skill on the range, perhaps I could show you real man's skills.' Guns were good but it took real battle prowess to rely on your own strength. By the looks of his body, Granby had both.

Demya unbuttoned her shirt and dropped the offending material on the floor. Cursed humans, always making new ways to control people. Her top half was the only place she wore any clothes. It was very hard to fit the legs of a giant bird. Her revealed half was tanned, not as tanned as she had been when she was free to fly around outside. From her hips she was the proportions and appearance of a 5'5" human, a very attractive one at that.

'Well, I have to show off somehow. You're the one that likes guns, not me. I've always been the one attacked by them, not the one using them,' she said before pulling a pouting face. She opened her mouth slightly when he didn't miss a single one but quickly shut it when he'd finished. She didn't want him thinking she was a complete idiot.

Your out of your leag darling. If you cant play with the big dogs, stay on the porch with the puppys.

She fluffed her feathers at him and picked up the rifle, this time aiming it. He started coughing before she fired so she had to flick the fiddly little safety switch.

'Great, if you're that sick then I can't even challenge you to a real training session.'

[Anonymous]

OCC: Going to be gone for a week on wensday. Will reply to you post when I get back.

Seth recovered from the coughing to say. "Its just a cough. I dont have little heart syndrome. If you want to train we can do that." He cleared the weapon to walk back to the rack and place the rifle where he got it. They had people to around to do the dirty work of cleaning it.

"A block you say... What about implants? Do you think that is a possiblity?" Seth knew of blocks and implants. Blocks were mental barriers set up in psi ki and could be removed by a pilot with skill. Implants were surgical devices that made sure memorys were erased even if one remembered it. He tryed to concentrate and remember his past. A picture did not come to mind. But weapons firing came to his ears. A explosion and soon after a voice. "Your bleeding to death sargeant! Im calling the medevac" Seth heard his voice then. "Im not leaving my men doc! Not until we route these rebel bastards from the block!"

Just as quicky as the memory came it disapeared and Seth totally forgot he even had it. Seth shook his head. "No matter how much I try to remember. I cant. Screw it. What you have planned now bird?" Seth turned around from the weapons rack to look at her. Ever since she took her shirt off he avoided looking any lower then her face. He expected the harpy to look even more ugly without cloths on. His eyes betrayed him and he caught a glimpse of Demyas chest.

It surprised him. They looked like a normal human womens. Well, not quite normal. They were the most perfect set he had ever laid eyes upon. And that was saying alot coming from him. Making sure to keep his thoughts to himself Seth thought. "The rest of her is ugly as sin. But what a rack! It will give me something to look at when she spots me at the gyme"

"You know Demya. I think there might be a sparring room  at the gym lets head there" He picked up his folded uniform top to look at it for a second. "Screw that. Its to damn hot" Seth put the shirt over his shoulder to walk outside.

[Anonymous]

Demya watched Granby's movements and mimicked them. The old man looking after the range had showed her how to put away a gun but watching the ex-soldier gave her a few heads up. She had been about to put the gun back without clearing the weapon. That would have been embarrassing. She wiped clamminess off her face. This heat was disgusting. She would so have to have a shower after training, an extra longer one than she usually did after such occasions.

'Do I seem like the type that knows about implants? I just thought that if it was a block, you might find out how to crumble it,' she said. She shrugged her shoulders and her wings came up slightly. The only thing she had implanted was her arm and it was only very basic technology. Unlike Granby's massive claw, hers was just to return normal function to a ripped off limb. It had no upgrades or hidden weaponry. It was just a fake limb covered in very lifelike skin.

'I am not a bird, I'm a harpy. Would you like me to call you gorilla?' she asked in a jesting voice. She didn't like being called bird but she also didn't want to sound sensitive about it.

'We could do normal training at the gym but I really wanted to get into real unarmed combat, or armed if you don't think you can handle yourself without a gun.' She shot him a grin that challenged him to use a gun. She wiggled a vine in front of him, 'I'll still catch anything you shoot at me. It'd be good practice for both of us.' She didn't think about how it would look. She wasn't one for realising the consequences. Her thoughts tended to trail off to such things as her vines.

Demya snorted, 'like a sparring room will be big enough. It you're going to shoot at me I'd prefer to be a moving target.' She looked wistfully at his retreating back for a moment. She couldn't go around without her shirt on; she needed to be good. 'Blasted controlling Pilots,' she grumbled as she picked up the uncomfortable shirt. She really did not like the way she had to follow rules and be controlled like this. 'They're turning me into a human.'

[Anonymous]

Seth closed his eyes from the heat that hit his face. He slowly started to open lids though and was not surprised to see other candidates walking around with there jacket tops off. At least he was not out of uniform with everyone else. "Are you mad from the heat women!? Im not firing anything at you! Wether you can catch it or not. I would be a poor battle buddy to even consider it. If there is one thing I learned in the military it is to never flag your buddy with a weapon."

Granby started to wonder if hanging around Demya was such a good idea. He did not think himself a genious. He was far from it. Seth knew that. But he was a bit worryed her stupidity would rub off on him. But what chose did he really have? She was the closest he had to a friend here. Granby took the time to rub his good forearm across his forehead. "Phew, I'm to hot to care. Small room or a large one lets just get there or my brain is gonna cook."

Seths eyes swung to a group of female candadets walking by dressed in bakinis. He let out a wistle. "Yo ladys! Wheres the party at!" The group moved quicker and a untracable voice said loudly in a disgusted way. "Ewww, did you see that freak?"

Granby took it in surprisingly good nature as if he expected it and laughed softly. "Okey then bird. Where too?" Seth knew Demya hated being called that. But she would have to learn not to take everything he said seriously. It was all out of fun and good nature.

[Anonymous]

Demya unbuttoned her shirt a little. Her chest was sweating but she couldn't take the cursed thing off until she was by herself, or just with Granby or Vyomini. 'I am not mad. My way of training has always been more realistic. If you go soft when training, you're not prepared for the real stuff. How else am I going to be able to dodge or catch a bullet when I'm in real battle? At least here they have healing mages,' she explained. 'If you're that worried though, use one of those ones that shoot those little balls of paint.'

Her and her sister had gone all out when training, only stopping when the other was injured enough to yield. Vyne had always been stronger but Demya was faster so they ended up being evenly matched. Demya missed being able to fight like that, it was so much more adrenaline pumping than more recent training sessions where the participants had to admit defeat when tapped in certain places.

She glared at the candidates as they walked passed, resisting the urge to wrap vines around their legs and trip them up. She had to be good, she had to pass this candidacy.

The heat was affecting him worse than her, that gave her an unfair advantage. Nonetheless, she led him to a large room. The room she had been flying in when the urge arose. It wasn't as gigantic as the dragon's tower but it was still huge. It was probably used for learning to jet packs or boots. 'Oh come on, you big ape. It's not that hot. I mean, it is but you don't have to be dramatic about it.'

[Anonymous]

Seths response was blunt. "I dont care how you train. Safety first. But if your that adament about it. There is a way. I could use UTM rounds. Dont even ask me what it stands for because I dont even know. All you need to know is that if one of those bad boys hits you. It will hurt like a bitch. Finding the rounds and the bolt nessesary for it will be a problem I think.

Granby followed Demya trying his best not to fall out from the heat. When she led him to a large room he was grateful it was less hot here. But still hot. If there was one thing that made him butthurt. It was heat.

He tossed the jacket from his shoulder to the side along the rooms wall. "Not that hot? Women. Dont start with me about it not being hot. Some of us dont have feathers to trap air and keep cool. I guess thats a pro of being none human eh? I notice that there are not alot of humans around here. I feel like an outcast." It was a first for him. And Seth did not like it.

Granby assumed a good fighting stance with his legs shoulder width apart and his hands in front of him. "Im gonna make you tap out bird" he said confidently. Though to be honest he was not so confident as he sounded. His training was limited to mixed martial arts. Quick takedowns in particular. He was not use to any kind of lengthly spar. Not to mention Demya has been around for awhile. He imagined she would probably pull some old world shit out her ass and put him on the ground fast as hell.

Seth threw a quick jab at Demya to just test her and see how she moved. It was all part of the sessing up the enemy rule before moving in. It went against his instincts of just taking things head on. But dicipline was well rooted to his mentallity.

"So demya" He asked as he deflected a blow from Demya with his cybernetic forearm. "Any other family besides your sister? Father? Mother? Children?" The sparring was starting off casually. But Seth was sure it would heat up after a few moments.

He was not so sure on the children part. When he took the time to read up on Harpys the other day the book said they are known to spontaniously just get pregnant when there kind was short in numbers. He thought it wierd there race was purely female. What could be the evolutionary benifet in that?

[Anonymous]

Demya was positively crestfallen. He sounded a lot like her sister: serious and final, though he used more words to say what she would in about five. 'Fine, but they'd better move as fast as the real thing,' she huffed. Her wings flicked a few times before her attention turned back to the giant room they had entered. At the sight of it she started craving to fly up as high as she could go.

She saw Granby throw the shirt on the floor and remembered why she'd brought him here: they were going to mock-battle, or maybe just sparring as he put it. She closed the door, removed her shirt and looked at him, tilting her head in a birdlike manner. It was strange to hear a human say they felt like an outcast. Humans were the dominant species on this planet.

'How are you an outcast? There are lots of humans in this program. The Earth is covered in you people, or well, the parts that still hold life,' she said in an almost casual voice. Granby was one of the good humans, the ones that cared about their planet and didn't just want to use it for all it was worth.

Demya frowned slightly as Granby crouched into the normal human fighting position. She hadn't planned this far ahead and now that she thought about it, fighting him wasn't that great an idea. 'Oh curses, I can't fight you properly like this. I'm used to fighting to kill and usually relied on things that would kill people as quickly and painlessly as possible. I can't do that here though so that means no talons, vines, dropping you, snapping your neck or anything I'd normally do. Full on fighting would main or kill you, not that you're in the best shape anyway,' she said before making an indignant squawk, indicating his scars. Or rather, one giant scar.

She crouched down anyway, she'd just have to see how much he could handle and hope she could hold back. This was more going to be a workout for him than her. When he poked her she leaned her hip into it to try to surprise him and tried to use her weight to push him off balance. So long as he didn't hit too hard or with his metallic arm it wouldn't bother her. If he did hit with it she'd have to block with her own, which was meant to be for appearance rather than strength. It was the type that you had to look up close to realise it was fake.

So demya. Any other family besides your sister? Father? Mother? Children?

The question took her completely by surprise and she lost all concentration, leaving her completely open to attack. 'There has only ever been my sister and me. I've never mated when clucky so you could have an omlet for over a week,' Demya paused and blushed and pulled a face, 'what's it to you anyway?'

[Anonymous]

Seth continued to throw testing jabs with his good arm every few moments. When Demya leaned in to try and throw him off balance seth took a chance and did a quick spin. He moved with the momentum of his swing to roll along Demyas flanks to end up behind her.  He could not really say why he felt like a outcast. He just did. Seth felt different from all the others somehow. Blood started to flow through his veins now as he got warmed up. He jerked his kneck to both sides of his shoulders letting out a series of sickening pops. He wanted to feel limber.

"Yummy, Harpy omlet. The breakfast of champions" He said with a crooked smile. Seth blinked as she started to blush. That surprised him. The question seemed harmless enough. Seth did not let his hands or guard down though. "Just wanted to get to know you better thats all. Your the closest I have to a friend around here. If you have any questions for me, shoot. If I can, I'll throw you a answer" Granby gave a small cough. "Dont hold back bird. But dont kill me either" He threw another punch. But this time it was done poorly leaving him open for attack.

[Anonymous]

Now that the man was behind her, Demya aimed the full strength of her tail to his side at roughly kidney level. He cracked his neck. 'Ew, that's gross. How long has it been since you last fought without your toys?' she asked.

Demya gave him a sly grin, if he didn't find harpy eggs disgusting like many other humans did then he probably wasn't going to worry too much about her other quirks. He seemed genuine enough about wanting to be her friend, but then again, so had Mara and he turned out to be Aedolis's biggest jackass. 'It was too, want not waste not as you humans say. If we're both here long enough, you might even get to try it,' she offered. When the time came, she was going to hand it in to the ATC kitchens.

Demya was of two minds when talking about her family. On one hand thinking about her sister could be painful but on the other, she cared about her sister too much not to. It seemed the more time set down between their final battle, the more she thought about Vyne. After a few seconds of thought she decided not to talk about her.

'Oh, right then. Were you serious when you said you hope the Earth becomes natural again?' she asked. 'And I can tell you're holding back too. You didn't just attack me.'

Granby was still behind her so even though his hit was poorly executed, she still couldn't hit him. She reached back with her leg and latched her talons around his ankle and yanked at it. It wasn't as hard as what she would have done in real battle but it would still be enough to drop him to the ground. He had said not to hold back.

[Anonymous]

Seth's eyes widened at the incoming tail. He braught his cybernetic forearm in close to his side to block the blow. But it did not stop the strong impact of the tail from jarring him. "Its been awhile since I've done hand to hand. Im a little rusty so give me a break"


"Of course I want earth to as it once was. But not at the sacrifice of what we have. Im sure scientists will discover a way to make earth new, better then it once was. In this he was confident. As far as Granby was concerned. There was nothing science could not explain or solve with time and effort.

Seth shrugged his shoulder and gave a who me look. "What? Me? Holding back? Never." He was trying to make the fight last longer. By all means he could have put her in a rear naked choke hold and make her go uncounsious. In theory at least.

The grab on his ankle made Seth mutter. "Fuck me..." he knew what would come out of it. He felt the pull and hit the ground hard on his back knocking the wind out of him. But seth was ready and placed his palms on the ground to push down and force himself to make a backward roll springing to his feet once again back in a fighting stance.

"That all you got bird?" He gave a creepy smile. No need to hold back anymore. Seth figured he would show off a little now that he was warmed up. He started to do some karate style punches and roundhouse kicks. He let out some yells each time for dramatic effect and ended the display with a backflip. The landing from it was far from perfect and he staggerd backward two steps after landing back on his feet.

Seth ran up to a wall locker and opened it up to see what it held. Punji training sticks. Granby was use to training with them. He took one stick in his good arm and another in his claw to turn around and look at Demya. "Lets kick this up a notch" He tossed a training stick to Demya. Not even waiting for her to catch it he ran towards the harpy intent on showing her not all humans were pushovers.

His plans were cut short as the sound of a cell ringing could be heard. Seth held up his claw to demya to tell her to hold up. He answered his phone. "Granby speaking." There was a pause. "How did you get this number?" What? You have lost your damn mind women! You've chosen a hell of a time to ask me for this. Do you even know what shit I'm in here? I dont have time to take care of Esteka just because you want to go on some vacation." He pulled the phone away from his ear and yelling could be heard coming from the cell. Once it died down some Seth put the phone back to his ear. "Are you sure its only for a week? I dont even know if they will even let me do this. I dont have anything to even take care of a baby." he sighed. "Of course..... I'll be at the gate in a hour"

Seth shook his head to put the cell back in his pocket. "Hey demya, I have to go" Granby could only imagine the ass chewing he would probably recieve for taking in his daughter for a week. He could not even begin to imagine how he could even fit school and a baby together.

He went over to put the punji stick back in the wall locker and put back on his blouse top. "See you around" he said irritibly and walked out the building.

--Seth has left