Sweet Venom Arc

Pop! - Eek!

Pop! - Eee!

Pop! - Yip!

Pop! - Ohh no!

I-don't-like-it - Pop! - Aah!

With Wex and Seeth's ships locked in close proximity, the journey to Diego's allies was well underway. Although the lizard being rather light on details about said allies, the length of the journey ahead had presented a wonderful opportunity for the two crews' to get to know one-another. Wex had kindly offered to host combat training sessions within his shooting range and armoury on-board the Fang. The two brothers seemed keen on helping one-another wherever they could, and for Wex, this meant knowing what level of combat proficiency he was dealing with.

The captain frowned as he glanced over Geralt's shoulder. He'd positioned himself in the first stall, perhaps hoping that the adjacent steel wall would offer him some guidance. However, somehow, he'd managed to hit everything but the target.

"Maybe I'd be better off with a handgun? Like Tivy?" Geralt sighed softly, his eyes surveying the unmarked target for even a hint of damage, yet its taunting visage remained pristine. "Or even non-lethal rounds?"

"Yeah. Maybe. We'll try some different weapons in a bit." Wex nodded, patting him on the back. Geralt placed the rifle back and stepped away, more than happy to have it out of his hands. "Might be a confidence thing, I'll see if we have any beanbag rounds."

It wasn't like Geralt was ignoring Wex's guidance, quite the opposite. He'd been doing everything Wex had advised. And yet, his bullets seemed intent on bending around the target.

"I'M RELOADING!" Tivy suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, her announcement followed by the sound of her magazine clattering to the floor, then silence as she contemplated her next move. She patted herself down, searching for another magazine, before turning to Wex after finding nothing, and mouthing the word 'help' with an innocent bat of her eyes.

The captain couldn't help but smile, at both Tivy and the magazines placed directly behind her, as she held out the depleted pistol towards Wex. He quickly knelt down, guided the barrel back to the range, grabbed some ammo from the bench and slipped a new magazine into the handle.

"Remember what we said, Tivy. The gun stays facing the range, right? Top rule. No waving the gun around, even if it's empty."

"Top rule!" She nodded enthusiastically before seizing the pistol from him. An intense shiver shuddered through her body as her finger landed back on the trigger.

Pop! -- EEK!

Next to Tivy, Oxyi raised her shotgun to her shoulder and quickly rattled off six shells in quick succession, each one hammering the paper target in pellets. Each shot was close to perfect, delivered rapidly and without so much as a flinch from the lioness. The same could not be said of Tivy, who shuddered, jumped and blinked with every shell fired, but kept on firing - and screaming - regardless.

The difference in ability was... extreme.

Wex continued on, placing a hand on Oxyi's shoulder as she laid the shotgun down. Indeed, if that paper target was a threat, it wouldn't be anymore...

"Nice shooting, Oxyi. Great placement, fast action. You'd be deadly on the field." Wex said, nodding to himself.

"Thanks, Wex!" The moment she'd heard him approach she'd felt her face begin to warm and heart race. She kept her eyes focused sharply on the target before her, fighting to stop herself shying away. "Its nice to get some time in actually. I've missed shooting things that actually aren't alive." Her words were followed by an awkward chuckle that trailed off into silence.

"Yeah. I get you. Sometimes it's nice just to spend some time shooting that isn't a life or death situation." Wex cleared his throat; he hated to admit it, and couldn't even begin to understand it, but his usual easy, charismatic self just curled up and died around the lioness, leaving him feeling... uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Great shooting though, keep it up!" And with that, he carried on down the firing range to the next occupant, eager to avoid embarrassing himself any further.

Wex couldn't hide a concerned frown as he laid eyes on Hammond. The bug had placed himself a couple of stalls down from Oxyi but was currently just sitting on the bench, swinging his legs with a bright pink cocktail in a dainty glass placed next to him, his target completely unmarked. Every now and again, his wings would buzz, mimicking Tivy's squeaks, albeit much more quietly as he watched the others practice. Wex wasn't exactly sure why he was there, or if his 'remarks' were intentional or not. Hammond's motives for doing anything were... a bit of an enigma.

His break-open shotgun was lying to his side, opened up and freshly cleaned. Somehow, the firearm carried the same relaxed aura that its owner did, Wex could swear if the shotgun had legs, it would be idly swinging them over the side of the bench, just like Hammond.

Finally, Trent had placed himself at the very end of the range, with a few empty stalls separating him from the others, popping rounds at the distant target with a traditional assault rifle.

Wex paced down towards the fox leisurely, his stroll accompanied by Tivy's yelps and gunfire. He wasn't too sure what to expect of the fox, as Trent had said his experience with firearms had been limited, but his target was well punctured. Not quite to the level of Oxyi, but all considered, Trent had exceeded Wex's expectations handsomely. The fox quietly mouthed the steps required to reload in tandem with the action, performing the act in good time and with relative precision.

"Well done, Trent. Remember to keep the butt of the rifle firmly against your shoulder, should help with the sway a little bit. Time with your breaths as well. Excellent shooting, though." Wex nodded as he peered over the fox's shoulder. The lizard noticed some room for improvement with Trent's stance and gently guided his shoulders and back to a better firing position. "Try that. There should be less strain on your neck."

"Thanks Wex. I'll keep that in mind." He replied quickly, before continuing to fire timed rounds at the target, adjusting his posture as guided by Wex immediately.

As Wex began to walk back up the range, he caught sight of Diesel entering the armoury with Seeth in his stead. The two of them were carrying several obliterated punching bags, and laid them to rest next to a pile of scrap in the corner of the room.

"Ceri and the lads will recycle what they can. I kinda expected these to last longer but... You're a total monster." Diesel stated proudly, guiding Seeth towards the far door in the range.

"Sorry about that. I can pay for them if you want? It's no trouble." Seeth replied cooly.

"No, not at all. I completely refuse. Punching bags are meant to be punched. I asked you to wallop them and you did. I know what I'm dealing with now!" The bear chuckled heartily. "To think, I was going to get you to punch me! Glad I didn't!"

"Everything alright there, Diesel?" Wex asked, burying his grin.

"Sure is, boss! Lockblade let her guns loose on my new equipment! The girl's reputation does not do her justice!"

"Wait, aren't those things quad-weave?" Wex's eyes landed on the split bags. They'd all been firmly burst, with their stuffing protruding from long rips down their length.

"They were. We're gonna go see what I got that'll fit her. She's currently down a melee weapon and I'd rather not have an unequipped strider on the roster, even if they can punch through Kevlar. What equipment are we allowed to give away?"

"Anything that's not already claimed, I'm not possessive."

"That's very kind of you, Wex. Thank you. How's the training going with my crew?" Seeth asked, her voice immediately pricking the ears of the entire firing line. All but Trent turned to face her, who instead continued loading his rifle and firing more shots down range, both faster and with tighter grouping than previously.

"Good! We've got a range of skill levels here. I'd rather let folks speak for themselves, though."

"I mean... their interior decorator is going to be livid, but my target? Not so much." Geralt laughed awkwardly, ruffling the back of his head.

"I need help with the reloading but I made it shoot!" Tivy spoke with a toothy grin, Seeth noting that her target had a fair few punctures in it. "Bang-bang! Guns are so loud!"

"You get used to it." Seeth smiled back. The Controller's gaze found its way to Oxyi and the two exchanged a knowing nod before Oxyi brushed her hair out of her face and turned back towards the range. In the far corner of the room though, Trent did not acknowledge her at all, and stayed focused on the practice.

It's like that is it, Trent? Fine.

"We'll catch you all up in a bit, keep it up!" Seeth waved to the crew as her and Diesel continued through the room and into the far door, entering the well kept armoury of the middle deck. It consisted of a few rows of dark green lockers secured with heavy padlocks, increasing in size as they went down the rows, lit by bright white tube lights. Diesel walked Seeth down the first row until they reached the very largest lockers, where he plucked a thick key from his rustling belt and carefully unlocked it.

Within was a selection of strider-sized firearms and weapons, definitely leaning towards the lower-tech end of the spectrum. None of the guns really stood out to her, they were vastly smaller than the SAFU and packed a far smaller, less versatile punch. Not that she was concerned; it was a replacement for her axe she was after.

Until she gazed over the limited selection. It was obvious that the pirates mostly ran off salvage gear, and there just wasn't a huge amount of strider-sized weaponry. Between the various blunt bats and savage stabbing implements, there was little that spoke to her, or looked like it could withstand more than a single fight in her hands. Her lack of enthusiasm didn't go unnoticed, and Diesel was quick to address it.

"Uninspired?" The bear asked casually.

"Not really what I'm after. I don't really need or like short blades, nor one-handed clubs. I'd either want something tough and heavy, or sharp and big. And either way, it needs to be strong, or it won't last long."

Diesel nodded and tapped his chin in thought, before his face lit up with an idea.

"I got it. Wait here!" He chirped excitedly, slamming the locker shut quickly and returning the padlock with a light click. "I have just the thing! I knew it was worth holding onto these!"

He charged off with surprising speed towards one of the very back lockers and rattled around with the padlock before the doors flew open. The bear grunted with effort as he pulled something out and lugged them back towards Seeth. When he returned, his paws were cradled around two immensely thick grey 'brass' knuckles, with their striking surface composed on a flat bar of metal, painted with worn black and yellow hazard stripes.

"We looted these a while back on the outskirts of the UC's territory. They're melee weapons from their Rhino units, do you know anything about them?" Diesel asked, heaving the metal chunks over to Seeth who happily took them for closer inspection.

"No, I don't. What's the deal?"

"Loomer sized androids they use as shock troopers. Typically armed with power rams or these things. I've seen video footage of the UC deploying them like missiles from their command blimps they patrol their cities with. Just imagine a twelve-foot tall robot smashing through your walls and beating the crap out of your mechs and suits." Diesel remarked with enthusiasm. It was obvious he had an appreciation for the tech and fighting style. "I'm blabbing! Anyway! These things survived the fight, but they're just too heavy for me to use. I reckon you could swing them though! Might not be the reach you were looking for, but they'd give your already dangerous punching force a serious wallop. It'll be like swinging an anvil at someone's face!"

Seeth slipped her fingers into the grips and noted their jagged, uncomfortable texture immediately. The rough metal was biting onto her as much as she was gripping onto it, but she clamped her hands onto them regardless and raised them head level. Diesel was met with the visage of the two horizontal, hazard stripped bars, each one almost the size of a man's forearm. The two practice jabs Seeth conducted showed that their significant weight had not impeded her in the slightest, and she moved the imposing metal with frightening speed. As she got used to their gait, she noticed that the bars had some notches across the top and bottom, seemingly purposely cut into the metal.

"Any idea what those are?" Seeth asked, nodding towards the notches as she threw a few more jabs into the air.

"Blade catchers. If you catch a blade in there, the harder your opponent pulls, the stronger it grips. It can shred a blade's edge, allow you to pull the weapon from their hands, or even snap the blade! Rhinos have immense physical strength so it's really easy for them to do it, even for exo-sized blades. Say, have you ever watched Auspex Unleashed at all?" Diesel asked with a palpable level of excitement, like a teenager sharing their favourite interests.

"Can't say I have. Was never much of a television girl. More of a music head."

"It's this trashy show on UC broadcast that follows Auspex through some of their arrests and takedowns. Always high on the drama and overedited. They have this part of the show called the 'Rhino cam' that shows the view from their optics. I love that bit. I'm surprised the UC even airs it, as it gets pretty brutal sometimes."

"Pirates like watching shows about people getting arrested?" Seeth asked with a raise of her eyebrow.

"Hell yeah we do. It's even better when you know the people getting arrested! We saved an episode where a dickhead rival gang was caught in a sting operation." The smile on Diesel's face only continued to grow as he recalled. "This wankstain got an absolute mouth full of pepper spray, before getting ego-foamed and dropping to the floor like a sack of shit. The damn squeal that came out of his mouth was Wex's ringtone for months." The bear had to take a second to regain his composure as laughter completely overtook him, even bringing an infectious smirk to Seeth's face as he belly-laughed harder and harder. "I-It sounded like this..."

The bear cleared his throat and raised a single finger into the air, burying his laughter as best he could before squawking -

BEHRUGH

The noise was caught somewhere between exotic bird's mating call, and a manfunctioning washing machine.

"Ahah. We'll have to show you sometime! Anyway, blabbing again! How's the knuckles feeling?" Diesel continued on unabated, still grinning to himself.

"They're a little rough on the skin, you said the Rhinos are synths?" Seeth smirked back, amused herself.

"Ah, yeah. That would make sense. No need to file the burrs down for the Rhinos, I guess. I'll send them down to Ceri and we'll get them sorted out for you, if you want them?" There was a hopeful twinkle in the bear's eye that was hard to say no to.

"Yeah, I like the feel of them, if that's okay with you? I don't want to make any work for anyone on the ship though."

"Nah, don't sweat it. Ceri loves her job. Pass 'em back and I'll get them down to her."

And with that, Seeth passed the wrought chunks of industrial metal back to the bear carefully, as he put on a brave face to bear their incredible heft.

"Alright, let's get these down to engineering and uh... yeah... we'll go from there!"

"Lead the way!" Seeth nodded, following his lead as they left the armoury, his walk noticeably slower than before.

They hadn't even made it out of the armoury when they heard a loud cry from the adjacent shooting range, followed by a loud bang. Diesel glanced a concerned look back at Seeth, then forced himself into a jog.

"OH MY GOD, I AM SO SORRY!" Geralt's face had gone deathly white as his gun slipped from his hands and clattered to the floor. "I have absolutely no idea how - I... I wasn't aiming for..."

Ceri was lying flat on her back against the metal tiles, a large, red, circular lump already visible from the middle of her forehead. Dozens of bean bags were scattered about her person in a dramatic fashion. Everyone else had immediately stopped practising, and stood with their faces frozen in shock as they peered around their stalls. Wex finally stepped forward towards her, gingerly.

"Ceri? Are you alive?"

"Ugh, no." Ceri groaned, gently pressing her fingers to her forehead. As Wex started to laugh, her pained expression turned into a scowl.

"A bullseye! Well done, Geralt!" He laughed, somewhat genuinely, somewhat in disbelief, rounding on his heels back to where the feline was standing, still in horror. He slapped him heartily on the back. "You're the only thing he's hit all day, Ceri."

"Oh, lucky me." The axolotl muttered as she struggled to sit up. The movement seemed to snap Geralt out of his initial panic, and he immediately ran forward to help as her head spun, dazed. "That's the last time I help you with anything, Wex. You can get your own bean bags next time."

"Holy... Is... Is she okay?" Seeth started to move forward, but slowed uncertainly as she looked between Wex, trying to stifle his laughter, unsuccessfully, and Diesel, as he let out a low rumbling... giggle.

"She'll be fine, Ceri's taken far worse hits than that. There's a reason we call her 'Near-Miss.'"

"He didn't miss though, did he?!" Ceri shouted back across the room as Diesel made towards her, the heavy knuckle-dusters putting an unmistakable swagger in his steps.

"Do us a favour and file these down for us." He dropped the heavy weapons on the ground beside her with a deafening thud that shook around the room and made Ceri, who had slowly been standing up, immediately slip back down on her backside. She flinched away from the noise and shot him the middle finger as he continued his sway past, unabated now.

"Leave her Geralt, she's fine. She's just looking for attention now." Wex gestured him back with a shake of his head as wiped tears from his eyes. The gang were slowly wrapping up their training session, unloading weapons and tidying up any spent casings, whilst casting worried glances towards Ceri. With the exception of Hammond of course, who merely buzzed "B-A-G." happily, then continued sipping his drink.

"How is it that you completely miss the stationary target with every round, then nail Ceri right between the eyes by accident?"

"I tell you what, next time we're in a fight, just stick Geralt on the battlefield facing the wrong way with a non-lethal gun in his hands and he'll be the most deadly man out there." Diesel chuckled.

"W-Wasn't that nearly a complete disaster?!" Trent spluttered. "H-He could have killed her!"

"Don't be such a snitch, Trent. Very uncool look in a shooting range." Seeth snickered, grinning wider as the fox scowled at her.

"Snitch?! What do you mean, snitch?! Someone just got shot! She could've been really hurt!"

"Nah." Wex replied to Trent non-chalantly. "I told him to shoot at Diesel with the bag-sling. I wouldn't have allowed a rifle to be swung around like that. It's a low power weapon." He grinned over at Ceri, who glared back at him, a very obvious blueish-brown bruise already forming over her soft pink skin. "Stop pouting, go ask Hazel to kiss it better for you." He teased.

"I swear, my handbag of a captain is asking for an ass kicking!" Ceri spat, rubbing her forehead.

"I dunno, Ceri. You seem to have the 'Getting your arse kicked' department covered already." Diesel chimed in with a low titter.

"Alright alright, at ease everyone!" Wex said, loudly then. Although he said it calmly and casually enough, his voice had a strong, commanding power to it that was hard to defy. The fuss around him slowly (and uncertainly) started to disperse, and Ceri staggered towards the door. Seeth noted the look he gave Diesel across the room, and the subtle nod of his head; Make sure she's okay. Diesel quickly turned and followed out the room as she sidled up next to the captain.