The range consisted mainly of long earthen tracks, gouged out of the hillside some ways from the training facility. Engineers had excavated and built to contain any sort of weapon likely to be used, several hundred feet of earth and reinforced Plascrete between the range and any inhabited areas of the city. At the firing end was a raised berm, from side to side, where trainees could take their positions and be at a vantage to see any targets.
Over 600 meters long ((this would be real world range for most shoulder fired weapons)), each lane was marked by sheets of plywood, laid on their sides and supported twenty feet off the ground by scaffolds. The left side of each sheet was painted white with a black number, the right side black with a white number, denoting the sides of each lane. A poor marksman could fire into another lane, but the standards every 50 feet down the range gave positive ID of whose targets were whose. There were two range towers, where the munitions officers could observe the goings on of the entire range from above, one at each side of the firing berm. Pop-up, remoted targets lined each lane, some hidden behind mounds of dirt or rubble.
MaDeuce was standing at the gunnery shed, where ammunition would be dispensed and range rules given, she saw DI Punishment and two other range officers approach from the one break in the otherwise encircling earth berms. Even when she was not being observed, she stood at ease or a position of rest, Topper gripped lightly in her right hand, muzzle pointing up and butt on the ground. When the ranking persons approached she came to attention, snapping the rifle hard against her thigh. When the DI was within ten steps, she presented arms smartly and stayed rigid.
The group stopped a few feet away, Punishment eyeing the extremely tall woman with his perpetual scowl in place. Military protocol required that the salute be returned. In the Army, one never salutes a Drill Sergeant, and that would lead to hours of extra training, but at this facility it seemed the correct greeting, perhaps more Marine Corps, thought Ma.
Recruit Sartain, the DIs voice was less acidic than earlier, a genuine question seemed to lie beneath his tone, what are you doing at the range
ten minutes early? He glanced at the issue watch he wore, not minding the promptness, but hating to see a recruit anywhere ahead of him.
She did not move, did not speak. Her position did not waver as the clicks of his watch seemed to grow louder. Finally, his expression hardened and he snapped to attention and returned her salute. She came to attention, then when he shouted At EASE!, she assumed that position.
Drill Instructor Punishment, Recruit Sartain requests permission to speak!
Speak, dammit, and you can do away with that garbage right now. This aint the Corps. You salute me once in the morning, once last thing at night. You keep me flapping my gawd man arm ((family script here, no DI would avoid using foul language every chance)) like this, I will have you pushing up Kings Row! You call me Drill and any other foul thing you can think up, that CLEAR?! His face was red, but there was nothing but training force in his voice, no anger.
Drill, yes! she had a southern drawl, maybe Midwestern. Recruit Sartain wishes to know if there will be moving targets allowed on the range!
One of the other officers, not a DI but a noted armorer at Freedom Corps, cocked his head. He had already noted that the weapon she carried was not issue, and he really wasnt sure what it was. He recognized the foregrip from a SAW, the peculiar bolt handle from a Barrett .50 caliber and some bits and pieces, but otherwise it looked unique.
C, he addressed the DI as no recruit could, hang on one. Recruit Sartain, no, his voice was definitely not command, what sort of weapon is that? He moved to inspect the rifle, and Ma came to port arms.
Sir! Recruit Sartain warns you not to touch her weapon! She bellowed with force enough to stop the mans approach. His face registered shock.
Sartain! Are you giving ORDERS to an officer?! The DIs voice was deceptively calm.
Drill, NO! I do not surrender my weapon, but I will strip it and present it. She proceeded to do this, calling out each major group for the officer to note. Sir! H and K MP-5, Browning BAR Mark2 modified for magazine loading, M-203 chambered in 7.62, Spas-12
she called out as each assembly came off in her competent hands and was placed in pouches at her waist. This went on for a couple minutes, her efficiency and confidence being noted by the armorer. Finally, the DI spoke again, while she reassembled the weapon.
Recruit, what was that about moving targets? What did you have in mind. He was still the superior, still giving orders, but his curiosity was creeping up on him.
Drill, Recruit was asking about skeet. Had the optics off her weapon earlier and wants to make adjustments before the range. The DIs eyes opened wide and the armorer almost laughed.
Your weapon weighs what, recruit, 40 pounds? And you think you can shoot skeet? The armorers sarcasm was usual, Ma nodded toward a small contraption a few feet away. It looked like a tripod with a swinging arm at the top, spring loaded and trailing a rope. A small stack of steel discs sat to the side.
Sir, Topper weighs forty-seven pounds loaded, but only forty-one and change with the BAR full up and everything else empty.
You want to shoot skeet with a World War Two full-auto thirty aught six squad rifle? Both the officers were laughing, the armorer most of all, but the DI was considering this woman.
Pull it for her, Tim. He said, stepping behind the chalk ready-line.
Pull! A steel disc caromed across the field, moving from her right to left, low and fast. A single report from the rifle, a loud ringing from downrange, and the disc suddenly flipped over-end, quickly colliding with the ground. The next was a double, both discs landing within 20 yards of each other, dented from the rifle shells. She strode down the range towards the discs, tugging her earplugs out, and not paying attention to the somewhat amazed stare from the smart-mouthed armorer, Tim. After looking over the targets, she moved one sight a few clicks, keeping the weapon downrange and coming back to the line. The others had removed their goggles and ear protection, but only the DI spoke.
Recruit, where did you learn to use a rifle? She was good, he admitted, but his experience had seen many amazing things.
Drill, grew up in Missouri, trained at Fort Bragg and Quantico, she caught his eye, saw the question. Fifth Group, Grim Reapers, three-eleven!
Punishment noticed that several other recruits were coming through the entry, coming for their training and range time. His small smile disappeared, unseen by Ma anyway.
Get DOWN! Front lean and rest position! It wouldnt do for recruits to think they got special treatment, so Ma would be exercising again. The other recruits didnt have any idea what horrible offense she had committed, but were greeted by the familiar One! Toop! Tree! Stay with me
((At range, military at least, every recruit would have a partner. Once Ma is done with her extra training, she will be glad to pair up with anyone and is a great weapons partner. No one stopped to chat with her earlier on the drill pad, 
Also, is DI Punishment a sort of NPC that the RPers can have some latitude with? Meaning, if he is not to be RPed as an NPC, is there any other character our people can interact with like this? I have known many Drill Sergeants, and am trying to keep him in this vein, at least interacting with Ma. ))
(OOC: First, it's not drill instructor Punishment, it's Corporal Punishment. The other trainers are Major Pain (the scenario firing range, like at a police academy), Private Party (tactics), and General Outrage (Hand-to-hand combat training). Also, you were the only person within one hundred feet of the shooting range, but I'll be there in a moment.)
As Buck Shott and the others walked up to the firing range, a friendly voice called out to Buck, "Hey, Buck, how are ya'?"
Buck responded in kind, "I'm good, how 'bout you, Tommy? Guys, this is my best friend, roommate, and unnofficial sidekick, Tommy Gunn."
"Pleased to meet you all," said Tommy.
The two of them were quite a sight to be seen. Tommy was about an inch shorter than Buck, but his costume matched the peak-patterned, blue and red costume of Bucks. They also had identical equipment, and their only difference was their masks. Both masks left their short, brown hair visible, but while Tommy's was a plain mask, Buck's had two points right below the eyeholes. They also wore double bandoliers around their chests, one bandolier had bullets in it, the other had M30 grenades. They paired up for training and headed up to the field. "Hello, Sartain, are you going to show up the others again today? It's too bad that you're not as good as me, but still, competition's good for the economy," with that, Buck and Tommy got straight up, brought their weapons to bear, and went totally insane. Bullets filled the air like a swarm of enraged bees, grenades and rockets exploded everywhere, like some hellish fourth of July celebration gone horribly wrong, and flames scorched the earth below it as if Bafomet himself had come to pay a visit. When the carnage ended, there was nothing left on the firing range except ashes, which were then vaporized as the duo's time bomb blew up, leaving a large crater in its place. Then, they took out their medical devices, hit a switch, and regenerated the range to perfect condition. "I think we've done it again, Tommy," said Buck Shott, "There's no way MaDeuce could beat this amount of destruction."
(OOC: This is why he suggested ducking when he got there, because he's a danger to himself and others. But mostly to others. In fact, he's only a danger to others. Tommy's no better, he's got the exact same skill, but his mask is less ornate, and he's shorter, so he's the sidekick. No offense to Lord Raymond, but his only viable sidekick is Mini-me. Just kidding. 
)
[B]The Once and Future Official Minister of Awesome[/B]
[I]And don't you forget it.[/I]
[URL="http://paragonunleashed.proboards.com/index.cgi"][IMG]http://gamefacelive.com/bre/joker.png[/IMG][/URL]
Alan watched the display of what can only be called a shot in the arm for the ammuntion industry. His smile never disappered, but he wondered if bringing Buck to East Gate was a good idea, he was trying to stop the Trolls not help them. It was like a block of metal with slots in it, And I'M insane. Besides that he hated the range, he couldn't realy hit anything unless he used negitive enery and he didn't like to use it.
Still he selected one with tragets for negitive energy uses. It was a car battery hooked up to a light bulb. The point was negitive energy would rob the battery of it's power and the light would go off. Taking a charge out of a battery was enough to stop anything human.
"Hey Sartain, you busy after practices to day?" In his usally cheery tone. He turned and pointed a finger at the battery. He released some of the stored up torrent of negitive energy and focused it out of his finger. A blob of frozen darkness hit the battery and the light dead. Two for East Gate so far, a few more and maybe we could acctualy do some good. He turned back, his smile covered his face.
(OOC Note: The kind of negitive energy he use is like the anti-matter of energies. I'm not trying to make it set standard in anyway, and if anyone else has a different explaination for thier negitive energy powers, just wanted to makethat clear.
On a side note he has Dark Master, but he uses the powers sparingly, with the exception of peterfing gaze. He has no real reason not to use them, but he choses not to.)
Lord Raymond watched the two teammates blow the ever loving crud out of the range. He was impressed.
"Very Nice Shooting Gents, but I do believe that you don't have to use guns to destroy a range." With that being said, Lord Raymond lifted his axe and threw it almost like a boomerang at one of the , which is not something he usually does but he was feeling as if he had something to prove at the time. The axe hit two targets as Lord Raymond lifted off from the ground and sped forward to catch his axe. Upon catching his axe he changed directions without the sligthest loss of speed and a barreld through several more targets swinging his axe like it weighed next to nothing. While this display did not create nearly as much destruction he did manage to hack down evey target on the range in a short amount of time.
Calmly flying back to where the group was standing Lord Raymond said, "I am certain that that was not nearly as much fun to watch as some of the other performances but on the street that would be a smashing good job. Unfortunately my most impressive powers are best used for my own defense rather than offense. Does this range have targets that can attack too?"
The fires were out, the shooting stopped, even as the range was restored by the portable devices, but Janice continued to look out into the range. For her, the range was still an inferno, the recruits had fallen away, no longer there. Paragon City, the school, the clear day were all gone, replaced with scenes from her past. She saw the scene that haunted her nights, that brought her screaming back from sleep. Anyone looking could see her whole frame shaking, tears the color of fresh grass falling from her opaque yellow eyes.
The A-10s
but the war is miles away, she mumbled, barely able to stay on her feet, her eyes on another time and not speaking to anyone. No soldiers here
no one but my team
not the fuel tanks, not that
she lazily stretched out one arm to a long gone comrade, Dave
L-T
Waterboy
the fire
her arm dropped back to her side, Topper almost grazing the dirt and forgotten in one hand. All gone
women burning
smell it
maybe I can stop it
The images in her eyes were of horrors, the last time she had seen her Ops team, or anyone in the small village, alive. No soldiers here
The sound of one of the two men at the firing line drew her attention, though her eyes saw something different than reality. No soldiers here! Just people! She stepped closer to him, shouting, Why? Why these people?!
She blinked a few times, the scene changing back to the now, and stopped just before she grabbed the mans shirt. Her hand still shook, but she turned the motion into a rub on her pants leg, trying to disguise the tremors. A moment later, her eyes hardened and a grimace replaced her non-expression.
Aint all about blowing stuff up, boy, she stepped back, people die, perma-dead, but their eyes stay with you. Every gawda day. With that she spun and walked away from the line, back to the dorms to wretch and shake for another half hour, just like she did every morning.
((OOC: This thread said characters had to have some psychosis or problems. MaDeuce suffers from DCSS, Delayed Combat Stress Syndrome, has to take medication for it, and cannot hold a regular job. Thats why she has returned to the only thing she fells fit for, fighting. I will PM her military files to the originator of the thread, for the instructors to disclose as they will. Put it this way, she watched her whole team go up in flames and a village of non-combatants as well.))
All Alan saw was Sartain start trembling and then calmy talk to Buck and away. He wasn't going to give up. Alan caught up with her, he decided to skip over the obvious question, she didn't seem to like people looking after her or something like that. "Hey, Sartain, wait up. Hey, I just wanted to ask if your not doing anything after training if you like to go to East Gate. I know of a few good spots there and a few people who can be very helpful." Alan's perment smile might be hopeful. "The Four Seasons are always good, or we could check out the Gluch if you want something harder."
Having also noticed Sartain's shaking Raymond, being overly friendly as usual, approached Sartain just shortly after Alan had gone to talk to her again. "Pardon me mada...Sartain, but you looked a little shaken up back there, and I thought I would come see if you are okay. Maybe you would feel better after beating down a few gang members out on the street?"
Lord Raymond was trying to adapt to Sartain's requests of treating her just like a soldier dispite how he was brought up, which was actually quite hard for him.
Alex Hardy, more commonly known as the hero Radon, had been eating his meal alone when he noticed a group of his fellow recruits leaving the mess hall and heading for the firing range. Curious about the peculiar assortment of his peers he quickly finished his food, discarded his trash, and followed after them. It didn't take Radon long to catch up to the others, but as he approached them he became nervous and self-conscious instinctively hanging back and remaining unnoticed. From his vantage point he watched as several of the recruits demonstrated their abilities on the targets that had been set up on the range. All of a sudden the tall woman with them abruptly turned to leave, using his powers Radon quickly became intangible just as her gaze would have fallen upon him. He merely looked on as she ran off the field, followed shortly by two of the other heroes.
"I hope she's gonna be okay." he thought to himself as he noticed the tears running down her face.
Unfortunately for him, Corporal Punishment had dealt with all kinds of superbeings and, invisible or not, he was well aware of his presence. The corporal had actually been keeping an eye on Radon since he arrived at the academy and having taken note of his reclusive behavior was determined to do all he could to break him out of it.
"Recruit Radon, what the hell do you think you're looking at you little maggot?!" he bellowed, breaking the silence left in Sartain's wake.
Startled by the corporal's sudden outburst, Radon instantly became tangible again revealing himself to the assembly. Standing at only 5' 9" he definitely wasn't the most intimidating guy out there, but the radiation symbol blazened upon the chest of his green and black patterned costume was a testament to the potentially lethal power at his disposal.
"Well?! I asked you a question, you good for nothing waste of space!" Corporal Punished shouted when he received no answer.
"I just wanted to watch, Sir." Radon replied barely loud enough to hear.
"What did you say?! What are you one of those voyeuristic perverts or something?! Well today is your lucky day Son, you're gonna stop watching and start doing! Now get over there and take out those targets! the corporal yelled.
Never one to disobey orders, he quickly made his way over to the firing range. As he stood there facing the targets a glowing green aura began to encompass his body. As soon as it engulfed him, Radon's mannerisms suddenly changed. It was as if he went from scared stiff to ready for anything in an instant. Just then several targets began popping up across the course and no sooner had they emerged when they were blown apart by bolts of radiation. This continued for a few moments until the last target shot up from the ground. Radon simply looked at it and started to walk away.
"Where do you think YOU'RE going?! You don't leave until you finish what you started!" Corporal Punishment shouted at him.
"Well, since you put it that way..." Radon said as he stopped walking.
Without turning around he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the target and everything in the immediate vicinity was enveloped in a brilliant green flash that shook the ground beneath their feet. When the smoke and dust cleared all that remained was a smoldering crater where the target area once stood. As the dust had faded, so too had the aura surrounding Radon's person.
"Was that ok?" he asked quietly, staring down at his feet.
(OOC: Hello all, just a little info about my character. Radon is very shy, especially around girls, outside of combat, but as soon as he starts using his powers (signified by his battle aura) he shows a completely different side, becoming extremely confident and more than a little cocky.)
Janice knew the shakes would stop, but that didn't make dealing with them any easier. The episodes were rare during the day, when she could stay focussed and active.
The two other recruits had caught up to her, Alan first and then the British guy. She paused far enough from the range to be out of earshot, the rattling of firearms low enough they could speak normally. A glow was rising from the range just now, apparently coming from one of the new arrivals.
She heard Alan offer, quickly followed by Lord Raymond. After dabbing tears from her cheeks with a piece of cloth she cleared her throat, apparently composing herself. There was no embarrasment in her face, or at least, none they could see.
"If you got the mission, I'd be glad to help. No street hunting, I don't go for that." Her tone was still flat, but not unkind. "Stopping muggings and the like, can do; jumping a bunch of guys in gang colors just 'cause, I don't. Man might wear colors, don't make him bad."
"All in all, yeah, I'm in. Need about an hour or so for my meds to start working. You want to meet there, or go together?"
"When I said that we would defeat some guys on the street, I did not mean to insinuate that I will beat up a guy just because, I may watch them from a distance, waiting for them to do something, but I do not hurl myself into a battle just because I can. But as far as how we get there, I think we should go together. It would help build our team efficency and we may get to know eachother a little better. But this is Alan's idea so he can make the final call." said Lord Raymond as he turned to Alan to see his decision.
"Uh, is training over for the day? If so, sure, I just need to grab my costume and we could out to Eastgate." Alan said excitedly. He hadn't done anything last night, they had decided to keep watch. He started to go get his costume when he relised what Sartian had said. "Street Sweeping?" It sounded like he was unfamiliar with the term. "You don't like taking gang members off the street?" His smile never faultered, but the tone of his voice was something similar to someone saying blasphemy. "Well, with Eastgate you can never tell. I'm sure the Hollow's Task Force could use some help or something." Alan's plans for the day were pretty much in shambles, he just want to take down some Trolls and Outcast. Well it's not like I won't get to. He perked up "You take your, um, meds and , how long was it, an hour, yeah. Alright well met a the gate then. Good with you?"
"Don't misunderstand, I have no prob's breaking down gangbangers," she massaged the bridge of her nose, wiping a stream of sweat off her forehead. "I don't go for shaking down people based on their clothes or flag. You wouldn't be the first to think that's bolo, but I don't change that for anyone. I'm down for arresting anyone that's for sure OPFOR."
"Topper, he deals judgement one way, and that's forever. I prefer to keep the innocent casualties to the pile already on my soul. St. Peter has my tab." A prescription bottle came from one pouch and her canteen from another. She regarded the pills for a moment, pulling a sad smile she swallowed two.
"Interferons," she said to the two men, "keeps things at a distance, to prevent..."she cast a thumb over her shoulder, towards the range. "Some things I wish I could do again, make sure I was closer to the tanks and my team wasn't."
She shrugged and pulled a crinkled leather pouch from her chest pocket. Pulling a mass of brown, stringy material from inside, she quickly stuffed it into her cheek and chewed for a moment. Her tongue worked inside her mouth, getting the long-cut chew in the right place.
"Sorry," she said as they looked on, "nasty habit, but The Forces make you pick up one or two. I play poker and like Jack, too, but the radiation and chem's in my body won't let me get drunk." She thought for a moment, glancing down at the pouch, a gift from a friend. She held the open mouth out towards them.
"Either of you want?"
Lord Raymond was slightly sickened by the display of what was in her mouth, but stayed calm and polite just the same.
"Uh, No thanks, I prefer to avoid things like that. As a member of the Royal Family I must set an example and not do anything that could be used against us." Lord Raymond thought about what he had just said for a second and then realized that the Royal Family could care less what he does now, because they deny his relation. But all the same he decided not to take any.
"I'm going to go ahead and head over there then I guess. I need to get a feel for what I am going to be up against. I look forward to seeing you both in an hour.
"No thanks." Alan was extermly tolerante of what people chose to do*. Mostly because he could care less. "I be delighted to give you the grand tour of Eastgate, but I'm going to tell Buck when to be there." With that he went back to the range. Well I guess it isn't all glory and freedom for royalty. He thought on the way there.
He noticed someone new, he quickly found Buck, which wasn't very hard. "Buck well be meeting in Eastgate in an hour." And with out waiting for a reply he went over to the new guy.
"Hey, I'm Mended Ribs or Alan if you prefer. Who are you?" He asked the glowing cadet.
*Unless your a gang member, don't belive in taking gang members off the street orcall him insane.
(OOC Note: He missed the part where Lord Raymond explianed his orign.)
Just as Radon's aura faded one of the recruits walked right up to him.
"Hey, I'm Mended Ribs or Alan if you prefer. Who are you?" he said.
"My...my name's Radon. Pleased to meet you. he replied speaking barely above a whisper.
He was quite startled by Mended Ribs' boldness and was creeped out by the persistent smile on his face. The only thing keeping him from going intangible and making a run for it was his sense of etiquette. It was a good thing that his full mask concealed his features or the entire group would have seen the anxiety painted across his face. After a few moments of silence passed between them, Alan's gaze and unwavering grin became too unsettling and Radon spoke again.
"Um...uh...I don't mean to be rude or anything, but can I help you?" he said never looking directly at him for more than a few seconds at a time.
"No offense taken, just trying to place the name. It's a element right, radioactive? But thats not important, I just want to ask if you would like to come with to Eastgate." Alan caught on to the fact that he apperantly didn't want to talk, unfortunatly for Radon it only made him more interested. He thought about it for a moment. "I did get your name right, right?"
"Um...yeah..it's a...a radioactive gas." Radon said growing increasingly more uncomfortable.
Although he didn't usually like to participate in activities with others, that he didn't have to, after his "demonstration" his urge to fight was too strong to resist.
"You said you're going to Eastgate? I...I guess I can go." Radon said hoping that now that Mended Ribs had a positive answer he'd move on to someone else.
Lord Raymond was flying into East Gate to wait for the others when out of no where, a huge boulder came crashing into him.
Lord Raymond fell out of the sky and smacked hard against the ground infront of a Police Bunker from the Trolls Task Force. Lord Raymond looked up just in time to see another boulder coming towards him. Lord Raymond threw himself over the bunker wall and ducked as the boulder flew over him. Lord Raymond thought to himself," Ah, just like the old Military Camps I used to teach back home, except of course those were bullets not boulders travelling at the same speed as bullets." Although a little saddened by the memory of past times, Lord Raymond stood up and smiled at the group of trolls he had been ambushed by.
"Well well, if it isn't the particular gang I was hoping for an encounter with. I only hope that the rest of the group shows up before I am finished with the whole lot of you ruffians. Well enough chit chat, lets get the show on the road."
Lord Raymond lifted his hands in the air and was quickly coated with stone. He then charged right at the leader of the group who was preparing another boulder.
The troll threw the boulder at Lord Raymond and Lord Raymond stone encrusted body just barreled right through it.
"Have at thee!" Lord Raymond shouted as he gave the troll a swift uppercut with his axe. As soon as the troll hit the ground Lord Raymond gave him two quick punches in the gut and a two handed over-head smash on the skull. The troll was unconcious.
"I do so love using Old English battle cries." said Lord Raymond cheerfully as he could tell that this was going to be a good day for fighting crime.
Unfortunately things soon turned sour. Four trolls lept onto Lord Raymond and were trying to hold him down to get a few good hits. Lord Raymond would easily knock one or two off but they just lept right back on.
After they had held Lord Raymond down for a few seconds and had hit him very hard a few times, Lord Raymond burst into the air throwing the trolls off of him.
Lord Raymond panted saying "Bloody Hell, maybe I will need help after all," as the trolls ripped large pieces of concrete out of the ground to hurl at the breathless warrior.
"Great to hear. Well be meeting at the gatw in about an hour." Alan was still abit curious about Radon, he had sorta changed after he had talked to him. But he had to get organized so he let it go, for now, Plenty of time once we get to Eastgate. "I've got to get my stuff ready, so I'll meet you there." Then to Alan's delight he relised that Radon had protection on his hands and egarly held out his hand to shake Radon's.
(OOC Note: Since Alan can't shake hands with out hurting the other person he misses it.)
Ma sighted on the Troll nearest The English Lord. Through her telecopic sight, it looked like a Gaardvord, and she wasn't sure, but it looked like the small hero might need a break. Her vantage from the building's roof left her unobstructed view of the street, but gave her some time should one of them decide to take the fight to her.
Pulling the rifle hard into her shoulder, she let out half a breath, squeezing the Barrett's trigger with her middle finger. At seventeen pounds of pressure (set by her favorite gunsmith to match her strength) the sear broke, sending a projectile almost the size of her thumb downrange where it brought the Caliban tumbling, and finally to rest, face down.
The flash from the muzzle brake was minimal, the recoil also minimized by the ports, only pushing her back a fraction. As the weapon came down, back onto it's integrated bipod, she was smoothly working the bolt and loading another round. This was the only weapon she had that could hit at this range, and that crowd was way too big for her to wade in.
As the optics brought the Trolls and Raymond back into view, she noticed a couple of them peeling away, apparently having seen the flash or heard the report. She gave them about twenty seconds before they could be on the fire escape for this building. That was two more shots to keep the rest off Raymond's back, but she had been seen, so it didn't matter about stealth now.
"Hey, Raymond!" she bellowed while drawing a bead on one of the Ogres. "You need to get out of that dogpile! Get here if you can, double-time it man!" The fifty-caliber roared again, knocking the huge troll down, but he would get up, ogres are just that tough.
She armed one of her trip-mines and slid the black disc over to the stairs. One of the trolls would set it off when they came up. Then she checked the tube in her shotgun and tapped the magazine for the 7.62, seating it and preventing feed problems. The fifty was great, but tended to knock magazines for her other rifles loose.
Sighting again, she looked to see if Raymond would head this way.
Lord Raymond heard the shout and quickly responded to the call. Lord Raymond was almost to the roof top when on eof the trolls tripped the mine. He knew he needed to speed up. Just as the trolls came charging through the smoke of the mine Raymond landed in front of them.
Without looking away from the trolls, Raymond said." Don't be afraid to shoot at them while I am in the fray. For one I can take a bullet and two I have a feeling your accuracy is good enough not to miss."
Just as finished his sentence he charged in knowing that the trolls who had not come to the building would soon be here and that he and Sartain needed to finish these ones up before they arrived.
Lord Raymond swung swiftly at each troll coming out of the smoke on the fire escape. He easily knocked out several before entering the actual smoke. Unfortunately, Raymond could not see the trolls that were still in the smoke and was soon hit hard in the stomach and was sent flying out of the fire escape and rolled to Sartain's feet.
"Maybe I should armor up..."
Raymond charged back in coating himself now with all his various types of armor, however this would soon make him tired and he would need help again. Inside the smoke Raymond's bellowing voice could be heard shouting his many battle cries.
"Um...uh...I..I'm gonna..go there now." Radon said after quickly shaking Mended Ribs' hand.
He was still freaked out about his newfound teammates persistent grin and was anxious to head out. Not waiting for a response he went intangible again and took off running at superhuman speed towards Eastgate. With the radiation coursing through his body augmenting his natural abilities it only took him a few minutes to reach his destination.
"Well now that I'm here I might as well get the lay of the land so I have some I idea of where I'm going when the others arrive." Radon thought to himself as he took his first steps into Eastgate.
He hadn't gone far when he heard the sound of gunfire and caught sight of an explosion atop a building. As he got closer he saw that two of the recruits he had seen back at the academy were engaged in battle with a rather large group of Trolls.
"Hmm, looks like those two could use a hand. I'd better hurry before they exhaust themselves." he said as ran up the side of the building towards the roof.
When Radon reached the top he became tangible again, once more engulfed in a glowing green aura. Leaping between the two battling heroes he focused his powers to heal their wounds and stimulate their bodies without any harmful side effects.
"Are you guys okay?" he said as he unleashed a haze of electrons on several approaching Trolls.
"Good show man. Its always a good thing to have a healer around. I do believe you arrived in the nick of time."
Having gotten some energy back Lord Raymond went back in for another go at an ogre. This time Lord Raymond did something different though, he suddenly had a glowing red aura about him just before he swung his axe at the ogre. This build up of energy was just enough power for Lord Raymond to send the ogre rolling down the fire escape, knocking over two armed trolls over the side at the same time.
"I hope Alan shows up soon, he seemed so anxious to get out and do this. I hate for him to miss the fun."
"Neat trick." Alan said as Radon went out of phase. He ran over to the Hero-1 center. He opened the door to his room and grabbed a coat laying on the bed. Normal people put posters on thier walls, Alan had maps. One of Steel Canyon, one of Kings Row, and one of Eastgate. He quickly looked it over, red marks on the map said things like, 'Superadine hold' or 'possible slaves' and 'Frostfire's base?'. He put on the black jacket with a white rib pattern on the front. He looked at the map once more and toke off for Eastgate.
A few gravity defing leaps later, followed by a tram ride and some more leaps and he was in Eastgate. The first thing he noticed was several trolls on the ground. Then he heard the gun shots coming from a roof top and saw a group up there. He did another gravity defing leap and came down in the crowd next to what he realised this close was Lord Raymond in full stone armor. He covered himself in negitive energy and sliced his claws through an approching Troolkin chest, not deep enough to kill, he had been told over and over that now that he was a legal vigilante he could only kill in extreme situations and this didn't quite qualify yet.
"I thought I have a little while longer." His smile was huge and was showing teeth, he looked very happy. Another Troll, a Jultu he thought. His first cut unbalanced him, the Follow-up scored a deep wound. The troll slumped over on the railing of the fire escape. But it suddenly got better, Oh, so it was a Garvord. A spray of bullets hit his side and only thanks to his dark armor sapping them of thier kinetic energy did they not kill him and only leave several wounds, painful wounds. He saw the Trollkin that had shot him on the edge of the fire escape, a big toothy grin almost snapped into existance on his face and shadows ran across it. It was abit scary to see it, but the trollkin the gaze connected with froze from fear, he lost control of his muscle and let go of the gun he was holding. The Gravord he had hit had gotten up and had pulled a piece of the gaurd rail out and charged at Alan...
Lord Raymond, slightly annoyed by the use of weapons from someone outside the conflict, sliced the webbing from around his feet. "I'll go to Eastgate." said the muscular midget as his stone plating disentegrated and the floating minerals dissolved. However Lord Raymond did not put the axe back over his shoulder nor did he loosen his grip on his axe at all.
"Yes, I will go with you to Eastgate."
Lord Raymond was getting a lot of strange looks from various heroes of the academy but none worried him more than the cheerful look on Alan's face. "People are not usually this cheerful after a conflict has nearly occured. This Mended Ribs puzzles me. I know he is a hero but I also can't help but feel suspicious of him either. I shall keep an eye on him as well as the one called Dark Seiryu. Not even the demon has caused as much suspiscion from me as these two have. Although I am sure they are both good chaps," thought Raymond to himself.
"Well then chaps lets get moving to the training." said Raymond cheerfully to break the awkward silence that had inssuedd since he had prepared to fight.