Private Shooter, By Eye, Go To Sector One

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:47
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

Pebbles and gravel crunched loudly underneath Kranak’s feet as he began to climb the mountain under the slowly darkening, cloudless sky above. He was heading back to the outcropping he had set up with Gwyn for some target practice with precision rifles near the top of the mountain. He was coming back from setting up targets over at the forest about a click or two to their north. He had placed a bunch of them. Some of them were moving targets, some would be stationary. All the target controls were linked up to his custom datapad, so he could set and reset targets if need be, at any time.

He was primarily going to have her practice to get her mind off of Eliz. She would need that. She felt anger, frustration, sorrow, and worst of all, betrayal. It still pained him, the fact that he could not say anything to her about Kestri yet, but he was bound by duty not to say anything to her, and people like her. Aruetii An Outsider to their culture. As much as he did not want to put her in the same group with those others that failed to understand their culture and way of life, that did not change the fact that she wasn’t a vod.

<Not a vod yet.> The giant pondered. But he intended to change that status of hers, sometime. He would have to talk to Eliz about it, though. It was a big decision to take. He wasn’t sure what Eliz was thinking about doing, as well. Neither of them had addressed the issue at hand yet. Would Eliz adopt her, or would the giant adopt her? The former becoming a reality would perhaps raise eye-brows. Taking in the one you were in a relationship with, as a Foundling? That sounded odd. He wasn’t sure if he had heard that one happening before.

A couple of minutes later, the giant finally reached the outcropping on the mountain overlooking the forest. They had set up a small camp. Two shooting mats were sprawled side by side near the edge of the outcropping, with two backpacks leaning against rocks to their left. His Verpine Shatter Battle Rifle was on his mat with the bipod inside the grip deployed. Their speeder bike was parked somewhere at the back next to a boulder.

<”Alright Gwyn,”> Kranak said as he shot her a glance while making his way to his shooting mat and went prone on it, assuming his position. <”Let’s see how good you are with that sniper rifle of yours. Let me know when you’re ready to begin, the targets are set.”> Before he started teaching anything new to her, he would have to see her level of skill. He was going to be gauging her foundation, first. He would be taking mental notes throughout her first practice run without any input from him, see what sort of mistakes she would make so he could correct them. The giant lowered his helmet mounted macrobinoculars and began scanning the hidden targets as he patiently waited for Gwyn to go prone on the shooting mat beside him to his right.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira was unused to leaving the safe house. Even Kranak had a tendency to just get anything she wanted himself. Of course, Gwyn still snuck out to buy energy drinks, and some eye witnesses reported a pink haired vigilante beating on drug dealers in the dead of night. Yet, Gwyn mostly stayed inside where it was safe, especially from the Eternal Empire she had defected from.

It was nice to get out. It had been enjoyable to feel the wind cooling her face and rustling her hair on the ride here. It was nice to be outdoors. The mountain and forests were a pleasant change from the dark metal hallways she had been spray painting in that run down apartment complex. She truly hated the city she found herself in on Kaddak. The slums and the run down buildings and the depression. Yet, out here it felt like a different planet. Having scarfed down an energy drink and protein bar, she had done everything she could to help Kranak set up the camp. She was trying her best to take her mind off of her lover's recent injury and betrayal alike. She loved him. She loved him so much, and she felt terrible and sick with worry over his arm. At the same time, however, she also felt betrayed by how he had ghosted her this past week.

Out here, she had the opportunity to get away from all of that. At least for a short while.

As she used the Force to move heavier objects around the camp, Gwyn felt awful sadness, creeping guilt, battling rage, and that very familiar loneliness that plagued her her entire life. An Outsider.

She set a crate down before the Force alerted her to the familiar signature climbing up the mountain. She heard him too. It was hard not to, he was insanely large, muscular, and tall. Gwyn decided now to pull a hair tie out. She pulled her hair back as his powerful shadow loomed over the encampment. The towering Mandalorian, Kranak Vizsla , entered the camp and approached her. He instructed her on what to do, to hit the targets.

Gwyneira nodded. She walked over to the boulder she leaned her sniper rifle, the Hekler'Kok-CSBR-01 on. She had another blaster she was working on at the safe house, on the workbench. She wished she had completed it sooner. This rifle she picked up felt bulky in her arms, and it had a heavy recoil. Furthermore, in the artist's eyes, this blaster was just ugly looking. Still, it was what she had, and she knew that she wanted to impress Kranak with what skills she had.

The half breed stepped onto the unoccupied shooting map. She put in her ear plugs for safety and entered her at the ready position. Rifle lowered but ready to rise in a flash, rifle positioned for comfortable shooting (as comfortable as the recoil allowed), and feet and body positioned to properly handle the recoil. She had taught herself how to use rifles and pistols alike using military holobooks and holograms from the Eternal Empire, back in her days as a Warden Initiate. She had easily picked up in the postures, positions, and precautions in the manuals. She had used both blaster types on the battlefield before, but she was not nearly as skilled as Eliz. Oh... Eliz. She blinked sadly, then realized where her thoughts went and firmly shook her head. She gave Kranak a determined look, nodding steadily.

"Ready."

When given the signal, she turned and raised her rifle. No silly business, no games, she was serious about this. Opting for usefulness and making every move count, she took aim for the closest targets first. Pew! ... Pew! ... Pew! She fired away, deliberate as she aimed for the bullseye and fired. Every time she hit, she smiled as she turned to the next target. Every time she failed to hit the heart, she grimaced or winced. As she continued to fire, the heavy recoil was doing a number on her. Even with the proper stance to avoid any physical problems from the kickback, Gwyneira did not have the strength to continue this for long periods of time. Still, she was a natural shot. She easily had the hang of this, smoothly transitioning from one target to another and shooting true. At one point, she stopped and reloaded with a trained, if not overly cautious and in turn slow, hand.

As she moved on to farther targets, she continued to do her best. Aim for the center, fire. Repeat. As she went to moving targets, she found herself pausing as she tried to figure out the moving patterns so she could better aim. Or, a target went faster than her initial take would let her. She could not act fast enough. She hissed in frustration, feeling more and more like she was the opposite of the good shot she hoped she could be. Still, she continued to try and keep her head. Aim, fire, repeat.

Eventually, the repeated recoil became too much. She lowered her blaster rifle and pulled her ear plugs out, looking over to Kranak with a look anxious for his praise or disapproval.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:50
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

”Ready.”

The giant gave a nod of his head, and waited for her to take the shot with her sniper rifle. Her rifle shrieked sharply with the squeeze of its trigger, sending a blaster bolt straight at the center mass of the closest target. The dummy target was about a click away from the tree-line behind some rocks. The target retracted to the ground by its mechanism as soon as it was shot. Good hit.

She followed up with a bunch of consecutive, successful hits on targets close to the one she had first taken out, however, the sound of her blaster rifle prompted the giant to raise his macrobinoculars for a moment and look to the young girl at his right. The blaster rifle was supposed to be louder as its barrel would have practically been by his right ear if she was prone on the shooting mat to his right. If she was prone. She was not. She was shooting while standing in a strong, textbook shooting stance. The giant’s head tilted to his left in surprise as he looked up at the girl. At long range engagements, to deliver accurate shots, you’d utilize any piece of solid object you could to stabilize your rifle on. Even crouching behind some cover to rest your rifle on it before shooting helped. Even your breathing pattern while aiming down without resting your blaster could very well throw off your aim. Noting down the disuse of any object -- even the ground, as she could have gone prone on the mat beside him -- to rest her rifle on, the giant looked back down range and lowered his macrobinoculars once again.

The misses were starting to show, now. At first it started with a near miss by a few inches on one of the target’s heads. Then she had given too much lead on a target moving back and forth by the edge of the tree-line at a running pace. Her first shot struck a rock and ricochet off it, hitting a tree’s branch. She re-engaged that target after a few seconds, only to miss it by leading too little. The second blaster bolt struck a fallen tree trunk near the target. She started to pause longer on moving targets such as that one as time went on, seemingly having a hard time adjusting to the target’s movement speed. He heard her hiss softly in frustration as she kept missing several more moving targets in succession. He gave a curt nod of his head in response, taking a mental note of her frustration getting the best of her. He could perhaps exploit that, see how she would react under more stress. This environment they were in was controlled, practically an open firing range. How would she keep her stoicism under fire in combat if she couldn’t keep it here?

After a few moments, her blaster rifle fell silent. The giant raised his helmet mounted macrobinocular as he rose to his feet from his shooting mat and turned towards the girl. Towering over the young lass, the giant crossed his arms as he looked down at her before he inquired. <”Who taught you to shoot?”> There wasn’t a hint of condescension in his tone, nor did he belittle the girl’s abilities. The Supercommando was genuinely curious as to how she learned to shoot a blaster. Taking her past into account, the giant would venture a guess that she was self taught. No way in Haran she learned this from her biological parents, he thought.

<”May I inspect that rifle of yours?”> He asks, nodding at the rifle in her hands, after Gwyn’s response to her initial question. If the giant was permitted, he would inspect the rifle and its scope carefully before returning it to her, to see if the scope was correctly adjusted to the engagement range, as well as going over other vital components of the rifle that helped deliver more precise shots. Getting the feel of her blaster rifle would go a long way of helping her with her accuracy.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira winced initially when asked who taught her to shoot. Yet, there was no mockery in Kranak's tone. Gwyneira blinked, then handed her rifle over to the giant, "I taught myself, using military holobooks and holograms from the Eternal Empire."

As Kranak Vizsla took a look at the rifle, Gwyn reached up and rubbed where she had set the rifle butt. Man, she hated that dreadful recoil. She was working her best to make sure The Distant Chill did not have the same recoil once she finished it. She looked up to her mentor, towering over her, and worriedly gazed upon his movements, "I focused more on blaster pistols, since most are lighter. But yeah, I taught myself to shoot rifles too."

She then pointed to the one she had given Kranak, "Honestly, I don't like this blaster. It's got this karabasting recoil, it's low on ammunition, and it looks ugly. Not aesthetically pleasing at all. But the recoil is the worst part."

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:54
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

The young girl wince did not escape the Mandalorian’s ever vigilant, watchful gaze as she handed her the blaster rifle. She would then go into detail as to how she knew how to shoot the rifle while the Supercommando inspected her weapon. He smoothly turned around towards the targets in the far distance, with his back turned against the girl. The giant pointed the barrel to the ground at a thirty degree angle as he placed its butt-stock into his right shoulder pocket.

The weapon was large, and heavy. He did notice the rifle’s kick from earlier when she opened fire with it. He liked the rifle’s textured grip and handguard, though. It made the large rifle a little easier to handle. The rifle lacked any modular hard points, however. Aside from the scope rail on its dust cover. No hard points to put a bipod on the rifle. Nor did it have a built-in bipod like some of its counterparts out there. Flicking the ambidextrous fire selector switch with his right thumb, the giant turned the safety on before he continued inspecting the rifle.

”I taught myself, using military holobooks and holograms from the Eternal Empire.”

The giant silently nodded to her response. She confirmed his initial guess. She was self-taught with blasters. He would respect that. Though it seemed like she didn’t practice what she learned from the holo-books. Reading and understanding the theory of a given practical subject such as operating this rifle could only get you so far. You needed to spend time down range with the rifle, getting the feel of the gun, learning the ins and outs of it.

Lest you end up missing a little over half your shots, among other rookie mistakes.

He raised the rifle towards one of the stationary targets at the edge of the forest and peered down the targeting scope. The reticule was decent. The lenses were high quality, with adequate zoom, allowing the operator of the rifle to engage targets at long distances, but the reticule lacked mil-dots. This was perhaps one of the things that made it difficult to accurately lead her shots.

”I focused more on blaster pistols, since most are lighter. But yeah, I taught myself to shoot rifles too.”

“Honestly I don’t like this blaster. It’s got this karabasting recoil, it’s low on ammunition, and it looks ugly. Not aesthetically pleasing at all. But the recoil is the worst part.”

The giant chuckled softly. <”Don’t blame the tool, lass. You didn’t assume the proper position to engage those targets to begin with,”> Kranak says, as he lowers the large rifle. <”I’ll show you. Come on,”> The Mandalorian said, giving her a glance over his left shoulder, nodding at the shooting mats on the ground before walking towards them.

With a muffled grunt, the giant went prone on his mat and put Gwyn’s rifle on the ground before him. The giant then leaned on his right shoulder as he reached for the utility pack at the back of his warbelt with his left hand. Pulling it free from the belt, he placed the pack at the edge of his mat, and then grabbed Gwyn’s rifle once again.

He placed the rifle’s barrel over the pack, using it as a makeshift bipod to stabilize the rifle, minimizing any sway. <”Before engaging a target down range, you need to give yourself the best possible means to deliver an accurate shot. This ranges from the concealment of your position to remain hidden, your positioning and the positioning of your rifle and so on.”> Kranak said as he turned his white glowing visor at her white eyes, teaching her.

<”If you don’t provide yourself the best possible means, you are bound to miss at some point. Make sure your rifle is steady and unaffected by your sway. Resting the rifle on an object or the ground, such as this pack here,”> he gave a nod of his head at the utility pack before continuing. <”Would help you a ton. If you can, I would recommend investing in a bipod, or a rifle that can be fitted with one.”> The giant then slowly shifted his visor from her and peered through the targeting scope as he grasped the handguard firmly, pushing the rifle’s butt-stock sternly into his right shoulder pocket to compensate for its kick. He was going to do a little demonstration for the lass.

With a soft tap, the giant flicked the rifle’s fire selector switch off safety as he acquired his target; the moving target at the edge of the tree-line, the target she had missed continuously earlier, failing to compensate for its movement speed. The giant’s breathing pattern shifted as he relaxed, focusing on his target. After a few seconds of concentration, the giant would softly squeeze the trigger, firing the rifle as he breathed out.

With a loud snap shriek, the powerful red blaster bolt shot out of the barrel, traveling at an immense speed towards the moving target. A satisfying metallic ping echoed from the mountains into his ears as he scored a headshot. Taking the velocity of the round into consideration, the distance from the target, as well as the target’s speed, the giant had accurately guesstimated the lead necessary to score a hit. The target retracted downwards by its mechanism as soon as the bolt struck the target.

The giant flicked the safety on again as he raised his visor from the targeting scope and looked towards the pair of snow white eyes to his right. <”You just need to practice, and get rid of some of those bad habits you got. Come on, give it a try!”> Said the giant as he let go of the rifle before rolling to his left, giving her space to get situated on his shooting mat. He would push himself off the ground into a crouch afterwards, occasionally looking at the targets and back at the girl, studying her and seeing if she had learned anything from what he had said.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira observed the demonstration intently and soaked in his words. The girl nodded to him as he addressed her and paid close attention to his positioning and movements. When he motioned for her to follow his lead, she turned to a crate and used the Force to open it, calling a packet of similar size and physicality to his to her. She got down, assuming the prone stance and placing the pack down as a bipod. She carefully positioned the rifle the way Kranak Vizsla had, copying his movements and posture. She tested the position out, moving her barrel around and looking through the scope at the targets ahead.

Once she had a feel for it all, she finally turned her rifle towards a closer, stationary target. She took aim and fired. It was far easier than standing. She even took the recoil better as the blaster bolt hit bullseye. Gwyn then shifted her aim towards a similar target. Ready, aim, fire. Once again, she hit the heart. Good, she was getting a feel for this. She aimed further away, towards a target two clicks from her. She took a bit longer aiming, but when she fired, she fired true. The target was hit in the center. She smiled.

She had hit stationary targets, yes. But moving ones were harder to snipe down. She turned her attention to a slow moving one, trying to follow its movements - wait, no. She bit her lip. Was following the target with her eyes the best option? No, targets moved too quickly for that. The engineer immediately got to observing the target's speed, then timed it against the speed of the bolts. Then, she fired. Her mathmatics were right, they always were, and she hit the target.

Perfection. She decided to go for one more, aiming for a far faster moving target. She tried the same thing as last time, getting the timing right. Yet, she struggled this time. In space, she could simply fire bolt after bolt at an enemy ship before hitting it. On Tatooine, fighting that gang, the moving targets were easy to pinpoint and shoot. Here? This was more difficult. She continued to observe and finally thought she got it. Ready, aim... After a moment of hesitation, she fired. She missed.

She gritted her teeth. She missed again! A grunt of frustration was emitted from her as she looked into the scope and placed her finger on the trigger to try again. Yet... she could not do it. Hesitation held her back.

She just stared into the scope, daunted and fearing more failure. Her heart pounded at the thought of her instructor belittling her for two missed shots against the same target in a row this time.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:50
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

Following his instructions, the girl went prone on his shooting mat beside him and properly used a similar pack as her rifle rest to maximize her accuracy before shooting. <Good.> The giant grinned underneath his faceplate before looking back at the targets in the distance. It didn’t take long for Gwyn to acquire one of the many targets he had set in the one click range. With the gentle squeeze of the rifle’s trigger, the young lass fired the rifle at a target behind a fallen tree trunk. The powerful red bolt struck the target with a resounding metallic ping. The target retracted to the ground the moment it was struck.

Several more metallic pings echoed into his ears with each squeeze of the trigger. She had engaged a number of stationary targets both within one click and two click range. She was getting the hang of it! He couldn’t help but smile. She was a fast learner, it seemed. Good, the giant had a lot to teach her. She was set on the path of becoming a Mandalorian, and she needed to be trained well, to be able to defend herself, first and foremost.

Shifting his visor from the targets and glancing at the young girl, the Supercommando silently observed her taking her time aiming on a moving target down range. After a few moments, her finger pressed down on the trigger. The giant followed the trailing hot, red blaster bolt as it shot out the barrel and struck the bullseye of the moving target! The giant smiled from ear to ear, proud of the young girl.

She then moved on to a more difficult target further down range. Like the target she shot dead on before, it was moving, but at an increased speed. It was two clicks away in the treeline. The target darted from bush to bush, passing by trees and the likes. Landing the shot on that one would prove to be a challenge for the young lass. After zeroing in on her target, she fired. The red blaster bolt struck the tree to the left of the moving target.

The giant was expecting a corrected follow-up shot, but the blaster rifle fell silent. Lifting his helmet macrobinoculars, the giant looked at the girl to his right. She was simply staring down her targeting scope in silence, now. There weren't any subtle movements of her rifle, or anything hinting at the lass leading her follow-up shot, or engaging a different target. <”Why did you stop?”> Kranak asked, in the same stoic tone as before. He needed to understand what was going on inside her head before he could help her. He would give her his advice whether she chose to explain why she was frustrated by this or not. When the time was right, he’d explain such things would take a lot of time to master. She was already making great progress, she didn’t need to beat herself up.

<”Don’t rush your shots,”> he placed his large hand over the young girl’s left shoulder, grasping her gently after a soft pat. <”Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Take the shot when you’re ready.”> She would get faster in due time, but she needed to slow down a little. Her anxiety and frustration seemed to be the primary issue behind her misses, as far as the giant deduced from the way she reacted to her misses.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira listened to his words. Calm, collected, and... supportive. She looked over as he placed a hand on her shoulder and steadily instructed her further. This was something that made her far more comfortable. He was not angry at her failures, he was helping her. She nodded and returned to her scope, peering in and back towards the target. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Patience. He is not going to yell at me.

But what if she missed this time? Would he start to get frustrated? Sigh in exasperation? She breathed in and out, forcing her tense body to lower its hackles and focus. Focus. She would be more focused on hitting her target if she was less focused on incoming criticism. It was easy in battle, where targets just got dead and no one was assessing her. Here? She needed to be perfect. Just like in the Academy.

She once again looked at the target, fast moving, darting between bushes. She just had to time this right and shoot, that was all. She was a good shot, she just needed to trust herself to do this? Butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she breathed steadily, following the pattern with her scope. Could she do this just with eyesight? She could sometimes get a "sense" of where something was and when to pull the trigger, using the Force. But she was not getting that at random sensation right now. She had to do it through aim.

She studied the pattern, once again recited the speed of her rifle bolts, and took her own hesitations into account. She needed to go with her gut, not her flighty feelings of nervousness. Aiming, aiming, aiming...

She thought she had it. She chose a spot, waited for the next target moving cycle, then...

Pew!

The satisfying thlunk resounded as the red bolt hit the target, sending it crashing back. Gwyn excitedly looked up from the scope. She could do it!

She looked up to Kranak Vizsla with a grin for a moment. Then the smile faded as she explained her reasons. As she explained, the words tumbled out faster and faster as she got it all out swiftly, as if worried she would be cut off and lectured. She did not even take a breath until she was done. "I-I hesitate too much. I second guess my shot and I miss or just don't shoot and I feel like I'm stuck and it's hard to explain and it's stupid and I'm sorry."

She took a deep breath after speaking. Panting, she looked up to Kranak with fear in her eyes. Her hands slightly shook as she held the rifle, still perfect in form and posture, but fearful.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:49
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

His wise counsel seemed to have its effect on the young girl. She gave him a nod as she returned to her scope and peered towards the same moving target she had missed several times before. She took her time lining up the shot. The giant could hear her soft breathing, calming herself down, getting the anxiety or fear of missing out of her. He wasn’t sure why she was overly worried about this. He would have understood if she had this level of anxiety during actual battle, but this was a completely controlled environment for practice. They were shooting at dummy targets. They were not taking any fire from an actual enemy contact. There wasn’t anything that would force her to rush her shots in this environment for now.

A few minutes passed in serenity. The gentle wind blowing around them on occasions, and her soft breathing pattern and his long, black kama occasionally shuffling in the wind were the only things that disturbed the peace. He watched her move her rifle slightly, seemingly tracking the moving target. After a few moments, she gently squeezed the trigger. The red blaster bolt shot out of the long barrel with a shriek, straight at her target. He tracked the trajectory of the bolt in his heads-up display, and watched as she hit the moving target center mass! The target retracted to its housing as it fell backwards.

The satisfying metallic ding echoed to their ears after a few seconds the bolt hit the target. <”There you go! That wasn’t so hard now, was it?”> The giant congratulated as he looked at her. His grin was shrouded underneath his helmet faceplate, but his glee was apparent in his sonorous voice.

With a grin, the young lass looked up from her scope and at the Supercommando’s faceplate, but her smile faded away as she began to explain to him why she was worrying so much. She spoke faster and faster as she went on.

”I-I hesitate too much. I second guess my shot and I miss or just don’t shoot and I feel like I’m stuck and it’s hard to explain and it’s stupid and I’m sorry.”

The giant’s head tilted to his left. His grin was replaced with a quizzical gaze. He would speak after a few moments of silence. <”Listen, nobody is judging your skills here. It is okay to feel like you’re stuck,”> The giant assumed she was referring to not improving with her skills too much in the past, which was something he could relate to. If that was the case, he was in her shoes at some point. But continuous training and exercise had helped him get a breakthrough. <”That is why we train and exercise. If I were to expect all of your shots connecting with the targets you’ve engaged from the get go into your training, I would not be a good instructor, would I?”> The giant asked rhetorically. <”You have talent, young one. But you still have a looong way ahead of you to be one of the best,”> The giant took a short pause for a breather before he continued. <”You’re not going to be one of the best on day one. These things take practice. Time investment. Weeks upon weeks spent to hone your skills. We have barely started doing that, today.”>

The giant patted her on her left shoulder as he continued. <”You’re expecting waay too much of yourself,”> He didn’t say it outloud, but she was very much a novice at this. A talented shooter, but a novice nonetheless. <”Relax.”>

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira nodded,, looking up to Kranak Vizsla as he talked before she looked back down to the scope. She was always a perfectionist, striving for the absolute best. But a lot of it was because of her background. She... had to be honest with him. She realized she trusted him in the same way she trusted Eliz, able to voice her pain and reasons to him. After he congratulated her successes, and how gentle he was right now...

She sighed, closing her eyes, "So I'm expecting too much from myself, and dreading you lashing out if I do something wrong. Hearing you say that is... relieving."

She looked away, "Arkanians are all born with incredible intelligence. The brilliant IQ is hereditary, and they believe it's a part of what makes them the height of evolution. In the Arkanian Academy, we were expected to be smart, and to get it right. They were even harder on me, and if I failed in the slightest it was only because I was a lowly half breed, not Arkanian enough. Not smart enough, not good enough."

She opened her eyes, struggling not to cry as she peered into her rifle, "I guess I feel like if I fail here, they were right." She aimed for a nearby target and shot it in frustration, hitting the mark, "And I've been... scared... of what you think too."

She blinked her vision clear before searching for another target.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:51
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Target Practice, Train Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Help Gwyn Get Her Mind Off Eliz’s Arm.
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags:

The Supercommando’s words seemed to have a good effect on the young one. He could see her visibly relax. Kranak listened to her in silence as she decided to open up to him more, talking about her troubled past.

She sighed, closing her eyes, “So I’m expecting too much from myself and dreading your lashing out if I do something wrong. Hearing you say that is… relieving.” She looked away, “Arkanians are all born with incredible intelligence. The brilliant IQ is hereditary, and they believe it’s a part of what makes them the height of evolution. In the Arkanian Academy, we were expected to be smart, and to get it right. They were even harder on me and if I failed in the slightest it was only because I was a lowly half breed, not Arkanian enough. Not smart enough, not good enough.”

She opened her eyes, struggling not to cry as she peered into her rifle, “I guess I feel like if I fail here, they were right.”

The Supercommando despised the idea of genetic ‘superiority’ of certain species harbored. That was one of the reasons he despised Kaminoans, but he didn’t know much about the Arkanians. To him, it sounded like they possessed very similar philosophies with the Kaminoans. His hands were clenched into fists in anger, in a knee-jerk reaction. This explained a lot of things. A lot more than what she had told him about herself before. If they were anything close to the Kaminoans, then the kid must’ve been put through hell during her upbringing.

Realizing his muscles tensing up in anger, as well as his hands balled into fists, the giant loosened up with a sigh as the young lass shot another red blaster bolt at a target. The metallic ding soon reached their ears as the blaster bolt hit its mark.

”And I’ve been… scared… of what you think too.”

She said as she looked down the rifle’s scope, searching for another target to shoot. He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, but at least she trusted him enough to reveal such things. That meant she was feeling comfortable around him. He heaved a deep sigh as he thought how he’d have to go heavier on her down the line into her training, though. That could affect her. He had to clarify, and tell her about the things to come in the future. The giant placed his right hand over her left shoulder before he spoke.

<”Listen,”> he would wait for her to look up at him from her scope before continuing. <”I will not think any less of you like those Arkanian chakaare when you fail,”> He said, assuring her of his intentions. Failing an exercise drill during training was expected, as one would not be able to complete a given drill perfectly on their first go, certainly not novices and recruits. <”But you must understand, for your sake,”> The giant’s soft voice left its place for a more stern tone now. <”I will not go easy on you during your training. As much as it is painful to admit, I will have to break you, so you can become stronger.”> If she wanted to become a Mandalorian, then she would be treated as a Foundling during her Bajur stage. The way he was treated when he was just a wee little Foundling himself. Though the conditions during his upbringing were extremely harsh. They were pitted with an immensely strong foe, hell bent on erasing the Mando’ade, their culture, history, their identity from the pages of history. They were all purposefully broken by their mothers and fathers to become stronger. Growing up during a war threatening their very existence, the giant’s generation were made into killing machines.

<”It will be for your own good, Gwyn,”> The giant said, in a somewhat softer tone now, but stern nonetheless. <”As much as he wants to keep you safe, you will not have Eliz by your side all the time when you need him. You must learn to defend yourself,”> Said the giant, as he gently stroked her left shoulder with his hand. <”I will see to it personally.”> He would help Eliz train her. As much as he did not question the young lad’s capabilities of training the girl, The Supercommando was afraid of the bond between the two getting in the way of her training.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyneira nodded to all Kranak Vizsla said. She found comfort in his gentle strokes, relief in his promise to not judge her, and felt a mixture of excitement and fright over his promise of training.

Gwyneira was not at all the kind of person to shy away from hard work. She was obsessive and task oriented, she was more than willing to spend all the time she could training, even harshly. The prospect of being "broken" still proved intimidating, but Kranak assured her that it was so she could stand on her own two feet. Well, she mostly always had lived by herself, but combat was still somewhat new. She knew she needed a lot to learn.

The exciting part was that Kranak was not doing this because Eliz dragged him into this, or because he felt obligated to. It was because he genuinely thought well of her, perhaps even cared about her. Her admiration only grew as she seriously, firmly, looked back down to her sniper scope and sought out targets.

"I'll do my best."

She found a fast moving target in the trees. She employed the same tactics she had been learning and aimed, waiting for the opportunity to strike. After a moment of observation and tracking, she unleashed a shot that hit. Then, she turned her attention to another. The moving patterns of this one was more... out there. She struggled to follow its patterns precisely, biting her lip as she followed with her eyes. Yet... as her eyes told her one thing, her gut told her another. It was that feeling again, the Force. She realized that the random targeting was upon her once more. She followed the instinctual urge and pulled the trigger.

It completely missed.

Gwyn blinked in surprise. What-then, the sound. The sound of another lifeform shouting and falling dead. Even more confusion flooded her. She blinked in bewilderment as she felt it again, felt it more. With a gasp, she readied herself as she spoke, "I- there's multiple hostiles coming, four, but I can't tell from where. I don't know - were we followed?"

From the brush, a hiss could be heard, reptilian and vile, "Sss, we heard blaster fire and decided to investigate. You killed one of ours, now allow Bubsa and his gang to kill you."

An unfamiliar movement, not aligned with the targets, shuffled from the left within the trees. Gwyn sharply turned and aimed, though she struggled to see or hear the target.

A criminal gang had somehow come across them, and a fight was going to break out.

 

[Kranak Vizsla]

P R E C I S I O N
S H O O T I N G

Location: Kaddak, 200 Clicks Away From City, Unnamed Mountain Range
Local Time: 17:53
Date: -DATA CORRUPTED-
Primary Objective: Protect Gwyn
Secondary Objective: Find Out Where The Outlaws Have Come From
Equipment: Loadout 2 (No Medical Backpack)
Tags: Gwyneira Vizsla

”I’ll do my best.”

The giant grinned at the sight of the young girl looking down on her blaster rifle’s targeting scope with high spirits once again, finding a target to engage. <”Attagirl!”> The giant said, encouraging Gwyn to continue practicing some more. After a few more shots, he intended to move onto something more challenging than that long barreled blaster of hers. He had brought along his Verpine Shatter Battle Rifle for a reason, after all. He not only wanted to test the rifle after it was repaired by Gwyn, but also wanted her to have some experience with a Verpine, as well. That thing was an entirely different beast than a measly blaster. Unlike blasters that went mostly unaffected by environmental conditions such as windage, barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, inclination angle, the coriolis effect on the planet you’re on, and the specs of your rifle and the slugs it fired, among a few other things. Seeing as how eager she was to learn, and how she got the hang of the blaster rifle early on, she would learn how to shoot with a Verpine in no time, as much as it would prove to be a challenge for her.

The giant turned his gaze from the young girl and towards the tree line, trying to guess which target she would go for this time after he lowered his helmet mounted macrobinoculars once again. After a few moments passing in silence, with only the wind blowing gently around them, a red blaster bolt shot out of her rifle with its distinct shriek as the young lass squeezed the trigger. She hit a fast moving target in the tree line dead center! <”Bullseye. Good aim!”> The giant congratulated her for her accuracy. She really was getting the hang of it. The Supercommando waited for her to take another shot in silence. He scanned the treeline while he waited for her to shoot, checking out the remaining targets. It was then he spotted one of the targets moving rather irregularly in the treeline. <Strange.> The Supercommando thought to himself. Every moving target he had set was supposed to move in a pattern. He purposefully made it a little easier for the young lass to first understand her skill level before moving onto more challenging targets.

He quickly identified the target to be a sentient humanoid species. His brows furrowing, the giant increased the magnification of his macrobinoculars several times to get a better look at him. He was running towards the treeline from inside the forest, running from cover to cover. He could see a crude blaster in his hands. The human’s outlook did not remind the giant of a hunter, prowling the forest for some game. Who the hell was this guy, and what was he-

The giant recoiled slightly as the young girl’s blaster rifle shrieked once again with the pull of its trigger. The red blaster bolt parted the air as it traveled towards the human at an immense speed. A second later the bolt was out of the blaster’s barrel, it struck the human center mass, right on his chest before he could run for a nearby tree for cover and concealment. The ground was swept under him as the bolt knocked him down on the ground on his back. The man writhed for a few moments, and ceased moving completely. He would never get back up again.

The giant raised his macrobinoculars in response. His eyes widened slightly in worry. He wasn’t sure the person she just killed was innocent or not. They were supposed to be in the middle of nowhere. He had found this little spot not so long ago. They were two hundred kilometers away from both the city and practically any other known settlement. There wasn't supposed to be anything there other than some wildlife.

The giant turned his head at Gwyn when she spoke with a gasp.

”I- there’s multiple hostiles coming, four, but I can’t tell from where. I don’t know - were we followed?”

<”No, we weren’t.”> The giant said in response as he swiftly unholstered his blaster pistol from his left pistol holster over his kama while he stood up and turned around. The giant assumed a combat stance in an instant as he kept the blaster pistol at a low-ready position. With a soft tap, the giant turned off the blaster’s safety with the flick of the fire selector switch. At the same time, his mind raced to find an answer as to who in Death’s name these ‘hostiles’ were. Could it be gangsters? But how in Haran would they find and track them all the way here without him noticing it? His senses were sharp. The Supercommando’s buy’ce was also equipped with a high definition motion and audio sensors. It was no easy feat for a sentient to sneak up on him.

And so he heard the unwanted guests approaching them. The rocks and gravel crunched underneath their boots. The far brushes to their rear shuffled softly, as the hostiles took up positions, effectively surrounding them from multiple angles. A Trandoshan among them revealed himself from one of the bushes. The reptilian punk hissed at them. The Ori’ramikad trained his blaster pistol on him at an instant, all the while taking mental notes of where the other three were, using the sound and movement his buy’ce had picked up to locate them without turning his visor.

”Sss, we heard blaster fire and decided to investigate. You killed one of ours, now allow Bubsa and his gang to kill you.”

That explained a few things. It sounded like a gang of some kind were using the surrounding area as their base of operations, meaning they would have a camp or a base somewhere. The giant chuckled in response. <”You are not very smart are you, you overgrown lizard?”> The Supercommando belittled the Trandoshan. Sparing the lizard no second to respond, the giant squeezed the trigger. The blaster shrieked at the pull of its trigger, sending a blue, overcharged blaster bolt straight at the Trandoshan’s chest at an incredible speed. Knocked off his feet and sending him on the ground a few meters on his back, the lizard didn’t even have the time to react to his mistake as the bolt struck his chest. His scaly flesh scattered everywhere.

His speed belying his stature, the giant then swiftly snapped at the two hostile to his right, hiding inside bushes. Their concealment would not protect them from him. Their bodies fell on the ground lifeless as they were dispatched with two precise and accurate blaster bolts, aimed at their center mass. They shared the same fate with their lizard friend.

His head then snapped to his left at the sound of hurried running. One of them was fleeing away! <”Where do you think you’re going!”>The giant bellowed as he momentarily lowered his blaster pistol and extended his right arm towards the fleeing punk. With a soft snap-hiss, the giant launched his grappling hook from his right vambrace at the ankles of the gangster. The giant grinned sinisterly underneath his buy’ce as the grappling coiled around his right leg, causing him to trip and fall on the ground face first. The man yelped in terror, desperate for help. “NO, NO!” The outlaw screamed in fear as he fell. Turning his back at the ground, the bandit dared to raise his blaster at Gwyn. His brows furrowing, the giant swiftly raised his pistol at the bandit’s gun and squeezed the trigger.

The bolt ripped the gangster’s blaster wielding hand and the blaster with it, sending the particle blaster bolt residue all over his body. The residue burned through his clothing and into his flesh. The criminal howled in terrible pain in response to losing his hand.

But the loss of his limb would be the least of his worries.

With a sharp whirr, the grappling line began to retract, dragging the unfortunate gangster on the ground towards Kranak. The man clawed on the ground with his remaining hand, trying to crawl and scurry away like an insect as he was dragged. “WAIT! PLEASE! PLEASE!” He begged for mercy and forgiveness.

But it was too late. The outlaw froze in terror as he came to a halt in front of the giant’s large, intimidating shadow. The grappling line uncoiled around his right ankle and retracted back into its housing on the giant’s right vambrace. Clutching his blown off arm and with fear in his eyes, the outlaw turned and looked up at the giant’s eerily glowing white visor. The Supercommando leaned down and grabbed the outlaw by his throat and lifted him up with ease. His right hand coiled around the outlaw’s throat firmly. <”Let’s see if you’re any smarter than your dead lizard friend over there!”> The giant Ori’ramikad bloodthirstily exclaimed, holstering his blaster pistol as he turned around and began walking towards the cliff at a slow, deliberate pace.

Thrashing desperately under the giant’s firm grip on his throat, the outlaw struggled for air as the giant effortlessly suspended him by the cliff. <”Speak!”> Kranak commanded. He would be releasing his grasp and watch him plummet to the sharp rocks a few hundred meters below if the outlaw chose not to cooperate. The man growled and wheezed for air in response, unable to produce anything that resembled a word. Realizing he was gripping him a bit too tightly, the giant loosened his grip slightly, but still kept him suspended mid air.

The young punk coughed and wheezed as the Supercommando allowed him some breather. Keeping his murderous gaze underneath his white glowing visor, the giant waited for the outlaw to speak.

 

[Gwyneira Vizsla]

Gwyn was going to take more down, but Kranak Vizsla had that covered. With brutal efficiency, he decimated most of the hostiles in the trees swiftly with his blaster. Really, it did not phase Gwyn. She had seen so much already, and she herself was happy to take out the trash that was criminal scum. That changed though when one of the bandit lost his hands.

Jac'Eli'Zirem.

The mechanical arm flashed before her eyes, his pain. When he shattered that arm in anger. All that time spent, wandering and sleepless, waiting for a response while he nursed his arm's decapitation.

Tears flooded her eyes.

"Eliz..."

She stood up absentmindedly, reaching and holding her own arm where Eliz had lost his.

Meanwhile, the bandit struggling for breath gasped out, "Mou-mountain! At the base of it's a big hutt cave where-" He gasped for air still, "There's only - ah, Big Bacta left! It's north I'm here! Now let me down! Please!"

Gwyn was looking down at the blaster rifle on the ground, tears falling for her lover. "Eliz..."