The Sound of Violence

[Rusty]

https://youtu.be/k8tbfM6MCbo

Hear the sound of violence
It's a beat that makes us dance
You sway and I'll follow your lead

Rusty had taken jobs on Eralam's recommendation before. Though the two cordially despised one another, both Shards were professional enough to recognize and utilize the other's talent. Eralam knew that Rusty was a damned good gunsmith and the best person to teach someone how to use one of his often bizarre contraptions, so when a job came up that required a specialized piece and lessons on how to use it, he referred folks to Rusty.

That was all fine and dandy, but never before had Rusty worked with the ruling monarch of a planet, however. That might have been a sticking point, if the price tag for this job wasn't as outrageous as the job itself.

What with all the kerfuffle on Commenor as of late, [member="Lady Kay"] had decided that she needed something a little more potent than a holdout blaster for self defense. She needed something small and discreet, but also powerful, and capable of firing more than three or four shots. It also needed to be easy to draw, easy to use, and lightweight enough not to be a burden for regular carry. Knowing the Queen's reputation as a Lightsider, Rusty figured she'd also want something with nonlethal capabilities as well. Lightsiders often preferred to take their opponents alive, when possible.

All that added up to a blaster of some kind.

There were a number of arguments for a slugthower over a blaster in some highly specialized uses, but blasters were almost always far more practical. They tended to have a great deal more stopping power, for starters. Bullets and bolts both carried tremendous amounts of energy, but the vast majority of a bullet's energy was carried through the target. The bolt expended all of its energy on impact, and that meant that even relatively low powered bolts could leave one hell of a mark. They could also fire more shots between reloads, and because the bolts were visible, it was easy to walk one's point of aim onto a target with automatic fire.

Unless you were a covert operations type, a long range sniper, or regularly encountered Force users with lightsabers, blasters were the way to go 99% of the time. And even if Forcies were a problem, blasters could still be useful- if you knew how to use them properly.

Rusty had two weeks to design and build a blaster for the Queen, and another two weeks to train her. Only, that two weeks of training would probably amount to no more than an hour or two a day, so practically speaking, that meant a day and a half of training. That was going to make things interesting.

Still, it could be worse. The firing range he was supposed to meet her at, a private one reserved for her personal use on Commenor, was ridiculously nice. There were some bells and whistles he'd want to implement in his own range back home.

Under the watchful eyes of some of the Queen's security detail, the Shard laid an assortment of blasters out on the plasteel table he'd brought along for just such an occasion. The detail inspected the pieces, occasionally making comments, some impressed, some bewildered, but once they were satisfied that nothing had been rigged to explode, they signaled that it was safe for the Queen to enter the range.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay needed to work on her aim. Even more than that, she needed to work on getting comfortable around blasters again, as well as combat zones. Tensions have escalated as of late, given her husband's trial, as well as her former Minister of Defence's actions and untimely death. Violence was coming, dark times were coming and she needed to be ready for it.

Before [member="Eralam"] took his leave of Commenor, she had asked him for information regarding special weaponry that someone of her status could get away with. Being Queen, it wasn't common for her to arrive fully armed. That was what her bodyguards and security personnel were for. If she was to show herself as a non-aggressor, then she had to appear that way.

Eralam brought her the suggestion of one called [member="Rusty"] , a being not much different than he, himself, and yet different altogether. Did he smoke too? Kay figured that he probably did. That was how she imagined it anyways. All of the people that were rough around the edges smoked, right? That was how it seemed to be.

A request was made for Rusty to come to Chasin City. Not only did she require a new weapin, but she needed proper training for it too. And in Rusty's messages, he seemed to agree.

It wasn't long thereafter that Kay was stepping into the firing range, the range itself decked out with the latest technologies for targets, including sims to help with accuracy and skill. The Commenori Queen wore not a fancy gown, but trousers and shirt. Her hair was rolled up into a bun so that it was tucked out of the way. She spotted Rusty straight away and approached him. "Thank you for coming on such short notice. Did Eralam fill you in on what I was looking for?" Her eyes dropped down to the array of weapons already layed out for her.

This was going to be a fun day.

 

[Rusty]

"He gave me an idea," Rusty said dryly. "Mind you, it was a broad idea."

There were at least 30 blasters on the table, of varying shapes and sizes. Now that he had a better idea of what he was working with, about half of them could go back in their cases.

[member="Lady Kay"] was, by his estimation, about average for a human female. Slightly taller than average, but not excessively so. She was slim, but with the sort of build that suggested an active lifestyle. That tracked with his assumptions. Eralam had told him that much, but there were a hundred other little things that would influence the selection, things the Iron Knight wouldn't have known to look for.

For instance, she was somewhere between 38-42 years old, based off appearance. That was about the time when arthritis would become an issue, and even if it wasn't an issue now, who was to say it wouldn't be in a decade? Someone in their early twenties might want a more powerful weapon, trusting their youth to compensate for heavier weight and greater recoil. As they grew older, however, it wasn't uncommon for them to seek something a little more comfortable. Lighter weight, lower recoil, more ergonomic design, something they could fire without popping a handful of ibuprofen beforehand.

Stuff like that, Rusty's experienced eye could pick out in moments. When it came time to actually design her custom weapon, more precise measurements would be required, but after over a decade, it wasn't hard to eyeball a customer and come up with something that they might like.

"Today, we're gonna get a general idea of what you like, and see where you stand skill-wise. We're going to start off with this."

The Shard picked up an LBP-2, a lightweight, compact blaster pistol designed exclusively for the civilian market. It was quite pretty to look at, all sleek lines, and would probably fit comfortably in her hand. He gave her a quick demonstration on how to load and select the fire mode (a switch on the side could be set to Safe, Stun, or Kill), and then set her up on the firing line. The target, a large black circle with scoring rings, was about 10 meters away.

"Go ahead and get comfortable, then fire about ten shots. I've a feeling this one will feel pretty good, but don't hesitate to speak up if you don't like it. My goal is to make something you're 100% satisfied with, and we've got plenty of time to get it right."

 

[Kay-Larr]

There were just so many weapons on the table, that Kay had no idea of where to begin. As [member="Rusty"] spoke, she tried to study each one of them, looking to pick and choose of which she'd be more comfortable with. Did she want something as small as her holdout pistol? Or something a little larger? What could be easier to carry with her during her various diplomatic ventures? Weapons were not proper to bring, however in these times and with the political tensions out there, she had to protect herself. She could be made a hostage, or at worse, even killed.

Rusty seemed to have that in mind. He picked up a rather sleek looking pistol that was almost pretty in it's own way. She took hold of it with her more dominate right hand and felt the weight of it. The pistol was light and more than likely didn't have much recoil. Kay approached the firing line and eyed the target. She squared her shoulders, held the blaster with both hands and fired.

Or at least she tried. Nothing happened. Kay looked to the pistol and then laughed, rather embarrassed."Forgot to turn off the safety." She then cleared her throat, turned it to stun and readied to aim. Her breath was held as she pulled the trigger. The shot was wide, yet still made the target. Kay adjusted her aim and shot two more times, one landing above the last and the other more to the right.

"I guess that I'm not a natural sharpshooter."

 

[Rusty]

"Surprisingly few people are. There are plenty of people who think they can shoot, and they might actually be decent so long as they're at close range. I've known many a smuggler who could trick shot their way out of a bar fight, for instance, by shooting under the table. But, the minute you get someone further away than across a room, they're stuck with spray and pray."

Rusty drew his own pistol, a semiautomatic slugthrower of considerable size, and dumped 15 rounds into the center of the target in the blink of an eye. The shots came so quickly, it was hard to distinguish them as discrete events. The last bullet left the gun before the first shell had a chance to hit the ground.

"Think of it like playing an instrument: you might be able to figure out how to do some really cool things with one, but unless you master the fundamentals, there's only so far you can get. That right there? That wasn't some marksmanship program uploaded into my body. That was centuries' worth of practice, almost every day. There are no shortcuts, tricks, or hacks that'll turn you into the next Han Solo. I can give you the basics, but it's up to you to turn them into a foundation of true mastery. Having said that-"

He safed the pistol and placed it on the counter at the firing line. [member="Lady Kay"] definitely wasn't a natural. She didn't have any bad habits, but she didn't have any good ones, either.

"-I doubt you'll have time to hit that point before someone tries to paint the walls with your brains. So, what we're gonna do is build you two weapons. The first will be something you can practice with whenever you have time. It looks like the LBP-2 is a good fit, so we'll use that as a base and work from there. Once you get the hang of it, you'll have something you can ably protect yourself and those around you with. In the meantime, we'll need a stopgap measure, something you can have on you at all times that's basically just point and shoot. Won't be good for anything resembling long range, but you'll be able to clean out a corridor in no time flat."

The Shard picked up what looked like a large, ornate bracelet. It was large enough, it could almost pass as a bracer. The base material was a rich leather, so dark it was almost black, and it was embossed with a flowing pattern of leaves and vines, like ivy tracing its way up a trellis. The embossing was lined with silver leaf, giving the appearance of being lit by moonlight. Running along the spine were more leaves and vines, this time wrought from songsteel. The pattern melded seamlessly into the embossing, making it almost impossible to tell where the songsteel ended and the leather began.

"Took me over a year to make this thing," Rusty said proudly. He strapped it on his right forearm (somehow, it seemed to fit securely even though it appeared several sizes too small), and stepped up to the firing line. "The latest and greatest in concealable firepower. All you have to do is pretend you're making a gun with your hand, line up in the general direction of the target, and pull the 'trigger'."

Suiting actions to words, he formed his hand into a shape familiar to any child playing cops and robbers: index finger extended straight out, thumb pointing up. He curled his index finger in an exaggerated motion, as though he was pulling a trigger, and a blistering stream of blaster bolts spat out from a previously hidden muzzle.

The light and noise were incredible. This unassuming piece of jewelry apparently had the rate of fire of a military grade carbine, if not the ammo capacity. After a couple of seconds, the stream of fire ended.

"Only downside at the moment is I can't fit a big enough reservoir to sustain fire," he explained. "That said, I'm fairly certain I can make an umbilical that'll run to a tank and a power cell hidden somewhere on your person. Should give you all the firepower you'll ever need."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Spray and pray. That was one way of looking at it. Depending on the weapon, of course. Kay hadn't really used anything with that kind of firepower before. "Well, I'm not quite the cocky sort." Which was true. Most of the time she wasn't. She knew what she was good at and what she wasn't. That was why she was fortunate to have people around her that had many different skillsets.

[member="Rusty"] soon pulled out a rather hefty looking weapon. The speed and accuracy that he displayed made her jump, causing her to nearly drop the pistol that she held in her hand. "Wow..." That was about all that she could muster. If that was age and practice that got him that good, it made her wonder just how old he was. That was a question for another time. "Practice makes perfect. I'm a believer in that." It wasn't as though she was preprogrammed for anything.

The bracelet was gorgeous. At first Kay had wondered if it was just protective like armour. Or maybe spikes would come out of it and she could use it like a mace. But no. It was vastly different than what she had expected. As Rusty opened fire, the shere might of it caused her to drop into a crouch. That kind of firepower was not what she was expecting.

Shock and awe. That was clearly written on her face.

Kay stood back up after it was over. She half expected Rusty to blow on his index finger as though it was the barrel, but he didn't. "That's incredible. I've never heard of something like that. Whatever gave you the idea?" It was quite clear that she was taken with the thing.

 

[Rusty]

"This? Uh, truthfully, I got really bored one day. Decided to see if I could take an old idea and make it pretty."

The original had been a small blaster designed to be hidden up one's sleeve and triggered remotely. It was primarily designed for assassins, or people who feared assassins. It had several fairly glaring design flaws that the Shard simply didn't have the technology to overcome at the time, but that was nearly a decade ago. Now, his resources were nearly infinite, thanks to building up and selling one of the most successful arms manufacturers in the galaxy.

Rusty pressed a hidden button on the back of the spine. A small cylinder popped out with a slight hiss of escaping gas. He replaced it with a fresh one, and then helped [member="Lady Kay"] get it fitted properly on her arm. The underside was comfortably padded with smart gel that automatically conformed to the shape of her arm and held the bracer in place without the need for straps or buckles. A moisture wicking liner prevented sweat from building up, and the gel was temperature controlled, ensuring that it never got too hot or cold. Once the user got used to the weight, it would be so comfortable that they likely wouldn't even notice it.

"Go ahead and try it out yourself. If you like it, we'll use that as the base. I've got some ideas as to how we're gonna stash more gas and a larger power cell on your person. The good news is, it'll double as discreet armor."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay smirked a little. If that was something that [member="Rusty"] made while he was bored, she wondered what he could make when inspired. More than likely those items would be of a variety that no one else could think of. That was the advantage of an A.I.

With his help, she slid it onto her arm, rotating her wrist to be sure that it's movement wasn't restricted in any way. To her surprise, it wasn't. "Wow, it's lighter than I had expected. How does it know that I'm making the right gesture for it to fire? Cameras? Or does it sense the right muscle movements?" All of that was asked while the device was fitted on properly.

Moments later she was preparing to fire it for the first time. Kay held out the arm, shifting her fingers and thumb so that it resembled a pistol. Just that alone brought her back to the games that she played as a kid. It almost made her feel a bit silly. Yet she 'pulled the trigger' anyways. "Whoa!!" The amount of firepower that came out was more than she had expected. Her hand lifted up, causing her to lose aim on the target entirely. So she flattened out her hand, yet didn't lower it yet until she was sure that it had finished letting out it's payload.

"Would something like this get through security scans okay?" Her little holdout pistol did.

 

[Rusty]

"It'll pass most visual inspections. If you don't have it powered up, it probably won't set off scanners. Best thing you've got working for you is the fact everyone's gonna be paying attention to your security detail, not you. No head of state worth the title is ever going to be more than a second away from a dangerous fellow with a blaster, even if you send them out of the room. Keep your holdout as a decoy in case they make a cursory check and chances are, no one's gonna notice you've got a better blaster hidden in plain sight."

Though his robotic face was incapable of expression, Rusty gave off the impression that he was grinning ear to ear. There was an unmistakable note of pride in his voice. This thing was one of his better works, no doubt about it. Not nearly as flashy as some, and unlike his girls, it probably couldn't shoot a building in half, but there weren't many pieces in the galaxy that could compare.

"It reads nerve impulses to fire. There's an array of room temperature superconducting contacts built into the padding that map the nerve impulses. Right now, the parameters are fairly broad, but we can program it to only respond to your unique signals. In my case, I can simulate the firing sequence. Once it's locked in, even if someone manages to get it off your arm, they won't be able to fire it."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nodded a little. It made sense of course for her to have bodyguards with her and most were armed. [member="Adron Malvern"] had created a unit of Imperial Sentinals for her, which were far more imposing than her uniformed guards. But then again, she didn't want to intimidate others when she didn't have to. Promoting fear didn't really do people any good. At least in her experience.

[member="Rusty"] had presented a great idea. Keep her holdout pistol up her sleeve and that would be the perfect decoy. Kay smiled at the idea. Although she was hardly in such dangerous situations anymore, that wasn't to say that there wouldn't be one in the near future. It all depended on how volatile the rest of the Galaxy was.

"You can get it to work only for me? Now that would be advantages, especially if anyone suspected it of being anything. They could try it on for themselves and not even be able to get it to work. Best of all, it wouldn't be something that could be used against me. Ohhhh, I like that idea." She grinned, looking to the prototype. "Could it be made in the Commenori colours of grey and blue? Or is that asking for too much?"Most of her outfits were those colours, along with black.

 

[Rusty]

"I can replace the leather no problem, though you're stuck with the songsteel. Shouldn't be too hard to work in the Commenori colors."

The Shard picked up a tablet and hastily scrawled a few notes down. Leatherworking wasn't all that hard, though it could be a bit time consuming. Or at least it would have back in the old days. As soon as he hit the send button, his notes were beamed to the portable workshop in the basement, which would start preparing several chunks of leather for use. All he'd have to do was design the final pattern and the workshop would cut, sew, and glue the pieces into the required sequences.

Once he finished, Rusty rolled out a large, hard-shelled case that he'd stashed under the table. The case was easily small enough to fit a small person in, and the reason became obvious once he popped the latches. The case opened up into a full body scanner, the sort that could take a person's measurements down to the nanometer. All the scannee had to do was step behind the built in privacy curtain, strip down, and let the machine get to work.

Like most of his inventions, the privacy curtain was ridiculously over-engineered. There were Faraday cages that weren't as secure. The chances of someone snooping were less than zero. Just sitting there, it seemed to repel light somehow.

"So, I mentioned we'd have to hide the reservoir somewhere on your person. Easiest way to do that is under your clothes. At the moment, I'm thinking a soft tank hidden at the small of your back, which would double as lumbar support when you sit down. My tentative plan is to incorporate it into some sort of vest, probably armorweave or maybe alchemized leather if I can swing it, something that'll be comfortable for everyday wear, but also give you more protection than your average undergarment against blasterfire. Won't replace armor, but it'll hopefully stop a killshot. If you're game, step through the curtain, follow the instructions for the scanner, and we'll get your measurements."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

"The songsteel is fine. I tend to wear Commenori colours when I'm away from home, so I thought it'd be a good match."

She watched [member="Rusty"] take his notes and then started to take the device off. Although she was sure to not move her fingers into any pistol-like positions. There was no need to cause any accidents, afterall.

A brow was raised as he pulled out some kind of case. It wasn't until he had opened it that she realized what it was. Kay looked to Rusty as he explained it all, her mind trying to visualize the placement of a soft tank at her back. Would she feel it? Or was it one of those things that she'd get used to after a few minutes? There was only one way to find that out, of course. And that was to wear it and see.

"I'm game." Kay took in a breath before walking over to the scanning device and stepping inside. She was a modest woman, so getting undressed in front of others wasn't enjoyable to her. But the privacy curtain helped. She removed her clothing as instructed and closed her eyes as the scan was being made, remaining as still as possible, her breathing shallow as it took her measurements. Once that was complete, she dressed herself before opening the curtain and stepping back out.

"How long will it take? I'm not in a rush, so there's no need to feel hurried. I wouldn't want you to cut any corners with this."

 

[Rusty]

"The blaster itself I can have done by this afternoon," he said after consulting his datapad. "We'll have to get it tuned to work only for you, and if you'd like, we can make the firing gesture something different, something that you're less likely to do on accident. The trigger motion is usually pretty deliberate, but it's up to you."

As he spoke, he carefully separated the metal portion from the leather. He made the process look easy, using nothing more than a few gentle tugs and a hand tool. What wasn't immediately obvious was that the hand tool was a sonic device that emitted a very, very specific tone. The adhesive that bound the blaster to the padding was extremely potent; the surrounding leather would give way long before it did. But when hit by a tone at exactly the right frequency and volume, it dissolved into dust so fine, it was nigh on invisible.

"The vest? A week, maybe two. I have to source some of the materials, and I want to consult with a couple of friends in the fashion world. To put it frankly, I've never designed a vest like this for a female, and there are a couple of things to consider, no pun intended. All the protection in the world won't do you any good if it's uncomfortable, and I'm sure they'll have a thing or two to say about making it look good as well. That's not my strong suit, and I've no problem consulting the best in the business to get the job done."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

"The firing gesture is fine. I don't do that particular gesture very often at all, so there's little chance that it'll accidently go off." Kay was quite confident about that. She didn't tend to be in situations where such a gesture would be required. Her children were too old for playing those types of games.

She nodded while [member="Rusty"] explained the timeline for the device, giving him a small smile as he mentioned the biology that he'd have to accommodate for. A couple of things, indeed. "Some sort of a corset might work best. But it wouldn't have to be one with a lot of boning. It could be loose and give me freedom of movement, yet still be supportive. I'm sure that your friends will have plenty of ideas for that."

Something that they had yet to talk about was the cost. "How much credits would you like for this? And would you want a contract made up?"

 

[Rusty]

"A corset or maybe a bustier of some kind is what I was thinking. Whatever it turns out to be, I can promise that form will be secondary to function. It has to work, and it has to be comfortable. Ideally, you'll be able to fight in it, after a little practice. Though, I sincerely hope you'll never have to."

Despite his reputation, he was a firm believer in making products that never had to be used. They would function perfectly when called upon, provided they were maintained properly, but after nearly a thousand years of near-constant fighting, he was far more enamored with the ability of his creations to save lives than take them. That might seem paradoxical to some, but let's be honest: no one is really all that brave after they've seen a man in full armor vaporized in a single shot by a rifle the size of an aircraft carrier. Kill one to warn a thousand, as the saying goes.

His philosophy with armor building these days was something of an inversion. Obvious armor wasn't a deterrent, it was a challenge. It said "I'm ready for a fight", and on a long enough time scale, someone would inevitably put that to the test. If you wanted to avoid a fight, the best bet was to go with something that didn't actually look like armor.

What he proposed wasn't meant for wading into the thickest part of a battlefield and laying waste. Its purpose was to defeat that first instant of an ambush, which, statistically, was the most dangerous. If you could survive the opening salvo and get out of the killbox, chances are, you were safe. Assassins tended to have a predator's mindset. The name of the game was lethal cowardice. Sticking around to put up a fight is typically a great way to get killed, so they'd put everything they had into that first punch, and if that didn't work, it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. There were a few nutters (read: Mandalorians) who would pursue and attack again, but even they usually had their fangs blunted in the opening moments.

As for the question about cost? The Shard punched some figures into his datapad.

"Hmm. Rough guess? Somewhere between 6-7,000. I charge for materials, expenses, and labor on an hourly rate. I'll send you the invoice, itemized, of course, once work is finished. Seeing as how you're a ruling monarch with an excellent credit rating, we can forgo the hassle of a contract, and payment will be due on delivery."

At a glance, Rusty's quoted price seemed incredibly low, compared to what many of his competitors might offer. On the open market, either the vest or the blaster could fetch well over 20,000, but for the Shard, pure profit wasn't the point. Especially since he'd sold off RCFC, building lasting relationships was far more important than making a quick buck. A commission like this was a godsend, one that only a fool wouldn't jump on. A less experienced businessman might even offer to do it for free. But, as he'd learned long ago, that almost never worked as intended. People would look at a low but fair invoice and think they just got a great deal. People would look at free and sneer.

"I'll give you a call once the initial work is done, so we can get it fitted. The scans are incredibly precise, but it's impossible to know how something will feel until you try it on."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

It has to work and be comfortable. Oh yes, she was quite keen on that. And of course she had planned on practicing with it. There was no point in putting it on and going into a potentially dangerous situation with the chance of it not working at all.

A thought occurred to her then. "What if the reservoir was pierced, like with a knife. Would it explode?" That was all that she needed; to be burnt to a crisp by something that was meant to protect her.

She nodded at the price that [member="Rusty"] gave out. It was a little low, but reasonable. Kay wasn't a miser, yet she didn't just throw her money away either. Every purchase meant something. And that was exactly what this purchase was. It was a product that would mean something.

"You are a wonderful businessman. It isn't often that one would take such care of their customers. So thank you. And you can be sure that I'll have more work for you besides this. Maybe a little something for some members of my staff..." [member="Rys'sya"] in particular. She could use something to help her gain a bit of confidence and courage. But all in good time.