4174/High calibre training.

High calibre training.
Date of Scene:	19 November 2020
Location:	Sublevel 2 -Training Facilities - The Roost
Synopsis:	Laura disturbs Conner by doing a little unusual fire-arms training. They chat about the value of lethal weapons and the importance of non-lethal options.
Cast of Characters:	Laura Kinney, Conner Kent

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Laura Kinney has posed:
There are some types of training which a mutant killing machine just can't do openly. Xavier's has a lot of places to train in martial arts or with powers but they generally frown upon guests firing military issue sniper rifles loaded with armour piercing rounds. Nor are these the sort of toys Laura can casually take down to the local rifle range.

Of course simple target shooting wouldn't really be a true challenge. So the petite killing machine has dimmed the lights and filled the training facility with an ear bursting death metal track. Every now and again blinding flashes of strobing light trigger.

Laura lays perfectly still despite all the distractions. Waiting for the right moment to exhale and BOOM. A fifty calibre AP round hits a specially made target.

Conner Kent has posed:
What is with girls in the Outsiders and their obsession with training and guns? Rose was bad enough, but now they have Hope and Laura too. Conner is pretty sure that is one of Rose's sniper rifles. Maybe the very same one she used to shoot her dad when he was trying to murder them.

He could hear the music from his room on the top floor despite the Bat-grade insulation. But it was the shooting that brought Conner down here and into the firing range. "Guns and rock and roll? I think there is a joke begging to be told here," he comments, not even bothering to raise his voice over the music. Laura's hearing is even better than Conner's.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura Kinney doesn't immediately react to Conner entering. Just another distraction to the mix. There's another exhale and the rifle retorts for her. It's not actually Rose's weapon, Laura knows better than to use another professionals tools without asking, but it may very well be the same make and model. There are certain weapons that mainly see use in skilled hands after all.

"The music will cycle through into other genres," she notes. "I compiled a playlist based on music which was used in psychological warfare or C.I.A. torture experiments. Deicide, Marilyn Manson... It will eventually move to an artist known as Barney. Some sort of singing dinosaur."

Slowly she gets up, taking care not to point the gun at Conner. "I would have added a chemical irritant as well but that takes up a lot of time to clean up.. I was not disturbing you I hope?"

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner gives Laura one of those -looks- she gets from him when she is being weirder than usual. "Barney?" He hand-waves it. "Gunshots distract me. I mean, I need to check about them. Tim won't like you using that thing, even in training. Actually none of the Bats would, including big Bat. Non-lethal stuff, remember?"

He doesn't like it either, although he is not sure why. Maybe because he has seen enough people getting killed or hurt by firearms to get an automatic aversion for them. "Hope built a non-lethal blaster gun, maybe you can get her to give you another of those?" They also have a kill setting, but Conner is reasonably sure Hope is not going to use it ever. Almost sure.

Laura Kinney has posed:
Laura tilts her head, then unloads her rifle and puts it on a nearby table that seems to be covered with all the assorted paraphernalia a rifle like that needs. "I'm not shooting people with it," she points out blandly. "These are rounds I have prepared for destroying the engine block of a vehicle or a humanoid combat drone."

She pulls out one of the rounds for inspection. Not that she expects Conner to know anything about them.

"Energy weapons have advantages. I would not be against including some in my arms caches. But I would have to spend the time to learn how to field repair one before I'd consider using it outside of a training environment."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner uh huhs. Humanoid combat drones. "Yeah, pesky humanoid combat drones, I think they are all over the parks of the city, loitering and scaring the pets." He grabs one of the bullets and sighs. "These weapons were designed to kill people, not for anything else. We gotta be more... just better."

Not clear if he is talking about the sniper rifle now.

"Tim uses a lot of weapons, but they are all designed to capture and subdue," comments the young man. "Pretty sure he knows how to use a gun, but more to know how to deal with them, you know?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
"You would be surprised how often they are an issue for mutants," Laura points out dryly. "Any object can kill people if you apply it correctly." She taps her foot. "And I have no intention of allowing myself to become out of practise with a tool simply because I am trying to avoid killing." There's a pause and she turns to switch the music off. "Better that I treat them with respect in a safe and secure environment but not use them. Rather than let myself become unskilled and find I need to shoot someone."

She considers the points about Tim. "He does indeed use a lot of weapons. But he also needs them a lot more than many of us. For example I can simply cut a gun into pieces."

Conner Kent has posed:
Conner looks relieved when the music is off. Invulnerable eardrums or not, that was not very fun. And he has been in some pretty loud concerts. Well, before his senses got so sharp. They have lost some of its appeal nowadays.

Maybe holding a conversation besides the loud music -is- training. He is pretty sure he couldn't have done it a year ago.

"I know what you mean," admits Conner. "He has a lot of useful gadgets too, many of which he built himself." And Conner has a... Starkphone. Hey, it is a useful too sometimes. "But..." he glances at the rifle, "maybe we could train something else that is not mostly to kill people?"

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I think there is a difference between us in philosophy," Laura muses. "As I do not consider guns, knives or the things Tim uses as weapons. The person holding them is the weapon." She tucks the rifle into the case and seals it. "Everything else is merely an application of intent."

She blinks a few times.

"You wish to spar? All of my training is regarding violence in some form or another." Another few blinks. "Well except for physical conditioning. We could run laps but I do not know what value that would have..."

Conner Kent has posed:
"Not much," agrees Conner, "I can run without tiring until I deplete my solar energy reserves and that would require several hours running at over two hundred miles per hour. But your musical setup made me think maybe there is a way to get better at handle enhanced senses." He considers, "or play tag," he tries to boop her nose. He is very fast, but not as fast she can't dodge him. Not as fast as a bullet yet.

Laura Kinney has posed:
"I have things I use for sensory training," Laura admits. "Placing hidden sounds within an audio track and trying to locate them. Navigating entirely from memory or audio queues. Being blindfolded and locating where a pin is by sound. The more advanced version is doing so during a live fire combat exercise." She looks around the training facility. "I could set something similar up if you wish. But without the weapons fire."