[Elijah]

Several robots stood on the streets of Ground Beta, all of different sizes and distances from the bank they encircled. To the onlooker it seemed like a heist was being simulated for whomever was training in the area. To the student in the simulation, it was target practice.

One bot found a dagger in its head before falling over.

Elijah drew another knife from his vest as he took a step up the bank's stairs. More distance to train his aim. Taking a deep breath, he let his knife fly. It caught the next automaton's shoulder, the resulting blow pushing it back.

He was making use of his time. Being early for a meeting meant he was alone for now, so he was working on his accuracy as he waited. He felt the impromptu practice to be important either way.

He was going to learn how to use a gun soon after all.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Dreamworld had put a serious hamper on Mark and his ability to focus. Family had a way of doing that to him, but there was wallowing in guilt and self pity, and then there was putting one foot in front of the other. He was in no means in the right headspace, which is probably how he ended up agreeing to this little venture.

He showed up to the grounds with a shooting bag over his shoulder, a flask with cold coffee in it in one hand as he watched Eli take out the targets. "Ya got a good throwing arm. Sure you want to learn this stuff?" He moved over to a point not far away from the targets, bringing his bag down and picking up the collapsible table he brought with him, beginning to set it up. This wasn't like training Marlene, who took all information in and put it into practice immediately. With her he just had to teach her the concepts and ideas; he didn't know what it would be like with Eli. "Tell me what you know of gun safety. You fail, and you get the little pop gun I brought."

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah paused in his throwing when he heard the instructor's voice, knife still held in his hand as he turned his head to him. "Hey. Thank you, and yes. Knives do not cover the distance a gun does." If he was to use his Quirk - eugh - to its fullest, he needed the range. The ability to relocate quickly was going to benefit him in the long run.

Lowering his hand, he turned to fully face the man and sniffed at his request. It was trivial; of course he would research the topic in preparation for the lesson he himself asked for. Why waste the man's time with not knowing the basics? He'd seen what other students were like though, so he didn't blame Lone Wolf for testing him. "Don't point it at anything you don't intend to shoot. Guns should be unloaded when not in use. Be aware of the target and what's beyond it."

Elijah continued his list as he walked down the steps of the bank, crouching next to the robots to fetch his daggers. "Do not rely on the gun's safety. Ensure no obstructions exist in the weapon before shooting. Use the correct ammunition." Sheathing his knives away, he stood and made his way towards Lone Wolf, stopping in front of him before tucking his hands in his pockets. "Did I miss anything important?"

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark had to give Elijah credit, he researched the topic. At the rate he was going, he'd have to ask the school to create a small course on firearms. That was a problem for another day, though. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a revolver and setting it on the table. "You missed an important one," Mark says, removing a box of ammunition. "Until you're ready to fire, keep your booger hook off the trigger. Even if you're following all the other rules, if you don't follow that one a sneeze or something could create an accidental discharge. Beyond that, you get a pass. For now."

While he talked he had pulled out protection gear: ear plugs, goggles, and ear muffs. It was overkill with what he had, but it was best to instill good habits early. "We're working with a small caliber today. .22 long rifle," he says, tossing a small bullet Elijah's way. "Hardly any stopping power, but it's not called the 'assassin's bullet' for nothing. Low recoil, and theoretically any ricochets won't be lethal. But we're not here to have fun, we're here to learn the basics. And included with the basics are understanding proper safety steps and what to do. You be nice to this gun, it's older than both of us put together."

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah eyed the gun as he listened to the rule he missed, making a face at how Lone Wolf was explaining it. "You could just say finger you know." Because booger hook? Seriously? A question cropped up in his head but he'll withhold it until the instructor was finished.

There was a slight furrow of his brow at all the safety gear. Seemed impractical to wear all that on the field, but he'll forgive the over-preparation for the purpose of practice. He caught the bullet easily, bringing it up to his face to examine it closely. "Fair. I expect nothing more than the basics today either way. Maximum distance?" If he were honest, gun safety was about as far as his knowledge went. The names beyond rifle were unfamiliar to him.

Elijah lowered the bullet to look at the man head on, his initial question ready to be relayed. "And what if the gun has no visible trigger to rest your finger on?"

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark gave Elijah a strange look, though he filled in the blanks. "Trigger guard. Honestly, that's rare, and you wouldn't find a gun without a guard unless it's one of those scary, heavy duty, military monstrosities that have a lever instead of a trigger." He took out the Carry, switching it over to his left hand in order to demonstrate a method. "Better to keep your finger up here, above the trigger and the guard. Less likely to let your finger slip down, and in the event you lose the guard for some weird reason it keeps your finger up and away."

He shrugged at the distance question, indicating the targets. "Better to start low and work your way up. Most engagements with a pistol are relatively short, between two to three meters. Maybe more, if you find yourself in a shootout. I'd say lets start with five, just to set up proper procedures." He indicated the rear sight. "Load 'er up. Carries nine, self extracts, yada yada. Once you load put it up into position, I'll help you adjust your posture."

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah tilted his head. Had he misunderstood him? He was pretty clear. "Trigger. Not trigger guard. My question is about whether a method exists to prevent firing a weapon where the trigger is internal." Now that he thought about it, his idea was probably not something the man would expect. It was a gun, but not a normal one.

After watching Lone Wolf demonstrate the hold on his weapon, Elijah put on the goggles and hung the ear protection around his neck. "I'm considering adding a firearm to my arsenal of prosthetics." He tapped on the arm he had currently, metal clanging evident in the action. "It doesn't make sense to use my left hand to fire the gun installed in my right, so I'm welcome to ideas on how to make the trigger less cumbersome to use while maximizing its safety."

With his explanation finished, he loaded his loaned revolver and held it up to point at the robots he trained with earlier, making sure to position his finger above the guard before awaiting further instruction.

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Ah. There were many unconventional designs in existence, and the basic principles to Mark remained the same. Mostly. Some designs were more unconventional than others, and proper safe handling was something he'd be useless drilling on. "Part of the reason why I don't like teachin' this kinda stuff. It don't make sense when everything turns unconventional at the drop of a hat."

Mark took a half step forward, using his boot to gently prompt Eli to move it back. "You want your stance shoulder wide, helps with stability and recoil. Anything more will just unbalance you, anything less will knock you over. She that slit near the back? That's your rear sight. You line that up with the front post. Usin' those two things is how you get accurate. Consistency is bein' able to get into this position and get a proper sight picture as much as possible. If you ain't hittin' your target good enough, but you're consistent, then you can adjust either your sights or your position enough to hit accurately. Take a few shots, get a feel for it."

He stepped back, crossing his arms. "Keeping a gun in your arm that can fire is, in my opinion, a bad idea. Especially if you're not using your other arm. However, I'm not an engineer. Make sure whoever builds it adds in an extra safety or two to prevent misfires. I dunno what you got planned, but so long as you follow at least the other three rules then collateral could be minimized."

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah hummed, seeing a point in the hero's words. "I deem these lessons mandatory still though, for cases where we have to disarm the opponent or my arm is disabled." He thought back to an instance where both occurred. He lost his prosthetic to a human garburator and had to take a gun from an adversary. He failed at the latter, alive only because his colleague redirected the bullet.

The student sighed. He needed to be better.

Elijah adjusted his stance as told, nodding at the hero's words. Once he was done with his instruction the student wore the ear protection properly before firing. The round clipped the shoulder which he wasn't aiming for, but rather than adjust immediately, he kept his hand steady, vying for consistency first and foremost as Lone Wolf described. Only when he hit the shoulder multiple times in a row did he shift his gun towards centre mass and fired once. Still not as accurate as what he usually was - knives were different from guns - but he was getting there.

Sighing, Elijah pointed the gun downwards and lowered his ear muffs before glancing towards his instructor. "Fair. I plan to commission Recall to build the arm because frankly I don't trust the support majors to only include what's necessary in the device. I'll be sure to request the additional safety measures."

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark nodded, critiquing Eli's grouping. It was not as small as it could be, but he had to pull back on some as he was not his father and Eli was just starting off. Despite it, he still remembered the words imparted by Nobody:

I should be able to cover your group with a dime, y'hear? Just 'cause you can hit a bullseye six times outta ten don't mean you're any better than the guy who can hit the same spot nine times outta ten.

The slurred speech still stuck out in his brain.

"A good mindset to have," he says, pointing at the shoulder as well as the shot. "That's good, for a first timer. But what alterations did you do in order for your rounds to cover that space?" He turned so that when he drew he'd be able to show Eli what he meant. "Sad fact of life, we can't beat recoil unless you're some kinda terminator. But we can develop muscle memory to get as perfect as possible. You can hold a gun like this, or like this," he says, having his hands how he normally held his gun and then shifting one hand just a tad further up. "Both of the are stable, but even the smallest of adjustments can drastically change your dynamic. There's a lot of different ways to hold a gun safely, but each one could determine a different way of shooting every time. Knowing how you hold yourself is important for consistency."

He stowed his gun again, thinking of Iphi. "Recall's a good choice. She's very thorough in her work, so precision and safety will no doubt take precedent. Try not to disparage your classmates too much, though. I'm sure there's a few that might be able to create something safely." He wasn't trying to rebuff Eli, but he also wasn't going to try and change his mind, either. Something he found interesting about UAU was how the school encouraged the hero and support departments to work together.

Elijah

[Elijah]

"Steady hand. I was aiming for the middle of the torso but I hit the shoulder instead, but I didn't correct it immediately. Instead I continued to fire on the shoulder to make sure I was consistent before adjusting." Elijah eyed the hero's hold on his weapon and nodded. "Makes sense. I imagine my prosthetic makes me more resistant to recoil, but I felt it on my shoulder. Is that your dominant or can you shoot with both hands? How different is your hold if you can use both?" Being ambidextrous would likely be an asset, especially with how often his metal arm was compromised. Things like to eat it for some reason.

He rolled his eyes at the slight callout. "I've worked with them before. Two of my arms are made by students. With one adding a foam dispenser to it that I didn't ask for and the other making it more plant than arm however, they're either more keen in proving themselves capable than fulfilling a request, or their specialty is not with guns."

Elijah enabled the safety on his gun - it was empty, he counted the shots, but better to make a habit of it now - before continuing. "I'm not complaining, by the way. I'm just speaking from experience."

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark decided to tackle things one at a time. "It's a good thing to learn to shoot with both hands. You never know when you need to do left or right handed, but for the record I'm right handed. There's about half an inch difference in my groups between right and left, and normally when using handguns I can cover my groupings with a quarter. It's not easy, but I've drilled enough where I'm competent with either hand. Hold is mostly the same, just reversed. Once you set up muscle memory things become second nature." Firearms training was not much different from any other type of training. Muscle memory, repetition, all of it. The only thing limiting what you could do was your willpower and the amount of rounds you had.

Mark was also not about to rebuke Elijah, shrugging a little. "I'm more concerned about your safety and the safety of others. If you don't think your peers are up to the challenge, then that's their problem to work out. Especially if you're speaking from experience." He looked at the gun, indicating it. "Open it up, ensure that it's safe. Last thing you wanna do is set it down knowing there's a round ready to go off."

Elijah

[Elijah]

Elijah hummed, nodding. "I'm also right-handed, though I trained my left so I could use it just as well. My precision already exists with my knives, so I'll reach that point eventually with the gun." There came his confidence; the declaration spoken as if it were fact. He had no doubt he'll reach the fit-in-quarter consistency Lone Wolf had. Not when practice was all he needed to get there.

He sighed at the safety response. "Which is why I'm requesting the device from Recall. Should I need something less lethal to myself and others, I will ask someone from the support department to make it." Finished with that conversation, Elijah opened the gun as ordered-

And all the bullets flew out.

Eyes widening a tad, he caught a few with his hand before the rest clattered on the ground. For seconds silence reigned. The student eventually looked up. "Does that always happen?"

lonewolf

[lonewolf]

Mark nodded, setting a hand on his hip. As much as he hated teaching this stuff, at the very least Elijah was taking it seriously. He knew what needed to be done, and he was receptive. Now, if only he could get out of teaching this sort of stuff on a large scale. Maybe then he could get some peace.

He looked at Elijah, a smidge confused. He pointed to the middle of the cylinder, and the cut metal in place. "Extractor. It's not like you'd find on a gun like mine, but they play an important role. Call it a 'soft factor' with a gun. Most people just look at the caliber, speed of the bullet, and how many rounds, but they don't factor in reliability or reload. Gotta remember, each time you fire it's like an explosion going off. That casing expands, making a snug fit into a tight fit. You wanna use your finger to get it out, or potentially mess something up by using a knife?" It was a rhetorical question, but at the very least he was amused. He didn't admit it, but something he clearly liked talking about was how these things worked.

Elijah

[Elijah]

Mechanism that enabled the gun to spit out spent bullets. Huh. Elijah looked between the open revolver and the hero, a slight frown crossing his lips. "So making a mess on the floor is the better alternative." Which he unfortunately agreed with. Hurting himself or damaging the weapon was not ideal. "But no, I suppose not."

Not wanting to fall to Lone Wolf's level by littering - yes he remembered the apple - the student crouched to pick up the remainder of the dropped ammo before standing again. "Is there anything else I should learn today?"

lonewolf