Polished to Gleaming Perfection [Action/Open]

[gunbladegrrl]

[She usually did this sort of thing in her room, but... well, at this point, isn't she the only person left in Garden who uses gunblades? She has a proud legacy to uphold, a duty and an honor.]

[So today, the polyspecialist SeeD has camped out in the quad, with her weapons case open next to her. One of her gunblades still sits in it, as picture-perfect as anyone could ask; the other is lying in front of her in pieces, as she carefully examines and cleans each part of the revolver mechanism. She may be concentrating on her work, but not to the exclusion of the world around her -- there's something open about her, that encourages questions.]

Comments

[gunbladegrrl]

I've heard some unpleasant stories from some offworlders who ran into the wrong people when they ended up here. Sometimes I wonder if there's a lot who don't make it here...

[curiouseyes]

Oh... I'm glad that I didn't run into the wrong person. I hope there aren't others who didn't make it.

[gunbladegrrl]

I hope so too...

[Her eyes have focused far away, but she brings herself back to the here-and-now with a slight shake of the head.]

Sorry, dark thought!

[curiouseyes]

It's alright. Let's go to the training center.

[It was a good distraction]

[gunbladegrrl]

Ha, well, if you like we can duck in and whack a few grats.

[She quickly double-checks her gunblade, then sets it back into its case with a smile.]

[curiouseyes]

Yes! Let's do that!

[Excited? Not at all]

[gunbladegrrl]

[Rising, she scoops up the case with no sign of effort, though to judge by the sudden tension of cable-like muscles under her skin, the thing must weight a great deal. She gestures towards the door.]

[curiouseyes]

[Koriand'r glances over as she picks it up. It didn't look that heavy, but it clearly had some weight to it. She smiles and heads towards the door of the training center]

[gunbladegrrl]

[It has two gunblades and a rifle in it! Of course it's heavy.]

What weapons do you normally use?

[curiouseyes]

Well, I was trained to fight with all kind of weapons. I've fought with swords and staffs, which is what I will study here. Until I got here, I just fought hand to hand or with my starbolts.

[gunbladegrrl]

Starbolts?

[She stops in curiosity, but then starts walking again.]

I'm guessing that's something you can show me there... and not here, right?

[curiouseyes]

Well, if I don't use them, I can show you here. [She held out her hand and after a moment a purple ball of energy formed in her hand. She just held it out, not doing anything else with it and it didn't do anything either] I can control how powerful they are, to barely nothing, enough to stun someone or more.

[gunbladegrrl]

How do you --

[Maria stops herself, because frankly she knows that any explanation for that kind of ability to manipulate energy is undoubtedly way beyond her.]

Huh. I guess there's a limit on how much you can do with them, though?

[curiouseyes]

[Even she's not really sure how she does it. It was something that came from experimentation, not something she ever learned on her own]

The only limit is that when I run out of energy I can't use them anymore. My people can absorb energy from the sun, which is what powers this.

[gunbladegrrl]

Amazing.

[She's mostly numb to offworlder powers at this point -- after the second or third magic pony the brain just stops processing this thing the same sort of way. So she continues on her path to the Training Center, out into the lobby and around the circle.]

Our sun works the same way for you? Interesting.

[curiouseyes]

[Koriand'r pulls the ball of energy back and it disappears. She continues following her]

It does. It's actually better. Like Earth it is closer than our sun so it more effective quicker.

[gunbladegrrl]

Out of curiosity, does moonlight work? It's just reflected sunlight, after all...

[curiouseyes]

No, not so much. The energy rays the sun puts out are what we need. The moon really only reflects the light and not the energy.

[gunbladegrrl]

[But light is energy! ...oh well, she'll assume it's infrared or the like. Best not to think about it so much.]

Well, I'm as curious to see yours as you are to see mine, at least!

[curiouseyes]

[Yes, that is what it is. Ultraviolet rays]

I'd be happy to show you once we get there.

[gunbladegrrl]

[Maria stops outside the hallways that leads to the Training Center, casually drops down her case, then flicks open the latches. From a compartment in the top, she tugs out her holster, which she casually slings around her torso, then fastens both buckles. Next come the two gunblades, which she spins over her shoulders so the blunt backs of the blades slide into the magnetic grips, leaving the blades to form an X behind her.]

Then let's get to it.

[curiouseyes]

[Koriand'r watches how it works to put everything on. Since she doesn't have a weapon with her or technically need one, she had nothing to do, but watch. Truth be told she was intrigued by those weapons. She wanted to see how they worked. She grinned]

Yes, let's!

[gunbladegrrl]

[So Maria leads the way into the faux-jungle of the Training Center, casual and without much particular concern -- even when a pair of grats crawl out of the leaves towards the two girls. She casually draws the two gunblades, then rolls her neck.]

And these are grats.

[curiouseyes]

[Koriand'r follows right behind her, staying on guard. She watched as it emerges, her hand faintly starting to glow]

It's a plant. [Not what she had been expecting it to be]

[gunbladegrrl]

Sort of. They're not very fearsome but --

[Whatever Maria was going to say is cut off as the grat lashes out at her with one of its tentacles. She darts backward, smoothly drawing both gunblades.]