#RedrockAgency – May 23, 2016

Nathan is sat in the armoury, finishing the assembly of an avenger. A half drunk cup of tea is sat off to the side of the workbench and tools are scattered about the rest. His omni-tool is playing some music at a low volume. He is dressed in a pair of blue jeans, a tight fitting white tank top and a pair of scuffed black work boots.

Cynthia slows down her approach to the armory door when she hears the music playing inside, raising an eyebrow before shrugging and heading on in. She's carrying a gray weapon case with her. Upon entering she looks to Nathan, studying him for a moment as she listens to the music. "That's some good guitar." she says eventually. (Tyranniac)

Nathan peers over his shoulder as he hefts the rifle with his good arm, setting it on his shoulder. At the compliment, he grins and waves his casted arm at the omni-tool. "Blue Saraceno, Bad Man. Hell of a band, hell of a song." He walks over to the weapon's rack and sets the rifle where it belongs. "Glad to see someone else appreciates a good rift when they hear

Cynthia continues to listen for a while before stepping up to the workbench next to Nathan, placing the weapon case on it with a clank. She raises an eyebrow. "Never heard of them. Sounds... old. Don't hear a lot of artist like that... at least not in the colonies." (Tyranniac)

Nathan nods, taking a step back to give her a little more space. "Yeah, old is putting it mildly. You ever had one of those tangents when you're browsing the extranet and you end up discovering something really obscure?" He points to the music playing omni-tool. "Voilà. The result of said tangent. Anyway, whatcha got there?" He asks, more interested in the unknown

Cynthia flips the locks on the case and opens it, revealing an old Alliance-issue Crusader shotgun. The matte-gray finish looks worn and scratched, but the weapon seems well taken care of otherwise. She lifts it out and turns it over in her hands for Nathan to see. "My very favorite gun." she says with a smirk. (Tyranniac)

Nathan 's eyes widen and he stares at the shotgun. "No way...". He cracks a grin and looks up to Cynthia, nodding. "Now that is a shotgun. So you were a soldier, huh? Lemme guess, always the one to take point?'

Cynthia puts the shotgun down on the workbench and nods as she turns back to Nathan. "Of course." she says with a gesture of her hand. "Wouldn't have it any other way. And I'm still a soldier, for the record." she corrects, crossing her arms. (Tyranniac)

Nathan smiles and taps two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute. "Then my respect to you, soldier. I have family currently serving," he says as he looks over the shotgun. "What unit?"

Cynthia gives a dismissing shrug. "I'm in the reserves right now. That might be changing though, the way things are..." she says, not elaborating. She glances down at her shotgun and then back to Nathan. "Your family?" (Tyranniac)

Nathan nods, using his good hand to lean against the workbench. "Two of my sisters. 103rd Marine Division," he says with a smile. "Dad was ex-alliance too. Shit, pretty sure every generation of my family had someone in the military." He then looks back to the shotgun, flicking his head towards it. "So, I take it you brought it in here to store and not to just show

Cynthia raises an eyebrow. "Huh? Nah, wouldn't feel safe leavin' it in a locker. Just taking advantage of the facilities." she explains as she turns back to the workbench. "Gotta swap the kinetic coil." (Tyranniac)

Nathan hums and nods, flicking his head to the corner of the workbench. "Third drawer down. Fresh ones in there," he says as he leans over to turn the volume down on the omni-tool. He steps away after snatching up his drink. "So why reserves? Why not go full time soldier?"

Cynthia glances to her side. "Shouldn't be so quick to assume." she says before grabbing a multi-tool and getting to work pulling her weapon apart to access the kinetic coil. "Four years garrison. Five years shipboard. That enough 'full-time' for you?" she asks, a slight hint of hostility in her voice, her focus remaining on the work with her shotgun. (Tyranniac)

Nathan quirks an eyebrow, sipping at his tea. He picks up the hostile undertone and winces. "I didn't mean to offend you," he says apologetically. "Just typically people in the reserves do it in their spare time. Sorry for assuming...". He sets down his cup with a gentle clunk.

Cynthia shoots Nathan another glance and grins. "Uh-huh...." she furrows her eyebrows and nods towards her shotgun. "So, you ever fire a Crusader?" (Tyranniac)

Nathan perks up and shakes his head. "Nu-uh. Seen one in action though. And from that point on, prayed I'd never be on the receiving end of one." He chuckles lightly.

Cynthia nods. "Mhm. Packs quite a punch. A lot of people will tell you it's a police weapon. Just good for crowd control. I can promise you those people haven't fired one. Have you seen the size of the shavings an Alliance-issue one will fire? It'll punch straight through most basic plating. Accurate too, but the kick is tricky. Takes a while to get used to." (Tyranniac)

Nathan hurms. "Not bad for a shotgun. Could the kick be countered with a recoil dampener?" His eyes are solely focused on the weapon as he speaks. "You could rig it with AP rounds too, increasing the penetration to something fierce..." He muses, half talking to Cynthia and half thinking aloud.

Cynthia shrugs at the first question. "The damn thing is heavy enough as it is - besides, I like the recoil. I wanna feel the power of the thing. Just gotta get used to it, is all." From the way she speaks it sounds almost as if she considers her ability to handle the weapon a point of pride. To the second question she chuckles. "Ever heard of overkill?" (Tyranniac)

Nathan nods. "I can appreciate that." He then laughs and holds up a finger. He turned back to the fecking and hefts his launcher, setting it on his shoulder as he flicks his head at it. "Overkill? Completely foreign term to me," he quips.

Cynthia rolls her eyes with a grin. "Oh great, you're one of those." she says in a lighthearted tone. "Should've known you were demolitions..." she mumbles as she turns her attention back to the Crusader, removing the old kinetic coil and looking it over. She winces and quickly seals it in a small box when she notices an eezo leak. (Tyranniac)

Cynthia shakes her head to herself, letting out a brief chuckle before putting on a glove and carefully cleaning away the leaked eezo, sealing it away in the same box. She then takes out a new kinetic coil from the indicated drawer, starting to put it into place in the shotgun. "Uh-huh... how many of them have blown up in your face?" (Tyranniac)

Nathan snorts and looks off to the side, remaining silent for a moment. "...one. The other malfunctioned at first and I got the worst shock of my life... But apart from that, my track record was nearly flawless. And any gun that I've maintained has never failed on or off the field," he says proudly.

Cynthia nods along with him. "Mhm. Good on you." she says absent-mindedly while tinkering with her weapon. When done she seals it up and then looks to Nathan, her gaze falling on his grenade launcher again. "I never understood why mercs are so fond of the M-100. It's fucking archaic." (Tyranniac)

Nathan looks to his launcher and nods. "Yeah, it is. But it's reliable, heavily modifiable and, most arguably the best point, cheap. High accuracy, low recoil, semiautomatic, decent area of effect... I can go on." He shrugs and pats the launcher. "Point is, this weapon has never failed me, despite it's age."

Cynthia gives an exaggerated shrug. "So? It doesn't even have any targetting!" she says, still grinning. She shakes her head and then starts to put her Crusader back in its case. "Starting to think you just like antiques, Tenny." (Tyranniac)

Nathan laughs. "Who needs targeting when you can flatten a landscape in a fraction of the time it takes to fire off a couple of rockets." He pouts at the nickname, wagging a finger at her. "Oi, watch it. I may be a cripple, but I can still kick your arse," he says, his tone lighthearted.

Cynthia grabs her weapons case, and then raises a skeptical eyebrow. "I'd like to see you try. I know you guys have a sparring ring. I'd offer to dance if it wasn't for that." she says with a nod towards the arm. (Tyranniac)

Nathan looks down at his arm and snorts. "Nothing some rum can't fix," he muses. "Butttt I think the doc would probably break my other arm if I was to test that theory out so... You got lucky this time," he quips with a smirk.

Cynthia shakes her head to herself again and starts heading towards the door. "Right. I did." (Tyranniac)

Nathan watches her go, rolling his eyes as he takes another weapon off the racking, a phaseton, and sets it on the workbench. He turns up the volume on his omni-tool to drown out his voice. "Too serious some people are...".