Day 177 | Open

[freedom_engineer]

Who: Colin Starfury, anybody curious about what he's up to
What: He's testing a couple of inventions at the training ground
When: Day 177
Where: The Training Hall
Format: Action, Prose, Whatever you like
Open: Open
Warnings: Rated C, for Colin

After doing his morning chores and getting breakfast, Colin retreats to his workshop as he usually does. But today he's not staying there. In no time at all, he's dragging a cart loaded down with equipment out of the vehicle bay. The most conspicuous piece of gear is unquestionably the large turret that he's got strapped down in the cart.

He pulls the cart to the training hall with ease, and once he's there, he starts taking the time to set the turret up at the shooting range. It's going to take a bit of time for that, the piece was clearly not meant to be transported so quickly. Once that's done, it isn't hard to imagine that there's going to be a fair amount of shooting.

If anyone's curious what the Bastion's tactless engineer's up to, you've got plenty of opportunities to ask before the shooting starts.

Comments

[notachickenhawk]

Well, someone's curious. Someone who's perched on the roof of the training hall, looking down at what Colin is doing.

<What's that for?>

Sorry about the sudden telepathy, Colin.

[freedom_engineer]

Colin looks around, not at all startled by the telepathy. His society was full of them, so it struck him as no different than someone calling his name. When he spotted the bird atop the training hall, he cocked his head slightly, and he smiled.

"The Bastion is woefully underprotected," Colin said, gesturing to the contents of his cart. "I've been working on changing that."

[notachickenhawk]

<It seems pretty safe to me. I mean... there's a giant dragon here.>

Even with all the alien technology he'd seen, a giant dragon was still kind of a useful deterrent.

[freedom_engineer]

"Paar can't be everywhere at once, though," Colin said, smirking. "And believe me, if security relies on the assumption that people won't attack a giant dragon, you'll find yourself in trouble far more often than you'd like."

He's not offended, far from it. If anything, he's amused.

"I like having backup options," he adds.

[notachickenhawk]

<I guess that's a good point.>

He paused, and flew down to perch on one of the shooting range's fenceposts. <I was going to say something about how well you're taking the talking bird thing, but then again, giant dragon.>

[bastionpc]

Nathaniel had been scarce ever since the second Mancer Observatory trip, since he had been working on A Thing that he was planning to reveal in another week or so. But he did have to go to get supplies every now and then, and when he saw Colin with all that crap, he was instantly suspicious. Colin was an engineer, and Nathaniel knew how engineers worked.

So he followed Colin, and once he arrived at the training hall, he finally said, "What are you doing?"

[freedom_engineer]

"Nathan," Colin said, nodding to him. "Paar brought me a disabled turret a couple of weeks ago. I've been concerned about how exposed we are, so I wanted to see if I couldn't fix something up."

He gestures to the turret. "It's not my most elegant of work, I admit, but it should be able to do the job if we ever need it," he says. "Assuming it makes it through the tests I'm about to put it through."

[bastionpc]

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow at Colin. Why would they even need weapons? It wasn't like anyone could actually attack the Bastion. Even though it was damaged, it was still pretty sturdy, and it would take the force of an army to do anything to it. And since armies required people, of which there were almost none anymore, Nathaniel was pretty sure they were safe.

But it did give Nathaniel an idea, so he wasn't going to voice his concerns about it, not yet. He wanted to test something first.

"I don't think we'll ever have to use it, but if it'll make everyone sleep better at night, then I don't see the harm," he said with a shrug, "What tests are you going to do?"

[freedom_engineer]

"Oh, I doubt it as well," Colin confirmed. "But I'd rather have something and not need it, rather than have the opposite be true."

He gestured down the range then. "Right now, I need to make sure this thing can actually identify targets, and subsequently hit them," he said. "A turret won't do any good if its aim is off. Once I make sure that it can shoot straight, I want to try a couple of different ammo loadouts."

He patted a box of ammo then. "See whether it likes the heavy stuff, or if rapid-fire is more up to this thing's specs," he said.

[bastionpc]

It was a sound plan. Nathaniel was not sure he wanted to be in there, just in case it targeted him for some odd reason. But he also didn't want to leave Colin there alone, in case he needed help. "Want me to stay here, so you have an extra set of hands?" Out of everyone there, Nathaniel was probably one of the best-qualified to help Colin with his crazy building-plans.

[fuckthemancers]

Zulf has actually been meaning to talk with Colin for some time. There simply hasn't been any chance to for him, however, considering the new places which seem to be springing up throughout the Skyway. It's kept both him and Zayna quite busy, even without him going to any of the locations personally. Yet today seems to be the day where he has some time to himself... And coincidentally it's when he sees Colin lugging about something that looks highly dangerous.

For some, that might be a bit of a deterrent in bringing up an event that was apparently very heated, but Zulf tries not to think about it much. Besides, he doesn't think he'll end up shot.

While Colin is busy setting up the turret, Zulf steps in with a slight frown on his face. "Colin, are you busy?"

[freedom_engineer]

"Nothing's demanding all of my attention," Colin said, crouched beside the turret and working to reconnect all the vital parts. "What's up, Zulf?"

The fact that he's loaded down with tools, with cables and wires strewn all about, and boxes of ammunition stacked beside him seem completely unimportant to him at present. He knows what he's doing here, this is just routine stuff.

[fuckthemancers]

Of course he's going to continue working while he's talking. Of course. Still, as long as he doesn't hurt himself and can properly multitask... and since it's Colin, of course he can... Zulf just goes ahead. "I was speaking to Zayna and she said that you were rude and insulted the Pantheon in a talk with her. I thought I would come hear your side of the story."

[freedom_engineer]

"I've got that whole conversation recorded," Colin said without looking up from his work. "If you can gimme a few days, I can make a playback device so you can hear it in the exact words, rather than having to trust someone's word over another's."

He smirks slightly, and gestures for a tool he's set off to the side. "Can you hand me that?" he asks. "Anyway, I've got the tact of drunken faerie, we both know this. But for the record, before I said anything about the Gods, she struck me, and pointedly refused to go talk to you when I was asking her to check up on you. I said that I had no idea about Ura culture, and wasn't sure about how to approach you. She took offense to that statement, and went on to claim that nobody could know what the Ura had been through. Given that we've all lost a universe, and given that she knows nothing about the wars I've seen, I may have gotten saucy there. Gimme a sec, I'll queue up my response and quote it if you'd prefer."

[fuckthemancers]

"I know you think of yourself as being from a culture that is vastly technologically superior to most of the others here and have no qualms with regularly flaunting it on a day by day basis, Colin. However, if I wanted you to make a recording device, I would have asked. Talking works fine for most other people." Zulf sighs, shoulders rising up and falling with the movement. He doesn't want to be biased in this whole affair, he really doesn't. Still, when it comes to Colin, well, he can understand why someone would want to hit him.

It's something of a miracle that he hasn't been struck more, actually. But that's besides the point.

He goes to retrieve the appropriate tool, still speaking as he hands it to Colin. "From the way she told it, she struck you after the statements about the Gods. She also mentioned that you were very pushy and insistent on having her go see me. Of course, from the sound of things, it sounds as though things may have heated up enough that memories may have perhaps gotten turned around. She didn't mention you inquiring about Ura culture, only that you were incredibly rude towards her when she didn't go along with you." And he's not going to say who's particularly turned around here.

"Why you went to her instead of some of the others, I haven't the faintest."

[windgod]

[Ippo had been out enjoying the morning air for once when he spotted Colin hauling a large cart full of things that looked like he pillaged them off a battlefield. Curious, the young man made his way over and walked along side Colin as he gave the cart a once over, raising his eyebrow slightly as he tried to figure out what the mechanic was up to.]

What's all this for? Are you planning on making a robot or something?

[freedom_engineer]

[Colin beams at Ippo, and he sweeps his arm over the contents of the cart.]

Nothing so drastic as a robot, though that is a project I'll be working on later on down the line.

No, this is a turret, like the ones out there in the wild that occasionally open fire on us. I figured it wouldn't hurt if we had a little more defense available to us.

[windgod]

Huh...

[The Bastion was always so peaceful that he hadn't even thought about that, but now that Colin said it...it made all the sense in the world.]

Well, do you need any help with the heavy lifting? I'm don't really know much about the more science-y things, but I can move things were you need them!

[freedom_engineer]

I definitely won't turn down the help. This thing is unwieldly as all get-out.

[He claps the frame of the turret, letting the metal clanks echo off the wall.]

Sturdy, but unwieldly.

[windgod]

[Now that's what Ippo liked to hear. Hurray for being useful! He brought a hand up and slammed a fist into his open palm with a smile.]

Alright, where do you need this thing?

because I realized that the NPC who's actually dealt with turrets might be useful here

[bastionpc]

Large turret in a cart, you say? Zahi is definitely there!

He'll wait until Colin has it set up, though. He wants to see just what Colin is working on before saying anything. When he is done, though, Zahi lets out a long whistle before speaking. "Nice. Where'd you get that thing?"

[freedom_engineer]

Colin glances back at Zahi, and he grins. "Paarthurnax brought me a turret that had taken some pot shots at him a couple of weeks back. He figured I might be able to do something with it for the Bastion," he explained. "I finally had enough time to get the damage repaired, and I'm about to put her through some test-fire scenarios. You know, make sure nothing's misaligned."

He's sure that there's going to be an ulterior motive to the discussion later on, but they can napalm that bridge when they cross it.

[bastionpc]

No ulterior motives here. Zahi knows about the drama between Colin and Zayna, but she's old enough to fight her own battles, and he doesn't make a point of sticking his nose in her business. If things got out of control he would step in, but otherwise he's very hands-off when it comes to parenting his adult children.

"It looks like you did a pretty job," Zahi said, "It couldn't have been easy, there's not that much to work with here."

He paused thoughtfully as he considered the turret further. "It looks kinda like the turrets we'd use against anklegators back in the day. Worried about monsters attacking the Bastion?"

[freedom_engineer]

"A little trying, I've had to do a lot of scavenging," Colin admits, shaking his head. "I'd be a lot happier if we had a bettery foundry here, but we've got more important things to worry about than that."

He nods then, in appreciation of Zahi's observation. "The Bastion is a wonderful shelter, but we're exposed here. The skyway entrance makes a good choke point in case anything decides it wants to storm us... but we don't have anything defending that choke point," he says. "I'd like to have something available for the possibility. Just in case."

[bastionpc]

Colin did have a point. Zahi didn't think anyone would attack- any remaining Caels or Ura would probably want to live in the Bastion, not try to harm it- but he couldn't be sure of that. With multiple different worlds now showing up on the Skyway, anything was possible.

So, Zahi decided to be helpful. If Colin's going to use this thing to protect everyone, then he might as well get as much help as he could. "Y'know, we used to mount these things on barges. They're too heavy to move otherwise. Thought about doing that?"

If it was watching a chokepoint, then mobility was probably not needed. But if they got attacked in any other way, having a mobile turret would be very useful.