What a wonder is a gun! What a versatile invention!

[areyoulovinthis]

Who: Swindle and "Magnum". Kino's welcome too.
What: Testing out their shiny new toy.
Where: An abandoned warehouse in Zone 4.

Comments

[kinos_journal]

Kino had debated, for a brief moment, if she should join Swindle in the testing and fitting of Magnum's canon. Hermes still needed repairs and she'd been putting off starting them with all the craziness that had continued to appear on the network- but she couldn't wait forever

[not_your_gun]

Megatron eyed the warehouse for a few moments, double checking the coordinates that he'd been sent, and then triple checking them for good measure. This could very easily be right, but, if so, Swindle must have rented this place out at an extreme discount.

It was worth a try, however...after all, for weapons testing, no one would probably care that a rusty shack like this got damaged, so long as it didn't fall down on his head, in the process.

Heading towards an inconspicuous alcove, Megatron tried the door handle, and, finding it unlocked, he peered inside.

......Aaaah.

That explained just about everything, then.

Unable to keep amusement out of his expression, he entered the warehouse, taking sensor readings of the stark but clean interior, taking notice of the targets, and finally taking Swindle and his rather casual confidence into view. Kino was there, also...which was fine.

"...you know, I ought to have expected this out of you, Swindle." He smirked, glancing around pointedly. "...its beautifully deceptive."

[areyoulovinthis]

Kino got there first of the two, looking exhausted from her trip. She still hadn't fully recovered from being sick earlier; humans couldn't just be repaired, after all. But she was still here, tough little organic that she was. He knew there was a reason he'd picked her as his apprentice

[kinos_journal]

Kino grinned and took the bottle with a quiet thanks, quickly downing half the contents. She bowed when Magnum entered, and made her way up the ladder Swindle had set up for her next to the table the canon was being displayed on.

The weapon pratically shone, but she gave it a quick check nontheless - no point in being unprepared, after all, and gave the canon a friendly pat when it met her inspection. "I think you'll be very pleased with it, Mr Megatron."

[not_your_gun]

"I can certainly see the benefits." He nodded, watching the small human female quickly climb a ladder up to where it waited, gleaming like new. Swindle hadn't been lying...visibly, there were few, if any, differences...

...but he was most looking forward to seeing how it handled.

Starting forward, he reached around to unlatch his current weapon from his left arm, setting it on the table behind the other cannon, careful to not knock Kino off in the process. "...I've always heard such recommendations of your work. So far, I'm impressed." His fingers ran along the length of the barrel, coming to rest at the end nearest to him before he picked it up and turned it over in his hands, getting a feel for the weight. "...ah, Kino. You seem to be lacking your overly voluble companion, today." He murmured, smirking briefly down to the girl as he continued his examination, engine purring just a little in gratification

[areyoulovinthis]

He nodded to Kino; a final check was always a good idea and as usual, his assistant was ahead of things. "Really? And I haven't been here more than a few solar cycles. Seems word gets around fast

[kinos_journal]

Kino was glad Megatron was so pleased with the canon - she and Swindle had worked hard on it, and they were both very proud of what they'd achieved.

Her companion... well..."Hermes is... in need of repair. He's staying at home until I have a chance to get him working again." Her own fault, and she hated that it was the case... but there was no reason to dwell on the fact now. "As for your canon, your original frame was off by 4%. We've corrected that so this will be accurate to your aim up to 1000 feet, depending on at-mos-feric interference." She stumbled over the new word, but was confident in her facts. “It’s set so you should be able to use it without any adjustments, but we had to make a few guesses, so it might need some small fine tuning.”

She was as excited as Swindle to see it in action, though she didn’t particularly understand why having Megatron so pleased would be such a good thing. For her, it was simply the end result of a job well done.

[not_your_gun]

"Generally, I just hear that 'Swindle' is the bot to go to...I don't think too many outsiders make distinctions beyond that."

He turned the gun over once more, satisfied, before attaching it to his arm. In this, at least, he did not fear trickery or deception--Swindle wasn't the sort to try that unless he had a lot to gain, and probably only after he'd been paid. It synced well with his systems, and his smirk grew wider, probing the new canon's menu of choices. All seemed to be going well so far. "I can't imagine getting 1000 feet of clearance in this city, easily...but for air targets..." He held up the canon, sighting along it towards the brightly painted marks laid out for him at the other end of the warehouse, noting the other features Swindle had mentioned as they integrated with his sensors to offer him various locks and beam intensities. "...I can see the use

[areyoulovinthis]

"Well, then it won't hurt to tell you," he replied a little too hastily. Megatron still seemed pretty pleased, but he didn't want to risk anything "The wavelengths are also adjustable, and it has its own power reserves for emergencies, or just for when you want a little extra kick. But I'm sure you've figured all of that out when it was syncing."

He watched as Megatron fired, optics glowing in delight. It should have been a perfect shot; somehow, it was just a little low. "It's an easy adjustment; I can fix that right now for you." A quick hunt through his storage drawer located the necessary tools; he set them down on the table and nodded to Kino. "We'll have it ready for another shot in a cycle or two."

[kinos_journal]

Kino grabbed the tools and nodded. "Shouldn't take more than a minute or two, We had to guess on the previous system's calibration adjustments, so I think that's what's off. Lower your arm please?" For someone who was unfamiliar with computers, she understood far more than she gave herself credit for - but she was also someone who looked at a new problem as something to learn from and solve, and never considered it to be impossible. It made dealing with computers a fascinating challenge, but one she was attacking head on with an intent to win

[not_your_gun]

Megatron obliged, lowering the cannon for Kino to work on, listening to her ramble with great interest, pleased by the add-ons the green Decepticon had included. "You do try to think of everything, don't you Swindle."

It was admittedly strange to watch the human creature scrambling over his arm, her small hands allowing her easier access to make adjustments. It...tickled, but he could see the use, now, for keeping something so fragile around a workshop. "...however, if you can compact the EMP technology, I will certainly return for the adjustments."

Which reminded him..."...so we ought to talk about payment, Swindle. As I mentioned over the network, I might have an arrangement which would satisfy us both--" His optics blinked at Kino's cough, glancing away from Swindle and back down to the small Organic, removing his arm from the table once he'd gotten the go-ahead and sighting along it once again.

"...hm. Swindle. Your human seems to be broken."

He picked a new target, locked, and fired. This time, the hole was through

[areyoulovinthis]

He watched Kino work with a grin, clearly proud of her work. To think, it used to be he'd have to take the whole cannon off and take it apart for the fixes that took the human maybe a cycle, tops.

...even that seemed to be a bit too much for her, though, so soon after the spill. "Kino? You okay?" His voice was barely a whisper now; no need for Megatron to have to hear. "If you need some more time to recover, I can take you back home. We're almost finished here." He wasn't worried, really. Just taking a professional interest in her health.

"I remembered you mentioning that. So, what have you got for me? If it's anything like those schematics and blueprints you've got Cometfall working on, then you'll make me a very happy mech. Or have you got something else on your processor?"

[kinos_journal]

I am not 'broken'
Kino kept her lips pressed together until that wasn't what was going to be said, and shook her head. "It's all right" she assured firmly, quiet but not trying to hide the reply from Megatron. She didn't think she could speak so he couldn't hear, considering he was a robot. She appreciated Swindle's concern, but she would be fine.
She wouldn't allow herself to be anything else.

"But I wouldn't argue with a ride home, when we're done."

She leaned back against the cooler and watched the bargaining for Swindle's payment. It would be interesting to see what Megatron paid him with, and what Swindle considered it worth. She was still far from proficient with how credits and value really worked in this city.

((Feel free to skip over Kino from here on, unless one of you needs to ask her something direct. She'll sit and be a good quiet little human.))

[not_your_gun]

Ah, now that was more like it. He gazed at the hole in the target fondly, paying little attention to the other two while they discussed the human's health. It did not seem to be life-threatening, and as long as Kino kept working for Swindle and helping him achieve this sort of success, he did not much care what happened to her in the meantime

[areyoulovinthis]

"Well, I know I've got plenty of customers who'd be interested. And if there's enough of us using them, it makes it that much harder for the authorities to sort through all of it." He paused, thinking. "If you've got anything you really want hidden, let me know ahead of time! I can arrange for a few distractions, especially with those blueprints."

He caught the arm easily, without any signs of being bothered by it. Looking offline bodies was something Swindle had gotten quite used to back home, and this particular arm was in better shape than most of the ones he'd dealt with. And those lasers were decent quality, worth quite a bundle.

"Parts, you said? Are they all as nice as this one? Or am I going to have to worth with pieces of scrap metal to get to anything good?" He knew how it was with parts. No consistency in quality, unless you were dealing with a specialist like Lockdown. Now that was a bot who knew his upgrades, and never damaged a single one that he'd sold to Swindle. Good business partner.

[[Sorry so fail--am done moving now.]]

[not_your_gun]

"The offer is appreciated, Swindle. I will most certainly keep that in mind." Having handed over the object in question, his hand returned to his gun, running extra diagnostics checks and re-accustoming himself to the familiar weight.

"...they're varied." He glanced back, honest. "Some are worse. Some are better. I didn't have any interest in digging at the time. A number of them are older pieces, but you seem to be able to get use out of anything..." Megatron smirked.
"...so I'll have my bots bring in parts for you, and you keep a tab on how much they're worth. This way, when I send someone to get equipment...we don't have to deal with any inconvenient credit exchanges."