(Untitled)

[a_mere_child]

They're leaving for Australia in less than twelve hours. Drs. Magnusson and Alvarez are at each other's throats, as expected. Ms. Soliz is throwing a fit because there's no salt in the galley. Alyx has been running interference between Kleiner and the Satere-Mawe tribespeople in the hopes of keeping the former from doing something they'll all

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[acts_of_gord]

She has company.

Who is not going to say anything, but who is going to silently offer a shotgun come the inevitable pause for reloading. Because really, what's more therapeutic than a shotgun?

[a_mere_child]

Alyx grunts a perfunctory "thanks" as she takes the shotgun. She'll talk when she's done making things go BLAM. Maybe.

[acts_of_gord]

She's standing next to Gordon. The day he expects somebody coming down from Angry Mode to talk is the day the universe implodes from hypocrisy.

He's just going to watch, and maybe go see about finding the gravity gun and some clay pigeons, because D0G gave him some good ideas.

[a_mere_child]

Several double-barreled blasts later, Alyx lowers her gun, breathing heavily. That felt good.

[first_runihura]

Tarik was hoping for a little target practice after his evening run, but the firing range seems to be a little... Busy.

He knows that kind of shooting and its highly therapeutic properties. He also knows that you shouldn't approach an angry amateur when she's in that kind of mood, but sooner or later she'll have to pause to reload.

So, when Alyx does, there's a tall man in an armored uniform and a red tagelmust offering her a rifle. "Fancy a flamethrower? Best recoil-to-destruction ratio you can find."

[a_mere_child]

Amateur? Please. Alyx has been using guns to stay alive since she was thirteen. She is anything but an 'amateur.'

She eyes the rifle with interest. "What's the range on that thing?"

[first_runihura]

In Tarik's mind, 'amateur' never implied she isn't good at it, but the way she handles herself speaks loudly of self-taught, not professionally trained.

"Official range for the rifle is nine-hundred to a thousand metres. Of course, that depends heavily on the shooter. The underbarrel flamethrower is satisfyingly destructive to about fifteen metres."

[a_mere_child]

Alyx lets out a low whistle. "Nice."

[a_mere_child]

That is the sort of thing that gets Alyx's attention in a hurry. She turns to get a better look, gun at the ready just in case.

[a_mere_child]

Alyx points the gun down at the ground but makes no move to put it away yet. "What is that?"

[boston_bruiser]

If Alyx looks to her left, she'll see Voodoo running another El Presidente drill against another unfortunate trio of silhouette targets.

He's still trying to get his time down to 4.5 seconds. The light's a complication, but he's shot this at night, so it shouldn't bee too much of a problem.

The machine pistol earns a glance, but not much else - especially when the owner seems this pissed.

He strides back to the firing line after checking his targets, then turns his back to them and raises his hands.

NOW.

The drill's long since become second nature to him - turn around, unholster pistol, double-tap each target, reload, repeat step three.

He glances at the range timer. 4.42 seconds.

"Fucking finally," he mutters.

[a_mere_child]

Unfortunately, Voodoo neglected to inform the person standing next to him that he was going to be performing said drill. Alyx flinches and yelps in surprise, then glares. "What the hell, man?!"

[boston_bruiser]

Voodoo glances over at Alyx's yelp, then saunters over toward the targets. He figured she'd be sufficiently distracted with her own target shooting, but he apparently figured wrong.

He shrugs as he checks the silhouettes for hits. "It's not the sound that kills ya," he says, tapping his plastic earmuffs.

He probably should've let her known he was going to run a drill, true - but then again, he would've been hard to hear over the gunfire, and it's generally considered unwise to tap someone firing a fully automatic weapon on the shoulder.

"Sorry," he mutters as an afterthought.

[a_mere_child]

Unfortunately, Alyx is in a Bad Mood, and therefore disinclined to let the subject drop.

"Where the hell do you get off, sneaking up on people like that?! I could have fucking killed you! I still could! You should fucking know better!"