[IC] Foxes in SPAAAAAAAACE (Xaltwind and CitrusArms)

[CitrusArms]

Yumeiko picked a weapon from the wall, some kind of rifle with a magazine at the front that swept forward, and slung it over her shoulder. "Human weapons have come a long way. Do you remember what year you, ah," the blond thought for a moment, considering how to phrase it without insulting Miyuki's power, "started your long nap?" She might not like being called out about it, if she'd truly been sealed. "Probably not, huh? Uhm... what about the Emperor? Do you remember who the Emperor was?" Yumeiko was hoping for some frame of reference for just how far back she had to think to start explaining things well.

She lead the way into the firing range. There were a few security crew within, though they'd picked more modern weapons than Yumeiko had. Yumeiko, who approached a firing stall and turned to Miyuki. She took the rifle from her shoulder, careful not to point it carelessly. "What I have in my hand is called an assault rifle. So called because, well," she smiled wearily, "they're useful if you're, eh," she realized the modern military lingo might strike Miyuki as strange, but it was so concise, "well, assaulting a position. It provides," she wasn't used to talking about weaponry, her mind had to decide what words to use, "rapid-firing ability. Mm, why don't I just show you."

She turned, shouldering the weapon as she pressed a button on the stall wall next to her. A target popped up down range, she aimed, and

Brr-rr-rr-rrap!

She'd done it before, but she wasn't exactly used to it. Holes appeared in the target downrange as the bullets pinged off the partition of ship shielding set up at the end of the range, to repel all infantry weapons. The holes that appeared were not well grouped, but they weren't plainly awful, either. They at least all hit the paper, if not the target on the paper.

"Mmnn." Yumeiko looked at the holes that had hit farthest from anything meaningful on the target. "Well, I suppose I don't really need a rifle, anyway."

"Wanna see something?" She looked over her shoulder, a look decidedly distinct from the Goddess she portrayed sneaking on to her face. A desire to show off, just a little, brought her a smirk. She clicked the safety on, on her rifle, popped the magazine and ejected the round from the chamber before laying it down on the stall counter. Then, she held her hand out, one finger extended. A small ball of energy formed, appearing as gently blue light, before it shot out and tore a big hole in the center of the target.

"I learned a new trick!" It was power from Aevon, if Miyuki could sense such nuance. Yumeiko had channeled power from the ship to form that blast. It didn't seem to affect the ship's power capability, in the grand scheme of things, but there it was.

[Xaltwind]

As Yumeko attempted to try and teach the still young and totally fresh dark fox about military jargin, it became clear that such a thing was... Perhaps not the best investment of time... Then came the other question.. A much more... Delciate topic, to be sure...

Miyuki's eyes narrowed a bit at the blonde fox's inquiry. She understood that she was trying to be tactful and polite, and was merely looking for a point of reference... But... Well.. It was a sore... Very sore... Thing to talk about for Miyuki. Something that she didn't enjoy either thinking about or discussing... But...

"... I don't keep track of the humans' calendar or way of counting the centuries." She answered, with a sigh. "As for the Emperor... Which one? I've outlived several of them." She added, crossing her arms infront of her chest with a slight huff. She gave Yumeko a side-glance. "..: At the time of my... Slumber... The humans had just started riding those iron boxes that moved without horses."

Cars. So, she'd been around to at least the early 1900's... Which was... Strange... By that time, most powerful mysticism and magic used by humans had long since faded into the realm of legends, superstittion or folktales... Sure, there might've still been some secret orders or clans or whatever around, but they tood were usually substantially weaker and less capable than back in the old, old days... So just how... How had someone like Miyuki ended up being removed from Earth's history for so long...?

Perhaps it was best not to think about it.

Regardless!

The dark fox watched as Yumeko demonstrated this... Ass-ult rifle... It was... Strange... it looked like those old iron pipes that got filled with the black powder and then set on fire... But it could fire many more metal balls, and at much faster rate, all without needing to be reloaded inbetween each shot. An improvement, for sure. But... Well...

Miyuki looked down the range, at the Goddess' results on the target...

She looked back at Yumeko. A blank face.

Miyuki was not impressed by this showing.

Then the golden fox did something else. She put the rifle down, after.. Seemingly pulling it apart first? What? Why? ... Well, whatever... She was now pointing a finger at the target, instead of the 'rifle', and a small energy ball shot forth. Yumeko seemed very proud of this achievement. Miyuki was... Uhm... Well...

Miyuki was still not impressed by this showing.

"... So... You fight the invaders with these... Ass Rifles and your energy spheres?" She asked, tails flitting lightly fro side to side.

[CitrusArms]

Right. Yes, she'd probably been sealed. No, she didn't want to talk about it. She was probably embarrassed or just upset about it. Yumeiko Miyuki was not impressed? From what she'd described before of her life, she was more of a forceful tyrant, so perhaps this was a rather dull demonstration for her. "Ass r-" Yumeiko turned her head and withheld a snicker. She recalled an sight from earlier in the day, blushed a bit and, still grinning, shook her head. "Aah, well. I typically remain on the ship. And we have newer weapons than this one." Yumeiko held the loose bullet long enough to clean it with a hardlight screen and then inserted it back into the magazine.

"But, essentially, yes." The golden fox nodded, taking the gun and the magazine and approaching Miyuki. "When we have to fight them with precision, humans have made weapons like this. The bullets go into this, this goes in here. There are different configurations than this, too, different ammunitions. It's really impressive how many different kinds of gun there are." Maybe unhealthy, too, though she was certainly thankful for them, now. "They've even got kinds that shoot beams."

"Speaking of. That isn't the only way we fight them." She laid the assault rifle on a hardlight tray, with the magazine, and let it be carried away. A different weapon came to her, then, with a rather stunningly wide barrel and a battery for a magazine. "This one's different than you might know." She pressed a different button on the side of the stall, and a much sturdier target rose in front of her.

"Have you seen a naval battle, Miyuki? The great ships of the sea, and their cannons. The battle we underwent just now was like that, but in the Sea of Void. Our ship lent power to the rest of the fleet. The crystal ships that make up much of the fleet are power-hungry, they use energy shields and lasers. It's not as though traditional weapons cannot be fit to them, we would then need to produce ammunition."

Her eyes turned, "hm?"

Her expression shifted as she received information. Surprise, concentration, then thought. "There's a platform in orbit the fleet wants to investigate. I've been asked to supply a compliment of infantry. They say the platform could be infested."

She held the new weapon in her hands with discipline, never pointing it away from downrange. She turned her attention to it, remembering what she'd intended to do. "Right, this thing." She raised it to her shoulder, took aim, and unleashed a ball of plasma at the metal target. The center of it vaporized.

Yumeiko gave a small triumph for her accuracy before she disassembled and sent the plasma gun away, as she had the first. "We've only got the one of those on board."

In truth, she got a little bit of a rush out of the sheer sense of power the things gave. She liked and disliked it. It was a little frightening, not being able to feel and shape the energy, herself.

She sighed, then, holding her hand out as a pistol now came and was deposited in her hands. "I'll teach you how to use these, if you want, Miyuki. There's some concepts that are common between most of them."

She would send men, just a few. What she could spare. The ship rumbled gently as it accelerated, though the noise was minimal. It didn't pitch them suddenly or hard, but they would feel a little bit of the shift in momentum. The crew on the firing range would compensate, or try to.

[Xaltwind]

"_{Little minx...}" Miyuki said under her breath, looking away form Yumeko with slightly puffed cheeks as the golden fox snickered about something.

She then proceeded to watch the further demonstration. The Ass Rifle was put away and sent off to... Somewhere... And instead, a new thing arrived. This one looked... A lot bulkier and more... Cumbersome... It still had similar features and traits that made it easily recognizable as a 'gun' though. All the hallmarks were there, after all.

Yumeko then spoke some more and seemed to be, momentarily, disrupted. Something amiss somewhere? Or had she received divine guidance or visions? Hardly. The Gods weren't around anymore. At least, not here.

Then, the golden fox coninued swiftly, showing off this new... Plasmer Rifle... However, unlike the little Ass Rifle that shot the bullets, of which Miyuki was very familiar, this one fired soemthing else. A bolt, or ball, of molten, swirling energy that completely eradicated the target upon impact. A much more destructive and powerful weapon.

"Ohh~" Miyuki let out a small, approving sound, and slowly gave Yumeko a little, brief applause.

This one looked like it could be useful! .. Until... The revelation that there was only one aboard the entire ship... Just one. A single one... Well... That was a darned shame... Because this thing actually seemed like it could do some damage and be useful, unlike those pebble-spitting toys...

Yumeko then did somehting that made Miyuki raise an eyebrow and smirk. The divine one called over a much smaller ifrearm, and told Miyuki that she could teach her how to use these types of weapons. This notion was... Amusing..

"... You don't think I know how to use these things?" She asked, her eyes half-closed and that smug, knowing smirk of hers. "Human weapons aren't unfamiliar to me. I simply didn't use them much because I had... Superior... Alternatives... Back before..." Her voice trails off and the smug smile melted away. She paused for a period, looking down, looking at the pal of her own hand... Closing and opening it...

"But, I suppose, these more recent models do hace differences from what I was used to." She apparently recovered. "So, tell me... How do I use tat small Ass Rifle you're holding?" She asked, pointing at the handgun in Yumeko's grasp.

[CitrusArms]

"We didn't find or make this. It's from," Yumeiko hesitated only slightly, "one of our allies. They say they found a stockpile, but won't tell us more. That's where we got most of the military deck from, honestly. That ally is using old starships from that stockpile, as well." That particular ally was particularly crude and demanding. She didn't like dealing with him.

"Ooh?" Miyuki claimed to know how to use these inventions of man. She nodded softly at the other, about to cede until the black fox was kind enough to remind the blonde of something.

"Miyuki, a-salt. Assault rifle, please." Yumeiko snickered more, putting the pistol carefully on the counter while she giggled. "Ass rifle.." she mused to herself, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "Ok, ok. Come close."

She picked the pistol up again and held it carefully, finger off the trigger, safety on. "I believe what you're used to are flintlocks. Those are museum pieces, these days. Not very useful when someone's got even something as small as this pistol. It wouldn't be useless, but," she shook her head. That's whatcha call outgunned. So she showed Miyuki the new(er) gun, "this little cartridge holds the ammunition; this one holds," she thought a moment, trying not to cheat by polling the ship's database, "eight."

The safety, the slide, the ejection port, where else not to put your hands. The golden spirit fox was better at understanding it than she was using it, but maybe that was just practice, as well?

She had tried not to pace her explanation well - explain in enough detail that Miyuki would have time to absorb something, but not become so long-winded she would bore her - and when she was done, she set the gun down on the counter again and gave Miyuki a grin, "care to try it? It might feel a bit different than the old rifles." Of course, she would step back, should Miyuki accept.

[Xaltwind]

"Hmmmmmmmnnn~ An ally you say~?"

She was making a hard-to-read-expression. Was she curious? Cautious? Critical? Jealous? Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be easy to figure out, and asking directly was likely not going to yield any results either.

Again, the golden fox snickered and noted that it was not an 'Ass Rifle', but an 'Ass Ult Rifle'... What was the difference? Did the 'ult' part matter that much? Maybe she was one of those stiicklers who prefered to refer to things and people and plaes by their full, whole, long and complete names or titles? She was prenteding to be a Goddess after all, so maybe she'd become a bit stuffy with these flamboyant, flowery points of decorum?

But those thoughts were short-lived, as Yumeko told Miyuki to get close. Which she did. Very close. And followed intently as the divine one explained the intricacies and mechanics of this new... Pistol...? It was a bit different from the ones she was used to, yes. It looked... less ornate... More... Simple and compact... It wasn't as striking or aesthetically pleasing to look at either... But apparently it could hold eight metal balls instead of just one? So, maybe that was the price for form over function? Regardless, it seemed Yumejo was somewhat... Restricting..? Her lesson... Or did she beleive Miyuki wouldn't understand if she tried to go into the nitty gritty details and fienr aspects? Well, that might ery well be the case, but still! Rude!

Then, the golden fox lay the gun on a naryb surface, and asked if Miyuki wanted to try it. The dark fox's tails swished and flicked. She looked at the little weapon before her. Then reached out a hand and picked it up. She turned it over and examined it from every which angle - at one point even aiming the gun back at herself and peering into the barrel. Of course, she was mimicking Yumeko's habit of not having any fingers near the little pull-y thing on the weapon's... Belly...? Underside? Near the grippy-thing!

Once she was done looking at it, and weighing it up and down in her hand for a bit, Miyuki spun the gun around over oene of her index fingers, then snapped it into a firm grip. She looked down the firing range where Yumeko had previously fired the Ass-ult rifle and plasmer gun. She raised the pistol, a single arm holding it out - sideways, might I add, from her body. She glared at the distant target.

Then the safety was undone.

A singular little 'bang'.

The target was hit, but only in the very corner. Miyuki looked down at the handgun, shifted its weight a little in her hand, then re-took aim. Her holden eyes took an uncanny, unpleasantly steely and cold glare - like a pair of unfeeling metallic orbs, which seemed to emit a slight glow... or was that just a trick of the light?

Another bang. Then another. And another.

With each successive shot, the holes in the target kept coming closer to the center. The dark fox kept pulling the trigger, until the entire magazine had been emptied and the gun could fire no more. But, at this point, it was clear to see Miyuki's... Frankly frightening pace of improvement. She'd gone from winging the very outer edge of the target, to somehow managing to land two fo the eight shots in the very central-most ring. Sure, none of her shots were a bull's-eye, but still... This was her first time handling a modern day firearm of any kind.

She looked at the handgun. Eyes still cold and eerie. The safety was flipped again. And the weapon was placed back down on the surface she'd picked it from. The dark fox turned to Yumeko, and as she did, only then did the golden orbs in her skull seem to once again soften and return to their 'normal' state.

"An improvement over what I've seen and used in the past. I can admit that." She said, her tails gently swaying behind her. "Could something like this little piss-tool actually bring down one of your enemies though?" She asked, tilting her head quizzically.

... And she got the name wrong again...

[CitrusArms]

Fffffff- Miyuki, please don't point that like that. Quietly, Yumeiko had readied herself to jam the gun with hardlight, but thankfully that was never necessary. Miyuki knew what she was doing more than the blonde had given her credit for. Maybe.

The change in Miyuki's expression certainly did not get past Yumeiko, nor the way she handled the weapon. The way she held it was a bit strange, but her effectiveness was clear. She learned quickly, or adjusted well. The golden fox turned from the harsh look on the other's face to study the target, unsure of how she felt about that coldness she saw. It was necessary, she understood.

At any rate, Miyuki was quick to adapt to new weaponry, then? As much as she hated to make the consideration, Yumeiko knew that would be valuable. The black fox's voice drew her back from the target, and the pseudo-goddess was relieved to see those eyes that matched her fur had warmed again.

Aah. Piss tool, now. Ass rifles and piss tools. Oh dear.

She bit back laughter more successfully this time, "this weapon? Some of them. Many of them, no. This one is more useful for," she hemmed for just a moment, "internal security. More for engaging the enemy, we do have things with much more oomph." Yumeiko glanced out at the target again. "We've got some shotguns, more rifles. The fleet is trying to make a handheld laser using Aevon - that's what they're calling the crystal you see all over the ship. We've got a prototype, but there's trouble powering it when off the ship."

"Anything you wanna try out?" She'd use her hardlight to swap out weapons for the black fox, sending them through a side door into the armory.

[Xaltwind]

So... The piss-tool was not for fighting the enemy, but for personal protection against... Domestic... Threats... Noted. That was understandable though, humans had always been fickle creatures, and even when they swore oaths of loyalty and groveled before you, one could never take their word. For a promise of great personal reward, or an opportunity to get more than what they alreay had, and most humans were willing to snap their jaws over the hand that fed them.

Repulsive creatures...

Miyuki would try out the other weapons that were on offer. Afte receiving instrucitons and and an explanation of how each worked, the dark fox would proceed to test each one in succession. As with the pistol, the initial shot, or few shots, were always a graze or negligble winging of the target. But each successive shot then improved markedly in at an alarming rate. It was almost as if the noirette had some kind of... Supernatural affinity for using tools of warfare, or something...

Either that, or she was just a very quick study and naturally gifted...

After having gotten to test the shotgun, the ass rifle, the snaipurr rifle- and a smaller ass ult rifle, called a sub-machine gun, Miyuki placed the last of the weapons back onto the little table-counter and looked at Yumeko.

"So, given that all the man-weapons you've shown me so far are these metal-spitters, I take it that you no longer use spears or blades in battle?" She asked, tilting her head.

Frankly, she prefered those types of weaponry. they weren't as noisty and overly complicated at these shooty-things. They also ha a more refined, and visceral, effect when used. They were simply more elegant... But, perhaps the days of such things were long since gone...