Shaking some rust off

[waco_jim]

Jim has decided to head over to the firing range to see if he still has it.  There's an assortment of cardboard cutouts of bandits, Klansmen, Nazi stormtroopers, rapists, and lawyers.  At the center, there are two full color photographs. One of them is a picture of a nefarious mustachioed creep. The other one is of Hedley Lamarr. Most of them have been rigged up mechanically to move from side to side.

He's taken a few shots already.  Right now he's re-loading.

Botherable.

Comments

[not_his_pa]

William's had a better Christmas than he expected and has been doing some work in the stables in between reading some of his new books.

When he hears shots at the firing range, he walks out and smiles, it's good to see another cowboy though he doesn't know what the pictures are of other than the bandits.

[waco_jim]

Jim nods at him. "Evening, kid. I'd stay uprange if I were you. I'm not drunk, but I've had a couple."

[not_his_pa]

"My Pa taught me well enough, I ain't walkin' in front of anyone firin', sir. Who are all those pictures supposed to be of?"

William tips his hat and frowns, drinking and shooting tends to lead to trouble from what he knows.

[waco_jim]

"A bunch of assholes. Led by that guy." He points at the picture of Hedley Lamarr.

Jim has kind of forgotten how to shoot without drinking first, to be honest.

[not_his_pa]

"What'd he do?"

[waco_jim]

"He's a railroad man. Construction hit quicksand, and the quickest way around it is through a wholesome little town. So now he's trying to wipe it off the map. By any means necessary."

[not_his_pa]

"Hell, most of the men from the railroad are almost as bad as the outlaws. Progress ain't worth wreckin' a town. There anythin' you can do?"

[waco_jim]

"There may be a few things," he says. He finishes loading his guns. "Stand back, kid."

If you have a high-speed camera, you might notice a blur of steel and imitation polyester. Jim's Peacemakers ring out like machine gun fire. It's more like a parody of speed than the real thing. Scratch that - it IS a parody of speed.

The targets move forward for inspection. Most of them have bullet holes in them. Four of them don't - including Lester Bangs and Hedley Lamarr.

"Shit," he says.

[not_his_pa]

William stares, he's seen Ben Wade shoot and he's fast but not anyone like that before.

[waco_jim]

"Sorry you had to see that," Jim says. "A few years ago, I would've gotten all of 'em."

[not_his_pa]

"Better than most folks can do, sir,"

William says with a gulp, he knows modern weapons can do a lot but that sort of speed's worrying with a revolver.

[waco_jim]

"Yeah, I'm a little less shitty than I thought I'd be after three years of alcoholism. Still, when they're all aiming guns at you, two out of three ain't good. And Hedley's got the money to pay for a lot of guns. Hell, for all I know, he's got a tank."

[not_his_pa]

"Yeah, but most folks don't shoot that good to start with if their guns fire. Where are you from, sir?"

He's never heard of tanks out West at least in his West.

[electro_kinetic]

People with guns, it should be said, are not usually friendly to people like Noriko. It's not that she doesn't like guns--it's that she doesn't need them the vast majority of the time and finds them an extra weight that she's more likely to wing at someone than actually fire.

As it is, she's a little ways off from the firing range itself, and has a box of ballistics gel blocks the size of a rubik's cube, proceeding to toss them in the air: they're routinely coming down with holes in them, and a bit singed at the entry and exit points. Nori looks quite satisfied with this.

[waco_jim]

Jim notices one of the hole-filled gel blocks downrange. "Hang on a second," he says. "That wasn't there a minute ago..."

He looks off to the side to see where they might be coming from.

[electro_kinetic]

"My fault, sorry," she calls. "That one got away from me."

[waco_jim]

"It's alright," Jim says. "And here I thought I was just doing shitty."

He pauses as he takes a few rounds out of his box of ammunition. "Hello again, by the way."

[electro_kinetic]

"Hello again," she says, tossing the newest cube from hand to hand; hands that are covered in slick metal up to her elbows. "I don't think you'd be doing quite bad enough to end up with ballistics gel out of nowhere."

[waco_jim]

"Well, if I'm hitting the gel, that's probably redirecting the path of the bullet somewhat," Jim says.

[electro_kinetic]

"Maybe," he says. "But are you good enough to be hitting the gel?"

[waco_jim]

"Maybe," he says. He finishes loading his guns. There's a burst of sudden movement.

A split second later, it's all over. The targets move forward. Eleven of the twelve targets are hit, including one shot through Hedley's neck.

Jim smiles.

[electro_kinetic]

"Nice," she says. "And who are these people you're shooting at?"

[waco_jim]

"Bunch of assholes," he says. "Led by one Hedley Lamarr."

[electro_kinetic]

"Doesn't ring a bell. What's he doing?"

[waco_jim]

"He's looking to build the railroad through a little town in the desert. Problem is, he needs to wipe that little town off the face of the map to do it."