She was actually doing it.

For the first time in recorded history someone was polishing their gun. Actually polishing their actual gun.

Nara had carefully laid the constituent parts of her rifle down on a blanket and begun to carefully check and clean each component. Given the weapon was a labour of love (and perhaps some deranged engineering) the spread, colour and shape of the parts was quite a show. So much in fact, that a small cluster of children had escaped their tired parents to join the Chiss and badger her with questions as she worked.

"What's that part?!?"
A small Rodian boy squeaks as he gestures down at a half silver cylinder
"Oh! That's part of the gun's safety catch. I've never actually used it, I mean, the whole point of the gun is that it shoots, right? But I keep it ready in case I ever have to use the thing as a club and don't want it going off."
"And that orange thing?"
An older Sullustan girl reached forward and prodded a series of 3 large overlapping orange cones.

"That-" with a hint of pride in Nara's voice "Is part of my augmented spin barrel. You guys have seen the trids right? Where the goodies and the baddies fight and when they get shot they yell and fly backwards?"
The Chiss demonstrates as the kids laugh and a few nod
"Well.... in most combat that doesn't happen, there just isn't enough energy being imparted. But this baby, if it's working right and you hit the target in that sweet sweet centre of mass...well then you can make them fly, if only for a moment."
Nara's smile was wide and happy and she continued to answer questions about the rifle slowly being reformed in front of her.

A young woman had been standing nearby, arms crossed and leaning against a bulkhead, going unnoticed until she decided to make her presence known. She was quite possibly not that much older than the oldest of the kids gawking at the blue alien's gun; though she carried herself like someone who was at least twice her apparent age.

"...do you really think you should be telling them something like that?"

It was not like it was any of her business; especially since she'd told herself she'd just keep to herself this trip; but sometimes she didn't know how to follow through with the promises she made herself.

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:41 pm

"...do you really think you should be telling them something like that?"

"Mmmmhm?"
Nara's red eyes angle over
"You're never too young to learn about shooting centre mass. And after you've mastered that, there's the Mon Cala drill."
She finger guns two chest shots followed by a headshot

"The galaxy is a dangerous place after all, kids gotta know how to protect themselves. Like, what. You telling me you don't know how to handle a weapon?"

She stared at the woman whose species was wholly unfamiliar to her. She then gave the kids a look, then a nod in the direction of the people she assumed to be their parents.

"Go on, or I'll tell on you."

Telling someone's mom was a threat not to be taken lightly, every kid knew this. No doubt it should be enough to dislodge them from the area. She then turned her attention back to the woman, and her question. Tyllia did not seem to carry any weapons on her. Or armor. Fact was, she looked pretty unremarkable; like your average colonist. Most of whom indeed, did not really know how to handle a weapon.

"Do I look like I do?" She asked, with a raised brow.

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:07 pm

She stared at the woman whose species was wholly unfamiliar to her. She then gave the kids a look, then a nod in the direction of the people she assumed to be their parents.

"Go on, or I'll tell on you."

Telling someone's mom was a threat not to be taken lightly, every kid knew this. No doubt it should be enough to dislodge them from the area. She then turned her attention back to the woman, and her question. Tyllia did not seem to carry any weapons on her. Or armor. Fact was, she looked pretty unremarkable; like your average colonist. Most of whom indeed, did not really know how to handle a weapon.

"Do I look like I do?" She asked, with a raised brow.

The kids quickly scamper back to their parents who doubtless would have been less than impressed by gun handling for children 101

"I dunno, I stopped judging people by their appearances right after this Drall knifed me. Of course, guy could only reach my knees so I wasn't wrong about that part but it really hurt at the time. Then when I fired centre mass...well, given his height there wasn't a chance to return him alive. It was a rough day."
Nara sighs with memory, her hands moving to continue gun reassembly on their own

"You've got a little bit of a 'seen that sleeb, done that sleeb' vibe. But you're not carrying a weapon, or at least, you don't look like you're carrying a weapon, which is actually much more interesting. Now, maybe you're just come boring colonist buuuuuut-" Hopefully "-maybe also a secret badass?"

"If I don't look like I'm carrying a weapon," she said, a tinge of the apparent disapproval remaining, "that's probably because I'm not. I don't know what world you're from where it's expected, but most people don't want to get involved with violence. That was true during the war, and even more so after."

Which was, she considered, probably a big part of how people just kind of went along with the whole 'we're an empire now' thing.

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 10:20 pm

"If I don't look like I'm carrying a weapon," she said, a tinge of the apparent disapproval remaining, "that's probably because I'm not. I don't know what world you're from where it's expected, but most people don't want to get involved with violence. That was true during the war, and even more so after."

Which was, she considered, probably a big part of how people just kind of went along with the whole 'we're an empire now' thing.

Bright red eye rolling, like a particularly satanic disco
"That's because most people are so, so boring. People are more than happy to have violence committed on their behalf, which is where I come in. Or inflicted on their enemies, or done to some far off people they've never met. But most of them blanch at the idea of actually having to do it themselves. It's not like you lot resolved those Clone Wars by sitting down and talking it out. Everyone just got some other folks, clones or droids, to do the violence for them."

Shaking her head as the rifle makes a low humming sound following the insertion of a tibana gas clip
"And the Empire has this whole 'rule by fear' vibe going which is definitely interesting but also kinda mandates involving people in violence."

You meet a lot of different types of people on the Outer Rim. This one fit a particular mold for sure. Violence for the sake of violence, and all that.

"I'm not 'you lot'," she said, "I'm not old enough for that. And that was people using violence as a last resort. Because they had a purpose. Not because they just liked violence."

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:09 pm

You meet a lot of different types of people on the Outer Rim. This one fit a particular mold for sure. Violence for the sake of violence, and all that.

"I'm not 'you lot'," she said, "I'm not old enough for that. And that was people using violence as a last resort. Because they had a purpose. Not because they just liked violence."

“Kinda feel like those clones were grown to have a violent purpose though”
Nara sticks out her tongue, proving complete maturity

“Not sure about the droids though. Programming them to enjoy killing never really ends well. Really, droids are a lame way to fight a war.”
The Confederacy, so lame

Holding up a finger
“It’s a real dilemma though. You create two armies of beings that don’t like fighting and make them fight. That’s pretty twisted, but.”
Holding up a second finger
“If you make two armies of beings that like to fight is that worse?”

"You're truly missing the point," she said, and even though they didn't, you could swear her eyes were rolling heavily. "Do you, or do you not, have a purpose behind fighting. Or do you just like to hurt people?"

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Thu Apr 29, 2021 11:39 pm

"You're truly missing the point," she said, and even though they didn't, you could swear her eyes were rolling heavily. "Do you, or do you not, have a purpose behind fighting. Or do you just like to hurt people?"

Blink blink
“Hey, I don’t like hurting people, I like beating people. The difference is subtle but important. My gun has a stun setting and everything, and sometimes it gets used!”

Looking annoyed
“I fight because I enjoy it, I get paid to do it and I can field test some cutting edge tools for disintegration. What, do I need to have some deep spiritual revelation to enjoy doing what I enjoy doing?”

She sighed a little. Not knowing a thing about this person's species, she had no idea how old they were. But with how she talked, she suspected they might share equivalent ages, though Tyllia herself had never acted hers. People her own age were often tiring.

"Didn't say anything about spiritual revelations. I guess I'm just saying that it takes a good reason to get most people to pick up a fight. Only dangerous lunatics pick fights they don't have to."

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:05 am

She sighed a little. Not knowing a thing about this person's species, she had no idea how old they were. But with how she talked, she suspected they might share equivalent ages, though Tyllia herself had never acted hers. People her own age were often tiring.

"Didn't say anything about spiritual revelations. I guess I'm just saying that it takes a good reason to get most people to pick up a fight. Only dangerous lunatics pick fights they don't have to."

“... Hey, it’s rude to call someone a dangerous lunatic you know. Even where I come from.”
Nara crosses her arms and shoots Tyllia a glare
“You sound just like my old CO, and that guy was a real buzz kill. Which like, yeah, that’s what officers are meant to be but it was still realllly annoying.”

Uncrossing an arm to point
“Besides, aren’t you a little young to be so cynical? When I was your age I had my whole life ahead of me.”

"So," maybe she'd misjudged the age-range thing after all, "how old *are* you? If you're old enough to say things like 'when I was your age', don't you think you should be old enough to realize that *I* didn't just call you a dangerous lunatic... *you* did?"

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:16 am

"So," maybe she'd misjudged the age-range thing after all, "how old *are* you? If you're old enough to say things like 'when I was your age', don't you think you should be old enough to realize that *I* didn't just call you a dangerous lunatic... *you* did?"

“Asking people’s age is also rather rude. I’m not that old, I’m just older than most people in my profession who tend to be 16-24 for some reason.”
She’d never really gotten that.

“And you certainly implied I was a dangerous lunatic which I will have you know was the subject of a precedent setting court case and psychological evaluation which in fact proved the opposite.”

Still looking rather put out.
“Aren’t you like... I dunno with humans. 15 cycles or something?”

First the droids, now this one. Couldn't force a factory reset for organics though.

"Asking people's age is rather rude, I'm told."

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:26 am

First the droids, now this one. Couldn't force a factory reset for organics though.

"Asking people's age is rather rude, I'm told."

“Yeah, but I’m you’re respected elder or whatever so I can be rude and social convention covers me.”

"Well, it doesn't sound like our species mature at the same rate, so I don't know if that's how it works."

Antagonizing a strange alien with a gun wasn't the smartest thing Tyllia had ever done, but sometimes she did manage to let herself get swept up by other people's energy.

Tyllia Demici wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 30, 2021 12:37 am

"Well, it doesn't sound like our species mature at the same rate, so I don't know if that's how it works."

Antagonizing a strange alien with a gun wasn't the smartest thing Tyllia had ever done, but sometimes she did manage to let herself get swept up by other people's energy.

“Wow, rude again.”
Nara stands up and leans forward slightly

“You realise you’re getting all up in the face of a heavily armoured stranger who has demonstrated if not homicidal then at the very least violent tendencies?”

"Someone has to," she said matter-of-factly, then switched tack. "What's your name anyway?"