2019-12-12: Lunata Croze, Fifth Matriarch of the Bonne Contractors
- Log: Lunata Croze, Fifth Matriarch of the Bonne Contractors
- Cast: Lunata Croze, Shalune Amira
- Where: Thames
- Date: 12th December 2019
- Summary: Do you feel the heat?
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata's been back at the Thames for a couple of days now, having gone off with the Servbots on one of those... peculiar jobs. She's spending some time around the hangar and its workshop again, as she's been doing quite a lot recently -- it's perhaps a bit heartwarming to see her coming to her own as a... well, perhaps not quite an engineer, but.
A something.
She's got a welding mask on and is doing /something/ inside the workshop, with the Berry Custom sitting open beside her.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune's been doing her best to give Lunata some space when she needs it, though this naturally wars with her doing her best to cling to Lunata as hard as she can when she needs it too. At least being on the Thames helps matters, because sometimes she just finds herself too busy to run around being that much of a nuisance - so it takes her a while to actually realize that Lunata is back this time around.
She can't deny she's a little worried, in a general and pervasive sense; it's a small step from engineer to mad scientist, and Lunata's particularly good at getting mad. But it's also heartwarming to see her act on her own initiative and do whatever she wants to do rather than what Jay would want for her, so Shalune's at least determined to follow along as best she can.
She's responsible enough to not surprise Lunata when she's wearing a welding mask, so she waits for a suitable moment to chirp a hello, peering around the Berry Custom in the meantime as she hunts for any differences or changes.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata pauses for a moment, and then turns around and pulls the mask up; she's... she's incapable of getting sweaty, but she's got a black tanktop around which she's tied a jacket around and heavy-duty soldering gloves.
"Oh, Lunie," she muses. "I needed to ask you about... missiles."
Before she explains further, she just lifts up an enormous handheld missile launcher and a missile, about the size of her fist in diameter.
Wait, what???
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
It isn't often that Shalune's truly surprised on a deeper level compared to an upbeat, surface 'wah'. But she's just perked up as Lunata turns to her, about to start cheering a hello and a wave, when a missile launcher gets swung around towards her face. That leaves her stepping back out of sheer confusion, hands up as if she's surrendering and her eyebrows shooting upwards towards the roof. She squints immediately afterwards, as if trying to see down the barrel."Wh-- I mean-- look, I told you before, I'm not gonna build something for you that'll probably take your arm off!" she plants her hands on her hips as she pouts, too distracted to tie that together to the fact that Lunata's actually holding one in her hand rather than just asking about it. "And trigger discipline, young lady! Don't go-- uh-- lifting missiles you don't intend to put back down somewhere!" The Granny impression is a little strained as she grasps at straws.
She hesitates, and then takes a deep breath, taking in the scene with a fresh look. "... what the heck is that?" she blurts afterwards as she instinctively leans towards it, still not really sure if that made anything any better but curious despite herself.
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
It isn't often that Shalune's truly surprised on a deeper level compared to an upbeat, surface 'wah'. But she's just perked up as Lunata turns to her, about to start cheering a hello and a wave, when a missile launcher gets swung around towards her face. That leaves her stepping back out of sheer confusion, hands up as if she's surrendering and her eyebrows shooting upwards towards the roof. She squints immediately afterwards, as if trying to see down the barrel.
"Wh-- I mean-- look, I told you before, I'm not gonna build something for you that'll probably take your arm off!" she plants her hands on her hips as she pouts, too distracted to tie that together to the fact that Lunata's actually holding one in her hand rather than just asking about it. "And trigger discipline, young lady! Don't go-- uh-- lifting missiles you don't intend to put back down somewhere!" The Granny impression is a little strained as she grasps at straws.
She hesitates, and then takes a deep breath, taking in the scene with a fresh look. "... what the heck is that?" she blurts afterwards as she instinctively leans towards it, still not really sure if that made anything any better but curious despite herself.
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"I found it in a ruin?? And I'm thinking, right--" Lunata does set the missile launcher down on a table and the missile next to it where it probably almost precariously rolls. She turns and rummages and produces...
Produces a rather familiar black double-barreled shotgun. The Zeldukes. When did she run off to go fetch it from the Carakin?
"Could I stick a missile launcher on my shotgun?"
Maybe... maybe Shalune has been a bad influence? Or perhaps this is that line between engineering and 'mad' talking...
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
One of the benefits of having been there to watch Lunata's rise into Gear engineering is that Shalune has developed a fairly honed sense of when she needs to step in. She's already bobbing over towards the table by the time Lunata sets the missile and the launcher down, and before the missile can get any further, she's dumped down her bag on one side of the surface to stop the missile from rolling any further.
Maybe, thinks Shalune as she stares at Zeldukes and rearranges her face into a glum frown, this is just karma for all of her own bizarre inventions and ruin finds. Maybe, she adds to herself, she should absolutely not let Josie and Lunata meet up until they've managed to figure out something to do with this thing.
But that's all far at the back of her mind, because she's honestly pretty curious about the missile launcher - and more particularly its size, her fingers itching as she feels the temptation to take it apart and learn about it. "That's a weird thing to find in some ruins," she wonders aloud, sneaking a closer look at it. "Is it Zeboim? Kinda weird to imagine an Elw toting something like this around, and it's not-- fleshy enough."
She looks up to Lunata, puffing out her cheeks. "You can't fire a missile launcher from your hip! At best you'd be wildly off-target, at worst you'd plant the thing in the ground! And your tendons would probably just be toast forever," she pouts. "I kind of like the idea of you hanging onto them."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata folds her arms together for a moment, as Shalune fortunately distracts her for a moment as she cracks the shotgun apart like a pair of chopsticks--
WAIT WHAT
--yeah, the Zeldukes just splits apart into two... one-barreled shotgun? It looks like it's been roughly hacksawed right down the middle, which probably explains the welding for anything that fell out afterwards.
She's truly gone Lunie.
"I don't think so? It's Reaverbot," Lunata explains. "Whatever era Reaverbot counts as. It was from Kattelox, and has that entire kind of characteristic going on."
Lunata does rub her chin for a moment. "Well, I was just thinking... you know how I suck at aiming? Missiles aim themselves. And they also basically double as maces."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
"What did you do to my poor Zeldukes?!" blurts Shalune, tears beading at the corner of her nepped-out eyes. Of course, it's a bit much to say it was ever 'hers', but... either way, she pouts even harder, sulking a little. She expected to be the most responsible member of the Lunie triumvirate, but not like this! "You can't just make a shotgun cooler by breaking it in two and dual wielding!"
"And, no way!" she blurts, her hands crossed in front of her in an X as she attempts a Lunie Veto. "Some missiles you do have to aim, you know! They don't all come with guidance systems! And if you beat someone with them they explode in your hands!"
She hangs her shoulders, sagging as she lets out a breath. "Haaah... anyway, I guess I've never really had a chance to take a close look at once of the Reaverbots. I've heard about them, but we weren't ever close enough before." Despite her protests, she chews at her lip as she sneaks another glance in the direction of the missile launcher. It /does/ look small enough, but... "Did you see any of them carrying one of these? If I had an idea on the housing, it'd probably help to figure out how much support you'd need."
She drifts towards it a little, because she can be just as bad. Oh, there's a little thing there that looks like a screw, and a seam there...
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"Yes you can!" Lunata exclaims petulantly. "I was thinking, why a double barreled shotgun when you can have two single barreled shotguns? That's double the attack power!" Somewhere, Irving Vold Valeria cringes to himself for even remotely even being near the apocryphal person to have spouted such rubbish, namewise.
She holds up each half of the shotgun and holds them apart. "Look! I can shoot two things on opposing sides! That's twice as efficient!"
She seems to have forgotten about the missiles for the moment. Up until Shalune points out if she beats someone with a missile it'll explode in her hands.
Lunata has the exact look of someone who fails to understand how this is a problem.
"For some reason, a lot of what those Servbots and Bonnes want to do involve a whole host of them. You should scuttle one sometime. It might be a whole different path compared to the Elw stuff you've been handling."
She scratches her chin for a moment to go, "... guess not. I found this in a mineshaft after we blew up a giant spider Reaverbot."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Withering looks are something that Shalune has absolutely zero skill in, so the most she can muster to Lunata is a deeply confused expression, her brow furrowing hard as she tries to work out the mathematics of that statement while also being completely sure she'd have said the same thing herself a couple of years ago. "It's double the recoil too!" she shoots back, though--
--though part of her pauses as Lunata wields them akimbo, leaving her chewing at her lip. There's a traitorous bit at the back of her mind going 'actually, that would be pretty cool, what if she spun around with the recoil and--'
She shakes it away, puffing out her cheeks as she plants her hands on her hips and tries to recover. "Anyway, maybe-- /maybe/ there's a way to make sure you can wield it safely, but I'm gonna say it's gonna involve a lot of damping and probably means you gotta stick it on your shoulder." Because ultimately it's hard for her to outright say 'no' to Lunie, especially when it's a challenge with a new sort of technology.
"... should you really be telling me to scuttle your old boss?" she adds with a confused grump. "I mean, just in general. They seemed like pretty good people, outside the whole pirate thing. Like a big rowdy family. And I'm not gonna unscrew a Servbot's head or something. ... but maybe you're right," she adds thoughtfully, feeling maybe just a little bit jealous. "Just... um, take me along next time, or something."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"You know I've never cared about recoil. Freaky zombie strength, right?" Lunata muses in turn with an arced eyebrow to Shalune. She snaps the shotgun back together, having apparently spent all this time with an easy-snap little latch that'll combine them together again. ... she hasn't done a half-bad job, maybe? Except for the fact that the weapon is terribly untested.
Alas, she's no psychic, so the lolling bluster rifle manuever will have to wait for another time.
Shalune does show some of that grumpy jealousness, though, and she scratches her head. "... yeah. Okay. Honestly, it sounds like they're gearing up for a bigger job. I wonder if you'd want to be involved, but... it isn't like you're not used to light heresy and treason. Light terrorism isn't a big jump, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune's a little calmer now, at least, but she still finds it in herself to grump as she steps forward - and starts patting Lunata down for any sign of injury. "I know you don't. But I still care about you staying healthy and out of pain," she grumbles, before deciding that everything looks alright enough for her to lunge forward into a hug. "... welcome back."
She steps back in time to watch Lunata snap the pieces of the Zeldukes back together, bringing her hand to her chin as her eyebrows raise. "That's-- really good work," she blurts out after a moment, and that treacherous part of her mind immediately swerves back towards the missile launcher, wondering if you could make a whole modular design out of it. Maybe a shield that pops out too, or a rifle attachment...
Leading off with a frown, Shalune tilts her head. "Um. I guess it depends what exactly they're doing and why? I mean, we kinda sorta did light terrorism before when we were on the Yggdrasil, right? It just kinda depends which way you look at it. On the other hand, if they're working for Odessa or something, I'd probably just go straight to trying to kick them in the ass."
She wavers, but the allure of a new type of technology to study is dangling right in front of her face, and it shows on her expression. "Mm-mm..."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
"... if I had to guess, treasure? They seem to be really keen on finding whatever this Mother Lode is," Lunata answers as Shalune goes forward and throws a hug around her.
Then beams proudly as she holds up the shotgun to go, "Isn't it?? I spent about twelve hours making that work." A pause. "Well, I spent about an hour but I spent the next eleven making it have that satisfying 'click' so that my enemies know I really mean business."
... ... perhaps that praise is too soon.
"Anyway, I was thinking about carrying some heavy ordinance like how Josie does. It isn't like I don't have the strength to take advantage of it. But I did wonder if I could just slap a launcher ontop."
A pause.
"Heck, if nothing else, you can take it. I don't mind. Call it an apology present."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Perhaps that praise /should/ be considered as too soon, but honestly Shalune is too busy being charmed by Lunata's explanation to worry about it, giggling from behind her hand. It's uniquely flattering to have someone follow in your own footsteps, and kind of delightful to see that Lunata still has her moments of whimsy and little innocent things to fixate on. After everything they've been through, it's a relief.
"It sounds good," she genuinely declares, even as she sneaks a peek at the join to keep an eye out for anything to suggest. "For the really satisfying clicks you have to get a really big ratchet, but it sounds like you picked the right sort. And I can get behind treasure hunting, I guess?" she wonders as she raises her eyebrows. "I mean, I think we both basically count as salvagers by now. It's not like we're gonna be sworn into the family or anything, so we could always wait and see what they've got in mind."
She relents a little, giving the other girl a warm and slightly apologetic smile. "I just don't wanna see you blow yourself up too hard. I know you're strong and tough, but it still sucks to see you hurt. That's all." That said, she steps back and frowns at the missile launcher, thinking back on some of the work she did for Josie.
"What if-- what if when you aimed it, a tripod went 'shoop' out the back so you had something to brace against?" she decides after a moment. "Then you'd say something really dramatic, then fire. ... wait, no, that wouldn't work," she frowns. "Knowing you, I bet you'd just wanna fire it on the run all the time."
<Pose Tracker> Lunata Croze has posed.
Lunata sags for a moment as she remarks, "I guess the issue is that the Servbots seem really eager to just pull out those cute skull-branded bombs on whatever and whenever. However the Bonnes made them, they seem to have all the energy of little gremlins."
Shalune mentions that they aren't gonna be sworn into the family or anything--
A MONTH AGO
"Now you're part of the familyyyyyy~" Servbot C exclaims, hands bobbing in the air. "Cue effects!"
"Wait, what--"
- DUN*
- DUN*
LUNATA CROZE
FIFTH MATRIARCH OF THE BONNE CONTRACTORS
A SUBSIDIARY OF THE BONNE FAMILY
"It means if you screw up you cut your pinky," Servbot B giggles. Lunata stares at him. "Jokiiing~!"
NOW
"... not sworn or anything," Lunata nods. Then pauses as she whines, "A tripod?! That sounds so lame! It's fine. Recoil is just a fancy way of saying it'll give me space to back up if someone's too close."
<Pose Tracker> Shalune Amira has posed.
Shalune has no idea that, as someone tied to the main character, she's going to end up shot or else permanently shipped off to the Filgaian equivalent to America to go learn policework. Either that, or a recurring but ultimately harmless boss fight, which given her relationship with Lunata is seeming like the more likely outcome.
She puffs right back at Lunata, meeting the other girl's whine with her pout. "At the very least, we should do some test fires. There's kind of a world of difference between it having a guidance system, and not," she insists with her hands planted on her hips. "After that, we'll see about modding it for you--" she pauses as she catches herself. "We'll see about modding it together," she amends.
That thought lets her have a tiny, bashful smile on her face, then break into a grin. "Aw, I wanna teach you about other bits and pieces too! How come you always understand best when it's weapons? One of these days I'm gonna get you to learn proper hydraulics." Maybe it's the way that Shalune is not exactly a great teacher, too used to intuitive leaps herself to be able to readily explain them.