Unpacking (open)

[Major Heath Ellerton]

Heath accepted the pulse rifle back, sitting aside his newer weapon for the time being. He was about to ask her about her modified weapon, when her reaction caused him to pause and chuckle. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. That or a weapon that had expressly caught her interest. He had quite a few interesting items in that locker, he wasn't sure which one had caught her eye.

He grinned a half-grin at her as he leaned up against the wall, simply watching her reaction.

"Go ahead. Whatever's caught your eye," he gestured to the locker, giving her his permission to explore a bit. Most of his weapons were standard, some modified, others not. He did have a few very unique pieces in his collection, and he wondered if one of them had attracted her or if it was something else. He liked this side of Tarmac. She was like a kid in a candy store practically drooling over his collection. Heath felt the urge to puff of his chest with pride. It was, after all, a lot of hard work to acquire each piece he now treasured as he would an old friend.

"Something's finally caught your eye, eh, Tara? Now let's see what's captured your fancy. Go ahead."

Tag Tara

[xPrivate Tara Mack]

"Something's finally caught your eye, eh, Tara? Now let's see what's captured your fancy. Go ahead."

"Are you sure," she asked, tearing her eyes off of the object long enough to look to Heath for confirmation. The look on his face told her it was okay. Grinning, she reached her hand in slowly, almost as if she were afraid it would poof into nothingness if she moved too quickly. Her fingertips felt the cold metal of the barrel. "The Peacemaker," she whispered in awe. Very carefully, she lifted it out of its protective nest and held it closer. "How," she asked, glancing at Heath with wide eyes.

The black composite Eagle grip quickly took on the warmth from her hand as she admired the weapon. "It still has most of its blue color," she exclaimed. Her heart was beating fast. The weapon in her hands was almost priceless. Most were in museums or in the hands of influential dignitaries, not in the hands of a 1st Lieutenant. She thought for a moment that it was a fake, but it was too perfect. The patina... everything about it screamed authentic. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?"

She put it back into the locker and wondered if he had ever shot it. "I didn't get fingerprints on it," she said, then gave him an odd look, "because that would be impossible."

Tag Heath

[Major Heath Ellerton]

Ah, yes. The Colt. He should have known that was what had captured her attention. Yet, he had met a few who thought him a fool for having such an antique weapon in his collection. It wasn't like you could use it against a true enemy in this day an age. But something about feeling it, holding it, just made him feel as though he was one with those men of old who risked life and limb in a very dangerous time.

"It's a long story. Suffice it to say the fact that my mother has many acquaintances all over the damn galaxy paid off for once." Heath tried to temper the bit behind his words. He had no real familial feelings for the woman who'd birthed him, dragged him around as she whittled away herself and any chance of happiness for either of them, and shoved him aside when she needed some 'privacy' to handle some of her business.

When she placed the Colt back on the shelf, he tossed her a quizzical look. "We all leave prints behind, but no worries, she's easy to clean." He found her comment a bit odd. "I don't treat her like a museum piece, though I'm sure many would be appalled at the thought." Moving around her, he fished in the bottom of a bag he'd placed in the locker. He pulled out a box.

"Even managed to have some special blanks made to fit her." He rattled the box a bit, loving the sound of the bullets as they moved around. So different than the pulses and blasts from the modern weapons. What a life it must have been to face down your enemy with a weapon like the Colt.

Tag Tara

[xPrivate Tara Mack]

"It's a long story. Suffice it to say the fact that my mother has many acquaintances all over the damn galaxy paid off for once."

Interesting!

Tara took the box out of Heath's hand and opened it, looking down at the blanks, "You shoot it," she asked, dumbstruck, "how does it feel? Does it have a big recoil? What does it sound like?" Realizing she sounded like some dumb novice, she put the box back into his hands.

"Sorry," she grimaced.

She then placed her hand on the metal side of his locker and pulled it away, "check for prints," she said. She stood back, folding her arms, to give him room to make his examination. "Look as hard as you like... you won't find any." Her eyes showed amusement over his confusion.

Tag Heath

[Major Heath Ellerton]

Heath almost choked with laughter at the way her words had sounded. While he did manage to suppress the majority of his amusement, he couldn't hide the grin that filled his face.

"I can think of a few blanks I can show you," he chuckled, then before she could react poorly, he held up his hands in surrender and grinned again. "A promise is a promise!" He added with a few more little chuckles rippling through his body.

Before the conversation continued, he watched Tara place her hand on the locker and almost dare him to find her fingerprints. Wrinkling his brow slightly in confusion, he looked from her to the locker. Then, he moved in, expected to find fingerprints, just as he would for anyone else.

"What the hell?" He muttered. He placed his own hand on the locker and upon pulling it away he saw the marks his own hands had left behind. Turning to her he said quickly, "How is this possible? Some new technology I'm not aware of?"

Tag Tara

[xPrivate Tara Mack]

"A promise is a promise!"

"I will give you some leeway," she said, knowing he was really trying hard to be a good boy. "It is hard to deny yourself saying things that come second nature." She chuckled when he stared at where her hand had been.

"What the hell?"

"Something wrong?" She laughed, enjoying the moment way too much.

"How is this possible? Some new technology I'm not aware of?"

"Nope," she said, "no technology at all. Just me."

She uncrossed her arms and held her hands out for him to see, "Naegeli syndrome. Though medical can cure most of the other symptoms, they cannot cure the fact that I was born without fingerprints." She smirked at him, "and I do not sweat... so do not take the fact personally when you are sweating like a pig and I am not."

Tag Heath

[Major Heath Ellerton]

He looked at Tara with a new sense of amazement. He couldn't rightly say he'd ever heard of that syndrome, but medical was not something he dealt with except when he had to.

"Well, damn, that could be quite useful," he cocked a grin at her, "especially if you have a penchant for a life of crime." He winked in her direction.

Then, tilting his head to indicate the locker, he asked, "You wanna give it a try? She's got quite a different feeling than all those other beauties in there. We'd just have to find a place we can set up to use it. I used to set up a special forcefield in the weapons range so I could play with the real thing without getting harped on." Heath reached into his bag and pulled out two more boxes. Real, honest to goodness, bullets. Not even replicated, but ones that had been made for him by a friend on another planet.

"Whatya say? Want it give it a try?" Heath couldn't help but want to share with someone who actually appreciated the classic weapon.

Tag Tara - End Heath to Weapons range

[xPrivate Tara Mack]

"Well, damn, that could be quite useful, especially if you have a penchant for a life of crime."

Her face drained of color for a moment. Relax, Tara, he's just supposing. "Right," she said, "I can break into the Captain's Ready Room and put a whoopie cushion on her chair."

"Whatya say? Want it give it a try?"

"I would do anything to fire that," she replied. She ran over and closed her locker just in case they acquired any roommates who had sticky fingers. Pulling on her jacket, she smiled at him, but found her eyes drifting to the Colt as they walked to the door.

End Tara