To herself, Irina claimed that she was practicing her marksmanship out of boredom. Even listening to Hungarian CDs on endless repeat got dull. So, off to the firing range it was. The M4 carbine suited her needs just fine. Her job was to translate, and that typically meant sitting at a desk in a dark room. But for the most part, it was a whole lot of downtime. The grey skies above made the Russian linguist long for sunny California and constant activity and work.

Her marksmanship skills were rusty having been largely neglected in the mad rush to learn Chinese. Her back was a little too straight, and remembering to not hold her breath took a moment of conscious decision making. Still, she could hit the target more often than not even if her time was a bit slow. Underneath her ear protection, Irina was still listening to conversations in Hungarian. It wasn't like language learning ever stopped even in sleep. Behind her lay an open and well-worn Sudoku book with a pencil stuffed between the pages. After firing another couple of shots, Irina found herself exhaling deeply, not even aware that she had been holding her breath and tensing. She bit her lip in frustration at her own negligence. She emptied the rest of the clip and missed the target about half of the time. However, that only served to make her more stressed as she reloaded.

Tag: Gy Sgt. Julien Foxwell

Julien liked routine, but at the same time, his body craved for something that ran off the trend of being in a routine. His days back when he was MARSOC - each day had been different from the next and mentally, Julien believed that it helped him stay on his toes. He had hit the gym for a good sparring session with another member of JTF before hitting the treadmill for a good cool down 2.4 km run. There was a mission coming up - and he was not going to be risking anything, work hard, play hard. Soon, he decreased the speed until a natural walking pace before fully coming to a stop a couple minutes later.

As much as there was need to keep the body fit, there was keeping the mind fit as well. Julien had stopped off to grab a sniper rifle; this time changing the Remington 700 for the L86, slotting his pistol in his holster. He needed to switch it up, becoming comfortable with each rifle. Julien gripped the hard case's handle as he walked down to the range - his sweat evaporating in the weather; though it was not cold, it was overcast. He greeted a couple of others who mulled around, and some passing by talking about their time at the gun range before they needed to do something else.

Pausing momentarily, he watched the woman with an M4 carbine fire a couple of shots off - before his eyes wandered to the Sudoku book that lay behind her, listening to the gunshots as they echoed around him. Julien gently placed the case down between his legs as he pulled his eyes back up to observe the shooting - noting that her back was a little too straight and rigid and there had been a tendency to hold her breath.

He waited until she began to reload to speak.

"I don't mean to startle you, but I was wondering whether I could help give you a couple of pointers," Julien paused, realising that he was being rude in not introducing himself first. "Name's Julien Foxwell, haven't seen you around before."


Tag: (@irina)
Notes: Hope it's alright?

Irina noticed a bit of movement in her peripheral but thought nothing of it at first. She was entirely within her right to be there, and there was enough space for everyone. Only once she set about going to reload did she realize he had been watching her. Safety on, it was a scramble to free up one ear and reach behind her to pause her recording via headset controls. Her eyes scanned for his rank, and she saluted.

She felt more surprised that he was offering to help than just criticise, but she also knew well enough it was better to swallow her pride. Marksmanship was by far her weakest skill, so any advice was well-received. "Irina Kozlovsky, Gunny. And no, I don't get around much. Mostly I'm holed up indoors. As for pointers, by all means, go ahead. No one is hiring me for my shooting abilities, but I know I should be trying to improve more than I am." She finished reloading the rifle and brushed aside a stray hair that was too short to make it into her bun.


Tag: Gy Sgt. Julien Foxwell

Julien watched the speed in which the corporal had gotten up at to address him, saluting him - in which he returned the salute.

"Irina Kozlovsky, Gunny. And no, I don't get around much. Mostly I'm holed up indoors. As for pointers, by all means, go ahead. No one is hiring me for my shooting abilities, but I know I should be trying to improve more than I am."

"Well it's finally good to meet you, Kozlovsky," He nodded. "Always good to improve marksmanship skills. I've noticed that you hold yourself a little too rigid as you fire, allow yourself to become comfortable around your weapon - much like your own arm but more deadlier. Allow it to give a little in your arm." Julien allowed himself to lighten up slightly, giving a small smile, settling his stance. He moved himself into the next slot over, settling his case on the table as he flicked open the latches, revealing the sniper rifle.

"As a sniper, I need to control my heart rate; breathing in and exhaling - firing as I do so. It does help in making you more accurate, but it's not a requirement with the general assault rifles." Julien replied, as he turned to prepare his own rifle, placing the case just to the side of him - making sure it was not in the way as he prepped the bipod, and adjusted the scope.


Tag: (@irina)

Irina nodded at his advice. Like any good student, she was at rapt attention and happy to soak up more information. Sure, she'd heard it before, but being reminded wasn't a bad thing. Like with languages, it was sometimes good to review the basics. Lean into the rifle a bit, and consider it an extension of the body. She picked up her own rifle and, without removing the safety, practised just a more correct stance and relaxing her body. Even basic physics could tell her that a tense position wasn't good. She held it for a few moments before setting the rifle down again as he continued talking.

She was certainly impressed that she was getting pointers from a sniper and felt a slight sinking realisation that holing herself up all the time was depriving her of getting to know people she might later be on a team with. Irina watched him prep with veiled curiosity. Her own job sounded dull by comparison.

The part about breathing she knew, but it wasn't quite second nature yet. Practising next to a trained sniper was a little intimidating, but Irina figured that he would be the last person to complain about her setting up for accurate shots rather than having a race to empty a clip. "Do you mind if I watch you for a bit? Sometimes it helps seeing rather than just hearing." That and she was curious to see a sniper work even if this was just practice.

Tag: Gy Sgt. Julien Foxwell

"Do you mind if I watch you for a bit? Sometimes it helps seeing rather than just hearing."

Julien nodded, a smile creeping on his face, clicking the magazine into place. His face fell into place upon the cheek rest, keeping both eyes open momentarily before he closed his non-dominant eye (though, at times, he was practicing on increasing his accuracy with both eyes) and taking a few breaths as he honed in on the furthest target.

It's head was just sticking out, he adjusted his aim slightly, his finger lightly pressing against the trigger at first pressure before he finally inhaled deeply, his scope on his target. Slowly, he began to exhale and when he felt comfortable enough, he applied the final pressure. The stock kicked in his shoulder, which was held with his other hand to control the recoil.

Head shot.

Precisely, he kicked the bolt back, pushing it forwards and the process began again as he fired another three bullets before finishing off and pulling his attention away from the range to the person he was now, effectively, mentoring.

"Anything you want to question me on?" He asked.