Sentinels (Octavia, Rebecca)

Arizona desert border, near Bullhead

You would think the desert is always hot and arid, but less so at six o clock the day after it rained hard. It's comfortable right now and will soon dip into being cool. The Arizona Sentinels have driven off the beat and path to host their next get together for gun safety training and training on spotting dangerous situations. There is good suspicion this is just a front.

The group assembled (eleven in total) were men (with one woman) in their late thirties up until their forties, all Caucasian. Many had beards, tattoos and tactical gear that looked like it was bought at an army surplus store. A few had more of a biker look and feel to them.

Two are recognized from previous research


Lance Handcock, tall and well built forty something. He's talking loud and laughing with the boys.


Jerry Stone is fifty something and isn't quite as animated. He's more observant and serious, not swearing like the others who have the mouths of a sailor.

Harmony is hiding in one of their cars, which is in turn out that everyone has used as a parking lot. She is their escape should something go south. They have scanned the area before-hand and are confident there is only a two cameras as surveillance with no guards. Jayson is looking at the roads to make sure he sees if someone else joins the part.

Mallory suggests, before they go in that Rebecca try to talk to Jerry and Octavia try to talk to Jerry.

Octavia was also alert and serious. She didn't know any other way to be, honestly. At the moment, she was taking stock of the number of people, how they were armed, who seemed to be on guard and who were just relaxed and casual about most things. There were familiar faces in that bunch and she knew who to keep an eye on as far as Most Likely To Be A Pain In The Ass. Though she wouldn't leave out Stone being on that list, though he was more likely to be their "in" overall. Casual, at the moment, because looking like you were about to get into a fight would most assuredly get you into a fight.

The group was loud with raucous laughter and one guy bragging over the success of his date last weekend. The more raunchy part cut out when Octavia. At a closer look (and smell), many are partaking in beers at the moment.

Lance takes a swig before saying
Lance: "You one of the new girls interested in the group right? I think we got your message online." he nods approvingly. The message in question was made in advance to give her some cover for being here. "Well, welcome. So, you're here to get more prepared, huh?"

She wasn't surprised that Lance was part of the 'official' welcoming committee. She looked over the group and did the completely, utterly, amazingly....unthinkable.

She grinned. "I am. And hell yeah I am." She may not actually feel jack or shit but she can fake friendliness to a rather decent degree. She just pretended she was Alan when he was in a good mood about getting laid. "I'm 'Tavia." She was mostly casual but she was taking in what she was seeing - the weapons available, who seemed to be wearing what gear, that sort of thing. Any tattoos or piercings, dirty nails and form of dress. Anything and everything, every little detail about who might be trigger-happy or nervous as well as who seemed confident or casual.

Or who just looked like they were doing the same damn thing she was.

Lance speaks
"Lance." he grins slyly at her enthusiasm. "Good to see some of the women folk out here, we all need to be prepared when the shit hits the fan. Even the girls can hold a gun, and don't let no one say otherwise. They keep making newer and lighter automatic weapons." newer and lighter were distinctly not the way to describe his weapons. His have considerable weight to them, a fact which makes him grin proudly.

"I stick to the classics, I don't mind the heft or the kick-back. What's your weapon of choice?"

Of course she would need a lighter weapon because she was a girl. Silly Octavia. She just barely managed to not roll her eyes. She gave Lance that grin again. "Weapon of choice is the Benelli M4. Or the AES-10. But I'm an old-fashioned girl like that. Or a Romanian Draco. Love those things."

"Benelli" he laughs, giving her an incredulous look that turns into a wide grin "Nice choice, not light at all." his grin widens when he crosses to the table to take out his black case which holds the weapon he seems most proud of. Instead of taking out the weapon, he takes out one 338 lapua bullet.

"Old fashion is the way to go. New lighter guns can't hold a bullet like this. This..." he shakes the over sized bullet in his hand to show it's weight and size. "..this will do some real damage." the thought of how much damage it could do gives him a playful grin.

He turns to place the black case on the nearby rock.
"So, what do you make of all of these corporate deaths?"

She smirked a little at the look of incredulity that crossed his face when she said that her preferred was the Benelli. It was just one little moment of satisfaction for Octavia, since the real gun bunny of the two was Alan - she was good, she just wasn't the best. "Niiice," she said, meaning every word of that when she looked at the bullet he was tossing around. The question about corporate deaths made her shrug one shoulder. "Government," she said with the tilt of her head. "Gotta be."

Lance wrinkles his nose in a squint " Could be. There's been a war against Trump ever since he got in office. There's open talk of taking him down and planned assassination . Maybe his side wanted to strike first."

It sounds like he's siding with the commander in chief in this imaginary conflict.

"But it's good to keep an eye out for big government.  The deep state is pissed off at the thought of losing power."

She shook her head. "Not what I meant," she said and sighed. "There's more to government than just Trump. I'm saying I think someone's feeding information to the Russians to take down the government from the inside. And that all the corporate deaths are just the beginning."

"See... now that's more like it. Otherwise how would it effect other countries like China and the European union?"

"It could be just the beginning,  that's why we have to train."

A few people over hear the conversation, or at least the last part Lance said loudly and seem to be agreeing . Jerry is quiet and not quick to join the chorus of support.


"So  Tavia , what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a problem-solver. Got this weird sort of talent for being able to do pretty much anything that needs doing. So mostly whatever I can to pay the bills. What about you?" She shrugged both shoulders. "And that's why I want to train. I'm pretty convinced that it's just the beginning and I'd rather not get caught with my pants down, if you know what I mean."

"Nothing on the grid." He gives a wild smile to that.

"You know they give out checks to the King Brewery workers? The government does since their place is shut down for investigation. So if you are in that situation, like a buddy of mine is, you have to give the government all your information . Did you hear about this?"

She likely would have, it's had some coverage in the media, yet Lance stares like he's given her some deep insider secret and is testing her reaction.

"Sounds like a sept up, doesn't it." He sniffs the area around her "I can always smell a set up." He has an intense glare and radiates more than just drunk. Octavia has keen senses and can tell it's more primal than that.

She frowned, tilting her head as though thinking rather hard. "I think I heard something about that on the radio?" She frowned again. "I don't work for anybody but myself, so it's not something I'd ever have to worry about. Thank God." The glare has her raising her brow at Lance. "Something wrong, man?"

"Everything is wrong." He says lowly his glare intensifying before letting up with a sick grin

"But you seem to know all of that. You.. " he points his massive finger at her ".. I can tell. You have it right. You get not to trust anyone."
His mood lightens considerably as he decides she's likely on 'his side'

Octavia generally doesn't react to emotions at all. Fear is a bit of a stranger to her, as is things like normal human chatting and interaction. But everything she had seen, everything about Lance told her that he wanted her to be afraid of him. Or at least, he wanted her to be intimidated. And to be fair, he was a pretty big guy. She wasn't nervous and she didn't fidget, but she seemed a little relieved the moment that the man grinned and then she grinned right back at him. "Hell yeah, I get it. We gonna train and shoot some shit up or what?" she asked him with a bit of a cheeky grin and a wink like they were going to be just the bestest of buddies.

"I thought you'd never ask." He gives a big cheesy grin "boys, let's line up a shot for the new gal." He barks to one of the members a little lower on the totem pole.

The younger member grumbles about finishing his beer but does get a target area ready for her to show what she's made of. The boys look on with amusement and anticipation.

The mostly hard part of introductions seemed to be over and that was good enough for Octavia. She hoped that Rebecca would have as much luck as she was having - or seemed to be having - as well. Besides, if she kept an eye on Lance then it meant that Lance wasn't keeping an eye on Rebecca. Works all around! She grinned and started to move to wherever Lance directed her to see what he might want her to try and shoot.

She wasn't the greatest shot in the universe but at least she wasn't likely to blow her own toes off. Hopefully.

This isn't the most elite group of snipers. If you went to one of the septs training sessions you would find better marksmanship . Then again Zeff and company are elite.

Octavia s above average for this group. Lance is one of the best and he knows it. He's not shy to spread his wisdom to Octavia or to touch her to correct her stance. 

"Much better. So, are you new around here?"

Octavia isn't used to being physical with anyone in any way, shape or form. But she tolerated Lance's touches (FOR SCIENCE) if for no other reason than it really did seem to be helpful at improving her marksmanship. "Yeah. Only been here, what...a few days, maybe a week?" She shrugged. "I didn't really mark my calendar or anything. Not been here long. What about you?" she asked, turning to study Lance with a half-smile.

"Me, I have lived here or close to here for twenty years." It did help, he does have good tips on stances, even if he doesn't smell great and talks down a bit.

"Where did you come from?"

"Seattle," she said, quite truthfully. Turning her body in the ways he indicated, making sure she had the proper stance and was able to prove that she was, in fact, capable of learning things. "No YMCA out here?" she asked, quite without thinking about it. At least the YMCA would have public showers and Lance...could really use a shower. Or even a swim. Even a swim in a well-chlorinated pool would help some.

"Seatle.. that's a long way away. No, it's a bit of a drive to a gym like that? Why do you want that?" Totally missing the shower implication 

"I train in other ways, lifting at a gym. And other ways." He says with a grin "tougher mudder style."

She blinked. "For swimming and showers and such." She is not the most socially adept. "What is 'tough mudder style'?"

"Obstacle course. It's another way to test yourself. One of many ways, we do some crazy things to make sure we are ready, it's not all just firing guns. Maybe we'll cut you in sometime." he examines her again "Assuming you are interested that is."