Ep 0.5 - Now THIS is a Gun - Closed

Ironhide huffed, not surprised. "Couple breem, probably, for th' first side," he tapped her nearest shoulder. "All the prep and scans and modeling in th' world ain't gonna tell me everything Ah'll need t' custom fit. Second side'll go faster, barring too much deep scarring on th' other side. Yer symmetry's close enough, whatever Ah've gotta custom fit on one side should work for th' other."

He nudged her down onto the berth, tapping the cover of the medical port at her side. "Lemme set th' block, then we'll get started. Yeh start twitchin'," he added, warning, "an' Ah'll put yeh under - last thing either of us need is anything slippin' because somebody moved th' wrong way." Reaching across the laid out tools, he snagged a container of solvent. "Know Ah made yeh soak and scrub it all down, but we're gonna start by doin' it again from th' inside out. By th' time Ah'm done yer gonna be so slaggin' clean yeh squeak."

Ironhide hesitated a fraction of a klik, eyeing her thoughtfully. "Yeh wanna watch, Ah'll share mah optic feed with yeh. Up t' yeh - won't bother meh none."

"No reason not to," Ironhide rumbled. "An' Ah stay outta Ratch's work, so he can stay outta mine. Ah'm sure he can install a gun mount if he has t', but Ah'd be tunin' it up afterwards if he did. Easier for everyone if we stick t' what we know best." Cabled up, her systems opened up before him, maintenance pathways bypassing defense triggers that, Ironhide could easily admit, would have shredded him.

"Could do this with neural suppressants," he told her absently, "but Ah need t' be able to run live tests while Ah'm doin' th' install, an' if yer gonna be awake then it's easier if yeh do th' same. Put a block on, yeh can send and receive th' data, just can't feel it. Nothin' but binary."

A tiny line of code opened a packet exchange, establishing a video feed. Ironhide gave her a relay of his own optical and HUD feed, waiting while she assimilated it into her own before highlighting the portion of her system code he was going to begin with. "Start here. Puttin' the neural block on yer humeral relay. Should cut all feeling from here," he tapped the outermost join of her collar strut, "on down." Another code pack, suiting action to words, and he nodded as the result scrolled across his HUD, echoing to hers. "We good?"

It was easy from there, a brand new puzzle with a familiar, well-loved pattern. The assembly was something hard coded into mesh memory, his hands sure and easy even as he stripped away armor plates, rinsed and scrubbed exposed internals, re-routed and pushed aside fluid lines, and finally cut down to the primary support struts, each maneuver explained in basic terms as he did them.

Shadowrunner was an ideal subject through it, still, alert, and eager to listen. Pleased, Ironhide didn't stint, pointing out the reason and necessity behind each part of the installation as he did it, his own field full of the steady, pleased hum that his work brought him.

"Cut out and reshape this part here, an' here, in th' radial struts. Gives a better seat t' the gun mount. Most folk think they're just bolted on, but that's a Pit slaggin' dumb thing t' do - any recoil t' it an' yer stressin' th' mounting bolts every time yeh fire. Seat th' mount inside th' strut itself keeps it stable; gives it strength an' doesn't stress fracture yer strut in th' process."

"Micro assembly sits here, feeds off th' subclavian lines an' down into yer auxillary. Yeh always want a backup. One line get cut, yeh've still got power runnin' t' yer guns."

"This, here - that's yer magazine feed for th' solid state. Comes down t' the cartridge stop here, an it's gonna feel weird as Pit for awhile. Yeh'll get used t' it."

"Re-routin' yer neural lines here - gimme a test feed on that, will yeh, bitlet? There. Good - no, frag. Yeah, that's an error, yeh got somethin under th' lateral cord. Old weld patch? Yeh see it? Have t' thread around that, yeh need full response on yer triggers."

From cutting and reshaping, to welding, new parts seated and wired, circuits tested, lines rethreaded. Finally, he had her run one last exhaustive battery of tests, which came back clear and Ironhide nodded, satisfied. "Real test'll be on th' firing range. Gonna leave th' block on right now, let some of that settle before Ah take it off - it's gonna hurt like th' Pit either way, at first, but at least let it regulate a bit. Ready for th' other side?"

Grinning, Ironhide patted her shoulder just before triggering the second neural block. "Yer doin' great so far. Now we just flip it around, do th' second side just like th' first."

It was a little easier said then done, but he had her exact measurements now, not just scan data to work from. Knew where her lines tended to bunch, knew where the worst of the damage was likely to be, and how her circuits took the code. It smoothed out the guess work and let his hands fly through the motions, quick and efficient as he fitted the mounts to her struts and threaded lines. He kept talking as he did it, pointing out where the two sides were not exactly the same - "Who th' Pit did yer patch job here, femme? Could've left well enough alone an' fragged it up less, yeh've got lines practically fused together." "Point two eight microns shorter in th' radial strut. Yeh took a hit on th' lead coronoid linkage once, didn't yeh? Shaved off a bit. Don't seem like much, but yeh want yer guns balanced as near perfect as yeh can make 'em." - and occasionally quizzing her, just to see if she remembered the sequence of the procedure, his field a warm rush of approval with each correct response.

When he glanced up from the last test scans it was to find that most of the day had gone by already. Venting, he straightened with the dull pop of tight linkages straightening and cut the optic feed. Snagging the solvent, he sluiced it over his hands, shaking off the excess. "Alright," he told her, smiling at the spike of excitement in the hum of her engine. "Moment of truth. Ah'm gonna take th' blocks off. It is," he added seriously, warning, "goin' t' hurt like the Pit. Yeh've had strut welds before, yeh know what that feels like. Ah just did five of 'em on each side, and yer gonna be feelin' that th' second those blocks come off. Just brace for it."

To that end, he laid one forearm across her chassis, leaning into it. Shadow twitched in surprise and Ironhide patted her gently. "Know yeh can stay still," he told her, "but everything's gonna come online all at once, and the systems are all new. Need yeh not t' jerk an' torque anything outta alignment. Just a little safety precaution." He gave her a grin as he gathered up the numb, limp weight of her wrists in his other hand, tucking them against his own chassis. "This too. New systems, lotta pain, first thing most do it bring their weapons online. Ah've got yeh dialed down t' quarter power, but if yeh slag Ratch's medbay we're never gonna hear th' end of it." He didn't give her a chance to respond, leaning a little more of his weight into securing her. "Ready? Here we go. Block's droppin'... now."

Ironhide pulsed warm approval at her, easing up from his hold. She hadn't shot him - harmless, with his overrides still dialing her power levels down to something that would barely tickle his plate and her barrels pressed to his thickest armor - but it was either more iron control or leagues of more sheer stubbornness than most had.

He ran his hands over her arms, sensor scans dialed up not only for the data but for the slight ease that the warm pulse of the scan could provide to aching systems. "Good work," he told her aloud. "Yer good t' go, nothing loose, all connections workin'." He cocked his head, eyeing her. "Ah'd offer t' let yeh rest up, maybe let Ratch' dose yeh with some pain suppressants, but Ah'm bettin' yeh might try puttin' one of those shiny new rounds through meh if Ah did." Grinning, he pushed a hand underneath her shoulders, pushing her up. "Up yeh get. We can go now, soon as Ah clean this mess up. Won't take a klik, then yeh can go try 'em out." He pressed his other hand to her upper arm, a secondary scan making him hum. "Energy rounds, at least. It'll take half a breem for th' micro assembly t' get yeh any solid stat ammo t' work with."

Letting her go, he began quickly sweeping up the used tools and supplies, quickly sorting things to either be cleaned or put away. "Yer on double rations for th' next week while that all settles. Any time yer in a big fight, make sure yeh refuel when yeh can after. It's gonna be more of a drain then yer used to."

Ironhide gave the canyon a quick once over, optics bright as he gauged the suitability of it. His gaze lingered on a few points that bore evidence of Shadow's former range and ordinance and he huffed softly.

"Alright," he said, a warm touch of a grin flickering at the edge of his field. Reaching out, he passed a hand down her near arm, scanning from shoulder to wrist in a quick slide, then repeating the maneuver on the opposite side. Satisfied, he stepped back, nodding his head towards the far end of the gorge. "Yer set," he told her. "Try th' energy base first. Remember t' brace - it's got more of a kick than yer used t'. Go ahead an' sight all th' way down, let's see what yer range is."