Chapter 40 - A Blaster's Aim
Leia thought Han Solo was reasonably cool, for his age. Sure, she'd never tell him that, or her brother, but the man had a good eye for gifts. That data-dagger he got her nearly a year ago was really cool. And it was even cooler that he'd offered to teach her and her brothers to shoot a blaster. But then like anything cool, there's one way to ruin it all: Involving your parents.
First, her father insisted they learn a bunch of written information about the Blasters design: how to prevent it from firing off unexpectedly, how to deactivate it, clean it, and all such stuff. Then her mom "suggested" they learn some first aid for treating blaster wounds, and their father pulled out his old field medicine training book. 'The thing is like two inches thick, and all flimsy. If you want to look something up, you need to use the index in the back. So slow. It's a wonder grown-ups ever learned anything at that rate!'
'But this is finally it,' Thought Leia, as she looked out her classroom window. Her father and Mr. Solo, when he was not off-world, had been building a "top of the line" shooting range that not even their mother had been able to see yet. They were being very secretive about it, which Leia hoped meant good things. But today, after her classes, they will get to see it. It'll be their first lesson with a real blaster. She was very excited. That second hand of the clock just didn't tick fast enough.
Leia looked over at Luke, who was just as excited as she was. She felt bad for him. At least she could tell Master Yoda all about these lessons. Her Master didn't freak out or call blasters "primitive weapons." Actually, when Master Yoda first found out about the Data-Dagger gift, he was cool enough to include it in a few of their own lessons. He taught her how to steady it's throw with the Force, and encouraged her to practice with smaller and smaller targets.
But not Uncle Ben. Everybody knows he doesn't approve of blasters. A couple of months ago Luke got tired of waiting on their father and he asked his Master for a lesson on Blasters. Luke had worked for hours to prepare his argument, based on the logical point that to know your enemy, you must know your enemy's weapon. But then Uncle Ben handed him a stun gun. The type that Auntie Satine always carried. That did not go over well with the fifteen year old.
No, it was better for everyone if Uncle Ben did not find out about these particular lessons. Poor Luke did double the training yesterday, just so he could have this afternoon free to "spend with the family." Leia thought they were lucky he bought that one. She'd need to teach her brother to come up with better excuses, if they were to keep having these lessons.
When the class was finally over, Leia ran with her brother out to look for their father. "Where is he?" Leia asked. She did not think she could take him running late today of all days!
"Leo, Where's dad?" Luke asked after locating their twelve year old brother in a group of other younglings.
"Dad's not here. Uncle Owen is over there," Leo pointed.
"Uncle Owen!" Leia greeted him.
"Yeah, your dad asked me to pick you guys up. Mace-Ti, Leo, come on. The speeder's out front." Leia had to suppress a childish squeal of excitement as her Uncle led them out.
The boys all started running as soon as they got in sights of the vehicle. Leo reached the door first, thus claiming the front passenger seat for himself. Luke and Leia sat in the back, with their eleven year old cousin, Mace-Ti, squished between them both.
When they arrived they were on the Lars Homestead, quite a distance from the main house, but still on the homestead. Owen led them to a small shack, which he opened and pulled out some equipment, which he handed to each of them. "You will meet your dad up that way. I hope you guys enjoy this. I helped them set it all up."
"Yeah, you're really gonna love it." Mace-Ti said.
Leia's mouth dropped. "You've seen the shooting range!"
"Well, yeah. They built it on the farm." Mace-Ti replied.
"Before you go, I want to remind you to stay safe. These are real blasters, and they can do real harm, so be careful, and always follow instructions. You have your armor shields, your ear-plugs, and your remote comms. Good." He stepped back and gave the kids a thumbs up.
Luke and Leia looked at each other and took off running the direction their Uncle had pointed. Leo turned around to thank Uncle Owen, who waved at him to go. Then Leo turned and ran after his siblings.
Anakin stood proudly on the edge of a field. "The first trick you must learn is handling the blowback. When you aim your blaster, you can line up the shot perfectly, however as soon as the weapon fires, the explosive effect leaving the blaster can push your weapon off-track if you aren't very careful. Watch Han demonstrate."
Anakin stepped off the field and walked around to join his children behind the line. They all watched as Han picked up his blaster and lined it up, aiming at a simple target. The targets for this lesson were the simplest, but as they progressed the targets would be getting more interesting, and so would the field. Anakin couldn't wait.
Han nailed the target in one shot. Then he moved over and hit two more. Luke watched with fascinated eyes. Leia had her arms crossed. Her eyes were questioning just how difficult this really was. When Han put down his blaster, he turned to the kids. "Alright, who's ready to try this?"
Luke looked back and forth between Anakin and Han nervously. Leo looked like he was about to step up, but Leia stepped up first. "I'll give it a go."
Han stood behind Leia and helped her to hold the blaster with the correct grip. She listened and nodded along, then she aimed and made her shot. When they looked at the target, she was confused to not see a mark. She had missed her target, and Luke snorted behind her.
"Come on now." Anakin put his arm on Luke's shoulder and led him to another target to the left. He knew nothing good could come from allowing the teens to tease each other, and decided to break it up before anything happened. Anakin then handed Luke a similar blaster, and showed him how to grip it and where to aim. Luke's first shot proved to be just as far off as his sisters was. "Don't worry, this takes practice," Anakin told his son, who looked startled at his still clean target. Luke's second and third shots were a little closer though, as were Leia's, from what Anakin could see. It always amazed Anakin how fast his younglings could learn.
After many practice attempts Luke and Leia were starting to actually hit the targets. They weren't exactly bullseyes yet, but it had started becoming a competition for the two young teens as they heard their sibling shout in victory after a hit.
"Alright, how about you two go give your arms a break and let your brother have a go." Anakin suggested. "There are snacks and drinks in there." Anakin motioned for a carton near some benches off to the side.
As the twins were eating they noticed Leo was hitting his targets already. "Hey, no fair. He has two teachers," Luke grumbled.
"He's younger. He probably needs two teachers," Leia added.
"It's still not fair!" Luke pouted.
Leia sighed. It surprised her sometimes how childish boys could be. "We're the same age. Don't act like such a youngling." Luke glared back at her.
"Alright, good job kid." Han congratulated Leo with a slap on his back as Anakin took the blaster. "Go see if those two saved you any snacks."
Leo ran over to snag the remaining bag of crispy snacks, while Anakin and Han brought the weapons over.
"Now, It's always a good, responsible thing to do, to clean your blaster after you use it," Anakin started. "However, cleaning a blaster can be dangerous, so we're going to clean these today, and you can watch. Pay attention, I will be quizzing you tonight."
Leia rolled her eyes. Luke whined, "But you're not done today. What about a competition? Between the two of you?" Leia and Leo smiled and nodded enthusiastically.
"Oooh," Anakin eyed Han. "Alright. Best in three shots wins." Han nodded, and both men turned to head back to the targets. The kids all sat up straight. They now had a show to watch.
Anakin pushed a button on the display and the targets realigned, cleaning themselves of all marks from the earlier shooting, and moved back several meters. Han smiled as he put down the blaster Leia had been using and pulled another off his belt.
Both men fired three rounds. Anakin missed his first shot, hit his second in the grey area around the target, and the third in the white area just outside of the bullseye. Han hit two shots in the white area and one in the grey area. Han had clearly won, but the adults still looked at the youngsters when they finished to decide the winner. They were about to call it when an unexpected voice broke everyone's concentration.
"Is this what you call a family outing?"
Luke's eyes went big. Anakin gasped. "M-master!" they both sputtered.
Leia smiled mischievously. This day could not stop getting more fun. "I told you that was a poor excuse. Now you and Daddy are in tro-u-ble," she finished in a sing-song voice.
"I thought I'd come up and see what you were teaching my Padawan." Obi-Wan said as he approached the shooting range. "Mind if I give it a go?" Obi-Wan picked up the Blaster sitting in front of Han and he fired. The shot went right through the bullseye. "Now that is why I consider Blasters unsophisticated weaponry. With just a little bit of aim, you can do unmitigated damage. Unlike a Lightsaber, which requires skill to use. Luke, if you've been practicing with that stun pistol I gave you, you will master this in no time. Now where were we in our lessons?"
Hello,
For this chapter I really wanted Obi-Wan to surprise everybody by being the best shot. This chapter is really more of a filler chapter. I have plans for the next big story, but it won't start til the twins are seventeen. In the next chapter they will be sixteen. Leia will have a young date (not Han Solo yet) and Anakin will be reacting to that.
