The trebuchet on the campgrounds, Tuesday afternoon

[notmyownage]

The trebuchet was nearing completion. Soon it would be time for ammunition trials.

But, well, sometimes Claudia was impatient. Which would be why, despite having not yet perfected the counterweight system, she was loading the sucker up with some water balloons -- it'd taken some doing, but she'd finally managed to double up on the balloons so they'd have a chance of surviving the force of the fling and make it to their target.

Time to give this baby a test run.

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

The first balloon burst halfway up the arc of the fling, sending water all over the trebuchet and its operator. The second flung off backwards into a tree -- but at least the balloon survived.

This was way better than trying to figure this stuff out on paper.

[ooc: bleah, work. Open for distractination!]

Comments

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

Peter was on his way back from his afternoon class when he spotted Claudia.

"Something tells me we're having trouble with the ammunition," he declared, amused. He approached closer, a smile on his face.

[notmyownage]

Claudia was loading up another -- possibly somewhat overfilled -- water balloon. "And with the delivery system," she agreed cheerfully. "I could always tell people it's supposed to be a giant sprinkler. . . ."

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

"When all else fails, change the definition of success," Peter said. "I like it. Though something tells me we'll be able to figure out something that works as ammo."

[notmyownage]

"And honestly? Failing is kinda fun."

[theotherpeter.livejournal.com]

"And you usually learn more than when you succeed," Peter admitted. "This is still a really impressive machine, though. You really should be proud."

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

"You know you're supposed to get other people wet, right?" Jacob asked, looking way too amused at Claudia's state of wetness.

[notmyownage]

"Patience, young man!" Claudia set another balloon in to fling. "You think the space station was built in a day?"

[need-no-moon.livejournal.com]

"I don't know," he shrugged and decided approaching the trebuchet from the side was the way to go. "Maybe it was a prefab space station."

[notmyownage]

"See, they tried that, but they couldn't find parking for the truck they lugged it out on. FORE!" Claudia hit the release on the counterweight. The basket set to grab the balloon missed completely, flopping around empty in the air, while the balloon rested pristine on the base of the trebuchet. "Well. That was anti-climactic."

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

Sometime after classes were over, Kurt appeared on a nearby rooftop, holding two water guns and peering off furtively at the edge of the trees (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhighdorms/1925863.html).

Then he noticed Claudia and teleported next to her. "WHOA! Is it done? Is it working??? Please say yes!!!"

[notmyownage]

"Uh." Claudia tilted her head. "Almost kind of?" She noticed his water guns. "You have a target for me to try for?"

[bamf-tastic.livejournal.com]

"The Reserves are having a water gun fight!!!", Kurt told her with a grin. "Over there!" He bounced excitedly and pointed at the crowd, who were probably starting to disappear into the trees.

"Maybe it's just me, but I think you TOTALLY win."

[notmyownage]

Only if she could get it to fling things properly.

"Right. And if they come after me with water guns, you're ready to play defense?"

[squire-hand.livejournal.com]

"I trust we're not soon to be under siege?" James asked, turning a critical eye over the ballistic machine. He had more than a passing familiarity with siege weapons.

"Or...are you trying to conquer a cabin?"

[notmyownage]

"Not any one in particular." Claudia shrugged. "It's kind of one of those 'because I can' things."

[squire-hand.livejournal.com]

"Seems sturdy enough." He had seen the first two attempts. "Looks like a problem with the release," he opined.

[notmyownage]

"Yeah, I might have to rethink my basket design." She was, after all, using a collander on a hook. "And, of course, not all the balloons are gonna hold up to the air resistance." She glanced over at him. "You an engineer?"

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully had been planning on writing to Mulder... and she was still going to.

But some trebuchet observations seemed to be in order first.

"You meant for it to do that. Right?"

[notmyownage]

"Oh, totally. It's a stealth attack. They'll never see it coming."

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

Scully grinned, then gave the trebuchet bucket a thoughtful look. "Maybe it needs to be wider? Or shallower?" Or .... "Maybe you need a bigger balloon." Where was her calculator?

[notmyownage]

"I was thinking maybe it needed to be deeper. You know, catch the balloon properly so it doesn't roll out the back."

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

"Okay, I totally need one of those," Alex decided, upon seeing the trebuchet in action. Never mind if it was working properly or not.

[notmyownage]

"We're not quite up to mass marketing them yet, but I'll keep that in mind."

[stylin-wizard.livejournal.com]

"If you do, let me know and I'll be down for at least one," Alex replied, quite amused. She could picture using it on Justin and the look of horror on his face. She so needed one ASAP.

"Where did you get the idea to make this?"

[notmyownage]

"The internet. You can find the most random stuff on there."