Training Day

[cityship]

As per the Chief's message, it was training time. Everyone who signed up for training (or was signed up by someone else) was ordered to an open square in the City.

Yes, the City, instead of the sensoriums. That meant that any weapons used would be real. And every bit of damage that they dealt would be real. As would the injuries. Though there didn't seem to be any weapons around, and there were no targets set up.

Interesting, that.

Anyway, in the square was the Chief of Security, who was busy marking off names of people who arrived early or on time. Anyone who figured that they could skip out, though, there is now an unhappy seven foot fully armed and armored Spartan hunting you down.

((ooc: READ THIS BEFORE TAGGING. EDIT: But the first subthread "Early/on time arrivals" is now open for tagging. Training has now begun!))

Comments

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Erwin was, of course, punctual. He'd managed to rig up his field gear and he arrived with helmet on and rifle in tow. Nothing to do now but wait for the Chief.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

That rifle - it draws Luly's attention, and she sidles over to try and get a subtle closer look at it. In her minimal outfit and bare feet (http://community.livejournal.com/trans_9/252882.html?thread=19749330#t19749330) she moves quietly as a cat, though her eyes are sharp and appraising.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Despite Luly's rather adept sneaking, she stands out - there aren't that many tattooed women around, after all. He turns, shrugging the weapon a bit higher on his shoulder by its strap. He's dressed simply - a long-sleeved sweater and a pair of trousers (not jeans). His cap is tucked into his belt and he's adorned with a variety of field equipment, from an entrenching tool to a gas-mask canister.

He eyes her for a moment and then nods, "Hello there."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Not only tattooed, but with skin inhumanly charcoal - dark, but all in grey tones instead of any of the natural undertones humans have. The canister she doesn't easily recognize, abandoned as the technology of her world moved to more compact and reusable solutions to gas warfare, but the entrenchment tool is universal. "Hi," she says, with a grin that makes her shiny-white teeth stand out in sharp contrast to her skin.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Erwin has slowly been getting used to the weirdness, although her whole appearance still gives him a bit of a pause. Still, he is a German soldier and he has manners. He clicks his heels together and straightens slightly, "Oberschütze Erwin Fischer of the German Heer."

He offers a slightly awkward smile in reply as he relaxes, offering his hand for a polite handshake, "I'm rather new on board. It's still rather strange to me, I'm afraid."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"First lieutenant Meluly, NEG army, special operations division." She shakes his hand—her grip is firm enough to suggest that she's fairly strong for someone with her slender, athletic frame. She must spend quite a bit of time exercising regularly. "I've been around for a while. You, well, you don't really get used to it, Freund, but you can get to where you pretend you can." Her gaze slides from his face to the rifle and back again. "...when are you from?"

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Erwin nods, "Pleased to meet you, herr leutnant."

He automatically stands a bit straighter, watching himself. She's an officer, even if she's a woman, and officers deserve respect. That much has been drilled into him. He tilts his head, blinking for a moment and then his expression goes a bit neutral. This again.

"1944."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Oh—the Second World War," Meluly says after a moment's pause. "Twenty-eighty-five," she adds, gesturing at herself with one hand. "I was trying to tell by your gun, but I've never been very good with Human history." She smiles, trying to be gentle with the comment.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

"...ah, yes." It was a bit disconcerting to hear everyone talking about the war in the past tense. To him, it had been ongoing just a few weeks ago. He shifted, listening. Twenty-eighty-five? That was over a hundred years in his future. He'd be lucky to live through ninteen-forty-five. The woman is friendly though and a fellow soldier, so he flicks the rifle off of his shoulder and opens the bolt and holds it out, as if he was at assembly.

"Mauser Model 98, karabiner," he says, "Fires a 7.92 millimeter round. Bolt action with a five-round magazine."

He shrugs, "It's not as fast as the American's Garand, but the machine-gun is the primary weapon of the infantry anyway."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly leans in to look at the rifle, though she doesn't touch it. It's a respect thing—she doesn't know enough about the weapon to be comfortable handling it, even if Erwin is halfway offering the chance. "Most of the personal weapons where I'm from are five or nine millimeter. Ah, weapons for infantry armors are usually fifteen or twenty... depends on the mission profile, though."

It's a sign of her patchy view of history that she's kenned to the differences in personal firearms but not that whole inconvenient lack of power armor of any kind.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Erwin blinked as he slung the weapon back over his shoulder, "Nine or five millimeter? I know the Japanese use a six millimeter cartridge, but I've never heard of a nine millimeter rifle."

He adjusted his field cap as he thought, "...infantry armor? You mean armored cars? Because that is where you see twenty-millimeter autocannons most of the time. Tanks usually have seventy-five millimeter or better. At least, modern tanks do."

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Oh, no, power armor," Luly says, gesturing a little dismissively. "The caliber, it's got something to do with cutoffs in magnetic field strength..." She makes a little wiggly gesture with her hands together, not quite realizing that she's almost certainly just confusing Erwin more. "Anything much bigger than armor guns and you're better off just using energy weapons."

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

Erwin frowned, brow furrowed as he tried to think what power armor might mean. Weren't all tanks powered? Maybe tanks ran on electricity in the future. And then she started talking about magnets. What did magnets have to do with anything? Wait.

He blinked, "...what are energy weapons? And what is power armor for that matter?"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"Well, it's—uh. You ever see something get hit by lightning?" Maybe not the best comparison, but it's the quickest she can think of off the top of her head, and Baraki suits have lightning cannons anyway.

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

"Once or twice," he replied, "But... you mean you have weapons that can do that?"

The very idea amazed him. They had bombs and rockets, but nothing quite like that.

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

Luly grins. "Most of it's more directed, collateral damage is never very good. 'Less it's an area thing in the first place." She thinks a moment. "Power armor's, tk tk tk, think of a suit of armor. Like a medieval knight. Got it? Now make it ten feet tall and motorized."

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

"That's... incredible...." His eyes were wide as he tried to imagine it, "But... doesn't that armor get heavy? How could you wear it? How could you even use it? It seems like fantasy!"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"That's what the motorized part is for," Luly says. (She's cheating, a little—taking advantage of the ship's translator to 'really' put everything in her native language instead of bothering to jigger around the concepts enough to manage it herself.) "It's a... negative-feedback system. When you push in a direction, the system tries to get away from that until it balances out. And there's a basic artificial intelligence to keep an eye on the systems for you. If it's done right, it's just as easy to use as walking around normally, once you get used to the extra size."

[youngsoldat.livejournal.com]

"...that sounds incredible. With something like that beat the Russians easily!" He seems enthusiastic enough about the idea.

"We'd be immune to small arms fire! It'd be like your own personal tank!" He really likes that idea, apparently. "Invincible! No one could stop you!"

[aworldnevermade.livejournal.com]

"That's the infantry model. We deal with things that need them." Things, she says, with a certain emphasis on it—things that aren't people, sometimes or often. "I'm an Engel pilot—ah, tk tk, forty feet tall, just about. Heavy assault mech. I'm one of the ones who do the front-line assaults." Her glance shifts upwards a moment, as if looking at some huge enemy.