Proving Ground [ Open To All ]

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

The sensoriums made for a convenient training ground for all the right reasons, but most of all because they allowed Motoko to cheat. It hardly seemed fair for the world around to be controlled by whatever constituted the strongest mind, or the most established, but on these proving grounds, as ever, fairness was not part of the equation.

The world was a sleepy summer day, warm with cicada song and dry, ragged grass, knee-high in places, scorched to the earth in others. An abandoned, decrepit skeleton of a Soviet military base dominated the landscape, dotted here and there with holes like dark hollow eyes among the crumbling walls and roofless, exposed innards. Once, this place had been alive, and now it was as bleached as bones in the grass, as nature retook what man had conquered.

Here and there the rusted-out remains of tanks slumped where they had been abandoned. Red paint, incongruously fresh, marked a series of them as targets at the far end of a carefully 'makeshift' firing range, though most sat aimlessly, unmarked and unattended. The place nearest the door was dominated by one such tank, perhaps in slightly better repair than the others, and perched upon it was the reason for all the fuss and trials. Major Kusanagi folded her arms and leaned her back against the treads, casting a sidelong look at what was left of Section Nine.

It was going to be a long day.

[ OOC: Wait for Subthreads, please. OKAY, GO GO GO GO! ]

Comments

[ Entrances ]

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

Say hello to your new patron deity of blunt-force trauma, children.

[ Entrances ]

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

John had come after reading the message on the omnicomm. Not so much to participate, but to see what this crew actually had in the way of trained soldiers. Surveying the scene Kusanagi had laid out he recognized the Soviet military hardware. He'd grown up around the stuff, and it hadn't looked much better then. Still bases like this run down as they were had provided very well for the Resistance in former Soviet territories. There were simply too many of them for the machines to clear all of them out. It also helped that many of them had been abandoned, and records lost long before the days of digital information storage.

"Nice location for this. When do we start?"

Re: [ Entrances ]

[hundred-handed.livejournal.com]

Bri makes his way in fairly early, carrying his own weapons with him. A combat shotgun in his hands, a pistol at his side, a knife in his boot, and an AT sniper rifle on his back.

A bit more than he'd normally carry on the field, but he wanted to make sure he was ready for any of the tests they'd have lined up for him.

[ihatefire.livejournal.com]

Cybil believes in self-worship, Motoko.

"What the hell's all this?" It was not asked rudely, just curiously, as Cybil peeked in and then surveyed the surrounds.

Re: [ Entrances ]

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

Someone needs to inform Stephen that his lab coat does not count as combat armor, despite what he thinks. The white is like a giant target. It says "SHOOT ME."

Still, it serves as a handy way for him to carry both his guns and his focus along with him--not that the Superstring Sword looks like much of anything. He simply shoved his hands in his pockets, and waited his turn.

Re: [ Entrances ]

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Mmm, blunt force trauma, an old favorite really. Dean was of course armed when he entered the sensoriums after getting the note on the omnicomm. His eyes sharply took in the surroundings, and frowned a little at the setting. It felt too much like that future Zac hurled him into. Camp Chitaqua incarnate again. He almost expected a Croat to show up for an attack. Still he approved of the firing range. He was just about healed, or healed enough to handle a hunt. He could handle this too.

Re: [ Entrances ]

[gunslinging.livejournal.com]

Your friendly local jailbait robot sniper is reporting in, ma'am.

It looked, Axl noted, like a lot of older veteran types were showing up for this. Which was fine by him; that had been what Red Alert was like (save for the fact that the old vet types there had been animaloid robots, but you couldn't expect everything to work like home).

[shapeshiftqueen.livejournal.com]

"Interesting location," Gandrayda remarked as she walked in. The last few months had made the bounty hunter long for The Hunting days and the major's call was certainly unique enough to catch her attention. She looked around at the assembled team. Mostly humanoids.

She crossed her arms and waiting, a smile on her lips.

[shroudedintent]

The message on the comms had caught the Sangheili's attention, and thus here he was. Curious as to the manner of training that was to be provided. As usual he wore his white combat harness, a few scratches and dents still left from the previous encounter with the Ohm, but over all in better condition than one would expect. At each hip he carried his unlit energy blades as well as a single plasma rifle on his back.

Eyes quickly sweeping the simulated terrain, interesting. His gaze soon resting on the Major, a nod of his head given in greetings. "You are the one conducting this..training I assume?"

[ Entrances ]

[quark-assassin.livejournal.com]

Hello, patron deity of blunt-force trauma. Dustin knows you as the Major, but chances are that he’ll refer to you as such by the end of this encounter.

Perhaps he was one of the less well-equipped combatants in this situation, hobbling into the Sensoriums on a crutch with an overcoat covering his exhausted shoulders, red backpack slung precariously over one of them so that he leaned awkwardly with each labored shuffle. His eyes were set on where he wanted to go, his steps were deliberate if not arrhythmic; but frankly Dustin was never the most fit or the best suited for heavy exercise and hand-to-hand combat, and thus this was nothing new. A bit inconvenient, yes, but nothing new.

Dustin stopped short of the tank, leaning heavily as he gave Motoko an equally weighted glance, unmoving and undeterred.

“You called?”

Re: [ Entrances ]

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Training was always a good idea. With any luck, she would be able to find someone here to teach her to use a gun. After that battle at the end of shore leave she realized how useful the weapons were. She had a feeling she would be good with them too. Unlike humans she could even slow her pulse to minimize the movement that would cause. If she needed to get up-close-and-personal, she had her wakizashi to take someone out quickly and silently.

She was a creature built for stealth. Though she may not be familiar with the technology, she could see this was the perfect sort of place for her. With all the various shadows and holes, she could move among those holes, up those walls with speed and ease. She was glad she decided to leave her shoes in her room, she would be able to propel herself up the walls easier. She could fly as it was, but climbing keeps you closer to the walls.

She spotted the woman at the tank. She clearly was the on in charge. She might not have agreed with time of day, but the location was clearly well thought out. Besides, she had worn her sunglasses for this reason. Kusanagi's choice of location at least earned her a certain amount of respect from Nanashi.

She approached the Major and nodded to her, "I am Nanashi. I believe we have met."

Re: [ Entrances ]

[neverwastenaya.livejournal.com]

Tenaya gave a look at their surroundings. Desolate, depressing, looked like it had been completely ravaged...

"Looks like home," she quipped, stepping forward. "The name's Tenaya."

[ Entrances ]

[runnerwithagun.livejournal.com]

Ronon strolled into the Sensoriums after seeing the message on the omnicoms. He was curious to see what the Major had in store for them. If it was a challenege, it was a challenege he was eager to beat down. As experienced as he was on the battlefield, one could never stop learning. And to add to that the Ohm could have easily destroyed Stacy's crew, or so he heard since he was stuck with GLaDOS during that time. He had to be on top of his game.

After surveying the room the Major set up, he was intrested in what today held. "What sort of training is this?" Luckily he was on break from his usual Warfare Training sessions today. He had time to get himself injured.

Re: [ Entrances ]

[killsfengshui.livejournal.com]

Okay, so Mei-Xing wasn't much for 'training', she figured that she was pretty well trained already, but she thought that this was a good way to figure out where she's at compared to the rest of the ship. Which could get pretty important come combat time.

When she steps through the door, she has to blink and double check. This area looks like some of the more dangerous neighborhoods she's been to in America. "Yow. Um." Well, as long as nothing jumps out at her, she should be good. "This is where we're supposed to go for the training, right?"

[ Firearms ]

[hawkeyed-killer.livejournal.com]

The firearms evaluation was being conducted by a Japanese man with an eyepatch and the blank, dead demeanor that screamed "sniper" to people who'd recognize that sort of thing. As the candidate approached, the man looked up from where he was leaning against the rusted-out tank, staring at a tuft of grass that was growing up through the cracked tarmac, to all appearances completely ignoring his boss--at least to anyone who couldn't pick up the bursts of encrypted radio being fired off between their cybercomms.

He didn't offer a hand to shake, or even uncross his arms from his chest. "I'm Saito. What kind of firearms experience do you have?"

[ Firearms ]

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

John was the sort to recognize it, and John reeked of military himself so the lack of a handshake didn't bother him in the slightest. They here for training, and such niceties didn't have a place in that sort of environment. Especially when firearms where involved. "Extensive. I don't have the training to exploit some of the sniper systems to their full potential but I can operate them. Are we testing with weapons provided or using our own?"

It was a relevant question as John had brought his own weapons, and load bearing gear. After all you should train how you plan to fight. If you didn't you'd just end up with screwed up muscle memory, and get yourself killed.

Re: [ Firearms ]

[hundred-handed.livejournal.com]

Ah, now this guy, Bri liked. Snipers could always tell one of their own.

He walks up, giving him a slight nod.

"Been paramilitary since I was a kid," he says, hefting a massive sniper rifle one-handed. "Far as firearms go, this is usually my thing."

Re: [ Firearms ]

[ihatefire.livejournal.com]

"Standard police academy training as far as arms training goes. Practical experience has had me skeet-shooting alien bugs and zombies. I'm best with a Sig P226, standard issue."

[shapeshiftqueen.livejournal.com]

"Whatever my enemy has, I know how to use." she answered mysteriously. "Otherwise I can shoot force fields."

Re: [ Firearms ]

[notadamnangel.livejournal.com]

Dean coolly studied him in back before replying, "Been firing guns since my dad took me out on a range when I was six. Mainly revolvers, shotguns, rifles. Not much call for the semi automatics in my line of work, but I know enough there too."

He got out his custom Colt 1911, and held it up, unloaded and safety on. "We allowed to use our own toys, or getting a loaner?"

[ Firearms ]

[gunslinging.livejournal.com]

"No formal training, but I've been shooting for ten years and I made a point of learning to use everything I could get ahold of. Which was a lot." There were advantages to being raised by bounty hunters with questionable scruples. "My world switched over to plasma weaponry a while ago, but I've learned to use older guns too. Kind of a hobby." The pair of handguns he was carrying, having no apparent place to be loaded, clearly fell into the former category.

"Last group I was with had me doing more straight-out gunfights, but I know how to snipe."

Re: [ Firearms ]

[sonofether.livejournal.com]

"Pistols, mostly. And not much of it. My former employer was military trained, though I'm not certain where. He taught me a bit, and I tried not to mess up too much." In truth, the gentleman before him kind of reminded him of the man. No nonsense. No bullcrap.

"As for other types of firearms, nothing. I'm willing to learn if you feel it necessary, though."

Re: [ Firearms ]

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi knew this guy's type. He was a military man, a serious one, but more of a lone-wolf than a leader. She used to have men like him work as spies and assassins.

Problem was that he was asking about fire-arm experience. She lacked this utterly.

She did not let this ruffle her feathers. Keeping herself calm and confident, she spoke with authority as she said, "I have not yet held a modern gun, but put one in my hand, and I can show you the sort of accuracy I can hit with." She at least had experience with bows, and knew enough about guns to know that her ability to practically freeze into what might look like rigour mortise and her sharp vision would aid her greatly in her accuracy. It was hard to get a steadier shot than someone who can slow their pulse to a crawl and did not need to breathe.

Of course, people with full-prosthetics could probably fall into this category.

[ Melee ]

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

In the space between the most intact of the pale concrete walls and a tank that had someone been tipped over and grown-through with a tree, there's a wide, clear place, bare down to the dirt, where the Major awaits anyone who's brave or stupid enough to submit themselves to her tender mercies.

The melee evaluation is conducted in a similarly stoic manner to the firearms tests, though the instructor this time is a woman with violet hair and red eyes.

"So, what kind of experience do you have in hand-to-hand combat?"

Re: [ Melee ]

[terribly2shy.livejournal.com]

Laurie is here because she'd felt absolutely useless on the battlefield against the Ohm. She'd been alright with the medical staff, keeping the people calm while they were being tended to by Medical. But against those little grunts?

"Um...I guess don't really have any experience. My power isn't really combative."

[ Fieldcraft ]

[standaloneshell.livejournal.com]

The landscape is a playground of fallen-in concrete and overgrown shrubberies interspersed with open ground and dead, sun-dried grass. Here and there, wildlife passes the time, birds sing, and all is peaceful.

The goal of the exercise is to prove you can see the enemy without being seen, come upon them in ambush and disable them. The targets sit listlessly around a simulated camp at the far end of the base, beyond the open fields, dotted with copses of trees, somewhere in the ruined skeleton-base itself.

You are being watched, and judged, and the targets are controlled by your instructors, via the technological magic of the sensoriums.

They won't sit still forever. Good luck.

Re: [ Fieldcraft ]

[robots-omgh8u.livejournal.com]

John surveyed the terrain, and planned his course to the base. The open ground was a serious problem however. There had to be a ditch or some piece of low ground he could use to cover the last stretch to the targets. So far he didn't see anything like that. It didn't mean it wasn't there though. Sometimes you couldn't see a depression until you were almost on top of it. Focusing, he dropped down to the ground, and slowly started to crawl his way through the rubble. Years of crawling through similar debris back in his universe gave him the confidence to be sure he wouldn't be spotted until he'd cleared it.