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Post by Jonathan and Abby Ashfield on Dec 19, 2006 16:44:50 GMT -5
Jonathan Ashfield was training in the Temple, his sister Abby watching him. He had only gotten a handle on his new emotions, and he knew that The Resistance needed as many former Clerics as they could get. So, he knew that he needed to train often.
Abby's head turned when she heard someone's footsteps approach.
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Post by missthundercat on Dec 19, 2006 20:44:42 GMT -5
(( XD Love how you let me do all the descriptive work, heehee... I'm not complaining, I get to 'build sets' ;D ))
"Good morning, sunshines" Horatio said, chuckling at the odd quiet and gloom of the Temple's training hall. Sometimes it was hard to recognise him when he changed out of his workshop clothes into a less distinctive set of pants and shirt, but his sunglasses were the surest sign.
Compared to he Grammaton's training halls, the Temple's training hall was was bit more shabby. The walls were plain concrete with plaster, but the coat of paint was always renewed with care, and the more artistic members were encouraged to contribute some decoration. Two of the walls featured an impressive fresco, series of battlescenes, copied from famous works of art, like the 'Battle of Granicus' mosaic or the 'Women of the Sabins' painting, and free-hand paintings of people in motion, immitating Gun Kata stances, all blended in sploches of paint creating an abstract, harmonic look. The other two walls contrasted the theme, featuring a lush jungle and river, bursting with life and thousands of colors on animals, flowers and insects.
"Hmph, nice to see that at least some people still take training seriously" Horatio said, nodding in aproval as he watched Johnathan train.
The young man following Horatio, a tall 18-year-old with black hair in a brown bomber jacket and bleached, baggy jeans, grumbled incoherently, his hands wound behind his head, with an expression of reserved contempt.
Horatio just shook his head. "Its good to see you two are fitting in well. The least people with complications due to lack of Prozium wind up, the better. Last thing we need is a whole generation becoming insane because of using, or worse, not using that thing."
"...If all the damn bombs we planted had gone off like they were supposed to, we might've had less trouble with leftover factories" the young man said.
Horatio spun around to him. "The one thing you'll forever refuse to learn are manners, isn't it?"
"...Whatever..." he replied, tilting his head back and stretching.
"Hmph. Anyway... I don't suppose you two have met this menace-in-puberty. His name is Adran Aladrago, whatever that means."
Adrian's blue eyes peeled open.
"Excuse me, you know full well what my last name means!" he said, indignant. "Its Italian for 'Dragon's Wing', thank you very much, and don't you make fun of it!"
He lowered his arms and made a small impatient gesture. He sounded less snappy now. "Yeah, okay. My name's Adrian, pleased to meet you."
He turned to Horatio. "So why you dragged me all the way to the Temple today, and so bloody early?"
"What do you think? I've been watching you mister, you haven't trained in a week!" Horatio said. "You're getting lazy, brat! And you call yourself an ex-Cleric! You must've been the shame of Grammaton!"
"Hey, I never said I was a Cleric!" Adrian retorted, looking annoye. "I was almost a Cleric, all I needed was one bloody year to be of age... And besides, hang Grammaton. I'd rather rot out in the Nethers than have to be like them Clerics... all polished, and sniny and... and walking around like there's a stick up my-"
"Heeey!!" Horatio barked at him. "Are you going to clammor around all day or are you going to ever get serious and act like an 18-year-old instead of a baby?!"
Adrian winced. "Alright, alright, you don't have to bust my eardrum..."
He removed his jacket and his gunholsters and hung them on the rack along one of the walls. Before he would begin his actual practice, he was going to need to warm up. Whether he liked it or not, he had neglected his training somewhat, the past week, but it was due to higher force: he'd gotten some lead concerning his brther, and wanted to investigate... but it had been a bogus.
Popping his knuckles and flexing his neck, he started with a few classic Gun Kata warm-ups: In a stance of old martial arts, he held his hands rigidly open, fingers stretched out, and moved in carefully measured motions, concentrating on particular muscle groups and motions that resembled actual dodging of bullets, or swings of a sword. He was not familiar with the mosre advanced moves taught to higher-level or regular monks, so all he could do was the trainee sequences, and maybe one or two moves from those of the regular clerics.
But being just 18, getting a lot livelier from the exercise and wanting to show off a little bit, and once he finished his regular sequence, he gave a little smirk, and jogged across the hall, the last few feet of which he crossed with a series of easily-executed cartwheels, handstands and a summersault. When he halted, he was doing a one hand arm stand, his legs dagling over his head. He was facing Horatio and Abigeil, and grinning, waving cheekily.
Horatio snorted. "Yeah, yeah, we got the point you little show-off" he chuckled. "I'm sure Grammaton will be stunned with your circus prowess, you're going to dazzle them to death..."
"Nobody apreciates me..." Adrian sighed. easily allowing himself to lower to the ground and roll to a seated position, watching Johnathan.
"So... you gotta be an ex-Cleric" he said, watching him. "Te Gun Kata's giving you away."
(( 0__0 you see what exams are doing to me? They give me a writting-spree-fever... or something ))
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Post by Jonathan and Abby Ashfield on Dec 21, 2006 6:45:55 GMT -5
"Yeah," Jonathan replied, never stopping in his training, "I left after the attack. That's my sister Abby."
Abby gave a wave and a smile at the person, who Horatio said was called Adrian.
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Post by missthundercat on Dec 21, 2006 11:57:28 GMT -5
Adrian nodded and got up, stretching again. "I see... I never made it to full Cleric" he said, returning to his own training, shooting glances at Jonathan's to pick up anything. "Nether rogues shot me down on a field preparation class...Next thing I know, I'm here."
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Rogerette
New Member
Not Without Incident
Posts: 43
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Post by Rogerette on Dec 23, 2006 17:08:46 GMT -5
Preston pulled on the loose shirt as he entered the training hall. He'd been running for some time already, and although it was cold, he'd enjoyed the prickle of the air against his skin. Now he was here, to run through his real training.
He tugged at the laces of his boots, leaving them by the door. He did a couple of quick stretches before moving into his own space on the floor, giving a brief smile to Adrian and to Jonathan. "'Morning, Horatio," he said warmly but distractedly.
He launched into the easiest of his katas, starting at a slow pace to allow his muscles to warm again to the challenging movements. He began to accelerate as he proceeded, moving through the many he knew.
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Post by missthundercat on Dec 24, 2006 7:10:31 GMT -5
Horatio grinned at John. "Goodmorning to you too, John" he replied, watching the three train.
It was very easy to tell the level of training that each of them had by both the katas they used, and the fluidity of their moves. Preston was, of course, the very best by far; He could perform the full range of the katas of all levels without even trying much.
Ashfield was second; Some of the katas Preston could do were out of his league and he wasn't as skilled, but he definately was formidable in his own level.
Adrian... well, he was nowhere near either of them, but he was getting there. While he was still a Cleric trainee, his superiors had singled him (and his twin) out as a promising student. For the time being, he was familiar with the trainee's katas, and a few of the advanced levels, but he could perform those almost perfectly. For the rest... he watched Ashfield and Preston, and tried to learn. He had the determination for it, though. He already had some real-combat experience from following Horatio out in the Nethers for salvage runs and protecting him from random Sweeper teams.
In the meantime, a large dog, a German Shepard mongrel, with one ear halfway droopy and the other standing straight, had followed John in the Temple's training hall. Travis always trotted after running people, and presently sniffed at John's boots, before snorting with an abrupt shake of the head. He padded onto the mat, and barked at Adrian, wagging his tail softly.
"Hey, Travis, no, not now boy. Go play with Horatio, I'm busy!" Adrian bellowed at the dog, not interrupting his kata strings.
The dog sat on its hind legs and whined, raising its left front paw. Adrian ignored him with an embarassed blush growing on his face, till the dog gave an indignant snort and padded up to Horatio. It whined again and sniffed at both Horatio's hands and then Abby's, and eventually lay down at their feet, panting, and then rolled on its back, wriggling in a funny manner.
Horatio chuckled. "Heh, big and furry and harmless. All brawn, no brains. But you still gotta love him" he said to Abby, scratching the dog's belly. Travis panted happily and wagged his tail madly.
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Rogerette
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Posts: 43
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Post by Rogerette on Jan 8, 2007 23:00:16 GMT -5
Preston didn't even hear Horatio, he was deep in an almost meditative state, focussed only on his own movements and the area directly around him. Then he reached his final kata and stopped, for a moment, panting slightly, sweat beading on his forehead but a satisfied smile twisting his mouth upwards.
His eyes darted briefly around the room to the others, who were busy with their own practice, so he strode over to a wall, pulling a wooden staff from it and returning to his space. He bowed his head for a moment, then began to work steadily through his kendo katas.
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Post by missthundercat on Jan 12, 2007 8:47:25 GMT -5
Adrian had been watching Preston's katas closely with the corner of his eye, trying to pick up some of them. He tried to immitate one of the more complicated ones, but as he wasn't familiar with it and its principals, only succeeded in losing his balance. His back connecting to the floor hurt less than his pride did.
"Ow!" he bellowed, letting lose a bit-off cuss. "Dammit, I am never going to get this. I keep doing everything bloody wrong!" he muttered, getting up while rubbing the back of his head.
Horatio just gave a dignified snort. He had told Adrian a thousand times to stop being so tensed about his training. He had achieved quite a bit without a teacher, but the young man insisted on being insufferably harsh on himself.
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Post by Jonathan and Abby Ashfield on Jan 14, 2007 14:08:16 GMT -5
Abby giggled slightly at Adrian's outburst.
She scratched Travis' belly and behind his ears while smiling broadly.
Jonathan, pulled out of his concentration, turned to Adrian.
"Don't be so tight when you're performing them," he told Adrian, "You need to relax. Stretch out a bit and let them flow out."
He showed Adrian a few practice positions.
"Besides, you were trying to imitate Preston's katas. You're too far away from those. You need to work your way up to them."
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Post by missthundercat on Jan 15, 2007 6:44:08 GMT -5
Adrian was embarassed and his reddening face showed it, but he watched Jonathan's instruction's carefully.
"Yeah, I understand that..." he said, slowly going through the leg motions to get used to them before getting into the actual practice. "He just makes them look so easy! You know what I mean...? And...and I'm bored. I want to contribute to the Resistance somehow not take it lying down like a puppy from Grammaton..."
"You're just looking for trouble..." Horatio sighed, hearing him.
"Hey, any trouble caused to them tyrants can't be bad trouble, can it?" he retorted, getting the hang of some practice moves that Jonathan showed him.
Meanwhile, Travis was so happy he got attention that he panted happily, his tail wagging madly against Abby's legs, and he pretended to bite Horatio's heels, to get attention from him too.
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Post by Jonathan and Abby Ashfield on Jan 16, 2007 10:26:38 GMT -5
Jonathan kept performing the various katas, when his phone rang in his jacket pocket, which was beside Abby.
Abby took the phone out of Jonathan's jacket and answered it,
"Hello?" she said.
She listened to the person's reply, and then held it out to Jonathan.
"Jonathan, it's for you. He says it's important."
Jonathan stopped and took the phone from Abby.
"Hello?" he said.
"J.A., there's one happening in an hour," was all the reply was.
"Okay," Jonathan answered, "Thank you."
Jonathan hung up and addressed everyone else.
"There' going to be a sweep of this area of the Nethers in an hour," he told everyone else, "We're gonna need to be prepared."
((Yeah, Jonathan has a source inside the city.))
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Post by missthundercat on Jan 17, 2007 6:26:21 GMT -5
(( OMG this is JUST what I have been dying to talk to you about... I wanna poke in a new charrie that's an informer for the Resistance, but nobody really knows them... You caught on tho... o_0 are you sure you aren't psychic?)) "A Sweep!" Horatio echoed, resisting the urge to cuss, for Abby's sake. He sounded alarmed. "Goddamit, pick the perfect day, why don't they. Half of the usual guard staff is away on supplies retrieving. We'd be caught like mice if they find the main entrance." "Should we go out and send them packing-- assuming we can even pull that off" Adrian asked. "In theory, maybe, with a whole load of emphasis on the maybe part, there's just the three of you really here" Horatio replied. "I don't think Ashfield and Preston could--" Adrian looked annoyed. "Are you saying that I'm not good enough to pitch in?" "You're a teenager" Horatio said pointedly. "If all it took to get them away from us was to annoy the living hell out of them I'd consider you but-- ooh, wait, that might be it..." "What? What might be it?" "Whether we can fight them off or not, we can definately keep them from finding the main door to the Keep." "How?" "Diversion tactics. Its basically something you do well: Cause a lot of ruckus for nothing." "...Love how you can always insult me politely..." Adrian grumbled. "Enough. Lets just put our heads together and do something fast. If we only have one hour, we need to do whatever it is we do soon" Horatio said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
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Rogerette
New Member
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Post by Rogerette on Jan 19, 2007 5:45:50 GMT -5
Nobody had noticed, but Preston had slowed down, eventually coming to a halt and listening to the raised voices. A sweep in an hour.
"I can deal with them," he said just loudly enough to be heard. A little bubble of fear escaped, but he pricked it calmly and suppressed the rest of his emotions for now. "A distraction would be an efficient strategy, so that monitoring parties won't be able to remotely locate and beacon the Keep, but I can deal with them when they're in the alternate location." The tactical emotionless language had slipped back into the conversation, as it often did when he was preparing for a fight.
"The first priority is to warn everyone else to hide and bunker down to ensure that there is no evidence to support sending another force this way." He walked over a little closer. "Horatio," he started, eyes boring into those of the older man. "What we really need is a strategy that will not only prevent the sweep from locating our Keep, but a way that will not encourage them to send a stronger task force."
He rolled the staff up onto his shoulders, muscles rippling along his arms. "I can deal with any number of standard weapons, but I'm not immune to RPGs or SMAW fire, which the Tetragrammaton will no doubt resort to if they believe there are serious threats in this area."
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Post by missthundercat on Jan 19, 2007 7:40:18 GMT -5
(( Gah please don't use aprevs, I'm not familiar with all the tactical military terms!! o__0 What's RPGs and SMAW?!))
Adrian's brows bowed up slightly at listening to Preston. Whoah this guy meant bussiness even when he talked. No wonder...
Horatio nodded, rubbing his chin briefly. "Alerting the others to hide in the bunkers won't be much of a problem, settle about that. Just... John, I don't know, since the fall of the initial government I'd expect them Sweeper teams to be a bit more heavy on numbers, don't be too confident. Granted, you are very skilled, experienced and capable, but you're still human, bless you. Now for distraction tactics..."
Adrian shuffled a bit. "I have an idea."
"That's a rare one; go on."
Adrian frowned briefly. "You know I keep snooping around the Nethers and through the underground network. Well, last week I found this tunnel that starts from where we found that bakery the other day, and leads straight into a werehouse east of here, right on the trail the Sweeper teams usually take when they exit the city towards this part of the Nethers" he said, rubbing his nose slightly, as he looked down to get all the helpful details in order. "The tunner is small, barely enough for a moderate person to squeeze through at a time, in the narrowest part. Sweepers in all their gear can't slip through it. Their guns alone would jam halfway through. I could take some of your flashbang grenades and one of the trap-mines you made and set up a fake ambush; set it off when they pass by it and make them think the fire is coming from that werehouse instead of our location. That should draw them away from the entrance. Then, Preston, Ashfield and me give them something to remember before they decide to venture out here again in a hurry. Plus, the werehouse looked like someone had been around for a while. With a little disguising, we could make it look like we were there, but split it once we caught wind of them coming. Might convince them we moved."
Horatio nodded, slighty. "Hmm...hiding under the enemy's nose while we make them think we're gone, huh? Well..." he hesitated. "That could work as a diversion, provided we set it up properly. I do have the means to make some ruckus about there and get their attention. Faking an ambush is risky bussiness if we don't know their numbers. Preston, how big a task force you think we ought to be expecting?"
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Rogerette
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Post by Rogerette on Jan 19, 2007 23:03:32 GMT -5
((SMAW= Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon (ie a rocket launcher) RPG= rocket propelled grenades. They're weapons used to demolish buildings and bring down tanks/helicopters.))
"As you say, some of the teams might be stronger in numbers, but you forget that the Tetragrammaton is stretched as it is. It is impossible to predict the number of Sweepers unless Ashfield's contact knows. However, it's likely to be a basic sweep. They'll be armed with standard weapons."
Then he turned to Adrian. "Your plan is clever, Adrian, but you're making a wrong assumption. Attacking and decimating a Sweeper Team will not prevent them from returning. You're forgetting that they don't fear death, if they did, they wouldn't be on the hunt. Attacking them will simply alert them to a resistance presence, and then stronger forces will come. They are meticulous, as you should remember." He smiled a little, the magic smile he had that lifted his face from the serious and blank expression he often held. He was good with kids, and even teenagers.
He looked back to Horatio. "I recommend we avoid making contact. Give them something to find, certainly," a nod in Adrian's direction, "But not us, or traps. Make it look like resistance members ran and left a mess, and they will determine it unlikely to find more in the area. We should hide this one out."
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