- RP Date
- YE 46.1
- RP Location
- Black Sands Test Range
It was a hot day at the Black Sands Test Range and the tempers of some of the younger operatives had already exceeded the day's heat as they'd been marched, drilled, screamed at, berated, and paraded through obstacle courses one after another without so much as an explanation or assurance their time was being wasted over the last 12 hours. Another round of 100 pushups and the drill sergeant's quips made the rounds once more, "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A bunch of misfits and rejects from the comedy club? I've seen better discipline from a pack of wild clowns! You call that a push-up? I've seen geriatric Neppies do better at bingo night!"
Katerina dealt with the heat better than most of the others in her cadre, her long serpentine body stretched out along the ground. The Serapa had no context as to why she was out on a PT exam, sometimes SAINT asked her to do things that seemed strange but she trusted had an underlying purpose. She did not appreciate being called an amateur however; she'd done her time in basic and selection, and had been deployed on several high risk missions. She felt that she'd done her time as a 'maggot' and was entitled to the baseline of respect. She communicated this with an apathetic glare at the drill instructor, looking up as she pumped them out with barely any effort. Katerina hadn't let herself go soft in the year since she stepped down from AEGIS.
It had come time again to march double-time, a phrase in SAINT that meant, full on sprinting, "You're supposed to be soldiers, not a traveling circus! If you don't shape up, I'll have you all wearing clown shoes and juggling grenades! And don't even get me started on your marching! You look like a herd of confused penguins trying to salsa dance!"
The eighth new Drill sergeant came to relieve the last one adding to the running theme,"I've got news for you, recruits. This isn't a comedy show, this is the military! You're here to learn how to defend defend the Empire, not audition for a sitcom! Now, get your act together and start acting like real soldiers!"
Katerina pushed herself off the earth and began slithering forward at a brisk pace, the tip of her tail instinctively moving in such a way to cover the tracks she made in the sand. She pushed her way forward faster, slithering next to the new drill instructor. Before she could make it a ticking aether grenade landed directly between her and the next obstacle course, every one of them in the blast radius.
She knew this drill. Well, if SAINT were going to put her through selection again she could at least be the model maggot. "Grenade!" She called out as her tail coiled behind her and sprung out to propel her forward, the rest of the cadre hitting the dirt. She coiled around it with her lower body. In a combat situation, depending on the grenade being used she could survive a hit to her lower extremities and maybe even stay conscious enough to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience.
Moments passed and nothing happened until the face of a dark-haired man appeared, the cloak of his Type 31 Operative Suit fading out. "I'm guessing you're going to be my team's shield.. you know, you could've kicked it too, but I guess the Mindy would've actually absorbed most of the blast," he mused.
"I don't have feet." Katerina replied with a deadpan tone, looking up from her position, then sighed before continuing. "Also while true its a valid option, the point of the grenade in training is traditionally used as a reaction exercise, to see where you are in your indoc. I got the impression I was supposed to play the role of a recruit."
"Well after that you shouldn't have to play recruit again. I'm assembling a team. The mission is as classified as it get but the circumstances aren't so bad. Want to join me in the AC?"
"It is a little warm out here," Katerina replied with a cautious inflection, her bifurcated tongue whipped out of her mouth reflexively for a split second "Sure."
A truck that'd been in the distance had finally made it's way to the gathered 'trainees' with assorted sighs of relief coming from the operatives. The Drill sergeant chimed in, "Not likely, you sorry bunch of Sunday strollers! I've seen snails move faster than you lot! You're walking back to base! Fall in!"
The chorus of grumbling was only met with more banter from the Rikugun sergeant who'd probably waited her entire life to have a herd of scary spooks on her leash.
Katerina watched the Sergent march off, inwardly imagining a scenario in which she was voluntold to be the Separa's subject to demonstrate the use of tourniquets on. With another exhale she let the thought go; they were all just doing their job. She got in the back of the truck and coiled her long body on the seat beside her. The Separa didn't say much to the man, simply looking out the window with as close to a bored expression as she could muster. He wouldn't say anything of note until they got to a more secure location, and she would give him as little information as possible until that time. The Game was sometimes a pain in the ass.
Katerina dealt with the heat better than most of the others in her cadre, her long serpentine body stretched out along the ground. The Serapa had no context as to why she was out on a PT exam, sometimes SAINT asked her to do things that seemed strange but she trusted had an underlying purpose. She did not appreciate being called an amateur however; she'd done her time in basic and selection, and had been deployed on several high risk missions. She felt that she'd done her time as a 'maggot' and was entitled to the baseline of respect. She communicated this with an apathetic glare at the drill instructor, looking up as she pumped them out with barely any effort. Katerina hadn't let herself go soft in the year since she stepped down from AEGIS.
It had come time again to march double-time, a phrase in SAINT that meant, full on sprinting, "You're supposed to be soldiers, not a traveling circus! If you don't shape up, I'll have you all wearing clown shoes and juggling grenades! And don't even get me started on your marching! You look like a herd of confused penguins trying to salsa dance!"
The eighth new Drill sergeant came to relieve the last one adding to the running theme,"I've got news for you, recruits. This isn't a comedy show, this is the military! You're here to learn how to defend defend the Empire, not audition for a sitcom! Now, get your act together and start acting like real soldiers!"
Katerina pushed herself off the earth and began slithering forward at a brisk pace, the tip of her tail instinctively moving in such a way to cover the tracks she made in the sand. She pushed her way forward faster, slithering next to the new drill instructor. Before she could make it a ticking aether grenade landed directly between her and the next obstacle course, every one of them in the blast radius.
She knew this drill. Well, if SAINT were going to put her through selection again she could at least be the model maggot. "Grenade!" She called out as her tail coiled behind her and sprung out to propel her forward, the rest of the cadre hitting the dirt. She coiled around it with her lower body. In a combat situation, depending on the grenade being used she could survive a hit to her lower extremities and maybe even stay conscious enough to stop the bleeding, but it wouldn't be an enjoyable experience.
Moments passed and nothing happened until the face of a dark-haired man appeared, the cloak of his Type 31 Operative Suit fading out. "I'm guessing you're going to be my team's shield.. you know, you could've kicked it too, but I guess the Mindy would've actually absorbed most of the blast," he mused.
"I don't have feet." Katerina replied with a deadpan tone, looking up from her position, then sighed before continuing. "Also while true its a valid option, the point of the grenade in training is traditionally used as a reaction exercise, to see where you are in your indoc. I got the impression I was supposed to play the role of a recruit."
"Well after that you shouldn't have to play recruit again. I'm assembling a team. The mission is as classified as it get but the circumstances aren't so bad. Want to join me in the AC?"
"It is a little warm out here," Katerina replied with a cautious inflection, her bifurcated tongue whipped out of her mouth reflexively for a split second "Sure."
A truck that'd been in the distance had finally made it's way to the gathered 'trainees' with assorted sighs of relief coming from the operatives. The Drill sergeant chimed in, "Not likely, you sorry bunch of Sunday strollers! I've seen snails move faster than you lot! You're walking back to base! Fall in!"
The chorus of grumbling was only met with more banter from the Rikugun sergeant who'd probably waited her entire life to have a herd of scary spooks on her leash.
Katerina watched the Sergent march off, inwardly imagining a scenario in which she was voluntold to be the Separa's subject to demonstrate the use of tourniquets on. With another exhale she let the thought go; they were all just doing their job. She got in the back of the truck and coiled her long body on the seat beside her. The Separa didn't say much to the man, simply looking out the window with as close to a bored expression as she could muster. He wouldn't say anything of note until they got to a more secure location, and she would give him as little information as possible until that time. The Game was sometimes a pain in the ass.