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  • 📅 February and March 2024 are YE 46.2 in the RP.

RP: ZHS [S2:E3] Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls On A Battlefield?

Reynolds

Well-Known Member
RP Date
YE 41
RP Location
Tsubomi, Yamatai
ZHS Educational Battlefield, Tsubomi's Ward 4, Yamatai
Spring, YE 41
Trigger Happy Havoc

"I am Joto Heisho Skadi Aven," announced the green-eyed Neko as she stood at perfect parade rest, arms behind her back and feet squared. "I will instruct you on how to shoot, and how to survive."

Those piercing eyes, which seemed to see every detail, scanned the students impassively. Much like Addaiel's did sometimes.

"I," she continued, breaking the dead silence of the shooting range, the only noise being the chirping of birds far away. "am not your friend. I am your instructor. I will be hard to please. I will not play favorites."

For a moment, Addaiel felt her eyes bore into his, and he squirmed a bit in his seat. His mother might have been trying to play a bigger role in his life, but it was clear that here their family ties wouldn't count for anything.

"I will challenge you, because the world you are entering does not allow for mistakes. There will come moments where the only thing standing between you and death is a well-placed shot." said Skadi, her eyes losing focus for just a moment. But the older Neko wrenched herself back to the present. Her eyes softened, and she smiled warmly at her charges. "However, do not take this to mean that I am unkind. I will keep regular office hours. There are no stupid questions. I will do everything in my power to help you succeed. So please, pay attention, and try to have fun."

"Laid out on the tables before you are the new PAAR-40 rifles, which as of now are not standard issue, so please be careful with them. They will most likely be your first rifle you receive upon joining the Star Army." Skadi announced, gesturing to the tables, where the pristine rifles sat. "You will not be firing them today. Not for a little while, at least. In order to become a marksman of the highest caliber, one must know their weapon inside and out. Today, you will learn the basics of stripping your weapon, and you will not fire your weapon until you can take it apart and name each piece and its function."

"Any questions?" Skadi asked. When she was met with silence, her grin widened. "Let's begin."

----------

"Secure the joint Keiko! Secure the joint! You need to immobilize the joint to apply pressure. Without pressure there is no pain, without pain there is no need to stop fighting."

The short haired blonde Neko stood over Keiko and Gunny, arms crossed and face painted in a scowl.

"Secure the joint like I showed you, then raise your hips. If you raise your hips before that she can twist her arm and relieve the pressure!"

She let her eyes roam the room as other students had squared off and began their own sparing. Students grappled and fought for position against one another in an effort to subdue their opponents. She had dropped this mock test on them, but this wasn't the only part of class today. A small gust of wind whipped up through the training grounds, a field surrounded by a wooded area. No, today would be a fun day for the Neko as she let herself grin a little.

Another five minutes before a small horn went off to the side of the students.

"OK! Warmups are done! I hope everyone is ready, today is test day..."

Some of the students groaned, this was their first test Hoshiko had put up and again, it was a surprise.

"Everyone that won a fight, you're to stay here. If you lost, head into the woods. You have a half an hour to spread out, recon the forest, and set up an ambush."

The students looked around confused for a moment before they looked back to Hoshiko.

"Passing for team A, get through the woods. Passing for team B, Do not let a single member of team A out of the woods. You have a half an hour, get to it."

----------

Skadi stepped slowly through the woods, a peaceful look on her face as she took in a deep breath of fresh air. She paused in a clearing, surveying the scenery with her hands on her hips.

Seemingly at random, the older Neko ambled forward a few steps, crunching leaves under her boots as she went. Then, without warning, she settled down on her haunches and pinched a lock of raven hair that was protruding oddly from a tangle of tall grasses and leaves. Her emerald eyes sparkled playfully, and she flashed a white-toothed grin that looked like it might devolve into giggles at any moment. She was so proud of her younglings. They learned quickly. But they had so much farther to go. Skadi tugged on the stray lock, eliciting a small yelp from the girl. She pulled up Tenshi's mud-covered face to meet her eyes. The young girl was covered from head to toe in leaves, grass, and other ornaments to help her blend in.

"Very good, little one." Murmured Skadi in an almost motherly tone. She then raised a finger and wagged it for emphasis. "But remember: details, details, details! Always pay attention to details when trying to blend in. If even the smallest detail is out of place, your ruse will fail."

"Come. Let's find the others." Skadi ordered after pulling Tenshi to her feet and wiping the leaves from the girl's hair.

----------

"You waited too long! They were past the point you could spring your ambush and cut them off."

Hoshiko stood over several of her students, arms crossed yet again as she peered down at the failing team.

"You set the trap perfectly, great positioning of personnel, good location to give you a chance of taking down everyone, you even left backs to catch anyone that escaped your net. The set up was impeccable, but if that is all there is to your trap, it's doomed to fail."

Hoshiko looked over at the second team, whom had won the exercise, yet she wasn't fully pleased with them either.

"You may have escaped, but if this was a live environment, your mission would have failed. Three-quarters of your team was captured, and if there had been live fire, the other quarter of your team would have been to injured to continue their mission. You need to be better aware of your surroundings, send scouts ahead, create false trails and teams. Understand that while the goal is for everyone to survive, in an unknown situation, a few sacrifices for the good of the team can be acceptable."

She stood between the two teams and looked back and forth before she flicked her chin.

"Do the assignment again. This time, teams reversed, and do not use the same ambush point."

----------

Ambush Teacher: Hisae HoshikoEvasion Teacher: Skadi Aven
Team A (Evasion R1, Ambush R2)Team B (Ambush R1, Evasion R2)
Piano Mezzo Forte (Escaped)Keiko Surino
Hankyo Seki (Captured)Addaiel Ryu
Hankyo Nerai (Captured)Gunnhild Grimsdottir
Defa Urutobai (Captured?)Fuyakawa Tenshi
 
To say that Keiko was disappointed in herself would be putting it mildly, losing in her sparring match had put the red neko in the closest thing to a bad mood any of her classmates would have seen, the usually serious girl had obtained a scowl. Her displeasure was only further displayed during the first forest exercise, having shown no mercy to the unlucky girl caught in her sights. With the lecture still in her mind Keiko had gone straight for the kill and pinned poor Seki, keeping an iron grip on her and being extra thorough with her joints as she'd been scolded for. The other girl was lucky to not have several broken bones after that.

Now the red neko stood off to the side as they waited for the other team to head into the woods, shoulders heaving and thoughts swirling. It wasn't that Keiko hated losing or failing, but the fact that she had been beaten so completely by someone she should be more than a match for. The girl wondered if she needed to hone her mind once more, it seemed she'd become soft and undisciplined since last year, she was too concerned with hurting people instead of completing her objective.

But at the same time she didn't want to turn into a ruthless fighter, she liked her new friends and felt a sense of comradery with all the students even the ones from other wings of the school. After all, even though she may have kept her status a secret there were still others who knew of it, the other queens for one.

As they waited for the go-ahead to try and escape the forest Keiko came up with a plan, in a one-on-one fight against any of the opposing team she could beat them, so long as she stayed focused and was prepared to render them unable to move if required. To her team she could be a valuable asset to fend off the ambushers, the looks their instructors had weren't reassuring either it seemed like they had other plans of their own as well. As if it was some kind of signal that she was done playing around, Keiko removed her glasses and placed them in a pocket, there was nothing wrong with her eyes but she loved those glasses dearly and didn't want them being shattered from a surprise attack.

The red neko looked around at her dorm-mates silently, she wasn't their leader and they all knew she was quiet and shy. That wasn't to say Keiko didn't have tactical knowledge but her goal wasn't to captain a ship by the end of this and so she waited to see if the others suggested any plans.
 
Gunnhild gave a few enthusiastic nods and sounds of contentment as they were told to ready up for the next round, the yellow girl's face and hair caked with a good bit of dirt but it didn't seem to phase the wannabe gunslinger one bit as her slightly fuzzier than usual tail could be seen whipping about excitedly. Addi's Mum was a far cry from Mister H but in a cool way, like the silent badass that every action movie needed and Gunny was determined to get on Mrs Sniper Mum's good side even if just for the right to be able to brag about it.

She'd been told to raise her hips and so the wide-hipped 33a had done so, when she was told to shoot the tigress had happily asked how far to zero her rifle - by no means was Gunny following orders blindly but she was being better-behaved than usual... mostly, her tail began flicking across to play with Tenshi's thigh as they all stood there, the tip gently whipping the Raven-cat's limb.

Muddied and coated in a butterscotch-scented sheen of perspiration she was still eager to get this done, looking across to Keiko with a grin that faded into a furrowed brow as Gunny saw her Tomato-hued friend's expression, deciding to run one finger down the red girl's nose and leave a small smudge of wet dirt there before speaking, "Cheer up Toma, they'll hear your scowl from a mile away, you big red nerd you," Gunnhild tried to cheer her up a bit with a warmer smile gracing her features once more, ocean-blue eyes piercing through the grit and grime that had settled there.
 
"That's physically impossible Gunnhild." The red neko said without a hint of emotion, raising a finger to wipe the mud off and flick it to the floor. She didn't care if the rest of her uniform already had bits of grass and mud on it, Keiko just wasn't in the mood for messing around right now unfortunately for poor Gunny. "You should be preparing for the fight ahead, we're not the hiding team anymore so there's no need for camouflage anymore." This was punctuated by Keiko placing a heavy hand on Gunnhild's shoulder and staring her dead in the eyes with her serious face on. "We cannot allow ourselves to be distracted before combat, a clear and calm mind is a deadly mind and this could be the difference between life and death."
 
"And yet, I hear it," Tenshi answered. Her face a mess of caked and dry mud. "How peculiar," she added with a soft chuckle, flicking a branch from her raven hair. The hairpieces she usually wore, metallic silver or gold, seemed to be replaced by a wooden variant. Indigenous to the forest, Gunny would even remember the lithe Neko staying up late carving it out. "Anyhow - we have the advantage here," Tenshi piped up, softly scraping her throat. "We know several places they could lay in ambush, plan around it if need be," she added with a shrug. "Anyone remember any particular spots?"
 
Addaiel

Boy, did he remember. Addaiel used to curse his photographic memory, a gift from mom. But here, in a mock-battlefield, it was a god-send. The catboy's eyes became unfocused as his mind raced over the last thirty or so minutes.

"There's the narrow ravine to the northwest. Marked by the lightning-struck pine tree on the left side. To the east lies the clearing. There's a bird's nest high in the trees around it, and the grass is tall enough to conceal us if we crawl. They may also expect us to use the large boulder as a landmark- the one shaped like a squash lying on its side and moss growing on top." he recited dreamily. It may have been a little unsettling at first to his classmates, the way he just knew odd things like that. But no doubt after a few exercises like the one they were doing today, they saw the value of a teammate who could remember an entire map after a few minutes of looking at it.

He may not have been the best fighter, but Addi sure made one hell of a Ranger. Put him in the front, and he would blaze a path through the wilderness he knew like the back of his hand. His extreme attention to detail and perceptiveness also made him a natural at detecting potential ambushes.

Skadi

A soft, calming hand came down on Keiko's shoulders, and the students' wilderness and marksmanship instructor stepped around the irritated neko to face her students. A far-cry from Hoshiko's rage, Skadi's face was soft, and her eyes warm. She was dressed in a military coverall with the sleeves rolled up, and carried water bottles. She passed them out to everyone. Cold water in the hot sun was an insane morale booster. All this running and fighting and sweating and dirt had a way of making tempers flair.

"Calm. You are right! A soldier remains calm. But this is not real combat, so do please try to have fun as well!" she told Keiko. She placed her hands on her hips and beamed with almost motherly pride at her younglings. But those tranquil green eyes flashed with... something. Not anger, but something much colder and refined. She would be having a word with Hoshiko. Her children did not need to be snapped at. This was not boot camp, and Hoshiko was no drill sergeant! Yes, criticism was important, but these students needed to be encouraged and guided. "Focusing too hard will make one overthink every action, which will lead to new mistakes as you try to overcompensate for your previous mistake. So, yes, be calm, but be relaxed and in a positive state of mind. You will do better next time."

She addressed the rest of the team. "A soldier remains optimistic! Yes, for the most part, your ambush was poorly executed. Why wouldn't it be? You've never ambushed anyone! While your timing was off, that will be corrected with practice. Focus on what went right. Your tactics and concealment were near perfect, a fact that I am very proud of, and you should be too." declared Skadi as she stood before them in her unconscious parade rest. She paused for a moment to allow her words to sink in.

"Now comes the fun part of our Friday activity! Remember, details! Details! Details! You are evading, and concealment is your friend. Do whatever you can to stay invisible, because the best ambush is the one you avoid. Do not use verbal communication when you are being hunted, do not take the well-worn path, do not leave tracks, and never surrender to the enemy or self-doubt. Most importantly of all, have fun! We are playing a game that is meant to be both educational and entertaining. Furthermore..."

Skadi looked to each face in the group, and her smile widened even further. Motivational speeches were good and all, but Skadi learned that sometimes a more physical prize was needed.

"Tonight, I will go and buy the winning team Nekoburger, while the losing team eats from the cafeteria as always."
 
"I just have one little question really, uh, well are we allowed to use our volumetrics?" the yellow girl asked as she scratched her head a little before leaning against Tenshi's side a little, though barely any of Gunnhild's weight would be felt as she continued speaking.

"Because well... I just realized I'm muddy as fuck and that's not really all that good now is it? it flakes off and I got some in by pants so surely if that rule wasn't told to us then we can just camo up that way yeah?" the loud-mouthed gunslinger brought up an interesting point, it hadn't been said aloud or at least her stupid human-shaped ears hadn't heard it... which was a big possibility but not the first one that came to mind, Gunny was far too proud for that to be the case.

"I only ask because I want those damn burgers..."
 
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Keiko felt a pang of annoyance as Tenshi joked about her scowl as well, clearly neither of these two were taking it seriously. The red neko only made it a couple of steps before Skadi had confronted her and began her amazing speech. She seemed to be intent on them having fun and enjoying this, but that wasn’t how she operated.

“I appreciate your words but I am sorry to inform you that I cannot take such exercises lightly, fun is a luxury for free time. Please excuse me I must prepare.” Keiko finished, her hair swaying slightly as she turned and moved off by herself. Sitting cross legged on the ground while she went over potential outcomes in her mind. Burgers were of little concern to her, it was skills and results that mattered.
 
Skadi

The older neko watched Keiko move away with a sad look in her eyes. But none the less, she smiled and shook her head. This youngling was much too serious. She had never seen real combat, yet she treated a mere game as if it were life or death. She would learn in time, as Skadi had, to appreciate moments like these. To appreciate the camaraderie and smile. She just needed time. She was outrageously motivated and a high-achiever, but "people skills" were definitely something she needed to work on, lest she become a SAINT agent.

Skadi shivered a little at that horrifying thought.

Meanwhile, Skadi turned to Gunny. This youngling was much too carefree, but Skadi did so enjoy her enthusiasm. Gunny would make an exemplary sister in arms some day, with her "first in, last out" attitude and prodigal marksmanship. But first, the youngling would need to learn to control her impulsiveness. Skadi would help her with that, but the elder neko would be careful to keep things in balance. Too much discipline, and that fire would die. Too little, and it would rage out of control and hurt someone. Skadi placed her hands behind her back and gave Gunny a stern look.

"The Star Army of Yamatai holds itself to a very high standard of etiquette. As such, we do not use such language. Now, while you may use volumetrics, there are reasons I have not touched on them in our lessons. At least not yet." she explained, then spread her limbs. The air above her body shimmered a little, and green grass began to grow from her skin. It began to encompass her whole body, but it was not the long, wild grasses that grew in the wilds. This grass was no more than two inches tall, resembling nothing like the "ghilly suit" that Gunny had most likely envisioned and making Skadi resemble an odd, furry green monster. Indeed, her bulky coverall began to poke out from beneath the green.

"Your volumetrics have limits, Gunny. Any projections you make will only go out to about two inches maximum. And unless we're fighting on a manicured front lawn, nothing you come up with will be able to effectively match the untamed wilderness. This is why I teach the 'old methods' of concealment first. Furthermore, one day your technology will fail, but a well-made cover will not." Skadi went on, mind flashing back to the days of the First Mishhu War, when soldiers did not have as many fancy features, then pointed to a tree. "Volumetrics work best when attempting to match colors and patterns. Such as the bark on this tree. But I ask you- and please answer honestly- with only a few minutes maximum to examine this pattern, do you think you could replicate it perfectly? Your volumetrics are controlled by your focus and imagination. Could you reproduce each individual crack and scrape on your skin? Every bump? This is another reason I teach the old ways first: details matter.

And finally, the reason I teach the old ways first is the same reason this school focuses on martial arts in an age of firearms and ranged combat. Learning to use your body, the only weapon at man's disposal before one figured out how to sharpen a stick into a spear, teaches you the mindset of a warrior. Likewise, learning the ways of the wilderness, and learning to become one with it, teaches you the mindset of a hunter."


Skadi inhaled and closed her eyes, praying her lessons got through to her students. She spent many nights thinking of the future, of what hellscapes they would be sent to following their graduation and recruitment into the Star Army. She silently begged Chiharu that one day, her lectures would save at least one of them, for she knew that not all would be as fortunate as her. Fifteen years of active infantry, and not once had she been killed. Sure, their kind could use a backup and create a clone, but Skadi had yet to meet one neko who had not awoken changed.

That was enough discipline. It was time for motivation, in a fashion that Skadi was sure Gunny would be receptive to. Skadi reopened her emerald eyes, which now glinted with a mischievous challenge. Her red lips spread into a coy smirk, sending a fierce challenge to the gunslinger.

"However, I understand your aversion to all this mud and grime. It's really not for everyone. If you'd like, I can take you back to the school so you can clean up. We'll see if we can find a student on the other team willing to take your place. You won't get burgers, but I hear the cafeteria is serving fried rice tonight, which honestly sounds very delicious..."

Skadi watched Gunny with those stern, but vibrant eyes, hoping the youngling would take the bait. If she'd observed anything, it was that Gunny never turned down a dare, and that she would rather give her right hand than abandon her friends.

Addaiel

Addi, meanwhile, moved away and lowered himself to the ground. He willed himself to melt into it. Anything to escape the embarrassment that was his mother. Was this how he would end up in fifteen years?!
 
Hoshiko watched Skadi as she went about her chat with Gunny, eyes narrowed a little and arms crossed. The diminutive SAINT agent felt like she was thinking something about her, but couldn't prove anything of course. Instead, she opted for the next best path and moved closer to Keiko. She seemed to be, at least in Hoshiko's eyes, the best candidate for SAINT work. The girl was driven to the point where she would force success on her own if need be, and as an operative alone in the field, this was a necessity. The Neko was silent as she stalked closer to the younger girl and spoke only when within arms reach.

"You did everything right up until the execution. There was hesitation because you overthought your approach. Thinking is good, but overthinking leads to failure and death. You need to trust your instincts better and understand that information is good, but experience is golden. You will begin to see things differently as you train more, chances to take down enemies, different paths for the same objective, and better ways you could have done something."

The blonde Neko looked the student over before she crouched. A finger in the dirt, she created a rough sketch of the area the first team had set up their ambush and pointed to it.

"Had you another chance, where would you set your people up, and when would you spring your trap?" She asked and looked up at Keiko, icy blue eyes boring into her to force her to answer. She needed Keiko to understand where she had gone wrong, what she should have done differently, and what she can do better. There were things the SAINT agent had seen, but more than the wrong and failure, she wanted to see where Keiko could improve.
 
"OH, uh, I understand, Miss Hoshiko. I will do better in future and continue my training." Keiko said, whipping round and standing straight as she was snuck up on by the teacher. Another pang of failure going through her as the red neko grimaced slightly under her gaze. Keiko simply nodded along with most of what Hoshiko had to say until she gave her pop quiz. That steely gaze nearly causing Keiko to wilt and hideaway, but with a burst of determination the red neko gulped and crouched down to look at the map as well, "Well, we should have widened our area, if I had more people to work with we should have someone hidden to move in behind the enemy team and trap them, but with just the four of us we need to be able to adapt to how the enemy team moves. We can't entrench ourselves and expect them to just walk into the centre of a trap."

Keiko thought about the question a little more as her brow creased, instinctively she moved a finger to push her glasses back up her nose and paused when she realised she'd already taken them off. "We can't spring the trap too early or they'll be able to escape back the way they came in, too late and they'll squeeze out the other side, and as the attackers, we have to have at least equal or greater numbers to keep them occupied."

The girl looked up to Hoshiko with an unsure expression, she wasn't quite sure about her answer simply because there was so little to work with, but something told her the teacher wouldn't be happy with indecisiveness. "I'm sorry, I don't really know how to plan something like this with so little resources, what do you recommend Sensei?"
 
"Hey, no fair, they're gettin' all this special attention from the teachers!"
"Yeah, no fair!"
"What, just 'cause we're not in the special dorm with their fancy poetry class, we gotta fend for ourselves?"
"Yeah, that's discrimination! Favoritism! Uh, uh, uh...it's uh...it's crap!"
"Yeah, it's crap!"
"Mega crap!"

The Twins lived up to their nickname, nearly impossible to tell apart. Even their voices were identical. Besides the streaks in their hair, the only other giveaway at the moment was the way Seki was cradling one arm, rubbing the sore joint Keiko had handled so roughly when taking down the wily little Neko. Their school uniforms were just as muddy and disheveled as the rest after the first round, skirts hanging unevenly. Their surgical masks were back in place now that they'd caught their breath, black fabric decorated with menacing designs.

"Urusai! We don't need any help. Bakayaro!" A much taller student stepped forward, the two Neko immediately moving to cower behind her. "R-right, we don't need no stupid teachers!" "Yeah, you tell 'em, boss!" They seemed even more emboldened than before, now that their leader had returned. Keiko could still quite clearly remember Seki bawling her eyes out and begging for mercy just a few minutes ago...

"None of you could touch me. I don't think any of you but your pet freak could even see me!" She sneered, hands firmly in the pockets of her long, black uniform pants. Jacket opened wide to reveal white tape wrapped around her torso, doing its best to contain her rather substantial chest. Short billed school cap settled atop long, sleek, raven black hair. "You two can handle the ambush. Make sure the mijuku don't make it anywhere near the finish line. I'll be there waiting for you-" She jutted her chin towards Keiko. "-koshinuke..."

With that, Piano Mezzo Forte, the Vermilion Bird of the South, turned her back on Team B and began to walk away. Head tilted back, a cruel laugh of contempt making even the Twins wince in discomfort before they scurried after her. Team A would have a few minutes head start to prepare their ambush.

Wait, weren't there supposed to be four students on each team? Nevermind, probably not important.
 
Keiko didn’t lift her head as she was insulted and called a pet freak, of course the others in her class would have no way of knowing it was in reference to her status as a Queen. Keiko figured they’d just assume she was being called freak because of her unusual devotion to class and training. As the other girl walked off with her minions, Keiko stood slowly and brushed off her knees with a sigh. It seemed she wouldn’t be getting through this easily.

Moving over to the edge of the forest she waited, waited for the signal to launch, her focus thrown off for once by words, failing to notice the lack of a fourth enemy. Given what the Bird of the South had said it seemed she planned to have the twins attack her friends, probably with underhanded tactics no less. The anger Keiko felt was almost visible in that moment, her fists bunched, those twins would be sorry if she caught sight of them.
 
Tenshi couldn't help feel somewhat bad when Keiko went off to mope. Though she wanted to head over, Hoshiko seemed to beat her to it, before she glanced over to Addaiel who began to speak, recounting what he had seen. A soft nod as she glanced at Gunny, before folding her arms under her chest. "Those are some good landmarks - I've been able to make out several routes to the treetops, I'm not sure about our opponents, but is any of us-... Ehrm. Vertically challenged?" She asked with a faint grin, before bumping her shoulder against Gunny's. "I'll try to lay out some stuff I got - but I'm going to talk to our fourth first," she hummed with a soft breath. "Excuse me miss Hoshiko," Tenshi started, inclining her head before she approached Keiko.

Joining the so-called Queen, though Tenshi had no clue regarding, at her side, the ravenette folded her arms. Glancing at the group that moved off into the forest. "She seems to have it out for you," Tenshi started with a sigh, before glancing at Keiko. Exhaling a soft breath. "Look, we got a shot at erecting our mistakes. And you know as well as I know - we don't stand a chance if we don't work together." Tenshi warned. Before offering a soft pad on Keiko's shoulder. "I don't give a damn about those burgers, I want to pay 'em back as much as you want." She turned on her feet. "So - at least let's plan together, 'kay?" Parting with that question, Tenshi moved back to Gunny and Addaiel, ducking down and gathering a stick. Starting to pull together a rough outline of the forest in the mud. "You got any clue about distances, Addaiel?" She requested, working from the own landmark she's seen, trying to recount the rough estimates she made regarding distance.
 
Addaiel

The "pet freak" himself was currently engrossed in a volumetric map of the area, using a compass function to chart out distances through the various possible routes they could take. From this, he could gauge just how long it would take them to reach their destination. He also took into account things like cover and ambush sites. Generally, the slower ways were safer, but he'd let everyone decide as a group.

Addi was so engrossed, that he didn't hear Forte's stinging words. But he was lucky enough to look up right at the end of the exchange.

His heart stopped, his breathing became difficult. All the world seemed to fade until all he could see was Mezzo, standing radiant in a lone beam of heavenly light. There was even an angelic choir, which was a nice touch.

Piano Mezzo Forte, the Vermillion Bird of the South. Or as Addaiel liked to call her (privately), the song bird, both because it was a good pun and because her voice was like that of a sparrow's soft singing in a spring meadow. Hair like dark silk, a body sculpted by Chiharu herself, and big, shapely.............eyes...

Oh, and she had nice boobs, too.

He grinned like an idiot and raised his hand to wave.

"H-Hey Piano! Good... round..." he tried to call out, but his voice faded as she walked away. Her laugh made him shudder, the sound like sweet music to his ears.
 
Keiko looked solemnly at Tenshi as she was approached and gave a small nod, in turning her head she also noticed Addi seemed to be somewhat interested in their enemy. Mentally she crossed him off the team when it came to the final fight, he could probably fight the twins but she was doubting if he’d lay a finger on Piano.

The red neko walked back to the others and simply stood by awkwardly, her only plan at this point was to fight her way to the other queen and face off with her. Keiko knew she should be contributing but it seemed like the others already had it covered while all she’d accomplished last round was bringing down one of the twins. “What do you want me to do.” Came the serious words from team B’s own White Tiger, who’d simply resigned herself to the role of a playing piece for the team, its not like she’d been the leader any other times after all.
 
Gunnhild's brow creased a bit as Skadi gave what she processed as a long-winded 'don't use volumetrics if you can't keep focus on what you are hiding against, you scatter-brained cat, also clea up your language and if you can't cope with the mud then I guess you can't cut it...' which lit a fire in the tigress, her small frown turning into one of determination with a little huff of steam out her nostrils.

"Fuuu... fuuu.... frick no, I could not do that, Miss S - heck, they could just spy me with thermals anyway so dumb idea on my part, I'm a tomcat, I don't really mind the mud but getting it out of... intimate places afterwards is the hard part. We gonn' get those sons of beaches and we gonn' get mother fricken burgers afterwards, heck yeah~" came Gunnhild's technically squeaky-clean language with a beaming grin after her enthusiastic outburst, her hands clapping together with a giddy energy to prove the teacher wrong before Gunny likewise turned around to squat in the mud with her teammates.

"Hokay... so like, I'm no tactician but I have some ideas for you lot to tell me they're shi... shoddy, uh lessee here..." Gunnhild's blue eyes squinted at the maps both volumetric and mud-drawn that they were looking at, a little scratch of her chin as the wannabe gunslinger in a school filled with martial artists began spilling her beans so to speak.

"Well if Addiboi here can do bird calls then he'd make a perfect scout for us right? dude has eyes like a hawk uh... I'm real good at running so maybe if they start catching on I can run distractions for you lot?" Gunnhild asked, patting her beefy legs with one hand before continuing, "I found something under Tenshi's bed that makes me think she'd be real good at tying knots and she does that fancy hairdo every day so maybe you could scrounge up a slingshot for our resident archer here to use for subterfuge?" she spoke, hand moving from Tenshi to Keiko before offering Addiel a grin.

"Don't even say it, snippy boi, you damn well know a bow is a lot different to a rifle," she tried to dismiss their resident dragon lover before he tried dragging his sniping skills into that argument, a huff and a shrug leaving the talkative tigress' mouth.

"I dunno... probably dumb ideas, what do you big-brain nerds have in mind?"
 
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Keiko wasn’t entirely sure what gave her friend the impression she was any sort of archer, though she supposed Gunny was one of the few people who knew she was a second year student. “I can use a slingshot well, though I’m better with a sword or bare hands.” Keiko confirmed, standing next to the huddled group, the rest of her ideas were sound strategically speaking. At least to the red neko’s ears, time would tell if they held or if their group simply broke back into a collection of individuals rather than a unit.

“I don’t really have any plans, though I think it’s in our best interests to not face Piano 1 on 1. The Divine Queen title is earned not bought in this school, and she showed just how she earned it in the last round.” Keiko thought aloud.
 
Hoshiko watched the girls from the other team with a small smirk as Keiko walked off to rejoin the group. While she was hard on the girl, it was because she saw promise. She could see the girl being a leader in SAINT, but that all fell to how well she could work with others. She needed her to be good, to be better than the others if she was going to recommend her for the program, but there was still time to develop her.

Piano had the personality for a good agent. The analysts within SAINT were stuffy and not really her cup of tea. She preferred to be in the field, but she knew there was use for the others, and while she knew Piano could probably hack it as an Agent, she wasn't sure just where Keiko would fall. For now, she would sit back and watch how her chosen Queen would interact with her team and prayed to herself silently the girl wouldn't rush off and try to be a lone wolf. After a moment she floated back over toward where Skadi was and stood beside her with arms crossed.
 
"Oh sweet Yui," Tenshi murmured with a surpressed giggle as Gunny seemed to suddenly clean up her act. Cussing it out like always - though in a somewhat more kids-friendly type of way. She did regard the departing group with a vile gaze moments before, however. Something inside her was also lit that made her want to kick one of them just straight out of the fight. After all, she was hoping she'd be able to prove herself and walk away with a title today.

Though when a particular item under her bed was brought up, the raven-haired brawler fought off the light tinge of pink on her cheeks and snorted at Gunny, before exhaling a soft breath. "I've several ways to make sure that they won't be able to get away," she admitted while dragging a foot in the dirt next to the muddy map. "Doesn't mean I have rope on hand," though a faintly sadistic smirk found it's way on her lips. "Then again. Clothes also work as restraints when tied right." She added, before glancing over at Keiko. "If you find something stretchy enough - like a scrunchie or a hairband, I can make one," she answered, before shrugging. "I don't do those - hairpins. Though, yeah. Piano's going to be difficult," she rubbed her chin, before glancing back at the rest of them. "I'm... Fairly confident she doesn't need more than two kicks from me," both Gunny and Keiko'd know just how punishing those were. "But hitting her is going to be the hard part," the girl estimated. Glancing back at Addaiel. "Can you imitate the bird calls of those native to the forest? We'll go on recognizing patterns, rather than sound. If any of them realizes they're not indigenous sounds, we might blow our cover."
 
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