Post by Emargine "Azure" Cerola on Mar 24, 2023 9:37:17 GMT -8
OPERATION: COBALT TRAIL
Day 78
Warachia Plains, 226 miles NE of North City
It was a simple question, one that a number of Baby Blues had on their mind. If the Dragoons were simply planning to head North to the coast, why did they have to take a big detour Northeast to Jingle Village? That almost seemed to be the opposite direction they wanted to go. Northern coast indeed.
It wasn't topographically logical. It wasn’t like a straight line was hard to do.
And yet the Colonel had declared a 13-week march, and by all accounts, they were on schedule. At this rate, they would arrive at the coast in less than two weeks, almost surely to the day she had declared it.
Such precise timing.
The only way this could have been possible was that their charted route was indeed intentionally circuitous. Maybe that was the point. She wanted to test them both physically and mentally. That always was her deal when it came to new recruits. But she was always fair enough to openly announce her intentions.
That had always been the deal 13 weeks from West City to the Northern coast. Everybody who signed up agreed to that. And yet, so close to the finish line, quite a number of Baby Blues had dropped out. There were only a few at first. Maybe a small surge when the first physical challenge arose.
Things really picked up after Jingle Village, though. And now, at this current rate, half of the new recruits would have washed out by the time they arrived at the coast.
Which was precisely the Colonel’s plan.
For now, though, those Baby Blues could rest. The Dragoons had set up multiple camps along a river, and they were resting for the next few hours. At least, as much rest as you could get while you were performing camp duties.
The Colonel was nowhere to be found here, however.
No, her present interests were out further ahead along the designated route to the coast. She was there to do two things: reconnoitre the path they were taking, and get some more training done.
Not for herself, no. For her young friend.
The Light Utility Vehicle - which a lot of folks would probably better know as a “jeep”, though to call it such was almost an insult given its armour and minigun mounted on the back - stopped on a gentle slope by a small rocky outcropping. The elevation was good, and one could see quite a ways down from that location. The visibility in that sense was perfect.
Azure stepped out of the jeep and turned around to face the teen who had gotten a back seat, uncomfortably close to the minigun’s mount. She crossed her arms and smiled lightly. ”Well, Roderick, this is it. What do you think?”
Aside from the rocky outcroppings and the impression of the snow-covered dirt road, it was… snow for miles, with a pine forest at the top of the slope. The ground wasn’t flat by any means, but it wasn’t too steep that you couldn’t get good footing. Good for a spar, if you wanted to do that.
It wasn’t the time yet, though. At least, not immediately with her. There would have to be an initial assessment first.
She had been teaching Roderick ki manipulation for the past week or so now, mainly the basics. Occasionally, she would go on tangents to help him come up with some ki techniques he might have imagined in between sessions.There was definitely promise in what he was doing. With enough training, he was going to put that power level to good use.
For now, though, she was going to see just what he could do. ”Today, we’re going to see what you can do physically. Once I’ve got a read on your CQC skills, I can further tailor your training to match it.”
Azure held up her hand, and Corporal Maples stepped out of the driver’s seat to form up in front of his CO. ”Yes, Boss?”
”Maples, you’re it today. I’ll watch you boys get into a scrap for a minute or so, and I’ll have my assessment after.” To see how rough she could afford to be on him.
”You got it, Boss!” Maples was no pushover, of course, being in the First Squad of First Platoon, Bravo Company. One of the best Auxiliaries, so to speak. The only reason he wasn’t kicking tail in a suit of power armour was that there weren’t enough. So while his CQC wasn’t on the Colonel’s level, he could defend himself against most normals.
This one time, he took out a Tigerman in a bar down in the Central Lands. All by himself.
But ultimately, his purpose was to test Roderick, not knock him out. If there was any knocking out that would go on, the Colonel would do it herself, once she assessed Roderick’s status.
Maples cracked his gloved knuckles and took turned to face Roderick. ”Well kid, you heard the Boss. A quick-hitting minute so she can see how much you can dish out.”
At any rate, there was no shortage of room to fight. The slope just made things slightly uncomfortable, but Azure knew well that a pebble in your boot meant you would get antsy to do something about it, instead of just sitting around doing nothing.
[921/921]
Roderick