3769/Axe-ing for Training

Axe-ing for Training
Date of Scene:	06 February 2016
Location:	Njorun Station - Ring of Philosophy
Synopsis:	Nagato wanted training with a melee weapon, Yuna offered to help.
Cast of Characters:	385, Nagato

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Nagato has posed:
    Mid afternoon and Nagato's in the Ring properly, poking at a few things upon the control panel to make it similar to a certain location in ALO, the forest outside of Freelia. It was a familiar location for Nagato at least and it served to give the Battleship some comfort. Once she's satisfied with the settings, she leans on one of the 'tree's, and lets out a small sigh. She's without most of her equipment this time, the only thing hanging off her back was a very large double bladed vibro-axe, something gifted to her by Staren.

    "This might be better than my own equipment in tighter spaces... or in the Mirrored Forest." she looks around, waiting for her sparring partner. At least it wouldn't be Momoyo this time around... even if she could go all out in training with her. "Kagurazaka should be here shortly."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Sure enough, Yuna arrives in the Ring just a moment or so after Nagato's prediction. Rather than sporting her Fleet gear, Yuna's already transformed into her Light Suit, and Elner is flitting along next to her. "Good evening!" Yuna calls out with a cheerful, friendly smile and a wave - although the wave metamorphoses into a somewhat-awkward salute, as if she's remembering a little too late that Nagato is also one of her superiors.

Still ... for Yuna, Nagato is mostly 'Admiral' when it comes to the Fleet Daughters, and Yuna tends to think of her in less formal, more friendly terms away from Hikari Sea Port. There's also the fact that their 'seniority' is flipped on its head (and diluted by being 'fellow players' more than anything else) in ALO, which is where the whole question of melee training came up from to start with.

Elner flies up and off to the side to watch the two as Yuna comes to a halt facing Nagato, stretching. "You warm up already?" the blonde asks, still smiling.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato looks up from her leaning, giving a brief nod towards Yuna when she makes her entrance with the wavesalute. "At ease, Yuna. And good evening." the friendly smile given has one given back towards her superior subordinate. "I've warmed up, yes, I should be good to sortie for this training exercise. I do hope the location chosen is okay, it felt more... comfortable." Nagato pulls the axe off her back and holds it in one hand, letting the blade touch ground.

    "I figured learning weapon based close quarters combat would be a valuable experience when I cannot take my land fit with me for any reasons. And thank you for assisting with this training." Nagato gives a brief salute for thanks, only to look around. A nod is given towards Elner, before facing down her Light Suit clad trainer. "Whenever you're ready, Yuna."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods, stretching a little more for the sake of her own warm-up, and considers the size of Nagato's axe while she's doing that. "So how's the weight on your weapon?" she inquires. "There are a couple of different aspects to melee combat, and somebody with a big, heavy weapon has to fight differently from someone with a smaller, faster, more maneuverable blade. Basically, with an axe like that, you're probably going to want to power through an opponent's defenses, whereas ..."

She finishes stretching, then holds her right arm out, a sleek, angular sword appearing in her hand with a blink of light. "A sword like this is more for trying to slip through an opponent's guard, or for getting the opponent to leave herself open so I can take advantage of it," she continues explaining. "On the flip side, though, if you're going to parry attacks with that axe - and you'll likely need to - then you have to get used to anticipating an incoming strike and getting your axe into position to block or deflect the strike."

Not that lighter weapons are immune to the whole 'see the blow coming before your enemy swings' principle, of course ...

Nagato has posed:
    A loud pop is heard as Nagato stretches her neck and shoulders, getting herself ready, though the question about her axe is given and... "It's heavy, but it has the similar feel to what I use as Tana." she twists the blade a bit to place her other hand on it, nodding slightly as things are explained to her. Though, when Yuna's own lighter weapon comes into view, "So this will be defensive and offensive training against light weapon users." she comments, though with a heavy thunk, she sets the axe upon its head, holding onto the handle tightly.

    "Anticipation, repositioning and keeping guard up. Perhaps this is more different than what I was expecting. No matter." Nagato keeps her eyes on Yuna, nodding with everything she says, "I believe there shall be many more training sessions to come."

    And many more battleship versus destroyer.

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"There's only so much you can train on either offense or defense without bringing the other into things," Yuna observes with a smile. "Put it this way: you have to be able to protect yourself until your opponent leaves herself vulnerable, *and* you need to be ready to take advantage as soon as you see that opening. Soloing in a game like ALO only works so long as you can balance those two requirements; once you're in a party, or a raid group, you can either focus on weathering an enemy's attacks while your teammates focus on offense, or *you* can focus on offense while a member of your party holds the enemy's attention and endures its attacks. I don't know if anyone's mentioned 'tanking' to you yet ... ?"

Yuna regards Nagato's axe for a few more seconds, then murmurs, "Shugoseiheki," and materializes her kite shield as well, shifting her sword to a one-handed grip. "Given how heavy that axe looks, you'd probably blow right through my guard if I'm trying to just defend with my own sword," she notes, grinning ruefully. "So. Ready to get started?"

Nagato has posed:
    "I see. Up until now, I haven't had to worry about ... getting hit. Usually the axe just finishes it off. And no, no one's mentioned 'tanking' yet. Though, apparently a couple do this 'tanking' thing, they're usually larger than me..." she seems only slightly put off about this, but Nagato regains her composure and gives a brief nod. "I'm only passingly familiar with party play, only did a few to complete quests, most of it, I've just been on my own."

    The kite shield's now in view and Nagato gets into a familiar stance, the same one she uses in ALO for her axe. "The safties are on here so you do not have to worry about damaging me. And vice versa." that grin gets a strange look from Nagato, something didn't feel right about it. She gives a brief nod at the question and steels herself for something incoming, "I am ready, Yuna. Shall we get going?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"No point in standing around admiring each other's stances, right?" Yuna asks with a more cheerful grin.

And she charges, keeping her shield up and ready as she - well, she's not simply *running* at Nagato. It's a quick advance, but she could jog faster ... *if* she weren't hefting a kite shield and a sword, one in each hand. It's Shugoseiheki that slows her down more, really, but safeties or no safeties, Yuna's not about to simply charge at somebody whose weapon could cleave her in half (or further) with a single swing. Sure, she's got her Light Suit's defenses in addition to the Ring's own systems, but ... still. That big of an axe is *intimidating* in its own right.

But being intimidated doesn't stop Yuna from trying to get in close, actually trying to maneuver around Nagato in a third or so of a circle, and attempting to slash at the battleship girl's side.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato gives a nod and watches the advancing paladin carefully. Without her normal equipment, she can't judge speed or intended direction, but this was more for her benefit than anything. The reaction time to the sword strike is there, but with how heavy that axe is to get into position, the blade makes a connection... with the axe head moving at a rapid speed towards the intended destination, Yuna's shield before using the momentum to make an advance of her own towards the paladin.

    Nagato spins around once and with what looks to be a lot of effort, brings the axe up and around, only to try an overhead swing with it, only to back away regardless of a hit or miss. "MMm... that felt different compared to Tana's attacks..." she muttered, "No matter, let's continue."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Fortunately for Yuna, her shield is VERY sturdy - but the overhand axe-swing still drops her to one knee as she winces audibly at the impact. "That's the other thing," she replies, lowering her shield's bottom corner to the 'ground' for extra leverage in getting back to both feet. "ALO is a virtual environment, so the game itself 'helps' with your swings to some extent - even if it's small, the game gives you more of a fighting chance than if a complete combat novice had to grab a weapon and fight to defend herself against monsters trying to kill her. You don't have that kind of help outside of the game, though; you're dealing with *real* physics, not the game's simulation of them, and your actual muscles instead of the virtual body you have as Tana."

Rather than slashing this time, she goes for a thrust - still keeping her shield ready to block Nagato's next expected swing. Yuna's practically peeking around the edge of her shield as she goes for her attack.

Nagato has posed:
    Nagato notices the wince and pulls back, bringing the hilt of her axe up to let the blade skim off off it and away from her body. She does wonder how the safties of this place would work with a lethal blow, but she's not about to test that as she readies up, hefting the axe in both hands again, giving a bit of a nod... "So you're saying ALO is helping me use this?" as the battleship slowly starts to circle the paladin. "I felt like it was all on my own doing. Tch, looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me."

    With knowledge that the shield is still intact, she's going to go for this again, aiming straight for the shield, she swings back and makes a lumberjack chop towards that shield, a low angle downward slice to it, hoping to knock the paladin at least off her feet, if at least onto her rear end. "If this is too much, we can end the training. My intention isn't to injure you beyond what is nessecary for learning."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods approvingly at Nagato's parry, adding a more audible, "Good!" to acknowledge it. Sure, it was a stupidly simple attack and an equally simple response, but still, she DID divert Yuna's sword from finding its mark. (And she's not about to test the safeties either.)

The follow-up chop aimed at Yuna's shield is telegraphed hard enough for Yuna to brace properly this time, though. She plants her feet, actually digging the shield's bottom corner into the ground for good measure, and tenses up -

**WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG**

"- Gyiiiii ... !!" Yuna's pained noise is somewhere between a squeak and a whimper, much of the force of Nagato's strike travelling *through her* and almost literally making her vibrate. The shield itself, in fact, *is* vibrating - muffled by the way Yuna grounded it, but there's enough 'freedom' for Shugoseiheki to resonate with the impact, much like a gong would have. But Yuna is still on her feet, and possibly to Nagato's surprise, the shield remains intact.

Yuna didn't name it 'The Wall of the Guardian Star' for nothing, after all. But there were still probably better ways for her to deal with an attack like that one.

Nagato has posed:
    The gong fills the room and Nagato keeps the axe upon the shield, what should have been a sundering strike... left the shield still intact, though the praise for the parry does get noticed and she nods, this time, pulling back the large axe and moving into a resting position. "That shield of yours is impressive. I figured it would have broke with that strike." she sets the axe down and offers a hand to help up, "You are okay, yes?" she questions, a concerned voice echoing back towards the Paladin.

    "I was expecting it to peirce like a shell to get into your defenses, perhaps I was using the wrong technique to get beyond that shield..." she keeps the arm extended until it's taken or Yuna's up and about. "If you're ready, we can go another round if you wish."

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
"Anything less and it *would* have broken," Yuna replies woozily as she accepts Nagato's help getting back up. "Shugoseiheki was a gift, but - Elner helped make it part of my powers, part of my equipment as the Savior of Light. Plus, Niv-Mizzet helped reinforce it with Mizzium, back before he disappeared ... that, plus the power integration, means -"

She pauses, shaking her head as if to clear it. "Ugh. Maybe blocking wasn't so smart ..."

"Part of Shugoseiheki's integration," Elner speaks up as the robo-faerie joins the two fighters (just teleporting down from wherever it was watching), "means that the Light Suit's defensive aura also reinforces the shield. However, that comes at a cost; the protective aura gets worn away as attacks connect. That blow took quite a lot out of the aura, so perhaps it's best to take a break, maybe an extended one."

"If 'extended' means 'wrap up here and go get some sleep," Yuna says woozily, "maybe it'd be a good idea .." She looks at Nagato.

Nagato has posed:
    Some of these words give the Admiral a very odd look towards Yuna, only to reply with a very confused "Huh?" though she shakes her head a bit, listening to Elner. "I see. Then yes, perhaps a break is nessecary for this. Shall we head back to Hikari and Mamiya's for a parfait then?" she looks towards her axe a bit, "And maybe we should try something with more... finesse." Nagato turns to look back towards that shield, giving a slight nod, "I have... a few ideas in mind, but I think I will use ALO as a testing ground for them."

    She gives another brief smile and looks towards the exit. "Shall we then?"

Yuna Kagurazaka (385) has posed:
Yuna nods, dismissing her sword and her shield; she's keeping her Light Suit on for the moment, though, for whatever reason. "Sounds good to me," she says with a grin. "I think I can stay awake long enough for a parfait. If you'd care to lead the way, Admiral?"