5309/Training Day

Training Day
Date of Scene:	13 June 2017
Location:	Grand Dorado
Synopsis:	Staren meets with Tanya during the training of some nameless recruits.
Cast of Characters:	Tanya Degurechaff, Staren

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Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Tanya did say she was going to requisition one of Grand Dorado's larger parks and take a training regiment out for a spin. She neglected to mention how rough her particular brand of special training can be, especially on new recruits.

    Something explodes, scattering men in uniforms with heavy backpacks. Scrambling to help each other, shouting various curses and words of encouragement, the men quickly get back up and resume running-- in formation.

    Floating above them at about five meters or so is a little girl who couldn't be more than ten years old. Clad in her battle suit and wearing the Imperial flight unit on her waist, Major Degurechaff lifts her smoking rifle skyward, "I didn't say you maggots could slow down! This isn't a leisure stroll! If any of you shitstains volunteered for this just so you could waste my time or think you'd have an easy day just because of how I look, I'll send your legs home in a separate box!"

    Well. Maybe she ... gets results?

Staren has posed:
    Staren flies over. Orange translucent energy wings, like a stylized insect's, flutter silently behind him. Not actually touching his back, if you look closely enough.

    He pulls a broom out of his bag, which is clearly too small to hold a broom, then holds it horizontally and sits sidesaddle where the bristles are bundled together, the wings suddenly disappearing. "They survived an explosion without armor. Impressive. Is it some sort of magical defenses, or is everyone on your world just that tough?"

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "They're not from my world," Tanya states evenly. Turning slightly, she fixes on eye on the new arrival. Clearly equipped as he is, Staren is no new recruit, so he doesn't draw the same kind of aggression she's directing on the troops below. After a moment of observing, she returns her attention to them, "If I aim far enough back, the concussion is enough to knock them down, but not enough to hurt them. Especially from behind, the backpack protects their body, and the helmet their head. Arms and legs.. can deal with it."

    Snapping, she raises her voice, "Kozwalski, you're falling out of formation! Step it up, you're starting to piss me off!"

    The offending trooper panics, briefly, but manages to jam himself back into the group.

    "Grunts are idiots. Fear is quite a motivation, though, so it gets the job done." Her gaze shifts sidelong again, "I didn't expect an audience."

Staren has posed:
    Staren looks down at them. "Ohh, these are Concord troops?" He looks back to her. "Good that we have an elite skilled in training them. It's... honestly, it's never been my department to deal with the non-elite forces. Aside from telling the Confederate troops to clear out back in the war..."

    He looks down again. "That's how they're equipped? I'm surprised we're not using at least full-body armor... powered armor would be even better, but perhaps it's too expensive."

    "Fear... I don't think it's good to use it too much, on people who are supposed to be our allies. But as I said, I'm not a trainer, I'm a... Well I used to say researcher, but that doesn't convey how much I have to blow stuff up. Maybe action researcher."

    He looks to Tanya. "Just wondered what all the explosions were about."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Tanya's eyes close, and she tips her nose up slightly, "It's how I equipped them. There's something to be said about old-fashioned training." She glances aside towards Staren, then floats ahead to pursue the formation at a leisurely pace, "I may seem out of touch or even barbaric compared to you, but this is the officer forged by the world I came from, and the war I fought in." ... "That I'm still fighting in."

    "I'm not here to be their friend," the girl states bluntly, "I'm here to break them down and mold what shattered remains are left into a serviceable soldier. If you came to study that, than we have common ground. If you're here for fireworks, it might be a while."

Staren has posed:
    "I've been operating in the Multiverse for a decade. I'm not going to assume you're barbaric just because you use different gear. I just haven't actually had to listen to a drill instructor for a long time. I trained as a pilot, not an infantryman. Does your world have planes? Although perhaps that's not /quite/ a suitable comparison..."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "I know what a pilot is," Tanya states flatly, "And my world has aircraft. Bombers, fighters, and civilian type fixed-wing vehicles. While a typical mage can more easily secure air superiority over the battlefield, a plane can fly farther and higher. So they've got use in our war as bombers who can attack safely without reprisal from mages." Her eyebrows set into a single, flat line, "Their only threat is ground-based anti air artillery or other airplanes." Or Tanya, but she doesn't feel a need to express that.

    "Pilots, like mages, are trained to be the elite. Though there's a certain physical regimen to a mage that a pilot doesn't get. We're effectively special operations infantry. So the comparison ends there."

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods. "Actually... I'm a robot vehicle pilot. Other worlds call them 'mecha'. Sort of like a big walking tank... In the event of a war we'd be first in to soften up the enemy, and last out to cover our troops' retreat... But Lazlo has never seen a war. Yet. So my job was to fight monsters threatening the farms outside the city. In the Union I branched out a lot. You can't bring a 40 foot tall war machine on all operations."

    He looks at the troops below. "It's true that that means being spared some physical regimen though. On my world infantry all wear heavy armor unless they have superpowers or magic or something. They have to. To stand up to superpowers, magic, and modern weapons."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Slowing slighty, Tanya casts a sidelong glance with a raised eyebrow, "Giant robot. It sounds like something out of a comic book." Because in a certain fashion, to Tanya, it is straight out of one. She turns back ahead, glowering down at the troops while mulling over her thoughts. Yes, there was quite a subculture devoted to something like that, in another life... Not something she personally got involved in, but something she was certainly aware of.

    "Interesting," is all she says out loud. Her rifle is lifted to her shoulder, aimed, and discharged. Some distance behind the formation, the ground erupts in an explosion. Men stagger and then speed back up to the pace that's less likely to get them shot at again. "I'm of the mind that the machine is only as good as the person controlling it. And you may well be a talented pilot, I've yet to see you in action. At a glance, however, I'd never put you on the front lines. Not until I had some idea what you were capable of."

    The rifle is lowered and she squints down at the soldiers, "This lot... is not likely to do more than die in the trenches. Though it's become my job to make sure as few of them as possible go home in boxes. At least for now."

Staren has posed:
    "Reasonable. I'm more a scientist and engineer than a fighter, at heart. When it /does/ come to fighting, I rely on the most powerful technology I can get my hands on. I'm far from the most powerful warrior I know, but I've had successes, and I'm still alive after over a decade of this so I must be doing /something/ right. A skilled AND powerful warrior is a difficult enemy, but a problem without enough of both of those things can be solved with sufficient application of force. Other allies can handle the enemies that raw force can't."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "Then my intuition is right," Tanya states, her tone less flat but still rather even, "You would best serve in the rear echelon, developing new weapons and tactics, or dissecting those of the enemy. In war, you see, every talent is a resource that cannot be ignored." Her eyes wander to the rifle in her hands, "The most valuable talent is, believe it or not, not the ability to kill people. It's actually rather detestable, but obviously necessary."

    "Brute force can't solve everything. It's important to have a strategy. I imagine you're the sort who follows such a philosophy. 'Don't out-fight them, out-think them,' as the saying goes." Her mind wanders to the ill-fated Dukedom of Dakia, declaring war on the Empire with their impressively huge infantry force. "In the end it's simply Darwin at work. Those who cannot adapt, who simply slam their face into every problem, are doomed."

Staren has posed:
    "Something like that." Staren replies, looking back to Tanya. "I just want to make the best future. Sometimes that means talking down and befriending enemies. Other times it means atomizing them. I think, with enough knowledge about how the Multiverse works, I could build a weapon that can kill anyone... But there are so many other problems to solve too! The multiverse is unfair. Some live long comfortable lives, and for others, life is nasty, brutish, and short. This, I'd like to fix. And many conflicts are matters of limited resources. But with knowledge, you can learn how to get more out of resources, or how to turn things you never imagined you could use, into, effectively, new resources!"

    He stares out over the city. "Unfortunately, getting at the inner workings of the Multiverse itself is difficult. My last, best lead dried up, but this investigation into the death of Njorun grants new insights. But even what I have achieves much, besides just weapons! I live in comfort, and I can share it with others. Scaling it up, however, requires a massive amount of power. The technology for that exists, certainly, but infrastructure isn't a simple project. And you can't just build cities and invite people in. People need government and laws and such, and... that kind of problem, I'm not so good at."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    He says, as if building the city is the easy part. Tanya's eyes wander upward as she considers that point. Multiversal science really is something interesting. Her eyes wander back down to the rifle in her hands. And yet, something so familiar is still the most appealing option. She can even imagine other weapons from later times which would be a far cry better than the old Mauser she holds, and yet she holds on to the Mauser instead. An eyebrow lowers.

    Tanya dislikes it when she makes decisions she's not entirely certain of the reasoning behind. Swinging her feet forward, the girl comes to a halt. Her weapon is raised, resting against her shoulder, peering after the soldier formation still running.

    "You're talking to the wrong person about building cities, infrastructure, and government." At least by reputation, she's more invested in the opposite.

Staren has posed:
    He looks back to her. "I wasn't asking you to solve such problems. Just... trying to explain what I do, sort of, except I don't actually do that. Mostly, like I said, I fight, and sometimes I get to figure stuff out. But I hope one day I'll be able to help a lot of people, rather than just solving one problem in front of me at a time."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "I mean," Tanya starts briefly, "I'm not the right sort of person to bounce ideas off of. Of course no one person could solve such large problems without taking a needlessly long time doing it. The volume of work is simply too much. It's Sisiphian in scope for one person." One eye closes, her head tilting, "But I think I'm starting to understand your reasoning for membership. The Concord could give you the manpower you'd need for such a lofty long-term goal. Suddenly it's much more feasible."

    Her eyes wander to the troops stirring up dust as they run, pushed to exhaustion but too terrified to stop, "Maybe construction is the future that awaits them, rather than the misery of the front lines. That's something to look forward to, I suppose."

Staren has posed:
    "It's hard to say" Staren looks down at the soldiers. "Resource usage would be much lower if people were willing to upload their minds and live inside computers... but it's not an option for everyone, and most people consider it a strange idea. There used to be part of the Sector called the Cyber Core, which could be programmed like a simulation even though you could go there physically. Finding a place like that could eliminate the need for resources completely. Food appears simply because it's been programmed to... Maybe people could even be saved from death by programming a respawn point. I didn't even get to the point of finding out whether anyone would want to live in such a place, though."

    "Who knows what form the future could take."

    He looks back to her. "I'm a poor planner for that society development stuff. Like you said, I /can't/ do it alone. But I hope that I can discover things that can make utopia easier to build by those who have the will and the skills. And the Concord... It's not just that they have resources. It's that they're willing to actually GIVE that help. The Union was hesitant to deploy world-changing technology even if they obtained it. The Concord has promise to /let/ me help people, in the ways I can /beyond/ just punching things."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    The girl lifts her free hand to her chin, rubbing thoughtfully, "I've been briefed that the Multiverse contained a large variety of regions, many of which were very fantastical and unusual. I don't recall mention of a computer realm, though. Very interesting." Her eyes close, "Though not something I strictly understand, beyond the very basics."

    "I suspected as much," In regards to the Concord's contribution, "This doesn't strike me as an alliance too interested in governing its disparate parts, beyond keeping us from eating each other." There's a little snicker at that, and the girl lifts her rifle again. This time, she fires a shot straight up, which bursts like a flare. Her voice raises to an intimidating shout.

    "About face! You can sleep when you get back to your barracks! If you aren't present for evening muster, I'll cut you to pieces and feed you to the dogs!" The soldiers in the distance stagger, then start running the other way. Seems like they're going a bit faster than before.

    And just like that, she's back to normal, glancing towards Staren, "So long as you're useful, I don't see any reason why anyone would turn down your requests. All you have to do is pay them back in other ways."

Staren has posed:
    Staren /assumes/ that's talk and she won't actually feed people to dogs.

    Right?

    "I don't think anyone can say I'm not useful."

    He looks curiously at her gun. "So how does that work? Most people don't fire flares from that sort of gun. Is it special ammunition, or are you using it as a focus to fire spells, or are you magically changing the ammo when you fire it?"

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "This?" Tanya lifts her Mauser, "It's a standard magazine-fed semi-automatic Mauser K98." Shifting slightly, she lofts the rifle to Staren for inspection. "As you can see, it's completely mundane. Even the ammunition is standard. Any soldier can use such a weapon."

    "Infusing magic into a bullet is common practice for any mage in my world. Many prepare their bullets beforehand. I do it on the fly because my magical effeciency is different from most."

Staren has posed:
    Staren catches the rifle, surprised. He keeps his finger away from the trigger as he looks it over, then hands it back. "Magic's a little different on my world... Usually, mages who do such things either enchant a gun to fire a specific spell, or use one as a focus for their casting. Enchanting the ammo beforehand is an interesting idea. Magic usually doesn't work that way at home, though. People would have to create new spells designed to do that to bullets, I suppose."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    Tanya reaches out, accepting the Mauser and slinging it on her shoulder in a practiced motion, "Magic seems to have different rules depending on where it comes from. That much is something I've been able to determine." Raising her hands, she flexes her fingers while watching them, "I've already seen quite a lot of variety in my short time in this organization. From my own abilities to a classic magician with a staff to a fox firing elements from a mirror. There's quite a lot of variety."

    Her mouth curls into a grin, "It's instinctive for me. I don't think I could teach it to someone not already accustomed to the way my world's magic works. Some workaround like that would likely be easier for your sorts."

Staren has posed:
    Staren scratches his head. "Honestly, I can't really use my own world's magic. Cybernetics conflicts with it. I've studied a bit of magic from other worlds, though."

Tanya Degurechaff has posed:
    "That makes sense," Tanya states. Glancing aside, she lifts off the ground once more, "I'll be retiring for the evening, once I make sure those soldiers don't disappoint me. Until next time."

    With little fanfare, she accelerates, ascending in a smooth arc, but at least she's keeping her rifle shouldered for the moment.