"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
The force, the heat, the sheer sound of the blast radiated through the firing range. The target had gone from a simple, basic large-sized circular target to... well, there wasn't really much left of the target. In fact, it would be totally inaccurate to say there was anything left of the target whatsoever.
Quietly the girl responsible lowered the immense multi-tubed missile launcher, one of its tubes smoking. In silence, she regarded the damage that had been done. There was a vast amount of space between her and the spot where the target once had been. Her evaluation took only a few moments, before she spoke to herself, quietly.
"Successful impact," Katrina began, raising her missile launcher slightly and placing her left hand on top of the enormous weapon. "One-hundred percent damage. Target eradicated."
She paused, leaning forward slightly. "... Minor collateral damage..."
Katrina frowned, faintly. She was supposed to avoid that, but she was beginning to think the base's targets, at least in this particular training area, were a bit too thin for training with her missiles. Demons generally weren't so thin, and therefore would contain the explosion themselves. So when she dented the walls with her explosives, well... she didn't like doing it but it was because the targets were so thin.
"... Sorry..." Katrina bowed her head somewhat in apology for a few moments. At least, on the bright side, her target had been destroyed in a fantastic explosion. This was always nice, and brought a small smile to the white-haired girl's face.
Her missiles were as accurate and destructive as ever.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Hovering about 10 feet in the air, silent and focused, was a petite redhead. Her legs were in crossed and her long auburn hair was flying around her, with a green hair clasp sat on her lap. An ouija board was floating in front of her.
That was, until there was a massive explosion.
Amanda's eyes flew open. The ouija board in front of her fell to the floor, cracking slightly. Cursing under her breath, Amanda flew over to the source of the explosion.
edited 28th Sep '13 10:09:37 AM by PeacefulApocalypse
ಠ_ಠ
Adjacent to the target range was a pitiful study. Thickly bound tomes rotted on half-empty shelves, their yellowed parchments infecting younger volumes like a plague. Right against the wall stood a tiny desk barely wide enough for an adult, and lying over it—in a mixture of Cervantes' masterpiece and his own drool—snored Russell Hardouin-Mansart: the "Professor" of ANGEL.
BOOM!
The wall shook violently as drops of rubble rained on the sleeper's head. The Professor shot up in his seat as the tremor brought him back to life.
"Wha?"
But his weight had shifted too quickly, and the student's chair tilted poor Russell backwards.
"WAAAH!"
The Professor was wide awake when his head hit the floor. Scrambling to his feet, he darted around the study to check the damage. Thankfully, the only thing destroyed was his nap. There was no point in trying to figure out what caused the quake; the wall's tiny cracks were evidence enough. With his face and fists clenched, the Professor stormed out of the study and into the range next door.
"KATRINA!!!"
The Gorgon
Cassandra jolted awake upon hearing the explosion and fell out of bed, before she got up, picked up her cavalry sabre and made her way towards the source of the explosion.
Time grows thin, the past's a riddle; The Tower awaits you in the middle.
Figure of Hourai
Of course, by far the worst-affected by the explosion was Domino. Having been practising by trying to shoot other people's shots out of the air, the explosion took her completely by surprise—and even with her headphones to block out sound, it was insanely deafening... and explained why the green-haired girl had dropped to her knees, hands clapped over her ears and fighting back tears—ineffectually.
Sudden loud noises? Worst thing that she could possibly encounter.
Carmen was also in the training room—in her case, trying to work out who was the most likely to get themselves killed on an actual mission, and gauging who had the least real-world experience. Domino ranked highly for the first one, but having basically opted to raise the child herself, she had more faith in her. The childish-looking officer didn't rush over when she collapsed, though; this was the sort of thing that she really had to get used to if she was going to go out on missions a lot. Avatar Source
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
Quite satisfied with herself, Katrina turned, displaying her small smile... and froze as her name was called by the man bursting in the door. Worse still, she saw Domino's green-haired form curled on the ground, covering her ears and quivering. Katrina's smile faded as she quickly shifted her missile launcher back and out of the way, raising one hand weakly and approaching the girl on the ground.
"... I-I am sorry, I... I w-was practicing and I... I..." she knelt slightly, most of her attention focused on Domino. "I... I d-did not... I... I.."
Katrina looked um, finding herself gazing upon other people who had heard the explosion and come running. Were... they all angry? She... she hadn't meant to make anyone angry, she just wanted to practice...
"... I... I... d-did not mean to... I... I-I am sorry..."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
Amanda landed on the ground and clasped back her auburn hair, surveying the scene. Domino was curled up on the floor, cowering; Russell was clearly annoyed at Katrina; and Katrina herself looked shocked and terrified. And there was a pile of ash and smoke where a target used to be. Of course, thought Amanda, Katrina's rocket launcher. That's the source of the explosion.
Amanda turned to face Katrina, practically face to face with her, and smiled. "Good shot".
ಠ_ಠ
The Professor took little notice of the terrified child Katrina was failing to comfort, and focused his frustration at its source.
"Well good Lord, girl, can't you practice somewhere else?! It felt like Mt. Vesuvius was erupting!"
Mansart brushed the remnants of rubble off of his black suit jacket. His silvery grey hair still hid a pebble or two, but the Professor failed to notice them.
"Explosives and underground structures do not mix. Have I not told you this before?"
"Back off!" Amanda swung round, her face as red as her hair. "So she messed up. We all do! Leave her alone!" Before she could say anymore, there was a beeping sound. She checked her phone, and swore loudly. "It's Holden, my little brother. He's slipped back into a coma..."
Amanda ran towards her ouija board, shoved it into her bag and sprinted off, trying to hold back her tears.
ಠ_ಠ
Figure of Hourai
The Professor had made a very, very bad choice. So had Amanda, but she was further away and therefore perfectly safe when Domino rose from the ground, lanky as ever, and slapped him. Ears still ringing, she actually hit his shoulder, but the point was clear enough.
"No shouting."
The child-apparent got off of her seat and ambled over to Katrina, deciding to nip this problem in the bud before it got any worse—or repeated.
"Don't panic: everyone's just shocked, that's all," the captain said, somewhat annoyed that she had to look up even to talk to this short girl, "Try using duds next time. You don't need the explosion when practising."
Avatar Source
The Silly Gloom
"Mother of f-"
The man was fast to hold tongue.
Of course he'd be. Foul languages weren't exactly desirable within these walls. Still, he'd think that the situation at hand warranted its use.
Entering the range, Reinhardt, or Rain, for those who found the name a tad too mouthful, approached what looked to be a fight between the Professor, how he wished he had that title, and the familiar bomber little Katrina. The firing range wasn't the usual place for Reinhardt to hang around for two simple reasons: he's more into close combat, that's one; he's also terrible with firearm or any projectile based weapon, that's two. But this time, he just had to come. The earth-shaking impact was a bit too much to bear.
"Katrina, was it?"
"Frankly, dear, that was quite close to giving me a heart attack."
He sighed loudly, showing what was a mix of relief and awe. Portable rockets being launched indoor, what's not to be awed? In the time it took for him to reached them, however, Amanda, another familiar face, ran off in the direction opposite to him.
A typical day, wasn't it?.
On the foundation of glass a dream is built. And, like glass, it shatters.
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"... I... I..."
Katrina fumbled with her words, completely unsure of what to do. There was... most people were upset with her, but there were others who didn't seem to angry... Her missile launcher pointed towards the floor, its occupant still remaining completely silent in the fact of the aftermath of her training exercise.
"... I a-am s-sorry... I... th-there... there are not designated targets p-prepared above..." Katrina inhaled deeply, in an attempt to calm herself down as quickly as possible. She continued to struggle with speaking, wanting to explain herself but... being so surrounded... looking down, past Carmen, and to her feet, she continued.
"... W-wanted... t-to train h-here t-to t-test my ability to hit t-targets i-in such a place..."
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
The giant block of wood snapped in half with a shower of splinters flying away as his foot slammed into it. He was in his own quarters, in the fitness and training suite he had made so he could have some privacy for his exercise and combat training. Dropping his foot from the powerful sidekick, he re-positioned his stance and guard, and twisted in a violent, rapid motion. His foot spinning around and striking the thick post that held the first target he had broken.
With a powerful cry, the post broke in two. By the time the top half hit the floor, he was two meters back, in a wide crouching stance, with the classic Kung Fu pose, the one hand straight in front, the other in a fist curled behind the body. He was breathing heavier. Standing up straight, he bowed. Walking over to the massive target system he made, he disposed of the last two broken targets, the rest were padded and solid, due to the combo's he used needing to hit those more than once. He placed the broken chunks of wood in a large disposal unit outside his room he kept for this purpose.
He then spent the next half hour practicing his Tai Chi forms. Controlling his breathing, relaxing his mind, and exercising his body. He heard a large bang, followed by much shouting and commotion. He was sitting, heels together and pressed into him, and knees to the floor. He appeared to be more still than humanly possible, when he opened one eye for a second when the noise began. Distractions happen, it's not the first time Katrina has fired her Bazooka thing... Karia thought to himself.
After his meditations and shower, he left his quarter wearing a silk robe like outfit. Red, with a stitched in dragon embroidery, it was a robe like thing, A "Kisode" from Japan. As he closed his door, he saw Alex, another 'ANGEL' and one he got on with fairly well. "Were are you off too? It seems a lot are gathered at the Training Area, it seems to be quite popular today." Karia said with a slight grin. His long white hair falling over his eyepatch.
If you are looking for a prize in the box, their is none. Only more cardboard.
The Silly Gloom
"Oh dear, oh dear. You're plenty good at making things explode already. This is just a tad overkill."
But Reinhardt disliked discomfort. Seeing that the girl was quite literally shrinking, the man shifted his tone a bit from upset to worrying.
Really though, there's not much for people like him to do around here anyway. He's dressed for an outing, yes, what with the black skin-fit jeans and the cobalt blue shirt and the oversized sneakers and all, but it's not as if there's actually anywhere he could go out to. Reinhardt hates public places. Public places outside of the ANGEL's walls, that is.
At least with these people, he knew he's not constantly... under surveillance.
"So, let's not do that again, yes, sweetheart?"
"And since I'm already here..."
He smiled. It was a sincere smile, by the look of it, but it was certainly... 'off'. Even if it was meant to look empathic and warm, on closer inspection one would notice that it was completely blank. Blank of any real friendliness, of any thought. It's just a reflexive smile.
Before he barged off to one corner of the range, where seats were nicely placed for him to enjoy, well, sitting, and making it his nest where he could happily play videogames on his mobile phone, instead of going back to his room, Reinhardt turned to the Professor, and the Captain, respectively.
Really, these people and their titles. He's quite envious.
"Oh, and Professor."
"Captain."
"Good day."
He bowed, then promptly left.
And it was eerie.
edited 29th Sep '13 8:31:36 AM by arreimil
On the foundation of glass a dream is built. And, like glass, it shatters.
The i. one.
Turning his head the sound of a voice, he saw the one-eyed, silver haired man approaching. With a forced, unconvincing smile, he responded, "Heya. I was just on my way there, too. And you?"
The training floor was popular today? Well, it was no different from every day, he guessed. After all, it was critically important that the powers they used were not only in control, but as powerful as precise as possible.
Mansart let out a heavy sigh as one girl after another scolded him for being too harsh and burst into tears. Sometimes he wondered how ANGEL expected these children to be soldiers.
But then again, was he any different? A bookworm like him could never survive on the battlefield. Russell knew too much about the demon attacks to believe war was as glorious as Homer made it out to be. So why was he here? The answer was simple: he was all they had, just like the others. Demon bonds were unpredictable—at least for the time being. That meant anyone who could use an Artifact was destined for the frontlines.
The Professor adjusted his silver cufflinks and apologized. Nobody was hurt (not seriously, anyway), so there was no need for all this fuss.
"Just...in the future could you be a bit more careful, Katrina? Should one of your rockets hit something important, I fear the whole structure could topple down on us. I'm sure none of us want ANGEL headquarters to end like the House of Usher."
The Professor laughed lightly, though his humor was often too...dry, for most.
edited 29th Sep '13 10:25:23 PM by TheodoreHastings
"I planned on relaxing actually, a walk outside to think most likely. I can walk you there if you wish?" Karia asked. He was always polite in a formal kind of manner. Since he was a nice guy but wasn't good with expressing those kind of emotions, he was better at shouting at people for nearly getting killed and covering their back after it.
If you are looking for a prize in the box, their is none. Only more cardboard.
"Of course, Satsuki-sama."
"... I would hope... would hope nothing important would be in the firing range..." muttered Katrina, still looking down at her feet. There wouldn't be any important building-supporting structures right there, would there? That seemed... really strange to her... but regardless, she didn't want to upset anyone. So she remained silent, staring down at her feet.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."
"I would hope not as well," the Professor agreed, "but I am no architect, and certainly would not wish to make any false assumptions on the matter. Best that we not take chances, don't you agree?"
A thought popped into Russell's head.
"Why don't we practice outside, you and I? Bloch and I have been getting along famously, and I wish to see how far I can use her power."
The Gorgon
Cassandra got there several minutes after the situation had been defused, before swinging the sabre up to rest on her shoulder and began to make her way over to the mess, bumping into the Professor on the way.
"What happened down there? I came to check it out, but when I got here, it was over."
Time grows thin, the past's a riddle; The Tower awaits you in the middle.
The Silly Gloom
It'd seem that no one else noticed him. Typical, thought Reinhardt, and all well and good. He saw Cassandra approaching, but only had enough time window to give her a glance and a smile to acknowledge her presence. The man silently retreated to the corner of the range as the group's conversation continued, hand searching his pocket for something. That something turned out to be his beloved white cellphone.
A cartoon image of a black cat appeared on the screen, with text notifications prompting him to take various, unrelated actions. The usual inconveniences of technology, apparently, but one of these appeared to be of a curious nature.
As he sat down, Reinhardt touched the icon that would lead to his mailbox, and, in seconds, to the inbox.
The message as he saw it, curiously, was simple.
"Changed your mail again, didn't you?"
"Haven't you learned anything?"
"I can always find my way."
He wouldn't even bother looking at the sender's name. He knew who it was. He knew why it was sent. Reinhardt kept staring at it for a few seconds, his brow raising the whole time. Then he took a deep breath, and switch the application away from the mailbox.
"Right..."
"Right."
On the foundation of glass a dream is built. And, like glass, it shatters.
The Grand Re-Vizier
"Hey, You!" One of the chefs from the cafeteria suddenly ran over to Alex. Excellence Browning had a massive wok bigger than he was slung over his shoulder and if eyes were windows to the soul his were probably burning with sheer rage.
"D'you have any idea how completely crappy it is to watch you sit there and eat the food that I cooked with no reaction at all!? Express some gratitude, smile a little, make a lousy face or yell that it sucks or something! Food should be something you eat with your heart and anyone who says differently is gonna have big time issues with me, got that!?"
edited 4th Oct '13 9:17:57 AM by Dblade26
For the moment, things were relatively calm.
The latest 'Tear' was being monitored by dozens of individuals within the expansive room, lit by a pale blue glow that emanated from the many large screens. The men and women rapidly typing away or intently staring at whatever information was on-screen were watched over by a single, aged man on an elevated platform.
"Sir, projected time-frame of emergence is ten hours," spoke one of the observers. The aged man nodded.
"Maximum projected Rank is 'D'," continued another, "We can trap it against the coast if we depart soon, sir,"
Another nod from the superior officer. Hands clasped behind his back, he glanced at the wall-sized screens once more, showing a blinking dot on a section of the world map. It would be one of the simpler battles, from the looks of things.
"Continue searching for any patterns or clues to the Tears," he finally spoke, "It's futile, but a token effort is always appreciated."
Aside from the tapping sounds of fingers hitting keyboards, silence filled the room as the commander turned to leave. He'd ask for volunteers within the next hour to prepare for battle.
Meanwhile, emerging from one of ANGEL's many cafeteria's placed around the underground complex, Alex munched on the last of his meal, his expression filled with... absolutely no emotion at the moment. A clue that his spirits were overall positive, even if most missed that.
Strapped to his back was the Claymore that housed his Demon, Wulver. The annoying voice was currently silent, as was Alex. For the moment, they had nothing to say to each other. Alex certainly preferred it that way, though. Maybe he could get some exercise done in peace.
Turning, he made his way down the corridor and towards the training room. It was a rather sprawling area that had its own floor, and had accumulated a lot of equipment to deal with all types of abilities to practice with.