open log » ❝ mission oo1 briefing ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: 04.04.3312
Location: Training Gymnasium in the Initiative Hold.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: Everyone is summoned to a briefing and training, pre-mission for the very first mission.
Warnings: None.

There would come a demanding ping on every netbook at once. An urgent call to arms, a request for each and every transport to return to the Initiative Hold immediately. If ignored, the ping would continue until it reached its full volume -- overtaking the senses only until its owner complied, deafening in its insistence. At the Hold, there were several more Initiative attendees to rush each and every transport into a large training gymnasium previously unseen by all residents of the island of Exsilium. The auditorium was massive -- its walls whitewashed, its ceiling patterned with dim, purple ambient lighting.

There was a stage set up near the very back of the large room. A man, stern and young-looking, stood in the center of the stage and held a microphone in front of his pursed lips. Behind the stage was a set of time travel plates more populated than even the arrival room -- there had to be at least forty-five plates, all attended by a member of the Initiative, who stood beside the plate in wait and with a distant expression. Only once all of the transports were successfully congregated into their auditorium, did the astringent, black-haired man begin to speak. "This is a briefing," he began, his voice equally authoritative and matching the expression of great urgency on his angular features. "Tomorrow, we begin our very first mission. A mission into the past.

You will be sent to the year 115 CE, in the midst of a turmoil between the Romans and an Assyrian village. It is in both ours and imperatively your own best interest to help defend this village, and to send the Romans retreating to their own homes. You absolutely must comply with this mission. Not only for yourselves, but for your families at home in their own worlds. For all of us.

You will have twenty-four hours from this time to utilise this gymnasium. You will find an array of weaponry at your disposal, and will have access to your own chosen weapon. Use them. Train fiercely, as you have no choice in this initial mission to pick a different path. You all must fight. After your twenty-four hours of practise, you will be given your cloaking devices -- they will make you untraceable to the native people to the time in which you find yourself. Do not, under any circumstances, remove your cloaking device. It will not only be detrimental to you, but to your friends and your colleagues here, as well as your friends and family in their home worlds.

You will be summoned back from whatever your whereabouts at the success of your mission. Should you die during your mission, you will be summoned immediately and brought into the Initiative Infirmary and you will be healed. Do not die. Do not turn your back on your colleagues and your friends. Remain vigilant. The imperative nature of the success of your mission will be made clear upon your return to this world. There is nothing more that we can give than our word.

Finally, I will be coming with you. I will be your mentor and your guide during our mission and I will do my utmost to keep you safe, prepared, trained and informed. Slowly, our world here in Exsilium will become less and less enshrouded in mystery. Slowly, we are able to reveal our true selves, and with it we hope we will gain a much-needed trust. We do not withhold information easily, and it comes to us at a great cost. Thank you, everyone, and let your sessions begin!"

Comments

open

[fintastic]

[ Bright eyed and bushy-tailed, Feferi is there early, as fast as she can arrive after the ping goes off, eager to get this show on the road. She listens intently to the briefing, glancing around her to gauge the reactions of others, but otherwise direly interested.

Afterwards, she turns to her comrades, juggling a tall double-ended trident and an even taller staff. It's cumbersome and awkward and it looks like she's about to drop both, but that doesn't seem to bother her. ]

We're finally getting something done!

[ Someone is a little too excited. ]

[peachhat]

Looks like not all of you trolls are fools! I completely agree. It's about time.

[Tenshi had been equally quick to arrive, she had been looking forward to something starting. So excited that she had arrived flying on her own, without sitting in her usual floating rock (as it wasn't flying quick enough)]

Unusual weapon you got there!

open - I'll match tag style

[notthatjason]

Jason stood, his face a mask hiding his inward turmoil. This couldn't be right. He was Roman, and he couldn't imagine fighting other Romans, even if it was centuries before. He was a son of Jupiter, the line of Rome continued in him and it just...no, after all this time why did their FIRST mission have to be to fight other Romans? It was like some sick joke!

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair and moving off to the edge of the gym. He needed to think, to process, and come up with some way out of this. Jason wasn't normally one to back down from a fight but he just couldn't find it in himself to go up against what was essentially his family. That couldn't be what the gods intended for him to do. 'Though they haven't exactly been answering your prayers now, have they' a little voice in his head reminded him.

Jason leaned up against a wall, rolling up his sleeve and looking down at the brand there: The Eagle and the letters SPQR over 12 marks. Marks that pledged him to the Roman Legion. He couldn't just abandon that, not after so long. There had to be another way. The others could train with their weapons, Jason wasn't going to fight until he could think of some other plan.

[septim]

Rome wasn't Cyrodiil, yet their languages, their cultures were analogous to each other, both empires who employed legions under the command of an emperor. He, Martin Septim, an emperor, asked to fight against who were, essentially, brethren.

The grip on his silver-alloyed gladius' hilt is ironclad, the discomfort a barely adequate, temporary relief from his thoughts. His face is a mask of neutrality, though the intensity his eyes carry betray his inner turmoil.

"The Senate and the Roman People." Martin reads too fast. He hadn't intended to peer at the boy who stared at the markings on his lower arm as if it held the answer to some problem. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry. Though I assume you're as uncomfortable with this as I am." Martin taps the hilt of his gladius once, fingers relaxing.

Open thread, and totally okay with different tagging styles.

[yakuza_otaku]

Kazumi was a little confused, and she didn't hide it.

"Are we really expected to accomplish much in a 24 hour period...?" she asked out loud, "That's not..."

She shook her head at that, it seemed kind of silly to have this kind of last minute training.

"Most people can't improve in any noticeable way that fast. This really should've happened earlier..."

Re: Open thread, and totally okay with different tagging styles.

[peachhat]

"Want me to give you some focused, harsh training? That should help you to quickly get the hang of your abilities!"

Tenshi offered it happily. "You can learn one of those games of yours in less time, so it should work out fine!"

Open!!

[xiaolindragon]

[Raimundo has a bit of a bounce where he stands because he's been itching for some kind of fight for a while and now they're finally giving them something to do.]

Yo! I'll take a sparring partner! Come at me.

[umadrobin]

Alright, then.

[ Red X takes a ready position, and mockingly beckons him. ]

Come on, kid.

[umadrobin]

Romans?

[ Red X would be heard before he was seen, leaning against a wall shortly after his spar above, his arms crossed, and his cape draped around his shoulders. ]

I don't suppose I get to keep the suit for this?

[eyecontact]

[Jericho's head turns, tilting and searching for the distorted voice.

blink.

not a familiar costume at all, but curious. some other world, maybe? he'd have to ask a friend. if everyone here was working together, he ought to know...]

open;

[boughtabookstore]

[ Twenty four hours.

Roslyn doesn't make a move to begin training. She's been keeping herself fit and prepared, and while she won't turn down someone who wants to train she's more interested in sizing up the others around her. Some of them she's seen in training before. Some she hasn't.

She stands on the edge, arms folded, her face blank as she watches. ]

[thleepy]

[ When the speech began, Nik had been sleepy and cranky and he'd only listened half-heartedly. But by the time it ended, he was wide awake and frowning.

Protect a village? Okay, he guesses, protecting people is good. But then the man had said "you all must fight"....

Nik wanders over to the first person who catches his eye. ]

Miss? Do we have to fight?

[ To catch her attention, he reaches up to try and tug carefully at her shirt. ]

open

[bedheaded]

[Jeff stands at the back, not looking up even once from texting while the guy talks.]

[He's listening. Sort of. Someone will fill him in later, right? Hey, can he borrow your time travel notes? Look, he has more important things to do than pay attention to this.]

[He finally glances up when sounds like he's done talking.] Great, so we can leave now?

[theworst]

[All the cool kids sit in the back and barely pay attention. Britta had been distracted on and off with her hair a few times, twisting a strand between her fingers and lamenting the inferior hair products. It was the future, you would think there would be some improvement. Although the part about dying did grab her attention. Britta elbowed Jeff, leaning close to whisper]

Wait, so we travel back in time and might die and if we do we just get a giant reset?

[because hipster slackers gotta stick together -- and then eventually find people to cheat off of and then swap notes]

Open!

[caligulas_aquarium]

[It should be obvious from just looking at the guy that Eridan isn't paying attention.

Occasionally he looks off in some direction, but in reality he's not even focusing his attention on that either.

Keeping up appearances for the most part, really, because if they want him to show up? He'll show up. But that doesn't mean he has to do anything while there.]

Blah blah blah...wwish these assholes wwould shut up already.

[noble_nate]

Nathaniel casts him an irritated look. From his experience so far, the group of trolls here were either very nice or very irritable -- it looks like this one fits into the latter category.

"You'd do well to pay attention, seeing as how they're sending us out tomorrow."

open, will match tag style

[stonefaith]

[ Seeing as Bariyan had a habit of abandoning his netbook for hours or days at a time, it'd been lucky that he'd heard the ping at all. Well, he'd heard other netbooks pinging before he thought to head back to his room and check his own.

He still arrived slightly late, slipping in unnoticed and sticking to the back of the crowd. And there he waited, arms crossed, expression blank as the speech ended.

Hm. Okay. He doesn't like this any but it seems as if they don't exactly have a choice about it. ]

...I need a volunteer.

okay baryan do your worst

[birdhousesoul]

[by the power of Greyskull Anders is the volunteer! FOR MAGE BROTHERHOOD. Are you going to turn him into a pile of maggots?]

This won't hurt Ser Pounce-a-lot, will it?

[asks Anders, stepping forward to answer Bariyan's request.]

OPEN

[selfloyalty]

[This felt wrong.

She was never meant to be a soldier, she was never raised to take orders. She had been raised to be a leader, or worst case scenario, an adviser. While she didn't look entirely uncomfortable with a longsword in its sheath at her hip or wearing slacks as opposed to a skirt or dress (in fact, she looks pretty comfortable in the ensemble), she did look rather displeased as the man went about talking, instructing them as to what they will do during this mission of theirs.

That should have been her up there, her giving a speech. This was entirely too wrong for her.

After the man finishes said speech, her stance laxes a bit as she fixes her hair into a simple braid. Despite having her sword, she finds herself moving away towards what looks to be an archery area, taking one of the bows and a quiver full of arrows used for practice.

She needed to do something to clear her mind. Perhaps she'll try to find a partner to practice sword fighting with later.]

Re: OPEN

[noble_nate]

After heading over to the stock of weaponry and adding a light-but-deadly longsword (it never hurt to stock up) to his existing arsenal of his trusty longbow and pair of daggers, he finally takes a look around him.

He'd planned on doing some training with his sword and daggers, since using ranged weaponry was definitely his strong suit and he could use the practice with melee weapons, but spotting the Queen by her lonesome at the archery butts is too difficult to pass up. Despite their differences, she was still his queen.

So he wanders over to her, watching her practice. "Not bad," he comments idly.

open

[eyecontact]

Well, that was...certainly something new! At least as far as Jericho himself was concerned. Not every teen hero had cleared the time travel hurdle, after all.

His attention dropped to his "weapon" the speaker had referred to. He hadn't put the gloves on since he'd gotten them, honestly not sure what to make of it all. Sturdy, with an interesting material on the fingertips, but certainly not loaded for, say, a megaton punch or two.

As always, his weapon was the one that came to him naturally – his mutation. Of course, there was always training to be done physically, and if that's what needed to be done, then...

He swiveled his head left and right, searching the room. Where was his team? His roommates? Faces he knew?

/wasn't sure if he had "seen" Jericho yet so playing on the safe side

[notthatjason]

Jason felt a little better after having spoken to Reyna and the others. He had a plan but now it was just a matter of finding their mentor and running by him. Of course, if their "mentor/leader" disagreed with it he would still go through with it, but he should at least TRY to ask permission first.

He still wasn't planning on doing any combat training. If they weren't ready now they weren't going to be any more ready 24 hours from now. Instead he was observing others. There had been several new transports lately which meant new styles to observe and figure out.

Jason noticed the other boy looking around the room. "Hey. Looking for someone in particular?"

open

[theguideless]

Martin felt sick.

For all each answer given, he could think of at least two more questions to throw on top of it. But this was still way out of his element (the room was filled up with the disturbing odor of...of strange things), and talking to humans with authority was never something he'd expected to have to do – ever.

But those were the ones, weren't they? The ones who would know.

And they were exiting the room. Martin's stomach clenched.

Wait. Wait!

He shook into motion, taking scuffling steps that evolved into a hastened trot as he tried maneuvering around and between people, mumbling his apologies until they were almost shouted with urgency.

"Sorry–– wait, I––!"

Needless to say, he wasn't going to avoid everyone. Fortunately for whoever he bumped into, he wasn't the heaviest or tallest thing around.

"Oof––!"

[bedheaded]

Jeff nearly dropped his phone when he was bumped into. "Watch where you're going, Jack Tripper." But the harshness of his tone did soften (only just) when he saw the look on the person's face. He did not, of course, apologize anyway, and neither did he offer a hand.

Open~!

[bellonaborn]

Reyna made no move to start practicing. No, she instead remained still and silent, her gaze narrowed at the stage ahead of her. There had to be another way, she didn't care what he said. There was always another way and they would find it. Not only would fighting her people violate her own moral codes, but her mother would not stand for it. And Reyna would not go against her mother, much less her own people.

She wouldn't practice or train, not until there was a plan in action.

I am a cat and what is this

[birdhousesoul]

While Anders is getting magicked by Bariyan, Ser Pounce-a-lot the cat comes wandering over to meow at the young woman who doesn't look very happy. Pounce is an extraordinary cat. Also, Pounce is annoyed that Anders isn't paying attention to him.

The orange kitty gazes up at Reyna and makes conversational mewings.

(Other than his Special Item Power Pounce has no special abilities, at least none the Initiative has yet unveiled what with their now we make you evolve SOMEHOW SOMEDAY technology. But try telling Pounce that. He thinks he can talk.)

Open - will match style~

[onemoredeath]

He wanted blood. It had been too long since the last time he had felt a life quiver under his hands. Too long since he watched awareness leave the eyes of another person. While he had spent some weeks planning for the next one, searching for that right person, never had he spent this long in choosing someone to kill.

Takegami curled his fingers, face remaining immpassive at the speech even though his heart pounded in his ears and the sudden familiar rush lit through his veins. A chance to kill. A chance to actually kill and main and maybe eat. Maybe it was an addict's reaction. Maybe it was just how his mind worked. It still made him feel far more inclined to hold off a few more days.

Calm. Takegami forced himself back into the patterns the announcement had broken, the repetitive strike-guard-block of a simple kata helping to clear his mind. It was one thing to be thrilled by the prospect of finding a target. It was another to show it. He might not care if they found out about his hobby, but he was a gentleman. And gentlemen were always discreet.

[feel_nevermore]

Raven could sense how eager he was. Eager to fight, craving violence and something more. Deeper. It felt like hunger? If this hadn't been happening in broad daylight, she could have believed he was a vampire. But one thing was sure, he really wasn't the gentleman he pretended to be. Or rather he was but there was another side to him. A darker one.

"How are you doing, Mr Host?"

She smirked slightly, leaning against a nearby wall as she watched him make his martial art katas.

[feel_nevermore]

A mission. Now that almost felt like home. Raven was not eager, nor was she afraid of what was to come. She was perfectly detached. This training was interesting but there were other ways for Raven to prepare for a fight. Like meditation.

That's why possible sparring partnerss would find Raven sitting cross-legged and levitating a few feet above the ground, muttering a mantra under her breath. No need to waste her time in-between two spars.

[curepotion]

While Riku'd learned how to meditate from another transport, he'd... never actually see someone do it while floating. He'd been intent on passing by her to train, himself, wisps of darkness surrounding his hands, but...

Despite what he'd been told about meditating in silence, he couldn't help but speak. "How are you doing that?"

Open to anything.

[peachhat]

"Bring it, humans or whatever else you are. Attack me head-on, show me what you got, if you got anything at all!"

Tenshi was standing in the air near a wall, and just jumped down, creating a small shockwave.

"Don't worry, I can take it, so try your abilities out! I'll respond in kind~"

Open

[fivetimesover]

[Orihime stood towards the back, her expression much more serious than usual. She seemed rather calm and collected, but if you looked into her eyes, well they told a different story. She was a nervous wreck, she wasn't a fighter and this was the first time she had ever faced a battle without her friends beside her.]

[theworst]

[Britta, while being the worst, does pretty well picking up on details, and she does notice that look in Orihime's eyes. It's tough enough being here as an adult, she can't imagine being stuck here as a kid]

I think I remember hearing in history that the Syrians are pretty tough. I'm betting we won't even have to do anything. It will be like a Roman holiday for sure.

[she can't even get the name of the people right and she doesn't know a thing about the history, but she wants to try to at least help Orihime. It's in Britta's blood, this is the skin of a psych major!!!]

open

[moirailcompass]

[Nepeta is frowning. It's something she finds herself doing a lot more in recent times than she would like. There's a lot in that speech that just brings up a lot of questions. The use of time travel, being cloaked upon the mission, the candid way in which they addressed death and the fact that it doesn't seem to matter.

Then, of course, there was the matter of withholding information. In their previous announcement they had finally given some answers, but she was still left feeling uncertain of how much she wanted to trust these people.

Yet she had decided she was going to go. It may not work in her favor, but actually participating the mission was one way to begin understanding just what this war was about and what their battles would be like.

Whelp. She supposed for now the best thing would do to take advantage of of this last day they had before the mission. She had been training each day regardless, but so far she had yet to quite make progress with her new 'weapon'. She still had her claws at least but for now she began with some stretches.]

[musclebeast]

Something the matter, Nepeta?

[Said after he clears his throat, appearing behind her, arms crossed infront of him. Equius seems to look a little distraught and worried, but he's hiding it... mostly. 'Everyone' was supposed to be here... or were thought to be, so he was just a bit on edge.]

open

[tyriannicull]

[ Among the humans here, the trolls stand out and there is one that stands out even amongst the trolls: much taller and much older. Her horns are a few feet long and her hair drags along the floor and takes up more room than her body.

Friends? Family? Trust?

She is very disappointed. She was hoping for something interesting, not some mushy human peptalk. Even the patience of an immortal can last only so long! The only thing keeping her from razing the entire settlement is her assumption that her arrival is Lord English's doing. There is surely something to be taken away from this trans-dimensional impromptu vacation. ]

Traipsing through Earth history? Is that it?

[ At least she may get to massacre some hapless humans.

Meanwhile, she is going out of her way in an attempt to find every troll she can in this gymnasium. Call her paranoid (because that is what she is, duh), but she did not believe any of the ones she spoke to about anything and is determined to find them all herself.

She likely stands out like more of a sore thumb than any other person in this entire place, so feel free to talk to her or just outright gawk.

...Did they really want her to 'train'? That's really not a thing she does... ]

[boughtabookstore]

[ Definitely watching from the outskirts of the head, head tilted curiously. A troll, but she seems to be an adult one. That's new.

Ros is just going to keep a quiet eye on her. ]

[wantsapprentice]

[ He comes when he is called, not for an particular sense of loyalty to their newfound commanders, but rather his own peculiar need to discover all that can be know. The outline is vague and far from satisfying, but it'll do for present.

Clad all in black from head to foot, the color is disrupted only by the armor that now covers his chest, legs, and arms. His "weapon" has already adapted, taking the shape of a Roman centurion's armor.

It's a rather different feel from what he's used to, but given their next mission, it only seems appropriate to practice the art of mingling.

Blade in hand,, his features doubly obscured by an opaque mask and helmet, he begins practicing various forms. Anyone who wishes to spar with a swordsman may very well get their chance. ]

If you want me to switch to another tagging style, that's fine.

[peachhat]

Pretty interesting!

[The celestial had watched the masked warrior a bit, and decided to request a spar of some kind. She was getting a bit bored, after all.]

I've heard stories about those masked fellows always being scary fighters. How about you? Are you one of those? Care to show what you're capable off in one of those 'spars'?

[She grabbed into the empty air, pulling her sword out of nowhere.]

[evilboygoofball]

[Guess what Jack isn't doing? Paying attention. Or sparring. Screw that.

What he is doing, however, is messing around with his backpack. You see although identical to his one back home, or at least it is now thanks to some modifications by yours truly, it was meant to act as some kind of all purpose telepathically controlled...thing.

Without details, he doesn't actually know exactly what it does, so instead he's sat crosslegged on the floor with the pack on his lap, messing around with it using a screwdriver. He hasn't successfully taken it apart or anything, but he figures if this is the real deal and he can figure out how this thing works, he could figure out how to do a lot more with his own stuff too.

SO IT'D SUCK IF SOMEONE BOTHERED HIM YEP]

[musclebeast]

You.

[Yeah, not too far away and staring, staring very very angrily.]

open

[honkhonkwoof]

"Motherfuck." That is the first thing that tumbles out of his mouth after they're done their little speech.

His shoulders are tense, all a bunched up and crumpled line, and he's definitely not quick to start all this training again. The prospect of real fighting, killing (again, but ugly, warm colors of dark red are all he'd ever see then). But then he stops, forces himself to think clearly -- they didn't say killing anyone was completely necessary. Just protecting and fending off, right? His 'voodoos were good enough for something like that alone.

... who is he supposed to practice these with, or on? It's not something he's eager to get going. Gamzee doesn't have as much as control over them as he'd like to imagine...

So he stands there rather numbly, watching everyone else instead. Not speaking to anyone in particular yet; but he'll probably try approaching any other trolls. And if Karkat isn't busy yet, definitely him.

[pushedaround]

... Hey, Gamzee.

[ Tavros wished desperately that he could, at least, pretend he's not terrified and nervous as hell. Nope. It's not happening. The panic was written all over his face as he approached the highblood.

So much for getting his confidence on. ]

That was some, uhhh, interesting speech. I guess.

open to all!

[curepotion]

[ if the 'defend' part wasn't enough, the fact that he stressed 'for your families at home in their own world' was enough to make Riku take the mission seriously. not that he hadn't planned to. he knew that being a Keybearer meant that he had to keep worlds safe, and ... this was a world in turmoil. as long as he could help, he should, even if matters back home were pressing. twenty-four hours, though--just a day? sure, everyone was supposed to be training before, but... what about people who couldn't fight? maybe his mutter comes out a little too loud to the other people around him: ]

For a mentor, doesn't look like he has a lot of information to give us.

[ stuck between a rock and a hard place; there are responsibilities that he should uphold, given Aqua has left, and so has Roxas, and now he's the only one to really be a "Keybearer"--despite him not deserving of the title.

if they're going somewhere with innocents, though, he'll just have to kick his training into high gear. his Darkness still needs work... he moves away from too many people, wisps of dark energy coming off of him. ]

Re: open to all!

[birdhousesoul]

((neat, wisps of dark energy! I'm assuming this doesn't look like blood magic at all, what with it not being red and Riku not bleeding, so Anders may actually just interpret it as analogous to Entropy magic or maybe Spirit? Also, if Riku has a keyblade, it's likely Anders will interpret this as some kind of staff.))

Hearing the comment, Anders glances over to look for its source, and sees something Definitely Interesting. From his own blue, glowy past experience, Anders knows: wisps of energy steaming off someone's body may well be an good indication they've got some kind of crazy-powerful magic going on, and possibly haven't got so much control over said magic.

He approves of the young mage's choice to move away from the more densely crowded areas. (Mage, he assumes, whether the other person identifies as such.) He's confident in his own abilities, however, and it's without trepidation that he approaches Riku, expression as friendly and open as it can be under the circumstances. Anders isn't hiding his own magey mageness, what with the massive staff he's carrying (wink wink, nudge nudge — oh, all right, not that kind of staff), its height rivaling his own, but it may not be readily recognizable as a staff.

"The mentorship in this place does seem lacking," he agrees with Riku's assessment. "You've got to wonder what sorts of tacticians they've got working for this Initiative, who think it's a promising idea to pitch a bunch of foreign conscripts into unfamiliar territory almost completely unprepared. Think it'll help if we throw fireballs at one another for a bit?"

open

[morsecodes]

Leo was practically shaking with excitement when they got the message for the briefing, so he rushed to the area, but as the briefing started...

This couldn't be right was all he could think. They had to go fight Romans? He wasn't all that biased, if he was honest, but Jason...even Reyna, they were Romans. He may have been Greek himself, but he ties to Romans, and they were supposed to work together.

But they had to get home. If they didn't fight, would they have to stay in this place longer? Would it keep them from getting back to his home, to his ship?

So if anyone knows Leo, be amazed at just how quiet he is now.

[hammerkind]

They've spoken briefly over the network, and they're also standing next to each other. John thinks that is more than enough justification to to say hi to Leo.

So he does: "Hi Leo! It's John, in case you might not... remember how I look or something. We talked over the network." He's always nervous meeting people offline. But he was fun to talk to, and nice too. So it's through his telling himself that over and over and also his nerves that John doesn't pick up on the fact that Leo might be troubled.

"So, we're going to fight like. Romans. That is pretty cool! I have only ever learned about them in school, we did a really awesome unit on their stuff. There were a lot of smart guys in Rome."

He shifts awkwardly.

"So, uh, man. This is kind of nerve wracking! We are going back in time! That is crazy, and kind of amazing, but not totally unheard of. For me anyways. ... Yeah, um, wow I can't shut up. How are you!"

Action; - Open

[musclebeast]

He's not particularly fond of this, of... well, all of this. It doesn't feel real still, with the game he had just been in with the other trolls. This place feels like a game, everything in it, and all of them participants. Not only that, he has no real drive to help this Initiative, and training? Bah, does he need to? Equius is at peak condition, his strength unmatched and his skills with a bow... actually existent now. Not like he'll practice here. No, of course not. These people aren't worth it, yeah, that's it!

A huff, almost horse like, flipping his hair back and over a shoulder as he cocks his hips slightly, putting more weight to one leg. The troll seems to be rather deep in thought as he stares through the crowd through his broken shades.

Well, at the same time, some strife might be enjoyable... whether this 'training' was going to be used to help this silly group of kidnappers or not...

[thleepy]

Nik is growing increasingly nervous and conflicted about all of this. Protecting, they'd said. Protecting is good. Nik can support protecting people, and protecting friends. But sometimes, he knows, sometimes protecting people involves having to fight other people. And he doesn't like that part.

And it sounds like, in the very near future, that part is going to be unavoidable.

So he'd started wandering through the crowd in hopes of finding comfort. A familiar face. Something.

Luckily for him, Equius isn't terribly hard to spot in a crowd. So as soon as Nik catches sight of him he breaks into a clumsy run, dodging people and limbs and weapons alike in order to attempt a dignified faceplant into the back of Equius' legs.

"Equius!"