Description: Objective: Evaluation Combat. Obstacle: Lavender Haired Assassin. Alias: None. Summary: Aislinn has two new recruits she's in charge of now, and to get a feel for what they can do as a pair, she calls them back out to the warehouse for an evaluation fight. Camille and Ayame prove they can do just fine.
Not three days after their 'recruitment' and Ayame and Camille have been called back out to the harborfront warehouse that is, quite simply, the most convienient place to hold destructive things like training matches. Aislinn is already waiting; the door is unlocked and the lights are on, just like they were before.
Of course, inside, the warehouse looks little different save that the obviously-placed improvised weapons aren't around--the place is actually squeaky clean, a large square set in the middle, again with storage racks to demarcate the place.
And that is where Aislinn is waiting, her back ramrod straight, feet shoulder width apart, arms folded behind her back.
The oldest of the involved parties is a bit worried about coming back to this warehouse so soon; after all, last time she was here, she got punched so hard that her arm went dead for a minute or so. Her memories of 'training fights' -- or, well, a training fight -- here aren't precisely the fondest things she has.
Nonetheless, she is here, in this unusually clean warehouse; she almost thinks, from the looks of it, that she's in the wrong place. 'Where are the pipes and boxcutters?' she wonders to herself, as she looks around the nearly-empty building, curiously avoiding making eye contact with Ms. Doyle. She idly pulls her claymore out and then puts it back away a few times, trying to occupy herself with /something/.
This time out is a bit different than last. Last time Ayame came by the warehouse at night it was to pass an admissions exam. Kind of like school, only with a lot more getting banged upside the head by anything Camille managed to get a grip on. This time it's as a member of the outfit that owns the building rather than an outsider. It's certainly a shift in perspectives.
She arrives on time. Her schedule is pretty free, after all. When not hacking away at something at home, she's probably up to mischievous misdeads. Sure, she's supposedly promised some kind of regular income as part of Blackjack, but she's barely just joined and that has yet to manifest itself. In the meantime, her usual antics will get her by. Besides, sometimes her tastes in toys are too expensive to be sustained by a normal income anyway.
Stepping close to the other two, the blonde studies Camille again. Last time the foreigner managed to clobber her something fierce. But she's not so likely to underestimate what the harmless looking red-head can actually do. She didn't even get HIT with the blade of the sword and she's already starting to dread that thing.
Sliding her back up against a wall, she crosses her legs at the ankles. She slips off a snappy, casual salute toward the lavender haired girl before folding her arms over her chest as she looks toward Aislinn for instruction. Her experience with Aislinn is limited. She knows she has some reflexes, but not how much. And that she wasn't too scared having a knife at her cheek. Hn.
"Good. You're here." Aislinn smiles, faintly. Very faintly. "I am your team leader. I have yet to face either of you in combat. In order to effectively lead you, I have to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. This is a training session. You will become familiar with my fighting style and I yours."
Simple enough, isn't it? So saying, Aislinn unwinds from the stiff stance and walks to the 'far' end of one corner, about ten feet in from the walls. And she stands there, waiting. "The two of you are to come at me until I call a halt. This is for informational purposes but..."
Her hands come up, curling into fists. "Don't hold back. I need data to process."
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has started a fight here on the right meter side.
> //////////////////////////////]
|-------\-------\0 Aislinn
COMBATSYS: Ayame has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Ayame 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aislinn
COMBATSYS: Camille has joined the fight here on the left meter side.
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Camille 0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
Camille swings that sword around once, putting it back in its sheath yet again as Aislinn speaks, finally stopping that somewhat nervous motion. She thinks of speaking up, of admitting that she doesn't quite see the importance of this sort of learning, but thinks better of it. Probably for the best, she tells herself, as she rolls her own shoulders and takes a step forward, though she obviously doesn't walk all the way to Aislinn just yet.
When Aislinn finally clenches her fists and tells them not to hold back, of course, it's then that Ms. Irvine decides to rush in -- she only gives a small, cursory glance to the girl she knows as 'Aurora' before rushing in. This is just her way -- probably best for her to get used to the girl's impulsive nature in a setting like this than somewhere else.
Leaping forward, Camille tries a very basic technique, trying to hook her arm around Aislinn's face and then jumping slightly, bringing her own body to the ground... and hopefully Aislinn's as well!
Ah hah. Just as Ayame had prepared for. Another fight. She's been facing off against the Blackjack members one by one it seems, but this analysis is to be another shot at working with her new partner in crime. Camille and her paths have crossed in more than one interesting way in very recent history. Working alongside the young woman from Europe is going to be an interesting experience, she believes. "All right," Ayame grins. Her team leader sure looks young. Though she actually has a couple inches on her in height. Well, by now all three probably know looks can be so very deceiving.
Pushing off from the wall, shifting from lazy slouch to an analytical fighter, the girl focuses the rest of her attention on Asilinn now. She knows the girl isn't inherently squeamish about blades like a lot of people her age would be. Which is why she decides to pull out her staff instead, extending the collapsed tube to a full six feet of titanium in an instant as she charges forward only slightly behind Camille.
The long weapon is swung around once over her head to pick up momentum before she brings it low, aiming to give Aislinn something to cope with at shin level, perhaps trying to make it harder for her to deal with both Camille's grapple and the weapon sweeping for her feet at the same time.
COMBATSYS: Camille successfully hits Aislinn with British Bulldog.
- Power hit! -
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Camille 0/-------/------=|==-----\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Ayame successfully hits Aislinn with Medium Strike.
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Camille 0/-------/------=|===----\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
Truth be told, it's been a while since Aislinn last saw action... and it shows. Deciding to 'play it safe', she's confronted with a scenario she isn't often up against--a two on one. In fact, this is the first time she's had to deal with something like this... and her moment of hesitation costs her dearly. She's swept and then Camille lands her bulldog throw, Aislinn simply getting slammed into the hard concrete of the warehouse floor.
It's an impressive amount of damage, to be sure, and so Aislinn takes heart. Her team isn't gimpy. However, that said... Aislinn rises to her feet, looking damaged but not terribly concerned. And then she leaps, slashing her right leg around for Camille's head, a manuever borrowed, in part, from wrestling--this kind of sacrifice kick is usually seen with the wrestler planting their foot into their opponent's gut.. it's just that Aislinn skips that part.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Camille with Medium Kick.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
Aislinn's enzuigiri catches Camille by surprise -- she didn't know what to expect, and as such, even though she starts to roll away and pull her sword back out, it's too little too late. She goes tumbling, a fact only made worse by her lack of current balance with that sword only half-out. She definitely looks like she's not enjoying herself.
Continuing to go for a high-speed offense, Camille takes a similar approach to Ayame's earlier, though she tries to do both the high /and/ the low in one maneuver; as she gets back to her feet, she lunges forward and does a quick jab with the blade -- it's more unintentional than calculated, and certainly not the proper way to use a claymore. The real attack, of course, is a quick shin-kick, as she hopes to continue to work the same part of the body Ayame did.
The staff is spun back over Ayame's head after the sweep managed to open the way for Camille's attack, using both of her hands to twirl the weapon around a few more times as the girl takes a moment to back off and give Camille some space. She has to make sure she doesn't end up smacking her partner with the polearm while aiming for Aislinn... And she really isn't used to working with teams.
Deciding to hold back for a bit, the girl lowers the weapon from above, holding it out to the side with her left hand, her right hand hovering over the right sheath for one of her butterfly knives but she doesn't pull it out just yet as if still weighing how best to fight alongside the Claymore weilding member of the team.
COMBATSYS: Ayame focuses on her next action.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|====---\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn blocks Camille's Light Kick.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|=====--\-------\0 Aislinn
[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-------|
That's a good thought--working a single point on the body, to weaken it. Aislinn nods to herself, the barest tilting of her head. Camille isn't just flailing; she can see that the girl is thinking strategically and tactically. Excellent. The jab with the claymore is ignored, as Aislinn looks at the motion behind it and assumes it is a feint, which lets her stay solid for the impact against her shin.
Painful? Yes, sure. But pain is an old friend. With a faint smile, Aislinn raises her hand... her fist, that is... and points it at Ayame. She makes no motion to -move-, though... and there's almost no buildup of energy, no indication that anything is going to happen, until a beam of energy lases out of ports on her knuckles, blasting past Camille and towards Ayame.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn successfully hits Ayame with Diamond Flare.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has saved the state of this fight.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > //////////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
Brown eyes observe the scuffle between Aislinn and Camille as Ayame hangs back, watching their team leader handle defending the kick with great efficiency. But then up comes the girl's fist, pointed in her direction. Her eyes narrow, clearly confused as to what the gesture signifies. There's no indication of a chi build up. She'd be able to sense it if there were. But at the same time, she has to assume that the experienced fighter isn't just pointing her fist around for kicks...
Oh! That's why! The energy that blasts against the girl catches her faster than she can manage to move, driving her back against the outside of one of the large cargo containers where she impacts with a metal, resonating noise before sliding down into a seated position, her right hand coming up to rest against her chest as she gasps for air. Whatever kind of attack that was it totally knocked her for a loop.
Using her polearm for support, the girl pulls herself back up to her feet, staggering a little. Oh yeah, that hurt. Well, Aislinn wanted to know that the girl could do something with her knives and now might as well be a chance for Ayame to show that is the case. Her right hand finds that sheath sewn into her belt and slips out the knive there, flicking it open with a click.
And with that, Ayame is charging back into close range. Her staff is still in her left hand, but she's holding the long weapon out to the side, not utilizing it at the moment, instead opting for a swift stab into Aislinn's left side. It seems mostly intended to soften the girl up a little, buying time to better figure out how to deal with a style she isn't familiar with yet.
As Aislinn comes after the other younger girl with that beam of energy, Camille begins to work around her opponent carefully, that big, heavy weapon still held in both hands. This time, she's waiting a little longer than usual before coming in, watching for Ayame to take the first move rather than taking the initiative -- her instinct is to work that leg again, but she doesn't think she'll have an opening this time unless the other girl comes in first. Aislinn will /expect/ another leg shot this time.
As the young woman comes in for that stab at Aislinn's side, Ms. Irvine weighs her options one last time, making sure she's confident in her choice; in the end, she goes with what she feels is the best possible choice and probably has no good reason whatsoever to think that about. Raising her claymore high, she rushes in toward Aislinn, leaping forward early to get a solid, vicious dive in toward the woman's legs with the side of the blade. It might be a little difficult to think of something like /that/ as being even the remotest bit tactical.
COMBATSYS: Aislinn dodges Camille's The Charge of the Heavy Brigade.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|=======\-------\0 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn fails to interrupt Quick Strike from Ayame with Medium Punch.
- Power fail! -
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ///////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/---====|=======\=------\1 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/--=====|
Right. She's landed solid hits on both her opponents; she's gauged their defenses, at least in relation to her own abilities. Now they're both coming at her. This, then, is the second part of the 'test'... their teamwork. The first thing to deal with is the claymore--a matter that is dealt with simply enough, as Aislinn simply leaps over the attack, causing a clean miss.
But dealing with Ayame is going to prove more difficult--with her momentum already set, Aislinn attempts to stop Ayame with strike out in the girl's direction--but the shift in momentum is enough to cause her a miss and instead she gets stabbed, hard, the impact throwing her landing off and forcing her to tumble to her right before she can rise again.
That didn't work, but considering Aislinn's great talent and analytical nature, Camille is not all that surprised by it; seeing the extent to which it threw her off her game to deal with Ayame, though, she thinks she can call it good enough and leave it at that. Pulling herself off of the ground and putting her blade away, she takes a few deep breaths and tries to find a new hole in Aislinn's defense -- she'll /definitely/ be on guard now, if she wasn't before.
She decides, of course, on that freshly-wounded side; that'd be a good, solid new target, and a little easier to strike out at than those legs could ever be. Reaching toward Aislinn as she gets up from her tumble, Camille tries to snag one of her opponent's hands and give her a sudden, forceful tug, sending her speeding toward the wall of the warehouse with a remarkably strong Irish Whip. (...Or, perhaps, British Whip.)
Forcing Aislinn to deal with both girls at once certainly keeps the pressure on the lavender haired girl and Ayame is more than happy to capitalize on that. Dodging an attack from one direction is certainly within the parameters one would expect from someone supposedly qualified to lead whatever little team it is that they have been formed into. But avoiding attacks from multiple directions? Or trying to strike out at both? That's a lot more challenging, even for the best.
She gets that stab with the knife that she was going for, able to sink the blade in further than intended just because of the other girl's own momentum. Pulling away with the butterfly knife, the girl flicks the weapon closed, sliding it back into its sheath. She'll worry about cleaning it of Aislinn's blood later.
Her right hand freed now, she clamps both hands down over her staff once again, charging forward. Finally drawing upon the chi techniques she so rarely displays, the girl's polearm is bathed with a dull, earthly glow. Waiting to see if the red-head's British Whip connects first, Ayame finally shoves the length of her staff horizontally toward Aislinn at roughly neck level, before flipping up and over the girl to land on the otherside and pulling back hard on the staff, clearly trying to get her target in a strangle hold with that weapon. If she really sinks the attack in, she might end up pulling Aislinn right over her shoulder with the force and slamming the teamleader down to the ground on her back!
COMBATSYS: Aislinn blocks Ayame's Midsummer Fantasy.
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Camille 0/-------/---====|=======\==-----\1 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-======|
COMBATSYS: Aislinn counters Strong Throw from Camille with Lightning Reverse.
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Camille 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Aislinn
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ <
Ayame 0/-------/-======|
Clearly, Aislinn needs to revise her own standard tactical protocols if she's to end up fighting multiple opponents more than once. Oddly enough, a semi-quote comes to mind, from the movie The Princess Bride--something about fighting many people being different from fighting one-on-one...
A comedy film but sound tactical advice. It's not good to get caught up in one fighting style or the other. Case in point... as Ayame leaps, and Camille rushes in, Aislinn actually moves -towards- Ayame. Slipping the jab to her neck, she blocks the brunt of Ayame's attack simply by thrusting her left hand to the sky, forcing Ayame's grip to be across her body, not her neck--
--thus letting her put more of -her- weight into resisting the attempt to throw her over. And, oddly enough, it also anchors her for meeting Camille's charge--the grasping hands are caught--at least, one of them is--and Aislinn releases a brief burst of red-white electricity into Camille's body.
But only a brief burst. And then she speaks.
"Alright, that's enough. I have enough data to analyze." Of course, she's kind of stuck--literally--but she expects Ayame and Camille to stop now. If they don't, well, she'll defend herself...
"You are both showing excellent potential. I believe we will be able to deliver the performance Elle expects from us."
Camille gets a shock of that nasty energy that she's used to getting completely torn apart by... and is pleasantly surprised when it isn't nearly as bad as the punch Elle gave her not too long ago. She does lean forward and favor her stomach, but she seems like she's managing the pain -- enough to actually listen to the leader of their team in Blackjack, if nothing else at the moment.
She staggers back, giving Ms. Doyle a small, polite nod and a "All right," wiping the sweat from her brow with one hand and keeping the other massaging that injured torso. The woman makes no aggressive motions, no maneuvers that would seem to indicate that she has any intent of doing anything but laying off now that Aislinn's called the match.
Eventually, she gets a little more pep back, and says, "Of course we'll be able to deliver that -- if we can give them half as good as we give each other, anyway!" Surprisingly confident words, considering a few weeks ago she'd not have said anything even remotely of the kind.
As Aislinn calls for the evaluation fight to come to an end, Ayame freezes for a moment, almost lending cause to wonder if she's going to relent quite as readily as her partner did. Her staff still around Aislinn's middle, she has Elle's Lieutenant in a position from which it wouldn't be too hard to come up with creative ways to hurt her rather quickly...
But the girl releases one hand from her staff, swinging the length of the weapon out and to the side, away from Aislinn. In the same motion, the weapon collapses back down to the more portable sized half-foot long tube that she normally keeps it as. Ayame twirls the tube once then slips it back into the pouch that acts as its holster affixed to her belt.
Taking a step back from Aislinn, Ayame leans back against a crate, hands going up to clasp behind her head as she tries to play off not having been too hurt... Even though that energy pulse Aislinn nailed her with was anything but harmless. "So when do we get down to business, anyway?" the girl asks, sounding quite interested to see what exactly it is they're going to be expected to /deliver/. Evaluations are nice and all, but she's ready for more. Or so she thinks.
Good. Confidence is just as good in her team members as in herself... almost moreso. The Silent Assassin wants to know that when she gives a command, it will be followed. And it sounds like that will happen. And then Ayame asks the question...
"In two or three days' time, we will be infiltrating an abandoned... military... base. We will be after technology and other items."
Aislinn turns, stepping away from the two--and its' clear to see that she's bleeding from the stab wound that Ayame inflicted... and it's just as clear to see that she isn't bothering herself about it.
"I am leading us into the base; I am the most familiar with the types of technology we'll see. You two will be coming with me."
The oldest member of the team closes her eyes hard as Camille and Ayame discuss business, still favoring her stomach pretty intensely; that energy /hurts/ her, and it takes her a while to recover when she doesn't have more immediate concerns like 'punching someone in the face' to attend to. When she hears that they'll be infiltrating a military base soon, she opens her eyes and straightens up a little immediately. The realization that she /did/ say abandoned comes a second later -- that's not /as/ risky, at least.
"What sort of technology is it?" comes the question, finally; it's not that she's particularly technically adept, of course, or that she has an interest in technology to any real extent. Camille just wants to know what to try to avoid breaking for the rest of her team's sake. "Would the rest of us even know... /anything/ about it?"
Ayame blinks at the mention of infiltrating a base. Now that's more like it. The girl stands up straight, stretching her arms out at her sides before lowering them. "Now that sounds neat," she remarks with a grin, her mind already reeling at the possabilities at such a place to explore. Maybe she'll have to wear something with deep pockets...
The girl steps away from the crate, leaning her head to the side, her hands now resting against her hips, "Well, thanks for the practice," she remarks, whipping her head back and to the side to flick her hair back over her shoulder. "If there's nothing else...?" she asks, clearly ready to get going. The girl isn't one for standing around and gabbing for long. There's always some other trouble to get into after all.
COMBATSYS: Ayame has left the fight here.
[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ < > ////////////// ]
Camille 0/-------/=======|=======\====---\1 Aislinn
COMBATSYS: Camille has left the fight here.
> ////////////// ]
|=======\====---\1 Aislinn
COMBATSYS: Aislinn has ended the fight here.
Log created on 22:39:51 11/07/2007 by Ayame, and last modified on 13:21:21 11/16/2007.