MechA cademy [IC/PG-13/Co-Hosted by Skaia/Not Accepting]

[Skaia 578]

Stella put a hand on Kelsey's shoulder as she seemed ready to go tell off the one showboat student. "Tell off" was underselling what Stella expected from the girl, which is why she had made sure to keep the girl from acting. Jock types weren't really anything new to Stella, and being picked on them wasn't either. As such, she had learned to keep herself from actually going off on them knowing how little would come from it. All she had to do was keep to herself and prove that she was better than them in other ways. Smarter ways and ways that mattered more. Giving a brief glare to the boy, Stella then looked back to Kelsey saying, "let's pick a sport." 

Though Stella didn't know what sport to pick. She was not athletic before losing her leg, and not being able to run now certainly didn't help. Gym class had always been her least favorite class to attend, and there was no sport that she had done well in or found particularly fun. So, going through all the sports she could think of, the girl submitted the first one that came to mind. 

Once that was done with, Stella went back to standing with both her friend and roommate, waiting for the result of their chosen sport. Stella went wide-eyed at the one that was chosen, letting out a soft and clearly forced chuckle. "Ah, Soccer." Turning to Kelsey, pointing at the results with a clearly panicking smile she said, "haha, would you look at that Kelsey. It's soccer..." Turning to her roommate she said, "I...I don't suppose you like soccer, Vivian?" Then a more defeated tone in her voice she said, "I wonder...if he'd let me sit out from it." Though Stella already knew the answer.

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica was confused about the sport, mainly because she only knows of football, baseball and volleyball. The latter is more her alley, but the former is used a lot in Robattles. After all, kicking a ball is something every frame can do. Of course, it's harder in the frames, because you actually need to be able to handle the slower movement of the big bulky robotic suit in order for you to kick the ball. In fact, the only reason her legs were good enough to do wall jumps is because of the exertion of kicking the big rubber ball with a motion suit in a way that it works. She heard the soccer was played a lot in the higher systems, so maybe it can be related to this "higher football" she heard about, which wasn't football at all.

Spoiler

Yes, I'm doing the joke of her not knowing that Soccer is actually Association Football, because why not.

 

[LordCowCow 841]

"I...I don't suppose you like soccer, Vivian? I wonder...if he'd let me sit out from it."

Kelsey gave Stella a pitying look. Soccer worked out well for her. Plus there wasn't as much risk of injury as other sports. But she couldn't exactly blame Stella for not wanting to play the game that required so much footwork. She reached over and laid a hand on Stella's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Sorry to say I don't think that guy knows the meaning of sit out." She responded truthfully.

"Still, worse comes to worse just follow me around and I'll take all the shots for you." She winked at Stella. After all how hard could this game be? It was just running around kicking a ball.

The teacher cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention again. "Soccer as I hope you know is a team sport. Usually it's 11 players but for this exercise we'll split off into groups of 6. You can work out your teams among yourselves but make sure you choose with PASSION and with the goal to CRUSH the COMPETITION! If you just pick your friends and they turn out to be slackers it's on YOU!"

He crossed his arms and was about to speak again when a bell chimed in the distance. Flinching he said "Well damn. I was going to start the training but suppose that's gotta wait for next time. Maybe in the meantime I can get some custom balls from that House Leader....Well, what are you waiting for? It'll take some time to get back to the school and to the next class and TARDINESS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" He then flung an arm out and pointed at the school. "DISMISSED!"

As the students began leaving, some running others taking their time, there could be overheard speculation on who the teacher might be. "Maybe it's some famous mercenary or war hero."

"I heard the principal himself will teach it. You know who he is right?"

"I bet it'll be taught by an actual robot!"

"Whoever it is I doubt they'll be as extreme as this nutjob."

Spoiler

Feel free to figure out what to do about teams OOCly. We have, including Xa'Tok and both of Yui's, 7 technically so we can be in multiple groups and fill in with NPCs if desired. Might bump up the teams to 7 but figured would give this option first and see where people stand.

The actual matches won't be till next week in-universe so there will be stuff between then.

Next class will be last class for day, Mech Combat. I'll set the scene for the classroom next post. Giving another week for people to post reactions to everything thus far and anything else between the classes.

 

[yui 576]

"There are many ways to exercise and train. Me, I started off with SPORTS! I joined every sport club and became the STAR of EACH! But since the principal said that would be too much and I couldn't pick one...I decided I'd let you all decide! This machine has every sport known to life on it. Pick your favorite sport and we'll start drills through this week to prepare. And then next week...we'll have a little competition!"

Sports, eh? Vivian wasn't an athlete herself, but there was no shortage of sports scenes on Colia to find and follow. Except for baseball and football. The way stadiums were built back home meant they were too small for those two specific sports. But there was no shortage of other sports to be found. There was one in particular that she was quite fond of, so of course she cast her vote for that one. Basketball! Sitting at the forefront of Colian sports, joining a women's basketball team was always Vivian's backup plan for if her actual dream career didn't work out.

That was when she heard that movie star Weston Easton laughing very obnoxiously loud. "I can't believe so many people had trouble with that. Sure, I had a lot of practice given my stunt work but really. So many people fell behind me when I wasn't even trying my best. And the ones who got better? I'm sure they had to work so very hard. And a few of them even had a handicap and they couldn't keep up."

It would have been only slightly less obnoxious if Vivian wasn't standing right next to him the whole time. "Oh, it wasn't that hard at all. In fact, I probably scored pretty average for someone from my planet. My drill instructor could probably beat both of our times with his hands behind his back." Then the girl nodded her head roughly in Kellz's direction, adding "And that girl wasn't far behind you, even though she's out an arm. Not to mention Mr. Benton over there could probably leave all three of us in the dust without breaking a sweat. Sounds like we've both got a long way to go. Maybe I should take up a stunt girl career?"

He scoffed at her. "Out an arm? Don't you realize the advantage that thing gives her? No, I suppose some backwater bumpkin wouldn't." A gaggle of girls around him, who seemed to pop into existence just to respond, giggled at his words.

Ah. He caught that after all.

"Now that you mention it, it sure does! Sure, she's not as fast as either of us, but that arm packs a nasty punch! But that leaves me, right? Shouldn't your stunt work make you at least better at this than a backwater bumpkin? And a weird bird, apparently?" Seriously, what kind of bird was that? She'd never seen one quite like it before. She'd have to do some research. Maybe it was a rare native species? Or perhaps even... endangered? The horror.

He tossed his hair and flashed a smile. "Maybe if I was really trying." He then glanced over at said bird. "And don't underestimate birds." He muttered. Then shook his head quickly and looked back at Vivian.

Vivian was about to posit a response of her own to that too, but suddenly, Mr. Benton had announced the results of the poll. And the results were... soccer! Fine by her! If it was a game where the best legs won, Vivian would nail it! "I'll see you on the soccer field then, I suppose. Make sure to really try if we're on opposite teams. Consider it some friendly competition. By the way..." Vivian reached into her purse, digging past the overabundance of pens to grab a small notebook. She'd made a point to start carrying this around now that the school year was officially on. Opening it to the very last page, she held out the book and a pen, asking "It's pretty rare to get to meet a galactically-famed actor like Weston Easton! Could I perhaps get your autograph? There's no way anyone back home would believe I met you unless I have it."

He stared blankly at her but only for a moment before his smile turned back to a charming one "Of course, it'd be my pleasure." He then signed the paper. Writing along with it "Thanks for the support, look forward to all my future successes, Weston Easton."

"Thank you~" Sucker~! Vivian put the book and pen back in her purse, before making her way away from him and reuniting with the other girls where she heard her name being brought up.

"I...I don't suppose you like soccer, Vivian?"

"I certainly don't mind it. I'm more of a basketball girl though! Every time I played soccer I just ended up wishing we had open-air stadiums on Colia." That was going to change here, of course. But that would come up when it came up. For now, she wanted to get to that class! Being late wouldn't be a good first impression! At the same time, she didn't want to ditch the other girls. So she kept pace with them, and asked in return "How about you two? Any sports either of you are particularly fond of?"

[Skaia 578]

Stella sighed as Kelsey affirmed her own thought, then gave a faint smile over to her friend as she commented on helping her out. "Well, let's hope I'm good enough to pass it to you, then." The girl then looked over to Vivian as she responded to her earlier question. Stella wasn't surprised that Vivian preferred basketball as a sport - one that required jumping around all over the place seemed like it fit perfectly with her. The girl waved her hand dismissively at her roommate's question saying, "not particularly. I never really...got into anything and I didn't have much free time to do so. So I'm pretty bad at all of them." And it wasn't as though time had made her any better. Looking back to Vivian, suddenly feeling self conscious about how negatively she was speaking to the cheery girl she said, "but uh, my dad likes tennis. So I watched that some. Seemed alright." Though, in that vein there was another sport that Stella supposed she enjoyed watching. She just couldn't bring herself to mention it. 

[ChampionZero 62]

Kansuke forced himself to ignore Weston and his nonsense. He had to remember that he wasn't here to scrap with mouthy spoontongues and insecure catgirls. He was here to become a soldier.

He was honestly more annoyed that they'd been beaten by a bird. Was that bird a student? And of course a bird would beat that obstacle course before a bunch of people-- it was a much smaller target, plus it could fly, which took out literally all of the risk for it. It was hardly a fair comparison.

Life's not fair.

Yeah? Then what's your excuse?

The memory sprang up, entirely unbidden. His mouth had gotten him in trouble before, and it was still trying to do it now... succeeding, even. A smile formed on his face. He'd show them, with his actions, not his words.

[LordCowCow 841]

"How about you two? Any sports either of you are particularly fond of?"

"Pretty sure you can guess what I prefer." Kelsey answered as she put her hands on the back of her head and smirked. "Shame it's one that no one else could have a chance against me." He smirk slipped slightly. "I haven't had much chance to actually get into many sports myself. But I won't say no to being able to use my body and get some exercise in anyway."

They started heading back to the school to get to the next class when Kelsey glanced at the time. "Huh...didn't give us much time did they?" She grabbed Stella by the hand. "Alright break time's over, let's go!" And she took off at a run in an attempt to beat the clock and make it in time.

---

Kelsey barely was able to get in the class as the bell chimed. And it seemed that there were a number of people who fell behind. As she rushed to a chair, the classroom had stadium seating much like the first, she glanced over towards the teacher's desk.

One of the teachers they had seen before, the dark haired young woman in a jumpsuit, was sitting with her feet up on her desk and was chewing on a toothpick with a sour look on her face as her eyes tracked those coming in.

As the last of the students made their way in she let out a long breath through her nose. Then she placed her boot on her desk and pushed back. The chair slid into the wall with a loud bang which claimed everyone's attention. She stood up fluidly and turned her face to the side to spit out the toothpick into a cube=shaped waste-removal unit.

"Late on the first day. I figured this new batch would be a bunch of marshmallow filled feather-brains but this is pathetic."

"H-hey! We were down at that field we didn't have time!" A student protested. Only to get a glare from the teacher.

"On a battlefield if you're late people die. Excuses mean jack-shit." She moved around to the front of the desk and gazed at them all. "I don't know about the rest of the teachers but I don't really care if you hate me. I'm here to drill into you everything you need to be a mech pilot. It's not something you do for fun or because you feel like it. I expect you to do everything as if your life is on the line." She gave a wicked grin. "Cause for all you know it just might be."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "I said it before but I'm Lilith Malkin. I don't expect anyone here to know that name. A good soldier doesn't need to have their names in the news to get their work done. And you'd better not think this is your ticket to fame and fortune."

Once again she looked around at the room. "Now that that's settled. I suppose I had better ask. What's this class, or rather what does Mech Combat, mean to you? Be warned there ARE wrong answers and I sure as hell won't hold back in telling you how stupid you actually are."

Spoiler

And now we're in the final class. Malkin says there aren't wrong answers but that doesn't mean you should force yourself to figure out a "right" one. If you want responses from her then feel free to ask me.

 

[yui 576]

"Now that that's settled. I suppose I had better ask. What's this class, or rather what does Mech Combat, mean to you? Be warned there ARE wrong answers and I sure as hell won't hold back in telling you how stupid you actually are."

This chick was the real deal. That was Vivian's first thought, the more Malkin talked. It was just like being met with her instructors during her training back home. She had that same vibe about her, of someone who had seen and done some shit on the field. Not the person Vivian aspired to be, honestly. If she wanted to be like any of her teachers, it was definitely Mr. John. He had a super-cute dog and stuff! And compared to the rest of the teachers, he was a pretty normal guy. But he wasn't the teacher here, nor was he the one asking what mech combat really meant to the students.

And quite honestly, that was part of the orientation Vivian missed back home. Hopefully she had the right idea, though. Raising her hand, Vivian answered "At least at a military level, going into action with a mech means you're willing to put your life down if you have to, for the sake of your people. You're out there so they don't have to be."

"And right off the bat we have the classic hero answer. Listen, kid, dying for a cause might seem impressive but all it means is one less soldier to help those people you're protecting."

"W-Well, yes, obviously it's better not to die if it can be helped, but casualties are inevitable in war. It's less about saying 'time to go die' and more acknowledging it might happen."

She waved her off "You might die walking out the door today. You'll see more what I mean as we go. Or maybe you won't. I don't actually need to teach you anything more than how to fight anyway." Then she began to look around for the next person.

---

"Now that that's settled. I suppose I had better ask. What's this class, or rather what does Mech Combat, mean to you? Be warned there ARE wrong answers and I sure as hell won't hold back in telling you how stupid you actually are."

Sammi got the feeling that this class was set up to fail. There was no way to make it from the field to this classroom on time! And Malkin didn't seem to care about the issue, so much as the results of it. Even if she didn't like getting part of the scolding for it, that was a trait Sammi could get behind. The real question was if she would be willing to figure out solutions from there, or accept input on them. Necessity was the mother of invention, after all. Does that make me necessity's granddaughter or something? That's a creepy thought.

And then there was the question of what mech combat meant to everyone. And honestly, that was the furthest thing from Sammi's mind. Sure she was sent to a school for mech pilots, but it was mostly to work her way into organic society and gather intel on them. There was still her purpose, her existential crisis from yesterday, what to do about Benton's class, her history project, and more swimming around in her head. Like hell she could worry about something that trivial right now! Willing to take one for the team, Sammi raised her hand and simply answered with the first thing that came to mind.

"Mech combat has no more or less meaning than standard infantry combat. It's the same warfare you can find anywhere in the history of civilization, simply with bigger guns and armor. Mech combat means whatever the war it's being used for means. Freedom, profit, even genocide; it's all up to whoever calls the shots."

The teacher stared at her for a moment. "What are you a r...oh, okay." She rubbed the back of her head. "Well, that beats some of these other answers at least. You're a bit creepy though you know that?"

"Better than some others" was more than good enough for Sammi. Quite content with her assessment, Sammi relaxed some in her seat, ready to pay attention the same as she had with other classes.

[Skaia 578]

Stella couldn't help but slightly frown as Kelsey talked about her favorite sport, but didn't have time to dawdle on it as the next class was coming up. Being pulled along, Stella ran to keep up with Kelsey as the group made their way to the mech combat class. If it weren't for the hellish experience she just had in PE she would've said that this was the class she was least looking forward to all of them. Though, as the teacher began to speak with a grave intensity she couldn't help but think that they were about to be in for a similar experience. 

As the woman then went to ask the class her question, Stella froze in place. She had never really thought about Mech Combat in any practical sense. She wasn't a fighter, she wasn't a soldier, she didn't particularly care about mechs as a whole and she was terrified to actually get behind the controls of one. All in all, she had only joined the academy because she was tagging along with Kelsey. It didn't help that the other two answers that were given before her seemed to be unsatisfactory. As Lilith had said, there were right and wrong answers to this question. And Stella, while not a combatant, was still an academic and getting a question wrong was something she definitely didn't want to do. Of course, that didn't help her come up with an answer any easier. So she thought of what kind of answer the woman was looking for, though just trying to imagine the thought process of this woman was daunting in of itself. 

So instead, her brain ended up taking the most obvious route instead. "Mech Combat is like fighting outside of a Mech. But bigger and with more firepower." The girl realized how dumb she had just sounded, not aided at all by her clearly hastily blurting out the answer, and so she just looked away from the teacher. 

[ZetaRESP 5]

After that cruel "class" she had earlier, it came the Mech Combat, which to be honest, she had not real expectancy of being really good at. Because even though her own knowledge of Mech came from combat... well, she's still only a brawler in a pseudo sport that uses pseudo mechs as a medium. To her, this is like getting a street fighter into a martial arts class: they may have talent, but they had nothing to nurture it so far. So the environment of the class and the question that opened it were not unexpected. She was sure, however, whatever she said was not gonna be fine, so she just went with bluntness. "I personally have no idea what do you expect me to answer. I'm a robbatler, so I technically never do combat and I never use a mech that's larger than twice the height of a man. I only used a mech in a combat situation exactly twice: A "test drive" for my mech once it got built and a pirate assault defense back in the Finback. The former can't even qualify as a "combat" and in the latter I personally think I did not give my best and I was foolish, and even then it was only because I wasn't alone and those pirate were cowards that I made it alive and almost in one piece. So, no, I don't really think I can give an answer about something I just studied a bit and only experienced once, so I limit myself to what I know from Robattle and it's basically what I know of combat in general: Do the best to be the best or get trashed and get lost. That's all." With that, she simply sat down. Her expression had slowly over the course of the classes, which for her were pretty much a pain in the rump, gone from simply emotionless cold to "disturb me at your own risk" cold. Behind that, she was pretty much embarrassed and upset and she was certainly glad this was the last class of the day.

[ChampionZero 62]

Kansuke didn't answer.

It wasn't that he didn't have a reply, per se. He had a response, to be sure, but he was positive of two things-- one, the teacher would give him flak for having high ideals or complex thoughts if he shared his answer. Two, his answer had some serious overlap with one that had been said almost right away by the girl the teacher had called creepy, and she'd point that out too.

Mech combat meant being a soldier-- but being a soldier meant something to the people who did it, and something different to every soldier. But to the people who gave soldiers their orders, the ordinary footsoldier was a disposable piece on a Regicide board-- a necessary loss if it guaranteed long-term victory. Mech combat meant soldiers were less disposable, less uniform-- you could hardly compare a legion of myrmidons to a loose collection of highly-trained individuals with the firepower of a small army each. It meant that every Mech was a shocktrooper, meant to fight what a hundred men with guns couldn't. Each pilot was an investment, and a risky one, but with a high payoff if they won the war.

It meant they were upping the stakes.

Kansuke didn't say any of this-- he wasn't getting fed to the rats when it turned out the teacher was just baiting them into sounding dumb because she was an authority figure and could crap all over their opinions.

[LordCowCow 841]

"Mech Combat is like fighting outside of a Mech. But bigger and with more firepower."

"Riiight..." Malkin said, "Maybe I scared you too much to give an actual answer. I guess that's...safe to say." The teacher looked less and less impressed as this went on.

Which is why as Erica spoke she stared at her blankly for the entire speech. She hooked a thumb at Stella. "If you were going to say so much to call yourself useless you could've just gave an answer like hers you know."

She closed her eyes and sighed. Those in the front rows could hear her muttering to herself "They're kids, Malkin, just kids. They're just kids."

As the teacher chanted this mantra Kelsey reached over and patted Stella on the knee. She flashed the girl an "ok" symbol with her hand and rolled her eyes in the direction of the teacher. Kelsey sorta got where this Malkin was coming from but she felt it was a bit much. Not all of them were military so what's the big deal? She managed to fight in her mech just fine before right? Sure, it got really beat up and she came close to being blown up but...The more Kelsey thought about it the less confident she got.

Still she gripped Stella's knee reassuringly. No reason to get both of them doubting themselves.

When the teacher opened her eyes again her expression was back to a passive one and she shrugged. "Well, I suppose might as well mention. There's a reason I didn't say there are right AND wrong answers. No one answer can really be correct in this. Combat as a whole is a many-layered thing and Mech Combat even more so. I'm sure some of you even think Mech pilots are just for fighting on the front lines. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact one important aspect is security and..." She pushed a button and a hologram appeared in front of her. On it it looked like they were on a moon of some sort. One mech, resembling the standard military model, and several others that resembled those they had faced off against on the Finback.

"Supply transport. Here you see a scenario where the supplies this soldier was transporting got taken by a group of pirates. There are people counting on these supplies but the soldier's mech is already damaged. Now, some of you might say it's their duty to take the supplies back. But you would be wrong."

She pressed another button and the soldier went into combat. Only to be blown to pieces. "Now they're dead and the supplies are still in the hands of the pirates. Even more it can't be confirmed what happened to either for some time during which the people planet-side won't be getting any more aid."

"Well, he was stupid, just charging in like that. Why not make a plan?"

Malkin pointed at the student. "You're half right. Which in this case means entirely wrong. Even if you figure out a plan you're still outnumbered and damaged. Risking your life to reclaim the supplies in that scenario is too risky for the reward. Supplies can be brought back people cannot. The answer here is to retreat. Call for help. Get more supplies and a larger escort."

She looked around the room. "If I had to pin it down I'd say Mech Combat is about caution. Fight when you can and step away when you can't. Heroes are for the movies. What people really need are the living."

She sighed and cracked her neck. "Alright, that all said. Who wants to put on a little demonstration?" She looked back and several screens came down from the ceiling. Each showing a field like the one they had met the teachers on. "I want to see how some of you handle yourselves in combat for myself."

Spoiler

So as many of you who want can volunteer. Basically just some combat against AI controlled mechs that the rest will watch from the screens. You don't have to do it but I'd like if at least a couple of you do so Malkin can give commentary on it for the rest.

 

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica paid attention to the imagery in front and yes, she was shocked when the mech exploded, but still the message was clear. Mech Combat was more than it seemed at first sight. Apparently, choosing what battles to fight was as good as how to battle them herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and returned to her battle in the Finback. She recalled seeing the pirate mech in front of her and she simply dashed to it, but her mech was not fast, so she basically undid her advantage by going to close combat, especially when the other mech showed up and she got almost outmatched. If it weren't for the firepower she was packing, she would had been done... but she could had made it differently. She had a plasma rifle, she was in the back and the other targets were not protected. She could had taken them out on a distance and that would had worked. She chose the wrong battle and she paid the consequences. She opened her eyes and, when the teacher asked for volunteers for the challenge, Erica walked right to the front of the class. "I will."

[Skaia 578]

Stella was in part both glad that she didn't get chewed out by the woman, but couldn't help but also feel defeated by the utter defeat in the woman's tone. It was then that the woman revealed the true nature of the question - being that it was a trick question. Stella couldn't help but pout at the idea of being given a question with no actual answer by a teacher, feeling like it was cheating of her to do so, but still intently listened to the explanation the woman gave as to be ready for when she was asked next time; either by the teacher or at some random point in time when such a conversation would come up. Then the conversation came back to people volunteering to demonstrate actual mech combat. 

Stella shifted uncomfortably in her seat, glad that it was a volunteer process and not being called on by the teacher. She was sure that with how little she wanted to be called she almost assuredly would have been. Looking over to her friend, Stella shook her head and whispered, "I uh, I think I'm going to sit this one out." 

[ChampionZero 62]

Kansuke almost bolted out of his seat. Finally, a chance to get into the pilot seat. A chance to do something. He'd gone under the knife of a possibly crazy professor, gotten his ass kicked by a cat-lady, he'd taken an orange to the face during the food fight earlier and been outperformed in an obstacle course by a BIRD. He'd been itching for this since he missed his chance on the Finback, maybe longer, but now it was time to--

"I will."

Goddammit!

"Ma'am!" He raised his hand. "I'd like to volunteer as well. Not all of us got to test our mettle on the Finback, after all."

[LordCowCow 841]

Kelsey considered volunteering as well. It could be fun to show off what she could do without having to worry for her life. Then she thought about the previous Phys Ed class and realized that wasn't necessarily guaranteed. Even so she was still on the edge of raising her hand when Stella said. "I uh, I think I'm going to sit this one out." 

She glanced over at the girl. Something about how she was acting didn't sit well with Kelsey. Maybe she could figure out what was wrong while everyone was watching the screens. "Yeah, I'll stick back here too. I didn't actually get to see how other people fought yet anyway. Was too focused on not getting blown up by those space monkeys."

Malkin chewed the inside of her cheek. She was getting more and more antsy as the class went on. All she wanted to do was go out for a smoke but she had promised the principal she'd only do that on her breaks. "The self-proclaimed useless one and one of the silent minority. Go figure." She said as Erica and Kansuke volunteered. "Anyone else?"

When she was satisfied that everyone interested had volunteered, a pathetically low number honestly, she told those who were in to rise. "I'll bring you to the fields and you can use those devices we gave you when you get the signal." She glanced at the rest of the class "If any of you act up while I'm away I'll know and I'll make you do the demonstration WITHOUT your mech."

She led the volunteers to a long hallway that resembled ones they had taken to get to the field the other day as well as for Phys Ed. There were several branching paths that Malkin sent each of them individually. "Take a transport to the middle of the field and wait for my go-ahead." She said. "Any questions? No? Good." With that she left them to their own devices to go back to the classroom.

-

On each of their fields, which resembled a football field stretched dozens of times over, the students waited for some sort of signal. After a few minutes they heard a buzzer and the ground began to rumble. Off towards the far third of the field the ground opened up and something rose up from under it. It seemed to be a series of rocky outcroppings which, while various sizes and heights, all seemed to resemble the principal's head, that emerged from the ground. With a stream of water branching into a T-formation. One side cutting the rock off from the rest of the field and another cutting through the middle of the outcroppings.

On top of several of these outcroppings were rather simple mechs. With long and bulky legs, relatively small and compact bodies, and arms which were spread wide apart. They seemed unarmed but closer inspection noted that panels on their shoulders seemed to be able to open up and there was some sort of gun built into their arms.

Malkin's voice spoke over a speaker. "These are AI controlled mechs. So don't worry about destroying them. Just know they won't hold back in trying to destroy you as well. If you can't handle that feel free to drop out now. Better get your mechs ready soon because they're going to activate in...thirty seconds now."

As soon as thirty seconds passed by another buzzing would sound and a light on each of the mechs would turn on and they'd take aim.

Spoiler

Anyone who didn't volunteer but wants to still can, left it vague. Those on the field a few notes.

One, not the best description job but more/less there is a bunch of rock heads in a cliff face and the mechs are on top of these. Some of the heads are higher than others and bigger but the general idea is that the mechs have the high ground and are spread out across various levels.

There's five of them. And they're packing guided missiles in each shoulder (enough for two volleys each) and their arms are equipped with machine guns built into them. They also have boosts in the legs that let them "jump" distances.

They're referred to as R3-C-0N (or Recon) mechs and are used by the military for scouting missions normally. Light weight but with enough firepower to take down a target if need be.

Any help needed with their movements and such let me know. Anyone not volunteering feel free to comment on things. Will chime in between rounds with Malkin's observations. And if anyone wants to take this time to talk to some of the classmate NPCs let me know.

 

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica had clear what to do: She had to fight and she had to survive. Her outfit was the same kind of gymnastic leotard with a ripped sleeve she had from the last class and in her hand was the bracelet to call for her mech. She never thought she would have to get into another battle this early, but she was not gonna get behind. When Erica heard the first buzz and saw the terrain change, she quickly pressed the button to summon her mech, knowing this is the signal she was expecting. As her mech appears behind her, she sees the other mechs in the rocks and she knows the meaning of this. Once Malkin talks to them and gives them the 30-seconds notice, she dashes to the cockpit, climbing the staircase up to the chest, then the staircase retracts and the cockpit closes before she is hooked to the harness of the control station, her legs sitting over pedals while her arms are gripping tightly on the arm manipulators. The engine turns on and the mech comes to life just as she's being aimed. She lifts the arm with the large sword, thinking her first chance is to parry the first blasts with the big sword as she checks the terrain for any cover she can take before trying her plan. As she does so, she turns on the tank legs and moves towards the nearest cover. She needs to find a vintage point in order to switch the sword into a plasma rifle to take on these units.

[yui 576]

"I want to see how some of you handle yourselves in combat for myself."

"Ooh, me, I volunteer!" A mech combat trial? Now this was more like what she'd expected when she signed up! As the volunteers were rounded up, Vivian eyed the mech device she'd been given at the start of the day. She'd finally get to climb into the cockpit of her Bighand for the first time since leaving home, and show what her mech was capable of. When Miss Malkin gave everyone their 30-second warning, Vivian wasted no time getting into the cockpit and starting the heavily-armored mech up. Pre-emptively, she began charging the cannon it had in place of a left arm, pointing it at one enemy mech in particular. As soon as the signal was given to start, Vivian immediately fired, blasting a nasty hole right through one of the mechs.

---

"I want to see how some of you handle yourselves in combat for myself."

"My mech is poorly-suited for combat. I'll pass."

For several reasons, instead of participating, Sammi wanted to watch instead. Getting a feel for how a few others used their own mechs would be useful information to have, even if it wasn't the entire class. As she'd stated, her mech wasn't suited directly for combat; it was more of a recon and supporting fire type machine. And finally, and most importantly, Sammi simply didn't want to. It was always more fun to watch others fight than to be the one fighting.

Now then, let's see what this class is made of.

Edited September 8, 2020 by Yui

[ChampionZero 62]

As the battlefield's transformations began, Kansuke activated his bracelet. It took a few moments, but eventually the hulking form of the HYD-Tyrannos crashed down behind him with a sound like a battleship being folded in half. It was just as he'd seen it before-- all hard angles and sharp lines, snow-white armor and magenta patterns not unlike his opponents' paint jobs. On one arm, a railgun. On the other, a chaingun. Mounted on its back, a set of missile pods. It was a walking arsenal.

The Mecha knelt, its cockpit opening up, and offered its colossal hand to Kansuke. The way it was moving was strange to him, but unsurprising-- like he'd expected it to do so.

"Alright, let's do it." He laughed, stepping up onto the mecha's palm. The Tyrannos lifted its hand to its cockpit and Kansuke stepped inside.

He'd used the simulator-- he knew what the inside of the mech would be like before he even stepped into it. He stepped onto the platform in the middle and the spinal rig descended from the ceiling on a multi-jointed mechanical arm. He turned around and strapped himself in, feeling little sparks and jolts as the neural connectors interfaced with his new implants. And then he felt it-- or rather, he stopped feeling that dull, phantom ache that had pervaded his senses since the implants were put in-- the distant memory of a missing limb vanishing as it found its way back to his body. He felt...

"Fuckin' GREAT!" He roared, and the Tyrant stood tall, ready to fight.

Upon getting the 30-second notice, the Tyrant lunged in, getting within weapon range and taking cover.

But why wait for them to get started?

Step One: Assess the situation. Enemy targets have the high ground. All recon units, equipped with guided missiles. Best not to let them get a volley off-- blow them up first.

The Tyrant's missile pods reared up from behind and pointed towards his enemies. Swiping his hands across the virtual display in front of him, he selected each one's target and directed them to land at an even spread across his enemies. He knew these units had jump jets, so if they activated mid-volley they might try to dodge. Too wide a spread and there would be gaps. Too tight, and they'd all land in one spot, or worse, collide.

All of this data flowed through him as easily as his own blood, and he used it with as much thought in the matter. "Now fire!" He shouted, and the nervous signal pulsed through the machine around him, launching his barrage even as he readied his railgun-- he'd need precision and stopping power if any of them made it out of the initial attack.

[LordCowCow 841]

Erica

Erica's quest for cover was destined to end in failure. As she was currently standing on a field the only cover to be provided were the rocks across from the small river where the enemy were residing. As she moved slowly forward the Recon mechs opened up one of the compartments on their shoulder. Five volleys of missiles arched up into the air before descending towards her. Her sword would receive plenty of damage from these missiles were she to try and block them but more would simply go around the weapon to strike at her mech's side.

And still the mechs waited on their perches.

"I see what she meant. As you see here, students, the cautious approach doesn't work well when you don't have anything between you and the enemy. If you can't act when you need to you're just a sitting duck."

---

Vivian

Vivian's cannon shot its blast towards the Recon mech on the far left. The heavy weapon blasted the torso of the mech open and caused it to collapse off of its perch.

The others sprung to life as soon as it went down. Jetting upwards and farther away from Vivian's location. Near the higher, furthest back, rocks. Unlike with Erica they opened up a compartment on both shoulders and two volleys of missiles each, a total of eight volleys, races towards the girl.

"A strong opening is important. But what will she do now that the enemy has seen her firepower? She's going to have to think fast if she wants to take the others down before sustaining too much damage."

---

Kansuke

The voice of god is unsure what cover Kansuke thought he was getting into but as with Erica there was clearly nothing to cover behind.

As his own missiles fired so did missiles from the Recon mechs. One volley from each of them arched above Kansuke's firing pattern and descended towards him. When his missiles reached the mechs they jumped into the air with their jets. Two of them were still caught by the missiles and fell as they suffered multiple breaches in their armor.

The last three still made it out of the attack and spread out. Two of them stayed on the rocks among the middle row and fired another volley of missiles at Kansuke. The third jumped lower then used its jets to propel itself forward. Firing its machine gun as it closed in on Kansuke.

"Looks like someone has a mech compensating for something. Hope it's not talent. Big weapons will only get you so far especially when outnumbered."

---

Classroom

Malkin let out a sigh and leaned back in her chair. Propping her booted feet up on her desk. "As you can see here when you have nowhere to go but forward if you waste any time you automatically put yourself at a disadvantage."

Kelsey had to agree. She was excited to see how this went but. "What're they waiting for?" She grumbled. "I bet I could've done it much faster." She glanced over at Stella. "Not that I mind not being out there. What do ya think, who's gonna finish first? I bet it'll be that Kansuke guy. Wonder why he didn't help against those bandits before."

Next to Sammi she heard Kaiser, who had apparently been sitting there this whole time but was so small and quiet he hadn't been noticed, speaking to her. "Do you think...they'll be okay? I didn't think we'd be doing so many dangerous things today. That gym class and now this...I-I mean I'm sure it isn't so dangerous for you but...well, you know..." His voice trailed off.

Behind them another student, Arnold, had apparently overheard and leaned forward to speak to them. "It does seem rather...strange doesn't it? It's like they don't even care what happens to us. I sure hope none of them get hurt. Do you think the school gets a lot of injuries?" He leaned a bit closer and lowered his voice. "I heard some rumors they replace injured students with robots so no one knows how bad they got hurt...Not that I think that's true but there's some scary stories out there right?" He spoke with sincerity and there was a look of honest concern and curiosity in his gaze as he looked between the two.

Spoiler

Reminder for the combat crew that it goes easier if you grab some responses from me.

Also as before for the class crew feel free to interact as you please with other characters and npcs including the teacher.

Note, only those in class can actually respond to Malkin but those in combat can still hear what she's saying.

 

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica was getting painfully aware of what her surroundings are and how her plan was not really the best sounding. She also realized that the hits she was getting were really going to break hr up if she didn't do something. She tries to assess the situation, but it's hard for her to do so. She's aware of their firepower and position, she's aware of her own surroundings, but she's not aware of how to stop them. Her sword needs time to reconfigure into a rifle, which is the biggest downside of that weapon, and right now she can't do so. Her other weaponry is not for distance and those mechs have the absolute advantage in both field and armament. And while the armor is strong, it's not gonna withstand the damage of another volley of missiles. She feels the urge to surrender and call for help...

And just as happened in the previous class, her thoughts of surrendering are shut down as her mind goes immediately into "screw this nonsense" and her mind kicks into high gear. Her plan: not survive, but to wreck some stuff. She immediately turns on the boosters and turns the feet into wheels. This changes her somewhat bulky mech from a slow running leviathan into a dashing leviathan on wheels. She first dashes around in circles to pick up speed, which was actually easier than she expected, due to the fact that outspeeding missiles is somewhat likely. As she finally got enough sped she begins to dash towards the river and the rock formation like an out of control locomotive, the damaged sword serving well to parry enough of the missiles away as she got her objective. The closer she got to the river, she made her mech bend its knees.

The idea was probably obvious to anyone, but ridiculous to most people: She jumped over the body of water using physics, sheer speed and her increasing and deepening hatred for this academy to her favor. And once in the air, she actually did something she picked up from the previous class, which was only made easier by the fact most of her mech used hydraulics that simulate motion capture: She curled into a ball and let inertia do its job. It's now a giant ball of heavy metallic plating at speeds that rival most speed-based mechs flying towards a formation of rocks that incidentally serve as the foundation of the attacking robots. The most likely result, in Erica's mind, is a very damaged rock formation and a somewhat less damaged mech.

Spoiler

Yeah... Erica kind of changed her views on the cademy pretty quickly. Not that I want any changes in how school assess her, I just realized that... well, if Erica doesn't end up as a kind of pariah by the end of the first term, at least for the faculty, it will be a miracle.

 

[Skaia 578]

Stella watched as the other students had volunteered to go and fight in their mechs. The girl let out a sigh of relief as their teacher had seemed to actually only want to take volunteers, knowing that she was safe for the time being. Making matters better, Kelsey was still next to her while everyone went out to go and fight. Though, Stella couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy about it, thinking it was a bit odd that Kelsey wouldn't jump at the opportunity to go and fight. All the same, she sat by and watched the other students paying close attention to the commentary that the teacher was giving about the various student's performances. Even if she didn't have any intention of going out there herself, this was still a class that she needed to pass and so she was going to learn as much as she could. 

Her uneasiness came back for a bit as Kelsey mentioned how much faster she'd have done it herself, though as she reassured Stella the girl simply smiled and nodded. "You'd tear them apart in a flash for sure." Looking away from the girl, with a more  joking tone in her voice she said, "though I'd probably also feel sorry for your mech." At Kelsey's question the girl then started to forget any worries she had as she seriously thought about it for a moment. "Well, if things stay like this, I think Vivian's got a bit of an advantage. Distance doesn't really seem to matter to her mech...but if he can keep up on the enemies Kansuke might have it." 

[ChampionZero 62]

As the recon mechs' volley came down, the Tyrant leapt forward to avoid the volley. The mech rocked and shook from the ensuing explosions-- taking a few direct hits in the process. They weren't as powerful as his, and he was still in fighting shape, but there was no time to catch his breath.

What the teacher said was true, the HYD-Tyrannos was designed with an almost bull-headed focus on firepower, but it was otherwise average-- baseline in every other field of performance. This was because Kansuke believed in two things when it came to combat: power, in as great a concentration as you could muster, and skill.

And in In a pinch, one of the two could slide.

These little recon mechs were designed to be lightweight, fast, and able to lay down suppressive fire if they were being chased-- all advantages when they were doing reconnaissance. But they weren't made for a head-to-head fight with a Mecha designed for combat-- lightweight meant thinner armor and lower-caliber weapons. They couldn't tank a hit from heavy weaponry, and they couldn't use any themselves. The missiles were their biggest advantage, and they could only hold so many without weighing themselves down... which meant two of them were fresh out of their strongest weapons-- and only one of them had any missiles left.

The Tyrant's missile pods rolled back, its arm-mounted chaingun revving up and firing on the advancing scout mecha-- better to take it out while he could, or that last volley of missiles would be an issue later. His enemy's rounds slashed and pierced through the uppermost layers of his armor, sparks flying, but his hit harder-- punching through ablatives and internal components, trailing sparks as they came out the other side, chewing it to pieces as they closed in on one another.

That's three down. Two more, and they're both out of heavies. I, on the other hand...

His missile pods reared up again, ready to fire, and he took aim with his chaingun.

I'm just getting warmed up!

Edited September 17, 2020 by ChampionZero

[LordCowCow 841]

Erica

When the girl's mech struck one of the rock formations, breaking the nose of the stone bust of the principal, one of the Recon mechs started to fall. However it instead used its thrusters to move towards a lower platform. Now that Erica was closed in on the mechs they didn't bother using their missiles anymore. Instead they positioned themselves in a semi-circle around Erica's mech and aimed their machine guns at her. At a, relatively, close range they all opened fire and started to pepper Erica's mech with rapid-fire bullets.

"Protip." the teacher's voice cut through. "It's usually a good idea to actually try and attack the enemy."

---

Kansuke

On the young man's end there were only two Recon mechs left. They were still perched above on the rocks. The pilot must have miscounted the number of missiles because both of them opened up their second shoulder compartment to fire off more missiles. However they closed these soon and instead used their thrusters to advance down the rock formations and across the stream of water.

One of them went straight forward but the other moved around to flank Kansuke. Both of them aimed their machine guns and opened fire. Though until they got closer the accuracy would be minimal.

However Kansuke would hear a hissing noise and Malkin's voice could be heard. "Don't forget to always pay attention to your surroundings. You never know what the battlefield can hold."

Behind Kansuke an artillery battery emerged from the ground and fired off a shell each towards his mech.

---

Stella

"Well, if things stay like this, I think Vivian's got a bit of an advantage. Distance doesn't really seem to matter to her mech...but if he can keep up on the enemies Kansuke might have it." 

"I suppose you're right..." Kelsey said. She wasn't sure why but it bothered her for some reason that Stella was quick to praise her new roommate. "But I gotta say it's pretty fun watching that other girl isn't it?"

She glanced towards Malkin who she noticed had a smirk on her face when unveiling the surprise artillery. "Think she's just messing with them?"

A few moments later Stella would hear a noise on her other side. Then a bit after a "U-um." Looking over she'd see one of her classmates, the one she had been assigned to work with for the history report, Blossom taking the empty seat next to her. Stella noticed a couple rows up Bianca splitting her attention from the screens to watching them.

"I...maybe I should be paying attention but Bianca said it might, well, be a good idea to, uh, ask you what you wanted to do for the, um, project. Just in case I can't get a hold of you after class and...yeah."

[ZetaRESP 5]

Erica actually did what she wanted and now she needed to get her wind back. And by that she decided to go super close quarters, by quickly getting up and spraying all the mechs around her with the fire of her dragon head hand in an attempt to stabilize the area around her, though she may also overheat the area around her. Not much of a worry for her mech, of course. She also uses her large sword to break the formations around her and not only clear the area, but also break their standing near her forcing them to either enter close quarters or abandon the area. She's fighting with more instinct and quick ideas than actual planning, but at this point, she couldn't care less. She was mostly blowing up steam with the entire area. She would sometimes hit a few loose rocks and batter them onto the mechs to attack them at a distance or even sing her sword onto those that were the closest. She was a brawler, not a combatant, so her strategy was to just burn everything.