Day Three: Training continues.

While waiting for Lady Bane's response, Tigermark answered Angus' question.

"Yes Recruit O'Brown, the Military is intended as more of a defensive force. The Overlord is using ....other methods to achieve her ideal of benevolent dominance. There may be a time, in the future, when we will be required to become a force capable of offensive operations, but that time is a ways off yet."

"Thank you commander. I like to be a helping hand and protect our crazy inventors and be of use for the Overlord."

Tigermark then addressed the group of recruits, acting as though Wolfbane was not even there. Perhaps she was waiting to see how he was handling the recruits.

"Okay, everyone get a lance, no clip. I want to see you go through what we learned yesterday, and in the process we'll teach Recruit Tamara the ins and outs of the lance. Tamara, listen as you retrieve your lance. One of the guys will show you how to properly hold it. This is a Mark IV Shock Lance. The older Mark III's are still in use, but they're being phased out. The main difference is that the Mk III is a single long pole. The Mk. IV with it's forked contact points is proving to be very effective at defensive catches, and making contact with your opponent. Also, the Mk IV is the first to utilize R&D's development of a control chip that upon contact instantly gauges the resistance and adjusts the charge amperes to compensate for size, density, and composition of the target. . ."

"Yes Commander, Sir!" Keir said as he cautiously stepped past the Dire-Wolf in front of him and headed over to the lance rack. Seeing that he had been almost too helpful with everything that had happened throughout the day, he looked over at Razor.

"Recruit Triakis, will you please show Recruit Tamara the proper stance and grip with which to hold the lance?" Keir asked him in tone that sounded commanding, but come off as friendly. Hoping he wasn't over-stepping his boundaries on authority, Keir halfway lowered one ear and glanced at Tigermark, waiting to see what the officer would say about the Dark Wolf's quip.

Knowing that now that the Commander was back, Keir wasn't sure whether or not he was going to get reprimanded fof such a display. "I mean, I know that I am not fully in charge anymore with him here, but am I still 'in charge'?" Keir thought to himself as he passed out the shock lances to the boys first, letting them grip it so that Tamara could see how. When Keir was confident she knew which end to avoid, he handed her the weapon, then took one for himself, checking for an empty mag-well.

Angus grabbed the lance Keir gave him and checked it before stepping back in line.

Tamara just gave a respectful nod to Wolfbane as Tigermark called them all to attention. She was quite unsure what to think of the Dire Wolf's lack of reaction, but she figured that she would know quite soon if this little interaction would weight on her potential future within the Overlord's forces, and in what way. Provided that she did got enrolled, of course...

Shaking the thoughts away, she joined her comrades standing in front of Tigermark, and listened to the orders he gave. She looked at the lance with a quite interested look, having seldom had to use anything even resembling it. Not that the hunters in her village did not had access to lances, it just wasn't her weapon of choice when hunting game out in the snow covered woods of her native island.

But she was a quick study, and, after having observed the other recruits as they retrieved their own lances, she picked hers the same way they did, handling the weapon carefully.

Her emerald eyes detailed the shock lance quickly, while her ears remained perked up, listening to explanations by the Commander or any of her comrades.

She immediately noticed the contactors at the end of the prongs, and nodded a bit, quickly understanding why they were there. Tigermark remark about the new control chip made her smile a bit, the corner of her black lips curving upwards a bit for a split second. The Overlord was really taking every precautions possible when it came to upholding her non-lethal policy, and doing her best to minimize the risk of accidental injuries or death. Which showed how serious she was about this, and Tamara liked that a lot.

As she was the last one to get her lance, she took a couple steps back and made some slow movements with the lance, to try and gauge the weight of the object, and how it felt when manipulating it. She used some of the old training exercises that she was given back home, when she was training to become a hunter. This shock lance was heavier and had a bit more resistance to the air than the one she was used to train with, it made her movements a bit slower than what she was used to. Though, she thought, as a scout, that would not be her main weapon, too big to be transported. Though she pondered inwardly if they had smaller models, like something the size of her forearm, which she could easily carry and conceal on her. She'd have to ask Tigerùark when the exercise was over.

The tigress joined the ranks and waited for the demonstration to begin, so she could see what the others learnt yesterday, and try to do the same.

"Good, Recruits. Now, first move to review, PUSH! Recruit Tamara, watch the others, and if you have any difficulty or questions, call out. Ready, PUSH!"

Tigermark led the recruits through a review of Push, Block, Catch, and Strike moves.

The tigress watched as the others performed each move once, then she followed suit, trying to imitate them as best as she could.

Push was quite simple: a basic blocking thrust that can be aimed on various directions. Upwards, downwards or level, to catch a charge or push an enemy away from you, or even knock them down. Nothing too fancy, yet the basics are always useful.

Block required a different grip on the lance, and a good perception of space, to always know where the prongs where and where they'd hit an opponent. Put the right paw on the handle, left paw at about the middle, swivel at the waist and move the shoulders. It took her a few tries, and the help of her comrades and Tigermark, to find the right position for her paws, before she could accomplish the move efficiently, but she got it.

Catch was simpler in theory, but would prove more tricky in practice: catching a weapon, or a fist or whatever that was being aimed at you, between the prongs required quite a good field and space perception. As well as speed and precision to do it and block the attack, thus giving yourself the upper hand, for a moment at least. The basic movement itself was easy to learn, putting it in practice would prove more tricky.

Strike was more interesting for Tamara, reminding her of some movements used when hunting or running in the tundra and woods near her home village. Crouch, thrust the lance forward then motions to a direction depending on where your enemy was located. And also where you wanted to hit them. High, level, low, left or right, and any combination of them, made the move quite effective in most cases. She handled this one quite easily, now that she had a better grip of the lance.

Seeing that he was not going to get scolded at the moment, Keir jumped back in line with others and readied his lance as they had learned the day before. These movements were fairly easy to accomplish, and Keir was happy to see Tamara catching on fairly quickly, just like everyone else had.

As they moved through the motions of the attacks and blocks, Keir kept an eye on the tigress and would correct her here and there on where to place her handpaws, or how to swing the leg out in the lunge to block or attack depending on the move. Once she got the hang of it, he would back off and then do them himself, following Commander Tigermark's calls.

As they hit the final move, The Strike, Keir was anticipating the next segment of sparring that was due to arrive in the next hour or so. He didn't think that he would paired up with Tamara, but the more he thought about it, the more worried he got. She was quite fast and agile; and although Keir himself was too, he knew that if they were to fight together, she would definitely be able to out-maneuver him and win due to his size over her.

Keir chuckled to himself as he thought about how the fight would go if Tamara and Razor were to spar. "Razor would be too focused an the fact that she is pretty cute rather than that she might kill him!" he thought and smiled before catching himself off-guard. He straightened his stance and did the Strike move once again, this time hitting everything perfectly in time.

Angus did go through the motions smoothly. He glanced sideways to Tamara from time to time noting how she uses the lance sometimes he adds his two cents how she grabs the lance and how she could do better. He grins at Tamara " looks like you have a pretty grip on the lance Tamara.
You used something like this at home ?"

Tamara thanked Keir and Angus for their help. Finding the right position for her hands on the lance wasn't too easy, especially when one does not favor that kind of weapon. Same with some of the movements, but she was very willing to learn, and did her best to copy their movements and do it right.

She nodded at Angus. "The lance is one of the weapon that we use back home when hunting. So I had quite a bit of training with it. But it's not really my favourite weapon, to be honest, and this one has a different balance than what my people uses. Probably because of the prongs, I guess. And it is not made to be thrown," she said, chuckling a little.

"And it will probably change the balance when we add the energy pack thing. We should probably have been training with empty energy cell, just to have a feeling for the real weight and balance of the lance," she commented.

Keir nodded as Tamara spoke about the weaponry she used and about her people. "Oh don't worry. You'll get the chance to feel how it is with the battery cell in it. Trust me," Keir winked as they finished another set of moves. He looked over Tamara's head at Angus and Razor and grinned.

Keir unconsciously touched the spot on his side where Eddie had gotten him the shock lance during their sparring match. He realised what he was doing and caught himself, returning his grip to the lance and tightly gripping the handle.

"Very good, Recruits. You three remembered yesterday's training well, and Recruit Tamara, you picked up on it very well, also. Now, you and Keir retrieve a clip and install it in your lance. We'll then adjourn to the practice ring. One spar session, and then we'll do the certification for y'all. After that we'll go over the formal carry moves, and by then it will be time to line up for the Overlord's review. Everyone bring your lances."

With that, Tigermark retrieved a bandoleer of clips and a lance and led the way to the practice ring.

Angus grinned back at Keir. He knew what he referred too. He also knew that for certification they probabyl have to shock themself with the lances.
He carried his lance to the practice ring and waited outside looking at the others.

" You get used to the lances Tamara and it helps to remember that these are no spears but overlong clubs. "

"Yes sir," Keir said as he did as he was told. He retrieved the battery cartridge from the lance rack and then passed one the Tamara.

"Now. THis is pretty straightforward, but just to be safe, I'll show you what all needs to be done before inserting the battery into the lance. First, you need to make sure that the lance's power switch is flipped to off," Keir said as he showed her the switch at the top of the grip. "Next, open up the cartridge slot on the bottom of the grip." Keir then unlocked the latch and opened it up. "Finally, insert the battery properly, with the raised nodules facing the tip of the lance," he said as he showed her by sliding his battery into place.

Once that was done, he smiled down at her, but inwardly he was thinking about what was coming. "Oh boy. Here we go. Don't be easy cause she's a girl. Just act the same way as if she was another male enemy," Keir thought to himself as the group walked outside to the sparring arena. As he stepped into the middle, he turned the lance with an audible static sound and brought the lance up in a proper stance then up to a vertical position in front of himself, bowing to Tamara as she stepped into the ring with him.

As he reached the practice ring, Tigermark turned back to watch the recruits arrive. He noted Lady Wolfbane leaving the tent after the last of the recruits. The Dire was grumbling to herself as she stalked off toward the rest of the camp. The tiger decided not to say anything, so the recruits wouldn't relax on him.

As everyone arrived, Tigermark wasted no time.

"Recruits Mahlonne and Tamara, when you're ready, FIGHT!"

(NOTE: I'm not God-Moding Bane. At her and Foxena's request, I'm writing her out of the scene until she can devote more time to the forum.)

Razor took a stand next to Angus, expression perked with great interest at the fight that was going to take place. He was rather excited to see how this would all play out and was fully prepared to tease the living day lights out of Keir if he lost. From what he'd seen during their training with the lances, Tamara caught on pretty quick and seemed to handle the weapon pretty well. And with her lower center of gravity, she might give the wolf a run for his money.

The shark's senses tingled, detecting the weak electrical current flowing through the lances, bringing him to grip his own lance even tighter. The was going to be a really good fight, he could feel it.

"Mah bet's on Tamara, man. An' its not just cuz she cute. She looks likes she can handle herself in a fight nooooo problem an' ah honestly feel Keir gentlemanly ways might keep 'em from throwin' any heavy punches" He mused aloud, mostly to himself. "Whatever happens, dis goin' be goooooood."

Angus nodded to Razor" I think so too. She is a quick learner and a bit faster than Keir." he chuckles " she just needs to shock him and the game is over"
He leans a bit on his lance his eyes glued on the two fighters.

After hearing the Commander's call to arms and begin the round, Keir dropped his lance and his stance into that of a defensive stance, the lance jutting out in his grip. He threw his hat the outside of the ring to prevent it from blocking his sight. His expression hardened into one without emotion, his mind focused on the fight. As he crouched down, Keir moved around towards Tamara's left, placing his feet carefully to prevent dust from clouding up.

Just as he felt that Tigermark was going to say something about "dancing" again, Keir lunged out at his opponent, shoving the lance forwards right at Tamara's left shoulder. At the same time he kept his eye on her weapon, ready to bring his shock lance across to block hers if needed.

(Sorry for the delay in my replies, still in the US enjoying the last of my vacations.)

The tigress looked at Keir, one ear lopsided, not too sure if there was a hidden meaning behind his words, as he said that she would feel `how it is with the battery cell in it.` It seemed to mean more, but Tigermark called before she could give it more thought.

"Yes Commander. Thank you, Commander," she told the white tiger as he complimented her then ordered her to retrieve an energy pack for the lance.

She nodded at the bear, and thought that `overlong clubs` was a good way to look at those things, rather than some sort of bizarre lance. Clubs with a shocking capability, in many sense of the words, she thought with a very slight smirk.

Putting the energy cartridge in it seemed pretty straightforward, but she nevertheless followed carefully Keir's explanation and demonstration. Better be safe than sorry, and, if the General's cane was any indication, the shocks those thing could deliver was quite painful. And it would certainly also frizzle her fur or at least make it all messy, and she didn't really looked forward to have to groom it back in place after having been shocked!

Tamara barely noticed Bane leaving, as she was focused on the current task. And the fact that Tigermark choose to have her spar with a fully functional lance against one of the other recruits. Granted, they had only one more day of training than she did, but that was still one more day to get used to the weapon that she had. But she liked the challenge, and casted a quick glance with a slight grin toward the white tiger, her tail flicking slowly.

She made a few quick passes with the lance in her handpaws as everyone gathered around the practice ring, getting a feel for the weapon with the added weight of the energy cell, and was surprised to find little differences. The energy cell was very light, yet the current flowing through the lance was certainly enough to knock down most opponents. She was already impressed by the technology available to the Overlord's forces.

She stepped into the ring as Tigermark ordered Keir and her to begin fighting, giving her opponent a slight nod, her slitted emerald eyes never letting him get out of sight as she took a mostly neutral stance in reaction to Keir's defensive one. Her expression was as emotionless than his, and she moved to the right as he moved to her left, keeping the distance between them, her long tail barely flicking.

She was still considering her options when he lunged toward her. The tigress blocked the blow with her own lance, thrusting it to the left even as she moved her shoulder, and the rest of her body, out of the way, pushing Keir's lance away from her.

Pivoting quickly on herself, making a half-step back away from her opponent to give her a bit more room to maneuver her weapon, the tigress then tried to catch one of Keir's handpaw between the prongs of her lance before he had time to recover from his missed lunge and step away. It was a bold move, but, if it worked, then the fight would be over as he would be shocked when the prongs made contact with him. Of course, she was ready to jump out of range if she missed and Keir counterattacked.

Watching the lithe tigress in front of him moving about with not very much lag between her steps, Keir grinned inwardly at the thought of how she would fight.

As Keir lunged out at her, he was surprised at how fast she was, dodging his blow at the last second and pushing his lance away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tigress' shock pole swing back around and come at his hand.

Keir planted his front foot, pushed hard backwards and let go of the front grip of the lance. He used the strength in his right hand to swing it down between his fingers. Tamara's lance barely missed his handpaw. He could feel the electricity pulsing through his fur as he swung his lance around. As it made contact with his left handpaw, he shoved it skyward catching the handle just under the prongs on his opponent's lance. With one final burst of strength, he attempted to pull the device from her hands and dodged it as it flew over his shoulder, planting prong-side first into the ground, just inside the ring.

Right as he heard the metallic sound of the weapon entering the dirt, he tried to bring his lance down at Tamara's shoulder again, hoping to make contact with the tips of the prongs. Pushing the lance down, he figured this would be enough to demonstrate what he had mentioned earlier about feeling the effects of lance. However, during his swing his back footpaw slipped slightly in the loose sand of the ring, causing his balance to be thrown off. He fell out to her left side and regained his balance watching her carefully, knowing what was going to come next.

"Damn. Stepped too far. I should've known that was going to happen. Oh well. Can't do anything now. Just waiting to see what Tamara will do," Keir thought as he caught his breath. He kept his expression neutral, to keep Tamara from knowing one: how surprised he was that he could disarm her in the small amount of time he had been given; and two: how much he was smiling on the inside at his triumph in the movement. Keir twisted one ear in order to listen for Tigermark's commands, yet kept his eyes on the smaller tigress in case she did something else to fight back.

(Reason for editing: Action'blocking other OCs.

Tamara couldn't prevent Keir from pulling the lance off her grip. He had more strength than she did, and also a better position to use all of it to yank it out, so she let go and jumped back to try and put herself out of range of his own lance, thinking that he was going to try and hit her now that she was disarmed.

She was right, yet as he slipped she saw her chance and took profit of this to leap over his fallen form and retrieve her weapon. Grabbing it firmly in her hands, glancing at the prongs to check that they were still active and reassured when she saw that they were, she decided that it was time to be more active.

Now that she had seen what Keir could do in attack, after he demonstrated to her the basic strike movements during the training directed by Tigermark, she decided to go on the offensive. With an opponent such as him, her speed and agility would make the difference, as she was outmatched in pure strength.

Running back to Keir, she tried to place near the side of his body that was holding the base of the lance, the furthest from the prongs, then crouched and tried to swipe at his legs with the lance. She didn't even specifically aimed to have the prongs hit his legs, but she was rather aiming at making him fall flat on his back if possible. Of course, he could easily avoid it by jumping up, as her lance would be quite low on the ground, and she kept ready to move away or block any incoming attack.

Keir was panting heavily now, the adrenaline pumping through his body as the excitement of the match was heating up. He grinned, glad to see Tamara learning quickly and adapting to his strategy. Granted she was much faster than him, but what she bested in speed, he beat her in strength. And although this wasn't a match to the death, he wasn't going to hold out against her.

As he still recovering, he saw her scramble over to her lance, grab and bring it back towards him. He watched intently, his mind visualizing all of the possible attacks she could perform. He was not surprised that she swung the shock lance at his feet, much a dragon would with its tail. Following the tigress' path, he brought his lance down and shoved it in the dirt trying to catch the haft of her lance.

However, he missed and quickly used his lance for support as he jumped over hers. As he landed opposite the weapons, he brought his up tight and rushed at her holding the lance close with both hands. As Keir got Tamara, he pushed his lance horizontally from his chest, attempting to throw her center of gravity off.

Tigermark watched intently as the two went at it. Keir definitely had the muscle over Tamara, but her speed kept her in the fight. She was quick and precise in her movements, and while Keir was also precise, his moves were more power than finesse. When Tamara was disarmed he would normally call a halt, but her recover was so fast, he let the match continue.

The tigress was barely panting for her part. This was exciting, even exhilarating in a way, and she was smiling inwardly. The adrenaline pumping in her system kept her senses on alert, and the rush of pheromones in her system and the thrill of the fight made her feel better than she had in a while, especially since Keir was a very worthy opponent so far. Yet she kept a mostly neutral face, not letting her focus on the fight waver because of her emotions.

She was expecting the counterattack; after all, such a low swipe at the legs was a basic attack, and easily avoided by jumping, as Keir did. However, Keir's attack was quite basic too, and had a very spectacular response to it, if it worked. As the old and wise ancient master said: 'use your opponent's strength against them, and remember that gravity works the same way for everyone!'

Being already crouching, Tamara was already in the best position to receive Keir's charge. She quickly brought her own lance in front of her, mirroring Keir's grip on it and, for a moment, it looked like she would try to receive his charge head on. Which would be very stupid since, in a duel of strength against the male, she would certainly always loose, due to her lither frame. But such was not her plan.

Just as their lances were about to make contact, she pivoted hers 90 degres and began to lean back, accompanying his strong push rather than trying to fight it. Seen from afar, their lances made a crude imitation of the Christian cross symbol, with Tam's lance as the vertical bar, and Keir's as the horizontal one. She stretched her body in a semi-circular position, her long brown hair tied in a ponytail laying on the ground, the tip of her ears almost touching the ground, her spine bent in a way that felines can do easily, and some gifted members of the other species after some practice.

She brought her right leg up, parallel with the lower portion of the lance, her calf and foot positioned to be an extension of the lance, and tried to make contact with Keir's belly. If she managed to do that, then she would only have to give a little shove upwards and send him flying head over tail behind her, to the other side of the practice ring. Then, if the maneuver was successful, she would quickly get back on her own feet, and try to use the short moment of dizziness and disorientation that usually followed such an unexpected flight to run towards her opponent and hit him with the lance, though she'd avoid hitting his head, thus ending the fight.