Grasslands - <Eiru, Pyracan> ~~Tens of miles of jade waving grasses fill the eastern third of Eiru's fertile valley, with dozens of animal species making it their home. Looming to the north, east and south, several lines of rolling hills create a limiting barrier to the grasslands, while to the west, tens of thousands of cultivated acres of piorra vine have been neatly carved out of the lush soil. Within the wondrous splendor of the Grasslands, a rudimentary structure has been built of simple woods. It is large in frame but from an aerial view marks itself as a very simple maze with twists and turns a plenty. There are four entrances in, starting from the four different directions. Torches flicker at each entrance but the interior is illuminated only by the natural light provided.
The evening air is warm and all seems quite peaceful amongst the Grasslands. Until you were to crest one hill and see a large, rather rudimentary structure that is over a fifty yards in each direction. A few last minute touches are being put on the interior and then men and women are all emerging.
Everett steps over the hill with his usual hand-rolled cigarette hanging out of his mouth and glances over the building a few moments before muttering something about how they don't make buildings like they used to in a very grandpa-y manner.
Wyri is trailing along after Everett at his own pace, the Aukami's cane sinking into the grass as he limps to the top of the hill. He gives the structure and approving nod. His lips pulled into a smile from the scars at his cheek, Wyri looks as ready as he ever has. He tucks one hand in his pocket, the other resting atop his clockwork cane, and watches the last of the construction in silence.
Vessa Harden strolls casually along the sand and over the hill, taking a good look at the building in curiosity she notices Wyri and Everett and snaps off a casual friendly salute, "Hey there, good to see you again." she greets as she goes to stand nearby.
Ruin is probably here in answer to a summons of some sort. At least, it's fairly clear that green and growing things are bad for the Lunite; he arrives with an inhaler in hand, and a small personal-use hypospray. Trust a Lunite to be allergic to planets. But he makes his way along, with an engineer's kit over one shoulder.
The last one out of the building is the slender form of Katrin, for once wearing pants. The speaks quietly to those workers gathered and they quickly go back inside to retrieve several boxes which are brought back out. While they are doing that, the young woman slowly walks towards the growing crowd, motioning them forward. "Good evening, everyone," she greets warmly. "Thank you all for being a part of this first exercise. My hope is that more will be arriving sooner, rather than later. They will be added variables to what will come."]
As the crates come out, it is seen that they are in fact pieces of equipment with weapons and protective gear. There is even headgear with masks to protect the eyes. "As I would prefer no one be shot and bleeding this evening, I have gathered paintguns from local sources for this evening's practice. Each piece has already been checked and it is in excellent condition. Please come down and take what you think will serve you best." This includes handguns, rifles, even paintball grenades.
Everett steps down and collects a paint semi-automatic rifle with an internal magazine and loads it carefully, collecting several spare bullets in the process. He doesn't, however, pick up a mask.
Raising a silver eyebrow, Wyri's smile splits into a small grin. "Most amusing." He comments, limping towards the crates. The Aukami looks at the protective gear with distaste, but he equips it, protective mask first. His olive hand dips into one of the crates and he loads up with paint grenades, seemingly requiring nothing else.
Vessa Harden grins widely at the idea and with a happy, "Kick ass!" she goes to choose two pistols, which she loads carefully, she also takes the protective gear and wears that as well. At a moments thought she grabs a couple of grenades with a shrug then heads off to wait.
Ruin eyes all of the weaponry with, if anything, a resigned expression. "Would someone like to shoot me now, and get it over with?" he asks tiredly. "I am not picking up a weapon. I'm sorry. I'll be happy to assume having been shot and spare myself the paintball bruising, mind."
"Protective gear required, Mr. Barclay," Katrin calls in Everett's direction with a shake of her head. She offers Ruin a smile as she looks up at the glowing man. "There is more to this than mere shooting mindlessly at each other. Both you and Wyri are here for the knowledge and intellect that you provide, not your physical prowess. I would request only that you wear protective gear so in case someone /does/ shoot at you, it will hurt less. I just recommend standing behind Mr. Barclay as Miss Harden would not provide you much of a shield."
"Now that you all are getting prepared, we can discuss what will be happening," Katrin says, standing back a little. "As you can clearly see, you will be entering a structure that none of you have ever seen before. This will help determine your ability to adapt. You will have to work amongst yourselves to make your way through different obstacles and reach your intended target, which will be me." She hops up and down for a second so everyone can clearly see her. "This is an extraction mission so if you do not succeed in the time allotted, you can safely assume that I am dead. Any questions?"
The small group of the Devil May Care is currently arming and gearing themselves up in paintball gear as they stand outside of a large structure.
Everett grunts and grabs the protective gear, donning it reluctantly as he asks, "And what is this time limit?" The cowboy checks the instructions written on the side of his weapon. The man's from the eighteen hundreds. Doesn't automatically know this stuff after all.
Ricky jogs up, fashionably late, and slides into line behind the others getting geared up. At the jumping up and down that Katrin does he comments, "And we'd hate to see that," with a wry smile. He looks over some of the other people assembled, before he starts to gear himself up.
Wyri looks up as Katrin mentions death. But of course it's a training mission, so he resumes adjusting the straps on his protective gear. "I should've worn green, I think." The Aukami murmurs, planting his cane in the ground to free up both hands. He glances towards Ricky as the man arrives, his blue glowing eyes tracking the man for a moment before he tightens his last strap and retreives his cane.
Vessa Harden chuckles a bit about not making a very good shield but nods agreeably enough, she nods a friendly greeting to Ricky as he arrives before going over her own paintball weapons to make sure she knows how to use them properly. I am interested to know the time limit as well. Any intel about the building that we can know?"
Ruin frowns a bit at this. "...a noncombatant who glows in the dark...on an extraction mission." The tone suggests he's heard less intelligent ideas, but probably not recently. He thinks about this for a bit, then shrugs and goes to put on protective gear.
"Suspend disbelief for the time being," Katrin calls toward Ruin with a shake of her head. "The goal of this mission is to see how you work together as a team and to familiarize yourselves with each other. You will have thirty minutes to get in and retrieve me," she explains, sighing. "There will be a large countdown clock inside that you will be able to see from any part of the structure. Refer to it for how much you have left."
Everett scratches his head and goes silent, trying to identify the various parts of his not-particularly-user-friendly weapon before actually chambering a round with a pull of the bolt-action (Because of course he went for that) "Alrigh'. Just tell me where to stand and lemme take the bullets, I guess. Ain't nothin' new."
Ricky finishes strapping on some of his armor, and then meanders towards the front, "How bout we avoid getting shot to bits? Novel approach I know, but, let's see if we can't do some textbook fire and maneuver. Who here has any sort of small arms training?" he asks as he turns towards his crewmates.