101 Ways To Survive In The Field, Tuesday

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey, class," Atton said.

He was sitting at the front of a perfectly ordinary classroom, though his butt was decidedly on his desk, and not his chair. "Welcome to the second day of Blow-Off Week, or as radio likes to call it, Introductions Season. I'm Atton Rand. I've served in two armies, been around for three wars, and nowadays I'm a Jedi knight, which is a fancy word for 'member of a group of monks with fancy powers who are also special operatives'." He shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really get it either, and I am one. I do know you never ask a Jedi about their teachings, though, unless you want to get a wall of cryptic mumbo-jumbo thrown at you."

Somewhere, Mical was getting a headache.

"So I've been around the block a few times," he said. "You don't make it through three wars purely by running on fumes and luck: there are things you can learn to keep yourself going while you're in a threatening situation - combat, infiltration, whatever - and it looks like things might go downhill. Now, there's no substitute for sheer, bull-headed stubbornness, and if you've already got that one, then you'll probably figure out half of what we're going to be talking about yourself if you haven't already. At the same time, having a hard head isn't going to stop your leg from bleeding out if you get hit. You need basic medic skills. You need to know how to keep your adrenaline pumping so you can keep functioning until you're out of there. You need to know how to get out of a locked room. And so on. I know all of that stuff because I've lived it."

He shrugged. "Now I know that at this school, the chances are high most of you know at least some of this already. Maybe even more than me, though I doubt it. So let's kick this off with name and year, and then you can tell me what 'in the field' means to you and what skills you already have that are useful in it."

Comments

Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

It's that week, so hey. Give your name and year, what 'in the field' means to you and what skills you already have that are useful in it.

RE: Introduce Yourselves

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Laura Kinney. In the field applies to any situation you find yourself that qualifies as an operation, mission or assignment. It denotes a state of mind regarding the sort of affairs involved." It was partly what she had been taught partly what she had come to learn.

"I am highly proficient in both black and covert ops. Among other things." So you know, just your average teenager.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

Hey, no judging from the guy who (stupidly) ran off to war when he was sixteen, here.

"So infiltration and combat techniques," Atton said. Remarkably lightly for someone talking to a teenager about this, yes. "Anything else? What's your specialty?"

RE: Re: Introduce Yourselves

[ungue.livejournal.com]

"Basically, yes." If he was trying to make it not sound like he was talking with a child soldier of sorts, Laura was grateful.

She was about to answer his question, but ultimately just bit her lower lip and looked away. "I have been told not to speak lightly of it." And she was want sure admitting she was proficient in killing people would be the best way to settle in the island.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[spin_kick_snap]

"Necessity, huh?" Kathy asked quietly, once Atton moved on to another student.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[ungue.livejournal.com]

Laura looked down. "It is more complicated than that."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy did a lot of thinking before she answered, jotting down the occasional note to herself before raising her hand. Atton wasn't her favorite teacher--far from it--but he was a good one and she wanted to answer his questions well.

"Kathy Li, senior." SO much for the easy questions. "For me, it's anytime I'm acting as Banzai, not Kathy." She nodded at Laura. "Like she said, more a mindset than a physical descriptor. Whether I'm patrolling or keeping watch or actively engaged in fighting or pursuit, I've turned down the part of me that's an average high school student. The civilian part of me."

She'd been 'in the field' in the dorms more than once and had been decidedly not in the field while in extreme danger.

"I have enhanced speed and agility, training in first aid, hand-to-hand combat, knifework, stealth, chemistry, and a bit in improvised weaponry. I'm patient, focused, and disciplined." That was hardly a comprehensive list, but it made for a decent starting place.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

"You're one of those roof-climbers, aren't you?" Atton asked.

'Cause he remembered you, Kathy.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged. "It's an easy way to get around," she replied. "And people don't normally look up."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[good_for_six]

"Isabela, junior, it means it's outside?" Look, she was a rogue not a warrior, wars weren't her thing. "I can pick locks and pockets, I know that you a slap poultice on or drink a potion rather than the other way around, I know some knife fighting."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

"'Outside' is kind of a broad definition," Atton said. "The mindset explanation probably works... though 'outside' I can roll with, I guess?"

There should probably not be a question mark there.

"Any real combat experience outside the knives?"

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[good_for_six]

Isabela shrugged. "Just some bar brawls. Not very heated ones."

Her interesting times were still ahead of her.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[not_every_mage]

"Hi, I'm Anders, and I'm a junior," Anders offered. "Until about five minutes ago, I would have had the same definition as Isabela. I thought 'in the field' just meant outside your home base. And I'm a mage, which means I'm decent with healing and elemental magic. I can fight if I need to but I'm not a trained soldier or anything like that."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

Atton tilted his head. "So what's this elemental magic stuff, exactly?" he said. "I figure the healing is basically you being a walking kolto dispenser."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[not_every_mage]

"Fire, ice, electricity -- things like that," Anders explained. If it was a bit vaguely, he was trying not to freak out the newer students. "I don't know what kolto is, but if it fixes people up fast you're on the right track."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[goforthe_optics]

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, junior," Tali said, keeping it short and sweet. "To me, 'in the field' means any time you're in an active situation that requires practical application of your skills. That's not necessarily a combat scenario -- you could be out in the field to repair equipment, or evaluate a situation, but it is for real, not practice. I have some small-squad combat experience, and I can do a pretty wide range of field repairs. Oh, and first aid."

Which, unless you were a quarian, basically meant "slap medi-gel on it."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

"Any slicin-- I mean, hacking experience?" Atton checked.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[goforthe_optics]

Tali nodded. "Plenty of that, mostly with AI software. It's pretty much my specialty."

RE: Introduce Yourselves

[halfaclink.livejournal.com]

"I'm Frank Doyle, and I'm a... Junior, I want to say? And this is a Scotch which is of college age," Frank said, holding his glass up. "Being in the field to me often means dealing with ghosts, demons, monsters, and the like, or it could mean being in an actual field for some reason. If you need somebody to deal with exorcisms or just plain scolding of spirits, please look elsewhere. But if you're really in desperate need, I can help, but not until after this drink."

And he drank.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

Right, it was the walking distillery that made Atton's head hurt a lot.

"You might wanna go easy on that while you're in class," he said. "So, ghost experience? What's that like?"

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[halfaclink.livejournal.com]

"You're probably right. I hereby promise to resort to no more of three of the flasks I have about my person should this bottle empty," Frank said, holding an empty bottle up. "Make that five."

"And ghost work is surprisingly lively," Frank said. "Most of the time it's more a discussion than a fight, but when it's a fight, it pays to play dirty. I have held seances to call a ghost's parent and tattle."

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[smilestopscars]

"Ezra Sagishi, senior," Ezra said, leaning back in his chair like he didn't have a care in the world. "Field's already been defined well enough for my taste. As for me? I'm very sneaky. Also very charming."

Also an assassin, but that was on a need-to-know basis.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

"And you steal stuff," Atton said. "Yeah, I remember. But hey, I think we were still missing 'talking your way out of trouble' in this group, so good."

He was pretty sure Ezra was also an assassin or something similar. The kid just had that vibe.

But, y'know. Courtesy between professionals and all that.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[bearmaidenfair]

"Vider Bearskin, generally for a berserker it means you're gonna have to fight until there's not anything left to fight or you drop, or you're looking for the thing you're gonna fight until you drop," she said. "I'm getting better at the fighting parts, I'm pretty good at anything that requires sneaking or underhandedness, and I'm working on control." Control was very important.

Re: Introduce Yourselves

[suitably_heroic]

"What kind of control?" Atton asked. He'd heard about this from her before, of course; he was just trying to make things specific. "Anything we can help with?"