Another great chapter. I do have one question though. Where is this armory on RAF?
Well, technically, the RAFarmory doesn't exist as its own thread. But then, neither does the RAFbasement which houses Pootang and the Yeerk Pool. However, I figured that these places are assumed to exist, since they've been referenced elsewhere (the basement in RAFTAS, the armory in Intro Rando). It's kinda like how Pootang and Ax are assumed to exist even though they aren't users, because descriptions of them do exist.
P.S. All translations, both previous and future, are very approximate.
I have a feeling I'm going to offend speakers of many languages before this story is done.Chapter Twenty
It was the next morning, and most of RAF was gathered in an open grassy field, surrounded by trees. Everyone looked antsy for things to get started.
Earlier that morning, Dino had 'adopted' a pair of newbies, Roger and Kristin, as had been suggested at the previous RAFmeeting. They were too new to be attached to their as-yet-unfamiliar usernames, so they opted to be simply called by their real names instead. For some reason, that particular touch of normalcy seemed almost absurd to Dino. They were so . . . so
human. Not just the names, either. They both were so hopelessly confused and bewildered by everything that was going on around them, as though observing all of it from a distance. A world apart from the RAFians.
The staff, meanwhile, had decided to begin the official regimen of combat training in a brand-new thread, a roleplay that the staff had created and titled 'Training Grounds.' A few RAFians had tried to practice within Intro Rando for a while, but in the end it had turned out to be too, well, random, to really get any serious training from it.
'Training Grounds' was a fairly bland field, like an outdoor sports area, outfitted with different pieces of training equipment. There were targets, obstacle courses, and sparring arenas where robotic opponents of various apparent strengths stood in wait for a challenger.
"Welcome to combat training," Terenia began. She was still inhabiting Ash's body. She had decided that she much preferred outerworlders as hosts, where she didn't have to listen to the internal dialogue of a sentient mind under her control. That was just too creepy. Ash was technically away from her computer, but she had left her RAF window up and logged on so that her avatar would stay present.
Terenia went on. "Donut, as the only member with real military experience, should probably help to direct these drills. Now-"
Bear raised his paw.
"The only member who can speak," Terenia winced. "Sorry, Bear."
"Actually . . . " Bear began, surprising everyone as a voice crackled from a radio-like device mounted on his neck. "Goom found me this morning, to give me this translator thing. He said Aquilai made it, before he disappeared. He said he meant to give it to me sooner, but kun cxio tiu okazis, li forgesis."
"Hey, is that Esperanto?" Weathel wondered from the crowd. "Bear, I had no idea you could speak Esperanto!"
Bear growled in his kodiak voice, frustrated. Goom ambled over towards him, holding what looked like a flashlight in his mouth, which the goomba waved over Bear's neck.
"Hello? Oh, that's better," Bear said gratefully. "It keeps switching languages. Anyway, go on, Terenia."
"Well, then, in that case, I propose that both Bear and Donut be promoted to honorary staff, to give them authority to lead these drills and help get everyone combat-ready," Terenia said. "I move to vote."
"Seconded!" somebody shouted from the crowd.
"All in favor?"
Hands were raised across the audience.
"Opposed?"
A few hands were raised, but not nearly as many as before.
"Bear and Donut are hereby instated as officers. As such, they are both to be obeyed during these drills, without question. As are myself, Estrid, Phoenix, and Goom, as staff."
There were a few groans within the crowd, but most RAFians seemed to be nodding in agreement with Terenia's judgment.
Under the tutelage of the staff and military officers, training quickly got underway. Standard-issue shredders and dracons were passed out among those RAFians without their own natural weaponry, and soon the air was filled with the 'TSEEW' and heat of the firing lasers as the RAFians tried to hit the targets downrange.
The Andalites selected a clear area off to the side, to practice tail-fighting against one another. The intricate darting dance of their clashing tail blades was beautiful to see.
Some newbies and RAFians seemed to quickly get the hang of their strange new firearms, hitting their targets again and again. A few RAFians took to providing distractions for the more experienced sharpshooters, intent on giving them a better challenge. Seal, in particular, seemed to take great joy in sneaking up and poking people just as they were trying to make a shot.
Other newbies, however, were not quite so innately talented, their shots going wild and often missing the targets completely.
<Shoulders straight,> Donut instructed the newbie Roger, as the brightly colored macaw flew overhead. <Remember to sight along the weapon.>
"Sure thing," Roger grumbled.
<'Sure thing,'
sir,> Donut corrected. He came in for a landing on Dino's back, looking down at the newbie. <I am your military superior. You're to treat me with some respect.>
Roger had to fight the impulse to burst out laughing. "No offense,
sir, but it feels a bit humiliating to have to refer to a parrot as 'sir.'"
<And why is that?> he asked. His thought-speak was public, directed at everyone within range. He only wanted to have to say this once.
"Because you aren't exactly intimidating," Roger replied. Then, he sarcastically added after a moment's thought, "Sir."
<I see,> Donut said calmly. <And do you think you are intimidating to, say, a dinosaur?>
<Er, leave me out of this,> Dino said in private thought-speak.
<Or, even, how about that kid? You think you'd scare him?> Donut quickly added, pointing his wing at Blaze. Blaze, who had been polishing his sword behind the firing line, looked up and grinned, flaring his fiery wings threateningly, daring the newbie to challenge him. <Calm down, Blaze,> Donut admonished.
"He looks like he's ten!" Roger said incredulously.
"Hey!" Blaze protested. "I could kick your butt, newbie." Looking nervously at Blaze's wings, Roger decided he didn't doubt that.
<Point is,> Donut went on. <If you should ever outrank him, not that you will, but
should that ever happen, you would want him to refer to you with the proper respect, wouldn't you?>
"Yes, sir," Roger said, slowly coming to see Donut's point.
<Why?> Donut asked simply. <Why should he?>
"Because I would want him to respect me for my abilities and wisdom, and not my physical form, sir," Roger said thoughtfully.
<You're smarter than you act, newbie,> Donut said.
"Thank you," Roger said uncertainly.
Blaze kept his eye on the newbie as Donut left, the macaw flying off to give instructions to the others down the line. Roger fidgeted under the angelic djinn's glare, but Dino growled gently at Blaze, reminding him that Roger was
her charge, and as such he was not to be messed with. Blaze decided that the newbie wasn't that interesting anyway, but Roger just looked even more uncomfortable, realizing that he was essentially at the mercy of the more powerful RAFians.
He tried to shrug off the worry, as he aimed and fired his dracon, trying to remember what Donut had told him about keeping his shoulders straight. But he was one of the worse shots, even among the newbies. Even firing a gun with no recoil, he just couldn't seem to get the target lined up right.
<It's alright, Roger,> Dino said quietly. <You've only been here for a few days, not even a week. You'll fit in here eventually. Almost everyone does.>
"I'm not so sure," Roger replied. "Most of you guys aren't even human. How can
anyone fit in?"
<I don't know,> Dino said musingly. <But, somehow, we do.>
