An Army Rises (Open to Night Wings)

Get in line cadet!  I will teach you pathetic sods if I have to start from the ground up!  You will learn to crawl, then to walk, then to fight, you undisciplined scum!  Now GET IN LINE and put your armor on when its handed to you!

Welcome to boot camp, the starting place for all beginning military personal.  I shall be your worst enemy here.  You will learn to hate me, to despise me, but darn it, you will become the best soldiers out there!  This topic shall be the training and armoring of the common soldiers that make up the core of the army.  Trackers and Guardians all begin their training here, but even if you are already a Guardian or Tracker, you may still wish to be trained and disciplined into becoming part of the strongest army in all of Pyyria.  The common armor is now being mass produced by the vulcans in the NW Empire, made of steel.  While it is strong armor, it is not the highest quality, but it will definitely stop a dragons claw from raking scales off, and definitely a pesky arrow.  So, join all who dare to become part of the strong Imperial Army!

Armor:


Please make an effort to post over 50 words, single liners are annoying.  If you need to expand, add senses, like what your character hears, feels, smells, ect.

Oculus was staring at all the new cadets, watching the first batch of armor being dragged out and set in front of the soldiers.  They were measured already despite it seeming like it was random armor being handed out.  He was already adorned in his full battle armor, almost completely encased in the armor, leaving very little weak spots.  Glaring at all the newcomers, he watched them all stand in a straight line, staring straight until they were handed their armor.  He knew it would be awkward for them to put it on themselves, but the sooner they learned, the faster they could do it and get used to the extra weight.  Smiling as he watched them slowly struggle to put the armor on, he noticed one dragon not looking forward, but down the line as he waited for his set of armor.  Quickly getting withing a few inches of the dragon, he exploded on him.  "What the HELL are you looking at cadet?  You think- DID I SAY YOU COULD LOOK AT ME?!  Step out of line!  NOW!" Oculus roared at the poor, 'offending' dragon.  The drake did what he was told, almost on the verge of shivering, but was smart enough to stare forward.  Motioning to the dragons handing out armor, he had them bring this unfortunate drake his.  "All eyes on me!  Not you!" Oculus said as the one he pulled out of line tried to look back at him.  "Watch me carefully!  I will only do this once!"  Picking up the armor, he started to put it onto the dragon, starting with the chest plate, then the back armor down to the tail.  Once the body armor was all put on, he put the armor on the hind legs of the drake, then the gauntlets, and finally the helmet.  "Now put it on yourselves!  And you!" poking the dragon who he just armored up, "take your armor off, then put it back on.  Git back in line!" he yelled, then glanced down the line of dragons, smirking as they all immediately stopped looking a him and began to do the task.

(So occy ur turning ur tribe into a military force? And does Sere have to come? She's already a guardian.)

(As long as you show discipline and are skilled enough, then you will stay guardian. Showing lack of skill or undisciplined actions= loss of rank and you must go to training to obtain your rank back. You also have to go to training to move up from guardian/tracker.)

Linus stood at attention while the dragons instruction, Their leader, Oculus came in. He had known before his mind was going to be manipulated for the stress and intensity of war, That was a given. He'd also known that it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience either, But he had done it for one thing, To become a Siege Specialist. Linus stayed quiet while he listened to Oculus brief them he saw the armour placed in front of him... But then one dragon was looking around... One of the worst mistakes he could of done in basic training... At first he'd thought Oculus was going to yell at him, Until he saw the dragon next to him get pulled out of line yelled at. He instantly watched while Oculus put the armor on the dragon, Quietly making notes in his head on how to do it faster. Once they were told to put it and after saying,"Aye Aye sir!" In sync with the rest he put it on the fastest. Chestplate... Tail...Leg leg... Gauntlets and arms... And helmet.... He then got back to standing at attention. Quietly waiting for others to finish and then get the next command.

(LAST CALL TO JOIN BEFORE PUNISHMENT BEGINS!!! [if I feel you aren't disciplined that is ])

Zero quietly stood at attention as their leader came in, clad in his battle armour. Even though he was already a Guardian, he was interested in refining his skills to become a better warrior. As the cadets were handed their armour, minor drama unfolded in the form of one dragon choosing to look down the line rather than facing forward as he was supposed to. Zero fixed his gaze on Oculus as he instructed them how to put on their armour.

He then set about putting on his own armour, thankful he wasn't the dragon who got yelled at. Zero had some minor difficulty in getting the armour on due to his armour-like scales. Despite this, he still managed to get it on and patiently waited for his next command.

Sure, Oreo was already a great Guardian, even so the he could be Oculus's Royal Guard. But just to make sure his skills were over the top and he didn't lack in any skill set, he joined.

I took a glance at the dragon who got yelled at. 'Bad choice, dragon. Can't do that anymore.' I thought, almost like I could send him that thought. As the armor got passed down I put mine on with ease, like the armor just slipped on, that's what it felt like. I stood ready for the next order our great leader would give us. 'Sure, he might have ways of making you hate him today, but he sure is the best, no, most fabulous leader there is. I could wish for no better.'

(He doesn't love Oculus or anything, he just is really... supportive... and whatnot.)

[Just an OOC note, I just want to make sure that you understand, a well trained army is all well and good, but depending on your tactics, a conventional army wouldn't work for the NightWings other than suppressing their own kin as we're the third weakest of all Dragons physically. So depending on your regimental style and organisation an army would be over powered and slaughtered against other Tribes.]

Longinus the guardian watched the berating from afar, it reminded him of his old days as a trainee, his master had been a particular stern and relentless taskmaster, made what these boys were facing look like a tropical vacation. That was a fact for which he was glad, without his masters emphasis on vigilance he'd have been dead half a dozen times in his line of work.
Still all that was beside the point, he was not arrogant, and he held a great respect for occulus, but he knew his own methods were more affective training for him than anything occulus could come up with. The thought was not one of his own pride or to degrade the king. Longinus was simply not suited for the regiment, the half firewing half nightwing was 100 feet tall much larger than even the largest pure nightwings, he did not wear armor, his scales were thicker than the standard issue which was good since most nightwing armor would not fit one of his size. He was muscular and metabolized like a jet engine too, standard issue meals made for 50 ft tall dragons would never sustain him long term through training, that and all the training would be incredibly easy for him.

That was most certainly not why he was here, he had come to speak to king occulus, to give him his report on the western territories. Though there was nothing remarkable in his report it was standard procedure to report any incidents with other tribes or rogues. He had had to kill a few rogues who attempted to rape a nightwing citizen, and that needed to be reported, so Longinus waited for the king to finish his task so he could give him his report.

(well, even though Serena and Occy hate each other, i think we all know Occy would make Serena come here.)

Serena held back a laugh at the cadet who got in trouble. She was so happy that her brother said a curse word! Sure H*** wasnt exactly a bad word, but hatchlings weren't supposed to say it. She copied what Oculus made the cadet do, first chestplate, helmet, tail armor, and gauntlets. Simple! Being an Officer seems quite easy. Plus maybe Serena will get to arrest some dragons and her own punishment will occur!!! That'd be cool.

(Oreo, is this before being a Royal Guard and training for it?)
Oculus gazed at the row of trainees, or retraining guardians/trackers who had been slacking off.  He noticed the larger Guardian standing off to the side, smartly staying out of things and patiently waiting.  Walking down the line of the dragons, he inspected their armor, making sure it was on.   On over half of them, he tightened their chest plate, muttering quietly to them as he moved to the next.  Walking up to Linus, he looked at him, already knowing he had put it on the fastest, but fastest was not always best.  Immediately, he tightened the chest plate, then looked at the helmet, tightening it too so it was almost glued to his head.  Oculus was moving quite easily in his suit of armor, and while his armor was overkill compared to the cadets, he made sure to always were it during training or leaving the territory.  While he could terrify dragons, it made it much easier when he was encompassed in armor, only his yellow, or red eyes glaring out from his helmet.  "Good job being quick, but loose armor is as if not having armor or worse, it makes you clunky.  Make it tight, your second skin.  " Oculus spoke, gave a hard tap to the shoulder plate before moving down the line.  Coming up to Zero next, he inspected the armor.  Reaching behind him, he took Zero's chest plate off, holding it in front of him.  "Hold armor out, slightly above, push against chest, slide down to correct position," Oculus said, taking the armor, putting is slightly above where it should rest and sliding it down his chest till it rested on Zero's shoulders, the sliding down motion guaranteeing that it did not catch on any scales.  He then took it off Zero, then simply said, "now put it back on", as he walked to the next in line, assuming Zero would have caught the simple technique in avoiding getting his larger scales caught.  Oculus was taking his time, making sure to get all the little kinks out now so that next time they put it on, it would go flawlessly.  If it didn't, then they would quickly learn how to do it in their sleep.  Walking up to Serena, he treated her no differently than the rest of them.  Using his tail, he tapped each part of the armor as he spoke, "Chest....tail....paws...then helmet.  Follow the order, helmet last."

Walking now back from the end of the line after having inspected all of them, Oculus began to shout his next orders.  "All of you!  Riiight, face! (turn right)"  Making sure to be walking in the direction that they SHOULD be facing, Oculus then announced, "Begin, march!   March to the palace gates, then run the perimeter of the gates (1 or so miles), then get back in HEIGHT LINE!  No flying, no walking, NO SLACKING!  GIT TOO IT!"  Taking several moments to watch and make sure that they all were obeying, he spoke the guardian that seemed to be wanting his attention.  "Report?" he half asked half told the Guardian as he watched for cheaters.

(Ten, why don't you come say that to Oculus IC, hmm?  )

"Aye sir" Longinus said giving his emperor a brief but respectful bow, and looking down at Oculus, in the literal not metaphorical sense obviously, he respected oculus quite a lot but even while bowing towered over the  smaller king. "All normal on the western border save one incident. The border was breached by a trio of rogues, they kidnapped and attempted to rape a nightwing female, however i happened to be nearby patrolling the country side, and killed them before they had he chance."
He paused for a moment he knew Oculus was a competent king, and did not want it to sound otherwise, but he would not be doing his duty if he didn't offer his advice. "If I may sir, I'd recommend sending soldiers police or guardians to the border to reinforce. The police stationed there don't have the numbers or the discipline to keep the border air tight, and and police the towns on their own."

Edit (whoops posted as cordath again)

Nightflare had decided to approach Oculus and come to the training criteria. It wasn't every day she came to things like this, but she had decided to come today. Why? Because she had heard it was a vital meeting. She had recently gotten a message from Oculus saying that she had been demoted. Whatever for, she wondered. It was impossible that he had learned of her..... hobbies. Perhaps it was his overall disdain for her and her history, and she couldn't exactly blame him. Perhaps if this was true, she could use it to her advantage. But she wasn't quite sure how, yet.....

As she arrived at wherever it was they were training, she narrowed her eyes when she saw Oculus. He was certainly acting like a Dictator. He was naive, and easily provoked, but he was also quite intelligent when it came to who was faking their obedience and who wasn't. Nightflare wondered if it would be an intelligent idea to approach him and make sure the information she had received was correct. About her being demoted to trainee. No, she wasn't upset, as this was something she could use to her advantage, and Nightflare didn't really care about what other dragons thought of her, so it didn't effect her dignity.

Approaching Oculus casually, she asked, "Hello, your majesty. I.... had been given a letter saying that I was demoted to trainee. I just wanted to be sure of this." her voice was nonthreatening in anyway.

Linus stood and stared straight forward as he heard the dragons before him in the line getting their armour tightened, He instantly realized that his chest piece was too lose, And so was his helmet. When Oculus checked over his armour he was almost sure he'd be reprimanded, Or maybe the entire platoon would be reprimanded due to him. It luckily wasn't, And Oculus just moved to the next dragon after saying fast isn't always good. He'd gotten off lucky this time.. But then he noticed, Oculus wasn't being as hard on them? This couldn't be right... Something had to be up, After all it was their job to train their militants to get used to the stressful and chaotic life of war, Right? Right....? Anyway, After he went down the right, Gave the command to turn right, And run to the palace gates, Run the perimeter, and come back in high line. "Aye sir!" He said, As he ran with the others.

As Oculus went down the line of dragons and correct some of their minor but fatal mistakes. I noticed my left paw piece fell loose. I went to fix it, and listening to Oculus's orders I felt a bit happy 'Running, luckily I'm good at that.' I pondered, making sure no emotion showed out. I turned right and began to march with the other cadets, making sure I was marching right. 'Right, left, right left, right... wait, I just tightened that!' I was pondering, noticing my left paw was getting loose again. 'Grr, just have to power through it.' And just as I finished my paw armor came off and tripped me. As I fell into the dust I knew Oculus would be coming. I grabbed my armor and saw that it was a bit broken in one spot, just enough to loosen when tightened. I stood up and faced straight, waiting for Oculus to appear and lecture me.

(Yeah, before the Royal Guard, he should train first ^-^)

Zero looked down at Oculus as the smaller dragon removed his chest plate and instructed him on how to put it on without getting his scales caught. He nodded in Oculus' direction as he moved to the next dragon in line. Thankful he didn't get a reprimand, Zero set about putting his chest plate back on.

He held the chest plate just above the correct position and slid it down his chest to where it should be, glad it didn't catch on his scales. Zero turned to the right when they were instructed to do so. He then marched to the gates, ran the perimeter of the gates and headed back in height line as instructed.

(Short post, tired and doing HW)

Oculus watched the training drakes run, listening to Longinus give his report.  He held a paw towards him, before trotting over to Oreo.  "What is your issue, cadet?!  Where my instructions too hard for you to comrehend?!" Oculus shouted at the night fury, staring at the broken arm piece.  Snatching it from Oreo, he looked at it, noticing the small tear in the tightening mechanism, preventing it from staying on.  "Why would you wear this?  Why wear a broken piece of armor!  Broken armor is worse than no armor!  Think for yourself!  Obey my instructions!  If something hinders you and has no use, then why keep it?!" Oculus said, tossing the broken gauntlet off to the side for emphasis.  He'd definitely chew out the armory Vulcans for this, he didn't care if this was just training armor, secretly heavier than need be just to make them work harder.  Little effort was no good to him, so he'd have a word with them.  "Stop standing there, and git moving!" Oculus said, pointing in the direction of the other cadets.  Walking over to Longinus, he clacked his teeth together, before responding to him.  "Good job on keeping them safe, a shame you couldn't take the criminal alive.  Making an example out of them sends the best message.   Hang the body on a tree just outside our territory as a warning to others attempting such a thing."  Taking a pause, Oculus tilted his head in thought.  "Report to Xangor, ask for one enforcer and three guardians to support the western border."  Noticing another dragon, or dragoness approaching, Oculus stared at Flare from underneath his armor, his yellow eyes squinting as he listened.  "LATE!  You should be grateful you still retain the mark of trainee being so tardy!  Now go run around with the others, make it two laps!  Go grab a set of armor first, now!"  The nerve of Flare, to just waltz in like she owned the place, late as always.   Such undisciplined behavior will not be tardy, something Flare would have to wake up, or forever turn her back on the military branch and join the civies.

Just as the cadets were returning, Oculus glared at them as they all fell into line.  Speaking to Longinus, Oculus asked, "Guardian, did I or did I not tell them to form a height line?  Cause I'm pretty sure I did, didn't I?"  ---Reply from Longinus--- "Cadets!  You fail to form a single line, then how do you plan on even obeying the simplest of orders!  Since lining up is too hard, I guess that means standing is too hard also!  Now onto your stomachs, and crawl the perimeter of the palace!  Now!  Your gut better not be more than  3 or four inches off the ground either, and NO BREAKS!"  Oculus knew that most would fail this with the weighted armor, it would require tremendous arm and leg strength to complete.  He planned on them to fail.  This was just simply to punish them and to build up their strength slowly.  Their next task would be demanding, he was going to run them into exhaustion today, and the next day.  It was time for them to get fit.

(I guess Occy can't make up his mind if he wants his dragons to run, or if he wants them to crawl XD But seriously, I'm just gonna do what you said, and if me running gets me in trouble, its your own fault for mixing up orders And before you say to yourself "OH, Night can't do that! That's way too mary-suish!", Let me remind you, Night was once a lieutenant, daughter of royalty, full goddess, and adviser. She is also 65 years old, so she has experience with this kind of stuff, so calm yo butts )

After Oculus snapped at her, she flinched at his harsh words. Perhaps it had been a bit arrogant of her to arrive so late, and think she was still the proud adviser she had once been. She needed to realize that those glorious days were over. Now, she needed to help the population of the NightWings become strong once again. However, when Oculus hissed at her, she moved her head away, feeling ashamed she had been late. However, instead of acting all sorry over it, she did exactly what Oculus had told her to do. Go get armor. As a lithe, adult dragoness, she didn't want to brag, but she could run. She was awfully fast, and this was one of the reasons she did so well when it came to..... spy work.

Bowing quickly, she nodded her head, and said an obedient "Yes sir!" before she ran off to go get armor. She came to the armory with a halt, arriving there quicker then had been anticipated. She glanced around, finding a suit of armor that fit her. As she put it on, she wondered if it would be wise of her to enchant it. She frowned as she thought to herself, absently strapping it on. It would be an intelligent idea to do something like that. However, she wasn't sure if Oculus would be very appreciative of her doing something like that to his armor. Or..... more specifically, the NightWing Vulcan's armor.

As she quickly slipped on the armor, she ran out to meet the other dragons. The armor was surprisingly heavy, almost as if Oculus had made it for her to be frustrated and weary. It didn't work, as Nightflare had trained her body to be in peak condition. She wouldn't have been aged sixty years for nothing. Her black scales were illuminated beautifully in the sunlight of the day. Without hesitating, she began to run, her job continued and smooth, almost as if she had been running her whole life. The gait quickly became a gallop, and her body was pulsating with power as she ran the laps. Her mind was focused on impressing Oculus, but she knew simply following orders wouldn't do that. She needed to go above and beyond to impress him. Keeping up her smooth gallop, she watched the other dragons as they ran as well. Her strong legs carried her over the field with ease. Her beauty while exercising was something many females only wished they could achieve, as her gait was smooth, like she was flying, and she never seemed to slow down to catch her breath.

But Nightflare wasn't perfect. The only reason she could do this was because of years of practice. She was much, much older then she looked. Sixty five, to be exact. Though she looked twenty five, so many would be surprised by her agility. As she ran the first lap, she glanced up at Oculus, but only for a millisecond, before she went straight back to training. When he ordered the other dragons to get on their bellies, Nightflare wondered if she should finish the second lap first, or not. She glanced over at the other dragons. She decided she'd finish it. After finishing the second lap, she quickly flew over the grass in a powerful leap of speed, speeding across the grass to where the other dragons were.

Having previously been lieutenant once upon a time, she knew how to get in formation, aligning up perfectly in line with the other dragons, as she got down on her stomach. Now this was a challenge. The metal was incredibly difficult to lift, and keeping her body up was about as easy as becoming queen. She winced, and smirked. She did enjoy a challenge, though. At this point, it was clear that Oculus wanted them to fail. And using magic would be cheating. So, Nightflare decided to go slow, taking her time as she held her body up close to the ground, crawling across the ground like Oculus had ordered. She watched the dragons carefully, not making fun of the ones who failed trying to do this task. It WAS difficult, and if it weren't for Night's years of experience, she probably would have failed as well.

As I proceeded to run without my left paw piece I lectured myself about the armor 'How could I have not have looked over the armor! How stupid!' I breathed deeply, trying not to show any expression.

As we ended the running I got in line in height order, noticing the other just lining up, not in order. 'Remember the orders!' I thought silently, looking straight ahead with no expression. I listened as he said to crawl around the perimeter of the palace. 'I might be able to make it the furthest out of all of them, sense I am also good at running.' I flicked my ear and started to crawl, noticing how hard it was 'Who am I kidding, this is hard.' I shook it off and kept looking forward.

Zero's relief at accomplishing this task quickly evaporated as a couple of the other cadets decided to not follow Oculus' instructions. He got down on his stomach and started crawling around the palace. Zero wondered whether someone had put rocks in his armour, as it was rather heavy. Fortunately, the NightWing Guardian was quite muscular. So Zero continued crawling, determined not to fail.

(this may be a long post so, PREPARE UR EYES)

Serena nodded and gave Oculus a pitty look after he had walked off. How can you put armor on wrongly? She shrugged and began running. She heard a collapse of a dragon behind her, so she stopped and turned around. She saw Oreo and laughed, but then stopped as soon as she saw Oculus coming and she jumped back in line and began running.
After a while she saw Flare, and thought about waving, but she changed her mind. Instead, she did as Occy told her. Serena got onto her stomach and began crawling, which got her stomach(armor if there was any for that) all muddy, which slowed her down. Mud was a form of water, and she had Fire bred into her. She began growling, and shot a ball of lavender fire at the (NPC>) Dragon in front of her. He yelped and stood up and began flailing around like a loon. Serena looked carefully at this dragon, and realized it was that dragon who Occy lectured first! She started laughing uncontrollably, and was able to slow down, and soon she stopped.
Serena finished crawling around where her brother had said, and she had done it twice. Instead of standing to do it, she grabbed a rock and breathed some fire onto it, then flung it in Occy's direction. It luckily bounced off his armor, and bounced back to her.
This was Simple!! Although i kinda am part snake since mother was... But really easy! And even with this armor weighing me down i could do it! Serena thought.

((Remember, guys, what Oculus just did was suppose to be a very difficult task. Pretty much the exact opposite of what you just said, Serena. The only reason Night could do it was because she has had years of experience to do this kind of stuff, so she is used to it. BUT THAT DOESN'T EXCUSE ALL YOU YOUNG WHIPERSNAPPERS! Lol jk. )

Nightflare did the task with the utmost humility. She ignored pretty much all the dragons around her, with the exception of Oculus, who she was keeping a steady eye on from where she was crawling. When she saw Serena shoot a fire ball at that dragon, she narrowed her eyes. Nightflare had once been able to use telepathy with all her powers. It was a weak power now, since she hadn't practiced it in such a long time. She did flash Serena a mental signal, flicking her tail in disapproval. Night wanted Serena to raise up in the world. It would benefit a lot of dragons. Especially herself. But Night didn't try to intervene in what Serena had done, as it was already over, and Night didn't want to get in trouble with Oculus. However, she did flash Serena a serious look, telling her to be more serious in this situation.

Soon, Nightflare had finished. Flexing her shoulders, she stretched out her limbs, then lined up in perfect alignment. She was a trained military officer. If she couldn't do things as simple as line up, what kind of a tracker would she be? Not a very good one, given that. She awaited for the rest of the dragons to arrive and line up in perfect formation as well, and she would make sure that they did that properly, flashing them glares and glances, and flicking her tail to help give them an idea of where to position themselves. Nightflare may be a bit rusty, since Gemini had rarely done stuff like this, but that didn't mean she would still try to act professional.

(If you don't get that reference, you all must go watch Black Butler. Right now )

I kept on crawling, without my poorly made left paw piece. I still felt stupid about that, and apparently some other dragon found it funny. 'You can not laugh at an oreo elite guard like me.' I silently thought, a bit annoyed. I realized that I was tiring but had to keep going, I slowed down my pace but kept going.

(NO ONE LAUGHS AT DYNAMIC OREO)

Linus gave the standardized,"Aye Sir!" before he followed the other orders, He'd been expecting something like this due to Oculus's unusual behavior, Acting a little too friendly. He hadn't liked the order or what he had to do one bit, But he showed no sign of it, And did what he was told. He was a little weary of the task, He was strong, Real strong, But not Guardian strong. He had good stamina, It was more than average, But it wasn't quite good enough for this. At first it had been easy, But he had payed close attention to his pose to make sure he wasn't over doing it too soon to be winded, He had kept a even high of about 3.5 inches ± an inch. His muscles burned, The lactic acid built up, But he kept on with determination, He pushed on until the end.