Oz: Crossroad of Legends

The instructor places a hand gently on Catie's head.  "Calm down, now.  You need to crawl before you can walk.  I guess I should pretend you're all a bunch of fresh-faced little recruits.  So."  His demeanor suddenly shifts back.  He leaves Catie and returns to pacing.  "So listen up, maggots!  We'll get to proper rifle use in a minute, but first thing first, grenades!  There are three methods of delivery!  Smaller ones fired by guns, larger ones fired with rockets, and the most common, hand grenades!"

He reaches into his pouch and pulls out a small cylindrical object.  "This is a hand grenade!  It is a tiny bundle of boom to throw at people you don't like!  You squeeze this lever and pull this pin.  Five seconds later, everyone around this little ball's going to have a very bad time!  So you throw the damn thing at someone you don't like!  Easy, right?  Timing, throw accuracy, and proper grenade selection!  What do we have to choose from!?  We have the standard explosive grenade!  Gas grenades that produce an irritating, painful smoke!  Sticky grenades burst in mid-air and release a thick, fast-acting glue - they made our old net grenades 'awbs-o-lete' as you would say!  We have shock grenades, incendiary grenades, sonic grenades, grenades with particularly long fuses, grenades that bounce, grenades that stick to whatever they hit!  So, so many damn choices, you should feel like kids in a candy store!

"Now, who wants a demonstration!?" he asks rhetorically.  He pulls the pin out of the grenade and rolls it into the middle of the group, then dives away.  June looks over in confusion.

The grenade goes spiraling towards a small group of assistants.  "Guh?" one asks.  The grenade bursts, coating them all in a bright, pink, viscous fluid.

The instructor jumps up, looking at the scene.  He turns his back on the Outlanders, fighting to suppress his laughter.  After a few seconds, he walks over to Irving.  "W-would you c-care...  Ahem.  Would you care to explain to me why you thought my assistants needed to die, maggot!?"

Catie looks over at the pink assistants. "Awwwwww they look so adorable," Catie said while staring at them. "So Mr. Magnet sir when do we get our grenade thingy i cant wait to toss them like bam bam bam," Catie said as she made throwing motions. "Oh i wonder who would look prettier in pink Mrs June or Irving with a Geeeeee," Catie said.

"Umm if anybody needs me i will be outside where its safer," Sam said scurrying out side.

Nobunaga watched the Princess and the maid leave in curious silence. Once he and Queen Glinda were alone again- or as alone as they would be- he turned back to her to answer her question.

"I live a fairly ordinary life, with my wife and children. I spend most of my time with them, and I spend time with my other family from time to time as well. However... My family is... Very large, and very unique, and I do not get along with all of them, so I prefer to spend my days at home. But this was not always the case. A long time ago, I once reigned as King over a very large kingdom, albeit briefly. So I know what it's like to carry the burden of a crown."

He smiles. "I've only been married for seven years. Before that, before I met my wife, I believed I would always walk alone. My family, the peace I have now... It's a dream come true, a dream I never thought I would have."

He turns to look around the palace briefly, and his smile turns wistful. "I don't believe our worlds are that different, Queen Glinda. They seem very similar, actually."

He turns back to her, and finishes his cup of tea. "I don't begrudge you or your people for summoning me, Queen Glinda. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have done the same. I will fight for you, not just to return home, not just for my children's sake, but because I believe it's the right thing to do. But remember this Queen Glinda: I am not merely a soldier. While I am powerful, the true potential of having me as an ally comes from my vision and knowledge. With that in mind... I spoke to General Alvis earlier. I asked him what his thoughts were on Ephesus's movements, and I would like to ask you something similar. What do you make of the current situation? The recent large scale invasion, the unknown methods used to breach your borders, the dragon nesting on top of the World Tree... What do you make of it all?"

"Yippee," Catie said as she uncurled her tail. "Hey guys look what I can do," Catie said as she curled up her tail around the grenade. "Now Samantha watch as I take out those dummies, let it rip" Catie said as she began twirling in a circle and pulled out the pin. At the last second she had her tail let go of the grenade but well it didn't go towards the dummies, it went towards another group of assistance who were in the area.

One of the assistants was too surprised to react.  Another tried to run, and the last dove under a nearby table just as the grenade went off.  The instructor looked at the painted carnage and shook his head.  "Dead.  Maimed."  The last assistant crawled back out from under the table.  "Injured, possibly still fighting capable.  Probably with a busted ear drum."

He turned back to Catie, an enraged shade of purple, too angry to even yell.  "Is this a game to you?  We're training to fight.  Fight for our homeland, fight for our lives, fight for our friends.  And you're playing around instead of learning?  What if you actually got one of my boys killed because you didn't understand how our gear worked because you were screwing around during training?  How do you think that would feel?"

---

"Don't fret, princess.  Miss Geraldine just wants to make people think she's a lot scarier than she really is," Alice assures Lana.  "I think she just likes making threats.  Um...  By the way, what do you mean you brought Outlanders to the safe house?"

"STOW THOSE TEARS, RECRUIT!" the instructor barks.  "And enough with the Samantha schtick!  It was mildly amusing the first time, but you are to address me as Drill Sergeant Barker!  Since you aren't from around these parts, I'll let you slide with Sir or DI!  Now."  He takes a deep breath, reverting from purple to red.  "First of all, understand.  We train under stress so we don't break under stress.  Second of all, my assistants quite competent, and I prefer them not coated in paint.  Those are the dummies I'm talking about."  He very, very clearly points to the training targets.  "...Now, what's this about fighting as a wolf?"

"TRAINING TIME IS NOT HUG TIME!" Barker yells at Catie.  But those eyes, man.  Those damn puppy-dog eyes.  He fights the urge to roll his own as he makes a compromise.  "Rrrmph.  Pass basic marksmanship and you can have all the hugs you want!  Now, then.  Are there any more general questions before I instruct you on the proper use of firearms?"

"She won't be using her bow, cat! She'll be using the GJ-79 rifle and an AD-40 pistol! Was that not clear?" Barker asks. He points to a counter at the top of the range with four rifles, four pistols, several magazines, and a few grenades. "Each of you will take a rifle and have two minutes to familiarize yourself with it, fire some practice shots, whatever you want. Then you'll have two minute with the pistol. After that, the test begins. A series of targets will pop up in waves, and you will neutralize them with the designated weapons, or you will fail! Anything less than 100% accuracy and you'll be out on the street faster than a komodo on a flank steak! ...If you weren't the queen's 'special' guests."

"...Komodo?" June asks.

"Giant lizards! Some of our troops ride them into battle! They smell as bad as they look, but there's no mistaking their usefulness!" Barker explains. "Now, then! The reason you're all here!"

An aide hands him an empty rifle and a magazine. "To prepare the Grayjack for combat, you have to stick some ammo in it! Once you're out of rounds, it's going to stop firing! Rounds come in magazines, which are inserted like so!" He slowly slides the magazine into place. "To get it out again, once it's empty, press this button here! To make it ready to fire, slide this bolt back... And we're live! Now! There are three safety features in place to make sure none of you maggots kill any of my boys by mistake! First, you! You don't point this end at anything unless you want that thing to stop being alive! Second, the safety! See this lever? Rotate it to select a firing mode. When it's on 'safety,' it won't fire! But don't test that by breaking rule #1, and don't spin it until you want to make something dead! The other options are simple! 'Single' lets you fire shots one at a time with high accuracy! In 'auto' mode, it'll fire bullets one after the other so long as you're holding the trigger! Don't expect to hit much unless you're firing at close range, and be aware you'll chew through ammo like a komodo on a flank steak! Finally, the 'burst' setting will pop off 3 shots per squeeze! A nice middle ground when you don't know what to expect! Now, the final safety measure is this trigger guard! Your finger doesn't go inside it until you are in the process of terminating something's biological function!" He turns to the dummies and raises his rifle. "Stance! Aim down the sights on the top of the rifle! Finger on the trigger! Squeezing this is what makes the bullets come out! Easy enough, right!?" He puts three rounds into a dummy's chest.

An aide trades the rifle for a pistol. "And this is the AD-40! It functions similarly to the rifle. You point this end at something, pull the trigger, and that something stops being something and starts being nothing! Compared to the rifle, it has less range, less capacity, less speed, less penetration and stopping power, but is lighter and easier to use! In a pinch, it can even be used with one hand! YOU WILL NOT BE FIRING IT WITH ONE HAND TODAY! Now, then! Preparation is similar to the rifle! Magazine slides in here, pull back this entire slide, and it's ready to go! The safety only has two settings: go and no! Single-shot only, no auto-fire here! Stance, sights, trigger!" He empties the magazine into a dummy. "Eject the magazine with this button and slide another in!"

"Now, then! Are there any questions, or are we ready to start shooting!?"