Cadet Phobia bounded up on exuberant steps, overjoyed to take part in her first mass training. The curled tufts on top of her ears were perked forward and her long fur groomed to perfection. The young she-cat having spent the morning obsessively grooming, not wanting to show up too early. As she drew closer though she realized she was still the first to arrive, but that wasn't too bad. It gave her time to pester Gardenia on what their tasks for the day were. "Hello!" She chirped dipping her head once she was right in front of the Mercenary Superior.

...Or the first two to arrive, as it appeared.

Superior Gardenia felt a purr of amusement rumble in her throat as she watched Cadet Phobia exuberantly bounding towards her full of energy, and then spotting Cadet Decimus quite a bit behind, slinking over to the meeting spot with obvious nervousness. "Greetings Phobia," she answered in an even tone - she couldn't be too friendly, this was training after all - and curled her large fluffy tail around her paws as she patiently waited for the Commander's nephew to make his way to them as well. "And greetings to you as well, Decimus. You both are right on time; a good habit for soldiers of any vocation in the Regime. I'll be sure to pass on a good word to your mentors about that."

and your mother, she silently added as she glanced at the anxious young tom in front of her. Her gaze then drifted back up to the tunnel's entrance. It was difficult to say if any of the others would be showing up. Other members of the Regime had a tendency to borrow cadets for any sort of chores no matter what job the cadet might have planned. There was always the possibility that group training could just be these two. "Tell me, do either of you have any questions before we begin?"

*she's a scout, but for this thread, she's a merc, mk? kthankz


Cadet Tundra ran up in a hurry; she was always running this way or that. I was only when she was a few fox-lengths away that she slowed down. Panting, throbbing paws, pacing heart. Am I late?

"What sort of training are we doing today? Is it a test?" Decimus was curious. What did they do in mass training? This was usually how their superior assessed their skills right? He had to show Gardenia that he was competent even though he was still a fairly new cadet.

Decimus tensed, imagining what would have been said to him if he did something like that right before training. His mother had begun training him and his brothers with basic skills when they were four moons old. She hadn't been particularly hard on them, but she had wanted to be sure they had a head start since she wanted them to be the best of the best. "Umm....Training is about to begin though. Shouldn't we be listening to Superior Gardenia?"

"Really?" He almost felt like this was a trick, but an order was still an order so Decimus took a step forward. She was bigger than him so charging in wouldn't do much. Instead he would need to use his mind. Maybe if he came in from the side... The young tom darted forward, waiting until the last moment to veer to the left. His paw stretched out in an attempt to swipe her paws out from under her.

So, they were thinking out possible strategies from the start, rather than just blindly rushing in and hoping for the best. Good. However...glancing at the pair of Cadets that were sprinting towards her, it was obvious Cadet Tundra was trying to outclass Decimus, instead of assisting him. Neither of them would get anything done acting like that.

Superior Gardenia leaped sideways out of range from both attacks on her legs, before swerving around to smack Cadet Decimus upside the head, pushing him directly into Cadet Tundra. "Tsk tsk," she playfully chided as the pair collided in a heap. "May I remind you both that this isn't a competition? A Regime soldier should be strong and intelligent on their own merit, but they will never enter a battlefield by themselves."