jaegeracademy | [ open ] Welcome to Chile, Cadets.

Entry tags:

[ open ] Welcome to Chile, Cadets.

Characters: ALL.
Location: Valparaíso Shatterdome, Chile.
Date/Time: February 15th-28th.
Summary: The first shipment of recruits into the new Jaeger Academy program arrive. Some are staggered throughout the month, but they all have the same basic greeting. Here you are, there's where you sleep, here's what you wear, get going.
Additional Notes: See here for additional information. For information on the current weather, check out this link.

The Shatterdome didn't look futuristic, swatches of metal and concrete transforming a portion of the harbor into five enormous bays. Nevermind that only two were currently in use. The stark greys stand out against the colorful face of the city, a hulking monolith that's been carved into the face of the city that had once upon a century been termed the Jewel of the Pacific.

Note: Players are welcome to start their own interactions outside of the three main prompted scenarios. Go wild!

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"It's three months," Mike answered from his bunk, lacing on the new boots and wiggling his feet around in them to start the breaking in process. At least combat boots felt natural on his feet. "And it's just a phone. You'll live. Unless you step in front of something heavy, anyway."

It is humid, but so is Japan in the summer. Far worse than this. Kou smiles, and shrugs. He's jetlagged, boy is he jetlagged, but he's not bothered by the weather at all.

"Japan." He replies, assuming the other boy won't have heard of the town he's from, not with such an American accent. Though he'd be familiar with Tokyo most likely, which had been true once. Things had changed in Japan, just as they had elsewhere.

It feels a little like sneaking off. But they'd been given the tour and given leave to familiarize themselves with the base, and he's pretty sure that he isn't actually bucking any orders right now by shaking his sister and wandering back toward the Jaeger Bays on his own. Curiosity is a powerful thing. And while it'll be a long while before he even gets to touch a Jaeger—if he gets to touch a Jaeger. He won't even let himself consider failure as an option—there's no way that he can resist taking a longer and closer look while he can.

And that's Hydra Corinthian. In the flesh, so to speak. The scale of it is breathtaking from down here, enough to set his pulse to pounding in its own right. He's so caught up in craning his neck up at it that he doesn't even notice the woman standing at its feet until he's practically on top of her.

But once he does, he recognizes her immediately. And it flashes across his face, along with a look of vague awe and not-quite-panicked contrition, like maybe he has been caught doing something he's not supposed to. But he steadies himself. Square shouldered, if wide eyed in a slightly starstruck way.

"Ranger Martin?" he pauses, as if to be sure he'd gotten it right, then adds on— "Ma'am."

It was damned good to be somewhere warmer than Alaska, even with the humidity. Vegas was nothing like this, all sand and flat and full of sequins and entertainment, but while he'd come to love it, this was what he was used to. This, even as sterile as the environment could seem, still felt like home.

He walked outside in what he felt would be his casuals from then on - coveralls to the waist, arms tied in lieu of a belt, one of the issued T-shirts on above that. It was great not to feel like he needed to put on a few more layers. Instead, he could sit down and stretch out in the sun, eyes closed, and smell the distant scent of trees alongside the salt of the ocean and the oil and ozone from the constant mechanical work inside the 'dome.

Yep, smelled just like home.

He smiled, fingers knitting behind his head. He knew he should probably mingle, actually talk to people, but for just a little while, what he wanted was to soak up some warmth.

The rattling confuses Leila for a brief moment, looking up from her occupation of neatly folding and pressing their issued clothing. Without her portable steamer, tucked away along with her personal belongings in her second luggage, keeping her clothes from getting wrinkled is going to be a tough one. Ironing their uniform was protocol back in the Naval college but it doesn't seem to be the case here in the Academy. So she'll have to make do with carefully sorting them all out.

"Is everything all right?" she asks from her seat on the floor on the opposite side of the hall, her hands moving on its own to fold the last white shirt in place.

He seems to be as tensed as many of the other Cadets who've just arrived with them but that's to be expected given it's their first day. It's not at all different when she's first gone to Dartmouth, all nerves and high energy. She thinks it'll either soon mellow down (a week will soon feel like a month with the routine) or it'll even get more pent up with the coming training.

It's a long day, starting from the bus ride and arrivals processing to the extensive tours and information on ways they could all lose life or limb if they aren't paying attention. Even a cheerful kid like Kou is a little exhausted by the time dinner rolls around. There's also the matter of where to sit, since the seating isn't assigned.

Kou finds himself glancing around for an empty spot or someone familiar, and comes up with both at once. That guy...they spoke earlier. That counts, right?

He slides into the space casually with a smile. The noodles on his tray are unfamiliar, the vegetables are soggy, and the soup (porridge?) looks questionable at best. There's an apple, though. Apples are a safe place to start. For a guy who's usually so fond of food, he's having trouble convincing his stomach that it wants to accept any of what's on the tray. So he starts conversation instead.

"It's a lot of information, isn't it?"

"Hey, really?" If he sounds surprised, it's because he is, though he really shouldn't be. He's not entirely terrible as far as geography is concerned—hanging out with Armin when he was younger meant collecting all sorts of miscellaneous knowledge through plain old osmosis—but he'll be better at capital cities and famous landmarks than smaller towns, for sure.

Japan, though, that's half a world away from everything he's ever known. It just drives home how much humanity has to pull together, now.

"What's it like?" He asks, then seems to realize this is a broad question. "Besides colder, I guess."

It's hard, being dropped into a bunch of new and strange people in a new and strange situation. Like the first day at a new school or something. But when Kou sits, Eren is turned toward the blonde boy beside him and chatting with him casually, like they've known each other for years. (Don't feel bad. They have. It's practically cheating.) Eren looks up when Kou joins them, and he breaks into an enthusiastic and sort of focused grin.

"Yeah, no fucking kidding," a lot of information. After waiting this long to get here, he's practically champing at the bit for more. He leans forward onto the table, "Did you get a look at the Jaegers?"

Of course he did, they all did, during the tour of the bays and the many many safety warnings that came with it. Eren couldn't resist going back for a closer look later. Because those are real live Jaegers sitting in the hangars. Humanity's greatest weapon against the kaiju.

Kou doesn't seem to mind the question if the laugh is anything to go by, but he doesn't quite know how to respond. What is Japan like? Hmm. "What's America like?" He counters, but it isn't actually a challenge, just teasing. He pauses and contemplates seriously for a moment how best to explain such a subject so broad.

"It's organized. Except for the streets, those are a mess sometimes. It's clean, but some of the beaches get really dirty. It's full. Every train in the city during the rush hours is packed so tight you can't get inside and if you do you can't get out. People hide their television antennas so they won't have to pay the tax. In the park in September there are spiders that make nests above the paths and scare the tourists. It's like anywhere else, I think?"

He's fine, mostly. As fine as he ever is. Better, even, now that he's got something to do with himself that matters. He's just sort of a hazard sometimes, because Eren's natural state of being is to approach most anything with the same breakneck concentration and reckless enthusiasm, which translates pretty dangerously to a lot of things. Bunk beds among them.

He'd leaned back onto the bed for a minute or two just to get his bearings, and he hoists himself upright again when Leila asks after him. Settles his bootheels against the floor and leans against the bedpost and frowns down at her folding her things on the floor. (He should...probably do that, at some point. In a minute.)

"We're here, aren't we?" he answers, looking sort of puzzled at the concern and sort of defensive that she seems to think he needs asking. Reflexively, he glances up to find Mikasa at her own bunk in the distance, but his looks back down at Leila quickly enough. He's fine, he can handle himself. They're on their way to becoming Rangers, and that's what matters. "Why wouldn't it be?"

She waited for him to realize she was there, placing the face to a name (Eren Jaeger, United States) when he looks at her. Andrea had been over the Cadet files so often she swore she dreamed about combing through their contents.

Most were spare. Reports and psychological evaluations ran light compared to the physical work they'd be put through soon enough. He remembered to address her correctly, a good indication of his attention to detail.

Much like remembering her face, but she wasn't so ignorant or arrogant to presume anyone did that for less than the obvious reason. With no more than thirty active Jaegers in the world, it wasn't difficult to keep track of a portion of those faces hailing from your own country.

"At your ease, Cadet Jaeger." She suppressed the urge to smile. "You're most the way through Day One at the Valparaíso Shatterdome. What do you have to report so far?"

Edited (typos will end me) 2014-02-18 05:26 (UTC)

Hard for the brazenly extroverted, harder still for anything less. Though throwing in with one of the former persuasion makes the experience somewhat bearable. Not that Armin is particularly inept in the socialization department, but reservation always makes branching out a bit of a chore.

It puts him next to his closest friend, ergo across from the newcomer at a slight angle, and before he can welcome the slight change in topics, Eren is dragging it back with a mention of the giant robots. Honestly, Jaeger has been just about every third word that has spilled out of his mouth when it wasn't busy inhaling its dinner.

"I'm looking at one right now," the blond shoots to his right, steeped in an equal measure of amusement and exasperation, "And it's being an insatiable fanboy."

Never one to be rude, he's just as quick to address the other speaker. "It's a great deal to take in, but it's been nothing short of fascinating."

He's curious! Even if it all sounds pretty normal until the spiders. He gives Kou a stare that suggests he's trying to decide if he's getting jerked around, then scoffs and shakes his head. And joking or not, he does his best to answer the question posed to him in return.

"Not too different. Except for the spiders, I guess." They have spiders, but not so many that they're...scaring tourists....

"I haven't been out of California since I was little, though," he admits. So he won't be too helpful giving him an idea of what America is like as a whole. 'California,' because getting any more specific tends to be a waste of time, even if Kou would probably recognize it, if just by reputation. Telling people where he grew up too often leads to pitying looks or sympathetic words that he doesn't want or need. They'd moved around too much in the past few years to call anywhere 'home,' after that.

"Not until now, anyway," he adds, as if in afterthought. "You can tell, huh? That I'm American."

Kou doesn't get the joke, of course, so he just smiles politely in response. These others seem to be so invested in the program already that he's not sure what to say. He's pleased he got accepted, that he can do something that might make his family proud... but he's barely cracked the cadet handbook yet. They just got here.

"Yes. They're enormous. It's like a mecha anime come to life, isn't it?" He agrees with the dark haired boy. They've all seen these mecha on television of course, but it's nothing like seeing them in the same building. They're the size of a building. It's definitely impressive.

The smaller boy almost looks familiar, now that he speaks. Maybe Kou has seen him around as well, though he doesn't recall specifics. They've all been marched around together as a group all day anyway, it would be weird if they didn't at least seem vaguely familiar to one another by now. Insatiable isn't a word he's familiar with, so it takes him a moment longer to decide that it wasn't directed at him anyway, so it can be overlooked.

"It's true. Not everyone is lucky enough to see inside a shaterdome."

Actually, it isn't the only shatterdome Kou has been inside, but he's not ready to volunteer that information just yet. First he takes a bite of the apple and mulls it over.

"Sure. I have a television, too." Kou grins again, and shrugs. Americans are all over TV, everyone knows that. California he's very familiar with, not only because of television, but because it has such a history of attacks. It's impossible not to pay attention to something like that. He considers the other boy for a moment. Yeah, old enough to remember all of that. Maybe the same age as Kou, or just a little younger. He must have been around 9 when the first attack came. And it had been in his own home territory.

For a moment, Kou finds himself gazing into the distance over the harbor, remembering things that had nothing to do with California, or this other boy. He snaps out of it quickly enough, and tries to put aside the lingering unease. Yes, that's a question better left unasked for the time being. Maybe later, when they weren't all strangers to one another. He stores the information away and shrugs it off. "I've been there once. It smelled like grease and the ocean. But I was impressed."

((Simon is a ranger and former pilot of Helix Plunge. Public info here!))

Ahh... I'm actually kind of hot....

It had been a while since he was in uniform, and the truth was he had kind of missed it. At the very least, there was a familiarity and a reminder of the many struggles he'd endured keeping Kamina in uniform. So even if it was a little rigid for his preference, that was less the problem than the heat. He'd been in Australia once just long enough to tour the Shatterdome there, but that was the most he'd ever been in the southern hemisphere. Seventy degrees was too warm for a northerner like him on the best of days, but it wasn't even winter when it was supposed to be.

The result was Simon was really itching to dress down and go find some shade to lounge in until night fell, but he felt like his leash right now might be a little short. Even though no one had said as much (to my face), he felt like he'd let the PPDC down when he disappeared after Kamina's death. He was surprised he'd been accepted back readily, even allowed to retain his rank as ranger. He'd been prepared to start over from the ground up, but instead he'd gotten a spiel about being an inspiration and support to new cadets.

"So that means staying in line, Simon." He muttered wryly to himself. No obvious shucking his duties or wandering around out of uniform at least for the first month. He would even let the cadets call him 'sir', as strange as that always sounded.

Since he couldn't pass the time with a nap he might as well spend it putting names to faces. Simon looked around idly until someone caught his eye for whatever reason, then casually strolled up to them with a friendly smile. "Yo."

Edited 2014-02-18 05:55 (UTC)

"Whoa, look-- Ow!"

Luke would like to say that in the brief moments before he'd noticed the girl sprinting around a corner and her impacting with him, he honed reflexes had kicked in and he had jumped nimbly to the side.

Sadly, reality just never let him be as cool as he would like, and instead he finds himself knocked back on his unsuspecting ass. His wince, at least, was more a default response to the sudden blow than any actual pain. He slowly relaxes and then hauls himself to his feet, looking up to see if the girl who hit him needs any help.

"Sorry." Why was he apologizing?? Habit... probably. Oh well, it didn't hurt. "Are you okay?"

((oocly, i just noticed that Kou is in the under 18 barracks while Luke is in the over 18, so they won't actually be bunkmates but I'll happily kind of handwave that for this thread))

"Yeah, it's pretty far for me, too." Luke got the feeling like it might be more than that, but wasn't going to press. Better to just try to talk positively about it. "It's also kind of cool, though. I never even thought of going to South America." To be honest, he'd probably always thought it must be dirty and unsafe. He knew now that was probably pretty ignorant, though. This place at least was definitely amazing.

"Anyway, I guess... a lot of us are probably with you there."

"It does sort of stand out, though." The Shatterdome doesn't exactly blend into the landscape at all. Sugane usually isn't the sort to give much thought to aesthetics, but even he can notice that. There must have been a huge outcry when the construction started. "There's no question where the city ends and the Shatterdome begins."

It made it easy to get into the mindset necessary to start training, but he still sort of hopes that things are a little less grim inside the walls of the building. Sober, maybe, and understated, but not grim like the outside of the building.

(Yeah. sorry. I didn't realize until too late too. I caught it in time to delete one thread but not this one so um...yep. Maybe I'll put up a blurb on his journal with his age and background info. I was thinking about doing it anyway, and it would help not to cause folds in the universe like this. What if we say he tumbled out of the bunk across the hall or something and he's just standing in the doorway? That might be technically breaking none of the rules.)

"Hmm, that's probably true." Kou agreed, thoughtfully. Most of the people here seemed to be pretty far from home.

He couldn't exactly ask Luke where he was from, because he knew already. Of course he knew. Even a few years later and with a new haircut, it was easy to pick Luke out in the crowd. His father had been all over the news once, and to a lesser extent, so had Luke. Which meant that asking what brought him there was also out of the question.

Kou paused awkwardly for a moment, shier than he usually was around strangers, as he grappled for something to say. "I don't know very much Spanish, do you?"

In Kou's defense, Eren's level of investment probably isn't remotely normal. Or advisable. Or...healthy. It also means his attention has been running all day with such intense concentration on the other Jaegers in the building that it takes him a few seconds to twig to the joke at his expense. When he does, his expression creases into an indignant scowl in Armin's direction. Wow, hey!! Fuck you Armin, that's rude. You're rude. He knocks shoulders with the smartass in question to express his (not entirely serious) displeasure. He's feeling too damn excited about being here to let much of anything bother him very long. For now, anyway.

But it does, if nothing else, derail his enthusiasm enough to remind him of what manners he's managed to retain over the years.

"Eren Jaeger," He supplies to Kou with a nod. To explain the joke, and because he can't actually remember if he'd introduced himself before. In his defense, they'd had to absorb a whole lot information since then, so it can't hurt to repeat, anyway. He tips his head toward the cadet beside him and finishes the job. "This is Armin Arlert. We grew up together."

Ugly buildings don't exactly put Kou off. After all, most of the cities in Japan have some impressively utilitarian buildings from after the war, but at the prompt he turns and gives the Shatterdome and barracks a look over. The surroundings may be beautiful and charming, but it's true that the buildings themselves are wholly industrial.

It's nice. Tough. His own home is so scenic and pleasant that somewhere like this is exactly the change of pace that he needs. It's a constant reminder that home is far away from here, and that they're training for something serious.

"Maybe we'll be allowed into the city one day."

That might help this other boy feel more at ease. If you find something unpleasant, having an escape from it goes a long way. Even just school, or in this case, field trips.

It's probably the only very exceptional thing about him. He's young, he's not remotely the model soldier or the most qualified recruit in any tangible respect. But he is, if nothing else, taking all this very seriously. And he has for a long time, before he'd ever set foot in a shatterdome. There are those who are here because of the glamor of being a pilot, those who are here because of some kind of family obligation. Eren's here because he wants to save humanity. Not just to hold the kaiju at bay, but to defeat them once and for all. And he's always held the existing Rangers in incredibly high respect because of it, ever since the program became known to the public.

So there's a blink of real surprise when he hears Andrea speak his name back at him without needing to introduce himself first. She may have managed to suppress her smile successfully, but he's never been good at that sort of thing. As soon as he manages to relax out of his startled attention, he can't quite help but break into a very determined species of grin.

"It's amazing, ma'am," and he remembers to tack on the honorific, even if his enthusiasm is hard for him to hide. Because he's standing at the foot of Hydra Corinthian and talking to one of her pilots. A real live hero in the battle against the kaiju. Because he's taken his first step to contributing, himself. "This place is part of humanity's counterattack. That's amazing."

"It's nice weather, isn't it?" Kou asked the young man who'd wandered out to enjoy the sunlight that he'd been shamelessly basking in as well. No one was around to remind him not to let his complexion suffer, so he could tip his face up to it without feeling guilty about it at all. It was a good feeling, and the sunlight itself felt fantastic.

The other boy looked a little older, but he wore the same cadet uniform as Kou did, so there was no confusion about how to address him. For the purposes of their traiing here, he was a peer, not an upperclassman or superior officer.

Somehow, Luke always managed to say something to slightly unexpected and slightly grating. Must be nice to live so carefree and guiltless as a naive, pampered rich kid. He held back a grimace under the guise of stowing his bag of hair ties in his foot locker, trying to quash the feeling. Yuri had made his own choices; he didn't have the right to be bitter over someone else's life.

"Careful, talk like that and people are going to think your head is empty," he said dryly.

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Page 4 of 18

[ open ] Welcome to Chile, Cadets.

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Fine with crashing, and fast and loose. Have...more Kou. You're welcome.

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the more the merrier. o9 Armin'll crash in next in that case and then we can wing it

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Bonjour. also ps. apologies for the test drive, conventions happened..!

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no worries!

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moar rockstars

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Re: BARRACKS | TURNING OVER PERSONAL ITEMS