Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
The fellow people knew as Commander Jon Chess stood at the entrance to the Scout headquarters, waiting for his new recruit to join him, and one other. The Brotherhood of Valor was a mercenary organization, and Jon had already surmised that Macee was... unfamiliar with the concept of military discipline.
Kaneka/Macee
Macee ran at top speed toward the den. Paws and claws dug up the earth with evey evey lunge of powerful legs. She was determined to make it there under the ten minute time limit she'd been given. Skidding to a halt before the Commander, she stood, panting. "Did...I...make...in..time...?"
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Let us assume you did; timing is important in all things, but I am of a mind that you could not have made it any faster, at your full running speed. If I had ran, I'd be about three-quarters of the way myself," her Commander responded. "All I ever ask is that my Scouts perform as best as they can while preserving their lives," he explained. "Scouts are not regular soldiers, and I am not a usual officer."
Kaneka/Macee
Macee nodded her head. Not sure if she was supposed to be standing at attention or offering a salute to him, she did both. If she was wrong, she knew she'd be told. "Yes'ir."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Very good... so we are going to start with the concept of military courtesy, and why it is actually both useful and important. Let us begin by me asking you what you think of the concept of 'military courtesy' - when I first enlisted in the Alliance reconnaissance scouts, I thought it was the most stupid thing I had ever heard of..."
Kaneka/Macee
"Um, givin' respec' ta a'officer wit more rank? Like salutes n'sayin' yessir an' nosir?" She scratched her chin, waiting to see if she was in the least bit right.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Yes, that is a large part of it," Jon confirmed with a nod. "But that is the visbile part of it, and like an iceberg off of Northend, there is a lot more underneath. Most training officers never explain the reasons why, because normal troops are expected to obey without explanation; most regulars are not very educated nor very bright, and mistake an explanation as a request for approval - which it is not. Nor is it with me, but I will quite often explain what we are doing, and require you to ask questions if you do not understand - Scouts are smart, or they don't live very long. "
Kaneka/Macee
"Aye. So...yer say'n, iffin' ya give me a mission ta do I ken ask why ya givin' it? Instead'a jus' sayin' Yessir an' runnin' off ta do it?"
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Absolutely - in the field, you need to understand what the target is, and what the desired end result we are seeing is. Scouts operate under very fluid circumstance, and are trusted to take action that accomplishes the mission, if the orders no longer make sense. Success of the mission is the most important thing, with one exception," Jon stressed.
Kaneka/Macee
"An' wha' is tha' exception?" She eyed him curiously.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"When the objective is not as important as the life of the Scout. None of my scouts are replaceable. You are finely trained, intelligent, capable of independent action... and more important, are only responsible for responding to orders which come down your chain of command. Which means when another officer tries to give you an order, you may comply if it makes sense, or disregard the order -if you do it the right way - and the right way involved 'military courtesy'"
Kaneka/Macee
Macee taps her clawed finger against her snout. "Alrigh'. If that commander of tha' blades...I forget 'is name righ' now...says ta me, ' Macee, I gots a mission for ya ta do' and 'e tells it ta me, but I thin' it migh' git me and maybe...three other people killed, I bring it to ya for 'proval? Or kin I jus' flat ou' say nosir?" She wanted to make absolutely sure she got this down.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Blade-Commander Sebastian, I believe you mean," Jon explained. "Blade-Commander Sebastian commands the Blades. He does not command the scouts, but the Scouts will almost always co-operate with the regular soldiers; one of our most important functions is to get Seb the information he needs to do his job, and one of his most important jobs is to keep his command safe and operational. So, if he gave a command, you have several options, but all of them must be exercised with both respect and discretion; if you ever find yourself in that position, you may say 'With respect, Blade-Commander, I would like you to have Commander Chess confirm that order' - which means 'Are you nuts?', or you can say 'Commander Chess has given me an order which would prevent me from obeying your order, sir - please consult with him' - which means 'I have orders to not get myself killed pointlessly'." Jon chuckled. "And you must be polite about it, because no officer likes to be told 'No'. Whenever possible, try and not do it in front of his command. In the Brotherhood f Valor, we keep each other alive, and showing people respect and courtesy keeps bad feelings from developing that will get us all killed."
Kaneka/Macee
Macee nodded as he spoke, taking every word into her head. "So, I gotta work on bein' respec'ful. I kin do tha'." Ears drooped a bit, thinking back to earlier and what she said to Kan and she knew she had alot of work to do in the respect department.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"I feel the challenge, Macee - by the way, when its just scouts, call me 'Jon' - it took me a long time to keep my mouth shut. I was told 'Think twice, speak once' - although in my case it often was more 'Think three times, and then shut up anyways'" Jon grinned at her.
"Oh, ansd OG - General Ogrimskar - is the top of our chain of command - we do not ever tell him know... but if we need to, we can say 'Yessir, but I have a question...". That takes a lot of practice to do it well, though - we can get you used to that as an exercise another time"
Kaneka/Macee
Head nods rapidly, pieces of mud raining down to the ground. "Yessir...um...ok Jon."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Ok, now... we'll talk about military courtesy later, maybe I'll practice giving you some stupid orders and let you answer "Shove it up your bum" in the language of military courtesy. What do you say to some hide and seek - I'll hide, you tag me, you win? Oh, and what kind of training rewards would you like? Chocolate? Meat? Alcohol? Winning should always mean something, right?"
Kaneka/Macee
Macee nods. "Alrigh'. I coul' go fer some 'ide an' seek!" Shoulder shrugged. "I dunno wha' kinda reward. Guess I dun nee' one really."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"How about if you catch me before I reach the Blue Raven, I will teach you how to treat poisons? Its the traditional first step, after all..." Jon said, chuckling.
Kaneka/Macee
A wolfish grin (get it!) curled her lips around her teeth. "Oh aye, I'll catch ya!" Before he can move, she steps toward him, taking in a deep inhale of his scent.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Jon took a step back, and disappeared in a gout of thick,black smoke. His voice came from all around and yet nowhere. "An Arokkoa Shadow cantrip for entering the Shadows, and a small smoke grenade with powdered crystals of ground cat urine... very useful for throwing off scent!"
Kaneka/Macee
Macee yelps and snorts, the powered urine got into her nose!! Howling and dropping to all fours, she takes off in a full run toward the Raven. During her run, she snorts in a attempt to clear her nose. Tearing through the brush, she comes to stop, stands and...listens. Ears swivel on her head trying to pick up any sounds he may make...the sound of him breathing, the creak of his leathers, the snap of an errant twig.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Her diligent silence was rewarded when she heard a sound off to the left and slightly ahead. She knew that sound well, having used the gambit herself - he had thrown a stone to decoy her!
Kaneka/Macee
With that wolfish grin again on her lips again, she dropped to all fours and started toward the sound. Slowly...slowly. Then she vanished. She could hide in the shadows too! Using powerful legs, she launched herself into a tree as quietly as she could. Though she be Worgen, she had the grace of a cat! From her shadows, she watched. She wasn't going to fall for that trick. She waited to see, eyes trained on the grass.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Jon moved through the shadows with an exquisitely frustrating slowness. Having temporarily disabled her ability to track via scent - a trick from when his phobia about the slavering jaws and rending claws that had made him an orphan could make him easy prey for Worgen - he had thought to decoy her by the trite, hidebound trick of throwing a rock to make a distracting noise. Macee was a clever little wolf, and would seek for Jon anywhere but where he had apparently tried to decoy her - and so that direction was the one place she would not look for him.
Kaneka/Macee
Head cants to the side, ears swiveling toward the ground. Eyes squinted and she watched. There! The blades of grass flattened as if being stepped on. Silently, she slid out onto a branch, making sure to test its ability to hold her weight. She would pause here and watch for a following squish of grass, a clear indication of someone walking.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Jon kept his eyes moving in a wide arc, listening for any telltale sound that might give him an indication of where his stalker was currently located. He passed from trunk to trunk, being careful to not move to swiftly. he had debated finding a concealed spot and waiting for her to lead him to the tavern - and then sneaking inside when she looked inside - but while not forbidden, it certainly violated the spirit of the game, and while Jon had no scruple about cheating when on a mission, he tried to be scrupulously honest when not.
Kaneka/Macee
She decided to try the trick too. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a single copper coin. Giving it a toss to her right, she aims for a nearby bush just to her right. Then, she listens.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Jon heard the sound of the falling coin, and grinned. From the sound, Jon thought it to be one of those old Vykril coppers from Northrend - Jon had far too much experience in being able to distinguish between the sound of coins in the dark ((Yeah, I know, its a little ridiculous, but I keep seeing Daffy Duck dressed n Jon's clothes, saying "...yes, but I'm a GREEDY little coward!")). Also, it had fallen slowly, with a minimum of sound, as if it was dropped from a great height, and nearby - a coin thrown from a distance would have more velocity. Macee had seen through his ruse! Time for another smoke grenade! Jon armed and deployed it forward, moving through it, sprinting without subtlety, hoping that the surprise would be enough to give him a lead.
Kaneka/Macee
Holding her breath, she launched herself from the branch right into his smoke grenade. Ha! There he was! She ran parallel to him, still holding onto her shadows. She didn't let the chase continue for long. With a springing of her legs, her body shot toward his back. When in grabbing distance, she dropped both her shadows and Worgen form...cause something deep down told her that he would NOT like being tackled by her wolf. With the momentum of her leap, hands gained a grip on his back and they rolled with her tackle.
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
Jon felt himself be tagged and brought down, and he twisted, controlling their fall so that they hit the ground with Jon cushioning her fall, taking the brunt of the impacted, laughing as they rolled over once, twice... and then Macee, having regained her human aspect, sat atop Jon's chest, her human weight pinning him. "Miss Macee, this is so sudden!" Jon said in a high-pitched voice, flirting outrageously. "I usually make a lady buy me dinner first before a roll!" As she climbed off him, happy with her victory, Jon continued in his normal voice. "Changing form in mid-tackle was very interesting... either the sudden increase in mass, or the sudden decrease, really throws the prey off-balance. Very clever!"
Kaneka/Macee
Macee stands, throwing her fists into the air, she was more than happy! "Woo! Yeah!" She parades around in a small circle before bending and resting her hands on her thighs. Turning her head, she smiles at Jon as she attempted to catch her breath. "Tha's wha' I do when I'm out huntin'. Bucks dun know wha' to do. They 'ear tha' wolf, then are hit by a girl. Plus, I didna' wanna crush ya."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"I cannot help but appreciate that," Jon admitted. "So... you have a room, yes? And you've met Vallara. How are you doing in terms of weapons, armor and equipment?"
Kaneka/Macee
"I dunna thin' I've met Vallara, tho' iffin' she's tha' woman who runs tha' kitchen...she can'no be real 'appy with me righ' now. I been sleepin' on one'a them chairs in the dens main 'all. That Gol'gears fellas pret'y nice. As far as tha' other stuff...I'm fine. I been pickin' up armor 'ere and there." She stands, slapping hands against her leathers. "Jus' gotta wash 'em is all."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Met LacLear, have you? I confess, I have a weakness for playing with his toys... well, to the point - if you need leathers, I am quite skilled making cuir boli armor - almost as hard as metal, and about half the weight. We have some excellent blacksmiths as well, and so forth - you let me know what you need, and I'll requisition it for you," Jon said. "While it is important that you use whatever arms and armor with which you are most familiar and comfortable, it is also important that you have the best of quality available."
Kaneka/Macee
"Than' ya. I'll keep tha' in mind." Scratching her head she looks at him. "So, I guess I shoul' be gettin' ta tha' kitcn' fore I get a beatin'. Was tol' that the lady would beat me within'a inch'a me life iffin' I didn' clean tha' mud."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"She is not allowed to even beat Pharsalos, the kitchen wretch," Jon chuckled. "She barks pretty loudly, but she's been hard-used. I found her bartending with a slave collar on in the Grim Guzzler in Shadowforge City, so I traded her owner for her papers and freed her, and then took her back to Ironforge. She was coming here anyways, so I offered her the job of cook and bartender at the Blue Raven."
Kaneka/Macee
"Still...I dun wanna make anymore enemies today." Hands slip into the pockets of her pants. "I'll jus' clean up afta m'self then 'ead back to tha' den iffin' tha's alright."
Cdr. Chess/Vallara/+more
"Of course it is - you get to do whatever you want when you are off-duty," confirmed Jon. "But you are entitled to billet space at the Blue Raven, although to be honest I didn't use my own room there - I always feel nervous sleeping where people expect me to to be..."
Kaneka/Macee
Macee nods. "Alrigh'. I'm jus' gonna do this las' thin' then I'm gonna 'ead bac'ta then den."
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