13617/Amazon Training: Shield Wall

Amazon Training: Shield Wall
Date of Scene:	06 January 2023
Location:	Courtyard and Arena
Synopsis:	A test of endurance, a test of willpower, Diana almost seems to be enjoying this. The trainees who sign-up for it may or may not be tooo!
Cast of Characters:	Diana Prince, Monet St. Croix, Tabitha Smith, Divine, Cassie Sandsmark, Kora Ikassis, Marie-Ange Colbert, Donna Troy

---

Diana Prince has posed:
It's cold outside, it's supposed to snow later tonight. But the arena is filled with activity right now.

Fifty Amazon warrior women are assigned to New York City as of today, and all fifty of them are here right now, training.

And they're not alone.

Others have been invited, and welcomed, to join in the revelry, if you could call it that!

Warrior women in full armor are riding around the arena's sandy floor, on both horse hooves and kanga paws. The Arena is divided up in to groups, each group focused on a different task, a different skillset, a different martial prowess to hone, to learn, to discover together.

Those not from the island, not quite as experienced in Themysciran arts, or entirely new all together are clumped in their own group, and they're now being barked at by the Captain of the Amazons of New York City.

Captain Bria. A large muscular woman, with wild blonde ropes of hair, some of it braided around her shoulders, some of it fluttering out from beneath her helmet. She's armored to the nines, so to speak, with a long blunted javelin in her hand, tucked beneath her powerful left arm.

"Young Amazon trainees, and newcomers alike! Your on the same journey here today! To train amongst the women of Themysciran steel! You are at the start of a long road, and it is a road wrought with peril, hardship, and pain... more pain than most souls from outsider blood could ever hope to bear, but only through hardship can we earn glory!"

The Captain motions with her long pole toward the collection of huge metal shields. "Gather your blockers! You have but a few moments to become familiar with them! Stand there---"

The Captain motions toward a series of wooden columsn that are lined with metal rings, and what looks like frisbees crafted from clay?

Form up around the columns!" Bria shouts over the other training sections taking place around the arena on this cold day.

Off to the side, Diana sits atop her Battleroo, Jumpa, dressed in her Eagle Armor, with a dark blue cloak covering her. Her long dark hair gently whips in the cold wind, as she just watches...

Monet St. Croix has posed:
She's been training with the Amazons for months. Not to the full degree that many do, but she's become acclimated to their combat styles. Though she's not gone fully into melee. She uses her fists, not weapons. And she's earned none of the full markings of membership within them that others whom have dedicated htemselves to the lifestyle has. Monet St. Croix has no bracers. No armor. No markings. And she will likely never earn any such things.

Forming up columns with shields and in the style of a phalanx is something that she understands. Disks for range? She might have expected slingers or arrows. But still.. She goes to move towards the nearest shield. Picking it up. Evaluating the balance of it. Reviewing what information she recalls from training, research, and what limited experience she had. Hold at center of it. Weight forwards to get maximum coverage. Brace on legs. Lean forwards if situation permits.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Since being an X-Man is mean to be a secret but a lot of the people here know she's a hero type anyway. So to at least try pass for like an inmdependant, she geard up in that loud neon pink and yellow unifoorn with the explosion markings breakinfg the lines between colors at her chestb and knees.

Like any other X-Suit it's climate controled and keeping her nice and worm out in the training ground. And could probably be fine against small arms.

Captain Bria does not have small arms though and Tabby might occasionally be distracted. these new arrivals all getting smiles and the odd flirty wink while she sets herself up with spear and shield.

Lacking the same levels of strength most of the amazons have. There's an awkwardness. A spear is one thing if she could use both hands. Pushing brooms and combat training over the years kind of giving her a grounding in staff combat.

She'd never be a master of arms but she might be able to learn enough to not get herself or the people next to her killed.

At least she can heft the shield. Though she does have to flex though that uniform to do it and stay balanced. It's kind of awkward for her even.

Divine has posed:
How the hell did Divine find out about this?

EARLIER

The clone was on a walk, meandering through the streets of New York, when she passed by one of the many community boards. She perused as she always does (It's fun finding and returning lost pets), and tilted her head at one flyer.

"Huh."

NOW

The tall woman is dressed for comfort and ease of movement in her calf high combat boots, leggings and a hoodie. She doesn't seem uncomfortable in the chill. She hefts a shield, peering at it as she fits it to her left arm. She swings her arm a bit, getting used to the changed aerodymamics rather than the weight as she moves back towards the group.

Weirdly, she only gets a shield.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
People getting shouted at through brutal drill training is more fun when it's not you! (Anymore...)

Always eager for a chance to show off on Kangaback, Cassie is mounted up beside Diana on her own faithul Hoppa. And since everyone is in armor and gear to impress the noobs, she is outfited appropriately in similar (if less elaborate) armor, rather than in her casual sportswear. Well, some of the underlying layers are not Themysicran: lululemon tights under an Amazonian skirt? Sure, why not. It's cold. Don't question her style choices! Her hair is back in a loose ponytail, and she has weapons with her, although at this point still hanging strapped to her saddle rather than brandished for use, she's since playing at watching while Bria offers her harsh discipline.

"Hmmm. Whaddya think of this whole bunch?" she wonders, leaning forward a bit to peer over the 'roo's neck and beyond to the trainees.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
Cold sand sifts between Kora's as she digs into a sprint across the arena to grab a shield. Centered on her goal and the women running in broken ranks around her, she is dimly aware of the other groups in the arena. The chill is already disappearing as she runs, heart-racing, the frozen air raw in her throat.

Her knees lift high, blowing back the panels of her skirt, her bracers clinking against the medal bodice protecting her midriff. Among the first to arrive, she grabs the heavy shield, balancing it on her left arm and ducks her head to run against the tide of late comers.

She picks a column and chest heaving, she steps into the line forming not far from her sister Amazon, Cassie.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie-Ange Colbert is not a warrior. She's a seer. A support unit. Sometimes a musician. So why is she here?

Simple, really. It was in the cards. The future has suddenly begun to fill with bad omens. She had to prepare... and defense was far more her style than offense. She's dressed for a workout, gray sweatshirt and black running pants with sneakers. Far from armor, but good enough.

When the Captain starts barking orders? She's among the first to obey, scurrying skittishly to a waiting shield and reaching for it. There's a bit of a struggle to lift it and keep it steady, especially at first while she starts to get used to the balance... but she's pretty clearly trying.

The French girl is out of her element, but when the cards demand, she obeys. Plus, it helps that there's a couple familiar faces among the crowd.

Diana Prince has posed:
With the ragtag line forming up in front of those wooden colums, Diana exchanges a brief glance with Cassie beside her. She looks away toward the trainees again then, with Jumpa moving around some beneath the Princess, causing her to shift atop the leather saddle mounted on his back. "The one beside Tabitha is a Kryptonian." Diana casually tells her sister and lovely sidekick. "I am curious to watch." Di adds before Bria speaks up again, loudly.

ON a Horse, Captain Bria is bounding down the front of the new line of women. She's appraising them! "Shields higher!" The Captain shouts, her blunted javeling slapping hard against Monet's shield. "Above your nose, below your eyes!" Is that possible?

The Captain reaches the end of the line, and her horse is spun about, as she comes back toward them from the other side. "Firm up your stance!" She shouts, now slamming her javelin against Tabitha's shield!

The loud ring of metal reverberates out in to the arena filled with combat noises from the other groups off in their own corners of the sandy floored space.

"You have one goal in this training exercise!" Bria shouts then from her mount as she paces away on it now before turning back to face the trainees, her horse snuffing and thumping his hooves against the sand. "Protect the plates behind you upon the columns, and keep the attackers from taking the rings!"

Over the shoulders of the gathered women, those rings slightly sway from side to side from all the ruckuss, and the cold winter winds, and the plates just gently lean against their shelved places, looking a lot more vulnerable now that the goals of this exercise have been explained...

Behind Captain Bria, a line of Amazons are forming up on foot, each of them holding a bow and arrow in hand...

Bria raises her javelin. "Draw!" She shouts to the archers behind her.

"Protect your columns!" The Captain shouts to the shield-trainees.

The Captain's javelin comes down again, and she shouts once more.

"Fire!"

And the arrows are loosened from across the arena floor!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
This is simple. Brace hard and block. She moves to form to take up as much space over as she can with the others. the point of a defensive wall is to cover as much space as possible. Shoulder to shoulder. Let the others brace agaisnt it and support them. To make it interconnected, so that any attack on one part of the wall receives the support of those nearby, making it all the harder to bypass. First, brace. Evaluate position of those next to her in formation.

Get ready to receive. Move to adjust for arrows. the first wave will be to test the steadiness of the line. The next will be to suppress, go for weak points if any are noted. The followups whil lbe to pick off stragglers and to make the group vulnerable to being isolated and vulnerable for a charge. The line has to remain steady at all ends. So Monet goes to grit her teeth, digs in, and braces her ajnkle on the ground. That's the way that it goes.

And she holds her foot in, not using her strenth or her senses. She just goe sto hold her own position.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's some ways Boom-Boom could protect the targets that she has the shield raised for. The girl struggling a bit. Sure it was gonna be fun, that's what she told Marie when they got here. And to be fair, having Monet get kinda yelled coached at is worth having it done herself. Though she does skid back when Bria hits Tabby's own shield.

There's more flexing and holding that shield up to match everyone else but a few arrows plink and ding against metal. One even hits and bounces up and over and lands on her head with an "Ouch!".

Dead Tabby? Probably if they were pointy arrows.

That said she does have to put an effor it to keep up. And they only just started. "See, knew this would be fun. I mean yeah I could keep the thingies all safe without this stuff but that'd be sooooo boring!" she points out to her friends in the shield line.

Divine has posed:
When Diana asides to Cassie about the Kryptonian. Divine looks directly at Wonder Woman. With the direct look, her near doppelganger status of Power Girl is -blatant-. Still, she takes her place in line, hunkering down to try and match heights with the other women in the line as best as she can.

The clone holds the shield up, linking it with the women next to her and waiting. As the arrows loose, she doesn't flinch. An Amazon trying to hurt her would probably succeed, but this would likely just feel like being snapped with a rubber band. Still, she's here to protect the clay plates, so she just acts on her gut feeling.

An arrow slings over her shoulder, unblocked by a shield. Divine swivels her head and twists her torso, a brief blast of heat vision lancing out and reducing the arrow to embers. The shield doesn't leave the line. She might be a natural.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Hmm, really?" Cassie wonders, following Diana's glance over to their spearless visitor. "Another one? You know for a 'last survivor of a dead planet,' there sure are a lot of 'em." She shows off a cheeky grin.

The line is inspected, and the terms of the exercise made clear. The younger Amazon still looks pretty amused about it. "I remember doing this," she observes. "I appreciate you not putting me on the firing line, though." Somewhat famously, even though it's a core Amazon skill, Cassie is pretty bad at archery. Maybe bad is relative here, but still. A black mark on her Amazon-ing report cards. She makes up for it by having a bunch of bow hero types as friends.

The first volleys begin, and she observes the results. "Going easy to start, huh?"

But she also observes those back-and-forth looks. And the cheating, aka zappy eyeballs. "So uh, we gonna spice things up for her? I got some ideas." There's mischief in her, now. "I'm used to handling Conner."

Kora Ikassis has posed:
Likely, Kora is among the most experienced with this style of formation. Women born in an era where spears and shields were the norms in battle would already look left and right and shift to close the gaps between themselves. It's a group endeavor, requiring trust and coordination.

Taller than the shield, she angles her body to form a triangle, the nose piece of her helmet touching the rim of the shield, one leg bent, the other straight.

She takes a deep breath, and digs into her position, "Ready?" she asks the two women flanking her. "The first volley is always the worst, don't worry; keep your heads down and know where your shield mates stand."

Kora swallows and makes herself take a deep breath as the arrows arc toward the line. The thump of the blunted arrows is deafening. The young Amazon roars the ancient Greek war cry, "ALALA!" defying the onslaught.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Silently, Marie wishes she could draw a card... but for the seer, keeping the shield steady was a two-handed affair. Besides. Using actual shield is the point of the exercise, and she's reasonably sure that a) the Captain would yell at her if the Wheel of Fortune stood to block the arrows and b) the learning experience might translate to working with the pentacles a bit more.

There's a glance over to the familiar faces for reassurance: Tabby and Monet. They're here, so she can do it, too! Right? Well. You know that saying about a plan being great until someone gets hit in the face? Turns out confidence disappears when a hail of arrows (she doesn't realize they're not sharp!) is sent sailing in your direction.

There's an audible squeak from the redhead, and instinct drives her to hold the shield in the direction of the coming fire, Marie herself ducking her head against it and trying to put more of herself behind the shield, too.

The good news? She manages, if only through luck, not to let any plates break during the first volley. The bad news? Holding the shield high and towards the arrows left her lower body exposed, so an arrow smacks into her thigh and causes her to spin, nearly dropping the shield in the first place. "Ow! Ow-ow-ow." she complains -- but it's brief. Mainly because she fears what the yelling woman will do if that shield isn't right back where it needs to be in the line.

Diana Prince has posed:
Some plates do break, it's really unavoidable, especially with the skill of some of the Amazon archers lobbing arrows from across the arena...

Captain Bria is right there, riding past the trainee line after the arrows collide with shield, plate, or otherwise! The Captain's javelin rides right down the line of shields, hitting one after the other as Bria drags it along the line! Resounding metallic thumps trail in her wake as her horse's hooves kick up sand in all directions!

"There are always surprises." Diana says back to Cassie, after having offered Divine a warm smile from over the distance between them. The Princess regards Cassie then on her left. "If you have ideas, feel free to inact them. You know the basics of how this works."

Captain Bria swings her horse around on the other end of the shield line now, and she raises her spear again. This time, however, the columns behind the trainees begin to rise up out of the ground, and shift to the side, exposing them entirely to a new direction.

"Shift the LINE!" Bria shouts, her voice echoing through the arena!

"Shift, shift, shift!"

The Captain rides past the new direction and points toward the sky, toward the high apex of the arena structure. "Incoming attackers! Protect the columsn!"

From high above, Amazon women clutch ropes that they jump upon, one hand clutching the ropes as they start to swing, one after the other, their off-hands each holding spears of their own! The swinging women rush down, rush in toward the columns of the shield wall, and aim to spear some of the rings, to claim them and take them upon their javelins!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, this is interesting. Not the sort of maneuvering one might see on a standard battlefield. Whether or not this is a tactic that the Amazons might lean towards in actual conflict. . Well.. It definitely shows taking advantage over of the space and time. Monet goes to almost grin. And makes a point of not using her strength. She doesn't bother with throwing her shield. That's not fair after all. Or going to throw something up at the ropes themselves. Someone wouldn't ahve the accuracy to do that. She quickly goes down to a knee, bracing up with the shield and ready to receive the drop.. And she goes to pick up several blunt tripped arrows that had fallen down amongst the first several volleys of fire. She goes to as the Amazons start to rappel down them ready her shield up at a fourty five degree angle. There's no reason that the Amazons on the firing line would -cease- fire. All the more ready to take advantage while the defense line was shifting to receive the combat drop.
    Monet instead goes to hurl the arrows up into the airw ith the sort of reasonable strength someone that was a not quite Amazon would have. The arrows would be thrown with about the accuracy someone that had experience with throwing javelins or a discus at competitive sports would have. A half dozen or so are launched up into the air..
    To hopefully pelt at the Amazons dropping down to some degree. If any hit, it would at least slow the descent some or maybe inflict some degree of minimal damage. Or make them have to brace or go evasive on the ropes, throwing off tehir drop.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
So eyebeams. Tabby looks over at Divine and just rolls her eyes. "We can do that kinda stuff?" she asks and then while she's doing her best to help keep the kine up. Sure she's strong and fit but that srength gets wonky and she's otherwise just base human more often than not.

"so, wait, we can use powers?" she yells out curiously.

That might scare some of those watching that have seen Tabby fight.

For the moment thouugh she just swings her shield with the others to try and keep those ropes reaching over and doing damage to their targets. "Really, can we use powers?" she calls out.

There might also be a glow in her eyes. So bright and blue.

Divine has posed:
Divine is not a trained soldier. She's a brawler, not much for tactical thinking beyond her own next moves. That's partially why she's here. So, in what may be a surprise to people who know her template, she -listens-. She works in and with the group, shifting as gracefully as she can to protect the rings and the other women in the line. She even takes a thrusting javelin to the face. The clone grunts, her head tipping back, but the javelin kind of snaps from the impact.

Divine just grins.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie is authorized to help! Big grin. She pauses to reach down and mess with her gear straps a little, leaving her shield but loosening up a strap on the other side, unsecuring the several javelins there. Then she gives a little squeeze with her legs and Hoppa is off, well, hopping down the line. She rides behind the formation of Amazon archers, although maintains a good line of vision from her mounted vantage. It might look as if she's only here to watch more closely. "Hey, do what you gotta do," she yells back at Tabitha. "But you're here to learn a skill 'cause different ones are useful sometimes. You wanna not learn it, that's on you."

However, what she's riding there for is not just to get a better view up close. She waits for the exact moment, knowing the tactical routine being played out, the choreography of the training. The 2nd squad of Amazons swings in, with their javelins. The line responds. The archers won't loose in that moment, out of discipline to avoid friendly fire. Cassie pulls a weapon from the saddle...

... then with a HOP she (well, Hoppa) clears the archer line, across from Divine. "Hya!" First, she throws the weapon she's drawn. Though lobbed like the other javelins, she puts some extra super-strength OOMPH on it, adding not just a different angle of attack from the swinging attackers, but a bit of 'heat'on the pitch.

Still, no problem right? Maybe.

At the same moment, there's another motion that's harder (for most) to follow. It starts at the side of her face, with her free hand... and then becomes something of a blur.

Much more quickly, within the blink of an eye or less, the first hand makes a quick flick forward, and then she reaches up with the now javelin-less hand to repeat the gesture on the other side. There's two glimmering flashes of reflected metal, tiny projectiles of some kind, thrown on different trajectories (and at different plates!), across that intervening space.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
"LIFT! SHIFT!"

Kora yells as the columns turn behind them. She is not platoon chief, but she can assure the safety of the women on either side. In a well-drilled unit, there would be the vibration of feet moving in unison as they pivot into a new position. She lifts her head to look at the line that wobbles crookedly, then ducks back down.

"Spears ready!" Kora seats her tall shield in the sand and crouches behind its protection, her spear arm cocked and ready to 'tickle' the Amazons winging down on their position. The spear is capped and blunted like the arrows, but it could easily leave a few bruises if she meets her mark.

A woman down the line yells a question about superpowers below her helmet's face piece Kora's mouth quirks in a smile.

"Incoming!" the young amazon grunts as she exposes herself enough to tangle her spear in a woman swinging down on her. Just as Cassie hops the archer's line, Kora's shielded spear tip thumps the woman's shin guard, but she is already past, angling toward the clay discs.

Donna Troy has posed:
    For once Donna isn't on the arena floor in the middle of the action; today she seems content to leave that up to elder and younger sisters on kangaback, while she lazes in the front row of the arena stands to watch. She even has popcorn.

    Holding a shield line is to be honest quite a basic skill at root. With no more than a few weeks of practice, even relative beginners can have the tactics drilled into them well enough to make a real difference in the mass of battle. Of course the Themyscirans, with thousands of years to develop these things, do it a little differently, but that's unlikely to make it into this particular practice run. There are variations and flourishes involving careful close cooperation -- methods involving switching shields, adopting more complicated interlocking formats, and methods of turning defense into attack with carefully coordinated divisions in the wall to launch missiles through, or ways to allow individual warriors to mount the shield wall itself to fight at closer quarters or break up an attacking charge. In her younger days Donna went through all of this at great length, and today is content to watch, and perhaps heckle a little.

    So far there's little heckling though, mostly just watching. She gives Kora a grin of approval as the young Amazon takes charge of her section of the line, and sits back to chomp popcorn with a satisfied smile as she watches Cassie throw a few extra twists into the equation to make life a little harder for Divine.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
"I do not think that it the inten--" Marie starts to offer in response towards Tabby's yell -- if only because yes, she has seen the blonde fight before, and explosions on top of arrows and flying amazons? It strikes Marie as an entirely different level of overwhelming.

However, she doesn't get to finish the sentence, as Kora barks out the commands and the column of defenders are in motion once again. To her credit, Marie does a decent job of making the actual shift for a beginner. A little on the late and wobbly side, but she manages. Where she doesn't manage, though? It's in realizing that the attack wasn't coming for the waiting shield like the arrows before... but beyond, causing a casualty of at least one ring behind the redhead who... feels a little bewildered at the lack of impact that she was waiting for until she realizes what happens.

"I have failed." she states somberly. Some failure is to be expected, though. She /is/ an utter newbie to this, and facing off against the pros!.

Diana Prince has posed:
"Mutants!" Captain Bria shouts. "Metas!" She adds, followed with a look to Divine. "And Sun Gods."

The women on the swinging lines all sweep by, some claiming no rings, some claiming only one, while one Amazon woman claimed four of the damn things somehow! All of them swing by, release their lines and tumble in some varying displays of acrobatic prowess! They re-enter the packs of other Amazons training, as this whole setup here today is a planned affair, like an obstacle course for each unit, all with different subsequent tasks assigned to them...

"Your powers are a crutch!" Bria shouts from her mount. "You rely on them, when you should rely on your bodies!" She yells, her horse riding down the line again, her javelin going down to smack Tabitha on the top of her head! Not enough to knock her out, just enough to smart... "Use them if you must, but know that it is a sign of your weakness!" The captain states as her horse comes around again at the far end of the line once more.

"SHIFT!" Captain Bria suddenly shouts again, as the columns once more turn now in another change of positions, but this time, as the line of trainee Amazons shift, they find a sudden counter-wall to that of their own... a wall of water.

Just as the shifting shield-bearers will get in to a new position to defend the columns, a wall of rushing water bursts from the arena edge, like a tsunami it will roll over the women, splashing down upon them, breaking against their shields, breaking upon their bodies, and pooling around the column causing rings, and plates alike, to sway and jostle some more.

Then from behind the direction that the water wall came from, a line of horse mounted, spear-wielding, Amazon women come galloping toward the shield line, lowering their spears to aim at both rings and plates!

"RAISE YOUR SHIELDS!" Bria shouts over the madness. "Stiffen your arms, lock your wrists! Steel your elbows! Defend your posts! Work together! You are a combined organism!"

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Well, this is interesting. Monet grins to herself. She does enjoy a challenge such as this. Even when the challenge is for others. As far as she cares, she's playing by the rules. "Brace youreslves! One front in front of you, other behind. Kneel! Shoulder forwards. Elbow to shield! Other arm on one next to you. Let you pull their weight. Match their stability. When impact comes, roll with it and help brace them. Adjust for height differential and mass!" Going to call out orders to the rest, as if they would obey them or not.
    Those bigger take on more of a brunt if possible and give extra leverage to thsoe nearby!. Solid grip is important. If youc an find something on the ground to use for extra leverage, take so! Brace hard. Ensure solid footwork and that you can't be dislodged from the pressure!" She's taken the time to familiarize with things.
    "Ensure shield contact with ones nearest to you if possible so youc an support one another!" She's paying attention to the physics and trying to keep things simple for the sake of teh team coordinating with one another. Well..
    Simple by M standards.

Divine has posed:
The clone is not a tactician, but she -is- full of cunning and innate knowledge of how to use her powers. She doesn't really look apologetic for breaking the javelin with her face, but then again, that is, in fact, metal as hell. Cassie's jaunt behind the line is noted as strange. No one else but the Captain has been down on the floor beyond the Amazons actually doing the exercise, and this looks to be a special trip. A wrench is about to be thrown. The half-Kryptonian smiles. Good. A challenge.

Time seems to slow for Divine as she focuses on Cassie, almost tunnel-visioning on Wonder Girl. The others will have to handle things for a moment with the line, because these weapons are meant for her. To those who can't move as fast as she can, the dark haired woman seems to flicker as she surges forward out of the line. To them, all of the grace is missing, it's like watching animation with frames removed. She is in one place, and then another with nothing in between. The Amazons, and probably Monet, can follow her movements better.

The clone sidesteps the incoming javelin, reaching her free hand out to catch it. With a grunt of effort, she spins, thrusting the shield out. Metal screams as one of Cassie's earrings lodges into it, punching through the metal and, indeed, into the flesh of the clone's arm. The sudden shock of pain makes her misstep, her swing of the javelin to bat at the other earring going wide, the (magic?) metal hissing through the air to powder one of the clay plates.

"...I felt that. ... Huh."

Sadly, she doesn't have the time to do more than give Cassie a look before she rushes back to her spot in the line, bracing against the water. She hefts the javelin in her hand and considers. Logic dictates that the best way to stop a horse charge is to stop the horse, but she has no desire to hurt an innocent animal. She really has no desire to hurt anyone. She, instead, steps to the fore, making her way to be the front and center edge of the shield wall. She's pretty sure she's the toughest here, and she can take being run over by a horse. She plants her feet, hefts her shield and braces her boots in the sand.

"Let 'em hit me! I can take it!"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
There's a groan as Cassie does her best to guilt trip Tabby into staying the course. To Cassie's suprise, it mostly works though with the line of metal shields all pressed and in contact together there is a slight fudge.

BOOM!

They're not big and anyone holding a shield might feel a slight electrical tingle as a line of small firecracker like explosions emerge from the metal. Maybe kinda little vengeance for Marie. Maybe a bit of a demonstration of what she can do when backed up by a team. In this case a whole group of standing artillery.

Of course that is when she earns a whap on the nugget from Bria. "Ow, ow, ow!" good thing it was her head or it might have done soem damage.

Tarot's worries get a smile. "Ehh we failed on that like half a minute ago. It's a team fail, not a single fail. Like we all suck, but only in a way that's humorous for the audience and like not fun after too many amnphoras of their wine!" she reassures the redhead with a smile.

If anyone knows how to fail something it's the bombastic blonde.

The rushing water, that's a new one. Tabby's feet brace her as best she can. She's fit and is pretty strong for someone mostly human. But like with her bigger explosions, she's still one hundred and twenty pounds and physics is not her friend.

Then there's the charging horses.

Tabby hasn't been trampled in a long while. That was not a fun concert. Should have gone to see Def Leppard. Old people are harmless in a mosh pit.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
There's not a whole lot of time to appreciate the moment, given that it all plays out in its own little micro-unit of time, before the rest of the normal-speed chaos roars back in as Diana signals the next challenge. Still, Cassie calls over at Divine, sportingly: "I'm gonna want that back, by the way!" Io gets really mad when she keeps needing new ones made!

But she's here to do more than harass a single Kryptonian. They're here to teach, and while Bria has the hard-sell version, Cassie has her own pragmatic take: "Just think about it. You never know when some science-y weirdo with a depower machine is gonna zap you, or you get hit with some other obscure weakness and then what?" She even adds that special sauce of personal failure: "Happened to me once! I ended up locked in the trunk of my car and my sister..." she glances fleetingly toward her mentor, with an equally brief touch of lingering guilt, "Ended up suffering for it. So don't take anything for granted!"

"Also! Maybe your enemy has a sword! A magic, evil, soul-draining sword of utter chaos and darkness!" A little more off the beaten path... "You know? So maybe you don't wanna face-tank that thing. An Amazon does not limit her options! She makes everything her arsenal!"

There's no extra loops thrown in, this time, either. Let them all work in a chorus, show what they've picked up so far.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
Kora had forgotten the cold in the excitement of the arrow volleys until the first wave of water licks her feet, working into her sandals and shin guards. "Ugh," she grunts. She comes from a warmer clime and still finds the cold hard.

The arena vibrates to the thunder of charging horses. Kora is aware of Cassie aiming toward someone in their line but keeps her eyes forward to face the onslaught.

"DO IT! LOCK SHIELDS! AND HOLD!

Shield seated and overlapped by the shield next to her against the wave of water that washes through their ranks. Kora squares her shoulders and locks her back leg, steeling herself for the barrage sweeping down on them. Then, with her spear cocked and ready, she braces.

"WE WON'T LET THEM THROUGH! ALALA!ALALA!" she screams.

Donna Troy has posed:
    It's heckle time from Donna as she yells out an addendum to Cassie's comments. "Combat training is about efficiency. It doesn't matter how strong you are, the more efficient you are the better. Even if you are not depowered, relying on your powers to make up for a lack of training guarantees you don't improve!"

    Donna has never ended up depowered and locked in the trunk of a car, but improving skills through training is her obsession. She had Supergirl spend weeks in the Titans Tower training room, practicing how to punch things exactly as hard as the need and not a fraction harder. In recent weeks she has been giving similar help to Supergirl's mother Alura in learning to use the new powers her arrival on Earth has given her in an efficient way. This new Kryptonian needs to learn similar lessons!

    Heckling done, Donna puts her feet up and munches more popcorn, enjoying the show. Kora's continuing to impress her, and Donna makes a mental note to give Kora some encouragement and perhaps a little personal training in the near future. Monet is showing real signs of improvement -- the woman seems to have embraced the Themysciran ways lately, and this is definitely something Donna approves of. Marie is newer to all this, but she's trying and that's the important thing. Failures are indeed to be expected, and they are how you learn. Meanwhile Tabby, who will probably never learn the discipline of an Amazon warrior, continues to demonstrate an ingenuity and flexibility which is always fun to watch.

    All in all, it's a good show!

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie listens to the words shouted by Captain Bria. Contemplates them. To Marie, her powers aren't a crutch -- they're her very worth as a person. It's a core belief that she hasn't been able to be shaken out of yet. However, she knows she needs to grow. To gain skills. To defend against the coming tide -- in more ways than one, she needs to supplement her abilities, to not be a liability on the field of battle -- or at least to be less of one, given that she's called to it more often than she would like. Both Cassie and Donna's words are ringing considerably true to her, here.

More orders come. First from Bria, and then from Monet. Marie may not be a soldier, but she damn sure is a follower, and follow orders she can do. Plus, the... camaraderie of this whole ordeal? It's a little intoxicating. Much like being at the Institute itself, sharing commonalities with a group of others? It's new to Marie.

She likes it.

"Oui!" she declares, first towards Monet's commands, then again towards Tabby who, in particular, earns a smile from the redhead at the kind words. It's a reminder of why she's so happy that she didn't end up having to go back to France after graduation.

Then, the rush of water comes. It's a cold surprise that will feel colder outside if she doesn't dry off first, but with equally surprising grace she moves with the water to drop into position. Braced on one knee. Shield making contact witht he ones next to her. Head down -- but not all the way this time so that she can still see what's coming and push her shield upwards to try and deflect it. At a willowy 5'7", there isn't a ton of muscle mass on Marie to properly keep from being utterly bowled over, but she's doing her best and actually being linked with the women on her left and right definitely helps stablize her, literal weak link aside.

Diana Prince has posed:
The water starts to seep in, it starts to become more evident just how cold it is outside with the frigid icy wave settling in over the shield-bearers! Of course, their blood is pumping, and their adrenaline levels are spiking... they have at least that much still to keep them warm!

When the horse line reaches the shield line, the spears come down to sweep over the heads of the shield maidens, only to have some get deflected away, while others impact with the columns in a misdirected manner that keeps them from spearing rings OR skewering the clay plates!

Sadly, for the shield line, some of both are taken, or smashed though, leaving the columsn looking a bit thin on the objectives to 'keep safe'.

Divine steps out of the line and this does cause a 'problem' though, as the horses were breaking around the shield bearers on either side, with divine stepping out, she gets clipped by one of the armored horses, and it runs her right over! The mounted Amazon on that horse peels away from her unit out of displayed concern. Diana, from her vantage point, even winces ever so slightly at the look of it.

But this is Divine, this is a Kryptonian-born.. so it looks worse than it will turn out to be.

"SHIFT!" Captain Bria shouts again, as the column once more turns, this time it turns back to its original position, its remaining rings and plates swaying, jostling once more, before they're once more aimed at the line of archeres across the arena...

"DRAW!" Captain Bria shouts as she rides in on her horse, and the sound of stretching bowstrings, bending bow limbs, sounds out from across the way-- mixed in with all the other combat sounds spreading across the cacophony of noises on the arena floor.

Captain Bria does not push for the line to change positions as hard this time, she leaves it to them to get in their place before the archers will finish off the last of the plates, or sever the dangling rings...

But, this time, it should be noted that the arrows are tipped with bags now... and as the Captain raises her mighty arm up, she shouts "LOOSE!" And the baggy-tipped arrows are sent whistling through the air, their fletching causing sounds of buzzing feathers as they soar toward the columns!

When the arrows impact, against shield or the objectives, the bags at their tips burst open, sending an array of multi-colored powders exploding over everyone! From brilliant neon green, to the brightest oranges, and yellows, to royal blue and crimson red! Each shield-bearer who resumes the line, will get impacted with the wildly colorful bursts of powder, and their wet shields, and wet bodies will become coated in the powdered paint!

Monet St. Croix has posed:
And Monet is feeling the others slip, even as she responds to Marie-Ange's cry over with one of affirmation. Now, it's simply a point of holding over and bracing as they could from the charge, from the next level hitting it.. The line is mostly warped over aside from individuals holding firm. Kora, Divine.. M would like to consider herself one but she's been a little too aggressive, which has her pulling out a bit further ahead from the others braced agaisnt her.

This has her going separate from the formation, bending as it is, and has her exposed. Which leads to her being unbraced, and leaves her shield held at a bad angle.. Which has some of the arrows going to explode -over- her right when the shield is mis-positioned. Which has theme rupting over her, covering her over with sparkly goo and gunk! There's -almost- a scream from her that's suppressed thanks to the training she's already received.

But her outfit.. Someone will be murdered later. Well, of course M will go home and change first. THEN go out and murder someone. Actually, scratch that. M will schedule a spa week first. By which point she'll have forgotten the rage. Then get mad at something else. But still.. How to retaliate agaisnt said Amazons without the whole level of 'using powers' here?

M's shield is out of position,a nd no longer immedaitely useful. Some of the others are using thier abilities for cover, for fighting, for holding.. But, M is trying to stay within the spirit of the competition and training. So, as she goes to see as Captain bria goes to order the Amazon line once more.. Then she goes to fling the shield at the archers. It's metal, heavy.. And flipped over at an angle so M doesn't have to use her strength. The shield is flipped through thea ir and rolls but with enough strength it doesn't wobble. The Amazon warriors can no doubt with but a half second's warning get out of positiona nd maintain volley position without issue or maneuver for the next order from the captain.

And then M flings the -second- and -third- shields. Or plates. Bits which had fallen off and she moves to quickly yoink them up and hurl them a half second after one another. Neither is hurled as hard as the first.. But, hopefully at least some of the amazons are slightly out of position. And now M is left without a shield.. Moving to grab whatever bulky looking thing she can use in front of her to block.

That if, of course, within a reasonable weight limit. But she's completely out of the linea nd not bracing anyone.

And totally pastel and gunky.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Hey, Mutants here Cassie. We do train for that all the time. Most of the de-powering tech in the wild is made for us!" she yells back. Tabby does have other skills beside how to creatively blow things up with plasma.

"But the smart thing to do with a charging horse and pointy lances when you aren't super durable..." she further yells.

"Get out of the damn way!" she adds sagely. Loudly, but sagely none the less.

She can probably handle being trampled but can Marie? Can Monet?

The bumps are pretty rough and there is a lot of struggling to not get hoof prints in her shapely behind.

With the next wave though, it's clearly meant to represent splash damage.

The multicolored mess even manages to catch Tabitha's shield. And her clothes, and her hair. It'd kinda hard to tell and with her glasses on her nose it makes her growl. Visibility just became a problem. "This stuff better be waterbased!" she yells.

Divine has posed:
Divine is cunning and strong, but also kind of a meathead. Hence her decision to get out in front of the charging horses. She expected them to pull up or break off before they crashed into her, but they do not. Thus, she has a decision to make. Stand her ground and hurt the horses, or take a dive?

She, of course, takes the dive.

Even as mostly invulnerable as she is, getting stomped on by horses does not feel good. She manages to extract herself, her hoodie shredded and her leggings with holes that only threaten to get larger. She puts herself back in the line as the shift happens.

The bags throw her off. She tilts her head curiously, peering as the arrows fly. Even her vaunted reflexes can't save her from getting painted from about the knees down and the nose up. Her black hair is now a dim rainbow, and the flashes of bare skin are painted, shining brighter than the cloth that's left.

"Tastes terrible. Blech."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
At this point Cassie ranges at the edge of the battle proper, having first ridden Hoppa out to about the edge of the original Amazon formation before coming about. She is, despite whatever prior mischief, very much using both the mobility and height advantage of her mount to keep an eye on things, watching for any gaps and flaws and shouting out advice or encouragement where it is needed. In the latter case, she separates herself a bit from Bria. Because, ultimately, she's still many centuries closer to the experience of the trainees than she is of the taskmasters! "Get those shields back up! C'mon! Don't get lost in the chaos! Mark your place by those beside you, each anchors the next!"

Of course, when the trainees talk back... she gives Hoppa another squeeze into motion, looping around behind the passing Amazon cavalry wave as the archers again take aim.

Whether the group can implement all any instruction and advice before the incoming barrage of color? That is on them alone. The result is a pretty spectacle, though! Colorful and chaotic.

And maybe a distracting one. Because, as the explosions clear, she comes strafing in behind them, and then right past Tabitha. Yep, she's sure made herself a popular target for the Amazons today! Cassie doesn't have a spear this time, instead she's pulled out her lasso. It's not 'on,' but that hardly makes it any less a danger when she deploys it from on Kanga-back, quite intent to drag the woman away.

"You call whatever you get training? Pft! Train harder!" Is that an X-Men diss?! Yep! And she doesn't hesitate to make it. Amazons have bravado to go with their skills. Or maybe it's Cassie in particular...

Kora Ikassis has posed:
The captain's orders can barely be heard in the commotion that follows. A woman, third to Kora's right, goes down in the water, the line breaking as her shield mates scramble to get her back and close the gap. If wounded in a real battle, she'd be pulled behind the line and left for the field medic's care. Kora can feel her toes numb and a shiver clenching her stomach muscles.

Fighting the cold, she yells, "REFORM! SHIFT!

The line reforms, more or less. An arrow thuds into her shield, and suddenly, something chalky fills her mouth. A line of red powder mixed with blue splatters the shield rim, and her arm glimmers a brilliant purple. Now, the seniors are getting sadistic. Kora spits, laughing at the 'torture' tactics. She knows that her sisters will push the less skilled to their limit when preparing for war.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Honestly this is getting kind of unfair. Arrows and horse and waves and now glittery paint? These poor people are not prepared for it! Donna flashes Diana a broad smirk and chomps on some more popcorn, glad she's not down there in the mess!

    This though is a critical moment, and Donna betrays her casual front by leaning forwards to watch closely. Cassie is dialing up the rhetoric, and matching Bria's stern provocations. Kora is fighting to reform the broken line.

    And broken it is. Diana's planning has thrown too much in one go for the inexperienced fighters to cope with. It's intriguing to see how they will react. More conventionally you might concentrate on the basics before putting a shield wall into this kind of situation, but there is a logic to it -- it shows best how people react. Teaching them the correct responses can come later, but knowing instincts of the learners is very helpful in that teaching.

    This is the point where Donna, if she was in charge, would call a temporary halt and explain exactly that to the beginners. If there is one failing in Amazon training, it's that they aren't really used to working with beginners yet, and are perhaps a little prone to forgetting that sometimes people need a bit more encouragement, particularly when they're soaking wet, covered in paint, and seeing their shield line collapse. How will Monet react to her clothes being ruined? Will Tabby, always a little prone to wilder reactions, respond in a way that surprises the people she's meant to be working with? Will Divine try to go it alone? Will Marie find the whole thing a bit too dispiriting?

    "Follow Kora's lead!" she yells out to the defenders. "Work together, brace for each other! You can do this!"

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
Marie, likewise, has been doing her best to stick to the rule of the training -- but then Monet goes and does something that worries her. She *throws* her defense, which means the other woman is going to be 'defenseless'.

"Monet!" she calls out to get the other mutant's attention, and once she has it? She doesn't so much throw the other woman her shield as she tries to roll it like a bowling ball in her direction. She's not going to leave a friend defenseless, even if it means the same for her.

Then, her hand dives into her pocket, feeling the deck of cards that hides there. A near-silent prayer is whispered as she hurriedly feels the edge of the cards... and finding the one she was looking for? She acts. The first bag-tipped arrow aimed in her direction strikes her shoulder and splashes some of that bright green across her sweater and hair, but before the second does, seven discs of energy marked with pentacles shimmer into existence in front of her, forming a makeshift replacement for the shield she gave Monet. Lacking handles, the pentacles don't, well, handle the same as her previous option, but she wields them a little more skillfully given her practice with her abilities... and is still trying to play by the 'rules' of the game. Thus, her discs work in unison as one mass rather than several, linked edge to edge like each individual shield, even though a quick detachment could've saved one of the plates behind her. Paint-powder still splashes against them, and against her through the small gaps between them, but the makeshift shield is holding -- and a little better than the previous one. Cassie, though, gets a look from Marie at the diss, despite (or perhaps because) it being directed at Tabitha.

Marie-Ange will remember that.

Diana Prince has posed:
When the paint poweder settles, there's a quiet squeaking noise as the last ring swings back and forth, then detaches from its hook on the side of the column, and it falls down to smash in to the last whole clay plate...

Captain Bria rides around Jumpa, and Diana, to park herself on Diana's left side where Cassie had started. The Captain looks over to the Princess as the shield-bearers are given a moment to recover...

"They did four rounds." Bria tells Diana. "That is not terrible, for their condition. Their tiny ankles worry me though..."

Diana just smiles at what the Captain says, her eyes upon the women in the shield-line.

"Kora has the showings of a leader." Bria adds then. "The Kryptonian is brave, but needs refinement. The loud blonde one... she is trouble, but she knows it too. The French ones, I see potential in, especially if they keep coming back for more of this."

Diana glances toward Donna in the stands, perhaps getting a sense of her sister urging her mentally to give them a break. She glances then to Cassie who has her lasso out...

... and then Diana looks to the Captain. "Reset the columns. Send them around again."

It seems she and Donna have differing opinions on this!

"Yes, Your Highness." Bria says as she moves forward upon her horse, and starts barking out orders to reset the columns, to prepare the line. She is back to shouting at the shield-bearers to raise their arms, raise their shields, and reform upon one another!

Tabitha Smith has posed:
To say Tabitha has it easy is probably not the smart thing. Calling her training easy probably touched a very, very raw nerve.

That's enough to let Boom-Boom maybe let her other power slip out. Just as Cassie lasso's her and tries to drag her off. There's a physical attempt at pulling back but this is a  demigoddesswildly stronger than Tabitha.

The power she hits back with; Telepathy.

It's brief but it's a flash of memories. Genosha and the genocide and her time there as Sentinela burned the island and the people on it in front of her. She cdouldn't so much as dent one of the robots back then. As good as powerless.

Then the Danger Room. More sentinels, they just keep coming. One down, two more. Attrition. Not like she can just punch one out without powers. How long can she last and keep the booms going.

Should anyone actually pick up on it, they'll also feel a whole mess of fear and anger before she catches herself.

This is when she lets her plasma engulf her whole body in a flash, drying her off, burning away the coloring in a puff of multicolored steam and smoke.

"Sorry, new powers." she actually apologizes.

It might even briefly warm the area around her before she gets hold of herself and prevents a real explosion.

When they seem to calll things off or at least reset. Tabby takes the breather and grumbles.

At least she's trying to work in a team even when she can't keep up. That she's been getting a lot better at.

Benefits of some fantastic teachers. Saw Blades and all.

Marie-Ange Colbert has posed:
The cards foretell, Marie interprets, relays their messages, obeys their commands. It's how things work. It's (the main reason) why she's here. It's why she'll be back as long as they'll have her.

There's a bit of relief when it seems to be over, a little stretching to ease stiffened muscles as the pentacle discs dissipate back into the air with the release of the seven, a gasp of surprise at Tabby's quick-change maneuver ... but then the command to get ready again comes, and she's scrambling to collect one of the fallen shields to replace her original one. Marie may not be the strongest, or the most durable... but none will say that she didn't doesn't give it her all, and with enough time and effort? That'll help with the other two.

Kora Ikassis has posed:
Next to her, the woman's stomach growls. Kora is aware of how cold and hungry she is but settles in for the next charge. If she is feeling the cold, she wonders how the newest are bearing up.

Raising her voice, "Stand firm. We can do this." Encouragement for herself and the other women.

They form a line, ragged at first, but firming up as much as possible in the shifting wet sand. "Duck behind your shield if you see a lasso coming in," she advices the woman to her left. She shifts her hip, displaying her own. "It's like nothing you've ever felt if they are active."

"Here they come!"

Divine has posed:
Diana's assessment of Divine is correct. Unrefined. That's what she is. She's so -new- to this. She hasn't had enough time, or enough experience, to refine her strengths into actual -power-.

The call to go again is made, and she steps back into the line, hefting the shield. She glances back up at Wonder Woman and decides she's going to need a chat with her soon. Maybe she can help. Maybe it's time to take another step.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
There's a grumble over from Monet as she goes to take the shield flipped over to her by Marie-Ange and lets out a sigh. She might speak in a tone that Eyeore might match anotehr time. "Bother." She takes the time to wipe the goo out of her eyes, and then goes to look at the other girls. Even as she turns her attention to Tabitha wiht a 'you all right' expression on ehr face as M goes to look somewhat concerned. But the girl seems to be recovering sos he doesn't bring up more. And Marie.. Well, Marie shall know all and tell all.

Divine is given a flat look, "And you.. Will be explaining to -someone-.." Well, likely to Diana. Well..

She goes to let ou ta sigh and goes to take the shield back over into position. THe Amazons have made thier point. This round she'll be intent on making her own back.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
The rope gets hold, and frankly, whether it's Cassie's strength we're talking about or even just Hoppa's, Tabitha doesn't have much chance. The intention here is definitely a bit of a more visible dressing-down (or dragging about) in the spirit of harsh drill instruction. Goddesses knows, Cassie's had her face pushed down in the sand on the beaches of Themyscira with an Amazon's sandal on her head a time or two...

However telepathy is one of those things that is wildly common among one group but hardly so much others, so indeed, Cassie doesn't have a lot of experience with it! Her would-be riding (and dragging) off stops suddenly, and she looks around in a bit of confusion first, not quite understanding where the images are coming from. Brutal warfare isn't new to her, in and of itself - she's been a battlefield soldier at a pretty young age - but the sort of trauma that goes with it for Tabitha is definitely something else. 'Cause for all that Greek drama in the background...

...Cassie's had a pretty nice life? (Minus the abovementioned time when her doppleganger almost killed Diana...)

Recoiling a bit, from the shock of the moment more than the visible flash of those powers (which leave the lasso shimmering and pristine!), she quickly gives a kind of weird yank-flick with her wrist, that rather than pulling harder on the loop, uses either Amazon rope mastery or just plain magic to encourage it to loosen itself, the knot sliding free and the loop eventually slacking enough to drop to the ground around Tabitha's feet.

Cassie reaches up to rub the back of herr neck, sitting there awkwardly on her goofy kangaroo. "Uh. Sorry. New to this side of the 'shouting at the recruits' schtick." She looks off, and finally back. "Annnnyway. There's different kinds of training, is all we're trying to get at. You come here, it's to learn what you don't know. You gotta accept that part, then you get to show off what you can -do-. And I was just trying to rile you. None of you would be here if you didn't have some potential."

The moment lingers, maybe a little too awkward, and so she just steers Hoppa around and starts back toward Diana and company. "My bad!" Heading back to the group. "You keeping them going another?" Her look is softened, now. "Maybe they could use a break."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna raises an eyebrow wryly at Diana, and smirks a little. Really that Diana has a different idea is no surprise to her. Donna, like Cassie, is all too familiar with Diana's teaching methods! Donna, like Cassie, is also well aware of just how much those teaching methods have benefitted her. On the other hand, not everyone's an Amazon.

    "Cassie's right!" Donna calls out. "Give them a break. They'll need time to process what they've learned already, anything more and they'll have trouble remembering it all!" It's a revolution, Di! Your younger sisters are conspiring against you!

    For a few moments, Donna considers a direct intervention. There is, after all, a reason for a shield wall, and it's not to just stand there forever. Perhaps it would be a salutary lesson to the defenders to see the flip side of it, that by holding the attackers, you expose them to a flanking assault! A sudden flying sweep across the attacking line as it engages the shield wall, Amazons toppled from their horses!

    Nah. Diana would grumble at her for interfering and use it as an excuse to send Donna for ice cream. Donna puts her feet up to watch the final bout, enjoying her popcorn.