"By the time I finish dragging myself to the academy I will already look like a carcass fit for dogs, skin scraped off and all!"

Claire ran her long fingers through her hair, dark eyes remaining hooded behind her glasses. It was clear that rising up early wasn't the usual for not-so-little Claire, especially during six in the morning. At this time she would normally be drooling into her pillow and rolling around under her blankets like she usually did. However, this wasn't Claire's usual anymore. If she was to survive in this school then she would need to adapt to a much more different usual.

The girl had just managed to make it past the school gates when she saw a rather large circle of people through her drooping eyelids. Claire couldn't stand the racket the other pupils were making at this time of day but the continuously enlarging crowd began to draw her attention.

"Well, I did not expect to see the entire world population in one place at this time of day."

Claire crept towards the ring of measly human beings, poking her head up to see what the fuss was. She was on her tippy toes now, trying to get a better view from so far away.

Oh.

A fight.

"Ooh, I am definitely keeping my eyes open to see this!"

But in the blink of an eye it was all over. The second her eyes opened again she saw the scrawny little girl on the ground, her ankles beginning to draw blood. Claire was too far away to see how bad the injury was, but seeing that the little student was literally bleeding on the floor, it seemed pretty bad.

Like, really bad.

Soon, the crowd had disbanded, dispersing into their own little friend groups and all that lovely stuff. Not so lovely for Claire, though. A new school, a new year, and a new freaking country. Would she make friends? A chance, yes. Would she make enemies?

A chance, yes.

---

At least Claire was alive enough to find her way through the school to her designated classroom. With her brain in a complete and utter wreck she thought it would be more of a challenge to find where she was going.

"Small Unit Tactics class… huh. The only thing I am looking forward to is to see whether this is the classroom I am supposed to be in or not."

Poking her head around the door, Claire smiled, trying to at least make some sort of good impression on her new classmates.

Some sort of good impression.

"So… this is, uh, Small Unit Tactics class? I actually do not know where I am supposed to be right now, these early hours are really taking a great toll on me."

@Minato Namikaze

Takumi smiled fleetingly.
— Hi there, untrustworthy guy! Fancy meeting you here. Do you have the same class as her, now? — He nodded to Nishka.

He flicked the hilt of Vox Vulgaris out of sight of the guy.



Winston feels an urge to answer to the greeting.

@Altasaire
"What a nuisance, he's obviously doesn't appreciate the flow of thought."

"Yes it would seem we're in the same class, although I hope her and I aren't seated together. Being next to someone like her would slow down my efficiency by atleast forty percent."

He glanced over at Nishka,

"No offence of course, I just don't want you slowing me down is all." Winston's fake smile and derogatory comment were made with the intention of sparking a reaction from the girl. As he finished his remark he reached into his bag under the table and pulled one of his bullets out of the bag and slid it into the metal railing inside the desk, without the two people noticing of course.

"If tries to start a fight I've got the enormous advantage, Wouldn't be so bad to humiliate her on the first day; after all all she has is a bag of rocks." He internally chuckled at the seemingly useless noble arm. One of Winston's pet peeves was people assuming that their abilities exceed someone else's before knowing a thing about them, exactly what the girl had done in the hallway. When he had planted a bullet in her pocket his only intention was to gain an edge in the event of a fight, they seemed pretty common from the display outside. However after she put her big head on display he had decided to teach her a lesson.

Nishka sighed, why had gray man sat next to this guy again? She'd looked around for someone more interesting and spotted a nervous looking girl hovering at the edge of the classroom, poor thing. "Yo, fencer with the glasses, get over here and take a seat." she called out rather loudly. Hopefully she wouldn't get spooked, some people did that for some reason. Then she heard the nerd with the glasses. "You're more full of shit than those two idiots who got themselves shot." Nishka called out casually. "I don't even need my 'useless' rocks to beat the stuffing out of you and try not to talk about me when I'm right here. It makes you look even more stupid than you are."

Winston had enough of this little girl speaking to him like he was an idiot, He believed himself to be smarter than everyone else in the room. It was time to prove to them that he wasn't some nerd they could push around like a rag doll.

"I'll toss a bullet up into the air as an escape route alternate to my backpack, I'd rather not reveal the location of all my ammunition right now. This should go without a hitch assuming that grey kid doesn't butt in, that would complicate things. He began calculating his move as he stood up from his chair, reaching into his bag as he did so and pulling a bullet out.

"Have you ever played chess?" Winston asked calmy, retaining his temper. After asking his question he underhand tossed a bullet eleven feet up into the air,

"I assume her noble arm isn't just rocks, chances are she can do something to that bullet. So I'll consider it a tester, But I know that she doesn't know about the one in her pocket; or the supply in my backpack. Making those points my main basis for assault, hopefully those rocks don't have some ridiculous hidden ability."

After his forethought Winston concentrated the abilities of his noble arm and teleported to the bullet he had placed in Nishka's back pocket, placing him directly behind her at a close enough distance behind her to smell the shampoo in her hair.

"This is referred to as a checkmate."

The taunt was uttered into her ear as he positioned his firearm behind her skull with unexpected speed.

"One more word out of your disrespectful mouth and I'll put a bullet through your cervical vertebrae and paralyze you for life, Even if your noble arm is capable of stopping my bullets; Human reaction time isn't fast enough to catch them before they hit you. You have no chance of success here, so how about you sit down and keep your mouth shut around me next time."

they didn't even acknowledge him, How rude.

Adolf followed after the group anyway. The class was small unit tactics apparently, though the amount of hostility between the students seemed to refute the idea any units would be forming anytime soon. He walked in and took a seat somewhere on the side of the class, sitting sideways and leaning his back on the wall, and watched the other students. He was just trying to observe who, if any, among them could get along, and who seemed friendly enough that he might be able to say hi to them.

and of course, Tempers seemed to have flared again and now someone was pointing a gun at some girl's head in a display of his Noble Arm's ability. Adolf just sighed rested an elbow on his desk and rested his head in his hand. Though he kept an eye on the two just in case, at least if it did come to a fight he could see how they used their weapons.

"Oh, what the fuck. Psychopaths abound."
Winston and Nishka realize that Takumi wasn't in his seat (or, actually, the room, apparently) for the last several minutes. No one greeted Winston.

Then Winston feels something cold poke his spine — Takumi is standing squarely behind him, right now.
— You know, I hate when people use chess analogues in real life. It's a lot more complex. For instance, you should never assume you have one opponent.



Winston feels a ripple pass through his body and muscles.

— Stand down.

The Director simply chuckled and leaned back into his chair, not so much as even a little curious that she had allegedly attacked another student simply to gain his attention. He met her gaze with a cool stare of his own.

"Both reasons, I assure you, were not worth it," said the Director, "and really, what kind of instructor do you take me for, Miss Dumitru?" -he said with an extra emphasis on her last name- "I do not expect you to beg for forgiveness, but I do expect you to show remorse, and a personal apology to both students, at the very least. You understand?"

The young student pressed her lips together as her eyes narrowed. The unfamiliar chuckle caused the blood within her to boil. Never had she been made a fool of until now. At that very moment, she realized this man wasn't going to easy persuade with mere words.

He truly believed she would waste her breath on two lower classmen, the two were lucky enough to have received such little damage.

There was no remorse. The emotional expression of regret had vanished when she accepted to be a proud owner of desserts tickets. With each choice we make, consequence is soon to follow.

However, a challenge was always welcome. If the man wanted her to play the part of the rergetful and shameful act, it could be done.

"Of course," she answered, placing her hands on the end of his desk while she leaned forward, closing the space between them. "I would love to chat with the little two. Perhaps, even help with their recovery."

Catalina glanced over her shoulder and the blonde nodded, approaching with a small vial in his hand. Taking it from him the young archer tossed it at the center of table, landing with thud and rolled towards him.

Looking at the vial with a hint of curiosity, the man raised his eyes to meet Catalina's own. He could feel it. The pride and arrogance in her bearing that made her unable to back down from a challenge to her pride. He nearly snorted in derision. It was really so characteristically childish.

The Director took the vial in hand, inspecting its contents from multiple angles. "I assume that this is the antidote to your Noble Arm's poison?" he said, not looking at her.

She nodded. A small dosage of a bacterial protein is injected into the bloodstream, as it takes a ride onto a white blood cell back to the central nervous system. As time progresses, severe painful spasms and rigidity of the voluntary muscles leading to the the destruction of the respiration of the victim.

"Hahaha, you're Noble Arm truly is lethal, a good reflection of your own personality." Shaking his head, the Director continued to chuckle, before laying the vial aside and pressed a button on a nearby phone.

"Hello, this is the Director," he said, his voice commanding. "Bring me the two injured ones. Their assailant has just professed a desire to publicly apologize to them. Even heal their wounds. I'm at the Disciplinary Office."

Setting the phone down, he looked at Catalina. "Rejoice, you'll have your chance to apologize soon. In fact, why don't you administer the antidote?"

Catalina remained quiet, indeed intrigued by the power move of the older man.Her black boots hit the floor with each step she took. It was going to be a sweet momento to come face to face by the ones kissed by Vipera. "While at it, I shall kiss each on the forehead and sing sweet lullabies. I am just a student, not a medical professional." she smiled, her voice becoming soft and docile. " I shall take my punishment as you see fit. I see no need for me to be here and play nurse for the director's amusment."

"You truly say the most interesting things, Miss Dumitru! I'm sure your parents would be delighted to hear that! Because you see, unless an agreement has been made between the students in question, then I'm afraid that I'll have to call a parents-teacher conference."

There was an amused glint in his eyes as he watched Catalina. There was something he was holding back, something he knew that she did not that made all of this so worthwhile. The best part of this was yet to come, though Catalina was yet unaware of it.

In all truth, he liked Catalina. She had the kind of aggressive mindset that he valued, and more importantly, the skill to back it up. Unfortunately, she had yet to learn that there were somethings that she wouldn't be able to win no matter how much she tried, because in the first place, winning meant something worse for her.

"Then there is nothing more to discuss," whispered the young girl, feeling the words of her father wrap around her head, turned her head in the direction of the exit with her eyes cast down. The distant screaming warned to escape the slaughter her back will endure for the shame brought to the family's name. She despised it. She stood still for an instant; uncertainly rimming through the surface as to whether or not, just perhaps, if she explained her intention in great detail....

Inhale.

No.

Exhale.

This was the path she has chosen and for that, she will remain on this course and become the ultimate student within Trinidad, even if it was the cost of lives of some ill-tempered students. Catalina exited out of the office without another word, leaving her friend behind.

This will not be the last action of the psychopath archer during the Director's reign. In time, he will learn to not dismiss her so easily.

"Very well then."

The Director resisted one last chuckle at her expense. So stubborn, that girl. Well, that was that then. So . . .

When should he set the conference?

---

Nate Anthony Marquez was running late, due to some rather unforeseen circumstances. His bus had run into a traffic jam on the way to school - now, this was not necessarily an unusual occurrence; in the Philippines, traffic that could delay you for hours was practically a part of every day life - what was really unusual was that it was due to a terrorist bombing. That worried him. The local terrorist groups never usually worked this deep into the metros, especially since the special police unit made entirely of Arms Masters - the Sandata Presinto Uno - were established. The bombing had caused regular mild traffic to extend into heavy traffic and increased his travel time by an hour.

Now that he thought about it, he probably would have made better time walking, though he rationed that he was also made too wary by the bombing to go on foot.

So, with great haste, he ran to his current class - Small Unit Tactics. He had already missed his first class, so at the very least he could arrive early for the second one. It would be terrible if he skipped out on two classes in a row.

After all, what kind of example would that be setting as the Rank 27th?

He opened the door to his class and what greeted him was quite the sight.

Three students in some sort of lethal conga line: The girl, followed by a boy with a gun to her head, followed by a second boy with a sword to his back. The anger and deadly intent was obvious from the atmosphere as all the other students stood back and watched.

"So . . . I assume this isn't a class activity?" he spoke loud enough to be heard, though he was specifically looking at the girl closest to him, a light chestnut-brown haired girl with glasses. "Because if it isn't, I'm gonna have to ask you all to stop, please?"

@Altasaire @Minato Namikaze @Eklispe & @Jay Kalton

Yuri hearing a student curse and mention "Psychopaths" turned to see a girl with a gun pointed to the back of her head and behind that gun a man. Yuri didn't know what it was with seeing girls in situations like this that seemed to make his blood boil, maybe it was that fact that Yuri felt women she be protected and cared for. He removed his Nobel arms from his breast holsters and stood up facing the other students, he noticed a boy directly behind the gunman with his sword drawn. "Excuse me sir but really if you're going to take a shot at anyone please let it be a man unless you wish to challenge this young lady?" Yuri said bluntly as he begun walking over and inspecting the situation. "Good sir, I don't actually believe you're in checkmate." He said with a grim smile as he pointed betrayal to the man's head. He really didn't want to see the girl get shot but if she did he would at least heal her after words he owed her that much.
@Altasaire@Minato Namikaze @Eklispe

(Ignore this post, I had began posting as someone else also did and my post conflicted with theirs.)

Alexsis walked into the room behind #27 and gave a nod of respect to him but stopped dead in her tracks when she looked at what was happening. "What the hell?" she asked with an absolutely befuddled look and was tempted to pull out Dreacion but thought about it for a second before walking over a random seat about 1 meter away from the whole line where she sat with one leg crossed over the other and stared at them.

She knew she had recognized them the girl in the front of the line was one that had tried to egg on the fight from earlier and had been questioned. "This is gonna be a fun year" she said with a sly smile before pulling out a camera and took a picture of the line before it would have had the chance to break up, She stored the camera back in the multitude of pockets on her backpack.

Alexsis waited to see if she would need to step in but hoped not.

Nishka yawned, not the first time someone had held a gun to her head. Though perhaps the only one this skilled. It seemed she wasn't the only who thought this guy was a total douche given the sword at his back and gun at his head. How very satisfying. "Of course its a class activity." Nishka explained as she turned in her seat to face the doorway, ignoring the gun, she'd already played this game once before and found that she'd beaten the bullet so she wasn't overly concerned. Nothing has ever been faster than Nishka's abilities before, ever. When she was in danger time seemed to slow and she could make decisions with incredible speed. "We were just testing each other's skills, just a game. Savy?" Nishka asked the newcomer cheekily. Obviously some sort of student council member or something. Nishka noticed the camera a split second before the picture so naturally put on a ear to ear grin for it. No point in looking less than her best. Then she coughed, hiding a word inside that everyone in the conga line could clearly hear and planting a positively malicious smirk on her face afterwards as she stared Winston down. _{"No balls"}

@Eklispe

Takumi snerks softly, calmly sheathing Vox Vulgaris with a small click. Then he turns to move and in a couple of moments suddenly sits in his seat a couple spaces across.
Then waves at the newcoming #27. "Hello there. Do you know where our assigned instructor is? Next thing, he'd be some sort of perpetually late person, just like in my japanese animes."

Yuri lowered betrayal but didn't put it back in his breast holster, he didn't take his eyes off man holding the gun. He understood the gravity of the situation and let out a quiet laugh under his breath as he put betrayal away and returned to his seat, giving #27 a slight bow of respect before sitting down.

A few minutes had past when a few of armored students in black were up and racing towards a side entrance into an abandoned building; the other dozen were on the other side.

Welcome to AP Unit Tactics.

Snipers were taking out windows, trying to keep resistance from inside as low as possible. Suddenly, there was a huge explosion that came from the back; running through the new open clearing and taking fire right away. The sound of sub-machine guns and then flash-bomb was deafening in the hallways. There were a little too much of firepower inside the building now, it was going to be difficult to hold together.

The noise level made it hard to made it hard to think straight or keep any focus.

The whole team of students in red waited to receive some sort of command from their quadrant leader while others received the full force of the attack. The red team staggering backward stubbornly, opposing every gained foot, but unable to check the unvanquishable foe.

The black team had managed to close off the red team, slowly targeting them down.

Two red armored students dash down the hall, falling away from the sound bomb and the rain of enemy's power. The good thing about protective gear is that it might stop a fatal or force of a powerful paintball; the bad thing it tends to slows one down. Advanced Placement of Unit Tactics was fun and the rush of the adrenaline would make anyone an addict expect when you were lost communications. The Black Squad had managed to jam radio transmissions, neither teams were receiving anything on either end. Both communications blocked for quite awhile, giving the Black Squad to enact their plan.

Struggling to catch her breath Catalina glared up at her teammate who was more than content to watch her hide for cover behind a doorway, flying forest of paint hit the wall close to her.

" We are so goin' to fail today's class!" her teammate shouted, her rifle close to her chest.

" Lisa, we are not. If we manage to keep this section clear...." Catalina started to say.

" That is impossible," Lisa shook her head, " We are running out of cartridges--"

Catalina did not have the time to respond when a student in black armor stepped forward, drawing his gun and reaching out toward Lisa. Before he could stretch his fingers, however, Catalina reached into her back, with a flick of her wrist the baton extended, stabbed into his wrist. The student shouted in surprise, felt a white-hot pain against his suddenly broken wrist and dropped the gun. The baton upward, followed by another hit, this time into the guy's right eye. The guy screamed as he covered his gouged-out eyeball with his one good hand.

The senior's movement might have been as simple as a dance step but for some reason the second rifleman could not block nor even avoid her either. The other five students took a collective step backward. One of them yanked out his pistol and attempted to fire it at her beautiful face.

Lisa did not even move, pulling the trigger. This time, she hit the boy's in the stomach, he cried out in pain as well and felt all his strength flee out of his legs. Catalina buried her baton at his head. The man fell to the ground, rolling about.



The two seniors removed the helmets as the operation of the building ruins dissolves to the state-of-the-art training room.

One by one of the 'stricken' students rose up from the floor, following out of the room with wide grins.

She raised an eyebrow at first, uncertain to burst the troopers bubble that each and every was 'killed' in battle but left it be. She had enough to deal with the earlier event, and now the slight curve in her grade for today's class.

The simulator is used to analyze and improve player reaction times while also collecting data on players which is able to aid and prevent injury recovery in the long-term. Each student reproduces under the teacher's supervision, of course.

With a huff, Catalina unstrapped herself from the light armor which took her vitals and scooped up her helmet, walking to the girl's locker room, joining the rest of the losing team. She placed her helmet in the open cubby and hung the chest plate over hook, under her name tag.

Catalina promptly walked out of the locker room, in little mood to stay and discuss today's tactics, the bell rang through the school for lunch.

@Altasaire @Eklispe @KindledBeast & [@Everyone else in the room]

Nate nodded his head at Nishka's explanation. This was obviously not a test of skill, and in all probability the situation would have probably escalated had he not stepped into the room at that time. He was tempted to pursue the line of questioning but decided against it for now; situation had just cooled off, asking too many questions might heat things up again.

At the very least, one person was worried about something other than getting into a brawl. Turning to Takumi, he gave a polite nod in greeting. "If he was anywhere near where I was, chances are he got stuck in traffic. There's been a terrorist bombing nearby, and the damages plus investigation have slown down traffic as a result."

That was the most likely explanation. While the regular teachers had among them faculty who were irresponsible to skim out on classes, every Arms Master instructor here had a military background of some sort, meaning that at the very least, lack of discipline would not be a problem.

"In any case," he said, turning to the class, "we should probably wait for awhile. If he doesn't arrive after ten minutes, I'll go make a report to the Grade Leader and see if we can get a substitute, though in that case it's most likely we'll be having a free period."

At that, several students grinned excitedly - a few even cheered - and hoped that the teacher didn't show up. While waiting for the teacher, several students left their desks and began mingling with each other. Some stopped by Takumi and Winston, asking them questions about their Noble Arms.

@TheHangedMan

Takumi mostly deflects the questions with polite small talk. Yes, he has a sword, yes, it lets him teleport a bit... Nothing major. He also gives a glance-over for the room to watch out for more psychopaths and, additionally, "social cores" — people around which cliques and gangs are likely to form, via a quick use of Social Dynamics Assessment.

Then he fishes out his PD and tries to look up Catalina, Winston and the newcomer on the ranking ladder. When successful, he starts looking for records of their ranking fights.

"Yo, fencer with the glasses, get over here and take a seat."

She would, later. Right now, she was just observing these other students from the door. Even from here she could eavesdrop on the conversation the colourful haired girl was having with some guy. Well, a few guys as it seemed. She then glanced at the one wearing similar glasses to Claire herself.

"You're more full of shit than those two idiots who got themselves shot. I don't even need my 'useless' rocks to beat the stuffing out of you and try not to talk about me when I'm right here. It makes you look even more stupid than you are."

Ooh, it seems another battle is about to begin! Exciting!

Damn, this girl. She had wit. And Claire liked that. But, it was probably best for her and the glasses boy to settle things themselves. It wouldn't hurt to stay away from the violence, right? Eavesdropping was one thing, getting involved was another.

"Have you ever played chess?" the boy asked. He flicked what seemed like a bullet into the air, and in a split second he had his gun to purple girl's neck.

"This is referred to as a checkmate."

Woah, woah, what is going on? You do not bring a gun to a battle of words! What is this boy thinking? Did he attempt to challenge someone to a battle of wits unarmed?

"One more word out of your disrespectful mouth and I'll put a bullet through your cervical vertebrae and paralyze you for life, Even if your noble arm is capable of stopping my bullets; Human reaction time isn't fast enough to catch them before they hit you. You have no chance of success here, so how about you sit down and keep your mouth shut around me next time."

Ooh, comeback...

"You know, I hate when people use chess analogues in real life. It's a lot more complex. For instance, you should never assume you have one opponent," another boy responded.

Patting her hands on the table, Claire struggled to keep her giggles in. This sort of witty war was already already keeping the girl at the edge of her seat.

I am really starting to like this class! Well, these people anyways…

"So . . . I assume this isn't a class activity?" someone spoke out. Clearly a boy's voice.

"Because if it isn't, I'm gonna have to ask you all to stop, please?"

Claire turned her head towards the seemingly clueless newcomer.

Aw, and it was just getting good… Oh well. I still have an entire year to see these people in action.

The chesnut-haired girl eyed the grey head with the sword, hearing him ask for their instructor's location. Come to think of it, this instructor was later than usual. Actually, he was very late. Some kid had pointed a gun to another student and he wasn't there to stop it.

"If he was anywhere near where I was, chances are he got stuck in traffic. There's been a terrorist bombing nearby, and the damages plus investigation have slown down traffic as a result."

"Terrorist bombing?"

Claire's eyes widened. She had definitely heard of the terrorist group causing havoc in the Philippines on many occasions, but the realisation that she they were in the vicinity made her gulp. The least she wanted was to get bombed on her first day at the academy.

"In any case, we should probably wait for awhile. If he doesn't arrive after ten minutes, I'll go make a report to the Grade Leader and see if we can get a substitute, though in that case it's most likely we'll be having a free period."

More time for Claire to 'socially interact' with others then.

She walked up to the small classroom crowd, placing her hands on the table near them.

"So, how are you people doing?"

---

@allyouwittylotatthetable

Yuri sighed when he heard the man say there would be a free period, "well at least we won't be getting expelled." He thought to himself putting his face into his hands as he yawned. Not even a full day yet and he had almost seen three people shot. "Is everyone a psycho?" He thought to himself as he closed his eyes and begun to drift off. Before he fell into the gentle grasp of slumber he heard a voice call out saying, "So, how are you people doing?" He lifted his head out of his hands and slowly turned his head in her direction and looked at her with a puzzled look. "I guess you could say I'm okay, considering half of our class is psychotic." He said as he yawned and his mouth with his hand.

@Jay Kalton