Molly watched as the two fought, she had Vlad pinned in a headlock at the door so he couldn't run from her and go back to WAR PIG. Soon though she let him go as she watched the mesmerizing fight. No way would she lose a hundred loonies on this kid! At least fifty but Vlad wasn't getting the whole bundle deal, she would beat him if she could. With a smug smile she leaned against the wall and waited her turn. Man would this be great.

(My apologies in advance for any typos. Auto correct sucks and really, sometimes i think its just pointless to keep it on...)

In an attempt to dodge his attack, Iris sidesteped his attack, not realizing he was going to go full swing with it. His stick his her exposed stomach with a painful thwack sound but she ignored it at first. It was one-one now, but she'd be damned if she didnt get a point in as well. Grabbing onto his stick with one hand, she used his strength to pull herself forward a bit, and let her other hand bring her own stick across, hitting him in the shoulder.

As she stood there, an angry red mark had formed on her stomach. Looking down at it she pouted, resisting the urge to touch it as it started to burn like hell. "Two to one." she told him.

She was highly impressed he got her. At least he could follow instructuions.

----

Raleigh was trying to get some paper work done in his office when Newt came busting in.

"You know i dont like to complain, but seriously Marshall. You need to adpot a look-but-dont-touch policy here. I mean, really you already know how hard it is for me to get specimins already and i cant believe you wouldn't respect me enough to just please keep the recruits away from my things, i mean really it not......" Raleigh sighed as Dr. Newton continued rambling on. After a moment he interrupted him.

"Newt look, all the recruits are busy doing something right now. How could one of em touched your stuff?"

"I dont know. All i know is that i went to get a cuticle from Hannibal and some guy named William....whatever his laxt name is, came waltzing through the door, touching my extremely fragile cryotube the cuticle was in. Like...really? I cant take this." he said, throwing his hands in the air. "You better fix this." he said shaking his head and walking out.

Raleigh stood and started walking to the door. Likely the guy Newt was talking about wad a new Ranger candidate. He was pleased at how many had come in since he re-opened the recruiting. He didnt want to stop what he was doing, but since Mako and Iris were busy, he had to go get this one and bring him to the training room.

Will was sitting on a sofa in the office room, twiddling his thumbs. The set up of the man who was working here was messy, but he had sorted it out for him. The entire desk was laid in an orderly fashion, but he wasn't too sure the occupant was so happy. Instead he was sitting in the empty room beside him, not daring to go and see his face. He was leaning back against the wall while sitting, waiting for something to happen.

There was no military record the man, and he had made a living off writing rather bland sci-fi books, but the experience itself was exhilarating. It taught him a lot about life, and considering this was his chance to be able to pilot a giant mechanical exoskeleton, he couldn't be more excited. The child inside of him was thrilled, while the adult was more concerned about the increasing number of Kaiju. At least, he thought, the Jaeger programme has more funding.

Vlad began to drift away from the sparring room, still needing to get something to eat and get some sleep too. It had been a long flight, but he was so worried about how WAR PIG was being handled that he was a nervous wreck, and 16 hours of being on the verge of a nervous breakdown was pretty tiring.

“I'll be back to get my money later,” he called to Molly. He liked the looks of the new recruit. He may not be as fast the women, but he knew how to aim which was half of the sparring sessions.

He hadn't been to the Shatterdome since he was being recruited himself, and he had mostly forgotten where everything was. Nine years of running nearly constant missions had forced somethings out of his head, and it looked like the hallways of the Shatterdome had been an unfortunate casualty. He wasn't even sure if there would still be food in the cafeteria at this time, but it was worth a shot. Now he just needed to find where it was.

He kept winding down the cement corridors, passing the labs, living quarters and officers quarters before he had a distinct feeling of deja vu. He passed the labs again, and decided to stand where he was until someone walked by that he could ask directions of. It seemed like a pretty busy place and he didn't anticipate having to wait for too, too long.

Raleigh poked his head into the other part of his office. There he saw a man sitting down....and he appeared to have placed all the papers that plagued his other desk, into nice, neat stacks. No wonder Newt had a problem with this guy, apparently he liked to touch other people's things. But, that was alright. Marshall dont judge.

"Excuse me. Are you William? Sorry if that's wrong, uh. Your here as a recruit to be a Ranger?" he asked polietly.

(Just found out my post about going to my room never went so let's just say that had happened)
Milo woke up in his room walking out, he had heard there were transfer recruits coming in, and he kind of wanted to see the Jaegers coming in, maybe even see the vets.
He wanted to see the Jaegers first though so he traveled off to the Jaeger Hanger.

OOC: Don't have much time before my mission but I don't wanna leave you stuck there so I'm trying to get something out.

Iris's retaliation was swift following his successful strike. "Damn, she's good." he thought, trying to figure her out. With the score now 2 to his 1, he had to step up his game if he wanted to win this. He shifted to a stance similar to the one before but instead of his feet in a side to side manor, he was front to back. (If that makes sense, he rotated to be thin instead of wide stance?) Josh breathed deep again, it seemed to help. Holding the stick with both hands in the center in front of him. He then rushed at her, shifting his left hand down the stick to give leverage on a powerful swing. This swing was a ploy however. As the right side of the stick drew close to her, he dropped to the ground along with the left side of the staff. Quickly planted his hand on the ground and went for a leg sweep. She said it herself, gotta keep the enemy guessing, change it up. He thought this one through and knew that if she managed to counter, especially by jumping over his foot. He'd only have a moment but he could perform a tuck and roll, and assume a standing position to be ready for another attack.

Iris barely had time to blink before Josh was at it again. She raised her stick to protect herself, and the next thing she knew, it was no longer there. It was a moment later that she felt something push at her feet and caused her to fall forward.

Dropping her stick, she reached out with both hands to catch herself. As she fell, she was able to land in a push up position and use enough force to get back into a crouch.

She smiled, getting more and more excited as the fight went on. He had found out how to trip her up, literally, and by that being her biggest weakness, he had given himself the advantage.

She looked for her stick but realized she would have to bend in a weird angle to get it. Instead, she rolled away from him, still in a crouch. "Two-two." she relayed the score to him. Instead of standing, she stayed low in her crouch. If the only way to protect her legs was to keep them close, so be it. She would wait to see what he did next, waiting for the best moment to retaliate.

Josh's attack was successful, this pleased him. What she did next however, threw off his plan of attack. "How am I supposed to fighter her like that?" he wondered. Josh racked his brain for a new plan of attack, one that wouldn't leave him open to her already low center of gravity. If she was decent at fighting in this posture, she could regain the upper hand easily. "No time to second guess myself." he continued to consult himself. Josh held the stick out to his side with his right hand, the bottom of it resting on the floor. His left hand scratching his head. He really was trying to think of a method of attack against her but it also provided him with a slight distraction. Kneeling like that, keeping her legs bent, was obviously putting pressure on her muscles. This meant that the longer he waited before attacking again, the more fatigued they'd be and possibly make it harder for her to avoid his attack.

Now Josh wasn't going to just wait her out, that wouldn't be the warrior thing to do. But a moment passing, he could allow that. He brought the staff in and under his arm, holding it out perfectly straight, pointed at her. He spun the staff around some more and caught it like a samurai sword with both hands, holding at his right side before running at her. Josh had to be quick but fluid for this to work, he swung it downward, at a leftward angle. His distance from her, just out of reach for a solid block, but this strike wasn't meant to be blocked. It was to allow momentum to be build. His staff continued downward and to the right of his body, building speed. He then forced it's direction without ever stopping it's momentum to curve downward slightly and then upwards for a rising slash. Hopefully she would fall for the first half of this strike and block high for when the stick came from below. He wasn't entirely screwed though, even if she blocked, her center of gravity was on the balls of her feet so if she blocked, she could be knocked back on her rear. If she were able to muster the strength in her legs to avoid the hit all together, it would be within the natural motion of his swing to have a follow up strike.

Iris waited while Josh looked at her and thought of a new plan. She shifted on her legs, it inevitably growing uncomfortable for her, as she wondered if he was about to give up. He was standing there for a good amout of time before he started moving again.

OK, here we go. she thought as he came at her. He had come at her, attempting to feint, but she didnt move until the last minute, seeing his true attack.

This was the part where all those years of dancing payed off. In one fluid and continuous motion, she rose up on her legs and lifted her left as his swing came towards her. Gripping one side of his stick, she continued her movement and brought her leg forcefully on the stick, breaking it in half.

With a smirk she held onto the half of his wepon and spun out of reach. Now they were at a stalemate.

As Emmett stepped into the test Conn-Pod, he took a moment to take in his surroundings. The entire chamber was flooded with a cold, blue light, and it looked for all the world like a bona fide Conn-Pod -- except this one would most likely stay a disembodied head for the rest of its serviceable existence. Glancing downward at the feet plates, he took a deep breath before planting his feet. Despite the fact that this was just a simulation, it didn't change the fact that him becoming a Ranger hinged on passing this test.

The sound of engines whirring and buzzing electricity grew as the simulation began to fire up. The fluorescent lighting seemed to dim a bit as two control discs rose from an opening in the ground. Instinctively gripping each disc in his hand, the image of a vast ocean formed right before his eyes.

"No, I'm here to check the floorboards." Will sarcastically spat, as he stood up and shook the gentleman's hands. "Nice to meet you, my name's Willem. Can I ask yours?"

It had been a while since he last had to impress someone. He usually looked down on people, and rightly so, knowing their idiotic tendencies were as much a bane to his life than the wind and the rain. However, knowing everyone here had experienced life and death, he did not want to look down on them, but instead aspire to be where they are.

(@Phloem: the point is that you kind of just need to fight the first one, and we assume you pass the others. Its so you dont spend like five days going thru a sim. Also, you have to write the action part so i can better see how you fight and make it easier for me to choose the best Jaeger for you. Have fun!)

Mako Mori waited until the simulation started before she spoke into the comm. "Emmett, remember your absolute goal it to protect the city." she spoke in the short and consise way she always did. The screen showed that Emmett was soon going to see the familiar blue glow of a Kaiju, and she simply watched, waiting to see how the recruit would do.

---

Raleigh raised his brow and shook the mans hand. "Marshall Raleigh Beckett." he said introducing himself. "Nice to meet you as well Willem. You can follow me, and i'll take you to Iris." he said turning on his heels . "She's the one who tests the recruits we get." They made the abnormally long walk to the training room to see that she was still in spar with another recruit. He turned to Willem. "There she is. Have fun and...dont say anything that will get your head smashed in." he said with a smile. Before he left, he waved at Molly who was by the door, watching all the action go down.

Willem stood there, arms crossed, waiting for something eventful to happen. The comment Raleigh just made was rather important, as Will had a tendency to have his head smashed in from sarcastic and pessimistic comments he made. While excited to start his first proper training session, he was worried about showing himself up and failing miserably. Only time will tell.

Molly smiled at the newb, he was very cute. She had to pummel him though, she guessed that he wanted to be the hotshot of the party. The ever so confident wiener in disguise. So very special, she thought. As she walked over to them she studied them closer, how much force he put into it, how much strain he was facing, this would all help her.

She stepped back and hoped that this ended as soon as possible, she really needed to test this guy. It had always been such a rush to do so before, those were the days when she was in a two person Jaeger, now she had Canada and she was happy.

"Iris, what are we doing? Can we go test the Jaegers soon?" She asked quietly as she almost went to stop the fight, stopping herself she sighed and smiled anxiously. "Canada needs to readjust here."

(Ah, I see. I'll just wrap it up in this post, then.)

Blinking a few times, the simulation began to sharpen around the edges. Turning slightly to look behind him, he could see the faint cityscape of Hong Kong. Now, it was almost undistinguishable from real life. The sound of waves crashing filled the air as Emmett spotted the telltale blue glow of a Kaiju beneath the surface of the water. It was only a matter of time now, he thought to himself, psyching himself up for the inevitable. The monster stayed under until it got closer, bursting from the frigid seawater with a shrill cry.

Instincts took over and he reached out to grab the beast by its head, pulling it into a reverse headlock. The Kaiju struggled wildly in his grip, as Emmett aimed a hard stomp at a protruding spike of bone at it's knee. Another deafening screech. Letting go, the Kaiju fell backwards, and he took the opportunity to fire up the wrist-mounted thrusters. Emmett then finished it off with a rocket-powered overhand, breaking the monster's skull. The force of the punch caused a reverberation to shake the simulated-Jaeger and he nearly got thrown off balance. Thankfully, the robotic arms of the Conn-Pod held him upright.

Before he knew it, a second Kaiju was advancing on him. He took care of that one as well, but not without suffering some damage to the left arm. Gritting his teeth, Emmett pushed on through it. Then, it was two Kaijus at once. It was much more of a challenge than just one, but then again, Kaijus weren't the smartest creatures. After a lengthy battle, mostly involving hand-to-hand combat, both of the monsters were dead in the water. Bruised and battered (the Jaeger, mostly), the last Kaiju leapt towards Emmett, giving him little time to catch a breather. Reaching his arms out to grab it by the jaws, he attempted to rip it apart. However, the damage to the Jaeger's left arm from before prevented him from doing that. Opting instead to shove the alien creature back, he suddenly remembered the Plasma Cannon. As the weapon started to charge up, the Kaiju began bounding towards Emmett. He took a hard hit in shoulder area, and he thought the connecting wires would give out.

Thankfully, they held fast and Emmett was able to shove the Kaiju's head downward to knee it in the jaw. Momentarily stunned, he was able to fire the now fully-charged Plasma Cannon in the chest. The Kaiju's chest cavity exploded in a neon-blue eruption and then, it was dead.

Iris was a pro, there was no doubt about it. "Guess that's why you do the testing around here." he said, finally saying something out loud. He looked at his half of the staff and smiled. Truth was, he had planned on breaking it in half if that attack failed. Though he did intend on having both pieces. "Ya know, the only thing I want more right now. Other than to be a Ranger." he paused, now looking at Iris and twirling his half of the staff around in his fingers. "Is to take you out for the night." he said, now rushing at her before she had a chance to respond. Now was the time for his trump card. Now was the time to show her what he was made up. He got in range and jumped at her, swinging the broken stick with his right hand from up above. The beauty of this maneuver was it's supreme element of surprise, it's elegance too. Josh had to grab at her top with his left hand, then with all the speed and finesse he could muster. He brought his left leg in front of her stomach and his right leg behind her to perform what's know as a scissor take down. A difficult technique to master, but a highly effective one for it's sheer surprise factor.

Iris smiled when he said he wanted to take her out for the night. It was a genuine smile, not cocky or sarcastic, but a genuinely goofy gring. (Triple G threat. Woaaaah!) She focused on him to see what he would do next, but her mind wavered when she heard Molly ask, "Iris, what are we doing? Can we go test the Jaegers soon?" Her smile had turned into a frown as she thought about responding. Hello? She was working. Not getting paid to work at that, and it made it that much worse. Though she didn't want their match to be over so soon, she supposed she could...

Oh shit!

Through her monologging (sp?) in her head, she hadent noticed that Josh was coming at her again. She tried to take a step back but he had grabbed a strap of her sports bra and held her too close to get away. Suddenly she felt her feet getting swept out from under her as she fell onto her back. Her legs had been trapped by his in this particular technique so she didnt stand a chance of trying to regain her balance. Landing on her back with a thud, Iris became slightly winded as she lay there trying to catch her breath.

With a small and saddened frown Molly squinted and nodded, she left the room and went over to their dorm. She was going to need a new one, one to herself. That would be easy enough to find. Without thinking she started moving out of room and moving into the one across the hall. Iris would need privacy if this guy ever went somewhere with her.

Molly was lucky, she didn't have to deal with the relationships or the drama. Maybe she should've asked to move....nah she was to cool for that. Once finished she fell down on her bed and smiled. "Molly, making decisions for the greater good since birth." She muttered with a smile that made her feel good.

"Maybe, maybe." She muttered to herself as she thought about going to eat somewhere in town, maybe she could find a place that served Timbits? Or she could get some from the zellers later and a cabinet to stock her new room. "Yes!"

Josh looked at Iris, he caught her off guard. That of course was the plan, but he was happy none the less. He quickly withdrew his hand from her and pulled himself to her side, kneeling down by her. He too was catching his breath a little bit. "So how about that meal?" he asked with a smile. Extending his hand out to her to help her up. He wanted to know the results of the training, her opinion of his performance. Josh also wondered if there would be any additional testing required of him at the moment but didn't want her to forget about their agreement either.