2012-09-30 JLA Training Drill

Early morning training drills. The military insists on them. The League tends to benefit from them. Plus, there's a new team member to integrate into things. Two, if you count the intrepid reporter that Superman's allowed on the team for a short term stint. 
Reporting to the League's training facility at the appropriate time, Lois is got her hair french braided back and out of her face. Gone is the light make up, gone are the delicate earrings, gone are the flousy skirts and the three inch high heels. In their place? An army black sports bra style PT top and standard drab olive pants tucked into some surplus combat boots. Lois had some and preferred her comfy broken in ones over the new issue Superman had provided along with the ID badge/tags and personal JLA Communit. Oh, and she's got a side arm. It's holstered and rests against the small of her back. Worried about that? Don't be. the GIs have replaced her live ammo with blanks and a laser tracer. What? They want to know what kind of shot the General's Daughter is.
In costume, the Martian comes out of the tower. Likely he's been here most of the night...although he's often gone, nobody on the League has witnessed the alien sleeping. Either he doesn't have to, or he has a place he prefers to hide in to do it. And nobody has witnessed him being slow in the mornings, either. He strides out into the training facility. "Ms Lane," he greets. If he has any issues with her being here, he's not voicing them.
In well...nothing but his fur, Taz is only a few steps behind J'onn. He spent the night as well, familiarizing himself with the communit and the facilities. Tail swaying idly, he stretches his arms as he approaches. "Mornin'."
"Morning, Jon, Taz," greets Lois, head nodding. She knows Taz knows why she's here, so she looks to Jon. "Just needing to make sure you're okay with me being here and listening in, maybe asking you some questions now and again and writing about you, possibly," prefaces the reporter, because Superman told her to. Today's all about the training drills, so there the training droids out and ready, waiting for input to begin.
Martian Manhunter nods. "I have been briefed." He offers Lois a smile. "I believe Superman made a good choice." A reporter who is honest and can also be trusted not to write any gossip...or answer any questions about relationships between the team members. The kind people like to invent and imagine.
"Pretty sure you'll be doin' more than listenin' in today, Ms. Lane," Taz remarks, eying the droids curiously. "Looks like those tin-heads there'll be puttin' us through our paces."
Lois returns the martian's smile. It's not nearly as odd as it was the first time she saw it. She nods to him, blushing faintly at the compliment. It lasts a moment before she looks at Taz and then the practice droids. 
"Sounds fun. Let's crank this baby up and see what you've got," she quips at the furred one, smirking and giving him a wink as well. The MPs have had her sign a waiver. She's a civilian, in a military area, chosing to partake in military training drills. They are NOT going to vouche for her safety. Anyone else have a bad feeing about this?
Martian Manhunter nods. Keeping one eye on Lois, he moves to talk to the military. He's the veteran here...no doubt he's making sure there's a suitable scenario. As for her participating. He's not going to say no...even if she ends up a liability. It might help her learn something and he's sure that he and Taz can keep her from getting hurt.
Taz pulls a few more stretches and grins. "Let's rumble," he declares simply. He doesn't mind Lois being along, seeing it as the same as having a police officer or combat-ready civilian along for the ride. A bit of help and someone to keep an extra eye on. He just hopes the scenario is something he won't be competely useless in.
The soldier on duty speaks with the Manhunter. They had planned a scenario to test the new JLA member, not run a civvie through a JLA-like drill. Clearly, the soldier doesn't know why the reporter is even here, but yeah.. if Superman says she's got clearance... and if she's got the tags for it... 
Standing with Taz, Lois also stretches a bit. She's chuckling, actually a little excited about the prospect of it all. Running with the JLA. Her eyes are a bit twinkly from it. She glances at Jon, smirks, and waits for it.
Martian Manhunter nods to the soldier, finally. "Okay...the scenario is this. We have what appears to be a genetically engineered cat on the loose. It's approaching a school. Ideally, we need to capture it...failing that, steer it into a less populated area. It's already killed two people, one of them a police officer, and injured several others."
Taz waits patiently looking over the bots again. When J'onn comes back and explains the mission, Taz nods. "So is one of those things gonna transform or are we just pretendin'?" he asks, gesturing to the bots.
Having never done anything like this before, and knowing this is just training, Lois pipes up with, "For that matter, where's teh school? Populated area? How much collateral damage are you willing to allow?" Because she's still a reporter. Why was this a good idea again?
"Just pretending. We're working on better robots. The two robots represent the cat. Our friends from the military will be playing bystanders. The school is the area demarcated that way." It's basically capture the flag in reverse. "Stop the cat. Without getting scratched...the robots won't hurt you, but they will 'tag' you if you get too close. Property damage isn't a concern. People are." Reporter, asking good questions, to be honest...of course, she's also basically a civilian observer. They still have to be careful of her.
Nodding, Taz barks out a laugh. "Catchin' a cat without getting scratched. Like catchin' a fish without gettin' wet," he jokes. He's not deterred from the scenario though. Getting into a ready position, he nods and waits for the signal to begin.
Lois' lips purse at the reply. Property vs People: that could play either side. The reporter just nods, even if her mind's ready to pounce on another question. She bites her tongue for the moment. Her violet gaze turns to Taz, noting how ready and eager he is to get moving. 
"What happens if the cat scratches us," Lois asks instead of the question she WANTED to ask. No need to ruffle their feathers and get them acting differently. Observation is goig to get her more than questions on that front.
"You'll be marked as 'injured'. Get tagged too often and you're out of the simulation. Which depends on how tough you are." Lois, of course, is pretty fragile.
"Oh yeah...its alright if we rough this kitten up when it comes to capture, right? As long as we don't kill it?" Taz asks, glancing back at J'onn as he remembers the question. Really its only in this fuzzy form that he'd be so eager and ready to go.
Martian Manhunter nods. "Yeah. And please don't smash the robot...they are expensive." The robots are moving into position. J'onn lifts into the air, manuevering to place himself between the kitty and the school. The soldiers have fanned out to represent the crowd. "Okay. Ready to go?"
"SO, no random diseases, lycanthropy we have to pretend to catch or anything," quips the reporter as she slides over that-a-way. Because she's a cilivian observer, right? right?
Taz resists the urge to joke about Lois' quip, going into more serious mode. He sniffs the air out of habit, starting to prowl to the side with his eyes on the 'cat'.
At that point, the 'cat' starts to move, prowling more towards the nearest group of bystanders than the school proper. J'onn shifts position, moving to block its path. It hesitates, as if not sure what to do about somebody coming towards it rather than running...which most of the soldiers are trying to do, but the training area is fairly tight for this exercise.
Lois watches from her poor excuse for cover. Heros at training. Do they second guess themselves?
Since the cat seems focused on J'onn, Taz decides to move in. His gaze flicks to J'onn a moment and then Taz jumps, trying to land on the cat's back to pin it down to the ground.
Mental note. Tendency to go straight to the offensive. The robots, of course, are landed on, but they try to throw the fuzzy guy off...and, of course, to tag him. While he does that, J'onn covers the fleeing 'bystanders'. It would be hard to tell that Taz is the new guy, at this point.
Just like with those gangers in the slums. Lois smirks. She continues to observe the situation, noting how Jon moves to cover the fleeing soldiers, whom she notices are moving at a retardly slow snail's pace. Really? Is that how you think us civies move? Lois is annoyed on behalf of all non-soldiering kind!
Force of habit with Taz. He's not worried about getting tagged since he's tough and regenerates so he doesn't flinch when he gets hit. Instead he just focuses on growing and trying to use his increased weight to pin the 'cat' more.
Oops...apparently somebody underestimated Taz's strength, because instead of two likned drones...there are now two separate ones. Both trying to beat on the fuzzy hero. J'onn frowns, making mental notes, but watching to see how he deals with this.
You know, Lois is fairly certain /that/ wasn't supposed to happen. Violet eyes look at Jon, watching him /not/ move to help. The reporter frowns and looks back at Taz, then at the area around her. Yes, she's gearing up for something dumb.
The snapping sound of the bots getting separated makes Taz pause his growth. And then there's suddenly two bots attacking. Taz growls and swings a fist at one of the bots in hopes of knocking it away instead of smashing it. "What did I break?"
"Apparently, we underestimated your strength." He knocks one bot away. Unfortunately, the second one heads for the crowd...and right for Lois, before even J'onn has a real chance to react. Danger magnet, indeed.
Lois was looking for something to throw - training grounds got nothing - when the second robot charges at her. She looks up just in time to shriek and fling herself to the side. Self-defense classes. Not full combat training. 
"Well that ain't good," Taz states the obvious. Lois' shriek gets his attention quickly though. Taz jumps to his feet and charges after the bot, trying to pull it away from Lois.
As J'onn moves, Taz gets there. The second bot charges the Martian...and pretty much bounces off him. Not like it can really damage him. He sends a quick thought to the army people to shut them down now...but it seems they don't want to shut down.
Or because they think this is part of hte simulation? Oh, come on! It's funny watching the General's Daughter scream like a little girl! Lois scrambles to her feet, eyes on the robot. Her adrenaline's pumping even though she knows this is a training exercise, right? Right? 
"Don't break it, Taz," she reminds the furry Leaguer.
"I never get to have any fun," Taz quips to Lois, grabbing the bot in a bear-hug to keep it from going after that general's daughter. "So where do I put this thing if I can't break it into pieces?"
"There's a manual offswitch. Back of the neck," J'onn calls even as he gets his own robot deactivated. Clearly...well. It's the first time *this* has happened. Maybe they just got too ambitious with the 'cat' program.
Stopping a safe distance away, Lois turns to regard Jon's calm handling of the first time a robot's gone off course. She frowns, then levels a glare at a nearby soldier.
"Son, if the martian mind-told you to turn the robot off and you decided to just stand there like some F.N.G. there's going to be some uncomfortable questions asked." Lois puts her hands on her hips.
"Ms. Lane," Taz grunts. "If you're done readin' the poor boy the riot act, could I have a hand here hitting this switch? Mine a bit full making sure it doesn't run anywhere."
"The remote shutdown isn't working, ma'am." J'onn is starting to stride over to help Taz. The drones are no threat to him or Taz. Lois is another matter and he's not sure he likes her being *that* close.
"Oh, well, why didn't you say so," Lois retorts at Jon, likewise making her way over. No fear of the robot it seems. Taz has it in, right? She's a bit closer, and so gets to the machine first, and looks it over to try to find the off switch. New fangled tech! Lois is frowning at it. 
"And, Lois, or Lane. Ma'am makes me feel old..."
Taz isn't worried for Lois now that he's got a hard grip on the bot. "Hope I didn't break that remote thing."
"I doubt it." Lois will find the switch is not that hard to find, as J'onn reaches them. "It has malfunctioned before, but never during an actual scenario. The technicians will look at it." He does not seem at all concerned, although he is now keeping one red eye on Lois in a manner that's almost assessing. Perhaps even a little impressed.
"Ah! Found it!" Lois all but cheers as she reaches out and flips the switch, making the robot power down. She then looks at Jon, one brow quirking. Oh, but he /can read minds, can't he? None of the thoughts in her head right now are evenly remotely on topic, which is why she's keeping her fool trap shut about them. Instead, the reporter 'dusts' off her hands. "Well. Now what?"
"Let's take a break and let the army sort out the bots." He moves away from them slightly. "Good work, though. Things certainly don't go as expected in the field, after all." J'onn, not questioning that Lois will follow them into the field. She's that type of woman.
When the bot is shut down, Taz lets it go. Shrinking back down to normal height, he nods. "That was pretty fun, I guess," he chuckes, cracking his neck. "Only robots I've faced until now have been trying to kill everyone in sight."
Lois just hmphs softly, arms folding over her chest. Annoyed? Sure, but she's studying the robot, eyes expertly seeking out decals. Hammer? Stark? Luthor? But as Jon calls for a break and starts to move away, Lois turns to follow him. Her arms fall back to her sides.
"So...I realize that did not go as planned...but what did you think, Lane?" Calling her Lois, too informal. Making her feel old, not poltie.
Taz turns to Lois, curious about her answer too.
Being interviewed? Lois looks at Jon and opts /not/ to pull her punches with her answers. 
"Lame. I've had bowling nights with more oomph that this. Genetically engineered cat attacking a school and all teh robot does is let itself get pinned? Really? You're a super strong, super tough, eye-lasering flying alien from Mars, he's a giant furry were-devil that is probably as strong as you are, you have Superman on your team, a mutant that can go all metal strong man, and /this/ is your idea of 'training to protect the citizens of the US from danger'?" Lois just shakes her head. 
"Weak, fellas. Real weak."
"It was a warmup for the new guy." Does she think that was all there was? Perhaps she does. J'onn does tend to start things out 'easy' and then ramp them up...other members of the team would be more inclined to throw people in at the deep end.
Taz blinks a few times at Lois' answer and then bursts out laughing. "I don't know about bein' in that weight class but I am pretty strong," he says. "I appreciate the warm up," he adds.
"I think you pull your punches cause I was right next to you guys," Lois says, tone accusatory, hands on her hips. "And frankily, I'd be a little insulted if that was the truth of it. But I'll take you at your word. Warm Up. It was cute," she quips, turning to look at Taz as he bursts out laughing. She smirks, but her mind is taking in the details, how easy is he to laugh things off. That's going to be a good thing, come drafting time.
"There are *some* punches I would pull...and there are some situations I would not take you into, Lane...but there are some situations where it really does take somebody of the power levels of myself or Superman to handle them. And others where it does not." And some for which they are not needed at all, fortunately.
"He's got a point," Taz remarks. "This kinda thing does sound like it could happen. Maybe not specific but what if we had to catch some kinda mobile bomb or infectious creature before it got to people?" he asks.
Lois glances between the two boys, then holds up her hands. "Hey! No skin off my back. I'm jsut here to watch, learn, and paint a picture of you guys. I've got two weeks, and I want to see everything, so... warm up. Got it. What's next?" She doesn't stop does she?
Martian Manhunter nods. "And I intend to show you everything I can, but we do have to bear in mind that, for one thing, you can't fly. Of course, neither can Taz." And Taz would be harder to carry, too.
"We could go off on a patrol around the city," Taz suggests with a shrug. He rubs the back of his head when J'onn mentions flight. "Yeah, I don't sprout wings."
"Ya'll patrol Metropolis," Lois asks, back on to full reporter asks questions mode. A brow is quirked. "I won't mind seeng that, and no, you're right, I don't fly. And since he doesn't surely you have some other method of getting people around? After all, Colossus doesn't fly either."
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"Sometimes we do. Or other cities. We try to change it up, otherwise the criminals will just go somewhere else." He nods. "We have planes available. Of course, if we are in a hurry, sometimes the easiest way is for those who can to carry those who can't."
"I've been patrolling Metropolis at night. Before I joined up," Taz explains to Lois. "Since I live here," he adds. "I'll remember not to get all giant if I need carryin'," he remarks to J'onn.
"I can stay at base, listen to com chatter during partols," Lois offers, eyes on J'onn. "If someone is worried about me getting into trouble if I'm out on patrol with you. Though I do want to sit in on a patrol, before these assignment is up. Until then, while the GIs are sorting out the kinks, how about we hit some chow?" Because nothing gets soldiers talking like food. Just how much military has rubbed off on the members of the JLA? Lois is about to find out.
Martian Manhunter nods. "I would not have an objection to taking you along...although if so I would hope you are not afraid of heights." To Taz. "That would be appreciated. Your weight would not be a problem, but your sheer size might be."
"I don't mind you coming along either. It just won't be as smooth as a flight though," Taz replies. He's been running and jumping rooftops to get away. "That's what I was thinkin'. Growin' big is useful but not that aerodynamic."
Lois, afraid of heights. The thought is laughable, and so the reporter does just that. 
"WIth the number of times I've fallen off roofs, out of airplanes, and been flewn around by Capes, yourself being one, you can honestly suggest that, Jon?" Lois is poking lightly at the martian, amusement in her mind and voice as she speaks. She looks at Taz, imagines riding him like a werewolf and chuckles then. "You know, that's probably something I've never done before. I'll give it go."
Martian Manhunter grins a bit at Lois. He knows full well she's not afraid of much. "But I think you suggested chow?" Starting to leave the training area.
And thankfully not like werewolf from one of those movies with the glitterpires either. Smiling as well, Taz nods. "Some breakfast sounds like a great idea."
Lois grins and follows the pair to the mess hall for chow.
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