Question All The Kings Horses...

Having already read this story and giving Neo my seal of approval I figure I should start the ball rolling.
Not wanting to spoil anything, I'll just say I expect mixed reactions to this story. But remember, having everything happy and go lucky all the time gets boring. Throwing in a bit of darkness to add depth and contrast to a story makes it better. And this definitely looks at a new side of Wondercute.
More later.

Words are insufficient to describe how I feel.. Wonderful job

I think that Domoviye said it best on the foodie bookie thread: This story is very definitely not a muffin.


Not the Wondercute story that I was expecting, but a great story nonetheless. And Neo, you did a marvelous job of establishing what sort of story it would be while still keeping us guessing until the end. The story could have easily failed purely from the cognitive dissonance of not being the story that was expected, and you pull through that deftly.

All the Kings Horses...comments
A crash in the sims for Wondercute, Ito and Gunny are being tricky and that isn't a good thing for the students. Outcast Corner and the Grunts are wary of taking on Wondercute in the sims, I knew with their combination of powers, personalities and Jade's tactical know-how they would be dangerous but dang. Keep forgetting how mature and wise Jadis is for her age sometimes, excellent advice on all parts. Especially about keep some capabilities hidden and on reserve, always catch them by surprise when they think they have you cornered or on the run. Their strong friendship really shows here.

Rythax with a ribbon, bwahahaha. That is just priceless. A search and rescue with unknown foes, with girl scouts needing rescued; Gunny and Ito have topped themselves on customized crashes to fit a team with this one. 100 square miles in that kind of environment and time of year, double ouch. Jade being serious and then Misty ruins:

"Can you give us all unicorns to ride in the woods?"

*holding sides from laughing so hard*

"WONDERCUTE POWERS, ACTIVATE!!!" *trying to catch breath* They have a battle cry and it is adorable. Lindsey has a cute but not over the top outfit, plus I'm betting that silvery belt is more than it appears to be. Nice to see Molly has expanded her holdouts and gear. 7 different sources and ways of gathering Intel on Team Wondercute, impressive. No wonder the other teams have trouble with Wondercute in the sims, hit and run tactics with their mix of powers, holdouts, and training is brutal and unpredictable.

Those ribbons on Pern, enchanted to grow with him or devise, I wonder. With Lindsey growing in confidence and possibly her magic, probably enchanted. Enchanted boots too, Lindsey has been busy and we probably haven't even seen a fraction of her new holdouts and gear in action yet. And anyone who sees her riding on Pern's back when he is fully grown who isn't impress is either jaded or lying to themselves.

Slightly over a half hour, in a wooded area with tightly packed trees, and spotted something from the air. They are quick and have at least a little luck on their side, even with the Intel from the squirrels. And with the girls out in the open with no signs of the attackers, the warning bells in Lindsey's head are correct, it is a trap. Can't be anything else, especially with Ito and Gunny having programmed the scenario.

Molly has gotten stronger with gate teleportation since we last saw it used, that is for sure. Nice pair of googles, wonder if Malachi is marketing them yet. Lindsey's bad feeling, it is almost like she is developing a kind of danger sense. Jade really should listen to her teammate's advice more.

Who would attack a group of girl scouts, what kind of monsters would do this? Anna's time with the Parkour Hooligans has definitely paid off, that was an impressive move to turn a near-crash into a stunt of that caliber. And despite what Anna thinks, I don't think Rythax gives out praise like that too often. No visual signs, technology, or magic; how did the attackers pull it off? Even it was purely mutant powers I would think Jade would have noticed any residue power use would have left behind. This is like a locked-door mystery but with powers involved; where are the attackers and what are their goals?

Good reasons for Molly, Anna, and Jade to go and talk to the scouts, plus Jade's presence can help with the younger scouts since she looks to be around their age. Yet no signs of the enemy forces and the girls out in the open like that, somehow Ito and Gunny have this set up as the perfect ambush for the team, it has to be. And Lindsey is right to be worried about all this, seems too perfect a scenario; girls right out in an open area to find, no signs of the enemies or any threats at all, too fishy.

Invisible or cloaked spheres in the air above the clearing, darn you Ito and Gunny! Or is teleportation tech involved, as they caught Jade and one of the scouts. Fire guy, gadgeteer or devisor with large energy rifle and teleporter. But how did they remain hidden from all scans, even Jade's other selves? Darn it! Molly didn't get to use her bow skills before being taken out by chloroform. Poor Anna, forced on the run by the teleporter.

Flying, fiery woman with a flaming sword, good grief, with the teleporter with the knockout gas or chloroform and the guy with the BFG they are tough. Still want to know how they avoided detection. Spherical energy field that renders people invisible, that is a dangerous power and OP for ambushes. Star League Jr., Wallflower has improved combining her invisibility and force fields together a lot.

Misty dealing with Phoenixfire, not good, Phoenixfire if I remember correctly is obsessed with training and improving herself, to become as great a hero as her parents. Psymod, telepathic teleporter, very dangerous combo; Anna needs some help to take him down, as I don't think he can read the thoughts of squirrels. Bugs might be taken out or just went silent, this team is 4 strong and I can see now why Gunny and Ito wish to see them taken down a peg or two. Enchanted stones with glyphs, very nice, I wouldn't be surprised if Lindsey is one of the magic students other magic students go to for advice on enchantments and holdouts.

Nephandus helped unknowingly supply key components Jadis used to help Lindsey create some of her new toys. That is too perfect, his face would be red and steaming mad if he knew. An invisibility enchantment, always a good thing to have as a holdout.

If they weren't in the sims, I would be seriously upset at Phoenixfire loping off Misty's arm like that. And Phoenixfire finally realizes how deadly her firesword is, horrified at what she has done. Guessing Ito and Gunny wanted this to happen in the sims so she would know to hold back in the real world. Inviso-Lindsey and Pern to the rescue! And Misty takes out her frustration on BFG guy.

Dang, broke his right leg for shooting hers, Misty needs some counseling after this sim. Anna stops Misty and she is definitely not acting like herself, has Psymod learned how to mess with others' minds now? Or is Misty a rager with a cold and focused form of rage when triggered? Guess we don't get to find out, as she is knocked out by the teleporter, he is too effective with the knockout stuff the gadgeteer or devisor made for him.

Phoenixfire, out. Dredz, disabled and possibly out. Is Anna in shock over what happened to Misty, is Psymod messed with her mind, or is something else going on? Psymod told Anna something and then knocked her out with her telepathy, this is messed up. Capturing Wondercute instead of beating them, just cruel. Adds humiliation to their defeat, as if they weren't worth dealing with as a real threat. Lindsey left her teammates behind, treated it like it was a real world scenario and ran off because she couldn't win. Still, there wasn't anything she could do, so it was the right thing to do, the scenario was set-up for them to fail from the start.

Lindsey is being too hard on herself. Her friends and teammates may have been upset, but I doubt they were disgusted, angry, or hate her for it. And Jadis is right, giving one side Intel about the other like that and time to set-up an ambush, yet no Intel to the other is a set-up. All to humble them because they kept winning and didn't appear to be taking the sims seriously. They needed a lesson about taking things seriously, so someone wouldn't get hurt or killed in the real world, but this went over the top.

Ouch, even the staff realizes things got out of hand and the girls need to talk about what happened. Bet even Phoenixfire is there, she was horrified by what she did to Misty. Lindsey thinks she failed her friends and is trying to isolate herself, bad idea, once you do that is hard to get back out again.

Poor Wallflower, she is right about all this, Misty in Doyle for psychiatric evaluation and Lindsey afraid she has lost her friends over the whole mess. There is challenging the students and there is trying to humble them by force; this was the latter and it backfired big-time. Lily's reaction is understandable, yet Sam seems to think the staff did no wrong. That they were just trying to teach a lesson and it got out of hand. I don't know what to say about all this, hard to see it from the staff's side of things, with how everything happened.

And what if you became famous and some H1! nut decides to take you out with a sniper rifle, and what if you are hit by a car. What ifs are all well and good, but training for them could drive you crazy, thinking about what might happen. One thing Sam seems to forgot is they may be being trained to be superheroes but they are still teens, dealing with too many unexpected and unplanned situations at an age where things already feel out of control could make them snap.

Okay, I see Sam's point, almost anyone would freak out if they lost a limb. Okay, I guess the earlier part of this post was overreacting to what happened to characters I've come to care about. Better to have the tough lessons now, in the sims and at Whateley, than when they get out in the real world.

I hate to but I agree with Gunny, I keep forgetting Whateley is a lot harsher than comic books, death happens more often from what has been mentioned, and with how mutants are treated even Marvel 616 universe mutants have it better in at least some ways. Gunny actually wants a team like Wondercute around to keep the rest of them on their toes, didn't see that coming, especially after what they did to the Grunts. With the help of the counselors on staff and their friends, I think Wondercute will recover from this defeat and be back, stronger than ever and still friends.

Definitely not the type of story I was expecting, but definitely an enjoyable read. Had me guessing on how the enemy team was going to ambush them and then how they did it for a long while there. Can't believe I forgot they would be facing Star League Jr. though I'm shocked and impressed at how much Wallflower has improved with her powers. Along with everyone else.

The story was very good, the characters all acted in expected ways, the only thing that would have made it better is if I hadn't known it was Star League Jr. (I wonder how they would have subdued Jade when they released her from Lily's bubble?)

While Star League Jr. really needed this reality check, just like Stronghold and Megagirl did, most of Wondercute didn't need it, and of those that did, Molly and Jade have already had the reality checks. Bunny, Lindsey, and Anna aren't likely to be superheroes, Superchick is really the only member of Wondercute that would need the sort of reality check that was planned.

It's not like it is really likely that Wondercute will survive the entire time that they are at Whateley. Or at least not those six girls. Molly and Jade already have "serious" teams, Misty, Anna, and Bugs are going to get invites to serious teams (once Anna gets her confidence she is going to be a serious asset to any group). Jadis will likely get Lindsey on a good team (I never got the feeling that Lindsey is interested if the fighting aspects). Misty should have gotten her reality check when she joined a serious team, and dealt with the normal reality of being on a team.

I think they are treating Misty for the wrong problem. She needs counseling to prevent PTSD, not for going into a rage (not Rager) after getting her arm cut off. Going into a rage, assuming you stayed conscious and capable of acting is a normal reaction. The biggest problem is that it is the end of the school year, when they all need the counseling and group counseling. Star League Jr. needs it too, but they are all living in the same are and can get it since their parents will understand.

None of that is a criticism of the story, only a criticism of the in story actions of the characters. (I hope that made sense.)

To reiterate though, it's a very good story, well written and I can't wait for more Neomagus.

So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

Hmm... What was STAR League Jr.'s plan? ... I thought they were all cloaked in a full team version of Wallflower's Field, but no, 'cause Aquerna detected it...

What was STAR League's mission fail condition? Could STAR League have waited for Wondercute to be even more spooked by attacking while they were escorting the scouts out?

Wondercute doesn't have an ESPer, right? Or did they, and even that couldn't penetrate the cloak? Can Jade do everything an ESPer can, in the same way an ESPer does? So the cloak did actually block ESPer detection?

I guess STAR couldn't attack from under the cloaks. But why were they hanging in the air, where the cloak shimmer was detectable? Or would it have been even more detectable on the ground?

... So many thoughts on what the STARs could have done better, but not sure if my complaints are valid... ... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

Malady wrote: So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

Neo got most of the final written, and I helped wrap up the end, and we know that we did leave a little bit untidy with regard to Wondercute. It will be tidied up - eventually.

We know Jade is going to France with Ayla to deal with the Vitesse cognac distillery, and I'm writing the summer story dealing with Kayda, Addie, and Alicia, so there's a reasonable chance that I'll deal with the fallout of the combat final.

If you all ask nicely.

They knew that Wondercute's main fliers would be split up in the search, they kept the fight in the clearing because Wondercute has a distinct lack of fighters that can tank it out, Jade may be a high level regen but she isn't a brick, in the open of the clearing, they can't utilize their environment to make up for what they lack in straight up defense, in the air, they were able to coordinate their ambush better, also there is one direction an attack can come from that infantry is seldom aware of, up. they also had the trees below them to hide them from ground scouts.

edit and Jade while able to see in all directions, cant see color like that, she wouldn't see the shimmer

elrodw wrote:

Malady wrote: So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

Neo got most of the final written, and I helped wrap up the end, and we know that we did leave a little bit untidy with regard to Wondercute. It will be tidied up - eventually.

We know Jade is going to France with Ayla to deal with the Vitesse cognac distillery, and I'm writing the summer story dealing with Kayda, Addie, and Alicia, so there's a reasonable chance that I'll deal with the fallout of the combat final.

If you all ask nicely.

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

Malady wrote: So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

Hmm... What was STAR League Jr.'s plan? ... I thought they were all cloaked in a full team version of Wallflower's Field, but no, 'cause Aquerna detected it...

What was STAR League's mission fail condition? Could STAR League have waited for Wondercute to be even more spooked by attacking while they were escorting the scouts out?

Wondercute doesn't have an ESPer, right? Or did they, and even that couldn't penetrate the cloak? Can Jade do everything an ESPer can, in the same way an ESPer does? So the cloak did actually block ESPer detection?

I guess STAR couldn't attack from under the cloaks. But why were they hanging in the air, where the cloak shimmer was detectable? Or would it have been even more detectable on the ground?

... So many thoughts on what the STARs could have done better, but not sure if my complaints are valid... ... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

While there was obviously an AAR for the students involved, those are private, so you guys don't get to see it in this case.

Same for the counseling.

I could just leave it at that and say that because no one else on campus got to witness it then you guys don't get to either, but that's not the real reason. Mostly it has to do with not wanting to stretch this out longer than it needed to be, and you guys should be able to guess a lot of what went down in those meetings just from the context of everything else. It was originally intended to be just a small part of Odds & Ends, and ended up growing into a vignette of its own. I didn't want it getting any bigger than that.

And the other reason you guys don't get to see more of the immediate after-effects is just that this was really hard to write as is. I'm not sure how well I would have handled depicting those other scenes if I had wanted to.

As to your other questions:

• They WERE cloaked in a full team version of Wallflower's invisibility. Specifically they were riding in one of her spheres so she could keep them hidden and also move them around the clearing as needed based on wherever WC showed up.
• Their mission failure condition was to not capture all of their targets...take that for what you will.
• Depends on what you mean by "Esper", since that's such a broad category of abilities. The J-Team's unusual sight is best example of this for Wondercute, and I'll admit that at first it was a pain trying to figure out how any thing could stay hidden from her. Then I looked back at Wellspring of Sorrows and was reminded that even Ty West was impressed by Wallflower's invisibility, stating that it protected her both conventional and AND magical detection. So I figured even Jade would have a hard time detecting that, and it became the keystone of how they would ambush Wondercute.
• As far as why they were hanging in the air over the clearing? It was an intentional decision to incorporate an aspect of 3D combat. All of Wondercute's intel capabilities were focused either closer to the ground, higher up in the air, or in the trees themselves. The only reason Anna even chanced to notice the shimmers was because she looked up to try and see Misty in the air above. And note that it was something LIKE a shimmer. This was a nod to Anna's noted unusual perceptiveness for things that everyone is blatantly surprised she's able to notice (holograms anyone?). It was NOT a flaw in Wallflower's ability that just anyone could have detected.

Hope that clears up a few things for you.

mhalpern wrote: They knew that Wondercute's main fliers would be split up in the search, they kept the fight in the clearing because Wondercute has a distinct lack of fighters that can tank it out, Jade may be a high level regen but she isn't a brick, in the open of the clearing, they can't utilize their environment to make up for what they lack in straight up defense, in the air, they were able to coordinate their ambush better, also there is one direction an attack can come from that infantry is seldom aware of, up. they also had the trees below them to hide them from ground scouts.

edit and Jade while able to see in all directions, cant see color like that, she wouldn't see the shimmer

Very nice assessment, mhalpern. Missed on a few things, but overall you were pretty much right on.

I thought the Wallflower Field being basically immune to all detection was fairly well known by readers... Then again, I have re-read Wellspring somewhat recently...

*Altering Wiki to add info that is missing... *

When does the academic term end?

When I said ESPer, I meant anyone with the ability to detect thoughts/minds, instead of just auras. Like Receptive Empathy.

If it is like Fall Semester, by the end of the following week.

Malady wrote: I thought the Wallflower Field being basically immune to all detection was fairly well known by readers... Then again, I have re-read Wellspring somewhat recently...

*Altering Wiki to add info that is missing... *

When does the academic term end?

When I said ESPer, I meant anyone with the ability to detect thoughts/minds, instead of just auras. Like Receptive Empathy.

no such thing as being immune to all forms of detection seeing how she can still interact with stuff while invisible, if she walks through a trip wire or steps on a pressure plate, she will be detected. so if a nanite in a nanite swarm hits her field, it could indicate her position

elrodw wrote:

Malady wrote: So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

Neo got most of the final written, and I helped wrap up the end, and we know that we did leave a little bit untidy with regard to Wondercute. It will be tidied up - eventually.

We know Jade is going to France with Ayla to deal with the Vitesse cognac distillery, and I'm writing the summer story dealing with Kayda, Addie, and Alicia, so there's a reasonable chance that I'll deal with the fallout of the combat final.

If you all ask nicely.

What fall out?

No really what fall out. Jade has been in more than enough real situations to realize she couldn't have done anything. What she needs to do now is pull the team back together.

Even if she wasn't expecting this (which everyone who reads the microscenes knows I disagree with) she knows she has to be the leader and pull everyone back together. If she doesn't know that one of the Kimbas does and will tell her. If not them then Sam will.

Then she just has to pull her team back together which should be a story in and of itself.

Jarjaross wrote:

elrodw wrote:

Malady wrote: So, that happened. ... Is it wrong that I want an After Action Report, or a look at the therapy? ... Well, that might be next week's release?

... Just wait for the AAR, dude....

Neo got most of the final written, and I helped wrap up the end, and we know that we did leave a little bit untidy with regard to Wondercute. It will be tidied up - eventually.

We know Jade is going to France with Ayla to deal with the Vitesse cognac distillery, and I'm writing the summer story dealing with Kayda, Addie, and Alicia, so there's a reasonable chance that I'll deal with the fallout of the combat final.

If you all ask nicely.

What fall out?

No really what fall out. Jade has been in more than enough real situations to realize she couldn't have done anything. What she needs to do now is pull the team back together.

Even if she wasn't expecting this (which everyone who reads the microscenes knows I disagree with) she knows she has to be the leader and pull everyone back together. If she doesn't know that one of the Kimbas does and will tell her. If not them then Sam will.

Then she just has to pull her team back together which should be a story in and of itself.

Jade's plotting to bring back three of her teammates, Anna, Lindsey, and Misty.

Completely unrelated but I love how Jade asked for something practical while hiding behind her cutesy insanity. Riding Unicorns would be a great way to do the search and rescue as they would increase the speed and mobility of all of the non-fliers in the group.

Anna's main problem: low self esteem, she thinks if she had been more confident and forthright with everyone it would have turned out better. She is wrong it would have turned out the same and she would have been worse off. Solution: explain that there was nothing that could be done, this was a no win situation, anything that could have been done differently might have made it even worse.

Lindsay's main problem: she thinks she abandoned her friends and things they hate her. Solution: Wondercute party, force her to go, have no one treat her differently.

Misty's main problem: … what's her problem again. She had a totally reasonable response to the situation in my opinion. She's over reacting a little now but that's it. The psychologist will help her more than anything.

Bardue and Ito sorely misjudged Team Wondercute; most of the team didn't need a "reality check", they needed to have their confidence built up. By doing what they did they may have seriously damaged some very promising young ladies.

I don't know about anyone else but I hope that Bardue gets his comeuppance real soon now. Dealing with every student as a over-confident accident waiting to happen was bound to fail and I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner.

I love the topic being addressed, (what happens emotionally when one gets out of control and when what you comes up short). But I had couple of problems with the character thought process in the story. I had a more detailed write up to send, but it sounded mean spirited and I like reading these stories to much send it. Let me just say, Jade was definitely out of character getting caught with all of her persona with her when she was captured and Gunny and Sam were negligent in not preparing for an emotionally broken team when that was their stated objective.

bergy wrote: Bardue and Ito sorely misjudged Team Wondercute; most of the team didn't need a "reality check", they needed to have their confidence built up. By doing what they did they may have seriously damaged some very promising young ladies.

I don't know about anyone else but I hope that Bardue gets his comeuppance real soon now. Dealing with every student as a over-confident accident waiting to happen was bound to fail and I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner.

What's more important, one team suffering physiological trauma when they have access to excellent mental health care or keeping graduates from becoming convinced that the team they are on is unbeatable, until they experience that for real and possibly die?

Wmsmart1 wrote: I love the topic being addressed, (what happens emotionally when one gets out of control and when what you comes up short). But I had couple of problems with the character thought process in the story. I had a more detailed write up to send, but it sounded mean spirited and I like reading these stories to much send it. Let me just say, Jade was definitely out of character getting caught with all of her persona with her when she was captured and Gunny and Sam were negligent in not preparing for an emotionally broken team when that was their stated objective.

I'd actually be interested in seeing this more detailed write-up. I'm not so vain as to think that I couldn't have possibly made any mistakes, so if you have some things you feel are worth pointing out on this I'd be happy to see them. That would help me avoid making similar mistakes next time. Go ahead and PM the write-up to me.

NeoMagus wrote:

Wmsmart1 wrote: I love the topic being addressed, (what happens emotionally when one gets out of control and when what you comes up short). But I had couple of problems with the character thought process in the story. I had a more detailed write up to send, but it sounded mean spirited and I like reading these stories to much send it. Let me just say, Jade was definitely out of character getting caught with all of her persona with her when she was captured and Gunny and Sam were negligent in not preparing for an emotionally broken team when that was their stated objective.

I'd actually be interested in seeing this more detailed write-up. I'm not so vain as to think that I couldn't have possibly made any mistakes, so if you have some things you feel are worth pointing out on this I'd be happy to see them. That would help me avoid making similar mistakes next time. Go ahead and PM the write-up to me.

And me, too, since I had a little part in the insanity (esp the last 2 sections of resolution)

You know what makes this even worse? This was the last combat final for the Freshman/Sophomore week, right? They all have academic finals, come Monday......Or rather, had, I would think.... I sorely hope that Dr. Bellows can at least give them passes on that front.

Why? In the real world, just about the only way to get out of exams is to have a family member die, with death certificate and everything, and have the funeral be on an exam day. Shit, I work for a large national grocery company, want to know how long my official, union backed grief/bereavement leave is? 3 DAYS. This will teach them that, yes you have been through a traumatic experience, yes you do have to deal with that trauma, but the world doesn't stop spinning, time doesn't stop elapsing, so that YOU can deal with your trauma. Deal with what happened at your own pace, but if you can't function enough to go about your day, there are consequences to that. Much as we might wish differently, life doesn't have a pause button.

Kristin Darken wrote: Ah... but WAS Jade caught with all her persona 'in the house'? It is entirely possible that there were two 'glitter' clouds floating around out there in the woods doing recon or returning from recon. Remember, that was the way they decided to cover the very large amount of ground. The glitter clouds would be facing the same problem Lindsey and Pern were. And if they 'found' something, they'd just have dropped their charge and immediately returned to Jade. As is, when they get to the boundary or have covered their territory without finding anything, that's probably what they'd do. And end up dropping right into the trap. Design flaw in the glitter clouds - no comms. She revealed that technique for the first time in her personal final and someone was paying attention, someone who knows enough about Jade to have recognized that the glitter came back to her before she took action using knowledge that she hadn't had before. Without Lily's personal knowledge of Jade, its possible that might have gone unnoticed.

I'm trying to imagine all the little Jade voices if the glitter clouds were given comms... I'm not sure if that is a design flaw, they would start arguing with themselves on a massive level...

After her experience with Tansy, Jade avoids leaving her TK-self exposed between objects unless she is pretty sure that there are no hungry Avatars around. That is, she will use it for attacks... if she knows that the person she is attacking is not an avatar.

So, for reconnaissance, which is by definition "unknown conditions"...? Jamie the SpySpeck yes, cloud of glitter no.

Sir Lee wrote: After her experience with Tansy, Jade avoids leaving her TK-self exposed between objects unless she is pretty sure that there are no hungry Avatars around. That is, she will use it for attacks... if she knows that the person she is attacking is not an avatar.

So, for reconnaissance, which is by definition "unknown conditions"...? Jamie the SpySpeck yes, cloud of glitter no.

After her experience in this sim, I expect Radioactive Condor Girl will make more appearences. Perhaps her annoying little sister Radioactive Conder Todler, and not forgetting Radioactive Condor Stuffed Lion etc until Gunny begs forgiveness at least.

Is the lesson that the rest of the school is going to learn really that 'No team is Unbeatable' or that if you upset Gunny Bardrue he will slap you down hard?

It seems that he's only ever happy dealing with his pupils as if they were soldiers and act with a certain almost military professionalism. Wondercute were obviously too chaotic for him despite their relative success.

A little bit of Overkill? I'd imagine that Mrs Carson might not be 100% pleased with the fallout from this.

I'm watching all of this with a mixture of stunned surprise at some comments and amusement at others. Let me try to clarify points that Neo and I talked about while he was writing and that I tried to catch in the summary.

a) it's a crash. In a crash, it's pretty much anything goes. the point of a crash is a little lesson for the observers as well as for the students. Look how bad the Grunts got creamed in their crash. One of the two teams was supposed to learn a lesson the hard way.

b) it was WELL planned, as Sam pointed out, and Jadis too. StarLeague Jr. was in on the planning to execute the crash - with the probable expectation by Gunny and Sam and Ito that Wondercute would somehow trash the plans and turn the tables on SLJ, in which case it would be a rough lesson for SLJ. SOMEONE was going to get a lesson.

c) SLJ's parents wanted them to get a little surprise in the finals. That heavily implies that, the way it was set up, Gunny and Ito expected WC to surprise SLJ.

d) it was a CAPTURE mission, which was a lesson in itself. The planning was all about capture without lethal force.

e) up to that point, WC had been taken the sims the same way Team Kimba did - an exercise and nothing to get worked up about. There was no reason to believe this would be any different.

f) It was only when Phoenixfire accidentally injured Misty that things went south. This was not something that could be planned or anticipated, although no doubt Ito and Bardue knew that something like this COULD happen. It did, and from that point on, all the planning and lessons and such from Ito and Bardue and everyone else was out the window, including any contingency plans Ito and Bardue and SLJ may have made. Which, given his experience, Bardue WOULD have insisted be made.

You all have NO IDEA what happened in the debrief. Since it was the last final of the week, and since WC looked so shell-shocked (in fact, SLJ did, too), it is highly probable that, off-screen, Ito and Bardue DID counsel them (like Bardue did to Ayla when he was in the Dark Phoenix sim), and thought they were okay. In point of fact, the teams were still in such a state of shock at what had happened - and their own actions / reactions - that the instructors missed how badly they were impacted.

The instructors and school DID make arrangements - relatively quickly - to get the groups counseling once it was noted how deeply they were affected. It has to be noted that Lindsay ran away, and people were looking for her to get her to counseling, and Lily wasn't exactly running around in public. They sought them and found them and got them to counseling; in Lily's case with some additional explanation.

Negligent? No. It's no worse than some of what was done in Team Tactics. Deliberate humiliate WC? No. Surprise them and make them think a little more about tactics? Yes - but no more than they do to other teams! They do have an obligation to try to prepare students for an unfriendly world, and everyone (including the cadre) know that such lessons can be tough.

Remember what Sam and Bardue said - they NEED a team like Wondercute to keep the others on their toes, but that implies heavily that they need to also find a way to keep Wondercute on THEIR toes. They most definitely were NOT trying to destroy the team. If Wondercute was THAT big a problem, the administration could have simply broken them up.

WOG about negligence and the thinking behind the crash.

Great reply from Elrodw. The thoughts you put into the reply from f. to the end of it would take the story to the next level. It is a great discussion of what the Whatley staff has to think about and how they are affected by these teenagers that they are trying to give life skills.

Finished reading this this morning and thought "Well.... this may come back to bite them all in the ass." along with a character question about Dredz I'm posting else where.

great story. I got most of what the Sim team was going for before it got spelled out and... yeah. rough lessons all around.

-cocks head-

So is Pern Gold or Green or can s/he change colors and gender at will? Cause, while there is nothing saying DR is manifesting Pern strictly based on the Dragoneriders novels descriptions of said dragons, and it could have been a typo; but Green and Gold are the female only colors, bronze, brown and blue are the male ones.

-cocks head again- And I am very tempted to dig out my Dragon Lover's Guide to Pern to see where Pern fits in the official DRN size line up.

Cryptic wrote: -cocks head again- And I am very tempted to dig out my Dragon Lover's Guide to Pern to see where Pern fits in the official DRN size line up.

Well, since Pern is the name of the planet, and not any of the Dragons, and a 'Dragon' that sits on your shoulder is a Fire Lizard and not a dragon, not to mention 'Green' is the colour of the smallest and least idolised Dragons (with Gold and Bronze being by far the most idolised, and incidentally, the most written about in the stories as practically only the Gold and Bronze dragonriders get serious page time), I'm thinking Lindsey isn't too caught up in the details of the Dragonriders series.

Pern is a female (if that even means anything for a manifested construct). Lindsey refers to Pern as "She" over in "Dragon Queen".

Furthermore, Pern can grow from cat-sized to... well, something about the size of a Quetzalcoatlus northropi. Why couldn't she also change colors?

I'm posting first. I'll go back and read the thread afterward.

Good story. I had only one issue. The POV where Misty goes a little bonkers doesn't convey what's really going on. If the POV had switched to Anna at that point it might have been clearer why Anna intervened. Too much RPGing for me, I guess, as I firmly believe in the keep kicking 'em until the stop moving or plausibly surrender method of curb stomping the enemy.

Also, why did Anna have to be gassed? Couldn't she just quit the sim for the same effect?

I was also bothered by the "knockout gas" itself. It must be some new deviser knockout gas even though it is described exactly like chloroform. Chloroform is dangerous and I doubt the Star League would let Psymon run around with it.

Jade's capture doesn't make sense. Didn't she have a Jinn or two out and about? Why didn't they do anything in the scenario after her capture?

Off to find all my questions already answered in the posts I didn't read yet...

Catching up on the story and comments, I was going to elaborate on how everything went FUBAR and that Gunny and Ito (despite their reputation) aren't that sadistic and evil.

But Elrod beat me to the punch.

It was a crash. A notoriously difficult combat final meant to demonstrate a point and/or teach a lesson to at least some of those involved, if not the entire school as well. Going into the story, I didn't have much of an idea as to what would occur other than the above. Like many, I didn't expect it to get quite that serious and problematic across the board, but I feel it was handled well, and Neomagus did a good job detailing the events and repercussions well, while keeping the characters consistent and illustrating how the outcome differed from the intended lesson inherent in the match.

My only addendum would be that while a number of Wondercute are yet lacking in self-confidence, those at Whateley in charge of the sims and combat finals do what they can to nip winning streaks in the bud. They weren't trying to destroy confidence or knock the arrogant down a peg or two, but to hammer home that sooner or later you will lose, and that it's a very dangerous world and occupation. Trying to engender caution and gravity to these important situations is their goal, and sometimes the actions of doing so have repercussions, as seen in this crash.

Elrodw, I was with you up until you point out we didn't see the after action talk. We yeah, we wanted to see it. How did Lindsey get away from that table without getting hugs all around from WC? Did she skip out on the talk? We don't know.

Regardless, I'm now also thinking it should have been Jade talking sense into Lindsey. Yeah, Jadis is her friend. But Jade could find her with Jinn/Jann/Junn just as quickly as Jadis. And that conversation would sink in better coming from a teammate.

Still, good story. Can't wait for what it leads to...

jmhyp wrote: I'm posting first. I'll go back and read the thread afterward.

Good story. I had only one issue. The POV where Misty goes a little bonkers doesn't convey what's really going on. If the POV had switched to Anna at that point it might have been clearer why Anna intervened. Too much RPGing for me, I guess, as I firmly believe in the keep kicking 'em until the stop moving or plausibly surrender method of curb stomping the enemy.

Also, why did Anna have to be gassed? Couldn't she just quit the sim for the same effect?

I was also bothered by the "knockout gas" itself. It must be some new deviser knockout gas even though it is described exactly like chloroform. Chloroform is dangerous and I doubt the Star League would let Psymon run around with it.

Jade's capture doesn't make sense. Didn't she have a Jinn or two out and about? Why didn't they do anything in the scenario after her capture?

Off to find all my questions already answered in the posts I didn't read yet...

Jade didn't have Jinn, remember that this is the Sims version of her powers, otherwise known as what's on her MID

The Sim version of her powers is even stronger then her own. In the sims she keeps mental contact with her Jinns at all times, they don't need to "come home" for her to communicate with them.

There is the fact though that Jade in particular, and Team Kimba as a group, are trying to downplay their powers/skills. Jade may have decided to "take a dive" rather then try and single handedly go for the win and reveal skills she doesn't want others to know to no purpose once the majority of her team was down.

This was a Sim battle, not life and death. Team Kimba are intimately familiar with the difference, and also how bad it gets in real life when all your powers are known. They are going to keep as many of their powers and holdouts as unknown as they can.

Also, there's not much Jade could have done. Even if she had a Kitty Compact out, she couldn't have found Wallflower or caught Psymod. And even if she could, single-handedly turning the scenario around wouldn't have helped Wondercute's emotional well-being much anyways.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: Also, there's not much Jade could have done. Even if she had a Kitty Compact out, she couldn't have found Wallflower or caught Psymod. And even if she could, single-handedly turning the scenario around wouldn't have helped Wondercute's emotional well-being much anyways.

If anything, it would have worsened it, if the rest of the team goes down and Jade doesn't, and manages to turn the scenario around, than it lets the team think that Jade carries the rest of them, destroying their self esteem.

I must say that Neo did a remarkable job. When Elrod asked me what I thought the outcome of a match between wonder cute and star league Junior would be I answered it should be a complete blowout. Not even close; as in Mike Tyson versus Michael Spinks ninety-one seconds blink and you miss it, over in the first round complete blowout.

There was this long silence in the chat before Elrod asked me if I really thought SLJ had no chance against wonder cute. To which I laughed and said I thought SLJ should be the one blowing out wonder cute. I explained my reasons, most of which I won't go into here, but the real core of why this took place can best be summed up as teamwork. At this point in their lives, SLJ has been working together as a team for about three years. They know where the powers best overlap they know where their weaknesses are in the know how to apply them against others.

Wonder cute? Well they're lucky, and while they have some powerful members they relied strictly on their luck to get where they are. That was the lesson Gunny was trying to teach. Eventually your luck runs out, and usually it will be when you're up against a really good team.

Neo took this sparse sketch of an idea and turned in a magnificent story.

E. E. Nalley wrote: I must say that Neo did a remarkable job.
....
Neo took this sparse sketch of an idea and turned in a magnificent story.

And then, after all the combat bits were over, Neo asked me if I had any ideas how to end it. So he wrote the fun bits, and I had to figure out how to write the tough denouement bits. And then Bek worried about how we were treating Lindsay and Misty. And ...

Eventually, ideas started to come together, so I tacked them on, and it all sort of came together. So if you don't like the ending, it's my fault, not Neo's.

And pursuant to a comment in the story comments section, it looks like I'll have to at least talk about the aftermath when Jade goes to France, if not write a vignette.
What have I gotten myself into?

elrodw wrote:

E. E. Nalley wrote: I must say that Neo did a remarkable job.
....
Neo took this sparse sketch of an idea and turned in a magnificent story.

And then, after all the combat bits were over, Neo asked me if I had any ideas how to end it. So he wrote the fun bits, and I had to figure out how to write the tough denouement bits. And then Bek worried about how we were treating Lindsay and Misty. And ...

Eventually, ideas started to come together, so I tacked them on, and it all sort of came together. So if you don't like the ending, it's my fault, not Neo's.

And pursuant to a comment in the story comments section, it looks like I'll have to at least talk about the aftermath when Jade goes to France, if not write a vignette.
What have I gotten myself into?

You wanted to join the TINCC!

elrodw wrote:
And pursuant to a comment in the story comments section, it looks like I'll have to at least talk about the aftermath when Jade goes to France, if not write a vignette.
What have I gotten myself into?

Well if you want I could write it.
It would involve teddy bears, ice cream and Disney Fairy movies, as Wondercute plans a series of pranks on their enemies of all things cute to regain their lost honour.
Then it's a storm of glitter, and pink fuzzy unicorns.

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote:
And pursuant to a comment in the story comments section, it looks like I'll have to at least talk about the aftermath when Jade goes to France, if not write a vignette.
What have I gotten myself into?

Well if you want I could write it.
It would involve teddy bears, ice cream and Disney Fairy movies, as Wondercute plans a series of pranks on their enemies of all things cute to regain their lost honour.
Then it's a storm of glitter, and pink fuzzy unicorns.

The question is whom is the enemy? Star League Jr.? Gunny? Sam? Hekate? Solange? Jericho?

Valentine wrote:

Domoviye wrote:

elrodw wrote:
And pursuant to a comment in the story comments section, it looks like I'll have to at least talk about the aftermath when Jade goes to France, if not write a vignette.
What have I gotten myself into?

Well if you want I could write it.
It would involve teddy bears, ice cream and Disney Fairy movies, as Wondercute plans a series of pranks on their enemies of all things cute to regain their lost honour.
Then it's a storm of glitter, and pink fuzzy unicorns.

The question is whom is the enemy? Star League Jr.? Gunny? Sam? Hekate? Solange? Jericho?

The SLJ is off limits as it happened in the sim.
Jericho, Bardue, and the various bullies on the other hand all need some pink in their lives.

Domoviye wrote:

Valentine wrote:

Domoviye wrote: Well if you want I could write it.
It would involve teddy bears, ice cream and Disney Fairy movies, as Wondercute plans a series of pranks on their enemies of all things cute to regain their lost honour.
Then it's a storm of glitter, and pink fuzzy unicorns.

The question is whom is the enemy? Star League Jr.? Gunny? Sam? Hekate? Solange? Jericho?

The SLJ is off limits as it happened in the sim.
Jericho, Bardue, and the various bullies on the other hand all need some pink in their lives.

The Summoner summons a rainbow-colored unicorn, while, with some outside help, a spell is cast on Gunny such that no matter what he puts on, it turns pink. Really pink. Unbelievably pink. And ribbons appear in his hair. And the unicorn follows him everywhere, and he can't get rid of it, even if he tries to shoot it.

elrodw wrote: The Summoner summons a rainbow-colored unicorn

I'm not sure - I think Flufflepuff might be more apt.

Ametros wrote:

elrodw wrote: The Summoner summons a rainbow-colored unicorn

I'm not sure - I think Flufflepuff might be more apt.

Oh Sweet Kellith... I can hear Misty's squeal of delight.

Cryptic wrote:

Ametros wrote:

elrodw wrote: The Summoner summons a rainbow-colored unicorn

I'm not sure - I think Flufflepuff might be more apt.

Oh Sweet Kellith... I can hear Misty's squeal of delight.

The mental image has my ears ringing still, do not want to encounter that for real.

I think I did a micro scene with Bardue in Doyle, everyone said I was cruel and what had he done to deserve that?

I submitted Jade needs to do it to him for real this time.

For Ito, I wonder how well he would do the normal "defeat the PK superman" routine if Jade cast Jinn into his skin and levitated him 1inch of the ground so he had no stance for the fight?

Actually the bit I don't like, is that these blowouts all seem to be protagonist specifically targeting the team being crushed.

To bring the three that really stick out to mind.

Grunts vs Kimba's. Kimba's got blind sided by a team prepped against them specifically.

Sara vs Grunts. Pretty much the same. Though from memory it sounded like this match up then continued to happen until the Grunts learned a lesson

SLJ vs Wondercute.

I can't think of a real smack down loss for any team that wasn't targeted like this.

I'm sure they happen. Hell, such specific targeting will happen to any team in real life.

But we keep seeing the same sort.

I suppose it's just a style thing.

Oh, the teacher with the whip vs Kimba's, gain she specifically targeted her.

The Indian's and the deer hunt that got interupted by the bears (Kodiak and Loophole)

I think we're just seeing the same setup too often.

Part of the reason for that is that to a certain extent you need a highly prepped and targeted opponent to deal with the really high power teams. When one team is significantly more powerful than the other, then if you want to beat down the powerful team you need to give the weaker team a heavy set of force multipliers.

The teachers tend to lean on the information differential as a big force multiplier. That's a bit of a crutch, but on the other hand, knowing nothing about your opponents is fairly common in the real world, and if students start to associate "I don't have enough information" with "this is extremely dangerous, and probably a trap", I can't help but feel that the teachers have done their job well. If they're dealing with this sort of thing on a regular basis, a bit of healthy paranoia won't hurt them.

If Superheros and Supervillians really existed then the Superheros would always be facing this type of scenario.

Superheros have a defined area they work in, they are fairly predicable in how they operate (they need to be in order to "do the job"). There would be lots and lots of information, videos, commentary, discussions of their powers and tactics and weaknesses. Any sane villain pulling a job in a Supergroups territory would have a well prepared and targeted strategy to deal with the heroes.

And the Supervillian gets to choose the time of the battle

And the Supervillian gets to choose the participants in the battler (at least for their side)

And the Supervillian gets to choose the place of the battle

Ans the Supervillian gets to set traps for the Heros.

Tell me exactly how what happened to Wondercute isn't what is going to kill every Superhero eventually when a well funded, functioning, thinking villain eventual wants something in the area they protect?

And the longer a Superhero "was in the business" the more about their powers and weakness would be public knowledge, the more danger they would be in. After all, in a fight their opponent only has to get lucky once to expose one of their weaknesses. If after that the Heros wins, it doesn't matter. That weakness is now public knowledge, after that everyone they face will be deliberately targeting that weakness, so the longer they stay in the business, the worse and worse the odds get for them as more and more weakness are exposed and deliberately targeted.

And the point gets missed.
it's not that it happens, but for us the readership it's being used too often.

No villan properly prepared against several groups unsure of exactly who will turn up.
no well equipped base ( well maybe the one but that generated a defeat not a smackdown)
Etc.

The smackdowns happen from the same setup.

annachie wrote: I can't think of a real smack down loss for any team that wasn't targeted like this.

Sam vs. Everyone (the Radioactive Condor sim) Everyone loses that one.


While not paranormal teams...

The base that Jade and Billie destroyed and the base that Jade and Nikki destroyed.

Well, I was specifically talking simulator. I'd also forgotten Mimeo.

As for the sim that was beaten by Radioactive Condor Girl,if memory serves that was merely a loss, not a smackdown type loss.

As I said, annoying. But something that is hard to avoid.

For Team Kimba it was a smackdown, I think their survival times where measured in seconds, maybe as long as a minute or two for some of them. Caitlin absolutely destroyed them.

RadioActive Condor Girl was "Round 2" for Team Kimba and that scenario.

annachie wrote: Well, I was specifically talking simulator. I'd also forgotten Mimeo.

As for the sim that was beaten by Radioactive Condor Girl,if memory serves that was merely a loss, not a smackdown type loss.

As I said, annoying. But something that is hard to avoid.

4 dead, Hank was busted up, Jinn can't be killed, and killing Billie or Jade takes a lot of focus. That's a smackdown, considering they didn't even come close to winning.

I think wondercute will survive and be all the more devastating. Some important weaknesses in thier defences have been shown and can now be addessed. PFGs Bunny needs one and the others could use such. Leaving a Generator special back as a bodyguard. Team WC is very mobile. Some hold outs that hamper their opponents mobility would be a good force multiplier.
The crash was successful for both teams. It put enough pressure on each that they will learn. Not just battle tactics but how to survive as a team when it all goes south. Also swords really do damage when they connect also BFGs! Expect escalation!

As a team, they could definitely benefit from having a solid brick in their roster. I know it's popular among us readers that Ribbon might be such, but I guess it depends on whether she can stomach it. She's playing up the cute factor a fair bit already, but Wondercute is on a completely different level.

Or were. It might be that after this event the team becomes more serious. Maybe doing away with flourishes such as the “WONDERCUTE POWERS, ACTIVATE!!!” that so grated Lindsay?

I think that you're forgetting that they already have two bricks - Rythax and Pern. The problem was that Rythax is tied to Molly, which gives him an exploitable vulnerability, and Pern was deliberately isolated. But the team does have heavy hitters. Ribbon would not be a bad addition, though.

While using the Sims for a crash is somewhat unusual, this is of course far from the only time they've been used in a scenario deliberately designed to deliver a smackdown to a team - and while the circumstances are usually exceedingly improbable, there are still some learning points the teams can take away from it.

The examples that spring to mind are:
TK in the "stop the evil guy in a castle launching a missile within half an hour" scenario, where overwhelming use of force even "killed" Billie via hitting her faster than she could regenerate.
TK vs The Grunts, Round 1 - half the team taken out by a bomb while they were still evaluating their position.
The Grunts vs Sara in the "Alien" sim.

Interestingly, while these Sims were designed with a specific team in mind, I'd hazard a guess that most teams would struggle to achieve a "win" condition. Meanwhile, as a few others have stated, Jade's likely to be the glue to help bring the team back together as she's had experience of similar kinds of Sims before.

As for tactical learning points from this particular sim, the clearing was the obvious trap location, so perhaps rather than having members walk into the middle, have one member call out as negotiator from the edge (after all, since there didn't appear to be any kidnappers around and the hostages didn't look bound, what was keeping them in place?) while the remainder provide 360°x180° backup. Also, following on from Lindsay's observations, the remainder of the team learning to recognise when a situation's unrecoverable so making the best option to scram asap.

Arcanist Lupus wrote: I think that you're forgetting that they already have two bricks - Rythax and Pern. The problem was that Rythax is tied to Molly, which gives him an exploitable vulnerability, and Pern was deliberately isolated. But the team does have heavy hitters. Ribbon would not be a bad addition, though.

They may have brickish durability however they need someone who can do more than take a hit, 30lbs thrown by an exemplar 6 of a matterial that I if I am right on what it is (a certain material used in safes to protect against warpers and mages) can be very effective and Ribbon's cloth can obscure their positions.

Okay, I know I'm late to the party on this and as I was reading some of the comments I had to stop. Why we have our own input on what we think or feel about the subject. For some I would have come down hammer time on what the physiological effect was given.

But that's for a different discussion and not here.

One of the things I need to point out first and foremost is that I don't have all the background on what each and every character is by their background story. For some of us, as we read this we are not 'followers' of all the stories and if I were to read each and everyone, I would still be lost on their characters as many of us are not blessed on remembering such details.

So for me each and every story is a new view of those I hear about. To learn more of who that character is developing into. With that out of the way.

One I found each and every person that I was reading about believable. The image I started off with is a group of kids who have been working together as a team and from what I've been given is that this is not a team that can be trifled with. Going into the sim they are 0-12 (figuratively) and have never faced a loss.

Now they are given a monumental task of finding a group of lost kids within a short period of time. Even with the time limit this is a momentous task for anyone who has ever gone out even on foot, trying to find people in even the best of conditions takes days not hours. So the formulated a plan and split up keeping in contact as they search a 10x10 mile radius.

Problem one: This breaks the team up in so many profound ways and it seems that a few of them sense that but fail to speak up about it. That is the beginning as they have to find a foe and lost.

Each come to the understanding that they are setup but how. None are sure. And this is the most realistic problem that any team has to face. The unknown. So they do the best they can and as one searches the team is separated by miles. A few can cut that distance down in seconds whereas for others it can take precious minutes if things go south and that is what the scenario is. To go south no matter how well thought out you as the hero think.

For that is what the simulators is meant to be. A test of ones ability to work in adverse conditions either by yourself or as a team. And for them, they went in with blinders on. The blinder being their never having failed and so they have egos swelled that have never been pierced. No let downs, no failures. Nothing but success.

Now they face a set of adversaries that knows their very moves as they have one that can read their minds and relay it back to their team.

Wondercute finds this out to late as their members are taken out quickly in some respects, leaving one member alone.

But that's not where things really go south. It happens to both teams. One tasked to bring the other down. Neither teams are villains. One team is tasked to take down the other and they are doing what they as normal people would do. Unless you are a true and vile person a 'hero' can only play at what it means to be evil. That is unless you really want to become one.

And as they each go through the motions, the unexpected happens. A team member uses something that the bad guys had not expected and in the process they 'injure' one on the good side who has 'never' been subjected to such an act. A very powerful one it seems also and in that moment it not only goes south for the hero's it goes south for 'villains' also.

In the course of the unexpected an injury that none expected happened. A girl who had always kept her cool suddenly found herself without the use of her limb. From the reaction from both parties this was not expected. The intent was not to cause bodily harm but to subdue the other in what they considered a 'friendly' fight. That didn't happen when the realization when one finds out how 'real' the fight can be.

For all of them. Some didn't know what happened where one ended up having to subdue her own teammate as she went into 'shock' and for what some don't know is the reaction that takes place. She basically snapped and in so doing (like in any real world situation) she reacted.

If any have ever played in the sandbox being the OPFOR in a military exercise there are rules in place so that neither side goes beyond the scope of what is expected to protect others from injury. Yes they all can do the unexpected but within limitations to keep some form of realism.

Now in the sims its gloves off time. You can't be injured and that's what the instructors have setup but I'm sure within limitations. You can guess all you want on what to expect but when the unexpected happens you have to pick up the pieces and put them back together. And so to it is with both teams.

So when the enemy saw the results of his action he too was shocked. That wasn't suppose to happen.

Got news folks. It happens in the real world no matter how well prepared you are. Injuries happen even in controlled environments. People get hurt and when you play cops and robbers don't expect the robbers to say timeout.

Missy basically flipped out and given her power she went after the cause of her injury in the most serious manner. What if Jobe were to flip out, or Sara? Or any superpowered individual in real life. No longer is your friend your friend they have now to become the enemy as they have lost touch with reality.

This scenario brought out that fact in the most unintentional way. Teams that work together have to know that they may have to do it no matter how wrenching it is.

But in the process of taking out Missy the team members found out too late what the real mission was and in so doing she had to face the reality of taking down a friend. It hurts.

But Lindsay didn't know this. She came in at the tale end of it seeing both enemy and friend working together, no knowing what had happened and it scared her and she knew that the situation had changed. Her team was captured, taken out and she was lost.

Not many knows what goes inside of someones head at the time when they hit that. What do you do. And that was what was the whole point. What do you do? In Lindsay's case she fled. None could get back to her to tell her to get more help and for that she deemed herself a coward for doing so. Yes it was the right thing to do but she did it for the wrong reason in her eyes. She didn't have time to think.

For another leader of a team it came down to the harsh reality also. There is a time to flee and regroup in the times of adversity. This is what those senarios were designed to do. To get you to think about the overall effect and what it does to a person.

Its a harsh reality to learn. For some growing up they may never come across where someone pulls out a gun on them or their friends. None never know the loss of a loved one except later in life.

For others they see it more than they care to and have been hardened. Perhaps to hardened as they suppress their own feelings making them cold on the inside.

To have that experience for the first time is a shock all around. It can tear teammates apart, restructure them to where a team functions but not wanting to care about the ones for fear of getting close to one only to lose them.

So some had stated that they went to harsh on it. But that's what Gunny and the other instructors are there to do. Bring reality to those that never would have witnessed it. Even if it is fake. Only this time it came earlier than expected. They wanted to teach humility in that nobody wins all the time.

The results of the crash was not what I'm sure they fully wanted at such an early stage. Two teams were effected not just one.

Many may consider Gunny sadistic, but I can tell you from experience and what we are now seeing on TV he's there to strip away the safety cushion that many have lived under.

There is no tags, or timeouts. Life can be harsh and that's his job to teach. He's nowhere near what a true sadist would be willing to do. He can only go so far else I'm sure he wouldn't be there. To push them to where they think about the results of their actions, be it success or failure.

Now two teams have to come to grips with those actions. Some will feel hurt others may feel justified, but overall each have earned a bit of metal in the most harshest of ways. Its only up to them how they treat it.


Edit: I had stopped at a point well before I had read Elrod's explanation All of this is mine as I don't want others to think I was influenced by what others have written.

Phoenix Spiritus wrote:

Cryptic wrote: -cocks head again- And I am very tempted to dig out my Dragon Lover's Guide to Pern to see where Pern fits in the official DRN size line up.

Well, since Pern is the name of the planet, and not any of the Dragons, and a 'Dragon' that sits on your shoulder is a Fire Lizard and not a dragon, not to mention 'Green' is the colour of the smallest and least idolised Dragons (with Gold and Bronze being by far the most idolised, and incidentally, the most written about in the stories as practically only the Gold and Bronze dragonriders get serious page time), I'm thinking Lindsey isn't too caught up in the details of the Dragonriders series.

I'll take the White Dragon please.

Ruth is unique. There is only one white dragon.

Hence why I want it. I want it, I want it, I want it and I want it now Daddy.