Donovan took a deep breath before continuing. Honesty was probably the best way to go about it, but he could not be particularly enthusiastic.

"As I am sure you are aware, we qualify as 'Significantly Behind' in practically every category of measurement. We haven't had the opportunity to train together, work together, learn together, compete together. We lack reputation, experience, and backing. Your commanding officer, that being myself, is unfamiliar with the tactics commonly used on the battlefield. There is a very real chance that we will not find success for quite some time as we work to bring ourselves to the level of our adversaries, our competitors."

The three of them either looked down in shame or bit their lips at this information. Until only recently, they were the dregs of the enrolled, cast aside due to unsatisfactory performance in some way. Were it not for their stubbornness, their adamant belief that they had an opportunity, they wouldn't be here. There was relief in that, but there was little doubt their work had only just started.

"To that end, we, yes we, will undertake a harsh training regimen. We will wake up before dawn, and work until after dusk. For the first few days of conditioning you may expect to have limited free time. I need to familiarize with your capabilities, and more importantly your limits. I do not know how diligent other squads are with their training, or even if they train, but you can rest assured I will push you harder than they could ever.

Your training regimen will cover every field that I have experience in. Physical conditioning will be the primary focus of course, however I have plans to educate you in other fields. Tactics will be among the subjects I have in mind, but mathematics will also be included. Personally, I am quite fond of numbers, and I firmly believe they will be of assistance to you in your future. Additionally, I may teach you how to speak the language of my people should I deem it a tactical advantage. Do any of you find the concept of communication without the use of split foreign?"

Two heads started nodding.

"Unsurprising, but it is that very foreign element that presents an advantage should you learn to speak it. I won't go into the details at the moment, but I am certain you can surmise the benefits of our opponents not being able to understand our conversations. Regardless, your every waking moment will be spent trying to improve your combat ability in some way. Are there any questions?"

"Will we be granted leave to compete?" Wall was the one who asked the question, a man who clearly had priorities.

"I have no issue with it. I would even go so far as to encourage you three to compete. Naturally such a sentiment extends to you as well Titanyana. Doing so will provide all of us with the chance to grow, you will gain direct combat experience and I will become more accustomed to your style of fighting."

"Thank you sir."

Donovan nodded stoically. Was he passing off as a composed officer? He didn't want to dwell on it but he couldn't help it.

"How long will this regimen go on for?" Len seemed nervous, not surprising if he was as young as Donovan thought he was. "I don't mean to sound insubordinate, but there are things I need to do here aside from my obligations to the squad."

"I don't know yet. You may feel safe in assuming at least a week of nonstop work starting tomorrow, perhaps a few more, but I will give you rest days during which you may do as you please. Once we have a set pace, I plan to give you five days on two days off in keeping with my people's traditional work week. I may adjust this schedule so that they are not together. If you have an upcoming event that is absolutely vital to your goals, we can talk about it. I am not a heartless tyrant, at least not yet."

That quip got a chuckle out of Wall.

"Thank you Sergeant."

"Any further questions?" A few seconds of silence was all he needed. "Then I will continue. I have not called you down here in your full combat equipment in order to look at you. I wish for you to demonstrate your ability. To that end I will have you partake in a short spar with Titanyana so that I may get an idea of how you would fight for real. If you have any concerns or wish to demonstrate abilities that do not lend themselves well to a fight with her I will help set up targets. Do any of you have objections?"

"""None sir!"""

"Very well. Wall, you're up first."

- - - - -

It took a few minutes for the courtyard to be cleared. Titanyana, Wall, and Sanna were quite adamant that nothing easily moved or broken should be left out in the midst of a full fight. It took a few more minutes for Titanyana and Wall to warm up. By the time they were ready to fight, fifteen or so minutes had passed.

"Titanyana, I would like you to scale your use of Split to Wall's ability, I will learn nothing from a fight where one side doesn't stand a chance. Wall, I hope you will not take offense to that."

The now fully armored human wall shook his head with a grunt. Donovan decided to interpret this as him not having taken any offense. 

"I would like you to make the first strike Wall, more so that Titanyana can better adjust to you level." Wall moved closer, getting in a position to strike, holding his two handed battle axe with a single armored fist. "Titanyana, try not to damage his armor if you can help it. Now, if you are ready, the duel will start on my mark. Ready? Set? Mark!"

Wall, slowly, drew back his axe before suddenly and violently swinging it down at a diagonal. There was no doubt in Donovan's mind that he was using split to do this, there was no way to get the axe going that fast without it. By the time it struck the dirt, Titanyana was already to the side, hiding in the shadow of his shield.

Whether or not this was intentional was something Donovan could not immediately determine. Sure, it was a smart move, something that she had even said was a detriment of shields, but the nature of the towering shield that Wall used meant that there wasn't an opening to strike. That was unless. . .

"Don't break the shield!"

Donovan only had a moment to react, in the instant after she settled into a stance, while Wall was still recovering his axe into a position it could be swung from, he could 'see' a build up of split in Titanyana's legs and core. He had remembered this stance somewhere, and had called out on instinct.

To his untrained eyes, it looked like the tip of her sword screeched to a halt before turning sideways and striking the shield at the same speed it was going before. A tremendous ringing echoed through the courtyard as Titanyana twirled around to Wall's back, her tail flailing around, seemingly at random.

From there, the fight began in earnest. Wall swung his axe backward, followed by a thrust with his shield to drive her away. Titanyana jumped to avoid the low sweep, and kicked off of the shield face to gain some space.

Titanyana's forte was speed, Wall's was defense. Although he didn't know it, he had put the two of them in the worst scenario for their respective combat styles.

Wall required an opponent of comparable speed to land attacks. He had overwhelming power, one strike could probably debilitate someone if they blocked with their weapon, but his limited sight range and heavy equipment gave his opponent's quite a bit of time to react. Titanyana in particular was the worst possible type of opponent for him. She was small, making it hard to see and hit her to begin with, and her extreme speed meant she could reliably keep in his blind spots. It also meant that she could disengage beyond his weapon range whenever she pleased and he would not be able to catch her.

Titanyana, on the other hand, was extremely dependent on high intensity strikes in small bursts to deal damage. Without the option to pierce armor and limited to a lower level of split, her options for dealing damage were extremely limited. Landing a knock out blow would be nigh impossible. Her low intensity strikes were not enough to concuss him through his armor, and without any vitals to easily attack she had no way of simulating a death blow. She couldn't even trade a blow under these circumstances, something she considered a last resort in this sort of scenario.

As the clash of metal on metal and boots on dirt continued, the two settled into the understanding that there was no winning for either of them. This was very clearly an opportunity for Wall to show his potential, and Titanyana to demonstrate his weaknesses. Donovan understood this, he wanted this, and he was beginning to understand a great deal about his lesson earlier today.

It was vague, but Donovan could see the 'block, step, lunge, retreat' pattern in both of their movements. There were certainly variations, Titanyana performing multiple strikes before retreating and Wall occasionally making an immediate strike after blocking instead of correcting his stance to do so. There was something off about it though.

The dance, it seemed, was slightly out of sync. Titanyana looked to be ever so slightly ahead of Wall in terms of the dance steps and catching up fast. Wall was sometimes receiving a strike while in the middle of retreating, ever so slightly throwing him off balance. This imbalance only grew with time, eventually reaching a critical point.

Titanyana, seeing a moment of opportunity, caught him in the beginning motions of drawing a foot back in retreat. Like a flash of lighting she made three light thrusts along his side before spinning around him and smacking his foot from beneath him with the flat side of her sword. All at once he lost balance, what was likely a few hundred pounds of thick metal plating making a deathly rattle as the person inside of it fell backwards.

One impact and a pained groan later, Titanyana was standing on his chest (the size disparity was that large) with her sword pointed at an opening in his armor near his throat.

"I concede." Wall was not arrogant, at least not when placed in a situation where it was clear he had lost. Donovan didn't know what he could see through the slits in his helmet, but a blade was probably one of them.

"Do you require help getting up?"

"No, I got it. Would you mind getting off my chest miss?" She jumped off of his chest to some applause. Len, who had been watching intently, seemed incredibly impressed.

Wall on the other hand was groaning as he pulled his helmet off. He was absolutely drenched in sweat had a bit of blood coming from his nose. Some of the blows on his head were likely the cause of that particular injury.

"Good match!" Once up and dusted off, he extended a metal hand towards the victor, an exemplar of good sportsmanship. Titanyana had some reservation at first, but shook his hand after seeing his smile.

"I think that match was very informative for me. Thank you, Wall, for the demonstration. I think I've finally grasped a few concepts from the pacing and flow of your spar that I couldn't quite see before."

"My pleasure sir! I had fun."

"Is that so? Titanyana, how do you feel?" He wanted to know her condition so he could compare it to her future spars.

"Aside from a slight numbness in my hands, fine." She wasn't breathing heavy despite her incredibly rapid movement, so Donovan was inclined to believe her.

"What were your thoughts on Wall's capabilities? My impressions are one thing, but the words of the most expert person and the one who experienced fighting against him will hold a different weight."

"My impressions? Hmm. Well, I will say that I still believe that armor and shields are not as effective, they do seem to suit him quite well. I feel my opinion of that method of combat has risen, especially after having been restricted to a level where I can't properly penetrate it. At the same time, I think I've understood its limits. That being said, it might be the best style of combat being given his size and physical strength. Should we develop proper methods to account for his weaknesses he could be a threatening force on the battlefield, especially against slower enemies and those not strong enough to harm him."

"What would you suggest?"

"Improving sight lanes for one. Not to drag you through the mud but it was way too easy to stay within your blind spots. Removing some spars on your helmet's face guard might help with that, as well as shortening your overall shield height. You honestly don't need it to reach the ground in order protect your feet."

"Anything else?"

"Speed. He needs to be faster in both response times and movement if he is going to fight effectively."

"Fortunately, it seems like those are both things we can work on. Wall, do you have any ideas?"

"No. Lady Tanya's concerns are already known to me, and I have been working to remedy them. Remodeling my armor and shield is a bit costly, you see, so I haven't been able to do that." He had begun to unfasten his armor in spots, a stench of sweat and blood assaulting Donovan's nose.

"All the more reason to focus on them. I will start thinking of ways to use you in a group fight. You may wash yourself or stay to watch the rest if you please." Donovan wanted to place an emphasis on hygiene, more because he didn't want his residence smelling like man ass. There wasn't an air filter like there was on the Noah.

"I think I'll watch the others, they watched me."