Penthesilea
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Warrior Queen, DarkLady, Phoenix, Ghostbuster
Posts: 47422
Location: The Castle.....
Joined: Jun 21 st, 2006
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Re: Penthesilea's Castle... posts 3000 to 3199
Reply #156 - Jun 15th, 2007 at 1:46am
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#3180 Rewritten by Penthesilea
After the opening volley in the mess hall, things got interesting. Kodiak’s squad mates knew that he was one of the feared and renowned Darklords. The mark was clearly visible on his right forearm after all! Consequently, they all agreed that it was only right and proper that he be tested thoroughly. While the other newcomers to the training camp got off fairly easily, Kodiak’s squad started off the the standard collapsing bed and short sheeting and then moved on to more elaborate pranks, going so far as to enlist members of other squads to help them. For his part, Kodiak quickly found out who the ringleaders were and began giving as good as he got while avoiding as many of their pranks as he could. Having excellent vision generally and extraordinary night vision, as well has having been on the lookout for boobytraps in more life and death situations that he cared to think about, Kodiak was at a distinct advantage. And, of course, any attempts to pull a prank while in unarmed combat practice failed miserably given Kodiak’s expertise in that area. He proved so skilled that the base commander recruited him to assist with combat training which gave him the perfect opportunity to “lesson” the pranksters in a manner no one could object to. Ares was completely aware of what was going on and spoke quietly with his commanders. The pranks were allowed as long as no one was seriously hurt, property damage was kept to a minimum and unit morale did not suffer. Ares knew, as did his commanders, that the troops would bond over this as long as no one bore a grudge and that Kodiak would gain their respect in the process. It was also an excellent way to blow off steam in an area where recreation was severely limited. Kodiak knew that as well which was why he did not completely humiliate his opponents even though he could. Within a reasonable period of time, the pranks tapered off and mostly stopped except for when “lessoning” was needed for particularly obnoxious or incompetent behavior. The only exception was Kodiak’s squad. The worst of the pranksters and four of his cronies were in the squad and until Kodiak had arrived, he had been the undisputed leader of the recruits. It was no secret that Lord Duncan had brought the Darklord to the camp personally and Kodiak seemed to enjoy the Lord’s special interest. It had become a matter of honor that he top Kodiak. The rivalry as still good natured but that could change if things were not settled. Both Ares and Kodiak knew that “Lord Duncan” could not step in so Kodiak would have to settle the matter himself. With that necessity in mind, Kodiak put his sneaky and devious mind to work. After considering and discarding a number of plans, he settled on one that he believed would put the matter to rest. The only drawback was that he would have to risk being caught in the prank himself but done correctly, the risk would be minimal. He would just have to run fast! He began to assemble what he would need in anticipation of the appearance of the right opportunity. It came not long after the plan was conceived and it was a simple matter for him to slip out of the barracks after “lights out” to set things up. With this enhanced night vision, he didn’t need any light source that would have given him away and he returned to his bunk an hour and a half after he had left it. He fell asleep with a satisfied grin on his face. As planned, the next morning began with a run through the forest around the camp. Each squad would be taking a different route which combined elements of an obstacle course with a basic run. Kodiak pushed himself a bit to pull ahead of the intended targets of his prank and reached the first obstacle, a wide pit of soured mud, grabbed a rope and swung across, landing safely on the other side. His squad mates were determined not to let him get too far ahead of them raced up the pit, grabbed the ropes and swung out in mass. Their weight triggered the first little surprise that Kodiak had rigged. As one, the ropes broke and dumped all of them into the stinking mud. Chuckling under his breath, Kodiak kept running as his mates hauled themselves out of the pit, spitting and swearing. They swarmed after him and had almost caught up with Kodiak when his passage tripped the next booby-trap, a motion sensor connected to a small high pressure pump that sprayed the mud covered recruits with icy cold water from a nearby stream. The cursing that rang out behind Kodiak was music to his ears. “You would think they would thank me for getting that mud off of them,” he remarked to himself as he negotiated the next obstacle on the course, a rope bridge over an impressive ravine. His pursuers caught on quickly and approached the bridge cautiously. By the time they had decided that it wasn’t rigged, Kodiak was well ahead of them. The next obstacle was also unrigged and by the time they reached the long straight stretch before returning to camp, they had forgotten the sneakiness of which the Darklord was capable. They were too busy plotting revenge to notice the dozen tiny tripwires that he had laid across the trail. Within seconds, the first bombs went off all around them, spattering them with a sticky concoction that smelled entirely too much like rotting meat to which the dirt thrown up by the detonations stuck like glue. Then the “flash-bang” grenades went off and all thoughts of revenge fled as they ran for their lives. Kodiak and the rest of the camp was waiting outside the gates for the morning muster when they staggered out of the forest covered with dirt and obviously running for their lives. The roars of laughter made it official. Kodiak was the Master Practical Joker and none would dare dispute it. “You do good work, Son,” a voice next to him said. Kodiak looked to find Ares next to him. Kodiak began to laugh and hoped that Penthesilea was watching!
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