Team JASZ combat practice

Stahl rolled his eyes, "Last I checked, some Grim are more then a match for a team of Hunters. Look, I'm not saying your a bad leader or Zack can fight a Nevermore, I'm saying that overconfidence will get you killed. My Uncle taught me that."

Alton swung through an archway in the upper level of the arena before letting himself fall, rolling to his feet at the edge of the team huddle.

"Well, the key to taking out any Grimm is identifying its primary strengths and neutralizing them. Nevermore? Flies. Target the wings, cripple his mobility, then take him out while he's vulnerable on the ground. Beowolves? Numbers and agility; keep them bunched together and use wide-reaching strikes. King Taijitu? Encircling tactics, stay out of their killzone and hammer from a distance... or for the more gung-ho Hunter, grab it by the head and don't let go - they may be the size of a bus, but they're still snakes."

Alton glanced at Stahl. "As for getting yourself killed taking on the bigger nasties, there's a different between fighting Grimm and fighting Grimm. They're literally the manifestation of darkness and the universe trying to kill us - brutal, but not smart. Play your strengths and there's not a Grimm you can't at least hold your own against."

"And that's exactly why we need to train. So our skills match our confidence." Jet said, his voice calm and level. "Good, we're all here. Now, pick some targets and show me what you can do." He said, standing back and folding his arms.

Stahl looked towards Alton, "Hey Alton, still showing up out of nowhere I see."

"Can do, boss." Alton scanned the scene through his eyepiece. A few dummies, flat terrain, but enough that he could... yeah, that'd work. Snapping his gauntlets into ready position, Alton fired one line directly into the chest of the closest Ursa, the acceleration snapping him off his feet. Angling himself feet-forward, he barreled into his target with a thud, knocking it off balance. Releasing his line, he fired a quick burst of shots into the dummy before flipping backwards and landing on a knee.

"And to answer you question, Stahl, thank you - I practice."

"Very nice Alton, great agility. Now can you take out multiple enemies at once?"

Zack claps as Alton finishes his attack. "That looked pretty cool! Is it hard using that hook thingy?"

Alton righted the Ursa target, grunting, "If I was a punster, I'd call this move 'String Theory.' But I'm not. Except for right then." He ran back a dozen paces, then spun around. The Ursa he'd just downed now stood between him and two of the other targets. This would be fun.

Alton again grappled to the nearest Ursa, but this time did so with both gauntlets. The resulting force was enough to rock the target forward - right before Alton slammed into it at full speed. Rather than flip backwards, Alton ran up the front of the target, firing his pistols as he went and using the head as the base for a leap into the air. Hanging in space, he fired his gauntlets - one each at the two nearest targets, slinging himself between them both. He locked the joints of Diadem's shoulder supports in anticipation of the coming jolt, and he felt the metal strain as he locked the servos tight. As he passed between the two targets, his combined momentum and the locked-out gauntlets served to yank the targets from their supports and to the ground.

"Technically not a kill on those last two, but alone or in a group an Ursa on its back is an easy enough target."

"Well depending on where you hit them it could've snapped they're necks but yeah, they aren't getting up from that one easily, well done. Now here's a question: if your lines got tangled in something, doesn't matter what, how would you deal with that?"

"Oh ok, that's good. Are your spikes just on a point or are they bladed as well?"

"You'd be very surprised how effective grappling hooks can be in a fight. Very good at tearing flesh, and with the cable you could swing them around a bit. And very good at getting under armor, a Deathstalker would do well to fear that. Get the hook into its tail, just above its stinger. Then run and slide under it. Retract the hook and the stinger should come crashing down into its head. At the very least you'll rip out a sizable piece of flesh."

"Just don't shoot it at us." Stahl said, remembering that one story about a guy who got a grappling hook stuck to his, ahem, privates. "Anyway, I'm up next right?"

Zack nods to Stahl. "This'll be cool! I've wanted to see your weapon in action!"

Stahl nodded and drew Eisen Blatt. The single edged sword gleamed in the sunlight, "It's not much. I'll admit. Compared to yours at any rate." He said to Alton, "And it's not very powerful either." Turning around, he began to walk towards the target dummies, "But I do know how to use it pretty well if I do say so myself.."

Jet watches Stahl closely as he nears the targets, hoping to see some brilliant action.

Stahl walked into the center, where the badly beaten Ursa dummies stood. With a deep breath, he flipped his sword into a reverse grip, blade pointed downwards. And pressed a button near the cross guard.

With a loud BOOM, Stahl sent himself flying towards the first Ursa dummy and flipped in mid air. Landing sideways against it and kicking it square in the stomach and impaling it's head with his sword. With a grunt, Stahl pressed a trigger near his pointer finger and fired off a round into the Ursa skull, and at the same time, freeing his blade.

Jumping off the now extremely dead Ursa, Stahl flipped his sword around in the air. And during that time, the blade receded and the sword became a gun. Catching it, Stahl fired off multiple rounds towards the other dummies. Each one hitting either center mass or the head. Not done yet, Stahl fired the grenade launcher towards the last dummy, this time, behind it. The practice Ursa sent flying towards the gunsword user, Stahl remade the gun back into a sword and set it behind him, ready to strike.

Grasping his sword with two hands, Stahl's eyes narrowed as the target was right on him. And then, with a BANG, Stahl's blade shot forward and in a clean, smooth motion, cut the Ursa in two.

Jet slowly starts clapping, nodding his head a bit. The claps sounded more like clanks however, due to his armor. "Very impressive! And very loud, as well!" Jet said, rubbing his ear a bit. "What was that that launched you up?"

Stahl rubbed the back of his head, "I built a grenade launcher into sword form." He pointed to the barrel of the tube, "See? If I point it at the ground, I can send myself flying or do the same to an enemy."

"Ah ok, Paladin can do something similar with white dust, but only at very close range. And it shifts to a rifle I see."

"It's something I picked up over the years." Stahl said.

"How big of a blast does it have? Seems like it could be very helpful against groups at a distance."

"You know, I've never bothered to check. I've always had a gut feeling with how far it could go." Stahl said, shrugging.

"Well, maybe we should find out. That kind of knowledge could be very helpful."

Stahl rolled his eyes, "Maybe later. So, is that everyone?" He asked.