Bliztkrieg (Albrecht)

Eryka's purpose in the gym today was not to exercise. News of a certain incident in the sewers had spread relatively quickly among the Cadets and while a fair amount of rumors were undoubtedly being passed around, Eryka had no interest in them. She was interested in the truth and it was this desire for the truth that had driven her to seek out Albrecht. She had tried the residence of the Cadets but no luck, the one known as Albrecht was not there.

Her next port of call was the gym, as she assumed Albrecht was the kind to exercise regularly if his reputation was anything to go by, but nope..he was not here; at least not yet. Eryka's expression twisted into a frustrated grimace as she realised she had little idea where else to search.

"Hmmm....." Stepping off to the side she rubbed her chin, pondering where else she could go to investigate the Cadet known as Albrecht.

The previous night had been agitated, a pursuit against two Terrorists in the sewers which ended up with the ceilings collapsing and yet one, and the most important, terrorists had escaped. It was a mild success, and one that was not enough for the Knight. Had he been more aware he'd not have failed to catch the gambler, how much he loathed those demented clowns and their circus. He was attempting to channel all that frustration during his training, when lifting weights, running the treadmill or performing some basic sword maneuvers alone. Eventually in the middle of his training he'd notice a young woman step inside the gym, she seemed like she was looking for someone. He also noted she looked a bit older than a high school student.

"Do you need any help?" The knight approached her and asked.

The figure that approached Eryka was exactly the individual she had been looking for. Immediately she saluted, her legs locked together and back held straight as she faced him. He was Eryka's superior after all however whether he was actually worth a damn remained to be seen. One's reputation rarely meant anything unless it had been proven, consistently, under duress.

"Cadet Albrecht Frost. First class. You were recently involved in an incident. I have numerous questions regarding the nature of this incident and the reality of operating as a Cadet. We should discuss this in a secure environment due to the risk of information leaking." Eryka chose her word's carefully not because she didn't wish to offend Albrecht but for the sake of preventing information leaking out to unintended ears; you never knew who was listening.

His arms folded, head tilted and his left eyebrow raised. She knew him, though his identity was something widespread in this school(much to his annoyance). Though unlike most people who approach him due to his fame, she was formal, militaristic even. His first thought was someone feigning being a cadet to get some exclusive information. He was willing to share with other cadets though, maybe she was one after all. They get Recruits every so often.

"Yes that is correct." Albrecht replied. He spoke in a stern and deep voice."Though you haven't introduced yourself yet. Are you a cadet?" His question was not confrontational, he simply sought some form of confirmation of her status.

"Yes sir. Eryka Eckert. Cadet Recruit newly appointed to preserving the peace." She lowered her prosthetic arm, folding both it and the organic one behind her back, remaining just as stiff as her salute implied. In all honesty, she had no real idea how to approach Albrecht and so had decided to default to a level of militaristic professionalism...or at least what she thought counted as that. Eryka presented her badge, having reached inside her uniform to retrieve it.

"I am unaware if this is a breach of information request procedures but I am genuinely unsure of what would be the best means to acquire the answers I seek."The German accent in Eryka's voice was as strong and noticeable as it had ever been for despite having lived in Endmyion for many years, she had never forsaken the accent. Perhaps it was so deeply ingrained there was no way for it to ever be unlearned. On the subject of accents she noticed Albrecht's; it was rather hard to not notice.

The forgotten would take a moment to stare at her badge and then listen to what she had to say in silence. A rookie curious about his latest mission, he didn't enjoy having to stop his training to answer questions but he figured aiding the recruits was part of the duty of being high in rank. He had noted her German accent indeed, but he didn't comment on it, he'd leave it for later or not bring it up at all.

"...Very well, i don't mind discussing this with other cadets, so just follow me." He'd lead the woman to a more secluded area of the gym where they could speak in peace about the matter. "The incident yesterday. A pursuit broke out, two terrorists had caused some trouble to an officer. Another cadet and i managed to catch one but the other escaped, the sewer also collapsed during our fight but i managed to get out unharmed. If you wish to know more details, feel free to ask."

She followed obediently, careful controlled movements consisted of her march as she joined Albrecht in a more secluded area that would grant the privacy necessary to discuss potentially dangerous information. She listened attentively but was...unhappy with the answer or more accurately, it didn't satisfy her desire for more information. What she knew currently was insufficient and that was an unacceptable fact.

"Yes...the report mentioned such....hmmm....however the real reason I sought you out today is...I have no experience engaging in the duties of a Cadet. For the most part I seem to have been relegated to an auxiliary reserve position. As such I would greatly appreciate being informed as to the true nature of being a Cadet and the work we do." There was many things Eryka wished to know about a Cadet's line of work.

"What general methodology do you adopt? What general knowledge is worth knowing for increased success? What areas of the city are common trouble spots, are patrols more effective in singles, duos or higher? What are effective battle strategies?." While Eryka had no real issue with risking her life in the line of duty that was not something she wanted. The amputee desired to minimize the risk to herself and others as much as possible hence her rigorous questioning of Albrecht. He was, according to his file, rather experienced in the matter of being s Cadet.

How dull, did she really sought him out for that? It was part of the job, so he'd answer her questions as best as he could. He supposed she had joined recently and had not participated in any patrols or missions. Its only natural she'd require guidance in such matters. He just wished it had not been him.

"Teams of four cadets seem to be the most effective, with one or two handling direct combat while others provide supportive roles, they do some fighting at times though. One thing that you should note is that enemies have resistances to certain types of attacks but can also be vulnerable to them, its wise to try and exploit said vulnerabilities. Other than that, its wise to attempt to stay flexible, communicate with your team and don't rush in alone. Being alone might work sometimes, but when patrolling for demons its wise to have backup."

"I see...." Teams of four Cadets ...hmmm there was a few issues in that. Who would be the squad commander? How were the teams formed? Would Cadets be given information regarding the roster ahead of time? The resistance and weakness to certain attacks was something that Eryka found most interesting. How did one discover these resistances and weaknesses? How did one figure out what "attacks" dealt what element?

"I see...I assume the organisation of teams and the assigning of command positions are dealt with by the upper echelons of the command structure? Would we be information as to unit compositions ahead of time? Additionally, you mentioned enemies have resistances and weaknesses to certain attacks but how do we ascertain these weakness? How do we know which attacks are responsible for what element?" As far as Eryka knew she had not been given any information regarding attack elements.

"That is correct, command during missions is defaulted to the one of higher ranking of course. As for the Demons' affinities, it will either become apparent once the attack lands, though some Cadets have the ability to perceive them ahead of time. They are not available at all times, but they provide useful tactical insight." There was a pause. "Anything else?"

"Hmm...no. I do believe all of my answers have been satisfactorily answered." She extended her prosthetic arm forward, the fist uncurled to shake Albrecht's hand out of gratitude. Eryka's grip was significantly more confident and firm than one would expect from a prosthetic; very few prosthetic limbs were advanced enough to have a fine motor control on par with the limb they replaced. Eryka was luck to have one as advanced as her's.

"Hmm...however....would you be willing to allow me to join you for your training session?" It may have sounded like a selfish desire, which it was, but Eryka had a purely practical reasoning for it: she wished to learn more about Albrecht's thought processes and the way he fought. It would inform her own choices and actions in the future were the two of them to ever end up as part of the same deployment. Speaking of deployments, the amputee genuinely hoped she would be given one soon for her desire to actually do her job was starting to out grow her patience.

"Glad i could provide assistance, Cadet Eryka." He'd take her hand and shake it, it felt weird to give a handshake to a prosthetic hand, it was cold and hard. Though he maintained his firm grip he always has when shaking hands with another. "Sure, i do not mind having people train with me." If anything it made him feel more at home by training around other people, the Black Lions lacked female presence though so it was a little different. He'd return to the gym, allowing the woman to follow close behind.

"Eryka, if you don't mind me asking. You are German, correct?"

"I am glad to hear that. Group training sessions do improve unit cohesion among comrades in arms." She released Albrecht's hand from her grip and walked back out into the main area of the gym stopping only when she asked regarding her nationality. She turned her head back to look at the male, an impassioned expression plastered across her weathered features. Was her accent really that much of a give away?

"Ethnically and genetically yes. I have not seen German lands since I visited this city prior to the Divide. I've been here ever since." Eryka may have been German but the country was no home to her not since the death of her parents and the loss of any connection she had to her motherland. She honestly doubted even Endmyion was her "home" as she personally viewed just as a residence.

"What is your exercise regime?"

"I'm German myself too, i recently moved in to Endymion." And he was likely never returning to his home country, but that was not something to be discussed at the moment. "I haven't met any other Germans ever since i moved in."

"I tend to work out first. Lift some weights, try to build endurance too, leg training too. Then i train sword techniques, though the lack of a sparring partner limits my training. I don't have a persona, unlike most other cadets, instead i have what they call a demon weapon, a sword. So i must rely on my own combat prowess." He spoke, though he already had this physique before he awakened. It simply put even more importance in his training.

"Hmmm....same here. The last people of my ethnicity I knew were my parents and....they vanished during the Divide." Eryka didn't actually know what happened to her parents. They were trying to find help after the Divide occurred, Eryka turned away from them for five seconds then when she looked back they were just gone. Poof. Vanished into thin air. Eryka never swore them again and just kind of had to survive.

"Hmmm...that is fair. I will be your sparring partner when we come to that. I've never been trained in swordsmanship but I know how to box pretty well." Eryka was actually interested in Albrecht's demon sword and how that worked but she decided to leave those questions for later. Once the two of them got started Eryka would join Albrecht for his training, following his lead and ultimately serving as his sparring partner. Time past as the day grew old, Eryka pushing herself to the limit in order to keep up with Albrecht.

Eventually, the training regime would come to an end after a fair amount of time had passed. The amputee's muscles were burning with fire in their veins, a sign of a good work out in her opinion, yet she was still exhausted despite that. As much as she would have preferred to keep going their was always a limit to one's stamina; recklessly exceeding it was a great way to damage your body.

"It has been a pleasure Sir. If you are ever in need a sparring or training partner in the future I am always available. However, I am going to be taking my leave for the evening to recuperate. Auf wiedersehen." With a respectful salute, Eryka would leave the gymnasium leaving Albrecht to...whatever it was he would do.

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