Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was a difference in soldiering full time and part time, in treating the war as something only encountered in uniform or all the time. Stroud Marinus, if she was not wearing her uniform, held no misguided impressions of being 'safe.' Or of having no responsibilities. Her years of martial arts and of situational awareness were always engaged and 'on.' It meant that movement, even of silhouettes, was enough to draw her eyes from peripheral scanning to pinpointed searching.

May nights were just when it was getting warm enough to open restaurant and bar patios, and the Union Grill adjacent to a block of DC Museums was no exception to this. Stroud couldn't hear much over the din of live guitar and singing, but looking out through the opened garage-style door she could see a person shape moving on the rooves. That which walks in Betton Wood
Knows why it walks or why it cries...
And what are you, my thin ghost? Are you animal, vegetable or mineral?

Stroud stood, leaving ample cash on the little table she'd occupied, but carried along her coffee while stepping over the barrier planters to the sidewalk, then out towards the museum. Further out of sight and around to a blind edge near the parking lot where security cameras couldn't note entrance or occupation. General Schörl rose out with a few leaps, making the distance to the roof with new assurance by feel alone. One of the Negaverse, mine own. Which one?

"All ye, all ye, all come free. Whoever finds her gets to keep her."

"Schörl." The name was offered on pulling grin and curiosity. 'Ive been through quite a change in the last four months.' Have you now, poppet? And which-what are you? You know without knowing, and a lieutenant....a knight once?

Are you one of our little, lost playthings from that black tie affair? It must be...I am not well known to others. Most would be senshi that have met me before...Not my pretty Sneech, no stars upon thars. And not male. That leaves...rabbit, the meatbrain and soccermom. Only Soccermom was there that I saw, a matter of months.

"The star is fallen from the sky, or at least devoid of one of its constellation? It is a change. I wonder how it came to be? And what name you wear now, lieutenant?"

"Prasiolite...belated, but Welcome Home." Schörl offered out a hand to grasp at wrists in token of greeting and brotherhood, a mark of reassurance to start and set against the notes of bitterness still evident. 'Kidnapping' was a harsh word. Accurate, really, but there were better ways to spin that. It was something that should be being kept tabs on by a handler or orientation liaison. Did they toss you out to your new life with some documents and a 'good luck' as per usual? Disappointing. My work with Lazarus has not proven enough, I suppose, in the eyes of other General's, in how to properly orient new soldiers.

"Odd, but there are reasons for it. The Earth Throne itself, guided by our royal, is the source for all our power. While before your power came from your wonder, you were a single knight. The negaverse is many, many more operatives all drawing their spells from a single heart source- teleportation, healing, harvesting, strength, speed, agility, and our manifest weapons. The boons are the abilities themselves given by our royal to all of us are much stronger and more useful to a war. The drawback is that so many from a single source cannot be sustained whole-heartedly. Like a car battery that needs to be jumped, the heart center of our royal, of the throne and the Negaverse, requires care and outside energy to keep it running. Or like changing the oil. "

"Time and effort are given to making sure we take small bits from many sources. We don't want to overtax or hurt the people of Earth more than is necessary, as I'm sure you've heard in your early training. This is our home. These are our people and the people of our Queen. It is a game of balancing that the taxes are not too high, but enough to grow and maintain the Queen and protection offered from the military- from Us. "

"Has someone taken the time to show you how to wield the Negaverse energy in order to harvest from a civilian or enemy combatant?"

"Combat itself is difficult. Formal martial training involves holds, and draining for the lower ranks involves physical contact. " Hopefully Prasiolite could put together transitivity and follow the implicit suggestion from there. "And unless you're invested with a target in subterfuge, by the time you're involved as a combatant, you shouldn't be very concerned with what the enemy is going to take well. "

"They won't be concerned with your comfort. Well then, with your time and patience, who has been handling your training and what aspects have you already covered? Report of your duties, officer."