combat training mingle log

[policier]

characters: everyone
location: the village gymnasium
date/time: every monday, wednesday & friday throughout april, before the floods
content: beacon's residents gather together to teach each other how to fight, spar, and learn basic field medicine
warnings: violence, injury

What began as a conversation between Javert and Soldat, about what the latter man could do to make himself feel more useful, has now led to thrice a week training. The training itself begins as it often does, seven o'clock in the evening, right on the dot, because Javert does not tolerate tardiness. It ends just as punctually at nine, with a session of first aid training following thereafter.

The gymnasium itself is still in a state of disrepair, with creaky floors and a broken ceiling, but it's serviceable enough for their purpose. There are two torches lit on either side, illuminating the room, and exercise mats scattered across the floor. Against the wall, near the door, is a trunk full of swords of various quality, fencing equipment and training handbooks, several first aid kits, medical supplies, and cpr equipment.

Those who wish to learn how to fight are paired with someone willing to teach. Those who do not are encouraged to spar among themselves, to keep their skills sharp and work to better their technique. There will be a lesson in first aid afterward, should anyone require it. The lesson itself also serves as something of a makeshift clinic, allowing those who have been hurt during training, or those who are still recovering from old wounds, to be tended to and healed. It's a cooperative effort. Anyone who wishes to help out with combat training or first aid may do so.

Comments

[policier]

A report.

( He answers. Normally, Javert would not entertain anyone else's curiosity, telling them that it is none of their business what he is writing, but Minimus is different. He understands the importance of structure, and keeping detailed accounts. )

Of what I've encountered on patrol, as well as any daily occurrences and disturbances. I do not wish to forget anything, should it become important later on.

( He closes his notebook, then, looking up at Minimus. )

Were there not many on the ferry?

[legalcy]

Not many. [Not enough to make up for those missing today's practice. It is better to prepare for maximum capacity, but he may have done too much work.]

I met another Cybertronian. Strangely, he knows who I am despite my never meeting him. [And it's not that Getaway knows of Ultra Magnus the alter ego. Everyone knows him. The problem lies in that he knows of Minimus Ambus' existence and that's not as flattering as it should be.] He claims to have come from an alternate timeline, but some of the details don't make sense.

[policier]

Such is the nature of alternate timelines, from what I am told.

( Rosalind's the one who's an expert on it. Over the last few months, she's been imparting some of her knowledge onto him, through theories and stories. Javert considers the matter calmly, his expression unwavering, before asking, )

Does it present an issue for you?

[legalcy]

[He shifts his weight around. It shouldn’t be an issue when they are dead, but Minimus cannot go through a day without imagining worst case scenarios.]

It gives me enough cause for concern as to the state of our universe. [Namely that his boss had a secret master plan to kill half of all Cybertronians with the push of a button, but if Getaway is correct, that has been corrected for their timelines.] Apparently, there are many events with which I am unfamiliar, and our two timelines have merged some time after my death.

[policier]

Is it the uncertainty that troubles you? ( He asks, just as evenly, ) Or that you are not there to help?

( Javert himself has no such anxieties. He's heard what has happened to his world in the years that follow. The first of two world wars, and the suffering permeates society even still. It's no longer any of his concern. He asks only out of curiosity, trying to gauge Minimus' response. )

[legalcy]

[It's difficult to sort it into an either/or situation. If their timelines were similar, did that mean Tyrest was a cruel person this whole time? That he respected someone who ultimately did not care for the masses? The one who gave Minimus everything he wanted was, in fact, a monster?

He could never pass onto the Afterspark in peace, no matter how much he attempted to cope with the knowledge he gained just before he died.]

It's...unsettling, knowing that there exists a copy of me that lives. [He tugs on the side of his mustache.] He - I, rather - am still able to protect my crew, but I can never know how it came to pass.

[policier]

Why is that?

( It seems he may have misunderstood a bit. He can understand how unsettling it would be, to know that your life had taken such a drastic turn. Javert hadn't even considered it for himself, nor would he wish to. He has enough things on his mind, tormenting him, as it is. It's a little strange to see Minimus so similarly effected. )

[legalcy]

[It could be that there is now another living mech to whom Minimus compares himself, but it’s a natural habit that he can never let go. First Ultra Magnus, then Dominus, and now this.

So, he fights to find another logical explanation.]

In my timeline, I was made captain of the crew after our previous captain was killed in action, but in Getaway’s timeline, he lived. Yet...the cause for our massacre did not come to pass in that other timeline. There was something different enough in my actions that lead to disaster. Rodimus may have been a rash person, but from the sound of it, they managed to be successful where my crew had not.

I can’t help but wonder what I am meant to be doing at this moment.