Underground Training Facility

Anthony smiled at her as she loaded her weapon, and responded to her happily. "As you wish. But a warning, it is not a happy story."

Anthony closed his eyes as he continued leaning back against the wall, bringing to mind the memories that had for a while haunted him, but he had since made peace with them.

Anthony breathed in first then began softly. "My parents had taken me on a pilgrimage to Italy when I was about six. They were murdered then, in front of me by a vampire. I only escaped the same fate because of a True Cross operative. I was taken to the orphanage and I went through a rather....hateful phase. I despised everyone, everything. Nothing could get through to me."

Anthony sighed remembering on those dark times. But stalwartly continued, smiling all the same.

"I can not say that I know what turned me away from that road. I assume, that it ust have been Christ. The only solace in my life came from visiting the chapel where our lord was present for us. Of course I did not believe this at the time. But, the silence helped. Truly I think one of the greatest tragedies of your generation is that you lack the silence, the stillness, and because of this you so rarely hear the whisper of God.

But that is a different story. My life, my life, lets see where was I...Oh yes! Conversion. After my conversion, my true conversion that is. I leaned entirely upon Christ, I finally gave up y anger my rage, and pride. And I learned to love once more. This love was difficult...and I tell you, it was never complete until I learned to forgive. Even the vamppire that murdered my parents.

To this day, as I'm sure you've noticed Christ is the center of my life All I have, the good, the bad, the weakness and the strength I give to him, and from there Christ gives back to me the wisdom to use my strength wisely, and the strength to bear my crosses."


Anthony paused for a moment, still smiling gently all throughout the gruesome story. He really wasn't sure where he was going with all of this but, alas, he was indeed prone to wandering.

Finishing his story he said.

"From there things grew better, though, more difficult. To be honest. I saw the man that I should like to become, and I realized to myself, that I shall probably never attain such a level of holiness. But, that is not an excuse on my part not to try.

I suffered from a sever lack of confidence when I was young. I dedicated myself to hatred and rage when I was young. when that left me I was left hollow, cold, I didn't know what would support me and lead me. Of course, I wanted that to be Christ. But I had worlds to go before I made real progress in coming to the lord.

I grew out of this however, due to necessity. True Cross needed a leader, and I had been chosen to replace the old one. He mentored me for a while, and I studied in the united States as well for a bit. But eventually I came back here, and assumed my new role as the leader. I don't think I've been a good one, but I have always tried my bet to ask nothing of my men that I couldn't do myself.

Anything else that you would wish to know my dear?"

Anthony asked lastly of his beloved adopted niece.

Ada continued the monotonous task of loading each individual round into the magazines she planned to use. All the while listening to Tony's story about his life it wasn't a happy tale and to be honest Ada hadn't expected it to be. It seemed nobody who served the True Cross had one, she clicked another round into place a small frown pulling at the corners of her lips. It seemed everyone in True Cross was forged from a harsh or sad background. She pushed another round into the magazine sighing softly as she did so Tony's story had seemed to extinguish her frustration a fair bit.

"A leader who cares about his men...I think that puts you ahead of quite a few of them..." Ada said walking back into the armory and grabbing the SIG P220 along with two sets of earmuffs and a pair of shooting glasses from a nearby rack. She swept by Tony leaving a pair of earmuffs beside him on the bench before putting on her own pair and the glasses. "Kinda seems a bit too...Idealistic though if you ask me..." Ada said as she stepped up to the shooting lane and placed her magazines on the table. At the end of the range were human shaped silhouettes.

Ada cocked the slide of the weapon back checking the chamber before releasing the slide allowing it to return to it's original position. She then picked up a magazine and loaded it into the weapon cocking the slide back just as she'd been shown so many times chamber a round into the weapon. She took up a weaver shooting stance lining the sights up with her right eye setting her sights upon the target down range. She spared a quick glance over her shoulder to ensure Tony had put on his hearing protection before turning back toward the target lining up her sights once more before pulling the trigger. The weapon in her hands kicked against her wrist but she held onto it firmly keeping the muzzle on target.

She squeezed off a few more shots keeping a firm grip on the weapon with each shot her round forming a tight group in the center mass of the target.

Anthony smiled as he placed the ear muffs on his head, making sure to comment beforehand. "It' the ideals that rather set us apart no? If we settle for what everyone else will settle for then I don't see why we bother with God at all. It is because we want more, because we are not willing to settle for less, that we are hear."

Anthony realized most of his teaching probably fell on deaf ears but he ever lost hope that maybe something stick. Thus, he wold never stop preaching his heart out, and he hoped that at the end of the day that his all would be enough. Luckily he did not have to stand on his strength alone.

Anthony smiled at Ada' rounds, her grouping was nice, accuracy was flawless, of course there was always that live aspect that was missing with just target practice.

Anthony got up when she was done and pulled out his pistol with his left hand, it did not matter that he wouldn't hit the broad side of a barn, as long as he got way. When Ada was done shooting off her first round Anthony lifted up one end of her ear muffs with his bandaged right hand and said.

"Shoot every target three times, center mass, as quick as you can. Make sure to jump around, don;t just go in a line."



This girl needed to learn to shoot without perfect conditions, with troubles and distractions, and even dangers. Hopefully he could provide a few of those.

Anthony would make sure to use hi larger bulk to stand in front of about 60% of Ada's targets, taking the best places to shoot. He would also make sure to use his superior speed to constantly be flitting around from place to place letting off sots as he went.

In a real combat scenario, maybe against a large mob of ghouls, something like this might well happen.

As she fired off her first magazine Ada ejected the magazine and went about checking the chamber of her firearm to make sure it was empty. She felt Tony lift up one side of her earmuffs causing her to narrow her eyes at the sudden contact. She nevertheless listened as he gave her instructions but what seemed strange was the fact that he was telling her to jump around. As she shifted her earmuffs back over her ears she picked a fresh magazine off the table and slid it into her weapon pulling back the slide and chambering a round.

She glanced back for a brief moment "Fir-" She flinched as a gunshot sounded somewhere to her left. She grit her teeth placing her firearm on the table. She stepped out behind the yellow line and could see Tony zipping about the range firing his pistol at random targets with extremely poor accuracy. "What the hell do you think your doing!?" Ada hissed her fists clenched tightly as she stormed up to Tony. Ada couldn't even comprehend what she was angry about but the fact that she was being disturbed from what she wanted to do was enough to set her temper ablaze.

She'd come here to release stress yet instead she was being forced into a stressful environment. "Look if you want to sit and watch that's fine but that's all okay!?" Ada said. She stalked back into her firing lane picking up her firearm. She raised the weapon lining the sights up to her eye and wasted little time in firing eat shot landing dead center into the face of her target. She could feel a small bit of guilt sitting in the pit of her stomach for the way she'd snapped but her stubborn mindset prevented her from doing anything other than venting her frustrations.

Anthony smiled at her gently and cocked his head to the side as she yelled at him. He spoke softly to her when she was done but sternly nonetheless.

"Ada, what do you think it's like to fight vampire in the field with an ally? It's not a firing range, enemies and allies both move and they will probably be faster than you are. You need to learn to deal with this soon or else...you may not last too long. And if you do die Ada I will never forgive you. You've already been on a mission and everything. You don't have much time left to take things as if you were a beginner. Our lives are dangerous. They are riddled with peril at every turn. The real crime would be to let you go out there and not know how to deal with this. But I will do as you wish, I will sit for now, and you may just shoot. I won't push."

Good for his word Anthony did take a seat on the benches, slouching back in to his comfortable position content to let her shoot as much as she wanted without fear of interruption. He would need to find some way to accustom her to the danger though, to the edge of battle. But later, that would be later. For now he would just let her blow off some steam.

Ada's eyes narrowed as Tony spoke deep down she knew that he meant well but the influx of negative emotions she felt now were far too strong for her to listen to any reasoning her mind tried to put into play. "I know it's not a damn firing range!!" Ada hissed her fists balling into fists at her sides as she looked at the gentle smile that only seemed to serve to mock her. "You think I don't fucking know that I can die out there?" Ada muttered as she stepped back into the firing lane her fingers tightly gripping the table she took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes leaning forward and letting her shoulders relax a bit as she tried to reign in her temper. "I-" Ada said her grip on the table loosening.

Ada sighed leaning forward onto her elbows letting her fingers intertwine with her hair. Her motivation to speak was gone now torn away by a mixture of anger and guilt for how she'd reacted. But her pride refused to allow her to apologize for her own behavior. Instead she picked up her SIG P220 and ejected the magazine racking the slide once and checking the chamber before placing it aside. She stalked back into the quartermaster's office picking up the HK-417 and making her way to her firing lane. She took a moment to turn the weapon over in her hands taking note of the similarities the weapon shared with an M4 Carbine in both appearance and functionality.

She let a small smile form on her lips shaking her head at the small moment of gun geeking. She wouldn't lie she'd never fired a gun before she'd joined the True Cross but once she'd been introduced to them it was definitely one of her more favorite activities to participate in. Loading a magazine into the weapon she pulled back the charging handle of the gun before taking aim using her thumb to flip the safety into the off position. As she pulled the trigger she felt the stock of the weapon push against her shoulder as a round flew from the barrel cutting through the air to strike her target in center mass. She continued this process taking moments to compensate for the recoil of each shot to refocus her aim.

By the time she'd fired off the 20 rounds held in the magazine her mind felt just a bit more clearer than it had before. Clear enough to decide that although she did like the 417 it wasn't something she could imagine herself carrying around all the time.

Anthony took her words in seriously but knew that she spoke more out of anger than of anything else. Anthony was unsure as to what to do about her however. She seemed to understand to some degree what she was up against...but if that was so why did she insist on this foolishness? Firing at stationary targets and the like was almost useless for her now. He supposed that she wanted to blow off some steam but that was a luxury purchased with time. Time was something she did not have.

Anthony got up and patted her gently on the shoulder. He would leave her be. His last act as the leader here would be to ensure that she be given more time. True she was an adult now, true she needed to grow up and accept her responsibilities if she insisted on joining their order. But she was also his child, as were all the agents here. And he would do whatever he could for them.

"It's alright Ada. Don't worry about it for now eh? Just take some time to blow off some steam. Now if You'll excuse me I need to meet up with a man. Important business and the like."

With those last words Anthony left Ada to her own devices for a while. He hoped that the alone time would do her some good. Perhaps she didn't want to be alone however, but if that was so she could always search him or anyone else out.


OOC:

-----> Exit: Somewhere XP

<--------- From limbo

His head hurt, his eyes were heavy and his feet moved with a shuffle that warned most to just steer clear. In other words, what the hell else was new in his world. However, there was a bit more colour to his skin and his eyes didn't appear quite so lackluster; a good run can do wonders. He'd been heading towards his small room (read: dungeon) when the chatter of another agent detoured him to the range.

Something about one of the "newbies" blowing off steam at the expense of a very flustered Father Diem.

He really didn't have to think twice as to who that could be.

So, clad in only his compression pants and long sleeved top, he treks his sweaty, post-run self down to the range. Assuming it is who he thinks it is, she was in a foul mood, because like it or not, Ada had become a gun girl of the highest kink. She would never admit it, of course, but he saw it every time a new rifle or SMG came into the armory.

He pulls back one of the doors and is greeted with the sound of highly muffled gunshots; the range was designed to have a gallery as well as a shooting area, to allow multiple people to watch without crowding up the range itself. Snaring a set of neon green ear plugs from the bin on the wall just before the doors to the range floor, Marcus pops them in and shoves his frame through the heavy entrance.

Instantly he is assaulted with the sounds of much closer gunfire, and it doesn't take him long to find the cause of all the noise. She looks pissed, for lack of better word, and in a move that proved how self conscious he was of his personal safety, Marcus takes up residence in the stall next to her. Taking a seat on the folding counter, the young man waits for her to finish out the magazine before rapping on the high-grade ballistics plastic separating them.

He gives a half salute to her when her attention is caught, using that same hand to wipe back some of the wet strands of hair that had come free from his half-ponytail. Still slightly worried about his general safety should he choose to step out from behind the glass too soon, he waits for her to finish up her tantrum with an assault rifle.

Ada's hand reached toward the stack of 7.62 magazines on the table as her magazine clicked dry. But in the brief pause in her shooting she heard a knock against the plastic wall separating her stall from the next one over. By now her temper had managed to die down a fair amount. Casting a side-wards glance toward the person sitting in the stall beside hers she took a moment to remove the magazine of her rifle and checked the action before setting the weapon on the counter.

"Need something?" Ada asked as she stepped around the transparent plastic. Marcus was one of the few initiates that still put up with her ever since her small altercation with one of the others. Well small wasn't really the right word to use the girl she'd fought had ended up with a broken nose, dislocated jaw and a cut on her brow that needed a fair number of stitches to close.

Ever since that incident most of the other initiates were either angry at her or wary of her. But Marcus was one of the few who still treated her relatively normal. So it wasn't hard to call the young man her friend considering he was pretty much the only one her own age that she had.

She looked him over for a brief moment judging by his attire and the sweat soaked hair she could only assume he'd just come back from one of his everyday runs. She couldn't put her finger on it but just talking to him made her feel just a bit more at ease.

Glad to see that her temper had calmed - at lest enough to permit him to come out from behind protective glass - Marcus drops off the counter and shuffles around the divider. He pops out one earplug (still not certain if she will go back to tearing up targets on full auto) and leans a shoulder against the partition.

"Not really. Just making sure you haven't put a bullet into anything living."

He doesn't elaborate, giving her room to respond however she chose. There were hundreds of other trainees, and while he knew most of them - from classes or general conversation - none of them settled him like she did. He knows she's had problems in the past, (and will most likely continue to have them due to her adorable attitude) but then again, so has he. Knowing there was someone around willing to at least speak up if he had trouble was a relief beyond measure.

Ada rolled her eyes as she turned to face him her arms crossed over her chest. "Would it kill you to pick up your feet a bit?" Ada said smirking. "I'm pretty sure if I hadn't been shooting I would have heard you a mile away." Ada said as she leaned a bit against the counter. She slid her earmuffs off letting them hand around her neck as she once more took in his disheveled appearance.

"Who me? None of these people would be worth wasting a perfectly good bullet on." Ada said scoffing at Marcus' jest. She turned away from him briefly to look down range at the target she'd been shooting rather than a number of small holes all dotted around the target there were two divided groups each one within the size of a small dinner plate. She frowned a bit not completely satisfied with her grouping the recoil from the 417 had really taken it's toll on her aim.

However now wasn't the time to sit and mope about her dissatisfaction with her shooting. Turning back to Marcus she leaned against the plastic divider of the lane. "So..." Ada said trailing off as she rocked back and forth her hands clasped behind her. Ada glanced back at the weapons sitting on the table before turning her gaze back to her friend. "No lecture about me abusing Father Diem's power to get into the armory?" Ada asked a small smile forming on her lips.

"Not even a small look of disapproval?" Ada teased reaching out to poke the boy's forehead with her forefinger.

His eyes followed her gaze when she looked down range, and he already knew her well enough to see the traces of annoyance and frustration on her face at the sight; as much as she protested working, she certainly had a perfectionist streak.

Before he could respond to her small jab, the phone strapped to his upper arm vibrated, and the faint sound of music could be heard from the earbuds hanging from his neck. Without missing a beat, he swipes the screen to ignore the call and turns his attention back to Ada.

Swatting her hand away, Marcus has the good sense to look entirely neutral as he responds. "Can't lecture you on something we've both done before." He cracks a small, barely-there smile, but again before he can speak his phone vibrates. And, like before, he swipes it to the "ignore" setting.

"I need coffee and a shower and then more coffee."

He raises an eyebrow. "Wanna get out of here for a bit?"

Ada snickered as he swatted at her hand only for her to quickly dip her hand down to redirect her poke onto his nose. "Too slow amico mio." Ada said her smirk not falling from her lips. Her eyes were drawn to the phone strapped to his upper arm as it displayed a call but before she could see anything more the call was quickly declined.

Ada shook her head "Look at you Mr.Popularity. Lady friends? Or maybe a new boyfriend?" Ada asked pushing off the wall. She rolled her shoulder a bit to work a bit of the pain from the 417's recoil out of it. She liked the 417 but the recoil was definitely throwing her off a bit she could compensate for it that wasn't hard but it just didn't seem like something she'd want to be using in the field when it mattered most. Her smile lessened just a tad bit at the thought of operating in the field immediately her mind was brought back to the thought of the failure of her first mission.

But as Marcus responded to her lecture comment she laughed "Very true." Ada said smiling as she took notice of the small smile Marcus gave her. To most people it was barely noticeable but to Ada it wasn't. Anything even resembling a smile on Marcus' face stuck out to her like an island in the middle of open water. And just seeing him with that small smile brought one to her own face as well.

At his invitation Ada thought about it for a moment. Stay here and shoot guns until the substitute range master kicked her off the range or spend some time with her likely only friend in the entirety of her entire trainee unit. "Sure that sounds great just let me put away my equipment and we can go." Ada said nodding as she picked up the 417 and the P220 she'd used on the range and brought them back to the armory leaving them atop the quartermaster's desk to be serviced and cleaned before being put away. It took a few more trips to ferry the ammo boxes and magazines she'd taken back to the armory but once she'd completed that task she took her earmuffs off hanging them on a hook beside the gallery door to the range before entering.

"So where were you thinking about going?" Ada asked moving to stand infront of Marcus.

Ignoring her comment on his reflexes - or lack thereof - Marcus focuses instead on the glance to his phone. While it was true that few people ever called him, even fewer still would call him at this hour.

"I'm only popular when someone needs me." He shoves off the wall to watch her load up her equipment. "It's O'Grady and I've got no need to talk to him right now." He bends into a front stretch, forehead touching his knees as he listens to the young woman wander about. He debated continuing his explanation, but decided finally that if she asked he would tell her, but otherwise he just leave it at that.

By the time he stands back to full height, Ada is back in the room. Popping out the second ear plug, he shrugs slightly before slinging a sweaty, sleekly covered arm over her shoulders and steering her out of the range.

"I was thinking that tiny cafe a few blocks over." He didn't need to elaborate. While it didn't have the wide range of selections of the larger stores, this tiny cafe was only known to the locals, and absolutely nothing was designed there with the tourist in mind. He flashes another near-grin and slides away from her to open the door first, allowing them both to exit one after the other.

Ada smirked at his blatant refusal to acknowledge her jab at his reflexes. This was one of the reasons she liked Marcus she knew quite a few boys who would get all pissed off if she had said the same thing to them. But Marcus was thick skinned a trait she valued in her friends considering her less than ladylike sense of humor and behavior.

As she got her equipment together she rolled her eyes glancing over her shoulder at him "Is that right? I would have thought a few of those girls from Kilo group would have tried to get at you by now." Ada said. It wasn't a secret that Marcus had a few admirers amongst the female and even among the male trainees of their generation. Of course being Marcus' best friend usually meant she was the target of his fanclub's unconditional hatred.

"O'Grady? Dear god I would have thought that man would be sleeping off a hangover at this hour..." Ada muttered she'd met the Irishman a few times during the few times she'd decided to tag along with Marcus during his trips to go visit the man. In comparison to the other members of the clergy she often ran into around the Vatican the man was a ray of fucking sunshine. He was laid back and definitely a good guy to have around during a fight judging from the few times she'd seen him around the training facility. To put it simple she liked the guy.

Though he definitely wasn't without his flaws judging from the few times she'd seen him pestering Marcus about the young man's "Gift." as some of the others around the Vatican had been calling it. Most of the time it just served to irritate Marcus and by proxy Ada as well.

Needless to say she didn't pry if Marcus was ignoring O'Grady then there wasn't really much reason to bring the man up. As Marcus slung his arm around her shoulders she frowned as the smell of his sweat and musk overtook her senses. "You weren't kidding when you said you needed a shower you reek." Ada said as she allowed him to lead her towards the exit.

Her thoughts regarding his BO were placed in the back seat however as Marcus brought up the cafe he had in mind. She turned her head to look at him a small smile forming on her lips "You certainly know what I like don't you?" Ada said as he moved to open the door for her. "Thank you kind gentleman." Ada said as she stepped past him into the hall. "But first. You need a shower and I need to change so go get ready and meet me by the orphanage gates in 15 minutes." Ada said gently pushing Marcus in the direction his room.

He decides to ignore the comment about O'Grady. "I don't reek, girly." Allowing her to step through the door first, Marcus let the heavy steel door swing closed behind him before snatching up the girl from behind, dragging her off her feet for a split second.

"But since you seem to think so, here let's share." He squeezes her close and waggles about; though the clothes he wore were moisture wicking, it didn't help that he'd been on a run for more than an hour before showing up here.

He was certainly still sweaty.

Dropping her after a second or two, Marcus throws her another quick grin and darts down another corridor to his room. "Yes, ma'am. Be back in 15."


-----> Marcus' Room

"Yes you d-" Ada let out an uncharacteristic squeal as she felt Marcus' arms wrap around her stomach lifting her off her feet into the air. She beat her fist against Marcus' arms "Put me down!!" Ada yelled trying to sound angry but failing as a smile broke out across her lips.

She struggled against his grip trying to free herself as he squeezed her close his muscles pressing closely against her back as he rubbed his stench and sweat off onto her like a human towel. "Ew!!!" Ada yelled shaking her head finally he felt her feet touch the floor again. She quickly turned ready to deck him in the shoulder for rubbing his sweat all over her.

But by the time she'd turned around Marcus had already darted down the hall out of her reach. "You'd best make it ten now or I'm kicking your ass!" Ada called out to his retreating form. She picked at the collar of her shirt and brought it to her nose sure enough the odor of his sweat had managed to soak into her clothing.

"Now I need a shower too." Ada muttered glancing over her shoulder towards where Marcus had gone. She sighed shaking her head but the small smile on her lips was impossible to miss as she began her walk to the elevators leading back up to orphanage.

----> Exit