- OOC:
- Fixed, that's what happens when you spend 15 mins on post lol.
Sergeant Major Ronson paced in front of the workout chamber on Fort Sexton, his eyes glaring at the nine recruits standing in a line before him. They were five days into their five day close combat course. With every passing day the recruits became more familiar with each other, and their instructor. Havock had learned it was better to keep her mouth shut or suffer the pain of being used as the model for the newest move. For some reason, she still seemed to always get picked.
"Hand to hand is your last ditch effort to survive in the field." He stopped in his pacing to glare at Private Gyote. "Not your first attack because you like to play with knives."
Gyote looked away sheepishly. He had boasted on the first day that he could take down a rancor with just his combat knife. Ronson made quick work of that theory. Havock was sure the scar across the bridge of Gyote's nose would be a lasting reminder of the lesson.
It was only the first day and Havock was indoctrinated to Ronson's method of teaching. She saw how quickly and naturally Ronson disarmed then attacked her classmate, as if it was second nature to him. After four days of similarly embarrassing defeats, Havock had learned the importance of following the Sergeant Major's orders.
"Let me be clear, your objective is to neutralize the situation and get out. Not go all hero on the opposing army with a blasted combat knife. Right Gyote?"
The man raised his head slightly and nodded. Ronson was the type to find your weakness, and exploit it for all it was worth. Each person in her class had lost what they perceived to be their personal strength when it came to hand to hand fighting, along with a fair share of their dignity.
"Private Katash, front and center." Ronson turned his back on the class and removed his coat, flinging it to a bench across the mat area.
Havock tentatively approached in her dark blue sweats and gray shirt. She glared at the other privates as they snickered at her being called upon first, as usual.
She popped up to attention as Ronson returned to face her. "Sergeant Major, sir."
He nodded then shot his fist out at her face, and she moved to swiftly block him. She stepped to the left giving herself access to his side. She was in a position to deliver a gut punch and move off as they had been trained.
The sergeant major nodded with no emotion on his face then reset his feet. The left fist repeated the scenario with identical results.
"You know what I've noticed this past week Katash?"
Ronson dropped to his knee and swept at Havock's legs. She recognized the maneuver in time and jumped quickly to evade it, landing in a ready position with one leg back.
"No, sir."
Sweat started to drip from her hairline down her cheeks as she watched the sergeant major. Havock watched his limbs, his eyes, his very muscles for any sign of the next move.
"You never, ever, take the offensive." He dropped his fists and started to slowly circle the private. "I often wonder if I didn't attack if we would sit here until we both died of old age."
"Its just as important to know ones opponent, isn't that right sir?"
Ronson took two quick steps towards her, then shifted his weight and placed both of his large hands on her right shoulder. She punched forward, aiming for the solar plexus. She wasn't fast enough, and the older man pushed down on her shoulder with all his strength and connected her face to his knee. He completed the move by slamming her stunned body to the mat and stepping forward to show the point where one could escape their attacker and move on.
Havock stayed on the mat looking at the puddle of blood that slowly pooled from the drops falling off her nose. Her blue eyes glanced at the rest of her class as they gave hopeful support in their own gazes back at her. She knew that they all had to pass this test before they could gain the passing marks they needed for their certificate. Ronson knew that everyone present had the moves ingrained in their head right now, but he needed to see them use the moves in a combat situation. He needed to see her get up off that mat and fight.
Havock pushed her knees up below her body and jumped to her feet. Her back was still to the sergeant major, but she could hear his feet slowly pace on the mat. She turned to look at him and wiped the blood from her nose.
"I'll give you this Katash, you are persistent." He watched her slouch, just slightly, from the exhaustion yet her eyes betrayed her body and shined with a defiance. "You cannot let a battle drag on like this private. These are not games. You must disable your opponent, not dance with them. While you are playing around, another fighter will flank you."
Havock cocked her head to the side, contemplating his words. In a battle she would be surrounded by other troopers in close quarters fighting with every breath to stay alive. She had to survive not only for herself anymore, but for the safety of her squad. To be another pair of hands when they regrouped, or the one to complete the objective when the others fall.
Ronson smiled and stood upright in a relaxed pose. "Suit up boys and girls, meet me in hanger bay 52-B for your final tests."
Private Katash frowned. Her eyes glanced up to Robson's over confident gaze and back to her waiting fists. "I'm sorry sir?"
"Private, you and your cohorts here will be dropped into the forest just west of Fort Sexton. I have a squad of volunteers who will be wearing blue armor already encamped in the forest. You survive two hours, with nothing more than your combat knife, you pass."
She realized his guard was down, but they were still standing on the mats which he had established were the battlezone for the lessons. Her blue eyes flashed and she faked with a punch to the gut only to twist her body grabbing his wrist and flipping him over her shoulder using his large frame against him. He landed behind her and she quickly moved around his legs and placed a knee on his chest. The dull combat knife used for sparring quickly appeared in her hand which was hovering around his neck.
"Ready to go then, Private?"
"Sure." She muttered and stood.
--~~--
The transport soared through the atmosphere for the short hop from the hanger to the forest clearing. Each member of the nine person training group had a location they needed to reach before the end of the exercise. It was a coordinate flag they needed to capture and survive to return to the clearing or be left to the creatures of the wood.
"You think the blue team maybe just missed the trip Hav?"
She smirked and looked at the other trainee. "Yea, no such luck there I'm sure."
The transport hovered less than a meter above the ground, kicking up gray dust and leaves. Havock dropped to the ground in her red striped training armor, suddenly missing her holster and pistol typically at her side. The other trainee's hit the dirt and ran towards their target, but Havock kept her eye on the transport as it increased altitude and returned to base. The watchful eye of Sergeant Major Ronson on her until they were gone.
The forest was thick, as if nobody had traveled its paths in many years. Havock knew that wasn't the case. The forests were used for decades by training squads fighting to earn their place in the Vast Empire Army.
She crawled through a brier on her belly coming out at a small clearing. Havock had walked for forty minutes and was nearing her target, yet hadn't met a member of the blue team yet.
Her datapad beeped, indicating she had reached her check point and could now return to the landing zone. The lack of attackers had her on edge. She dropped to her knee, using some of the extra twenty minutes she had to listen to her surroundings.
Havock did not care for the forest, she had spent her life in the city. The shuffling of twigs and rustle of leaves as they fluttered to the underbrush evoked an uncomfortable feeling in her. She wasn't scared of the forest, she just didn't know how to react to its stimuli. The whole experience made her muscles tense in response.
In the distance a new sound entered the fray. This was a scuffle between two people, one of them she could almost make out as the red stripe from a trainee uniform.
"Shame there's no mud, could at least have some camo." Havock muttered to herself as the idea sprang into her mind then was squashed by reality.
She moved slowly back through the brier. A decent tracker would have found her boot prints and known the path she had taken. Her eyes scanned the trees looking for any blue patches that would give her even a second to prepare.
The urgency to return to the landing zone caused her heart rate to increase. Her face was still stinging from the hit she had taken in the training room. The only consolation was that she got a cheap shot back in the end.
She was fifty meters from the landing zone, Havock heard the first sound that prompted her to pause. A twig snapped below someone's boot. She turned towards the sound a second too late as a large tree branch slammed into the side of her head sending her flying to the floor.
Havock's vision was blurred as she struggled to get back up on her feet. She could only slightly make out the blue blur behind her. Rather than engage the target in that condition, she circled keeping her distance and evading any would be hits from the found weapon. Finally the blur became a less amorphous object and she stepped in grabbing his forearm and twisting until he dropped the branch. Once that was out of the way she leaned forward and used her body to knock the air out of his lungs then sent him flying over her shoulder.
Havock turned and looked at the landing zone. She was prepared to take off for it at a full run, she only had three more minutes before the transport arrived. Another figure appeared and blocked her route.
She still couldn't make out any faces but she didn't care. She didn't have time for another fight, she had already dealt with her attacker the anger at having another suddenly appear clouded her mind.
Havock continued to run full force and plowed into the man with her fists aimed for his chest. He used that against her and flipped her over his body, using her own momentum to send her almost ten feet closer to the landing zone.
Logically she should have taken the help and ran. Her squadmates would have been there and the transport would be hovering waiting impatiently for them in two minutes. Instead she let her anger get the better of her.
The attacker cocked his head at the bloody girl that roared as she ran back towards him then let loose a series of ill-planned punches. She landed several before she felt several hands on her back pulling her off the blue team member.
The transport had arrived, and half of her squad had left the landing zone to drag her back. Her head was pounding as she attempting to understand what was happening, the anger was making it difficult for her to process.
"Katash!" Ronson barked from the transport. "Get your dumb ass on this transport now trooper!"
Havock turned and looked at the other trainee's, her senses returning to normal she climbed up with one of the offered hands and stood next to the Sergeant Major.
"You'll never hold a command with anger issues like that Katash."
She nodded. "Yes, sir."
Ronson grabbed her shoulder and turned her until she was looking at him. "So pull it together. You have the skills, so you pass the course, but you put your entire squad in danger with that stunt. Its going on your record Katash."
Havock nodded again, the emotion draining and taking what energy she had left with it. "Yes, sir."
