“You two, with me.”
Nathen exited the armory and stepped out into the comparatively bright corridors of Haven Alpha. Doc followed, guiding Calico along. Almost right outside the armory door a crewmember was passing by. When Nathen stepped in front of him, in his imposing alien armor, the officer rapidly stepped back against the wall at attention, letting the ESCs pass. Nathen angled his helmet a little in his direction in a nod, and the three commandos walked on down the corridor toward the training room. The lighting was perceived differently through the Genesis helmet. Nathen could almost see the different spectrums. Light and shadows were all amplified, clarified, and evened out, so blinding light was dimmer and pitch dark was lighter. After a few moments of walking, they reached the training room, and Nathen slid the door aside.
Inside, Kyler Jeston was working with some hand-held hammer weights; weights with built-in magnets to apply resistance when they were held close. Kyler was slowly swinging his arms in a rhythm like the wing beats of some gigantic bird of prey when the others arrived. The Paxton giant was wearing a tight, weighted vest that looked like it added a hundred pounds to his already massive frame. The sleeveless training garment left his thick, sculpted arms bare. The hunter turned when they entered, then smiled boyishly when he saw them outfitted in the Genesis armor.
“Aye!” he said, carelessly dropping the hammer weights on the floor with a bang. “Look who's got a new set 'o duds on her!” The giant clicked his jaw and snapped his fingers at the girl in the red armor. “Lookin' shahp theh, sheila.”
Nathen jabbed a thumb at the door. “Out.”
Kyler beamed. “When youh about to work out ouh new speakah? I wouldn't miss this foh the world!”
Nathen snapped. “Now.”
The hunter started to object, but caught a hint of Nathen's tone and sighed, sliding the weighted vest off and tossing it into a corner with a heavy thump.
“ 'Aight,” he said, pausing next to Nathen on his way to the door. “But you owe me a world, mate.”
The seven-foot Aussie somehow slid past Doc in his green armor and exited. Calico slid by like a cat and moved into the training room, which was now empty save for the three of them. Doc turned his head to watch the gunner go, then turned back and started for Calico. Nathen reached out and stopped him, pushing against his shoulder.
“I got this.”
Doc looked at Nathen, hesitantly. Then, the medic nodded. “Alright. Just be easy on her. She's still green.”
Nathen squeezed Doc's shoulder and guided him toward one side of the room.
“That's exactly why I can't be easy on her,” he muttered as the medic moved away.
Just then the training room door opened and Helen Platner, clad in her purple armor, strode in. She assessed the room before turning to seal the door.
“The others know not to interfere,” she stated. “Let's get this started.”
Nathen nodded, and Helen joined Doc on the sidelines. Calico glanced at them, but didn't think anything of their distance from her. She turned back to Nathen as the commander stepped up to her.
“Alright,” she said, swinging her arms once to loosen up. “What do we start with?”
Nathen pointed at her. “You.”
Calico shrugged. “Well, yeah. I mean what am I starting with?”
Nathen jabbed a thumb. “Me.”
Calico stopped her arms in mid-swing. Nathen sensed her eyes zoom across the room, eyeing all the equipment and gear she was not about to use. She hadn't expected this. She took a lax posture and cocked her red-tinted helmet at her white-armored leader.
“You want me... to fight you?”
Nathen felt the stares of Helen and Doc, but brushed the scrutiny aside.
“You're part of a team now. A very elite team. If I'm going to command and direct you in battle I need to know what you're capable of in a fight.”
Calico glanced at Helen and Doc, but quickly refocused on Nathen.
“And this is going to test how I do in the Genesis armor?” she asked.
Nathen nodded.
“We need to break it in so it can reach its full potential. Your endurance will become its endurance. And, unlike other uniforms or armor that only degrade with time and usage, that suit will only get better the more you pound it.”
Calico glanced down at herself and flexed her muscles at her sides. When she looked up, she sounded a bit concerned.
“It doesn't feel right, fighting with my commander on the first day. Perhaps if I fought someone else first...”
“If you are going to fight anyone, friend or foe, you're going to have to get my approval first. You get that approval by sparring me.” Nathen positioned himself in a relaxed fighter’s stance, with his arms at his sides. “Unless you'd like to reconsider taking that desk job.”
That seemed to convince her. Calico bristled at the suggestion, rose to the challenge and lightly stepped into her own fighting stance. Nathen recognized hints of Tallure “breakfist” boxing technique in her posture, but was not impressed with her footwork. He tilted his head slightly in question.
“Shall we begin?”
Calico nodded, muscles tensing. “Alright. Ready.”
Nathen lifted her by the throat and slammed her head into the floor.
The commander backed off while Calico rolled into a fetal position, choking throatily on her own tongue. He’d made no sudden movements; just walked up to her unthreateningly and then throttled her. And she hadn’t reacted. Nathen heard a soft, pitying moan coming from Helen's direction as the much more experienced warrior watched the girl tremble onto her hands and knees. Nathen saw a hundred openings for a follow-up attack, but chose to pursue none of them. She would only learn something if he gave her a chance to think. Calico clutched her throat with one hand, pushing herself to her feet with her other.
“What...” she gagged, harshly. “What was that?”
Nathen shifted, crossing his arms. “Throat grab. Obviously, you weren't expecting it.”
“What fighting style, I meant!”
“Violence existed well before it was in ‘style’. I’m not running a fashion show, but if I were you would get exactly zero points for losing.”
Calico sounded a hint bitter. “I was expecting you to fight fair.”
“Fighting fair will make you lose every time,” Nathen said, disappointed. “If you're going to let an enemy walk up and sloppily grab you by the throat just because they're not in a combat stance, then you're dead the day before you go into battle.” Nathen fell back into a combat stance, similar to Calico’s attempt. “If you think you'll do better this time, let's try again with equal footing.”
“Oh, Boss,” Helen said from the sidelines. “Ease up, just a little...”
Calico massaged her throat, then seemed to realize her own weakness and took her hand away. She'd regained her composure when she spoke next.
“You caught me off guard,” she said, simmering with anger. She brought her hands up and balled her fists. “I'm ready this time.”
Nathen approved of her defiant spirit.
Then he blasted her across the room with a shattering side kick to the chest.
Calico slammed onto her back, head bouncing off the floor, but the Zen alloy enveloping her chest absorbed the worst of the blow. To her credit, she was scrambling back to her feet almost before she'd come to a stop.
Nathen rotated his body, pulling his Denchura II from his shoulder holster and blasted Calico twice in the stomach just as she was beginning to stand erect.
The two resounding gunshots drowned out the girl's frightened screech as she withered back on her elbows. She didn't have a second to recover before Nathen stepped in and floored her with a heavy-handed left cross to the jaw, slamming her head back against the deck. That, despite the armor again saving her the bulk of the damage, laid her out flat. Calico Trast slumped to the floor, limp.
“Damn it!” cried Doc, losing his patience and pushing off the wall. “That's too mu
ch, Knight!”
The medic quickly went to the girl's side, and Nathen calmly backed away as he re-holstered his pistol. Calico was stunned, but a quick glance at the nano skin where he'd shot her showed no breach in the armor. She was unhurt, although she was shaking as Doc helped her to sit up.
“Y-you shot me!!” she cried, both terrified and angry.
Nathen glanced over at Helen. The woman remained silent, then just shrugged her shoulders.
“The armor works” Helen said, stating the obvious.
Nathen turned back to Calico, crossing his arms. “I thought you said you were ready.”
“I was ready!” snapped Calico, shaking Doc's arms off and standing in a huff, incredulous at the fact that she was alive after two shots to the gut. “I didn't think you were going to shoot me!”
“So what were you exactly 'ready' for, hmm?” asked Nathen, letting Calico's anger simmer a bit. “No. You picked your favorite scenario in your head, braced yourself for it, and declared yourself prepared. The moment you convince yourself you are 'ready' for someone, you've already lost. Because there's always something you're not ready for.”
Calico held her stomach, cringing tenderly where two bruises were going to form. “So what exactly am I supposed to do when you just keep cheating?”
“Grow up!” snapped Nathen, heatedly. “What you call 'cheating' the enemy calls winning. You think I'm being mean because I like beating up greenhorns? What do you think the enemy will do to you? They surely won't stop at embarrassing you, that's for sure.”
Calico swallowed her words, stunned by the commander's outburst. Nathen didn't stop, stepping in closer to Calico, leaning over her.
“If you really want to run with the pack wolves you have to learn to fight with some spitting teeth. Break the rule book; forget the conventional training; fight with that killer instinct inside you. Do you hear me?”
Calico looked up at Nathen, huffing hard in pain and frustration, but said nothing. Nathen scowled behind his visor.
“Get angry all you want. I don't need you to like me; I just need you to survive. And if that means beating that survival instinct into you then I'll do it. You said you wanted to fight? Fine. Fight. Fight so hard the enemy is never ready for you. But if you're going to do it, do it right, because in two days there's going to be blood on the ground and screams in the air. If you want to live to see day three, then buck up, eat some dirt, and learn to fight back!”
After a second, with arms shaking tensely, the Speaker broke the helmet-to-helmet gaze.
“I... I'm doing my best...”
“Screw your best,” Nathen said, calmly. “Give me better.”
Calico glanced at the emotionless white helmet staring down at her. After a second, she let loose a long, depressed sigh, breathing out all her frustration. It seemed to deflate her. Nathen sighed lightly, uncrossing his arms as Calico turned her head down.
Then she slammed her knee into his groin.
Nathen felt the jolt as the dermasuit caught the impact and spread out the force of the blow through the cells and nano fibers of the suit. He was simultaneously surprised and impressed, but not hurt. Calico didn't show any hesitation, going instantly for a follow up, ramming her shoulder and throwing all her lightweight frame into her opponent's center mass. Nathen rocked back... then instantly repositioned his feet, grabbing for a handhold on her back. His hand slid off the alloy and dermasuit, finding no creases, edges or folds to get his fingers around. He changed tactics, side shifting so she fell forward, bringing his other leg up and slamming it hard into Calico's stomach, aiming for the gunshot wounds. But the girl didn't go down. Using the momentum of Nathen's own blow, she flung her light body past him and tucked her head, rolling nimbly off the ground and spinning to meet him on her feet.
Nathen moved after her in a lunge, throwing a right hook…which missed. Ducking herself down, using her smaller height to her advantage, Nathen's gloved fist barely glanced off her face as she lifted her leg and kicked her commander in the stomach. It was a bad kick, off balance, and Nathen seized the weakness, catching her leg under his arm and pinning it. Calico wobbled, off balance, as Nathen reached down with his other hand and, grabbing her ankle tightly, yanked her supporting leg out from under her.
Calico uttered a short cry as she fell to the floor, both legs trapped, and tried to get up anyway, but Nathen stopped her by dropping his knee onto her chest, pinning her with his weight. The veteran commando, with both her legs wrapped under his arm and body pinned under his knee, cocked his right arm back over her face. Calico cringed, crossing her arms in front of her as her commander prepared to punish her.
But the punch never fell.
Calico slowly peeked over her braced arms, expression hidden behind her helmet. It was a shame Nathen's was too, because she might have seen his pleased smile as he released her legs and stood, pulling his knee off her chest.
“Now that's more flavorful,” he said, posed fist melting into a supportive offer for a hand up.
Calico stayed wary for a moment, limbs bared like a wildcat on its back, before slowly relaxing and slapping her hand into the proffered open hand. Nathen hefted her to her feet and backed off a step to show he wasn't about to attack. As Calico found her feet, several slow, approving claps sounded from across the room. Helen finished her steady applause and crossed her arms, leaning back against the weight rack, smugly.
“Nice,” she said with a nod to the girl. “You're catching on quick.”
Calico, flattered by the praise, gave a short, uncomfortable laugh that quickly changed into a groan as she leaned over her middle.
“Ow,” she moaned, as the pain caught up with her. Doc stood at her side but didn't move to help this time, unless she indicated she needed it. Nathen flexed his hands in his gloves, measuring the impacts Calico had managed to deal to him, and how much work was needed on her technique.
“You okay?” he asked. Calico nodded.
“Yeah,” she said, swallowing once to clear her throat. “Actually, I kinda thought it would be worse.”
“Armor sure takes the kick out of it,” Doc said, giving the girl a once over.
“Doesn't do much for the sting,” Calico added, bending down and picking up the two spent pistol rounds off the floor. “I thought with the energy disrupted it wouldn't hurt.”
“Yeah, but you're forgetting that you're bonded with the nano skin,” Nathen explained. “Your nervous system is charged up. You'll still feel it.”
Nathen started to move forward. Calico instantly dropped into a combat stance. Nathen stopped with a smirk. He reached up and placed his hands on the sides of his helmet and lifted. The solid alloy separated from the neck of the dermasuit and passed over Nathen's face like it was the surface of a bubble. He tossed his helmet slightly in his hands and favored Calico with a wry grin.
“Tell me,” he said. “How much training would it take for you to beat me?”
Calico relaxed slightly, seeing her commander wasn't about to pummel her again. She thought about it, then shrugged, stiffly.
“I don't know,” she said, honestly. “I've never fought that way before. I guess it'll take until I stop losing.”
Nathen smiled. “Perfect answer.”
Calico cocked her head, intrigued. Nathen pointed at her casually.
“That's the right way to think. Is it about beating me, or making it harder for anyone else to beat you? This is what I meant by thinking you're 'ready'. You never are. So. Do you stop when you beat me? Or do you stop when nobody can beat you?”
“And when will that be, sir?”
Nathen shrugged, looking down at his white, ivory helmet. “I guess when you're ready.”
Calico looked at the floor between them. “But I never am.”
Nathen nodded. “You'll just have to never stop improving, then.”
Calico was silently thoughtful, looking somehow much changed since she'd put on the armor mere minutes before. Nathen tucked his helmet under his
arm.
“That's enough for a start. Bayonet and Doc will run through some exercises with you to get you shaped up.” He nodded his head at Helen, who was still leaning casually against the weight rack. “Mission briefing at oh-three hundred tomorrow.” He darted his eyes at Doc. “Give her a full eval in a while. I have to go put the mission together.” He looked hard at Calico. Calico looked right back.
“Welcome to the team, Trast.”
Nathen turned and walked toward the door. He hated to be that brutal, especially with someone that young. But despite the pounding he'd just dealt out, she still had no idea how brutal things were going to get. And for all the preaching he'd just done, Nathen wasn't sure he was 'ready' for it himself. He reached the door and touched the controls. He needed to be away from her for a while, give her some time to work out the kinks with Helen and Doc. They'd be a lot more accommodating. Hopefully, Nathen had awakened something in the girl that would help her survive past her first mission. The door slid aside and Nathen took a step out in the hallway.
“Sir.”
Nathen stopped, turning. Calico waited for him to turn, then reached up and rubbed the side of her helmet.
“I... got a few rounds left in me,” she said, hesitantly. Nathen noticed both Doc and Helen were a bit speechless. Calico glanced back at them, then dismissively turned back and bounced in a fighter's stance. “Best six out of ten?”
Nathen didn't know what to say. She'd just asked for an additional pummeling...
No, Nathen thought, looking at her across the room. No, she had just asked for help. Help with something she realized she was doomed to fail at by herself. She needed this pain now, not later. She wanted to learn how to deal with pain, to improve herself, to fight back.
She wanted to be an Elite Stellar Commando.
Nathen looked down at his helmet. After staring for a few seconds, he could see his own distorted reflection in the alloy, looking back at him. After a moment had passed, Nathen stepped back into the room and put his helmet back on.
She was going to make a great ESC.
Prime Alpha (Planetary Powers Book 1) Page 17