Training, part two

Everything had been going swimmingly. Aside from losing Cunningham right off the bat, everyone was still going strong. There had been dozens of injuries, but nothing requiring months of healing. He was frankly surprised that Miss Larson had turned out to be up to the level of punishment that even the moderate hitters in the class could put out. She'd be a good vamp one day.

Ludmer had taken firm control of the one-on-one sparring once he learned to look beyond the outer reaches of the conflict and taught himself to better see the motions at the body's core. Bianchi had taken his displacement from the pole position well, and the two were spending a lot of their time together, working on various training techniques. Either man was Alec's superior in a straight fight, which was good. It was looking like the two would be the hard hitters in the new merc squad.

Williams and Abdelhalek hadn't progressed as much, but were both quite capable. Both would likely end up as Merc support, cover fire or reserve, as would Mendoza and Heyn. They would be in the scout corps under Alec, and were both looking more and more like they were custom built for it. He was sure that the two of them had become intimate, but it shouldn't be a problem if they could maintain professionalism in the field. That'd be a discussion for a later date.

Wallace simply was not cut out for the mercenary side of things. He was a skilled electrician and programmer, so Alec would be sending him on to the communications and technical team within the Domicile. Lau was a bit more capable, but her other skills made Alec ponder her presence in the black side of Tacharan. Unless she was an incredible sniper despite her lack of skill with a pistol, he'd be suggesting she head over to Duibne in chemistry or biochemistry. Her brain was too valuable to risk having a bullet pass through it.

Dayle still didn't seem to get hand to hand combat. She could beat Larson and Wallace, but that wasn't saying much. Of course, she'd redeemed herself with her pistol shooting, finishing as well as the scouts, so that was something. She fell into the categories of "valuable for other reasons," but he wanted her to at least feel that the classes hadn't been a waste of time.

Of course, this week would begin the multiple assailants portion, and that was just a whole different ballgame.

"Ok kids. We're done with basic hand to hand, mêlée, and shooting. We'll cover long range and simple explosives later. Today, we'll be stepping into advanced hand to hand. Everyone spread out a bit, as this'll take quite a bit of space."

He'd already given Larson, Lau and Mendoza their very specific instructions, and they were moving to positions to best fulfill them. Good. Walking toward Bianchi, Alec began speaking.

"Now, Mr. Bianchi. If you would be so kind, step into the center of that cleared area. Here we have the Merc's Merc, the Gunner, the Fighter, the all around guy that screams 'I'm gonna whoop yo' ass, so you best shoot me at long range, foo'. Looking at him, you'd just assume that he's too much to overpower, unless you're at least as big as Ludmer. No one else has been able to take him down. So...the answer is teamwork. Bianchi, defend yourself against your assailants."

Having just had his ego stroked, the defender was slightly surprised when he saw only Miss Mendoza coming toward him. She came at a very quick pace, but Bianchi was focused full forward and didn't notice Miss Larson coming up quietly from behind. Timing it carefully, Larson dropped behind him and rolled heavily into the backs of his knees, throwing him off balance right as Mendoza did a jump kick into his chest. Sprawling backward over Larson, he landed heavily at Lau's feet, who proceeded to put his head in a scissor lock as Mendoza rolled onto one arm and Larson scissor locked his other arm.

"Hold. Now, Williams, what have we learned here?"

"Yes sir. Those are some crazy bitches, sir."

Laughing, Alec replied

"Yes, yes they are. But they're our crazy bitches, and after training we can all be thankful or hide as appropriate. Anything else?"

"Yes. With proper strategy, timing and balance any foe can be defeated."

"Correct. Ok ladies, you can let Mr. Bianchi up now, though that is probably the most action he's gotten in a month. Don't worry, once you're clan the other mercs'll warm up to you."

Bianchi had been striking out at the Abattoir, but that had to be expected as a still green recruit. To be fair, he and Ludmer had only lost one fight there. Not too shabby for newbies.

"Ok, everyone's name is in this hat. For the rest, we'll draw random and allow preparation. Heyn, congratulations. You're next. Attackers, go when I call your names. Oh...rough round. Ludmer, Williams, Mendoza!"

The two big men rushed at the smaller one, who wore a look of 'oh, shit' clearly on his face. Quickly glancing around, he saw Mendoza coming for him from the side. At least they were mostly in his field of vision. Backpedaling, he moved into a tight spot between the arranged crates, which would force them to enter the aperture two at a time at best. As the three of them converged on the opening, Alec called

"Hold! Heyn, right idea, wrong execution. You're trapped in a low mobility area against two superior and one equal combatant. Yes, you'll be able to prolong the conflict, but if they are determined, you're likely screwed. If you'd continued around the crates, at least you might have been able to drop Mendoza with a cheap shot as she turned the corner and then figured a way to split the biggies. Now you're screwed. My first reaction would have been to climb up the boxes to kick down at them, but that would have been wrong too, as two of them are big enough to knock the boxes over with me on them. Not bad though - you illustrated that tactical retreat can be an advantage. If that had been a doorway, you'd be getting full marks on your first go. Good show."