Isabelle stood, her body aching, teeth held tightly. Her self-control was quite impressive; female were usually able to withstand pain better than male, though they weren't as strong mentally. Usually.
Still, she managed to smile,
"Well I'm not too much in noodle-muncher fighting techniques, lieutenant." She smirked, charging forward, seemingly in a random fashion, although her every move were coldly calculated. Every step meant something: when she reached range, she made sure her left foot was standing in the front, while being able to land a powerful punching blow with her right hand. The hit got blocked, as she expected - though instead of recoiling in order to strike again, she forced-openned her hand, took Jimmy' arm and viciously used this grab to throw him on the floor. The man managed to stand up quickly, very quickly despite his injuries - but when he turned his head toward Isabelle' position, she was already gone..
and stood behind him.
She hit with her knee on his neck, which very nearly made the man go k.o., his vision blackening a moment under the surprise attack.
"these martial arts are fine for holomovie shows..." she added, panting slightly, as she blocked his retaliating blows, her eyes showing an impressive focus as she managed to break through his every attack by mere observation,
"... but on some world, artistic animal fighting..."
again, she attempted her grab, but the lieutenant understood her trick and instead, inflicted her a blow on the shoulder that pushed her against a wall. Seeing an opportunity, the man approached, ready for the final round as the general seemed slightly confused
Still, she managed to talk, the little tone of amusement ever present in her voice
"... isn't exactly fit to counter everything, dear..."
With amazing speed, despite her violent impact on the wall that would have collapsed an average man, she plunged forward, using the wall as solid ground, and landed a violent side kick right below Jimmy' left armpit, meaning, very near the lung. It was highly risked (though not so much in a simulation where everything was controlled), and could have paralised, even cause fatality to an average human being. However, Isabelle didn't calculated her attack well enough, having recuperated too quickly from the impact on the wall for her body to follow, even though she thought her mind was clear. This mistake gave Jimmy a chance: despite being severly hurt by the deadly side kick, he grabbed her leg.
It didn't took Isabelle much more than a second to realise she was trapped, as her lover twisted the leg to make her fall violently. She fell on the corner of a desk, as blood was spilled from a deep put on her belly. She winced in pain, but withdraw her legs at lightning fast speed, as Jimmy attempted to restrain her. With a rotation of her lower body, followed by the balance of weight of her upper in order to get back on her feet, she landed another sidekick, this time in his face, which came in range as he tried another attack on her.
She smirked faintly, watching the man fly over a desk, as her hand went instinctively to her cut, feeling the warmth of blood.
She arised quickly under the amased eyes of the soldiers present, and was ready to finish the man off, approaching silently in fighting pose - she knew she had the advantage for the moment, but if the combat lasted much longer, her endurance would fail her and she wouldn't be able to keep up her lethal speed and agility. Jimmy was very good, she knew, and she shouldn't have restrained herself that much at the beginning.
Oh well, it wouldn't mind her that much if the man that stole her heart was able to victor over her, she thought for herself, a grin on her face...
He rushed her again a more offensive style a mix of judo and tradational milatary combat insted of chops and sweps he resorted to kicks and punches even a few knees not to be showed up he judo fliped her wenrt to punch at her face she countered again hitting him in the enck he shruged it off but remained grappleing her a switf knee to her ribs followed then a strong arm punch to her back he let he rlose she stood stil lready for a beating he was hitting pressure points not enough to hurt or paralize but as the kusari say"ki" points as if to wear out her bodely energies he stoped and,clearly feeling the pain she had inflicted and reatraining his fatal bnlows as to not hurt her as the simulator sometimes could knock somebody out he stood tired beat but ready and bowed humbly"you have a fatal injury i do as well we both would of kileld eachother tho you more slowly then myself,coreman treat her wounds*he tapped his radio*bravo team stand down weve won,im just cleaning up a lose end*the men watched in awe as he stood in surender"ive won the battle yet youve won the houri know its a simulation but i heard storys i wonty risk causeing you actual harm you can see were a fair match your tired ill make it easy "patterson to templar team enter the west side of the room pleaseand get me a medic"i know the ruls say aprehend you at all costs but your to preety to killwe could fight like this al lday so do you surender or myst i press on"he droped into a more traditonal military stance a low guard favoring his sholder again its your call attack me if you wish but i wont restrain myself no further up til lnow ive held off on my leathal moves youll fuind my"noodle muncher"styles quite effectiveagain your call isabelle*the men couldent see it but it pained him to see her even a simulated versiopn bleeding as hurt as she was he was hurt bad as well but his size allowed him a bit better survivablity.....
Her face went softer at Jimmy' words, but hardened immediately,
"Lieutenant, you have a mission to accomplish. If I am a traitor to Liberty, you are to apprehend me either alive or dead, and at the risk of your very life if necesary."
She knew the blood that was on her finger wasn't real, that her body really wasn't hurt at all, and in fact, the Jimmy in front of her was merely an image of the real one...
Still, she was slightly hesitant to fight him again, as she resumed combat position again, tightning her teeth as her body protested in pain.
Pain was good. Kept you in line, and made you know you were alive. Pain was her friend. Better made her your friend from the beginning, then your enemy. Otherwise you went through a hard time every time you suffer.
And she had her share of suffering...
She closed her eyes, frowning to get back some focus,
"Men, you will continue combat if I fall. Better take your position right now. Go!"
Her soldiers went over the desk, resuming trench fighting position as the ywatched the end of the combat. Seeing their reaction, Jimmy' men did the same on their side.
"My objective should be clear to you by now, Jimmy Patterson...!"
She jumped forward savagely, and with a powerful blow, attempted to knocked him down. She missed, but coupled the attack with a kick with her join feet, using the corner of a desk to hold on, making her left hand bloodied as the sharp metal surface cut through her skin. pain is on your side
Her sudden assault took Jimmy by surprise, and sent him this time recuperating on the wall.
Her vision went blurry as she looked down on her injury. The wound has openned up even wider, explaining why she felt so cold suddenly... her warmth, her blood was being drained out even faster...
Her agressive assault, as violent as it was, was killing her faster than ever... pain has warned you...
She had to finish this up...
Isabelle held against the desk, felt she was going to fall...
Fell, a little faint smile on her lip, as she passed out.
*holding on the wal lhe pushed himself off it her men raised there guns his did the same"they move waste em ,COREMAN UP!make sure she lives*the medic rushed up tending her wound her men were in shock there sworn"enem,y" a liberty officer healing an"order" commander a genenral no less he let himself colapse agenst a desk a medic rushed up to him*a breif firefight started her nmen laydienty or stunned or dead she gave a sucidial order and it cost her her remaining men the few that did surender he escourted to the back of the room...everything went black then white as the vurtual world faded he layed in a chair the screen covering him moved off the comamnd staff and the genenral herself were around him what they said next shocked the hell out of him then the simulation could ever do he also worried the simulatornodoubt uncovered there feelings for one another as it activly recorded emtions "so was it a sucess?" he asked curious stereching haveing a slight headache and various slight pain sensations throuhgt his body where she hit him*
Nobody answered his question, but a medical officer - his rank was naval captain, asked them to move along to the debriefing room once they were fit to go. Nowhere did they saw the opponent "players" of the simulation, yet they had to be somewhere very close in the complexe, since this was the only portion of the enormous machine to be allowed to enter.
The trainees sat down in the bench of the room, as the captain went up to the front, activating a holoprojector, that showed nothing yet for the moment.
The chairs of the room seemed rather of a luxury compared to wha these soldiers were used to, probably a subtle way to reward their recent hard work.
As everyone sat down, chatting about the recent combat, the captain clasped his hands in the small of his back,
"Attention please. Thanks."
"First, I'd like to mention every pain you might be feeling at this moment are completely fictive, and hapenning in your head because of the remains of the chemicals we've injected in you earlier. Do not worry, usually in less than a week, these would have been eliminated from your body and you can go back to standard operational status." He smiled plesantly, "meaning, meanwhile, you may enjoy a short leave from your duty to recover from this, I'm sure, rather exhausting experience. During the whole process, no muscle of your body moved, you've never been hit or hurt for real, but your brain is certainly tired; just as in a real combat situation. It is simulating muscle exhaustion, pain...
As you can see, this is probably the closest we can evaluate your performance on a real combat field without risking the life of anyone."
The holoprojector was now showing chronological camera shots from their performance in the sim, while status of both team performance was shown with kill counts, accuracy of each players, etc.
"As usual however, you must realise the tests for the 106th is slightly harder than that of the standard army troopers who goes by here - which incidentally, are even harder than those of standard sailmen or our glorious, cocky pilots."
This drew some chuckle from the men seated. That was something the flyboys could never be able to beat them at: if the real warfare nowaday was generally a concept of space superiority, men were still needed on the ground, and they were far better at the job than the kids hiding behind their flying tin can box!
The debriefing continued, relaxing as the captain came out with some more stats, and a general result of their performance, which ranged as rather good.
"I think, it would be appropriate to applaud your leading officer of the day, lieutenant Patterson for his rather inventive and original strategic coordination. And of course, each of you, who took part in this simulation, and had an equally important role. Congratulation, men." He finally added, as everyone clapped their hands, cheering.
When the emotions went down a little, the captain closed down the holoprojector.
"We are now going to debrief everyone individually. Behind these doors" - he showed 3 doors behind him, which looked liked 3 large pieces of mirror. "are three officers of the 106th, the battlegroup for which you've applied to join or has been demanded to join, depending on your cases. They are even now reviewing the result of everyone of your performance. When they will be ready, each one of these officers will pick one of you people at a time, and review with you the whole sim, and your previous sim and performances in space simulated combat to check your performance. The last remaining details will be done, and you will be informed of either your acceptance or denial from our unit."
"I'd ask you people to be patient, and wait here. For the moment, feel free to chat among yourself."
The man smiled plesantly, and made a half bow before leaving.
--
Jimmy was among the last to pass through one of the mirror-like door. He looked around nervously, and saw a handsome looking female naval captain sitting at a desk. Only then, did he notice the door was actually a one-side see through glass... they were observed since they were in there. It seemed everything was recorded to study them... even when they were relaxing it seems. A rather creepy feeling.
"Greetings lieutenant, please, take a seat." The woman said, smiling pleasantly.
"I am captain Kathrine Gaertner. Pleased to meet you."
She then went through an immense pile of document, all of them labelled "PATT-J0292" .
"I have been analizing your performance at training ever since day one, along with my colleagues. Your results, I may say, are quite satisfactory for most, and exceeding on some others. Of course, you fo have some weakness, but even in the few real combat situation you've been faced to, according to the various reports sent to us, you seems to do rather well aboard a gunship, and have a good spirit of leadership. Which is very important."
He browsed through the a number of files, all in a dark blue paper which he guessed was reserved for naval performance. It went then on the black sections of the document.
"Your experiences as agent in the LSF is of course quite interesting, and considered as an important asset. As you know, the 106th, while being a naval battlegroup, is made up of a large portion of the army components. Your attitude and acts in the Alaska system, which we wont go in details, has proven us you are very efficient in such situations."
She nodded for herself as she read quickly through the remaining black papers, and set them aside.
"The simulator has once again, proven a good sense of leadership, courage and efficiency in your acts... however, we'd like to know how would you explain the last few moments of the simulator."
"Logical orders at the point where the insurgent were surrounded, would be to hold until your reinforcement came in, and pick them off one by one, which could lead to the capture of their leader... or it's death. Either of which were acceptable conditions of this mission."
"However, you have decided to pick on a hand to hand combat, and relied on the honour of your enemies. Why?"
As the captain looked down, she saw the emotional graph of the trainee, and frowned lightly, comparing it with the timeline of the simulator...
*he sat again knowing that he had indeed be possable found out he spoke after a few moments* "well ma'am first off let me say that though the order may be our enemy i have a high respect for ther soldiers there methods may be questionable but as i learned with the "confrontation" in alaska they have much honor amungst there ranks i chosew to honor them by dueling there commander i understand the 106th is a honored unit i understand i could of been killed but either she did not try or failed in that atempt i was ready to accepct death. the units reuptation precedes itself and frankly dosent give it enough credit tho i had wished to avoid an unnesary fire fight when the commander passed out it once again started and as you see most surendered or were stunned or a few killed the goal was to retake the base and capture the enemy commander i feel that it was acomplished my medic asured me she would of lived so i guess that would be an added bonus also*he heastated a second picking his words carefully*the enemy commanders elite guards i thought would be high value i chose hand to hand as not because the units imige is at stake i figured why risk loseing a chance to get valuable intell to help us fight them"if we can take her alive she can provide us with valuable intell hand to hand would probly be better suited as if we rush a solder on her side may shoot her in the back"while i could of and probly should of rushed her with my men i will admit i took a gamble and let my own honor get the best of me if only a little but i feel the gain out weighd the rissks as i learned in the LSF if you sometimes apeal to your oponets honor you tend to get more from them as you saw from alaska the order honor there word i felt again as i said right to match there honor"he said letting a sigh slip from him probly a foolish mistake but no doubt they picked up on the feelings he had for the "enemy commander"
Gaertner nodded slightly, as she scrolled through a few more data. She remained silent for a long while, considering the statistics of the sim run, before opening her computer unit.
"This is an interesting asumption, lieutenant. But, exactly how do you knew these people were of the 106th? They weren't identified in the mission parameters, nor could you possibly know of the identity of the enemy commander until she took off that helmet to duel you."
Suspicion was less or more hiden in her voice, as the holo screen of the computer unit lit up. The captain tapped on her console, bringing up a recently created by the label of "KAI-I000". Numerous graphics were shown, all of them in scientific language most would never learn to understand of their life.
"Among other things, we've discovered traces of very strong emotions running on you prior to the duel, at the exact time frame where your opponent commander took off her helm - and was building up even before, as you neared with your team toward the command head quarter. Assuming this is stress, this would show a great lack of confidence in your fighting capacities... why would you decide such action at the risk of failure?"
She frowned again, looking at the graphics on her computer.
"But then, I wonder why the general shows nearly the same pattern of emotions recorded on her side as well..."
She eyed him, her emerald eyes wondering.
"the helm gave it away i took a chance and knew a little about my enemy through my nvgs i saw it you forget i was in sevral boarding actions with herso i saw hoew she fought hence why i requested the nvgs and pink underarmor *he replyed*as for the risk as i said i deemed it accepctable i underestamated the genenral ma'am all contact ive had with her has been very emotional the stresses and such those emotions are showing that also our child hood is a lot alike weve had times to talk privitly mainly as idle chit chat on the various boarding craft or breifing rooms i was in with her during the st mitchal conflictshe thought it best to get to know me personally so she wcould find out my stgrenths and wealknesses for upcoming fights you can say weve..*he heastated again possably betraying himself*bonded sure i wasent military but i hardly saw my fahter he was allways mineing my mother grooming me for the BAF i grew up in colorado but my mother was an ex fighter ace rank leutenant also i had heard storys before hand people getting hurt in the simulator i fought her hand to hand i felt i could take her and in truth i know i cant shes a better fighter than me i dont know how as you see from my applacation i have great skill in martail arts comparable to military training mabye advanced more so in other areas of it we have a high sense of honor thats probly why she accepcted it thinking that if she killed me my men would of been to shocked to fight on but again i dont know whats running through hewr head"
The captain nodded, considering his words, and made a few note on her computer, tipping too fast for Jimmy to read.
"I can understand this. I do hope however, you are aware of the restriction concerning the liaison of a high ranking officer with a lower one. If so, then I'm sure you should be acting with more care in the future..."
Her smile came back, as she added
"Otherwise, I must say this is an excellent record you have. Good fighting skills. Good leadership abilities. Sharp minded, quick in decision."
She rose up to shake his hand,
"The files will be sent to the naval command for review, and perhaps, so I can nearly certify this with certitude, you will be granted the rank of naval captain in less than two months. Meanwhile, understand your evaluation is still not over: we will be watching your every live combat, see how you react and analysing your acts. However, you may get a bit more relaxed from now on: you have passed the larger part of the 106th selection criteria, so you may consider yourself officially a 106th member."
"Consider it is a great priviledge. We usually do not accept members who are not of canadian legacy, as the original mandate of the battlegroup is to unite people of this minority under one fighting banner. However, you have proven through your many skills and valors that you could or are already an important asset to us. Hence, my congratulations, from me and that of the whole unit."
She threw on a salute,
"Welcome aboard, lieutenant, and see you in probably 2 months. Good luck."