When they get back to the training area for the afternoon, the General leads them to where the infantry are practicing hand to hand combat instead of back to the simulators.
“Crusader Class Mecha see a lot of close combat, so the better you can fight unarmed the better you can survive when your Mecha is attacked. Today you will be demonstrating how much you know of combat to these veterans. Each of you, pick a number.” General Tennant explains, holding out a hand with four sticks in it.
Max grabs a stick, finding that it is number four, so he will be fighting last.
“Each of you will go until you win five matches or until you lose. Soldiers, I’ll warn you in advance, these are Alpha Compatibility Cadets, there is no need to go easy on them. Number one, you’re up.”
Nico takes the ring and the soldiers chuckle, sending a rather scrawny looking Private out to meet her. The man takes a confident fighting stance facing her, knowing his comrades are messing with him, and just wanting to get the fight over with so they can see the actual fighters in action.
“Ready? Go.” General Tennant calls and before the soldier could even react a small, booted foot had hit him in the head, knocking him out cold..
“That’s one for me. Thank you for the handicap gentlemen.” Nico says sweetly as the soldiers try to process what just happened.
Next up they send a well toned Sergeant out to face her. By Max’s estimation, he’s got a high Gamma or possibly a Beta level Compatibility. He’s certainly got higher total Modifiers than Nico does, and plenty of combat experience, it’s visible in his every movement.
“Ready? Go.”
The Sergeants first punch is knocked aside by Nico and used as leverage to try to kick him in the back. He sidesteps the attack, trying to grab her foot, but Nico has pulled it out of range. They trade punches, Nico’s to the stomach, his to her shoulder, both with little effect.
The crowd of soldiers is cheering on the fight and it’s drawing even more over to watch. Both fighters are blindingly fast, blocking and deflecting the barrage of attacks their opponent is sending their way.
“We’re supposed to follow that up? Forget beating that Sergeant, I’m pretty sure I couldn’t beat Nico.” Cadet Russo mutters, making Max chuckle.
“She’s meaner than she looks. Just watch.” Max tells his fellow Cadet.
The two combatants are trading blows again when the Sergeant grabs her wrist, going for the arm lock, a maneuver Max had failed at multiple times. With the boneless grace of a house cat, Nico rotates her entire body around her arm, floating in the air and swinging her legs up towards the Sergeant’a neck for the leg lock.
He realizes his mistake a moment too late, letting go of her arm and driving his fist up to prevent her from getting the choke hold. He successfully gets her leg outside his arm and slams her to the ground on her back, but the tenacious Cadet continues to pummel his face until he throws her off.
She’s off balance from hitting the mat again, so he goes for the spear, knocking the breath from the much smaller cadet before wrapping her legs with his to prevent her from escaping before going for the chokeout.
She can’t get the leverage on her elbow strikes to break his hold, and soon ends up tapping out, admitting defeat.
“That’s a loss for Cadet Nico.” General Tennant calls as the two get to their feet, the Sergeant bloody in the face and favoring his ribs, while Nico shakes off the grogginess.
“Thank the stars for Sergeant Johnson, without him we’d have been embarrassed by a forty kilo Cadet.” One of the soldiers calls and a large group begins to laugh.
“Johns once killed a Moor Bear with a combat knife, if he lost to her we were screwed.” someone else jokes and the Sergeant laughs.
“Good fight Cadet. If the other three fight like that, my boys might be in trouble.” Johns commends Nico, who shakes his hand.
“I have to watch the recording of that last pin, it’s been a while since anyone managed to immobilize me.” She smiles back, grabbing a towel to dry off after the exertion of the matches.
“That’s because you’re secretly made of liquid.” Max complains and the tired pair laughs.
“She’s just so light that she can support her entire body weight on two fingers, If you’re not prepared, it’s a bit like she’s defying gravity.” another Sergeant agrees.
Ibanez is up next, facing a similarly huge Corporal using a fighting style that looks like a bare knuckles boxing match. They’re both using the Kepler standard fighting style, and the pairing is pretty well matched, but not as entertaining as the last fight.
Ibanez has just managed to knock his opponent out when an alarm begins to sound and all the lights switch to red. General Tennant takes off running for the hangars, but the Cadets aren’t sure what to do.
“It’s a Scavenger Swarm. Since you don’t have assigned Mecha yet, you’re with us. The Armory is this way, let’s go.” Sergeant z Johnson, who defeated Nico calls, taking off at a run.
The Armory has a variety of pressure suits hanging on racks, a sealed form of basic powered exoskeleton armor. They can’t take much damage, but in the event that the Scavengers cause a breach they’re a lifesaver for anyone not in a sealed room.
The internal areas are already on lock down, but the training areas are near the outer hull. Max struggles into the unfamiliar equipment and laughs at Nico needing to clean the dust off the helmet of the smallest size they have.
She’s faster than anyone at getting into the suit, the lights on the chest going green to indicate the powered functions have activated and the suit is pressurized. She heads to the rack and grabs a Pulse rifle with a short barrel and a bullpup stock before moving to the side so others can get armed.
Max gets caught up on the rush of soldiers finishing near the same time, but manages to grab a pair of Pulse Pistols without too much delay. Pulse weapons are the ship based weapon of choice, since they don’t ricochet like projectiles and don’t leave molten puddles like Ionized Plasma weapons.
[All Hands Brace For Impact] the ship’s announcement sounds before a metallic screech fills the air.