11-12-2017, 01:01 PM
“So where's the lieutenant been all day, anyway?” Hijiri asked as the pair strode down the narrow passage.
“Huh?” in his surprise, Trevor stopped dead in his tracks, “No one told you? Really? He took the next few days off to go meet up with a few friends from his days as a private and go chill up on Tier Two.”
“Oh. Wait... we get days off?”
“Sure. We're not slaves, you know.” the 'trooper said, as they began moving forward once more.
“Yeah, I guess... still, it's unexpected... I just assumed we'd be worked like slaves, even if we technically aren't. Especially on this tier; there's so much crime here that it feels weird to think he's just left for a few days to go off and relax, while all this is still to be taken care of.”
“Well, it's not like he really believes we can accomplish anything down here, beyond occasionally stopping the odd crime in progress or maybe another raid from time to time...” Trevor trailed off.
“Unlike Iechtelsteir.” Hijiri finished for him. The stormtrooper nodded.
“Yeah. It's one hell of an ambition, that guy's got. Thinking we can actually make this place safe...” he shook his head, sceptically, yet smiled slightly as he did. The Battle Rabbit, this time, was the one who merely nodded. Kroll's plan – or Kroll's Really Amazing Plan (KRAP), as Frank had dubbed it – was pretty stupid... yet, it had somehow been working out for them so far.
Trevor tapped the sensor to open the door into the detainment area they'd been approaching. Prisoners captured during the casino raid stared out from the barred cells as they passed. A few made antagonising comments, but the two EPD soldiers had more important things to do than beat up the occasional rude inmate, and so chose to ignore them.
It took less than a minute to come upon the cell Sarah and Kevin shared... originally they had been separate, but since they'd basically become part of the crew in all but name by this point, they'd been allowed to share, and the cell had been made more hospitable, up to about the level of the average stormtrooper quarters...
It was a slight improvement, at least.
“Hey, Tacky. It's that time again, huh?” the barefooted woman was laying on her bunk when she spoke, in her usual monotone. Kevin leaned back against the wall opposite the bars, hands in pockets, smiling.
As Trevor unlocked the door, Hijiri responded, “Yeah. Iechtelsteir's accelerating things, though. We're already beginning the 'Aggregation'... from here on out the NSW, and possibly more of the gangs on Tier Five, are going to realise they need to stop us while they still have a chance... things will likely soon get a whole lot harder for us.”
“Which is why the veterans' training will need to move ahead faster than we had originally expected?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, exactly. Though we're not going with 'veterans' any more. Out on patrol today, Leon told a bunch of people that he and the rest of the experienced lot were 'elites'. When I told him, the sergeant approved, of course, so we're going with that name, now.”
That ever-present, knowing smile grew, slightly. “Interesting. Well, well, well, as always, my associate and I would be overjoyed to assist you in this endeavour... however, you must realise that even more rigorous training than they have been undergoing so far could have negative consequences. They could be seriously injured, for instance, or could end up completely burned out from all the effort required of them... especially given how little sleep they tend to get, performing their regular duties during the day, only to then train at night as well.”
“Of course,” Hijiri nodded solemnly, “we all understand the risks, but for all their faults, every single one of us is willing to do this... even him.”
Trevor straightened up as the Rabbit motioned towards him with his head. “Y-yeah. I am.”
“Well, far be it from me to interfere, then. What do you say, my dear, are you as eager as ever to aid them in this oh, oh, oh so noble endeavour of theirs?” Kevin's smile grew as he spoke; it would seem he was pleased by this development.
“Eh. I guess.” came the non-committal reply.
“Glad to hear it.” Hijiri said, ignoring her seeming lack of interest in her voice. With her, it was hard to tell if that was how she actually felt, or if it was just an act, since she more-or-less always behaved that way, “Before we head out, though, there's just one thing I have to do...”
“Huh?” she asked, as he approached her, removing something from a pocket while he did. It was a thin, plastic keycard. He tapped it against the adamantium choker she wore, which promptly gave a bleep, snapped open at the front, and fell from her neck.
“Like I said, we're accelerating their training. Tonight, you and I will both be Transforming before we fight. Obviously, I'll keep my katana sheathed, and you should avoid using your claws or teeth. Other than that, though, we're basically just going to show them what it feels like to go up against two Powered-Up Primes at once.”
“Y'don't think that's a bit... much?” though her tone didn't change, the hesitation was obvious.
“They'll be fine, I'm sure. You should have seen my face earlier, before I took a trip down to the medical bay. Singh is pretty tough. Besides, they seem to have this idea in their heads that I'm some kind of weakling... just because I can't deflect bullets...”
“Deflect bullets?”
“Don't ask. He'd rather not talk about it.” Kevin answered before he could. Reading him like a book.
“Right, sure. So yer doing this because they made fun of you and y'want payback. Got it... but... you didn't even hesitate to open this thing...” she'd sat up, and was holding the slim choker in one hand. It was hard to tell given her bland expression, but she seemed surprised.
“Well no, of course not.” he gave his words an almost exasperated note... as though having to state something this obvious was a waste of his time. “We all trust you implicitly. Hell, once this recruitment thing starts bearing fruit Iechtelsteir plans on offering you both the opportunity to join up officially if you want. If you say yes, we can just sneak you both in amongst the other applicants.”
“Oh.”
Kevin walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You see?”
Hijiri couldn't be sure what he meant, as the man did not elaborate, but she nodded and got to her feet. Judging by the context in which it had been said, he presumed that she had held some doubts as to whether anyone in the group actually cared at all for her, aside from as a tool to be used to further their training.
He and Trevor led the way back out, and after tossing the thin, flexible metal band down on her bunk, Sarah and Kevin followed after.
***
Now in the grassy, outdoor training area, they all stood assembled as their leader spoke.
“So, you all got that?” Kroll demanded. He had just finished explaining, again, to make sure they all understood, how tonight's training would go down. Hijiri and Sarah could barely keep up their respective Transformations for a quarter of an hour, if that, so though they would begin the night with an epic showdown between the Primes and the self-proclaimed 'elites', there would be much more work to be done afterwards, and the 'sergeant' had felt the need to repeatedly remind them of this... most likely just so he could hear himself monologuing.
“Sir, yes, sir!” they chorused. Even Trevor had started getting the hang of saying it on time, despite his nerves. Kroll walked forward to join the line formed of the other six 'troopers, then turned to face them.
“Alright, let's get this started.”
The Battle Rabbit transformed immediately, the harsh, white light blossoming around his body for a second before vanishing as quickly as it had begun. In addition to the white, vaguely rabbit-like ears which now grew on the top of his head, his outfit had changed considerably, with a pair of white boots on his feet, looser, less formal trousers, and his suit jacket and shirt replaced with a new coat; black, with some white lining.
Sarah, however, did not change.
“Watt?” the Prime asked. Almost the moment he said it, though, he realised the issue, “Oh.”
Kevin chuckled a little, obviously being familiar with this situation himself.
“Turn around.” she didn't elaborate, but one by one, the squad members remembered why this was important and turned their backs to her. Only her mysterious, smiling 'associate' didn't bother. Presumably, she was comfortable enough in his presence to overlook this, as she quickly removed the black tracksuit she'd been wearing – a few days ago they'd given her some Omnilium to summon clothes of her own, so that she wouldn't need to keep using Priya's spare outfits – then her underwear, before finally shifting.
When a loud, rumbling growl indicated they could now look back, the same nine-foot-high, seventeen-foot-long wolf that he had fought just a couple days after showing up in the Omniverse loomed before them, towering over the puny humans... and off to one side of her, Kevin knelt on the ground, folding up her discarded tracksuit as he observed them out of the corners of his eyes.
Looking at her now, Hijiri wasn't sure how he'd ever managed to eke out a win in that fight... how different this all could have went, he suddenly found himself thinking, if she had won. Davion and the squad would have been killed, as would he have been, and even if he had returned to Coruscant after his rebirth... would he really have had the drive to continue to fight crime at all, much less proceed with this madness that Kroll called a plan?
He couldn't say.
His musings were interrupted, however, when the burst of pure energy smacked him in the face, throwing him to the ground. He was much more resilient in this form, yes, but not necessarily heavier...
Oh yeah, they'd already started. The wolf that was Sarah darted forwards, immediately batting aside Trevor and Brandon with a backhanded swipe from one paw – though to their credit, the elf turned his fall into a roll, and was standing again almost the instant he struck the ground, and the fool soon managed to get back to his feet as well – then trying to knock down Kroll as well with her snout.
He had seen it coming, though, and dropped into a crouch. Then, when her head passed above his position, he fired his blaster, the laser striking the underside of her jaw at almost point blank range... even so, aside from frying a small patch of fur, the attack had little effect.
Priya ran, jumped, and used the werewolf's snout as a stepping stone, bouncing up, onto her back, before dropping into a sitting position, grabbing a fistful of fur to steady herself, and pressing her weapon against Sarah's flank. She then began to fire, time after time. Though the first was more or less absorbed by the fur, the ensuing shots soon began to char the flesh beneath.
Meanwhile, the others spread out and around, trying to keep to her blind spots and avoid her blows, whilst maintaining a constant barrage of shots. Outside of point-blank range, the blasters had little effect, yet in her current position – provided she continued to hold back, at least – Sarah would eventually be overcome.
She wasn't using her teeth and claws, as he had suggested earlier, but beyond that, she also refused to roll over and dash her opponent against the ground, as she had against Hijiri when they first fought. Priya was just too fragile, so the weight of the huge predator would likely break bones, and possibly rupture some organs as well.
Reasonably, Sarah had judged that that was far too big a risk to take for a simple training exercise.
But then, who cared about being reasonable?
Besides, this lot had seemingly discounted him entirely... he had to admit that the werewolf's form cut a much more impressive figure than his, yet even so, it seemed that they had all forgotten that it was he who had come out on top in their first fight.
Lightening himself as much as possible, he started building up energy in the hand holding his scabbarded sword, then jumped up, high into the air above Sarah and Priya, before releasing the charged power, which was instantly converted to weight.
Remembering finally that they had more to focus on than just the most threatening opponent – or at least, the one which appeared the most threatening, based on size and form – the stormtroopers began unloading rounds into the sky.
It wasn't enough, though. With one hand and sword between them now having suddenly gained a combined weight of just under forty kilograms, the previously nigh-weightless Battle Rabbit suddenly dropped like a stone, sword first, straight towards the sitting stormtrooper, and with this sudden change in trajectory, almost all of their shots went wide... and those couple which did not failed to even penetrate his clothing from this distance.
She couldn't dodge, not without falling from the wolf's back, so Priya was forced to simply hold up an arm in a vain attempt at blocking the oncoming blow. There was disbelief in her expression, yet also a little concern. She knew that the Primes were supposed to be going easy on them – hence why the katana remained sheathed – so likely expected him to soften his strike before it connected, since actually hitting her unprotected head (his original target) with that kind of weight and momentum would have certainly killed her... she couldn't be completely sure, however.
She was right not to be. Despite this, she had failed his test. Despite the odds of being trampled, and the certainty of losing her favourable position in a spot her primary adversary could not reach, in a real battle, attempting to take a strike such as this head on with only the minimal protection of holding up an arm to shield her face would have meant certain death... it was a bad call on her part, and showed a serious misunderstanding of the actual purpose of this exercise.
They weren't being taught to defeat Primes who barely fought back; they were supposed to be learning how best to cope in a scenario in which they were left with no option but to face off against vastly superior foes.
He pulled in his unweighted arms and legs, almost curling his body around the sword, and flipping forwards as he fell, he was able to orient himself in such a way as to ensure the blade came down in an overhead chop, rather than merely point-first, whilst also allowing his feet to touch down only a second after the weapon connected... which would ensure that her body was the one to absorb the greatest impact of his fall, rather than his own.
It would have been a risky manoeuvre to pull off normally, with only the basic resilience of his human 'disguise'... but in his True Form, with the additional durability of this much more impressive body, even if he had messed up the landing, he likely wouldn't have so much as twisted his wrist, much less sprained or broken it. Not that it mattered in this case. He nailed it.
Despite the white plastoid armour she wore, her arm was still shattered immediately... though, of course, not so badly as it would have been had they chosen not to wear their uniforms (bar helmets) tonight, and had simply fought in their regular clothing, as they had on some previous training sessions.
She screamed in agony, dropping the blaster she held and losing her grip on Sarah's fur. Priya fell, though for her part, the werewolf made sure to step aside carefully, so as not to accidentally injure the 'trooper further by stepping on her.
Hijiri's stance had been a little uneven for a moment there, with one hand weighing drastically more than the other, yet the issue was solved quickly enough. It took just another few seconds of focus to restore his weight to normal, after which point he hopped lightly off Sarah's back and strolled the few paces across to Priya, who had curled into a fetal position, cradling her arm against her body and breathing in harsh, pained gasps. The others stood around gawking, more shocked than anything else at this point... perhaps not yet sure if this had been accidental or not.
“This exercise,” Hijiri stated coldly, “was not meant to be a test of whether or not you were capable of taking advantage of an enemy's unwillingness to seriously harm you. Singh tried to use Watt's reluctance to put her in any real danger in order to attempt to 'win'... completely missing our actual goal here. As such, she was punished. Now, Singh, get yourself to the medical bay and see what the droid can do for your arm. Maybe the next time you're fit enough to attend one of these training sessions, you'll actually put in the effort to do so properly.”
Leon moved forwards to help her, but the Prime spoke again, “No. The rest of you have training to do, and this is her own fault. Let her do it herself.”
“You can't be serious...” seeing no warmth in Hijiri's stern visage, he cast his gaze towards Kroll instead... the 'sergeant' didn't look all that happy about it, yet after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head nonetheless.
“These training sessions are Takanomiya's thing. Right now, I'm just as much a student as the rest of you... so we'll do this his way.”
“Priya...” Leon said... moaned, almost. He clearly wasn't pleased at seeing her hurt so badly. Good. That'd make him try all the harder to 'avenge' her once their little mock battle resumed.
For her part, though, the woman did an impressive job of composing herself. Slowly, painstakingly, she made her way back onto her feet. She looked much paler than usual, yet managed to force a small, shaky smile onto her face.
“You sure... are one... helluva... tsundere, sir.” she managed between shuddering breaths.
Glowering, he replied simply, “Go. Now.”
She went, trying her best to stand strong, despite the mess he'd made of her arm; through the multitude of cracks and breaks in the plastoid surface, her blood seeped; at least a shard or two of fragmented bone must have actually pierced all the way through her muscles and skin.
He turned back to the others, “Now, let's get back to work.”
“Huh?” in his surprise, Trevor stopped dead in his tracks, “No one told you? Really? He took the next few days off to go meet up with a few friends from his days as a private and go chill up on Tier Two.”
“Oh. Wait... we get days off?”
“Sure. We're not slaves, you know.” the 'trooper said, as they began moving forward once more.
“Yeah, I guess... still, it's unexpected... I just assumed we'd be worked like slaves, even if we technically aren't. Especially on this tier; there's so much crime here that it feels weird to think he's just left for a few days to go off and relax, while all this is still to be taken care of.”
“Well, it's not like he really believes we can accomplish anything down here, beyond occasionally stopping the odd crime in progress or maybe another raid from time to time...” Trevor trailed off.
“Unlike Iechtelsteir.” Hijiri finished for him. The stormtrooper nodded.
“Yeah. It's one hell of an ambition, that guy's got. Thinking we can actually make this place safe...” he shook his head, sceptically, yet smiled slightly as he did. The Battle Rabbit, this time, was the one who merely nodded. Kroll's plan – or Kroll's Really Amazing Plan (KRAP), as Frank had dubbed it – was pretty stupid... yet, it had somehow been working out for them so far.
Trevor tapped the sensor to open the door into the detainment area they'd been approaching. Prisoners captured during the casino raid stared out from the barred cells as they passed. A few made antagonising comments, but the two EPD soldiers had more important things to do than beat up the occasional rude inmate, and so chose to ignore them.
It took less than a minute to come upon the cell Sarah and Kevin shared... originally they had been separate, but since they'd basically become part of the crew in all but name by this point, they'd been allowed to share, and the cell had been made more hospitable, up to about the level of the average stormtrooper quarters...
It was a slight improvement, at least.
“Hey, Tacky. It's that time again, huh?” the barefooted woman was laying on her bunk when she spoke, in her usual monotone. Kevin leaned back against the wall opposite the bars, hands in pockets, smiling.
As Trevor unlocked the door, Hijiri responded, “Yeah. Iechtelsteir's accelerating things, though. We're already beginning the 'Aggregation'... from here on out the NSW, and possibly more of the gangs on Tier Five, are going to realise they need to stop us while they still have a chance... things will likely soon get a whole lot harder for us.”
“Which is why the veterans' training will need to move ahead faster than we had originally expected?” Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yes, exactly. Though we're not going with 'veterans' any more. Out on patrol today, Leon told a bunch of people that he and the rest of the experienced lot were 'elites'. When I told him, the sergeant approved, of course, so we're going with that name, now.”
That ever-present, knowing smile grew, slightly. “Interesting. Well, well, well, as always, my associate and I would be overjoyed to assist you in this endeavour... however, you must realise that even more rigorous training than they have been undergoing so far could have negative consequences. They could be seriously injured, for instance, or could end up completely burned out from all the effort required of them... especially given how little sleep they tend to get, performing their regular duties during the day, only to then train at night as well.”
“Of course,” Hijiri nodded solemnly, “we all understand the risks, but for all their faults, every single one of us is willing to do this... even him.”
Trevor straightened up as the Rabbit motioned towards him with his head. “Y-yeah. I am.”
“Well, far be it from me to interfere, then. What do you say, my dear, are you as eager as ever to aid them in this oh, oh, oh so noble endeavour of theirs?” Kevin's smile grew as he spoke; it would seem he was pleased by this development.
“Eh. I guess.” came the non-committal reply.
“Glad to hear it.” Hijiri said, ignoring her seeming lack of interest in her voice. With her, it was hard to tell if that was how she actually felt, or if it was just an act, since she more-or-less always behaved that way, “Before we head out, though, there's just one thing I have to do...”
“Huh?” she asked, as he approached her, removing something from a pocket while he did. It was a thin, plastic keycard. He tapped it against the adamantium choker she wore, which promptly gave a bleep, snapped open at the front, and fell from her neck.
“Like I said, we're accelerating their training. Tonight, you and I will both be Transforming before we fight. Obviously, I'll keep my katana sheathed, and you should avoid using your claws or teeth. Other than that, though, we're basically just going to show them what it feels like to go up against two Powered-Up Primes at once.”
“Y'don't think that's a bit... much?” though her tone didn't change, the hesitation was obvious.
“They'll be fine, I'm sure. You should have seen my face earlier, before I took a trip down to the medical bay. Singh is pretty tough. Besides, they seem to have this idea in their heads that I'm some kind of weakling... just because I can't deflect bullets...”
“Deflect bullets?”
“Don't ask. He'd rather not talk about it.” Kevin answered before he could. Reading him like a book.
“Right, sure. So yer doing this because they made fun of you and y'want payback. Got it... but... you didn't even hesitate to open this thing...” she'd sat up, and was holding the slim choker in one hand. It was hard to tell given her bland expression, but she seemed surprised.
“Well no, of course not.” he gave his words an almost exasperated note... as though having to state something this obvious was a waste of his time. “We all trust you implicitly. Hell, once this recruitment thing starts bearing fruit Iechtelsteir plans on offering you both the opportunity to join up officially if you want. If you say yes, we can just sneak you both in amongst the other applicants.”
“Oh.”
Kevin walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You see?”
Hijiri couldn't be sure what he meant, as the man did not elaborate, but she nodded and got to her feet. Judging by the context in which it had been said, he presumed that she had held some doubts as to whether anyone in the group actually cared at all for her, aside from as a tool to be used to further their training.
He and Trevor led the way back out, and after tossing the thin, flexible metal band down on her bunk, Sarah and Kevin followed after.
***
Now in the grassy, outdoor training area, they all stood assembled as their leader spoke.
“So, you all got that?” Kroll demanded. He had just finished explaining, again, to make sure they all understood, how tonight's training would go down. Hijiri and Sarah could barely keep up their respective Transformations for a quarter of an hour, if that, so though they would begin the night with an epic showdown between the Primes and the self-proclaimed 'elites', there would be much more work to be done afterwards, and the 'sergeant' had felt the need to repeatedly remind them of this... most likely just so he could hear himself monologuing.
“Sir, yes, sir!” they chorused. Even Trevor had started getting the hang of saying it on time, despite his nerves. Kroll walked forward to join the line formed of the other six 'troopers, then turned to face them.
“Alright, let's get this started.”
The Battle Rabbit transformed immediately, the harsh, white light blossoming around his body for a second before vanishing as quickly as it had begun. In addition to the white, vaguely rabbit-like ears which now grew on the top of his head, his outfit had changed considerably, with a pair of white boots on his feet, looser, less formal trousers, and his suit jacket and shirt replaced with a new coat; black, with some white lining.
Sarah, however, did not change.
“Watt?” the Prime asked. Almost the moment he said it, though, he realised the issue, “Oh.”
Kevin chuckled a little, obviously being familiar with this situation himself.
“Turn around.” she didn't elaborate, but one by one, the squad members remembered why this was important and turned their backs to her. Only her mysterious, smiling 'associate' didn't bother. Presumably, she was comfortable enough in his presence to overlook this, as she quickly removed the black tracksuit she'd been wearing – a few days ago they'd given her some Omnilium to summon clothes of her own, so that she wouldn't need to keep using Priya's spare outfits – then her underwear, before finally shifting.
When a loud, rumbling growl indicated they could now look back, the same nine-foot-high, seventeen-foot-long wolf that he had fought just a couple days after showing up in the Omniverse loomed before them, towering over the puny humans... and off to one side of her, Kevin knelt on the ground, folding up her discarded tracksuit as he observed them out of the corners of his eyes.
Looking at her now, Hijiri wasn't sure how he'd ever managed to eke out a win in that fight... how different this all could have went, he suddenly found himself thinking, if she had won. Davion and the squad would have been killed, as would he have been, and even if he had returned to Coruscant after his rebirth... would he really have had the drive to continue to fight crime at all, much less proceed with this madness that Kroll called a plan?
He couldn't say.
His musings were interrupted, however, when the burst of pure energy smacked him in the face, throwing him to the ground. He was much more resilient in this form, yes, but not necessarily heavier...
Oh yeah, they'd already started. The wolf that was Sarah darted forwards, immediately batting aside Trevor and Brandon with a backhanded swipe from one paw – though to their credit, the elf turned his fall into a roll, and was standing again almost the instant he struck the ground, and the fool soon managed to get back to his feet as well – then trying to knock down Kroll as well with her snout.
He had seen it coming, though, and dropped into a crouch. Then, when her head passed above his position, he fired his blaster, the laser striking the underside of her jaw at almost point blank range... even so, aside from frying a small patch of fur, the attack had little effect.
Priya ran, jumped, and used the werewolf's snout as a stepping stone, bouncing up, onto her back, before dropping into a sitting position, grabbing a fistful of fur to steady herself, and pressing her weapon against Sarah's flank. She then began to fire, time after time. Though the first was more or less absorbed by the fur, the ensuing shots soon began to char the flesh beneath.
Meanwhile, the others spread out and around, trying to keep to her blind spots and avoid her blows, whilst maintaining a constant barrage of shots. Outside of point-blank range, the blasters had little effect, yet in her current position – provided she continued to hold back, at least – Sarah would eventually be overcome.
She wasn't using her teeth and claws, as he had suggested earlier, but beyond that, she also refused to roll over and dash her opponent against the ground, as she had against Hijiri when they first fought. Priya was just too fragile, so the weight of the huge predator would likely break bones, and possibly rupture some organs as well.
Reasonably, Sarah had judged that that was far too big a risk to take for a simple training exercise.
But then, who cared about being reasonable?
Besides, this lot had seemingly discounted him entirely... he had to admit that the werewolf's form cut a much more impressive figure than his, yet even so, it seemed that they had all forgotten that it was he who had come out on top in their first fight.
Lightening himself as much as possible, he started building up energy in the hand holding his scabbarded sword, then jumped up, high into the air above Sarah and Priya, before releasing the charged power, which was instantly converted to weight.
Remembering finally that they had more to focus on than just the most threatening opponent – or at least, the one which appeared the most threatening, based on size and form – the stormtroopers began unloading rounds into the sky.
It wasn't enough, though. With one hand and sword between them now having suddenly gained a combined weight of just under forty kilograms, the previously nigh-weightless Battle Rabbit suddenly dropped like a stone, sword first, straight towards the sitting stormtrooper, and with this sudden change in trajectory, almost all of their shots went wide... and those couple which did not failed to even penetrate his clothing from this distance.
She couldn't dodge, not without falling from the wolf's back, so Priya was forced to simply hold up an arm in a vain attempt at blocking the oncoming blow. There was disbelief in her expression, yet also a little concern. She knew that the Primes were supposed to be going easy on them – hence why the katana remained sheathed – so likely expected him to soften his strike before it connected, since actually hitting her unprotected head (his original target) with that kind of weight and momentum would have certainly killed her... she couldn't be completely sure, however.
She was right not to be. Despite this, she had failed his test. Despite the odds of being trampled, and the certainty of losing her favourable position in a spot her primary adversary could not reach, in a real battle, attempting to take a strike such as this head on with only the minimal protection of holding up an arm to shield her face would have meant certain death... it was a bad call on her part, and showed a serious misunderstanding of the actual purpose of this exercise.
They weren't being taught to defeat Primes who barely fought back; they were supposed to be learning how best to cope in a scenario in which they were left with no option but to face off against vastly superior foes.
He pulled in his unweighted arms and legs, almost curling his body around the sword, and flipping forwards as he fell, he was able to orient himself in such a way as to ensure the blade came down in an overhead chop, rather than merely point-first, whilst also allowing his feet to touch down only a second after the weapon connected... which would ensure that her body was the one to absorb the greatest impact of his fall, rather than his own.
It would have been a risky manoeuvre to pull off normally, with only the basic resilience of his human 'disguise'... but in his True Form, with the additional durability of this much more impressive body, even if he had messed up the landing, he likely wouldn't have so much as twisted his wrist, much less sprained or broken it. Not that it mattered in this case. He nailed it.
Despite the white plastoid armour she wore, her arm was still shattered immediately... though, of course, not so badly as it would have been had they chosen not to wear their uniforms (bar helmets) tonight, and had simply fought in their regular clothing, as they had on some previous training sessions.
She screamed in agony, dropping the blaster she held and losing her grip on Sarah's fur. Priya fell, though for her part, the werewolf made sure to step aside carefully, so as not to accidentally injure the 'trooper further by stepping on her.
Hijiri's stance had been a little uneven for a moment there, with one hand weighing drastically more than the other, yet the issue was solved quickly enough. It took just another few seconds of focus to restore his weight to normal, after which point he hopped lightly off Sarah's back and strolled the few paces across to Priya, who had curled into a fetal position, cradling her arm against her body and breathing in harsh, pained gasps. The others stood around gawking, more shocked than anything else at this point... perhaps not yet sure if this had been accidental or not.
“This exercise,” Hijiri stated coldly, “was not meant to be a test of whether or not you were capable of taking advantage of an enemy's unwillingness to seriously harm you. Singh tried to use Watt's reluctance to put her in any real danger in order to attempt to 'win'... completely missing our actual goal here. As such, she was punished. Now, Singh, get yourself to the medical bay and see what the droid can do for your arm. Maybe the next time you're fit enough to attend one of these training sessions, you'll actually put in the effort to do so properly.”
Leon moved forwards to help her, but the Prime spoke again, “No. The rest of you have training to do, and this is her own fault. Let her do it herself.”
“You can't be serious...” seeing no warmth in Hijiri's stern visage, he cast his gaze towards Kroll instead... the 'sergeant' didn't look all that happy about it, yet after a moment's hesitation, he shook his head nonetheless.
“These training sessions are Takanomiya's thing. Right now, I'm just as much a student as the rest of you... so we'll do this his way.”
“Priya...” Leon said... moaned, almost. He clearly wasn't pleased at seeing her hurt so badly. Good. That'd make him try all the harder to 'avenge' her once their little mock battle resumed.
For her part, though, the woman did an impressive job of composing herself. Slowly, painstakingly, she made her way back onto her feet. She looked much paler than usual, yet managed to force a small, shaky smile onto her face.
“You sure... are one... helluva... tsundere, sir.” she managed between shuddering breaths.
Glowering, he replied simply, “Go. Now.”
She went, trying her best to stand strong, despite the mess he'd made of her arm; through the multitude of cracks and breaks in the plastoid surface, her blood seeped; at least a shard or two of fragmented bone must have actually pierced all the way through her muscles and skin.
He turned back to the others, “Now, let's get back to work.”
![[Image: Hijiri_Name_Sig.png]](https://image.ibb.co/k1H7Hd/Hijiri_Name_Sig.png)