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ask-manda-of-the-6 · 7 years

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( 💓 - a memory about their friends)

Timeframe: a week or so after sparring with Blackwell (and breaking his ribs and his ‘death’ and resurrection via MELD hacks)

Location: Avenger Armoury and Guerilla Tactics School

It was a slow day in the armoury, Manda was still waiting on some component upgrades from Engineering, and she had just finished the modifications on Smokey’s grenade launcher. Seeing a somewhat familiar face -though he was without his mask- she decided to strike up a conversation with Saihyo while he was checking the balance on his plasma katana.

“Hey Saihyo, wereyou always part of the Resistance? Or was there a specific time thatyou decided to join up?”

The ranger set down his blade in his gear locker with a chuckle, turning to face the tiny recruit. “Iwas an XCOM reserve at sixteen. Got a recommendation and fudged my age abit. Though, I gotta say I didn’t see any action in the first war.Our records were destroyed as XCOM went down and ADVENT didn’t botherus much. ” He chuckled and smiled at the recruit. “Iwas at the front of every protest and a blade for hire at everyADVENT sting so I guess I’ve always been part of the Resistance. But until Iheard that the commander was found, I wasn’t anyone’s soldier. Thelocal resistance had to hire me was all.”

"Jeez!That’s a long time to be fighting.” She fiddled with herfingers, clearly having something else on her mind. “But um-what about your family? I mean… if it’s not too much to ask.”

“Hmmagain not a whole lot to say. They taught me how to fight. We don’thave a compound bow or I could be using father’s training. Nosiblings. Both passed on in service to the government teams trying topick up where XCOM failed.” He paused and shook his head. “Theytold me not to join them, I think they knew it was fruitless thatway. ”

“Whatwas it like?” She wrapped her arms around her knees. “Theworld -I mean- before the Invasion. I was… well I was only threewhen it happened. I can’t really remember anything before that…just what I’ve seen from pictures or in the Archives.”

“Stories…of before the war huh? I dunno what the commander has in herarchives… and I’m not sure what kind of stories I could tell you.Life for me was a lot of physical training… Oh, before Adventmonitored everything, the family would always take a trip camping.That’s not in the archives is it?”

Therecruit smiled, “So was it like those old world Kung Fu moviesthat Blitz has?” She struck a meditation pose with a seriousface, “In order to defeat your enemy’s nature, you must becomein tune with nature itself!” The expression melted off with agiggle as she looked up at the ranger.

Saihyochuckled at that. “It’s not like that has no basis. Many of my fighting techniques are inspired by animals. Most of my handto hand for certain.” He followedup by cycling through the base stances of the animal styles he wasfamiliar with; from tiger, to crane, to mantis

Mandawatched, curious as he went from one stance to another. “Sowait… There’s *actually* merit to ‘floating like a butterfly andstinging like a bee’? It’s not just some weird saying?” Shehopped to her feet and tried to mimic one of the stances, her balancecompletely off for it to be any practical use.

“Um…that was from that boxing movie I think.” He chuckled. “But yes, there’s merit tofighting like that. I’m no boxer though for me it’s… hmmm.” Hestood down and thought about it for a moment. Then he lifted his armsand drew a circle around his torso. “It’s flow with the windand-” from his torso he threw a trio of clawed blows through theair, "strike with lightning!”

Mandaseemed charmed by the saying, and still impressed by the rapidity ofSaihyo’s strikes. “Ummm… Flooooowwlike the wind…” Her face scrunched up in concentration as shegave her first attempt at mirroring his moves. “Annnnd…Strike! Like lightning?” She mimicked the claw attacks, but ata much more hesitant pace, looking back up at him.

“Hmm, not bad…” he mused, absentmindedly returning to his past as asifu. He repeated the sequence, moving much slower so Manda would be able to properly break down the movement.“Wind movesas it flows, unfettered and unstoppable.” He drew the circlewith almost no tension in his arms, “and lightning strikeswithout warning! decisive and destructive.” Though his strikeswere quick, each move was separate, and it turned out that each blowlanded with a different hand posture.

Takingin a deep breath, she practised the wind movement with her arms;trying to keep them as relaxed as she could without getting toonoodle-y. However she was still pausing between 'lightning’ strikesover-thinking the moves as opposed to extending her energy into thestrikes.

Theranger chuckled at the frustration on her face. “It’s goodto practice slowly, like a glaciers melt that cuts the mountains.Your moves aren’t gonna look like mine, right away, or maybe notever. But that’s where you find your path”

Mandanodded, taking some comfort in the fact that -of course- she wouldn’tget it right away… Saihyo had years, if not *decades* of trainingunder his belt. But focusing on her breathing and slowing down hermovements certainly brought a calm that she hadn’t experienced in along while. It was like emptying out her mind of her dozens ofworries and fears.

“That’sa little better. Even in this world, Nature endures and that’s how weas fighters should be.” He nodded sagely, pleased that even inADVENT’s world, there were ways to pass on the teachings.

Manda’sexpression brightened a bit and she turned to face Saihyo with anervous smile. “Does that mean you’d be all right with teachingme?”

“HmmI don’t see why not. If I can help you stay alive in this world I’mall for it. But then if I’m going to teach you, I’m gonna start withthe basics and not something I improvise.. I was never an easyteacher before the invasion, I don’t think that’s changed. But youcan handle it right?”

“Yessir!”Manda instinctively snapped off a salute. She smiled and rubbed theback of her neck. “I’ve- I’ve got a little bit of sparringtraining from Blitz… mostly grapples and leg locks, and um- myright hook’s pretty good.” She shifted from one foot to theother. “But I *want* to learn more… even if I never need toput it to use. And… and I think the discipline would be good forme.”

“Oh…is that so? Lets see what you’ve got then, I can figure out what Ican do best for you after I experience it myself. ” He waited for Manda to properly lock down the armoury before leading the way to the training room.

Manda’sstomach lurched at the thought of sparring with Saihyo, but she foundherself timidly following behind him towards GTS.

She was *not* goingto have a repeat of when she’d lost control over her emotions andcracked Blackwell’s ribs.

Saihyounlocked a room that branched off from the main workout facilities, inside was a couple of gear lockers and thick mats secured to the floor.

Pulling off his shirt, he revealed his heavily scarred and tattooed torso to the trainee.“So… let us begin. Come at me however you’d like.” He tookan upright stance, standing perfectly still, his open hands near hischest.

Mandacould not -for the life of her- stop the blush that flared across her cheeks when shelooked Saihyo up and down. She would definitely like to askabout a couple of those tattoos, but now was not the time. Clearingher throat, she took off the thick overshirt of her uniform, down toa standard-issue tank top and stretched out her muscles.

Once she was-more or less- prepared, she took a cautious stance, focusing on herbreathing and taking a moment to analyze the situation.

“A cautious one… that will serve you will against ADVENT for certain.Then here I come!” He swapped in a blink from standing to atight guard and advanced on her rapidly, feinting a left jab beforeducking low and throwing an elbow towards her torso.

Mandahad learned a couple of things about fake-outs since her sparringmatch against Blackwell, catching Saihyo’s change in direction intime to block the elbow hit with the sting of her right arm. Her lefthand grabbed Saihyo’s wrist and did what she could -given her smallerheight- to pull it into an arm lock.

“Goodto know, you’re not a novice.” He grunted as his arm was taken.Still with both her hands occupied with his one arm, his left wasfree to act. he stepped in and grabbed her locking wrist, moving hiselbow to strike for her face while he had her upper limbs trapped

Shetook the hit with a hiss of pain between her teeth, stumbling backand releasing her hold on him. Yeah. That was gonna bruise. Still,she shook off the hit and backed off a couple of steps, hands comingclose to her core in another guarded stance.

“Gottamake sure you can always guard. You’ll always get another chance tohit if you’re still standing” Saihyo lowered his hands as hegave his hint, then he raised his arms and hooked his palms, taking anew stance altogether “Again!”

Mandanodded, taking in a sharp breath. “Before I forget,” Shepatted her left shoulder twice, “dislocated it when the UFOdropped us out of the sky a while back… hasn’t been the same since.I want to know how I can work with that weakness.”

“Hmm…I’ll take a look at the muscle itself when we finish. For now, do your best to avoid straining it.. but you didn’t need me to tell you that, right?”

Shenodded, resuming her stance and approaching with her left sideleading; that way she’d be able to strike with her dominant right.

'Mm….I’ll make a note of that. Tell her not to visibly show a weak side.' He mused as he approached her slowly. Manda seemed to be a reactive type of fighter, just like he was. So he knew he’d have to makethings happen.

When she was close enough he swept out his right legto take her by the back of the knees. Sheclosed the distance between them and lead with some jabs using herright at his torso; knowing there was a small window of time toredirect him from the sweep.

Saihyo caught each of her jabs with his raised knee, holding it high beforesweeping low. “Legs are longer than arms, if you can punch me…then I can strike with my feet with the same ease.”

Impressedby his nimbleness, and shaking off the sting of her deflectedstrikes, Manda hit the mats back-first before she could process the second leg sweep. Groaning when she caught her breath, Manda sat up and looked at the ranger-turned-sparring-teacher. “So… how *exactly* do I make use of that? I’mtiny.” She gestured to herself as a whole.

“There are plenty of answers to that,” he dropped his stance againand held out a hand to help her up. “The bravest option is tosimply get in, tanking the hits as you do that. Getting more adeptwith your footwork and leg strikes is also an option, as is trainingyour evasion and trapping.”

Mandahuffed, blowing back a stray piece of hair from her sweaty forehead.“So in short: I’ve got a long way to go.”

“Maybe…But if you use that logic, so do I.” Saihyo chuckled. “Youmight not believe me, but my mother’s blade was faster still then Iam now. My father still more adept with ranged weapons. As naturegrows, so to must our path.”

“True.” Manda rolled her shoulders and looked up at the ranger.“Where should we start, coach? No wait- that doesn’t soundright… trainer? teacher?”

“JustSaihyo is fine...” he looked away sheepishly for a moment. “I assume you’d want to work on speed over say… hardiness right? thetraining for the latter is more straightforward, but I wonder if youwould benefit from it”

“Well, I mean…” She rubbed the back of her head. “I’m- I’m notvery athletic… if you couldn’t tell.” She gestured over her plump body, flushing a little in self-consciousness. “I’m probablygonna have to get used to taking hits before I can get good enough tocounter and dodge fast enough.”

“Huh…if you’re sure you want to deal in hardiness first I won’t stop you."

The ranger went to a locker marked with his lastname and withdrew a large duffel bag. In it were weapons of all shapesand sizes but for the moment he pulled out a trio of three foot rods withvarying degrees of padding.

"You’re right, defending is easierthan dodging. Then your training is this.” He took the thickestpadded rod and flourished it round himself before pointing it atthe trainee. “Try and break through my defence. Hitme with your fists or feet, if you can.”

Theshort recruit tightened her ponytail with another huff, taking a moment toanalyze the situation. The way Saihyo was wielding the padded staffwould allow him easy coverage from *most* angles of attack. Exceptbehind… and below. First she would try a direct approach, figureout how fast Saihyo would be with his strikes. And how hard. She ledwith a series of low kicks, making use of the added reach but notkicking too high to risk losing her balance.

‘Naive...’ He thought as she began her attack. She just wasn’t fast enough for afrontal attack to be of any threat.

The ranger rapped the back of herthigh the moment her foot passed his center line. "Ifyou’re aiming low, give it more of your body, enough momentum thatyour strike rights your stance.” Toprove his point, he attacked her back leg with his rod to bend itslightly, then followed up with a whirling kick aimed a foot overwhere her head used to be. He landed in stance, pointing the rod ather low torso, as if he hadn’t even moved.

Mandahad a feeling that Saihyo’s fighting prowess wouldn’t stop impressingher anytime soon, nodding curtly and taking in another breath tofocus.

“Ifyou’re worried about hurting me, don’t bother with that alright? Comeat me with everything you’ve got!”

Once Saihyo saw her centerherself again, he charged in, drawing attack lines back and forthover her body in a myriad of angles. His blows were quick, butwithout much weight, he wasn’t aiming to push her off balance at themoment, only to have her tough it out...

Takingon a solid stance, Manda waited out the majority of the strikes beforeleading in a counterattack. Block with left, cross with right, backinto her stance, block again.

“Moreferocity!” He batted her singular attack aside.While his attacks weren’t moving her, they were sure to sting alittle. “If you find an opening in my defence, then own it!Don’t just poke it”

Mandagrit her teeth, trying to keep her emotions in check as she focusedmore of her energy into the counterattack. She couldn’t let herselflose control again... Shewouldn’t let herself hurt someone like she’d hurt Blackwell.

Saihyocould tell there was some kind of battle inside her soul and hedisengaged, leaping back a couple paces. “Something the matter?I can feel you holding back.”

Mandastruggled to catch her breath, hands on her knees and bowing herhead. “I can’t- can’t get mad again… not like that…”She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back tears. “I don’t- Ineed to learn how to control it.”

“Hmmm...” He lowered the baton to his side, apparently done striking for the moment.“Iwonder if you’re looking at it wrong… though when it comes tomatters of mentality, I can only speak for myself.” He cleared his throat. “Ifind that the easiest way to control my anger is to temper it.There’s a place for it and finding that place can make you a muchbetter fighter

"How?”Manda looked up, eyes begging and lungs burning. “Any time I getmad when I’m sparring, I- I go into this blind rage… like thoseBerserkers.” A shudder ran up her spine and she bowed her headagain. “H-how?”

“Well…be someone you want to fight about as much as you’d want to fight aberserker. Take the storm of your rage and make it a bolt of yourfury. Direct it and destroy your foe, before it destroys you. Iwonder… who would you rather be in close combat with me or a‘zerker?”

“Well…Berserkers can *actually* be intimidated if they’re not drugged up…or so Arma tells me.” She finally caught her breath with anervous laugh. “And I like to think that you could be reasonedwith more than a Berserker.” She straightened up and steadiedher breathing.

"I think that was a compliment. ” He chuckled and decided tochange tactics. “Seems like you’re scared of your anger. Is thatjust for us or is that in general? And why?”

“I-”Manda looked down at her hands, drawing in a breath through her noseand sighing. “I *am* afraid of my anger… what it’s capableof.” She slumped her shoulders. “Most of the time, whenthings get bad… when I get frustrated or stressed or scared, I justcry.” She chewed her bottom lip. “But- when I bottle thingsup. When I can’t get the relief from letting out my emotions.”Her voice went quiet from shame. “That’s when people get hurt.People that I care about. People who are trying to help me…”

“That’s an awfully familiar predicament. Same one I had growingup. I didn’t really get to have it resolved because of ADVENT but Ifound that focusing my rage on that helped a lot. Your soul knowsthat this world is wrong, putting that blame and the resulting angeron ADVENT where it belongs probably will help some. Those you fightfor carry a similar burden no doubt.”

Mandanodded slowly. "People have lost loved ones… families… theirlivelihood because of ADVENT.” She couldn’t help thinking backto the glimmer of vengeance she’d seen behind Hightower’s eyes whenhe talked about the Infestation destroying his family’s farm. Shetook another breath. “I just- I want to know what happened to myfamily, why I haven’t been able to find any sign of them. It’sbeen… almost four years.”

“Closure,right? I can only sympathize. I know I’m the only one left of mine.But you can use that as a conduit for your rage. It’s human and it’spart of our power.”

“Yeah…”She sighed. “The only problem is… what if I never find out?What if this anger and frustration and rage just keeps building?”She met his eyes, fearful.

“Pointit at ADVENT or swallow it and let it fuel your training. That’s theadvice I can give you. Take your fear and let it make you strong.”

“Okay.”She straightened into her stance with a long breath. “I- I’lltry.”

“Alrightthen. Come at me.” He stood calmly and kept his hands in frontof him in a loose guard “A fighter does not shut down theiremotions but allow them to empower them to be more than they alreadyare.”

“Like…Arma.” She met Saihyo’s eyes. “When he was attacked. Whenthe Commander let him have his justice.” She shifted into asolid stance. “You were there holding one of the attackers,right? He… he bottled up all of his emotions, his anger, hispain…” She balled her hands into fists, “and then he usedit to deck those guys in one strike.” She followed through withher strike, finally putting more force into it, but still building upher energy with her understanding.

“Ask any one of those people who they’d rather fight, and they’d pickthe ‘zerker over me. You’ve got the right idea, and we all support Arma. We’re allbehind him because we’re all angry at the same thing. Injustice.” He grunted, taking the punch to the chest. “Good. Nowhit me again.”

Manda hadbeen expecting Saihyo to at least block her strike or somethingrather than taking it to the chest. She gasped, drawing backher fist.

“You’regonna score hits like that sometimes too Manda.” He didn’t seemtoo perturbed at her reaction. “It’s good to know what it feelslike.”

“Uh…” she laughed nervously, “If it’s alright by you, I think I’ll hold off on taking one of yourhits at full force.”

“Sometimeswe can be scared hitting at full force too.” He gave her a knowing smile, "That’s what I wanna helpyou get around. We’ll toughen your body up more gradually.” The ranger settled into his stance, hands in front of him butotherwise unmoving.

Shetook a deep breath, adjusting her stance and nodding. Slowly, sheresumed her strikes, alternating between open and close palm hits.

“Seehow close you have to be to use your hands? If it comes to this yougotta be ready to go for it without faltering.” Saihyo coached,letting most of her shots in, blocking the rest with open handedwrist checks.

Shenodded curtly, shifting her stance back. “So, ideallyfend them off with your legs?”

“Thattakes a little more flexibility then you’ve shown me so far. Ideallyyou would get in close while fending their attacks off, or dodgingthem. Like we did with the baton.”

“And…aim for their centre?” She gestured up and down her own torso,“Blitz told me that’s where the weak points are on most people.That a good elbow hit or punch can wind someone enough for you to getaway.”

“Mostof the easy to reach ones are there yeah… but many people guardthem pretty diligently. Even if you don’t know why. Everyone tries toblock if someone hits them in the face or the gut or the junk. It’scommon sense.”

“So,would wearing them down be the next step? Or taking out their legs?”

“Youget to pick that. Fighting is more open than that. I personallyprefer feints. Calling their guard somewhere else to open up theircore.”

“Hmm…so I guess that depends on how much they think you’ll follow-throughwith your initial attack.”

“Makeit convincing. Or bury your strikes in a lot of feints. If you wantto be technical. I think…" He chuckled, shaking his head, “I think that thinking will be your biggest enemyhere. It’s better to react in the moment then try and figure out whatto do next. Training gives us the tools to use but instinct is howwe know when to use them.”

“Yeah,over-thinking is definitely something that affects my fighting…hell, it affects everything I do.” She sighed. “I don’tknow if me and Joey would even be together because I got caught up withfear to tell him how I felt.” She bowed her head. “Fear…controls me.”

“Mmm.Fear is a battlefield that everyone has, Manda. But no one can fight it butyou.” The ranger sighed, unsure of what else to say. Prettyplatitudes were of little use here.

Takinganother deep breath, Manda looked up at him. “Hey, I’ve got... well, a kinda weird idea.” Shepulled off her glasses. “What if we blindfolded me? I mean- hearme out…” Sheset her glasses in a safe spot by her uniform’s over-shirt. “IfI can’t see where you’re gonna attack from, then I won’t have time tothink about the attack… I’ll only be able to react.”

“You, one hundred percent haven’t trained for something like that.” Helooked at her quizzically, laughing. Though he was impressed by her gumption.“I suppose you’re right, you will only be able to react, at least rightnow. But every moment you’re not being hit you’re likely gonna beover-thinking everything that might happen to you.”

"Aww…”She pouted, arms folded over her chest. “Can’t we at least try? Please? I don’t doubt yourlogic.” She tapped her chin. “But ummm… with the thickestpadded staff.”

“Let’stry it then. ” He shrugged, a small grin tugging at his lips.“First time a student has suggested training to the teacher…mother would laugh.” He tossed a worn cloth blindfold to thetrainee. “One of mine. It’s for this, so it won’t hurt much.” Hewaited for her to put it on while twirling the staff in his hand. ItWAS the most padded.

Mandasmiled brightly up at Saihyo, walking over to the centre of thetraining mats before she tied the blindfold over her eyes. Yup.Definitely couldn’t see out of it. She steadied her breathing, takingan open stance and trying to keep herself loose. She slowly noticedthat her hearing was becoming more acute, though she didn’t doubtthat Saihyo could move silently if he so desired.

Saihyocouldn’t stop a smile from tugging on his lips. Certainly wasn’t whathe’d recommend as training for her at the moment but he was impressedwith her courage. Still… he wanted to test her will for the momentand he stood perfectly still, encouraging her mind to imagineeverything she could or couldn’t see.

Evenwith the blindfold on, Manda closed her eyes to calm down herbreathing. She pushed away the thoughts of when and how Saihyo wouldstrike, instead trying to focus on the here and now.

Theambient hum of the Avenger’s engines at work. The -thankfully- gentleup and down of the ship flying to another far-off destination.

'Iwonder what we’ll find there… how much ADVENT’s has affected thearea… if my family-’

No.Need to stay here. Right here. On the training mats.

Takinganother deep breath she tried to hone her senses on her environment.

Oneof the lights was buzzing, she knew it was the flickering one overthe training dummies that they’d been meaning to repair. The air wascool against her skin, she could feel a small bead of sweat runningbetween her shoulder blades, making her squirm a little.

Saihyotook couple steps towards her, for now not masking his movements.Let’s see how she’s feeling…. He took his staff and pressed thepoint right against her forehead.

Manda straightened up when she heard his steps, stiffening when the paddedend of the staff came in contact. She hadn’t been expecting that…She relaxed her breathing, trying to ease back into her stance.

“It’sa wonder you can be this relaxed blindfolded and having somethingpressed against your forehead.” Saihyo mused, not moving the rodfrom her forehead.

Suddenlyshe wasn’t there in the training room... She was back to wandering thewilderness, half-crazy from starvation and exhaustion, nearly fouryears ago. Taking a misplaced step and tumbling down a steep hill.

Shefelt the cold metal of a gun pressing to her forehead when sheregained her senses, freezing up at the unknown voices.

“Shelooks like someone from a city centre. Might be ADVENT.”

“Layoff man! It’s a kid.”

“Doesn’tmean that she’s not a spy.”

Mandagulped, lips quivering to betray her struggle at maintaining thecalm.

Thatminute movement was not lost on Saihyo and he disengaged right away.“That’s not exhaustion. You’re gonna have to explain what’s onyour mind.” He said firmly, but not unkindly

Mandanodded, taking a moment to compose herself. “I- I wasremembering when I first found the Resistance… or rather, theyfound me.” She relaxed her arms out of her cautious stance. “Iwas twenty, separated from my family after the train we were ridingon was attacked.” She bowed her head. “I had been lookingfor someone to help me for almost two weeks in the wilderness before I saw anyone.”She gulped. “The Resistance members who found me weresoldiers… I was- one of them had a gun against my head, and-”

Herbreath hitched and she struggled not to cry. If she cried then Saihyowould back off. He wouldn’t train her if he didn’t think she couldhandle it.

Takinga few breaths to calm herself, Manda continued. “I wascompletely powerless… it would’ve only taken one wrong move, onewrong word and I’d be dead.” She cleared her throat,straightening up to face where Saihyo’s voice had last come from. “I-didn’t expect it to come to mind given how long it’s been...”

Saihyo nodded, and then realized that movement would’ve been missed as Manda was still wearing the blindfold. He stepped forward and gently tugged down the cloth. “Let’s take a break.”

“But-” Manda looked to still be on the verge of tears, wondering if Saihyo was completely backing out of training her.

“It is just as important physically as it is mentally to pause and collect oneself.” He cleared his throat. “We can resume your training in a little bit.”

Manda nodded, a nervous smile crossing her face. “Yessir.”

#Ranger Saihyo #Recruit Manda #Memory Meme #Manda Writes

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