RP: 188604 Fight School: The Onion Model

THE USO SCHOOL FOR THE KILLING ARTS

(The name is a work in progress.)

(so is the school)

--

"OK nuggets." Uso said, looking out from her podium and onto the assorted soldiers, pilots, and other fresh soldiers that were arranged in the stadium seating overlooking her and the display behind her. The classroom having been put together on one of the floors of Nath tower, which kept the whole area suitably dark.

"Today we start teaching you how to not-die."

Uso herself slowly, intentionally, took her time looking over the people infront of her.

"Many of you probably think you are great warriors. Some of you may even think you are Hot Shit."

Uso had her eyes squarely on Alex now, pausing again for just a moment.

"People like me live to kill nuggets like you."

Uso would then turn around and put an image up on the screen.



"Today we are starting with the Onion model. This is basic shit. Understand that I can't just tell you how to fight, you have to develop your method of thinking about how to approach a fight first and everyone has to start somewhere.

Don't get detected.

If you are detected, don't get seen.

If you get seen, don't get hit.

If you get hit, don't get penetrated.

If you get penetrated then try not to fucking die.

If they don't know you're in the area they may not even be searching for you. The benefits here are obvious, the enemy may be relaxed, they may not be out in force... whatever. This is an all-encompassing request, don't blab about when your next mission is and spies might not find out that you'll be heading over there soon, don't be thinking of just what you are doing now, be thinking about what you will be doing and how you can keep your opponents from responding to your actions. Detection happens, and even if they know you are in the area it is very difficult to kill someone if you don't know exactly where they are.

Don't get seen. This is important. If they know you are in the area, even if they have seen you and are actively shooting AT you, try not to be seen. Put something between yourself and your opponent, try and break line of sight, blond them, use smoke grenades, use your stealth, whatever it takes. Keeping yourself from getting killed is more than just shooting your enemy or hiding behind something. Hell, even if you are hiding behind something you should consider moving if they know what your location is. Always be considering how you can break their line of sight, and force your enemy to do more work trying to find you.

If you are seen, don't get hit. If you are out in the open then keep moving. If there is something you can use to absorb incoming fire then use it. Keep in mind that weapons these days are very sophisticated and very powerful. Walls, rocks, trees, anything really can be shot through easily. Computer assisted aiming makes weapons very accurate. Expect that anyone you go up against will be able to shoot at least as well as you... and if you're a local to THIS planet, expect everyone to shoot MUCH better than you.

If you do get hit, don't get penetrated. If you have to expose yourself to something, try to let that be stuff your armor can handle. And if you are penetrated... well just try not to die. Honestly there probably isn't a whole lot you can do at that point since you've let all of your other layers of defense fail you.

Always be considering how you can protect yourself, and remember protection extends beyond just what armor you wear."

Candon raised his hand for permission to speak.

Uso would point at Candon,

"Speak up then."

Candon cleared his throat.
"I'm not so sure this is a good enough reason to use the word 'penetrate'."

Uso picked up her datapad off the podium and threw it at Candon's face, sending the metallic rectangle flying at him like a throwing star!

Candon jumped as fast as he could but couldn’t evade the weaponized computer which collided hard into his chest with a deep thump and clattered onto the floor.

"Dam, Uso!" he hollered in pain while trying not to laugh, "see? It's true! I let myself be detected, she saw me and then proceeded to hit me!"

One of the younger 'nuggets' pointed to a red spot on his gray tee shirt. "Um, mister, you might have been penetrated too..."

"Hey, don't ruin this, kid," he counseled, "I'm trying not to die now."

Alex sighed. This wan't exactly the impression he wanted to be making on the new recruits.

"Please... Lets try to be serious... And not scare the new pilots too much."

A figure called out from the doorway.

"If they get scared in a training session, how do you expect them to hold out in combat?"

"Or kill them. Last thing we need is the medical staff pushing everyone to the side of the room." Having entered early, the cherry-winged Caelisolan remained silent from her position in the back of the room, silver eyes fused with her datapad containing mostly information on the upcoming reservoir and a partial check on the demands for electrical power in the capital city. At the time being, her gaze seemed to pierce penetrate the crowd of students, directly towards Uso. Yeah, yeah, Soul Transfer and all that, but beating someone up on the first day isn't always the best for student retention... Araxie relayed this second message more subtly, using her telepathy. After but a moment, the rose-winged one returned to her plans, re-immersing herself into a world of numbers and maps...

Alex looked up, and walked over to meet the newcomer. He held out his hand in greeting.

"Welcome, I'm Alex. What's your name?"

"Jay Nagato. If you're prepping these people for combat, you shouldn't be coddling them."

After taking a deep breath, he continued.

"So these are the people I'd be flying with?"

Alex held out his hand expectantly before providing a counterpoint.

"I had planned to ease people into it, first by discussing theory then applying it in practice during simulations and wargames. And yes, these are some of the new recruits."

Shaking Alex's hand, he replied.

"Well, I suppose you can't hit them with it all at once. I just hope these people have flown before."

Alex sighed.

"Most of them haven't. But the important part isn't whether they have experience or not, its that they're willing to learn."

"Fair enough" He said,

"Just make sure they're combat-ready before they actually go into combat."

Jay took a seat towards the back.

"Don't hold up on my account."

Uso had paused her lecture, watching Jay as he spoke from the doorway... then made his way towards a seat... then sat down.

It seemed that he had managed to draw her attention away from Candon for the time being.

"..."

The only sound seemed to be the beep from Uso's datapad when it received the elysian's telepathic message on Uso's behalf. The room quieting down a bit as Uso crossed her arms,

"Does anyone know who that guys is?" She asked.

"You're asking the wrong crowd there." He responded with a smirk,

"I'm just a guy interested in what this place is all about."

"Why does that sound like a security SNAFU?" Candon muttered from his seat as he put a hand in his jacket. A quiet chirp came from the Little killer in his jacket pocket as he lined up a trick shot on the newcomer from under his arm, concealed within the confines of the leather jacket he wore.
"If that's the case, how'd you get through the door?"

A number of mechanical clicks and hisses could be heard throughout the room.

"I suspected my presence wouldn't be welcome here, so I took the liberty of accessing the systems in this building. Humans are nothing if not predictable. If you kill me, you'll all be dead of suffocation by the time anyone figures out how to open these doors. If you're wondering what the hell I'm thinking, you're not alone. Hand over all of your weapons, and you will all be free to leave. If you think I'm bluffing, then you're putting everyone here at risk. I'm not planning to hurt anyone, since I know your fine teacher here will surely be open to negotiations."