It was twelve hours of sleeping for Lizzy and I before now. We're about to go to our first training session, where we'll be assessed and compared with the other cadets.
I feel good. Awake, alert, strong. I'll need those things today. Lizzy and I will be fighting with other partners in kendo or hand to hand combat. We'll also be sparring with each other. The more we match each other's skill and the deeper the bond, the more compatible we are when piloting a Jaeger. It makes Drifting easier. Drifting is what the neural connection is called. When you enter the Drift, you see each other's memories. After that, you attack the same way; fight and think as one. Pilots spend a lot of time in each other's heads.
Some partners pretend that they have equal skill, but you can see it when they do. And it's not getting them any brownie points from the assessors.
I have a light lunch. I don't want anyone to hit me in the stomach and force my food back out into the open, partially digested. When we get to the correct room we join the line behind an Asian looking woman with awesome acid green sections in her hair. The line has all forty cadets in it, and blocks my view of the ring. But I can hear the clacking of staffs that I now associate with kendo.
'Um hi.' I say to the woman in front of me. 'It's our first training session and I was wondering if you could tell us what we're doing.'
'Kendo. Right now you're going up against other cadets. Fight the one that's in the ring. First to four points wins. If you win, you stay in the ring. If you lose, you go to the back of the line.' She explains, before turning back around. She's not being very hospitable. Fair enough. We can all make friends in the hallways and dining hall, but the ring is where you have no friends and no sympathy.
The line slowly moves forward and I see a cadet send people to the back of the line one by one. The score is always four nil. He has inky black hair that is plastered to his forehead with sweat.
'I changed my mind.' Says Lizzy. 'Dibs on that one.' She inclines her head toward the man. He sends another cadet to the back of the line.
'If you insist.' I say. 'But look at his face; don't you think he looks kinda...bloodthirsty?' I do. Every time he scores he licks his lips, and occasionally when he hits his opponent (which is banned, so it might be an accident, but I don't think it is.) he sort of grins. Or is it a grimace? I can't tell. This guy has what Lizzy might call, bad vibes, or, some creepy voodoo about him.
'Meh.' She says, which translates to yes, you're probably right in Lizzy language.
Sooner than I realise I'm watching the Asian woman being pummelled by the cadet. Before every fight they call the names of the opponents, and I lean that the Asian woman is called Koemi, and the unhinged looking cadet is Silvan. I can tell that Koemi is an excellent fighter, but she's letting herself be intimidated, and goes down four nil, just like the rest.
Then it's my turn. Lizzy pats my back for luck. I step into the ring; where the floor is dropped by two steps; and pick up the red staff. Opposite the line are three officials. Captain Coleman and two others: one on her left, and one on her right. The official on Coleman's left asks for our names. Silvan speaks first.
'Silvan Bergfalk.' He says.
'Eloise Carroll.' I say. The line may be behind me, but I can practically see the cadets leaning and stretching to get a better view. Captain Coleman looks concerned, but when she meets my eye she composes herself. I take three deep breaths and focus. I raise my staff.
Silvan waves his staff around for a while, probably to intimidate me. I hold his gaze and grip my staff firm. He will attack first, and I will be ready.
He attacks. It's a bombardment of accurate and incredibly fast jabs and sweeps. I evade, block, deflect, but I need to hold off from attacking for a moment, find patterns in his assault. There! He brings his staff down towards my head, and tries to score there twice more. Then he catapults the staff at my left side. I evade and back off for a moment, and we circle one another. I smile to myself. I now have an inkling of his strategy. Damn, I was made to do this.
I launch an attack of my own, matching his speed and accuracy, but not revealing any of my own. Jab, jab, deflect, sweep, block, sweep, sweep, sweep. Hooks my leg with his staff and I fall to the ground. He licks his lips. He thinks he's got me covered. Thinks.
I now reveal how fast I really am. I roll up onto one knee and stop my staff half an inch away from his neck.
'One nil to Carroll.' Says Captain Coleman. I feel a restraining tension that I didn't realize was there leave my body. I stand up and raise my staff. He attacks first.
The onslaught is faster this time. It seems that he was holding back before too. But I can keep up. It's a medley of give and take, back and forth. I attack, he counters, and then I counter his counter. We're both so precise it feels like a dance. With every failed attack Silvan's face grows more contorted.
A splinter from the old floor drives itself into my foot. It hurts a lot, and for a millisecond I loose my focus. It's long enough. Silvan swings his staff and stops an inch from my nose.
'One all.' Says the Captain. I put up my hand and take a moment to pull the splinter out of my foot. It's about three centimetres long, and went deep enough that at one end there is a spot of blood. I'm pretty sure there are still some little bits of wood in my foot, but that can wait until later.
'Do you want to continue?' asks Captain Coleman. In answer I put my foot back on the ground and raise my staff. Silvan glares at me. I smile. Nothing pisses off your enemies more than being nice to them.
He swings his staff down to my head and we start dancing again. After forty seconds I twist his staff out of his hand and score at his ribcage. Two one. He scores. Two all. I move faster than I've ever moved before. So fast it seems impossible, and I score. Three two.
His face changes. His rage turns to calm resolve. My heart beats faster. This time he doesn't attack straight away. He circles for a while. Then, instead of launching an attack designed to score, he starts trying to figure me out. He hits at my side to see what I do. I evade, not letting myself do what I would if I was really in danger. Besides, I have the advantage, and he knows it.
Final he starts to really attack. He hasn't learnt as much as he would have liked to. We move faster and faster and faster again. The staffs whistle as they cut through the air and crack against each other with deafening noise.
Silvan cheats. He sweeps my foot out from under me using his own, and I fall to the floor. I try to roll out, but he's stepping on my ankle, and I can't. He attacks again and again, and all I can do is block. I feel his foot come off my ankle, and his staff crashes down on top of my head. I feel pain. It all goes black.
