Chapter 2 of Fit to Try. Training begins for our Turian Spectre and his underqualified pupil.

"How long will we be here?"

Cira watched Saren as he unpacked a bag, placing his belongings in a neat row on top of a dresser. They had arrived at the Brilack training facility only a few minutes ago and Saren had led her directly to the living quarters. There were twenty rooms in the facility for the spectres that came to train, and any students they might bring. Saren had claimed room 15 and Cira would be staying in 16. At the moment, she was perched on the end of Saren's bed, waiting for him to finish checking his belongings so she could convince him to give her a tour.

"We'll be here as long as we need to be."

"And that depends on…?"

"On how skilled you are. My guess would be about six months. I need to know that you won't get yourself killed if I take you on a mission."

Cira rolled her eyes. "I've already gone on missions with you and I'm still alive. So why are we here again?"

Saren's mandibles twitched with mild annoyance. He didn't like her sarcastic comments but he had chosen her as his student, so he would try to put up with her as best he could.

"You were only ever in direct combat once on your missions with me. And that one time, the enemy wasn't aware of your presence until it was too late. That is the ideal circumstance, but not every combat situation will be as easy. A good example would be when you were back at the academy. The Asari Mercenaries did not know that you were alive until you busted their eardrums and shot them, but when they found you, you didn't stand a chance. Your victory depended on getting one of your gadgets to play over the school's speaker system. But had that plan failed, you would have died along with the rest of your classmates."

Cira remained quiet, considering his statement. It was true that she wasn't very skilled when it came to close combat. In fact she was almost barred from becoming a Spectre trainee because of that. Ambassador Udina had fought hard to make sure she had a shot. He played on her tech skills and her reputation on the Citadel. In the two years she had lived there, she had become well known being the only student to survive the attack on Hailroy Academy. As it was often pointed out, some of the brightest minds in the galaxy had gone to that school; there was even a special program that trained students to become Spectres. Udina reasoned that since Cira had survived, she must have some skills that would make her worthy of becoming a Spectre. He figured that if she could get a good teacher, she could learn combat easily and become the first Human to join the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance team. Only time would tell if that plan would work.

"Fine, I get it. I suck at fighting and I need practice, so if you are done organizing, would you be so kind as to show me around?"

Saren just huffed and set the rest of his items on the bed. He led Cira out of the room and down to the main training floor. It was a large circular room with a window for observers, nothing impressive. As Cira stepped in to investigate further, Saren opened a door that led into the control room.

"Go stand in the middle of the floor."

Cira obeyed, heading to the center and waiting for whatever was going to happen. Inside the control room, Saren activated a panel and presses several keys. On the training floor, a section of the ground near Cira slid open and a table rose up from beneath. On it were some headsets. Cira grabbed one and put it on. She felt two tiny pricks just in front of her ears and suddenly her body felt numb. She recognized the sensation from an experiment she and the other human students at Hailroy Academy had conducted. They had been testing new training equipment designed to link to the user's brain and simulate pain. For example, if in a training scenario, if the user got "shot" they would feel the pain without actually being wounded. If these headsets used that technology, Cira didn't like what would come next.

Saren's voice sounded out over the loudspeaker. "I will run a scenario. Your objective is to survive for five minutes."

"Don't I get any weapons?"

In answer, another table popped out of the ground. This one was carrying an assortment of small knives. Cira pursed her lips as she examined them.

"No guns then?"

If she only had knives, she wouldn't be able to kill anyone from a distance, unless she threw them. Cira sighed and picked up six knives, tucking four of them into her boots and sleeves, and thrusting two under her belt. When she finished, the table sank back into the ground and the lights dimmed.

The simulation began without warning. Sand began appearing around her, spreading outward until it reached the walls, then continuing, the walls being replaced with a light red-purple sky. There were a few boulders around her but other than that, Cira couldn't see anything. Wherever she was, it was hot. She wasn't even wearing armor, just civvies, and she had been in the simulation for only a few seconds but she was already sweating. Even if Saren didn't send any hostiles after her, she wouldn't survive five minutes in this heat without some way to keep herself cool. For now she settled on fanning herself which, of course, didn't do much.

Since she only had to survive for five minutes, she didn't have to wait long for hostiles to show up. Some kind of vehicle appeared on the horizon, moving toward her at an incredible speed. It came to a stop near her and a group of Turians climbed out, quickly surrounding her. The last Turian to get out of the vehicle seemed to be their leader. He entered the circle his men had created and stood before Cira, staring down at her.

"You've caused us a lot of trouble. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to keep you around. I guess we could leave you out here to die…"

He seemed to consider this for a moment then shook his head.

"You wouldn't survive long, but there is always a chance that someone else could find you before you died. It would be easier to just shoot you."

He unclipped his pistol and pressed it against Cira's temple. The girl dropped down before he could pull the trigger and rolled between his legs, popping up behind him and pulling one of her knives out of her belt. She noticed what appeared to be a damaged spot in the Turian Commander's armor, though what had damaged it, she didn't know. Cira aimed for that spot, jamming the knife deep into his shoulder. He screamed; or made some sound that probably was a turian scream, and swung his good arm back at her. She tried to dodge but his fist connected with the side of her head and knocked her into the arms of one of the other soldiers, who had been closing in, intending to grab her. He yanked her arms around until he got them both pinned behind her back. The situation reminded her of one she had been in when she first met Saren and she figured that she would try that technique again. She leaned forward to make enough space to swing her leg up behind her. The Turian that was holding her was shorter than Saren and not as strong. Cira's kick landed hard, knocking the soldier's head back and causing him to release her arms. Cira used the momentum created by her kick to spin around so that she was facing the Turian, who was still trying to regain his balance. Before anyone else could grab her, Cira took both knives out of her sleeves and lunged at the Turian, dragging the blades across the exposed skin at his neck. As he crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap, Cira turned to face the rest of her attackers. Just as she did, one shot at her. She felt a sting in her forehead; only for a second, then everything went black.

Cira felt like she was floating. She was warm, like she was wrapped in blankets. There was no sound; nothing to see but endless darkness. Still, she felt calm, as if she knew that she was completely safe. Cira knew that this was just simulated death, made to calm one down after experiencing getting killed. She knew that she would wake up soon, back on the training floor, with Saren shaking his head and sighing at her failure. But oh, did she want to stay here. If this was what death was really like, Cira wasn't so afraid of it anymore. It was peaceful. It was…

Cira's hand shot up to her head. She ran her fingers over her face; no blood, no bullet wound. The sand was gone, replaced with the original walls of the training floor. In the control room, Saren was indeed shaking his head, disgusted at how badly she had messed up. Cira pulled herself to her feet.

"What was your main mistake?" Saren questioned her over the loud speakers.

"Letting them surround me."

"Wrong. Your first mistake was agreeing to go through Spectre training. But since we're past that, yes, letting them surround you was one mistake."

"And what were the others."

"You can figure that out on your own. Running next scenario."

"Want to give me some advice?"

"Don't die."

Cira flipped him off before the training room disappeared again and was replaced with a smaller room with no doors or windows. The only exit was a trap door in the ceiling but it was too high for Cira to reach. She was about to start tapping the walls in search of a weak spot when she noticed something in the corner. At first glance it seemed to be a large rock; large enough that she could stand on it to reach the trap door. Cira grabbed it and pulled but instead of sliding along the floor, it stood. Cira had never seen a Krogan without armor on but she had her own ideas of how they would look.

The half naked one in front of her was taller than Saren and being in a tiny room with him along with being tiny herself did not make for an ideal situation. To make things worse, her pulling on him had managed to piss him off. He roared, the sound bouncing off the walls and ringing in Cira's ears. She backed away as far as she could; only a few feet, and waited, ready to grab her knives if needed. The Krogan lumbered toward her stopping mere inches away.

"A little human? Must be lunch time; or fucking time." He laughed, a deep rumbling sound that Cira felt in the pit of her stomach. When he reached out to touch her, she stepped around him quickly, once again moving to the opposite side of the room. This only made him laugh harder.

"This cell is too small for a game of cat and mouse. Don't put up a fight and when I'm finished with you I'll kill you quickly; painlessly. How about it Human?"

Cira glared at him, taking a knife in either hand, she held them up in front of her. The Krogan only smirked at her.

"Have it your way filthy pyjak."

He lunged, swatting her hands to the side and trying to grab her neck. Cira ducked under his arm but he swung it backward, hitting her and knocking her into the wall. There was a dull Clang as her head cracked against the cold metal. Stars danced in lazy circles around her and a stream of red warmth trickled from her forehead. For a moment, she forgot where she was as the pain numbed all of her senses. The Krogan roared again, startling Cira out of her daze. She raised her knives again and scanned her attacker's body; looking for a space in the thick natural plates that covered him. They seemed to be thinner around his neck and stomach; everything below that was hidden beneath some sort of cloth pants. Cira decided that it would be easier to go for his stomach since she would be able to put more force behind the attack.

They lunged at the same time; Cira with both knives poised in front of her and her Krogan companion with only his fists. That was enough for him. Cira's weapons hit their mark, sinking into him, but he would be a pitiful Krogan in he allowed that to stop him. He ignored the pain and got a hold on Cira before she could dodge again. She struggled in his grasp, attempting to pull out another knife but he tightened his grip and bashed her head against the wall. Searing pain shot down her spine at the impact. If her skull hadn't cracked before, it definitely had this time. He didn't stop though; he pulled her back and slammed her into the wall again and again until her tiny form went limp.

Back in darkness again. The warmth flooding through her. The only difference was a throbbing pain in her head. It wasn't too annoying though and Cira just closed her eye and relaxed, enjoying the floating sensation.

The little drell boy stood perfectly still with his hands clasped in front of him and his head bowed.

"This is Jarot. He's going to be your new playmate."

She got a lot of drell playmates.

"Hi Jarot, I'm Cira.

He said nothing, just stared at her feet. Suddenly he collapsed to the floor screaming and clutching his stomach.

"Jarot? Jarot what's wrong? Jarot! Jarot!"

"JAROT!"

Cira screamed, jolting out of her simulated death and shaking her head wildly. She was back in the training room; back in reality. Saren was staring out at her seemingly unconcerned, waiting for her to collect herself. She took a deep, shaky breath. The memory had come out of nowhere. It had been years since she had seen Jarot or any of the other drell friends she had. Why she would remember them now, she had no idea.

There was no time to wonder about that now. Saren had entered the training room and was stalking toward her. Cira glared daggers at him.

"When the hell would I ever be stuck in a tiny room with a half naked Krogan!"

He snorted. "Probably never, but it helps to be prepared for anything. As I thought, unless you have surprise on your side, you are useless in close combat so that is where we will focus your training. You will report here every morning at 0500. Training will go until 1200 at which point you will get a 2 hour break. Training resumes at 1400 and will end at 2100. You will only train in the mornings on Sunday."

Cira gawked at him. "That seems like a lot."

"This is Spectre training. If you have a problem with that you can catch a ride back to the Citadel. Tomorrow. Here. 0500."

With that, he stormed out of the training room, leaving Cira alone with her memories. She sighed, pulling up Jarot's face in her mind once more before heading to her own room. It was going to be a long six months.

Please review. It really helps to know what people think of the story and it motivates me to write more and write faster. If I don't get many reviews, then I start thinking that not many people read the story so I can take my time. (hint, hint)

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