030 Grace

Character: Emily

Emily sat in her chair, toying with the dog tags around her neck. She wasn't really paying attention to the lecture being given by the Captain. She didn't need a lecture on protocol, she knew it all. She understood that this was required but wished that there'd been some form of test she could take so she could skip this class.

So far the Officer academy hadn't lived up to Emily's expectations. Her roommate was an admiral's daughter or something. She hadn't cared quite enough to really listen to the other woman. The one thing she was sure of was the woman was bossy and acted too entitled for Emily's taste. She was considering putting in for a transferred but was fairly sure the first time her roommate crossed her and Emily knocked her out the woman would learn her place.

The Captain ended the lecture and Emily gathered her things. She moved to the door to head to her next class. Once she was out in the hall she looked down to check her schedule. Her things fell to the ground as someone collided with her forcefully. Emily looked toward the person a d saw it was an upper class-men. She turned her gaze to the floor and started to pick her things up. She was reaching for her datapad when a foot settled on it. Emily looked up to see the cadet she'd run into standing before her. She frowned, trying to decide what action to take.

"You newbies never have any respect for your superiors." The upper class men. Moved his foot and caused the datapad to move away from Emily's hand. "On your feet."

Emily did as he instructed, getting to her feet. He towered over her at about six feet four and we was clearly more built than her. He struck out, shoving her back. "Maybe I should teach you a lesson." He pulled his fist back and Emily switched to instinct, what hand-to-hand combat training she had took over.

She dodged the first punch, using the element of surprise to duck down and deliver a blow to his kidney causing him to nearly double over before her second fist met with his cheek. He stumbled back but stayed on his feet. Emily could see that he was angry, he charged forward and Emily was hit by his full weight. There was nothing she could do about stopping his weight as he slammed into her. They hit the wall and the man's hand went to her neck and held her against the wall. His fist collided with her head several times before she resorted to a slightly dirty tactic. Her leg struck out between his legs and her foot collided with his nuts. The man released her and grabbed his crotch. Emily didn't hesitate, moving forward a d slamming her elbow into the man's nose. He fell to the ground and Emily took a lose fighting stance in case he got back up.

"Enough!" The cadets that had been watching the fight all stood straight and moved out of the way. Emily looked over to see a Lieutenant walking toward them. His hair was buzzed short, mostly gray bit hints of brown indicated his original hair color. The Officer was tall and lean a jagged scar cutting through his hair. Emily snapped to attention. The Lieutenant looked at the upper class men and then to Emily. "Someone take him to the infirmary," he ordered. He then turned his gaze to Emily. "With me,"

Emily followed the Lieutenant to an office down a hallway that she'd never been in. She stood on one side of the desk as the officer sat on the other side in the plush chair.

"Do you need anything for your lip?" The Lieutenant asked as he relaxed in his seat.

Emily's tongue moved over her lip and she felt the split lip she hadn't been aware she'd revived. "No, sir," she answered. She'd gotten worse from fights in high school.

"What is your name, cadet?" The Lieutenant's eyes stared at Emily and made her uneasy.

"Emily Aldura, sir." She remained as still as she could, not sure how much trouble she was probably in.

"Cadet Aldura, are you aware that fighting is strictly prohibited outside of self-defense classes?" It was a trick question, everyone knew it was.

"Yes, sir, Emily answered.

The lieutenant leaned his elbow on his armrest. "You're new here, only a week in? You haven't been around long enough to have a physical combat training so you must have been trained before you came here." Emily didn't know how to respond so she remained silent. "What are your plans for the future, cadet?"

Emily hesitated, not really sure. "To become an officer, sir." The Lieutenant motioned for her to continue but she diet know what to tell him. She didn't have plans beyond becoming an officer.

"How about if we try an easier question. What branch of the military?" The Lieutenant leaned forward and settled his elbows on his rest. "Army, navy, or marines?"

"Marine," Emily answered without hesitation.

The Lieutenant considered the answer and then nodded. "Are you sure that this is the path you want to take?" Emily furrowed her brow, not understanding. "You're obviously a promising fighter and would be an asset to infantry. Not to mention that there have been near fights in the past and I can see this becoming a constant problem and will eventually get you kicked out."

"With all dew respect, sir, I don't quit and I don't drop out." Emily scowled, annoyed that this man thought he'd get her to quit.

"It's not quitting, simply moving to the correct path. You had a grace and ease to your movements that would make you a fine ground soldier, not to mention you can take a hit. I'm not suggesting that you go out and become a grunt. What you have, the spirit and endurance, you could be an ODST." Emily was surprised by the suggestion. She'd never really given the ODST a thought. She figured they wouldn't want a small woman like her. "What do you say?"

Emily considered the options for a moment. "I think I'll stay here," she decided. Emily could see the disappointment on the Lieutenant's face. "Maybe I will get in more fights and get kicked out, sir, but before I do maybe ill make a friend, an enemy, or simply convince one future leader to make smart decisions not rash foolish ones that will get good soldiers killed. You want to fill out the transfer paperwork go ahead, just don't date it. If I get kicked out and you still think I'm worthy of trying to be an ODST the. Eat it and send it in, or if you think you're wrong then burn it."

Silence settled in the room and the lieutenant studied her. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'll fill out the paper work. Until then you still need to be punished for your current incident. It was self defense so a week of weapon and armor cleaning should do it." He motioned toward the door. "You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Emily turned on her heels and marched out of the office, considering the new path that lay before her. She stopped when someone moved inherent way. Emily braced for the person to attack.

The woman had red hair that was recently cut. Her hands were on her hips and she was squarely inEmily's way. "Are you the one that beat up Brent?"

Emily shrugged. "I don't know. I did beat up a guy earlier but I never caught his name." Emily was fairly sure it had been Brent she'd beaten up as she doubted there were that many fights here.

"Broken nose and a shot to the balls?" The woman asked. Emily nodded, at least now she knew who was probably an enemy. "Yeah, that would be Brent. Nicely done, he needed his ass handed to him. He picks on the younger classes each year and he probably chose you thinking you'd be an easy target. Alway enjoy seeing him on the floor crying."

Emily shrugged at the words. "Always happy to put an ass on his ass." Emily relaxed a bit as it was clear this woman wasn't a threat. "Who are you?"

"My name's Sarah Palmer. Who are you?" Palmer asked relaxing and stuck her hand out.

"Emily Aldura," she reached out and took the hand, shaking it.