FTL-17…Faster Than Life.

Chapter 17

I’m scared really as I’m sipping at my water and trying not to feel like I’m about to go through a great deal of pain. Sipping is important because if I drank a lot of water then there would be some or rather more of it in my stomach waiting for Corporal Armstrong to beat out of my in a spray of eww.

Before the likely sprays of blood…

My teeth…

Everyone’s ready but me and that includes her outside the ring with some of her people and she’s kicking this big pad one of them’s holding and the heavy "thud" is audible.

And she's staring me down with a savage grin.

Stillwater’s there and she’s helping me into the ring and we get to my corner and I’m nervous and sweating. I kind of feel ill too.

“Breathe Stone this is a competition bout it’s based on points you’ll make it through this.”

“Sorry Corporal she’s not interested in points unless she figures that she can beat me with impunity because of the skill difference between us.”

“Huh…I though she looked a little too eager to get in the ring.”

We watch Anderson hop from the ground to the ring edge and then ease herself in through the ropes.

“Oh she definitely wants a piece of you.”

“Why? I really didn’t do a thing to her.”

“You outshot her.”

“I was trying my best.”

“Exactly and to her she’s a combat MOS and you’re not so it was kind of insulting for you to be able to beat her.”

“I just did what Patrick taught me.”

“Erin…not everyone get’s to have lots of free range lessons from a member of the special forces.”

I blush. “He was scheduled for practice all the time…even when I was off so I…it was just going to him and doing or trying to do the stuff that he was doing.”

“Well did he show you any fighting moves?”

“No…well a couple of pins…”

“Good!”

I look at her and stare and she stares back and then slowly smiles and raises her eyebrow. “Oh those kinds of pins, yeah those mats have seen more action on them than most hotel rooms.”

I’m blushing until I look over and Corporal Anderson who’s dancing back and forth like she’s bouncing from foot to foot.

“What do I do?”

“She’ll likely try to kick you use that go for her other leg when she does.”

“Uhm okay…”

I get up and try to move and get loose and in my style it’s a light sort of boxing rhythm with closed in hand and not fists. Taebudo is a mix of Tae-kwon do a very wide spread style and judo and a little bit of boxing thrown in to be a well rounded form of military mixed martial arts.

Combat MOS usually study two or three more advance forms.

The signal sounds and the crowd cheers and I’m getting close more from her getting close enough to give me a beating. My last fight like this was when I was six with another child in a playground and the other child still had beaten me and my parents never took me back.

It was a waste of good credits for me to associate with ruffian children and hooligans and getting beat up.

What a messed up planet I’m from when it’s sort of widely held that going outside and having fun and exercise is for the poor people anyway that can’t afford most of the basic cyber systems.

And yet the parks we pay to access.

And I’m about to get into a fight with this woman from a combat MOS in the same forces as me because she’s angry I beat her shooting scores.

I thought that we were like on the same side…

Her first punch was too fast for me and my head snaps back and that really, really hurt…

I’m slowly starting to realise that people are kinda stupid.

Oh and hung over and tattooed because of a break up…I’m not too smart either huh.

Second hit I get my head down and she hit’s the top part and hisses and her third swing I get my arms up in a boxing block and roll my shoulders and torso as she hit’s me over and over trying to bleed off the force.

And wham! She kicks me in the ribs!

It really hurts and I really feel like caving in and falling over and possibly puking. That’d depend on just how soothing the mats are down there.

Stillwater’s slapping the canvas like it was a drum roaring. “Come on you can do better than that!”

It does keep me up…there’s something in my head now from her being my D.I.

She throws a few punches which I block again taking them on the arms and then she kicks me again. I drop like she downed me and I lash out as hard as I can and I sweep her leg.

Screw this punching and stuff we’re both down and she’s going for that kicking up move and I roll myself half throw myself at her on the mat and since her arms are up to push off the mat and my legs are facing her I kick/stomp her in the face.

I hear a crunch and an “Argh…fuck…”

I shift up to my knees and pull her to me by her legs and I punch and punch and punch and she got herself covered right away and I keep at it because she get’s to her feet and I’m…

She palm shoves me up and off her enough she cranks me with this hard fast shot of her knee right in where she kicked me in the ribs and I roll away holding my side and she’s up and I get up…oh that hurt and then…

The buzzer…

I almost stagger back to my corner and fall on my ass into the stool.

Stillwater’s there with water and a wet towel and she’s checking my ribs. “Ow…holy sh…” My eyes roll back when Stillwater probed something.

“They’re not broken…you’re doing good considering.”

“Considering?”

“Considering you’re a bridge cadet, it’s not like fighting’s why you signed up for.”

I give her this look like she’s out of her mind. “So what am I doing here?”

“You’re a sword, its ship’s honor.”

“Oh well that jus…”

The buzzer…

I get up and she half shoves me up and I head right towards Armstrong and I’m determined to get this insanity done with one way or another and I’m trying to get into her reach and grapple again.

She closes right fast and I catch her knee in my stomach…so high and so fast and it pushes me back just enough the she goes berserk and it’s this storm of right and left jabs and these right and left snap kicks and I’m covered up blocking but she’s hitting my arms and not just in the way you get hit while blocking but my wrists, the muscles on the outside of my forearms and even when she can my biceps pretty much making my arms hurt so bad that they’re screaming and she’s using those short kicks to hurt my claves and my thighs.

One of my arms slip and in a flash I’m feeling my head snap back and I taste blood.

Part of my brain is relieved though that the mouth guard kept me from losing teeth.

I get my arm up and push myself off and from the ropes. How did I get there?

She stepped back too got some space and I see her torso twist and I’m not that experienced but I know room means power…

Armstrong drives a full leg hard fast kick at my side again and that same area and I’m sure that she’s trying to break my ribs.

I step into the blow aiming part of that section of my side to take the hit and to cut out some of her power but when she hits it’s still too close to the last two kicks and I scream in pain as she lands the kick.

Oh…

I’m angry and hurt and desperate because she’s really going to hurt me and I trap the leg to my side with my arm and I sweep out her other leg.

There’s this look in her eyes and it’s not shock or surprise its gotcha.

It’s kind of a bitchy mean look too.

She jumps my sweep and she twists her body turning her leg in my grip and maybe it’s have broke or twisted her leg of I was a combat mod but I’m too weak to keep her leg from turning in my grip.

Her other leg come up with that spin and all that force and I feel this fast, hard connection of her foot and ankle to my neck and the back of my head.

Blackness is instant.

………………………………. I wake in a very drugged state in a medi-bed and Stillwater’s there in a whole new outfit and in a few bandages herself. I’m definitely high but it still hurts to move.

“Corporal?”

“Stone, how are you feeling?”

I hold my arm up and then poink out my thumb.

Stillwater laughs a little.

I blink at her. “What month is it?”

“You weren’t out that long.”

“Oh…okay what happened?”

“We lost; they’re really good at the MMA and the sword.”

“I missed the sword?”

“Yeah you were out That long.”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t be you gave one hell of a fight. I lost my sword match too.”

“Really?”

“Yeah….” It was a dry yeah so she really wasn’t too pleased with that outcome.

“Sorry.”

She waves it off. “I’ll cross blades with them again at some point.”

I hold my thumb up again.

She chuckles again.

“So…how long?”

“Two days.”

“Oh…wow, what did she hit me with?”

“Insaguri.”

“Oh…it was pretty effective.”

“Yup. I just stopped in to see how you were holding up and to let you know that you’re back on board.”

“Damn…I was hoping to enjoy the rest of my leave.”

“You will, you’re being credited the days towards further leaves or a payout bonus for regular leave.”

“Okay…ow.” I tried to sit up. It hurt. “How bad am I?”

“You had to have some nano work for your neck and head but you’re cleared for training duties.”

“Yay me, so how bad was the damage from that kick?”

“Whiplash and a concussion, you’d have lived but its better we fixed you up so you could think straight with us leaving and getting back on schedule.”

“Yay, me.”

She grins at me and helps me sit up. “You’ll live it’s just some really heavy bruising, you’ll get used to it.”

“Why would I get used to it?”

“Because you haven’t gone into the main academy Erin, just wait for the combat trials and the survival courses.”

“But I’m in fleet. I’m not a combat MOS.”

“Sure and the training is scaled that way but ships get attacked, they take firs and get boarded and even crash in bad places.”

“Oh…”

She laughs and heads out of my room. “See now you have so much to look forward to cadet.”

I’d be tempted to say something snarky but my painkillers don’t have me that looped out of it. And now that I’m sitting up my bladder is telling me I need to pee.

Ow…that bathroom door looks a long way off.