Better Blade

The arena seems to be empty, even though Boomslang said in his radio message that he was here waiting for her in order to do some hand to hand training.

Harrow steps from the lift and gazes around. She'd hurried so as not to be late, but it looks like Boomslang wasn't even there. "Hmph." Leaning against the wall near the entrance, she folds her arms, taps her fingers, and finally whips out a hand puzzle to mess with. You paged Blueshift with 'Insane huh XD'

"Let's say you're off-guard," drawl's Boomslang's unseen voice, "and you find yourself suddenly at a position of disadvantage." He materializes abruptly on Harrow's right with his back to the same wall, driving his combat knife back under his wing towards Harrow's belly, his left hand holding the knife and his right cupping the pommel to add force to his thrust.

Combat: Suddenly, Boomslang appears out of thin air!

Combat: Sneak Attack!!

Combat: Boomslang strikes Harrow with his Combat Knife (Kick) attack!

Harrow doesn't even have time to yelp in surprise - she's stabbed in the side, and instantly skitters a good distance away, optics wide and reeling with simulated pain. "...!! S-sir! Ow..." With some effort, she straightens and salutes. "Didn't see you there," she grates, abdomen sparking a bit.

Boomslang yanks the blade back out as Harrow withdraws, spinning in to keep the edge facing Harrow as he turns counterclockwise, transfers it to his right hand and snaps the fluid off of it with a flick of the wrist. "You weren't supposed to," he laughs. "Good idea to keep your back to a wall, though." He pauses momentarily to recall something, gesturing for her to advance on him. "Most Autobots are not much stronger than we are, hand to hand," Boomslang continues, sounding as if he's recalling something he was told a long time ago by his training NCO. "But they know that we're typically more dangerous in the air, so they'll try to force us into close combat. In such a situation it can be important to make them think they've made a mistake, and that they might be better off fighting at a distance, where we can bring our long-range weaponry into play."

Boomslang spins the knife in his hand, reversing his grip again and slapping his forearm into his left hand to take a forward block posture. "Another common situation where you'll be forced into close combat," he says as he stalks towards her alertly, watching for her counterattack, "is in close quarters, like inside a base or a tunnel, where you're unable to transform."

Back to the wall? Uhh sure, Harrow planned that, yes. She forces a faint grin, and sheepishly begins stepping away from his advance. Clearly she's got some confidence issues, unwilling to offer any counterattacks against mechs she's sure could strike her down fairly swiftly. "Understood, sir," is all she responds with, not sure what to expect now. Warsong and a few others had gone on about hand-to-hand, so the topic wasn't too foreign.

Boomslang seems to read Harrow's expression, even though she didn't mention Warsong by name. "Forget about Warsong's approach. You're a soldier of a different kind and his instruction is not of any use except in the sense that you can learn how to defeat people like him by studying him. I saw you deliver a good cut to Rampage the other day. Show me what you can do! I can't train you if I don't know your capabilities." Balancing on his toes, he steps closer and swings at her, turning as he opens his guard and switches the knife into a forward grip for a sweeping horizontal slice.

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Harrow with his Combat Knife (Kick) attack! [Pulled -1]

Harrow can't react fast enough and gets raked across her canopy. Spurred by what sounded like an order, she finally unspaces her own blade and spots the open guard, attempting a slice at his exposed middle. Ah yes, Rampage, a mech she'd be avoiding for quite a while.

Combat: Harrow sets her defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Harrow misses Boomslang with her Vibro-Scalpel attack! [Pulled -1]

Boomslang hears the distinctive buzz of a vibro-weapon and moves in time to block it- not the finely honed blade, of course, as it would cut through his own knife as easily as anything else- but the arm that carries it, inserting his own left arm inside Harrow's reach to knock the knife aside so that he can thrust low with the point from the right. "If your opponent seems too quick," Boomslang notes conversationally, "you can try to coax them into a more aggressive stance by closing your own guard and making defensive attacks so that they lose hope of hitting you otherwise. Then you strike with everything you've got once they've left themselves open to the counterattack."

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Boomslang misses Harrow with his Combat Knife (Kick) attack!

Harrow does listen, logging every word. Solid advice is nothing to pass up, especially from mechs like Boomslang. She turns to evade his blade, but just barely. "Surely this varies from opponent to opponent, right?" she asks, vocals tense as she assumes a more forward stance and makes to slice the wrist wielding the combat knife.

Combat: Harrow sets her defense level to Aggressive.

Combat: Harrow strikes Boomslang with her Slice (Kick) attack!

"Naturally," agrees Boomslang, dropping the knife from his slightly wounded hand and catching it in his left, withdrawing his right as he inverts his stance with a strong thrust that carries the point forward towards Harrow's side where he had planted his knife at the start of the session. He seems to favor the right but be comfortable with either. "Conversely, if your opponent is slow, you can fight them defensively as you'll still be able to touch them more often than not. If they're VERY slow you may as well, since they'll know their own weakness and play to it, usually neglecting to even try to evade since they aren't good at it. This is especially true of Dinobots, the slower Wreckers, and similar thickheads."

Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Neutral.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Harrow with his Combat Knife (Kick) attack!

Harrow winces when that damn blade cleaves through exposed circuits and lines. A steady stream of energon trickles from the wound now. "Noted," she grunts, backing away to try and regroup. When she /thinks/ she finds an opening, she lunges forward to slash into a wing joint, a bit bolder from the previous hit. "Where does that place you?"

Combat: Harrow strikes Boomslang with her Slash attack! [Pulled -2]

"On the fast side, believe it or not," Boomslang replies self-effacingly. He withdraws, backing away to touch his wing exploratorily. "Hm. Got a laser capacitor bank. Not bad. Could be better." He snaps his knife clean as he had earlier and flips it back to holster it in its port in his wrist, drawing his tactical revolver from its compartment in his hip. "Now, your dossier says that you've also got some kind of cryo ability. Go ahead and reset the simulation, and we'll try it with that mixed in. Try giving me a little cryo to slow me down so that you can commit fully with your blade without wasting vibro charge."

Combat: Boomslang resets himself.

Boomslang's damage vanishes like magic as soon as he transmits the radio command to the automated adjudicator device that controls the training arena.

Harrow smiles slightly at the praise, and nods, drawing her pistol on Boomslang after resetting the simulation. She'd never claimed to be a sharpshooter, and she doesn't expect to hit swifty Boomer on the first try, but she puts a few more nanos of effort into aiming before firing an icy beam at the navy jet's torso.

Combat: Harrow resets herself.

Combat: Harrow's Ice Pistol attack on Boomslang goes wild!

Combat: Harrow misses Boomslang with her Ice Pistol attack!

Boomslang turns sidelong and takes a single step back, letting the beam slide past in front of him as he simultaneously throws out his right arm and sights down it like a duellist.

Combat: Boomslang strikes Harrow with his 50mm Tactical Revolver attack!

Boomslang thumbs the hammer back and lowers the pistol to hip level, keeping his right side facing Harrow. "Close, but try again."

Harrow takes the shot with a choked scowl and shakes her helm. "This is not a specialty of mine," she feels the need to admit before firing off another beam in Boomslang's direction. Her blade is still gripped in her free hand, ready to impale should she actually hit her target.

Combat: Harrow misses Boomslang with her Ice Pistol attack! [Pulled -1]

This one goes wide, and Boomslang fires low, shooting for Harrow's foot as more of a chiding than a real punishment. "Are you saying that you're actually less capable with your cryo gun than you are with your blade?" he asks, sounding skeptical. "That's going to be trouble, if so. Freezing a quick opponent down is one of the best ways to get them at your mercy."

Combat: Boomslang strikes Harrow with his 50mm Tactical Revolver attack! [Pulled -3]

Harrow instantly draws her foot up when the armor gets splintered, balancing in an almost comical stance as she curses loudly. "Frag! I'm only saying, /sir/, that I've poured most of my time into technical skill, and not so much sharpshooting... I suppose it is a problem," she mutters sourly, falling into a crouch to /try/ and get a better aim. Stay still slaggit!

Combat: Harrow sets her defense level to Fearless.

Combat: Harrow strikes Boomslang with her Ice Pistol attack! [Pulled -1]

Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Boomslang's Agility. (Crippled)

"Warrior first, engineer second," replies Boomslang, walking in place to feel the effect of the iced-up gears. "I can't teach you how to be a better engineer. I have to go with what I know. All right, try your follow-up." Moving visibly more slowly, he drops into a defensive stance. Combat: Boomslang sets his defense level to Guarded.

Combat: Boomslang takes extra time to steady himself. [Pass]

Blueshift has arrived.

Harrow had never prioritized one or the other, and now it looks as if she'd have to. She takes a tentative step forward, half expecting Boomslang to vanish and pop up from behind to finish her off. He remains visible, so she dashes forward, charging up her scalpel to hopefully drive into the mech's neck.

Combat: Harrow misses Boomslang with her Vibro-Scalpel attack!

-KER-THUNK- There is a commotion near the entrance to the room as Blueshift enters with a deckchair, putting it up and sitting down.

Boomslang blocks again, reading Harrow's approach and elbowing her in the wrist before she can stab him. The force of his motion cracks the ice off of his joints and in moments he's back to moving normally. "Welp," remarks Boomslang, looking a little disappointed, "that's always an issue with a two-step attack. The opponent has time to react. Maybe we'd better consider that cryo gun of yours more of a support weapon. If I had been attacked by one of your allies before I had time to get into a defensive posture, that would've worked better." He transmits the reset signal again. "Are you comfortable with your performance as a jet?"

Combat: Boomslang resets himself.

Harrow was expecting a little more of an angry response due to what she's seen of... other mentoring situations. She rubs at her wrist and resets with her own signal, frowning. Perhaps Boomslang was anticipating a student like Backfire, which may have been more fitting for his tastes. But then, she couldn't tell much of his tastes, the mech was fairly unreadable. "If you're asking me to admit more faults..." She spares an uneasy glance at Blueshift.

Combat: Harrow resets herself.

Blueshift takes out a pile of documents and starts working through them, to look up at Harrow. "Boomslang's a seeker Harrow, you'll never learn anything from him. Do yourself a favour and get a proper spaceship upgrade!"

Boomslang hasn't got the firey nature of Redshift, evidently. The soil of Boomslang's heart is stonier, as the saying goes. He has a certain chilly distance to him that belies his sometimes genial mannerisms and relatively gentle treatment of the other Decepticons and, for that matter, his opponents. Although Harrow might not know it yet, she may still have opportunity to learn that Boomslang is the kind of person who can maintain his smile as he puts the knife in. "No, no, we don't admit our faults," he agrees, waving airily. "It shows weakness, and no one likes a complainer." He heads to the door, rolling his eyes at Blueshift. "Oh, do you get a lot of Autobots floating around in space often? All I can think of off the top of my cone are Jetfire, Sky Lynx, and Scattershot, and she's not ready for the likes of those." He turns back to Harrow and gestures for her to follow him. "I ask because I have something more practical for us to do, if you're ready to get out of this simulated environment and go for a flight."

"Yeah, and do you know why that is?" Blueshift calls back. "'Cos I killed them all!"

 Space Attack XO Blueshift says, "Ugh, the lack of spaceships in aeroSPACE is shocking"

"Then we don't need any more spaceships as you surely have it well in hand," replies Boomslang. Harrow looks between the two of them and fails to hide a bemused grin. She follows after Boomslang, helm still turned to face Blueshift. "Thanks for the suggestion though."

Blueshift coughs. "Well, I *AM* fantastic."