Charm
character 
Posts: 16 
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Post by Charm on Jan 12, 2019 20:18:32 GMT -5
One, two. One, two. Duck. Dodge. Parry. Feint. Gotcha! The smallest of smiles appeared on the agent known only as Charm’s face for a split second, the instant before a hook kick to the back of the neck sent her opponent’s face slamming forward into the concrete floor. Meanwhile, the blonde had already moved on. Always forward, toward her objective. There was no other direction. She’d been trained well, and was as efficient as it was possible for a normal human to be when her focus was locked on something.
It had been a couple of months since she’d gone undercover at the Nest as Lydia Hansen. Normally it would never take her this long to complete a mission, but this was a very special circumstance. The task that had been assigned to her was damn near impossible, the item she’d been sent to retrieve under complete lockdown. The people who’d sent her were not known for their patience normally, but even they knew better than to underestimate the seriousness of this situation. They’d taken Nathan Hale lightly before, at least partially due to his youth, and it had ended badly for their organization. The same mistake would not be made twice if they wanted to survive. Charm was their best agent, their best chance of success.
Explosions and laser rifles could be heard in the distance, but Charm only saw the door on the far side of the corridor. That was the safe point, the objective of this training exercise. But because Hale never did anything half-assed, the array of obstacles for her to overcome between the start and the endpoints were truly impressive. She’d nearly reached the end. Just five more heavily armed men now stood between her and victory. Really, the Director should have made it harder. They rushed her, but in this corridor they couldn’t come at her more than one or two at a time. She gripped the baton she’d taken off a previous enemy, taking a sliding step forward to dip beneath the first man’s attack and bringing the back end of the baton upward to connect with the man’s chin. The second place winner received a steel-toed kick to the groin and a solid baton hit to the temple.
Numbers 3 and 4 attacked her simultaneously. One went high, the other aiming for her torso with weapons similar to the one she currently wielded. Smart. It would be difficult for her to dodge both attacks if she stayed where she was. Which, of course, is why she didn’t. She hurried forward toward the man aiming for her head and grabbed his arm, using his forward momentum to send him flying into the other man. A small shudder went up her spine at the sound of their two heads colliding. The last man had a long knife and lunged at her back. She ducked, sweeping his feet out from under him. He tried to push himself up, but Charm held her baton to his throat, closing off his windpipe until he fell unconscious. Only then, once she was sure all five men were out cold, did she run to the red door. As soon as she put her hand on it, the hologram faded away. Corridor, bodies, and all. She leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Sweat glistened on every inch of exposed skin in her training uniform. Fuck she loved melee combat training. “Well, Director? Did I pass?” she asked with a grin, looking toward the pane of one-way glass she knew the one and only Nathan Hale had been watching from.
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Post by Nathan Hale on Jan 26, 2019 9:44:05 GMT -5
Nathan was highly impressed. His facial expression would not betray that thought, but he was. Lydia had gone through a few training sessions since she'd joined up, each increasing in difficulty, and she'd passed them all with flying colors. She was damn good at melee combat. That thought stuck with him through every combat session. Standing there at the one way window, he watched with increasing detail. Sitting next to him was the agent known as Logic. He had built these programs, with some help, from the bottom up. He knew the ins and outs better than anyone else. "This is a rough one, director. Are you sure this was the right mission? Too many enemies, and they won't go easy on her." The director shook his head, still intently watching. "Real enemies won't hold back, and we need to be trained for that." Logic found that he couldn't argue with that point.
The session ended when she touched the red door. "Once again, with flying colors," he answered through the microphone. "That many enemies, and not one even got in a glancing blow," he said to Logic. That meant one thing to the agent, the director knew he'd held back the intensity of the holograms combat expertise. Lydia was damn good to be sure, but even those with the martial arts prowess of the Nightwalker took a hit from time to time. It wasn't that Hale was doubting how good she was in combat. That much had been obvious during her other sessions. But the look on Logic's face just confirmed it.
A door slid open in front of Lydia, into a hallway that would lead her up to the observation room, where Hale was already studying her moves, analyzing every motion to help her get even better. "Hello, Ms. Hansen," Logic said as he saw her enter. "You're good. Damn good," Hale said with a quick glance towards her, then back to the computers. "Your reaction to the high-low attack was precise and decisive. The only criticism is that sometimes you're a little bit too quick." Hale was no combat veteran, but he could hold his own well enough and he studied it enough to help others grow their talents. But it was clear to him that if these two were to engage in fisticuffs she would come out on top. "How long have you been training, to be that good?" Logic asked. She must have had some very good trainers.
"I'd like to see you in a straight up fight on a higher difficulty setting. Are you okay with that? After a short rest, of course," Hale stated as Savant entered the room. She'd brought the woman a bottle of water and a towel. Logic had recently added a small group of ninjas to the combat trainer, and Hale was intrigued to see how she'd fare against fully trained warriors.
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Charm
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Posts: 16
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Post by Charm on Mar 17, 2019 11:30:01 GMT -5
“Too quick? That’s definitely one I haven’t heard before. Aren’t speed and maneuverability usually the best weapons against a larger and stronger opponent?” She was genuinely interested to hear his response, and his thoughts in general. There was always a way to improve in everything you did, and getting an outside perspective could be helpful. Especially when it came from a genius and charismatic leader like Nathan Hale. The organization she worked for didn’t have much else they could give her in terms of guidance. She’d pretty much surpassed everyone. So while she was here on assignment, she might as well learn as much as she could. Nathan was the first person to give her much of any criticism in months. It was hard not to respect that. “Where specifically are you talking about? I want to make sure to get it right next time.” She walked over and stood behind where he was sitting so they could view the same screen.
“Combat training? Not long, actually. Just a few years. I was a dancer growing up so I’ve always picked up movement easily.” Charm chuckled a little bit. Eidetic kinesthesia definitely helped in that regard. “I can do basically anything after seeing it once or twice. So you really don’t have to go easy on me, Logic.” That wasn’t to say she couldn’t be beaten. Of course she could. One hit by one of those superpowered individuals would knock her out cold. The normal human body could only go so far after all, even if it was trained to the peak of performance like Charm’s was. There was also magic, and then just the possibility of meeting another regular human who was faster, stronger, or a smarter fighter than she was. They were definitely out there. She wasn’t anywhere near arrogant enough to think she was the best. Not in the world, and definitely not in the whole universe. But she was good enough that it was difficult for her to find people to learn from, which was part of the reason she was glad to be here.
After hearing the Director’s challenge, ‘Lydia’ smirked. He wanted her to move up to an even higher difficulty level, huh? “Only if I can get a glass of wine and someone to massage away my bruises later,” she joked. Some of those guys in the last exercise had come close to hitting her, so she had no doubt that she was going to take a few punches and kicks in the next round. Logic better keep working on programming these simulations, though. The same trick rarely worked on her for a second time.
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Post by Nathan Hale on Mar 30, 2019 9:16:45 GMT -5
"Well, there are different schools of thought, for sure," Hale started. "But I've had a few training sessions, not that I ever got THAT good," he said pointing at her performance tape, "And those sessions have been with masters of combat. What happens when you're hampered by a bad leg and speed isn't an option? The strongest defense against any enemy is knowing what your enemy is capable of. True, you couldn't have really known these guys, just being thrown into the simulator like that, but in a real situation." There was no criticism in his voice, just simple facts. Nathan knew that she would easily defeat him in hand to hand combat, and very likely could defeat any one of his agents here. Maverick might give her some trouble, but that was likely just because of his powers. Superhuman abilities did make combat more difficult for those without. It was good to see that she was so interested in finding out just where he was referring to, and he was happy to show her. "Right here, for example," he said as he pointed to the screen. "The last man. When he lunged and you ducked. If you'd timed the duck a second later..." He pressed another button, showing off how his technology patterned the fighters techniques and recorded them. "You could have jammed a fist up into his armpit, deadening his blade arm and causing him to drop the weapon. Fifty percent of the danger eliminated just like that. And then a quick finish." The program showed her driving a kick into the man's skull to knock him out.
"Ah, that makes sense," Logic said after she answered him. "I'm not entirely sure what you're speaking of," he defended himself when she mentioned him going easy on her. Anyone could be defeated in a fight, whether straight up or unfair, but Nathan had an inkling that Lydia had a card up her sleeve that she wasn't showing. That brought a small, but hidden smirk to his face. She was good. Damn good. "I'm sure that there are an abundance of men here who would be glad to massage away those bruises," Hale teased. Yes, he was definitely one of those men, but he couldn't let that show.
"There's a small group of assassins known as the Circle of Assassins here in the city. I've patterned the ninjas movements after them," Logic stated as he pulled up another vid. Having heard the woman say something about being able to do anything after seeing it once or twice, the astute agent had an idea. "If you'll look at this," he said. It was a short video of a fight the circle of assassins had been decimated in. The fight was ten of their assassins against the Nightwalker. The vigilante took a few hits, of course, his armor deflecting most of them, but the efficiency mixed with the speed and brute force was just fun to watch. And more than that, Logic was primed to watch and see just how many of the vigilante's movements she picked up and used against the ninjas. "Take your time. We don't have to do this immediately," Hale interjected. He hated that video. Something about watching that man fight really brought out the envy in the director.
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Charm
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Posts: 16
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Post by Charm on May 6, 2019 22:11:51 GMT -5
His suggestions were good ones. She nodded and asked questions as they went through a couple of possible combinations. It was fascinating to see how his mind worked. It was so different from how the people who’d trained her to fight thought. More efficient. Minimal effort to disable the attacker. She was going to learn a lot from him. Too bad this assignment was only temporary. Long time in deep cover, yes, but still in the end she would have to leave. Once she had what she wanted.
There was something in Hale’s eyes, just for a split second, when he made that comment about men wanting to touch her. He was definitely a stoneface, but there were emotions under there. He was probably the type that felt deeply but was just an expert at hiding it. Normally that kind of defense mechanism came from being badly hurt in the past. Was that what had happened to Nathan? She was curious, and not simply because that information might possibly aid her mission. Even without the mission, she would want to get to know him better. “I don’t need an abundance of men, I just need one good one. Unfortunately those are hard to come by…” For the briefest of moments, she let her attraction to him out before locking it back down under her normal professional demeanor. It was quick, enough so that Logic may not have caught it. But she was sure the director would. He might not be the best fighter on the base, but nothing escaped his sharp eyes. That was why this mission was going to be especially difficult. And part of what made him so attractive.
Her attention went back to the second man in the room. He was pulling up footage from a fight and wanted her to study it. She knew of both the Circle of Assassins and the Nightwalker, but hadn’t been aware the two had ever actually clashed. Interesting. Footage of the Nightwalker was difficult to come by, or so she’d heard. He carried some pretty impressive tech that tended to create little blackout zones. It had caused her own organization frustration in the past. She smiled as her eyes raced around the screen, absorbing as much data as possible from both the ninjas and the vigilante. “Damn…” This was some real high-quality technique. Interesting combinations. The vigilante, whoever he was, had nearly perfected his fighting style to fit his own personal physique. This would add to her arsenal quite a bit. When the clip was over, she stood up straight and rubbed the back of her neck. “Okay so how much of that do you want me to actually copy? If I watch it another time or two I can probably get it all, but unless your simulations are going to make adjustments for my physical strength some of those blows aren’t going to have the same impact. Also, I’ll take the hits Nightwalker took harder since I don’t have any body armor so my reaction time might be delayed. So in reality if I tried to copy that exactly I'd probably end up dead.” She wasn't sure what Logic wanted to test with this little scenario of his. If it was just her ability to copy he wanted to observe, that would be easy enough to demonstrate. However, if he wanted to see if/how she could improve on the source material, that was going to be more involved.
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Post by Nathan Hale on Jun 1, 2019 11:45:52 GMT -5
Nathan had become an expert in many things, and hiding his personal feelings was one of his best skills. Lydia was growing on him, that was for sure, but there was no room for that. Professionalism was the key here. So her remark about just one good man, even though Nathan did catch the subtlety in it, he didn't allow it to be known that he caught it. Instead, he also focused his eyes on the screen, watching the combat. This was rare indeed, as the vigilante had slipped up and missed one of the cameras in the building. For all of his abilities and talents, the man was only human though, and mistakes happened. But there was no mistake in the actual fight, and he left the ninjas in a bloody mess when he was done. Broken bones and dead bodies littered the ground around him. Nathan shook his head. If only he could get that guy here, if nothing else than to train his troops....
That was when the question came. And it was a damn good one. She made solid points and was more than likely very correct about her prediction of how the fight would go. The circle of assassins was no joke. They had skill, and more than that they knew how to ambush someone. "I think," Logic started to say, but noted a look from Hale and stopped. Hale then answered. "Not copy, assimilate. Meld some of these techniques into your style. Your style is very effective, and we're not looking for you to change it, per se. We're adding to your repertoire. Your suit is armored lightly, nothing like his, but enough that the lighter strikes won't do any damage at all and even some of the heavier strikes may just cause some bruising."
"I could adjust the program, if you want," Logic added in. "The fact is that the ninjas wouldn't approach you the same way they approached him." A solid point, and Hale nodded to that. The problem was, how would ninjas come at someone they didn't know anything about. And the answer was, very carefully. "When you're ready. You don't have to go in right now. Take a breather, watch the vid a few more times if you want, go grab some food. This doesn't have to be immediate," Hale said with a nod and a slight grin. Maybe that massage would be helpful. Logic went straight back to his computers and started typing in some code while Hale stepped over to his board. "How familiar are you with this area, Ms. Hansen?" he asked, circling a large spot on the map with red. The area was around the museum. It was an area that Blizzard often patrolled, and it was rumored that they even had a secret base there, but there was no confirmation of that yet.
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Charm
character
Posts: 16
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Post by Charm on Jun 9, 2019 14:52:02 GMT -5
“Adjust whatever you’d like, but I don’t think it’s necessary. I just wasn’t sure whether you were looking to test how far my talent for copying movement went, or how well I was able to incorporate that movement into my own fighting style. Seems like you want the latter, which is just fine by me.” Her organization had spent exhaustive hours showing her all kinds of different fighting styles. True masters at work. She’d copied them until their movements were her own. Only after years of that was she allowed to mesh the styles together, to use her own intelligence and creativity to find what worked best for her body against a wide variety of opponents. The circle of assassins and this Nightwalker character would both make interesting opponents for her.
The video was replayed several more times after “Lydia” finished draining the bottle of water Savant had been kind enough to provide her with. Each time she watched a different player in this deadly game, picking up new moves or combinations every time. All of these men had years of training and experience in battle. There was something to be learned from all of them, and Charm soaked it up like a sponge. She was glad Hale wasn’t rushing her back into the room to fight again. Her stamina would allow her to do so, of course, but she didn’t want to push herself too hard. That was how injuries happened. Eagles’ Nest had some of the best medical care available, but each new sprain or broken bone was never exactly the same even after it was fully healed. She needed to stay in the peak of physical condition for as long as possible. Once she could no longer fight, or use her feminine wiles to enchant men, there would be no further use for her in this world.
The director drew her attention to a map of the city, drawing a circle around a specific area. She walked over to take a closer look. “I know the whole city pretty well, but yeah I know that area. Kingsbridge, right? The museum is right there, there’s a park across the way, and the best burger in the city is right....” She looked for the right set of cross streets and smiled when she pointed in a specific spot. “...there. On Sherman Avenue.” She dropped her finger and turned toward him. “I’m assuming the reason you’ve got this area circled isn’t because you were looking for food recommendations, though. So what’s going on in Kingsbridge?”
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Post by Nathan Hale on Jun 29, 2019 19:49:47 GMT -5
Though he heard what she said, Logic didn't respond. He just went about doing what he was supposed to do. The man was a wizard on the keyboard. There wasn't a system he couldn't code, or hack for that matter. It would actually scare Hale if the genius weren't so loyal to Eagle's Nest. And his loyalty resulted in a work ethic that was second to none. Hale did have a way of inspiring that though. Throughout the entire training session, Nathan had found it very hard to focus while watching the woman's body move. She was graceful, fluid, beautiful. But the professional that he was prevented him from overthinking in that way. If it weren't for that, he knew he'd be in some serious trouble right about now.
Savant had come back through a time or two while "Lydia" was watching and rewatching the vid. In fact, the young woman caught small glimpses of it as well, and she didn't have the ability that Ms. Hansen had, but she did have perfect recall. The girl remembered everything, right down the the most minute details, and seeing this would help in her training too. "Would you like another water, Ms. Hansen?" she asked when she noticed that the bottle was empty. Still working, Logic didn't notice, or didn't show that he noticed, anything at all.
"Kingsbridge, that's it," Nathan answered with a nod. She knew the area quite well. "I'll have to try that burger some time," he chuckled. He nodded again at her assessment. "It's been rumored, but so far unproven, that there's a secret Blizzard base somewhere in that area. The thing is, an organization that large, that powerful, and that close is a scary thing. In all honesty, I believe that part of the reason that we are still operational here is that we haven't attacked them head on." A dose of fear was healthy. The truth was that, despite all of their studies, they still didn't know a lot about Blizzard, and that bothered Hale. "There has been an uptake in Blizzard activity in that area lately. There was a fight at the museum with some of their superhumans. One of ours, Monster, was there and fought them off, apparently with some help that he did his best to hide from me. But that's neither here nor there." He stopped and looked at the board a bit more. "I've been trying to pinpoint somewhere that a base would make sense, but the area is so randomly placed that I've yet to be able to find anything. Thoughts on that?"
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