++Lunar-class Cruiser Kyne’s Fury, Orbiting Denton III++
++3.634.879.M39++
“Good!” said the purple xeno – no, Acolyte TS, Aisen mentally corrected himself – as the low-powered las shot impacted on the floating metal dishware they were using for a target, scorching a small black mark onto the already ruined plate. Nonetheless, it continued to dart around the unused cargo bay the xeno had commandeered for training purposes. The Acolyte’s horn glowed again, and the target’s movement sped up considerably and it soared erratically, jerking suddenly from one direction to another. “Again!” she directed.
“Bloody xeno’s even worse than Sergeant Denson,” Aisen mentally grumbled as he took aim with the faux-hellgun in his hands, his thoughts drifting towards the profoundly unpleasant old man he’d once had for a drill sergeant. At least the sour old toad had had the decency to die suddenly in his office, giving the squad a few months free time before the Administratum drones had noticed anything. “Wonder how long these little horse freak li-”
*Smack*
Aisen’s thoughts were cut short by the abrupt impact of metal onto the side of his face. He fell over, clutching his jaw and moaning.
“Dead,” a harsh female voice announced.
Aisen looked up sourly at his little purple tormenter. Even sitting on the floor, his eyes were roughly level with hers, and he was treated to a pitiless stare in return. Another plate, the fourth in the air, orbited the xeno’s head.
“It is critical to maintain situational awareness at all times, soldier,” she lectured. “You let your mind wander, or else you focused too intently on your current target. If you’d have been paying attention, you would have had 3.129 seconds from the time that target lifted off before it impacted on you. Far more time than a gauss shot.”
Aisen glared, but bit his tongue lest she decide he wouldn’t be part of this little endeavor either.
“I see that look,” she scowled. “You think I’m being unfair with these little surprises, do you? I wonder, do you think the enemy is going to conveniently announce when they’re flanking you? Only attack from angles you’re paying attention to?” She rolled her eyes. “Perhaps you think the Necrons take a break every afternoon at three for tea and cookies too?”
Aisen couldn’t resist snarking back a little. “We’ve been at this for hours! Maybe if you’d just let a man have a little rest, I’d-”
*Smack*
Another plate crashed into the rear of his head, knocking Aisen off his feet once again. He fell on his face and groaned.
“All these bruises are gonna be murder on my chances with the ladies on this ship,” he thought grumpily.
The sound of hooves on metal prompted the downed former PDF Sergeant to raise his head. The Acolyte stared down at him, undisguised scorn painted all over her nigh-cartoonish alien face.
“I said it was critical to maintain situational awareness at all times, soldier. Did you think I was joking or are you just too brain damaged to remember things?”
“I will be if you keep doing that.” Aisen forced himself back to his feet, rubbing his head again. The little witch looked a lot less intimidating when she only came up to the bottom of his waist.
The Acolyte sighed. “That’s enough of this for now.”
Aisen allowed himself a small sigh of relief.
“Now it’s time to see what you’re bringing in melee.”
Aisen groaned.
*Smack*
Twilight’s magic opened a locker that she’d prepared for this exercise. Inside were five chainswords she’d managed to weasel from Magos Katravich, at the cost of a few feathers and standing still for scans she still wasn’t sure of the purpose of. Three of the weapons, surrounded by her purple glow, flew from the locker and to the three remaining recruits, offering their hilts to the men.
Guardsman Henrick Yilmaz was the first to take the weapon, his large hand only just fitting the grip. Looking as uneasy as he had since the beginning, former Sergeant Aisen grasped the proffered chainsword warily, as if he was afraid it would bite him. The former 1st Lieutenant Fyron Durrane evaluated the weapon with his red cybernetic eye for several seconds before accepting it. He twirled it through several basic patterns before nodding once and returning his attention to the alicorn.
“These are Hecate-pattern chainswords. You may notice that they weigh slightly more than the standard-issue models you have trained with, but you’ll find that they more than compensate with superior balancing. Go ahead, try them out. Get a feel for them.”
Twilight allowed the three men to practice for some five minutes, going through the standardized sword drills taught to almost any military force worth the name in the Imperium. Aisen was the most hesitant and sloppy, almost losing control of the blade on at least three occasions. Had it been active, he might have injured himself. As it was, he appeared embarrassed, but seemed to be remembering the basics after a few rounds. Durrane was more stable, his sword slicing through the air in quick, efficient bursts. Yilmaz, despite the fact that the weapon looked undersized for him, surprisingly proved the best of the lot, his blade looking completely natural in his hands as it went through pattern after pattern with an easy grace that belied his muscled, almost brutish appearance.
After they had all attained at least a modicum of comfort with this new weapon, Twilight tapped the deck with her hoof for attention. All three immediately put their eyes on her, aware by now of the unpleasant surprises that could be in store if they failed to do so in an appropriately timely fashion. Twilight allowed herself a small smile and ticked one box on her mental checklist.
“Now that you’ve felt these swords, we’re going to have a little practice duel. It’s nothing too dangerous, just a little exercise to test your skill.”
“There are only three of us new grunts,” said Aisen, bluntly.
Twilight scowled at him. “No more alcohol during training for you,” she thought irritably. She’d made the mistake of offering the men a ration alcohol some hours earlier as a reward for acceptable performance. While it had definitely succeeded in motivating the PDF man, it had had the side effect of considerably reducing his inhibitions. And loosening his tongue.
Out loud, she replied, “I am aware, soldier. Are you under the impression that I lack the ability to count?”
Titus, watching his prospective squadmates from a safe distance, chuckled. Yilmaz snickered. Even Durrane smirked slightly. Aisen’s face turned red.
“That’s why you won’t be dueling each other,” she continued. “Instead, you’ll be facing me. Three on one.”
That got stares.
“You mean you want us to try and cut you with chainswords?” asked the sergeant, his tone slightly too eager for the question to be entirely academic.
Twilight let that one slide. “No. For your safety, we won’t be powering those swords up during this exercise. You can try and hit me with them, if you like. But I doubt any of you will get that far.”
“You lack a melee weapon,” observed Durrane, his red eye looking her over several times.
Twilight gave a little smirk. “Do I?”
Her horn shone as she cast a spell. A long, thin, purple sword materialized several feet from her head, composed of raw magical energy pulled directly from the Aether. It twirled itself nimbly through numerous Imperial attack patterns before offering a formal dueling salute.
“Thanks, Shiny,” Twilight thought as she caught Aisen’s nervous look, a second before he managed to cover it up. She remembered the day her brother had taught her the spell, long a staple among the unicorns of the Royal Guard.
“Is that blade dangerous?” Durrane asked.
Twilight shook her head. “No. I am capable of making one that doesn’t cut. Little more than a shaped stick, really. I’ve done so for this little duel.” To demonstrate, she brought the blade up to physical contact with her own throat, and slashed. All but Titus, who’d seen the trick before, stared. Twilight bared her throat so all could see. There wasn’t a mark or a drop of blood to be seen. “Satisfied?” she asked.
Durrane nodded before assuming a defensive stance. Yilmaz and Aisen took more aggressive postures and waited.
“Begin.”
Twilight stood calmly as the three spread apart. When they saw that neither she nor her sword were moving, they began to advance warily on her. Yilmaz to the front, Aisen on her left, Durrane to her right. Twilight continued to wait.
“Almost… Almost… Now!”
Twilight and her weapon vanished in a flash of light, Startled heads turned in every direction, searching for the alicorn.
She reappeared directly behind Yilmaz and thrust at his exposed back. By good instinct, he dodged several steps forward before whirling to parrying to catch an overhand blow aimed for his head. The blades locked, and Yilmaz pressed hard, but even his massive strength failed to push back the magic construct he grappled with.
Sensing opportunity, Aisen came at her flank with a yell. Twilight’s blade shot backwards with alarming speed, leaving Yilmaz stumbling forwards under his own momentum. It parried two rapid overhand blows from Aisen before locking against his chainsword and pushing back with enormous force. The ex-sergeant stumbled a few steps backwards, struggling to keep his balance.
Twilight’s blade turned to bat aside a thrust aimed for her back by Durrane, who had used the distraction provided by the other two to slip into her blind side. Two quick slashes towards his midriff drove him into a retreat even as Yilmaz and Aisen charged her. Twilight ducked Aisen’s sideways sweep for her head, lashing out with her two hind legs to catch him in the stomach. He doubled over and stumbled backwards again, coughing and clutching his midsection. Simultaneously, her blade caught an underhand swing from Yilmaz. The giant man brought his blade up and lashed out rapidly with several overhand power blows that failed to beat down Twilight’s blade, but kept it in place.
Durrane took advantage of Yilmaz’s attack to make another attempt at a back stab, taking several quick steps forward and thrusting. Twilight sidestepped the attack with her hearing alone, then kicked Durrane in the shin. His back hit the deck. Twilight’s sword abruptly pulled back from its defensive position with Yilmaz, leaving his latest blow to over-swing and stumble him again. Whipping around, Twilight thrust the blade directly into Durrane’s exposed abdomen. It poked him in the stomach.
“Dead,” Twilight declared, before turning again to catch a charging blow from a recovered Aisen. He ducked under her retaliatory sweep and transitioned directly into a stab for her heart. Twilight sidestepped again, then jumped over the sweep at her legs. Her sword point came down to touch the rear base of Aisen’s bent neck. “Dead,” she said again, then vanished in another flash of purple.
Twilight reappeared in front of her final opponent, sweeping at the huge man’s legs. Yilmaz jumped over the sweep and made one of his own for her head. Twilight’s sword shot up to knock his upwards even as she ducked underneath the chainsword. Yilmaz kicked, but Twilight rolled along the deck to avoid it. He made another overhand swing at her, which her sword caught yet again. The magic sword forced the chainsword to circle, then caught its tip on the chainsword’s hilt. It came around and yanked hard, tearing the mechanical weapon from the human’s hand. A purple glow encased the chainsword as Twilight’s magic caught it. Both blades crossed at Yilmaz’s throat.
“Dead,” Twilight declared.
Twilight returned to her quarters hours later, forced after drilling the men for almost fourteen hours to concede to the limits of human biology. She shouldn’t be too hard on them for that, she knew. After all, most ponies would have given out long before then, and only the enhanced biology of an alicorn allowed her the amount of endurance she had. If she had still been in her unicorn flesh, Twilight knew, she would have tired before the humans.
Still, it was frustrating to have to make allowances for such things. She had a mere five days in total to replace her old team, and by the time they had recuperated she would have three. And there was still the issue of replacing the stubborn fools she’d had to execute. With the new data on her men, this time from practical experience, she could at least select two new ones more quickly.
Sighing, Twilight opened Lord Inquisitor Rovini’s dataslate and began scrolling through the list.