The wonderful thing about failure

New Mutants » The Real Danger Room » The wonderful thing about failure
http://www.nmsim.proboards88.com/index.cgi?board=dangerinc&action=display&thread=1175006536


The wonderful thing about failure
Post by Risk on Mar 27, 2007, 9:42am

“Danger Room. Run simulation: Kirigi, maximum difficulty setting.”

I deviated from the team.

Kirigi formed before me, wielding twin sais. A simple lunge carried him over to me. One which, even with my agility, I barely avoided. Taking hold of his wrist, I twisted and threw him over my hip.

I couldn’t make a simple jump fast enough to avoid a strike. Admittedly, a strike of lightning, but a strike all the same.

Springing back up to his feet, Kirigi threw a sai at my neck. I plucked it out of the air in one motion but was left open to his follow-up attack; with a flick of his wrist he wrapped the rope chain of his kyoketsu-shogi around my neck, and the blade of the weapon came dangerously close to running across my neck as the chain wrapped around it.

I left my commander in harms way.

I leaned forwards, increasing the slack on the rope, but the kyoketsu-shogi, like the sai, was only a distraction. I found this out when Kirigi delivered a kick to my jaw, leaving me sprawled across the floor.

I only attributed to the lack of cohesion between the unit. And by the time that we settled into order, our superior had already been injured.

I tugged onto the rope with as much force as I could muster, and Kirigi ended up hurled into a wall. Taking the shobo off of my finger, I cut through the rope and cast the blade attached aside.

I learned just how dependent I am on my weaponry. I cannot make a ranged attack without it. I cannot strike nearly as effectively without it. Admittedly, I can do well without it, but comparatively I am… crippled.

I found a shuriken hurtling in the direction of my chest. A quick twist allowed me to avoid the first one, and gave me time to draw an escrima to deflect the shuriken that followed.

And the team’s unity… the manner in which they operate is too chaotic. They need to establish an order of command. As it is, they seem to not know who to turn to as soon as the most viable option is neutralized – in this case, the Professor. Wreck or Zephyr seemed the other likely choices, as Amelia was not present. Unfortunately, Zephyr was not present in the combat situation either, and Wreck… I ended up directing Wreck erroneously. The priority should not have been the attacker – it should have been Kelly and our Commander. And that was my fault.

In the next moment I found a baton missing from my side, and felt it smash into the base of my nose. I staggered back and swept at his legs, taking advantage of his position as he jumped over it by slamming him against a wall. Thrusting his hand forwards, he opened his hand for a two fingered strike into the tear ducts at the corner of my eyes. I staggered back and he struck me in the neck directly below my ears, taking me off of my feet.

And now we have to take a mostly reactionary stance while we wait. That does not rest well for me. There has to be something I could do to help our search. Something… If not, then… for the time being, I must place some effort into the unit working on the squad cohesion.

Kirigi struck down again with the baton. I drove the escrima into his wrist below the point where he was holding the baton and grabbed him by the neck, flipping over so that I was on top of him. I flicked my wrist and the shobo hung down from my finger at his mastoid gland.

“You lose.”

He opened up his hand and drove a smaller shuriken into my still open mouth. Not striking anything, but holding it at the base of my mouth.

“Is that so?”

The simulation buzzed to a halt and faded away.

Sloppy.

"Again."

The simulation restarted.


Re: The wonderful thing about failure
Post by Risk on Apr 1, 2007, 2:25pm

[Post Second Splice and New Mutants Unlimited #54.]

A broken arm. Two broken ribs. And I was sloppy enough to let it happen.

Like this, I am a liability. In the assault on Monday, I will hamper them rather than aid them.

I need to prove to myself that I will be something more than a liability.

Kirigi formed in front of me again. He defeated me every time I ran this simulation. By narrow margins, most often. But a loss is a loss.

And I don’t lose.

He pulls towards me before pulling back. Contemplating his movement, clearly. Essentially, it comes back down to a simple strike. Driving the side of the handle of his sai at my carotid artery. I’m slow – the ribs make sure of that – but I’m not that slow. I duck around to the side, but it becomes clear that it is just a feint when he drives his fist into my trachea. The room spins, but I am used to that by now. I’m dizzy… and the room turns black for a moment.

A sharp kick across my right knee brings me back. Another person and the kneecap would be dislocated. A kick is repeated up into my ribs and I’m surprised when it doesn’t hurt.

The defence afforded must be enough for that at least.

I’m proven right when I block the next kick with my left arm. The one that is supposed to be broken. It throws Kirigi off balance and gives me a chance to get to my feet. The ribs still make me slow.

I can’t be a liability. I can never be a liability.

I receive a sharp kick to the neck. It’s a mistake. His second strike that isn’t to a vital point – the first being to my ribs. Grabbing his leg, I drop him by striking him beneath the kneecap.

It doesn’t keep him down. He flips back to his feet and strikes at the ulnar nerve below my wrist. It forces my fist open and I lose control of my hand for a moment.

This isn’t working. I’m losing.

Part of my conscious mind stopped registering.

Damien looks up at Kirigi blankly, his face completely emotionless. Kirigi throws a kick at his mastoid gland. Not registering the pain, Damien catches the leg and drives his fist into Kirigi’s kneecap, dislocating it and flooring Kirigi.

He can’t think again. Not properly. Not in anything that could be… coherent to anyone or anything else. The ‘letters’ ran into each other, not making any sense to anyone but him. But he didn’t think consciously with his strikes.

He can’t speak either. No words come to him – they are all meaningless. He knows what he’s doing. He isn’t out of control; he is perfectly in control. But the words are alien. His thoughts don’t come together into them, so he can’t make them work.

He can’t make them work. He can’t make them work. Not when he’s doing this.

Driving his knuckles into the base of Kirigi’s nose with only moderate force, he knocks him out.

You lose, he thinks. He tries to come up with the words. To roll them off of his tongue. Instead, nothing comes out. Not even a growl. Not even a murmur. Just silence as Cain surveys his victim.

He comes back to himself, and he thinks in ‘words’ again. His conscious mind is back. Whole. And he finds himself on his knees, over Kirigi’s prone form.

“End simulation.”

He places his head in his hands and breathes in sharply. Raggedly.

“There has to be something in between.” He sighs it rather than says it. “And I will find it.”


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 License.