Havok Bringer

Chapter 37. Kinetic Lessons

It had now been several weeks since Andrew had once again been pulled into some world-saving quest against his will. Just a few days afterward, Kaj had joined him, and the communication had stopped. Tiff had taken it on herself at that point to ensure the remainder of the team would be prepared to do their part until Andrew and Kaj returned, if they returned.

The crew of the Bloodhound, a motley group thrown together out of necessity, was a testament to the diversity of the universe. Their skills and abilities had been invaluable, but their teamwork was, for lack of a better word, lacking. Tiff, a guardian by training, had never been part of a team. She had been trained from the time she decided to manifest physical form. Along the way, she had been pulled into the rebellion, and once the reaping started, she had done her best to guide Andrew toward success.

The rest of the crew were in similar situations. Outside of Elvis, who had shown himself to be insanely loyal and incapable of questioning the Captain, everyone else had been absorbed into the crew out of pure happenstance. CJ was the first to join, he had no abilities to speak of but he was the Captain’s best friend and had proven himself to be a contributing member of the crew since getting his own set of combat armor.

Outside of Kaj, the rest of the crew had been rescued along with Andrew after he had been captured and imprisoned by Anthragor. Matty and Jax, with their military training and understanding of combat tactics, had proven to be the most valuable members of the crew so far. Their abilities also provided long-range combat options. The two brothers had never questioned their roles in the crew. They had been assigned to the Bloodhounds security reaction force and had, for all intents and purposes, managed the logistics for all away missions.

Loren and Red, both Galactic Brawlers, had no combat experience before the reaping and had been slow to acclimate to their new realities. However, they were resilient and had proven their mettle during multiple battles. It was important that they begin to understand team combat tactics if they were going to progress in their classes.

Elvis and Kaj were the most powerful members of the team outside of Andrew. Kaj was the highest level in the entire group and Elvis was progressing quickly in his Bio-droid berserker class. They were definitely front-line fighters and would be capable of breaking enemy lines almost at will. For now though, Kaj was not available.

Tiff had gathered the group together the morning after Kaj disappeared. It was time to develop as a team. The defense of Dawes Hill would be the primary focus in the short term. If the Captain and Kaj didn’t return soon, the group's role would expand as needed to protect the people of Earth.

Cj yawned and stretched his arms in the early morning light. Everyone had gotten used to going about their days without structure or purpose and that would change today.

“What are we doing out here? It’s the ass crack of dawn for crying out loud,” CJ grumbled.

Elvis shot him a sharp look. " Tiffanytrimore is our XO. When the Captain is gone, she is in charge. That should be enough.”

Loren placed a hand on Elvis’ forearm to calm him before things exploded between the two once again. Elvis returned to standing at attention as Tiffantrimor and Matty approached the group.

“Everyone, Captain Andrew and Kaj are gone. We don’t have an exact time frame for their return. With that being said, I believe it is imperative for us to train and drill ourselves into an effective team,” Tiff said.

“What is the point? Everyone here has abilities or combat armor. I doubt very seriously that a few lizards stand a chance against any of us,” CJ said before taking a long drag from his vape.

Matty smiled wryly, “I gotta say, CJ, you really seem to have found your big boy voice lately. Your XO is speaking and it would be in your best interest to stand at attention and listen until she is done.”

CJ immediately tensed up, “Easy to talk that way when I’m not in my combat armor.”

Matty approached CJ until he was nose to nose with him; CJ raised his vape to his lips, inhaled, and blew the smoke out into Matty’s face. “I don’t remember joining a damn army. I don’t take orders from anyone,” CJ growled.

Matty closed the distance until his chest was touching CJ’s. He leaned forward and whispered in CJ’s ear, “I think it’s time you go put that little suit of yours on…boy.”

“If you want an early morning ass whipping, I am happy to oblige,” CJ growled before turning toward the hab to retrieve his combat suit.

“Matty, I’m not sure this is the most constructive way to start focusing on team tactics,” Tiff said.

Matty walked back to Tiff and stood beside her with his back facing the group, “XO, you asked me to assist you. You asked me to whip this group into a lethal killing machine that moves and acts as one, right?”

“Well, yes…but I’m not sure how getting into a fight first thing will accomplish that goal,” Tiff whispered in reply.

“Right now, we have a group of individuals. Yeah, we all want the same thing. We want to help the people of Earth, we want to get back at the Lacertines for invading our world, and we want to hurt as many of them as possible. Now, we can each do some damage on our own… sure, but we have the ability to take this world back if we work as a group. That is with or without the Captain and Kaj. The thing is…we will never succeed if we don’t understand who is in charge and fall in line. You will never be a competent soldier if you can't take orders effectively. If one soldier acts on their own out of anger or resentment, the whole squad will suffer.” Matty replied.

“But is this really the best way?” Tiff asked.

“CJ is a good guy. He does whatever the Captain asks him to do, and that is great. I need him to do whatever he has to do to ensure the success of the squad, though. In order to do that, he needs to be willing to take direction from whoever is in charge at the time, not just the Captain. Pain is the best instructor and he needs to understand that he isn’t the only person here with power. I’m not gonna hurt him, but I am gonna bring him down a few pegs,” Matty replied.

“I am going to trust your judgment, Matty. Don’t make me regret it,” Tiff said before directing everyone to gather beneath a cluster of pine trees on the edge of the clearing.

A few minutes later, Matty stopped stretching and turned to face the rest of the crew as CJ made his way back into the clearing in his full black combat suit. CJ stopped in front of Matty, looking him up and down. “Let’s do this then,” he said as he signaled his visor to close.

“In a hurry to take a beating?” Matty replied with a smirk. CJ stood silently as he took a combat stance.

Matty returned his attention to the crew, “Now, I am not going to take pleasure in what I am about to do. CJ is a brother-in-arms and a member of our crew. That said, I don’t believe it is in the best interest of our crew to allow disrespect and dissension to go unpunished. For that very purpose I have taken on myself to teach CJ here a valuable lesson. The lesson will be administered kinetically and hopefully be impactful enough that he understands his place on this crew. Like everyone else here, his opinion is valued, his skills are needed, and there will be times when both are required. Unfortunately, today all we require is his skills so he can keep his opinions locked behind those flapping gums of his until such a time as XO Tiffantrimore has need of them. This lesson will be painful for him, but…”

Matty was cutoff as CJ came blasting toward him, his right fist primed to strike. Matty twisted his body to the left and held out one foot, causing CJ to trip and tumble into a roll, coming to a stop in a cloud of dust. CJ pounded his fists into the ground before springing back up to his feet.

“First example,” Matty said as he pointed one finger at CJ as he stood back up, “A soldier that acts on his own without direction will often find themselves out of position. Being out of position during battle is as good as being dead. CJ here didn’t have the patience to wait for the lesson to start, so he took it upon himself to start the lesson,” Matty said as he turned to face CJ, “ I do respect the tenacity, CJ; unfortunately, that kind of sloppy fighting could get you or a member of your squad killed during combat. Learn from that…”

CJ Lunged again, screaming in rage as he closed the distance between himself and Matty. Again, CJ swung down with his right fist. The combat suit was a marvel of advanced alien technology, and to any bystanders watching, CJ would have been a black blur in the clearing, his fists swinging faster than any natural human could possibly hope to move. To Matty, though, the movements were sluggish and untrained. The punches had no power. A powerful punch utilizes the hips to create torque and power; CJ was swinging wildly with no technique and, therefore, no power. Matty knew that CJ had no formal training, and that fact was on full display.

Matty held the Interstellar Assassin class. While that class emphasized the use of long-range weapons when possible, it also provided increased speed, strength, and dexterity to its wielders. Matty far surpassed the natural capabilities of the average human and had no need for combat armor to take advantage of his attributes.

Matty deftly raised his right forearm to intercept CJ’s wild punch. As CJ’s punch arced down, he felt it deflect and slide off of Matty’s arm. The deflection caused CJ’s balance to momentarily shift as he stutter-stepped to try and regain his balance. Matty moved in.

“Lesson two: wild punches with no power serve no purpose for you but create openings for your enemies. Learn how to use your body effectively; make every move count.” Matt said as he planted his feet and fired off a powerful right cross. The punch landed squarely on the left side of CJ’s head, causing him to stumble and twist away with an “Umph.”

CJ again regained his balance before reaching to his fight thigh and unholstering his sidearm, “I didn’t ask for this shit, Matty! I am tired of being treated like I don’t belong here; I belong as much as anyone!”

Jax started to move forward to defend his brother before Tiff put a hand on his chest to stop him, “He asked us to trust him. I would ask that you respect that as well and stay put.”

Jax looked at her for a second, seemingly trying to decide his next move before responding, “Yes, Ma’am,” and taking a step back to stand beside Elvis and Red.

“It’s not too late to holster that weapon, CJ,” Matty said as he calmly stood facing CJ.

“You asked for this, Matty. If you want proof that I can handle myself, then here is that proof!” CJ yelled angrily.

“Have it your way then. Lesson Three,” Matty held up three fingers and turned to face the watching crew, “If you draw your weapon, you had better be prepared to end the person or thing standing in front of you. Are you ready to end me, CJ?”

“You’ll survive, but you will remember this next time you try to put me in my place,” CJ replied.

As CJ uttered his last word, Matty disappeared. One second, he was there; the next, he was gone.

“What the hell?!” CJ said, spinning as he tried to see where Matty had gone.

“We aren’t going to achieve our goals if we think, fight, and react like humans, CJ,” Matty said

CJ could hear the words but still couldn’t see Matty. “Enough games, Matty. Come out and fight already!” CJ said.

CJ was lifted off his feet as Matty’s uppercut connected with his chin. He landed with a thud, the gears and motors of his combat suit whining as he struggled to regain his feet once again.

“Lesson four: We have abilities now and will use them to turn the tides of battle. We will coordinate them amongst ourselves to provide the highest probability for victory, and we will take that victory out of the clutches of our enemies because we know that we can depend on our brothers and sisters in arms.” Matty said.

Thwack

CJ fell to one knee as a black blade appeared out of thin air. The blade had been jammed into the knee of the combat armor and had caused the joint to fail. CJ struggled to regain his feet, but it was no use; his suit had been partially disabled.

“CJ holstered his weapon and held up his hands, “Okay, enough! I get it already.”

Matty deactivated his gilly suit ability and appeared standing directly in front of CJ, “No, CJ. This lesson isn’t over yet. You will surrender your armor and not be allowed to equip it again until you have proven yourself as a soldier. You will train to fight, you will earn the respect of your crewmates. You will be worthy of that armor when you put it on again, do you understand?”

CJ raised his visor so Matty could see his scowl, “You…” CJ raised his eyes to stare directly into Matty’s, “You can go fu…”

CJ didn’t get a chance to finish. Matty was a blur as his shin connected with CJ’s head with a crack. CJ’s body twisted unnaturally as spit and blood flew from his mouth, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

“Glorious battle!” Elvis yelled as he pumped his fist in the air, “SR-CJ deserved that lesson. I only wish that I had been the one to teach it!”

Tiff turned a cold gaze toward Elvis, “Elvis, you will carry CJ to the Hab, where you will help him out of his combat armor. You will then administer first aid and ensure he can return to training in a timely manner.”

“XO, that is…that is…that is not fair!” Elvis said with a whine.

“Fair doesn’t win wars, Elvis; teams do. You will be removed from active duty until such a time as Matty has cleared CJ as combat effective. The friction between the two of you ends today.” Tiff said, standing face to face with Elvis.

Elvis spun on his heels before grabbing a fully grown pine tree, ripping it from the ground, and throwing it so far that the crew nearly lost sight of it. “The captain would never,”

Tiff moved closer to Elvis, ignoring his tantrum, “The Captain isn’t here. I am in command, and that was a direct order. Do you understand?”

Elvis stood heaving in deep breaths, fists clenched as flames danced around his fingers, “Understood…XO”

“Good, then get to it. Rejoin the rest of us when you have completed your assigned tasks.” Tiff said as she spun to face the rest of the crew.

“Let’s get back to work, everyone.”