Match of the Millennium

Description: Leona wants to test out one of the Ikari's newest conscripts before they head out to Japan together. This suits Lita just fine since she wants know what Leona can do having never faced her before. Is Lita well suited to be an Ikari?

[LEONA]
With the sun low in the sky, sending an orange glow over the Ikari compound, Leona Heidern waits by the front gate. Her arms are crossed, her eyes are closed, her breathing is level and steady. She has asked for Lita. She has plans. She did not exactly specify those plans to Lita. A simple sticky note with the words 'Front Gate', the time, and 'Leona' written on it. Even in writing, Leona Heidern is not the most verbose.

The plan is more than simply following up on her commanding officer's order to find out what the newest Ikari conscript can do. It is also for Leona to see what she can do in keeping control. Since Japan, the itching under Leona's skin has been ever present. The anxious, crawling feeling that drums in her heart. The pulsing that she first ran into in Japan. The blood that that man, Yamazaki, mentioned. Then, and when training with her father, both times the fury, the Rage within her took over. Leona wondered if it was going to happen again.

A soldier prone to rabid fury is of little use in the battlefield. Leona needs control and she knows it. And Lita is Leona's first true test of whether or not she can keep her composure in the heat of battle.

[LITA]
Lita spent her first days getting used to the parts of the base she did have access (which admittedly wasn't a lot of the locations because of UN paranoia). The next were mostly spent in her room reading downloaded e-books or watching videos on fightTube. This particular day, Lita headed off to the latrine and when she came out she saw the sticky note with time and place. She knew that it was either for leaving for the mission or a training session so she loaded her duffel bag with both her sword and her polycarbonate training weapon as well as a payload of both her normal kunai and her kunai designed for shallow penetration and a some change of clothes.

With two Ikari escorts in tow she shows up to the front gate with her duffel bag on her shoulder to be greeted by the sight of a blue haired soldier with arms crossed in front of her.

She drops the duffel bag to the ground and gives a salute. She's aware that at this point, she's low woman on the totem pole and so she's to let Leona dictate the situation whether they are to move out now or train. She's prepared for either scenario.

[LEONA]
Leona's eyes open the moment she hears the duffel bag hit the ground. She stares at Lita, sees the salute, and pushes from the gate. Her boots scrape the ground when she steps toward Lita. Sizing the woman up, Leona considers the nature of her opponent and some of what she knows about Lita's past before coming to the Ikari.

Leona frowns and fixes the cuff of her gloves. "Second place team in the last King of Fighters tournament. An athlete. Was Delta Red, turned to the Ikari. A soldier. Which of these are you?" she asks, leveling a sharpened glare at Lita.

Leona's posture visibly shifts. One foot slides back, a hand held knife-edge in check at her side, the other hand out, loose and steady as a serpent waiting to strike. "Show me what you are."

COMBATSYS: Leona has started a fight here.

[\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Leona            0/-------/-------|

COMBATSYS: Lita has joined the fight here.

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Lita             0/-------/-------|-------\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
So that's what this is about.

Lita opens the large duffel bag and pulls out the polycarbonate replica sword and straps it to her back, she goes for the shallow penetration kunai and inserts them into her thigh bandoliers and as well as her hip bandoliers.

With her preparations done, she takes on a stance that looks like a military combative. She doesn't go for the sword right away. After a few deep breaths she darts off towards Leona delivering a side kick to the knee and then following up with a side kick to the body. She's trying to feel out her adversary and get some information. She hardly knows anything about her.

COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Lita's Light Kick.

[ \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Lita             0/-------/-----==|-------\-------\0            Leona

[LEONA]
Testing, feeling out your opponent. It's sound judgement. Leona can see that. Quick series of kicks. It's easy enough to turn into one blow and twist to another to keep her knee protected and to shoulder the blow at her side. It was a good opening. There's a barely perceptible nod from Leona at Lita's opening gambit.

One arm down low to block the kick to her side, Leona twists from the knee kick and flicks her hand out. A sharp knife edge strike from her open hand lashes out for Lita's jawline as Leona turns herself, keeping close in to fight against Lita's potential oversized sword use.

COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Lita with Jab Punch.
- Power hit! -

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Lita             0/-------/---====|=------\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
The knife hand strike looked like it would be managable. Deflect and redirect as she repositions and ideally, she would be out of the way and ready to deliver her reprisal. Her problem is that the redirected strike ends up hitting a nerve cluster in her neck causing one of her arms to lose control for a second. It delays any idea of her even attempting to go for her sword which may or may not be a win for Leona.

Lita's hands shoot for one of Leona's arms as she attempts to trip her face first towards the ground. If she should manage that, she'll attempt to perform a standing arm bar on the other soldier.

COMBATSYS: Leona full-parries Lita's Close Quarters Catch!!

[     \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Lita             0/-------/---====|===----\-------\0            Leona

[LEONA]
Leona feels the cool emotions of conflict. Pure physical aggression rather than the itching heat of rage. This is meditation to Leona and her moment of comfort in the heat of battle is galvanizing. Lita's hands grab Leona's arm, but the Ikari moves with it, rotates and twists. Moving like water around Lita's motions until Leona is moving to hold Lita's wrist instead.

With the grab, Leona's free hand ignites with crackling chi. The imbued strike comes fast and quick, aimed for the center of Lita's mass to put as much hurt as she can onto her opponent. Like Leona herself, the strike may not have a great deal of flower to it's approach, it simple strikes deadly and quick as she's been taught.

COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Lita with Leona Crash EX.

[        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Lita             0/-------/-======|=====--\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
Her opponent seems to move so naturally and she isn't really given enough room to manuever into sword range let alone her kunai throwing range. She's under pressure and Leona is not going to let up. Soldiers in general are trained in that fashion because once it's begun letting up for a moment when you have your opponent off balance means they are that much more dangerous when they can get themselves together. Instead of getting her head together, Lita ends up a chi imbued strike to the body. A slight hiss of pain leaves her lips.

Lita realizes she has no choice. She needs to create space for herself or Leona was going to walk all over her. And she was not about to let that happen. She throws her entire body into a elbow shot across the jaw as she steps into kick range and then follows it up performing another side kick to the body delivered this time to push Leona rather than for impact.

COMBATSYS: Leona dodges Lita's Savage Combo.

[         \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  ////////////////////////////  ]
Lita             1/------=/=======|=====--\-------\0            Leona

[LEONA]
So this was the woman from Delta Red. There was something off putting about the way things were going. Leona's face stays cold and sober when Lita unleashes with a series of savage strikes. But Leona was in the flow of the moment. The rhythm of the fight drummed in her. She turns outward from the elbow strike, letting it cut air. She ducks low, nearly flattened to the ground as Lita's kick arcs over her. Leona lets out a steady breath.

The next strike comes quickly, putting herself in the head of danger, coming up from her crouch and lashing toward Lita with the palm of her hand in an uppercutting motion toward Lita's chin. Aggressive and unrelenting, Leona continues with her assault in hopes of keeping Lita on her back foot.

COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Lita with Aggressive Strike.
Glancing Blow

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Lita             1/-----==/=======|=====--\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
The new recruit still remains on her back foot. As she reaches for the quick release latch on her sword, she spins away, hoping to the avoid the palm strike. Instead, her chin gets clipped as she spins away from the impact.

Now that she's managed to disengage just enough to bring herself into sword range, she steps forward and swings her replica weapon for Leona's lead leg. Take out one of the legs and it will make it harder for the Ikari soldier to pursue. Maybe that would allow her to change the flow of the fight.

COMBATSYS: Leona blocks Lita's Power Strike.

[           \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Lita             1/----===/=======|=======\-------\0            Leona

[LEONA]
So the blade comes out. Replica or not, it's best to not take a blade to the knee. Leona curls down, shoulder against Lita, a flare of her chi as the blade strikes an angled, chi lit forearm. It scrapes against her arm, Leona grits her teeth and bears the pain. It's better than having her knee taken out from under her.

If Lita wants space, Leona will give it to her. From her spot on the ground, Leona springs up and back. Her arms cross and that chi energy flares to life on her forearms. With a double slashing motion a fiery X launches downward at Lita while Leona flips herself back and away from the Delta Red soldier.

COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Lita with X-Caliber.
Glancing Blow
# Disabling hit! #

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Lita             1/---====/=======|=======\-------\1            Leona

[LITA]
She wanted some space. Just not that much. As Leona leaps into the air, Lita curses her inability to use energy attacks. The chi formed X forms in the air and Lita decides she wants no part of it as she tries to stalk down her opponent. Unfortunately, Lita places a little more emphasis into chasing down Leona than avoiding the cross slash. While she avoids the brunt of it, she still catches the edge of the projectile hitting her in that same nerve cluster that Leona hit her in before.

There's some lost feeling and her sword feels slightly heavier than usually does. It's at that moment, she realizes she's going to need her legs to drive the her attacks until she can get the feeling back in her arm. She dashes forward before stopping in front of the seasoned Ikari and pivots hard on her feet as she throws her entire body into the initial horizontal slash, then lets gravity do the work for her with the diagonal slash at Leona's shoulder before capping it off by driving her training sword upwards with her legs.

COMBATSYS: Leona full-parries Lita's Triple Slash!!

[                \\\\\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Lita             1/---====/=======|=======\===----\1            Leona

[LEONA]
Leona lands on the ground a distance from Lita. She stands up and resumes her preferred stance before Lita's sword scythes through the air. The Delta Red seems frazzled, wounded and not in the condition she should be. Leona can sense the advantage she's had. The blade swings are heavy and ponderous. Rolling back from the horizontal and swaying from the diagonal, Leona gives a sharp strike to set Lita off balance in preparation. A fluid parry of the blade to open Lita up.

She flicks her hand back and the spark of chi lights up again. Leona has a blade of her own, one made of chi that hones her knife hand to a razor's edge. She's quick, slashing across Lita's back once Lita has moved in too closely with her heavy blade.

COMBATSYS: Lita blocks Leona's Leona Blade EX.

[                   \\\\\\\\\\\  < >  //////////////////////////    ]
Lita             1/--=====/=======|===----\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
The feeling in her arm is slowly working it's way back into her arm and the strength in her arm as well. The parry of the upward slash does knock aside the weapon. Lita goes with it because that hit in the nerve cluster in her neck took away enough strength, as temporary as it may be, that resisting it would be folly.

She spins around bringing the sword behind her to intercept the slash towards her back before relatching the sword into place.

She then pulls five kunai from her hip bandoliers and then flinging them at Leona. Thankfully since this is only a training session these Kunai won't penetrate too deeply. That isn't to say they won't hurt.

COMBATSYS: Lita successfully hits Leona with Kunai Spread.

[                     \\\\\\\\\  < >  /////////////////////         ]
Lita             2/<<<<<<</<<<<<<<|=======\-------\0            Leona

[LEONA]
Leona finds herself not simply cutting Lita back down. Something perks in Leona's eyes when Lita withstands the strike. She almost smiles. But she has to keep the pressure. She moves in toward Lita, ready to quickly strike. Only to be confronted with a barrage of kunai. She tries to react quickly to brush the dulled blades from the air, or take the brunt of the hits in a more sturdy spot, but some get in, striking her solar plexus, her chest. She hisses with the blows, curls in ward. There was pain there. Leona was happy, she's made Lita get serious.

Leona steadies herself, rolling out of the crouch she took to suck in the pain from Lita's kunai barrage. As she comes out of the tight spin, she levels her leg out, heel aiming for Lita's midsection.

COMBATSYS: Lita interrupts Medium Kick from Leona with Bum's Rush.
-* CRITICAL HIT! *-
*KNOCKED AWAY*

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Lita             0/-------/-<<<<<<|=======\=====--\1            Leona

[LITA]
Lita was serious from the beginning. The problem was figuring out how to get her attacks through and how to keep Leona from hitting her pretty much at will. Once she was able to figure out how to keep Leona from hitting her as she pleased, it was like everything else fell into place for her. Even in the process of following through from the kunai throw, she's already reaching for her sword and hitting the quick release latch on it.

With the sword free and attack incoming she charges in the moment she sees opportunity. Lita barrels into Leona, shoulder first before she can even fully extend her leg to deliver the kick to the midsection. She then quickly pivots, hitting Leona with the flat of her sword, then she spins into the next smash with the flat of her sword and then spinning around before stepping forwards and smahing into Leona with the flat of her sword one final time swinging it like an oversized cricket bat to send the other soldier flying away from her.

[LEONA]
Leona is sent scattering to the ground. The counter sent a clear message to Leona. It wasn't Lita not trying, she herself wasn't trying hard enough to beat Lita. Leona turns from her roll, ending in a crouched and ready sprinter's position. It wasn't ideal, but perhaps it would be best to answer the calling in her and try to solve this with direct force.

Leona casts her arm to the side, the sparking, crackling light of chi covering her limb elbow to hand. She dashes forward, right at Lita. Her shoulder down to knock the wind from the woman. Should she be caught off guard, Leona would have her open for a hurricane of cuts, dashes and slashes. Back and forth a deluge of strikes to end with an explosive fire of the burning chi.

COMBATSYS: Leona successfully hits Lita with Slash Saber EX.

[                                < >  /////////////                 ]
Lita             1/---<<<</<<<<<<<|=------\-------\0            Leona

[LITA]
And Lita's caught off guard indeed. Leona slips through her guard eliciting a gasp from the blonde soldier the moment that shoulder hits her abdomen separating her feet from the ground for almost an instant. When her feet touch the ground once again, that's when the blue-haired soldier brings the pain with a deluge of stabs and slashes and other assorted strikes. The explosive detonation of chi knocks the former Delta Red soldier off her feet once more. This time, however, she doesn't exactly get her feet under her and is sent away in a roll before she gets back on one knee.

She only has a moment left in her mental groove where she can sort of unify her sword footwork and power with the versatility of her close-combat style. She decides to take advantage of that before her body decides to give out on her.

Lita shoots in, going for Leona's knees. Normally this would be a precursor to her driving her shoulder into Leona's thighs so she can perform a double leg takedown. In this particular case, she's aiming to swing the other soldier around similar to how she would swing her sword before slamming Leona down onto her back.

COMBATSYS: Lita can no longer fight.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Leona            0/-------/------=|

COMBATSYS: Leona dodges Lita's Seeing Red.

[                 \\\\\\\\\\\\\  <
Leona            0/-------/------=|

[LEONA]
Leona stands on the other side of her rush, chest heaving, head lowered, her hands still maintaining a check position. The fight's taken much out of her and her footing slips stutteringly into position as she once more readies herself.

Inside of Leona, however, she is happy. Every step of this fight has gone without the itch. She has controlled it this time. Lashing forward, each cut of her hand was her choice and not the maddening euphoric rage that she has had before. And seeing Lita charge for her, to put her all into that last drive, that tells her everything she needs to know about the newest Ikari warrior. It's over, she thinks as she takes a diving, rolling leap over Lita's takedown. Landing on the otherside, rolling up to her feet and looking behind herself, she smiles genuinely.

"We're done," Leona says, turning around and walking slowly back toward Lita. "Thank you."

COMBATSYS: Leona has ended the fight here.


[LITA]
With Leona leaping over her attempt to shoot in on her she's forced to turn over in a seated position. Her body has no more left to give which is when she's thankful that the other soldier calls it. She's gasping for air.

If this is the person she's going to be teamed up with for the upcoming mission, she'll feel comfortable bleeding with her and watching her six. Leona has earned her respect for how brutal and how professional she can be and especially how irritatingly evasive she can be. With that respect comes an ease to sort of let guard enough to make a joke at least partially at her own expense.

"Permission to sit here on the ground a bit before heading back, Lieutenant?"

Her own lips form a smile as she reaches up to wipe the sweat soaked hair from her eyes.

[LEONA]
Leona looks down at the seated soldier. She crosses her arms and her expression betrays no mood but the sullen stare that's quickly come in the wake of the brief smile. Lita's fought well, brought her to a limit and didn't trigger the rage inside of her. Yes, she can trust this woman to fight well. Hopefully she can trust this woman to fight beside her.

"As you were, soldier," she tells Lita, and there for a moment the contented smile reaches Leona's surface. "I'm going to inform the commander of how you did today." She turns to walk off. Then she pauses for a moment and turns back around. "It's positive," she adds, just in case it wasn't obvious with her endless smiling and joy.

Log created on 11:48:04 11/05/2017 by Lita, and last modified on 08:37:51 11/06/2017.