Description: Iron Maiden (1990). Elle takes a break from the insanity that is Jinchuu to speak to Aislinn about the boat assault and a few other things. Talk eventually turns to combat practice, and Elle asks to be trained by NESTS's own Silent Assassin. Aislinn accepts, offering a few preliminary ideas and tips to Elle just off the cuff before promising to fine tune Elle's combat skills.
With all the madness in Jinchuu going on, it's getting harder and harder for Elle to pull her mind away from the complexities of ninja plots. In the last few days, urgings from Tran and grim portents from Marise have placed a bit of a stopper on things. It's time to re-evaluate priorities and take stock in what has been done before taking any more steps.
So, in order to divert her mind for a while, she's gone back to her roots: engineering.
In truth, Elle's only a few credits away from a masters in an engineering program, and was well on her way to proceeding towards the doctoral program. From he exterior, however, it's difficult to say. Nevertheless, the way she writes and takes note of things demonstrates an engineer's way of thinking: methodical, careful, and thorough. People depend on her ability to assemble and design things, be they missions or devices, and that work ethic hasn't left her, even if other ethical issues have long since departed.
She stands at a workbench in Blackjack's old HQ. The warehouse has long since become an actual warehouse for the organization's importand and exports of odds and ends, but Elle still comes down here every so often for a respite from her busy work. She wears a heavy black smock over jeans, long sleeved flannel shirt, and work boots, a pair of clear goggles over her eyes, stopping to peer at wiring plans as she solders away. Her guitar lay in peices around her, as well as a few other weapons that are recognizeable: a mace, a pole arm, a micro-link chain that seems to have been procured from an organization with fairly high technology.
Aislinn has been called. Partly for a debriefing, partly for a chat. Elle's at loose end now that she's decided to pull back from Jinchuu for the time being, and she's interested in the opinions of her teammates. Aislinn's is no less valuable.
Loose ends. That's a good way to put it. Though Aislinn was released shortly after being captured during the abortive Blackjack action aboard the ship--and even allowed to participate in her round three fight despite the fact of her participation... she has been, both overtly and covertly, been watched. It's a fair thing to do--if Aislinn were in the position of running security for the Jinchuu she'd be having -everyone- watched, no exceptions--but it does mean that her Jinchuu-related activities are curtailed.
Still, the crew has not restricted her actions in any tangible way, so it's simplicity itself to get off the boat--even refreshing. Aislinn is _NOT_ a social person and dealing with unknowns and people she doesn't care to associate with is stressful.
Dealing with Elle can be stressful, too--Ais is never quite sure what the Blackjack leader will ask of her. But it's at least interesting and salient to her interests. The door to the converted warehouse slides open, there's the sound of boots on the flooring, then the door sliding shut... and moments after that, Aislinn is standing there, the sound of her boots enough to announce her presence.
It's been noted that Elle's a hard pill to swallow. She lacks social graces and a lot of civility. All manner of polite conversation seems to have been stripped from the mercenary commander, and she's extraordinarily demanding. Elle pushes her people to their limits, asking them to do all manner of things. The woman is constantly hustling, moving, and trying to keep her organization afloat.
But there's another side to all that. Elle does everything for mutal benefit. The gain is always equal, and Elle is the first to congratulate a person for a job well done.
Granted, she's also the first to point out fault as well.
Aislinn's feet stepping across the floor is familiar to Elle. The girl has a certain cadence to her step, and Elle's ear, trained for music and math, recognizes it instantly. "Small Wonder," she says, lifting her head up and pulling the goggles from her face. "I wanted to apologize about the lack of backup on your raid on the boat. You guys held it together as best you could, but I didn't think Kasugano would be able to assemble a response team so damn fast. My fault on that one."
The gloves are removed, set aside on the the table. "I know I don't precisely pay you, given your connections, but normally I give people hazard pay for having to deal with that. I'm mostly looking to settle the score."
The mercenary turns to face the silent cyborg as she lets the soldering cool on her latest project. "So if there's something you want or need that NESTS doesn't normally give you, let me know, and I'll see about paying you back for the favor."
Aislinn regards Elle with a look that could almost be described as 'placid'. It isn't -quite- expressionless, though few could tell the difference. But there's a lack of tension in her eyes that speaks of a slowly growing familiarity and comfort with the Blackjack leader. She doesn't even comment on the nickname that Elle has dubbed her with.
But she does comment on the words spoken by her newest employer. "Battles are unpredictable," she replies, after a few moments. "Had things gone as planned, the forces arrayed would have been sufficient to defeat Kasugano's defenses." It's true, Hotaru arrived much earlier than anyone could have suspected... but Aislinn was able to enact a little revenge for that intervention, which she will live happily with.
And then... the subject of reparations. Aislinn now does give Elle a blank look. Apparently she isn't happy with Aislinn's services? Or at least... not happy with not paying for them in some material manner. But Elle can't know that the most precious thing she's providing Aislinn is a sense of -purpose-.
"I already told you, I am not requiring reparations for my service." She doesn't voice it--but she considers herself a professional. To quote a William Gibson book--how does Elle have Aislinn kinked? Professional pride, baby, and that's all.
Well, even so, there's usually something everyone wants. Elle's just not attuned to someone that lives solely to do her best. The realization wil come in time, of course, but for now? Elle's not entirely comfortable that lives for battle and the job well done that comes with it. This being the case, Elle looks at Aislinn for a while, and then shakes her head.
Okay then.
"Even so, I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of getting you a motorcycle," Elle replies. "Somebody owed me a few favors, and so I managed to get a late model Yamaha. It's not much, but I want you to take it. It'll make /me/ feel better about what happened."
And that's really all she has to say on that matter. The woman instantly changes gears, not wishing to discuss the matter or reparations any further. "I've been working on a few new toys," she informs the NESTS soldier, gesturing to the plans in front of her. "My weaponry is great for amature stuff, and it can go a lot of places that normal knives and swords can't. Even so, heaving a guitar at someone's face, novelty value aside, just isn't as efficient as it could be."
Elle picks up the mace she used in her fight against Vyle and hefts it in her hand. "I'd like to make a training appointment with you. Out of all the people I have, you're the most efficient, professional combatant, and you have access to what I need to improve my own combat style."
A... motorcycle? Aislinn quirks an eyebrow, glancing down at herself. She certainly is wearing leathers--and while they're reinforced and meant for battle they could certainly be useable as riding leathers too. Best not to mention that technically, Aislinn won't be legal for a driver's license for another thirteen years. Still... the gesture is thoughtful. NESTS may not be the sort of hotbed of sadism and oneupmanship that other evil groups are, but neither is it any sort of family, outside of certain relationships.
"... thank you," she replies, softly. She won't turn the gift down, after all. As far as -training- goes... "I can do that." She muses, for a moment, giving Elle a bit of a look. "There may be something NESTS can do..." The words come out and then Aislinn is forced to consider again.
"But I will have to know more about your style... and a training appointment will do for that," she concludes. Really, something about Elle makes Ais talk.
"There... may even be a chance we can use NESTS training facilities..." As Elle is a contractor, access to an off-site training area might be feasible.
Maybe it's because Elle doesn't mince words. Maybe it's the way Elle just puts her cards out on the table. maybe it's because Elle doesn't stand around jabbering about things that Aislinn couldn't care less about for the most part. Whatever the case, Elle doesn't really know how Aislinn interacts with others. All she really cares about is how Aislinn interacts with her anyway.
"Fair enough. Name a good time and place, and I can be there." The nice thing about being the boss is that barring emergencies, you can set your own schedule. The downside, of course, is having to deal with all manner of personalities. She can describe some of her style to Aislinn right now, however.
"I use weapons," Elle says, "plus some stuff I've picked up watching your agents fight, and some of Shadaloo's." She puts the mace back down, the metal weapon making a heavy thud noise as it rattles the table. "So basically some grappling moves, and weapon strikes."
"I'm looking to expand my weapon using repitoire so that no matter where I am, I can always have something at hand to fall back on. I seem to favor bludgeoning weapons and throwing weapons. I have some experience with wire-fighting, just based off of trial and error, and I've studied the basic mechanics of whip fighting..."
Welle's done a lot, really, with what she has. She pick sup the neck of her disassembled guitar. "Originally, I based all of my attacks off of weapons I could hide on this old thing. I could sneak a guitar past security checks pretty easily. I'm looking for ways to hide weapons on this thing, but I don't want to use it as a primary weapon anymore. it's too damn clumsy."
Whatever it is. It's certainly given Aislinn something to think about. As Elle is wont to do. Right now, however, Aislinn is thinking about Elle and her fighting style--clearly, yes, she's been using weapons. A certain guitar--or axe, if you will--chiefly. Aislinn also recalls that Elle uses both electrical chi, like Aislinn herself... and sonic chi, which is a bit of a rarity.
Already her mind is working, thinking about possibilities--in terms of weaponry. Because it is certainly true that lugging the guitar around is clumsy and obvious... Aislinn adopts a leaning position, against the workbench, her lavender eyes scanning up and down...
"You use electric chi, and sonic chi," she states, mentally calling up her own files on Elle. "Is your guitar your focus for your sonic chi?" Leading up to the question--can Elle use it without the guitar? Some fighters are unable to divorce the power from the focus--if Elle can manage that, then the options open up widely.
"Yes and no," is the honest response. She twirls the neck in her hand experimentally, wondering if she could hide a short sword in the neck of the guitar. "If I have the guitar, I can control the direction of the soundwave better. I put a certain grade of steel in the mody of the guitar that resonates at the frequency of the sonic weaves I seem to generate."
"If I don't use it, I find that I can generate a pulse, kind of like a EMP burst," Elle says, picking up a pen to draw on a pad a little stick figure. "It goes in all directions around me, like a explosion. It doesn't decrease the power any, but it's not too discriminate about who or what it hits at that point. It's a liability in a team battle."
"If I use it in small doses," Elle continues, lifting a hand, "I can generate small bursts of it that seem to mess with people's ears. Microsonic booms, loud guitar-riff sounds, or basslines. I've been trying to get it to imitate things other than music, like voices, but so far, no dice. The best I can do is make people's ears bleed with the stuff."
Which is not a bad thing. Using Elle's chi for other purposes is not Aislinn's idea, though--she gives Elle a more intent look. "Can you learn to focus that sonic chi without the guitar?" she asks, her voice soft... but oddly thoughtful. She's obviously thinking, though she doesn't use weapons herself--even more conventional ones. She has the training, but prefers to be barehanded. It's just the way she is.
"If you can... then perhaps something can be done." She considers again, then turns to the workbench, snagging a piece of paper and immediately beginning to sketch. It should be no surprise that the renderings she produces are as accurate as any draftsman's--she may be lacking in imagination, but precision is the order of the day.
What she sketches looks, at first glance... to be a cylinder. In fact it looks a lot like an oversized cola can. But then the next renderings make the idea clear--the concept is similar to an asp, a collapsible mace of sorts--but with some other additions.
"This is more concealable and can be made ready in one second." The head is not the same size as the guitar--in fact, rather more compact--but that is a good thing in and of itself. And, more importantly, the other additions--including a self-retrieving macehead, attached by a strong cable--allowing for surprise attack.
Elle nods, looking over the design. "Yeah. I had one made for me. It's not collapseable per se, but it was retractable via a guidewire," Elle says, demonstrating as she loops the mace around her wrist, flicking the heavy weapon skyward. The line draws out, snapping the heavy weapon back to her hands with a practiced, although slightly unsteady, motion.
"Here's what I was ultimately thinking," Elle says, pointing at the design on the board behind her.
What's there is certainly an intricate design. The guitar has been 'blown apart' in a diagram that shows places Elle can put items of every sort. A pair of semi-automatic pistols in the body. A thin wire-whip hidden in the back of the guitar. A possible mace concealed into the neck of the instrument. The entire thing appears to be made to break down quickly in battle.
In short, she'd be carrying a small arsenal of weaponry, just built into the body of an innocuous looking guitar. What's more, judging fromt he reinforced nature of the thing, she could still swing the guitar as a weapon in a pinch.
When it comes to squeezing every ounce of utility out of something, Elle may very well be among the best. That is, she would say so, if she was prone to bragging. "I'm thinking of a few other additions here and there. I've been practicing with throwing 'stars', little razor-edge chunks of weighted metal, disguised to look like guitar picks. Anything to slip it past people that aren't preceptive."
Aislinn looks over the plans, and nods. There's certainly something to be said about preparedness... but... she gives her honest opinion. Only the worst leaders want their subordinates to tell them only what they want to hear.
"Adaptability is important," she acknowledges--in fact, adaptability is one thing she certainly has, in terms of responding to the flow of a battle, "--but focus is also important." Her eyes tilt upwards, turning towards Elle's. "Focus on your strengths and adapting them to fit your needs." She taps the guitar drawing in certain places--the semiautomatic pistols, for one, the wire-whip, another.
"These are unnecessary," she says, and she says it as authoritatively as she can, despite it just being her opinion. "You and I can do far more damage without these."
Here, she pauses a moment. "The concept of a modular weapon is an excellent one. But this space can be used to enhance striking ability, with balanced weights." She muses. "Or to hold more of these 'pick stars'."
Aislinn's suggestions are noted. However, Elle shakes her head. "That's not how I work," Elle replies. "You're about focus. I've noticed that you place a lot of intensity on one or two things. You're extremely good at those things, and that's why I asked you to work for me.
"On the other hand," the mercenary expands, "I'm not about staying to one thing. I'm a multitasker by nature. For example: I run this company's finances, find us work, lead combat sorties, and procure facilities."
"Investments, expansion, you name it, I do it. I do delegate some authority to Leilani based on her prior experience, but the fact is, I've always done several things at once. If I was to focus on one or two things, I'd go crazy," Elle says, tapping her temple.
"My brain doesn't sleep. I haven't had a good night's rest in years. I'm always doing something. Right now, my fighting style is based off of a combination of things I've seen and learned. Wirefighting. Brute force. Thrown weapons, grappling techniques. While I'm always interested in refining what I know, my forte' has always been 'learning everything'.
The woman leans back on the workbench. "But I'm not ignoring your advice. I can practice what I know only so much, however. Then I have the need to know more."
Aislinn doesn't... quite smile. But, for a moment, it seems like she's closer to it that she has been in quite a long while. "Noted," she says, her head bobbing in a quick nod. "But, you can tighten your focus and still maintain your wide range of possibilities. I am speaking of efficacy... and after all..."
She turns away, gazing into the depths of the warehouse. "Isn't 'getting better' part of why I am here?" Elle said it herself--she wants Aislinn to help her become a better fighter. She has to know that, even at this point, it won't be about training the basics, or doing situps, or running five miles. These things -are- important, but Aislinn's style is her style and Elle's is hers. The difference is less tangible--it's about tactics, and strategy. Of course, 'new techniques' will help, and there's always room to improve, but it's as much about efficiency os anything else.
"You can learn everything--but only pick the best." After a moment, though, she shrugs. "But your growth and your combat potential are, ultimately, limited only by yourself. You know what works for you; I will do what I can to help you refine that."
"Touche'," is the reply. Elle is a jack of all trades. Many of her fights are won not because of overwhelming skill in any one thing, but because she always has the right tools for the job. It's just those knife-edge battles that catch her. The one or two moments where she's caught unprepared, or those moment when she's not quite as good as she should be.
"We'll see. Right now, there's two things I do want to focus on. I've never been disarmed. The reason why this plan is so packed to the gills is because I never plan to be. So really, my main focus with you is to work on my hand to hand skills as much as possible. I don't want to be caught helpless if I don't have anything I can hit people with or throw," she says, turning back to her bench to tidy things up a little.
"That, and I've noticed that you can throw a punch with chi around it. That's something I can't do that I need to learn how." Chi is a useful tool, especially for Elle. She boils with the stuff, although she has no idea her actual power level or potential. "I figure, if I can manage to copy that little trick, I'll be well on my way to being a serious contender in a fight."
Engineering help aside with her weapon loadout, Elle needs to refine the basic skills she does have. So far, it's all been about instinct. Elle's decent at instinctive battle, but she doesn't have the mind for it. It's all been an arduous process of bending what she does know to compensate for the lack of real combat ability, and it's only a matter of time until she meets up with a real warrior that outclasses her in all categories that truly means to do her harm.
Ah. Well, that is a problem, indeed. Aislinn nods again. "We can work on basic hand to hand tactics," she agrees, "and there are ways to ensure you are never disarmed..." Which is more of an engineering and weapons development take, than anything strictly combat-related. Weapons can be taken away but a true fighter is never really disarmed.
At the mention of her ability to imbue attacks with her chi, Aislinn... doesn't -quite- frown, but Elle might sense a hesitancy from her subordinate. "I don't know if I can teach you how to do that," she replies. Always honest, at least with her employers. "That is a... very special kind of skill. But... if you want, I will try." It's actually somewhat like the Kusanagi flame--Shingo can't copy the flame because chi in and of itself isn't enough; similarly, what Aislinn can't reveal about herself is that it isn't her pure skill that lets her do what she does. Elle might suspect, but -that- is something Aislinn will never say aloud.
Just as she's about to open her mouth to speak, she stops--and tilts her head, her eyes briefly defocusing. And then her mouth snaps shut, and she turns away from Elle. "I am being summoned to NESTS base," she says, by way of explanation, and as she walks away, she says, "I will contact you once I know what my schedule for Jinchuu will be like, to set up training sessions." And she'll forward the plans she saw for Elle's guitar to NESTS... it's entirely possible that they might even come up with something else. In the meantime... she's out the door as swiftly and silently as she arrived.
Log created on 22:12:23 09/23/2007 by Elle, and last modified on 02:19:18 09/24/2007.