Starcraft Fan Fiction ❯ Interstellar Explorers ❯ Πσβlε Arτ σf Cσmβατivεs ( Chapter 3 )

I'm liking this story, hopefully I'll keep updating frequently. Hopefully I'll get some followers or reviews soon too!

~ Πσβlε Arτ σf Cσmβατivεs ~

Grinding against his mattress, Milo fondled the pillow he was hugging while he thought of Paige.

"Milo, what the fuck are you doing?" Elliot's voice snapped him out of his reverie and he shot upright before throwing his blanket over his crotch.

"N-nothing."

His room mate had just pulled down his black singlet and was already dressed. A really cool biohazard tattoo was visible on the right shoulder of his strong arm.

"We're going to be late for class." Elliot walked out the door while Milo narrowed his baggy eyes at the ceiling.

He hadn't slept at all, today was going to be hell. He cursed his over-active mind and the insomnia it brought him. Milo and Elliot didn't bother showering first thing in the morning when they had Combatives period one, it started fifteen minutes earlier than the other classes giving them time to shower after they'd worked up a sweat. Dragging his feet out of bed he waited a few moments for his stiff to go down while rubbing his dark eyes. Now that the artificial natural light was pouring through their only window Milo could study everything hanging up in their room. In the far corner of Milo's side was a heavy box stacked with the superhero comics he'd kept in quality condition. Elliot's much smaller collection was in poor quality and stashed messily beneath his bed. Posters of superheroes and artworks were tacked to the wall above Milo, one such ambiguous picture was secretly an original character, none other than Sargent Atom himself.

Colourful action figures and bobble-heads sat on drawers and shelves, not so much as touching Elliot's side of the room. While this collection might be seen as a bit much Milo would sooner sever his limb before getting rid of it... so much childhood memories. He kept his hoard of Gum Cards in a shoe box while Elliot's pile was kept unceremoniously on his desk. In his honest opinion, Elliot's weapon decorations were a lot more hardcore. Elliot was obsessed with ancient weapons, not the ones that fired bullets but all varying types of metallic hand-held blades. Various intricately shaped katars hung from the wall as well as a katana and a various assortment of exotic weapons Milo couldn't name, but each looking exceptionally lethal. Elliot's prize weapon was a huge sword that required two hands and a lot of strength to lift it, the blade had shapes spiking out along it: a diamond and a crescent. It was called a zweihaender and came from a Northern country on Earth before the planet was scourged.

Milo was pretty sure Elliot could fight with most of these weapons, but the MCA didn't teach any subjects about using such primitive tools. They still looked cool though. One of Elliot's stranger hobbies was Lego building, but he didn't do it so much anymore. The evil tiny pieces that use to always end up under Milo's bare feet now remained in their container. An elaborate bust of Lego and a starship made for Milo on his birthday were the only pieces that hadn't been scrapped, for whatever reason. Dragging himself out of bed Milo headed for his drawers and started to undress. His desk beside it was covered in his art books, sketch paper, pens and coloured pencils. He would've loved it if Art were a subject taught at their school, so long as he only had to learn and draw about the type that interested him specifically. Milo's shirt was a thin material that would keep him cool and his black shorts came to just below his knees. Spraying on some deodorant and slipping his sneakers on he was ready for class. Taking a look at the shared alarm clock Milo realised his stupor had taken longer than he'd thought so he quickly hurried out the door, locking it with the key card dangling around his neck. Jogging down the empty hall he tucked it beneath his shirt.

Today's class was going to be held in the Atrium Dome, that meant they might be doing laps for a warm-up depending on how cruel Mr Alston was feeling this morning. Running out of the building Milo headed down the path and then hopped on the empty trolley. It lit up and then whirred along its track, covering the ten minute walk in about forty seconds. He hopped off and the machine buzzed before whipping back to its starting point. He could see his class of thirty gathering in a space within the grassy field of the Atrium Dome. It seemed everyone was just about to start their stretches. Milo jogged over to Elliot who was standing beside a girl with a robotic left arm and medium brown hair, the single ponytail reached half-way down her back.

"Hey guys," Milo greeted, coming to a stop beside them.

"You're late, jackass." Juno's left eye was typically hidden behind her eye patch, because she thought it looked cooler than a fake eye. They were limbering up and Milo quickly started copying them.

Mr Alston was typically wearing his martial arts uniform like he did every Combatives lesson. He was the youngest teacher in the MCA at only twenty-five years of age, many of the female students considered him dreamy. Milo found his age peculiar as it must have meant he was only fifteen years of age when they left Earth. He was probably selected due to the fact he was a powerful psionic. Mr Alston was one of the low percentage of psychics that could use telekinetic powers, Milo had only seen him do this a few times but he thought it was really cool. Due to his age and abilities Milo got the feeling most of the psychically gifted children looked up to him. His eyes were maybe green and his light brown hair was buzzed short.

"I'm going to pair you into groups for a sparing match," he began, his voice very much like that of a commanding officer.

Milo rubbed his hands together, wondering who he would get to fight. Elliot was obviously the star pupil and best in the class, he was always training and perfecting the sequences in his spare time. Juno was not allowed to fight anyone else because of her advantage. She'd been one of the best before her accident but now any strike or block with her left arm gave her opponent busted fingers. Paige had built that arm herself and she spared no detail or strength in the device she gave her friend to protect herself. Only Elliot knew how to deal with her. Their fights were quite spectacular to watch. Elliot was very acrobatically proficient, using all kinds of kick-flips and complicated manoeuvres. He knew to only attack Juno with his feet unless he was absolutely sure his hit couldn't be blocked by her metal limb. Whereas Juno was fast, direct and vicious in combat. She was a frightening opponent and usually the one to attack first while Elliot pranced around her looking for a space to counter-attack. She did often have to protect her blind left side however and make up for her weaker depth perception. Mr Alston liked to mix up the pairings, but those two were always against each other.

Everyone moved away to leave enough space between the pairs. Milo was pretty good at fighting but was sure the main reason he avoided any serious hazing was cause he was often seen around both Elliot and Juno. Mr Alston tried to keep matches fair, he put the strongest fighters together and the weaker ones also. By default everyone who took this class was pretty good at fighting, bruises and sprains were common but the Infirmary could patch up most injuries very quickly. Milo was not feeling up to fighting today, so was probably going to lose. His opponent was female, but chivalry was not an impeding force in this class. Every member had earned the right to be here. The fights all began at Mr Alston's signal, some people leapt into it practising their fighting style of choice while others started more warily. Milo and his opponent circled each other for a while before she cried out and lashed with a kick. Milo pushed it aside and blocked her series of jabs, then jumped away in retreat.

He was too bloody tired for this. She approached steadily and Milo watched her stance. She was supporting all of her weight on the leg she kept away from him and her guard was up, a cautious approach. If he were to jump into a roll he could knock that foot off balance supposing he was fast enough, but she could leap around to where he'd be open. If he moved forward in a feint roll she might jump in but if he swung his punch too early she could intercept him easily and then hyper-extend his elbow with a simple turn. Milo would need to be standing with enough space between his legs to drive a powerful punch. She was moving closer with her side to him, making as less of her body a target as possible. Her eyes studied him intensely, taking in every detail. Milo tried blinking the sleep from his own eyes. She pounced on him then, anticipating his dodge to the left. Her round house kick connected with Milo's shoulder but he was already in the process of turning, his fist connected with her face as he slogged her. She went down.

Sneaky feint. Her hands caught her on the way down and she swept his feet from the grass. Milo hadn't been able to get a solid stance and he tumbled backwards.

"Oof!" She stepped over him with her arm drawn back and paused. Milo nodded, he'd give her that one. It was a pretty good feint. She stepped away from him and bowed, a bruise developing on the right side of her chin. Not every student bowed after a match, but it was a symbol of respect to your opponent. Milo made sure to return the favour when he was back on his feet. All the other fights were pretty much over, a bunch of students were rubbing their wounds but they got through the pain as they helped each other back to their feet. I turned towards my friends, like most of the students did. Elliot had two separate locks on Juno in a desperate attempt to stop her movement. His arms were keeping her metallic limb up while his legs were around her neck. I could see the strain on her face as she was trying to push up onto her feet despite his weight on her back. Repositioning herself she swung her head back and it smacked into Elliot's nose, producing a small spurt of blood.

"Alright kids, that's enough." Mr Alston walked through the groups and all the combatants broke apart. Elliot unwound his holds from Juno and she stood up, brushing off her clothes. He climbed onto his feet and the teacher walked over.

"Perhaps you should get that nose looked at, son."

"It's just a nosebleed, sir." Elliot replied, wiping the blood with the back of his arm. "It'll stop soon."

Mr Alston couldn't hide his proud smile as he turned away to the rest of the class.

"Everyone gather. Any of you seriously hurt? Good. We're going to continue on with last lesson's balance sequence. Then when we finish that we can move onto the next module, which is South American fighting styles."

A few hushed cheers resounded across the group.

The lesson lasted an hour and after the rigorous exercise Milo was sweaty and ready for his shower. They spent the last five minutes of the lesson on their meditation audit (Milo almost fell asleep through it) and afterwards the class split up into groups and chatted on their way back to their rooms.

"Hey Juno," Milo ran to catch up with her. "Did Paige tell you she was fixing up your arm?"

"Is she making me that flame thrower?"

"No. I don't think you'd be allowed to have that."

"Still would've been pretty cool. But nah, she does routine checks and upgrades for me all the time."

"She said something about fixing the auxiliary gears so it won't kink."

"Oh yeah, the wires. That happens sometimes when I'm fighting."

Elliot appeared beside Milo and he continued "When do you think she'll be applying the modifications?"

"Probably first lunch break cause she has a free period line three."

"Can I watch?" Milo asked eagerly.

"If you want. It's not that interesting."

"Cool! You should come too, bro."

"Whatever." Elliot agreed in that nonchalant way of his.

The trolleys could only take about twenty people per trip, so Milo and his friends talked while they waited until the tram rocketed back for them. Once they were in their dorm buildings Milo fetched a spare change of clothes from his room and cooled off in the separate shower cubicles. He contemplated all the ways he could sleep through his next lesson, it wasn't likely to happen. No one wanted to receive a detention, especially not at the MCA.

I think you can make polls on here for favorite characters and such. That sounds immensely fun! I'll have to try making one once I've written enough chapters!