fandomhigh | Alternative Tactics, Wednesday Period 1, 05/09

Sarah Kerrigan stood in the middle of an empty Danger Shop, wearing a simplified version of the Ghost armor. She had a serious expression on her face.

"Hey, kids," she said, "Welcome to Alternative Tactics, which is a pretty poor grouping name for a bundle of skills and knowledge you're going to need on the battlefield when you don't have a large army at your back and the bad guys seem to be holding most of the cards. Situations where ingenuity, resource management, stealth and superior maneuvering can save the day."

"I'm Lieutenant Kerrigan; I'll be your instructor for the duration. We'll be working in the environment I'm most familiar with. You'll find, however, that a lot of these concepts and skills will be of use no matter where or how you're fighting."

The Shoppe environment gave way when Kerrigan activated the program. It reconfigured into the dry asphalt tundra of the Badlands. She was standing on the rooftop of some burned out shops, holding her weapon gently.

"For the time being, though... You'll need some Marine armor for the course, so pick whatever color you're feeling," she grinned, "And have a look around. Get a feel for the sim. I'll see you at the end."

She turned around to leave, but then paused. "Oh, and you've got guns," she noted, "Point and click. Don't be an idiot and shoot someone. It won't kill you, but I'd rather not waste your time and mine reactivating frozen suits." Smirking, she hopped onto the ground.

[ ~~wait for~~ ocd up! ]

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Sokka skidded to a stop and peered at the nasty-looking things. Were they the bad guys?

"HEY PROFESSOR!!! ARE THESE THE BAD GUYS???"

Kerrigan facepalmed from the sidelines. "Yes, Sokka," she said, "They're the bad guys."

The Zerglings twitched and chittered nervously. They weren't so sure about this whole killing thing all of a sudden.

Sokka raised an eyebrow at them. "That's it? They don't seem all that scary..."

He shrugged, aimed his gun at them, and held the trigger down.

Two Zerglings bit the dust. The others scattered.

And then the Ultralisk (http://starcraft.wikia.com/wiki/Ultralisk) doomed up behind Sokka and roared.

Privately, Kerrigan was starting to think the sim responded to her thoughts.

Sokka shrieked like a little girl and RAN. He had just enough presence of mind to hang on to the gun, but only just. "YAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!"

The Ultralisk took off in hot pursuit, the very ground shaking under its feet as it ran.

Kerrigan sighed, gripped her rifle, and ran after it. Great. She was so glad Jimmy couldn't see her now...

"...AAAAAAAAAA--!"

Wait! Idea! Things that are really big can't turn fast, right? Because of Science?

Sokka dug his heels in and attempted to zig-zag away from the Big Thing and back the way he came.

Unfortunately, the armor made that a little difficult.

From behind, Kerrigan opened fire on the Ultralisk, her focus mostly on the part of the head that portruded just above that enormous body. The creature roared, turning around and finding a new target.

"STOP ZIG ZAGGING AND OPEN FIRE, SOKKA!" she yelled, firing a few more bursts into its face.

Yeah, like this little gun would work against something THAT size.

Still, Sokka wheeled around and opened fire. The thing wasn't after him anymore, which was good, but it was aiming for the teacher, and that was bad.

"DOWN, BOY!" he shouted, aiming for the soft underbelly and hoping Big Nasty had one. "That's a BAAAAAAD ugly thing! No treat for you!"

Big Nasty had an underbelly, and it screamed when bullets met flesh, kicking its back legs up and slamming its blades down at Kerrigan. She dodged, impossibly quick, firing another few rounds off into its face.

It was still coming after her, but she was slightly more confident in her own ability to survive this one than Sokka's.

Sokka charged forward, trying to keep his gun aimed as steadily as possible at the same spot on the monster.

"DIE, you BIG... THING!" he screamed.

And that would be when Kerrigan hit a particularly fortuitous spot in the Ultralisk's head and it crashed to the ground, several tons rocking the ground with a minor and very local earthquake. She stared at the thing, panting a little, and then at Sokka.

And just shook her head. "'Die, you big thing'?"

"All right, YOU tell me what it is, then," Sokka said. He walked over and kicked the Ultralisk in the butt. "Stupid THING," he grunted.

Then he collapsed on top of it, wheezing.

"Ultralisk," she said, shortly. She pressed her hand to her brow underneath the visor, wiping the sweat off. "Phew."

Kerrigan considered Sokka for a minute, shook her head again, and stalked off. That kid was going to get himself horribly killed one day.

"Yeah, well... Ultra Lick... Got... OWNED." Sokka panted.

He'd get back up. Eventually.

Alternative Tactics, Wednesday Period 1, 05/09

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