fandomhigh | The Right Tools, Tuesday Period Four

"We're going to be starting with the essentials," were the first words out of Kerrigan's mouth when the class met up in the Danger Shop that afternoon. "Knives are your basic, your number one, your default weapon." She flicked the one she was holding into the air, then caught it. "There are any number of reasons to carry a knife. You can use it to cut rope, cut meat, hell, you can use it to eat off if you're careful enough not to remove your own tongue. This is why you take care to make sure they're sharp, clean, and well-cared for. A good tool isn't just used to maim; the first rule of this class is to consider every potential use of anything we bring up here."

She slapped the knife down on a table beside her-- it was by far not the only blade on it. "As a weapon, it's first and foremost close-combat. It'll do more damage than your fist, unless you're some kind of martial arts master, and drawing blood can often stop a brawl in its tracks. Like all weapons, you've got to be very damn sure of your intentions on using it: these babies are sharp, precise killers if you know how to use them. Know your anatomy-- if this were an ordinary class, I'd give you all anatomy books for homework. One minute you're trying to scare a guy off, the next he's bleeding to death through his femoral artery."

She took a breath before continuing. "Close combat is the word here. As is speed. If you're not fast enough to confuse your enemy, don't take on multiples. In fact, in most instances, you're going to want to avoid their use unless you're sure you can get a first, decisive blow in. As the proverb goes, nobody wants to wind up bringing a knife to a gunfight, but if you don't keep your eyes peeled, you can wind up killed taking one to a fistfight, too."

Suddenly, she ripped a knife off the table, spun, and threw it at the back of the class: it soared neatly past the students and embedded itself in the wooden wheel there. "Number two. Throwing knives. Precision, precision, precision. Throwing your weapon means you're without it, which makes both the need for knowing the anatomy and knowing your own aim pretty much tantamount. Don't do this unless you have a clear view of your target and you're confident enough to know you can take 'em out: don't do this in a brawl, don't do this in overly confined or too open spaces." She leaned back. "Throwing knives generally don't have a handle: they're supposed to cut through the air, so check the aerodynamics of your weapon before you throw it."

The next thing, she was launching into an intensely technical ramble on the topic of weapon balance and purpose; it lasted most of the class before she fell silent. "So take a poke at those knives," she said, finally, "Try throwing a few. God knows I need a laugh."

[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]

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Watch, take notes, talk amongst yourselves.

Evey took careful notes, going so far as to draw little diagrams of knives in the margins of her paper.

Sam scribbled in his notes, but he didn't think knives would do much good against Decepticons. Like. At all.

Gwen listened carefully to the lecture, taking notes.

Oooh, knives. Lee took some notes but mostly just thought about the knives.

Turtle was taking plenty of notes.

And thinking that Miss Lieutenant Kerrigan would make one heck of a knife salesman.

Saleswoman.

Liir paid very careful attention.

This was a class he liked, a class he needed. These small, tiny intricate details would be the groundwork for more understanding than just knives but they were positively necessary, considering. He'd drilled with a sword at the club meetings, but that had been skipping ahead; he could see that now.

He filled quite a few pages with notes, but more importantly, he made sure to remember everything. This was important, after all.

Ino was taking notes, but she doubted hers were as detailed as a lot of the others--aftere all, a lot of this they'd covered back in the Academy.

Helen paid very close attention, taking notes and memorizing everything that was said.

Jen listened to the lecture . . . rather more attentively than she'd anticipated doing. She'd had some lessons in the barest fundamentals of knife-fighting at the Academy, but the 31st century being all high-techy and more civilized and blah blah blah than that, the instruction had been desultory at best, more of a curiosity than a "you may need this someday" approach.

It sounded almost fascinating to her, and she was mildly perturbed by the way her interest had been piqued. Close combat and speed -- those were challenges to her, and she liked those.

Jack? Full attention. Lots of notes. Part of the notes were obscured by a dollop of drool in one corner from when he wasn't paying attention.

Knives. Her favorite, and such a lovely place to start. Alice was taking copious notes.

Hoshi did not have much experience with using knives as weapons ~~at least, not in this universe~~ so she paid careful attention.

The Right Tools, Tuesday Period Four

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