fandomhigh | Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

The class had been told to meet up in the Danger Shop. There, they found a simulation that covered both a gun range and a bunch of punching bags. There was no one else there.

After a couple of minutes, their teacher came swaggering in - he wore a dark Jedi tunic with a brown-and-white jacket slung over it casually. The combination didn't quite work, but somehow it worked for him. "So, you've all had some time to poke around," Atton said. "Hope you took advantage of the opportunity, because it's all the lead-in you're getting."

Beat.

"Well, except for this. Hi, I'm Atton Rand. I'm teaching this class because this island can get pretty dangerous and I'd be marginally sad if some of you died. If you got put in here by mistake when you actually want to be in the advanced fighting class, let the office know, because I'm by and large going to assume you people barely know how to take the wings off a fly."

He clapped his hands. "That being said, I want to know where you people are at. Yell your name, hit that punching bag as hard as you can, then run over to the range, blast the target, and, I don't know, tell me something about how you feel about beating things up. Now go, I don't have all day."

Yes, he did, but he was trying to get them motivated.

"... and if anyone wants to be my TA, come see me after class."

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Alana grabbed the blaster, handled it a bit to test how its weight felt in her hands, and then shot at the target's head. She hit about where the nose would have been. It wasn't perfect aim, but it was good enough to do some serious damage. Her next few shots were more or less the same -- some a bit closer to the forehead, and one where her hand jerked at the last second and she would have hit an ear.

"I agree with Four," she said. "I'm not going to pick a fight just because I don't like somebody's hair or whatever, but if I have to do it, I want to come out on top."

"Well, you need more experience with that thing," Atton said, nodding at her, "But that's not a bad place to start if 'coming up on top' is what you're interested in."

"Isn't it what everybody wants?" Alana asked, shrugging. "Maybe it's just that there are so many soldiers at home, but you don't see too many people getting into fights they want to lose."

"Nah," Atton said. "Some people just want to kill, some people just really want to hurt someone, some people just want to release their anger. There's a lot of different reasons to fight."

He shrugged. "In this case, I'm taking 'coming out on top' as 'walking out alive'."

"That's how I meant it," Alana confirmed. "I don't want to kill anybody, but if it's that or they kill me, no contest."

Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

Re: Shooting Range

Re: Shooting Range

Re: Shooting Range

Re: Shooting Range

Re: Shooting Range