13265/Along Came a Spider

Along Came a Spider
Date of Scene:	04 November 2022
Location:	Airfield: Triskelion
Synopsis:	In a training exercise for new recruits, Alexander may have met his match! Or at least he gets beat up. A little.
Cast of Characters:	Alexander Aaron, Monica Chang

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Alexander Aaron has posed:
    

<< Several weeks ago. >>

    They were guarding nothing.
    It was a tragic truth that inside the storehouse that the quartet of SHIELD recruits were guarding... held nothing. Though, to be fair, that's not entirely true. Inside the storehouse in the middle of the room on a single end table likely provided by Ikea there was a rock that had scrawled on the side, 'Victory Rock!' which someone must have thought was funny when they first started these exercises. Though now it was obscured and scratched up that it said instead, 'Vict ock!'
    Outside, however, the night was cold with the brisk Autumn breeze. The facility that they were guarding was part of a myriad of various shaped buildings. A small labyrinth of them so that guards and infiltrators alike had to account for variable geometry and alternate sight lines. Patrols wouldn't be easy, they'd take people around multiple corners, out of sight of the main objective, and down lanes that might well leave them vulnerable.
    It was all about improving situational awareness as well as general cognition.
    And it was /boring/.
    At least to Agent Aaron who was doing his best. But it is much easier to tell yourself to pay attention than to actually do it. Also considering this was the ninth hour of the exercise and nothing had happened... it was taking its toll on him. Just a bit.
    << Comms check, outpost alpha. Clear. >>
    Alex touched his hand to his ear, that black visored helmet giving no view of his features though he was the tallest of the squad currently out there. << Victor Bravo checking in, my post is clear. >>
    Then Mumford's voice was heard on the comms, << Victor Charlie checking in, I'm AAAGHHITAGHURGHGARGLE! >>
    And for a moment everyone stopped talking and listened then heard his voice again. << Sorry, Victor Charlie again. All clear. >>
    O'Hara's voice on the comms came up, << Not funny, Charlie. Keep the comms clear. >>
    And that was that, Agent Aaron continued his rounds.

Monica Chang has posed:
The mission was one they used often. It was very effective. Because no one liked guard duty. Most of the time it was dull. No challenge. No excitement. Rarely did something go wrong. There were agents doing guard duty 24/7 all over the globe. Yet, they had to remain vigilant. Despite hours, even days, of nothing happening. And that was a lesson it was difficult to teach. For they inevitably would lose focus, become distracted, fail to keep their mind on the task at hand. They were human. But they had to be trained to keep that focus because that one time it happened, they needed to be prepared.

Although she was new at the Triskelion, Monica had been working for them for years. So, she was surprised when, as a new transfer, she was asked to be the Infiltrator in this particular excercise. Not that the guards knew there was an Infiltrator. Though perhaps some might suspect.

The place was designed for someone like her. All the cards were stacked in her favor. She had already managed to make it to a rooftop, moving silently. She was in her full bodysuit with the balaclava and night-vision goggles in place over that. No handguns. No weapons. Any weapons she obtained would be from the guards themselves. There was a utility belt around her waist with a few items in pouches there. She listened and heard the voice of a man below, rising up as he cracked a joke by pretending to have been grabbed. It made Monica smile behind the material of her mask. He would be the first.

The check-in was key. They wouldn't do another for at least fifteen minutes. Though, they were randomized which was good. No set time. But they had seemed to set up a system of at least 15 minutes between. Thus, the timer started when the check-in ended.

As soon as he had done his actual check-in, Monica moved silently to the edge of that building. She eyed the figure below. As the other voice admonished him, he moved his hand away from his ear. And thus, away from the transmit button since they were not keeping open lines.

She dropped down, letting herself hang from the edge of the roof just behind him. Then she let go. It allowed for her to be almost silent, but he paused as though he heard something. By then, it was too late. Her arms were around his neck, and he was asleep in a few moments. Zip ties bound his legs and arms. Duct tape over his mouth. There wasn't really anywhere to hide him, so she left him where he was, though pushed over into some shadows so he was harder to spot. She took the commlink from him and any weapons he had. As he woke up and eyed her, she put her finger to where her lips were behind the mask. "Shhh..You're dead. Or would be if this was real. Remain silent until the op is over." Course, she didn't show any ID or anything, but it seemed like something SHIELD would do. Though a bad guy might say it as well to trick someone. Up to him.

A few steps and she leapt, catching that roof edge and pulling herself up easily and moving along to find her next target.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    She had time on her side for now, though she likely knew how fickle such could be. She had observed long enough to get a vibe for their patrol patterns though like professionals they changed it up somewhat. Though she had eyes on Mumford when she made her move, from now on it won't be as easy.
    Though at least Mumford is a good sport as he lies there and in answer? Gives her a thumbs up.
    Which leaves her to move toward the next guard. Sometimes the infiltrators would move to eliminate all of the guards, show them a lesson. That any chink in the armor is enough to get them all killed. Then at other times one guard down was enough of a gap that the infiltrator made a run for the objective and then let the guards realize they'd been had and how quick it was. Very rare cases the recruits were able to catch the infiltrator, though all of them had grand ideas of doing so, they usually came up with elaborate tactics to implement. Though those only lasted for the first few hours before most of them abandoned those attempts. Pure boredom was their worst enemy.
    Next target was O'Hara who was the most likely operative to call for a random check-in so she likely had to be handled quick.
    Then there was Dickerson who operated with a higher tension and stress model. He'd be easy for a bait and switch, make a noise down a dead end area and then ambush. Easy to pull him off his patrol route.
    The last one might be one to think about, however. Agent Aaron. His scores had surged this last quarter, pushing him into prominence. Something must have triggered that rise. Technically she had already won, she had a good 7 minutes to go and grab the victory rock. But then there might well be the temptation of getting all four trainees isolated and out...
    Decisions decisions.

Monica Chang has posed:
She knew her purpose was to get the stone. Yet, Monica didn't get to have fun like this as often as she liked. Half her time was spent in a lab. Of course, she loved her work there. Loved learning things and creating new, studying, all that stuff.

But at her core? This is what she was. What she was made to do.

It was like stepping into a comfortable pair of slippers at home when she put on that black costume. Though she had abandoned the Widow belt buckle. Not that she'd been one of those who earned the Black Widow title. Monica didn't need that to know who she was. Didn't need the name or title. She was a graduate of the Red Room and thus she was quite formidable.

Perhaps it was hubris. Perhaps it was boredom. It had been over a month since she had done field work and she was aching to get back out there. Now that she was assigned at the Triskelion, she wasn't sure if she was going to be seeing more or less of it. She hoped more. But she was only a level 4, so she didn't have a lot of say in things.

Thus, she took the route she should not have. After all, two of the guards removed would've given her that window of four minutes to get in and out. Obviously, her focus was on getting the full set.

She crept along the roof above the tallest of the guards. Eyed the path he was taking. There was a spot up ahead. She moved to get there before him, a silent shadow.

The moment he passed, she leapt down, attempting to use a signature Widow move of locking her legs around his head and using her falling momentum to take him to the ground.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The pathways between the buildings were dark, lit every fifteen feet by old bulbs that glowed with a soft yellow light. They were bright enough to shine a halo of illumination, like small islands in the dark, and where she chose to strike was in one of those areas long in shadow.
    The moment approached, anticipation was there. It was almost electric, that vibe before a strike, a take down, a kill. She'd hear the soft scuff of his boot as he walked down that path. Sidearm holstered at his side, that SHIELD harness and suit cover him and that helmet hiding his features. Though they had been allowed a windbreaker to counter the chill in the air, better than nothing... but not enough to keep them very warm. Which, for some, likely helped them stay aware.
    Then that moment approached, the position was perfect, her descent measured in her head, the distance.
    There was the drop, the brief rush of air, then the contact as strong legs catch shoulders, clench, and then there's the whirl of motion as she twists and spins!
    There are so few counters to such a movement, and surprise steals most of them. For it's such a small window or a chance to counter. It is usually fast enough that before an opponent even knows they're fighting for their life... they're already dead.
    So she might have a moment or a surge of victorious feeling as she turns, landing heavily on the gravel as she turns with her hips...
    Only to find him turning with her, same direction, gravel kicked up as his armored boot digs into the ground and forces her to continue the rotation until he is able to get past the immediate danger of a broken neck or choke by relieving the torsion, then continuing through by shoving an arm between and using it as a fulcrum as he continues to turn...
    Which leaves him rolling to the side and slamming his back against the wall. That mask reflects only her eyes as he manages to shuffle to his feet. And she can see one hand reaching for the comm switch on the helmet.

Monica Chang has posed:
That had not happened except once in her training. It had been when they were facing off against some of the Winter Soldier program. One had been able to counter that move effectively. The others had failed to pick up on it and couldn't counter that classic move. They were always just a fraction too slow. She never expected to see it countered in the field. Especially by a new agent.

She rolled into that three-point pose, one hand and both feet, mostly crouched as she eyed him from behind her goggles. How the hell had he done that? it wasn't taught in SHIELD training. They figured if was rare to run into a Red Room graduate so wasn't really necessary, since it was a difficult counter to time perfectly if one didn't know the attack was coming.

Immediately, she shifted her weight around, putting down her second hand and bringing up her legs. She swung them around her, a gymnast doing a floor exercise in effect, bring both those legs in line with his head and trying to slam her feet into him. It should stop him making that contact.

Whether it hit or not, she would then push off with her hands, jumping into a monkey-spin in the air as she tried to close the distance. And made to hook his arm with her own to pull it away from his head.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The double kick did the trick.
    She spun, brought her legs in with hips angled as if she were finishing the dismount off a balance beam. And abruptly he had to bring both his arms forward, one raised and the other perpendicular as he accepts the impact. Braced enough to not get hit anywhere seriously, it does /push/ him back against the wall and set him up for when she blurs in with that whirl of a gyre, reaching her gloved hand for his and pulling it aside.
    Only for her to find that whomever this is has trained in the more esoteric sticky hands exercises of Gong Fu, for he is able to turn his hand to the side sharply, wrist drawn tight, then pushes with his elbow as his other hand comes in to slap against her forearm.
    Then she counters, maintaining that contact, he's able to bring her a little in, then turn his hips to the side and slip out of being stuck with his back against the wall, retreating with a quick step and a backward flip that has him land with a scuff of boots. Enough room, barely enough time for him to slap that comm button and she'll hear on the line.
    "Contact, Bravo. Infil."
    Having no idea that the only people remaining on the comm line in the exercise are him. And her.

Monica Chang has posed:
He manages to counter and she frowns behind her mask. Obviously, none of this was taught in training. So, he came here with this knowledge. She had not read their files before going in. That felt like cheating. One didn't get to have the info on an enemy when one did this live. Others playing the infiltrator might use such to their advantage, to personalize their attacks. Monica preferred to go in blind.

Maybe this would teach her a lesson about that. Though she was still confident in herself, still sure she could win this match. Hubris again perhaps. As he got that distance, she did a double back handspring to get a little more distance between them. Then she reached up her hand to her ear, to the stolen commlink she'd tucked in there.

"We're sorry, the party you are trying to reach is unavailable at this time," she said in a voice that sounded very like a voicemail. If a voicemail voice had a Russian accent. Then it lowered, dipped into a register like a purr. "Because I already took them out. Poor Little Guard, all alone..."

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    There was no answer as she gave him that distance. He tilted his head and the visor reflected back her lithe image even as she readied herself. Though he did shake his head slightly, shoulders tightening for a moment, releasing. Focus gathered as the helmet seemed unresponsive to her taunting. Almost like he was an automaton. Though in their brief back and forth the impact and exchange? He was nothing like those LMDs she'd worked on.
    He started to bring his hands up as if ready for them to continue their match... when he abruptly reaches for the ICER at the small of his back, drawing it forth rapidly and bringing it up to track and try and catch her off guard.
    The weapon barks once... twice... a third time as he tracks her...

Monica Chang has posed:
No reaction. Which meant he had no sense of humor. Though being told that one's allies were all laid out--or potentially dead in this sort of scenario--probably wouldn't amuse most people.

Monica thought she was funny though.

She sighed even as she flicked that switch on the earpiece. The one that would have it trigger if she spoke. Then she saw his hand moving for his back.

Immediately she was rushing toward him again, eyes narrowed behind the goggles. He was the first to make it to a weapon, of the squad. But it meant she had to move fast.

The first bark of the weapon, she dodged to the side. Second shot, she leapt into a forward roll. Which made her a perfect target for the third. All one had to do was aim for the spot she would come up to her feet again. Except, as he fired that third, she didn't go to her feet but had landed flat on her back. Thus, the icer shot went over her. Though it did glance on the goggles, forcing her to pull them off before and fling them at a nearby wall to avoid that coldness spreading to the rest of her.

Then a flip to her feet and she leapt upwards. Catching the edge of the roof and swinging out with a kick to his wrist to send that icer skittering across the ground away from him.

She followed by letting herself drop, spinning her body around and bring the heel of that foot toward his head while she was in midair.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    She was fast, and the green silhouette that showed her in the helmet gave her a ghostly after-image as she rushed him. His shots were on target, but she had a chaotic way of checking her movements and each round... missed. Then she was close enough, catching that rooftop and then slamming her heel into his wrist which broke the back of the weapon and sent it hurling through the air. Then she dropped and her boot cracked into his raised arms as he tucked in and hunkered down in defense.
    Yet that kick was hard enough to slide him back, stagger him a half step.
    She had no idea that behind that mask he was scowling, though his body language was tight, tense. He pushed back almost instantly, not wanting her to keep the momentum as his boot slashed forward with a stepping thrust kick, then he ducked in and tried to hammer her abdomen with a punch. Though his body language had a tautness to it, holding himself since this was an exercise. Though in SHIELD these things always resolved themselves by one fighter beating the other by forcing them to realize...
    That they'd be dead if the fight had been real.
    Yet neither had reached that point yet as he pressed her. And to his credit he is damn good.

Monica Chang has posed:
She managed to avoid the kick as she landed, stepping to the side slightly. But the punch she had to bring up her arms and slam them in place against his incoming arm, to push it away from her as she twisted. He managed to graze her side and the power there was good. Yet, there was something wrong. It should've been more. With his shoulders and build, there was far more power in there.

"Why are you holding back?"

And that would let him know she picked up on it. Recognized there was more. She quickly brought up a knee herself, trying to get him in the side. One of her fists lashed out toward his throat, attempting to get some distance again. Not too much but she liked to use her feet and right now, she was a tad too close for them to be effective.

A quick turn and a bounce backwards and she leapt into the air in a windmill kick, first one leg then the other aimed for that helmet he was hidden behind.

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    Then the first time she heard his voice, and this time not picked up by the helmet modulator as if the circuit was disengaged. It was a calm voice, laid back, almost like she might imagine a California surfer guy, except he never says the word 'dude'.
    "It's frowned on to kill your instructors I'm told." And that delivery? It's perfectly deadpanned even as he says it as he's leeeeaning back out of the way of that whirlwind kick, his one hand reaching out to catch him from falling over so far back does he have to dodge.
    Then he finishes the walkover, one boot slicing upward toward her chin, possible to hit if she's being too aggressive. But likely not striking true. Though when he finishes buying himself some space, he squares up then steps in quick all over again.
    Only this time he's pushing himself, punches firing quick, checking each corner of her defense and trying to get her to raise and lower it at his bidding, as if he could set the pace of the fight. Maybe he was holding back, maybe he's not now. But he is getting reckless.

Monica Chang has posed:
As he moved back in, she was ready for him. Each of his punches was met with a block or avoided with a twist of her body. Each time he tried to bring up a knee, she was able to shift to avoid the worst, block with her hands, or just absorb it without slowing down.

Their arms were moving so rapidly, one might have problems watching the details. Yet the two of them were perfectly timed, moving together like a well-oiled machine. It had her narrowing her eyes slightly. Something familiar?

Then he was pushing, getting reckless, leaving openings. Her suspicion faded, though she might come back to it in the future when playing back these moments in her head. For now, she had her opportunity.

She caught his arm and twisted, a move meant to shift his arm to the side and away from her. Her second hand came up, grasping the arm as well. But at that point, the common move was to try and get a wrist-hold and force him forward while moving behind him. She didn't.

Once she was a little behind him, her first hand came off. Now she was off to his side and the arm closest to her was in the grip of that other hand. He would be able to tear free likely but hopefuly not before her next move.

The knife edge of her free hand /slammed/ into the side of his neck. Aimed for the brachial nerve there, intending to stun him. It wasn't full power, perhaps fifty percent. It was unlikely he would be fully knocked out but he likely would be hitting the ground and need a few moments to recover.

And in those few moments, she would have her time to get him in a choke hold, wrapping herself around him from behind so if he recovered quickly enough, he would be stuck with her there. She whispered in his ear once in position and tightening down. "Is it frowned upon to kill students too?"

Alexander Aaron has posed:
    The exercise completed, the final sentry eliminated, the comms cleared and suddenly the lights went up. It may have been a failure, but the morning scores would likely be something else entirely.