Legacy Chr: Non-Lethal Tactics

“Alright, ladies, I've got a real treat for you today.” their instructor called to them. She walked with authority in front of the line of recruits who were nearly done with their training. Each of them had done very well in her opinion, but she wasn't about to tell them that.

“Today, you're going to witness a different kind of 'Hands-on Learning'.” the instructor gave a sly grin, but to what, the recruits didn't know. She was an imposing woman, taller than most of them, but she had been fair to each of them. The only one she never seemed to address though, was Thendria Kol, an up and coming young soldier who had proven without a doubt that she was going to be one hell of a close combat specialist.

Thendria stood at the front end of the line, a place she had been assigned very early on in their training. Her long white hair darkened at the end to a stormy gray, reaching almost the base of her thigh. An attentive look was present on her stern face, her nearly crimson eyes following the instructor as she walked by in front of them. Many of those in her troop had tried to approach her so she could join in the off chances of merriment they managed to earn, but she always turned them down with a firm 'No'. She was known to many as Thendria Cold.

“Now then, if you'll all bring your attention to this table,” several of the young women had been holding there attention on it, mostly because of the silent Psion medic that had brought in a large veiled container. “I'm going to show you something that we've covered a lot of these past few months, but this will be your first time actually seeing one in a controlled environment. I give you,” the instructor moved behind the table and grabbed the fabric cover, “A live human.”

Most of the alarian soldiers eyes widened before she had even removed the cloth from the plastic cube; Thendria simply perked a brow. Within was a minute figure, about length of Thendria's arm from her elbow to her wrist. It wore a dull green outfit, thickly padded with pockets and straps all over the front. All that could be seen was it's face beneath a helmet, with skin colored an almost pinkish beige. It seemed to be in a kind of trance, it's mouth slightly open while it's light brown eyes stared into space.

“Geinya here is currently keeping him in a light trance. That's right, this is a male human, but he's only here so you can get a handle on what exactly a human looks like. Yes, he is small, and currently has no means of harming you or I, but out in the field, you will face dozens of them at a time, armed with solid round repeating weapons and rocket-propelled explosives. Their technology has proven effective against our own, and they are adapting to our methods every battle.”

She looked to each of the young women, ending on Thendria and emphasized her next words, “Do not underestimate them; never forget you are fighting an intelligent being like you or me. Maybe some of you have some issues firing on such small creatures, well that's what this exercise is all about. Geinya, you may release him.” the instructor stated, looking to the minute purple woman at her hip.

The human blinked and slumped a little, shaking his head. He looked up, scanning side-to-side in a haze, but soon enough, the realization of his predicament was there for all of them to see. He gave a frightened yelp and fell back on his rear, kicking back along the ground. He looked up to see their instructor looming over the open top of the plastic cube. The humans patted his outfit, checking pockets for something, likely a sidearm, but found nothing. The human stood up and threw himself against the side of the container, attempting to scramble up the side. Thendria almost felt for the little guy.

“As you can see, humans are just as capable of rational thought as you or I. He is fearful of his situation, and has been taking steps to achieve his goal. It's very easy to handle a human, but you can't hesitate if they try to resist. For example,” she lowered her hand into the container, to which the human backed against the wall, watching the hand as it approached. At the last minute it ducked under her arm and rolled behind, getting to its feet and hopping back. The instructor patiently brought her hand back towards him, but when he tried to duck and roll again, she dropped her hand to the ground to stop him and tilted her hand down onto him, keeping him suppressed as he fervently struggled beneath her palm, calling out things in it's native tongue.

“They're not as fragile as you might think, but too firm a grip can seriously injure them.” she adjusted her hand and curled her fingers to scoop him up in one hand before he could manage to wiggle from under her palm. She lifted him up to be level, her fingers and thumb clutching across his extended torso. He flailed for all he was worth, pounding at the instructor's fingers and trying to twist himself from her grasp, kicking his stocky legs in futility above the container. “A good grip can leave one completely--” she winced slightly as the human bit her finger, but gave no sign of retribution short of using her free hand to tap the side of his face until he let go, then placing one finger under his chin and another behind his head so he couldn't try it again. Thendria gave an amused grin at his tenacity.

“As I was saying, despite his best efforts, he is completely at my mercy. Now, how do I go about incapacitating him without risking severe harm?” she looked at the line of troops, each of them gave light glances towards one another until someone called out, “You could knock him out with a good flick to the head.” a few chuckles followed.

Their instructor's mood was unchanged,  “I could, but that has risks of breaking their necks or fracturing the skull, not even counting any head trauma or concussions it could bring about. No, if you want to incapacitate a human with little risk to their well being, we've developed a type of sleeper hold for such a case. If you position your fingers like so,” she removed the fingers from her free hand and shifted her grip so her index finger and middle finger were on either side of his neck. “If you are able to implement this against a human, you may want to use your other hand to assist in keeping him still.” with that, her other hand covered his chest and held his arms at his sides.

“Apply pressure lightly to the sides of the neck by pressing your fingers towards each other.” she said, doing so herself, “and watch out that they don't turn their necks since it's a bit easy to collapse their windpipe like that.”

The human thrashed in her grip, yelling in defiance, but soon enough, his legs stopped kicking so much and his head started to wilt. Seconds later and he fell limp in her hands. She looked to Geinya who returned an assuring nod. She gently rested him on the table, laying him on his back.

“You will not be practicing on him, but you will be permitted to handle the human to get a grasp on what to expect. He is a prisoner, but you will be respectful. You hurt him, I will do the same to you.” she looked the line over once more. “The hold is merely a delay tactic. They can come around anywhere between a few minutes to an hour or so if left alone, so isolate them quickly that they won't be able to request back up too soon. Kol, you're up first.” the instructor stated, looking to her.

The young soldier stepped out of line and approached the table, looking down at the human, curiosity kept at bay due to the circumstance of the exercise. Thendria looked to the instructor, who simply replied with a nod, “Pick him up.” Complying, Thendria carefully slid her fingers under his arm and under his back, gripping with her thumb and lifting him up.

His head fell backwards and Thendria brought her other hand behind him prop it up. She looked over his hand-held body, lightly pressing his abdomen with her thumb. The human jerked some, startling her a little, but she held him firmly. His eyes fluttered open and glanced about, locking with her own pointed gaze. For a moment they simply stared at each other, but the human realized his situation once more and began to struggle in her grip.

“Roun, you're up! Pass him along Kol, you'll have more opportunities down the line.” The instructor told her. Thendria nodded and turned to Roun, carefully holding him out where they awkwardly exchanged hands as the human continued to thrash some.

She looked down at her open hand, thinking about how she had just held a life at her mercy. It was slightly disturbing but she shook from her head. Orders were orders, and she would carry them out regardless. It was war, and there was never time for second thoughts, but for the rest of the day, she kept thinking about the humans struggling form in her hands, feeling as though he was still there.