Morph Combat [19]

[Jullian]

Jullian walked down the hall of the ship, his nose buried in his latest copy of his text book. He had asked Seiya if it would be possible to print them in bulk and received a lecture about limited resources for his trouble. Not that he'd expected any different but he'd figured there was no harm in asking...

So he'd taken his request to Tshaka, one of the growing group of scientist that the Blade ship housing, and Tshaka had shown him how unnecessary hard copies were. He had showed Jullian how to input the book into the ships computers so that it would be available at any terminal, including the ones in the rooms. Jullian still wanted to figure out a way to get them to the people in other factions but that had solved the problem of how to get them to the students easily enough.

When Jullian walked through the science quarters he could understand why Seiya was a little short with people these days. It was true that they'd always hoped to open up more of the old rooms to accommodate growth but Seiya had expected to get more students and had planned accordingly. He hadn't been prepared for the influx of what he called "noisy civilians" and he was at a bit of a loss about what to do with them. It didn't help that he wasn't really in charge of them. They had their own leader that coordinated with Seiya but that was it.

We're becoming an army, Jullian thought and felt his stomach turn a bit at the thought. He supposed it had to be this way. The fractured structure of the actual fighting force helped ensure their security. But at some level things had needed to be more organized so that they could be more effective. And if New York was still the Pentagon the Academy was quickly becoming West Point.

Which is what had him on his way to see their newest instructor. As much as Jullian wished morphing didn't need to be used for fighting it was a weapon. He made sure every student who left here had a solid grounding in the basics of morphing but he was still having trouble sleeping at night, wondering if he'd prepared them for using their morphing as the weapon it was meant to be. So he wanted to put his head together with their Combat Instructor and see if they could design some type of course for the final stages of training. Maybe even something that experienced animorphs could come take when they went on leave.

A few months ago putting his head together with the Combat Instructor would have been easy since they shared the same pillow. He suppressed the feelings of loneliness and worry that came with the thought. "He's fine," Jullian told himself as he came up to 19's door. He knocked and waited to see if she was in.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen was practicing rolling a coin across her knuckles. She'd managed to find an old half-dollar in one of the shipments of random stuff they tended to get, and it'd become a new obsession. As far as she was concerned, it beat reading in her free time. She was actually getting pretty good at it too, and both hands were pretty much on the same level.

When she heard the knock on the door, Nineteen caught the coin in her hand. She stuffed it into the pocket of the shorts she was wearing (the wonders of climate control) and walked to the door. When she opened it, she smiled as she looked at Jullian. He was... young. And gentle. As far as personalities went, they were far from similar. Still, she'd never had beef with the kid.

"What's up?" She asked, and then let gestured for him to come in. Her quarters were a decent size, reflecting her tenure as a teacher. They were, however, about as organized as an average college dorm room. "Place is a mess, but you're welcome to come in."

[Jullian]

"Hi Nineteen," he said as he walked into the room. When he'd first met his fellow teacher her name had thrown him off as he was sure happened to everyone. But he was used to it now and it just sounded like a name to him. He supposed all names and words were like that. They just grew familiar with use until you didn't question them anymore. He wondered what would happen if he began calling someone Apple or Variable. He imagined he'd get used to that too.

"Don't worry about the room. Mine isn't really that neat either. I've never met someone who was neat in their own house except for my mother and I'm pretty sure she was a little crazy." He plopped himself down on a chair partially covered by clothing.

"We have new students," he said while his eyes roamed aimlessly around the room. He wasn't being nosy exactly but he was always a bit curious to see how other people modified the spaces they lived in. "Have you met them? I'm sure you have," he went on, focusing back on Nineteen. "What do you think?" He actually did have a point but he could never resist the chance to just chat for a while, especially if the conversation involved people who were not currently in the room.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen similarly dropped into a seated position on her bed, across from Jullian. It was unmade and had a rather large amount of pillows, which might have seemed odd that Nineteen wasn't the sort to be obsessed with comfort. However it felt nice to have her own, real bed, and so she'd slowly collected even more objects of luxury for it. She leaned back, and drew one knee up as she listened to Jullian.

"Yeah, I've been one newb-duty." She shuffled a hand through her hair, and considered each of them. She clearly had no qualms with talking about them, or even so much as pondered if she should. "They're all much... quieter than my batch was. Dustin, the one-armed kid, seems timid but solid. He must know that morphing will regrow his stump or whatever, but he hasn't gotten impatient about it once. He's definitely hear for the right reasons or whatever."

"Richard seems like a jock, but he's eager to succeed. I don't think he's been as beat down by the war as the other two, but that isn't saying much. He hasn't lost a limb or, well." Nineteen shrugged and momentarily threw one hand in the air. "He's not Seiya's new toy, like Alain. That guy, Alain? Now that guy has some scars. Easy enough to get along with though, but sometimes you can catch him thousand-yard staring."

Nineteen rubbed the back of her neck. "You haven't met any of them? They're pretty cute," she added with a wink.

[Jullian]

Jullian smiled at the cute comment. He hadn't met any of the recruits officially but he'd seen them in the mess hall. He was pretty sure he could pick out the one Nineteen called Alain if only because Jullian had been staring a bit and had had a moment of panic when he thought Alain was staring back. But Alain had just been, well as Nineteen said, his mind was a thousand miles away.

"Yeah, they're all cute but," Jullian shrugged. He didn't want to admit it but he wasn't exactly over Kovu. In fact, he wasn't even sure if they were over. In hindsight it would have been wiser for them to have talked a bit more about what his return to the front lines would mean. But they hadn't and now Jullian was in relationship limbo. "teachers shouldn't get involved with students. What would Seiya say?" Jullian found it amusing that, in this case, he was the one that was potentially underage.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen arched an eyebrow but mimicked Jullian's shrug. 'Your loss,' the expression seemed to say, while also dropping the subject. She didn't pry into people's personal lives, but it was clear that Jullian and Kovu had had a pretty involved relationship. She didn't really know what that felt like, but she knew when it wasn't her place to poke her nose into his business.

"Yeah yeah. But there isn't exactly a huge stock of teachers to choose from." And that was the truth. "So you know, I won't tell Seiya if you won't." She smirked. "Hell, maybe we should just get him laid. I don't think it'll ever happen though. This Academy is all the lover he seems to want."

Nineteen smiled at the thought, but eventually looked back over to Jullian. She wasn't sure if he'd come by just to gossip or if he was looking to talk about something else. Either way, she didn't really mind.

[Jullian]

Jullian gratefully took the out that talking about someone else's love life gave him. Especially because he actually had a theory on Seiya's love life that he'd been dying to share with someone for ages.

"I'm not so sure about that. Did you see the way Seiya and Cassie acted at the Halloween party? I think they'd make the cutest couple ever and I'd love for Cassie to have some reason to dress up," Jullian said with a well worn bit of caring and exasperation. He actually would like just a few more reasons to celebrate for everyone but especially in Cassie's case. She needed it more than any of them.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen made a face that conveyed her skepticism. "Eh, maybe." If you called two people still standing kind of close but not really flirting or touching each other romantic interest. Which, she supposed, it could be for someone like Seiya. Cassie she didn't know well, and she doubted anyone really did. They were both pretty stodgy though. Running a war probably did that to you. Lots of stress, lots of micro-management. In short, nothing Nineteen was at all interested in.

"I'm sure there are plenty of Animorph couples brought together all over the globe," Nineteen said, smirking. It wasn't that she was deriding them: you put a bunch of scared teenagers in a single place and pumped tons of adrenaline into them, and hey, you were going to get some hormones flowing. But any kind of real romance or whatever seemed pretty pointless to her. Factions were shifting things, from what she understood. People came and went, either by re-assignment or less pleasant measures.

Who would want to get that attached? Even if they weren't Animorphs, close relationships of any kind were doomed in a situation like this.

Still, she knew Jullian wouldn't want to hear that. At any rate, it might make him think of Kovu. If he or anyone else could find someone to share something special with, more power to him. Nineteen, personally, would opt out. "Pretty soon we'll need a daycare or something."

[Jullian]

Jullian just smiled at Nineteen's skepticism, completely unconcerned that the first person he'd shared his hypothesis with doubted its viability. He'd never seen Seiya loosen up (and to be honest he hadn't loosened up much at the party either) but Cassie had pulled him into the party and she'd even gotten him to wear a costume. As far as Jullian was concerned, these were signs enough to quietly start going about some matchmaking. If Cassie wasn't based in New York he would have been about it already. Besides, there was no harm in dreaming that their leaders may have found a bit of happiness with each other and, even if it was far off the mark, the thought gave Jullian a bit of joy.

Jullian's face lit up with a smile at the thought of a day care. He loved kids and he never saw them anywhere anymore. Maybe if Cassie let him tour some of the human colonies he'd get to play around with an active two year old again. "That would be hilarious but fantastic."

His morph text book prototype fell to the floor from its place on his lap, reminding him about why he'd come here. He was actually a passionate and dedicated teacher when he wanted to be and he tried to remember that as he picked up the book.

"So, anyway, I wanted to brainstorm with you a bit," Jullian said as he picked up the book and set it back in his lap. "I wanted to create some type of morph combat course here at the Academy, something new recruits could take towards the end of their training but maybe even something some experienced morphers might find useful if they came to visit."

[Nineteen]

Nineteen's brow furrowed a little when he mentioned a morph combat course. Jullian, as far as she was aware, was about as close to a pacifist as one could be while serving the Animorphs. That was her most immediate concern, but more came to mind as she thought about it.

"I'm interested. But what do you mean by morph combat? As far as I know, we're still outfitting our lads and lasses with squirrels and butterflies and goldfish. Myself included." Which wasn't entirely true: Nineteen would rue the day she had to morph a butterfly. Her moth, she comforted herself, was far from it. "Not exactly battle-ready stuff. Are we talking just putting them through battle conditions and testing their survival skills?" That, Nineteen already did. Or tried to do. They had a lot of toys at the Academy, but it was still hard to simulate a battle that they might actually face, which Hork Bajir and Taxxons and whatnot.

"I get that it might be nice for the folks that are more seasoned. But Jullian," she held up her palms in a what can you do gesture. "I don't think I'd be the right one to be teaching any experienced morphers how to fully use their battle morphs. The best I can do is a horse. And I haven't even been in any real fights were morphing was an option."

Nineteen sighed a little, leaning further back into her pillows. "But hey, tell me your idea. Not trying to write it off before I hear it."

[Jullian]

"Right. Well that's a bit like what I mean. The combat conditions and such and I do that with them too. Try to get them to do things like morph while running and such. And there are limits I suppose to what we can put them through. I'm just suggesting we put some of that together instead of training them for the same thing in two different places. Force them to morph while running and while being shot at...well over their heads I guess, or only sound effects or something."

He'd started rambling but he'd given a morph course a lot of thought. The actual morph to morph combat she was speaking of was another one of his ideas but it would have to be something that the faction leaders put in place.

[Nineteen]

Nineteen nodded slowly. "I think I see what you're saying." He was right. Mostly, Nineteen had focused on them using their own bodies, with morphing as a quick fix for dislocated shoulders and broken noses. "So we make an obstacle course, something they'll have to use different morphs for, while also working under whatever combat conditions we can muster. That's the plan?"

She thought about this for a little bit, and then went on. Tread lightly, Nineteen warned herself, though she knew she'd never been the most tactful person. "But I don't think we should necessarily be pulling all the punches, so to speak. They've got to learn to suppress their pain, and morph through it. The ability to heal ourselves is probably the single best tool in extending an Animorph's life. But they've got to get hurt to have something to heal."

[Jullian]

Nineteen had said what he wasn't quite willing to say himself. But once she'd broached the subject he felt like he could. He remembered what it had been like to hurt something for the first time, to see his blades go through another creature's body. He'd held the severed arm in his hand and he'd felt his mind go blank. To this day he'd never morphed the Hork-Bajir again and he knew he'd have to get over that one day. For now, he told himself that he was opposed to morphing thinking creatures except in exceptional situations.

So he felt a bit uncomfortable asking his students to do something he wasn't completely willing to do himself. But the fact that they were willing to do it and he wasn't was what made them fit for the front lines. If that wasn't true then he'd rather they found out here, where it was safe, and not out there. And if it was true then they'd also be better off finding out here. Either way, he wasn't prepared to send anyone into a dangerous situation unless they were as prepared as possible.

He thought sadly about how quickly his thoughts had turned dark but that was just a side effect of the times. He promised himself that he would try to tease Seiya about a possible connection to Cassie (he wasn't quite brave enough to tease Cassie) the next time he saw the head master. It gave him a bit of his good mood back but his eyes were still serious when he looked up at Nineteen.

"I think you're right and we wouldn't be helping them by pulling punches. One of the things I want them to practice is morphing while falling. That is, if I can convince Seiya to pull a bug fighter for the purpose. But morph healing is important and I only really give a lecture on it right now."

[Nineteen]

Nineteen nodded, visibly relieved that Jullian was on the same page. It troubled him more than it did her, but that wouldn't surprise anyone. "Morphing while falling," Nineteen repeated him, picturing it in her mind. She laughed a little, though it didn't seem like she found it all that funny. "If you find a good snow drift, somewhere that isn't really icy, then at least they'll probably live even if they fuck up."

Still came out too raw. But if they fuck up that badly, maybe it's better they die that way anyway, Nineteen thought to herself. She imagined a couple red smears on the otherwise blinding whiteness of the tundra. After all, they'd have to be pretty high up if they expected the recruits to morph by the time they hit the ground. Morbid, but not unlike a lot of thoughts that tended to run through Nineteen's mind.

"Anyway, falling is good. I'm thinking we need to cover a lot of standard combat stuff too. Gun shots, dracon lasers, lacerations, broken bones." Nineteen smiled, but it was an entirely unhappy expression. "These people are going to hate my guts before they leave." She was a little alarmed about how much she wasn't looking forward to that. Seiya's class was boring but safe. Jullian's was exciting but tiring. Hers would be a hell where you practiced getting mortally wounded.

But ultimately, she could deal with that. She'd done worse to people. And if it helped them survive when they were in a real fight, well, she'd have done the job given to her.

[Jullian]

Jullian nodded along at Nineteen's words. He took out a small notepad and began making a few notes. He jotted down something about injuries and added, reduce morph healing time next to it. He also wrote safety net on another line to remind him to try to figure out some way to rescue recruits who failed at morphing mid fall.

He smiled sadly at Nineteen's predictions. "Honestly, I won't claim to an expert on these things, but I think hatred is the sign of a good combat teacher and I don't envy you the role. Of course, if I suggest throwing them out of planes they may hate me a bit too. That may severely limit my ability to seduce any of them I suppose."