POV: Lyra
Commanders Juan and Tate's pathways flashed with shock, then excitement. They wasted no time connecting through the quantum network to the other Station Commanders and their partners via the secure leadership channel. The leaders, in turn, informed their Combat Specialists through their station's local neural links.
The Kaelari came over and started pairing up with the Lyrokans. Some Lyrokans followed Weaver and Yarrington, moving to where the Kaelari gathered to find partners. After watching my demonstration, most Lyrokans kept their guard up. Many didn't underestimate the smaller-sized opponents in front of them, seeing that even the smallest Kaelari had taken down the largest and strongest Lyrokan, right after taking down their General and his best warrior.
Orion paired with Toby, and Christian paired with Juan. Most Combat Specialists stood on the sides to watch two pairs at a time on the training mats. Within the first few minutes, it was clear that more Lyrokans were hitting the mats compared to Kaelari.
After I watched a few matches around me, I projected my voice through the facility's acoustics. "Lyrokans, your strength will only be useful if you actually manage to catch your Kaelari counterpart. If you don't have them in your grasp yet, don't bet on your strength to win. When an attack comes at you, grab that part of their body they're using to launch their attack, and hold on. Only after that should you utilize your strength. Kaelari, our speed and agility are our greatest advantages. Use the techniques we've learned to have the Lyrokans use their own strength against themselves. If and when you get caught, think fast. Escape first, continue your attack later. Slip your way out in any possible way, and never underestimate the power of surprise. Everyone, take note of your opponent's stability. Ask yourselves whether it's a good time to trip them. See if your partner has a pattern of attack. Use it to plan your counterattack."
I noticed Wainwright from the corner of my eye sparring a female Lyrokan, which made me add, "And remember, in battle, show no mercy."
Juan managed to beat Christian. Raden, who was watching, gave them pointers on how they could both improve. The spar between Orion and Toby lasted several minutes longer, with Toby emerging victorious—a surprise even for the Kaelari specialist himself. If the Emperor wasn't his closest friend's match, he would've broadcasted his victory to every Lyrokan and Kaelari in the facility that day, regardless of whether he knew them.
Orion's pathways glowed with good humor as he shook Toby's hand. "Looks like my match isn't the only one who can beat me. Good fight, Specialist Tobias. Points of improvement, please?"
Toby was humbled that the Emperor didn't take the fall hard. "Well, Your Eminence. Your striking pattern was very predictable. And you tend to think that your opponent's intention when charging towards you is to attack."
"Wait, isn't it?"
Toby shook his head with a smile. "Take the spar you had with Lyra. She charged at you. But she wasn't going to attack yet. Her intention was to escape and surprise you when she escaped. The punch you wanted to land on her hit empty air, wasting your strength. For our spar, I charged at you only to get close enough so you'd start throwing as many strikes as possible at me, distracting you while I watched your stability weaken enough for me to make my move. And Your Eminence, do you ever wonder why Lyra scans her opponents from head to toe before a fight?"
Orion's pathways shifted to thoughtful amber, like a student questioned by a teacher. "To gauge her best forms of attack and defense?"
Toby nodded then explained. "She studies her opponents. All of them. Even you and me. Height, to see whether it's possible to flip over her opponent. Build, to gauge the best techniques to redirect your strength back at you. The tip is, Your Eminence, if your opponent is smaller than you, which Lyra and I both are, don't expect us to start with a direct attack—not unless we're inexperienced. We'll always find a way to reach the more vulnerable areas of your body, and those aren't easily accessible by direct attacks."
Orion listened intently, his pathways flickering with what I recognized through our bond as jealousy. "How do you know all this? Like how she thinks before she fights?"
Toby smiled graciously. "Well, when Lyra recruited me and other Combat Specialists to give pointers to our own warriors, she taught us how she assesses them before giving feedback. Most of what I told you was what she told us cycles ago. If you look around, Your Eminence, all those watching spars and giving feedback now are Combat Specialists. And most, if not all of us, were trained and taught by Lyra herself."
Through our bond, I felt Orion's consciousness swell with pride and gratitude. Suddenly, I projected my voice again through the facility. "Lyrokans, the intention of most Kaelari is to escape before they attack, not attack first. Don't assume they'll attack when they charge at you."
Orion looked at me with playful annoyance as he complained to Toby louder than necessary, "Oh, now she tells us!"
Toby was chuckling. I turned and locked eyes with my match as I smirked and sent through our psychic bond: 'I heard that, Orion.'
He sent back immediately, his consciousness warm with affection: 'Good. Then hear this, my love. You look like the stars themselves made flesh, maybe even more beautiful.'
I shook my head in disapproval and tried to suppress a smile, my traitorous skin shifting to pink. I covered my face with my hands in embarrassment for a moment before turning to avoid his gaze and refocus on the spars around me.
"She heard you through the bond, didn't she?" Toby asked, chuckling. Orion nodded with a smile, his pathways glowing contentedly.
Not far away, Sasha's neural pathways were flashing angry red as Commander Lyssa tripped her and knocked her down repeatedly. First, she'd been expelled from the collaboration. Then, her father made her continue training even though he knew she despised it. Now, she had to train with an "inferior" Kaelari Commander while every Lyrokan and Kaelari followed the irritating-looking Combat Specialist's commands.
"Perhaps we should take five minutes of rest, Ms. Cummings," Commander Lyssa suggested diplomatically.
Sasha's pathways flared brighter as she glared at her before storming to the side to grab her hydration cylinder.
Also not far away, Greg's pathways kept shifting toward purple whenever he glanced at me. He'd already lost to Commander Tate twice and wasn't happy about it. When Greg heard me shouting advice to Lyrokans and Kaelari during his break, his pathways lightened from frustrated orange to softer hues. He turned to look at me as subtly as he could when I'd stopped projecting. I was covering my face, trying but failing to suppress a shy smile.
'Beautiful,' Greg thought to himself, and was surprised by how much emotion that one word generated in his consciousness, his pathways shifting to a deep purple he'd never experienced before.
Through my peripheral vision enhanced by Kaelari multifaceted eyes, I caught his stare. But I pretended not to notice, focusing instead on the revolution happening around us—two species finally training as one, breaking centuries of separation.
This is what we needed all along. Not isolation, but integration.