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Krystal and Chase: Swordplay

Mira wiped her brow and smiled as she looked over the empty night club. As she smoothed out her miniskirt, the gray wolf poured herself a glass of water and took a drink the cool water refreshing her parched throat. After last night, the last thing the wolfess had wanted to do was move tables around to create an empty space in the middle of the club. But the red fox before her was glad she had.

"Thanks for agreeing to this Mira." He said, "You have no idea how grateful I am."

"As long as you're grateful enough to help move everything back afterwards, it's not a problem foxie." Mira smirked playfully, "Although, that vixen's going to kick your tail and you know it."

Chase smirked, looking over the new type of short range combat weapon now attached to the outside of his arms. His hands were wrapped around the handles of the blades, each one running the length of his forearm to just below his elbow. At the end of the steel were three pads that kept the blades lined up against his arm. The steel they were made from was similar to the plating of the battle armor he and Krystal wore, designed to protect his arm from the deadly claws of the Reapers and the newly discovered Ghosts. Above the handles were the sharpened steel blades. At the length of his entire forearm, the twin silvery blades were designed to cut and pierce the toughened steel of the robotic Sev`fel units.

After running out of ammunition on their last mission, Chase's CO, Hiigan, had ordered him to train in hand-to-hand combat. While Chase had trained in it before, he was never very skilled and had preferred not to use what little he had. Now, Hiigan had hired someone to train him, some they both knew would not only help Chase to relearn the basics, but to learn them fast.

"So foxie, what're those blades called anyway?" Mira asked.

Chase shrugged, "I have no idea really. The techs never told me if they had one."

Mira nodded and went back to wiping down the bar as the doors opened and closed.

"Ready Chase?" A voice said from behind the fox.

Chase turned to find a pink furred vixen walking up to him. A well built, athletically toned body, four fluffy tails, and her long, rose red hair told Chase exactly who she was. Bianca, the exotic dancer and mercenary swordsman.

Bianca's black tank top left her midriff bare, allowing Chase to see some of the soft pink and white fur that covered her body. It wasn't tight, but the small shirt did show off Bianca's breasts very well as holding them comfortably. Her shorts had been cut off near the top of the legs, leaving most of her upper legs very visible. Her clothing offered less drag, enabling her to move easily, but they also were intended to keep a possible opponent off guard.

Before their first mission against the Sevfel, Chase had only known Bianca to be an exotic dancer, and a very good one at that. Her fluid, yet careful, movements kept the audience seeing only what she wanted them to, even as she revealed her body. But what he hadn't known was that her movements weren't just for dancing, but useful in protecting herself as she fought. If Chase hadn't seen first-hand what Bianca could do with a sword, he would have been doubtful of her skill. The vixen had fended off about one hundred Sevfel Reaper units on her own before Chase had assisted. Now, the fox held no doubt that Bianca was just as deadly as she was lovely.

"As I'll ever be I guess, Bianca." The fox said, slipping a protective cover over the blades, "But why aren't you using your real blade?"

Bianca smiled and placed her hand on the hilt of a wooden training katana sheathed on her hip, "If I used the true thing, I would have to go much easier on you to avoid hurting you too much. It wouldn't be good training if I hold back."

She and Chase moved to the center of the room, where the tables had been moved away so the vixen could train Chase. Bianca smiled to herself, her four tails moving easily behind her to help balance her stance. With training both as a swordsman and the fluid expertise of an exotic dancer, the vixen could easily switch between attacking and defense.

Chase eased into a fighting stance. Unfortunately, it was the one he used when he was sighting in his Stinger handguns. With one of the blades in front of him, guarding, the other was pulled behind him, angled towards the ground as if his hand were reaching for the grip of his beloved handgun. The fox had no idea how open he had left himself.

"Let's see what you've got Chase." Bianca said, "Don't try anything fancy. Just try to hit me. Be warned, if you hold back, I will take advantage of it."

"I don't want to hurt you Bianca." Chase said with uncertainty, "Are you sure that's alright if I do hit you?"

The pink vixen smiled, pushing a lock of red hair away from her eyes, "Trust me Chase, I'll be fine. I've taken much more of a beating than you could ever give me. Those covers should keep your blade from cutting me."

Chase nodded and moved quickly towards her. Closing the distance between him and the vixen, Chase struck, one of the blades thrusting forward as he moved. But faster than his eye could track, Bianca had drawn her katana and moved aside, quickly knocking the fox off balance before twirling around him. Before surprise could register on Chase's face, Bianca struck him with the hilt of her sword, striking the small of his back.

As Chase hit the ground, Bianca smiled and re-sheathed her sword. With a soft growl, Chase pushed himself off the ground. As he did, the fox turned and faced the vixen again, moving into the same stance. Bianca simply smiled, replacing her hand on the hilt of her blade once again.

"Your stance needs work Chase." The vixen said, "It's much too open."

Chase blinked, "It is?"

Without warning, Bianca had unsheathed her blade. Using Chase's momentary confusion against him, the vixen had shoved his arm aside. Blocking his other arm with her blade, the vixen struck him in his gut with her knee, knocking the wind out of him.

Mira gasped, watching as Chase fell to one knee before Bianca. Bianca smiled and crouched down, raising his head to look her in the eyes.

"See? If you'd had a better stance, I wouldn't have been able to do that so easily. Catch your breath and we'll try again. But this time, I'll help you into a stance." The vixen smirked.

Chase only nodded, panting as he tried to catch his breath.

Standing up, Bianca walked over to the bar. As she leaned against it, Mira set down a glass of water. As she took a sip, Chase stood back up, taking a shaky breath. Bianca walked over and handed the cup to Chase.

"I have a long way to go, don't I?" Chase asked.

"I won't deny that." Bianca replied, "You've really grown dependant on your pistols and training instead of your body and instincts. You've got a long way to go."

Chase sighed sadly, his ears folding down, "I don't have a long time Bianca...I'm going back to Iron Sight in three days."

Bianca felt a pang of sadness. She, Mira, Hiigan, and the higher ups were the only ones who knew that Chase was an orphan. Even Krystal hadn't been told. The vixen knew all too well the pain of losing a loved one.

"I have to try at least, right?" Chase said, looking to the vixen, "I know you can't teach me a lot, but I will try to at least learn the basics."

Bianca nodded and patted his back, "I know you will try Chase."

Chase smirked a little, "So how can I improve my stance?"

Bianca took the duel blades from Chase, strapping them to her own arms. After quickly lashing out several times and sliding into a defensive stance, the vixen felt more comfortable with them.

"Pay attention." Bianca said, "With these, I'd have to say the best for of defense is this move."

Bianca crossed the two blades in front of her, the tips pointing away from her body and using the metal shafts to protect her crossed forearms. Without hesitation, the vixen shoved outward, the blades sliding away from each other. Swinging them in a full circle before thrusting forward, Bianca lowered them.

"As you push forward, be sure to move your own body back." She explained, repeating the move slowly, "This will allow you to keep a sword, or claw, away from you before countering. If you move fast enough, I'm guessing you could cut the claws right off of those Ghosts."

Chase nodded as she handed the blades back to him, "You try."

Strapping the blades to his arms once more, the fox followed what Bianca had showed him. While his movements weren't as fluid, the fox was able to copy it. With a smile, Bianca drew her blade.

"It's a start." The vixen said, walking around him, "And it'll be a while before you're doing anything fluidly."

"Is there anything you can tell me that'll help with that?' Chase asked.

Bianca thought a minute, and then told the fox to lay the blades down. When he did, the vixen picked them up and laid them on the counter of the bar.

"I can show you something." Bianca said, glancing back at him, "Would that be alright instead?"

"Anything." Chase replied.

Bianca said something to Mira in a low voice. Then, the vixen pushed herself playfully away from the counter, drawing her katana and leveling it at Chase. With an evil grin, Bianca attacked!

Startled, Chase moved away from her blade before it could touch him, dropping to the ground and rolling away as a second strike nearly hit his arm. Without anything to defend himself, the fox could only try to evade Bianca's skilled strikes.

"What're you-?!" Chase began as a slash forced him to leap back.

"Keep moving!" the vixen said with a growl.

Chase dodged sideways as Bianca's sword slashed upwards before cutting across and forcing the fox down to his knees. With a cry, Chase rolled away from another strike intended for his neck!

Bianca twirled the blade, holding it so the blade was pointed back towards her before slashing across again. This time, Chase felt the wooden sword strike his side. With a grunt, the fox dodged another strike intended for his other side.

But as he moved, Bianca used his own momentum against him, tripping him with her blade! Somersaulting once, Chase landed on his back, Bianca's blade pointed at his neck.

"Time?" She asked, looking at Mira.

"Twenty seconds." The wolfess replied, holding up a stopwatch, "A bit slow for your usual pace, Bianca."

The vixen smiled, sheathing her blade, "I know. But, going faster, Chase wouldn't have stood a chance."

"So...you weren't trying to kill me?" Chase asked, panting.

"I couldn't kill you Chase." Bianca smiled, holding out a hand to help the fox up, "I like you too much. Besides, why would I want to ruin a perfectly good training sword with your blood?"

Chase got to his feet as Bianca simply smiled. After a minute, the fox sat down on a barstool as Mira handed him the glass of water again.

"Why did you attack me?" Chase asked a bit gruffly.

"Easy Chase." Bianca replied, sitting beside him, "You asked for a way to learn faster. What better way is there than to force you to do just that?"

"So you attacked me to force me to learn to dodge?" Chase asked, confused.

Bianca nodded with a giggle, "If you want to see it that way, then yes."

Chase sighed, "Better than learning it slow I guess."

Both Mira and Bianca nodded in agreement.

* * *

Over the next two days, Chase trained almost nonstop with Bianca. Using the new blades against her wooden katana, the fox learned through combat. And, although every day he came back to the dorm with sharp pain from Bianca's katana hitting him when he failed to block, the fox had learned to dodge and strike, his original training coming through the block he'd put up years ago. Since Bianca was both a good friend and a great teacher, the fox agreed to continued lessons whenever he got the chance after the next mission.

Finally, on the evening before the mission to the abandoned Iron Sight colony, Bianca brought her true blade to train him. After they both had placed the protective sheaths over their blades, Bianca and Chase circled each other. As they did, Mira and Krystal stood by, watching. This would be Krystal's first time seeing Bianca in action, especially against Chase.

After seeing the fox coming back for two nights with obvious injuries, the vixen felt worried. She knew well that Chase had never been much of a hand-to-hand fighter, much preferring the power of his handguns over the short range of a knife. And as much as Chase denied it, Krystal had a feeling that Chase had improved a lot over his old skills.

Without warning, Bianca struck! Quickly unsheathing her katana, the vixen tried to use Chase's still un-improved stance against him. But as she drew close, Chase used what she had taught him, and crossed his blades in front of him, catching her sword between them. Quickly, Chase pushed the blade away, instead ducking down and trying to throw Bianca off balance.

Bianca had anticipated this, having taught Chase the strategy herself. Leaping over Chase's strike, the vixen landed behind him, twirling around as she brought her katana to bear. But as she was about to make contact, Chase spun around, blocking her strike with the steel that covered his forearm, holding her blade back as he slashed with the second blade.

With a smile, Bianca leaped back a bit, dashing forward the second her foot touched the ground. With several quick slashes, the vixen watched as Chase tried to block them.

"Remember what I told you, Chase." Bianca commented as she moved back again, dodging a counter strike from Chase, "Focus."

The fox nodded, then felt Bianca strike his side! With a quiet curse, the fox rolled once, dodging another strike intended for his side. He knew Bianca wasn't going to let up until he either managed to hit her, or she brought him down as she had so many times in the last two days.

With a growl, Chase rushed Bianca, his blades poised to thrust forward when he could strike. But when he did, Bianca leaped aside as Chase's blades thrust forward. Using that against him, the vixen grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground. Chase rolled once before landing on his feet, dodging aside as Bianca struck again. But this time, he wasn't fast enough to fully dodge her attack. With split second timing, Bianca caught Chase's foot with her own, forcing the fox to tumble once again.

"So, what do you think so far, Krystal?" Mira asked as Chase and Bianca exchanged blows.

"He has improved, I will admit that." The vixen replied as Chase tumbled once again, "But...I don't think he's ready for the field."

With a grunt, Chase lunged towards Bianca, his left arm pulled back as the right moved forward to protect him from her strikes. But instead of countering, Bianca simply sidestepped Chase, once again bringing him down with a strong elbow to the small of his back as he passed. The fox stumbled to his knees once more, Bianca quickly spun around to bring her sword to his neck.

Bianca smiled a bit, panting a little as she did. While Chase had at least improved, the fox was still easy to bring down. His attacks did not seem to have any sort of order to them, just a wild combination of slashes and thrusts with the hope of hitting her.

"Dead." Bianca stated as her blade tapped his neck, "Although that was better Chase. You're getting faster."

With a panting sigh, Chase got to his feet, removing the straps of the blades from his arms. Bianca removed cover from her blade, sheathing the katana with trained ease. As the two sat down, Mira placed two glasses on the table in front of them.

"Bianca, be honest with me." Chase said, "I don't stand a chance against those bots, do I?"

"You do, but it's not a very good chance." The vixen admitted, "Sadly, you're going planet-side tomorrow morning. It would have been better if we'd had more time."

Chase nodded as Krystal sat down beside him. With a sigh, the fox took a sip of the water Mira had set down.

"If I come back alive, think we can keep training?" Chase asked.

Bianca smiled, taking a sip of her own drink, "I don't see why not. After all, the practice would be good for me too."

Chase smirked and sat back a bit, "So, any last words of advice?"

Bianca simply smiled, her eyes meeting his.

The vixen raised her glass to him, saying "Just this. Remember what I taught you and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Chase smirked and nodded in agreement, gently knocking his glass against hers.

* * *

After thanking Bianca for all her help, Chase and Krystal were headed back to their dorm. As they did, Chase sighed, thinking about what tomorrow would hold. Not only would they once again be fighting against the Sev`fel, but he would be returning home for the first time in twenty years. Returning to the place where his life had changed forever.

Noticing his worried look, Krystal asked, "Chase? Is everything alright?"

Chase nodded, "Yeah, just tired is all Krystal."

The vixen nodded, although she knew he was lying. For Chase's sake, the vixen decided not to pursue it. Instead, Krystal decided to simply keep an eye on him through their next mission. If her feelings were correct, something wasn't as it seemed with her partner.

* * *

After Chase and Krystal had left, Mira was wiping down the bar. As she did, Bianca walked over and sat down, taking the last few sips of her drink. With a slightly tired sigh, Bianca looked up at the stage, suddenly glad the night club was closed that night.

As she sat back, Bianca looked down, gently laying her hand on the sheath of her katana. With a tired sigh, the vixen leaned against the bar, closing her eyes as her tails gently swished from side to side.

"Be honest now Bianca." Mira said with a smirk, "You held back again didn't you?"

The vixen smirked playfully in return, "And what makes you think that?"

Mira came around the bar, sitting beside Bianca, "Because I've seen you in action. Up there, you're slow since you're showing off. But in combat, you're faster than what we saw today."

Bianca simply giggled, "Well, you'll just have to figure out if I held back or not. But I do know that Chase certainly was too. He's better than he thinks."

Mira shrugged, "Well, that's foxie for you. He's definitely more than willing to fight because he loves what he does, but he's never very arrogant about any of his successful missions. He's not exactly the showy type."

"You'd think with girls like us around he'd try to brag even a little bit." Bianca thought, but she replied, "Yeah, so I've noticed."

Mira sighed and glanced to her watch, "It's getting late. We might as well get out of here and turn in."

Bianca nodded, standing up and stretching quickly before saying goodnight to Mira. But as she walked back to her dorm, the vixen glanced out a window, looking down at the lush planet below the outpost. With a sigh, she laid a hand over her heart.

"If only you were still alive to see this." She whispered quietly.

Wiping a rouge tear away from her eye, the vixen returned to her dormitory, wondering if things would ever return to normal for anyone the small fights so far had affected. But her mind knew all too well that things would only get worse before they got better.