Hinn Ch 54 56

Chapter 54

Ray asked his three Hinn-derived compatriots, "Is there a way to bring a mixed group of humans and Hinn to a place where they can train at an accelerated rate without fear of harm?"

"There are several options with different costs, risks, and benefits. I assume you wish to practice physical conflict against notional foes," Ousha queried.

"Something like that. I'd like to bring the assault squad, Amber, Tauriz and myself into a series of practice scenarios where we can learn to coordinate. Given we don't have a lot of time, being able to stretch time while we're there would be extremely helpful."

"This is something that may be accomplished. It would be best if you have all the people you wish to practice in the same room, seated and at peace, before beginning."

"What are the risks?"

"While time will be accelerated while within the practice field, there will be time passing. Your bodies will be defenseless while this occurs. I would suggest only using this technique somewhere safe. Additionally, others should not be in the same room as those in the field. They will not be harmed but they may become significantly disoriented."

"Ousha, please show me how to create this field. Then, please call the assault group and Amber to the bottommost basement. Let them know they won't need anything other than something comfortable to sit or lie down on. Then request Tomaz put together appropriate forces to protect the elevator and the escape ladder while we're busy."

"Very well, Ray." She showed me where to find the technique within Hinn, including how to adjust all the functions it incorporated.

"Tauriz, shall we head down?"

Tauriz smiled and took Ray's hand in hers. "Yes, Master."

Outside Hinn, Ousha pulled out her phone while continuing her discussion with Betty long enough to text Ray's requests to all the participants. As she did, Ray and Tauriz stepped out of the room and towards the elevator. Seeing no one around, Tauriz created a couple of folding camping chairs in their carrying bags. Ray took one from her and they headed down to the first basement.

After being waved through the security chokepoint in the first basement by the trooper on duty, they walked to the far end of the floor and took the elevator down to the bottom floor. As they stepped out, Ray's phone rang. Answering it, he found Tomaz on the other end.

"Ray, what's going on?"

"We've found a way we can practice safely. We won't have to expend any resources and no one will be permanently injured, nor will they die, but the scenario will be quite realistic otherwise."

"OK, great! What's the downside?"

"Come down to the bottom basement and we'll discuss it. We'll want security on the elevator and the escape ladder, but it shouldn't be long, perhaps two hours at most."

"I'll be right down."

Opening the chairs, the two sat under one of the few working lights. Shortly thereafter some of the Skepsi troopers started to arrive, then Amber, and then finally Tomaz and another trooper.

"Welcome, folks. Amber and those on the assault team, please take a seat or lie down, whichever you prefer. Tomaz, who's this?"

"This is Erin O'Carroll, my second in command. Erin, our clients, Ray and Tauriz."

"A pleasure to meet you folks."

"And ours too, Erin. Tomaz, Erin, what we need is a guard on the elevator and the emergency ladder. We can't have others in the room, they wouldn't die but they'd be very disoriented during the training. Those who start the training with us will come out the other side unharmed by the training itself, even if the training would seem to have lethal consequences were it in our normal reality. Yes, you can blow yourself up in this training with no long term consequences. However, if someone were to get through the disorienting effects after we started we'd be helpless against whatever they wished to do until the training was over. During the training we can create everyone's normal gear, so there'll be no wear on their normal loadouts, loss of ammo or other expendable resources, or the like.

"We figure we can train some, adjust loadouts if needed, and retrain until we're a lot further along than we are now. This won't be the only time we can do this, it's just we're on a time crunch and need to be efficient. Any questions?"

"I look forward to getting the team's debrief afterwards. Erin, you've got the elevator with the rest of HQ. I'll cover the ladder with DeShaun's team. Just call the elevator when you're done, Ray, and Erin'll call me in."

As the Skepsi detachment's two leaders headed back up the elevator, Amber asked, "Ray?"

"Yes?"

"How will my techniques work?"

"This training... field, for lack of a better word, is effectively a shared illusion that intercepts and responds to the intent of those within it. A variant of this technique can also be used as a very effective prison, for the same reason. Your intent becomes a shared perception of actions shared in the field, not in reality. Thus, your techniques will work as you expect them to, barring other effects within the training field which you are not consciously aware of. For example, your lightning will work as you're used to unless our notional enemy has another practitioner trying to counteract your techniques."

"I see. How will it work with previously enacted techniques?"

"As you expect, again barring conditions you're not currently aware of."

"Well, I'm willing to give it a try if you don't mind some possible secondary damage."

"That's why we're down here - not much to hurt, and it's pretty darned durable."

Ray wished via Hinn that this floor be reinforced against damage beyond all reason, and Tauriz happily complied.

"OK, folks. Let's run some quick introductions. I'm Ray Helms, and I'll be the one you'll have to come rescue if there's any action tomorrow night. I've got multiple black belts but no modern military or firearms training. This is my girlfriend, Tauriz Aoud, who's both Hinn and genie, and she'll be working with you folks. She's better than me at martial arts and skilled with archaic melee and ranged weapons. We both can alter reality through what we might as well call magic and are significantly stronger, faster and more durable than humanity. Amber?"

"I'm Amber Delain. I'm normally a researcher, but I'm also what you could call a witch. Like Ray and Tauriz, I have abilities that are commonly considered to be impossible. In the right circumstances I am more durable, stronger and faster than most humans, but I can't maintain that for more than a half hour. I'm not a trained soldier like yourselves, but I've had significant training in close combat. I've been in a few fights, one of which had a couple hundred combatants on either side. A couple of the battles were quite nasty indeed. Most haven't been against humans, however."

Ray stepped in, "And you folks are?"

"Hello again. I'm the team lead, Kendis Wahyudi. My specialties are sensor tech, tactics, and light infantry. For simplicity's sake I'll just say that each member of this team has somewhere in excess of a decade of training and experience in warfare, up to more than three decades for John there."

"Henry Willsworth, sapper, light infantry."

"John Doyle, light infantry, forward observer."

"Kat Toomy, medic, light infantry."

"Maria Salazar, close support, light infantry."

"Roberto Donovan, armorer, logistics, and heavy weapons."

"Thanks. Now, in this training field, you'll feel pain if you get hit, and you may even think you die during this training. Neither will be permanent. At the end of each scenario, you'll be back to how you feel right now - alive and undamaged. If we keep going after you 'die', you'll stop hurting and be able to watch, but you won't be able to interact with any of us until that scenario's done. Once I turn this training field on, we'll get you all geared up with your normal loads. They'll feel and act exactly like you'd normally expect them to. Any other questions quick?"

"How long do you expect this to take, Ray?"

"We'll not take longer than 2 hours, but we won't be experiencing the same time stream - it will seem like a much longer time, but we'll turn the field off once we're all happy we're done. You won't need food or water, it'll just be two hours of sitting around here at most as far as your bodies needs are concerned."

"Very well, then."

Following the directions Ousha had provided, Ray built the training field around them. The effect was a little tricky to generate, the time manipulation was quite different from any of the other techniques Ray had made up to this point. After a minute's concentration, the effect was operational.

"OK. You probably don't feel very different, except possibly for Amber, but we're in the training space. We're also experiencing time at a much faster rate than people outside the room. Let me see now - next is gearing up." Reaching into the active technique, Ray bridged two of the components with a fresh flow of samum, then released it. As he connected it, a small cloud formed in front of each of the people that disappeared as soon as he broke the link, leaving an organized pile of armor, weapons, ammunition, and other materials. Several short stacks of gleaming diamond coins even sat in front of Kat, embodying the field's emulation of the coins Tauriz had created for the medics.

"If you're missing anything, please tell me and we'll fix it. Otherwise, please gear up. So you know, all of this has taken only fraction of a second in reality even if it's seemed to have been a couple minutes."

After everyone had gotten their equipment settled, Ray said "For this one, I suggest we set a scenario up and walk through it together before jumping into other, more realistic scenarios. I'll be carrying a couple trackers, Annya can give you the technical details after this Kendis, and we'll practice with just one of the trackers available to start with. Tauriz has other means of tracking me that we'll look into after that, if that's OK with everyone?"

"Can we just try some things first, Ray?"

"Certainly - it's Roberto, right?"

"Correct."

"OK, what would you like to try?"

"I'd suggest that everyone run a quick close-combat course. See what feels different, that kind of thing."

"Do you have a specific close-combat course in mind?"

"There are several I could name."

"Please pick one, and imagine it in as much detail as you can, Roberto."

Ray linked two different functions in the technique, pointing them at Roberto. This caused a larger cloud to appear. When Ray broke the link, the cloud dissipated, leaving a normal looking door standing in a metal frame in the middle of the basement.

"It seems Roberto's chosen course can randomize its configuration somewhat, but we'll leave it set up the same way for everyone to run through once. Let's have everyone use just your primary weapons this time, please. Amber, I'm not sure what to say about you running the course?"

"I have a couple options, Ray. I don't think it'll be a major problem."

"Tauriz?"

"I'll use a pair of spears, Ray."

"Alright then. Oh, and the exit of the course is into a field. There'll be a screen there that you'll be able to see everyone following you through. Kendis, who would you suggest from your team should go through first?"

"I think I probably should, Ray. If this is Roberto's favorite course, the targets can shoot back. Is that enabled?"

"Not this time, just need to hit them within a short period if you come into their line of sight."

"OK."

"Just go through the door when you're ready. It'll start as soon as the door closes behind you, and stops when you exit the far end of the course. No maze, just several rooms tied end to end. It'll reset to the same start once the previous person finishes."

Quickly patting his gear down, Kendis trotted over to the door. Lifting his rifle to his shoulder, chambering a round, and aiming it at the floor, he hip-checked his way through the door into the course. As the door closed behind him, it started glowing red. "It'll stop glowing once he's through," Ray informed them. "Who's next? Please line up."

The Skepsi troopers lined up, followed by Amber and Tauriz. Ray took the last position in the line.

"Ray? Are you going through the course too?" Kat asked.

"I intend to, yes."

"You don't have any weapons?"

"I don't believe I'll need them. I hope that Amber, Tauriz and I can show you some of the differences you may see tomorrow night."

At this point, the red glow stopped and John moved in smoothly. Once it closed behind him, the door started glowing red again.

"That's pretty good time, given what the course can be like," Roberto said.

"Good to know Kendis is capable," Ray said. "Not a major surprise, mind you - just good to have confirmation."

"Roberto spends the most time in shoot houses from this team, but Maria or John tend to be the fastest ones through," Harry offered.

"Why's that, Roberto?"

"I prefer heavy weapons. Those don't do well in most shoot houses."

Nodding, Ray said, "Well, later we'll let you use whatever you desire in a run. There's no reason not to, here. I'd just like to have a common baseline to start from, since we're going about it this way."

"That would be a great treat, Ray - thank you."

"No problem."

Other small talk went by as people went through the door one by one. Amber took a little longer than the Skepsi troopers had, then Tauriz went. The door didn't stay red for very long at all after she did, and then it was Ray's turn.

Stepping through the door, Ray waved at the equivalent of the camera watching the room as he boosted his reaction times and strength. As soon as the door closed, a dummy pointing a rifle in his general direction dropped headfirst out of the ceiling. Riding his augmented reaction time, Ray lunged across the room. One hand swept the rifle aside before the other knocked the head off the dummy. Running through the one doorway, Ray saw a dummy turning to face him at the far end of the hall, some thirty feet away. Ray kept up his momentum and literally ran through the dummy before it could fully spin, sending parts flying. Entering the room at the end of the hall at speed, Ray saw two more dummies. As they lifted rifles to their shoulders, Ray spun to the floor and whipped his heel around in front of him, just above the top of their boots. His kick went through all four of their legs without slowing. Using the momentum from the sweep, Ray spun to his feet and continued on. The only new doorway opened into another, shorter hall that was empty. The room it opened into was full of pallets, eight foot tall stacks of boxes scattered messily across the floor.

Scanning the new room as he approached the opening, Ray noticed a dummy above and behind the doorway as he entered the room. Jumping and letting his feet lead the way, he threw up a wall of kinetic force across the near side of the first pallet of boxes. He kicked off the wall, letting the excess force pass through to shatter the boxes even as his momentum was reversed. Bouncing up and back over the entrance, Ray reached the dummy quickly, grabbing it on the way by. Using its weight to redirect his motion, Ray flung it up to crunch into the ceiling before slapping out at the back wall, halting his momentum and curling to land on all fours. Quickly scanning the room from his new perspective, he didn't see any other dummies. He did spot the exit doorway across the floor, partially hidden from his elevated sight line behind all the pallets.

Ray laughed and rolled back down to the floor. Going through the remnants of the pallet load he'd shattered, he sprinted straight at the door, knocking the remaining pallets out of his way left and right. Diving through the door, he rolled and came up to his feet.

"Well, not a typical run, but none of them had time to make a shot. Technically a fail, Ray, because you left several of the dummies alone in that last room."

"Too bad no one set up any win or loss conditions other than it started when the door closed and stopped once you got through the far door!" grinned Ray, drawing a chuckle from his observers. "Had I wanted to just run straight through, it'd have been even faster - but I figured taking out the obvious threats was in the spirit if not the letter of the rules."

"Fair enough. I must say we were all impressed by you folks' take on the course, though," Kendis said.

Ray reached into the technique and quickly gathered the records of the others' runs. The troopers all followed the same general playbook, rotating carefully through doorways, speeding up when an area appeared clear, shooting dummies as they moved into the next available cover. Every dummy the team members found had bullet holes that would be lethal to humans, but not every trooper found every dummy.

Amber stepped into the course as she pulled out a rune-engraved long dagger, which started glowing as the door closed. The first dummy received a lightning bolt as soon as it came into sight. Amber walked across the room to the exit, her dagger glowing brighter and brighter. She didn't hurry, maintaining a steady pace and keeping her head on a swivel as she passed through the course. Each dummy she saw received a lightning bolt, causing the dagger to dim somewhat after each one. Stopping before she left the last hallway, she concentrated briefly, causing the dagger to flare brilliantly before a half-dozen lightning bolts flowed out. One curved up and back over the exit, toasting the dummy over the hallway, and the other five arced into the maze of pallets, striking the other dummies where they had been hidden. Amber took as straight a path through the pallets as she could find after that. She looked quite fatigued as she kept a steady pace and exited.

As Tauriz entered the course, Ray had to speed up his perceptions to keep up with her actions. Tauriz grasped the middle of a short spear in either hand, only four feet long. The dummy dropping out of the ceiling had its throat spiked to the ceiling before its shoulders made it into the room. Tauriz grabbed the spear, effortlessly wrenching it free as she trotted into the next section. Thrown spears landed in the throats of the next three dummies, recovered as she advanced at a trot.

As she approached the pallet room, she paused briefly. Turning around, she launched a spear up through the ceiling, catching the dummy in the ambush position in the throat. Reaching up as she walked into the room, she retrieved the spear with a thread of jawhar. Throwing the other spear up above the pallets, she pushed her way past the pallets on a direct route to the door. Her lobbed spear looped around the room, dipping down to pass through each of the five remaining dummies' throats.

Ray had the fastest time, with Tauriz next. Both were well ahead of Maria, who had the third fastest time. Amber was the slowest.

"So. I think we all cleared the challenge pretty well. Comments?"

Chapter 55

John asked, "Can we make it a rule going forward that all dummies have to be neutralized to win?"

Nodding in agreement, Ray replied, "Sure, I just wanted to point out that hidden assumptions need to be addressed."

Kendis nodded, "A fair point. One more warmup. Can you please set up a scenario where you have active targets?"

"I'll go a little further than that, I'll set one up where you get to face opponents who act like Jann."

"This will be interesting," Kat half-grinned, half-griped.

Ray fiddled with the training field, bringing in another black cloud briefly. A second door appeared as the cloud dissipated. "OK, we'll do this one a little differently. The screen here will show what happens as it happens. We'll go in reverse order from last time, and everyone else can critique what they see during the run. I'll set it to randomize each run following a similar pattern of foes. It'll be in wooded terrain drawn from maps of the Adirondack Park. You'll see a stream once you enter the course. Just keep heading upstream until you see the exit door. All the opponents will be actively searching for you once the first door closes behind you. I expect most of us to get hurt this time, quite possibly fatally. If the opponents do get you, it'll hurt for a second before you pop back out here in a black cloud. If you need to, you can yield and the cloud will pop you back here - just shout 'yield' or tap out three times."