[Mreeep mreeep mreeep] My alarm was going off in its annoying shrieking tone. I rolled over, pushing up with my arms to lift myself off of the bed. Groggy and still very tired I fumbled around with my alarm clock managing to find the dismiss alarm button. The sharp shrieking noise ceased and I pushed off my bed falling with a loud thud onto the floor. After laying on the floor for a few minutes I picked myself of and headed over to clean myself up in the bathroom. I took a quick shower as to not waste water, and then went on to shaving. I had not shaved in a good bit, so at this point, I had a short beard and poofy mustache. I decided that it was time for them to go, leaving my face looking neat and trim with the prickliness that comes after a fresh shave.
I walked down to the mess hall prepared for some more bland oatmeal. Instead, I got a nice surprise, someone had gone and picked up the rest of the cobra. The cobra would be served for a fair amount of time, considering the large size of the overgrown snake. In some places, cobra meat is considered a delicacy, especially the venom sack. For now, I could only hope that it would live up to its reputation. I sat down at a table next to Narchean and Buvin. being the type of person that he is, Buvin was still eating the bland oatmeal that he considered to be "the perfect food for any meal or occasion." I stared at the disgusting looking hunk of flesh on my plate, considering how bad it could taste.
"Hey Narchean, what part of the snake do you think this is from?" I said, half hoping it to be so disgusting that I would lose my appetite completely.
"Oh, I don't know. But it is not the venom sack, I ate that already"
"How have you eaten the whole venom sack already? Are you still eating!!!"
"Yalson told me that I need food to heal."
I shook my head in disbelief, instead turning my attention to the TV. Currently, it appeared to be showing the events of the sparring match yesterday that had broken the training room walls. To my surprise in the ring, I saw Ruby, Yalson's wife. In the other side of the ring, I saw Io a relatively recent recruit. Io was a young man who seemed to be in his twenties, he was a bit careless but always did the best he could. Between the rough ruthless nature of Ruby and the never give up nature of Io, I could see this was already going to be an interesting match. Kitt rang the bell and the match began.
"Round 1 you may begin."
Io rushed in for the strike without hesitation, aiming to finish it off quick. His quick only somewhat rational actions reminded me of Narchean. As Io reached Ruby she easily sidestepped and coming to a quick stop left Io with little balance. Taking advantage of her opponent's balance Ruby hit Io's back with just enough of a blow to send him falling to the ground with a gentle thud. Io quickly picked himself up, deciding to a bit more cautious in the future. Ruby went for a powerful right cross Io blocked, but the force of the punch sent him back a few feet. He charged at her again this time he expected the sidestep, so as he reached her he dropped down into a moving sweep, knocking the feet out from under Ruby. surprised she was knocked down by Io, Ruby got up and arranged herself into a fighting position, blocking the punches that Io had been throwing. When Io threw his next jab instead of parrying, as usual, she grabbed his fist. What happened next happened really fast, Ruby brought her left knee up as she pulled Io into it, next she moved forward, causing him to start falling onto his back, as he fell she allowed herself to fall as well aiming to hit him with her already bent knee. As they fell Io who had started to see what was happening managed to roll slightly to the side causing the knee to only barely hit him. Io then managed to flip over, pinning Ruby to the ground instead, continuously punching her in the head. Ruby who was on the bottom still, pushed with her legs, sending Io backward into the wall. What followed was by no means elegant, Ruby rushed forward sending a flurry of punches at her opponent. at the same time Io was moving extremely fast to block all of these punches, and while he did this he was kicking her as well. Ruby who was getting tired, decided to finish this. She kicked him straight in the balls, then as he was curling in pain, she slammed his face onto the ground, picked him up again and finally punched him with such a force that they were both sent flying through the ring and through the wall. I saw now why Yalson was able to leave his wife with the patient, she was a patient too.
I rushed to eat my snake, eager to go down to the medbay to congratulate both Io and Ruby for stellar… no interstellar performances (get it?). I looked around at the others, neither of them had been watching. Buvin who had finished his bland oatmeal was reading a newspaper from the early days of star travel, while narchean was looking at his plate accusingly as if it was the plate's fault that he ate way too much.
"Did any of you guys watch the fight from yesterday?" I asked expecting them to have watched it by now.
"Yeah, they are some impressive fighters. I'm sure we could put them to good use." Buvin didn't even look up from his paper as he replied.
"After all these years I can finally understand why Yalson never spars with her."
Putting down his newspaper, Buvin replied: "Well, what are we waiting for, let's go talk to them."
Buvin and I walked to the medbay, over 3 and a half blocks and down two levels. Narchean decided to sit this one out, due to his need to throw up. When we got there Ruby who had taken less of a beating had already left. We said a quick hi to Yalson and went over to greet Io.
"Hey did you guys see my fight last night?" he asked as we walked over
"Actually yes, that is why we are here."
"Oh no, are you guys going to make my fix the damage?"
"Actually no, we are here to congratulate you for a very impressive fight. And to talk to you about joining the troops."
"Well, in that case, I'm in. when will I start?"
We laughed a bit "I wish everyone had that kind of enthusiasm. For now, you can start by resting and healing." Buvin gave me a slight punch for the comment about enthusiasm, which had clearly been directed at him.
All of the sudden we heard something "Water…" Our mystery pilot had just woken up.