The Martial Unity

"Pleasure to meet you too." Rui replied. He said, not taking his eyes off her.

"Well." Barnard shrugged. "If Neira is vouching for him, that's good enough." He turned to Rui. "Do you wish to reveal your identity?"

Rui shook his head. "I'd like to stay anonymous, thank you."

The Martial Union had reserved the right, on behalf of its Martial Artists, for its Martial Artists to conceal their identities and personal information while engaging in Royal commissions. This was a right that the Royal Family had conceded very reluctantly.

The reason the Martial Union had pushed for retaining this right was because it was far too dangerous to allow the Kandrian government and the Royal Family access to such data. Once the Royal Family learnt of their identity, the Martial Artists of the Martial Union could forget retaining any privacy. The Martial Union was simply unwilling to tolerate such a leak in information.

Barnard snorted, not saying another word about the matter, before asking. "How do you want us to address you?"

Rui thought for a second, before replying. "You can call me John."

He told them his name on Earth in his previous life.

"Well John." Barnard continued. "Have you memorized all relevant information?"

Rui nodded, before Barnard fired a series of questions that Rui cleanly answered, earning Barnard's grudging approval.

"We've been told you're an all-rounder with some degree of sensory and stealth capabilities." Neira said to him.

Rui nodded. "I have mastered Seismic Mapping and Blink."

"Good." Neira nodded. "Your Seismic Mapping together with my Thermal Eye, and we'll surely be able to ensure that the ringleader won't escape detection.

Rui raised his eyes at those words. Thermal Eye was a sensory technique he had seen in the Apprentice Library, it was quite pricey and difficult to master, this technique would surely be quite an asset for the operation.

"Alright gather around. We have two hours before the operation dispatch, we'll be going over the plan one last time." Barnard declared. The men immediately gathered, forming a circle around their leader, who had drawn out a map and had placed it on the table.

"The goal of this operation elimination, capture and rescue. The target locations of the raid operation range from the third block to the fifth block in the nineteenth district." Barnard said. "The participant squads of this operation are squads A28, D13, C34, D21, E62, F16, B02 and K23."

He paused before continuing. "Squad A28 will cover the first half of the third block." he said, indicating the area on map with a pen.

"Squad D13 the second half of the third block."

"Squad C34 the first half of the fourth block."

...

He continued reciting the target locations assigned to each participating squad. He went into many more details such as the infiltration means, the assigned gear, the protocol hierarchy and the many courses of actions that they were supposed to undertake under different possible scenarios.

Rui listened on with a vague interest in regards to how much planning and organization that even a relatively simple and straightforward operation such as this one required. It wasn't enough to say "let's jump in, defeat the bad guys, catch the villain and save the good guys". In any given operation, there were many things that could go wrong, and many things that could happen, the planning, organization and protocols existed to minimize the probability that something went wrong or unexpected that could disrupt the operation and lead to failure.

Soon, Barnard turned his attention to Rui and Neira.

"The two of you have only one objective in this mission: Preventing the escape of the ringleader or any Martial Artist." He said. "Scenario A: If there are no Martial Artists involved then you will aid the operation as parts squads A28 and D13."

"Scenario B: If there is a single Martial Apprentice, you will both focus your efforts on capturing them."

"Scenario C: If there are more than one Martial Apprentices, you will both cooperate on apprehending the closest Martial Apprentice to you."

"Scenario D: If there are multiple Martial Apprentices and one of them is the ringleader, you will focus your efforts on capturing the ringleader." He concluded. "At all times, maintain your sensory techniques and ensure nothing slips pass your detection. Neira, you will be in charge in relaying your reports once separated from the squads. The two of you will infiltrate the target locations ahead of time and be prepared for the emergence of hostile Martial Artists."

He added one final thing. "Above all else, do not let the ringleader escape. Do whatever needs to be done, we would rather her dead than alive and free."

Neira nodded, throwing a side smile at Rui. "Looking forward to working with you."

"Looking forward to working with you too." Rui glanced at her with interest. "Our of curiosity, what type of Martial Art do you practice?"

"I'm a close-range counter-offense specialist." She replied. "Generally I specialize in attacking while defending and using my opponent's power, speed and movements against them rather than my own."

"Interesting..." Rui murmured. The description of her style reminded Rui of certain martial arts fighting styles from Earth. Aikido from Japan and Krav Maga from Israel, specifically. These two martial arts specialized in using the opponent's power, and movements against them. Aikido placed a special focus on attacking the opponent's balance while Krav Maga focus on attacking the vital and vulnerable areas of the body that were exposed by the opponent's movements.

However, on Earth Aikido was not a very practical martial art as it was practiced in the modern era and Krav Maga was just dirty fighting systemized to some degree, it was illegal in most sports.

Still, the Martial Art in Gaea was far superior that on Earth, and was no meagre sport. So, he expected that she was quite formidable despite having a Martial Art that would have been quite dubious back on Earth.

He looked forward to seeing her in action.

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