Scott and Sooraya; Training...

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Sooraya and Scott talk about her powers training and then head to the danger room.

Sooraya nervously arranged her clothing as she headed to the office of Mr. Summers. Not knowing for sure what to expect or what to wear she had simply donned to outfit she used to wear in Attilan for PE, a loose tracksuit and a sports hijab. When she arrived at his office she saw the door was already open and quietly said: “Mr. Summers?”
 
Scott looked up from his computer and glanced towards the door. "Ah Miss Qadir, come on in" he smiled and gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk as he stood up to greet her. "So you wanted to work on your power training correct?" he asked as they sat down.
 
The young woman took her seat and  nodded. “I thought that was the idea. But I’ll be honest, I have no idea what to expect…”
 
Scott nodded: "Powers training can be like that. Let’s start with the basic question, what do you want out of this?"
 
It was silent for a few moments as Sooraya thought it over. “I want to be able to defend myself and those around me better against those who wish to hurt us.”
 
"Ok," It was Scott's turn to take a few moments to think about Sooraya's goals. "But you don't want to kill your opponents, or hurt them more than you have to right?" Scott asked.
 
“Yes…” Sooraya paused for a moment. “When I had to defend myself in Attilan, I was forced to hurt Mahad pretty badly, though I think he will recover… I realize I will not be able to prevent anyone from being hurt in a fight… but still…”
 
"You still don't want to hurt them if you can help it" Scott finished for her. He leaned back and smiled, "I can appreciate that, even now, actually hurting people is the last option I resort to. OK, we can focus your training on disarming your opponents and neutralizing their weapons."
 
“That sounds like what I  want to learn.” Sooraya agreed with him. “But I don’t how very well. I have used my sand form make sure that people couldn’t see and I can use it to hide very well… But what I did in Attilan… The officer said like it was...that I scoured Mahad or something like that.” She shuddered at the memory of the blood that had been there. 
 
Scott grimaced at the description, he could understand why Sooraya was unwilling to hurt anyone else. He gave her a few moments to gather herself before he spoke, "How fine is your control over your sand-form?" he asked gently. "Do you control the sand as a whole, or can you control it in smaller groups of sand?"
 
She had to consider that for a few moment. “I can control the sand as a cloud, as whole.” She finally stated hesitantly. “I can move it through small holes or make pattern on the floor… if that helps…” She paused for moment. “Can you give an example of what you mean with a small group?”
 
"Well" he leaned forward, "if you can control the cloud in smaller sections that gives us different options from controlling the entire cloud." He paused thoughtfully, pondering the problem before him. "You said you were practiced at creating a veil?" he asked. "We can probably build a strategy for you based around taking away their sight and picking them off from there."
 
Sooraya nodded. “Using my sand form so that people can’t see I have done before. I can control tendrils of my sand form, but not really separate a small part for example.”
 
Scott grinned, "That should be more than good enough," he replied. "We can use your sand form as a cloud to obscure your actions, then you can disable your opponents one by one." He paused and cocked his head, "You'll be up against armed opposition, among other things...how much do you know about guns, Miss Qadir?" he asked.
 
“Very little. I have seen them, but I have no idea how they work…” Sooraya looked at her teacher quizzically. "It seems like a good idea to learn how to stop a shooter, though..."

"It's a place to start", Scott agreed, "We spend so much time focusing on opponents with powers we sometimes over-look the danger posed by normal weapons" he managed to stop his hand reaching up to is fake eye, although barely.

“But can we also work on stopping someone with powers?” Sooraya asked hesitantly, not wanting to interrupt her teacher. “Men like Mahad might carry a gun, because he can only teleport. But I know there were also two or three energy projectors among AIMYS when I left…”

"Of course", Scott replied. "You can practice on me" he offered with a weak smile.

“Uhm… uhm…” Her eyes widened almost comically as she stuttered: “I… I don’t… think that… that would be necessary… I just meant… tactics for dealing with… them… Not you…”

Scott smile strengthened, "Come now, Miss Qadir, I promise not to hurt you too badly." His face turned more somber, "It's always best to train to a level higher than what you expect to need, life has a way of throwing curve balls at you when you least expect it.”
 
“I can’t just think of how I supposed to that? Blind them and make them trip or something?” Sooraya protested. “Though… I have been thinking about something… But it is probably nothing…”
 
 Scott sat forward in his chair, "You have?" he asked. "Go on, I'd like to hear your idea." he continued encouragingly.
 
Sooraya scratched under the corner of her scarf. “Well… it is a bit ridiculous, but… I was watching a movie in Attilan… There was a character made of sand and he could do many things with that… But the point is… he is massive, solid sand… I can only be a cloud… Maybe I can learn to be more solid to… I can be a cloud to avoid blasts and then become semi-solid to take someone out… Maybe trip them or choke them or something else I am learning in physical training…” She shrugged. “I don’t know…”
 
Scott leaned back in his chair and took a minute to consider Sooraya's proposal. "If you can do that, that would be...well very useful. Partial solidifying your cloud... that would definitely allow you the capability you’re looking for...wow." He fell silent as the tactical possibilities unfolded before him.
 
Shaking his head Scott refocused on Sooraya, "It's a good goal to work towards, but we need to focus on the immediate goal first." he reminded her.
 
“Alright…” Sooraya nodded. She could understand that one. “Can I ask one more thing? I don’t know how to learn to become more solid…”
 
"Uhh," Scott scratched his head, "This isn't my area of expertise" he noted, "but I'd guess it's a metal thing. Your power appears to be a selective form of telekinesis, but you should probably talk to Dr. McCoy or Jean, Dr. Grey- Summers." he clarified. 
 
“It is…” Sooraya suddenly remembered. “Nathan once told me that… But I don’t know much about it… I’ll talk to one of the doctors.” She nodded firmly. “But what do we do now?”
 
"Well" Scott replied, I'm sure we have a program or two programmed in the Danger Room which can teach you to neutralize guns and help you to practice controlling your powers.”
 
He stood up and gestured to the door: "Shall we?"
 
~**~**~
 
Scott looked up from his seat in the control room, he had found the program he had been looking for hidden away in one of the subfiles.
 
The walls of the danger room rippled outwards leaving behind a street in New York with a solitary gunman frozen in the middle of the street.
 
Downstairs Sooraya looked around the room, carefully taking in the details and surroundings. Finally she walked over to the gunman, focusing her attention on the weapon in his hands. When Scott arrived downstairs, she didn’t look up from the study of the weapon, but instead commented: “Is the purpose to take this man out?”
 
"Eventually, yes" Scott affirmed as he walked out of the door separating the Danger Room from the control room. "Firstly, however, try to neutralize the gun" he said walking over to the wall control panel. "It's always easier to hit a stationary target instead of a moving one".
 
“But a gun is… like a machine… isn’t it?” Sooraya asked, still continuing to study the gun in the man’s hands. “How do I take out a gun? Which part do I need to target?”
 
Scott walked over to stand next to her and look the gun from the hands of the gunman. "There are several ways to disable a gun." he informed Sooraya. As he talked he disassembled the rifle to reveal the chamber. "If you want to minimize collateral damage then my suggestion would be to block the chamber here." As he talked he pointed out the parts of the gun to Sooraya indicating the path she would need to follow.
 
“And I have to do this when he is firing, right? I can only do this when the shell is being ejected?” At Scott’s nod, she examined the riffle more carefully. “I would have to be very quick then.”
 
Scott flashed a huge smile at Sooraya, "That's why we practice" he agreed.
 
Reassembling the gun he placed it back in the gunman’s hands and walked back to the control panel. "Ok, I'll set it for a slow rate of fire so give it a shot."
 
“Can you set it to fire once before I go to sand form? I would like to have a look first.”
 
"Of course" Scott replied, pressing a button on the wall next to him. The gunman rotated and fired a shot into the nearest wall. "Hold on," Scott told Sooraya turning to make a change to the program. Above the gunman a blow up of the gun’s internal workings appeared showing the process and timing of the bullet firing as the gunman fired into the wall once more.
 
Sooraya observed it carefully and finally nodded. “I think I understand what I have to do. When I go to sand form, can you set it to go slowly once more?” When Scott nodded at her, she focused and suddenly her clothes dropped on the ground. A cloud of sand poured from the sleeves and hovered next to the gunman.
 
When Scott judged Sooraya was in position he pressed a button causing the construct to fire slowly once more. She ‘watched’ carefully and as soon as the shell started to eject she directed her sand form to the chamber, diving in as soon as it was fully injected, trying to get as much of her form in the chamber as possible. She did feel the bullet block though as it tried to enter the chamber the chamber and she directed another part of her sand cloud to give her trainer a signal to end the simulation.
 
Scott ended the simulation the walls rippling to grey and the gunman disappeared.
 
"Well?" he asked curiously.
 
Sooraya reformed inside her clothes and considered his question. “I think this is going to work, but I will need to practice a lot to become quick enough… And I need to learn about guns, because I think each gun will be a little bit different.”
 
Scott scratched his chin. “I can program simulations here, but you'd need a member of the X-men to work with you. I'd prefer if you were always supervised when you were near firearms though, accidents can happen. Perhaps we could talk to Mr. Wilson or Bishop, they should have access to more types of weapons. They probably know more on the subject than me too." he admitted honestly.
 
“I think simulations would be fine at first.” Sooraya answered. “But I was thinking more about a book on guns or something. So that I can learn to visualize things properly… That has always been important for my powers…”
 
"Well,” Scott replied, “Libraries and the internet have always been a great resource for finding information. Think of it as your homework." he replied with a grin.
 
Sooraya discretely rolled her eyes at that one. “I understand. And I will talk with some about the other part of my training.”
 
“Ok then," Scott said. shutting down the danger room. "Sounds like a plan to me." He paused thoughtfully. "Once you feel you're ready we can run a few more training scenarios to get you some practice." He said as he ushered Sooraya out of the Danger Room.
 
Thanks to all the people who helped us figure out what we needed to know to write this.