The Hermes Endeavor

Chapter 4 - Tracy

As she studied the movements of the three men surrounding her, Tracy Collins reached up to sweep the bangs that pulled free from her ponytail behind an ear. She focused on her breathing, and made herself aware of the baton she was gripping slightly too tightly in her right hand. She relaxed her grip accordingly and shifted her footing to prepare for the man she thought would be the first to make his move. He was a larger man, standing at over six feet tall and weighing over two hundred and fifty pounds – nearly twice Tracy's own weight. She knew he had a propensity to overextend himself, and that brashness would be his downfall once again.

A faint smile crept on her lips as he charged at her. With one fluid motion, she made a faint to the right, pivoted on her left heal, spun around to the side, and caught the back of his knee with her baton. The strike combined with his own inertia was enough to send him to the ground as the other two attackers quickly made their approaches. The one to her right was where her attention went to first, as she used her free left arm to block a punch aimed at her stomach. In a flash, her baton was connecting with the inside of his forearm sending noticeable pain up to his shoulder.

Tracy shifted to her left, but reacted too late to the third attacker. He wrapped one of his arms under hers, and started trying to pry the baton from her pinned hand. The second man saw the opportunity, and moved in to assist in disarming her. Tracy bent her knees and lifted her feet a few inches in front of her, forcing the man holding her to support her full weight. The quick action threw his balance off slightly, and as soon as the man approaching her was within striking distance, she kicked up quickly with both feet towards his stomach. The blow had the intended effect; knocking the wind out of the attacker and causing the person holding her up to completely lose balance and fall backwards.

Tracy anticipated the fall, and rolled back with it over the man she was now on top of. As she rolled, she made a slashing type motion across his throat with her baton then leapt back up and dove at the man she kicked in the stomach a moment ago. He regained his breath and moved forward to meet her head on. As he attempted to grab her arms, Tracy performed a spin move and evaded his grasp. In the next second, she was behind him, and before he could react, she had one arm wrapped around the top of his head and the other holding the baton against his throat.

"Time," Tracy called out as she looked over at a woman holding a stopwatch.

"Nine seconds," she called out.

"God damn it, you are too fast!" The man with the baton at his neck said with a hint of agitation as he put his hands in the air in surrender. Tracy released her grip and took a step back, nodding at him. She then turned to address the group of people standing in front of the mats the battle was conducted on.

"Being underestimated is a weapon you can use – and let me assure you, you will always be underestimated," Tracy instructed to the class. The women that made up the majority of the group in front of her were nodding in understanding. Tracy continued with, "The first few seconds of a conflict are crucial. That underestimation will give you the element of surprise, but that will only last a moment. Once your attackers understand exactly what they're dealing with, their approach will be more cautious. Your objective should be to remove them from the equation as quickly as possible. In some places of the world, you absolutely do not want to be captured. If you are, you could see a fate worse than death."

Tracy waited a few seconds to allow that statement to sink in before continuing. She had read reports of some of the atrocities committed on fellow female soldiers captured in the Middle East. She had seen the videos of their mutilated bodies when found. The rage that filled her on understanding exactly was they were facing resulted in her starting this self-defense class. She believed that the standard combat training classes taught by men did not present the tactics best suited for women, so she worked with her superiors to arrange a specialized class she could instruct on a trial bases.