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Aya’s got a combat sim, and a pretty good one at that - the holograms may not be as perfectly designed as the ones in the Armax Arsenal Arena back on the Citadel, but they're a lot smarter, and tend not to run past you when you're actively shooting them. Which is why Arynn's currently lying on the floor of the arena, breathing hard, after taking a punch to the gut by a passing holographic Roekaar.
“Ow,” she mumbles, reaching for Cora’s proffered hand to help pull herself up. “Okay, new rule. Don't take your eyes off the saboteur.”
“I think it's only you who does that,” comes Vetra's voice over their comms, followed by a rough bellow as she slashes her omniblade through the nearest enemy.
Taking a moment to stick her tongue out in the general direction of where she thinks her girlfriend is, Arynn levels her shotgun at another hologram and shoots. “Go away. And you, Vetra, you hush.” They can hear Vetra's laughter over the bell that signals the end of the wave, but the next wave starts before Arynn can do anything about it.
“I think she's right, you know,” calls Cora only a few seconds later, watching Arynn drop to the ground of her own volition to avoid yet another enemy punch. Arynn knows her helmet obscures her face, but she glares good-naturedly in Cora’s direction before turning to charge a sharpshooter behind her.
When the last wave ends and they all trek back to the middle of the arena, Arynn grins up at the two taller women, her face set determinedly. “Well, I guess it's time to prove I can avoid getting stupidly bowled over by these guys.” She leads the way back towards the console on the wall that sets the enemy and difficulty. “I'm gonna solo it.”
The other two immediately start voicing their disapproval, but Arynn shakes her head. “It's not like it's real. The worst that happens, the Pathfinder gets knocked on her ass a few times and learns a lesson about checking her six.” She leans over and pokes a button on the console a few times. “Also I'm not stupid, I'm not going to try soloing gold.” Waving Vetra and Cora out of the arena, she goes to stand in the prep zone to wait for the first bell and strikes a pose, breaking down in giggles as the first enemies materialize.
Bronze is silly, but when there's only one player everything has a tendency to mob, and everything definitely still has a tendency not to pull punches. The map is a blur of fire and biotics for the first little while, and then there's a break as Arynn winds up flat on her back once again. But she stands right back up, and the bell for the end of wave one sounds more quickly than either Vetra or Cora was expecting.
Wave two, wave three, wave four - they keep coming, and she winds up on the ground a few more times, but she’s never knocked out and never has to pop a revive pack. The hack on wave six looks a little dicey for a bit, but she makes it out, and when the bell rings for wave seven and extraction she's already running the perimeter to draw the holographic outlaws away from the landing zone. Vetra starts cheering when she sprints back across the map with seven seconds left, and the bow she takes after her skidded landing earns quite a few cheers from the members of the Resistance also milling around the viewing box above the arena. She climbs the stairs up to the box and immediately receives high-fives from both her teammates, as well as a few of the angara standing around who've learned that it's a gesture of congratulations.
“Ry-der! Ry-der!” someone chants, and Arynn pumps her fist in the air for a moment with a laugh, pulling off her helmet and shaking out her lavender hair.
“It was only bronze, guys!” she calls half-heartedly, waving enthusiastically at the small crowd - it may have been only bronze, but seven waves survived is still something to be excited about, in her eyes.
Theirs too. “Still pretty amazing,” says someone, a woman Arynn's seen in passing in the Resistance headquarters, before turning back to her duties. The rest of the angara slowly depart, three of them heading down the stairs for their own turn in the combat sim. Arynn, Vetra, and Cora make their way to the locker room, tucked away behind the medical center, poking at the fastenings of their armor as they go.
Once all her armor’s off and tucked away to be sent back to the Tempest, Arynn flops down on a bench in just her undersuit, relishing the relative lightness after wearing her armor. She watches as Cora and Vetra pull off their own armor, letting her eyes finally flutter closed for a moment as her body starts to feel the punches.
She startles awake when Vetra jostles her shoulder. “Oh, did I doze off?”
Vetra nods, pushing Arynn's feet off the bench so she can sit down as well. “That was good. But you better not try any heroics like that -”
“It's no use telling her that,” Cora interrupts, looking over from where she's pulling on a pair of leggings. “She’ll agree with you, and then the next time we run into some nonsense on Kadara she'll pretend she forgot you said anything and rush right back into the middle of it all.”
“Maybe I did forget you said something,” Arynn retorts, standing up to strip off her undersuit and grab her hoodie and jeans.
Vetra shares a look with Cora and laughs. “Oh, you didn't forget, that's not your style.” She stands as well, doing one last final check on her armor. “But pretending to forget, now that's exactly what you'd do.”
Arynn pretends to groan as she tucks her undersuit in alongside her armor, waiting for nods from both the others before she signals to a passing courier that the armor crate is ready to be taken back to the ship. She tosses her hair as the three of them make their way out of Resistance headquarters, blowing at her bangs to keep them out of her eyes. “Well then. Make fun of the Pathfinder, see where that gets you.”
Laughing, Vetra rests her elbow on top of Arynn's head. “Oh, it'll get me everywhere, I think.”