*Verity's kick strikes a hand placed to intercept it, a sign that her counter is noted and deemed acceptable. Against someone who hadn't been training Verity for literal years, it likely would have connected to something more significant. For the moment, Samus keeps pace behind them, sending words ahead to fence with Jim.*

That's an interesting perspective. Are you absolved of responsibility, then, because if it weren't you making the decisions that cost those lives, it would just be someone else doing the same thing? Are you that replaceable?

*She's still evaluating what Jim is capable of, so lucky Verity gets to bear the focus of her physical attention today--she catches up and makes a grab at Verity from behind, simulating a pursuing attacker.*