Spar (Backpost)

Posted on Thu Apr 6, 2017 @ 10:48pm by Lieutenant Nicole Anderson & Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit

1,999 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Silence
Location: USS Victory - Gymnasium
Timeline: One day after meeting with Cassandra

With the ship in stand-down operation while docked at Station Theta 7, the only office s required to be at station were those currently on watch standers detail. Not that there was much over on the station to offer in way of entertainment. Theta 7 was a small outpost, with an unimpressive pair of holodecks, one storefront offering a bland selection of items and a sole bar/grill which likely promised little more than severe gastrointestinal distress to anyone adventurous enough to take a chance on the Talaxian cook's cuisine. The Captain had decided to skip the additional distress to her system and was instead, spending her down time that afternoon in the Victory's gym, maintaining her own physical fitness was important after all..

Besides, how could she demand her crew stay in peak physical condition if she herself did not set a good example?

After starting with a 3 kilometer light run on a treadmill, Rhea had then spent some time lifting weights and now turned her attention to the sparring mats, where she faced off with a holographic partner for a light workout in hand to hand fighting.

Motion at the edge of her vision drew the Captain's gaze, she paused the program to watch as Lt. Taggart entered the gym. After their encounter with the Borg, Kennit knew Taggart had been connected to her long enough to not only gain a great deal of inside into her classified past assignments, but that he might have gained a little more .. practical knowledge as well.

Waiting for him to get closer, once he was in range of normal voice she said, "Mr. Taggart. I wondered where you've been hiding yourself. Decided to come out and play?"

AJ turned to address his superior officer. As soon as he made eye contact with her, flashes and flurries of what he had seen aboard the Borg ship flashed through his mind, too fast to catch but fast enough to feel. Pushing it away, he spoke. "A Starfleet Officer does have to keep in shape, ma'am." he said, slightly distracted as he walked towards some free weights.

The way his eyes flitted away almost instantly after meeting hers wasn't a good sign. To the Captain, it meant his confidence was broken. "Uh huh..." she responded in a slow, almost mocking tone. "The average Starfleet Officer is expected to keep in shape. On this ship..we have no average officers. I expect more than just..'keep in shape'."

Turning, she walked off the training mat to retrieve a rokushakubõ from a rack and returned to the starting position. Automatically resetting, her holographic opponent shifted to match her chosen weapon. "Set level 18."

The computer chimed softly in acknowledgment, her holographic opponent holding position until she began the first move. Staff weapons whistling through the air, the Captain resumed her workout. Every movement was graceful, controlled. The staff she held whistled as it sliced through the air, connecting with her holographic opponent with a sharp 'crack' of sound at each impact.


AJ's tongue slid over his teeth as he watched the Captain continuously struck her opponent with a calculated zeal and a fire in her eyes that he had never seen before. Slowly stepping over to her little engagement, he stretched his arm out and caught the next strike of the staff in his bare hand and held on, barely feeling what he presumed was the intense sting of pain. "You really should stop holding back. It's obvious that you want to hit this thing harder, so why don't you?" he asked, gripping the end of the bo staff tighter.

She gazed at him a moment, her dark eyes bemused. With a skillful, strong twisting motion she pulled the staff from his grasp and twirled it expertly around, spinning it behind her to her other hand and then flipping the staff up before jabbing it down into the mat. "This is just a workout program. It's no challenge. Just a way to burn off some energy...". She smiled then, "Besides.. I was taught to never reveal my full strength..."

AJ's mirthless smirk grew into a slightly reserved smile. "A spy through and through." he said, walking over to the rack that held staves of varying thicknesses and lengths. Choosing one that was roughly his height and stiff, he tapped it against the deck and twirled it like a dervish, snapping it straight against his arm. "How about revealing your strength to me, Captain. It's not like I don't have most of your knowledge in my head already."

An answering smile curved across her features at his words. She nodded just once. "In which case you likely know that answer already."

Disengaging the holographic trainer, she indicated he should join her on the mat with a graceful wave of her hand,slowly twirling her own staff in the other before assuming a defensive stance.

AJ took his staff in one hand and extended it forward.

She nodded once, then lunged forward immediately striking at him, slashing her staff in a blur of motion from left to right. He blocked the blow, the sound of the two staffs impacting a sharp CRACK! which echoed sharply though the gym area. The first few parries came a slower speed, each opponent testing the other somewhat however, the Captain swiftly began to launch strikes at him with more speed and focus as she grew more confident that he could hold up.. she wanted a change from a boring workout..she didn't want to hurt him..

She lunged in fast, twirling the end of her staff around his and snapping back to disarm him then before he could recover she launched a sweeping kick with her left leg and knocked his legs from under him sending Taggart sprawling to the padded deck. Dancing lightly back out of range, the Captain lifted his staff with her right foot under its center of balance and kicked it into the air for him to catch. Assuming a defensive stance she waited for him to retaliate...

She didn't have to wait long...he came at her moving fast, in short order the pair were a blur of motion, the sharp crack of their staff weapons slamming together creating an echos that reverberated through the gym arena.

Nicole walked into the gymnasium and immediately heard the sound of rapid weapons assaulting her ears. So he's training, she thought. I'll kill him. She walked into the main practice area and was surprised to see him sparring with the Captain. She wasn't sure what his capabilities were beforehand, but they were both moving with a speed she didn't normally associate with regular humans. In fact, she'd only seen it with one other before.

She sat and watched them, studying their movements. AJ's training was good, but the Captain's was as well. Nicole recognized a few of the moves she was using, and wondered how long the Captain had worked for the Section. She stood up however, when AJ began delivering his blows a bit harder than he should have and the Captain was losing ground. As the Captain ducked under one of his swings and got behind him, he turned quickly, springing his trap, and brought his staff around to swing at her skull, with enough force to cave it in.

Nicole rushed forward and brought her hand up, deflecting his staff and crying out as she felt the bones in her hand crunch under the strain. She spun around, bringing her elbow up and connecting with his cheekbone, knocking him off balance. "Enough!" she said, looking at both of them.

She cradled her hand while it healed and glare at the two of them. "Are you two trying to get yourselves killed?" she said. "Your bodies are nowhere near ready for this kind of punishment, and here you are!" She turned to look at AJ. "You are supposed to be on bed rest!"

"You're not my mother, and you aren't my nursemaid!" AJ yelled at her. "This was none of your business!"

Nicole's jaw hit the floor so hard she momentarily forgot about her throbbing hand. "None of my--AJ what the hell has come over you lately? You're lipping off to everyone, you are surly and withdrawn, what is wrong?"

AJ rolled his eyes. "Nicole, I love you, but please don't start pretending you're the Counselor, or the stable one in this relationship."

Nicole's face flushed hard, her skin tone turning so dark it looked normal; her eyes blazed red for a moment. "Watch yourself," she said, flexing her newly-healed fingers and making a fist.

"Do you have ANY idea what I've been through?" he said. "Do you know what I had? What I lost?" he said, looking at her.

Nicole's knee-jerk reaction was to say yes, but she figured he'd just accuse her of patronizing him. "AJ, calm down," she said.

"You are one to talk about calm," AJ said, throwing his bo to the floor. "If you 'ladies' will excuse me, I could do with a shower. Unless of course, someone wants to tell me how to do that as well?" He looked at them both and walked out.

Nicole watched him go, dumbfounded. She looked at the Captain, then back where AJ had gone. "I never thought I'd say this, but right now I think I am the stable one..."

Gazing back at the Doctor, the Captain said in a calm, non-chalant manner "I think you pissed him off..."

Nicole turned her back on the Captain and ran after AJ. She caught up with him in the corridor outside and put a hand on his shoulder. "AJ, why--" she didn't get any further before his hand lashed out and grabbed hers, twisting and bringing her arm up behind her back, pinning her against the wall. "Whatever you are going to say," he said, "I don't care."

Nicole growled, her eyes reddening and shoved herself off from the wall, wrenching her shoulder in the process. She grunted in pain but it worked to throw him off her enough to twist free. She brought her other arm up and her fist connected with his chin, snapping his head back and buying her the moment she needed to set her shoulder back in place and let it heal.

AJ looked at her with a mixture of fury and disdain. "Cheating again," he said.

Having followed the pair, approaching from down the corridor at a leisurely pace the Captain overhead his comment and answered with a question, "Which is worse.. cheating or running from what scares you I wonder..."

"I'm not," AJ growled, glaring at the Captain and then rounded on Nicole, his fist up again.

Nicole was used to being a notch or two above regular humans in terms of strength, but AJ's adrenaline overload was making him a difficult opponent to subdue. She grabbed his fist and yanked hard, using his momentum against him, and threw him into the wall. As he hit the floor, she grabbed him by his uniform top and slammed him hard against the wall, knocking the wind out of him and letting him slump down. She stepped back quickly, starting to breathe hard.

A growl built up in the back of her throat and her eyes turned red. She could feel her fangs starting to extend and her hair curl. She took one step towards him, then stopped herself, her step faltering. She pulled herself back together and turned, marching down the corridor. As far as she was concerned, if she never spoke to him again, it'd be too soon.

Watching as the Doctor stomped off, the Captain looked over to where Taggart was currently crumpled in a heap on the deck. Having a disgusted sigh, she muttered under her breath and then tapped her comm badge. Someone had to clean this up.


JP

Captain Rhea Kennit
Commanding Officer

Lt. Nicole Anderson
CMO

Lt. AJ Taggert

 

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