Weapons Training (part 4)

Posted on Thu Nov 10th, 2016 @ 6:09am by Captain John Theisman & Lieutenant Commander Mira Jayde & Lieutenant Commander Velah & Lieutenant JG Élan Val & Lieutenant Zhara Rynn & Master Chief Petty Officer Liang Shao

1,811 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Into the Raptor's Shadow
Location: Holodeck 2

[OLD]

In the interim, before Velah had begun to face off against Liang, he had found what appeared to be a section of fiber-optic conduit made of duranium that was about 3 feet long and looked like it could be a good weapon for him. As he hefted it, shifting it from one hand to the other, he wondered who he would be pitted against.

[NEW]

Liang watched Velah, recognizing the rhythm. She deftly deflected Velah's strikes. She had studied this form of martial arts, albeit briefly. Shaolin was much more to her liking. Especially as she could use it to disrupt Velah's internal rhythm.

Three strikes deftly taken and noting to show for it. Velah had to know this Master was too easily deflecting and as Velah studied the opponant she recalled what her own teacher had told her; the time for introductions is over and now the 'freestyle dance would follow. Now Velah listened more to her body and the way it sway; the centering of her being and how each extension as she took another attempt at a volley of strikes in a less rhthumatic and agressive type footwork; she threw in some distractive style short attacks meant to cause a reaction while gauging the opponant waiting for that slight opening, the irregular steps were still in the music in her head but she was dancing to cross genre music with each couple of seconds changing the beat and therefore the attack. WHile being dfensive as much as possible Velah had a chance, an opening when the staff was just that bit out of full alignment. Velah went for a total aggressive strike, not to harm but to at least land the blow; she needed to get that blow; she could get this 'touch' with her stick to Liang's side but it woiuld leave her open for a repost. STill it was an all or nothing style lunge that would either hit or not, Velha made sure she hit the SHaolin Master in the torso after such a long gambit of playing for opportunity it was worth the hit to the side.

Liang watched Velah carefully, countering each thrust. The woman was trying hard, so Liang decided to give her an opening to make her feel more confident in her own abilities.

The Escrima Stick extended as she had trained, and like striking a drum she connected with the side of Liang; it was a well placed shot and almost the exact sing her teacher had gone over with a whole multitude of strikes. Velah did not put full force but just enough to make the move; it was a national sport in some contries of Earth; Capoera, but Velah was well aware this is sparring and not a fight for her life. The hit would be registered by Liang and a counter move executed if Velah did not move quickly out of leaving herself vulnerable.

Once Velah got her hit, Liang executed a series of strikes and knocked the other woman's weapon out of her hand. "Well done, Commander," she said.

Velah gave ground and was out of strike reach, her chest heving a bit from the effort. Hearing the landing of the stick she glanced in the direction to see where it landed. She met the woman's gaze and stoodwith her hands at her sides and bow in respect.

"Thank you Master Liang." Velah said with an honest tone.

Liang bowed. "You did well. While you have learned much, there are a few things that would help you with your speed and agility. I can train you, or I can help you set up a holodeck program."

"I would be honored to have any help you can give." SHe met the woman's eyes. "I learn better from ... live beings rather than Holograms. I am not holo phobic but there is something about people that no computer can match in teaching."

"Live opponents can be unpredictable," Liang said, giving the Orion woman a half smile. "That makes them superior to holograms."

Zhara was not a great fighter. She was more accustomed to talkign out a problem than fighting. However, she was very interested in watching how everyone reacted to the unexpected. She found a comfortable spot on the edge of the field and watched.

Élan watched the medical officer take a round with the security specialist, her eyes studying both carefully as they sparred. Val had a keen interest in martial arts, as did Élan, but Élan finally decided that she wanted a sparring partner who was a complete unknown as far as style went. She also didn’t want to simply jump off into the deep end, either, so when the first match was finished the Trill turned towards the captain.

“Captain, would you object to a round?” Élan asked with a half smile.

John raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "I feel that I'm just a bit out classed. After all, I'm used to using an entire starship to resolve conflicts with."

“I’ll go easy on you,” Élan said with a wicked grin that was as much Val channeling forward as it was the symbiont's host as she dropped into a fighting stance, the quarterstaff held close to her body.

John somehow doubted that the science officer was entirely sincere in her promise, if only because he had heard those words be spoken before. Nodding towards Val, he raised his sword into a defensive low guard position and set his left foot behind him. The stance put him entirely on the defensive, but the warning about the holodeck safeties was fresh in his mind, that and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to try to stand toe to toe in a direct fight with Val.

Élan studied her opponent for a moment, feeling the memories from Val through their link as she thought over how she wanted to proceed. A quarterstaff against a sword wasn’t the best idea, but the low guard that the captain had adopted was a purely defensive stance that gave Élan the advantage. Spinning quickly, Élan shifted her hands on the quarterstaff and extended her arms at the end of her spin, striking the captain’s hand with the end of the staff and stepping back just as quick in order to avoid giving him the chance to strike back.

"Ow, ow, ow, dammit, ow!" John muttered as he let go of the sword with the hand that Val had struck and shoot it. Only too late did he realize what he had done and with a muttered "What the hell" he dropped the sword and charged towards the science officer, pressing the upper half of one index finger so that it laid flat against the palm with the thumb curled around the index finger and pushing down between the first and second joints. Called the shuri fist, the design resulted in a tighter fist and better alignment of the ulna and radius bones with the first two knuckles of the fist. John held a fairly high rank in Shuri-ryu karate, although in the back of his mind he had to remind himself that the Trill probably had more experience than he did. Either way, he was determined to make the science officer actually work at kicking his ass if he could.

Élan recognized the style of fist that the captain has adopted and almost shook her head. She knew of Shuri-ryu; it was perhaps one of the more eclectic karate systems she had studied while at the Academy. She preferred the Gosoku-ryu style of karate for hand to hand as well as several other types of martial arts, but she wasn't sure if she wanted to bother getting into a sparring match with Captain Theisman. After all, she had just struck him with a quarterstaff and captains were usually grumpy enough to enjoy beating people up when the chance presented itself. Shifting her grip on the quarterstaff, Élan adjusted her feet and side-stepped just before the captain reached her, spinning as she stepped out of his way and sweeping the staff around behind his knee to deliver a rather hard blow to the tendons there. She was hoping to stagger her opponent, but she wanted to try not to severely injure her commanding officer.


John grunted in pain as the staff hit the tendons behind his knee. The force of the blow was enough to make him stop, but the added pain coming from his tendons made him stagger and fall to one knee. He knew that the pain would subside but there was the mental shock of the fact that his science officer had just soundly beat him. Not only that but she had made it seem so damned easy. After a few moments of rubbing the initial pain out of his leg, John stood and turned towards Val. "Ok, you win," he said simply before he limped over to the side.

Élan offered her commanding officer an apologetic smile that held just a trace of amusement. Standing straight, she held the quarterstaff upright and offered a formal bow before she stepped over towards the edge of the practice area.

"Very nice, all of you," Jayde said. "You have all passed your weapons re-certification. Mr. Gunn, please stay as I wish to speak with you."

"You are now free to go," Liang said. "I will be running daily martial arts and non-traditional weapons classes, if any of you wish to participate."

"Thank you Commander Jayde." SHe gave a proper bow of respect. "I look forward to attendng some of those classes Master Liang." SHe bow a little deeper as one should to a master. "I think I need to get freshened up, next time I will dress more appropriately and not 'as I would be in most situations for Phaser and combat use." SHe said before taking her leave.

Liang bowed in return.

Velah just had been glad she wore bloomers of black to match the skirt. Nothing about Orions being modest but she had been raised more time on Earth than her own home planet so she tended to exude more human reaction. Those are far more comfortable than her 'heritage' and the less 'modest' lifestyle.

John raised his eyebrows and shook his head, this had without a doubt been one of the more interesting training exercises he had been in. "Commander, I want to thank you for your unusual method of training, and I ask you to keep it up," he said before he carefully limped out of the holodeck.

Jayde bowed to the Captain, pleased that his response to their training had been positive.

[END LOG]

Captain John Theisman, CO
Lieutenant Commander Mira Jayde, CSEC/TAC
Lieutenant Commander Velah, CMO
Lieutenant Elan Val, CSCI
Lieutenant Zhara Rynn, CNS NPC
Master Chief Petty Officer Liang Shao, MaA

 

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