Keep Calm and Come Out Swinging

Posted on Thu May 10th, 2018 @ 10:43pm by Lieutenant JG Siobahn Fallon & Gunnery Sergeant Ami Rori

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/4

Sleep was not her friend, that much was apparent. After hours of tossing and turning Siobahn had finally managed to drift off, only to be woken by a sound and had been unable to sleep again. With a sigh she changed into booty shorts and a crop top then pulled on one of Hailey's old marine tshirts that had been left in her quarters. She pulled her hair up into a messy pony tail and added trainers before heading out into the corridor. Maybe a run would help her to wind down.

After an hour in the corridor Siobahn found herself turning back over the events of the previous evening. The more she went over it in her mind, the more she was bothered by what happened. Renee was right in that she hadn't been in the wrong, but now instead of that making her feel better, it seemed to just frustrate her more. It was a startling acknowledgement that Hailey was right. She didn't have to be out there putting herself in danger to be at risk. It could happen at any time, anywhere, and chances are next time she wouldn't have a set of darts in her hand.

Siobahn stopped running and leaned foward, her hands on her knees, using the moment to catch her breath and use the computer to find out where Ami was.

She had just keyed the computer when the sound of running feet began to approach and someone came jogging around the corner, the figure resolving into Ami herself. The Trill was dressed in a short sleeved sweatshirt and sweatpants shortened into shorts and her head cocked slightly as she saw Siobahn and slowed herself to a walk and stopped in at the younger woman, "Hey there, what brings you down here at this time of the morning?"

"You," Siobahn replied pointedly. "I take it back, everything I said about not wanting to hurt someone. Show me how to hit someone, right now."

A look of concern came across Ami's face, "That's not something you can just forget how to do. It's a step that there is absolutely no turning back from." She had to point out, "As soon as you learn how to properly attack, you are forever responsible for your actions. Are you absolutely sure you want to be in a position to do that?"

Siobahn held her head high, a fleeting look of stubbornness crossing her face. "Let's just say I learned a lesson," she replied quietly, pulling up the sleeve of the tshirt to reveal the bruising that was already starting to come out on her pale skin from where he had grabbed her arm. "I have two choices, I can hope that there is always someone else around or I can take matters into my own hands. I'm making a choice. I choose to not be a victim."

Ami's face grew somber, but she nodded slowly, "All right." Two words and she thought for a couple moments, "Let's go." She tapped on Siobahn's shoulder and took off at a slow jog to let the doctor catch up, "How hard do you want to hit?"

"How ever hard I have to to protect myself," Siobahn replied, catching up to Ami easily and keeping pace. "Next time I likely won't have darts in my hand, all I will have is my hands."

"This is going to be rougher than what we've been doing, a lot rougher." Ami said, "You are likely to go home with bruises worse than that, because it's not just going to be me you're going to be working with. I can't just ease you in by avoiding the hits, this is going to be more of a brute force approach."

"A small price to pay," Siobahn replied calmly, clearly not about to be dissuaded now that her mind was made up. "But if you don't want to do it, just tell me now. I'm sure I can find a holodeck program."

"Holodeck programs don't teach it right." Ami countered, "They're too clinical and lifeless, not as responsive as a teacher needs to be. So yeah, I'm going to teach you. You know when Hailey pointed out that it's going to involve you getting beaten up until you learn how to beat them up? That's probably be what happens."

Siobahn stopped and looked levelly at Ami. "As opposed to the alternative?" she countered. "What if last night I hadn't been in a crowded lounge? What if Renee hadn't been there? What if his buddy decided to lie and cover for him? What if I didn't have the darts in my hand to use as defence?" She paused for a moment. "Last night I was genuinely scared of what was happening, and I don't ever want to feel like that again. A few bruises are a small price to pay," she finally finished quietly.

As the corner before the Marine's area came up, Ami slowed them to a walk, going over in her head what all she'd seen from Siobahn in every respect, "All right. This morning, we'll work on you hitting. You're going to practice for at least two hours every day." It was a command rather than a request, "Here or with Security, doesn't matter, but bare minimum twice a week, you are going to be here working with me one-on-one. You want to be able to take someone down hard, right?"

"That's the intention," Siobahn replied calmly, having regathered her composure.

"If you weren't Hailey's girl..." Ami said softly as shook her head, "You're going to be mixing two styles, mine and Nyx's. Speed, precision and brutality. You're not going to be a thug, but you're going to learn how to hit hard in just the right areas. You're a doc, so you know where everything is. Those are going to be your target, solar plexus or if need be, throat from the front, kidneys, back of the knee from side and back. The point is to hurt them as bad as you need to until they stop."

Soibahn nodded slightly. "Sounds straight forward enough," she said calmly as they entered the Marine's area. She drew a deep breath as she turned to face Ami, straightening her back and holding her head high. "I'm not backing down and I'm not changing my mind," she reiterated.

"Good." Ami took her to the center of the mat, then went into a combat crouch, almost sideways to Siobahn, right hand in a fist near her guy, the other hand flat and out towards the younger woman, "Stance like this..."

***Three Hours Later***

The private standing across from Siobahn rubbed a spot on the inside part of her shoulder where the doctor had gotten a good hit in on her and nodded, "Not bad, doc, not bad."

Siobahn exhaled slowly, dropping to the ground with an exhausted laugh as she rubbed the back of her fist with her fingertips. "Something tells me I'm gonna be feelin' this for a few days," she said with a shake of her head. "I'm thinkin' a dermal regenerator may be a good investment to keep in my quarters..."

"Shiatsu massager." Ami came up beside her, "Thanks Finch, I think you know part of your routine from here" Ami patted the grinning private on the shoulder, "I've got one you can borrow for a while, it really does help the sore muscles. That was actually a nice hit and Jessi is pretty much your size and weight, so you and she are going to get to know each other really well."

"I would kill for a long hot bath right now..." Siobahn leaned back on her hands, taking another deep breath before looking up at Ami. "Are you gonna tell Hailey about this when she gets back?" she asked quietly.

"I think she'll find out soon enough if you don't." Ami observed, "But I'm not going to be the one to tell her that I'm the orchestrator of the bruises you may or may not have!"

"She's gonna ask questions which will need to be answered..." Siobahn shrugged slightly. "I don't know, maybe I'm just over tired and over thinking it all. I don't even know when she'll be back so maybe it isn't even relevant anyway."

"Hun, it'll be relevant for whenever she gets back. You're tired, yes, you're overthinking it, yes. You don't have to tell her why, but you have to tell her that you are doing this. Tell her you changed your mind, that's it. After a bit, she'll want to take over your training, no doubt. But, I'll keep working with you so you can beat her. She's not a precision fighter with her hands, never has been."

"I think it'll take a long time before I get any where near that kind of skill set, but hey," Siobahn shrugged. "I've said it before, I'm not a quitter and at least for now I have plenty of time." Climbing to her feet, she moved gingerly. "I've seen her move... I wouldn't put her against Nyx, but she can definitely hold her own... I certainly wouldn't want to be on her bad side, that's for sure!"

"I sure wouldn't want to be in middle range of her in a combat situation." Ami agreed, "I'd be happier with her in hand to hand, though, but Nyx..." She glanced over to where the Tialan was in the middle of a sword kata, "Her? I wouldn't desire to fight her at any range. The only way I'd be comfortable taking her out? From aways away, from behind, without any warning whatsoever. And even then, I'd better get her on my first shot.. I might not get a second."

Siobahn laughed again. “Yeah, I have heard that...” she paused for a moment, contemplating, before speaking again. “I think I will just stick with my basics. Even if I trained all day every day I’d never be up in that league!”

"That's what she does," Ami chuckled, "I never see her take a day off, never see her take more than an hour or maybe two off in a given day. Fourteen or more hours a day, she's training on one thing or another. It really is just who she is, the War Priestess. Wants to be the best with whatever weapon is available or even with empty hands. Hell, you remember when you first saw her, right?"

Thinking for a moment, Siobahn finally nodded. "She was impressive then and she still is now," she replied easily. "I don't know I could tell you any different.. but..." she paused for a moment, stopping to watch Nyx carefully for a long moment 'Clearly she is very dedicated to her craft."

"It is quite literally her religion." Ami pointed out, shaking her head, "That still boggles my mind, how a people can devote basically a third of their 'upper class' to the arts of war. Literally that, the bare basics of their history and virtually nothing of the sciences at all, purely combat arts."

"Why don't you ask her?" Siobahn replied. "I have read a few little bits and pieces about Tialan's when I first came onboard, you know, from a medical perspective and they really are a unique race. I definitely don't pretend to know much of it, but I think there was something wrong with the planet that impacted scientific advancement?" She shrugged a little as she watched in silence.

"Their atmosphere." Ami responded, "Acts as an energy-sink, eats higher technology, really really nasty. On the plus side, it's helped them survive when the Borg attacked. Three times, to be exact, and with their reliance on swords, arrows and the like, any Borg troops that came to grips were quite literally cut to pieces. I'd surmise that part of the reason they did actually make it to warp was due to the technology they left behind. But I don't think Nyx has a problem talking about her world if you want to ask her, she really is remarkably easy to talk to."

Siobahn laughed. "I'm sure she has better things to do than answer mundane questions from me, but I'll make a point of catching up with her later, I did want to ask some specific questions about Tialan physiology, you know, from a medical perspective." Rolling her shoulder, Siobahn reached up and rubbed it gently as she turned back to Ami. "So, when do you want me back here?"

"That is completely up to you, hon." Ami said softly, "I'm not going to push you when it comes to attacking, that has to be at your pace. You know I'm basically down here all the time and if I'm not here, Nyx would be more than happy to help, or Jessi there." In her head, she was dreading what would happen when Hailey found out about this.

"Tomorrow morning, though probably not 4am," Siobahn replied with a laugh. "I want to keep making ground while I can, so long as you want me to keep coming back."

"Siobahn, sometimes it's hard for me to get these guys to practice or learn new things, having a student who willingly comes back?" Ami shook her head, "If you didn't notice, it's kind of a dull routine around here for us. We're slated for some entry technique training today, but there's an awful lot of downtime because we're so small. And you are always welcome, always."

Instinctively, Siobahn reached out and hugged Ami. "Thank you Ami," she replied with a quiet smile. "I owe you, big time."

"Not at all, kiddo." Ami patted Siobahn on the back, "It's what we old fogies do, help out the youngsters." She barely suppressed a cringe caused by a sharp, very sudden pain in her abdomen, "Part and parcel."

A look of concern crossed Siobahn's face as she pulled back from Ami. "Are you okay?" she asked, her voice full of concern.

Ami composed her face and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, don't worry about me. Probably the little turd complaining about what I had for lunch, he doesn't like potatoes at all."

"I will accept your lie," Siobahn replied quietly. "But if it keeps up, come see me okay?"

"Well, he doesn't like them." Ami stuck to that story, "But if it keeps up, I will."

"Good," Siobahn smiled. "I guess that's a good reminder that I need to get back to my real job, though I think I need a shower first." She finished with a laugh.

"All right, shoo, away with you!" Ami laughed, "See you tomorrow.


OFF:

Ensign Siobahn Fallon
Medical Officer
USS Wellington

Gunnery Sergeant Ami Rori
Marine
USS Wellington