By the Blades of Bey'a'Dande

Posted on Fri Oct 12th, 2018 @ 2:42pm by Staff Sergeant Andromeda Dreik & Staff Sergeant Nyx'e'Trixe Valentine

Mission: https://wellington.pegasusfleet.site/index.php/sim/missions/id/5
Location: Marine Training Area

Her armor glistened as she moved on the mat, the staff in her hands was spinning almost like a dervish in its own right, in constant motion, moving to intercept the holographic knives that appeared from random places around the holo-mat. If they hadn't been holographic, there would be batted blades flying all over the room.But it wasn't just a two-dimensional exercise, Nyx was spinning, ducking, leaning, even did a backflip to avoid a blade even as the staff flicked out twice to deflect two more. She did an additional backflip, then one more before falling to one knee and sweeping with the staff to deflect another before punching straight out with the end to lodge the final blade in the end. She exhaled deeply and closed her eyes for a few seconds before using the staff to get back to her feet. The armor, red with silver chasing and ornamentation, seemed to be made of reinforced leather, a battle-skirt with the same reinforcements, the chest armor with 'short sleeves' and pauldrons, but form fitting and flexible at the same time, bracers but no gauntlets.

The Tialan dropped the staff and it vanished before it could bounce off the ground and she reached back and drew not one, but two swords from over her back, flipping them over her wrist as a Klingon and a Jem'hadar from two different points in the circle.The Jem'hadar pressed something on his neck and closed his eyes and inhaled deeply eyes reopening to a crazed look. Nyx went to one knee after glances at each of them, placing her swords on the ground as her mouth began to form words that made no sound audible to anyone watching, but seemed to be a prayer of some sort. Her empty hands formed a symbol in front of her before the Jem'hadar grew tired and the Klingon roared, both charging at her.

Blades seemed to flash into the Jem'hadar's hands as the Klingon brought a bat'leth into play from behind him, bringing it around into a slash meant to decapitate her where she knelt, but she wasn't there. In the two seconds they took to get to her, Nyx had rolled forward and come up, both blades in her hands already intercepting the moves of the drugged-out Jem'hadar, sparks flying from the contact points and she brought those blades up and to the left, then rolled to its right just as the bat'leth tore one of the blades from its hands, along with the hand itself. That didn't stop the Dominion soldier as he wheeled around on Nyx again, roaring in pain. Nyx deflected his blade, moving inbetween him and the Klingon, parrying the bat'leth around with one blade, batting the fan-style blade with the other. She let the Klingon blade go wide and brought that sword around in a tightening arc, intersecting the Jem'hadar in the neck with it as he brought his blade away with the lesser. It threw the soldier to the ground, a gaping wound venting its blood out. Nyx casually ducked the next slash and then backblow from the Klingon before pressing her attack.

The Klingon used his foot and a half height and double-weight advantage to his benefit. Nyx knew she couldn't match him strength for strength, but he wouldn't care. She planted her longer blade into the ground to block the next slash and it sent the blade spinning to the edge of the holo-mat and bouncing off the 'wall' of the field, twisting her in the air, where she took that and rolled past the Klingon as she hit the ground. He brought up his blade in an extremely powerful overhand slash and she braced her red-booted feet on the ground and brought the shorter rune-inscribed blade up, bracing it on her hands and bent her elbows at the precise moment the bat'leth hit it and she grunted with the effort of the blow, pushing back, but was pushed back towards the wall of the field by brute force. The uplifted heel of her right armored boot hit the field and the instant that touch happened, she collapsed her left leg, sending her in that direction as she directed the bat'leth to the right. As she rolled past, her blade slashed into the Klingon's right leg, severing the hamstring. She came to her feet and in a perfect move, took the blade in both hands and swung through, this time taking the creature's head off completely.

The scene on the mat finally vanished, the holograms flickering and disappearing, the blades, the blood, even Nyx's armor melted away to become a white gi-like uniform, albeit with short sleeves and a skirt-like appearance as if it were meant to go underneath the armor that had been on her moments earlier.

Andi finally exhaled, not even aware she had been holding her breath. "Well..." She unfolded herself, rising to her feet with surprising grace and elegance. "Well, color me impressed, you certainly have some moves!" She laughed and twisted her long hair up onto her head, securing it with an elastic and some pins she pulled from her pocket before bending back down and picking up a swathe, carefully removing the layers to reveal an antique sword. Holding it carefully, she dropped the fabric and pushed it aside with her boot before running her hand gently over the blade, her fingers tracing over the silver lettering on the blacked inset of the blade. Finally she grabbed the hilt, tossing it a few times, assessing the weight in her hand. "It's been a while since she came out to play," Andi said with a quick grin.

Nyx smiled as she walked over to where she'd gently laid her own actual blades on a side table, meanwhile watching the blade and any possible subtle nuance of how it flew through the air, where any potential uneven weight distributions could be, the center of balance of the blade. When she got to the table, she took a few moments to decide which one she wanted to use, ultimately deciding on the shorter, runed blade. It was only shorter by a matter of a foot or so, but still gave her more of a flexibility with style, just with a couple adjustments she was already used to. "That is a beautiful blade, Milady." She remarked, "Did you have it made for yourself, or was it passed down to you? An air-loo?"

"I guess you could call it something of an heirloom," Andi said quietly. "It has been handed down through the women of my family on my father's side. He was an only child so my Grandmother passed it to me before she died. I have no idea how old it actually is." Andi turned the sword, holding it by the blade and offering it to Nyx. "It's a lot heavier than yours, but to me it always feels right in my hands. It feels natural."

Nyx took it with her free hand, letting it weigh it down more so than the one in her other hand, "It is heavier, Milady, but still very well balanced." She used her wrist alone to move it around before spinning it on her outstretched fingers at the balance point of the blade to offer it back to Andi, "Definitively a deadly weapon."

"When I was little I wasn't supposed to have the sword in our house, my mother hated it and everything to do with it, so it was hidden under my bed. I used to have nightmares at night that all the souls of all the people that had been killed with this sword were trapped in it's blade and when I slept they were going to come out and get me," Andi replied with a somewhat sheepish grin. "Pretty silly huh?"

The small smile Nyx gave her told her she didn't think it was silly at all, "Not so much to come out and get you. Trust me in that they are safely ensconced in the blade with no escape, Milady. If they were free to roam, they would run around in sheets and say boo."

Andi laughed openly at Nyx's joke. "So long as they run around in their own sheets and leave mine alone, then well, they can go on their way. I'll bother them not! Personally I much prefer other things that bump between the sheets anyway," she finished with a wink.

That didn't confuse Nyx, it just gave way to an awkward silence for a few moments, "I.. Wouldn't know, Milady." She said quietly, "Not that I do not know what goes on there, I have no experience in the matter."

"I know, but I maintain, you have no idea what you're missing out on! Seriously! It's GREAT for stress relief! Not to mention a great way to wind down and get rid of all that tension after a big fight!" Andi shook her head. "Okay, so what do you have planned next?" she asked, opting for a rapid topic change.

Nyx was grateful for the change of subject, it wasn't something she'd discussed before with well... Anyone. It wasn't part of who she'd trained to be or even any of her interests. She took a deep breath and cleared her mind about, "Well, Milady, I was thinking we just spar a bit, well, depending on the rules you desired. I can handle any rules you wish." She smiled, "Even the no rules."

Andi grinned. "There are no rules in war. Do you think the enemy is going to play nice and only whack you with the flat of the blade because it might be against the rules?" she mimicked her grandmother as she spoke.

Her eyebrows raised at that, her smile changing from normal to very appreciative, "Then perhaps we should use holographic models of our weapons, Milady? I do believe it would do us no good to have no rules and end up one of us killing the other."

"Please stop with the Milady, it isn't necessary. We're just a couple of friends playing around on the holodeck, there is no formality here, I am just Andi! Hell, even in the middle of a war I'm still just Andi!" With a shake of her head Andi shifted the weight of her blade, tossing it easily in her hand as she took a few steps back. "C'mon Nyxie," she said with a teasing grin. "Show me what you got!"

A nearly feral grin crossed Nyx's face as she flourished her sword briefly in figure-eight motion before bringing it up into what could have been considered a classic samurai katana pose, both hands on the grip, inviting the faceoff to come to her for a pair of seconds before moving in on her own to be the aggressor, changing from a two-handed grip to a single hand that changed hold on the blade slightly to sweep up from the ground in a quick slash.

With ease Andi deflected the slash, the sound of metal scraping across metal ringing out through the otherwise silence of the holodeck. Shifting the balance of her sword in her hand, she raised one eyebrow slightly at the change in Nyx's demeanor. "So that's how it's gonna be huh?" she countered lightly, the corners of her own mouth quirking upward in a smile. She lowered her blade, blocking another attack from Nyx before quickly shifting the angle of her sword and swinging it upward, between Nyx's blade and her body toward her lower ribs.

Nyx made a mental note of the move Andi made to get inside her guard, it wouldn’t happen again, but she wasn’t expecting it. Still, even as her sword was maneuvered out of the way, she was moving towards Andi, arm clamping towards the blade just beginning to rise. Depending on the sharpness of the blade, she probably would take some damage, but with very little momentum, it would be minimal. She felt the barest nite of the blade as she clamped down with muscles of iron and twisted sharply, dragging Andi around. It was either that or lose the sword and so few people, even priestesses of the sixth class, would release the blade. Halfway around, she released her grip, slashing out with a quick flick just in case Andi recovered extremely quickly to bring herself around at eye level to the blade, then did a quick figure eight as she kept the weapon between them in a ready position as she mentally gauged what that sword had done to her, negligible.

Feeling herself suddenly being propelled awkwardly, Andi immediately relaxed her grip on the sword, allowing it to go slack. Almost as soon as Nyx had started to release her pressure on the sword, Andi side stepped, bringing her sword down to ward off the slash Nyx had thrown in her direction. "Damn girl!" she exclaimed as she resolved her grip on the hilt of her sword, taking a moment to just study her opponent, the way she moved, the way she held herself, the way she held her sword, every little thing she could discern may be something to give her a slight advantage.

Left foot was out as Nyx rested her weight on her right and back, ready for motion, her blade not even quivering in the slightest, perpendicular to the ground, aimed right at Andi’s heart and partially drawn back, her face a casual smile of intense concentration. She didn’t know Andi’s style, so these were still testing clashes and she relaxed the blade a bit, beginning to swing it in a lazy U motion, bringing her left foot back a foot and a half, then on the rise on the left side, swung her wrist around and began to move in, keeping the sword in a constant motion in front of her, flashing out with quick strikes to casually test Andi’s defenses while still giving herself enough space to bring it back for a defense if needed.

More than managing to defend herself against such trivial strikes, Andi pursed her lips as she watched Nyx moving. Her movements were constant, almost rhythmic. It only took a few seconds for Andi to realise that there was a pattern to her holding stance. She grinned wickedly, matching her movements until she leaned in, flicking her blade ever so slightly, the tip of her sword catching under the hilt of Nyx's sword, missing her fingers by a fraction of an inch before she lunged, moving the blade hard and fast, a movement intended to dislodge the blade from Nyx's hand.

The choices were simple: Keep the blade and be in a very awkward and compromised experience, or let the blade go and improvise. The choice came and was made in one split second. Releasing the sword, she slid into where the blade was coming from, getting under it, hands flashing out locking one vise-like grip on wrist of the hand grasping the hilt in mid-lunge and twisted, other hand throwing a rock hard fist into Andi's gut, then turning herself to keep more pressure on the twisted grip-hand.

With a firm hand around her wrist controlling her and the breath being forced from her as though she had been hit by a freight train, Andi had no choice. She fell inward on her opponent, the weight of Andi's body pushing Nyx backward as they both fell back onto the matting beneath them. Andi could feel her wrist being twisted uncomfortably as Nyx tried to take control of the one sword between them until they hit the mats with a thud. Almost instantly Andi moved in, her lips pressing against Nyx's, just the slightest hint of tongue flicking against her lips.

The sword they had both been grappling for fell against the mat beside them momentarily before Andi's hand closed around the hilt. "Never under estimate your opponent," she said quietly, her breath brushing gently over Nyx's skin. "They will do anything to disarm you."

It had been shocked surprise when Nyx had felt the press of the lips and she went rigid for a full second, then another as she tried to comprehend what happened, then she reached up and grabbed the front of Andi's shirt with both hands, put a knee up into her stomach and pushed off with both that knee and the foot she had flat on the ground, throwing the other marine up and over onto her back and following right along over, landing square on Andi, then in that moment after landing compromising her position a bit to press one knee down on the wrist once again holding the sword. "That was not nicely done, Milady." She said in grudgingly grumpy acknowledgement.

"Always know your opponent's weaknesses Nyxie," Andie replied quietly, having rolled with the punches before easily shifting Nyx to fasten her grasp on the hilt of her own sword. "There are always people who will take advantage of you..." She unfolded her own body, rising to her feet with surprising grace and elegance before extending a hand to help Nyx to her feet. "I caught you off guard because I guessed your weakness. There are others that will do worse."

Nyx accepted the hand and let herself get helped to her feet, "That you did, Milady." She agreed, "I admit, I have never had that sort of situation come up in a fight before." She shook her head and retrieved her holographic sword, "There is likely no one on Tial that would have used that tactic. Effective through it is." She flushed redly in embarrassment.

Andi laughed lightly. "I was probably the first one to ever use it to disarm my opponent when I was going through hand to hand combat training with the marines. I almost failed hand to hand for inappropriate conduct. But the weekend I spent with my opponent more than made up for it," she finished with a wink.

Eyes opened wide at that comment, Nyx flushed an embarrassed red. Did she know about that sort of thing? Of course, in fact on Tial, there were special places one could go to rent ones affections, that some would visit to relieve stress and anxiety. She’d never gone, preferring to keep training instead, even if the place would have accepted her patronage, which it likely wouldn’t have. “As I said, Milady, rather effective. I may have to keep it in mind in case there’s a situation that it could come in handy for.”

With a grin, well aware that Nyx was finding herself feeling somewhat awkward and uneasy with the topic of conversation, Andi flourished her sword in a sweeping figure eight between them. "Shall we go again?"

Nyx had turned to hide her face as she retrieved her blade, saluting with it straight up in front of her face, “Of course, Milady.” She smiled, relieved at the change of subject. She’d also noticed something else in the last exchange, something likely to exploit at the right moment. She brought her sword down from the salute, flipping it over her wrist before bringing it up in an upwards slash, not a serious attack, but to keep Andi on her toes.

Side stepping easily, Andi deflected the blade with her own, the clang of metal on metal resounding around them. Using the momentum from the strike against Nyx's blade, Andi swung her own blade upward, keeping it close to the profile of Nyx's body, bringing it back down again. She struck Nyx's blade firmly from the other side before stepping back, holding her sword between them.

Nyx didn't let the other woman have any sort of break, moving into her, batting Andi's blade aside and forcing a retreat from her of a step, perhaps and a half. She proceeded to use what she had learned from the previous bit, never letting the pommel of her blade be open for another lift. She finally took a step back, sword coming around in a slash, edge turning as soon as it passed Andi, Nyx's eyes flicking towards the human's shoulder, as if seeking a point on it, then the blade went too far, an inch, inch and a half.

Jumping backward, Andi grimaced at the tingle where the holographic blade would have otherwise pierced her skin, letting out half a shriek as she fumbled her sword, one hand pulling away from the hilt. "Damn it!" she protested, a look of pain crossing her face momentarily as she closed her eyes. "Damn, damn, damn!"

Nyx’s eyes opened wide again, this time from what had happened, “Milady, I’m sorry, I had set the computer for feedback for mine own training. I didn’t think..”

"Oh it isn't the stupid feedback... I've had worse shocks than that bad bed hair..." She held up her right hand, the back of her hand facing toward Nyx. "I broke a nail," she finally said with a pout, the sudden change in her demeanor almost laughable.

"A nail?!?!" Nyx said/asked. This woman was strange... Has skill with a sword, more than she'd thought, but would go all pouty over a broken FINGERNAIL? "Do you need a manicure, Milady? We could certainly postpone this match if it's that big of an issue?"

"It IS a big deal!" Andi replied, "But I'll take care of it later. Let me guess, you've never had a manicure either?" She asked, holding her sword in one hand and moving it slightly. "You know, you really need to get out into the world more!"

"No, Milady, I haven't had a manicure before." Nyx raised a hand to show her nails, they were clean and neatly trimmed, but definitely not really well taken care of, then buffed them on her 'uniform', "See, all good now." She was new to the overall humour thing, trying some more out for size.

Andi laughed and shook her head. "Oh Nyxie, I have so much to teach you!"

Nyx shook her head slightly, setting herself back up for another pass at Andi. This time it was a whirl of blades, both women making moves, defending, countering then breaking apart in the fluid dance of combat. Then, Nyx went on a limited offense, finally coming down with a partial overhand slash that Andi caught on her blade. Nyx held the downwards pressure, her feet not set for a battle of wills, her left foot half a foot forward of her right. Then her blade slipped two inches towards the tip of Andi's own, Nyx's eyes flickering towards that direction, mouth slightly quirked in more of a smile than she usually had on. The additional inch she slid the sword towards the tip indicated a move to overbalance Andi's blade to swing up and out of the way, then to open her up from groin to shoulder. Of course, there was a counter to that if Andi positioned her own feet properly.

Andi's foot slid, her body weight shifting. The outward appearance would be that of someone who had lost their balance and was about to lose. Instead she swung her sword sharply, twisting out from under the move of Nyx's blade, her own blade moving to counter balance her opponent. Andi may have been a noob by Nyx's judgements, but she was far from uneducated. Finally, moving in with a shoulder barge while Nyx's sword was dislodged, she smiled as her opponent fell backward, extending a hand and grabbing hers before she hit the mat beneath them. "Game, set and match?" she asked with a grin.

Nyx still let herself fall, even tucking herself in to make it harder to stop her as she grabbed Andi's hand and let her arm go slack, a smiled on her own face as she kicked out lightly, impacting Andi's strongest supporting knee, knocking it out from under her just as her own back hit the ground, angling her sword to pull Andi down right on top of it, impaling her through the chest. "Match." She grinned herself.

Laying atop Nyx, laughing breathlessly despite the tingling in her chestal region, Andi couldn't help but to be impressed. "Well done Milady," she said with a smile, rolling to the side. "You win, I graciously bow defeat."

"It wasn't the victory I had intended, I admit." Nyx laughed alongside Andi, "You are quite good, perhaps Bey'a'Dande has her hand in your training." She looked over at the other marine, "You do have quite a bit to learn, though, Andi, perhaps we can teach each other?"

Falling back onto her back on the matt, resting her sword across her chest, Andi grinned easily, noting the use of her first name instead of the formality but opting to not make a deal out of it. "It would be an honour to train with you Nyx," she said quietly.

Nyx spun around on her rear end until she was feet to feet with Andi, then sat up and reached a hand out, inviting Andi to grab it, a prequel to a joint-getting-to-a-pairs-feet move of pulling each other up simultaneously, "On three?"

With a grin, Andi set her sword aside before she reached out and took the offered hand. "I don't know about you, but I'm famished! How about a quick bite in the mess before we get back to it?"


=/\= END =/\=

Staff Sergeant Nyx'e'Trixe Valentine
Marine NCO
USS Wellington

Staff Sergeant Andromeda Dreik
Marine
USS Wellington