New Little Sister

Posted on Fri May 7th, 2021 @ 3:01am by Lieutenant Baeryn Whavi-Tonelly & Captain David Tonelly [Reece]

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: USS Elysium, Marine County, Thunder Dome
Timeline: Prior to Current Mission
2795 words - 5.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Moses was busy lifting an insane amount of weight on the bench press machine, doing his afternoon exercises when he saw a person who had become a fixture in one of his Marine's lives. His as well, it seemed. Lowering the weights, he sat up and smiled that bright smile of his. "Red! What brings you here today?"

Baeryns smile brightened when she heard the deep thundering voice of the person she was seeking. She came to stand near him, leaning on a machine. "You said you could show me a few things, and I had the time."

Smiling and rubbing his large hands together excitedly, the big man hopped up off the bench he had laying on for his exercise. "Did you have anything in mind to start with?"

“For starters, how to take someone down who clearly over powers me.” She put her hands up, “For the record I know enough self defense to protect myself but after our little arena match I’ve been wondering how I could have done better.”

Turning more serious, Moses nodded. "Okay," he replied, his deep voice sounding like giant globes of smooth marble rubbing together. "Let's go over to a training mat." He then led Baeryn over to an empty training mat. It was a large, blue-colored, square mat, unlike the red circle on which they had sparred the other day.

Moving onto the mat, Moses directed Baeryn to a spot a few paces directly in front of him. "Okay, Red, listen close, Big Brother Moses gonna try and put some real fighting knowledge in that pretty head of yours. Now, your fleeter training is basically only good for cardio when you're in a phaser fight. Marine training, now that is where you learn how to defend yourself properly. And, with enough training, even kill with only a modicum of effort. You understand what I'm sayin'?"

Baeryn couldn't help but chuckle and shake her head when Moses referred to himself as big brother. There was a warm welcoming feeling starting to bloom in her chest. "Forget everything I know and become a marine. Got it." She smirked but nodded she understood. "Your not going to make me run a hundred laps like David are you?"

Moses stood straight up as if he had heard an insult. "Run?! Do I look like a runner?" He ran his hands over his powerful physique as if he were a runway model. "No, Red, snipers run. Infantry breaks through walls."

"Thank the goddess because my legs are spennttt." She said dramatically with a smile and rubbing her upper thighs in mock pain.

Moses gave Baeryn a knowing smirk. "Uh huh. Your thighs are sore from," he raised his hands and gave air quotes. "Running." He chuckled aloud.

"Moses you should know, you don't get off the horse till it reaches the finish line." She winked and straighten up.

This caused the big man to let out a huge barrel laugh. He bent over, slapping his knees, as he tried to catch his breath. "Oh! Oh, you! You're a bad little Marine! I knew I liked you!" He pointed a think index finger at Baeryn and winked.

"It's a gift." Baeryn played it cool with a laugh but the slight pink tint to her cheeks couldn't be hidden. She started with a side stretch to prepare for whatever hell she had just signed up for with this mountain of a man. Surprisingly she was pretty satisfied with how easy it was to be around Moses. He wasn't nearly as intimating when he laughed, nothing like what she expected when she first laid eyes on him.

Moses interlaced his fingers and cracked his knuckles. Though it sounded like he was crushing boulders. "Ok, Red. One of the first things to learn is how to break a choke hold. You ready?"

Straightening her posture she gave a terse nod. Baeryn did her best to clear her mind of everyone else in the gym aside from Moses. She was still getting used to exposing herself in Marine County and still got quite the stares her way, mostly just curious marines but attention wasn't Baeryn's forte.

"Okay," Moses spoke slowly and clearly. "Now lets say that your attacker charges you, like this." He moved with that same speed from before that belied his bulk. Hs slipped past and behind Baeryn, then wrapped one of his tree trunk arms around her throat and locked it with his other arm. Tbough the pressure was tbere, ge did what he could to allow Baeryn air. "Now, think. What can you do in this situation?"

"Aside from knock your rocks with my elbow?" She had both hands on his forearm that was tightly held against her throat. Baeryn started thinking, steadying her breathing, she held tightly to his forearm, bent her knees and tried to rock him forward.

This illicited a deep chuckle from Moses. "Very good!" He released his hold and moved back around to stand in front of Bearyn. "That is the best way to break that hold. But, instead of just bending your knees, take a firm hold of my arm, like you did, and totally drop your weight."

“And what if their hold doesn’t give way?” She asked, already running though more scenarios in her head. Whavi thought back to her security officer days on the Rosenbloom, she hardly ever saw hand to hand combat outside of friendly sparring.

Nodding, turning more serious as he replied. "That can happen. And in a life and death struggle, you'd only have a few bare seconds to react. If your first attempt doesn't work, you will lose the element of suprise. After that, you are on borrowed time. In that eventuality, your best bet is to go with your gut. A big guy like me? I'd probably reach back to grab one of their legs and push backwards, try and get them to fall, with my beautiful body landing right on top of them." He grinned at his statement.

Baeryn laughed, never did she peg Moses for the vain type but his confidence and carefree nature made him surprisingly, comfortable to be around, regardless of his intimating appearance. A gentle giant if you will. She rubbed her hip that was only slightly still bruised, “I remember the weight of that ‘Beautiful’ body of yours.”

Turning serious again, he looked over Baeryn's form. Not in a sexual way, but, to size her up properly. "You, however..." he seemed to be working out the encounter in his mind, placing himself in her position. Then realization popped forward. "Ah! You could go with your earlier statement of hitting me where it counts, however, that won't always work. Some species keep their jewels in other locations."

Reaching into his right front pocket, he pulled out a small switchblade. Well, small in his large hand. Pressing a button on the hilt, a thin, four inch long, razor sharp blade extended out. Flipping the knife in his hand to where his fingertips held the center of the blade he handed it over. "Here."

Startled Baeryn sluggishly moved to accepted the blade from Moses. “Are you gifting me a people opener?” Her eyes widened as she looked up for confirmation.

Moses smiled a wizened grin. "That little blade and me have seen our fair share of action. I call her, Stinger, and now she's yours. A person of your size, no offense, needs any aid in a fight they can get." He stepped back a few paces. "Computer, give me an attacker, my size and build."

Suddenly, a holographic opponent appeared, it appeared gender neutral in physique, but was similar in size and build to Moses. "Computer, stand by to engage Lieutenant Whavi in a reverse headlock, but, only have head lock pressure at fifty percent." He then looked at Baeryn. "Okay, Red. Close the blade and put it in your pocket, whichever one feels comfortable. When you're ready, we will do this one step at a time."

Baeryn hesitated, staring down on the little bit of metal, the switch blade felt so, barbaric to her, but so simple. After a moment she closed it and shoved it into her right pocket before giving it a second thought. Would she really be able to stab someone? Unfortunately her hands weren't clean, she had killed when she had to, when her life or the life of others depended on it, but it was different with a phaser.

Looking back up she sized the hologram, then setting those fiercely determined obsidian eyes on Moses, she nodded. "Ready."

Moses nodded. "Computer, initiate grab and then hold for further orders or opponent reaction. Go!"

Baeryn stepped forward, attacking the holo but failing miserable to land hits. The attempts felt pathetic.

The holographic opponent snapped into motion. Rushing Baeryn, it swatted away her initial punches and kicks. Finally grabbing her right arm. It then spun her around as it pushed up behind her, quickly snapping the headlock into place. It then froze, as if it were carved out of stone. Baeryn was the only of the pair that was still struggling.

Grunting Baeryn struggled to free herself from the holo, irritated at how easy it had been for the ops chief to land herself in such a predicament.

"Okay, Red," Moses barked, to get her attention. "Now, we're going to try this a few ways. First, with this opponent being so much larger than you, try to break free without using the blade."

Those obsidian eyes snapped to Moses, her shoulders relaxing a bit at she paid attention. Taking a deep breath she did as she had been instructed earlier, gripping the arm wrapped around her throat with both hands and bending her knees, tried to use her body weight to bring the holo forward, above her shoulder, but it didn't budge.

Nodding, Moses spoke. "As I said, an opponent who is much larger will not easily fall to that move. Now, when I tell the computer to continue, your life will be in jeopardy. Of course, not really, as this is training. But, if it were real, it would. Always keep this thought in mind, when you train as you'll fight, you will fight as you trained. Do you understand what I mean?"

Baeryn nodded, gritting her teeth, it felt useless to resist the holo's strength and she hated how helpless it made her feel. When had she become so weak?

"So, in a real world setting, where...let's say you were surprised and grabbed from behind, you have a split second to decide whether your life is in danger or not. In this situation, it will be. Use the blade as your instincts tell you. Computer, attack!"

The holographic opponent began to move again, reacting to Baeryn's earlier attempt to escape. Repositioning its feet, it braced it's left side into Baeryn's back, slid its right foot back, then lifted her off the deck. The strength of its hold on her neck slowly increasing.

The holo was closing on her windpipe, chocking her as it lifted her off the ground. Baeryn thrashed her legs, pain sparking around her neck as she was lifted by it. The blade in her pocket felt hot, calling to her, reminding her it was there. That she had another weapon beyond strength and smarts. Something held her back from grabbing the blade. Black dots started to spot her vision. She reached into her pocket for the blade, fumbled for it as her vision started to fail her. Pulling the blade out she pressed the button and the sharp edges of the blade popped out, but then Baeryn hesitated and it cost her.

"Freeze program!" Moses barked. "Reset holographic opponent to standby mode!"

The hologram instantly froze, then vanished, reappearing to the side of the mat. When it vanished, Baeryn was dumped onto her back, the blade skittering away when she thudded to the mat.


Moving to stand over Baeryn's splayed form, Moses looked down and shook his head sadly. "Great, Red. Just great. Now I gotta go and plan your funeral. And try to rebuild David. Because, Red, he will be destroyed if he losses you."

Baeryn's forehead creased and her eyes fluttered open slowly. She groaned as she lifted herself up into a sitting position. She coughed, rubbing her now sore neck. Her voice came out more harsh then normal, "That was fun." then coughed again.

"Do you know what you did wrong, Red?" The tone of Moses's voice changed to that of a teacher.

"Yeah I walked in here thinking you would go easy on me." She smiled sheepishly up at Moses, not sure exactly how he was going to react to her sarcasm. She stood, still massaging her neck. Medical was sure to start talking if she went in for this.

Moses gave Baeryn a look. "Red, this is easy. If you were one of my privates, fresh outta boot, I'd be the one choking them out. And they wouldn't have my Stinger. It's because you are with my friend that I'm being easy. Now," his voice got that command tone again. "Get your ass up, and we're gonna run this again. And we will keep running this until you do it right, or your dead. You get me, Red?!"

"I cant..." Baeryn cut herself off, from what she had already quickly learned, Moses was not one for excuses. She stood, standing straight, shoulders at their full height as she stared down the holo. Retrieving the switch blade she disarmed it and shoved it back into her pocket. With a determined scowl she said, "Okay, again."

Moses moved off to the side. He saw that the woman seemed to finally lock in her focus. After a beat of silence, he barked the command. "Attack!"

The hologram snapped into motion, rushing Baeryn. Reaching out, it tried to grab onto her and pull her back into the reverse headlock.

Rather then start on the offensive side this round, Baeryn ducked out of the holo's reach, rolling across the mat and bringing herself up to her feet again, knees bent and ready to block whatever blows he sent her way.

Moses watched quietly, the small flame of pride he was starting to feel masked behind his serious demeanor.

The holo continued to come at Baeryn, the computer using programmed fighting styles, its goal always remaining the same, to get Baeryn in a reverse chokehold.

Baeryn quickly learned that granted she would not be able to out muscle the holo, she could move quicker then it. After rounds of blocked blows and moving swiftly enough that she was kept from being locked in a fatal hold, she decided this had gone on long enough. With a snap of her wrist the springs ejects the blade. The holo charged her yet again and she spun and came up behind the holo and drove the blade into its left side, angled up in order to pierce its heart. The program froze.

The sound of loud, large clapping hands was suddenly heard. "Good!" Moses stepped forward and inspected Baeryn's knife placement. Nodding with approval, he reached up and took hold of the blade. "Computer, end program." The holographic opponent vanished, freeing the blade. Moses closed the blade, then considered the weapon in his hand. Finally, he handed it back the Baeryn. "You keep it, Red. Use it right and it'll save your life one day."

Baeryn accepted the blade, the weight of it still surprised her. Would she really be able to stab someone? The thought made her frown but looking up at Moses she braved a smile. "Here's to hoping I never have to."

Nodding quietly, Moses replied. "Every warrior trains to fight and to kill. Those with true honor hope and prey that that day never comes. Those without honor long for the combat and blood." He gave Baeryn measured look. "Which are you?"

"I will only use violence to defend myself and others unable to do so for themselves." Baeryn replied, her voice void of all manner of sarcasm.

Moses stepped right in front of Bearyn, looking down at jer grimly. They stood there for a few beats, staring at each other. Then, the big man smiled broadly. "Yeah, I had you pegged for one of the good ones, Red! Come on, lets go get some breakfast. If you're good, i might even tell ya a few things about a certain Ghostwalker that we both know." He smiled a cherub smile as he spoke.




***OFF***


Baeryn Whavi
Chief of Operations
U.S.S Elysium

&

Sergeant Moses Henderson
Heavy Weapons Specialist
Spartans
[NPC by David]