A Clash Of Cultures

Posted on Sat Nov 12th, 2022 @ 5:49am by Lieutenant Etrara Khalten & Lieutenant Commander S'hib

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Gym, Holodeck 2. USS Elysium
2601 words - 5.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Etrara had planned to use her limited down time to try to increase her fitness which, over the last few months had deteriorated to a point when she felt she could no longer pretend that she was, in fact fit. Life on board was currently a round of meetings with other departments and sections in an attempt to link her Tactical department with others. However today she had decided to spend the whole day in the gym and holodeck attempting to evaluate her current level of fitness and beginning to improve it. Not that she was not fit, just not fit enough in her mind. So, she had donned her thick leathered weave of body armour tight but flexible over the years stretched to her body alone. As she walked through the corridors to the gym with her Ba’Tleth strung over her back and her d’k tahg strapped to her thigh an audible creak could be heard as the strips of leather moved around her body. People nodded as they passed her and turned and smiled as she moved away from them. She looked so different out of her Tactical uniform, a true Klingon warrior although most of the crew knew she was only half Klingon.

The gym was pretty empty as she began her callisthenics.

But not entirely empty.

"Who's that..." S'hib thought to himself as he sipped from a large water bottle, his equine eyes narrowing into a bemused squint.

He knew most of the people that came to the gym at this time, they went for the same reason he did, it was quiet and everyone kept to themselves.

"Have I met them before? I can't remember..." He continued, his inner monologue sounding just as confused as his face as he slapped the lid back onto his bottle and wiped the moisture from his chin.

She knew there was someone watching her as the hairs on the back of her neck raised. She made sure her knife was within reach and took off her jacket. Picking up her weights in both hands she began her lunges her body soon producing a sheen of sweat as she worked.

He'd sat there staring, still mulling over names before finally remembering her from a recent department report.

"Lieutenant Etrara..." He muttered triumphantly to himself as his cloven hands clasped his knees. "I think anyway." S'hib thought as he stood, taking a moment to scratch his bare chest, ruffling up his chest plume.

His hooves echoed throughout the gym as he clicked towards her, only just now noticing the weapons she had brought with her.

Etrara spun around to see Lieutenant Commander S’hib coming towards her. She stopped and regarded the Sequus. She had not seen, let alone met one of his species before and it took some getting used to. She thought he was magnificent and would have liked to have been able to study him. Then she remembered he was a Starfleet officer and a Lieutenant Commander at that. Fixing her manners she said, “good morning Sir.”

"Please, no uniform... no rank, just S'hib." He said softly despite his thick Sequellian accent. "But it is good to meet you, I read your file when you came aboard." He added with a smile, extending a large cloven hand towards her.

She reached forward and took it, it felt strange, strong and she wondered what it would be like in battle. It would be a shame to damage him, she thought finding him strangely attractive. “S’hib….. nuqneH” she said, the word for the traditional welcome,

He nodded deeply at this, gently withdrawing his hand from
hers. “I uh…” He muttered after an awkward pause, catching himself staring, a habit his people tended to do while trying to figure out someone new.

“See you brought some equipment with you… though you’re about six hours early; people in the morning tend to just come here for a run before their shifts… easier to deal with the bruises when you’re not on duty.” He grinned, a look that seemed to speak from experience.

She bristled slightly. “I take my weapons everywhere with me, unless of course I am on duty. May I ask what weapons your race carry and do your females fight?

“I carry mine with me even while on duty,” S’hib smirked as a hand moved behind his back, gripping the concealed staff weapon that hung above his neatly braided tail knot.

The ten inch long Sh'akubo twirled in his four hoofed fingers before suddenly extending to the full two meters, finishing its flamboyant spin to rest on his shoulder.

She looked longingly at the weapon and thought she might say that she would wear such a weapon but she did not have a tail, but then she thought against it. It would possibly be a great insult. “I don’t need to keep my weapons with me I am the main weapon.” She realised this was turning into a game of oneupmanship and smiled.

He snorted a laugh at this while standing up straight, finding the back and forth amusing if not a bit of a surprise. "Now you sound like a Sequus... but yes, our mares do fight, and they fight well... even the little ones." He said while intentionally leaning his head down, clearly intending that last line to also mean her.

She nodded back at him. “I would be interested in knowing more about your culture. Maybe you could come to dinner one evening, Zac would love to meet you, oh, do you have a wife, maybe she would like to come also?”

A slow smile formed on his flat lips, the perks of talking to new crewmembers never losing its unique amusement he thought. "I'm sure I could twist the Colonel's arm into coming along." He teased, waiting impatiently for the brief moments it took the Lieutenant to realise who he was referring to, to be over.

Etrara blushed almost immediately “Oh…you mean THE Colonel, well by all means Zac, my partner would be glad to cook for you both. Klingon food is not good. Being half Klingon I could never get used to all that wriggling. Yes, we would both love to entertain you one evening. She wondered how in the galaxy she would persuade Zac that this was in any way a good idea.

"Honestly you could plate her an MRE and she'd be happy," He half-joked as he withdrew his staff back into itself. "Though... whenever she cooks anything Bajoran I feel like she's trying to kill me with how spicy it is..."

“Note to self, no extra spicy for you. Maybe just good human fare. Leave it with me. I will check with Zac and get back to the two of you. Now, back to the matter in hand. Shall we spar?”

"Well, I just did some cardio..." He began, rolling his right shoulder, bristling his muscles under his coat. "And I was going to move onto the weights," He continued, gesturing with his sheathed Sh'akubo.

"but I suppose I could just throw you around the gym for a bit instead." His words left his throat like a warning but his face read like an invitation even if he knew it would only serve to rile the Klingon up.

She harrumphed, “well Sir, you could certainly try.”

He chuckled to himself as he clicked away. "No holding back..." He retorted as he walked, heading towards a large open area with padded mats strewn about the floor. "And thats an order, Lieutenant." He added, turning and pointing at her with a stubby hoofed digit.

“So long as it goes both ways, sir, you won’t hold it against me when I injure you?” She followed him already sizing up how he walked and moved it would help to use his own movements against him.

"I'd be impressed if you could." He snorted, taking up a position on the far side of the matted area, usually intended for yoga or the like, but it would pass as an improv arena.

"Now arm yourself..." He added, his cheerful and playful tone vanishing along with his pleasant smile as his Sh'akubo extended; garnering silent murmurs of intrigue between the rest of the gym's patrons.

The staff spun around in a blurred twirl, humming as it cut through the air before coming to rest under his right arm, hand still gripped tightly as his left palm stretched out and he ready his stance.

Etrara felt the familiar weight of her Bat'leth infinitely balanced in her hand as she stepped onto the mat. She fixed her eyes on his and as a low growl escaped her throat she began to lightly tread around the Sequus just out of the reach of his Sh’akubo.

He said nothing, simply snorting deeply at her growl as the pair circled one another. Still, he considered his options; the Bat'leth was a formidable weapon, but it had its shortcomings like any weapon.

Controlling the engagement range would be paramount he thought, changing his grip on the staff, leaving one end firmly planted against a bare hip while the other stuck out towards her. "Computer, remove all but fatal safety parameters, security authorisation Lieutenant Commander S'hib Delta two two fourargh!!"

He roared, bellowing loudly from his nostrils even as the computer beeped in acknowledgement, swinging his staff up and around his head, building momentum as his sudden bulk lurched forward with surprising speed.

The apex of his overhead swing cut through the air with a high-pitched whistle only to clang furiously against the edge of a Bat'leth with the weight and fury of a Sequus behind it.

Etrara saw the staff, no, heard the staff and feinted at the last minute her blade catching on the edge as she twisted away from him. In reply, she sliced at his leg as she twisted hoping to catch it. Even though she was only half Klingon she was now in full battle mode, her only thought was her blade on his neck. She roared out her challenge not knowing where she was now it was just her and him and she knew she would kill him if she could.

His legs had thankfully already retreated, thumping loudly as his hooves dug into the mats safely out of reach from the curved tip lashing out.

"Try not to piss off the Klingon S'hib." He thought to himself as her challenge bellowed out.

Then he adjusted his grip on his staff, twirling it slowly in anticipation for her to attack.

Etrara knew he was anticipating her attack, her grip on her weapon loosened as she repositioned her hands. The bat’leth could be used in many different ways each one designed to kill or at the very least maim. The key was to remain fluid as well as maintaining a strength for attack. She continued to look into his eyes as they watched her. The surroundings of the gym had now disappeared and all she saw was her opponent. Her level of fitness was such that she was able to move around him without becoming fatigued. She knew he would attack and prepared to use his attack against him. She lunged towards him then moved back trying to get him to commit himself.

fate would have it however that the same idea had struck them both, his staff lashing out even as he leapt backwards, assessing her range of motion and gauging better how to keep her at arms length.

Though he was more surprised his staff flicked out at nothing, seeing her moving back as well from her faint. “Good…” He snorted as his tail flicking in frustration; he then adjusted his grip once more, levelling his staff above his head, poised like a scorpion. “Only commit to an attack once you know you have the killing blow, lest you be on the receiving end…” He said, equal parts compliment as well as a warning.

Etrara roared as she attacked using her bat’leth vertical to her body intending to use it to protect herself until she managed to get under the range of his weapon. She wanted to apply the curved end to his neck with a downward movement. All she could see was his death.

His ears flicked back in protest of her roar, the sudden realisation that perhaps she had forgotten they were just sparring starting to weigh in on the multitude of choices in his head.

His choices however were rapidly dwindling as she narrowed the gap between them, something drastic and unorthodox was needed, something she wouldn't see coming.

So he dropped his guard, levelling his staff at his hip before suddenly spinning to his left, planting the long end of the staff into the thick padded mats and leaping into a cartwheel from his right leg

At the apex of his jump, he brought his left leg around, his thick Sequus muscles primed as a hood lurched forward with blinding speed, fully extending into the side of her bat’leth which was then ripped from her grip and sent tumbling across the gym.

Though the force of his kick and the awkward spacing meant it was impossible to land upright as he tumbled and tripped over himself.

Etrara screamed in fury and drew her d’h Ktagh from the sheath on her thigh. Seeing he was down she leapt onto him feeling the strength in his muscles as she grappled with him.

Her savagery once more caught him off guard, she truly was fighting to the death and still hadn't clocked on until he felt the tip of her blade digging into his collarbone, poised to slip deep into his throat if it wasn't for his hand around her wrist.

"Lieutenant... that is enough." He snorted, removing the tip of her blade from his flesh as he pushed back.

She snarled, “what happened to ‘don’t hold back’ does this mean you concede?” She could feel herself coming down but still wanted to mark him in some way to prove her mastery of him.

"Actually," He snorted back before revealing to her just how much strength a Sequus had, his grip around her wrist tightening uncomfortably. "I was hoping you would..." He huffed as thick knuckles tensed harder around Klingon but still delicate bone.

"Now drop the knife... otherwise I'm going to break something until you do." He uttered without so much as blinking, staring at her with cold equine eyes that conveyed no threat, only a promise.

Etrara continued to look into his eyes. “You cannot hurt me!” She exclaimed, “but I can hurt you.” She opened her hand and dropped the knife, before it touched the floor she had caught it in her other hand and plunged it into the Sequus thigh. She felt her radius snap and fell forward onto him passing out.

"Ow..." He uttered loudly as she lay there atop him... her wrist limp and contorted in his grip, something he hadn't actually meant to do until the knife embedded itself in his leg, an uncontrolled reflex from the pain had utterly crushed her wrist bones.

"Red sands... I did warn you." He groaned as he rolled her off with a bit more discontent than he had planned.

A few more deep breaths later and he sat up, his top lip curling at the pain as he examined the blade jutting out of his leg. "Medical teams to Holodeck two..." He sighed, falling back to rest on his elbows.