Fighting Talk

Posted on Sun Nov 15th, 2020 @ 2:29am by Major Samuel King & Captain Bethsabée Leroux

Mission: Mission 3 - 100
Location: Private Sparring Room, MACO Barracks
1580 words - 3.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Beth had been embarrassed to request what she had but she was relieved that the Marine Commanding Officer had taken her request so well. It was not every day an Officer in Charge requested to be taught how to fight. Beth was still smarting over Sloan saving her life twice as she had been able to defend but it had not been like second nature. She wanted that, she did not want to be defenceless.

“I appreciate this Sam,” Beth said as they walked down the corridor towards the Marine training area.

“Happy to assist ma’am.” Sam replied, smiling. It was refreshing for a commanding officer to ask for this kind of help. It showed humility and for one he was happy that it was him she had chosen… Sergeant Rhodes would have killed her, figuratively speaking of course.

“Everyone needs to know how to defend themselves a little better, not just you. I’ve seen my fair share of those that know how to fight, how to protect themselves, fall due to lack of concentration. Hell I’ve got a scar on my shoulder from being too cocky.” Sam said as they continued their walk. “How do you feel about it? Sometimes a little anxiety is a good thing in this circumstance.”

“I just believe that I should be able to defend myself. My route into Starfleet is not what is normal nowadays, I came in from outside so my training is a little vaguer but after the boarding party I need to get better.” It was as simple as that. You saw your errors or lack of skills and sought to fix it.

“What was your route? If you don’t mind me asking?” Sam was interested. “I’ve been in the military for 17/18 years now I think. Only entered the space game 3 years ago so I think you have more on me in that respect.”

Beth giggled and shook her head. It was not a personal question in her opinion. Every person on the ship deserved to know what training and experience other people had especially now with only having them to rely on. “Not at all. I have a knack for languages so it was University to become an exo-linguist then Starfleet Officer Training ten years ago. I was on the Delta and Triste before Atlantis.” Had it really been that long? Had it only been ten years? The last eight months had felt like a lifetime to Beth now that she thought on it all. It had changed so much but it seemed it would just keep being like that, this was the great unknown.

“Well I suppose you’ll have your work cut out for you here.” Samuel gave a little laugh. “I studied History before joining the SEAL Team in the US. Did a couple of years with them, joined the MACO start-up program and served on the Enterprise. Was part of the mission to hit back at the Xindi after what they did to us. Seems I can’t keep myself out of trouble.” he mused.

“Sadly I believe we all have the bad luck charms on us,” Beth said sadly. She was not giving up as the wormhole seemed hopeful but she was logically not getting her hopes up that something was going to go their way until it was in front of her. “So this is your training room then?”

“It is.” Sam replied letting her enter first. “Not the biggest room for it, but we use what we have.” he admitted.

As they moved farther into the room he watched as she walked towards the centre of the room. For some reason he had only just noticed the mismatch in height, she must have been at least a foot shorter than him. That could work to her advantage…

“I know you want to learn how to defend yourself, I know about what motivates you. Recent events shape the type of experiences we have going forward. Only yesterday I had to put a sleeper hold on one of the marines who lost his ‘composure’ whilst sparring.” Sam opened up a little about what his marines do behind closed doors. “What I am saying is that no matter what the situation you come across you need to keep a cool, level head. Fights are lost, defences broken in the moments where we lose composure. If we cannot control ourselves then we have lost before we begin.”

“Is the Marine okay?” Beth had not heard about this but it was good to know that even Marine’s had moments where they were not total jarheads and could be shaken. They might be redeemable to the rest of the crew instead of just being grunts. “I like to think I was level headed even when I thought first the Vrav was going to kill me then Sloan,” Beth said looking the man up and down. This was going to hurt. She was pretty sure.

“He’s fine.” Samuel said simply. “We keep stuff like that in house, and we dealt with it then and there. Turns out he was upset and lost his composure. Believe it or not we have a range of emotion, not just the ones the vids show.” he joked.

“Learn a new thing everyday Major.” Beth teased feeling the anxiety that she had been feeling over even asking the man for this support leaving her. If they were able to joke after everything he was not as bad as his reputation with Leah had led her to believe.

“That you do Commander.” Sam nodded. “Whereas all they say about me is mostly true. Now, come at me like you mean to do me harm,” he said beckoning her to rush him. This would prove a point if she did as he asked.

Yeah, it was really going to hurt, Beth reaffirmed with herself hoping that if it did it meant she was learning. “No warming up?” She asked with a roll of her eyes before she did as requested rushing his centre.

“Aggressors do not stretch before attacking.” he replied as she aimed for his midriff. Samuel waited until Beth was a foot or so away and as she went to grab onto him he grabbed an outstretched arm, began to kneel and proceeded to use her momentum to flip her onto her back on the mats beneath them. He tried his hardest to cushion the landing, he didn’t want to break his CO.

As he looked over her, Beth looked a little winded and as if she had just been thrown across the room, Sam spoke. “Sometimes when we think too much we end up with a rash action. If cornered with seemingly no way out then the body hits fight or flight. To fight would be to rush your opponent.” he said helping her up. “Without knowing your opponent's weakness then that would prove deadly 9 times out of ten. This is why we fight smart, defend using our brain and not brute force and no strategy. This of it as tackling a new language, look at how to best learn your opponent, the ebbs and flows of his stance. That can tell you a lot about how to attack.”

Sam put more weight on his right side, his more dominant side. As a boxer he was an Orthodox fighter so his right hand, right side was the strongest. His age now was against him but he was still a strong man and hard to put down but the years of action had begun to show as wear and tear on his body.

Beth yelped as she hit the mat and everything was knocked out of her. It hurt but she dragged herself to her feet with his help and looked at him carefully trying to judge just how much he was judging her right then and there. “Yes but attackers are not hitting us right now and I do have to run this ship.” Beth teased just a little thinking of all the wincing she was going to produce for her next bridge shift.

“The next one will size us up, see what we have and either want to take it, or destroy us.” Sam replied. “Don’t worry…” he said with a smile. “The more sessions you do the more your body gets used to the pain.”

“Qui but I am very sure my body will not appreciate it now.” Beth said softly not at all commenting on what was going to happen next. She was just putting each step forward as they went, do the next right move then move on. It was all she could do for the ship and her people right then and there other than get better at defending herself.

Sam’s eyes drifted over her body as she mentioned it. She was a beautiful redhead, he knew she was intelligent and he truly felt for the situation she found herself in. “No, your body will hate you for days.” Sam laughed.

Any other time Beth might have called the man out for his wandering eyes but she just rolled her eyes. It was strangely nice to be appreciated by anyone at the moment. “And it’s not like I can really complain to the doctor as she will just blame myself. I believe you might be right so come on let’s get this over with then Marine.”

 

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