Voyage
Posted on Sat Feb 26th, 2022 @ 12:04am by Commander Arianna Frost
Edited on on Sat Feb 26th, 2022 @ 12:05am
1,157 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
S1E5: Symphony of Horror
Location: Undisclosed
Timeline: Sometime after "When In Doubt, Choose Change."
Block, block, parry, pressure point hit, roll dodge.
The flow of movement was effortless, fast, almost as if a dance. As much of a dance as it could be, between flesh and particles of light bound by forcefields. Their surroundings were simple, a near empty room with mats and training equipment. The colours were muted brown and beige, making the room warm and cosy when it was lit up. Were it not for the grunting and the sweat of its occupant.
Block, hit, dodge, grunt, deflect, block, hit.
"Vy ne sosredotocheny, devchushka." The holographic opponent commented as he and Arianna continued their sparring session. (You're not focused, girly.)
The blonde haired woman took a hit to her plexus and cried as air left her, landing on her back. " Izvinite, navernoye, ya volnuyus', zhdu pribytiya." She chuckled, looking up at the bald, muscly holographic russian. (Sorry, I guess I'm getting anxious, waiting for arrival.)
The holographic russian, Valeriy was part of a training program she usually carried with her when on extended deployment. Systema didn't have many practicioners nowadays so she and a few friends from the Academy who had practiced it as well had created a training program they could use when they couldn't spar with a person of flesh and blood.
The program had an adaptive algorithm so that it remembered information given and could form responses based on it, so each version of it was different, for each of the group of Ari's friends. To Frost herself, it had become almost a counselling session as well as a sparring session on demand as well as a way to keep up with her mother’s language. She was, of course, very careful not to leave it with sensitive information.
" V chem problema, vy byli tam ran'she." Valeriy asked, extending a thick arm to her to help her up. (What's the problem, you've been there before..)
" Takoye oshchushcheniye, chto proshla zhizn' v drugoy zhizni, Valeriy. Vse izmenilos', mnogoye v khudshuyu storonu. Ya tozhe izmenilsya.” Arianna admitted as she grasped his forearm and pulled herself up. (It feels like another lifetime ago, Valeriy. Everything's changed, a lot for the worse. I've changed too.)
Valeriy chuckled as he stepped away from her, letting her catch her breath. " Ari, ty ne mozhesh' izmenit' to, chto proizoshlo. Vy mozhete vliyat' tol'ko na to, chto proiskhodit v budushchem. Perestan'te bespokoit'sya. Davay, prodolzhim, a?” He said, starting to slightly dance-jump on the spot. (Ari, you can’t change what happened. You can only influence things going forward. Stop with the worrying. Come on, let's continue, yes?)
Arianna wiped her sweaty forehead, " Vy pravy, Valeriy, mne nuzhno vstryakhnut' golovu i zanyat'sya svoimi delami. Vot pochemu ya idu. Ne byt' nervnym sryvom. Davayte snova!
She chuckled and stepped back towards the center of the mat into a standard Systema starting pose. (You are right, Valeri, I need to screw my head back on straight and do my job. That’s why I’m going. Not to be a nervous wreck. Let’s go again!)
Lunge, parry, lunge, lunge, deflect, lunge, hit, dodge.
"Poydem, devchushka." Valeriy grinned, taunting with a motion of his hand. (Come on then, girly.)
Ari shook her head and grinned, “Podnyat' stavku? Skorostnoy beg? YA khochu znat', poteryal li ya skorost' s proshlogo raza?.” She didn’t wait for an answer, lunging at him instead. (Up the ante? Speed run? I want to know if I lost any speed since last time?)
Block, block, parry, pressure point hit, roll dodge.
Block, hit, dodge, grunt, deflect, block, hit.
Pressure point, pressure point, hit, block, deflect.
The dance between the two got faster and faster with each barrage of hits. Some she landed successfully, some he did. The problem with an adaptive program was the fact that it learned from her tactics, and soon, she began losing more ground than gaining.
“Ty teryayesh' fokus, Ari. Vosstanovi eto.” The holographic man grinned through simulated bruises and sweat. (You are losing focus, Ari. Regain it.)
She didn’t reply, instead tried to focus on adapting her own strategies on the fly.
Block, pressure point, shove, kidney shot, roll dodge, return, uppercut.
Strong arms grabbed her leg as she attempted a side kick, a leg swishing out and sweeping hers out from under her, effectively toppilng her over, making her land on her back with a loud thud.
“Eto dvazhdy ya udaril tebya po spine. Davay!” Valeriy growled as his foot hovered over her neck in an attempt to get her to surrender. (That's twice I've knocked you on your back. Come on!)
Arianna glowered at him from under his foot. Grabbing his ankle, she twisted, wrapping her legs around his leg and twisted, attempting to unbalance him.
The sudden act took him off guard and he ended up toppling sideways, though he took her with him, the two ending up rolling several feet away in a mass of limbs.
“Teper' eto bol'she pokhozhe na eto. Khoroshaya rabota, devochka. Vy mozhete derzhat' eto?” He chuckled up at her from their suddenly reversed position. (Now that's more like it. Good work, girl. Can you keep it up?)
Arianna rolled off him and onto her feet. Then she extended her hand to him to help him up. “Konechno ya mogu. Mne prosto nuzhno privesti svoy razum v deystviye.” (Of course I can. I just need to get my mind into gear.)
Valery accepted her hand and let her pull him to his feet. “Ty boish'sya. No eto normal'no. Kazhdyy boitsya vremya ot vremeni.” He said to her, his expression one of sympathy, or so she told herself when she looked at him. (You are afraid. But it's normal. Everyone is afraid from time to time.)
Yeah, but I’ve been feeling this way too often lately. How do I deal with that? She thought to herself as she processed his words. Part of her found it funny that it was a hologram that had to tell her this age old wisdom. A wisdom she herself should be dispensing to others, not receiving it from a hologram.
Later she enjoyed a long, warm sonic shower, feeling a lot better than she had when she'd started the day. While she was a confident person who knew her worth and skills, she, like everyone else, was to a degree apprehensive of change, despite being Alpha Eridani native.
Eventhough Valeriy was nowhere near a counselor, at times it was all she had, when she needed to vent, when she didn't have the time nor the means to find a counselor cleared to counsel someone of her experience. The hologram was a lot better for a sparring session, definitely. However, in a crunch, it would do.
"It would do..." she murmured to herself, as settled into her bed in the passenger quarters to get some rest before she arrived to her destination. She would need her steely nerves for that.
RSS Feed