[USS Charon, corridor outside Holodeck two]
The young Vulcan strode down the hallway, her loose ivory colored robes swishing pleasantly in time with her measured gait.
As usual, there were few people still about this late in the evening and most of those who still were milling the ship's corridors were long accustomed to a Vulcan carrying weaponry to the gym or holodeck. The young woman politely returned a few friendly smiles and greetings with well timed inclines of her head, ignoring the curious looks and even the wolf-whistle which was most likely aimed at the elegant shape of her finely crafted longbow.
As usual, there were few people still about this late in the evening and most of those who still were milling the ship's corridors were long accustomed to a Vulcan carrying weaponry to the gym or holodeck. The young woman politely returned a few friendly smiles and greetings with well timed inclines of her head, ignoring the curious looks and even the wolf-whistle which was most likely aimed at the elegant shape of her finely crafted longbow.
With the repairs to the gym still ongoing, there was a 'open door' policy for holodeck two in effect which suited Sakarra just fine. The spacious layout made practicing easier in the unlikely event she would have to share the place with another crewmember.
As the holodeck doors slid open, she saw that the unlikely had in fact occurred tonight - a tall, brown haired human was already there. Moving silently towards the access panel so as to not disturb the man whom she recognized as one of the Marines, she input the parameters for a suitable target.
As the holodeck doors slid open, she saw that the unlikely had in fact occurred tonight - a tall, brown haired human was already there. Moving silently towards the access panel so as to not disturb the man whom she recognized as one of the Marines, she input the parameters for a suitable target.
Somehow she must have made noise after all, because he suddenly turned and fixed his gaze on her with astonishing speed.
"Good evening, Corporal. My apologies if I startled you, that was not my intention."
"Good evening, Corporal. My apologies if I startled you, that was not my intention."
Brent nodded at the Vulcan as she appeared. "Not at all," he said as Brent reached out and steadied the bag that he was punching. His hand idly went down to a belt that he was wearing and adjusted it. "I have to admit though I wasn't expecting someone here. Most people tend to work out earlier in the evening and not here at midnight," he said.
After the bag was steadied Brent flexed his hands, he had on a standard exercise outfit, simply a black cloth tank set of shorts and a black tank top. He was about to go back to simply punching his bag when he noticed the longbow. That managed to tilt his head a little bit. "Is that... A longbow? Really? I don't think I've seen one of those outside of the museums in England or in holo's."
Sakarra returned the young man's greeting with a polite nod and then looked inquisitively at the belt he was wearing. Interesting.
"Yes, it is for this very reason I choose the late hours to practice, Corporal. Some crewmembers seem to find the idea of a Vulcan practicing with actual weapons rather strange, if not unsettling."
Quirking a brow at his last statement, the young woman let her own gaze linger on the Khaiya for a moment.
"And indeed it is. Although I should think the Vulcan bows differ somewhat from the terran varieties. In that matter, Corporal, would you find it overly bothersome if I increased the ambient gravity of the holodeck? A Khaiya simply does not perform at peak efficiency under these environmental conditions."
"Yes, it is for this very reason I choose the late hours to practice, Corporal. Some crewmembers seem to find the idea of a Vulcan practicing with actual weapons rather strange, if not unsettling."
Quirking a brow at his last statement, the young woman let her own gaze linger on the Khaiya for a moment.
"And indeed it is. Although I should think the Vulcan bows differ somewhat from the terran varieties. In that matter, Corporal, would you find it overly bothersome if I increased the ambient gravity of the holodeck? A Khaiya simply does not perform at peak efficiency under these environmental conditions."
"I imagine it differs quite a bit actually. I haven't heard of too many Yew trees growing on Vulcan," Brent said with a grin. He gave the bag a jab with his left hand before he commented again on some of her words. "Most people aren't all that intelligent," Brent replied dryly. "There is an almost science to many different martial arts that originate from Earth. I imagine there's at least one or two from Vulcan as well."
Brent motioned at the control panel. "Please be my guest. I have no trouble with extra gs." Brent considered simply leaving her be but instead spoke up again. "So why do you use the bow then? Is it to help concentrate, or is it simply physical exercise?"
The raven haired Vulcan couldn't help but raise a mildly amused brow at the 'one or two' comment, but for all she could tell the young man was simply trying to be friendly.
"It is both, in fact. Vulcan archery focuses on a balance of both body and mind." Sakarra entered another series of commands into the panel and felt the familiar, soothing tug of the increased gravity.
"However, if you do not mind my asking," she tilted her head at the dark-clad young human and pointed her chin at the unusual belt he was wearing "does this serve a specific purpose? I do not believe I have seen something quite like it before."
Her inquisitive nature in full force, Sakarra also noticed something ever so subtly different about the way this particular human carried himself. She had not had a chance to thoroughly familiarize herself with all of the new crew that had transferred from the Quantum Fury and made a mental note to look over the files at the earliest opportunity.
"It is both, in fact. Vulcan archery focuses on a balance of both body and mind." Sakarra entered another series of commands into the panel and felt the familiar, soothing tug of the increased gravity.
"However, if you do not mind my asking," she tilted her head at the dark-clad young human and pointed her chin at the unusual belt he was wearing "does this serve a specific purpose? I do not believe I have seen something quite like it before."
Her inquisitive nature in full force, Sakarra also noticed something ever so subtly different about the way this particular human carried himself. She had not had a chance to thoroughly familiarize herself with all of the new crew that had transferred from the Quantum Fury and made a mental note to look over the files at the earliest opportunity.
"Does it help you relax? I've heard that Zen helps people do that as well. It's a sort of mysticism from Earth," said and Brent nodded. "You don't miss much do you." he gently tapped the belt on the side. He tilted the settings on it again.
"It's a gravity belt. I'm not actually from Earth. My ancestors were from the Gilgamesh-9 colony. It's a small colony in Federation space that was an accident. When the colonists in the early days of the Federation came to the system they suffered a problem in the colony ship and instead of landing on the standard Class-M planet they came to a world with much much higher gravity than normal. Ninety percent of the colonists did not survive the first few weeks. Those that did eventually became stronger and stronger, and had just enough to sustain a healthy population."
Brent smiled slightly. He had to tell this story a lot. His planet had never been able to sustain many people, especially since it was such a brutal place to live. "There aren't very many of us, but most of us because of what we are tend to go into the Marine Corps or stay on the planet and continue on living farming and continuing the colony."
"Fascinating." This was one story Sakarra had not heard yet but it certainly explained the way this particular human moved.
In a fluid, swift motion she set down the bow and arrows on a table which the computer had so helpfully provided and was about to adjust the strings when instead she turned towards the Marine again "Zen? Yes, I should say the parallel has merit." Of course it had not always been so, one would hardly require the deadly efficiency a Khaiya provided simply for the purpose of a meditation exercise.
In a fluid, swift motion she set down the bow and arrows on a table which the computer had so helpfully provided and was about to adjust the strings when instead she turned towards the Marine again "Zen? Yes, I should say the parallel has merit." Of course it had not always been so, one would hardly require the deadly efficiency a Khaiya provided simply for the purpose of a meditation exercise.
"Then may I assume your speed and strength are above human average?"
The young Vulcan assessed the man's relaxed stance with a practiced eye and tilted her head thoughtfully "If you should require a 'sparring partner' who might be somewhat taxing even to your unusual physiology, please do not hesitate to ask."
The young Vulcan assessed the man's relaxed stance with a practiced eye and tilted her head thoughtfully "If you should require a 'sparring partner' who might be somewhat taxing even to your unusual physiology, please do not hesitate to ask."
Brent nodded. "I am. I actually use the belt to my advantage as well. I can decrease gravity so light that it allows me to leap up quite high, but I never turn it down very low unless I go into combat. It took me some time to adjust to the new gravity. I actually broke a lot of things be squeezing too hard in basic. I thought my Sergeant was going to tear me apart after I broke my second phaser rifle. I'm better now, but if I want to keep my high muscle mass and bone density, I have to continue with the belt on like I was back home."
[To be continued...]
Lieutenant Sakarra Tyrax
Chief Helm Officer
USS Charon
Chief Helm Officer
USS Charon
&
1st Lieutenant (then Corporal) Brent Warren
Marine Commander
USS Charon
Marine Commander
USS Charon
