Posted by Mar. Captain Wulf Baumann (MACO CO) in side - sim: Stronger Every Day

Posted by Lieutenant Helena Laursen (Helm/Nagivation Officer) in side - sim: Stronger Every Day

Posted by Mar. Captain Wulf Baumann (MACO CO) in side - sim: Stronger Every Day
Posted by… suppressed (25) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Helena hurt. It wasn’t just muscle soreness or fatigue. It was a burning pain, at times like stabbing. The compression clothing helped, mostly. But all she wanted to do was lay in her bunk.

On duty all she had to do was sit in the pilot’s seat and watch her display. Which was fine until she had to get up at the end of her shift. She knew sitting doing nothing would only make it worse. She could also report to sickbay for something to help. That would only mask the problem. So she found herself in the gym, with the weights and resistance bands. The lasting damage of that cursed alien virus might force her into an early medical retirement one day, but it would not be today.

Laursen

The door opened and the big German MACO CO walked in the door. He carried a large black bag in one hand,and he was dressed in sweatpants and a sleeveless white t-shirt. Seeing the helm officer already exercising, he said “Ah. Good morning. I hope I won’t disturb you?” he asked as he moved to the far side of the room and began moving the exercise mats and stacking them against the wall.

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena was sitting on the floor using the resistance bands to increase the tension on her stretches. She looked up as the door opened. “No not at all. What is that saying, misery loves company?” She laughed. She recognized him as the MACO CO even though they hadn’t met yet. “Baumann, right?” She glanced at a paper sitting on the floor next to her and then switched the band out for a different colored one and changed position.

Laursen, pilot

He nodded as he set the last mat aside and bent over the bag, unzipping it. “Yes. Captain Wulf Baumann, MACO commander.” He pulled out an odd black contraption of mechanical parts and set it up right on the deck. “And you are the helm officer, yes? Lieutenant Laursen? A pleasure to make your acquaintance.” He kicked down three ‘legs’ and the contraption stood up by itself on a tripod configuration. He then looked at Laursen and smiled. “I tried to familiarize myself with the crew before my team and I were picked up.”

Baumann, MACO

“Glad to meet you, Cpt. Call me Helena, unless it needs to be formal.” Helena wrapped the band around her hands, increasing the difficulty, took a deep breath and as she let it out she flexed further into the stretch. “I can say I was surprised to hear we were getting a MACO team to join us, but I for one and happy to have you all on board.”

Laursen, Pilot

“That is appreciated, Helena. Please call me Wulf.” His accent was strong, but his words easy to understand. He pulled down a single arm with a robust clamp at the end. The arm was connected to a series of servos, shocks, and hydraulic pistons. In the center was a black rectangular box with a series of lights on the face. Wulf pressed the bottom of the box and the lights slowly lit in sequence from top to bottom. Then the arm began to move through a series of surprisingly inticate movements before coming to a stop.

Baumann reached back into the bag and pulled out, of all things, two sheathed swords. Sabres, to be specific. The first he unsheathed and he peered down the blade, edge up. He then set the grip in the clamp on the arm and tightened it down. He then began a series of stretches and warm up exercises.

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena eyed the machine with curiosity and then her eyes widened when he mounted one of a pair of swords into it. Someone trained or even preferring more traditional weapons wasn’t really a new concept to Helena. She’d met all kinds during her service, but she’d never seen anything like that. She was curious to see the MACO CO use it. Then her leg twinged painfully and she reminded herself to pay attention to what she was doing. She hadn’t even gotten started yet. She was still stretching.

It was a fine line between stretching past the pain and making her muscles remember how they should work and pushing too hard and causing damage. She stretched every single muscle group. It was a careful and lengthy process, especially when her muscles didn’t want to stretch as far as she knew they could.

Laursen, pilot

Baumann finished stretching and looked at her and said “If the noise is too much, do let me know. I can wait until you are done.” He lifted the saber and used the tip to press one of the lights about a quarter of the way up the line of lights. It slowly glowed an amber color, flashed slowly, and then turned green. When it did, the arm moved and the sword went to a formal ‘ready’ position, which Baumann mirrored.

“I’m sure it will be fine. Can’t be worse than when all the weight machines are being used at once.” Even if it was, Helena wasn’t the type to ask him to wait. She was going to be there awhile, and they all had to share what space there was on the ship. If it was a problem she would remember to bring ear plugs next time.

And that is when the noise began.

Steel rang out on steel as the machine and the man began fencing, silvery light flashing off the blades as they went through a series of intricate and precise movements.

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena watched for a moment, out of curiosity that soon turned to fascination and respect for his skill level. Or what she assumed was his skill level because she didn’t know anyone that could do that. She was right, the noise was no worse than all the weight machines, but it was different. Helena watched a moment more before moving to those weight machines. Anyone who was any judge of such things would realize she was working on endurance rather than building muscle mass, but it was slightly off. Sometimes it was the amount of weight was too low, sometimes the number of reps too small, more frequent breaks than what seemed necessary. Such a person would also be correct in judging she could do much more, but what she was doing she put full effort into and was quite methodical in how she went about it.

Laursen, pilot

Baumann’s attention was on the fencing, but he noticed in passing the ‘gaps’ in what his gym-mate was doing. Baumann, and the rest of the MACO team for that matter, were meticulous when it came to physical fitness. As the machine ended its cycle of five minutes, Baumann shut it down and covered the blade. He sheathed his own as well. As he wiped the sweat from his face and forearms, his face flushed from the exertion, he said “I don’t want to intrude or overstep, but… do you want some advice? Or are your results comfortable for what you are training for?”

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena didn’t answer right away, letting the weights lower back down before turning to face him. “Yes and no to both of your questions.” She sat forward, elbows on knees. “Looks pretty strange doesn’t it? 3 years ago I got infected by some weird space virus. You might remember it in the news feeds from Mars colony, a bunch of us got sick and quarantined. Anyway we all had different and varying degrees of long term symptoms/side effects/damage. For me it’s bouts of muscle fatigue, but so far I’ve always been able to pass my physical evals. Today is a bad day, so…” she held up the papers she had sitting next to her, “fall back to PT exercises.”

Laursen, pilot

He nodded and said “Understood. Now… as to advice. You need a partner. For what you are doing, you need someone to push you. Your exercises are good, of course, but you are falling slightly short. And unless you are consistent, then these exercises will more of an annoyance than any real help.”

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena chuckled, “You know a Major by the name of Patrick Compton? Said the same thing to me. And you’re both right.” She shook her head with a smirk, “I promise, I really am not usually this bad. It hurts today, so I’m being a bit of a wuss about it. Which,” she grinned openly, “is why I need a partner.”

Laursen, pilot

Baumann shrugged and said “Ok. So do you want to work on stamina or strength today? And know this now… it will hurt, but it won’t injure. But you won’t like it at all.”

Baumann, MACO

“Yeah, I’m used to that, pain but not to the point of injury.” Helena shrugged, “Doesn’t matter if I like it, I hate the idea of this forcing me into an early retirement more than I can ever dislike the exercise.” She needed to get back to it before the fatigue got worse. She would be sore but she could deal with that. “Stamina.”

Laursen, pilot

“Good answer.” and he turned and walked towards the area he was fencing in. “Dry your hands.” he said flatly as he unfastened the clamp and freed the sword from the robot’s grip. He turned to her and said “Here.” and handed the sabre to her hilt first. “These are not sport blades. They are heavy.”

Helena grabbed a towel out of her bag and dried her hands and then tossed the towel and the PT sheets and log in the bag as well. She stood and walked over, acutely aware of the tired feeling in her muscles and the knowledge that no matter how tired she might feel the only thing to do was push forward. She took the blade, carefully because she had never used anything like this and aware of his warning.

And heavy they were, probably about three or four pounds. Not heavy to hold,but to move around quickly and angle? They would get much heavier quickly.

“Now, then.” Wulf said as he retrieved his blade. “The basics. Ready? Good.”

Baumann, MACO

She nodded, “Ready.” Not that he had waited for her answer. She already knew this was going suck.

Lautsen, pilot

And it did. First, Baumann went slowly through the basics: different forms, ways to hold and turn the blade, and what form to use against what attack or what attack to use against what defense. Then he began to speed up. When she slowed, his blade crashed down on her, knocking it painfully to the floor and Baumann would simply say “Again.” Then came footwork. And then came combining the two. And then, suddenly, Baumann said “Done. Blade down.” He was barely breathing heavy, and had not broke a sweat. But a glance at the ship’s time showed they had been at it for the better part of two hours.

Baumann, MACO CO

Baumann’s blade crashed down in hers a lot. Helena never protested or complained, even when it was obvious her muscles were to the point of giving out from the strain and fatigue. Helena didn’t back down from the challenge, physical or mental, even a very unexpected and exhausting one. Helena, under normal circumstances, was fit and worked to stay that way. It was also the only reason she survived two whole hours.

When he called a stop, it was a matter of personal stubbornness she lowered the blade and her arm slowly, no matter how much she her muscles, especially her core, screamed at her to drop to a heap on the floor. She held the sword out to him hilt first like he had handed it to her. “Where did you learn all that?”

Laursen, pilot

Baumann smiled slightly and took the blade and said “University. Landsmannschaft, specifically. Not unsimilar to a fraternity, but based on fencing. We practiced every day with live steel. It is a very German thing, I think.” and he laughed softly. “But it has served me well. And it is good exercise, especially if one wants to increase stamina.”

Baumann, MACO CO

“Well we all need our thing. That’s probably the most unique I’ve seen so far.” Helena grinned, “Great exercise, my muscles hate it, but I enjoyed it.” She felt her quad twitch and leaned against the wall. “Thank you.”

Laursen, pilot

“You are most welcome.” he said and gave a sharp quarter-bow. He then turned and careful wiped down the blades, sheathed them, and began breaking down the practice robot.

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena stood off the wall and walked over to where her bag was. It remunded her of the first time she took steps on her own off the parallel bars after she’d been sick. Unsure of whether her muscles would do their job or not. She put one hand on the bench and bent over to grab her bag. That was a mistake, but she manged to sit and not fall. She hated this. She hadn’t had problems like this in over a year. She had days where she was tired, but not like this and not pain. She zipped the bag closed and slipped the strap on her shoulder and stood. If she sat too long she wasn’t going to get up. “It’s a small ship, I’ll see ya ‘round, Wulf.”

Laursen, pilot

Baumann lifted the robot and folded up the legs and began putting it in the bag. “Indeed. Anytime you want a fencing lesson, let me know. I will be happy to direct you. And if you need a gym partner, I would suggest Sergeant Kristensen. But be warned… she is quite serious about exercise. I do not relish our workouts together.”

Baumann, MACO CO

Helena laughed quietly, maybe a tinge of dread mixed in. “I believe that is high praise coming from you, but that statement is also terrifying. I’ll ask her, but maybe in a few days when I won’t make such a fool of myself.” She watched him put the machine away, “I will probably take you up on that fencing lesson.” Helena checked the chronometer. With any bit of luck she would make it back to her quarters without running into the other captain in this ship. Otherwise she was really gonna be in trouble.

Laursen, pilot

“You should.” Baumann said over his shoulder. “It will do your stamina a great deal of good. And it never hurts to learn how to defend one’s person.” He zipped up the bag and lifted off the ground like it was a bag of pillows. He turned and said “If you want to speak to Kristensen, I suggest doing so in the MACO area. She is more likely to agree if you go to her.” and he nodded once and moved to the door. “Now then… how is the food on board? I have eaten field bags since we borded, and I am ready for a change.”

Baumann, MACO CO

“Oh don’t I know it. Space is fascinating, but it’s dangerous. Not everyone out here wants to be our friends.” It really showed you what you were capable of. Helena nodded about Kristensen, “I’ll be sure to do that. As for the food. The chef is decent. Better than ration packs. Not a huge variety each day but he tries to change it up over the week.”

Laursen, pilot

Baumann inclined his head and said “Good to know. Thank you. In that case, I am going to drop this off in my quarters, shower, and get some food. Thank you for the workout, Helena.”

Baumann, MACO CO

They made their way toward the lift and got on. Helena leaned back aginst the wall as it moved. “You’re welcome, though I don’t think I challenged or pushed you much if at all. Maybe next time.” She road the lift one more deck up after he got off.

Laursen, pilot