Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Alt Timeline - Holodeck

Posted by Warrant Officer Jacen “Flex” Flexwood (Security Officer/Special Forces Division) in Alt Timeline - Holodeck

Posted by Captain Kelly Bordeaux (Commanding Officer) in Alt Timeline - Holodeck
Posted by… suppressed (3) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Flex entered the holodeck for his weekly scheduled session and was glad to be there. It had been a long week… and for no particular reason. Nothing significant had happened to make this week any more challenging than any week before, but he couldn’t help but feel like his brain simply a four pound pot roast stewing inside of his skull. Some physical activity was his self-prescribed remedy for the day. =^= Computer run program Flexwood Theta Two. = ^=

With a beep of acknowledgement, the room around him changed into a small gazebo with a single heavy bag hanging from a chain in the middle. The gazebo was attached to a small locker room by a small covered walkway. The most notable feature of the program was the active storm raging around the scene. Flex had always found rain, thunder, and lightning to be incredibly soothing so when he wanted to clear his mind… this was the go to program. He took a couple of minutes in the locker room to change out of his uniform. He pulled on a faded pair of short from his marine days that cut off approximately mid-thigh. There was a logo on the right leg of the short but it had long since become unreadable. Jacen took longer than needed to wrap his hands and wrists allowing his mind to fall away into the routine.

After a time that Flex couldn’t quantify, he made his way out to the gazebo. Working his neck side to side as he slowly alternated rolling his shoulder, the large man began to bounce lightly from one foot to the other as he limbered his body. After a moment or two, he began to slowly circle the heavy bag. He snapped off a straight left handed jab and relished in the crisp pop of his fist against the bag. As time passed he began to work up a slight sweat and his movement started to noticeably increase. It wasn’t long before he was bobbing and weaving, working in and out, all the while the storm raged outside of the gazebo.

Kelly entered the holodeck program and instantly her face dipped slightly into a frown as the words, “what the f,” slipped from her lips in a soft whisper. She tended to treat the holodecks with a more civilian approach than a military one with a first come first served mentality. There were too few holodecks and too many crew to use an actual reservation system on all of them. Instead of having rank as a privilege, she just showed up, like everyone else to the suite of holodecks listed as open access. This meant if you were there first you got to pick the program. If not you joined in what someone had or found a small corner of the running holodeck and adapted. More times than not she laughed at how the real-life view of twenty people mulling around the holodeck box looked like sheep in a barn while the virtual world with the twenty people inside it only viewed it as being on a long beach or dense forest where none of them saw each other.

Her plan had been to run but the weather in the program threatened to electrocute her and the terrain was more garden party than long winding roads. She debated about just going to the track in the gym until she noticed who was in the middle of the gazebo. Standing still she watched her newly appointed CTO waltz with the two-hundred-pound bag hanging in the middle of the gazebo. He had grace and rhythm. Kelly wondered if it spoke to training, life experience, or a combination of both.

Jacen’s movements were fluid, nothing was rushed. He snapped off crisp two and three punch combinations… and they looked effortless, rhythmic even. He was so lost in his own mind that he never noticed he was not alone until he heard a voice from behind him. He wasn’t sure who was here, nor how long they’d been watching. He made another half-circle around the bag finishing another combination before stopping and resting his right hand on the chain supporting the bag as he turned his attention to his company.

Flex

“Interesting set up for a holodeck,” she stated gesturing around. “Has the I want to take off your head and then engage in high tea with cucumber sandwiches vibe,” she gestured to the bag and then gazebo, “only you don’t look like the type that eats cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches.” Her smile indicated she found humor in his choice of programs but also was intrigued. Most people were far more complex than their normal personalities presented to the world. Jacen was no different. He was the perfect officer with the perfect record but no one was that transparent. Behind his perfect record was a story of someone who rose through the ranks getting his hands dirty and working hard. It was why Kelly had requested him to fill the vacant slot she had on her ship. Finding officers was easy. Finding officers that worked hard alongside everyone in the crew regardless of rank was more difficult. Jacen seemed to easily fill this role.

He cracked a smile at the sandwich comment before replying, “They’re actually delicious, but the quantity of them I would need to eat is prohibitive of me partaking in them very often.” There was palpable humor in his voice, and while his comment might be funny it wasn’t completely wrong. He was a large man and little finger sandwiches with no legitimate protein source wouldn’t go very far to quell his appetite.

“Not to mention they normally don’t come with fries. Lucky for you I know where they keep the good stuff at those stuffy formal monkey suit events you are now going to have to attend given those pips on your neck and your new career duties. The best booze along with the burgers to soak up the booze is the bar closest to the service entrance. News travels fast but just tell them you are part of Captain Chao’s crew and they will take care of you,” she said offhand. The information was extraneous but given with a purpose. It was mainly to see what Jacen retained as valuable information and what he assumed was banter. It would not be too long before they were stuck in a formal affair and Kelly would know if he tugged this nugget away or not.

Jacen stored away that information. It seemed a little out there to simply be a throw away statement, and he thought it might have a purpose later on.

“You learn your moves from brawling on shore leave or training?” The comment was not a slur but more an observation. Jacen had not gone the traditional route in Starfleet to get where he was standing now. For what little she knew of boxing, Jacen seemed to be marrying trained skill and ingenuity. It interested her to see where he had achieved his skills.

Kelly CO

Flex was lost in thought a moment as he thought back to when he learned to fight, it had been so long ago now that it felt like a different life time. “Without getting super long-winded, the colony I grew up on had very few legitimate opportunities for a boy to make a living. So I learned to make mine with my fists. Once I enlisted in the Marines, it became more formal as I competed in the corp and yes sometimes while serving dirtside fighting was our best form of entertainment.” His eyes surveyed the CO as he gauged her reaction. His interactions with the captain had been limited previously, but given his new appointment he knew he’d be seeing much more of her and it would serve him well to get a read on her body language and other mannerisms… after all most communication was nonverbal.

Flex

Kelly nodded taking in the information. They could not have come from different pasts but that did not mean they shared completely different experiences. “My background at the academy was security and intelligence. I don’t have the body weight for boxing so my choice of sport was something else. May I,” she gestured to the bag hanging in the middle of the gazebo. Kelly was dressed for the activity in high-waisted leggings and a sports bra. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail so that it was out of her face and free to move around. =/\=Computer boxing gloves=/\= she requested.

As they materialized at her feet, Kelly pulled them on. She was nowhere proficient enough to just tape her hands like Jacen had and frankly it would probably injure her than help her. Sliding her hands in the gloves she held them out like a kid with mittens on their hands. “Lace them up and give me some pointers,” she asked.

Kelly Bordeaux

Flex helped the CO put on the gloves and lace them properly. The light weight gloves wouldn’t provide a ton of protection for her hands, but they weren’t going ten rounds at this point so Jacen thought it would be fine. =^=Computer training mits=^= he said casually as a pair of flat pads that fit on the wearer’s hands appeared. They served as movable targets for training that provided solid resistance without the considerable heft of a bag. He pulled the set on and slapped them against each other to get a feel for their weight. He then held the mits out in front of him. “Before I can give you some pointers, I need to see what we’re working with. Show me what you’ve got boss.”

Flex

This form of working out was novel to Kelly. Like anyone she had slugged it out with a punching bag when she was younger to burn off steam but only a handful of times had she been in an actual ring with someone. “You know this might damage your opinion of how useful I would be on an away mission,” Kelly joked rising up on the balls of her feet slightly to take the weight off her heels. One of the few things she did remember distinctly was Herman Hornsby the chief proctor of security and tactics screaming ‘Jesus Christ Shultz are you a boxer or a boulder? Get lighter on your feet’.

Jacen grinned at her comment before replying, “Honestly, if you’re put into a situation like this on an away mission, several of us have failed at our jobs already and/or things have gone south in a hurry and anything you do to help you survive will be sufficient.” He watched as she shifted her weight up to the balls of her feet to make herself more mobile.

Bringing her hands up to her face, she threw her first punch at the center of the bag. The impact of her fist on the target felt and sounded satisfying but it could not be this easy.

Kelly Bordeaux CO

Kelley’s right hand snapped out to strike the mitt on Jacen’s right hand with a nice pop. It lingered there a second too long and she dropped her right shoulder as she brought the hand back. Flex quickly tapped the CO on her unprotected right temple with the mitt on his left hand. “So first impressions, if you’re only throwing a single punch… it has to be a devastating strike that ends the fight. To do that, you’re going to have to drive through the entirety of your back foot, not just the ball. Being light allows you to move, but when it’s time to deliver power that comes from the ground it’s about transition. In most cases a single strike won’t do the job, so work combinations.... and never let your guard down. Strike and bring the hands straight back to the shoulder.”

Flex