SNIP

Alita’s sparkling green eyes met Vinoda’s for a few seconds.

“No. Fate is a perfectly acceptable answer, especially here.” she said quietly, “Since we are such a small ship, I believe my security personnel should have some cross training. I have a feeling that’s not going to be a problem for you.”

• Alita, MO/COS

Coryn nodded his agreement, “Nothing wrong with being well rounded especially when all hands on deck may very literally mean all hands in this case.” He was curious which areas she wanted him to cross train in, but there was plenty of time to sort all of that out.

Vinoda Sec

Alita liked his attitude thus far.

“My thoughts exactly so, as I get to know you, we’ll decide what you might be best suited to cross train in. I want to know your preferences of course. Personally, I think this ship needs a little bit of everything but, we excel best at what interests us most.”

• Alita, MO/COS

He took a moment to think before responding to her statement. “I like to think that I’m fairly well rounded, though Engineering has never been a strong suit.” He said matter-of-factly. “I tend to work better in areas that involve people… I figure that has a lot to do with how much of our work is spent studying people and how they react to different situations and stressors.”

Vinoda Sec

Alita nodded and stood.

“I’ll see you in the holodeck in ten minutes. When we’re there, we’ll decide Melee or hand to hand first. You’ve gotten this far, I figure you know how to shoot a damned phaser. I hold those drills every Tuesday and Thursday anyway. Ten minutes, don’t be late.” she said with a smile.

• Alita, MO/COS

“Yes ma’am.” Coryn replied as he rose from his seat and made his way to Deck 7. When the COS arrived she would find the man leaning against one wall of the holosuite arms folded across his chest and right foot resting on the wall behind him. He was still wearing his regulation uniform as there had been no mention of changing clothing. A few minutes later he heard the door slide open and he turned his attention to his superior walking through the door.

Vinoda Sec

Alita hadn’t mentioned changing clothing because it really didn’t matter either way though she had taken the luxury of tucking her hair behind her ears and braiding it tightly. Her younger brother had shown her what a weakness loose hair could be and she would never forget what Donnie had taught her,

“So, hand to hand or melee?” she asked calmly.

• Alita, MO/COS

Pushing off the wall, Coryn made his way to the center of the room. He didn’t drop into an obvious guard, though a trained professional like the Chief would be able to tell a difference in his demeanor that would imply that his guard was indeed up. The thing about physical confrontation is that the more you practiced it the more comfortable you became with it and the compromising situations it could put you in, as such form and technique could appear ‘lax’ when the appearance was by design. “Dealer’s choice.” He responded casually.

Vinoda Sec

A slow smile spread across Alita’s face and she nodded. Either choice would have suited her pleasure, both of which offered different challenges.

“Computer, fetch my weapons rack.”

A few seconds later, a large rack appeared along one wall laden with various types of weapons from the mundane to the purely fanciful.

“If you can’t find it there, replicate it yourself. I’m not worried about what you choose so please, take your pick.”

• Alita, MO/COS

Coryn looked over the weapons rack, impressed with the array of choices. Different species and cultures were represented among the collection which he could respect, but his eyes were drawn to a pair of knives slightly less than dagger sized. He wasn’t sure what the COS had up her sleeve so it seemed like an appropriate choice that would be easily adaptable to most situations. He picked them up and played around with them to get a feel for their weight. He experimented with various grips to see what was comfortable, but refrained from settling on a certain grip until he knew what he was up against. “Impressive collection boss, might have to play with some of your other toys later on.”

Vinoda

Alita wondered if he was joking or just making conversation.

“Access to that particular program will come in a week or two after which, you’re free to play as long as you like. I approve of your choice though.” she commented walking to the weapons rack herself.

Standing at the weapons rack, Alita had a thought and reached for a similar set of knives.

“So, if one looked at the differences between you and I, physically, one might think this would end quite easily if one didn’t know anything about our training etcetera.”

Alita knew she would have to step in close to attempt a first strike which would seemingly put her at a disadvantage.

Alita quickly stepped in without warning feinting a strike towards his face with her right knife to cover what would, if the fight were real, be a strike to his right shoulder with her left knife to disable the arm.

• Alita

Coryn watched the COS with a well trained eye, her statement was spot on… a layperson would assume a certain outcome to this situation, but he knew that she wouldn’t have made it this far in her career if a simple physical mismatch could stop her. He anticipated that she would be quick and agile, but anticipation did little to prepare him for her actual speed. The knife in her right hand flashed towards his face, Coryn didn’t pay much attention to that strike though. As it was away from his core, it could be avoided relatively smoothly… someone with her experience wouldn’t telegraph her intentions so clearly.... he sank into his hips allowing his right foot to fall behind him putting him below the strike to his face. The strike towards his right shoulder was on him much quicker than he’d expected, at the last moment the blade in his right hand caught her strike driving it just wide of his shoulder. Driving off his left foot, Coryn scramble to regain some of the space between the two of them. “Wow, I expected you to be quick, but I couldn’t imagine how quick.

Coryn sank back into his defensive stance, his left foot in front turned sideways to decrease his profile. He then began circling to his right. He didn’t know the chief well enough to know her hand dominance, he was simply playing the odds that she was right handed and his path would put him working towards her off hand… in theory giving him more time to react to attacks from her right hand… He settled on holding the blade in his left hand in a reverse grip and the one in his right in a standard grip. As he moved in to striking distance he threw out a left handed jab towards her left cheek which would put his blade on a path for her nose. It was a quick strike with little weight behind it, simply meant to probe her defense. He had to identify how she intended to fight him… was she an offensive fighter… a counter striker… was she trying to lull him into making a mistake and ending the entire thing in a single move…

Vinoda Sec

Alita stepped back to her left, the blade passing in front of her face as her eyes stayed focused on his center of balance, and stepped back an additional step for distance.

Coryn noted how smoothly she avoided the probing attacks and continued circling.

Through both of their attack cycles, Alita appeared emotionless. Calm and completely relaxed. They were testing each other and she knew it. It was the way of experienced fighters. Once the tests were done and the real engagement begun, it would be short and, if it weren’t practice, brutal.

Alita brought her arms to a defensive position one usually saw in bare handed fighting but was still relaxed and focused. At some point as her arms came up, she had switched the blade positions so that the blades ran down handed along the line of her forearms. The position reminiscent to that of a preying mantis waiting for her opportunity to strike. She bent her knees lowering herself a little, feet a little more than shoulder width apart with her left foot more forward, a position giving a good combination of balance and ability to move.

He assessed her position, the defensive posture obvious… though he was still unsure if she intended to be on the defensive or if it was a bit of gamesmanship.

With a quick short sidestep Alita snapped a kick out with her left foot toward his leading knee in an attempt to unbalance him.

The question was at least partially answered quickly when she snapped her foot towards his left knee. It was a quick attack and didn’t appear to have much weigh behind it so he lifted his left foot off the ground just slightly enough to take the blow in the calve right below his knee. His balance shifted to his right foot, though he appeared stable. The kick stung… had he left his foot rooted it could’ve posed a problem for the structural integrity of his knee.

Her eyes remained on his center of balance though she wanted to look up and see the expression ion his face. That wasn’t the way she had been taught though. She could remember countless male members of her family, and several Star Fleet combat instructors, chiding her for that very flaw. Family had called her too sweet. Instructors had told her to save that type of curiosity for reviewing the battle footage playback. So this time, her sparkling green eyes stayed where they belonged.

• Alita

bump

Coryn threw out another probing left jab as he lingered on his right foot a moment longer baiting her. He anticipated a takedown attempt and was prepared to counter it by dropping his weight down an an exposed limb. The chief was obviously skilled and agile… if he could turn this into a ground game, his size and strength could come into play more efficiently.

Vinoda