Keeping Sharp

Posted on Fri Sep 9th, 2011 @ 3:21pm by Lieutenant Colonel Sosuke Ishihara

927 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 76 - Home comings
Location: USS Saratoga - Holodeck 1
Timeline: Present

The Saratoga was on its way back from a reasonably uneventful trip to retrieve the body of Commodore Christopher Pike. The Talosians, despite their history of keeping humans in zoos, had been entirely peaceful...if somewhat morbid about their race's dying future. Sosuke hoped that there was something that could be done to help the race that had dwelt in peaceful obscurity throughout most of the Federation's modern history, but he wasn't a scientist. He was just glad that the operation had gone off without a hitch. The only time he'd had to leave the bridge of the Saratoga (a strange perch for the Wing Leader of the 181st, to be sure) was when Colonel Pike had called him down with a shuttle to pick up the body of the Marine CO's namesake descendant. It had been a little boring, but any mission where his men saw no danger and all came home alive and joking was a brilliant one.

Still, that was no reason any of them shouldn't keep their skills up, and that included the Wing Commander himself. At that very moment he was in one of the Saratoga's holodecks, surrounded by a virtual field of grass. Beyond that was a small hut of ancient Japanese design, and beyond that rolling hills that lead into mountains. Sosuke knelt on the a bamboo mat wearing a traditional, blue kimono. His eyes weren't closed but they looked unfocused, seeing everything and nothing at once. His hands and feet were bare. Then four figures shimmered into existence around him -- a human, a Klingon, a Cardassian, and a Vulcan all wearing white karate gi's.

The aliens surrounding Sosuke simultaneously bowed, then settled into fighting stances. Each warrior was a sample of his own culture's unique style; the Klingon in a Mok'bara stance, the Vulcan displaying the ready position of Suus Mahna, etc. Sosuke rose to his feet and bowed in return. He settled easily into a generic fighting stance himself and waited for the first attack to come.

The Klingon began first, bellowing a challenge and rushing in with a palm strike that would have flattened Sosuke if he'd allowed it to hit him. Instead, he caught his opponent's wrist and turned the blow away from him, using the momentum of the charge and some well-applied footwork to deposit the Klingon heavily on his back. The warrior, no slouch himself, slapped the ground to absorb some of the hit and continued the roll onto his feet as the Cardassian came in next.

The Cardassian's fighting style was a lot like his people, cold and ruthless. He swept his foot out first while attacking high right afterward with a slice of a hand flattened into a knife-like blade. Sosuke stopped the sweep by hitting his opponent's knee with his heel, directing the blow into the dirt and stopping it short, then ducked under the knife hand while delivering a two-handed punch to the Cardassian's stomach and pitching him over onto his back. Like the Klingon, the Cardassian rolled with the blow and got back to his feet so that Sosuke's next opponent could attack.

The human, showing a mastery of karate, quick-stepped and then jumped into the air to strike at Sosuke with a flying kick. As his father relentlessly drilled into him, Sosuke used the opportunity to not only defend but simultaneously attack. He ducked under the blow, going down onto one knee, and threw an uppercut into the man's groin. The poor hologram made a squeaking sound as he went overhead and went headfirst into the dirt, but still managed to consolidate and get back to his feet wearing a pained grimace. Sosuke stood and faced the Vulcan.

Suus Mahna was an ancient Vulcan martial art, and provided perhaps the deadliest threat of Sosuke's four, holographic opponents. The famed Vulcan nerve-pinch was only the tip of the iceberg with that race's skill. With a series of joint locks, pressure-point jabs, and locks a skilled practitioner of Suus Mahna could quickly reduce an unprepared foe into a gibbering mess or even kill them with a single finger. The Vulcan regarded him with cool neutrality even as he stepped forward. What followed was a series of quick strikes and blocks between the fighters' hands and elbows as each attempted to get through the others' defenses. The Vulcan lanced out with two fingers with a blow to the inside of Sosuke's elbow that would have deadened his arm if he didn't turn it at the last moment. As a result, he only lost a little of the feeling in his brachioradialis as it glanced off. Sosuke used that arm to trap the fighter's elbow, careful not to accidentally fall victim to the Vulcan's tremendous strength, then used his own two-finger jab to force all of his striking power onto a single point at the Vulcan's throat. The man fell back, emotionless and controlled but still coughing, but he couldn't get away with his elbow still trapped. Sosuke followed through hitting the Vulcan several times in the stomach and face, then uppercutted him with the heel of his hand. The Vulcan's knees buckled and Sosuke released him.

The Vulcan held his throat for a moment more, coughed, then rose to his feet again and gave Sosuke a respectful nod. Sosuke stepped back into the center of his four opponents and adjusted the fit of his kimono over his shoulders.

"Computer, increase difficulty to level nine. Attack two at a time." Sosuke calmly ordered the holodeck.

"Difficulty level 9, acknowledged. Begin when ready."

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