round 4 Lt. Commander Kaitlyn Falcon - Missing You... (NT)

[Sedrin Belasi]

(( Kaitlyn Falcon's Quarters; Starbase 118 ))

::It was quiet. Far too quiet.::

::After a wonderful night spent with Leo, the in-depth conversation began. He
gave her his updates; what had happened, what he had learned, what he had
done for his sister and his friends.::

::He also told her what had to happen next... He would be leaving the
station, turning over command to Sal, and he had no idea when he would be
back.::

::Kaitlyn's next question was the obvious one; "When do we leave?"::

::That was when the other shoe dropped. Leo needed Kaitlyn to remain there.
Kaitlyn had immediately prepared for a lengthy verbal battle... though it
seemed Leo knew exactly how to diffuse the situation. He had need of
Kaitlyn's skills, but this time her most important contribution would be
off of the battlefield. He would need a reliable source of supplies,
something he knew she could provide.::

::It was a blow, to be sure, but it was also something Kaitlyn could not
argue against. If Leo needed her providing support from where she was,
then she would provide him the best support she could.::

::Leo had not remained much longer. Their farewells were not exactly
happy, but they were hopeful at the very least.::

::And then... silence. Her quarters seemed far more silent than they had
before, even though it was still just her and Rhino.::

::She needed to move. Needed to do... something...::

::Then she remembered her mental note, to fire up the old sparring program
and work out her stresses. A quick check with the computer found a free
holodeck. She booked a reservation immediately.::

(( Holodeck 47; Starbase 118 ))

::The holodeck doors parted, admitting the civilian dressed officer onto
the gold-grid-on-black room.::

Falcon: Computer, activate program Kaitlyn Spar 1, with gear.

Computer: Acknowledged.

::The room around Kaitlyn shimmered, floor replaced with a hard white
surface as the room faded into darkness all around her. A spotlight
illuminated the center of the room, a black ring marking the floor. A
similar light remained over her head, showing a table and chair form
nearby. Atop the table were a line of bottles of chilled water and a
duplicate of her weighted staff.::

::She had first used a staff in combat many years ago, before she had
joined Starfleet. She had been taken hostage by the Orion Syndicate, long
story, and after breaking loose grabbed the closest thing she could use as
an improvised weapon; a metal rod with large hexagonal nut at either
end. While
she was able to recover her twin phase pistols, her initial escape had been
thanks to that rod.::

::Once she returned to civilization, she got her hands on a better
constructed staff and learned how to use it. While she had not yet been
able to use her knowledge in the field, it did give her an excellent form
of stress relief.::

::Kaitlyn grabbed the staff, hefting it slightly to remind her arm of the
weight.::

Falcon: Computer, reduce ambient temperature to 18.3 degrees Celsius.

Computer: Working.

::The room started to chill as she removed her jacket and flung it over a
chair. She liked working out in the cold; it meant she was unlikely to
overheat, and the added pain of impact (while maintaining safeties, of
course) gave her ample reason to avoid hits.::

::Kaitlyn moved to the center of the circle, holding her staff in a
two-handed ready stance. She did a short warm-up, making multiple practice
swings of the staff with steadily increasing speed and sweep.::

::Once she felt adequately stretched, she dropped back into her ready
stance.::

Falcon: Computer, begin round one.

::The computer gave its acknowledging beep as Kaitlyn listened to the
shuffles beyond the light, waiting for the first opponent to appear.::

::Points of light manifested; eyes in the darkness. Two figures entered
the light, both Orions in patched leather jackets and tan pants. Each had
the symbol of the Orion Syndicate at his shoulder. One cracked his
knuckles, the other his neck, and both charged.::

::Kaitlyn stepped forward, thrusting the end of her staff into one Orion's
chest to stop him before spinning the staff around to bring the other end's
weight into his head. The blow dazed him, leaving him open for a follow-up
side swing to the side of his head, knocking him down as he vanished from
the program. She immediately reversed, ducking down as she brought the
staff around and into the side of the second Orion's head twice. The
second opponent vanished as well.::

::Kaitlyn had encountered the Orion Syndicate many times over the years, or
rather FAR TOO MANY times. The amount of harm they caused, the amount of
destruction she had witnessed over the years... No minced words; she hated
them. Time might have given her some distance from it, but it would never
truly be gone.::

::While at the Academy, she had asked one of her more holographically
capable friends to make this sparring program for her. While training
dummies were okay, sometimes Kaitlyn wanted to fight something that could
fight back. Besides, it always provided excellent stress relief.::

Falcon: Computer, begin round two.

::As Kaitlyn got back into position, four new opponents emerged from the
shadows. They remained in two pairs, moving around the ring to attack from
two directions. Kaitlyn turned in place, keeping the assailants to her
left and right.::

::The quartet charged her, Kaitlyn snapping her staff up and around to
knock each pair into each other. They staggered, three of them momentarily
collapsing while the fourth managed to keep his feet.::

::That simply meant he was the first to fall, as Kaitlyn swiftly brought
her staff around for another decisive strike.::

::The remaining trio regained their feet, though did little to coordinate
their attack. Kaitlyn dodged the clumsy grasp of the closest Orion,
snapping her staff behind her to crack against the back of his head. Reversing
her swing, she swept the second's feet out from under him, chaining her
movement to slam the other weight down against the Orion's chest. Both
vanished from the program as the final Orion approached. Kaitlyn made
another two-hit combination; a straight strike to the Orion's chest
followed by a comical upswing between the Orion's legs.::

::The look on the Orion's face was priceless. Kaitlyn couldn't help but
smirk as he fell over sideways and vanished.::

::Kaitlyn took a moment to breathe, using her staff as support. Typically,
she would make the next round one-on-one, going up against an opponent
armed with a staff of his own and getting more movement into the mix. However...
Kaitlyn found she really did not feel like continuing.::

Computer: Standing by for round three.

Falcon: I know... ::Sighs.:: I know...

::The escape was always nice, and as expected she had burned through the
residual stress of the last mission.::

::Yet, all it had done was remind her of the terrible new truth... She was
separated from Leo once again. She had spent a couple years and several
postings away from him before, and the prospect of repeating that did not
sit well with her.::

::It was necessary, sure, but that did not make it any better.::

::Kaitlyn walked back over to the table, setting down the duplicate staff
and picking up her jacket from the chair. That day, there would be no
round three.::

Falcon: Computer, end program.

::The room shimmered, quickly replaced with the same gold-grid-on-black she
had seen on entry. Her escape would have to come from elsewhere.::

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Lt Commander Kaitlyn Falcon
Chief Helm Officer
Starbase 118 / U.S.S. Albion
F237507RF0
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