The Art of Teaching, Part II

Posted on Wed Nov 20th, 2024 @ 10:06pm by Captain Natalya Markova & Tessa di'Orion

Mission: Lower Decks
Timeline: Shortly before recieving rhe freighter distress call

ON

It was a full thirty minutes early, but Nat had nothing else planned, and the Holodeck was still available. So there she was, stood outside at the controls, pondering.

"Computer, load program Markova-Delta-Three." She finally said with a smile, remembering a comment the XO had said to her recently. Walking inside she saw all was set; a series of crash mats, spring boards, parkour bars, and even a couple of open cabinets with harmless weapon mockups that stood against the wall.

She had dressed simply. Camo cargo pants, securely laced boots, and a plain black t-shirt. Her hair - unusually had been tied back into a pony-tail to stay out of her face. Tess may have been taught to practice in anything, but the Corps taught to eliminate distraction until the process was wrote. Once muscle memory had it down, then you could add in distractions.

The Marine Captain started with some stretches, to get herself loose, wincing as some of the lingering bruises caused muscles to pull tighter than they should have.

The door slid open and both Tessa and Cass walked in, the younger woman clad just as she had been before even as the bodyguard peeled off to the side of the door and leaned against the wall. The only difference from what she'd looked like before was a new bruise on her forearm that was already on the way to recovery. She sported her usual sword on her belt, a rapier-style, plus a hand-width cylinder that was on the opposite side. Her shoes were sandals that laced up to just below her knee, clearly not going anywhere as she walked forward, rolling her shoulders, "Milady, thank you again for taking the time to help me."

"The name is just Nat. Natalya, if you really prefer, but ideally Nat." The Marine came up from her stretch with a sound somewhere between a sigh and a groan. "So what forms of combat do you know?"

"I'm not too bad with a bow, says Cass," Tessa gave a glance at her bodyguard as if seeking approval, "My bladework is pathetic and I'm fair in unarmed combat. I would say that my best work is done with the staff, Cass says that the saving grace with that is I can keep most swords away from me, keeping me intact until she can get to me." It was clear that she was nervous, but not about Nat, more about the woman now leaning against the wall.

Nat walked over to one of the weapons cabinets. She pulled a knife. The blade was a silver-finished carbon-fiber. Not sharp enough to even cut, it held the shape, weight, and feel of a knife the Marine knew all too well.

"This." Nat held the weapon between her thumb, and forefinger, letting Tess get a look at it. "Is the Marine standard-issue hand-to-hand weapon. Officially 1219C2. We call it Ka-Bar."

She glanced over at Cass, wondering how this would go. "Turn around please." She said, looking back to Tess.

Cass's hand had drifted down to her belt, near to a knife of her own, but had instead seemed to hook into the belt as she watched intently as Tessa turned around at the request of Natalya. The girl bounced on the balls of her feet, already somewhat anticipating what was coming. This was a test, a test for someone who'd been told too many times that there were some people out there who'd love to take her hostage, "All right."

The dummy blade in Nat's hand was flipped, held in a reverse grip with the back edge of the blade against her wrist. "Security." The Marine began. "Bodyguards. They're nice for show. Good in a crowd. Keeps the average malcontent at bay. At the end of the day, though, your life can only truly be trusted within your hands."

Moving with the speed she had, Nat closed the two long strides to Tess's back. Her left arm resting along the back of the shoulders, and neck. Her right, which held the knife, came around. The blade rested less than an inch away from the woman's throat. "You can only truly trust yourself."

If Natalya had seen Cass at that moment, she would have seen the bodyguard relax rather than move to protect her primary. As it was, Tessa cared her throat even more as she glanced up and behind her at Nat with a bright smile, “As Cass tells me, my job is to delay them long enough for her to handle the situation.” Her own hands had fluttered at her sides as Nat had moved and Tessa marveled at the speed of the Marine, but she let the blade in her own hands, a rather all too real skinny dagger with almost no hilt, rest the tip against Nat’s pants, right above where the femoral artery lay. It was her own way of pointing out that she wasn’t a genuine novice. She was in control of herself and her actions. She tapped the tip against Nat’s leg twice as she waited for the response.

Nat eased to the side, away from the knife. Her foot came inside Tessa's stance. A forceful shove between the shoulder blades, and the foot taking out Tessa's left the woman off-balance, and stumbling.

An undignified yelp came from the girl as she stumbled forward and threw her hands out in front of her to break her fall before turning it into a clumsy roll to the amused laughter of Cass. Tessa came back up on one knee and her smile was gone, "Milady, that wasn't nice, nor fair!"

"And that's the lesson." Nat said with a smile. "One of them. Life isn't nice, nor fair. Neither is combat. Never assume you've won. Always have the next move planned. Or, as I like to put it, Rule 16: If someone thinks they have the upper hand - break it."

Instead of putting the knife back where she got it, Tessa flung the blade over in Cass's direction. The bodyguard stepped away from the wall and in a move to disgrace some ballerinas plucked the knife out of the air before leaning back against it again, an amused smile on her face as she watched what was going on.

The annoyance on Tessa's face was clear as she took the offensive, moving into an unarmed combat stance unfamiliar to those who hadn't learned it on Tial. Fingers were separated and the pinkies were curved down. It was a grappling stance, meant for truly close quarters hand to hand fighting, then the teenager moved in and attempted a leg sweep to throw the taller woman off balance.

Nat saw the shift. The fighting style was one she recognised, but the body language was clear as day. The Marine flipped the practice knife into a defensive posture, waiting. She had less than half a heart-beat's warning, one fraction of a second to toss a mental coin and pick a direction to dodge.

It was luck, pure and simple. Nat spun, avoiding the leg sweep, her movement letting Tess move past, and as Nat came around, her height advantage let the bony point of her elbow connect with the back of Tess's head. Nat backed away a few paces, feeling the familiar tingles shooting up her arm from the impact.

There seemed to be a slight hesitation from the girl as she hit the ground face-down harder than anticipated, then rolled to her right onto her back and with an undulation right back to her feet. There was a sharp word from Cass, but Tessa knew far better than to look over at her, "Sita." She responded as she shook her head while keeping eye contact on Natalya. She'd just been told to settle down even as she reset her combat stance. She was SUPPOSED to wait for an attack, not go on the offensive herself, after all, and now the 'enemy' was a few meters away.

"Estellia dor tsunell." Cass said just loud enough for the younger girl to hear, then translated helpfully for Natalya, "Survival is paramount." After hearing that, Tessa closed her eyes for a couple seconds to reflect deep inside.

Nat let her peripheral vision take in the woman against the wall. She was watching Tessa try to compose herself. "Should we continue another day?" It wasn't a challenge, wasn't a taunt. It wasn't even an accusation. Merely a question.

"No, this is good for her." Cass'e'Indira said from her place on the wall, "Frustration and patience go hand in hand, we must be prepared to face anything at any time."

Tessa took a deep breath as she opened her eyes, still in stance, "I think we should continue another day." It was a contradiction to Cass, but she looked to Natalya instead, ignoring the bodyguard.

"Here endeth the lesson." Nat said, bringing the session to a close. "Please feel free to contact me for another if you wish."

Tessa relaxed even as she felt the scowl of her protector's eyes on her, "I'm sure we will, assuming Cass doesn't think you went too easy on me, Milady." She lowered her voice to barely above a whisper, "I prefer not to even engage in combat, Milady, it is just expected that I learn."

"We all have our own ways of dealthing with things." Nat responded in an equally low volume. "Let her think what she likes, my lessons are for you, not her."

The Marine flicked her eyes over to the bodyguard, and changed back to a normal volume. "Dismissed." She watched the pair leave, and let out a long breath. This was not how she thought the day would go.

"Computer, End Program."

OFF