Illogical Contingency

Posted on Sun Aug 25th, 2019 @ 3:44pm by 1st Lieutenant S´tal

For most of his species, off-duty time was spent in deep meditation, reinforcing the mental barriers that repressed emotions and reflecting on the nature of logic in the greater universe. Such was not the case for 1Lt S´tal as he found clarity in the calculated movements of his hands and feet through quick strikes, fortified blocks and unpredictable movement. For these were the exercises that ensured his survival when the time came to fight, not a greater understanding of universal logic in a universe that spat in the face of such a concept.

In front of him, his Andorian Staff Sergeant stepped forward to attack with a 1-2-3 jab-jab-cross attempt at the Vulcan´s face, which S´tal blocked with his forearms before sweeping his leg forward to catch his opponent and trip him. As S´tal expected, instead of moving back to a safer distance, Sergeant Kalwari firmed his stance and absorbed the blow for the chance to attempt another flurry of punches into S´tal´s midsection. Bringing his guard lower, the Vulcan officer quickly brought his sweeping leg up higher to catch the Andorian´s knee instead of the calf, connecting with enough force that Kalwari rocked backwards. This caused the Andorian to reflexively open his arms to maintain his balance, and S´tal took the open window with a solid jap into his Sergeant ́s nose, knocking the blue-toned opponent down with many swears in his native tongue.

In a real grapple, S´tal would have pressed the ground fight, raining down Vulcan hammer fists or drawing the small knife he carried on every mission at his hip. In the case of this workout, the Vulcan simply offered up his hand to Kalwari. "Impressive, Sergeant. You are adapting well to Suus Mahna. Next time, I would suggest countering the leg sweep with a retreat, forcing me to come to you and leaving my own lower extremities open."

Kalwari brushed sweat clear of his antenna, which were now raised to their fullest from the rush of the fight, "Aye, Lieutenant. Or maybe next time I´ll get one of my Privates to just rush your backside like the Cardies did. It would be a great note on their next promotion reviews. "

S´tal shook his head "A desperate move from untrained soldiers. Besides, I could simply turn and use their own momentum to send them directly into you for, what I believe the term is ´a skull-fucking´."

Hearing that made Kalwari bark out a laugh. "Speaking of, how's the business on the Zendaya? Are we storming it or what?"

The Vulcan shook his head "Thatorder has not been given yet, but we will be ready for the eventuality. As I understand, our Intelligence division is currently working the situation."

The Staff Sergeant nodded, taking a long drink from his performance water, "Copy that, sir. We´ll be ready for when it´s time to get serious. You gonna check on our new Bajorian Corporal?"

S´tal nodded "He´s currently doing his EV workups with the TR-140 outside Shuttlebay One. From the Astraea´s current position, he has clear view to the Zendaya´s warp nacelles. We cannot risk the Separatists trying to escape or engage us with a Starfleet vessel."

The Andorian frowned, "You really think a grunt with a rifle will do anything to an Ambassador-class?"

A point the Vulcan had at first dismissed himself, before he had studied the situation. "Should the
Zendaya re-initialize, it will take, at minimum, ten seconds before the starship can safely initiate a warp jump. In that time, given our range and his rifle, Corporal Pel will have two opportunities to engage and puncture the Zendaya's bussard collectors."

Sergeant Kalwari drained the rest of his electrolyte drink, "Chances he sets off a plasma fire and blows out the whole nacelle?"

"Possible" was the best answer S'tal had. "However, one disabled starship, even catastrophically so, is a more acceptable outcome than allowing a tyrant and a fanatic to continue his tirade against the Federation."

Kalwari laughed at that. "That's not exactly 'logical', Lt."

To which the Marine Officer nodded. "Indeed, but an unorthodox problem requires an equally unorthodox solution."