Adventure in History!

Posted on Fri Oct 2nd, 2020 @ 9:44am by Lieutenant Orin Sempton & Lieutenant Lily Marlow

Mission: End of Line
Location: Holo Deck 1
Timeline: MD 01
3166 words - 6.3 OF Standard Post Measure

Lily continued her journey exploring the decks, remembering Hanover's mention of some holo-decks. She hadn't gone there yet, and so she went, still carrying her medium sized duffle bag, that held her apples and oranges. She came to the holodeck doors. One was occupied with an indication of no admittance. The other, she decided to peek in, that one didn't have such an indication. The door opened she stepped in, the sounds she was hearing intriguing.

She moved more into the room beyond the archhway, it disappearing. The sound of clashing steel wafted its way to her ears, via the wind which picked up, sending dust in her eyes. Lily coughed, her eyes watered, raising her arm up to wipe them with her sleeve. There was a thump behind her, then another, she couldn't see with her blurred vision. She ran, half blind, just to get away from what was chasing her. Her vision cleared, and she gasped, she was in the middle of a heated battle! She heard a swishing sound behind her, seeing a blade heading in her direction. Lily barely dodged, wishing she had a weapon and the ability to wield it. Her opponent was in hot pursuit, and she could only play the game of dodge the sword.

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I hate these elephants. Orin dodged left as the large beast charged through his line again, taking a few unlucky soldiers who didn't move quick enough down. "Ad Acium!" He cried "Repulsus!" He'd done this battle so many times, and yet it felt like the computer liked to change things up just to mess with him. Zama was supposed to be the last stand for Hannibal, with a force of mostly armed, untrained farmers. Yet he was standing in the middle of a morass of tangled bodies and weapons with half his century scattered, and the other half dead. "Yep, computer definitely hates me today..." A pained animal cry sounded behind him. "Ad aciem! Celeriter! Defendi ad parati!" His men quickly formed ranks as the next line of soldiers ran at them. Shields at the ready, the two lines smashed together, the force nearly knocking Orin off his feet. The legionary behind him propped him up, keeping him from making a hole in the line.

Above the din of battle, the screaming of men and clashing of metal, he heard a sound that shouldn't be there. His head popped up scanning around him for the source. A flash of blue that couldn't be around in the second century BC caught his eye, and the realization hit him harder than the line. "Computer! Pause progr-ugh!" In his haste, he'd left himself undefended and took a shield punch to the ribs, driving the air from his lungs and the power from his legs. On the ground, the next legionary stepped up to take his place in the line while Orin rolled on the ground gasping for air. "ghuy'cha'! That's gonna leave a mark." He slowly worked his way back into his line. "Computer! Pause program!"

The room became dead silent, save for his labored breathing, everything standing motionless.

Lily was thankful for whomever stopped the program, gingerly crawling out of the way of the sword ready to pin her to the ground. She rose to her feet, dusted her clothing off, moved to where she could get a different perspective. The armor looked to be historical Roman gear, she noted an elephant with armor?! Judging by the scene, Lily's mind brought up a poem she had learned back in her youth. It was titled Hannibal Barca, by Paul Perro.

She spoke the first three Stanza's poem.

"A military genius
(Or so most experts say)
He came from somewhere called Carthage
(Known as Tunisia today).

Hannibal fell out with the Romans
After he moved to Spain.
They quarrelled over territory;
He thought they were a pain.

Hannibal built up an army -
Thousands of soldiers, and
He even had some elephants
He'd brought from his homeland."

She skipped to the very last Stanza

"The Battle of Zama was where
The two armies would meet.
Unfortunately, for Hannibal
It ended in defeat."

She moved towards where the main part of the battle was. "This is The Battle of Zama?" in the stillness she heard the labored breathing, following it to where she saw a rather tall man, dressed in armor. "Holey Moley, I just found the god of war" she stated. "Er hello, sorry to have interrupted your... battle." looking at the carnage surrounding him.

"A bit," He managed through clenched teeth as he took a couple of breaths. "Of historical reenactment. Though something..." He began to sit up, slowly palpating the area to see the extent of the damage. "Minor bruising, spasm of the solar plexus, nothing broken" He mumbled to himself, as he stood up. "Something is definitely off in my settings, especially if it let someone in during the worst of the battle." He looked down at his new companion, noticing the pips on her neck. "Sorry, Ma'am." He pulled at the leather strips to undo the cheekplates and removed his helmet. "Ensign Orin Sempton, Xenoarchaeologist."

"Don't worry about it. I'm Lieutenant Lily Marlow, the most recent Chief Medical Officer. And please, if you don't mind, just call me Lily as we both aren't on duty at the moment."looking keenly interested at his helmet. "That is a nice piece of craftsmanship there." a pause then his other words registered, "Would you like me to check on the bruising I caused? "

Orin shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you, but I'm alright. Just a stouter blow than I'm used to." He turned the helmet over and offered it to Lily. "A fine reproduction, a little heavier than its counterpart, but also a little safer."

He clicked his teeth as a thought came to the forefront of his mind. "Computer difficulty setting?" There was a series of beeps before it answered. The Scenario is set at setting 9. The color drained from Orin's face. "Oh... That's bad."


Lily took a look at inside the helmet, padding to keep the cranium from being bounced around too much. "Looks really good." loving the feel of it in her hands. She looked sharply up at Orin, "Setting 9? If that is bad, tell me this, what is the highest setting you have for this scenario?" handing Orin his helmet back. "hopefully I didn't cause a glitch to your program when I entered. Which may actually answer why I was able to come into this. Setting 9 probably means a medic is needed?" feeling a bit nervous, then it stopped, after all, he had the program paused and it could be reset to the proper level.

"The difficulty setting is an algorithm. It controls everything from the AI's adaptability to the damage the weapons do." He looked out over the sea of tangled bodies in the struggle of life and death. "Setting 1 is akin to being hit with a padded stick. 10 a Painstik." He swallowed hard. "I've never set it above 7, due to perceived danger, and even this was originally set at 5." He looked down at Lily. "I'm sorry, you really could have been hurt..."

"Well good thing I am good at dodging." she quipped with a smile to put Orin at ease. "Honestly though, glad it wasn't a lesson hard learned. I should have requested entrance, though my curiosity I will admit, got the better of me."

She looked back out towards the battlefield, "Perhaps I should leave for you to finish out your battle, and we can talk at a later point? And maybe you can... teach me the art of the sword?"

"Well that's easy. Computer, save and exit simulation, Begin Sempton Ludus 1." The scenes around them faded instantly, to be replaced with a courtyard with a sand filled floor. All around them were racks, from which were hung various weapons throughout history, from rough hewn weapons of stone, to ones of iron and steel. Various cultures were represented, those from Earth and from other planets. The only thing that didn't change was Orin's appearance. His weapons and armor remained. "Just about every weapon created that I could fit without burning the isolinear chips out."

"You have quite the armory here."Lily stepping towards the weapons, her voice filled with awe. "This must have taken quite a bit of research to do." she looked back towards Orin. "And you are suggesting that I start learning now? If so, I don't mind. I will need to change into something more fitting for that purpose. A chiton, a strophion and a perizon."

"No, no. No." Orin shook his head. "I was just attempting to gauge your reaction, see if you're drawn to a specific weapon type." He looked down, a little sheepishly. His ears were turning pink. "I-I'm not exactly the best expert on weapons or forms, m-more of a dabbler, honestly. Most of my practice is with Gladiatorial combat programs. But, we can practice whenever you're ready."

"I misunderstood the reasoning behind the weapon display." her cheeks turning a light pink. "And the weapons that you have on display is rather impressive. I would have to go with something more mundane as in weapons from Earth." Lily stated moving over towards one of the racks."Any suggestions, before I change. If you fight gladitorial style, then show me what you know. Any knowlege is a good thing. I would also like to have a weapon which would work for my height, short sword, maybe? I do have the arms for holding a sword, I would think. Hold that thought, I'll be right back." Lily disappearing from view, behind a wall.

She came back out wearing a linen chiton that was attached at her shoulders, her shoulders and arms were bare and a belt around her waist, the length of the chiton reaching to her knees. She was also barefoot. Her arms were certainly toned, not overly muscled.

"So.. judging by my physique, what sort of weapon do you suggest?" Lily was serious in her question, not using it as a flirtatious moment. "I mentioned a sword, maybe even a spear?"

Orin walked around her, looking with an appraising eye. He stopped in front of her, and simply pointed to her arm, asking "May I?" Before lifting it, and working his fingers over the muscle groupings. He held her arm out in front, palm down, his own under it. "Please push." He gave it a second, before asking her to stop, and repeating the process with palm up and then palm out. He once again repeated this process with her other arm before nodding.

"You have good muscle structure, and from what you said before about your dodging ability, a sword may be best." He walked over to the center of the training field. "Computer, spear-man." A few beeps and a young, armored man with a spear appeared, holding it out ready. "Spears are good for when you have others to help, as they were used in a line, supplemented by shield-men." He drew his gladius. "Computer, half speed." The spear-man came alive, and the two danced about slowly. "The problem being, once you get past the head." He dodged a few slow strikes before knocking the spearhead aside and took a few steps inside the spear's range. "There's very little you can do. Back off, use the leaded spear butt or try to shift my weight and knock me over with the haft. Because of this, you must be proactive and this leads to tiring out muscles quickly." He tapped the spear-man with the sword and the spear-man disappeared. "A sword allows for a little more versatility. And please understand, that despite what people may think, a sword does not weigh ten to twenty pounds. At most, a heavy war sword may be around 5 pounds at most." He sheathed his blade, walked up to the wall and selected a long sword, and a slightly shorter one, bringing them over to her. "This is your standard longsword as used by soldiers during the early Crusades. A blade length of about three feet." He held it out to her. "Three and a half pounds."

He waited while she tested the blade before continuing.

"This," He held the other sword aloft. "Is what is called a 'hand-and-a-half' sword, or more colloquially named a 'bastard' sword. Blade length about two to two and a half feet, weight about two to three pounds." He handed that one to her as well, once again waiting. When she was done, he went to pull his own gladius, thought better of it and excused himself to pick up one of the ones on the rack. "My apologies. My gladius is real, while blunted, the tip is still rather dangerous. This," He handed her a facsimile close to the one he wore. "is around fourteen to twenty-two inches, and about a pound and a half."

Lily held the weapon in her hand, stepping away from him to a safe distance and held the sword by the grip, experimenting with the weight. "Definitely doesn't feel too bad in the hand. And better than a stick used in mock sword fighting I did as a girl, when my brothers allowed me." she chuckled. "It does feel natural to hold this." Turning to face Orin.

"My tai chi instructor for some reason, wasn't willing to teach me to use the arts with the sword, though, I was taught to use the fan. Thought it more graceful to use the fan instead of a sword."

"Well, to be fair, Tai Chi is more a meditation than martial art. Much like Mok'bara." He picked up another short sword off the rack. "To be fair those, they, along with other defensive martial arts like Aikido, teach a wonderful combat sense. The need to change tactics in response to enemy action." Orin stepped back into the sand ring, sword in hand. "Oh yes, one second." He tossed the sword down, sticking it upright in the sand, turned and unstrapped his balteus, setting it and his sword down before bending over, grabbing the back of the chainmail and deftly sliding it up and off of his body. He quickly turned the mail right side out, before folding it like a shirt and setting it alongside the weapons. "There, now we're equal." Before muttering "Well, save for the subarmalis, but it's just a padding..." "Anyway, Computer set level to 2, please."

Setting now at 2.

"So you spoke of mock sword fighting with sticks. This will be pretty much the same feeling when you get hit. And as a demonstration, hit me."

Lily nodded getting ready to attack when her attention was caught by the subarmalis. "I'll start in a moment." coming up to take a close look at the padding, reaching out to touch the subarmalis, inspecting the handiwork. "This is handmade? Sewing machine or hand sewn?" feeling the texture of the cloth. "Replicated or real linen?"

Orin's eyebrow raised. That's rare. "Hand sewn, though the linen was replicated. Very hard to find actual coarse fiber fabric that comes close to the original, especially with the advent of matter replication technology. There are a few planets in or allied with the Federation that still make a close approximation, but..." He trailed off. Most people would understand that interstellar trade was a difficult thing.

Lily nodded, " Whilst on Earth it is easier to get the real fabric, at least for me it was. I was a member of some historical groups who like to make the cloth by hand. Shearing sheep, growing the flax or cotton to make the cloth. Even the making of silk. They even did leather working, as well as forging weapons and metal." She released the subarmalis, "That is fine stitchwork. Its something I like to do, I like to sew." a final caress to the padding, she stepped back.

As she stepped back, Lily raised her sword once more, then shook her head, feeling a wave of tiredness sweep over her, she gave a sigh, lowering the gladius down. "I think I need to take a raincheck on my sword lessons for today. I am feeling a bit tired." giving a rueful chuckle. "Wouldn't be prudent for me to continue." Putting the gladius upon the weapon rack, she walked over to where she had placed her duffle bag, which contained the fruit she was carrying. "Care for an apple, or an orange, or both?" fishing out an apple for herself.

"Orange please. The Vitamin C will help after the exercise. And Thank you." He placed his weapon on the rack and picked up the mail, placing his head and arms through and allowing the chain to roll into it's proper place around him. "Probably the best to wait until well rested. You'll damage shoulder muscles enough learning proper technique, and the wrong movement while learning the weapon's weight..." He massaged his wrist, remembering the pop and pain. "Not a good feeling."

Lily got the orange, walking over to hand it to Orin. "Damaged shoulder muscles, not a good thing." she said. "There are exercises that can be done to prevent shoulder injuries." She noted him massaging his wrist. "Is your wrist bothering you?"

"No, just a memory. Funny how the body remembers. I went to parry a strike, which turned out to be a feint. I had already committed to the action, but still tried to turn the blade into a secondary motion. This caused me to tear both collateral ligaments" He began to peel the orange, stopped and thought better of it. "I'll partake later, less of a mess to clean up considering I've no place to put the scra-" He tried and failed to stifle a yawn. "Aps. My apologies. I think it's time I call it a day as well."

Lily yawned in response to Orin's yawn. "Yes, and I hope to talk with you more about this" gesturing around" and get in some lessons. " flashing a bright but tired smile." Thank you, Orin for talking with me." she turned, walked behind the wall, where she got changed to exit the holodeck.

"You're welcome." he replied as the doors closed. He waited a moment, cinched up his balteus and placed the orange in a small leather pouch hanging on his side. He would enjoy it later, but first there was something he had to finish. After his helmet was back firmly on his head he called out; "Computer, lock doors, restart Sempton-202-Zama from previous point, and set level to 5." As everything faded to black and the more familiar scenery appeared around him, he walked back over to where he'd been standing, regained his shield and stood back in his place in the line, drawing his weapon. "Dad always taught me never leave something unfinished" he grumbled. Then aloud "Computer, continue."