Closing the Distances

Posted on Sat Apr 27th, 2019 @ 10:58pm by Lieutenant Commander Mnhei'sahe Dox & Jaeih Dox-t'Aan

Mission: Detours
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: 2396

Walking up to the door of the holodeck reserved for training exercises, former Romulan engineer and Tal'Shiar enforcer, Jaeih Dox was flanked by the two security escorts that still accompanied her wherever she went on board the U.S.S Hera.

The elder Romulan was called a 'consultant', but her legal status was still that of a political prisoner of Starfleet. However, the security detail was something of a formality as they also didn't detain her from going almost anywhere she wanted in the ship at her leisure. But this morning, at 05:30 hours, she had business with the ships Chief Flight Officer, Lieutenant Mnhei'sahe Dox. Her daughter.

"Computer, status of program in process?" The elder Dox asked of the panel outside the holodeck. With a chirp, the computer replied in its usually steady voice.

=^=Program in progress. Sword combat sparring program of Baroness Schwein von Alcott, level six. Customized by occupant, Lt. Mnhei'sahe Dox. Currently in progress.=^=

"May I enter?" Jaeih asked as her two, Amazonian guards stood at the sides of the door, already taking up this guard positions as their training dictated.

After a moment, the computer chirped again. =^=Access granted. You may enter.=^= As the computer finished speaking, the doors wooshed open. "Thank you, ladies." Jaeih commented with a nod as she stepped in, the doors closing behind her.

The walls of the holodeck were bare. The standard black and yellow grid pattern still visible. Across the door, a series of blue mats were stretched out. In the near right corner to the side of the entrance was a white table with a water cooler mounted in top with a small plastic cup. At the table, a single folding chair with a black towel draped across it.

In the center of the room was Mnhei'sahe Dox. Wearing a basic black work out leotard, the young red-headed Romulan looked trimmer that she had in a long time. An increasingly intense training regimen combined with a genetic code that had filtered out the overlay of human DNA made it a bit easier for the young woman to finally start shedding some excess weight.

In her hands were two curved short swords, held backwards with the blades coming out from the bottoms of her hands. Advancing on her was a tall, featureless figure that appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a rubber practice dummy with arms and legs, come to life. In it's hands was a pirate cutlass that it was bringing down in a series of swings against the intense young woman.

As it swing, Dox moved to keep her guard up, blocking each increasingly furious strike with her own blades. As it advanced, a neutral male voice came from the figures sculpted, unmoving mouth.

=^=What is the fourth rule of dual combat for tribunal proceedings?=^=

There was the slightest glance from Mnhei'sahe acknowledging that she was aware of her mother's presence as she continued, blocking strikes as she spoke. "At any time during... tribunal proceedings... a Baroness may have a statement or question challenged... in open combat. Open combat may... May be either met or refused. Refusal..."

Slightly distracted by the questions, Dox sidestepped a swing that was entirely too close to her face and responded with a hard side kick that sent the training figure stumbling back. As it did, Mnhei'sahe switched her posture from defense to offense, beginning to slash away at the figure that was now blocking.

"Refusal may be met with either a censure of the vote of the challenged or a removal of the challenged from the proceedings. Challenge may be met, but must be met in the... Manner if choosing of the Challenger. Combat may be tactical, referring to ship to ship, or via direct combat with ritual sword dueling."

As the agressive young Romulan spoke, she pressed her attack harder. "Defeat is measured in four primary manners: Grevious bodily harm that ends the duel under the judgment of a neutral arbiter, unconsciousness, surrender or Death."

Punctuated the word 'death', Mnhei'sahe ducked low, avoiding a wide, high sword swing while twisting her twin blades around in her hand and burying each deep in the lower ribcage area of her opponent.

The holographic figure undulated like a real person as the blades cut deep. Pushing off with her foot, Mnhei'sahe yanked the twin blades out as opponent fell to the floor. From the sidelines, Jaeih watched with her hands folded behind her back. "I did not teach you that, Mnhei'sahe."

Panting slightly, Mnhei'sahe stood for a moment looking over at her mother with a slightly angry expression on her face, clearly still riding an adrenaline wave from her match. "I've... got some very good teachers here that have shown me... quite a bit, Mother."

Walking over to the table, Mnhei'sahe put her swords down and took a drink. "Baroness von Alcott is a master swordswoman and has been trying to prepare me for the Tribunal. As the Baroness under her and the newest Baroness, I will likely have my vote and legitimacy challenged in combat."

"You appear to be... progressing well." Jaeih replied, flatly. A tone that concealed her legitimate pride in the display she just saw.

"I'm trying. Baroness von Alcott has been tailoring a training regimen for me that takes advantage of my existing fighting style as best as possible." Mnhei'sahe replied, wiping some sweat off with the towel. "That said, what can I do for you? Or is this a social call?"

There was a touch of tension in Mnhei'sahe's voice. While she and her mother had been making serious progress in repairing their seriously damaged relationship, it was clear there was still a cold distance and tension just under the surface.

"I needed to speak to you regarding my own involvement in this tribunal. Commander Paris and I have spoken at length and she has an idea that I have agreed to." Jaeih replied somewhat plainly, her hands folded behind her back.

"Infiltration and investigation? I know. I partially suggested asking you to the Captain weeks ago." Mnhei'sahe replied, matter of factually.

"Well, I will be working with Mona today and her R&D department developing a new Cyclone specifically for this purpose and will be apparently working with someone named Az'Prel. Are you familiar with her?" The elder Romulan asked, digging lightly for information.

"I am. She's a Vulcan refugee from... well... it might be best if she explains it to you herself." Mnhei'sahe replied, walking back to the center of the room. "She is an infiltration specialist and master combatant, so she is ideal for this assignment, I would imagine."

"Commander Paris suggested I ask her myself as well. It is... unnecessarily cryptic, Mnhei'sahe." Jaeih replied, with a twinge of irritation in her voice.

"Computer. Restore opponent. Program, Dox seven. Hand to hand training, level twelve, thank you." The younger of the two instructed to the room. "If you don't mind, I need to continue while we talk."

With a chirp, the computer regenerated the same opponent, empty-handed now, and replied. =^=You're welcome, Lieutenant Dox.=^=

Taking a brief moment to look up at the room with an arched eyebrow, confused at a computer that returns pleasantries, the elder Romulan stepped closer to the center. "I will not interrupt. Unless you wish to practice with a real partner. It would be good to see if my own skills have atrophied during my time with Starfleet."

There was a long pause as Mnhei'sahe looked at her mother with a slightly perplexed expression. This was, after all, the woman who taught her how to fight. Whose training in the Romulan martial art of Llaekh-ae'rl was often brutal to the point of cruelty. She stood there, staring at the woman who broke her nose 8 times and broke both of her arms twice and one of her legs three times in training before she was ten. The woman who forced her to endure hours of training to increase her own endurance and ability to absorb physical punishment in a fight. The woman who taught her how to take a punch in order to force an opponent open at the age of thirteen. And in spite of the strides that the two women had been making, she made a decision that she knew might be a tremendous mistake.

"Computer. Please remove the simulated opponent. Thank you." Mnhei'sahe said flatly with a twinge of a cold chill in her voice. With a chirp, the holographic practice dummy vanished and Jaeih stepped in to stand in its place.

As the two squared off, Mnhei'sahe shook out with her arms limp at her side. "It's quite probable that the Captain's Mother will know to expect you. She's aware of my appointment as a Baroness and has already been working to sway the Romulan Baroness to her side as a result."

Cricking her neck and stretching out slightly, the stern-faced elder woman replied matter of factly. "Yes. We are working on a plan that will make it appear as if I had escaped my custody on Earth as she has no way of knowing I'm already here unless she has spies in Starfleet or here."

After finishing speaking, Jaieh threw a sharp, tight punch to the face of her own daughter without warning. It was polished and didn't appear to be the move of a woman who had let her skill atrophy. Nevertheless, Mnhei'sahe swatted the blow aside easily, maintaining a defensive posture.

"We believe that there may be spies among the Baronesses. Specifically, we believe that many of the Baronesses that possess cybernetic enhancements may have been compromised and not be aware of it." Mnhei'sahe blocked her mother's blows as they came, each faster than the last.

"That sounds like something Arenara Artan would do, for sure. Anyway she can manipulate someone to her purposes is fair game to her." As she spoke, Jaeih shifted to an area that she knew her daughter was less than an expert at with a volley of high kicks. They were easy enough for her to block, but she was unconfident at returning them do to her short height and wide, thick hips which limited her kicking range.

Instead, Mnhei'sahe stepped into one of the kicks, just barely avoiding a foot to her face as she landed a knife jab to the inside of her mother's raised thigh. With a grunt, the elder Dox fell to the mat but quickly rolled back to her feet. "You would know about manipulation, wouldn't you Mother?"

The words hung heavy in the air between the two for a long moment as they circled each other. "I am making every attempt to be honest with you, Mnhei'sahe. But it is clear that there are things you will not let go of. Is that why you accepted this offer today? To exact some measure of closure through physical confrontation."

This time, the younger woman pressed the attack with a number of seemingly wild swings designed to force Jaeih into a defensive posture. "Essentially, yes. It seemed only fair since I know it's why you offered. Even when your intentions are good, you still insist on using manipulation to get to your desired goal, Mother."

Jaeih was pushed back several steps as Mnehi'sahe shifted her tactic from wide swings to tight, surgical jabs to her mother's middle. But it was a technique Jaeih had taught her and was prepared for as she swatted the jab away and landed a tight jab to the nerve cluster on the outside of Mnhei'sahe's shoulder. Instantly, the young woman's arm went momentarily numb as she winced in pain.

But pain was something she was trained to the point of mental conditioning to ignore in combat, and her eyes seemed to gloss over as she quickly spun around using the momentum of Jaeih's strike to feed into a strong backhanded punch that landed squarely on the side of the Elder Romulan's face knocking her hard to the mat.

Stunned momentarily, Jaeih heard a ringing in her ear as Mnhei'sahe continued her attack, dropping a stiff leg down at her position. "I can only try and move forward with you, Mnhei'sahe! I can't undo our past together."

Barely avoiding the kick, Jaeih replied with a kick of her own, twisting up to sink a kick deep into the inside of the thigh Mnhei'sahe's weight was being carried on as the red-headed Romulan fell to the mat as well.

Separated, the two scampered back to their feet, squaring off again, but now clearly both showing fatigue setting in. "And that makes everything OKAY!?" Mnei'sahe shouted as she lunged forward with a hard jab to her mothers face that forced the elder into a high block that acted to leave her middle open for an equally harsh punch to the ribs.

Staggering back, Jaeih responded with another jab to the already tender nerve cluster as she tried to reply. "NO! Nothing I can EVER do will make up for what I've done to you!!! I KNOW what I did! I just..."

This time, the jab didn't quite hit its mark and Mnhei'sahe pressed in, grabbing the arm and pulling Jaeih in for an elbow jab to the side of her neck, causing her mother to cry out in pain. But as she did, she looped her own arm over her daughters and responded with a flat palm across Mnhei'sahe's face that cracked the young woman's nose, drawing first blood in the match.

"I just want things to be different for us NOW! I don't want to be the woman I was anymore!!" Jaeih shouted at her daughter, who seemed to be almost trying to not listen. But in spite of herself, Mnhei'sahe shouted back. "You think I want to be the woman you MADE!?!"

Wiping the green blood from her nose, Mnhei'sahe redoubled her attack. "I hate everything you made me become!!! I hate everything I see when I look in the mirror! All I want to do is beat her away! Drink her away! BUT SHE WON'T GO AWAY!!! SHE'S ALWAYS HERE!!!!" Tears ran down her face as she shouted, swinging wildly now.

Jaeih frantically grabbed both of Mnhei'sahe's arms, locking them into a tight embrace. "I'm here now too! Let me help you be better! You can help me be better, PLEASE, Mnhei'sahe!! Please, I need you!!"

Caught up in the emotions, Mnhei'sahe pulled Jaeih in closed and lept up, slamming her forehead down into her mothers face hard, cracking the elder woman's own nose. In a jumble of limbs and green blood, both women fell hard to the mat over each other.

Rolling apart, Jaeih scootched to a seated positing, clutching her freshly broken nose. "What was THAT?!"

Across the mat, on her elbows, Mnhei'sahe began to calm down a little as she let out a light chuckle. " Mok'bara. I spar with our resident Klingon security officers every Wednesday."

"Agggh..." Jaeih winced slightly. "I was wondering. I know I didn't teach you that."

The two women settled into sitting positions across from each other on the mat as they both calmed themselves down and caught their breaths. After a long few moments of silence, Jaeih spoke. "Mnhei'sahe... I... I know I can never make right what I did to you. I cannot erase the lies and the years of pain. I just... I don't want to be that person anymore. I can't live being her anymore. I know I can never be the mother you deserved... but I want to at least try and be... something better in your life now if you'll let me."

Sitting, wiping blood from her face, the young Starfleet Lieutenant sighed. "I know. And... and I want to let you in. I do. But I'm also scared to. So much of what I am is what you made me, Mother. And sometimes I don't know how to live with that woman either. I'm scared that one day, that ugliness in here will drive all of this away. Drive Mona away."

It was at this point that Mnhei'sahe finally mentioned her Miradonian bond-mate and Jaieh stiffened where she sat. "I do not know my daughter-in-law that well, Mnhei'sahe. Not yet. But what I know is that she will never abandon you because of your scars. And I think you know that too. That woman's love for you fills the room when you're together. I could see it so clearly even across space when we talked via hologram that It frightened me. And I think it frightens you too."

Fresh tears began to fall as Mnhei'sahe nodded slightly. "I know... I know she won't go. She won't let me go. But what if all that means is that I pull her down and destroy her with me when I eventually implode?"

Standing up, Jaeih grabbed the towel and the cup of water and brought it back over to sit next to her daughter. "Is that what you're afraid of? Is that why you're afraid to be a mother with her?"

The younger Romulan was suddenly a child again as she began to shudder. "I'm t... too broken, Mother. I can't... can't be... I'll break her too. I'll break THEM! It's... it's not fair to do to them."

Jaeih Dox didn't quite know how to comfort her daughter or take away her pain, but she desperately wanted to as she hesitantly put her arms around her trembling daughter. "No. No, Mnhei'sahe. I won't hear it. You are NOT broken. You are stronger than anyone I've ever known. And that strength is completely yours. And I've seen you two together. You make each other stronger. And together you WILL raise children that will shake the heavens with that strength. And I... I want to be here to see that happen. I do."

As her body began to slow it's shaking and Mnei'sahe's breathing started to slow back to normal, she looked up at her mother with tears in her eyes. "I... I want you here too, Mother." I... I need you here."

Sitting together, alone in the holodeck, the two women held each other in silence. There was a great distance still between the two, but they felt closer to each other than they had felt in decades.