The Misadventures of Jason Haines - Anger's Folly

Posted on Thu Jan 21, 2021 @ 10:01am by Lieutenant Jason Haines

1,651 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Things Past
Location: Pangae Coastline
Timeline: MD3 minus 19 days, 0800

[ON]

Normally Jason tried to meditate at night, to sooth his mind, and last night had been easier as the last few days he had made what he hoped was a friend. That ‘peace’ had been shattered in the night when his daily dream intensified. Not only had the station fallen, but he also had, had to dodge many sections of the falling debris and a last twist of the knife was that he had come upon Allana’s body in the wreckage.

This jolted him awake at 0400 and despite all attempts over the next four hours, he had no luck in either getting back to sleep or to gain a meditative state. He was about to give up anyway when he heard a distinct snap of a branch. He opened and eye. Standing about twenty feet away was Korgal. It had been about eight months or so since he had seen the Klingon on Ambassador Charghwl'IH’s ship. The encounter had not ended well. Korgal was holding his bat’leth so it didn’t look like things were going to be ending well today either.

“The beach doesn’t open up for surfing until 9”, Jason said standing up and grabbing some water, keeping an eye on his visitor.

“You have something of mine human”, Korgal snarled. “I want it back.”

“You will have to be a bit more specific Korgal”, Jason replied, picking up his combat stick that wasn’t extended yet and scratching his back.

“You took my honor”, Korgal said growling. “I am here to take it back.”

“Now really isn’t a good time”, Jason said, shifting his stance a little. “Why don’t you go fight something a bit more challenging.”

Korgal sneered, “What? Please don’t tell me without the Ambassador here that you are what is it that you humans say, a bit yellow.”

Jason finished his water, stretched his shoulders using his staff, and said with a return sneer, “Last time or I will take a bit more than your honor. Go away.”

Korgal spun his bat’leth a couple times and laughed.

“If you are going to fight with that drum-stick, I am not too worried.”

Jason smiled and pressed on of the buttons on the Breen combat staff, extending it. This drew a slight look of surprise from Korgal, but his steel façade returned quickly.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you”, Jason said, his eyes narrowing as he gave his staff a quick twirl and then attacked Korgal.

The two weapons clanged off each other, the ringing of steel on steel silenced the various tranquil sounds of nature in the area, even that of the ocean momentarily. A loud battle cry from Korgal ensured that nearby animals would not be making any noise in the area for a while.

Jason was not any quieter, letting out his own growl. The overall anger that was bubbling in him was now boiling given that he had someone to let it all out on. The only problem was that Jason wasn’t truly seeing Kolgar. He was seeing all those that had made it into his pot of anger stew.

The next two minutes were filled with swipes, parries, thrusts, stabs blocks, attacks, and counterattacks; all shattering any of the tranquility of the morning that had survived the first strike. Throughout the exchanges Jason lost all focus, his rage driving him into a state of bloodlust. With each clash of the weapons all Jason wanted to do was to kill what was before him. What was before him though, changed moment to moment; Sovok, Xeod, Soran, Ryan, himself, all occupied his mind more than the danger of the true foe, Korgal.

As the two combatants danced across the sand, Korgal’s style of fighting, which Jason was trying to match proved stronger. Jason didn’t even feel the first slash of the bat’leth as it ripped open his light tee-shirt and a bit of his shoulder. This strike slowly started to draw Jason out of the red haze he was in. A slash across his thigh fully drew him out. He tried to react, but it was just a touch too late and a kick from Korgal sent him flying into bushes on the tree-line.

“Get up P’Tok so I can gut you where you stand”, Korgal shouted.

Jason breathed in and out a couple of times before he slowly got to his feet with the support of his staff. He spat on the ground, his head and thoughts still clearing a bit. He had fought how Korgal fought, how his own anger wanted to him fight, and he had lost.

He looked briefly at his wounds. They weren’t too deep at least. He smiled, spinning his staff once.

“Well done”, Jason remarked.

“Shut up”, was Korgal’s only response and he launched another attack.

‘Every fight’s a dance’, Jason remembered his father telling him. ‘You need to decide if you are going to lead or if you are going to follow. Both have a time and place, but usually it is better to lead.’

Jason breathed in again as Korgal’s bat’leth came at his head. Instead of blocking it with his staff, he stepped to the side. The blade sent a shower of sand flying. As Korgal brought the blade up, Jason kicked him in the side quickly and then jabbed at him with the staff. Korgal blocked the jab, but it did what Jason wanted; put him in the lead.

Jason swiveled his staff and brought the bottom end up and hit Korgal’s hand that was currently holding the bat’leth hard. The first strike wouldn’t hurt him too much, but Jason knew he couldn’t bring Korgal down with one heavy strike. He had to hit him many times with the force he could master, essentially death by a thousand cuts, or smacks in this case.

The next few minutes was a series of dodges and staff strikes for Jason. For Korgal it was a series of swings, curses, and frustration as his quarry moved and hit him with his annoying ‘stick’. As Korgal’s frustration grew and his swings went more and more wild, through his moves, Jason slowly led Korgal into the tree-line.

Korgal let out a loud battle cry and swung out with a strike meant to decapitate Jason. Instead, the blade got stuck in the wood of the tree as Jason ducked down. Jason then tossed his staff towards Korgal, grabbed a hold of the tree, and used it to swing around and kick Korgal in the chest with both feet.

The blow itself was not one that normally would have done much damage to the Klingon, but Korgal tripped on a root of the tree and fell. His head smacked into a rock in just the right place, and he fell unconscious.

“Damn”, Jason muttered. “two left feet.”

A half hour later Jason had tended to his own wounds and made sure Korgal was ok given the smack ot the head he had taken. He sat on a rock sharpening Korgal’s bat’leth. At that point, the Klingon bolted awake.

“What are you doing with that?”, Korgal growled as he was able to focus.

“Sharpening it”, Jason replied. “A weapon like this needs to be cared for after it has tasted blood.”

Jason stood up and brought the blade over to Korgal and handed it to him.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”, Korgal asked taking the blade warily.

“I’m not a coward”, Jason said. “You don’t win a battle of honor by killing an unconscious foe.”

“I seem to have underestimated you a second time”, Korgal said. “once again, you beat me.”

“In Earth’s past there was a warrior, Sun Tzu and one of his teachings was, ‘One mark of a great soldier is that he fights on his own terms or fights not at all’”, Jason replied. “I lost to you in the first strike of the battle as I fought on your terms not mine.”

“Sounds like a wise man”, Korgal said.

“Indeed”, Jason said. “it wasn’t until I calmed myself and used the terrain that I knew to my advantage and fighting in the way that I knew could I best you. By then it was too late. And my victory was only by luck.”

“That is true”, Korgal replied. “Still, in the eyes of my people, my tripping was the result of my own lack of discipline and awareness and I lost. My life is yours and for me to regain what I challenged you for, you must kill me.”

Jason smirked.

“I thought you might say something like that. The Federation and Klingons are allies, so there is no honor in an ally lost; and if I kill you, I get blood all over my beach. More than a body to dispose of, I need a rival.”

“Isn’t rival just another word for enemy?” Korgal asked.

“That’s one way to look at it”, Jason said. “Another is that a rival is someone who challenges you. They are an obstacle to overcome and in turn you are an obstacle for them to overcome. Rivals help each other grow in skills and test each other. And when needed, they fight together against a common foe. I’ve beaten you once and you me once, so what do you say?”

Before Korgal could answer, Jason reached out and took the Klingon’s d'k tahg and drew the blade across his right palm.

“Rivals?”, Jason asked, handing the blade back.

Korgal eyed Jason skeptically a moment before nodding and taking the blade, drawing it across his own palm.

“Rivals”, Korgal answered grasping Jason’s hand.

[OFF]


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Jason Haines
Deep Space Five’s Resident Beach-Bum

 

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