A Day At Abenaki (Commonwealth)

[Cait Falcor]

Cait Falcor - Commonwealth Military
Naval Station Abenaki - Alexandria

Forces Resiliency Centre
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Cait Falcor - Washout. That thought was a stain on her mind. But it was the truth.

Cait was in excellent shape for a human(ish) female in her early 30's. But at the end of the day, she was competing against people in their 20's, and Naval Special Warfare Group only had room for so many recruits.

Cait had not made the cut. She had not failed anything, she was not a washout, her times and scores were impressive. But, evidently, they were not Naval Special Warfare impressive.

Youth is wasted on the young. She thought bitterly to herself. For all of the physical reasons that Cait Falcor hadn't made it through selection, she suspected there might be another reason...which explained why she was here.

***

The "Forces Resiliency Centre" was a small cluster of buildings in a quiet, peaceful section of Naval Station Abenaki. It sat away from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the base, trees lined the small streets, and there were a few houses - two story single family homes for Permanent Base Personnel mostly.

Cait walked, stiffly - she was quite sore - toward one building in particular and swallowed heavily.

A Chaplain's Yeoman sat at a desk, quieting tapping out an email as Cait approached. Cait slid her ID-Card into the scanner and the Yeoman's eye tracked to the pop-up confirming that Cait had an appointment.

"Leftenant Commander Kramer will be ready soon. Please, have some tea or caf at the table to your left." he quietly explained to Cait, his voice the epitome of practiced calm. Cait nodded, and made a mug of tea.

***

A few moments later, Cait was sitting in a plush chair, sitting across from a gentle looking woman, Alicia Kramer, she'd called herself "Rank stays out there, mkay?" she'd said - though Cait knew it wasn't a request. Kramer's features were gentle, her eyes were strong but weary. Slightly greying black hair was pulled back into a tight braid that rested over her shoulder. She sat, opposite Cait, in an identical chair, sitting with a mug of caf.

The room was actual wood and smelled of...cinnamon? something peaceful. There was an old, scratched and warn MM100 in a glass case on the wall, and a painting of Commonwealth Frigate on the wall. There were also smaller paintings of trees, and a kite, and a mountain vista.

"You're appraising my room, rather than talking to me. You don't need to be nervous. Lets get started? Hi, I'm Alicia, I've been on a warship under fire, and I've fired that rifle in anger. I've been shot at, and I've lost friends. I've also spent seven years in school learning how to do *this job* and another 8 years actually doing it."

She put the mug down, and leaned forward.

"Seeing me doesn't make you weak, or less of a Soldier. We don't all carry wounds that people can see. I'm a doctor, just like the ship's surgeon, but I can't fix things with a Bacta tank. And that's fine. So...we can talk about whatever you want, or nothing at all. We can just sit here for an hour, if that's what you'd like. The Alexandrian tax payers pay my rent either way. So...

Cait. How are you?"

Cait suddenly realized her heart-rate was elevated, she felt like she needed to run away from something. Her palms were clammy. Her eyes were darting all over the room looking for the danger that was surely coming at her from somewhere.

But nothing came at her. It wasn't real.

And that was almost worse.

Cait looked at her hands, and squeezed them hard...and then ran her palms along her pants.

"I'm fine..."

She looked up, deliberately working to calm her breathing.

Her tattoo itched -

PERSKY
YUN

"most of the time..." her head sank for a second and then she looked back up. Alicia didn't seem phased in the least.

"Its the heart-rate and the clammy hands right? Always think some Sith or Stormtrooper is going to finally get you? Every day, at least once...I think to myself 'this is it Alex, frakkers finally got me'. Its a queen, and very...very common for people in our line of work.

So. Why don't we talk about that for a little bit?"

Cait sat back in chair, her heart rate calming, and sipped her tea.

She held the sweet warm liquid in her mouth, eyes closed for a second. Then she opened her eyes, Alicia looked calm, but strong.

Furtively, Cait nodded.

 

[Alleycat]

Fort Abenaki, Alexandria
Base Gym

Walking into the near empty fitness center, Sasha set her gym bag down on a bench, then slipped off a CWMC sweatsuit she wore over her civilian workout clothes. The long-legged redhead took a sip of water from the bottle stashed on the side of the bag, then made her way over to an open treadmill; personal music player in hand and ear buds going in. She would do her aerobic workout first, then some strength training to follow. Being with the Commonwealth Marines, one needed to be at their best both mentally and physically. Fortunately exercising helped with both for the spirited Corellisi.

After a few good stretches, the well-toned former CorSec agent dressed in a red sports bra and black spandex workout shorts stepped onto the sides of the nearby treadmill. "Hello," Sash offered with a friendly nod to the fellow soldier one over, then chose the running program she desired on the control panel and started the belt going. It seemed to be the same one as her neighbors while the treadmill began to raise it's incline.

[member="Eli Brooks"], Any

 

[Progflaw99]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCpCn0l4Wo&list=PLH6pfBXQXHEC2uDmDy5oi3tHW6X8kZ2Jo&index=104​

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Location: Fort Abernaki, Alexandria​

In Vicinity: [member="Sasha Starkos"] | @Others​

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The methodical hum of the treadmill coupled with the beats coming from the headphones spurring him onward. He'd been running for a short time now but as the elevation changed he caught movement out of his right eye. Looked like he was going to have some company. Reaching up with a hand, he pulled one of the ear buds loose, the one towards the woman who'd stepped onto the treadmill beside him. His feet kept moving, tucking the loose headphone into his hood.

"How's it goin?" he said between breaths.

The treadmill slowed as it reached an interval in the program Eli had selected. As the pace slackened slightly he looked over. Careful not to stare too hard he smiled at the woman.

"Not too many people decide to come down here right about now." He looked at his chrono. "You don't have a hot date to get to?"

He chuckled. The Commonwealth Marine expected most of the troops to be enjoying their days off, free of any physical training. Eli had always held a strict schedule, rarely allowing himself the luxury of skipping the gym, today no exception. His discipline had served him well, his body a towering structure of tough muscle and dense sinew. Not only was it helpful in the physical sense but it set the example of what each and every Commonwealth Marine should strive for. Checking the readout on the treadmill he saw he had about another twenty seconds before the speed and incline picked up again. He took the opportunity to take a sip from the small personal water carrier strapped on beneath his hoodie. Grasping the thin tube he bit down on the end, allowing water to pass through the tube and into his mouth. As his momentary thirst was sated, he kept his arms pumping with his legs.

"How long you planning on running for? I could always use a workout partner if you're up to it, pretty sparse down here."

Casually he glanced around the room, noting the lack of personnel. He might have to talk to some of his guys about that. Breathing deeply he prepared for the next interval. As an afterthought, he introduced himself quickly before it began.

"Eli Brooks, Commonwealth Marines. Nice to meet you."

 

[Alleycat]

Fort Abenaki, Alexandria
Base Gym
[member="Eli Brooks"], open to other CW's

It wasn't a stretch to say that the spirited Corellisi before stepping onto the belt didn't checked out the dark-skinned man running on the treadmill next to hers. He sure was buff. How could she not notice?! Sasha's jade-colored gems didn't linger though because that was just unprofessional. They were Marines and well their physical fitness was a must… but it did help to have something enticing to aid one pushing through the pain one's quest for better endurance and strength to be the best of the best, always.

"Yes, I noticed it was pretty spartan of life in here," Sash answered as her long legs and tone arms adjusted to the increasing speed and incline of the treadmill to set up a comfortable stride.

"Well I like a good challenge so as long as it takes to give you a good workout, partner," the redhead smirked playfully with a side wink.

When he introduced himself, the former CorSec agent just bit her lip to keep a giggle in because she had just flirted with her superior, unknowingly of course.

"Eli Brooks as in Staff Sergeant Brooks?" Sash asked incredulously, then added after a few ticks and a good calming breath. "Well Sergeant, I am your new squeeze… Sasha Starkos, Commonwealth Marine Sniper. I just transferred into your squad, and my orders were to report to you tomorrow," she said with a small, nodding smile

"When I was training at the CorSec Academy, they taught us to always expect the unexpected. Guess that bit of wisdom rings true more often than not, hmm... Nice to meet you too, Sarge."

 

[Progflaw99]

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Location: Fort Abernaki, Alexandria​

In Vicinity: [member="Sasha Starkos"] | @Others​

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The rapid humming of the treadmill picked up, Eli's legs pushing him forward to match speed with the program he'd selected. Her comment gave him a smile. It had been a long time since he'd truly had a workout partner, even short term. There'd been a lot of re-assignments, transfers, and he'd been all over the Commonwealth over the last few months. Taking a quick survey of the room he agreed. Spartan was a good descriptor. So his name had gotten around it seemed. His promotion had been something of a formality, he'd been doing the same job for years but it was a significant jump in pay and recognition, that much was certain. Eli's breaths came metered as he paced his run, feet still moving swiftly. The speed began to slack as he reached another flat run section and he widened his stride.

His breath caught as the woman's words escaped.

*New squeeze huh. Squeeze... *

The Staff Sergeant forced his eyes back forward as he almost lost his rhythm. Starkos. He'd seen a memo about a new join, that must have been why her name sounded familiar. It would be good to have that position filled. Long range was important and the snipers he'd worked with in the past were always quite grounded, level headed people. It also pleased him that his new join was in the gym even on a day off, it spoke to her reliability.

"Well, it's nice to see a new join with drive." Eli said, prepping for the pace to once more increase. "Can you keep up?" He winked at the woman.

Reaching forward, he increased the speed past the baseline for the next sprint.

 

[Alleycat]

Fort Abenaki, Alexandria
Gym Base
[member="Eli Brooks"]

Sasha just flashed the massive staff sergeant a lopsided grin as she looked over at him.

"If you got the stamina, I'm sure I can certainly keep up," the spirited Corellisi winked, then her jade green gaze went forward and nimble fingers manually changed the running program on her treadmill to match the dark-skinned marine's.

The athletically-inclined redhead wondered if her history of being a triathlon specialist in her CorSec Academy days were in her dossier. Probably not, but what Eli possessed in pure brute strength she most likely beat him in conditioning as physical fitness was a part of her daily routine.