Oh Captain, My Phaser

Posted on 31 Aug 2018 @ 2:27pm by Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lamar Darius & Lieutenant JG Rizil Chaya & Chief Warrant Officer 3 Azra Ghoc & Chief Warrant Officer 2 Oliver Sylver & Petty Officer 3rd Class Jeysa Zeror & Petty Officer 3rd Class Raine Ni-ya & Crewman Aure

3,760 words; about a 19 minute read

Mission: Episode 15 - Emanation
Location: Rigel II - Avondale Production Facility Administrative Complex, Holodeck 8
Timeline: MD 108, 0800 hrs

[ON]

Azra had eaten quickly, rinsed off in the shower and dressed in her uniform. She was now in the holodeck, waiting for everyone to arrive.

Lamar burped, the byproduct of a belly full of bacon, eggs, toast, and orange juice all combined to create the best breakfast conceivable in any of the quadrants. He looked over at the bosun and tugged on the front of his uniform jacket to smooth it down over the small bulge. "So how many of these sessions are you going to make us do?" he casually asked, wondering if this was going to become routine for the crew.

Azra shrugged, "As many as it takes to keep everyone sharp. Once we're aboard Galileo, I plan on running a more formal evaluation of each crewmember's readiness and we'll see where to go from there."

"Whew!" Chaya skipped out of the turbolift, waving at the gathered group with a usual spring in her step. "Back at it again. I just heard myself say back at it again," she gave an exaggerated expression. "It's great to have finally said the lamest thing I'll ever say. Really hitting bottom, here, people."

"Just as long as your phaser is on target, we'll allow lame comments," Azra said. She smiled and hoped that the break for food would help everyone feel better about this segment of training than they likely had about the last.

Raine still looked less than healthy when she returned, but at least her breathing was better now. She looked around at the others and frowned. "What wondrous torture has Starfleet devised for us now..."

Oliver Sylver gave her a small smile before he shook his head. "Nothing you didn't do in training. You will get into it again," he said, having had a quick shower and something to eat before returning.

"You sure you're OK?" Chaya paused near Raine, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Just keep hydrated, deep breaths, you're doing great."

Raine met her eyes, holding them for a long moment before she let out a soft breath. "My hearts aren't slowing down," she said softly. "It takes me awhile to...to recover. Thank you though..."

"Is that, like, normal?" Chaya's eyebrows flew up. "You don't need medbay, do you?"

Raine chuckled warmly as she watched her, unable to stop herelf from smiling. "For my people, yes," she said after a moment. "We weren't bred to be that active. And besides...I am not in the best shape of my life anyway."

"OK, that is a relief." She patted Raine on the shoulder. "You can do it, soldier! I am just really nailing this lame thing today." She crunched a piece of dried moba root between her teeth and swallowed, the last remnants of breakfast.

Azra noted the last few people meander into the holodeck. "You should know the drill here," she said in a loud, clear voice, "we'll do a round with Type I phasers, then move to Type II. I expect your accuracy in the first set to exceed that of the second. After all, most members of the crew will never handle a Type II outside of training."

She stepped backward, and the floor turned slate-grey in a large circle around the group. There were glowing circles on the floor, each with a phaser in the center in exactly the quantity required to accommodate everyone in the room. The rest of the floor, wall, and ceilings were black as space. "Step into your circle, prepare your phaser. Your circle will change colors. That is the color of your targets. Do not hit anyone else's targets if you can avoid it." She looked around to be sure everyone understood.

"Go. The simulation will start as soon as everyone is prepared."

"Chief." Jeysa said finaly deciding to voice her concerns. "I have not held never mind fired a phaser since enlisted camp. There was no need for it in the diplomatic corps."

Azra nodded. “You’re mostly right.” She paused, “Is there anyone else who thinks they’ll struggle with this exercise?”

With Jeysa having spoken up, Raine felt more comfortable doing the same. "Chief. I...have not touched one since I graduated. I am a scientist. Violence does not come natural to me."

Chaya paused with her phaser, curiously (OK, because she was a busybody but who's counting, really?) watching Raine and Jeysa deal with the bosun rather than focusing on her own target. She scratched her chin, focused like a laser on the action.

Azra nodded. “That makes sense. Most of us didn’t join Starfleet because of the military aspects of its mission. Other than in training, I think I’ve only fired my phaser only once in more than a decade of Starfleet service.” She looked around at everyone who was watching them. “That one time saved a crewmate’s life. When I was posted to Starbase 172 I met a Bolian diplomatic officer. He told me how training on a phaser course could have saved him more than 3 years of intensive physical rehab.”

The half-Cardassian woman looked directly at Jeysa, then at Raine, then around the group. “I don’t want violence to come naturally to you. I hope you never have to use a phaser outside the range. But when the time comes that you have to defend your life or that of a crewmate, I want you to be ready. So, if you need help remembering how a phaser functions, just stick a hand up and I’ll come to help you out. For everyone else, get to your marks.”

Raine looked at Azra for a moment before she shook her head, moving on her marks. She could remember how it worked. She hadn't graduated that long ago. "But shooting a target is not the same as potentially ending a life," she said, aloud, but more to herself. "It is only in the situation you truly know if you can push the button to harm another."

"That's what training's for," Chaya smiled to both Jeysa and Raine from her spot beside them, gripping her phaser tightly in hand. Her eyes darted between the group and the walls, splitting her attention to both now. "No one knows for sure how they'll react in a crisis, but the more well-trained you are, the more likely it is that you won't freeze up. Your brain will fall back on what's been drilled into you and you'll make it through."

Lamar was listening to the conversations in the background while he took his place in the designated holodeck circle. He aimed his handheld phaser in anticipation of the first target, and when it suddenly materialized, he swing his shoulder and forearm several degrees to the left and fired. His weapon cast a low-level stream of orange phaser energy directly into the target causing it to dematerialize and register as a hit.

Raine nodded weakly at the words, taking a deeper breath. This was a side of her that made her uncomfortable. A nagging reminder that she knew what she could do. "A nice...sentiment," she told Chaya before she saw her target materialise. She fired, managing to hit it, both hands on the phaser. Non of the shooting from the hip thing. She had steady hands and even with no recoil she wanted the added security of holding it with both hands.

"Not a sentiment," Oliver Sylver said with a small smile. "If something happens that fast, it is muscle memory more than anything else. You'd have fired a shot before your thoughts have articulated on what you were meant to do. I suppose that is why no one comes up with great one liners in combat."

Chaya had a gait which was slightly different to the others, alternating between sharp, quick hip shots at targets in close range, versus straight-armed aimed stances that involved more common gestures at those farther away. Each were double tapped, hitting the targets in tightly grouped clusters center mass. It wasn't exactly obvious, but the slight variation hinted at her Bajoran roots. Those who had served extensively with Bajorans would recognize the militia tactics that gave former espionage operatives added flair. "Speak for yourself, Sylver, I'll have you know I'm positively hee-laaahrrious!" She about-faced to the right abruptly and popped off a short stream of energy at an approaching target.

'Right' Jeysa thought stepping into her circle and picking up the type I phaser, even though they were small it felt huge in her relatively small hands. Trying to remember what she'd been taught in enlisted camp she took aim at a moving target in her colour and pressed the firing button, the beam streaked out and missed the target by a full meter.

Two targets had materialized close together, each with a different color. Lamar had identified his one and turned to face it, but then noticed an errant beam of fire from the tall blonde Trill woman next to him. The miss momentarily threw him out of focus, and he aimed wide of his own target and missed when he fired. It'd been a while since he'd been in a coordinated-fire battlefield scenario but he looked over at the petty officer nonetheless. "What was that?!" he asked with a huff.

"It has been a long time since I have used one of these." Jeysa replied, she saw another target just to the right of lamar and fired again, still a miss but she was getting closer.

Lamar watched the Trill woman miss again then paused his own firing and moved closer to her. "You're jabbing at the target, that's why your aim is off," he said, trying to help advise her. "Don't throw your hand at it, you got to guide it instead. Use your shoulder to steady your forearm, like this," he added, kneeling down and showing her the standard firing position along with several different swivel movements.

Jeysa watched intently as Lamar guided her through the motions, slowly she tracked a target following his advice. Watching at it moved and trying to judge where it would move next, when she thought she had it she fired only to miss by a fraction of an inch when it suddenly moved faster than it had before.

He watched her mimic his form then fire, this time much more accurately despite the miss. His dark brown eyes lit up with approval and he smiled with satisfaction. "There you go, just like that. You'll get better soon, just keep repeating the motions."

Azra watched even those reluctant participants firing at targets. This wasn't a difficult simulation, but it had a purpose; it established a baseline. It also helped the Cardassian woman identify the crew who were more outgoing, and what their attitudes were.

Truthfully, she'd only ever fired her phaser at one living being, and it had been on stun. Azra wasn't sure that she could kill someone if she had to. Stunning them, on the other hand, she had absolutely no problem with.

"Alright," she said after the last target had been hit, "you've done well. Type I phasers are meant for personal defense. Most of the time you will be using a low power setting to stun an aggressor and give time for security forces to arrive. A low-power stun beam will render most species unconscious for between one and five minutes. Usually that is long enough for security to arrive and restrain an opponent."

She unzipped her uniform jacket, revealing the gold uniform shirt beneath. "This next exercise is to test your reflexes." She lifted her phaser as she spoke and pointed it directly at Jeysa, depressing the button. A stream of energy emerged and struck the woman directly in the chest. It didn't even leave a mark and it didn't stun her.

"Aaah." Jeysa blurted out when the beam hit her. She'd never expected to get shot at during this exercise, realising the beam didn't hurt her she quickly shot back at Azra.

Azra spun and pointed her phaser at Raine, Aure, Sylver, Darius, and finally Chaya. She moved quickly, efficiently, watching to see how each of them would react. Would they jump when a weapon was pointed at them, despite knowing it wouldn't do any harm? Would they return fire? Would they duck or hide? Or would they stand and take it, nonplussed?

Chaya immediately zig-zagged as soon as Azra rose her weapon, spinning to avoid the shot and quickly withdrawing her phaser to point it back at the bosun. She didn't depress the trigger, just let it be known that if this were a real scenario she would have returned fire.

Aure, perhaps somewhat predictably, simply stood there and allowed the beam to harmlessly bounce off of him.

When the Cardassian woman turned and pointed her weapon at him, Darius' training kicked in and he immediately dropped to one knee and aimed his weapon at her in mock retaliation. Had she been a real foe and the enemy was aiming at his chest -- the most common target -- he would have hopefully ducked under the fire. It was one of Security's standard defensive moves.

Sylver dropped down the moment the phaser came his way and rolled, aiming and pressing down to fire. He blinked with surprise...he had not expected that reaction from himself. He grinned a bit sheepishly, with a mouthed 'sorry'.

Raine watched as the phaser was pointed at her, lifting her chin slightly as she stayed still. It was not real...so she did not react, but watched almost patiently as the beam struck her, her right arm slack by her side still holding her phaser.

Lamar caught a glimpse of the quick reflexes of his fellow conn officer out of the corner of his eye. Then he saw Raine, the interesting crewman he'd met in one of the station's bars not too long ago. She took a mock hit to the arm with defiance and didn't even seem to retaliate. He frowned and wondered why she didn't defend herself.

Azra took note of the reactions. "Alright. We're going to try a different simulation now." As she spoke, holographic walls rose between the different crewmembers. Each could see Azra, but nobody else. Suddenly the environments inside the small cubicles changed. Each one was a slightly different scene.

"Each of you will need to practice target selection. There will be drones bearing targets flying through your simulation. You need to strike them all. Additionally, the drones will be equipped with their own weapons systems. You will feel a jolt when you are hit. Don't let that fluster you." Azra looked at each person in turn. "This simulation is based upon how well you did in basic target practice. It should be challenging for each of you. Your scores will be based on how often you are hit, how quickly you complete the course, and your overall accuracy. When you finish, the exit will appear. You can leave and enjoy the remainder of your day. Any questions?"

When the current exercise stopped and new instructions came from the bosun, Lamar couldn't help but glance around at the motley crew assembled with him. Some of the crewmen seemed capable enough with their handheld weapon, but at least several showed little to no interest in discharging their firearm. He privately wondered how vicious the holographic target drones would be against those who refused to return fire.

Jeysa exhaled heavily, she had enough trouble hitting the targets when they were just swishing around in front of her, she doubted she'd improve when they were firing back.

Chaya didn't anticipate having any issues with the simulations; she always performed well under pressure and her technical skills were above average. As hers began, she tightened her grip on her phaser and moved quickly and decisively, her aim clean and quick.

Several drones materialized out of thin air and were designated by the same color Lamar'd been assigned. He aimed and fired at the nearest one but his beam went wide when the small glowing object veered to the side evasively. Then it returned fire, forcing him to duck down and re-aim. This time, he anticipated its movement and pressed his finger down on the trigger and registered a hit with his orange beam.

Oliver frowned as he watched, shifting his weight when the drones appeared. He didn't hesitate but engaged, moving quickly. He had a fair accuracy but had to dodge a lot which meant the aim wasn't always perfect. But he was busy making sure he didn't get hit and that was what mattered to him. Get it out quickly, but don't get hit yourself. He treated it as a real life situation.

Azra watched as the crew fired at their targets. Raine, on the other hand, hadn't lifted her phaser. Azra stepped through the barrier, approaching the woman. She had noticed how much trouble Raine had been having with these exercises, even more than Jeysa.

"Raine," she said, standing next to the woman. Azra took a hit from one of the drones. It stung. "Talk to me." The two were isolated. Each testing environment was isolated from the others.

Raine didn't look at her, her eyes following the drones. "About what?" she asked, the phaser in her hand as she stood still...she could see the drones hadn't exactly expected this scenario either. Well. In the sense that they were programmes based on a certain criteria. And standing still was not one of them.

"About why you're struggling so much with this particular exercise," Azra prompted. She knew why this type of training was so important, and she hoped that she could get Raine to understand it. She stepped aside, avoiding another burst from the flying machine.

Raine looked over at her before she let out a breath which sounded like it was with annoyance. Her eyes went back to the drone and she moved quickly after a few long seconds, firing the phaser at it. Once her target was down she shook her head. "I struggle because this isn't me. Or what I am about." Not anymore. "I am just a scientist's mate."

"I understand feeling that way," Azra said, "I don't particularly enjoy weapons training. For me, the discomfort is worth it if I can be confident that I can save lives. Just because you can kill with a phaser doesn't mean that you need to. The stun setting is a wonderful thing that can protect the people around you without taking a life."

She tugged at the sleeve of her undershirt, pulling the bunching fabric tight over her shoulder. "If you don't train, however uncomfortable, when the time comes to act, you won't be ready to save those lives."

Raine looked at Azra for a long moment before she shook her head. "If it comes to it, I don't think that would be my primary concern," she said before she gave a smile that seemed almost teasing.

Standing next to Chaya and Oliver in the firing area, Lamar ducked and returned fire at the closest swerving holographic target. He sighted it at his 11 o'clock then aimed and pressed his thumb onto the trigger with focused precision. The solid orange beam of phased energy reached out and struck the target, causing it to shimmer away and de-materialize.

"Good shooting," Oliver said and smiled to Lamar, shaking his head. "Don't expect anything less from you though."

"You sound like my ma," Darius, teased back with a sideways smirk to his fellow department-mate. He shifted his position in the small circle, sighted another target, and fired. The second drone vanished when his burst made contact. "And my drill sergeant."

Oliver grinned at the words, moving as well, his phaser ready for his next target. When it came he fired, his blue eyes shining with the familiar mix of focus and adrenaline. "Two fine people by the sounds of it. Proud to sound like them. My Drill Sergeant would most likely have told me I shoot like a lanky Ferengi. Never could decide if it was a compliment or an insult."

Lamar could see the lanky part but the Ferengi portion sailed over his head. "Well," he started with a light shrug while aiming at the next drone, "unless your phaser shoots gold bars of latinum, I don't think it was a compliment," he chuckled to himself.

"Now I am disappointed. I have always thought it was because my shooting was so good it was like shooting gold bar of latinum!" Oliver laughed, shaking his head at it.

Azra stepped back to the center. She watched as each person took out the last of their remaining targets and an exit appeared for each. The computer was keeping score of how many times each person fired, how many times they hit, were hit, and what tactics they used. It was all valuable data.

When the drill finished and the remaining drones dematerialized, Lamar lowered his weapon and wiped a light sheen of sweat from his forehead. "Good stuff," he casually commented.

"Well, hopefully the overall scores aren't too bad," Oliver said before he sighed as they finished. He rolled his shoulders, moving slowly. "Mm...okay, I need another shower after all that. And maybe I need to do more exercise..."

Raine placed the phaser down and looked around, her eyes going to Azra. She gave the woman a nod before she walked out, heading to her quarters to change.

The half Cardassian waited for the last participant to exit the simulation, and called to the computer. "Computer, end simulation. Send all data to my data storage, tagged Ghoc-Galileo-3-4-Dash-1." The scene dissolved, phasers and all. Nothing was left, not even the droplets of sweat that had likely dropped to the floors. Azra walked toward her new home, she had a lot of data to review and notes to make.

[OFF]

--

CWO3 Azra Ghoc
Boatwain
USS Galileo-A

CWO3 Lamar Darius
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Saalm]

Crewman Raine Ni-ya
Scientist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

CWO3 Oliver Sylver
Conn Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

LTJG Rizil Chaya
Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo-A

CN Aure
Medical Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Rizil]

PO3 Jeysa Zeror
Yeoman
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Mimi]

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