Phaser Certification, Take Two

Posted on 05 Jul 2017 @ 6:17pm by Lieutenant Richard Metsker & Lieutenant Danyl Adan & Lieutenant Avery Stuart Ph.D.

1,083 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Phaser Range, USS Black Hawk
Timeline: Timeline: MD2 || 1505 Hrs

ON:

Rich hadn't so much as reached the turbolift when he was ordered back to the phaser range to run another quick Phaser Certification for two more of the ship's Senior Staff. Lieutenant Stuart and Lieutenant Adan.

He made his way to the main control console and reactivated the range and began to set things up for the series of tests to be run through again. Once everything was to his approval he sent a quick message to both Adan and Stuart to report there. However, right after he sent the message a third name appeared on his PADD for him to certify, Command Teixeia, the ship's Executive Officer.

"At least I'm getting to meet most of the Senior Staff." Rich said to himself as he sent a message to the Command asking him to also report...well come to the phaser range for certification.

Lieutenant Danyl Adan was just about to get a cup of hot coffee when he was notified about the Phaser Certification. Forgoing the coffee, he hurried to the designated site. Entering, he saw a young man whom he did not recognize.

Offering him a hand, he said, "Lieutenant Adan reporting for Phaser Certification."

Rich reached out and shook the man’s hand, “Lieutenant Metsker, the new Assistant Chief of Security. I apologize for pulling you down here at the last minute like this, but, others.” He shrugged as he smirked.

Adan gave Metsker a knowing smile as they shook hands. Letting go, Danyl said, "Glad to meet you. I don't mind being brought down here for Phaser Certification. It could prove to be important."

"Let's just hope it's not needed." Rich replied. He checked the time, the other officers were running late so he decided to go forward with the Adan's certification. "Please step forward, take a phaser from the locker, and load the power cells, and we'll get started."

Avery entered the phaser range and took a steadying breath. She understood the importance of staying certified to defend herself, but it was going to take her a moment to mentally shift from expressing empathy toward others and concentrating on making sense of their pain to gathering enough focus and determination to even consider attacking even a fake target with focused energy.

She headed toward the locker and greeted both Lieutenants. "Hello, gentlemen. My apologies for being a bit late. I was hoping a member of the crew deal with a breakup."

Mac smiled, "No apologies needed." He motioned toward the firing line. "Shall we begin?"

Rich tapped in a few commands then faced Stuart and Adan, his tone was more serious than before. "The first few will be static targets, we're looking at accuracy here more than speed." He tapped a button on the control panel and several bright targets appeared down range. "Fire when ready."

Avery nodded, and took a moment to relax her entire body, especially her shoulders, before she raised the weapon in her hand. Taking a slow breath before gripping it the way she remembered at the Academy, she sighted her target and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger, releasing a steady beam of energy at her target.

Lieutenant Adan stepped up beside Lieutenant Stewart and leveled his phaser at the static target. For him, this was simple enough. He fired without blinking, his spots shading slightly as the last time the weight of a phaser in his hand came back to him.

Once the first set of targets had been taken care of, Rich gave a nod in approval. He then tapped in a few comments and recorded the scores. “These next targets will be at different distances. Same as before, accuracy over speed.” He tapped in a few commands and the new targets appeared. "Fire when ready." He was feeling more like a high school teacher at the moment, repeating himself for a new class of students.

Lieutenant Adan eyed his first target carefully, aimed and fired. Bullseye! To be honest with himself, this wasn't the part of the certification he was worried about. It was the moving targets. Adan had lots of experience, but Danyl did not.

Avery was a bit nervous for this next set of tasks because she was concerned about being able to see the targets at various distances. She wasn't visually impaired by any means, but she was aware that as an older person, this would gradually get more challenging for her. Pushing those thoughts away, however, she knew she just had to take each target as it came, breathing and centering herself with each shot. Not every shot landed perfectly in the center, but she was pleased that with each shot, she got progressively better at aiming and meeting her target.

Once complete with that part of the certification, Rich smirked while typing in a notes on his PADD. "Alright, the next test will incorporate accuracy with speed as well as trigger discipline. The next set of targets will be at varying distances like before, however yellow targets indicate 'friendlies' while red or blue are 'hostile'. You each have done well on accuracy, so let's see how you do under a little pressure. You have sixty seconds. Ready," he paused for a moment, "begin."

Adan poised himself on the perimeter and began firing. It was a cake walk. He missed hitting the friendly targets, but hit all but one of the enemy targets.

Although not directly related to phaser training, as a counselor, Avery was expected to demonstrate patience and discernment, so the exercise capitalized on her strengths. As before, she wasn't a perfect shot when it came to the enemy targets, but despite the speed with which she had to act, she didn't hit any friendly targets. Finishing the exercise, she exhaled, feeling pleased with her progress.

Rich watched as Stuart and Adan completed the tests. He typed in some notes before asking both to remove the power cells from their phasers and return them to the weapon’s locker. He gave them both a few tips and let them know their scores would be sent to the Security Chief and Captain for review but they both met the certification criteria. He didn’t expect their certifications to take as long as they did, but that was okay, it made the time go by.

Rich then made sure to secure the range after the other officers left, then started to get it ready for the ship’s XO who was due any minute.


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