What's a phaser among friends?

Posted on Sat Aug 12, 2017 @ 9:14pm by Lieutenant Martha Cusack & Captain Madelina Weisz & Lieutenant JG Jacob Hartley

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: MD 28 || 12:30

Jacob sighed as he entered the holodeck, ready for his phaser recertification. He was annoyed with this turn of events, having to take the test, even though he was up to date. But then, he wasn't in command and had to follow orders. He saw Martha waiting for him as he entered. "Well, at least one of us is eager for this." Jacob said, smiling briefly at her.

Martha looked up from her PADD and smiled at her friend. She hadn't seen Jacob for a little while and was pleased he'd responded to her invitation to come and take his recertification.

"I'm just doing my job. You should be excited because you get to shoot at things...in fact I find these recertification tests are good at relieving stress. How are you doing?" Martha replied.

"Rather annoyed, to be honest. I manage to get a great deal of data from a Romulan ship, and instead of being commended, I'm sent to retake phaser certification and punished. Plus, other issues which seem to be cropping up regarding my past, again which I'm being punished for, by the Commander funnily enough." Jacob replied. "I swear she doesn't like me, or anyone."

Martha smiled sympathetically. She had read the report of the away mission and she wasn't entirely sure what to make of it.

"I just keep my head down these days - I can't remember the last time I had a conversation with anyone on the command staff. I don't really have any friends here apart from yourself and even then I haven't done a very good job of maintaining it lately so...yeah" Martha said.

Pausing for a moment to re-check her list Martha then continued.

Martha concluded. "Anyway - whenever you're ready we'll get started. I devised this test myself and it varies every time so the chances are nobody will have this exact test for...well...who knows"

"I'm ready when you are." Jacob said. "At least this keeps my skills sharp, so there's a plus to that."

Martha smiled and passed Jacob the hand phaser which was pre-prepared with test ammunition. She had had a go at a test herself before Jacob arrived just to make sure the modifications she had added to it recently were functioning correctly. Martha was pleased to find that they were.

"Alright...we'll start on Level 1. If you can stand behind the blue line for me and I'll count you in. You have 30 seconds in this round to score as many hits as you can - an alert will sound to confirm a hit and it will change colour" Martha said.

A holographic sphere appeared in the centre of the holodeck and Martha began the countdown.

"...4...3...2...1" Martha said.

The sphere started to move around the holodeck in a sporadic pattern at a reasonable speed.

Jacob took a breath as Martha counted, and immediately opened fire as soon as he was cleared to do so, hitting the target dead center. He preferred hand to hand at times, but phaser training was always important. He fired again, once again getting another direct hit.

The sphere continued to move around the room and changed colour each time it was hit. The readings appeared on Martha's PADD and as much as she wanted to encourage her friend she knew that it was important to get on with the task at hand. Encouragement could come later.

After the 30 seconds had elapsed Martha checked the results for the first round and ordered the computer to load the second round.

"This time it'll be two targets - and they'll be moving a bit faster. You have 30 seconds for this round as well" Martha instructed.

With the countdown given the two spheres started to move around the holodeck on completely random patterns. Martha felt that moving targets presented a tougher test of accuracy because most targets she shot at were always moving towards her or the ship she was on.

Jacob immediately began to open fire at the targets, barely moving as he could tell where the targets where. His skill, whilst good, however, did present a few problems when his mind was distracted. He missed a couple of targets, and growled in anger. "Dammit." He snarled.

"Just relax. You've got another ten seconds" Martha replied.

Jacob quickly took aim and fired at the rest of the targets, not missing a target, this time not letting his mind get distracted.

"5...4...3...2...1" Martha said.

With that the two spheres disappeared and the scores for the second round appeared on her PADD. Analysing them quickly and keeping her expression neutral to avoid giving anything away the Tactical Chief then prepared Jacob for the next round.

"This one is going to be a bit different before we move onto the second part of the training. Instead of the spheres you will see targets which are either friendly or an enemy. The targets will spawn at an increasing rate as you go on - you will have 90 seconds for this round" Martha instructed.

"Understood." Jacob said, taking another breath to calm his mind. "Ready when you are."

"Let's get started. In...4...3...2...1" Martha said.

Starting the program the first two targets appeared - one friendly and one enemy. She had programmed the enemies to rotate between different species with each level - to start with it was a Klingon warrior and a human civilian.

As the holograms appeared, Jacob opened fire, making sure not to make a mistake. He fired at one Klingon, the second target was a civilian, as was a third. He fired at the fourth target, hitting it square between the eyes...Commander Weisz's eyes. Jacob's eyes widened as he lowered his phaser.

"Oops."

Seeing Jacob had stopped firing Martha paused the program which also paused the timer - which was at 45 seconds. She wasn't sure how to react after realising what had happened but took Jacob's lowering of his phaser as a sign that he needed or wanted to take a break from his test.

Martha looked up but the hologram Jacob had obviously shot in error had already disappeared.

"What's up?" Martha asked.

Maddy, who had been standing near the back silently with a pair of safety goggles on, watched the whole thing unfold. She stepped forward and cleared her throat to finally make her presence known. "I can tell you what happened. It would appear that Mister Hartley has shot me. Right between the eyes, no less," the XO stated, looking toward the Assistant Chief of Intel before looking to the Chief of Tactical.

Martha looked at the Executive Officer and then to Jacob. This was an awkward situation and these weren't particularly easy for her to get out of - however she decided to attempt to defuse the situation. Deciding now wasn't the time to attempt humour she chose another option.

"Would you like to try the other two rounds before coming back to this one?" Martha suggested.

Jacob looked at Martha, and then at Maddy. "That...might not be a bad idea." He said. His mind raced at that moment, however. 'Yeah, my career is over.' He thought.

Martha nodded and restarted the test. The targets she used for this stage of the test were devised from Starfleet's own test - but in this instance somebody was clearly trying to have a joke or try and get someone into trouble - because Martha did not use any Starfleet personnel in any her programmes.

"Right...restarting the programme" Martha replied.

Martha then turned to the Executive Officer. She already had an idea who might have been responsible for it - an Ensign she asked to assist her with making a few updates to give them experience in devising such programmes.

"I will find out who is responsible for that once this test is over" Martha said.

"There's no need to worry about that right now," the redhead stated. "Continue with the training."

It didn't take long for Jacob to finish the target, hitting his targets with precision. Knowing the XO was there...he definitely had an incentive to not screw up, feeling her eyes on him...unfortunately, not the ones he had shot right in the middle of, because a hologram he could handle. The real Commander...not so much.

With the two sphere rounds completed Martha decided to load up the the third round of the hand phaser certification. Deciding to use the two results from each of the sphere rounds to get an average score she looked at Jacob again and then at her PADD.

"Alright...same as before. 90 seconds. 4...3...2...1" Martha said.

The round started with an Orion pirate and a Bajoran civilian before gradually increasing in difficulty - with increasing numbers of targets appearing and disappearing quicker.

Martha observed as Jacob carried out this round - hoping this time that there were no more unwanted surprises appearing as targets. She knew exactly who to blame and would be dealing with them once the tests were completed.

He finished the round, this time thankfully not seeing any images of the Commander. As the test shut down, Jacob looked at Martha. "How'd I do?" He asked. "Aside from...you know..." He added.

Martha watched the results come in and calculated Jacob's score. After ensuring that it was at a passable level she looked up at the Intelligence Officer and gave him the result of his test.

"I think I can certify you to use the Type 2 phaser for another year. If you want to come back and practice on the Type 3 at another time then let me know" Martha replied.

"Glad to hear it. I'll stop by later if I need to." Jacob said, nodding. "Ma'am, anything else to add?" He asked, looking at Maddy.

Martha merely nodded and went over to the corner to do some more work on her PADD. There were still a few more tests to go but she wanted a bit of time to properly analyse Jacob's results before continuing down the list.

"Nothing," the Commander replied, looking over toward Martha. "Lieutenant Cusack... I expect to see the reports regarding the phaser training on my desk as soon as they're available." With that, she turned and walked out of the phaser range, dropping her safety glasses off as she went.

Jacob watched her leave, and shook his head. "Well, that could have gone better." He said. "If you need me, I'll be seeing if there's some other way I can screw up today."

Martha looked up and walked up to her friend. He had passed his test but there was the appearance of the hologram of the Executive Officer which had undoubtedly thrown a spanner in the works.

"If you need someone to talk to - as a friend - you can come and talk to me Jacob. You've done nothing wrong here and for what it's worth - this is one of the highest scores I've seen all year. You're better than you think" Martha replied.

"Yeah, but I doubt the XO will want to be around me and a phaser anytime soon." Jacob said. He sighed and shook his head. "I guess I've just got some stuff I need to work out. I'll figure it out, but I'll keep your offer in mind."

He shook his head. "I need to head back to Intel. Thanks Martha, I really appreciate the offer."

"Any time. I'll get in touch with you later about arranging a proper catch up" Martha replied.