Phaser Testing

Posted on Fri Sep 15, 2017 @ 5:27pm by Lieutenant Commander Arrda & Lieutenant Commander Kelani Tetanal & Lieutenant JG Mirok & Lieutenant JG Zander Devereaux

Mission: Strange Matter
Location: Phaser Range / Holosuite
Timeline: MD 28 || 1330 Hours

They had been divided up, and he had gotten Mirok, Kelani and Zander. An interesting collection of personalities, he thought. He had summoned them all to the Phaser Range first. He had decided to test them against the easier of the two locations first; and if that proved too easy for them, he would make it harder with the use of the holosuite. For now, though, he set the Range to a level 5 test using his PADD so that they wouldn't know ahead of the test what the level was. Two of these were not Security, so he didn't want to put the difficulty too high. He did realize that he might have to test Mr. Mirok on the holosuite even if he didn't have to do so with the others. As Security, Mirok should have a higher difficulty level that he could beat.

After setting it, he looked to them. "Who wants to go first?" It didn't really matter to him; he had to stay here until they all passed.

Zander stepped up. "Me," he said. "I got things to do, places to go, and coffee to drink. What do you want done, Loot?"

Douglas studied Zander for a moment, then he motioned to the Range. "Take one of the Phasers there," he indicated a small cabinet to the side of the range, "and choose one of the positions. When I activate the Range, hit as many targets as you can until I tell you to stop."

The stocky Engineer went to retrieve one of the phasers and put the power cell in it, then fiddled with it for a moment with his back turned before he came back to the range. "Got it," he said.

Douglas frowned slightly, wondering what the Engineer had been doing. It should not have taken that long to insert the power cell. He cleared his expression, though; he would know soon enough, he guessed. When the man signaled that he was ready, Douglas started the range, and a timer on his PADD, and watched.

At the far end of the Range, several holograms appeared. Most were blue, but a few were red. As the test began, they began moving about. They did not move overly fast as this was a low-level test; but they did move, making them a bit harder to hit. They were approximately man-sized, though appearing more like silhouettes than real people. Their height ranged from fairly short, at just under five feet tall, to fairly tall, at around six feet and four inches. They moved among one another as well as apart, giving the one using the Range a shot at each one separately at some point in the test but also making it a bit more difficult to pick a target when they clustered.

Douglas realized then that he had not told Zander which ones not to hit. "Mr. Devereaux, you need to hit the red ones, not the blue ones." he clarified.

"Well, crap," Zander muttered as he looked at the phaser in his hands and then at the different colored targets. "Red only, huh?" he asked before he made another adjustment to the phaser. "Here goes nothing."

He turned and watched the targets for a moment, then snapped off two quick shots, one of which went wide and another which barely clipped one of the red ones. "You just had to mix it up, didn't you?"

Kelani watched attentively as Zander's test proceeded. She was nervous, but determined to score as high as possible.

Douglas smiled slightly. "Wouldn't be much of a test if it was easy." He glanced at the timer on his PADD as the targets continued to move, the one hit having been replaced by another. "Keep going; you still have time."

Zander gave a nod and then brought the phaser around and fired at a few more of the reds, missing one but managed to hit two more. A second later, he shot a blue one which caused the simulation to pause for a minute. "It got in the way," he said. "Does this mean I can go now?"

Douglas raised an eyebrow. "That's three. You need eight of ten to pass." he informed the Engineer in answer to the question. "Try again." Douglas reset the simulation and the timer. "Go."

Mirok watched Zander's test with a faint smirk. He hadn't volunteered to go first simply because he didn't want them to think he was showing off. A test of this level would be relatively simple for him--these targets didn't want to try and shoot back.

Zander muttered something under his breath and nodded before he turned back to the range. This time, he took his time and aimed and managed to get six targets in a row, some by a narrow hit, missed two more, then hit the last two. "There. Does that count?" he asked.

Inelegant but serviceable. Douglas thought to himself. The man isn't Security, after all. He nodded to Zander. "You did get the required number in the time allowed. You may go." Given that he had technically passed, there was no need to keep torturing the man. "But if you do want to improve your skill, catch up with me off duty sometime, and we can work something out." He really did not expect to see the man in that context, but the offer was made which put the ball in Zander's court.

"Thanks," Zander said. "Later all!" he called as he headed out of the range.

"Mr. Devereaux, please return the phaser to the rack before leaving." Douglas reminded the Engineer. These particular phasers were rigged to only work inside the Range, but no sense in having the man carry one off either.

Tag Zander (I didn't see you note his putting it back is all.)

"You want me to go next, Lieutenant, or would you rather I wait?" Mirok asked Mallory from his position leaning against the wall.

Douglas eyed Mirok for a moment then nodded. "You may go next if you like. Please take a phaser from the rack and stand ready." he answered, resetting the Range to level 8. This meant that there were more blue silhouettes and fewer red ones at any given time, making it harder to hit the red without hitting the blue. This was higher than he would use with the others because Mirok was Security and, therefore, expected to be better at this than those not trained in Security. He could have used the holosuite, but he did not wish to appear to be singling out anyone. He did, however, note for his own use later that his entire Security team was going to undergo an upgrade in readiness training to keep their skills sharp.

"You know how this works, Lieutenant." he said by way of preamble. "You must hit eight out of ten targets without hitting the blue before time expires. Inform me when you are ready."

Mirok stepped over to the locker and took a phaser, sliding the power cell in. He'd learned over the years that this was so that someone couldn't use a modified phaser to cheat, and the results weren't skewed. He turned and walked back to the range, taking his place and raising the phaser. "Ready."

Douglas started the Range and the timer. "Begin."

Mirok fired, revelling in the piercing screech of the phaser beam as it cut through the near silence in the room. The beam hit one red one dead on, and skimmed a second one. He kept a mental count of time in his head as he searched for the next opening.

Seeing his chance he shot a quick beam and hit another before two blue targets nearly got hit by the beam. He felt the adrenaline pump as he took out another 3. He paused and waited for the targets to shuffle a bit, before taking out the last two to pass...and hitting a blue target that moved into his beam.

"Eight. I got eight." He said, scowling. "Restart it. I haven't gotten less than nine in 5 years."

Douglas frowned in thought. He liked the fact that Mirok wanted to be better, but he had passed the required test. "You passed." he said with a slight shake of the head. "If you like, you and I can meet later, and we can run more simulations. Right now, however, I have one other person to pass this test." He did not want to seem dismissive, but not having tested Lieutenant Tetanal himself, he had no idea what her skill level was and, therefore, no idea how long it might take to pass her. "For now, though, please return the phaser to the rack and continue with your duties."

Mirok scowled again, practically threw the phaser back on the rack, and stormed out of the holodeck, muttering about getting 8.

Kelani watched the others take their tests, becoming more nervous as time progressed. She was a scientist--her phaser training had been basic only.

As Mirok finished his test, Kelani rubbed ber hands together nervously, waiting Lieutenant Ma!lory's instructiond.

As Mirok left, Douglas smiled at Lieutenant Tetanal to set her more at ease -- she looked very nervous, and he knew from experience with training recruits that such nervousness only made one stumble. In fact, he had kept her for last so that she would not be made more uneasy by having the others watching her. It was likely that he made her nervous enough. Yes, he was giving her an edge in this testing, but it was not anything that was not normally done, though; typically, he did not test multiple students at a time.

"When you are ready, Lieutenant, take a phaser and power cell from the cabinet, get set up, and let me know when you are ready to begin the test." He reset the Range to the level 5 that he had used with Devereaux and waited. Currently, the silhouettes were not moving, merely standing, awaiting the initiation of the test. As with Devereaux, there were blue and a few red, some tall and others shorter to make it challenging.

Kelani took a deep steadying breath and moved to the cabinet, chose a phaser and a power cell, placing the one into the other. She then moved to the line the others had.

Taking another deep breath, Kelani said, "I'm ready..."

Douglas started the test, and the silhouettes started moving about like people milling about. "Remember," he encouraged, "hit only the red if you can. Hit eight before I stop the timer, and you will pass." He then started the timer. "Go ahead."

Kelani nodded and raised the phaser, beginning to fire, aiming for the red as Douglas had instructed. Her first shot was a glancing hit on a red. Encouraged by that moderate success, she continued to fire, scoring more hits but she wasn't sure if it was enough.....

Douglas watched, stopping the Range when the time ran out. Lieutenant Tetanal's final hit came just before he stopped the test, and he smiled. "You passed, Lieutenant." he told her. "You may put the phaser back into the cabinet and return to your duties. If you want to improve your score at some point, please feel free to get in touch with me. I'm happy to work with any of the crew who wish to improve."

Kelani smiled, relieved. Her phaser skills had never been as good as she would like. The fact that she had passed on her first try pleased her greatly.

"Thank you, Lieutenant Mallory," she said, "I would like to improve my phaser skills. I will most definitely contact you about additional training."

Douglas nodded. "Excellent." He was always pleased when someone wanted to better themselves. He had been pleased that Mirok had wanted to give a better show of himself; he simply had not thought there was time just now. As it had turned out, there might have been, but hind sight was always 20/20. "Please return the phaser to the cabinet, and then you may return to your duties."

"Yes, sir,". Kelani replied, moving to the cabinet and returning the phaser to the cabinet. Turning, she smiled at Douglas, saying, "Thank you, Lieutenant. I will contact you soon about further training."

Douglas nodded, watching the lieutenant leave. He liked that she was eager to improve; good for her. Once she was gone, he cleared the Range and reset it to its default setting then retreated to his office to finalize the report on the three and send it to the commodore and Commander Weisz.

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