XO's Phaser Certification

Posted on 05 Jul 2017 @ 2:18pm by Lieutenant Richard Metsker & Commander Thiago Teixeira

997 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: The Finnean Crisis
Location: Phaser Range, USS Black Hawk
Timeline: Timeline: MD2 || 1540 Hours

ON:

Once the certifications of Lieutenants Adan and Stuart were finished, Rich reset the range one more time, this time for the ship's Executive Officer. He typed in several commands on the console, the made sure there was an additional Sarium Krellide power cell charged and a phaser ready to go.

What a waste of time Thiago thought as he walked down the corridor. He was proficient with a phaser and didn't see a need to prove it. But, it was part of the routine. Recertififying was part of the job.

"I hope," he said, walking into the training facility, "that we can get this over quickly."

"As do I." Rich replied without thinking. He'd already given two certification classes in the last few hours, right after reporting aboard. He glanced at the Commander. "If you'd please step forward, take a phaser from the locker, and load the power cells, we can get started." Rich instructed.

"After you show you can load the weapon, please, take your place at the firing line and we can proceed." Rich smirked as he tapped in a few commands on the control panel. "The first few with be static targets, I'm looking for accuracy more than speed here." He tapped another button on the control panel and several bright targets appeared down range. "Fire when ready."

Rolling his eyes at the whole routine, Thiago snapped a power cell into the phaser and held it ready. As the targets appeared, he fired, striking each. He'd never worked in Security but he was still decent with the standard Starfleet sidearm.

Rich smirked as he typed in a few notes on his PADD, the XO was proficient and did well. "Alright, this next test will incorporate accuracy with speed plus trigger discipline. These targets will be at varying distances like before, however yellow targets indicate 'friendlies' while red or blue are 'hostile'. You did well on accuracy, let's see well how you do under a little more pressure. You have sixty seconds. Ready," he paused for a second, "begin."

As would be expected of a veteran officer, Thiago dispatched the 'hostile' targets in short order, while avoiding the 'friendlies'. "Happy now?" he asked as time expired.

Rich cut his eyes at the Commander. He didn't know what he'd done to get under his skin, he's just met the guy. Maybe he'd did get a good night's sleep, maybe he was always a little testy, perhaps he had something personal going on. Rich shrugged it off and smirked. "Commander, I'll be happy when everyone aboard this ship can defend themselves properly, it's my job to make sure they can."

Rich typed in a few notes, then recorded the score of the last stage. "All right, there's one more stage. This one will cover everything we've done so far but also add in varying elevations and targets will also be in a wider lateral range too." Rich motioned toward a slightly raised platform over to the side. "Targets can be up to ninety-degrees to your left or right and up to forty-five degrees above to ten degrees below your position."

Rich typed in a few commands, "When you're ready, sir, begin."

Opting not to say anything, Teixeira gave the security officer a nod to signal his readiness. As the various targets appeared, he, as before, dispatched them in a timely fashion. Compared to similar tests earlier in his career, he knew his reaction times were slower, though still within acceptable guidelines. With the last target gone, he lowered his phaser and turned towards the Lieutenant. "We good?"

Rich smirked while he tapped in a few comments as the scored displayed. "I'll have everything processed and forward to Lieutenant Moreau and the Captain, but yes sir it appears you've been re-certified. Please unload your phaser and secure it in the weapons locker while I deactivate the range."

Rich looked back at the console as he forwarded off the scores and his notes to be reviewed by the Chief Security/Tactical Officer and the Captain.

While he returned the phaser to its place in the locker, the XO looked over his shoulder at the Lieutenant. He hadn't read up on all of the new crew yet; he was going department by department and security was next on his list. "Tell me about yourself, Lieutenant."

Rich glanced back with confused glance. The tension level in the range seemed to go down about fifty percent with the question. He finished his work and turned back to the Commander as he usual pleasant expression returned.

"I'm from Earth, Terre Haute Indiana. Graduated from the Academy in Sixty-six and resigned in Seventy-one, but returned to service when the Dominion War broke out. Unmarried, no children. Yourself sir?" Rich asked.

Closing the locker, he fully turned to face the security officer. "No kids here either," he answered. "Why did you stay in Starfleet after the war? You left once before. I'm guessing there was a reason for that. What changed? Especially post-war?"

"I won't bore you with the duty and obligation speech. I considered resigning again after the peace was secured but I was asked to attend the Starfleet's Advanced Tactical Training course the morning I took my resignation to Captain Henson. I decided to attend the course and found in talking with other veterans that maybe there was still some good...something more I could do. After completing the course I was assigned to the Akira Class USS Tarsus as a Security/Tactical Officer, Captain Henson's new command. He gave me the chance to do some Security Investigations work and I enjoyed that, feeling I was doing more than just monitoring sensors for nearby distortions or giving phaser certification classes." Rich smirked, "No disrespect intended."

He extended his hand. "Nice to have you onboard, Lieutenant," Teixeira said. "I'm here if you ever need something."

Rich shook the Commander's hand as his typical smirk appeared on his face. "Thank you."


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