Target Practice [Backpost]

Posted on Sat Jul 13th, 2013 @ 10:54pm by Lieutenant Commander Sara Archer & Ensign Soren McArthur & Chief Warrant Officer K'Vaal Th'raas

Mission: Renewed Beginnings
Location: Deck 7: Holo-deck 2
Timeline: MD06

USS Iapetus
Deck 7: Holo-deck 2

"Computer, please provide more targets, this level is not even challenging" Soren stated as he downed the last target with the discharge of his plasma rifle. " Negative, no more targets may be deployed without Command Level permission " the computer replied

" Why did I have to be assigned to this ship? I put in a appellation for transfer to the Gamma Quadrant , or to the Cardassian DMZ. I will have to keep myself from going soft, I wonder if there any sparring partners on this ship that could keep up? "

"Computer, permission is granted. Increase difficulty level to Archer 4." The new chief of security entered the firing range silently. Even before taking on the new position, Lt. Commander Sara Archer found herself visiting the firing range often during the later duty shifts. She had not expected anyone else to be here, but she let it go. Instead, she grabbed a rifle from the rack and took up her own position.

Soren regarded her somewhat coolly and readied him rifle; inserting another plasma cartage into the rifle and took his position and began to drop targets left and right in a quick, methodical pattern. "My thanks for the permissions Chief, it was not taxing, the number of targets I can use by myself."

"That's good to hear, Ensign. I've always thought that Starfleet training programs were a little, inadequate, even after the Dominion." She steadied her aim and took out several of her own targets, focusing on the ones furthest away.

Soren nodded, and while cycling cartridges for the second time said "You fought Commander?" I was involved near the end when we started to turn the tide of the war against them. I remember losing a lot of comrades to those Jem'hadar feckers. Tough old boots too, still sniff they fell quickly enough when you put rounds though five of their leaders heads."

"I fought, but not on the front lines. Until recently, I was intel." Sara tried not to think too much about the war. It only brought up bad memories. "I'm afraid I can't go into much detail."

"No problems Commander, I have my share of hard memory's from that war. I am merely wondering why I was transferred to the Iapetus, I was hoping to be assigned to the Cardassian DMZ, or somewhere more interesting than a science vessel, still I cannot complain, gives me a chance to rest, it is unlikely I will be called on to use my infiltration equipment"

"You never know, Ensign. I first joined the crew following an undercover mission. I ended up needing to rescue several of the senior officers after they nearly messed up my operation. I made them help me fix it, naturally."

Soren nodded and made to say something however there is a mechanical sound with gears grinding against gears and Soren drops his rifle and swears softly as he grips his right wrist. "Blasted arm"

"You should get that fixed. I'd hate to see you compromised during an infiltration mission due to your wrist making noise."

"It's my cybernetics, blasted things are in need of replacement, I meant to do it before I was reassigned, and I had to get to the shuttle yard before the shuttle here left."

"Then take care of it. I expect my officers to be at 100 percent. But for now, tell me about your cybernetics. Do they give you an advantage, or do they represent a liability that I need to be aware of?"

"Aye Commander I'll deal with it now, (Soren sat and began rolling back the sleeve of his uniform to show the cybernetic arm, quite well done in darkened metal.) It grants me a stronger punch than a Klingon and more precision the a Romulan. It contains on-board computing software to speed up my target acquisition rate and rate of fire. Finally it is fitted with a number of both interrogation tools and small weapons, just the thing for a infiltrator heading into a unknown ship, or planet." (Soren removed a hard point on the elbow and two more near the shoulder and the entire arm was freed.)

It was then that the doors suddenly opened revealing an Andorian male wearing the gold stripes of a tactical officer. Bending forward at his west slightly, the man's antennae extended from his head cautiously and began to undulate slowly.

"Commander Archer,. . Mr. McArthur." K'Vaal announced with a nod of his head as he entered the holodeck, stopping just inside of the control arch ". .forgive my interruption, It was not my intention to intrude on your training session." he added

"Not at all, Chief. It's an open training session."

"Thank you sir." K'Vaal replied as he continues inside to where Commander Archer stood, taking note of the familiar surroundings. He hadn't been able to log as much simulation time as he'd been accustomed to in the past. It was something that he would have to address when his schedule permitted.

Turning to Commander Archer, his new boss who had replaced Commander Gunning, K'Vaal straightens up to attention to address her directly.

"I have spent the past few weeks training the newly on-boarded tactical officers on the upgrades to the ship's offensive and defensive systems. ." K'Vaal began taking note of Mr. McArthur's cybernetic arm with a raised eyebrow.

Sara stayed fixated on the newcomer. Unlike Mr. Th'rass, she didn't take much notice of the work on Soren's arm. "Thank you, Chief Th'rass. I'd like everyone to be well versed in our systems. In a crisis, we may need someone to step up and take on a different role."

"Chief Officer K'Vaal," stated Soren, "....you will please forgive me if I don't rise to greet to you" Soren moved to disassemble the wrist of the arm and fiddle with the servos in the wrist. "Ahh servos are meshed together, and the power cell that powers them went dry." Soren began swapping out parts if were nothing, while the others looked on."

"I can see you are, a bit short handed at the moment." K'Vaal replied with a smile. "If it's all the same to you, I would prefer if you would just address me simply as Mr. Th'raas." K'Vaal added with a smirk "The old boss used to call me Chief something or the other but usually it was just Th'raas!"

From his close proximity to the ensign, K'Vaal could get a much better look at some of the parts that made up Soren's mechanical arm. ". . how interesting. ." he murmured to himself. "Mr. McArthur, tell me how is it that an infiltration officer came to be onboard an explorer?" he asked.

"Actually," Archer interjected. "Part of that was my doing. I was a former infiltration specialist, and would have filled that role during Commander Gunning's time as this department head. Since I'm filling a new role, I thought it would be necessary to have someone else on hand, just in case."

K'Vaal nodded his head as he pondered the Commander's official yet logical explanation. His curiosity still not yet satisfied, he nodded with his chin towards the obvious. "And the off-book answer to the 800 kilo Targh in the corner?.." he added offhandedly.

Soren thought for a moment " I requested reassignment from the USS Valley Forge after the siege of the Chin'toka system the first time. I was part of the action that involved three hundred infiltrators dropping from orbit to conduct preliminary operations and to secure troop deployment areas. We were to take out the Jem'hadar forces in the local area and disable the transport jammers they had installed on the surface. However where my squad dropped we landed in our assigned area and were set upon by a battalion of Jem'hadar. Although we disabled the jammer, we were told that they would have to bring the troops in by shuttle, so we would have to hold out until relieved. We held for four hours.

That is how I lost my arm,(Soren gestures with the arm to illustrate his point) One of the field engineers crafted it for me. I have been asked on quite a few occasions to have it replaced, I do not want anything better. (Soren looked into the middle distance) Too many men and women died during the fighting that I knew to justify just replacing it, not with the memory's built within. The terrible thing is, my transfer came through, only after the war finished, you've got to love Federation filling."

"How very interesting, you've turned what many would call a serious life altering event and. ." K'Vaal paused for a moment, trying to find an appropriate phrase ". . .made lemonade out of lemons?" he replied.

Soren nodded and, having replaced the servo in the cybernetic arm's wrist and slotted the arm back into the stump on his shoulder with a organic pop sound. Soren shook his head and stood up. "Two good things that came out of it. Firstly, (Soren hefts the plasma rifle he had been using) I have a permission to use this over any standard phaser rifle. And secondly I was made the (Soren puts on a mock bravado demeanor) the poster child for the special forces infiltration program, so now anytime I am assigned to a modestly large ship like this, I have to invulnerably have to deal with 'Oh show us a trick or two'.

K'Vaal simply nodded his head as his antennae undulated back an forth, seemingly on their own. Appearing satisfied at the exchange with the new officer, he smiled and turned his attention back to Commander Archer.

"Any ideas as to when we'll be getting underway ma'am? Not that I don't mind the relative time off but I'm running out of things for the NonComs to do!" he said to her.

"Should be any time. The last crew transfers are finished and the refit work completed. I will have to confirm with the Captain, but most likely we should be underway within the next couple of days."

"Hmm..., back unto the breach we go then!" he quipped as he took a place beside Soren, picking up a hand phaser first and inspecting it closely before simply replacing it. "Aren't we still a bit thin in a few key positions though?" he asked.

"A few, but Starfleet has been wanting someone to check out this nebula, and the Captain has been wanting to get away from spacedock. I don't suppose I can really blame him." Sara checked the charge on her rifle. "It will be nice to get underway again. No missions tends to make one stale, unless of course you keep up with your training."

" I agree with you wholeheartedly, there are a number of skills that constantly need improving upon" K'Vaal replied offhandedly. " Sir, may I ask a more personal question then?" K'Vaal asked the Commander.

"I suppose that you may ask, Chief."

"Well, not to sound overly dramatic, but off the record, you're kind of a ghost to us NonComs." K'Vaal began " I mean I'm on my third tour on the Iap, and I've seen you a few times here and there. When Gunning was the Chief, a lot of the newbies knew of Gunning by his reputation. They knew what was expected of them and when they were pushing things a bit too far."

K'Vaal's antennae continued to writhe slowly as he spoke. " What I'm trying to say is that the men would like to get a better sense of what you expect of them as their new Chief."

Sara considered the question carefully. Truthfully, she wasn't really sure. She had never ran a department like this. Most of her work was always done alone, or in small groups. Now she found herself head of one of the largest departments on the ship. "That's a good question, Chief. Commander Gunning and I were close, and for now I would say that expectations should be similar to when he was here. I do expect efficiency and quick responses to emergencies, and for everyone to keep up on their proficiencies, but for now, while I get a better feel for the department and evaluate what everyone is capable of, I don't envision much changing."

Soren looked at K'Vaal for a few moments, then stood " If you have no more questions for me Commander, Chief Warrant Officer I will be I think needed in engineering shortly."

"Actually I'm due back on the bridge myself, still got another round of certifications to get through before my shift is over." K'Vaal added as he began to make his way to the command arch.

"Thanks Commander, nice meeting you Mr. McArthur. ." the Andorian added as he exited the Holo-Deck.

Sara stayed for a moment after the other two left. After Th'raas's last question, she was starting to worry about what she had gotten herself into.

----------------------
Lt. Commander Sara Archer
Chief Security Officer
USS Iapetus

Chief Warrant Officer K'Vaal Th'raas
Tactical Officer
USS Iapetus

Ensign Soren McArthur
Infiltration Specialist
USS Iapetus