Live Fire Training

Posted on Sun Nov 1st, 2020 @ 5:12am by Lieutenant Commander Turak & Lieutenant Commander Aurelia Taylor & Lieutenant Commander S'hib & Lieutenant JG Ryan Kade III & Ensign Andrew Carey

Mission: Season 4: Episode 2: Rest And Relaxation
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Present
3092 words - 6.2 OF Standard Post Measure

As Turak stood in front of the Security personnel who were about to enter the holodeck, he greeted them, "Good evening all, I wanted to thank you for being here tonight for this training exercise. I realize that most of us are at home and proficient with the weapons that we carry onboard the Elysium - phase rifles and pistols, etc. However, what happens when we are in a situation where these modern weapons are not available? Since being onboard the Elysium, I have actually had the chance to use projectile weapons because they were the best choice at the time. That said, I have a holo-program in which I intend to allow you all to become familiar with small arms from Earth's 1940's U.S. Navy. To be precise, we will be doing some target practice from the fantail of the USS Cleveland in November of 1941, when the ship was on its shakedown cruise. We won't really interact with any of the crew and the ship will be at a standstill in the pacific. While I don't believe any of us will encounter these weapons anywhere in the galaxy, it will give you a chance to think on your feet. The rifles we will be using will be Springfield M1 Garands …. Any questions before we enter?"

Ryan shook his head in response.

"Are we going to be experiencing the short stroking malfunctions that those weapons we quite common having in that time period." Andrew inquired, as he looked over, "Of course, it was an easy fix, but when you need a weapon, you don't want it malfunctioning." He paused. "Although I hear the Butt of the gun was almost as deadly in close quarters."

“Commander,” S’hib sighed as he lifted both hands up. “I don’t think you quite thought this through...” He added, nodding his long face towards his four fingered hands and their large hoofed digits. “There is a reason I struggle with the standard issue phase rifles.”

Being at the back, Lia was watching and listening. "S'hib, you need to adapt your weapon handling. If you can work with this antique weapon, our phase rifles should pose no problem". She now moved forward, "As for the rest of you, listen and learn. This department needs to be the best, the Marines might think their the best. But Security IS the best, do you read me gentlemen!!"

Still mulling over the events in the mirror universe, S’hib remained quiet, his expressionless face all too clear to read now that his mane was gone. Even as he looked down at the floor, his wordless response said exactly how he felt about her question.

Responding first to Andrew, “As to Ensign Carey’s question, that is a No. I had the holodeck program make the National Match variant of these weapons – weapons that have been hand fitted and glass bedded. These weapons will be very reliable and accurate.” Looking at S’hib, Turak said “Mr. S’hib, this is a core part of Security training – weapons proficiency. If you need help, I will assist.”

Looking at the entire group, Turak pointed to the entrance to the holodeck and said, “if there aren’t any other questions, we’ll enter and begin.” As Turak entered the holodeck he explained, “As you can see there are five shooting mats on the decks and there are buoys placed at 100 meters out in the ocean that contain targets. Since we are a little more tech savvy than our predecessors, I have also included a target screen at each mat that will show you where you have hit.” Picking up a rifle, he started to explain its function, “this here on the right side of the rifle is an operating rod, all you do to load it is pull it back, grab your en-bloc clip of 8 rounds,” picking up a en-bloc clip from the ammo can on the deck, “then using you right hand to block the operating rod and pushing the ammunition downward from the top at the same time you’ll feel a click.” After an audible “click” occurred, Turak then said, “after that, you allow the operating rod, and bolt that it is connected to, go forward until it is closed. At this point you have a hot weapon.” Smiling, he added, “I will also say, when you initially pull the operating rod back, be sure to pull it back with force. Otherwise, the bolt might close unexpectedly and you will get what they used to call a ‘Garand thumb.” Smiling even wider, he said, “trust me, you don’t want that to happen…..once you are loaded, you are ready to go and can fire at will. Make sure that you try to compensate for the slight roll of the ship and buoy as well…..have at it!”

S’hib remained silent, his attempt at humour falling on deaf ears as he inwardly sighed and walked towards a mat on the far end, his hooves clicking over the deck as he did so. “Is this training in case we go back in time again by any chance?” He snorted, somewhat mocking the fact they were using museum exhibits for training.

The rifle was heavier than expected, but still relatively light compared to Sequus strength, still at least he could feel it in his hands unlike the pulse rifles which weighed nearly nothing in comparison.

Responding to S'hib, Turak said, "anything is possible Mr. S'hib, it wouldn't be the first time Star Fleet personnel have time travelled. But let's hope it will never be necessary." Speaking to the entire group before going prone on his own mat, Turak said, "load and fire at will." As soon as he had adjusted the sights for windage and elevation - this was one of Turak's favorite simulations after all - with a practiced squeezed of the trigger Turak sent one round down range. Looking at his target computer, he saw that the round was one quarter inch from a bullseye. He then waited to see and hear the others begin their practice before firing again.

Andrew chose his weapon, picked up a flew clips. He took a moment, just to look over the weapon itself, its been a while since he last handled one, of course when he did last, it was the real thing out of his fathers antique collection. If this was indeed fixed of all issues the real one did, it wouldnt really handle like the real thing. But it was something his father had prepared him for. Of course holographic was not one, it was none the less something to adjust with.

Upon loading the clip, checking wind speed, the weather, even checking the movement of the ship. He looked around the deck of the ship noticing his crew mates prepare their own weapons, and get ready for firing. This in itself was pretty good practice. The only issue he had though was if indeed this was to come to fruition. Firing these weapons in the open would not prepare them. They wouldnt have time to just take their time. In a hurry, to take any advantage necessary whether it be finding a weapon that ones not used to. Whether being used to or not. In a fire fight time is not something you have.

He shook off those thoughts, it was his father in his mind telling him how things would really be. That the best target practice would be to run a holosimulation of certain scenarios where weapons can be tested against holo-enemies. He looked around, noticed a crate and went and crouched behind it for 'cover.'

Checking his scope, his handling he quickly moved out from his cover, on one knee, and fired his clip into one of the farther targets before heading back behind cover. Checking tome computer readout, his first shot missed the midpoint the by several inches, by the final one, he had narrowed it down to within centimetres on either side the last four shots.

The weight felt familiar in his hands. Ryan had only experienced such a weapon once before, at his grandparent’s estate in Texas. He could remember the old man handing him an original production-line model, explaining its’ history and use in the World War. The veteran had also shown him how to wield it, though Ryan never touched it again after that day. It was a relic.

That relic was now in his hands. Sort of. He loaded the weapon as instructed, then pulled the stock against his shoulder, left leg forward, body turned forty-five degrees adjacent to his target. The sights lined up in front of his eyes. He noticed the front and back sight were perfectly parallel, and adjusted accordingly by aiming slightly higher after adjusting for sway and wind.

His finger squeezed and the shot rang out. In his mind, he counted the delay before the round hit the target in the distance. What was that, maybe one hundred milliseconds? The display showed that he’d hit the target, about half a meter too high to hit the bullseye. Maybe I miscalculated the iron sight offset? He thought as he adjusted his aim again.

Ting!

That time he was closer. It was, indeed, the iron sight offset. He adjusted once more.

Ting!

Bullseye.

Ting! Ting, ting! Ting!

All bullseyes. There was one shot left.

Ping!

This time, the noise wasn’t a metal-on-metal sound in the distance, it was a loud launching of the empty clip as the final round left the weapon. A satisfying, though troublesome, sound that both let the user and the enemy know that the weapon was dry. The skeleton of metal that once held eight rounds skittered on the ground near his feet.

He looked up, realizing his final shot had missed the bullseye. He frowned, wondering where he went wrong with the last shot.

Must’ve been the wind. Ryan thought.

S'hib meanwhile was simply trying to wrap his hands around the rifle, its design clearly not made for anything but a human hand. "Well, this complicates things..." He huffed as he prodded a large hoofed digit at the trigger guard, the small metal ring blocking entry of his equine digits.

"Hmm..." He hummed thoughtfully, overhearing the other shots ringing out even as he lowered himself to the floor and sat down, his long legs crossing over one another as he placed the rifle on his lap.

He stared at it for a short while, ignoring everything else that was going on before untieing his tail braid, the long flowing mass all that was left of his long Equine hair.

A few loose strands came off between his fingers and he quickly went about twisting and folding them into a lengthy fibrous makeshift rope, something Sequus were all taught at a young age for various reasons.

He then wetted one end between his large lips and proceeded to loop it around itself into a simple and small noose, the end of which was hooked around the trigger and pulled tight.

"There, that should work." He smiled to himself as he got back up to his hooves and moved back onto the mat, loading his first clip as instructed before shouldering the rifle, his finger twirling around the self made rope until it began to feel taut.

Then suddenly his ears hurt, the ringing of the rifle stunning him for a moment as he looked over the hit marker, too low he noticed, the waves had carried the target above his aim, of course, he thought, the bullet was fast, but not as fast as particle beams.

Watching the others, Lia now decided to shoot this antique weapon. Picking up the rifle she then moved to the firing point with four clips, loading the first clip she checked around her and began shooting. Two rounds standing and check the sights, two rounds kneeling and recheck the sights. Finally three rounds prone, and the final check of her sights. She heard the ping as the empty clip flew out, she replaced it with a fresh clip. Standing up she took her stance, seven rounds spit out. "Computer, relay score of Holmes", the reply came -^-"Nine inch grouping, down to the right"-^-. She nodded and knelt down and reloaded a fresh clip, seven more rounds headed towards the target. -^-"Eight inch grouping, down to the right"-^-, came the response. Lia loaded the clip and lay prone nestling the rifle into her shoulder, her last seven rounds headed towards the target. "Computer, report final score for Holmes". -^-"Six inch grouping around bull"-^-, was the response. "Finally, got this thing to do what I wanted". Lia stood up and cleared her weapon, holding it out in front of her she returned it to the table behind the firing point.

After viewing the others begin their training, Turak turned back to his own target and the task at hand. He squeezed off the seven remaining rounds and then heard the satisfying and characteristic "ping" when the empty en-bloc clip ejected from his rifle. Checking his target computer he saw that all eight rounds had hit within 1.5 inches on the target. "Not bad for a moving target," he thought, but then that was to be expected as he had practiced at least an hour or more a day for the last two months. He then waited for most of the security personnel to go through multiple en-bloc clips and then yelled "Cease fire. Check targets and report results."

Going over the padd, Andy gave a nod, not only did he excel at 98 percent of his shots, missing the intended targets only twice, of the numerous clips he emptied. The first target was the easiest, although not the first he fired on, his three shots onto that one formed an equilateral triangle, the further one formed a smiley face with five shots. The moving target itself was an 'X'. He sent in the reports. Obviously the centre was the expected target, however, shooting since he was in his mid teens, every day for the past 7 years. Dead centre wasn't really a challenge for him. Neither were the X or smiley face... getting the top marksmanship commendation in the academy his first year.

Looking over Ensign Carey's shoulder, Turak said, "Nice shooting Ensign, I aspire to be that good one day." Seeing that the rest of the group was done checking over their targets, Turak said out loud, "thank you all for participating in this exercise, if you would like to give it a go again, you are more than welcome to. Also, just so that you know, the computer is programmed with literally thousands of weapons that you can pick from if your shoulders are sore from the large Garands." Pausing a moment, he said, "Computer, give me a 1928a1 Navy Thompson sub machine gun." Suddenly, one materialized in Turak's hands. "I happen to like this type of weapon a lot for 10 meter targets, but you can pick and choose as you want.

"Thank you Commander. Years of practice. My father was a marine CO, and Security chief for years before taking his own command, he was adamant i practice my shooting two hours a day for the past 7 years... trust me, when I first started I sucked." Andy replied as he paused and thought about it. "Computer bring up the P90." It was his fathers favourite weapon of course there were changes since the original. Mostly being it being changed to a phaser/pulse weapon.

"Please consider the firing line hot again, as I am going to practice a little longer." With that, Turak said, "computer, give me a target at 10 meters." After one materialized, Turak started firing in short bursts. He wasn't as well versed in this weapon, as he had just discovered its existence recently. Most of the 200 rounds that he shot at the target hit, but a few went wide. When he was done the three foot square target looked like swiss cheese.

S’hib watched everyone around him with avid interest, firing weapons he had never seen before, with some doing far better than others. “Computer... One Tam’sabow.” He snorted in his native tongue, hand out stretched as a massive bow materialised.

Its dark wooden frame stood as tall as he, with a fixed crate of spear like arrows at his side; clearly this bow had been intended for a Sequus and a Sequus only.

Taking a few steps he adjusted his stance, resting one end of the great bow on the deck while gently removing a nearly two meter arrow shaft from its cradle, resting the far end between his two fingers.

“Computer, five hundred meter target...” He snorted before sharply inhaling and pulling back on the thick string, the bows frame refusing to bend at first as he leant back, tilting the spear-like arrow towards the sky and releasing with a mighty thwack reverberating down the course of firing mats

The released arrow shot high into the sky in the blink of an eye, letting out a high pitched whistle that roared even as it went out of sight.

“One...Two... Three...” He muttered quietly as he stared intently at the sea.

Barely even a second later a hit indicator lit up, showing that he had hit just to the left of the bullseye.

Ryan whistled, standing just to the side of the bow-wielding Lieutenant. "... wow." He said simply, appreciating the shot before continuing, "Great shot!"

"Thank you, part of passing into adulthood for my kind involves a lot of things you may find are outdated... but it helps us stay connected to our past, and appreciate what we now have." He smiled, gently picking up another arrow shaft.

After he was done, Turak told the group, "Thank you all for attending this training session, it was quite fun. I am going to turn in for the night, however, anyone who wants to can stay as long as desired." With that, Turak turned and exited the holodeck and went to his quarters to get some rest before his next shift.


Commander Lia Holmes
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Elysium

Lieutenant Commander Turak
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Elysium

Lieutenant S'hib
Security Officer
USS Elysium

Ensign Ryan Kade III
Brig Officer
USS Elysium

Ensign Andrew Carey
Armoury Officer
USS Elysium