Fun and Games

Posted on Tue Nov 15th, 2022 @ 4:53am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Private 1st Class Cedrik Feng

Mission: In-Between (S1:E3-S1:E4)
Location: Holodeck
Timeline: Mission Day 25 at 1700
3483 words - 7 OF Standard Post Measure

ON

Petty Officer Fiona Winters had been using a truly unreasonable amount of Holodeck time for some new training program of her own design. Walking in, it looked to be a comfortable, suburban area built on rolling hills. The houses were each two to four stories, made largely of wood or brick though some with more modern additions masked to look much the same. The people who could be seen walking along the side walks or passing by an open window looked very close to Terrans. They seemed contented, spoiled even. They were Ekosians. Over a century ago, the Empire had found on this world a strange psychological mix. Many had been stubborn in resisting onto death. Many others had accepted slavery or subjection. But there had also been eager acolytes and and collaborators. They had lived in neighborhoods like these. From the occasional Cardassian or Klingon marking, the holodeck program made the uncharitable assumption that the same Ekosians or similar served the Alliance just as eagerly for a bit of power, scraps from their masters table, or a chance to indulge their hatred for the Zeons. Men in local police uniforms were among those walking the neighborhood and two guards armed with the primitive chemically based rifles still used by the locals stood in front of the largest house on the street. Winters herself was not immediately visible upon entry.

It wasn't often that Lyra found herself crossing paths with young marines. Now and then she would interact with the higher ups given the nature of her own department, but otherwise there was generally a clear separation between security and the marines. The fact that she was walking through the corridor with a young private in tow was certainly a strange sight to behold. Her natural stride was long, powerful, and assertive, but lacked the arrogance that often came with such a way of moving. Behind her, even though he was slightly taller, the young marine was taking shorter, quicker strides as if to keep up with her.

“Thank you for this, Lieutenant. I do really appreciate your time.” Cedrik spoke, his voice warm, friendly, albeit a bit nervous. The chief of security was a beautiful woman; her man was absolutely terrifying. Hells she was terrifying too, but as a twenty year old man, his attention was far more drawn to her physical attributes. Still, he tried to be respectful about looking.

“Don’t thank me, Private. This isn’t a favor either of us is doing for the other. You’re helping me, I’m helping you. It’s a trade.” Lyra retorted but there was no venom behind it. She simply wanted to be clear with the kid. Why was she doing this? She had always had a weak spot for young men and sometimes younger women. It wasn’t sexual by any means, but truly more familial. Being the older sister of two younger brothers who completely adored her, relied on her, and wanted to learn from her left her much more inclined to acquiesce to requests for her assistance. Perhaps on a dare from his marine comrades judging by his demeanor and their snickering, Feng had approached her earlier in the day to ask if she might help instruct him in marksmanship training given she was one of the best if not the best rifle and phaser marksmen on the ship. She’d been hesitant at first, but remembered the kid was a medic and she could use a refresher in field first aid. So here they were stopping outside of the holodeck.

“Yes, si-“ Cedrik began but was cut off.

“Who the hell is running into my time.” Lyra growled, seeing the holodeck was active.

“Oh… well we can come ba-“ Cedrik started to talk again but was left just standing there blinking as Lyra walked into the holodeck without a care. He followed her automatically even if he did feel slightly awkward intruding in on someone regardless of if they were over their time or not.

Lyra stopped and looked around the area. Civilians milled around and through her since both she and Cedrik were marked as observers and not participants. She was annoyed; she only had so much time in her day and she really, really disliked it when people interfered with her set schedule. She made sure to be punctual, so could others. It was the bare minimum.

“Oh, well this is nice, really.” Cedrik noted with an upbeat tone and looked around.

Fiona spotted them instantly from where she surveyed the scene. For a moment, she was torn between wanting to impress her commanding officer and fear of irritating her further, but it wasn't really much of a choice. Besides, Lyra could always ask to see or hear more if she saw fit. "Computer save program. Computer end program," she said quickly, running down the stairs from her second story perch. She was dressed in Ekosian civilian clothes, albeit comfortable and practical, and carried a bag over one shoulder. A nice fashionable one of the sort the daughter of an Ekosian grown wealthy collaborating with the alliance might wear, but large enough to carry some things needed for the simulation. She stopped in front of Lyra as the program faded and came to attention. "Sir. I'm sorry, sir. I'll clear out."

As the program began to fade, Lyra scowled, but the expression softened back to neutrality when she saw Fiona practically skidding to a stop in front of her. "Oh, its you." She seemed far less annoyed now at this particular revelation. "Keep an eye on the time better, Winters. Not paying attention is a good way to get yourself into trouble. Now, what were you doing?"

Cedrik for his part stood silently at Lyra's side but was looking between the two women with intense curiosity on his young face.

"Yes, sir," Winters acknowledged the correction without hesitation. Then she set about answering the next question. "Computer, reinitiation program Seagull7 in pause mode." When the images reappeared, no longer moving. "This is a new training simulation, I'm trying out." She gestured to the home with the guards outside of it. "The mission is that this is the home of a prominent Ekosian collaborator. with the Alliane." The contempt with which she spoke the word collaborator showed not the slightest self-consciousness about the fact that Terrans had made similar use of the locals. Terrans were the rightful masters of these people and the Alliance merely an alien threat. "An important Cardassian Gul is going to visit him but it's not known exactly when. You also have to enter without anything that would be detected by standard spaceport security. The goal is to remain in a position to take him out whenever he should arrive, which means remaining alert and focused, keeping a line of sight, and avoiding anything that would raise the alarm. It's an exercise in focus and endurance more than anything else, sir."

"I see." Lyra said and looked around the area while she crossed her arms under her chest.

"Did you make this program yourself? Or was it something you picked up?" Cedrik blurted out and then remembered himself. Flushing slightly, he rubbed the back of his head and looked down. "I'm Cedrik, by the way - er... Private Cedrik Feng."

"The computer made most of it, within very general parameters," Fiona said. "The idea doesn't really work if you know what's coming." She smiled at Cedrik. "Petty Officer 3rd Class Fiona Winters."

"Oh... yeah I guess that would make sense." Cedrik laughed nervously and looked at Fiona's face fully, focusing on her large lips and eyes and the softness of her features. When he felt himself staring, he looked away and cleared his throat. "Um, well it definitely looks interesting."

Lyra had been watching the exchange out of the corner of her eye and smirked just slightly as Cedrik fumbled about when faced with a pretty girl his age. With Lyra, there was of course a natural desire there, but it was trumped by a healthy dose of fear and daresay awe. It would keep him in line. "Well, it definitely looks like a solid program. Seems like it can have you sitting and waiting the entire time you're in it though with nothing to show for it since I'm guessing your mark never showed up before we got here."

"No, he didn't, sir," Fiona admitted. "I think I'll modify it so his arrival is still unpredictable but within a designated range. Then I'll always get a shot before I leave and won't go over again."

“Would you feel that to not defeat the purpose as well though, knowing he is coming eventually for sure?” Lyra asked, seemingly quite curious for Fiona’s answer in this.

Fiona paused and considered her words. "On a real mission, it's possible he might not come on the day expected for reasons completely outside the operative's control, sir. The operative then has to try to gather some intelligence. Maintain cover in hopes he'll come later? Destroy targets of opportunity? Try to find a better location? Abort entirely? But a program that fully accounted for all of that might be kore suited for a small grou than an inidividual and would likely have to be run over multiple sessions to do it justice."

“So taking the final shot is important to you, not playing the waiting game and the lead up to it?” Lyra pressed lightly, trying to establish in the end what the most important part of this was to Fiona. Learning motivations was a quick way to establish control.

"Every step is crucial, sir," Fiona said, "and to be practiced in isolation, but a simulation is where it all comes together and ideally it includes everything." Then she risked a small smile. "Though, I'll admit the killshot is also the culmination."

Lyra smirked just slightly at that last admission, but didn't give any sign of approval nor did she even continue on the topic. "Well, I was coming down here to go over some marksmanship drills with Private Feng here myself. You're welcome to join in if you would like to."

"Y-yeah, yeah absolutely." Cedrik spoke up and gave a nervous smile as he looked at Fiona.

"I'd love to," Fiona answered, grinning at both of them.

"I thought you might." Lyra noted and then shook her head, moving back toward the door and the panel just inside. "I'll just be a minute." Giving a dismissive wave of her hand to Cedrik and Fiona, she began to work.

Cedrik looked to Lyra for a moment and then swallowed, looking back to Fiona and giving a slightly sheepish smile. "So uh... what made you want to focus on sniper training?"

"There's a serenity to it. A peace," Fiona said, smiling, but then she blushed faintly. "That sounds weird, right?"

“What? Weird? No it’s not - I mean I guess… maybe? I don’t know. I don’t find it weird.” He swallowed and rubbed the back of his neck. Cedrik was usually quite put together and eloquent; as the eldest son of the Lord Mayor of Hong Kong, he had to be. Yet every time he was alone with a beautiful woman - much less two beautiful women - he found himself fumbling.

"I just meant because it's by definition not peaceful," Fiona said. "It's killing enemies. But...I'm not sure I'm explaining it right. It requires you to be calm. To be patient. Precise and focused."

“I could see that being the case.” Cedrik said and cleared his throat. “I’ve never tried it. I’m a fairly decent shot, but could be better.”

“Yes, that is what we are here to fix if you two puppies are done flirting with each other?” Lyra spoke up dryly from where she stood.

Fiona snorted. She normally would have been far crueler to someone falling over himself like Cedrik, but it was too much. It would have been like kicking a puppy. That was the only reason! "I'm good, sir," she said simply.

Cedrik flushed a tomato red and he felt his mouth go dry. "I'm ready, sir."

"Good." Lyra replied and around them the program shifted and they were standing on a platform seemingly in a void. Around the perimeter of the platform there were various classes of rifles. Lyra moved to pick up one of their standard pulse rifles and handed it off to Cedrik then picked up one for herself. "Alright, Private. Let's see what you can do. You have thirty seconds to land as many hits on the target as you can. It will shoot back but it won't hurt you - this time."

"Alright..." Cedrik replied, a little confused by the last bit of what Lyra had said. He checked his rifle and then brought it up, giving a nod. "Ready, sir."

Lyra activated the program, and a drone whipped up into the air, spinning and opening up; at the center was a red glow. Cedrik took the first shot and hit it dead on, and it spun away and sent a red laser toward Cedrik. He fired again, but the laser distracted him and he missed the shot. Recouping quickly, he fired and hit the drone which spun quickly overhead and shot him in the back. He turned and fired, the drone jerked, he missed, it flew again, he missed again. He took a deep breath to center himself and hit. For the next thirty seconds, he did his best though he had missed more shots than he landed. The time ended and the drone disappeared.

Lyra said nothing and instead looked over to Fiona. "Your turn."

Fiona took the weapon. She took a deep breath and her face seemed to relax. She seemed almost serene. She hit the probe head on, leaping to one side as it also shot a red laser towards her. She fired again as she moved and winged it. Her expression didn't change. It swung around overhead and she spun on one foot, hitting it again dead center and dancing back. Being in the open like this, there was no real cover. Even going down wouldn't help with the drone overhead. So she just kept up her fire. Trying to keep it on the defensive. Giving it as few shots as she could. She hit it dead center most shots, though twice she only winged it. She didn't outright miss. The red laser grazed her ankle once as she pulled off a less than successful spin.

"Woah, hey!" Cedrik said and moved to catch Fiona from her bad spin, feeling like he had been about to see her fall. His strong arms went around her, steadying her and he wore a look of concern on his youthful face. "You okay?"

"I wasn't going to fall," Fiona explained, though she was smiling. "Out there, we have to have each others backs but we also have to trust each other. Running over because you see me falter a little might get us both hurt."

"If that had been real, you would have just gotten your entire foot blown off, so yes, you would have fallen down." Lyra corrected Fiona coolly and looked to Cedrik. "And you should have let her. She wasn't going to die from falling down."

"Oh... sorry then, I guess." Cedrik frowned, cowed by the two women, and let Fiona go.

Fiona bent over and touched her ankle lightly, as if examining the damage, though, with the safeties on, there was none. She nodded slowly to herself. "Yes, sir," was all she said as she stood again.

Lyra successfully restrained the sigh she was wanting to give at she looked at the younger duo in front of her. She couldn't really remember experiencing puppy love herself though she likely had, but she did have two younger brothers and she could read it all over Feng's face and Fiona was not being her usual self either. Probably because it was hard to be mean to somebody like Cedrik for most people. Her attention moved to Fiona.

"Well done as always, Winters. Feng... well, we'll try it again with you." She motioned for him to pick up the rifle. "Be steady, stay in the moment and don't try to think too far ahead."

"Yes, sir." Cedrik replied and picked up the rifle to try again. He did better this time, landing slightly more shots than he missed.

"Good." Lyra praised and then looked over to Fiona. "Any advice you'd offer young Private Feng here, Winters?" She prompted the young woman. Of course there was likely very little advice she could give that Lyra couldn't give herself, but that wasn't the point. She wanted to see what Fiona would say.

"The best thing you can do is clear your mind and don't overthink. Don't underthink either, but that's not the problem most people have, in my experience. You need good habits, good reactions, good instincts, good situational awareness, built by endless practice, until it all comes natural." She paused as if wondering if she should say more. "I also do meditation and other mental exercises to help me keep my mind sharp and clear. There's a lot from various warrior cultures in ancient Terra that I've found useful and they're part of our heritage."

Cedrik listened to Fiona, seeming to follow along though he did admittedly get a bit lost in the middle as he was paying attention to her lips moving, not necessarily the words. He snapped back to attention when she mentioned meditation and gave her a smile. "Meditation comes easily to me. My family had at least thirty minutes of meditation together daily. It helps instill discipline in my younger siblings."

"That's good," Fiona agreed, smiling gently at him. "The trick is keeping that clarity of mind while reacting to things in the world. It can be hard to carry over for some people."

Lyra watched the exchange. The puppy had turned Fiona into a kitten; a slightly amused smirk tugged at her lips, but she restrained it. “Wonderful. Now then, Winters, would you like to try another round at a higher difficulty, or should we focus our efforts on dear Private Feng here?”

Cedrik blinked at the comment and flushed slightly. “Um…”

"I'd like another go," Fiona said. "That last one wasn't my best. Then we can focus on Private Feng." She smiled at him.

"Not your best, perhaps, but good enough to move to a higher difficulty." Lyra noted and moved to the console to start up a more difficult program with an additional drone and both would have more erratic movements. "You know the drill; shoot only when the light in the drone turns green."

Fiona readied herself. Although the exercise was harder, she actually performed a bit better. She let go of any self-consciousness she had in front of her department chief or the cute private and did the only thing you could do in a firefight without the opportunity to seek cover. She kept on the enemy relentlessly to keep them off of her even as she weaved and danced to make herself a worse target. It wasn't perfect. Perfect scores were rare for anyone. There was another shot that winged the target rather than hitting it dead on. But she wasn't hit.

“Don’t plant your feet, keep moving.” Lyra advised from where she stood watching with at least marginally more than passive interest. She did quickly glance over to Cedrik who was standing there in awe and smirked slightly.

Fiona didn't waste breath on a verbal response. Not in the middle of the exercise. But she moved smoothly to the side at Lyra's words and landed another hit. She smiled to her and to Cedrik when the exercise ended. "Thank you, sir."

Lyra looked to the console beside her with an unreadable expression and then back up to Fiona. "You're steadily improving little by little, Winters. Keep at it." She nodded toward the younger woman. "Done for today though, I did promise Cedrik a bit of my undivided attention. Computer, arch." That and she was pretty sure having a pretty girl his own age standing there watching would give him performance anxiety. "Out you go."

"Yes, sir," Fiona said. She gave Cedrik a last look. He was cute in a puppy dog sort of way. But she foolishly assumed there'd be plenty of time for that later. She stepped into the corridor.

Both Cedrik and Lyra watched Fiona go for very different reasons. Cedrik was a little sad, but he quickly snapped out of that when he heard Lyra call to him and it was replaced with a sinking sense of dread in its wake.

"Now then, Private... your turn."

END