Head of Civil Ops

Posted on Wed May 15th, 2024 @ 6:24am by Ensign Wrenleigh Reed

1,789 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: What We Do With Second Chances
Location: Holographic Phaser Range, Deck 17
Timeline: MD09, 1930 HRS

Nevan had already found some of the additional stress in considering his new role to be a bit more than initially anticipated. The thoughts of stacks of duty rosters to review from each of the department NCOIC's flooded his mind. To help distract him, he decided to focus on his tactical training at the moment. On top of all that, he also didn't like the fact that Grexx and Cormus were off ship and if something happened there was nothing he could do to help them.

He laid there on top of a raised platform, off in the distance a series of far away targets each barely visible to the naked eye. In his hands he did his best to stabilize a TR-119 MK XIII sniper rifle that rested on a couple of sand bags in front. The spotter, a hologram, called out a distance and windage, as well as crosswind speed and direction. The Betazoid took a breath and as he released it, squeezed the trigger, sending a round towards the intended target.

A series of moments went by before the impact was heard.

"Hit.....low."

"Damnit." Nevan replied, lifting his head from the scope and looking down range as if it would help him see the target better.

"You have wounded the hostage also, with spore from the round." The hologram added. A male Klingon in a green camouflage uniform.

"I know I know. Shut up for now." Before the man stood up, he locked the bolt of his rifle to the rear and placed it on safe before removing the magazine. He wore a camouflage uniform of his own, a desert pattern, and walked over to take a drink of water from his canteen. If he was going to be an effective leader he was going to have to be proficient in the same weapon system that he expected Grexx and Cormus to employ as well. In the back of his mind he knew Grexx would've made that same shot as well.

Meanwhile, on another deck, Wrenleigh had managed to locate where Nevan was and she found it odd that he would be on the phaser range of all places, but it also didn't surprise her that he would want to keep up his skills either way.

Checking to see if there were any locks on the range to keep people out when it was in use, she found it unlocked and walked in just before the shot went off. Even though she had next to no experience with weapons, aside from her basic phaser training, Wren had brothers who had taught her not to sneak up on people that were holding loaded weapons, so she stood there in silence and winced when the shot did go off.

"I think you need to aim a little higher there next time," She called out cautiously.

He set down his canteen and let out a sigh before looking up and over at the woman. "Much easier said than done with a projectile weapon over 1400 meters. Although Grexx would've nailed the bulls eye within 3 centimeters. The kid is something else."

He walked over and extended his hand "I'm sorry, it's been a long day. Officer Kayto, head of Civil Ops. Did you come down here to shoot as well, Ensign....?"

"Reed. Wrenleigh Reed. Nice to meet you, I've heard a lot." Wren said formally as she shook his hand, "But please, call me Wren. And to be honest, I'm not really that much of a shot, I leave that one to my brothers." She laughed and added, "I'll be sure to keep upwind of Grexx then if he's a freak with shooting."

"As you wish, Wren. Grexx was a medic before, although I'm not sure if it's a result of his calm nerves or all the time he spent supporting the marines during that time. Either way I'm glad he's on our side. Although you may be wondering why Civil Ops needs to be employing such a weapons platform as it is. It's definitely a solid piece of technology though, in the right hands." He motioned over to a nearby bench for them to take a seat as the Klingon got up and moved to set the range to a cold status for the time being.

"I actually hadn't considered anything like that, truth be told," Wren admitted as she took to the bench with Kayto. "I did, however come down here to meet who I would be working with in the Diplomatic and Civilian Operations departments, and you came highly recommended. I know we've only just met, so I'm not going to pepper you all the questions, but give it time and I will."

She laughed and then thought for a moment, her instincts telling her this was going to be a bad idea, "I'm only assuming here, but am I right to say you enjoy shooting? Do you think you'd be able to teach me a thing or two about it?"

"Enjoy? Perhaps. But teach you? That I can do. In Civil Ops everyone 1st class and above is required be hold weapons instructions certifications at one field or another. Mine actually happens to be a in a couple of platforms, including that blasted thing. But it's probably best we stick to standard phaser rifles and movement drills for the time being." Nevan always did enjoy teaching others, but he also knew the more he taught, the more responsibility he imparted as well.

Wren nodded her understanding, "As a Diplomat, I don't usually carry weapons, but with the way things are going at the moment, who knows, it skills like you've got might come in handy." Then she stood up and moved up towards the range. "I'll admit now that there also may be an ulterior motive for me seeking you out too, while you show me how to shoot properly."

"Understandable but you are still a star fleet officer. Having at least a hand phaser is your best option. I understand at times we enter into meetings or situations where we have to dress down and enter with nothing, which in that case knowing some sort of hand to hand combat is always advantageous. But that's something I can admit I am not very knowledgeable in, so I do my best to keep threats at a distance as much as possible. If you like we can change this to a standard rile range, and what's this ulterior motive you speak of?" Nevan asked. A control panel appeared on the nearby wall as he went over and adjusted the specifications, changing everything around them to an indoor style phaser range with a series of phaser rifles along the wall and targets out to 400 meters.

"I'm happy to keep this range as it is, Mr Kayto, what better way to learn?" Wren smiled and took up one of the phaser rifles, noting the weight of it and how weird it felt to hold it. "While I'm not exactly against conflict, I prefer the use of words more, and I did take the basic hand-to-hand combat course in the Academy, but I'll admit that I only just passed that."

She lowered the weapon onto the weapons rack and then took a step back to look at Kayto, "The ulterior motive is this: I've just come from a meeting with Captain Johansen and she informed me that if I wanted to know any information about the Atarans, that you would be one of the ones to come and see, seeing as you've been working closely with them. I was just wondering what it is you know and what you can tell me." Wren then picked up the rifle again, "And plus, it would help to know the as much information as possible so I can help you out with them too."

"Well truth be told there are probably better ways to get to know the situation, reports, first hand accounts with some of the medical staff. But I'd be happy to work with you directly, if you like you are welcome to join my team for the mission, we do need help. Right now I've got Grexx and Cormus on the Serenity so I'm solo at the moment. They sent me an odd message and I've been trying to comb through previous reports to find some clues but have come up empty so far. We think they are hiding something big but we aren't quite sure what. If you like I can give you a synopsis of everything. Have you eaten dinner yet by chance?" One thing that the Betazoid had learned early on as a child is that it was always best to intertwine business with meals. People were much more receptive and engaged when they had food and drink in front of them. It was his preferred way of conducting his work as a diplomat.

Wren nodded her understanding, "Have you been able to get in touch with I think it is, Lieutenant Cyn, about the message you received from them, or is Grexx and Cormus being on the Serenity more of a need to know basis?" She then shook her head at the second part of the information he just gave her, "Unfortunately, I haven't had dinner yet. For some reason, I haven't been overly hungry over the past couple of days, which is really weird. But if you're asking me to dinner, I'll gladly accept and come with you."

"I haven't reached back out due to the sensitivity of the message I received from them, I'm worried the Atarans intercepting my response. So for the time being I've maintained radio silence to reduce the risk to them and the rest of the team on board. Considering the way they sent me the message was in a covert fashion I provided them, I'm confident there's a high threat concern. Why don't we go to the NCO mess and I'll bring you up to speed? My treat." Nevan was looking forward to taking a break and getting something to eat as well.

"Yep, I'm keen for that." Wren smiled and allowed him to lead the way out. "Maybe at a later stage, we could arrange some time where you could get me more up to speed on shooting too, if you would be happy to do that?"

"Absolutely, you are always more than welcome to participate in the training my team and I conduct. I'll make sure that you get the training schedule and join us when you can." Walking over Nevan brought up the control panel once more and exited the program, causing the doors to open and motioning to the exit. "After you, Wren."

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