A Ranged Option

Posted on Sun Mar 24th, 2024 @ 5:05am by Lieutenant Alexis Ryan & Lieutenant Commander Savin

Mission: The Trojan Horse
Location: Holodeck
2271 words - 4.5 OF Standard Post Measure

Sword in hand, Savin was ready for his work out, sure he had reserved some holodeck time. It was safer to use the holodeck with his actual sword than practice with a replica in the gym. With his prowess, if he was focused on his routine, he could still do serious damage to a careless spectator.

When the door opened, however, he was met with an actively running program and was barely missed by an arrow which zoomed by. He quickly stepped aside now that he spotted several targets. "Hello!" He called out, "please show yourself." Which was simply a practical request as he'd never pick up a vocal reply.

Ordinarily, on the holodeck with safeties firmly in place, Alexis didn't need to curb her exasperation. It wasn't as easy these days to set aside time to practice, just as it wasn't particularly smooth sailing to find a time where her eyes weren't already struggling from a day staring at console screens, but if there was something to be said for doing it this way rather than an actual range, it was that she could let loose a wildly off-target shot whilst her eyes were closed, just to release some frustration. It was unproductive, of course, and didn't necessarily make her feel better but it was more honest than she tended to expose herself to in view of others.

It wasn't usually the case that such rare lapses in composure nearly resulted in skewered colleagues, however.

She lowered her arms immediately and, with it, the weapon they held, which dangled from one hand as she reached up to slide her visor out of the way. The program didn't run a huge area, and the combined efforts of both parties to move towards each other meant it was only a matter of seconds before Alex recognise who had stumbled into her training session.

"Counselor." Recalling his impairment a fraction later, the Science Chief made her way over. "Are you all right?"

"I am undamaged," he reported, "I apologize for intruding, I was under the impression I had reserved time correctly. As it seems, I did not." He nodded towards her choice of weapon. "Looks like we both favour archaic means of combat," he noted as he raised his blue-bladed sword a fraction.

"I was just finishing." In truth, Alexis had realised she'd probably lost track of the time, which wasn't like her. It heaped a portion of extra annoyance on top of the pile she'd already amassed at her unresolved distraction of late, which was likely just the result of interrupted sleep but no less irritating despite an easy explanation. Grateful for the diversion, she considered the weapon in Savin's hands and offered a faint half-smile. "Range versus melee. Puts us well on the way to an effective team composition."

"You do not need to finish," Savin offered, "I am certain we can share the holodeck, if you still have ah...targets to conquer. Does it take much practice, to even get close to hitting a target?" It was as close as he would get to indirectly asking her to show him how to do it.

"Like most things that require any precision," Ryan confirmed without being more specific. It took her a moment's hesitation to follow through with the implied invitation, which normally wouldn't have been all that objectionable but required her to dig a little deeper to push past her previous frustration with her own short-comings. "We can always conjure you up a beginner's bow if you're interested in trying."

"I would," Savin confirmed, "if you are willing to instruct me?" He put his sword safely away and followed her further into the program. "You mentioned a beginner's bow, is there a difference?"

"Generally speaking, yes." Walking back to where the case for her equipment rested beside the markers that defined the range, Alex slung the heavy compound bow onto its stand and paused a moment before calling up a much more slimline, traditional-looking rig. "I'm going to suggest you start with a recurve, it'll be a little more forgiving. Do you have any target shooting experience?" He was, after all, a high ranking Starfleet officer, there would have been some mandatory weapons training but Alex didn't know the man well enough to judge whether he took it outside the obligatory. The fact he showed up to his leisure time with a sword suggested not.

"I am sufficiently proficient with a phaser," Savin supplied, arching an eyebrow at her. "Medical personnel, as far as I am aware, is not excused from phaser certification." He took to bow from her and tested it's weight, holding it with his right hand and using his left to draw the string back. "This seems...easy enough?" He winced visibly as he released the string and it snapped painfully along his forearm.

A ghost of a smile twitched and then was promptly smothered. "Shooting with bow and arrow is not particularly difficult. However, shooting with intention and accuracy, over distance, with varying conditions and potential obstacles is another matter entirely. Computer, load Recurve Tutorial 1."

The deviation saw Ryan step back just a little as a holographic figure shimmied into view. Whoever had coded it had not gone to great lengths to provide it with much of a unique appearance, nor did it seem to have a particularly wide range of autonomous behaviours. Staring ahead, it seemed fortunate that it occasionally broke its stare with a slow blink.

"I can give you access to this program if you like, I designed it to teach my nephew who has very little patience for waiting on explanation. Computer, start tutorial."

"Step 1." The hologram's tone, whilst pleasant, was instantly devoid of any personality. "Assume the appropriate stance by..."

"Computer, mute audio."

The wince on Ryan's face suggested it was no sacrifice whatsoever to make do without the one aspect of the training program that the Counselor wouldn't be able to engage with. She gestured, however, to the way the hologram was standing. "So, classic starter's stance. You want to imagine a line that connects the back of your heel to your armpit."

"I would appreciate that," the counselor acknowledged the offer, "though I would imagine to have more patience. I am probably better served with an actual instructor as I cannot sense a hologram." He shifted to follow her instructions. "I do wish to learn this properly, not just as a means for exercise. This is a survival skill, is it not?" He stretched out his right arm again, aligning it with his feet, moving his right foot back a little. "How do I prevent injury to my arm?" He asked, still feeling the sting from his first attempt.

"Get the stance right first," Alex persisted, entirely resistant to being rushed through instructions. Turning to adopt the positioning herself, she emphasised the turn of her back foot to indicate he needed to budge his just a little and then straightened again once she was satisfied. "Okay, next you're going to notch an arrow. Right here," she touched the point on his bow, "is where it's going to rest. At the end here," Alex flipped the arrow to show the groove beneath the fletching, "is where the bow string is going to slot into. Computer, proceed to Step 2." Beside them, now muted, the hologram went through a visual demonstration of preparing the arrow to shoot.

Watching her, and the hologram, Savin carefully reproduced the given instructions. This did seem easy enough, he reasoned as the arrow slid into place. He shifted his left foot a fraction to be a little more comfortable in his stance, turning his head towards his instructor as he waited patiently for the next step. Logic dictated he would have to draw the string back but how would he do that without losing the arrow in the process? He tested it for just a few centimeters, feeling the front of the arrow shift as the bow quivered. "How do I keep it from falling off before even releasing it?" His expression was a near mask of concentration, showing he really wanted to get this right.

"Balance and poise." There was an element of dry wit to Ryan's response, for all it wasn't far off the mark. She held up two fingers and, for a moment, the gesture lingered as a not very polite one before she curved them and demonstrated how to hook the string above and below where the arrow's groove did a decent job of clipping the string into place without gripping tight enough to make release impossible. "Your body needs to work with the weapon. If you are unsteady, tense or try to wait for the arrow to behave, you will struggle. It will settle into the place it has been designed for when your stance is correct and your movements are deliberate."

Fortunately, Savin was unaware of the suggested impoliteness of the gesture. Following her instructions, he put the arrow in place. As he pulled the string back, he shifted minutely to find a better balance, same as he would when wielding his sword or perhaps a lirpa. "Do I aim directly at the target, or do I compensate for the flight trajectory," he asked as he tested how far to draw the string back.

"Try it."

As a piece of advice, it wasn't very elaborate, but Alexis had no intention of being difficult. She did believe, however, that experience often trumped theorising, which was an odd stance for a scientist perhaps but a little less so for an ex-marine wielding a bow and arrow. She took a step back to give the Counsellor space and gestured towards the target with a hand. "See if you can hit it."

At first, Savin just aimed directly at the target just to see what happened. He still needed to get a decent feeling for equipment he wasn't used to using. The arrow did land on the target but nowhere near where he had aimed for. A next attempt, where he aimed a fraction higher, landed it a bit closer. Still, his arm trembled a little as he notched a third arrow. As a primarily left-handed person, he wasn't used to putting much strain on his right arm.

Still, he drew the string back and held it there until his aim steadied a little. He gritted his teeth as he released it and the arrow zoomed towards the target. "You still have not told me how to prevent further injury to my arm," he said quietly, drawing up his sleeve to show her a nasty bruise.

"That's because the answer to that is to hold the bow correctly, which has been demonstrated but takes a while to get used to." Moving beside him again, Alexis once again held up her arms as if to pull a bow into position. "Firstly, you want your hand as high up on the grip as possible. The webbing," she reached up to emphasise the stretch of skin between her index finger and thumb, "needs to nestle right up here against the deepest contour. Then, the placement of your elbow is key. Knuckles at 45 degrees to the riser, elbow facing outwards. If you roll your arm too much that your elbow's ground-facing, that's when you're going to whack yourself."

Nodding a her explanation, and clearly grateful for it, Savin tried again. This time, without further injury to his arm. The results did show there was nothing wrong with his hand-eye coordination, even though none had struck the bullseye. "How long did it take you to become as proficient as you are now?" He asked curiously.

It took Ryan a moment to land on a response she was happy with. "I picked it up during the war, but that was mostly a way to keep a kid occupied when going outside wasn't always much of an option. I started taking it seriously afterwards, switched to ballistic options once I joined the forces." Each divulgence was almost tactical, a casual reference as if to demonstrate willingness without making it seem like any of it needed a particular focus. "A few years solid training."

"I have a while to go then," Saving mused, " did you ever use it for the purpose of survival? Hunt for food?" It made sense to him but that didn't automatically mean she had done so. He lowered the bow as he diverted his attention to her, trying to ignore the throbbing sensation in his right arm.

The question seemed to surprise Ryan, though it took only a matter of seconds for her to realise it wasn't an unreasonable one. "No," she shook her head. "Never been in a position to even try it."

"Perhaps we could, sometime," Savin suggested, "when time and opportunity permit it, of course.” He handed the bow to her. "I would very much like to continue instructions at some time but I have duties to attend to." He gave her a small smile. "If you are willing, that is."

Not for the first time, Alexis paused in surprise. "Of course," she offered several beats later, though she'd never considered herself much of a mentor when it came to combat skills. Too many instinctual choices she couldn't quantify. "Feel free to access the tutorial as often as you'd like too."

"Thank you." He nodded to his own, priorly abandoned, sword. "Perhaps, if you would ever like to spar, you can come find me?"

After a slight hesitation, Ryan offered a faint smile. "I'll keep that in mind."