Lt Alex Storm - Peace on Earth, Good Aim to All
Karen Morris
(( Holodeck 1 - Deck 2 - USS Artemis-A ))
Alex stood in front of the pedestal. She bounced once on the balls of her feet, and pressed her mouth into a line, but her right dimple still showed, and her eyes sparkled. As the two stepped in, she strode three steps forward to meet them.
Storm: Are you excited, nervous, terrified? Or the very popular all of the above?
Imril: ::Smiling:: Don't forget, I asked you for this. Thank you, again, by the way.
Alex nodded.
Bancroft: ::sideways glance at Imril:: I still maintain that’s a cry for help. I just want you to know – I support you. Emotionally.
Seeing Bancroft’s double thumbs up, Alex cast him a sideways glance with a lopsided grin.
Storm: Don’t worry. I promise this won't hurt. Much.
Imril: Whatever’s about to happen, I expect we’ve all seen worse recently.
Bancroft: ::mock-somber:: You mean the part where I threw my phaser at a giant alien spider because someone ::glancing meaningfully at Storm:: clearly told me phasers didn’t work?
Roy’s threatening glance only made Alex’s smile grow. oO He reminds me of a small puppy, blue eyes and all, it’ll growl at you, jump around like its going to tackle you, and end up licking your face instead…Eww! Roy better not lick my face. Oo Now she cast him a wary side-long glance as words came flooding out of her mouth.
Storm: You’re right. I mean I was right. I mean. ::Alex took a moment to take a deep breath:: The phasers didn’t work in THAT room or against THAT spider. It doesn’t mean they were useless or would continue to be so.
Imril: ::to Storm:: I may be stepping out of bounds, Sir, as I’m not in charge of this session, but I’m curious. Knowing what you know now, on the other side of the spider fight, is there anything you would have done differently? ::to Bancroft:: Or you?
Bancroft: Me? Oh, for sure. ::beat:: I would have thrown something heavier. Like a medkit. Or Commander Silveira.
Alex raised a dark eyebrow at the doctor. She knew that outside of sickbay, he was a little off-kilter at the best of times, but this… this was taking that to a whole other level.
Bancroft: Aerodynamically speaking, he’s surprisingly viable. Long limbs. Low center of gravity. Would’ve made a beautiful arc.
Storm: It’s probably good that you didn’t. I doubt you’d be sporting that second half-pip if you did.
Imril: I wish I could have actually got a shot on the weak-spot I created. But I just couldn’t keep up with that thing’s leg. How fast it was moving. I was trained to shoot for center of mass, and that wasn’t.
Storm: ::To Imril:: Hindsight is always 20/20, but I’ve wondered if we could have dislodged a part of the ceiling on the spider or perhaps found a way to collapse a wall overtop of it. But either of those would have been tricky. ::She held up both hands and as one went up the other went down.::
Bancroft: So, Al-Lieutenant Storm, I know this is theoretically just phaser re-quals, but if there’s time, I wouldn’t mind brushing up on hand-to-hand as well. Y’know, ‘sweep the leg’ and all that.
Alex’s hands started on their way back to her side and paused at waist level. Alex’s head swung very slowly in Bancroft’s direction.
Bancroft: ::leaning slightly towards Storm, mock-proud:: I’ve been told I have a very sweepable leg. ::beat:: It’s the left one. ::whispering:: Tell no one.
Alex’s eyes went unusually wide and she nodded in cadence with his last few words.
Storm: ::Returning the mock whisper:: Not a soul. You might be committed if I did.
Imril: Response
Bancroft: ::seriously:: Oh, I gave up on any notion of flexing years ago. This ::waving his hand in front of his face:: is all just stylish flailing at this point.
Alex turned her face away quickly to hide her near laugh. It was a good thing she wasn’t drinking at that moment. After a five count, she turned her head back around looking completely composed.
Storm: Let’s just hope that’s all that flailing by the end of the phaser quals.
Imril: Response
Bancroft: ::sighing theatrically:: Alright fine. Let it be a cautionary tale, then. Still – ::gesturing around them:: We’re here. We’re learning… things. We’re growing as officers. I see this as an absolute win.
Alex stopped for a moment and looked between Imril and Bancroft. She held Roy’s gaze for several beats, then holding up a finger as to say, “just a moment,” to Imril and mouthing the words “I’m sorry,” she touched Roy’s elbow and nodded to the side of the room. She walked over and waited for Bancroft to join her.
Storm: ::Her voice low:: Roy, I was playing with you earlier when I said this won’t hurt much. ::Bouncing her head back and forth:: I can sense you’re nervous. Relax. You’re going to do fine. Okay?
Alex gave him a soft smile and his arm a gentle squeeze. She mouthed the words, ‘you’ve got this’ before she walked back over toward Imril.
Imril/Bancroft: Response
Storm: Let’s get this underway. Computer: Set up two targets on the far wall, both equidistant from each other and the sides. Give me a firing line on the ground at seven meters.
Two sets of ‘targets’ in the general shape of a person’s torso appeared on the wall and a line appeared on the floor just in front of the pedestal.
Storm: Why don’t you each grab a phaser and stand on the line, but don’t fire. Let me see how you aim first.
Imril/Bancroft: Response
Alex started with Imril. She walked over and stood behind them, checking their stance. Alex put gentle pressure on the middle of their back and pulled one of their shoulders back.
Storm: That will give you more stability.
Walking around them and standing in front, she said …
Storm: Keep your feet shoulder-width apart and just barely bend your knees.
Alex took one more turn around him, nodding.
Storm: ::To Imril:: That’s good. Go ahead and relax for a moment. ::Turning to Bancroft::
Okay. Let’s see your stance, ::Her eyes softened the next word:: Lieutenant.
She stood off to the side and studied him for a moment. He was tall and lanky, but yet there was something … understated about him and the way that he stood. Storm circled back around in front of him. She tilted her head, taking her time. Then she approached him. One hand wrapped around the underside of both of his hands which had gripped his phaser. With her other hand, she grasped his right arm and adjusted his elbow down an inch.
Storm: You’re not a lumberjack. Keep your elbows bent slightly. You’ll have better control.
Imril/Bancroft: Response
Storm: Let’s see what you both have.
Imril/Bancroft: Response
~*~
Tags / TBC
~*~
Lt Alex Storm
Tactical Officer
USS Artemis
O240103SK2