Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Tutoring Session

Posted by Commander Roman Alden (First Officer & Chief Science Officer) in side - sim: Tutoring Session

Posted by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman First Class) in side - sim: Tutoring Session
Posted by… suppressed (5) by the Post Ghost! 👻

(Snip)
Roman shrugged. “They assume yeoman won’t be needing combat instruction. But I’m not letting you go until you’re hitting the targets with some amount of accuracy.” He looked at the phaser and then sighed. “That sounds abysmal. There’s a lot more to it than pointing and shooting. At least, if you want to hit anything with it.”

~ Roman

“I think the point was that we didn’t shoot ourselves if asked to retrieve one.” There wasn’t anything she could do about the lack of previous instruction, she also didn’t want to waste time worrying it to death. “What’s first?”

Rand

“Your grip, so you don’t shoot yourself or anyone else you don’t mean to,” Roman said, and then he showed her how best to hold the phaser, after explaining the settings and the safety, and to remember which one it was set to. “That way you can keep control of it. Your aim should be better as well. I’ll show you how to aim it next.” He said as he watched her.

~ Roman

Rand adjusted her grip on it, it reminded her of old cowboy movies. She stopped herself from asking Roman if he was going to meet her at high noon in the street. Those were the fleeting thoughts that skipped through her head all the time.

It was immediately an improvement to how steady it felt in her hand. She adjusted the settings up, down and took the safety off and back on again.

Rand

Roman smiled at her grip, he could tell it felt better that way. He moved on to showing her how to aim and shoot, the specifics of aiming rather than just shooting where she looked. He showed her himself before letting her try.

~ Roman

Rand watched, her gaze intent roving over him from head to toe. There was nothing amorous about her gaze though. She was studying his stance, his grip, the direction of his gaze and how he adjusted his grip and aim. Given long enough she would be able to mimic him exactly. That wouldn’t guarantee her own accuracy though. When he was done Rand took his place and took a couple shots. It wasn’t bad really, but she was so nervous over the next day her nerves were jumpy and making her aim off.

Rand

Roman watched. She was copying what he was doing nearly exactly but her aim was still off. He demonstrated for her once again, giving her a few more tips. “Your nerves will only make your shots worse, especially if you rush. Take a breath and relax yourself.” He said.

~ Roman

“I’m trying.” It wasn’t an excuse but more an acknowledgement. She knew he was right. She set the phaser down, not out of frustration but purpose. She closed her eyes and imagined it, let the scene play out in her head: the stance, the sim, the mental.head space, the target, the phaser, the lights, the dimensions of the room, the furniture. She rubbed her arms down to her hands. She wasn’t twisting or wringing them, but attempting to calm the jittery feeling.

Then with a d slow deep breath, Rand opened her eyes, picked up the phaser. She adjusted her grip and stance and then aimed, and fired. It wasn’t great, but it was better, at least she was steadier that time. The nerves were still there but the shakiness had eased. That made it easier to adjust her aim and make progress.

Rand

Roman waited patiently while she calmed herself, picked up the phaser again, and then fired. It still wasn’t great but there was hope. It was getting better, and quickly. Then again, she’d always been a fast learner. He smiled. “Better.” He gave her a few other tips he thought would help and then said, “Now we just need to get some practice time in. Nothing will help more than just doing it over and over. Till you don’t have to think so hard about it.”

~ Roman

Rand knew that, practice was the only thing for it. This wasn’t like learning lines though, that came too easily almost. Remembering the lines, but it took practice to get the tone and inflection right. The body language and the meaning behind the words. Again these thoughts flitted across her mind, not disrupting her focus, just there, but they were also calming. This was a performance for an audience like any other. She’d had less notice for the performance when she played Marion when she was 8. So this should be easy. As that thought occurred to her, her confidence shifted a little and it made a huge impact on how she was doing.

Rand listened to everything Roman told her. Some helped, others she understood what he was saying but she didn’t implement it well. It might have been a matter of experience, or height, or unfamiliarity with the phaser. She practiced, with single minded determination, until Roman decided they’d done enough. If left up to Rand she’d practice all night to avoid embarrassing herself the next morning.

Rand

Roman practiced with her for several hours before deciding they’d done enough. She’d improved a lot, he was sure she’d not be making any sort of fool of herself tomorrow. He could tell when her confidence changed, her shooting quickly improved when it did. He tried to help her better implement the tips that she didn’t quite seem to be getting right, but some of them simply came with practice.

~ Roman