Certifying You the Right Way
Posted on Thu Feb 20th, 2025 @ 9:37pm by Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet & Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Bluegarden
1,914 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission: Season 1, Episode 2: War, Peace, And All That Jazz
Now that Rebecca was settling into her role as Chief of Security, one of her first tasks was to sort out the sheer mess that Miss Chernobyl had left in her wake. And with the sketchy paperwork that had been left behind, Rebecca certainly felt like she had been tasked with cleaning up radioactive dust.
One thing that stood out in particular to Rebecca was the way her predecessor needlessly put lives at risk for "live fire certification," as Chernobyl referred to it as. Safe to say, Rebecca was mortified, and decided that the only way to correct this was to recertify everyone who had been previously certified under Chernobyl, and this time, do it correctly.
Rebecca figured that if she started with senior officers, the junior officers may be more inclined to follow suit. And while Commander Vincent might be a little more tricky to recertify, especially given her busy schedule, Rebecca would likely have more luck recertifying the person next in line of command after her.
The summons had perhaps been a bit confusing, Damien thought while reading it, but easy enough to answer. The former security chief was gone, as was the former First Officer. A new person was filling both roles. Something had apparently gone wrong with his phaser certification. Easy enough to fix. “You asked to see me, Commander?” he said just inside the armoury. “Welcome aboard, by the way. Sorry for missing your arrival.”
"Thank you, Commander:" Rebecca nodded. "Anyhow, I wanted to discuss your phaser certification under Commander Chernobyl: It's my understanding that she used real security personnel to shoot at you for your phaser certification?"
He nodded. “I found it odd, but went with it. She was…well she was scary.”
"Well, it don't matter what Chernobyl was like;" Rebecca responded. Having received no correction on her predecessor's name, she was going to use that pronunciation for her going forward. "What she did was flat out stupid and dangerous; and I can't in good conscience let certifications that were conducted in that manner stand: As such, as the new Chief of Security, I will be revoking all certifications that Commander Chernobyl conducted in that manner, which I'm willing to bet is all of the ones that she did."
“I can confirm that,” Damien said, having seen the paperwork. “So how do you want to proceed? The firing range?”
"You're one step ahead of me there, Frenchy." Rebecca responded, standing up from her desk. "Ya know, if we'd crossed paths earlier in life, you might have made a good crew chief or spotter... Or maybe somebody to give the ol' Fabulous Hudson Hornet a run for her money."
He laughed a bit at that but also had to cock his head. “I’m sorry but despite learning English from a young age I think I missed most of that. What is a Fabulous Hudson Hornet?”
"Ever heard of stock car racing?" Rebecca countered with a question of her own.
“Of course!” Damien answered, excitedly. “It’s not a sport I’ve ever followed but I know of it. It’s not as popular in France as other kinds of racing.” Maybe he would need to find a book on the topic.
"Well, in my neck of the woods, down in the swamps of Florida, it's quite popular:" Rebecca explained as the two of them walked. "That's where the Fabulous Hudson Hornet got its fame: Back in the mid 20th century, the Fabulous Hudson Hornet was one of the first stock cars in the sport to receive direct factory support. Of course, here and now, we ain't got that, and running the Fabulous Hudson Hornet is more a tribute than anything else. Perhaps one of the best pilots of the Fabulous Hudson Hornet in recent times was my mama; Lucy Bluegarden."
"That's a name I have heard," Damien admitted as they walked. "One of the best pilots of her generation, if I remember right."
"Oh, certainly: My bias as her daughter notwithstanding, some of the stuff she did behind the wheel could be considered insane: One time her windshield wipers broke, so she sat herself up on the window sill of the door, half out of the car, and cleaned her windshield off while the car was moving!" Rebecca chuckled. "You know, if you ever want to hear more about her story, I'd be happy to show you around the Bluegarden Racing Museum."
"I'd like that," he agreed. He was always happy to visit and learn new things.
Around this time, they arrived at the small arms lockers near the firing range. However, rather than open them, Rebecca turned to face Damien:
"Now, before I open these up, let me ask you something: What is the safe and proper way to store a phaser?" She asked.
Damien thought back to his lessons on the matter. The practice was one thing, but repeating the theory back was a bit trickier.
"Power level dialed to the lowest setting," he began, "power pack detached and stored separately, safety on, and pointed toward the wall. Did I miss anything?"
"And do you leave them just sitting out in the open?" Rebecca asked. It was a trick question, but it was usually easy enough to jog the memory of someone forgetting the proper containers to store firearms in.
Damien sighed, having forgotten something rather critical. Or maybe thinking that it was implied. Either way. "In the armory," he added. "In the secure weapons locker, under the supervision of a trained armory officer, with phaser and power cell each in its proper space. With all material signed in exactly as had been signed out."
"Or, if it's a personal firearm; in an approved firearm storage container." Rebecca added. It was important that awareness was raised on this alternative. "Placed in a discreet location, of course. Someplace where minors aren't likely to stumble across it."
Having said her additional piece, Rebecca proceeded to unlock the small arms lockers, and the choice of different phasers they held within, ranging from pistols to rifles.
"Not many minors visiting crew quarters, but point taken," Damien said. Presented with the offering of weapons for his trial, he selected a simple Type II phaser, the one he'd be likeliest to use on an away mission. He went through his safety check before inserting the power cell and then checking it all again. The phaser was in hand but aimed down and with the safety on. "Where to, Commander?"
"Just gimme one second to secure these, and we'll be on our way:" Rebecca said, taking a moment to lock up the small arms lockers.
"Right, this way, please:" Rebecca proceeded to lead Damien to the firing range.
Once inside the firing range, Rebecca approached a control panel on the wall, setting the firing distances of each of the three lanes to a different value, checking the wires overhead as the clips used to mount the targets retracted to the full in position in preparation to be loaded.
Once the lanes were ready to receive the targets, Rebecca walked over to a smaller locker which contained the target sheets, containing humanoid torso shapes as a bullseye.
"Now, these things are made with the assumption that you're looking to use deadly force:" Rebecca explained, motioning to the target sheet with her free hand. "But before we get started acting under the assumption that use of deadly force has been authorized, let me ask you something: Where do you shoot a fleeing suspect that you have been given explicit orders to bring in alive?"
He quickly checked something on his phaser and answered. "You don't mess around with trick shots. Stun setting in the centre of mass. Stun exists for a reason. A shot aimed at the legs to trip them up, regardless of setting, is likelier to miss. Take no unnecessary chances with a stun shot to the torso."
Rebecca perked a brow.
"Interesting..." She nodded. Evidently, Rebecca had been taught something else, given how she wasn't expecting that response.
Rebecca then proceeded to clip each of the targets in before returning to the wall panel to set them off to the previously set distances. Each target stopping at a different distance.
"Alright, now's the fun part:" She said, motioning to the targets. "In each of the three lanes there's a target, but each one is a different distance from you: Starting out easy and getting harder, the distances to each target are 15 meters, 30 meters, and 45 meters." Rebecca indicated each target when stating its distance. "I'm sure it's pretty self-explanatory from here, so show me how it's done:"
As instructed, he raised his phaser, two handed, looked down the sight, and fired, once in each lane (lowering his phaser safely as he moved from one to the next). The closest shot was direct centre of mass, and he got a bit further out with each subsequent shot but overall stayed in the target zone. "When the target is still, there isn't much too it," he observed.
"Yeah, unfortunately static targets ain't a substitute for the real thing, but I ain't crazy like Chernobyl, so this will have to do." Rebecca explained as she recalled the targets. "You kinda went further to the left with each subsequent shot, but you still hit the target area, so I'll give you a pass."
Rebecca set aside the targets to be disposed of.
"Right, then. I'd say the results of today's outing were satisfactory enough for me to go ahead and recertify you." She said. "Do you have any more questions for me?"
"Two," he said as he powered down the device and readied it for a return to the locker. "First, do you have any advice on fixing my drift to the left?"
"Well, unfortunately, with the switch from projectile weapons to particle weapons, some genius thought it was a good idea to get rid of conventional gun sights on phaser pistols." Rebecca explained as she retrieved a fresh target for demonstration. "But, a little trick I've learned is to use the intensity setting equipment as makeshift sights. It ain't perfect, especially since the locations of these 'sights' are bass ackwards from conventional wisdom, but if you can get past the wonky nature of having your 'front sight' behind your 'rear sights', you can actually land some pretty accurate shots."
For a demonstration, Rebecca took the phaser that Damien had used, lined up her shot on the bullseye, and fired. The phaser beam travelling directly where Rebecca had aimed.
Damien nodded. It was a good tip. He would try it next time he came to practice, which would be soon. “Second question. My next meeting isn’t for half an hour. Care to have coffee together in the mess? We’ll be working closely together and it might help to know a bit more about each other than ‘daughter of the best racer of a generation’ and ‘Frenchy who leans to the left’.”
"As a matter of fact," Rebecca responded. "I'd had some questions of my own I'd wanted to ask you, as I'm a new face here on the station. So, to that end, I will 100 percent take you up on your offer."
"Then let's go," Damien said with a smile. "After first securing our sidearms safely, of course," he added with a wink.
END
Lieutenant Commander Rebecca Bluegarden
First Officer / Chief of Security
Lieutenant Commander Damien Maillet
Second Officer / Chief Communications Officer
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