You call this R&R?

Posted on Fri 11th Dec, 2020 @ 4:21am by Lieutenant Commander Andrew Eberstark & Ensign Joshua Schwartz

930 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Denouement
Location: Deck 44 - Holodeck 7
Timeline: MD-5 - 0100 Hrs

As the disruptor blast blazed towards him, Josh barely had time to duck to avoid it as he found cover behind what now felt like a very small rock. In reality, it hid his body just enough while crouched to provide temporary safety. Double checking the setting of the phaser that was shaking in his hand, he looked over to his left to locate his partner. Still unable to find him, Josh contorted his body to glance slightly above the rock at his attackers. Another blast rocketed towards him and impacted on the rock. Paralyzed for a moment, he regathered himself and realized there were only two enemies remaining.

Letting out a breath, he surmised that his partner was already incapacitated and that he would have to deal with these two on his own. He counted to three out loud, focused on where he briefly saw his targets, aimed his phaser in the general direction of the attackers and fired. He heard the blast impact a tree but close enough to one of the enemies that they shouted and stopped their advancement.

Readying himself for another shot, he heard the sound of a phaser to his left rip through the air. He didn't see where it landed, but heard the surprised grunt of one of his attackers as they staggered back and fell to the ground. Spinning around again, Josh saw a figure emerge from behind a cluster of trees and charge towards the remaining attacker. As both readied themselves for the confrontation, Josh rose from his position and decided on a simpler solution.

The orange blast landed slightly off from Josh's expectation but still impacted on the shoulder of their adversary. The Romulan let out a grunt and collapsed in a heap as Josh's superior office, Andrew Eberstark, stopped in his tracks.

Andrew looked at the body in front of him and frowned, "Well that was anticlimactic. Why did you do that for, Josh?"

Looking slightly stunned, Josh strode up beside him, "Sir, isn't the point of this whole thing to win? Just seemed easier to shoot than watch you two duke it out."

Laughing, Andrew holstered is phaser, "Fair. But you could have seen this Romulan get a few cheap shots on me. I'm sure you would have appreciated that."

Raising his hands, Josh shook his head, "No, sir. Even if they are just holograms, I would rather stun them without coming to blows. Also, where the hell did you come from and why did you let them pin me down?"

Arching an eyebrow, Andrew smiled, "I didn't let them pin you down," pointing to additional cover locations behind where Josh picked, "You had plenty of room to fall back if needed. I just needed an opening for my shot."

Replaying the events in his mind, Josh processed aloud, "So, you used me as--"

"No, I didn't," Andrew quickly answered, "I was coming back to your location as fast as I could after taking care of the Romulans near the treeline," glancing to the tree where Josh's phaser blast hit, "Besides, your shot was not far from the Romulan you were aiming for."

Josh shrugged, "Just lucky, I guess"

"Or a sign that your instincts are more trained than you give them credit for," Andrew countered, "A lot of people firing blind would have shot 10 meters over everything. Your mark was dangerously close and made them rethink their strategy."

"Yea, but they are just holograms," Josh countered.

Andrew shook his head, "Josh, you are worse than me at being able to give yourself credit. And that's saying something."

As both men gathered their breath and observed the bodies of at least 10 Romulans scattered throughout the desert landscape, Josh rubbed his forehead, "You call this relaxing?"

Shrugging, Andrew replied, "It helps blow off steam. Besides, it's a change of a pace from sparring and keeps my tactical skills sharp," pausing, "And, yes. Admittedly, it does put me at ease. I can just focus on the task at hand and not worry about anything else. What did you think? And be honest."

"I'll admit, when you invited me under the pretense of having some fun and getting away from the long work of updating the Starbase's systems all day, this was not what I had in mind," Josh answered, diplomatically.

Andrew nodded, "Point taken. But when was the last time you did one of these simulations? At the very least, you have to admit it was long overdue."

"Good point, sir. The last time was right after I transferred here so I guess I needed to refresh some old skills," adding, "But let's not dive into hand to hand combat tonight if you don't mind, sir."

Leaning against a tree, Andrew nodded, "You got it. It's getting late anyway, even for us night owls," raising his voice he called, "Computer, save program and clear."

The computer acknowledged with a chirp and removing the landscape and associated holograms, leaving the familiar grid of the holodeck around them.

As they made for the exit, Josh asked, "So, you do this to relax and unwind? How do you go to sleep right afterwards then? I mean, when you do this as late as we are tonight."

The holodeck doors hissed open as Andrew smiled, "Sometimes I don't. And on special occasions, I make a pit stop at Orchids for a drink. Care to join?," adding, "It's not an order before you ask."

Josh shrugged again while walking down the corridor, "My adrenaline is pretty high at the moment. Sounds good to me, sir."

 

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