Steps To Conquer Problems
Posted on Wed Mar 13th, 2024 @ 4:18pm by Ensign Rachel Sinclair & Captain Edmund Merrick
Edited on on Wed Mar 13th, 2024 @ 5:46pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 15 - The Evil That Lies Beneath
Location: Holodeck 2 - Deck 5 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD003 1500 hrs
Edmund had been scrolling through the roster of the ship, checking to see who he'd met that were department heads. One name his eyes paused on was, Ensign Rachel Sinclair. She had stayed on the ship during the mission of freeing hostages and dealing with an encampment. She was the voice who was coordinating what was going on the planet keeping them up to date on matters dealing with that encampment. While Ja'sol was on the planet working alongside Merrick, Sinclair was on monitoring duty.
Tapping on his comm badge, "computer where is Ensign Sinclair?"
Once he found out, Edmund headed that way, to where the computer indicated. He found himself outside of one of the holosuites debating on interfering with what Rachel had going on. Finally he decided to tap on his commbadge. "Ensign Sinclair, may I enter into your current Holoprogram?"
Initially, there was no response to Edmund’s request, but after almost 5 minutes, the doors opened to reveal a program of the bridge of an Excelcior Class ship. Standing at the door, Rachel looked up at the man before her. Her hair looked like a birds nest and her eyes and cheeks were bloodshot from tears while her face held an expression that could only be described as a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.
Taking a few breaths in and out, Rachel eventually nodded, “yea come on in. I could use the break” she said before heading back into the bridge program.
Edmund followed after Rachel, having noted her tear stained face. He looked around at the scenery, then asked. "What sort of drill are you putting yourself through, Ensign? It looks like it is rather intense."
Walking back down to the Captain’s chair, Rachel flopped into it before responding to Esmund’s question, “it’s the old Kobiyashu Maru scenario, I’m using to to try and work through some issues” she said as she stared out at the view screen. Rachel knew she was kind of beating her head against a brick wall using this program, but with how she reacted to their last mission, she knew that she couldn’t be the scared little fresh faced ensign anymore. Now she had to become the hardened Starfleet officer, or at least what she saw as such. “I couldn’t think of a better program”
Edmund walked over to where the flight console was and leaned up against it half sitting half standing. "It is a tough scenario and you know this is basically a test to see how a person can do in a situation like this. It is a no win scenario. And it is a frustrating one. Heck I have a friend who avoided taking the test a few times until she was tricked into taking it. She found out that she had that capability of being in command. As for you, tell me what happened which caused you to go through this scenario."
Taking a few breaths in and out, Rachel looked over at Edmund, “it was that prison we went to on that last mission, before the assault on the Romulan facility. I froze up and had to be basically rescued by Lieutenant Ja'sol. He was understanding of course, but I don't want to be caught in that situation again." She said before she sat back in the chair, "I can't be the fresh faced ensign anymore."
"And so you are pushing yourself, to find out what you are made of. Perhaps it would actually be better to recreate that situation where you froze and then make some plans on how to address that situation, and how to overcome that. This..." Merrick looked around, "Is frustrating as it is, and a few people do freeze upon taking it. Just a point of interest, once my friend finished the scenario, she fainted." Merrick giving a rueful chuckle. "She thought she had failed."
taking a deep breath in, Rachel nodded as she slowly released it, "I thought that my first time as well. I did everything by the book, or at least what I thought the book said." she said, thinking back to her own exam. "I crossed the Romulan Neutral Zone continuously broadcasting my intentions to rescue the stranded ship. I figured that might reduce the likelihood of any nearby Romulan ships coming to investigate. My instructor made it quite clear to me why that was a terrible idea."
"Well my friend when she realized that the person whom she thought the Kobyashi Exam was for, didn't show up. She had to take over as she was his XO. She didn't do too badly, I was there when she went through it." He gave a chuckle, "It was pretty funny and also interesting to see her step out of her comfort zone, trying to flirt or seduce a Klingon Commander who was telling us to surrender. Then cut off the discourse to let him stew, then he refused her suggestion. her suggestion was having a bottle of bloodwine and perhaps negotiate a way to go help the Kobyashi out of its trouble. He said no and he once again said for us to surrender. She said one word. "NUTS" and cut off transmission afterwards. "
Edmund shook his head as he recalled that situation. " Her plan was crazy but she decided that since the Klingons were going to blow us out of the space, we'd provide a distraction in order for the Kobyashi to send out escape pods while we took on the ships that were closing in on us." he stopped his tale, and looked at Rachel. "Of course that wasn't the solution however, the instructors seemed pleased with her plan."
“I was told that I was, or rather I am, a very passive commander. I seem to prefer to react then be proactive in most situations.” Rachel explained before looking over at the blank viewscreen, “I tried to be more proactive here with these simulations, but it just didn’t feel right. Every time I took an action, I would immediately feel like I should’ve done something else. I turn left, I feel I should’ve turned right. Why am I so damned indecisive” she said as she stood up from the command chair and began to pace back and forward out of frustration.
"Rachel, I think part of it is, you are lacking some self confidence in yourself and that is causing you to second guess yourself. I actually have bouts on second guessing myself. I do overcome it." he spoke quietly, Merrick then smiled, "However there maybe a solution that could help you out. Something the commodore introduced me to back in Academy, which actually helped me gain confidence in my decision making. I don't know if you have heard of DnD but that truly helped me out, I learned some leadership skills, learned more about team work. And well I got more confident in making decisions. I could introduce you to that game, in fact I have made a holo program of doing some live action roleplaying." Merrick gave a questioning gaze at Rachel. "Would you be interested in something like that?"
Pausing for a moment, Rachel turned to face Edmund, “wait, I’m having a self image crisis here and your recommendation is to play an old earth board game? Do you really think that is the right thing to do?” She asked with a sense of disbelief. She’d only heard of DnD in passing and didn’t know much more about it then it was played on a table top with small figurines.
Edmund raised an eyebrow at her exclamation. "DnD has been proven to help people with self image difficulties. It is all a part of interactive roleplaying, and helps to build confidence in decisions a person makes as well as creates a team working ability. I know it seems rather off the wall to address a self image problem but it helps to step outside of the current mindset into something else. Makes it easier for the mind to process. If you don't want to do that could also do as I had suggested we set up a scenario for you to address what happened."
Giving a sigh, Rachel eventually gave a shrugged, “if you think it’ll help, who am I to refuse”
"We can do both." giving a bit of a chuckle. "I've got a running game DnD, that includes about three other people, just need to figure out what sort of character you'll be wanting to play. As for the other, lets set it up here, right now." raising up an eyebrow. "And we can address what happened. Believe me, it does help. I've had to do this myself, just trying to figure out what went wrong." Merrick added. "How about we schedule a time and then go from there?" And idea was also forming as to getting Ja'sol involved in this as well, might even help as well.
After a long and deep sigh, Rachel nodded, “alright, let’s set it up later. Perhaps right now the best thing for me would be a nice sonic shower and a good long sleep” she said, starting to feel tired as the adrenaline began to wear off
Edmund wasn't blind to the fact of Rachel's weariness, "Aye another time to go over the program would be better. Until then, rest well, Sinclair." giving a warm and genuine smile. "You will find that you will gain confidence. I have a strong feeling that you'll conquer things."
A Joint Post By
Captain Edmund Merrick
Executive Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
Ensign Rachel Sinclair
Assistant Chief Security/Tactical Officer, USS Pioneer
RSS Feed