An Introduction to Security and Tactical

Posted on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 10:42pm by Cadet Freshman Grade Molly Seol & Commander Sonia Dalca & Cadet Freshman Grade Phoebe Cavendish & Cadet Freshman Grade Jondar Sito & Cadet Freshman Grade James Corrigan & Cadet Freshman Grade Shoray sh'Dana & Cadet Freshman Grade Damian Blake
Edited on on Sun Feb 3rd, 2019 @ 10:47pm

Mission: The First Step...
Location: Lecture Hall
Timeline: 2388/08/27 0900 (August 27 2388 9:00am)

The cadets came in and Sonia didn't move from her position in front of the podium. They sat down. She didn't move. They took out PADD's and focused on her and nothing happened. She just stared, her eyes roving the room. She didn't respond when a student tried talking to her. Eventually some of the cadets started to shift in their seats, a few in the back began to mutter among themselves.

Then she moved. As fast as thought, she'd jumped up eight rows and three seats in to rap her knuckles on the desk of a surprised cadet. Her face was blank and her eyes cold as she said in a carrying voice, "If I vere an enemy you'd be dead." She turned and gracefully moved back to her position next to the podium. She didn't stay there but moved back and forth much like a caged predator would. Her eyes skimmed the cadets in the seats and she began.

Her Earth Romanian accent coloring her words, "There are diplomats and leaders vhose job it is to stop var. To stop conflikt. It is ve who bear the brunt VHEN they fail. And fail they vill. It may not be today or tomorrow but the very make up of those in the universe demand ve be ready to defend ourselves. As you can see, threats can come in any shape, any size, any time."

She paused to make sure she had their attention. "And it is our job to vait. Train yes but much of our time vill be boring routine colored with moments of sheer terror, for if ve are called to action all Hell has broken loose. It vill be our job to defend and die for our Shipmates, VIPS, and the Federation before conflikt event touches them. Ve are the Guardians on the wall and if you are gun ho for action this is not the place for you."

She paused in her stalking and was stillness itself as she pulled a small device from her pocket and activated a large screen behind her. "This vill be graphic. It is your only warning, you may leave if it disturbs you but know you vill not major in my department." She waited a few moments then activated it.

It showed dead security officers with varying levels of gore. Dead ships that floated derelict in space. This went on for a few minutes. "Security and Tactical may die for their comrades, they may die for bad intel, they may die because of greater enemy forces, they may die because the sky is blue. It vill happen. It is my job to help make sure that happens as little as possible. Vith training and the right mindset you have a better chance."

She paused, "Note I did not say best chance. The best chance is to stay home but for those with the dedication and the ability, you vill be given all possible tools to defend as security and ship tactical systems." She stood next to the podium again, still. "The training will be tough and repetitive but you must be able to act in an emergency vithout thought," she looked at the cadet she'd 'killed', "or be killed while trying to think of a plan...Any questions?"

The last paragraph was less intense then what had come before and she visibly relaxed, lowering the tension in the room. Her point made she moved forward with the rest of the lecture, now that she had their attention it was time to instruct.

Leaning over to Jondar, Phoebe whispered "Is it me or does she seem a little...nuts?"

Jondar shrugged back intent on paying attention.

Having been sitting on the front row, Kelly gave a startled squeak when the instructor of the class came vaulting over several rows of cadets, landing near her. Her back went ramrod straight as the woman spoke and she swallowed hard when the video came up on the screen. So far, this instructor by far was the one who seemed intent on scaring people to death, but she had very good points.

When it was over, Molly needed to breath in deep and exhale slowly. She has seen a lot in her younger years, having been born a starship and raised on a starbase. It had been a long time, but regardless, she wasn't sure she could ever get use to such images and hoped she would be lucky enough not to encounter it in such a degree.

There were none so far and Sonia mentally sighed, she'd meant to get their attention but some still seemed a bit stunned. Lord was she ever that new? She felt very old as she leaned against her desk, her hands on it as she continued. "I know you are still reeling from my introduction. There is a method to my madness, I am a combat officer. I know that the Federation is Peace but ve have not been allowed to be so and so I have seen many die in the line of duty. You need to be able to react effectively in a unexpected emergencies and during your time here my department will help give you those tools. Think on how you felt when I acted so 'veridly. You were surprised, stunned, and above all not reacting to the situation. A life or death emergency can be like that. It vill not give you time to get used to it or to prepare.". Her eyes were honest and a little sad, she pushed old memories away and focused.

She began to pace again but it was softer back and forth, she simply couldn't stay still long without a reason. She naturally liked to move. "For those of you doing your core competencies there will be emergency preparedness training, melee combat, and phaser qualifications. As well as basic tactical uses, just in case you find yourself as the only one able to take that station. Not likely but one never knows what the universe will throw at you." She looked at them, they looked so young she kept that thought off her face as she continued,

She tapped a button on her desk and everyone's PADD was sent a schedule, "This is the schedule to go through the core competencies. If your name isn't on it please let me know, other basic information to timing and such is there as well. Please note once core competencies are achieved we will commence the training scenarios. This will be more varied and detailed for those majoring in my department but everyone will get the basic 've've been boarded' and other action to help prepare you for the future. Any questions?". Her voice was calm and approachable as she waited.

Braden had been sitting along the aisle about the middle of the class as he preferred. He had been reading when the instructor made her impressive leap. He noticed the motion and watched to see what was going on. His first reaction was someone in the class must have had some sort of accident. Then her voice carried loudly saying the cadet she faced was dead. So that was it, shock value, then the pictures to highlight the fact service in Starfleet was dangerous. She seemed agitated during the first segment of the class, but then calmed down and got into the course material. Braden noticed more then a few in the room were still stunned and almost smiled. He had lived through worse growing up with a retired marine combat instructor.

Recovering from her shock, Kelly cleared her throat. "Yes, Commander. In regards to physical combat. What martial arts will be incorporated into training? I'm versed to a degree in aikido and jujitsu. Are they compatible with Anbo-jyutsu?"

Sonia glanced at whom had spoken. She flipped images through her mind until she finally settled on the one she wanted. "Cadet Khan.." she identified. "To answer your question let me first explain the point of martial arts in the 24th century. Though we are all very high tech there may come a time when you are staring at an enemy. Martial arts will help you to react."

"To be effective, a martial art must include weapons and non-weapon aspects. It must rely upon sound principles that allow a smaller individual to control a larger, stronger opponent because let us face it, there are many out there stronger in some vay than ve." She smiled ruefully, "It must provide the officer with the skills needed to control a suspect while minimizing injuries, but at the same time giving the officer the option to inflict serious pain and crippling injuries if the altercation suddenly turns into a deadly force situation." She paused, "To work as such an effective martial art needs to have joint locks, throws and take downs. Both of which Aikido and Jujitsu have, we use primarily a modified Jujitsu for basic instruction that removes the disadvantage of its lack of focus on melee weapon combatants. Those majoring in the department may receive more extensive instruction. More detail on that when we get to those courses but as for Anbo-Jyustu that is primarily useful as a sport for endurance but can also be helpful in teaching blind fighting. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes it does, Commander. Thank you," Kelly said as she made notes in her PADD and began to think about how she could incorporate the styles of all three into one effective art form.

Damian listened to everything Commander Dalca had to tell them. He wasn't going to be in this particular department, but now he had to wonder why. This woman knew what she was doing and had a way of keeping the class interesting.

James had twitched when the instructor had leapt over his head, resisting the impulse to put up his arms in defensive position. Fortunately for him, she had not been aiming for him, and he relaxed... somewhat. The images that she put on the screen made him wince and want to turn away, but he knew that as a command officer some day, he might run into such scenes. So he kept his focus on the screen by sheer force of will, but he was glad that he had not selected Security as his major or minor. He was also glad, though, that there were people like her out there protecting them.

He looked at the schedule of classes and sighed. Even being in another major and minor, he still had to take the core classes. And while he was no coward, he was also no fighter really. He only hoped that he wouldn't completely humiliate himself. For now, therefore, he just listened.

Sonia answered a few more questions, moving around the lecture area smoothly and gesturing with her hands occasionally. "As I said all personnel vill receive basic emergency training, training for defensive martial art and phaser training. There vill be minimum levels you must get for this, including basic emergency scenarios. all are listed on your PADD's. For those minoring in security your training will be more extensive. In terms of active duty: if you are not needed elsevhere, you may be seconded to security to assist. So do not choose this as a minor unless you are ok vit that..." She went on going into a bit more detail about the training programs both for majors, minors, and basic trainings. Then going into:

"There are many positions in the security department, also all listed on your PADD's. Please take a moment to review as I list them:

Security has two sections, Security and Ship Tactical." She activated the device and it illustrated a list with a chain of command graphic. It basically read:

Security is as follows:

Main Security Department:
Chief Security Officer
Assistant Chief Security Officer
Security Officer
Brig Officer
Master-at-Arms
VIP Bodyguard

Security Investigations Division:
Senior Security Investigations Officer
Security Investigations Officer
Criminal Profiler
Forensic Officer

Close Protection Division:
Senior Close Protection Officer
Close Protection Officer

Another slide read:

Tactical Positions:

Chief Tactical Officer (not all assignments will have)
Assistant Chief Tactical Officer (sometimes a Chief will have a deputy for each section for better oversight.)
Tactical Officer
Gunner's Mate
Tactical Systems Operator

She went into basic detail on each one and continued her overview covering the main bases of what they would need to know and ended with, "Any further questions?"

James listened, following along on his PADD. Given that Security was not his field of choice, he was only in for the basic training all cadets got, so aside from memorization for tests, he really had no need for further information. Therefore, he left the questions to others and merely listened and took notes as the class proceeded.

Shoray, a female Andorian very eager to begin, raised her hand, "Commander, will we get to fire phasers at their full intensity this first year of training? Hand-held and ship mounted?"

Sonia smiled at the question but politely, it wouldn't do to laugh. "There vill be plenty to cover before ve get that far, ve need to make sure one understands the basics before being trusted with the more advanced tasks."

She answered a few more questions before swinging into the end material.

"As far as tactical goes you vill mostly be trained how to read the tactical consoles in the case your tactical officer is killed or unable to do their job. Also will be covered are the basics of how the phasers and torpedoes operate. During the first exam for this basic certification you will need to not get your ship blown up or at least give a good accounting of yourself."

She went into a bit more detail on exams, how the basic and advanced courses would be laid out while walking around the central area. She stopped at one point and leaned against her desk "Now I know a lot of you are thinking: I will never need this... Don't vorry, its common, I thought that for various reasons as a cadet myself. And in some cases its true, others it wasn't. Was I ever expecting I'd need to act as field medic? Deliver a baby? Help an engineer do a field repair to a transporter booster? Gather Alien spit using science equipment so others could make an antidote to a bite? No of course not but life isn't always neat. You may be called upon to do things to save lives not in your primary area. You may never need the information we present but even if you don't understanding how your fellow shipmates fit into your realm will aid you. Especially for those of you going into command, security is the front line of defense but its the Commanding Officer who puts us there. Its the Doctor who patches us up, and its the engineer who helps keep our equipment running. If you need what we teach that is vell and if you understand the people you serve with in an emergency. This is beyond price.

Class Dismissed."