A Game of Velocity (backpost)

Posted on Fri May 22nd, 2026 @ 7:30pm by Lieutenant Rala & Lieutenant Mark Valleroy

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Deck 4, Holodeck 4
Timeline: Shortly after rescuing the Eureka Maru

Mark headed towards the holodeck, tugging a bit at the uniform he'd donned for his Velocity match against Lt. Rala. He had played the game in the past (he'd had a couple of Security instructors at the Academy who were fans, maintaining that it helped immensely with hand/eye coordination in situations where a rapid response was needed, a viewpoint also held by his department head on the Trellion), though it had been a while since he'd played (and certainly he had never before played against an opponent with 4 arms).

Arriving at the holodeck, he went and pulled up the program for it.

Rala rounded the corner and found Lieutenant Valleroy already there near the door to Holodeck 4, focused on the adjacent LCARS panel, his back to her.

That damned mischievous streak reared its head again, telling her to sneak up and startle him, but she pushed it aside; playing pranks on someone who, while technically the same rank as her, was her superior in most respects by dint of being the ship’s Second Officer probably wasn’t the best idea.

“And I was kinda hoping to be the first one here,” she said, mostly joking.

"Maybe next time," Mark said, looking over and noting her own outfit (designed, of course, with her particular anatomy in mind). "I must say that I did find your general offer of Velocity to be a bit interesting. I didn't think you played."

Rala had almost gone with the same outfit she’d worn for tennis with Calypso—opaque black sports bra and not-quite-indecently-short black athletic shorts—but had elected to cover up a bit more, not least because Velocity wasn’t quite so active of a sport; so on top of those, she’d thrown on a moderately loose sky-blue tank top, cropped at the waist, and slightly darker blue leggings reaching nearly to her elevated ankles but leaving three-quarters of her tail bare.

“I don’t often,” she said, “but it’s good phaser practice, and I felt like I could use some of that.”

Mark nodded. "I've found myself that it does help with phaser use, and a couple of my Academy instructors from the security and tactics department practically swore by it, or at least more so than most other advance methods. Maybe I should make Velocity a part of the training rotation for the security department, and for anyone else who might be interested in joining us. Perhaps you might be interested in joining us in the future?"

“Perhaps,” she said. “Let me get through today and we’ll see how I feel.” She gestured at the holodeck door. “After you, sir.”

Mark bowed theatrically. "Computer, begin program," he directed.

"Program activated," the computer noted. "You may enter when ready."

Mark entered to note the holographic recreation of the arena. Usually, it was just the bare holodeck walls when playing Velocity, though in this case Mark had created a setting of a room the same parameters as the holodeck itself with stonework vaguely Klingon-looking. "Hope you don't mind the decor," Mark said to Rala. "I figured that it would add a bit to the atmosphere. We used to have different settings when we'd play at the Academy. Had one friend who liked to have the setting being in a sort of giant cage on a mountain-top. I can turn it off, though, if you'd prefer just the standard holodeck setup."

Rala raised an eyebrow as she looked around the altered arena as she entered, letting the door close and vanish behind her. “Only slightly less friendly than the bare hologrid,” she said, somewhat bemused. “I’ll give it a go.”

"That's the spirit," Mark said. Going over to one side, to where the phasers and disk (all holographic, for safety purposes), Mark took one phaser and handed the other to Rala. Reaching over the 8-inch disk, Mark said, "Let me know when you're ready to begin."

Rala accepted the phaser from him and stepped back, settling the weapon in her hand and making sure it was at the correct setting and ready to fire. She took a ready stance. “Let’s go.”

Mark said, "All right. Starting in 3...2...1..." He started this disk and quickly moved back. The disk moved up, then dashed towards him. He rolled off to one side, came up in a crouch, and whipped up his phaser, firing off a shot. The shot hit the disk, sending it in Rala's direction.

Rala sidestepped fairly easily and avoided it, bringing her phaser up as it passed and loosing a shot...which missed. She frowned and tracked the disc with her phaser as it ricocheted off two walls at slightly unnatural angles of reflection before it came at her again. This time she hit it, causing its light to change color and sending it zipping off at another wall to ricochet again before seeking its new target.

Mark moved on the balls of his feet, judging where the disk would go next as it moved around before moving at him. He jumped out of the way and fired, but the beam only clipped it. It went wildly into the wall before bouncing off and moved in his direction again. He took a more careful aim at it at fired again, hitting it point blank and causing it to zip off in a new direction.

The disk very quickly bounced off one wall and headed directly for Rala’s chest. With no time to bring her phaser to bear, she felt it brush the loose hem of her tank top as she twisted out of its way, only to have to immediately drop into a crouch to dodge it again as it ricocheted out of the corner. She scrambled back to her feet, finally managing to track the thing long enough to bring her phaser up and take aim. Her first shot missed, striking the wall the disk had just bounced off; a slight adjustment and her second shot connected squarely with the disk, sending it off toward the far corner of the arena.

Mark moved to keep track of the disk as it looped around and came back at the two officers. Mark fired, but missed as the disk bounced off the nearby wall. He tried to move, but felt the impact on his back.

The computer chimed. "Full impact," it declared. "First round to Rala."

"Rats," Mark muttered. "Don't know how that happened."

“It can be tricky sometimes,” Rala said, stopping the disk’s residual motion with a hand and letting it float in the middle of the arena. “How long has it been since you played?” she asked.

"Too long, apparently," Mark said wryly, rubbing the spot on his back where the disk had struck him. Thanks to the holodeck safety protocols, the blow to his pride had been a lot greater than the blow to his physical body, but that didn't mean that the physical impact still didn't sting. "Ready for round 2?" he asked.

Rala nodded, raising her phaser and waiting for him to do the same before reactivating the disk and taking a quick step back. The disk shot off to her right, striking the wall and coming straight for her. She fired, missed, dodged it by maybe three centimeters, and turned to track it. She fired again, managing to hit it this time just before it ricocheted off the corner of the arena again and came back at nearly the same angle, making her dodge it again even though it wasn’t actually after her just then.

Mark aimed his phaser and fired off a shot. The shot hit the disk and sent it off in a different direction, where it hit a wall a moment later and came back in Mark's direction. He dove out of the way and got off a shot, but missed.

Rala dodged to her right as the disk came at her, spun, fired, and missed as it caromed off the wall. She tracked its path toward the adjacent wall, made a guess as to where it would go, and took aim. The disk struck the wall, and she fired...and her phaser beam passed right over it as it took a downward angle, skipping off the floor and striking her in the calf as she tried to squirm out of its way again.

”Full impact. Second round to Valleroy.”

“Fah,” Rala said. “Forgot it could make such drastic vertical shifts.”

"Part of the challenge," Mark said with a bit of a grin as he picked up the disk. "Full three dimensional movements, with it being programed to change direction at any time and without any sort of apparent prior warning. Certainly keeps us on our toes. Ready for round 3?"

Rala briefly rubbed her tail against the spot the disk had struck, then took her stance again. “Ready when you are.”

Mark started it again. The disk zipped off, then came back. Mark dodged it, barely clipping it on one side with a shot. The disk bounced around for a couple of moments before coming back, forcing Mark to do a controlled fall onto his back. Just managing to get his phaser pointed up, his next shot hit the disk on the bottom as it passed over him, sending it careening off in another direction. He used that moment to get back on his feet.

The disk came at Rala low, and she stumbled out of its way. She felt it brush her tail lightly as the appendage lashed for balance, but it wasn’t enough of an impact to count as a point. By the time she’d regained her balance and refocused on the disk, it was already careening off a second wall and coming at her again, this time level with her chest. Again she twisted aside, and again she felt it brush her without counting a point. This time, though, she managed to track it as it went, loosing a shot that got lucky and caught the disc as it rebounded off another wall.

Mark ducked out of the way of the disk as it came in a bit wildly from Rala's shot, feeling the breeze in his hair as it just went barely over his head. They seemed to be beginning to better estimate where the disk would be going as the game progressed. That was a part of the mentality behind the game. How well could you learn to adjust for the wild and seemingly unpredictable path of the disk before it got you? Mark took a quick guess as to where the disk was most likely after going over his head (quite literally) and then (after assuring that Rala was not in that direction) pointed the phaser and fired.

And so it went for another few rounds, the two trading ‘full impacts’ until at last, when Valleroy asked if Rala wanted to keep going, she paused for a few seconds, thinking, before replying, “No...I think that’s enough for today.” She ran a hand through her hair, finding it practically drenched in sweat, and called, “Computer, load my copy of program Skyie Forty-Three.” The holographic phasers disappeared from their hands as the environment shifted to the pool and attached hot tub Calypso had introduced her to after that first tennis session, although this version had a few of the chairs and loungers replaced with versions that would more easily accommodate her tail.

Seeing a questioning look forming on Valleroy’s face, she explained, “Cal—er, the Captain brought me here to relax a bit after tennis lessons not long ago; she said I could recreate it whenever, so I made a copy, with a few tweaks.” She retrieved the small bag she’d brought from where she’d set it down, and started walking toward the small hut in the corner of the area. “I think I’ll unwind in the hot tub for a bit. You’re welcome to join me to if you’d like, Sir; separate changing rooms over here,” she said, shifting her bag from arm to arm as she wriggled them free of her tops, pulling them both off just in time to give Mark a glance at her back completely bare from the waist up before she disappeared into one of the changing rooms.

Knowing the captain, Mark wondered if that was was all she was showing off with the original version of this program. "I think I might join you," he called out, replicating the appropriate clothing and heading into another one of the changing rooms. This should be interesting. Though he knew that there were a variety of lifeforms int he galaxy, just a few years ago he wouldn't have imagined sharing a hot tub with a dragon.