New Boss, Old Trouble?

Posted on 13 Aug 2014 @ 1:10pm by Major Richard Sharpe

1,668 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: M12: For Duty or Honor
Location: MCO Office

The news of Captain Post's reassignment and the promotion of the MXO to MCO and Captain spread through the enlisted rank at transwarp speeds. It was not much of a surprise to Jason that a notice of an appointment in 30 minutes popped up on his PADD, since a change of command usually meant a slight shake up of personnel positions. The thing that did catch him off guard was who his meeting was with since it was with Captain Sharpe instead of SgtMaj Velez.

Fortunately, this wouldn't be too much of a problem since he had just come off duty. Switching out to the clean "official functions only" uniform he kept in the locker, a quick glance over was done to make sure he wasn't showing enough of a late day growth to be out of regs. Deciding on a quick touch up, he finally left for the MCO's office after leaving a message for his bunkmate to go on to PT without him. Arriving no less than 10 minutes early, Jason waited at the entrance until the appointed time and then rang the chime to be admitted.

If it was one thing that marines were known for, it was punctuality. Sharpe had no reservations about Private Eirias's time-keeping, so knew exactly who it was, and that he was exactly on time. Calling up the man's service record on his active monitor, so he could reference it during this interview, he tapped the button on his desk that opened the doors. "Come in, Private."

Before the promotion, Jason had seen Sharpe here and there but the separation of rank had kept them well apart. As a result, he wasn't too sure how to address and handle the new CO. For now, he decided in the brief space between the door opening and his walking up to the desk to resort back to full formality until otherwise told. Three exactly measured steps were taken, and he came to attention in front of Sharpe. Remembering his first encounter and reporting in with Captain Post, his right hand went up to salute. "PFC Eirias, Jason, reporting as ordered Captain." He was relatively pleased it came out calm, even, and confident this time.

Richard smiled. "At ease Private." He said, kindly. "Please, have a seat." He gestured to one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Aye, sir". Ok, so that was different than he expected. Jason did relax his stance a bit, and sat down in the indicated chair while taking just a moment to look around the office, trying to get a feel for their new CO. In the back of his mind, he was also preparing for a case of sudden toughening, as some officers and senior NCO's liked to play with their junior before pouncing. Once in the chair he turned his full attention to Richard, and waited.

Richard looked over his desk at the young Private. "Tell me, Eirias, what exactly is your speciality around here? Since you're not attached to any of the Recon units, you're part of the general detachment, yet I cannot find why your name is so prominent in Captain Post's reports."

Well, the man certinally wasted no time. A quality in which Jason could appreciate when he wasn't the subject of interest. Once the comment about the prominence was made, his face would run between shock, surprise, embarassment, and pride. This only lasted for a few moments, before he decided to be honest. "To be frank Captain, I have no idea. I know a couple of times it was probably situational when something went wrong, could also be because unlike most of the general detachment, I'm multiple skillset trained. Captain Post did express some concern that I might be a little unfocused with the changes, but that's really alll I can think of, sir."

"So, what specifically, can you do, besides clog up my paperwork?" Sharpe asked.

Now that comment stung a bit as he had done a decent job of staying OUT of trouble considering his clean record. "I"m communications and sensors qualified for operation and maintenance, artificer qualified with some O&A mechanic hours, though I didn't have a chance to finish the demolitions side yet, and I'm qualified on both light and heavy weapons on the Infantry side, Sir." It took a little effort not to sound overly proud, but he had worked for every one of those skill sets.

"And have you taken your security rotation, as per the Admiral's standing orders that all marines rotate into security?" Sharpe asked.

"I haven't as of yet, I'm not on the schedule for a couple of weeks, sir." He knew about the Security rotations, and confirmed his with his Corporal the other day, so that was at least an easy response for Jason. So far, this was starting to take on the feeling of an interrogation, and he had to wonder what he had done wrong to warrant this.

Sharpe conferred with his computer for a moment. "And you have one of the detachment's highest accuracy ratings as well. I believe you hold the distinction of what we would call a 'possible', Private. Yet you're not sniper trained, nor have you even applied for sniper training. Why is that?"

"Haven't had a need to, I'm not ranked enough to apply for it, and my SOI instructors commented I was a bit over-built for the sniper role sir. I'm still getting used to the rifle and heavy weapons roles, though I still go and practice my accuracy once a week." Mentally, he was wondering where this discussion was going next, because the only things they hadn't covered yet was his past assignment, PT, and future plans.

"I'm still trying to work out why you're still just a Private First Class." Sharpe said. "But that's neither here nor there at this point. I'm putting together a team of sharpshooters, with the specific aim of protecting the Admiral. It'll be a bi-departmental effort from Security and us, but this six man team will be responsible for the personal protection of the Admiral on away missions - which according to his dossier - he tends to do more than regs says he should. General Order 15 applies when the Admiral beams down, I - and the Security Chief - believe that having a team of marksmen with the Admiral would be of significant benefit. What do you think?"

"The Admiral does tend to be more hands on with missions, so that would make sense to have extra protection. I just wonder how he'll react to that since being a Klingon, it might be taken as a sign that he can't take care of himself." For a moment, Jason thought about it, weighing the pros and cons before addressing comment on his rank. "As to why I am still a PFC, I think the person who would know is Top Velez since Captain Post is gone. Would it be Fleet or Marine protocol for protective measures?" He had to ask since the two were different.

"We're going to have to assume Fleet protocol, since technically the duty of protecting the ship's CO falls to the Chief of Security. So I would imagine it'll be take-down shots, non-lethal option." Sharpe said. "As for how the Admiral likes it... that's not really your problem Private. Even the Admiral has to obey orders, and General Order 15 clearly states that no flag officer may beam into a hazardous environment without an armed escort."

Jason simply nodded, taking in the implication of the instruction. Non-lethal shots had a history of coming back to bite people, that'd be something they would have to track. "Understood, sir." The lightbulb was starting to come into brightness, but there was no way the Captain could mean he wanted Jason in that team...right?

"You'll team up with Staff Sergeant Frey, since he's already part of that assignment, and work with him." Sharpe said. "You won't be assigned to an active role until the Sergeant is convinced you're good enough for his people - but I'd rather you utilized your skills than spent your time as a filing clerk."

Filing clerk? Of all the things Jason hadn't seen in months, paperwork was at the top of that list. "Would this be as a primary duty, or secondary duty sir?" Last time he'd looked, he was still a bit under-ranked for Recon, which prompted the question. There was also the time management aspect, since if this was in addition, he'd need to do some juggling to make it all work.

"Secondary, Private." Sharpe said. "In addition to your mainstream duties with the detachment."

And there was a sigh of relief. "Understood sir. Are there going to be any direct changes to the main duties? Right now I am heavy weapons for my fireteam." Time to make sure what he was going to do was staying put, or if it was going to change.

"For now, we'll leave your primary duty station as it is." Sharpe said. "But you'll also be working on your secondary assignment. I hope you can manage it."

"Wouldn't be a Marine if I wasn't up to meeting challenges sir. I'll start incorporating more of that kind of movement and exercises into my schedule, and more accuracy practice." The look Jason directed was more questioning, trying to see if there was anything else the Captain wanted to discuss.

"Very well, dismissed Private." Sharpe said, ending the meeting.

"Aye, sir." Would be his only comment as he stood and marched himself back out of the office, and back down to the barracks to change out of the uniform. Mentally, he was now trying to reconfigure his schedules for the extra training he'd need to do for this position...and decided this might require the full-stomach method of deliberation, followed by a good workout, and some sleep.

= End Log =

Captain Richard Sharpe
Marine Commanding Officer
USS Achilles

Private First Class Jason Eirias
Marine
USS Achilles

 

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