Command Decision

Posted on 21 Sep 2015 @ 11:12pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Sergeant Major Arcenio Velez & Commander Travis Stone & Major Richard Sharpe

1,685 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Location: Ready Room

Returning from his daily tour of part of the ship Da`nal emerged from the lift and stepped out on the bridge. The crew was performing admirably, with only a few issues here and there but that was to be expected on any vessel. He stopped short of mounting the command platform as he motioned for the officer of the day to keep his place. "Report."

"All is well sir. As ordered the Berlin and the Freedom have been recalled from their remote explorations and should rendezvous with us by days end."

"Excellent; Well carry on. I will be in my ready room." With that he moved off and as the doors closed behind him he replicated a snack and a glass of bloodwine as he waited for his next appointment of the day.

"Bloodwine this early? Must be a serious issue with the next group...which is, oh, the Marines. I might have to replicate one of those myself." Travis quipped as he sipped at the water he had been drinking during the paperwork session Da'nal and he had been in. Department heads and individual crew members had been in and out of the office all day.

"If only the real thing and not this synthetic garbage."

His next appointment of the day was Captain Sharpe and Sergeant Major Velez, who arrived on the bridge not long after the good Commodore. The marines were seldom visitors of the bridge, so their appearance garnered some stares as they crossed to the ready-room. This no doubt would stir up the rumour mill that some kind of military action was expected, although Richard had a hunch that this was not the reason for his summons.

The random conversation between the two officers came to an end as the chime to the door sounded. Placing his glass down he responded, "Enter."

Velez motioned for Sharpe to go first. "After you sir....", and to lighten the mood a bit he added, "...age before beauty?"

"You're a heck of a lot older than I am, Sergeant Major." Richard smirked. "Perhaps you should go first after all?"

Velez chuckled. "You are only as old as you feel...."

Da`nal motioned to the pair. "Have a seat gentlemen." While they took their seats he rose and came around from behind his desk. "It has been brought to my attention that another issue regarding the Marines on this mission. Under normal circumstances a detachment the size we have is normally commanded by a Lieutenant Colonel...a Major at the very least."

"Now, as you know we have key replacement personnel in stasis. However I am perfectly willing to leave things the way they are. So, Captain Sharpe, the question falls to you. Do you feel capable of commanding the Marines on this mission? If so I can promote you on my own authority; in order to keep the command structure near protocol. If not...we can wake Lt. Colonel Anderson and he/she can assume command with you as the MXO. The decisions is yours."

Talk about being blind-sided! Firstly, this was the first he'd heard that there was a Lieutenant Colonel in stasis on this mission. Even if he did accept the promotion to Major, he'd still have to differ command to the Colonel when he got out of stasis. It seemed so unfair, that after all he'd done and achieved with his command, that he'd be forced to relinquish it. It made little difference at this point now anyway, because the sheer fact that there was a senior ranking officer in the fleet didn't really give him a decision at all.

He looked impassively at the Commodore, who he suspected had known of the existence of the stasis crew the entire time, and he didn't know why he chose to drop this now. So, instead of any other answer or question, the very first one that came to mind was; "Why is there a Colonel in stasis, sir?"

Da`nal could tell by the man's body language that he was wounded by the announcement even though that was not his intent. Regardless, he answered the question directly; "Redundancy Captain....pure redundancy. This is going to be a long mission and we are certain to lose people along the way. While we have training faculties to handle gradual replacement we may have an immediate need. As such every key position is backed up, including mine.

"I didn't call you here to strip you of your command. I would not dishonor any officer unless such action was absolutely necessary. As it stands I have no complaints at all with your performance. That said, the detachment of Marines we ended up with was larger than expected and the issue of command protocol came up in my last communication with Starfleet. They suggested I wake a higher ranking officer in order to ensure a 'proper command structure'.

"My feelings are that they can take their proper structure and be damned. However, I would be negligent if I didn't at least address the issue with you. So I ask you again, are you up to the task? If you feel you are up the the job, I will promote you on my own authority and everything continues without interruption; but you must be absolutely certain." With a gesture he wrapped up his statement; giving him an out if he chose. "If not there is no dishonor. You would be acting in the best interests of those under your command and essentially just following orders from higher authorities. The decision is yours."

It was still one hell of a decision. He was being offered promotion... well... he was being offered his job with a new rank. It was a significantly important decision, as promotion didn't exactly come up with the rations. If the Commodore felt he wasn't up to the task, this would be a very different conversation. But was he ready? Well, that was somewhat redundant in that he'd already taken the job and had been doing so for the last year, and had done so on the previous Achilles as well, although that command had been smaller. This would be a full detachment, an augmented Battalion.

Why was he having this mental reservation? He'd been doing the job that the Commodore was offering him anyway for the last few months. Aside from missing a PFC's promotion, he'd been doing a pretty good job up until now. Was he nervous because of his past? Why was that coming back to haunt him now? He'd moved past those demons, or at least he thought he had. Yet every time command was put his way, he thought back to that one failed mission. He had so many more successes under his belt, yet the one failure haunted him. Perhaps reminding him that he wasn't immune to failure. There was no one he could ask for advice or help, this was his career, his decision, and he was showing weakness and indecisiveness - something he knew the Commodore did not respect.

"Until such time as my superiors have reason to question my ability to command, I would like to remain in my post, sir. I have come to know these men, and I'm very good at what I do. So, with your permission sir, I would like to keep the 'spare' where he is - for the time being." Sharpe said, emphasising that the Colonel was indeed a spare, and surplus to current requirements.

Velez noticed the momentary hesitation in Sharpe's reply, and if he had noticed you know the big boss had. Hesitation or not he knew what he had to do; he didn't care if the person wore bars, leaves, or pips.

Da`nal nodded with a satisfied grin as he rose from the corner of his desk. "Excellent! Well congratulations Major. I will have MCPO Nelson get with you to schedule your promotion ceremony."

"Yes Sir!" Sharpe replied formally. He wasn't sure he wanted a big deal made of this promotion, since his last promotion had been done when he'd been eating dinner with his date at that time. However, if this was what the CO wanted, this was what the CO got.

"Well then I won't keep you from your duties."

Richard snapped to attention and then left with Sergeant Major Valez in tow.

"One more promotion. Do we make him participate Fleet style, or do it in the Marine fashion Commodore?" Travis asked with a grin, either way, he was definitely going to get some of his due back from Sharpe with this event.

Once the pair of Marines had left Da`nal crossed his arms as he stared at the door that had just closed. "Did you catch that?"

"The moment's hesitation when you offered him the position? Absolutely, it rang out like a clarion bell. That's a reaction I've seen before too, he must have an incident somewhere in his record I didn't catch. Then again, you did just officially alter his responsibility by about four and some times, so maybe him taking a moment to think is a good thing." Travis knew he was still harboring a bit of resentment against Sharpe from the last Achilles and their conversation here, but the Marine did deserve some backing up.

Picking up his glass. "Well if the was him just giving the matter a 'think' then fine. If not...well Anderson will still out rank him. I would just hate to see warriors die do to the hesitation of their commanding officer."

Outside, the marines made their way to the turbolift and once the doors closed, Sharpe rested his head against the bulkhead wall, then softly banged it against the wall. He'd hesitated, and he'd hesitated in front of the Commodore. He'd allowed his past to overwhelm him and let him freeze up, something he'd thought he'd worked out of his system. Damage had been done, and much would be needed now to undo it.

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Commodore Da`nal
CO

Commander Travis Stone
XO

Major Richard Sharpe
MCO

Sgt. Maj. Arcenio Velez
SNCOIC

 

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