A Budding Partnership

Posted on 28 Apr 2016 @ 6:55am by Lieutenant Commander Michael Garabaldi & Captain Korra Wen

1,192 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: M13-C: Shattered Time
Location: Security Chief's Office
Timeline: Current

[ON]

Korra waited patiently outside the Security Chief's office, a slight knot forming in her throat. She got a message stating he wanted to see her at her earliest convenience, but it was suspiciously lacking detail. It was always a mystery why doctors and cops never said why they wanted to see someone. It was almost like they knew it was going to hover in the back of a person's mind, nagging them every minute until the meeting. Was this because she did smithing? Her face screwed up at the thought. One of the shop keepers gave her a space to set up a workshop provided she completed orders for jewelry, tools, and the occasional weapon. Her eyes went wide. ~What if someone got murdered by a knife I made?~ The thought sent shivers down her spine. Korra immediately took a quick inventory of all the things she had made on the ship, trying to recall if any could have been used to kill. She tried to be careful about that sort of thing: intentionally leaving any edges dull on decorative weapons. Had she absent mindedly sharpened one? Or maybe someone used a chef's knife she made. There was that cleaver she forged for a steakhouse several cycles ago. When she tested it on a replicated Kzinti bulliphant leg, it went through the thick hide, muscle, bone, more muscle, another layer of hide, a walnut chopping block, and cut about a quarter of an inch into a stainless steel counter top. She figured there was a reasonable chance it would go through a person.

A male voice snapped Korra out of her thoughts. "The Chief will see you now."

She swallowed a lump in her throat, let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, and headed into his office. She stood across his desk in a parade ground stance. "Captain Korra Wen reporting as requested, sir. If this is about any knives I made or decorative weapons, I want to you know I keep telling Gaius to do background checks before taking any orders. You have my full cooperation if someone got hurt."

Garibaldi smiled. "At ease, Captain. I just figured that since there will be occasions where your people and mine will be working together, it might behoove us to get to know each other, so that when push comes to shove, we're both singing off the same sheet of music, and not having both ends played against the middle." He gestured to the chair in front of his desk. "Relax. Have a seat. Can I offer you something?"

"No thank you, Commander." She sat down and crossed her legs. She was never good at small talk, but it came with the territory. "What would you like to know?"

"Rumor has it that you have an interesting hobby," Garibaldi began. "Something to do with Metallurgy?"

"I have many hobbies." Korra steepled her fingers. "Eskarine tradition requires all members of the..."she paused and pursed her lips trying to think of the right words. Federation Basic was so imprecise. "...warrior caste to study an art form and a craft. I chose metal smithing for one of them. What of you, Commander? Do you have any interesting hobbies?"

"Well, Games of strategy amuse me, and I collect antique firearms," Garibaldi replied. "I would imagine your metal smithing included forging slug thrower barrels. I've also seen a few reports of edged weapons of your design. I may have to add blades to my collection. Got any family?"

"I've made a few combustion weapons, and collaborated with other craftsman on more decorative pieces. I'm happy to make any bladed weapons you'd like. Bat'leths' seem to be in demand lately. I can't imagine why." She switched legs. "My parents are on board. My father works in the Science department's geography team. My mother is a retired gunnery sergeant. She was a marksman, but had to take early retirement. I also have five-year-old twins that are a menace to anything that crosses their path." She added the last part with an exasperated, yet loving smile. "You know how it is when they become mobile."

A shadow crossed his face, but he quickly recovered. "I've heard. What do you think of your team of Marines?"

Korra noted the brief change in his expression and filed it away for future reference. "All of Alpha Company is ODI certified, myself included," she replied, as if that said it all. "There's no group of Marines I'd rather have beside me. Even the Recon guys, no harm to them." She swept a wisp of hair out of her face. "So, what got you into security? Do you like investigating crimes?"

Michael grinned. "You might say that. I'm a fixer. i see crime and corruption as a problem. I fix it." Then another shadow passed across him, lessening the smile. "The skipper, however, doesn't seem to want to take it as seriously as I do. But that's his prerogative. He's the captain, and I'm a subordinate." he shrugged it off. "Oh, well. The job'll get done, either way. So... how do you want to approach the joint training exercise?" Not the most deft change of subject, he thought, but at least it would plant a seed.

Korra stroked her chin thoughtfully. "That depends on what you want to accomplish. I think some simple joint operations to build a working relationship would be a good start. Perhaps some Marines could accompany your officers on patrol and some of your officers could participate in our training exercises. Something low-key like guarding the FOB...but I wouldn't want to put our two forces into high-stress situations straight off. We have two different roles, thus two very different mentalities in how we operate. That could cause a lot of friction if people are expected to react quickly." She raised a quizzical eyebrow waiting to hear his thoughts.

"I like it," Michael stated. Cross-training would make both units stronger. "I would like for our departments to cooperate while I try and ramp up my recruiting efforts. My ultimate goal is to free up the Marines to handle less seciruty details and more of the things for which Marines are famous." He grinned. I'm sure your guys get pretty bored pulling sentry duty for a bunch of civillian areas..."

"I think they've enjoyed it. It has gotten them out of a few more strenuous training regiments," she gave a faint smile. "And patrolling the ships will give them valuable first-hand knowledge of their layout. It's one thing to read a schematic. It's something else to actually see everything." She checked her chronometer. "Well Commander," Korra stood up, "If you're satisfied, I must get back to Alpha Company. If you need anything else, you know how to reach me." She extended a hand.

He took it. "My door is always open, Captain. Please feel free to drop by any time." He smiled at her.

"Of course." Korra nodded. With that, she turned and headed back to the Marine offices.

[OFF]
----------------------------
Lieutenant Commander Michael Garibaldi
Chief of Security,
USS Achilles

CAPT Korra Wen
Alpha Company CO
USS Achilles

 

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