Fresh Meat - Part 2

Posted on 01 Jan 2013 @ 6:18pm by Commodore Da`nal of the House of Varal & Captain Rebecca Post

1,426 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: M9: Rest, Recovery, and Reflection
Location: SB 80
Timeline: MD -35

She glanced up at the knock on the doorframe and began pushing her annoyance aside, she couldn't allow any of her subordinates (no matter how senior, competent or used to it they may be) to see anything getting the better of her, this concern was backed up when she glanced past him at the young marine standing closely behind him.

"Of course, Sergeant Major, come on in," Rebecca replied.

Entering the office he stepped to the side as he ushered the new Marine into the office; "I believe this is for you..." He also laid the padd on her desk; “…and I’d like to report that the Marine facilities on the Achilles have been completed and we are cleared to resupply. I will have a requisition request for the full detachment prepared for your approval and submission.†With a nod Velez left heading back to the lounge...no changing his mind he headed for his quarters to change before heading down to the Marine facility on the planet’s surface to examine their equipment…just in case they had some new toys they might want.

"Thank You, Sergeant Major, let's start getting our people back aboard ship then," Rebecca nodded. "The less time we have to inconvenience the boys from the Starbase the better."

After the Sergeant Major entered, Jason waited a moment and followed him in. The first thing noted, was that it was a Captain in the Commanding Officer spot, and the amount of PADD's holding paperwork on her desk. Those factors alone told him the CO was probably as new to the ship but not the SFMC as he was, which gave a small measure of relief. Before either could have uttered a word, his face shifted back to the impassive look and was accompanied by the body being stiff and unyielding at attention as fit a very junior Marine, and he waited to see what would happen now. For once, he hoped his file had made it with his orders as it might help relieve them both a bit about his lack of experience. The report being made once again made only passing sense to him, so it was filed away in his memory for later. All he could do now, was wait for the Captain to start the 'fun and games'.

Rebecca made note of how young the Marine was, figuring that he was probably just out of Infantry Training, she managed to avoid shaking her head with a smile, new marines were so adorable, however she couldn't resist a little bit of fun.

"Do they not teach new Marines how to salute when reporting to their commanding officer at basic anymore?" Rebecca commented with as straight a face as she could manage, standing up in preperation to return said salute to make the point.

~And here we go.~ Jason thought to himself. "Of course they do ma'am. However, Marines do not salute indoors unless wearing a cover, the position of attention is used in place of the salute." If she thought he'd get flustered and try to salute, she would be dissapointed as neither his tone or expression changed from the normal calm. Growing up in a Marine family did have some benefits. However, since she chose to go the formal route, he would gladly accomodate it. "Private First Class Eirias, Jason Matthew, reporting as ordered for assignment to the USS Achilles Marine Component, Ma'am."

"Considering that you are reporting into your commanding officer for the first time, Id be wearing a cover if I were you," Rebecca replied conversationally. "In fact that's the reason I'm wearing mine, I've got half a dozen marines reporting in today alone, thankfully I don't have to wear the blasted thing all the time." Rebecca commented, then added. "However, Private, interpreting regulations for an Officer could be considered insubordination."

He just managed to not blink at that, as wearing it indoors was almost a crime to him by training. After the comment on insubordination however, that ended anything beyond following instruction in Jason's head. The aforementioned cover was removed from his pocket, and put on his head in the literally exact manner described in regulation. Once in place, he rendered a perfect salute to her and held it while repeating his information.

Rebecca returned the salute crisply before settling back into her seat.

"Have a seat Private," Rebecca said. "Those your orders?"

Once she lowered her salute, his snapped back down quickly. The instruction to sit was followed quickly, adpoting a modified attention while seated. The PADD containing the orders was then placed quickly and gently infront of the Captain, while Jason waited to see what happened next. "Yes, they are Ma'am."

"I was reading your, and the other five marines, files earlier, in the half hour break from all the paperwork that was supposed to be to relax, go figure," Rebecca commented wryly. "Father was a Master Sergeant in the Corps, as is your brother if the cross-reference was right, trained as an Artificer before being posted out to Aleron, where I understand you distinguished yourself during an ambush I believe, before putting in for a return tot he Infantry that took you back out to Sol and then to us here aboard the Achilles."

Rebecca smiled slightly.

"Sounds like you've been busy in the past year or so going this way and that across the quadrant," Rebecca smiled. "All part of the life I suppose, anyway you've been made aware of the recent activities out here with the Kzinti?"

"My twin is in the Corps yes, but he's in the academy right now to go for Infantry officer, Ma'am." The rest of it sounded correct, and her tone about the paperwork was noted as it sounded to him like she disliked it which said a few good things, so he acknowledged it with a nod. "The posting to the Achilles was not expected, everyone thought I would go back to Aleron until it came down to report here. I did get some of the information, but not all that much as it was considered of little value at my rank by my instructors, so I am hoping to catch up quickly, Ma'am".

"Basically we lost a lot of good people, I myself was reassigned here from USS Ticonderoga to replace the former Achilles MCO who was killed in action, you and the rest of the Marines coming aboard are likewise replacing fallen comrades," Rebecca replied somberly. "The War, it seems, is over, so we won't be getting any combat with this particular foe, however once the Achilles is repaired and refitted we'll be heading back out again, and with a Rear Admiral at the helm I would imagine we'll be kept busy."

Jason's attention was locked onto her now, carefully weighing both words and tone. The idea of missing the war was dissapointing and relieving at the same time, but he undestood that it meant a longer acceptance period from the established parties. As she finished her statement, he nodded but didn't say anything while mentally moving the priority on finding out what had gone on before up several levels on his mental list.

"In any case, I intend to make sure that the detachment is ready for anything, so we're going to be facing a pretty hefty training schedule." Rebecca commented. "I want you to get your gear squared away, meet some of the other marines then get a good nights sleep, busy day tomorrow... and the day after, and... well you get the idea."

The implication wasn't lost, he understood this was going to be some work to get up to speed. Again Jason nodded and mentally went through the list of gear he would need to look over, most of it being in good condition from training. "Understood, we're keeping busy. Permission to be dismissed to get onto the ship and get everything sorted, Ma'am?"

"Permission granted," Rebecca nodded. "Dismissed."

Standing, he quickly executed an about face, and walked with the measured step to the door. Once clear, of the office and the door had safely closed behind him, he breathed out in a sigh of relief and started for the docking port to get that gear. ~Always more to do, thankfully.~ Jason thought to himself.

Rebecca watched as the Marine left before getting back down to her work.

OFF:

Captain Rebecca Post
Marine Detachment Commanding Officer
USS Achilles

Sgt. Maj. Arcenio Velez & SSgt. Jason Frey
NPCs – played by Da`nal

PFC Jason Eirias
Marine Rifleman
USS Achilles

 

RSS Feed