Semper Fi!

Posted on Tue Jun 6, 2017 @ 9:06pm by Fleet Captain Rhea Kennit

1,594 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Silence
Location: USS VICTORY

Leaving the Brig, frustrated at the incompetence which had resulted in a Tal Shiar spy managing to infiltrate her ship and crew, and angry at the very real possibility it wasn't simple incompetence at all but something much deeper she had to unravel, Captain Kennit was on her way to the shittlebay to return to the surface when she was detained by a call from the Bridge.

Bridge to the Captain.

Closing her eyes for a moment in exasperation, with eyes still closed the Captain answered "Kennit here."

We have received a transmission from a personnel transport which just dropped out of warp at the edge of the system. They are requesting permission to come alongside and dock with us.

Dark eyes reflecting surprise as they snapped open, in a puzzled tone the Captain replied, "A transport all the way out here? Are they lost?"

No ma'am. came the answer. The ship is tasked to the Starfleet Marine Corps. We have received
confirmation orders that a complement of Marines has been re-assigned to the Victory with confirmation from Admiral Hansen's office."

As if she didn't have enough on her hands right now! Muttering a soft "...son of a bitch.." while her comm was muted, Kennit answered then and said, "Understood. Permissions granted. Guide them in and have operations prepare for personnel transfer. I'm on my way.."

Heaving a definitely exasperated sigh, and a shake of her head, she turned on her heel and headed away from the shuttle deck toward the Bridge. Speaking aloud, she said "They're lost."

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abbot made his way to the flight deck as the "Darkhorse," a Mustang Class Runabout dropped from warp. He wanted to get a first hand look at the ship he and his Marines would be calling home.

"We've just been given permission in Major."

"Good, seems in good order, not bad for a bunch of pogues." Abbot used the word Pogue quite a bit when describing office personnel that had no understanding of the real Marine Corps. He eased his way back to the cargo hold.

"All right Marines look alive, we land in five mikes, I hope you enjoyed your R&R, I want this gear off loaded as soon as we land. I better not see any of those REMFs showing you up either."

All 6 Marines sounded off in thunderous unison, "AYE AYE SIR!" 6 Marines was a very small Strike Group but it was thrown together last minute and they would have to make due. The Marines quickly unstrapped as the shuttle shimmied to a rest in the Victories shuttle bay, Abbot was down the ramp as it hit the deck. The Operations Boatswain was ready and waiting his arrival.

"Major, we are pleased to welcome you aboard."

Abbot nodded, he knew this wasn't the case, in his experience most crew found the addition of Marines as an insult to Security & Tactical, that was of course until shit hit the fan. "I wish to speak to the Captain."

"Right away sir, she's expecting you."

The mood was already tense given the recent events which had unfolded, to see Marines deboarding from a runabout didn't help. Both men entered the turbolift and accelerated towards Deck 1, the doors swooshed open and they quickly become the most popular people on the bridge. They made their way to the Captains Ready room and chimed the door.

"Come"

The Boatswain motioned Abbot in, "Captain, Major Abbot Prime." The Boatswain retreated following the announcement, Abbot entered the room and centered himself at her desk at the position of attention.

"Captain Kennit, Major Prime reports as ordered."

Standing behind her desk, half turned away from in the process of retrieving a cup of coffee from the replicator while she had the opportunity and Dr. Anderson was off the ship - thus unable to nag. With coffee in hand, she turned toward him and looked him over. "At ease Major." Captain Kennit told him. "Have a seat. Would you like a coffee?"

Abbot relaxed his arms and took a quick survey of the room as he sat down. "That would be great, black, thank you." The Captain handed him a cup as well as she took a seat.

Picking up a PaDD from her desk, she said "Normally I receive prior notification of incoming new personnel. Since no such notice was sent I admit to being a little curious as to what brings you here.."

Hey started to feed her the canned answer, one he would usually feed to diplomats and those that just wanted lip service but he stopped mid-sentence he could tell she wasn't buying it. He looked down shaking his head as he chuckled under his breath.

Looking back up. "Permission to speak freely Captain?"

"Please"

He reached for his coffee and took a sip, squinting preparing his mouth for the hot brew. "Captain, I'm here on direct orders from the Commandant, lets be honest, except for the fifteen minutes of fame every forty five days, we're in total isolation out here. For the most part we're looking at the unknown. What this Task Force has been able to accomplish in spite of that is truly remarkable. There are those in the Federation that want to seek out new life, share knowledge, and peace" he stood as he took another sip of his coffee and began looking over the various decor in the room. "Others think we already have too much on our plate, me...personally I don't give a damn either way.

He turned back towards the Captain, "I'm reminded of a quote by a Marine legend, Mad Dog Mattis, he said Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet. What he meant by that was to remain vigilant and never let your guard down even in the company of those who seem friendly." He motioned to the wall behind her with his cup hand. "There are a great many things beyond these walls that would have no qualms of scratching your eyeballs out and eating them for breakfast. Peace is a pipe dream, so why am I here you ask?" He sat his cup down on her desk as he returned to his chair, and looked her straight in the eyes. "I'm here to protect Federation interests in this Quadrant, and I'll terminate any adversary with extreme prejudice that threatens those interests."

Amused and not bothering to hide it, Captain Kennit answered "Is that so?" She gave a little shrug and continued, "Rest assured Major. I am very well aware of the dangers which hide out there in the darkness."

Abbot leaned back in his chair "Yes, I'm sure you are"

The comm chimed then, and with an apologetic motion of her hand, the Captain answered. "Kennit here."

"Captain, the away team has missed their third check-in. We have tried to raise them on the comm with no response. We are however able to get an auto confirmation signal from the landing beacon at the shuttle landing sight so the signal is getting through."

The Captain frowned slightly. "Understood continue to try and get them on the line."

"Aye Captain. Bridge out."

Her attention returned to Major Prime. "It appears there may be a problem below. Are you and your Marines up for active duty or do you need time to get your gear settled aboard?" She asked.

He stood from his chair and took one more drink from his glass before placing it back down. "Prime to Maly"

"Sergeant, Maly here"

"Tell the men to gear up Staff Sergeant, we're rolling out." He motioned with his hand towards the door, "Lead the way."

Rounding her desk, the Captain merely motioned for the Major to follow as she walked toward the door. Stepping out into the Bridge, she said "Mr. Delacroix, the Bridge is yours. Contact the shuttlebay and let them know we will arrive momentarily to return to the surface."

Entering the turbopift, she said "We are going to use rappel lines from the shuttle to drop in directly at the ruins of the city where the away team was conducting initial survey operations. It's too small and confusing Ned to land and the mineral content of the bedrock renders transporters inoperative. I don't feel like wasting the time to hike the way back so.. be sure your team is properly prepared."

"Aye Captain." As the Captain and the Major entered the shuttle bay Abbot's Marines had just finished suiting up in the Standard Type-II Marine Tactical Armor. Sergeant Maly handed the Major his M-3A4 Tactical hand Phaser and M-116A2 Phaser Rifle as he approached. "Get my armor on the shuttle we leave immediately, I'll dress on the way down."

His men were well armed, they all sported tactical hand phasers and phaser rifles, except his sharpshooter Corporal Clemmer, because his weapon of choice was an M-221 marksmanship phaser he preferred the M-45 Special Operation Hand Phaser commonly known by Marines as a machine pistol. Sergeant Maly elected for the 116A2 variant the M-201A1, that featured an underslung weapon mounted grenade launcher EMPW.

As they boarded the shuttle Abbot turned to the Captain. "Captain, meet the 5th Marines, as you can see, my Marines are properly prepared."

Dressed in a tactical uniform more suited to the humid environment below, the Captain nodded as she prepared for launch. "They present a decent impression of it at any rate. Take your seat, we will be on the way momentarily..."


Tbc ...

 

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