Sound Advice

Posted on Fri Nov 2, 2018 @ 2:36pm by Major Victor Crowe

746 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Plaga Navis
Location: Marine Command Center
Timeline: ONE HOUR PRIOR TO MISSION START

MARINE COMMAND CENTER
AKA AUXILIARY ARGO BAY 3

Thge exam was finally over, and Vic was glad to be out of Sickbay. The exam had been an exercise in controlling his temper, but it was over. It was time to get to work. He entered the cargo bay and saw that the engineers had begun shaping the area into a functional command area, complete with offices for himself, Gunny Woodard and the XO. After checking in with Corporal Levin, Vic entered his private office and he swore he could smell the “new plasticrete smell”, a smell that normally made him nauseous. “Computer, are there any new messages for me?” he asked aloud.

=/\= There are two new messages for you; one is from Colonel David Lorenz and the other is from Starfleet Marine Materiel Command, section 4049.=/\=

“Play them,”

=/\=Hey, Crowe-bait, glad to see you on a ship, even if it is the Victory. Lotta hot rumors about that ship, course nothing is concrete. Her skipper seems competent enough, and her CMO could rip the balls off a brass monkey…=/\=. Vic nodded in silent affirmation as the message continued. =/\= I got me a brand-spankin’ new MEU to command and the placed me on the Arizona. Twenty-year mission, two-and-a-half-year re-supply, yadda, yadda, yadda. Soon as the wormhole opens, we deploy back to the Gamma Quadrant. =/\=

Vic paused the message and grinned. Dave Lorenz was a wild man, a legend in the Corps. David Lorenz started life as a pampered aristocrat’s son and wound up being disowned and dishonored by the schemes of his older brother, Arjen. David was forced out of his family estate at age sixteen and quickly enlisted in the Corps. The First Cardassian War saw Lorenz rise in rank to staff sergeant, becoming one of the elite Snakeaters. Lorenz quickly earned an officer’s commission before War’s end and remained in service to train new recruits.

After a year, Lorenz returned to his homeworld, an agricultural colony near Betazed called Dormeil IV. Unable to live with his family in their estate, Lorenz became a member of the Dormeil Constabulary, rising in rank to command his hometown’s district. David reopened the case against him and discovered his brother’s treachery, conspiring with the Cardassians to poison their grain exports. Lorenz cleared his name and had his brother confined to a minimum-security prison.

Lorenz would have stayed with his family if not for the Dominion incursion and subsequent war. The bulldog-tough Marine was placed in command of a rifle company and was captured during a botched assault of a relay station. Lorenz escaped from a Dominion prison world twice, once helping a Starfleet pilot steal a prototype Galor-class ship from a nearby shipyard and earned himself a position with a secret strike force hidden deep within Starfleet. Lorenz then dropped off the grid like he had never existed, resurfacing a few months ago. The reunion blowout at the station had been epic.

=/\= Buddy, it’s tradition for a senior commander to pass down a nugget of advice, and since yu’re the only other officer that I like, I’m giving you this: ‘Do not whiz on an electric fence!’=/\=

Vic grinned, knowing that his friend had confidence in his abilities as a Marine. =/\=Seriously, pal, keep your eyes open. This is the Delta Quadrant, and if something as massive as Starbase 900 can be taken out…well, you get the idea. Eyes forward, Marine! Semper Fi! Lorenz out!=/\=

Vic downloaded his the attachments from Lorenz and saw that it was a collection of holo-photos of him and Dave, plus several females in varying states of nudity. Ray’s is still the best cathouse in this quadrant! Vic grinned to himself. He was about to close the message when the download chime sounded, which meant that the holopics had been stored in his personal server, or so he thought.

“Corporal Levin, I want a duty roster made up before turn of the watch. Senior Command cadre will check in with the watch commander per shift Also, I want to run a full insertion simulation in the holodecks as soon as practicable. Company commanders will get their unit’s squared away as far as TO&E; who needs it, gets it.”

=/\= Aye, sir=/\= replied the voice of a tired-sounding Levin.

"Come on, Levin! let's hear some enthusiasm!!"

 

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