"A Ship without Marines is like a garment without buttons."

Posted on Fri Aug 29th, 2014 @ 12:54pm by Captain Jacob Lambert & Major Elizabeth Beasley

950 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Episode 4 - Parallels
Location: USS Unification - Ready Room
Timeline: Day 0 - 1500

The Starfleet Marine Corp was often changing around people last minute. However, Elizabeth wasn't used to being told she had ten minutes to report in from the time she had received her orders. It was going to take her that long to clear the entire Starbase to make it to the ship. She was even contemplating requesting a Site-to-Site transport just so she could make it in time. Though the thought of materializing on the bridge, might cause some minor heart attacks.

Elizabeth had about a minute to spare when she checked in with security at the airlock and got informed the Captain was in his Ready Room. She was extremely nervous, but it was due to the fact that her life just went in a completely different direction. She wasn't expecting to take on this new role so soon. She figured her TAD would keep her on the station longer than an hour.

"Damn that shuttle pilot," She cursed under her breath as she walked to the turbolift. "BRIDGE!" She barked at the computer, like she was dressing down a new recruit at boot camp. She actually was taken back by herself. She didn't realize how much she was frustrated. She took some quick, deep breaths and centered herself.

Just minutes later she was in front of the door to her new Commanding Officer. She simply hit the chime and awaited his answer.

Jacob looked up from the report he was reading. A welcome respite from the constant list of things that still needed repairing on this Nebula class Unification. 'Come in’ he called to the emptiness of the room, as the doors opened and revealed a female marine.

"Major Elizabeth Beasley," She stated as she entered the room and came to attention a few feet from the Captain’s desk, "reporting as order." She had just straightened her hair and uniform while she waited for the door to open. She had her hair pulled back in a tight bun so as to keep it off her collar and within uniformed regulations.

"Welcome aboard Major. How are you finding everything so far? Your platoons all on board?" the Captain asked the Marine. He gestured to the chair, indicating she may have a seat.

"Well Captain, to be honest I have just arrived at the ship. I haven’t even made my way down to the Marine deck," She said as she took the seat and crossed her ankles. "As for the platoon, I am sure they are. Otherwise the First Sergeant is going to hear me bitch for days on end," He added with a slight lightness and laugh to her voice.

Jacob smiled. This woman has a nice attitude he thought to himself. Most marines he had dealt with, with the exception of the XO, were usually of the opinion that Starfleet was beneath them.

"Glad to hear it Captain. Let me just check the current manifest." He tapped on his console. and pulled up the current list of crew on board the ship. "It appears that everyone is on board, with the exception of a couple of your medics, who are on the planet in the DS11 compound, coordinated with the Medical department in regards to medical supplies."

Liz just nodded her head. She was glad to know that they were already hard at work, "That is good to hear Captain. I like to know my crew is working hard without having me around. Is there anything specific I need to know about my assignment here sir? I was just given my orders to report here upon arrival at the station, and haven’t had a chance to research the ship or crew."

"Nothing specific. The former MCO left under less than exceptional circumstances, so we just needed to have an MCO on board. Now I didn't like having Marines work on one of my starships, but that changed when my XO came on board. So don't make me regret my decision to have Marines around. They have come through for me in a number of incidents." He thought for a moment. "Do you have any questions or concerns about your posting here?"

"Interesting. I shall have to change your perceptions about us even more. I believe while we are on a ship we are crew here and we work that way. Outside of our drills and assignments, you will see Marines learning all aspects of this ship and standing various watches, assuming the other senior staff and yourself are al’right with that," She replies and allowed the Southern accent slip out.

"As for concerns, no sir. I am a Marine. I make whatever the situation is work for me," She added in a very matter of fact tone. She was proud of what she had accomplished and being a member of the Corps.

"I can assume your marines are all cross trained across various departments?"

"If they arn’t, they will be sir. I plan on making sure of that," Liz said in all seriousness.

"Good. Find out who is cross trained with which department, and we can get them put on the duty roster, save them sitting around waiting for something to happen. And we can work out your drills around them."

"Very well sir. We will make it happen," She said with a nod and a quick mental note about what she needed to get done this evening.

"Excellent. Coordinate with Colonel Wright, and we can get things started."

"Can do," Liz said as she stood up, "by your leave sir? I have a few tasks to take care of and get settled in."

"Very well Major. Dismissed. And welcome aboard."

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