Required Formalities

Posted on Sun Jun 25th, 2023 @ 6:52pm by Captain Daniel Rye & Commodore Samantha York

1,319 words; about a 7 minute read

Materializing aboard the Calypso, a wave of relief washed over Danny as the realization that the long journey he'd undertaken to get to his new assignment had finally come to an end.

"Welcome aboard, Sir," The transporter chief greeted the Marine with a warm smile, "Your belongings have been sent straight to your quarters, the computer can guide you if you need directions."

"Thank you," Rye responded, stepping down from the transporter pad and instinctively brushing himself down, "Where might the CO be please?" he was less interested in seeing his quarters and more so in getting the required formalities out of the way.

"The bridge sir, I believe."

"Thank you," Danny nodded toward the transporter chief heading immediately to the nearest turbolift.

The bridge was everything he'd been told it was. As impressive a starship bridge as he'd seen, the Marine Captain's presence went curiously unacknowledged by the half a dozen personnel that were currently manning it. Seeing no immediate sign of the ship's commanding officer, Rye exited the lift, turning to the left, offering a smile and nod to the officer that glanced his direction from the wall panel on which they had been working and made his way to the CO's ready room where he had assumed Commodore York might have been.

Pressing the door chime and straightening out his uniform, he took a deep breath as he prepared for his first encounter with his new boss.

"Come in," a voice called. Sam was sorting PADDs on her desk into three stacks. Ones that needed her attention, ones she could look at later, and ones she planned to recycle. Why Starfleet decided she needed to know what Admiral Rickenbach was doing for shore leave she had no idea--and didn't care. She'd met the man once at a conference and that was more than enough for her.

She left one stack on her desk, put the other in a drawer, and dropped the stack to be recycled into a bin for her yeoman to deal with. Then she stood to greet the new arrival.

Stepping through the door Danny stopped short of the Commodore's desk, snapping crisply to attention and offering his new CO a salute as was expecting from a Starfleet Marine. The truth was that Rye found the ritual a little tiresome and overdone but he wanted to give the Calypso's CO a professional first impression.

"Commodore York," He spoke formally, "Marine Captain Daniel Rye reporting as ordered, Ma'am."

"At ease, captain." Sam smiled and indicated a chair in front of her desk. "Have a seat and tell me something about yourself." She paused and added, "Oh, and I don't stand on formality unless I have to."

"Good to know," Rye smiled as he sat down, "I guess the beginning is as good a place to start, I was born on Benecia. We lived there until my Mom passed away pretty suddenly and then my Dad decided to bring my big brother and I back to the homeworld. He joined Starfleet and went into security, I became a Marine and twelve years later, here we are!" He chose to omit the fact that his brother also in fact outranked him, something that merely served to stoke the competitive flame that burned between almost all siblings.

"I'm an only child myself. I came through science and never expected to command a ship. But circumstances and a field promotion changed that. I think that's one of the reasons Starfleet sends us out to the fringes. I like exploring." She smiled. "And I like a good Marine CO. I've been fortunate to work with a number of good Marines, and from your record, I think you'll be one of them." She sat back, casually watching him. "What do you expect from the Marines on the Calypso?"

Danny enjoyed exploration too but whilst he'd seen his fair share of the quadrant over the course of his career thus far, the majority of places he'd been thus far could hardly be called idyllic such was the nature of his being in those places to begin with. It was also nice to know that he would be working with a CO who understood the Marines at least a little, "I expect them to develop such a reputation that people won't want to face us."

Taking a moment to breathe, Rye continued; "There was a ship. An ancient earth ship named Warrior that was so much bigger, faster and badder than anything else around that when ever she arrived at a fight, her enemies turned and fled. She never fired a shot in anger. That is what I would like from the Calypso's marine detachment."

"I don't know if you'll get that sort of reputation working on the Calypso, but I definitely agree that you should never attack in anger. Defense is, in my opinion, a stronger position. I'm also quite aware that defense includes fighting back when necessary." It was a logical reaction for a Marine, and Sam could respect that. "

As the Calypso has both security and Marines, I try to strike a balance. Security does tactical, brig, and ship-based security. Marines repel boarders and are the fighting force--although there will be times when you work together." She didn't think he'd have a problem with this, but she wanted to be clear--and work out any differences they may have now.

"With planetary operations, security is in charge of personnel in the base camp and Marines guard the perimeter and the area outside, establishing an FOB if necessary. I also like to have Marines on any away teams that could be risky." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I know this is SOP, but we both know of Starfleet captains that consider you part of the chain of command. Here, deck 14 is Marine Country. You have two drop ships at your disposal on deck 13." It was a data dump, she knew but she'd had a few problems with Marines in the past and wanted to be clear from the start. "You are in charge of your deck, and you report directly to me. any changes you want to make will be considered--and that includes now."

Rye had arrived wanting to make clear that he and in turn his detachment would be well prepared whatever fight came their way but frankly, hearing that any serious fighting would be largely unexpected sparked a flutter of excitement within him. He had done serious fighting for a lot of years and was now perfectly happy to help ensure the safety of their ship and help develop the kids who would no doubt have plenty of that serious fighting in their future someday.

It was partially why he had asked for a homeworld defense assignment and whilst that was never one that was going to last for very long, he was glad that he would still be granted time to properly enjoy life a little alongside whatever adventures would come their way.

Listening attentively to each word he was told, as the Commodore finished speaking, Danny nodded; "Understood, Ma'am. I'm looking forward to being able to contribute to resolving whatever challenges come our way."

"Excellent." Sam smiled. She had a good feeling about the Marine. He'd be a good asset to the Calypso. "I know that's a lot to dump on you at once. Do you have any questions?"

"No Ma'am," The Marine responded with a smile of his own, "Nothing comes to mind but I'll know where to come if that changes."

She nodded. "Then you're dismissed. Get settled in and meet your Marines."

Nodding at the CO as he stood, Danny turned crisply toward the door and made his departure, looking forward all the while to really getting started in his new role.

____
OFF

Commodore Samantha York
Commanding Officer
USS Calypso

Marine Captain Danny Rye
Detachment Commander
USS Calypso

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