Meetings and Greetings, part 1

Posted on Sat May 8th, 2010 @ 8:17am by Colonel Damon Raine & Major Leroy Mangalia
Edited on on Sat May 8th, 2010 @ 8:24am

1,368 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: What Lies Beneath?
Location: Marine Hall
Timeline: Current

ON:

Leroy was walking out of his room reading a new padd. He was still supposed to be on sick leave, but he couldn't stay still. There were things to take care of, and people to see. Looking up, he noticed two privates start arguing over something inconsequential. Their voices getting louder. Almost dropping the padd he came forward. "This isn't the place or the time!" he called. "Both of you, drop! NOW!"

Damon was on his way to talk to his new XO when he heard the commotion the privates were making, his pace quickened to see what it was about. As he rounded the corner he spotted the Lieutenant giving them a dressing down and, without interrupting, he stood at the end of the corridor with folded arms. He thought of chipping in, but instead he waited curiously to see how the new second in command would handle the situation.

"I DON'T CARE WHO SAID WHAT!" Leroy was yelling at the two men as they started to push. "And I didn't say start pushing. You're going to do it to my cadence." He started counting slowly, making them wait for several seconds in the lowered position of a push up. Looking upon he looked at the Marines that were standing there. "Every one drop," he said as they looked at him. "If you have time to stand there and watch two men ruin their careers, then you have time to push with them!"

Damon smiled to himself over to combined efforts of the Marine's within sight. It reminded him of an approach his old Gunny used on Damon's platoon. When a Marine succeeds, the unit succeeds together; when a Marine fails, the unit fails together. It forces the Marines to back each other up and at the same time forges a solid front.

Having watched enough Damon decided to announce his presence. "Everything under control Lieutenant?" He asked.

Spinning around, Leroy snapped to, and looked a bit afraid. "Men! Ateen-Hut!" he called, then heard the men quickly get to their feet. "Yes sir," Leroy said, answering the man's question, "All's well at the moment."

"I can see that." As he looked past the Lieutenant with a grin at the Marines standing ready. He looked back to Leroy "I'll let you dismiss the men. I just have a few points to go over with you."

Spinning around crisply, he looked to his men. "Dismissed, and so help me, if one more person starts another ruckus, each and every one of you is going to be scrubbing the whole of the ship." The men quickly disappeared, and Leroy spun back around. "What can I do for you Sir?"

"My office." He said simply as he walked past the XO.

Damon's office wasn't too far away and thankfully there weren't any other issues to attend to on the way. He waved his hand in front of the bio scanner near the door and they parted obediently. With a few quick steps, Damon pulled out his chair and sat behind his desk. Once he seated himself he motioned with an outstretched hand for Leroy to take the seat opposite him.

"First things first." He said while settling himself in his chair. "How are you feeling?"

Sitting, Leroy stretched a bit. "Sore, but that's only because I haven't gotten used to the bunk yet. Other than that, no nightmares, or other dreams caused by that ship, or even any actual injury."

Damon nodded. "That's good. With the way things work here on the Orion, I can't afford to have any of my officers on the disabled list."

He reached over to a PADD near the edge of his desk and picked it up. He remained in silence for a number of moments while he read over the information stored on it, seemingly forgetting that there was someone else in the room.

"Your record looks good." He said, breaking the silence. "Your previous company commander has a lot of good things to say about you. I happened to have had the pleasure of serving with him during the war, he's a good man and his word carries some weight with me. That having been said, his recommendations mean nothing as of the day you were transferred here. Your reputation has yet to be made on the Orion."

Damon put down the Marine's personnel records and reached for another stack. "Seems you have already started to make a reputation. These are the damage reports from the shuttle bay. I have yet to hear of any complaints from the staff about it, but I'm sure they will be coming. Care to tell me what happened?"

"The pilot died of an unknown cause, at least to me. I took over, since I failed my pilot's exam three times. I was talking to the ship, then the relays went out." Chuckling a little bit, he shook his head. "I didn't know what I was doing, and spun the ship 180, landing on the roof. I blacked out due to the G's running through my body. Woke up, and was sent to the bunk. I was told to take a few days off, but I can't do that. From what I've seen of the bird, she's failing fast."

As if punctuated by his remarks, the lights in Damon's office flickered for a moment. Having had to deal with it for the last number of hours, Damon wasn't phased at all by it.

"I can appreciate that flying isn't exactly your strong point, but it's a prerequisite for completing basic training. To be honest, I'm not sure how you managed to get out of boot without knowing the rudimentary controls of a shuttle. Now as the department head, your actions reflect upon me. I am prepared to completely forget about these," He held up the damage reports "and I will deal with any complaints that may come this way. I can't, however, have any one of the company Private's be better qualified to fly a shuttle than my XO. I expect you to report to Lieutenant Mikkola, our Chief Flight Control Officer for training on piloting all of the Orion's shuttle variants. This will be in addition to completing all of your regular assigned duties. Understood?"

"Yes Sir. I had already planned on doing so. I passed Basic because I knew the controls, I just couldn't fly the bird. They never respond well. Something always seems to go off. April 29, six years ago, I was involved in a crash of a Delta flyer on Terra Prime. No injuries. She was about two foot off the ground when the stabilizers and propulsion system went up in smoke. Engineering couldn't find anything wrong with it. The Command decided that instead of destroying another vessel, that they were going to pass me, because I could fly on paper."

"Unfortunately paper airplanes aren't very practical for us." Damon said, smirking. "The certificate means nothing to me if you can't actually fly. I'll be expecting regular reports on your progress. Once the Lieutenant is satisfied with your skill behind the controls I am prepared to wipe the slate clean and we can start to build a new reputation for you." His gaze turned very serious towards Leroy. "Know this going forwards, Command may have given you a free pass to get by, but NEVER expect me to. You will work just as hard as every other Marine in this company; I won't have my officers deficient in any way."

"Yes Sir. Were I in your shoes, I wouldn't want it any other way. Also, I plan on training harder, and being better than any of the men under your Command. If the CO and XO are on par, then the bar is set low. Should they excel in even one thing, then the bar is set that much higher for every man to get to." Smiling lightly, he shook his head. "I don't envy this of you Sir, having to pretty much order your XO to be retrained. I wouldn't know how to do it."


(To Be Continued...)


First Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia
Marine XO
USS Orion

Marine Captain Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Orion

 

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