Old Devil Dog In A New Place

Posted on Wed Aug 25th, 2010 @ 6:01pm by Lieutenant Kaj Mikkola & Colonel Damon Raine & Chief Warrant Officer Wendell Gavin

3,024 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Primary Shuttlebay

-ON-

The more things changed the more they stayed the same or slightly altered one way or another. For Kaj it meant yet another inspection of the shuttlebays, something that was always fun at first but grew weary, and although he intended to appoint the incoming Ensign as the shuttlebay manager he wasn't there yet, so it fell to Kaj to make sure things ran smoothly.

However this time things were different. Aside from the deliberate waltz of the repair crews Kaj spied something that stuck out pretty vividly against the grays and blues of the bay: a crisp set of jungle BDUs with a patrol cap to boot. Thinking he was seeing things he approached the figure, squinting as he went and craning his head forward a little.
"Can I help you marine?

Almost instantly the figure wheeled around on his heel and easily saluted, hinting that this Marine was a long-timer and had earned the right to salute in such a manner, although the Chief Warrant Officer's bars on his collar could have told him that ahead of time.
"Chief Warrant Officer Wendell Gavin sir. As I understand it I'm to report to you as well as the Major."

Kaj's confused look stuck on his face as he spoke.
"At ease Chief, take a lean even since this isn't Marine country."

Only a tic for a split second gave away what Wendell thought about leaning, instead he opted for parade rest. Either Kaj didn't notice or didn't care so he continued.
"Now what's this about reporting to me...oh right, new Warrant Officer, my apologies Chief, the PADD didn't indicate that you would be a marine Chief Warrant Officer.... this is certainly an odd situation, hold on for a moment will you?"

Kaj tapped his commbadge
"Mikkola to Major Raine, if you have a moment would you mind meeting me in the primary shuttlebay, I have a circumstance that warrants your attention sir."

Wanting to learn more about what was apparently the new Chief Warrant Officer in his department, Kaj took the easy route.
"So Chief, where were you before you came on board?"

Gavins' face betrayed no feeling other than a blank look.
"Terra Nova sir, in charge of drop operations training at the Advanced Infantry Combat Tactics school. Unfortunately my training did not work with their guidelines so it was prudent to seek another position."

Kaj frowned a little. He could smell a blow-off answer a mile away.
"That's all well and good Chief, but really what did you think of it? And you can call me Kaj, but ill try to accept sir if it makes you feel better."

Finally Gavin reacted a little, smirking at the corner of his mouth mirthlessly.
"Truthfully sir the people in charge of that school probably haven't seen combat in the last ten years, the techniques are evolving but not fast enough. I came out here to teach the younger generation how to actually fight and act the way you're supposed to in this day and age, not how you were five or ten years ago."

Kaj nodded and grinned himself. Despite the blistering formality he was starting to like Wendell already.

Damon walked into the hanger with a determined gait, passing by crewmen without even looking their way. He was busy today and didn't think he had time to be idilly strolling through the ship without reason.

Kaj's communication left much to Damon's imagination. He assumed that it would have something to do with one of the Marine birds. Maybe he crashed another one He thought sourly to himself as he walked up to the waiting Lieutenant. He didn't even notice the Marine standing with him.

"Afternoon Lieutenant. What can I help you with?"

Kaj's back was turned to Damon as he entered which meant he was at least partially blocking his view of Wendel. Turning and sidestepping simultaneously brought the warrant officer into Damon's full view. For his part, Wendel adopted a formal but easy attention position followed by a similar salute.

"Ah, Major, this is Chief Warrant Officer Wendel T. Gavin, marine dropship pilot. Apparently he was assigned to my department, hence why I called you down here, clear up any command or other issues along those lines."

Damon finally regarded the man saluting in front of him. He lifted his hand and gave a lazy salute in return.

"Welcome to the Calypso Chief. Which birds are yours?"

As he came to a near-perfect parade rest position Wendel's face contorted in certain corners when considering that question. Clearly this sort of situation had little precedent, or at least none that he could think of anyway.
"Frankly sir I haven't the slightest idea, I have never served in a fleet department in any one of my years of service."

Kaj cleared his throat to jump in. Unlike the chief he had a vague idea of which birds Wendel would be in charge of, but at least it was an idea rather than a blank slate.
"Given the Chief's vast experience in his particular field I think it's only fitting that he would be in charge of all the Marine support craft, don't you Major?"

Damon's face remained impassive. "I would have assumed as much." He was really trying to gauge which crafts the Chief was the most comfortable with as there were a number of Marine support vehicles. "Have you seen combat?"

Wendel simply nodded before speaking.
"Yes sir, Badlands police actions, Klingon-Fed War, Dominion War, Borg Incursions, and the Reman Insurrection..."

Wendel nodded his head to the side a bit before deciding to actually display a bit of personality.
"...as well as the usual war with logistics and other assorted paper-pushers, sir. In the badlands operations I acted as a combat engineer, but after that I was a pilot, flew every mission profile from search and rescue to gunfire support with pretty much any drop or gunship that the Corps has used since I enlisted, as well as a few 'loaned' Federation types and one indigenous hack once, so I'm well versed with any marine support craft that is currently available."

The Marine CO nodded at the list of craft the Chief was proficient in using. "That's good Chief. So what brings you to the fleet life?"

Wendel couldn't hide the faraway cast his eyes adopted. Clearly this was a personal question, but like a good marine he was honest before anything else.
"Training sir, or rather the lack of it. When I was stationed at Terra Nova the officers seemed to be more concerned with traditional tactics than the modern reality of the corps and who we are facing these days. It wasn't easy but the fact is I can do more out here than at some depot..."

Clearly there was more to be said but Wendel wasn't given to disparaging people who weren't in his immediate vicinity, especially ones that had the far-reaching pull that the commanding officer of Camp Terra Nova's Advanced Infantry Warfare School did.

Damon was listening carefully to the way he was talking as much as the words themselves. This method had worked out well in the past when determining if someone was going to be an asset or liability in his command.

What Damon heard was somewhere in between the two. He agreed that times had changed and tactics should change with them, but was more to do with the Chief's attitude about it. Every command was different in the way of operations, slight differences based on what the Commanding Officer pushed. The chief saying that he didn't agree with the training regiment at his last posting led Damon to think that conforming to a standard other than his own would be an issue.

On the other hand, this pilot has enough confidence to step out of his comfort zone in an attempt to really help other Marines.

Damon made up his mind in the few seconds of silence. He would give this pilot some breathing room to run the vehicles and Marine pilots how he saw fit...but not too much room.

"Well, welcome to the Calypso then. We run varied sorties in many different conditions. You will have to be flexible from day to day when it comes to your approach since we visit so many different planets. I expect you to be up to that."

The Major looked over to the Lieutenant standing next to him and then back. "You will have to keep up with the rest of my Marines, I wont give breaks on pt just because you will be reporting to the Lieutenant here."

Damon looked back to Kaj. "Operationally he will report to you and to me. So long as it doesn't interfere with Marine business you can use him as you see a need. That sound about fair?"

Kaj shrugged and cocked his head to the side. Clearly the jurisdictional problems would cause headaches down the road but he could recognize skills when he needed, and unlike Damon he liked a free thinker, it meant that if they could think on their own they could come up with ideas that he hadn't thought of, ones that could potentially save lives down the road.
"No complaints from me, either way he's still part of the crew whether he's wearing a globe and anchor or a delta."

Wendel stiffened up a little before asking the next question.
"Sir, if possible I would like to request that I be put in rotation to lead AM PT drills when available."

"I think we can arrange that. We have two company's worth of Marines here and their platoon rotations change often. You will likely be dealing with all of them over time here. Just be sure to clear it with the Lieutenant here as well."

Kaj had taken to leaning against the Wyvern and crossed his arms. Damon was obviously perturbed with him, but despite his rank he wasn't going to take a hissy fit from any jarhead and when he spoke he made sure to over-emphasize his rank to get the point across.
"No objections from me, Major, in fact I might even join in on occasion, for team-building purposes of course."

Gavin could sense the tide shifting and had the good sense to duck out when he did.
"I appreciate both your inputs, my station is much clearer to me now. With your permissions I must depart, some unfinished business with sickbay and registering with the noncoms in charge of the myriad of paperwork."

Once again Wendel came to his easy form of attention and saluted.

Damon frowned at Kaj's response but said nothing for the moment. "You are dismissed Chief." He returned the salute out of formality.

He next crossed his arms, matching Kaj's stature, and looked over to the Starfleet officer who was currently leaning against one of the drop ships. "Did I say something to offend you Lieutenant?"

Kaj waited till the shuttlebay hatch was shut before speaking. It didn't do for direct subordinates to see anything other than a unified front, especially when the stakes got high.
"Yeah, your attitude towards me since we got back from Tiberius has frankly sucked to put it bluntly, and I'm being generous. I've put up with it but today you've been especially pissy for some reason. So out with it Damon, just what has you bent out of shape when it comes to me?"

"My attitude towards you is frankly imagined. I wanted to show a clear distinction to the chief that he has to answer to different department heads from two very different branches of Starfleet. Because of the blurred lines here it will be up to him to work his schedule appropriately. Neither one of us can do that for him without stepping on each others toes."

That answer was met with a large eye roll from Kaj, followed by a larger assault.
"Quit blowing smoke in my general direction, you know damn well what I'm talking about, and I think I know why. Yes I crashed the damn Wyvern and yes I regret it, but this sort of thing happens, and if the idiots who charted the damn planet had noted the fact that the sand clogs injectors I wouldn't have stuck around as long as I did.

"Quit holding the damn crash over my head, I do a good enough job beating myself up about it and other screwups without you pitching in."

"So we are blaming an incomplete recon on the Firefly crashing? Do you always go into a situation believing everything you read? Look I'm unhappy about that because you didn't think for yourself. It isn't my business to think about sand clogging injectors, but it is yours."

"Look, I know I'm being undually harsh, it was an accident after all. But the thing is, i've read your file and it speaks to how capable a pilot you are. You are better than accidents like this and I need to trust in your abilities if you fly with my Marines. We need better than perfect or people start dying."

Kaj threw his hands up and paced back to the rear of the Hopper and back, half yelling as he went.
"Oh right, those injectors are rated for high-speed micro-particles, what are the odds that some dust on a ball of dirt is just the right consistency to screw with injectors? And it wasn't a judgment lapse, I was providing overwatch. Nobody had any idea just what the hell happened on that rock, and tricorders only do so much. What if you needed a pickup in a hurry and had to wait for Christian and I to turn the hopper back around, or interference had screwed with any sort of detection system in addition to limiting vision? Things could have been a helluva lot worse if that happened

If you read my file you'll note that there's plenty of screwups and accidents, but you would have also noted that I managed to get out of them or turn them around in a hurry when it got dicey, THATS why I come with the citations that I do, because when the excrement hits the agitator I can think fast and negate it. Yes I try to fly as safe as possible but in this line of work things happen, situations escalate and break down, and you of all people should know that."

"We didn't ask you to overwatch Kaj, you were told to go back to the Orion. If you listened to your orders the drop ship wouldn't have crashed."

Kaj considered this for a moment, and his face went from indignation to grudging resignation before finally admiting defeat.
"Yeah, you're right, should have listened that time, but in my defense at that moment it seemed like the best option.
Well at least now you don't have to worry about it, you have your own grunt flying for you."

Damon nodded with a half smile forming across his face. "Yeah, and I have a strange feeling he will be just as much a handful." He allowed the tension that was building up inside to bleed away.

"Look, I don't want there to be an issue here. For what it's worth, I still think you are the best guy for the job, and I mean that. I apologize if my demeanor around you has been less than amicable."

Kaj looked sheepish and rubbed the back of his head before holding a hand up palm out.
"Nah, don't worry about it, it wasn't just that, it was the stress of this thing I'm doing with Shalie for Erin, I dunno if its me being stupid about the damn thing being perfect for her and her tribe or what but its driving me nuts, and I'm pretty sure Shalie wants to bash me in the head with a hydrospanner some days thanks to my obsessiveness.

And I think Gavin will fit in better than you think. I like him, its good to have that sort of formality and gung-ho around, keeps things interesting. The guy has a jacket that's longer than a big system, that's for sure."

"Well I hope you are right about the chief." Damon said nodding to the truth of Kaj's words. "My experience has taught me that people who try to implement new programs either succeed brilliantly or fail miserably. With the lives of my Marines on the line I would rather settle for a consistent middle ground. It's what I know and what I trust. I'm not saying that I'm not open to new ideas; I'm saying that he had better be prepared for me to say no if I think they are too risky."

"As for women," Damon shook his head and smiled "that I have no advice for. I'm just as blind and dumb as the next guy for what the right thing is. I try my best and hope she is quick to forgive my failings. With your situation I'll just tell you something my sister once told me; it's real if you can fall in love with someone's imperfections."

Kaj laughed and slapped Damon heartily on the shoulders, all transgressions relieved before even that moment.
"Your sister is apparently a galactic sage, I mean Erin makes those cute little faces and I can't say no. Don't tell me Sam doesn't do anything similar to that..."

Damon gave him a dismayed look "Oh I know it well, especially if she is about to do something she knows I will have an issue with."

Shaking his head and chuckling Kaj simultaneously gave Damon an semi-incredulous look and grinned before nodding in the direction of the hatch.
"C'mon, I think we could both use a break, I'll round up Tyke and we'll all discuss the nuances of womanese, that language that predates any known written text."

END

Major Damon Raine
Marine CO
USS Calypso

Lieutenant Kaj "Natch" Mikkola
CFCO
USS Calypso

Chief Warrant Officer Wendel "T.S." Gavin
Marine Support Craft Pilot
USS Calypso

 

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