Getting Everything Squared Away, part 2

Posted on Wed Dec 15th, 2010 @ 8:00am by Major Leroy Mangalia & Lieutenant Commander Delon Tovan & Commodore Samantha York & Colonel Damon Raine & Lieutenant JG Tramira Kyt

1,533 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Peace, or Something Like It
Location: Marine Conference Room
Timeline: Current

[Marine Conference Room]

[OLD[

"I'll need a complete report on what happened at the civilian complex, Delon. I want to know who fired first and why no one deemed it necessary to stop them." Damon leaned heavily against his chair and folded his arms.

0NEW[

Kyt refused to stand for that one. "I neither accepted responsibility for this mission, nor was offered it, and as I am not a member of Security's staff, I was not made aware that there was a marine in the brig to begin with, sir."

Leo spoke up at this point. "You were the ranking Marine with that group. I don't care if you were given responsability or not, it was yours by default Gunny. What is it that you thought would happen? That we wouldover look the fact that you were there and obviously didn't do as any selfrespecting Marine would?"

"Actually, it was not. By default, it was given to the person commanding the mission. That wasn't me. And I don't give a damn what you think of me, 1st Lieutenant. My fondness for certain marine core values is already stressed enough, how about you leave the discussion between me and my section chief on this one." Kyt said. Her posture had changed to combat-ready, and she was careful to restrain her desire to beat the man silly.

Damon shook his head. "Your rank gave you authority, you don't need to ask for it." He said in an even tone. "In line with that, you would be just as responsible for the wherabouts and doings of your Marines as Delon would be for the 'fleet' men and women. Why wouldn't it occur to you to stop the use of excessive force or that there was a Marine missing on return to the Calypso?" His voice started ramping up in volume as he looked at her stance. "Right now, your conduct is inexcusable. I'm not sure how things were done before this posting, but we follow a chain of command here. The first Lieutenant is your supperior and you will show him the respect due any officer of the Corps. One more word contrary to that effect and I will have you join the other Marine in the brig, charged with insubordination."

Delon turned to Demon. This was obviously getting heated. "Excuse me Major, but Gunnery Sergeant was inside the building with Lieutenant Jaxara and me. Corporal Shintaku had been left in charge of the team that was left outside the building. Corporal Shintaku had been given command of the Marine unit by Lieutenant Mangalia. And as far as my question concerning the Marines earlier, no disrespect was meant. Lieutenant Mangalia was the one that implied that a Marine might have killed a civilian by accident."

Kyt nodded to Tovan with a brief appreciative expression. She refrained from saying anything, as she was currently under a gag order, under threat of insubordination charges.

Damon sighed, glad for the interruption. "As for the Lieutenant's question, I can understand where he is coming from. I'm not sure if it's the same in the 'fleet', but Marines train with heavy stun regularly to simulate death. Having experienced it, I can tell you that your body turns to dead weight after being hit. Injuries sustained from a standing fall can be severe occasionally, head force trauma being the usual culprit. I think what he is getting at is if the deaths were due to use of excessive force or just bad lack."

"If Corporal Shintaku was in charge of the Marines outside, we need to find out from her what happened." She put a hand gently on Damon's shoulder. "I have complete faith in the Marine CO. The Marines on this ship are well-trained and disciplined. They don't make those kinds of mistakes. However, it does appear that someone crossed a line. I for one would like to find out what happened before we decide what to do with the Corporal in the brig."

"There is no way to tell that from here. I don't know the answer to that question nor does Gunnery Sergeant know it. The only way to find out is to beam a body aboard and run an autopsy on the body. Also, the weapon that was used should be examined. In addition to all this, we should also ask Lance Corporal Guntold to let us know her side of the story." Delon responded to Damon concerning the questions if it was excessive force or bad luck.

"Leroy." Damon started "See to it that all of the weapons used on that away mission are checked. I also want to know who was using which weapons. The log should have that in detail. Getting a body on board may be tricky, any idea's on how to go about that?" He asked the room's occupants.

"On which side of the border is the base located on?" Delon asked.

Kyt leaned back against the wall. Apparently her opinions and ideas were not welcome. She hit the replicator button for a coffee, and sipped it, while deciding to refrain from giving any ideas, though she had a few.

"If I remember right from the original briefing, the civilian complex bordered both the Coalition and Alliance territories. Contested land." Damon added.

"We'll need to get permission from whomever ran the facility before beaming anyone up or performing any sort of procedure," Sam said. "We can talk to the two women involved while the weapons examined." This was not looking good. The Alliance they could talk to. The Coalition would be a problem.

"I will get in contact with Madam Onasi concerning the complex. I am positive that their Intelligence Agency would have some type of information concerning the complex." Delon said.

Leo nodded and wrote down his newest mission. He would have to talk to the Armorer about the weapons used. He knew that his own had been a phase rifle, but not all of the Marines used them. "Anything I should know about my men and their weapons of choice before I go irate on the Armorer?"

Sam looked at Damon, then back at Leo. "There's no reason to go irate on the armorer. The Marines know their weapons. The armorer is not responsible for seeing that they use non-lethal weapons. That was the responsibility of the individual Marines."

Kyt cleared her throat. "Several security officers were equipped with non-standard weaponry, though they were not used offensively against anything more living than a wall." She said dryly. She handed Sam the PADD. "Though the choice of weaponry was questionable, at best, it was used strictly as a tool, not as a combat weapon."

"Captain, some of the Snipers use gauss weapons, or slug throwers. They feel that it's more accurate and provides less chance of anything getting away, or even the wrong setting being placed on a phase rifle. I didn't tell the men before they left they couldn't use combat knives or gauss weapons. I figured if thats what they like, then thats what they can use this time."

Sam folded her arms. "Lieutenant, I have five brothers. I am an expert with slug throwers, phasers and knives -- among other weapons. I have no problem switching from one weapon to another. The Marines are trained to be experts in multiple weapons. I have no doubt they could have performed equally well with phaser rifles. The team was ordered not to use deadly force. Whoever killed those civilians went against a direct order. The only defense for that is if it was a matter of kill or be killed. Personal weapon choice was not an option."

"Then I have no choice than to take full responsibility for their actions. I didn't think that my Sniper's were going to go all gung ho on the building, so I allowed the weapons." Shrugging he looked at Damon. "If they were even the ones to go gung ho first."

Sam turned to Damon. This was his department. His decision.

"Marine snipers were ordered to take out the targets surrounding the building with none lethal force." Delon spoke up. "As I have said earlier at the time of mission we didn't know if the guards were simply civilians guarding their properly or if they were mercenaries. In the end it ended up that they were holding the Captain hostage but that still doesn't excuse why there were dead guards and not simply knocked out."

"We're talking in circles. I suggest we end this discussion until we can hear the two Corporals' stories," Sam said.

Leo nodded but said nothing. He could see something on the horizon, but he had no clue what it was. "That's up to you Ma'am," he said.

Delon nodded. "I agree."

"I always prefer to have all my facts -- or as many as I can get -- before making a decision," Sam said. "So, let's go to the brig."

OFF

Captain Samantha York
Commanding Officer

Major Damon Raine
Marine CO

Lieutenant Delon Tovan
Chief Operations Officer

1st Lieutenant Leroy Mangalia
Marine XO

Gunnery Sergeant Tramira Kyt
Marine

 

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