War Games
Posted on Fri Aug 7th, 2020 @ 6:28am by Ensign Michael Sloan & Captain Bethsabée Leroux & Major Samuel King
Edited on on Fri Aug 7th, 2020 @ 6:29am
Mission:
Mission 3 - 100
Location: MACO Training Area, Deck F
Timeline: Day 29, Month 2, Year 0 10:45
1308 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure
Beth turned into what was the lounge area and smiled as she saw a marine checking over his Rifle, and double-checked his uniform as he spotted her walking through the barracks with the Armoury Officer next to her. The Marine felt rather nervous about his first real mission but now this was unreal and the Commanding Officer kept walking around. “Ma’am.” He said.
“Good Afternoon. At ease, we are just here to see Major King." Beth assured quickly and carried on leaving the man to his work. "Every time I walk in here I make another marine nervous." Beth grinned at her companion before knocking on Major King's door hoping him and Chang were ready for it.
"In you come." Samuel said as he had just finished conversing with Sergeant Chang. He rose from his seat as his Commanding Officer and her company entered the room. "Welcome to The Pit ma'am."
"So this is the MACO section," Martinez thought aloud. Being a junior officer before Sloan's arrest, he had never had reason to venture into this portion of the ship. Looking to Major King, the Ensign introduced himself, "Ensign Luis Martinez, Acting Chief Armory Officer."
Beth had though the pair might have met before, but it seemed they had not properly other than messages between them both. "I would not say this was the pits," Beth said with a small joke on her end as she took the seat.
Sam stuck out his hand and shook the younger mans, "Nice to meet you Martinez." She said giving it a firm shake before turning to Beth and giving a small laugh in reply. "The team like to name things, make it feel more like home. Don't get me wrong The Pit doesn't sound appealing but its theirs and they feel more comfortable knowing that. Not a very creative name given we are one from the bottom of the ship but..." he shrugged and gestured for them to take a seat. "I am happy they have the optimism to name it. Leads me to believe they will be here a while and they are getting used to that fact."
Taking a seat, the Ensign took a look at the area. He had met a few Marines as the two departments worked together and began cross-training in certain areas. He had only met the Major in passing, most of their communications had taken place over shipboard messaging. "Any bit of optimism is welcome in times like these," Luis nodded.
"Well you are both rays of sunshine," Beth commented looking between the pair as she smiled a little. "So I imagine that you have both looked at the request I sent out about changes in your departments and things you require." Beth decided to open up the conversation quickly. There was no time like the present after all.
"Why thank you ma'am. I like to think of myself as a beacon of light in such troubling times." he joked and smiled as Beth then continued. "To be honest Commander I don't require a lot but if are to continue on this course as we are, it obviously isn't going to change, that the armoury and MACO's will need to form a more well-refined team."
Nodding, the Ensign added, "That is true." Looking between the two officers, Luis explained, "We're running practically double shifts at the moment, guarding the food, sensitive areas, and manning battle stations. And the Marines can't continuously be used as the heavy force forever. Neither are sustainable from a manpower or workforce standpoint."
"So what as a team can we suggest to fix that?" Beth wondered softly looking at the pair wondering if they had already discussed it or not. She wanted to hear their thoughts to start changing the way they did things on the ship as they did not have as many crew or equipment to spread themselves thin.
"Cross-training is the only option to fix our situation," Luis replied. "I don't mean diluting the Marines with armory grunts and I don't mean wasting their skills guarding the food stores," he added. "What we need is to double on on our needs. They have people who could help us set up patrol patterns and sensor settings, maybe even handle the ship-to-ship weaponry, We have people who are qualified for more than just water carrying." His point began to slowly drift due to his tiredness. He had been pulling doubles every day that Sloan had been sitting in the brig and it was starting to show.
"I agree with Ensign Martinez." Sam admitted. The lines between the two departments would becoming a little blurrier as they trip home progressed and over time they would work hand in hand. That was his belief. "A more unified position benefits us all. At the moment we take no real part in ship functions, as our remit was not made for that. We have chipped in with the assisting of guarding positions of importance but we can be of great help to each other. Albert Einstein once said 'Once you stop learning. you start dying'. and I don't plan on dying any time soon." he added slapping Martinez on the back to show camaraderie as well as give him a jolt back into the here and now.
Martinez's fatigue did not go unnoticed by Beth and she narrowed her eyes just a little in worry. Everyone was starting to act like that and Beth did not not like it at all. People needed time to rest and that is exactly where the Ensign was going after this. "So what is the first step in this unified position?" Beth asked. She was not assuming anything at this stage as they knew best for their roles, she would never claim to know that.
"We marines are more flexible than people make us out to be. We need to be to achieve our goals and being too rigid, unchangeable and stuck in one path leads to failure of missions. I am not in the habit of doing that." Samuel spoke confidently. "First thing we need to do is get both departments mixing together. Teams gel better when they know each other better, trust each other. That can be through training, which for us is the more preferred option, or some other activity. I am open to suggestions on that front. My only experience of working with Starfleet in close quarters was on the Enterprise."
"We have to mix it up a little," Luis pointed out. "If everything feels like work, you'll never get organic chemistry to develop." Looking from Beth to Samuel, Martinez thought of an idea. "We've used sport since the beginning to help forge bonds and heal mistrust and anger. My suggestion is that after training, we make use of the gymnasium. Basketball or soccer are the two easiest options, all we would need is a ball and goal material."
Beth smiled at the ideas that they had come up to. It made sense when the vast majority of the teams were men. Nothing like sport to create some male bonding. "I am sure the gymnasium has balls and a goal is easy enough just do it like that we used to in school," Beth said with a shrug as she thought back to what the boys used to do in school making goals out of everything and anything.
"We'll get started then," Luis replied. Looking to the leader of the Marines, he added, "Send me a list of names and we'll randomize the teams. We should probably group them based on how we cross-train everyone. We can add to the gains made earlier in the day by keeping them together."
"Sounds good to me chief," Sam replied with a smile. "I'll start prepping a list after I go my run."
