Joining Together

Posted on Thu Nov 10th, 2022 @ 6:34pm by Warrant Officer Iryna Voznyuk & Commander William Gerhard

Mission: Sojurn
Location: Main Armoury
Timeline: Day 245 08:00
1489 words - 3 OF Standard Post Measure

Iryna Voznyuk was nervous. She’d never thought she would be in the situation where she was one of only eight Marines left on a ship so far from home. and she definitely did not think of the Marines left should would be the highest ranking of them all. But there they were in there she was sat waiting in the army office for the chief army officer to arrive. she dreaded to think what this conversation was going to bring up after the last couple of weeks.

Chestnut, long hair slightly covered a fresh, time-worn face as she had come straight from a joint drill exercise. Bloodshot green eyes, set far within their sockets, watch as the armoury chief comes in and she shoots from her chair to attention.

William entered his office carrying a PADD and nodded at the woman standing at attention. "At ease," he said as he motioned for her to take a seat. "My apologies for being late Warrant Officer. I hope you haven't been waiting to long," he said as he sat behind his desk and placed the PADD on the desktop.

Iryna was not the type to worry on lateness but she had been worried that she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. “Not at all Sir.” She assured quickly as she took her seat and sat down.

"Good, and how are your fellow MACOs doing," he asked while clasping his hands together infront of him. He was genuinely interested to hear her response. His priority had been making sure the MACOs felt looked after and were occupied while they navigated the recent shakeups. William and the captain had finalized a plan on integrating the MACOs into the armory division, which was the purpose of this meeting.

“We have had better months Sir. But we are working through what has happened with O’Connery and the doctors support.” Both had been invaluable in trying to work through the shakeup after shakeup that the marines had been experiencing since the journey into the unknown had started. “It would be good to know what happens next though.” She admitted suspecting that was why she was there.

"That's one of the reasons why I asked you here," William said before he reached out and turned the PADD on. He turned it around and slid it across the desk for her to read. "The captain and I have been discussing this for some time. Given our present situation, we both feel that the time is right to integrate MACO into the Armory division. As the most senior MACO, we'd like to offer you the position of Assistant Chief Armory Officer," he said before indicating the PADD, "This is a rough outline of how we will integrate the two departments. The plan is to assign MACO teams to augment our current security teams. We will also start cross training those individuals with a background in munitions in Armory procedures. Starfleet weapons are close to what the MACOs currently field, but regarding the safe handling of the phase cannons and photon torpedoes it is something we need to train for."

Iryna opened her mouth a couple of times to process what she was being told.
Whilst she is expected some changes she had not been expected to be offered the position of assistant chief armoury officer. It was not what she had ever expected as she had been expecting to be offered marine commanding officer or something similar despite not being an officer. She was the most senior marine personnel they had left on board but she had really not expected this. “Wow Sir. I had not expected this at all.” She admitted looking through the PADD trying to process it.

"I know it's alot to process right now, and you don't have to answer right away. But you know your people better than anyone aboard, their strengths and weaknesses. Having you as my ACAO will help bridge the gap between the two departments," he said as he watched her process what he was saying.

The younger woman nodded she fully understood what he meant by bridging the gap between the MACOs and the armoury departments. It really was she the person to do it she knew she was the most senior rank in MACOs but that was not to say she was the most experienced. This was in it her second off earth assignment and it had not exactly gone well so far but she really did need to do it for the others. They had to find a way to come back from all the death and destruction. “Tell me more about your plans to unite us sir.” She requested.

William pointed towards the PADD before replying. "There's more info in the PADD, but our plan was to restructure our quick response teams to include both your people and mine. I also want to organize some ground combat tactics training for all our personnel. Starfleet combat training is geared more towards shipboard defense. I also want to start training some of your people in how to use the weapons systems," he said.

Iryna nodded and looked quietly at the PADD listing off the changes.”sounds promising. I would happily lead the ground combat training Sir.” She said eager to take on something. It would make sense for them all to be crossed trained now.

"Good. I'd like to get moving on that as soon as we can, but I'll let you decide how you want to conduct it," he said pleased that she had been taking this meeting well. He knew that it wouldn't be so cut and dry, and there would undoubtedly be bumps, but if there was any time for Armory and MACO to come together it was now.

“So… how does this leave us? Do we move out of barracks and that change or are we good where we are?” She questioned wondering if they could move out of that space when it had been there’s for so long.

He leaned back into his chair and considered it. He could see the pros to both options but also the cons. Any idea came to him and he leaned forward to answer. "I'm going to leave the decision up to you and your people. I think that forcing you all out would be too harsh and set the wrong tone, but I also think that you shouldn't confine yourselfs there. I think opening it up opening it up on the individual level is the best choice. I'll also be opening it up to my own people that if they want to move into the MACO barracks its an option," he said as he waited for her reaction.

“I appreciate you leaving that to us to decide. Can you imagine any of the armoury person I wanted to take that up?” She had never thought that it would appeal to Earth Starfleet personnel but she was learning a lot that day that her ideas on what made a Earth Starfleet officer.

William thought for a moment, "Ensign Martinez might be interested. Petty Officer Crocker is another. If memory serves he is a former Royal Marine." He smiled at the irony of that before leaning back in his chair. "We will make the announcement tomorrow at the department morning briefing, and I'd like you and your people to be there as well," he said.

“Tomorrow. Right it’s normally ten hundred right?” She knew the basic schedule for the armoury department so she could know where to avoid or where to be at the right time. The woman looked like she wanted to escape and just go somewhere dark to think but she stayed fixed to her chair. It all made sense but it also struck home how far MACOs had come on the ship and how much they had lost over the last 300 or so days.

William nodded, "That's correct. 1000 hours in the main armory." He could tell that she seemed a bit apprehensive, so he gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, these briefings are pretty informal. They may be some bumps, but we can get through it together," he said before he stood and offered his hand to the woman. "Well, I won't keep any more of your time. But I just wanted to say that I'm looking forward to working with you. I'm sure that we will both learn many things from each other," he said.

The woman looked at the offered hand and took it shaking it lightly. She would be there bright and early, leading by example. “Sir I look forward to it too. It will definitely be a learning curve for all involved though. I am sure there is much to learn as well.”

She just hoped not too much of a learning curve for her men and women that they would not accept.