SD241902.17 - Joint Duty Log - CO & aMCO - "Qualified"

Posted on Sun Feb 17th, 2019 @ 1:51pm by Brigadier General Jonathan Grey & Lieutenant Colonel Kate Nixon

1,147 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: The Sincerest Form of Flattery
Location: Versailles
Timeline: Current

=^= Marine Barracks, Deck 107, Section Baker =^=

With the Job cut off from Starbase Horizon by the increasing skirmishes across the Azurean Corridor between the Klingons and the Romulans, Lt Colonel Kate Nixon was settling into the realisation that she would be spending much more time at Starbase Versailles than previously anticipated.

The Job which was now docked within one of the stations dry dock bays, was getting a refit and resupply, before she was due to head out on patrol along the border on a peacekeeping operations - if such a thing was possible.

The Station's CO, Brigadier General Grey, had requested her presence in the Marine Barracks on 107 Deck, Section Baker. While on detached service from Horizon, the Job had essentially been under his Theatre of Operations, and as such her direct commanding officer.

As she entered the Marine Barracks, she was amazed at how empty the barracks were. She witnessed only a handful of officers performing maintenance on equipment. She glanced around the room, looking for Captain Hansen, who had stepped up to cover the MEU CO's duties in their absence.

She approached the young, slightly flustered, redheaded Captain, who snapped to attention as she joined him. She signaled for the Captain to stand at ease.

"Captain Hansen, I am Lieutenant Colonel Nixon. I was requested to meet you here, with the General. Do you know when he is due to arrive?

The redheaded Captain swung his leg out to stand at ease, clasping both hands behind him. "Ease" was probably a misnomer in the corps, as the posture had been drilled into him just as thoroughly as any other. Not one millimeter out of place, nor one hair at the wrong angle, "ease" didn't really earn its name until the superior officer had left the room.

Opening his mouth to respond to the Colonel, Hansen's eye was caught by the motion of the door opening behind his superior. He pinched his mouth closed quickly, endeavoring to puff himself up more, if that were possible.

"Captain Nixon, welcome back." announced the General, flanked by two of his bodyguards. the shoulders of the other two could been seen just outside, holding position on the other side of the door. One's fingers were briefly visible punching a code into the door panel, before the portal sealed; a standard precaution these days, what with all the strangers roaming the station.

Kate snapped to attention, saluting as the General punched his code into the door panel. "General."

"I think we met once." said the General, "You seemed capable. With the Klingons on our doorstep, it's good to have more capable people around."

"Thank you Sir. It's good to be back. The Job will be ready to get underway in the next 24 hours. Within the uptake in Klingon-Romulan activity across the border region, we'll have our work cut out for us." She let her legs separate, allowing her to take a formal, but relaxed A frame stance.

"An uptake is one word for it. Some people are calling it a war, though with Klingons it's hard to tell the difference." admitted Grey. With diplomatic connections between the Klingons and the Federation at an all-time-low, neither side was filing any paperwork, so you only knew if a war was going on by the quantity of explosions.

"As for the Job, I came down here in person to let you know; we need to delay your mission for a while. With an entire Klingon strike force on our doorstep, we need more ships patrolling the area to make sure they don't take a swipe at any targets of opportunity."

"The other bit of news," the General continued, "is that we need a senior officer to coordinate the station's MEU. Captain Hansen is capable, but lacks the requisite training. Last night I did a search on the regional Starfleet personnel database for a suitable marine. I don't think you'll need any guesses to figure out whose name came up."

Kate pursed her lips, unsure if the sarcastic reply she had automatically teed up in her head would be suitable at this moment. Her lips parted, letting a little sigh out, before retorting, "Oh no. There must be another suitable Marine available?" She mockingly looked around the room for another Officer.

"Unfortunately not." said the General, both unamused and unoffended. "Every other marine officer in the region is either mid-mission, under-qualified, or the wrong rank. Generals and Captains don't command MEUs, so you're it."

"My orders, Sir?"

"First, get settled in. You might be here a while. Captain Hansen and I can handle things for a day or two, so you can take your time." the General said, aware that the reality of the situation was complex. He couldn't recall if she had family aboard the Job or not, but if she did then she'd need time to figure things out. If not, well, then a day or two was the least he owed her after dragging the Major from her hard-earned command.

The Job would be patrolling an area of space that the Klingons were roaming in force. So far they'd kept their hands to themselves, but the Job would be directly in the line of fire if things went bad.

On the other hand, the station itself wasn't exactly untouched. Klingons were interrogating everyone on the station, including civilians. Starfleet personnel were monitoring all of this though, so at least they had to behave here.

The possibility of getting blown up by the Klingons, or the certainty of getting asked a few pointed questions by them. Her hypothetical family had no easy choice here, he thought, annoyed that he hadn't thought to look up her familial status beforehand.

"It's up to you." the General added, gesturing to the Colonel.

Kate raised her hand to her face, sandwiching her temples between her index finger and thumb, she squeezed them hard in attempt to subdue the growing migraine behind her eyes.

"With Major Watterson's re-assignment to the USS Artemis in Omega Fleet, I have some recommendations who should replace the command on the Job, Sir." She scanned the General's face for any sign of non-verbal reaction.

"Send your recommendations to my yeoman, Captain Rogers." he told her, checking his pocket padd. "Now you'll have to excuse me, but i'm late for another meeting. Good luck in your new position." he told her, signalling to his bodyguards.

And with that, the General was gone.

With the General's exit, Nixon turned to the young Marine Captain to her left, who snapped to attention, saluting her. "Congratulations, Sir."

Nixon saluted back, "So Hansen, you better give me the run down of operations. Also, set up a meeting with the stations Chief of Security for me."

"Yes sir."


=^= End of Log =^=

Brigadier General Jonathan Grey
Commanding Officer
Starbase Versailles

&&

Lieutenant Colonel Kate Nixon
Acting MEU Commanding Officer
Starbase Versailles

 

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