The Marines Arrive

Posted on Sun Apr 6th, 2014 @ 7:28pm by Captain Pete Samson & Commodore Kathleen O'Shea

Mission: New Frontier
Location: Starbase 80

Pete arrived on the station with no pomp or ceremony, just the way he liked it.

Pete had just taken a few months holiday after six years of no rest or holidays on his special forces assignment.

He arrived on the Starbase on a civilian ship and was glad to be treated just as a passenger and a normal citizen of the Federation, and not a Marine. The journey had been long as he had come all the way from Earth but he was looking forward to his mission and his first time as a commanding officer of a Marine detachment.

He was due to meet his XO and his detachment clerk, the next day, but he wanted to get to the station before them, so left on the earlier civilian ship. He wanted to try and secure the best location for his Brigade. 'The early bird catches the worm' Pete said to himself.

Pete had not told anyone that he would be arriving on the civilian ship, he wanted to look around the station as a normal Joe first.

Pete approached the security Ensign reviewing the crew of the ship. "Captain Samson, Marine Corp" Pete said whilst handing over his orders. "I would appreciate it if you did not announce my arrival on board for a few hours so I can look around." The Ensign reviewed his orders and said "Captain, I am afraid that I can not do that, I must at the very least inform the Chief of Security." "Very well" replied Pete.

The Ensign assigned Pete some temporary quarters and informed Commander Gates of Pete's arrival.

Pete carried his belongings to the temporary quarters, his whole life in one bag, why would anyone need anything more. He then went and had a look around, he had been informed that the station was in a sorry state, but he had been on a lot worse. He already had a idea of couple of locations for his brigade. He wanted them to be near a shuttle bay, away from civilians and if possible with quarters attached. He knew that he would be on a wish list, competing with the other heads of departments and for a lot of non Marine commanding officer's the Marines are a low priority.

He had a look around the locations that he wanted to see and actually got a good vibe for the Starbase. He knew that he would enjoy it here.

Well time to see the CO, Commodore O'Shea. Pete returned to his quarters and checked his dress uniform, he ensured that it was pressed and his shoes looked like mirrors. He then dressed himself ready to meet his new boss.

"Captain Samson to Commodore O'Shea. I have arrived on board early and seek permission to meet you and provide you with my credentials and orders" asked Pete through his comm badge. Even though Pete was on his own he was still stood to attention.

"Oh...hi. Uh, come down to the office I guess." The channel went dead. Quite an unusual response, but new places...

Pete left his quarters and walked through the corridors of the Starbase in his Marine dress uniform, it looked odd, maybe even a little funny with the current state of the Starbase. Pete wanted to make a good impression and this is what he was trained to do.

He pressed the bell to gain entry into the Commanding Officers offices. When the door open he marched into the office. He saw Commodore O'Shea and he approached her and stood to attention. "Captain Samson Commanding Officer Marine Corps, my orders Ma'am" reported Pete.

The young lady seated at the desk looked up, appearing to be quite startled by his appearance. "Oh..hi, sir." She jumped up and saluted sharply. It was then the Captain saw noticed the Lieutenant's bars on her collar. "I'm so sorry, but the Commodore has not arrived on station yet. She was delayed at Starbase 343 trying to get everything she needs for the station."

She walked around the desk, holding out her hand in greeting. "I'm Rosaleen...er...Lieutenant O'Donnell. I'm Kathy's personal assistant." She was about as informal as a Starfleet officer could get, but her smile was quite infectious.

Pete felt like a bit of an idiot. He did not really look at who he was addressing as he was concentrating so much on his introduction. Pete relaxed a little and shook her hand "Lieutenant O'Donnell pleasure to meet you. I arrived on a civilian ship and have had no updates for weeks sorry for the mistake, and you do not need to salute me or call me Sir, we are the same rank." Pete smiled back at Rosaleen.

"So when is the Commodore due to arrive, Lieutenant? asked Pete.

She smiled as she unconsciously smoothed her dress with her hands. She and Kathleen shared the same uniform style, opting to go with a long one-piece dress instead of the standard issue uniform. "Oh, Kathy will be along soon. A few days at the most."

Pete was a little shocked as to how the Lieutenant was talking about the Commodore. It was very relaxed, well that is Starfleet officers for you.

"Is the XO on board?" Pete asked.

"She arrived yesterday, although she hasn't really spoken to anybody much. I only spoke with her but a moment." The new XO was definitely a strange one. But whatever...it took all kinds to make the universe go round.

"How long have you been on board?

Rosaleen sat on the corner of the desk. "I arrived with the initial team last month. Kath needed somebody here that she trusted to get things squared away here, and let her know what she needs." She toyed with a strand of her long red hair as she spoke. "We have been through a lot together...I take care of things when she isn't around."

"Have you being working for the Commodore long?" inquired Pete. Pete was starting to relaxing even more, he felt very comfortable in the company of Rosaleen. He actually enjoyed the relaxed attitude of some of the Starfleet officers, although he would never be so relaxed and wold not accept that behavior from his staff. 'She does have a wonderful smile' Pete said to himself.

"Oh, Kathy and I go a long way back. We grew up together in Ireland. New Galway Provence. School...the Corps..." She noted the look of surprise that flashed across Pete's face. "Yes, Captain...I'm an ex-greenie. Flew fighters in the war. Deep space interdiction squadron."

Pete was astounded by this statement, an ex Marine was sat in front of him, playing with her hair and calling a Commodore by her first hair. "You a Marine" said Pete before thinking.

"Sorry I did not mean that, I mean I'm just a little shocked, you are, well you are very Starfleet." Pete smiled at Rosaleen hoping that she would not take offense, as he really did not mean any. Pete quickly tried to change the subject. "A pilot. I am also a Marine pilot, specialized in search and rescue, although I have not been a pilot for some years now." Pete started to think about his last posting, his smile left him and he started to frown. It only lasted a second but it was noticeable.

"Oh, I'm neither Starfleet or the Corps. I'm simply me...that is all that any of us truly are. It's what we are on the inside that defines us...not the clothing that we wear." As she spoke the main panel emitted a soft chime indicating new messages had arrived in cue. She barely flitted a glance at the console as she silenced it. It only took a fraction of a second for her to process what she had seen and to respond. Such was one of her gifts.

"Rosaleen, I must be going, can't keep you from your work." Pete did not want to leave, he felt very comfortable around Rosaleen. He decided then that he wanted to get to know her better. "Before I go could you please let me know when the Commodore is due to arrive, I want to greet her, also who do I talk to about getting some real estate, I have an idea of a place to base my Marines."

She stood and walked toward the far wall, but stopped about halfway for no reason. Waiving her hand in the air, the lights dimmed and a holo image of the Station suddenly appeared next to her. As she manipulated her hand around the image, it started to zoom in to a series of decks. "Decks 68 through 74...a cavern at the moment for the most part. Something large exploded here and pretty much wiped the slate clean. There are four hanger decks and two Cerberus bays planned for this area." She mover her hands some more, rotating around and zooming in on part of Deck 72. "This area in particular looks like a good spot for you. You have your own hanger deck, which will be rather large I might add. New Frontier doesn't have any dedicated Marine craft, however you will have any number of craft available as needed, plus full support from the Fighter Wing CAG." She turned her head, looking over shoulder. "Commander Desoro...I would suggest getting to know her and making friends. She is ex-Corps as well so she knows the drill. She can be a bit of a hard ass at times, but she is good people."

Again she manipulated her hands, zooming in even tighter and rotating again, coming to rest on a spot by the outer hull. "Centered here between these structural support members is an ideal place for the Armory. New Starfleet design protocol calls for all large weapons caches to be located against an outer hull with a blast pressure panel to vent any explosion into space verses damaging the station or ship internally." Again she spun the image and re-centered. "And here will be the perfect location for your main Logistics and Supply center, as it will be right next to one of the Cerberus Bays. Commander Morr is the stations Supply and Logistics Chief. He knows logistical mobility better than anybody we could ever get aboard. You want him as a friend as well."

She spun around and walked over to where he stood, coming well inside his personal bubble...but that was something that Rosaleen never concerned herself with, or even thought about for that matter. Her eyes glistened a crystal blue who's exact color was undefinable. Strangely enough, he felt the temperature in the room rise for no reason at her approach. "So...what do you think? If you like we can get a couple of the Corps of Engineers architects to draw up a plan set over the next few days, and start work..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment. "...the middle of next week. That is, unless you had someplace else in mind?" As she looked at him waiting a response the lights slowly came back to normal level.

Pete did not like anyone in his personal space, however with Rosaleen instead of wanting to step away, he wanted to step forward, in fact he almost did but stopped himself. Rosaleen was different, he had never been this comfortable around anyone else but his parents, and her eyes were truly beautiful.

"I did have a different area in mind, but what you just showed is perfect." Pete had a feeling that Rosaleen would be one of the most important, if not the most important person to know on the Starbase. Although Pete was relaxed and felt very comfortable around Rosaleen, he was still a Marine and that was what he was inside as well as the uniform he wore. "Thank you for your help Lieutenant, I would appreciate the Engineers doing what they can. Good day to you Lieutenant." Pete turned around and walked out of the office.