A New Arrival

Posted on Fri Jul 30th, 2021 @ 9:43pm by 2nd Lieutenant Alexander Tanner & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea

Mission: Season 5: Episode 2: Operation Save Humanity
Location: Deck 32 - Marine CO Office
1288 words - 2.6 OF Standard Post Measure

Alexander Wellesley Tanner stood in his immaculate Marine green uniform an archaic leather satchel slung over one shoulder, he was examining the padd in his hand reconfirming his orders. He was to proceed with all hast aboard the USS McAllister, the ship the transporter bay he was standing in belonged to, and rendezvous with the USS Elysium to take up the position of Marine Executive Officer under the Command of Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea.

The trip had taken longer than he had anticipated, which had frustrated him to no end, he was still within his arrival window but over twenty-four hours later than he had planned to be. He hoped it was the last time he would have to get transported to a duty station by a science vessel. He had nothing against scientists, but in his experience, they often tended to get side-tracked.

The Chief Petty Officer manning the transporter station motioned him forward “You’ve been cleared for departure Sir, if you’ll step onto the pad, we’ll get you on your way to the Elysium.”

Alex nodded his head politely, keeping his cool façade in place, he was about to finally get over to his new ship, and new CO, he needed to keep his head in the game.

--

After rematerializing on the Elysium and stepping off the transporter pad he noticed another figure in Marine green in the transporter room, a figure with a Lance-Corporal’s single chevron pip that snapped off a parade perfect salute.

“Welcome aboard Lieutenant, the CO is expecting you and has asked me to escort you to her office straight away” after Alex had returned the salute and barely had time to acknowledge the short speech he had turned and began walking out of the transporter room.

Alex would have normally pulled the Lance-Corporal up for this lack of decorum and protocol but he got the impression that something was happening, as there had been an underlying feeling of stress in the young man’s voice.

Before too long his was standing in front of his new CO’s door, he quickly checked over his uniform and made sure that the padd he was still carrying had his orders ready to be displayed, should the Colonel wish to see them, he’d sent the Lance-Corporal off with his satchel to have it stored with the rest of his personal effects until he could be assigned a cabin.

He reached up and pressed the door chime and waited.

"So I hear we have a new XO coming?" Man'darr asked, grinning.

Naxea chuckled, knowing how much Warrant Officer Man'darr had hated being the temporary XO until a permanent officer was assigned. "Yep, you're off the hook." Just then the door chime sounded.

"That is probably him now. I'll go, Colonel," Man'darr stated jerking a thumb at her office door.

Naxea smiled and nodded at Man'darr before turning her gaze at her door. "Enter," she called, standing up behind her desk.

Alex entered the room as he heard a voice on the other side say “Enter”, he stepped through smartly, acknowledging the large figure of the passing Warrant Officer’s polite Sir with a nod of his head. His blue-grey eyes did a quick passing sweep of the room and came to rest on the woman standing behind the desk, his new Commanding Officer.

He stepped up to about two paces in front of the desk and snapped to a parade ground attention, his right hand came up in a sharp salute and said in his crisp British accent “1st Lieutenant Alexander Tanner reporting as ordered Colonel.”

Returning the salute, Naxea gestured to the off set chair in front of her desk as Man'darr exited the office. "At ease, lieutenant. Have a seat. How was your trip?"

Alex tugged his uniform tunic straight to ensure it sat properly as he sat in the offered chair "It was as pleasant as it could be Colonel, thank you. I feel I must apologize, I would have arrived twenty four hours ago but sadly my transport, the USS McAllister, was a science vessel crewed by scientists, in my experience scientists enjoy stopping to look at every space based anomaly they come across."

A small grin flickered across his face "And it appears like things are rather busy around here at the moment Ma'am."

Naxea nodded in understanding. Scientists were a pain but she could only imagine the monotony of being aboard a Science vessel. "That they are, Lieutenant. We sent teams down to the planet and apparently they are descendants of the human fanatical leader during Earth's World War Three, General Green. They are primitive compared to us in technology and are largely xenophobic. In my opinion, it's a bomb waiting to explode down there so the Detachment is at General Quarters, ready to deploy if needed."

Alex certainly wasn't prepared to hear that news, but he processed it quickly and responded "Understood Colonel, how good is our intelligence relating to the current situation? Do we have any idea of potential enemy numbers? Also Colonel, forgive me for asking, my initial brief was quite vague, do we have a specific mission objective on this planet?"

He smiled slightly "Also I know I just got here, but do you have any specific orders for me? I may as well hit the ground running if I can."

"We're looking at possibly thousands of potential enemies," she began. "One group wants to rejoin humanity and the other wants to keep to their barbaric ways. Due to their past experiences with another species, they are xenophobic towards anyone who isn't a human. Our ultimate objective is to try and see if these humans are ready to rejoin humanity in the Federation. I appreciate the gung ho attitude but get settled in first and then I want you make sure all platoons are ready for deployment. Get with Top Fredericks for help with that."

Alex sat back in thought as the Colonel finished speaking That number of enemies could be problematic, sheer numbers can make up for just about any technological advantage we may have, we’ll have to proceed with caution , he thought to himself.

Bringing his attention back to the Colonel he said, “Understood Colonel, with your permission I’ll make sure my gear is stowed then link up with the Top and start prepping for what we may come up against.”

He hesitated before asking a final question “Colonel if this does kick off, as it may very well do, do you have any specific orders relating to the Rules of Engagement? Considering the ideology of who we may be up against.”

Naxea sighed. ROEs in these scenarios were a nightmare. "Federation says do not fire unless you are fired upon. But I won't endanger lives over rules made up by someone who likely never set foot in a combat zone. If you even feel threatened, use what force is needed to preserve life whether it be a Marine, a Fleeter, or a civilian."

Alex's eyes hardened and he spoke in total agreement with his superior officer "Understood Colonel, everyone comes home again. By your leave Colonel I'll get started now on the prep work, just in case we need to drop onto the planet in a hurry."

Naxea grinned and nodded at her new XO. "Very well then, lieutenant. You're dismissed."

Alex stood up from the chair and straightened out his uniform "Aye aye Colonel, I'll touch base with you again after I have done some operational planning with the Top." With an easy smile and a nod of his head Alex turned smartly and exited his CO's office.