I know how angry you are.

Posted on Sat Dec 31st, 2022 @ 10:57am by Gunnery Sergeant Luxa Gami [Naxea]

Mission: MISSION 0 - History Speaks
Location: Marine Armory
775 words - 1.6 OF Standard Post Measure

One could say about this, Anna's attention to detail was astounding, The motivation was not anything close to loyalty right now.. She just wanted to get all this done so she could return to her quarters. Maybe punch the bag, maybe cry herself to sleep. Or maybe drink.

Luxa entered the Armory and walked over to a pulse rifle that had been cleaned. She looked it over, impressed with the cleanliest of the weapon. However, what had caught her attention was the feeling of anger and sadness coming from Lieutenant Hendrix. "Good job, el-tee," she commented as she placed the rifle back in its spot. "Is everything alight?"

Anna sighed and opened the locker with her own personal modification to a 2371 Dominion War era SAWP Repeater. It was usually mounted on a tripod. She modified this setup with an inertial dampenor to decrease the weight and recoil from the rifle. It was what she used to stay alive while on Atten.

'Atten' That word formed prominently in Anna's mind.

It was an impressive modification.

As Gami picked up on the word Atten and the connection of the word to the rifle. Looking at the weapon, she recognized it as an older yet modified SAWP. The detachment didn't use those, opting for the HAPW (Heavy Automatic Pulse Weapon) which was Chief Man'darr's favorite weapon. "So what is Atten?" she asked finally.

"Atten II..." Anna noted. "You sure you wanna know?"

"I asked," Gami replied with a shrug.

"About every violation of the Marine Corp's dignity and Starfleet's principals that can be conceived, Sergeant." Anna noted. "About five years ago.. I was in covert ops recon." She noted. "One day we were rushed onboard a starship for a special assignment. I should have known right then and there something was wrong with it."

"So what went wrong?" Gami questioned, leaning against the bulkhead as she looked at the woman.

"The Attenians were in the Orion Syndicate's pocket. They literally were a front for all sorts of illegal shit." Anna noted. "We were sent in to remove the Orions. But what we didn't know, is what the Attenians had on the back burner with Colonel Hirum Graft. You see the Attenians had no ships nor warp technology on their entire world, even though they were affiliated with the Orions. Which as a result, the Prime Directive came into play."

"I see..." Luxa began as she thought over the situation. "So this Colonel Graft left you to the wolves so to speak?"

"We were utterly expendable... and Graft was going to cover it up. He had us transferred to a fake unit that existed on paper but didn't exist in reality. Because the entire unit had a shuttlecraft accident during a training op before the mission began. According to Starfleet, we were all dead. So there was no proof his secret regiment were Starfleet Marines. He not only fed us to the wolves. He fed us to the sharks too." Anna noted. "But something happened. I survived. And told Starfleet the whole story, but by that time. Graft's people cleaned up their tracks good. There was no Anna Hendrix in the Federation. They did not believe me, and they spent days trying to verify my identity before telling me to piss off." Anna noted. "I fell in as a freelance mercenary. And ol' Clara there was my only family during those days."

"Sounds rough," Luxa began, "and I can understand you being angry, and I certainly know how some officers can be a pain in the ass, no offense. But taking it out on us, and especially the Colonel is unfair. She is nothing like this Colonel Graft. She has always placed her Marines over her own well-being and has never left any behind. She'd rather die than leave a Marine behind."

"I lost myself, I was considered dead to Starfleet. So, I wandered. Doing mercenary work. I forgot what it meant to be a marine. As long as I didn't think about it. It made the pain less."

"Well, just remember that you're not a mercenary. You're wearing the uniform of a Starfleet Marine, ma'am," Luxa stated. "And if you want to remember what it is like to be a Marine, then the Sixty-Second Detachment is where to learn it. You're not the only one to lose something. I lost my family when the Dominion invaded Betazed. I was only a kid then but soon after the war ended, the Starfleet Marines took me in. They're my family now and I will fight dearly for each one--especially the Colonel. She's like an older sister that I never had."