"Marine Promo Spot #1"

Posted on Wed May 24th, 2023 @ 2:17pm by Captain Samuel Woolheater

Mission: Season 6: Episode 2: Survival
Location: Planetside - The Cave Entrance
Timeline: MD5 - Mid-day
2075 words - 4.2 OF Standard Post Measure

[ON:]

It was the middle of Captain Woolheater’s watch. A marine from the command tent walked outside in the cold and handed a PaDD to him. On it was about a dozen messages that had been recovered since Elysium foundered on the cosmic string. Sam activated the PaDD and the messages were downloaded to his combat armor and his faceplate.

He read them over and the last message in the queue was one from the Hale. Sam’s first ship board tour of duty. There was a video attachment. The new 1st Lieutenant told Sam that SFMC recently recorded a recruitment promo video. They wanted to use some footage from the Hale and the Captain had agreed to it. They just got the new promo video and it was here attached.

Sam pressed ‘play’ and the video opened by someone wearing the helmetcam. They were in the ward room on the Hale and Hammond was there quieting them down. The lights dimmed and the video started playing on the ward room monitor.

The words on the video displayed are:

The Marine Recruitment Promo Spot #1




All is dark and pitch black. Gradually, a drumbeat grows louder, and it is accompanied by a digital sounding drum. The sound widens and creates an aural cloud of space that fills the blackness. The beat is rapid and steady and has within it a sense of great expectation and energy and hope. As it grows louder and fuller the first line of text is displayed on the video monitors. Accompanied by the familiar voice of Marine Commandant Jackson LaRue in 2254 at the end of the Tholian War. The recording was old and damaged. It was said to have been made by a malfunctioning comm badge that was stuck open. The then Captain LaRue made a rousing speech to the first group of Marines to graduate from the new Titan Forward Operations base. It contained static and pops, making it sound older than it was. It was over one-hundred years old now but had lost none of its zest. It was instantly recognizable by most marines. The first words appear on the screen, and we hear the voice of LaRue as it was recorded.

We are soldiers.

A very orange image of the sun appears and turns the darkness into day. The planet is Tellus IV, a desert world where the first battles of the Tzenkethi war were fought. The sun grows stronger and there are entire battalions of marines making ready to head into battle on that hot, desert world. Above their heads, a few fighters fly over. Behind the fighters, with the sunlight shining through the warp nacelles, an Ambassador-class heavy frigate appears to fly right over their heads. It is an illusion. The ship was many kilometers behind the lines and was higher than it appears. Even so, the effect is dramatic as the ship is in shadow and the deployed marines are not.

The voice of Jackson LaRue continues in voiceover as the starship, as it did so many years ago, entered into the atmosphere to cut of a Tzenkethi attack that would have killed many of the marine ground forces.

But we realize.

The starship passes, phasers firing as the marines, their flank protected, take up their positions and the battle begins under the sun of that hot, desert world.

that we are something more.

The vantage point is higher now and the battlefield is littered with the destroyed and decimated Tzenkethi forces. The starship, the USS Ardales made a remarkable atmospheric entry in order to launch four shuttles filled with marines that were dropped behind enemy lines that day.

Images and video in rapid succession of a group of marines rallying to a position on Tellus IV during the battle. A screen, showing the forward positions of the battle is displayed and then a wider view of the field tent command center. A marine courier arrives with a diplomatic security box and hands it to the marine CO who opens it. The background music is a steady, rhythmic beat and driving tempo. Full of energy and optimism. A video of a marine flight engineer inspecting the engine of an assault craft is shown. The livery on the vessel is from the 42nd combat wing based on Titan.

From Titan’s orbital dock, an Intrepid-class starship undocks and departs. From inside the space traffic control center, marine transports and marine centric starships are loaded and ready to depart. The video shows the complexity of so many starships and troop transports being loaded. The video appears to be from the defense of Hoyat III, where marines were deployed to assist a new Federation member from attack by the Borg.

We protect and defend an engine.

Back on Tellus IV, marine space superiority fighters are on a tarmac and are powering up; ready to depart and defend the outpost. Fighter pilots give the thumbs up and then are surface launched. The music swells and the beat continue with added ethereal voices. Hope and optimism reign supreme. Marines form up inside the hangar bay of a Galaxy-class starship and board a marine drop ship.

That powers

The voiceover of Commandant Jackson LaRue continues as the images and video continue. A video of a marine fighter landing is followed by marine transport as the door opens and marines in battle armor flow out in attack formation.


the free flow of people

Then a Federation embassy is shown. It is the new embassy on Fontalis, another new member world to the Federation. It is the main portico entrance, and the Ambassador greets guests. The Ambassador is in the center, but flanking each side of the door are marines in full dress uniforms. The Ambassador confidently shakes hands and welcomes visitors under the watchful guard of Starfleet Marines. The video changes and shows the diplomatic staff at work and doing the necessary and fundamental work of Diplomacy. Talking, engaging and compromise.


and ideas

A group of scientists are working in a laboratory. Probably in a Regula-class lab. On guard are marines as the science teams work and test new engines, new instruments, and new theories. The science teams are collaborating over holographic displays, they are engaged in working on digital whiteboards and sharing their ideas. An image of a large urban transporter hub, protected by marines. People are walking into and out of transporter hubs. A Starfleet officer, protected by marines hands diplomatic papers to a courier and welcomes him to the Federation.


and scientific discovery

A shuttle craft lands on a strange new world, the door opens and down the ramp step Starfleet officers and marines. Another holographic transmission depicts a probe being launched from a Steamrunner-class ship. It is Captain Woolheater’s first tour, it is the USS Hale. A loud roar of the many marines on that ship can be heard. A glamour shot of the Hale as it explores a binary star and fly-by is seen. The music swells and the voices and the beat are energizing. From the hangar bay of a Galaxy-class ship the USS SANTA ANA marine space superiority fighters are ready to launch. The pilot’s pull on their arresting harness to secure them inside their craft. Another shot of marines gearing up roll call. Another shot of marines on the beach in a run.


and the joy of exploration.

The voiceover continues as the older voice of LaRue inspires his marines on that day so long ago. There is an image of a Science II station on the bridge of a starship as some new fantastic discovery is made. The faces of the crew manning the station light up. In the background, on the bridge is a marine guard. Another video of an Engineer doing a backflip as new armor defies a huge phaser blast to protect a new marine drop ship. A robotic drone is deployed by marine engineers into a very alien looking landscape of ice and volcanoes and three suns but little atmosphere. The data they are collecting is proving very valuable. The images play of new medicine es being worked on, new cures for illnesses as the new worlds are discovered. The best shot is of two crew being reunited after a long tour of duty. They embrace after such a long time away. A rediscovery of just how precious we are to each other. In the background, is a marine fighter craft and the people being reunited are marines. One is a pilot, the other is the spouse. The music and the beat are growing in intensity and excitement.

Next, a group of Starfleet crew members are walking down a corridor and they pass two marines going the opposite direction. In an act of professional courtesy, the Starfleet crew salute the two marines as they are fellow members of Starfleet and worthy of respect.

Another marine command center is shown, inside are many field command monitors. We’re back on Titan and this is the Space simulator. Zero-G battle simulator. Two marines are chumming it up with two Security officers as inter-agency rivalry is set aside to learn and grow.

There is a beauty shot of a Sovereign-class starship as she passes by a stellar nursery just as a new star is being birthed. The gases and the nuclear furnace shining off the hull create quite an image. The new starship is a Marine heavy-cruiser newly commissioned from Universal Spacecraft Systems, USS Martok. She joins other marine support and marine primary ships in a beauty shot.


We are soldiers.

A loud roar erupts as the face of Captain Robert Hammond from the USS Hale is seen in the reflection off of the main viewscreen. He is on the bridge of the Hale in a re-creation of the mission that pulled the Steamrunner-class marine ship into the grip of a Magnetar. The music and the voiceover can barely be heard as the marines from the Hale lift up a mighty cheer. There is a long take as the famous ship and her illustrious crew come home to Obsidian Fleet Yards.

A trio of marines, new snipers, based on their gear and TR-116’s slung shows them looking on as the Hale comes in to dock.

The video switches to a deployment of marines. Captain Woolheater comes into view when he was just a 2nd Lieutenant, on the field of battle, going over a mapped coordinate and then raising his fist and clenching it in victory for an OP that went exceedingly well.

that are proud the bear the name

A lone marine guard, standing watch at the Federation Embassy on Vulcan, a diplomatic station at perfect attention, looking all studly and sharp. The music, now at the climax with drums and voices, very inspiring and exciting ends on a strong series of final chords punctuated by a set of drum beats that emphasize the strength of the image.

Marines.

The voice of Jackson LaRue says that final word from the commencement speech. And an Intrepid-class ship, the USS Atlas takes the final bow as she heads out from Titan and past Jupiter. Her warp nacelles lift and angle and then she jumps to warp.

The chords linger and the beat fades as the image fades to black again. The logo of the Starfleet Marine Corps ends the promotional spot.

Starfleet Marines

Speak with a recruiter today!

===


Sam laughed out loud, it was good. And he got some unexpected airtime. He played it again. It felt good. The normalcy of it. That there was still a Federation out there. There was still ‘home’ to get back to. He smiled and for the first time in weeks, kinda felt better. He laughed to himself again and would show the video to Andrinn later.


[OFF:]

Captain Samuel Woolheater
“Saepius Exertus, Semper Fidelis, Frater Infinitas”
Division VI, MARDET 62nd Company "Spartans", 1st Platoon CO
=/\= USS ELYSIUM - NCC-89000 =/\=