Museum Piece

Posted on Mon Aug 19th, 2019 @ 9:06am by Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea
Edited on on Mon Aug 19th, 2019 @ 9:07am

Mission: Mission 2: Heaven On Earth
Location: Norway, Earth
2562 words - 5.1 OF Standard Post Measure

The breeze was cool against Naxea's skin in the morning sun as it rose it's way into the clear, almost cloudless blue sky. In the near distance were green covered hills that rose into mountains with a calm, mirror-like river in the foreground. She wore green shorts with a short sleeve black t-shirt that bore the Starfleet Marine Corps emblem on the left front chest. She placed her hands on her hips as she waited for Gunny Rhodes, Corporal Lott and others to arrive.

It was definitely a beautiful day, the kind of day Tim Rhodes loved, even if most people would think that sunshine and blue skies would piss the dour Marine off, "Captain." He nodded.

Mona wasn't sure what to expect but considering the Captain wasn't in uniform, she figured that dressing in a tight pair of shorts and tank top wasn't a bad choice. "Finally, a place that has an adequate amount of green."

Naxea smiled at the two Marines. "Gunny, Corporal," she greeted. "So, where is this group you were assigned to whip into shape, Corporal Lott?"

"Squared away, ma'am", Mona said. "Though they insisted 'round was a shape, too'. They're waiting for us at the start point."

"Captain, if I might interject here." Rhodes began, ''I've been keeping an eye on Lott and that shit show I gave her, she's been doing a hell of a job with them. Think she might be ready to be their platoon sergeant."

Mona blinked. 'What?' she thought. 'I'm supposed to be responsible for that lot for the duration?'

"Can the humility, Forest Green." Rhodes snarled, though with a hint of affection, barely noticeable and completely invisible to anyone outside of the Corps, "She's got that group looking and acting like Marines. Not great or even good Marines yet, but damned passable ones, the kind you don't want to order on a suicide mission to get rid of."

Naxea smirked as she crossed her arms and approached Lott. "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we? This run will be steep and full of obstacles. If they do well, you might be looking at a third stripe, Corporal."

"They will", Mona was confident. "I've chased them around several natural environments like this. Often hotter." She wasn't sure she wanted that third stripe, but she knew she'd have to move up or eventually muster out as she got older.

"Alright, let's go and meet this group," Naxea said as she began to head for the starting point in the not too far distance where several people were gathered. She could hear laughing and joking from her position.

Rhodes heard it, too, and it brought en epic stinkeye to his face, ~Those assholes better cut that shit when the Captain gets there.~ He thought, otherwise he might decide they did need to be marched to their deaths, "Okay, Lott, get your people in formation and let them know what's up."

Mona quickened her pace so she'd make it down there ahead of the other two. "Listen up. Today, we're availing ourselves of the beautiful countryside to show off to the Captain what you've learnt to do over the past few weeks." There were two missing, but that was because they were still recovering from combat injuries, and that couldn't be helped. "Questions? No, good. Fall in."

Rhodes nodded with carefully hidden pride, whispering to the Captain, "See what I'm talking about, Sir?" He asked, hoping she would see what he saw in his chosen successor, even if the chosen one didn't see it herself.

Naxea nodded. She knew the Gunny was getting up there in age but she believed he had several years left in him yet. "Good morning, Marines," Naxea greeted. "I understand Corporal Lott has been training you under various conditions on the holodeck. Today we will see how well you function on uneven and potentially dangerous terrain. We will be doing an 8 kilometer run. There will be cliffs to scale and narrow trails to name a few things along the way. Work together and watch out for one another. The run ends at the opposite side of the top of that peak, she pointed to a tree covered peak a ways off. "Think you can handle it?"

"Yes, ma'am", Mona answered for all. Unlike many, she kept her voice quiet. She was not for all that shouting that many of them seemed to enjoy.

Naxea grinned. "Then I expect to see every one of you at the top of that peak. Fall out and get on line," she commanded as she walked to the side.

As the Marines got on line to begin the run, Naxea nodded. "Begin!"

Mona waited until they had all started before falling in behind them. She had to keep an eye on them, and she was not going to be running back and forth the line if she could help it. "Darwin, stay close to me", she said. He was the problem child, not on account of motivation but critical thinking, and she wanted to keep him close so he wouldn't mess up too badly.

Naxea kept towards the front to make sure they stayed on the marked trail. The ground here was already starting to get uneven as the ground began to climb. She hoped the group maintained a steady pace and didn't burn out too quickly.

Rhodes watched the events from alongside Capt. Azhul; this unit was worlds different from what he had seen a few weeks prior, "This unit was the drizzling shits less than a month ago." Rhodes relayed, "Lott's got them looking like Marines. I would feel confident letting this unit hold a line now, Sir."

"That's good to hear, Gunny," she said as she and the group entered the forest with the hill seemingly rising in elevation. "Let's hope they do well on the course--so far so good but this is just the beginning."

"Right." Rhodes nodded, "And I've got a little something extra in store for them, keep 'em sharp."

The group was still eager and in good spirits, and they only slowed down slightly when entering the forest, since they didn't want to trip over roots and fallen branches. Cohesion broke slightly, as some of them jogged around, others took slow but longer strides right through blackberries, though both ways of crossing were equally fast. Mona chose to go through, her logic being it required less effort, only a bit more concentration.

"Oh? Do tell," Naxea said as the group were nearing their first mile.

He pulled out a positively ancient Chinese AK-47, dropping the magazine to show the rounds were blanks, "A little simulated fire should see who's got it together and whose ass still needs my boot."

"That thing belongs in a museum, Gunny," Naxea commented. The group would soon be coming up to their first cliff to scale.

"So do I." Rhodes shrugged, taking position to do some standing fire when the new meat arrived.

The 'new meat' arrived ahead of schedule, Mona was pushing them on through the thickets as she felt they'd probably need more time later on, when facing more difficult terrain that was actually dangerous unless handled with care.

Rhodes watched from behind as the clowns he'd dropped on Lott moved into view, they were a full two minutes in front of where he'd figured they would be by this time, making his ambush essentially useless. He slung his weapon and began looking for another short cut, sending a message to the Captain: Green has them 2-3 minutes ahead of schedule, re-routing the ambush, she's better than even I thought.-Rhodes

And Mona was completely clueless of the entire affair. As far as she knew, this was all nothing but a countryside run. Along the way, she noticed a particular bush, thinking, 'Oh, roddenberries!' She took the time to pick a handful and munched on them as she caught up to the others.

Naxea was continually impressed with Corporal Lott as the group began to scale the cliff. It was climbable with several areas to use as foot and hand placements. Naxea, staying at the head of the group was the first to begin to scale the cliff. It wasn't overly tall--of only about 20 feet in height with several rocks jutting out that could pose an issue to an unwary climber. "Watch..your foot and, hand placement when scaling!" Naxea called back as she scaled the cliff, nearing the top.

The first ones were already up on top of the cliff while some others, Mona had picked the strongest of the lot, were still lifting their comrades up the first half of the way. It was one of the ways they'd all make additional time to spend on other parts of the course. Mona kept a wary eye on Darwin. Something told her this was one of the times he could be a problem.

Rhodes had found a back way to get where he needed to be and was now at the head of the pack, secreted in some thick shrubs with the AK-47 at the ready, he'd fire once everyone was clear of the rocky outcroppings required, as he was, to minimize injuries to his Marines, ~Hope Lott stays on top of this bunch.~

Naxea placed her arms on her hips as the Marines began to make it to the top, proud to see the Marines helping each other up the cliff. She wondered when the Gunny would spring his ambush--it had been unexpected but she was going to allow it. But there would be a reward for everyone at the end, she thought as she grinned. "Keep it up, Marines!" She took a knee and extended her arm as another Marine grabbed it as he neared the top and she helped the young Marine to climb over the cliff. "Good job!"

Mona was the last up the cliff, and while she had to do the first two metres herself, she was then pulled up the rest of the way, which suited her just fine. She was one of the lighter marines, which gave her an endurance buff but also meant it was easier for the others to pull her up. Mona looked for the markings, then pointed past where she didn't know Rhodes was hiding. "Onwards."

It was then that Rhodes stepped into a clearing and opened fire, blank rounds sending Marines to the ground for cover, all but one...

Darwin hadn't even taken time to realize that the Gunny was the shooter, or that there were no rounds impacting, all he saw was some guy shooting at his team, "Ah, hell no!" He screamed, tackling the shooter and attempting to wrestle the rifle from him.

Rhodes hadn't expected to be tackled, but he wasn't about to take it lying down, pushing his assailant off with his boots and triggering off two 'rounds' before getting up and nodding, "Not bad."

"I'm... I'm not shot..." Darwin stammered, "Gunny, what the Hell?"

"You've all just seen the primary trait of a good Marine." Rhodes said approvingly, "Sacrifice. Unit over self. I can hardly believe this is the same group of idiots and assholes I saw a few weeks ago. Lott, great work. Darwin, Semper Fi."

Mona patted Darwin on the shoulder. "Good job fighting a museum piece." Her opinion on the weapon was much the same as Naxea's. But it certainly was loud, much more so than phaser fire.

Naxea smiled and nodded. "Good job, Darwin. Alright Marines, we still got a good bit in front of us. Let's move out! Double time!" With that said, Naxea took the lead as the trail began to narrow and increase in elevation, coming close to the side of the peak, offering an almost unparalleled view of the lake below and the ocean father out.

Rhodes followed behind, carrying the rifle slung over his shoulder, muzzle up, and smiling as he silently wondered what museum piece Mona was talking about: the gun or him...

The muscles in Naxea's legs burned as the incline of the path seemed to increase more. She knew they were coming to the peak and the end of the run--save for one last obstacle which she was sure the group would enjoy. They exited the woods into a clearing that came to a cliff. Instead of slowing down and stopping, Naxea pushed herself faster. "How many of you have the balls to follow me?" she called out over her shoulder before launching herself into the air over the cliff.

Forty-five feet down was a lake--it's surface almost mirror-like. That serenity was broken as Naxea's body broke it's surface in a feet first dive.

"Watch it", Mona said. "Don't land on each other." Fifteen metres wasn't so bad, little more than the height of two houses, or five decks on a starship. But to jump on top of someone else still was enough to put some serious hurt into them.

Rhodes walked down the embankment instead, taking a seat on the sand for a few moments of quiet contemplation, wondering how many more days like this were left in his life as a Marine, not to mention what in the Hell else he was going to do with himself. He took out his canteen and took a drink of cold water, smiling as the water filled with kids, and thinking about the future.

Remarkably, the jumping itself went without an accident. It was only when they stepped out and onto the sand that Mona noticed Darwin's left boot was missing. "Everyone back in there!" she called. "Find Darwin's boot. We're not here for littering!" They couldn't leave something behind that would take centuries to decompose, if at all at the bottom of a lake.

"How the hell did you lose your boot, Darwin? Forget to tie them?" Naxea asked, chuckling. "First Marine to find Darwin's boot gets three days straight off ship! No duty!" Lower Marines were often required to request leave when docked as there was still equipment maintaining, and training to do, though less of it than when underway.

Mona stayed on shore, watching them. She stepped closer to the Captain and whispered. "They'll be looking for a while." Behind her back, she was holding said boot.

Rhodes saw what Lott had done and allowed himself a slight chuckle that he was sure nobody could've heard and lit a cigar, ~Lott's gonna lead this group damn well.~

Naxea couldn't help but to roll her eyes and laugh as she watched the group dive and splash around looking for the boot. "Enjoy your liberty, Corporal Lott. You've done an excellent job."

"Thank you, ma'am." She kept watching the others diving down to the bottom of the lake to try and locate the boot. This could go on for a bit longer, and it made sure they got more exercise in the water than if they had just been told to swim and play.

"Give them the rest of the day off and then tomorrow I want them helping to inventory the new gear from Marine HQ," Naxea said. "I'll be returning to the ship if you or Gunny Rhodes needs me."

Rhodes watched as the Captain vanished in the blue beam, placing a hand on Lott's shoulder, "Thanks for everything." He said, uncharacteristically warm.