Post Number: 237 *Meeting with the Major*
Posted on Tue Mar 4th, 2025 @ 4:49am by Captain Marius Pontmercy & Major Charlotte Thrace
1,028 words; about a 5 minute read
Mission: Secrets
On:
Marius was sitting in his ready room, staring out the viewport as he took in the strange view in their new location. So much had happened in a short time, but he knew that there was more to come. Thinking on that, he tapped his comm badge.
"Major Thrace, please report to my ready room "
Charlotte was still getting used to the current circumstances, she was used to operational planning, this was far more than that, but then it helped that her sister was the nerd that she was, there were so many tactical considerations that they needed to get right but they had one advantage in this - they had the logs of the USS Voyager, they knew what the Delta Quadrant looked like, they knew what they were getting into and that in itself also yielded other advantages. "On my way." she answered, before making her way up to the ready room to see what the Captain wanted.
"Come in," Marius called after hearing the chime. "Ah Major, come and have a seat."
"I remember when you saying that used to mean I was in some sort of trouble." Charlotte said making her way over to the chair and sitting down "Which I presume I'm not... so what can I do for you Captain?"
"No no, nothing like that," Marius said, assuring her. "I wanted to check in, and see if you had ideas about the protection details for the Admiralty onboard."
"It can't be seen to be the marines on a day to day basis." Charlotte said "In practical terms I have less than fifty personnel in my department and we're going into the wild west that is the Delta Quadrant. In terms of image I don't like the idea of having marines doing a job that security personnel can mainly cover. Close Protection Detail is something that both my people and Jude's are trained to do, with risk assessment usually dictating which has primary responsibility. The way I'd look at it is this if we're going off base to visit an alien world for some reason then given the nature of the Quadrant we're going to be in that's a marine responsibility, but on the base it has to be security personnel if for no other reason than we need to give an impression of normality, I'll have a rapid response team of marines on standby at all times if something happens but this is going to have to be circumstance led."
"That's fair, Major. I know you're short staffed. I wish we had options, but until we get the Academy up and running... We have to make do with what we have. I'll speak to Lieutenant Haines about that." He shifted in his chair. "How are you adjusting to the new rank," he asked on a lighter note?
"Fairly comfortably for the most part." Charlotte said, it was the inherited responsibilities caused by the external factor the Synthulan strike that was more troublesome for her in that she was now having to operate on a level higher than she had before, such was the nature of the situation. Being a Major wasn't a problem for her. "Getting a fair bit of playful teasing from those who know me but nothing I can't handle."
"I'm afraid there will be more," Marius said after a slight chuckle. "I wasn't able to do this earlier, but there's more that comes with the new rank, Major." He took something out of his desk, and then stood up. "Please stand," he asked as he crossed around the desk to stand in front of her. "Major Thrace, for your steadfast determination, excellent leadership, and defense of the Station, it is my honor to award you with the Admiral Olvera Order of Heroism." He took out the medal and carefully pinned it onto her lapel.
Charlotte wasn't the overly emotional type but if ever there was an exception this was probably it and she was somewhat going red with embarrassment "Jordan will never let me hear the end of this." she said
Marius laughed again, which felt strange given everything that had happened.
"Don't let him give you a hard time. He has a lot to live down himself."
"The day Jordan can give me a hard time..." Charlotte said with a slight giggle "I think he knows better than that these days."
"I'm glad to hear that you're giving him a run for his money," the Captain said as he turned and returned to his seat. "I know we both have a lot of work to get done, but before I dismiss you, is there anything else we need to discuss?"
"At the moment I'm not muddying the waters because we can't afford to split our focus too much, it's one step at a time with good reason." Charlotte said "However at some point once we're settled in the Delta Quadrant we're going to need to talk about Trill, that they went dark in the manner they did and when they did, it's more than a world to think about sir it's a whole species on the line. We're not in a position to do anything about it right now but once we are we'll need to make a point of it." Marius sat back in his chair, pursing his lips as he thought about what the Marine had said.
"You're right, of course," he said after a moment. "Add that to the list, and we will see what we can accomplish as quickly as possible."
"This is why we need to find you a yeoman." Charlotte said with a slight grin "Then someone else can keep the lists."
"Unfortunately," Marius said with a wry grin, "new staff is going to be hard to come by. But that would be great."
"I can probably find someone to put together a list of candidates for you if you'd like." Charlotte said "That said if there's nothing else you need, permission to get back to work?"
"Absolutely, Major, and thank you. You are dismissed."
Off:
Captain Marius G. Pontmercy
Commanding Officer
Starbase Obsidian
Major Charlotte Thrace
Marine CO
Starbase Obsidian
RSS Feed