Rank and Files

Posted on Wed Oct 11th, 2017 @ 6:42pm by Captain Tim Williams & Lieutenant Commander Vincent Holt
Edited on on Wed Oct 11th, 2017 @ 8:22pm

Episode: Preparations
Location: CO's Ready Room
Timeline: Backpost - before completion of refit

Vincent made a B-line across the quiet bridge, noticing technicians dotted across the room. One was only visible by their legs as they lay underneath and inside one of the secondary consoles at the Port side of the bridge, which made Vincent chuckle slightly. He was wearing his duty uniform and straightened it before pressing the door chime to the CO's office. 

"Come i-" Tim started to call out, but the door started to slide open before he had finished. He swallowed a curse and made a mental note to bypass the dockyard crews and fix the door activation mechanism to his ready room himself the first chance he had.

Entering the office with a smirk on his face, "Hey there Chief," he said in a jovial voice. He looked around to get a lay of the room, some subconcious training made him always assess a room for cover and hiding spots for concealed weapons, but less paranoid than that it was also getting an idea of the personal effects that his new Captain had on display.

"Welcome aboard, Arse," Tim responded with an identical tone, using Holt's self-proclaimed identifier from the bar before he had left. "Glad to see the synthehol didn't stop you finding your way to the ship at last," he joked.

Vincent let out a hearty laugh, in his mind that could have gone south pretty fast. He was glad he judged the man well. Still didnt help that he had reported in late to meet his new CO. He straightened his face and passed over one of the PADDs he had with him. 

"Lieutenant Commander Vincent Holt reporting as XO to USS Highlander," Vincent explained then adding, "finally." 

"Well, welcome aboard Commander. The important thing is you got here in the end," Tim answered, taking the PADD and sitting behind his desk to skim quickly through it and press his thumb to the reader to sign his final approval of the transfer orders.

Vincent took the chair in front of him and took particular interest in one of the objects on the desk, he furrowed his brow slightly. 

Tim saw his first officer's gaze as he looked up from the PADD, putting it aside on a stack of others he had dealt with already that day. "I see you've taken an interest to my sculpture," he commented. The particular piece that Holt had focussed on was a lump of metal roughly moulded into the shape of a Federation starship. It was intended to be a Centaur class, but the rough quality of the work and the metal it was made from meant that it could be mistaken for a number of other classes in its place. "I welded that from some debris from the first ship I ever served on; the Merryweather. She was destroyed by pirates back in..." he paused as he tried to think back to the year. "Twenty three fifty six," he said gradually. "We suspected Marquis at the time, but couldn't prove it one way or the other. I've made sculptures from most of the ship's I've served on," he explained, gesturing at the shelves tucked into an alcove of his ready room directly opposite the view port. "The only one missing is the Athena, which we lost during the Dominion War. The battlefield was too chaotic and dangerous to be able to make an attempt to collect any debris in the aftermath."

Vincent watched as the CO recounted his tale, looking closely at the piece before him, "Thats incredibly fiddly work, you've done an amazing job with the bits of detail," he said, looking at how straight the nacelles were in relation to each other, "Not easy working with metal that small and hot. A real pity to have that gap in your collection though." 

Tim shrugged at that. Making the sculptures of his old ships had only really come about because he had gotten his hands on some debris from the Merryweather that had impacted their escape pod, and was trying to come up with something to do with it. Continuing it - either with debris if the ship was destroyed or damaged, or with old engine parts after they had been swapped out - had been prompted more by those who had seen his first sculpture and gifted him the materials to make more after each reassignment. "I'm just glad I haven't had a new one to make since I took command of the Highlander," he answered. He almost lost her, once, during an incident that had since been classified by Starfleet, but he had enough connections by then to be able to arrange for her to be recovered and put back into service.

"It's never easy losing a ship, Ive only lost two thankfully, the Odyssey and the Wasp. The loss of the first put me in this uniform, so theres that," He said, non-chalontly, knowing full well the Captain had read his files. "I have a model of the Odyssey on my desk, so I understand the sentiment, but I replicated mine, nothing with as much history as your collection."

"I did want to go over a few things with you if you have some time though," Vincent said, offering the second PADD he had brought with him, "Probably the main one of note was to do with integrating a Marine detachment to the Highlander as a permanent addition. It was my intention on the Kukri to allow Security and Marines to work together on ship-board security. Allowing for cross training and increased interoperability."

"No offence to your former service branch, but what do we need marines for?" Tim asked, taking the PADD and giving it more than the cursory scan he had given the first. "We aren't at war, certainly not with anyone in the Delta Quadrant."

"Marines tend to get a bad rap with being trigger happy jarheads, but the experience and skills they bring to the table cannot be ignored. I've been on both sides of the Marines versus Security fence, I know that there are some glaring deficiencies on both sides. Most Marines who transitioned over to Security either adapted or mustered out, some people need the Regimented lifestyle. I would not allow Marines to be idle members of the crew, they would be embedded with Security and allow for two way training to occur. I have a Lieutenant Colonel at Camp Killigrew who would give me a squad without a second thought. The opportunity to do more than just Embassy duty and constant planet based training would be an experience few would pass up," Vincent explained, hoping the Captain would see his point of view. 

"Having overlooked the USS Voyager's encounters in the Delta Quadrant also give me a reason to suggest this addition. I read of twelve seperate incidents where Marine protocols would have prevented casualties or resisted capture. Those incidents are outlined in the report, which was earmarked for Starfleet Command upon my promotion to CO," He finished, saying what he wanted, releasing a small sigh.

"I served with marines during the war, there's definitely no doubing that they have a lot of experience and skills to bring to the table," Tim responded, leaving the PADD on his desk as he got up and walked slowly and deliberately around it and the commander towards the replicator near the window. He silently pointed to it and raised an eyebrow to his XO, wordlessly asking if he'd like anything before he continued. "But at the same time, you can't deny that they're primarily a military force. Yes, Starfleet definitely has its militaristic qualities; our ships are well armed as are our security teams, and we're all trained in at least basic combat. But where Starfleet and the marines differ is that our primary mission is scientific; we're explorers, diplomats, anthropologists, archaeologists, engineers, physicists... our primary goal is to go out there and learn more about the universe, and to converse with those who inhabit it peacefully. Military action is a last resort, and always in self defence in one form or another."

"We're going to the Delta Quadrant; somewhere almost completely unknown to us. Many out there who only heard rumours of Voyager as they passed through on their way home thought that she was a battleship, who would open fire with their immense arsenal of unstoppable weapons and send their Borg army after any who stood in the way of Captain Janeway and her search for coffee. Can you see why it might not be such a good idea to bring a contingent of marines along with us as we go back there and try to establish peaceful relations with these people?

"I don't think that the people we meet are going to nescessarily make that distinction, and nor would we have the entire squad at First Contact events. Just people with the same uniform, just different undershirt colour, but those with the ability to read a room and guage atmospherics. Being able to act on that information and make decisions to preserve themselves and others. Plus the ability to sustain a withdrawl or elongated firefight. There is almost a science to combat. Plus the opportunity to provide reconnaisance before Away teams beam down. All I am suggesting is in the best interests and welfare of the crew, based on my experiences both as Navy and as a Marine," Vincent knew he was fighting a losing battle. 

"Speak softly and carry a big stick," He said finally, hoping the Captain would see his meaning.

Tim was silent for a few moments as he gave Holt's argument the consideration it was due as his new first officer. Finally, he said, "Your points are valid, but many of the examples you cite are already capabilities of our security teams. They are trained to not only scan a room and check for hostiles, but to also scan a room and check for other, less obvious threats - listening devices, force field emitters, sealing mechanisms. I'm sure marines would notice many of the same things, but a dedicated security team has a different focus, beyond combat."

"There is another consideration to make as well; the Highlander isn't a small ship, but she's no Galaxy-class. We have a maximum crew compliment of one hundred and fifty. We can push it a little higher with some modifications to the living areas, but not much more for an extended mission. So, that would mean any marine detachment that came aboard would have a trade-off; we would have to leave crew behind. Crew who have prepared for this mission to the delta quadrant for the last three months. Crew that have been cleared by Starfleet to serve aboard a vessel with a new, classified prototype drive system. Who would you leave behind? The science officers we need to carry out our primary mission out there? The engineers we need to keep our systems - both standard and the prototypes - operating at peak efficiency? The security officers who have been training and integrating with the ship and their teams in preparation for our assignment?" It was a rhetorical question, so Tim only allowed a short pause before continuing. "I value your suggestions Commander, but in this case I have to disagree. I won't be bringing any marine detachments aboard the Highlander to the Delta Quadrant."

"I understand Sir, as is my job as XO, it is my duty to bring to you suggestions or potential concerns. And as the Captain, the decision is yours. I felt I would be remiss in my position if I had not provided my experience in this field. Please have a look over the other items in the PADD at your liesure," Vincent said, getting up to leave. He didnt feel overly upset that his proposal had been rejected, just knew full well what his position would be if he had Command. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he was overlooked for a Captaincy.

"What I will do, however," the captain said, unexpectedly continuing the conversation. "Is order you to work with Lieutenant Barnaby. You've pointed out many places where the marines excel, and I'm certain that the lieutenant will be more than willing to implement any suggestions you have from your time in the marines into the training regime for his security teams. Wherever you can see a potential short-coming in the way our security department operates, I want you and Barnaby to work the problem through and bring them up to snuff."

Vincent turned back to the Captain, suprised, "I will do that sir, and please don't mis-understand my position, I have learned so much from my time in Starfleet Security. I fully believe that it will be a two way learning experience," He said, "Thank you for your time Sir."

"I'll leave you to get settled in to your duties," Tim said, moving back to his desk and picking the PADD back up, lifting it to emphasise his last point. "Any more suggestions you have, bring them to me. We may not always agree, but I'll guarantee your ideas get fair consideration."