Reporting for duty, Sir!

Posted on Thu Nov 10th, 2022 @ 8:37am by Corporal Briar McKinnon (Bailey) & 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken

Mission: The Goddess
Location: Marine CO's Office
1119 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

The ride over to her new posting had been a long one but Briar had spent the majority of the time reading up on her new CO, his accomplishments and also what her new unit was going to be like. She was hoping it would put her off to a good start with the rest of her team and not have her come across as a bit of a know-it-all. Putting the padd away once the craft landed, Briar picked up her rucksack and waited patiently for the doors to open.

Stepping out of the shuttle, Briar took in her surroundings and spied a couple of the shuttlecraft pilots look up at the newcomer before going back to what they were doing, and thought to herself that she'd love to get her hands on a mechanical schematic of one of the crafts. "One step at a time, girl," she muttered to herself before she continued on to get her transfer paperwork sorted from the Transport Chief.

Once she got the orders and made her way onto one of the main corridors, Briar looked down at the paperwork and then back up, "Computer, locate 1st Lieutenant Kyle Walken." The automated response came back to say he was in his office on Deck 35 so she took the turbolift down there, found her way to the office and pressed the chime before straightening her uniform and waiting patiently for the response.

Walken lets out a yawn as he sat behind his desk, "Enter." He announced to whoever was outside, he knew it must have had to be another new person since most Marines knew to just enter and not both when it came to his office.

Briar didn't quite bounce into the room but she did walk in with a purposeful stride, "Lieutenant Walken, Corporal McKinnon reporting in for the first time, sir." She stood to attention and nodded rather than saluted. It took all she had not to overload her tired looking CO. "I've heard a lot of things about this detachment and I'm happy to be here." Being in the Corps still hadn't dulled her extroverted personality.

Walken stood up from his desk being both tired and bored he figured it would be fun to mess with the new transfer. He got in her face, "And who told you this?! What moron said that this detachment of rejects and failures is good for anything than being meatshields?! Now you tell me, Corporal, what are all these 'good things' this detachment has done?!" He was loud, aggressive, and in her face.

Briar knew better than to flinch as he got up in her face so she just stood there and looked him in the eye, letting him shout and get it out before responding. So she "Your reputation preceeds you, sir: you've served aboard the Ulysses for four years and rose to the rank of Sergeant before transferring to the Wyoming, then Hawaii and finally here. You've seen combat and death, and been awarded for it. Sergeant Trent Busby has a preference for explosives and demolitions and is an excellent marksman. And then there is Colonel Hayter. This detachment has done the best job at keeping the crew of this ship safe so I'd say that is a good thing."

"And sir? I have a Lieutenant Colonel as a father and a Staff Sergeant as a brother, so I'm not easily intimidated." She added with a smile while still staring him dead in the eye.

"Well you are no fun are you?" Walken sighs as he sits back down. "Tell me, Corporal, why transfer here? What is the motive behind you joining up with my rag-tag bunch?" Walke was actually serious now he defaulted back to his neutral state. His eyes locked with hers.

"I can assure you, Sir, that I'm plenty of fun and will probably be the most out there Marine you'll meet." Briar responded, somewhat confused by the change in tone. "To be honest, sir, because I have chosen to specialize in an area, I was recommended to this ship by my old CO, and I accepted the challenge."

"A marine is a marine, you will be assigned to Raider. Your callsign during OPs will be Raider 4-2 you will be under the command of Raider 4-1 Sergeant Trent Busby. After you get your gear packed away you will report to him." Walken made the adjustments on his rosters. "Who was your old CO Corporal? Where did you transfer from?"

"I transferred from the Sojourner, sir, and my old CO was 1st Lieutenant Daniel Buchanan." Briar nodded in reply and pulled out the transfer orders she had and handed them over. "This has everything you need, sir."

"Glad to see you have your things in order Corporal, have you met Sergeant Busby yet, or was I your first stop?"

"I hope everything on that is up to your standard and nothing stands out that shouldn't. I always make it my mission to meet my CO before I meet anyone else, sir." Briar nodded in response, "So he will be my next stop to check in and introduce myself. Is there anything that you would like to know about me that would be of benefit to you, sir?"

"I don't care what your sheet says, I judge my marines based on the merits and ability they show me not something that happened in the past. Show me why you should be here." Walken stated with a nod to the young enlisted marine before him. "He will also be the person you answer to so make sure you start off on the right foot. Unless you have something you feel I should know Corporal?"

"Absolutely not, sir. I'm an extremely open person who's always happy to share." Briar beemed a happy smile and was pretty sure that he would get sick of her before she got sick of him. "Is there anything I should know about the team?"

"I will leave that to the Sergeant to explain." Walken was happy to see a marine who could still be that happy about things. "Corporal never lose your attitude, its rare for a marine to keep it."

"Never gonna happen, Sir." Briar shook her head and smiled again. "My father always appreciated that about me too and it would always make him smile. Gotta keep a positive attitude otherwise things just go to Hell, and I'm all for being the happiness beacon for the team."

"Good, now you are dismissed Corporal get to know the others here and follow the COC." Walken spoke softly.

"Thank you, sir." Briar nodded and turned on her heel and walked out of the office.

OFF