Security to Security

Posted on Thu Jul 18th, 2024 @ 2:49pm by Ensign Amanda Turell & Petty Officer 1st Class Saral & Ensign Eden Drake

1,343 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: A marathon not a sprint
Location: Various
Timeline: 30 minutes after 'briefing the volunteers'

The doors to Transporter room 1 aboard the USS Wolff opened and in stepped the first two of the four man security team heading over to the Marathon; Ensign Turell and Petty Officer Smith. Both armed and ready but each with a small bag alongside them.

"Is that really all you're bringing?" Amanda asked Smith, the bag the woman carried looked like it contained very little compared to her own, though the partially disassembled type IV phaser rifle and spare power cells hiding in said bag definitely made it look bulkier.

"It's all I think I'll need for 12 days, the rest I can replicate." Smith replied. "A few personal effects, some casual clothes and that sorta thing."

"Better hope we don't get any power problems then," Eden Drake said lightly as he followed them, but clearly only teasing as he settled his own bag and case on the deck. He glanced at the time, arching an eyebrow. "Anyone seen La'ro?"

"I'm here, I'm here..." the Angosian security officer half jogged through the door, although it didn't really make him go any faster. He had brought no less than four bags with him, but he seemed oblivious to the fact it might be a little over the top even when confronted with the rest of the team's pick. "An hour's not long to find someone willing to take care of a cat for almost two weeks."

"I think he's packed everything but the kitchen sink." Amanda said with a slight chuckle.

"Better safe than sorry, that's the human phrase?" La'ro shrugged with an easy going smile, clearly not minding the justified dig.

"Definitely." Amanda replied, shaking her bag just a little.

Eden just gave a non committal 'hm' sound as he arched an eyebrow, eyeing up the bags. He highly doubted that anything in them would be as useful as La'ro's expression suggested.

"Are we prepared for transport Sirs?" Petty Officer Saral asked from the transporter operators console.

"I think we're ready Saral." Amanda replied.

"Then please step onto the pad." Saral instructed.

Amanda was the first to step onto the transporter pad taking the front center spot.

Eden followed her up, letting out a soft breath as he rolled his shoulder and stretched his neck. He'd been interested to see what was so special about this other ship.

La'ro made his way up, his bags hanging off of both shoulders. A slight wave of nervousness fluttered through him, but he chased it away. Whatever awaited them, he'd deal with it.


==== USS Marathon transporter room 1 ====


4 transporter sparkles slowly materialised in the transporter room of the USS Marathon, the small team ready to add to the limited protection detail of the experimental ship.

Waiting in the transporter room, Ensign Leo Carter stepped forward, his hands clasped behind his back. "Welcome aboard," he greeted with a sincere and pleasant tone, nodding firmly to them. "I'm Ensign Leo Carter, the current Security officer of the Marathon."

"Good afternoon Ensign Carter. Ensigns Turell and Drake, Petty officer Smith and Crewman La'Ro." Amanda said motioning to each of the team in turn.

"Good to meet you all," Leo nodded politely, although his expression didn't give much away. Still, he seemed sincere in his welcome. He motioned for them to follow him, leading them down an immaculate corridor that reeked of newness. "We appreciate your assistance, although we hope we won't need it."

"I hope so too but you can never be too careful, even in friendly territory." Amanda remarked.

"True," Leo had to agree, even if he could only manage a half smile with it and it didn't quite reach his eyes. He ushered them into the lift, shifting back with the tight squeeze of all of them together. "I'll show you the security office first, then take you to your quarters so you can get settled."

La'ro shifted as far to the side as possible, holding his bags in as tight as he could against himself to give the others more room. "Is it really just you here at the moment?"

"Just me," Leo confirmed with pursed lips and a light nod. "At least now we can set up a loose shift system between us."

"I'm surprised they have assigned only a single security officer to this experimental ship." Po Smith remarked.

Leo gave as much of a shrug in the small space as he could. "I thought the same," he admitted openly. "But the whole crew is so small. I guess they felt there was safety in fewer numbers..." he motioned for them to leave ahead of him as the door opened.

Amanda stepped out the turbolift. "What's your armoury like? we bought type II's with us but is there anything else."

"It's...pretty basic," Leo had to admit, and there was clear discomfort in having to say it, but he wasn't one for sugar coating or out and out lying just to save face. He led them into the office, motioning for them to take a look around. It was decently sized but modestly outfitted. "I put in a requisition request, for a greater variety of weapons, but it was rejected. I think they were more concerned about getting us ready for the flight. We have type 1 and 2 phasers, exactly four rifles....but a whole crate of Ka-Bars."

"Weapons lockers in the usual strategic places? Smith asked, if the ship was following normal regs there'd be weapons lockers on the bridge, engineering and a few other key locations around the ship.

"Yes!" Leo motioned to her and a smile came to his features at actually being able to deliver some good news. "In terms of tactical, we have Type VIII dorsal and ventral phaser arrays...there's no torpedo launchers, but we do have fore and aft tractor beams." He glanced around the group. Why did he feel like he was a mechanic giving the bad news on how much work needed doing on a vehicle they'd just bought?

"Definitely a fly away as fast as possible rather than fight prototype ship." Amanda remarked. "Can see why they recommended a ship to escort you."

Leo nodded in agreement at the assessment, unable to deny it in the circumstances. "The Marathon is going to be something special," he said openly to them, to try and win them back over. "We just need to...have her back."

"Well we're here to make sure she gets there to become that something special." Smith quickly said.

Leo nodded, glancing around the bags that they had all brought with them, clapping his hands lightly together. "Are there any weapons we should check into the armoury?" he asked lightly. Because he'd bet a fair amount of credits on there being weapons in at least some of those bags...and protocol would have them under lock and key.

Amanda looked back to her team then to Leo. "No, we only bought type II's with us, you mentioned there were enough phaser rifles for most of us if we needed them, we'll check them out see if they're all working 100%."

Turning away for a moment hiding her face behind La'ro, Smith tried her hardest to stifle a chuckle. She knew Amanda was lying through her teeth.

La'ro stiffened, his eyes widening slightly and his throat tightening, able to sense Smith's own struggles with the lie...even if they were on different ends of the emotional spectrum.

Leo watched Amanda with an arched eyebrow for a moment, glancing to the others momentarily. It was clearly bullshit. But did he really want to fight this battle? There could be much more meaningful ones to fight. He sighed softly, deciding to play along for an easy life. "Fine. Well, in that case, why don't I show you to some quarters so you can drop your things off before we get to work..."


OFF:

Ensign Amanda Turell
Security Officer
[pnpc Taliserra]

Po1 Saral
Operations officer
[pnpc Taliserra]

Crewman La'ro
Po3 Smith
Redshirt npc's

Ensign Eden Drake
Security
USS Wolff
[PNPC Rowe]

Ensign Leo Carter
Security Officer
USS Marathon
[PNPC Rowe]

 

RSS Feed