In Harms Way
Posted on Sat Feb 22nd, 2020 @ 6:30am by Ensign Dana Wakefield & Major Cornelius Tremble
Edited on on Tue Feb 25th, 2020 @ 4:18am
1,204 words; about a 6 minute read
Mission:
Episode 9 - Empok's End
Location: Marine Barracks - Deck Nine - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD001 1100 hrs
Dana was confused, her presence had been requested by Captain Tremble, but he was a marine and the ships second Executive Officer. But what did he want her for or was Commander O'Flannigan still that pissed with her, that he couldn't deal with her? or was she in trouble again?
Deck nine was sort of a second home to her by now after all the SCIF was located here and she'd often meet Jen, of course, it's also where the marines were based, that meant that Aiden might be here. She blushed at the thought, the last time they had met, he'd asked if she was single and she'd given him a kiss on the side of his cheek.
Before she knew it she had reached the Captain's office located in the Marine Barracks, quickly composing herself she straightened her uniform before hitting the door chime.
The doors opened and Dana slowly walked in, "Ensign Dana Wakefield, reporting as ordered, Sir." she said, standing at attention.
Neil remained seated as Wakefield entered. He glanced at the Corporal of the Guard momentarily, then said: "That will be all Corporal Fry, you can return to your post." As the brown-haired marine saluted and stepped out of the office Neil turned his eyes back to his desk for a few beats, then looked up and said. "At ease, Ensign."
He waited for a few beats as she slipped into a rest position, then said "Ensign Wakefield, welcome to marine country. This will be relatively painless. You should know that JAG has ordered me to take a look at the Pioneer in the wake," he paused, half-smile ghosting across his lips as he continued, "of your experiences."
After a few moments, he gestured with a nod of his head toward a chair alongside the desk. "Take a pew. Any questions thus far?"
"No Sir, happy to oblige," she said with a weak smile as she made herself comfy.
"Right," Neil started, "So, I've read the transcripts. Interviewed all interested parties. What I'm looking for is what didn't necessarily make it to trial or might have been interpreted incorrectly in your point of view. Did medical miss something? Did the XO or CO...or anyone else that interacted with you, save perhaps Warrant Masters, miss obvious signs or behaviour that could have headed the whole thing off?"
"To be honest sir, I was having a hard time, we were under attack and taking heavy damage, the Captain told me to sort a ship and I had to choose to disable it or destroy it. I chose the latter. She paused for a moment before she slowly continued "If I simply disabled them, they could have rejoined the fight, hell they could have destroyed us, I couldn't....I couldn't take that chance." She paused, a bead of sweat forming on her brow as it all came flooding back, she took a deep breath to calm herself. "But I couldn't live with my decision, voices, faces began to haunt my dreams, I'd killed an entire crew, simply for defending themselves and fighting for something they believed in."
Dana glanced at the Captain, no doubt he had made many life and death decisions, but she wasn't built like that, that was her first and it was a decision she regretted to this very moment.
"Ultimately it lead me on a self-destructive path, I didn't cope well. I wasn't sleeping, eating, my temper and tolerance were low, hell I'm positively sure you will have heard about the ballbusting I did to my entire department, sadly people became the attention of my rage. But I take full responsibility for my actions, the XO's wife bore the brunt of my misdirected rage at it almost cost me my career and now I have another long path of making amends, to the crew, to the Captain to everyone.
Niel listened, trying not to mentally sigh. Somewhere, the ship's senior officer's had let this officer down. He voiced his thoughts, looking at the redhead evenly. "Doing what you have to do to protect yourself is one thing. Having to do it for your crew-mates is something else as well. We can discuss fighting for the ideals of the Federation and our own codes...and it's a nice sentiment. But, when it comes down to the neck or nothing fights, we're really fighting for each other. Because when it comes down to it, the Federation isn't the one watching your six in a fire-fight."
The marine shook his head slightly then and looked at the Ensign. "The bad news is that you'll carry the weight of the battle with you. The weight gets easier, but we do owe 'something' to our foes, even if they might not deserve it. That's why we don't forget these kinds of things."
"I trust you've gotten a handle on your sleep issues and are being proactive with things?"
"With all due respect sir, I just want to keep my head down, do my duties, I'm coping much better, but it's something that will live with me forever, it may get easier but I'll never forget it. Will it make me less of an officer, probably, but to be frank I'll be quite content if I never have to make another command decision again, hell I think I'll be quite content staying an Ensign."
Neil's eyes narrowed and he said, "I'll take that as an answer for now, but when we put on these uniforms part of the deal is going into Harm's Way. Sure, Fleet's mission is exploration and the rest of the happy hand-holding the recruitment posters talk about. But we both know the opposite side. So, I hope you get your mind around the idea that you just might have to make that decision again. Even as an Ensign. It goes with the territory. If you can't, then you might be better off getting a station posting."
"Thank you sir, I'll certainly consider your wise words, perhaps a station posting may be better for me, but who knows, I certainly have enough to focus on at the moment, have you seen the back log of repair work," she said with a smile. "If there isn't anything else, I'd like to get back to it."
Neil wondered how much Dana was fronting and kept himself from shaking his head. "You're dismissed, Ensign. Thank you for your time," the marine answered her and hit a control on his desk. The hatch immediately cycled and Corporal Fry reappeared to escort Wakefield from his office.
Dana nodded and stood, she straightened her uniform before turning to her escort, why did she have the feeling that people were still trying to keep an eye on her, paying lip service was something she was good at after all her father was an Admiral.
A Joint Post By
Ensign Dana Wakefield
Operations Officer, USS Pioneer
Captain Cornelius Tremble
Marine Commanding Officer/Second Officer, USS Pioneer
Private Aiden Pearce
Corpsman RFT 1, USS Pioneer
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