Meeting The Captain

Posted on Wed Nov 23, 2016 @ 2:18am by Commodore Michael Aravan & Major James Mattis

Mission: An Orion to Die For
Location: Bridge, Ready Room
Timeline: MD 2 || 1000 Hours

After getting his office settled in, Mattis decided to pay his respects to the Captain. Walking at a brisk pace towards the turbolift, he smiled and shook his head, still not believing his luck both in being posted here, and how immense this ship really was. The lift doors parted as Mattis entered them, and, keying in his destination, they closed and the lift started to move.

After what seemed an eternity, the lift stopped and the doors opened. Mattis walked down the ramp, stopping in front of the Ready Room. Running a hand over his uniform to make sure it was straight, he rang the chime and waited for permission to enter.

Captain Michael Aravan sat his seat at the head of a huge black-surfaced table which dominated the center of the room which had a dozen chairs around it. Plants were at the corners of the room and most of one wall was filled with shelves which contained over a dozen species of bonsai trees, some elaborately sculpted around tree houses, some made to look like homes built into the ground and others that looked like they were just starting. Another table off to one side held a decanter of strong black coffee with several cups around it, a bowl containing sweetener and another for some type of cream.

When he heard the chime, he considered not responding, but it might be important enough for his Executive Officer to deliver in person, so he reluctantly set his cup of coffee down. "Come!" he called out.

Walking in, Mattis stood at attention and said, "Major James Mattis reporting for duty sir!!"

"At ease, Major," Michael said as he looked up at the incredibly tall Marine. "Have a seat so I don't strain my neck looking up and tell me what plans you have for the Marines."

Walking over to a chair and sitting, the Major looked Captain Aravan dead in the eyes and said, It is my intention to make the Marines aboard this ship the most effective and if need be most lethal fighting force in all of known space".

"That's not plans, Major, that's your hopes," Michael pointed out.

"Sir, with respect in my book and the way I conduct myself, hopes and plans in my mind are the same thing. As for immediate goals, i have more than a few sir."

"I don't know if you know it, but my brother is a Marine under your command, Major," Michael said. "When I ask him what plans are, he gives details without bringing up hopes and dreams. Do you have a plan for the Marines while serving on my ship, Major?"

"Yes sir, I was aware of that, and yes sir, I do have a plan."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't I ask what those plans were already?" Michael asked.

"Yes sir you did," Mattis said shifting in his chair. "My plan is simple, to drill and hone these Marines to such a razor sharp point that we will be able to handle any mission or any situation thrown our way, regardless of what it is or who who the aggressor may be."

"Right now, we're on our way to the Orion Sector," Michael said as he brought it up on the large table LCARS they were sitting at. "The Orion Sector Tactical Command station reported an attack before going silent. That's all the information we know on it right now. I want you to get the Marines ready for anything and everything, Major Mattis. Starfleet hasn't given us much to go on and I feel we're walking into a trap. Make sure we are ready."

"Without a doubt we will be, you can count on that Captain."

"Then get on it, Major," Michael said. "Do you have any questions for me before you do that?"

"Yes sir, I need our rules of engagement and use of force parameters."

"Do not use excessive force unless you are given no other options," Michael told him. "I don't have killers on my ship and I don't plan for there to be any."

"Understood, but permission to speak freely and openly without fear of reprisal?"

"Speaking freely is one thing, Major," Michael said. "The second part is a different story in how you make that sound. Choose your words carefully."

"With respect, the Orion's are just like the Jem'Hadar in my opinion. They are ruthless, bloodthirsty killers and slavers, who more often than not refuse to surrender and have committed so many atrocities and smaller crimes it is unfathomable, so I feel my duty compels me to ask, just how many chances should my Marines give them to surrender, and how much mercy should we show them, because, and I can tell you this, they will not show any of us mercy."

"I'm well aware of their reputation, Major," Michael replied. "That's why you'll be working closely with Security and have your weapons set to stun only if and when we encounter them. We're not killers, Major and we're going to stay that way. Use of excessive force is only authorized if you have no other choice."

Mattis sat there, his face turning a dark shade of red, and a tremor moving through his body as he forced a "Yes Sir" out of his mouth instead of saying what he really wanted to. This was his first meeting with Captain Aravan, and he felt as though he no place in voicing his opinion.

Michael got up and moved to pour a cup of coffee and added a sugar before he turned back to the Marine. "Would you like one, Major?" he asked before he made another decision regarding the Marine.

"No thank you sir, for some reason coffee makes me meaner than a snake."

"You may want to see a doctor about that," Michael said as he took a sip of his and headed back to the table, but he didn't sit this time. "You're not the first or even the second Marine Commander that's been on this ship, Major. I know you all have your styles of commanding your units and I won't interfere with that. I see you're getting upset and you feel like I'm trying to step on your toes. All I'm asking is that you not turn the Marines into a unit of killers. There's way around that. If you do have to use force, then you have to use force. It doesn't have to be that way every time, though."

All Mattis could say was simply, "Agreed."

"You said you wanted to speak freely," Michael said. "That includes me speaking freely as well, Major. You have something to say, say it now. If you have a problem with the way I run my ship, maybe it's not the ship for you to be on. Make a choice."

"Sir, I have no problem with the way you run your ship, matter of fact i requested a transfer here. Your command style, in many ways, is like mine, different in others, and that I like." Shifting in his seat, he said, "But please understand, I not only report to Starfleet Command, but Starfleet Marine Command HQ on Earth, and if HQ, that is Marine HQ, thinks for one second I am showing weakness, or not doing my job, or any little reason they can find, I will find myself relieved of command and sent back to Earth, and they will send you some sniveling little yes man or woman that will get Marines killed, or your ship damaged or destroyed, that's my fear. My goal is to do my job and to make double sure you are satisfied with it."

Michael laughed. "If it's one thing I've learned from my brother, it's that Marines don't snivel. They wouldn't make it out of boot if they did. I'm not asking you to be what you consider to be weak, Major. I'm just asking you to find alternatives. Think smarter and not with your guns. You wouldn't be here on this ship if you had a habit of not being able to adapt to a situation. Trust me on that."

"You have a point, at least on me adapting to things, as I have found my way out of some pretty tricky situations, as for the sniveling, I meant some of the Officers, as enlisted men and most officers do not snivel, we would rather die first."

"Repeat after me, Major," Michael said after he took another drink of his coffee. "Marines. Don't. Snivel."

"Marines don't snivel", Mattis said cracking a half smile. "I do have an idea for a shipboard exercise if you wish to hear it."

"What would that be?" Michael asked him.

"My idea is simple yet would be effective, efficient, and the entire crew could learn from it. The idea is, my Marines would try to seize the ship from the rest of you, and you would push back and take back not only the sections of the ship seized, but Marine Country itself. It would be a learning experience for the entire crew."

"At the moment, that's not possible," Michael said. "When we get back from this mission, then I'll consider it. In the meantime, work with Security and sort out tactics that utilize both the Marines and Security. I want everyone to work together."

''What is your Security Chief's attitude to Marines?''

"Lieutenant Mallory has no problem with Marines, Major," Michael told him. "In fact, he has worked with your predecessor and has some good ideas for cross training. You should get with him."

"I will, the only reason I ask is I have worked some places where Security hate Marines and vice-versa."

"That's not the case here," Michael said. "I won't tolerate something like that on my ship, Major."

"Aye Sir."

"What are your feelings towards Starfleet Security?" Michael asked him, curious.

"You want an honest, blunt opinion, sir?"

This should be good, Michael thought as he finished his coffee. "Go ahead."

"I Hate them. When I was just an enlisted man, we were on a mission to root out and eliminate some rogue Jem'Hadar. While we were out hunting, the Security sentry guarding the main entrance to our camp fell asleep, and that's when the Jem'Hadar chose to mount a full scale attack. When we got back, we walked right into a ambush and 57 of the 60 Marines I was with were killed, one of whom I held in my arms while she died." A tear slid down his face as he said, "That is why I hate them, I know in my heart they are not all the same, but because of that one Security Officer, 57 people, 76 when you also count the Security personnel who were there, died."

"Maybe you haven't checked my history yet, but I started out as Security myself," Michael told him. "All people are not the same and you including everyone in a division of Starfleet is a very narrow mindset, Major Mattis. If you do not put that behind you, you will find yourself with a permanent mark on your record reccomending that you be discharged from the Marine Corps."

"For answering a question you asked? With respect its the Department, not the people, that I hate and distrust and as I said, I know they are not all the same."

"No, for your mindset, Major," Michael said. "You are disrespecting the entire department because that department is filled with the personnel that you profess to hate. Did you or did you not say that you hate them, not the department?"

"I hate the Department and most, not all, but most sir, I will work and plan with them when I am ordered to do so, otherwise I say away and do not talk to them on duty unless absolutely necessary, and outright refuse to talk to or be around them off duty, and I know this is something I need to work on, at least the duty related part, but right now this is my mindset."

Michael stood and put his hands on the table while looking at the Marine. "Your personal feelings will be put aside while on duty, Major. That is an order. You are also ordered to schedule an appointment with the counseling department and have regular sessions until such time that they deem you fit to serve with Security without bias. In the meantime, if you have a single incident with them on or off duty, I will have you relieved of your command. Do I make myself clear?"

Standing, Mattis said, "I said I would while on duty, that will be as far as it goes. I have had counseling, it does not work, and third, there will be no incidents, I know enough to stay away from them unless I have to be, or am ordered to be, around them. You think I am some blood thirsty killer, but no, I'm not, Sir. I have the utmost-respect for you."

"What part of order do you not understand, Major?" Michael asked as his green eyes took on a hard look. "Do not presume to tell me what I think about you."

"I understand orders perfectly, that's all Marines do is follow orders, and I am not presuming sir, every ship CO I have ever had has both thought and said it, that's why I requested to be here, for a fresh start."

"So you not only lump an entire department of personnel in your list of people to hate, you also lump ever CO in the category that they all think you're a blood thirsty killer?" Michael asked him. He couldn't believe that he was having a conversation that he was having with the Marine and wondered if Starfleet were playing a joke by sending him in the first place. There was no way that someone with his mindset was fit to command an entire battalion of Marines, let alone be qualified to make judgement calls on thousands of personnel based on a few isolated encounters. Unfortunately, they were at warp and dumping him off the ship wasn't an option at the moment, but when they got back and if his attitude was unchanged, the Captain would take the first opportunity to do so.

"I said every previous CO I have had, not you sir."

"Computer, reference 'blood thirsty killer' in current conversation with Major James Mattis in past five minutes and play back," Michael ordered.

"You think I am some blood thirsty killer," came Mattis' voice from a hidden speaker.

"Was that or was that not you, Major?" Michael asked him.

"Correct," Mattis said stiffly.

"Is there something you wish to say, Major?" Michael asked.

"Plenty, but I would rather just keep my mouth shut."

"I believe you owe me an apology, Major Mattis," Michael told him.

"What do you want me to apologize for?"

Michael stared at the Marine as if he had grown a second head that was speaking a language that the Universal Translator couldn't figure out. He wondered how the man had even made it as high up in rank as he had and shook his head. He brought up Mattis' personnel file and looked it over for a history of mental health issues and entered his command level data access codes. Finally, he looked back up at Mattis.

"For saying that I think of you as a bloodthirsty killer, Major," he said.
looking down a second, Mattis looked back up and said, "I am sorry sir"

"That's better," Michael said. "Now go make an appointment with a counselor and then get your physical out of the way. While you're at it, make the time to see Lieutenants Mallory in Security."

"Very good sir, anything else?"

"That will be all," Michael said. "Dismissed."

Saluting, Mattis turned and left, feeling that a whole lot less weight was off his shoulders.

Once the Marine left, Michael sighed and entered his official log of the new Commanding Officer and forwarded a copy to Commander Weisz, poured another cup of coffee and headed to the bridge.