Marines and Fly Boys

Posted on Tue Jun 23rd, 2020 @ 4:45am by Lieutenant Nicholas Boucher & Mauricio Arnaldo
Edited on on Fri Jul 10th, 2020 @ 5:28pm

Mission: Death in Paradise
Location: Deck 19 - Marine Quarters

Mauricio Arnaldo was making a rare trip down to Marine Country, having spent numerous weeks in the Brig recovering from his time in the alternate universe. Little by little the young Marine had been allowing himself to explore the ship again, venturing further and further away from the isolated cave he had found comforting and safe while he adjusted back to the real world. Today was going to be the biggest test yet. Not only would he be seeing some of his Marine friends, but he was travelling off the ship to Paradise Outpost. A massive step towards his recovery.

However, his hopeful feelings and positive vibe were disturbed when Mauricio arrived at Marine Country and found a group of unknown Fighter Pilots setting up home in what used to be his bunk house.

"No manches!" Mauricio cursed aloud as he entered the room.

Nick started at the exclamation. He, himself, had received guest quarters, but he had come down to the bunkhouse where his pilots were being quartered to help get them set-up and also to quickly go through a duty roster and tobrief them on the current state of their mission.

He turned to the cause of the disturbance and saw a well-built man in a Marine uniform just inside the door to the bunkhouse. He approached him and have a nod of acknowledgement.

"Nicholas Boucher, Alpha Squadron," he said as an introduction.

"First Lieutenant Arnaldo." Mauricio replied, his tone still terse. "Well... I used to be. What's happening here?"

Nick looked around, slightly confused. "My squadron is moving in and we were assigned these quarters. We've been tasked with escorting the Pandora back to Federation space. Is there some problem?"

Mauricio rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling very tired and a pressing need to return to his safe space. He gave an apologetic smile, "I'm sorry, my friend, I've been out of the loop for a while. I didn't realise we had fly-boys on the ship now."

Nick smiled sympathetically. "We just got here, to be honest, so it's not surprising that news of our arrival hasn't spread throughout the ship yet. Did these quarters belong to someone else? They were empty when we got here."

"Must've moved my stuff out." The Marine replied vaguely, lifting those broad shoulders of his in a nonchalant shrug. "I'll find Meat and Franco, hopefully they kept it safe. So Starfleet has sent a whole squadron to watch over us? The Brass must be worried."

"Well, the political situation here in the Expanse is... Complicated, at best," Nick replied. "In a perfect world, we won't even be needed."

He shrugged.

"Were you a large unit here?" Nick asked.

"Yeah a few squads." Mauricio said, looking around the room still. "Hadn't been called on much as Lieutenant Griffin handled most Security situations and tactical operations. We took down a Ravager ship once. Boarded the vessel and rounded those pirates up. That was probably the highlight so far."

"Sounds intense," Nick replied. Sympathizing with the lieutenant, he continued. "Without a war on, I can understand there being less of an active need for Marines. After the Dominion War, there were a lot of us who were a bit rudderless. It's hard to feel useful when there isn't anything to do."

"Yeah but when the mierda goes down, they know who to call." Mauricio said with a short laugh. "So you Fly Boys gonna be permanent?"

Nick joined him in his laugh. "Semper fi. That's the truth. As far as us becoming permanent, my mission is to escort the Pandora to Federation space. After that, I have no idea, to be honest."

The Marine gave another shrug, "Well, my friend, welcome aboard. Myself and a few of the grunts are heading over to the station soon to see the sights. Give us a shout if you're coming over. If we're going to be neighbours, we should have a drink first."

"Will do, Lieutenant," Nick replied, extending his hand. "Pleasure to have met you."

Mauricio returned the shake and gave a solid bow of his head, indicating the respect he observed for another officer in the special forces. He then casually sauntered away, whistling a song about 'Mi Familia' as he did. He tried to ignore that knot in his stomach, pushing away the panic that was building in the back of his mind. All the changes, the vulnerability he felt, the constant pressure to appear normal. Mauricio rushed towards the turbo lift and waited a few anxious moments before it arrived. He dove inside and shut the doors, breathing heavily. He clutched at the wall as he tried to steady his racing heart.

Catching a glimpse of himself in the reflection of the control panel, he scowled angrily. "Keep it together." He hissed at himself.

Moments later the turbo-lift appeared on the docking level and Mauricio strolled out as if nothing was ever wrong.

OFF