Words of Wisdom (Be Prepared)

Posted on Fri Oct 5th, 2018 @ 8:10pm by Captain Alistar McKeon & Chief Petty Officer Malcolm Reynolds & Lieutenant Commander Akira-Ri Sato

788 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Memento Mori

Akira raised her eyebrows as she stepped into the armory and looked around. Every weapon was set out on the table in the center of the compartment and being inspected and serviced, including the projectile weapons that had been manufactured for the Endeavour's ill-fated mission with the Krivaldi. Stepping about the room, she looked over the shoulders of the officers and ratings as they went about their work until she stopped at one non commissioned officer in particular. "Chief Petty Officer Reynolds, I know this little exercise was your idea. Is there any reason I didn't find out until just a few minutes ago?" she asked.

"Actually Ma'am, the idea wasn't mine. I'm following orders," the master at arms said with that sarcastic grin of his as he slid a reassembled firing bolt back into one of the M4s and put the rifle back together again.

"Whose idea was is, then?" Akira almost growled, not pleased that someone had ordered her mater at arms to do something like this.

"Mine," Alistar said as he walked into the armory. He had been touring the ship, doing his best to make sure that the Endeavour was ready for anything that might be thrown at his ship, and if bitter experience had taught him anything it was to be prepared for one hell of a fight. He had heard Sato in the armory as he approached, and mentally he scolded himself for not telling the Japanese officer he had issued the order. Glancing around the armory, he nodded before he met Sato's gaze. "Walk with me, both of you," he said.

Akira blinked, not sure of what she should expect. The captain was usually straight forward, but there were some times he caught her off guard. She was quick to respond to the offer, though.

Mal finished reassembling the M4, tested it, then set it down and stood. Wiping the fine machine oil off his hands, he ambled along after his chief, not sure what he was being called into the meeting for.

Alistar slowly started walking along the corridor, giving Sato and Reynolds time to catch up. Once they had, he nodded. "Akira, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about my order to service the armory. I know you run a good department, but I wanted everything gone over before we arrived at our destination," he said.

"You're expecting a fight when we arrive?" Akira asked as she matched the captain's stride.

"Maybe not when we arrive, but definitely soon," Alistar said. "There's an old Earth saying I've become fond of since I took command of the Endeavour. It's quite simple: Be Prepared. We haven't always been prepared for everything we've gone up against, and I fully intend to make sure that isn't the case this time. To that end, I want you two to give me a run down on security. We may have to both launch an assault against the pirates and board the ship from invaders, so I want to know before we get into that situation. Can we handle it?"

"Absolutely, Sir," Mal said with a grin. "We've got better internal defenses than a Cardassian space station. And it's fully intact Federation technology, run by Starfleet's best!"

"We're not going to win this one by boasting, Chief," Akira said, giving her master at arms a warm smile. Leave it to Mal to brighten your day, if only because he was a goofball sometimes. Frowning just as quickly, she nodded. "We can do it, but that warrants that question of how can we launch any kind of assault? We don't have the transport capability of a Starfleet Marine Assault Ship."

"The shuttles," Alistar said. "The type 9s can be used as fighters, everything else can be used as armed transports. We don't have armor and the shuttlebay is perfect for a staging area."

"You've put some thought into it, that's for sure," Akira said.

"I've had to. The honor of the Endeavour, and the lives of her crew, are at stake, and I'm not about to let some pirate hold our people without fear or a counter strike," Alistar said. "I want full readiness ASAP, or a damned good reason why we're not."

"We'll be ready, Sir," Akira said, nodding her confirmation. After a moment, she added. "For anything," just to hopefully sound as sure of her people as she felt. She knew her department could do the job, she just had to hope that their enemy wasn't as smart as they were.

"Very well, carry on with it then," Alistar said before he moved on down the corridor.



Captain Alistar McKeon
CO, USS Endeavour

LtCmdr Akira-Ri Sato
CSEC/TACO
USS Endeavour

CPO Mal Reynolds
MAA

 

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