Turn 6: Promotions & Downtime

[Cartwright]

The Marines of the Hell Hound platoon stood at parade rest, awaiting to be called to attention by an officer or their sergeant. They all had fought hard and wanted to eat in the Mess Hall, talk, and rest. The latter being the most important, as they had not eaten since they had left to board the U.S.S. Hoover.

Captain McCoy walked up to the podium before all the Marines. This was it. Time to be called to attention. They had awaited for the command.

"Platoon, ATTEN-HUT!" Sergeant Hayek proclaimed, snapping to attention.

The Marines snapped to attention crisply. They moved as one. Almost as if they were one person. This impressed the captain immensely. He enjoyed seeing such precision being instilled into the enlisted ranks. It built character and pride. Something every Marine needed as a requirement.

"Gentlemen, I would like to congratulate you on a job well done. You completed your mission and helped take the capital of Andromeda. I also, must owe you my personal thanks. You saved my team of Recon boys. If it were not for you, they would have probably been dead right now."

The Marines begged to differ, but no one spoke in protest. They all stood rigidedly at attention. They did not move. Only breathed and occassionally blinked. This was the discipline they had been tought since Boot Camp. They all knew they would be reprimanded if they broke their bearing. The captain would make sure of it.

"Now, I would like to present members of your platoon some new positions. Sergeant Nicholas Hayek, please step forward." The captain said.

Sergeant Hayek walked forward and pivoted to the left, then walked to the center of the platoon and halted. He then right faced, now facing the captain and saluted. The captain returned the salute and then went to at ease.

"For your extraordinary leadership capabilities and for keeping your cool under immense pressure, you are here by promoted to Staff Sergeant. Welcome to the Staff Non-Commissioned, Hayek."

Hayek saluted and walked back to his position. He did not show it, but he was proud of himself. Another chevron added to his sleeve. Excellent.

"Corporal Sammuel Dunn, please step forward."

The corporal mimiced the sergeant's actions and stood before the platoon.

"You are here by promoted to sergeant. You shall still have command of first squad."

The corporal saluted and fell back into formation. Now, only one more man was required to be presented with honors. The one the captain disliked the most. He was an embarrasment. Never wore the proper uniform, had baggy clothing and hair exceeding the lengths dictated by regulation. However, he did keep the Marines alive and that deserved some gratitude.

"Lance Corporal Elias Godchild, please step forward."

Slightly surprised for being called up, it took him a moment to mimic the actions of the others. Though, his movements were not as crisp as the others, he still kept his bearing. He saluted lazilly and peered up at the disgusted captain.

"You have been awarded the Purple Heart for injuries sustained in combat and the Bronze Star. Congratulations, lance corporal."

The captain stepped down from the podium and handed the lance corporal his awards. He then dismissed the unit. Now, they could do whatever they wanted. Finally, they mission was finished. They could relax. The U.S.S. Normandy would be returning to Earth within the next five hours. They were going home.

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[Matt]

'Shit, all need is a couple of cigarettes and a beer' Meyen thought.

Their mission was done, and they did a good job. The Corporal was hungry as hell and the whole platoon went to get food together. They sat a table and talked about the mission. The platoon lost a few good Marines, but they made it. It wasnt luck, it was that they were the best. After dinner, Meyen went to his locker and put his stuff away. He sat down on the bench, pulled out the book, and wrote about all the kills he had gotten and wrote the descriptions. It was time to get some sleep. Matt enjoyed his eggs and bacon.

[Shadow]

Hayek followed the marines out most if not all moving to the Mess hall, once everyone was seated and eating in the mess hall he decided to speak up to them. "Hell Hounds, if you'd take your attention away from a well deserved meal I've got something to say to you too." He looked over the group, happy with the survivors because they were the best and proved it against the odds. "We lost a great deal of good men down there, all for a good cause. By surviving and completing our object hopefully we have avenged our fallen comrades. I want to congratulate all of you, you've added one more accomplishment to the Hell Hounds and you've shown who the best of the best of the best are in this Core." He looked over the group, satisfied with his speech then allowed a small smile. "Great job, men. As you were." With that he himself went to get food and after that went over the feed from the shoulder cams of his squadmates the encounter had bothered him somewhat, he intended to find out why... He spent most of the first night back on the ship watching those clips over and over.

[Cartwright]

Staff Sergeant Hayek watched the feeds. He then noticed something. When they had been down in the reactor room, a large figure had left the room two seconds before the Strogg attacked. It appeared to be some sort of large metallic creature infused with the flesh of several humans. It was not the Makron, for this he was sure. Suddenly, the alarms whaled to life. The sirens alerted the entire crew of the Normandy. The Hell Hounds grouped up at a large viewscreen and watched as an enormous Strogg ship ascended from the planet and a wormhole protruded from the tip. The Strogg ship then disappeared in the wormhole and it collapsed.

It took several minutes before the sirens deactivated. When they did, everyone went back on their usual business; however, with something new and interesting to gossip about. Something had been on that ship and Hayek knew it.

[Shadow]

Hayek keyed a com system to the bridge, "This is Staff Sergeant Nicholas Hayek, I need to speak with the Captain about possibly endangering information." He waited for a response and sighed, his paranoia paid off sometimes... And sometimes he wished it didn't...

[Cartwright]

"What is it, staff sergeant?" The captain inquired.

[Shadow]

"I found something strange on the feed from one of my soldiers shoulder cams." He replied then put a small chip into the device and the video was uploaded onto a video screen in front of the Captain.
"I'm not sure what it is, it doesn't fit the decription of a Makron but it's big...."

[Cartwright]

"I'll send it to ONI. See what the Spooks have to say about it. Now, just relax and enjoy your time off for now. Never know when we might get called to action again."

[Mr. Death]

"That's Mr. Death" A marine pointed Elias out to a group of Boots.
"Pray to whatever god you pray to that you don't get put in his group" He whispered

"No no no. . .Pray to your god that you DO get put in his group" another seasoned marine said to them.
"He's the best damn medic the Core has ever seen. . .He just gets put in the thickest shit" He nodded as if to honor the medic.
"If I was injured and in deep shit, I wouldn't want anyone else."

"Mr. Death huh?" One of the boots asked and looked at him.

Elias was smoking a joint and sipping his Vodka. He had to clear his mood and contimplate the mission. He poured some Vodka out on the floor, he didn't care if it just stayed there in a puddle.
"For you guys" he said, honoring the dead and his fallen comrades.
The ceremony was a little much, and his wounds still ached, but oh well. He wasn't sure if he liked his new nick name, but he didn't really care all that much.

Mr. Death He grunted and laughed. . .It kinda fit.

[Matt]

Meyen saw Godchild and walked over to him.

"Hey Godchild, Vodka and a joint eh? You got any cigarettes? Cant seem to find any one that has any. Smoked them all in the Hangar when we were in the shit." Meyen said.

Godchild was shitfaced, Meyen could tell.

[Mr. Death]

Elias looked up at Meyen with his single eye and noded. He tossed him an entire pack. It hadn't even been opened yet.
"Just stocked up" He stated. He still had the crumpled box from Sweeping Fury. It had one cigarette left. His lucky one, he decided earlier. He wouldn't smoke it until he was sure he was going to die.

"Leave seems good for the boys" He said and patted at the empty seat next to him. No one seemed to want to sit by Mr. Death. They were scared of him, atleast the boots were anyway. Some of the came and asked if he was the infamous Mr. Death, the Terror of Third Squad, the Cursed of Charlie Squad, the Phantom of Axum Philum Squad, the foresaken Medic who always seemed to live when his men died. He would nod yes and they would gape at him for a moment or two before passing on.

Others, mostly the veterans and others who had know him in the service would approach him warily. They would pat him on the shoulder and congratulate him on the medals he'd earned and the men he'd saved. They'd recall past times when he'd saved them or a friend, and then they'd leave,bidding him farewell. He knew it did no good. Farewell. . .The only farewell he had was in a casket, and that wasn't happening.

[Matt]

"Thanks man" Meyen said.

He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. He took a long hit and then blew it out.

"So hows it going? I've heard all the boots are terrorfied of you, hahaha, Mr. death." Meyen laughed.

[Mr. Death]

Elias grunted and gave a half felt smile
"Yeah. . .Perhaps" His cycloptic gaze fell on a group of boots who were whispering and looking at him between whispers.
He smiled at them and then waved. They soon diverted their attention to something else, pretending to play dice or some other game.

"Yeah I guess. . .It's okay though. . .You? You did one helluva job out there"

[Shadow]

Shadow sighed as he walked in and took a seat with them, the boots just stopped looking completely at that... "Hey, Mr. Death, pass the vodka around. Great job keeping everyone together out there mate." He leaned back but still looked troubled, and whatever troubled him normally meant the near fleet should be worried.

[Cartwright]

"Nightengail? Holy shit... if it ain't the good 'ol motherfucker from Boot. This asshole had the balls to tell his own DI off back in Boot Camp. I thought he had lost it." A Marine in a group nearby proclaimed, smiling at his friends.

The formerly dubbed Nightengail turned and stared at the man. He recognized him from Boot Camp, but did not want any association with him. In reality, he was surprised the man had survived all this time. He must have received the crap assignments. He said nothing back to the man in verification of what he said. The truth was out there for the masses. There was no real need to regurgitate and express the same information to them.

Staff Sergeant Hayek sipped some Vodka and noticed the lance corporal's joint. He snatched it away and slammed it on the deck, stomping on it until it was put out.

"Are you insane, 'Mr. Death'? The possession of illegal drugs is strictly against regulations, and even though I'm not entirely a by-the-book sergeant, I still know when to shove my boot up someone's ass. If I see another one, I'll be reporting you to Captain Pierce, the Alpha Company Commander. Got it? Good." Hayek exclaimed at the man.

Godchild just sighed and took another swig of his Vodka. At least he had something to drink to take his mind off most things. Corporal Meyen just chuckled and kept smoking his cancer stick, occassionally taking swigs of his Vodka.

Sergeant Dunn repacked some fresh explosives and then put away his gear, getting into a group with Iceman and Hoot. He needed to get to know his platoon more, but did not want to disturb the other three. He was quite curious as to know who would be replacing their fallen comrades in arms for their next mission. A question some would deem best left unanswered.

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