Turn 9: Back On The Normandy

[Cartwright]

The Marines were called to the hangar where the company commander stood, awaiting for the platoon to file in. The first thing the Marines noticed were the lack of half of the platoon. Obviously the captain would have an explanation for this, as he always did. They only hoped it was a good one. The Marines stood at rigid attention, awaiting for the captain to begin.

"Marines, as you know, you've been through hell in back. I have yet to see a more legendary unit than yours. However, the needs of the Corps have always come above the needs of a single person. Those of your platoon members and friends that are missing, have been transfered into other units that are understrength. I know this puts a damper on your numbers, but I have a fresh list of new personnel on their way to replace those of your platoonmates lost." The captain said, his stare on every single member of the Hell Hounds.

"You all have fought courageously in the face of impossible odds, and for this I thank you. I must also step down from my command of the company as I am being transfered to Earth to oversee the training of new recruits into our beloved Corps. Your new company commander will be Captain Jacobson, a fine man. He has quite the record. I hope you will give him a sincere welcome to his new command position," the captain said, than he stepped down from where he was and a new man took his place.

The new company commander stood with pride. His dress uniform was decorated with many medals and commendations from his many years in the service of the Marine Corps. His hair was hidden by his dress uniform cover. His eyes were of a steel gray and his posture was of someone who had seen extended periods of fighting in dangerous combat zones. He cleared his throat and as he began to speak, his voice boomed without the need of a microphone. Everyone in the hangar could hear his extremely deepened voice as it boomed off the walls, amplifying his voice ten-fold.

"I am Captain Jacobson, your new platoon commander. I am going to inform you now, that I do not take any bullshit. Yes, I said bullshit. I am not a fucking pussy paper pushing punk that has never even seen a Squib before. I have fought in this war for sixteen years and have more experience than half of you cherries." The new CO said, his glare being brought down on Gunnery Sergeant Hayek, "Now, you are receiving two new men today. Their names are Private Robert Higgins and Private James Washington. Higgins will be a Combat Correspondant with your unit for now on. I find it distasteful someone in command thinks a fine combat unit can be some kind of publicity stunt. But, it is not up to me, but the REMFs back on Earth."

Every Marine in the unit held back a laugh. They could already tell they were going to enjoy having this new platoon commander. He seemed to have his head sewed on straight and new when to speak his mind, a quality every Marine enjoyed in a leader. He would definitely see them through some trying times. That was for sure.

"Gunnery Sergeant Hayek, please come forward." The captain commanded, and Hayek obliged.

Hayek moved to the front of the mass of Marines and he felt the hands of the captain wrap around the collar of his BDUs. The gunnery sergeant pins were pulled out and pocketed by the captain and then the captain rummaged through his pockets until he found what he was looking for. Two gold bars, which he then pinned to his uniform collar. Hayek stood even straighter now, as he was being given a field commissioning to second lieutenant.

"By the Sky Marshal of the Space Military and the Commandant of the Space Marine Corps, I, Captain Fred Jacobson, here by promote you via field commissioning to Second Lieutenant for your outstanding devotion to the unit and your heroism in the field. Congratulations, lieutenant."

Every cheered and clapped for the new platoon commander of the Hell Hounds and once the noise had died down, the company commander dismissed everyone. The remaining Hell Hounds crowded around Nick and congratulated him on his new promotion. Every single person in the platoon knew he deserved it. And as his first day as platoon commander, he appointed Sergeant Meyen as his platoon sergeant.

The Marines began to disperse after awhile and some went to greet their newest platoon members, Private Higgins and Private Washington. Both were fresh out of Boot Camp and now with a frontline unit, which had to have been very intimidating.

As this went on, they began to hear whispers from other Marines nearby. The normal gossip, but somehow different still. One of the Marines seemed almost shocked and somewhat, frightful. Mr. Death etched his way nearby one of the Marines, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"... they're sending him." The first Marine said.

"Wait. They are sending HIM?" The other Marine inquired, putting emphasis on 'him'.

The other Marine nodded at his companion. His friend's expression turned from curiousity to utter shock and fright. He then whispered in a barely audible voice to his companion, attempting to not attract the attention of others around them.

"Man, things must *really* be fucking bad." He mumbled.

Mr. Death was curious as to who these two were speaking about, but he did not want to intrude on their conversation. He walked back into a group with Meyen and Hoot, who were introducing themselves to the two new boots in the platoon. He would find out soon enough who they were talking about. Someone would have to mention his name by the end of the day.

((OOC: Go to the roster to find out who is still in the Hell Hounds and who was removed. A majority of the inactive members were removed.))

<Actions>

[Matt]

'"Hello Private Higgins and Private Washington, welcome to the Hell Hounds." Meyen said while reaching out his arm to give hand-shakes. "Washington, you're a sniper eh? That's good for you because we have the best damned sniper in the whole SMC to help you improve. PFC Schmidt his name is and he can shoot the fuckin' wings off a fly. Well im going to go to the mess hall, nice meeting you." Meyen said.

While walking to the mess hall, he thought about the FNG's. He was being kind them and wanted to make a good impression of himself, after all he was now the Platoon Sergeant. They're FNG's and he didn't want them to feel like outcasts, even though they were new and did not yet prove themsleves worthy. All Meyen hoped for them was that they did not lose their bearings in combat and are not scared to pull a trigger on a Strogg.

The Sergeant ate his meal by himself while deep in thought. He was weary from the op they just did and desperately needed rest. So Meyen walked to his quarters, hopped on his bunk, and fell asleep.

[Dire Wolf]

Hoot looked at Meyen in shock "Hey Meyen! I just like it when things blow up!" he than smiled than said "Shooting the wings off of a fly may be overstating it a little, Meyen, Wings off of a butter fly sounds a lot better. Congratz Meyen, you deserved the field promotion." He watched Meyen walk away "Higgens, as long as you plan on picking up an AR and shooting alonside the squad I am OK with you." Than he turned to Washington "So, Washington, Have you ever shot the .50 cal rifle?"

He turned when he saw Mr. Death approaching "So, what is new, my scary looking friend?"

[ToxicJones]

Jones stood in the corner, watching the surounding chaos as everyone talked and congradulated the new recruits. Normaly, she would have made some jokes and gave them a punch on the soulder, but she had to much on her mind right now. She didn't like how half the platoon had transfered out, they had no reason to. Also, the memories she had seen in the dig site had shocked her. They were off limits, seeing as it was just to painful for her to handle. She walked slowly twords the mess hall, steering herself through the small crowd. She was hungry, like always, but instead of getting food, she sat down near Meyen. She didn't say anything, just continued to think. It was easier when the room was clearer.

[Private]

Higgins nodded to everyone. When one of the PFCs asked if "He was going to use an AR", his face quickly formed a look of confusion.

"AR? What's that?"

<Tag Dire Wolf>

Higgins quickly made sure that his camera and tripod was ready for a quick show. He needed to make a medium-sized film clip of where he was now for the Space Military News Network. He scrambled around, getting ready for a broadcast.

[Cartwright]

As the Marines began to disperse and the groups of Marines began to diminish in size, Mr. Death began to hear more talk of some mysterious man on board the Normandy. Most of the chatter was of shocked Marines whispering about this mysterious person. Mr. Death began to be even more curious as time went on by, but he was not going to interupt the conversations. He wanted to find out who this mysterious person was.

The U.S.S. Normandy shifted violently and everyone on the ship could feel it. They were about to go into hyperspace. The corporal held on to a support as the ship entered into hyperspace. The entire ship shook before finally ceasing all movement. Meyen had been awakened from the incessant rumbling of the entire vessel.

They would be heading to Tironis VII, a tropical world where they could all rest and relax temporarily before their next deployment. It was not Earth, but it was a beautiful colony with a small population of locals. The perfect place for a shortened vacation.

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[Sergeant Gravitt]

A ship. A goddamn ship. God, how he hated these things. Sergeant Gravitt frowned deeply as he stepped aboard the Normandy, his boots clanking on the steel floors as he strode inward. His stride was smooth, even, effortless and powerful. The aura about the man ebbed strength and, to many, would probably be rather intimidating. His eyes, dark brown, darted from sign to sign, marine to marine, as he searched for his barracks.

'God, I hate ships...' he thought bitterly to himself.

[Cartwright]

Sergeant Gravitt managed to find the Hell Hounds quarters. He put his seabag down on one of the empty and unclaimed racks and began unpacking. Sergeant Meyen, who had been awakened from his slumber by the rumble of the ship previously as it made the transition into hyperspace, walked out of his personal quarters. Being platoon sergeant gave him 'special priveledges' above the rest of the platoon.

He turned and noticed Gravitt, curiousity growing inside of him. His brow rose at the sight and he walked up to the man. If he was a new transfer, he would need to get his transfer papers in order and fill out some routine paperwork to add him to the roster and put him into a squad. He halted when he saw this man was a sergeant. They had already called in a replacement for him already? He shook his head and resumed his stride toward the tank of a man. He would have some work cut out for him. This sergeant was now the Hell Hounds, one of the best unit's in all of the galaxy. Not many could handle being in the unit. Would this guy prove he could?

[Dire Wolf]

"Oh God" Hoot said as he turned away from the guy setting up the camera who's only reply to him was "What is an AR?". He sincerely hoped the man was being a smart-ass. He walked into the mess hall to get some chow to see Jones sitting there, and when he got his food he sat next to her. Jones looked almost non-existent, he knew what she was thinking "Jones, back there was nothing, me the rest of the Hellhounds have seen much, much worse than that." He said, than he grabbed some of the corn bread off of his plate and bit into it.

[Sergeant Gravitt]

At the sound of boots against deck, the Sergeant's head nearly snapped upward; his eyes focused on the other Sergeant and he straightened to his full height. Not many would have been able to observe such a being without cringing at least a little bit. Gravitt snapped off a crisp, clean, perfect salute just like it had been drilled into him.

"Sergeant Gravitt reporting for duty, sir. You must be the Platoon Sergeant I'm replacing. Or am I wrong in that assumption?" All the while, he was sizing the other man up. He couldn't get a good read on Meyen from just looking at him. No, this one was going to be tough.

[Cartwright]

"Wrong. You're gonna replace me as second squad's leader. I just got bumped up to platoon sergeant, so you'll be taking my place as second's leader." Meyen said, sizing up the man before him.

The sergeant before him seemed battle hardened and appeared to be a seasoned veteran of combat with his many visible scars. His posture showed the crisp military bearing that many officers would die for.

"A lot of people transfered out, man. So, you only got two guys so far. PFC Schmidt and a fresh FNG named Washington. We all call Schmidt 'Hoot' and he's one of the best sniper's in our unit." Meyen informed Gravitt, then Lieutenant Hayek walked over.

The lieutenant glared at the new sergeant and then glanced over at his new platoon sergeant. A questioning look was plastered upon his features.

"Who's this, sergeant?" Shadow inquired, staring at the tank which was Sergeant Gravitt.

Meyen turned to the lieutenant and gave off a crisp salute before answering. Though it was a bit sloppier than Gravitt's, it was still highly up to par with Marine Corps standards. Meyen was one who did not care about how crisp his salutes were or anything of that nature. He cared about leading his Marines and getting the kills. That was it.

"Sergeant Gravitt. He's a replacement leader for second squad."

The lieutenant's brow arose sharply as he sized up the highly decorated man before him intently.

"I'm Lieutenant Hayek. Call me Shadow." Nick said.

[Sergeant Gravitt]

"I think I'll go with El-Tee if you don't mind, sir." Gravitt responded after a second or so. Call signs and nicknames were all well and good for enlisted men like himself, but officers were a whole other story. For whatever reason, he just did not feel comfortable going outside his own parameters with nicknames, so he stuck to the tried and true. Old school, some called it. His attention turned back his fellow Sergeant.

"A FNG, huh? Great. Love new meat. I'll try to keep him from winding up as a fucking hamburger patty if I can. Sir." New Marines tended not to last very long; they often were undertrained and ill-prepared for the horrors of war, especially the kinds the Strogg typically threw at Humanity.

[Private]

Higgins soon had everything ready for his quick broadcast for the Space Military News Network (SMNN). He thumbed the button on his camera, then stepped into full view of the camera.

"This is Robert Higgins, reporting live from the USS Normandy. Just now, I have been placed in the 'Hell Hounds' platoon. They seem like a nice bunch. The information I gathered was that the marines fought a hard battle, losing at least three of their own." Higgins glanced around, and saw PFC Schimdt eating his cornbread.

"Private First Class Schmidt, do you have anything to say to the viewers?"

[Cartwright]

((OOC: No need to tag, Private. We don't do tagging here.))

[Cartwright]

"I'm sure you will. I hate FNGs myself. Seen too many of them die in this unit. Meyen, I have some paperwork I need you to fill out. It's in your quarters." Shadow said, shaking his head, "I get a field commissioning and already I'm swamped with fucking work."

Shadow watched as the sergeant left the room and entered his personal quarters. He then turned to Sergeant Gravitt and sighed to himself.

"Sergeant, go find Hoot and Washington. I want you to inform them you're their new squad leader. Also, I've got a report that we'll be getting fresh meat sent to us soon, so your squad won't be so small for long." Shadow said, then turned around and walked away, heading to his office.

He had a lot of work to do. Command had sent him a pile of paperwork and they still needed to properly debrief the unit. The best they would get for a debrief was a gag order. The papers were on his desk and he needed to hand them out and have them signed. He called in Sergeant Meyen and awaited for him to enter his office. When the sergeant did, he motioned for him to have a seat.

"Meyen, I need you to hand out these papers to each and every person who was on the last mission. Have them sign them and then give them back to me. These are gag orders. The newbies are not to know jack shit about what went on back on Jonis. The UAC eggheads want it all covered up and don't want word getting out. Report back to me when you have all the papers - signed." Lieutenant Hayek said.

As Meyen left, Hayek turned on his personal television. It was linked to the Space Military News Network. He instantly turned white as he saw the face of Robert Higgins giving a report on their last mission. Hayek arose and walked to the door, which parted at his presence. Luckily, Meyen had not got far.

"Meyen! Get Higgins off that God damn camera now!" Hayek said, cursing under his breath.