For four years we had trained day-in and day-out for a moment like this; however, as I stood there watching the men of First Platoon gather their gear and organize their supply packs, I couldn't help but feel a tingle of anxiety in the pit of my gut. Many of these men had been together for years, fighting countless skirmishes against enemies just as numerable, and here I was with "zero" in my record next to my recorded combat time. Yet they seemed to trust me, at least as much as they could have at that point. I could only hope that trust wasn't misplaced...
=/-\= Begin Log =/-\=
Location: Easy Company Armoury
Time: 1430 hours
"They look ready to you, Sergeant?"
"The boys'll do what they need to, sir," replied the surly man standing beside Lieutenant Winters as the soldiers of First Platoon gathered the equipment from the many racks in the room. Gunnery Sergeant Randleman was of equal height to Winters, if not a couple inches taller, but stood a great deal broader at the shoulders. This man was a workhorse, no doubt about it. "They got their jobs down. They know what needs to be done."
Dick looked over to Randleman and nodded, "I've seen the reports. This unit's got a long, proud history of doing what needs to be done."
"That it does, sir."
Turning back to his own open weapons locker, Winters pulled his Type-II phaser sidarm, snuggled in it's holster, from it's storage unit and placed it in the travel pack. Checking to make sure he had several clip-like energy cells already stored, he moved on to pull out the compression rifle. After checking the targeting sights, the power cell, and the phase actuator, the Lieutenant packed it away. Also stored in the duffel were a pair each of both the photonic-frag and flash grenades, enough dry rations to last a week, and a handful of heatable rations.
Hanging inside the storage locker was his battle-dress uniform, the solid black uniform used by the Starfleet Marines during combat situations, just as clean and pressed as the duty uniform he was currently wearing. Dick ran a hand along down the BDU's sleeve, wondering just how messed up it was going to get in the coming days. This would be his first time in true combat; of course he had been in many mock-up battle situations, but never in life-fire exercise against other living beings. And while at Quantico they worse a uniform similar to combat uniforms from the Dominion War era: solid black uniforms with a green stripe encircling the upper abdomen.
"You'll do fine, sir. Just trust your insticts."
The Lieutenant once again looked over at the Gunny Sergeant and offered a half-cocked smile, "You've done this before. Coaching a green officer going into combat."
"More times than I care to remember, Lieutenant." It was very likely that Randleman had seen a good deal of action during his years of service, though Winters had yet to find out much about him or his past.
"How many Platoon Leaders has Easy gone through?"
The man sighed as he tired to recall, memories playing out across his weathered face, "The company? Probably half a dozen in the last couple years, I'd reckon."
"Though Battalion Command has full confidence in it's most current acquisition," said a new voice from the direction of the room's exit. Dick looked over and smiled at his Andorian friend.
"What brings you down here, Nix?" asked the Lieutenant as th'Laxonth joined him and Randleman beside the storage lockers.
Nix grinned as he replied, "You're looking at second battalion's newest Intelligence Officer. I'll be the liaison Fleet Intelligence and the companies."
"That mean you're brinin us some good news?" asked the Gunny, a bushy eyebrow raised.
Dick cleared his throat before holding up both hands, "I'm sorry. Lieutenant th'Laxonth, this is my platoon sergeant, Gunny Randleman. Gunny, Lieutenant th'Laxonth."
"Pleasure," said the large man in his southern drawl, turning back to his own locker to finish packing his gear.
"So, what's the news?" Winters asked, finished with the pleasantries of conversation.
The Andorian's antennae twitched as he replied in frustration, "Nothing of any consequence. Just updates on the Klingon garrison we're going to support. Nothing from the Romulans yet, though we're fairly certain they're going to make an effort to retake the station very soon. We'll be moving out in less than a day now. How's your group looking?"
Turning back to observe his marines quietly going about their preparations, the Lieutenant offered a slow nod in reply to the inquiry. "I think we're ready, Nix. I think we'll do just fine..."
=/-\= End Log =/-\=
Second Lieutenant Richard Winters
Platoon Leader, First Platoon, E "Easy" Company
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
Platoon Leader, First Platoon, E "Easy" Company
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
Gunnery Sergeant Denver Randleman
Platoon Sergeant, First Platoon, E "Easy" Company
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
Second Lieutenant Larvinix "Nix" th'Laxonth [NPC apb DK]
Intelligence Officer
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
Intelligence Officer
2nd Battalion, 1st Regiment, 1st MEF
