O, How I Want to Be in That Number

Posted on Mon Apr 28th, 2025 @ 3:59am by Captain Patricia Cooke & Gunnery Sergeant Roy Erbun
Edited on on Mon Apr 28th, 2025 @ 8:28pm

1,239 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Impending Midnight
Location: Marine Barracks, USS Missouri
Timeline: Mission Day 1, 0500 Hours

ON

Sweat, boot polish and strawberry hydropacks. The familiar scent of Marines running fitness drills filled the air. It was delicious! Boots scuffed against the deck plating, voices called out, muscles flexed. Gunnery Sergeant Roy Erbun stood on a platform above it all, arms crossed, watching.

The veterans moved amongst the fitness circuits like a well-oiled machine, shuttling back and forth, conducting their strength trainings. The replacements? Not so much. Too rigid. Too eager. Too uncoordinated.

Roy exhaled through his nose. His jaw clenched as he watched a new recruit stumble over a skipping rope. That new recruit was part of a new squad. A few days ago, that squad didn’t exist. A few days ago, there’d been another squad in their place. Now he wasn’t sure even if he and his best men could remould these children into what he expected.

He’d known them all. He remembered their faces when he ate, when he slept, when he was pumping iron. T’Shan, Coldaran, Yates, Klix... even the boisterous Watkins. He could still hear their voices, still picture their grins. Now, he had new names to learn. New voices to get used to. And two of his own NCOs, once just kids fresh from basic, were now bearing sergeant stripes.

No officers had stepped up to take command. He doubted one would. That was fine. He knew this mission and he knew these Marines, even the ones he hadn’t met before today. He knew how to make them ready.

And he’d make damn sure they lived long enough to stop being green.

From the corner of his eye, he noticed someone enter the barracks. He looked toward them and immediately snapped to attention.

“Captain on deck!” The grizzled Gunny barked.

Every Marine, even the babies, stopped immediately and stood stiff and parade ready. Their boots made a chunky thud that echoed through the cavernous space. The Gunny watched the Captain from the corner of his eye as she entered the space.

Patricia had seen during one of the more recent of the seemingly-numerous crew transfers that a new marine detachment had been assigned to the Missouri to replace the one that Major Aurelius had taken with him when he and Commander Bakshi were reassigned. However, Patricia had been curious to note that this new detachment didn't come with any marine officers.

Regardless, the Marine Corps' timing couldn't have been more impeccable, considering the situation with I-400 was about to come to a head. That being said, however, Patricia needed to make sure the new marines knew exactly what they were getting themselves into. So, as the Missouri, Icarus, and Apollo broke off from the rest of the fleet to make for Planetoid Lazzaro at greater speed, Patricia made her way down to the marine barracks to personally inspect the fresh batch of jarheads.

As it had been quite a while since Patricia had made her way down to Marine Country, Patricia had forgotten the synchronized lockstep of marines snapping to attention when the words 'Captain on Deck!' were uttered. Patricia took a few steps into the Marine barracks, keeping her hands clasped behind her back. She may be what marines referred to as a "reg," but her four rank pips commanded respect, and Patricia decided not to release the marines as they were just yet.

Stopping just a few paces into the marine space, Patricia looked around at the faces of the marines around her.

"Which one of you is in charge here?" Patricia asked somewhat curtly.

"That's me," Roy called from the platform overlooking the training area. He stepped out of the shadows and descended the ladder into the training area swiftly. He landed hard, his joints protesting. He forced his legs to cooperate as he closed the distance with the Fleet officer. Old age was a bitch. "Gunnery Sergeant Roy Erbun, First Sergeant of the 199th Platoon. We thank you for the opportunity to fight alongside you, ma'am. We stand ready to serve."

"I commend your enthusiasm... Elbrun?" Patricia mispronounced Roy's surname. "But what we're riding into is going to be a measure of how ready you and your men are."

"Success is our metric. That's the only measure that matters." Roy reiterated firmly. He didn't correct the Captain on the mispronunciation. He'd already said his name. Frankly, she could call him whatever she wanted, as long as her vessel got his people to the fight. "What brings you to our neck of the woods? It's refreshing to have a Captain take an interest in their leathernecks."

"Well, let's just say it's been a long couple of months:" Patricia said. "Safe to say, almost the entire senior staff has consisted of revolving doors: Officers in, officers out. Even my XO was a massive chickenshit and quit on me. Safe to say, with every new batch of crew assigned, I'm looking for ways to retain them. If we still used money, I'd frankly have started offering monetary incentives!"

"Being able to fight and serve is payment enough for us, Captain. You can count on us to be in the fight for as long as we're allowed to be. As humans say, 'when the going gets tough, the tough get going'." Roy reassured the vessel's commander. "Is there anything specific we should be preparing for, Captain? Our leadership wasn’t exactly forthcoming with details."

"Well, I see they're keeping details scant to avoid a panic." Patricia noted. "Well, long story short, there's a crazy AI that wants to end life in the galaxy as we know it unless we stop it. We're not entirely sure, but we believe that this AI intends to fly a sparsely populated planetoid into the great barrier at the center of the galaxy and blow it up, causing a chain reaction that will destroy all life in the galaxy."

"Sounds like a hell of a thing, though I think I understood about three of those words." Roy admitted. "You'll have to forgive me naivety, but I'm unsure where my Marines fit in here. As I said, we're grateful to be here, but this does sound like a job for the Fleet."

"Marines are highly specialized in ground assaults, yes?" Patricia questioned. "I-400 has built an army of itself, and if we're going to successfully evacuate the planetoid's population, it's important that we're able to protect the innocents from I-400's aggression."

"That makes sense," Erbun nodded. "We'd appreciate any documentation you can provide to assist us in developing a strategy. Nevertheless, we're itching to punch a few holes in that computer code."

"I'll put some information together for you on I-400." Patricia nodded. "If there is nothing more you require of me, of course?"

"Not at all, Captain. That information would be most helpful. We'd best continue our training session. You're welcome to watch, of course. Otherwise, we thank you for dropping by." Erbun said, concluding with a curt nod.

"Well, I'd best not further hold you up, then." Patricia said, extending a hand to Roy. "Welcome aboard, once again."

"Ma'am." Roy shook her hand with a firm nod. As the Captain left, he turned back to the platoon without hesitation. "Next circuit! Last one before we hit the showers. Endurance run. Full kit. Move!" he barked.

OFF

Posting by

Captain Patricia Cooke
Commanding Officer

Gunnery Sergeant Roy Erbun
First Sergeant

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