Meeting the Marines

Posted on Mon Jun 24th, 2019 @ 9:39am by Colonel Jason "Jack" Frost

1,557 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: What Stalks The Night
Location: Marine Area

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It took Amélie much longer than she had intended to get down to the Marines area. Far too many wrong turns, wrong decks and just confusion, but eventually she made it. Though now that she had she found herself feeling increasingly overwhelmed with the prospect of being face to face with any Marine, let alone the Marine Commanding Officer. Exactly why she found it overwhelming she wasn't entirely sure, but she had always found the Marines to be quite intimidating in her previous encounters and she was still somewhat bothered by her run in with Vash.

Once she had gotten into the Marine area, it wasn't difficult to locate the MCO's office. She only had to ask for directions twice before she found herself standing at his door, straightening her uniform before hitting the chime and waiting for a response.

Jack was sipping his Coffee from an overly large mug, it steamed before his nose carrying with it the soothing aroma of soothing Coffee. From his position and the vantage point his office had overlooking the general area he saw an officer, female, in blue walking towards his office. He didn't recognise her, figuring it was one of the ships company. He did notice that she'd turned a few heads though and hoped she wouldn't be a distraction to the troops.

Jack sighed, an interruption, yet to see if it was a worthwhile one. "Yes." With that single word the doors opened and presented his guest. He visibly looked for rank, Lieutenant. "Can I help you Lieutenant?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Frost?" Amélie asked as she stepped into his office. "I'm Lieutenant D'Aramitz, but please feel free to call me Amélie. I've just come aboard as the new ships counselor." She held out her hand as she approached his desk, smiling warmly.

Certianly keen and eager Jack thought. "Jack, not Jason." Few called him Jason, fewer still were stupid enough to try calling him such casually. "Must have a full pair of hands on board, over six thousand people on board. I hope you have a big team?" Jack offered a chair in front of his desk, sitting in his own chair putting the mug down on the table.

Taking the offered seat, Amélie set the PaDD she had been holding on her lap and then folded her hands over it neatly. "Not nearly as big as I would have hoped given the size of the ship and the sheer number of people onboard, but we will make do with we have. I will be honest though, I've not worked much with Marines previously which is largely why I wanted to come speak with you personally, to find out how I can best help with anything your people need."

"You may have noticed the looks you were getting as you walked here, we don't get many fleet personnel down here unless its the Exec or the Captain. They don't mean nothing by it, just not seen often. As for what you can do to help...." Jack sighed, that was always the question. "Most marines won't admit much, some view it as a weakness, others just like to bottle it up." It was something he was no stranger to doing himself.

"I have over 800 marines to command, more than I've commanded prior. I'm still reading up on my officers jackets honestly." He gazed out the window again briefly. "At best what I can suggest is you make yourself more visible to them. Maybe a weekly visit even if its here to catch up on anything that you should know about, maybe if they see you they will open up to you since obviously, and I'm sure you know yourself, nobody likes talking about feelings, especially marines just ask Acacia." He then realized it was possible that Acacia was an unknown to her. "Acacia is my partner."

"No one likes to talk about anything when the counselor gets involved," Amélie said with a smile. "I'm happy to come and see you weekly, even if it's nothing more than a glorified social visit, perhaps seeing you speak to me will make some of them feel more comfortable as well. I'm also happy to just hang around and chat with them, try and build some confidence if you think that will help. You know your people better than I do, at least, I hope so, otherwise we're both going to be in a spot of bother."

"Well I did know them, most of those I used to command were reassigned, nearly 90% of these present are new to me." Something that Jack was not looking forward to, getting to know new marines...and so many of them. "But if you can manage the looks and the icy reception you are more than welcome to try."

"Well, no one has sworn at me or threatened to bite me so far, so I can say with complete honesty they aren't the worst I've encountered on the ship at this point," Amélie replied with a shrug. "Next time I'll bring donuts, maybe that will help melt the ice a little."

"I'm sure the popularity will help you with them opening up a little, just don't make a habit of it, I need marines, not couch potatoes." Jack grinned.

Amélie laughed. "My job is to get them to like me enough that they talk to me. Keeping them trim and fit and healthy is between you and the medical officer," she said brightly. "But I promise I'll only bring donuts every other week, how's that?"

"Just watch out you don't get trampled. Unless you bring 800 of them you might find yourself missing a hand, or an arm." Jack joked. "Don't bit the hand that feeds you, they will take more then that I think." He mused.

"Us counselors are built pretty tough," Amélie replied with a smile. "We can take a few good bumps, bruises and bites if it means we get to where we need to be."

"I'll remember that when you walk in my doors with hair all over the place, torn uniform and missing fingers." Jack laughed.

"I'm not entirely sure what your schedules down here are like, but is there any time that would be better than others for me to come back? I'm happy to work with what ever works best for you and your people." Amélie watched him curiously. He definitely seemed polite enough, something that she actually found mildly surprising given the stories she'd heard from other counselors about experiences when it came to dealing with Marines.

"I can send you a general scheduling, obviously that would be prone to last minute changes as such are the ways in the marines. It might help, or if you wish you can make your schedule available to my EA and she can make sure that team leaders and officers have access to it in case anyone needs an appointment." Jack offered and suggested trying to make both ends meet amicably.

"Why don't we do both?" Amélie suggested. "I can make sure your EA gets full access to my schedule so that anyone who wants to can make time, but if you send me through yours as well I'll make a point of having a presence down here when time permits for all of us, just so they know I'm around"

"Sure." Jack pressed a few buttons on his computer letting his EA know exactly what they had discussed. "So now that is out of the way. Friends, family on board?" Jack asked wondering the extras of her arrival on board.

"Just my husband and I," she replied with a smile. "We just arrived on board so we haven't really had time to start meeting people and making friends yet."

"Well it's a big ship, got plenty of time and people to meet and greet especially given what you do on board." Jack himself was still coming to terms with the fact he was commanding a small army of marines, a big difference from the size he had before. "You should meet Major Snyder though my Exec. One of the sharpest officers I've come across in my time."

"Major Snyder?" Amélie paused, pursing her lips as she contemplated for a moment. "I can picture the file from the manifest but I can't recall details, but I will definitely make a note to do so. Thank you Jack, I appreciate your time, and your assistance."

"Any time Counsellor." Jack stood up, feeling that he'd taken up enough of the ladies time and she had plenty more people to meet and greet yet.

As she stood up, Amélie held her hand out once more. "My door is always open, any time, day or night, for anyone," she said gently. "And that includes you." Finally with one last smile, she gave a slight nod of her head. "Enjoy the rest of your day, and again, thank you."

Jack shook the offered hand. "I look forward to your services." It would be good to have someone impartial that the troops could talk to, even if it was briefly or otherwise, something was better than nothing at the end of the day. "Thank you."



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Lieutenant Amélie D'Aramitz
Chief Counsellor


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Lt.Col Jack Frost
Marine Commanding Officer

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