[IC] Wear a Badge, Carry a Gun

[Agemegos]

At 09:15 Hart's pocket computer chimes a soft "ding! ding!", the audible cue of a message from the Academy Office that requires prompt attention. Hart takes a quick glance at his reader. The message is formatted to offer only one response, and that is labelled "aye aye". The message is short and to the point.

Cadet Hart from Office of the Principal:

Cadets assigned as acting Imperial Marshals will report to the Principal in Room 101 at 10:30.

[Icelander]

Hart aye-aye's the message, as nonchalantly as possible.

He spots Horus Vomact in the crowd, reacting to the same announcement. With a slight smile, he mouths 'Marshal?' to his friend, who nods acknowledgement at him.

[t@nya]

Penny flushes with pride at her standing. 11th wasn't bad at all, considering the tough competition in the course.

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Sorry. Anyone else here posted to Rohan?

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

Kiloni

I am!

Penny

I've been posted to Rohan too.

She goes over to the intercept the man and woman who spoke, eager to get to know the people with whom she'll be working.

[Adina]

Bear looks around as he hears two female voices answer him. Watching the two approach, one a stunning raven haired slip of a girl who doesn't even come up to his shoulder bouncing excitedly towards him and the other a taller, well-muscled, rather attractive woman with a determined set to her chin who looks slightly flushed striding his way, Bear realizes with a start just how much he has missed the sheer variety of people he encountered when he was a Marine.

Bear (bowing slightly)

Care-uh-PYET-chenKO, Dmitri Feodorovich Karapyetchenko, now deputy marshal to Rohan. As we are still in the mess you can call me Bear.

Bear (turning to scan the board)

Both deputies as well? I wonder who the boss is?

Very impressive Drake.

Ah, Hart,acting marshal, Rohan, that's our boss then. I think that might be the older gentleman the instructors were all snippy about.

And Kill-drona? Well it looks like both of you are smarter as well as prettier than I am.

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Bear (bowing slightly)

Care-uh-PYET-chenKO, Dmitri Feodorovich Karapyetchenko, now deputy marshal to Rohan. As we are still in the mess you can call me Bear.

Kiloni

Hi! I'm Kiloni!

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Both deputies as well? I wonder who the boss is?

Kiloni

I guess, but going out in the field and actively chasing people isn't something I am very good at. I mean, it's not like I'm the most intimidating person out there.

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Very impressive Drake.

Kiloni (Jumps with excitement. It also shows in her voice)

Yes! Congratulations!

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Ah, Hart,acting marshal, Rohan, that's our boss then. I think that might be the older gentleman the instructors were all snippy about.

Kiloni (She is an open book. You can see the curiosity)

Really? Hmm. Wonder why...

Originally Posted by jmurrell

And Kill-drona? Well it looks like both of you are smarter as well as prettier than I am.

Kiloni giggles.

[ladyarcana55]

Kiloni

Oh yeah, I was wondering if you guys can help me out. My parents and my four brothers are here. Would you guys happen to have an extra ticket to the ball tonight? Or maybe you are in need of an escort? Obviously I have my guest ticket, but I need four more. If not, that's fine, I'll bug my other friends, just let me know.

[t@nya]

Originally Posted by jmurrell

Very impressive Drake.

Penny

Thanks, Bear.

Penny tries to smile politely at Kiloni's reaction, even though she is wincing internally at Kiloni's bubbleness.

Ah, Hart,acting marshal, Rohan, that's our boss then. I think that might be the older gentleman the instructors were all snippy about.

Penny (nodding)

Seems competent, enough.

And Kill-drona? Well it looks like both of you are smarter as well as prettier than I am.

Penny laughs.

[t@nya]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

Kiloni

Oh yeah, I was wondering if you guys can help me out. My parents and my four brothers are here. Would you guys happen to have an extra ticket to the ball tonight? Or maybe you are in need of an escort? Obviously I have my guest ticket, but I need four more. If not, that's fine, I'll bug my other friends, just let me know.

Penny (shaking her head)

I'm afraid not, sorry. I'm already using my guest ticket for my uncle.

[Icelander]

While Hart waited below his sign, he put his visor on over the glasses. Whle still standing at ease with a hint of formality, he proceeded to draw all information that he had on Imperial assets on Rohan. He wanted to know how many people, how large the Residence was and so on. Then he reviewed non-classified data for Imperial servants going to Rohan. Climate, atmosphere, local diseases, etc. Fortunately for Hart, he'd read all this data before. On all forty of Pegasus Sector's colonies, since he expected to be posted to one of them. And Hart rarely forgot what he read.

Only a minute or two passed, but Hart was already engrossed in making a list of what he'd need on Rohan. So engrossed was he, in fact, that he quite forgot to be anxious about whom he'd have serving with him. When he saw a group of three people pointing and then coming in his direction, therefore, his expressionless face and calm bearing was utterly unfeigned. The group consists of a tall man shaped approximately like a T made from cement blocks, an athletic brown-haired woman and a pretty little sprite of a girl who all but ran toward him, consumed with curiousity.

Kiloni (to Hart, excitedly)

Hey! You're Specter Hart, aren't you? Acting Marshal on Rohan?

Hart (to Kiloni)

I am Cadet Hart, yes.

(to all of them)

May we assume that you are all assigned to Rohan?

There is a general round of nods among the group. The large, ursine man with the red hair and beard straightens his posture even more when he answers.

Bear

Aye aye, sir. Cadet Karapyetchenko reporting for duty.

Hart (to Bear, smiling faintly)

There's still some time until we're under orders, but welcome nonetheless, Cadet.

Penny

My name is Penthesilea Drake. That's Penn-thess-ar-lay-ar, but most people call me Penny.

Hart (to Penny)

Glad to have you, Cadet Drake.

Kiloni (with a slight giggle)

Oh, I guess I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kiloni Queldrona. I guess I'm your medical person; coroner, lab tech, sample analysis, you name it.

Don't let me stitch you up, though. Haven't practised.

Kiloni laughs and Penny and Bear find themselves laughing with her.

Hart (to Kiloni, with clumsy gallantry)

I'm sure you'll perform whatever medical functions are necessary with distinction, Dr. Queldrona.

Hart removes his readscreen from the wall and puts it under his arm. He then proceeds to look over the three people in front of him in silence, spending a few seconds contemplating each of them. Finally, he addresses them.

Hart (crisply)

As I'm sure you are all aware, we remain Cadets until we read ourselves in to the Imperial Judge on Rohan. Furthermore, until we receive travelling orders, we are still subject to Academy discipline and no other.

I recognise, therefore, that I cannot order you to sacrifice any time from what is undoubtedly a busy day for you. But I would consider it a boon if you would accompany me to Classroom 113, where we shall have better opportunity to discuss our posting.

Without waiting for them to answer, Hart starts off at a brisk and efficient walk for Classroom 113. Once there, he proceeded to rig the wall scenescape to his personal pocketcomp and to establish a quick point-to-point link with the storage drive in his room. Using his datastick, he projects a stellar view of the Pegasus Sector, narrowing down to Rohan and ending up showing a model of that planet from space.

Hart turns toward the group. The bearish man is standing to attention in front of him, as if by old habit. The taller of the two ladies has taken a seat and the short, pretty one is pushing a chair closer to the rest so she can sit closer.

Hart

Please, at ease, Karapyetchenko.

Excellent.

Now, we've all heard each other's names. In training and class, we've known of each other, at least. Each of us has passed a tough training course and that means we can have faith in and respect for the abilities of each other. We have something to build a professional relationship on.

But building such a relationship takes time. Until a team has had time to carve out roles and responsibilities, there will always be a moment of hesitation before a task is carried out in a satisfactorily fashion. Most often, that moment does not matter. In a crisis, that moment might be critical.

Hart pauses. His oratory is not polished, it is formal to the point of being stilted. He is neither a trained speaker nor a wordsmith. But he has a pleasant, deep voice and a gift for maintaining eye contact with his audience. He also has an instinct for the dramatic, try as he might to keep his delivery dry and emotionless.

Hart

Do not misunderstand me. There is no reason we should believe that Rohan will present us with any sort of crisis during the first weeks we spend there. We have an excellent chance of being able to arrive there fresh and spend the first few weeks or even months of our tour there getting acquinted with our jobs. Getting acquinted with the working habits, strengths and weaknesses of each other.

Most likely, starting to form a team from this disparate group of people does not need to start until we present our credentials to the judge and formally assume our positions.

But I don't like taking chances. Because if we arrive on Rohan and need to perform at our very best for the first day, the first minute, I want us to be ready to do that. If I am not mistaken, the fact that you are among the 100 first graduates chosen from the elite of all the colonies in the Empire tells me that you want to be ready as well.

Hart looks around the room. There are no dissenting voices, so he continues.

Hart

We will have a few days until we leave. The first passenger liner to Rohan leaves at 0545 ZULU, January 5th. On the liner, we will have several weeks. This is time that I would like to use to learn how we can best work together.

I propose from now on, we will behave toward one another as we would when we get to our posting. We will address one another by last names unless we are explicitly in a social situation with no relevance to our posting.

And I will assign you tasks, according to your particular competencies, that will be completed before and during the liner trip. Each day on the liner, we will meet at least once a day and review where each person is with her particular task. I will expect weekly reports in writing.

Does anyone find this proposal objectionable?

[Icelander]

Satisfied that no one appears to oppose the idea, Hart allows himself a small smile. Smiling, his appearance is pleasantly avuncular, not at all like the stiff and formal martinet on display moments earlier.

Hart

Understand, I do not intend to be a hard boss.

Each of you is an expert at your job. You were chosen from among more than a million applicants. You are all fine detectives. You have professional specialities that require advanced study and you all have the competence to work unsupervised. I have the utmost confidence in you.

That's why I shall give you tasks to perform, not instructions on how to perform them. I'll not try to teach you how to suck eggs.

My function is to allow you to do your jobs.

Turning to the scenescape, Hart calls up a list of the basic issue equipment for an ICfJ Imperial Marshal or Deputy Marshal. Then he calls up a the climatic condtions on Rohan on a split screen. He turns to face the group again.

Hart

Our first and most urgent concern is equipment. We have wide leeway in requisitioning what we need. But we can't requisition something that isn't there. Once we're on the liner, we need to have sent in to Sector HQ a complete list of everything we'll need over and above basic issue. Anything that we discover we need once we get to Rohan might take weeks in reaching us there.

Tomorrow is the 1st, not a working day for most people. That means we turn in this list on the 2nd. You have until 2359 ZULU January 1st to send me any special requests you may have. If the requests are unusual, send me the justification with it. It will be much easier to make your case to HQ if I know why you need a given item of equipment.

Is there anything that I can immediately note as necessary? Any item of kit that you feel is unaccountably missing from the basic issue?

Kiloni

I can't think of anything, at least not without seeing what will be there for me to use when we get there. Or should I assume that there will be nothing at all there? In which case you can expect a sizable list from me. And what about personl items? How is that being handled?

Hart (to Kiloni)

Personal items, anything other than weapons, can be taken with you onto the liner at will and without any fuss. As for anything else, we can assume we'll have our issue gear. Anything else we have yet to find out.

I do assume, however, that we'll be issued vehicles, computers and evidence kits. But if there is anything you cannot be without, make sure to let me know so I can be certain that it is on Rohan when we arrive.

Kiloni (to Hart)

Oops, I don't think I was clear in what I meant. Standard issue, I am sure is fine. But my concern is the medical equipment I will need for autopsies and various health concerns. Also equipment I will need to analyze the various data I find on scene. Is there any way we can find out what is going to be provided so I can go through it and see if I need anything else?

Hart (to Kiloni)

I'll see what I can do. Draw me up a list of your requirements by 2359 ZULU tomorrow and I'll try to find out what the Home Office doesn't have there.

Bear

A new uniform for the boss. Masks and cold-weather gear should be available locally. Secure comms, surveillance gear, local non-electronic currency in unremarkable, ordinary denominations for working up contacts, transport - at least one well armoured, For weapons; concealed carry pistols; man-portable automatic stunners, grenade launcher with gas grenades, and shotguns with riot loads, for crowd situations; for high threat or Swat situations - tactical grade body armor and helmets, longarm of choice, CQB carbine with grenade launcher for myself and whoever else is qualified, shotgun with breaching rounds that is uniquely marked. I will send you a list. I will wish to take sidearm and concealed carry pistol as personal luggage, cased and locked until arrival.

Kiloni

Are we really going to need all those guns?

Bear

I certainly hope not. But if we need to carry them I hope we're so damn scary we won't have to use them. And if a firefight breaks out I want it to end quickly, decisively, and in our favor.

The look on Kiloni's face is a look of uncertainty. Because she is such an open book you can almost see the various thoughts cross her mind.

Will we really need all those weapons? For what? Wait a minute...would I have to use them?

A small shudder shakes her body ever so briefly as she imagines the recoil from one of the big bad guns knocking her through the wall twenty feet behind her.

Penny

Sir, I always like to carry a backup weapon with me, so I'd like to request a gun that I can wear on an ankle-holster. Something reliable and has a decent magazine size and isn't big enough to be readily noticeable.

[/QUOTE]

Hart

Very good.

Also, if you want to carry your sidearms on the liner, I will have to know. The sergeant-at-arms of the liners are not likely to have learnt about the ICfJ IDs yet and I'll need to straighten everything out with them first.

That is all. Enjoy your graduation. I wish you all a Happy New Year.