Marine Engineering

Posted on Thu Dec 31st, 2020 @ 3:28pm by Major Tatiana Skobelova & Lieutenant Commander Mara Ricci

Mission: S0E0: What Came Before
Location: Marine CO's office

Canopus station was preparing to receive more marines, including a new Marine Commanding Officer. And of course it wouldn't do to have a busted replicator in his or her new office. Having nothing terribly pressing on the repair list and feeling a need to work by herself, Mara took this job herself.

Currently, she sat cross-legged on the floor of the office with the replicator in bits around her. She was in the middle of testing all the circuits in an attempt to find the faulty ones and replace them. It was slow going, but she didn't mind. She liked working alone and this gave her a great excuse to do so for most of the day.

Tatiana was already feeling overwhelmed by the new station and the number of marines now under her command. She walked into her office and noticed the mess on the floor. Tatiana wasn't going to make a fuss as she knew engineers could be a bit quirky and tended to work on their own rhythm. She was going to give the young woman a greeting when she noticed the Lieutenant Commander's pips on her uniform. Tatiana found it a bit odd that a ranking officer would take on such a menial task, but she was an engineer.

"Hello Commander." Tatiana greeted Mara. "I'm Major Tatiana Skobelova, the new detachment commander. I see your busy."

"A bit, yeah," grinned Mara. "Mara Ricci. Chief Engineer. We weren't expecting you so soon or I'd have moved a bit quicker."

"I would imagine you are a busy person with a station this sized." Tatiana stated rather than asked. "I know I don't like having someone look over my shoulder when I work, so I will find my way to the armory and help them sort things out until you are done."

"I was going to try and find you a bit later, but since you are here I will discuss this with you now. I would like our engineers to work with your department, especially when it comes to damage control putting up structures. Marine engineers don't have the depth of knowledge that your people do and the marines could learn a lot. Would it be alright if I second some of them to your department?"

"Absolutely," agreed Mara quickly. "Unlike most engineers, I actually welcome coordination. And I don't mind having someone over my shoulder, so to speak." She grinned up from her place on the floor. "I'm awfully accomodating for an engineer. We're all weird in our own ways, I suppose."

"Yes, you are." Tatiana smiled back. Tatiana did find Mara's attitude refreshingly agreeable. When she had asked other Starfleet engineers to cross train marines, they acted as if they were priests and Tatiana asked them to divulge secrets about their religion.

"As marines, we tend to get stuck in remote places. Too many times I've been stuck on a rock floating in space and something breaks. Our engineers can't fix it because they've been taught to concentrate on blowing things up. It might take weeks before our ship or station send a repair team out." Tatiana explained.

"I'll send over the contact information for 2nd Lieutenant Tanj, she is the platoon leader of the engineers. And please, don't be afraid to put the marines to work. Your department is doing this as a favor to ours. And if for whatever reason you need a quid quo pro, feel free to ask."

"Learning to blow things up might not be a bad idea," Mara joked, replacing another circuit. "Seriously, though, I think most of us could use some hand-to-hand combat practice. Engineers don't get a lot of that."

"I'll inform Lieutenant Tanj and she will make those arrangements. I want to make a trip to the armory to see how they doing. If you are gone when I return I would just like to say it has been a pleasure to meet you. If all the other officers on this station are as amiable as you it will be a good duty station to work at." Tatiana warmly told Mara.

“They mostly are,” replied Mara with a slight grin. “Watch out for the reporter, though. He has a way of being extremely annoying while being as un-annoying as possible.” Her grin widened. “Just don’t tell him I said that,” she added cheekily.

"Thanks for the warning and I'll keep my mouth shut around him. Journalists aren't my favorite people. " Tatiana replied mirthfully.

“Not mine,” agreed Mara impishly. So remind me why I’m involved with one. “Anyway, it was nice meeting you.”