MD #142: Cow Patty Plop
Cow Patty Plop
Summary: After Shackleton came by Lleu's office, the Master-at-Arms goes hunting Randy to see if Toby has had a chance to corner the Lieutenant yet with his unexpected request.
Date: 28/08/2017 (OOC Date)
Related Logs: Surprising Request
Lleufer Randy 
Battalion HQ, Deck 3 - Battlestar Orion
The headquarters room is the primary command location for all Marines associated with the battlestar or accompanying fleet ships. The walls and desks are covered with maps, photos, and satellite imagery - as well as clocks indicating the current time in each colonial capital city and Site Anvil. Along the back wall are large touchscreens with holographic capability, able to bring up fleet intelligence if the user has proper access. Secure phones are bolted to each bulkhead, and for added insurance, each desk possesses its own encrypted wireless unit with its own independent wiring. The small room is always manned by a wireless operator and a duty sergeant, at a minimum, though it tends to be a hive of activity during duty hours.
Thu Mar 15 17:11:25 2029

Randy is standing over one of the tables used for area maps and things like that. She's got a not too large map out that she's rolling up, making little adjustments on a report, plans, or something or other on her tablet which is next to it. Then she finishes rolling the map up completely and slides it back into a map tube. Her hair is tied back as per regulations. She's in her blues today, perhaps not planning to do any PT, or maybe she already fit it in early morning.

There's a knuckle rap on the hatch and then it is opened. Lleufer Ynyr sticks his head in, "Got a minute, sir? Did Toby Shackleton come find you yet?" The Gunnery Sergeant doesn't step on in until Randy gives him a sign that he's not interrupting anything too urgent.

"I do have a minute, but no, he hasn't." Randy is clearly back in business mode. She has a way of sloughing off her personal problems and compartmentalizing. Maybe it only happens when she's in her blues like some super hero that can do it only when they wear their outfit. Maybe just talking about it, more meditation, and a good night's rest has helped. Either way, she seems composed at the moment. "Please, come in." Once the hatch is closed, "What's up?" she asks as she sets the map tube aside.

Lleufer does indeed toggle and seal the hatch behind him, but it's out of habit. Safer for the ship that way if hatches are always closed except when required otherwise. "Well, he came by my office today and threw the damnedest request I /ever/ heard into -my- lap. Shocked the hell out of me." Ynyr parks his ass against something to lean against and folds his arms over his chest. "That son of a bitch asked to be transferred from the Fleet to the CMC to become a Marine." There it is, like a giant cow patty that just plopped on Randy's desk.

Someone was saying something about professional decorum? Lleufer's news causes Randy hold her side as she busts up laughing. "Sorry. That actually doesn't-One second. I need to catch my breath." Not enough PT in the universe to prepare her for the stamina needed to laugh about this day. "Does he want to become an MP? Because that would be rich," she says, trying to figure out why Toby would drop that bomb in Lleufer's lap outside of frakking with him. Once her laughter subsides, she nods. "This doesn't surprise me actually. I've been in contact with Toby off and on since we both recalled, mostly about Wescott. I asked if I could help get him on the ground for Piraeus at his request, but I just couldn't pull it off in time. The fact that Shackleton wants to throw down and contribute that way isn't a shocker. That he might be willing to subject himself one hundred percent of the time to a Marine's orders does though. You have the request with you? Or can you forward it to me? Was it formal or just hopping by to take a great big shite on your desk?"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Lleufer nods and waits it out as Randy tries not to have a kitten or wet herself with mirth. "Not a written request. Verbal only so far so may be nothing will come of it. Didn't want to be an MP. He wants to become a Marine, so he can go carry a rifle and kill some Skath and Loyalists. And with the Major off ship at the moment, guess who I referred him to speak to?" The Gunny pretends to examine, then buff his fingernails. Then he gets a bit more serious, "He seems serious, Flynn. My concern is whether or not he'll follow orders, and will he respect the Corps? And, he's nearly 60 years old for frak'n sake and has no intention to take the Arpay gene therapy. Soon as we get his ass hump'n up a mountain with a 100 lbs of gear, he's not going to be able to keep up. Drop dead on us of a heart attack, maybe." Lleu shakes his head, "But, he's got grit. I don't doubt his will, and whatever else that mother frakker is, I got to respect him for standing up for shit he /does/ believe in."

"Well I'm glad you stopped by to give me a heads up," Randy mentions earnestly, "I wouldn't have wanted to laugh in his face…But yeah, I get all the fun now." Of course she means in terms of having to fill the CO's shoes while he's off ship. "Well. I think first I need to have him pass a more strenuous Medical screening before anything." She does not want to be responsible for coronary failure in one of their experienced deckhands. Nope. "If he passes that, he can take the initial physical. But he's got to understand what being a Marine means, and he'll have to redo the frakking Medical exams on a frequency of Dr. Stone's orders and continually pass the Marine physical every year. It's going to be a bitch till he starts showing problems, but if he really wants it." She shrugs. "I'll have to talk to him about the orders thing and what it means to be a Marine. I might tap you to follow up and generally just help me keep your eyes peeled opportunistically. If he felt comfortable coming to you with the request, then he knows you might possibly take him seriously. But I can tell your right now, there's no other platoon leader that's going to put up with that pile of horse shite of having him dumped on their lap, so it'll probably come down to me. He's got to convince me he has what it takes to become a Marine through and through. This is presuming that his boss and Command would even approve a transfer of someone of his skills away from Deck." Randy shrugs. "I'm not going to outright say no, but he's got a lot of hurtles. "I'm more worried about him having a heart attack while trying to pull someone else up off the field. Their pack, plus his? After strenuous activity? With all the battlefield stress? /If/ he makes it through all of that, he's lucky if he has even a few years in the Corps at most being combat rated, especially if he won't take anti-aging therapies….but to be honest, I don't have the time or the foggiest idea of how to test whether he can actually follow orders in the field. He's going to have to prove himself in training, and I'm going to have to have Knox help me devise some scenarios we can mix in that should push Shackleton's buttons /hard/ when he has to follow orders. If you have any ideas too, of course they are always welcome. I just know you have a lot of stuff on your plate already." Don't they all?

Lleufer almost laughs, shifting his hands to the backs of his hips, "I know all kinds of buttons to push with him. I can bet anything I know how to make him go from cool to beserker mad enough to loose his shit." Ynyr tsks, "Every Drill Sergeant is an Asshole with a capitol 'A' and I'm no exception. Though…" Lleu eyes Flynn, "I would rather not piss him off without a buddy or two to pull him off and taser his ass. That's one bull who'll take you up if you mess with his horns." Still, the Gunny looks amused and can take his licks as well as give'm. "All valid points. His age is much against him. If we weren't engaged in a desperate war, nobody would take the request seriously for even a minute. Deck is where he belongs." Lleu shifts his hands to cross one over his chest and prop his chin up with the other as he watches Randy. "Still, assholes aside, I find it difficult to deny any man or woman who really has their heart set on joining our fight. I know he knows how to use a rifle, but that's only a very small part." A nod, "I'll help all I'm able."

"I won't be doing that without a skinjob present." Randy grins widely and knowingly when Lleu confirms he can do it. "And aye. I agree. Definitely a taser. I might want to carry one myself just in case if you'll check one out to me," with all of the usual caveats, any requisite training, etc, which goes without saying…And Randy doesn't say it because it will ruin her current mental fun to explore all that right now. "Ideally. Aye. Deck is where he'll be most useful, but it's not like that work isn't demanding either. Just a little more heart-friendly I think." They certainly have their share of heavy lifting and such. "I agree. I say we give him a chance. If he's got what it takes to be a Marine, even if it's for two months till he keels over and croaks, frak I'll pull him out myself just so he can molder on Deck the rest of his days." Randy nods. "I appreciate it. When and if I get his request, I'll start the process and keep you updated when we get closer to your part in things, or if he ends up failing out early."

Randy gets a nod, "Pain in the ass he has been, he's also pulled his weight, and then some. His and my personal differences aside, if it was me, I'd be dying to have the chance. So, maybe I sympathize. But we also have to maintain Corps standards, values, and above all, discipline." Lleufer thinks about it, "It -is- possible that Command will allow him as a special attachment, like Rance. Not /really/ a Marine, but … I don't know. That's above my head to make a call like that." The Master-at-Arms eyes Randy, "I can't issue you a taser any more than you can issue somebody an EOD kit - unless you are trained on it, Flynn. You know regs. But, MP's are only a quick radio call away if needed. If Shackleton really wants this, you and I just need to make it real clear that if he lays hands to anyone in a serious way and breaches discipline, he's going to blow it and end up in the brig. Again. We can out right give him fair warning that we'll be pushing his buttons to see if he can keep his temper in check."

Lleufer adds low, "Just be up front honest with him and he can make his choices."

"Aye, and I totally agree, on all those fronts. I've thought of going that avenue already, back before I knew he was willing and wanted to become a full-fledged Marine, so yeah, I'll keep it in mind, but I'm not going to dangle that out as a possibility yet." Randy seems like she's just thinking it through out loud with Lleu there more than insinuating anything Lleu might be implying. "Oh but Lleu. I really wanna zap Shackleton," she really uses those big Arpay eyes and her stature to great effect here, but it's obviously a short lived ruse and a pipe dream, and she knows it. She chuckles and snaps. "It was worth a try. And I agree. It needs to be hardline, up front, and I think you should be there if you can. That said, up front and honest. That's the way I usually communicate with him, so it shouldn't be any more difficult that the other conversations I've had to have." Like telling him Kelsey is alive! And telling him KELSEY'S DEAD AGAIN THIS TIME FOR GOOD! Or you know she married some bloke and had kids and he's coming aboard as a refugee enjoy! Randy reaches up and rubs the back of her neck for a moment, just shaking her head. "Frak. I'm just thinking of the possibility of seeing Shackleton out on the battlefield…working with Marines?…excuse me, fellow Marines, if he makes it. It's frakking blowing my mind."

Lleufer can't help but laugh, "Hell yes. One of my most enjoyable moments in all my years in the Corps, was tasering his ass and watching him twitch." Ynyr twists his mouth, "I am such a bad person. I can't believe I even said it, but after all the shit he gave me, it was a very fine if too brief payback." Now it's his turn to skim a hand over his shorn head, "Anyway, right. Hardline, honest, up front. I'd honestly prefer him succeed than wash out, but it's up to him. -If- he can get past all the hurtles. Otherwise, we can train him. Looks like we may have some time on our hands if we go kicking our heels up at some back world before we try the Colonies again. Or, whatever we do." The last is added a lot more softly. "A lot of things blowing minds right now."

"I agree. I want him to succeed too," and hearing Lleu admit that beyond what Randy already deduced about his attitude bolsters her resolve. She wouldn't want to have to deal with Toby dealing with more prejudices than he's already going to have to face. Some of those are annoying for her too. She's going to have to hear leadership bitch and moan right? Nice to know it's not on all sides. She smiles briefly in response. "Indeed. Alright, well I might as well get a meeting on the books with the CMO. Those things are hard enough to get on their own. I can always cancel if he gives it more thought and decides not to come to me," though Randy laughs at the notion of Toby backing down from anything. "Thanks for dropping by chatting it out with me. This should be a wild ride."

A wry grin from Lleufer, "I'm not sure if it's going to be a wild ride or a huge ass headache I am going to regret. But, I like the challenge of trying to win Shackleton over. He could make a damn fine Marine, if he can only learn to forgive, trust us, and let us bond him into our brotherhood." No slight intended to the female Marines. "See what the Major says and holler at me if I can do anything to help. Thanks, Randy." The Gunny knocks his knuckles against the desk she was reviewing mission plans or whatever on and then Ynyr turns to head out, assuming that he's dismissed.

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