Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?

Posted on Mon Dec 10th, 2018 @ 3:34am by Captain Taiga Aisaka & Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight & Lieutenant John "Pitbull" Mackey

1,469 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Demons in the Dark

ON:

"Feels nice to be back on a ship, doesn't it, Boss?" Pitbull said with a smile to help break the silence as he walked alongside Alex.

Alex stepped into the turbolift before replying. "Yes it does. Nothing wrong with our little ship, is there?"

"No." Pitbull said as he leaned against the turbolift's wall. "Nothing at all. It's just nice to have a lot more space to move around in. Don't get me wrong, Boss. The Prowler is home, but it can get really cramped."

Alex smirked before nodding his head. "Bridge." The turbolift began to move, headed towards the main bridge. The two traveled in silence until it came to a stop and the doors opened.

Both men walked out of the lift and toward the Captain's ready room. They had no idea of knowing how this meeting would end, but they were determined not to screw it up. Alex had a big reason for sticking around. Soon, he would tap on the chime and waited for a welcoming response.

"Come in" Taigas voice replied.

Alex walked in, soon followed by Pitbull, before stopping in front of the Captain's desk. "Captain? This is my second: Lieutenant John Mackey. We call him Pitbull."

"Pleasure to meet you, Ma'am." Pitbull said firmly.

Taiga nodded at them both. She lent forward slightly on her desk. "So what brings you here?" She asked.

"We thought it would be best to come here and answer any questions you may have about S.W.O.R.D. and our team. Should you have any at all." Alex said before motioning toward the chair's in front of her desk, asking if it was okay to take a seat. "While we are here, we thought it would be best, to let you know what we are capable of should you need out assistance while we are on board."

"I see" Taiga replied. "Well, have you been briefed?" she asked looking over at Pitbull. "You know what we will be doing in the next couple of days?" she asked.

"We got the general basics." Pitbull replied firmly.

Alex nodded his head before saying. "The Cassandra holds some information which it collected at the boarder of the Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. It's crew have not reported into Starfleet for quite some time. Your mission is to determine the condition of the ship, its crew, and obtain the information there in."

"Sounds like a piece of cake." Pitbull said before smirking and adding. "Doesn't mean its going to be one. Hanging around the Cardie's Demilitarized Zone will draw some attention and those spoon heads have a nasty habit of sticking their nose into things around their personal space. They'll be wanting to know what's going on and what's the deal with the Cassandra. If we don't let them in on everything they will generally make a big stick about it."

"And we can't have that." Alex added. "If we refuse, and call them out, they may retaliate and/or turn this into a political nightmare, once again accusing Starfleet of hiding things and demanding to know what it is. Starfleet doesn't want that."

"Federation doesn't want that." Pitbull said quickly.

"And so we don't either." Alex continued. "Best plan is to stay as below the sensors, and off their radar, as possible. That means: Small team. Quick Entry and exit. Locate the data storage unit as quickly as possible and prepare for heavy encryption. Starfleet should have a key for the encryption so that worry isn't as difficult. We should prepare for a confrontation with the Cardassian's even though we hope to be out of there before they realize what hit them, but its best to plan for it just in case."

Taiga looked back and forth between them. "You seem to have all this already worked out" she replied simply. "I suppose you have a plan for all this already?" She asked.

"We try to stay a few moves ahead, Captain." Alex replied with a nod. "When that fails there is always rule six." He said with a smirk.

"I love rule six." Pitbull replied with a smile.

Alex looked over to Pitbull and smirked before saying. "I know you do because it always works."

"Rule 6? You'll have to enlighten me..." Taiga said.

Alex looked to Pitbull before looking back to Taiga and saying. "Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan."

"It means." Pitbull added quickly. "The plan is almost never going to work the way it should and anyone that thinks it will is delusional largely because there will almost always be something or someone working against the plan. Plans only work when they’re carried out in a manner that has nothing to do with reality and can ignore the many different variables that might exist that could ruin the plan without that much effort." He paused slightly before smirking. "You will be happen to know that it rarely comes down to rule 6, and if it does, the Boss calls the audible simply by saying the rule and number. That is normally the cue to us to go off script."

"My team and I have been together for a long time, Captain. They know me and I know them. More importantly, I trust them and they trust me." Alex said firmly.

"We trust each other." Pitbull said firmly.

"I said that." Alex looked over to him with a raised brow.

"I simplified it." Pitbull countered with a smirk.

"I think she got it, John." Alex said with a smile.

"Point of fact, Captain." Pitbull said before looking back to Taiga. "We're family. We protect each other and, by association, this Starship as long as we are on it. We've done plenty of missions and had some ups and downs. We lost men. Some losses were done for the better of the team and willing sacrifices. Other's were stolen from us." He and Alex paused for a moment before Pitbull continued. "We understand what it takes and how far to go, and while you may never ask it, we are ready to do what needs to be done for everyone on board."

Taiga looked at them both and simply raised an eyebrow. "Ok, I get it. You have your way of doing things" she replied. "As long as they don't break any of the rules and regulations of this ship, you may continue to use your... rules" she told them both.

She stood up, not that it made her look any taller. "The first thing you should do is get that ship of yours a permanent berth, speak with Ensign Ishigami about it. Then Commander Knight can sort you out with quarters".

Pitbull raised a brow and looked over to Alex. Tempted to say something, before holding his tongue and nodding his head.

"I'll see to all of that personally, Captain. Thank you." Alex replied before looking over to Pitbull and nodding his head. Let's go, John."

Taiga wasn't quite sure how well that just went. It was a little confusing to say the least. She simply watched them go, tilting her head slightly in confusion.

Alex and Pitbull headed toward the door together and eventually exited. Once the doors to the Ready Room closed behind them, they headed into the turbolift they came out of from the start. They were quiet, which did not mean they had nothing to say, they just weren't saying it at the moment.

However, once the turbolift doors closed, Pitbull was the first one to speak up. "What was that crap about we can continue to use our rules? Does she understand that they don't really apply to anyone else on the ship, just us personally?"

Alex let out a sigh and shook his head. "John?"

"And whats with all the japanese crewmen on board? Aisaka. Ishigami. That nurse that gave us a once over was Miya-something or other. Is this a Starship or the Orient Express?"

"John!" Alex shouted slightly.

"What?"

"First of all, its Miyafuji. I know this because, unlike you, I have a better memory. Second, I am sure she wanted to make sure we aren't going around doing things she doesn't want to. While we are allowed some leeway, we still need to respect the chain of command and she just wanted to make sure we do that. And finally, I'm impressed. You actually know what the Orient Express was. Nice job actually using a literary reference that wasn't from a bad holonovel." Alex replied calmly.

"It was a book?"

"Nevermind." Alex said softly, shaking his head again.

Posting by

Captain Taiga Aisaka
Commanding Officer

Lieutenant Commander Alexander "Alex" Knight
Chief of Security

Lieutenant John "Pitbull" Mackey
SWORD Team Second

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