Azrael, Bartleby, Gabriel, Sauriel, Samael, Jeremiel, Uriel, Seraphim
[Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
It had been a couple of days since the events on Dorin. Much of the team were recuperating and recovering in sickbay. The general mood of the team should have been “down”, after all they had lost several key members, but it wasn’t. They were not just prepared, they were ready to get back into the fight, but the question is “How?” So once everyone was cleared to return to duty they met in a conference room. It would be a natural reaction to “catch up” with each other but they were professionals, on top of that they were practically next to each other all the time.
Have a seat.
Walking in, Aien was carrying a datapad and was actually in normal Naval uniform, not his BDUs like they were used to seeing. This was a little confusing, but again they needed to recover, he did not let himself; the life of a Captain. Standing at the podium, he linked the datapad to the projector and brought up the service records of each member that had been lost. It was a somber reminder that this was a dangerous job and friends will be lost in the line of duty from time to time, especially with their level of work.
Moment of silence.
It was an accepted moment as each bowed their heads. A moment later they sat and all eyes were on Azrael.
First things first. Got an update on the “Perl” girl. She has a concussion but will make a recovery. She’s in Alliance custody and our little operation seemed to cause a small uprising on Dorin, but other than that, the Galactic Alliance seems to be able to enjoy some peace for the moment without any real retribution. Anyway, if we see a "Perl" out there... they owe us a round.
He said that knowing full well that something was going to happen, but in reality, it was not his problem or the problems of anyone in the room. They will help if called upon but this was not their jurisdiction or theater of authority.
Now, who is ready to get back to work?
Yes!
For the fallen.
Azrael shook his head.
Nope. Not yet.
The confusion was expected, but if they knew the Boss, there would be more to this than meets the eye. Which is why they remained quiet. The other original members all had the same look, they seemed to know what was coming (getting new teammates). They would be wrong.
We have to discuss team roles first.
Boss?
Let the man speak.
Just trying to find out about our new teammates incoming. What we need to do to train them.
We’re getting new teammates?
Not until we put it up to a vote. Normally I would do this myself, or Command would assign members, but I want you all involved. If we take new members, we will not be combat ready for a few months. If we stay as is, we may not have the efficiency we had.
Somber news indeed. There were a few moments of silence before one or two of them looked up.
Speak freely. Now’s the time.
I’m good either way, Boss. Don’t worry about me.
I wouldn’t mind some new teammates, but to be honest, I don’t think we should. I’m still not over losing the friends we just had.
We need to be able to cover every contingency.
Sorry, but that’s ridiculous.
How so?
Give us more people? We might as well be a platoon.
You don’t even care about those we lost?
No one had ever seen Gabriel angry, up until now. Getting up and getting into his best friend’s face, the Demo expert had a look that could scuttle a thousand ships.
Are you that dense? Really? Seriously? You honestly believe that I do not care about Michael? About Ariel? About Chamuel? Any of them? Are you serious? They are all I think about! That is the problem! If we’re distracted out there, we’re as good as dead! All of these teams and separate groups do not help us at all. We used to have four and five at a time and that was it.
Are any of you listening to this?
I get it.
He’s got a point.
I never thought I would say this, but he does.
Now Bartleby was defeated, almost dejected at the thought of this as he stepped back and looked around.
Do NONE of you care, AT ALL?
I have just about had enough of you and your crap!
Oh, is that so?
Yeah, it is! People don’t agree with you so, what? They’re jerks? People don’t think the way you do, you get mad?
So, you don’t agree either, huh?
I DO agree with you, but you’re acting like a queen!
As Ba got in Jeremiel’s face, everyone got between them before the shoving match could begin. Azrael again had to settle it.
If you don’t stop this crap NOW, I’m going to discharge all of your asses and find new members? You got me? Do you? What about you?
He did not mean a word of it and each of them knew this, not just from the look in his eyes. They were in this together, and he did want them to speak and act freely, but aside from Azrael, no one knew the truth as to why Bartleby was so angry.
One of our original members… the original Gabriel. We were on a mission on T’surr, we had to take out a communications station. That was done and we were on our way out. We could have made it our fine, but two Jedi were not going to make it out in their condition. You all know Master Vanagor… he and his Padawan… she’s a Knight now… @Desbre Gensen. They needed help and we gave it to them. Lost 2 brothers and 2 sisters. The original Gabriel was one of them… Bartleby’s husband outside of work.
Now it all made sense as they all looked at him differently. Not out of pity or out of any kind of disrespect, they just understood now whereas before they did not.
I watched him die.
Since then, he’s been the biggest proponent of new training, new gear, everything to keep us all safe.
Jeremiel was the first person to walk up to him, offer a handshake and give a hug.
Sincerely sorry for everything man.
This was not a pity party and they all knew that, so it was back to the task at hand. The vote went to 4-3 and it was settled. There would be no more team members right now out of respect for those who were lost. Will this change down the road? Maybe, right now Omega Squad was “leaner and meaner.”
We are going leaner and meaner. That means we don't have room or a need for a three pronged attack. It will be a little more difficult without two different sets of Overwatch, but I would rather us all together and fighting when and where we can. We stand together or we fall separately. So from here on out, we go back to what worked for us for so long, we think, we act, we move as one unit as much as we can. When we cannot, then we split in two but we are going to be stronger for it because we are going to be even better trained than we already are. Everyone has a speciality, but everyone is going to learn a secondary skill too, losing friends gains us a better purpose. Alright. I’m disbanding the “Gold Team” so it will be “Blue and Red”. On Blue, it will be myself, Gabriel and Samael. Red will be Bart, Uriel and Sauriel. Now Jeremiel, you’re going to float between as needed because you’re still our driver when needed. SERAPHIM?
Yes sir.
You with us?
I was designed to be, sir. Will you need me to drive “The Reek” and pilot “The Pegasus” when necessary?
When we need you, thank you. Now Gabriel, you and Sauriel.. I want you both on SMRs now. Sauriel, you’re still going to package up your rifle and bring it with you, but we’re going to be more assault based now. Uriel. You’re going to be on a “Defender” rifle now. I know you’re training as a Corpsman but we need more kick.
Everyone seemed to be nodding at this point. The new weapons designations were proof of that.
Boss, would you mind if I learned another skill as well?
If you’re up for it. You never seemed the type.
Well, in light of everything, I think I want to learn a bit more about tech.
Then I want to learn more about explosives.
Boom baby.
This is good, I've been wanting to brush up on CQB.
Can I get in on this?
Can always use another Corpsman.
This talk seemed to invigorate the team as many of them were talking amongst themselves, Bartleby took out a holo-image of Damin, his late husband. The moment of sadness could be felt throughout the room, but it was something that he needed to do. One last squeeze of the disk holding the image and he got up and put it in the garbage. This was an odd thing to do, but it was his way of moving forward.
I still think that we need more people, but I think that it is more important that we’re out there. There are still black sites out there, people being held in them. Gab… Damin would want me to get over myself if he was here right now and he would be right. This whole thing started with saving that girl, but we’re not done. We have work to do.
Though he was standing there with an eyebrow raised, the Captain listened to his second, and thought that this was something that he could not have said better himself. They started something and they should finish it.
Now who’s ready to get back to work?
[Any text in brackets signifies comm-link usage and not face to face conversation]
It had been a couple of days since the events on Dorin. Much of the team were recuperating and recovering in sickbay. The general mood of the team should have been “down”, after all they had lost several key members, but it wasn’t. They were not just prepared, they were ready to get back into the fight, but the question is “How?” So once everyone was cleared to return to duty they met in a conference room. It would be a natural reaction to “catch up” with each other but they were professionals, on top of that they were practically next to each other all the time.
Have a seat.
Walking in, Aien was carrying a datapad and was actually in normal Naval uniform, not his BDUs like they were used to seeing. This was a little confusing, but again they needed to recover, he did not let himself; the life of a Captain. Standing at the podium, he linked the datapad to the projector and brought up the service records of each member that had been lost. It was a somber reminder that this was a dangerous job and friends will be lost in the line of duty from time to time, especially with their level of work.
Moment of silence.
It was an accepted moment as each bowed their heads. A moment later they sat and all eyes were on Azrael.
First things first. Got an update on the “Perl” girl. She has a concussion but will make a recovery. She’s in Alliance custody and our little operation seemed to cause a small uprising on Dorin, but other than that, the Galactic Alliance seems to be able to enjoy some peace for the moment without any real retribution. Anyway, if we see a "Perl" out there... they owe us a round.
He said that knowing full well that something was going to happen, but in reality, it was not his problem or the problems of anyone in the room. They will help if called upon but this was not their jurisdiction or theater of authority.
Now, who is ready to get back to work?
Yes!
For the fallen.
Azrael shook his head.
Nope. Not yet.
The confusion was expected, but if they knew the Boss, there would be more to this than meets the eye. Which is why they remained quiet. The other original members all had the same look, they seemed to know what was coming (getting new teammates). They would be wrong.
We have to discuss team roles first.
Boss?
Let the man speak.
Just trying to find out about our new teammates incoming. What we need to do to train them.
We’re getting new teammates?
Not until we put it up to a vote. Normally I would do this myself, or Command would assign members, but I want you all involved. If we take new members, we will not be combat ready for a few months. If we stay as is, we may not have the efficiency we had.
Somber news indeed. There were a few moments of silence before one or two of them looked up.
Speak freely. Now’s the time.
I’m good either way, Boss. Don’t worry about me.
I wouldn’t mind some new teammates, but to be honest, I don’t think we should. I’m still not over losing the friends we just had.
We need to be able to cover every contingency.
Sorry, but that’s ridiculous.
How so?
Give us more people? We might as well be a platoon.
You don’t even care about those we lost?
No one had ever seen Gabriel angry, up until now. Getting up and getting into his best friend’s face, the Demo expert had a look that could scuttle a thousand ships.
Are you that dense? Really? Seriously? You honestly believe that I do not care about Michael? About Ariel? About Chamuel? Any of them? Are you serious? They are all I think about! That is the problem! If we’re distracted out there, we’re as good as dead! All of these teams and separate groups do not help us at all. We used to have four and five at a time and that was it.
Are any of you listening to this?
I get it.
He’s got a point.
I never thought I would say this, but he does.
Now Bartleby was defeated, almost dejected at the thought of this as he stepped back and looked around.
Do NONE of you care, AT ALL?
I have just about had enough of you and your crap!
Oh, is that so?
Yeah, it is! People don’t agree with you so, what? They’re jerks? People don’t think the way you do, you get mad?
So, you don’t agree either, huh?
I DO agree with you, but you’re acting like a queen!
As Ba got in Jeremiel’s face, everyone got between them before the shoving match could begin. Azrael again had to settle it.
If you don’t stop this crap NOW, I’m going to discharge all of your asses and find new members? You got me? Do you? What about you?
He did not mean a word of it and each of them knew this, not just from the look in his eyes. They were in this together, and he did want them to speak and act freely, but aside from Azrael, no one knew the truth as to why Bartleby was so angry.
One of our original members… the original Gabriel. We were on a mission on T’surr, we had to take out a communications station. That was done and we were on our way out. We could have made it our fine, but two Jedi were not going to make it out in their condition. You all know Master Vanagor… he and his Padawan… she’s a Knight now… @Desbre Gensen. They needed help and we gave it to them. Lost 2 brothers and 2 sisters. The original Gabriel was one of them… Bartleby’s husband outside of work.
Now it all made sense as they all looked at him differently. Not out of pity or out of any kind of disrespect, they just understood now whereas before they did not.
I watched him die.
Since then, he’s been the biggest proponent of new training, new gear, everything to keep us all safe.
Jeremiel was the first person to walk up to him, offer a handshake and give a hug.
Sincerely sorry for everything man.
This was not a pity party and they all knew that, so it was back to the task at hand. The vote went to 4-3 and it was settled. There would be no more team members right now out of respect for those who were lost. Will this change down the road? Maybe, right now Omega Squad was “leaner and meaner.”
We are going leaner and meaner. That means we don't have room or a need for a three pronged attack. It will be a little more difficult without two different sets of Overwatch, but I would rather us all together and fighting when and where we can. We stand together or we fall separately. So from here on out, we go back to what worked for us for so long, we think, we act, we move as one unit as much as we can. When we cannot, then we split in two but we are going to be stronger for it because we are going to be even better trained than we already are. Everyone has a speciality, but everyone is going to learn a secondary skill too, losing friends gains us a better purpose. Alright. I’m disbanding the “Gold Team” so it will be “Blue and Red”. On Blue, it will be myself, Gabriel and Samael. Red will be Bart, Uriel and Sauriel. Now Jeremiel, you’re going to float between as needed because you’re still our driver when needed. SERAPHIM?
Yes sir.
You with us?
I was designed to be, sir. Will you need me to drive “The Reek” and pilot “The Pegasus” when necessary?
When we need you, thank you. Now Gabriel, you and Sauriel.. I want you both on SMRs now. Sauriel, you’re still going to package up your rifle and bring it with you, but we’re going to be more assault based now. Uriel. You’re going to be on a “Defender” rifle now. I know you’re training as a Corpsman but we need more kick.
Everyone seemed to be nodding at this point. The new weapons designations were proof of that.
Boss, would you mind if I learned another skill as well?
If you’re up for it. You never seemed the type.
Well, in light of everything, I think I want to learn a bit more about tech.
Then I want to learn more about explosives.
Boom baby.
This is good, I've been wanting to brush up on CQB.
Can I get in on this?
Can always use another Corpsman.
This talk seemed to invigorate the team as many of them were talking amongst themselves, Bartleby took out a holo-image of Damin, his late husband. The moment of sadness could be felt throughout the room, but it was something that he needed to do. One last squeeze of the disk holding the image and he got up and put it in the garbage. This was an odd thing to do, but it was his way of moving forward.
I still think that we need more people, but I think that it is more important that we’re out there. There are still black sites out there, people being held in them. Gab… Damin would want me to get over myself if he was here right now and he would be right. This whole thing started with saving that girl, but we’re not done. We have work to do.
Though he was standing there with an eyebrow raised, the Captain listened to his second, and thought that this was something that he could not have said better himself. They started something and they should finish it.
Now who’s ready to get back to work?
