| My Steely Gaze |
| Summary: | Roubani asks permission to visit Nine again, Homer smarts off, Epi provides an opinion, and Salazar makes suggestions. |
| Date: | PH221 (25 November 2009) |
| Related Logs: | MxM & Jules Brig Logs & Nine Brig Logs |
| Players: |
 .. .. .. .. |
CEC Kharon, Deck 2, Security Hub
IC Time: Post Holocaust Day #221
OOC Time: Wed Nov 25 15:42:46 2009
A pair of staggered desks flank the entrance, one occupied during most hours by a desk sergeant, and the other rotates between other personnel. In the back is a bank of monitors on the port wall in a 180 degree view. The arc of stacked flatscreens is under the watchful eye of an MP or three during most hours of the day, and recorded for review otherwise. These monitors are visible from the S2's desk (directly across on the starboard wall) and the station set just in front of them. One of the feeds always on display is a feed of the Brig. Other secure areas have been wired in since warday. A Colonial Marine Corps flag hangs proudly in the corner, accompanied by pictures of Marines in action and paintings depicting famous battles of the Cylon War and other actions. An armored door at the far end of the room displays in bright white lettering 'Primary Small Arms,' and holds the main locker for storing the rifles and explosives aboard. A hatch midway through the room leads into the Small Arms Range.
The Sec Hub is on a skeleton crew, what with untold number being treated or resting and recovering. The Desk Sergeant is cranky as ever, smoking with a cup of coffee near at hand. Salazar is seated at the CO's desk, since he's also up in Medical. She doesn't say word one about smoking at a duty station. She sits back there by the bank of monitors paging through reports on aaaaall the damage and action the ship has gone through in the days of 42.
Man, everyone's COs are in medical these days. Roubani has just been through a shower, the first in about three and a half days. Be thankful for small blessings. His arm is back in a sling for the day and he's not too happy about that, but one never knows when Medical Are Watching. Heading into the sec hub, he stops at the desk of Sergeant Cranky. "Is Ensign Salazar in, please."
It's a Brass party in Medical. All the high ranking officers are really just lazy. They're clearly using it as an excuse to get out of paperwork, the jerks. Desk Sarge looks up, grunts something, expels a breath of smoke, then hunkers down over his coffee. In the back, Salazar glances up, then closes the folder in front of her. "You're useless, Brandy." She nods to Roubani. "Come in, Lieutenant."
There's a faint, faint eyeroll back at the desk sarge, then Roubani heads past. To her des-…er. Cut forty degrees, turn, continue to the CO's desk instead. "Evening. Nice desk. Don't need training wheels on it or anything, do you?"
"My steely gaze is enough to whip it into submission. You just have to know your head from your ass, which isn't all that hard for most marines," Salazar says.
"I wouldn't think so." Roubani agrees. He clears his throat softly, nodding to her. "I saw the casualty reports. I am sorry to hear about the Master Sergeant, Ensign."
Salazar's dark eyes find the pilot's briefly. She nods slightly, but says nothing on the subject of Master Sergeant Nikos. In fact, mention of him is enough to make her go silent. She slides a new folder from the pile, and tips it open to glance briefly at the contents. "What's on your mind?"
Roubani sits down on the edge of some chair, giving the silence a respectful beat before moving on. He's not a sloucher or even a casual sitter, feet on floor and back straight. "Petty Officer Sjetyrnnine. I'd like to talk to her again, if there is opportunity."
"If you'd like to visit her today, before the psychiatrist has a look, that would be fine." Salazar closes the folder, and sits up slightly in her chair. "She seems to be a profoundly disturbed young woman, and I'd like to know if this goes deeper than her, than Ozymandias. There seems to be a connection between them." Crazy talk notwithstanding. The S2 tugs a sheet from her desk drawer, and fills it out after a click of her pen. She doesn't speak again for almost a full minute, until she signs it, and hands it over. "Give this to the duty MP when you're ready to visit."
Roubani nods once, picking up the paper and folding it. "Between how…busy we've been" Understatement of the decade. "Has anyone had a chance to look at that bee? If it may have had some other function, like the spider?"
"Not yet. It's locked in a metal box." Salazar regards the pilot for a moment. "I'll see about that. If it's concluded it's harmless, there's no reason you shouldn't have it back," she pauses, then finishes with, "When these proceedings are concluded." That's probably a nice way of saying once someone's hit the airlock.
Roubani makes a noncommittal sort of wobble with his head. She may have seen it from Kai before; it's a Sagittaron thing. After a moment he says, "Have you watched the entire recording?"
"Yes." The answer is simple, direct. Salazar waits for the pilot to take the line of conversation further.
Salazar is seated in the back of the room, near the bank of monitors, at the CO's desk. Major Cass is in the infirmary recovering from his injuries. Roubani is in a chair on the other side of the desk. The two appear to be engaging in some sort of conversation.
There's a moment of silence in which the S2 considers the pilot's left shoulder, and then her eyes flick up to the hatch. Almost like she's expecting it to open up at any moment, and disgorge something vile.
Speaking of: in walks Homer. His hands are still covered in blood from last night as are his clothes. He walks on up to Salazar's desk and without preamble, reaches into the back of his pants and comes out with her sidearm. It's held by the barrel and set on the woman's desk. "Why you folks bother with non armor piercing rounds, I'll never understand. But at least the loud bangy noise made me feel like a real man." There's a sneer mixed in with a grin for Salazar and then a look to Roubani, "Hi."
Epi comes in as well, just behind Homer. She's not quite something vile, and she's even bathed - but she's moving a little more slowly than usual. Oh, she's in blacks and carrying a weapon, true. As she spots Sal and Roubani, she pulls a salute - of course. But as Homer speaks, the little woman gives him a curious look before meeting Salazar's eyes. "Want me to shoot him, Sir?"
Roubani's mouth closes slowly at the sound of voices coming up behind him. Who knows if he was actually about to say anything or not. The pilot's right arm is nestled back in a sling, and as his dark eyes turn to Epi he returns salute left-handed. Back to Salazar: "I'll come back after this go."
There's a slow blink from the S2, which is really more of a maneuver accompanied by a mental bid for patience. She reaches over to slide the weapon across the desk, dragging it with the pen, by the trigger guard, as if it smells, or has been contaminated by Res stink. "Put on body armor, go stand over there, and I'll show you why we don't use AP rounds on general duty rotation, Rue." She pops the magazine, then tosses it and the sidearm into the CO's desk drawer. She returns the salute to Epi, without getting up, and says, "At ease. Punch him, Jarot." It's pretty clear which 'him' she's referring to.
"It wasn't general duty. It was a boarding action, Nikos," Homer counters, lifting his chin a touch, "Get it right." He turns when he hears someone coming up behind him and spots Epi. "Huh." This is rapidly followed by: "Punch me all you want. I should -be- that lucky."
Epi dips her head to Roubani, watching Homer, then nods to the S2. There's no preamble about what she does, truth be told. She simply walks up to Homer and aims a single punch at his solar plexus. Doesn't damage his pretty face, doesn't really leave visible marks, but the intention to knock the wind out of him is -clearly- there.
Salazar just looks at Homer. She says to Roubani, "Good." She rises. "You're never going to make it past private, Rue." She moves around the desk. "If you'll excuse us, Lieutenant, we have a minor behavioral issue to tend to."
Roubani starts to stand after that partial farewell to Salazar. His free hand slides into his pocket, a brow raising slightly as the two incoming Marines start punching each other. Or something. Marines in their natual habitat, defending thir homes. Teaching their young. Mating. Ew. "Certainly, Ensign." He steps a little to the side so she can get past.
When Epi winds up for the pitch, Homer is just a little bit faster than she and he pulls back from her attack. He doesn't, however, let her go falling down or anything like that. There's a steadying hand on the woman's shoulder and he says, "Easy. You look ready to fall over, Corporal." A look is shot at Roubani, briefly, and then to Salazar as she stands. "I was here to drop off the gun, not looking for trouble. Thanks for letting me defend myself."
Well shit. She missed. Epi just looks up at Homer for a moment then humphs quietly. "Next time I won't miss," she promises him. "Glad I didn't hurt you." Then it's over to the side of Salazar's desk where she stands, eyeing Homer as if he's about to bite her beloved boss.
"Shut up, Rue." The polite has gone out the window, and the S2 points to the firing range. "Go load some magazines before I put a bullet in your thigh." It's been that kind of day. It seems Homer's chosen the wrong day to drop his snarky chatter. She stops next to him, and then her eyes go to the pilot. "Lieutenant." It's a 'just a moment' sort of tone.
Alright, then. Roubani only watches for a second or two before apparently deciding it's all Marine-greek to him. Rocking gently on his feet, he starts past them and then pauses, turning halfway back around as he's addressed. A brief nod.
The S2's next question is brief and somewhat mysterious, undoubtedly, to those who are not familiar with Kashmiri and Saggie custom. "What is a sofreh aghd?"
"Fine. But just to be clear, I'm loading them because I'm trying to be nice. Not because you told me to." There's a subtle twist of a smile on Homer's face and he snaps off a salute before heading on into the firing range. He pauses just inside the hatch and looks to Epi, "Until next we meet, dear lady, I wait with bated breath." And duck inside, he does.
Epi cants her head to the side as she looks between Roubani and Salazar. There's a momentary pause before she asks, "Excuse me, Sir," this to Salazar. "Would you like for me to search the Lieutenant and make sure he doesn't have any dead animals or hair sticks on his person?" Uhoh. For whatever reason she's eyeing Roubani a little funny.
Roubani's brows tick upwards slightly at Salazar's question. "It's the…" He struggles for a second to decide on the right translation. "…it's a cloth, for the floor. It's where you put food and traditional symbols during a wedding ceremony." If he was about to say anything more he's distracted by Epi. "Excuse me?"
Salazar considers that answer for a moment, then nods slightly. She may almost seem a tick relieved. "Thank you." Dark eyes flick to Jarot, and she clears her throat softly. "That will not be necessary, Corporal." Marines are weird. Just chalk it up to that. Honestly.
Epi looks back and forth between the two before she relaxes slightly, nodding. If she's attending fairly closely to Roubani's words, well, perhaps it's something about Lieutenant Knot.
A corner of Roubani's mouth turns up, a little bit. Almost a knowing sort of look. "Quite welcome. Gods bless." He turns then and starts out, nodding to Epi. "Be well, Corporal."
There's a nod from Salazar. "Gods be with you," she murmurs in return to the blessing. There's a moment of stillness, silence. Finally, she turns to Epi and says, "We'll need to tap several replacements to handle boot, Jarot. Most of the primary candidates are down."
Epi gives Roubani a small smile. "Night, Lieutenant Knots," she calls quietly. Then the smile fades as she looks back to Salazar, nodding once. "Elder," she says simply. "Barghest. Both of those are excellent choices, even though Barghest is only a Lance. She's good."
Roubani continues on out. One person down, several to go tonight.
"Barghest is fit to supervise hand to hand combat, though she isn't slated as a teacher. I can get her set up doing firing drills." Salazar shakes her head, thinking on it. She glances over to the desk sergeant. Brandy's too old. "We'll figure something out if I have to do it myself." That's a prospect she does not relish. She completely avoids Peri's name in the process of discussion.
"I'm not slated as an instructor," Epi says quietly. "But I've been working fairly closely with them. If you need me, just point me in the right direction. I can work on physical fitness, conditioning and some hand to hand. At the least, I can babysit."
"You could time then in laps, but I don't see you running with them yet," There's a little smile from the S2. "We're going to have to split the duties. I need you on your feet as fast as you're able, Jarot. That means a lot of rest in the next few days."
"I'm fine, Sir," Epi says looking up at Salazar. "It's nothing we haven't been through before, and you're hurt just as badly as I am." No, she doesn't make the distinction between physically or mentally. "We'll do what we have to to get our people up and ready. We can pull Jacobs in to help as well. His run in sickbay should be up and we need him in the field." A pause and she allows, "I'm following orders, I promise."
"Jacobs doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground," Salazar notes, with a shake of her head. "He's a fine medic, but his manner isn't something I want rubbing off on the new recruits. Rue is bad enough on his own." She nods to Epi. "I know how we skirt the rules to get the job done. Right now we have too many down to risk relapse." The unspoken word is 'and the ship is in ruins'.
"Right now, Sir," Epi replies, brows furrowing a little. "The rules are a thong. Forget skirting. There's no material left. And if you don't want people rubbing off on the new recruits, I'd suggest having Ajtai cleaning guns. In the Black berthings."
"Ajtai is a little slow," Salazar agrees. "He means well, but he's got his sister up his ass, his mind isn't on the job unless there's live fire whizzing past his nose." There's certainly in agreement there.
The little Marine is quiet for a moment, just watching Salazar. "With all due respect, Sir, when you sent us out to find the device last night, it was to find a possible broadcasting device. Not a female pilot's IUD. I may be a little backwards, but I don't see how asking a pilot who's spreading her legs on a machine if she's feeling disloyal is looking for something that's giving our position away to the toasters. By the time I figured out what he was doing, we'd gone to Cond. one. I straightened him out."
"I see Ajtai has mistaken himself for the MaA or a gynie." Salazar shakes her head. "That borders on harassment. I can see we're going to have to be sure to instruct the recruits on proper behavior in the presence of officers." She nods to Epi. "We have some interesting cases. There's more than one reason I left Scorpia when I had the chance. And now pieces have followed me here." She smirks slightly. "It's going to be a long 2 months."
Epi tilts her head slightly to the side, studying the S2 for a bit, curious though not enough to voice it. "With Ajtai, well, if she could have gotten her legs around his neck, I think she'd have busted his eardrums with those thighs." At least she speaks plainly. "Just let me know where you need me, Sir."
"We'll talk more later, when a few more things are resolved." Sal has a lot of catching up to do in terms of scrambling the marines to various duty stations, tying down the ones who are injured, so they heal, planning a memorial. It goes on. She checks her watch. "I need to grab some rack time. I'll be on in 4. If you see Swift, tell him to stop acting cracked or he'll be sitting the Brig next to the PO."
The color fades from Epi's face at the mention of Ashe. "I don't think he means to, Sir," she says after a moment. "He's trying to figure things out. I plan on hitting him for getting shot up last night. I just haven't figured out where he isn't injured."
"I'd start with his big toe," Salazar advises, without so much as a twitch of her lips. She seems to have reached the end of her leniency with Ashe's behavior, or maybe thinking of him makes her think of seeing Peri and Warren die just now.
"I was planning on his head," Epi mutters. "That hard thing that sits on his shoulders." She hesitates for a moment. "He said that he felt like the gods were watching out for him. With as much as he's been shot, Sir." Yeah, she's having her doubts.
"He's said and done a lot of things, Jarot." Salazar grabs a half a mug of cold coffee. She glances back to the shorter marine. "Remind him, would you, of what happens to those who display hubris." It's almost a request, but doesn't quite get there.
Epi considers that for a moment, then nods, once. "I will, Sir," she says quietly. And then, well, it's her turn to slink out.
