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style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>~~Ready
Room~~ <BR><BR>Rog had just returned from his briefing by the admiral. This op
sounded like<BR>an exciting albeit a tough one. He didn't like the political
implications,<BR>but then again, he wasn't a politician. Rog hadn't worked
with MACO's that<BR>much, still there was a first time for everything. He
wondered what this<BR>Captain Mason fellow was like. Rog tapped the comm
button and<BR>said,"Commander Davidson, will you report to the Ready Room. I
have<BR>something to discuss with you." <BR><BR>A short time later Katrina
entered the briefing room. She had just fed Theo<BR>and was getting ready for
another shift in science. "Yes sir, you wanted to<BR>see me?" <BR><BR>Rog
looked up and smiled. He said,"Hello commander, yes I wanted to see you.<BR>I
just returned from Starfleet Headquarters where I met with RAdm.
Batenburg<BR>regarding our next mission. It seems we're to take on a MACO
detachment and<BR>assault a Romulan installation." <BR><BR>Katrina looked at
him. "We never really do anything small, do we?" Rog<BR>chuckled and said,"No,
we don't seem to. In addition to the Meridian,<BR>there'll be a Sol and two
Venus Class vessels in our task force. Exactly<BR>what ships those three will
be, hasn't been determined as yet. At the<BR>moment, I'm waiting on this
Captain Mason fellow to show himself and bring<BR>us up to speed on his part
of the mission." <BR><BR>~~ Airlock ~~ <BR><BR>Depressing the intercom on the
control panel, he announced, "Captain Mason<BR>of Military Assault Command
Operations. Clearance Two Five Bravo Kilo." The<BR>intercom chimed as his
announcement was received and directed to the<BR>appropriate channel, his
clearance taking it straight to the CO's Ready<BR>Room. He was early, arriving
ahead of his team, but he felt it was a<BR>professional courtesy to square
things away before his men dropped boots.<BR>With a mission this important, it
was essential to make things as smooth as<BR>possible, as early as possible,
between this ships crew and his soldiers. He<BR>stood at a rigid parade rest
as the airlock cycled. <BR><BR>Rog tapped the comm button and said, "Captain
Mason, please come up to the<BR>ready Room." He looked at Katrina and said,
"Well he's here. Let's see what<BR>he's like." <BR><BR>Katrina nodded.
Hopefully it would be easy enough to work with, although<BR>their current
track record wasn't so great in that department. The last time<BR>they had
additional help the scientist went insane and tried to kill all of<BR>them.
<BR><BR>As Mason boarded Meridian, his MACO uniform was a stark contrast to
the<BR>Starfleet personnel who turned to watch him pass. He didn't ignore
them,<BR>necessarily, he just had somewhere to be at the moment and his mind
was on<BR>the mission at hand. A short ride one the turbolift and he entered
the<BR>bridge. It was the first time he'd seen the bridge of a Starfleet
vessel,<BR>but he found himself strangely at home -- the Spartan functionality
and<BR>utilitarian design appealed to him. He crossed the bridge, not unaware
of<BR>the officers present watching him, and pressed the door chime to the
ready<BR>room. <BR><BR>Rog said,"Enter Captain." <BR><BR>Mason entered the
small room and extended a hand to the ship's CO. "Captain<BR>Carl Mason,
Military Assault Command Operations," he introduced himself. His<BR>voice was
warm enough, though he didn't smile. "It's good to meet you,
Sir."<BR><BR><BR>Rog took the captain's hand and shook it. He smiled and
said,"It's good to<BR>meet you too captain. May I introduce my XO, Commander
Katrina Davidson." <BR><BR>The MACO turned and shook the XO's hand as well.
"Sir," he greeted with a<BR>nod. There weren't many female commanders in the
MACO forces, yet, but he<BR>understood that 'sir' was a general title for all
Starfleet officers. When<BR>in Rome... "I apologize for showing up
unannounced," he said to them both,<BR>"but I want to make sure the
integration of personnel is quick and painless.<BR>If there's anything I can
do to facilitate that, just let me know." <BR><BR>Rog nodded and replied, "Not
a problem captain, I was more or less expecting<BR>your arrival. How many
people will you be bringing aboard and how would you<BR>like to coordinate
with my people when we get to where we're headed?" <BR><BR>"My team will
consist of eighteen soldiers, total," Mason answered. "My<BR>deputy commander
is Second Lieutenant Spencer who will also be able to speak<BR>for any
personnel issues while en route. Once at the target we will be more<BR>or less
an advance team, so coordinating with a central communications hub<BR>would be
optimal. My team will forge a path to key areas, and the armory<BR>personnel
on this and the other ships of the task force will be charged
with<BR>maintaining security of those objectives, as well as clearing other
problem<BR>areas as they arise. I trust your communications officer will be up
to the<BR>task?"<BR><BR>Katrina stared at the Captain as he talked. He wasn't
exactly cold, but<BR>there was a stiffness to Mason that probably came with
being a MACO. How<BR>that would really translate to working with the
rest of the Meridian crew<BR>she didn't know...yet. Hopefully it wouldn't be a
problem.<BR><BR>Rog nodded and said, "That's what the admiral gave me to
understand<BR>captain." Looking at Katrina he said," From what the admiral
told me this<BR>place was a base from which the Romulans have been
coordinating<BR>Anti-Coalition activities. This is sort of a pre-emptive
strike approved by<BR>both the President and the Security Council." Turning
back to the captain,<BR>Rog said, "Captain do you have the name of this place
and its coordinates.<BR>All the admiral told me is that it's believed to be on
the border of the<BR>Romulan space."<BR><BR>Mason shook his head, "No,
Sir. I understand the particulars will be given<BR>immediately prior to
departure for security reasons." He looked between the<BR>CO and XO and
added, "I want you to know, Sirs, that despite some friction<BR>between
Starfleet and MACO in the past, I'm sure we'll find a way to make<BR>this
mission a success -- reminiscent of the Xindi joint mission. It's
too<BR>important for anything else."<BR><BR>Rog nodded and replied,"That's
good captain, glad to hear it." </FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV>A Joint Duty Log by</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Cmdr. Roger Finney</DIV>
<DIV>A/CO</DIV>
<DIV>NX-06 Meridian</DIV>
<DIV>&</DIV>
<DIV>Cmdr. Katrina Davidson</DIV>
<DIV>A/XO/CSO</DIV>
<DIV>NX-06 Meridian</DIV>
<DIV>&</DIV>
<DIV>Capt. Carl Mason</DIV>
<DIV>MACO</DIV>
<DIV>Detachment Leader</DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Delicious ideas to please the pickiest eaters. <A title="http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598" href="http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-duffy/2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598" target="_blank">Watch the video on AOL Living.</A></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>