SM-2 (Re)Commissioning

[John Callaghan]

0930
SM-2 team area - CO's office
Meropis

John was standing behind the desk of his office. An office with a balcony overlooking the planet. On the wall behind him were several framed papers saying that John was qualified for this and that. On his desk stood several pictures of his family, and mainly of his little girl. In the centre of the desk stood a laptop, folded closed.

The members of his team were either sitting on the leather chairs or standing in front of him, on the other side of the desk. "Thank you for joining me here today. I'm happy to tell you all that you're now a part of Exploration Team Two. The only thing I have to add to this, is that your status, Lance Corporal, is on a probationary basis." the Major said to the three people in front of him.

"I go by Major, or more preferably, Skipper. Teams will be split up as the following, should a situation that requires our splitting arise: Chambers is with the Captain, designated 'Hitman 2', while Sergeant Alexander is with me in 'Hitman 1'." the Major then said, looking at every member of his team as he mentioned them.

John grinned at the thought of how he ended up with liking Skipper. It was during the invasion of Iraq, in oh-three. A new Corpsman, assigned to John's platoon only two days before the invasion began had accidentally called John 'Skipper', and several of his men had overhead the kid, and they soon started calling the new Lieutenant Skipper as well. While at first he didn't like it, he figured he might as well embrace the name rather than try to keep his guys from using it. Over time, he actually grew to like it, even.

TAG: Quinn Monaghan Ryan Alexander Tom Chambers

[Quinn Monaghan]

0930
SM-2 Team Area- CO's office
Meropis

"Thank you for joining me here today. I'm happy to tell you all that you're now a part of Exploration Team Two. The only thing I have to add to this, is that your status, Lance Corporal, is on a probationary basis."


Quinn remained in her seat.  It was certainly John's call with it being his team, but she had found herself more than impressed with Tom when they had been forced to hold the infirmary.  She was confident that it was a matter of time before John saw in Tom what she did.  she had to admit, it was even a bit of a comfort when he pegged Tom as the one to accompany her should their team ever have to split in the field.  It finally felt like things were coming together.

And then there was Alexander.  He had proven to be able to hold his own in a fight as well.  Quinn couldn't think of anyone else she'd like to have watching her back.  Considering what they had gone through that night, she was beyond convinced.  Of course, she wasn't looking to face those sort of odds again anytime soon.  She leaned back in the chair, waiting to see how the others felt about their appointments to the team.

TAG: John Callaghan, Ryan Alexander, Tom Chambers

[Ryan Alexander]

0931
SM-2 team area - CO's office
Meropis

Ryan stood at perfect parade rest. This was his first time formally meeting Major Callaghan, though it wasn’t his first time hearing about him.

"Thank you for joining me here today. I'm happy to tell you all that you're now a part of Exploration Team Two. The only thing I have to add to this, is that your status, Lance Corporal, is on a probationary basis." Ryan stood, inwardly nodding, and making mental notes. Though he hadn’t moved or said anything. Ryan liked Tom and was glad that he was being assigned to the same team as him.

"I go by Major, or more preferably, Skipper.” Inwardly Ryan cringed, though no sign shows on his face. No self respecting Marine would allow himself to be called Skipper. Ryan thought to himself, however this wasn’t the time or the place to discuss nicknames. Ryan stood quietly waiting for John to finish. "Teams will be split up as the following, should a situation that requires our splitting arise: Chambers is with the Captain, designated 'Hitman 2', while Sergeant Alexander is with me in 'Hitman 1'.” The Major had stopped speaking, and Ryan continued to make mental notes.

He waited a few heart beats to make sure that the Major and finished his informal formal introduction. “Thank you sir, it is an honor to be here. We will not let you down.” Ryan said very formally. This wasn’t his first rodeo, though it was his first time being assigned to an off world team. Inwardly he was excited, though outwardly his face and eyes were neutral, betraying little if any emotion.

Quinn Monaghan, Tom Chambers John Callaghan

[Tom Chambers]

0931
SM-2 Team Area - CO's Office
Meropis

Tom had worn his base combat fatigues today, he'd had a later start than normal, but at least he wasn't threatened with imminent danger right now, so that was a place, besides he could still count on the science department filling his day up if he ever had any free time. He stood about as at attention as Alexander, however maybe a little less, he'd always struggled with that, unless it was two specific days of the year.

Major Callaghan spoke, it was a good day for another reason, he had finally made an off world team, now he'd show them what he and other Australian's could do. "Thank you for joining me here today. I'm happy to tell you all that you're now a part of Exploration Team Two. The only thing I have to add to this, is that your status, Lance Corporal, is on a probationary basis." Tom kept himself neutral and blank, he'd want to ask why he was being singled out, but in front of everyone else and in the middle of this meeting were not the right place.

Callaghan then attempted to endear himself to them before explaining the team structure. "I go by Major, or more preferably, Skipper. Teams will be split up as the following, should a situation that requires our splitting arise: Chambers is with the Captain, designated 'Hitman 2', while Sergeant Alexander is with me in 'Hitman 1'." Tom nodded, he would try to talk to Captain Monaghan later, now though he was feeling the weight of the situation a little more, it probably couldn't get worse than alien beasts coming from below the city into it and going on a deadly rampage. Could it? He was however also comforted by Alexanders inclusion to the team, at least he wasn't only with officers or officers and civilians, though that did probably make him one of the most technically minded people in the team by military profession, but he would wait and see, perhaps the others had weird hobbies like everyone one.

“Thank you sir, it is an honor to be here. We will not let you down.” Alexander said after a pause from the Major, Tom looked to the others. "It certainly is an Honour, Sir, I'll go to the back of Bourke and beyond for ya's" He hoped that made sense, he was sure maybe even the Brits might get the reference, either way he hoped they got the all the way meaning.

<TAG: Quinn Monaghan, John Callaghan, Ryan Alexander>

[John Callaghan]

0945
SM-2 Team Area - CO's Office
Meropis

"Alright, then. On to the promotions and whatnot. Sergeant. I am promoting you to Staff Sergeant. Lance-Corporal. You are hereby a Corporal. Congratulations to the both of you." John said as he stepped around the desk to shake both of their hands.

John then sat down on his desk. "Staff Sergeant. You're getting the Good Conduct Medal for your actions in keeping the infirmary safe. While I know that it's not usually awarded for this kind of thing, I had no say in it and would rather have given you a NAM. Corporal, you're getting Bravery Medal for the same thing as the Staff Sergeant here. Congratulations on the post-nominal, son." he said and again, shook their hands.

Now that was all done, he returned to his chair and went on. "Now, then. We have time for questions. These can be handled on an individual basis, or with the group entirely." he said. Then he turned to the Staff Sergeant. "I know you are wondering why I prefer to be called 'Skipper', no? Let me tell you the story then." he said. "Back in oh-one, when I was a butterbar in Camp Matilda, in Kuwait. I was a new addition to First Recon. Anyway, I'd been there for a few weeks when my platoon's Corpsman was suddenly transferred to another unit. We got a replacement about a week later. He was fresh out of school, that kid. I don't know how, but he mistook me for the chief Doctor around there, who was a squid. He called me 'Skipper', and some of my guys must've overheard it. The name caught on, and like Captain McGraw was called 'Captain America', and Captain Schwetje was called 'Encino Man', I soon became 'Skipper'. I realized I couldn't do anything to stop them from doing it, so I just embraced it." he explained, and took a moment to breathe. "Was that what you wanted to know, Staff Sergeant?" he asked with a slight smirk on his face.

[Quinn Monaghan]

As Quinn sat there listening to Callaghan recount how he came to be known as 'Skipper', she found herself being distracted by a distant thought, one that she couldn't shake.  She did her best to recount her attention, noting that John preferred to be called by the title, and even listening as he identified the call signs of his former team members.  Suffice it to say, the more he drove home his point, the more disturbed she began to feel.  He wanted to be called 'Skipper.'  With that, she had no real problem, but absolutely no one had better even think about calling her Gilligan.  One things he never understood was how they never managed to get fix a two foot hole in a boat, but came up with all the contraptions and inventions that they did.  And let's not forget about the countless number of guest stars.

"Sir," Quinn said speaking up.  "has the General put us on the docket anytime soon, or do you feel that we need a little more team-building experience before hitting the field as a unit?"  Quinn didn't take the assignment to this team lightly.  Being assigned to SM-2 came with a great deal of prestige and responsibility.  Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't at least a little eager to get out into the field.  Granted, hanging around the city had its fair share of excitement, there was something to be said for an op off-base.

TAG: John Callaghan, Tom Chambers, Ryan Alexander

[Tom Chambers]

0947
SM-2 Team Area CO's Office

Meropis

It seemed this meeting was like every other meeting he'd had here and mostly in his military life, pretty damn sharp and to the point. Sharp and to the point meetings and discussion where what Tom liked. they however soon got onto something more important and official, Promotions. "Alright, then. On to the promotions and whatnot. Sergeant. I am promoting you to Staff Sergeant. Lance-Corporal. You are hereby a Corporal. Congratulations to the both of you." Tom nodded, he was quietly very happy but he was keeping himself in check it was a big thing, he was now equal of a squad leader, something he was both excited and scared of in a sense, not that he would be leading anyone in this team however.

Callaghan moved around the desk as he said the next thing, something no doubt he would get another awkwardly worded letter from his father for. "Staff Sergeant. You're getting the Good Conduct Medal for your actions in keeping the infirmary safe. While I know that it's not usually awarded for this kind of thing, I had no say in it and would rather have given you a NAM. Corporal, you're getting Bravery Medal for the same thing as the Staff Sergeant here. Congratulations on the post-nominal, son." The Major then shook their hands, now that wasn't something he was used to, though he was sure Decker would have some sort of hand in presenting the medal. "Thank you sir.".

Tom stepped back a bit as Callaghan explained why he had a certain nick name, he pretty sure he wouldn't call him by that name, you earned them, you didn't just give them out to be used. "Sir, has the General put us on the docket anytime soon, or do you feel that we need a little more team-building experience before hitting the field as a unit?" That was an excellent question, but Tom and the the Major still needed to settle their differences but that wasn't to be done with the other two here.

Tom looked from the Captain to the Major, it was question he was sure even the newly Staff Sergeant wanted answers too. They wanted to know when, where and what their first mission would be.

Waiting untill it was all done and dusted to looked to Major Callaghan. "Sir, would we be able to speak privately after this meeting?"

<TAG:John Callaghan, Quinn Monaghan, Ryan Alexander>