Joint Log | Gen. Sharpe & Col. Towers | Orders are Orders

Posted on 241409.19 @ 3:41pm by General Richard Sharpe & Colonel Adam Towers

Mission: Insurrection [Fleet Plot]

Sharpe closed the channel with Malone, and then threw a convenient PADD across the room so that it smacked hard against the bulkhead. It didn't break, but the force it provided was satisfying. He fumed for a few more minutes before bursting out of his temporary quarters on the Hawk, and headed out into the corridor.

He had no real idea what he was doing, or where he was going, just that he needed to go somewhere and do something. Somehow he ended up outside Towers' quarters, and hit the chime, then kept hitting it over and over as the door didn't instantly open.

Finally it did, revealing an irritated and disheveled looking Colonel.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" He asked.

"Don't you people answer doors anymore!" Richard snapped.

"I have a rule. The more someone rings the chime, the slower I walk. Or wake up." Towers returned.

"That's liable to make someone who is already pissed, more pissed." Richard growled at the man. He then walked into Towers' quarters, which were no bigger than his own, and sat on the edge of a metal desk.

The senior officer accommodation on a Defiant class were only slightly better than those of junior officers, who had bunk beds of two per room. In a senior officer room, there was but one bunk rather than two, but the same floor-space.

"Do you generally know me as someone who cares if he pisses off impatient people?' Towers said, letting the door close and sitting on his bunk.

"Fair point." Sharpe said. "I just got off the comm with that idiot Malone."

"And what did that blithering moron Admiral of ours want this time?" Towers asked.

"He's sending us back - but to England this time. We're to camp out right outside the President's front door." Richard fumed, and threw a convenient PADD across the room again.

Towers idly watched the PADD fly and strike a wall. It didn't bother him.

"So? You knew we were going to end up back on Earth at some point. Your daughter is safe." He said.

"This time its different, they're aware of us, and they'll be looking for us. We can't operate covertly on a planet that's completely alerted to our presence. Malone said it's a prelude to his liberation, and he'll be bringing marine forces to assault the Presidential estate." Sharpe sighed. "Tactically, its a nightmare."

"Tactically the last operation was a nightmare as well, and they were expecting us too. At least this time we'll have backup, it sounds like." Towers said.

"I wanted to head back to the fleet." Richard scowled. "Our team needs a rest."

Towers smiled thinly. "Then you go back and have a nap, General. I can handle it on my own." He knew Sharpe would not let that jibe go by.

"Yes, because the last time I let you handle something by yourself, you decided to get your fat ass captured by the Cardassians. Then get yourself infected by an unknown virus, so yeah, like I'm going to let you do it on your own. You're a walking train-wreck." Richard shot back.

"Fat? I'm not a General, I don't sit behind a desk all day." Towers said.

"You used to." Richard smirked. "Still might one day, after all, if they don't cure your disease, you won't get a field command again."

"Don't I have some sort of note in my file from Malone that I will never achieve flag rank again?" Towers commented.

"You can have a desk job without holding flag rank, you know." Sharpe replied. "They're called staff officers, and its them who grease the gears to make sure that active field officers have what they need to do the job they do. Usually its the flag officers who make the gears stick in the first place..."

Towers glared at him. "Just because you're miserable doesn't mean you need to spread the gloom."

"You know what they say, misery loves company." Richard smirked again.

"Do we know how much support we're getting?" Towers changed the subject.

"To quote our lord and master, 'some'." Richard said, with some considerable sarcasm.

"How did he get to be Fleet Admiral with that level of precision, exactly?" Towers wondered out loud.

"I suspect even he doesn't know." Richard sighed. "If memory serves, most of our marine units are on bases throughout the quadrant, and they'll likely be blockaded to prevent us using them against the UFP. If they can't have them, we can't either, simple logic if you think about it. Neutralize the threat."

"Taylor will figure it out. Though it has bothered me that we haven't heard anything further from Nikkos. I suppose he's still shaking that spook of his." Towers leaned back.

"We'll hear from Tyris when he needs us to know something, until then, he's safer off on his own." Sharpe replied, crossing his arms over his chest. "We have to keep the faith that he's far too smart for them to catch him. Besides, if they had, you think they'd keep that quiet?"

"Depends on if they catch him or just straight out kill him. Cold blooded murder doesn't really win the hearts and minds of Federation citizens, in my experience." Towers said.

"I have a feeling that it'll be a lot harder to kill him than we fear." Sharpe said back. "In any case, you'd better go tell your guys that we're heading back."

"I'll do that. And cheer up, you miserable bastard. We knew this was coming." Towers said, standing back up.

"Yeah..." Richard sighed, and got off the table. With that, he left the room so Towers could go talk to his marines.

=*= END LOG =*=

General Richard Sharpe
Miserable Old Bastard

Colonel Adam Towers
Former CO, 5th MEU
Starfleet Marine Corps