The Veiled Truth
Posted on Sun Aug 10th, 2025 @ 5:28pm by Rear Admiral Timothy Rice & 1st Lieutenant Jeksyne Vale & Brigadier General Francis 'Judge' Sobel
Edited on on Sun Aug 10th, 2025 @ 5:29pm
2,427 words; about a 12 minute read
Mission:
The Amalgamation Interrogation
Location: Wardroom 1 - Habitat Ring Deck 11 - Empok Nor
Timeline: MD003 0900 hrs
Standing near the wardrooms viewport, Francis looked at the steady progress of ships in their slow ballet of docking and undocking in the constant ebb and flow of commerce that was the life of station. His aide caught his eye by stepping into his periphery and he nodded. "Very well. Tim, it seems Lieutenant Vale's in attendance whenever you're ready? He should give us a good look from a company grade officer's point of view. He also hasn't been aboard long enough to come under the Colonel's bad influences."
Tim continued to read over the Marine's record. "He has a stellar war record. A strategist by training and position. One would wonder what he thinks of the synergy of the Corps and Fleet." Rice knew better than some that these types of meetings could get lost in gossip. So, he tried to keep them on mission as it were.
The doors to the wardroom slid open, stepping into the wardroom in proper military fashion, First Lieutenant Vale. He stops at the head of the table, going to the position of attention, standing tall.
"First Lieutenant Vale, reporting as ordered, General" He announced as he stood.
Glancing toward Rice pointedly, Francis frowned then said, "At ease Lieutenant. This is Admiral Rice, my counterpart in this Sector...though technically, I believe he outranks me." Smiling slightly, he said, "Take a chair and we'll get this going." Francis gestured toward a simple chair that faced the small table he and Rice were behind.
"As you were informed, the purpose of this is to get your views on the experiment of putting FMC officers into senior positions traditionally held by Fleet officers. The primary focus is your views on Colonel Tremble and his role as executive officer of the Pioneer."
Rice decided to sit and have Sobel take the lead here. Francis knew the Marine mentality a lot better than Tim. "I would like to add here that permission to speak freely is granted. We want the truth and there will be no reprisals and no one will know what you have said here. Your record shows that your previous posting was as a member of the unit known as The Kingsmen on Starbase 50. I know on that station Colonel Patton served as the executive officer as well. So, I would be curious what you thought of the two experiences."
Jeksyne nods, walking over and taking the seat offered by the General. He sat, adjusting his uniform as he did.
“Only briefly, before the station was shuttered. Most of my recent experience has been with The Cure, sir.” Jeksyne began.
“Though I haven’t had much time with the Lieutenant Colonel, he appears from all observations to be a capable officer. Though, with respect, I do my own curiosity as to the program. Historically, this is not the first time that Marines have been integrated into the command structure of a Starfleet Vessel.”
"True," Sobel remarked, eyeing the Lieutenant and taking the marines measure. "But it's hardly the norm and is still a matter of debate. Since you're new to the Cure, how about telling us how your platoon or Team and the rest of the Cure seems to work with Merrick and Tremble. I know Neil has a hard time not doing both jobs. It's his nature. Seen any problems between those two?"
“None to my immediate recollection. Both men to me are capable marines, fine officers. Myself having limited time as an officer though, I speak to this from the lens of a mustang officer.” Jeksyne elaborated for the two flag officers before him.
Tim raised an eyebrow in the Vulcan fashion. Briefly and almost imperceptibly. This was a nuance that he had when he thought someone tried to be deliberately obtuse. He decided that he would try a different tact to get the Lieutenant to open up. "What of your duties on the Pioneer? Within the structure of this program we ask that the members of The Cure perform extra duties outside the norm for Marines. How to these affect you? How do you think they affect your colleagues?"
"I am Company Executive Officer and Team One Commander. My shipboard duties is the training and readiness of Team One Marines. Administration of the Company though my duties as Company XO. I handle day to day operations of the Company in the absence of the Company CO." Jeksyne replied just as professionally as he had the other questions. Which didn't mean he didn't take note of the twitch of the Admiral's eyebrow in a usually Vulcan fashion.
"If the Colonel didn't think me capable, he would not have appointed me to that position. My Marines are expected to improvise, overcome, adapt. That's been my position, sirs"
Sobel kept his own eyebrow from going up and said, "That's a pretty canned, prepared response if I've ever heard one, Mister. Are you telling us what you think we want to hear, giving a prepared response? Or do you lead with that same detachment from your troop? You can't be their best friends, but you have to know them too."
“I lead from the front, if that’s what you’re asking.” Jeksyne started.
“I don’t believe in leading from a command post or behind a desk. I didn’t enlist to be behind the desk. I’ve been in the shoes of my marines. An enlisted man. I will not ask my marines to do anything that I am not capable of doing myself. Lead by example.” Jeksyne continued on.
“Though I’ve only been with the unit a few months now, in that time though, I’ve observed that the marines of The Cure are some of the most disciplined, reliable and hard fighting marines I’ve seen in my time in the corps. I say that’s a testament to the leadership of Colonel Tremble.”
"The Colonel's leadership skills are not in question here. What is in question is his ability to acclimate to the mentality of Starfleet and vice versa. So, in your opinion how does the Colonel handle that?" Tim leaned forward a tad as he spoke. He was glad that Francis said something about that scripted response. If the Admiral was honest he expected one of the Marines to give a scripted response.
“As with all living things, each according to their gifts.” Vale subtlety replied, quoting a great Vulcan mind.
Rice thought for a moment that this Marine would be able to teach vagueness to even the most skilled diplomat. "What gifts would say those were? What if anything have you learned from your colleagues in Starfleet aboard the Pioneer?"
"That they have their own ways of doing things. Their own set of traditions and customs. Marines have their own ways of doing things. Our culture too, is a defining part of the ethos of the Corps. I do believe that the Colonel has acquitted himself in his role as XO of the Pioneer. He is in a position to put the Marines concerns to the front of the mind of the CO and Senior Officers. It puts the Marines on Equal footing as Fleet even when Fleet might think they're superior to the Corps." Jeksyne elaborated, maybe a bit too bluntly.
"That right there is why this experiment was created. The very idea that one department believes that they are superior to the other confounds me. General, please stop me if I am wrong. But, I do believe that a high percentage of Marine concerns are the same as a Starfleet Officers concern. First Lieutenant you speak of everything as if they are at odds." Rice began with a tone of fire in his voice. However, by the end the fire was taken out and he sighed. "Perhaps we simply cannot put centuries of rivalries to rest."
"The Good of the Federation is primary to both Corp and Fleet," Sobel agreed with Rice. "Usually the rivalry boils down to how to get things done and quote, "Letting the leash off" unquote, the marines. Our reputation precedes us. Even within the Fleet. In higher echelons, it's a fight over resources and image. But at the ship and station level, everyone should be on the same page by now."
"Yes, but those rivalry will always be there. Even though, I think that the program works. Given the data from past historical instances such as Colonel, later General Josiah McEntyre of the United Earth MACOs commanding Unicorn, to even now with Colonel Tremble being an XO. I believe that Marines are capable of leading Starships." Jeksyne elaborated
Sitting back, Sobel said. "Well we got there." Looking to Rice he said, "I think my questions have gotten answered here Tim. Anything more?"
Rice was about to dismiss the First Lieutenant when one more thought occurred to him. "As you can see we are attempting to blur the lines somewhat between the divisions, that is between the Corps and the Fleet. In your opinion First Lieutenant where should the blur end? Where should we stop with this blending of sorts?"
"When we get a Marine as Commanding Officer of a Starship. Marines are capable of more than being crayon-eaters and attack dogs and again, citing historical precedent, it can be achieved. Alot of Starfleet's main core issue is that fact that Starfleet basically abandoned her warriors when she needed them the most." Jeksyne started.
"After the founding of the Federation, alot of the MACOs and Soliders that were a part of United Earth and the other Coalition races simply stopped using her warriors. Shifting them into Starfleet Security which emphasized more policing tactics. While this may have been successful for a time, recent events showed a need for Marines and other combat forces to exist. The Cardassian Wars, Wolf-359, The Dominion Wars. They were all painful lessons and wake up calls. Citing a paper by Elias McEntyre, Starfleet grew complacent and aloof in it's techno-wizardry but not everything can be solved by Techno-Wizardry. It sometimes needs boots on the ground to effect real change."
The words of Vale were not wrong, but they did sound oddly close to those of Admiral Rodney Leyton. A person that Timothy Rice detested. However, the idea of a Marine vessel is not entirely a bad one. "The primary mission of Starfleet is one of exploration. If a vessel was given to the Corps, to be crewed entirely by Marines. Would they enjoy the scientific exploration, the wonder of it all? General? First Lieutenant?" Tim turned to both the men in turn to address his question to both of them.
“If it wasn’t for the Romulan War, Unicorn had some of the most advanced systems for the time. It could have made an excellent science platform. Even crewed by a majority MACO crew. Even the relationship between McEntyre and Magnusson was built on common ground though by some first hand accounts, they fumbled into it fairly quickly, so some of that could be debatable.” Jeksyne elaborated, falling back on his history background.
"It is not the ship's capability that is at discussion right now. With all due respect to present company. Most Marines do not want to seek out new life and civilizations. They would prefer to serve and protect as it were. I see nothing wrong with that mindset, simply that it does not lend itself to exploration. So, my question was more how do you think a Marine crew would react to such a mission? While the mission of the NX ship Unicorn are successful, that was a different time, with a different mindset." Tim could see the comparisons between this program and some of the programs that MACOs ran. However, he did believe that people all over Starfleet, in every division thought differently then, than they do now.
“As I said previously, Marines are trained to improvise, overcome, adapt. I would imagine that would apply to exploration. Marines are a highly adaptable force that are able to execute any mission put in front of them, including the lofty goals of exploring the galaxy.” Jeksyne replied.
Sobel looked at the lieutenant, then glanced at the Admiral and said, "There are reasons why the Corp is what it is. We have our place in the Federation. The Federation is a peaceful coalition of peace seeking members. Most of them don't even have home defense fleets and barely a home guard past a security force that doesfocus on law enforcement. The Fleet's primary duty is exploration and playing fireman where it's needed within and without the Federation. Marines can absolutely do any job handed to them. And do it well, from taking a Planet head to even commanding a starship if needed."
Pausing to gather his thoughts, Francis decided his main point wasn't that hard to grasp, "What the Federation needs most is the threat of the Corp. A detachment like the Cure has enough firepower all by itself to conquer a planet. Maybe not hold it for more than twenty four hours. But the Brigade could do that if so ordered. The Corp's best weapon is our reputation and the fact that throughout the Federation and border areas, we're seldom seen. Though the Fleet might argue against the need for that reputation I think that's our role."
"As I see it Marines are a great department to have. I just often hope we never have to use them." Rice added with a touch of thoughtfulness. He found the Lieutenant before him to be regimental almost as if he answered from a script. However, pointing out the link to history was something that Rice had not thought of. "Well, Lieutenant I want to thank you for your time. There is nothing else from me."
"Thank you, sir" Jeksyne nodded, waiting to be dismissed.
Gathering his flimsies and ordering them, the Brigadier said, "Yes. Thank you Lieutenant. You're dismissed, go enjoy the rest of your leave on the station."
A Joint Post By
Brigadier General Francis Sobel
Commanding Officer, 258th Starfleet Marine Expeditionary Brigade
Empok Nor
Rear Admiral Timothy Rice
Sector Commanding Officer, Trivas Sector
Empok Nor
First Lieutenant Jeksyne Vale
Company Executive Officer, The Cure
USS Pioneer
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