PHD #423: Cap'ns Make It Happen
Cap'ns Make It Happen
Summary: The one where Vandenberg and Corrath get some new rank insignia.
Date: 25 Apr 2042 AE
Related Logs: Areion happenings
Players:
Madilyn Vandenberg Corrath 
S2's Office - Security Hub - Battlestar Cerberus
This smallish styled office is typically made use of by the Master-at-Arms to conduct his business and oversee the MP's. As of late, with the lack of an MaA, the S2 has been making use of it, as is evident by the stacks of paperwork that seem to be accumulating on the desk. To the side, a secured cabinet can be see and a table with the never-ending Marine Coffee Pot <tm>. Across from the desk, two simple chairs are present for those who visit, while behind the desk, a much larger and more comfortable chair can be seen.
Post-Holocaust Day: #423

Turning what had been a fruitless trip into something fruitful had taken little more than a bit of waiting, and call through the wireless. Well, more specifically, having one of the aides put in the request. In two shakes of a fist, the S2 had been called back to the SecHub - a surprise that he wasn't in the office to start with - but oh, hey! coffee. And then of course, the S3 just happens to have wandered in and got asked to stay. It's all a day in the life of Madilyn, who presently occupies one of the visitor's chairs across the desk from the big chair, a cup of coffee in her hands, and a rather intimidating few stacks of paper tucked neatly into folders to be handed out.

Vandenberg, files picked up and on her way back towards the.. wherever it is she works.. is stopped by a Corporal. Huh. She leans against the wall with her stack of folders in her duty greens until she's called into the office. Wandering in it takes a moment to identify the woman at the desk because, well, she isn't facing the door. "Hey, where'sssssir!" She comes to attention, folders tucked neatly into the elbow of her arm.

Zoom Zoom. The runner had been dispatched to find Corrath, who for a change, had left the cozy confines of his office to invade the Rec Room. Now, after making his way back down to the Sec Hub, the Corporal on duty is directing him to his office, which draws a slight loft of the man's brow. Moving towards the office and then into it, he's nearly colliding with Vandenberg's back as the S3 draws herself to attention. A flit of his eyes is offered and when they fall upon Madilyn, he's coming to attention as well, "Sir."

"Lieutenant. Lieutenant. At ease. This isn't going to be anything serious, and needn't be anything strictly formal," Madilyn greets them as she stands up from the chair. "It's fortunate that I was able to catch you both at the same time…and not in sickbay. How are you both feeling?" For the moment, she's the interloper in the part of Marine Country that belongs to the MPs and the S2, so, she remains at the visitor's seat…but waves them both in to have a seat for themselves to continue the discussion.

At ease? Hokay. Van relaxes and switches arms that are holding her folders. "Practically live in Sickbay, sir. Nature of the job. I'm still on light duty. Doc's got me finishing off my painkillers for my hand." She dang near lost it with the wounding she took, not to mention barely surviving period. The S-Three moves for a seat at the desk and settles into the chair, crossing her legs and looking from Madilyn to Corrath with a question mark painted on her forehead.

Following suit, Corrath relaxes a bit before he's moving to angle off for the comfy chair, behind the desk, since Madilyn seems inclined to remain in the visitors. "About the same here. Couple more days of light duty. Apparently getting shot in the neck is considered bad form and something that's not conducive to regular work." The chair is reached and he's lowering himself down into it, "What can we do for you, sir?"

"Well, as much as I'd like to give everyone in this department some time off, that's an unfortunate side-effect of having another operation to carry out immediately after licking our wounds from the previous." Wounds which, in her case, are exceedingly light compared to those that the others in the room have suffered. "To that end, I've come bearing some additional duty information, follow-ups on the action on Areion and what have you. And yes, I know you've probably seen these so much you can read them from the back of your eyelids, but there's some new information contained within." Those thick folders are passed out now, slid across the desk to Corrath and along the desk to Vandenberg, Madilyn carefully supporting the rather stuffed folders.

Vandenberg takes the folder and opens it, glancing over the first page. "As of eighteen hundred today, sir, we have six jumpers. Everyone is ready to go. We need jump training on a few tomorrow night and we should be good. Lagana needs her leg back but shouldn't be more than two days. Just waiting on details from command…" She trails it off, eyes finally finding the content of the pages rather than the basic outline.

There's a quick nod of Corrath's head before he's leaning forward to claim the folder. Then, as he leans back, he's simply opening the folder so that his eyes can scan over the information. There's some page flipping as he listens to Vandenberg and as he reaches the middle pages, his right brow is lofted upwards. Supporting the folder in one hand now, he's reaching in to remove the box from the cutouts, his brow remaining lofted as he looks to Vandenberg and then to Madilyn.

For her part, Madilyn remains silent while they peruse the information. Yes, there certainly is information inside, but the majority of the files are literally empty pages, stacked up enough to hide the velvet boxes, two in each folder. "Well, go on. You might as well open the damn things and take a peek. You both earned them. I couldn't rightly let Commander Pewter have all the fun in finding unique ways to surprise crew members. You too, Lieutenant," she says to Vandenberg. "There in the middle," she says, sounding for all the worlds like a mom.

Vandenberg flips through the pages as well. She scans through the first noting the highlights, then to the second. She moves through quickly to take up footnotes on what's important before hitting a blank page as Madilyn urges her on. She grumbles the name of a Private before flipping past and getting to the middle. She blinks. "Damn and I was ready to chomp a rump.." She takes out one box and then a second. Her eyes flick to the Colonel and then Corrath. Then back to Madilyn. Theeen down to the first box. Natalie opens it slowly, brow lofted.

Casting his eyes back down to the boxes, Corrath can't help but keep that brow lofted. But then, there's Madilyn's insistence on making sure they're opened and as such, the S2 is reaching for the narrower of the two boxes, pulling it forth from it's hidden cutout. The folder is then settled on his lap so that he can hold the box in one hand, while the other opens the top of it so that he can look within. The sight of the rank pins within causes him to blink slightly before he's looking back up towards the Colonel, "Well .. thank ya, sir."

Corrath can have his understated reaction. Vandenberg see's what is inside and looks like she might jump out of her chair. Her free hand pumps a fist back and forth once and she gives a big ol grin up towards Madilyn and Corrath. There's no hiding that joy. "Been wanting these pins for nearly six years, sir. Had to turn 'em down once. Thank you sooo much!" No hugging in the S-Two's office, which is probably better for everyone involved. But this? Achievement Unlocked on Vandenberg's bucket list. Really, that just made it all worth it. Natalie probably doesn't even need the painkillers anymore, hand reaching to open the other box.

"Well, this is a good time to make it official then. To both of you…Captain Natalie Vandenberg, and Captain Corrath O'Hare, that was excellent work there on Areion. You had all the responsibility in the worlds, and no time in the worlds to think about any of it. In light of the circumstances, that was some pretty amazing…stuff. I don't know exactly how to say it, other than…well, I know we might not always see eye-to-eye, but you know what? Keep it up. I wanted to give a big speech about your bravery and sense of duty, but I can read your injury reports all day long and not be impressed enough by that bravery. You earned those through your work alone. I'm proud to present those to you. I'm not going to shake your hands or salute you until you open the other boxes, though."

Corrath's a little more 'sedated' in terms of reaction, but the smile that slips across his lips speaks volumes to his 'acceptance' of such a thing. Then, there's the mention of bravery and all that, and the S2 can't help but give a slight laugh, "Gods, if you compare our injury reports to bravery, then the Gunnery Sergeant must make us look like cowards." There's a flash of a grin to Natalie before he's looking back to Madilyn, "Thanks again, though, sir." The box containing the pins is set aside for the moment, so that the second box can be retrieved and then opened.

Van stops while Madilyn speaks. She looks a little misty-eyed. Natalie had probably given up hope. Some goals are just out of reach these days. Well apparently not this one. "I'm with Captain O'Hare," She slides a wink at him and looks back to Madilyn. "But thank you ten thousand times over, anyway. I can't tell ya what it means." She takes another breath to settle herself and she looks back to the other box again and moves to open it the rest of the way.

Madilyn just nods for now, waiting for both of them to open up the second boxes. They're more square than the other…about the size and shape for medals!

As the second box is opened and the medal comes into view, Corrath's showing a little more shock then when the rank pins were revealed. Eyes remain on that medal for a moment before he's looking up towards Vandenberg, staring in disbelief for a moment before he's finally letting his attention shift over towards Madilyn. "Wow .. I'm not sure what to say, sir. Thank you just doesn't seem to cut it for this."

Vandenberg opens the second box and looks to the contents with a growing grin. Shiny!! The S-Three looks at the two boxes on the folders in her lap and then up to Corrath. Whoa. She blinks a few times and follows up his words with a nod of agreement. "Uh, agreed, sir. I'm left kind of speechless after this." Miracles! Van is speechless!

"Maybe that's for the best. No need for any of us to make any kind of awkward speech." With that Madilyn stands up, and moves to shake the hands of both officers. "And for the record, I felt the same way when Commander Pewter did the same for me, so I can understand how you feel. Yes, after all of this, it is possible that I'm not so unflappable." There's a rather large smile playing across Madilyn's lips now though, as she reaches for each officer's hand in turn, after first saluting them. "Congratulations Captain," she addresses to each, giving a firm shake and a pat on the shoulder in lieu of any sort of hug.

"True enough," is quickly offered as Corrath begins to rise to his feet as Madilyn does. The offered hand is shaken and then there's a quick chuckle as he nods his head once more, "Leave it to the Commander to start an unusual way of conducting promotions." The smile remains on his lips though and at the salute and pat on the shoulder, there's another quick nod of his head, "Thanks Colonel. Really do appreciate it." Now, eyes flit over towards Vandenberg, giving her a quick smile, "'gratz, Captain."

Vandenberg scrambles to set the folders on the desk and rises up when people are reaching for hands. She gives a big smile and nod to Madilyn. Captain! There's not a small Squee going on behind those eyes! "I- I seriously don't know what to say, Colonel. Thank you! Again! Fiftieth time, already!" She then beams her grin to Corrath. "Congrats, Captain. ..Dang it feels good to say that!" And hear it!

"I think unusual ways for administering promotions are a good thing…a nice change of pace given what we've been through, and not just recently. Nothing about our situation is normal, so if this is something that can keep us going for just a bit longer, I'm all for it. Hopefully, I won't run out of ideas to surprise folks, though! With that…you are dismissed, Captains." The folders still contain info, too, remember!

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