Familiar tones- Getting ready for deployment

Posted on 28 Jul 2025 @ 7:40pm by 1st Lieutenant Cassandra Matthews & Warrant Officer K'Muss

1,202 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: General Sim Postings
Location: Marine storage lockers
Timeline: Following the mission briefing -

ON:



Cassandra looked over the inventory lists again. She'd been overseeing the pre deployment inspections since leaving the breafing. Anything to keep her mind off previous events. Next on the list was Warrant officer K'Muss. A Caitan. Her chest tightened a bit. A moment of homesickness threatened to overwhelm her. Her foster parents had been dead for nearly four years now. She missed them, she missed home and would miss C'Tirr now that he was going to be leaving for his protection. She let herself feel for a few seconds the weight of everything she was suffering. Then as the lift doors opened she folded her feelings away like a proper soldier and pushed them to the back of her mind. Or she tried to. Watching the lordly white tiger striped man enter, his presence commanded her attention without him even trying. It brought all those feelings back to the surface. Maybe it was because she'd nearly died today that she struggled with her emotional control? She didn't know. She greeted him with a warm Caitan greeting that came more natural to her lips than any other language ever could.

K'muss returned the greeting, glad to hear his own tongue. Hed never met this this lieutenant before, but he was sure that he liked her.

She motioned to his gear which she had already assembled and laid out for inspection. She continued in Caitian. "I am impressed with how well you have kept your gear in order." She praised handing him his copy of the check list so that he too could double check the gear as was protocol. "We have a few upgrades to the body armor we will be taking with us. once we are done here, I will fit you with a set to be kept in your locker." Her voice said in those flowing purring tones.

"Thank you " K'muss replied, still using caitian himself. "Looking forward to seeing the upgrades, lieutenant. Also I must say your caitian language skills are excellent!" He continued with his native tongue

Cassandra smiled, and nodded. "I grew up in the Red Hills colony on Cait after the Kuuras family adopted me." She explained still in that soft purring tones that made up the language as they began to count and repack his rucksack. "Where do you hail from?" She asked "Did you grow up on the home world?"

K'muss smiled . He continued in caitian. "Thank you for asking. And yeah, I did grow up back home to a family of artists. Right up the end of middle school. Then we had to move to a starship, which is probably why I joined the corps. I preferred it on Cait though."

Cassandra nodded, she understood how he felt. She finished up with the truck sack and it's content. She held out the padd she'd been checking off for his signature to be added to the bottom with her own. She in return signed the one he'd filled out as well. "Looks like everything is in order." She said, "go ahead and grab your bag and let's go lock it up, then we'll go to the armory and check weapons and get that armor done." She walked him to his locker, watched him secure his gear. Finally she had to ask. "So what part of Cait did you hail from? I didn't leave Red Hills much. It was near the equator in the Zelpha region where the Moori plains met up with the Aseshi jungle. It was always hot, even during the rainy season. Still it was home." She smiled then. Remembering those simpler times. Where she practiced her lessons and would sing and dance and play. "What sort of art did your family practice?" She found herself asking as well.

"Excellent questions! To start off." He began "My mother did landscapes mostly. Near that area actually. She went there for inspiration, and it provided that in spades. And that worked for my father too. He made wood carvings. Alas they had to travel there. Mostly I was in the urban jungle so to speak. From one city to another for art museums and the like. But I'll definitely visit all of that on my next leave." He said

Cassandra couldn't help but smile now. She wanted to return herself with her daughter Martha someday. "Well when you do I'd suggest you take Teiss up on her offer of some home cooking when you get there. You might not know her now, but any stranger that makes it into town gets invited. So you would come to know her soon enough. She traveled the universe in her youth to become a culinary master of sorts. You'd be amazed what she does with a slab of Shishi meat. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it." Cassandra stated as they made their way into the armory.

"Sounds awesome! And also like a plan!"

His enthusiasm helped to drive away the last of her lingering fear. As they entered the armory she had him sign out his service weapons and watched him take them apart. She then inspected it and finding all in order as it should be she bid him to put it back together, which he did with practiced ease of a seasoned well trained Marine. She signed off on the weapons and had him return it to his assigned safe. She then took possession of his old chest armor and began the process of fitting him with the new upgraded one. "It has a rotating modulation for energy weapons better than the standard vest they say. It can absorb more energy strikes while still also repelling melee weapons, while being lighter and easier to wear. They call it the T11-C ." She said as she adjusted it to fit him as per the instructions manual. "How's it feel?" She asked stepping back.


""It feels great, lieutenant." K'muss replied. "I like this armor. It feels light, at least to me it does. Light enough for mobility, yet you definitely feel protected "

Cassandra nodded her approval, "alright then. We will be training with these new vests at 1530 tomorrow on holodeck three. Capture the flag. It is an optional training. The mandatory training will be on the Tomcat holodeck-2 0900 in three days. That's the deployment day so make sure you get up early and get your gear in your footlocker once we deploy from the station. There will be a 0700 GQ in the Tomcat barracks center. So I'd suggest you get an early start. Any questions?" Cassandra asked taking the padd she'd signed and offering it to him for his signature.

"No. I think I'm good on questions right now " K'muss said as he provided his signature

"Very well then Marine, you are free to go. Be sure to double check with medical. Make sure everything is current with them." Cassandra said adding her signature under his.

"I'll head there right away, Lieutenant " K'muss replied

OFF:

 

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