Healing

Posted on Thu Oct 15th, 2015 @ 10:06am by Major General Thomas Jackson & Master Warrant Officer Gaius Aquila
Edited on on Thu Oct 15th, 2015 @ 11:57am

4,530 words; about a 23 minute read

Mission: Episode 89 - Futility's Return
Location: SB400 Medical Department, ICU
Timeline: MD3, 1300hrs

After hours of surgery, the General's wounds were repaired. All of his lost blood was replaced. It would be some time before he would be fully recovered, even after his stay in Medical. By early afternoon, he finally awakened, though he was weak. His friend Giaus was be his side, and stood up when Jackson showed some signs of life.

"You gold bricking slacker. There's real wounded that can use that bed", Giaus said to Jax. The General smiled at the joke, despite of the pain. "How long?"

"We have been back for over a day now, at least what was left of us."

Jax was now concerned about the battle. "I assume we won, but how expensive was it?"

Giaus cleared his throat. "Over 300 KIA, and a bigger number wounded. It was bad, but it could have been worse Jax."

What Jackson heard was bad enough. He decided for a subject change. "So, what else is new?"

"Well, we had a few new boots offload before we came back, including a new regimental CO. Seems to be a strong woman "

"Good, I want to meet her."

Giaus walked over to a comm panel. =/\=Captain Magbangan, please report to Medical ICU 1=/\=

Hondo was sitting in her office going over several changes she had just instituted. With the changes now in her PADD and about to be sent to all of her Battalion Commanders and down to the Company level, she went up to get some coffee from the wall snack/drink replicator when she heard...on her com badge the request from Sickbay's MICU (Medical Intensive Care Unit)....

=/\ Magbangan copies =/\=....

Hmmm thought Hondo, it seems the General is now out of surgery and out of the woods for now. Finding her Beret, she put it on, and on her way out she said "SGTMAJ, if anyone wants me, tell them I''m headed to Sickbay to see the General, from what I can guess is that he's now up and probably wants to eat a Deutronium sandwich"...

Before leaving, Hondo went to the snack/drink replicator, and before she had adjusted her beret, a small warm package was now sitting in the food replicators slot. Taking the package which she figured he'd like especially after having to eat Sickbay food, he'd appreciate the small gift. With her small package in hand, and her beret secured on her head, she left the office..

The trip to Sickbay was quick, by taking one of the VIP turbolifts, she inserted her ID card, which closed down the one turbolift she was in, letting her override any request for it to stop along the way. Making the trip in less than 2 minutes, she got off the turbolift, returned all functions back to normal, and entered the large Sickbay.

Sickbay was very different from what she remembered it to be when the Battalion returned from the Borg campaign. The last time the sickbay was full of screaming men and women in various stages of mdical care, the smell of burned flesh, the ghastly wounds, blood and body parts on the floor. Now the sickbay was clean, sterile; but a bit friendlier now that it had returned back to normal.

Hondo took off her Beret, and walked down the corridor to where MICU was. Asking the Charge Nurse of the unit, who she found to be of Filipino origins, they said a few words in their native dialect, then getting the room number, Hondo walked down the hallway and around the corner, to see a few Marines who looked like they were from MARSOC.

Seeing who it was, one of them challenged her and she said; "young man, I'm Captain Hondo Magbangan, Regimental Commander of the 327th Infanatry Regiment, and I'm here to see General Jackson"...

Replying "I'm very sorry ma'am for not recognizing you", "that's quite alright corporal", replied Hondo. Seeing the form of someone lying on the bed inside the room, behind an opaque forcefield, Hondo walked to the doorway, and knocked on the door jamb; waiting for the General or on of his aides to recognize her..

"Come!", said Jackson.

Listening to the weak but getting stronger voice of the General; Hondo stood straight up, pulled her shoulders back, straightened her uniform, Hondo entered the room like she owned it, and not looking at Chief Aquila or the other distractions in the room, she lookd once, and placed the small package at the foot of the bed next to Chief Aquila who was standing just to the side of the general as she entered.
'
Entering the room which was full of medical equipment all monitoring the General, she could see the readout from his Biobed reading a few numbers below normal. Stopping at the end of his bed; she stared for a second; and with a quick knife like motion that was neither weak, or too strong, she snapped her extended fingers up to her right eyebrow, in a quick strong motion and said.

"SIR, Captain Milagros Hondo Mabgangan reporting as ordered SIR!!". Then she waited with her arm still in a salute, for the required acknowledging salute from the general. For all she cared, he could have her standing there till the cows came home, and she'd still be there .

Jackson took a moment to observe this veteran officer. He was so used to Marines walking around in combat dress, so staring at a Marine Officer in an immaculate Duty Uniform took him by surprise. He slowly returned the salute, due to his current condition. "At ease Captain, and take a seat if you could find one."

Jackson looked at Giaus. "Chief Aquila, give me some time with the new officer."

Giaus eyed her for a minute, and managed a grin. "Most certainly Brigadier." With that, he left the room.

Out of the corner of her left eye, Hondo saw that same sneer that men usually enjoyed when they saw a beautiful woman entering the room, but remembering that when the General said, "take a seat", you took the seat, out of courtesy. Dismissing the Chiefs statement as he left the room.
Hondo sat with her legs closed together, and both feet on the floor, and sitting away from the back of the plush sickbay chair, her back was ramrod straight, and placed both of her hands now clasped together on her lap, and just calmly looked at the general.

Her look was one of concern for a Commanding Officer, and also one of concern for the health of a fellow Marine. Now she just stared waiting for the general to speak.

Jackson picked up a PADD from his bedside table, and looked the Captain's orders, and a Summary of her Service Record. "So, are you getting acquainted with your regiment?"

Sitting there she watched the General who was still in small to moderate pain carefully picked up the PADD from the bedside table, then placed it on a rolling bed table in front of him, moving his pillow and his body for more comfort, he depressed a key, and soon her entire personal and military history was now being viewed by the general. As he read her military jacket, she was looking for that small tell-tale expression that everyone had, even when they tried not to show it. It was that very small micro realization to any report whether it was good or bad.

Even though the general was now trying hard not to be surprised, she saw that small muscularture contraction as his eyebrow suddenly moved up, then down as he read of her previous military history.

Hearing his query about the regiment she said "Sir, yes I am getting acquainted with the Regiment, but I see 2nd Battalion had taken a hit in its personnel" during the last campaing. "if I'm not mistaken from the scuttlebutt going around; the Battalion lost more than 20% of its personnel, with over 700 battle casualties". "In my opinion as a commander I'd be concerned as to the combat efficiency of 2nd Battalion. But for now I've put 2nd Battalion back on maintenance status so they can grieve, bury their dead, and for the married men and wives see their spouses and children"

"Just so you know, I have a personal interest in the 327th. I served as a junior officer in the regiment during the Dominion War."

"Sir I didn't know you were once a part of the 327th?" "Which ones of the battalions and companies did you serve with during your stint with the 327th?" Hearing the General mention he had served with the 327th during the DW (Dominion War), Hondo who had a keen interest in military history was always interested in hearing the combat stories of the veterans. So she asked "Sir, can you tell of your experiences as an officer with the 327th during the DW?"

Now with her eyes twinkling she just sat there and waited for the general to speak about his experiences as an officer with the 327th.

Jackson had mixed feelings about talking about the War, but Giaus always told him that the more he talked about it, the more healing would take place. "I actually started out as an Enlisted Marine in '73. My first posting was with 2/14. After the Battle of Tyra 4, the 220 survivors of 2/14 got redistributed to other units. So I got reassigned as a Team Leader in 1/327. "

Jackson could not help but notice that he had her complete attention. A good listener was a good learner in his book, the mark of a good leader. He continued, "I got my first Purple Heart at the Battle of Bolarus. I was posted at Star Fleet Medical on Betazed just in time for the Dominion to take the planet." He was still shaking his head over that stint of bad luck. "I ended up leading a cell of resistance fighters until I was relieved. For my sins, the Marines gave me a Field Commission, and I ended up leading a platoon in A 1/327."

This is where the memories got really bad. He took a deep breath before he continued. "My gold bars were still wet when 1/327 went to the First Battle of Chin'toka. That includes the Defense of AR 558. Chief Aquila was a Corporal at that time, and we ended up saving each other's skin more than once in that fight." Now he was fighting nightmares, but like any other good Marines, he continued. "I was the only commissioned officer who was not killed, or wounded. So I ended up being given command of Alpha Company. "

He let his words sink in with the Captain for a minute before continuing. "I led the company in the Battle Of Cardassia Prime, including a combat jump into the Capital City. For a time, we were, well, out of control. My men got blood drunk when it came to the Jem'Hadar and Breen that we encountered. Most of them saved the tetracel white tubes that they took from the Jem'Hadar they killed. Made them into necklaces." He shook off his memories quickly after his last statement.

Sitting there in the coolness of his room, Hondo watched as General Jackson tried to talk about his military history and judging by his stilted response to certain events it was hard for him to continue, but he kept on going and after listening to his story, Hondo just sat there not saying a thing as she watched the General move his pillow, and shift his body to a better position. Listening to his story, brought out some pain in her own career, as she understood the loss of his Marines and the effect it had on his ability as a General.

So starting, she began to talk softly and as she pulled up her chair close to him, she said....

Well Sir, my career is not as stellar as yours; but I think the reason I’m here is because of my sister; LTG Edelia Magbangan who as the Chief of Personnel at Marine Corp Headquarters; seemed to pull strings to put me here.

I entered Norwestern University and received a BA degree in Sociology, then on to the University of California where I got an MA in Law and Society. Then on to Stanford University where I completed my doctorate program and received a Ph.D in Alpha Quadrant Security.

From there I entered the Marines graduating from Officers Candidate School at Quantico, then the Officers Basic Infantry School at Camp Le Juine, and the School of Infantry. Given numerous positions within a Marine Line Company, I was a wet eared Marine 2nd Lt, as a Platoon Leader with D Co, 3rd MARDIV, 27th Marines. Then several other duty posts learning the job as a platoon leader,

In 2373, I finally made 1st Lt; and I was the NBC officer for A Co; 4th MARDIV, 2nd/42nd Marines, Assigned as Platoon Leader
to Alpha Company; 2nd Platoon, 5th MARDIV, 1st /23rd Marines

During the Dominion War in 2374 I was assigned as Executive Officer with Delta Company; 17th MARDIV, 15/23 Marines where our unit repelled the push by Dominion Forces in the Vulcanis sector when they tried to take the three outer moons.

Because of the push, and the increase in combat casualties, I was then reassigned to Alpha Company, 33rd MARDIV, as Platoon leader; B Co. 8/32nd Marines where my unit took part In the first battle of Chin-Toka, and participated in the first amphibious landing of the system. During the operation, my Firefly took a direct hit, killing 30 men and women of my platoon. With our Firefly barely able to fly after being hit; we crash landed, to where I suffered multiple life-threatening injuries, but I managed to survive and was sent to the USS Hope, and spent 6 months in rehab for my injuries.

In 2375, I was promoted to Captain, and after being medically cleared by Starfleet Medical I was assigned as Company Commander for Echo Company, 7th MARDIV; 9/27th Marines. Our unit was part of the occupation force, garrisoned on Cardassia Prime. Between 2375 till my last posting in 2390,

By then, I had been promoted to the rank of Colonel, and my last duty assignment was as the Commander of the 47th SFMEU, and Galahad Marine Corp Base Commander. But as you can see in the side bar, I took a voluntary demotion to Captain to remain in the Marines I love; which was due to being overstrength in the rank of Colonels.

So I decided to do something else, and instead of just taking my Colonel retirement, I took a voluntary downgrade to come to SB400 as the new Regimental Commander for the 327th.

I generally don’t like to dwell on my medals and ribbons, but since the Marines require me to wear my ribbons, I wear the following; Marksmanship Medal, Dominion War Victor Ribbon, Combat Action Ribbon, Combat Readiness Ribbon, Outstanding Unit Citation, Golden Sunburst Ribbon, Legion of Merit, Star Cross, Wounds Ribbon. I usually let my actions speak for me and my command.

Now it was time to see how General Jackson absorbed her story, and this time she waited a long time for that familiar muscle twitch... But in the meantime she stood up, and walked to the small box on the tray table, and opened it. Soon the smell of food waited from the open container.... She hoped that the General would not be put off by her small gift of food, but when a Filipino visits a friend or even a boss in the hospital it is always customary for the person visiting to bring a small token of esteem for the person to enjoy...

Jackson thanked her for the box, and opened it. His nostrils were greeted with the very delicious aroma of exotic food, some of which he recognized. "Lumpia? I love lumpia."

"I see the general agrees with the change in his temporary dietary requirements, " replied Hondo. Glad that the General was now getting better, and even his stomach told her that so-far he was not doubled up in pain as he hungrily ate the six pieces of Lumpia...

"General I see that your stomach agrees with the Lumpia I brought for you".... "I thought that since you're now on the mend, that a change from the so-called slop the Sickbay tends to feed its patient would be more palatable with the addition of my grandmother "Lola Grising" famous hand rolled Lumpia". "However, as you can see and I'm sure you've probably had it", I did not include the "sweet and sour sauce" that accompanies it.

"If I did, I'd probably be facing charges on trying to poison the Commanding General" as she said that with a twinkle in her eyes. "

Jax enjoyed the food as the Captain spoke, not mentioning that some of his his ancestors from Earth were Filipino.

"General Jackson, if there is nothing else you would want me to say, may I respectfully ask to be dismissed so I can return back to my Regiment?"

"Sure thing, but first, your battalion took a good beating like the other two. We have an extra unorganized regiment that we have been using as a training and replacement pool. You can pull your replacements from there."

Watching the General hungrily wolf down the ten Lumpia's like it was going out of style, she was glad enjoyed his meal, but now the time for idle chit-chat had come and gone. So asking General Jackson a series of questions only a commander would ask, she began to ask where was the regiment located, the name of the regimental commander, the number of company commanders, platoon Leaders and sergeants, along with the number of Squad leaders. Secondly she wanted to know the combat status of this training regiment, and the total number of Marines currently assigned to this so-called training regiment.

Sitting down for a moment she ask "General Jackson can you please elaborate on the training Regiment?"..

"Well, it is more like a pool of unassigned Marines. We already had four regiments at full strength, but Marine Command thought we would need an augmentation of marines, due to our location. So they started sending additional bodies to form another regiment. Like most other staff officer generated plans, it fell through, but only after they sent us almost 2000 marines to form a minimum strength unit, not strong enough to to even be considered ready for deployment. Hell, they didn't even give it a unit designation, or assigned it field grade officers. So instead of sending all of those people back, I had to get really imaginative and turned it into a replacement and training pool of sorts. I threw one of the excess S4 officers to manage it. We organized a company from it, and permanently garrisoned them on the Kaleb 4 Colony. I am also going to form another company to garrison our pending training center/depot on Kaleb 3 to serve as both security for the base and OPFOR as needed. That base is still under construction. That leaves enough marines to bring our three battered battalions back to full strength. "

GENERAL JACKSONS HOSPITAL ROOM
Hearing this, Hondo decided to show the general the briefing she gave her Regiment. Sir, until I came to see you, I had an officers call with all senior officers of the Regiiment, and their subordinate officers. In our discussion we discussed the loss of almost 20% of 2nd Battalion, and the number of Marines I'm going to need to fill the depleted ranks, if you don't mind sir; I'd like to show you what I have... Then she pulled out office PADD which was bigger than the personal one each Officer carried

Pulling up the organizational chart she had shown her officers, she now showed the General what 2nd Battalion now looked like, and from his expression he was real concerned when he saw...

The entire 327th Infantry Regiment; 2nd Battalion Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, and Echo Companies, to each individual fire team, squad, and platoon. Over each person assigned there was a green box. When Hondo pressed a button on her PADD the green boxes suddenly changed colors, and now the green boxes soon became a significant color.

Red meant that the Marine was KIA, Yellow meant WIA, and Green meant very minor injuries or no injuries and were now back on duty. For the ones who suffered deep psychological shock they were outline in purple, and White was reserved for MIA (Missing in action).


Some platoons had ceased to exist, or for the ones that were still operational they were so depleted that with had over 700 casualties, or in the order of 20% of the Battalions capability to successfully conduct military operations. If 2nd Battalion had to go to war right now, all they would be good for is acting as stretcher bearers, or humping ammunnition to he fully manned other regiments. Which meant that 2nd was now in serious trouble

Now talking as General Jackson was now looking at the cost to 2nd Battalion,

Hondo said "Sir, with these many casualties, I was going to go through our entire personel files, pulling Marines from every non-combat job in the entire Division, if that wasn't enough I'd go ahead and have Lt. Friday stick his butt in Personnel and grab Marines who had an 011B MOS and infantry trained. I was about to even going as far as "Shanghai Marines" who were placed in cushy jobs, doing absolutely nothing. Some of these job changes were done by my predecessor, and from what I know we have infantry Marines doing abosolute nothing in their companies. Some are detailed for non-traditional Marine jobs, others manage to slip by hoping to get out of the Marines without shedding blood, others are what we all know as problem children.

Sir "this means that Marine manpower is being squandered by so-called kind hearted politically correct commanders, platoon leaders and even a REgimental Commander. I for one do not belive we have problem Marines, it is my contention that these so-called problem Marines were created by their commanders and superiors to get them out of their units so they don't make the unit look bad, SIR! "Which brings me to the next problem; I'd like to pull these excess Marines and bring them back to backfill to the Regiment till we're at a 100% in waratime capability.

And sir, "I'd like to promote several Marines to new positions long with NCO's and squad leaders. It seems that its high time to really appreciate our Marines who have been skipped over because of certain practices not related to the job of an Infantryman.

Now having said her piece, Hondo sat down and waited...

Jackson already knew the overall casualty numbers, thanks to Major Morris.

"Captain, the excess Marines I mentioned are all 0311 Series, either riflemen, indirect fire infantry, or heavy weapons specialists. Major T'Lyn and Captain Lennnox are going to be tapping the pool, just like you, and the numbers will get you to Combat Ready Status. Major Zaiya will have to wait for her tanker replacements to be shipped in."

"Additional replacements will be here in a couple of weeks from Camp Archer. That will bring 2/327, 2/14, 1/4, and 1st Armored to full strength."

Jackson placed his PADD onto his bedside table. He admired the Captain's zeal, but he did not want her to go overboard. She would make a great XO someday if she could learn to put the brakes on.

"As for your foraging for Marines, you have 4 battalion S1,S2,S3,and S4 sections to sift through, plus your regimental S sections. You can pick your apples there, but not from the other regiments."

Jackson paused for a minute to allow this to sink in. Then he continued, "Besides numbers, all three battalions will need to train with their replacements for a couple of months minimum before I order them to deploy anywhere, equipment replacement and repair, and logistics. This has been the after battle process for centuries, with good reason, with the exception of desperate times, which is not our case. The good news is that Kaleb 3 will be ready for FTX's when those final replacements get here. A central hub with five training domes. One with a Class M temperate environment, and four holographically adjustable domes. Of course, zero atmosphere training could be done outside the domes. I will give 2/327 first shot on it."

Jackson paused again to let her process the information. Growing tired, "Now if you would excuse me Captain, before I fall asleep on you" he said with a smile.

Taking that last statement as a very subtle hint, meaning.. oO GET THE HELL OUT OF MY ROOM , BEFORE I HAVE YOU THROWN OUT Oo .. Hondo said "Yes General it is time to leave, and I've probably overstayed my visit. Now if you'll excuse me Sir, I do have a few things to do.

Saluting General Jackson, Hondo did an about face, and as she was leaving the room, she squared her beret on the top of her head, and saw Chief Aquila who was now stuffing his mouth with the last of the Lumpia she had brought for the Generals enjoyment. .

Turning to the chief who was now wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his clean uniform she turned to him and motioned for him to join her in the quiet hallway. With the both of them in the hallway Hondo moved to a bench seat, and motioned for the Chief to join her. Then she said as the Chief was now sitting down facing her, she said

"Chief", since you've been with the general since he came out of surgery, when he wakes up sometimes tomorrow; can you tell him that since 2nd Bn will have to train with their new replacements for at least two to three months, can you inform the general that I am now going to change the conditional rotation status of both 1st and 3rd Battalions. As of now, with 2nd Bn now on maintenance status, and does not have a mission planned, they can rebuild as they mourn the loss of missing Marines. That will mean that both battalions will be doing back to back alert rotations with each battalion replacing each other every 60 days, instead of the current 90 day cycle.

To make it easier for both Battalions, once 2nd Battalion has passed its qualification tests, they will be on an extended 90 day alert while the other two Battalions return back to their normal rotational cycle.

Leaving Chief Aquila to digest the information, Hondo left, and as she was leaving, she met one of the MARSOC officers who was coming back from the snack bar, and when he asked about General Jackson, Hondo said

"Son, the general is going to be fit as a fiddle, and when gets back on his feet; he's going to kick some Borg ass"....

Have a good day Lieutenant as Hondo strode out of the massive hospital sickbay, and back to the Regiment......





OFF:

BG Thomas Jackson
1st Marine Division
Commanding

MIlagros Hondo Magbangan, CPT
Commander
327th Inf Regt.

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