Sarah was nervous and her blank expressions showed it. Everything was happening so fast. She had more questions than answers and her mind was processing all that was going on as fast as it was occuring.
Hearing things like being summoned by Minister Kase and the Marshall in the Central Dome only made her more nervous as she wasn't used to so much exposure. In her mind, all she did was bring assistance from her ship and personnel to the Crayter people by order of her boss. Perhaps sitting down in a meeting where people were sitting still and in a chair that wasn't moving would help. She was used to that.
Then she looked down at herself. She didn't say anything but she was hardly dressed for a formal meeting as she was still in her light brown "casual" commander's attire. It was rather.....dull. At least if she had a dress, she didn't feel so tight in the top like she did in her button up shirts for the command bridge.
"You weren't kidding about the train," she stated when they got disembarked.
"Welcome to Yuma. I am minister Kase. This gentlemen here is Marshall Duncan, Armed Forces. I think you know Oreste. In the name of the Republic, i appologize for the delay, but we cannot control the weather, and we do not want to. Anyway, I welcome you again and if you want any refresher, please let us know. Now, I think we should start this meeting by stating why you are here Commander... "
At this, she was a bit worried. It was obvious that this man wielded a lot of power. She had only heard of him but knew nothing of him. Her nerves showed at this point as she swallowed hard. This wasn't like the command bridge that she was used to. Still, she gave proper courtesy through it all and a very ladylike curtsy to the minister. "It's an honor to meet you, Minister."
Commander Sarah Coyle
Commanding Officer, [MFE]Med Force Two
Kase smiled and extended his hand "We are honored, Commander. Welcome again to Yuma. I will take the lead in this meeting of ours and inform you of why you and your crew are here. We are at war, Commander, we are fighting a war that may lead us to total annihilation or improve us."
Duncan shifted in it's seat and he felt a bit out of place, a sign that Kase observed "As I can see, Duncan is looking to get straight to the point. OK. Duncan, say your piece"
"Thank you Minister, you are right! I like to be straight on point .."
"So Military of him, isn't it? I call him, jokingly, the Silent Dog of War." Kase said with a small laughter
"Quiet, but with metal jaws, ready to bite the leg of the mailman and run with it" he continued the joke and his face became a lot more friendlier "We are in a brutal war and until now we faced ourselves mostly with a war near Coronado, our long range missions were mostly military but now we have an issue. There are some game changes. The new elements are: Civilians and distant war theaters."
"You see Commander, we now change more things. The Fleet is changing Doctrine, the Ground Forces are also changing their Doctrine and we have troops on distant planets without immediate access to Coronado facilities, we have Tau 44 back and let's say that system is pretty isolated. One element that is constant is Medicine...."
"Or Doctors. More precisely Combat Doctors."
"Thank you Duncan, you managed to steal my sentence..." Kase smile and looked at Duncan [color=#FF000]"Sometimes, I think he is gunning to my position" [/color]
"No Kase, I would never do that to you"
"Anyway, let's come back, we are having here on Yuma the medical facilities that we need and Yuma University is training some good doctors, but we need also doctors which can fight back and be able to quickly pick up it's rifle and blast a hole through the enemy and then be able to treat to his wounds. We will revise all, our training, our gear, our technique and everything."
Duncan lay back on his chair "And in short words,this is why you are here, to assist us in this endeavor"
"Yes, we will give MFE access to our space and our medical facilities, University and will offer them the status of Legal Residents and also if you needed an office here on Yuma. In return, besides the training revamp, we will need assistance to design and manage a new construction on Borneo, a construction that will be a Medical School and a Hospital. What you say Commander?"
She listened intently, nodding as she listened. As soon a Kase finished speaking, her com badge sounded. It was a tone from her private channel with her ship.
"Excuse me for a moment, Gentlemen," she said as she stood up and took a few steps towards the back of the room. She was already in serious mode but her face was expressionless for the moment. She glanced only momentarily towards Kase and Duncan as she listened.
"Very well," she said, "don't talk too much there. I know little of those people but keep a low profile and give them my gratitude. Coyle out."
She walked back toward Kase and Duncan, looking at them expressionless but calm.
"It seems the Med Force Two has entered Tau 44 space in response to distress calls," she began. "However, upon jumping into the system, the ship came under fire from a base. No damage to report but my first officer reported everything was red on the screen. For now, they are docked on some luxury liner owned by the Union Corse, a group I know little about."
She then turned and sat back down where she was before and continued. She was to the point. "My crews will be at your disposal. I have been given free reign by my boss to call the shots for my people on this mission. The medical staff will supplement yours. They are issued standard side arms should they be needed and trust me, they're not afraid to use them should they need to."
"My engineer teams will assist as well in your construction efforts. Perhaps you could spare me a few officers for flight crew so that Med Force Two could be used in search and recovery operations."
She sat up a little straighter, pulling on her shirt a bit to remove a wrinkle. "In return I ask that the transponder issue be addressed. Yes, I can get some shady character on a Freeport to do it but that would only make someone who wasn't shooting at us before start doing it now. That's a problem for our overall mission." She then stood up, "And while I appreciate the offer of an office on Yuma, my place is on the bridge of my ship. I can do very well from there and get to where I need to be with relative ease. It is from there that I can organize and keep things in line while providing medical care and supply runs as needed."
She then sat back down with a positive sigh. "Oh and um, if you have a good supply of coffee, I could use it. I drink a lot of it while on duty." She then smiled, "I mean, a girl has her needs you know."
Commander Sarah Coyle
Commanding Officer, [MFE]Med Force Two
Kase looked at her and frown a little "Union Corse are modern day gangsters of Gallia. I would suggest your boys keep their guns near them. As for Transponder issues, already spoke with CDI to fix it ... but .. "he stopped and put his hand on his ear and soon Duncan done the same.
"Commander, sorry to be so blunt and rush but we got to go. Duncan, you received the same report ?"
"Yes"
"After the midst is settling and we make our plans to save more lives, we need to remember there is a war going on and we received something new from our admiral. A new weapon. So do what you can Commander and set on that school. Let's go Duncan"
Barely finishing the sentence and the pair storm the room and Oreste looked behind them.
"Well, something big is happening. When the Minister of Development rushes like this, must be sure that something new had been discovered and must be mass produced. Now, according to Crayter Regulation, I am at your disposal, as the interim medical chief of Borneo. Do you wish to visit Yuma University before we depart, so you got an idea of what is going on in our schools?"
She was looking out the door where Duncan and Kase had just run out. She was confused as evidenced by the look on her face. She sighed and turned to Oreste, "Why do I feel like I just did something wrong? I mean, I can do what they need from my ship....IF I can get to it now."
She again sighed, "Well, it seems that you're stuck with me for the time being so yes, I would like to see the University. It would give me an idea of what task lies ahead of me and who knows, I may be able to get some info from people there."
She then smiled at him, "Do lead the way, Doctor."
Commander Sarah Coyle
Commanding Officer, [MFE]Med Force Two
" I do not mind that at all, Commander. I really don't. Please follow me" and Oreste headed back to the elevator "Luckily, the University is near. We will take a walk through the campus" and before he managed to finish his sentence they reached ground floor. Once again they were checked and the headed through the grey buildings, which appeared to be mostly utilitarian, having no decoration on it, just numbers and signs.
"What you see there is the whole concept of distractions gone. I always disliked this sector but is an old Crayterian tradition. You see those markings near the numbers? They are written in an dead language, Linguae Romae, which was the basis on what our Republic was build" and soon a tall building stood in front of them, shivering.
" There are the Archives and that shiver, that is a force-fields. A lot of valuable information are there, even about humanity cradle. If you wish, and you receive your Resident Papers, maybe you can visit it."
Turning right and entering through a small arcade where more inscriptions in the same language could be seen , Oreste pointed to a 8 floor building.
"That is Shiro Soare Public Health School and over there is Ansem Casto Biology Research. With which one you want to start? "
"Residency papers" she thought. She still felt as if the Republic was trying to take her from Med Force Enterprises. She had a strong sense of loyalty but having a place to belong did have it's appeal to it.
"Let's try the public health school," she answered. "Either way, we'll see them both."
As they walked she also wanted to know more about Linguae Romae. "Is it anything like the very ancient Latin language?" she asked of it. "It only sounds like it even if I don't speak it although I've heard it a time or two. In fact, only one person I know speaks it."
Commander Sarah Coyle
Commanding Officer, [MFE]Med Force Two
"Yes, is actually a form of Latin. As you know, the Crayter Republic was formed based on the ancient Greece and Roman Republics, since that form was better suited to us. We kept using it and we adopted soon their religion and culture. " he stopped while he presented a small hologram to an AIT "and soon, once we reach Sirius we adapted, but the core remained."
The AIT guided them with it's hand through an arcade path and a small statue of a child-like figure stood in front of them "That is Shiro Soare. She was a special person which joined our Republic when we occupied Tau 44. She was part of the military, the 44th Battle Group but her body was ... damaged beyond belief when she joined us." He looked at the statue and whispered a small prayer to Asclepius, very low "All praise to skillful Asclepius,son of Apollo and bright Koronis,kind-hearted god, friend of men and women.Your gentle touch eases our pain, O god,your firm hand guides our restoration; Asclepius, friend of mankind, grant to me and everyone else the strength and resilience to recover from all wounds and return to full good health." finishing the prayer by putting his right hand on his chest. "Sorry, I am a Polytheist. Asclepius is the God of Medicine. You didn't saw me as a religious man ?" he continued while they passed Shiro's statues, on which scars could be seen ....
"You didn't see me as a religious man ?"
She gave a light smile. "We all have our faith somewhere. I didn't figure you would be any different." Then she sighed, "I never placed my faith much of anywhere. I mean, it was never taught to me when I was little as my parents weren't people of faith. I share his sentiment in that it's hard to have faith in a higher power when man is killing man all over Sirius and Gallia and quite often, no one knows just why."
She put her smile back on and stood up a bit, "So, where do we go next?"
Commander Sarah Coyle
Commanding Officer, [MFE]Med Force Two
"We are now on Shiro Soare Public Health School. This is where most of our Medics come from. " he stopped and showed a bench "Shall we sit a little?" and wile they were heading there and made comfortable, Oreste continued "You see, we never expected to have this kind of war. The Ground Forces have their own combat medics but those are mostly drafted form this school. After that they are trained as soldiers. Problem is, we need more. The Government is looking to create a mixed Combat-Medical School and this is where we need help. Basically, we need your doctors to review and revamp our training books and you, Commander, to manage the new site." he stopped and watched a tall building "You will be working with Governor Aeryn. Our departure will be in 4 days. Meanwhile, you are free to visit Yuma. I can accompany you if you wish. Did the Minister mentioned where you are going to stay in the meanwhile ?"