Fresh Blood

Posted on Sun May 10th, 2026 @ 7:47pm by Sergeant Jace Morven & Corporal R'Mes & Private First Class Parryn Kelen & Private Leo Harkness

1,173 words; about a 6 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: USS Guinevere
Timeline: Early 2389

The shuttle hummed steadily through black space, its interior all clean lines and restraint. Federation standard: neutral walls, soft overhead lighting, and a short row of jumpseats bolted along each side. It had been a relative quiet trip, with the two Starfleet pilots taking care of most things. But there were three Federation Ground Forces troopers there, in the jumpseats.

One of the soldiers sat upright, hands clasped, eyes fixed on the floor between his boots. Sandy blond hair, regulation-ish. Uniform neat, if slightly too new. The kind of posture that said fresh out of basic and trying to do everything right. A woven bracelet clung to one wrist. He rubbed it, absently.
Across from him, the other sat more loosely, one boot hooked behind the seat strut, arms folded. His uniform was regulation too, though the cable strap clipped to his belt looked old and used hard. Silver-blond hair, short on the sides. He looked Andorian, yet there was something slightly off in his colouring, the way he moved. A hint of something else.

Private Leo Harkness, the blond, looked over at the third FGF trooper. A Corporal. A Caitian Corporal. He gave the Corporal a smile, shifted a little in his seat, then lowered his voice. “I hear the FGF had to take over for Security on the Guinevere. I…” he swallowed, nervously, shifting a little. “You hear that too, Corporal?”

"That the FGF has taken over security for the ship? I sure did private." R'Mes said, smiling back.

PFC Parryn Kelen looked at R'Mes for a moment before he nodded. "Not exactly what I thought I'd go into. Security on a ship," he said, but there was no malice in it. He studied the Caitian, marking his colouring. "I'd have joined the regular Fleet, enjoyed some Academy time...softer beds..."

"Grass isn't always greener." R'Mes said. "I've been regular fleet. Granted I wasn't an officer, thankfully. Enlisted actually gets stuff done." He laughed. "I will admit the beds tend to be softer. But I'll also say our uniform is cooler and we won't get confused with engineering folks." He smiled

"True...Ground Forces are a different breed," the human private said before he smiled. "I'm Leo Harkness..."

"Parryn Kelen," the Andorian-hybrid introduced himself as well, nodding to R'Mes.

""Nice to meet you both. R'Mes." He nodded back. "Formerly fleet until I wised up and joined the FGF"

"What did you do in the Fleet?" Harkness asked, curious, shifting his weight a little bit.

R'Mes stretched his back a little. "Posted to sickbay on the Yorktown mostly." He said. "Stayed there while the ship responded to multiple patrols. Eventually they let me go on away teams. Feeling more alive in the field I applied for transfer."

"Well...you got some backbone...going from sickbay to the place where people get sick," Kelen said jokingly, looking around.

"We're approaching the Guinevere," one of the pilots, a Trill said, turning her head to look at them. "Landing in their shuttle bay in two minutes. I'd say it would be bumpy...but we're better than that."

"Awesome." R'Mes said. He chuckled. "Yeah." He smiled. "At sickbay it was too, clean. Lack of a better word. Outside I felt more useful, getting to function rather than watching the EMH." R'Mes grinned. "Besides, I wasn't really needed there, so I left "

"Thought they always needed people in sickbay," Harkness said quietly, but with an unsure smile. "I mean...you know...to...help." He stopped before he looked down, adjusting his uniform a little. "Guess we all have reasons to be troopers rather than...regular Fleet."

"Heh " R'Mes said with a small chuckle. "It was a ship with a small "flesh and blood" crew. It was mostly holographic thanks to our...... captain." R'Mes paused. "He was
dedecated to efficiency. So when the opportunity arose to go on away teams, I took it. Finally going something a hologram couldn't do."

"Well...we'll be doing a lot of things holograms can't do," Kelen said as they landed, taking a deep breath. He stood and grabbed his gear, but his eyes cut to R'Mes. "Want to bet there's an Officer or a Sergeant out there?"

"I know better than to bet against a trooper," Harkness said but he stood as well, checking his uniform quickly, with the nervous energy of someone just out basic.

"I wouldn't dismiss it for sure." R'mes grinned, checking his own uniform. "Officers have a bad habit of popping up when you least expect " he laughed.

"Tell me about it," Kelen said with a huff, but he was clearly warming up a little to R'Mes.

The shuttle landed smoothly in the Guinevere's shuttebay. Outside, Sergeant Jace Morven stood calmly and watched, arms by his side...he could have been standing there for a minute or five hours, the posture was like a tree planted...or a rock placed. He watched the doors open, watched the troopers disembark. He didn't shout for attention. Just watched as the Andorian, human and Caitian all came out.

"Sergeant." R'mes nodded. "Corporal R'mes."

Jace looked at the Corporal, and then the two Privates. "Harkness, Kelen. Go through those doors, turn left, head to the Ground Forces barracks. Stow your gear." He gave a nod before he looked at the Caitian. "Corporal R'Mes, at ease."

R'Mes went to a relaxed pose. *Yes Sergeant." He said.

Jace watched the Caitian for a moment, not intimidated by his size, but watching him as if he was figuring out where to place him. "You're a medic?" he asked, at last. It was obvious from the file, which Jace had gotten the computer to...well, had started to read. He had just needed the first words before he told it to stop.

"Yes Sergeant. I started on the fleet side serving in sickbay." R'Mes began. "Served on ship until I was posted to away teams. I felt more useful there so I applied for transfer to ground forces. I was glad that it was approved."

Sergeant Morven nodded as he studied him closely. "Alpha Squad's medic moved to Bravo Squad, you're going to be slotting in under me. There's two Corporals already, neither of them a medic, I'll need you to take point on medivacs and squad health," he never met his eyes though, instead watching the face of the Caitian before him. "Can you handle that?" The question wasn't aggressive or doubtful, merely wanting the honest truth.

"Sure, Sergeant." R'mes nodded. "Anything you need, I'm there! What's life without the odd challenge?"

Jace watched R'Mes for a moment, not having an answer for that. He gave a small nod. "You'll need a medical and a counselling session. Standard for new transfers," he said, voice level.

R'mes nodded

For a moment, the Sergeant just watched the Corporal before he nodded. "Dismissed," he told him.

---

Sergeant Jace Morven
Platoon Sergeant, Alpha Squad
Federation Ground Forces Detachment
USS Guinevere

&

Corporal R'Mes
Medic
Federation Ground Forces Detachment
USS Guinevere

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