From the Ashes: Part 2B [Moriarty's History Files]

Posted on Sat Jun 13th, 2026 @ 6:08am by Lieutenant Colonel Jesse Moriarty

2,244 words; about a 11 minute read

Mission: Prologue
Location: Federation Ground Forces Officer Training Facility - Nearby Bar
Timeline: Moriarty's History Files: 2376 (year 1 of training - almost a year after the war)

:: Jesse Moriarty's History Files ::
:: Ground Forces Officer Training ::
:: 2376 - year 1 of training - almost a year after the war ::


PREVIOUSLY...

"Well, they're already driving us to drink," Martinez said playfully, looking at him with a touch of humour. But there was meaning there too. They had needed this. To go out, to...be away from that environment and spend time together. "I'll make sure you get through it without losing who you are."

"I'll promise the same, but...I think I need to know more of who you are before I can keep the promise," Jesse teased, motioning to their drink to indicate the game they were playing.

CONTINUED...


"Okay, what do you want to know?" Martinez asked, holding his eyes. A small smile touched their lips, but there was a serious note there too. And then the smile widened. "I've lost track of whose turn it is."

"Mine," Moriarty declared, whether it was true or not. "What do you think of our Instructors...really."

"That two of them know what they're talking about, even if it is all tactics and theories. Two of them have no clue and..." they stopped and gave a weak shrug. "Perran is dangerous. The sort of officer who would get people killed is he was out in the real world. But he's smart, never says enough to have anything brought against him, but...you can tell. The way he pushes and watches. I've seen it before. That sort of...culture approach? It's how you get fighting pits for the newly transferred and people being referred to as meat."

"Do you think that's why he's here?" Moriarty asked bluntly, and clearly not disagreeing with the take. "Shove him somewhere quiet, out of the way."

Martinez gave a small nod, glancing at him. "It's...a tactical read of the situation. Paint it in a way that it was training the next breed of officers. Since we don't do live combat and he is one of many, he can't...twist a unit."

"But installs a dash of...discipline," Moriarty nodded with a frown as he contemplated it. Yeah, Martinez's narrative fit all too well.

"Damage limitation," Martinez said and reached for the bottle. They had made a good dent in it. "Have you noticed how Morganyth places herself between him and us all? She's a Betazoid, she clearly has a read on it."

"I feel like we could do with more Betazoids in the force," Moriarty admitted with a soft chuckle, shaking his head. "They're pretty useful to have around, but most end up in the regular fleet."

"Have you noticed its mostly humans in the Ground Forces?" Martinez asked with a smile then raised a hand. "That's not part of the game, I got a better question for that."

"Maybe we're the only ones stupid enough to join," he grinned, shaking his head as his eyes glinted with humour.

Martinez laughed at that, shaking their head for a moment. And then nodded. "Yep. Fits us well. Humans...shorter lifespans, more likely to do stupid things. It tracks."

"Speak for yourself..." Moriarty grinned before knocking back his drink, grimacing at the strength before laughing at himself.

Martinez laughed softly, giving a nod. They reached to refill his glass, eyes on the drink. "What do you think of what they're teaching us? The theories of battle?"

"They're just that...theories," Moriarty gave a slight grunt of derision, clearly dubious of some of what they'd heard. "I understand the point of teaching theory in such a detached way...lacing the mind with coping strategies for when chaos takes over. But they don't account for reality...the pandemonium of violence."

Martinez nodded as they watched him before they let out a soft breath. "The pure chaos when the only way to stay alive is moving forward," they whispered and looked into the glass. "Some of our fellow students will freeze out there in the real world, when they face that pandemonium."

"Holosuites can only make you feel so much," he shrugged awkwardly, looking into his glass with a frown. "They'll learn though, eventually."

"Learn or...not," Martinez said before they nudged him, lightly, with their shoulder. "And if we're lucky, we won't see another war in our lifetime."

Moriarty watched Martinez in a heavy silence for a long moment before motioning to their glass to indicate a drinking question. "Do you believe that?"

Martinez looked at the drink for a long moment. A slight frown came to them and they let out a soft breath. "Belief and hope are different things," they said and gave Jesse a small smile. "I hope that it is the truth. But believe? I don't know. I know that...people are complicated. A power vacuum will be tempting to fill. And so..you get wars."

Moriarty nodded with agreement, leaning in a little closer to keep his voice low. "And broken people break things."

Martinez looked at him, swallowing at the words. "Or they get so used they don't recognise that they're broken."

"And the psych tests let them through anyway, because the powers that be are desperate for another set of boots on the ground..." Moriarty chuckled softly though, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shook his head and looked down. "Do I sound bitter enough yet?"

"About the right level...as long as you don't question if you fall into that category," Martinez said with a small smile, nudging the drink closer to him. "Because you don't."

"I bloody hope not," he sipped the drink, letting out a long breath to shake the thoughts away. "I was put forward for officer training by an officer I served with. I...believe he did it for the right reasons."

Martinez nodded, looking at him before they picked up their own drink to sip. "Because he saw something in you that he thought would make a good officer."

"And honestly...I had no idea what they were going to do with ex-Maquis once the war was over," Jesse held their eyes, his own strikingly sincere with it. "Selfishly, I thought this would put me in a stronger position."

Martinez smiled gently at that, nodding. Their hand went to his arm, giving it a quick squeeze. "It'll keep you safe," they said as they held his eyes. "And sometimes, that...is what matters. You need to keep yourself safe. Same as me. I don't know...what was to come. My battalion, we got a...reputation. A bad one. If I had stayed enlisted, I...don't know what sort of postings would wait for me. Most likely whatever would see me killed the quickest, or furthest away. Through history, civilisation has always...buried or cast out their embarrassments. During the war there was a place for it. Survival at all and any cost. Now? It's different. No, Moriarty...you keep yourself safe. You're a survivor."

"And maybe...we'll be in the right place to make sure other people become survivors too," he suggested seriously, the kind of thing that would only come out when he'd been drinking.

Martinez nodded as they met his eyes, searching them for a long moment. "Yes," they said, to make it clear. "Take the lessons we've learned and...make sure that our people survive."

Moriarty nodded before laughing softly. "We are sad, sad people...we have managed to start talking about work again."

Martinez laughed with him, their eyes gentle. "Alright...so let me ask you something then. Not work. But what do you like doing outside of it? Outside of...the uniform, the rules and regulations. What does Moriarty enjoy?"

"I haven't had much time to find out," he admitted, but with a soft chuckle, because it wasn't really playing the game. "I draw quite a bit...it doesn't take up much room in a pack, a notebook and pencil. And I like climbing and exploring...old buildings I mean, places that have been abandoned and left to decay."

Martinez smiled at that, surprised but in a good way. Because it seemed to suit the man. "You would love the old science bases on Mars...post-terraforming they just fell to decay."

"Now that sounds like a promise," he leant to Martinez with a small smile, seeing if he could persuade them to agree to go with him.

Martinez was tempted to tease him, to roll their eyes dramatically...but they found they didn't want to. They didn't want to tease about something that mattered to Moriarty. "I'll show you. Next time we get leave long enough to go to Mars."

He positively grinned at that, slapping Martinez's shoulder roughly with approval. "I'll show you how to climb through any old wreck..."

Martinez laughed as they shook their head. "I've never been the best at that. But it isn't far from where I grew up. You could come for dinner."

"What is dinner on Mars?" Jesse asked, curious. His own colony had been so far out that they had adapted to the flora and fauna of the world, leaving behind a lot of human tastes.

"Ah...my family cook a lot...old Earth recipes," Martinez said with a smile, raising an eyebrow. "Or there's Martian lentil stew...it's good too. A classic comfort food."

"I mean...I'm happy to gatecrash for a little homecooking..." he replied lightly with a grin, the alcohol making him bold.

"And how do you feel about a thousand questions? And that's just my sisters," Martinez said with a laugh, unable to stop themselves. "And being fussed over. My mama will fuss, it's how she shows love. And berate. And possibly try and overfeed you."

Moriarty smiled softly as he watched Martinez, trying to imagine what a family so full of love would be like. He reached for his glass, covering the tightness in his chest by drinking. "I can think of worse things."

Martinez watched him before nodding, taking a slow breath. "Well, you'd be welcomed," they said softly. Because it was true. They had never brought anyone back home. During the war it was too chaotic...now? Maybe it wouldn't be a bad thing to show their parents that there were other soldiers out there, that they weren't alone.

"I'd like it," Jesse replied honestly, surprising even himself that he meant it. He kept mostly to himself. Told himself he was content to do so.

Martinez nodded as if it was settled, smiling as they refilled Moriarty's drink. "Just...don't laugh at what they call me."

"Oh...oh then you should tell me now, so I can get used to it," he replied in an innocent tone, as if he was doing Martinez a favour.

"Ángel," Martinez said with a blush reaching their cheeks. "Or elle. Mostly Ángel though."

Moriarty grinned at the words and he pushed their shoulder comradely. "Angel? That is just too cute..."

Martinez rolled their eyes and shook their head, sighing softly. "I am not 'cute'..." they reached for the shot glass and drank, closing their eyes. The alcohol made their cheeks feel hotter.

"Well, if you're going to blush like that, then you're going to have to get used to being called cute," he teased further, unable to help it, warmed with the alcohol as he was.

Martinez gasped with outrage, half of it mock, half of it surprised. They'd not been called cute for years. They hit his arm, laughing. "Stop it!" they buried their face in their hands, shoulders shaking with laughter.

"No!" Moriarty laughed warmly, enjoying himself too much, but not caring. He couldn't think of the last time he had laughed so openly. "You left yourself wide open!"

"I should have known better," Martinez said with a grin, shaking their head. "Used to having someone cover my flank"

"How about I promise to cover it...when I'm not the one firing," Jesse chuckled softly, but the sentiment was genuine.

"Deal," Martinez said with a small chuckle, shaking their head. "But now you've opened fire...you'll get it back too."

"I'm terrified," he replied with a deliberately dry tone before sipping his drink casually.

Martinez swore and shook their head. "Fucking troopers," they said, but with a grin as they raised an eyebrow at Moriarty. "It's the smart one that gives you the most trouble."

"No worries there, I've never been particularly smart," he assured with a small, half smile, reaching to refill them.

"Liar," Martinez said quickly, studying him closely at the words, eyes narrowed almost dangerously. "I've seen you in training. You're a natural leader, able to just...glance at people and know where they'd sit best in formation. That's smart."

"Not smarts that get learnt in schools though," Jesse pointed out, shaking his head with a small, half smile. He was honest with himself enough about his disrupted younger life to know his shortcomings.

Martinez looked down, a small smile coming to them. "School smarts doesn't bring people back alive," they argued lightly, eyes warm as they glanced at Moriarty. "Reading a situation does."

"Seems like they're actually going to give me a chance to put that to the test," he said softly with awe, shaking his head.

Martinez nodded, letting out a soft breath. "You'll be great at it," they said, meaning it.


TO BE CONTINUED...


FGF Cadet [now Lt. Colonel] Jesse Moriarty
Federation Ground Forces

FGF Cadet Angel Martinez
Federation Ground Forces
(NPC Morven)

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