Jackson and Swayback epilouge

Epilouge

	Pacing nervously outside the Base Commander's door, Jackson fingered his holster carefully. He was nervous, and rightfully so. Sergeants *never* talked to officers without a damn good reason, and the Base Commander was about as officer as officers got. One discounted the Pentagon Weenies as Real Officers as a matter of course, as they had little things like air conditioning and no risk of death at the drop of a hat to worry about.

	"Sergeant Tillias, the General will see you now." the office secretary said, opening the door to the Room of Brass from the inside. Stepping off firmly, Jackson stepped inside and came to a stop, offering the Lieutenant General in charge of the MEU and the base a crisp salute. Standing and returning it, the General sat back down and made a short, sweeping gesture at his spare desk chair.

	"Sir." Jackson said, looking at the person in front of him and the Shiny Star of Power, then the nameplate. Lt. Gen. Agnew it read, the reflective surface said proudly.

	"At ease, Sergeant." the General said, smiling. "It was brought to my attention recently that we had some openings in the table of organization recently, and we're not scheduled to get another draft of officers until next quarter. As such, I'm finding myself in an awkward situation. We are full to bursting on senior NCOs, shy on officers, and the congresscriters back home have seen fit to institute a Congressional Order."

	As Jackson felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, he started paling rapidly.

	"As of... oh, midnight yesterday, field commanders O-7 and above are allowed to brevet any E-5 and above to O-1 for the duration of hostilities. Which reminds me- you're up for promotion, correct?"

	"Yes, Sir."

	The General smiled, and Jackson just gulped as a very nice, velvet blue box was placed on the desk.

	"Congratulations, Second Lieutenant Jackson Tillias." the General said, smiling evilly. "Incidentally, as it has been decided the Fifteenth MEU needs to rotate back to Hawaii for rest and resupply, you'll be attending the Pearl Harbor officer crash courses. In realted news, I've also been informed of a table of operations change- the Fifteenth will be assigned to Admiral Sampson's South East Asia squadron. More importantly, as *Bataan* has recently been upgraded for Non-Biological Entity launch and recovery, we will be hosting the shipgirls of DesRon 39 and their formation lead cruiser indefinitely. As I've been informed by the current NBE handler that the lead cruiser of their formation has formed an attachment with you, you're going to be spending a lot of time with them."

	"Yes, Sir. A question, though."

	"Hmm?"

	Jackson mulled it over for a second. "Why, exactly, are we having a NBE formation attached to us?"

	"I have been told it was for gunfire support purposes," the General said, wry. "but my real suspicion is that the Navy is in over their heads and has no idea what they're doing. By all rights they should be dripping in flag officers if the NBEs were treated as the ships they once were, but instead I've seen lieutenants and commanders trying to handle formations of them. It's... confusing to say the least. Add in the fact they are walking fraternization issues, and I can see this being an experiment to distribute the problem some and farm it out to us. Heavens only know we can handle a little unexpected waggle in the ToE than they can. Needless to say, though, that is all your private conjuncture."

	"Of course, sir." Jackson said, understanding everything with a burst of uncomfortable clarity. If Swayback's reaction to him had been within the norms of normal NBE behavior, then the Navy would be panicking about fraternization issues, plus needing officers to handle them. By pushing a few out to the Marines, though, it eased their burden and got the Marines something that would make it easier for them to do their jobs and keep the Navy from having to send a CVBG into these little tiny islands and risk it getting mobbed by MTBs and boghammers.

	"Oh, and one last thing." the General said, getting ready to dismiss Jackson. "As there is now a slot in my ToE for a NBE section, you're in charge of that. Make sure they're all happy, well fed, that sort of thing. And if Salt Lake City comes a-calling... well, I'll have my secretary give you the briefs on that. Short version, though? I don't know what it takes to keep them fighting, and I don't want to know."

	Jackson's brain spun out of gear for a moment, nearly missing his dismissal from the office. Going back to his room, he nearly missed the sleeping form of Swayback on his bunk as he put his new responsibility down. Sitting on the bed, he sighed, and looked down. The sleeping form of his lover reassured him, and as he reached down to kiss her cheek an eye flickered open.

	"You don't have duty today." Swayback muttered, reaching out and caressing his face. "Neither do I."

	"I figured." Jackson replied, smiling and cupping her hand.

	"You're warm. Come here and snuggle."

	"Are you sure?"

	Feeling a hand slip around his waist, Jackson felt himself snatched down to Swayback's level, where her grin mixed mischeviousness and sleepiness. "I'm always sure."