Jon was growing more and more concerned about when the ship would actually depart again. The only thing he could think of was that he now had a decent sized corps of forty men; enough for two platoons.

Lieutenant Trueman would take up his old position of Alpha Platoon leader while Lieutenant Gibs would take over at leader of Bravo Platoon. The senior NCO was Gunnery Sergeant McDowell, a short and fiery individual that believed in kicking behinds.

Their home, for now, was Marine Post 492 on Memkeron below Starbase 132 near the Beta Quadrant. With the command staff onboard the Leviathan and Commander Barker and his group searching for the mirror Leviathan, much was quiet. Well, overall things were quiet. At post 492 however, many of the new Marines were new, and they were being initiated.

They had arrived two days earlier, after leaving the Leviathan. With repairs still a month away from completing, the Major had seen this as ideal opportunity to get some additional training for his new troops.

"Morning sir," First Lieutenant Jack Trueman said, joining Jon in front of the post mess hall. Jon stood silently, overlooking the open space in front of him where the different platoons on base gathered to drill and hold formations.

On either side of the field were barracks for each platoon. Adjacent to the base was a facility housing the bases M-190 Scorpion battletanks, M-350 Warthog scout vehicle and a couple of new MF-3550 Yellowjacket fighters, plus older Hammerheads.

Jon was making sure that each member of his two platoons were familiar with and trained in the operation of all these vehicles. The Leviathan was slated to pick up two Scorpions and six Warthogs once repairs were complete, before heading out again.

"Good morning Jack," Jon replied, breaking from his small moment of reflection.

Jack handed him one of the cups of coffee he was holding. Jon accepted the steaming mug of coffee and took a sip from it.

"Have you talked with Lieutenant Gibs yet?" The Major enquired.

"Yes sir. He seems to be a very knowledgeable individual. I especially liked his joke about blonde female Klingons."

Jon grinned. "Yeah, I figured you would like something like that." He took another sip of his coffee. "Alright, let's go down to the weapons range and check out some of our fresh meat."

"Yes sir." Truman replied. The two headed down to the weapons range.

= = = = = = = = = = = = =

"Dammit Jenkins! What the hell did I tell you about your weapon ?" The burly NCO yelled at the Private laying prone on the ground.

"I take it that's Sergeant McDowell," Jon asked.

"Hoo-ah sir. He was shipped here straight from the training facility on Utopia Planitia. He's personally recommended by Brigadier General Cartene himself." Truman replied.

Jon smiled. He remembered the old and crude base commander from when he was going through field training. He was a well-respected Drill Instructor, but knowing the right people, he became an officer and was placed in charge of the training facility.

"I guess I can't go against the recommendations of General Cartene. Sergeant McDowell," Jon called out.

The Sergeant said a few indecipherable words to the private lying prone on the ground and reported in.

"Sergeant McDowell reporting sir." He stated, matter-of-factly coming to attention. His hand raised to the brow of his campaign in a salute.

Jon returned the salute. Jon removed his cap momentarily wiping away the sweat that had started to accumulate under the brow of his cap. "I hear that you were assigned by special order of General Cartene."

"Yes sir," McDowell replied. "Permission to speak freely sir?"

"Of course."

"I think the old man wanted me off the base. I was becoming more of a hard ass than he was." The three men laughed at the Sergeants wry comment and eventually settled down.

"So Sergeant, give me a quick estimate of what we have so far." Jon asked.

"Well sir." McDowell started, "The female at the far end of the line over there is probably our crack shot sniper. Name's Mika Robins from Risa. She hit a two inch diameter target from six hundred yards out with a projectile rifle."

The three continued down the line. "That's Barek Nim, the Bajoran in the middle of those three. Demolitions and heavy weapons expert. He was sent over from Marine Force Recon."

The three continued on with McDowell commenting on all of the enlisted personnel giving their names and their specialities.

"Looks like a very capable group," Jack commented to Jon. "Now all we need is a ship to put them on."

"Soon enough Jack. Soon enough."