Marine Ball - Part 6
Posted on Thu Feb 12, 2026 @ 7:27am by Civilian Gertrude Helsing & Colonel Nicholas Means III & Lieutenant Bronwyn P’ril & Lieutenant JG Anson Lee & Captain Brina Tracy-Hall & Lieutenant JG Ace Cannon & Sergeant Major Arcenio Velez & Senior Chief Petty Officer Alexander Rylan EMT-P
2,229 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission: Chicken Run
[PREVIOUSLY]
Instead of returning to their seat Means and Captain Hall made their way around from behind the tables as Velez took the podium while the tones of Auld Lang Syne began to play.
[CONTINUED]
Ceremonial Marine Corps Birthday Cake cutting
"Traditionally – Regardless of location – Marines pause to observe our birthday by sharing a cake and usually, a holiday meal. A sword is used to cut the cake as a reminder that we are a band of warriors, committed to carrying the sword, so that all may live in peace."
As the Sergeant Major Spoke Means took the sword from the cart and began to cut the elaborate cake.
"The first piece of cake is given to our guest of honor, Captain Brina Tracy-Hall. "
Brina accepted the first piece of cake, feeling even more humbled she stepped back for the next part of the ceremony was continued.
"The second to the oldest Marine present; Colonel Nichols 'Scratch' Means the third was born in 2251 and later transferred his enlisted in the Marine Corps and earned his Eagle Globe and Anchor on 2373...earning a battle field commission in 2375.
Means glanced back over his should to Velez, “Seriously?”
Velez grinned, “Gotta give you more to talk about than cigars.”
"Upon receiving the second piece of cake, the oldest Marine will in turn pass it on to signifying the passing of experience and knowledge from the old to the youngest of our Corps. Private First Class Dakin Tadog will then receive the third piece of cake further emphasizing the fact that we care for our young Marines before we look to our own needs....and so it must be."
With the ceremony concluded the cake escort moved the cart up against the command tables and marched off. As they did, some of the service staff came up to cut pieces of cake of the command table as well as the tables for the senior staff, station's dignitaries, and other special guests. The other tables were given smaller individual cakes.
While all that was going on the DJ started the music and the real party started...
Ace missed all the precursors. Part of him hoped that half of the women in this room were drunk. Another part of him could care less. The normally glib lady's man had an impassive look about him. Even his hair, while groomed, lacked pretentiousness. The music moved his feet but rather than it lightening his mood, it seemed to weigh him down. Damn it, Bri. You should be here with me.
With the show over, Means got a tall drink and began to mingle with the crowd. Making himself available to everyone was a part of the job. He made his way back to the central area and the tables that had been reserved for special guests.
One of the tables, equipped with recording equipment, belong to his personal guests. "Evening ladies. So, what did you think?
"It was impressive," Gertie replied, smiling. "We're having a lovely time."
Ace noticing the ladies naturally made his way to the table, as well. "Indeed, evening, ladies.... Can I buy any of you a drink?"
P’ril, who had sat for a moment while Alex went to get them both drinks, raised an eyebrow at Ace. “The drinks are free,” she pointed out.
"They sure are!" said Alex, arriving with the drinks. "One dry Vulcan Sunset for the Lady Bronwyn." Alex turned to Ace as if just noticing he was there. "Oh, hello, Lieutenant Cannon. Have you met Lieutenant P'ril? This elegant, lovely lady has done me the great honor of being my date for the evening."
Ace smiled at the half Vulcan and replied smoothly, "All the more reason I can buy you a drink." He laughed lightly and said, "No need to be formal here P'ril. Call me Ace and yes, P'ril and I know each other well. She's engineering. I'm Ops. Can't help but know each other."
“I already have a drink,” she pointed out, raising the one Alex had just brought her. “But perhaps one of the others is interested.”
Anson wandered up behind Ace, intending to finally say hello to P’ril. “I could use a drink. Maybe two, if you’re feeling generous.” He waved to P’ril. “Still got all your tools?”
Although P’ril’s lips did not even twitch, her eyes shone with mirth. “No one would dare take them,” she replied.
"Greetings, Lieutenant Lee," Alex said. "Enjoying the party?"
Anson glanced over his shoulder to make sure T'Lul wasn't still following him. "Eh. Not a big fan of the dress uniform. The white always feels like an invitation for someone to spill something on you."
Ace asked P'ril, "Nobody?" He smirked at the half-Vulcan. "Oh, perhaps taking them would be too much, but perhaps they could be shared?" He gave her a secret smile.
P’ril leveled him with a steady, unreadable gaze and held it a moment before replying, “an engineer never shares her tools.”
Ace then noticed Anson looking over his shoulder. "Missing your girlfriend or something?" He then held out his hand and offered it to Anson, "Lieutenant Ace Cannon and you are...?"
"Lieutenant Anson Lee. And, no, no girlfriend." The way things were going, he was never going to date, ever again. "And is that a no on getting me a drink?"
"Are you into guys, then, Anson?" Ace asked seriously, wondering why Anson thought that Ace was going to get Anson a drink. Did Anson not know that this was something you did for potential romantic partners?
"Hey, you date someone from a trinary biological species, and the concept of ‘guys’ seems a little antiquated,” Anson said.
“I do not believe that Lieutenant Cannon understands the joke,” P’ril said to Anson.
"Well, please don’t hurt him,” Anson told P’ril. “I’d hate to have to ruin your evening by arresting you.”
“I shall attempt to resist the temptation,” P’ril replied enigmatically.
Alex, for his part, wondered if he figuratively (or perhaps literally) pissed in a circle around P'ril, Lieutenant Cannon would better understand the situation. The last thing Alex wanted to do was turn P'ril off with a display of blatant toxic masculinity, but this was getting ridiculous.
"P'ril, P'ril, P'ril. Whatever have I done to offend you lately?" Ace asked whimsically. "We have worked so well together in Engineering and Ops. We're practically in the same place at the same time ever so often."
Ace then turned to Anson and asked, his eyes showing how perplexed he was, "Who do you think I'm dating? I'm most certainly not dating anyone."
"Never said you were dating anyone. Just said that concept of 'guys' is a little old-fashioned in a multi-species society," Anson said. "But I'm guessing that means I'll be getting my own drink. In which case, does anyone else want anything, since I'm heading over there anyway?"
Ace had to wonder if Anson was cut from the same cloth as Paula. Maybe he was just overly particularized. Either way, he doubted that the Ensign shared anything in common with him and made a mental note that he would not be inviting him to play pool or gamble any time in the near future.
Anson looked around the ground. "So, sounds like drinks just for me. I'll be right back."
Ace smiled at Alex and P'ril and said, "So what is new with all of you?"
As tempting as it was to make up some outrageous story to mess with Ace, P’ril decided that the mundane truth would have to do. “Nothing exciting,” she replied. “Well, except this, obviously,” she added, indicating the ball itself.
"You call this exciting?" Ace asked wryly. "Without a dance partner or more stimulating conversation, I think that this has as much excitement as a tribble without available food." His mood lightened slightly and observed, "you know, we've hardly talked at all. What's your story?"
P’ril slipped her hand around Alex’s arm, a subtle hint to Ace that his advances weren’t welcome. “I have a dance partner,” she replied I a neutral tone. “And he provides stimulating conversation as well. Just a few moments ago, he noted that the color scheme was pleasant.” Which, of course, was not true at all; P’ril was simply messing with Ace.
Alex chuckled. "Few people know that there are two TCCC courses in the Special Operations Independent Duty Corpsman pipeline," he said. "TCCC 1 is, of course, Tactical Combat Casualty Care. But select, highly skilled operators are selected to attend the prestigious Tactical Combat Color Coordination course, because Fashion Health is a serious public health concern and important for unit cohesion."
Ace answered, "I think you misunderstood me. I have a dance partner, but she is not here tonight." He looked over at how P'ril tucked her arm into Alex's. He and Alex were not friends so P'ril was not off limits, as far as Ace was concerned. That said, she was not interested tonight. There would be others, if he cared. It was only a matter of time.
"If your dance partner is named Rosie Palmer," Alex said. "I can totally understand why you wouldn't want to be seen in public with her. That would definitely be socially unacceptable and probably conduct unbecoming an officer as well."
"My dance partner has a lot more class than that," Ace answered laughing. "I suspect she's knee deep in dirt or mulch at the moment."
"Roleplay is totally normal in a relationship," Alex said. "And you'd be surprised how common the 'Farmer Brown's Daughter' scenario is among Humans."
"See, knee deep in dirt makes me think of a turtle, and that doesn't sound like a game the turtle would enjoy." Anson appeared at Alex's elbow, holding a drink in his hand. It was purple on the top, pink on the bottom, held a blue umbrella and smelled faintly of lime.
"When I roleplay, trust me, it has nothing to do with dirt or mulch," Ace shot back, somewhat disturbed at Alex's comments. What in the world did he get into? There were some things that even Ace was not certain that he wanted to know.
"Then what's that under your fingernails?" Alex said. "Been frolicking with one of Lieutenant Lee's turtles again?"
"If there is anything under my fingernails it is goo cleanser from our recent experience with the purple peeps," Ace answered.
"Is that what that is?" Alex said. "Well, to each their own."
P’ril’s brow wrinkled. She had not followed this conversation at all. Perhaps it was a human thing. Or Betazoid. Or whatever Alex was- she still hadn’t worked that out. But, she was at least human enough to pick up on the tension. “Perhaps we should speak of something else,” she suggested.
Ace shrugged. "It seems the two of you have more than enough wheels without me being around." He turned his back on both of them and started to walk off with a short wave. In a nonchalant voice, he called back, "We can catch up tomorrow, P'ril. Later."
"Wow, he was grumpy, wasn't he?" Anson said.
"He who doth not show respect to his fellow man," Alex said, solemnly. "Lo, he shall not be shown respect by his fellow man." Then he laughed. "Which is sort of a circular firing squad kind of logic, when you think about it." Alex cleared his throat and tried again. "Lo, he who showeth not his fellow man respect, shall not, in his turn, have respect shown to him, and those that show he who showeth not respect, no respect, shall in their turn not be shown respect, and so the cycle shall continue, until no shall showeth respect to anyone." Alex chuckled. "Long-winded, but more accurate."
Anson stared at Alex, his lips slightly moving as he tried to parse through what Alex had said. "Sure, right. What you said."
Alex laughed out loud. "Don't let the ears fool you, Lieutenant," he said. "I'm Zami, not Vulcan. Distant cousins. Not followers of Surak. Vulcanoid Rigelians, some call us, since we settled in the Rigel system. Shame is not a thing in our culture. You'll find that leads someone like me to push the limits quite a bit. In other words, I unashamedly say silly, sometimes even ridiculous things, just for the fun of saying them. Like Gratiano from Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, I sometimes speak an infinite deal of nothing. Of course, I'm also known for inserting a bit of something in my infinite deal of nothing, so it pays to listen closely... sometimes." Alex flashed one of his winning smiles and winked. "You might say I'm a conundrum wrapped in an enigma, which means I'm both difficult to figure out and fun at parties."
(To be continued...)
Colonel Nicholas Means III
Marine CO - 21st MEU
Sergeant Major Arcenio Velez
Senior Staff NCO
Captain Brina Tracy-Hall
Marine XO
Guest on Deep Space Five
Nicholas Hall
Guest on Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Ace Cannon
Assistant Chief Operations Officer
Deep Space 5
Gertrude Helsing
Tea Time Co-Host
Deep Space 5
Lieutenant Bronwyn P'ril
Chief Engineer
Deep Space 5
Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Alex Rylan
Independent Duty Corpsman
Deep Space Five
Lieutenant JG Anson Lee
Assistant Chief Security Officer
Deep Space 5
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