trans_9 | Security Debriefing [Closed: Members of Security only]

Entry tags:

Security Debriefing [Closed: Members of Security only]

About a full day had passed since the Yeerk mess, when Leon called all of Security together for a debriefing. He wanted to give everyone a chance to get their wounds treated and to rest up. To say that it had been a rough day yesterday would be an understatement. He also wanted to give his people a chance to get their heads clear. Emotions run high after a battle, so he wanted to let everyone cool off and let some of the things the Captain said sink in.

Leon himself, though, wasn't able to take advantage of the time off, though. He looked like shit, less from the physical injuries than from the physical and emotional fatigue wearing on him. With Claire still out cold from emergency surgery, he hadn't slept at all, and likely wouldn't until he knew she was all right. Even now, his thoughts didn't drift far from her.

But with his team assembled in the briefing room, Leon stood front and center to address them.

"First off, I'd like to thank everyone for coming. I'll try to keep this short, and just... bear with me if I seem a little distracted."

That out of the way, he took a moment to gather his thoughts, since he really hadn't planned out what to say to them. When he was ready, he took a breath, and started speaking.

"Several years ago, when I was just a rookie cop-- literally, on my first day on the job at the Raccoon City Police Department, disaster struck. I won't go into details about that, other than to say that my first day on the job was my last, because when it was over, there was no more Raccoon City to go back to. I was part of only a handful of people to survive the incident. Among the group was a woman named Ada Wong.

"Ada was... she was beautiful, and also very deadly. She was a corporate spy, and she had a mission to complete, and the fact that an entire city was literally falling apart around us all wasn't going to stop her. I wanted to help her get out of there alive, instead, I ended up unwittingly helping her with her mission. Along the way, I learned a few things. Namely, how to spot a snake in the grass; and that even in a dire and desperate situation, when the only help you have is some group of strangers trapped in the same boat as you, that snake can and will still bite you, and it'll hurt like hell when it does."

He stopped for a moment, mentally switching gears a little.

"When I was picking people to add to ship Security, I mainly looked for people had a background either as cops or as soldiers, a similar background as mine. While each world has its own way of doing things, there were a lot of consistencies from world to world in terms of command structure and tactical training. I had a good idea what to expect from you, and you had an idea of what to expect from me. There's obviously still a lot for us to learn from each other and about each other, the commonalities would make for a much shorter period of adjustment on all our parts.

"Considering that we are the first line of defense for this crew, getting everyone and everything organized quickly was a huge, huge advantage.

"Another reason why I looked for people who had been cops or soldiers was because..." He stopped for a moment, thinking about how to phrase this. "...because you also would know how important it was to trust the people fighting beside you. Knowing that the person whose supposed to watch your back won't stab you in it because they wear the same uniform, or have the same badge, or serve under the same flag... I think that was something a lot of us took for granted back home. And I hoped it would be something we could build over time here.

"But the moment Sam Winchester was freed from the brig, it was obvious that someone in here had stabbed me in the back. It turned out to be two someones in the end, Marcus Wright and Ronon Dex. I wish I could say I was surprised by that. But the more Sam's escape had been investigated, the clearer it became that the snake in the grass was a hell of a lot bigger than anyone first thought, and posed a very real threat not just to the Yeerk, but to the whole crew. Regardless, having a group of people on the loose who think its their right to murder whomever they want-- not even for what they've done, mind you, but for what they might do someday one day maybe possibly-- under any circumstances, that couldn't be allowed. Running low on both options and time, I thought the best course of action was to draw it completely out into the open, and deal with it. Thus the decision to bait Sam with the decoy Yeerk was made.

"It was the kind of plan that made sense tactically, but still left a bad taste in my mouth. Because I didn't know who the rats in my house were at the time, I had to play things close to the vest. The only people who knew about the decoy were Captain Picard, who was safeguarding and handling the genuine Schmuz, and Jeka, who arranged the decoy.

"As for the rest of you... even if I knew I could trust you, personally, I couldn't trust the people around you to not be the leak. And more importantly, I couldn't have everyone walking around here looking suspiciously at each other. Things break down when that happens, and the rats get tipped off that someone is looking for them.

"Sam had to believe he was only going to get one shot at this. If he did, he'd bring everything he had at it, and wouldn't hold anything back. So I made him waste that one chance on the decoy, and banked on the rest of us being able to take him down so he wouldn't get another one." Of course, things didn't quite go according to plan...

"All of you fought hard and you fought bravely yesterday. And don't think for a moment that I'm disappointed in any of you; that couldn't be farther from the truth. But despite our best efforts, a lot of people got hurt yesterday, including the woman who is both my best friend and the mother of my child." And it was painfully obvious how much he was beating himself over what happened to her.

"For that I take full responsibility. I underestimated what we were up against, how many there were, what they were capable of, and how scared and desperate they would be. The plan you were given, you guys executed it well, but I didn't plan accordingly. Whether or not this means that I'll still be the Chief of Security in the near future is up to the discretion of the Command Staff. They'll likely want your opinion on that, so don't be surprised if they call you in individually for a debriefing."

He stopped for a moment, making a small 'hn' noise as a thought occurred to him. "I guess that's another reason why I wanted people with my kind of background. You'd understand that if you screw up, there's someone above you to hold you accountable. That even if you do have the best of intentions, that won't excuse you if still make bad decisions." He wasn't going to linger on that tangent, though. "But that being said...

"My father once told me that 'the true measure of a man isn't whether or not he makes mistakes. All men make mistakes. No, the true measure is seen in whether or not he not only owns up to his mistakes, but understands them, learns from them, and grows to be a better man because of them.'

"Regardless as to whether or not I'm in charge of Security in the future, things need to change around here. Because what happened yesterday can't happen again. We need to start trusting each other, because this crew needs to trust us to keep them safe.

"I'm not asking you to spill all your secrets. I'm not asking for your undying loyalty. Or even your blind obedience. What I will ask you to do, though, is take a look at the people in this room. These are the people who fought by your side yesterday. These are the people who risked their necks to protect yours and everyone elses. These who stood up and did the right thing, even though it was also the hardest thing to do.

"There are the people I know I can trust. I hope one day you can too."

He looked around the room at his staff, they were a good group. And somewhere during that, his sleep deprived brain realized something.

"...I think I've finally run out of things to say," he said, letting out a very short laugh at himself. "But I do have some time, and I'm willing to listen. So if anyone has anything they want to say, the floor is yours."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jo had listened to everything Leon had said... Up until he said the Yeerk they'd been excorting was a decoy. A DECOY?! What the hell?! Seriously though, having trust among a team was important, she got that. But LYING to them and letting them fight the others over a fake yeerk was beyond what had been called for in Jo's mind.

When she'd decided to be a cop she'd done so thinking that she was going to be able to protect the public. Protect the innocent. Right now she felt as if Leon had taken all that away from her. He'd made a decision that had made her put innocent people in the line of fire. He'd ALLOWED others to get hurt. That? That was not cool with her. Not cool at all.

"Are you fucking serious?" She finally snapped, her eyes narrowing into angry slits. Feeling one of the security members put a hand on her shoulder, Jo quickly shrugged it off and stalked over to where Leon was standing. "So what you're telling me is that I got SHOT IN THE BACK by Sam Winchester over a fucking empty DECOY?!"

She glared at him for a moment and then she drew her left arm back and sent her fist flying right for his nose. "JACKASS! I hope you're proud of yourself, because I certainly am NOT!! Thanks a lot for ruining my job for me!"

Leon, Jo's obviously NOT happy with you.

The Chief is standing off to one side, arms folded across his chest. The Spartan exhales deeply, one long slow sigh. He's not even tired and he has to think about it to notice any soreness. Yesterday wasn't hard on him physically either, he's mostly tired in his mind. People. John's not a people person.

"I won't pretend," he says, "to think this was the best plan ever made. The trial got turned into a spectacle and people got hurt. It was a mess. But it did work."

To be honest he's rather annoyed. He's used to being jerked around by officers and plans that barely work, true, but this isn't home. He's more his own agent here, even if he is acting for the crew.

But he's not going to pick fights over it. If Leon can learn, good.

Samus was... not mad. Not exactly. Aggravated, yes. Leon had lied to her. While she understood that before smoking out Marcus and Ronon, she was not exactly in a position to be trusted. However, she had fought her fellow crewmates in order to prove herself as a member of security.

And for what? To protect a decoy. How many injuries had been caused by tht decoy? Samus questioned if it was worth it.

She admitted she had made mistakes; she was partly to blame for the entire encounter. After all, Sam escaped on her watch. She couldn't be mad at Leon when she knew that none of this would have happened if she had been more careful.

"I understand your reasons, but don't expect me to stay on security if you plan on deceiving us again," and that was a promise.

Dick's lips thinned as he listened, shifting a bit to ease the ache in his leg. He could understand the reasoning. He really could. But it was bringing back some really, really lousy memories of how things had been with Bruce before he'd stopped being Robin.

He reached out for Jo's shoulder, more comforting than trying to stop her. He'd clocked Bruce, once, during the worst of things. He understood the desire.

"Me neither," he said after a moment. "You could have put up enough of a fight to be convincing, Mr. Kennedy, without it getting to this." He sighed and shook his head. "I understand not knowing who to trust. Believe me, I've been there. But this all could have been handled so much better."

Cam had been having a bad day. The two traitors on security were his teammates. Sure, Ronon was Atlantian, and he'd never gone on any missions with Marcus. But their betrayals undermined the entire concept of team on Stacy. Of the possible traitors, Ronon and Marcus were low on Cam's list.

It wasn't a good day, and Cam still had a headache from his encounter with Ronon during the skirmish.

He did listen to Kennedy's speech, despite his distraction. A decoy. It made sense. Winchester and his cohorts were a rogue element. Taking the Yeerk the way they expected was a terrible risk, as was revealed. Not knowing left a bad taste in his mouth, but the fact was, he hadn't proved himself.

Ronon and Marcus were proof the decoy couldn't be told to the security detail. He understood classified information. He didn't like to be left out of that loop, but this wasn't his loop. They did what they had to do, given the situation.

Of course, in Cam's mind, they shouldn't have had the trial in the first place.

Other people were voicing their misgivings about the situation. Cam chose to hang back and stay out of the debate. His questions, how the conspirators would be dealt with long term, and whether the Yeerk was indeed secure against any other attempts on its life didn't really belong in the conversation.

Leon didn't bother moving when Jo came at him. He knew what was coming, and he let it happen.

Her fist connected, and she actually hit him hard enough to drop him. Which, inwardly, kind of amused him. One more kick-ass chick to help keep him in line. Maybe if he had told Claire about all of this in the beginning...

...but no time to dwell on that now.

He raised a hand in a simple 'hold' gesture, the other one holding his nose. Luckily, Jo seemed to to at least restrain herself there, and no one else was rushing to pile on.

Life was so much easier when all he had to do was go somewhere and shoot at something. But this is his life now, so he had to deal. Dealing with the unexpected is what he was best at.

He got up slowly on his own.

"I deserved that," he admitted. "But right now, my best friend, who wasn't even supposed to be in the middle of all of this, is in the med bay right recovering from the bullet she took in the gut because of how badly things went south. There isn't a damn thing any of you can do that'll ever hurt me worse than that. So if you want me to suffer for what happened, I already am."

But with that out of the way, he had to deal with the issue at hand.

"Bottom line is this, though. I screwed up. I could've handed it better, I should have handled it better. Worse than that, I put people at risk and lied to you all, just to take Sam and his group off the board for good.

"Whatever my intentions, though, it was a bad move. And I'm sorry. But like I said, this doesn't happen again." For whatever his word may be worth to them, but he was genuine in that sentiment.

Robert listened to the others speak, listened to Leon give his speech. And he nodded quietly in agreement. Sometimes, the grunts didn't need to know all the details. They just needed to know what they needed to do. He glanced at the others, than back over to Leon.

"I'm behind you one hundred percent, Mister Kennedy. You did what you had to, and I understand why. When you're a grunt, a foot soldier, a beat cop, you don't always get to know what's going on in full detail. Because hell, you might blab to someone who could inform the other people you're up against. It's called operational security. We bitched and moaned about not knowing what was going on int he army, but we accepted it because the generals can't be expected to tell us everything. If our attack was a feint or the real thing, didn't matter. We had to go into full on."

Jeka rested on her coils, rubbing her thumb over the face of her Legion flight ring. She'd consented to the decoy plan when Leon had explained it to her, overriding her own misgivings about deceiving the rest of Security out of the necessity of the situation. She'd accepted that there would be consequences to that decision, namely the probable antipathy and distrust of the rest of Security and possible expulsion from their ranks. And now it was time to face those consequences.

"I apologize for my part in deceiving you all as well," she said. "It's far from my preferred method of working with people, and I too can assure you that it will not happen again."

"I won't pretend to be happy about what occurred SIr, but you did the best you could with what you were absolutely certain you had. You have my support."

Jo shook her head and took a step back. She could not believe what she was hearing coming out of the others mouths. "You all have a sick belief between right and wrong. My job as a cop? PROTECT and serve. Not serve and protect..."

She turned and headed toward the door, she wasn't going to sit around and listen to anymore of this. This? This she hadn't signed up for. "While it's great you all say this kinda thing won't happen again, you'll excuse me if I don't believe it. I'm outta here. I didn't sign up to put civilians in danger. Consider this my resignation."

And with that she headed right out of the precinct.

Robert snorted incredulously.

"What, that's it? You're going to give up that easily? Anyone else? Because there are these things called 'stings' we do in police work, where we decoy the bad guys to draw them out into the open or use undercover officers. Does every beat cop know about it? Hell no. Sorry, but this is complete bullshit. I mean, my God. The bad guys hurt people and we're going to blame our boss?"

"Robert." His tone was a simple warning. The time for apologizing was already over, he needed to get back in command of this group.

"Let her go." If Jo didn't want to be here, he wasn't going to force her.

"When I became Chief of Security, one of the things I had to accept was that I'd be ordering people into harms way. It's something that I will have to do frequently, but never something I'd do cavalierly. I wouldn't order you into a dangerous situation unless I believed you'd still be breathing at the end of it. And I damn sure would've never even risked this kind of gambit unless I was certain that those of you who were told to 'Keep the people out of harms way' would be able to pull it off." That was what many of them were ordered to do.

"The whole thing was far from perfect, but nobody died because of the effort you put forth. Sam Winchester and those with him were taken down because you all fought your asses off. You did the job you were ordered to do.

"Be pissed all you want to about the Yeerk being a decoy, but if you think for a moment that I'd put anyone in harms way casually, like this was all some kind of fucking game... you ca join Jo and get the fuck out of my building." And Leon meant every damn word.

There were a lot of things Leon was willing to take shit for, and rightfully so, but he would be damned if that was going to be one of them.

"Even stings are called off when it's deemed to be too dangerous to the cops participating or the civilians around them," Nightwing pointed out levelly, stretching out his legs under the table. "There's plenty of blame to go around, Robert. We knew they were desperate and we played on that desperation. We pushed and that got as many people injured as anything else." You push a desperate man far enough and you couldn't predict that he'd do.

"And I object to calling them the bad guys. They're still our crew mates and friends." And family, he added silently, thinking of Robin and Jason. "We'll never get anywhere if we start dividing ourselves up that way. They were wrong, yes. Harping on it isn't going to make it better."

Turning to Leon, he nodded. "I'm still not happy about how it happened, but I'm not going anywhere." Then he smiled. "But there is such a thing as playing it to close to the chest, man."

Cam didn't particularly trust himself to speak, even as the scene degraded somewhat. Especially as it did. Somehow he doubted it was part of that master plan of the ship's to have the crew splinter and bicker into smaller and smaller fragments.

He was too furious with the conspirators, and all that they stood for, including those he'd considered 'team', to speak up. The crew made it clear his view of the world was not widely shared among them. He no longer stood as leader of SG-1, second in command of Cheyenne Mountain. Here, he was no longer an officer, any more than they were cops. Not in the sense that he was entitled to anything, like some seemed to believe.

Here, he was just another soldier in a team, a gear in a larger machine. He wasn't privy to the decisions of the ones operating that machine, and neither were anyone in the precinct, except perhaps Kennedy. Grunts, as one so eloquently put, didn't do speeches or argue pointlessly in the middle of a debriefing.

The only way he was going to rationalize the entire scenario he'd been dragged into--from the trial onward--was to keep that in mind, and stick to it. He had a feeling it was the only way he was going to survive on the ship at all.

Leon looked at Nightwing, then grinned a little and shook his head. "Alright, everyone who's staying, have a seat and get yourself comfortable. We're gonna be here for a while."

He wiped a little bit of blood from his nose. He may or may not be fired for this mess, but until he was, he had a job to do.

"If we're going to learn from this mess, we have to examine it from top to bottom. From the decisions I made, to the decisions you each made, and the actions we each took. A lot of the initial reports were a jumbled mess; I'm still not clear on a lot of things, like when you got shot, Greyson, and by whom. And also, Rob, I heard you took down a werewolf?" Impressive, that one. "--So we're going to walk it all the way through slowly from beginning to end.

"On top of that, we had a couple of people I've never laid eyes on before pop up during this fight. I need to know who they are, especially since one of them is the only member of Winchester's group still in the wind.

"So everyone settle in, and let's get started."

Man, did he wish they had coffee on this ship.

Javert had been hanging in the back watching. He'd been lurking elsewhere for most of the miniature rebellion; they didn't sit well with him from either side, and he'd never wanted to get involved in another so soon. He'd settled for patrolling the halls while the fighting went on; he was almost useless there in any case, and better suited to keeping the more innocent members of the crew out of the line of fire.

His sense of duty warred with his common sense. These people-- kids, soldiers, beat cops, he didn't know what they would do. What he would be ordered to do. They'd all been lied to, but that was common enough among officers; none of them worth trusting, not really, not with intelligence.

Nonetheless, he stepped forward to a seat. His two cents on the matter aren't needed now, especially as he was in another part of Stacy at the time. For now, he'll listen, and speak if an opinion arises.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Security Debriefing [Closed: Members of Security only]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject