After returning from his leave, Hoshikita had been informed that a special inspector from Marine Headquarters was scheduled to arrive at the base in the next few days. It was his job to ensure that all of the bases defenses were in working order, and that everything had been cleaned to regulations. The Captain would be receiving the inspector, and the Commander had been left to station the ensigns and ensure that nothing went wrong during the inspection. To carry out his duties, Hoshikita had been given a small division of about a dozen men. Overall,  he was feeling pretty good about being given a rather peaceful task as opposed to the violence and chaos that had been so apparent in some of his other duties. Something as mundane as an inspection seemed to be a blessing in light of the dangers he had recently faced. The ensigns who had been assigned to him seemed to be rather relieved as well, and they seemed eager to carry out their duty under their temporary commanding officer. Hoshikita was glad to see some familiar faces in his division, and he hadn’t noticed any resentment among his comrades due to his rather sudden promotion to Lieutenant. On the contrary, he had received much encouragement and support from his fellow Marines and even Captain Maria seemed to depend on him at times now.

So, not wanting to let anyone, including himself, down Hoshikita quickly got to work. He assigned ten of the ensigns to begin cleaning the base, and informed them that he would be returning for inspections periodically. The two most senior ensigns were chosen to assist him in scouring the base for anything that might consist of a breach in regulations. They were to check for things like tears in the base walls, health violations in the kitchen and mess hall, left out supplies, or anything else that kept the base from being considered in top condition. Hoshikita allowed the other two Marines to remain together so that they could fix things that one person wouldn’t be capable of, and he planned to note such things himself as he moved along the base to return to them later. So, with the plan at hand he dismissed the men to their duties and began his own work. Using his above average height he was able to get a clearer view of things, and Hoshikita was able to find several things that needed repair. He noted that there was mold in the central hallway ceiling that would need to be removed and that one of the outward facing windows had been cracked on the bottom. He couldn’t fix those things now, but they’d have to be addressed before the inspection. He greeted the ensigns stationed at the main gate of the base as he walked out to examine the perimeter of the exterior, and headed off to continue his own work as he could only trust that the ensigns he had assigned were doing their own.

Hoshikita made his way along the perimeter of the base without issue, and with his long strides he was able to do it in just under twenty minutes. There seemed to be no breach of regulations on the outside of the base, so he thought that it was time to go and examine how well the ensigns were doing their jobs. The young Lieutenant tipped his hat to the ensigns at the gate as he walked in and went off in search of the ensigns he had assigned to examine the base so that he could first relay to them the things he had found that would require the hands of multiple people. He was able to find them rather quickly, and they relayed to him all of the work they had already done. Apparently there had been a broken toilet in the latrines that they had somehow been able to manage, which Hoshikita commended them for. He was surprised that they had been capable of something like that, and he even went to verify that what they said was true and sure enough the toilet was working perfectly. They’d also found that one of the storage rooms was still left in disarray after the invasion some weeks ago and they had informed the cleaning crew to take care of that. Overall, it seemed to Hoshikita that they had performed their duty aptly and he once again commended them on their efforts. He told the ensigns about the broken window that needed to be replaced and the mold that required bleaching, and that after they had taken care of those things the division would likely break for lunch. The two Marines saluted and ran off hurriedly, leaving Hoshikita to head off and find the cleaning crew.

After searching the base for a few minutes, and inquiring to one of the ensigns who had been stationed near the command station, he found the ensigns who had been assigned to cleaning in the mess hall. Several of them were mopping, while others were cleaning the tables, and others the windows. They all seemed to be doing their duty diligently, and Hoshikita marveled for a moment at the discipline and motivation these guys had. When he had been an ensign, he always tended to slack off during times like this so it was rather relieving to see the men under his command so hard at work. Upon closer inspection however, he noticed that there were only eight ensigns in the mess hall when he specifically remembered ordering ten of them on duty. He called one of the ensigns over to ask where the other two were, and he relayed rather nervously that he believed the two of them had gone to clean the mess hall latrine. Hoshikita thanked the ensign and told him to return to work, and to inform the others that they would be breaking for lunch soon. The man ran off and Hoshikita began heading over to the latrine to see how the other two ensigns were coming along.

It didn’t take him long to reach the latrine, but upon entering there was a strange lack of ensigns. Hoshikita wasn’t sure where the ensigns had gone, but there were two mops leaned up against the wall in the corner and the young Lieutenant didn’t think they’d have gone far. Having seen that they left their supplies in the latrine, Hoshikita had little faith that the ensigns were out somewhere performing their duty, and ironically the location they had left them nixed the possibility of the men merely taking a restroom break. Unfortunately, the lieutenant was going to have to search for them, and he was relatively certain that they were somewhere shirking their responsibilities. Hoshikita having been inclined to do the same thing himself not long ago, thought of the first place that he would go were he to avoid his superior officer. The first place to look was obviously the sleeping quarters he thought, and he headed off that way immediately. It was only a few halls down and it took moments to reach for the long legged lieutenant, and as he approached the door he could hear voices. Hoshikita couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but they sounded somewhat panicked and assuming it to be the young ensigns he calmly walked up to the door and yanked it open with notable force causing it to slam on the wall with a loud thud. Two panicked ensigns then scrambled to put their cigarettes out and stand at attention before the Lieutenant, and Hoshikita ducked beneath the door frame to enter the room.

“How goes the cleaning, gentlemen?” Hoshikita asked as he entered the room. The two ensings looked nervously at one another before one stepped forward and spoke. “We were, eh, just taking a smoke break, sir.” He said tentatively, seemingly not sure of how to approach the situation. Hoshikita chuckled for a moment, which caused the ensigns to look even more worried about what might happen to them, but the lieutenant had no plans for punishment. He would feel far too hypocritical to discipline these marines for doing what he likely would have been doing himself. To be certain, any further offenses would be met with discipline, but he thought to let them off with a simple warning this time. “Very good, men.” Hoshikita said while standing at attention, and the ensigns became noticeably relieved after hearing that. Hoshikita continued however, “In the future though, I'd appreciate it if you could report to your commanding officer before taking any unscheduled breaks.” He said almost threateningly, heading off to continue his examination of the base. "Yes, sir!" They said saluting, before running off and whispering to one another. The division took lunch with the rest of the base shortly afterward and returned to their duties after a hearty meal. After several more hours of work, Hoshikita assessed that everything should be ready for inspection, and he went to creating a schedule to maintain that state until the inspector arrived. The lieutenant felt satisfied that he had done his duty, and he could only trust that the inspection would go well. It was in the hands of the Captain and the Commander now, and he could only continue to do his best as a proud Marine and lieutenant moving forward.