Judgement – A Combined Effort - Part 4
by (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Colonel James Darson & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Klingon Ambassador Toran of the House of Moqrhat & Lieutenant Vincent Tan & Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace
Post Details
If she had possessed less self control Isha might have said what she was thinking out loud. She was trying to keep this discussion amicable but R'Vek seemed to have decided that now was the time to start an argument.
"Have we considered asking these pirates if they want to surrender first?" said Dunham leaning back in his chair. He was trying to come to the defense of his friend Wallace by taking some of the flak off him and re-directing it at himself. "You know, before we blow them out of space...I mean last time I checked, Starfleet didn't annihilate criminals, they arrested them, and that's what pirates are. Criminals, so we should arrest them right.......and now I really want some candy, have you got any more of that to share sir?" asked Dunham politely as he pointed to the candy floating in the glass of water.
Tasha grinned inanely. Candy was sweet but she had to watch her figure as age was beginning to creep up on her as she also looked at the tempting lure of the candy.
"I can guarantee you that every pirate vessel this task force encounters will be given ample opportunity to surrender." Rianni said, "I'm certainly not looking to annihilate anybody if there's another option, bloodshed is not what we're aiming for here."
R'Vek reached into his coat pocket and slid a handful of individually wrapped chocolates to Dunham, "Here, gorge yourself on these." He said with a smile, he knew how fond Rianni was of her former XO, so he had a soft space for him as well.
Rianni recognized the chocolates, she'd bought them for Ayren before she'd taken off with that neanderthal, Da'nal, the very neanderthal whose father sat at this table, ~Frack! Focus, Rianni!~ "This is not to say we'll back down from a fight, any fight. We're out to stop these pirates by whatever means they require us to use against them, but if there's a way to avoid killing anybody I will always choose it."
"Mmmmm Chocolate." Said Dunham quickly forgetting the issue he had raised, and really not hearing Rianni as he ate his chocolates. "I will of course do what ever the Captain orders." He smiled.
~Please pass me a sweet. ~ She thought at Dunhams response, but again, resisted saying anything aloud for fear of recrimination.
"My services are clearly not needed here and I have cadets arriving on the next earth transport so if you'll excuse me." Jarred stood to leave.
"You didn't answer my question, Lieutenant," Isha said her tone betraying none of her annoyance with R'Vek for his changing the direction and mood of the debate. If her cousin persisted with his confrontational attitude she was going to have to become even firmer. "What do you propose to use as bait, Lieutenant Wallace?" she repeated.
Jarred paused, "I can get a hold of a freighter that intelligence uses for special projects now and then, I can get one as a bait ship, plus I have access to one particular Excalibur Class ship that will fill the bill perfectly."
Darson remained silent as Wallace stood and began to storm out. The mood was quickly turning sour, and in this case this was not what we intended. “I think that Mr. Wallace is right,” he said suddenly in an offhand manner, “Not with everything…but I think his idea does have some merit. Now if you’ll sit down Lieutenant, we’ll continue this discussion civilly…not like a bunch of petulant school girls. Even Mr. Dunham’s niece,” he gestured at Dunham, “Has more composure. So sit.”
“Let’s step back and look at a few things, shall we? Alright. We know that there was an operative on board working for the pirates. Apparently double dipping with Starfleet Intelligence, but that is neither here nor there. I knew about this long before hand. Why? Because these people are a thousand years too early to try and monitor me. Also, this half-caf soy no foam latte, not to hot, with a shot of vanilla and a dusting of fresh nutmeg in a large to go cup that I ordered from him before I went into this meeting is poisoned,” he produced the bevereage, raised it to his mask and appeared to take a sip before giving an exaggerated disgusted grimace, “Yep. That’s poisned alright. Also, it’s a crappy drink to begin with. Regardless, as Isha says…we shouldn’t assume that all pirates are working together. Also, her prediction with regard to their action in my eyes is spot on.”
“Mr. Wallace thinks that heavy handed techniques have no point, and that we should take a covert approach. Yes, covert operations work. However,” he glanced at Tasha, “Starfleet does not officially endorse covert operations. Another caveat of it is inherent in its nature…that of ‘Covert’ Operations. We are doing this little operation in order to rid ourselves of the pirate threat and convince the general public that that intergalactic shipping lanes are safe once more. In that manner, we don’t need to just beat them back by sabotaging them and what not…we need to send a message. Shock and Awe so to speak. But,” he held up a finger, “Covert operations can set the stage for the main event.”
“Wallace idea of a bait ship is good. We set up a vessel that pirates would love to hit. We leak out its itinerary, and send it on its way. However, in addition to its goods, we have a SpecOps team hidden somewhere on board along with the crew. We wait for them to dock and then either wait until they drag it back to their base, or as would more likely be the case, hijack the ship right there. And then what do we have? Our very own pirate ship. Use it to infiltrate the base and lower the defenses, allowing the fleet to move in. A classic move, straight out of the classic military text, The Art of War . Or even from my own creation, James Darson’s Big Book of War. Q.E.D. And on that note, Mr. Dunham, how were the chocolates?”
“And to further address one of Mr. Dunham’s concerns,” Darson continued, “Regarding the offer to surrender. Before we were so rudely interrupted by some immature shenanigans,” he neglected to name people or his own involvement, “I was talking about conditions for my fleet to become part of the task force. One of them is this. While we are using the Dhelan as our base for field operations, most of the territory we will be patrolling is no man’s land. While our ships are in the field, they will obey Federation Navel Protocol, with specific attention paid to ROE’s, particularly offering a chance to surrender at the beginning of every engagement. That should satisfy Mr. Dunham’s objection. However, if they run or if they attack, we crush them.”
"Getting the freighter is no problem, its the other ship that is an issue." Jarred paused, if he let the proverbial genie out of the bottle then one of the most bizarre mysteries in starfleet would get out "USS Katana can be brought here inside of a day but her arrival and departure would have to be kept a secret."
"And how do you propose we keep that secret?" Isha enquired resting one elbow on the edge of the table and her chin in her upturned palm.”
"USS Katana started her career just like every other Excalibur class accept for two details, her reactor is a prototpe, and the resulting nacelle glow which comes out green." Jarred paused knowing that this was going to have alot of questions "When the ship was powered up the reactor it self was one of the more powerful reactors ever built with an ulterior purpose, Transwarp technology, during a test the ship was successful to a point, there was a limit on how long the transwarp jump would last."
Now this really was beyond Isha's experience. She might like to pretend to be ignorant of the mechanics of warfare, but when it came to the mechanics of Starships, particularly alien ones ... it was not her field.
“The Katana?” Darson shrugged and made a noise that indicated he was thinking, “Hmm…Interesting. But I like it. At least more than some other ship than you could have brought in. Keeping it secret should be easy enough. We don’t even have to have it dock here. We could have it meet up with the fleet en route to its destination. If it does need to dock here, we can place it in a remote berth, falsify the records. We’re the management here. It’s a simple task.”
In his mind he was mentally factoring in the inclusion of the Katana into his plans. While it was a little troubling, it presented a unique opportunity in and of itself.
"Forgive me," Isha said aware that the reply to her question might not be meaningful or even truthful. "Transwarp?"
"Transwarp is speeds after warp ten, for about the last hundred and fifty years starfleet and a few other races tried to get it to work, the borg were able to come up with something similar but once again it had its drawbacks, so does the warp drive on the Katana."
"Oh, I see," Isha replied, an undertone of uncertainty in her voice. She actually had no idea if hers was one of those races, or if what he said was true. That was something R'Vek was more likely to know about. "I presume that the main benefit of this ship is that it can arrive at the scene to assist much more quickly than would otherwise be expected," she ventured trying to move back onto ground that she was familiar with.
"That is the advantage, starfleet has the warp signatures of a few of the ships that operate in this area, if we can co-ordinate on locating them we can collectively take down one ship or one hide out at a time, all we need is for everyone to share info, we can plan each encounter as we go."
"I'm awfully glad you didn't leave us prematurely, Lieutenant," Isha replied with a nod. "My Government is open to co-operation, and for the purposes of this venture I am at liberty to share information regarding certain movements. Have your department let my embassy know what is required," she instructed.
Jarred pulled a PaDD out of his pants pocket "The big item is at the top of the list, any warp signatures of known ships, the rest is wishful thinking." Jarred passed down to the ambassador.
Isha extended one slender jewelled hand and lifted the padd. She glanced at its contents for a moment before laying it again on the table. "I will have my people see what can be done about meeting your requests," she said
"It will take at least twenty hours to get the Katana, plus four hours to get a fix on one of these ships, plus I have six cadets coming which will slow some of my work, If Mr Tan can make use of my data I can entertain the new cadets and still get work done." Jarred said looking at Vince.
Tasha leant forward, placing her hands on the tabletop.
"I think we have formulated an exemplary plan of action. All points duly noted and though I cannot fully condone every point raised, they all have merit." She rose to her feet. "Lieutenant Wallace, prepare your freighter, Commander Dunham, besides being in charge of the fighter wing, I have another mission for you," she grinned, "Liberate more candy and make sure we have a bowl to utilise in future discussions. Commander Monteros, you will have the full use of the fighter wing, if you require and Colonel, may I have a word with you in private?" She eased the question out as she glanced around the table. "Anything else?" She enquired raising her chin, pausing for just a moment, "Then we are dismissed." She waltzed around the table, tapping James on the shoulder.
OFF:
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO: DS5
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
Lieutenant Junior Grade Kreallia t'Jay
Chief Counselor
Colonel James Daron
Marine Commanding Officer
erie'Riov Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
CO, IRW Dhelan
EnRiov R'Vek tr'Khellian
Tal Shiar/Candy Man
Lt Jarred Wallace
CIO DS5-9th Fleet Operations
Lt Vincent Tan
Chief of Strategic Operations
L: I am cutting this post into 3/4 parts. No need to sign any but the last one.
by (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Colonel James Darson & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Klingon Ambassador Toran of the House of Moqrhat & Lieutenant Vincent Tan & Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace
Post Details
| Title | A Combined Effort - Part 4 | |
| Mission | Judgement | |
| Author(s) | (G) erie'Riov - Sub Commander Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian & Captain Tasha Tahir (NPC) & Colonel James Darson & Commander Richard Dunham & Commander Isha t'Vaurek & Klingon Ambassador Toran of the House of Moqrhat & Lieutenant Vincent Tan & Lieutenant JG Taleria von Alesk & Lieutenant Commander Jarred Wallace | |
| Posted | Wed Sep 22, 2010 @ 7:28am | |
| Location | Ops |
"Have we considered asking these pirates if they want to surrender first?" said Dunham leaning back in his chair. He was trying to come to the defense of his friend Wallace by taking some of the flak off him and re-directing it at himself. "You know, before we blow them out of space...I mean last time I checked, Starfleet didn't annihilate criminals, they arrested them, and that's what pirates are. Criminals, so we should arrest them right.......and now I really want some candy, have you got any more of that to share sir?" asked Dunham politely as he pointed to the candy floating in the glass of water.
Tasha grinned inanely. Candy was sweet but she had to watch her figure as age was beginning to creep up on her as she also looked at the tempting lure of the candy.
"I can guarantee you that every pirate vessel this task force encounters will be given ample opportunity to surrender." Rianni said, "I'm certainly not looking to annihilate anybody if there's another option, bloodshed is not what we're aiming for here."
R'Vek reached into his coat pocket and slid a handful of individually wrapped chocolates to Dunham, "Here, gorge yourself on these." He said with a smile, he knew how fond Rianni was of her former XO, so he had a soft space for him as well.
Rianni recognized the chocolates, she'd bought them for Ayren before she'd taken off with that neanderthal, Da'nal, the very neanderthal whose father sat at this table, ~Frack! Focus, Rianni!~ "This is not to say we'll back down from a fight, any fight. We're out to stop these pirates by whatever means they require us to use against them, but if there's a way to avoid killing anybody I will always choose it."
"Mmmmm Chocolate." Said Dunham quickly forgetting the issue he had raised, and really not hearing Rianni as he ate his chocolates. "I will of course do what ever the Captain orders." He smiled.
~Please pass me a sweet. ~ She thought at Dunhams response, but again, resisted saying anything aloud for fear of recrimination.
"My services are clearly not needed here and I have cadets arriving on the next earth transport so if you'll excuse me." Jarred stood to leave.
"You didn't answer my question, Lieutenant," Isha said her tone betraying none of her annoyance with R'Vek for his changing the direction and mood of the debate. If her cousin persisted with his confrontational attitude she was going to have to become even firmer. "What do you propose to use as bait, Lieutenant Wallace?" she repeated.
Jarred paused, "I can get a hold of a freighter that intelligence uses for special projects now and then, I can get one as a bait ship, plus I have access to one particular Excalibur Class ship that will fill the bill perfectly."
Darson remained silent as Wallace stood and began to storm out. The mood was quickly turning sour, and in this case this was not what we intended. “I think that Mr. Wallace is right,” he said suddenly in an offhand manner, “Not with everything…but I think his idea does have some merit. Now if you’ll sit down Lieutenant, we’ll continue this discussion civilly…not like a bunch of petulant school girls. Even Mr. Dunham’s niece,” he gestured at Dunham, “Has more composure. So sit.”
“Let’s step back and look at a few things, shall we? Alright. We know that there was an operative on board working for the pirates. Apparently double dipping with Starfleet Intelligence, but that is neither here nor there. I knew about this long before hand. Why? Because these people are a thousand years too early to try and monitor me. Also, this half-caf soy no foam latte, not to hot, with a shot of vanilla and a dusting of fresh nutmeg in a large to go cup that I ordered from him before I went into this meeting is poisoned,” he produced the bevereage, raised it to his mask and appeared to take a sip before giving an exaggerated disgusted grimace, “Yep. That’s poisned alright. Also, it’s a crappy drink to begin with. Regardless, as Isha says…we shouldn’t assume that all pirates are working together. Also, her prediction with regard to their action in my eyes is spot on.”
“Mr. Wallace thinks that heavy handed techniques have no point, and that we should take a covert approach. Yes, covert operations work. However,” he glanced at Tasha, “Starfleet does not officially endorse covert operations. Another caveat of it is inherent in its nature…that of ‘Covert’ Operations. We are doing this little operation in order to rid ourselves of the pirate threat and convince the general public that that intergalactic shipping lanes are safe once more. In that manner, we don’t need to just beat them back by sabotaging them and what not…we need to send a message. Shock and Awe so to speak. But,” he held up a finger, “Covert operations can set the stage for the main event.”
“Wallace idea of a bait ship is good. We set up a vessel that pirates would love to hit. We leak out its itinerary, and send it on its way. However, in addition to its goods, we have a SpecOps team hidden somewhere on board along with the crew. We wait for them to dock and then either wait until they drag it back to their base, or as would more likely be the case, hijack the ship right there. And then what do we have? Our very own pirate ship. Use it to infiltrate the base and lower the defenses, allowing the fleet to move in. A classic move, straight out of the classic military text, The Art of War . Or even from my own creation, James Darson’s Big Book of War. Q.E.D. And on that note, Mr. Dunham, how were the chocolates?”
“And to further address one of Mr. Dunham’s concerns,” Darson continued, “Regarding the offer to surrender. Before we were so rudely interrupted by some immature shenanigans,” he neglected to name people or his own involvement, “I was talking about conditions for my fleet to become part of the task force. One of them is this. While we are using the Dhelan as our base for field operations, most of the territory we will be patrolling is no man’s land. While our ships are in the field, they will obey Federation Navel Protocol, with specific attention paid to ROE’s, particularly offering a chance to surrender at the beginning of every engagement. That should satisfy Mr. Dunham’s objection. However, if they run or if they attack, we crush them.”
"Getting the freighter is no problem, its the other ship that is an issue." Jarred paused, if he let the proverbial genie out of the bottle then one of the most bizarre mysteries in starfleet would get out "USS Katana can be brought here inside of a day but her arrival and departure would have to be kept a secret."
"And how do you propose we keep that secret?" Isha enquired resting one elbow on the edge of the table and her chin in her upturned palm.”
"USS Katana started her career just like every other Excalibur class accept for two details, her reactor is a prototpe, and the resulting nacelle glow which comes out green." Jarred paused knowing that this was going to have alot of questions "When the ship was powered up the reactor it self was one of the more powerful reactors ever built with an ulterior purpose, Transwarp technology, during a test the ship was successful to a point, there was a limit on how long the transwarp jump would last."
Now this really was beyond Isha's experience. She might like to pretend to be ignorant of the mechanics of warfare, but when it came to the mechanics of Starships, particularly alien ones ... it was not her field.
“The Katana?” Darson shrugged and made a noise that indicated he was thinking, “Hmm…Interesting. But I like it. At least more than some other ship than you could have brought in. Keeping it secret should be easy enough. We don’t even have to have it dock here. We could have it meet up with the fleet en route to its destination. If it does need to dock here, we can place it in a remote berth, falsify the records. We’re the management here. It’s a simple task.”
In his mind he was mentally factoring in the inclusion of the Katana into his plans. While it was a little troubling, it presented a unique opportunity in and of itself.
"Forgive me," Isha said aware that the reply to her question might not be meaningful or even truthful. "Transwarp?"
"Transwarp is speeds after warp ten, for about the last hundred and fifty years starfleet and a few other races tried to get it to work, the borg were able to come up with something similar but once again it had its drawbacks, so does the warp drive on the Katana."
"Oh, I see," Isha replied, an undertone of uncertainty in her voice. She actually had no idea if hers was one of those races, or if what he said was true. That was something R'Vek was more likely to know about. "I presume that the main benefit of this ship is that it can arrive at the scene to assist much more quickly than would otherwise be expected," she ventured trying to move back onto ground that she was familiar with.
"That is the advantage, starfleet has the warp signatures of a few of the ships that operate in this area, if we can co-ordinate on locating them we can collectively take down one ship or one hide out at a time, all we need is for everyone to share info, we can plan each encounter as we go."
"I'm awfully glad you didn't leave us prematurely, Lieutenant," Isha replied with a nod. "My Government is open to co-operation, and for the purposes of this venture I am at liberty to share information regarding certain movements. Have your department let my embassy know what is required," she instructed.
Jarred pulled a PaDD out of his pants pocket "The big item is at the top of the list, any warp signatures of known ships, the rest is wishful thinking." Jarred passed down to the ambassador.
Isha extended one slender jewelled hand and lifted the padd. She glanced at its contents for a moment before laying it again on the table. "I will have my people see what can be done about meeting your requests," she said
"It will take at least twenty hours to get the Katana, plus four hours to get a fix on one of these ships, plus I have six cadets coming which will slow some of my work, If Mr Tan can make use of my data I can entertain the new cadets and still get work done." Jarred said looking at Vince.
Tasha leant forward, placing her hands on the tabletop.
"I think we have formulated an exemplary plan of action. All points duly noted and though I cannot fully condone every point raised, they all have merit." She rose to her feet. "Lieutenant Wallace, prepare your freighter, Commander Dunham, besides being in charge of the fighter wing, I have another mission for you," she grinned, "Liberate more candy and make sure we have a bowl to utilise in future discussions. Commander Monteros, you will have the full use of the fighter wing, if you require and Colonel, may I have a word with you in private?" She eased the question out as she glanced around the table. "Anything else?" She enquired raising her chin, pausing for just a moment, "Then we are dismissed." She waltzed around the table, tapping James on the shoulder.
OFF:
Captain Tasha Tahir
CO: DS5
Ambassador Isha t'Khellian
CAG Squadron Leader
Lieutenant Commander Richard Dunham
Lieutenant Junior Grade Kreallia t'Jay
Chief Counselor
Colonel James Daron
Marine Commanding Officer
erie'Riov Rianni Monteros-t'Khellian
CO, IRW Dhelan
EnRiov R'Vek tr'Khellian
Tal Shiar/Candy Man
Lt Jarred Wallace
CIO DS5-9th Fleet Operations
Lt Vincent Tan
Chief of Strategic Operations
L: I am cutting this post into 3/4 parts. No need to sign any but the last one.