Re: THE SONS OF LIBERTY

[LonestarCaptain (PCG)]

*Turson stifles a grunt as Daragon's questions hurt his pride. *

"Fair questions, friend," says he. "I will seek to answer each according to the information given me by Libertarian Command.

"Firstly, the objective of our assault is to force the current Romulan Empress [OOC to Dino: PLEASE tell me I at least got the gender right! END OOC] to publicly admit the plot of the Empire to infiltrate and destroy the Federation. We hope to do this with as little loss of life as possible, but if the Romulans refuse to surrender, we will pound their fleet into a powder until they do.

"Secondly, our occupation of Rator III will be very largely dependent on the outcome of the assault. If the assault is successful, and the Romulans are compliant, shock troops may be sent in--along with high-ranking officers of our fleet--to see that the Empress publicly admits this scheme and submits to arbitration as to what the Empire must pay to amend the damages they have dealt. If however, our assault is successful but meets strong Romulan opposition, our objective is to set up a blockade around Rator III. For this we will definitely require reinforcements. As for invasion or occupation of the planet, this will be the very last option, as such action would undoubtedly lead to the deaths of thousands--if not millions--of innocent Romulan citizens.

"Thirdly, our enemy is not supremely strong but is by no means defenseless. The Star Empire has been greatly weakened by the destruction of Romulus, and we hope to use this to our advantage. They are swiftly establishing themselves in their new territory, but they are still unorganized in a number of ways. A number of revolutionary movements have supplied the added tactical advantage--for us, that is--of civil upheaval, which has no doubt distracted Romulan authorities. However, the Romulans are very intelligent, and they are a dastardly deceptive race, so we should always be very cautious of sudden reinforcements, advanced weaponry, feigned surrender, and the like. As for starfighter and marine capabilities, they are few. The Romulans have largely preferred the classic ship vs. ship method of fighting, and consequently their marines and starfighters are not as well developed or trained as ours may be. This will prove advantageous to us.

"Fourthly and lastly, the exact size and potential of the Romulan army based on Rator III has not been apprehended. We do not know what kind of anti-capital ship guns they may have (if any) on the planet's surface. Friends of ours in the new Romulan Republic have sent spies to try to ascertain this information, but we have not received it yet. In this case, Daragon, if your highly efficient organization can send a secret recon team (preferably disguised as Romulans) to do this, I will contact Libertarian Command to see if they approve."

*Turson takes a long drink of water and wipes his forehead with a handkerchief, as he is not used to talking for long stretches of time. *

[ForgeRecruit (No Affiliation)]

Or you could always send a strike team of handpicked commandos (OOC: *cough*storylineexcusetogetallthemaincharacterstogotogethertocapturetheempress*cough*) to capture the empress delivered via a stealth ship while the rest of the fleet engages in one of two diversions. Two diversions will keep the Romulans confused as to where we plan to strike, while the real strike is deeper then they think possible this soon, and with less time for the Empress can go into hiding. If that fails then the ships at either diversion will be in position to make an assault on Rator III as they will be dividing the Romulan forces amongst themselves, and one of them can be the diversion while the other makes the real assault.

[Dino27Captain (PCG)]

OOC Scare, we are one-hundred-seventy-one years past the last info we have on the Empire or who is in charge... make this stuff up as you go along, there is only about a 10% chance that you will get something truly important wrong, and a 0% chance that any mistakes you make regarding who's in charge and the like will matter at all.   And how did I become the resident go-to-Romulan? (looks in mirror at Romulan ears) good reason.   End OOC




As Vardok followed the Admiral into her spacious office, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he detected a scowl from the secretary, but he would not give him the pleasure of letting him know that his foolish display had any effect. A good spy would never allow his temper to endanger his position like that.
As S'ren walked through the door, it closed behind him with a hiss of air. The office was quite large, circular in layout, and well lit. Trophies, medals, and model Warbirds cast from silver lined the walls. The room was sparsely, but comfortably furnished. Couches, a table, and chairs were placed about to allow for a group of officers to meet and discuss matters for extended periods.
Admiral Vexon walked back behind her large, dark wood desk, and took a seat. The desk had intricate carvings of birds of prey covering its surface, with talons decorating the ends of its legs. Behind the Admiral hung the flag of the Romulan Republic, a dark green raptor with outstretched wings reaching upwards towards an unseen sky.
Now seated, the Admiral spoke,
"Please find an unoccupied chair and put yourself in it Commander, everyone else already has, without my permission no less."
A distinctly feminine, and also distinctly agitated voice replied from the back of the room,
"My apologies, Admiral, I thought I would rest between rounds."
Vardok spun around. Who? I didn't see anyone when I entered the room.
A Romulan woman in a Republic Commander's uniform rose from a couch at the back of the room and walked forward.
The Commander opened her mouth, then closed it again, thinking better of it.
Admiral Telth'Alore spoke again,
"Commander Vardok S'ren, meet Commander Nala Telth'Alore, my daughter-in-law."*
Commander Nala Telth'Alore and Admiral Vexon Telth'Alore couldn't have looked less alike and still both be Romulan. Instead of an unshakable gray, Nala's eyes were a fierce, sparkling green. Where her Admiral mother-in-law was quite tall and thin, Nala was short, and a bit heavy in build. The Admiral's face was all straight lines, cheekbones, eyebrows, wrinkles, and a bird of pray beak-like Roman nose. But Nala's visage was round; round cheeks, round chin, even her nose was smaller and rounder than her mother-in-law's. The Admiral's hair was gray, and worn in traditional Romulan fashion, long in the back, short in front, save for in front of the ears, and cut close to the head all around. The Commander's hair was jet-black, shoulder length, and worn long both in front and back.
Vardok put out his hand,
"I am pleased to meet you llhei"**
Nala took his hand and shook not unkindly,
"Likewise, but I am not here for meet and greet, and neither are you based on how you put that Uhlan in his place."***
"Indeed,

"Well, Commanders, please take your seats, I imagine, Vardok, that you are here for the same reason as Nala."









OOC
* Nala Telth'Alore is a fictional character created for this roleplay.
** llhei means madam in Romulan.
*** A Uhlan is a very low ranking member of the Romulan military.
End OOC

[Andre TholvelCEO]

Daragon nods approvingly, satisfied with the information, and sits back down. "I have transmitted this information to the fleet. We do not yet have the capabilities for a full listening post, as our designs are not complete, but we can provide some older models of Blackouts, which will be dusted off and sent to recon the field. If the cloaks prove strong enough, we can even skim the planet and drop two DIM Commandos to check out the army.

"Should Libertarian Command wish to purchase a better ship for the mission, a new line of Blackouts or even a listening station can be refitted and delivered within two days.

"As to Malcor's suggestion, the DIM Commandos will assess the defenses of the Capitol, and if they should prove penetrable, perhaps such a plan would prove useful. Also depending on the success of the orbital Blackout drop, a DIM Fireteam could be dropped in for sabotage purposes, or perhaps a joint force could be established on the planet in secret."

Daragon pauses for a second, staring into the air as if he were reading or listening to something, which everyone else finds somewhat unsettling.

"Plans have been made as of forty seconds ago to produce, or rather to greatly hasten the plans for, a new Blackout MkII line, the first of which is scheduled to be commissioned in four days. However, as the delicate and powerful equipment on board represents a significant dent in DI emergency capital, nearly .5% for the twenty scheduled products, Daragon Incorporated can only provide one free of charge. Should Libertarian Command wish to purchase more, and increase the efficiency of the mission, they are welcome to."

[ForgeRecruit (No Affiliation)]

*Malcor nods, and refrains from saying that they should have just hired Daragon Inc to do the whole mission for them, as they seem to be the only one necessary to put resources into the mission, and with plenty of resources to do it.*

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

[OoC: RMM, while I respect your wishes, and understand your reasonings, you're so far the only person to really mind, and dude, Daragon uses the term "Mandalorian" already, not to mention that about 45% of the Grelfucan population adopted the Mandalorian culture...I'll do my best to see what I can come up with to replace the designs I was going to bring in, but fair warning that if worst comes to worst, or I just get plain lazy, I'm sticking with SW canon. /OoC]

IC:
The XO of the Manticore sends a memo to the conference of the other Sons of Liberty officers.

"Gentlemen, if you need any kind of logistical support...listening posts, attack forces, construction facilities, et cetera...you'd be amazed at what the Garuda Vanguard has done with the current Grelfucan facilities...we can have a full Intel network set up in Romulan space within a few weeks, and a full assault force ready inside a few months.
"Now, I don't mean to sound arrogant in the slightest, but the capacity of the shipyard/space station that the Garuda's arrived in...four slots for ships up to 2,000 meters-though I'm told they can manage two smaller ships of up to 800 meters if needed, eight slots for ships up to 600 meters, sixteen for ships up to 300 meters, and forty-eight slots to construct ships up to 60 meters. Along with four locations capable of churning out up to 300 light mechs, 150 medium tanks, and 100 heavier machines at once, and four more facilities that can produce personal weapons in such number that I'm positively astonished, as well as armor manufacturing facilities.
"Oh, and it's fully outfitted with military-grade shielding, weaponry, and hangars capable of holding fighters in such numbers that almost the entire Grelfucan Triumvirate Army's Aviation Corps could fit inside, and the few Squadrons that couldn't were easily loaded into the construction docks.
"Just mentioning, that if you need us for something, we can go with the Grelfucans' more brutish, no-nonsense tactics, or the-General!"

Just then, Generals Jace and Slisko come into view of the holocamera, as does another man in armor similar to General Slisko's, though notable different.

"Gentlemen, meet General Jadii Slisko, GVMC and Admiral Jai-Ke Slisko, GVN. They've shown me their gear, and I'm impressed. Thoroughly impressed."

Jace gestures to the two Slisko brothers. "These two here have shown me a few examples of their Naval Special Warfare and Marine Special Operations Command units. Though the units in NavSpecWar and MARSOC have rivalries, as would any unit of their caliber, they're all part of the Garuda Vanguard Special Forces and Operations Command, and they've fought and trained together for quite a while now.
"Daragon, I know you have a preference towards your own units, but I'd like to at least send in some of my own to work alongside your Dimmies-I mean, DIM Commandos. Independent operations, if you'd insist, but like the GV, Grelfucans don't appreciate it when they're in the field, where Intel is crucial, and the Powers That Be are lightyears away with that Intel, and bickering over who should know what.
"What I'm saying, to all of you, is that I want to send in some of my own units as well, given that General and Admiral Sliskos relinquich overall command to me?"

With a nod, both Sliskos acknowledge and grant the implied request.

"Alright, it's settled then. Daragon, if you want to coordinate with the units I'll be sending, let me know. Otherwise, I ask only for target data and mission objectives. We can handle the rest."

Jace turns to the PCO to cut transmission, but pauses.

"One last note: everything I've mentioned, can be done for free. Though the Garudas' facilities requires a great deal of resources, and their systems are more advanced than that of current Grelfucan technologies, we're more than able to sustain ourselves for the time being. You want it, you've got it, and if it's not immediately available, you can have it within a week, despite the cost. Grelfucan is fully behind this, and we don't mind about pushing our rather extensive reserves a mere point-five percent to accomplish a mission. We're warriors, not businessmen, and this is a warrior's job."

[OoC: I'll figure out about getting all of my other designs onto here, or at least in some location to display them, so nobody's looking at my posts going "Okay, you make it sound great, but what are you talking about??" /OoC]

[LonestarCaptain (PCG)]

[OOC to All: I feel like we are all military masterminds planning the greatest assault in history! END OOC]

*Commander Turson strokes his goatee thoughtfully and turns to Malcor.*

"A double-diversion, eh?" says he. "That is an excellent suggestion. We will certainly use it.

"And Daragon, I am sure Libertarian Command will forever be indebted to you for your willingness, even though you set a price on most of your help. You are a businessman, and you can be respected for your insistence upon a price. I will check with LC and ask them if they wish to buy the aforementioned vessels from you.

"General Jace, please give my sincerest thanks to the Grefulcans for their desire to aid us in our fight. The Federation--assuming that after all is said and done, it will still exist--will no doubt recognize their bravery and reward as much as it can.

"Gentlemen, in short, here is the plan for our assault: dispatches of recon teams will be sent from Daragon, Inc., and the Grefulcans, to spy out the ground forces on Rator III. If necessary, they will sabotage any anti-capital guns or key installations they find. This will add even more confusion to the Romulan forces. After the sabotage, the two diversion forces will be sent in. These must be large forces, so as to draw out as many Romulan ships as possible. During these diversions, a large ground force--led by myself and any others of you who want a little action--will invade the Romulan capital city, aided by Grefulcan and Daragon, Inc., forces. We will force a surrender and public confession. Then we will proceed to Earth to depose the pseudo-President and restore order and liberty to the Federation.

"This plan is based on the assumption that everything WILL go according to plan. If it does not, gentlemen, this battle may be only the beginning of a war.

"You have all been informed. We will be arriving at Rator III in three days. Daragon, General Jace, please send in your recon teams. The rest of you, please prepare for the assault."

[OOC to Dino: I am looking forward to where your subplot is leading, and I already have an idea as to how I can tie it in. END OOC]

[Dino27Captain (PCG)]

OOC Indeed? That's good, because my plans are for much further in the game I'm actually dreaming up some subplots that will have my character out of the main plot at times, dealing with the Tal Shiar (Romulan Empire secrete police) but I won't give away more... Suffice it to say that I SHOULD be here for the majority of the game, I might PM you about when would be a good time for a couple events to happen within your general plans though.)

[Andre TholvelCEO]

Daragon stiffens at the comments from Jace. He turns to Commander Turson, with a demeanor that looked almost agitated to the spectators. "I am not a quarrelsome man, Commander Turson, nor am I one to hold grudges, but this is the second time in this meeting that I have been needlessly and falsely insulted. Please see that it does not happen again."

He turns to face Jace, staring up at him with a rigid stare that chilled the bone. "And you, Marine, have no business making such remarks. You may flaunt your experience and training, but making an assault as you have upon myself and my company is not only uncalled for, but demonstrates immaturity to the degree of making one question your combat effectiveness. I did not come to be CEO of the largest private-sector company in the galaxy by tossing around .5% of my emergency capital, which, I might add, is more money than you have ever made, and will ever make, in your "warrior" lifetime. Daragon Incorporated has already provided for this task force an entire division, two additional platoons. We are now accelerating the production of a line of stealth ships that costs more than your fleet out there," a gesture to the viewport, "and are committing two DIM Commandos who each cost as much as a marine fireteam. Please refrain from further insulting Daragon, Incorporated, or you may regret it."

"As to your offer of Mandalarian assistance, you should know that many DIM Commandoes have trained under Mandalorians themselves, as well as several other warrior species, and more than match them in most combat scenarios. They are not just warriors, as you are, they are reconnaissance units capable of spying out the entire capitol between them. The two commandoes I had planned to task to the mission should be more than sufficient for the task at hand; however, as I said, I am not a man to hold grudges. Therefore, as a gesture of goodwill that I hope will be returned," a pointed glance at Jace, "I will agree to coordinate a single team of your marines in the field, but you must keep in mind that the drop will be made in total secrecy, and as such I cannot allow any more. Furthermore, do not allow your troops to interfere with my "dimmies," as you derogatorily refer to them as; the marines will be tasked with the scouting of potential LZ's for a ground invasion, and defense of the safehouse that my Rator III contact is already arranging, while the DIM Commando units will scout the Capitol itself, and gather information from there about the defending ground forces, and security capabilities of the Empress."

Daragon returns his attention to the rest of the group. "The first Blackout MkII ship will be completed tomorrow by 0600. The drop will take place by 1545, and the commandos will have completed their tasks in two days, though their effectiveness could be greatly increased given five days. I warn you, gentlemen, this is a poorly planned assault on a highly defended planet. Three days is not enough time to properly prepare for an invasion. My commandos will do what they can, and I have no doubt the marines will accomplish their goals as well, but there will be more casualties than many of you are comfortable with. I also object to the proposal that you, Commander Turson, a naval starship captain, would lead a ground assault at the head of a joint marine force against an unknown defense, one of the most unpredictable and difficult-to-control scenarios possible. However, you may do as you wish. I will remain aboard the Rising Tide, and coordinate Rising Tide division, designation DIV112. DI will not be providing ground troops in addition to the two DIM Commando units; that is up to you, as we do not yet have stable, excess DIM units available for outside affairs."

[ForgeRecruit (No Affiliation)]

A large scale invasion of any kind is completely unnescesaary, as is a large scale space battle. Two diversions made simply of the ships here and one with more ships, one heading to Rator III (but not assaulting it, battle somewhere along the route) and one heading for somewhere else important are sufficient, while a small landing party of five at most can sneak into Rator III and capture the empress and steal incriminating documents and escape onto an evac ship. This would come as a suprise to the Romulans where as a full invasion would allow the empress to escape through a proverbial trap door and disappear, along with any hopes of incriminating the president.

[Andre TholvelCEO]

"Precisely, which is why the DIM Commando units are necessary to establish proper intelligence on security, location of the Empress, and other such essential information, prior to even a small incursion. The DIM presence will be completely unnoticed by Rator III; whether the Grefulcan presence will follow the same pattern is up to them, but should they be discovered, proper protocol will be followed in denying any and all affiliation until such time as they can be either recovered or, if necessary, eliminated."

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

"General Jace, please give my sincerest thanks to the Grefulcans for their desire to aid us in our fight. The Federation--assuming that after all is said and done, it will still exist--will no doubt recognize their bravery and reward as much as it can.
"You have all been informed. We will be arriving at Rator III in three days. Daragon, General Jace, please send in your recon teams. The rest of you, please prepare for the assault."

"Certainly, Turson. One thing, though: it's Grelfucan, not Grefulcan."

Daragon stiffens at the comments from Jace. He turns to Commander Turson, with a demeanor that looked almost agitated to the spectators. "I am not a quarrelsome man, Commander Turson, nor am I one to hold grudges, but this is the second time in this meeting that I have been needlessly and falsely insulted. Please see that it does not happen again."

He turns to face Jace, staring up at him with a rigid stare that chilled the bone. "And you, Marine, have no business making such remarks. You may flaunt your experience and training, but making an assault as you have upon myself and my company is not only uncalled for, but demonstrates immaturity to the degree of making one question your combat effectiveness. I did not come to be CEO of the largest private-sector company in the galaxy by tossing around .5% of my emergency capital, which, I might add, is more money than you have ever made, and will ever make, in your "warrior" lifetime. Daragon Incorporated has already provided for this task force an entire division, two additional platoons. We are now accelerating the production of a line of stealth ships that costs more than your fleet out there," a gesture to the viewport, "and are committing two DIM Commandos who each cost as much as a marine fireteam. Please refrain from further insulting Daragon, Incorporated, or you may regret it."

"As to your offer of Mandalorian assistance, you should know that many DIM Commandoes have trained under Mandalorians themselves, as well as several other warrior species, and more than match them in most combat scenarios. They are not just warriors, as you are, they are reconnaissance units capable of spying out the entire capitol between them. The two commandoes I had planned to task to the mission should be more than sufficient for the task at hand; however, as I said, I am not a man to hold grudges. Therefore, as a gesture of goodwill that I hope will be returned," a pointed glance at Jace, "I will agree to coordinate a single team of your marines in the field, but you must keep in mind that the drop will be made in total secrecy, and as such I cannot allow any more. Furthermore, do not allow your troops to interfere with my "dimmies," as you derogatorily refer to them as; the marines will be tasked with the scouting of potential LZ's for a ground invasion, and defense of the safehouse that my Rator III contact is already arranging, while the DIM Commando units will scout the Capitol itself, and gather information from there about the defending ground forces, and security capabilities of the Empress."

"Let me get this straight, business man. You're providing two commandos, a division, and two extra platoons; whereas I have an entire battle fleet at my disposal, with a full Legion of troops with full armor, artillery, and air support. Honestly, I could run this operation myself, were it not for the fact that the MSI isn't really involved here-I'm doing this because even though I'm not a fan of the Federation, I like the Romulans even less, and the fact that they are using politics as their weapon of choice disgusts me.
"Meanwhile, in addition to talking up the measly amount of men you're putting into this, you're also insulting the capabilities of units you have zero Intel about and relegating them to security operations that are irrelevant to the actual mission, not to mention that you are also making assumptions about the cost of that fleet, and the assets aboard...when in fact they could blow your useless sabski into free-floating clouds of plasma."

Jace turns to Turson, with an appearnace that is the epitome of calm...and eyes raging like fire.

"Commander, I rescind my offer to work with such a refmic like Daragon. So long as his Dimmies stay out of the way of my Blacktalons, we won't have a problem. About the only thing I didn't want to shoot the man for saying was the idea of a Navy officer running a Marine operation. I have no doubt of your capabilities as a leader, but I'd prefer we send someone whose MOS includes being shot at directly with nothing for protection but their armor and training."

"Precisely, which is why the DIM Commando units are necessary to establish proper intelligence on security, location of the Empress, and other such essential information, prior to even a small incursion. The DIM presence will be completely unnoticed by Rator III; whether the Grelfucan presence will follow the same pattern is up to them, but should they be discovered, proper protocol will be followed in denying any and all affiliation until such time as they can be either recovered or, if necessary, eliminated."

"Actually, gentlemen-and Daragon-you'll be interested to know, as was I when I was informed, that the Blacktalon units who have volunteered for the mission have studied the culture, language, history, organization, et cetera of the Romulans upon their arrival to my home planet. They've also fashioned skinsuits that will perfectly replicate the bio-readings of a healthy Romulan. If either on of the SpecOps units were to be discovered as outsiders, it would be the DIM commandos."

Turning to Daragon, his face now clearly showing the rage he's been keeping at a simmer, Jace snarls, "And Daragon, if you even think about drafting orders to have any of my people killed, I swear I will reduce your flagship to slag. Unsalvagable, utterly useless, slag. Understand me? I've tolerated your refmic attitude because I respect the men you order around, but more and more I'm thankful that I'm not with you in person, because it is more than likely that I would have killed you with my bare hands far before now..."

[LonestarCaptain (PCG)]

*Commander Turson strikes the table with his titanium-alloy baton so hard that a crack runs the length of two feet on the table.*

"ENOUGH!!!" he screams. "Division and dishonor! We must all work as a team if we are to fight the Romulans! Why, the way this is going, within a day there will be only a handful of ships left to take on the entire Empire!"

"And YOU!" he seethes, turning to Daragon. "I have had enough of your threats to anyone who insults you! Have you no shoulders, man? It is a man's glory to overlook an offense, but you? Bah! You have threatened my aide. You have threatened Malcor. You have threatened the General. Who's next? Johnnyred himself? Your contribution to this group is indeed appreciated by myself and by the Libertarian Command. My current outburst does not change that. But the fact is, Daragon, though we are all from different groups, are a TEAM. Your business mind has bled over into this alliance. You buy out, knock off, or otherwise eliminate competition. In the business world, that is life. But in the military, honor, fidelity, and fraternity come before money.

"Gentlemen," Turson sighs, turning to everyone at the table. "I must apologize to all of you. I am afraid that I myself have contributed to the division. Daragon, you must forgive me. All of you must forgive me. But the fact is that we must operate as a UNIT. Perhaps now I see why early Americans were so insistent on Liberty AND Union, for one will not work well without the other. I suggest we all consider this.

"In the meantime, your suggestion has been noted, Malcor, but Libertarian Command is eager to crush the Romulan Empire, perhaps out of anger against the Empress's diabolical scheme. The truth is, merely capturing the Empress may avail some good, but perhaps not enough. The Empire has too often been racked by civil war, and Libertarian Command fears that if the Empress is captured, another will merely take her place.

"Gentlemen, please return to your ships until further notice. I wish to get advice from Captain Johnnyred."

*Turson exits the room and heads towards his office.*

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

"My apologies, Turson, for having been participant to the division of this team. I'll go prepare my men for the insertion, and then for the invasion. The Rommies won't know what hit them..."

Jace walks out with both Slisko men, already talking about what to do with the forces they have at their disposal.

[Andre TholvelCEO]

Daragon, his demeanor completely unmoved by the sudden escalation of the mood in the room, addresses the remaining gathering. "I once again apologize, gentlemen, for my improper estimations of the Phoenix Command Group and its affiliates. I see that pride runs much deeper in this environment than I could have imagined, though I do not understand why. Nevertheless, my two Daragon, Incorporated Marine Commandos will operate alone, as General Jace so strongly wishes. They will recover intelligence and remain to accomplish whatever other goals the Sons of Liberty require. The twenty ships of DIV112 and the ten ships of specialized platoons P1X11 and P1X12 will continue to operate in support of the Rising Tide, though I have found that committing a full quarter of my fleet to this singular, outside mission at no charge has been somewhat unappreciated. Thank you for your time, gentlemen."

*Daragon leaves, his bodyguard silently slipping out behind him. He escorts himself to Rising Tide 1 and exits the hangar.*

[TalmidCommander (PCG)]

Gary stands up and catches up to Turson.

"If the time arises, may I have a word with you Commander? It regards an alternative tactical plan."

[LonestarCaptain (PCG)]

[OOC to All: Don't worry, I will bring us to a battle scene soon. We obviously don't take talking too well. But I must say that although I want the players to have as much liberty with the game as is reasonable, too many changes to the tactical strategy will delay the war. And no hard feelings for Turson's outburst. END OOC]

[OOC to Supe and Jace: If you guys would like, you can upload subplot posts of what your recon groups encounter on Rator III. It will add more suspense to the game. However, if you want to keep your posts in the Fleet, that's fine, too. END OOC]

*Turson strokes his goatee thoughtfully.*

"I suppose there is time. Please accompany me to my office."

[Dino27Captain (PCG)]

OOC BLARG!!!! The roleplay is slipping through my fingers as I am forced to delegate undesirably large amounts of time to the unsavory task of education. Grrrrrrrrr......       I'm going to try to get a quick post in and then head to bed... where I should've been as I am writing this... (mutters about geometry and chemistry) End OOC



Vardok raised his eyebrows,
"The same reason Admiral? Then I take it she is here regarding that.... errand, you sent me on?"
The Admiral did not smile at this, she was too tired to be amused now, tired from the burden that only those who hold the lives of tens of thousands in their hands can know.
"Commander S'ren, Commander Nala Telth'Alore has full security clearance on this matter, and has been telling me how to do my job concerning this situation for the past hour." Nala wisely kept her peace, she might argue with an Admiral, but she knew how to do it tactfully.
"Now please be seated; Nala has been pacing my office floor endlessly and she must be tired by now." Commander Nala remained silent. Both Commanders pulled up a chair and sat down.
Vardok took a deep breath and began,
"Admiral Telth'Alore, the Libertarian incursion force is preparing a full scale assault on Rator III, as well as several other key systems. The Empire knows we are coming, though they might not know what our targets are... yet. We have already fought forty-seven hostile Warbirds outside the Neutral Zone, and have taken minor casualties. If we are to succeed, and we must succeed Admiral, we are going to need help. The combined Libertarian fleet is strong, with units from the MSI, the PCG, Yaka, Starfleet, even a major business has become involved. But they do not know what they are up against, they believe the Empire to be a crippled thing that can be beaten in a week... They have not yet met any real resistance, nor the Tal Shiar. Also, from the coded reports I have received, it sounds as if there have been not only words, but physical blows exchanged between allied officers. They need disciplined warriors who know the Empire, who know how to fight them." Admiral Vexon sighed and ran her hand across her brow.
"I have had this exact discussion with Commander Telth'Alore. And as I told her, I do not dare send more forces. I cannot risk the wrath of the Empire without the approval of the Senate.* The Star Empire is focused on causing a massive wound to the Federation, which means that they are gearing up for what they do best, conquest. And who do they hate more than us, besides the Klingons of course. I am sticking my neck out, and that of the Republic for that matter, as it is by allowing you to participate in these actions. Although I do have the excuse that you are part of Starfleet and not just the navy." Now it was Vardok who let out a long breath.
"Admiral Vexon, then why not speak with the Senate about this matter? I am sure that they would approve of a plan that protects the Republic. We must strike first! As you say, Admiral, the Empire hates us, why wait to fight on their terms? Why not upset their plans?" The Admiral showed no emotion, her answer sounded as if she had spoken it many times before, likely to Nala.
"Commander S'ren, I would like to get my hands around the throat of that pompous Empress, believe me. But my hands are tied. The Senate may well be happy to assign forces to this campaign, however, bringing it before them would not only be useless for the goal at hand, it would also be unwise. The Senate would take a considerable amount of time to determine whether or not we should attack at all, or remain at peace for as long as possible; there is always that chance that the Star Empire doesn't want to invade now, and that we'd only be making them mad by getting involved. As for it being foolish, well... The Senate is not an Imperial body, we have taken steps to ensure transparency, honesty, freedom, and accountability. All of these things make it much easier for the Tal Shair to observe us. True, there are measures to protect classified, security related information. But the Tal Shair is everywhere. They have ears in every bulkhead, spies on every major ship, and they are likely even in the Senate. They might not know of the whole strategy yet. They certainly would if we brought this plan before the Senate, who would want full details on everything before agreeing to it. And then the press would announce war, or at least that some big hush-hush matter was taking place, which would ruin all hope of surprise. There are, I am loathed to say it, advantages to the secrecy of the Empire."
Commander Nala Telth'Alore spoke for the first time, and not the last, in this discussion.
"Admiral, the Empire will certainly attack us! There is no peace! We must strike the first blow! We must cripple them! Why do we stand here idly? Romulans, our brothers, have already died at the blood-soaked hands of the Empire! They care nothing for us, they despise us. We must act, because they will attack! If we are to remain free, this assault must be a success. They have been too quiet for too long. They must be gathering fresh troops, building new fleets. They didn't spend their full wrath on us in our war for independence. They simply fought until they run out of money and decided to fight amongst them-selves instead." Admiral Vexon was visibly displeased at this point, she had made her views clear to her out of line daughter-in-law not ten minutes ago, and this behavior bordered on mutiny, even for the Republic.
"That is enough Commander Telth'Alore. We fought too long and too hard, and lost too many to gain what respect we have with the Romulan Empire. We simply cannot throw it away on a whim. Tens of thousands died in our war for freedom, I have no desire to fight another, to give the Empire reason to want another, unless it is absolutely necessary."
Vardok cut into the conversation again.
"But Admiral, isn't that freedom worth protecting? The Empire doesn't respect us, they don't fear us, and they won't let us live in peace. The treaty was a farce, the Empress gnashes her teeth daily because of that agreement. She and her Tal Shair nei'rrh** fiends will never rest until we are dead or slaves on some Dilithium mining asteroid. They wouldn't try to sabotage lloann'mhrahel*** unless they had greater plans of conquest; and I've never known the Empire to try to completely derail the government of another nation unless they were planning to take it over via brute force soon afterwards. What can be left after the Federation falls, or is so weakened by in-fighting, then to spend the rest of their Imperial rage on us?"
The Admiral set her fist down on her desk, hard.
"That is enough! I have given my orders concerning this matter, and I expect them to be obeyed, or I will have you both sent to your quarters, or the brig, depending on what you say next. The truth is, I would very much like to strike a blow against those vipers, but doing so would just give them a good reason to wage war on us. The Empire always tries to goad its foes into a battle they can't possibly win. And this is no different." Vardok wasn't giving up so easily.
"But Admiral, they..." But Nala finished for him
"attacked us in our space!"
"That is as good as an open declaration of war on their part. They have already broken the treaty, they will do it again as soon as it suits them, we can't give them that chance!" Vardok argued.
Admiral Vexon Telth'Alore listened intently, tapping her index finger on her desk thoughtfully. At the end of the Commanders' speech, she rose from her chair.
"I believe you have something there... This is a bold move on their part... for once they opened the game by attacking us on our turf... We have had skirmishes over disputed systems after the treaty before though... where exactly did they attack you?" S'ren pulled out his pad, flipped to the correct screen, and handed it to Admiral Vexon. She studied it carefully, reading it over several times.
"Commander's log, stardate.... umm-hmmm.... um-hmmm... yes.... um-hmmm..."
She looked up, set down the pad and turned back to the Commanders, "That certainlyis our space. They attacked us, and that is as good as open declaration of war, as you say. It would be fully within my power, and in fact, my duty as Admiral to send a task-force to determine further information about the attack, and to ensure future security. I can't start an open war mind you... but I'm not entirely powerless here. I have the grounds to 'investigate further.' And I think that further investigation will reveal that the Empire is in violation of treaty and that I must exact justice for such actions."
Vardok and Nala looked first at each-other, than back to the Admiral.
"Does this mean..." Vardok asked
"that said investigating task force may join in Libertarian combat actions deep in Imperial territory?" Nala finished.
Admiral Vexon raised her eyebrows.
"Did I say that?" She asked, pointing to herself and trying to look comically innocent. "What I am about to say does not leave this room, I cannot express the importance of it enough to my... well-being in my... current position, understood?" both Commanders nodded. "Yes, the task force's real purpose will be to join in the assault on key Imperial Romulan systems and offer whatever help and wisdom it can to the allied forces. Unofficially, that is what it will be doing. On the record," and here she smiled, "Commander S'ren, will lead a task force to investigate a possible Imperial attack on our sovereign territory. Commander S'ren will be permitted to do 'whatever he deems necessary and reasonable' to investigate the unprovoked attack, and to apprehend anyone involved in it."
At this, Nala frowned, clearly worried that she would not be a part of this "investigation." The Admiral put her fears to rest with her next sentence.
"Commander Telth'Alore and several other trusted officers will join Commander S'ren on this mission, each commanding their own ships. Understand that I cannot send too large a force. You must use your skills rather than brute force. Strike and fall back, be ever behind them, never where the masters of the unexpected assault expect you to be. Come out of nowhere, and be everywhere. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and don't stop till you're sure they're dead." The admiral paused. "And, don't get yourselves killed if you can help it, in case this mission fails, I suspect the Empire will have a few bones to pick with us... namely ours. And we will need every ship and able commander we can get just to survive."
Commander Vardok rose, gave a slight bow, and spoke,
"Thank you Admiral, you always knew how to dance on red tape," he said with a smile.
At this Admiral Vexon grew quite serious.
"I cannot stress the dangers of this mission enough to you. Not only will you be flying into the teeth of a long slumbering monster and trying to kill it from the inside, but I fear that you may both, and I as well, face court martials when and if you return."
"Understood." Nala said.
"We accept the risk," Vardok replied, "the Federation may already have a court martial, or two, or six, for me when I get back there. I am disobeying over a dozen direct orders already."
The Admiral responded "Then you'd best get out there and disobey some more, the fate of two quadrants may well depend on it."
Commander Nala tentatively stepped towards the Admiral.
"Admir... Mother... Thank you. I... I am sorry." The Admiral gave a big smile at this.
"It has been a long, long time since you called me anything but Admiral. Of course it is forgiven. You love your country, that is a worthy thing to argue for." Nala seemed unsure of herself for the first time that day,
"It has been a long time since you you called me daughter-in-law. It has been a long time since..." And at this, her eyes become wet. She changed the subject. "Yes... Yes I do love my country, and I would gladly die for it."
"Only my daughter-in-law would be so bold as to spend two hours arguing with an Admiral. You are fearless. And I am proud of you for it. You are still a part of my family...." she trailed off here. Seeing the pain in her daughter's eyes, she too changed the subject. "And about dying for your country, don't let those become words of self fulfilling prophecy Nala, for you will look death in the eyes constantly in the next weeks. And do not forget that there are other things of value in life besides war. Now go, I expect you both have preparations to make. Jolan Tru**** Commanders."
"Julan Tru Mother."
"Julan Tru Admiral, and thank you for your help." Both Commanders saluted, turned, and left the room.












OOC Well, so much for a "quick post"

* I don't know how the government of the Romulan Republic works, I'd be willing to bet that it is run by a senate though, as that's how a Republic would normally run.
** nei'rrh, a venomous Romulan animal.
*** lloann'mhrahel, "Them from there" usually means the Federation.
**** Julan Tru is a Romulan saying of greeting and goodbye, similar to the human "good day."

End OOC

[TalmidCommander (PCG)]

[OOC] Whoa, Dino!  That is huge. [/OOC]

*Gary accompanies Turson to his office*

[OOC] Assuming they are both sitting in Turson's office now.... [/OOC]

Gary sits down and begins to relay his plan. "During the first engagement against the Romulans, we only knew they were around us through feeling, because they were cloaked.

"During some of our previous wars, the Federation has authorized the use of cloaking devices on Star Fleet vessels for use during times of war. While most ships today no longer carry cloaking devices, I believe that if the need arose, we could call over some battleships still equipped with cloaking technology, and just have them awaiting on standby behind the Romulan Capital. When we attack, the extra firepower could catch the Romulans off-guard and help regain a bit of our lost surprise." Gary explains.

[Dino27Captain (PCG)]

OOC I had some catchup to do if I wanted to be there for the next battle. End OOC

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

[OOC to All: Don't worry, I will bring us to a battle scene soon. We obviously don't take talking too well.  But I must say that although I want the players to have as much liberty with the game as is reasonable, too many changes to the tactical strategy will delay the war.  And no hard feelings for Turson's outburst.  END OOC]

[OOC to Supe and Jace: If you guys would like, you can upload subplot posts of what your recon groups encounter on Rator III. It will add more suspense to the game.  However, if you want to keep your posts in the Fleet, that's fine, too.  END OOC]

*Turson strokes his goatee thoughtfully.*

"I suppose there is time. Please accompany me to my office."

[OoC: I suppose that would work well, sure. Supe, since I'm entirely unfamiliar with the ST universe...PM me some basic info so I don't seem totally n00b-ish, please? Or, at least someone? /OoC]

[Andre TholvelCEO]

[OOC: Scare, I will start a plot of the DIMC's probably tomorrow, depending on when I get a PM response from AA.

ARC- Info concerning what, starship battles or basic outline of what you should do with your recon team? [/OOC]

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

[OOC: Scare, I will start a plot of the DIMC's probably tomorrow, depending on when I get a PM response from AA.

ARC- Info concerning what, starship battles or basic outline of what you should do with your recon team? [/OOC]

[OoC: Just general info on the target and its surroundings. I can generalize things, maybe splash in a bit of detail, but I know next to nothing about Romulans other than what they look like, and that you can't trust one for dirt. /OoC]

[Andre TholvelCEO]

[OOC]I'm having Scare PM me a sketch on the Romulan fleet and what we'll encounter on the ground, I'll let you know when I have them. He'll probs give us a loose sketch with some details on security, but the rest is up to us to fill in and up to him to give us unexpected twists. [/OOC]

[Lord Commandant JaceLord Commandant (MSI)]

[OoC: Okay, thanks. Dino's giving me relevant info on the general stuff like weapons that I might be facing, so I can better optimize my Blacktalons' gear. /OoC]

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