From themuirs@interlog.com Fri Jun 19 08:11:13 1998 Date: Tue, 5 May 1998 08:41:23 -0400 From: David Muir To: Dana Loeblich , "Jeffrey (alternate) Jenkins" , Jeffrey Jenkins , Jeffrey Jenkins , "Treena L. King" , J'ymle Koretz , Yoni Levanoni , Mark Palumbo , Frank O'Conor , Tom Gladstone , Stefan Wiedner , Conor Healy , Anna Cordray , Brian Suskind , Christian Stark , "Eric (alternate) Scott" , "Eric V. Scott" , Erin Kenny , Gabrielle Bubis , John Luerding , "Joshua J. Young" , Kevin Richter , Michael Natale , Mike Groner , Paul Menz , ### , Tim Fath , "Wendon B. Pettey" Subject: [DANTEXF] SB ALIGHIERI: Meetings in the Midst of War [The following text is in the "ISO-8859-1" character set] [Your display is set for the "US-ASCII" character set] [Some characters may be displayed incorrectly] SD 100505.1115 FMD: 3.0915 Scene: SB ALIGHIERI Briefing Room <<>> Tao walked through the door and into a room where CDR Greyclaw, Naeve Sevril, Commodore Mirtox and the others had already begun to gather. Tao took his usual seat and smiled to the others in the room. "Good to have you back, Lieutenant. Nice work down there," added Yssar. "Thank you, sir. Glad to be back and ready for action," Tao replied. Yssar smiled at the remark. He would have expected nothing less from his Science Officer. "As soon as everyone has arrived, we will begin the briefing. Then you'll understand why I called you back so urgently," explained Yssar. Tao acknowledged the explanation and sat patiently awaiting the others, though silently he was brimming with anticipation. <<>> The rest of the senior officers of the starbase arrived shortly, and they sat around the large conference table. The chairs for the Chief Medical Officer, the Head Counselor, and the Security Chief were empty. Now, with his XO gone, Yssar felt like he was dealing with a skeleton staff. He was pleasantly surprised to see that Greene had sent his XO up from Hulad to attend. "Mister Kingston... I'm glad things weren't too hectic for you down on the surface. We certainly have some trouble brewing up here." Kingston just shrugged and nodded. As bad as the horrors on the surface were, he had seen worse in his career. At that moment, Doctor LeBeau came through the portal, looking like he'd been wrestling a stuck pig. Without apologies for his interruption or his appearance, LeBeau sat down. Yssar nodded. "Welcome Doctor. I understand things were pretty bad down on the surface." Ariana stormed through the portal next. She glared at the doctor, her Bajoran nose twitching with anger. "I was just down in Sickbay and we've got Kraggons being treated ahead of Huladians and Starfleet!" "Your point, Commander?" LeBeau said flatly. "Those bastards are the ones who attacked--" "That's enough Mister Basek," Yssar growled. "Sit down." She sat down, or rather collapsed, into the chair beside Naeve. Ariana was breathing hard but looked apologetically at the mild-mannered Second Officer. LeBeau squinted at his CO, wondering what would come next. Yssar stood and tilted his neck from side to side, like a prizefighter limbering up for a boxing match. "Doctor LeBeau uses triage and assesses his patients medically. And given that we've got far more casualties than we were designed to handle, he's doing an admirable job. Those Kraggon soldiers are casualties, just like any of the others. It is the nature of war." Ariana was fuming. "By the prophets! They attacked innocent civilians and purposely caused massive destruction. That is *not* the nature of war." Yssar stood silently, staring at Ariana like a father might look at a wayward child. Finally she calmed down a little, threw one glance the doctor's way and then said to Yssar: "At least in my experience, sir." "New experiences everyday, Mister Basek. Now, on to our latest concern. This area of space has been invaded by the Dalriadans. They are several million kilometers away, but closing fast. Mister Roebuck's jury-rigged minefield is protecting us from a faster assault, and from any missiles that the Dalriadans might want to launch. But we are running out of time. Commodore Mirtox is trying to get an urgent message to OMEGA, but we're experiencing very heavy jamming." Speaking of the devil, Mirtox walked in with Ulfsson and took a seat. He nodded for Yssar to continue. "We need help on this one, folks," Yssar resumed. "But since assistance is not forthcoming from Starfleet right away, we're looking at all our options. "Set aside your prejudices for a moment." Yssar looked specifically at Ariana when he said it. "We have a Kraggon delegation on board and they have hinted that they might be able to arrange an alliance with us to fight this new threat. I would at least like a cease-fire period. Mister Kingston... I want your marines to use all force necessary to shutdown the Kraggons on Hulad. Seek them out and destroy their infrastructure. We've been granted cart blanche from the Kraggon government to weed out their 'rebellious' brethren on Hulad." Kingston looked strangely at Yssar. How in the hell could his puny Marine force take on the hundreds of thousands of Kraggons on Hulad. "Use trickery if you must, Mister Kingston. Lure them into traps. You will not have any air support for the duration. Batron 2 and the fighter squadrons will be needed to go after the Dalriadans. "Mister Roebuck, work with Mister Windstar to establish an arsenal of high-powered missiles. Commander Ulfsson will elaborate, but our intel suggests that a high-yield warhead can defeat the hulls of the Dalriadan navy. However, the gravitic shielding systems on their ships produce bands of invulnerability above and below the hulls. From the front, we're facing banks of plasma cannons. As I see it, the only avenue of attack would be port or starboard from the rear. Most of their ships have their main guns at the sides, however, so a full rear approach is required." Chip Miller winced. "What are you saying, Commander?" Yssar shrugged. "I'm saying that the missiles that Science and Engineering come up with will be strapped to your fighters and delivered with as much accuracy as possible." "That sounds a little like a Kamikaze flight." "Kamikaze?" Yssar asked, not as familiar with fighter plane history as he should have been. "Suicide, Greyclaw," Miller said. He was sure he'd told Yssar that one before. "You'll have the full support of Batron 2. And the Yorktown is on her way back right now, although I think some dry-dock time will be required." Yssar looked sympathetically at Miller, but turned to Windstar next. "I have some other items that I want to take care of before we get too deep into this." Yssar crooked one claw at Tao. "Mister Windstar, front and center." Tao came up to the front of the room. Yssar brought out a little box and Windstar smiled, well aware of what was inside. Greyclaw said ceremoniously, "I hereby promote you to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and attach all the rights and responsibilities of the rank. I would also like you to serve as my Executive Officer. You've already been leading some away missions very effectively. I think you can make that part of your permanent duties. Of course, there's more paperwork than you're used to." Tao smiled. "I am honored sir, but I ask that I get some time to think about it. After all, Science is what I've trained to do." Yssar slumped almost imperceptibly. He was looking forward to working with Tao, and every instinct had told him that Tao would have jumped at the opportunity. "Very well, Commander." Next Yssar turned to Roebuck. "Mister Roebuck, you have done an outstanding job on the station, and I understand you've been assisting OMEGA on a few items. When I get the report, it might be worth a promotion, but in the meantime, I wanted to award you with this CO's Commendation." Yssar handed Roebuck a framed scroll. It read: Commander Greyclaw Yssar, Commanding Officer of Starbase Alighieri (DS-230) hereby commends Lieutenant (junior grade) Merlin Sanek Roebuck for his hard work and dedication." "Finally, I wanted to thank Naeve Sevril for her loyal service over the past two months and wish her well on her new assignment as liaison to the Tamarilian government. She delayed her departure specifically to assist with the Huladian attack and the new invasion. However, if we can safely get her out of the system, her services are urgently needed elsewhere." Yssar didn't bother to mention that he had received a strongly worded flash from Starfleet command berating him for holding up the Tamarilian Liaison and a member of the Royal Tamarilian Family. Next Greyclaw leaned to whisper to Miller and handed him a large box. Miller smiled and nodded. Yssar turned back to the assembled officer. "Now, let's get on with kicking the Dalriadans back where they belong!" <<>> Anyone feel free to add anything during or after the meeting. The Kraggons will NOT be interested in an Alliance. However, we can play with this plot device to help us get to know the Kraggons a little better. Everyone: please ensure that your mailing lists match the one above, or if you see any errors, please let me know. Gaby Bubis is staying on as an observer, but Neil Wooding would REALLY like to be take off all mailing lists. Josh: The box contains whatever you want to reward your folks! Mike N.: I know you're away until mid-May, but when you get back, please let me know if you're interested in the XO position. Kevin: Congratulations. Keep up the good work. Yoni: I got your proto-post. It is the next ALIGHIERI thing I work on... probably won't get to it until Thursday though. Sorry. Conor H.: You are on the mailing list, but have not been officially signed up yet. Bureaucracy is a drag huh? Preliminary welcome anyway. Eric: Saevok is off the roster. The next step is to drop you from the mailing list. Please get in touch as soon as you can. FMD 3.0915 War preparation meeting Dave M. a/Cmdr. Ezekiel Astratus Cmdr. Greyclaw Yssar XO, USS Leviathan CO, SB Alighieri -------------------------- David Muir ------------------------- --------- http://www.interlog.com/~themuirs/asr.html ---------- -------------------- themuirs@interlog.com -------------------- Lieutenant George Cordoba Instructor, ALB