Episode 4: "Fidelis Servorum"

The Admiral sat in silence as his staffers filed into the conference room. A small control panel was built into the table, where he was sat at the head. That control panel was flashing the word 'Connecting...' in tiny letters.

The conversation that struck up while everyone was arriving was like background noise to him, so deeply was he engaged in final thoughts/doubts/fears/determinations before he started this briefing and made this whole insane plan official. He was sure history would - if they succeeded - use nicer words like 'courageous' or 'daring' to describe what they were about to do.

Insane would be a word reserved for failure.

Timing was impeccable for once. The word 'connecting...' was replaced with 'Connected' just as the last of the invited sat at the table and looked upon him. Wood tapped a button on the panel and 28 Starfleet Captains - some more famous than others - joined them in the room, albeit as holographic projections of their real selves who sat in their Conference Rooms light years away. The Admiral was certain their senior staffs had assembled as quickly as his had.

"Thank you for joining me at such short notice," Wood directed this to both his Senior Staff and the assembled Captains, "Senior Staff of the Starship Redemption, allow me to introduce the Rebellion, as we've come to be known as. Captains Picard, Chakotay, Riley, Wilson, T'vak, Barris, E'Dar, Warrick, Chang, Nassar, Bee-mo, Eckhardt, Andrews, Ruhland, Kira, Chandrar, Noorani, Talla, Wiggin, Wayne, Blackburn, Clarkson, Hammond, May, Espanoza, Bak-Yun, Takahashi and Walker."

He paused for a moment to allow for polite head nodding.

"The first and most sacred thing we swore to respect and protect as Starfleet Officers is life. It doesn't matter if that life holds a Federation citizenship or not. We are bound by an oath given upon our honor and governed by a Prime Directive written in the spirit of the Federation that brought so many different worlds together in peaceful co-existence when no-one thought it would ever be possible."

He took a breath.

"There is a people - once a proud and advanced civilisation - who face extinction at the hands of our own. Their only crime was to come home, a place they had not been for millions of years, in their hour of need. The oath we took, the code that we live by demands that we do something about that - even if the risk is great - because we cannot just sit by and watch Cal and Belem's people," He pointed at the two Voth, "Be exterminated along with those who dared to object to this new direction the Federation has taken."

He made eye contact with every person in the room.

"Which is why we are going to do something unheard of. We are going to launch a rescue mission to Earth."

Wood did not wait for the expected stunned reactions to subside, as he dare not allow the doubts and fears about attacking the most heavily fortified world in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants that would follow to take hold. Leaning down to the small console again, he tapped in a command that brought up a new holographic image. Over the centre of the table floated a map of the Defenses surrounding Earth.

"With thanks to some extremely brave souls, we have the locations of the Prisons where the Government is holding every Political Prisoner taken since Carpathia came to power - along with detailed schematics of each facility. We also have a way to reach them alive..."

With the tap of a button the entire mass of static defense platforms - numbering in the dozens - that surrounded Earth turned Red.

"The Orbital Defense Grid will be sabotaged. Leaving it disabled for the duration of our time in the area."

The image added in a group of Starfleet insignia's, moving toward the planet Earth.

"Our fleet will form two distinct groups. The rescue force and the Covering Fleet. The Rescue force - consisting of Marines and Security Personnel from all our ships - will travel in assault runabouts alongside our combined fighter force, moving in close formation with the Covering Fleet.

We will all be disguised as two large prototype vessels due to be test-flown for Propaganda in two day's time - using the Holographic Masking Projector upon the Starship Incursion to create the disguise.

This will mean keeping in extremely tight formation. Once we are about the distance from the Moon to Earth, the Rescue Force will break formation and run for their targets. Each ship's Marine/Security force will be given a specific facility to assault - along with the schematics for preparation purposes. I don't need to stress how important it is to drill until you know these places in your sleep.

Once the Rescue Force has made their run for the surface - us Fleeters come in. The Home Fleet will be on maneuvers at the edge of the system that day. As soon as the alarm is sounded they will come running. That's a total of 60 ships we will need to hold off long enough for the Rescue Force to grab their prisoners, break atmosphere and Warp Out.

There are no other Starfleet Units that are within easy reach of Earth. So long as the Rescue Teams can break in and get out in quick order, we will have the element of surprise and can keep the initiative long enough to get out of the system before more organised Resistance can be brought to bear."

He paused for a second to let that sink in.

"Rules of Engagement. Non-Lethal only. Starships shoot to disable and Rescue Teams are set to stun. I understand they won't have the same qualms, but I refuse to allow our own people - who have been deceived into brutality - to die wholesale for that mistake."

"Questions?"

{all}

Emily instantly piped up, her hand pushing a stray hair away from her face and behind her ear, “Sir,”She said without glancing around the table, “Can I ask in what form is Security to be of aid in this...scenario? Are they to be a part of the rescue teams or will those be comprised of the marines mostly?”

There was a brief hesitation, one in which she could have waited for him to answer however jumped back into the conversation, “I’m only asking because I assume that if my security are to be involved in the rescue scenario we would offer some form of training in the holodeck to equip them.” She cleared her throat, “Perhaps with the Marines.”

That final sentence was as close as Emily Star was getting at asking the help of the Marines. There was no way she could deny that they were better at their onboard ship duties than off ship and if they were about to jump into this insane plan that Wood had, Tybalt would need to teach her Security how to handle chaos.

“Just curious…”She finished off, going quiet to allow others to comment.

tag other beings

Star had asked a good question. Wood was quick to respond, "That's fine. It's a good question." He assured her, "The majority of your people will bolster the Marine's numbers and will prepare with them. Keep a small contingent - about a quarter of your roster - here to deal with any intruders we may get."

{all}

Senka steeples his fingers and studies the admiral for a beat before posing his question. "Admiral, given that this mission largely involves the offboard use of security and marine forces, logic warrants inquiring as to what you will require of the operations department during the assault."

Thrack leaned back against the wall, listening as the plan rolled out. It seems that intially they had thought of everything, but things could so wrong so quickly. He had an idea about the how to keep the Home Fleet away from Earth longer. Thrack knew that the more time that they were delayed, the better the odds for their entire task force.

"Admiral, sir, I do have a suggestion to help with out survivability. I know a way to delay the Home Fleet without engaging them."

At that remark, Thrack saw several of the Commanding Officers turn and regard this information. Several seemed to just realize that he was Cardassian. Most hid the microexpression of untrust, disgust, hatred, but a few let it show freely.

"It was actually a trick that was used against us by the Klingons during the Dominion War."

[tag Admiral]

From behind the admiral one of the captains, Wayne, spoke up (perhaps giving some indication why a large gathering of such forceful characters was avoided where possible), "With so many of our tactically trained crew on assault ops we will be utilising the lion's share of our Ops team in alternative trained roles to fight the ship, and those that remain will be largely operating a communication hub to co-ordinate all our assets."

"I know that Bee-mo and Norani are dispatching elements of theirs groundside as part of their missions for asset recovery and database intrusion" he added, "and Bak-Yun is losing some of theirs to sleeper ground ops," his voice cut from the same authoritative model as most of his fellows, even if what he had said actually added very little to the discussion, and completely failed to answer the heart of Senka's question.

Another of the captains was about to cut in and offer just that when he in turn was cut off by a polite cough and nod from Picard,urging people back to the core of the planning session. His own mission parameters included an incursion into the facility housing the system wide emergency broadcast controls, where they were going to widely splash out unencoded packets of the non-operational evidence the 'rebels' had accumulated while marines carried to the 'front' by his ship would be 'liberating' the academy (and certain former crewmates of his now living there).

"Anything that can delay an engagement with our opposite numbers should be considered" the famous captain agreed, gesturing to Thrakk to continue, showing not the slightest hint of personal feeling at the sight of a Cardassian in Federation uniform.... despite his very personal history with some of the race.

"Thank you Jean-Luc," Wood nodded as a show of appreciation to Picard's timely intervention. He looked to Senka and decided it was best to answer his question quickly before continuing.

"Mister Senka - and this applies to any other Operations staff too - have a chat with the Security Chief, Emily Star and see if your guys and hers can join forces here on the ship."

With that dealt with he turned to Thrack's intruiging idea.

"Klingon trick you say, Thrack?"

{All}

Dushall was listening into the conversation from Admiral Woods side. He didn't speak up until he felt there was a opening, not wanting to interrupt some of the other higher ranking Captains. "Admiral, I have several Ideas that we may want to consider. If Mr. Thrack doesn't mind me jumping in." Pulling out his padd he accessed the table display and the screen changed to a standard runabout. Suddenly the image of the runabout changed to include two large cylindrical containers held underneath it. "Although the defense grid will be down these prisons have their own power source that powers a disruption field to prevent any sort of transports in or out within a 2 kilometer radius. That will definitely effect the time our men on the ground could take their objectives with the element of surprise."

Hitting the next button enhanced the view of the pods under the runabout. The doors on the four sides opened up to reveal 4 Marines standing in them. "These pods each hold 4 Marines and once magnetically released from the runabouts they will drop to within 20 ft of their pre-set coordinates in a matter a seconds. With the main power grid down they will not be picked up by sensors and will give us the element of surprise when we drop two on the doorstep of every objective point."

Moving to the next section the two pods on the runabout released and appeared to be falling through a atmosphere. When the pods settled on the surface on the simulation four devices shot out from the side as the doors released and fell to the ground. "When the pods land and the Marines dismount four pattern enhancement buffers are fired into the ground surrounding them for immediate extraction to the runabouts waiting in orbit." Dushall reset the screen back to the previous setting as he disconnected his padd.

"Also for this mission sir I recommend that we set up a 'Command Center' from which you can view all aspects of the mission. I just don't feel that the bridge can give you an entire view of both ground operations and spatial operations." With that said he looked around to see what the views and opinions were of his peers.

<Tag Any>

Cassius had, unfortunately, been the last one to come through the door for the conference. He had slipped in as quietly as possible and slipped into one of the remaining chairs and given Wood a quick, apologetic glace before the man had started into the planning stages of this upcoming operation. Cassius hated being late to something this important, but he had lost track of time while he had been doing a small pre-briefing of his pilots of information  that had filtered through the cracks about what was supposed to be coming down the pipes. He wanted his pilots to be appraised of all of the information that they could so they could make the best decisions when it came down to it. But Cassius had just not checked the chronometer one time and then ended up on the wrong side of a sprint to the conference room.

But as the briefing started, Cassius was slightly surprised to see all of the other elite senior officers who had been called in from remote locations to listen in and go over the final details of the plans. Quite a few well-known, or even famous, captains. All of them highly respected. But Cassius quickly pushed the faint awe from his mind and listened to the information that was being disseminated out to everyone attending. More than once, people had been cut off in the middle of trying to say something and Cassius could see some ire in the faces of those who had been left short in their statements. But it wasn't until Dushall came in with the information for the runabout Drop pods that he got a little confused.

He cleared his throat for a moment, interjecting a space for himself to make a comment, "Commander, Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I was under the understanding, from what information that I had heard, that the Assault Transports and fighters were all going to be in atmosphere providing close air support for the rescue teams. The marines are going to need some kind of air support on the ground, or the defense platforms on the facilities are going to pound them to pulp. The Valkyries and Gryphons have no qualms with atmospheric maneuverability and the firepower that they can bring down will be critical for eliminating heavy ground defenses. While this *can* be achieved from orbit, the precision strikes we would need to neutralize these defenses without federation casualties would not be possible. We're going to have to be there with them to make this work. And it will eliminate the need for the signal enhancers. Plus, the Gryphons can carry a large portion of those being rescued, relieving the stress on the transporter rooms aboard the starships. And the transports themselves can act as large scale pattern enhancers over large portions of the facilities while on station."

He paused, but only for a second," All of my pilots are committed to this. My fighters are keyed to take out ground-based air defenses before the transports enter threat range. The transports will have an open window to offload troops without actually having to touch down, and then remain on station to provide close air support while the fighters stay on station to provide protection for the transports as well as ground strikes if necessary. My opinion, with all due respect, is that these craft will serve the best use supporting the troops on the ground rather than in orbit. The drop pods can, by all means, still be used for rapid insertion of troops if desired. But my birds are going to be hitting this facility."

he looked around to Admiral Wood and to the projected faces of all of the other fleet officers,"Pardon my interruption."

<any>

Wood offered Cassius a nod as a show of his forgiveness. To be honest his Fighter squadron commander had mirrored his own thoughts to a degree.

"There's a reason why a physical landing for infiltration and exfiltration is required here," Wood explained, "We simply can't rely on Transporters. At the orbital level it would leave Starships and or Runabouts vulnerable while Transport is in progress but more importantly; it is reliant on craft under heavy fire still having fully functional Transporter facilities at the exact moment they are needed. That can't be guaranteed in this kind of operation. Also, like Mister Barr said, having Close Air Support will be invaluable to the ground teams in suppressing fixed defenses and keeping any opposing Air units from being a danger to them too."

"Keep hold of that plan though Eric," Wood added, "We could put that to very good use in the future."

He looked about the assembled Officers in the room and took a breath.

"I know this is a tall order and there is a great deal that is going to be taken on faith here," He said, "But I firmly believe that if anyone could pull this kind of a stunt off - those people are in this fleet. Captains - have your crews start running practice drills. Rendez-vous at Barnard's Star by 0900 tomorrow."

He paused and gave one last look about the room, "Lets make this happen people. Dismissed."

As the holographic communication connections started to close, creepily making Captains vanish from the room, Wood piped up over the muttering of his staff.

"Captain Dushall and Marine Captain Thrack," He called, "Don't go anywhere. I'd like a word."

{all}

"Klingon trick you say, Thrack?"

Thrack cleared his throat and pulled up a file. “It involved your illustrious Commander Worf oddly enough. A small group of Birds of Prey had attacked some of… Dominion Resources and were on their way back to their base. A group of 10 Dominion ships were following them… actually closing in on them. One of the BoPs dropped from warp and began firing Graviton Pulses in and around the area that the Dominion fleet would warp through. It brought them out of warp and they were unable to re-enter warp, losing the Klingon fleet. They had to navigate through the field and then they could go to warp, but it was too late. They did destroy the Bird of Prey, but the Founders weren’t very happy about it.”

A projection showed itself for everyone to see.

“Here is where we expect the Home fleet to be staging their exercises at. If we had three ships, here here and here, then we could delay their arrival back to Earth by up to 6 hours. They would have to travel through the field and then jump. Using three ships, could even be freighters, we could set up a delaying system all the way back.”

The projection showed the gravity fields appearing and then the fleet trying to move through them. As they were about to clear one, another one would pop up, encompassing the fleet again.

“We would just have to make sure to keep them in the bubbles and out freighters out. There is still the chance that we lose the freighters though. If we lost even one, there might be gaps that some of the fleet would be able to arrive during our engagement.”

Thrack waited through the rest of the briefing. He figured that his idea would be accepted as it was the most "humane" of his offerings... to have a Cardassian Fleet led by the Harkem decloak and destroy the Home Fleet was always an option, but not one that anyone at the table would accept. As it seemed that the meeting was adjourning, Thrack started to make a turn for the door.

"Captain Dushall and Marine Captain Thrack," Admiral Wood called, "Don't go anywhere. I'd like a word."

Thrack nodded and pressed himself against the wall to allow the others to leave. When it was just the three of them, he moved closer to the CO and the XO. "Sir."

Being told, in response to his question, to liaise with Emily Star left the Vulcan with nothing to contribute to the remainder of the briefing. During its remainder, he listened to the heated, often disorganized, informational exchanges. One level of his mind sorted and tracked the flow of ideas while on another, Senka considered the role of ego as it related to the advancement of ideas and the exchange of information in group settings particularly as the matter applied to Terrans. He could not think of any relevant papers on the subject, though reading one such after this meeting might, if logic and duty permitted, prove a valuable exercise.

Senka steepled his fingers as the Cardassian summarized his plan involving graviton pulses. Actually, the Vulcan knew, the plan had not been carried into execution by Worf, but by Kor, son of Rinar, and the key to the success of that plan had not been the graviton pulses that collapsed the Dominion squadron's warp fields per se, but the engagement of the Dominion squadron by the bird of prey Ning'Tau under Kor's command, a holding action that sacrificed the Ning'Tau, allowing Martok's Ro'Taran together with I.K.S. Sli'van and Orontho to return to Federation lines under cloak. This detail seemed to be lacking from the Cardassian's plan, and Senka began constructing probability chains as he considered the omission and its possible effects on the Cardassian's plan. There was, however, no opening in the briefing that would allow him to add the relevant historical data to the discussion, and as Thrack's plan seemed to be in the idea generation stage and not the operational phase, the Vulcan officer considered it logical to withhold that information until and unless it proved relevant.

As officers filed out, none gave the Vulcan a second glance, nor he any of them. Except one. He studied Star as she collected her things. Clearly, a conversation was now in order. He considered the probability that she would not welcome his assistance. Being a security officer, it was entirely possible that she, either because of logical reasoning or unfounded ego, considered her preparations sufficient sans support from operations. If that were so, he would still follow his orders. If he were wrong, however, then perhaps they could arrive at a mutually beneficial working arrangement that would see them through this mission.

Wood regarded his XO and Marine Commander in turn. A friend and an old foe standing side by side waiting for his orders. Sometimes he wondered if this life would turn up any more ways to capsize everything he became accustomed with.

He wanted them both to hang back so that they could talk in a less busy setting. Prioritizing which subject he would address first by level of secrecy required here, the Admiral's attention went to Thrack first.

"I like your idea about using Graviton Pulses against the Home Fleet," He opened, "However we lack ships - freighter or otherwise - to use for delivery purposes before they can reach us. I do see them being useful in another way entirely."

He let the ghost of a grin form on his lips.

"Making sure the buggers don't come after us when we're done." Wood continued, "A modification of a handful of torpedoes on each ship, fired aft as we're warping out in combination with the right breakout tactics to disrupt their cohesion should do the trick. Good thinking on bringing that up Thrack."

[Thrack]

Jessica a woke in her quarters, a cold sweat running down her forehead and across her back. It was the fourth night in a row she had woken like this. Only this time something was different. Lt. Hatter couldn't make out what it was, but there was something out of place.

She pulled her self out of her clammy sheets and made her way towards the shower, passing her table to pick up her morning dose before she hit the shower. That's when Jess saw it. Sat on the table was a PADD, on, and open to a message. Hatter opened the small, brown tinted transparent pot, took out 2 small pills and dry swallowed them, before picking up the PADD to read the message.

"We heard the recording also. It is slanderous propaganda. We know about your daughter. We can help. Keep this secret. We will be touch."

Lt. Hatter read the message a second time before deleting the message. She understood the implication of it, and understood what it was she must do. All her worst suspicions had been proven correct.
Jessica started to feel better as her ever running low supply of meds began to circulate around her system and she quickly showered, got dressed into her smartly pressed Chief Helm Officer uniform, before leaving her quarters and making her way to local turbo lift to start another shift on the bridge.

| Marine Country
| USS Redemption

As the meeting progressed Beth stayed silent and listened to the others talking while she finished off her donut and coffee. She really wasn't in a position to take part in the planning, not with so many higher ranking officers taking part.

For Ziva it was even worse being a corporal surrounded by a pile of Captains and higher-ups was definitely making her stay on her best behaviour. It didn't stop a look passing between the girls when one of the 'visiting' Commanding Officers came on the screen, while they grinned at each other they still stayed silent.

Their micro-part in the grand plan would come soon enough when they found out what facility they were targeting and what their mission goals were. Their was no question of them not being in the thick of things with the others of their Company. Both had too much experience in these sorts of snatch and grab missions to be left behind on the ship. Long gone were the days when they would have been left behind to mind the hearth due to their gender.

When the dismissal orders came through the girls filed out with the others heading straight back towards Marine Country to catch up with their respective squads and return to the intense training for the upcoming mission.

“Did you see how cute that guy was?” Beth asked her friend when they were far enough away from the others.

Ziva chuckled “I certainly wouldn't kick him out of bed” she replied “maybe we can get to meet him during the victory celebrations”. Neither girl would even entertain the notion of failure during this mission. Failure would likely mean death for both, neither was high enough up the food chain to be worth keeping for information and both were well aware what happened to grunts going up against an enemy like Carpathia.

They paused to head to their separate training areas “meet for food later?” Beth suggested.

“Sounds good by the time my Sarge is through with us I'll be hungry enough to eat a horse or six” Ziva replied bringing her hand up and giving Beth a flick of her hand that passed for a salute between the pair when it wasn't an official thing.

Tag: any

OOC: Ziva used with permission.

The Voth were formally turned over to Ops and Sec, for .. well whatever they were going to be doing now, and frankly Tybalt was simply happy to be shot of them.. not least of which because if there was one thing that the briefing had brought home to him it was just how up against it they were and how the time they had to prepare was ticking down by the moment.

About the only upside of things was that included in the information brought out on that chip had been the definite fact the the guards on the camp he and his would be assaulting were not going to be due the same leniency that the other engagements would be restrained under. Between those guards who were out and out inhuman augments twisted by their very biology and the others who were likewise guilty of at least being complicit in murder if not actively participating, there would be absolutely no need for kid gloves when dealing with them. Where others might claim to be labouring under false apprehensions the guards of that camp in particular had lost any right to leniency through their own actions.

"Just obeying orders" and "I thought it was allowed" ceased to be excuses a long time ago, even before the original extermination camps set up by a country that had once included the very land this prison was on.

All of which would certainly cut down on the time needed to go through the camp's guards, and in turn hopefully mean that the fighter pilots on overwatch would have less of the inevitable aerial response to deal with before the evacuation could start.

Wood turned his attention to his XO. He paused for a split second to regard the man, whose augmentations made for a physically imposing frame.

"I've got a job that will require your special talents," He said, "And you can have some fun doing it."

He gestured over at the table, which he leaned closer to in order to tap a command into a small console built into its polished surface. An image of Earth spacedock - the first of what would be a series encompassing 50 proud Starbases of the 'Immense' class - appeared over the table's surface.

"Apparently the Voth and their ships are being held deep inside Spacedock, which is run by a vehement Carpathian - Rear Admiral Killick. I want you to go in there, break the Voth out and deny Carpathia their technology by whatever means necessary. I insist you go non-lethal on any opposition you encounter, but aisde from that - it's at your discretion how you achieve this."

{Dushall}

OOC: Sorry about the long wait. It's been a hell of a week and a bit. Tybalt, if you'd like to lead your folks on a practise session while I wrap up the 'rescue the voth' planning and then we'll proceed with the real thing!

| Tybalt
| Holodeck

Once again the shots from the flyboys lit up the towers into scintilating fragments and bright blooming fireflowers; the force of sudden deceleration tired to force their insides out through their..... and the dense stink of too many people packed too tight into a dropship gave way to a sudden rush of cool crisp mountain air.

With sure-footedness born of long practice the troop bay emptied even as the doors they peeled through were still bouncing on their hinges from their pneumatic opening. Across the roof of the grim grey structure greyed out boots crunched freshly fallen snow and a cluster became a pattern which became a defence... which almost immediately became an assault.

More fire blossomed, the resonant shockwaves this time unmuffled by shuttle walls, and more holo thugs got neutralised. transparent aluminium became glittering shards and boots left solid ground once more. Unlike previous iterations this time there was no confusion over who would break what or who would go first, even as the holographically created figures below looked up the arcs covering them were already in place and being fired through

Yet another run-through was, according to the clock counting down to the estimated local response time, now nearly a minute old and there was no doubt training was paying off..

Not that Tybalt was going to jinx things by saying such aloud.

Thrack nodded.

"I shall then leave you to the rest of the planning and join my fellow marines for the ground assault, Admiral."

Thrack left the conference room and quickly headed to his quarters. Once there he retrieved the P90X device and put it on the table. Then he stripped out of his starfleet uniform and changed into the uniform that the marines used in combat. Then he pocketed the device and pulled out his Cardassian disruptor, looking at it. It was the one piece of non standard starfleet equipment that he would be taking with him. He checked the charge and then holstered it. Looking around his room, he had the distince feeling that he might not be seeing it again.

"Let's do this", he said to himself and exited the room.

Moments later, he was down in Marine Country. As he rounded the corner, he ran into one of the female marines... Bethany Moondark. "

"Lieutenant, do you mind if I join you in your training mission?"

[tag Bethany]

The briefing concluded and Emily watched the others file out. She stood, looked Senka over and rolled her eyes, "I guess you're with me, as per the Admirals advice."

Senka studied her. "Judging by your physiological reaction, that displeases you," he surmises. The words are delivered in Vulcan, and one eyebrow goes up as he waits for her reply.

"Just don't get in my way,"Emily responds in Vulcan, although less fluent as she hasn't spoken it in awhile, "I'm not used to having others in my space."

Crossing to the briefing room's replicator, he orders a Vulcan spiced   tea. "I do not intend to interfere with the performance of any of your duties, Commander. That would be both illogical in and of itself as well as being potentially fatal."

Gesturing to the replicator, "what, if anything, would you like? You do not have an immediately pressing engagement." He takes his cup from the receiving tray and waits for you. Your empathic abilities would
sense tension related to the mission but, during this lull, he allows  his curiosity about you to surface. Ever polite, he keeps it unvoiced.

"Seriously?"Emily looks at him,"A cup of tea? We're about to ..."A restrained laugh comes through, "Just like a Vulcan." She rolls her  eyes, "What part of a rescue mission isn't pressing?"

"Until we transit Sol system, you need only supervise the training of your forces and their augmentation of the rapid deployment marine squads," he murmurs. "Moreover, Commander Star, it is illogical to forgo food or drink especially following injury in the line of duty. Thus, I pose the question again. What would you like?"

His voice is politely reserved, his manner every inch that of a Vulcan officer. He's also every inch as stubborn as you appear to be. "I would also like to discuss in what ways the department of operations
may best assist you in the form of myself and my staff." He maintains eye contact.

Leaning against the briefing room table Emily regards him and his words, "Nothing is what I would like."She responds,"And I need to go brief my Security teams. Then we can go from there."

He considers this, expression impassive. Raising his tea to his lips, Senka sips it before replying. "When you have concluded your section briefing, I propose that you locate me and we may then continue this discussion in whatever manner logic proscribes."

He thinks you possibly resent having to work with him, and if that be the case, something he cannot tell without using touch telepathy, he wants to overcome that resentment for two reasons. The more logical
one is that he has to work with you in general and on this mission in particular, and negative feelings on your part will only hinder his ability to do his job effectively, which is to support you and your people in an as yet undefined capacity. More personally, he is intent on overcoming your seeming antipathy, because his curiosity about who you are is slowly increasing. That you speak Vulcan comes as no surprise. That you do not act Vulcan, he finds intriguing. Most importantly, perhaps, you sense no criticism of your conduct in his attitude. He has already accepted that your story is atypical. He wants to understand it, and through it, you. Though he's open to the opposite tack as well. Understanding you, and through you, your heritage. Each course leads to the same outcome in his thinking, knowing who you truly are. He watches you now, expecting you to walk out the door.

"Or,"Emily adds after a beat, "You can come with me to the briefing, then we can discuss things afterwards."She takes a seat, "After your cup of tea of course."

Senka sits across from you, his tea in hand. He regards you for a long beat. "I will accompany you," he says. After another beat, time enough to let the subject of the briefing lapse, he assays a question. "You
speak Vulcan. You appear to be of Vulcan ancestry, but you possess a nominally Terran name and do not behave as a Vulcan. An intriguing circumstance." Another beat. "I have no desire either to offend you or
to give you the impression that I am critical of you, for neither is my intent. However, Commander, I am curious. I would like to know your story, because I am quite certain it will prove ... unique." He adds
finally, "Of course, I will answer any questions of myself you care to pose." Your empathic abilities would tell you that he is indeed not being critical of you as other Vulcans who don't know you might be. You also have his undivided attention.

"My you're curious,"Emily says as she watches him speak her brow rising, "However if I had an issue with you sipping a cup of tea I fail to see how you'd assume I'd be fine making small talk." She snorts, "Drink your tea. You'll find out about me as you spend time with me."

"I assume nothing, Commander," the Vulcan says with complete equanimity. "I merely observe, ask questions, and listen to the answers." So saying, he does drink his tea. In fact, he finishes it. He thinks that on one level, you may have meant your last statement, You'll find out about me as you spend time with me," as a near challenge, as though it were possible that most people didn't have what it took to spend time around you. It probably wasn't a challenge, but it's an invitation he means to accept. Were it a challenge, in fact, and had you just issued it for the sake of being intimidating, you issued it to the wrong person, because the Vulcan considers himself more than capable of enduring your prickly facade to get at
the depths he's certain lie beneath.

"Just finish your tea,"Emily mutters.

A JP with Senka

OOC: Conversation with Dushall will be picked up in 'flashback' form when he's all moved and returned to posting.

-----Admiral's Ready Room------


As the doors closed behind his old friend's back, Wood felt a sense of loneliness. For the first time in months there were no incoming calls from Captains joining the cause, no intelligence updates from Earth or other major Federation worlds, no quiet calls from representatives of races who were nervous about what Carpathia was doing.

Just the calm before the mother of all storms. And he was alone with his thoughts.

Deep within the Admiral's soul was fire, which burned for everything good the Federation stood for. It had been stoked, fed and engorged by years of sacrifice and hardship for that same 'Nation'. Despite that, he realized he'd actually done very little of what the Federation originally set out to do - seeking out new life and extending the hand of friendship.

Truth be told. His entire career had been spent bleeding for the Federation - or making other bleed to protect it. He was a warrior, plain and simple. Probably why he got along so well with Klingons.

Was this created warrior driving this mission?

"Brooding again?" Janice's voice cut through the silence in the room, breaking the Admiral's thoughts.

Wood uttered a curse at being interrupted like that, "Do you Intelligence types get off on sneaking around every moment of the day?"

Vice Admiral Janice Richards grinned at her friend and cheekily cocked her head, "Hm, sometimes. Keeps us from boredom."

"I'm sure it does."

"So," The very lifelike hologram of Janice made herself comfortable on the couch that faced Wood's desk, "You coming to visit?"

"Fleet's moving in to Rendez-vous as was speak." He said.

"PADD number 4436. It's the third one down in the pile on the right side of your desk. You'll find a button marked 'Make it so' on the main screen. Hit it and I'll know it's time to pull the plug on your biggest danger."

Wood glanced back at his desk in shock, "Wait...how'd you manage that?"

She smiled at him. The image flickered for a second, in which Wood could have swore it looked like she was sobbing, "Lets just say this is a big enough deal for me to pull out ALL the stops."

A little perturbed by what he'd seen, Wood sat beside her image, "Jannie... Are you all right?"

"Yeah," She smiled at him, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Wood regarded her for a moment and then sighed, "Okay. Just checking."

She glanced over her shoulder, "Better go. Remember, PADD 4436."

"4436. Got it."

Wood paused and added in an emotional whisper as she winked out of existence, "And thank you."

With that he decided he'd had enough of solitude. Marching out onto the Bridge, he made a point of sitting carefully in the Captain's chair. The stars streaked so peacefully by on the main viewscreen, having an almost mesmerizing effect.

Those stars slowly drew back into the gently twinkling spots of normal space. 28 Federation vessels, including some of the proudest names in the fleet, were waiting in formation.

It was time to start the final leg of the journey that would see them assaulting the Federation's Capital.

Swallowing a thick lump in his throat, Wood opened up a shipwide channel, which he had simulcast over the entire fleet as a quick afterthought before speaking.

=^="All hands, this is Admiral Wood. Now that we are gathered in person the conviction to do what is considered by many as impossible has become a commitment. The lives of the wrongfully imprisoned and of an endangered species - The Voth - have been placed in our hands.

Let this be a message, spoken by our actions, that we will not sit quietly while criminals abuse the power of Federation Office to commit tyranny, spread terror among a people used to peace, end our freedom filled way of life and commit genocide in the name of security.

The only people who should be wetting their pants in fear should be the ones who think they can do this to others.

By the time we're through. They will be.

You are the finest sentients to have ever taken the Starfleet oath - right up there with names like James Kirk and John Archer. I could not be prouder to serve alongside you, or more blessed.

Good luck to you all and I'll see you all when this is over."=^=

{all}

| Holodeck
| USS Redemption

"Lieutenant, do you mind if I join you in your training mission?"

Beth looked up as she heard a voice beside her. She had been checking which point in the training mission her team were in. They had started again while she was up at the briefing and her team leader had given permission for her to jump in and join them.

“Sure Sir” she replied seeing that he had changed into his BDUs for the run through. “They started this run through without us so we'll be jumping into the thick of things” she warned him “from the looks of it there is a fair bit of enemy resistance from the prison guards”.

A timer in front of them started counting down warning them of when the computer was going to beam them into the scenario so that an open holo-door wouldn't distract the others.

Bringing her carbine up to her shoulder Beth rolled her shoulders once, settling her medical back pack better, with a brief nod to the Captain they suddenly found their senses battered with flashes of explosions going off around them and a mixture of agonised screams and really loud bangs.

Moving to duck behind a nearby pile of rubble Beth was just getting her bearings when suddenly the program stopped and Admiral Woods' voice could clearly be heard over the ship-wide communications system.

As his last words echoed through the holodeck Beth could see her CO stand up off to her right as the holo-grid appeared and the program ended “right that's it folks, training's done time for the real thing” he said looking around him, momentarily surprised to see that Captain Thrack had joined them. “Grab a shower, some food, a hot brew and some rest” he ordered “who knows when we'll get the chance to do any of that once this thing kicks off”.

“Aye Sir” Beth echoed along with the others “I guess we missed our chance” she said to Thrack giving him a nod “I'm all for the food and a brew part”.

TAG: Thrack

Thrack listened as Moondark gave him a brief synopsis of where they would be at. He nodded and shouldered his weapon, sighting down the end of it. It would be interesting to run the mission with actually people this time, he thought. Previous, he had worked on the off hours in the holodeck on the assault on the prison to catch up to speed. His team that he used was based off the competencies of the marines found on the Redemption, but they had always been simulations. As he and Bethany were transported into “hell”, he instinctively aimed at the first moving target. It was a prison guard squad attempting to flank them. He nailed the lead guard in the chest with a blast and was sighting on the next when Admiral Wood’s voice came over the ship-wide communication systems.

“Well that’s a blow.” Said Thrack, lowering his weapon. He was glad that he had worked on the sim before. Still, as he gauged where all the squad members were at and his memory of the sim, they were doing very well.

“I guess the ‘live and make merry because tomorrow you may die’ aspect of the marines hasn’t changed all that much. I think I’ll join you all seeing as how I worked up an appetite.”

[tag all carousing marines]

------Paris, Earth------

It was a treasure hidden among some of the oldest, proudest architecture French history had to offer. A glittering marvel of modern technology seamlessly fused with the picturesque landscaping of 24th century Paris that was enough to render any visitor speechless on a bright, warm summer's day. Dominating the room was a polished white table, which formed a hollow square into which a holographic emitter built into the crystal chandelier above could project whatever the assembled wished to see. Every chair was built to an requisite sloping design for maximum comfort, upholstered in the finest white material so that the sun shining through the wall to ceiling glass window behind the head of the table would reflect off their surface to dazzling effect.

At the head of that table, with the Eiffel tower majestically visible over his shoulder, was Federation President Nicolas Carpathia. The suit he wore, perfectly tailored to his athletic frame, was as white as the chair upon which he sat. Around him sat a collection of senior Starfleet Officers, Federation Council members and civilians who carried enough prestige and power to get whatever they wanted done.

All of them gave their hero their undivided attention.

"...These insurgents for example. They say they are standing for freedom, to restore the old ways of the Federation. I ask you this - what has 'freedom', unrestrained and without rule, ever done for us? Our freedom left us disorganised and cowering when the Borg came. That same freedom left us woefully unprepared for the savagery of the Dominion's invasion of the Alpha quadrant a few years ago. What is that kind of freedom really? Everyone running around doing whatever they wish, whenever they wish - living tolerantly of all opinions even if those opinions do not sit with them.

And while all that is going on, no-one is paying attention to the predators lurking our galaxy eyeing us up like a quick and easy meal.

The freedom the insurgents want is not what the people really desire. Nor is it what they really need.

Populations are like children. They want to assert their independence and do their own thing - yet they only truly thrive when they are given boundaries, security and someone to look up to.

Now they finally have a Government that is willing to give them that. I have given them that.

Its on the subject of boundaries that you are here. For the most part the populace have accepted and are growing under the boundaries we have established. Only the Rebel contingent seem intent on pushing us - a mere 29 crews by our intelligence's last count.

I'd like you fine examples of our new way of life to form a cabinet - one dedicated to ensuring that the boundaries we have established are enforced. Starting with those insurgents.

We have access to technology that will make that process less daunting. The owners of that technology forfeited it when they attempted to force their way into our society illegally. Dispose of them and use their capabilities to the best effect you know how.

I will leave the details in your hands. You have my full trust and confidence. The room is now open for discussion..."

Lt. Hatter sat at the helm console and listened to the Admirals announcement, bringing USS Redemption to a full stop with a fluid movement of her hands across the smooth console before her. Jessica looked down at the console. 28 ships all in formation, awaiting the order to go to warp, and, if her read out was correct, all heavily armed and itching for a fight. 'It's gonna be a massacre' the young Lieutenant thought to her self. 'All those lives. Human lives. Civilian Lives. This can not be.'
It was then that a small message window popped up on her console, displaying a single word.

STATUS?

She pondered for a moment her next actions.

=^=Admiral, Redemption is at full stop. Fleet is in position and awaiting your orders sir.=^-

<Tag wood and all>