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Start Log
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*** Admiral's Bridge, EAS Hermes, Outside the R'veras System ***
Viktor looked over the details of his ragtag task force for hitting
the supply base. It was a mishmash of ships from different fleets and
all that the Alliance could spare from vital duties. He wasn't
supposed to be here, the original plan was for General Borden of the
Third Fleet to be here as he was stationed far closer but due to a
concerted Romulan assault on Borden's lines Viktor had been forced to
step up to the plate.
That wasn't the only reason for Viktor's discomfort though, in the
operational planning SSF was to have supplied a few ships for tactical
support during 'Charlie Group's' assault but he had had to fight to
get the services of a mere flight of experimental fighters. They had
however been gracious enough to provide a strategic advisor in the
shape of Captain Chisulo and a small unit of so called 'elite' marines
who had orders to provide a 'Forward' Observation Post for Erassian
Alliance artillery to be directed...from a runabout in orbit.
Naturally this location was going to be exactly where his ships would
be for the bombardment itself so their 'forward' was relatively
unhelpful. Had he been feeling more malevolent he would have given
more thought to sending a 'wayward' missile in their general
direction, the real forward observation was to be provided by a unit
from the Light Infantry Division in a ground observation post inserted
two days ago.
The ships themselves were the EAS Hermes (Carrier, 2nd Fleet) itself,
EAS Poseidon (Cruiser, 2nd Fleet) from his fleet, EAS Apollo (Cruiser,
3rd Fleet), EAS Achilles (Destroyer, 3rd Fleet), EAS Ieyasu Tokugawa
(Destroyer, 1st Fleet) and the EAS Ostia (Intelligence, 1st Fleet).
Out of the lot, the only truly modern ship was the 5th Gen. EAS
Hermes, the rest were 4th Gen. On the upside they were tried and
tested craft but they lacked a little in firepower and durability,
that being said Viktor would sooner take his chances with half a dozen
antique 3rd Gen. ships than what Starfleet likely would have provided.
Speaking of which...
"Captain Chisulo, good of you to come to witness our portion of
Operation Magna. I do hope it won't be too objectionable if we kill
some Romulans and their allies this time. If Narendra hasn't put you
off these sorts of things that is?" Viktor said as the SSF Captain
stepped onto the Admiral's Bridge of the Hermes.
"Killing is part of the plan, General." Chisulo said, giving the
general a salute. "The more we kill the bigger the distraction, and
the better your benefits become. It's a win-win situation, General."
"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori." Viktor muttered then said
louder. "I'm not sure everybody would agree with that description.
This is a strategic target as it is the most forward Romulan Supply
Base in the region and also has a number of underground munitions
factories and ammo dumps. A useful target with benefits from its
demise to both the Alliance and Federation, not what I'd call a
distraction in the least. The Federation Council may consider this
smaller target less important than the base Bravo Group are attacking
but bear in mind the Alliance is small and only has limited resources
to spare. These are the limited resources we have for today." Viktor
handed over a padd with the lineup of ships.
"I did not know your Task Group was short on vessels, General."
Chisulo said, referring to the padd in his hand detailing the ships
involved in the assault. "Would you like me to petition UNITY for
reinforcements?"
"A formal request was already made and declined and whilst I am quite
sure your request would fall upon more attentive ears than our request
did, there is no point. By the time the reinforcements arrived it
would already be too late, so we have no other choice than to use what
we've already got. I do have one thing you can do before we arrive
although you won't like it." Viktor said.
"How may I be of service, General?" Chisulo asked.
Viktor handed over a padd with a list of seventeen names seven
highlighted in light blue "The names of the people highlighted in
light blue are from the Federation. Five are from your Marine
Expeditionary Force and two are from Starfleet Intelligence. I need
you to write condolences to their next of kin."
"I'm sorry, General?" He said, unsure of whether he heard Viktor
correctly or not.
"The people on that list are held in a facility in the deepest part of
the base assuming that is the Romulans haven't already executed them.
They may not be dead but they very soon will be so a note to their
families wouldn't be remiss." Viktor said bluntly.
"No attempt is being made to rescue these individuals?" Chisulo asked.
"No attempt will be made to rescue them." Viktor replied.
"When will preparations for the attack be complete?" Chisulo asked - a
plan already cooking in his head.
"Less than two hours." Viktor said.
"I will lead recon group to the base, General." Chisulo said. "We will
get in, discover if thee individuals are alive or not, and then get
out before the assault begins."
Viktor began to speak in a deep tone before he was interrupted "Captain..."
"I will take the Starfleet Marines providing the forward observation.
You do have a primary forward position on the planet's surface - do
you not?" Chisulo said. "They're are an unnecessary redundancy. And a
small group making an orbital drop infiltration will hardly be noticed
by Romulan atmospheric sensors."
Viktor replied in a commanding voice "But they will be noticed by the
base sensors. Where there's soldiers there's a shuttle, where there's
a shuttle there's a ship. So as I said no attempt will be made to
rescue them. If we alert the base then the mission plan could fail.
I've already looked at options for an extraction but analysis
indicates that casualties will outnumber those saved even in the best
possible scenario. No Captain, a rescue mission is out of the
question."
"I know its not desirable to leave people there to die but it is
necessary. As a former ship Captain you know it's sometimes necessary
to sacrifice a crewman to save the ship. As a General it's worse you
have to bear the burden of responsibility for not just one ship but
many and plan not just for the coming battle, but for the one after
that and the one after that. Beyond that I have not just the lives of
the people in the fleet riding on this but the lives of the twelve
billion citizens of the Alliance on my shoulders. As the great
Athenian General Alcibiades once said 'I follow a goddess and her name
is Necessity'. Hate me if you must Captain, have the families of
those people sue me and the entire Alliance but there will be no
rescue mission." Viktor said forcibly his all green eyes boring into
the Starfleet Officer in front of him.
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End Log
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General Viktor Ivanov
Erassian 2nd Fleet CO
EAS Hermes
Captain Tedros Chisulo
1TF Tactical Advisor
SB 234: Unity
