Darrell Smith <
erassianalliance@googlemail.com> wrote to
chimera@ucip.org:
[Starfleet Command Headquarters - San Francisco - Earth]
The shuttle flight from Washington, D.C. had been quick and
non-eventful, despite the heavy drinking the night before. The soft
headache Captain Rojac had suffered upon awakening quickly subsided
after a healthy dose of grits, eggs and two pancakes covered in maple
syrup. Rojac feat a little embarrased about having a headache at all;
he was getting too used to synthahol.
Rojac pulled down on his tunic and straighted out the kinks before
holding out his arms so that the security guards at the entrance to
the briefing facility could perform their scans. After a nod, he
progressed forward and verbally presented his access codes into the
computer terminal at the entrance. After beeping his approval the
guards let him through the large wooden doors.
He was immediately struck by the vastness of the room, which resembled
that of a large stadium. In the center sat a large stage housing an
array of holographic emitters displaying a current depiction of fleet
positions along the war theater. Out of habit Rojac's gaze was drawn
to the wedge of territory between Klingon, Erassian, Romulan and
Federation space where UNITY and the Chimera sat. Around the stage
were row upon rows of chairs which reached up in three tiers toward
the domed ceiling above. The majority of which were filled with
countless naval and marine officers in uniform shouting, conversing
and shaking hands. The room rumbled in ceaseless conversation.
"Wow," Rojac muttered nonchalantly as he caught up to Sharpe and
Walters, "quite a crowd." He noticed several odd stares in the
direction of Major Walters and his Erassian Military attire. He smiled
a sarcastic grin and nodded in their direction.
"Yes, I suspect they've come here for the buffet. The conference is
incidental to free food." Sharpe said, helping himself to a smoked
salmon sandwich.
Walters gave a disdainful glare at the people staring at him. "I
dunno we may have arrived at a dating conference instead. I'm getting
some pretty fruity stares here." He said loud enough to be heard by
the people looking at him. They quickly covered their embarrassment
by looking elsewhere.
A young, male bolian ensign walked up to where the small group was gathered.
"Your names, please?" the ensign asked.
"Major General Richard Sharpe, commanding officer, first marine
expeditionary force, first task force out of Starbase Unity." Richard
said, formally.
Walters took the initiative "Erassian Major Scott Walters and my boss
Captain Cropa Rojac, both of the USS Chimera - C, First Task Force."
The ensign looked over the PADD he was holding.
"If you could follow me," the ensign said, leading them to their assign seats.
A commotion caught Rojac's attention on the other side of the room as
they walked. Several bodyguards blocked off the side entrance opposite
the one Rojac, Walters and Sharpe had entered, the created a line
toward the stage and the room grew eerily quite.
Accompanied by a couple of aides, a man wearing a white hooded robe
entered the room without any announcement or ceremony. He walked up to
a well-lit podium. He pulled back the hood to reveil his identity.
It was President Spock.
"Is it my imagination, or does he look like he's dramatically aged
over the last year?" Richard asked to no one in specific.
"Not that I pay a particularly high amount of attention to Federation
Diplomats but in this case I think you may be right. Stress of being
a wartime President maybe?" Walters said in a low voice.
"Maybe." Rojac said. "I would hate to be in his shoes."
The room quieted quickly before Spock spoke. He took a moment to look
over the assembled crowd. The president was suppose to be at the
Palais de la Concorde in Paris. He was to give a speech there in 20
minutes. As far as anyone outside of the room was concerned, he was
still in Paris.
"Thank you," Spock started. "We find ourselves in the middle of what
can only be considered a stalemate. We have not been able to gain a
considerable advantage against the Romulans. Any offensive we take is
countered by stiff resistance. And, when we do make some gains along
one section of the front, the Romulans make their own gains on another
section. At this rate, the best we can hope for is an unacceptable
peace treaty in which the Romulan military will not be punished for
their war crimes against the Federation and her allies."
Spock paused for a moment to take a deep breath.
"Fortunately, we have acquired a way to perhaps force the Romulans
into a surrender on our terms."
Spock allowed another pause, this time to make certain he had
everyone's attention.
"Two weeks ago at an undisclosed star system, a device was
successfully tested. It is called the TechEx. What it does is simple.
It destroys all powered technologies within a star system. Starships,
weapons platforms and even hand-held disruptors will be disabled...
permanently."
There was another pause to gauge the reaction of those gathered.
Richard cursed under his breath with a rather elaborate string of
swearwords. Anyone sitting next to him would've heard them. Captain
Rojac, having expected this announcement after his chat with Admiral
Guzman a couple of weeks ago, only nodded.
"Modern day EMP." Walters muttered. His thoughts flitted over the
strategic implications for the Alliance of the Federation having such
a weapon which weren't good and even worse was the fact they were
willing to use it...no, things were definitely not good.
"This device also has the same effect on everything else. No
technology will survive the effects of this weapon and any ship
entering the affected star system within three to four months of its
activation attempting to provide aid will be rendered powerless."
Another pause.
"At this time, the state of the war as presented us with no other
alternative than to deploy this weapon against the Romulans."
Another string of swearwords were uttered under breath by Sharpe. This
would be a genie in the bottle situation, he knew it. This was going
to change the face of combat forever.
Walters winced visibly. He knew where this discussion was going.
Admittedly the Alliance had looked into such a plan for use against
the Romulan Star Empire but with their Omega Bombs instead of the
Federation's TechEx devices. The plan had been scrapped after the
first draft as the appalling civilian casualty rate would have caused
an interstellar political backlash...almost ironically the biggest
critic would have been the Federation.
Spock continued speaking.
"You are gathered here because you and your commands will play an
vital role in the deployment of the TechEx. A number of key star
systems have already been obtained or will be taken within the next
few weeks."
Spock went on to explain how the weapons would be deployed by use of
old cloaked Valiant-class starships and cloaked control ships.
"When the time comes, you will be issued your orders pertaining to
your roles in this endevour codenamed White Sands. Our main targets
will be focused on the military infrastructure of the Star Empire.
Shipyards and weapons-producing facilities will be hit first. Even so,
a number of these targets fall within areas with high civilian
populations. That cannot be avoided."
Spock took a few moments to gather his thoughts. His mind was still as
sharp as it ever was, Even so, at his age, he struggled at times. A
part of that could be contributed to his human parentage.
"We must make it clear that we will use this weapon on more and more
star systems until the Romulans surrender. If, or when that surrender
comes, we must be ready to provide assistance to those systems
affected as soon as it is deemed safe for our ships to enter those
systems. I have already ordered the gathering of aid packages and have
begun preparing the necessary transports."
Spock paused again.
"I was not here and you must not speak of this outside of this room.
When you receive the order 'White Sands', then the time will have come
to deploy the TechEx."
Spock gave a respectful nod before pulling the hood back over his head
and walking out of the room.
"He cannot be serious?!" Richard said, very loudly. "Have we as a
people stooped so low as to do this? Well, I for one, will have no
part in this!" With that, Richard stood up and strode towards the
exit.
Rojac watched as the tempered General strode off toward where they had
entered. "It is unfortunate." He muttered quietly to Walters. "But
what alternative do we have? How many more V'Tars or Charos Sixes have
to fall before we put our foot down?"
"Keep in mind the fact that I was on Charo VI when it was attacked. I
watched the world die day by day. Even I'm not willing to repay the
Romulans with equal measures. If we act like the enemy do we not
become the enemy?" Walters replied thoughtfully.
Rojac crossed his arms and leaned back into the chair. "No matter what
plan we come up with today, it would have to be approved by the
Council before it is implemented. They are the final check on Spock's
power as President."
"Politicians spend years putting their allies and lackeys into
positions of power. Spock has had more years than most to work at
that...no I dont have any faith in the so called checks and balances.
'The rain has been heavy and the dam is about to break...' " Walters
replied, the cries of the dying clawing at his thoughts.
[End of Part 1]
President Spock (NPC Butch)
UFP President
Earth
Major General Richard Sharp
1TF MEF CO
SB 234: Unity
Captain Cropa Rojac
CO
USS Chimera - C
Erassian Major Scott Walters
XO
USS Chimera - C
