- Location
- Australia
Ops Mission Control have informally renumbered his starbase hq as "Sarcasm One".
To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)
- Thread starter OneirosTheWriter
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
-
- Tags
- star trek exploration fully automated luxury gay space communism top level canon (canon) #hashtagcontent all-encompassing space amoeba cardassian boy bands cardassian magical girls darkest bureaucracy debate makes the qm cackle like palpatine hoh is an empire quest it has to be foreign infiltrators more ships ship happens singers delenda est starfleet this is not an empire quest ur waifu is collective?
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
would not put it past someone to rename it that inhouse you know
Fallenblades643
Seeker of the Divine Taste
Look, we all know T'Mir's final posting is one of 2 options. Museum or crew trainer. A nice cushy rear line posting where she can stop her lurking at the federations moment of need.
I fully expect an under-trained group of students to crew her and rescue us all at some point in time.
I fully expect an under-trained group of students to crew her and rescue us all at some point in time.
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
Wheere do I know that Reference from? Is it from Starship Command which was a 90's B grade movie? I actually saw the movie and was searching for it for a long time until I ran across it by accident on Youtube of places. Too bad it didn't come out on VHS I would have like to have owned the movie.
I don't know about that. I think the USS Valiant is a good example of what really happens when you put a group of under-trained students in control of a starship in a crisis situation.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Looking at the sequence of events, what really went wrong there is that the cadet in command of the other cadets didn't have the sense to come home after barely surviving the first crisis. "Explorer Scouts Save The Day" plots are usually best done with a single "one and done" adventure.
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
The TV Tropes article on the episode pretty much says it all. Here is a link if Star Trek Deep Space Nine S 06 E 22 Valiant / Recap - TV Tropes if your interested. An interesting Side note OOC says that if someone like Say Major Kira had been present. The episode wouldnt have happened since she would have kicked the cadets asses then sailed the ship home.
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
Angry Starfleet Museum Noises
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
This is why I think T'Mir needs to find a way to leave a body double. 
ClawClawBite
Mad Engineering!
- Location
- Seattle, WA
This is why I think T'Mir needs to find a way to leave a body double.
Encrypted broadcast from the T'Mir: Mirror universe T'Mir, if you are listening, remember that The Federation offers asylum. We also have cookies that are not poisoned.
- Location
- The deathworld-in-miniature that is Australia
- Pronouns
- They/Them
So I'm rereading to where I was up to when I lost track due to RL issues, years ago, on my second reread attempt, planning on keeping on going this time, and I'm in the early turns of the State of Emergency declared over the Biophage. Yeangst posted this:
And all I could think of (apart from laughing bitterly at the 'hopefully, it's not that bad') was this video, that post-dates that post by... quite a bit, but is so fitting:
Also, the second-best fan trailer for Homeworld: Cataclysm I've ever found (the first-best disappeared off Youtube some years ago, unfortunately), and a fairly accurate representation of what those poor bastards in the middle of the neutral zone that I haven't run into on my reread yet were suffering while we and the Romulans were getting our rears in gear:
Also-also, did you guys know that Homeworld: Cataclysm saw a rerelease in mid-2017? Renamed Homeworld: Emergence, because some idiot judge awarded Blizzard ownership of the word 'Cataclysm' with regards to video games, despite that expansion for WoW coming out many years after Homeworld: Cataclysm and how a single word shouldn't be considered sufficiently unique for a company to own it unless they fricking invented it, but anyway... It's only available for sale on Gog, since they did the work in reverse-engineering it for modern systems without the source code when Gearbox gave up and they deserve a cut of the sales. Store page here. Now you too, could fight the Ulith III Biophage, only without shields or phasers or anything like that, like you're that small Neutral Zone polity we tried to help, only without the (comparitively) Elder Races of the galaxy ever doing a damn thing to help! (except for *spoilers* after *spoilers*)
And all I could think of (apart from laughing bitterly at the 'hopefully, it's not that bad') was this video, that post-dates that post by... quite a bit, but is so fitting:
Also, the second-best fan trailer for Homeworld: Cataclysm I've ever found (the first-best disappeared off Youtube some years ago, unfortunately), and a fairly accurate representation of what those poor bastards in the middle of the neutral zone that I haven't run into on my reread yet were suffering while we and the Romulans were getting our rears in gear:
Also-also, did you guys know that Homeworld: Cataclysm saw a rerelease in mid-2017? Renamed Homeworld: Emergence, because some idiot judge awarded Blizzard ownership of the word 'Cataclysm' with regards to video games, despite that expansion for WoW coming out many years after Homeworld: Cataclysm and how a single word shouldn't be considered sufficiently unique for a company to own it unless they fricking invented it, but anyway... It's only available for sale on Gog, since they did the work in reverse-engineering it for modern systems without the source code when Gearbox gave up and they deserve a cut of the sales. Store page here. Now you too, could fight the Ulith III Biophage, only without shields or phasers or anything like that, like you're that small Neutral Zone polity we tried to help, only without the (comparitively) Elder Races of the galaxy ever doing a damn thing to help! (except for *spoilers* after *spoilers*)
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Seasons of Strife: Tyrant's Fall
Rereading:
Seasons of Strife, Prologue: Imperial Winter
Seasons of Strife: Springtime of the Princes
Seasons of Strife: The Long Hot Summer
Seasons of Strife: Snakepit
TF Argus
Captain's Log, Stardate 24145.2, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Licori space)
Leric th'Zelyot on the Miracht Agrad and Kero ch'Benzen on the Revival called me for a captain's conference a few hours ago. They have been pursuing the origin of the leak that led to the Revival being targeted while ferrying a Laio ambassador to Morshadd earlier this week. Only a handful of people on Laian knew the specifics of the ambassador's orders, a handful of military commanders and people in Councillor Oia Celis's office. The Miracht Agad ran down this lead and discovered someone in the Councillor's office has been receiving transmissions from Tartresis sources. They're continuing the investigation, but need a third ship with a broad remit to pursue the leads in Licori space.
I am taking Curiosity to Calamar. To borrow an expression of my human colleagues, time to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24148.7, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Calamar Orbit)
I appear to have underestimated the commotion a three-megatonne starship arriving in orbit may cause. Yet it also has the effect of rather focusing the mind for those on the surface. As a result, despite previous refusals to distant requests, I have secured an audience with Empress Halarre. My aim is to obtain permission to continue our investigation on her planet.
--
"I see," says the young Empress. "And what do you require of us?"
"I humbly request permission to access the logs of your comms facilities, and cooperation of your law enforcement."
"No need," a voice interrupts from a nearby curtained window. A bald Licori steps out from behind the curtain, his non-mechanical arm holding a cane that clacks across the floor as he bows to his Empress.
"I sent that transmission," states Straaji Halkh.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24149.1, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Calamar Orbit)
It is a tangled web that the former Warmaster weaves.
Straaji Halkh sent the manifest of the Laio loan to the Imperial Armories onward to one of the Councilor's aides. As Lugis's Warmaster, he had a complete inventory of Licori warmaking capability before the fall of the ruling House. This includes such forces as the Great Houses believed hidden from the Emperor. Believing that the Revival would puzzle out the source he intended to draw his acquaintance Captain ch'Benzen back to Calamar to ask a number of questions on Federation foreign policy in person. Some of these questions I have answered in my capacity as the Captain of an Explorer Corps vessel, but other questions have required me to consult further up the chain of command, if temporarily. However, he completely disavows knowledge of the aborted attack on our ships.
Of course, that was not the only reason Halkh wanted the Laio to deal with the Morshadd arms caches. If I must choose a word, I would describe him as "coy" about the true purpose of his manipulation, but implied that the current situation - an uneasy cold confrontation - favored the Tartresis and especially his Empress. Any ways to discourage the Bene eagerness to invade Morshadd, or to encourage the Commune to turn on the Rithe, would be to Hallare's advantage. Somehow. I confess I do not see the logic.
That also means, presuming Halkh is not compromised, that the leak to the Harmony came from elsewhere, likely among the Laio or in Starfleet. I have let ch'Benzen know to continue the search.
--
The Starfleet logo is replaced by a video of an Ambassador-class's spacious ready room. The Vulcan seated alone at the ready room's table rocks back minutely as she sees your face on the screen.
"Ah. Admiral Chen," Captain T'Arvit says in surprise. "I was expecting Admiral T'Lorel."
"At ease, Captain," you say. "I've just finished speaking to the President. You have permission to release the requested details to Empress Halarre. We'll be changing classification of this secret shortly, and the President will make a public address."
"I must apologize, Admiral, I had not intended my request to have such far-reaching consequences."
"We were already planning an announcement," you tell the captain. "It's not possible to keep the chips under wraps when Zaardmani is making addresses to the entire Nessic senate, Singer plants and all."
"Understood," T'Arvit says.
"Take care," you tell her, preferring not to wish your subordinates something as fickle as luck.
--
Both Empress Halarre and Straaji Halkh give T'Arvit a thousand-yard stare.
"Are… are you certain?" Hallare asks, her hand covering her mouth in horror.
Halkh lets out a curse that the UT does not translate. The two Licori share a look.
"We are certain," T'Arvit repeats. "We have worked for months to confirm these facts. I am releasing this data with the authorization of the President herself. And more than anything else, the Harmony reaction fits."
Halkh leans back and lets out an incredulous laugh. He then buries his head in his hands, continuing his humorless chuckle.
"I see. It fits. It all fits. Loyal pilots suicide bombing their emperor. Enough evidence to accuse the Rithe, but not enough to stop them denying everything. The damn corporate fleet selling out to the house who pushed for the war against their own Alliance. Nothing made sense - not until now."
"Straaji," Hallare says as she stands, hands clenched until pale. "My father…"
"Yes," Halkh says in a monotone. "They killed your father, Empress. The Harmony killed Lugis just as sure as they held a gun and pulled the trigger."
Hallare steadies herself against one of the chairs, turning to the wide window behind her. Below the window, children from the palace's school are playing in the courtyard.
For a long time, no one speaks.
"It is like the machines," Hallare says with a shaky voice. "The ones the five houses destroyed when they founded our empire. Threads everywhere, seeking to pull the strings of life until only automatons are left. And worse, my people can not afford another war. Murmurs of revolution have made their way here, and if it is like this on Calamar, I cannot imagine Ixaria, Bene, or Gammon. A third of the population here has family or friends on Morshadd. What happens when we cut them from Gammon too?"
"It is not another war," Halkh points out, "merely one we never knew we were fighting."
"And yet, we cannot afford it all the same," she snaps, spinning on her heels and giving Halkh a furious, tear-streaked glare. "Nevermind that we have exhausted our empire in three wars in the last decade! What strength have we to call on, when the houses are fighting amongst themselves, and our homeworld estranged?"
"You can call for the fleet, Empress. Make an appeal to the revolutionaries. Tell them who are the real villains who bombed the capitol. Even if they do not listen..."
"No, Straaji. It is obvious I cannot bring our people together. Not the Commune, who hates the very idea of an Empress, nor the other houses, who are falling over themselves to pretend that the throne means nothing."
"If not you, then who?" Halkh asks.
"Not who," Hallare tells him, "what."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24156.7, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route to Gammon)
Hallare and Halkh will make their case to emissaries Lady Asgort of Bene and Menarch Ixira, and our people on the ground on Morshadd will speak with the Commune. Unexpectedly, it is not a plea for unity, for support, or for a peace process like Task Force Argus attempted last year. It is a dire case for the very continued existence of the Licori as a free people.
There exists the possibility that this may be a ploy to unite the divided houses against the Commune, but I am confident in my assessment of their sincerity.
Meanwhile, Curiosity has an equally important mission. We must obtain solid proof of Harmony involvement with Rithe. It seems the best way to obtain Bene cooperation is to prove beyond a doubt that the same machine intelligence boogeyman that gave rise to the Arcadian Empire now seeks again to destroy it. The Rithe have become close-lipped in recent months, with fewer and fewer reports out of Gammon, so we know very little about the true situation. Hallare also wishes to know if the subversion of Rithe is salvageable, although I cannot---one moment...
Acknowledged. Yes, I am expecting them. I will be in the shuttle bay.
It seems the team I requested from Intelligence has arrived.
--
The Taci is already cooling its impulse engines as T'Arvit arrives in the shuttlebay. The special runabout dwarfs the brand new Starfleet models beside it. First down the ramp is an Orion woman in Aerocommando garb. She is followed by a group of Licori in Starfleet Intelligence pattern camo.
"Yellowbrick reporting for duty," Captain Tarroi, the Orion, salutes T'Arvit.
Behind the group of Licori, a cloaked figure pauses at the top of the ramp, before stepping into the harsh lights of the shuttlebay. A genuine fedora, likely an Earth import, hides the face of the figure for a moment longer, before the angle becomes clear. Dearre Nixa pauses to make eye contact with T'Arvit.
Her dramatic entrance is foiled, however, when a young Licori girl steps out behind her, tugging at the Betazoid's trench coat.
T'Arvit asks the natural question.
"Consultant Nixa, why are you accompanied by a child?"
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24157.1, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Anoxa-Gammon Lagrange 2, Dark Side of Anoxa)
Starfleet Tactical is very familiar with the Anoxa planetary system. It was studied extensively during the Licori War, due to the resiliency of its defenses and the superweapon on the Anoxa moon. Afterwards, the system was occupied for several months, and the facilities mapped as finely as possible.
Several approaches to Anoxa were discarded during the planning phase of the operation to disable the laser, including the one Curiosity is using now. We are hidden in a collection of mineral-rich asteroids that were collected at L2 during the initial construction of the Anoxa superweapon. While the Kortennon monitored this abandoned mining area closely, the Rithe have been considerably more lax, having given up on restoring the Anoxa facility. It is here where we will begin our operation, within transporter range of the Anoxa moon and less than a light-second from Gammon orbit should the need arise.
Taci will insert the Yellowbrick team to the settlements on Anoxa's surface. Dearre Nixa has continued cultivating the contacts we made during the initial operation in this system, and will meet them to determine how to travel to the surface of Gammon. Several days of fact-finding on Gammon may be necessary to understand the degree of Harmony penetration and if a forceful or diplomatic approach is possible.
We require Licori agents on the ground, however I have reservations about Yellowbrick. Yellowbrick's dossiers say they were recruited from anti-Rithe dissidents. I can only hope Task Group Sunglass's training was sufficient to temper any lingering malice.
Nixa's child, Lys, is secure in guest quarters. I have not obtained the entire story, but Captain Tarroi took in the girl after finding her on the street. I am told that Lys was ... not amenable ... when Tarroi and Nixa needed to leave Morshadd, and Nixa caved and took her along. I do not approve of having civilian children aboard on a mission like this, but I am clearly left with no choice. The needs of the many must come first here.
--
Special Invesigator's Log, Dearre Nixa
(Betazoid, Female)
Gammon is a planet living two lives, both of which are lies. Clean streets, smiling farmers and tradespeople, walking past symbols of Kortennon oppression where the fresh coat of gloss is barely dry. Harmony citizens fill the spaceport's lounges, though there are fewer on the streets and none at all among the slums of Anoxa. I am told their cruisers visited less than two weeks ago.
It doesn't take long for the dark whispers to rise up past the fair-seeming glimmer into the streets. The Rithe have planted massive supercomputers into their halls of power like a cybernetic cancer; so large and modern that they cannot be trusted. Calls for land-holding reform go unheeded, yet so too does delinquent serf debt go uncollected. There is no interest in either reconciling or reconquering the Commune, nor finding their lost child Empress, nor even squabbling over the house's succession. Even the hard-eyed revolutionaries the Commune has smuggled here are confused.
The daughters and sons of Rithe are active all the same. A proclamation here, a new trade contract there. Institutions are reformed as if turning over soil to bury the manure. New noble officers lead their soldiery through their pageantry, marching in the streets, a brief gleam of steel doing nothing to chase away the questioning shadows. Behind the scenes, more practical training takes place, the frigates and runabouts keeping to their stellar waltz of light and fury through wargame after wargame. But the scions of Rithe dance to their own tune, cast out tradition, disdain internal rivalries, shed the old Licori ways like moulting for these new and twisted lights of progress.
Once Countess Coeniad held her house in the grip of an iron fist. Now she has not been seen in public for months. I am told the former regent barricades herself in her wing of the palace, a mentat protein synthesizer providing her food and water. Every day her family begs her to leave, but she has refused. She rants and berates any who dare speak at her through the door. Yet she is still Countess; none dare enter her sanctum by force.
Yellowbrick has spent much of the past week cataloguing hard evidence of these whispers. But electronic evidence can only go so far.
Our Licori team wishes to infiltrate the palace. I fear for what they will find.
--
The four Licori shuffle down the corridor of the mansion, their servant's clothes bulky and nondescript. The nobles of House Rithe pass them without even a first glance. They are being led by the head butler, a thin, skeletal man by the given name of Galakk.
"And these are the Countess's chambers," Galakk says, gesturing to a pair of massive wooden doors.
"I'd show you inside. As the Countess, she had her own servant team, but… you don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Is that you, Galakk?" a harsh voice shouts from inside the door. "Come to beg again on behalf of those slaves? Well, begone. I won't submit like they did."
The four servants exchange glances, then as one they pull weapons from their frocks. Galakk doesn't even get off a surprised cry before he falls to the ground unconscious.
"Weaponfire! Finally, damn you! You won't take me alive!" the woman calls from beyond the door.
Silently, the team fiddles with the control panel, noting the door is technically not locked. They insert a probe, and see that a massive timber has been propped against the door. Quickly, they place burrowing charges. There is a muffled thump as they detonate, and the door creaks open, the barricade useless.
Meanwhile, the woman's voice continues to curse from the inside.
As the team begins to enter the room, a massive crack echoes from the far end of the chamber. The special operative barely throws himself against the wall before the door is blown off its hinges by a massive explosion. The two halves slam into the far wall, going halfway through it. The room across the hallway is visible through the hole. A siren begins to wail and distant shouts can be heard.
As the dust clears, the sound of a weapon being reloaded echoes through the hall. The operatives make a snap decision and throw themselves into the hall, their camouflage suits shimmering in the reduced visibility. The barrel of a weapon, at least big enough to seriously threaten a cannon, can be seen propped up against a fancy table at the next door. The team begins firing in turns, suppressing the weapon's operator and causing her to shriek and flee, a stream of curses trailing in her wake.
"Damn machine brains! Slavers and thugs! You may have taken my house, but you'll bleed for me!"
The room past the modified anti-tank rifle is a sitting room that overlooks the plaza. The curtains are drawn closed. The team clears the room, but there is no sign of its occupant. Two doors lead away - one down a hall of open bedchamber doors. The rear team member pulls out a tricorder, then gestures silently to the other door, closed and ominous.
They push it open from the side. It's an incredibly opulent office. There is a massive desk, covered in papers and computer parts. Behind the desk sits a massive high-backed chair, and in the chair, a tall, thin Licori woman in a regal black dress. She wears an electronic monocle with a laser sensor, a targeting system of some sort, and wields a gun with a muzzle the size of a dinner plate in two hands, pointed straight at the door.
"Ma'am, please put down the disruptor," one of the Licori recites calmly from safely behind the door.
"I'm warning you," the lady snaps. "You'll pay in blood for what you've done. You think I've been idle all these months I've been locked away? I've rigged a broadcast system! If you kill me, or take my mind, all of Gammon will know. You think you can fight every servant and serf? It will be like Morshadd all over again."
"And if we aren't the Harmony?"
Dearre Nixa pushes through the strike team and strides through the doorway, an equally massive disruptor pointed straight at Countess Coeniad Rithe.
The two women stare each other in the eyes for several seconds.
"I see. Not who I expected, but perhaps it is for the best."
The Countess rises from her armchair, standing on shaky feet.
"Get me out of here, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24159.0, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Anoxa-Gammon Lagrange 2, Dark Side of Anoxa)
Team Yellowbrick has secured Countess Coeniad Rithe. I am told that she has expressed a willingness to personally testify against the Harmony to the Houses and the Commune, but is requesting protection against retaliation for her part in events on Morshadd. I am not in the practice of protecting mass-murderers, but as ever, there are the needs of the many to consider versus the deserved sanction of the few. There will need to be some form of incentive for her testimony.
More complications have arisen. We've detected two warp signatures resembling Harmony cruisers on approach to the system, unknown configuration. We're presuming the same stealth systems that Enterprise and Revival reported. They'll be here within twenty minutes. We are going to have to extricate our team and the Countess before they arrive, or the situation will quickly spiral out of control. As much as I'd like a look at the black ships, a clean mission takes priority.
It would also be prudent to minimize their acquaintance with the warp signature of the Taci - I must mention in logs Lieutenant-Commander Furlav, who has devised a harmonic in our warp signature to 'wash' the subspace wake of the Intelligence ship when we withdraw.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24149.2, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route from Gammon to Gessaria)
Nearly exchanging fire with orbital defense platforms is never calm, but I must commend my crew for their professionalism. We left the system before the Harmony showed, and they gave only token pursuit. I am headed to the conference room to greet our 'guest'.
--
The lift stops and the door slides open, revealing the Taci once again discharging her passengers. T'Arvit makes her way into the shuttlebay just as the Countess is escorted down the ramp by Dearre Nixa and a handful of Licori operatives. Greeting them at the bottom is the ship's underway intelligence officer, and Dearre Nixa's adopted child, Lys.
While Nixa stops to chat with the intelligence officer, the Countess passes the group without a look. Lys frowns as she does. Curious, T'Arvit makes her way over.
"She should kneel," Lys says quietly to herself.
T'Arvit notices Lys is dressed differently, not a child's summer dress, but a uniform. A navy blouse. Gold piping. A deep violet cape. The symbol of the Arcadian Empire on its back.
Without turning, Lys speaks suddenly. "Captain, are you protecting this woman?"
"We were in discussions-" T'Arvit begins, only to have the child cut her off.
"We accuse this woman of conspiracy with a foreign power, insurrection, regicide, and thirty thousand five hundred sixty-three counts of murder of the first degree. Even lacking extradition, surely you were not considering harboring her?"
"Bwhaaa?" Dearre Nixa says.
Almost too late, T'Arvit realizes it is the same cape that the late Emperor Lugis sometimes wore. Wearing his uniform, Lys looks like Emperor Lugis in the miniature. T'Arvit absently recalls that the child had been playing with the replicator all evening.
"Miss Tartresis…" T'Arvit begins. "This woman is crucial to an ongoing peace process."
"She killed my father," Lys says. "Auntie Nixa won't let her get away with that, will she?"
"Wait," Nixa says, "hold up. You're what? All along? But-"
"We can certainly come to an accommodation," T'Arvit quickly interjects. "This is your sister's mission, after all."
--
"Ellie?"
"Hi…" Eleanor chokes out. "Big sis, I'm sorry!"
"I should be sorry. We looked for so long, but it should have been longer. Straaji's spies lost your trail on Morshadd, and I didn't know what else to do…"
"So that's why those men were looking for me…" Ellie muses.
"Oh no," Hallare says. "Ellie, you read that off of them? What did we tell you about impressions?"
"It's okay, Hallie! I was with the Federation spies instead. Remember when mom told us where they lived? I found them and they kept me safe."
There is a reaction on Hallare's face before a curtain of royal will crashes down. A moment of confusion and suspicion. And no wonder, for the Federation is not often an entity where the right hand knows not the mind of the left.
"And I am incredibly grateful they did," Hallare says. "Are you well? Have you been eating okay? Any problems with… you know?"
Eleanor laughs lightly, wiping away a few tears.
"Everything is wonderful, sis. It's gotten better after I got Auntie Nixa to explain a few things. Oh, Auntie Tarroi cooks. Look, I've grown this much."
Hallare glances off screen and nods, her expression turning slightly more serious.
"Ellie, just hang in there a few more days. The Captain will take you home, and I'll be waiting for you."
"Okay! But first we have to do something about that lady," Ellie tells her sister. "The one who killed father."
"Yes," Hallare says. "But Ellie, even if we arrest her, she won't admit involvement. She'll only talk about the big evil Harmony and how they made her siblings do it. I can't stand the thought of her getting away."
"She won't admit involvement, but I've read it off her."
"And that won't go very far as an accusation."
"Is it because daddy made psychic evidence inadmissible?"
"Uh, yes. You know how he was."
"Well then why don't we change that?"
"Even if I decreed it, I don't think the Countess acknowledges my- oh. No, Ellie, stop grinning like that!"
"Yeah!" Eleanor chirps. "She made me Empress. She can't possibly claim I can't."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24160.6, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route from Gammon to Gessaria)
It is one unsuspected variable after another. The sheer illogic of these connections frustrates me. Foremost among matters is that of the child Empress; Eleanor Tartresis is telepathic. Her gift comes from a mentat-designed gene-mod. Another of the late Emperor Lugis' secret projects. Lacking the training a natural psychic would and should get from childhood, possibly in combination with other characteristics, the ability has caused her a great deal of trouble. She'd often run off to be away from crowds, and gained a reputation for dissociation and antisocial behavior.
The Tartresis sisters have secured Rithe's cooperation. I believe the Countess thinks she is going to walk away without consequence afterwards, but Hallare has assured me she will not.
Meanwhile, I can report a conversation with Straaji Halkh about what to expect at the conference. Officially we are transporting the Rithe delegation, with the Federation itself not intended to be at the table in anything but the role of facilitator.
Unofficially, Halkh explained how the houses were completely unable to act against the Commune for a full year. Colonial nobles were greatly empowered by the fall of Morshadd, and took great joy in acting against nobility that had lost everything, left with only small holdings for big titles. Likewise, the four great houses with their colony planets were less affected than the houses minor, but also more prone to jockeying over the throne rather than cooperating.
Having spent the last two days feeling out the sentiment, he believes the nobility with influence are exhausted with the Morshadd situation and is willing to take a loss to come to some sort of accord. Those without, that is those who are left with only prestige and unmet claims to territory on the homeworld, have had their indignation tamped down by the complete frustration of any scheme or attempted return. Now a partial return or sale of property with repatriation of prisoners has become the apparent goal.
He also heavily implied that I should discreetly pass this information to the Commune.
--
"Commune ships are arriving," blasch Furlav brusquely states from behind the sensor station. "Something big. Picking up angry communication between starbase control and the ship. They're disregarding warp exclusion zones, standb-"
The Tellarite science officer trails off as with a flash of pseudo-relativistic motion a battleship drops out of warp well within weapons range of the Starbase, gliding slowly to a stop directly across from the Empress' own battleship.
Eyebrows raise across the bridge. "That's a Sandworm," Nalaya points out. "Since when did they have one of those?"
"The shipyards of Morshadd have been back in operation under the Commune for a year," T'Arvit says. "This ship was started under Lugis' rule."
"It's quite the provocation to come in the Emperor's battleship," Nalaya says.
"We must conclude that the show of defiance is no unintended message," replies the Captain dryly.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24164.8, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Gessaria Orbit)
The Independence has indeed made a statement. I have spent some time in the spaceport's observation lounge, and many of the visiting nobles openly gawk at it.
Ex-Countess Rithe testified before the Council of Houses yesterday, and then again in the evening to the stone-faced Commune representatives. The gathered Licori accepted the evidence of the Harmony's influence with only measured skepticism. The Bene seem reassured that their Romulan advisers - not Tal Shiar but the Tal Diann, my intelligence office is pleased to inform me - are in agreement with our evidence. Although the Ixarians left yesterday unconvinced, they seemed placated when they returned.
More controversial is the provisional agreement between the Houses and the Commune. In light of the emergency situation, and the threat to the Licori people, the Houses and Commune have come to an uneasy truce. Each of the major Houses has agreed to recognize the Commune as a foreign government rather than an insurrection and to open diplomatic relations between the Commune and the Arcadian Empire. The agreement fell short of giving up claim to Morshadd, but there is an understanding that nothing more will be said until a later date. This has spurred the more moderate minor houses into side talks to regain the right to operate on Morshadd, hopefully recovering some House property. However, those negotiations may take many more months.
While the Commune has not admitted to agitating revolutionary sentiment on other worlds, they have agreed to stop any such activities, if they existed, for the duration of the conflict with the Harmony, but warn that they cannot control popular sentiment.
More immediate is Empress Hallare's declaration that as the head of House Tartresis, she will be forming a two-house elected parliament for the Calamar system, in a document they are calling the Calamar Charter. Reaction from the Commune is mixed, some believing that any step towards democratic government is good, others that it is mere lip service to allow the nobility to cling to power. But the nobility of Calamar seem accepting, almost resigned, and Halkh speaks of preparatory work that predates Hallare's rule. Bene and Ixaria are outraged and show no sign of any similar reforms, but their opposition has only united the Commune negotiators and the Empress against them. Already repatriation of Tartresis nobility captured on Morshadd is in the works.
In short, the Licori situation is still in flux, but the Commune and Empire have agreed to a temporary truce and a framework for further negotiations, and they are jointly committed to recovering Rithe from the Harmony.
After her testimony, Coeniad Rithe was arrested by officials from the Arcadian Empire and will be tried for her crimes in the coming months. Out of consideration for her cooperation, I am told the death penalty has been set aside. As much as I detest what the woman has done, no sophont deserves that.
Empress Eleanor is on the way back to Calamar with her sister. I suspect we haven't seen the last of that child.
[Licori Diplomacy has been clarified. The Licori are beginning to move against the Harmony.]
Arcadian Empire (Licori) 100/100
Tags before Affiliation:
-[Civil War: 0/NA]
-[At War: 443/???]
-[Recently in a Shooting War: 100/100]
-[Romulan Influence: 80/100]
-[Slavery: 0/4 (FDS)] (Task made much easier by changes in situation)
-[Fiddling while Morshadd Burns: 0/3 FDS] (linked with the Commune's tag)
Tags before Alliance:
-[A Question of Harmony: N/A (Resolve the Harmony infiltration of House Rithe and the wider Empire)]
-[Continual Nest of Vipers: 0/300]
-[The Tal Shiar on your Shoulder: 0/300]
-[Unequal Feudal Society: 1/8 FDS]
-[Horizon Influence: 147/300]
Morshadd Commune 25/100
Tags before Affiliation:
-[Civil War: 0/NA]
-[The Revolution Does Not Negotiate With Tyrants: 0/3 FDS] (linked with the Empire's tag)
-[Nascent Nationstate: 0/100]
Tags before Alliance
-[Callow Commune: 0/5 (FDS)]
-[The Profound Paranoia of the People's Fleet: 0/300]
MEANWHILE, ON EARTH...
"Understood," you tell Captain th'Zelyot. "If you'll excuse me, there's no time to waste."
You close the transmission from the Miracht Agad and open the special line immediately.
"I have them," you tell the President. "Transmitting the report now."
"I'll draw up authorization," she says.
"Understood. Time is of the essence - send it to me en route."
You stand and gather your things.
"Cancel all appointments today," you say through the intercom to the Captain at the front desk.
"Computer, Office 3, energize."
Twenty minutes later, your team appears in Paris, thankfully inside offices rather than on the main square. Phasers hiss out before the last member has even materialized, the Councillor and her aides collapsing to unconsciousness one by one. Her bodyguards, surprised the building's transport inhibitor did not function, are slow to react, but the Office 3 team ends up in a tense standoff with the armed guards.
"Stand down," you say from behind the group. "By order of the President, Councillor Oia Celis is being detained due to subversion by foreign forces."
"Bullshit," one of the Laio hisses. "This is a coup, isn't it? We won't let you-"
Before the shooting can begin, the bodyguard team disappears in a flash of transporters from Starbase 1. You nod at the Office 3 team, who are securing the Councillor for transport to the special facility.
"We'll take it from here," the Captain tells you.
Your PADD beeps. It's the President. Time to face the music.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Seasons of Strife, Prologue: Imperial Winter
Seasons of Strife: Springtime of the Princes
Seasons of Strife: The Long Hot Summer
Seasons of Strife: Snakepit
TF Argus
Captain's Log, Stardate 24145.2, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Licori space)
Leric th'Zelyot on the Miracht Agrad and Kero ch'Benzen on the Revival called me for a captain's conference a few hours ago. They have been pursuing the origin of the leak that led to the Revival being targeted while ferrying a Laio ambassador to Morshadd earlier this week. Only a handful of people on Laian knew the specifics of the ambassador's orders, a handful of military commanders and people in Councillor Oia Celis's office. The Miracht Agad ran down this lead and discovered someone in the Councillor's office has been receiving transmissions from Tartresis sources. They're continuing the investigation, but need a third ship with a broad remit to pursue the leads in Licori space.
I am taking Curiosity to Calamar. To borrow an expression of my human colleagues, time to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24148.7, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Calamar Orbit)
I appear to have underestimated the commotion a three-megatonne starship arriving in orbit may cause. Yet it also has the effect of rather focusing the mind for those on the surface. As a result, despite previous refusals to distant requests, I have secured an audience with Empress Halarre. My aim is to obtain permission to continue our investigation on her planet.
--
"I see," says the young Empress. "And what do you require of us?"
"I humbly request permission to access the logs of your comms facilities, and cooperation of your law enforcement."
"No need," a voice interrupts from a nearby curtained window. A bald Licori steps out from behind the curtain, his non-mechanical arm holding a cane that clacks across the floor as he bows to his Empress.
"I sent that transmission," states Straaji Halkh.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24149.1, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Calamar Orbit)
It is a tangled web that the former Warmaster weaves.
Straaji Halkh sent the manifest of the Laio loan to the Imperial Armories onward to one of the Councilor's aides. As Lugis's Warmaster, he had a complete inventory of Licori warmaking capability before the fall of the ruling House. This includes such forces as the Great Houses believed hidden from the Emperor. Believing that the Revival would puzzle out the source he intended to draw his acquaintance Captain ch'Benzen back to Calamar to ask a number of questions on Federation foreign policy in person. Some of these questions I have answered in my capacity as the Captain of an Explorer Corps vessel, but other questions have required me to consult further up the chain of command, if temporarily. However, he completely disavows knowledge of the aborted attack on our ships.
Of course, that was not the only reason Halkh wanted the Laio to deal with the Morshadd arms caches. If I must choose a word, I would describe him as "coy" about the true purpose of his manipulation, but implied that the current situation - an uneasy cold confrontation - favored the Tartresis and especially his Empress. Any ways to discourage the Bene eagerness to invade Morshadd, or to encourage the Commune to turn on the Rithe, would be to Hallare's advantage. Somehow. I confess I do not see the logic.
That also means, presuming Halkh is not compromised, that the leak to the Harmony came from elsewhere, likely among the Laio or in Starfleet. I have let ch'Benzen know to continue the search.
--
The Starfleet logo is replaced by a video of an Ambassador-class's spacious ready room. The Vulcan seated alone at the ready room's table rocks back minutely as she sees your face on the screen.
"Ah. Admiral Chen," Captain T'Arvit says in surprise. "I was expecting Admiral T'Lorel."
"At ease, Captain," you say. "I've just finished speaking to the President. You have permission to release the requested details to Empress Halarre. We'll be changing classification of this secret shortly, and the President will make a public address."
"I must apologize, Admiral, I had not intended my request to have such far-reaching consequences."
"We were already planning an announcement," you tell the captain. "It's not possible to keep the chips under wraps when Zaardmani is making addresses to the entire Nessic senate, Singer plants and all."
"Understood," T'Arvit says.
"Take care," you tell her, preferring not to wish your subordinates something as fickle as luck.
--
Both Empress Halarre and Straaji Halkh give T'Arvit a thousand-yard stare.
"Are… are you certain?" Hallare asks, her hand covering her mouth in horror.
Halkh lets out a curse that the UT does not translate. The two Licori share a look.
"We are certain," T'Arvit repeats. "We have worked for months to confirm these facts. I am releasing this data with the authorization of the President herself. And more than anything else, the Harmony reaction fits."
Halkh leans back and lets out an incredulous laugh. He then buries his head in his hands, continuing his humorless chuckle.
"I see. It fits. It all fits. Loyal pilots suicide bombing their emperor. Enough evidence to accuse the Rithe, but not enough to stop them denying everything. The damn corporate fleet selling out to the house who pushed for the war against their own Alliance. Nothing made sense - not until now."
"Straaji," Hallare says as she stands, hands clenched until pale. "My father…"
"Yes," Halkh says in a monotone. "They killed your father, Empress. The Harmony killed Lugis just as sure as they held a gun and pulled the trigger."
Hallare steadies herself against one of the chairs, turning to the wide window behind her. Below the window, children from the palace's school are playing in the courtyard.
For a long time, no one speaks.
"It is like the machines," Hallare says with a shaky voice. "The ones the five houses destroyed when they founded our empire. Threads everywhere, seeking to pull the strings of life until only automatons are left. And worse, my people can not afford another war. Murmurs of revolution have made their way here, and if it is like this on Calamar, I cannot imagine Ixaria, Bene, or Gammon. A third of the population here has family or friends on Morshadd. What happens when we cut them from Gammon too?"
"It is not another war," Halkh points out, "merely one we never knew we were fighting."
"And yet, we cannot afford it all the same," she snaps, spinning on her heels and giving Halkh a furious, tear-streaked glare. "Nevermind that we have exhausted our empire in three wars in the last decade! What strength have we to call on, when the houses are fighting amongst themselves, and our homeworld estranged?"
"You can call for the fleet, Empress. Make an appeal to the revolutionaries. Tell them who are the real villains who bombed the capitol. Even if they do not listen..."
"No, Straaji. It is obvious I cannot bring our people together. Not the Commune, who hates the very idea of an Empress, nor the other houses, who are falling over themselves to pretend that the throne means nothing."
"If not you, then who?" Halkh asks.
"Not who," Hallare tells him, "what."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24156.7, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route to Gammon)
Hallare and Halkh will make their case to emissaries Lady Asgort of Bene and Menarch Ixira, and our people on the ground on Morshadd will speak with the Commune. Unexpectedly, it is not a plea for unity, for support, or for a peace process like Task Force Argus attempted last year. It is a dire case for the very continued existence of the Licori as a free people.
There exists the possibility that this may be a ploy to unite the divided houses against the Commune, but I am confident in my assessment of their sincerity.
Meanwhile, Curiosity has an equally important mission. We must obtain solid proof of Harmony involvement with Rithe. It seems the best way to obtain Bene cooperation is to prove beyond a doubt that the same machine intelligence boogeyman that gave rise to the Arcadian Empire now seeks again to destroy it. The Rithe have become close-lipped in recent months, with fewer and fewer reports out of Gammon, so we know very little about the true situation. Hallare also wishes to know if the subversion of Rithe is salvageable, although I cannot---one moment...
Acknowledged. Yes, I am expecting them. I will be in the shuttle bay.
It seems the team I requested from Intelligence has arrived.
--
The Taci is already cooling its impulse engines as T'Arvit arrives in the shuttlebay. The special runabout dwarfs the brand new Starfleet models beside it. First down the ramp is an Orion woman in Aerocommando garb. She is followed by a group of Licori in Starfleet Intelligence pattern camo.
"Yellowbrick reporting for duty," Captain Tarroi, the Orion, salutes T'Arvit.
Behind the group of Licori, a cloaked figure pauses at the top of the ramp, before stepping into the harsh lights of the shuttlebay. A genuine fedora, likely an Earth import, hides the face of the figure for a moment longer, before the angle becomes clear. Dearre Nixa pauses to make eye contact with T'Arvit.
Her dramatic entrance is foiled, however, when a young Licori girl steps out behind her, tugging at the Betazoid's trench coat.
T'Arvit asks the natural question.
"Consultant Nixa, why are you accompanied by a child?"
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24157.1, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Anoxa-Gammon Lagrange 2, Dark Side of Anoxa)
Starfleet Tactical is very familiar with the Anoxa planetary system. It was studied extensively during the Licori War, due to the resiliency of its defenses and the superweapon on the Anoxa moon. Afterwards, the system was occupied for several months, and the facilities mapped as finely as possible.
Several approaches to Anoxa were discarded during the planning phase of the operation to disable the laser, including the one Curiosity is using now. We are hidden in a collection of mineral-rich asteroids that were collected at L2 during the initial construction of the Anoxa superweapon. While the Kortennon monitored this abandoned mining area closely, the Rithe have been considerably more lax, having given up on restoring the Anoxa facility. It is here where we will begin our operation, within transporter range of the Anoxa moon and less than a light-second from Gammon orbit should the need arise.
Taci will insert the Yellowbrick team to the settlements on Anoxa's surface. Dearre Nixa has continued cultivating the contacts we made during the initial operation in this system, and will meet them to determine how to travel to the surface of Gammon. Several days of fact-finding on Gammon may be necessary to understand the degree of Harmony penetration and if a forceful or diplomatic approach is possible.
We require Licori agents on the ground, however I have reservations about Yellowbrick. Yellowbrick's dossiers say they were recruited from anti-Rithe dissidents. I can only hope Task Group Sunglass's training was sufficient to temper any lingering malice.
Nixa's child, Lys, is secure in guest quarters. I have not obtained the entire story, but Captain Tarroi took in the girl after finding her on the street. I am told that Lys was ... not amenable ... when Tarroi and Nixa needed to leave Morshadd, and Nixa caved and took her along. I do not approve of having civilian children aboard on a mission like this, but I am clearly left with no choice. The needs of the many must come first here.
--
Special Invesigator's Log, Dearre Nixa
(Betazoid, Female)
Gammon is a planet living two lives, both of which are lies. Clean streets, smiling farmers and tradespeople, walking past symbols of Kortennon oppression where the fresh coat of gloss is barely dry. Harmony citizens fill the spaceport's lounges, though there are fewer on the streets and none at all among the slums of Anoxa. I am told their cruisers visited less than two weeks ago.
It doesn't take long for the dark whispers to rise up past the fair-seeming glimmer into the streets. The Rithe have planted massive supercomputers into their halls of power like a cybernetic cancer; so large and modern that they cannot be trusted. Calls for land-holding reform go unheeded, yet so too does delinquent serf debt go uncollected. There is no interest in either reconciling or reconquering the Commune, nor finding their lost child Empress, nor even squabbling over the house's succession. Even the hard-eyed revolutionaries the Commune has smuggled here are confused.
The daughters and sons of Rithe are active all the same. A proclamation here, a new trade contract there. Institutions are reformed as if turning over soil to bury the manure. New noble officers lead their soldiery through their pageantry, marching in the streets, a brief gleam of steel doing nothing to chase away the questioning shadows. Behind the scenes, more practical training takes place, the frigates and runabouts keeping to their stellar waltz of light and fury through wargame after wargame. But the scions of Rithe dance to their own tune, cast out tradition, disdain internal rivalries, shed the old Licori ways like moulting for these new and twisted lights of progress.
Once Countess Coeniad held her house in the grip of an iron fist. Now she has not been seen in public for months. I am told the former regent barricades herself in her wing of the palace, a mentat protein synthesizer providing her food and water. Every day her family begs her to leave, but she has refused. She rants and berates any who dare speak at her through the door. Yet she is still Countess; none dare enter her sanctum by force.
Yellowbrick has spent much of the past week cataloguing hard evidence of these whispers. But electronic evidence can only go so far.
Our Licori team wishes to infiltrate the palace. I fear for what they will find.
--
The four Licori shuffle down the corridor of the mansion, their servant's clothes bulky and nondescript. The nobles of House Rithe pass them without even a first glance. They are being led by the head butler, a thin, skeletal man by the given name of Galakk.
"And these are the Countess's chambers," Galakk says, gesturing to a pair of massive wooden doors.
"I'd show you inside. As the Countess, she had her own servant team, but… you don't have to worry about it anymore."
"Is that you, Galakk?" a harsh voice shouts from inside the door. "Come to beg again on behalf of those slaves? Well, begone. I won't submit like they did."
The four servants exchange glances, then as one they pull weapons from their frocks. Galakk doesn't even get off a surprised cry before he falls to the ground unconscious.
"Weaponfire! Finally, damn you! You won't take me alive!" the woman calls from beyond the door.
Silently, the team fiddles with the control panel, noting the door is technically not locked. They insert a probe, and see that a massive timber has been propped against the door. Quickly, they place burrowing charges. There is a muffled thump as they detonate, and the door creaks open, the barricade useless.
Meanwhile, the woman's voice continues to curse from the inside.
As the team begins to enter the room, a massive crack echoes from the far end of the chamber. The special operative barely throws himself against the wall before the door is blown off its hinges by a massive explosion. The two halves slam into the far wall, going halfway through it. The room across the hallway is visible through the hole. A siren begins to wail and distant shouts can be heard.
As the dust clears, the sound of a weapon being reloaded echoes through the hall. The operatives make a snap decision and throw themselves into the hall, their camouflage suits shimmering in the reduced visibility. The barrel of a weapon, at least big enough to seriously threaten a cannon, can be seen propped up against a fancy table at the next door. The team begins firing in turns, suppressing the weapon's operator and causing her to shriek and flee, a stream of curses trailing in her wake.
"Damn machine brains! Slavers and thugs! You may have taken my house, but you'll bleed for me!"
The room past the modified anti-tank rifle is a sitting room that overlooks the plaza. The curtains are drawn closed. The team clears the room, but there is no sign of its occupant. Two doors lead away - one down a hall of open bedchamber doors. The rear team member pulls out a tricorder, then gestures silently to the other door, closed and ominous.
They push it open from the side. It's an incredibly opulent office. There is a massive desk, covered in papers and computer parts. Behind the desk sits a massive high-backed chair, and in the chair, a tall, thin Licori woman in a regal black dress. She wears an electronic monocle with a laser sensor, a targeting system of some sort, and wields a gun with a muzzle the size of a dinner plate in two hands, pointed straight at the door.
"Ma'am, please put down the disruptor," one of the Licori recites calmly from safely behind the door.
"I'm warning you," the lady snaps. "You'll pay in blood for what you've done. You think I've been idle all these months I've been locked away? I've rigged a broadcast system! If you kill me, or take my mind, all of Gammon will know. You think you can fight every servant and serf? It will be like Morshadd all over again."
"And if we aren't the Harmony?"
Dearre Nixa pushes through the strike team and strides through the doorway, an equally massive disruptor pointed straight at Countess Coeniad Rithe.
The two women stare each other in the eyes for several seconds.
"I see. Not who I expected, but perhaps it is for the best."
The Countess rises from her armchair, standing on shaky feet.
"Get me out of here, and I'll tell you what you want to know."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24159.0, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Anoxa-Gammon Lagrange 2, Dark Side of Anoxa)
Team Yellowbrick has secured Countess Coeniad Rithe. I am told that she has expressed a willingness to personally testify against the Harmony to the Houses and the Commune, but is requesting protection against retaliation for her part in events on Morshadd. I am not in the practice of protecting mass-murderers, but as ever, there are the needs of the many to consider versus the deserved sanction of the few. There will need to be some form of incentive for her testimony.
More complications have arisen. We've detected two warp signatures resembling Harmony cruisers on approach to the system, unknown configuration. We're presuming the same stealth systems that Enterprise and Revival reported. They'll be here within twenty minutes. We are going to have to extricate our team and the Countess before they arrive, or the situation will quickly spiral out of control. As much as I'd like a look at the black ships, a clean mission takes priority.
It would also be prudent to minimize their acquaintance with the warp signature of the Taci - I must mention in logs Lieutenant-Commander Furlav, who has devised a harmonic in our warp signature to 'wash' the subspace wake of the Intelligence ship when we withdraw.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24149.2, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route from Gammon to Gessaria)
Nearly exchanging fire with orbital defense platforms is never calm, but I must commend my crew for their professionalism. We left the system before the Harmony showed, and they gave only token pursuit. I am headed to the conference room to greet our 'guest'.
--
The lift stops and the door slides open, revealing the Taci once again discharging her passengers. T'Arvit makes her way into the shuttlebay just as the Countess is escorted down the ramp by Dearre Nixa and a handful of Licori operatives. Greeting them at the bottom is the ship's underway intelligence officer, and Dearre Nixa's adopted child, Lys.
While Nixa stops to chat with the intelligence officer, the Countess passes the group without a look. Lys frowns as she does. Curious, T'Arvit makes her way over.
"She should kneel," Lys says quietly to herself.
T'Arvit notices Lys is dressed differently, not a child's summer dress, but a uniform. A navy blouse. Gold piping. A deep violet cape. The symbol of the Arcadian Empire on its back.
Without turning, Lys speaks suddenly. "Captain, are you protecting this woman?"
"We were in discussions-" T'Arvit begins, only to have the child cut her off.
"We accuse this woman of conspiracy with a foreign power, insurrection, regicide, and thirty thousand five hundred sixty-three counts of murder of the first degree. Even lacking extradition, surely you were not considering harboring her?"
"Bwhaaa?" Dearre Nixa says.
Almost too late, T'Arvit realizes it is the same cape that the late Emperor Lugis sometimes wore. Wearing his uniform, Lys looks like Emperor Lugis in the miniature. T'Arvit absently recalls that the child had been playing with the replicator all evening.
"Miss Tartresis…" T'Arvit begins. "This woman is crucial to an ongoing peace process."
"She killed my father," Lys says. "Auntie Nixa won't let her get away with that, will she?"
"Wait," Nixa says, "hold up. You're what? All along? But-"
"We can certainly come to an accommodation," T'Arvit quickly interjects. "This is your sister's mission, after all."
--
"Ellie?"
"Hi…" Eleanor chokes out. "Big sis, I'm sorry!"
"I should be sorry. We looked for so long, but it should have been longer. Straaji's spies lost your trail on Morshadd, and I didn't know what else to do…"
"So that's why those men were looking for me…" Ellie muses.
"Oh no," Hallare says. "Ellie, you read that off of them? What did we tell you about impressions?"
"It's okay, Hallie! I was with the Federation spies instead. Remember when mom told us where they lived? I found them and they kept me safe."
There is a reaction on Hallare's face before a curtain of royal will crashes down. A moment of confusion and suspicion. And no wonder, for the Federation is not often an entity where the right hand knows not the mind of the left.
"And I am incredibly grateful they did," Hallare says. "Are you well? Have you been eating okay? Any problems with… you know?"
Eleanor laughs lightly, wiping away a few tears.
"Everything is wonderful, sis. It's gotten better after I got Auntie Nixa to explain a few things. Oh, Auntie Tarroi cooks. Look, I've grown this much."
Hallare glances off screen and nods, her expression turning slightly more serious.
"Ellie, just hang in there a few more days. The Captain will take you home, and I'll be waiting for you."
"Okay! But first we have to do something about that lady," Ellie tells her sister. "The one who killed father."
"Yes," Hallare says. "But Ellie, even if we arrest her, she won't admit involvement. She'll only talk about the big evil Harmony and how they made her siblings do it. I can't stand the thought of her getting away."
"She won't admit involvement, but I've read it off her."
"And that won't go very far as an accusation."
"Is it because daddy made psychic evidence inadmissible?"
"Uh, yes. You know how he was."
"Well then why don't we change that?"
"Even if I decreed it, I don't think the Countess acknowledges my- oh. No, Ellie, stop grinning like that!"
"Yeah!" Eleanor chirps. "She made me Empress. She can't possibly claim I can't."
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24160.6, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, en route from Gammon to Gessaria)
It is one unsuspected variable after another. The sheer illogic of these connections frustrates me. Foremost among matters is that of the child Empress; Eleanor Tartresis is telepathic. Her gift comes from a mentat-designed gene-mod. Another of the late Emperor Lugis' secret projects. Lacking the training a natural psychic would and should get from childhood, possibly in combination with other characteristics, the ability has caused her a great deal of trouble. She'd often run off to be away from crowds, and gained a reputation for dissociation and antisocial behavior.
The Tartresis sisters have secured Rithe's cooperation. I believe the Countess thinks she is going to walk away without consequence afterwards, but Hallare has assured me she will not.
Meanwhile, I can report a conversation with Straaji Halkh about what to expect at the conference. Officially we are transporting the Rithe delegation, with the Federation itself not intended to be at the table in anything but the role of facilitator.
Unofficially, Halkh explained how the houses were completely unable to act against the Commune for a full year. Colonial nobles were greatly empowered by the fall of Morshadd, and took great joy in acting against nobility that had lost everything, left with only small holdings for big titles. Likewise, the four great houses with their colony planets were less affected than the houses minor, but also more prone to jockeying over the throne rather than cooperating.
Having spent the last two days feeling out the sentiment, he believes the nobility with influence are exhausted with the Morshadd situation and is willing to take a loss to come to some sort of accord. Those without, that is those who are left with only prestige and unmet claims to territory on the homeworld, have had their indignation tamped down by the complete frustration of any scheme or attempted return. Now a partial return or sale of property with repatriation of prisoners has become the apparent goal.
He also heavily implied that I should discreetly pass this information to the Commune.
--
"Commune ships are arriving," blasch Furlav brusquely states from behind the sensor station. "Something big. Picking up angry communication between starbase control and the ship. They're disregarding warp exclusion zones, standb-"
The Tellarite science officer trails off as with a flash of pseudo-relativistic motion a battleship drops out of warp well within weapons range of the Starbase, gliding slowly to a stop directly across from the Empress' own battleship.
Eyebrows raise across the bridge. "That's a Sandworm," Nalaya points out. "Since when did they have one of those?"
"The shipyards of Morshadd have been back in operation under the Commune for a year," T'Arvit says. "This ship was started under Lugis' rule."
"It's quite the provocation to come in the Emperor's battleship," Nalaya says.
"We must conclude that the show of defiance is no unintended message," replies the Captain dryly.
--
Captain's Log, Stardate 24164.8, USS Curiosity, Captain T'Arvit
(EC Ambassador, Gessaria Orbit)
The Independence has indeed made a statement. I have spent some time in the spaceport's observation lounge, and many of the visiting nobles openly gawk at it.
Ex-Countess Rithe testified before the Council of Houses yesterday, and then again in the evening to the stone-faced Commune representatives. The gathered Licori accepted the evidence of the Harmony's influence with only measured skepticism. The Bene seem reassured that their Romulan advisers - not Tal Shiar but the Tal Diann, my intelligence office is pleased to inform me - are in agreement with our evidence. Although the Ixarians left yesterday unconvinced, they seemed placated when they returned.
More controversial is the provisional agreement between the Houses and the Commune. In light of the emergency situation, and the threat to the Licori people, the Houses and Commune have come to an uneasy truce. Each of the major Houses has agreed to recognize the Commune as a foreign government rather than an insurrection and to open diplomatic relations between the Commune and the Arcadian Empire. The agreement fell short of giving up claim to Morshadd, but there is an understanding that nothing more will be said until a later date. This has spurred the more moderate minor houses into side talks to regain the right to operate on Morshadd, hopefully recovering some House property. However, those negotiations may take many more months.
While the Commune has not admitted to agitating revolutionary sentiment on other worlds, they have agreed to stop any such activities, if they existed, for the duration of the conflict with the Harmony, but warn that they cannot control popular sentiment.
More immediate is Empress Hallare's declaration that as the head of House Tartresis, she will be forming a two-house elected parliament for the Calamar system, in a document they are calling the Calamar Charter. Reaction from the Commune is mixed, some believing that any step towards democratic government is good, others that it is mere lip service to allow the nobility to cling to power. But the nobility of Calamar seem accepting, almost resigned, and Halkh speaks of preparatory work that predates Hallare's rule. Bene and Ixaria are outraged and show no sign of any similar reforms, but their opposition has only united the Commune negotiators and the Empress against them. Already repatriation of Tartresis nobility captured on Morshadd is in the works.
In short, the Licori situation is still in flux, but the Commune and Empire have agreed to a temporary truce and a framework for further negotiations, and they are jointly committed to recovering Rithe from the Harmony.
After her testimony, Coeniad Rithe was arrested by officials from the Arcadian Empire and will be tried for her crimes in the coming months. Out of consideration for her cooperation, I am told the death penalty has been set aside. As much as I detest what the woman has done, no sophont deserves that.
Empress Eleanor is on the way back to Calamar with her sister. I suspect we haven't seen the last of that child.
[Licori Diplomacy has been clarified. The Licori are beginning to move against the Harmony.]
Arcadian Empire (Licori) 100/100
Tags before Affiliation:
-[At War: 443/???]
-[Recently in a Shooting War: 100/100]
-[Romulan Influence: 80/100]
-[Slavery: 0/4 (FDS)] (Task made much easier by changes in situation)
-[Fiddling while Morshadd Burns: 0/3 FDS] (linked with the Commune's tag)
Tags before Alliance:
-[A Question of Harmony: N/A (Resolve the Harmony infiltration of House Rithe and the wider Empire)]
-[Continual Nest of Vipers: 0/300]
-[The Tal Shiar on your Shoulder: 0/300]
-[Unequal Feudal Society: 1/8 FDS]
Morshadd Commune 25/100
Tags before Affiliation:
-[The Revolution Does Not Negotiate With Tyrants: 0/3 FDS] (linked with the Empire's tag)
-[Nascent Nationstate: 0/100]
Tags before Alliance
-[Callow Commune: 0/5 (FDS)]
-[The Profound Paranoia of the People's Fleet: 0/300]
MEANWHILE, ON EARTH...
"Understood," you tell Captain th'Zelyot. "If you'll excuse me, there's no time to waste."
You close the transmission from the Miracht Agad and open the special line immediately.
"I have them," you tell the President. "Transmitting the report now."
"I'll draw up authorization," she says.
"Understood. Time is of the essence - send it to me en route."
You stand and gather your things.
"Cancel all appointments today," you say through the intercom to the Captain at the front desk.
"Computer, Office 3, energize."
Twenty minutes later, your team appears in Paris, thankfully inside offices rather than on the main square. Phasers hiss out before the last member has even materialized, the Councillor and her aides collapsing to unconsciousness one by one. Her bodyguards, surprised the building's transport inhibitor did not function, are slow to react, but the Office 3 team ends up in a tense standoff with the armed guards.
"Stand down," you say from behind the group. "By order of the President, Councillor Oia Celis is being detained due to subversion by foreign forces."
"Bullshit," one of the Laio hisses. "This is a coup, isn't it? We won't let you-"
Before the shooting can begin, the bodyguard team disappears in a flash of transporters from Starbase 1. You nod at the Office 3 team, who are securing the Councillor for transport to the special facility.
"We'll take it from here," the Captain tells you.
Your PADD beeps. It's the President. Time to face the music.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
I regret the lack of a mad cackling reaction, but hey the sentiment is more than enough.
So it continues.
So it continues.
- Location
- Washington DC
And so we return to our not particularly scheduled programming!
*excitement intensifies*
*excitement intensifies*
Thors_Alumni
Proud member of Thors Class VII from Liberl
- Location
- Liberl Zemuria.
Damnit we need a cackling mad emoji for this. Why dont e have one oh godly GMs?
Well, at least the Romulan influenced House is being helpful, for now.
I have to wonder what form the Licori government(s) will look like in a decade - it is unlikely to be a united Empire ...
Got to worry about what kind of blow back Chen arresting a Councilor will have, even with Presidential authorization. I presume this Councilor is a Harmony pawn, how many more have they gotten to?
I have to wonder what form the Licori government(s) will look like in a decade - it is unlikely to be a united Empire ...
Got to worry about what kind of blow back Chen arresting a Councilor will have, even with Presidential authorization. I presume this Councilor is a Harmony pawn, how many more have they gotten to?
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The Feds are taking away my toys!!! *Throws a tantrum*
- Location
- Ohio
Playing a Shirren in Starfinder has made me even more appreciative of telepathy than I already was.
It might be unethical to have a mad scientist gene-mod your children like the late emperor did, doubly so when they might inherit a star empire from you, but gives a very big edge against the other houses. I would not treat my children like that though.
Hopefully there is friend or tutor among the Betazoids, possibly from a House of Betazed, that could help here.
I am not making suggestions though as I am not the best quest planner.
It might be unethical to have a mad scientist gene-mod your children like the late emperor did, doubly so when they might inherit a star empire from you, but gives a very big edge against the other houses. I would not treat my children like that though.
Hopefully there is friend or tutor among the Betazoids, possibly from a House of Betazed, that could help here.
I am not making suggestions though as I am not the best quest planner.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Vulcans could serve in that capacity, too.
- Location
- Ohio
I had thought of mentioning them as well, but I am trying to take into account royalty and politeness to avoid disaster.
Then again, a lot of tutors, mentors, and confidants in royal courts are not royal or noble in the first place.
Plus telepathy is fast and fun.
- Location
- Infraspace
Already underway:
- Location
- alphen aan den rijn
you go for it aunt nixa. that sounds like a coup and a halve if that works.
well at least there not killing one and other now still more work for the FDS
not sure if they love us or hate us for all the work we are giving them?
well at least there not killing one and other now still more work for the FDS
not sure if they love us or hate us for all the work we are giving them?
In this case love us, the FDS always likes it when fighting ends and talks start. Here there is a chance to see a democracy form spanning several worlds