But basically, all things considered, I really really don't want my strategy to revolve around exposing my face to punches, and hoping the enemy breaks their fists on my face. Even if my face were very, very durable, that's just not a good move.
It's much better to be in a position where you can inflict meaningful damage to the enemy directly, and don't need to bait them into overbalancing themselves.
So having our security troops on planets where they are actively interfering with the Syndicate and destroying its strength is better than having their strength cruising around looking for Federation targets to hit.
But basically, all things considered, I really really don't want my strategy to revolve around exposing my face to punches, and hoping the enemy breaks their fists on my face. Even if my face were very, very durable, that's just not a good move.
It's much better to be in a position where you can inflict meaningful damage to the enemy directly, and don't need to bait them into overbalancing themselves.
So having our security troops on planets where they are actively interfering with the Syndicate and destroying its strength is better than having their strength cruising around looking for Federation targets to hit.
One of the key things for a shadow organization to do in this sort of thing is to provoke their larger opponent into spending resources reacting to the shadow organization's provocations instead of hitting at the weak links of the shadow organization. My concern is that over-committing the UFP's resources to reacting to infiltrators (which does not cut at the root of the Syndicate's power in Orion society) will be such a misallocation.
I really think that we aren't being anywhere NEAR aggressive enough in dealing with the Syndicate. This is a criminal organization that is centuries old and was still a problem in TNG era canon. They will not go down easy. We need to cut at the very roots of the Syndicate. And that means police work targeting the financial roots of the organization and it means winning hearts and minds.
Guarding against infiltration is nice, but it is defensive, and I think a better defense in a good offense.
I'm pretty sympathetic to the argument, and on merits alone, the trade-off of shorter-term risk mitigation of Betazoids versus the longer-term impact (perhaps reduction of Syndicate's own resilience?) of Vulcans is a really tough call.
But honestly, in the end, what tipped my vote toward the Betazoids has nothing to do with logical trade-offs and instead has to do with sentimental ones. I like the idea of the newest Federation members getting their chance to shine.
So that would be Betazoids over Vulcans. Caitians/Amarkians over Andorians, and Caitians over Amarkians, because Caitians are fresh off the boat, so to speak, and the Amarkians are getting a lot of love in omakes anyway, being the blue-haired cutely martial space elves they are.
I actually feel like, while the Andorians get lots of attention and a surprising number of our Major Personae are Andorians... most of those Andorians are actually being played pretty much as if they were human. Everyone knows how to make a Vulcan seem like an alien, and Tellarites can be made distinctive just by emphasizing that they're short and argumentative*. But how do you make Andorians seem different?
This is not meant to negate what you're saying, lbmaian, but it's something worth bearing in mind. I'd like to see some Andorians shine as Andorians, not just as blue humans with antennae.
__________________________________
*By the way, I am mildly surprised that nobody noticed I did something very, very weird in Fairy Tales. Namely, I wrote a nice Tellarite.
Chad's actually pretty chill, he just hasn't got much screentime. Bear in mind he let Abigail be a passive-aggressive sullen asshole for like, three months before he finally dressed her down.
I also had fun with Grann in that you can see him tone back the complaints with people higher-ranked (aside from Sorkan, who Gets It) because he knows that'll get him in shit, but the moment it's a pair of Lieutenants he complains about them being late-early, the hour of the morning, the burdens of the captain's seat, Zonshu's sarcasm...
More to the point on Andorians, I think it's because a lot of what makes them stand-out -- the duels, the military paranoia -- would be gone by now. Then they're just kinda-high strung humans, I guess.
I actually feel like, while the Andorians get lots of attention and a surprising number of our Major Personae are Andorians... most of those Andorians are actually being played pretty much as if they were human. Everyone knows how to make a Vulcan seem like an alien, and Tellarites can be made distinctive just by emphasizing that they're short and argumentative*. But how do you make Andorians seem different?
This is not meant to negate what you're saying, lbmaian, but it's something worth bearing in mind. I'd like to see some Andorians shine as Andorians, not just as blue humans with antennae.
__________________________________
*By the way, I am mildly surprised that nobody noticed I did something very, very weird in Fairy Tales. Namely, I wrote a nice Tellarite.
Something to note is that the Andorians have a lot in common with the Amarki, culturally. More mature, perhaps, as a culture, more pragmatic definitely, but I could see them getting on pretty well.
Chad's actually pretty chill, he just hasn't got much screentime. Bear in mind he let Abigail be a passive-aggressive sullen asshole for like, three months before he finally dressed her down.
...Actually I forgot Chad was even a Tellarite to begin with, so I score four Obliviousness Points, and also you did a frighteningly great job with that.
What I tried to do with Dill is just throw out the whole "Tellarites like to insult people as a means of opening communication" thing. On the one hand, it means a lot of other Tellarites probably find her weird and annoying; on the other hand it's easier for her to get along in Starfleet. A keen observer might note (though it's not apparent in Fairy Tales) that Dill does sometimes capitalize on the advantage she gets from being strange like that. Because everyone expects a Tellarite to bicker and be mean-spirited about things, and when Dill isn't, it throws them off balance.
More to the point on Andorians, I think it's because a lot of what makes them stand-out -- the duels, the military paranoia -- would be gone by now. Then they're just kinda-high strung humans, I guess.
...That actually makes a lot of sense. Although it raises the question, how do we make diversity for them? How do we make them interestingly different beyond "they're blue?"
I actually feel like, while the Andorians get lots of attention and a surprising number of our Major Personae are Andorians... most of those Andorians are actually being played pretty much as if they were human. Everyone knows how to make a Vulcan seem like an alien, and Tellarites can be made distinctive just by emphasizing that they're short and argumentative*. But how do you make Andorians seem different?
This is not meant to negate what you're saying, lbmaian, but it's something worth bearing in mind. I'd like to see some Andorians shine as Andorians, not just as blue humans with antennae.
Is it so bad that Andorians can simply behave similarly to humans?
Not every species needs to have some special distinguishing characteristic. It's going to get really tough as we start approaching the canon number of species in the UFP.
Stereotyping is just a really convenient practice when there's limited screen time for the species. I'd be happy to see other species as stereotypically (hah) diverse as humans.
We could flip the human-centrism around and say that humans are behaviorally just like Andorians except for weirdly only having two genders and having a penchant for exhausting sports rather than exciting ice-diving
*By the way, I am mildly surprised that nobody noticed I did something very, very weird in Fairy Tales. Namely, I wrote a nice Tellarite.
We know the Andorians come from a very harsh homeworld by most standards. Even assuming that the cold is harmless to them, Andorians do need to drink water, and probably fresh rather than sea water, which is going to be hard to come by on an icy planet. To me, this suggests a strongly territorial streak; you need to be willing to defend your precious hot springs from other tribes. Strong concepts of private and public property might come naturally to them. They'd also be a bit more paranoid and mistrustful of outsiders than humans, though obviously not to the same extent as the Lecarre.
Is it so bad that Andorians can simply behave similarly to humans?
Not every species needs to have some special distinguishing characteristic. It's going to get really tough as we start approaching the canon number of species in the UFP.
Stereotyping is just a really convenient practice when there's limited screen time for the species. I'd be happy to see other species as stereotypically (hah) diverse as humans.
We could flip the human-centrism around and say that humans are behaviorally just like Andorians except for weirdly only have two genders and having a penchant for exhausting sports rather than exciting ice-diving
I didn't even notice there was a Tellarite despite the name in the first part. This is what happens when we stereotype races so much :/
I'll be the first to complain about the Planet of Hats approach that Trek normally takes. I, for one, would be all for deciding that there are several other Klingon religions that are repressed by the cult of K'less and that the bat'leth is only the favored weapon of one particular ethnic group, that the Grand Nagus only rules over one of many Ferengi societies, and that Bajor has an entire continent full of countries who think the Prophet-worshippers are out of their fucking minds.
However, I also think that doing the opposite, saying that aliens are just like funny-looking humans, would be an insult to the utopian idealism of Star Trek. The Federation's most cherished virtue is tolerance, and for tolerance to actually mean anything there have to be real differences to tolerate. The variance between species must be greater than the variance within each species.
My preferred approach for scifi in general is to start with evopsych. What was this species' ancestral niche, what sort of social structure did it have before developing technology, what environment did it evolve in, etc. This should then give you a short list of ways in which these creatures are innately different from and similar to humans. Once you have that list, you can think about the various ways you could make a working society out of creatures with those traits, and assume that each of those various ways exists or has existed at some point in the species' history.
Always figured that humans had a fairly Andorian-like mindset, really. Must have come as a relief to the Andorians after dealing with the Vulcans and Tellarites.
Always figured that humans had a fairly Andorian-like mindset, really. Must have come as a relief to the Andorians after dealing with the Vulcans and Tellarites.
—————————————————————————————————————————————— Task: WORD
[1][WORD] Flood the region with Starfleet ships. Put your Captains into places where they will interact with Orions and lead by example (2 Influence, Increase Garrisons for Amarkia and Ferasa to D15, each sector rolls a presence test against a ship at random to cause Impact)
You're quite right; once we had a chance to break Linderly in and train him to our exacting standards as Intelligence Director, you'll note that he was far more forthcoming in the vote options in his department. I chalk up the early missteps to dropping him into that promotion without a clear transition period. Other personnel who have communicated their plans for retirement have given Starfleet several months of advance notice in which to finalize a replacement, which was distinctly not the case when Nash handed in her resignation.
[X] Plan Do it all
[X][WORD] Flood the region with Starfleet ships. Put your Captains into places where they will interact with Orions and lead by example (2 Influence, Increase Garrisons for Amarkia and Ferasa to D15, each sector rolls a presence test against a ship at random to cause Impact)
[X][COPS] Draw on the Caitian Frontier Police force. These people keep order on the Caitian border worlds and even saw some action against the Dawiar. Full-size phaser pistols and light armour for protection are carried standard. (1 Influence, +1 Militarisation, reduce Syndicate event rate, more resilient to casualties)
[X][DETECTIVES] Rixx Scrutineers from Betazed could be called upon. It is impossible to pass a direct deception by one. (1 Influence, +3 Impact, apply penalty to Syndicate infiltration operations)
[X][DEVICES] Seed the most likely vectors. (1 Influence, +2 Impact)
[X][SIG] Form Office 36 dedicated to Orion Syndicate Decryption under Signals Division. [1 Influence, -5pp/yr, +5 Impact]
Anti-Slavery Act Amendment of 2310
Contains provisions for:
- Sanctions against Orion Hypercorps suspected of Syndicate involvement
- Financial regulations run through the Mercantile Oversight Agency of Rigel
- Informational Push conducted by the Federation Council
- Groundwork laid for prospective Organised Crime Informants Protection Act, hoped to be passed in early 2311
- Authorisation of Caitian Frontier Police deployment to Orion Union worlds outside Alukk
- Authorisation of Rixx Scrutineers to join Orion Union criminal investigatory bodies
- Allocation of resources for a manufacturing effort for detection devices to be produced at Ord Grind Duk
- Authorisation for internal signals diversions for Starfleet Intelligence, with a sunset clause of 2315
Annual base Impact moved from 18 to 28. Federation Resilience raised from 0 to 10. Syndicate event rate dropped, additional penalty to Orion infiltration attempts.
-5pp/year for duration
15 Influence of 15 in use.
=================
San Francisco HQ is a refreshing change of pace after the madhouse that was Paris.
You immediately file that under, 'stuff you never expected to say'.
After a morning full of reviewing security reports, you have taken a moment to enjoy your coffee, reclining in your chair and looking out over the Golden Gate bridge through your window. Your mind wanders, thinking over the accomplishments of the past few years, and those yet to come, such as the upcoming ratification of Rigel next year. But you also think of the internal and external threats, the Cardassians without and the Syndicate within. When you grow as fast as this, it is inevitable you start to get some stretch marks. But is that all this is? You know that you are one of the great architects of the Federation's expansion over the last decade. If this went too fast, too far, have you done more harm than good in your time? Will you go down as a Hero of the Federation? Or someone who overreached...
"Admiral," comes from the intercom to your Yeoman. "Your eleven-hundred appointment is here."
"Send them in." You take a sip from your coffee as the door slides smoothly open.
A Caitian man walks in first, tall and proud, bearing so straight you think you could run a spirit level over his spine. His uniform is beautiful and ornate, an overcoat the colour of butternut with silver piping. Shoulder-boards and cuff braids give it a martial air, and his collar is marked with guidon-shaped tabs bearing symbols of measuring scales above a traditional Caitian adjudicator's rod of office. Under the coat is a pristine white tunic and pants, with a broad belt and an empty holster. Following hot on his heels is a woman with blue piping instead of silver on her uniform.
Third and finally through to door is a Betazoid woman in a long khaki coat over slacks and a clean white shirt. A short-brimmed cap sits on her head, pressing down dark curls. She has a guarded, hard-bitten look, a gaze that seems to trust no one and no thing. She walks with her hands in her pockets, eyes constantly in motion. She likewise has an empty holster; your security has already told you that the disruptor pistol the woman had handed over was more akin to a cannon than a side-arm. To be perfectly frank, it certainly wasn't the sort of thing you expect from a Betazoid!
"General K'Harss of the Caitian Frontier Police, reporting as ordered," says the Caitian man before gesturing to his colleague. "This is the chief justice assigned to my division, Colonel M'hiel."
The Betazoid woman takes a moment to remove her hat and regard it silently before turning to you and curtly saying, "Dearre Nixa, Rixx Scrutineers. Chief Detective."
A quick nod is the only response they get as you slowly return your coffee cup to the desk. "Thank you for coming here." A silence falls for a moment as you look the three arrivals over. K'Harss has an ironclad look to him, incorruptible, inflexible. A man who holds his oath to the law as the defining bond of his life. He'd probably be crappy company at the poker table, but you can do with a man like this against the Syndicate. You're not so sure how creative he is though, and that may be a problem. Dearre Nixa, on the other hand, looks to have a mind as straight as a warp coil.
"I've been called worse, Admiral," says Dearre. "And less fairly, too."
You lean back in your chair and let out a deep breath, before giving her a grin. "Clearly, I need a Betazoid yeoman. It would be nice to not have to bother asking for my coffee." K'Harss looks around in confusion but you need to move along. You have only a short time allocated to this appointment. "Let's get down to brass tacks. General, Chief Detective, Colonel, you'll get your full briefings from people for versed in the detail you'll need, but I wanted to give you your overviews myself." You tap a button on your desk and the lights darken and a holographic display of Orion Union space pops up.
"Okay, Orion Union, fifteen worlds, ten systems, big ones being the capital Alukk, and major worlds Celos, Duaba, and Akosa. The others are minor or mining colonies. But they're still problems, because there are a lot of small off the books shipyards and industry that the Syndicate relies on. Federation presence in Orion Union space is a bit of a hot topic in local politics, but most of it is fine as long as we stay out of sight and out of mind on Alukk."
"Now, your Frontier Police division will be deploying to Orion Union space to help combat the Syndicate," you explain. "You're replacing the beat police in a number of these worlds, as they have been suspended due to thorough Syndicate corruption. Now, I won't lie." You lock eyes with the General and lean forward. "This is a very dangerous assignment. Men will die."
"Risk of death comes with the territory, Admiral," replies K'Harss, hands clasped behind his back and chin raised. "If the innocents we stand before are green skinned instead of furred, they're innocents all the same, and we'll risk our hides for them, too."
You nod slowly at that, then turn to the Colonel. "Some of these worlds you will just need to be deploying police forces. In a couple, the Union government has suspended the judiciary as well while they attempt to weed out the massive infiltration. On these worlds, your attached justices will operate as trial judges, with Starfleet courts-martial as a court of appeal, and the Executive Bench of Arbitration on Alukk as the final appeal body, which will hear de novo trials."
"Not a problem, Admiral," says Colonel M'hiel.
The Betazoid woman earns your attention next. "And Dearre, your scrutineers will be working with these officers, providing their investigatory punch."
"Figured as much," the woman said, her voice husky with a lifetime of hard living.
"Your priority is Syndicate activity, especially rooting out corruption, working with one of Starfleet Intelligence's offices," you say, before holding up one finger. "But don't forget to keep ordinary law and order."
"My Scrutineers can do that," says Dearre with the ghost of a wry grin and a shrug of the shoulders. "Most of my people are blissfully unaware of the galaxy's criminality, but the Scrutineers have dealt with Gaeni Institutes and the more unscrupulous of the Rigellian merchant houses for a long time. We're ready."
"Good," you say before taking a moment to gather your thoughts. "This is a civil war in all but name, and worse, an ideological struggle. A contest between rule by the people and for the people, with rule by criminal oligarchy and traditionalists who passed their use-by date a millennium ago. Usually, in struggles between ideologies, there are two orders. There is only one 'order', here, and one inimical anarchy. I'm used to conflicts in which we have a way to find common ground. When the Caitian and the Dawiar fought, I always knew there was a common ground to find. We have found common ground with Klingons, Romulans, and I know that the Federation can break bread with the Sydraxians and Cardassians. But between the Union and Syndicate, I honestly can't see what that ground could be. Order can take many guises, but there can be no peace between a society of laws, and a society that is a revolt against the concept of law itself."
You drum your fingers against the desk. "This is a conflict that defies easy classification. With an end state that is difficult to conceive of. The Syndicate will, in all likelihood, never die, simply be suppressed. To be stopped from being an existential threat to the Orion Unions, to no longer be a dread threat to the rest of the Federation. But at it's heart, you have a criminal gang, and you have innocents being threatened.
"Be the sheriff. Save the townsfolk. Do what's right."
==============================================
[ ][FLEET] Set a new deployment pattern.
Keep in mind Amarkia and Ferasa Sectors now require D15 Garrisons.
Other ships can be assigned to join the Yukikaze.
New amendments will take effect starting 2311.Q1.
With this you are now entering a new stage of the conflict with the Orion Syndicate. Small monthly Syndicate turns will occur, and you will get progress reports of the events. Orion-related reports for the 2310.Q4 Starfleet Intelligence turn will be pushed into a separate Status Post.
Sol (D15)
Currently: 1 Excelsior [Endurance] (6), 1 Centaur-A (3) [Bull], 3 Miranda [Lion, Bon Vivant, Fidelity] (6), Starbase 1* (5)
New: 1 Excelsior [Endurance] (6), 3 Miranda [Lion, Bon Vivant, Fidelity] (6), Starbase 1* (5)
Changes: Send Bull to Amarkia. Four ships is enough.
Betazed (D3)
Currently: 1 Constellation [Selaya] (3)
New: Leave as is.
Vulcan (D12)
Currently: 1 Constellation [Sappho] (3), 1 Centaur-A (3) [Lightning], 1 Miranda (2) [T'Kumbra], Starbase I (5)
Proposed: 1 Constellation [Sappho] (3), 2 Mirandas (4) [T'Kumbra, Thunderhead], Starbase I (5)
New: Add Thunderhead, remove Lightning for duty in Andoria.
Andoria (D9)
Currently: 1 Excelsior (6) [Avandar], 1 Constellation (3) [Docana], 1 Miranda (2) [Eketha], 1 Oberth [Suvek] (1), Starbase I (5)
New: 1 Constellation (3) [Docana], 1 Centaur-A (3) [Lightning], 1 Miranda (2) [Eketha], 1 Oberth [Suvek] (1), Starbase I (5)
Changes: Add Lightning, pull the Avandar off for duties in Caitian Sector.
Tellar Prime (D9)
Currently: 1 Constellation (3) [Stalwart], 1 Centaur-A (3) [Gale], 1 Miranda (2) [Calypso], Starbase I (5), Extra Outposts (5)
New: No change.
Amarkia (D15)
Currently: 1 Excelsior (6) [Salnas], 1 Constellation (3) [Vigour], 1 Miranda [Dryad] (2), Oberth [Hawking] (1), Starbase I (5), Extra Outposts (5)
New: 1 Excelsior (6) [Salnas], 2 Centaur-A (6) [Bull, Blizzard], Starbase I (5), Extra Outposts (5)
Changes: Send off Hawking to help patrol RBZ. Remove Constellation and Miranda in favor of high-Presence Centaur-As, sending to CBZ [Vigour] and anti-Syndicate [Dryad] respectively.
Ferasa (D15)
Currently: Ferasa Station [Starbase I]
New: 1 Excelsior (6) [Avandar], 1 Constituion-A (5) [Cheron], Starbase I (5)
Romulan Border Zone (Currently D12)
Currently: 1 Excelsior (6) [Excelsior], 2 Miranda (4) [Svai, Thunderhead], Starbase I (5)
New: 1 Excelsior (6) [Excelsior], 1 Miranda (2) [Svai], Oberth [Hawking] (1), Starbase I (5)
Changes: Pull off 1 Miranda [Thunderhead] for duties in Vulcan; add Hawking for extra monitoring
Klingon Border Zone (Currently D6)
Currently: 1 Constellation (3) [Kearsage], 2 Miranda (4) [Intrepid, Shield], 1 Oberth (1) [Inspire]
New: Leave as is, but add Thirishar when it is completed in 2311Q1.
Cardassian Border Zone (Currently D10)
Currently: 1 Constitution (5) [Cheron], 1 Excelsior (6) [Kumari), 1 Constellation (3) [Challorn], 1 Centaur-A (3) [Winterwind]
New: 1 Excelsior (6) [Kumari), 2 Constellations (6) [Challorn, Vigour], 1 Centaur-A (3) [Winterwind]
Changes: Send Cheron to Ferasa, bring in Vigour to round out fleet.
Anti-Syndicate (no fixed requirement)
Currently: 1 Centaur-A [Yukikaze]
New: 1 Centaur-A [Yukikaze], 1 Miranda [Dryad]
