- Location
- Austin, TX
The thing about the Sydraxians is that they want their pound of flesh for our supposed actions. Why not follow the Amarkian way, and offer an honor duel?
To Boldly Go... (a Starfleet quest)
- Thread starter OneirosTheWriter
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Mostly the fact that we're pretty sure that it's not just a ceremonial duel where everyone goes home at the end of the war games.
If all they wanted was a dance, that'd be cool. Instead it looks like they want explosions, casualty reports and funerals.
We've saved the Potemkin out of the mothballed Connie-As just in case the chance comes up for us to do that with a ship we can (mostly) afford to lose, but... *shrugs*
They are very angry, show no signs of calming down, and their emotional release is not worth our ships or the lives of our crews.
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Random Member
Gardener of Human Happiness
- Location
- Behind You
*A Klingon pokes his head around the door*
"Did someone say 'honor'?"
Algalon
Herald of the Titans
- Location
- Celestial Planetarium
I think I'm just making mountains out of molehills at this point and blowing things out of proportion. I'll probably just drop it after this. One last post since I seem to be unclear and confusing people.
If this turns out to be a straight ambush, then
As for the Op itself: I'm not so sure it's a straightforward sting op. The Apiata queen was trying to get the Courageous to leave quickly. This was rather suspicious. Space is huge, how did it know so far in advance that an enemy was approaching when a S 5 Excelsior didn't? Those suspicions only gain weight when a Jaldun arrives. Now, the Jaldun attacking regardless of an Excelsior's presence isn't anything new, though the fact that it kept fighting after two Stingers appear. It was a suicidal move to do so. The Stingers alone outgun it, why stay when there's the risk of an Excelsior joining? We've seen some really reckless things from the Cardassians, but throwing ships to a death without gain is not one of them.
I guess that's one way to say it. I don't want to give the Amarki and the Apiata, once they join, and possibly Vega any reason to go full Hawk.
To specify on the criticism
1) I would have preferred for McAdams to have made a statement of unity in face of the enemy once the Jaldun started firing.
2) My whole issue here is the tone in which she spoke to the Queen. Again, I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I don't want them to feel as if we don't recognize their plight, that McAdams complains be interpreted as Starfleet washing their hands of them.
1) This year, I don't want us alienate those Apiata and Amarki who feel justice isn't being served.
2) Don't outright dismiss or reprimand the aggressive queens or the angry Amarkians. Instead, talk to them in their language, in a way that they will be more receptive to. To the queens, tell them how these raids were a result of Starfleet being at a low-point; forced to spread itself thin due to the rapid integration of new members. Explain how with 6 new Connies we can cover our bases safely. Mention that the Rennie is finishing its trials soon, which will lead to another power-spike as a wave of superior ships enters service. And they're not Explorers, so no fear of long build time or being sent away beyond the borders! Starting straight away with how their actions are counterproductive is only going to make them close themselves up and stop listening.
Get the Amarki close if not outright integrate them into the Anti-Slavery Task Force. Point them at the enemy and let them have their fill. Letting them marauder on their own is just asking for an innocent Union ship ending up as collateral.
3) I don't want us to lose/be forced to expend political will to deal with the fallout of the actions of these vengeful groups. Deal with their issues in a way that doesn't make the feel as if we're just pushing it under the rug or ignore them.
4) Hopefully it will cause the Apiata queens to stop further aggressive actions, or at least limit them to purely defensive ones. No more commerce raiding or baiting others into attacking. As these groups are likely the figureheads for Hawkish politics, I hope it will temper them somewhat as a whole.
I hope this makes worries somewhat clear. I'm off to bed now. Good night everybody, or day depending on your timezone.
My point is that I don't want to alienate their voterbase. I don't want the civilian population to think that they cannot rely on Starfleet to defend them, that they have to vote for a Hawkish councilor to ensure that the Federation council at least sees to their defense.
If this turns out to be a straight ambush, then
As for the Op itself: I'm not so sure it's a straightforward sting op. The Apiata queen was trying to get the Courageous to leave quickly. This was rather suspicious. Space is huge, how did it know so far in advance that an enemy was approaching when a S 5 Excelsior didn't? Those suspicions only gain weight when a Jaldun arrives. Now, the Jaldun attacking regardless of an Excelsior's presence isn't anything new, though the fact that it kept fighting after two Stingers appear. It was a suicidal move to do so. The Stingers alone outgun it, why stay when there's the risk of an Excelsior joining? We've seen some really reckless things from the Cardassians, but throwing ships to a death without gain is not one of them.
I guess that's one way to say it. I don't want to give the Amarki and the Apiata, once they join, and possibly Vega any reason to go full Hawk.
To specify on the criticism
1) I would have preferred for McAdams to have made a statement of unity in face of the enemy once the Jaldun started firing.
2) My whole issue here is the tone in which she spoke to the Queen. Again, I'm probably making a mountain out of a molehill here, but I don't want them to feel as if we don't recognize their plight, that McAdams complains be interpreted as Starfleet washing their hands of them.
1) This year, I don't want us alienate those Apiata and Amarki who feel justice isn't being served.
2) Don't outright dismiss or reprimand the aggressive queens or the angry Amarkians. Instead, talk to them in their language, in a way that they will be more receptive to. To the queens, tell them how these raids were a result of Starfleet being at a low-point; forced to spread itself thin due to the rapid integration of new members. Explain how with 6 new Connies we can cover our bases safely. Mention that the Rennie is finishing its trials soon, which will lead to another power-spike as a wave of superior ships enters service. And they're not Explorers, so no fear of long build time or being sent away beyond the borders! Starting straight away with how their actions are counterproductive is only going to make them close themselves up and stop listening.
Get the Amarki close if not outright integrate them into the Anti-Slavery Task Force. Point them at the enemy and let them have their fill. Letting them marauder on their own is just asking for an innocent Union ship ending up as collateral.
3) I don't want us to lose/be forced to expend political will to deal with the fallout of the actions of these vengeful groups. Deal with their issues in a way that doesn't make the feel as if we're just pushing it under the rug or ignore them.
4) Hopefully it will cause the Apiata queens to stop further aggressive actions, or at least limit them to purely defensive ones. No more commerce raiding or baiting others into attacking. As these groups are likely the figureheads for Hawkish politics, I hope it will temper them somewhat as a whole.
I hope this makes worries somewhat clear. I'm off to bed now. Good night everybody, or day depending on your timezone.
cokerpilot
Here comes the rain.
You know what I'm sad about regarding the Sydraxians situation. That it was just a Tortoise. Imagine what their reaction would have been if it had been the Mega-Tortoise.
Scraping together a warfleet is the response the Council will only allow after escalation. Look at what we had to do to put together a task force bigger than two ships against the Syndicate. Look at the conditions that needed to exist to deploy fleets under the two crises we've managed. You are proposing the nuclear option, where I am couching the more acceptable options in terms the Pacifists will accept, like defense treaties, inspections, and humanitarian interventions.
Let me be clear. Our current crop of Pacifists are interventionists who have proposed such items as sector-wide wiretapping, deploying peacekeepers equipped with bunker busters, and the literal thought police. If the situation with the Gretarians is what we suspect, the biggest howls of outage will not come from the Hawks. Your mistake is thinking that the actions we must take are military. I am proposing to take up and wield the ideals of the Federation to achieve the same goals.
When I think of "humanitarian intervention," I generally think of something more serious than being forced to pay tribute. It's normally reserved for situations where there's mass civilian death/suffering of some sort, and I honestly don't think we can make that case for the Gretarians. In any case, let me quote what your proposed.
1. Make the Gretarians a protectorate/affiliate - A long term project and probably a difficult sell. It certainly isn't going to happen in a timeframe of less than years. To tell the truth, if I were a Gretarian with full omniscient knowledge of the situation, I'd probably turn the Federation down unless the Sydraxian demands got really intolerable.
2. Establish well-defended colonies - Done. That's that the Sydraxian Border Zone was all about, making sure our colonies along the border are defended.
3. Build outposts right in their faces - I don't know what this means.
4. Do "arms inspections" on their trade coming in from Cardassia. - Does this mean commerce raiding? If not, what exactly does it mean? What would we be inspecting for and what would we do if we found it?
5. Then when you detect their response thanks to superior intelligence, mass your battle fleet. - Does that mean that the intent of all this is to provoke them to attack us with a massed fleet? Will this end goal be included in the brief to the Council about where all this is supposed to go?
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- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
What we are trying to get across is that this is not a trivial or easy thing. We should not assume our ships can operate freely in and around Sydraxian space. A force too large for the Sydraxians to have a chance of defeating it... Such a force is going to be, by our standards, A LARGE FORCE. Enough that we ourselves would be worried about it. If a Combat 70 or 80 fleet came after us, some bricks would be deposited in the restrooms of Starfleet Command. We could whittle it down and beat it, or even mass to meet it in a single decisive battle. But it wouldn't be easy or simple or safe.
Conversely, pulling such a large force together isn't going to be easy or simple or safe for us. We will invite shenanigans from other powers while our forces are otherwise occupied. The Syndicate or the Cardassians may take advantage of disrupted patrols.
And trying to use a medium force, one totalling, oh, Combat 40-50... To use a medium force, such as "the entire Explorer Corps" or the task force that @Night originally suggested? Very different picture. A force like that is small enough that if it's all we send, we have a significant risk that we might straight-up lose a battle and suffer a massive, humiliating defeat at Sydraxian hands.
So while we possess the ability to defeat the Sydraxian Hierarchy in a fairly short, decisive campaign, we do NOT possess the ability to do so easily, to do so without mobilizing Starfleet assets normally committed to other missions, or to do so without risk.
If you agree with what I just said, then please don't waste further time telling me we possess the ability to defeat the Hierarchy. I know that. But it is blind arrogance to assume the Hierarchy lacks the ability to bleed us. And if we send a relatively modest force against them, one like the Explorer Corps, just because it's one we can scrape together quickly, then we are putting that force at risk.
There is no realistic way we can deal with the Sydraxians that quickly. In that case, we should simply reroute the Kadeshi around Sydraxian space. It might add a few months to their journey, but avoiding a known threat is worth it.
aeqnai
Nerdy Homu
- Location
- Laniakea Supercluster
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I realize much has been said about how unlikely it is the Sydraxians would attack the Kadeshi, with or without course alterations to avoid an encounter, but just saying that if they actually do end up attacking them then there really is no sane response other than immediate SoE and full war mobilization. Also I would really not envy the Sydraxi in such a situation, aince I suspect they'd gain the ire of the RSE in such a situation as well, just out of principle >_>
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Let's not dwell on the Kadeshi being attacked by Sydraxians. There are many good reasons they wouldn't do it, they bear the Kadeshi no particular grudge, and for all we know the Kadeshi aren't travelling anywhere near Sydraxian space. It may well be they went to Earth simply because their intended destination is somewhere in a vaguely coreward direction, they needed a friendly port of call, and they didn't want to pass through Romulan space.
I figured on Enterprise-A being saved for potential stabilization and use as a museum ship, because her nacelles weren't in good enough shape to be worth salvaging, though they may have pulled the Enterprise-A's warp core if that wasn't too badly damaged in the Battle of Khitomer.
This.
Agreed. Though incidentally, if we go by my omakes, Constitution herself is also thus saved. In her case, because the warp core just doesn't have that many hours left on it. Enough for one last dance, not enough for years or decades of service.
I figured on Enterprise-A being saved for potential stabilization and use as a museum ship, because her nacelles weren't in good enough shape to be worth salvaging, though they may have pulled the Enterprise-A's warp core if that wasn't too badly damaged in the Battle of Khitomer.
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Ah. Well you must admit that the Potemkin does stick in the mind for this particular sort of shell game. Sometimes there is an urge to be cute.
I've been thinking that the best way to 'stabilize' the Enterprise-A for a life as a museum ship would be to strip it down to the bare metal and build the universe's largest Sintering furnace around it, heating it to near but not quite the melting point of it's structure. Leave it to bake for an extended period and all those microfractures will anneal back together. The process would be lengthy and expensive, but it wouldn't require any fancy technology, just some very large hardware and maybe a year in a berth.
The big problem here is that the method used will destroy the micro-scale structure of the Duranium alloy, to say nothing of any nano-scale properties it might have. This will probably be the death-kneel for the Enterprise-A as a starship, since the hull may be strong enough to be towed around, but probably won't stand up to even Warp 1 or impulse power anymore. In any case, the decomisioning for the museum would neccessarily involve removing all the weapons, the warp core, and maybe the deflectors and more-classified sensors.
Omake - History of the United Worlds of Rigel - Ato
A History of the United Worlds of Rigel
Preface
Rigel is a vibrant starfaring civilization with a long standing as the one of the pre-eminent cultural and trading hubs of local space. This star nation has weathered many crises across the centuries, and yet amidst the strife and conflict found in this turbulent region has maintained its strong democratic institutions, and refused to compromise on its traditions of civil liberty.
Before 450 CE the world we know as Rigel III, and which the native inhabitants then referred to as Chelar, was home to the Chelonian species who were at the very beginning of an industrial revolution. However before the Chelonians could begin to construct their machine age civilization, and begin an ascent towards space flight on their own, the Rigel system was discovered by interstellar travellers.
First Contact
In the darkness of space it is an unfortunate truth that star systems with a life bearing habitable world are uncommon, such systems are prized by star nations for colonization and expansion. Rigel is a system that is truly rare in that it is host to two such worlds, that have independently developed life. Chelar or Rigel III is one, the other is the sixth moon of the gas giant Rigel V.
It was the long range detection of these two life bearing planets that drew the attention of the Javeer Astroindustrial Consortium, a powerful hypercorporation of the rapidly expanding Orion Empire. Eager to exploit the land rights that developing such a system for the Empire would gain, the JAC dispatched an armed survey expedition beyond the edge of then Orion space to stake their claim.
The survey ship Ventim discovered that the world moon of Rigel Vf was a paradise waiting to be conquered, its ecology and climate was almost perfectly suited to Orions, and it was home to no indigenous sapient species. However turning their eyes in system, they saw the telltale pinpricks of artificial light flickering upon the night side of Rigel III.
Investigating further they discovered the thriving Chelonian civilization on the surface.
First contact between Orion and Chelonian was amicable, the natives were awed when the Ventim descended from orbit to land outside Ategn, then the largest city and capital of the Kingdom of Meronat, the most powerful planetary polity. The Orion captain Hayar Matessik introduced herself and her species as explorers and traders from across the stars, and in an act that would secure her place in history she negotiated the trade deal in which the Chelonians sold the mineral rights to their system, and ownership of Rigel Vf to the Javeer Astroindustrial Consortium. What exactly the Chelonians received in return is lost to history, and has been variously reported to be anything from few trinkets of Orion entertainment systems, to detailed technological and scientific documents.
Very quickly the JAC moved to exploit their new possession, developing valuable mining and extraction sites across the Rigel system, and ushering waves of Orion colonists to the world of Rigel Vf, now named Kolar.
This bold expansion had pushed forward the boundaries of the Orion Empire, further than in the previous hundred years. The prestige accrued propelled Javeer executives into the highest echelons of the Imperial court, enabling them to expand the hypercorporation's interests and portfolios throughout the Empire.
Within a few decades the investment poured into the Rigel system began to show dividends, greats increasing corporate profits, the colony on Kolar was prosperous, and rapidly growing. Interaction between the Chelonians and their new Orion neighbours was inevitable. Orions established trading concerns and businesses on Chelar, whilst the Consortium purchased Chelonian convicts and indentured servants for use as labour on its many projects on Kolar and around the system.
The impact on Chelonian civilization was immense, even the meagre resources and trinkets the Orions traded with them allowed the Kingdom of Meronat to become the pre-eminent power on Chelar, launching a series of conflicts that subdued their rivals and asserted dominance over lesser powers. A state of affairs that enterprising Orions were eager to get involved in, selling to all sides. By 500CE the Chelonians had achieved a sophisticated machine age industrial civilization. However it had come at a cost, unequal trades with Orions had lead to a heavy offworld involvement in the economy and politics of Chelar. Orion business magnates held vast estates on the surface, extra-territorial legations could be found in most major cities, and even the might Kingdom of Meronat paid heed to the words of Orion political advisers.
Seeking to build upon the success of Rigel, the Consortium began further exploration of the surrounding space. Their ships discovered significant resource deposits in neighbouring systems, along with several more non-spacefaring native species. With a hunger in their hearts the executives of the Consortium began another wave of expansion, seeding mining and industrial construction facilities across the sector. It was their dream that Rigel and its surroundings would become a new hub for the Empire, with them as its proprietors. To this end their rebranded their hypercorporation the 'Rigel Consortium'. Some within the Empire even began to whisper that the Consortium might become a true rival for the Orion Syndicate.
The First Rebellion
By 530CE the inequality of the Chelonian-Orion relationship was beginning to cause unrest on Chelar. Resentment at perceived unfairness, and Orion monopolization coincided with large social restructuring of Chelonian society as it transitioned into a fully industrial civilization. Huge numbers of Chelonians flocked to rapidly growing cities eager to find work in the new factories, many of which were owned by Orion businesses. Labour disputes lead to mass demonstrations, demanding an end to unequal treaties and the end of land sales to Orions.
This wave of public feeling unsettled the ruling classes, who depended on Orion support to maintain their power. Attempts to suppress these demonstrations began to end in violence, and by 535CE, several low level guerilla conflicts were in progress.
The spread of these Chelonian nationalist sentiments among the labour population throughout the Rigel sector deeply worried the Consortium board, so when the unrest on Chelar erupted into outright revolution they were spurred into action.
Several of the minor independent states were overthrown in violent populist coups, the revolutionaries banded together to form a United Chelonian Republic that was firmly opposed to Orion interference on Chelar, and sought to tear down the stratified social order of the oligarchical Orion client states.
The Kingdom of Meronat and its allies responded to these events with hostility, mobilising military force to crush the upstarts to their hegemony. However heavy internal dissent and an ossified bureaucracy slowed their speed of action giving the Republic a large amount of time to prepare. The initial campaigns went poorly for the Meronese, with the Republic making large gains in land, material and manpower. Inspiring propaganda lead many Chelonians to join their cause bolstering republican armies. For a while it seemed that the revolution would sweep all before it, and cleanse Chelar of foreign influence. Then the starships landed.
Determined not to let the petty squabbles of a lesser species interfere with their plans for political asendance within the Empire, the Consortium began giving direct military aid to the pro-Orion Chelonian alliance. Prop powered fighters mounting ballistic cannon proved no match for disruptor fire from Orion gunships, and Consortium Security shock troops used a massive superiority in fire power to turn the tide and crush the Republic
Exasperated by the incompetence of the Meronese, and seeking a greater degree of control in the future, the Consortium effectively dissolved the local governments putting in place an Orion lead planetary administration, and directly annexing Chelar into the Orion Empire. Abduction and enslavement of other species in the sector also began on a large scale, as the Consortium sought to diversify its labour force, hoping to avert any possibility of one species successfully revolting.
The short lived Republic, and the war it fought to free Chelar would later become known as the first Rebellion, it would not be the last.
Intrigue and Industry
For the next hundred years the Rigel system was relatively peaceful. Occasional minor nationalist uprisings on Chelar and small slave revolts aside. As the Consortium had hoped their efforts had succeeded in establishing Rigel as almost a second centre if the Empire. The industrial and mineral wealth of an entire sector was almost completely owned by the Consortium, making them a powerful broker in Imperial politics, equalled only by the ancient Syndicate. It was this ascendancy that also made them many powerful enemies, not the least of which was the close knit board of the Syndicate itself. Unused, and entirely opposed, to sharing power with upstarts, they began to carefully and slowly draw their plans against them.
It was during this period that the Empire was engaged in several conflicts with the Gorn, repeated engagements that demanded ever increasing expenditure of resources to replace losses, and build new fleets. The Consortium, eager to expand their influence bid aggressively for these contracts, winning many. New yards in Rigel began to turn out ever increasing numbers of warships, and required yet more labour. The workforce was significantly expanded with draftings from Chelar and yet more fresh abductions from surrounding species.
During the course of these forced recruitments, and in order to maintain a steady supply, the Consortium proceeded to directly annexe several of these planets, including the homeworlds of the: Jelna, Zami, Raylar, V'gel and Bodas species. Establishing Orion lead administration and military fortress-capitals upon them.
In an effort to prevent any one species from gaining to much critical mass in the event of a nationalist revolt, a series of forced relocations occurred across the Rigel system distributing many slave populations across Chelar, Kolar and the system's mining outposts. These callous and cruel acts laid the seeds for Rigel's multicultural future.
Slavery in the Rigel sector as in much of the Orion Empire was not an inescapable situation, and it was not uncommon, thought quite difficult, for a slave to earn their freedom. Thus over time a sizeable Freed population began to develop within Rigel with enclaves throughout the system. Looked down upon and generally discriminated against by Orions the Freed drew together to form their own society, though from different species and they found common ground and developed their own language and customs. A culture that was both common and unique to Rigel. Despite discrimination, several Free Rigellians managed to become build successful businesses, and strived to achieve a measure of acceptance within Orion Imperial society.
In 658CE, as the most recent war with the Gorn wound down, political shifts within the Empire led to a new trend of inward looking policies. The sharp drop in lucrative military contracts caught the Consortium flatfooted. The vast military-industrial machine they had built in Rigel was now no longer profitable, and they scrambled to rediversify. However they found that commanding market positions in many sectors had already been attained by Syndicate subsidiaries and their affiliates. To compete the Consortium was forced to drastically cut costs, conditions for the Rigel labour force rapidly deteriorated, and the cost of buying freedom rose prohibitively.
In an effort to reduce reliance on costly and maintenance intensive automation, slaving efforts were redoubled. Harsh debtor laws were enacted, which ensnared Free Rigellians back into indentured servitude.
Incensed by this curtailment of their rights, the Free Rigellians appealed to the Imperial Bureaucracy. However they distant Orion Empire paid them little heed, and in any case was hesitant to interfere with an area under the control of the still powerful Consortium.
Discontent spread like wildfire in the Rigel system across slave and Free communities alike. Symbols and stories of the long ago Chelonian Rebellion began to appear and strikes and protests became common.
The Consortium reacted harshly, cracking down on any dissent with violent and overwhelming force. However the message kept spreading, and soon weapons and materiel began to be stockpiled among rapidly growing resistance cells, provided in secret by agents of the Syndicate.
The Second Rebellion
The Second Rebellion, or the Rigellian Mutiny as the Empire referred to it, was not just limited to Chelar. All across Rigel, and in several other systems of the Rigel sector a massive simultaneous uprising occurred in 682CE. It caught the Consortium by suprise, and many security units were overrun, quickly giving the rebels access to heavy equipment, advanced weapons, and even starships.
Though unprepared, the Consortium wasn't without resolve, and acted to crush the uprising with all the force the could bring to bear. The considerable military hardware and large numbers of security troops the Consortium had built up were rapidly transported to the Rigel system. Pitched battles flared across the system and Consortium forces attempted to regain control, though at the same time commanders were ordered to try and preserve as much of the hypercorp's valuable infrastructure as possible. This handicap proved hard to work around, as rebel forces made successful defences of their holdings, and even gained ground.
Even as the battles raged the rebels set about building the foundations for the society free from the Consortium. They declared the formation of the Free Rigellian Republic in 684CE when rebel forces secured the northern hemisphere of Chelar. This new society was heavily based on Free Rigellian culture, mixed with heady revolutionary symbolism from the brief Chelonian Republic. Despite Orion chauvinism, many lower class Orions also participated in the revolution, eager to be free of the Consortium's chains.
Meanwhile news of the Rebellion spread to the Empire's core worlds, and proved deeply embarrassing for the Consortium, many rivals used the opportunity to undermine them, not least the Syndicate. Imperial authorities however were alarmed at the scale of the revolt, and feared the consequences if it were to spread to the rest of the Empire. Significant pressure was applied to the Consortium, to end the rebellion quickly.
When Consortium security forces were forced to evacuate from Chelar, the tone of the conflict changed. Restrictions on infrastructure damage were rescinded, and a wave of atrocities was unleashed. Stations that fell to the rebels were destroyed, and direct orbital fire was used on rebel controlled settlements on Kolar. By 686 CE much of the Rigel system was in ruins.
Consortium forces marshalled for a great offensive that would break the rebels' resistance, desperate to end the conflict the executive board appealed to the Imperial Military for aid. The call was answered and heavy units of the Imperial Orion Navy arrived to crush the Mutiny.
The rebels fought hard, but they were out gunned, and with a heavy blockade of the system in place were running out of supplies. By 687CE the Free Rigellian Republic formally surrendered on Chelar. The Second Rebellion was over.
The terms offered by the empire were surprisingly magnanimous, most of the slaves were returned to servitude, and the Republic's leadership was either executed or enslaved, however the Imperial court deemed the Consortium to have been at fault. The Rigel Consprtium and all it's holdings were nationalised, and the Rigel Sector was incorporated as an Imperial Province to be ruled by a Viceroy. New rights and protections were confirmed for both slaves and Free Rigellians. As well as limited representation for non-Orions in the province's government.
It was hoped that these measures, along with the convincing way armed resistance had been decisively crushed by the Imperial Military would prevent any further uprisings in Rigel and elsewhere.
However the Orion hypercorporations that had eagerly anticipated reaping the fruit of the Consortium's fall were bitterly disappointed by the nationalisation, especially the Syndicate. The accusations of Imperial overreach in this matter would be one of the cracks in the Orion Empire.
A/N: I didn't think there would be that much of this, but I kind of got into it.
-Part 1
Preface
Rigel is a vibrant starfaring civilization with a long standing as the one of the pre-eminent cultural and trading hubs of local space. This star nation has weathered many crises across the centuries, and yet amidst the strife and conflict found in this turbulent region has maintained its strong democratic institutions, and refused to compromise on its traditions of civil liberty.
Before 450 CE the world we know as Rigel III, and which the native inhabitants then referred to as Chelar, was home to the Chelonian species who were at the very beginning of an industrial revolution. However before the Chelonians could begin to construct their machine age civilization, and begin an ascent towards space flight on their own, the Rigel system was discovered by interstellar travellers.
First Contact
In the darkness of space it is an unfortunate truth that star systems with a life bearing habitable world are uncommon, such systems are prized by star nations for colonization and expansion. Rigel is a system that is truly rare in that it is host to two such worlds, that have independently developed life. Chelar or Rigel III is one, the other is the sixth moon of the gas giant Rigel V.
It was the long range detection of these two life bearing planets that drew the attention of the Javeer Astroindustrial Consortium, a powerful hypercorporation of the rapidly expanding Orion Empire. Eager to exploit the land rights that developing such a system for the Empire would gain, the JAC dispatched an armed survey expedition beyond the edge of then Orion space to stake their claim.
The survey ship Ventim discovered that the world moon of Rigel Vf was a paradise waiting to be conquered, its ecology and climate was almost perfectly suited to Orions, and it was home to no indigenous sapient species. However turning their eyes in system, they saw the telltale pinpricks of artificial light flickering upon the night side of Rigel III.
Investigating further they discovered the thriving Chelonian civilization on the surface.
First contact between Orion and Chelonian was amicable, the natives were awed when the Ventim descended from orbit to land outside Ategn, then the largest city and capital of the Kingdom of Meronat, the most powerful planetary polity. The Orion captain Hayar Matessik introduced herself and her species as explorers and traders from across the stars, and in an act that would secure her place in history she negotiated the trade deal in which the Chelonians sold the mineral rights to their system, and ownership of Rigel Vf to the Javeer Astroindustrial Consortium. What exactly the Chelonians received in return is lost to history, and has been variously reported to be anything from few trinkets of Orion entertainment systems, to detailed technological and scientific documents.
Very quickly the JAC moved to exploit their new possession, developing valuable mining and extraction sites across the Rigel system, and ushering waves of Orion colonists to the world of Rigel Vf, now named Kolar.
This bold expansion had pushed forward the boundaries of the Orion Empire, further than in the previous hundred years. The prestige accrued propelled Javeer executives into the highest echelons of the Imperial court, enabling them to expand the hypercorporation's interests and portfolios throughout the Empire.
Within a few decades the investment poured into the Rigel system began to show dividends, greats increasing corporate profits, the colony on Kolar was prosperous, and rapidly growing. Interaction between the Chelonians and their new Orion neighbours was inevitable. Orions established trading concerns and businesses on Chelar, whilst the Consortium purchased Chelonian convicts and indentured servants for use as labour on its many projects on Kolar and around the system.
The impact on Chelonian civilization was immense, even the meagre resources and trinkets the Orions traded with them allowed the Kingdom of Meronat to become the pre-eminent power on Chelar, launching a series of conflicts that subdued their rivals and asserted dominance over lesser powers. A state of affairs that enterprising Orions were eager to get involved in, selling to all sides. By 500CE the Chelonians had achieved a sophisticated machine age industrial civilization. However it had come at a cost, unequal trades with Orions had lead to a heavy offworld involvement in the economy and politics of Chelar. Orion business magnates held vast estates on the surface, extra-territorial legations could be found in most major cities, and even the might Kingdom of Meronat paid heed to the words of Orion political advisers.
Seeking to build upon the success of Rigel, the Consortium began further exploration of the surrounding space. Their ships discovered significant resource deposits in neighbouring systems, along with several more non-spacefaring native species. With a hunger in their hearts the executives of the Consortium began another wave of expansion, seeding mining and industrial construction facilities across the sector. It was their dream that Rigel and its surroundings would become a new hub for the Empire, with them as its proprietors. To this end their rebranded their hypercorporation the 'Rigel Consortium'. Some within the Empire even began to whisper that the Consortium might become a true rival for the Orion Syndicate.
The First Rebellion
By 530CE the inequality of the Chelonian-Orion relationship was beginning to cause unrest on Chelar. Resentment at perceived unfairness, and Orion monopolization coincided with large social restructuring of Chelonian society as it transitioned into a fully industrial civilization. Huge numbers of Chelonians flocked to rapidly growing cities eager to find work in the new factories, many of which were owned by Orion businesses. Labour disputes lead to mass demonstrations, demanding an end to unequal treaties and the end of land sales to Orions.
This wave of public feeling unsettled the ruling classes, who depended on Orion support to maintain their power. Attempts to suppress these demonstrations began to end in violence, and by 535CE, several low level guerilla conflicts were in progress.
The spread of these Chelonian nationalist sentiments among the labour population throughout the Rigel sector deeply worried the Consortium board, so when the unrest on Chelar erupted into outright revolution they were spurred into action.
Several of the minor independent states were overthrown in violent populist coups, the revolutionaries banded together to form a United Chelonian Republic that was firmly opposed to Orion interference on Chelar, and sought to tear down the stratified social order of the oligarchical Orion client states.
The Kingdom of Meronat and its allies responded to these events with hostility, mobilising military force to crush the upstarts to their hegemony. However heavy internal dissent and an ossified bureaucracy slowed their speed of action giving the Republic a large amount of time to prepare. The initial campaigns went poorly for the Meronese, with the Republic making large gains in land, material and manpower. Inspiring propaganda lead many Chelonians to join their cause bolstering republican armies. For a while it seemed that the revolution would sweep all before it, and cleanse Chelar of foreign influence. Then the starships landed.
Determined not to let the petty squabbles of a lesser species interfere with their plans for political asendance within the Empire, the Consortium began giving direct military aid to the pro-Orion Chelonian alliance. Prop powered fighters mounting ballistic cannon proved no match for disruptor fire from Orion gunships, and Consortium Security shock troops used a massive superiority in fire power to turn the tide and crush the Republic
Exasperated by the incompetence of the Meronese, and seeking a greater degree of control in the future, the Consortium effectively dissolved the local governments putting in place an Orion lead planetary administration, and directly annexing Chelar into the Orion Empire. Abduction and enslavement of other species in the sector also began on a large scale, as the Consortium sought to diversify its labour force, hoping to avert any possibility of one species successfully revolting.
The short lived Republic, and the war it fought to free Chelar would later become known as the first Rebellion, it would not be the last.
Intrigue and Industry
For the next hundred years the Rigel system was relatively peaceful. Occasional minor nationalist uprisings on Chelar and small slave revolts aside. As the Consortium had hoped their efforts had succeeded in establishing Rigel as almost a second centre if the Empire. The industrial and mineral wealth of an entire sector was almost completely owned by the Consortium, making them a powerful broker in Imperial politics, equalled only by the ancient Syndicate. It was this ascendancy that also made them many powerful enemies, not the least of which was the close knit board of the Syndicate itself. Unused, and entirely opposed, to sharing power with upstarts, they began to carefully and slowly draw their plans against them.
It was during this period that the Empire was engaged in several conflicts with the Gorn, repeated engagements that demanded ever increasing expenditure of resources to replace losses, and build new fleets. The Consortium, eager to expand their influence bid aggressively for these contracts, winning many. New yards in Rigel began to turn out ever increasing numbers of warships, and required yet more labour. The workforce was significantly expanded with draftings from Chelar and yet more fresh abductions from surrounding species.
During the course of these forced recruitments, and in order to maintain a steady supply, the Consortium proceeded to directly annexe several of these planets, including the homeworlds of the: Jelna, Zami, Raylar, V'gel and Bodas species. Establishing Orion lead administration and military fortress-capitals upon them.
In an effort to prevent any one species from gaining to much critical mass in the event of a nationalist revolt, a series of forced relocations occurred across the Rigel system distributing many slave populations across Chelar, Kolar and the system's mining outposts. These callous and cruel acts laid the seeds for Rigel's multicultural future.
Slavery in the Rigel sector as in much of the Orion Empire was not an inescapable situation, and it was not uncommon, thought quite difficult, for a slave to earn their freedom. Thus over time a sizeable Freed population began to develop within Rigel with enclaves throughout the system. Looked down upon and generally discriminated against by Orions the Freed drew together to form their own society, though from different species and they found common ground and developed their own language and customs. A culture that was both common and unique to Rigel. Despite discrimination, several Free Rigellians managed to become build successful businesses, and strived to achieve a measure of acceptance within Orion Imperial society.
In 658CE, as the most recent war with the Gorn wound down, political shifts within the Empire led to a new trend of inward looking policies. The sharp drop in lucrative military contracts caught the Consortium flatfooted. The vast military-industrial machine they had built in Rigel was now no longer profitable, and they scrambled to rediversify. However they found that commanding market positions in many sectors had already been attained by Syndicate subsidiaries and their affiliates. To compete the Consortium was forced to drastically cut costs, conditions for the Rigel labour force rapidly deteriorated, and the cost of buying freedom rose prohibitively.
In an effort to reduce reliance on costly and maintenance intensive automation, slaving efforts were redoubled. Harsh debtor laws were enacted, which ensnared Free Rigellians back into indentured servitude.
Incensed by this curtailment of their rights, the Free Rigellians appealed to the Imperial Bureaucracy. However they distant Orion Empire paid them little heed, and in any case was hesitant to interfere with an area under the control of the still powerful Consortium.
Discontent spread like wildfire in the Rigel system across slave and Free communities alike. Symbols and stories of the long ago Chelonian Rebellion began to appear and strikes and protests became common.
The Consortium reacted harshly, cracking down on any dissent with violent and overwhelming force. However the message kept spreading, and soon weapons and materiel began to be stockpiled among rapidly growing resistance cells, provided in secret by agents of the Syndicate.
The Second Rebellion
The Second Rebellion, or the Rigellian Mutiny as the Empire referred to it, was not just limited to Chelar. All across Rigel, and in several other systems of the Rigel sector a massive simultaneous uprising occurred in 682CE. It caught the Consortium by suprise, and many security units were overrun, quickly giving the rebels access to heavy equipment, advanced weapons, and even starships.
Though unprepared, the Consortium wasn't without resolve, and acted to crush the uprising with all the force the could bring to bear. The considerable military hardware and large numbers of security troops the Consortium had built up were rapidly transported to the Rigel system. Pitched battles flared across the system and Consortium forces attempted to regain control, though at the same time commanders were ordered to try and preserve as much of the hypercorp's valuable infrastructure as possible. This handicap proved hard to work around, as rebel forces made successful defences of their holdings, and even gained ground.
Even as the battles raged the rebels set about building the foundations for the society free from the Consortium. They declared the formation of the Free Rigellian Republic in 684CE when rebel forces secured the northern hemisphere of Chelar. This new society was heavily based on Free Rigellian culture, mixed with heady revolutionary symbolism from the brief Chelonian Republic. Despite Orion chauvinism, many lower class Orions also participated in the revolution, eager to be free of the Consortium's chains.
Meanwhile news of the Rebellion spread to the Empire's core worlds, and proved deeply embarrassing for the Consortium, many rivals used the opportunity to undermine them, not least the Syndicate. Imperial authorities however were alarmed at the scale of the revolt, and feared the consequences if it were to spread to the rest of the Empire. Significant pressure was applied to the Consortium, to end the rebellion quickly.
When Consortium security forces were forced to evacuate from Chelar, the tone of the conflict changed. Restrictions on infrastructure damage were rescinded, and a wave of atrocities was unleashed. Stations that fell to the rebels were destroyed, and direct orbital fire was used on rebel controlled settlements on Kolar. By 686 CE much of the Rigel system was in ruins.
Consortium forces marshalled for a great offensive that would break the rebels' resistance, desperate to end the conflict the executive board appealed to the Imperial Military for aid. The call was answered and heavy units of the Imperial Orion Navy arrived to crush the Mutiny.
The rebels fought hard, but they were out gunned, and with a heavy blockade of the system in place were running out of supplies. By 687CE the Free Rigellian Republic formally surrendered on Chelar. The Second Rebellion was over.
The terms offered by the empire were surprisingly magnanimous, most of the slaves were returned to servitude, and the Republic's leadership was either executed or enslaved, however the Imperial court deemed the Consortium to have been at fault. The Rigel Consprtium and all it's holdings were nationalised, and the Rigel Sector was incorporated as an Imperial Province to be ruled by a Viceroy. New rights and protections were confirmed for both slaves and Free Rigellians. As well as limited representation for non-Orions in the province's government.
It was hoped that these measures, along with the convincing way armed resistance had been decisively crushed by the Imperial Military would prevent any further uprisings in Rigel and elsewhere.
However the Orion hypercorporations that had eagerly anticipated reaping the fruit of the Consortium's fall were bitterly disappointed by the nationalisation, especially the Syndicate. The accusations of Imperial overreach in this matter would be one of the cracks in the Orion Empire.
A/N: I didn't think there would be that much of this, but I kind of got into it.
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We don't know that and we should definitely find out. I mean, the scenario where their freighter in the recent trap was held there at disruptor point is frighteningly likely. And any action we take is going to have a timeframe of years.
I think the Gretarians are the right kind of species for Federation membership anyway.
Peaceably stake a claim in the SBZ, more than we've already done. It will increase the security of the border zone and give us better chances of detecting Sydraxian action, or repelling attacks against hard targets rather than soft ones.
An arms embargo, perhaps enforced by blockade. They've been using their weapons to murder Federation citizens. I see no reason why it's not politically viable to say they shouldn't obtain more, nor is it imprudent to disrupt their war-making capability. It may not be something we should do, but I'm just spitballing ideas here.
What you're missing is that at any point, the Sydraxians can back down. They can can go "okay, we've had enough, fuck this", sign off on our apology for whatever, and go home. And we should always have feelers out there for exactly such a thing. But I am saying that if at any point, either without any action from us (which is where this goes if they keep escalating), or provoked due to pressure we've put on them, they do go for a massed attack, then we have cause to take strong military action as per Starfleet's mandate. At the present we do not have sufficient cause, and therefore cannot take such action. Don't forget the context the post was made in, which was arguing with the proposal that we mass a battle fleet and cruise into their space looking for action. What I'm saying here is that military force is impossible except under specific circumstances that do not currently exist.
Actually, what such posters might get away with is a fleet exercise in the Border Zone. Possibly +militarization though.
Night
Widow Null
- Location
- Hoff
It would be good not to make arguments that are specifically denied by the argument you're responding to.
Captain's Log - 2312.Q1.M3
- Location
- Australia
Personal Log, Admiral Valentina Sousa, Stardate 24698.3
Just came from a meeting with Madame President, who asked me if, in my opinion, war was imminent. My response that we've been in a low-level state of war for years now annoyed President sh'Arrath, but it's the truth. As far as outright war goes, well, I don't think we're there yet, but if things go up between Apinae and Cardassia then we are all in trouble. The word going out to everyone at the moment is to avoid escalating anything until the elections are complete. No one on the Council wants to tie the incoming Council's hands at the 11th hour.
My counterpart at the Diplomatic Service is just as frustrated as I am by that response, but we both understand the politics behind it.
-
Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 24698.5 - Captain Straak
After completing our review of the Tomak star system and discovering a small colony of Orion refugees setting up there, we have continued our mapping mission corewards.
The Casio system is our next destination. I feel this is a promising system, as long range sensors have indicated that there may be unusual power signatures there.
-
Captain's Log, USS Salnas, Stardate 24698.9 - Captain T'Leea
Following on from the Syndicate slave raid in Amarkian space, we have been rendering aid to the affected settlement. During the course of these exercises, my science officer has noticed unusual energy signatures in trailing orbit of the colony world. After further investigation, we have found an unauthorised observation satellite that we believe was put into place using probes by the Syndicate to conduct surveillance on the colony. By taking this satellite apart, we have traced part of the signal back to what I must admit is a cunningly hidden listening post in the Alamaede system. By cautious approach, we were able to capture the listening post before it could be self-destructed, and was able to recover some data that had not been wiped. We have forwarded information to Admiral Toor's task force.
[+3 Impact]
-
Captain's Log, USS Hawking, Stardate 24699.5 - Captain Belinda Emmett
Hello Computer, another day, another cup of protein resynth coffee.
We have more sensor ghosts being picked up. Jonesy is dead set that the Romulans are back, but I'm not so sure. We have a wager going; whoever is wrong has to do the teapot song in front of the science staff.
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24699.8 - Captain Gorth th'Hashok
A fascinating discovery! A late industrial age civilisation has been detected by early radio waves while we were running a sweep on the southern 'arc' of Rigellian space. We are being backed up by the USS Svai as we move to investigate.
-
Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 24700.3
On the surface of Casio VI we have discovered an artifact that is, by our preliminary dating, of at least Precursor age. We are not yet positive as to its function, but it does emit a subspace 'wave' of sorts. It is currently very weak, but we posit that when it was originally created, it was powerful enough to be detected as far away as Romulus.
Investigations have been ... complicated, however. A shuttle has arrived from the Courageous bearing an ... acquaintance of mine who is dealing with a matter of Vulcan biology.
[Chief of Staff NB: After further investigations, his bondmate Lieutenant Commander T'Pirit, Chief Medical Officer on the Courageous, who took leave and went to the Sarek]
[Admiral's NB: Strange for such an arid planet to have romance like the tides.]
[Gain +10rp, gain T'Pirit - 50% chance to void 1st crew casualty in an incident]
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24700.6
This will be very, very delicate. There is a peculiar energy effect in a geological structure on the planet's surface that allows for immensely strong bonding between a few normally disparate elements.
Problem is that some scoundrels belonging, we believe, to an Yrillian work gang are up to no good, actively on the planet's surface taking advantage of this effect. They are using humans with a little cosmetic surgery to infiltrate the settlement. We've chased away the Yrillian ship in orbit, but we've got to deal with the people on the ground, who are wearing transport inhibitors. I can't be made to appear like these Longard, as they call themselves, so I will have to trust to my tactical officer, a human, to lead a detachment and prevent further interruptions to this species' natural development.
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24701.2
A complete success, despite a number of very hair moments! I am ensuring that Commander Petrovich is commended for his actions, somehow keeping everything out of public sight. Also, I saw his footage of the chase through the sewers to catch the lead agent.
No one deserves to have to be in a place like that. We had to completely replace the transporter's biofilter when we beamed them back up.
On the plus side, we have been able to get very good tricorder readings of the energy effect that creates the bonding effect, and believe we can duplicate it!
[+15rp, +10sr/turn]
-
Captain's Log, USS Hawking, Stardate 24702.3
Just came back from watching Jonesy sing the song.
Life is sweet.
Sensor ghosts were caused by perturbances of exotic-gas comets in the Oort cloud of a local system, producing a tachyon emission.
[+5pp, no false-positives]
-
Just came from a meeting with Madame President, who asked me if, in my opinion, war was imminent. My response that we've been in a low-level state of war for years now annoyed President sh'Arrath, but it's the truth. As far as outright war goes, well, I don't think we're there yet, but if things go up between Apinae and Cardassia then we are all in trouble. The word going out to everyone at the moment is to avoid escalating anything until the elections are complete. No one on the Council wants to tie the incoming Council's hands at the 11th hour.
My counterpart at the Diplomatic Service is just as frustrated as I am by that response, but we both understand the politics behind it.
-
Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 24698.5 - Captain Straak
After completing our review of the Tomak star system and discovering a small colony of Orion refugees setting up there, we have continued our mapping mission corewards.
The Casio system is our next destination. I feel this is a promising system, as long range sensors have indicated that there may be unusual power signatures there.
-
Captain's Log, USS Salnas, Stardate 24698.9 - Captain T'Leea
Following on from the Syndicate slave raid in Amarkian space, we have been rendering aid to the affected settlement. During the course of these exercises, my science officer has noticed unusual energy signatures in trailing orbit of the colony world. After further investigation, we have found an unauthorised observation satellite that we believe was put into place using probes by the Syndicate to conduct surveillance on the colony. By taking this satellite apart, we have traced part of the signal back to what I must admit is a cunningly hidden listening post in the Alamaede system. By cautious approach, we were able to capture the listening post before it could be self-destructed, and was able to recover some data that had not been wiped. We have forwarded information to Admiral Toor's task force.
[+3 Impact]
-
Captain's Log, USS Hawking, Stardate 24699.5 - Captain Belinda Emmett
Hello Computer, another day, another cup of protein resynth coffee.
We have more sensor ghosts being picked up. Jonesy is dead set that the Romulans are back, but I'm not so sure. We have a wager going; whoever is wrong has to do the teapot song in front of the science staff.
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24699.8 - Captain Gorth th'Hashok
A fascinating discovery! A late industrial age civilisation has been detected by early radio waves while we were running a sweep on the southern 'arc' of Rigellian space. We are being backed up by the USS Svai as we move to investigate.
-
Captain's Log, USS Sarek, Stardate 24700.3
On the surface of Casio VI we have discovered an artifact that is, by our preliminary dating, of at least Precursor age. We are not yet positive as to its function, but it does emit a subspace 'wave' of sorts. It is currently very weak, but we posit that when it was originally created, it was powerful enough to be detected as far away as Romulus.
Investigations have been ... complicated, however. A shuttle has arrived from the Courageous bearing an ... acquaintance of mine who is dealing with a matter of Vulcan biology.
[Chief of Staff NB: After further investigations, his bondmate Lieutenant Commander T'Pirit, Chief Medical Officer on the Courageous, who took leave and went to the Sarek]
[Admiral's NB: Strange for such an arid planet to have romance like the tides.]
[Gain +10rp, gain T'Pirit - 50% chance to void 1st crew casualty in an incident]
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24700.6
This will be very, very delicate. There is a peculiar energy effect in a geological structure on the planet's surface that allows for immensely strong bonding between a few normally disparate elements.
Problem is that some scoundrels belonging, we believe, to an Yrillian work gang are up to no good, actively on the planet's surface taking advantage of this effect. They are using humans with a little cosmetic surgery to infiltrate the settlement. We've chased away the Yrillian ship in orbit, but we've got to deal with the people on the ground, who are wearing transport inhibitors. I can't be made to appear like these Longard, as they call themselves, so I will have to trust to my tactical officer, a human, to lead a detachment and prevent further interruptions to this species' natural development.
-
Captain's Log, USS Gale, Stardate 24701.2
A complete success, despite a number of very hair moments! I am ensuring that Commander Petrovich is commended for his actions, somehow keeping everything out of public sight. Also, I saw his footage of the chase through the sewers to catch the lead agent.
No one deserves to have to be in a place like that. We had to completely replace the transporter's biofilter when we beamed them back up.
On the plus side, we have been able to get very good tricorder readings of the energy effect that creates the bonding effect, and believe we can duplicate it!
[+15rp, +10sr/turn]
-
Captain's Log, USS Hawking, Stardate 24702.3
Just came back from watching Jonesy sing the song.
Life is sweet.
Sensor ghosts were caused by perturbances of exotic-gas comets in the Oort cloud of a local system, producing a tachyon emission.
[+5pp, no false-positives]
-
Just a comment on your Orion history, but my take is that the relationship between the modern day "Orion Syndicate" criminal organization and the Orion Syndicate of history is heavily disputed by experts. Basically the modern day Orion Syndicate took on a famous name and pretends to be a direct descendant of the old Empire's organization, but there's not a good case for any kind of continuity.
Modern Orion Syndicate = Old Empire Orion Syndicate about as much as Holy Roman Empire = Roman Empire.
Well, there's our RP.
The thinnest of veneers, which I don't believe for a single second. "Park it in front of a Syndraxian colony for a day." Okay there. No, I call bullshit, you're looking for a fight, you just don't want to say it.
The thinnest of veneers, which I don't believe for a single second. "Park it in front of a Syndraxian colony for a day." Okay there. No, I call bullshit, you're looking for a fight, you just don't want to say it.
This is based off of Ironwolfs omake where during the Empire the Orion Syndicate, or more properly the Orion Orbital Syndicate was just another Hypercorporation, albeit an exceedingly powerful one.
So the Syndicate referenced in this history is a Hypercorp competitor to the Rigel Consortium, not a criminal shadow state.
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Cornuthaum
Be kind to each other.
- Location
- Austria
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Vulcan romance is like the khamsin. Surprisingly forceful.
Well this was a very nice turn!
Called it. We'll see new options after the elections. By the way, @OneirosTheWriter when during the year are the elections?
Very nice, not just for the Impact but also for potentially putting the Amarkians on the right trail.
Hah! I'm nicknaming Casio VI, "The Satellite of Love".
This sounds like a very high-DC event that the Gale nevertheless managed to hit. Not only do we get 10 sr per turn without having to build a mining colony, but this plus the other rp reward very nearly takes care of our research point deficit.
Called it. We'll see new options after the elections. By the way, @OneirosTheWriter when during the year are the elections?
Very nice, not just for the Impact but also for potentially putting the Amarkians on the right trail.
Hah! I'm nicknaming Casio VI, "The Satellite of Love".
This sounds like a very high-DC event that the Gale nevertheless managed to hit. Not only do we get 10 sr per turn without having to build a mining colony, but this plus the other rp reward very nearly takes care of our research point deficit.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
That's actually fairly plausible.
The other option is to keep the structural integrity fields on while towing the ship around, which will hold everything together. Remove everything but an auxiliary fusion reactor to keep the SIF running. After towing to the final museum berth (preferably NOT on the ground), cover over the outer hull in a layer of emergency hull patches, and any interior areas where main hull structural members or armor plate are exposed get covered with a few inches of some kind of foam to hold them together. However, that isn't a good option by comparison, because it leaves the risk of little metal shards floating around like so many asbestos fibers.
I'd figured that all the structural members and the main hull/armor plates WERE made from the effectively destroyed tritanium, Like, if the Enterprise-A were a house, the tritanium would be the wood and the other materials would be the drywall. The house would collapse without the two-by-fours holding up the structure. Reduce them to sawdust that somehow holds its shape until you shake it, and you don't have a livable house anymore. But if you could somehow glue the sawdust back together (i.e. sinter the tritanium), and you wouldn't wreck anything else- the sintering process itself might not be sufficient to fix the hull, but it'd be an unambiguous improvement in its strength and safety.
Oh, absolutely. But when the plan was originally discussed we talked about committing multiple Constitution-A derelicts, so I made sure to leave omake-space for multiple hulls to be committed.
Then what do you think happened?
The simplest explanation is that the recent round of political chaos in Cardassia ended with something like one of the possible outcomes I predicted: an environment where Obsidian Order political commissars have a lot of control over the actions of the Cardassian fleet. Thus, Cardassian officers now have an incentive to fight aggressively, even rashly, and cannot withdraw in the face of superior odds until the commissar sees reason. That was already true to a degree, but it's very much possible that it is now more true.
Alternatively, the Cardassians may still be underestimating the strength of the Apiata's new-build Stingers, though this seems unlikely.
Oh. One thing. We've just observed that the Federation can get a supercharge to its shipbuilding capability quite easily, just by having a new woman take over Shipyard Industrial Command. It bears remembering that something similar could happen to Cardassia or our other rivals, at least in principle. If the Cardassians have found a way to manufacture ships significantly more quickly, or have tapped into a sudden surge of raw materials (say, from Bajor), or for that matter have just decided to more ruthlessly sacrifice civilian welfare in exchange for military buildup... they may be confident enough of their ability to replace ships to be less worried about attrition than we're used to.
The Vegans don't have reason to do so, the Amarki have already done so, and the Apiata won't be joining the Federation Council as long as they're participating in an active war against the Cardassian Union, any more than the Caitians could join while they were fighting the Dawiar.
You don't know what McAdams actually said.
So yes, you are making a mountain out of a molehill.
I suppose there's some risk of the Apiata queen-admiral outright lying or misrepresenting what was said to her, but we can't control that and shouldn't blame McAdams. But realistically, it is not plausible that McAdams did anything other than communicate a policy to the Apiata that anyone with a brain knows the Federation would adhere to.
Do you really think McAdams was supposed to say "YEAH, GO GET 'EM!" or something to the Apiata? Really? Remember, the Federation is not at war with Cardassia, and does not desire a war with Cardassia, and would probably be well advised to avoid war with Cardassia at this exact moment because we have too many other little problems to deal with on our flanks.
We don't even know the details of what she did or didn't do, only the broad outlines in the log, but we do know she warned the Cardassians off and was all prepared to go into battle to protect the forager, before it turned out to be a deliberate ruse on the Apiata's part. Condemning her conduct seems grossly unreasonable.
The problem is that you're mostly talking about purely political actions that are totally outside the control of the playerbase. We don't really have much influence over how Starfleet talks to Amarki angry over slave raids, and we have virtually none over how the Federation at large talks to the Apiata.
For that matter, you're not really talking about things that fall under Starfleet's purview in general.
So none of this really answers the question "what do WE, collectively making the decisions for Valentina Sousa's internal policy, do?" Do your priorities translate into specific options for the next snakepit? of
I hope this makes worries somewhat clear. I'm off to bed now. Good night everybody, or day depending on your timezone.[/QUOTE]
It's good stuff!
Watch as the Syndicate is brushing off copies of "How the Chelonians became pains in our asses" to help fight the Fed.
EDIT:
I wouldn't say it's really inaccurate to say the actual continuity is kinda tenuous, as the Empire's Syndicate at its eight was Space-X meets East India Trading Company meets Maersk shipping and then transformed into something much, much different. Also, I imagine any historical record from the time has a fair bit of guesswork in it, due to both the distance in history and the occasional employ of high-energy weapons during any number of conflicts in the time since.
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Our small ships are getting shit done this quarter. Also the Constellations pulled a Sir Not Appearing In These Captain's Logs.
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
Well, the number of Constellations has been constant for a long time, while the number of Centaurs and Excelsiors (and now Connies) is growing. Inevitably, they'll make up a decreasing proportion of event responders.
Anyway. The update.
Teapot song, AWESOME.
That said, I have to wonder, how does Courageous's CMO provide better benefits aboard the Sarek than she did aboard the Courageous?
[wanders off, scratching his head]
Anyway. The update.
Teapot song, AWESOME.
Straak having a wife? Even better. also, this juxtaposition makes me go snrksnrksnrk.
That said, I have to wonder, how does Courageous's CMO provide better benefits aboard the Sarek than she did aboard the Courageous?
[wanders off, scratching his head]