[Galaxy] [Earth] 2158 April 22, End of Act One

[Suzanna Batenburg]

//////// Starfleet Command HQ - San Franciscio //////////

The four of them sat in near silence in the Starfleet Commander's office.
Outside, it was dark, the lights across the Bay glowing like stars across a
galaxy. But none of them were looking at it. Commodore Stirling had been the
one to suggest to get a bottle out, and even RAdm Lilly Palmer was having a
sip, even though she normally didn't drink at all. General Casey emptied his
glass and put it back on the table.

"I informed the President as soon as I heard the news from Captain Finney,"
Suzanna said after she'd taken a sip of her drink. "He wants to know what I
want to know... how could this have gone so wrong. Where did our intel get
so screwed up. And I don't have much time to provide him with answers."

Palmer shook her head apologetically.  "Quite simply," she said, "They've
been at this a lot longer than we have."  She swirled her wine absently.
"Starfleet Intel is Earth's only extra-solar strategic information agency,
and it's only a few years old.  We're the new kids on the block, and the
bullies just gave us our first black eye."

"That," General Casey said pointedly, "is not reassuring."

The relative quiet contemplation before anyone could say anything else
Suzanna's aide followed a man into the office. "Commander.... the Admiral is
in a meeting, you can not just go in there..."

Commander Gallagher hurried into the office, ignoring the protests of the
secretary.  He carried a laptop which was half opened and ready to be set
down and viewed.  "Admirals, General," he greeted calmly despite his
apparent urgency.  "You all need to see this."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. It's ok. This better be good, Commander,"
Suzanna said and looked at Gallagher and also kept an eye on Lilly.

Gallagher set the laptop down and turned it so everyone could view it.
"This was relayed from one of our own Echo communications buoys, and on an
unencrypted frequency.  They sent this with the intention of our civilian
channels picking it up."  He keyed the video and stood by as it played for
the ranking officers.

///// video \\\\\

Silently, four starships come into view on an otherwise serene starfield.
They are obviously Starfleet, and the unsteady camera zooms in to get a
better look.  The shape of an NX-class, a Sol-class destroyer, and two
smaller Venus-class escorts are each given a good look over.  On the
Sol-class saucer is clearly written "Apollo", and the NX-class's saucer
tilts just enough to make out "NX-06", though the name is obscured.  The
Venus escorts are moving too fast to get any real detail.  A narrator begins
his voiceover:

"The Romulan Star Empire has been attacked."

The camera pulls back to see escorts pull ahead and the larger Starfleet
ships begin heavy bombardment of an orbital station, the curvature of a
planet glowing just in the corner of view.  The station seems to be holding
up due to the bombardment impacting on an energy shield.

"Only three days ago," the narrator continued, "four warships from the
United Earth Government entered Imperial space and assaulted a civilian
shipyard."

The camera makes a wide orbit around the station, just in time to see the
energy shielding fail and several torpedoes from the Apollo impact violently
on the superstructure.

"In tandem with the warships were military personnel who boarded the
shipyard and slaughtered countless innocent civilians."

The camera zooms in on several shuttlepods docking with the station, then
the scene cuts to an interior, black and white security camera vantage. MACO
personnel are viewed in full combat loadout and traveling at the ready
through the corridors. At one point, the soldiers receive incoming fire
which seems to catch them by surprise.  After a short fire fight, the MACOs
resume their otherwise unobstructed movement deeper into the structure.  The
camera never leaves the MACOs, in fact attempting to zoom in on a shoulder
patch that displays a Second Lieutenant rank insignia and the name "Spencer"
beneath.

"Despite the valiant efforts of several brave, Romulan responders, the human
battle fleet brutally overpowered them, destroying many."

The view returned to the starships, now engaged with two smaller vessels of
apparent Romulan design.  The camera follows as one is summarily destroyed.

"Only this footage was recovered."

The scene changed again to view the station to one side and the Starfleet
ships departing in formation.  The view was suddenly white as the silent
explosion of the station filled the view.  After a few moments it returned
to a more viewable darkness, revealing only the broken and shattered remnant
of the station and various pieces starting to glow as they began falling
through the atmosphere to the planet below.  Then the view brightened again
as a secondary explosion finished off the last intact parts of the wreckage.
The shockwave from the first explosion finally reached the camera, and it
was violently shaken into static.

The narrator became very stern.  "This is an act of war."

The view replayed pertinent stills of the footage like a slide show as the
narrator's demeanor changed from somber news anchor to heated demagogue.

"The United Earth Government has long whispered about such things as
'Romulan involvement' and 'Romulan planned' when referring to events gone
wrong within their society.  Romulans cannot be held accountable for human
ignorance and error.  And yet what do we see...?"

The stills hold on the image of the Sol-class saucer reading "Apollo"
across it's hull, then to the rank insignia over the name "Spencer".

"...we see that while humans have no evidence to so much as point our
direction, they believe they have cause to murder our people.  Over three
hundred and sixty innocent Romulan civilians died in this blatant military
action and challenge to Romulan sovereignty."

The slide show ends with a slow motion scene of the station exploding with
the four Earth starships flying away.

"This is a challenge we will answer.  It is a challenge we *must* answer.
There is no recourse for the Romulan Star Empire except to declare war on
Earth, the United Earth Government, and all humans that have spread like a
cancer throughout space.  We, the Romulan people, will fight the evil human
regime with our last breath.  If there is to be peace in the galaxy, *we*
will fight for it.

"Let every sovereign nation that sides with Earth, that makes deals with
these devils, be *also* an enemy of the Romulan Star Empire.  Let them
receive no more mercy or quarter than will be afforded their human
conspirators."

The view continues its slow motion account of the station's destruction,
ending with the camera blurring as it's shaken into static.

"So let the war between Earth and Romulus begin."

The screen cuts to black and the transmission abruptly ends.

////////////////

The silence in the room was deafening for a long moment.

"Oh my...." Suzanna said quietly. "And this is out at the moment? Where?
Who's seen it?" It was like being in a bad dream. She'd tried to warn the
President and the Security Council, but they wouldn't have it.

"There's no telling, Sir," Gallagher said plainly.  "My guess is that this
will be on every major news network within the hour."

"Crap..." She mumbled quietly than quickly got up to the door, opened it and
spoke to her aide. "Lieutenant... get the president on secure channel into
my office here asap. This is an emergency if anyone objects."  Then she
turned back to the Senior Officers in the room.
"Suggestions please... we have about ten to fifteen minutes to come up with
something before the President will ask me just that."

"We fight a war," Casey said simply.  "There's no getting out of this, not
after a declaration like that.  We need to get an accounting of our forces,
consolidate where we are our weakest, and prepare to dig in for the long
haul.  This is going to be a defensive war, until unlike the campaigns
Starfleet has fought in he past.  Eridani, Mercy... even the Delphic Expanse
will look like a day at the beach."

"He's right," Stirling put in.  "What we know of Romulan military technology
is that they have the advantage.  Cloaking devices, disruptor weapons..."

Lilly nodded, "And the way they presented their declaration will be a strain
on the Coalition.  In fact, we need to get the ball rolling diplomatically
to make sure we've still got allies out there.  They may not believe the
Romulans one iota, but politically, they've got to distance themselves from
us, now.  We've got to minimize that distance."

"Ok... we don't have a choice, it is about the only action we can take."
Suzanna said, her mind now running at 100 mph. "They've made it look like
we've asked for war and we started it. General Casey, please work with
Commodore Stirling, I need a plan and a back up plan for a defensive war.
Lilly, estimates of where you think they will strike and help with intel on
the diplomatic front. If anything, we've learned more about them. As soon as
we have the full and detailed report from the Meridian mission, we can add
that to our analysis." She paused for a moment, "Is there anything I've not
covered yet?"

"Yeah," Stirling commented.  "How we're going to get out of this mess."

Casey replied, "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat." Giving a somber look to all
present, he finished, "and more than a little sacrifice."

Commander Gallagher, Sean
Starfleet Intelligence

apb

Commo Thomas Garroway Ret.
-- 
RAdm Suzanna Batenburg
Fleet Commander
Starfleet: The First Era
"Everything fits, otherwise we will make it fit."
http://www.firstera.net