[Galaxy] [Earth9 2158 Jan 29, JL Cmdr Sean Gallagher & RAdm Suzanna Batenburg

[blanhe2]

TFE Fleet Plot
Romulan War Phase 2
-  Act 1 -

////////////// SF HQ ////////////////

"Good morning, Lilly," Suzanna greeted RAdm Palmer, head of the relatively
new Starfleet Intelligence division.

"Admiral," Lilly greeted in return. "This is Commander Gallagher."  It was
all the introduction she gave for the man.

The commander shook Suzanna's hand firmly, "Pleasure to meet you, Admiral."
Gallagher was perhaps in his early forties, but an exact age was hard to
pinpoint.
Other then that, he was a rather average looking and nondescript man.  A
peppering of gray in his otherwise brown hair, but nothing that made him
stand out.

"Commander," Suzanna smiled and shook his hand. "We'll use the conference
table," she said and walked from her desk to take a seat at the head of the
table. There weren't many people in the room, only a representative of Fleet
Operations and General Casey, head of MACO, besides herself. What was about
to be discussed was highly classified.

As the admirals, the general, and the Commodore took their seats, Gallagher
remained standing.  He set his briefcase on the table and snapped the
latches loudly.  Opening the case, he pulled several folders and held them
up.  "As a formality, Sirs," he said to everyone present, "I must remind you
all that this meeting is classified and divulging anything discussed here
will be considered an act of treason."  He then passed out the folders and
continued as if this was another day at the office.

Suzanna nodded and took one of the folders. These were sealed and although
she knew what to expect, and had orders from the President, she didn't like
it. After a moment of hesitation she broke the seal and opened it.

"Given the recent identification of Romulan involvement in aggressive
actions against the United Earth Government and the Coalition of Planets,
Starfleet Intelligence has taken steps to further clarify the situation.
Recently, analysts have identified an installation on the border of what we
think is Romulan space used for strategic planning and operations.  Key
Romulan figures have been coordinating anti-Coalition activities from this
base, and the majority of recent activity has been traced back to there.  It
is the belief of Starfleet Intelligence that confronting this installation
would be in the best interests of national, international, and interstellar
security." Gallagher paused briefly for questions.

"You say 'confronting' the installation," commented General Casey.
"Define that, Commander."

"Occupying, sabotaging, or any action or combination of actions that would
prohibit further Romulan use," Gallagher replied.

The general leaned in slightly, "destroying?"

Gallagher nodded.

"What else do we know about this installation or even if we can take control
of it?" Stirling asked, "we know little or nothing about these people apart
the fact that they have been stirring trouble rather successfully and
destroyed a number of vessels and installations, ours as well as from our
coalition partners."

Gallagher looked to the Commodore and said, "We have limited schematics
which indicate it was once a form of waystation.  Minor repair dock and
other support facilities.  If we could seize it, even minor access would
provide invaluable intelligence.  Not to mention crippling a strategic
location from which the Romulans have planned, and will continue to plan,
subversive attacks."

Suzanna sat quietly and listened, staying neutral. The more opinions, the
more data and facts she would get before making the final decision.

General Casey raised an eyebrow.  "And I suppose Starfleet Intelligence has
a suggestion on how to accomplish this?"

"Indeed," Palmer said, taking over the briefing from Gallagher.  "A joint
operation between Starfleet's Sol Defense Division and MACO's Strategic
Operations Group.  A small task force from Sol Defense will coordinate the
attack.  One ship will carry a MACO detachment to board the installation and
establish a foothold for the combined strength of the task force's armory
personnel. While the armory element secures the station, the MACOs will
probe for intelligence and make the final recommendation as to the fate of
the installation: occupation, sabotage..." she nodded to Casey, "or
destruction.  Ultimate responsibility for the mission would lay with the
commanding officer of the task force, however."

"How large a task force?" asked Stirling, going over figures in his mind.

Gallagher resumed the presentation, looking at Stirling as he responded.
"We believe the defenses are limited, as the installation is not designed
for combat.  The perceived camouflage of a civilian installation is their
primary defense, though there could be a variety of retrofitted defensive
systems in place.  In addition, there could be escort ships stationed,
though largely as early warning since any significant presence would ruin
the camouflage."

"There's a lot of 'could be' in your defense assessment, Commander,"
retorted Casey.  "So to the question at hand, how large a task force.
And for that matter, how large a MACO detachment?"

"Three our four ships of the Sol, Neptune, and Venus classes," Gallagher
said, to the point.  The exact makeup would be at the discretion of the
Fleet Operations Commander."  He nodded to Stirling.  "The MACOs could be a
few as a single team."

"They'd have to be on helluva team to take this on," Casey guffawed.

"With respect to your assessment, Commander," Stirling interjected, "if it's
up to me I'd make either Freedom or Republic the lead ship in the task
force, if we're going with that small a squadron."

Palmer shook her head, "Freedom and Republic are surely being kept close
tabs on by Romulan intelligence.  If we mobilize them, we run the risk of
tipping our hand and losing this target."

"And Freedom is one of the main lines of defence for Forrest Outpost. We
can't take her away." Suzanna interjected quitely, remembering quite vividly
what had happened just before she had become Starfleet Commander.

Stirling raised and eyebrow in thought.  "An NX, then?  At least *some* kind
of heavy ship in the lead."

"An NX-class starship might work," Gallagher said.  He seemed distant, eyes
searching as if running simulations in his head.  "With the unpredictability
of the exploration mission, they would be noticed by the Romulans, but not
overly so. If we make time of the essence, we could have the task force
assembled and on their way before the Romulans realized there was something
out of place.  Some counter-intelligence could be carefully manipulated to
give plausible alternatives and misdirection to any suspicions, and allow
further lead-time."

Palmer nodded, "Agreed."

"An NX, a Sol, and two Venus riding shotgun?" Stirling asked, more or less
thinking out loud.

"That's sound," Casey nodded.  "And come to think of it, I know a team I'd
trust to get the job done.  I can have them good to go in eight hours, if
need be."

"Meridian arrived in the Sol system less than 24 hours ago." Stirling said,
"they will need some time for resupply, repairs and brief shore leave and
then they will be ready to go out."

And with that, all eyes turned to Suzanna. She was well aware of it. In the
end of the day, it was her decision to say yay or nay, but even she had
orders from the President. And based on those these plans were made.
It was her job to assess the risk and see if the proposals were feasible
based on the information that was available. Her internal voice was
screaming that Starfleet was an organisation of exploration of deep space.
Yet in the years since Captain Archer had taken the Enterprise on its first
mission to take the Klingon home... Starfleet and Earth had adapted. Kicking
and screaming at times... but adapt they had. That was after all what was
key to being human. Explore, learn, adapt...

"OK... I'll talk to Commander Finney and pass on his orders personally.
ETA to mission start, seven days. That will give everyone maximum
preparation time. Commander Finney will be the task force Commander. He
should meet with the MACO team CO before hand and we need all the intel
information that is available. I do not want to send in a taskforce blindly
or partially blind. Any questions?" Suzanna asked after making her decision.

"Only a comment," Gallagher said.  "We should all be prepared for the
political fallout following this mission.  While the Romulans have been
attacking indirectly, using go-betweens and mercenaries, this is direct
retaliation.  We would be essentially skipping a level of complexity in this
situation, which will surely cause problems for our ambassadors abroad.  We
know the Romulans are the root problem, but the political arena still
recognizes their distance."

"Not that we will be involved in the political processes," Palmer
elaborated.  "But we should be ready to limit operations for while, since
policy dictates our freedom, especially foreign policy."

"Lay low," Casey said.

Palmer nodded, "in a sense."

"The President made that clear as well, he discussed it with the Security
Council and they believe that this is the right course of action." Suzanna
said and nodded. "Seven days, Gentlemen. Thank you."


Commander Gallagher, Sean
Starfleet Intelligence

apb

Commo Thomas Garroway Ret.

RAdm Suzanna Batenburg
Starfleet Commander
Starfleet - The First Era
"Evertything fits, otherwise we'll make it fit!"