<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div><div class=""><br class=""></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><div dir="ltr" style="font-family: Avenir-Book; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: auto; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;" class=""><div class=""><div class=""><div class="">=/= Situation Room, Starfleet Headquarters, San Francisco =/=<br class=""><br class="">Captain Annette Flores entered the large situation room at Starfleet Headquarters. Designed to hold several dozen Admirals and ambassadors, it was eerie seeing it unoccupied and hearing her heels loudly click on the floor. Annette set down her stack of PADDs full of status reports and communiques, and took a moment to turn on the large viewscreen on the wall. She changed the standing image from the Federation logo to a map of Federation space, marked with the encounters with the Ke'elzzoid, with New Darwin Colony prominently featured towards one of the edges of the map.<br class=""><br class="">She stood there, staring at the map, running a finger along the diamond ring on her left hand, considering the responsibility that was upon them. The Earth-Romulan War seemed ages ago. Back then Annette had the fortune of only being a communications officer, not the Director in charge of Communications. Now she was one of a few who had to decide how to approach this crisis. One of the few with millions of lives depending on them.<br class=""><br class="">Maurice Bell walked into the room as he automatically spotted Annette staring the map on the view screen. The Captain had dealt with the Federation Council debate on how to deal with Ke'elzzoid threat the last few weeks. Andor was complaining about being stretched out by defending the border for anymore Ke'elzzoid who would try entering Federation space. Also from those who would take advantage of the current distraction. Though they were up for voting to fight.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">Vulcan on the other hand wanted to fall back and perhaps talk it out. They argued that the Federation rapid expansion was the cause of this issue and would only draw the attention of other potential enemies in the future. And basically stated that they would refuse to fight even if out voted. These were quickly pissed off the council members from Tellar and Andor. <br class=""><br class="">Tellar had already deployed Task Force 3-1 to area where the USS Yorktown had defended the Tellarite station. Eleven ships would arrive at that location within the next few hours. Their fleet was currently deploying other ships around their system.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">This brought up the fact that Andorian system was vulnerable for attack, while Vulcan would sit back and do nothing. It seemed like no one wanted to come to a vote in fear of Vulcan possibly pulling themselves out of the Federation just to avoid violence. But that all changed once the reports from the Yorktown came in along with photos. Captain Bell briefly recalled the looks on the faces from each on the council. If the Vulcan was able to display an emotion, he was sure it would have been one of the disgust. An hour later all ten council members had agreed to take whatever military action was needed against the Ke'elzzoid. <br class=""><br class="">Maurice approaches the map and picked up the PADD. "Vulcan has agreed to send Task Force 4-4 and 4-5 to patrol the Andorian System in case the Ke'elzzoid plan an attack out there."<br class=""><br class="">"That's good news," Annette said. She didn't blame the Andorians for wanting the backup one bit. Ke'elzzoid ships wiping out a colony a few light years from their home world, a KZ ship entering the edges of the system before going to warp, and the pictures of the Frozen Dawn survivors the Yorktown sent along: antennae hacked off, eyes damaged, bodies wracked by disease, would make anyone nervous.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">"We needed some good news. A report came in, Captain Oliver and Commander Dramova are confirmed POWs. Problem is the only thing the Ke'elzzoid commander seems to want is the life of our only real intelligence asset, one of their captured officers. It's a mess there, and it's getting messier by the day," Annette said with a slow shake of her head.<br class=""><br class="">"It's going to take some time to mobilize a task force from the first fleet to send to New Darwin. I'm afraid by the time that happens the KZ will have stronghold on the planet."<br class=""><br class="">Admiral Sheppard entered the room. She was in a sour mood today. People complaining about nominally important matters, holding her up from dealing with the bigger picture. “Hello. Sorry I’m late.” She put a large bottle of water on the table, along with 4 PaDDs and a cup of hot tea. She was ready for the long haul here. "Life goes on doesn’t it in spite of galactic threats. You all doing well?”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">"Besides reading a lot of bad news and work keeping me away from the missus? Not bad," Annette replied, turning to face Adrienne. "I take it your day's not going so well?" she added, noting the tension in Sheppard's shoulders and the clear frustration on her face.<br class=""> <br class="">"The day is getting a little better now that the political portion of things has past," Maurice answered. By the frown on his face, he was far from being completely satisfied. "But things are getting worse by the day."<br class=""><br class="">“The political portion is over is it? Could have fooled me. Had to climb over a pile of those politicians just to get out of my office. If it’s not the politicians, it’s the friggin’ media. Oh well, washed my hands of the bastards and am here now. Let’s see what’s really happening. Any new news on the status of Capt Oliver and Cmdr Dramova?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">"New Darwin's Commander Hickey made contact with one of the Ke'elzzoid, a Hive Commander Atryzzza. Verbal confirmation was given during the call that both Captain Oliver and Commander Dramova are in her custody, but that just gives us her word to go on. Atryzzza offered to trade both of her prisoners in exchange for a Ke'elzzoid prisoner New Darwin captured," Annette reported.<br class=""><br class="">“Two for one, huh? Wonder why they are so eager to get that one prisoner back. Okay. Then let’s move on. Give me the latest on where we’re fighting these creatures,” said Adrienne, taking a sip of the hot tea.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">"As I was explaining to Annette," said Bell as he walked over to the display. "The Tellarite Task Force will be arriving to the station that was attacked by the Ke'elzzoid in under four hours. I seriously doubt that they will present anymore problems. That two truce is definitely working to our favor."<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">“Good,” replied the Admiral.<br class=""><br class="">Captain Bell brought up another point on the map. "Our biggest issue is trying to get back New Darwin and the Gamma Sagittarii System. The KZ have taken the system and our people are currently on their own. Now the USS Yorktown should be able to link up with Task Force 1-3 in about seven days. The issue is being able to have Task Force 1-2 in together in that amount of time. Its going to take those ships about nine days to link up. And the USS Meridian is about fourteen days away from New Darwin."<br class=""><br class="">"Let's not forget that from Commander Ca'daar's reports the Yorktown has sustained heavy damage and they're the only ship holding the line from four Ke'elzzoid battleships until the Tellarite fleet arrives at that outpost. We need to prepare for the possibility that Task Force is down a ship and a task force leader, because even if Ca'daar can pull out another miracle it's likely the Yorktown won't be flying anywhere," Annette pointed out. She was hoping for the best but believed they needed to prepare for the worst.<br class=""> <br class="">"Which pretty much means that Task Force 1-2 and 1-3 can't even go on the offensive for at least fifteen days," Maurice sighed. "Does Commander Ca'daar have an estimate for when the Yorktown will possibly be ready for fighting condition?"<br class=""><br class="">"No. We won't know for at least another four hours. The Yorktown has to get through another fight first. I'll get one from him as soon as I'm able to," Annette said. Fifteen days, that was too long, far too long to have New Darwin hold out.<br class=""> <br class="">"I thought the Ke'elzzoid gave them two days?" Maurice questioned.<br class=""><br class="">"They did. Those two days end in less than an hour," Annette said. "The Tellarites won't be there for four."<br class=""><br class="">“So, we are caught sitting on our hands? None of our ships can be anywhere that they are needed in time? Did the Ke’elzzoid really pull off such an effective coup on the entire Federation?” asked Adrienne.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class="">"They couldn't have picked a better time to attack," Annette said. "We're spread thin from the Ware and the Frozen Dawn and we're still recovering from the Deltore. No one expected the Ke'elzzoid fleet to be this large or for their military to be this competent. The best we can do now is organize our fleets and prepare for a counter offense."<br class=""><br class="">"But moving forward we need to learn from this situation. We should look into committing one of the fleets to quick response. If every government donates a few ships, it could double as a site for our integration program between Federation members," Annette added.<br class=""> <br class="">Maurice rubbed his chin as he pondered on the idea. "Every fleet is designated with a specific task. A creation of a seventh fleet could be possible in less than a year, if all five original governments could agree to the terms." He walked over to his bag, pulling out a PADD. Uploading the information on it to the viewer, Captain Bell brought up several ships on the viewer.<br class=""> <br class="">"The Utopia Planitia Shipyards will be done completing four Daedaulus classes by the end of the month. Those ships have already been promised to Alpha III, Vega IX, United Rigel Worlds and Colonies and Arken II. But there are eighteen Daedaulus classes that will be completed by the end of the year. Admiral Shrann is requesting that all those ships get sent to the second fleet in order to better defend the borders. But Admiral Archer feels that half of those ships should go for exploration. And Admiral T'viri wants Vulcan to have at least half of them to assist in research purposes."<br class=""><br class="">"And now a quick response fleet makes four. That fleet doesn't have to be made up of Daedalus class ships. No one wants to see a fleet of our most advanced warship not being used, being on standby. Older model Warp 6 ships would work fine. The NX, the Kumari, and the Surak classes can still hold their own, but are less desirable for exploration, or research, or defense. This doesn't need to replace our existing fleets, but be a safety net for times like this when we can't assemble one quickly enough," Annette said. "Perhaps it will even appease Admiral Shrann, so some of those ships can be committed to research and exploration. We didn't go into space to fight other species."<br class=""> <br class="">Maurice nodded in agreement. "The minimal size of a fleet is fifty five ships. Could we honestly justify having that many ships sitting around on standby. I would recommend a Task Force or two. That puts us in the range of eleven to twenty two ships."<br class=""><br class="">"A task force then. I was using fleet in the general sense rather than a specific number. Back to the matter at hand," Annette said. "What help can we give the colonies in the next fifteen days? We know that a Tellarite fleet will be in the area and Andoria is right next door, but they won't budge their fleet from defense.... Didn't they apprehend a bunch of older model ships used by the Frozen Dawn?" Annette flipped through her PADDs to find the right one. "Yes! Right here, half a dozen older Andorian ships that were stolen from their decommissioning moon, Kor'met. The ships aren't ideal, but if we could get crews on them, we could respond within four or five days. They won't turn the tide, but they could buy us some time for our fleets to arrive."<br class=""> <br class="">"I recall there being talks of assigning Arkenite crews to them in order to assist the Andorian Fleet," Bell brought up. "How many ships are we talking here? And how long to put a crew together to ship off to that location?"<br class=""><br class="">"Six ships. There are also Starfleet outposts out near Kor'met. If the Ke'elzzoid have left any standing we could pull officers from there. And there's the Frozen Dawn terrorists themselves. We couldn't trust all of them, but Force Commander Ca'daar's reports show that some have proven reasonable if not outright remorseful for their actions against our colonies. We could, carefully, make use of a few. If we pull from all three areas, plus anyone the Imperial Guard can spare, we should be able to crew the ships within two to three days. They could arrive a full week before either of our task forces," Annette said, running through the logistics this would require.<br class=""><br class="">“Sounds like the only plan we have,” said Sheppard. “Let’s start with that as our goal and keep our eyes open for adjustments that may present as it comes together. Any action we can take from HQ here to help get Oliver and Dramova back, or do we just have to wait until we can turn the tide of this thing in our favor? Do you think we could open a conversation with the Ke’elzzoid from Earth that might make some positive difference?"<br class=""><br class="">"Where the Ke'elzzoid are concerned we've had limited success with diplomacy in the past. Commander Hickey already tried negotiating with the Ke'elzzoid who has Oliver and Dramova, but his resources are limited. It say it's worth a try," Annette said. "But I wouldn't get my hopes up. While we're at it, we could put those Ke'elzzoid comm codes to use and send a general message. We've seen one of their people change sides, who's to say there aren't more?"<br class=""><br class="">“Very good point, Captain. Do you have a negotiations expert on this already, or can we bring one in and construct a call. Then I can record it and we can broadcast it to the Ke’elzzoid?” Sheppard asked Flores.<br class=""><br class="">"I had one of my people looking into it, but wasn't sure it would be worth it until recently. I'll have him focus his efforts there and run the message we're thinking of sending by you so you can add your own flair to it," Annette said.<br class=""><br class="">“That sounds like the next step then,” summarized Adrienne. "Maybe we can talk ‘em down or bluff our way along to give us a little time. Meanwhile, we move ships to support New Darwin as soon as possible.” She thought a moment, "You know the last time that place was threatened, the Andorian ‘secret service’ showed up out of the black and bailed them out. I’ll approach Admiral Shrann, see if there might be something unofficial out there we can tap. It’s a long shot, but we need to try anything at our disposal at this point. Andorians are busy with their own battles, and the Tellarites are busy defending their own. But I’ve seen nothing cross my desk to say they have had any /unusual/ operations involved. Just trying to think outside the box,” the Admiral concluded.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">"At this point, everything's worth a try," Annette agreed. "Anything else?"<br class=""></div><div class=""><br class="">~~~<br class="">Admiral Adrienne Sheppard<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class="">Starfleet Commander<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span><br class="">Starfleet HQ, San Francisco, Earth<br class=""><br class="">&<br class=""><br class="">Captain Maurice Bell<br class="">Director of Fleet Logistical Operations<br class="">Starfleet HQ, San Francisco, Earth<br class=""><br class="">&<br class=""><br class=""></div>Captain Annette Flores<br class=""></div>Director of Fleet Communications<br class=""></div>Starfleet HQ, San Francisco, Earth</div></div></div><br class=""></body></html>