Talking Strategy
Posted on Tue Aug 17, 2021 @ 3:49am by Lieutenant Commander Kaedon Draesni & Captain Larisna Koralova
Edited on on Tue Aug 17, 2021 @ 3:56am
Mission:
Mission 1R - Vigilance Be Our Shield
Location: Ready Room, USS Hornet
Timeline: M1D1, 0928 hours
ON: [[Ready Room, USS Hornet, M1D1, 0942 hours]]
Only two hours had gone by since Draesni had last been in the captain’s ready room. Then, it has been about abiding protocol and officially reporting in. Now, he was back, but for an entirely different purpose. “The latest projections haven’t changed much,” he was explaining to Koralova, “The good news is that things haven’t gotten any worse. The bad news…they haven’t gotten any better, either. Command has made a few adjustments to the deployment strategy, which you can see here…”
Draesni paused, entered a keystroke into his PADD, then turned it around and handed it to her so that she could see the new configuration. “Nothing too significant,” he continued, “but they’re saying this will put us in a better position to respond, if anything should happen.”
Larisna looked over the information for a brief moment before shaking her head and sliding it back over.
"I'd sooner there wasn't a reason for said deployment." She replied, "I'm not inclined to drag the Federation into a shooting war that we were asked to not take part in."
The younger officer nodded to show he understood. As a matter of fact, Starfleet had made it abundantly clear they would not be getting involved in any “shooting war” (at least, not yet). The primary focus of their efforts remained on diplomatic negotiations and removing Federation citizens from harms way. And yet, as any good strategist could tell you, it was important to be prepared. Just in case, Draesni thought to himself.
"But your assessments look good. I'm inclined to agree with it." Larisna said, "Anything else coming to mind?"
“Thank you, captain, but I can’t take all the credit,” Draesni replied, “The analysts at fleet headquarters did most of the heavy lifting on this one. They’ve been running the numbers for weeks now…”
Larisna cracked a smile, "They get the even bigger picture, we have to distill it down. I know how it goes. So my statement stands."
“Yes, well…good news to report there,” Draesni told her, “As far as our situation is concerned, everything seems to be going according to plan. All ships are present and accounted for. They report loading of personnel and supplies is progressing. The task group should be ready to depart as scheduled.”
"Good." Larisna checked her desk display, "Most of the evacuation work will be done by the Tahoe and Alameda. The Zaikov will need to evacuate the agricultural cooperative, there's a lot of people, livestock and material goods that have to be recovered. The Divya Iyer is more of a just in cease, same as the Windhoek. We'll support where needed, otherwise, we'll be coordinating the whole thing."
"I'm meeting with the Klingon and Gorn representatives in about half an hour. Their governments have assured us they'll give is a chance to do this, but as we both know, it only takes a single twitch in the wrong place." Larisna observed.
Sometimes, a twitch was all it took. History was full of examples where major outcomes turned on split-second decisions and gut reactions. If that happened during the mission, the Hornet and their task group would be dangerously exposed, to say nothing of the civilians they were being sent to evacuate. And yet, the fact that they were (quite literally) going to be in the middle between the two sides also presented an opportunity. They would be uniquely positioned to respond to the situation “on the ground” as it happened. With any luck, they’d be able to use that to their advantage.
Of course, that depended a great deal on each side’s willingness to negotiate. Draesni was aware both the Klingons and the Gorn were claiming they would give Starfleet space to do the work they needed to do. He was also aware there were other factors at play.
“Hard for some not to think it’s all been written already,” Draesni said, “and that we’re just reading the lines we’ve been given.”
"Not really. I find that it's hard to break that habit once you get into it. Makes skirting responsibility easier." Larisna replied, "Plus once you add more pips, fatalism isn't a healthy mindset." She chuckled, "Kind of why I had to take a few years teaching at the Academy instead of accepting command of the Galaxy."
"We control what we can, brace for what we can't, and try not to go too crazy in the meantime with all the possibilities that could happen. Easier said than done, but possible." That got a knowing smile from the Captain. The two of them were from the same professional backgrounds, so she understood better than most in her position would.
“I’m not too worried about you or me, ma’am,” Draesni told her, “The Gorn, however…”
"The Gorn...yeah. In this situation, they're backed into a corner. In their minds, they're taking on the two largest powers in the quadrant. Probably don't trust that we're not going to partake in the war, either." Larisna replied, "Unfortunately, no one saw fit to course correct before we got this far. And politically, this limited conflict is a necessity, which says how bad it got. But now the questions are flying if this will embolden the Breen, the Son'a, the Tzenkethi, the Ritorians? Particularly with our less than stellar handling of the Romulan situation, which has taken the spotlight from the good news coming from Cardassia, sadly."
"So, do I kind of have a less than optimistic view of how the Gorn will react? Yeah." Larisna stood up and walked towards the replicator, "Something to drink?"
"Oh...yes, thank you."
"Two teas, Russian, hot." Larisna said and returned with two glasses, setting one down in front of her guest and then sat down.
"It's got a smoky flavor and I do mine a bit sweeter." She explained before taking a sip.
Draesni reached down and lifted the cup with its saucer from where the captain had placed it. The tea was still hot, as evidenced by the steam rising from its surface, but years of experience meant Draesni was able to easily handle it with care. He held the saucer in one hand, lifted the cup to his lips with the other, and blew on it gently. Then, he took a sip as Koralova continued.
"My other concern is the Klingons. Martok has a lot of enemies, plenty of people would like to see him fail. And we won't know right off the bat who we could be dealing with on that side of the fence too." Larisna explained.
“I agree, ma’am,” Draesni said, “For as much as things have changed in the Klingon Empire, it’s pretty clear where things stand with them. What the wartime alliances started, the chancellor has continued through various reforms. Of course, there are those who are going to resist such change because it means losing power, but on the whole, things seem to be relatively stable. By contrast, as you pointed out, the Gorn leadership has been undergoing a rather major, reactionary change, one which has been not nearly as predictable. That said…I’m afraid neither side is going to feel they have much room for movement when it comes to these negotiations, and that puts us in a tough spot.”
"Well, I know General Turek personally. He saved us when the Breen shot the Savannah out from under us during Chin'toka. He and Martok are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. He also won't admit it, but this was his idea. He says it was the High Council, but I followed the trail, it started from his headquarters on the border. The Gorn Ambassador, well, our ace in the hole is Cestus Three. The Gorn who live here enjoy relative peace and prosperity, not to mention a degree of autonomy. So the Federation is a hard sell as an enemy here. And he may not realize it yet, but he needs the Federation to remain neutral if they're to have any hope of a postwar peace." Larisna said.
"Because, if you think about it, we might not be able to restart normal trade relations with us or the Klingons, but the Ferengi would see more reconstruction profits and it'd be a way for the Cardassians to firm up their economy and start some goodwill by extending a hand to the Gorn. But only if they're not on our bad side." Larisna sounded like she had gone back to being an instructor for a moment, breaking down some historical situation, "On the other hand, if we violate that neutrality, we upset the Klingons and send the Gorn into the hands of the more hostile powers. And contrary to what the average civilian thinks, we have enough of those and we're short on friends."
Draesni took another sip of tea as he pondered the captain’s words. The situation with the Klingons and the Gorn was incredibly complex, that much was clear. However, based on what Koralova was saying, she obviously cared enough to familiarize herself with the nuances. The way she articulated it seemed to resonate well with his own understanding. Though it was still too early to say for certain, he hoped this meant good things for their working relationship moving forward.
“There are a lot of moving pieces, ma’am,” he said after a moment, “which is why I’ll have an updated report to you before the briefing.”
"As there usually is. But, I trust you to make sense of it." Larisna replied, before smiling, "I know you and I share the same background, which is why I requested you. In this case, we seem to agree, but please don't feel like you're here to parrot what I say. What we do will be decided on perspective of the situation. If I only wanted my opinion, I wouldn't have you here."
“Understood, ma’am.”
OFF
Captain Larisna Koralova
Commanding Officer
USS Hornet (NCC-94650)
Lieutenant Commander Kaedon Draesni
Chief Strategic Operations Officer
USS Hornet (NCC-94650)
