Chains and Ladders - Part Five

Posted on Thu Jun 30th, 2022 @ 5:25am by Fleet Admiral Heather Duval & Vice Admiral Paul Emerson & Division Admiral Thomas Lasky & Commander Ethan "Hardcase" Duval & Commander Brigette Hanson

Mission: Mission 115: The Pale-Fac'd Moon looks Bloody on the Earth
Location: Various Locations - USS Gaarni / Starbase Vanguard
Timeline: 1120Hrs - November 10th, 2393

Fleet Admiral Heather Duval nodded. "It's fine. Don't worry about it," she answered as she indicated his desk terminal. "May I?" she inquired. This wasn't her office and the respect showed.

"Please Admiral," Lasky answered with a nod of his head.

Ethan Duval regarded his sister in silence before he turned to Lasky. "Sir. Do you have any objections if I went and tended to the matters we already discussed?"

"Go tend to it, Commander. Keep me informed as to your progress please?" Lasky answered with a nod. Duval rose to his feet and departed in silence. Heather Duval watched him leave. "Trouble?" she inquired.

"He wants a Marine for his Exec. Captain Ouros Yamaguchi," he commented.

Duval smiled. "One of Jake's daughters. He's mentioned her to me before. He said he was concerned about her being a marine... Jake has also said that he felt the uniform was too confining and she needed to be able to spread her wings." she explained.

"Ethan happens to agree and he thinks he can do more for her than the marines can. Frankly. I consider Jake's opinions more seriously then most... But I also agree with Ethan... Ouros needs to get out of the marines, she's wasted there." Lasky answered. "I said I'd look into it for him."

"Very well," Duval answered. "If you require it, then you can throw my name around too." she smiled. Duval then went about seeking who she needed to be speaking to. The face of a human male appeared on the screen before her. "Paul. Thank you for taking my call on such short notice." Duval commented to Paul Emerson.

"No worries Admiral. What's up?" Emerson answered, a gentle smile on his face.

"I need several ships to go to New Halanna and find out just what the heck is going on." she paused. "We intercepted some SIGINT that's less than two hours old. It's so hot that I don't want to say it over subspace but suffice to say. It's really bad news for us."

"Makes sense," Emerson answered in a flat tone of voice. "You should be receiving the Halanan announcement from their government any time now," he explained. "I thought that was why you were calling me."

"Not yet," Duval answered as Lasky's combadge beeped. "Operations to Lasky. I'm sorry to bother you sir but we're getting an announcement, it's streaming on all channels." came his wife's voice. "You should hear this for yourself."

Emerson raised an eyebrow as Duval nodded. "We're getting it now," she explained.

"I can give you two carriers, plus their attendant escorts. The Hermes and the Grey Wolf," he commented. "I'll call Sildra Vaxx-Warfield and explain the orders to her. Both ships will be redeployed back to Vanguard within the hour." Emerson commented.

"Grand. Thank you, Admiral. Duval out." and with that, the comline was disconnected. "Let's watch their announcement from the start, shall we?" Duval asked Lasky.

Lasky nodded as he tapped the display before them. The announcement began to play. Across the Starbase. Various people watched the announcement play in full. Many of them outright disbelieved the tales they heard or the revelations contained within. Commodore Celeste Yamaguchi-Hobbs turned to one of her aides. "Is there a way to confirm any of this?"

"I'll look into it, ma'am." the aide responded diplomaticly. Yamaguchi-Hobbs nodded back, in silence.

Lasky watched the transmission play from start to last as the Halanan government demanded the Federation withdraw from the Halanan sector and cease their acts of aggression towards them. Otherwise, it would mean an all out war. Either the Federation withdrew in thirty days or the Halanan's would kick them out, wholesale.

Duval growled softly. "If he wishes to make war. Then they will need a better force than a dozen old ships. Purchased second hand." she scoffed in amusement.

Lasky smiled. "The fire-eyed maid of smoky war. All hot and bleeding will we offer them," he commented. "They shall have wars and pay for their presumption." he reminded the woman before him. "I know the Pembo kicked over the Hornet's nest with her recent actions." he sighed. "Let's march without the noise of threat'ning drum," he added.

"You think it'll come to that.?" Duval asked Lasky in a quiet tone.

"Open war is upon you, m'lady. whether you'd risk it or not." Lasky answered with a soft growl. "The question we face now is... What to do about it."

"I will need to speak with the Federation Council and Starfleet Command," Duval answered in a light tone of voice. "I suspect that Starfleet command will be very unhappy with this turn of events. However, it does confirm what they had suspected all along." she let out a long sigh as she rose to her feet. "My day just went down the drain... I'll keep you informed. Hopefully, Commander Duval can resolve his Executive officer's concern without too much delay," she added.

"I have a few calls I need to make for him," Lasky answered.

"Sounds good. Till next time Tom." with that. Heather Duval departed Lasky's office in silence.