Chapter Sixteen - Consolidation
Starbase 2000, Delta Quadrant, Ops Deck
Captain Stiles eyes went wide as he took in the hulking shapes of Imperial Marines in powered combat armor, yet to his credit his phaser never so much as twitched. Ulysses predatory grin never left his face as he began to speak again.
"Go ahead." He spoke quietly, but his voice was loud in the deathly silence that gripped Ops. "Give them an excuse." Ulysses stepped foreword till the tip of Stiles' phaser was pressed into his chest. Stiles stared dumbstruck at the urging in the Imperial Captain's voice and actions.
"But if they open fire, you'll be cut down with the rest of us."
"Small price to pay to have you and your ilk dealt with expediently." Ulysses replied in a tone that could have cut through a dutranium bulkhead. Stiles visibly flinched. He could see it in the young firebrand's eyes that he was perfectly willing to make good on his statement. "You swore an oath to protect the people of the Empire, and by your actions you have BROKEN that sacred trust! Over five BILLION souls are depending on this Battle Station and the Fleet to protect them from a hostile galaxy! As it now sits, this station couldn't fight its way out of a wet paper bag. So I say again, give them an excuse." Ulysses voice had reverted to a neutral tone, but there was no mistaking the look in his eyes. Stiles resolve failed him. Looking at the Captain's face, it was like a house cat meeting a lion in search of a snack.
Of all things, this was the least he expected from someone assigned to Starbase 2000. He had seen plenty of officers willing to sacrifice themselves for the false ideals of honor. Yet most of those who were assigned here were quickly exorcised of it. This young officer was different. Something in the way he carried himself, something in his voice, said that he would never lose that ideal. It was to much part of what he was for it to be removed by a mere assignment to Starfleet's latest dumping ground for troublemakers.
Stiles lowered his phaser, then dropped it to the deck. From the sounds all around him, his compatriots were following his lead and doing likewise. Ulysses stepped foreword, bringing his face fully into the light, and what Stiles saw caused him to shrink back in fear. There was death dancing in the young firebrand's eyes, a predatory gleam that had no place on a humans face. Yet it was gone in an eyeblink as Ulysses brought himself back under iron willed self-control.
"Take them to the brig, hold them there till a formal courts martial can be convened to look into their recent actions." Ulysses snapped.
"Aye Sir." With a gesture of his grav gun, Gunny McKennon got the jackals in motion. "You heard the Skipper, get your mangy carcasses moving! And if there is any funny business on the way there, well I don't need to explain to you what a round of hypervelocity flechettes will do to you."
----------
They had just finished clearing out when a breathless Commissar Stevens huffed into Ops, her fists balled angrily at her sides. "Captain, just what the HELL do you think you are doing!"
"A bit of house cleaning." Ulysses replied tersely.
"With fully decked out Marines!?" She said, her hand waving towards the retreating figures in power armor.
"And not just here, I sent them out across the entire station." Ulysses continued.
Stevens eyes went round as saucers. "The entire station..."
"Yes, the entire station. Lord knows how far down the rot he brought here has spread. I would rather have people I can trust spread throughout the station keeping an eye on things.
"But that would take damn near the entire Marine compliment of the whole Battlegroup!" She exploded.
"Yes it indeed would, for this is a rather large Battlestation after all."
Stevens prepared to launch into another angry tirade then stopped herself. She could tell that it wouldn't faze him in the slightest and she couldn't really call him to task for enforcing Starfleet regs, even if it was in a place like Starbase 2000. While the devotion he was inspiring in both his command and the rest of the battlegroup as a whole was disturbing on any number of levels, she had to admit that everything he was doing was well within the regs. It still caused her to be suspicious, for everyone knew that it was a power hungry Admiral who had allowed nearly all of the Empire's government to be murdered. If this young, charismatic officer chose to turn his loyalties from the Empire, there could be trouble. It wouldn't do for her to totally alienate herself from him so early over something as trivial as what had just transpired. True he was supposed to clear all military actions with her ahead of time, but now that she thought about it this was more of a disciplinary action than anything else. Breath escaped from between her lips as she exhaled heavily.
"You don't do things by half measures do you Mr. Vanguard?" Stevens put a slight grin on her face and a parental tone in her voice. Ulysses wasn't fooled for a minute, yet he played along.
"Half measures are worse than useless, because they can lead one to think that one is secure when one really isn't. Which is exactly why I never use them. The galaxy is to dangerous a place for false security." Ulysses sighed. "This place needs leadership, right now it's like a ship with a broken rudder. Will you back me in my plan to assume control of this sector till Starfleet can dispatch someone with proper rank and seniority?" Much as it irked Ulysses to come begging to the Section 31 stoolie, he knew that it was the best way to guarantee getting competent leadership for this sector, at least until Starfleet Command sent the next self serving Flag officer to this backwater.
Stevens gave the young captain an appraising stare. The rampant golden lion glittered on his breast, nestled next to a rather impressive series of medals for one so young. She totally misread his eagerness to assume command of the decapitated command structure the sector had been saddled with. Without a doubt someone had to take charge, and if her evidently eager charge wanted to take on the responsibility there were not that many others in the sector that had the seniority to challenge him. Add to that there was a personal factor as well. While she distrusted the young captain's motives as a matter of course, there was a certain prestige gained from being assigned as the political watchdog to a Sector CO, even if he still was a captain. The fact that there never had been a mere captain, even one in possession of the Lion of Terra, in command of an entire sector was unheard of. Of course having the entire Flag Rank Chain of Command eliminated at one time was also unheard of, so having an unheard of solution to the problem wasn't all that unexpected.
"Very well Mr. Vanguard, I agree that this sector needs some form of leadership until Starfleet can send some more Brass out here. I see no reason why that temporary leadership shouldn't be you. I will back your proposal to Starfleet Command."
"Thank you Commissar, you will not regret your decision."
"I never doubted it for a minute."
Imperial Throne Room, Moscow, Terra
Jack silently cursed his poor luck. First the entire upper echelons of Sector 2000's chain of command get taken out by a still unknown operative, then that young pup he had sent out there to be out of the public eye decides that he needs to assume command. While that choice was the right one from a purely military stand point, it put a real wrench into the works of his own plans. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried to divert attention from this new 'Hero of the Empire', he found a way to keep it firmly centered upon him. His right hand curled into a hidden white knuckled fist under his space black silk cloak. All of his propaganda plans would have to be reworked. He would be forced to cast even more attention at Captain Vanguard. It couldn't be helped, but it was irritating that the young officer had such an unintentional magnetism for the public eye.
"Send my approval of Captain Vanguard's actions to Starfleet Command. Make sure that they dispatch a full compliment of flag officers as soon as possible. While the young Captain Vanguard and his staff are highly capable, they are not senior enough to be left in charge of an entire sector for an extended period of time. Till the replacement officers and their staffs arrive however, he is temporarily promoted to Vice Admiral to give his assumed authority the proper backing of rank."
"I shall contact Starfleet Command with your words immediately Your Highness." A low level aide said, bowing lowly then turning on his heel and striding out of the throne room.
Briefing Room, ISS Athena, Later that day
"...and that's the extent of it people." Ulysses explained to his command staff. "I have been affirmed as CO of this sector by both Starfleet Command and the Emperor himself, at least until proper official bureaucrats can be dispatched. But I needn't tell any of you that they will be at least a month in coming due to the distances involved even if they leave immediately. So first things first, you've had a chance to peruse your various departments at a trans sector level. What are the good and bad points. Exec, why don't you start us off."
"Sir, the command situation is every bit as ripped up as I initially thought. Not only is every flag officer in the sector dead, but much of the bureaucracy was also destroyed when the Sector Council Chamber was blown up. We have Captains and Commanders flailing around in the domain of Admirals and Vice Admirals and it shows. For the most part, they don't have the experience necessary to effectively accomplish their unexpected duties." Ulysses grimaced. If he couldn't put together an effective chain of command, however temporarily, things would go from bad to worse. Seeing her Captain's sour face, P'tel continued. "All is not lost however, for there are quite a few officers that have risen admirably to their new duties. They should prove sufficient to provide a rudimentary chain of command at the very least."
"Ok, write up a list of the good ones for my perusal. Also do a list of the real trouble makers we'll have to keep an eye on." P'tel nodded. Ulysses eyes moved on to his Chief Engineer. "How's the fleet wide readiness status Commander?"
"It's not as high as I would like at all Skip. From my calls to various BG Flagship Chief Engineers, many are in dire need of yard maintenance, but there are only a few slips at Nightingale Yards that are as active. It appears that many of the yard crews were shirking their duties long before the Brass was killed. It's gotten even worse since. On a more positive note the cleanup dirtside is nearly finished." It was a weak positive in light of the initial negative, and Heidberg knew it as much as his Captain did.
"This cannot continue. I want every ship in the fleet brought up to full combat readiness within the week. Sorry to add to your already full plate Exec, but I want you to coordinate with Cmdr. Heidberg. Get those yards up to speed, and use any amount of force that's required if they don't take the hint that things are gonna undergo a radical change." P'tel could tell that he found the probable use of force to cohere the yard crews to bring their productivity up to fleet standard distasteful. Yet it was good to know for certain that he wasn't naive enough to think that it wouldn't be required in more than a few cases. That was a matter of course at this post, it had been Starfleet's dumping ground for to long for it to be otherwise.
"Aye Sir." P'tel bore her geometrically expanding workload with typical Vulcan stoicness.
"Cmdr. Davenport, I want your department to coordinate a fleet wide wargame set for before the end of the week. I need to know how much rust we need to remove from our sword before it's an effective weapon again. If any ship Captains give you grief, contact me immediately."
"Aye Skipper, you can count on me."
"I had no doubts otherwise Cmdr." Ulysses graced his tactical officer with a small grin, then turned to his CMO. "Cmdr. Petersmith, what's the situation dirtside?"
"Its a lot better than I thought sir. The blast was pretty much contained by the Council Chambers. While nearly everyone in the building died, there was mostly only light injuries outside. There really isn't that much more that I can do. Lilith has the same healthcare capabilities of any core world. Most of those affected by the explosion have already been released from the local hospitals with only a few critical cases still there. They are in good hands, my people would only be in the way."
Ulysses nodded his understanding. "All right Doctor, thank you. Any questions before we adjourn?" No one made any attempt to speak. "Ok then, we have a lot of work ahead of us, so lets get cracking."
Starbase 2000, Delta Quadrant, Ops Deck
Captain Stiles eyes went wide as he took in the hulking shapes of Imperial Marines in powered combat armor, yet to his credit his phaser never so much as twitched. Ulysses predatory grin never left his face as he began to speak again.
"Go ahead." He spoke quietly, but his voice was loud in the deathly silence that gripped Ops. "Give them an excuse." Ulysses stepped foreword till the tip of Stiles' phaser was pressed into his chest. Stiles stared dumbstruck at the urging in the Imperial Captain's voice and actions.
"But if they open fire, you'll be cut down with the rest of us."
"Small price to pay to have you and your ilk dealt with expediently." Ulysses replied in a tone that could have cut through a dutranium bulkhead. Stiles visibly flinched. He could see it in the young firebrand's eyes that he was perfectly willing to make good on his statement. "You swore an oath to protect the people of the Empire, and by your actions you have BROKEN that sacred trust! Over five BILLION souls are depending on this Battle Station and the Fleet to protect them from a hostile galaxy! As it now sits, this station couldn't fight its way out of a wet paper bag. So I say again, give them an excuse." Ulysses voice had reverted to a neutral tone, but there was no mistaking the look in his eyes. Stiles resolve failed him. Looking at the Captain's face, it was like a house cat meeting a lion in search of a snack.
Of all things, this was the least he expected from someone assigned to Starbase 2000. He had seen plenty of officers willing to sacrifice themselves for the false ideals of honor. Yet most of those who were assigned here were quickly exorcised of it. This young officer was different. Something in the way he carried himself, something in his voice, said that he would never lose that ideal. It was to much part of what he was for it to be removed by a mere assignment to Starfleet's latest dumping ground for troublemakers.
Stiles lowered his phaser, then dropped it to the deck. From the sounds all around him, his compatriots were following his lead and doing likewise. Ulysses stepped foreword, bringing his face fully into the light, and what Stiles saw caused him to shrink back in fear. There was death dancing in the young firebrand's eyes, a predatory gleam that had no place on a humans face. Yet it was gone in an eyeblink as Ulysses brought himself back under iron willed self-control.
"Take them to the brig, hold them there till a formal courts martial can be convened to look into their recent actions." Ulysses snapped.
"Aye Sir." With a gesture of his grav gun, Gunny McKennon got the jackals in motion. "You heard the Skipper, get your mangy carcasses moving! And if there is any funny business on the way there, well I don't need to explain to you what a round of hypervelocity flechettes will do to you."
----------
They had just finished clearing out when a breathless Commissar Stevens huffed into Ops, her fists balled angrily at her sides. "Captain, just what the HELL do you think you are doing!"
"A bit of house cleaning." Ulysses replied tersely.
"With fully decked out Marines!?" She said, her hand waving towards the retreating figures in power armor.
"And not just here, I sent them out across the entire station." Ulysses continued.
Stevens eyes went round as saucers. "The entire station..."
"Yes, the entire station. Lord knows how far down the rot he brought here has spread. I would rather have people I can trust spread throughout the station keeping an eye on things.
"But that would take damn near the entire Marine compliment of the whole Battlegroup!" She exploded.
"Yes it indeed would, for this is a rather large Battlestation after all."
Stevens prepared to launch into another angry tirade then stopped herself. She could tell that it wouldn't faze him in the slightest and she couldn't really call him to task for enforcing Starfleet regs, even if it was in a place like Starbase 2000. While the devotion he was inspiring in both his command and the rest of the battlegroup as a whole was disturbing on any number of levels, she had to admit that everything he was doing was well within the regs. It still caused her to be suspicious, for everyone knew that it was a power hungry Admiral who had allowed nearly all of the Empire's government to be murdered. If this young, charismatic officer chose to turn his loyalties from the Empire, there could be trouble. It wouldn't do for her to totally alienate herself from him so early over something as trivial as what had just transpired. True he was supposed to clear all military actions with her ahead of time, but now that she thought about it this was more of a disciplinary action than anything else. Breath escaped from between her lips as she exhaled heavily.
"You don't do things by half measures do you Mr. Vanguard?" Stevens put a slight grin on her face and a parental tone in her voice. Ulysses wasn't fooled for a minute, yet he played along.
"Half measures are worse than useless, because they can lead one to think that one is secure when one really isn't. Which is exactly why I never use them. The galaxy is to dangerous a place for false security." Ulysses sighed. "This place needs leadership, right now it's like a ship with a broken rudder. Will you back me in my plan to assume control of this sector till Starfleet can dispatch someone with proper rank and seniority?" Much as it irked Ulysses to come begging to the Section 31 stoolie, he knew that it was the best way to guarantee getting competent leadership for this sector, at least until Starfleet Command sent the next self serving Flag officer to this backwater.
Stevens gave the young captain an appraising stare. The rampant golden lion glittered on his breast, nestled next to a rather impressive series of medals for one so young. She totally misread his eagerness to assume command of the decapitated command structure the sector had been saddled with. Without a doubt someone had to take charge, and if her evidently eager charge wanted to take on the responsibility there were not that many others in the sector that had the seniority to challenge him. Add to that there was a personal factor as well. While she distrusted the young captain's motives as a matter of course, there was a certain prestige gained from being assigned as the political watchdog to a Sector CO, even if he still was a captain. The fact that there never had been a mere captain, even one in possession of the Lion of Terra, in command of an entire sector was unheard of. Of course having the entire Flag Rank Chain of Command eliminated at one time was also unheard of, so having an unheard of solution to the problem wasn't all that unexpected.
"Very well Mr. Vanguard, I agree that this sector needs some form of leadership until Starfleet can send some more Brass out here. I see no reason why that temporary leadership shouldn't be you. I will back your proposal to Starfleet Command."
"Thank you Commissar, you will not regret your decision."
"I never doubted it for a minute."
Imperial Throne Room, Moscow, Terra
Jack silently cursed his poor luck. First the entire upper echelons of Sector 2000's chain of command get taken out by a still unknown operative, then that young pup he had sent out there to be out of the public eye decides that he needs to assume command. While that choice was the right one from a purely military stand point, it put a real wrench into the works of his own plans. It seemed like no matter how hard he tried to divert attention from this new 'Hero of the Empire', he found a way to keep it firmly centered upon him. His right hand curled into a hidden white knuckled fist under his space black silk cloak. All of his propaganda plans would have to be reworked. He would be forced to cast even more attention at Captain Vanguard. It couldn't be helped, but it was irritating that the young officer had such an unintentional magnetism for the public eye.
"Send my approval of Captain Vanguard's actions to Starfleet Command. Make sure that they dispatch a full compliment of flag officers as soon as possible. While the young Captain Vanguard and his staff are highly capable, they are not senior enough to be left in charge of an entire sector for an extended period of time. Till the replacement officers and their staffs arrive however, he is temporarily promoted to Vice Admiral to give his assumed authority the proper backing of rank."
"I shall contact Starfleet Command with your words immediately Your Highness." A low level aide said, bowing lowly then turning on his heel and striding out of the throne room.
Briefing Room, ISS Athena, Later that day
"...and that's the extent of it people." Ulysses explained to his command staff. "I have been affirmed as CO of this sector by both Starfleet Command and the Emperor himself, at least until proper official bureaucrats can be dispatched. But I needn't tell any of you that they will be at least a month in coming due to the distances involved even if they leave immediately. So first things first, you've had a chance to peruse your various departments at a trans sector level. What are the good and bad points. Exec, why don't you start us off."
"Sir, the command situation is every bit as ripped up as I initially thought. Not only is every flag officer in the sector dead, but much of the bureaucracy was also destroyed when the Sector Council Chamber was blown up. We have Captains and Commanders flailing around in the domain of Admirals and Vice Admirals and it shows. For the most part, they don't have the experience necessary to effectively accomplish their unexpected duties." Ulysses grimaced. If he couldn't put together an effective chain of command, however temporarily, things would go from bad to worse. Seeing her Captain's sour face, P'tel continued. "All is not lost however, for there are quite a few officers that have risen admirably to their new duties. They should prove sufficient to provide a rudimentary chain of command at the very least."
"Ok, write up a list of the good ones for my perusal. Also do a list of the real trouble makers we'll have to keep an eye on." P'tel nodded. Ulysses eyes moved on to his Chief Engineer. "How's the fleet wide readiness status Commander?"
"It's not as high as I would like at all Skip. From my calls to various BG Flagship Chief Engineers, many are in dire need of yard maintenance, but there are only a few slips at Nightingale Yards that are as active. It appears that many of the yard crews were shirking their duties long before the Brass was killed. It's gotten even worse since. On a more positive note the cleanup dirtside is nearly finished." It was a weak positive in light of the initial negative, and Heidberg knew it as much as his Captain did.
"This cannot continue. I want every ship in the fleet brought up to full combat readiness within the week. Sorry to add to your already full plate Exec, but I want you to coordinate with Cmdr. Heidberg. Get those yards up to speed, and use any amount of force that's required if they don't take the hint that things are gonna undergo a radical change." P'tel could tell that he found the probable use of force to cohere the yard crews to bring their productivity up to fleet standard distasteful. Yet it was good to know for certain that he wasn't naive enough to think that it wouldn't be required in more than a few cases. That was a matter of course at this post, it had been Starfleet's dumping ground for to long for it to be otherwise.
"Aye Sir." P'tel bore her geometrically expanding workload with typical Vulcan stoicness.
"Cmdr. Davenport, I want your department to coordinate a fleet wide wargame set for before the end of the week. I need to know how much rust we need to remove from our sword before it's an effective weapon again. If any ship Captains give you grief, contact me immediately."
"Aye Skipper, you can count on me."
"I had no doubts otherwise Cmdr." Ulysses graced his tactical officer with a small grin, then turned to his CMO. "Cmdr. Petersmith, what's the situation dirtside?"
"Its a lot better than I thought sir. The blast was pretty much contained by the Council Chambers. While nearly everyone in the building died, there was mostly only light injuries outside. There really isn't that much more that I can do. Lilith has the same healthcare capabilities of any core world. Most of those affected by the explosion have already been released from the local hospitals with only a few critical cases still there. They are in good hands, my people would only be in the way."
Ulysses nodded his understanding. "All right Doctor, thank you. Any questions before we adjourn?" No one made any attempt to speak. "Ok then, we have a lot of work ahead of us, so lets get cracking."