Otto26
Inconsistent
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2006
- Posts
- 1,519
"How did this happen?" Councilperson Wynn demanded. As the senior Councilperson in the chamber, leadership had fallen upon her. Fortunately she had been having a meeting with the inner circle of the Stability Party when the disaster had occured, so the vast majority of the small group of Councilpersons in the chamber were loyal partisans.
"The data is fragmentary, at best. Our current reconstruction indicates the pirates triggered a massive electromagnetic pulse. The device was aboard the Free Trader Onslow. For whatever reason it didn't completely fry our systems. It did create conditions the expert systems recognized as a disaster, so everyone was ordered to evacuate to the safe-shelters. Many of them were in cryo-sleep before the system recognized the second threat. At that point it was too late to bring the cryo-sleepers out so our defense was mounted with scratch teams. It's fortunate we enjoyed a massive numerical superiority because the pirate infiltrators from the Onslow fought hard," Counilperson Chavez reported.
"As things stand now," he continued, "we have a stalemate. The pirates are effectively blockading us and they could destroy us at will. But we can prevent them from capturing the station. Eventually matters must evolve to our advantage. It's only a matter of time before some trader hops into system, sees what's happening, and gets away to summon assistance. With rationing we can survive several years, albeit not in the greatest comfort."
"And what happens when they decide to blow the station as an example to future stations?" asked Councilperson Stepanovich. "Can we afford to gamble that they will simply leave?"
Councilperson Ernst, the lone member of the Reform Party present in the chamber, started to make an angry retort but was cut off by Wynn.
"We're tired. Tempers are fraying. I move we adjourn for a thirty-segment break. We'll get some food, freshen up, and meet again with more information and renewed energy," Wynn said.
The motion was quickly seconded and passed by voice vote. Wynn led her party members into the room they customarilly gathered in and rounded on them.
"We have an unsurpassed opportunity," she declared.
The others looked puzzled and she snorted in impatience.
"Stepanovich is right, we can't wait for help to arrive. There's too much of a chance the pirates will find some other way to attack us or simply decide to destroy us. They won't want to leave without some sort of profit. So we'll bribe them. Some finished goods, some machinery... some people."
It took a few moments for the quicker-witted to catch on, but catch on they did.
"Eliminate the Reform Party," Stepanovitch breathed. "Brilliant! But how will we explain the dissappearances?"
"We still don't have a solid casualty count," Chavez pointed out. "There are always a few deaths when people are removed from emergency cryo. We can explain the others through various means, some staged damage, footage of pirates hauling away cryo containers. The story doesn't have to be perfect, after all, we'll be in complete control with no organized opposition."
"Contact Sub-Captain Grigorian, he's a loyal party member and will remember who saw him appointed to his current position. Get the locations of the Reform Party people and start rounding up those that aren't in cryo. And any criminals or undesireables. We might as well take this opportunity to rid ourselves of them as well."
When the Council re-convened Councilperson Ernst found himself facing the drawn weapons of two peacekeepers that Sub-Captain Grigorian had sent over. He wasted no effort on words but spat on the deck. The two peacekeepers hustled him away to the assembly area where a cryo chamber with his name awaited.
Captain Derwik was in a foul mood. The plan to capture the space-station had failed and this had thrown his coalition into poor standing. This meant Fusnitta and his allies had taken control of the fleet. Derwick was one of the few from his coalition to retain control of his ship. He had done so because he took an uncommon care of his crew and kept them under iron discipline. His ship could not be faulted in any way, and had performed admirably during the assault and siege. So Commodore Fusnitta had ordered the Stellar Glory to be the ship that docked and took on the human cargo the damned station-dwellers were disgorging. A reward, he had termed it, for exemplary performance. And the orders which sent the Stellar Glory to dispose of the cargo would keep Captain Derwick away from the fleet for long enough for Commodore Fusnitta to cement his position.
Bad enough, that, but the Glory was the last ship in and the fleet had already begun to withdraw. If the Glory was taken by the stationers, oh well. So Captain Derwik had explained to his crew the price of slow work and explained to the stationers what would happen if a fusion bottle detonated in close proximity to their station. This had the intended result of speeding the loading process. The stationers didn't even bother to put the last ones in cryo. They simply herded them at gunpoint into the airlocks and left them for the Glory's crew to handle.
Derwick broke dock and accelerated away from the station, safety distances be damned, before his crew had finished securing everyone. He ordered a course heading far different from the fleet. A non-standard route would take longer and be far safer. He hated to give Fusnitta any extra time, but he also wanted to avoid any possible accidents the Commodore might have arranged.
"Engineering," a voice said.
"Captain," he responded.
"The cryos have been stored, but we don't have chambers for all the live ones," the Engineer reported.
"Sort by value. We can put a few likely ones in with the crew for entertainment and we can start interrogating any high-value prisoners. Coordinate with Medical and painbug anyone who isn't frozen. If you've got any with absolutely no value, put them in recycling," he ordered.
"What about the children?"
"Children?" the Captain echoed in a voice of mingled disbelief and fury.
"Thirty-two, Captain," the Engineer said in a voice that carried absolutely zero emotion.
"Void forsaken..." the curse died on his tongue. "They all get frozen. Every last one of them, even if that means some adults need to be recycled."
"Yes, Captain."
"Captain out."
Derwik swore again, letting his anger bleed off. He stood and left the bridge, stepping through the brief change of control process on auto-pilot. His cabin, adjacent to the bridge, was guarded by two marines who snapped to attention when he walked past. His crew was loyal, but the marines were all personally sworn to him and he hadn't survived to captain his own vessel by taking un-neccessary risks. He sat down at his computer and began to examine possible courses of action based on the data he had available. When this was done, he contemplated a little recreation.
"Aide," he spoke.
"At your orders, Captain," the expert system replied. Having a personal expert system was an extravegance that most captains mocked, but Derwik had found his aide an invaluable aid.
"Screen the prisoners and select a suitable playmate. Heterosexual female, fit, intelligent, attractive. When you find someone that meets my criteria have her painbugged and brought to my cabin."
"Orders understood, Captain," the computer replied. "Acting."
OOC: I think the parameters are obvious. PM me if you want in with your proposed introductory text or any questions.
"The data is fragmentary, at best. Our current reconstruction indicates the pirates triggered a massive electromagnetic pulse. The device was aboard the Free Trader Onslow. For whatever reason it didn't completely fry our systems. It did create conditions the expert systems recognized as a disaster, so everyone was ordered to evacuate to the safe-shelters. Many of them were in cryo-sleep before the system recognized the second threat. At that point it was too late to bring the cryo-sleepers out so our defense was mounted with scratch teams. It's fortunate we enjoyed a massive numerical superiority because the pirate infiltrators from the Onslow fought hard," Counilperson Chavez reported.
"As things stand now," he continued, "we have a stalemate. The pirates are effectively blockading us and they could destroy us at will. But we can prevent them from capturing the station. Eventually matters must evolve to our advantage. It's only a matter of time before some trader hops into system, sees what's happening, and gets away to summon assistance. With rationing we can survive several years, albeit not in the greatest comfort."
"And what happens when they decide to blow the station as an example to future stations?" asked Councilperson Stepanovich. "Can we afford to gamble that they will simply leave?"
Councilperson Ernst, the lone member of the Reform Party present in the chamber, started to make an angry retort but was cut off by Wynn.
"We're tired. Tempers are fraying. I move we adjourn for a thirty-segment break. We'll get some food, freshen up, and meet again with more information and renewed energy," Wynn said.
The motion was quickly seconded and passed by voice vote. Wynn led her party members into the room they customarilly gathered in and rounded on them.
"We have an unsurpassed opportunity," she declared.
The others looked puzzled and she snorted in impatience.
"Stepanovich is right, we can't wait for help to arrive. There's too much of a chance the pirates will find some other way to attack us or simply decide to destroy us. They won't want to leave without some sort of profit. So we'll bribe them. Some finished goods, some machinery... some people."
It took a few moments for the quicker-witted to catch on, but catch on they did.
"Eliminate the Reform Party," Stepanovitch breathed. "Brilliant! But how will we explain the dissappearances?"
"We still don't have a solid casualty count," Chavez pointed out. "There are always a few deaths when people are removed from emergency cryo. We can explain the others through various means, some staged damage, footage of pirates hauling away cryo containers. The story doesn't have to be perfect, after all, we'll be in complete control with no organized opposition."
"Contact Sub-Captain Grigorian, he's a loyal party member and will remember who saw him appointed to his current position. Get the locations of the Reform Party people and start rounding up those that aren't in cryo. And any criminals or undesireables. We might as well take this opportunity to rid ourselves of them as well."
When the Council re-convened Councilperson Ernst found himself facing the drawn weapons of two peacekeepers that Sub-Captain Grigorian had sent over. He wasted no effort on words but spat on the deck. The two peacekeepers hustled him away to the assembly area where a cryo chamber with his name awaited.
Captain Derwik was in a foul mood. The plan to capture the space-station had failed and this had thrown his coalition into poor standing. This meant Fusnitta and his allies had taken control of the fleet. Derwick was one of the few from his coalition to retain control of his ship. He had done so because he took an uncommon care of his crew and kept them under iron discipline. His ship could not be faulted in any way, and had performed admirably during the assault and siege. So Commodore Fusnitta had ordered the Stellar Glory to be the ship that docked and took on the human cargo the damned station-dwellers were disgorging. A reward, he had termed it, for exemplary performance. And the orders which sent the Stellar Glory to dispose of the cargo would keep Captain Derwick away from the fleet for long enough for Commodore Fusnitta to cement his position.
Bad enough, that, but the Glory was the last ship in and the fleet had already begun to withdraw. If the Glory was taken by the stationers, oh well. So Captain Derwik had explained to his crew the price of slow work and explained to the stationers what would happen if a fusion bottle detonated in close proximity to their station. This had the intended result of speeding the loading process. The stationers didn't even bother to put the last ones in cryo. They simply herded them at gunpoint into the airlocks and left them for the Glory's crew to handle.
Derwick broke dock and accelerated away from the station, safety distances be damned, before his crew had finished securing everyone. He ordered a course heading far different from the fleet. A non-standard route would take longer and be far safer. He hated to give Fusnitta any extra time, but he also wanted to avoid any possible accidents the Commodore might have arranged.
"Engineering," a voice said.
"Captain," he responded.
"The cryos have been stored, but we don't have chambers for all the live ones," the Engineer reported.
"Sort by value. We can put a few likely ones in with the crew for entertainment and we can start interrogating any high-value prisoners. Coordinate with Medical and painbug anyone who isn't frozen. If you've got any with absolutely no value, put them in recycling," he ordered.
"What about the children?"
"Children?" the Captain echoed in a voice of mingled disbelief and fury.
"Thirty-two, Captain," the Engineer said in a voice that carried absolutely zero emotion.
"Void forsaken..." the curse died on his tongue. "They all get frozen. Every last one of them, even if that means some adults need to be recycled."
"Yes, Captain."
"Captain out."
Derwik swore again, letting his anger bleed off. He stood and left the bridge, stepping through the brief change of control process on auto-pilot. His cabin, adjacent to the bridge, was guarded by two marines who snapped to attention when he walked past. His crew was loyal, but the marines were all personally sworn to him and he hadn't survived to captain his own vessel by taking un-neccessary risks. He sat down at his computer and began to examine possible courses of action based on the data he had available. When this was done, he contemplated a little recreation.
"Aide," he spoke.
"At your orders, Captain," the expert system replied. Having a personal expert system was an extravegance that most captains mocked, but Derwik had found his aide an invaluable aid.
"Screen the prisoners and select a suitable playmate. Heterosexual female, fit, intelligent, attractive. When you find someone that meets my criteria have her painbugged and brought to my cabin."
"Orders understood, Captain," the computer replied. "Acting."
OOC: I think the parameters are obvious. PM me if you want in with your proposed introductory text or any questions.
