Failed Efforts At Diplomacy

Posted on Thu Aug 6th, 2015 @ 6:50am by Commander Jordan Gunning & Captain Liarra Von & Admiral Emily Quinn

Mission: By Dawn's Early Light
Location: Commanding Officer's Office

It's not that Liarra didn't like speaking with the admiral. In fact, she considered Admiral Quinn to be one of the better members of the Starfleet brass to work with. At least she never considered herself entitled like some of the other members of Starfleet command. But lately every time they had a little chat, it was to bring more and more bad news.

The Myaz mission was still fresh in Liarra's mind. Despite her best efforts, the Sojourners elected to use force to take the planet. Vaishaa was rather cunning, Liarra hated to admit, and did manage to catch them off guard.

But she wasn't content with just the Myaz. After her little show of force, Vaishaa traveled to the Pak'Leth homeworld to offer a similar, friendship. Unlike the Myaz, the Pak'Leth could see that they would be outmatched if the Sojourners and their Ritorian allies decided to invade. Their government elected instead to join the Sojourners willingly, against the Federation's urging, rather than be crushed in an attack. Liarra supposed their reasoning made sense in that it was safer to be an ally of an aggressive group than be against them, though she wondered how they would feel about their decision if Starfleet decided to use military action to disrupt Sojourner activity.

If she had her way, Von would have done just that over a year ago, right after they had taken Thane. If that wasn't motivation enough, there was always the attacks on border worlds. And in Von's mind, the most heinous of the Sojourner's crimes, was the terrorist attack on her station. Liarra never wanted to admit it, but part of her always hoped that Quinn would be calling to give her permission to attack, but so far that call never came.

Jordan too was lost in his thoughts. The Sojourners were a threat quite unlike anything they'd faced. They weren't a race, weren't even a government and yet they seemed to be steamrollering Galactic South using what amounted to little more than just strong-arm tactics and innuendo-filled threats. "What do you think she's going to say?" He asked eventually, leaning slightly forward against the desk.

Liarra shrugged as she considered her first officer's question. "It's hard to say. It's rarely ever good. My guess is that it will have to do with Mira. One of the previous reports talked about a Sojourner blockade." Von didn't know a lot of details, but the report suggested that "diplomatic" efforts with the Ferengi had broken down, and Vaishaa had turned to a show of force as her backup plan.

"I doubt the Ferengi would take them blockading their base particularly well." Jordan took a moment to think on that statement before adding a qualifier. "Unless they could see a profit in it..."

"That wouldn't surprise me either. I believe Rule of Acquisition Number 34 says 'War is good for business,'" Liarra added with a smirk. "But in this case, I can't imagine that they appreciated the encroachment. Think what you want of the Ferengi around the station, but they probably wouldn't give in as quickly as the Pak'Leth."

"If you think about it another way though, they might fold like a house of cards," Jordan had seen the Ferengi at close quarters before and knew that they would be looking for any way to spin the situation to their advantage. "They might feel cut off down here- even if that's why they came to Galactic South in the first place- being able to have secure trade and routes might really work for them."

Their hypotheticals were interrupted by the chirrup of their combadges. The voice of the Nequencian Lieutenant Nvaiden- the distinctly Romulan voice- of Jordan's replacement at Strat Ops came through. "Sirs, Admiral Quinn is on subspace channel two-zero-one-seven."

"Well, let's see what she has in store for us, shall we?" Liarra said to Jordan. She took a deep breath and tapped her commbadge. "Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Patch it in to my office."

In short order, the terminal on Von's desk came to life. The idle screen showing the Federation's logo was replaced by the face of Admiral Emily Quinn, the commander of Starfleet's Eleventh Fleet. Based off of Cestus III, Admiral Quinn oversaw all Starfleet activity in the Galactic South, and as Liarra had grown to learn, there was very little that happened in the region that Quinn didn't know about. It wasn't common for high ranking admirals to brief every ship under her command. Generally that was reserved for subordinate admirals. But with Three-Three-Two's centralized location in a hotbed of regional activity, Liarra often received these briefs from the fleet commander. "Admiral Quinn," Liarra greeted as she started the conversation. "It's a pleasure as always. I have Commander Gunning with me as well."

The Commander kept it simple. "Good morning, Admiral."

Quinn nodded as her eyes met each of the two officers on the other end of the line. "Good morning, both of you. Have you already heard the latest news from Mira?"

"Regarding the blockade?" Gunning had a feeling that the conversation was less formal than he may have been expecting. "We've seen what's been on the regional FNS, but nothing more concrete."

"The Sojourners made a play on Mira, but the Ferengi weren't going to have it. They rejected their offer to bring in new management, and the Sojourners took to what they know best. They set up a blockade and cut off the trade routes to Mira. And a Ferengi without profit..."

"...is no Ferengi at all," Von added, finishing the admiral's thought.

Quinn nodded. "Exactly. Ferenginar demanded that Starfleet lives up to our end of the contract when we agreed to allow them to set up shop there. The Nagus wanted the Sojourners gone. Starfleet gave in to the pressure, and last night a joint fleet of Ferengi and Starfleet ships engaged and disrupted the Sojourner fleet. But here's the odd thing. The blockade consisted of the usual repurposed Sojourner ships, some modified Myaz ships, and the Pak'Leth."

"So they're bringing governments into their hostile actions now?" Jordan asked with morbid curiosity. "That's a bit of a worrying development."

"It's certainly a concern, but it's not surprising," Quinn replied. "All reports from Myaz indicate that the Sojourners are calling the shots there. There are signs of a resistance movement on the homeworld, but the military is either taking orders from Vaishaa, or the Sojourners have seized the ships and are manning them themselves. We're not sure which."

"What about the Pak'Leth?" Von asked. "Didn't they officially side with the Sojourners?"

"Yes, to the best of our knowledge. Our efforts at diplomacy failed. Vaishaa apparently made the better offer, but we don't know what that offer may have been. Unlike at Myaz, those talks didn't happen at the same time. All we do know is that the Pak'Leth have agreed to an alliance, and military leadership has been ceded to the Sojourners."

Something didn't quite sit right with Liarra. "So Vaishaa's newest allies and her biggest conquest were both represented. But what about their oldest allies, and one of the largest powers in the region? Surely the Ritorians would have been willing to help out their friends."

The admiral tapped her nose. "My thoughts exactly. There was no sign of the Ritorians at all. In fact, there has been very little activity from them at all lately. Any support that they have been giving the Sojourners lately has seemed to disappear."

"Do you think that means there are some divisions there?" Gunning couldn't think of another way to put it. "They've been pretty chummy recently."

"We're not really sure at this point. They had been sharing a lot of resources, and the Ritorians were busy patrolling the borders along with the Sojourners. But now we're not hearing anything from them. Virtually all activity from the Ritorians has ceased."

No news from the Ritorians didn't necessarily mean good news. In fact, it had Liarra a bit worried. Could they have been planning something worse. "So the Ritorians have gone silent. What about the Sojourners? Do they look to be regrouping to make another play at Mira?"

"Doubtful, though were not sure. Starfleet has agreed to allow some of the Ferengi ships to stay behind to patrol the trade routes. We've left a few of our ships as well. Mira should be safe for the time being, but we don't know what Vaishaa may be planning next. We hope that their defeat at Mira will give them pause, but she doesn't seem like the type of person to back down that easily."

"No, she really isn't," Liarra added, shaking her head.

"We'll keep an eye on her, as should you. Yours is the closest Starfleet facility in the area, and have already been targeted once."

"You don't have to remind me of that, Admiral. That attack is something that I'll never forget."

Quinn nodded. She was well aware of what Liarra lost, and had no desire to reopen old wounds. "Very well then. I'm sure I'll be in touch as we learn more. For now, just continue with business as usual, but be vigilant. Take care, Captain. Quinn out."

---

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332

Commander Jordan Gunning
Executive Officer
Starbase 332

Admiral Emily Quinn [P: Von]
Commanding Officer
Eleventh Fleet, "Pegasus"