"The Way Of The Cowboy" - Part 4 - Director Sebastian Ascari & NPCs

Posted on 241406.09 @ 7:31am by Commodore Sebastian Ascari

Conference Room - USS Corsair "The Way of the Cowboy - Part 4"
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The conference room quietly emptied of personnel. The Admiral flashed a glance over his shoulder as he exited realizing that neither Captain Ramius nor Captain Ascari had moved from their positions on opposite ends of the conference room table. Leaving the two men alone together could be trouble. There was obviously matters that had yet to be settled by these two men. They both had backgrounds in two different and distinct places. Neither man had much understanding of the other. He sighed.

The admiral turned and left the conference room. It was better to let the two personalities clash here and now than to let misunderstanding and frustration fester. The path they had now charted would be difficult enough. Valtren wondered who would be standing in the morning. There was a high degree personalities would soon collide. He hoped the conference room could contain the iron wills of those two. The doors quietly hissed closed leaving the two captain’s alone in the empty room.

“Was there something more Captain Ramius?”

“I’m not sure Director Ascari”, the captain answered coyly. A slight smirk was evident on Ramius’s face. “Is there?”

Sebastian set his padd down on the table and bent over it his hands touching its dark surface. “Alright. Is this what you want? Here? Now? A candid discussion? Please captain, I’m all ears.”

“Are you now”, Ramius asked. “You’ve treated this ship, my crew, and our mission with disdain since you were promoted from deputy to director. Your predecessor was equally as harsh. And why is that? Let’s drop rank from a moment. All of us aboard this ship are embarking on what many consider a suicide mission. They won’t say it, but a portion of my crew don’t expect to live to see our goals realized. Some of them silently believe it is impossible. I can see it in their eyes even if they will not say it. I don’t have to tell you than a person who believes an event will occur will consciously or unconsciously find a way to make that belief a reality. It is a bad way to live and a bad way to fight. They don’t need a superior who looks upon them as outcasts and rejects. If we are to fight then we have to do so as a unified team. Surely you can see that.”

“Your people will follow orders won’t they”, Ascari asked. “Or are you all too far above such things? You want to know why I do not approve of this ship and its existence captain…fine. I’ll enlighten you. You Captain Ramius and your band of misfits, this ship, the admiral’s influence run counter to the very things we in intelligence strive to protect. If we do not follow the regulations and the laws then we are no better than the enemies we fight and the threats we defend against. You and your people are more like the....Tal-Shiar than Starfleet officers. Your actions are classified and off the record. You go and do what you want with little or no oversight and there are no rules you cannot bend, no boundaries you cannot cross, and no repercussions that apply. You are reckless cowboys that settle matters with phasers. This isn't the ancient wild west captain Ramius! You represent everything that Intelligence is not – or at least shouldn’t be.”

“Compliments…well I didn’t see those coming”, Ramius answered. “Well sir, since we’re off the record, have you ever stopped to consider just how much sanctimony you are swimming in? That ivory tower back at Starfleet Command must be so high you cannot possible see anything other than white clouds and warm sunshine. In case you missed it – we’re in a fight like it or not. Everyone, our enemies, and now our own people have a weapon aimed at the heart of the Federation!

Even before this new calamity on Earth and the attack on Paris – who was out there watching, listening, and waiting behind enemy lines, in enemy territory, living their lives hour by hour with one hand on a weapon and one eye over their shoulder? Who delivers the intelligence you consume in your staff meetings and briefings? Who goes above and beyond the call of duty to rescue hostages, sniff out plots and conspiracies, unmask enemy agents, and who is it who shines the light into the darkness to expose it for what it is? Are you and your adjutants on the front lines? Are you faced with the realities of silent combat and shadow warfare? Do you have to write the messages to loved ones when someone dies in the line of duty unable to tell their families anything due to the secrecy of their work? Are you responsible for life and death under impossible situations? This ship, this crew – we do the impossible. We go where even angels fear to tread where the light of justice and truth does not reach. We do what others say cannot be done. We silently fight battle after battle in a war no one knows exists. We are silent soldiers on an invisible battlefield. There’s no affirmation and no glory only the knowledge that what we do makes a difference. That is the only thing we have that keeps up going…perhaps even keeps us sane.

If we do not maintain watch everything that we hold dear is in jeopardy from determined and dedicated adversaries. Just look at Earth now! Perhaps if you spent less time agonizing about rules and regulations and more time fighting the enemy then Earth wouldn’t have been attacked by a Cardassian battle fleet nor would it have fallen to a shadow group who appears to be as equally ruthless and dangerous!"

"How dare you", the director exclaimed.

"Wake up director! We aren’t playing at the country club with gentlemen’s rules. We’re in a fight for our existence! The regulations be damned!”

“You cannot lay the blame for what happened to Earth upon me captain”, Ascari shouted back his hands curling into tight fists. Ascari felt as if he had been stabbed through the chest. The guilt and remorse he carried with him for failing Earth was like a vise upon his soul. “There was no warning, no information…”

“You were in command were you not”, Ramius shouted back. “Who is to be held responsible if not you? Are you not man enough to accept the responsibility?”

“What do you want of me”, Ascari exclaimed. “Would you have me court martialed? Do you want a firing squad? An apology obviously is not enough for you. My head on a pike! Is that what you desire captain Ramius?”

“No”, Ramius replied. “I want a leader who isn’t afraid to crack a few eggs now and again not someone who hides behind desks and regulations whenever the situation becomes inconvenient, difficult, and politically uncomfortable. We need fighters not bureaucrats. I have little respect for someone who fights from a desk and then proclaims from on high what makes a good officer and a good soldier. I don’t want to risk my life or the lives of my crew for a man like yourself who has little concept of the realities in the field! I sure as hell don’t look forward to dying under your command with all due respect…sir.”

“This is what I’m talking about”, Ascari retorted. “You and your crew are undisciplined, entitled, spoiled children that have been coddled and pampered by Admiral Valtren and his influence for too long! No officer would dare to say what you have to a superior! No noble officer would lack basic respect and show such contempt for the chain of command whether they agreed with it or not! Your place is not to decide such affairs captain! Your place is to follow the orders given to you without question! I don’t need cowboys and loose cannons roaming the quadrant picking fights with whomever they please! We have rules to prevent chaos! You…you are chaos!”

Ramius stood from his seat. “Get off your high horse director Ascari! Come down from that pedestal you have placed yourself upon. You aren’t that damned important! Without my ship you’re nothing more than a powerless man with a fancy title. You wouldn’t last two minutes beyond your desk at fleet command out here in the REAL world! Stop pretending. You’re nothing without someone else shouldering the burden, doing the dirty work, and pulling the triggers! You’re a fraud!”

Ascari fumed barely containing the contempt he held for Ramius. For a few seconds he had no reply his voice suppressed by a torrent of anger and hatred.

“I will not put my ship and crew in danger if I believe for even a second that you do not have their best interests in mind at all times. We aren’t just blunt tools for you to order about and I will not sacrifice my people and my friends to restore politicians and bureaucrats back to their former positions. You and people like you were the ones on watch when this catastrophe happened. Upon your shoulders does the weight of blame and responsibility lie! If you’re strong enough to carry that weight and own it then perhaps you deserve the opportunity to set things right. If not then you aren’t worth anything and I won’t sacrifice my crew for someone or something that has no value.

We are now at war director; war with a faceless enemy. This isn’t your world any longer…its mine. If you want a hand in restoring what has been lost, if you want a chance at avenging those who have been silenced, then you must put aside your differences and your fears. Ours is a dirty job sir. The type of work that sullies the hands and the soul. It’s like a disease which…which claims a piece of our humanity with each and every mission. Until you’ve had friends and colleagues die in your arms, until you’ve seen a dark, back alley run with blood, until you’ve tasted the bitterness of defeat and the dark depths of utter despair, then you have no place aboard this ship and no authority to give orders to anyone aboard! That is what we endure for the good of the Federation. This is what we are. You can think of us as animals or undisciplined officers. I don’t care. Know this – we fight, we endure so others do not have to see the darkness that lies around them and do not have to sully themselves in the fight against it!

If that doesn’t fit into one of your rulebooks, charters, or regulations then so be it. I won’t apologize for who and what we are!”

The two men glared at one another for what seemed like an eternity. Neither man wished to break the silence – two iron wills from different two different worlds had collided in the conference room of the Corsair. If emotions were things that could be made manifest then the two men’s passions and strong personalities would have likely collapsed under the weight of their own gravity forming two massive black holes swallowing everything around them until at last they had consumed each other.

Ascari stood back up from leaning over the table without breaking eye contact with Captain Ramius. This man had no concept of his pain, his struggles, or his desperate attempts to uncover the truth. How dare he accuse him of shrinking from his responsibilities? Who was this captain? Who was he critique him? He was the Starfleet Intelligence Director! He was. He was. He was…the intelligence director.

Ascari froze internally. Was it possible he was simply clinging to his title and taking refuge in its shadow? His title now had no meaning. He wasn’t a director of anything…not anymore. His power had been stripped. He was truly powerless and Ramius knew it. Why would anyone follow him now? He was nothing more than a deposed figurehead. It hadn’t occurred to him that the paradigm had changed.

Worse…if his title was worthless then he had nothing left with which to fight back. He was an unarmed man. Ramius at least had a ship and a loyal crew. The Admiral had this crew’s respect and their support. He had nothing. Nothing at all. How indeed could he ask them for anything?

“You’re correct captain”, he stated quietly almost as if in a dream. His world was just that…a fading dream he was trying desperately to hold on to. Like any dream, one could never maintain their grasp on its fleeting existence no matter how hard they tried. All dreams came to an end. His were fading away before him….replaced with nightmares from which he couldn’t escape.

Ramius’s eyes suddenly snapped wide open at the unexpected words. His scarcely contained a gasp in breath. He had anticipated a violent and fiery response. Not this.

“I am nothing more than a desk jockey”, Ascari stated his voice somber and almost remorseful. “I inherited this fight Ramius. When the director was killed in the attack on Paris, the weight of the attack, his death, and everything that occurred fell into my lap and landed on my shoulders. I become responsible for actions, inactions, and deeds that I was never privy to. I was vilified by the public and by those in uniform. They wanted my head then for what had happened. I’m unsure why they did not take it. There isn’t a minute that goes by that I do not think about what we lost. The souls of those who were taken weigh heavily upon me. Everything happened on my watch and yet I didn’t see it coming. No one saw it. Perhaps we were blinded? Perhaps I only saw what I wanted to see? It isn’t an excuse....” His voice trailed off.

Ascari bowed his head. Emotions choked out his ability to speak for a second time.

Ramius stood frozen surprised and shocked by what he had heard. He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t expected the director to show….such humanity and humility given everything that separate them. They were such different people, but perhaps…perhaps they had something in common after all.

“Where you and your crew fight on the front lines my fights lie in conference rooms and with heads of state”, Ascari stated after several moment of silence. “The battles waged with power hungry politicians, generals, admirals, civilian authorities, and those who seek to grasp the reigns of power at any cost are no less as fierce. You and I are perhaps….the same captain. Two sides of the same coin. We’re from different worlds, but…I think we both fight in our own ways for the same reasons. Our battlefields may be different, but our convictions, duties, and ideals appear to lie in the same places.

I don’t see or perhaps understand your battlefield captain, but I am willing to learn. Perhaps you can learn a thing or two as well in the process? Can we agree to meet each other half way and to remain open to different ideas? If we can’t then I do not see how any of us can move forward.”

Ramius was stunned. Was the director merely playing him? Was this some just a political chess move to disarm his opposition? He didn’t know, but the director was correct on one point. If he didn’t take the risk then their plans to gather strength and resist their enemies would stop here.

The Corsair’s captain suddenly sported a thin smile. If Ascari was truly sincere in what he had said then perhaps this was a man he could eventually trust perhaps even follow. He would have to earn his respect, but at least this was a place to start.

“I accept your challenge”, Ramius answered.

Ascari nodded thankful the captain appeared to be more reasonable than his reputation suggested. He approached the captain and the two men shook hands forming an uneasy truce of sorts and a bridge between two different people and backgrounds.

“Tell me captain, before we reach our destination, is there anyone aboard who can assist me with this?” Ascari produced a phaser from his tunic and placed it in the captain’s hands. “If we have any hope of success then there is much I need to quickly learn.”

Ramius looked at phaser resting in his hands and then back at the director. In one swift motion the captain spun the weapon in the air, catching it, and returned it to the folds of his own uniform. “I think there are a few ‘cowboys’ aboard who may be up for such a challenge”, he stated with a wide grin. “Perhaps there are a few things I should learn as well on matters of tact? I’m one for rushing in. Patience and waiting are not my strong suits.”

Ascari managed a weak smile. “I may know of a desk jockey and bureaucrat skilled in such things that could assist”, he replied.
There was a moment of silence. Suddenly Captain Ramius began chuckling. His chuckling quickly turned to outright laughter. So infectious was the captain’s laugh that Ascari, despite being emotionally drained and compromised, suddenly found himself laughing as well.

A few moments passed. “Well director”, Ramius stated still shaking off several chuckles. “Here’s to bridges best traveled rather than burned.” Ascari nodded. “We have enough enemies captain, let us both strive not to create any new ones among ourselves.”

“I can drink to that. How bout it? A drink? We can discuss what to do about this Zephyr if and when we locate her.”

“Yes. Yes indeed.”

~ To Be Continued ~

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Captain Sebastian Ascari
Former Director, Starfleet Intelligence

and

Captain Taverain Ramius (NPC)
CO, USS Corsair