"Dangerous Times"

Posted on 241403.17 @ 9:53pm by Lieutenant General Alan Taylor & Major General Nikkos Tyris & Colonel Adam Towers & General Richard Sharpe

Mission: Insurrection [Fleet Plot]

= / = Highclere Castle, Yorkshire, England = / =

The sun was streaming through the trees as Spring tried to break through Winter. Highclere was called a Castle, but it really was just a stately home, and had nothing whatsoever to do with a traditional English castle, aside from its four spires that could, in a dim light, be compared to turrets of a castle. It had never been built to be one though, and was really just an English manor house writ-large, choosing not to fall in with the traditional style. That had been part of its appeal to the Sharpe family at the time.

However, as of late, Highclere had taken on at least one aspect of a castle – it was under siege. Outside of its walled perimeter, were UFP Security Forces, being held back by forcefields, transport inhibitors and a battalion of airborne marines. It was not a situation likened to improve anytime soon, and the UFP Government had been resigned to allow this stalemate to continue, because unwittingly, Sharpe and Towers had imprisoned themselves in Highclere, and had no way to realistically escape. Comm lines were being monitored, they knew that, but they both had ways of getting external comms without the government knowing about it. That was thanks to Tyris, who knew more about covert stuff, than either of them put together. Sharpe and Towers were hammers – Tyris… he was a scalpel, and a very dangerous one at that.

Having extracted Taylor from the assassination attempt, Tyris knew things were about to hit the fan. Taylor getting out from under that was very bad PR, even if there was no actual proof that it had happened. Even rumors of an assassination attempt against one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff would stir up a media frenzy. He had a secure comm line to Highclere that UFP and Intelligence probably.... hopefully... hadn't cracked yet. Having cleared the residence and returned to the small shuttle he had borrowed from the Cerberus, he activated that secure comm link.

The transmitter started beeping urgently, bringing both Sharpe and Towers into the study. The former sat at the desk, whilst the latter secured the doors to the oak panelled room, giving them a degree of privacy. Activating the secure scrambler at their end, Sharpe accepted the incoming transmission. “Sharpe here, what is it Nikkos?”

"I got Taylor out in the middle of an assassination attempt, General. He's not safe." Tyris got straight to the point.

Given that this comm. Was only to be used in the case of an emergency, Sharpe had to figure it would’ve been something dramatic. He also knew that it was a matter of time before they came for Taylor, after he’d publicly sided with him and Towers against the UFP Government – in quite a dramatic, but as of yet, secret clash with their forces. “I figured they’d want him out of the way.” Richard said. “What do you want to do with him? Bring him to Highclere, or get him off-world?”

"You all need to get off-world. One of the PADDs I took off the operatives coming to kill Taylor suggested that they are conducting a purge. Anybody connected with the three of us is being arrested and brought in. Also, General Taylor's brother will be replacing him as SFMC Commandant, which makes getting marine support more complicated from now on."

“Oh hell.” Richard snapped. “I told you to kill the bugger, Towers. Now look at this shit you’ve landed us in. The marines outside will be removed now, and Highclere a visible target with no defences of its own.”

"Sorry, I was busy being punched around by augments in a Cardassian research facility. My bad." The Colonel scowled.

“We’ve no way of getting off Earth right now, Nikkos. My sources inside the fleet tell me that system traffic control has been completely subverted by UFP loyalists. They’re watching everyone who might be a threat like a hawk, and even Malone is under permanent surveillance.” Sharpe said. “What about these arrests, do we know when they’re going to do it?”

"They've already begun. They didn't have a lot of intel with them, but one of the idiots had a list that I took. Colson and Fischer are on that list, Towers. Commodore Denterius as well. Your daughter on Zetari is also mentioned, General." Nikkos said.

“Bastards!” Richard snapped. He turned to face Towers. “Adam, I have a runabout pad underneath the old stables, where my personal runabout is stored. Use that, get your people, and get to Zetari as fast as you can. Denterius and my daughter.”

Towers raised an eyebrow. "What people? All my people are in Cardassian space."

“Pretty sure with Taylor about to move into the big office in San Francisco, the units will be returning to their original positions.” Richard said. “But I’m sure you’ve got specialist people you can contact once you’re out of the system – to meet you half-way. The doctor took that thing out of your leg, remember.”

"I'll try and get a message shot off to the 5th. Those are the only people I have. I'm not Nikkos."

"Most of my contacts are dried up as well, you two. The government is aware of what I'm doing and they are taking any steps they can to stop me." Nikkos pointed out.

“Then we need a third element.” Sharpe said. “In the meantime, Towers, you get off world – save Kassi and Sarah, and anyone else you can get to in time. Nikkos, send Taylor my way, he can go with Towers.”

"Christ, you want me to babysit every political dissident in the Federation? What are you going to be doing?" Towers asked.

“What I always do.” Richard said. “I’ll stand and fight.”

"I'll be broadcasting a message to the entire Corps, gentlemen. That they need to support the true heroes of the Federation and bla bla bla.... Hopefully you retain some marine support once my brother takes over and starts mucking it up." Taylor put in.

“Which he’ll do in fantastic fashion, if he’s true to form.” Sharpe replied.

"I need to start warning political targets on Earth. They are also going after anybody they consider a thread puller." Nikkos said.

“We can expect Admiralty purges, as well as removal of officers who might also be loyal to Malone. They’re going to want to isolate him, and operate around him. They can’t remove him, otherwise they’d have done it already. No, not the hero of the Seige of Sol, the man who took one for the President. They’ll keep him in place, but they’ll make him all but a figurehead. They’ll take out his closest staff and advisors, replace them with their people. Same with starship commanders and facility commanders. Anyone who has studied 20th century history can see how this’ll work.” Richard said. “If they remain true to form, next we’ll start seeing personnel assigned to ships who are ‘politically sound’.”

"So maybe we need to get Malone on our side sooner rather than later" Nikkos observed

“If we get Malone, we’ll get support of most of the fleet. Of course, if Malone comes out publically on our side, there won’t be anything to stop them liquidating him, or replacing him with someone else. As long as he’s there, they can’t act decisively against the fleet.” Sharpe said.

"They won't need to act decisively against the fleet if we don't do something now. All the dissidents will be weeded out and there won't be enough left to fight this. We need to act now, because they aren't waiting." Nikkos replied.

“I agree, but we can’t exactly call him up on the comm. At the moment, can we?” Richard said.

"Well I was hoping he would call us, but something needs to give soon either way. Arrests and hit squads are only the beginning." Nikkos said

“What do you see happening next?” Richard asked, fearing he already knew the answer, but hoped he was wrong.

"Outright political replacements, folding of military groups, pacifistic policies towards quadrant rivals, and the removal of anybody opposed to it. The signs here are of a shift in government at a fundamental level, and not in a favorable way" Nikkos said

“What can we do about it? They’re the elected government of the UFP. We’ve sworn oaths as officers to uphold the laws and defend the UFP.” Richard countered, the argument they’d all face from loyalists.

"You've already violated every single one of the oaths in the last few days, General. If you were concerned about your oaths to the Federation you should have surrendered to that mob of police." Nikkos retorted.

“Fair point.” Richard conceded. “But we’re talking open treason right now.”

"As far as I'm concerned, elements within the government itself are committing treason. We are just moving to stop that. " Nikkos said

“Alright, we’ll proceed from here.” Sharpe said. “Towers will go do what he has to do, you’re going to do what you need to do – as for me, I need to find a way to talk to Malone.”

Nikkos nodded. "Fair enough. Good luck to you both."

“And to you.” Sharpe said. “Probably be the last time we talk for a while.”

"I'll try and keep you both updated on what's going on. But yes, conversations will likely be few and far between." Nikkos agreed.

“Get in touch with Refelian if you can.” Sharpe said. “Not sure on what side he’s on, but he might be useful. He’s investigating the Cardassian attack.”

"Internal Affairs? If anything I'd think they would be siding with the government. I've rarely known an IA agent to not be complete and utter scum. I'll consider it." Nikkos replied.

"This one strikes me as different..." Sharpe said. "Can't put my finger on it, but he doesn't seem like your usual sort."

Nikkos nodded. "Like I said, I'll look into it. If he can help... good."

"Alright, keep safe Nikkos." Richard said. "Sharpe out."

= End Log =

General Richard Sharpe

Lieutenant General Alan Taylor

Major General Nikkos Tyris

Colonel Adam Towers