ColTowers/LtGenTaylor - "Off to the Races!"

Posted on 241403.20 @ 5:26pm by Lieutenant General Alan Taylor & Colonel Adam Towers

Mission: Insurrection [Fleet Plot]

=*= BEGIN LOG =*=

Richard Sharpe's personal runabout lifted off it's pad and smoothly exited the hangar. Nobody saw this, of course, because Colonel Towers had insisted the vessel was cloaked at all times. UFP Security was watching the house, no doubt with sensor sweeps from orbit as well, and a runabout leaving the castle at high speed would draw a lot of unwanted attention.

Even still, Towers wasn't sure the cloak would be enough to get them off Earth.

General Taylor was with him, piloting the shuttle. The General had been a pilot for ten years before he had converted to the infantry, and still knew his way around a runabout. Towers was as able to fly a shuttle as he was able to stay out of trouble.

Contrary to his concerns, the trip out of Earth's atmosphere brought no attention, and they cleared Earth's perimeter. Towers noted the Cerberus was still docked at ESD, and he hoped that Tyris knew what he was doing down on Earth.

"We have to get a bit farther out, or they'll detect the warp drive being engaged. Few more minutes." Taylor said.

Towers nodded. "Good thing you're here, General, or I'd have flown this bucket of bolts into an orbital platform already."

Taylor chuckled. "I still have my uses. So how are we going to do this, Adam? Two men against a station? And what if they get there before we do?"

"I'm going to try and even those odds. Once we're far enough out from the listening posts, I'll send a broadband message to Cardassian space and hope the Vesuvius grabs it. We'll set up a rendezvous near Zetari and go in and grab our two damsels in distress."

"A lot could go wrong there." Taylor pointed out.

Towers nodded. "I know. If I can't get Fischer to come help me out, we'll just have to sneak onboard and try to smuggle Denterius and Ms. Sharpe off... "

"Unless we're too late." Taylor pointed out.

"There is that." Towers agreed.

"Alright. We're clear. You can get started on that message, Adam... Hopefully your aim is good. I need to go lie down for a bit." Taylor said with a smile.

"You alright, sir?" Towers asked, concerned.

"Not as young as I used to be, Adam. Running with Tyris at a full sprint from Intelligence agents intent on shooting me was... exhausting. I'll be alright. Don't touch the flight controls." He chuckled, patted the Colonel on the shoulder and went to the back.

---

Towers occupied his time after the message had been sent perusing the copy of the hit list Nikkos had given him. The main purge had been just starting as Towers had left Earth, and that had probably aided the shuttle's escape. Something far more interesting was happening down below for people to notice one cloaked shuttle that wasn't really supposed to exist.

He noted many interesting names on the list. Malone was only a mild surprise, as they had thought the Admiral would be kept as a puppet to show off to the public, controlled and minimized in responsibility and power. The most shocking name to Towers was Sebastian Ascari, the Director of Starfleet Intelligence. No doubt Nikkos had been confused by that name as well, given that Intelligence had been operating purely on the side of the UFP loyalists the entire time. Nikkos had only mentioned one contact, withholding his name, that was even remotely loyal to the "good guys". For Ascari to be arrested either suggested that a play was being made to confuse Starfleet, or that Ascari really had no part in the coup d'etat and was being tied down just like all the other troublemakers.

"Not my game." Towers muttered, scrolling down the list. That sort of cloak and dagger shit was Tyris' problem. Towers already had his mission.

To rescue a General's daughter, and a troublesome Commodore that seemed to need to be rescued on a near regular basis. Towers was getting a lot of practice at it.

Reaching the end of the list, with most of the Admirals being on there and countless directors, deputy directors, senior staff, a flood of senior marines, and influential friends and family, Federation brigs and penal colonies were about to get a lot of traffic...

Depending on how many people on the list were simply going to be shot out of hand. A few were deliberately marked for death, such as Taylor and many other senior marines like Fischer and Colson, but Towers had no doubt that more would be eliminated for 'resisting arrest'.

Towers nearly jumped out of his seat as the comm unit started pinging loudly. The frequency he had coded into the broad band transmission he had shot in the Vesuvius' direction was being used. Many ships could pick up the transmission, which was why he had left the message so vague, but Towers' friends on the Vesuvius would probably get it.

And it appeared they had, as the message spilled back onto the screen. It was a set of coordinates, followed by a message that was clearly written by Colson:

"You left me in charge of this bunch of drooling morons. Meet here so I can knock your bloody head off for getting captured."

Towers smiled.

=*= END LOG =*=

Colonel Adam Towers
Marine, Starfleet
Starbase Zetari

Lieutenant General Alan Taylor
Former Commandant
SFMC