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The Battle of
Altorus
The doors to the room hissed open and Iluvar headed straight for the head of the table. “Okay, folks… time is short,” he began, taking his seat. “What do we have?” McNeil cleared his throat. "The basics of the situation are somewhat hazy, but we do know that Ambassador Ocal was sent as the head of a diplomatic delegation to the Elyshan Empire. Upon landing on Ocara Prime, a bomb which had been hidden aboard the Ambassador's shuttle exploded. The Ambassador was the only survivor from our side." McNeil looked down at the PADD that contained his notes on the events in question, then continued. "Ocal was arrested, quickly tried, and convicted of terrorism against the Empire and sentenced to death. However, given the circumstances and the time-frame, not to mention the lack of motive, it would seem that the charges and the conviction are suspect, to say the least. Before the execution could be carried out, a group of as-of-yet unknown individuals broke into the holding facility where the Ambassador was being detained, rescued her, and escaped the Elyshan home world." "Tactically speaking, I believe we are at a disadvantage," Earlond chimed in. "We know next to nothing about Elyshan weaponry except for what we've seen in previous encounters." The science officer looked up carefully, "Be cautious, I would say... the Elyshans use a type of weapon that actually interferes with subspace. The United Federation of Planets does not have anything like them. In fact, they are banned by the Khitomer Accords which ended the Klingon-Federation ideological conflict." Jennifer looked up from her PADD, which had just received a report from the Chief Petty Officer that was manning the Ops station on the bridge. "We've just received reports that the Tigris, Tizona and Carthage are en-route, Sir. ETAs are being transmitted shortly. I'll keep you informed if we have any other ships reporting in." “Admiral Tavez has assured me that they are dispatching as many vessels as they can in case this turns out to be more than we anticipated,” Iluvar said. McNeil looked thoughtfully around the table. He didn't like this situation. Truthfully, he never liked situations where there was no way to get trustworthy information before flying in. Still, even without being able to fulfill his role as the CO's information source on situations which might impact the ship, McNeil felt obligated to point out a fact that some might think of as obvious. "It could be a trap, Commodore. Many races are known to use false distress signals to draw enemy vessels into an ambush." "As much as I dislike the idea of flying into a trap," Earlond said, "we also have to ask ourselves this: what if it isn't, and we don't go?" “I’ve already discussed this with Commander Celezar of the Tizona,” Iluvar assured them, “While that is a possibility, I feel that this is actually the Ambassador. We must operate on the chance for a peaceful resolution to this situation.” "Do we think that the Elyshans would actually be willing to have a peaceful resolution?" Jennifer asked to no one in particular. "From what I've heard, they aren't particularly friendly." "Given the nature of the charges against the Ambassador, I would have my doubts," McNeil responded. “I don’t have to impress upon you the importance of our duty here,” Iluvar said seriously. “We must prevent this conflict from escalating into intergalactic war. I want all department heads to submit battle readiness reports by 1400 hours.” The young operations officer nodded her head. "Aye, Sir." Iluvar looked around the table one more time. Each of the individuals seated in that room had served together through numerous situations, and this one was no different. They would pull through, he knew. If only they could win over the reason of the Elyshans…
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