Tournament of Shadows - Part 01 (A Tale of the Outer Colonies)

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==Tournament of Shadows - The Outer Colonies Region==
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=== Tournament of Shadows - Part 1 (A tail of the Outer Colonies)===
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Mount Longdon
Port Stanley
Outer Colonies
The Periphery
December 17th, 3065
Captain Anne Shepard had to take a deep breath and remind herself that, as the Admiralty's chief of operations, she had as much right to be in the room as anyone else. It didn't help that the other's present included Admiral Simone Giraudoux, the Chief of Naval Staff, General Viktor Kravinoff, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and Helena Stark, Chairwoman of the Council of Eleven. She didn't know who the grey haired man with the piecing blue eyes was standing next to Stark, but given the company, he could very well have been Death given human form. All she did know was that she felt a shiver run down her spine every time she caught him looking at her across the massive holo-tank that displayed every inhabited world within 300 light years.
I'm still surprised that the Emperor agreed to the talks. Stark commented as she selected a cigarette from an expensive looking silver case, blatantly ignoring the strict no-smoking rules that were in place to protect some of the delicate electronics in the room, I know the Alliance has been holding their own against the latest round of attacks, but they've been loosing ground on Oz for the last year.
The last two shipments of weapons from the New Americas have been late: they've been having to rout them through even more planets and shell companies ever since the Knights Templar captured those artillery rounds with the Springfield Armoury stamp still on them. Giraudoux smirked, his own experiences dealing with both the Reman Imperium and their benefactors in the more distant New Americas leaving him somewhat jaded on the matter, Queen Annabel played her cards rather well on that one, pointing out that we've only been shipping them medical and humanitarian supplies.
If you ignore the heavy weapons the Minnesota Tribe's been passing them from some of our older caches. 'Death' commented as if the secret shipments were common knowledge, I take it as a professional insult that they didn't at least try and do a better job in hiding it.
That's enough, David. Stark's voice was as cold as liquid helium, her eyes fixing him in place like twin searchlights, We went over it all with Mak; Mary was within the letter if not the spirit of the law. And you know as well as I do that it wouldn't be the first time that old equipment marked as released for disposal just happened to find its way into the hands of someone else. Governments have been doing it for hundreds if not thousands of years.
It's not the fact that they did it. The grey haired man replied calmly, It's the fact that she was so bloody open about it.
Neither the less, what's done is done. General Kravinoff spoke up, the deep scar running down the left side of his face just catching the corner of his mouth and tweaking his voice ever so slightly, Where as before the Imperium had the advantage, the balance is starting to tip in favour of the Alliance, and Dante wants to get to the table while he's still holding some of the good cards.
I couldn't have said it better myself. But whatever the reason, anything that gets them to agree to a ceasefire is good in my book. Stark nodded in agreement, Shakespeare has agreed to host the peace conference, which is good because both sides see it as neutral. But that brings us to why we're here; they want us to provide transport for the delegates.
I can see their point. Giraudoux typed a command into the holo-tank, and it highlighted the most direct rout between the Reman Imperium, the Alianza Espaola, and the independent world of Shakespeare, which sat to the 'south-west' of the Outer Colonies, Hogan's unlikely to try anything, but Shakespeare is well within range of Teach and Patch, and I wouldn't put it past the scum-bags on either of them to try and make a grab for an accredited diplomat they could hold for ransom.
We could scare the rust-buckets they go around in off with a couple of destroyers. The man now identified as David laughed, But something tells me that assigning a couple of tin-cans isn't going to cut it diplomatically.
We could send our latest pair of Bellerophon's and it would be seen as an insult by someone, even if they are fresh from the builders yard. Giraudoux snorted, We spend more on those ships than the entire military budget for the Imperium, and they'd still be considered 'only' destroyers.
Unfortunately true. Stark frowned, What else we go?
It took Shepard a moment to realise that the question was addressed to her, but she managed to maintain her cool and brought up a list of every warship operated by the Outer Colonies Defence Force.
If we disallow everything smaller than a cruiser, we have thirty-one commissioned ships. She highlighted the vessels in question and removed the others, expanding the remaining to show class, location and readiness, Of those, six are due for overhaul. half a dozen more ships, including the SLS Vanguard, a McKenna class battleship that severed as the flagship, dropped off the list, Add to that, three are taking part in a 'deep space training exercise', staged by the Minnesota Tribe, and we don't know where they are. another trio of names flashed out, That leaves is with twenty two.
Well, I'm not sending any of the Battleships without escorts, because that's just asking for someone to stage an incident. Stark shook her head, And you can forget about any of the Potemkin's; they'd be seen as an even bigger insult than a destroyer.
That leaves us with eleven ships. Shepard brought up the final list; Five battle cruisers, five heavy cruisers and a cruiser.
Can't send two different classes; someone will only claim that one is better than the other. David pointed out, I know the diplomats on both sides; they can be worse then school children when they want to be.
So the Quicksilver and Albion are out. Shepard's fingers flew over the controls, and the two ships dropped off the screen, That leaves four Camerons, three Avatars and a pair of Luxors.
Part of me wants to send whatever is the smallest, just on general principle. But that's just me being petty. Stark lamented, Okay, what's got the best accommodation?
Well, the Avatars have bigger grav-decks, but the Camerons have a certain prestige to them. Giraudoux put forward, For one, they're Battle Cruisers, and secondly, they're named after the House of Cameron. On the downside, you're going to have a lot of people full of self-worth having to spend a prolonged period of time in close confines with the crew.
Then the Avatar's it is. Stark nodded as the details of the three ships expanded to fill the holo-tank, including images taken of them in space, I'll let Mary know that we're going to need, let's see, the Daedalus and the Caledfwlch for a while. She's bitches too much, I'll remind her that we've not gone public with those arms sales.
I'm glad to see that you're finally learning how to play the Great Game. David bowed his head with a smile, The New Americas thought they could start a war right on our doorstep to keep us distracted and sap our strength. But with our new basing rights in the Casablanca system and our new ships, we'll be in an even better position to keep an eye on them, and keep the peace between the Alliance and the Imperium.
We're not the Star League Defense Force of old. Kravinoff warned sharply, We have neither the strength of arms nor political will to impose peace on anyone. All we can do is try and create the right circumstances for the peace to create itself.
You fight with armies and navies, my dear Viktor. David chuckled, and shot his companion a wolfish grin,My weapons are more subtle, but no less effective.
That's enough, gentlemen. Stark warned, We have other matters to attend to, and I'm sure the good Captain would like her office back.
With that the meeting broke up, the various attendants moving off to whatever pressing matters they had to attend to, leaving Shepard alone with the feeling that she'd just been witness to something far bigger than she had first realised taking place. Glancing at her watch, she saw that it wouldn't be long before she could call it a night and go home, which she was thankful for as she suddenly felt the need to be with her family.
The End
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17
Category:Short Stories