Episode 2.01: Brushfire!

[Doug Burke]

Sorak raised an eyebrow in thought before slowly nodding, "There may be a way to adjust to timing of the process and possibly producing in batches Instead of singly." He made a note on his dataslate. "I will put my best people on it."

[Patrick Goodman]

"Well, it's clear to me that they're planning something," Treyva said. "Between ramping up the local arms race and the attack on the Rostov, they obviously want to force a decision. This far from the Empire, though," he continued, leaning back in his seat, "what do they hope to achieve? The propaganda benefit would be minimal at best. There has to be something else in play here."

[Davy, aka GM]

"It as likely as not puffing feathers at Starfleet or the Federation; what if it's an internal concern, like the new leadership needing to show it can handle the Federation or a faction doing the same thing as part of a power struggle within their High Command; winning this war and giving us a proverbial black eye would be a feather in their cap, in either scenario," Styles surmises, his face betraying some frustration at returning to the more academic question. "And Neural isn't the only competitive world; this may be tied to a larger effort that includes Sherman's Planet or Nimbus III. We may be just one front, or, worse, a distraction.

"Which begs another question, though: Where are the Klingons? I doubt they'd let the Apellans attempt such an offensive on their own - at least, not without an advisor or two directly involved," he posits. "I'd bet my last credit that a cloaked bird-of-prey is hanging around the planet, maybe even on the ground somewhere remote."

Even-Vered notes, "We've never been able to detect a Klingon ship at any point during our time on station, nor have we found any Klingon life signs. But, a small cloaked ship would be hard to find, especially given the number of blind spots a planet would provide to an incoming ship. And one or two Klingons walking around would go unnoticed from orbit unless we were performing a targeted scan over their specific location."

"And, to be frank, Starfleet Command has cared less about the Klingons violating the protectorate zone than containing the Apellan threat to the Tyreens on the ground," Styles adds, openly displaying his distaste for the situation. "They willfully focused solely on the little war to avoid the potential for a big one."

[Patrick Goodman]

"You believe we should more forcefully maintain the protectorate zone and let the situation on the ground play out on its own?"

[Davy, aka GM]

Style's expression hardens in disapproval. "I think Starfleet can afford the ships and manpower to do both, Treyva."

Even-Vered uncomfortably shifts her gaze between the two commanding officers and interjects, "There is a case for putting a second asset in the system to specifically guard against a Klingon presence; in the last six years, three commanders who have served over Neural have submitted proposals for two or three assets on station.

"Based on my readings, Starfleet Command prefers to err on the side of caution regarding escalating conflict with the Klingons, even if the situation over Neural requires a firmer hand than what they've been willing to provide."

[Patrick Goodman]

"I tend to agree, Styles," Treyva replied, just as firmly. "There have been a number of situations over the last couple of years where Starfleet Command has, in my opinion, dropped the ball." He straightened in his chair, leaning slightly over the table. "We've both lost crew to Klingons. I've been abducted and held prisoner on one of their ships. I am, overall, not a fan. Do not mistake my approach to this situation as complacency."

[Davy, aka GM]

The Rostov's captain pauses, his expression softening a little. "Well, I certainly didn't imply complacency on your part, Treyva," he says a bit haltingly. "I'm glad you see my point of view on this.

"Now, let's get back to what we can do here," Styles continues, pivoting away from the awkwardness of the moment. "We need to contact the Tyreen leadership, we need to get them weapons to train their hunt leaders, and we need to figure out when the Apellans are going to attack."

The files on the Tyreen show a primitive organizational structure, even by comparison to the Apellans. Each tribe has a chief and sometimes a separate war leader; below them are "hunt leaders," who are responsible for leading hunting parties. These hunt leaders have also become de facto warband leaders in the fight against the Apellans.

Since the war began, the tribal chiefs have elected a war chief over all tribes; the first was Tyree himself, and now falls to his former tribal war leader Yutan.

"The hunt leaders will train their hunters - they're a rather bright people, and have picked up new technology quickly," Even-Vered adds, to which Reed quips, "Unfortunately, so are the Apellans."

"Well, Mr. Reed, they are one species, even if they remain culturally different," Dragomirov reminds the young security officer. "They will, invariably, share common traits."

Hodgkins nods his head. "We won't have to do much in the way of tactics training; the repeater lends itself nicely to their current warfare preferences. If anything, we may need to caution them on wasting ammunition."

OOC: Since this took long enough to write, I'm going to stop here.

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva leaned back and sighed. "I'm sorry, Styles," he said. "I'm used to soldiers looking at me, seeing decades of science, and assuming that I don't know the business end of a phaser and wondering how the hell I ever became a starship captain."

[Renny]

"Is there one person in charge of all the tribes?", Cole asked cautiously, "Or is the tribe relationship looser so that we will need to contact each chief or war leader independently? Given our excursion to the surface, we have to assume that events may escalate more rapidly than we would like?"

[Davy, aka GM]

Dragomirov chimes in, "Yutan, the chief of the nearest tribe to the villages, is the elected war chief of the allied tribes. He's, basically, their flag officer."

[Davy, aka GM]

Treyva leaned back and sighed. "I'm sorry, Styles," he said. "I'm used to soldiers looking at me, seeing decades of science, and assuming that I don't know the business end of a phaser and wondering how the hell I ever became a starship captain."

"Think nothing of it," he replies. "Some of the best captains I've met rose through Science."

[Renny]

Dragomirov chimes in, "Yutan, the chief of the nearest tribe to the villages, is the elected war chief of the allied tribes. He's, basically, their flag officer."

"Then presumably we should approach Yutan directly, sirs?"

[Doug Burke]

"In addition to his position," Sorak interjected, "Yutan was also the second of Tyree, Kirk's original contact on Neural. This makes him the eminently logical choice."

[Davy, aka GM]

Styles nods. "Ms. Dragomirov has been our primary point woman with Yutan's tribe -"

"They are surprisingly egalitarian for primitive culture," the lieutenant injects.

"And I've spoken with the tribal war council on a few occasions since our arrival," he continues, not missing a beat as he spares a brief glance at his A&A officer. "Yutan's a good man and has proven to be a capable war chief."

Styles looks the Drake's captain up and down, adding, "We'll have to find a way to hide your people's peripheral features, Treyva, but it's important that you meet with Yutan with me. He and the other chiefs know our secret, thanks to Tyree's friendship with Kirk, but we still like to keep our more exotic natures from them."

[Patrick Goodman]

Treyva nodded. "I agree; I very much want to be there." He rubbed his chin. "Coloration differences are easy enough, and some of the ridges can be written off as scarring, I suppose. Dourap can probably do some minor cosmetic procedures to deal with the rest."