Fall Back and Retreat: Capter 11

[Daisy Hill]

"Days are coming when I think we may need to consider that our only allies are ourselves." Daisy said as she sat down at the table. "It's probably getting as dark as it had been since the Imperium days. Or during the days of Dominus and the Scions." she shook her head. "But we're older and wiser and we've been down this track once or twice before." she slid a few padds toward Ortiz and Riker. "These will formalize a friendly alliance between the Alliance and the UFP, like I said, you're still sovereign, this is just to acknowledge you're coming to us for protection and aide and this... is to authorize our people to have access to your ships as, like I said, public health hazards. Under the Ryder-Parros Act, your ships are more trouble than they are worth in their current stages. Your ship commanders will be given 'loaners' with the priviso that they provide a loaner officer to oversee the refit of their ships. And this one... states that the UFP has formally been wronged and has lost systems and manpower to Earth's forces and will be added to a formal declaration of war when the time comes." she sighed and handed one more padd over. "And this... details the aide the Alliance will give in return for whatever assistance you can provide. We're able to give freely but we do expect some return, namely assist in reclaiming systems lost to the Earth Empire. We're going to need the resources they provided, after all... nothing comes from thin air. Even our resources can be strained to breaking."

[Ethan Talon]

"Trin are you sure this thing is working... Nevermind It is," Ethan said with his back to the delegation. He turned to take everything in for a moment and smiled, "Yeah, sorry about that. It's a really neat technology, but this is a total mind fuck. I know I'm standing in my office, but I'm also here. I can even smell your perfume madame president." Ethan said to Michelle.

"President Talon," Michelle said with a grin and extended her hand for them to shake. "Ms. Hill was just going over some treaty stuff."

"And doing an excellent job of it too," Ethan said. "If you don't mind I thought it would be a good idea to get the Alliance leadership and our Intelligence agency all in on this initial discussion. We can hammer out the particulars once you arrive on Terra Alpha but I thought we could at least get the introductions out of the way."

"Of course," Michelle replied. "Thay's very efficient of you."

[Trinity Talon]

"Grandpa Nick and our daughter Diana developed this. Nanotech, more effiencent than a hologram and less fuzzy, since we can actually interact." Trinity said as she walked over and picked a long grey hair off of Riker's jacket. "Deanna must be stressing more than usual. I'll be heading out once the ASI and SHIELD folks arrive. Michelle... I still owe you a steak dinner. I feel like a horrible friend for bailing on you last time."

"While we have you here General..." Daisy cleared her throat. "Marine escorts... that happening?"

"You know it is. Kalia and I will have a full contingent of Marine escorts for you. We're not taking any chances. And Commodore Kirk's wife is waiting for him on Byron. So as soon as he pulls into dock to offload you, he should make his way to Ops." she gave JT a look. "Something about forgetting a birthday?"

"Grozit..." JT muttered.

"Riker... you'll be set up at a secure site once you're on the surface. We're treating this as seriously as if it was our own President visiting another world.,." Trinity said and closed her eyes. "Not having another incident like what happened to Kaikoa Lei. Deanna is aboard... right?"

[Ethan Talon]

"Dianna is with your 6th Fleet," Riker said. "She's acting as a liaison between yours and our ships. She left this morning," Riker replied.

"Small blessings," Michelle added.

"Then you should know we have a few sites in mind for you to re-establish Starfleet Command." Ethan download data into two PADDs and handed them to both the Federation President and her Joint Chief. "The 414th can have a fully secured compound constructed in less than a week. New Seattle, and Saint Denis have specifically invited your government, and of course there's always Capital City. There's always a little room to grow. If not out we can go up or down. Underground was popular with her grandfather," Ethan said indicating Trinity.

[Trinity Talon]

"And actually we do have parts of the old 'Landbase Byron' underneath Capitol City, so you could easily have your starship operations based out of there, it's secure and the tech is very much compatible with what you're currently using." Trinity added. "Hey, after the future we came from, which is kind of now... underground bases were the only thing that kept us alive. And there are two mountains that have spaces for command centers, I was always pushing the Corps to set up shop in there, but they love their camps so they only got used for hangers and for hiding captured ships."

[Michelle Ortiz]

"A few of our smaller outposts wend undergrond. Camp Malcolm on Xenex was. It would have been nearly impossible for Camp Grant to. There's nearly 200,000 Marines stationed there, plus that's where all our recruits go through initial training. Besides who wants to stare at stone walls all day. I rathet like looking to the west and seeing the Mount and then East to the ocean. It's made drilling and slogging 70 pound rucksacks in 100 degree heat a bit more bearable."

Michelle nodded, "I can't argue that, but we need to be close to your government. Would you let those other cities know that we appreciate the invite?"

"Of course Madame President," Ethan said with a bow of his head.

[James Cross]

"In the meantime, who ARE your Intelligence operatives that are still... well... alive." James said as he appeared in the room. "I can spare some manpower, but I'd prefer to see who you've still got. I hate to admit it, my network when it comes to your government is pathetic. Our contacts inside your government keep dying."

[Michelle Ortiz]

"We lost contact with our last field operative three days ago, but I think we can provide a list once Director Bashir vets your people who will receive that information," Michelle replied.

"We aren't hopeful that you will come across them. Agents Paris and O'Brien were two of our best. If they haven't reached us they can't," Riker added.