The Devil is in the Details

[Angel Ryder]

From the Log of Vice Admiral Angelica Ryder --

There are days when I wish I could just go back to my bed. Just let the day start over from scratch. Then I lived through a temporal loop until we broke the loop and I ended up spending nearly 30 years in cryo stasis. So I feel like now I've gotten plenty of sleep... and then something happens and I wish I was back in that pod..

A crew of Gorvan in old Narlin ships, attacked and destroyed an Imperium starship. The Imperium is all freaked out that the Narlins are attacking them, some think they're just our 'big stick' and this is the Alliance breaking the terms of the peace accords. Others are looking at it as an excuse to reignite old racism. It's only been a half day and already... shit is hitting the fan and it's up to us to move the damn horse away from the blades.

--

Angel leaned against a doorway as she waited for Sharpe, Cross, Malcolm Foster and others to arrive. "Seriously... you think they'd be quicker." she muttered under her breath as she looked at her watch again for the fifth time in five minutes. She really didn't want to be at her mother's townhouse nor did she really want to talk with her, but she felt she had to. To get some closure and move on. Now here she is and it's clear she can't entirely avoid the woman.

"You're going to wear a hole in the rug." Julie commented as she pinned her long black hair up into a tight updo.

"So? Then they'll see that I've been waiting too damn long." Angel grumbled and crossed her arms.

"It's funny, you're only this grumpy and terse around me, everyone else get's Miss Saccharine Sweet and Perky." Julie commented as she handed Angel a slice of nut loaf. "Here, eat something, you're probably living off coffee again."

"Please... don't act like that." Angel sighed and shook her head.

"Like what? Your mother? Sorry sweet cheeks I'm still your mother, until you purge my DNA from your's. You're more me than you realize." Julie said and sipped her tea and glanced out the window. "Where the fuck are they all?" she grumbled in annoyance. "The transporter pad is right out there, it takes like no time to beam here. You guys do it all the time."

"No kidding." Angel said and smirked. "So be honest with me for once... you really think Kai can smooth this over?"

"That was what he did best, why I made him my heir." Julie replied and glanced at the hallway where Becca was talking with Nick on the comm.

"I like him, but I hardly know him." Angel said and closed her eyes. "I still think Kai and Kalia's origins are rather sick and twisted, but... they seem good, despite you."

"Thanks... believe me I tried." Julie replied as she touched up her make up and sat behind her desk. "How do I look?"

"Like you're an old woman trying too hard." Angel said with a wink. "Here... give me a sec..." she walked over and fixed her hair slightly so that it had a bit more style, instead of simply being a high and tight bun and then picked up her make up kit and applied a little copper to her eyes to tone down some of the eye shadow. "Is the intense eyes hadow really in style on Earth again?"

"Yeah... kind of... why?"

"Not a good look on you." Angel said and stepped back. "There, you still look commanding, but less 'hard'. Although seriously... how big are the girls now?" she pointed to her chest.

"What? I can't plump them up a bit? Your brothers made them all weird. I never should have nursed." Julie shrugged her shoulders. "Little tweaks to the clone body. You're looking more curvy than I remember... still working off Trinity weight?"

"A little, but it's the Kellow genes. I won't be as big as Grandma Tess, but I'm not getting as rail thin as I used to get." Angel said as she looked at the logs that were transferred over. "Speaking of rail... look at that." she pointed out a nacelle strut. "That's an old Narlin ship, I recognize the nacelle placement. Been trying to design a real Starfleet/Narlin hybrid type ship for the fleet with Malone and Jena."

"Malone is still around? I thought he'd be in the looney bin by now." Julie mused and snapped her fingers. "That's it... what if these Gorvan are... how shall we say it... mentally unstable?"

[A'mira Stormborn]

"They're not," A'mira said walking briskly into the room. "They are just very angry. Agent A'mira Stormborn, Narlin Intelligence. Sorry it took us so long. I was in the Mount briefing Director Sharpe over the situation." A'mira came to eye level with Julie, and the Narlin stared at the former empress. "And yes, I am a Narlin, and yes I have a form of your dwarfism."

[Angel Ryder]

"Won't see me complaining." Angel said with a smirk. "My old Ops officer, Kahlina Starbreeze, had to have her console raised up a full foot, never could sit at my old station without a tool kit as a booster seat."

"Stormborn... Stormborn... I've heard your name somewhere." Julie mused and shook her head. "So angry people using your ships. How do we convince millions of Imperium and billions of Alliance citizens that some 'bad dudes' used an old ship and blew the hell out of a random Imperium ship without making them paranoid, suspicious or scared?"

"Loathe as I am to admit it, she makes a good point... how many ships do they have and are they targeting certain ones or is it entirely random and 'if we see you, we blow you out of the stars'?" Angel said and tapped her chin.

[A'mira Stormborn]

"As per the Treaty of Astor the Gorvan Speratists received thirty-four ships. There are no differences between their ships and a Narlin ship. They were designed and constructed by both Narlin and Gorvan workers. There is one difference, however. Most of our ships of that class have been decommissioned ten years ago. The rest were scrapped when we rejoined the Alliance."

[Malcolm Foster]

"Which bloody well means that we have the Gorvan as an enemy faction." Malcolm said as he walked in, flanked by his assistant and Director Clint Cross. "They're usin' old ships, but they're still doin' it with the appearance that it's the Narlins behind it." he crossed his arms and frowned. "First rule of causin' trouble, make the other guy look bad. Fock... what's to stop 'em from hittin' an Alliance ship? Or worse an ally?"

[A'mira Stormborn]

"The fact that their choice of target tells me that they won't attack an Alliance ship. An Ally, such as the Cardassians are unlikely, as we are to fully disclose our Intelligence with them. Nor, would an attack on Xanax or The New Federation yield the outcome they are looking for. They will continue with the Imperium or pick a neutral or aggressive government such as the Klingons or Gorn." A'mira made herself at home sipping a replicated cup of Aluvian Nectar.

[Julie Lei]

"So that's... not going to help us much is it?" Julie said and rolled her eyes. "The Imperium may not be as strong as it was, but we've got a lot of Captains and crews that are itching for fights. And if they attack the Klingons or Gorn, you lot are going to be in deep crap because those two do not tolerate that kind of action. Especially if they think that it's some kind of 'Alliance trick'."

[Kahlina Starbreeze]

"No it isn't," A'mira replied.

"So, what is it that you people wanted?" Kahlina asked entering the room.

"Lady Breezecroft," A'mira exclaimed Kahlina's title. She hastily bowed in respect.

"Knock that shit off," she said tiredly. "I'm no longer a heart beat from being Empress. The Emperor's wife gave birth to a daughter last night. Emperor Stormtalon named her his Heir Apparent. Now, what's this all about?"

[Angel Ryder]

"Kahlina!" Angel said with a smile and went over to embrace the much taller Narlin woman. "Well, long story short... Gorvan in old Narlin ships blew up an Imperium ship and now everyone has their panties in a twist and we're trying to figure out how to keep people from thinking your people are 'out to get 'em'."

[Kahlina Starbreeze]

She frowned, "We, or the Quadrant has to find them."

"How are we supposed to do that," A'mira demanded. "They are cloaked."

"Those ships employ a Mark 2 standard cloaking device. It has a weakness."

"I know, that's why they were phased out eight years ago, but I can't just give out that information."

"Nor I," Kahlina agreed, "But, I know someone who can. Once they are detected it's just a matter of flushing them out. When cornered the Gorvan will fight, and they are good at it. For two centuries they were the backbone of the Narlin Imperial Military. They were our soldiers, and sailors lead by Narlin officers, and in this room I am the only one here to fight a Gorvan Legionnaire."