| Beyond the Wall of Hope - The Admiral and the Commander |
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The Admiral and the Commander (27/03/02 )
Captain Orion was studying the readouts from the Space Needle ships, which had just finished an engagement with Gyran forces above Vendoria, when he received a call from Offstation Traffic.
"Captain, the Star Phoenix of the Alliance-Fenrir joint navy has arrived. Rear Admiral Ko'dayn requests docking, so he can board and have a word with you."
Orion frowned. This was the first he'd heard of any of this. "Were we informed of this visit prior to his arrival?"
"Not on record, sir."
"I see." This was a dangerous time for admirals to be dropping in unannounced. "Grant the docking request. Inform Security of the Admiral's arrival, and have them ready a double-strength escort detail to bring him to my office."
"Yes, sir."
……………………..
With the docking procedures complete the admiral looked nervous as he stood at the airlock.
“This is going to be a very short rescue mission…” Torvaine grumbled. “Sir I regret to inform you that we must detain you for theft of Alliance property” he said in a high pitched nasally voice.
“Don’t worry so much and relax,” Ryana’s voice drifted to his ears, “if you look so nervous then they will suspect something.”
Ryana resolved into tangible form as a young coyote lieutenant with glasses.
The airlock opened and a heavily armed entourage of marines awaited their presence. The fox almost had a heart attack, but kept his composure.
“Sir, the Captain has ordered us…”
Here it comes. Torvaine thought.
“…to escort you to his office.” The marine sergeant finished.
Yes! It worked, I never doubted. Torvaine mentally breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, carryon sergeant. My aide will be debriefing some of our joint operations forces while I’m meeting with the Captain. Lieutenant, you have your orders.”
“Yes sir, I will have my report ready when you are finished sir.” Ryana saluted and headed off, her influence suppressing any concerns or objections from the escorts.
The Fenrir admiral was led swiftly to Orion's office and ushered inside. Orion saluted him, and dismissed the security detail.
"Welcome to VDS1, Admiral. I apologize for not greeting you as you came on board, but we're in the middle of an important operation, and I need to stay accessible to the war room."
Torvaine nodded. "Perfectly understandable, Captain, I know you're a busy man. Though I'm curious, why such a heavy escort? I'm accustomed to having some rifle-bearers troop around with me on occasion, but this time I could hardly twitch a paw without bumping into one."
Orion sighed. "You arrived at a bad time, Admiral. Maybe if we'd had word of your visit sooner we'd have done a better job, but we've been under internal attack by a Gyran saboteur, and needed to somehow ensure your safety."
"A saboteur? I see... well, all the more reason for the secrecy that led me to show up so suddenly in the first place."
The Captain raised an eyebrow. "Secrecy, Admiral? I hope I don't sound too bold if I ask to be made privy to this matter."
Torvaine shook his head. "Not at all. In fact, I intended to ask for some assistance as I carry out this mission."
"I'll gladly do what I can, but I have to admit, our resources are nearing an all-time low." He shook his head sadly. "Concrete assistance will be weak at best."
"Don't get ahead of yourself, Captain, let me explain the situation." He took a deep breath. "Do you know the Fenrir Lancers and the Ironclaw Dragoons?"
Orion thought for a moment. "They're scout and special-operations units we have from the Fenrir military, aren't they?" He picked up a reference datapad and punched the names in. "Er... yes, but they're MIA. Disappeared while on a surface scouting mission during the preliminaries of Operation Space Needle, which is underway now. Search missions have been unsuccessful; the only member to return was Ensign Sunclaw of the Dragoons, but he's been in critical condition and unable to give a debriefing."
"Correct, Captain, I'm aware of all that--don't ask me how, but I am. I'm here to take over the rescue operation. If you notice on that 'pad of yours, the leader of the Ironclaw Dragoons is my son."
Orion blinked. "I... see. Well, I'm more than willing to turn over the search-and-rescue to you and your crew. That will pose no problem."
"I'd also like to secure temporary quarters on VDS1... and I'll be ordering the transfer of the Dragoons into my command, once we have retrieved them from Vendoria. I, ah, need their specific talents for another rescue operation elsewhere." He held up a hand to forestall Orion's next comment. "Don't worry, Captain. The Lancers will remain under GC, and I will also transfer a 25-man Fenrir security team from my own crew to place at your disposal on board VDS1."
"A reasonable enough plan, Admiral, I'll raise no objections. And the quarters will be simple enough to find for you. Ah..." He glanced to the corner of his desk, where a bright orange light was blinking, requesting his presence in the war room.
Torvaine smiled wryly. "Have something to do, Captain?"
Orion cleared his throat. "Yes, apparently. I'm needed to attend the next phase of Space Needle, I'd imagine."
"Well, I think I've accomplished what I needed here, so I won't detain you from your duty. Stay strong, Orion." The two exchanged salutes once more, and the Admiral left the office, rejoining the security contingent for his return to his ship.
Orion made a quick note of the orders he needed to issue for the Admiral's needs. A secret rescue mission--no, make that two secret rescue missions, and an admiral out to take command of his lost son. Can things around here get any stranger? He made one final note to study up on the quirks of Fenrir military procedure, and headed back to the war room.
……………………………….
Outside the office Torvaine and his escorts met up with Ryana.
“Admiral, I have the report and if I may suggest the next item on your itinerary is to see Ensign Sunclaw.” Ryana did her best young lieutenant voice she could.
Torvaine nodded. “Yes, very good Lieutenant. Let us head for sickbay.”
The fox, the “ghost” and their escorts headed deeper into the recesses of VDS1.
| The Admiral and the Commander (Foxmage & SabreCat) - 27/03/02 |
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