LCDR Buchanan t’Veras, Aurelia
LOCATION Rator III & Imperial flagship en route to Beta Reticuli
OUTCOME Diversion of Imperial flagship from Beta Reticuli, identification of double agents working within the RRF & successful fomenting of anti-war mutiny resulting in incarceration of Imperial war leader
KEY PERSONNEL
- LCDR Aurelia Buchanan t’Veras
NARRATIVE I arrived on Rator III, inserting myself as Uhlan Dasara Nal, a member of a recently-arrived war college class. In this guise, I discovered that the former governor of Beta Reticuli, presumed missing in the barrage, was actually simply extracted by the RSE and given a mansion in the swanky part of Rator’s capital. I also discovered that Commander Vrebik of the 21st Flotilla turned over intelligence to the RSE that led directly to the RRF defeat at Beta Reticuli and Chaltok.
Before I could pass on this information, a bigger threat emerged. Scuttlebutt had one of the war’s architects, Subadmiral Ecural, heading to Beta Reticuli for a victory parade and possible “punishment” of traitors, possibly including the use of a superweapon. I could not allow that to happen, so I ensured that Dasara Nal would be placed on the quartermaster’s staff and boarded his flagship.
On board, I discovered that support for the RSE’s war of aggression is a lot thinner than anyone expected, and morale is increasingly low. Most importantly, I saw visual and auditory dissent from rank and file officers in the mess hall and the corridors, which is almost unheard of on an Imperial flagship. I was able to infiltrate the CIC with a quartermaster’s food delivery, and while I was unable to pick up actionable intelligence there, viewed the ship’s Tal Shiar political officer in active conflict with Ecural over his methodologies. Curious, I followed the Colonel to his quarters, where I began to interrogate him on why the Tal Shiar was not in support of the war, when the we were attacked by Subadmiral Ecural’s team. The Colonel was executed. I was hit with a disruptive blast and nearly killed, but the colonel’s aide, Linaak, saved my life by getting me to a medical closet in time.
Linaak, the real ranking Tal Shiar officer on board, accurately pegged me as an intelligence officer from the opposing side, but was remarkably open to listening to my side of the story. He did not support the war of aggression and confirmed my assessment that many of the rank-and-file RSE officers were disturbed by the images coming out of Chaltok and Beta Reticuli, and are uneasy with the RSE leadership’s slaughter of fellow rihannsu. He suggested we take a shuttle off the ship, but I convinced him that with the support of the discontent we could take the ship and stop the use of the superweapon on Beta Reticuli. Linaak agreed to work with me, and together we stormed the armory and took the bridge while I posed as a Tal Shiar flag officer. And I was correct: there was enough anti-Ecural sentiment that the Subadmiral was escorted to the brig. I installed Linaak as the new commander of the ship and fled on the yacht. I was tempted to command the ship myself, but I’m not sure my credentials would have stood up to scrutiny.
While I was unable to confirm while I was on the ship the presence of a superweapon, the placement of the warbird in the hands of anti-war officers is a major victory, as is the takedown of Subadmiral Ecural, a major architect of the war.
I would not necessarily trust Linaak if we meet him again on the battlefield — he is a Tal Shiar officer, after all — but I do trust that he wants to end the war with the least amount of bloodshed possible, as do we. I believe that the right information, properly leveraged, combined with a few clear and victorious surgical strikes at important systems, could earn a surrender from the RSE far earlier than we could have imagined. The RSE does not support its own war, and now all we need to do is push the right pieces into place.
RECOMMENDATION Psyops and propaganda campaigns to target and foment anti-war sentiment in the RSE. Surgical strikes to end the war as quickly as possible. Sending fake information out through the traitors in the 21st flotilla to support RRF and Starfleet war goals. The end is in sight.
I also want to keep the yacht. It has a spa.
OOCKudos to Garak234/Nathes for an absolutely killer time.