Mission Day:  32

ECEI:          7
Morale:        7
Supplies:    101%


The tradition of lengthy jumpspace intervals continues to hang over the Sharshana as it arrives in the Beaxon system following roughly seven and a half days in transit.

The first sign that there might be something wrong comes when routine sensor sweeps detect no other traffic in the vicinity.

The second sign that there might be something wrong comes when an urgent comm signal arrives, on a frequency that's generally reserved for emergencies, from somewhere planetside... somewhere that is most definitely not in the vicinity of the starport.
This message was lightly edited by the GM at 00:21, Sat 24 Oct 2020.

The Baron-Captain leaned forward in his chair studying the readouts as they came in.

"Crew, you know the drill. Start active sensor sweeps and see what is in the vicinity."

Hrolf set the ship on a low acceleration course for orbit until they knew more about the situation in the system.  "Sensors!  Active sweep on all bands," he ordered the sensor operators.

Jacqueline was nervous when she saw there was no other traffic in the area. She was hardly anyone's idea of a fighting soldier. But she wasn't surprised; if there was going to be trouble anywhere on their route, it would be at Beaxon. She answered the emergency comm. "INS Sharshana here, go ahead"

[Near Space Control, Command Bridge, INS Sharshana]

     Back on the Command Bridge, the receipt of the comm signal on an emergency channel is observed--as is the fact that the Main Bridge is responding to it.

     Still...

     Ishakhi taps one of the two Traffic Controllers lightly on a shoulder, to get attention,

     "Put it up." Ishakhi says, pointing at a nearby display monitor, "Let's see and hear whatever they have to say..."

There is a moment of silence while the connection is established, and then a figure resolves as a holo-projection: a human woman of perhaps fifty years, wearing neat business attire.

"Captain," she begins, getting straight to the point with naught but the title and a slight nod as preliminary formalities. "I am Andraina Dahl, acting secretary of internal security. On behalf of the government of Beaxon, I am formally requesting Imperial assistance to put down an insurrectionist force that is attacking the Beaxon starport."
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:43, Tue 27 Oct 2020.

"Understood Secretary. Sharshana out."

The Captain-Baron flips on the internal comms to address the crew and issue orders.

"Brave men and women of the Imperium it is time to put our preparations and training to the test. We have been formally requested to help suppress rebels that are attacking the Beaxon starport. We will need to be prepared for a variety of situations. Small craft might be necessary for orbital insertion, marines may need to be deployed and, if necessary, targeting solutions created for orbital bombardments.

This is not a drill, this is not a test. This is a situation for which we have been tested and trained for, to save the lives of the Imperium and crush its enemies before us. Captain out."

With general orders given he turned to his XO and started up a discussion with him.

"Commander Gvoellaekh, have we received any intelligence about the Beaxon system? Is the Imperium aware of insurrectionists trying to overthrow the legitimate government? Do we have confirmation that this Secretary Dahl even represents the legitimate government?"

He looked across the bridge to Yune.

Sublieutenant Yune, what can you tell us about this system. I know you've been studying systems in detail in order to set forward the best route for the Sharshana."

Finally he looked over and nodded at Standarsson.

"What is our ETA, Sublieutenant, for a high orbital insertion. I don't want to put the ship in range of any orbital weaponry just yet in case this is an elaborate trap or more complicated than it first appears. Requesting Naval intervention is a big ask for a simple uprising. Proceed with full caution until our sensors and intelligence can catch up."

Hrolf checks his controls and does a quick calculation as his hands move over the control. "I can get us in from the 100D limit to a geosynchronous orbit over the main starport in about an hour Captain at full burn or about six hours at 1G."

Jacqueline's breath caught in her throat as she heard Dahl's request. She anticipated there would be trouble; she always anticipated trouble for the Imperium, but this happening so soon was a nasty shock. She fidgeted uncomfortably when the Captain spoke of potentially bombarding the surface. Memories of Feri ate away at her.

She hesitated a moment before answering the captain, uncomfortable at being put on the spot. "Uh, well, Beaxon has 90 billion inhabitants. If there's a serious uprising here, putting it down will be no easy task. Densely populated cities and not a lot of actual land mass." she rattled off officially, trying to impress him.

"The economy's a mess, and the planet was declared an Amber Zone due to unrest and serious crime problems. They have problems with corruption and some strict laws they struggle to enforce. I suspected there might be trouble here, although I didn't quite suspect this. I'm a little surprised rebels are attacking the starport; it's severely run-down and parts of it are derelict. The Duke of Zeng did grant an investment packaged to the government, part of which is going to the starport."

"One of the crew returned from leave here shortly before we left port. The unrest has been getting worse," Gvoellaekh paused momentarily as he worked his way through the holodisplay data that he'd called up. "Beaxon would need far more than it was given to redevelop itself properly, even if corruption wasn't a problem."

"The transmission appears to have come from the planetary government's infrastructure. Different region of the planet. Signature looks legitimate. Dahl is not on record, but acting secretary implies that the last one just lost their job." The reason for which could be readily surmised given the circumstances...

Gvoellaekh looked up from the display. "Captain, the starport, even if it's only a ground facility, is Imperial territory. We have jurisdiction and an obligation regardless of the government's request."
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:03, Sun 01 Nov 2020.

In reply to Gvoellaekh (msg # 10):

[Command Bridge, INS Sharshana]




     Ishakhi grimaces, and even starts to bring his right hand up to smack himself on the forehead--but stops himself before he can make any such...inappropriate...gesture of doubt, concerning the Captain...

     "Heston, quick..." Ishakhi says to one of the Controllers sitting at the console, as the Captain starts issuing Action Orders,

     "Hit the Scramble Alert!  Every Boat to be readied for action.  Contact Marine Commander and find out if there's anything special he wants done to the Marine Lander.  Also. contact Medical and tell them that Boat Two--one of our Cutters--will be outfitted as a MedBoat, and they should start loading whatever they think they need aboard that Boat--oh, and, of course, tell the Chief-of-the-Hangar that Boat Two needs to be set up as a MedBoat."

     Ishakhi turns to look to the personnel manning the other control station around the Command Bridge, which don't happen to be directly under his command,

     "Okay, listen up!" Ishakhi calls out to everyone on the Command Bridge, "Apologies--I don't know who of you are with Intelligence, if any of you are--and that's on me.  But right now I need Information!  I want maps of the Port--show me the locations of strategic and tactical locations, down there!  Where's the Hospital Complex?  The Admin Center?  Where is the main Security Complex?  If there are any Imperial Marines, down there, I want to know the location of their Barracks!  I want to know the location of every one of the Port's defenses--past, present and future!  Any of my Boats gets knocked out of the air, down there, by a weapon that could have been avoided--somebody is going to wish they had been on that Boat, by the time I'm done with you!"

     Ishakhi claps his hands loudly and repeatedly,

     "Now, People!  Get me this information, please, before The Captain calls me asking for it!" Ishakhi calls out, "We are the Imperial Navy!  Show me your Professionalism!  Thank you."

     Ishakhi returns to his spot, standing behind his two Space Traffic Controllers, scanning data across multiple screens, as it comes in.

The Baron sat silently soaking in the information relayed back from the different stations. It looked like Beaxon was going to be quite the test for their first real patrol

"Sublieutenant Standarsson, set a course at 1g burn. Comms, notify the acting secretary that our ETA is six hours.

Assuming they can hold the line for that long we are ready to deploy marines to help secure the starport. This might get messy so there is no reason to burn fuel unnecessarily. If we get dragged into their rebellion opportunities for refueling might become limited."

In reply to Baron Thenroy Reziilka (msg # 12):

   ~~Data!  Data!  Data!  Whose got the Data!~~ Ishakhi thinks to himself, scanning the displays, ~~Space Traffic Comm channels are quiet...gonna assume some Intel Analyst is monitoring Civilian Commercial channels...what we need is data from the ground...~~

     A thought suddenly popped into Ishakhi's head, and he steps closer to the control panel.  There, he quickly sets up a closed comm-link between just himself and all the Small Craft Operations personnel.  Tapping his micro-headset, Ishakhi starts to speak.

^{COMM START >>>} "Able Spacehand Leiji Matsumoto, report to SCO Commander on Command Bridge A.S.A.P.  Repeating.  Able Spacehand Leiji Matsumoto to Command Bridge, report to Small Craft Commander.  Over." ^{<<< COMM ENDS}

     ~~Recently returned from vacationing with his folks...~~ Ishakhi mentally gloats

"Is it a local revolt, or a revolution?" Jacqueline mused. She was still a little uncomfortable with what they were doing, but she still tapped out a course and sent it to Hrolf; she had a job to do.

"Should we try to get more information on the situation from the Acting Secretary, sir?" she asked the Captain. It was important, but she was too shy to look him in the eye at the moment.

IIta also calls back all Engineering crew on leisure time.
"My request is all of you monitor radio, TV and tri-D shows. If there's a battle at the starport, maybe some reporters are filming it. I also want to reconstitute a chronology of the last months, because such phenomenons do not happen spontaneously. I've created a shared file where you summarize your findings. This report is shared with the SCOC Kimpasherki and the XO Gvoellaekh"

Hrolf nodded at the captain's order.  "1G course it is sir."  He tapped at his holographic controls and glanced thankfully at Jacqueline as she sent over a course. "Course laid in and executed sir."

The situation at the starport remains somewhat confused as the Sharshana draws into orbit around Beaxon. An insurgent force apparently infiltrated and launched a surprise attack from the ruined sections about two days ago, with the starport's security forces heavily outnumbered and holding out only because the attackers have been too disorganized to effectively press their advantage - a situation that can't last for much longer. It isn't clear what part (if any) the scavenger gangs that normally infest the ruined areas have had in all of this, but in addition to the starport staff, the crews of three spaceships have been trapped by the fighting. The ships themselves - small freighters - may or may not have been breached, but none of them have thus far been launched.

While the government doesn't appear to be in immediate danger of falling, insurgencies have become endemic in Beaxon's cities over the last few months and even where there aren't active uprisings the government's control of some areas is debatable. The starport is the boldest and highest-profile target thus far; the insurgencies have generally involvved local forces attempting to wrest control of their immediate neighborhoods or districts away from the government, not assaults against facilities elsewhere.

The official line is that these groups are malcontents making a difficult situation much worse by damaging property and necessitating the spending of already-scarce resources to deal with them; there may be some truth to that, but a planet full of desperate people would be a powderkeg even for a scrupulous government, and Beaxon's has not always lived up to that standard.

It is, nevertheless, the government recognized by the Imperium, and the starport is Imperial territory. The navy has its obligations.

How it fulfills them can make or break careers.