Ambrose Hartley Must Die! (Part 2)

Posted on Thu May 30th, 2024 @ 7:50pm by Commander Ichika Misono & Commander Chiyomi Anzai & Captain Maho Takahashi & Commander Victor Delling MD & Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa & Lieutenant Commander Brennyn Scott M.D. & Lieutenant Ami Rori & Lieutenant JG Max Gill & Lieutenant JG Shirro Kamada & Captain Erica Hartmann & Commander Keisuke Takahashi 'K.T.' & Commander Elisabeth Churchill & Lieutenant Commander Tristana & Lieutenant JG Takumi Fujiwara 'Tak' & Yaeka Sakuragi
Edited on on Thu May 30th, 2024 @ 8:22pm

1,939 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: Junichi Koyama
Location: Conference Room, Deck 1
Timeline: Immediately after 'Ambrose Hartley Must Die! (Part 1)'

Previously, on Star Trek: Myogi:

As Commander Anzai left, Maho once again tapped her combadge.

=A="Lieutenant Fujiwara; please report to the conference room:"=A= She said. =A="In the absence of Lieutenant Sinclair, you are acting Chief of Flight Control until the Lieutenant is located."=A=

=A="Understood. I'll be right there:"=A= Came Takumi's response.

Within minutes, Takumi hobbled into the conference room and assumed one of the now four empty seats. Takumi suspected that the reason Maho wanted him here was he was the only other person who had previously gone down to the surface with Jane, and witnessed the development that they had told her about:

And now, the continuation:

With everyone now gathered, Maho sucked in a breath before addressing both crews:

"I'm sure all of you are aware of why we are all gathered here:" Maho said. "At approximately 2347 hours, ship's time, the Myogi locked onto the location of Commander Ebisuzawa's combadge and opened fire on the surface of Gamma Zednor: The location in question was determined to be a detention center, which sustained heavy damage in our bombardment."

"My gratitude goes to Commander Barkhorn for bringing this to my attention when the Myogi transmitted their prefix code to us with orders for us to assist in shutting down their weapons." Erica said. "However, there has been some rather unfortunate developments from the office of the Governor as a result of this incident: He has issued an ultimatum: 72 hours for all Starfleet and Federation personnel to withdraw from the system, at which point he intends to formalize joining the Confederacy of Independent Planets."

"So we have 72 hours to make this right," Bree offered. It was stating the obvious, but Scott was trying to inject optimism.

"Presuming that there's anything we can do to rectify the situation," Ichika pointed out, before turning her attention to Elisabeth. "Commander, your thoughts?"

"Frankly, Governor Hartley does unfortunately have a point:" Elisabeth sighed. "A Starfleet vessel firing upon a Federation target could be construed as an act of treason against the Federation..."

"Precisely." Maho responded. "I'd hoped that this wasn't a course of action we'd have to take, but if we wish for Gamma Zednor to remain a Federation member world... We might have to seriously consider assassinating Governor Hartley."

The room fell deathly silent at the ramifications of Maho's proposed solution.

"You can't be serious, Captain!" Ichika almost immediately objected. "Orchestrating a political assassination would be in direct violation of the Prime Direcive!"

"He is a freely and fairly elected official." Elisabeth pointed out.

"I know this might seem like a rash conclusion to jump to:" Maho said. "However, my personal experience with him, plus the various reports from across my crew, and even from that of the Akagi, have painted a grim picture: Ambrose Hartley cannot be reasoned with."

Maho turned to Takumi.

"I was hoping that Lieutenant Sinclair would be here to relay this information to her shipmates directly, but Lieutenant Fujiwara was with her when she uncovered a group of insurgents- Led by the final survivor of the Sakuragi family- Ichiro Sakuragi."

"Sakuragi?" Ichika piped up. "You mean like the little girl in sickbay right now?"

All heads in the room turned towards the video feed being relayed directly from sickbay.

"What?" Takumi gasped. "He said he was sure he was the last one!"

Bree felt like she was suffering from emotional whiplash. One moment she was trying to absorb the idea of killing an elected official and now this? "Wait, so you're saying this little girl was tortured to send a message to her family not to challenge the Governor? That's despicable, I agree, but how does taking the Governor's life make us any better than him? Using murder to get our way, to cover up this mess, is not something we can come back from."

"Captain, we can't." Ami stated definitively, "It's not worth breaking the Prime Directive to keep a planet like this in the Federation. Offer this resistance group a free ride out, by all means, but it would literally be murder if we did it. I don't like him any more than you do, than anyone here, but we are civilized. That means holding to the rules, even if we don't like them. Anyone who would condone and be a part of this would and should be prosecuted for it. It's not worth the damage to the Federation it would cause. I won't be a part of an assassination."

"So, you'd rather have the Confederacy of Independent Planets gain another member world?" Erica countered. "Because that's what's going to happen if Hartley isn't stopped!"

Kurumi spoke up from the wall console. "As much as I'd love to kick the living daylights out of Hartley for his crimes. We can't just go around killing him." She said. "However, this is a Federation world. We do have the power to arrest him and bring him to trial." She looked over at Ami for a brief moment and then back to Maho. "And there's a few of us who would like the opportunity to ensure he 'comes queitly'."

"I would concur with Commander Ebisuzawa's assessment, Captain," Ichika agreed. "As long as Gamma Zendor is still a member state, Governor Hartley falls under our jurisdiction."

Maho then turned to Erica:

"Captain Hartmann; is this an acceptable course of action?" She asked.

"It's... Less, than ideal, and I'm sure Mr. Sakuragi will have a few choice words for us, but we would still be able to accomplish what his resistance is seeking: That being the swearing in of Hartley's deputy governor as his successor." Erica explained. "Deputy Governor Pryce is far more moderate than Hartley, and under her, Gamma Zednor might see the repeal of the Junichi Koyama laws, putting it on the path of healing relations with the Federation."

Maho nodded and turned back to face her crew:

"Then it is decided:" She said. "We have a 72 hour window to arrest Hartley. Any longer, and the secession will be finalized- and we would be breaking the Prime Directive."

“That we can all agree on.” Ami said quietly, “Given the evidence of what happened to Commander Ebisuzawa and her companion, plus what we’ll probably be able to find on the ground once my teams can access their computer system, you may yet get your execution, ma’am.”

Maho nodded and was about to discuss the plan when her combadge suddenly chirped:

=A=Anzai to Takahashi,=A= came the Third Officer's voice.

Maho tapped her combadge: =A="Go ahead, Anzai:"=A= She said.

=A=Security has conducted a comprehensive search of Lieutenant Sinclair's Quarters,=A= Commander Anzai reported. =A=No sign of Lieutenant Sinclair, but we have managed to locate a pair of comm badges; a quick scan of their ID numbers show that they're registered to Lieutenants Sinclair and Amaro.=A=

"By Kahless..." Ichika muttered, almost immediately recognizing the severity of the situation. "They're going after Lieutenant Reno!"

Maho slowly brought her hand to her face: This was exactly what she didn't need happening right now...

=A="Understood, Commander:"=A= Maho said. =A="Have security log the combadges and hold them as evidence. Tristana; I want security placed in every transporter room: If the rogue Lieutenants beam back aboard, you are to arrest them on the spot."=A=

=A="Si, Capitan. (Yes, Captain.)"=A= Tristana responded. =A="Security Out."=A=

Tapping her combadge once again, Maho turned to Ichika and sighed.

"It seems today just keeps getting worse..." She muttered loudly enough for the room to hear.

"It would appear that we now have considerably less time to work with than was originally anticipated," Ichika surmised grimly. "Once word of this gets out to Governor Hartley, I have no doubt that the secession will be immediate."

"Precisely; which is why we must move now if we are to be successful." Maho responded. "Here's how it's going to go down: Our contact on the ground has informed us that Hartley plans to hold a rally in 24 hours supporting secession, and it's been determined that this will be our best chance to apprehend him. We'll obviously need security on the ground, but we'll also need Operations to get us a way backstage at the rally, where Hartley will be before he speaks. We'll also need a man on the transporters, ready to pull us up if things go wrong."

"If Doc let's me out. I'll gladly put that bastard in his place!" Kurumi said her voice threatening and hostile.

"I suggest you sit still and let me finish then, if you're so eager to exact revenge" Victors voice was heard to say as he stood just outside of the view of the screen.

"I can arrange those things," Max said, quickly, awkwardly looking at Kurumi.

"Our new allies might not be thrilled with our new approach, and I will need to know if they might place a contingency plan in place without our knowing. As such, I will need a mole in place among their ranks." Maho said, looking towards Ami, Shirro, and Takumi. "It won't be like Commander Ebisuzawa's expedition to the surface, as these resistance fighters are well-armed and will be capable of protecting you. However, it will be your job to inform me of any intent that they plan to go through with the assassination without our knowledge."

"I can do that, ma'am," Ami spoke up after a short paused, "Send me down there to get an uplink to Myogi to facilitate better communication with them and I'll be in their command tent to overhear things, Captain."

"And lastly," Maho said, turning towards the conference room's screen. "Medical, you'd best prepare for triage. Because I doubt things will go smoothly despite our best efforts to ensure they do."

Scott nodded in response to the directive. " we will be ready to take care of everyone physically and psychologically," Bree asserted. She already felt like she had her hands full on that score with their current two patients, but she wasn't going to let anyone else fall through the cracks. Normally, she would discourage anyone from being so pessimistic, but under the circumstances, preparing for things to get worse seemed to be prudent.

"Of that I have no doubt Captain" Victors wry voice came from the other side of the screen. Nothing ever went according to plan, and this plan wasn't exactly made for a minimum of casualties. "My people will be ready for anything."

Maho then turned back to the gathered officers.

"Well, then: If everyone understands their parts..." She said. "I believe we have a Federation member world to save..."

---

Posting By (In Order Of Appearance):

Captain Maho Takahashi
Commanding Officer
USS Myogi

Commander Keisuke Takahashi
Second Officer
USS Myogi

Commander Ichika Misono
Executive Officer
USS Myogi

Commander Chiyomi Anzai
Third Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Commander Elisabeth Churchill
Chief Diplomatic Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Ami Rori
Chief Engineer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Commander Kurumi Ebisuzawa
Chief Security Officer
USS Myogi

Commander Victor Delling, MD
Chief Medical Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Commander Brennyn Scott
Chief Counselor
USS Myogi

Lieutenant, Junior Grade Max Gill
Chief Operations Officer
USS Myogi

Lieutenant JG Shirro Kamada
Chief Science Officer
USS Myogi

Captain Erica Hartmann
Commanding Officer
USS Akagi

Lieutenant Commander Tristana
Assistant Chief Of Security
USS Myogi

Lieutenant Junior Grade Takumi Fujiwara
Assistant Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Myogi

 

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