The Yellow Brick Road [ Coalition + Mollys & Perhaps Hessians ]

[Tabris]

Dublin System, CPW Lithuania, Guest Quarters.

Local Time: 14:08


His personal quarters were spartan, as expected due to his status as a Passenger, while a very important passenger he did not expect this trip to last long enough to set about 'creature comforts' as it were. All he had with him was a Datapad that contained vital information he was to share from the Coalition's Mission Archives with his allies on a specific matter. His hand held another Datapad on another matter he was to share. It was a gesture of good faith that the Coalition would share these tactical files on the enemy, while the Coalition would never be able to locate every enemy location they could find ones close to home that posed a direct threat to their sovereignty.

The Intercom suddenly came alive, a gruff voice could be heard as the Premier looked up with a raised eyebrow

"Attention, CPW Lithuania on approach to Arranmore Base, all personnel are to secure personal belongings and take stations at your designated sections. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a Drill."

Was all it said before going silent. Thus with a heavy sigh he gathered up all his materials into a briefcase and stepped out into the cramped corridors where two Coalition Marines waited to escort him to the Airlock.


Dublin System, CPW Lithuania, Primary CIC

Local Time: 14:09

The CIC was abuzz with activity in preparations to dock once given clearance, the Captain stood at the holo-table which gave him a good view of the Lithuania and everything around it. Arranmore Base could be spotted at the edge of it's sensor field. His hand reached up to the Headset, switching over to a frequency the Mollys could pick up with ease before speaking.

"This is CPW Lithuania on approach, we are here with a VIP for a meeting, requesting mooring permissions and approach vector. Over." He requested, his hands dropping back down to the table as he scanned the field carefully, ignoring the men and women around him at their own consoles, chatting with one another which he easily tuned into the backdown to sound like a dull buzz at the back of his head. At the doors to the CIC a pair of Coalition Marines stood guard, gripping their rifles harshly in combat readiness.

[Molly]

Dublin System, Arranmore, Control tower.

Local Time: 14:07



The Arranmore chief traffic controller was pacing the room; men and women were busy on their consoles replying to the pilots patrolling Dublin, pointing out to them the armed forces and corsairs vessels spotted, system wide.
The outer Dublin's orange light was going through the Venetian blinds, warming up the atmosphere of the control tower's room.

Suddenly one the men sat before his own console, turned back on his desk chair toward the chief.

We got a contact 'ere, a large unidentified vessel dat jus' entered d'system frem O-Fourty Noine !

Contact the patrols around, tell'em toget a clear scan on it.

Replied the chief traffic controller. He, then, hit the red button on the wall activating the air-raid siren, and a red revolving light in the room. He picked up his headset lying on the holo-table before him.

Dhis is an alert, contact the security guards on the docking bay, tell'em to prepare to be assaulted o' besieged. Whoile ye're at it, tell d'lads tae launch a bomber squadron.

Pointing at one the men on his console, he carried on.

Contact the Goldern Coin, tell'em tae stay on alert until further notice !

After pausing for a few seconds, he spoke again.

Boyos, tell me we do have a scan on dhis shippie !?

One of the women on the consoles raised her finger, seemingly focused.

Go on lass !

The women with a poney-tail still holding up her hand, changed its hand stance to an opened palm as if if she was telling him to wait.
After a brief moment, she lowered her hand, and started to speak in her headset

Roger dhat ! O'er.
Oy got Dublin's patrol black-six 'ere ! Said they got a scan on it : CPW Lithuania, destroyer class vessel, displaying d'Sirius Coalition Revolutionary Army 's transponders codes !!!


The chief sighted, and finally hit the red button on the wall again, turning off both the alarm and the red light.
Adressing anew to the crew in the room, he started again

Alert cancelled! Oy repeat : Alert cancelled !
Call back d'Coin, Arranmore's docking bay, also tell them to recall the bomber squad.
Lass, do tell black-six patrol to be ready to escort them, and prepare to call our guest if necessary.

The women nodded at the man with grey sideburns.
The later smirked., thinking that at least their defense system was ready in case of any invasion coming from O-49.
The man sat in his chair in front of the holo-table, wearing off the headset and puting it aside.
The Arranmore chief traffic controller started to follow the CPW Lithuania as it was know shown on the holo-table and was moving forward to Arranmore.





Dublin System, Arranmore, control tower.

Local Time: 14:09





The man with grey sideburns and temples was sipping a glass of whiskey, still monitoring the holo-table; while the various controllers were answering the numerous incoming messages.

The women with a poney-tail raised her hand again, snapping the fingers as the main screen went on.
However no image was displayed, as the sounds was the only thing that could be perceived :

"This is CPW Lithuania on approach, we are here with a VIP for a meeting, requesting mooring permissions and approach vector. Over."

The man gave a sign with his hand, as he grabbed again his headset. The screen split in two, displaying a black part on the left side, and the chief on the other one.

"This be Arranmore control tower to CPW Lithuania, we received your transmission and already have you on our scanners.
Your request to moor is granted. We're sending you the approach vector right now, as well as the current mines layout.
If you request an escort, we're able to send you one squadron.
We, however, suggest you to use the drydock at Foyle, instead of Arranmore, after the disembarkation of your VIP, if you suspect it to last more than an hour, as it would be safier for everyone.
Over."

The man with grey sideburns gave another sign with his hand and the screen went black , as the controllers where transmitting the informations requested.



Do tell the security guards on the docking bays to be prepared for any trick.
Also, oy wanna have d'Governor on screen, o' any councillor oif tis not possible to contect her.

Later, one of the controller raised his finger and point it at the chief as was displayed the live video of the governor on the main screen.

"G'day, ma'am, dhis is Arranmore chief traffic controller McNally, speaking. Oy must inform thou that a VIP from the Sirius Coalition should be on Arry in a few moinuts. Security guard chief has alreaday been warned 'bout dheir coming.
Is dere anything else we can do ?
Aye.
Slán agat ."

[Tabris]

Dublin System, CPW Lithuania, Arranmore Approach.

Local Time: 14:11

The destroyer moved through the asteroid field like a shark prowling one of Gaia's reef's. It's slim form easily avoiding the asteroids and mines with the information from the approach vector given to them by Arranmore Traffic Control. As it drew close to the asteroid facility it's speed slowed down, lining up carefully with the mooring point and getting into position so it may deliver it's passenger and be off swiftly.

The Airlock which led into the station's docking bays hooked into the station's own ports with ease and begun it's pressurization cycle. Safely on the other side of the doors leading out of the Lithuania the Premier, flanked by a pair of Coalition Marines as his personal guard, waited for the cycle to be completed, his hand grasping a small case which contained the data from the Coalition's Mission Archives that he intended to share with the Governor or a Councilor. As the Airlock completed it's cycle and opened the doors from the Lithuania and into the station itself his other hand went up to his tie, straightening it out before proceeding.

Overhead the speakers crackled to life.

"Airlock One opened, Premier Warner departing, all non-essential crewmen are to clear the area until further notice." a male voice, Bretonian in accent, stated calmly as the Premier stepped into Arranmore. Upon reaching the other side of the Airlock and boarding the station he could see several of the station's security guards eyeing them up as the door slid shut behind him and the Airlock went through it's de-pressurization cycle so the Lithuania could disembark. Warner and his guards merely waited patiently for an escort to the meeting room, keeping his eyes focused ahead and not letting them drift, his Marines being encased in their armour thankfully didn't have to suppress their eye movements as they were concealed.

[Blodwyn O'Driscoll]

Dublin System, Arranmore, Arranmore Arm Pub.

Local Time: 14:00



The red-haired woman was daydreaming, sitting alone at a table, a hot dish and a pint of dark ale lying in front of her, both of which she barely touched.
Staring into space, she couldn't help but remembering the last week's night, again and again.
She sighed, paused and took a sip of her beer.
Usually, she would have already drank, at least, two pint of the dark liquid, or more like three.
And it was far worst when it came to eating, as she had skipped most of her lunch, the past week. She had even started to lose weight.
In fact there was only one thing she could think about, almost being obsessed with it. And this perticular thing was a man.
She sighed again, a blank look in her eyes.

She was drawn from her torpor by the sound of a buzz on the table. Raising her eyes, she saw the golden communicator left on the synth-wood, vibrating.
Hesitant, she wondered who was calling her. Was he calling her ?

Blodwyn picked her device, held it straight in front of her and did click on one the buttons.
She listened for a while, seemingly surprised of being called by that person. Coming to her senses, she proceeded to answer her interlocutor.
Dia duit ser McNally, oy do tank ye fer calling mae.
Aye, could ye tell d'guards on deh docks dhat Councillor O'Driscoll will welcome aour guest personally ? Oy'll be at deh docking bays in a few moinuts.
Tank ye again.
Slán leat.

The ginger haired woman took a large gulp of the black liquid, and stood from her chair putting it away.
Oy fear oy won't have d'toime tae finish mo meal fer oy mus' go, you can clear d'table whene'er ye want.
She said adressing to the bartender and the latter nodded at her.

The woman, then, picked up her handbag and left the tavern, still holding her communicator in her hand. Walking in the streets of Arranmore, she made it to the closest elevator she could find, Checking her communicator for new messages.





Dublin System, Arranmore, Docking bays.

Local Time: 14:14




Divided into two curved lines surrounding the gate, around twenty Arranmore guards were awaiting for the airlock to open, each one of holding some sort of human sized plexiglass shields, a blue light running around the edge of it.
They were lightly protected compared to the Coalition marines in their full armor, wearing only a simple helmet with a visor protecting the face and a protective vest.
The sergeant was listening to the orders displayed in his earpiece under his helmet.
The atmosphere was quite tense. Some of the guards were looking at each others and then back at the airlock, nervously.

At some point, the sergeant raised his hand and spoke loudly :

We're openin' teh gate, ready yesel', close ranks !

The guards complied, adopting a coherent formation alike a shield wall, with only their weapons and top of the helmet showing. Their shield went full blue, as they actived it, which were found to be some sort of energy field equipment.
Some laser canons mounted directly beneath the ceiling, pointed its barrel toward the gate.

The three airlocks' panels slided, each in its own way, revealing the Premier and his escort . As they stepped in, the sergeant lowered his hand and the soldiers did aswell with their weapons before turning off their shield.

The sergeant walked toward them to greet the newcomers in an almost perfect bretonian english :

I am sergeant O'Brien, welcome to Arranmore, ser.
Your host will be dhere in a moment.




Dublin System, Arranmore, Docking bays.

Local Time: 14:21




The Arranmore guards started to become seriously bored waiting since the airlock did slide shut, while the sergeant went back checking his earpiece, ignoring almost completly their guests.

Another safety airlock slid open, letting the red haired woman enter the docking bay. Blodwyn strode across the room, clad in an ecru high waisted dress and white, wedge-heeled sandals ornated with golden chains on its straps.
As she closed by, still checking her communicator, the sound of her gold necklace and ankle bracelet, tinkling, was clearly heard.

Facing the three foreigners, she put away her golden device in her handbag.
Raising her head back at them, she stared from top to bottom at the young man. Recognizing him, she carried on :

Dia duit... Preevyeet Premier Warner. Welcome on Arranmore. Oy wasnae expectin' ye so soon.

[Tabris]

Dublin System, Arranmore Docking Bays

Local Time: 14:21

After the Sergeant had greeted them Warner and his escorts waited patiently, the marines stoic and imposing with their heavy armour and Kalashnikov Rifles in a guarded posture. Warner's boredom was relieved when a red-headed woman finally entered the bay, he could tell this woman was part of the 'Upper Ring' due to her excessive use of gold in her daily wear judging by the gold chains on the sandal straps, gold necklace and what appeared to be an anklet if the sound and brief glimpse downward was correct.

Normally this would have any other Coalition citizen in a foul mood due to their stance on the use of such materials in a vain way rather than having it used practically. However Warner has long since been able to suppress any misgivings due to his role as the Premier and having to act diplomatically.

"Dia duit... Preevyeet Premier Warner. Welcome on Arranmore. Oy wasnae expectin' ye so soon."

The mangling of one of the Coalition's primary languages had him cringing inside his mind, while he was originally Libertonian he had immersed himself in the Coalition's culture and accepted it as his own over the years. This was an...assault on his ears and mind.. Forcing himself back into the present he gave a slight nod of the head before he gave his own greeting.

"Privyet, time unfortunately is not on our side and the State Duma believed it was best if we moved swiftly." He stated, taking a brief look around before turning his attention back towards her, his facial expression serious and showing little warmth, there was obviously something troubling the man however he did not want to state the reason so openly. "May we speak in private? My journey here was not made lightly and what I have to share will have great ramifications on the war ahead." he asked, his tone polite but tight and obviously stressed. Waiting for her to lead them to a place they could speak frankly.

[Blodwyn O'Driscoll]

The woman stared at him as the Premier greeted her back. Still looking at him, she tried to decipher his feelings beyond the mask of coldness and seriousness. Unable to see anything, she shrugged and proceeded to greet the sergeant and the docking bay guards, holding her hand to the former.
Dia duit, sergeant, dhis be an heartenin' soight tae see ye lot, lads un' lasses, clad un' armed tae protect oos all.
The sergeant shook hands with her and nodded , while some the guards presents undertook a military salute, some others sighed or even ignored her completly.


Later as Warner started to speak again; listening to him,she noticed that something was bothering him. At least the man was able to show some human feelings. She smiled a bit relieved by that last thought.
Once he finished, she answered him, still smiling.

O' course, Premier Warner. Oy alreaday asked fer d'meeting room tae be readied. Oy hope dhis will fit ye. Is dere anyting else oy can do fer ye ?

Oif nae, please be koind enought tae follow mae. Oy'll take ye tae d'meetin' room.
She carried on.


She then turned her back on him and started to walk nonchalantly, with a rolling gait, toward the safety airlock at the end of the docking bay.

As she noticed the heavy footstep of the armored Coalition guards, the woman turned back to the group following her. Adressing anew to the premier, she asked him :

Are doses really necessary ? Ye know, oy dun boite, nayr do oy carry any sort o' weapons. Ye's safe in dhis place.

Un' oy mus' admit dhat dey're pretty scary
She ended, almost whispering to Warner as she came closer to him.

[Tabris]

Shaking his head negative as the Coalition delegation followed their escort through the Arranmore corridors towards the meeting room Warner kept his gaze forward, his eyes barely sparing a glance to anyone or anything they passed as he was time-pressed at the moment, the heavy footsteps of the two marines behind him was comforting in a way as they scanned the halls carefully for any sign of assassination attempts.

When they entered the meeting room Ben finally released a silent breath he had not known he was holding for the past minute, his expression still stoic however as he turned towards her, he could understand her nervousness and gave a small nod, looking to his guards and motioned for them to step outside the room. The room was quite spartan, several metal seats surrounding a table illuminated by panels above them.

"I shall speak frankly here, the Coalition is losing this war." he stated bluntly before pressing on, barely giving any time to process this sledgehammer of information. "The Corsair Empire has been pressing their forces hard in Omega-49 with overwhelming numbers, while our forces are holding at present according to our analysts at the current rate of attrition and due to the overwhelming firepower being levied at our forces on the front lines, unless there is a drastic change our lines will fully collapse over a period of three years with Omega-52 falling to hostile forces not long after." He stated, finally pausing to let her process the flood of information Warner threw at her.

[Blodwyn O'Driscoll]

The woman listened to the Premier carefully. Upon hearing his last statement, she even seemed worried, going pale as she put her hand on her upper chest.
Once he finished, the woman clad in an ecru dress remained silent for while as she was thinking to herself :
Three years ? dhat couldn't be ! Un' dhat would imply we'd have tae face a greater force oif deh Coalition fell. Deh 'Sars could e'en fancy pushin' further into Dublin o' Derry. Dey moight e'en troy tae woipe oos aout fer good !
Blodwyn shivered on that last thought, but also managed to calm a bit down as she carried on her thinking :
" O' maybe d'Coalition would loike tae save deir strengths, usin' oos as cannon fodders, loike d'Brets did wid oos before...
Oh... oy dunno what tae tink, oy ain't nae hardened politician, un' dhis man ability tae hoide his though un' feelings, doesn't help mae ad all.
C'mon lass, ye got tae say sumting. Do what ye do best, Blod'; just talk...


Finally, when she managed to pull herself together, the red-haired woman cleared her throat and started to talk, looking at him straight in the eyes.

Oy's sorry fer deh delay, oy was lost in mae thoughts.
So, errr... dhis is indeed bad news dhat ye bring, Premier Warner.
Oy dunno really what tae say but dhat we should work on improving deh situation, maybe turning the whole things around in aour favor.

Still, oy won't denoy dhat oy was koind o' surproised hearing what ye had tae say. Oy though deh Coalition would be able to stand its ground against deh 'Sars in deh close Omegas, aloike aour Hessians allies did fer years !
But oy also tink ye did d'roight ting boye tellin' oos deh truth 'bout the reality of deh situation.

What can oy add ?
Well, as ye already know because we talked about it before, we also add to suffer recently frem deh 'Sars assaults, especially dhat raid on Londonderry, in January 822AS dhat cost oos deh loss o' Garvagh, aour foundry. E'en oif we managed tae get it back easely, dhis event showed oos aour weaknesses in aour defensoive system.
Derefore, we, deh council, suggested deh possibility o' fortifying deh Barrier Nebula in Omega fourty-noine. Dhis project, oif e'er voted un' carried aout, would provoide oos a far bedder ability to defend aourselves against deh 'Sar threat.
Maybe e'en a good staging point to harrass Corsairs forces in order tae help bodh deh Coalition un' aour common allies, deh Hessians in deir struggle in deh omegas.
Howe'er, dhis would requoire oos tae constantly weaken deh 'sars presence in omega fourty noine.

Widh dhis in moind, oy would suggest tae start setting up joint raiding parties tae grind deir forces little boye little until we would be foinally able tae throw dem aout once un' fer all.

[Tabris]

As Ben let her process the information he waited patiently for her to speak, not interrupting at any point as he sat down in his seat and folded his hands on the table. Looking her dead in the eyes as he prepared his next statement.

"This was the best-case scenario our analysts had with the data we have at hand, the Coalition may be a military force the Corsairs simply have far more troops at their disposal to throw at the Triumvirate lines. And while the Coalition has a sizable population the Hessians have had time to firmly establish themselves throughout the Omega regions with a series of fortifications to help cement control over their various regions, the Coalition has not had this advantage due to our position of being surrounded on both sides by hostile forces which has long suppressed our capacity to expand." he explained calmly, his gaze unflinching at this cold hard truth, the Hessians had the advantage of already firmly established outposts and fortifications to ensure the Corsairs would be met in a stalemate in the war.

"What the Coalition needs is more time for it's stopgap measures to be prepared such as our newest pieces of military hardware that would even the odds, while a facility in Omega-49 would be of use it would be quickly set upon by Corsair Raiding parties seeking to deprive the alliance of resources, Coalition Forces at this time are holding off the Corsairs from furthering their advance but at great cost in lives and ships, our only hope is to somehow drive the Fes Battlegroup away from Omega-49 even temporarily to allow our forces time to re-arm and complete our newest vessel, the Tempest Carriers, for front-line duty. While a small number has been prepared it will not be enough.

Furthermore this war has begun to strain the local resources of Omega-52, making it harder for the shipyards and factories on our worlds and various facilities to meet their quotas to meet with the demands being placed upon them." He states coldly before leaning back and pulling out several files for the Molly representative to purview. Among them a series of images recorded from the Cayman system could be seen among them.

"Our only hope is to temporarily drive the Fes away, in addition to providing local forces breathing room it will allow us to maneuver reserves and reinforcements from our friends in the Hessians to acquire the resources needed for the Trimvirate's production needs to be met and close a flanking position in order to prevent the Corsair Empire from taking advantage of it. As you may or may not know the Cayman system is inhabited by the remnants of the Reapers of Sirius, however they are for the most part gone, leaving skeleton crews and a dying population behind, their infrastructure and the local resources would be invaluable to the alliance if they were to be acquired, however in order to succeed it would have to be done swiftly with the full support of all three members of the Triumvirate. It shall be our...Yellow Brick Road as it were." he commented, the first grains of humour could be seen in his eyes at the comment before sliding the papers over to her to review and comment upon.

"I will not deny it, casualties are expected due to the remaining presence of Reapers in the area, however if we do nothing then our lines will being to collapse and the Corsair Empire will take advantage to take both Dublin and Omega-52 for themselves, we need this for the sake of survival and to reach the Emerald City in a manner of speaking."

[Blodwyn O'Driscoll]

The woman reached out for the paper files which the Premier did hand over to her. She couldn't help frowning as she started to consult the datas she just get.

"Who deh hell, would still uses paper format, nowadays ?" she asked to herself when she realized that, all of this wouldn't be of any help to her during this meeting, unless, of course, if it was digitalized, or if she could use a reading program or device.
Due to her lack of ability to decipher the secret symbols of the writing, Blodwyn only recently relied on such program to compensate for what she was starting to suspect being a handicap as a member of the Republic's council.

Leaned on the table, she stopped leafing through the papers and did lift the head before adressing the Premier again :
"Oy guess doses are deh pictures o' deh footages recorded in deh Cayman system..." She asked rhetorically, as the red clouded system was the only aforementioned one, unknown to the Mollys, or at least , to her.

Before any answer could be made, she carried on :"Well, oy's glad we finally got access doses. However oy... we cannae use 'em in deir current form. Oy need tae scan 'em tae be registered, so deh council would be able tae analyse un' discuss deh current situation in deh loight o' doses new informations.
Please do excuse mae, as oy do so."

The redhaired woman picked her handbag, put it on the table started to search through the bag which color was matching her ecru dress.
Blodwyn managed to find her golden communicator, and after a while she took some small round device out of her bag. Device which she proceeded to equip, lodging it in her right auricle, as she was meticulously trying not to let it get caught in her gold earring.
The woman, then, type the access code on the black conic device laying in the center of the table.

"A'roight" She whispered as she started to scan the files that the premier handed to her, one after the other, using the golden communicator she picked earlier.
Displayed on the screens of the communicator, every word and sentences printed on the datas were enlightened and directly read, by the program, in her ear bud.

Still busy recording the various files, the woman spoke anew:"Oy reckon we'll won't be able tae continue on the subject nae more until deh Council could peruse dhoses datas.
Anyway, shouldn't we focuse on deh essential step o' deh whole operation : Destroying or crippling deh 'Sar fleet enough tae repel it aout o' Omega fourty-noine ?

But, dere's also anodher madder oy would loike tae discuss widh ye.
See... Deh Coalition soldiers, marines, troopers, o' wha'ever dey're called, are renown tae be among deh foinest o' deh whole Sirius sector; be it a madder o' gear, o training.
Oy also heard o' deh trials of Jiangxi, koind o' a ting on its own, oy say.
Therefore, we thought we could benefit from the Coalition experience on dhis perticular military aspect. So oy gonna simply ask oif it would be possible, at some point, fer deh Coalition tae host and train a part of aour ground forces ? Maybe we could also benefit from deh Coalition knowledge when it comes tae soldiers' gear. Yer... bodygards ? ... seem very well equiped un' quoite impressive, oy mus' say.
O' course, oif needed, deh Republic be willin' tae offer some koind o' compensation... as oy unnestood deh Coalition moight have some sort o' economical problems.

In fact, ye mentionned several times, the upcoming ressources shortage the coalition would have tae face. The Republic, on its part, doesn't rely on owning the ressources it needs tae sustain its assets. Instead we now rely on imports of thoses ressources.
Speaking of it, the Republic recently chose to import several raw materials o' ores, includin' Aluminium, Berilium, Niobium, Cobalt, Platinum un' so on; to Garvagh mining complex, where they would be refined and dherefore directly usable for our own needs, o' some o' allies.
So oy was tinkin', dhat we moight be able tae help ye on dhis madder.

Is dere, anyting ye 'd loike tae add afore we jump tae deh operations we should set in omega fourty-noine ?The woman asked, realizing she just finished the whole scanning of the datas provided.

Maybe ye'd loike tae have a drink o' sumtin' ? The woman finally suggested as she nonchalantly walked to the minibar.