Third Annual BF betleH Tournament

Third Annual BF betleH Tournament (http://www.betleh.com/cgi-bin/b3/YaBB.pl)

Before the tourney >> Early arrivals >> The Judges meet the Host
(Message started by: Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 11:17am)

Title: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 11:17am

Valren paced his office as he read the PADD in his hand. This was not good. A Klingon and Human Admiral, both apparently angry, had arrived and were on the way to his office - seperately but surely soon to be together. He had not had time to be properly briefed and was anxiously reviewing as much as he could.

This would not go over well.

OFF:

TAG Wade, K'Hare

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 8^th, 2005, 1:42pm

The yeoman quickly brought K'Hare to the Commanding Officer's office. As they went in, K'Hare noticed the room was still marked Admiral Neirbo, but as reported, it wasn't the bolian who was waiting inside.

Yeoman: Vice Admiral Valren Arelwynn, this is K'Hare totlh, one of the Admirals in charge of the annual betleH competition.

The young officer bowed and slipped gracefully out of the office. K'Hare was amused by his word choice. He had deftly clarified K'Hare's rank in both Klingon and standard to avoid his boss making a mistake and he was gone without any awkwardness. He also didn't trip over the lack of House insignia. A fine aide, for a human.

K'Hare simply nodded to the XFY CO. The Klingon recognized the higher rank and was not ready to abandon protocol. By rank and because this was his office, it was his meeting.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 2:32pm

Valren motioned for K'Hare to sit and began as diplomatically as possible. He could sense that the Klingon had been irritated, though it had passed a bit and it was not something he would want to bring back to the surface. Of all the things Valren hated about Klingons, their irrational temper was the worst.

Arelwynn: *accented* totlh! Welcome to Xavier. I apologize for any confusion that has occurred, my predeccessor rather abruptly left his post and I've just taken command several hours ago. As a matter of fact, the official change of command ceremony has not even occured as of yet. I hope y'all haven't been too inconvenienced by this. We'll get it straightened out as soon as we can. Can I offer you a drink or something to eat?

OFF:

TAG K'Hare and/or Wade

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 8^th, 2005, 2:33pm

The young ensign that was assigned to escort Admiral Durkis to Arelynn's office was practically running trying to keep up with Wade's pace. Wade was quite plainly ticked off. Note only should he have been notified sooner on what was going on as the head of the competition, but as 44's former Task Force 2nd XO, he should have heard something. Something wasn't right. First Wade gets transfered to Task Force 9, now Droj has been removed as Task Force CO. An odd coincidence if htat's what it was.

Ensign(NPC):Sir, its obvious you've been here before, but I must say that the Admiral may be in with someone else and...

Durkis:And I really don't care ensign.

They both turned the corner and came upon Admiral Arelwynn's office. The Admiral's yeoman had just left and saw the two coming up fast. The ensign gave the yeoman a paniced look.

Yeoman:It's ok, ensign. I'll take it from here. Sir, I'll announce you right away, the Admiral is expecting you.

The yeoman knocked on the door twice and then entered followed by Durkis. Wade was glad to see K'hare there. At least there was one friend he knew.

Wade gave K'hare a proper klingon salute and nodded his head slightly.

Durkis:K'hare, it is an honor to see you again.

Yeoman:Sir, Rear Admiral Wade Durkis of the USS Saturn.

Wade tourned his attention to Arelwynn

Durkis:Admiral. With all do respect may I ask what is going on?

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 2:46pm

K'Hare had not even had a chance to reply to Arelwynn's inquiry when Wade arrived rather abruptly. Valren was shocked and concerned that the human was even more irritated than the Klingon. He bordered on out right rage.

Arelwynn: No Admiral, I do not mind at all. I apologize for the confusion, if you could please have a seat? I'd like to offer you some refreshments but I can see that you are not really in the mood for that. I have just become CO of this base today. Admiral Neirbo resigned from Starfleet about 10 days ago. Needless to say, there is a bit of confusion here, especially with the tournament beginning shortly. I apologize for this.

OFF:

TAG

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:01pm

Ten days ago! Wade couldn't beileve what he was hearing. If that was the case, why didn't Droj contact him? Was he sick, was he forced out? Wade took a second a calm himself before proceeding.

Durkis: Of course Admiral. This apparent took everyone off guard. What can you tell me about the circumstances of Admiral Neirbo's resignation?

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:10pm

K'Hare was not used to being talked around and there was a pressing issue. "Gentlemen, we should have time to find out all the facts, but there is a pressing issue. I arrived in what was interpreted as a federation ship. This created a problem. But some Klingon HoDpu', captains, will not react will to talk of transporting. This could create problems."

He paused, looking over at the bar and remember the offer of a drink. "But, there is a precedence for Klingon ships on small Klingon bases to either rotate the ship that is docked, to let the largest one dock and have smaller ones dock with it, or to put them off to the side and have a regular shuttle service back and forth to the grouping. As a rule, Klingons will not transport for an event such as this. The need is not great enough to demand risk."

K'Hare was still annoyed at having to explain this, but the chance to avoid problems was keeping him focused. This was all part of a set of protocols he had worked out with the bolian.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:21pm

Valren nodded at K'Hare's interjection. It was indeed a problem.

Arelwynn: I'll talk to the Dock Master and see what can be done, the problem is that we only have so much room in our starship docking bays and there are not external docking facilities. *pausing* Even if we dock the smaller ships to the larger ships, it still takes up space in the bays. Would it be agreeable to have the ships dock in our dry docks and ferry people over? I can have our ships taken out of the starship bays to make more room.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:26pm

Wade scolded himself internally. K'hare was right and Wade shouldn't let his personal feelings effect his work. He had made that mistake before.

Durkis:A valid point totlh. We should tend to pressing business first. I do recall discussion about this after the competition last year and that procedure K'hare mentioned was agreed upon. However, *Wade turned to Valren* this is your station Admiral. Is the procedure that K'hare totlh mentioned acceptable?

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 8^th, 2005, 3:35pm

OFF:

I will assume the previous two posts happened in reverse order. (:}

ON:

K'Hare nodded. "The dry dock solution makes a great deal of sense. The Empire ships will cluster there and some of the recreational activities will stay in that area. That is probably best for all. The largest of the ships can serve as a coordinating point. If XFY has a pair of shuttles going and coming with clear flight paths on a regular schedule, the rest of the Empire ships can shuttle to and from that one on its far side. That will work well. The meH'Haj will be here tomorrow and it is short on crew so it will have space. I am sure ta'pez HoD wont mind."

K'Hare moved over to a chair and sat down. "Now that that is worked out, we can sit, drink, and discuss the absence of Neirbo and whatever other arrangements are required to make this tournament successful."

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 4:03pm

Valren nodded and tapped his communicator.

Arelwynn: This is Admiral Arelwynn to the Dock Master's office, I need to speak with the Dock Master right away.

The line was silent for a few moments before the casually spoken Tellarite came through the comm, Valren had not yet had a chance to meet his staff.

Ghuety: *through comm* Hello there Admiral, welcome to Xavier... good to have a boss again. What can I do for ya?

Arelwynn: *not knowing his name or rank proceeded without either* We need to make some adjustments to accomodate the Klingons coming in. Can you have the Cochrane and Karlskrona removed from the starship docking bay and parked in orbit? All Klingon ships are to be docked upon their arrival. For overflow, I want you to dock the larger ships at the drydocks and have smaller ones dock to the ships. Coordinate with Spacecraft Ops to have regular runabouts travelling from the base to docked ships to serve as a ferry service. Understood?

Gheuty responded over the comm with a great deal of hesitation in his voice.

Gheuty: We can do our best sir, it will be a nightmare down here to get that together, with all of the traffic in orbit...

Arelwynn: *cutting him off* Unless you want some Klingons at your door with blades in hand - and me behind them - make it happen. Got it?

Gheuty: Yes sir!

Arelwynn: Good. Arelwynn out.

He faced K'Hare and Durkis with a wry smile.

Arelwynn: I suspect that should solve our problems. Perhaps we should find a quieter venue than ops in which to meet *motioning the the busy havoc through the window in his door* I was supposed to join my aide for drinks, perhaps she can attend. This may sound bizarre, but my aide is the out going XO - who has been acting as CO since Neirbo's departure - and she may be helpful in bridging the gap.

OFF:

TAG

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 8^th, 2005, 4:10pm

K'Hare sighs but stands up quickly. He is always ready to go drink hunting.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 9:44pm

Valren nodded to both and headed out the door as the two followed, as they walked through the business of Ops, Valren tapped his commbadge.

Arelwynn: *taps* Arelwynn to Commander Toralon. Kel, I am here with the judges of the Bat'leth Tournament. Join us in my private lounge immeadiately please. Arelwynn out.

They stepped into the turbolift and Valren ordered it to Deck 6. The lift barely began to accelerate before stopping again only a few dozen metres below.

They stepped out and rounded a corner and entered the lounge. It was empty, Valren hadn't called catering services to have it staffed and he felt it'd probably be best to keep it that way. The nerves of his fellow flag officers were not yet at ease.

Arelwynn: Gentlemen, what can I treat you too... though I've not had the chance to review the stocks, I know there is a good selection of the "real stuff" here. Otherwise, we'll get you some synthohol.

OFF:

TAG Wade, K'Hare, Kel (Toralon)

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Lanasthai_Kajiura on Feb 8^th, 2005, 10:50pm

Kel moved through the halls with trepidation. Everything about this week was both great and terrible, and now she was meeting not only with the CO, but with some of the tournament judges? She didn't really understand much about the tournament itself, but she figured that for as big an event as this was, the judges would be people of note.

When she reached the lounge, the hiss of the door opening nearly frightened her away, but she steeled herself, then tried to walk in as though meetings of this sort happened every other day or so. As she approached, she paused, then drew to attention.

Toralon: Sirs, reporting as ordered."

OFF
Kel Toralon, as played by TY Kajiura :)

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 8^th, 2005, 10:54pm

Arelwynn: Ah Kel, thank you for coming. This is K'Hare totlh and Rear Admiral Durkis. I just wanted you to help us prepare as you've been here - and in charge - longer than I have.

He stepped back a bit and then added a sentence more.

Arelwynn: If you will just excuse me a moment, I'll be right back.

The doors parted and he was gone.

OFF:

It is from this point that this (http://www.batlh.com/cgi-bin/betleHIII/YaBB.pl?board=early;action=display;num=1107918582) happens.

Kel, feel free to post with these gents and Valren will return quickly.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 8^th, 2005, 10:56pm

Durkis: I think some bloodwine would be approprite if him have some. Otherwise anythign real would do for the moment.

A drink is exactly what Wade could use at the moment. And by his guess that would go the same for the others.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 9^th, 2005, 12:54am

K'Hare looked at the bar skeptically. "Well, I suppose we are in Rome. Wade, I will let you select the proper drink for this occasion as long as I get to select the size of the glasses."

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 9^th, 2005, 8:32am

Looked sifted thru the bottles behind the bar. There was a nice selction of "real" stuff stocked in it. He finally found a nice bottle of bloodwine. It wasn't an old vintage but it was real and would have to do.

Grabing four mugs, Wade filled each and handed a mug to his co-judges and Toralon.

Durkis: A toast. To another fine competition ahead ofg us.

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Valren Arelwynn, XFY CO on Feb 9^th, 2005, 9:55pm

OFF:

I wanted to finish this up before we got into super back post mode

ON:

When Valren returned to the room everyone seemed much more at ease. Toralon had outlined what had been done in preparation to the tournament, proving it to be far more organized than it had appeared at first glance. Moreover, the judges were sitting and drinking and Valren sensed that, by-and-large, they were calm. That said they were curious and had unanswered questions.

Valren was about to begin but decided he'd tell the whole story, one that he didn't think it was yet time to share with the crew of XFY. He asked Toralon to leave them and then began.

He explained how Droj Neirbo had set out on an important, but secret, expedition. Yridian information traders were taking top secret fleet positions to the actionist Gorn. Information that the Gorn could use to obliterate the Starfleet forces fighting against Gorn expansion into the Cestus system.

By the time Droj's force - two starships and one hundred fighters - caught up to the Yridians, they had already passed the information on to the Gorn. The four Gorn vessels and Droj's forces were nearly even matched. Communications were jammed and a large battle began.

Droj had been successful, but at high cost. Dozens of fighters were lost, the Raptor-class USS Singapura was lost and so were many lives.

This was not the worst of it though.

One of the Gorn ships broke away as the battle was beginning to come to a close. In order to keep its commlines - and the fleet data - jammed and from the greater Gorn forces, Droj's flagship, the USS Cochrane an Intimidator-class starship, put chase.

The battle continued at warp and the Cochrane suffered more damage than the Gorn. Its warp engines failing, Droj had to stop the Gorn and he had only minutes left to do it. In violation of interstellar law, he fired transphasic torpedoes and destroyed the Gorn.

Though this was the only way to save the fleet in the Cestus area, it was also patently illegal. Worse, Romulan intelligence detected the transphasic weapons on sensors. The Romulan ambassador called for Neirbo's head.

He was to be courtmartialled and taken to the full letter of the law.

A Vice Admiral Valren Arelwynn, then head of Starfleet Intelligence, heard of this and was outraged. Neirbo had saved millions of lives despite breaking the law to do so.

Arelwynn contacted Neirbo and offered him an alternative. If Neirbo were to resign from Starfleet, he would ensure the charges were dropped. And it was done.

In a bizarre twist of fate, Valren's involvement in Droj's departure being unclear, he was named as Droj's replacement as Xavier CO and replaced the acting TF44 CO, VADM Chris Pike, who resumed his post as TFXO. This was all due to an unrleated report and it put Valren in an awkward postion.

When Droj resigned, he was ashamed. He left the base, without notice, very quietly. No one aboard knew he'd resigned at Valren's urging and intervention.

Arelwynn: So, gentleman, that's the story. I'd say it calls for another drink.

OFF

Tag

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by K`Hare totlh on Feb 10^th, 2005, 1:56am

K'Hare listened to the story, first with excitement, then with disappointment, and finally with confusion.

The bolian had not struck him as a warrior yet he had gone into battle and done well. If not for the one decision this would have clearly been a reason to cheer and toast him. But he had used an illegal weapon... he had cheated, but the cause was just.

That starfleet equipped its ships with weapons they never intended to be used was still a human behavior the totlh did not understand.

K'Hare raised his glass. "To those that died well, starfleet and gorn alike. And to accepting the cost of your victories, both good and bad with your face in plain light."

Title: Re: The Judges meet the Host
Post by Wade_Duerkes on Feb 10^th, 2005, 12:42pm

off: this should wrap this up.

Wade raised his glass to K'hare's toast. Things didn't seem fair. During the first Bat'leth Competition, Wade had used transphasic torpedoes when they had to respond to a Reman attack on a colony. Some how it went unnoticed, but now Droj was forced to resign for doing the same thing. How did he manage to avoid a court marshel?

Finishing the rest of his drink, Wdae put his glass down.

Durkis: Well, I have a few things I need to tend to and I'm sure you both do as well. Good day to you both and we shall meet again soon.