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In council assembled - Agmen of Eladesor - 01-09-2012
The atmosphere inside Capetown was tense, as the last ships arrived and docked.
The crews of those ships knew this was going to be ugly. Victory, even a costly victory, would have been cause for celebration. There was to be no celebration here.
Too many men and women had died this time. Too many proud ships had been destroyed. Too many questions were unanswered, but that was the purpose behind this assembly - to find the answers to those questions. Where the Guild would go from here was something else that would have to be decided.
In the main Council Chambers, chairs were pulled back and the Guildmasters took their seats. They were seated in the round, similar to the knights and chevaliers many of them considered themselves to be. But the seat at what was considered the head of the table remained empty.
The lights in the room dimmed to near darkness. From overhead, a light shone down upon the empty seat - which was empty no more.
![[Image: Max01.jpg]](http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p395/maxmilliandevirgo/Max01.jpg)
"Guildmaster Varus, you have many things to answer for today. Perhaps you will leave this chamber alive, perhaps not. You are charged with incompetence, idiocy, being a traitor to our brotherhood, and in failing of the duty to which you were sworn to do. How do you plead?"
In council assembled - Dashiell - 01-09-2012
Before the council was in progress, Jack made his way through Capetown.
'Been a while since I came here. Lats time it was also a disaster....'
He made his way to the main room and took his seat, placing his baseball bat against the table next to him. He poured some tequila which was set on the table before him. it was pretty clear that way that this seat was to be Jack's.
He leaned back and waited for things to start. Then DeVirgo appeared and spoke.
Now Jack was quite curious as to what Varrus would say...
In council assembled - Stoat - 01-09-2012
To appear at the meeting was a risk. It was understood. It was also cinsidered worthwhile. Guildmaster Stoat stepped off his ship, staring straight at the small squad of elite guards that had been arranged for his "safety".
"Hector, Dan," Stoat nodded at two of the guards. "I remember you from Sheffield station. It is ....." as he paused the guards shuffled nervously, "...good to see you again. Shall we proceed?"
The guards escorted Stoat to the Council Chambers in silence. At the doors they stopped, and Stoat passed through. His seat was pulled back for him, and at that moment the lights dimmed. He took his seat all but unnoticed.
The theatricality of DeVirgo's entrance forced a smile to the edge of his lips.
In council assembled - Montezuma/Kukulcan - 01-10-2012
Varrus, sitting opposite from the rest of the Guildmasters, rose to his feet slowly as his strategic mind raced, thinking of all the possible outcomes of the trial that lay ahead. He took a deep breath, and with his mind still ablaze, he began to deliver his first and obviously rehearsed statement to the Council.
"My lord Guildmasters, I must assure you that I am innocent of the charges that have been brought before me, as I had followed the due process laid out as a precursor to a full scale planetary assault. The loss of our fleets and armies came about through no fault of my own, for none of us could have foreseen what would happen. Had we known, the assault would have been aborted, but our intelligence proved woefully inaccurate."
He looked down at the table before him and stretched his left hand out to his side, to which one of his retinue responded by handing him a sealed file. He placed it upon the table and stood upright once again, placing one outstretched hand on top of the file as he did so.
"What I have here are the records of all the intelligence details surrounding the area around Omicron Minor for the month leading up to the invasion."
He opened the file and began reading from it.
"Date... December 27th, 03:45 hours... The last Order guerillas in Omicron Delta have been put down... Scouts sent into the more distant charted Omicron systems have reported little to no alien activity... The way into Omicron Minor is clear of hostile forces, and a perimeter has been erected several systems wide to ensure we are not disturbed during the pacification of the system..."
He turned over a few pages and continued reading.
"Date... December 28th, 14:25 hours... The perimeter is clear and the fleet is moving out, no hostile ships have been detected outside of Omicron Minor..."
He turned over yet another page and continued.
"Date... December 28th, 23:15 hours... The fleet has entered Omicron Minor in force and the battle has commenced, the perimeter is still clear for the most part, though a small Nomad group has been sighted in sector 44-Alpha, but it is of no threat to the fleet..."
He closed the file and pushed it to one side, then stood to address the Council once more.
"After that, the transmissions from the scout command were unintelligible, so there is no way we could have known what would happen. Surely I cannot be blamed for this? Perhaps during the battle, errors were made, but without the alien intervention, we would surely have been victorious, I am certain of it."
He sat back down and awaited the response of the Council, to which he was already planning his answer. However, this was already becoming a taxing experience, as evident on Varrus' face, which was not only fatigued from all that had transpired in the past month, but beginning to sweat.
In council assembled - Dashiell - 01-10-2012
Jack listened to Varrus' explanation. As Varrus spoke, Jack's mind started to wonder off as he didnt really care for the quoting of reports. Then he heard something about a small group of nomads being detected, but ignored.
Jack grumbled and put down his glass of tequila.
'Mi dios hombre, You spotted a nomad scouting group then? After not seeing a single nomad ship for a while. And then you are suprised that they come out in full force as they see our men and the Order thugs duking it out? They were sitting there, watching us humans tear each other to pieces. Surely it was not that hard to figure out they'd abuse the situation?'
In council assembled - Agmen of Eladesor - 01-12-2012
Max looked at Varus.
"No threat to the fleet," he said quietly.
There was silence in the chamber for a moment. Max continued, and the flatness of his voice as he started speaking showed how strongly he was working to keep his anger in check at that moment.
"I have to accept a certain amount of responsibility for this, my fellow Guildmasters. I took over the Guild after the Exalted Guildmaster George Graves had his health issues. I was determined to follow not only his plans for the future of the Guild, but to expand upon them. It appears that one of those plans that was expanded upon was the hiring of the handicapped."
The tenor of Max' voice changed from flat to pure anger.
"There appears to be no other explanation why someone who was in command of a fleet numbering forty Mako battleships, fifty two Bullhead battlecruisers, sixty four Thresher destroyers, seventy five Orca gunboats, one hundred thirty bombers, two hundred forty four Manta fighters, and eight Shire armored transports, could manage to have his head so far up his anal orifice that his hearing was impaired enough that further reports were 'unintelligible' except that he was mentally challenged!"
Max' voice lowered again, dangerously.
"Thirty Makos and their crews, gone. Forty two Bullheads, gone. Fifty six Threshers, gone. Three hundred and four total support craft, gone. Seven of the eight Shires - most of the APM fleet - gone. The logs show that our assault forces had secured Toledo. Toledo..."
"HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU LOSE A PLANET?"
In council assembled - Montezuma/Kukulcan - 01-13-2012
Varrus leant forward, looking directly back at de Virgo, he took another deep breath before continuing.
"I was not in personal command of the fleet, if I were, I would most likely not be here, though that does not absolve me of ultimate responsibility, I could not have influenced the decision to press on, as I only received the reports from the command ship during the operation, not the scouts and outriders."
He paused momentarily, considering de Virgo's most recent statement.
"Yes, we did capture Toledo, but in the battle, the retreating Order commandos disabled the surface to space batteries stationed on the planet, so it was of little practical use in combating the Nomads when they appeared. As for the fleet, it was focused on eliminating the retreating Order divisions and was taken by surprise. I would do naught but credit them for standing their ground, out-flanked and out-gunned by a superior hostile force."
"However, I do not believe that once the battle began, even if we knew the Nomads were coming, we could have prevented what happened. Some of our final reports seem to indicate an unknown type of Nomad vessel, of immense power and size, capable of scorching entire planets, was at the centre of their fleet, and was responsible for the destruction of Toledo. If they are accurate, and given what we now know about the size of their fleet, I do not believe that our invasion force could have secured victory by any means against them."
"However, I do not believe that once the battle began, even if we knew the Nomads were coming, we could have prevented what happened. Some of our final reports seem to indicate an unknown type of Nomad vessel, of immense power and size, capable of scorching entire planets, was at the centre of their fleet, and was responsible for the destruction of Toledo. If they are accurate, and given what we now know about the size of their fleet, I do not believe that our invasion force could have secured victory by any means against them."
In council assembled - Agmen of Eladesor - 01-16-2012
DeVirgo looked non-plussed.
"So Doug didn't com you for advice? That doesn't make a lot of sense."
On the screen, a picture of Douglas Bader, who had worked his way back up to being a fleet commander appeared.
"Stoat, were your new ... friends ... in communication with him at the time of this combat? This whole behavior on their part is out of character for them. And before you ask, no, I'm not asking you to betray their trust. We have our 'special arrangement' with you. That's one reason we attacked Toledo, after all."
In council assembled - Stoat - 01-17-2012
Smiling, Stoat did not bother to rise.
"No, DeVirgo, he is not the cause of your loss. In reality, neither is Varrus here. The Core merely over-reached itself. Should you wish to nominate a scapegoat, then choose one and move on. You think of the actions taken against you as out of character. You seek to impose a human condition upon that which is not human."
Stoat moved his attention to the assembled guildmasters.
"You are all responsible for the occurrences here discussed. No-one is free from blame. Advantage was taken when the opportunity presented itself. Think of it merely as a lesson in humility. Wisdom can be gained. It is down to us to decide whether to accept the lesson."
In council assembled - Agmen of Eladesor - 01-17-2012
DeVirgo smiled back.
"Your comment gives me hope, Stoat, whether you intended for it do so or not. You still refer to 'us'. Excellent."
DeVirgo turned back to the assembly.
"Very well. I will take the advice of our ... Ambassador Guildmaster ... in these proceedings, unless there is some objection?" He barely paused to take a breath. "I didn't think so."
"In light of the evidence presented, and as much as it pains me to admit it, I suspect that the only blame for our loss is our own hubris. At the same time, I see no reason to change our total long term plans in light of our short term losses. I propose a reorganization of our structure, so that each of our groups can focus upon their own main objectives while we ... make plans."
Turning to look directly at 'Cracker' Jack, Max said, "Cracker - this hurt us. Badly. Both financially, of course, and in personnel and equipment. I have complete confidence in your ability to guide our in-house forces in all matters. Take charge of those forces - those that remain, anyway. Rally them. Give them a cause. Make them effective fighters, leaders, and hunters. Strengthen our presence so that once again the pirates of Sirius fear our very name."
He turned towards Varrus. "The Core has been crippled by this. But just as a wounded animal is most dangerous, so shall the Core be. Take personal command of all Core Operations. You WILL be responsible now for everything that happens. Reinforce Dabadoru. Maintain the safety and integrity of our system here, Rostock and the surrounding area. Make your plans for the long term - not just our survival but our ultimate success."
"Yes, Stoat, I have learned. Return to your new friends, but remain in touch. While you may be part of something bigger than yourself now, your heart is still human. Remember that."
"Is there anything further to come before this assembly?"