Cabinet Battle

Posted on Jul 03, 2016 @ 12:37pm by Brigadier General Alexander Towers
Edited on on Jul 03, 2016 @ 12:37pm

Mission: Fortress: Earth

= Cabinet Battle =

(cont’d from “Wait For It”)

LOCATION: USS DEMETER

SCENE: Marine Commandant’s Office

STARDATE: [2.16] 0702.2234

Alexander Towers usually tried not to be distracted by the enormity of any particular task. That way led to distraction and inaction, in his opinion; simply getting on with the work was always preferable than wasting time contemplating how long it would take to finish it. This philosophy had seen Towers through his share of dark days, but it operated under the assumption that the task he’d undertaken could be completed. As Towers brought up another of the seemingly infinite list of reports that demanded his attention, he started to suspect this particular task would never end. He hadn’t held the job of Marine Commandant long, but Towers felt like he’d spent almost all of it being gradually entombed by bureaucracy. The chair beneath him, new when he’d taken possession of this office, now had a well-worn groove in the shape of his ass permanently stretched into its faux-leather finish. Towers worried if he sat there for much longer, he’d start growing roots.

When the figures on the screen in front of him started to blur, Towers leaned back and rubbed at his eyes. He’d been at it for six straight hours, with only one quick break when he’d need to take a trip to the head. The list of orders, transfers, inspection reports, and more that required his sign-off didn’t seem to have gotten any shorter in that time. He knew that organizations as large as Starfleet often generated mountains paperwork, forms to be stamped or signed in triplicate and then stuffed into some administrative file in the unlikely event that they’d ever be of use to anyone. Towers privately thought that the administrators running things thought of all those forms and reports as a bulwark, protecting the Federation from encroaching darkness. Faced with the choice between tritanium shielding and a wall of dotted-i’s and crossed-t’s, Towers would take the tritanium any day of the week.

Not even during his tenure as CO of GATEWAY Station did Towers spend so much time behind a desk. Of course, things had been different in those days. Back then, Towers’ sphere of responsibility extended only to the extremities of GATEWAY’s airspace, rather than across the entirety of the loyalist fleet. For another thing, there had been a war on, and whenever Towers started feeling trapped inside the CO’s Ready Room, he could often count on an unexpected Dominion patrol to get him back on his feet and ready to fight. It wasn’t the fighting he missed - even if it was, Towers had a feeling there would always be more conflict in this galaxy than anyone could hope for - but Towers *did* miss the sense of purpose that work in the field had provided. He was a soldier. He belonged on the field, standing shoulder to shoulder with his comrades and across from his enemies, not perched above them all in the lofty post of administrator. In his experience, administrators showed up after the battle has ended so that they can bayonet the wounded.

Towers didn’t belong in this position. He’d said as much when Thoris P’trell had given him the job. P’trell had said that he wanted someone “worth a damn” leading Starfleet’s marines, someone who had seen battle and knew what it meant to order his fellow soldiers into it. That had been before P’trell had been exposed as “Subject Blue”, an agent working on Edgerton’s behalf. After his arrest, all of P’trell’s appointees had fallen under scrutiny, but Towers was investigated and cleared of any involvement with the Neo-Essentialists. Towers supposed that the fact that they’d tried to kill him and his men back on BOLARUS had been a strong argument in his defense. Towers was cleared of suspicion, and Sardak had ordered him to remain at his post until the crisis could be resolved. Given the freedom to organize Starfleet’s marines as he saw fit, Towers had set about ensuring that the Federation’s Finest would be battle-ready for when the time came to deploy troops to Earth’s surface. Marine commanders throughout the fleet began to get their units ready for the battle they all knew was coming.

But when they’d arrived at Earth, they’d found the Aegis Network. Their invasion was halted by an energy field and a ring of satellites wired to blow. It was a novel strategy for defense in a siege, Towers supposed; threaten to blow up the castle rather than let the enemy army take it for themselves.

Towers opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and refocused his attention on his workstation. He chewed through another dozen reports through sheer stubbornness, but he could feel his resolve weakening. He had a cabinet meeting with Sardak and Martine later, which would at least offer a change of scenery, but Towers wasn’t looking forward to that meeting any more than he was to remaining here in his office, battling paperwork. His muscles seemed to ache from disuse, and what he really wanted to do right now was head down to one of the holodecks to spend an hour running, climbing, fighting…. Living. But of course, he had too much on his plate to waste time playing wargames with refracted light, and no matter how futile his current assignment seemed to him, Towers could not forget what had brought them all here.

Admiral Edgerton, a madman who’d usurped control of the Federation, now stood poised to obliterate all life on Earth. The loyalist fleet, who had been through so much to get here, could now only bide their time and search desperately for an opening. Things were coming to a head, and Alexander Towers would serve in whatever capacity he could until this war was over.

The door chime for his office cut through the air. Towers didn’t start, but he couldn’t quite keep the smile from his face. He didn’t care who the visitor was or what they wanted, he was just glad for the excuse to look away from his workstation. He turned off his computer screen, then leaned back in his chair and fixed his attention on the door.

“Come in.”

Dexter Marxx entered, his violet eyes fixing immediately on Towers. Marxx wasn’t a marine, but he moved with the discipline of one, Towers thought. He came to a stop before Towers’ desk, standing at full height, his shoulders squarely set. The lines of his uniform were perfect, Towers noted; no hint of creasing or wrinkling. Towers rose, almost felt *pulled*, from his chair to match Marxx’s poise. The two leaders of men eyed each other from across Towers’ desk, until Towers gave a perfect salute. Marxx did outrank him, after all.

“Sir,” said Towers as he held the salute.

“Colonel,” Marxx said, nodding his acknowledgement of the salute. “As you were.”

Towers relaxed, but did not sit. He folded his hands behind his back and waited to hear what had brought one of Starfleet’s most celebrated living heroes to his office. He did not offer Marxx a seat, and he knew that the Admiral would not have taken it anyway.

“Our attempts to find a weakness in the planetary shield are moving slowly,” Marxx said. “We have several ships throughout the fleet working the problem, and so far the only consistent report back has been that there’s no way around it.”

“There’s always a way, sir,” Towers said immediately. He supposed that might sound naive, but nobody could accuse Alexander Towers of being overly sentimental: in this case, Towers thought it very likely that ‘the way” would certainly get a lot of innocent people killed.

“While I tend to agree, our situation remains unchanged,” Marxx said. “We can’t leave Edgerton to his devices, but our intelligence indicates that any attempt to invade Earth will be met with the detonation of the Aegis satellites. Edgerton is still refusing to acknowledge our demand for surrender, and the politicians are getting restless.”

“With respect, sir, so am I,” Towers said. “We can’t wait up here forever. If we do nothing, Edgerton keeps Earth.”

“And if we act rashly, Edgerton burns it,” Marxx sighed. “I agree, Colonel, the situation is untenable. Right now, our only clear course is to hope Kane’s contact on Earth can disable the shield for us, but we need to be prepared for the possibility that that won’t ever happen.”

“The corps is prepared,” Towers said. “I believe our best chance is a blitz play: hit Edgerton hard and fast, before he knows what’s happening or has time to blow the satellites. Intelligence has mapped out likely locations for Edgerton’s command center, and we can be ready for a simultaneous strike at all of them in less than 48 hours.”

“What if Edgerton isn’t operating from a Starfleet facility?” Marxx asked. “He’s been running Earth for more than 2 years. He was able to construct and deploy the Aegis Network without tipping his hand, who knows what else he’s built for himself.”

Towers nodded. “That’s a possibility, sir. Unfortunately, with that shield still in place, no plan is perfect.”

Marxx considered this, then shook his head. “It’s too risky. We could lose not only the planet, but your entire invasion force as well. If Earth is lost, we have to be ready for the political fallout, and that means we need marines ready to keep the peace while we try to pick up the pieces.”

Towers wasn’t sure if he’d heard Admiral Marxx correctly. His brow furrowed.

“You’re not suggesting we abandon Earth?”

“Of course not,” Marxx said. He sounded offended. “Our priority right now of course must be the deactivation of those satellites and the protection of the citizens of Earth. But… we have to be prepared for the possibility that Edgerton has outplayed us. Anything we try may only force his hand… but as you said, we cannot simply do nothing.”

Towers narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t come here to discuss an invasion of Earth. You came here to talk about what we’re going to do once Edgerton destroys it.”

He thought Marxx might balk at this accusation, but the Vegan met Towers’ gaze without flinching.

“Precisely, Colonel,” Marxx said. “I want to know if you’ve got a plan to hold the Federation together after the loss of its capital.”

Towers hadn’t even considered that eventuality. Everything had led them to this, the Siege of Earth, and Towers couldn’t imagine watching as Edgerton burned the surface with thaleron radiation. But as Marxx had laid out, that eventuality was starting to look more and more plausible. With the destruction of Earth, the Federation might collapse into disarray. Representatives from a hundred worlds were still trapped on the surface, and wiping out the seat of Federation leadership in one fell swoop would cause political unrest throughout the quadrant. Treaties would be threatened, trade deals might collapse. There would be riots, factions squabbling for power, and the threat of a new series of civil wars.

Fortunately, Starfleet remained, as did the Federation Council-in-Exile. The situation didn’t have to spin out of control, not if Sardak, Marxx, and Towers were ready to deal with it. But that meant considering that Earth might soon be a smoking ruin, and try as he might, Towers just couldn’t get his head wrapped around that possibility.

So instead, Towers let stubbornness take over instead. Hell, he had never wanted this job anyway.

“With all due respect, admiral, I don’t think our situation is quite so dire just yet.”

“Yes you do,” Marxx said. “You’re just too close to the situation to admit it.”

Towers raised an eyebrow. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s your homeworld that is under threat,” Marxx said. “I’m familiar with your service record, I know you weren’t born there… but Earth is in your DNA, colonel. Please, don’t mistake me, I think your attachment to it is entirely appropriate, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel a similar attachment. But while we sit here, helpless, the other powers of the quadrant have their eyes on us. While our fleet lays siege to Earth, our outer territories lay undefended. We have a Federation to protect, and Earth is only one world among thousands.”

“You’re ready to watch Earth burn for political expediency?” Towers asked.

“Don’t be a fool,” Marxx frowned. “There are billions of lives down there, I’m not blind to that. But there are *trillions* more throughout the rest of the Federation, and they are depending on us as much as Earth is.”

“They don’t have a doomsday device pointed at them,” Towers countered. “And I’m not going to write off Earth because you’re worried about what the Romulans *might* do in the meantime.”

“May I remind you, colonel, that your duty is to the whole of the Federation, and just to your world?”

“And may I remind you, Admiral, that it wasn’t too long ago that Edgerton had you doing his dirty work,” Towers said.

“Irrelevant,” Marxx said, shaking his head. “As soon as I knew what Edgerton was, I stood against him.”

“But while you were making up your mind, he was consolidating his power,” Towers said. “I don’t blame you for your mistakes, admiral. I made the same mistakes, being blind to what Edgerton was. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t responsible for those mistakes. And those people down there deserve more from us than to be written off as acceptable losses.”

Marxx absorbed this without any change of expression. Towers held the Vegan’s gaze for as long as he dared. Eventually, Marxx nodded.

“I can’t order you,” Marxx said. “You serve at the pleasure of the president, as do I. But you and I have been in situations like this before, Colonel Towers, and we both know that happy endings are not guaranteed.”

“No,” Towers said. “You have to work for them. Bleed for them, sometimes. But they’re still worth reaching for. I don’t think the destruction of Earth is a foregone conclusion, and I won’t have my men giving orders with that idea in the back of their minds. We came here to do a job, and we’re going to get it done.”

“I wish it were that simple,” Marxx said. “Well. I’ve said my piece, colonel. I trust you’ll do the right thing.”

“Yes sir,” Towers said, once again snapping to attention. Marxx nodded again, then turned to leave. Towers watched him go, not resuming his seat behind the desk until the doors to his office swished shut behind Marxx.

He thought about what Marxx had said. He did his best not to imagine what Earth would look like, bathed in the cleansing fire of thaleron, but he wasn't very successful.

Then, stoic as ever, Towers reached out to turn his workstation back on, and resumed his work. Whatever his faults, Alexander Towers had always been good at getting on with it.

=[/\]=

Shawn Putnam

A.k.a.

Alexander Towers

Marine Commandant

USS DEMETER