Fall 1 D A 9.9086 -12.4374 - 3306-11-28 15:31 GST
Commander Graves sat at his work station on board the Beluga, Palantir. The ship was a mobile operations center and intelligence processing hub for the Official Tewanta Order and was parked near geysers on the moon Fall 1 D A. These made detecting the ship from orbit more difficult and that was desirable here. Two other ships, both Vultures, had landed in the valley and the less prying eyes knew about this meeting, the better. The pilots of the other ships, Captain Luciano and Captain Gruber, had just come aboard and Commander Graves waited for them to be brought up to his office. The office was comfortable, a repurposed business passenger cabin, but was not ostentatious. It definitely would be considered spartan by any Federation corporate executive, never mind an Empire Client. There were four enhanced crash couches, that functioned as both flight seats and work stations for analysts. There was little decoration in the room aside from some framed calligraphy in the style of ancient China from Sol. The room also had a food and beverage dispenser. The commander had already brewed coffee for himself and the two captains. The door opened and the two captains walked in, still wearing their flight suits. The door closed behind them.
"Gentlemen, have a seat", Commander Graves said. He paused to allow the two men to sit before continuing.
"It has come to my attention that the two of you have expressed doubts about The Order's current strategy." The two men were shocked and started to protest, but Commander Graves raised his hand to interrupt them.
"I would consider you stupid if you had no doubts, given how little information on our true strategy that is available to you both. And in these interesting times stupidity is a graver sin than doubt. I have been asked to brief you both. It is hoped my explanations will strengthen your resolve. What are your concerns?"
"We have lost influence. We no longer control any bases or stations. We appear to be a faction in decline. How is that a strategy?", asked Captain Luciano.
"We have lost direct influence, that is true, but we have never had more influence in real terms. We are wealthier than ever, The Order has a fleet greater than what it had at any point in its history, and our pilots and troops are better trained than ever before."
"Excuse me commander, but I remain sceptical. That doesn't seem credible.", said Captain Gruber, "I know our fleet strength and I remember there being more than double the number of ships registered to the Official Tewanta Order in the past."
"You are correct. The Order's currently registered fleet is 45% of its peak. However, most of our current fleet is registered in the names of other factions."
The two captains looked confused, so Commander Graves changed tack. "We used to directly project force, use it as a means of intimidation, and measure ourselves by how strong we appeared. That proved to be a weakness. It made us an obvious target and easy to mobilise against. The Buurian Protectorate exploited that weakness. Given their current strength, alliances, diversified revenue streams, and the extensive assets of The Buur Pit CMDRs, that direct approach is not feasible. Instead, we must act in the shadows and give our enemies as few targets as possible. To that end, nearly seventy percent of our fleet is officially registered to other factions. They are fully controlled by us, but identify as being from other factions. Some even fly under the name of The Buurian Protectorate.
"How?", asked Captain Luciano, who looked even more confused.
"For starters, there is a corrupt Pilot's Federation clerk in Chu I, that we have control over. Espionage and blackmail can be as powerful weapons as plasma accelerators, at times. The details of our hold over him are in these files. Feel free to convince yourselves of it strength."
"He's a pervert and drug addict. How contemptibly weak!", said Captain Luciano.
"Agreed! That is how we control him. We have not put all our bets on him, however. Many of are ships are registered by our agents in other factions, for example, our young ally, The White Knight, has registered numerous ships of ours to the LP 100-56 Dominion. Most sloppy of them to not deactivate his access credentials."
"And if they do?", asked Captain Gruber.
"Surgeon O'Boyle and the young knight himself will be consolidating control of LP 100-56 Dominion soon. The two of them have devised a simple but cunning plan to gain permanent control: it requires a little bit of subtle subterfuge to being with, but in the long run, a few swift assassinations will be all that it takes. Feudalism makes it almost too easy."
"That's one system and a tiny one, at that. It's hardly an empire.", said Captain Gruber,
"Indeed. Similar faction take overs are taking place in Olelbanu, HIP 77451, Qamadi, and Djaujas. We'll have effective control of mid level factions in each of these systems in the coming months."
"Why have we not been told about this before? Why tell us now?", asked Captain Luciano.
"Obviously, these actions require secrecy. Only the personnel directly involved needed to know." Commander Graves paused to watch the two captains. He was gratified to see the realization dawn across their faces. He would have been disappointed had they not understood the ramifications of what he had just said.
"What is our role to be?", asked Captain Luciano.
"Espionage, blackmail, sabotage, and assassination shall be our primary tools for the next few month. We need a force of privateers capable of hitting hard and assassinating any single ship. You two are to be the leaders of those wings. The opposition will strong and skilled. The young knight's elder brothers are likely to be the first targets."
The two captains sat back in their seats, considering what they had just heard. Commander Graves continued.
"This is the short term goal: gaining indirect influence by controlling other factions. The mid term goal is to usurp the Data Broker's role in this part of the galaxy, to strengthen our indirect influence further. We are making strides in that area, having detected operations of theirs in Tewanta and HIP 83020. Their agent, Mr. Morden, is not as subtle as he believes. They rely on us for intelligence gathering in this area, and we are beginning to understand their methods. The long term goal is, of course, to return to direct influence, but that will require a similar sized force to The Buurian Protectorate, which may require a few years to assemble. Attempting this too early would be folly. I have sent some briefing materials to your terminals, as well as details of the protocols to communicate with other forces in this operation. There is much work to be done and I am sure you are eager to get started."
The two captains nodded, stood up and saluted. They had faint smiles on their faces and Commander Graves could almost hear the gears turn in their heads. He was pretty sure that they no longer felt defeated ad saw the possibilities for The Order's long term victory. Whether their sense of honour could put up with being assassins and privateers, only time would tell, but for now they would do their part. Commander Graves messaged Colonel Bierski on how the meeting went, and resumed analysing the data being piped out of Cortes Base. So the Alliance had plans in the Coalsack Nebula, he thought to himself...