round 4 Lt Cmdr Reinard: Greir Sells Federation To The Masses

[Sedrin Belasi]

((Staging Area, Assembly Building))

::The premiere trade district on Zakdorn filled the huge screen as Greir pressed a button on the lectern. There was a buzz of activity as goods were handled and checked for import and export. Upbeat, melodic trance techno music played in the background, but not so loudly that Greir could not be heard clearly over it. A few seconds later the camera zoomed out and the planet of Zakdorn filled the whole screen.::

::This was going to be truly spectacular and he was very proud of not only his research but the way it was presented. He wasn’t going down the usual route for delivering a speech and the opener was designed to grab the audiences attention. ::

Reinard: The Zakdorn have always been resourceful and prudent in their management of business. Even before your involvement with the Federation you had a strong and thriving economy.

::The image of the planet shrunk on the screen and slipped over to one side as a statistical overview displayed a year on year overview of key economic data for the years prior to their entry into the Federation. There was another zoom out as the camera took a trip around the system and the music's tempo increased. New statistical data appeared on the screen and graphs showed impressive spikes upwards as Zakdorn entered the Federation. Though the data changed he’d made sure there was enough time for the viewers to properly read and absorb the information.::

Reinard: It was by no miscalculation that the Zakdorn people chose to join the Federation. We opened the doors of the universe to you.

::The camera zoomed through the region, passing beautiful stars and planets along the biggest shipping lane as more statistics were relayed demonstrating how the economy had hugely been boosted by the new business opportunities that had opened up to them by joining the Federation. The displayed figures were clear for all the room to see and he knew every Zakdorn in the room could read the unspoken facts for themselves.::

Reinard: Business has boomed, your economy has grown and gone from strength to strength, but it’s not always been easy. Unfriendly factions have often tried to block or close that trade route. There have been incidences in which your cargo freighters, hauling high valued goods have come under attack.

::The beat and tempo of the music changed again and became more aggressive as the screen seemed to zoom in to a point until a lone Zakdorn cargo freighter travelling the trade route filled a good portion of the screen. It wasn’t real footage he was showing here, it was computer generated. It was a simulation based of real events and the date of the incident showed on the top left of the screen. A line from the freighter led to a box illustrating the ship, it’s cargo manifest and the value of goods it was carrying. It was a huge, slow, poorly armed ship but it was built like a tank and could sustain a lot of punishment...::

:: ...Which was just as well because at that point another, aggressive ship was seen to approach and start harassing the freighter. Weapons fire lit up the screen and struck at the ship whose defensive armaments were failing to do much damage in retaliation. The action played at an increased pace to give a taste of the events as they had unfolded and you could see the scars on the hull as the ship took more and more damage from the severe beating it was getting. As with the rest of it, the vital tactical information was flagged up to put the situation in perspective for the viewers. The time at which a distress call was made was flagged up on screen.::

::So when the Federation ship was seen to warp in and take control of the situation you could see the response time. Considering how big space was Greir felt it was pretty good, in fact it was better than good to the point of being lucky. That is, lucky that there had happened to be a ship so close by at the time - otherwise things would have gone much more poorly and he wouldn’t be playing the clip here today.::

Reinard: The Federation supports its member worlds, whether it’s a single ship coming under attack or a group.

::The action on the screen continued as it slid and shrunk until it was only taking up the left half of the screen. The right half showed a second scene with a convoy of Zakdorn ships coming under attack much further down the trading route. It’s a similar scene. Even though the convoy worked as a team to focus what little firepower they had to do the most damage there was little impact. The group took heavy damage before a StarFleet ship arrived in time to save them and see the attackers off. More than that, in each case the StarFleet ships remained behind after the attack and sent repair crews to help fix the damaged ships. Then the StarFleet vessel escorted them along the route until repairs were finished, the area was deemed clear and it was appropriate to let them continue alone again.::

::Greir had taken care to construct this part of the presentation to be as engaging visually as it was packed with all the facts and statistics the Zakdorn craved. Right now he only needed to solidify what was on the screen with some key points from himself.::

Reinard: We also make an excellent breakdown service. ::Smiling and adding a touch of humor.::

::The left half of the screen shrunk to the top of the screen and was now filling a 1/4 of the space; the action continued to play out but it was near complete by now. The space that was vacated was filled with a new scene - of a freighter that hadn’t come under attack. One that had suffered mechanical failure - the details of which were highlighted in the appropriate place. Once again StarFleet was there to save the day.::

::Thankfully the screen was big enough to accommodate all of this information clearly. ::

Reinard: If the Zakdorn choose to leave the Federation in favor of an alliance with the Klingons this kind of support will not be provided and you will lose access to Federation worlds. The Klingons will consider you weak if you cannot stand alone and protect your own assets. Of course, you might argue the case that you don’t have to go far from home for good trading opportunities.

::It was time for the bigger picture and the music seemed to calm and slow back down, becoming more peaceful as a territory map of the Zeta Gelis region. Symbols for various resources appeared on the map and were listed in a key to the bottom right of the screen. It showed the various imports and exports and indicated a lot of expensive, heavy materials were being mined and traded and it was clear a lot of this supported their thriving construction industry.::

Reinard: It looks great right now but let’s see what happens when we strip away access to Federation Worlds.

::The screen changed and Zakdorn and it’s territory was now coloured red, the symbols for resources now closed to them were gone. They were replaced with symbols elsewhere of resources that the Klingons were known to be able to provide. The figures here were educated estimates that he’d worked out as accurately as possible to illustrate to them how a change of allegiance would hit their pockets. If Zakdorn and it’s colonies started losing as much money as was indicated by the projected figures it was going to affect their standard of living. He had no doubt they were smart enough to realise this.::

Reinard: ::Wincing for effect:: Ouch, that’s a blow, but that’s not all. The bigger picture is considerably worse. Take away the Federation and all those lucrative exports go. ::

::The map zoomed out displaying the entire map of the universe with all the territories marked in and colour coded. Only details for the biggest imports and exports were shown. The figures changed from showing current trading details to projected figures for a Klingon alliance, with the resource markers changing as before.::

Reinard: A number of your export businesses will dry up with a move away from the Federation. You will also lose access to these resources completely as the Klingon Empire doesn’t have access to them at all.

::Images of the resources danced across the screen. Some of these were as simple as popular food stuffs but a number of them were fairly important - such as construction materials and would most likely be missed. There was no doubt that an alternative would have to be found and that was both time consuming and costly.::

Reinard: ::Confidently:: I’m Lieutenant Commander Greir Reinard from the USS Vigilant. You built StarFleet this fantastic new ship and your contributions are widely known and appreciated. The USS Vigilant will add to our assets operating in and around the region. More support for you. As you can clearly see and will continue to see, the Zakdorn people simply cannot afford to leave the Federation.
:: With a nervous glance around the room Greir noted his introduction seemed to have done an adequate job of grabbing the audience’s attention. All eyes were on him and he felt you could just about cut the atmosphere with a knife. Now that he had their attention he was going to hit them with his strongest point. This was the tough one, the Battle of Bondi.::

Reinard: You’ve already seen that the Federation offers a greater variety of resources and greater scope for trade. What you’ll see next is that though the Klingons are a formidable adversary they are no real threat to the Federation.

::Greir pressed a button to once again show the map of local areas of space, highlighting Zakdorn and Til’ahn - although it was labeled with it’s Federation designation Duronis II. Showing it in this way made sure all present were familiar with the planet as it’s relative proximity. Some details about the planet, it’s population - and facts that might interest the Zakdorn were displayed but he reiterated the most important one.::

Reinard: What follows next is live footage from a battle fought on Duronis II, which is not a Federation Member. StarFleet played a key role in helping the local militia remove the invading Klingons off the planet.

::Pressing another button the advisory warning appeared on the screen, giving adequate time for any who wished to leave to get up and do so. He didn’t know if any of the individuals present here today had heart problems. They were reputed to be quite healthy despite their size but Greir wasn’t a doctor and didn’t want to be responsible for any heart attacks. He didn’t expect any would leave but they had to have fair warning. Given the Minister's positive response earlier he was fairly hopeful of getting the result he wanted. ::

::The News feed began and the Laudean militia assembled in Bondi, Manar Providence, and prepared for battle. You could see them equipping themselves with disruptor weapons, and grenades as well as laying explosive charges. ::


::The Laudeans were down in the valley and StarFleet was supporting them up on the ridge in strategic positions. Greir was sure the Zakdorn could see the merit in the strategy used, indeed it had not taken a complicated Zakdorn strategy to push back the Klingons. The plan was simple and even a child could have anticipated it - he felt it did not paint the Klingons in a very good light.::

::The Klingons advanced and when the time was right and they’d come far enough forward the Laudeans opened fire. The sound of battle filled the room. Greir kept his attention on the audience, trying to gauge their reaction. He could practically see the cogs turning in the minds of the audience as they weighed the merit of what was before them. Many faces did not look particularly impressed.::

::Once more the sounds of explosions, screams, rockfall and weapons fire pierced his ears and the surround sound was doing it’s job. Greir felt his blood turn to ice but held steady and composed. StarFleet were giving it their all shooting and throwing grenades from above. The Brotherhood crumbled and their flank began to collapse forcing the Klingons to try resupplying them. Laudean fighters circled, firing down relentlessly and a StarFleet shuttle was zipping around dropping recovered mines in strategic locations. ::

::StarFleet soon started drawing fire but the Klingons had no success in their effort to return fire and eliminate the StarFleet threat. The Laudeans never let up and it was greatly revealing of the character and spirit of their people that they fought with such determination and passion. The battle finished with the Laudeans steamrolling the last of the Klingons and the eyes in the room turned once more to Greir.::

Reinard: Klingons are a warrior species by choice, the Laudeans are not but any species can step up and be warriors when what they hold dear is threatened. There is no doubt that the Federation presence in the region is enough to adequately support Zakdorn IV, because it’s also adequate enough to support non-member worlds.

::Greir had only received this next data recently and so had no supporting footage to go with it, so the data was displayed in a more simplified way on the screen and contained other key dates and battles where the Klingons had failed to conquer Federation worlds and he had another prime example standing just behind him.::

Reinard: It took no sophisticated Zakdorn plan to defeat the Klingons. If a species so devoted to the art of war cannot defeat peaceful species such as the Laudeans, what hope do they have of defeating larger foes, like the Brikar?

::Greir spared a purposeful glance back to Eerie to draw the audiences attention to him.::

Reinard: Lieutenant Commander Eerie here, is Brikar and I’m sure he would love to share some war stories with you as the Brikar are also a warrior race. They are renowned for their stoic nature and devotion to duty and I would rather take a Brikar into battle than a Klingon - any day! They are sturdy and can withstand tremendous phaser fire, they can breathe underwater for over twenty minutes. They’re as tough as they come, fearsome and powerful in battle - but more than that they’re reliable and trustworthy. They won’t turn on you when the wind changes.

::Here he was referring to the fact the Klingons had in the past made and broken alliances to further their own personal agendas. Greir had no doubt in his mind that the Klingons would turn on the Zakdorn the minute they had whatever it was they were after here and he hoped they’d be smart enough to realise it too.::

::The Klingons had tried several times in battle to conquer the Brikar and failed. If the Brikar Defence Force had only been stronger they could have been the ones steamrolling through the galaxy instead. The battle details were up on the screen and Greir summarized the final battle. ::

Reinard: The Klingons finally realised they could not conquer the Brikar on Stardate 234112.07 after the battle for Purex Sector.

::A system map highlighted the 5th planet in the system and displayed statistics on the ground and space assets deployed by both forces.::

Reinard: While the Klingon Empire had a vast numerical superiority of starships and was a bit more advanced technologically they met Brikar for the first time in ground to ground combat. Brikar ground troops destroyed a Klingon division in pitch battle and the Klingons lost thousands of troops. The Brikar forces had a handful of deaths and only about 100 injured.

::Greir paused and let them absorb the simple fact that the Brikar had effectively rolled over an entire Klingon division and had sustained minimal casualties. The Brikar space forces had fared poorly and had lost 10 of 12 starships while only managing to destroy 2 Klingon battle cruisers. Greir did not mention this, though it was available in the statistics that were displayed. It had not been Federation Starships involved in the conflict - which had taken place before the Brikar had joined the Federation. The point was to illustrate the considerable capabilities of one of the Federations most powerful warrior races.::

Reinard: The Federation being made up of so many species, all having equal rights and value is not a weakness - it is a strength. Every species has it’s strengths and weaknesses but every race adds something to the Federation which makes it stronger. The greatest strategists know how to capitalize on this to get the greatest returns.

::This led him onto his final point of the presentation. He continued to observe the audience and was mindful that he didn’t want to lose their attention by dragging this out too long. He felt he’d struck the right balance as he moved on to finish it.::

Reinard: The Federation has brought to you bio-neural gel packs which have greatly enhanced the computer architecture of your supercomputers allowing them to process considerably more complex data and strategies. Perhaps now they can keep up with the Zakdorn mind.

:: He smiled charismatically and noted the response to another little light comment.::

Reinard: Mark IV construction mechs, brought to you by the Federation have halved construction time for you. This has not only saved you money but allowed you to fill more orders.

::His handy statistics were back, showing how business had boomed with a nice image showing the construction mechs at work next to it. Yes, he was fully emphasising and driving it home now. Federation, Federation, Federation. Construction was one of their major industries and this had been a huge leap forward for them, so he wasn’t going to let them forget it.::

::The next example was a little weaker but only in the sense that the Zakdorn didn’t have starships of their own. They had 6 defense satellites around the planet only. However these torpedoes were being used in defence of Zakdorn, it’s people and assets so still very relevant and showed StarFleet’s ability to keep producing it’s own top level military technology.::

Reinard: The Federation is very pleased with it’s Quantum Torpedos. The USS Vigilant is equipped with 5 pulse-fire quantum torpedo launchers and will use them where necessary to defend you, your people and your assets as we’ve done throughout our alliance.

::In some ways Greir was saving the best for last and he was sure the audience was getting hungry by now. He wouldn’t have been surprised at all to learn the Zakdorn people enjoy 7 meals a day. If nothing else in his speech had sated their appetite for answers he hoped that this would finally fill them.::

Reinard: As if that wasn’t enough the Federation has also introduced you to the wonderful technology of food replication. The replicator, an absolute must in every household. Saving time and effort, allowing access to a far wider variety of foods and drink as well as eliminating waste. It has raised the living standards for all.

::The final image on the screen was a clever representation of all the points he was pushing formed in such a way as to really highlight and summarize the symbiotic relationship between the Federation and the Zakdorn. This was primarily a pro-Federation campaign after all, the fact it highlighted the Klingons in a bad way in many situations was a bonus.::

Reinard: The Zakdorn made the right choice in choosing an alliance with the Federation. The opportunities for trade and the exchange of knowledge and technology have benefited us both. Closing those doors will damage your economy and standard of living because the Klingons simply can’t compare when it comes to providing the range and quality of opportunities that we do.

::This had been demonstrated from the start and was represented in the final image.::

Reinard: We’ve been through so much together and supported each other when threatened by enemies more dangerous than the Klingons - like the Dominion and the Borg. The Klingons think they are the premiere warriors in the universe but time and again the Federation and it’s member worlds have driven back their invading forces.

::The screen slowly faded to black.::

Reinard: To leave the Federation and form an alliance with the Klingons who are as unreliable as they are ineffective is as smart as constructing a war strategy by rolling dice.


Lt Cmdr Reinard
Chief Counsellor
USS Vigilant