With her hands on her hips, Admiral Kameetha was reviewing the simulation of her latest battle plan for when they arrived at Terrha. The moment the results showed her ultimate loss, she threw her plate of viinerine across the room in a rage. For the first time in days, what she had planned, based on the latest intelligence they had received while on their journey, they would end up being defeated by the hevams.  Thankfully her actions were not witnessed by anyone as she was in the private confines of her office. Slumping into her chair behind her desk, the admiral took a moment to control her breathing. 

The door chime then went off. 

Moaning under her breath for the disturbance, she shouted out in response. “Yes, enter!”

Commander Sirrel stepped in and paused as he saw the mess on the floor. “Sorry to disturb you, admiral, but there’s an incoming shuttle from Ki Baratan with a Senate call sign and a heavy escort of Senate Guard fighters.”

Stopping her work, she realised what that meant. “That must only mean one thing.”

“Indeed, the praetor is on his way,” Sirrel stated.

“Damn, he probably wants to know our status,” The admiral cursed. “Inform all decks to prepare for an unplanned inspection.”

“Of course, admiral, anything else?” He asked.

She looked at the mess on the floor. “Have someone come up here and clean that up!”

Moments later, Admiral Kameetha stood to attention with an honour guard and Sirrel beside her in the launch bay of the R’Keth. The shuttle had just landed a set of steps along with a long dark emerald green carpet laid out by its aft hatch. As the door fell down towards the deck, the top part of the praetor’s head was seen along with his advisors on either side. Personal bodyguards walked out first and stood on either side of the hatch with their disruptor rifles in their hands. 

“Praetor D’deridex, you honour us with your presence,” Kameetha greeted their leader with a slight bow of her head. “Welcome to the R’Keth.”

Looking briefly around the room, the praetor acknowledged Kameetha. “Thank you, admiral.”  D’deridex was an older Romulan man with grey and silver hair. His eyes showed a window of wisdom and a sense of calmness too. Wearing the dark navy blue robes that belonged to the praetor, he stepped onto the carpet. “We are here for an update on your mission, admiral.”

Noticing Proconsul Khazara beside him, Kameetha knew they meant business, so she inclined her head and gestured for them to exit the room and head to her office.

After offering a glass of kali-fal to both of her guests (the last remains of the bottles that Sirrel had brought to their senior officer’s dinner a few days ago), the admiral started to present her updated plan to the Romulan leadership. 

“Your plan, admiral, is not without distinction. However, I remain dubious. The hevam will undoubtedly send a considerable force to defend their homeworld. How can you be sure you will succeed?” Khazara said from her chair. The Proconsul, like D’deridex, was an aged politician and was one of the praetor’s closest allies in the Senate. A former capable member of the military herself, Khazara was no fool.

Kameetha remained calm as she answered. “That’s the part of the plan that is crucial. If we can heavily damage, cripple or destroy a good proportion of their fleet, we will strike fear into our enemy.”

“Yes, we’ve heard that before, admiral; those words convinced the Continuing Committee to adopt your plan and pull resources from Valdore’s projects.” D’deridex stated, “But you’ve not actually described to us how you plan to deliver on your promises.”

Kameetha pulled on her jacket and brought up the simulation she had been working on before they entered. “Our first phase would be to take out their outer system detection network. Once this has been achieved, our fleet will break into smaller task groups, all with different targets to undertake hit-and-run tactics. If they can destroy them, they will significantly help us, but even just damaging them will be good enough to disrupt the hevams.”

“And what about the nuclear attack? We’ve spent considerable resources to outfit your fleet with these weapons.” Khazara stated, “how will you get close enough to Terrha or any other target to hit them?”

  Kameetha smiled, “We plan to arm some of our smaller fighters with the warheads, and we will fire several of them against Terrha. Nevertheless, as I said before, this plan is not to conquer them-”

Waving his hand, D’deridex looked like he was about to roll his eyes. “Yes, we know, you want to strike fear into the enemy.”

Kameetha looked at her leader, “Sir, do you not approve of my plan?”

Praetor D’deridex took a deep breath, “I do, admiral; I am just concerned that committing such a large force to one engagement will significantly reduce our advancement.”

 Kameetha agreed with his comment.  “It does possess such risks, but I think it’s worth it. Showing our enemies that we can attack their homeworld will show we are not to be messed with. It is a bold plan, but I believe we need to be more forceful to win this war. The attack against the Vulcan shipyard at Merak showed their allies we can give them a bloody nose.”

“The Merak offensive cost us greatly, admiral if you recall. Most of our ships rammed the thhaei dry-docks to ensure we met our objectives. Our former brothers and sisters had no idea what hit them,” Khazara remarked. “We cannot afford to lose so many ships, even if the outcome is in our favour.”

“I understand that,” Kameetha said. “My plan is to go in and get out as quickly as possible.”

D’deridex looked at Khazara, then back to Kameetha, “Then I wish good luck, admiral.” He got out of his chair, as did the proconsul. “Hit them hard as you can, and then upon your return, I want us to begin working on the next attack.”

Surprised to hear that last comment, Kameetha asked for clarity. 

Khazara answered her. “The attack on those blue devils, the Andorsu.”