> <[Are the mammalians cappable of handling such a task, Vice Admiral?
>From the sounds of things, these felines are highly intelligent, as their
use of others would demonstrate.
> I mean no disrespect to their fighting prowess or to their honor.
But the humans and the klingons are adept at fighting each other, not
somebeing as multifaceted, patient, and determined as a Felinid warrior
thursting for a battle.]> came a question from one of officers in the
Caitian ranks.
<[That's why we're here, L'rramm. There are not enough Caitians to fight
this battle, especially if it becomes something larger. And frankly, I
don't fancy the thought of so many of our own dying in a battle that isn't
ours alone. The threat is to Federation and Empire, and they are the ones
who must fight it, with our help. We are one of the founding members of
the Federation, remember. We stand together, no single race taking the
brunt of anything. But if we are to stand together, we must teach our
friends how to fight. You're right L'rramm, they are good at fighting each
other, and this group is among the very best. But now they have to learn
how to fight like us, and how to face an enemy like us. Both species can
do it; I've sparred with a number of them and once they understand us, they
become formidable opponents. That's what we have to do - teach them how to
understand a felinid enemy, because if things go badly, they're the ones
who are going to be fighting a war.]>
He accepted the answer, but was not all that happy about it. He wanted to see this
through, especially since it involved another felinid race.
She sighed. She hadn't wanted to give up this information. <[I'm not part
of intell, and as you probably know, they don't play well with others. But
I do know there is at least one, maybe more, Caitian operatives working on
this. That's all I know. Which is why we also have to make sure these
teams know the difference between Caitian and non-Caitian. In a fight, I
don't want them killing our operatives.]>
That little bit of information made ears perk up. One of their own was in the
fray, in harms way...
<[Well, the first thing we have to do is get them used to fighting a
bigger, quicker opponent. We don't have the strength of a Klingon, but
we're faster, and our size can make up for the lack of weight in reach and
coverage. For the humans, because they're primates, they sometimes have an
instinctive fear of us. We have to get them used to us and make them get
over that fear. Then we have to teach them how we fight, the things we can
do that they can't and how they can compensate. We'll work here on base
for this part, using mats and padding. During this, we'll talk about
strategy and tactics, both face-to-face and in vehicle combat. We have
some intelligence on what these beings like to do, and we can work with
that and what we do as a supplement. Once they get that down, we'll move
to scenarios. We don't know what we'll be facing, so we'll practice urban,
station and planetside exercises. The Klingons have a training world near
here that we've been granted permission to use for the advanced exercises.
Then they're on their own. A few of you will stay here as advisors once
the mission is underway, but our function is to train, and after that, most
of you will go home.]>
The Major commented this time... <[Sir, I can speak for all of my troops here, in
that we want to stay and fight along side our comrades. As they are our neighbors and
brothers in the Federation we want to fight with them. ]>
<[I'm afraid not. The teams going in are veteran special operations. I
know you all would be qualified to fight, and I have no doubt we would win
any battle we fought together. But we're hoping we don't have to fight at
all, if we can avoid it. This training is considered last resort, a way to
save lives. Beacuse of this, we've got to teach them how to fight dirty.
I know,]> she said, raising a hand to forestall the immediate objections.
<[But remember, these people are our friends and allies. I don't care how
they get back, just as long as they come back in one piece. Just because
we, the humans and the Klingons fight with honor doesn't mean the enemy
does, and so we have to prepare them for anything.]>
He was really not happy with that answer, but as a good soldier he would obey and
not make complaints about it. At least not infront of the troops....
<[Yes, sir.]>
