The Lawfulness of Operation Fish

The Lawfulness of Operation Fish – namely the operation of the Chimera Fleet.

The legal challenge is the Freespace Treaty that has been ratified and accepted by the Assembly and signed by Union representatives so authorized by the Assembly and the People of the United Stars of the Galaxies by direct Vote in 3599.

The Galactic Council and in particular the Kermac did violate the cease fire Armistice with the attack on Green Hell but the Freespace treaty was not broken.

The Blue brokered another, a second Armistice in 4930 and during that peace conference The Big Four renewed their commitment to keep Freespace a demilitarized zone.

Again the Assembly voted in 4930 to honor the Freespace Treaty and accept the Cease Fire Armistice, but the margin of votes was much slimmer this time. Only 61% of the Citizens voted to let the Kermac of the hook this time and only 68% voted in favor of keeping the Freespace Treaty active.

But the decision was made in favor and thus became law. Assembly Order 17 of 4930 given to the Union Fleet prohibits any Union Fleet Vessel to pass across the by treaty established boundaries of Freespace. Assembly Orders given to any Federal Agency supersede any other laws, military orders and rules.

Since the Army has no FTL ships and the Marines rely on Union Navy Personnel and ships for FTL transport it was assumed by all official observers and the Assembly in General that the Union now kept their end of the treaty.

In technical legal terms however, the United Stars Space Force was authorized to operate FTL vessels and so was NAVINT. NAVINT by charter is a department of the Navy, but NAVINT has become the only Intelligence service for all branches.

So to make things legal. All NAVINT vessels are on permanent detachment to the NAVINT Space Force Branch. And NAVINT Space Force shares operations with the UNB. The UNB is now in command of all Free Space Operations, using NAVINT Space Force ships that are crewed by Union Fleet Personnel temporary or permanently assigned to NAVINT Space Force Service.

Granted it is a tat confusing but those who came up with this (Admiral McElligott and General Cherubim) like confusing things. Should it ever become public, the solution is lawful. As the Assembly also voted on giving the UNB far reaching authorization to act outside Union space with the Union Security Act of 3601 : The UNB may act unburdened from restricting laws, morals or ethics if the Security and saefty of the Union is at stake. No UNB mission, action or operation shall take place in any region claimed as Union space. The UNB is restricted to Non Union space in operations and goals.[2]

The Chimera fleet thus operates under Union Law. The Intelligence Councilof the Assembly is briefed of their operations and the Intelligence Council takes great steps to assure that no one really remembers the UNB and its actual role. Similar “under the Radar” measures have assured that no one really speaks much about the Union Space Force. The General Public is not even interested much in the Army.

All these precautions were taken and the first the Union Assembly via the Intelligence Council still only approved to prepare for any actions, missions or secret operations until evidence was presented that any of the other Big Three engaged in any such activity.

The first to “violate” the treaty were the Shiss. Sending their openly denied but secretly supported Raiders all across Free Space. Then evidence was shown that the Kermac had enclaves on Sin 4 and intelligence reports of at least two Kermac Undercover bases were substantiated (One on Netlor and one on N'Ger) That and the pirate raids, the known cases of slavery and the sale of Union Citizens was enough for the Assembly to give the Intelligence Council green light.

The Assembly approved Project Fish and several other projects aimed to reduce the threat to Union Citizens and protect Union Interests.[2]

[1]It sould be noted that Admiral Stahl agreed in general that something had to be done about Freespace, Pirates and other intellgence and clandestine operations but he insisted that the Assembly was informed and that the security and intelligence council had to be informed. But Stahl has little or no knowledge of the details or the scope of operations taking place. (With the exception of Project Fish)

[2] The Union also openly sanctioned Union Raiders and issued Privateer Licences in 4800. Union Raiders however had to be completely private and would not receive any government funding or support and they were not allowed to engage in acts of Piracy against neutrals. (See Union Raiders)

Note: Yeoman O'Connell is aboard by specific request of Admiral Stahl.

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