Space Empires IV Game RP

[Trogdor]

"I don't like it one bit," Hawk scowled darkly. "Not one bit."

"We discussed this already," Primus said, annoyed.

"But that was before they sent a ship into our space!" Hawk protested. "We should tell third fleet to turn around and guard the system. What if they're going to attack us?"

"With one little ship?" Dove asked, incredulous. "And you're supposed to be the military expert? One heavy escort vessel isn't near enough for an invasion, and you know it. More likely it's on its way to Alshain's territory for some reason or another."

A young officer walked in before Hawk could retort. "Urgent message from the Invisible Eye, Praetor," he said, handing him a padd. The officer then nodded and walked out.

"The Invisible Eye?" Hawk asked. "She should be maintaining subspace radio silence until she returns to our stars."

"Unless it something very, very important," Primus said, activating the padd. His eyes widened as he read it. Then he swore. "Get me a secure channel to Admiral Kirk. Our new allies deserve to know of this."

[brianeyci]

The cube grew in the viewscreen. The ship's consoles buzzed and whirred, displaying sensor readouts. The lights dimmed. The communications computer blurted out a message to all decks in a monotone well-known voice. All power was diverted to the ship's engines as the dark blot filled the window. The ship surged towards the shadow at full speed, power diverted from inertial dampners to full impulse. The tactical subroutine attempted to arm weapons and raise shields, but found the requisite systems missing. No matter. The ship itself would be a weapon.

Green beams lanced forth from the cubical monstrosity, tearing gaping holes into the ship which it reported in Ferengi script to the bridge. The ship, coined Voyager by a humorous shipwright, slowed down and stopped just short of its target and was cut apart by emerald lances exploding in an infinitum of particles scattering across space.

None mourned the death of the crew--for there had been no crew.

"Transwarp signature detected," said a larger Ferengi at the helm. Liquadator Vreet looked onward from his spacious bridge. "Battlestations," he said uncaringly. "How many Borg vessels?"

"Only one."

Vreet snorted. "They must think we are humens. Activate the minefield." Vreet knew several hundred kilometers outside the specially designed cloaked mines were becoming invisible.

"Borg battlecruiser exiting the wormhole."

"Magnify."

As the Borg ship came out of the conduit, it rammed right into the densest part of the minefield. Vreet knew that several dozen heavy guns were tracking it, but it didn't matter. The mines passed through the Borg shields as if they weren't there and impacted on the cube's hull. Each small explosion tore apart the cube's armor until larger explosions and finally a warp core breach enveloped the warship. The mighty Borg cube was no more, its deizens annihilated.

"Borg battlecruiser destroyed."

"I know that you imbecile," said Vreet. Like his cousin Zargat, Vreet had little patience for the obvious. "Is there anything useful left?"

"No."

"Well make sure fool, sweep the area with phasers and make sure they're no nanoprobes floating around. Send a message to Ferenginar Prime. The High Daimon will want to analyze our sensor readouts of the Borg vessel."

"Yes, Daimon."

Vreet sat back. What now, some Rizian pleasure women, or a meal? Ah, why not both. Between killing Borg and sex, life was good.

Zargat watched as the crusier tried to plow itself into the Borg cube but was cut apart at the last couple dozen meters. No matter, a single ship meant nothing. Of course, this was the message he was trying to send to the Borg. That he would not bow down to them, that he was a wolf among sheep. If this Queen was intelligent she would not go on a crusade but would recognize the boldness of this move. If not, well there would be war, and whatever way it went it did not matter, although the Borg were crucial to the master plan.

Zargat watched the cube enter the wormhole and switched to another camera. The cubical terror emerged from the mouth only to be studded with assaulters which penetrated its shields and caused a firey judgment to be brought on the cybernetic intruders. The Ferengi Emperor laughed.

"High Daimon message from the Cornith system. A Borg cube has been destroyed."

"Send the sensor data to Raxis immediately," said Zargat. That fool Vreet, Zargat would have preferred that the space station's heavy guns tore apart the cube than it being destroyed by Vreet's cowardly cloaked mines. It didn't matter though--the Borg should get the message, that he was not one to be trifled with.

Code: Select all

Borg Queen,

No more games. You see that we are evenly matched. My agents tell me the humens and Romulans are moving against you.

"Raxis to Zargat. I'm getting data on a Borg ship. I think you will find the latest weapons developments most interesting," said Zargat's mad scientist. A floating schematic appeared above Zargat's head. "We sold these weapons to the So'na a few years ago... subspace weapons. They bypass shields and armor is no hinderance. They should be most effective against the Borg. Shall I begin production models?"

"Yes, immediately," said Zargat. Subspace weapons... banned by treaty with the Federation and most other major powers. But this was not the Alpha Quadrant and Zargat felt no loyalty to treaties signed by idiots. The humens would find out, eventually. Along with the Genesis torpedoes, the temporal shipyards, and the genocides. No matter, there was no Federation to stop him. This Kirk, a man out of his time, would be slow to move and slow to react. Already his agents were infiltrating Kirk's worlds, planting eavesdropping devices, looking for weaknesses. In a few years at most, there would be war.

The master plan was coming to fruition.

Brian

[Nephtys]

"My queen! The Ferengi.. Species 180 has destroyed one ship of our forward screen!" Shodan quickly called out, refraining from gasping as she ran in. It was good the entire silly 'shamble' routine was removed from her prized independants. The adjutant quickly stood straight again, her body reinvigorated with additional stimulants and chemicals to make up for her haste.

Nephtys meanwhile, curled her fingers, squeezing her black glove tightly. "Ah, I see. He wishes to make a demonstration. I see this Ferengi took my insult a bit personally..." she chuckles. Mmm. Catequil will not be missed. He served his purpose as my Jem'hadar plaything already." she rises, adjusting her new over-eye implant module to project a display for her. "And our new 'allies'?"

"The Dominion is sending ships to us now. Their tributes have arrived as scheduled, and our advisors are currently with them. The Founder is... cooperative." Shodan says. "The auxillary fleet is prepare and patrolling as your command."

"Good. Now leave me." she dismissively flicks her hand, and the adjutant drone curtly bows and walks from the room with perfectly spaced steps. How efficient. Now, Nephtys opens up her communications once again.

Code: Select all

Bra-vo, Zargat. What a nice show... indeed we are evenly matched. And judging by the lovely drone you have sent to my service, we have some common interests as well. These shows are unproductive. Inefficient. I suggest that we end the posturing and return to business.

Now, our wide-band subspace scans will agree, that upon each side of us stand empires that may or may not view either of us kindly. Our prior agreement was beneficial, and I will overlook this minor diplomatic setback. The Dominion threat is now subdued... but I wish to ask what do you know about the humans and Romulans in our sector?

Nephtys keys in the transmission signal, relaying the comm through a complex network of satelites, until it was beamed finally into Ferengi space. Zargat had appeased her well with fresh bodies. Several of them in fact would make such lovely additions to the crews of her newly reactivated cubeships...[/code]

[Trogdor]

Primus swore as he read the latest reports from the Talosian's home sector. One of the new warbirds was swarmed and torn to pieces by enemy fighters.

"No more of this spending attackers in ones and twos," he said. "As soon as 5th fleet is ready, I want them sent to end this conflict. It's already gone on for much, much too long."

"Your will be done, Praetor," Hawk said.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk read the Romulan Praetor's message with great concern. Anyone caught with temporal shipyards in the home galaxy would be immediately attacked by all major powers and their local neighbors, and the persons responsible would be tried and executed. Behind only genocide, it was the second worst offense in existence. If a crucial piece were stolen from a crucial ship that prevented it from being at a pivotal historical battle, the damage to spacetime could be horrendous. If the Ferengi were using them, they were planning something big, and Kirk doubted it bade well for his beloved Federation.

Potentially worse, the head of Section 31 approached him earlier that day and warned him that some of the Ferengi "merchants" weren't who they said they were, but, as they hadn't committed any crimes, there was nothing they could yet do. Kirk had told him to keep a close eye on them, and if it looked like they were about commit acts of espionage or terrorism, Kirk authorized him to do whatever was necessary and he would retro-actively approve it.

Kirk sent a response to the Praetor:

Code: Select all

Dear Praetor Primus,
Thank you for this distressing report. I agree that we are not currently in any position to attack the Ferengi directly, but I believe that our alliance will be at war with them soon. We need to find out if there are other major races out there, and see where they stand in regard to the Ferengi. The more races we can get to stand on our side, the better. As foul a taste the word leaves in my mouth, we need to conquer the nearby hostile neutral empires. I will attempt to find out where the Dominion stand as soon as possible. You know as well as I that a Borg-Dominion-Ferengi alliance would be indescribably bad. I will pass the news on to the future Federation.

Your ally,
Admiral James T. Kirk

He then drafted a message for President Ashlain:

Code: Select all

Dear Mr. President,
I relay alarming news to you. Recently a Romulan scout ship observed temporal shipyards in Ferengi space. The Praetor and I agree that we are in no position to attack right now, but I feel that we should scout ahead, and make contact with other races that may be out there, and make sure they are not Ferengi allies. We must secure our galactic neighborhood against hostile neutral empires. I will attempt to discover the status of the Dominion.

I have attached my response to Praetor Primus for your reference.

Sincerely,
Admiral James T. Kirk

The invasion fleet against the Chalnoth was almost ready, a ship containing the Genesis device was under construction, and the standard resource facilities were being replaced with improved Monolith facilities. Kirk just hoped it wouldn't be too little, too late.

[brianeyci]

Zargat read the Borg Queen's message. Good, now it knew he could not be cowed like the humens. Now was the time to begin phase two of the master plan.

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Queen Nephtys,

Here are the schematics to a device the Kataran military uses to control slaves. You will find the device primitive by your standards, and I require Borg assistance to improve on it. I desire more potent control over my minions. I require a hundred metric tons of nanoprobes. Automated ships are arriving to receive them. I also require detailed schematics and replicator patterns for the nanoprobes. Perfection shall spread across the galaxy, and you and I the bringers of divinity. Why should we squabble over the sheep when there are so many to enlighten?

I suggest we begin a more beneficial trade and research agreement. I shall give you the access codes to an orbiting starbase in my home system. You will have total control over it. In return you shall build an orbiting starbase in your home system and give me the access codes. We shall trade technology faster this way with an instantaneous subspace relay network. If this proposal is satisfactory, I will instruct my shipwrights to prepare a starbase for you immediately.

Zargat laughed. This would be a risk, giving the Borg control over one of his orbiting space stations. But, planetary defenses could always shoot down the space station if the Borg Queen turned treacherous.

"Raxis to Zargat."

"Speak."

"High Daimon, we are ready for the first test of our subspace weapons."

"I will be there shortly," said the Ferengi Emperor. The Kataran devices were reaching their endlife. To control his peons, he would need Borg nanoprobes. Yes, they would be his slaves, and he the bringer of perfection to the galaxy. Police units were already moving into position on every world, to supress riots and disperse the nanoprobes once they were acquired. Resistance, truly would be futile. Zargat thundered like a Klingon.

Brian

[Dalton]

"Chancellor, there's a transmission coming in from the Ferengi. Text only."

"Send it here," Martok growled. These brief dealings were distractions from the more mundane work of trying to build an empire, but welcome relief from the monotony. He opened the relevant file on his padd.

Code: Select all

Ferengi merchants are buying large quantities of materials your scientists say may be used to construct biological and subspace weapons. They have done nothing illegal and when questioned they say they require the pesticides and equipment to fight a plague.

Martok considered. The message seemed innocuous enough, but having an ally claim innocence over a matter they weren't questioned on set all the alarm bells ringing. Martok was a suspicious bastard, and he did not like what he just read - especially not since he caught wind of the Ferengi's dealings with the Borg.

"Alert Intelligence," Martok said. "Have them scrutinize Ferengi dealings more closely. I will not be caught unprepared for a potential sneak attack...even if they claim to be an ally. And begin construction on the Negh'var."

"Yes, chancellor."

[brianeyci]

The five hundred meter visage of their leader appeared above the Tower of Commerce. For nearly five years now Ferengi Commerce Authority High Daimon Zargat had secured an empire that would make the Grand Nagus green with envy. They were indebted to him for bringing the system prosperity and security after the uncertainty that had surrounded their arrival in another galaxy. Humans, Bolians, Vulcans, Andorians and the hundred other species inhabiting Zargat's planets flourished as businessmen and exporters. What would their leader bring them next, news of war with the Federation? The gathering was large enough and every citizen had been instructed to attend. Even war was not undesirable. War was good for business after all. Sure, the past four years had seen many arrests of undesirables and many crackdowns, but only those who had something to hide or were guilty were hurt, and obviously most people had nothing to hide and did not object to the increased police presence. Or even to the large statues of Zargat, the paintings, the removal of freedoms. After all, it was common practise for a Grand Nagus to glorify himself after his coronation, and eventually he would calm down.

"Citizens of New Ferenginar. We have profited much this year," said Zargat. "Today is a great day. We have made new allies, new friends. Some things are more important than profit, as you will all learn." What was the Ferengi talking about? Peace. Although not as profitable as war, the Grand Nagus Rom had talked like this in the Alpha Quadrant. Maybe their leader would bring them peace with the Federation. "Many of you lost your homes, your families, your lives when you were brought here. You did not know why. I tell you why now. You were brought for one single purpose."

"You were brought to service I," said Zargat smiling. The crowd murmered and was confused. "You will all understand, now. Do not be afraid." Above the city a ragged shape materialized. It blocked out the sun and sky with terrible darkness and omen. The girders and crisscrossed beams visible to the crowd extended deep into infinity. The abomination cut across the landscape with emerald brilliance, disappearing citizens into its belly. Screams went unanswered and pleas for mercy were ignored. Those who tried to resist found their weapons inoperative, and those with transporter scramblers were surrounded by machines intent on one and only one goal, mindless and devoted to a singular entity and devoid of remorse or pity. "Welcome the master plan. You will all be a part of it, all of you, a part of perfection," said Zargat. Every citizen on the planet became part of the collective voice, unable to resist, unable to differ, unable to reject. The city was silent and abandoned and what replaced the noise of sentients was the mechanical ploddings of cyborgs forging an empire for their new master.

Zargat shut off the hologram. They were all his now, all under him. All thanks to the modified Borg nanoprobes. Unlike the Borg he would give most a certain degree of autonomy, but they would listen, they could not disobey. He turned his attention to the next matter. Tholian ships had crossed the border into his space. Well, that would not do. The ships were equipped with the equivalent of quantum torpedoes, advanced shielding technology and an armor technology which retarded phaser fire with high efficiency. It was time. "Raxis, deploy the subspace field generator," said Zargat. Ships all across Tholian space would be damaged by the subspace shockwave. Smaller subspace field generators would disable the Tholian scouts in Ferengi space. Meanwhile, his subspace weapons were perfected and going into production. It would be some time until the battlecruisers were ready, but when they were the Tholians would feel his wrath.

Liquidator Vreet pursed his lips. The battlecruiser was most impressive and the Ferengi crews highly trained liquidators. Of course he and his crew had been the first to be injected with nanoprobes which made him utterly loyal to Zargat, but Vreet and most of the crew had been left with a high degree of autonomy and promises of riches. He was now governor of the Manark system along with his duties as Ambassdor to the Klingons, Tholians, Federation and Romulans.

"Liquidator, we have deployed the tachyon array."

"Anything out of the ordinary?"

The pale helmsman squinted at the screen. "Yes. Romulan ship at sector zero-nine, bearing zero-nine-three mark five."

"Tactical."

The Romulan ship's vital statistics appeared on the screen. Advanced cloaking device, two mark ten shield generators, and many bussard collectors. It made sense, a long range scouting ship. "Plot their course."

"Romulan space."

Vreet bit his lip. The High Daimon was not ready for conflict with the Romulans though. No matter. The ship could not be allowed to escape with their secrets. "Jam all subspace communications. Battle alert," said Vreet. The klaxon sounded and heavily armed Ferengi marines arrived on the bridge. "Target their engines and wepaons systems only. As soon as their shields are down engage tractor beam and transport assault teams," said Vreet to his marine commander. He nodded, and he and his men activated their personal shields and checked their large blocky Breen assault rifles. "Whenever possible assimilate them rather than kill them," said Vreet. He pressed a button on his console.

"Romulan ship, you are in violation of quarantine measures. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded," said Vreet in a solemn tone. Hopefully, they would bring him back some Romulan ale and slaves. He liked the idea of his own personal Tal'Shiar dog.

Brian

[Trogdor]

IRS Invisible Eye Phenomenon II class spy ship
Manark System-Ferengi Space

The ship had been running low on supplies and had had to stop to allow the bussard collectors to refuel them, lest the cloak fail. Commander Xaren wasn't the least bit pleased at the thought of sitting around in hostile space, but there was no choice. Not long ago, they had started picking up numerous distress signals, though none from official Ferengi sources. Most of them were distorted and fuzzy, but they heard the words "borg" and "horror" several times. They'd suspected that the Borg had backstabbed the Ferengi, but then why weren't any of the Ferengi military sending signals?

One of the technicians had solved their problem, by gaining access to the Ferengi's news network. Like everything other service the Ferengi provided, the news network cost latinum. Of course, they couldn't just pay for it, so the tech had managed to set their reciever to covertly get the network, or as the tech himself dubbed it, "Stole cable."

Neither Xaren nor Jurvek knew what that meant (that tech had spent time on a merchant ship and picked up all sorts of odd human expressions), but neither of them really cared.

The news station showed how Zargat was bringing "perfection" to his people, who were "foolishly reluctant" to accept it. Helping Zargat was the Ferengi Commerce Authority's "great ally" the Borg.

"It's monstrous," Commander Xaren breathed. "The Ferengi are making their own collective. They're turning into the Borg!"

"The Praetor must know of this," Major Jurvek said. "Send another tight beam transmission."

"No good, sir," the comm. officer replied. "There's jamming on all frequencies."

"What?" Major Jurvek demanded. "But why--?"

"Sir!" the sensor officer shouted. "I'm picking up a large concentration of tachyons!"

"Sensor network!" Commander Xaren exclaimed.

Major Jurvek nodded. "Apparently they trust us as little as we trust them. Either that or they picked up our earlier transmission."

"Sirs," the comm. officer said. "We're recieving a signal from a nearby Ferengi battlecrusier. Audio only."

"On speakers," Commander Xaren ordered.

"Romulan ship, you are in violation of quarantine measures. Lower your shields and prepare to be boarded," came the deep voice.

"I thought the quarantine measures only applied to your core systems, not out here," Commander Xaren replied, sounding braver than he had since the mission began.

No reply came. The Ferengi had cut the channel.

"Now what?" Commander Xaren groaned, a coward once more.

"Now we run like hell back to our space," Major Jurvek said cooly.

"We're a scout ship!" Commander Xaren snapped. "They're a battlecruiser. They could destroy us with a single broadside!"

"Would you rather surrender to the Ferengi collective?" Major Jurvek asked evenly.

"No," Commander Xaren answered. "But what if they catch us and force combat? They're faster than we are. They probably will."

"If they manage to board us and we can't repel them, then we all have suicide pills. I expect every solider on this tub to use them rather than be captured," Major Jurvek answered. "If we're not boarded...well, have you ever heard the human word 'kamikaze?'"

[brianeyci]

'Closing on enemy ship," said the helmsman. Vreet leaned in his chair. Maybe, there would be a Romulan female. Yes, that would be pleasant.

"Fire on my ord..." suddenly Vreet's face went red, as much as a Ferengi's could. "Back off, back off now." The High Daimon had found out and told him to let the Romulans pass. But why? There was only one possibility. Vreet laughed.

"Alert the Norpin system to jam all subspace transmissions. Let the fools go," said Vreet standing up and pressing a button. "Romulan ship, your credentials are clear. You may pass through the Norpin system on your business. Unfortunately long-ranged subspace communications will be impossible until you leave Ferengi territory, a side-effect of a recent subspace accident. We apologize for the misunderstanding," said Vreet. It didn't matter if they believed him or not. They would do the predictable thing, and their fate was sealed.

Norpin System, at the same moment...

The temporal vortex opened and deposited parts. A green scanning field strafed the workbench and deemed it within parameters. Then, a message from the master--parameters were to be changed. More wormholes would be needed, more... to meet the deadline. Replicators quickly fashioned a frame of a nimble scout class ship. They would be part of the collective, it was the will of the master, and it was necessary to convince them. Necessary to acquire them without damaging them. Yes, they would be part of the whole and they would be incomplete until the acquisition.

Brian

[Trogdor]

IRS Invisible Eye

"They're letting us go?" Commander Xaren asked, stunned. "We may live through this mission yet!"

"Don't be so sure, Commander," Major Jurvek said dourly. "The Ferengi have us in the palm of their now-cybernetic hand. They would never let us go, suspecting that we know of their temporal shipyards and emulation of the Borg. No, they're up to something, I'd bet my life on it."

"Then what would you suggest we do?" Commander Xaren asked. "There is a warp hole to the galactic east. We could make a brake for it, hope it leads outside of Ferengi territory."

Major Jurvek paused, considering, then sighed. "Nay," he said. "We can't outrun the Ferengi battlecruiser, and we can't hide thanks to their tachyon sensor network. If we tried it, it would mean a war that the Empire isn't yet prepared for, or at the very least, the severing of the trade agreements. And I rather fancy the idea of Zarget helping to fund our military buildup for as long as possible."

"Then we do as they ask and attempt to pass through Norfin?" Commander Xaren asked.

"It's the only choice we're left with," Major Jurvek answered heavily. "Remember what I said what we do if the Ferengi force combat upon us."

Commander Xaren nodded and turned to the helmsman. "Maintain present course and speed," he ordered. "If it comes to a choice between dropping the cloak or stopping, drop the cloak."

"Yes, Commander."

Commander Xaren went to his chair and pressed a button. A chime sounded as his voice was patched through to every intercom on the ship. "Loyal crewmen, lend me your ears for a moment," Xaren said. "I will not lie to you; I have too much respect for you all to do so. We are currently having our strings pulled by the Ferengi like a wooden puppet, and I don't like it one bit. However, since a Ferengi battlecruiser is threatening us, we have little choice but to dance to their tune. I know not what they may having waiting for us between here and the stars ruled by our empire, but I doubt it will be good."

Xaren paused, seeming to swell. When next he spoke, his voice was powerful. "But I have no doubt that if there is a way to return home alive, we will succeed. We are Romulans! We left Vulcan and forged an empire respected by all powers in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants of our home galaxy, even by the Federation containing our Vulcan cousins, who through the wisdom and skills of our leader, we now call allies! Allies who do not look upon us as misguided children, as the Vulcans once thought of us, but as equals! We are a strong and insurmountable people and we will prevail!"

Again, Xaren paused. "We carry knowledge of tremendous importance with us, and it will be lost if we are destroyed. However, it was not the only Ferengi secret we discovered. Another we sent back to the Praetor, and nothing the Ferengi can do can keep it a secret now. It is a secret which will galvanize our allies against the Ferengi, cause them to stand by our sides in battle should war come. Know that no matter what happens to us, we will all be remembered for our great service to the Empire. And if the Ferengi force combat upon us and destroy us, I would be honored to go into the abyss with immortal heroes such as yourselves."

Commander Xaren cut the broadcast and slumped in his command chair, letting out a deep sigh. Major Jurvek frowned and shook his head. One moment a coward, then as heroic and inspiration a commander as one could wish, and then a coward again. Well, the Tal'Shiar operative mused, at least Xaren had some redeeming qualities.

[Trogdor]

Praetor Primus jerked awake as someone entered. Damn, he'd fallen asleep at his desk again. The last few months had been tiring, to say the least.

"You really should take some time off, Praetor," Dove admonished.

Primus groaned. "Shut up."

Dove sighed in a long suffering sort of way. "Yes, Praetor."

"What's news?" he asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Two items of immediate importance, Praetor: first Third Fleet has said they expect to rendezous with the Invisible Eye next month, assuming the ship's still in one piece, and the head of R&D wishes to speak with you," Dove said.

Primus nodded. The little spy ship had been discovered, or so he suspected. It had been trying to get a message to him for some time now, which in itself indicated that they had likely thrown stealth to the wind for some powerful reason. But their attempts were apparently thwarted by some "odd subspace disaster" that Primus suspected were Zargat's illegal shipyards being cranked up to high gear or perhaps some other piece of equally dangerous technology. Only incoherent nonsense had reached them so far. In fact, they'd only managed to make out one word.

Borg.

Had it been any other word, Primus would've left them to their fate, but in this case, he needed to know the context. Had the Borg and Ferengi gone to war? Were they allies, plotting a joint conquest of the galaxy? The latter seemed absurd to Primus--the Borg didn't get along with anyone!--yet strange things were happening. In any case, he needed to know. He'd tried to contact Zargat so that he might bargain for safe passage for the Invisible Eye, but his attempts had gotten recorded messages. It seemed as if the entire government of the Ferengi had been thrown into some kind of anarchy--a bizarre kind that remained restrained in a way that real anarchy never did. That was very worrisome. A Ferengi not answering a potential customer's call was very unusual indeed.

So he'd sent Third Fleet to escort back the "lost little ship with the totally incompetent commander" so as to avoid an "incident." It was a risky move, but Primus hoped that the Ferengi would accept the explaination that the fleet was just dragging home a foolish troublemaker, even if they didn't believe it. Or, better yet, not even take notice due to whatever crisis had gripped them.

"When will the R&D head be here?" Primus asked.

"He's been waiting for over an hour," Dove said.

That didn't disturb Primus, on the contrary, it rather pleased him. He'd once heard that how long someone would wait to see you was a measure of how powerful you were. "Make him wait ten more minutes, then send him in," he ordered.

Dove nodded and left. Primus used the ten minutes to straighten up his appearance. As Praetor, he could ill afford to look haggard.

The R&D chief entered, looking as weary as Primus felt, but beneath his obvious tiredness was a sense of exhilaration that Primus secretly envied. He hadn't felt like that since he first became Praetor an eternity ago.

"Praetor," the chief said respectfully, saluting. "I have many things to show you."

"Then please do," Primus said, indicating his holo-displayer.

First came a monstrous warship that bristled with torpedo tubes and gun turrents. "The new King Falcon class warship," the chief said proudly. "It's come out of every simulation we put it through so far victorious and without a scratched. It's by far the mightiest warship we've ever made, and it would put anything we created back home to shame."

"Well done," Primus said. "We will need powerful ships in the days ahead. What else have you got to show me?"

This time the chief displayed a smaller, though still quite large, ship. "The construction ship design you requested, Praetor," he said. "It's simple enough and can get its job done. Praetor, with your permission, we'd like to name it the Vulcan class ship."

Primus raised his eyebrows. "Why?"

"In honor of our alliance with the humans," the chief answered, squirming. "Vulcan was the name of a builder god from human mythology, so it seemed appropriate to named these constructor ships that, plus there's the obvious link with our cousins."

Primus smiled. Over the nearly five years they'd been in this galaxy, his people had grown to like the Federations. Not grudingly get along with them for fear of retribution from the Tal'Shiar. There was a geniune feeling of camraderie. That was good. It would help them stand united when the time came.

"Permission granted," Primus said. "Anything else?"

"One more thing, Praetor," the chief said, calling up the image of a large, blue torpedo. "It's a device we created with help from the Federation scientists. It's called the Genesis Torpedo."

Primus frowned. The name rang a bell in his mind, but he couldn't quite remember it. "Genesis?" he asked, not knowing the meaning of the word.

"Something else from human myth," the chief answered. "I think it means 'in the beginning' or something like that. Praetor, this device can create worlds from asteroid fields."

Primus's eyes widened, suddenly remembering the tale of the Genesis device and the world of Ceti Alpha that it had been used on. "But I thought that the device's effect eventually destroyed the planet it's used on," he said.

"The Vulcans found a way to get around that," the chief said. "As a result, there is less control over the creation process. We may not get an oxygen atmosphere with this version of the device. Also, the device is more expensive to fabricate than most starships and we haven't quite figured out how to scale it up yet to get the largest planets possible from the amount of mass present."

No wonder the R&D department felt so indebted to the Federations, Primus thought, a moment before he was struck by the possibilities. If the Borg and Ferengi didn't enslave them, then they would never want for more territory again. And the richness of worlds made from asteroids would be staggering. It would usher in a golden age unparalleled in Romulan or even Vulcan history.

"How soon can you have a full sized verison of this ready?" he asked.

"Two months if it's given top priority," the chief said.

"It's given top priority," Primus said.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk mulled over the message the Romulans had sent him. They felt that the future Federation would be the best choice to extend the olive branch to the Klingons. Relations between the future Romulans and the future Klingons were apparently even worse than they were between his Federation and the present Klingons. The future Federation, on the other hand, was apparently on good terms with the Klingons, a situation that sounded very strange to Kirk.

He also talked of building a construction ship to erect the two Romulan bases at the Chalnoth-Dominion border. Responding in kind, Kirk ordered the building of a construction ship to build bases to the Galactic South, in systems that the Romulans would soon control.

Kirk sent a short reply to the Romulans:

Code: Select all

Dear Praetor,

I agree that the future Federation should be the ones to contact the Klingons. I have also started building a construction ship to build the defense starbases. Our navy has breached the Chalnoth system, and is preparing to lay siege to one of their planets. No casualties so far. Defenses are numerous, with unknown capabilities. We expect total surrender within 6 to 12 months.

Your ally,
Admiral James T. Kirk

The invasion of the Chalnoth had kicked off. Warp point defense had comprised only a dozen satellites and roughly 60 mines. The mines were swept aside, and the satellites were easily beaten by the Constitution class attack ships, each carrying 4 point defense phasers, and the Daedelus class defense ships, each with 13 PD phasers. There were 12 satellites, each with 4 mass drivers, and all 48 guns had opened up on one of the Constitution class ships at point blank range, yet they had managed only to cause damage so minor that the various damage crews had finished repairing it by the time the last ship was through the warp point. Watching from a relayed feed, Kirk was infinitely relieved when his fleet blasted through the Chalnoth's pathetic defenses, but he caught his breath, and frowned with worry at the their homeworld's readout. 20 ships sat waiting there, two and a half times the number of Constitutions in his fleet, and all but the USS Enterprise were older Mk I constitutions. Unless only some of them were warships, or unless they weren't any more advanced than the satellites, Kirk had a serious problem on his hands.

The Bynars had sent him a message asking for a trade agreement, a prorposal that seemed ridiculous after their psychotic behavior toward him. It was most likely a ploy to help their agents better infiltrate the Federation. He ignored the message. The Romulans would deal with them soon enough.

Finally, Kirk sent a message to the future Federation, appraising them of the situation:

Code: Select all

Dear Mr. President,

The invasion of the Chalnoth is underway. No casualties thus far. My Federation and the Romulans have begun building construction ships to build defensive bases on our mutual borders. We have also agreed that your Federation is the best choice of the three of us for contacting the Klingons. There is bad blood between them and my Federation, and even worse relations between the Klingons and Romulans.

Well wishes,
Admiral James T. Kirk

[brianeyci]

"Romulan warp signature coming through the Bynar wormhole," said the helmsman. Vreet clenched his teeth. So, the Romulans had decided to send a task force to rescue their wayward scout. "Arm all weapons, prepare to fire as soon as they're clear."

"Another warp signature... and another... and another... and another..."

"Belay that order. Hold your fire," said Vreet. "Status of the Romulan ships?"

"They're moving away from the wormhole at one-quarter impulse. No sign of cloak, weapons or shields. Passive scanning is impossible through their jammers."

Vreet slammed the console. The master's gamble had failed. Who would have known the Romulans would have risked war just to save a little scout. An entire task force rather than the one or two ships he predicted.

It was better than he expected.

There was one problem though--The Borg reinforcements hadn't arrived yet, nor had the wormhole been mined. He hadn't expected the Romulans to be so quick. "Are subspace communcations still jammed?"

"Yes Liquidator."

What to do now... he couldn't contact the master, not with all the subspace jamming. Nor could he contact his allies. Dropping the jamming would mean the Romulan fleet could contact Romulan space, and who knew what crucial information the Romulans had uncovered.

"Liquidator, Borg warp signatures arriving through the Septimus wormhole."

"They're early!" smiled Vreet. But what were his options now. Yes, it was clear. "Execute maneuver five-oh-five-three-three," barked Vreet. The navigator complied and Vreet knew the warp engines were flaring on and off three times in sequence. "Norpin V has dropped its subspace jamming," said the sensor officer. Vreet pressed a button on his console.

"Romulans, thank the Grand Nagus you've arrived. The Borg are invading our space!" said Vreet. "You should leave the system immediately. The Ferengi cannot guarantee your safety." Vreet paused. "The Borg have also invaded our home systems and assimilated our leader. We have attempted to contain the Borg ourselves, but they have penetrated our core defenses. The Ferengi Commerce Authority strongly suggests that all Romulan nationals evacuate the Norpin system." Vreet punched his console. It didn't matter if they believed him. They could see the Borg, and it was his word against the scoutship's Captain. Hopefully, the Captain was a fool and the Romulan Admiral wouldn't believe him. Or perhaps, the scoutship did not know anything. It was a gambit, but with two battlecruisers he could not engage the Romulans on his own.

"Borg cube two sectors away and closing on our position."

Vreet smiled and pressed the button again. "Romulan fleet, Borg ships closing on our position, require assistance immediately, please respond!" He shut off the comm and laughed baring his sharp teeth swiveling in his chair. This was so much fun! "Is it the special cube?"

"Yes High Daimon, the cube matches the parameters." Perfect, everything was going as planned.

Vreet pressed another button, sending a message through the wormhole under encryption. "Bynars, now it's time to prove your true worth to the Ferengi. The Romulan Fleet that passed recently through your wormhole--they will be returning this month. When they enter your space--destroy them. This is the will of the master." Vreet laughed. The Romulan fleet was trapped. Stay here and fight the Borg, or retreat to Romulan space and fight the Bynars. A Ferengi never dirtied his hands when he could hire mercenaries. Of course, the Romulans could decide to plunge deeper into Ferengi space if they bought his story about the home systems being assimilated. But if they did, they would be far from resupply and be cut off from the Romulans. Perhaps the Borg Queen would assimilate the Romulans. Vreet snorted. "I will be in my quarters," he said. It was time to commune with the master. Hopefully he would be pleased with the trap he had set for the Romulans.

Brian

[Trogdor]

RNS Firehawk II
Norpin System-Ferengi Space

"You expect me to believe such a fantastic tale, Commander Xaren?" Admiral T'kon demanded, glaring at the snowy image of the scoutship's CO, which was the best they could get with the jamming, even within the same sector.

"It's all true, Admiral!" Xaren protested. "High Daimon Zargat has made an alliance with the Borg and is turning his own empire into a new collective, with himself as Ferengi/Borg King!"

T'kon rubbed his hand across his face. "Are you so incompetant that you misinterpreted something or were you just that desperate for rescue?" he asked. "This fleet's presense here has almost certainly brought the Empire to the brink of war with the Ferengi! And there you sit, protected by my fleet, and feed me fairytales!"

"Admiral," T'kon's sensor officer said. "We're picking up a Borg ship! It's a cube, but it's smaller than this ship."

"We're being hailed by the Ferengi, Admiral," the comm. officer added. "Distress signal. They claim that they're under attack and that their leader has been assimilated."

"They're lying!" Commander Xaren shouted.

"Commander," Admiral T'kon seethed. "If and when we make it back to the Empire alive, I will personally see to it that you--"

Whatever T'kon would've seen happen to Xaren would never be known, however. A familar hum and green light appeared next to T'kon, and suddenly another Romulan was standing there. Bridge secruity drew their disruptors and pointed them at this uninvited guest.

"Who are you?" Admiral T'kon demanded.

"Major Jurvek of the Tal'shiar," the newcomer introduced himself imperiously.

Admiral T'kon stiffend. Even one of his status did not dare to challenge the Tal'Shiar.

"Despite Commander Xaren's less than eloquent presentation of the facts, he has spoken the truth. Not the truth as he believes it, either. The truth as it is. Here, this has all the proof," Major Jurvek said, handing the admiral a data pad. "Now, Admiral, you will see to it that everyone in this fleet, right down to the men who mop the floors in the mess, know of what's on this, so that if even a single Romulan escapes Ferengi space alive, the Praetor will know of the Ferengi's dangerous madness. Is that clear, Admiral?"

"Yes, Major," Admiral T'kon grumbled.

"Good," Major Jurvek said. "Now, order the fleet to cloak and return to Imperial space. The Ferengi distress signal is just a trick."

"Let's hope the Ferengi don't have as much clout over the Bynar as we fear," Admiral T'kon grumbled.

"Indeed," Major Jurvek agreed coldly.

Praetor's Office, Same time

"...and then I will make certain that you disappear into the bowels of the Tal'Shiar's headquarters, from which, if you're lucky, you'll emerge with only one or two missing limbs! After that, I will see you court martialed in a trial which will make the Cardassians' tribunals look like the picture of justice! And then--"

Primus snapped off the comm., tired of listening to Hawk rant.

"Why did you stop me, Praetor?" Hawk asked, his face green with rage. "That idiot deserves everything I described and more! He may have doomed the entire galaxy!"

"I don't want him to kill himself," Primus said. "If the Klingons want him, I'd like to be able to give him to them."

This instantly mollified Hawk. "I see."

Primus sighed. The small fleet of D'deridex warbirds he'd sent to make contact with the Klingons had stumbled onto a small satellite launcher of theirs and had stupidly opened fire on them, destroying it. Primus had told Kirk that he'd try and get the Klingons to join their alliance, because as repugnant as he found the idea, he knew that they needed all the help they could get against the Borg and Ferengi. He'd recently gotten a message from Kirk saying that one of the present Federation's ships should go, but it was too late for that now. Besides, Primus wouldn't have wanted to wait anyway. But now Primus feared that it was more likely that he'd be facing war with the Klingons, a war so far to his Empire's eastern territories that his Federation allies could not help him.

"Do you know of any way we could salvage the situation, Doctor?" Primus asked.

Primus had called in the best sociologist and general expert on the Klingons in his empire to advise him on this first contact. Dr. R'Tan was an old Romulan with snow white hair who'd been around during the time of the Kithomir massacre.

"Well, Praetor," R'Tan cleared his throat, obviously nervous. "You're in for an uphill struggle here, especially with the destruction of that Klingon transport, but you knew that already, I'm sure." He chuckled weakly.

"Please, Doctor, calm yourself," Primus said, trying to sooth the old man. "If we make the Klingons our allies, you'll be a miracale worker. If they declare war on us, the blame will fall with the idiot admiral, not you. I need your knowledge, please."

"Of course, Praetor, of course," Dr. R'Tan said. "The main problem as I see it is that they haven't forgiven us for Kithomir yet."

"You mean they were planning to?" Hawk asked skeptically.

"Perhaps," Dr. R'Tan said. "You see, in Klingon culture, when one of them betrays their empire, he is dishonored and so, too, are all his decendants for three generations. When we attacked them at Kithomir, our entire race became dishonored in their eyes, of that I'm sure. Maybe--maybe--the same rule applies to us as to them: the dishonor is lifted after three generations pass. But thanks to our race's relatively long life span, that hasn't quite happened yet."

"So what do you suggest I do?" Primus asked. "We can't wait and see if your hypothesis is correct."

"I would offer a formal apology for both Kithomir and the transport," Dr. R'Tan answered. "But, you absolutely cannot come off as weak. Also, make it clear how great a battle is on the horizon and what the Ferengi have done. They will want to be part of such a war."

Primus questioned Dr. R'Tan on specifics for over two hours before he allowed the old doctor to leave. Then he worked on drafts of his message for over an hour more. Finally, he ordered his computer to take a message.

Code: Select all

Heil Chancellor Martok,

First, allow me to offer my apologies for the destruction of the Aqtu II. It was not my intension to have my fleet to send Klingon warriors to Sto-Vo-Kor prematurely. I will make sure that the Romulan Star Empire pays any reparations you require for the ship and her crew. I have not sent my ships to contact you to make war. I seek a military alliance, instead.

I realize my people have done little to pay for the dishonorable act we did at Kithomir, but I must ask that you trust me anyway. The Ferengi are using temporal shipyards, and we believe that they soon plan to attack the rest of the galaxy with the forces they're building with these illegal factories. We believe the Borg also plan to launch an offensive soon, perhaps with the Ferengi at their side. We have no proof of a Borg/Ferengi alliance yet, but we suspect it to be true.

My Empire has encountered two Federations, one from our time, and another from the past, led by James Kirk. I know it sounds fantastic, but it is true. We three have already entered into an alliance to combat the threat of the Borg and Ferengi. If you agree to my alliance, I'll give you their comm. frequencies so that you can ally with them, too.

Join us and your Empire can take part in a war that will make the Dominion War look like a border skirmish. Remain on the side lines and watch the most glorious war in the history of our peoples pass you by. Declare war upon my Empire, and only destruction and slavery awaits the Klingon people. Because either my Empire will somehow emerge victorious despite distractions from the Borg and Ferengi, or the Ferengi will conquer you after they've become unstoppably powerful from the spoils plundered from my Empire and the Federations. Choose wisely, Chancellor.

Best Regards,
Praetor Primus of the Romulan Star Empire

[brianeyci]

"The Klingons," said Zargat. "The Klingons are the key. What do they want, I wonder. What do they want. War with the Tholians? War with me?" Zargat laughed. "Klingons would find no challenge in fighting Ferengi. They view the Ferengi as pitiful and corrupt, and no warrior would kill a baby. If they think we are babies, all the better. Now... let's see..." Zargat had recently taken to talking to himself. Now that his advisors were part of the hive, the only voice in the Tower of Commerce, indeed the entire solar system, was his own. "How much does it take to bribe a Klingon..."

Code: Select all

Chancellor Martok and the Klingon High Council,

This is High Daimon Zargat of the Ferengi. We are in need of the services of your Klingon warriors. Recently, Tholian nationals invaded our space and killed many innocent civilians. We are in need of powerful warriors.

In return, we offer fifty thousand standard tonnes of dilithium, organics and uranium. This is not a one-time payment. This amount shall be sent to you by automated ships for as long as the war continues with the Tholians. Warriors deserve to be rewarded. If this sum is insufficient, the terms are flexible. As well, we mean no insult to your prowress and do  not treat the Klingons as mercenaries. Therefore, we shall make an immediate tribute to your people and give you control of a planet in the Rura Penthe system without any "strings attached" as the humens say. Glory to the Empire, and may the Great River smile on you.

Zargat smiled. Hopefully, this would be enough to satisfy that tadpole's puny brain. If not, then, there would be war. Or perhaps, things would continue as they were, but no doubt the Romulans and Humens were attempting to court the Chancellor for their own ends. Luckily the Klingons and the Romulans were mortal enemies. Or so he thought. He had changed, so why couldn't the Klingons. But it was difficult to imagine the Klingons forgetting the Khitomer blood feuds.

The master plan would go ahead, no matter of the Klingons. Leave them to their petty war with the Tholians. They would meet their fate after the Romulans and Humens. As long as they did not attack him, they were insignificant.

Brian

[Nephtys]

x02AF Detatchment, Primary Cube. Somewhere in Ferengi Space..

Independant Drone Erasmus remained unmoved, stoically recieving information regarding what he was facing. A Romulan fleet of twelve vessels, before his very eyes in close formation. At his side, one of the more garden variety drones rattled off useless information. A pity his Queen had assigned such a useless thing to his service. No matter.

"It is fortunate that the Ferengi and Dominion were so easilly swayed, don't you think so?" the former Klingon asked his rigid and blank companion. "This... bores me." he says, frowning to their position. "What do you think we should do?"

His small flotilla moved En-route to the system's star, a single cube on sensors flared up. He smiled. Excellent, the ship was coming to meet them. That payload would be important indeed. His musing was interupted by the rattle of the Drone's analysis.

"THEY POSSESS LARGER NUMBERS AND GREATER MASS. LONG RANGE SCANS INDICATE TECHNOLOGICAL INFERIORITY. PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS FOR ATTACK ON US IS 12.63 PERCENT. ALL ASSIMILATION BAYS ARE OPERATIONAL." it droned, rather unsurprisingly.

Erasmus (such a silly name, his Queen insisted he be called!) stroked his hairless chin. The monitors blared and an alert sounded. His sawblade hand hit the terminal before him quickly in shock. A detatchment of Ferengi battlecruisers changing course to intercept his fleet. As the drone rattled about survival probability dropping, he began to smile. A /battle/. In mid thought, his aggression inhibitors kicked in with a jolt, Erasmus stoically returning to nod to the Drone with infinate patience.

"Prepare to intercept the Ferengi task force."

[brianeyci]

"Borg fleet closing," said the helmsman calmly. Vreet leaned in his chair. "Raise shields, arm all weapons and prepare to fire." Vreet slapped his console.

"Ferengi ships to all vessels and colonies in the Norpin and surrounding systems, we are engaging the Borg fleet. We do not believe we can hold them off for long. We suggest all civilians stay away from the Norpin system until the situation has been resolved. Business will continue when the Borg have been eradicated." Vreet swiveled to his communications officer, a naked Betazed female. "Are the holorecorders online?"

"Yes Liquidator."

"Arm all weapons, raise shields," barked Vreet. "Rotate shield and weapons frequencies favoring the upper EM band. Engage neutral interface." A cable reached out and implanted itself in Vreet's palm socket. Vreet felt the ship--he was the ship. He rushed headlong into the Borg formation but was immobile before he could fire a single torpedo.

"Hull breaches on multiple decks, reporting heavy casualties," said the tactical officer.

"All engines full reverse," said Vreet as he was brought back into reality.

"Borg vessels firing again."

A nearby console exploded killing the the Betazed woman. Vreet snarled and slammed his foot on the ground. The idiot, what did he think he was doing?

"Tractor beam," said the tactical officer.

"Engines non-responsive."

"Borg drones beaming onto Decks ten, eight, five and one."

Vreet pressed a button launching the buoy. He saw it streak away from the viewscreen and enter the Bynar wormhole. It was on a mission to send the highly detailed recordings of the Borg "attack" on Ferengi ships to the Federations and the Romulans.

Vreet saw a drone appear in an emerald spiral in front of him with his arms crossed. Vreet sneered. "Erasmus you fool, you were supposed to capture us not kill us! If the master had not ordered me to let you capture us I would be feeding your head to my targh and spitting on the remains of your fleet!" Vreet paused. "Do not think because my master tells me to obey you that I am your ally Erasmus. You are a Klingon oaf and if it were not for my master's orders you would be in very small pieces by now."

Brian

[Trogdor]

Indri System-Bynar Space
IRS Firehawk II

Admiral T'kon breathed a sigh of relief as they left Ferengi space behind them. His fleet was composed entirely of obsolete ships that the Empire hadn't gotten around to scraping yet and his whole purpose was to give the Ferengi pause so that they and the Invisible Eye could escape. It had never been the plan for them to fight anyone, not the Ferengi and certainly not the Borg.

"Are the Borg following us?" he asked.

"Unknown, Admiral," the sensor officer said. "The Ferengi jamming field played havok with the sensors."

T'kon nodded. He'd expected as much. Hopefully, if the Borg did follow, the Bynars would not take kindly to the incersion.

"All right," he said. "We're out of the jamming field now, so let's send the Eye's data to the Praetor."

"Aye, Admir..." the comm. officer trailed off. "Sir, we're picking up a Ferengi signal."

T'kon frowned. "On screen."

A recording of a large space battle appeared on the viewer, the Borg fleet they'd just seen tearing apart Ferengi ships. It lasted for a few moments and then began to loop. T'kon ordered it shut off, his mind spinning.

The Tal'Shiar operative had assured him that the Ferengi were emulating the Borg and that the two seemed to be allied. Were they totally wrong?

To hell with it. Figuring out this kind of thing wasn't his job. Leave it to the politicians. "Send both this and the Eye's data home," he said. "Let the Praetor figure it out."

Praetor's office

Primus smirked as he watched the mayhem play out in the recordered battle. The humans might fall for this, but he wouldn't, especially not with what he'd learned from the Invisible Eye. Zargat forgot what race played chess with the galaxy the most.

He shook his head. "Broadcasting a battle with no distress call," he said. "Zargat you are an amateur at this. You need some apparent reason for the broadcast."

Primus began to compose a message to Kirk, telling him of what he'd learned from his spy ship. He sent it off, and then checked his messages one more time. He'd been doing it all day, hoping to find the Klingon's response. Once again, there was nothing.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

The invasion of the Talarian system was proceeding with mixed results. Kirk was finding out that, while taking planets from them was easy, holding them was not. The Chalnoth had immediately attacked Talarian I as soon as the fleet had moved on to another planet, recapturing it even as the second planet was taken by Kirk's forces. Kirk had felt that the detachment of 24 heavy combat shuttles would be enough to protect the planet, but it was summarily destroyed, inflicting only 4 casualties on the enemy. The shuttles would fare even worse against a major power like the Dominion. Perhaps the era of effective shuttles had come and gone.

On the happier side, a review of the combat logs revealed that his ships were capable of defeating Chalnoth fleets many times their size. Still worrisome, however, was the sudden presence of a Borg cube on the Talarian warp point. The sheer size of it was staggering. It was easily twice the size of a Federation heavy cruiser. Realizing that he had neglected research into large scale construction for too long, Kirk ordered research into bigger ships to commence immediately. While one ship, even such a behemoth of a ship, was hardly anything to get worked up about, Kirk worried that it might signal an impending invasion of Federation space. It was a good thing that the second battle fleet had just finished construction. They might have to be pressed into service sooner than he had thought.

The incoming message warning light beeped. It was from the Romulans. It said that the Ferengi were allied with the Borg and that their leader was creating his own collective. Just as bad, it said that one of his ships had mistakenly fired on a Klingon vessel and destroyed it. His brow creased with a frown, Kirk composed his response.

Code: Select all

That is very disturbing news about the Ferengi, perhaps even worse than the temporal shipyards. We received a broadcast of a battle between Borg and Ferengi ships. Does this change anything?

We hope that the Klingons will accept your explanation. We need them as allies.

Work against the Chalnoth is proceeding slower than expected. They have a large navy with planetary landing forces, as we discovered when they retook Talarian I. Our combat shuttles were not effective at guarding the planet. However, their weapons have proven incapable of destroying our ships, even in massive numbers and at point blank range. This means that we are able to split the task force into two groups, leaving one to conquer a new planet while the other guards a planet until it has had time to build weapons platforms capable of resisting assault. A second wave of attack ships have been built and are en route. We expect total surrender by stardate 2406.0.

Sincerely,
Admiral James T. Kirk

[brianeyci]

Scattering like leaves, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth fighter squadrons of the Ullian Auxillaries plunged into the Ferengi formation. They fired their torpedoes and weapons with perfect accuracy, striking the Ferengi at their most vulnerable spots.

Unfortunately for them, the Ferengi's most vulnerable spots were immune to the Ullian's shuttle phasers and micro-torpedoes. The phasers were simply absorbed and radiated back into space with high efficiency by the Ferengi shields, while the torpedoes seemed to detonate too early, never hitting the Ferengi hull. The fighters then scattered as they were trained, circling the Ferengi ships and avoiding gun turrets. They fired off-axis, not making any predictable attack runs and becoming vulnerable only for the split second it took to fire their fixed axis heavy phasers, at other times hugging the Ferengi behemoths.

There was no response from seven Ferengi battleships. It was like bees around the beekeeper, the beekeeper not bothering with the insignificant insects. But after several minutes the beekeeper's patience ran out. Dozens of fighters were annihilated as the Ferengi battleships extended their shields and pulverized the hugging fighters. The Ullian fighters, seasoned veterans, distanced themselves, but as they did holes appeared in the hull and out arose pulse disruptor turrets, saturating space and exploding another five dozen fighters.

The ten remaining Ullian fighters saw this and sped back towards the planet, but placed themselves in front of the battleship's main guns. They fired, exploding proximity fused quantum torpedoes which detonated and turned to debris the retreating fighter craft.

The battleships entered orbit around the Ullian colony and immediately began deploying cloaked mines to defeat any counter-attack. A transport assumed geosynchronius orbit beaming down hundreds of divisions of troops to begin the extermination of every living Ullian man, woman and child.

Then, the Ferengi battleships as quickly as they had come streaked away from the colony headed for their next target to complete the final solution.

Brian

[Trogdor]

"I don't like this," Hawk said. "This will be quite a drain on our stocks of minerals."

"These upgrades are long overdue," Dove argued. "And it's better that we do them now while we're still at peace rather than later."

"That peace could be shattered at any moment," Hawk warned. "We should do our best to keep our reserves full."

"I understand how you feel," Primus broke in. "But we need to do this. Our resource gathering is lagging far behind Kirk's Federation. If we don't perform the upgrades now, then we'll be forced to slow down our military buildup soon. We can't afford that now."

Hawk sighed. "Yes, Praetor."

"Besides," Primus said. "It's not as if we're leaving ourselves defenceless. The first of the King Falcon class ships should be completed by next month."

"It's not a problem we're likely to run into again," Dove added. "The shipyards recently began construction of the new Dei Manus class ships. They're scheduled to take nearly a year and a half to be built due to the complexity and cost of the Genesis devices, but when they're done, the Empire will know prosperity as never before. And that includes the military."

Hawk just nodded silently.

"Any other pressing buisness?" Primus asked.

"A message from Admiral Kirk, Praetor," Dove said. "He picked up the broadcast of the Borg and Ferengi's battle."

"I suspected as much," Primus said. "Well, Kirk is a warrior. Hopefully, it won't be too difficult to convince him that our alliance must remain alert and armed."

Primus turned on his comm. system and composed a message to his human ally.

Code: Select all

Heil Admiral Kirk,

In regards to the broadcast of the battle between the Ferengi and the Borg, I do not believe that anything has truly changed between the two. We Romulans are no strangers to elaborate schemes and deceptions, Admiral, and this feels like one.

My Empire's spy ship was in the sector at the time and, unfortunatly, the Ferengi knew it. They allowed it to pass for reasons that seemed inexplicable at the time, but which I now believe are clear.

It seems all too coincidental that this battle happened immediately after the Ferengi realized my spy ship might know how deeply in bed they are with the Borg. Also, the broadcast itself seemed to be done for no reason but to show that the two powers were fighting. Why did it come with no general distress signal from the Ferengi or warning from the Borg?

I cannot prove that the Ferengi are trying to trick us, Admiral, but in this case I believe one of your human maxims applies. "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst" I think it goes. We cannot relax our guard while it is possible that a Borg-Ferengi-Dominion alliance exists.

Best Regards,
Praetor Primus of the Romulan Star Empire

[Dalton]

Martok watched the diplomatic intercepts with a great degree of interest. While such matters were considered to be "below" most Klingons, Martok knew that resolving conflicts by other means was sometimes a more honorable course of action than sending brave warriors off to die on some pointless crusade. Of course, with the recent isolationism the Klingon Empire had entered into in an attempt to improve infrastructure, both ideas were moot.

His comm pinged. Pausing his reader he keyed the comm. "What is it?"

"Transmission from the Romulans, Chancellor. Coded for your eyes only." The end of his sentence sounded choked slightly, his face betraying none of the chagrin he was certainly feeling. Martok smiled at this. "Patch it through," he said.

Martok's eyes widened at what the Romulan tobah had to say. The destruction of the unmanned satellite launcher was certainly a blow to his Empire, and he seriously considered declaring war on the Romulans until he saw the launcher's sensor logs on what the new D'deridex Warbirds could do. His own simulations showed that one could easily destroy two Negh'var-class battleships. And now here they were, offering apologies and asking for an alliance.

Martok offered a reply to the Romulans.

Code: Select all

Romulan targh:

I will be frank with you: I do not like you, nor do I like Romulans. Your attack on Khitomer was dishonorable, but the collusion with a Klingon traitor was even more dishonorable.

But, yet, that has not prevented an alliance before. I do not know what particular timeline you have come from, but during the war with the Dominion, the Romulan Star Empire joined us and our Federation allies to form a vast fleet, which we used to drive back the advance of the Founders. It was a grand battle, and many warriors died in glorious battle until we achieved final victory over the encroachers.

The alliance between the Borg and the Ferengi is a danger to us all. The destruction of one unmanned satellite launcher is insignificant when compared to the potential for destruction by this insidious new force. Although we are not impressed by your threats, we will nevertheless join you against Zargat and the Borg Queen. As a show of your faith, send us the comm frequencies for both Federations. We wish to re-establish ties with our Federation ally, and I would be honored to fight alongside a warrior as brave as Kirk.

Qa'pla!

-- Martok

Martok sent the message along, then drafted another one to High Daimon Zargat.

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Ferengi!

You are without honor. You promised to give us a planet with temporal shipyards for us to study, but instead you give us a barren world with nothing but greedy toads beneath our feet. You have lied to me, and I do not like liars.

Furthermore, I have heard that you are secretly in alliance with the Borg Collective and the Dominion. I don't know what kind of mad greed has penetrated your oversized ears, but such an association will only end in your assimilation. As such, I will not send my men and ships to their destruction defending those who would conspire with the Borg and the Dominion.

-- Martok

His aide appeared again. "Chancellor, message from the Tholians. They want to end hostilities."

"Very well," Martok said. "Let's see if they will join us as well."

It was time for the isolation to end.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk dictated his response to the Romulan Praetor.

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Dear Praetor,

We thank you for sending us these comm channels, and for convincing the Klingons to join our alliance. Together we will be mighty enough to easily crush the aggressors.

Unfortunately, I fear the big war may be coming sooner than we expected. Last month, our sensors picked up a borg minesweeping vessel in the Talarian system, where we are fighting the Chalnoth. Now it has been followed by two attack vessels, and its course is set for the warp point to Federation space. We have scrambled every fighter in the Antede system to deal with this threat. Luckily, we have been building fighters continuously for the last five years at every planet that does not have something better to build. Fighters have been proven to be less effective than we originally thought, but we have hundreds of them in the Antede system, so I would classify the probability of a breakthrough into Federation space as vanishingly small. We have also recently upgraded our sensor network to detect cloaked ships using all known and possible cloaking technologies, so the Borg cannot sneak past our defenses. In addition, we have ten warships en route to Talarian to deal with the Chalnoth more quickly. Combined with the existing forces there, they should be able to stop any Borg invasion.

However, I am still worried. Once the initial attack is repelled, the Borg will likely go into full war production. A likely worst case scenario pits the full might of a combined Borg, Ferengi, and Dominion alliance against us in the very near future. We know the Ferengi and Borg are allied. The status of the Dominion is still unknown, but given that three Borg cubes just came from their home system, I'd say they are either working with the Borg, or the Borg have destroyed them. In addition, we are currently experiencing severe resource shortages. They can be remedied by ceasing production of fighters and using our resource converter to convert the massive mineral surplus that would result into organics and radioactives, but I am loathe to take such action. A large number of fighters makes an unexpected attack much easier to repel, and forces the enemy to waste valuable ship space on point defense weapons.

In any case, I feel that a big war is coming, and our two empires are going to be on the same side. Therefore, we should upgrade our treaty to Partnership as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Admiral James T. Kirk

That was not the only thing on his mind. The Chalnoth attack at Talarian VI had been a disaster. Believing that they would not attack the main battlegroup, Kirk had ordered most of the combat ships to be retrofitted, leaving only two warships fully operational when the Chalnoth attacked. To their credit, the two ships had completely destroyed the Chalnoth fleet, but they could not do it fast enough to prevent them from destroying two retrofitted ships and severely damaging a number of non-combat vessels. Thankfully, their time as a credible empire was nearing an abrupt end. Their navy was completely devastated. Out of almost 30 ships originally arrayed against Kirk's 8, only a few now remained.

Still, the Borg's presence in the Talarian system could severely complicate matters if they attacked. Kirk paced as he considered the possiblities. If a war broke out now, the situation could become desparate very quickly. He needed to subdue the Chalnoth as quickly as possible and get those starbases built on the warp point. Otherwise, he'd have to go to the Romulans and the other Federation for help, leaving their end of the combined territory vulnerable. Still, Kirk had 22 active combat vessels, and every single one of them was within 2 systems of the site of a Borg attack against him. Surely the cyborgs couldn't deal with that, could they? Kirk knew he had many sleepless nights to look forward to before this was all over.

[brianeyci]

"I'm a Doctor not a haggler. Now give me the damn thing for what it's worth!" The Ferengi peered at him then smiled, baring his sharp teeth. "Of course, of course humen. For you, the book is worth... five bars of latinum."

"Five bloody bars? I could buy a whole fleet with that!" The humen seemed to be angry. Time to lower the price. "Fortunately for you, I have located several other copies of the book. Two bars of latinum humen."

The man seemed to open his mouth, then closed it and shoved a credit slip to the Ferengi. "Take it before I change my mind." He stuffed the book in his leather satchel and walked away.

Unknown to him, his watcher was following the doctor through the crowd. The human mercenary Datan, with all identifiable markings and records non-existant in this galaxy, had been smuggled in through a Ferengi cargo vessel. The doctor stopped for a coffee. Datan paused at a vendor, pretending to be browsing, until the doctor moved. Datan made an inconspicious motion dismissing the vendor's wares as unsuitable and continued tracking. The doctor turned a corner. Datan lost his target in the crowd, but he was undeterred. In his right hand was a small device which signaled the closer he drew to his prey. He ducked through an alleyway and emerged several meters away from the doctor. Now, Datan was trying to get a clean shot on his target. He could fire, but he hated collateral damage. Datan walked straight to the doctor, but the light changed and the doctor had crossed the street before he closed the distance. He could have fired. Likely his high caliber heavily modified disruptor pistol would tear through any flesh barrier, but that would mean needless death. Datan hated anything less than perfection.

The doctor had stopped at a corner, waving for a hovercar taxi. The perfect shot. Even though there was nobody in the way, the mercenary lessened the space between him and his target to nil. A woman got in the way, holding a small child's hand. The doctor had found a taxi and it had arrived. His prey was about to escape--this would not do. Datan shoved the woman and her child aside, whipped out his disruptor pistol and pointed it at the startled doctor's head...

...but before he could fire he felt a hand grab his shoulder and he lost consciousness. Datan's implants, constantly monitoring Datan's vital signs for any miniscule change and activated by Datan's collaspe, pumped toxins through his body instantly killing him.

Brian