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Legacy of Night: Contact
{"Captain's log, Stardate 24268.33. Our small patrol force has been dispatched to Turkana IV to investigate a freighter captains report of ships in the Turkana system. Since Turkana IV has been quarantined since its government fell to mob rule, no ships are allowed to land or even orbit. The last Starfleet vessel to visit the system was the Enterprise-D and that was several years ago. Picard’s report though sparse on details indicates that there are several large 'gangs' that fight each other over resources and luxury items. Starfleet command believes that the ships sighted in the system may be Orion smugglers supplying weapons to one or both sides"}
Captain Jenna Fury, looked up from the panel on her Kirk-era command chair. The USS Exeter wasn't much, a old Miranda class refit that was starting to look its age, but it was hers. Technically the USS Manchester and Liverpool were to. The three near identical ships had been assigned together as a unit ever since the refit, and she was overall commander of that unit. The theory was that three Mirandas could match the larger and at the time newer Romulan Warbirds. Teams of Mirandas like theirs patrolled the borders of the Federation. The Dominion war changed that, now her team was pulling missions like this one that used to get assigned to larger, better armed ships.
Jenna looked over at her tactical officer, lt. commander Shal a member of the feline Caitian species. His black fur rippled slightly and his ears flattened. While many others had trouble reading the Caitians, Jenna's first assignment was to their home world. While some expressions were still a mystery, she knew enough to read confusion.
"Commander Shal, find something?"
"The long range sensors are picking up two ships in orbit around Turkana IV as well as identity markers."
"So what’s the problem?"
"One of the ships is reading as an old Klingon D7 battle cruiser, but is reading as massing almost twice as much as normal, with nearly three times the power output. It identifies itself as the IMC Blade's Edge. The second appears to be a modified Son'a Destroyer identified as the IMD Sanction.
"IMC, IMD those are knew ones on me. What does the computer say about them?"
"According to this they stand for Independent Mercenary Cruiser and Destroyer respectively"
"Mercenaries?", one of the helmsmen asked
"Yes and it appears the Blade's Edge has been employed by Independent freighters in federation space during the Dominion war."
"But why, Starfleet.."
"Was to busy to maintain our usual patrols against Orion Syndicate and other threats to non-essential shipping. Several freighters hired mercenary ships as protection."
"So the question is what are they doing here, and who hired them to do it."
"We could ask"
Jenna grinned at him before turning back to the helmsman.
"Okay take us out of warp well outside their orbital path. Wouldn't do to startle a bunch of trigger happy mercenaries."
IMC Blade's Edge
Ryan Blade smirked as the three Mirandas flashed into view. He fingered the hilt of his sword thoughtfully. He turned to his second, Lt.Cmdr Lisa. It wasn't her real name but ever since he won then subsequently freed her she refused to use the name her former master gave her. He liked the look on peoples faces when they saw a green skinned Orion girl who not only wasn't a slave but was armed.
"Lisa you have the bridge, when the 'fleeters' get tired of waiting invite their Captains to diner."
"And where will you be while I'm insulting their delusions of self importance."
"Sparring with Scorrth. Try not to be rude, I want them insulted because I didn't talk to them, not because you like the sound of your own voice."
"Please it was just that one time."
"You sang every swear in the klingon language to the tune of 'She's comin' round the mountain', not that your not a great singer but..."
"Alright, alright, no promises if they insult me though."
He smiled as he made his way to the sparring room. Major Scorrth, commander of his ground troops, stood in the center of the room practicing katas with a wooden training sword. Ryan quickly changed into his practice gear setting his black metal blade down in favor of a weighted wooden replica. He stood before Scorrth, even his 6'5" frame seemed small next to the Gorn trooper. With no word or sign Scorrth attacked. Ryan smirked inwardly, sparring with Scorrth was always more fun because unlike a human opponent the Gorn's moves became faster and more precise as the fight went on and his cold body began to heat up.
"How's the peace keeping going?"
"Hollister's troops made clearing the gangs out of their hole easier. That 'tear gas' has an interesting effect on humans."
"Any ill effects for our troops?"
Ryan parried and rolled away, he had to be more on guard than Scorrth since the Gorn also didn't have to wear the heavy protective clothing.
"The rebreather masks are effective enough. We have located the last Alliance stronghold we will take it tonight."
"Good launch the assault while I'm 'entertaining' the fleeters."
USS Manchester
Captain Fury blinked at the sight the view screen presented to her. A young and very attractive green skinned woman sitting in a command chair with everything around her concealed by a shifting distortion pattern. She looked to woman over the green skin and hair color marking her as an Orion, she wore a tight black t-shirt with dress pants and thigh high leather boots. An obvious weapon of some kind sat in a hip holster.
"I am Lt. Commander Lisa of the IMC Blades Edge, Captain Blade is occupied at the moment but has asked me to extend an invitation to dine with him at 06:30 hours. He will answer any questions you may have then."
Jenna was momentarily at a loss but reached a decision quickly.
"Very well at 06:30 then."
The view screen blinked back to an exterior view of the D7 cruiser. The helmsman spoke first.
"Rude aren't they."
"They fight for a living I imagine its altered their perspective on courtesy. In the meantime, is there any way to get some information on this Captain Blade."
"Possibly", Shal spoke up, "I know a Ferengi accountant in the Liquidators guild they keep records of mercenaries they've hired out work to."
"How long? We've got 4 hours, that’s it."
"Hour for the transmission to reach him an hour back, minimum."
"Do it."
"Yes Ma'am."
"In the meantime can we tell what they're doing on Turkana IV?"
"I believe so Captain. the mercenaries appear to be wearing transport inhibitors of a design I don't recognize. However running a transporter targeting scanner over the colony at very low levels lets me distinguish them from Turkana IV's local population without alarming them. From what I can tell they appear to be patrolling the streets in small groups, as well as guarding key locations."
"So they've invaded."
"It would appear so though their patrol patterns are more reminiscent of 'martial law' deployments of many old military forces."
Jenna left the bridge and headed to her 'ready room' to write an initial report for Starfleet Command. She sent a sparse report to Starfleet command, then laid down to sleep while she had time. The computer awoke her two hours later. A quick shower and a new uniform later she returned to the bridge.
"Well Shal, your contact come through?"
"Somewhat Captain, not as thorough as I'd like. The IMC Blade is captained by a Ryan Blade, a former federation citizen from a small deep space colony. He applied to the academy, but was rejected for psychological instability. He began his career as a mercenary shortly afterwards first as a fighter pilot, then worked his way up to acquiring a larger ship. His ship and crew are based out of Fortress, a freehold planet in Ferengi space."
"And the other vessel."
"The IMD Sanction is commanded by a Colonel Rayne Hollister. He and his crew arrived on Fortress via a Keedja transport, no point of origin listed. There is no record of any of his original crew members in the federation data banks. He hired his people out as ground troops until the Sonia gave them a stripped down Destroyer in lieu of monetary payment. Blade and Hollister work together often, and have even faced down a Jem'hadar group four times their number and come out with very few casualties. They have honored every contract they have taken, and take care not to kill non-combatants."
She mulled this over. They sounded like they were a step above the cutthroat image the word mercenary brought up these days.
'This should be interesting.' she thought to herself.
IMC Blade's Edge
Jenna materialized on a cargo transporter pad. Lt. Commander Lisa stood nearby dressed in a black dress uniform of uncertain origin. She walked forward slightly and gestured to the two men near her.
"Captain Jenna Fury, this is Captain Ryan Blade and Colonel Rayne Hollister."
Ryan Blade appeared almost 28-29, was a little taller than six feet, clean shaven, short dark blond hair, blue eyes, with an athletic build. He wore an identical uniform to lt.cmdr. Lisa with different rank insignias. Rayne Hollister, looked 25, and was shorter, just shy of 6 feet. His hair was long and blond pulled back in a ponytail and his eyes were green. His uniform was different, it looked like a US Marine Corps uniform dyed black, the pins and medals all looked like the ones in the Smithsonian exhibit on 20th century military history. Two of the medals drew her eyes, one was a Eugenics war campaign ribbon, the other was a Klingon, 'Star of Kahless', medal, neither of which he should have been able to earn. But something in his eyes said he was far older than he appeared. Jenna turned to introduce her comrades.
"This is Captain Culax of the Manchester." The dusky skinned Vulcan bowed slightly, " and Captain Richardson of the Liverpool."
Richardson glared at the mercenaries and didn't deign to acknowledge them otherwise. Jenna restrained a sigh of frustration, Richardson was symptomatic of starfleets biggest problem, an unshakable belief in the UFP's superiority over all others. The recent Dominion war had weeded out, or cause a change of mind in most of them, but not nearly enough. If the mercenaries noticed they gave no sign.
"If you would follow us."
Jenna and the others followed Blade and Hollister through the ship. The ship was well maintained and better lit than expected. On some doors a pair of armed guards of several different species stood at attention as they passed. They were led to a dinning room, Blade gestured for them to sit on one end while he, Hollister and Cmdr. Lisa sat at the other. A small padd, built into the table near each chair listed a small menu for them to choose from. The list wasn't very long but had selections from the planet each was born on. As a private filled their wine glasses Blade studied each captain before speaking.
"Since I doubt this is a social call, lets get right to it. What does the federation want?"
Jenna grinned a little, 'direct and to the point'.
"A few local traders reported your ships being here we were sent to identify who was here and why. There have been several cases in the last few months of Orion smugglers suppling weapons to places like Turkana IV. An armed invasion by mercenaries was the last thing we expected to find."
"We go where we're paid to."
Richardson's sneer increased slightly. Jenna scowled at him before responding.
"And you’re here to do what?"
"We've been paid to 'settle' things on Turkana IV. After we've finished disarming the gangs our employer will arrive with a peacekeeping force to maintain order and set up a governmental infrastructure. We'll be gone in a few days at most."
"Who is your employer?"
"That's confidential."
Richardson gave a hate filled look before he finally spoke up.
"How about we just arrest you I'm sure you'll come up with a name after a week in the brig."
"Richardson!!!!"
"You can't arrest me."
"Oh and why not, your violating the prime directive."
The mercenaries looked at each other before bursting out
laughing.
"I needed that. Look, Dick, first off we're not federation citizens, so you can't arrest us for violating an internal directive, secondly despite the almighty P.D. being toted as the reason for starfleets non involvement it has a lot more to do with disinterest in the planet."
"What are you talking about?"
"Turkana IV is an earth colony, populated exclusively by humans, they are not a pre-warp civilization nor are they an un-allied alien species. There is no reason for the federation not to intervene except that there's nothing on the planet worth the effort it would take. The records indicate that the colony 'severed relations' with the federation. Since at the same time the colony government collapsed it shouldn't take a genius to see that its just an excuse to not intervene. Turkana IV has no special industries or mineral wealth so the federation washed its hands of it and moved on after a single ship was sent to see how bad it was an left with a 'Tasha Yar' in tow. A few years later the Enterprise visits again to rescue some crash survivors. Things had improved a little, gang warfare true but better than unrelenting chaos. But still this human colony was left to its own devices after a successful mission. The irony is that the enterprise crew caused the conflict to become prolonged by stopping Ishara Yar from destroying the Alliance fusion reactor that powered its defense systems. If they had let her do it the Alliance would have fallen and the conflict would be over."
"That’s ridiculous."
"But true, the only other explanation is that starfleet command is full of complete morons, which is possible."
Richardson stormed out in the direction of the transporter.
"I wish I could say that was a surprise. Richardson was a career
desk-jockey until the war was over."
"I wouldn't apologize for him, he's a product of the times. In its current state I doubt the federation will last out the century."
Culax raised arched an eyebrow.
"On what do you base that conclusion?"
"I'm sorry to say it’s a problem that dates back to the era after first contact. Humanity had just come out of one of its worst wars to achieve warp travel and met the Vulcans. This wasn't a bad thing in itself its one of our reactions to it. Vulcans treated us like children afraid we would ignite a war with one of the other powers. So they withheld technology and information we could have used. Our reaction was mostly to fashion our own ships. But a few leaders began to 'pacify' the human race via the education system. All this 'bettering ourselves' and 'mankind has evolved' crap came out of an attempt to make us 'acceptable' to the Vulcans. In general though it has a lot to do with the first Romulan War and the subsequent wars have put us in much the same place that France was in after the first world war. Most of the best people are either killed or are career men like Picard, with no children to carry on. The federation, starfleet in particular is run by cautious old men who are growing more so with every threat."
Their meals arrived breaking up Ryan's train of thought. After a few moments of silent Culax finally spoke.
"I am curious, Captain, as to the origin of the sword you carry. As well as why you carry it."
"That is a long story Captain. A very long time ago I found the ruins of a single city on a deserted planet. I don't know who they were but the pictographs showed a unusual if incomplete history, they were part of a fleet of colony ships traveling from somewhere, one ship had crashed on that planet. They built a colony and remained by themselves for a hundred years maybe more. Then a warship arrived from the fleet, they fought over something and the colony was attacked from space. It was either a poison or a plague they built a single monument even as they dropped dead to hold their story and a few artifacts from their original home. The sword was among them I took it a few other items with me and left only a couple days before the star it orbited collapsed."
Ryan drew the blade holding it so they could see its whole length. The blade was black and seemed to suck the light into its surface. Double edged and straight, it led down to a hand guard slightly curved towards the blade and carved with a strange flowing almost runic script. The handle was a little over a foot long and topped with a rounded almost egg shaped pommel, more of the strange script flowed around it. The handle though long enough to wield with two hands seemed to suggest it was mainly wielded with one.
"I don't know what its made of, its impervious to scanners, it can't be transported, I've deflected energy beams with it, and fusion torches set on high don't even heat it much. Its has a near mono-molecular edge, and hasn't needed sharpening once. Who ever they were they were beyond us. One of the less impervious items was well over 5000yrs old. As to why I carry it, when I picked it up it just felt 'right' for me."
They made small talk as they ate, then Jenna and Culax excused themselves and returned to their ships. Lisa came up to Ryan after they left. She looked at him curiously as she plopped down in his lap.
"You went easy on them."
"Yup."
"Why?"
"I looked through Jenna's service record, she was born in a backwater, she only made captain cause she requested a position out here."
"So back to Fortress."
"Yes, three more days till our employer arrives, then a week or two of R&R for us all."
USS Manchester
Jena was surprised to see Admiral Paris on her screen.
"Morning Jena."
"Admiral, what brings the head of starfleet R&D to my quarters?"
"Your next assignment I'm afraid. The USS Enigma was on route to explore the territory of the now extinct Husnock species when they picked up reading indicating the territory is already being occupied. The readings indicate a large amount of communications of an unknown type in the vicinity of the supposed home system. The Enigma is a science research vessel they don't have any trained diplomats onboard, this is almost definitely a first contact situation since you and Captain Culax are the only two in range with first contact experience its up to you to find out who's out there."
Jena brightened, this would be her third first contact mission.
"Thank you Admiral, any special instructions."
"Yeah, don't start a war." he said jokingly before the transmission cut off.
TBC
(edited to restore spacing)
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