Space Empires IV Game RP

[brianeyci]

Code: Select all

"Species 180---Ferengi leader. I know not of what you think may be true, but I am no puppet queen." she says, pacing with her gloved hands curled into fists at her side. "I have no need of your supplies. I do find your claims strange. Why have you sent this... agent into my midst? Respond immediately." she barks, deactivating the drone again with a brush of her hand. 

Zargat laughed. Respond immediately? No Borg Queen he had spoken to had been so blunt. No need of supplies? The Dominion must be having problems with the Borg. The newly deployed sensor net had detected long-range Dominion chatter and battle debris. Even a destroyed Borg cube. If this Borg Queen would not ally, perhaps they could maintain an uneasy truce. Plans were being made, and a war with the Borg would be costly.

Code: Select all

Borg Queen.  I sent her into your midst to contact you.  Borg Queens are notoriously difficult to speak, drones assimilating on first sight being the usual policy.  No Ferengi ship will enter Borg space as long as Borg ships remain outside Ferengi space.

How strange is it, that another would try and emulate perfection?  Even if you find the Dominion no threat, it would be in our best interest to begin automated trading, which will take two years to see returns.  Two years from now, you may need Ferengi supplies.

Zargat tapped send. He looked at his construction manifest. Good. The temporal shipyards, ten of them were coming online in a month. The new Maurader class ships were finished. A salvage crew had captured a Ullian ship, and soon it would be time to move on the Mintakans. Long range sensors had detected Klingon warp signatures. Perhaps the Klingons would be more willing to trade.

Brian

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk was unhappy about the report from the new Defiant-class surveillance ship. Instead of a home system in ruins, as the Dominion had claimed before he had allowed them to settle a planet, the cloaked ship found a system with multiple planets containing populations in the billions, and not a single ship belonging to these "Borg". He had not expected much from this "Dominion", particularly after the future Romulans warned him about them, but he still did not appreciate being lied to.

Kirk prepared a message:

"To the Dominion colony in the Antede system:

When your colony ship came into the Federation system of Antede, you told us that your ship constituted the last of your people. The ship we sent to verify this information came back with this:

You have until Stardate 2430.0 to remove your colony from the Antede system. Failure to do so will invite military reprecussions. Relay this message to your leaders in the Doraf system.

Kirk out."

Kirk sighed deeply. The last thing he wanted was a war, but this dishonesty would not stand, and he would not allow a power as large as the Dominion to keep a foothold in Federation space.

[GuppyShark]

The Vorta responsible for the administration of the Antede colony was understandbly quite upset by this transmission.

He demanded of an aide, "Did we ever claim such a thing as Kirk is saying? Check our records!"

When the response came back negative, he sighed.

"Can anyone think of a diplomatic way to call the human an idiot? Never mind. I'll try to think of something."

..

Mr. Kirk.

When our ship arrived in this system, we claimed only the following:

* That we were fleeing the Borg.
* That our homeworlds had been devestated.
* That conditions on the ship were becoming unbearable and we wished to establish a colony to better our lives.

Of our original galaxy spanning empire, only five - FIVE of our homeworlds remain. We are truly the last of our people and communications from those homeworlds grows ever grimmer as the Borg, freed of the interference of the Dominion, threatens to completely destroy all life in the galaxy.

We will not leave until you force us, for there may be nowhere left to go. Out.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk received the message with a frown. The five homeworlds he saw in the viewscreen didn't look very devastated to him, and he certainly wasn't going to let someone set up a fifth column in his territory.

He sent a simple, one line message to the admiral in charge of the planetary task force. "Prepare the landing ships, ready the troops, and await further instructions." He sighed, then sent a message to the Vorta in charge of the Antede colony.

"If you will not evacuate our space, we will send troops to occupy the colony. Kirk out."

[Alan Bolte]

The Predsetadel reviewed the latest long-range communications interception, provided by the somewhat unofficial agreement between the Tholian Assembly and the Klingon Empire. The Tholians are not without a sense of humor.

"Ha, ha ha ha ha. This Dominion just cannot win. Even the weakling Federation moves to attack them."

"Did I just think that out loud?" A few of the aides and clerks in the administrative complex assured him he did.

[Dalton]

The past several months had been eventful for the Klingon Empire. Martok read over the reports, feeling some small satisfaction that production rates seemed to have increased and his researchers were well along the way towards rebuilding their lost knowledge. Planets were being settled and new facilities were being built; soon, enough resources would be available to start building a war fleet in earnest. A war fleet...

Martok noted the sudden increase of race contacts with some trepidation. The Tholians seemed to be interested only in themselves - Martok wondered if they had noticed they had a colony world with no colonists - but they had provided the comm frequenices used by two smaller races in their area. Too, two of his ships had been lost to a pair of local groups, both of whom seemed confined to one system; Martok could only guess that they did not learn how to utilize the warp points in their systems, but certainly guessed what they were for given the satellites they had launched to defend them. Further, all four appeared to be displeased at him despite their treaties; for what reason, he could not guess.

These were potential enemies that had to be swiftly dealt with, Martok decided. He tapped his comm unit and called for his defense minister, who promptly replied.

"Chancellor."

"Order the training facilities to train more warriors," Martok said. "And start building troop transports, and D7s. It is time to grow."

"Yes, Chancellor." He signed off without question, and Martok turned back to his computer. Another race had also recently made contact; it appeared that the Ferengi were also stuck in this situation, and were interested in reestablishing their previous trade relations.

Well, the Ferengi were merchants, not warriors. And any ally, even one that was greedy and selfish, was better than an enemy. He transmitted his agreement to their proposal, then turned back to his overview of ship schematics. He had a lot of planning to do.

[Trogdor]

Things had been relatively quiet in the Romulan Star Empire as of late. The remaining Talosians were fighting the Imperial forces in their sector bitterly but were running out of military units to fight with and colonies to produce resources to maintain them. Other than that, very little had happened.

Yet Primus could not help feel that it was the calm before the storm. As the empire expanded furthur into the center of the galaxy, he knew that more first contacts were inevitable. He'd been lucky so far, encountering only humans, who were willing to forgive and forget nearly to a fault.

He felt that his empire was quite wealthy and he believed in the superiority of the Romulan people, yet he found himself wishing that the galaxy was just a bigger, that they'd had a bit more time of relative isolation. Primus had the lingering feeling that they were lagging behind in the tech race, though the recent research boom would hopefully fix that soon.

He looked out the window of his office to the heavens above, and wondered what the future had in store for his people.

[Nephtys]

Nephtys sunk with her hands placed upon a console, viewing a complex diagram of a nanoscale virus. Her will moves components about the screen, before the familiar voice of her independant drone Shodan chips in.

"My queen!" she calls out, Nephtys shuddering and losing her concentration. She turns with clear annoyance. "What is it?" she growls.

"I have a report from the front against the Dominion. We have utterly annhiliated all forces in System x0AF1. Interception of subspace communications indicate they have made contact." she replies. Nephthys arches her fingers, looking down. "Their systems are weakened, my queen. Your command?" she asks.

"Bring me a channel. And prepare cube squadrons two, three, and five for immediate invasion should they decide to decline my generous offer..." Nephtys wickedly smiles, running her hands together. She turns to face her giant holographic screen again.

Code: Select all

Dominion leader. Your resistance is clearly futile. Your ships will be smashed aside and your distinctiveness added to our own. I am no simple Borg however... I offer you a truce. And protection from outside threats. All you would need is submit and service us. We will uplift your pitiful technology... and you will find your misguided ambition redirected.

Nephtys turns about, smirking. "If they choose not to respond, initiate the attack." she barks back to her assistant. Shodan bows her head briefly. "Your will be done."

[Alan Bolte]

Above Minos Korva VIII, three warships slid from their construction slips and began fleet exercises.

Lightyears to rimward, a transport dropped off the first colonists at a pre-prepared colony world.

[Trogdor]

"Are you quite certain of this?" Primus asked.

"We checked three times, Praetor, we are certain," the long ranger sensor officer said. "The Dominion's defenses have fallen and the Borg are ready to go in for the kill. But they chose not to, offering them the chance to live on as subjugates."

"Very unlike the Borg," Primus mused. "But I expect every displaced empire has made changes. Very good, you may leave now."

The officer bowed and left.

"If the Borg conquer or subjugate the Dominion..." Hawk began.

"It will add a substantial amount of wealth to their empire and it will make them much more powerful, I know," Primus replied, deep in thought.

"But what can we do about it?" Dove asked. "The Dominion stars are well outside our sphere of influence."

"We could send a fleet through Federation territory under cloak to protect them," Hawk suggested. "Or to subjgate them ourselves."

"Are you mad?" Dove snapped. "Our treaty with the past humans clearly dictates that we cannot send armed warships into their territory! And if history has taught us anything about our cloaks, it is that while they are useful they are far from perfect! Our prosperity can be largely credited to our alliance with Kirk. We cannot risk that!"

"I doubt that our fleet would make it in time even if we did," Primus said softly. "The Borg are right on the Dominion's doorstep."

"Then what are we to do?" Hawk asked. "Allow the Dominion's wealth to fall into the hands of the Borg Collective?"

"I am going to do the only thing I can. Computer!" Primus called, and there was a small chime in reply. "Take a message."

Code: Select all

Heil Admiral Kirk,

As you may or may not be aware, the Dominion's war with the Borg Collective grows dire. In a matter of months, at most, the Dominion's worlds will either be occupied by Borg drones or a puppet government that answers to the Borg Queen.

For the sake of all sentient races, I urge you to intercede. The Borg are a plague upon the galaxy and only you can prevent them from growing stronger off the blood of the Dominion. Offer the Dominion the status of subjugates with your Federation, or protectorate status if you wish. If they accept, when you begin to fight the Borg--and please believe me when I say that you WILL be fighting the Borg sooner or later--you can fight them in the Dominion's system rather than at your own stars. The Dominion know of your people and of the Borg. They know you would be the kinder masters.

Best Regards,
Praetor Primus of the Romulan Star Empire

"Send to Admiral Kirk," Primus ordered the computer.

"Are you sure that was wise, Praetor?" Hawk asked. "The Federation could become formidable indeed if they had the Dominion as their subjugates."

"I know," Primus said. "But one way or another, the Dominion will soon cease to exist as an independant nation. I'd rather see them in Kirk's pocket than the Borg Queen's."

Edit: fixed typos.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

By the time Kirk had finished reading the Romulan Praetor's message aloud, Bones had already launched into a tirade.

McCoy: You can't seriously be thinking about dominating another race, Jim. It goes against everything the Federation stands for!

Spock: Logically, we would be doing the Dominion a great service by taking them over instead of the Borg.

McCoy: Why, you pointy-eared automaton! You green blooded monster!

Spock: Doctor, I hardly think...

McCoy: Don't listen to him, Jim! Our principles are all we have left! We put another people under our thumb and we're not the Federation any more, we're just a bunch of god damned Klingons!

Kirk held up his hand.

Kirk: Spock is right. The Dominion would be better off with us than the Borg.

McCoy: I can't believe you're going to take the advice of a bunch of backstabbing Romulans and this green blooded...

Kirk held up his hand again.

Kirk: But it would betray our principles to subjugate them completely. I'm going to offer to make them a protectorate. We'll defend them against the Borg, but they have to come to our aid when we need them, too. They'll still be able to settle worlds and conduct their own affairs, but we'll have ambassadors and inspectors so that we'll have advance warning, should they decide to betray us. And we'll give them shield disruptors to help them fight the Borg; but they still have to turn that colony in Antede over to us.

Kirk drafted a message:

Code: Select all

Greetings, Founders of the Dominion

I am aware of your dire situation in regards to the Borg, and I am prepared to help. I am offering that your empire, including all of your worlds and assets, become a protectorate of the Federation. We will build a fleet of ships to defend your home system against the Borg, and in the mean time will send plans to build shield disruptors that will render their ships vulnerable. In exchange, you must do your share against the Borg once your systems are secure, and help us fight against hostile races we may encounter in the future. You must also turn over control of the Antede colony.

You will still have autonomy to colonize and manage your own affairs, so long as at least three quarters of your ship-building capacity is dedicated to building warships to aid us any time we are at war. We will also send ambassadors and inspectors to be sure of your continuing good intentions.

By the terms of the treaty, your ships must not enter Federation space for any reason that we have not pre-approved, and there shall be no mines at warp points or other measures to prevent our impede our entry into Dominion systems.

I know that these terms sound draconian, but I offer them with the best of intentions. We do not want to destroy your people, nor to be your overlords.

Sincerely,
Admiral James T. Kirk

[Trogdor]

"Praetor Primus! Praetor Primus!"

Primus, Hawk, and Dove all looked up from the latest plans for increased colonization as a young officer came running.

"What is it?" Primus asked, thinking that the young Romulan had better have a good reason for such an indignity.

"News from the frontier," the officer panted. "First contact."

That was good enough, Primus thought.

"Well don't keep us in suspense, boy!" Hawk snapped. "With who?"

"The...the Ferengi." the officer gasped. "According to their transmissions, they're led by someone named High Daimon Zargat."

"Thank you for the update, soldier," Primus said. "You may go now."

The young Romulan stumbled out. Primus wondered if he'd run all the way from the comm. center to his office.

"This could go very well for us," Dove said. "Trade with the Ferengi could really boost our economy."

Primus and Dove both looked to Hawk, waiting for the usual "let's attack!" speech. Hawk shrugged. "The sectors we have nearest to the Ferengi are mostly buffer room," he said. "It wouldn't make for a good place to launch an invasion, especially considering that the Thunderhawk fleet isn't ready yet. Besides, the Ferengi aren't warriors, they're merchants. War's expensive, and they'd rather make money as arms dealers than fight large scale conflicts themselves if they can avoid it. Aside from the occasional raid and act of piracy, we've never had any trouble with them back home."

Dove cleared his throat. "As much as I hate to mar the occasion of him agreeing with me for once, we may want to do a background check on this Zargat. See if there's anything about him in our records."

"Good point," Primus said, and Dove began to search the computer for any information on this Zargat.

"Oh my," Dove said. "The Tal'Shiar kept a close eye on this one. He likes to use Ktarian mind control devices to ensure the loyalty of his underlings."

"Will such devices work on Romulans?" Primus asked.

"Most likely, sir," Dove answered. "The Ktarians themselves tried to use the device to take over the USS Enterprise and it affected the ship's Vulcan crew members."

"We'll have to keep our guard up," Primus said. "But the potential rewards of an alliance with the Ferengi is too great. I'll write up the message."

[Nephtys]

With the recent events, the Queen stood in her chambers, waiting and considering her options. The dominion were all but crushed as a military threat, their offending forward bases annhiliated. They were pushed back to their home worlds. She had some calls to make now, as the newest Battle Cubes were coming online, her system security ensured. She keys in her most heavilly encoded channels now.

Code: Select all

High Daimon Zargat. I've finished questioning the drone you have sent me, and reached my conclusion: We are not as we appear. You've adapted to our translocation, and I am no ordinary borg. 

Your attempts to.. to emulate us are admirable. And we believe an exchange would be in the best interests of both parties. If you would send a token transport of materiel to begin the exchange, I will send you my representative.

The Queen turned aside, waiting now for the contact ship they hopefully would send. She instead returns to consider the war front, and increased subspace communication. She smiles pleasantly, arms folded as her second assault fleet's reports arrive...

[brianeyci]

"Who is this Kirk?" said Zargat. Baxter sneered. "Kirk is only the most daring military commander in human spacefaring history," said Baxter. Zargat called up Kirk on his computer. Much of the database had disappeared on transition, and Kirk's file too as the computer read No data in flashing letters. "What battles did he win, some during the Romulan War, or the Dominion War?"

"No. He commanded a ship, the USS Enter..."

"A single ship?"

"Yes."

Zargat laughed. "Fool. A commander of a ship makes a poor admiral and a terrible administrator. Most definitely this Kirk is a terrible economist. The Federation doesn't even believe in money! Their economy must be falling apart. And, this news of a Federation Civil War..."

"...it's not a civil war."

"Explain."

"There are two Federations, but one seems to be from Kirk's time while the other from our time," said Baxter.

"The Divine Vault be praised. More humens to trade with," laughed Zargat again uncontrollably. After a minute, he cleared his throat. "So, this Kirk, a military commander in charge of one of the Federations. What of the other leader?"

"He appears to be some backwater administrator. Intelligence is sure he, Kirk and the Romulans have made an alliance."

Zargat paused. One Federation was more latinum. Two Federations were tricky. Two Federations and a Romulus might be trouble. "Have they contacted the Klingons?"

"No, the Klingons are in Beta Quadrant. Their ships probably have not met the Federation yet, although it's not outside the realm of possibility."

"Leave," said Zargat. Baxter bowed and left he throne room. Zargat tapped his chair. "Raxis, you have news?"

"Yes High Daimon. Our engineers have tested the chronoton machines. They are able to open temporal rifts," said a disembodied voice.

"Good. Have the temporal shipyards come online."

"Yes High Daimon." Zargat slapped his chair again. Temporal space yards were a violation of a dozen treaties in the Alpha Quadrant. But this wasn't the Alpha Quadrant. Zargat laughed. His opponents expected him to trade like a docile dog, like the Grand Nagus before him. They would be in for a shock. Zargat tapped his chair, and a dominating wiregrid ship schematic holographically levitated faded into the center of the room. Mauraders. Back in the Alpha Quadrant, Ferengi's formidable Maurader fleet had been kept in check during the Dominon War, much to the chagrin of many in the Commerce Authority. This time, there was no Grand Nagus to stop him. First the Ullians, then the Mintakans, then the Bynars, then who knew? The possibilities were limitless. The Mauraders were even better fitted than the ones in the Alpha Quadrant. Powerful particle beams, advanced shielding, armor piercing shells, shield disruptors and tractor beams along with massive fighter complements. There were only a handful now, but later there would be more. Many More. And, quantum torpedoes, and this time he wouldn't be fool enough like the Grand Nagus had to give the humens quantum torpedoes. If the Federation had been set back as far as the Ferengi had by the Q being, they probably had lost quantum torpedo technology.

There had been a few setbacks. The Ullian colonization technology had been uncompatible with Ferengi hulls. He had executed the scientists. Fools. They had wasted months and many resources capturing a ship, only to be held back by incompetents. It was a small setback though. Researchers had discovered new colonization technology already, and in a few months gravitational plates were coming online to make gas colonization possible.

A chime rang. Zargat pressed his console, and the words appeared floating in the middle of the room in high ferengi script. He laughed. So he was right, this was strange one. Zargat pressed another button. "Override the colony ship near the Iridian system and send it to these co-ordinates."

"High Daimon, that is B--"

"Do you question my orders?"

"No, of course not. The crew may object..."

"Put the ship on computer override." Zargat pressed another button. So a million citizens would be assimilated. What did he care? The Borg needed to be contacted and trade started. They were important pieces in his plan. As long as that fool Martok didn't start an early war out of Klingon bloodlust, he saw no future opposition to his master designs.

Brian

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Somebody's wires must have been crossed when they sent a ship to colonize a moon of the planet the Dominion had settled in the Antede system. The pilot had realized his mistake, as he had backed off, but it was interesting that the colony ship had not been destroyed. Were there, in fact, no defenses? If not, then it made Kirk's life easier if the Dominion rejected his offer and he had to conquer that colony. He certainly had enough troops to do it. Spread between two troop transports, 1,000 divisions of Starfleet Marines were about to warp into the system.

Kirk's mind wandered to the surveillance ship that was now exploring the galaxy. The Defiant-class heavy escort had turned out to be only a partial success. Its cloaking device had been highly successful, but the mines had not panned out. Federation scientists had thought that if a Defiant left a single mine in a remote part of the system, long range scanners would be able to focus on that mine in order to get a clear picture of what was going on in that system. It had not worked, foiled by the same technology that made mines so hard for enemies to spot. It had also failed as a means to contact the Talarians in the system north of Antede, since it would have required de-cloaking and the ship probably would have been fired upon. However, the ship had managed to send back a clear picture of the Dominion's home system, and was now exploring new systems. Work was underway on an improved version that would leave Watchdog satellites to observe the system. These same satellites were deployed in every system to pick up cloaked ships. The satellites would be visible on scanners, but they could still be useful.

In the Septimus system, the NSE 0001 Defiant-class ship had just observed ships from two new empires. There was a colony ship belonging to a race called the Ferengi. Kirk had heard of them, but could not remember ever having dealings with them. Then there were four menacing looking cube-shaped ships from the Borg. He had been warned about the Borg, and had in fact offered to defend the Dominion against them. He ordered that the NSE 0001 decloak and relay a hail, but drop two mines, just in case. Anybody who went to attack the otherwise defenseless ship would be in for a rude surprise.

Kirk decided not to send a hail to the Borg just yet. If they were as hostile as they were supposed to be, he did not want to provoke an early confrontation. If not, they would show it by contacting him first.

He drafted a standard hail to the Ferengi.

Code: Select all

Greetings, Ferengi spacecraft. Please relay this message to your home system.

This is Admiral James Kirk of the United Federation of Planets. We are on a peaceful mission of exploration and trade. I have heard of your species before, but I have not personally had any dealings. Hopefully our peoples may become friends and partners.

Sincerely,
James T. Kirk

[Alan Bolte]

"Sir, I'm afraid I have some bad news to report."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Several of our spacecraft have been having trouble with their propulsion booster modules."

"Yes, I read the reports."

"Well, we instructed the ships to rondezvous and attempt to repair each other rather than attempt to repair themselves. Unfortunately, this failed as well. We've analysed the situation and determined that that component can only be repaired at a planetary shipyard."

"Well, not so much lost, I suppose. Most of those were colony ships, after all."

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

Kirk was rather offended to get an automated response from the Ferengi, telling him to fill out forms, but he swallowed his pride and had a clerk draw up and send the paperwork. The incident jogged his memory about the Ferengi. Ruthless profit seekers with gigantic ear-lobes, as likely to steal from you as sell you something. The Federation had mostly tried to avoid dealings with them, even if it meant paying higher prices. No matter, Kirk would keep them at arm's length, and enjoy the benefits of another trading partner.

He then turned to the matter at hand. The deadline for abandonment of the Antede colony by the Dominion had come and gone, and his offer to help against the Borg had been ignored. There was only one thing left to do. He picked up the direct line to the leader of the waiting fleet. "Captain Stevens, begin the attack."

[brianeyci]

"You did WHAT!" screeched Zargat throwing his dinner at Baxter and his two underlings.

"You were in a meeting High Daimon and asked not to be disturbed, I sent the standard Ferengi greeting," said Baxter as he backed away to avoid the caviar.

"Idiot, we can't afford to anger the Federation!" said Zargat. "Send a message to this Kurt..."

"Kirk."

"Yes, yes, Kirk. Actually nevermind, I'll talk to him personally. Computer, long-range subspace channel now!"

Code: Select all

Federation Humens, greetings from the Ferengi Commerce Authority.

Unfortunately, your message was intepreted as a standard hail from a civilian ship and not given the prominence it deserved. We would like to continue our ancient trade agreement and allow civilian researchers and scientists to work together in an exchange program. We have many humens in on our worlds as well and they are anxious to meet the great Kirk. Civilian ships will be entering your space to begin trade negotiations immediately, although it will take some time.  As you are aware the Ferengi do not have a command economy like you humens, so individual businessmen will have to negotiate with your government on a case-by-case basis.  I am not a monarch and have no control over the commercial enterprises of my citizens.  However, I can allow such transactions to take place.  Rest assured trade ships will be inconspicious and unarmed and will arrive through pre-desginated wormholes.

"Now get out, get out, get out!" said Zargat jumping out of his seat and picking up food from the great table throwing it at Baxter and his men. They retreated hastily. "Clean it up!" shouted Zargat to the shadows. Dozens of maids danced in happily picking up the garbage and throwing it into the automated incinerator. The humens were nowhere near his core systems, luckily. Even if they were, it would be difficult if not impossible for them to detect the chronoton signatures from the temporal space yards. Shipyards were building at nearly a hundred and seventy five percent efficiency by beaming in parts from other timelines. If the Federation ever discovered it, they would be enraged, and perhaps go to war. However, the temporal facilities were heavily shielded and all the workers were equipped with mind control devices. The humens would find out, eventually, but by the time they did the Maurader fleet would be online and there would be nothing they could do. Hopefully Baxter's incompetence hadn't raised this Kirt's suspicions.

Brian

[Nephtys]

Big Borg Building, Borgtown, Borg Planet...

"You mean he did what?!" The Queen blared, staring back at her display.

The meek adjutant Shodan lowered her head. "Yes. I'm afraid Beowulf ordered a warp point assault, my Queen. Including taking the auxillaries with him. Our reports indicate they met strong resistance and were destroyed."

"That fool. I should have left him rotting with our assimilated dominion labor camp, intelligence be damned." She murmurs. At least it wasn't all bad. A shipment of Ferengi colonists was coming to her right on schedule, and their pact was made. "And the progress on the assault cubes?"

The display shifts to dozens of shipyards, producing powerful warships of great size. "As on schedule, my queen. We expect our first full squadron to be assembled by the next cycle... but there is something else I want to bring to your attention. In our spacially southern front, we've detected a stealth starship belonging to Species 5618, but temporally shifted back some time. They are the 'Federation', you are aware of." she says, before nosing back away to her duties.

The Queen meanwhile, pressed her gloved hands together, thinking...

meanwhile...

Independant Nexus Hephestus stood at the central control of his powerful cube, watching his squadron press forward. Four enemy military installations had been destroyed by his initial assault, and word had reached him that an enemy counter-attack was repulsed by their defenses. He turned as his mind wandered, new information entering and motivations. He grew a little amused of his Queen's interest in these fanciful identities, as the ship rocked suddenly.

Instantly, he felt what had caused it. A dominion fighter squadron? "Destroy them all. And transport their crews to assimilation chambers." he commands, the cubes opening fire and striking deeper towards the Dominion home worlds...

[Trogdor]

This is a little late, but oh well:

Contrary to what Dove expected, Primus was actually highly amused by the Ferengi's response to his trade alliance proposal.

"That Zargat's a pompous one all right," he chuckled. "Well, no matter. He's agreed to trade with us, and that's what matters. He can feel self-important by sending recorded messages all he wants. Let's see here..."

Primus trailed off as he read the contract, mumbling the words to himself softly. Finally, he said, "Hm, no clause giving my first born child or my immortal soul to the Ferengi in here. They must be getting soft," he quipped as he signed the agreement with his stylus.

"Praetor, if I may be so bold...what previous trade agreements is he talking about?" Hawk asked tentatively. "I thought that we had no such agreements with any other major power."

"So did most people," Primus said. "High ranking members of Senate and the previous praetor knew what a boon it would be to our economy if we traded with the Ferengi, but didn't want to have to deal with the outcry from the isolationist bloc in the Senate. So they did it in secret. Apparently that was more widely known to the Ferengi than the Romulan people."

"Hmm. Perhaps we should do the same here," Dove suggested. "The people have never been fond of the Ferengi."

Primus snickered. "They've never been fond of the humans before, either, and now Kirk is our 'great ally' according to the common man. If the propagandists can do that, they should be able to make open trade with the Ferengi the 'Romulan way' easily enough."

[Alan Bolte]

From Predsetadel Quarzon's log, 2403.3:

Well, I seem to be failing in my station, at least to some extent. I should have known not to micromanage manage the shipyards, they know their job better than I. Perhaps we would not have so many ships had I not intervened, but we would not have lost so much time to construction errors and costly refits. That, however, pales in comparison to my mismanagement of the economy. I failed to time the growth of our production of raw materials correctly relative to our manufacturing and ship building, and now we are far short of the required radioactive materials and artificial elements. The public, however, doesn't seem to have noticed. Every morning I awake to the sheer joy of the Messalina system, home of our great Tholia.

In other news, Minos Korva VIII has voted to rename their planet to Minos Korva Shipyards. It might be appropriate, but it's a bit strange.

[GuppyShark]

From Dominion space, directed to Kirk's Federation:

Code: Select all

We offered peace and you chose war. Your unprovoked assault on our civilian outpost will not go unforgotten... or unpunished. Did you truly expect us to bow down to your will over a single colony? We have endured far worse than you.

[Arthur_Tuxedo]

"They did WHAT!?" stormed Kirk.

"The fighter squadrons destroyed the Dominion colony, sir. There were no survivors."

"And the troop transports? They just sat there and let it happen?"

"Yes sir, they failed to deploy troops as ordered."

"Arrest all of the commanding officers involved immediately. I want them brought up on war crimes, mass murder, and treason! All those colonists, my god..."

The high-pitched incoming message alert went off. Kirk morosely pushed a button and saw the Dominion's message on screen. The fact that they considered respect for the borders of other empires tantamount to "bowing down" confirmed his suspicions and what the Romulans had said about them, but it did not make Kirk feel any better about what had happened.

The fighters had been specifically ordered to stop firing after the colony's weapon platforms had been destroyed. The troops would then overpower the stationary ground forces. Casualties should have been minimal. Why the battlegroup had disobeyed orders was a mystery, but it indicated a serious discipline problem. The officers involved would be tried by military court, found guilty, and sentenced to death. It was unfortunate, but Kirk would not have the Federation's reputation ruined by bloodthirsty commanders.

[Trogdor]

"Those idiots," Primus growled as he read the reports from the long range sensor operators. "Don't they realize that accepting Federation protection was their only chance of avoiding assimilation? What were they thinking?"

"Apparently nothing," Hawk grumbled. "And now it's too late to send ships through Federation space to conquer them ourselves."

"Oh, don't start," Dove snapped. "It was already too late for that by the time we knew the Dominion were losing."

Hawk waved the comment off. "Our only hope now is that our triumvirate becomes strong enough to defeat the Borg, even after they assimilate the Dominion. With any luck, once they're done with the Dominion they'll go after the Ferengi, not the humans."

"Well, nothing we can do about it now," Primus said. "What's the status of the Fire Hawk fleet?"

"A few more months before it becomes operational," Hawk said. "Also, we're planning on building a second batch as soon as the new shipyards come online."

Primus nodded. He was not overly pleased with his empire's industrial capacity, though belated steps to fix that problem were being taken. Resources sitting in warehouses did not please him when there was so much that needed to be built. Some minister somewhere needed to be sacked...

[Alan Bolte]

From: The Tholian Assembly, Council of External Affairs
To: Ferengi Merchants

You are advised to ignore our cartography ship, merchant. You are also advised against expanding your operations further to galactic east. You are unwelcome in our space. This will be your only warning.