Star Trek and Star Wars
Episode II
Necessary Wars
Episode II
Necessary Wars
It's been a time of great change for the new galaxy. A month has passed since the Battle of Coruscant. Working together, Chancellor Palpatine and newly commissioned Supreme Commander Picard have managed to convince thousands of governments to join the new Grand Coalition. Preliminary plans on how to defeat the Borg are underway.
While the Coalition continues to organize, the Borg are attacking Republic worlds in the Delta Quadrant with little resistance. Without help from their government, citizens are desperately fleeing Republic worlds in and around Borg space.
The Separatist Union is in disarray after the loss of Geonosis and the disappearance of their leader. Hundreds of world have quietly rejoined the Republic and many others are considering it. The Confederacy's leaders are trying to regroup and find the best way to take advantage of the situation…
Chapter 1: Diplomacy and WarWhile the Coalition continues to organize, the Borg are attacking Republic worlds in the Delta Quadrant with little resistance. Without help from their government, citizens are desperately fleeing Republic worlds in and around Borg space.
The Separatist Union is in disarray after the loss of Geonosis and the disappearance of their leader. Hundreds of world have quietly rejoined the Republic and many others are considering it. The Confederacy's leaders are trying to regroup and find the best way to take advantage of the situation…
Galatasis, Galactic Republic
Borg Occupied Space
“Captain Palisc you are free to make the next run. We expect you to be back within 10 hours.”
Palisc didn’t even comment on the unrealistic expectation. He activated the launch codes and lifted off from the transport site. This wasn’t his normal location for drop-offs, but with the food shortages
and the breakdown of law and order landing anywhere near a major population center would have only result in riots. In theory, the officials he had just given the food to should distribute it out now, but Palisc wondered how much would first be stored away by them for their own families, not that he could blame them.
Palisc turned to his two co-pilots who silently gestured that they were ready. Evacuations of planets in what was being called “Borg Occupied Space” had been going on since the Event, but of course full scale evacuation of thousands of worlds and trillions of people was never going to be possible. Since the planets couldn’t be evacuated, they needed to at least be kept running, and that meant that planets like Galatasis, which weren’t self-supporting, still needed to receive food shipments.
The Republic’s solution to this had been to order all merchants with contracts for essential transports to remain and continue their routes. They were all promised 10 times their normal fares when things were resolved, but of course that wouldn’t help anyone who was dead or assimilated and most had left a long time ago. To encourage those remaining to stay, pilots had been required to stay on their ships 24/7 and not allowed to see their families who had to remain on the planets. If not for this rule, Palisc would have been gone a long time ago. He had a way around the rule now though.
One of his co-pilots turned to him. “I’ve sent word we have to correct a hyperdrive imbalance before leaving. That should buy us enough time.”
Palisc nodded as he looked over the controls. “Let’s just hope this thing works. Be nice to know there is something good from the Milky Way for a change.”
Palisc activated the transporter nervous as could be, but sure enough his family slowly started to materialize onboard. Half an hour later he had them all up along with the families of his co-pilots.
Palisc’s 15 year old son watched his dad at the controls. “Did you hear about Menal?”
Menal was a larger planet about 10 light years away. They’d gone on vacation there whenever they could afford it. “I know. The Borg arrived there two days ago.”
“Do you think Leslie and Jack…”
“I’m sure they made it out.” Palisc started the engines and left behind his home world. He looked back briefly and wondered how long it would last.
As the ship passed out of the range of the planets gravity well, Palisc saw the two CIS vessels and dozens of fighters surrounding them. Galatasis was a proud member of the Republic and certainly wasn’t about to be leave it now when it was their only hope, but the Republic had withdrawn the navy. The Separatists had refused to join the Grand Coalition but called themselves an affiliate member and had offered to send ships to a number of worlds inside Borg Occupied Space. Galatasis certainly wasn’t going to turn down any help it could get so the small CIS fleet stayed in orbit. They’d do little good against a Borg fleet, but could at least provide a deterrent and did help on the planet when they could.
Palisc took the ship into hyperspace and the next several hours he was filled with fear that the Borg would stop his ship and assimilate them all. Of course no attack came. The Borg were concentrating on the planets now, not a bunch of small refuge ships.
Palisc’s wife took his hand and directed him to a monitor. Palpatine was on again. He was in front of the Senate.
Palpatine spoke as he usually spoke, calm and in control. "Senator, I understand your anxiousness. We all do. We already tried immediate responses though, and I know I have no need to remind this body that those were a disaster that almost led to the assimilation of Coruscant itself. Now, Supreme Commander Picard is securing more allies by the day. The new hyperspace routes into the core are being better monitored and guarded and dozens of fleets sit on the edge of Borg Occupied Space preventing any expansion of the region. We will get to more direct assaults as soon as possible, but a rushed effort will only lead to disaster.”
Palisc turned off the broadcast. He didn’t blame Palpatine for this, but he was tired of politicians’ empty talk and excuses.
One of his co-pilots turned to him. “We are out of Borg Occupied Space.”
Palisc gave a sigh of relief. They would live. How and even where was still a question, but they would live. He deactivated the hyperdrive. Worlds were filling up with refuges and Palisc figured they would be safer and be better able to find a new life further away. They’d find a nearby planet, and he’d start making contacts now that he wasn’t worried about sneaking around behind the Republic’s back.
Palisc looked at his sensors and was stunned for a second. He put the image on a screen for everyone to see.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of capital ships sat nearby in empty space. Palisc recognized most as Republic, but a lot he wasn't sure about as well. Surrounding the capital ships, were many smaller crafts. Unknown to him or his family, this was the 47th fleet.
----
In his quarters on the Everlasting Glory, the flagship of the entire Grand Coalition, Obi-Wan sat talking to a hologram. Obi-Wan said, “I know just the Jedi for the job.”
Master Windu replied without even hearing the name. “I agree. Inform Skywalker to make the preparations.” The hologram disappeared.
Obi-Wan thought of his Padawan. That’s still technically what Anakin was, but with the war and shortage of Jedi, the older more capable Padawans were being sent out on their own.
To say Obi-Wan had been worried for Anakin would have been a gross understatement. He had seen his pupil very nearly give in to the dark side in the Senate. He needed to be there for Anakin now more than ever, but the war prevented that. He could go to the Council, should go to them actually, but something had held him back. A feeling told Obi-Wan that would be the worst possible thing that he could do.
He dismissed Anakin from his thoughts for a minute and left his quarters, walking down the hall for the elevator to go to the bridge.
The Everlasting Glory was one the larger ships in the Republic fleet, more than a mile and half long and equipped for extended missions. It was an older ship, a one of a kind from the Corellian military fleet and still manned mostly with Corellians. Its dimensions, easy conversation of space, and strong shields had made it an ideal flagship and the Obi-Wan had suggested it to Picard as soon Palpatine had nationalized most of the planetary fleets.
The elevator opened and Obi-Wan walked onto the bridge. Admiral Picard was talking to a recent general who had just arrived from the Alpha Quadrant.
Picard saw the Jedi and gestured for him to join them. “General Kenobi, I would like to introduce you to General Martok. He will be will be the lead commander for the 33rd fleet.”
Martok shook Obi-Wan’s hand, but his attention was still clearly on Picard. Martok said, “I’ll make part of the Klingon fleet to the front line immediately. The other 4 pieces I’ll leave with you. I don’t like splitting it up though.”
Picard nodded, “I understand General, but better to split apart the fleets so each cube is going to have as many thing to adapt to as possible.”
“I don’t disagree. I just don’t like it, but that doesn’t matter. “
Martok turned to leave and then turned back. “I’ll share some bloodwine with you when the war is over.”
Picard smiled. “General, you can be sure that I’ll hold you to that.”
Obi-Wan watched the Klingon disappear. It would definitely be a different kind of man leading the 33rd fleet than most the fleets which were commanded by Jedi. He turned to Picard. “Supreme Commander, the 24th fleet has been unable to get probes deep enough into Borg space to get any decent scans. I wanted to let you know we’ll be sending a Jedi in.”
Picard nodded. “It certainly is convenient having an army of Jedi so close.”
Obi Wan walked along the bridge with Picard. “We aren’t an army Commander.”
Picard gave a weary smile. “I suppose I would have objected to that classification too. None the less, I am grateful for the Jedi help. Anything else?”
Obi-Wan paused for a second. He had been assigned to help Picard with a number of activities, most of which were still diplomatic. “Any word on the Dominion? Getting them on board seems to be the key to getting half the rest of the Gamma Quadrant to even consider joining.”
Picard shook his head. “I'll talk with a representative later today myself.”
---
Senator Mina Bonteri looked around a little nervously. This should be Count Dooku here and she was a sad replacement. She took a breath and let it go though; this was her job and it was vital that she accomplished it. Bonteri was the voice of the Separatist Parliament in this group of 3 from the Confederacy of Independent States. Viceroy Gunray and the Po Nudo, the heads of the Trade Federation and the Hyper-Communication Cartel, were both here representing the more powerful Separatist Council. The other two looked a little nervous themselves as they left their droid bodyguards behind and followed the Jem'Hadar down the hallway.
The three Separatists walked deep within a structure before they entered a small room and the Jem'Hadar guards stood to the side, allowing the CIS members to approach a single changeling sitting at a table.
Bonteri let the commerce guild leaders make the introductions and start. In the Republic, being a Senator would have meant more than being a business leader, but in the CIS the Parliament was a body with little real power as most of the systems didn't intend on being part of a large centralized government after things settled down. The only place everyone had been forced to give up power (a condition of joining the Confederacy) was to the military run Separatist Council which would manage the finance and running of the military should it prove necessary.
The Council leaders took turns talking about the merits of the Confederacy and the horrors of the Republic. Bonteri had been in politics a long time though and knew the approach was wrong. The first rule in politics was to understand who you were talking to. The Founders weren't ruthless businessmen looking to bring themselves fortunes, weren't idealists, and weren't going to be brought on board by any short term gains. What the Founders needed to know was that the Confederacy was likely to survive and unlikely to break a pack. Anything more than that was pointless as the Founders simply wouldn't care.
The Founder said, “You have told me why you oppose the Republic. Right now though they are leading a fight which will set to destroy a force which threatens the entire galaxy. Why should we help you oppose them?”
Bonteri spoke for the first time since she had been introduced. She spoke calmly and confidently, but unlike the commerce guild leaders, she didn't sound like a salesman. “Founder, to put it simply the Republic is a force which will dominate the galaxy. They already dominated ours almost completely. In theory, many planets in our galaxy were independent of it, but practically speaking they were almost as effected by the corruption on Coruscant as anyone else. Unless you wanted to completely isolate your world, you had to interact with the Republic and that always meant playing by their rules. I would stunned if anything has changed in that regard, at least over the long run.”
The Founder said, “But for now, they are fighting the Borg, a species which threatens all life in this galaxy.”
Bonteri nodded. “Of course. The Borg are a threat that must be dealt with. We are not ignoring them in the Confederacy and we do not expect the Dominion to publicly back us now as that would unfairly be seen as a stab in the back to what is right now a force for good. We must be prepared for after this war though. Chancellor Palpatine has nationalized planetary defense forces throughout the galaxy and is building more at an unparallelled rate. If he is successful in destroying the Borg, then it is quite likely he will next move to destroy the CIS. After that, it very doubtful that the Republic will accept Dominion domination of half this quadrant over the long term. That is why it is vital that the CIS and Dominion form ties now.”
Bonteri took a breath. “I could go, but I know there's no need. The Founders know that the Republic is a long term threat to the Dominion. Maybe not now, maybe not in 10 years, but eventually, it will be the source of all important rules in the galaxy, including the Gamma Quadrant if its power isn't checked. The only question here today are what are the terms of eventual Dominion support of the Confederacy?”
Gunroy spoke again next, “If it will help, we will show the Founders some of our manufacturing facilities and ship production. Even with the clones, I think our forces...”
The Founder interrupted him. “Enough. The Senator has said enough. We will join the Grand Coalition for now and contribute token forces, but we wish for continuous communication between ourselves and the Separatist Council.” The Founder pulled out a pad. “Here are our conditions. Point 3 is non-negotiable and we will answer no questions on it.”
Bonteri started scanning through the articles. There was some thing that would be difficult here such as Dominion rights within most the Gamma Quadrant, but if they could alter a few things, this looked like this might work. “We'll review the terms and talk with you again soon.”
The Founder gave one final piece of advice, apparently the Founders weren't bad with politics either. “Make sure the galaxy knows you are fighting the Borg too.”
---
Anakin rushed forward. His target ran the other way, but he was faster.
He caught Padme and started tickling. She screamed quietly and hit him. He stopped tickling and started kissing.
It lasted several minutes and then she pulled away. She stood up and took a few steps back. She was grinning but said, “We aren't married yet.”
Anakin knew that fact too well. “When then? We can find someone here.”
Padme shook her head. “I want it to be at home. At least I want my family to be there.”
Anankin nodded. He couldn't wait himself, but he would for her. “I just hope we can both find some excuse to get there some point soon.”
Padme came back up to him and kissed him one more time. “We will soon enough and it's worth waiting for. You leave tomorrow?”
Anakin nodded. “First thing in the morning.”
The two embraced and walked onto the balcony.
Someone else was standing out there. “Hello Anakin.”
Anakin went for his lightsaber before realizing it was Sisko. Padme jumped.
Sisko was in his Starfleet uniform. His voice contained a little guilt. “I'm sorry to interrupt like this and will only be a minute, but I wanted to introduce myself to your fiance.“
Padme figured thing out, took a step forward, and held out her hand. “You're Ben Sisko.”
He smiled and shook her hand. “I am and I thought it best that I introduce myself so you'd have more than crazy stories from Anakin to judge me on.”
Padme looked at the man. Not at all like she pictured. Outside of his sudden appearance nothing seemed to really stand out about him. He didn't feel like a Jedi, still more like the officer she imagined he'd been before this role. “What exactly is it you plan on teaching him? Neither one of us is quite sure on that?”
Sisko walked back inside. The couple followed. Sisko said, “To be honest, I'm still trying to figure that out myself.”
Sisko paused for a minute then said, “The Force is not something any us, myself very much included, fully understand. What I do know is that there are different ways to interact with it. Between universes and even within universes there are different ways to interact with it. In your universe, the Jedi developed one method, the Sith another.”
Padme nodded. “Alright, but what does this have to do with Anakin?”
Sisko sighed. “The Prophets existed in a different type of reality entirely. They understood and interacted with the Force in completely different ways than we can here. They taught me what they knew and that gives me a different type of understanding of the Force than any Jedi. It is my responsibility to use what I learned to help the merging of our two universes.”
Sisko sat down on the couch and Padme sat beside him. Anakin was standing a bit further back. Padme said, “That still doesn't explain what you want with Anakin.”
Sisko laughed. “I guess not.” Sisko collected his thoughts and said, “One thing I learned from the Prophets was the ability to look for key individuals. As far as my mission goes, I know Anakin is one of them. The Force is out of balance and he is one who is going to be key to bringing it back. While I have suspicions, I can't say for sure his role. He's not ready now and probably won't be soon, but I need to try to get him there and to do that, I'll teach him everything I've learned and maybe learn a few things myself. ”
Padme only nodded. “Well thank you Mr. Sisko, Captain, but please promise you are going to be careful with him.”
Sisko smiled. “Call me Ben and I'll promise to be as gentle as possible. For now I don't want to totally take over his life and will leave you two be for your night.” Sisko turned to the Jedi. “I might borrow you for a bit on your way to your destination though Anakin.”
Anakin started to question this, but Sisko disappeared.
---
Picard yawned and walked to the console. Sleep was something he rarely got with this job. The diplomatic, economic, and military components of it simply were overloading him even with a huge staff of mostly Republic and Federation support. He activated the message and saw Captain Shelby, the person he had put in charge of coordinating the research into Borg technology. Picard said, “Hello captain. Anything I can help you with?”
As always, Shelby was quick and to the point. “Admiral, I would like you to order Seven of Nine to join us at the main research center.”
“Has she not been helping from Voyager?”
Shelby answered with some frustration. “She answers any question we ask, but she is making her duties on Voyager her focus which is a complete waste. She was a drone with an important mission from the queen herself which meant large amount of information were stored within in her for quick access. There is no one else in the galaxy that we have with that type of experience and she is focusing on running the science department on an intrepid class ship.”
Picard sighed and rubbed his head. “I understand Captain, but Seven of Nine just left the collective months ago after spending most of her life as a drone. Her loyalties are conflicted, and I don’t want to force her into an extremely difficult position.”
Shelby was mostly respectful, but still right to her point. “So you’ll let an officer who could save billions stay where she feels comfortable rather than helping?”
Picard shook his head. He hated it, but he couldn't argue the point. They needed every advantage they could against the Borg. “All right. I will make the order. Go easy on her though. Her life has been altered a lot in the last few months.”
“Thank you admiral.”
“Anything else?”
“I know you already said it would be unlikely, but we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t look into it some. We agree with your analysis on it being impossible to seriously disrupt the Borg connection to each other. Seven of Nine stated it would require the destruction of at least 93 facilities, almost at the same time which is obviously beyond practical.”
Picard nodded. “Thank you for checking anyway. We’d all have liked a method of victory better than having to destroy every single Borg planet, ship, and drone.”
