Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or its associated properties. They are the property of CBS/Paramount. I only own the original characters and the plot developed therein.
Fleet Admiral Garrond stared out the viewport of the shuttle pod he occupied. An extremely nervous ensign piloted the craft. For the most part Garrond left the woman alone, only redirecting her when there were particular sights he wanted to see. And what he wanted to see was the culmination of three years of dedicated work by the Iotian Starfleet's engineers.
The Iotians had moved past the ship analogues with the UFP Starfleet's mid-23rd century. What they'd achieved in design and function between the Earth years 2271-2310 the Iotians had managed to recreate here in orbit of their largest moon.
Despite himself, Garrond still thought of these ships in terms of their UFP Starfleet's analogues. The Iotians had refitted all twelve of their Constitution-class heavy cruisers, all twenty-four of their Miranda-class heavy cruisers, and all twelve of their Asia-class light cruisers. Many ships were remaining at original design specifications.
These included the Eclipse-class light cruisers, the Mercury-class frigates, the Detroit-class light cruisers, and the Kremlin-class surveyors. Instead, the shipyards had yielded several new ship classes reflecting the new design philosophy. Among them were six Excelsior-class heavy cruisers, six Constellation-class cruisers, six Bolivar-class light cruisers, six Sparta-class heavy cruisers, and six Benjamin Franklin-class cruisers. And all of them were needed.
A Kremlin-class surveyor, the ISS Bootlegger, had reached a star cluster beyond the Romulan Star Empire's recognized borders. It was in nonaligned space unclaimed by neither the Khitomer Accords powers nor the Typhon Pact. Magna Roma lay between the Iotian Federation and the Dragon Cluster.
But the Nova Romans had withdrawn from any voyages beyond their own established territory. Slave revolts, clone rebellions, and successive defeats at the hands of aliens. But the Dragon Cluster had its own awkward history. Settled by humans who had deserted during a battle in the Earth-Romulan War, they'd moved past what would later be established as the Romulan Neutral Zone and discovered the worlds within the Dragon Cluster.
They'd easily overwhelmed the pre-warp civilizations native to the region. Establishing themselves as the Dragon Lords, a racially segregated ruling class, the humans had brought the various natives up to 22nd Century standards according to Earth's technological reckoning. They'd done so through introducing advanced designs into the populaces' manufacturing base.
The original squadron had been led by the NX-class NX-07 Fearless and accompanied by the six Intrepid-class starships, the USS Courageous, the USS Kitty Hawk, the USS Tirpitz, the USS Kirov, the USS Typhoon, and the USS Akula. The human crews had utilized orbital bombardments when displays of "magical" might failed to persuade.
Humanity conquered all five inhabited worlds. One occupied world dared to revolt and the humans withdrew to unleash a biogenic weapon that eradicated all sentient life on the planet. It was subsequently set aside for resource extraction and the various slaves brought there were shown the scattered remains littering the surface of the world.
Eventually some of the starships began deploying beyond the Dragon Cluster. What the Dragon Lords discovered was that they were next to an interstellar trade route. Finding they had nothing to bargain with, the Dragon Lords further devolved into commerce raiders.
The Orions learned of the Dragon Lords and sent a delegation. Bartering for technology, the Dragon Lords learned that Earth had won the war against the Romulans. Fearing the consequences of their actions should they return, they dedicated themselves to their struggling empire.
Orion convoys arrived every three months so the Dragon Lords had to stretch far and wide to the limits of their capabilities to acquire merchandise the Orions would want. And life continued in this fashion for two hundred and twenty years before the USS Voyager and the Delta Fleet happened upon them while on the way to the Delta Quadrant.
The Delta Fleet utilized conventional warp drive to reach the edge of the Beta Quadrant. From there they would rely on their quantum slipstream drives to get them across the Delta Quadrant in their search to discover whether any Borg remained or if they had all been integrated into the Caelier Gestalt. They logged the presence of the Dragon Lords so that the Luna-class explorers led by Captain Will Riker and the USS Titan could approach the Dragon Lords.
Still, Admiral Kathryn Janeway had Captain Chakotay place the fleet's voyage on hold for three days while the Starfleet crews learned more about the descendents of Earth's forgotten Starfleet officers. A little digging revealed that the starships and crews of the Dragon Lords' ancestors were listed as 'lost' and presumed dead. Janeway and Chakotay both knew there was more to the story that the Dragon Lords were spinning for them but that was a matter for another crew.
Janeway left the Dragon Lords with a padd filled with Earth history and the history of the United Federation of Planets that had formed after the Earth-Romulan War. This information sent the Dragon Lords into a tailspin. After seeing Voyager and her companions they knew that the Federation was far more advanced than they were. Desperate, they sent out a subspace radio message towards Orion.
The Bootlegger intercepted that message and traced it back to the Dragon Cluster. But unlike the Delta Fleet, the Dragon Lords saw the Iotians as dupes to be swindled. So they arranged for a trade delegation to come from the Iotian Federation.
Little did they realize that the Iotians felt the same way about the Dragon Lords. Fleet Admiral Garrond contacted the Iotians allies and a plan was swiftly devised. Instead of sending a trade delegation, the Iotians would send an invasion fleet.
The Iotian fleet would be led by Commodore Vinton. Vinton was a career officer and had been one of the original Constitution-class captains. Now he commanded an Excelsior-class heavy cruiser.
Vinton had participated as part of the Iotians' task force against Magna Roma at Tom Riker's behest. Now he had every advanced starship at his disposal while the older units would remain in within Iotian Federation borders and secure them. The crews of these starships were even better trained in interstellar combat strategies and tactics than his last fleet venture had ever been. Altogether, seventy-two Iotian ships were committed to this attack. The Dragon Lords would be so overwhelmed that their best option was to simply lie down without firing a shot.
While the Iotians deployed under Vinton's command, the UFP Starfleet Prudence-class starship USS Prudence was sailing into the Dragon Cluster. Owing to the fact every Luna-class explorer was busy in some region of the Beta Quadrant and couldn't be pulled away, the Prudence had been pulled off patrolling the Neutral Zone and dispatched to the Dragon Cluster.
What the crew found was what Janeway had described. The humans inside the four populated Cluster worlds were worshipped as gods and they ruled with an iron fist. The indigenous natives were a servant class and were looked down upon by their "masters".
The Prudence crew quickly learned the truth about the Dragon Lords' origins. Packing up to leave, they found themselves surrounded by six museum piece Intrepid-class starships from yesteryear. While they could have easily blasted their way free, the UFP Starfleet captain and crew refrained.
The standoff between the Prudence and the Dragon Lords was on its twelfth hour when the USS Fearless had joined her Intrepid-class siblings. It was during this conflagration that the Iotians arrived in force. Vinton offered one chance of surrender and the commander of the Fearless rejected it. While the Dragon Lord ships engaged an impossibly large enemy, the Prudence withdrew further into the stellar cluster.
The battle was as short and decisive as could be expected. All of the Dragon Lord ships were gutted ruins within ten minutes time. Vinton ordered a pursuit of the Prudence.
Vinton contacted the remaining Dragon Lords on the occupied worlds. The Iotians would provide "protection" in exchange for tribute otherwise they would be handed over to their allies who would mercilessly exploit them. The Dragon Lords succinctly said, "Go to hell."
Vinton washed his hands of them and prepared to summon his people's benefactors. But with three quarters of his fleet looking for the fleeing Prudence he knew he needed to even the playing field since the UFP ship was even more advanced than his mightiest ships. So, the bargaining chip was that the UFP Starfleet crew would surrender to the Iotian Starfleet crew or the Iotians would begin orbital bombardments of the inhabited worlds.
Captain Suvok made the call and the Prudence surrendered. The Iotians subsequently placed a prize crew aboard her and flew her back towards the Iotian Federation. But Vinton dispatched the bulk of his fleet to deliver the UFP crew to the Romulan Star Empire. He knew his patrons in the Typhon Pact would be pleased with this gesture.
The Breen waited inside of the Iotian Federation to take hold of the Prudence. Vinton took command of a placeholder squadron of ships. One of each of his service ship classes was represented. The rest sailed through Romulan space before traversing the Neutral Zone near Deep Space Four and heading home. Vinton knew their contract with the Romulans had been fulfilled. In exchange for the cluster and the UFP Starfleet crew the Iotians would receive hard currency and technology transfers. It was all in a day's work.
The Obsidian sailed through the void en route to Altair. The ship's Executive Officer joined her Commanding Officer in his Ready Room. The first thing Brin Macen noted was Shannon Forger's rueful expression.
"Captain, Vetig Kloomps is demanding to see you...again," Forger informed Macen, "Frankly, I think Jelena Kovic is going to simply shoot him."
Macen smirked at the thought of the ship's Deputy Chief of Security eliminating their current thorn, "I take it he wants to complain about his current lodgings."
"He still seems indignant about being tossed into the brig," Forger confirmed that guess, "He says it's beneath his dignity as Governor of Vega Colony."
"Well, the Governor should have thought about his future accommodations before he conspired to sell his planet's defense systems to the Orions," Macen retorted.
"Were the Orions really going to buy the planetary defense grid and sell it to the Typhon Pact?" Forger was still incredulous.
"According to the SID team that gathered the intel, the Orion Syndicate had already taken a good faith payment," Macen wore a gleeful smirk; "I'd like to know how they're going to try and dodge issuing a refund."
"Like that's going to happen," Forger snorted, "The only thing stingier than a room full of Romulans is a room full of Romulans and Gorn, Tholians, Breen, and Tzenkethi."
"With any luck the Typhon Pact will lash out at the Orions and cripple their operations for the next decade or so," Macen wished.
"But how could they get passed the subspace fluctuation detection nets we've set up around each of those nations?" Forger asked, "Even with cloaking devices they still give off subspace ripples."
"The Typhon Pact has been using proxies to engage enemies within Federation borders or next to them or even allied space," Macen shared with her.
"So they're resorting to using mercenaries," Forger mused.
"Among others," Macen corrected her, "Starfleet Intelligence has pegged the Typhon Pact as using various legal agencies as well as sovereign stellar states. The deal between Kloomps and the Orions was brokered by Solarian Security Systems."
"Ugh," Forger grunted, "Them again."
"That's just the beginning," Macen warned, "The Nova Romans and the Iotians Federation have evicted all of the Federation's diplomatic presence in their territories. That leaves them wide open to co-opting by the Typhon Pact."
"But they'd say 'no', right?" Forger hoped.
"The Nova Romans lost a lot of face when their clone soldiers revolted and they had to rely on Cardassian assistance to neutralize the threat. And then they had to rely upon us to combat the Cardassians," Macen explained, "Both groups view the Federation's reluctance to share more advanced technology with them as an act of betrayal and aggression. They deem it that Starfleet is keeping them weakened in comparison so that we can eventually conquer them both."
Forger opened her mouth to speak but Macen's comm badge chirped and he tapped it on his belt, "Macen here."
"We are receiving a priority message for you from Admiral Forger," Talera P'ris informed him. P'ris was a former Commander in the Tal Shiar who had prevented a war between the Gorn and the Federation. Her reward was an imperial death mark and permanent exile from her people who were still recovering from the Hobus disaster that destroyed Romulus and Remus. Ambassador Spock was still missing as well after launching a relief mission to prevent the subspace shockwave from destroying the twin worlds.
"I'll go relieve P'ris from the center seat while you say 'hello' to my sister for me," Forger exited the room.
Macen keyed up his comm unit, "Hello, Amanda."
"Brin, we have a situation;" Forger said without preamble.
"Why is it always dire news?" Macen complained, "Can't you ever call just to say 'hello'? Shannon certainly asked me to send greetings along."
"Are you done yet?" Forger sternly asked.
"Have you even bothered to congratulate your sister for undergoing Sexual Reassignment Surgery and finishing her transition into full womanhood?" Macen sharply inquired.
"Of course I have," Forger snapped, "I'll even call her later today. Satisfied?"
"Not yet but it's a start," Macen quipped, "What's on your mind?"
"I've rerouted the Hood to intercept you and relieve you of your prisoner," Forger revealed.
"We're halfway to DS3," Macen informed her, "Why bother Merry with Kloomps?"
"Because I need to send one of you into the Beta Quadrant and it won't be Merry Limerick," Forger divulged.
"I'll right, I'm game;" Macen confessed, "Where are you sending us?"
"The Dragon Cluster," Forger shared at last.
"Didn't I just read a bulletin on that region?" Macen sought to recall, "Something about Chakotay and the Delta Fleet finding a lost enclave of Terrans stemming back to the Earth-Romulan War?"
"Two months ago, the Delta Fleet was poised to enter the Delta Quadrant. A return trip for Voyager and most of her senior staff," Forger reminded him, "En route they discovered the Dragon Lords."
"There's a friendly name," Macen deadpanned.
"They're despotic thugs," Forger groused, "They conquered the indigenous races with superior firepower and set themselves up as demigods ruling slaves."
"So Starfleet learned of these people two months ago," Macen pondered it, "Why send us then? We're hardly diplomats."
"No, and you're not Starfleet. Which is why you're being sent to help gather information to diffuse the crisis," Forger finally got to the point.
"I know I'm going to regret this, but what crisis?" Macen inquired.
"Starfleet dispatched the USS Prudence to the Dragon Cluster," Forger explained, "All we've received from her is an emergency distress call claiming the Dragon Lords were hostile and then a garbled transmission that stated the Iotians had arrived."
"So the Iotians are holding the Prudence and her crew?" Macen ventured.
"No, the Romulans are;" Forger stated.
"I'm getting a headache," Macen complained, "You are aware that Romulan space is off limits once again?"
"Yes, I am. But this began in the Dragon Cluster and I need you to piece together how the Romulans came to be in possession of one of our crews," Forger ordered.
"Give me the spatial coordinates and I'll see what I can learn," Macen agreed.
"I suppose you see now why Starfleet Command can't dispatch a Starfleet vessel to the region?" Forger asked.
"I assume it's the usual," Macen opined, "Plausible deniability plus a de-escalation of tensions regarding a potentially disputed region."
"I knew there was a reason why I kept you on retainer," Forger jested.
"Just keep that in mind when you begin authorizing expenses and the contract rates," Macen urged.
"I will," Forger promised.
"You also realize that P'ris has a death warrant hanging over her head? If we get boarded by the Romulans, they will take her and her death will be very ugly," Macen pointed out.
"It shouldn't be an issue," Forger stiffly assured him.
"Why do I think you're lying?" Macen wondered.
Forger sighed, "The Romulans agreed to return the Prudence crew in exchange for one concession."
Macen's gut clenched, "They want P'ris."
"Jellico deferred acquiescing because he's opposed to surrendering to an armed threat and because Bacco granted P'ris' request for asylum," Forger shared, "But before you place any great faith in that, Bacco is now debating the merits of handing her over in order to close this deal relatively painlessly."
"Thinking like that brought us the infamous Demilitarized Zone," Macen reminded Forger, "Look how that turned out for everyone."
Forger sighed again, "If Bacco decides to surrender P'ris, you're going to be a pain in the ass, aren't you?"
"I made a promise to protect her," Macen said sternly, "That includes from Starfleet if it has to."
"Brin, if Bacco chooses this path, it will be a presidential order. All of Starfleet will be poised against you and we'll pressure our allies into denying you sanctuary," Forger said wearily.
"You do what you have to and so will I," Macen warned.
"Brin, don't..." Forger's words were cut off midsentence when Macen cut the connection.
The USS Hood rendezvoused with the Obsidian forty light years away from Deep Space Three. The Hood was a Galaxy-class carrier variant. Instead of stocking a full range of shuttles, one docking bay was filled with Peregrine-class fighters. A fact that their CAG, Lt. Commander Verity Jones, was quite proud of.
The Hood had served beside the Obsidian crew and her Special Investigations Division team on several occasions. The Starfleet vessel wasn't considered a ship of the line. Instead she served as a multirole troubleshooter for Starfleet Intelligence. A fact which Macen was commiserating with Limerick over the subspace radio.
"My transporter chief reports that Kloomps is aboard and my Chief of Security has informed me the governor is on his way to our brig. Wailing and bemoaning the fact every inch of the way," Limerick chuckled.
"You should be taking my assignment, Merry. You'd at least be able to ward off trouble," Macen stated.
"I have no doubts that you shall be able to do the same," Limerick assured him, "Now, enjoy the best of luck. We'll be getting underway."
"Try not to kill Kloomps on the way to Reyes' station," Macen grinned, "He hates the associated paperwork."
Merry Limerick smiled as he terminated the connection. Captain Alfonso Reyes was a mutual friend. And Reyes was also the paramour of one of Macen's closest friends, Captain Ro Laren, the commanding officer of Deep Space Nine.
Over the course of his conversation with Limerick, Macen had learned a few things about the developing situation. Admiral Alynna Nechayev, Macen's oldest serving friend in Starfleet, had ordered the Defiant-class USS Monitor and USS Merrimack to the Romulan border to facilitate an attempt to cross the Neutral Zone and snatch back the Prudence's crew. Rumor had it Nechayev had also allocated the USS Defiant under Ro's command to accomplish the task while the Monitor and Merrimack distracted the Romulan Navy. Unfortunately, President Bacco had overruled the plan.
Limerick's understanding, direct from Nechayev, was that Jellico had put the SID plan into motion. Macen found this extremely odd. Jellico had railed against him personally and the SID as a whole for over a decade. Yet in the last few months, there had been a total reversal of his prejudice. Now the SID, and Macen's team in particular, were his first option.
Macen supposed a galaxy without the Borg was strange enough to tweak Jellico's sensibilities. Macen just didn't know if he could adapt to the situation as smoothly as Jellico seemed to be doing. It was just frighteningly odd.