Year: 2364

Since Arrival: 1 Year, 4 months, 9 days

Stardate: Numbers

Location: Enterprise

The bridge was buzzing with activity as Darrius sat in his desk on the main platform. While he preferred to keep the top level of the bridge clear of obstructions and work at his own wooden table in his office, often need dictated he be out with the bridge crew while events occurred outside the ship. Cold metal and steel made up the desk and chair with little frills overall. It was designed to retract into the floor so it had to be spartan. The entire floor of the bridge platform was designed to have multiple areas that could retract and lift up depending on the needs of the captain and crew.

Several small holographic projections floated in front of him over the desk. Several tables of information, an image of his own ship with various small dots moving to and from him, and one of the entire alpha quadrant. Occasionally the information tables would update and cause Darrius to look up at the display for a few moments before going back to his own work.

The bridge crew were in similar situations. The holoprojector wasn't good enough to give all of them their own displays so they were forced to use their own computers built into their sections on the bridge. Small bits of conversation floated up from their areas as information was shared, data was relayed, and even gossip passed back and forth. Darrius wasn't a slave driver for his bridge crew. He expected them to perform when combat was raging, but while idle the gossip and chatter hardly affected their performance enough to try to stop them.

The main window on the bridge was currently operating at half power as the suns from the crucible were in view. Unlike staring at them without eye protection the material of the window itself blocked most of the light allowing anyone who looked at them to see the surface of the star. Every now and then flashes of light could be seen as the guns of the ship opened fire on approaching asteroids and debris that were ejected from the constant volatile gravity. Despite the firepower on display the bridge crew continued with their work and only the low thumps from the asteroid exploding made it into the bridge itself.

From where he sat Darrius watched the various ships move to and from the space station to his own vessel. Once in a great while one would come in from the edge of the sector and make it's way towards the Enterprise. The ship was positioned in such a way that it created a space with significantly less radiation in the shadow of the vessel. Ships arriving would orient themselves within this shadow and approach the Enterprise. Once the station was finished it would be the one providing the approach corridor.

"Sir we're getting a communication from one of the freighters. He's signaling a complaint and refusing to submit his ship to a psy scan." One of the bridge officers said over the communication system built into the bridge.

Letting out a sigh Darrius stood up and walked towards the edge of the bridge platform, "Put him on…" He said.

The air before him lit up as the face of a Yridian filled the bridge with green light from the holoprojector, "Captain Darrius I must protest! This is a clear violation of our rights and privacy." His hologram shouted as it focused on the rogue trader.

"Your protest is noted and received, however there is no negotiations regarding these procedures. You will submit yourself and your crew to a psychic scan or you won't be allowed anywhere near the station or my ship." Darrius replied as he leaned on the railing.

"You're doing this because we're Yridians! Every other race suspects us and treats us like criminals, I thought your 'Free Trade Union' would be different but I guess I was wrong!" The captain snapped.

Darrius rolled his eyes at the immediate playing of the race card and continued on despite the accusation, "I do this not because you and yours are Yridian but because I am a paranoid person by nature. The Free Trade Union still values and respects your personal and private affairs. However, no one is allowed to step one foot on my station or my ship unless they get screened by one of my psychics. This is just one step of the dozens you have to go through to even get close to my station. If you don't like it I can make accommodations along the lines of setting up a ferry to ship your goods by vetted members of my crew… but the loss of time and price of labor will come out of your pockets." Darrius replied.

"That's outrageous! You're simply fleecing me by setting up something I would never agree to than providing an alternative that's far more expensive!" The captain shouted back.

"One of the guarantees I give everyone when they deal with me or deal on my station is that you know who you're dealing with. I will not tolerate spies or saboteurs of any sort within the confines of my territory and every trader, merchant, smuggler, and mercenary can expect the same. I will not sacrifice the political independence of my station or ship because a single captain worries that the skeletons will be let out of his closet should he submit to the screening." Darrius said, "You can either accept it, take the work around at cost to you, or leave. I would like you to take the first option but I hold no gun to your head."

"No you just hold my profits ransom until I submit!" The Yridian replied before cutting the comm.

"Sir their ship is standing by and awaiting our inspector." The bridge officer said.

"Let them stew for a little while then send one out." Darrius replied.

"We are also getting another ship at the edge of the system holding it's position." The officer said.

Most approaching ships were simply freighters delivering supplies or miners and builders who had been contracted to work on the station. The vessel brought up on screen was far from a mining bard or hauler. Sleek and compact it had the look of a pirate ship or a mercenary with few scruples. It never got closer than the outer ring of the sector and held it's position for a few moments.

"Sir we're receiving a communication." The officers said.

"Put it on." Darrius said.

"Torman five, Three days from now, Guilty Verdict bar." The grainy and masked voice said over the speakers.

As soon as the message was played the ship turned about and warped out of the system. The bridge was silent for a moment while Darrius sat in his chair thinking. Eventually one of the crew grew brave enough to break the pall over the bridge.

"Orders sir?" The officer asked.

"Has the station been fitted with enough living quarters yet?" Darrius asked.

Silence reigned over the bridge before one of the other officers spoke up, "Tech priest Thaddius says it will still be several days before they can house all the contracted workers." He said.

"Fine, signal Lionus and tell him to get his men ready. We'll be taking some of the vessels we've acquired. Tell him he's got a four hour window to get ready. We're taking a diplomatic trip to our neighbors." Darrius said standing up, "Until I get back Thaddius is in charge of the ship and crew."

As he walked he felt a depressing air come down on his crew at the mention of Thaddius running the show.

Torman five

Three days later.

The Guilty Verdict was a Cardassian bar and one located, as it's proprietor would tell you, in the ass end of Cardassian space. Torman Five was a base built onto one of the planets orbiting the Torman sun. A hotter sun than most livable stars it made little sense to have a base on the planet other than as a half measure by Cardassia to claim an area of space without having to work for it.

Anyone who lived there did so due to being forced into it. No one reputable voluntarily came to the Torman system. Cardassians who angered their government, criminals, smugglers and others who wanted to vanish from known space for a time. The bar's owner was no different being effectively banished to his bar here due to indiscretions with a military officer's mistress.

Life at the base was not difficult or hard but entirely boring and uneventful. There was no outside to walk around in as it consisted of wind blasted rock and extreme heat from the sun. Limited broadcasts over the communications arrays due to interference from the sun. Even watching the new arrivals got old fast as everyone had the same story. It was due to this boredom that the barkeep was working as hard as he was serving the pirates that had come to visit his establishment. Rare were the days he got more than the same regulars he always got, rarer still was the days he got multiple famous wanted felons in his establishment.

The pirates had taken over a good third of the bar as they drank and ate their fill before whatever meeting they were going to have. The bartender wasn't sure what they were meeting about but knew good service was to not ask. While he wasn't a Ferengi himself he knew letting them have their meeting without any disturbances was best. He also figured all the extra people were likely their men on hand for protection in case the meet went south.

He moved over to the center of the establishment while the crowds filtered in and out. He started cleaning tables near the pirates and criminals as the finished up their food and booze. While he didn't want to disturb them curiosity was getting the better of him. He wanted to keep an ear open to find out what the heck was going on. If he was lucky the information could get him out of his exile.

"So what the hell are we going to do about this guy?" One of the pirates said before taking a swig of his romulan ale.

He was a built humanoid, having spent many years building muscle and strength and his body carried dozens of scars from many battles. He was once called the butcher of Tilon four but recent months had cut away and demolished his reputation. His crew were known as some of the fiercest boarders in the entire alpha quadrant going toe to toe with Klingons and Gorn and winning.

His luck had turned sour after those soldiers had started accompanying trade ships in the quadrant. Every boarding action had gone south every time they were there. He knew if he could even get them in one stand up fight his crew would rip them apart but every battle they cut them down with killzones, traps, and tricks. All of which denied him and his men any chance for retaliation.

"Him and his men are running hog wild out there and we're getting our butts kicked cuz of it!" He said banging his now empty cup.

"Your men Sullivan… our own ships and crew are doing fine thank you very much." Another pirate said.

He was a Suliban and other than his skin pigment being slightly darker than normal there was not much distinguishing about him. Unlike many of the other pirates and criminals in attendance he wasn't actively pirating any alpha quadrant traders. He and his men were fences that would often sell the goods the pirates would acquire. His prices were steep at the best of times but he justified it by being the only one who would buy with no questions asked.

With Darrius' arrival the situation changed dramatically. His plan to create a hub where you could buy and sell freely directly cut him out of the market and he knew it was only a matter of time before he was left broke and destitute. While he boasted that his own men and ships were fine he was losing contacts left and right. People just stopped dealing with him preferring the much fairer and even keeled Darrius to him. He had been aware of these changes for a while now as lesser criminals and pirates cosied up to Darrius. The fact that he was here meeting with the others was proof of how desperate he was.

"Fuck you Tazzir." Sullivan snapped.

"Sullivan, Tazzir we had this argument five minutes ago. Unless you're willing to add something new to the conversation keep your attitudes to yourself." Rubi said as she leaned back in her chair.

Unlike the others Rubi was one of the few of the group that hadn't been hit too hard by the arrival of Darrius. Her own forces were much more closely knit and smaller which meant she had lower costs and was less likely to run afoul of his forces. Her style of picking high value and rich targets also meant that they often had their own guards and rarely outsourced to Darrius.

"The statement stands though. This guy is royally fucking over everything we do. In another year he'll have finished us off unless we do something about him." She added.

"Huh you almost sound like you admire him." Ro'k Nar said.

As Klingon he had the least amount of stake in anything that happened with the pirates. His work for the Duras sisters meant that even if their privateering fell apart he could rejoin them and suffer little for the failure of the pirates. He often worked in conjunction with the others and was seen as a moderate voice amongst the various other captains.

"He's single handedly brought the majority of pirates in the alpha quadrant to their knees and with a fleet of less than a dozen ships. Not only that because of his work we've been having a harder time taking and boarding ships these days since he started organizing the traders and mercenaries against us." Rubi said with a sneer, "As inconvenient as his actions are there is a certain amount of admiration that's due here."

"So why don't we work together to cut him down a few pegs." Sullivan said, "That space station he's working on is a juicy target for sure. Lots of cargo haulers, ships, and that guy's personal ship is there itself. I have it on good authority that he's away at the moment working on some trade deal with the Ferengi. If we strike now we're sure to get a hefty pay off and then some." This earned him some hearty cheers and nods of approval from the other pirates and criminals there.

Tazzir let out a laugh at the man's comment and shook his head, "You really are clueless aren't you?" He said with a sneer.

"WHAT?" Sullivan said standing up.

"Both of you enough!" Rok' Nar shouted banging his fist against the table, "Tazzir stop baiting Sullivan, Sullivan sit down!"

Both men stared at each other for a few moments before Sullivan sat back down at glared daggers at Tazzir. Rok' Nar kept in a sigh when he realized he was dealing with children. Much to his appreciation Rubi stepped up to explain the flaw of Sullivan's plan.

"Attacking the base is a futile action." She said pulling out a sheet of black plastic which she laid over the table, "Even unfinished it's a highly defensible position that doesn't allow for much in the way of approach." The sheet lit up and displayed the three sun crucible on it's black surface, "The radiation and debris would strip our shields long before we even got close and once they go down we're all dead without them even firing a shot. The only approach is the corridor that big ship had managed to set up with it's shields. Taking that inwards puts all of us within range of every gun it has. Even if it wasn't just the big ship the amount of cargo vessels there would cut us to ribbons. With one gun a ship were looking at hundreds of shots from them before we even got close."

"Arrgh but it's such a good target!" Sullivan said with almost a whine, "If we could just board that big ship we'd be kings of the quadrant."

"Sullivan you haven't fought against that big ship yet so let me inform you of what would happen if you boarded her." Rok' Nar said, "That thing is a monstrosity of a ship. It is larger than some space stations I've seen and the station it's working on at the crucible is even bigger than that. It almost looks like the station is going to allow for a ship that size to dock with it physically. You'd need at least a hundred ships filled to brim to even have a hope of taking over a ship that size. If you consider that you'd be fighting in territory that you have little knowledge of filled to the brim with men and soldiers that aren't averse to fighting dirty and then spending time making sure every nook and crannie is cleared out you'd need more than that to take that ship. You'd have an easier time trying to take Tre'thor than you would that ship."

Rubi let out a soft laugh at the end of Rok' Nar's speech, "And add to that the way those soldiers fight the ship would likely blow up as soon as you got control over it." She said sarcastically.

"Then what are we going to do? I offered up my idea, what about the rest of you." Sullivan said.

"I'm thinking we beat him… Economically." Tazzir said, "Drain him of his resources and the ship will fall under it's own weight of operations. I have it from my own sources that this… Darrius… is currently running low on funds and now is the perfect time to strike."

Several of the other criminals mumbled but kept their disapproval quiet as Rubi spoke up. "It would be nice if we could do that but unlikely to succeed." She said with a sigh.

"And why would my plan of attack fail?" Tazzir said with a dangerous tone.

"Because your 'sources' is simply calculations based on how much he spent so far combined with a rough estimate of his funds which is organized around how big his ship is. Then there's the whole how he got much of his current wealth. The majority of his finances are gained two ways. One is through the guard work that small army he owns has done, the other is through the goods he got from us. He's currently working on his station right now, if we push him like that there's a good chance he'll start hunting again. Furthermore we're not exactly in a position to apply financial pressure what with all of us being wanted criminals. Even after all that it's not like you have the same pull you used to Tazzir." Rubi said with a bored tone ignoring the scathing look he shot at her.

"Damn it all!" Sullivan shouted over the conversation, "Why the hell are we even doing this? We're criminals, pirates, scum of the alpha quadrant! We don't bother with plans and scheming! We take what we want and to hell with the risks! If this guy is threatening our way of life we deal with him like we deal with all our other problems. Blow up his ship and send him on a one way trip out an airlock!"

"How would you do that then?" Rubi asked.

Sullivan paused for a moment to think before continuing, "Wait until his ship leaves that station of his. Whatever reason doesn't matter, just wait until his ship is alone. Then we get every pirate, criminal, and merc we have, get right behind it, and fire every gun we own right up the damn things ass!" He said.

The silence that ensued continued for several minutes before Tazzir finally broke it, "I've seen muggers with more class." He said.

"Up yours Tazzir! It's a damn good plan!" Sullivan snapped back.

Rok' Nar and Rubi let the two continue their bickering as the various other pirates started hollering and cheering on the ever growing argument between them. Rubi was staring at the sheet of black plastic which was now showing the Enterprise on it. Rok' Nar was doing the same but more carefully paying attention to the list along the side of the image. Just as the Sullivan and Tazzir were about to come to blows Rubi spoke up.

"That isn't actually a half bad plan." She said as the whole room quieted down almost instantly.

"What?" Sullivan asked as he sat back down from where he was getting ready to punch Tazzir.

"The ship itself is large but that's actually a flaw when you think about it." She said as everyone began paying attention, "I've seen that thing in action and I know of asteroids that maneuver better that it does."

"Combine that with the fixed main guns it has and their firing arcs and you get a ship that can't really choose which guns get to fire. And it's engines have no more protection than those basic laser cannons it uses in bulk." Rok' Nar said adding to the assessment.

"It would never get a chance to turn to bring it's guns to bear that's for sure. We stay out of the range of any surge in it's engine exhaust and it would be a leisurely process breaking it's shields and then blowing off that top tower part where I assume the bridge is." Rubi said.

"Are you sure the bridge is there? It might just be the main communication array." Rok' Nar said.

"As men… where would you put the bridge on a ship that just screams 'inadequacies' to the world?" Rubi asked coyly to the gathered male pirates.

"Alright point made." Rok' Nar said with a bit of a flustered tone, "If we were to do this we'd need the agreement of everyone here. This can't be like the other times we've worked together. We need to be in full agreement and we can't spend our time squabbling like we normally do. You hear me Tazzir, Sullivan?"

"Yeah I hear you." Sullivan said with irritation.

"I will abide by the plan." Tazzir added, "So the real question is if we do this where, when, how. Then there's the issue of looting this man's holdings."

"The looting is first come first serve. We can not get caught up on how much of a pay out we'll be getting if our lives and freedom are on the line. We all agree to do this and we stay true to that agreement up to the point where that ship and it's captain are dead. Once that's over with it's every man for himself." Rok' Nar said.

"Now we need to figure who we can call for ships. Of the pirates here we aren't going to so much as tickle that ship with our guns. If we're going to do this we need every last person we can get a hold of." Rubi said pulling out a data pad, "Put people you trust and are willing to work with us on here."

"Whoa whoa whoa, that seems kinda… risky doesn't it?" Sullivan asked, "I don't trust any of you for a second giving you all the contact info for my friends is definitely off limits."

"We don't have a choice, anyone not on this list could easily have sold us out to Darrius. If we form a fleet with people we don't know than we might end up getting stabbed in the back well before we could ever attack his ship. I will hold onto the information for everyone. I'm one of the only people here who actually values honor." Rok' Nar said.

"No, You work for the Duras sisters. Honor isn't exactly their major selling point." Tazzir said, "Let Rubi hold onto the information. Her history is enough for me and she doesn't have enough ships to take advantage of the information we give."

"Ugh I hate agreeing with Tazzir." Sullivan mumbled.

"I will agree to that." Rok' Nar said.

"I will do my best to live up to all your lofty expectations." Rubi said with sarcasm as she put down her own information and passed the pad to the nearest person.

One by one the pad went around the table until it finally had been given back to Rubi who began checking it over, "This is a lot of names, even if they all only have a single ship to their name we have quite a fleet here." She said with surprise.

"So how are we even going to organize this? Do we all just wait outside that system of his and when he leaves we just jump him?" Tazzir asked causing a lot of confused looks around the gathering, "Sorry but this is my first mugging." He said sardonically.

"You could just send me a message, I'm never one to back down from a challenge." Darrius said as he stepped into the bar.