Chapter 25 – Aggressive Negotiations

"How do we know these are not secretly allies of yours?" roared the chief Hirogen negotiator Karest over comm.

"We have trusted each other so far" parried Orderly Custosan.

"I trust you" he thundered. "I do not trust Voyager, the Federation, or…Janeway."

"I will once again demonstrate good faith" insisted Custosan. "We have scanned the ships accompanying Voyager. Though they are smaller, less than half the length, their power generation is significantly higher. Their shields are stronger and their weapons are unfamiliar. Unlike the Federation explorer, these ships were designed for war. I will send you all the information we have on them."

As a direct result of the Vidiian's openness, the Hirogen elected to send twice as many ships.

"If they stab us in the back, we will be ready!"

Hirogen vessels approaching for the conference two days later were predictably dragged out of warp by the Vidiian colony's defensive systems, though no exchange of weapons fire took place. Instead, the arrivals were confronted by four assault corvettes with weapons powered.

"Red Knight One to inbound ships, state your origin and intentions."

"You know why we're here!" bellowed Karest. "You may serve Janeway, but we're not fools!"

The response was quite peeved.

"We do not 'serve' Captain Janeway. Were she to do wrong in our eyes, we would defend ourselves, and others if necessary, from her actions. We will escort you in."

Per the agreement, the parties would meet aboard Voyager, a neutral ground. Beyond, pairs of assault corvettes patrolled between Voyager and the "honor guards" both sides insisted on having present. It was quite the military show, but if putting it on let the negotiations go ahead, Janeway wouldn't object.

"How much fuel are we burning so they can have a tea party?" asked the command of Red Knight 3 to Red Knight 1.

"Who cares?" came the reply. "I'm all for peace—even if it comes staring down our turbolasers. To peace!"

Karest deliberately hid how much his hunting parties knew about divisions within the Sodality. He was well aware that this was not an agreement that would hold most of said organization—but at the same time his own position was little different.

"So let me get this straight" said Janeway, acting as a mirror for all present. "Both sides want a cessation of hostilities-by-proxy. How hard can that be?"

"There are those among us who would not only continue the fight, but escalate it" hedged Custosan.

"Then we share the same troubles!" shouted Karest. "Some in my group of escorts were dragged here by force."

"You've both described your trust-building gestures, and each side has only reacted positively. So what's to stop this from continuing on a larger scale? Use this as leverage to bring more members representing groups of both species to the table."

Blasts from weapons outside the conference room window answered that question.

"I would blame you and take your hide as a trophy" snarled Karest as Vidiian warships fired on his own, "if not for the conversation we just had!"

"Janeway to Red Knight: Referee."

"We finally get to do something" groused the captain of Red Knight 3. "Scuff their shields, make them back off, but do not destroy!"

It turned out "scuffing" the shields of ships whose defenses were orders of magnitude lower in energy absorption proved difficult as two attacking Hirogen ships buckled under only a few turbolaser blasts.

Karest slammed his Vidiian counterpart into a bulkhead.

"What do you say to this? Voyager's escorts have destroyed two of my ships!"

"Gentlemen" snapped Janeway. "Return to your seats." It was not a question.

"Our New Republic escorts have weapons and shields that are far more powerful than anything we here possess. They were specifically instructed not to intentionally destroy any ship unless it presented an existential threat. I must admit we did not expect the power disparity, and I regret that this has happened."

She tapped her commbadge.

"Red Knight, turn it down!"

"Already on it. Switching to quad lasers."

"Laser?" breathed Karest. "We know of no laser capable of this level of damage!"

"It's a misnomer" clarified Janeway. "Regardless, it won't happen again."

One heavily-damaged Vidiian ship proceeded to ram the Hirogen vessel opposite. The much larger target absorbed the low-speed impact easily. Were sound transmitted across space the bellowing of Hirogen hunting parties would have chilled blood in the negotiating room as they charged through destroyed bulkheads to seize new prey.

"Vidiians are interesting trophies" said one hunter. "It is always a surprise what you will find!"

The next twenty seconds passed in a blur of chaos.

"Tuvok to Janeway: we appear to have been caught in a Hirogen tractor beam. They are, oddly enough, attempting to throw us clear of the conflict."

"Shields!"

"Might I remind you, Captain, that the New Republic shield generators require the unimatrix warp core to be running at full power, which it is currently not. We are unprotected save for anti-impact particle barriers, and these are only at minimum strength."

"Damn" snapped Janeway. Said warp core took fifteen minutes to reach full output, a luxury of time not currently available.

Inertia from a Hirogen throw suddenly halted as Voyager crashed into something. Alarms blared, consoles exploded, sparks flew.

"This is more like the usual" sighed Janeway.

"Doctor to bridge, site to site transport directly to sickbay, now!"