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All characters appearing in Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Star Trek Voyager are copyright Paramount Pictures. All characters appearing in the Star Wars saga are copyright Lucas Arts and the Walt Disney Cooperation. No infringement of these copyrights is intended and is not authorized by the copyright holder.

All original characters are the property of Celgress.

Star Trek/Star Wars – Galaxy at War: Part Sixty-Nine The New Section 31

by

Celgress

Star Trek Galaxy – January 2397 C.E. (1 ABY)

Uncharted Star System somewhere deep in the Delta Quadrant

Not every Starfleet vessel was made for peaceful exploration. Some ships such as the Defiant Class USS Monitor were constructed for other darker purposes. USS Monitor's existence was based upon the potentiality of war against either (or both) the Borg Collective and the Sith Dominions, a conflict most hoped would never come.

USS Monitor hung above a small world that emitted an eerie green glow. Her power signature damped to the point she was almost undetectable. Her obsidian hull was coated in microdiffraction carbon to absorb any visible radiation that fell upon her, making her nearly invisible to most eyes and visible sensors alike. Her currently inactive cloaking device added yet another layer of detection protection.

On the bridge, Luther Sloan occupied the command chair. Like everyone aboard USS Monitor, Sloan wore a solid black outfit with no markings of rank nor specialty. Only dark grey combadges broke up the uniformity of the Section 31 jumpsuits.

"They should have reported in by now?" A male Cardassian said nervously from his tactical station. "Perhaps the Borg drones detected their presence?"

"Unlikely," Sloan said steepling his fingers. "Borg drones ignore anything they don't consider a threat or a target significant enough for assimilation. If our away team has followed protocols they're safe."

"What if the Borg drones summon assistance? We don't want to face-off against a sphere, a cube, or worse of all a tactical cube if we can avoid doing so." The male Cardassian said.

"You worry too much." A female Romulan said from another station.

"Worry has kept me alive." The male Cardassian countered.

"These Borg drones were disconnected from the Hive Mind nearly three standard solar years ago. All indications are they've been labeled 'irrelevant' by the Collective for some unknown reason. While they could theoretically call for help the Collective wouldn't answer." The female Romulan said checking her readouts.

"I hope you're correct." The male Cardassian said.

"Our away team has requested to be retrieved." A male Andorian reported from his station.

"Excellent," Sloan said getting up from his seat. In truth had become concerned about the unforeseen delay not that he would allow his subordinates to know. "I'll debrief the commander in my office."

"Understood, sir," The male Andorian said.

Captain's Office, a short time later

"What took you so long?" Sloan asked the young female Romulan when she entered.

"Sorry, but we were delayed by a group Borg drones. They wanted to assimilate me, imagine that." The young female Romulan said. She pushed a strand of long black hair behind one of her pointed ears.

Sloan sighed unhappily. "You must have provoked them. What did you do, Narissa?" He asked.

"Me, I did nothing," Narissa said feigning innocence Solan knew better.

"Narissa," He said more sternly. "I know you. I adopted you and your brother after your parents died in an attempted counterrevolutionary coup against the Romulan Republic. I detest being vulgar, but cut the crap girl."

"I apologize father. I thought you might enjoy some levity given the serious nature of our work." Narissa said lowering her eyes slightly.

"Do you know why I picked you to be the next Director of Section 31 when I'm gone over your brother?" Solan asked.

"Because of my charming personality, father?" Narissa said smiling.

"No," Solan said "You are cunning, ruthless, uncompromising, cruel, manipulative and most of all deceptive. Lying is second nature to you. Our temporal oracles have traced many possible futures every advantageous timeline has one thing in common; they feature you as the leader of a greatly expanded Section 31 incorporating remnants of the Obsidian Order and Tal Shiar. You are the linchpin of a prosperous tomorrow for the formalized political entity that the Alliance will evolve into. My job is to guide you and lay the groundwork you need to succeed. What happened on the Borg planet, Narissa?"

Narissa chose her words carefully, as she always did. "A member of my away team attempted to unsuccessfully stun a drone which had wandered away from its grouping. She wanted to retrieve it for study. She thought retrieving a live drone would impress you. She failed and the drone signaled for help." She said.

Sloan knew the guilty party was Narissa. Ever since Narissa had been a little girl she would try to impress him proving her intelligence by performing difficult often dangerous tasks single-handedly. "That was reckless of her. Her behavior jeopardized our important mission harvesting Borg biotechnology for reverse engineering. Perhaps she should be punished." He said playing along.

"I'll see that the appropriate disciplinary action is taken, father," Narissa said.

"Very well," Sloan said dropping the matter, for now. "Remember the work we do here is vital for Project Deafening Strike depends."

"How close is our Force suppression virus to deployment?" Narissa asked.

"Another solar year, perhaps two," Sloan said.

"It will be good when we have a weapon we can use against the Sith and Jedi alike. I do not trust these space wizards, father. Their nigh unstoppable abilities pose an intolerable risk to us and those we have sworn to protect." Narissa said truthfully.

"I've taught you well, Narissa," Solan said. "Never put your faith in those who have a power greater than your own. Always seek an advantage over the friends of today for they could become the enemies, or worse yet, the oppressors of tomorrow. Trust no one."

"Worry not father. I swear those magic freaks will be brought to task. Once they are deprived of the Force they are nothing but harmless fanatics playing in their bathrobes with laser swords." Narissa said a sadistic glint in her eyes.

"Exactly," Sloan said with a smile. "That's my girl."

To Be Continued

Next - Expect a much longer chapter next time as we caught up with our heroes and their loved ones.

Author's Note -

The character of Narissa comes from the new TV show Startrek Picard. While I think the series is far from perfect I also feel there are certain elements I can make use of, aside from its bleak vision of the Federation and Starfleet.