In Chapter 1 of Dominion, we are told that Krang's 3 year old son is named for his dead brother, Meren. (If you have not read Dominion, all you need to know is that Krang is a Klingon officer currently serving on a Federation starship. He has a somewhat mysterious background, that at the time of this story is heavily classified)

This is the story of Meren's final mission. I do not own star trek and I am only writing for fun, I do not make any money from my stories. Lorgh is a borrowed character - he is mentioned as the Klingon who adopted Worf's brother Kurn and various novels depict him as a high ranking Intelligence Officer. In my stories, he is the supreme head of Imperial Intelligence. All other non canon characters are mine. A wardning - rather obviously this story is going to include the death of a main character.

This story is completely finished so will be uploaded quite quickly.

Hope you enjoy it, please leave a brief review and let me know what you think...

Qo'noS, 2369

For once, First City was enjoying a warm, dry spring and the skies were free of the heavy cloud masses that so often marred visibility in the city. The view from the window of Lorgh's office on the thirtieth floor of Imperial Intelligence headquarters was stunning, but the operations master was in no mood to appreciate it.

Lorgh growled to himself as he read the report that had just arrived on his desk. This particular one was from General Koord, his contact in the Defence Force, but it was just one of many on the same subject. Smuggling, piracy and other anti-social activities were becoming rife along the borders of Klingon space. A number of state secrets were believed to have leaked via the same route. It was intolerable to him. He had his suspicions, but the difficulty was getting close enough to the notoriously xenophobic gangs to gain evidence and information on their treacherous contacts within the empire.

It had to be stopped, that much was certain. Pulling up another file, he began to consider the list of available operatives. A louder, more irritated growl escaped him. He had no-one with the kind of experience or knowledge required and the few agents who did have the right background, were already out in the field on urgent missions of their own.

At least, he corrected himself, no-one who still worked for Imperial Intelligence. His frown deepening, he began to look through older records. His search led him through state records and into the Klingon Defence Force files. If there was nothing there, he decided, he would try the prison records. There just might be a suitable prisoner who would accept the mission in return for a commuted sentence. It was in the Defence Force files however, that he found a potential answer in the retirees list.

Meren epetai Inigan. The name seemed to jump out at him. Inigan... Why was that House name so familiar to him? A quick search informed him that the Inigan name belonged to a small but respected House whose main claim to fame was being able to trace an unbroken line back to the time of Kahless. They were just powerful enough in terms of size, influence and of course, aristocracy… Lorgh almost sneered at that last… to be entitled to a seat on the High Council, which to date, they had shown no interest in claiming. The family also… and Lorgh realised with a wry smile, that this was likely why the name was so familiar to him… owned extensive vineyards that produced one of the best bloodwines on the market. There was a bottle or two of it, in fact, sitting in the cabinet across the room.

The current line-lord, was, he discovered, a Defence Force officer listed as retired due to injury. There was absolutely no further information. That had to be a mistake. Inputting an override code, he dug a little deeper.

"Qu'vatlh!" Lorgh's scowl returned and he swore in momentary outrage as he read the resulting message on his screen. The details were classified – above his level according to the computer. How was that even possible? He was the operations master, the supreme head of Klingon Imperial Intelligence, there should be absolutely no information in these systems that was not available to him. The frown quickly disappeared as he got to work, replaced by a fierce grin. It had been quite some time since he'd had a challenge like this and he was not about to let it beat him.

His fingers flew over the console and finally the computer reluctantly released the information.

The two Inigan brothers had disappeared under suspicious circumstances only to reappear almost a hundred years later... and one of them... Lorgh re-read the data in disbelief, one had been a security captain.

Inigan… yes of course, now he remembered. He must be getting old, he thought with an irritated huff, to have forgotten about that incident. It had been just over a year ago that he'd had a long conversation with Chancellor Gowron on the subject of what to do about the errant Klingon and whether he was a threat to the empire that needed to be eliminated.

In the end, he had decided to trust the judgement of his predecessor from that time period. Operations Master Meth had been utterly ruthless and much feared as well as being brilliantly good at his job… well, he wouldn't have got to the top job if he wasn't, Lorgh reflected, but even so… to send one of your top officers on a government mission, sabotage said mission and then put procedures in place to protect the agent from the inevitable fallout… Meth had, he'd discovered, been grooming Krang to eventually take over as operations master. Obviously that plan had gone horribly wrong since Krang was now working for the Federation as a lowly security officer onboard one of their starships.

And that, Lorgh realised at once, gave him the perfect setup for a joint Klingon/Federation initiative. He had just found his operative. He snorted and shook his head, isolating and saving the files for further study and sent a terse message to the elder Inigan brother, requesting his presence.

The head of the House of Inigan had just come in from inspecting the fields when the antiquated comm system informed him there was a message waiting for him.

He pulled off his heavy outer tunic and hit the access command, listening only half-heartedly.

He growled in discontented at the message. He had never had much respect or liking for Imperial Intelligence and had no interest in anything they had to say.

"You will report. Immediately." The caller signed off.

Meren snarled at the blank screen. He was retired. And he owed nothing to Imperial Intelligence. Pushing it from his mind, he reached for the farm manager's report, only to be interrupted again by another incoming message, this time from the Defence Force.

"NuqneH?" he snarled.

"I am General Koord," the grizzled warrior on the viewscreen told him, "You are hereby recalled to duty."

Meren scowled. "On what grounds?"

"Your skills and abilities are required for a mission," Koord informed him. "There is no-one else suitable. You will report to Imperial Intelligence immediately."

The retired officer's eyes narrowed at this, but retired or not, he was a Klingon warrior. He followed orders – and the empire did have the right to recall any officer to duty. Meren nodded curtly.

"You will need to liaise with the Federation on this one," Koord said. "Operations Master Lorgh will give you the details when he briefs you."

"Yes, General..." There was no other answer he could give.

Koord nodded and signed off.

In a foul mood, Meren made his way upstairs to change and withing an hour, he was on a shuttle heading into the First City. The traffic was heavy and the journey did little to soothe Meren. By the time he finally arrived at the intimidating edifice, he was as irritated as he had ever been and snapped with every iota of power his rank of line-lord bestowed at clerks, bekks and junior officers who got in his way.

Within moments, a young officer had appeared to assist him, "Sir, I am Colonel Moragh sutai Khamran," he told Meren, "If you would come with me..."

"Very well."

The colonel turned and headed towards the lifts, not bothering to wait and see if Meren followed.

Meren's knee ached, the result of an old injury that had never completely healed, causing his premature retirement from active duty. The day was humid and the muscles had tightened something fierce. He did not show it but determined to show no weakness, he struggled not to limp. It was a relief to have to stop for a moment and wait for the lift to arrive. The moment of respite was all too brief as the high-speed lift settled into place and opened its doors.

Lorgh looked up from his console as the door chimed. "Enter."

Moragh entered ahead of the guest he was escorting and saluted his superior officer. "Meren epetai Inigan, sir."

Lorgh nodded in acknowledgement and handed a padd to the younger man. "Read this when you get back to your office, your input will be required."

Nodding, the young colonel accepted the padd and slipped out, closing the door behind him.

The operations master got to his feet and crossed the room to the cabinet by the window. "Bloodwine?"

"Why am I here?" Meren answered, preferring not to waste time.

Ignoring the younger man's brusqueness, Lorgh poured a generous mug and handed it to him. "We need someone who can infiltrate a gang of pirates," he said bluntly, "Someone who is unknown to them. Your history and skills make you the perfect person for the job."

"I am... supposedly... retired." Meren would obey his orders and take the mission, but he did not intend to make it too easy.

"I'm aware of that," Lorgh said calmly. "Men like you however, never really retire."

Meren raised an eyebrow and reflexively sipped the bloodwine. It was surprisingly good. Lorgh had not insulted him in his choice of beverage. In fact, he would put bets on it being from his own vineyards. "Continue," he nodded, allowing the Operations Master to know that he was, however reluctantly, interested in the situation.

"There is absolutely nothing to trace you to either Imperial Intelligence or the Defence Force." Lorgh said. "Your record says you have a fine tactical mind. We need you."

"What makes these pirates such a serious problem?"

"They are well organised and well-armed," Lorgh told him. He picked up a padd and handed it to Meren. "Read this."

Silently, Meren accepted the document and began to read. The information was disturbing. He frowned. Lorgh was right, these pirates needed dealing with. "When do I leave?"

"You'll do it then?" Lorgh asked, pleased. "Go as soon as you are ready. Your liaison will, for obvious reasons, be the Enterprise. They are being assigned to patrol that sector."

"You have a cover prepared, I presume?"

"We've kept it as close as possible to your true identity," Lorgh said, handing him another padd. "All the details are here."

Meren spared a moment to look it over. "It looks sufficient," he said eventually. "If there is nothing else, I have preparations to make."

"That is all," Lorgh nodded in dismissal.

Trying his hardest not to limp, Meren turned and headed for the door.