PARIS, EARTH
JUNE
28, 2376
Picard quickly sat up in his bed, had it been a dream. He went to the window and looked out. No, it was a nightmare; the picture in the window said it all. Outside his cabin, Fury foot soldiers were everywhere. Buildings were on fire, the city of Paris was in ruins. Fury ships glowed from space, where the entire Fury fleet was orbiting
the planet. He thought of all that
had happened recently. The Romulan,
the Klingons, the Federation, all of them had been overridden by the Furies. The past President had been wrong to give the Furies those six ships, but
at the time it was the only thing that could have been done. Those six ships led to the downfall of every major power in the Quadrant.
Picard's Chief-of-Staff Micheal Lawrence came in just then, "Sir, its
time to go."
Picard knew that now was the time to leave, the Furies would soon be
looking for him. Quickly and quietly he got dressed, and together they left
the city of Paris. They went to the
Paris transfer station, where Fury soldiers were walking around, because no one
without authorization was allowed in or out of Paris. Lawrence was on top of the situation, he had made fake
authorization reports before they left. Picard
reached into his pocket, pulling out one of the reports saying that they were
two technicians headings duty on the Tradeship Victory. Despite the technology that the Furies had, they still had yet to
discover the Starship Victory. The Fury soldiers looked carfully at the report, then at
Picard. After w while he waved them
through. They boarded the ship as
it soared into the dark Paris sky.
In one hour they got off the ship, and boarded a cloaked starship
Victory. The Victory left its orbit
and warped away to join the rest of Starfleet at Deep Space Nine.
PARIS,
EARTH
JUNE
28, 2376
Zutegre walked into his new office, it was nice, he thought. Today was a good day, they were on the verge of victory and gaining back
their home that was taken from them.
A fellow Fury walked in, "Emperor, there's a human here to see
you."
"A human? To see me? What
does he want?" replied Zutegre.
"I don't know, Sir. He
just says its important."
"Very well, send him in." Zutegre said as he relaxed in his chair.
The other Fury left quickly, and seconds later a tall, thin, and dark
human walked in and sat down.
"Emperor, allow me to introduce myself. I am Benjamin Garrett. I
have been requested by the people of Earth to talk to you."
Zutegre replied, "Very well. I
will listen to what you have to say."
"Emperor, as you know Starfleet has eluded you so far."
Zutegre got angry, "Starfleet! Starfleet
is gone! It has been replaced by a new order! Do you forget who you are talking to!"
"I'm sorry, Sir."
Zutegre was calm again, "please, continued."
"Of course. Well without
protection from the Federation, Earth is falling into chaos. We ask you, beg you, to let us elect a leader for Earth."
"Hhmm. A leader of Earth? An interesting proposition. I will consider it, but first you must fo something for me."
"Like what?" asked Garret.
A smile crossed Zutegre's face; perhaps, Garret thought, he had gotten
in over his head. Only time would
tell.
PARIS,
EARTH
JUNE
29, 2376
Zutegre waited in his office, where in minutes he would give the results
of the election. The people wanted to chose their own President, but he would
never let that happen. He had
already made his choice, if the people didn't like it, he could eliminate
every last one of them. Another
Fury came in, and nodded his head. That
was it, everything was ready, it was time.
He spoke in calm and collective manner, "People of Earth, yesterday you
came to me and begged for a leader. You
asked if you could choose someone for that position. Although I cannot allow you to choose, I have chosen a leader for you. I think you will agree his is fit for the job. I have chosen Benjamin Garrett.
Benjamin Garrett then stepped to the podium and said, "It is time for a
new order. The Federation is dying,
taking with it planet after planet. The
Federation is old and its time for change. As leader, it is my duty to protect the citizens of Earth. So I am going to do something that has never been done before. I formally request that Earth secede from the Federation. I also ask othe worlds to join me. The
Federation is dying, its time to get out well we still can."
DEEP
SPACE NINE, BAJOR
JUNE
29, 2376
"The entire Federation was stunned today, when newly appointed
President Lawrence, formally seceded Earth from the Federation. He also asked other worlds to seced as well."
Kira was watching the screen, every news show on had something about the
succession of Earth. Then the
screen went dark, and then came on again, but the face that of Zutegre, leader
of the Furies.
He spoke in a cold voice, "Since Earth has seceded from the Federation,
I will offer a prospect for peace. I
will offer a nonaggression pact with any world that secedes from the Federation. You will not attack us, and we will not attack you. We do not want the Federation; we only want our home back. You get us that and we will not bother anyone.
PARIS,
EARTH
JUNE
30, 2376
Zutegre sat in his chair as Jo'hor and a Jem'Hadar soldier walked in. They were having their morning briefing.
"Gentleman, please sit down." Said
Zutegre.
Jo'hor spoke first, "Emperor, I understand that you have offered a
nonaggression pact with any world who secedes from the Federation."
"I have."
"Why?" asked Jo'hor.
"Because the destruction of the Federation is not our goal. Our only goal is take back what was taken from us long before you were
born."
"I ask you reconsider, destruction of the Federation is our goal. If you do not reconsider, the consequences could be most unfortunate."
Replied Jo'hor.
"Are you threatening me?" asked Zutegre.
"Of course."
"Do you forget who you're talking to? I am Emperor of the Furies. I
wiped out the Borg completely. I
can wipe you out as well."
PARIS
NEWS
JUNE
31, 2376
"The Federation was stunned again today, as Rigel 7 became the
thirty-seventh world to secede from the Federation. The Furies have offered a nonaggression pact with any separated world. It was signed minutes ago by President Garrett. Earth is now officially out of the war. Other worlds continue to secede from the Federation, as support for
Starfleet is falling."
SAN
FRANCISCO NEWS
JULY
1, 2376
"The Federation was ended today, as Vulcan became the last world to
secede from the Federation. Just
minutes ago the nonaggression pact was signed, putting Vulcan out of the war. Starfleet now stands alone against the Furies.
VICTORY,
DEEP SPACE
JULY
1, 2376
The Federation had been ended, it was on
every major new show in the Quadrant. Picard
sat and thought of what might have been, of what he would be doing if he were
President of Earth, certainly not seceding from the Federation. A voice came then, "Captain Picard to the bridge."
He walked quickly out onto the bridge of the most advanced ship in the
fleet. They were out in deep space,
trying to evade Fury warships.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Signal from Starfleet, Sir. It's
coming from DS9." Replied Micheal Lawrence.
"Put it through."
"We are under attack by Fury and Jem'Hadar warships. We can't escape, they have too much power---"
"Hold on, we're on our way!" yelled
Picard.
It had begun, the Furies had attacked Starfleet, and Starfleet stood
alone. The Victory warped away,
heading for the chaos that was DS9.
DEEP
SPACE NINE, BAJOR
JULY
1, 2376
The Victory cloaked and moved in for an attack run. Picard looked at the screen, it was unbelievable. Ship after ship was getting torn and ripped apart. He looked closer and saw terrible truths, DS9 was gone, only floating
debris was left of the once mighty and proud space station. The screen magnified to show the little Defiant evading and fighting at
the same time. Where was the
Enterprise? Had she already been
destroyed? Was he to late? Then, he saw it; swooping out of the darkness like a bird-of-prey, she
targeted a Jem'Hadar fighter and firing, blew it completely away. The Victory moved in closer, the Jem'Hadar fleet was getting pounded,
but the Fury fleet was hardly breaking a sweat. The Fury ships executed breathtaking maneuvers, blowing one starship
after another into pieces. Picard knew they had to retreat, this was not working, and these ships would be
needed for another day. The retreat
order was given, the Victory led the way, plowing through the darkness. The Enterprise and the Defiant quickly followed. About twenty other ships followed behind, all that remained of the once
great fleet. The ships zipped away
from the ruins of DS9, and warped off toward the sun. Each hoping one day to find a way to return, home.
FURY
FLEET, EARTH
JULY
2, 2376
Zutegre talked to his people, "I congratulate you all on a job well
done. The Alpha Quadrant is ours
for the talking. Today we have gained victory, we have gained back that which
was taken from us those days so long ago."