A/N I still own nothing

I hope you will stick with me for these first three chapters. I want to set up some background. Will get to Enterprise in chapter four and hopefully chapters will get longer as well.

King Ssoud of Bovaria was paranoid. But that was not a problem because all of his people were too. In fact, studies showed that on all planets where reptiles became the dominant species, they all showed some form of paranoia, with the exception of course of the Singing Lizards of Corona 5. The Bovarians were more snake-like than lizards. They had a slimy skin rather than scales.

Actually, it would appear that they had very little reason to be paranoid. They lived on a beautiful planet with huge amounts of rich minerals and energy supplies. They were highly intelligent and had not had a war for centuries.

They had not yet achieved space travel and were normally not very adventurous. Little did they know that their world was about to change drastically and they would soon have something to be paranoid about. The change came in the form of a Tredian ship bringing Doorn Hadek to Bovaria.

The Tredians were like the Ferengi in that business and commerce were their passion. But where the goal of the Ferengi was profit, the Tredians objective was the win-win situation. Like the Ferengi they were willing to visit pre-warp societies, in fact, bringing races into the warp community was one of their favorite projects.

Their shuttle landed in the main square in front of the King's residence and the Bovarians were faced with the same truth as so many races before them, they were not alone. As they were an intelligent and peaceful people, they greeted the visitors with courtesy.

Although Doorn Hadek showed respect and friendship as well, he brought two pieces of information that drove the Bovarian paranoia to a new high. First, that mammals were the dominant species on the overwhelming number of planets.

Second, that an aggressive, expanding Empire was only six months away at warp 7. Doorn told them that probably the only reason they had not been discovered already was that they were the only Solar System in a large area and the Romulan Empire had expanded in a different direction.

He also informed them they had the two main ingredients for him to make them capable of warp travel; Dilithium for the power and valuable minerals to pay for the needed expertise and equipment for Doorn to help them.

In the next few months, Doorn realized he had found the mother lode. The Bovarian paranoia drove them to decide that their only hope was to be able to build a fleet to protect themselves from the hostile universe they now knew confronted them.

In an amazingly short time, they changed their planet to a ship building power house and their high intelligence enabled them to absorb the science involved in an also remarkably short time.

When Doorn finally left over two years later a very rich man, they were well on their way to becoming a member of the warp community. Dedicating all their energies and resources to the effort, they accomplished the unbelievable task of building a fleet of four hundred starships in the next forty years.

So, while Earth had only launched Enterprise only a few years before, the Bovarians launched their fleet toward the edges of the Romulan Empire. They had decided they would not wait for the Empire to reach them.

Unknown to the Bovarians, their timing could not have been more perfect. The Romulan Empire was at a vulnerable point. Their constant expansion had left them overextended and in a state of having to stop conquests in order to consolidate what they had. Their last conquest had also proven to be a constant source of problems. They had actually conquered a mini Empire of seven planets called the Cordian Commonwealth, who had a warp fleet of their own. Even though the Romulans had prevailed, the planets continued to resist and the Empire was forced to use a larger than normal part of their fleet to maintain control.

Thus, when the Bovarian fleet entered the outer edges of the Empire, they encountered little resistance. As they moved deeper into the Empire, they were actually setting off rebellions in the planets they passed as they drove the scattered Romulan fleets before them. Soon, they were nearing the Core of the Empire and endangering Romulus itself.

As the Praetor scrambled to recall outlying fleets to come to his aid, he desperately sent his personal fleet of two hundred ships in an attempt to slow down the invading fleet.

Fortunately for the Empire, the fleet was led by a superb commander, a Tribune named Venter. His main talent was the use of their cloaking ability. Vastly outnumbered, he confused and frustrated the commanders of the Bovarian fleet, causing damage while largely avoiding direct confrontation.

His stalling tactics provided the Empire time and other fleets soon joined the fray. The Bovarians were finally turned back.

Although the Romulans were able to drive the Bovarians out, they were unable to deal a knockout blow and the Bovarian fleet was left largely intact. Also, the Empire's internal problems were now worse as the Bovarians had given many planets the incentive to resist as the Romulan presence was driven away. The Praetor was confronted with the task of continuing to consolidate his control and also be sure he would be able to repel invasions in the future. In any case, they were certainly not able to spare the ships to pursue the Bovarians.

When the Bovarians returned home and told their story, it was decided that they still needed to confront the Romulans in some way. They were afraid if they did nothing, the Romulans would retaliate by attacking Bovaria. They decided they would conduct a guerilla type war, hitting at vulnerable points in the outer edges of the Empire, forcing the Romulans to use their forces to maintain order. They kept two hundred of their ships at home for protection and sent the others back to Romulus.

The Bovarian plan was in a sense successful as the huge Empire was unable to protect all its vulnerable points. On the other hand, it was hardly more than a source of irritation to the Romulans. Then the Bovarians came in contact with the Cordians. Suddenly, they had a way to make a real impact. Joining with the Cordians, they were able to disrupt a large part of the Western District of the Empire. The Cordians threatened to become the first conquests of the Empire to break away. The Praetor could not allow that to happen.

A/N Thanks for your input. I really appreciate your opinions. I also want to thank all those who are with me so far.