Star Trek: The Next Generation

The Prime Directive

Chapter Five

Colonel Galen Antos had been briefed by Commander Riker on everything that he needed to know about Starfleet Regulations with regards to the assignment ahead. After dressing into civilian clothing similar to those seen on the display screen in the Stellar Cartography Lab, the away team of three had transported down onto the planet below in an isolated section of the town where they would meet with the contact of the Colonel's. Contact with the unusual little man who was only known as Terex had gone less then by Starfleet Regulations since the Colonel himself had threatened to reveal the illegal trade of the contact to Coalition forces, a trade in which the colonel himself had helped to set up to monitor the Coalition as a clandestine ring of agents along with Terex's status as an Alliance operative, after which it had been reluctantly requested that he return to the same location in one day, 36 hours later.

Returning to the Enterprise with an angry Commander Riker at his heels after which a debriefing on the away mission was given before the Captain and young Regent herself. Finally cleared for limited access throughout the ship, the Colonel found himself in what appeared to be the centre of off-duty activity on the ship itself, a Tavern-Like area known by the crew as Ten-Forward, something which was lost on the Colonel as the area itself was located on a different deck the deck ten. Ordering a drink of what the Bartender called Beer, he found an empty table facing the windows which looked out over his homeworld below while he took his first sip of the unusual amber liquid in the glass, it did not take long before a large shadow loomed over him.

"What the hell happened down there Mister Galen?"

"I was doing my job Commander Riker…" He said without looking up. "And if you can not accept that, Frankly I do not care sir. My orders had come from the Regent herself on a matter which concerns my world, I believe that your Prime Directive will agree with me, along with your Commanding Officer. Please, take a seat. We have much to discuss about the next move"

Stepping around the small triangular table, Riker slowly sat down in the seat facing the alien Colonel as he spoke.

"Let me get one thing straight Colonel, you are here at our approval…"

"I am here because of the fact that your people had made a terrible mistake Commander, one that has now effected an entire planet. However, I agree with you on most things. Those in the Southern Coalition can not be trusted, tomorrow morning I will transport down to the surface along with yourself only, you must follow my lead exactly if our plan is to succeed, we must confront the one who stands in our way of success"

"Whom?" Riker said harshly.

"He is a Gunnery Sergeant named Kronos, he is their most dedicated and dangerous soldiers. When I was younger, I had dealings with this man during my first tour of duty, during what was called 'The Boarder Wars' forty years ago. He is very dangerous, I expect that he will be alerted by our request…"

"If he is so deadly, why do you want to contact this man?"

"His name and voice carries a lot of weight in the Coalition High Court. Mainly through fear of the man himself, we must not underestimate him, sixty years ago he was altered in response to the growing crisis with the Anti-Matter warheads and discovery of your shuttlecraft" Galen replied slowly as he took another sip of his drink. "Hmm, this is surprisingly good. What do you call it again?"

"Ale. How was he altered?"

"Genetically, chemically and physiological conditioning to be the perfect warrior. When I was young, I went through the same conditioning in response to the threat that he posed, we only met once… I was lucky to get out alive"
"Genetic Engineering is Illegal within the Federation, if you are a product of this…"

"Lucky for me sir, my planet is not within the your Federation. Once the program failed, the technology was destroyed, I am all that remains of those experiments from my own side, the first and last. According to rumour, Kronos himself destroyed the lab where he was altered. His adjustments had sent him mad, his mind had never recovered…"

"Then Colonel, I must ask. How do you intend on capturing such a man?" Riker yawned.

"I don't intend on capturing the man Commander, I intend upon his cooperation"

"If not?"

"Well then, keep a transporter lock on yourself at all times. I know his tactics, he will have no more then eight men surrounding the meeting point. One sniper on the roof of a building and the others scattered around the square. Air-support will also added, that is where your Enterprise sensors come into the game and I need your help…"

Once again dressed in local attire and looking more like an old Earth cowboy then a Starfleet Officer, Riker entered the transporter room of the ship as the Colonel stood before a large monitor as the ship's sensors scanned the small town where the meeting would take place.

"Looks like our friend has arrived Commander. Sniper on the roof to the south as I predicted, I can also see six other men around the square along with Mister Kronos sat by the fountain. Your Mister Data has confirmed that they are heavily armed with particle weapons"

"Correct Colonel, they appear to be a weapon similar to a mid twenty third century Starfleet Issue Phaser" Data replied with a hint of surprise in his voice, projected by his emotion chip.

"Can we neutralise them Data?"

"No Commander, they appear to be protected somehow"

"Commander, are you ready?" Galen said slowly. "It would be wise to set your weapon to maximum stun setting, just in case things turn ugly"

Stepping into the transporter alcove, Galen took a deep breath as he looked around nervously, much to the commander's amusement. Materialising on the surface once again, Riker pulled his hat over his head as Galen looked around slowly while he unclipped the weapon from his shoulder holster. Although not a Starfleet weapon, it was still a deadly weapon in the hands of a trained soldier.

Slowly walking into the square of the dusty old town, Galen looked around from the corners of his eyes as he picked his targets quickly and memorised their locations as they entered the general store once again and slowly walked towards the counter where his asset stood waiting.

"Good day to you sir. I trust that you have what I requested?" Galen said politely.

"Indeed I have Mister Galen, I made contact with a few friends back within the Coalition, although your request for a meeting with the First Minister was denied at this time, they have requested that you wait here while they assess your request further"

"Terex, I do not have that length of time. The Regent herself has requested this meeting, that is why we have come to you for this assignment. You have proven yourself, in the past to be a most reliable source…"

"What do you need?" Riker said quickly "To expedite this matter?"

"Get me out of here. This place is driving me crazy. The constant checks from Boarder Patrol, the… paying homage to the High Council, every day. Galen, I want to go home now. I know that you can manage that"

"It can be arranged my old friend, once this meeting has been made of course" Galen said slowly.

"Then, I will see what I can do. Give me a moment, I shall have to use the transmitter in the back room"

Nodding slightly, Terex left the room as Galen looked around slowly at the two figures appearing in the doorway behind him, figures he instantly recognised from the sensor display onboard the Enterprise. Stepping towards the window, Galen caught Riker's attention as the two men entered and walked towards the left of the store slowly.

"Good day gentlemen" Galen said slowly.

"And to you gentlemen. It is a fine day" Replied one of the men as he stepped closer to Galen slowly. "Thank the Prophets for such a fine day"

"As we all say" Riker replied slowly, after hearing the words spoken many times as an agreement.

Almost the instant Galen finished his sentence, the man closer to him leapt forwards in an attempt to grab him. Deflecting his hand quickly, he spun the soldier around and reached for the weapon under the man's coat and fired in an instant hitting him in his chest before he fell. Turning the man around he punched him hard in his jaw as Riker stood shocked at the speed of the devastating attack as with one hand, Galen disassembled the weapon and threw the parts away much to the commander's surprise, once again.

From the rear of the store, footsteps ran towards them as Galen drew his weapon and fired four shots which hit two guards before he ran out of the store with Riker at his heels. Seeing seven men walking towards them with their weapons raised, Galen grabbed the Commander and threw him into an open door before he leapt inside himself and took cover behind a large counter of the store while the frightened patrons ran out into the streets.

"What the hell was that? I said DO NOT Kill anyone" Riker barked.

"Relax Riker, safe wound. Right shoulder, left thigh"

Phaser strikes slammed through the walls, windows and open door as they remained behind the counter as Riker drew two Phasers from his jacket as he spoke.

"I don't like you Colonel. How many do you count?"

"A lot, all armed with your particle weapons. Obviously we have under-estimated our Coalition friends"

"COLONEL GALEN ANTOS…" A voice called from outside. "I know that it is you are in there… we all saw you enter. You are surrounded, put an end to this… I will let you live"

"Phelps? Is that you?" Galen laughed. "You get around. Why don't you come in and we can have a little chat"

"I think not, Colonel. I trust by now that you have heard our air-support? I do not know who is inside with you, but you must surrender" Jared Phelps called out.

"I had a chance to study your database Riker. Tell me, have you heard of a man named Butch Cassidy?" Galen said with a smile.

"All to well Colonel. What is your point?"

"That aircraft which is approaching, it's a Reaper. A heavily armed ground assault craft, I believe the term is… Think of Bolivia?"

"Close enough" Riker sighed deeply. "So now what?"

"Well this is no good. Hand me one of your weapons, I'll take out the Reaper while you cover-fire"

"And what about the Sniper, Colonel?" Riker said quickly.

Raising his left hand to his ear, he spoke quietly as a voice echoed through the hidden transponder in their ears as a voice called out 'All Clear Colonel'. Smiling slightly, Galen took the Phaser from Riker's left hand as he looked down at the display and set the weapon on a medium setting while the roar of the Reaper's engine bellowed through the building and kicked up the dust and soil from the ground below the ship, creating a small dust storm. Peaking his head over the counter, Galen once again picked his targets as he used hand signals for the Starfleet Officer at his side in the event that the soldiers outside the store would hear his instructions. With his left hand, he counted down from five as Riker stood ready for the cover fire.

Seemingly happening in slow motion, Galen leapt over the counter and sprinted towards the door with the pistol in one hand and the curved weapon of the Type II Phaser in the other hand as streams of energy blasted out of the weapon in Riker's own hand and disappeared into the dust cloud while the Colonel himself disappeared into the same storm.

Hovering almost eight feet off of the ground, the large Reaper Ground Assault fighter begun to fire it's armour tipped weapons into the store as Galen ran underneath the large craft. Instantly dropping to the hard ground, he rolled onto his back and fired the Starfleet weapon into the exhaust vent directly above him as he picked his targets with military procession.

A large and bulky aircraft, reminiscent of a Starfleet shuttlecraft yet with a long tail and a mounted fan on the rear for stabilisation, loomed above him as the spent shells from the bullet like projectiles discharged from beneath while a series of small explosions from deep inside the vent ports continued. Kicking his own legs into the air, Galen rolled backwards twice and stopped below the stabilizer fan and set the weapon to a higher setting and fired a constant beam of Phaser energy which sliced through the fan housing itself, cutting off the fan section causing the craft itself to spin uncontrollably seemingly in all directions. Sliding to the left in an uncontrolled dive, the large aircraft slammed into the ground and bounced across the hard ground before finally coming to a stop before what appeared to be an old bar.

Shock echoed through the soldiers as they watched helplessly, as the dust cloud settled, Galen appeared through the cloud of dust and debris with his pistol aimed and ready as he fired at the soldiers, hitting each of them in their left arm. Tossing away the spent weapon, the Colonel reset the Phaser as he walked towards Major Jared Phelps and the man he only knew as Kronos as a large and dark smile crept across his face.

"Impressive Colonel, most impressive" Kronos said with a smile and a nod.

"You'll see that I've changed a lot since we last met Kronos. Put down your weapons, we need to talk"

"I think not Colonel, you see… I have a man on the roof to your left and with one signal from me a high velocity round will pierce that skull of yours" Replied Kronos.

"Of course. Position Two?" Galen said with a smile.

Two faint cracks could be heard by their sensitive hearing as two bullets impacted before Phelps' and Kronos' feet. Nodding slightly, Kronos clapped his hands slowly twice as he stepped forwards and spoke.

"Very impressive. I see that you have studied my tactics?"

"I also know that you studied my own, Kronos. I take it by now that you know why we are here?"

"And who I am?" Riker said as he stepped out of the almost destroyed store with his weapon raised.

"You are from the Star-Vessel in orbit. Galen knows by now that we will not surrender to the Alliance, or to you. We will fight to the last man if we have too do so" Jared said quickly.

"No one is asking for a surrender…" Riker said quickly.

"We are facing a war that none of us can win Kronos, come back to the Enterprise with us, that is it's name… Enterprise. Don't laugh, I know what it means in our language. This is Commander William Riker, he is the First Officer of that vessel, his Captain and Regent Adria has sent the both of us here to find you Kronos and Jared, the two of you are the most respected officers in your military. We MUST put an end to this war, Starfleet… their Authority, has requested that their Captain try to mediate a lasting peace between us, this all had gotten out of control with the arrival of their first vessel which was AGAINST their most sacred laws of interference with less advanced species"

"And your… Sniper on the roof?" Jared said with concern.

"Alison, thank you for your assistance" Galen said with a smile. "You may now return. Kronos, as a show of good faith, I believe that Commander Riker will authorize medical attention for your wounded?"

"With your permission of course?" Riker said.

"Kronos, considering what weapons they carry and what they did to the Reaper with only one of those weapons, I do not think we have a choice" Jared replied.

"You DO in fact have a choice" Galen said as he lowered his weapon slowly. "The Enterprise will leave orbit, if that is your wish. Do NOT throw away this chance for peace between us, you and I are the same Kronos, we are practically brothers, cut from the same cloth. I know that your Generals have their finger on the big button. Come with us both of you, and find out the truth for yourself?"