Paint and Powder

A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon

DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.

LOGISTICAL ISSUES OF STARFLEET REARMAMENT POST-WOLF-359

"In every conflict since the beginning of time, you don't go to war with the army or fleet you wish you had-You go with the one you have." ~Admiral Pavel Chekov, 2366

POST WOLF-359: IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH

In the immediate aftermath of the Enterprise-D defeating the Borg in 2367, the Federation political and military scene entered a frenzy not seen since the Four Years War. Then-Federation President Amitra, the Secretary of State for three previous administrations, had been elected in 2364 based upon her experience in interstellar diplomacy and was credited for greatly improving Federation/Klingon relations. However, Amitra's administration was heavily criticized for its apparently lack of preparation to meet the Borg threat.

This accusation was not without merit in some sense: Amitra was part of the so-called "Peacenik" faction that emphasized stronger diplomatic relations with other powers over military preparedness. She was not, however, part of that faction's diehard pacifist wing. This was demonstrated upon her briefing in 2365 about the nature of the Borg threat, where she took as appropriate action as was determined by Starfleet Command.

She increased the number of wargames and military training scenarios to be conducted across the Federation, and approved the Perimeter Defense Initiative to produce combat capable starships. She also authorized the postponement of retirement for several older Starfleet vessels. She also allowed Project Aesir to continue, though under close supervision, and the full reactivation of the Federation Marine Corps.

All of this was based upon projections that the Borg would not make it to Federation space for ten years. If the Borg had indeed been restricted to normal warp speeds, all of this preparation would have been appropriate. However, no one knew that the Borg possessed transwarp technology.

This meant that the time table of rearmament had been reduced from 10 Terran Years, to one. The massacre at Wolf 359 did the rest, and Amitra accepted the fact she would be a one-term president due to a great deal of blame being thrown her way.

She was not the only one: Numerous admirals that had survived the Bluegill Infiltration were savaged in the media and the halls of power, and many went into early retirement or were reassigned. Admiral Robert Leyton, one of many more "militant" Starfleet flag officers often sidelined by the pacifistic culture of the 2350s-60s, rose to prominent position in Starfleet Command and advocated a total reorganization of practically everything. He had a great deal of support.

Leyton though was not chosen as Chief of Starfleet Operations in 2367: That position went to Admiral Pavel Chekov, formally the head of Temporal Operations. He had not been long retired when Wolf 359 hit, and he immediately requested reinstatement. He had thought he might be placed in a reserve or ceremonial position, but no: President Amitra made him Chief of Starfleet Operations, and told him to get whatever needed to be done, done.

FLEET REORGANIZATION

Admiral Robert Leyton did not lobby hard against Chekov's appointment: Despite his age, his experience on the Enterprise, at Starfleet Tactical and as director of Temporal Operations and Starfleet Intelligence had made Chekov a legend. And he was uniquely positioned to reorganize Starfleet and appease Amitra's critics. He was the last of the original Enterprise crew to retire, so he was well versed in modern Starfleet organization and technology. He had a broad breadth of experience to draw on. And most importantly, he was a hero to practically everyone in the Federation, and respected by the Klingons.

One of his first actions was to make the Warspite AI his Assistant Chief of Staff, a position she accepted gladly. Warspite had been languishing in Memory Alpha since the 2330s, seen as "too militant" for the modern more peaceful Federation. She was immediately pulled out of retirement by Chekov himself, who had commanded her in the 2290s. Admiral Chekov then went through the entire procurement process of Starfleet, from mining to construction to implementation. He made several proposals in his report to President Amitra one month later, which were implemented with very little resistance from the Federation Council.

Among the changes called for were:

1: The establishment of Starfleet Academy annexes on Boralus X, Trill, Betazed, and numerous other worlds across the Federation.
2: Reactivation of mothballed starships to serve as secondary vessels, with the sale of many of them to Federation member's own military forces to enhance them.
3: Increased budget and expansion of the Perimeter Defense Initiative, to make use of the Borg cube wreckage and other sources to develop new weapons and defensive technologies and ships.
4: Full reactivation and modernization of the Federation ground forces.
5: Standardization modules to be given to all major Starfleet shipyards across the Federation.
6: Emergency expansion of the Federation fleet of combat capable ships and AIs for short term military enhancement by radical reorganization of the entire procurement system.

That last one was the most contentious, as there were fears of the Federation returning to a more militant, expansionistic era as in the early 23rd century. However, this was allowed for several good reasons:

1: While the loss of the fleet at Wolf 359 did not reflect a huge loss of ships and personnel to the Federation fleets overall, the current Federation deployment strategy of highly dispersed vessels meant that their ability to concentrate ships and firepower was compromised significantly. Raiders of multiple races soon took advantage, with attacks on Federation colonies and outposts occurring throughout 2367 and into 2368 by minor powers such as the Talarians, Gorn, Tholians, Breen, and others.

2: The fact that all of the defenses of the capital world, the Core of the Federation, had proven utterly ineffective demonstrated that military advancement and expansion was vital for the survival of the Federation itself.

3: The fact that the promises of new ships being built had been pushed back from eighteen months to twenty four due to a myriad of factors, not the least of which was political infighting and the sheer complexity of the procurement system that had not undergone a real overhaul or reform in more than sixty years.

Fortunately, Admiral Chekov did not have to work from scratch. Project Aesir, due to it's clandestine nature, had been forced to adopt a simplified procurement system to build the Woden-class starships to keep costs down and maintain secrecy.

The Woden-class was also the only real Federation warship available, and had the advantage of never actually fighting the Borg, and had mostly been unknown to Captain Jean-Luc Picard. With this system already in place, Admiral Chekov placed Rear Admiral Reynolds, the head of Project Aesir, in command of Project Broadsword.

THE INTEGRATED FLEET

The challenges facing Reynolds and his team from Project Aesir were still considerable, even with a simplified procurement system and virtual carte blanche to accomplish their mission. The Wodens were highly experimental prototypes, highly modular and heavily customized. To produce an entire fleet of them would be prohibitively expensive and time consuming.

As a result, Reynolds, Chekov, Leyton, and Warspite herself met with several other Starfleet Officers and AIs to devise the most effective means of providing Starfleet with a "stop gap" of military power until the Perimeter Defense Initiative could provide the next generation of starships that would be suitable for the anti-Borg role.

The Project Committee decided to focus upon the "Rapid Response Task Force" concept, to create ships that could be rapidly assembled, shaken down, crewed, and deployed in squadrons that could be strategically positioned across the Federation to respond to local threats and emergencies.

To simplify logistics as much as possible, these vessels would all be based upon the Galaxy-class Project's Hardware. And were all based upon existing proposals and hardware developed for Project Aesir.

A great deal of debate ensued about the composition of the fleet, based upon everything from after combat reports from Wolf 359, to needs and desires of the crews. Much of this latter information helped inform the final composition, as Starfleet Command had been dismissing a great deal of complaints and requests from the front line starship crews, especially those heavily involved in combat situations. The majority opinion was that most crews were willing to use equipment that wasn't the highest tech, as long as it was reliable, easy to fix, and easy to modify. And that they didn't need a huge variety of ship classes-Just large, medium, and light, with overlapping strengths and weaknesses supported by adaptable equipment.

It was found that this arrangement with more modern technologies, in war game simulations, might have done significantly more damage against the Borg cube. But most importantly, these would match current threat forces of the local polities and anything projected to be met in the next ten years-This was the major concern at the time of the project, after all.

They started with over fifty proposed projects and classes for various roles, and ruthlessly cut them down to three, with an option for four if needed.

As a result, the RRTFs would be composed of the following:

-Heavy Capital Battleship/Command Ship
-Medium Support Cruiser
-Heavy Frigate
-Light Escort Destroyer/Scout

The Broadsword-class Tactical Cruiser, a simplified but no less heavily armed and faster version of the Woden, would take up the role of Heavy Capital Battleship/Command Ship. The Woden AIs themselves worked together to produce a standardized version of their hulls that was easy to maintain, well armed, armored and shielded, with a higher warp speed, but could be modified to carry the modular weapon systems that were standard to the Woden-class.

Being able to mount Phaser Lances, Pulse Phaser Cannons, Vertical Launch Torpedo Modules, and other modular weapons packages, the Broadsword could be quickly modified for a variety of combat missions in spacedock or even while underway, and thus was extremely versatile. This was seen as absolutely vital, given the threat of the Borg and other polities. With its large shuttle bay could serve as a troop carrier, hospital ship, or an evac ship. It could even serve as an exploration or scientific platform if need be, but without compromising its base tactical combat capabilities.

The Surak-class Patrol and Support Cruiser would act as the Medium Support Cruiser, as it was already in progress of construction and already based upon the Galaxy-class Project. It was meant as a deep space resupply vessel, capable of Warp 9, and able to haul around over a million metric tons of supplies. It was also fairly well protected for a support ship, especially with upgrades introduced from Project Aesir. Its very large hanger capacity could also allow it to serve as an escort carrier, evac ship, or troop transport, and retained saucer separation capability so it could use the saucer section as a temporary outpost or space station.

(There were proponents of using refit and upgraded version of the California-class Support and Utility Starships already in operation-They too were based upon the Galaxy Project Hardware and were very cheap and easy to build. However, they were seen as too slow for the purposes of a Rapid Response Task Force and lacking the endurance or combat capability needed for extended missions. They were thus kept to their original Second Contact Support Roles and would remain as resupply ships in situations not requiring high warp speed).

In-between the Broadsword and Coontz-class destroyers was the Frigate, the Cassandra-class. This would be a classic Starfleet classification of the frigate: A mid-sized, combat focused vessel with troop carrying capacity. The New Orleans-class had filled this role but after Wolf 359, it was deemed obsolete. It was very large too, and while its modular system allowed it to carry a heavy armament, it was still utilizing older technology. The Cassandra-class would be small but simple, fast, heavily armed, adaptable, and easy to maintain. It would only be slightly larger than the Coontz-class, but still effective in its role. They would later be upgraded into the even more powerful Pandora-class frigates.

Finally, the Coontz-class destroyers were to be the Escorts for these task forces. Devised by Utopia Planitia's AI and input from Commander Geordi LaForge, these simple but heavily armed destroyers could keep up with battlegroups, escort more valuable ships, act as pickets, provide excellent point defense, and be built in very, very large numbers. They could also hit Warp 9 with ease, a first for mono-nacelled Federation starships.

As a concession to Starfleet's mission of peaceful exploration and scientific inquiry, all three classes utilized the Modular Laboratory System tested upon the Galaxy-class USS Enterprise-D. These modules could be installed in spacedock in a matter of hours to turn several spaces on these vessels into a scientific laboratory for numerous disciplines. The Broadsword had seven such lab spaces, the Surak nine, the Cassandra four, and the Coontz had three. All of these spaces could be converted into other applications as needed. In particular, the Broadswords' Modular Laboratory Spaces could be converted to Intelligence Operations or Tactical Management spaces (and often were). A number of Coontz-class destroyers would be modified to have six such modular labs and to function as survey and science ships, the Preble-subclass. But they were soon sidelined in favor of the Nova-class, which was better armed than the Coontz, had more sensors, and more scientific utility than the hastily modified destroyers.

But anything seen as excess or a luxury was excised from these designs. Basic holosuites, galleys and messhalls, and standard pattern quarters from the Galaxy-class were the only "luxuries" put into the vessels.

Later, the Rapid Response Task Force Framework would be modified to have Flight II Galaxy and Nebula-class starships be placed into the task forces as Command Battleships, with the Broadswords focusing more on the combat role. RRTFs of Excelsior/Constitution and Ambassador-derived classes would also be formed to improve Federation defenses towards the Core Worlds, with future classes being built around the concept to support one another, but also to operate alone for various missions as needed.

Decisions finalized, Projects Broadsword, Surak, Cassandra and Coontz were presented to the Federation Council in mid-2367, and were approved. The first hulls were rapidly assembled at Utopia Planitia, Baikonur Cosmodrome, Andoria Prime, Vulcan, and Bolarus Prime Shipyards. This dispersement was deliberate, to test if the modular hardware could build these and future vessels more effectively.

The project was not without its hiccups or issues, with delays on the Surak-class due to lobbying from the California-class proponents, but by early 2368, the first eight Broadsword-class, eight Surak-class, ten Cassandra-class, and eighteen Coontz-class starships were launched and undergoing shakedown cruises in around nine months.

Even though everything had been based on existing technologies and off the shelf systems, due to the speed of their construction, these ships suffered a litany of mechanical failures and issues. USS Broadsword herself was permanently docked and used as a test bed, where she often had to help resolve issues from all of her sister ships multiple times every single day. However, USS Warspite and her task force defended the Klingon border from Kzinti incursions in 2368. USS Pennsylvania, Mutsu, Canada, Littorio, and South Dakota demonstrated their worth in similar engagements across the Federation. And while not perfect, they proved their mettle in helping to restore Federation strength and prestige, and in providing an excellent test case of how to modernize Starfleet procurement and ship production.

By mid-2368, the major issues with these vessels were largely sorted out. The Federation Council approved full production, and by the time of the Dominion War over a hundred and fifty Broadswords, three hundred Suraks, four hundred Cassandras/Pandoras, and well over five hundred Coontz-class destroyers would be constructed. While seen as less advanced than the Sovereign, Akira, Steamrunner, Norway, Intrepid, Saber and many other classes built as part of the Perimeter Defense Initiative, these ships born out of desperation served the Federation well and helped pave the way for the massive leaps in technology and ship design that allowed the Federation to survive and thrive through the conflicts of the 24th and 25th centuries. And will still serve the Federation well into the forseeable future.

2368

Jouret System

IRW T'Mer

Set during "Redemption: Part II" in TNG.

T'Mer was, like most other veteran Romulan shipgirl AIs, not a fan of the Tal Shiar. She had been created to serve the Star Empire's people, and not these secret police. That they could shut her down with a few words was deeply humiliating to her. She was in a Griffin-class light cruiser, one of her people's most advanced light designs, but she still had her pride. She had earned that pride.

A veteran of a dozen campaigns! She had even scored hits on Chang and Gorkon's ships during their invasion of Klingon Space in the Melkor Uprising!

Yet even now, she chafed as a Tal Shiar agent stalked her bridge, looking over everyone's shoulders like they were a mere passenger vessel, and not her battle hardened crew.

"We are entering orbit of Jouret IV, Commander," Mothau, her helmswoman, reported. Commander Thora nodded, leaning back slightly in her chair.

"On main viewer."

The planet was a bit arid for an M-Class world, but certainly a good enough place for humans or Romulans to settle. Only the gaping crater left behind by the colony when the Borg yanked it out indicated the darker past of this world.

"Begin full scans of the former site of the colony," Thora ordered, "prepare the science team as well."

"I believe that is the prerogative of the Tal Shiar to determine, Commander Thora?" Sub-Commander Noteth simpered. He was a bit rotund for a Tal Shiar agent, with a high pitched voice and almost feminine face. Yet behind that smile was a savage beast-One that had enjoyed the power he held over the military, and enjoyed toying with them.

"We have prepared the science teams as you request, Sub-Commander Noteth," Thora said patiently, no hint of edge in her voice, "they will be the same level of preparation as they were when last you checked them, one hour ago."

"We will make no move unless I say so, Commander," Noteth hissed, still smiling pleasantly. "You will have your teams assemble for me again. I want to inspect them before they depart... On my say so, is that understood Commander?"

"Yes, Sub-Commander Noteth," Thora replied. The smirking little toad headed off the bridge, the doors shutting tight behind him. Only then did Thora close her eyes and grit her teeth, holding back her anger.

T'Mer extended a hand and rested it on her captain's shoulder.

"You are dong fine," T'Mer murmured, "he's a petty varuul. He can't get anything from us."

"He'll find something," Malur, the first officer, grumbled under his breath.

"Let's focus on our duties for now," Thora decided. "Xeliu? What does the science section say about the readings from orbit?"

Xeliu was an unusual Romulan science officer. He was often caught staring off into space, thinking things from different angles, and paying little mind to what was going on. He could have been court martialed a dozen times over (and had nearly been executed by the Tal Shiar once) save for the fact that he was, indeed, a genius. And utterly indispensible.

He was tapping on his console while staring at the bulkhead. He turned to Thora and smiled.

"Oh! Yes, well. Readings are essentially identical to what we saw at our own colonies the Borg invaded," he explained, "even after this long, the resonance traces have not significantly degraded. Perhaps it's the result of the subspace interlink the Borg rely upon? That might help with early warning detection of them in space, though they may need to actually touch something first. Like a colony. Which might make the entire exercise pointless, now that I think about it. How many alien races scoop up entire cities from orbit? That we know of-"

"Thank you, Xeliu," Thora cut him off, as gently as she could. Xeliu nodded, and returned to his readings. He then started.

"Ah! Commander! I'm picking up Federation starships!"

Thora rose from her chair.

"Where? How many?"

Xeliu scrutinized his readings, turning off a few other consoles so he could focus.

"Looks like... about six, maybe seven, bearing 345, mark 223, approaching the system," he said.

"Normal sensors are picking them up now too," Jacem, their sensor officer reported. He frowned at Xeliu.

"How did you-?"

"Oh I was running some experiments with our passive tachyon detection array," Xeliu said, "while I was processing the data from that star and that supernova-Not the same star-"

"Action stations, action stations!" Thora shouted. Malur immediately hit the comm, and repeated it as the alarm klaxons blared.

"Action stations! Action stations! This is not a drill! Repeat! Action stations!"

"Cloak status?" Thora asked, now out and about as her crew shifted to battle readiness.

"Cloak integrity is at one hundred percent, switching to deep stealth mode," Rejik, the cloak officer, spoke up-A bit too loudly, but given this was his first cruise, understandable. His voice carried the same mixture of fear and excitement as others did.

"Weapon status?" Thora demanded. Malur checked over the weapon officers consoles, and turned back to his commander.

"Torpedoes and disruptors on standby, ready for full power mode once cloak is dropped, sir," he reported. "Federation ships are in visual range."

"On viewer!"

A few familiar silvery forms appeared: Saucer sections with large, brightly glowing engine nacelles. The configurations though were very different from what she was used to. Thora frowned.

"Malur? Check the war book."

"Checking... Looks like a lot of their newer models in one task force," he said, "one Broadsword-class battleship, one Surak-class support cruiser, one Cassandra-class frigate, and three destroyers-Coontz-class. A few of their runabouts are flying as escort."

"Why are they here?" Thora voiced. She glanced at Xeliu, who was studying the readings from the planet. He started and then hummed thoughtfully.

"Well, given they are all new designs, they may be shaking them down and testing them. This is a fairly quiet system-After the Borg, I mean."

"And it's in range of our sensors, so we can see them do it," Malur added. Thora's frown deepened.

"How much sensor data can we get without being detected?" She asked.

"Unknown," Xeliu said, "however, given their tachyon detection technologies, it would be prudent to keep our distance."

"I've done missions of this sort before, Commander," T'Mer volunteered with a small, confident smile, "I recommend an eccentric orbit around Jouret IV, using the mass of the planet to shield us. We could use the passive tachyon sensor system to gather data. It would take several hours, but it would make the chances of us being detected practically zero."

"If they're doing exercises, we'll be able to analyze those as well," Malur suggested. Thora held back her excitement.

This was a rare opportunity. The ability to get so much passive intel on several of the latest Federation starships had just landed in her lap. The taste of glory was burning in her mouth.

"Mothau, prepare to alter course, thrusters only-"

"Ahem."

All eyes went to Sub-Commander Noteth, as he cleared his throat with an all too innocent smile.

"You wouldn't be engaging in intelligence gathering without the Tal Shiar, would you, Commander Thora?" He practically whined, sounding like an ungrateful child.

"We would inform you when-" Thora tried, but Noteth again cleared his throat.

"No no no, this will not do. Since this is now an intelligence gathering operation, I will choose our course of action."

T'Mer saw Thora mentally count to ten-She could tell by how her eyes blinked.

"Do you have an objection to our current course of action, Sub-Commander?"

"Yes," Noteth sneered, "it would take far too long. We will instead shadow the Federation vessels. Wait until they have passed, then follow in their wake."

"They are already utilizing active tachyon sweeps, Sub-Commander," Xeliu pointed out, "it might be better to get to cover and then-"

"Did I ask your opinion, scientist?" Noteth growled, "I have done this very maneuver several times myself. If you are incapable of following my simple directions, perhaps I will make your ship do it for you."

T'Mer felt a flash of rage. To know this toad had power over her was irritating enough-Him enjoying tugged her leash to threaten her crew was unacceptable.

Thora was silent. She very slowly nodded.

"Helm... Do not change course," she ordered, "stay in this orbit."

"But Commander-" Xeliu tried, but Thora held up a hand.

"The Sub-Commander has spoken," she said softly, "we will carry out the mission."

"Good," Noteth purred, "you may yet prove yourselves competent in the eyes of the Tal Shiar."

T'Mer grit her teeth. She began calculating vectors to avoid the sensor scans of the oncoming Federation fleet. As she did, she recognized one of the IFFs. The one of the largest vessel.

It can't be...

T'Mer by her nature couldn't forget anything. And that IFF was all too familiar. USS South Dakota.

Well... That complicated things slightly.

Jouret System

USS South Dakota

"Ohhh, no...!"

South Dakota had been managing her task force's many communications and her own hull, largely in silence, for the past five days. She still kept that up even as she looked over at the avatar of the Kuznetsov with Vulcan-like serenity.

"Kuznetsov?"

"Ugh... Another EPS conduit went offline, Dakota," the woman dressed in traditional furry Russian garments over her Starfleet uniform sighed, "I'm sorry, I'll have to take my phasers offline... Again."

"Well, it could be worse," Destroyer USS Grozny, another Russian-dressed avatar, suggested, "it could be her flight deck system. Again."

"Don't be so mean to her, Grozny," Morrison protested, scowling a bit at her fellow destroyer, "she's doing her best with brand new systems!"

"Yeah, that's what worries me," Grozny remarked, "and we're all brand new, aren't we?"

"You don't have to run carrier operations out of a modified cargo bay," Concord deadpanned, the Pandora-class frigate maintaining vigil around the system, as she licked a lollipop.

"It is not a modified cargo bay!" Kuznetsov protested angrily.

"It kind of is," Grozny pointed out.

"It really is," Richmond added. The frigate was looking at her Subspace Network Comms and listening to music-Both very unprofessional. South Dakota would have to fix that.

"Just a bit," Craven said, twirling around as the destroyer idly practiced dance moves, "I mean, it's better than her Curry hull. Remember that monstrosity?"

"Ugggh," Kuznetsov groaned, "this always happens when I'm a carrier. Something goes wrong, something breaks, some disaster happens-Why couldn't they have just made me into an Excelsior?! Something not a carrier!"

"Oh, here we go," Grozny sighed, rubbing her forehead due to the now familiar rant incoming.

"I was the worst carrier in the 20th century! I was the meme carrier! Why would you ever make me a carrier again?!"

South Dakota frowned, looking through her sensor readings and those of the runabouts currently orbiting the fleet as they moved through the Jouret IV system. The runabouts were casting out tachyon beams to search for cloaked vessels-Standard protocol, really. In a group, this allowed ships to triangulate strange readings that might be cloaked ships...

"... I was venting plasma for a week-!"

"It was not a week, you drama queen," Grozny sighed.

"Everyone. Quiet," South Dakota ordered. And to their credit, all of the shipgirl AIs immediately shut up and looked over to South Dakota. While she listened carefully, she directed her holographic avatar to turned to her captain.

"Sir, I'm getting some strange readings, 200,000 km from us, in low orbit of Jouret IV."

Her captain, an Andorian named Kovis Ch'qarol, looked up from a report an ensign had been showing him on a PADD. He frowned in concern.

"Ops?"

"Checking, sir," the operations manager, Lieutenant Tina Graves, checked over her readings, "corroborating it with the other ships... Looks like a subspace distortion with inertial displacement."

Kovis' frown deepened.

"Display on main viewer."

Dakota put it up, and Kovis assessed the sensor readings as they were overlaid on the screen.

"Speculation: What could this be?"

"It's hard to tell, sir," Graves reported, "but given it's in a geosynchronous orbit with the planet? I'd say... Cloaked ship."

South Dakota nodded.

"I would concur, sir," she said, "should I go to red alert?"

Kovis hummed softly, scratching his chin. He then smirked.

"No. Maintain course for now. They're probably just here to observe us."

"Aye sir," South Dakota nodded, and relayed the instructions to the rest of the crew and fleet. At the moment, they were without an executive officer-Commander Rendan was down in sickbay due to a new flu strain. So Kovis had essentially left that job in her hands.

It was a bit staggering, but she accepted it and performed the duty as well as she could.

"Keep an eye on it, though," Kovis said, "and keep the rest of the fleet on normal operations."

T'Mer

"They don't seem to have seen us, Commander," Xeliu observed, studying the sensor readings, "looks like the Surak-class is having some trouble with her power systems."

Noteth nodded, greedy little eyes locked onto the task force.

"Move us in closer," he ordered, "thrusters only."

"Subcommander," Thora pointed out, "I would remind you that getting too close will allow for them to coordinate their tachyon detection beams and make it easier for us to be detected-"

"Noted, Commander," Noteth snorted. "T'Mer? Shut down all non-essential systems, to minimize our power signature. Now."

T'Mer looked helplessly at Thora, who remained impassive. T'Mer bit back a sigh and did so, the bridge lights switching to red as the main power systems were rediverted and shut down."

"Low power mode engaged," she reported dully.

"Excellent," Noteth said, "now, head closer to the flagship-What is it called?"

"South Dakota," T'Mer said, "I am familiar with her and have dealt with her before-"

"I'll ask you when I need to know things like that, thank you," Noteth hissed. T'Mer held back a sigh, and carefully adjusted her orbit with Mothau so she would pass within a few thousand kilometers of South Dakota...

South Dakota

"It's shifting its orbit," the science officer, an El-Aurian man named Zodran Lohil, reported from his station, "looks like it will pass about one thousand kilometers directly beneath us as we pass."

Kovis nodded slowly, sitting back in his chair.

"Order all ships to continue forward, into a standard orbit," he stated. "Dakota? Please relay to the Kuznetsov to have her runabouts extend out their pattern into a sphere around us. Slowly. Just enough to get one between us and the ship."

"Aye sir," Dakota said with a nod.

T'Mer

It was a trap. T'Mer knew it, deep in her core. There was just something far too casual about the situation, it was driving her mad.

"Sir," T'Mer tried, "I have dealt with South Dakota before. She knows we're here."

"Your paranoia is unwarranted," Noteth scoffed, "they can't pick us up like this."

"Subcommander, even experienced commanders only slip through tachyon nets when there's something else to distract the operators," Thora said urgently, "we can still get intelligence and avoid detection-"

"Are you questioning my orders, Commander Thora?" Noteth asked, his smile sickly sweet, "that's a very dangerous thing to do."

"What's more dangerous is putting me and my ship at risk," Thora growled back. Noteth shook his head.

"Question my orders again, and I'll have your families imprisoned or worse," he stated.

A dead silence ensued. T'Mer could practically hear Thora's teeth grinding.

"... Maintain course," Thora said. Mothau, looking very young and pale, nodded shakily.

"In fact, take us even closer," Noteth said, as he watched the Federation task force spread out further, "I want as much data as we can get."

"Subcommander-"

"What did I say, Commander Thora?" Noteth hissed.

Thora grit her teeth. She nodded.

"Mothau... Closer."

South Dakota

"Why are they getting so much closer?" Kuznetsov asked, tilting her head, "they could get good intelligence on us from there-Or, better yet, behind the planet! We might not even have picked them up!"

"Maybe they think their cloak is super extra good," Concord suggest, still licking a lollipop but otherwise the picture of professionalism, "or they're going to try to hack our systems?"

"Don't take any aggressive action just yet," South Dakota ordered, "my captain has something planned."

"Can't we just shoot them now?" Craven groaned. "They're in our space, in clear violation of the treaty."

"The last thing we need is a war, Craven," Richmond admonished... Still browsing social media pages. "Use your brain!"

The subspace anomaly drifted in closer... Closer...

Kovis watched it intently on the bridge. South Dakota watched it carefully with him.

"Do you think they're going to ram us?" The tactical officer, Lieutenant Hamet Konte, asked in some slight concern. His dark skinned fingers were already resting on the phaser buttons.

"Unlikely," Kovis said, "but let's get this done soon just in case they decide otherwise. South Dakota?"

South Dakota analyzed the positions of the various smallcraft around the task force. One runabout, the Atrai, was almost in position... Almost...

"Ready," she said.

Kovis nodded.

"Execute."

The Atrai lit off a massive tachyon burst right at the cloaked ship. That beam hit South Dakota, and she immediately sent an active beam back. The rest of the fleet followed suit, creating a spider web of tachyon beams with the exposed Romulan ship right in the center.

Kovis at last smiled.

"Gotcha."

T'Mer

"We've been discovered!" Malur stated, shooting an angry glare at Noteth. The Tal Shiar agent's ever present smugness seemed to vanish.

"Wha-But-How-?!"

"They're hailing us," Xeliu added. Thora looked at the viewer, even as Noteth sputtered.

"Onscreen."

An Andorian captain appeared on the screen, looking as pleasant as he could.

"Romulan vessel. This is Captain Kovis Ch'qarol, of the Federation Starship South Dakota. Do you require any assistance? You seem to be quite far from Romulan space."

"You-This is a sovereign ship of the Romulan Star Empire and you cannot-!" Noteth cried, but Thora shook her head.

"T'Mer? Silence him."

T'Mer projected her holographic avatar to gag Noteth before he could say any command codes, and with Malur's help, cuffed him. He squealed angrily as Thora gave as diplomatic a smile as she could.

"This is the T'Mer to South Dakota. No. We were just leaving."

"Dump your computer data first. And your disruptor cores," Kovis ordered, "then you can leave."

Thora looked over at Malur. He held back a sigh, and nodded to the tactical stations. The auxiliary computer cores and their disruptor cores were dumped in short order. Thora looked expectantly up at Kovis.

"Satisfied?" She asked.

Kovis nodded.

"For now. I suggest you return home as quickly as possible. Safe journey."

T'Mer got a ping on her private AI comms channel. She opened it, knowing just what she would see:

South Dakota, looking as serene and cool as a Vulcan.

"South Dakota."

"T'Mer," she returned with a nod. "You usually aren't this reckless. Tal Shiar agent?"

T'Mer tried very hard to imagine that her look of disgust was for the Federation AI, and not the little toad currently being hauled away by two centurions.

"If you must know, yes," she huffed. "Nice new hull. Makes you look slightly less fat."

South Dakota nodded back.

"Yours is quite nice as well."

Silence ensued. T'Mer sighed heavily.

"You win this day... But I'll get you someday. Just you wait."

It sounded half hearted... But it did make South Dakota's facial expression change. That to a slight smile.

"I look forward to our next encounter."

"I'm sure you do," T'Mer sighed.

"Hey! HEY! I want to trade banter with the Romulan ship too! I'm USS Grozny! You'd better remember the name you giant turkey-!"

A small humanoid avatar in a furry hat and coat yelled, waving her arms. South Dakota sighed, and with a gesture USS Grozny vanished.

"Thank you," T'Mer muttered. "Ugh. No matter the navy... Destroyers are so annoying."

South Dakota again smiled softly.

"That we can agree on. Until next time."

"Yeah yeah..."

The sad thing was? She was almost looking forward to it.

That said, as bad as this day was? She had a feeling someone was having a worse day than her.

IRW Goraxus

Klingon/Romulan Border

"We've been discovered!" Cried Movar, as the dud torpedoes from the Federation starship Sutherland revealed all of the Romulan ships through their cloaks.

Commander Sela, sitting in her chair, stared intensely at her own readings. Goraxus, the ship's avatar, stood at her side, just as impassive.

"Reverse course," Sela ordered quietly, "Order the fleet back to Romulan territory."

Movar's jaw dropped.

"Commander, the Duras need this convoy. Without these supplies, they cannot win!"

"We've been discovered, it's over," Sela stated firmly.

Movar shook his head.

"But what should I tell Lursa and B'Etor?"

Sela took a deep breath through her nostrils.

"Tell them... they're on their own."

Movar headed off to the communications section, dejected. Goraxus raised an eyebrow.

"Did I not tell you that targeting the android captain was a bad idea-?"

"Careful. Be careful," Sela hissed.

I included a bit to explain these new starship classes that have been showing up in this AU. It's what a practical military would do after such a situation, and pictures of the ships are available on the Paint and Powder thread on Spacebattles. Hope it helps.

Goraxus of course appeared in the Romulan Enterprise Copy arc, which I still need to sort out.

Kuznetsov is named for the famous Admiral of the Soviet Union Navy during World War II, but her mechanical issues are a reference to the Russian aircraft carrier that's a lolcow on the Internet. Look it up on YouTube, it's quite hilarious in a dark way.