Mon, Imra, and Eltro entered the mess hall for a cup of tea. "The Paragons don't mind us stopping by?" Mon asked incredulously.
"Word of your conquests hasn't reached all corners of the galaxy. The operation's forum is blissfully unaware of your Insane nature. They haven't had visitors in the last six months and are eager to receive you," Imra explained.
"Is it really a matriarchal society?" Eltro asked dismayed. "You mean...the women make all the decisions?"
"Until recently but the Paragon males have made recent strives in civil rights," Imra said.
"They probably need a little help in their liberation," Eltro said enthusiastically.
"Probably," Mon agreed. "I read this colony began twenty years ago with just thirty miners. Now, they have over three thousand. Now, how is that possible if the women are not only leaving the house but in charge?"
"The success of the colony has resulted in rapid immigration," Imra rolled her eyes. "They now have schools, landscaping communities, and even a museum."
"Do you think it's possible for the Insane to have colonies out this far?" Eltro asked.
"That was my father's wish," Mon said reflectively. "We're making history with every...,"
"Conquered planet," Eltro finished for him. "I must have heard you say that a dozen times a day."
Mon smiled at that. "Sir, the Paragons have given us clearance to enter orbit," Dax radioed.
"Have you received their landing protocols?" Imra asked, getting back to business.
"I didn't ask," Dax admitted.
"We're on our way," Mon assured him.
Mon, Imra, and Eltro entered the bridge. Below them was an Earth-like planet. "Eltro, Ol, and Dax, prepare the shuttle and give them a warm Insane greeting. Inform them they have been officially annexed into the Galactic Federation and that all of their mining operations are to service us from now on," Mon ordered. "If they give you any trouble, remind them that their atmosphere is highly flammable."
"While the matriarchy of their society has diminished, I should take point on this mission," Laurel volunteered.
"Fine," Mon allowed.
The shuttle then exited the Nemo and went straight for the colony. Ol was in the pilot chair while Eltro, Dax, and Laurel made small talk. Soon thereafter, the atmosphere ignited creating a powerful explosion that wiped everything clean for 100 kilometers in every direction. The shuttle went into a spin as it was tossed by the power of the explosion. The entire colony was incinerated in a second.
On the Nemo, Mon raised an eyebrow as he saw the nuclear-sized explosion on the planet below. Imra closed her eyes and looked as though she was about to pass out. "What's wrong?" Mon asked her.
"I felt like thousands of minds screamed out in terror and were suddenly silenced," she said painfully.
The burnt-ass shuttle came back to the Nemo and immediately the passengers were taken to Sickbay to get checked out. Mon and Imra entered Sickbay to get a report on what had happened. "Ol, what the fuck did you do to my shuttle?" Mon questioned.
"I closed both plasma ducts. I'm certain of it," he said defensively.
"Is there really nothing left?" Mon asked curiously.
"We did full magnification. There's nothing left for one hundred kilometers. The ground is scorched clean," Laurel reported.
"A malfunction?" Mon asked calmly.
"It would have triggered an alarm and the backups would have been triggered," Ol discounted.
"This is no time to place blame. A thorough investigation by Titan High Command will determine what happened," Imra said threateningly. "How is he?" she asked of Eltro.
"A mild concussion but he should be fine as an Insane man can be," Brainiac 5 said of Eltro who was laying on the bed with a bruise on his head.
"Did you hail the colony? Maybe they have underground bunkers or tunnel systems below the surface," Mon asked Laurel.
"No life signs. They're all dead," Laurel said wide-eyed.
"Well...Ol said he closed the plasma ducts and he's a man of his word so it couldn't have been us; case closed," Mon determined.
Mon entered the bridge with Imra, Eltro, Ol, Laurel, and Dax at their stations to figure out what went wrong. "How is your diagnostic going?" he asked Imra.
"I am analyzing six of the pod's sensor logs. I have two to finish," Imra reported.
"How much tetrazine was in the atmosphere? Are the Paragons responsible for their own deaths for not specifying the level correctly?" Mon asked Eltro.
"Here's the queer part. The tetrazine levels were half than what the protocols specify for," Eltro replied.
"The point of ignition?" Mon asked Ol.
"Directly below the shuttle. It seems to have originated at the starboard plasma duct," Ol admitted.
"The shuttle log indicates the plasma ducts were sealed and locked," Imra said.
"Get me Earth. This isn't going to be fun," Mon grimaced and then went to his quarters.
Mon got Kara on a secure video chat. "Tetrazine? What the fuck is that?" Kara asked.
"It's a byproduct of their mining operation. It's flammable as fuck when exposed to exhaust plasma," Mon explained.
"Your report indicates your plasma ducts were closed," Kara said confused.
"Yeah, we're still investigating the matter," Mon said unconcernedly.
"This isn't going to change the fact that there are thirty-six hundred corpses down there," Kara frowned.
"Any corpses down there would have been vaporized," Mon corrected.
"Continue to analyze your logs. I'm going to have an emergency meeting of the Galactic Federation Senate. You realize that the Titans will be brought into this? I'm also going to have to contact the Paragon homeworld," Kara said regretfully.
"That should be my responsibility," Mon said somberly.
"You're right. It should," Kara agreed. "You were supposed to go there to learn something from them, not kill them. You have a human crew with you that will feel partially responsible for this. Don't let them down. I'll get back to you as soon as I can."
Imra consulted with Brainiac 5 on Mon's behavior. "His behavior has been calm, level-headed, and professional in light of this tragedy. He feels no guilt whatsoever and he spends most of his time playing video games. I try to remind him of the seriousness of this tragedy but his responses have been dismissive. He seems to truly not give a fuck."
"Ah, to be Insane," Brainiac 5 nodded. "The Insane have difficulty when it comes to empathy and taking responsibility."
"Nonetheless, as his physician, you should monitor him closely, to be certain he's fit for command," Imra said.
"I understand your desire to throw a coup against your captain under a medical pretext, but trust me, the other Insane officers are also not affected by this. Under these circumstances, the kill count is way too low for any of them to blink an eye," Brainiac 5 said.
"How can I work with such people?" Imra asked shocked and appalled.
"You'll be fine," Brainiac 5 assured her. "Just keep doing what you're doing."
Earth-Metropolis
Kara entered the virtual world and was now presiding over the Galactic Federation Senate. The newly created body had founding voting members of Earth, the Coluans, the race from which Brainiac 5 originated, the Titans, the Naltorians, and the Jin-Saiyans. There were other recently conquered worlds present as well that were merely observers at this point: Corinth, Manzar, Risa, Rigel, Akaali, the Na'Vi at Alpha Centauri, and Terra Nova. The Na'Vi were represented by a human administrator since the Na'Vi were still swinging from trees and chucking spears at this point. Additionally, the pissed-off ambassador from Paragon, not a Galactic Federation member, was present.
"How many dead?" the Paragon ambassador asked.
"Best guess, one hundred percent," Brainiac 5 replied.
"Which means Prince Mon-El deliberately attacked and slaughtered defenseless colonists for funsies," Leto Ardeen said accusingly.
"Response?" Kara asked.
"The worst thing we could do is nothing," Beren Kah said.
"I agree. If we allow him to destroy random colonists, what's next: cities, continents, planets?" Leto asked.
"Short of killing his ass, what's the strongest response we can make here?" Kara asked.
"An escort fleet of peacekeepers wherever he goes," Beren suggested.
"Fine," Kara agreed.
"Nura, what do you think?" Brainiac 5 asked her as she was behind him acting as an aid.
"Supreme Leader, conventional wisdom would suggest Prince Mon-El is playing the traditional Insane role: aggressive, flex your muscles, dare the galaxy to stop him. But Mon-El is not conventional," Nura said.
"He walks like an Insane, talks like an Insane," Sodom, of the Insane, said defensively.
"With all due respect, I don't believe he is one," Nura said gently.
"He just killed an entire colony in one blast," Leto reminded her. "With all due respect, you're wrong."
"What if Mon-El didn't order the attack? What if it was a rogue Insane officer on his ship? What if it was just an accident?" Nura suggested.
"Do you have any reason to believe he didn't do it?" Kara asked hopefully.
"I don't think he did it. I would have seen it if he did," Nura said lamely.
A video transmission suddenly came in from the USS Nemo. All the world leaders eyed the video transmission as Mon appeared alone on the screen on his bridge.
Paragon-Space
The Nemo launched a Hermes probe at the site of the explosion. "The analysis of the probe is coming through," Laurel reported.
"The surface of the explosion has traces of boro carbons," Ol frowned.
"When tetrazine ignites with plasma exhaust, boro carbons is the byproduct," Eltro explained.
"I don't give a shit. Both plasma ducts were closed, and there were no leaks in the system unless they somehow miraculously mended themselves afterward," Ol said skeptically.
Mon then entered the bridge. "Clear the bridge," he ordered. Imra and the other Insane officers headed into the conference room. Mon then sent a transmission to the Paragon homeworld to explain the situation. "The destruction of the Paragon colony, the death of thirty-six hundred miners and their families was my decision."
The transmission went directly to the Paragon homeworld and was seen by those at the Galactic Senate. "Holy shit," Kara sighed.
Mon ordered all of his officers into the conference room for a discussion on the matter. Before the meeting could begin, Eltro came up to Mon. "Telling the Galactic Senate you ordered the attack? Is that the right play?" he asked uncertainly.
"Better to appear as an asshole than to admit you don't know what the fuck you're doing. This is the way," Mon reminded him. Everyone then sat down at the table. "Our best working theory is that plasma exhaust from the shuttle ignited the atmosphere. In light of this, our lethal as fuck shuttle should be decorated appropriately. Get the men to put eyeballs and jaws on the shuttle to make it resemble a fierce-looking shark," Mon ordered.
"It will be done, captain," Eltro assured him.
"Now, is it possible the Paragons fired on our shuttle and blew themselves up?" Mon asked.
"Visual analysis of the colony indicates no defenses of any kind probably due to the danger," Laurel discounted.
"Alright, as much as I hate to say this, there's a possibility someone else took our kill," Mon said somberly.
"Say it ain't so, captain," Dax said stunned.
"I'm afraid so," Mon frowned. "What if an alien vessel was cloaked and fired on the colony directly underneath our shuttle?"
"Captian, the idea that there was a ship cloaked right underneath our feet is creepy as fuck," Ol grimaced.
"Imra?" Mon asked.
"I didn't sense any third-party minds at the time," Imra shot down.
"Yeah, well, your telepathy is inconsistent at best and only good when it serves the plot," Mon doubted. "Barney, I want a full brain scan analysis on Imra."
"That is a total violation of my privacy," Imra objected.
"Do you want these colonists to have died in vain?" Mon guilt-tripped her.
"Your brain scan data will reside only with me," Brainiac 5 assured her.
"Fine, fuck it," Imra allowed. "But this is a waste of time."
"Now, apparently we've been 'cancelled' for this incident," Mon rolled his eyes. "We've been ordered to Titan where they will scan and tear this ship apart in their investigation. We'll also be subjected to their mind-rape techniques."
"That's crazy talk. You can't let them do this to us, captain. This is some bullshit," Eltro objected.
"I know, right?" Mon agreed.
"So...you will comply?" Imra asked hopefully.
"Your naivety amuses me," Mon smiled. "No, we will do as we have always done in Insane history. We will raid, pillage, and sell planets to the highest bidding warlord like in the old days as the pirates we have always been. Proceed to change your uniforms accordingly."
"Aye, captain!" the Insane officers shouted.
"I didn't sign up for this," Imra said disgruntled.
"You can either continue to serve as my XO, or you'll have to walk the plank and by that I mean being sent out the airlock," Mon threatened.
"Aye, captain," Imra sighed.
In Sickbay, Brainiac 5 placed a device over Imra's head and began to analyze her thoughts. Brainiac 5 rapidly downloaded the information and sought anything related to a cloaked third party. "Any sexually-related thoughts concerning a certain Prince of all Insane?" Mon asked Brainiac 5.
"Really?" Imra rolled her eyes.
"I couldn't say," Brainiac 5 refused. "I have the relevant information now. The information we sought was buried in her subconscious. She didn't even realize she had it."
"Likely story," Mon scoffed. "Let's have it."
"There are no visuals, just audio," Brainiac 5 said, putting the audio on speaker. Mon, Imra, and Brainiac 5 listened as they heard a weird-ass alien language. "It's Durlan, a squad of them."
"Sons-of-bitches," Mon said annoyed.
"Their plan was to destroy the colony with their own plasma stream and put the blame on you in order to discredit you," Brainiac 5 said to Mon. "After the colony's destruction, they were ordered back to base in a binary star system," Brainiac 5 translated as the audio went on a loop.
"Well, it appears you've finally made yourself useful, Imra," Mon complimented. "All officers to the conference room immediately," he ordered via radio.
The Insane officers and Imra entered the conference room but were dressed in stylish pirate clothes this time. Mon was dressed in black boots, black baggy trousers, a stylish belt with a golden buckle, an orange sash around his waist, a white collared undershirt, a reddish-brown buttoned vest that went down to his knees, and a black jacket with exaggerated sleeves. Across his chest was a thick sling where his sword hung at his waist. He also had a pistol tucked between his belt and his waist. He also wore a black hat with an assortment of feathers sticking out the top. The other Insane officers had various other pirate outfits that were not nearly as stylish. Imra was obliged to wear boots, trousers, a corset, a white blouse shirt, and a pirate hat.
"Accordin' to Imra's subconscious telepathic recollections...we did nay do it. The Durlans did. They be on a moon base not farrr from 'ere in a binary starrr system. We be goin' to go find them an' kick some ass," Mon said to them.
"'ow do we know they be still there?" Ol asked.
"We don't," Mon said flatly. "We be goin' to search fer them anyway."
"Their ship be likely to be cloaked," Eltro brought up.
"We'll be relyin' on Imra to find them. Our plan be to recover the data discs that there will prove that there we did nay do it. If that there fails, we'll just blow up the moon an' call it a day," Mon said.
"I'll sabotage our comm systems so nothin' gets through," Laurel volunteered.
"The armory be on full alert," Ol assured Mon.
"The Titans will be expecting us. When we don't arrive, they will be searching for us," Imra warned.
"Let's see them get through our cloak," Mon challenged.
The Nemo headed toward the binary star system and found the moon in question. It was the only physical body in the system capable of a ship landing. "Start lookin' fer them," Mon ordered Imra.
The Nemo orbited the moon slowly to give Imra time to locate the Durlan ship. Imra had her eyes closed as she sensed for any living beings on the dead word. As she did, she put her hand on a tablet that showed a map of the moon. Suddenly, she stopped her finger and then zoomed in. She zoomed in a few more times until she got within ten meters of the target. "There," she said.
"If we fire an' miss, they'll know we be 'ere," Laurel warned.
"Then it be an even fight," Mon smirked. "Ol, fire," he ordered.
The Nemo fired four laser canons all at once. The beams showered down on the location where Imra believed the Durlans to be. Several of the beams hit the Durlan ship and deactivated its cloak. It had been hanging onto a rock pillar. "Weapons an' engines disabled, captain," Ol reported.
"Ol, give that there ship a new asshole," Mon ordered.
The Nemo fired a torpedo that went underneath the ship and blasted a good hole in its belly. "'ow many minds be in that there ship?" Mon asked Imra.
"Twenty, more or less," she replied.
"Imra, Eltro, launch bay," Mon ordered.
In the launch bay, Mon, Imra, and Eltro entered the now fierce-looking shuttle with a shark face. The shuttle exited the Nemo and went straight for the damaged Durlan ship that resembled a brown tick. The shuttle attached itself to the belly of the Durlan ship. Mon, Imra, and Eltro exited the shuttle roof and through the hole they had made with the torpedo. They entered the first deck and found no one around.
"Five Durlan on the other side of this wall," Imra told them.
Mon raised his index finger and fired through the door killing the five Durlan instantly. The three went through the hole Mon had made, went passed the burnt corpses, and made their way down the corridors. "They're all around us," Imra told them.
Mon and Eltro fired blindly in all directions as they continued to move toward the bridge. They finally reached the bridge with Eltro blasting the entire corridor behind them. "Cover our six," Mon ordered Eltro as he went to the bridge command console.
"Disassemble it," Mon ordered Imra.
She raised her hand and forced the console to separate into smaller pieces, suspended in the air. It was here that the three discs were revealed. Mon took the three discs floating in the air and placed them in his pirate sachel around his waist. As they exited the bridge back to the shuttle, six Durlans followed them, firing their laser pistols as they did. Mon pointed his hand at them and fired. The beam blasted the Durlans, punched a hole through the ship, and compromised the rock pillar the ship was attached to.
The three entered the shuttle and took off back to Nemo. "Ol, rain fire on them," Mon ordered.
The Nemo fired torpedoes and laser cannons on the Durlan ship destroying it completely and blasting apart the rock formation that hosted it. The shuttle then entered the Nemo. "Get me cloak aft an' orbit the moon," Mon ordered as he entered the launch bay.
On the bridge, Imra and Laurel studied the data on the discs. "The stealth cruiser been definitely in orbit when the rocketing firebomb, thar she blows took place. They was monitorin' us very closely. They was like a thermometer in our ass checkin' our temperature," Laurel reported.
"They got closer than you think," Imra said as she showed multiple images of the Nemo and the shuttle from close range. "They were docked with the shuttle for two minutes, enough time to ignite the atmosphere under us."
"Good work, girls," Mon complimented and then went back to his quarters.
Mon turned on his laptop and got a call from Kara. "There's solid evidence you destroyed that colony for funsies. Your shuttle was at the crime scene and you confessed to the entire Galactic Senate," Kara fumed.
"Yeah, well, I did it," Mon said stubbornly.
"I don't think you did. It's too low-class a kill for you," Kara disagreed. "Nura thinks so as well. Now, you can lie to the Titans, to the whole fucking galaxy if you want to show how badass and brutal you are, but you don't lie to me."
"I totally did it," Mon said unrepentantly.
"You're going to stand trial for this," Kara said pissed off.
"Go ahead and arrest my ass," Mon challenged.
"You're going to come to Earth willingly because I know how much you would love to grandstand on the witness stand," Kara said knowingly. "And I also know how much you would love to mock our judicial system."
"When you're right, you're right," Mon allowed. "I'll be right there."
Mon entered the bridge and was confronted by Imra. "They're here," she sensed.
"Load torpedoes, standby on all weapons," Mon ordered his Insane officers.
Two dozen small Durlan ships arrived on the scene, all cloaked. They swarmed the destroyed base and stealth cruiser like bees and then searched for the Nemo around the moon. "I have business on Earth, and I'm taking these," he said as he took the three discs. "Imra, you're in charge. Make me proud."
"This is crazy, captain. You don't know what they'll do to you," Eltro objected.
"Imra is now in command, Eltro. Do what you can to help her," Mon ordered. "That goes for all of you," he clarified. Mon then put two fingers to his forehead and disappeared from the bridge.
Earth-Metropolis
Mon came before the Galactic Senate with Kara presiding. The voting members of the Senate were from Colu, Titan, Naltor, the Jin-Saiyan, and Earth. "As I am intimately connected with the accused, I recuse myself," Kara said as expected. J'onn J'onzz of Mars took her place to represent Earth.
"Do you see anything different in these before or after pictures?" Leto accused, showing pictures of the Paragon colony before and after the explosion.
"It's complicated," Mon said dismissively. "There's no way for you to understand."
"Try us. We deserve some answers," Questor demanded.
"I don't have any answers. I shouldn't be here which means you shouldn't be here, either, but we are," Mon said incomprehensibly.
"You were brought here to protect what's left of the galaxy," Leto told him off.
"I did quite a job, didn't I?" Mon smirked.
Paragon Space
The Nemo engaged the cloaked Durlan vessels. To their surprise, the Nemo was getting direct hits with their laser canons destroying several of them. The Durlans responded by surrounding and firing on the place of origin. The Nemo continued to fire on them, destroying more ships, but the Durlans moved closer to surrounding them and started getting hits.
"They're targeting our warp core," Ol reported.
"Lower the cloak, decrease impulse speed, and hail them," Imra said finally.
"Why would we do a thing like that? We're winning," Eltro protested.
"They know where we are and they're on the verge of destroying our warp core killing us all," Imra pointed out. The Nemo dropped the cloak, reduced speed, and hailed the Durlan swarm.
The Durlan commander, Jall, looked pissed off on screen. "What do you want?" he asked annoyed.
"To surrender," Imra said obviously.
"Why should I accept your surrender when I can just destroy you?" Jall asked.
"Prince Mon-El is not aboard right now. You should wait until he is," Imra enticed. "As soon as he reappears on the ship, I can trap his mind and hand him over to you or let you kill him on the spot."
"Prepare to be boarded," Jall replied and then signed off.
"This acting captain, Imra Ardeen, all security teams remain on standby. The Durlans will be inspecting our ship momentarily," Imra ordered.
"Do you intend to have them take over our ship?" Eltro asked confused.
"Trust me," Imra said to him.
The Durlans docked with the Nemo and were given free rein over the ship. A platoon-sized element went about inspecting the entire ship and then entered the bridge with Jall commanding. "These discs have been duplicated," a technician said to Jall.
"Is he correct?" Jall demanded of Imra pointing his pistol at her.
"Yeah," Imra confirmed. "Captain Mon-El took the original discs to the Galactic Federation Senate."
"You're all going to be punished for this," Jall promised.
The armed Durlan troops put pistols to their heads and suddenly fired blasting their heads open. Jall did the same but didn't pull the trigger. "Security teams, confirm the Durlan are dead and clean up the mess," Imra radioed. She then turned to a struggling Jall who was desperately trying to change form to escape her telepathic and telekinetic grip. He began to change into various creatures: insectoid, amphibian, and sea creature. Imra kept a firm grip on him as tentacles, antennas, and legs tried to get at her. She then tightened her hand as she strangled Jall into not moving.
Earth-Metropolis
At the Galactic Federation Senate hearing, Kara and Leto had a meeting. "The Nemo is three days overdue," he noted. "My daughter and the Brainiac Five unit were to be sent to our ship for a debriefing."
"The T'Kira has long-range sensors. Have you detected the Nemo?" Kara asked simply.
"Prince Mon-El has caused the deaths of thirty-six hundred colonists. They are to return to Earth, their mission is over. They haven't followed instructions," Leto evaded.
"You didn't answer my question," Kara said peeved. "Have they detected Nemo or not?"
"The T'Kira said they were joined with many other vessels. They are now outside of sensor range," Leto admitted.
"What kind of vessels?" Kara demanded.
"They were too far to identify," Letro evaded. "Nemo has ignored our hails and defied orders. I have no choice but to order the T'Kira to pursue."
"Those Insane officers do not report to you," Kara told him off. "They report to me."
"But Imra does report to me and since she would never agree to this course of action, I have to assume she's been taken hostage by your Insane officers," Leto shot back.
"Fine, send your ship," Kara allowed.
Paragon-Space
Jall was injected with liquid nitrogen so that if he attempted to transform, all of his body except his head would suddenly shatter. Imra placed him a chair for interrogation. She raised her hand to his face. "What is your mission, asshole?" she demanded.
"To destabilize various powers in the galaxy," Jall admitted.
"Why?" Imra questioned.
"It is the will of our benefactor," Jall said.
"And who is this asshole?" Imra asked.
"I do not know," Jall admitted.
"Why would you agree to fight for this unknown benefactor?" Imra asked.
"He promised to advanced evolutionary abilities if we did," Jall admitted.
"Where is the location of your base?" Imra asked.
Soon thereafter, Jall appeared back on the bridge as if nothing had happened. He made contact with the other Durlan ships. "We have what we wanted. I'm taking the Nemo back to our base," Jall said to his other vessels and then signed off.
Jall then suddenly relaxed as Imra's telepathic hold on him disappeared.
Earth-Metropolis
Leto made his argument in the impeachment trial of Prince Mon-El. "That Nemo fired on the Paragon colonists without provocation. The Paragon colonists, having been lured into a false sense of security, were slaughtered by this Insane man, the architect of this tragedy. What say you, Prince Mon-El?"
"I've never trusted Paragons, and I never will. I can never forgive their matriarchal nature. It pisses me off," Mon admitted.
"Prince Mon-El's views and motives are at the heart of the matter. This officer's record shows him to be an insubordinate, unprincipled, career-minded opportunist with a history of violating galactic law whenever it suited him," Leto accused.
"I don't deny it," Mon said smugly.
"And were you obeying or disobeying orders when you destroyed the Paragon colony?" Leto asked.
"Is that a trick question? Because I only follow my own orders," Mon smirked.
"Is there anything about this tragedy you deny?" Leto questioned.
"Nope," Mon said nonchalantly.
"Prince Mon-El, are you responsible for the actions of your men?" Leto asked.
"I am," Mon allowed.
"And if members of your crew did carry out this massacre on your orders, they should be put on trial as well, shouldn't they?" Leto threatened.
"I alone conducted this attack. No one else was involved," Mon lied.
"What is the verdict of the Senate?" Leto asked them all.
Durlan-Space
The Nemo arrived at the Durlan base in the middle of a gas-giant cloud. The base had hundreds of smaller Durlan vessels attached to it like a honeycomb. Imra turned to her Insane officers. "Extract as much information as you can, kill everyone onboard, and then destroy it in that order," Imra ordered.
"Aye, Captain!" the Insane officers shouted.
The Nemo crew, Insane and human, entered the Durlan space station and began a killing spree. The Insane officers prevented any of the humans from being killed by the shape-shifting wall-crawling Durlans but allowed them to get kills of their own. The corridors became filled with ki beams and laser fire. The Insane-human squads reached the power core of the station and overloaded it. They then retreated back to the Nemo.
"It's ready to blow," Eltro informed Imra as soon as he reached the bridge.
"Undock us and move away from the station," Imra ordered. The station then exploded destroying hundreds of Durlan ships still docked to it.
"Thirty-five ships approaching," Laurel said as the Nemo moved out of the area.
"Activate the cloak, maintain impulse speed and course," Imra ordered Dax. "Fire when ready," she ordered Ol.
The Nemo fired on the Durlan ships revealing its location with every shot. The Durlan ships retaliated by firing laser beams in the general location of the Nemo, getting hits every so often. "We got hull damage," Dax reported.
"Long-range sensors?" Imra asked Laurel.
"No Titan ship," Laurel said grimly.
Imra went to the brig to have a chat with Jall. "You will call off your ships or I'll blow up your head," she threatened. Shortly thereafter, the Durlan ships stopped firing and retreated away.
Earth-Metropolis
The Galactic Federation Senate considered the evidence before them and came back with a verdict. The heads of state of Colu, Titan, Naltor, Earth, and Jin-Saiyan. With the exception of Leto, they all voted not guilty. "What the fuck?" Leto wondered.
"We received three discs by Prince Mon-El that fully explain the Durlan's involvement in this matter," Questor said.
"With my telepathy, I can tell that Prince Mon-El is lying about his role in the attack," J'onn said simply.
"We, Naltorians had a dream of this attack prior to it happening which involved the Durlans," Beren revealed.
"We were never going to vote guilty even if Prince Mon-El did it," Sodom smirked.
"So...you all just wanted to make a fool of me," Leto said pissed off.
Kara came forth to make her own opinion on the matter. "Let it be known that a confession alone is not sufficient for a conviction. As the galaxy begins to fear our power, more false confessions will be heard. We must be a federation of law, of scientific evidence, and divine retribution."
Leto was not deterred by this verdict. "Prince Mon-El, in less than a year, you have engaged in armed conflict with at least a dozen species. You have escalated the situation between our people and the Winathians which included the destruction of one of our sacred monasteries. I consider you reckless and irresponsible, a danger to the quadrant. I recommend Nemo be recalled."
"You'd rather have my ship be decommissioned than fight us on the battlefield. You're pathetic," Mon chided.
"That's enough," Kara told him off. "No one is more pleased than I that Nemo wasn't involved in the tragedy, but maybe Leto has a point."
"When I went on Safari in East Africa, I saw a gazelle giving birth. It was truly amazing. Within minutes, the baby gazelle was standing up on its own. In a few more minutes, it was walking and before I knew it, it was running alongside its mother. Then, out of fucking nowhere, a lion attacked and ate that baby gazelle," Mon narrated.
"Jesus Christ, Mon," Kara shook her head dismayed after a long awkward silence.
"A colorful analogy, but I fail to see how it covers for your actions," Leto doubted.
"The only one capable of killing that lion before it kills that baby gazelle is me. Only, I did it after the kill but you get the point," Mon said.
While the Galactic Senate considered the matter, Mon returned to the Nemo while it was docked with the Titan ship, T'Kira, where it would be escorted to Earth for repairs and a giant clean-up job of dead Durlan bodies. Jall would be sent to Titan for further interrogation. Mon entered Imra's quarters without asking while they were both in their pajamas. "I think you should be on top," Mon said pleased.
"Excuse you?" Imra thought she misheard.
"You did well. You gained the respect of my Insane officers, saved the crew, and killed a shit-ton of bad guys," Mon complimented. "I got word from Kara that our mission is still a go under the condition you continue as my XO, presumably to spy and moderate me."
"Fuck my life," Imra sighed.
"I know," Mon nodded and then left her room.
Author's Notes: This episode dismissed a lot of Enterprise's time travel nonsense but it did incorporate telepathic abilities that were shown in Star Trek Nemesis in detecting cloaked vessels. A little of Sum of all Fears was also thrown in.