A few minutes later, Tw'eak, Bianca and Sassil materialized on the transporter pad of the starship Warspite. Standing before them as they arrived was one of the two liberated Borg officers.

"Welcome aboard Warspite." She stepped forward. "It is an honour to meet you."

"Likewise, Commander... Pearson, is it?"

"I would ask that you call me Ultra."

Bianca and Sassil exchanged looks.

"Ultra." Tw'eak gave a slow nod of recognition. "As in, the extreme."

"It was the captain's idea. Her preferred designation, as Octavia, was an appellation which I believe originated with you."

"With Commander duBois' sister, actually," Tw'eak corrected. "Commander Bianca duBois was once one of my science officers, she's now with Starfleet Intelligence. And General Sassil Sh'abbas is a liaison on behalf of the Alliance. She's also my sister."

Ultra arched an eyebrow. "The resemblance is quite exact."

"So we've often heard." Tw'eak gave her sister a smile, which Sassil did not reciprocate. Her discomfort at being aboard Tw'eak's old ship was self-evident, but the flaring antennae and sour look on her face just expressed it that much more clearly.

"Please follow me." The group began to move towards the turbolift. The corridor was unchanged, just as Tw'eak remembered it. She could've counted the steps to the adjacent turbolift. "As I was saying," Ultra continued, "Octavia prefers that we use names which are indicative neither of our former Borg status nor of our prior species."

Bianca smiled. "That makes sense. You define who you are that way."

"Precisely. Lieutenant Commander O'Leary devised 'Ultra' as wordplay, a reference to my prior first name, Violet."

"Denver O'Leary," Tw'eak asked, looking to Bianca. "He's back onboard."

"Yes, ma'am." The quartet stepped into the turbolift. "Bridge." At Ultra's command, the turbolift began its ascent. "Lieutenant Commander O'Leary is our tactical officer. Sadly, he is also absent from Warspite at the moment."

"He went with her," Bianca inferred.

"No. He is currently on family leave with his wife and daughter."

Tw'eak looked down, smiling. "Good for him."

"Octavia referenced being 'in for a penny, in for a pound'. It was a phrase I did not understand."

"It's an Earth expression," Bianca explained.

"No, I understand the expression. But Octavia is among Klingons. They do not exchange currency."

"Not typically," Sassil rasped.

The turbolift came to a halt and the doors opened. Tw'eak heard Bianca take a sharp breath as the bridge of Warspite became visible once more. The two of them took a few steps forward. Bianca put a hand on Tw'eak's shoulder. "And here we are again," she said quietly.

Tw'eak smiled, taking in the scene. She put her hand on the nearest console. "Hello again, old friend."

"Admiral on the bridge!" came the call from forward.

Tw'eak closed her eyes with a nod. "As you were, please."

From the forward command station, the Romulan subcommander approached the group. "Admiral."

"Invicta?" Tw'eak ventured.

"I am." She crossed her hands and gave a slight bow. "You honour me."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She looked over to Ultra. "The conference room is still where we left it?"

"Indeed." Ultra ushered them to the door, and the five officers made their way around the table. Bianca sat next to Tw'eak's right, while Ultra and Invicta took up places opposite. Sassil left a seat vacant between Bianca and herself, sitting further down. "I should advise the admiral that the captain maintained a small stockpile of genuine katheka onboard, to exclusively be accessed during any periodical visits you may make. Would you like some?"

"She thought of everything," Tw'eak replied with a smile. "I'd love a cup, but not yet. First, please. Tell me everything."

Ultra tapped at the controls on the table, and brought up a file for Tw'eak in the holo-display over the table, highlighting five star systems, each reacting to the developing narrative. "Six days ago, Warspite was engaged in emergency operations in the Terrh system, the Seedea system, as well as in the Qu'Vat system. House Mo'Kai vessels, using an elaborate viral matrix, were able to override the defenses of Seedea Base, causing its destruction. An Elachi attack via mycelial rift was repulsed in the Terrh system."

"Oddly," Subcommander Invicta noted, "an Elachi ship emerged to provide us with support in sealing that rift. The ship was a Monbosh-type Elachi battlecruiser, which called itself the Liberator."

"They did likewise for us yesterday in the Andoria system," Tw'eak added. "Captain Tarsev, I believe is the commander."

Ultra nodded. "Yes, Tarsev. There is a developing situation within the Elachi ranks, which has arisen as a consequence of House Mo'Kai's return. As yet we are unable to ascertain how - or why."

"Mutation," Bianca interrupted. "House Mo'Kai was using Hargh'peng radiation to harvest mycelial spores for a... superweapon. It caused turmoil in the mycelial realm. That was where we were not long ago, putting an end to it."

"Bianca and I led a team into the mycelial realm, to deactivate the probes they were using," Tw'eak elaborated. "The effect the radiation had on the Elachi led them to attack us. But then Tarsev arrived, and we learned that some Elachi have been partially reverted - liberated, if you will, a phenomenon you probably well understand."

Invicta nodded. "The Elachi mutation is not dissimilar from Borg assimilation processes, although the individuation is more pronounced. A better parallel may be with the Kobali."

Tw'eak nodded. "The Kobali, yes. Rebirth. Tarsev remembers who he was as a Romulan but lives on as an Elachi, and the reversion began with House Mo'Kai's intervention into their realm."

Ultra referred to the holo-display. "It was this same mycelial weapon which the House Mo'Kai flagship, the Lukara, employed in their attack on Qu'Vat."

"I heard about that," Bianca said. "They attacked the main city."

"Indeed. My understanding is that the numbers of casualties from that attack were... vast." She gestured to the screen. "We were advised against providing aid to the Klingons since we might be inadvertently mistaken for an invasion force. As a result, we spent five days pursuing the House Mo'Kai fleet in conjunction with Alliance and Imperial forces. We met with little success. There were sporadic raids but no further involvement of the Lukara herself."

"Until yesterday, over Andoria."

Ultra looked to Invicta. "Until just a short time ago."

Tw'eak looked to Sassil and Bianca. "Explain."

Ultra pointed to the newly-visible point of light on the star map. "Warspite then joined the hunt to bring J'Ula to justice for what she had done. We were vectored to the Khitomer sector, accompanied by General Martok of the Klingon Empire."

"I take it you found her."

"Yes, but... not before the situation changed drastically. In the course of events, the captain and a security team accompanied General Martok, where they came to face J'Ula. She was then betrayed and abandoned by her first officer, a Klingon named Aakar."

"I know this name," Sassil remarked. "If he is in fact the same Klingon, he is an ancestor of Chancellor Gowron's."

"We were unable to manage retrieval. Khitomer was attacked with the mycelial weapon before we could."

"You mean she's dead?" Tw'eak asked urgently.

"And General Martok as well?" Sassil added.

Ultra looked quizzically at Invicta. "Perhaps I misspoke." She straightened in her chair. "When I say we were unable to manage retrieval, I mean Warspite specifically. The retrieval was co-ordinated by House Mo'Kai."

It was Tw'eak's turn to sit up in her chair. "Sorry... am I missing something?"

Ultra brought up a video feed, showing another Klingon ship targeting the surface with the mycelial weapon.

"That's... not the Lukara," Bianca said, shock in her voice.

"It - this is not possible." Sassil stood and turned away from the table.

Tw'eak looked over at her sister. "What is it, Sassil?"

Sassil was indignant. "That - this is some forgery, a grievous slander wrought by these - these machines!" She pointed harshly towards the Warspite officers.

"I assure you, what you see here is from our own sensors." Ultra calmly pointed to the sensor verification codes at the bottom of the screen. Tw'eak knew she could cross-check using the information provided there, as Ultra surely was implying she could. "The image is accurate. The Chancellor's own warship was re-equipped by Aakar with the mycelial weapon. It then proceeded to open fire upon the surface of Khitomer." Ultra paused for effect, before adding, "the mycelial weapon is now under the control of Chancellor J'mpok himself."

Tw'eak's eyes widened. She looked to Bianca, whose mouth hung open. It made no sense. The glowing energy, the beam... it was exactly as they'd seen over Andoria. But unlike her homeworld, the surface of Khitomer was directly impacted by the blast, resulting in a slow-growing chasm of energy that enveloped the surrounding area. This time, though, the work of evil was no random lackey of a Klingon house - this time, the dishonour was that of the Chancellor himself, and the target was an Alliance facility.

The deep breath Tw'eak took turned into a sigh. "This just got a lot more complicated."