Important note for the readers of this story and its related arcs: This is a continuation of a Thin Veneer, which I recommend that you should read first before you get into this story. Many of the characters, background, and associated stories, are the foundation of what you are about to read now. This is also a change from what was originally written in ATV-A Knife's Edge.

Now, what you will read represents a change about to happen in this version. The story direction is going down a different road (no, not Paved in Shadows-smile), as is hinted at in the revised title. The Minbari-Earth-fed war is ending. Another challenge is rearing its very ugly head. In the middle, is Admiral James Tiberius Kirk, the Warlord. It is a title he never wanted. It is a title he hates.

It is a title he will embrace. In a universe of choices, there is no choice.

A Thin Veneer-At A Knife's Edge: The Warlord

See chapter one for the updated Disclaimer

Chapter Two

Becerra Alpha One

In his office, Admiral Robert 'Harve' Bennett was in what was in a foul mood. One would best call a snit. There were problems at home that were slowly filtering their way to the other side of the galaxy and directly onto his lap. Much of it was political, but it conveyed a darker tone, one he would have normally dismissed as usual. But in the wake of recent information, he'd believed it now carried a darker tone, and he wasn't one to ignore it. He was prosecuting a war here, one nearing its conclusion, but rumor had it that things could go south in a matter of moments, if Admiral Kirk wasn't very, very careful. There was a small but persistent group of high-level diplomats and one Starfleet senior staff officer in particular, that were becoming increasingly insistent that he be removed from his position. The name the Minbari had given him was something that disturbed those people.

The Warlord.

That name went against every value the Federation stood for. Or so they insisted. There were others this organization opposed, and without exception, every one of them had distinguished themselves in the war, in one form or the other. Initially, their actions was an irritation. Now it had become a concern.

The Klingons were upholding their end of the bargain quite nicely, to his surprise. In The last five Years or so, the Empire had begun embracing a new concept. It was called 'honor', and it appeared that most of the Klingon people were beginning to embrace it. he suspected that they didn't know exactly what that idea meant to them. He had a general idea, but even the Klingons didn't fully understand what they were doing. Kahles, that butcher was claimed to have honor, he mused, as much honor as Colonel Green, Hitler and a dozen others who slaughtered their way to infamy. But he had his good points too, according to the Klingons, although Bennett was hard pressed to see exactly what they were.

So far, they were allies and were really trying in their own way, but he, as with most other Starfleet personnel would always watch their backs. Their features had changed as well as their attitudes and it had come as a shock to everyone when they literally changed overnight from almost human-like to something radically different.

Oh, they claimed that their features were their true appearance now, and some had confided in him that their earlier looks had to do with genetic tampering using genetically modified Human DNA. They had tried to produce super Klingons ala Kahn Noonien Singh, but the experiment had failed. According to his source, it took time and surgery to reverse their looks back to their original appearance. He took that explanation with huge granules of salt.

Now, however, everything was suspect. And, that revelation put him in his current foul mood.

Then there was the Earth Alliance situation. The war was close to ending, and he saw the first sprouts of jealousy beginning to show with some of the larger corporations and certain countries on Earth clamoring to get Federation technology for Earth Alliance use. The war wasn't even over and some were already looking towards future profits. Others were fearful that their Earth might be contaminated with his Earth's alien values. An Alliance Earth First movement just beginning to rear its ugly head. Certain EA leaders who were originally supportive of the war were just beginning to publicly denounce the Federation and Klingon presence in their part of space.

It wasn't much, just a few comments that caught Bennett's attention. Those same people wanted an ending of the war and a peaceful settlement as soon as possible even if it meant meeting certain demands of the Minbari.

That wasn't surprising. He wanted resolution, too. But those people also claimed that the pronouncement of General Order Twenty-Four had gone past the edicts of the war. It was deemed too aggressive and would push an already volatile species over the edge. Despite what they had done, they should be granted mercy. Those same people believed the order represented a negative example to the people of Earth Alliance, who were now tired of the war and, when it was over had a desire to point in a new direction.

Bennett should have expected it, indeed had expected something like this might occur. it was a reasonable point. However, Bennett was suspicious. He was becoming paranoid. Things for him, took on a whole new perspective. He would have to leave General Chang to Kirk and pray that a war wouldn't start between the Klingons and Federation at the very eve of the ending of the war. Reports of a brutal war between the Ashen and the Minbari was occurring at that very moment and what Kirk would do would establish relations between the Federation and the people in this sector for a few hundred years. Everyone was looking to see how Starfleet would handle the Minbari. They were at a knife's edge. If done incorrectly, the entire sector could go up in flames and the Feds would never be trusted and they would be feared. That wasn't what he wanted.

The political ramifications, however, paled with the things the admiral and a select few others at Starfleet Command had learned. He was so concerned that it was the reason why he was having this very private meeting with one of the supreme leaders of the Klingon Empire. Brigadier Kerla was invited to this meeting, and he came all the way from Alliance Earth. It was a six-day trip using maximum warp. The Starfleet admiral didn't tell him why he wanted this meeting, only that he was needed. And Kerla came, not that he was happy, of course. He didn't like being summoned, especially by a Starfleet admiral.

XXX

Bennetts private quarters were sparse, with the room cluttered with several PADDS all waiting for his attention. Being paranoid, he had his quarters swept twice for any hidden listening device, just before the large Klingon entered. Kerla looked aggravated, but curious. He recognized that this had to be something important, or he would never have come.

He knocked twice.

"Enter."

Kerla, dressed in full dress uniform, entered the office slowly, warily. Being with the Human, still felt strange, even threatening. As he closed the door, Bennett pulled out a phaser pistol and pointed it at a surprised and angry Kerla. He was supremely angry, not expecting such a traitorous action.

"What is the meaning of this?" he growled, eyes on the pistol. His mind was racing, trying to see a way out of this.

"On the desk is a scanner," Bennett growled equally dangerously. "Turn it on and scan yourself."

Kerla was no fool. He was still, but he also saw where this was going. The admiral was being extremely careful. he was making sure that Kerla was who he claimed he was.. The Klingon didn't hesitate and scanned himself for three minutes. The medical tricorder beeped, indicating that the scan was completed. Kerla placed the tricorder carefully back on the desk and stepped back.

Bennett never took his eyes off the Brigadier. Then he studied the results. Satisfied, he pointed towards the tricorder again.

"Now, scan me," he ordered, still pointing the phaser at him, but not as threatening as he had done minutes earlier.

Kerla scanned him, reading the results carefully. "You are Human, Admiral," Kerla growled. His tone was calmer. His mind was racing now, the precautions in the Human, understandable. what is the problem, he asked quietly. His gut was telling him that this was bad. The conversation hadn't even begun, and already he was glad he came. IF The Federation was threatened, then he knew the Empire was in danger as well. He sat down and waited, all thoughts of a phaser pointed at him forgotten.

"I have everyone who comes into this room biometrically scanned," he started. "I knew you were clean as soon as you came in. I didn't even concern myself with your hidden disruptor," he said evenly. "I'm making a point."

"I see that, Admiral. Why?"

Bennett got right to the point. "Two months ago, the USS Concordat returned through the passage with members of Earth Alliance, the Centauri, Narn, and some of the other locals. Something happened."

"Your ship saw other ships in the passage. A Federation and Klingon ship from the future. They were more advanced than anything we have now. you, however, could not capture any images, so we only have your word for this," he growled evenly.

"By our temporal regulations we couldn't use our sensors, anyway. All we could have done was to lower the resolutions of the scan and or images. It didn't matter because it was as if the ships weren't there. But we could see them through the ports. It proved that the passageway is being used by more than just us. That is the official story. We did capture images using old-fashioned chemical photography. They were as impressive as all hell," he told the now wide-eyed Klingon. "You heard about the planets?"

"Yes. I hoped to see one during our journey," Kerla murmured.

"Those two ships in the transit way was the official line. I'm going to tell you what actually happened," he said while the Klingon sat down to get comfortable. "Three ships, not two. The third one was a Minbari ship, a Sharlin heavy warship, the Blood of Saints, another universes variation of the ship that was destroyed by Captain Sulu of the Excelsior when it first made contact with Earth Alliance at Alliance Earth. Those ships were using the passageway to get back to where they came from. What we didn't say was that was we did communicate with all three ships. That should have been impossible."

"How did they do it?" Kerla was angry. His curiosity had peeked. "You didn't tell us?" he growled a moment later.

"Why should we?" Bennett snapped. "We don't tell you everything. But that's not important, as your people are so easy to throw in our faces. But it shouldn't have been possible. We believe we were allowed by whatever powers that be to do so. What they told us, is. An Admiral Janeway was commanding the ships named USS Voyager. She broke protocol. Passed on information, which is the reason why you are here today. In their universe, they have enemies, dangerous ones. I'm going to give a copy to you, but you need to hear this first from me. A primary threat is an entity called the Borg, cybernetic beings who work as a collective. Their purpose is to achieve their version of perfection. They add organic sentients to their collective and their victims do not have a choice. Entire worlds have been assimilated. They are a plague on their galaxy. We don't know how many worlds they've destroyed. They are an alpha class threat to all of us. Believe me, it's worse than it sounds."

"What happened in their universe does not mean it will happen here," the Klingon argued, but without much contention.

"That was my hope, but we found out otherwise. The Borg exists here and they are a threat none of us can ignore. It was confirmed by one of our sources on Earth. Her name is Guinan and she and her people were the few refugees that escaped from the Collective. Therefore, we know they exist here."

Bennet watched a very sober Kerla. "We're not ready for them, not even close. Voyager was a hundred years or more advanced, and it took everything they had just to slow them down. We have a few covert ships on a deep space mission attempting to confirm our data. Next is the T'kon modified cylon empire. We found evidence of the T'kon, but nothing about the Colonials of Kobol. That problem may or may not happen in our universe, but we are keeping watch for the next few decades. They're an AI evolved race dedicated to the destruction of all sentient life in the galaxy. Hopefully, we will not have to contend with them. In that other universe, they have joined with the Borg and billions have died. The Federation, Klingon, Romulan, First Federation and even the Gorn have come together to deal with that problem. Someone called the Dominion has joined the battle and we're talking tens of thousands of ships fighting against them."

Kerla really, really wanted some blood wine right about now.

Location: Minbari Star System-Chi Draconis

United Federation of Planets, Klingon Empire, and Earth Alliance attack fleets at the border preparing for the final push.

Federation Starfleet flagship USS Enterprise

Several uncomfortable Minbari leaders, members of the Grey Council, and their adjuvant, hadn't imagined a few weeks ago, that they would be in the position they were in right now. when the war against the Humans began, they hadn't imagined that it would have progressed this far and so disastrously. It was to be such a simple war,. Kill the Humans for the crime of killing Satai Dukhat, the Minbari's greatest leader, in a wanton act of ignorance and stupidity. Satai Delenn's outburst of rage and hatred and grief, started it all. But she wasn't the only one to be blamed. Her screams simply galvanized what the others were already thinking. Blood was required. Kill the Humans to satisfy that lust.

There was no denying that many were more than happy to reap revenge on the Humans. It represented an easy war, a righteous one, against a primitive, barbaric species that deserved no mercy.

It was such a simple idea.

No one imagined that another group of Humans and their allies would arrive to help their cousins and cause havoc everywhere. It was the Minbari would cause that part of the war to expand. The united federation of Planets, or the UFoP as some many called it, was something the Minbari wished they had never heard of. The Minbari, supreme in their own eyes, were rocked on their heels, to the point where they begged for their ancient allies, the Vorlons, for help.

The Vorlons did nothing. They couldn't, because they were blocked by another race of First Ones, who drew a line that the Vorlons dared not cross. So instead of directly intervening. They provided indirect help, half measures that gave some hope to they younger allies, but ultimately did nothing to stem the onrushing tide. Then, the Vorlons provided allies, ancient Minbari pure bloods kidnapped and genetically modified a thousand years earlier. Together, the Ashen fought alongside their Minbari cousins. The unification did nothing to improve the situation, except to make the conflict even bloodier. The Ashen were fanatics, originally slated for extermination by the Vorlons who despised their creations, designating them as imperfect and unsuitable for their needs.

That belief was proven correct as the Ashen turned on their cousins in their zeal and the Minbari found themselves in what many called a civil war with their cousins. Ironically, the only way out was to call on help from the Very Humans that were now in the system to initiate their final solutions to the war. It took strength to stand before the Human the Minbari named 'the Warlord', and 'the Minbari Slayer'. Dozens of Minbari clans both major and minor had sworn his death by their hands. Hundreds of the best of Minbar, were afraid of this Human. Fearing a Human was something unimagined. Hating him, yes. Fearing him–impossible.

The impossibility became the reality. There wasn't a Minbari Alyt or crew that wasn't wary of the Warlord and his ship Enterprise and its ever- present companion the Lincon. They were feared by everyone in Minbari territory, except the Ashen, who were too stupid and too zealous to understand or care about the danger. There were many others such as Acaltha, Sulu, and a score of others that were just as deadly. But Admiral James T. Kirk of the United Federation of Planets was known to them. He was the face of the enemy and it was he that the Minbari feared most of all. His name was used to frighten the children. The Humans were counted among the great demons of myth and legend. He wasn't shadow, but he was darkness. And the Minbari feared him. He was the one who would consign their world to death, if he so chose to do so. he made a declaration, the much-feared General Order Twenty-four, against Minbar. That declaration would destroy Minbar, and there wasn't one man, woman, or child, who didn't believe he would do it unless unconditional surrender was given.

That was one of the reasons why the grey council representatives were here now… on the ship the warrior castes, on their honor, had sworn to kill.

From Satai Cadroni's position, standing just to the front of Admiral Kirk whose attention was focused on the huge primary view screen, realization dawned. The incoming Ashen warships were being reckless, coming straight in, the Enterprise being too irresistible a target to ignore. The command ship represented everything they needed to destroy. It was the ultimate darkness in their eyes, and it was here for the taking.

"You are baiting them, inviting them to attack," he announced, half-glaring, half-admiring the strategy.

The tactic was so simplistic and obvious that it had to be a trap. Yet the Ashen were actually falling for it. It took a few moments for him to reason it out. The Ashen would assume that it was a trap, but there was no other choice for them but to come after the command ship, the Enterprise. The Ashen would sacrifice their souls on the off-chance that Kirk would join them in the ranks of the dead.

In the final analysis, the Ashen didn't have a choice but to act on this all-or-nothing attempt to kill the head of this Human Federation. There was no chance of victory. Their resources were all but gone, with no hope of reinforcements. The Minbari had turned against them, the Vorlons had abandoned them both, and they could not run. Like the Minbari, retreat was not in their nature, but their cousins were even more hard-wired against an honorable retreat, when faced with the face of the dark enemy.

The satai silently cursed. His people's dedication was a testament to arrogance and stupidity. But they were Minbari, and the satai felt embarrassment for their actions and in his leadership. In the case of the Ashen, their dedication could best be described as obsession, a condition he believed the First Ones had genetically encouraged. He couldn't deny it, no matter how bitter the truth was. The Vorlons had engineered both of them too well. It was the only thing that made sense. The Vorlons had done too much to his people. Human DNA–Valen!—was Human. His genes infused the Minbari people. that was why the Minbari appeared so different from their Ashen brethren. Why they had done such a thing, he reasoned, he would never know. But he hated them for it. the Vorlons' actions shamed his people in front of the galaxy, and they hadn't cared.

Admiral James Kirk's attention never left the main screen, but Satai Coplann harbored no doubt that the Human was aware of every single action happening on the bridge. The admiral was in tune with the vessel, his vessel.

His gaze was so intent that Cadroni wanted to believe that the man hadn't heard him, but he wasn't that naïve. The satai knew of only a few Shai Alyts that exhibited that level of concentration, so he wasn't deceived. The man absorbed everything, filtering out the non-critical elements. But neither did he discount the trivial actions happening around his bridge either. Kirk saw every aspect of this battle, modifying it, refining it to fit into his calculations. It gave the satai a new appreciation for how the Human Admiral's ways were almost Minbari in his action.

Cadroni's quietly corrected himself. It wasn't just the admiral, but every one of the other Human and non-Human crew were like him. He chided his memory for forgetting the lessons learned about the Humans not so long ago.

The exhausted investigations and analysis of this man revealed that he surrounded himself with competent people. They knew their jobs and did it with Minbari-like efficiency. Not only did they support him, but he supported them as well. Together, they were a cohesive power relying on themselves and each other. There was another distressing truth that he was loath to admit, but couldn't deny. The Federation possessed the military and technological power to back up their bold claims. They were arrogant and dangerous, but backed their claims with victory, and dare he say it, mercy. It was a bizarre combination. He still had trouble wrapping his thoughts around.

Those thoughts pulled another emotion from him.

Envy.

These Humans were what his own people claimed to be, and that frightened him. His people, all of them, had made their calculations about the Federation based on their knowledge of Earth Alliance Humans, and they all came to the wrong conclusions. Now they were paying for it.

Yes, these people frightened him, and he worried what they might become in the future. Would they drag Earth Alliance along with them as many suspected they would? And what would the Minbari's place be in that yet unseen future? All of this passed through his mind in an instant and with effort, he pushed it away as Kirk finally responded to his query.

"I am giving them an opportunity," corrected the hazel-eyed admiral. "There's an old Human anecdote," he told them. "What goes around comes around."

Coplann didn't understand its full meaning and the real intent that went with it. Nevertheless, he felt the chill run down his spine from the cold-eyed look Kirk gave him. He was the more antagonistic of the two Minbari, and of course this Human had noticed. But he didn't care how the two satais felt at the moment. They weren't in control. The admiral was.

James T. Kirk decided to have mercy on the two Minbari leaders. "Our conflicts taught us about war and peace. I wasn't sure if my people would even survive. We have a darkness inside all of us, and in spite of our thin veneer of civilization we pretend to have, we acknowledge that there lurks the savage primitive waiting for the opportunity to get free, to destroy and to kill. But we know how to fight and prevail against it. That's why we have laws and our moral values to keep the savage at bay. And we have the ability to choose what we will be. We have the opportunity to choose not to kill. We can choose not to kill–today. But the barbarian is always with us," he said, glancing at the two blank-faced Minbari.

"I encountered an elder race called the Metrons," Kirk said. "You would consider them First Ones. They called us half-savages," and here he paused for a moment. "But he also said there was hope for us. The Metron believed we could become a civilized, give or take a few thousand years or so." He looked at them, still in awe and encouraged after so many years, by the words of the Metron.

The two stunned Minbari just stared at Kirk in was no doubt that the Human male was telling the absolute truth. This man had encountered First Ones, more than one if the rumors were true. This, this Human spoke to them, and they answered. These Metrons, the Medusan ambassador, and even the Shadows spoke to the UFOPers and to this man personally. The Vorlons hated him by default because he was the de facto leader of that branch of Humanity that didn't defer to them. The Minbari feared him, The Ashen wanted him dead. This simple Human was a fulcrum in the universe.

How many First Ones have you encountered?" Coplann couldn't help but ask.

Kirk's eyed him for a second before turning back towards the view screen. "Quite a few. I lost count after Trelane," he answered absentmindedly, in a manner that terrified both Minbari. Looking at the screen once again, he continued his lecture.