NationStates Jolt Archive

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla glanced at Gamma Stickypads, brow quirked. The ferret nodded to the civet. Comms were working normally. Gamma Windsong and the Alpha shared a look, the lupine fem nodding as she began a passive scan of the Romulan vessel, seeking any sign of trouble or duplicity.

"I repeat, this is Alpha Teshla Norella of the Gaal Imperium. I have asked you here to open terms for diplomatic relations. Please respond."

Sol System - Earth - Starfleet Command
Elder Strongpaw listened carefully as the Rear Admiral laid forth his countering remarks. Elder Nutseeker was still chattering away with her newfound companion, albeit more quietly than before. Elder Southwind was pacing around the room, sniffing curiously at anything that caught his attention, including a fly that happened to find its way in. By all appearances, Elder Strongpaw was the only of the three paying any attention to the discussion, however the aged lion knew better. Slight changes in the squirrel's tone and direction of conversation, the way the canine's tail moved, silent conversations exchanged with him, offering their opinions in plain sight yet hiding them from human eyes. Were he human, the lion would have smiled, particularly at Elder Longwind's perking at the mention replicator patterns. On that note...

"Very generous," the lion replied, "offering us food in exchange for doing your work for you. Of course, we do not have replicators. Officially. One or two scavenged parts may have found their way onto our vessels, however, we were previously denied the acquisition of this technology. Are you saying now that the bans Starfleet previously enforced upon my people are lifted? I'll caution you before you answer. Reports from our scout ships indicate that others are using technology scavenged from all races, Borg included. If we, the Gaal and the Federation, are to stand against pirates and petty dictators alike, then we will need unrestricted access to any technology that comes to hand.

"Secondly, I thank you for your compliment. Our engineers like to think themselves competent in their fields and were quite enthusiastic in examining and repairing your vessels. They were restrained from making... upgrades, as they put it, to many of your systems, however, a set of transwarp drives were installed. They are not entirely effective, but they are capable of at least one long jump. I would caution you to order their use only in emergency situations as I am not sure exactly how stable they are. We did not make use of them on our journey here.

"And I am pleased to hear that you understand and have in the past championed the plight of non-humanoids. However, I think you misunderstand the phrase. You point to Vulcans, Klingons, Andorians, Tellarites... if I recall correctly, it was proven that you all share common ancestry, yes? And, quite frankly, other than the colors of your skin, you look similar. You are even capable of interbreeding. What I mean by the term non-humanoids are those who do not resemble humans. Those, like the Gaal, who are very much 'other' in the opinions of humans and humanoids. I speak of the Gorn, the Anticans, the Antideans, the Barzan, the Ktarians, the Selay. I understand that some of these that I mention were rather insular races, and did not interact well with the Federation as a whole, however, each of them provided support to the Federation when and where required and each fought and died alongside humans and humanoids during our most recent conflict. In point of fact, we have a few refugees from each of these races living amongst the Homeworlds.

"However, to return to the topic at hand... We are more than willing to allow you to prove your words. Aboard the two ships we bring you are enough Gaal to maintain a... 'skeleton crew' you call it? They could easily be spread over four larger ships, say a quartet of Galaxy class ships such as your famed Enterprise, and become a minimal compliment, part of the larger whole. Speaking of Galaxy class vessels, there is one among the wreckage at Vega. It is in... very poor condition but may yet be salvaged given time and effort. We would be willing to aid in that effort if we are assured of a Gaal presence among the crew.

"As you say, we are... uncultured, ignorant in the ways of the galaxy." He held up a hand to forestall the Rear Admiral's rebuttal. "No, those were not your exact words, but it was the understood meaning of them. You are, regrettably, correct. We had little time with which to familiarize ourselves prior to the coming of the Mechos, and we have only just gained the ability to do so once more. You are also correct when you say that we would best gain experience by... sticking our nose into things, as it were. To that end, I again restate my offer of crew to man your vessels and engineers to aid in reparations. I am also authorized and encouraged to offer you command of our admittedly small fleet, however I personally feel that what few ships we have are best kept where they are: guarding the Homeworlds.

"Then again, I am an old patriarch. I look first to the needs of my pride before looking to the needs of my neighbors. I am certain that the captains of those ships would give their tail to be out and away, exploring the reaches of space unknown. I am also certain that you could use their added strength. These are new times, interesting times, times of change, and perhaps time for an old lion to change his ways yet again. It is your decision whether you accept our fleet and crew as you have already accepted the offering of engineers. I will abide by your decision and relay it."

Elder Strongpaw sighed softly, leaning back in his chair once more.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Subterranean Caverns - Prison Chambers
It was several hours before the trio was summoned once more. Selinia and Reshnik had begun making up dances to the songs shortly after Dulcinea began, displaying their acrobatic abilities and the unique dance style of their long-bodied species. The guards remained stoic, for their part, though the pair were obviously uncomfortable. They were young, barely out of adolescence, a wolf and lioness, and had know he ferret pair for their entire lives. The singing was interrupted only once prior to the summons, to retrieve data cores from the pair's implants for review. The data cores were returned shortly before the trio was led back into the council chambers.

"We have come to a decision," the leopard rumbled, remaining seated this time. "Our review indicates that your words are true, so far as we are able to determine, however we have decided that punishment is still required for Selinia and Reshnik Nimblefingers. Some counseled a breaking of their bond, however it was overruled." The pair let out a sigh of relief at his words. "Instead, they are banished. You, Dulcinea of the Borg, are named as their guardian and will be responsible henceforth for their actions. They are no longer welcome within the Gaal Imperium."

Selinia broke her stunned silence at these words to shout, "We do not need a guardian! We're plenty old enough to look after ourselves!"

The leopard glared her into resuming her silence. "Be that as it may, Dulcinea of the Borg is named as your guardian. You will obey her in all things and will behave yourselves, as you will be representatives of the Gaal as a whole among her people. Is that understood?"

"Really?" Reshnik chimed, much to his sibling's dismay. "You mean you're making us ambassadors to the Mechos?"

And then, she got it. Selinia stood slack-jawed, no words coming to mind.

"No," the elder replied. "We are banishing you to their care. There is a difference, however, should you find it within your capabilities to broker relations with them, it would no doubt be looked upon with favor among the Council of Elders. Perhaps eventually your banishment will even be lifted should you prove yourselves worthy."

He turned his attention back to Dulcinea. "Secondly, we accept your offer of transportation provided that we are allowed to remain armed at all times, to ensure our own safety. Between the surviving enclaves, there are seven hundred forty-two Gaal remaining on this planet. We will hope that you are prepared to accommodate all of us. Each enclave is arranging a meeting point for its people and will be providing a transponder signal for pickup by your ships. You may leave now to prepare."

As they were escorted from the Council chambers and back to the surface, Selinia recovered her voice.

"Gory!" the diminutive female complained. "We can take a mate, we can foster out, but we can't look after ourselves? We're ten years old, already!"

"Silly!" her littermate exclaimed. "We're ambassadors! He was only sayin it that way for... protocol or some such. Miss Dulcinea's the Mechos ambassador, and now we're the Gaal ambasadors. Don't you get it?"

"Yes, I get it, but it still rubs my fur the wrong way. Stupid, old, mangey Elders. Well, at least we get to go back to the Nerdcore, neh?"

"Gory, I can't wait to get back there. There's a few things I'd like to ask them about, few ideas I had while we were singin."

Selinia looked up at the now darkened sky as they emerged from the cave. Until their banishment was lifted, the stars would be their home. At least they had Dulcinea for company, and Falsus and the rest. This could turn out to be quite the adventure, come to think of it.

"Y'know," Dulcinea said, "it takes a human like me about 20 years to reach adulthood. For a Vulcan, it's more like 50--and a Horta? Let's not even talk about that. I'm an ambassador of to the Anamarnians, who are basically humans. I know better, but a lot of them may think of you as children just because of your age.

"And you're not ambassadors, you're spies--only everyone knows it. Those elders of yours want you to watch over those nasty Mechos," she shriveled up her nose as she said those words, "and let them know the first time we do anything bad. An' they want me to be your guardian because you're gonna be spying on a lot more than just us. Have you ever talked to a Vabrane before? Do you know how to stay on the good side of something that's basically a land-dwelling squid? That's why I'm your guardian. It has nothing to do with you being kids or not."

As she finished speaking, a small, black sphere appeared on a boulder in front of them. In a moment, Omigott's face showed clearly on it. It was a communicator--meant for the Gaal, so that they would be privy to the words that the Engineer and the Diplomat exchanged. "Greetings, pretty lady," he said. "I hope your leetle vacation was a restful one."

"Oh," Dulcinea replied, "it was fun. I have kids now!"

"Won't your boyfriend be surprised?"

Dulcinea laughed. "Three to transport," she said. "Put us back in the Zophia's sick bay."

"Alright," Omigott replied, "but why?"

"Because," Dulcinea said, "somebody is going to have to be there when my sister starts to scream bloody murder at us for meeting the Gaal without Anamarnian involvement."

Omigott laughed. "And you're volunteereeng?" he asked. "I suppose I'll never understand the feminine gender."

"Good."

And the three of them found themselves aboard the Zophia once again.

"Y'know," Dulcinea said, "there's just one thing I haven't figured out. I'm the New Borg Ambassador to the Anamarnians. Why do they think you're going to be going back to the Nerd Corps?"

"You should be familiar enough with the Federation," Ramirez said, "to know that, when a culture develops warp drive, we deal with them. Your people have obviously crossed that threshold. As far as I'm concerned, we're equal partners. We accept your offer. Let's get--."

As Ramirez spoke, a midsized boulder slid up to him along the floor. It was a Horta, a silicon-based life form that could move through solid rock almost as easily as a humanoid moves through air.

"Admiral Ramirez," came from a communication's device that it wore at its side.

"Lieutennant Commander Stone," Ramirez replied.

"Please forgive the interruption, but there is information you may urgently need in my PADD device. Please try not to molest me as you fetch it."

Got to warn Stoney about that sense of humor again, Ramirez thought. The Horta were almost as notorious for their humor as they were for their appetite.

"Stoney is our Chief of Security," Ramirez said, reaching over and taking the PADD. "I'm told that he's very good at settling arguments."

"To argue with me," he intoned, "you'd have to be dumber than a rock."

Ramirez glanced at his data device. "This ices it. We've got rogue sensor contacts around Vulcan. Gentlemen, we can't afford to wait. As soon as you're ready, we'd like you to help us take stock of the situation there. It will no doubt be dangerous, but I can think of no better way for you to learn what you want to learn.

"And we'll show you how to build replicators," Ramirez finished.

"Officially," Stone chimed in.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia - Sick Bay
"Spies, huh?" Selinia considered it a moment. "I can be a spy."

Reshnik nodded his agreement. "Spying's what ferrets're good at."

Selinia added in a nod of her own. "As for the Nerdcore, if you don't take us there at least once a week, we'll have to gnaw on your ankles."

Her littermate nodded again, grinning to show sharp, pointed teeth. "Also, so y' know, we're not technically adults. Ferrets reach adulthood around fifteen years. Longer for some Gaal, shorter for others, generally based upon physical maturity and life expectancy."

The female rolled her eyes, crossing her arms, exaggerated movements punctuating her words. "Oh, yes, please confirm for her the fact that we're legally adolescents. It's not as if we didn't just get called irresponsible kits by the entire council down there."

He spread his hands wide in a warding gesture. "Hey, she needs to know, right? She's put in charge, so she should know the laws, especially when we get to the Homeworlds. They all do."

"Well... yeah, you're right," his sibling had to admit. "We're not exactly the best teachers where the law is concerned though... But, we can get something from home when we get there." Suddenly her ears flattened and her tail tucked. "Ooooh, grandsire is gonna be soooo angry at us for being banished."

Reshnik scoffed. "He'll be proud! We're full fledged spies!"

She perked up again. "Oooh, yeah, there is that. Hm. Maybe he'll send some of my toys, since we can't go home..." She turned to Dulcinea waving her hands as if to dispel a bad odor. "Not like toys toys. I mean my good toolset and a few holoprojectors I made when I was younger. I left them back at home, just in case. I'm too old for toys." Reshnik fell over laughing, earning himself a dirty look. "Something just occurred to me though. When I said we were bonded, why did the Nerdcore people ask if that was why we were naked? And why does everyone keep asking if we want clothes? What's wrong with a perfectly functional fur coat?"

Her littermate, meanwhile noticed the more or less patiently waiting EMH and Dulcinea's newfound mate. He gave a cheery wave. "Oh, hi, we're back. Sorry it took so long."

Sol System - Starfleet Command - Banquet Hall
Elder Strongpaw shooed his canine compatriot away from trying to sniff the mobile rock, though he himself was very curious about it. He had not encountered this particular idiosyncrasy of nature in his research.

"We can dispatch any of a number of ships to Vulcan, however Alpha Longfang and Alpha Teshla are closest. Alpha Teshla is currently attempting to engage the Romulans in diplomatic negotiations, however Alpha Longfang is not needed for them. There are also our three cruisers in orbit. I would suggest a combined force, if you have ships capable of making the journey. We have not ventured so far yet, and I would worry about pirates so far from the center of the Federation."

"I'll leave that to your discression. I've got a new ship coming out. I'll do what I can to get her done quickly. When she's ready, we'll send Enterprise and any forces you can spare. We should have a few days to form teams and get them working together. I want Stone to be on one of those teams. He's savvy, personable, intelligent and as tough as they come."

OOC:

http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Horta

OOC: You will not believe how impossibly busy I have been –sads- Sorry

IC:
Zophia, Sickbay
Several hours had passed; and several search teams had been sent out looking for there missing visitors but they had found nothing; Air searchs using Aerofighters had also yielded few resuilts though they did find several rare metals which could be mined in the future if the planet became vacant that would certainly be useful. Then just as suddenly as there visitors had disapeared they returned.

“Where the heck have you people been?” the EMH asked more than a little annoyed at the people beaming in and out of his new sickbay having settled into life aboard the Zohpia; it wasn’t as fancy as an Intrepid Class Sickbay; in fact it was posativily Spartan but it was functional if uncomfortable for the patients; still the Animarnians did appricate his tallents more than the Starfleet humans and treated him with a lot more respect as a living being instead of a piece of technology.

HMS Oddessy
The Oddessy dropped out of hyperspace in low orbit of the moond, it at the desired point but they had to turn sharply to avoid slamming into the moons surface. They entered stealth mode; whereby the ship cloaked and power was dropped to critical systems only and active sensors were turned off in favour of passive ones; the Oddessy was in position on the dark side of the planets moon, indishishable from the moon itself running pasive sensor scans.

“Systems normal; Cloak is opearting at standard capacity; Passive scans report nine planets, four artic, two barren two volcanic and one gass giant” Ensign Ellena Mendez reported from her operations station at the front of the bridge next to helm. Captain Stweert sat in his chair looking out.

“that’s odd” she said checking over her readings.

“what?” he asked.

“I’m picking up…a ship..its..that can’t be right, sensors are saying its inside the gas giant” she said narrowing her eyes at the obviously malfunctioing sensor system; she switched to secondary passive arrays but was confronted with the same results. There was deffinetly a ship in there; whatsmore it was Animarnian. “its one of ours sir” she said and that got Stewerts attention like Paris Hilton and a nude male football team.

“What?” he pressed “Identify it” he ordered. Any find, pre-war was good for the Animarnians, good for his carrea but especially good for his future plans. Whats more any passers by would compltely miss the ship being there unless there sensors were calibrated to read Animarnian hull matirials thanks to the intergrated stealth systems it could have just been laying there for years untouched by the war.

“The Computer Identifiys its silluette as a Aeisr Class Battleship” she said; “I’d have to switch to active sensors to confirm class and Registry” she said

“could you do it with passive sensors if we got closer?” Stwert asked and his Ensign nodded.

“Alright; bring us to orbit of the gas giant; and conduct passive scans” he ordered; he felt the pull of the overpowered engines as they pulsed to move them into position still under cloak and the sensos buzzed and beeped as the conducted passive scans.

“Registry Confirms – HMS Thor, BB-544, Under Captain Donna Smith, Reading Trace amounts of Tetrion Radiation but its within acceptable levels; the reactors are cold but scans seem to indicate they are intact but only an on sight engineering team could confirm the damage” she said.

“Captain, Purmision to lead an away team?” his XO asked excited to have something to do.

“Wholeheartedly granted number One” he said and she nodded and headed down to the transporter room with the Securety chief, Emet Lorne and several armed marines and the chief engineer of the Oddersy Lisa Novak.

"Whats the report" Perius walked down a Corridore as a security officer handed him a datapad.

"As far as we know only several Romulan ships have arrived at Vulcan, If what we have found out is true there Fleet is out of date and in serious needs of a over-haul. There nation is barely capable of funding itself and it's ability to wage a war over a long period of time is severely compromised compared to us, They dont have a huge pool of raw resources and Federation replicators"

"So a war would be very much on our side"

"Yes sir, most of our ships are under 30 years old and the additions to the technology make them more of a match"

"What ships are here in the Taskforce?"

"Two Sabre class vessels, one Galaxy Class, three Defiants, one Excelsior and the Enforcer Class battlecruiser (Fist)"

"Get the force into warp speed, we should be at Vulcan tommorrow"

(OOC: My apologies, having trouble logging in as Romulan Republic. I'll try to post tomorrow).

OOC:

Anni: thought you'd dropped out. Your post was extremely well-timed. I was about to write one where Dulcie & co. were expelled and Animarnia severed ties with the New Borg. OTOH, this makes things a little muddier. Cynthia and Elizabeth Doyle are now going to have to have a little get-together. TG me and we can discuss how it will turn out. Since Falsus
is a bull in a china shop anyway, I'm going to have him contact your
ship and give them a basic run-down of what's happening.

VV: I am assuming that the Gaal were able to deduce that the Anamarnians and the New Borg are separate governments working together, and will not be surprised when they show up together, or when they argue.

IC:

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia, Sick Bay

A message came in through the adolescent ferrets' implants:

Sit down, you guys. This is a chance to see how diplomacy is done.

"We've been planet-side," Dulcinea replied. "A diplomatic opportunity has presented itself. We negotiated..."

...and the story came out.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Orbit


Falsus to Commanding officer, Zophia. We have opened
negotiations with the Gaal on the planet below us. We apologise
for not including you in these, but it happened too fast for us to
get word to you. There are approximately 750 refugees on the
planet below. They want to go home, and we would appreciate
your help in taking them there. We are constructing a containment
module from the remaining salvage material to serve as their
quarters during the transfer. We would appreciate your input as
to how to make these more livable for non-Borg. We propose a
joint task-force to provide propulsion and protection for the
module on its historic flight.

Falsus out.

OOC@ DS - As I said - Imposably busy

IC:
CIC, Zophia
Doyle was in CIC, having moved there after her guests diapeared and pretty much camped out in the chair for several hours; "We knew there was people down there, we just couldn't find them, they're pretty well hidden, most of our cargo has been transfered to the heavy transports so we're pretty much ready to go when you are" she said in her cool voice, it was hard to read any emotion in it. Doyle had become an extremely hard person over the years, losing all your family can do that to a person.

Sickbay
The EMH Huffed and took out a medical scanner that he had decuced to the Animarnian equivilent to a tricorder, it looked like a cross between a thid generaton Federation Scanner and a Vidian Medical Device; it wasn't pretty but it functioned far better than most medical tools he had come across in his time in Starfleet; another relic of the lost times pre-machine war. "Well you look mostly intact; I prescribe a good meal and some rest for you two" he said poiting a the two ani-morphs, "and for you 7 hours of Regeneration" he said simply. before putting the scanner down. "Tomorow you should talk to the captain, she may give you field commisions" he said.

Friendship and Valor, Compartment 64-A-A-D-7-S32
Carter walked into the large space area, her mind wondered briefly as she looked around at the impreisve looking borg Lab, there was a LOT of equipment some of which the kind she'd only seen in her wet dreams. "Ok" she said to herself "time to get to work"; she began by tying her networked computer into the interface and creating a new holomatrix then sublinked it with her cyber implants, Carter was a freak of nature, a million to one child, litirally as she was born with Cyber-Implants; there were only a few people born as 'tech-organics' and usually it was from people that had been rescued from the Borg, naturally being part machine though did have its advantages, she could think faster, could crunch numbers to base 13 in her head and she had a natural imunity to Borg Nanoprobes since her immune system was extremely agressive. she started work on the new ship she was designing for the fleet, the basic hull design looked like a defiant class in size and shape; but would be a far more capable beast, Carter smiled as she started draging Pre-Fabricated Holo-Components into her design...

Oddessy
There was a Shimmer of Blue as the Transporter activated leaving behind a tingly feeling in the away team for a moment; Animarnian’s really hated the Transporter there was something extremely unsettling about being torn apart on a molecular level and recombined somewhere else. The Hallways were dark but the lights slowly started to activate around them picking up there Activation Gene born into all there DNA; the ship that had been dead came to life and the hum of power conduits was present in the air. The air was stale obviously life support had not been functioning at full levels for some time but that would change In a few hours as the Co2 scrubbers kicked in. The most unsettling thing however was a lack of crew, not even bodies the ship was as far as she could tell void of any crew at all. The Away team spilt into two; with half heading to CIC and half heading to main engineering the brain and heart of the ship respectively if they were to get this ship running again, then they needed to assess its condition, even nearly 30 years old she was still the most advanced ship in the fleet if they could repair her. The Aeisr Class was the last preduced before the machien war; all were thought lost in the battle of the line that saved there homeworld...

Commadore Neera responded to the Gall's hail.

"You wished to speak with us about the "Terran Empire". We are here, and it is not a trap. Hopefully you will take this a sign of goodwill between us. Now, what is it you wish to discuss? As this is a first contact situation, perhaps it would be better to begin with a general introduction. Do you wish to come aboard?"

(Over Vulcan).

There was a brief reply after Zahn's message, then a burst of static signaled the reply from Vulcan.

"Greetings. I am Minister Tovall, currently administering this World for the Federation. We are relieved to here that the Romulan Empire is intact, as it runs contrary to previous reports which we received. It is logical in these times to prefer, in most cases, a stable government to the depredations of piracy. But I must ask, what are your intentions? Can you verify if you are, in fact, who you claim to be?"

CIC, Zophia

"You don't know the half of it, Doyle," Falsus replied. "They're not just hidden, they're secured. It's a good thing that we avoided conflict with these beings. With the kind of security we found, they'd prove more than formidable in a good scrum."

--------------------

Sick Bay, Zophia

"Seven hours!" Dulcinea exclaimed. "That's almost two days' worth!" Then, she looked at her boyfriend. "Tell ya what," she said. "If Bobbie's good enough to continue his recovery on his own, maybe we can...uh...regenerate together."

Roberts didn't say anything. He just smiled.

Administrative Processing --Hollow World

Already, the New Borg had processed temporary visas for the two new arrivals. The collective was pondering an issue that they had never considered before: citizenship for the unenjoined. Pertinent data was sent through Prophet's Hope to the two Gaals' implants.

Friendship and Valor, Compartment 64-A-A-D-7-S32

"Hello, Ms. Carter," came a voice through the data lines. "My hame is Hal, and I/we am/are the second best team of computer scientists that the New Borg have produced. I/We could not help but notice the ship design that you are putting together. Would you like us to help you brainstorm? Possible examples would be..."

The ship she was designing did not change in appearance, but the coolant that ran through its plasma conduits was changed to an organic, life-bearing solution that also acted to produce bio luminescent light and to purify water. As it was rerouted through the various compartments of the ship, it became obvious that it could also be used as a back-up heating system, doubling the effectiveness of the ship's life support. It was a very Borg-like change: make systems massively redundant.

The view changed, zooming in on a wiring conduit. The conduit was redesigned to use regenerating components. If the ship suffered damage, the conduit would all but repair itself.

"We will undo these changes if you wish; however, we recommend that you use them, as they make use of standard, proven technology," Hal said.

Sickbay
The EMH Grunted in annoyance what was it with people and having to explain himself repeatedly; it was such a chore. Still at least here he had been given the authority to act as CMO and not just the title, his previous shipmates in Starfleet would frequently turn him off to avoid having there treatment. Truth be told while these people were obviously more advanced there medical knowledge could do with an improvement; he wondered briefly if it had always been this way. “Miss Dulcinea, while you have elected to remain part of this…collective conciseness and that is your choice an one I would never scold you for. However your body has undergone a chaotic change when you activated your organic components to appear more human they started to re-assert themselves. You need at least 7 hours of quiet regeneration for your body to come to balance between man and machine” he said simply. He offer a brief smile as if an idea came into his head.

“A Compromise; I was going through the archives and as it turns out these people picked up quite a bit about Borg systems” he said tapping at a computer terminal and the Fabricator created a square box with Borg Wiring an computer interfaces. “They haven’t had much use for it until now; but According to the archive it’s a portable regeneration unit. Put it in the Ensigns quarters and you can sleep like a human” he said simply. “That’s the best I can offer”

Friendship and Valor, Compartment 64-A-A-D-7-S32
Carter smiled as she looked over the modifications; “looks good; thank you Hal” she said tinkering with the efficiency levels of the power grid and actually improving on them by .6 Percent by tuning the systems own resonance frequency as a containment system. “During the war we knew that Borg ships didn’t use impulse engines like other space fairing races; we theorised the use of some kind of Gravatic Impeller drive; that manipulates gravity fields for very agile and very fast propulsions a generation above even our Ion Drives” she said.

“Do you have a Gavitic drives coil small enough to fit in the design? it would increase its effective agility 500% over a standard federation Defiant. Also going to need a high power Structural Gravity Stress Field since this ship needs to turn on a dime oh and a Gravity Dampener array to stop the crew turning into a fine red mist” she said searching through the list of components and there federation and Borg equivalents

The Taskforce arrives in Vulcan with all weapons ready to fire and shields raised, not the typical Federation standard but adapted Borg issue which uses the ships borg adapted sensors to change frequency to minimize damage.

John was not on the Fist but back on Regulus, he had another few ships to send if things got ugly.

Perius was in-charge of the fleet, being a war veteran againts the Borg made the Romulans seem like chicken feed.

"This is Captain Krusi of the ISS Revelation, you have gone againts the agreement of our nations and have attempted to take control of a designated Federation founding world. You are to leave this system or we will be forced to open fire and destroy all your ships, yes we know the Quadrant is rebuilding and most of the nations dont have the ability to wage war. What you Romulans never toke into consideration is the fact that we have our infrastructure mostly intact with our defensive capability far surpassing your little band of antique ships. I do not want war, but I will defend the interests of the Federation"

Perius had his orders from the Federation when he was first setout to protect the interests of the Federation where he went, he was now at Vulcan and that meant he had permission to engage in hostile action againts any power in his way.

Zophia, CIC

"This may be of interest to you," Falsus said. "Our main group has reported incoming communication signals. It appears that the Echo Three communications facility is once again operational. With any luck, we should be able to use it to contact Starfleet--if that is your desire."

Zophia, Sick Bay

He doesn't know the first thing about Borg physiology! He's a HOLOGRAM!

He's a SENTIENT hologram, and he's fluent with the biology of MILLIONS of species, including ours.

What's the problem with being a hologram, anyway? You know how many of us have our thought processes almost completely on the mainframe?

OK ALREADY. I'm sure he's a REAL NICE GUY. Let it rest! But she's never needed more than four hours of regen in a day.

She's never gone this long without a regen stop, either. How much time did she spend talking with those Gaal? As in BEFORE they socked her away in that cell and she started...making noises...

OK. She's Dulcinea. She talks. I get it. You win.

Gee, thanks, guys. You're all heart--and a few other things.

You're welcome, ma'am. That'll be seven hours.

I kinda figured that out, guys.

Maybe we can work on reintegrating some of your old memories while you're at it.

Now there's an idea.

"Now that you mention it, Doctor," Dulcinea said, "I do seem to be feeling a bit fatigued. I think I'll take those seven hours."



Friendship and Valor, Compartment 64-A-A-D-7-S32


"We have coils that are small enough, but their shape would require a radical alteration of the hull design. It is, in fact, the accommodation of our gravitic propulsion systems that gives Borg ships their characteristic cubic or spherical shapes. It also gives them their ability to rotate on any axis with what, to those outside of the field, appears to be lethal acceleration.

"We do not use a standard gravitic impeller drive, but, rather, a field matrix that isolates the inertia of the ship inside of it. This also allows us to improve the function of our shields and sensors.

"The coils' gravitic output fields must be harmonized into a perfect three dimensional matrix or they could fail. In the worst case, this could create a quantum singularity that would then destroy the ship. The field is self-damping, however. When fully active, a balanced gravitic matrix creates an inertia bubble within the boundaries of its interior layer..."

Without missing a beat, Hal explained the basic physics of Gravitic Field Propulsion in that even-sounding, monotonous baritone voice of his. It appeared that the New Borg were willing to trust her with even their most advanced technology.

-------------------------------

OOC:

Unlike Gizmo, Hal keeps the jargon to a minimum. He's very professional. Carter will find that this is part of the difference between the way that Ver runs Friendship and Valor and the way that Falsus runs Prophet's Hope.

We should be moving on, though. Things are coming to a head around the Vulcan home world, and the New Borg should be getting mixed up in it. Zell, a former Romulan, will probably come in handy for that part of this thread.

Zahn nodded to himself. Perius. He had read Neera's excellent evaluation, and he knew to expect a formidable opponent. But he had a few tricks for this Federation legend.

"Open hailing frequencies. Omnidirectional broadcast." Zahn pondered his next words carefully, aware both of his promise to Vranik and his responsibility to his people.

"Captain Perius, greetings. I am Commadore Zahn of the Romulan Fleet. I know you by reputation, and your pressense hear is not unexpected.

I am surprised, however, by the presumptiveness of your hail. On what grounds do you accuse us of attacking this world? Have we fired a single shot? Have we landed troops, or made any demands? This is a diplomatic overture. Surely you do not think that we would have brought such meager forces to face your glorious fleet in battle?

As for agreements negotiated between my colleuge Commadore Neera and your Government, I have been briefed regarding that arrangement and their was no formal agreement prohibiting us from engaging in communications with worlds on which your Government has cast its eye. If you wish, I can contact your Emperor John and discuss the matter with him. I am sure he will find us well within the bounds to which we agreed.

Finally I would ask on what grounds you demand that we leave this system. Vulcan was at last report a member of the Federation, but also a system with a fair degree of sovereignty. I am sure that Vulcan's Government would be most interested to find that you treat them as a part of your territory. Now, Captain, perhaps we can talk like reasonable men. I will request the Vulcan Government's permission to beam down, and I would be honored if you would do the same. I await your answer, and I trust that a man raised on Federation principles will not fire the first shot in a needless battle."

Zahn sat back and waited for a response. He was confident that the Terrans were not ready for war, or they would not have bothered negotiating at all. But they needed a reminder that Romulans were still a sovereign people, and that alliances worked two ways. He hoped Perius would negotiate. His public insinuation of imperial intents on Vulcan must have embarressed the Federation captain; Perius could not refuse an offer to negotiate without casting himself and his nation in a very bad light. Yet if Perius chose to fight... He had power on his side and was not unwilling to use it. A dangerous man, far more so than the weak-willed Federation before the Borg War.

Sol System - Starfleet Command - Banquet Hall
"Very well," Elder Strongpaw nodded to the Rear Admiral. "Elder Southwind, would you please have a message sent to Alpha Longfang? Inform him that he is to depart immediately for Vulcan, best speed, to gather information. He is not to engage in conflict with any ship that may be there, and if hostile action is taken against him, he is to turn tail without repartee. And damn his pride. Make well and sure that he understands, if he opens fire without authorization, I'll have his testicles decorating my wall. If possible, he is to open communication with both Vulcan and any party that happens to be in the viscinity and if necessary relay them through the Vega station to Starfleet Command."

The canine nodded and dropped to all fours as he bounded off at surprising speed, leaving by the nearest exit. He came back less than a minute later and dropped to his haunches, tongue lolling comically from the side of his mouth.

"Sorry," the Elder apologized, "got over-excited. You have a communications center?"

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
"It was not the Terran Empire in particular that I wished to discuss with you, however, that would be an appropriate topic amongst the rest," Alpha Teshla corrected. "As I stated in my initial hail, I wish to begin the process of opening diplomatic relations between our peoples. I'd be honored to come aboard. Would you mind if I brought a few of my senior officers with me? And perhaps afterwards, you would care for a tour of my vessel?"

Just recieved new orders, came a silent message through her implant. Am to make best speed to Vulcan, will rendezvous later at coordinates to be determined.

Understood, she responded. Keep your nose to the wind, pup.

Watch your tail, spotty.

"Unfortunately, my fellow Alpha will be unavailable," the civet continued with barely a pause in her speech. "He has been recalled to other duties. Would convening within your transporter room in one hour be acceptable?"

The Phoenix turned, launching itself into warp as soon as it cleared the nebula. It would be several hours before they reached Vulcan. Alpha Longfang fervently hoped that Gamma Scurrier, his own chief engineer would have more luck with fixing it than Gamma Hoarder aboard the Janeway's Echo had.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia - Sick Bay
The two ferrets had plopped down at Dulcinea's initial urging, observing carefully. It was in their best interest to learn as much as possible after all. Conversations passed between them in the blink of an eye, thoughts and images tossed back and forth like a shiny electronic ball. Their newly acquired citizenship credentials quickly took precedence over the less than interesting exposition of their earlier activities, though they filed Dulcinea's words away for later perusal. They tired of those possibilities quickly, though, and began a discussion over the information given them earlier. They had reached the coding portion of a intricately designed holomatrix involving some of their favorite story characters when their newly appointed guardian completed her conversation with the EMH.

"Sleep time?" Selinia inquired, remembering that regeneration was the Mechos equivalent.

"Food, too," Dulcinea pointed out. "Doctor's orders."

This was nothing like what I thought it was gonna be, she sent to her new wards. Field commissions! Did you hear that? If Liz gives you field commissions, I'll laugh my implants off!

"We're gonna have to get these two someplace to live. I'll share my suite for now, but it's not really big enough for three. I'm gonna crash. If I was either one of you, I'd check out the cafeteria, then come back to the Ambassadorail Palace," she raised her nose into the air in a gesture of mock arrogance, "for a quick nap. And Reshy, don't crawl into the ship the way you did last time. You're a spy now. If they catch you playing with their toys without permission, they could shoot you."

Zophia CIC
“Echo Three, isn’t that one of the big communication relays back in the day?” she said with mild curiosity, her grandfather had passed on stories about Echo Three, it was from the NX Days, when even the humans were children. Since Animarnian’s baring injury or serious illness had a life span of around 500 years it wasn’t beyond possibility that he had seen such thing first hand, back then they were mostly observers, the galaxies watchers, archiving knowledge from around the galaxy, peacefully observing but never interfering directly. Then the machines had come and brought darkness and death and evil into their lives, the machines judged so dangerous that even they were forced to go to war for the first time in a thousand years. “Well my orders were to explore the local sector; but when we reach Vega then there is no reason we can’t take a little side trip” she said with a smile. “We’re preparing quarters to accommodate our guests but it won’t be very homely, we’re a warship not a cruise liner” and it was true. The Zophia was very much a warship in every way from its armoured ‘brick’ like design to its bristling guns and Spartan quarters, the ship was built for war with the Borg.

Friendship and Valour
Carter nodded in complete understanding of the advanced concept; “I get’cha, so We’re going to have to design a completely new harmonics field Matrix and Gravitic Impeller assembly to keep the ship as compact as possible in the same hull shape” she said thinking; “what about Cohesive re-enforcement projection?”

“We Take two Coils and use a networked ODN data node to project a Gravitic bubble around the ship much like Federation shield systems” she said drawing a diagram in the air on a holographic screen. ”But; we use a new Borg sensor array say a Class Six with seven class eight input nodes; to read and retune and adapt the gravity matrix fields on the fly with a recurring predictive algorithm to compensate for the field geometry. Plus use the two coils in tandem to strengthen each other respectively like quantum field self Resonance?” she said in equally jargon less terms; Jargon was the language of scientists and she was an engineer.

"We also want to usee Zero-Point Field Tetrion reactors for power; its a technolgy we used to have before the war..."

Zophia, CIC

"The very same," Falsus replied. "Our information is that, rather than build a new communications array, the Federation built Echo Three using a modular design and upgraded it again and again over the years, keeping it relatively current."

Friendship and Valour

"Though this concept would function," Hal replied, "it would not be sufficiently safe, particularly in the event of armed conflict. If one of the two coils should fail during operation, the results could be catastrophic. This is why most Borg Tactical cubes use six coils in their design. With six coils, other coils can be used to balance the field should as many as three of them fail, giving the crew time to repair or shut down the remaining systems.

"Given your preference for the current hull shape, and the power supply that you have mentioned, a four-coil design would be appropriate," Hal continued. The image shifted to show the four coils, placed at the 45-degree points in the now almost circular body of the ship design, highlighted in green against the yellow wire-frame body. "This will necessitate coils built to strict tolerances and at least a Class Eight sensor array, but it should meet existing safety standards. Furthermore, the higher-quality coils would enhance the sensors themselves. A ship with this system could use it to detect a standard Romulan cloak within one half parsec of its location."

The design changed to reflect the addition of the new power system, with slight changes to the main energy regulator conduit to take better advantage of the new fuel mix. A redundant cooling system appeared. This would also act as a physical shield for the power conduits leading to the propulsion coils in the event of an attack, and would still function with as little as 20% of its surface area intact.

"Might I inquire," Hal said at length, "as to the purpose for which you are designing this class of ship?"

Zophia, CIC

"The very same," Falsus replied. "Our information is that, rather than build a new communications array, the Federation built Echo Three using a modular design and upgraded it again and again over the years, keeping it relatively current."

Friendship and Valour

"Though this concept would function," Hal replied, "it would not be sufficiently safe, particularly in the event of armed conflict. If one of the two coils should fail during operation, the results could be catastrophic. This is why most Borg Tactical cubes use six coils in their design. With six coils, other coils can be used to balance the field should as many as three of them fail, giving the crew time to repair or shut down the remaining systems.

"Given your preference for the current hull shape, and the power supply that you have mentioned, a four-coil design would be appropriate," Hal continued. The image shifted to show the four coils, placed at the 45-degree points in the now almost circular body of the ship design, highlighted in green against the yellow wire-frame body. "This will necessitate coils built to strict tolerances and at least a Class Eight sensor array, but it should meet existing safety standards. Furthermore, the higher-quality coils would enhance the sensors themselves. A ship with this system could use it to detect a standard Romulan cloak within one half parsec of its location."

The design changed to reflect the addition of the new power system, with slight changes to the main energy regulator conduit to take better advantage of the new fuel mix. A redundant cooling system appeared. This would also act as a physical shield for the power conduits leading to the propulsion coils in the event of an attack, and would still function with as little as 20% of its surface area intact.

"Might I inquire," Hal said at length, "as to the purpose for which you are designing this class of ship?"

(OOC: You should know that at least 2 of my units are using the Scimatar's "perfect" cloak, which is a lot harder to detect than "standard Romulan cloaks." It allows you to fire while cloaked, though that risks detection as you can fire at the point the weapons emerged from).

"I doubt the Star Empire has come here just expecting a truce with the Vulcans since for the last few centuries you have done nothing but feud with them. I have my reputation to live up to and sadly Romulan I am assured you are doing nothing but the same.

Neither as a Imperial or Federation Captain will I stand by and watch as you bring this world under your control, your reputation of Xeno-Phobic politics works againts you. Your pathetic attempt to stop our communications with the Quadrant have failed and we have open communications with Earth, Andoria and Most worlds in the area. Infact my last orders from the Federation was to protect there interests and borders...so yes I am going to act like Vulcan is a part of our territory because I am a Federation Captain on lease to the Terran Empire and it's also official, my agreement with John is that I remain a seperate party in the matter. I also have under the Conditions of Confederacy surpreme right to control and order the fleet which is why I am called the De-Facto Admiral.

I honestly dont believe in your polite approuch, you Romulans do so often when you want to get what you want. Sure you will ask politely now but when somebody says no you act like children and scream and curse and then simply take what you want just like during the Earth-Romulan war. Heck where was this Self-less personality during the Dominion War? You did not even enter into it until the plans on your invasion came in oh and by the way as a quote from the Meeting with John"

"I will also add any attempt to take control over a founding planet of the Federation in the meantime is not a good idea, you will anger all of my Federation trained Captains"

We were keeping to our side of the dicussion until the Govenor arrived to talk about matters and since he never did you have been naive to think we would just allow you to break the agreement without a fight. also dont think you will get Vulcan without a fight.

Your patiences is your own worse enemy, John was happy to allow your expansion into these worlds aslong as he had the chance to talk it over with the Federation Captains which by the Conditions of the Confederacy he had to do then he could sign a piece of paper with your leader giving him permission to do whatever he wanted"

"I doubt the Star Empire has come here just expecting a truce with the Vulcans since for the last few centuries you have done nothing but feud with them. I have my reputation to live up to and sadly Romulan I am assured you are doing nothing but the same.

Neither as a Imperial or Federation Captain will I stand by and watch as you bring this world under your control, your reputation of Xeno-Phobic politics works againts you. Your pathetic attempt to stop our communications with the Quadrant have failed and we have open communications with Earth, Andoria and Most worlds in the area. Infact my last orders from the Federation was to protect there interests and borders...so yes I am going to act like Vulcan is a part of our territory because I am a Federation Captain on lease to the Terran Empire and it's also official, my agreement with John is that I remain a seperate party in the matter. I also have under the Conditions of Confederacy surpreme right to control and order the fleet which is why I am called the De-Facto Admiral.

I honestly dont believe in your polite approuch, you Romulans do so often when you want to get what you want. Sure you will ask politely now but when somebody says no you act like children and scream and curse and then simply take what you want just like during the Earth-Romulan war. Heck where was this Self-less personality during the Dominion War? You did not even enter into it until the plans on your invasion came in oh and by the way as a quote from the Meeting with John"



We were keeping to our side of the dicussion until the Govenor arrived to talk about matters and since he never did you have been naive to think we would just allow you to break the agreement without a fight. also dont think you will get Vulcan without a fight.

Your patiences is your own worse enemy, John was happy to allow your expansion into these worlds aslong as he had the chance to talk it over with the Federation Captains which by the Conditions of the Confederacy he had to do then he could sign a piece of paper with your leader giving him permission to do whatever he wanted"

Zahn frowned slightly. Inside he felt the tension ratchet up a notch, but he his his emotions behind a mask to rival any Vulcan's. But a different tac was needed. Manipulating Perius would not work, nor would reasurences. Perhaps an honest approach would assure him that his prejudices about Romulans were not totally justified.

"Captain Perius, I am disapointed. I had hoped that you would be reasonable. I have given you no reason to distrust me or distrust my motives. I have done only as the Federation has done many times, aproached a world openly in an act of civillized diplomacy. You have assumed hostile intentions based soley on the fact that I was Romulan.

You are correct that we have a history of hostilities with Vulcan. In suspiceous times, men are unwilling to act based on trust. Very well. I will order my fleet to withdraw to the edge of the system, and I will ask that you do the same. You can see through our cloaks well enough to know that their is no deception. In any case, your command ship is more than a match for mine. Then I will repeat my invitation to negotiate on the planet's surface.
Perhaps, if you still miss-trust my intentions, you can ask the Vulcans what they think of the matter. It is, after all their system. If you are truly concerned with duty, you will heed my offer, and not destroy everything our people have worked to rebuild on assumptions founded in prejudice rather than empirical evidence."

As the comunication flicked off, Zahn turned to issue what might be his final orders.

"Helm, stand by for evasive manuvers. Tactical, you are to hold your fire until ordered otherwise. Com, relay that message to the fleet, then put me through to Commadore Neera and Governor Vranik."

(OOC: You should know that at least 2 of my units are using the Scimatar's "perfect" cloak, which is a lot harder to detect than "standard Romulan cloaks." It allows you to fire while cloaked, though that risks detection as you can fire at the point the weapons emerged from).

OOC: That was entirely my point. Just putting in something that would wipe out all of your technology would be godmodding, and I'm not in the mood for that right now. ;)

Instead of doing the obvious and opening communications with Vulcan personally he decided to use a different tactic, his ships move to the edge of the system has requested.

John wants this area of space for himself and no Doubt the Vulcans would not trust his words since he is no matter what a member of the Empire more so then of the Federation.

"Send the information for Echo 3 and use it to open communications between Vulcan and Earth, they will not believe our intentions but if we open up communications between the Federation and Vulcan then we will get much further"

"Trying to do the unexpected I guess?" Jessica said, they were in the conference room on the Revelation.

"The Romulans expect me to talk the Vulcans into either joining the Empire or simply not joining them, I will do the third option and get them to re-connect with the Federation. Vulcan is not independent just no ships and a damaged communications system makes it impossible for them to do there role of the Federations number two planet"

Perius turns on his screen and opens a communication with Earth, he had added some security to the message so that only Federation networks could pick it up.

"I am opening communications between United Earth and Vulcan, I think you have allot to say to the Vulcans just like they have allot to say to you"

He turns around to Cameron "if things get ugly prepare your security teams for boarding, they know where Devenis is but we havent a clue where there HQ is"

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla again waited patiently for the Romulan's reply.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia - Sick Bay
"Food!" the pair cried.

Reshnik snatched up his discarded datapad and furiously input information, showing it to his littermate before the two tore out of sick bay. The instant they exited, they engaged spy mode. Selinia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSGVCEOjIlQ) and Reshnik (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ii1tc493bZM&feature=related) both began humming the tune of their individual favorite spy film from the old Earth collection they had acquired. They slunk against the walls, holding one hand by the wrist, the other with forefinger and thumb extended, mimicking a pistol as they checked corners and dodged between doorways. Falling silent, they trailed behind crew personnel completely undetected before bursting back out as they dodged past them in a roll, coming up to fire at imaginary foes. Leapfrogging their way down a hallway, they suddenly became deadly enemies, chasing one another on their way to the mess hall.

A five minute walk became a twenty minute tour as they circumnavigated the ship, bouncing between decks and corridors, eventually reaching their destination. A consultation with the datapad gave them the information they needed to work the replicators. Unfortunately, though, the alcoves were set well above the reach of the two mustelids. An Animarnian crewman was enlisted to help as they ordered enough to fill most of the crew. Much to the amusement of those present, the pair managed to devour every last morsel in under half an hour. To further amusement, once the last plate had been cleaned they both fell instantly comatose, drool seeping from snoring mouths as they lay atop the table. They were returned to Dulcinea's quarters via another of the crewmen, sound asleep the whole time.

Sol System - Earth - Starfleet Command
Elder Strongpaw and his colleagues walked with Rear Admiral Ramirez as they headed back to the shuttle. At least one of the three would be accompanying the fleet that would soon depart for Vulcan. The old lion thought it best that he himself go, however, as the nominal lead diplomat he would be do best to remain on Earth. Elder Nutseeker was the next logical choice, however, Elder Strongpaw thought it best to send his canine counterpart instead. The old dog was due to learn some new tricks.

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla again waited patiently for the Romulan's reply.


"We are interested in building any relations which would be benificial with other factions. I have been authorized to open formal relations between our people, however, I first wish to discuss the current political situation in general, and especially regarding the "Terran Union." If you wish, I can permit you and some of your officers to beam aboard my vessel.

The space seemed dark, as Ramirez looked out from the main viewport of his personal shuttle. Elder Southwind had been invited to attend the ceremony.

------------

OOC:

I will leave it open as to whether or not the canine Gaal has chosen to attend. VV can fill in the details.

------------

IC:

As Ramirez watched, a search light swept gently over the hull of the dock's latest inhabitant, and even this was an elegant surprise. The dull grays and whites of other ships had given way to an opalescent, pearl-like hue that seemed to reflect understated but elegant color. Slowly, the light swept back until the letters of her registry, smartly inlaid in black over the pearly white surface, came into view: NCC-7101: U. S. S. Nuremberg.

In a flash, it all ran through Ramirez' mind again: the Nuremberg wasn't meant as an end in and of itself, but as the first of a new generation of Starfleet vessels. As the lights came up on her spire-like body, Ramirez could not help but remember that she took into account the latest in technology, even using some secrets gleaned from repatriated Borg. She was a marvel of engineering--her spire-like hull was at once beautiful, functional and maintainable. One could open almost her entire secondary hull, and replace her power and propulsion systems in a matter of days. Her weaponry included not only the standard-issue phaser banks and quantum torpedos, but a variety of other weapons as well. As the orange-red caps on her nacelles came to life, it reminded Ramirez that she had warp and transwarp drives. As the light blue of her deflector dish flooded the hanger deck in front of her, it reminded him that Starfleet Engineering had at last found a way to make her omniphasic shields last indefinitely. She was tough, fast and beautiful, and, after her shake down patrolling the Sol system, she would assume her place among the elite vessels of Starfleet.

Even now, her presence was gladly looked forward to. Because of her, Enterprise, tried and true ship of the line that she was, could be sent out of system, helping to reforge the alliances that had made the Federation, and helping the human race to live up to its responsibility to its neighbors.

"We're back," Ramirez said as the ship pulled out of drydock. "It's been too long a time."

The space seemed dark, as Ramirez looked out from the main viewport of his personal shuttle. Elder Southwind had been invited to attend the ceremony.

------------

OOC:

I will leave it open as to whether or not the canine Gaal has chosen to attend. VV can fill in the details.

------------

IC:

As Ramirez watched, a search light swept gently over the hull of the dock's latest inhabitant, and even this was an elegant surprise. The dull grays and whites of other ships had given way to an opalescent, pearl-like hue that seemed to reflect understated but elegant color. Slowly, the light swept back until the letters of her registry, smartly inlaid in black over the pearly white surface, came into view: NCC-7101: U. S. S. Nuremberg.

In a flash, it all ran through Ramirez' mind again: the Nuremberg wasn't meant as an end in and of itself, but as the first of a new generation of Starfleet vessels. As the lights came up on her spire-like body, Ramirez could not help but remember that she took into account the latest in technology, even using some secrets gleaned from repatriated Borg. She was a marvel of engineering--her spire-like hull was at once beautiful, functional and maintainable. One could open almost her entire secondary hull, and replace her power and propulsion systems in a matter of days. Her weaponry included not only the standard-issue phaser banks and quantum torpedos, but a variety of other weapons as well. As the orange-red caps on her nacelles came to life, it reminded Ramirez that she had warp and transwarp drives. As the light blue of her deflector dish flooded the hanger deck in front of her, it reminded him that Starfleet Engineering had at last found a way to make her omniphasic shields last indefinitely. She was tough, fast and beautiful, and, after her shake down patrolling the Sol system, she would assume her place among the elite vessels of Starfleet.

Even now, her presence was gladly looked forward to. Because of her, Enterprise, tried and true ship of the line that she was, could be sent out of system, helping to reforge the alliances that had made the Federation, and helping the human race to live up to its responsibility to its neighbors.

"We're back," Ramirez said as the ship pulled out of drydock. "It's been too long a time."

(OOC:you'll forgive me for saying that that is one hell of a super ship. I'd be interested to know exactly what an "omniphasic shield" is, and how a ship with indefineately lasting shields can possibly be challenged, as opposed to being a space-bourn no limits fallacy;) Understand that I'm not accusing you of God moding, but the technology your using sounds unfamiliar).

OOC:

I assure you, I am sticking to Star Trek canon. Omniphasic shielding is a technology that is available to the Federation, and, in fact, was developed during ST: TNG by Federation personnel.

Omniphasic shielding was used in two or so episodes of ST: TNG. Dr. Crusher was the main character involved. They were developed originally by a Ferengi Scientist, who was killed by an alien spy trying to hijack the invention (Season 6: "Suspicions"). During initial testing, the test ship flew through the interior of a sun without sustaining any damage.

During the TNG Episode, "Descent (Part 2)," where Data's evil twin, Lore, takes over a breakaway segment of the Borg, they are used again, when the Enterprise uses them to fly into a sun to evade an engagement with a much larger demi-Borg ship. During this episode, it is learned that this type of shielding destabilizes after a certain time.

In my post, they seem to have found a way around this difficulty--but this is the ship's shake-down cruise. There may yet be problems that they haven't thought about. ;)

I also plan on making use of Exo-Comps, found in the TNG episode, "The Quality of Life" (also season 6).

OOC:

I assure you, I am sticking to Star Trek canon. Omniphasic shielding is a technology that is available to the Federation, and, in fact, was developed during ST: TNG by Federation personnel.

Omniphasic shielding was used in two or so episodes of ST: TNG. Dr. Crusher was the main character involved. They were developed originally by a Ferengi Scientist, who was killed by an alien spy trying to hijack the invention (Season 6: "Suspicions"). During initial testing, the test ship flew through the interior of a sun without sustaining any damage.

During the TNG Episode, "Descent (Part 2)," where Data's evil twin, Lore, takes over a breakaway segment of the Borg, they are used again, when the Enterprise uses them to fly into a sun to evade an engagement with a much larger demi-Borg ship. During this episode, it is learned that this type of shielding destabilizes after a certain time.

In my post, they seem to have found a way around this difficulty--but this is the ship's shake-down cruise. There may yet be problems that they haven't thought about. ;)

I also plan on making use of Exo-Comps, found in the TNG episode, "The Quality of Life" (also season 6).

(OOC: If I understand correctly, it could not be bi-passed by remodulating weapon frequencies, meaning that no technobable trickery could be applied. So a fight between ships with this shielding would be a pure slugging match)?

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla nodded her acceptance. "We'll be beaming over shortly."

Gamma Stickypads ended the communication. Beta Hoarder, Gamma Murlan, and Gamma Stickypads were gathered in by their Alpha's gaze. A pair of Zeta's took the place of the tiger and ferret, another replacing Gamma Tulure as the skunk fem took her place at the command station. She was senior among the remaining officers. Alpha Teshla stopped by her quarters for a quick cleaning prior to meeting her officers in the transporter room. A few seconds later, they were aboard the Romulan vessel.

(RR, I'll leave it to you to say whether they end up in the transporter room, ready room, bridge, or wherever.)

Sol System - Earth - Orbital Drydock
All three Elders were suitably impressed with the Nuremburg, though none more so than Elder Southwind. Were the viewports glass, he would have left slobber marks along all of them within the observation deck. As it was, it took him three times having his nose zapped by the containment fields before he managed to restrain his enthusiasm. Slightly. His tail wagged with enough force to cause a slight draft, ears perked and forwards, eyes bright, nose sniffing a mile a minute as he panted.

"I get to fly on that thing?" he inquired, his excitement evident as he switched viewports yet again, eyes roaming every square millimeter of the hull. "I'd give my tail to meet the pilot! How do you cope with information overload? How do you disperse life support and maintain it over such a large area? Theoretically, it's possible, but we haven't figured it out yet. We're slowly sizing up, but the problems we come across are maintaining the neural network interface with redundant systems over such a large scale. We end up with shorts, or cross-talk, or-" He cut himself off at Elder Strongpaw's purposeful cough. He glanced at the lion with a helpless gesture. "I'm an engineer."

"If you had reviewed the database more thoroughly, you would know that the humans do not use integrated piloting systems as we do."

The canid cocked his head to the side, tongue hanging from the corner of his slender muzzle. "Oh, right, I forgot." He turned back to the viewport, ebony fur glistening in the reflected light. "Going senile, I am. Mind out to pasture, paws stuck in the mud. So... When do we leave?"

Vulcan System - System Edge
Alpha Longfang had decided it prudent, considering his orders, to engage transwarp once he was safely out of sensor range of the Romulans. It cut the trip down to little more than an hour, but stressed the coils to the point that Gamma Scurrier was worried another jump any time soon would burn them out. She had also been unable to get the cloak working properly during the flight, so his options were further limited. He dropped from transwarp well short of Vulcan, proceeding to the system edge at normal warp. Instead of the stealthy approach he had wanted, he was forced to be plainly visible.

"Keep weapons down," he ordered, contemplating his opening hail. "Shields to full power, all personnel to battle stations. We don't know who's here just yet."

"Sensors showing Federation and Romulan signatures," Gamma Celene Dania reported from her station at ops.

Alpha Longfang nodded to the skunk. "Well, let's start then. Gamma Planter, please open a channel." The rabbit gave him the signal to begin. "This is Alpha Demish Longfang of the Gaal Imperium speaking on behalf of the Federation. Please identify yourselves and state your intentions."

Gamma Planter sent the transmission. The wolven Alpha let out a soft sigh. He was in over head, he knew, but he would do this right. He would prove that he deserved his position as Alpha.

(OOC: If I understand correctly, it could not be bi-passed by remodulating weapon frequencies, meaning that no technobable trickery could be applied. So a fight between ships with this shielding would be a pure slugging match)?

OOC:

Oh yeah.

:) :) :)

I think you guys are missing the point. I was planning on putting a little bit of Excelsior Factor into the Nuremberg. Just as her "advanced" systems have turned out to be entirely derived from canon, so her systems will prove to be temperamental and unforgiving.

And there's an Achilles Heel of sorts in the new shield technology.

IC:

"You'll get your chance, Elder Southwind," Ramirez said, "but that ship isn't ready for deep space yet. We're going to shake her down here in Sol system--make sure she works before we send her out into the galaxy.

"She frees up other ships, though--including," Ramirez' hand swept to his left, "the flagship of our fleet, the USS Enterprise."

As Nuremberg slipped gracefully out of the hanger, Enterprise flew up next to her, a gesture of brotherhood. Though the newer ship dwarfed her, Enterprise hardly looked out of place, and it was possible to see the kinship of the two vessels. The aggressive, swept style of Enterprise actually had distinct similarities to the grand, almost temple-like shape of the Nuremberg. It was like looking at long-lost cousins suddenly reunited.

"Ramirez to Johl."

The viewscreen altered to show an Andorian woman, tall and strong, yet delicate in feature, in the uniform of a Starfleet Captain. Big, brown eyes stared out under white hair, and a pair of antennae faced forward, a gesture of respect for a superior officer.

"Johl here. What can we do for you today, Admiral?"

"Just give us something to be proud of," Ramirez said with a wistful smile.

"Of course," the Captain replied, showing little emotion, but a slight smile crossing her full lips. "Johl out."

"Ramirez to Scott."

The viewscreen changed again, this time to show Captain Scott on the bridge of the Enterprise.

"Well, Scotty," Ramirez said, "looks like the ceremony's over. Ready to go meet some old friends?"

"As soon as we can get all personnel transferred--," Scott said.

"That, Elder Southwind, would include yourself," Ramirez said.

Friendship and Valour
“For two reason Mr Hal, Carter said well three actually one – as you have seen a Battle Star is a very impressive warship but they take an amazing amount of time to actually build, test and commission. They are also crew hogs needing at least 1500 people to crew efficiently and a further 2000 Royal Marines; granted they can chew though almost anything that may be hostile with sheer volume of fire but they cannot be everywhere. Which brought us to the Phoenix class; a bastardised copy of a Starfleet Miranda class with salvaged and reverse engineered technology incorporated from several species. Though far superior to Starfleet ships of her size and able to take on enemies three times there own size with the exception of a Sovereign or Negh’va. But we never really got over the whole ‘scrapheat held together by super-glue’ feel that many officers that crew them think” she said with an honest smile.

“We Animarnian’s have a long a and proud ship building tradition; before the war we had some of the most advanced ships in the quadrant; now we are relegated to salvaging wrecks from others” she said with a sigh. “For us to begin building and crewing our own ships again is not only a necessity it’s a thing of national pride” she explained, there were no lies.

“Good Plan” she said agreeing; “we’re going to have to extrude these parts here” she said extending the sides of the disc into ‘wedge’ like shapes more akin to the Federation Defiant but only slightly larger; “to Accommodate the forward weapons array. I was thinking a cluster of three Pulsed Phased Energy Arrays per side. Two Multi-segment coupled energy banks running the ventral and dorsal sides, a rear energy bank; one large Multi-segment array running around the entire bottom forward half of the ship; two torpedo four tube banks in the front and one up the butt” she said with a grin.

“Oh and we should add a layer or Neutronium plate armour over the hull and ablative reactive armour in critical areas like bridge, engines, reactors, shield generators etc” she said with a nod.


HMS Thors Hammer, BB-154
The Aeisr Class was one of the ships created at the pinnacle of Animarnian civilisation before the dark times as it was called; often the old navy called the star ship killers with such a larger battery of energy weapons and torpedoes. There wasn’t much that would stand in the way of an Aeisr if it wanted to give a frank exchange of views, rumour was they could depopulate an industrialised world in under 2 hours. The Boarding team walked in awe at the ship; so perfectly preserved; the odd thing was there was still no crew, not even bodies. Though the levels of tetrion radiation did suggest that at one point there had been a leak of some kind which would have killed the crew instantly and accelerated decomp to a matter of days. The ship itself was awakening all around them though as there DNA brought systems back online; still they wouldn’t be able to get the ships AI online till they had the main reactors running. The First Team reached Command and Control; it was pristine; the anti-static surfaces keeping it free of dust and grime from years of neglect. The radio crackled to life.

“Boss, Reactors are in good nick, whatever caused the leak has been sealed probably the last act of a desperate crew; were good for a re-heat” the chief engineer said over the radio.

“Go for it” she said; moments later the gentle hum of power conduits filled her ears as the reactors started up, like a finely tuned muscle car. The ship AI hologram flickered into existence as the main screens came online. Depicting the ships systems and capabilities as well as their position in local and galactic space, status of all systems and remaining crew. The Ships AI Avatar was a beautiful crimson red haired woman with a hair stile that could best be described as ‘navy’ she was five foot tall and wore the old Royal Navy Red uniform circa pre-machine war with gold insignia. “Artificial Intelligence Avatar Program – Commander Trix; Reporting for duty Ma’am” she said with a sharp salute.

“What happened here?” the Commander asked.

“Our last mission was to head to earth and contact, however my crew encountered a Borg tactical cube; my captain hid in this planets atmosphere to prevent the Borg from destroying us. However the Borg used spatial charges and ruptured one of the drive coils and flooded the ship with tetrion radiation, they all died” Trix said.

“So why didn’t you come back to the home world?” Shelby asked.

“I Was given a priority Alpha order; I could not countermand it, even with the death of my crew” Trix replied.

“So why not carry on to earth?” Shelby probed further.

“At first the reactor leak incapacitated the ship; after repairing the ship I would not be able to navigate Quantum Space without a crew and I would need the Q-drive to reach Earth; I could also not risk this ship falling into enemy hands which would surely happen if I proceeded on my mission in Sub-light” Trix replied as if it was a matter of fact.

Friendship and Valor

"Though this would render the ship extremely well-shielded," Hal replied, "it would be preferable to use Borg Ablative Armor Plating, absorbed from a time traveler and then leaked through the Sleepwalker Collective--if this would not, in your opinion, lead to too significant a causality paradox. Furthermore, the weapons array could be augmented through the installation of Klingon-style disruptor cannons, one on each warp nacelle. Also, adding a Shield Drain below the bridge would give the ship the ability to conduct mercy missions--boarding an enemy craft, for example, to search for and rescue hostages. The only negative to these additions is that, as configured, the ship cannot power phasers, disruptors and shield drain simultaneously. They are usually not needed in tandem, however.

"I/we calculate that a ship of this design, if properly fabricated, would be at par in combat with a Borg Tactical Cube, as these are designed for some purposes other than strictly military. Furthermore, given the design's propulsion-to-mass ratio, it could be faster. Its combat capabilities easily exceed those of a Cardassian Dreadnaut. Are you sure that you would trust such a weapon in the hands not only of your superiors, but of fringe groups that may one day ascend to power among your people?"

Time for a bump.

Chairman T'rel of the Vulcan Planetary Council turned to face the group assembled before her. Of middle age on Vulcan, she was very old by human standards, a former Collonial Administrator serving her 5th term on the Council. And the hardest, since the devistation of the Borg attack and the loss of reliable contact with the Federation propper. Even now Vulcan knew little of the Federation save that it existed in name. And now the Council and Vulcan faced a new challenge, one that might determine their future. Vulcans might not show emotion, but the gravity of the situation was lost on no one in the room.

"So, how do we respond?"

An elderly Vulcan with iron grey hair and a stern expression rose at the back of the room. He was Solaran, commander of the system's defenses and a former tactical instructor at Star Fleet Academy.

"There is no doubt that either fleet could conqure Vulcan if they so wished, and the so called Terran Empire could probably hold it against any surviving force of which we are yet aware. Of course, their may be facts of which we are unaware. More interesting is the analysis of relative fleet strengths between the two fleets. Preliminary analysis yeilds a 2% chance of victory for the Romulan forces during a battle, presuming no outside interference on either behalf of either side, and our rough data allows us to extrapolate that their odds are probably little better in a total war. Traditionally, the Romulans have tried to bluff or negotiate their way out of unfavorable situations, so we should be prepaired for some kind of deception. However, this interference in a systym the Terran Empire clearly covets is uncharictaristcly bold, and may indicate that the Empire has not reverted to pre-Borg War policies."

To T'rel's left, a younger Councilor rose. Jaris Anar, the unofficial negotiator in the room.

"So what do you suggest? It would be illogical for the Romulans to initiate a conflict, given their apparent disadvantaged possision, but it would also be illogical for us to assume that we have full knowledge of their strength and deployments in this area, nevermind the rest of their space. That they risked this suggests that they are either desperte, or stronger than we might have thought. However, this leaves us with two extreems, and an unclear an unstable situation. Personally, I suggest that we accept the offer suggested by the Romulans: that we host a diplomatic conferece between both sides. It will buy us time to learn more about their capabillities, and also to assertain the status of the Federation. The Terrans, at least, see, to possess some contacts with the Federation, and their Admiral seems unwilling to act against the Federation's interests. If we can forstall a conflict until the Federation arrives, we may avoid any fight at all."

T'rel nodded.

"Or the nessesity to choose between new masters. However, we cannot assume that the Federation can help us. We know some remnants survived, but Perius's willingness to aid this new Empire suggests that the Federation as a coherent political and military force in this quadrent is gone. Nonetheless, I agree with your suggestion, with the provision that we contact the Terrans first to ensure they are agreeable to this arragement. Do you enter this as a motion?"

"Yes."

"Then I second it."

Five minutes later, T'rel stood in the corridor outside with Solaran. The old officer's face bore the insrcutible gaze typical of a Vulcan, but she knew him well enough to judge that he was dissatisfied with the day's proceedings, and she trusted him to much to dismiss his concerns.

"What concerns you that you would not bring before the Council, Solaran?"

The old veteran raised an eyebrow.

"I question the logic of looking to the Federation for help. You raised the matter, if breifly, so I did not pursue it further in Counsil. It would be foolish to breed disunity when we must be decisive. But I knew Captain Perius in Star fleet. He would not stand with this Terran empire unless the Federation as he knew it was dead. Logically, we should assume that the Empire is the closest remnant to the Federation as it used to be."

"The Federation was not an Empire, Sollaran. And we know that it has survived, if in a weakened form."

"Names mean nothing. The Federation conducted many imperialist ventures. The Terran Empire offers a chance to unite this region of space."

"We can make no assumptions."

Sollaran nodded.

"I merely meant we should consider their offer."

T'rel nodded. She didn't point out what both of them knew, that Sollaran had said they should assume.

"I think that your veiw of Perius and what he represents might be interfering with a logical analysis of the situation." T'rel felt uneasy for accusing her colleuge of what to a Vulcan was among the gravest of critisisms. But she needed to know that she could rely on his judgement.

Sollaran nodded again.

"I understand. But you should bear in mind that the Empire may be the last chance Vulcan has to influence either her own destiny or that of this quadrent."

Ten minutes passed before the Vulcan consulate's hail reached the Terran flagship.

"This is Councillor T'rel, of the Vulcan Planetary Council, requesting a meeting with Admiral Perius of the Terran Empire to discuss the current state of affairs in this system."

Perius watched Vulcan out of the screen as he thought out the situation.

"The Romulans want Vulcan and I will do whatever it takes to keep this quadrant in a balance of power, I will meet with the Vulcan's"

Cameron laughs

"Your a great Admiral and leader Perius but Politics is not your best area"

"Your in command while I am away, prepare for any dirty business they dont stand a chance againts this fleet so I doubt they will fight. The Romulans will try and manipulate the situation so we fire first your orders are to NOT make the first move"

Perius walks towards the transporter with nothing but a phaser on his belt, these were Vulcan so he did not expect a near death situation to unfold.

He beams down to the planet, not knowing what to expect.

Sol System - Earth - Starfleet Command

Everything that what was left of the Federation could spare--Enterprise and a couple of the ships that the Gaal had refitted and turned over--warped out of Sol System and headed for the world of Vulcan. Their crews were a diverse mix of races, especially considering that the vast majority of available bodies were human. Still, Captain Scott was pleased to be able to work with the likes of Security Cheif Stone and Sazok, one of the best engineering minds that Vulcan had ever produced.

A message was sent to the Gaal forces in the area, alerting them to the incoming task force.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia - Ambassador Dulcinea's Quarters

Dulcinea and Roberts awoke simultaneously. It was difficult to tell which one caused the other to stir.

It didn't take them long to see the two Gall exiles slumbering nearby.

It didn't take them long after that to rouse them.

"Today, your careers as spies officially begin," Dulcinea said. "And it is time for you to hone your intelligence-gathering skills. Your first assignment, courtesy of the High Command, is to find out why all the species around here but you wear clothing. You will report back to me at the end of the day."

In their gluttony, they had missed the part of Dulcinea and Roberts' evening routine that would have shed some light on some of the things that the Diplomat wanted them to learn about--from someone else.

T'rel stood at the base of the transporter pad as the beam reformed into the figure of Captain Perius. Beside her stood Solaran and Jaris, and behind them two officers of Planetary Security. T'rel was somewhat surprised by Perius's willingness to beam strait down, alone. It was likely a sighn either of openess and trust, or of some sort of manipulation. Either way, it indicated that powerful but dangerous quality among the more known as courage. Few Vulcans gave emotions much credit, but T'rel knew better. Vulcans might hide their emotions, but they had not destroyed them, and T'rel knew that emotions would have great bearring on how Perius and the others handled the negotiations.

"Admiral Perius? Or is it Captain? Regardless, I welcome you to Vulcan both as a representative of the new Terran Empire and as an officer of the Federation. As head of the Planetary Governing Council, it is in my interest to prevent conflict in or near this system, and we seek to better understand the current political situation. If you are agree, I will invite the Vulcan Commander to join us. It was illogical for you to come alone when so much has changed and so many friends have become foes, but you need not fear for your safety while you are a guest on Vulcan. In the meantime, I will introduce you to my fellow Councilors, Jaris Anar and Solaran, who I beleive you may have met."

Then Solaran stepped forward.

"Captain Perius, it is good to see you again. Perhaps you remember me? I was a tactical instructor at Star Fleet Academy before the war, but I was recalled to assist the defense of Vulcan."

(OOC: Sorry about the delay; went away for the weekend with the misses so I'll get a reply up in the morning (GMT) )

OOC:

@ Ani: No 'blem.

@ RR & Phen: I would humbly recommend against you folks continuing to ignore Alpha Longfang's hail from the edge of Vulcan System. Ain't logical ta ignore a request for ident like that. Never know when the old wolf might start howlin' at ya for it. ;)

OOC: I didnt even notice

IC:
Perius smiled at the familar face.

"I come alone because as far as I see we are still part of the Federation family and I did not want to seem like I distrusted you. Humans and Vulcans have been working together for centuries and it would be unwise of me to assume that to a race that places logic above every action that I would be a enemy"

He turns his head back to Solaran

"I remember bits and pieces but I served with allot of defenders during the war, I am getting on in years and my memory does serve me poorly"

He turns his head back to others

"I am working with the Terran Empire as a de-facto admiral but under the treaty that brought about the original planets that make up the Empire I am nothing but a Mercenary. When I last left Earth I was given orders by starfleet to protect the worlds on the Klingon border incase of any attack, Not by the Klingons but by the pirates that the war had given birth too. I take my last orders very seriously, I have 6 billion federation citizens that count on me to keep them safe. I lost communications with starfleet and without supplies for a deep space venture back to Earth I had no choice but to take orders from the only remaining federation authority in the area which was Governor John Samuel. The war might of ended in these worlds but the last 3 years I have done nothing but fight pirates and invaders of the worlds under my protection

The Terran Empire I will admit is powerful compared to other nations in the modern climate but unlike others will have you believe I do not want to join them, I have recently re-activated a old communications system that will allow all the founding worlds to contact eachother"

ISS Revelation
Cameron is interested in the Gaal's presences more so in them claiming to be representing the Federation.

"This is Commander Cameron Cook of the Imperial Starship Revelation, I am currently under orders to protect Captain Perius Krusi while he talks with the representatives of Vulcan"

He would not go further without clearance, anyone these days can claim to be the voice of the Federation infact Perius does it during fights he cant think he can win. A nice way to make Pirates think hell will break loose if they starta fight.

Zahn turned to adress the screen that would transmit his hail to the new arivals.

"Greetings, to the representatives of the Gaal. I am Commadore Zahn of the Romulan Fleet. While we mean you no harm, you should be aware that their is a delicate situation here involving the Terran Empire, of whom we are both aware. If you wish to avoid jepordizing the current stabillity of this region, it might be best if you maintain your distance. The Terrans have rather itchy trigger fingers, I'm afraid. Once the current situation is stabilized, perhaps we could greet eachother in a more formal and dignified manner. Would you like me to come aboard, or would you prefer I came to your vessel?"

* * *

T'rel nodded. Perius's stance was promising, if he was sincere. He seemed honest, but even Vulcan Councilors could be decieved, and it would be foolish to trust with out proof. Sollarian seemed about to speak, but she cut in to adress Perius.

"I am honored by your trust Perius, but as I am sure you are aware, the situation is delicate. Vulcan needs time to assess the current situation, and determine the course of action which will be most benificial to all concerned. But before I procede, I want a straitforward answer to a dificult question. Does the Empire view Vulcan's status as that of a Federation member state?"

"The Terran Empire views worlds of the Federation there right to protect in order to assure stability to ex-federation space, but if the said world is a founding world then we have no right to lay claim to the world unless they have officially left the Federation. Since you have not under the official circumstances left the Federation then we cannot by law take over the planet.

This law is simply followed because the Empire wishes to avoid a conflict with the Federation, Since Earth was never directly attacked we naturally always assumed it strong enough to rebuild quicker then this. Sadly it seems that the opposite is true. The nation is a Imperial Power but we are a smart Imperial Power.

Personally I am a Federation Captain before a Imperial one, I wish simply that the people of Vulcan open talks with United Earth. We can even offer you communications with Andoria, Tellar and Alpha Centuri"

"Alright, Scotty," Ramirez said, "go out there and show 'em what we're made of!"

"Aye, sir," Captain Scott replied.

The communication terminated.

"Helm engage."

Enterprise leaped into warp, followed closely by three newly rechristened Federation destroyers. It was impressive that the Federation could field such a task force this soon after the devastation of the last Borg attack--but Scott, in his captain's chair, did not delude himself by thinking that "Federation" meant "human." He and Ramirez shared in common a belief that the Federation was a true alliance, with all partners equal. It was this attitude, he believed, that had allowed them to find themselves in the condition they were in. Working together, they could make miracles happen.

Scott wasn't naive, though. He hadn't graduated from the Academy yesterday. He could tell that Ramirez--and, by extension, himself--had a lot riding on this mission, that there were forces at work behind the scenes that he did not want to know about. Somehow, he felt, the stakes were much higher than just the reunion of the Human-Vulcan axis that in many ways had guided--again, the word "dominated" would be a delusion--the course of the Federation.

For his part, Ramirez could only hope that there would be something left to contact when the task force arrived at Vulcan--and that whatever it was would respond to the attempt. Only time would tell.

Scott fidgeted slightly in his chair--an uncharacteristic move for him--as the ships sped off for their rendezvous with destiny.

Commadore Neera stood waiting in the transporter room nearest the bridge as the Gaal beamed aboard. Behind her stood her personal aid, and to either side stood an armed security officer. Neera always felt uncomfortable with aliens, a product of the deeply ingrained contempt in Romulan society for other beings and societies. The war had changed that for a time, but in Neera's eyes the Federation's betrayal was a clear sighn that no aliens could be truely trusted. But she needed allys, and her orders were clear. Taking a deep breath, she strode forward to meet the Gaal.

"Greetings. I am Commadore Neera of the Romulan Fleet. Welcome to my ship. Follow me. My aid will answer any questions you might have."


(On Vulcan)

T'rel considered Perius's words.

"Your offer is apreciated, but I would prefer not to antagonize the Vulcans. I believe that we should begin by extending them the same offer I extended you. At your conviniance, of course."

(bump)

"Communication details have already been sent to the Vulcan government, I think it is possible that we all start talks with the Federation. Allot of wounds have to be healed before we can get these quadrants into some form of stability".

It seemed like forever before Enterprise made Vulcan system. Ironically, once they were there, it was fairly easy to lock onto the Phoenix's Telesponder, come alongside and take the briefing that Alpha Strongpaw had to offer. He'd done a good job of keeping his cool when things could have gotten hot in a hurry. He also seemed to take Captain Scott's taking over as Task Force Commander quite in stride--at least for now.

Scotty understood that it was showtime, and he was going to be judged on how things went during the next few hours. Still, it wasn't easy looking at what was left of the once proud and beautiful planet of Vulcan--and that made it doubly important to find out what the Vulcans had done since the attack. The first thing that they would have to do is get within comm range--and that might mean going through the Revelation. Dealing with breakaway states was seldom a pleasant chore, but that didn't mean that the Federation and this newly-formed Terran Empire (which did not include the planet it was named after!) had to immediately exchange hostilities. It was time for Scotty to play a little game of interstellar poker--and this time the table didn't have a limit. His life, his crew, the future of the Federation--it all hung in the balance right here. So Scotty decided that he was going to lead low and see how the other players reacted to it.


Captain Scott of USS Enterprise to Commander Cook aboard USS Revelation.
As representatives of the United Federation of Planets, we would also like to speak
with our friends on Vulcan, and with yourselves. I suspect that we have much to
discuss in common. Request permission to inform Vulcan of our presence and schedule
a meeting.


Just what kind of people were the Terran Federation?

Cameron was excited to communicate with Vulcan about the Federation, quick to hide it aswell.

He sends a message down to the Vulcan Council

"The Federation wishes to beam down the begin talks with the Vulcan Government, they are requesting permission"

He then replies to the Federation vessel

"This is Command Cameron Cook of the ISS Revelation, I have passed on your message and you should be getting a reply shortly"

"Communication details have already been sent to the Vulcan government, I think it is possible that we all start talks with the Federation. Allot of wounds have to be healed before we can get these quadrants into some form of stability".

(OOC: the post you were responding to, I meant to put "Romulans" instead of "Vulcans". It makes no sense this way:().

((OOC: I was counting on the Vulcans to foward it :P I knew the mistake))

Joint Borg/Anamarnian Fleet - Prophet's Hope - En Route to Gaal Homeworld

CCO's Log. Stardate: supplemental.

It has taken a surprising amount of effort, but our new Gaal friends are now aboard and en route to their home. Our quarters are cramped and our resources strained, but our guests are content for the time being.

The crew is holding up well. Separation from the Main Collective is, I will not lie, a burden that we must all bear, but the residual vestiges of contact that we still have at this distance offer us the reassurance that we will soon be happily reunited.

And yet, for all of our stoutness, and all the most excellent fortune that has befallen us, we are only a heartbeat away from war if the fates should bequeath it to us. Even as I enter this log, I know that, within mere minutes, a two-day communications window will open, and we will be able to bounce subspace communications off of the Federation relic known as Echo Three and, using this interface, communicate, we hope, with the heart of the Federation. The message is ready--it was prepared days ago. The only question left is how the United Federation of Planets--the only interstellar government with the strength to overcome the driving force that was the Sleepwalkers--will react to communication from We the Awakened. Will they understand, as others have, or will the past be too much for them to overcome? Only time will tell.

Falsus of Borg out.

-----------------

Falsus: Alright, Ladies and Gents, this is the moment on which our history turns! SEND IT!

Gizmo: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Drama, drama, drama.


Attention United Federation of Planets:

We are the New Borg. Where our predecessors, whom we refer
to as 'Sleepwalkers,' were entirely of a single collective, we are
a group of linked individuals, some of whom are single and some
of whom are compound individuals. We value freedom of choice,
and, therefor, wish to establish diplomatic relations with your
governmental entities. We have 12 individuals of Terran descent
who have chosen to be repatriated. Can you help us accomplish
this?


Earth - San Francisco - Admiral Ramirez' Office

Ramirez could hardly believe what he was looking at. He looked over at Gail, and almost missed it.

"You look a little bit upset today. What's wrong?"

"That louse at the building entrance tried to call me 'Miss Piggy' again. I could kill the little creep."

"Oh, really? I think the louse is due for a little write-up, then, don't you?"

"That's why I mentioned it."

"Consider it done. Now...about this message."

"Unbelievable, isn't it? A Borg splinter group, right in our back yard."

"Do you think that this is credible?"

"I already checked into things a little. We can't tell anything about any ships at warp speed because the sensors on Echo Three are so old, but there's an ion trail going through that sector that's completely consistent with a Borg Tactical Cube and at least two other ships, potentially of Federation design."

"Whoever they are, they've got company. Keep me informed. I'm taking this one higher."

"Will do, boss man."

"And I'm not going to forget about that write-up."

"Good!"

OOC: Forgive me, Animarnia, for including you in this without your permission. I strongly suspect that this is your intention.

The message from the federation came back to Echo Three, and the station gave it a
bump on its way to the New Borg.

Nebula XR5-632-B - Romulan Vessel
"Greetings. I am Commadore Neera of the Romulan Fleet. Welcome to my ship. Follow me. My aid will answer any questions you might have."

Alpha Teshla nodded her agreement, stepping up beside the Romulan Commodore rather than remaining behind. She felt it would be necessary to assert herself as an equal immediately to prevent any future misunderstandings. She kept even pace with the Romulan, despite the difference in height, concentrating her senses to track her movements, turning when she turned, keeping herself level. Beta Hoarder kept up as best he could, hard on his Alpha's tail. Gamma Murlan had much less trouble, standing tallest of any present. Gamma Stickypads felt discretion to be the better part of valor and opted to ride rather than tire herself, swiftly ascending the massive tiger, clinging to his back.

Vulcan System - Phoenix
Alpha Longfang could not help a sigh of relief when his reinforcements arrived. He relayed the sensor data they had been able to gather, as well as the intercepted communications between the ships and the planet below. As much as he hated to admit it, and as much glory as it might have earned him, he did not want to be responsible for this situation. There was too much chance for disaster, especially considering the volatile parties now involved. The Romulans were a relative unknown, and the Empire was in a territory grabbing frenzy. There were far too many variables that he simply could not handle. He was a fighter, not a talker.

To the Romulans, he replied, "I would certainly enjoy meeting with you, however, perhaps at a later date. If you wish, our ambassador and Federation ambassadors have arrived. They can aid in the opening of peaceful negotiations. If you desire a meeting for reasons of pure interest, I am certain it can be arranged after I speak with my superiors."

The Revelation was simply informed, and needlessly since their sensors no doubt detected it, that other Federation vessels had arrived. With his duties taken care of, Alpha Longfang returned to his seat and waited for the fireworks to begin.

Former Gaal Colony Tesh'mal - Zophia - Ambassador Dulcinea's Quarters
The two ferrets woke exactly long enough to listen to her words and nod dutifully with glazed eyes before slumping against each other. As their snores began once more, Dulcinea received a file.

Taxonomic Name: Mustela nigripes sapiens
Common Name: Black Footed Ferret
Habits: Generally nocturnal, voracious eaters, primarily carnivorous.
Juveniles and adolescent ferrets generally sleep between twelve
and eighteen hours within any period of twenty-four, most often
taken in increments with periods of high activity between. As they
reach adulthood, their periods of wake and sleep generally reverse,
with several hours of high activity interrupted by naps of one to
two hours. Young ferrets are generally difficult to wake if their
natural circadian rhythm is interrupted.

It was quite obviously a bare snippet of a larger article, followed by incoherent jibberish that only half resembled words, the alphabet jumping between five different languages, primarily Gaal. Ending was a few seconds of video clip that consisted of little more than a silver sphere against a background of hazy blue and a sense of running towards the elusive object.

--ISS Revelation, ready room--

The situation was a powder keg waiting to explode now it was becoming a matter of when and not if a war will start here.

Cameron sat in the ready room with Jessica, they had got a report back from Perius and they had told him of the new arrivals, the Romulans had been notified that they can go to the planet to begin talks with the Terran Empire and the Vulcan council.

What disturbed Cameron was the Gaal's working with the Federation and how so quickly they were relying on a new member race to solve all there problems, the Federation is showing weakness by allowing a new member race to be there backbone. If the Federation does not show some strength of it's own the Vulcans with natural see that the Federation cannot offer them any real protection.

"So whats the plan if the Romulans start anything or at this rate the Gaal's?" Cameron asked Jessica, she was trained in such matters at Starfleet academy

"If the Romulans try and fight us off we alone have more then enough firepower to hold them off, the Gaal's are trying to look like the new power on the block. Sure they are working with the Federation but I feel like this is only to give there claim to influence some real meaning. They are trying to turn the Federation into a kind of puppet and the United Earth government by what we can tell does not have the military power to not accept help from anybody.

The Gaal think they have the upper hand, they most likely think they have everybody figured out which they do not. John is as much as a dickhead he is would of tricked the Gaals into thinking that the Empire had not bark then bite. John does those kind of moves in order to show the true colours of his enemies"

Cameron takes a sip of Whisky as he replies

"Yes and since the Gaal seem to think they are so powerful I say if a fight does break out we play the good guy and simply try and gather information from the experiance, The Federation and the Romulans will lose face is they compensate with eachother they both know that and the Terran Empire has more then enough resources to survive with Vulcan"

--Devenis System, Imperial Palace--

"So the Gaal seem to be taking control of the Federation's military, that gives me all the information I need"

Almerius sits across the table, worried about the new situations that had came to be

"What are you planning John?"

"At the moment the other nations are losing interest in us, they think that we are nothing but blood-thirsty imperialist. This is because there knowleadge of the events after the Terran Rebellion in our universe is very limited. This is perfect, they are making assumptions based on nothing and thinking that we will be the first to fight under just a little bit of pressure. They also seem to think we have no real influence"

"John, our military is only strong enough to protect the Empire and do minor military engagements outside of our borders we cannot afford a war"

"I am not planning to put the Empire in a war Almerius, at this rate they will fight eachother before I even think of launching a attack. The Romulans and Federation are natural enemies, they are to different to understand eachother and the idiotic Gaal are trying to be friends with them both. problem is the Federation cannot allow a further lossing of face because then they will lose confidence with everyone and the Romulans cannot afford to be friends with the Federation unless they want a civil war to erupt. What do the Gaal do to try and ease the tension, they force a blazing hot fire and cold water to mix which will either end with the fire evaporating the water or the water putting out the fire both at great cost.

The other nations Almerius, even if they do not see it. they are starting there own problems with no help from me"

United Federation of Planets to New Borg Representatives:

While we appreciate your efforts at contact, you can understand
our hesitence to pursue unverified communications.

Can we meet on neutral ground to discuss our mutual interests,
and our differences?

Commadore Zahn watched the inbound Federation fleet with a carefully inscrutable expression. Then he turned to the Gaal officer on the screen.

"We can certainly meet later as suggested, after the current tensions have eased somewhat. If you wish I can put you in contact with our Governor Vranik. He has already had dealings with your people, I beleive. I will contact you again shortly, circumstances permiting."

Gesturing for comunications to be cut, Zahn turned to his tactical officer.

"Any sighn of hostillities from the Federation fleet?"

"No Sir." The reply came quickly and clearly, but its tone held a slight edge that detracted from an air of strict professionalism. The crew were nervous. They knew as well as Zahn that if a fight broke out now, they would most likely come out of it worst. It made the Commadore all the more regretful of what he was about to do, but it had to be done.

"Send the following message to the Terrans and Vulcans: I will join you on the surface for negotiations at your convieniance. However, I feel that we should not procede until we have contacted Federation forces and determined where they stand in relation to the current situation. End transmission. Comander Solak, take the bridge. Keep me informed on any further developements. I will be in my office. Your standing orders are to avoid any conflict. Do not open fire or make contact with anyone with out my express authorization." He paused, looked around at the faces of his crew, then softly said:

"And never forget, the future of our people rests in our hands."


Governor Vranik sat in his office listening to the latest report from Councillor Vannon's security agents.

"And you have verrified the identity of the agitators?"

"Yes, and they are definately employees of Councilor Reylor's company."

Vranik nodded.

"This could be the opening we need. But it's not enough, not yet. Reylor is a hero to many of our people, and the fact that people in his employ are acting as agitators does not prove that he authorized or supported their actions."

Vannon raised an eyebrow.

"Men of higher rank than he have been executed on less."

Vranik stiffened. He could feel the anger just beneath the surface, but he kept it in check, barely. He could tell Vannon had noticed. The head of security was watching him uneasilly.

"I am more than familliar with the workings of the old Romulan Empire, thank you." He waited untill he could construct a more effective sense of calm, then continued. "And I have no desire to return to an effectual mode of government. Once rule of law and burden of proof disapear, their can be no stabillity, no order. Today we remove an inconvieniance, and tomorrow someone else does the same to us."

Vannon nodded, but he was obviously not fully convinced. Vranik went on.

"Besides, he's too popular. And if he's working with the Admiral, which we have to assume he is, then Tomall will use an unjustified arrest of a public servent as an excuse to bring down the Government, with popular support behind him. No, we must have more evidence before we can act." Vranik hesitated, then continued, more soberly.

"It may be nessisary to let them make the first move."

"Or provoke it. How far am I authorised to carry this investigation.?"

Vranik looked the Security chief in the eye.

"As far as nessisary, but no farther. I leave the matter at your disposal."

As Vannon exited, Vranik leaned back with a sigh. He was so tired. Meeting after meeting, and every time he left feeling dirty, as much a traitor as he suspected Tomall and Reylor to be. More, for they had mearly betrayed a state. Who was worse, the man who betrayed his state, or the man who betrayed his own ideals, and those upon which the state had been founded? The com station buzzed, and Vranik opened the screen. It was Zahn.

"Governor, the situation at Vulcan has escallated rapidly. The Terrans arived right on top of us, with Perius in command. They accused us of attempting to take Vulcan. Conflict, however, does not seem imminant, and I have agreed to meet with them on the surface of Vulcan for negotiations. Unfortunately, the Gaal and Star Fleet arived shortly after. The Gaal dont seem to be pushing for anything, though they may have been delaying until Star Fleet arived, but its safe to assume that the Federation will assert control over Vulcan if possible. As for the Vulcans themselves, their possistion remains unclear.

Sir, I promised you Vulcan, but perhaps we should take a less pro-active aproach for the time being. This is looking more and more like a Civil war between the Federation and the Terrans. It might be to our bennifit to sit on the side lines for the time being."

Vranik sat back in his seat, feeling suddenly far older than his years. More than ever before, he wondered if he had steared his people down the wrong path, or if he had tried to force change to quickly. He was sure that his people would not benefit from a return to isolationism, not in the long run, but had he been too ambitious in aiming for Vulcan? It was a valuable prize, but mainly for political reasons, and now it jepordized his tenous accord with the Terrans. That had been almost accidental, or at least such an early contact as had been forced upon them. Yet that too had been a direct result of his expansive policy. The Terrans were a new factor, one he was not ready to counter. Yet if he pulled back from Vulcan, then it would signal that the Terrans held the dominant possision, and would effectively end his efforts for a strong, self-sufficiant Romulan state. Which raised other questions altogether, regarding his political efforts both at home and abroad. No, for the time being, the Vulcan opperation would have to procede, albeit in a slightly altered form.

"Complete withdrawl is to be avoided, even if we cannot achieve our full objectives imediately. Vulcan was important primarily for symbollic and political reasons. What matters most, in the short-term, is that we can sell what transpires their as a victory to our people. Unless the Federation has changed radically, it will be reluctant to fight, if it is even able to engage the Terrans on an even footing. With so many factions involved, and allegiances still unclear, it may be that no one will want to make the first move. Use that to your advantage..." Quickly, Vranik layed out the basis of his plan. Zahn listened attentively, but when Vranik was done, he raised a hand to speak.

"Incidentally, have you come any closer to establishing a background on Senator John?"

Vranik frowned.

"Do you know something of value on the matter?"

Zahn gave his inscrutible smile.

"I suggest looking in files 12, 14, 117, and 239, under heading 337 in the intelligence department. Authorization Azure Star. Now if that is all, I have a negotiation to attend."

"Good Luck, Commadore."

"I prefer to relly on knowledge and skill, Governor. Zahn out."

New Borg to United Federation of Planets:

The Vulcans have a strong tradition of peace and of negotiation.
Though it may not seem neutral ground, and though it was no
doubt hard hit by the most recent sleepwalker invasion, we
believe that its people will adhere to their traditions. We
respectfully request the outer limits of the Vulcan system as
an opportune meeting place.

United Federation of Planets to New Borg:

Vulcan system is currently in flux. Meetings are going on there that
may determine the fates of multiple interstellar governments.

We cannot prevent you from going there, but we advise against it
for your sake.

New Borg to United Federation of Planets:

We feel that it is possible that such talks could benefit from
our presence. We will be under way shortly.


It took a few hours to get things squared away with the Animarnians, but, when that was done, Hollow World detached itself from its distant orbit and set course for Vulcan. Prophet's Hope was ordered to join them as soon as their mission of mercy was complete. Emperor's Choice and Friendship and Valor went along in their landing bays.

--Devenis System--
"Diplomacy if things go to plan will not work today" John looks at a picture of Perius

"I sent him to Vulcan knowing he would contact the Federation, he is not loyal to me and never will be. alas my poor Emperor finds his world being destroyed around him"

Almerius looks at John shocked "Emperor?"

"Yes, I was at one time Admiral under the command of Emperor Perius. He wanted change and I did not, he got control by Democractic election I got my position from munity and deceit. He was the breath of fresh air as some people called him, I was a reminder of the old. At that time the Admiral of Imperial Starfleet was number two in the Empire, the two most powerful men were simply the head of the Government and Military"

"I am guessing this is the story that explains why your here?"

"This is the story that explains why im here and not the real Emperor, you see when the two other Terran Factions, the Republic and the Federation, declared war the Emperor went for peace straight away. Giving space and tribute in the form of ships to the other factions to keep them away, he was literally selling the Empire in order to preserve it"

John pauses and pulls out a badge from his desk, he throws it towards Almerius it was a symbol of a Earth cracked into three pieces with a Sword stabed into one of them.

"The badge of the Emperor, it shows his power over the Terran Federation"

"Wait, slow down you said the Terran Federation went to war with the Empire"

"The Terran Federation was in theroy the 2 Terran Factions working as one, in reality it was a Government filled with corruption. Enough resources and you could buy a seat in the Council. It did have it's own fleet but yet again you could buy it for the right price, now can I continue?"

"John is there even a point to this"

"In good time Senator. When the military signed a petition of 1 million people to go to war and when we did we rejoiced and at first for good reason. We won victory after victory because we were the veterans we got so far as Mars, just a planet away from control and then the Republic pulled a few strings and got what was left of a Romulan nation to join the war. the Romulan Star Empire was conquered and enslaved by the original Terran Empire and sought revenge, the defeats came in droves with entire fleets lost because our technology to cloak scanned vessel was made for Klingon ships and we couldnt see Romulan ships until it was too late and we retreated"

"What happened?"

"By now we had found out about this universe and the original plan was to have the Emperor and several ships leave in hope of raising men for a counter attack, The idiots thought that the Federation would be weak as from what we heard they were at war with the Dominions. I was smart, I knew it would not work and I along with my most trusted soldiers boarded a single Consitution class vessel and opened the portal to this one we used the cover of battle to avoid capture. A republic ship followed but it was destroyed, I tractor beams a federation shuttle and killed the crew members. I found out the John in this Universe worked in Starfleet research and I sent my best men to kill him and after heavy research I replaced him"

"The Federation expected nothing?"

"I arrived 2 weeks before the first borg attacks, they had not the time to do anything"

"I guess for you the Borg attack was a blessing"

"not really, I wanted to take over the Federation in it's height so I would have allot more resources at my command. When I was told to leave for a colony I had to quickly choose one that suited my interests and thus I became Govenor of Devenis"

"So in the end the it was all for nothing"

"In a way, even if I did take over the Federation in it's current state it would take years before I could make any use of it, Earth is beautiful which is the only reason why I want it?"

"You never been to Earth?"

"The Alliance practically wiped the surface of Earth. No London, New York or Tokyo we had to rebuild it from scratch using what information we could get. the Population of Earth is 2 billion in my universe and most of them working in construction, The Government actually met in Deep Space 9 as they call it here. It was moved to Earth to protect it from attack, infact ironically having the Government in the place that started the rebellion lead to corruption. None of the factions could claim 100% control of the station and thus no real laws could be enforced"

"Why not make the capital on Earth?"

"inter-racial problems, we couldnt pick any city on any continent because it was deemed racist" John gave a small chuckle after it

((OOC: Sorta wrote it to fill in John's past because I want it to become more of a issue in politics))

(Time for a bump)

BAS Hollow World - En Route to Vulcan

Ver: I don't know what form of insanity has gripped you to lead us directly into a potential war zone, but I must once again voice my opposition to this. It was understandable to attempt negotiations within a militarily stable region, but traveling directly into a near war zone such as the Vulcan home world has become can only invite hostility.

Zell: Sometimes, the only way out is through. Face it, Ver: sooner or later, we're going to have singletons firing on us no matter what we do. We may as well dictate the terms, go where we understand the odds.

Ver: This is yet another argument for my position. We don't understand the odds at Vulcan. No one can. There are too many sides with too many conflicting points of view. The Romulans are behaving erratically. They have shown a military presence, but refused to use it. They have no liasons on the planet to attempt to recruit co-conspirators, as Romulans often do. They met with our friends the Gaal and attempted what looked like open negotiations. The Terran Empire could have overrun the planet--or extinguished all life on it--with the fleet they have here, yet have chosen not to. Tensions are high. How will they react when they see a ship the size of an asteroid, filled with Borg, moving into their system?

[New Link Forms--Falsus joins the meeting]

Zell: They will give us the opportunity--one way or another--to get their respect, either through peace or...

Boutrous: War is not an acceptable alternative. We have agreed on this.

Zell: Yes, we are agreed, but we may have no other choice.

Ver: We HAVE another choice. We can stay out of this prickly situation and let them decide it amongst themselves.

Falsus: Ver has a point. We must do everything in our power to avoid antagonizing these people. Not all of them are going to be as open-minded as the Amarinians and the Gaal.

Bromus: Does this mean that you'll finally see reason and call this foolish venture off?

Falsus: Not yet. Rather, I think we should approach them slowly and be ready to leave the system on a moment's notice. Ver is absolutely correct--we don't want to get into a fire fight, not even one that we can win.

Hugh: There is wisdom in this. This way, we can introduce ourselves while appearing to be as small a threat as possible.

Falsus: We stop at the edge of the system and send in an unarmed communications buey. Let them know we're not there to start a shooting match.

Bromus: Any militaristic empire will see this as a sign of weakness. It invites attack.

Ver: Just being there invites attack!

Hugh: Do we have any better solution?

Zell: Ahhhhh...no.

Ver: I'm going to regret this...

Hugh: It has been said that a compromise is something that no one likes but everyone can live with. There are risks to this--but, as our good friend Zell has pointed out, there are risks to any course of action that we would pursue. Let us, then, proceed with caution--and let our friend Falsus be among us again. It has been far too long.

Bromus: Indeed.

Hugh: Let us, then, concentrate our efforts upon the details of our arrival.

(Yes, its still alive! Kicks ass that just 4 people have managed to keep this going for several pages. I'll hopefully have a real post up tomorrow. Just kind of busy right now and I want to make this one really good).

OOC:

Please use "OOC" to indicate a post that is not set in the universe of this thread.

:p :p :p

(OOC:Looks dead now, but here goes).

Commadore Zahn strode back onto the bridge. He looked around at the faces of the crew who had served under him through all the years of struggle and death. It was moving to him that after so long, they still had faith enough to follow him into this trap. It reminded him of what he had always known to be true: that the Romulans had been, were, and always would be a great People. The current situation might be hopeless; he had little faith in Vranick's current plan. But their were always other options. One way or another, the Romulan people would emerge from this challange alive and fighting, as they had with every other. But now, it was time to act.

"Get me in touch with the Terran Empire command ship. I have a proposision to make. And stand by to contact the Imperial Capital on Devenis. Narrow beam transmisions only."

The lumbering form of the NBS Hollow World settled out of transwarp and into normal space at the outer limits of the Vulcan system. As she did, Prophet's Hope, a tactical cube, joined her. As the smaller ship merged into the larger like a fighter into a carrier, a message was sent into Vulcan system.


Attention current inhabitants of Vulcan Solar System:

We are the New Borg. We are individuals. We are interested in
establishing peaceful coexistence between ourselves and other
races, and, as we allow choices of our individual people, in
repatriating several formerly Borg Vulcans.

We will remain at the outer edge of this solar system until
contacted. We will make no threat against Vulcan or any
other inhabited world unless we are attacked first. Any
attempts to negotiate with us will be met with open arms
and a spirit of non-aggression.

We await the decisions of all with free will.

"Raise sheilds and sound battle stations. Arm tri-phasic torpedos, but hold fire. Com, could repeat that message."

It was an order rarely heard under Zahn's command, but the Commadore could not beleive what he had just heard. For once, he was at a loss, and it was all he could do not to let it show. Zahn listened intently as the comunications officer replayed the message.

"What are we waiting for, open fire!"

Zahn turned and looked the tactical officer in the face coldly. The man looked awkward, but he didn't back down. Zahn got to his feet, eyes still locked on the sub-commander.

"I expect some level of decorum on my bridge regardless of circumstances, sub-commander. Is that understood?"

The officer looked confused and resentful, but underneath was a clear layer of panic. Panic that could endanger them all. Zahn held his eye a moment longer.

"Sir with all due respect, they're Borg. We should blow them out of the sky!"

"That will do, sub-commander. You are dismissed. Operations, summon sub-comander Reyel to the bridge." Zahn turned to adress the rest of the crew.

"This is not the time for rash actions. We don't know what is going on or who is behind that message. And what ever the circumstances, I expect you to conduct yourself as Romulans and Officers of the Fleet, not like a pack of dogs. Now, put me in contact with Vranik and Tomall, as well as Neera's command. And get the Terrans on the screen now."

Cameron looks at the borg ship with what he admitted was nothing but paranoia, his biological manipulation he admited had left him mildly rash. This was not the time and before he pressed the button ordering a assault he was quick to act.

"Open communications, we cannot afford to let this affect the mission"

"Communications opened Commander"

"This is Imperial Commander Cameron Cook of the ISS: Revelation, I dont know if it was stupidity or a attempt to be honest that made you reveal yourself so quickly but I am not here to make judgement"

Cameron's mind hovers back to a borg cube...being held back by two drones as his Commander was assimilated, The Screams as people tried to resist. They haunt his memory every night.

---Vulcan surface---
Perius was making his bed on a shuttle that had landed on the planet, when the transmission from the Romulans got through he was quick to accept.

"This is Captain Perius speaking from the planets surface, state your intentions"

He had just got a report from the Fleet about the borg arrival and he told Cameron to not engage them at any cost, this was a good learning experiance from the first neutral party. The Federation would not help them and neither would the Romulans, but maybe these Borg could help him get a greater picture on the situation.

A video feed was sent to the surface. It showed a Borg, short of stature, a former human, with something put over what little of his skin showed through the implants to make it appear less pale. A smooth, shiny covering spread over most of his head, and ocular implants on both eyes looked a bit like goggles. He smiled--some would have thought it a ghoulish smile, but the teeth were perfect and the sentiment seemed heartfelt.

"Greetings, Captain Perius," he said. "I am Falsus of Borg, the designated liaison for situations such as this. I thought that our intentions were clear, but I will restate them: to repatriate some of our fellows who have chosen to return to their homes. To negotiate terms of peaceful coexistence with our fellow beings. To step out of the shadow of the Collective, whom we now refer to as 'sleepwalkers.' If you've any additional questions, we will do our best to answer.

"However, please forgive us, but, just as you show a healthy caution, so must we. We are not so naive as to believe that, just because we tell you that we have broken away from the Collective, you will necessarily take this at face value. So, as you, we ask, what are your intentions with respect to us?"

Behind the scenes, the digital telepathy system of the New Borg buzzed with tension.

Ver: Have we given away too much? Will they surmise that the Collective lacks the strength to attack them again because of us? Will they take this as a sign of weakness on their part?

Bromus: We are not weak.

Zell: Watch your statements! Look at those sensor readings!

Falsus: Yes. In a free-for-all battle, there would be utter chaos. We could be completely wiped out, even as our opponents were. War is not the answer.

Ver: It seldom is.

Bromus: Nonetheless, sometimes, the only way out is through.

Hugh: Brothers, we have agreed upon these things already. The question is, how shall we get through?

Gizmo: How about with a little bit of flash?

The lights on the Hollow World came up. The energy signature made her starkly visible to every sensor in the system. Yet, there were no weapons signatures.

Perius was quick to answer

"Our mission is to assure the survival of the Empire, my personal goal is to uphold the dignity and honor of the old Federation. I just want to learn what I can about the situation to see how we can improve on how things were, already we have Romulan, Federation and now Borg in the same system and no fight has broken out. I mean this with complete honesty Falsus, even if your implants are a sign of a race that almost destroyed us, you being free from there cluches gives me nothing but hope" Perius smiles gently, this was the logical way to look at the situation...his emotional side was crying for revenge on the whole Borg people free or not, but he knew it was irrational he was a Federation captain and cannot resort to any barbarianism that can lead to war.

"If you wish we can hold talks, learn from eachother...I should apologize for any weird behavior from my Commander, his experiances in the war were haunting and scaring as were the same with many people. The Romulans are trying to begin talks aswell so it might have to wait, you can talk with Cameron in the mean-time just understand any bitterness in his personality"

He then opens communications to the Romulan fleet

"Beam down, we will meet here on neutral ground"

"Greetings again, Captain Perius. I am pleased that you responded so quickly, and I will choose to take this as an indication that you grasp the seriousness of the situation and are prepared to act accordingly.

Obviously, the Borg pressence changes the situation considerably. I am not prepared to accept their words based on face value, certainly not without consulting my superiors. However, it is in no one's interests for this chance meeting of powers to turn into a free for all fire fight. Again, the fact that you have held your fire suggests that you too understand this.

I will honor our agreement to meet on Vulcan. However, the pressence of so many factions means that this meeting can no longer take place between the two of us. I suggest we ask the Vulcans to extend their invitaion to all others pressent, including the "New Borg" if we can verify they are telling the truth. For the moment, it might defuse the situation if we agree to treat Vulcan as neutral territory.

Also, know this: if the new borg are like their predecessors, and if it does come to battle, I will be ready to fight with anyone who opposes this common threat."

So the die was cast. Perius was a dangerous foe, and Zahn had used all his skill as both negotiator and analyst to insert just the right ballance of concilliation, determination, and thinly veiled threat into his message. Now, he could only hope Perius would accept.

Perius somewhat laughed to himself, the Romulans were losing control of the situation and it had them peeing in there pants.

He sends a message to th Vulcan council

"Send a invitation out to all, we are going to have a proper and formal meeting about things. I can think of no better place then the home of logic and rationality to hold the first talks that could lead to a brighter future for all"

Next message to the new Borg "Falsus, this question may seem od but please answer it. Who are you, exactly?"

Then to everyone in the sysyem "We will all talk, this will be a meeting with what is left of the old powers and the new powers that are emerging. This experiance has made me understand that the old system just cannot work, and I will not stand here while the world around us falls apart again. We have a chance right now to make a real change for the better, no lies and no secrets"

"Your question is rather vague, Captain Perius," the small Borg replied. "It could be answered in a number of ways. I could tell you, for example, that I am the transformation of a Federation Citizen by the name of Zephran Pesho, a 52-year-old man with a few little surprises. I could also tell you that I am the Chief Command Officer of the New Borg Tactical Cube Prophet's Hope, or...I could answer that I am one of six members of our Ruling Council, who are elected by popular vote, and serve at the pleasure of the people. All of these are accurate--but I prefer to believe that there is an answer that trumps them all: I am a good friend whom you've barely met.

"Now you've piqued my curiosity, though. How would you answer that question, Perius?"

"Vague for a reason, it was a test to show your ability to think for yourself. Even borg severed from the collective ahve a hard time think by themselves and yet you seem fully comfortable in independent thought"

After thinking for awhile he put together his answer

"My name is Captain Perius I served as a Federation Captain during the war, some call me a war hero but dont believe them. More heroic people then me died fighting againts the borg the only reason I am a hero is that I actually survived. I was married but divorced when the war broke out because she did not want to be a widow, I have two offspring a daugther and a son...they would be thirteen and eighteen by now"

He heart aches as he thinks of them, Adam and Rachael

"When the war ended I was sent with a convoy of Federation citizens to the Devenis system and I have been serving the local govenor ever since".

"A man of honor and of principle," Falsus replied. "We, too, value these things."

(OOC: I meant to post tonight, but computer problem screwed it up. I'll try to post tomorrow night).

OOC: I understand computer problems. This afternoon, I resurrected two dead systems. (Unfortunately, there were THREE dead systems at the bench when I started...)

(OOC: How is this for a BUMP!)

---Devenis System, Senate---

The news of the New Borg and contact with the Federation had finally reached the Imperial Government, The few remaining Loyalist Senators attempted to make there stand.

“The agreement of Confederacy stated that when contact was made we would make talks to merge with the Federation why was there a delay in this information?” this was Senator George he controlled a few small mining operations and defense platforms on the old Federation-Klingon border…. he was no threat to the security of the Empire.

John smiles “because the Federation can offer you no protection, there fleets are weak and Earth lays on the brink of a Idenity Crisis as even Vulcan a close ally refuses to re-join straight away”

“This is about home, most of us have family on Earth, we have been patient John but we cannot keep waiting we want contact with the Federation to hold talks about merging our nations into one under THERE banner as agreed. This is simple a power game and we all know it” this was Yuri, he controlled Station 323 the heart of trade in the Empires heartland no threat since without a fleet to protect it there was no defense

“What about the citizens here Yuri, we still have a labour shortage and what about the defense of the Empire? You really think the Federation will let us have a much larger fleet stationed here? No they will take the fleet and send it to Earth leaving the Entire area under threat of a pirate raid do you want that on your mind as your hugging your son Yuri? It has only been a few years I am sure they will wat a few more months”

The next was Almerius, de-facto leader of the Loyalist group even for a Andorian he wanted contact with Earth. He longed for the Federation; he had to warn them the danger posed to it if it did not clean up it act and fast.

“What you ask for John is treason! You are asking these people to turn there back on the Federation simply so you can attempt to overthrow it, it’s obvious by the fact in the last 3 weeks you have replaced half the Senators with a bunch of your buddies. The fleet is still stationed at Regulus while our border with the Romulans stays unprotected except for your precious Fist and a handful of Runabouts”

“Careful of what you speak, or should I get the guard onto you” John said coldly

Behind him a Man in a black jump suit stood with a federation rifle on his back, this was the Imperial guard mostly Andorian but any position with influence was for the Humans. By what John told Almerius these men are actually from the Mirror Universe proper Legion soldiers of the original Terran Empire.

That’s how he also trained so many Captains so quickly in the first 2 years, they were Officers loyal to him and proved it by coming with him and deserting there real Emperor to his fate. Hopefully the Perius in this universe is smart enough to outmaneuver John because at this rate only open civil war can stop John from conquering what is left of the Federation and even then the Loyalist forces were in no shape to deal with the might of the Empire.

Almerius and John stare loathingly at eachother, the fate of the Federation was in the balance and at the moment is was leaning way to much on the Empires side.

"The Sleepwalkers left a lot of damage," Falsus continued. "In their single-mindedness, they became vulnerable to group think, and started to fancy themselves so superior to others that they didn't need to communicate with them. The result was trauma and strife. You say, Captain Perius, that you are bereaved--and I--we--believe you. But remember, there is another bereavement: that of those who were forcibly taken from the only life they knew. It is the curse of our technology that we are actually in the minds of those who are absorbed, as it happens. We feel their loss with them. It is a feeling that we have vowed no New Borg will ever have to experience--never again!

"That is why every New Borg is enjoined by choice. That is why we have Vulcan citizens whose repatriation we must negotiate. They have chosen to return to their ancestral home, and we value their choice.

"When do the meetings get started? There is much to discuss."

So, Scotty thought, they have an agenda. Bloody damn good for us it's not the usual one.

Something about Falsus' transmissions--which anybody could listen in on and most had--struck Captain Scott as sincere. There was a certain sensitivity to the little old man that made it easy to believe him--and, of course, there was always the sensor data that showed an asteroid-sized ship with tactical cubes coming in and out of it. The Borg that Scott knew wouldn't have minced words--they would already be attacking anything within range.

This was something for Ramirez to hear, too. It was hard to trust him sometimes, but Ramirez was very good at getting people to work together--something that everyone needed right now.

Still, Perius was erratic. If he was as gung-ho about the Federation as he said, why didn't he just re-up? And why was he pushing the Vulcans around the way he was? It was THEIR* planet. THEY should be the ones issuing the invitations. Or was this an implied threat? Best to find out.

"Might I suggest," Scott said into the intercom, "that our friends the Vulcans set the time and place of this meeting, as well as the list of attendees. Respect for sovereign governments is a Federation tradition that you, Captain Perius, share, is it not?"


OOC:

*HINT to Phen: use "their" when you'd use "his;" use "there" when you'd use "here."

((OOC wise I was pushing foward the invitations because it's taking awhile for RR to reply))

Perius chuckled at the request

"The Vulcan's know perfectly well what I am doing, if you wish a agreement from the Vulcan government then contact them. I give them tabs on requests and they reply, the current scenario calls for nothing else"

He was somewhat frustrated with the Federation at the moment, something about them was just uneasy. He understands there lack of trust but they must realise that the ships present are not loyal to him but the Empire, any attempt to favor the Federation could lead to the other fleet stationed in Regulus to come in and simple take control of the system by force.

John might not be interested in Vulcan, but he will not allow any show of weakness. He would kill everyone in the system and then take Vulcan to make sure his point got across.

Another problem is didnt this Federation captain understand how big the problem was? The Terran Empire is not some un-organized band of rebels hellbent on destruction...It was a organized, efficient and at the current standards a military powerhouse. The Empire does not want anything but the complete defeat of the Federation, that way John will have what he always wanted. A real claim to being the Emperor of the Terrans.

((OOC wise I was pushing foward the invitations because it's taking awhile for RR to reply))

(OOC:My apologies. I will be replying sometime tonight, and will participate in negotiations on Vulcan. Though its also time i update the political situation for my faction.)

"...and that's why I'm contacting you," Ramirez said, "on a scrambled channel. Be careful, Scotty. From what you say, this John's power is far from consolidated, but we can't afford to let our future ride on one Captain's good intentions."

"What about the New Borg, sir?"

"I really have no idea what their game is, but I doubt that they understand the Dark Mirror Universe. It simply wasn't an issue in the mind of anyone the Old Borg absorbed. My best guess is that they'd stay neutral if a war broke out, then negotiate with whoever was left standing--if they weren't attacked first--but I'm only guessing. Go to the meeting, Scotty. We can get some answers from there."

"And if the so-called Terran Empire uses this as a distraction--drops a fleet in on Sol System while we're showing force here?"

"That's why you've got to keep them busy. Ramirez out."

The image faded from the viewscreen.

Muttering a few choice words under his breath, Captain Scott rose from his chair and left the ready room for the slightly more familiar confines of the bridge. Doctor Gupta, his Chief Surgeon, looked at him as he did.

"Well?" the doctor asked.

"Bones," Scotty said, "what have you got for a pain in the..."

"This is an official communication from the government of Vulcan to all starships belonging to the fleet of a soveriegn nation within this system. In the interests of easing tentions and promoting a situation that will be to the benefit of all involved, we cordially extend an invitation to Captain Scott of the Federation, Commadore Zahn of the Romulan Fleet, Admiral Perius of the Terran Empire, and Alpha Longfang of the Gaal to meet with the Vulcan Council at a suitable time agreed on by all. As the outcome of this meeting will determine the future of this World as well as many others, and as Vulcan is the closest thing to neutral territory available on short notice, we think that it would be apropriate if the talks were held in our Council chambers. If this is acceptable to all parties concerned, coordinates will be provided once a time of meeting has been agreed upon.

Each of you is welcome to bring some of your personel with you, but we request that the number be the same for all delegations, and furthermore that you come unarmed. However, we will permit each delegation to scan the area for any sign of danger before they arrive."

"This is Falsus of Borg. I humbly request permission to join the meeting, and to negotiate with other participants the repatriation of individuals who lived in the territories that they claim their respective governments represent. Specifically, we have Vulcan and Romulan citizens, along with Tellarites, Andorians and one Bajoran whom we feel would be best served by returning them to your hands. I am certain that the reclamation of your citizens, some of whom you may even know personally, will be of serious importance to all of you."

"Vulcan will negotiate directly with the New Borg regarding repatriation, but in the interests of conducting a peaceful negotiations, we believe you should remain in orbit until tensions have eased somewhat. We appreciate your diplomatic efforts, but due to the irrational prejudices that some hold towards the old Borg, we believe that this is the logical course of action."

Scotty decided to lead the next hand.

"I would like to bring three people with me: Satak, my Chief Engineer, who is himself a Vulcan; Doctor Gupta, my Chief Surgeon and Lieutennant Commander Stone, my Chief of Security. Is four good?"

"We will await your call," Falsus said.

Perius simply walks out of the shuttle and towards the Council Chambers

His personal mission now war to make the factions understand the threat John posed, The Terran Empire was more then powerful enough to take the Federation and if they got Earth they would have a powerhouse of resources at there deposal.

Almerius told him that he was going to organize a resistance that could try and hinder the Empires 'secret projects' more so if they could possibly get more reinforcements from the mirror universe.

By the sounds of it the Empire was more like the real one by now, just with a centralised system of running it was a hell of a lot more impressive with there great ability to simply adapt and absorb technology.

Scotty shook hands with Longfang and Strongpaw before sauntering over to the transporter pad. Satak and Gupta were already there. Stone was built differently. Though only the volume of about three humans, his squat body took up about five transporter pads, and he weighed in at almost a ton. They had to use the cargo transporter. They chose to do this despite the indignity because simply launching him toward the planet--he could probably survive reentry even in Vulcan's thick atmosphere--was less dignified still.

It hadn't taken Stone long to impress Scotty. Horta eat rock. It's that simple. They secrete an acid so strong that it could turn a man into a smoking outline on the floor in under ten seconds. When Stone had first beamed aboard, his quarters had been fitted with a ten-ton block of granite. What had impressed Scotty was that, somehow, Stone had managed to injest every molecule of the stuff without leaving so much as a single scorch mark anywhere in the room.

Between that and the Horta's natural immunity to phaser fire, Scott felt pretty safe knowing that The Big Guy was going to be with him--"weapons" or no.

"See you down there," Scotty said to his new Gall friends. "Energize."

Moments later, four life forms--three carbon-based and one silicon--appeared on Vulcan's surface. Doctor Gupta slumped forward slightly as he adjusted to Vulcan's stronger gravity. His medical kits weren't weapons, so he'd come with a full load--and now, he was starting to pay the price for his quick decision.

Stone rumbled slightly as he shifted his position. Though he was blind, sensory feelers that ringed his squat body--natural seismometers as sensitive as anything Starfleet could produce--swept the ground around him.

"Ahhh," he said. "Glad the three of you have arrived safely. Better tell Dr. Gupta to watch his step."

Commadore Zahn beamed down outside the Council Chamber, accompanied by his personal aid and two security guards. After a brief discussion with Vranick, he had decided to accept the Vulcan's terms, so the guard's normal disruptors were absent. In any case, scans had shown no sign of Vulcan duplicity, and if they were logical, they would hardly wish to start a battle on their home turf when their possission was so weak.

---Devenis System---

Things had never been so bad, a group of Loyalist had tried to destroy the efforts to build a Transwarp Conduit and things were very steamed up when a fleet of about 60 small craft (Raven and Vulture class) had arrived in the system.

"We the loyal citizens of the Federation call for the immediate disarmament of the Terran Empire or will be in a state of civil war" This mood was very bold for Almerius but he had just found out orders to invade the Federation was only a week away from being executed.

All of a sudden a fleet of a Galaxy, 3 Novas, 6 Sabre's, 3 Defiant and a Constitution class entered the system and went for the rebels.

"Oh you do not want to mess with me boy, I have been in much worse situations as this" John replied over the screen. this was tense as the fleets looked at each other across the orbit of the planet.

Then the first torpedo fired from the galaxy class and smashed clean threw a Vulture destroying it and war broke out as the weak rebels try and at least weaken the Empire.

As the fight raged they did not notice a small flash of light on the other side of the system, more so the huge Sovereign class vessel that came out of it and the 12 ships that joined it.

John saw it on scanners and he lost all colour in his face when it appeared, he knew that energy signature....he had traveled using it before.

The ships came closer to the planet and all of a sudden Devenis was in panic to engage all defense platforms and soldiers were on the streets ready to fight, The fleet in regulus was called back to reinforce the planet.

John had prepared for every scenario but never, never did he think they would find him.

"How did you surive!" he shouted to himself in the office.

---Vulcan---
Meanwhile Perius was sitting ready to start talks

"I think the first matter at hand would be to talk about the current situation of the Quadrant, The Federation has obviously failed to rebuild itself to any particular status where it can defend itself, oh and if it thinks that I am the only person you need to distract to protect yourself think again. Today I found out orders have been sent to Imperial Captains, the loyal ones, that they are to prepare to assault Earth in a week. Your just lucky that I have had what is left of Sector 31 feeding me information about the Empire for a long time and trust me it was not easy, half of them died getting me the information that I present to you"

Perius takes a deep breath, time to explain the real threat to the Quadrant.

(OOC: apologies for the slow posting. I'm rather busy, and having computer problems. I should have a good long post up tomorrow).

OOC: Will also be slow for a bit. On October 12, my car got rear-ended while I was waiting at a red light. Oh..and my mom had a massive stroke. She died the following Wednesday. Other than that, no real problems.

Dastardly Stench;14118490']OOC: Will also be slow for a bit. On October 12, my car got rear-ended while I was waiting at a red light. Oh..and my mom had a massive stroke. She died the following Wednesday. Other than that, no real problems.

(I'm really sorry to hear that.)

((OOC: I think your excused for posting for while, think this thread is taking a turn for the worse anyway again))

((OOC: I think your excused for posting for while, think this thread is taking a turn for the worse anyway again))

(OOC: Well, I don't think this thread is finished yet, but we can't really proceed with the meeting at Vulcan until everyone's pressent. In the meantime, perhaps I'll fill out what's going on back home with the Romulans a bit more (already tried, wouldn't let me post for some reason:mad:).

((OOC:Yeah I was going to make a huge twist, hopfully we can keep going just a little bit further))

OOC: I hope so, too. This is the interesting part that the thread has been building to from its start! (Last I knew VulVix was having some personal problems of his own that were keeping him QUITE busy...but I'll leave that to him to explain...or not.)

((OOC: Don’t know why im writing this, think it’s because I was one post away from making a twist in events. This idea has been brewing since Perius went to Vulcan. If this thread does pickup again the idea is both Perius's will have to face eachother.))

John stared as the screen showed the new fleet moving towards them, he ordered the constitution class to re-direct and attempt to hail to him and he quickly got a beep.

“This is Emperor Krusi in command of the ISS: Augustus, who is in-charge here?”

John was stuck, but he had to reply

“Governor John Samuel of the Federation”

The man laughs, it was a very uncomfortable laugh

“I was joking John, I know exactly who this is. You see leaving your Emperor for dead in the middle of the most important battle in the war is not s smart career move…. more so making sure he was not dead and was able to re-take the portal and open it up so he could finally fulfill his mission”

“Yours good nature did not suit the situation, the Borg in this universe has all but destroyed the Federation and I have spent the last 3 years trying to rebuild this quadrant so I could return…”

“Don’t lie John, you had no intention of returning without confirmation of my death. You don’t like competition John everyone knows that!”

“I did my responsibility as a real Imperial citizen, I worked my way up by showing strength in a sea of weakness.”

“Killing senior ranking officers in their sleep is not a show of strength, how many times must we argue over this! The Empire at home is gone because of what you did, these ships is all that remains. You don’t understand the trouble of losing the best Admiral caused us”

“It was the traditional way of doing things, that’s the reason the old Empire was so strong!”

“It was the reason the old Empire fell apart and our race enslaved for 100 years, the old ways failed and changes had to be made in order to revive it. All the old system did was breed disloyalty and deceit, I couldn’t stand back as my Empire fell apart because of old mistakes”

“You will not take me ‘Emperor’ I refuse to give you that pleasure!”

All of a sudden the Augustus fired a green torpedo, which after a short distance went straight through the ISS: Fist blowing it to pieces

Terran Empire ships were stronger then Federation, years of heavy funding going to weapons development made sure of that.

John was shocked, he had never seen the Emperor lie this and he was scared. The Emperor was a good-natured fool but he was also an excellent Admiral.

Then a transmission is sent to every ship in the sector, mostly aimed towards the Traitor ex-imperial captains of the Mirror Empire.

“This is Emperor Perius Krusi of the Terran Empire, if you follow my orders and stand down your weapons and join me then your life will be spared. There were times I showed mercy but I see now that you are barely deserving of it, any attempt to resist will make me have to attack with full force”

John hoped that his defence would be enough, the platforms with the fleet could beat Perius but only if his men stayed loyal…

((WHAT A TWIST!!))

Trolev steepled his hands behind his back as he stood in the Welcome Chamber of the New Borg Cube ship Prophet's Hope. The cube ship had departed Hollow World and moved Enterprise's maximum transporter range, collected its passenger and was now returning to the docking berth from whence it had come. In his jurisprudence, captain Scott had sent the Andorian, a career diplomat, to open up a dialogue with the variant Borg who had appeared in the Vulcan system. The logic was simple--so simple, in fact, that it reminded Trolev of the kind of disgusting diatribe that he expected from the inhabitants of this system. If these people were what they claimed to be, Trolev would be a trailblazer, a hero, for being the first brave individual to contact them. If they were not, Trolev would be a martyr, a hero, for committing suicide rather than allowing them to make another incursion into the Federation.

As Trolev stepped off of the transporter platform, he extended his hand to greet the one named Falsus. He was neither surprised nor bored when he found the gesture returned with a firm handshake rather than a set of absorption tubules.

Falsus was small even for a human. His head rose only to the middle of Trolev's chest. Yet, when he moved, it was with a certain grace--he did not so much walk as glide across a floor--that made him conspicuously demanding of respect.

"It's good to meet you, Ambassador Trolev," he said in that sharp voice of his--again, not the standard baritone, but again no less charismatic in its own way. And his smile was absolutely infectious.

"Greetings, Councilmember Falsus," Trolev replied. "Forgive me, but I could not help noticing your name. I could not help but wonder if it has something to do with the saying falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus (untruthful in part, untruthful as a whole)."

"I'm impressed," the Borg replied. "In fact, that is why I chose this name--as a reminder of the danger that subterfuge poses to all who use it. Does your name have a translation, Trolev?"

Now, it was Trolev's turn to smile. "Indeed," he replied. "It derives from an Ancient Andorian word for brave."

"Well," Falsus said, withdrawing his hand, "you've already lived up to that. So how would you like to proceed? I could give you the nickel tour, show you to some refreshment, or we could just go to the council chamber and get down to business. Which would you prefer?"

"If you're willing to show--."

"Pardon me, sir," the Borg said, "but there is information that I think it would be in your people's interest to learn. We've been monitoring subspace disturbances in the area of space that is now called The Terran Empire. It appears as though a portal of some kind has just opened up and several starship-sized masses have appeared."

"Could these be ships? Can you intercept their communications?"

"That would be...difficult. As I'm certain you're aware, intrauniversal travel violates the law of conservation of energy. As a result, establishing a portal sends out a massive shockwave--it disrupts any subspace communications nearby. So does collapsing such a thing. It's a little bit like putting a large, expanding shield bubble around the portal itself."

"I understand," Trolev said. "This could well bear investigation. We should make this information available to the Vulcans and thier guests. Maybe...we could talk the Romulans into reconnoitering the situation."

The fight the broke out was amazing, the only way to tell the difference was the fact the new Imperial ships that just arrived had yellow paint on there hall.

John and Almerius made a agreement to stop the Emperor and then they can fight it out but sadly even a combined effort was not enough and when 30 Imperial troops boarded the USS Andor, Almerius was in panic.

Reports rang over the comlink

"Ship firing, we cannot hold out. Shields are down and life support has been hit, lost on levels 5-7"

"Weapons are down, sir we are reporting multiple signatures beaming into........"

These sorts of messages rang throughout the battle, when the troops came banging on his quarters Almerius stands tall and prepares to fight.
As they barge in he runs in punching the first guard unconscious but sadly it wasn't enough as he got shot 14 times before they left his body alone.

in the end only one of the new arrivals ships were lost and most of Imperial Starfleet destroyed. Defence platforms lay in ruins and John looks in shock as he gets another hail.

"Give me a report Admiral, on everything you know. From the Federation to the Romulans, I want to know what has happened and what I can do to 'fix' the situation"

John nodded, he had no chance except to hope that Perius with his fleet returns from Vulcan. He starts talking about things from the poor shape of the Federation to the rival state of the Romulans.

He does not mentioned Vulcan, all he hopes now ran on Perius either coming back with his fleet or in a better scenario Perius returning with help to take John off the throne. Either way it was better then what was going to happen to him.

---ISS Revelation, Vulcan---
Cameron sits in his quarters reading when the distress call from Devenis arrived. He presses his badge to contact Perius, the noise of the message rang throughout the chamber.

"Captain, a distress call is coming from the Devenis system. It does not state why it was sent but simply that Devenis has been attacked"

(good work. Keep the thread going. I'll try to post some events back on Vulcan soon)

Prophet's Hope, Internal Collective

Gizmo: Lookie lookie we got a cookie! Shebop bang boom! It's happenin' 'round Devenis!

Falsus: Whatever it is, I hope it's good for them, too.

Gizmo: LOLOL! It is a starship battle--and, if these readings are right, one side is getting creamed. They're sending a distress signal right into the heart of this system.

Zell: Then the loser must be the existing government.

Hugh: This does not bode well for us all. We must take this news to our brothers on the planet below!

Falsus: Right now, that would be a small group.

Hugh: This news should cause the group to grow...at least for now.

Falsus: Alright. I'll start by telling Trolev. He'll send word to the Feddies. Everyone else will no doubt intercept.

Hugh: We must encourage Trolev not to encrypt his transmissions.

Falsus: Indeed.

Prophet's Hope, Welcoming Chamber

"Mr. Trolev," Falsus said, "pardon the interruption, but word has just reached me that there has been a starship battle in the Devenis system, and that a distress signal of some sort is now being sent...here. We presume that the government there is in trouble, and we recommend that you inform your superiors of this."

Trolev raised his eyebrows. "This collective of yours...can be...surprisingly useful." He flipped open his communicator. "Trolev to Enterprise," he said.

--------------

OOC: Not going to rewrite the conversation. Please assume that Trolev got the info to Enterprise, which sent it on to the planet on an open channel so that everyone could hear. Is someone going to talk with Captain Scott on Vulcan?

The Emperor walks into Johns chamber, the battle on the ground was vicious but Perius had managed to find his target.

"Should I be annoyed that you tried to claim my position? or disgusted you were so cowardly to only question my authority outright in a situation where you thought repercussion were impossible"

He pulls a phaser out and stuns John, when he wakes up he finds himself in a agony booth.

"You cannot be serious! I told you everything!"

Perius laughs "Who said I was going to let you live 'Emperor' your to dangerous and a threat to my authority, you let 6 years of hard labour go to waste for a attempt to seize power. If you had just waited we could of come to this universe in full force. Infact we could of used your leadership to keep the dam warp effort at home going so we had something TO RETURN TOO!"

"What happened"

"The last three years have been ten times worse then before, worlds were being glassed by the Republic and not only that who they did find civilian or military were instantly put to death. All that is left of my fleet is what is here and 40 ships trying to keep the system with the warpgate technology under MY control. Your little coup came at the worse possible time and all so you could boast about how big your fucking cock is! well guess what John whoever has to tell somebody that is compensating for something"

All of a sudden John had the worst pain ever going over his body, Perius showed no emotion....he had always hated these things but in this case it might get the point across.

"Tell me John, how did feel forcing my mirror self to work for you? Must of been so satisfying seeing him follow your orders and do whatever you ask without question"

The terror booth stopped and John breathed heavily because of the pain, luckily it had somehow numbed at the end as he got used to it....sadly that meant nothing as he knew the next setting would trigger a different part of his pain section of his brain.

"He was like you more then you can think, a good-natured fool the only difference is he had no ambition for politics. I offered him position as Admiral and at one stage a position as a Senator but he never would of taken it, he was a man who only goal was to serve the Federation and no matter how much I tried to get him on my side he would not budge. That doesnt matter now, because I sent a distress signal to the fleet and even if he does not come back straight away he will be back with a fleet"

After another torture session Mirror Perius simply replied

"Your not a real leader John, your simply a conservative fool with no real potential. You don't learn, you don't even try to make things better you just stay in your little world and deny that maybe things could be better. I tried to make a Terran Empire without the violence and meaningless destruction, but people like you had to deny it was needed and look where we are John. I gave your fools your stupid war and look where the old ways got us, clinging to existence in a different dimension that knows nothing of our existence"

He toke a deep breath and continued "I hope it was worth it in the end John, I hope all the pain and death that this war made was worth it because I don't see it" tears went down his eye as he said this.

"I saw a Empire that was the future, The illogic of waste, Mr. Samuel. Of material, resources, time. I submit to you that your version of the empire is illogical because it cannot endure, I submit that you are illogical to be a willing part of it" Mirror Perius smiled as he said this and then added knowing perfectly well who he was quoting.

"What will it be, past or future? Tyranny or freedom? It's up to you"

Perius walks out to the screams from the room, Perius knew far more about this Universe then anybody. Sadly the same could not be said for John.
For now his ship the Augustus (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/0ab49f67dc4eceab5f34a9a10447ff26.jpg) was his Empire, he had no interest taking control of this sick-mens Empire he was to create the true Terran Empire.

(OOC: Their were new posts here? I wish I'd noticed that two weeks ago. I just assumed it was dead for now.)

I was waiting for you to post, then I would move the new arrived fleet to Earth where I wanted a huge battle to take place.

I was going to keep going but everyone else stopped.

(that sucks. I'd like to keep it going. No point thought with just the two of us and no one else).

Well I made a nation called 'the free terrans' which is based on the Mirror Universe based on my side of events.

Well I made a nation called 'the free terrans' which is based on the Mirror Universe based on my side of events.

(We should set up a sequal to this rp sometime, if we can find people who are interested in joining).

OOC:

A shame it had to go dead RIGHT AT THE CLIMAX OF THE STORY...

OOC:

It's not too late for the huge battle...BUT...for this to happen, the Romulans, Vulcans and New Borg must be aware of what's going on. If, instead of returning directly to the Terran Empire, Perius decides to break silence and inform them all, things could get interesting.

(telegram me when and if you decide to continue. I will post then).

Perius' communicator chirruped. It was Scotty.

"Alright, Perius, you've got contact with your government. Those damn Borg are feeding me a story about a space battle on your home turf. What's going on?"

"The fleet orbiting Devenis, it has been destroyed by a unknown party. All we have is a distress signal sorry but this is to big to ignore, I have to leave these talks and see what is going on. The fleet at Devenis was the strongest fleet in the Empire"

He pressed his badge

"Cameron beam me up and lay a course for the fleet to Devenis" and in a flash of blue light he was gone.

"What do we know Cameron?"

"It was not Borg that's the only thing we know, otherwise it would of been a Green-Code Distress Signal. But whatever it was it surprised Devenis and not only was victorious but absolutely kicked the home fleets arse"

Perius was worried, his fleet was not nearly as strong as the fleet stationed at Devenis.

"Maximum warp but keep us hidden when we arrive" he looks at the viewscreen to Vulcan

"They will most likely attempt to follow us, let them since we might need their help. 6 billion Federation Citizens are not dying on my watch" as the ship enters full warp towards Devenis everyone in the fleet was worried, little did they know how worried they should be.

"Perius, you still there?" It was Scotty's voice. "In light of what you've just told me, this information might help you: according to the Borg, if they can be believed, the ships came through an artificial interdimensional rift. I think I know who they are, and I think you know, too. And, if they are, you're wasting a trip. There's no way you can defend your people against them."

"Just do it, Falsus!" came Scotty's voice. "It can buy us the time we need."

"You're not serious, are you? You don't really want me to go in there and try to bluff them into a surrender, do you?"

"Like I said, you're the vanguard of a much larger force. They can deal with you or they can deal with the reinforcements."

"Captain Scott," the sharp, biomechanical voice replied, "if I do that, what's to stop them from immediately shipping out for the Sol system to bolster their ranks for the battle that they think is coming? Who will save your people?"

"Damn. Didn't think of that."

"This isn't a poker match we're playing here, Scott. You don't just dive into a powder keg with a lit fuse."

"I got your point. Forget that I asked."

"It seems to us, sir, that our best strategy is to make our way to the Sol system ourselves. That way, we can bolster your defenses. With us at your back, your people may be able to scare off these would-be predators."

"Falsus...no. Not like this. If we see your ships coming in, there's no way I can guarantee that there won't be a firefight."

A hand reached out and gently came to rest on Captain Scott's shoulder. It was Sotak, the diplomatic attache assigned to his team. Touching someone was a very unusual thing for a Vulcan to do, and this indicated that the wisened old man felt as strongly as a Vulcan could feel about what he was about to say.

"His logic is sound, Captain. Our traditions of peace and neutrality will continue to protect us, even as they protect us now. Your people are not so well-placed. Contact your superiors. Warn them. Let the New Borg show us all what they have become. When this is done, we can talk again about repatriation--and rebuilding."

Scott paused a moment.

"Alright, Falsus. You're go. I'll do what I can to make sure that your ride is a safe one--but be careful."

"Will do, Captain Scott. Thank you."

"You should join them," Sotak said, removing his hand.

"No, I've got to stay here," Scott replied. "I need to hear the Romulan perspective on these things--and to coordinate with Perius, if he can be convinced to change his mind and not rush into a disaster that's waiting for him."

The ship exits warp as the message arrives

"Trans-Dimensional...oh god" Perius is shocked "open communications with the others back at vulcan"

As they hear the beep that means communications are open he said very slowly yet with some panic in his voice.

"If what you say is true then the threat is more then I could ever have expected, if it is the Imperial Terrans then we have much more to fear. I suggest every ship at Vulcan meets us at the Imperial System of Regulus to group together because if this fleet manages to move to Earth then we hold no chance of loosening their grip"

Regulus had supplies and maybe he could call together what is left of the defenses to join him in a attack, he had no idea what to expect. The Terran Empire in the other universe has more powerful weapons and ships compared to the Federation, Their technology more advanced because of heavy military spending and invasion of any alien on their border.

(OOC: sorry I haven't posted yet. Is late here so I will post tomorow. Its great to have this back. Just letting you know I haven't quit again :)).

"That's right, Rodriguez," Scott said, "get the Nuremberg to REGULUS. We're putting together everything that we can throw at the Dark Mirrors there. If she isn't there to help us, there won't be much point in her being around.

"Oh--and, if you can contact the New Borg, tell them to turn their ship around and head out there, too."

The communication link went dead before Rodriguez could respond.

Actually, the Nuremberg's shake-down cruise wasn't going well. There was a glitch in the regeneration of the omniphasic shields that made them go down for a split second when they were changing. So far, there was nothing that the boys in engineering could do to stop it. Her transwarp drive was also proving to be quite temperamental.

Still, if what Scotty said was true, this was the big ship's first chance for combat. Rodriguez just hoped that she'd be ready when the show started.

He ordered the ship to Regulus.

"We'll be there, Perius," Scott said. "I just want to touch bases with the Romulans first, and find out if they trust any of us enough to work together. If I was a bookie, I don't think I'd even want to give odds on that one."

"Four to one," said Stone's voice behind him.

Scott looked back behind him and scowled. The line went dead.

Zahn rubbed exhaustion from his eyes, then sternly forced himself to ignore the growing feelings of desperation and force himself past the slight haze growing around the edges of his memory. Once again, his mind ran back over the last several hours.

Despite himself, Zahn had felt genuine shock that the Terran Empire was more than just a name. They were who they named themselves. He just hoped Vranik had followed the lead he had provided. The old intelligence files he had sited were from his days in intelligence, stolen from Federation data banks and relating fantastic tales of encounters with a mirror universe. Few in intelligence had taken them seriously, including, he admitted with shame, him. He had passed the files onto Vranik because he believed the Terran Empire was modeling itself after a charismatic myth. He had not truly believed it was what it named itself.

And now... it was all falling apart. Once again, his mind went back over the events of the past hours, trying to pick a pattern from the madness, and find a way out for his people.

He had listened with interest and concern as Perius spoke of an impending invasion. It was no suprise; the Terran Empire was clearly imperialist in its ambitions. But the time table was driving events too rapidly. He and Vranik had hoped to play on each faction's reluctance to start a war, negotiating Vulcan's effective status as a neutral territory and leaving the door open for a future takeover. But then a message had interrupted the meeting, and moments later he had received a priority message from his Second.

"Commador, we just intercepted a transmission to the Federation. They are reporting an attack on the Terran capital."

And then Perius had departed, rushing back to protect Devenis despite his divided loyalties, leaving the whole situation to unravel around him. But disaster provided opportunities. Now he was once again speaking to the Governor. Vranik looked like he had aged fifty years in a day. Zahn hoped he was up to the job. The time for him to switch his allegiances was likely running out.

"What is the situation in the capital, Governor?"

Vranik sighed. Showing weakness.

"We have some evidence of agitation by company agents, but we have nothing solid, and no real link to Tomall. Nothing on which I can act. I've sent Vannon out with orders to find something."

"Even if he has to make something to find?"

"Whatever it takes." The pain, the disgust, was obvious in his eyes. Then, Vranik smiled.

"Are my feelings so obvious to you? Do you think perhaps I am too weak?"

Zahn masked his discomfort. At least he hoped he did. How had he been so careless as to allow his thoughts to show so obviously? He was too tired, but no. NO. He would not make excuses."

"What are my order, Sir?"

"We take nothing for granted. We don't know if this is a trick. Commadore Neera is in the area. I've ordered her to conduct a close range scan of events in Devenis."

"They will detect her. But you know that, don't you?"

"She understands the risks. With luck, I will soon have what I need to compel the Admiral to act. And if he interferes... we do what we must."

"I understand." He certainly did. And so, he knew, did Neera. She would go to her death, because it was her duty. And her death would give Vranik grounds for a declaration of war against these new invaders. Support that he could use, to gain certain... concessions.

(OOC: I await the promised messages from the Federation and/or Perius. My forces have a proposition to make, but they will let you make the first move).

ISS:Augustus, Devenis System
The Emperor looks out the window, 5 more of his beloved ships had entered the system. sure the Emperor was not a imperial-conservative but this is on Imperial Terran terms, he wanted glory for his Empire and strength.

He had suspected that the people of this quadrant knew of his arrival by now, that Trans-Dimensional rip in the galaxy would not go un-noticed. But from the local intelligence reports any attempt to attack his fleet would be useless, they were divided and weak.

John is sitting in pain on a chair behind him, he smiles at the face that had caused his Empire to fall.

"Your distress call doesn't matter, your savior does not have enough ships to fight me. Even if he did get help I could get a entire war fleet in this system in the next 5 minutes. The Federation barely exist as a power, the Romulans are clinging to a few out-dated ships and the New Borg by what we can tell are still just as broken as the rest. I will reign as Emperor, it not a case of if now it's when"

John laughs "You are fighting against somebody every bit the tactician you are 'Emperor' you talk high now but can you really look in the Mirror and kill yourself?"

"I think you have not spent enough time in the chamber, take him back" john laughs as the guards take him out, Perius was not worried they were just desperate words.

The fleet was mobilizing together to plan out a attack on Earth, In Regulus things were different.

Regulus System, Terran Empire
The Revelation was in orbit as they found out about the rebellion and who arrived to put a stop to it.

Perius was in his room with Cameron.

"So your mirror self is waiting at Devenis?"

"Emperor Perius of the Terran Empire, it all makes sense to why John wanted me to stay now. He saw me as the ultimate threat to his authority because in his mind I was the only man ever capable of pulling him into line. But the thought of some tyrannical ruler being me, makes you think"

"This is a Perius who grew up in a completely different environment of Shadow and Deceit, naturally there would be a difference. The Terran Empire is nothing like the Federation, no real democracy or equality you were just given what society told you and if you didn't like it you either had to kill your way up or be killed"

"What do we know of the fleet?"

"About 10-15 ships, mostly heavy battle-cruisers and with Terran Fighters to make things worse"

"He cannot defeat everybody with just a handful of ships"

"He has reinforcements waiting most likely, ready to come into the system when they have layed out their plans"

"What you think happened to John?"

"Either dead or stuck in what they call a Interrogation Booth, trust me nobody would want to try and sneak up on them alone right now. The Empire does not kill it's prey it tortures the hell out of them until they are used up and then kills them"

"Lieutenant Hatch, open communications with the Romulans," Scotty said into his communicator.

"Roger that, sir," replied a woman's voice. Then, presently, "Communications established."

"This is Captain Scott of the United Federation of Planets for Commodore Zahn. By now, I'm sure you've heard the news. We need to talk. Here on the planet is as good a place as any."

ISS Augustus, Devenis System
They had finally mustered enough ships to attack Earth and they are.

1 Sovereign Class
7 Defiant Class
4 Trident Class (http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i116/Belcameron/ISSMANOWARWIP.jpg)
5 Excelsior Class
3 Galaxy Class

The fleet moved into position and went into warp towards Earth, they would be their in about a day or two.

The Emperor was looking forward to seeing Earth, to see Earth in it's pride and not the Alliance battered Earth of his dimension. Places like Paris, New York or London did not exist in his Dimension except for ruins that they were trying to rebuild.

Regulus System, Terran Empire
When Perius got news of where the fleet was moving he had no choice but to follow, he contacted all the ships of the other nations that he knew of with a message.

"A fleet heading towards Earth at maximum warp and we are following, If this fleet cannot be beaten we will see a dark age like no other. Freedom, Equality and Peace will cease to exist. My fleet cannot fight them alone, I know we are weak and broken but together we may stand a chance against this enemy so we must all join together at Earth and prepare for a attack"

If he remembered well the Federation defense grid in the Sol System was almost completely destroyed during the war except for those directly around Earth so the fight will be there. The Terran Empire will try and intimidate before fighting which might give them a advantage, but yet again Perius had to wonder what he would do if he was going to attack Earth....thing is he honestly did not know since during the war a such thing as a 'Offense' did not exist because the Federation didn't know where to hit the Borg where it hurt because they did not have a particular place of weakness.

If the Terran Empire had Federation like technology that could put stealth out of the equation since they wont have cloaking, but the Terran Empire also has a bloated Military Budget so in the end you couldn't rule anything out.

The contents of Perius's fleet are

2 Sabre class
1Galaxy Class,
3 Defiants,
1 Excelsior

Perius enters the ready room, where the other captains sit.

"We are to form a barrier against this fleet no matter how much help we get, because I will not let the Federation die without a fight. the quadrant is counting on us to do our duty, I know some of you have mixed loyalties but we all toke a Oath when we became Officers to do what is best for the Federation and this our chance to shine. If anybody here wants to turn back to bad, you will be held in the brig and I know a few people who would be more the glad to take over as captains of your vessel"

Some shifted in their seat but stayed, as holographic projection appears in the middle of the screen showing Earth in the middle and it's defenses and talks continue about what they would do.

Hollow World came out of warp just outside the farthest point of the elliptical orbit of Pluto.

Representatives of the Federation told the New Borg that they should head off to Regulus to rendezvous with the rest of the fleet.

Representatives of the New Borg explained why that would not be necessary.

Their fleet consisted of:


1 Fortified Asteroid
3 Tactical Cube Ships
5 Sphere Ships
3 Reinforcement Cube Ships
Various small craft


Under the circumstances, it didn't take long for the New Borg to get clearance to move deeper into the solar system, and for the Federation to give them some limited supplies.

Sol System - Earth - Starfleet Command
"Well, Rear Admiral, it seems events have turned against us," Elder Strongpaw commented, scratching thoughtfully at his greyed mane. "And just when things were going so well, too..." He let out a dismissive chuff. "Ah, well, we knew it wouldn't be easy."

Elder Nutseeker scurried back across the situation room from the comm station.

"I've had contact with the Homeworlds," she informed the two commanders, tail twitching with agitation, dancing from paw to paw. "They're sending... everything!" Her hands flew into the air, describing a great arc. "Everything we have! They're stripping our defenses to protect Earth, and no offense, but I don't see why they are. We should be pulling everything in, everyone in, and preparing to defend ourselves should these warmongers come after us next. All they want is Earth, right? So why not let them have it and -"

She continued trying to speak for several moments after Elder Strongpaw's hand clamped over her muzzle, but ceased with an irritated glare once she realized what had happened. His questioningly raised brow only increased the ferocity with which she eyed him. The staring contest continued for but a few more seconds before the elderly squirrel relented, crossing her arms with a huff. She toddled back towards the communications station grumbling to herself after she was released.

"You'll have to forgive my colleague," the lion appologized. "It is the natural response of prey creatures to hide, to flee, to burrow. She must not be blamed for reacting instinctively to a hostile situation. As for our fleet, if you recall the Janeway's Echo I can tell you that we had, at last count, thirty ships of comprable size patrolling the Homeworlds, and a similar number scouting the galaxy. I would expect those numbers to have increased only minimally in the intervening time. I would also expect that all ships not currently engaged in important diplomatic relations have been recalled and are being directed to rendevous here for the defense. I doubt very much that they will leave the Homeworlds defenseless. Ten ships at least would be kept in reserve to defend against pirates. I would suggest you count on no more than thirty ships from the Gaal, though I do not doubt they will be heavily armed and armored with salvaged upgrades. More may come, and others may arrive later, but it is best to guess conservatively, do you not agree?"

He leaned back in his seat, steepling his fingers and contimplating the tips. "At least it has come to war in a manner that brings together the disparate factions rather than further separating us, with any luck. The Romulans, if they are as clever as they are rumored, will no doubt see the folly of allowing these newcommers the slightest foothold within our universe. The Terran Empire, or what little is left of its fleet, will have no choice but to join with us or perish. And my colleagues back home have decided once more to throw our lot in with the Federation. It may seem to you a hasty decision to some, one which may have ramifications heretofore unseen, however I can assure you it is one by which we will stand.

"The Federation past made its value known with honorable conduct, bravery in the face of extreme adversity, and a willingness to embrace any who wished for peaceful coexistence. You, Rear Admiral, have taken things a step forward and brought to this new Federation an equality that was virtually unknown in its predecessor and the will to bring from the ashes a golden phoenix that may light the way for a new age of advancement." He paused to give a self deprecating chuckle. "Forgive me if I was poetic. The point is, we stood by the Federation then because of what it stood for. We will stand by you now because of what you stand for. Now, just let us pray to whatever gods and godesses might exist that we didn't survive the Mechos just to be slaughtered by extradimensional usurpers..."

Nebula XR5-632-B - Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla cursed the fates, the gods, the demons and devils, and whatever other supernatural entity came to mind. The simplest thing she had done since gaining command was leave the Homeworlds. Events seemed to be spiraling up and out into an ever more complex tangle of hostility and confusion. Just when she was beginning to think she would actually get something done, would actually forward her mission, THIS had to happen. It had taken her less than five minutes to traverse the distance between the transporter room and the bridge. She had run the entire way not spent within the transport tubes, despite decorum.

To hell with decorum. she mentally muttered.

Decorum must always be observed, especially under such stressful conditions. Her mindlinked counterpart replied. What else is to separate us from our forebears but the manner in which we conduct ourselves in the face of adversity?

Just get us ready to fly.

"Plot a course for Earth," she ordered as she stepped onto the bridge. "Engage transwarp the second you have it laid in. Announcement: All hands to battle stations, this is not a drill. Red alert. End announcement. Gamma Pilosh, get tactical up, all weapons to standby. Beta Hoarder, get down to engineering and tell Gamma Greenland that if he doesn't have that cloak working properly by the time we reach earth, you are under orders to chew his ears and tail off. Delta Pembale, go with him. Gamma Greenland could no doubt use your help. Why are we not underway yet?"

As she spoke, the ship burst free of the nebula. The starscape streaked and condensed, shooting them towards their destination. She fell back into her chair, claws digging into the arms as she gripped the rests. Surviving near mutual annihilation and war with a nearly unconquerable foe was not enough, it seemed. Now they must prove themselves yet again. They must fight and die and slay in the name of peace because there was some cosmic force that apparently found destruction and strife entertaining. A soft humming caught her attention. Gamma Pilosh smiled at her when he noticed her attention and burst into full song, his deep baritone washing over the bridge as the tribal cadence and ancient words struck deep at his listener's hearts.

((Sung to this (http://www.imeem.com/people/XSirWh/music/aSVDSJOq/lexx_and_kai_fight_song_of_the_brunnen_g/) tune.))
"Sharom gar tek, dey ya ratone./
Fishahn greynal ckorath Sharom."

Death comes this day, to home and to hearth.
We march now to fight and sate the hunger of Death.

Alpha Teshla sat thoughtful as the repetitive hymn resonated through the room. It was almost as old as the Gaal themselves, finding its roots in a species long exinct. It had been adopted by various tribes over the centuries as a call to war. During the invasion of the Mechos, it had thrummed in the throats of every Gaal on every ship. Now, it seemed doubly appropriate: a needless war at a time when war was to be avoided at all costs. The civet was startled to find herself singing along. A glance revealed that the rest of the bridge crew was as well.

Death comes, she thought. But hopefully, it will be to our enemies.

ISS: Augustus, Sol System near Neptune
The fleet arrived and even with it's small size it was trouble with the Empires huge military budget. Phasers were 60% stronger then the Federations counterpart, Torpedo's were 20% stronger and shielding was 12% more effective.

The Trident Class was a predator, 9 Torpedo Tubes, 11 Phaser Banks and thick Armour and strong shields. They were made to smash through the front lines.

The Augustus Hails in ships in the system and on the screen was the mirror Perius. His fleet cloaks, they use Neptune's cloak to hide there position.

"This is Emperor Perius of the Terran Empire of the Mirror-Universe, you might think you have the upper hand but after stealing all possible records I could get my hands on I now know your technology is pathetic compared to ours and that every ship you throw at us is either under-supplied or out-dated. Any attempt to attack my fleet now you will find I will call in reinforcements from my universe to back me up, I will give you a choice right here and now. Accept my rule and surrender or face complete destruction of not only your ships but your pathetic Federation of Worlds"

Perius needed this victory to have any chance of letting the Mirror Empire survive, he knew that in the other universe they had been smashed to the point they hold only a handful of fortress worlds on the edge of Terran Space.

USS Revelation, Pluto
When the fleet arrived it heads for Earth, it opens closed communications with Starfleet HQ in San Francisco.

"This is Captain Perius of the Federation vessel Revelation, reporting to help in the defence of Earth".

The fleet had entered red alert, but they were not prepared for what awaited them just a planet away.....

Commador Neera had been mid-way through her meeting with the Gaal commander when the alerts had begun to come in. A showdown at Vulcan, rising tensions. She knew the Gaal commander had probably recieved similar messages, but she did not initiate hostillities. And so Neera had waited, her concern growing every moment while she observed the Gaal and prepared contingencies in the event that a war began at Vulcan.

But now her plans, and the plans of Governor Vranik, had been turned upside down. Her sensors had picked up the distress call from Devenis, and in the hours since then she had received more information. A massive fleet, apparently invading from an alternate universe. She still could not truely believe what she had heard in Vranik's top secret transmission. She had learned that their were many strange things in the far reaches of the Galaxy, but this was something beyond what she had ever expected to face. Beyond even the Borg. Nonetheless, she knew her duty, and Vranik had been clear. He needed intelligence, but even more, he needed a reason to fight. And for that, he needed an example. Clear proof that these invaders were an enemy of the Romulans.

Her fleet was best placed to conduct that mission. And be that sacrifice.

"On course for Devenis, Commadore. Cloaks are activated, we are aproaching on a stealth vector. Jamming and weapons are standing by, and shields and engines are at full power."

"Thank you, sub-commander." Neera looked sadly around the bridge. She had never thought of herself as sentimental; an officer of the fleet had no place for such feelings. But she had been through hell with this crew, and they had never let her down. And now they were going to what would almost certainly be their deaths. They tried not to let it show, because no matter what had happened, no matter how the galaxy had changed, they were still Romulans and officers. And they knew it. But they would do their duty, and if they were to die they would die fighting, taking as many of these Mirror Universe invaders with them as they could. And Vranik would have his chance to act.

She still had her doubts about Vranik as he leader. If half the reports about Vulcan were accurate, he had put himself in a no-win situation, and this attack from another universe had ironically given him a way out. But there was nothing she could do about it now. Vranik was in command. She was noted distantly how little bitterness she felt at her aproaching death. Strange, what one's mind thought of at such times. But she had never expected it to end any differently. Since Romulus had been destroyed, she had always expected she would die in battle.



Zahn wondered why he was doing this. Maybe it was a way to play potential foes against eachother. Maybe it was because he knew the fleet would need every officer it could get. Or maybe it was just foolish sentiment.

"Commadore Neera. This is a coded priority message from Commadore Zahn. Put me through to the Gaal forces in your area immediately."

(OOC: waiting for a responce from the Gaal ships. Don't start the battle without me).

Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla was surprised, to say the least, that the Romulans were contacting her so soon after her departure. The Phoenix, with whom they had rendezvoused, sent a query indicating that they had picked up the signal as well. The civet allowed herself a moment to hope that they were offering themselves as reinforcements, before opening the channel. The unfamiliar face, somewhat distorted and scratchy due to the multiple relays being utilized and the space-time differential caused by transwarp, was another surprise. She was an admittedly poor judge of humanoid facial expressions and age, but this Romulan looked... old. Or not old, but aged. Strained, stressed, and pressured. Yet there was steel in him. He held his head high and his gaze was strong. He was a leader among his people, quite obviously.

"Greetings," she offered, rising from her command chair. "I am Alpha Teshla Morella of the Gaal Imperium, commanding Janeway's Echo, and acting Romulan liaison. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Despite the tension she felt from other events, establishing friendly relations with the Romulans was still highly important. Not a hint of the stress she felt entered her voice, nor did she allow her fur to ruffle. This male was a leader, and so she must show herself to be one as well.

Vulcan
Elder Southwind stood in the waiting room of the council chambers with the remaining delegates, idly studying the architecture. He had never met a Vulcan before, much less been to one of their worlds. To find himself on the planet of their origin was quite the treat. Other than the fact that he weighed half again as much as normal and his hips and back were starting to complain because of it. He neglected to voice those complaints, however, mainly due to the fact that no one else seemed to mind. He had never been one to ask for a concession others did not. He ignored the growing ache in his joints in favor of sifting through the myriad new scents that permeated the ancient place and attempting to place them.

He did wonder when the negotiations would begin. Or was it continue? After all the Romulans and Empire had been there already, but the Empire was gone now, maybe gone for good. The Romulans were still up in orbit, or so he thought. They might be gone too, and then what would he do? Not even the Mechos had remained, though he couldn't say he was unhappy about that. Such abominations had no place in a peace conference. So, it seemed that only he and the Federation representative remained. Which made the whole thing kind of pointless, since they were already working together. Maybe he could convince the Vulcans to let him roam about a bit. It would be great fun to explore this strange new world. Especially if he could ditch whatever escorts they sent along and nose about on his own.

As the main universe fleet passes through Neptune a weird Green orb makes it's way towards the fleet and hits one of the galaxy ships at the neck severing it in half.

USS Revelation, Bridge
"Report!" Perius barked

"The ship lost Life Support and propulsion they are sitting in the water"

The mirror fleet decloaks and attacks, they fire torpedo's back to retaliate but it barely scratches the strong shielding.

The Smaller ships went first but only 14 minutes later the Revelation was all that was left, somehow it had not been hit. They ship is hailed by a ship designated the 'Augustus'.

"On Screen" Perius was shocked to see his own face, except for the scar going across the cheek and his brown not green eyes there was no difference.

"Hello Captain" said the face in the mirror

"What do you want!" Perius shouts

"A game, you see John is saying your just every bit the Soldier as me so here is a test for you 'Captain' you will go back to Earth and help them in defense without your precious fleet. I want to see what the Federation strength is once and for all"

"I read in the databases that you were a reformer, why this violence?"

"I am a reformer by Terran Empire standards, but in the end you have to accept I am a Imperial Terran. You think this war with the Borg was torture, imagine a place where even the small things like fresh water on Earth is not taken for granted. Where the Terran people cling to a living on barren worlds, where Earth resembles a nuclear fallout. Thing is in my universe Captain there is no light at the end of the tunnel, sure the Terran people have been freed from slavery but when they were released all they found left of a proud heritage is ruins and dust. Yet guess what did we want to unite and rebuild? No we splintered into petty factions and continued to fight eachother until only the new-age and the Conservatives remained"

"Then go back and bring unity!"

"Unity has arrived in the form of a corrupt and pathetic Terran Republic, I am just here to represent a stronger human race and claim the most precious prize of all"

"That is?"

"A untouched and completely healthy Earth"

Communications are cut and the Revelation makes it to Earth without it's fleet, it was no time to be sad. Jessica Fisher survived because she was talking with Cameron about the situation.

"I cant believe it, all dead"

"I suggest you use the frustration to make dam sure those bastards don't get what they want" Cameron said this with a smile, part of him knew the coming battle might be his last. He had received orders from Perius that he was going to lead a boarding team to the Augustus.

"Different for you, you have nothing to lose"

Cameron stares at her with loathing before picking up and throwing a glass against the wall.

"What do you know about sacrifice DESERTER!"

"What makes you the expert!"

"Because your not the one who had to stand in a cube afraid for his life and watch as they forced people onto the table...." Cameron paused, he has said to much

"What happened on that cube Cameron, when i knew you in the academy you were so different"

"I was with a women called Bianca, it was a secret she was a nurse and we didn't want our relationship to hurt our careers. We served on the USS Melbourne-B it was a good ship, a Nova Class which had been heavily modified for combat. We were ambushed by a Sphere, the fight was short and next thing we know we were put into line. They injected nano's into some but for us we had to wait in line and see them pull arms off with the people screaming as their bodies were torn to shreds and put back together again. I promised I would help her, but I didn't know how as they lowered her onto the table she screamed for me to help but I froze....I loved her and yet I was not willing to save her. When they got to me I snapped, I used my bare fists to kill every drone in that room and by the time I finished I toke who I could from the line and we made a run for a shuttle in the Melbourne. We escaped to the nearest Federation colony, but why couldn't I do that when she was on the table"

"What happened to us, we used to be so close you would of told me this the second you got back"

"The war ruined many things, friendship being the first. Perius has not seen his family since he was deploy to Kronos about 2 years ago"

The both looked out the window to see Earth for the first time in almost 4 years, they hoped this would be a happier occasion but sadly sight-seeing would have to come later....if they survived.

(Some time ago in orbit of Vulcan)

Zahn straitened in his seat as the cat-like Gaal officer appeared on screen. He wasn't sure how best to phrase this, but their was little time. He decided to be blunt.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Commadore Zahn of the Romulan Fleet. I am currently conducting negotiations at Vulcan, but I am aware that you are in the vicinity of an officer of our fleet, with whom you were conducting negotiations. Her forces are currently en route to Devenis to investigate this extra-dimensional incursion. They are outclassed and out-gunned. If you have the ability to assist them in any way, it may save lives.

I cannot promise anything that would compromise my duty as an officer. However, Romulans remember who our allies are. If you would contact your superiors and request permission to join Commadore Neera's mission, it might help build relations between our peoples. I have conveyed these sentiments to your superiors. Now what say you?"

"Commadore, we're receiving a hail from the Federation. They wish to talk."

Zahn frowned. Now was not a good time. But a high-level request like this could not be ignored.

"Put me through. Commadore Zahn to Captain Scott. I will meet you on Vulcan, under the same terms as before if that is agreeable."

Vulcal--Diplomatic Compound

"Acceptable," said Scotty's voice. The communication went dead. He wasn't in any mood to waste time.

Sol System--Deep Orbit

Ramirez sat and tried to still his beating heart. The New Borg had materialized, as they had sent word that they would, and everything had gone without incident until the Nuremberg had shown up.

Almost the moment she had appeared, the New Borg had boarded the craft. They had sent a cryptic, back-handed apology, but there was literally nothing that could be done as they infiltrated the ship's computer and materialized teams on the weapons and shielding arrays. The New Borg had adapted to the Federation's newest weapons faster than the Federation could produce them. An hour later, the drones all disappeared, though--no prisoners taken, no harm caused--all but one. That one, the one named Falsus, had appeared on his knees in front of Nuremberg]s Chief Engineer with a PADD containing a complete list of the upgrades that the Borg had given the ship.

This shield problem was solved! The phasers were 12% more powerful. The quantum torpedoes were retooled so that they could fire 7% faster.

And the last thing that the little Borg said was, "Gentlemen, I place myself in your custody. This was my doing, and I will accept whatsoever punishment you see fit to administer for our--my--lack of patience."

It hadn't taken Ramirez long to act. He knew what Falsus had done--and part of him admired the little man's willingness for self-sacrifice. The information was that he was top-of-the-line, a ruler in the new hierarchy.

"Go back to your ship, Falsus," Ramirez had told him. "We'll settle up after the battle."

The rest didn't take very long. No sooner had Falsus gone back to his people than the Dark Mirror Fleet popped out of warp just outside of Borg weapons range.

And the Borg, not the Federation, sent the first message in response to Emperor Perius' demands.


The New Borg bid you welcome, Emperor Perius.

It should not surprise you that we have studied your communications,
and your technology. You have indicated that you have problems back
on your home turf.

You claim that you are, among your people, a bringer of enlightenment.
We would like to believe you. That is why we make the following
offer.

Though we detest violence, we will be willing to fight at your back to
secure your Terran Empire and ensure that you can implement your
reform agenda. We believe that we can convince our fellow citizens
of the galaxy to add support to your cause. In return, all that we
ask is that you pursue peace instead of war--that you cease your
hostilities and begin negotiations with the United Federation of
Planets for their help in aiding your cause, as we have promised
we shall do.

What is your choice, Emperor?


Hugh: The message is sent, brothers.

Boutrus: ...for all the good it will do the ears it falls upon.

Bromus: Perhaps this is true, but it serves our purposes just as much if they take time to deliberate--or even to respond to the message. This will give our reinforcements more time to arrive.

Ver: We are ready. Our ships are able to participate in battle. Our crews are prepared.

Falsus: And we have given them the option of peace. We have pursued peace as aggressively as our forbears have pursued war. We can ask no more of ourselves.

Bromus: Sometimes, the only way out is through.

Hugh: Whether or not this will be one of those times is now...the Emperor's Choice.

A blue rip in space opens again, John who is sitting on the chair shakes his head when he looks out the window....the Borg assimilate species also for any technology they have interest in, does not Emperor Perius see what the outcome might be if he keeps making these huge energy signatures appear which can be detected light years away?

3 Defiants, 2 Tridents and 6 Sabre classes come out of the rip to reinforce the position and then the Emperor replies.

"I am not interested in talking Borg, if you wish to be destroyed along with the Federation then so be it"

The fleet moves towards the Borg fleet slowly, almost like a lion taunting it's prey. A attempt to resist would be pointless and the Emperor would be stupid to wait for a fair fight. He had to destroy the fleets separately otherwise he could find himself having to call to many reinforcements which could jeopardize his position in the Mirror Universe.

The Emperor sends orders to the fleet.

"All ships lock onto the Fortified Asteroid with all weapons on continious fire, dont give them time to repair or adapt. Full Impulse to make us harder to hit, if they follow Borg tactics they will try to lower our shields to board and then try and disable our ships. They might not be proper Borg but they will practically be the same"

transphasic torpedo would of been a natural choice but he had read the databanks on the starship voyager and realized the Borg would of had to adapted to the technology before they managed to practically wipe the Federation out.

The main advantage was that the Terran Empires weapons were different from Federation in some ways so the Borg should not be able to adapt to them for awhile at least. The Tactical advantage was in knowledge, the Terran Rebellion did steal information on the federation and thus allowed him to have some insight on what to expect. The Federation went out of it's way to ignore the existence of a Mirror Universe, thus they barely knew anything outside the few encounters they have had.

All of a sudden all the ships fire a mix of Photon and Quamtum Torpedo's at the Asteroid all aimed a the same exact spot hoping the barrage would heavily damage the object and cause a weak spot to continue to fire.

The Emperor then opened another communication with the Borg

"Lets see what makes you scared when you look in the mirror"

Hugh: The battle is upon us, brothers!

Bromus: It is as I feared! Now, we must dominate or be dominated!

Ver: Hold the line! Don't panic! Together, we can triumph!

Falsus: The more I look at our opponents, the more they look like a one-man show. Is everybody else thinking the same thing that I'm thinking?

Zell: Yes. It's a simple strategy: concentrate our fire on the flagship. Attack their command and control. Remove their leader. Use my new tactics.

Ver: The three of us should be able to do it! Coordinate your fire! Starting...NOW!

-----------------------------------

The three tactical cubes decloaked behind the enemy's front line as the first volley hit, weakening the asteroid's shielding. As Hollow World's main turrets opened up, unleashing disruptor fire, meson neutralizers, quantum torpedos and point defense fire on the enemy fleet, Emperor's Choice, Friendship and Valor and Prophet's Hope hit the Augustus with all their firepower, spinning in space to bring to bear different weapons as they moved.

Then, before the escourt fleet could lock weapons on them, they cloaked again.

They had already adapted their tactics. Outgunned but still able to outrun the enemy, they were using hit-and-run--decloaking, releasing a volley or two, then cloaking again.

The cube ships weren't just trying to smash Augustus' shields--it was plain that the New Borg didn't care whether they boarded the ship or destroyed it. They wanted Emperor Perius. A distributed-power society like the New Borg could continue to fight without its leaders; an authoritarian regime like the Terran Empire could not.

As the tactical cubes winked out, the Nuremberg flew in behind them, new shields at maximum. If nothing else, she could slug it out with a few of these ships, and draw fire from her allies.

--------------------------------


You should not concern yourself with our fears, Emperor.

Your own should be enough.


--------------------------------------------

Ver: Did you get the readings, Zell?

Zell: Of course I got them.

Falsus: Excellent. Now, we can try the slingshot on the next wave of reinforcements.

Ver: Nice adaptation, brothers.

Bromus: Now, we must continue to FIGHT LIKE NEW BORG!

OOC:

@Phen:

Feel free to use dark-mirror versions of my Borg characters. Boutrus (Neru, Bajoran), Bromus (K'tach son of K'tack, Klingon), Falsus (Zephran Pesho, human) and Ver (Nesta, Cardassian) are the most respected of the Borg High Council, after, of course, Hugh. Zell (Zell, Romulan) is the CCO of Emperor's Choice, and a brilliant tactician. Omigott (Strolopos, Andorian) is their best engineer.

BTW, the New Borg are fully capable of using the slingshot system from the TNG novel to propel the reinforcements back into the Dark Mirror Universe, if this novel is to be taken to be cannon.

((OOC:Cant use Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans because they are natural enemies of the Empire))
"I fear nothing" the Emperor responded

"Emperor shields are down 10%, what are your orders?"

"Get the tridents to use there scanners to find those cloaked bastards, lets see how the New Borg fair against the might of Terran Engineering"

The tridents move out and hunt the cloaked ships using every from specialized sensors to officers watching space for distortions. Also the ships were told to slow down rate of fire and prepare to fire at any ship that threatened their position.

"Sadly they don't know we spent years in a rebellion that was fighting a Alliance of races that used the exact same tactics"

The Imperial Fleet was focusing on the shielding of the Asteroid, they were not giving up their main target as they simply saw it as the greatest threat which had to be eliminated first. Every time those tactical cubes decloak they would also fine a barrage of fire heading their way, the Terran Empire were used to these tactics and did not find it surprising they were trying to kill the Emperor. Thing is the Emperors right to rule comes from the strongest of the best, if the Emperor died the next man to prove himself as a leader would rule.

ISS:Renegade, Trident Vessel
"Sir we found a signature""

"Fire all weapons immediately! don't give them a break or I will see you in hades"

The trident vessels turn to fire their 6 forward torpedo tubes and 3 phaser banks at the Tactical Cube, it was Manuel aiming so it was not as accurate but most should hit.

USS Revelation, Earth
"What are your plans Captain?" Cameron asked

"Attacking would be suicide, our ship hasn't the power to stand up against the Imperials. What do we have from the upgrades?"

"Cloaking, Adaptive Shielding but that's about it. Our torpedo's can adapt that's about it otherwise we going to have to just prey to god we can live"

"Cloaking is our best bet, if we can draw those tridents away from the fleet we could leave them weak"

(Sorry for the delay, I'm waiting for Vulpes Vixenis to reply. If not by tonight, I go ahead to scout Devenis alone. Unfortunately, I've fallen behind, and I'm having to come up with replies to things that are supposed to have happened days ago:().

((Sorry, with school out for the holidays, haven't had internet access. Luckily, getting it back at home soon, but have internet during the holidays at least.))

Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla was stunned. An open plea for aid had been issued. Her standing orders required that she accept, and she could see no reason not to. It took only a moment of contemplation before she replied.

"I will rendezvous with your ships at Devenis along with my sister ship. We will render what assistance we can."

She ended the communications and gave a nod to her helm officer. As course was set, they received a second transmission. This one came on an odd frequency, one not normally used by the Gaal, however its encoding was oddly similar. It was little more than a short burst, then gone.

"I recognize that encoding," Gamma Stickypads murmured. "It's a short visual display, followed by schematics. I'll put it on screen."

What it showed was at first only a very large, glistening black, eye. After a few moments, the eye moved back, revealing a whole face then further to show a body. It was a ferret, female. Behind her sat a large, boxy piece of equipment that Alpha Teshla recognized immediately.

"This," the ferret on screen gestured to the device, "is the modified cloaking device currently being deployed throughout the Gaal fleet." She opened a panel, revealing the inner circuitry and a second ferret, male this time, within. "And this is how you fix it!"

Between the two of them, they very nearly rewired the entire apparatus. It ended with a wave from the pair, displaying schematics for the entire device. Alpha Teshla looked questioning at her comm officer.

"My cousin," the female offered.

"Forward it to Gamma Greenland and the Phoenix immediately."

That was something at least. With a working cloak, they would at least stand a chance at operating in a covert manner. Hopefully, the Romulans had been smart enough to upgrade their technology. It would be much more difficult otherwise. Whether or not they had, it made no difference. There would be fighting and death. There would be victors and the vanquished. When and where were known only by the revered ancestors. She found herself humming and allowed a small smile.

Sol System
From around the far side of the sun, twenty-five vessels burst free into normal space. Quickly, they organized themselves into squadrons and struck inwards, moving past Mercury and Venus. They swooped in upon earth, a flock of predatory birds sweeping in from the wings, though their mission was not one of destruction. These were the first of the Gaal reinforcements. Though alone each was no match for the ships brought to this universe by the Imperial Terrans, in their organized flights (squadrons) perhaps they stood a chance. Their technology was far different from most used within the Federation, other than those additions tacked on with scavenged parts. As they swept around the earth, cloaking devices engaged, masking them almost entirely from detection.

In a voice that was many, and yet one, a message was relayed to the asteroid Hollow World, "We are the Gaal. Our collective is at your disposal to aid in the defense of this system."

As had been observed, the technology of the Gaal was rather similar to that of the Borg, so much so that little was needed to mesh the two. It would not be surprising then, that some of their methods might also be similar. While individual and individualistic, the Gaal had learned the value of coperation. Their joining of minds was an utterly intimate form of cooperation that joined their forces in a way only the Borg had achieved. With that in mind, and with their orders requiring the defense of the Sol system from incursion by the Imperial Terran fleet, they had decided their best option was to join forces with the most knowledgeable allies.

"We will fight by your side."

((Sorry for the somewhat rambling post, done way early in the morning, very tired. Will do better next time.))

Gizmo: Houston, somebody has a PROBLEM!

Ver: Don't crowd the channel, Gizmo. We need to be serious now.

Gizmo: Sorry. We've got company, and they're friendly. Send 'em the comm specs. That way we can--Uhhh!--work as a single unit. Damn, did anybody get the license number of that asteroid? What hit us, anyway?

Zell: Tactical technique for the Gaal...

Falsus: Open communications. Send the messages.



New Borg to Gaal fleet:

Thank you for coming to the aid of the Federaion. We believe
that taking out the enemy's flagship will cripple them. They will
need to decide on a new leader, and will not be fully effective
until they can do so. Therefor, please remain cloaked, then
attack the flagship, the Agustus as a unit, recloak and
join our Sphere ships in keeping their Trident-class counter-
measures off balance.


As the tactics were sent, so was an adjustment to the Gaal
interlink that would allow limited, voluntary access to the
New Borg Collective.

Zell: Status report: Tactical Cubes.

Omigott: Emperor's Choice: shields holding at 88%, all weapons functional. Prophet's Hope: shields at 72%, primary shield drain inoperative; self-repair engaged. Friendship and Valor: shields at 93%, all weapons operative.

Falsus: Sounds like we're set for another run.

Zell: Status report: boarding measurement drones.

Omigott: They're about to enter the enemy's shielding now. I'll let you know how the armor stands up to enemy fire as soon as they encounter it.

Zell: Hurry. We need to know if we can move boarding parties in those ships. Empty drones will not win this battle.

Falsus: Alright, everybody--all Sphere Ships, all Tactical Cubes--decloak and fire on the Augustus on my mark. Steady...steady...NOW!

As the boarding cubes--empty drones sent to measure the Terran Empire's defense--hit the Augustus' shields, all the large-scale Borg ships decloaked and fired on the big ship at once.

As they did, the Nuremberg closed in.

(OOC:I will wait for RR to reply and then il post to get it all done at one time so he does not fall behind again)

(OOC: My apologies for the delay. I wrote a reply, but my computer screwed it up.:( Will try again tonight. I hope you don't get too far ahead).

Surface of Vulcan, negotiations chamber:

Commadore Zahn held out his hand to greet the Federation captain Scott. The gesture might have originated among humans, but Zahn could apreciate a tradition that began, so it was said, with the need to check for a dagger up your enemy's sleeve.

"Captain Scott, I apologise for the delay, but I'm sure you apreciate the need to analyse data and consult with superiors at times such as these.

Now, this I believe is the situation as it currently stands: The Terran Empire, previously the dominant emerging power in this region of the galaxy, has been attacked, apparently by a force of extra-dimensional invaders. This would seem to lend weight to Perius's account that the Terran Empire originates from the Mirror Universe. Perius has gone to fight these invaders, and requested assistance. Unless I am much mistaken, the Federation and the Gaal are moving to assist them, or at least to shore up their own defenses.

Governor Vranik appreciates the need for unity against an outside threat. However, the diplomatic and political situation is delicate, and many Romulans still blame the Federation for the disasters of the Borg war. It is the Governor's wish to assist as possible, and to that end he has dispatched a reconissance mission to Devenis. However, further assistance will depend upon the Federation's willingness to make certain garuntees. Understand that I have my Government's authorization to negotiate these garuntees, so I request that you put me through to your superiors immediately. In the meantime, any information you have on the current state of affairs would be greatly appreciated."



Edges of Devenis system:

Commadore Neera's gaze moved slowly over the bridge, touching on each command station for what she knew might easily be the last time. The dimly bridge lighting had turned a murky red, and a battle alert buzzed regularly in the background. She had some hope that they might survive, especially now that the Gaal officer had joined them, but they were still probably outgunned, unless the invaders had already begun to attack. She still did not understand why the Gaal had agreed to help them, and even less why Zahn had apparently requested their assisstance of his own initiative. She had known Zahn for some years now, and he was not the type to risk himself for the sake of friendship. It must be some game Vranik was playing. Perhaps they would survive after all.

"Status?"

"All stations report ready for action."

"Good. Put me through to the Gaal commander." Neera watched the Gaal officer's face appear on screen, then began to speak.

"This is Commadore Neera to Alpha Teshla. We are approaching the Devenis system. It is likely that we will be fired upon, especially if the invaders have engaged Gaal forces elsewhere. We will go in under cloak, however it is likely that these invaders will penetrate it as swiftly as the Terran Empire did. However, it is possible that they will not be able to penetrate your cloak. If they fire upon us, we will not be able to last long in a strait fight, but we might be able to last long enough to draw them into an ambush.

Also, while we will obviously retain independent control over our respective commands, I believe that we should maintain an open channel of communication, and consult each other if possible on any new and significant information or changes in tactic, strategy, and objectives. Is this acceptable to you?"

(OOC: my fleet consists of a D'dredex class cruiser, an old Klingon cruiser from Kirk's era, and a small fighter group. Weapons include disruptors, plasma torpedoes, and a smaller number of tri-cobalt devices and transphasic torpedoes designed to attack the Borg. And sorry about my Romulans acting like manipulative bastards again :)).

"In that case," Scott said, "why don't you come to earth with me and negotiate face-to-face?"

Dastardly Stench;14258358']"In that case," Scott said, "why don't you come to earth with me and negotiate face-to-face?"

Zahn frowned.

"Regrettably, I have been assigned to Vulcan. I may request a new assignment, but if the Governor wanted me to go to Earth, I suspect he would have said as much."

Certainly that was true, and he could guess the reason why. Vranik knew that the Federation would like Vulcan to themselves, and with the Terran Empire out of the way, it was between them and the Romulans. While Captain Scott might be negotiating in good faith, he would probably be glad to get Zahn out of the Vulcan system for a while, along with his star ship.

He didn't take the bait. Scott hadn't really expected him to. Something about the man told Scott that he wasn't really sandbagging. Though they both knew good and well that the Romulans could stand at the bargaining table until the battle was over, avoiding conflict and still appearing to be concerned, Scott felt that something else was going on.

Part of it was that the Roms wanted Vulcan so bad they could taste it, as they had for centuries--but part of it was that they were still smarting from the beating that the Borg had given just about everyone. It hadn't dawned on them yet that the people they were talking with, while they might not be the saviors the Roms thought they should have been, were here because they were every bit as tough as the people they were talking with--they had both survived the same ordeal.

The Romulan Empire had a rigid honorific system. Everything was about authority and pretenses. This, of course, encouraged them to be sneaky little blackards--they competed amongst themselves as well as with others on a scale that the most Federation citizens wouldn't believe unless they saw it. Scott had seen it--and he knew that, no matter how much the rules had changed when the Borg blew up the town, the basic culture was still intact.

So...how to handle the situation?

First, treat a Rom like a Rom--that is to say, make him subject to the decorum that he is familiar with. How does a Commodore stack up against a Rear Admiral--even a Pain in the Rear Admiral like Ramirez? Odds are the Commodore doesn't have the rank to deal with the man directly, and letting him just walk in and do so will make him arrogant. Keeping him in line is the only way to come out of the situation with any respect whatsoever.

Second, cover all your bases. These people aren't out-and-out killers, but they sometimes interpret a lack of involvement as capitulation. That means...Enterprise was going to be stuck where she was for a while. Leaving Vulcan could lead to a snap invasion.

"Alright," Scott said at length, "if that's the way you want to do this, I can respect that. If you'll give me a list of the guarantees that you need to establish, I'll forward them to Rear Admiral Ramirez for you, and we can begin from there. We will, of course, await your word at your leisure."

((OOC:Absolutely no tact using a Klingon vessel to make contact with the Terrans, they were enslaved by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance for a century and that is a scar that doesn't heal that easily on a people already Xeno-Phobic))

Devenis System, ISS: Revolution
The trident vessel was left behind to take control of the Planet, it was somewhere the Empire could hide.

When they found the vessel on there scanners, a Klingon ship was not what they wanted to see. Years of hatred felled the hearts of all the crewmen.

They move towards the vessel with 15 renegade fighters following, weapons and shields were turned on and they made it clear the intent to destroy the threat. They opened no communications, nothing was more fun for a Terran then hunting down their prey.

Sol System, ISS Augustus
Shields were down to 10%, they had to take drastic action.

"Arm the Chain-Reaction Pulsar and prepare to fire on my demand, increase energy to the shielding and get those dam cubes off our back. When that pulsar fires it should do a shit loud of damage"

Sparks fly around the bridge, damage was taking it's toll but he was no fool. Before the ship was destroyed he would make sure he was not onboard.

He sends a message to the fleet.
"Launch the Renegade fighters and tell them to make a defensive shell around the Augustus, they are trying to kill your Emperor will you let that happen"

Cries of 'Long live of Emperor' echo around the fleet, the Emperor had undying loyalty of his men and none would let him die without a dam good fight.

The chain reactor pulsar fires and hits the asteroid and bounces off and goes on to hit 2 of the cubes. It was a experimental project.

USS Revelation, just outside the battle
"With this much power going into transportation we can break through the shielding, capture the Emperor and put a stop to this madness" Perius said as Cameron stands on the pad, carrying a phaser pistol and rifle.

"What are you going to do?"

"You will see, good luck commander"

"You as well Captain, hope to see you again"

as the blue flashes of light engulf his body, it was a desperate move but a communication had just left the Augustus aimed towards Devenis. They could send ships to Alpha-Centuri to resupply the fleet here. They had to make sure they had no time to save the Emperor, he knew what he was planning because it is what he would do in this situation. Hold the line and call for help, they will send the entire Imperial Starfleet if they believe the Emperor close to death.

The revelation joins the fight, firing all weapons at a badly damaged trident but after just one torpedo hit shielding was down by 15%.

"Oh this will be fun" Perius whispers under his breath

ISS: Augustus
Cameron beams onto the ships, as a guard turns around to fire at him he grabs his arm in a second and twists the phaser out of his hand before using his fist to smash his face in one hit.

He brings the rifle out his back, he had to make it too engineering before they noticed he was aboard.

Gizmo: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHRRRRRGGGHHHHH!!!! WE'RE HIT!! WE'RE HIT!!!"

Moans of agony fill the collective as Emperor's Choice and Friendship and Valor suffer massive damage.

Ver: Alright, everybody, keep it calm. Together, we are still strong. Do what you're trained to do and things will--.

Hugh: Brothers, do not despair! Look around you! We have taken the initiative away from the enemy! Now, they are fighting our battle!

Hal: This is an emergency notification. Friendship and Valor has lost her ability to cloak. We are now more vulnerable to enemy fire.

Falsus: Damage control! Tactical assessment!

Zell: My ship is hard hit. 40% system failure. Primary shields gone. Weapons down to shield drain, one disruptor bank and torpedo launchers on third face. Maneuvering system offline, and the d----d weapons are facing away from our enemies. Cloaking device still operative--but enemy has partially penetrated our cloaking technology.

Falsus: Right. Gizmo, tractor the Choice so she can fire again. Lightning, move us into a protective formation around Emperor's Choice. Ver, how are your shields?

Ver: Holding at around 30%.

Falsus: Can you join us in defending the Choice while effecting self-repair?

Ver: We can certainly try.

Falsus: Sphere ships: launch the remaining prototype boarding cubes, WITH pilots this time. Use them to engage the fighters. That armor should be proof against anything those small ships can bring against it. Gunner, target all remaining weapons on the Agustus and fire at will!

--------------------------------------------

As all this was going on, one of the prototype boarding cubes landed softly against the Agustus' ablative armor. A specially-designed plate on the "bottom" of the cube fired a charge designed to depolarize the armor. If it worked, the whole plate would be virtually neutralized.

-----------------------

Bromus: Not ALL the boarding cubes should engage the fighters. Send three of them to board the Agustus, with full boarding parties. Let these sex slaves of inferior races see what it is to deal with The Borg!

-----

OOC:

Please let me know what's happening with the boarding cubes. I apologize for breaking one of them through the Agustus' shields without permission, but I didn't know what to do about it. The depolarizing charge doesn't have to work.

The blast did major damage, only a small bit of the armour was holding.

"Security teams get ready, they will try to cut through. Get the fighters to destroy the dam thing. Get the reactor back online. what is it!" he shouted to a man at the back seat.

"Intruder, heading towards Engineering"

"Where did he come from?"

"Akira class vessel, we only saw it for a second but it is there"

Cameron continue to make progress, he had to make it.

"Open another communication with Devenis tell them they need to wire for reinforcements NOW! you over there make sure every man we have in security protects Engineering before he deactivates shielding"

The Emperor was worried, the reactor was a last ditch move. he ordered the Augustus to fire a full round of all weapons on the Asteroid. other vessels were to fire on the protection they were trying to create.

He could call on another 20 ships, that was more then enough to overwhelm everything in the system. Any more and he risks the Republic being able to overtake the gate.

"The reactor will be online in another 2 hours Emperor"

Sol System
The Gaal swarm decloaked on Falsus's mark, lancing at the Augustus with coherent plasma beams, much stronger than normal phasers, but also less stable and needing more power to maintain. The strike was momentary, concentrating on a single point on the much larger vessel's shields. It was just enough to open a rift for one of the Borg's boarding vessels to slip through. Evasive maneuvers and their swarm tactic protected most of them from return fire, but a few received glancing blows. As they darted back into the protective camouflage of their cloaks, three remained visible.

The three turned immediately and headed back towards the Borg asteroid. Strikes from the Emperor's escorts slashed across their shields, piercing them to strike against hulls. Debris spun free from damaged sections, all three leaving a trail behind them, one having lost an entire wing. Not all of the debris was unintentional, however. Mingled with the spinning fragments of twisted metal were darker bodies, barely larger than a man. Long, ovoid pods split open into four grasping arms lined with suction cups, a central tangle of sensory tendrils squirming against the vacuum of space. After a few moments to orient themselves, the pods let out short jets of gas, aligning on the largest electromagnetic signature nearest them: the Augustus. Several tendrils shot out to grasp at pieces of the debris cloud that masked them, giving pieces large and small pushes in the right direction as they thrust towards the ship, slowly gaining momentum.

After only seconds, their jets shut off, tendrils retracting and arms closing. Once more, they were nothing more than dark pods, a mobile mine field. Their carapace, if scanned, would show the same density and composition as the rest of the ship innards floating about. The scattering of twisted metal and fused components would seem to be of little concern, when it was in reality a mobile mine field. Slowly, it moved towards the imperial craft. Once it came into striking distance, things would change.

The remaining Gaal ships scattered, fleeing like insects through the aether along erratic paths. One was unfortunate enough to be in the way when the massive cannon was fired. Those minds winked out of the shared Borg/Gaal collective without even a whimper, the ship instantly vaporized as all defenses were overwhelmed by the massive discharge. The flock came about as the Imperial fighters were released. Fighters were something the Gaal had become particularly proficient at dealing with during their personal conflicts.

Their formation shifted as they decloaked, forming a flat wall. They rushed towards the [I]Augustus/I], individual ships twisting within their assigned spaces to avoid incoming fire. Long before they actually reached the vessel, the formation broke, a quarter of the ships flowing along each intermediate point. They blazed past at close distance, both their speed and closeness preventing effective defensive fire. Of course, this also prevented them from giving effective fire of their own, but this seemed not to worry them in the slightest. Instead of the expected volley of plasma fire or launched torpedoes, they left behind a cloud of dark pods, one for each fighter. The second they were past the ship, the Gaal ships recloaked and scattered once more.

The pods did not wait for their motherships to escape firing range before they activated. Ion fire ignited at their bases as they spread open, immediately homing in on their prey. Their spread limbs clamped hold of a fighter, the sucker-like disks instantly bonding at a molecular level with the craft's hull, it mattered little where. The craft would find itself swiftly drained of all power. Once the fighter was thus immobilized, and the pod glutted with energy, the ion drives would ignite once more, though the output would be severely constrained, causing a buildup within the pod that would lead to overload within less than a minute. The resulting explosion would destroy the craft and eliminate the pilot within. Phaser fire would have little effect but to increase their energy output upon their final explosion. Only kinetic weapons or torpedoes would be effective in halting their advance.

The pods within the field did not concern themselves with the fighters, instead continuing to focus on their chosen target. They chose the passage of the Gaal ships as their time to strike. Breaking free of the protective debris field, they sped towards the Augustus. They would not be able to break through the large ship's shielding, but that was not their objective. No, indeed, their objective was to take out the shields themselves from without even as the Borg attempted to do so from within. The pods spread open as they slammed against the shields, ion drives blazing bright as they began to absorb the energy from the ship. It would no doubt take several minutes for them to completely drain the shields, despite their already weakened state, but drain them they would, given time.

By this time, the three damaged Gaal cruisers had reached their Borg allies. They maneuvered to the Friendship and Valor, attaching themselves to the damaged face, both to help protect it, and to protect themselves. Schematics and repair procedures were downloaded and disseminated as small drones poured from the underbellies of the docked ships. Aiding in the cube's own repair processes, the drones swarmed towards the nearest shield projection nodes. Meanwhile, the three damaged vessels put all of their remaining power to their shields, spreading their fields to mesh with that of the cube, strengthening it and helping to further protect the damaged face.

Devenis System
Alpha Teshla was immensely grateful to Gamma Stickypad's cousin as they came out of warp near the edge of the system, cloaked, and instantly went into evasive maneuvers in case their entrance had been detected. Their path ended several kilometers further into the system. Passive sensors returned data on the ships present. They were ridiculously out-gunned if it came to a straight fight. And it seemed as though the Romulans were about to find out exactly how out-gunned first hand.

Alpha Teshla felt the flow of information shifting through her consciousness, inundating her, nearly drowning her. She slowed it, directed it, delegated streams that did not require her immediate attention to her subordinate officers. Within the biomechanical cocoon of the combat interface, she felt the minds of her bridge crew and pilot linked with her own. Their sister ship, Phoenix, joined their link as well, allowing the two vessels to work in otherwise-impossible concert. She filtered her perceptions down to minimal as she received the Romulan's hail, speaking as herself alone to the commodore.

"This is Alpha Teshla," she replied, relaying the coordinates of her two ships, several hundred kilometers behind the Romulan vessels. "I accept your offer. You seem to be rather popular with these humans. We haven't been detected thus far. Try to draw them back, if you can, away from their reinforcements. We can deal with the fighters easily enough. The ships will be harder to take out. I'd suggest we make good an escape as soon as possible."

Alpha Teshla left the channel open as she maneuvered closer to the Romulans, using as little power as possible. She felt Gamma Murlan's undertone within the collective consciousness. His tone had changed with their circumstances. Now, instead of his earlier fatalistic attitude, he expressed the confidence and patience of a true predator. This was his element, after all, the bright violence of combat. That was good, she felt, because he would be doing most of the work if it came to actual combat. She hoped his experience would prove as invaluable now as it had during the war.

Vulcan - Council Chambers
Elder Southwind coughed softly as he stepped towards his fellow negotiators.

"Pardon me, Commodore," he interjected. "I believe that you and I should also speak. The Gaal have had contact with your people multiple times over the last few weeks, though none through officially sanctioned and agreed upon channels by representatives capable of and authorized to make promises for our people as a whole. In other words, we've had no official ambassadorial contact as of yet. That can change, here and now, if your Governor's desire to establish amiable contact with us is as earnest as it has been thus far made to seem. It would be in both our interests, as well as that of the Federation," he nodded apologetically to Scott, "with whom we have already made alliance. If nothing else, the Gaal would then be able to function as a neutral party in talks between your two governments."

With his bit said, he stood back, waiting for an answer. Most of his mind, however, was wondering if the Vulcans planned on serving lunch any time soon. He was looking forward to more delicacies upon which to feast.

Omigott: The new armor-depolarizer WORKS! The boarding cubes are go for FULL SERVICE!

Gizmo: Looks like the Gaal have taken out all the enemy fighter craft! Popcorn, anyone?!?!?

Bromus: IT'S ABOUT TIME! ALL BOARDING CUBES, DISENGAGE FIGHTERS AND ATTAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!

------------------------------

It was then that Nuremberg reached Augustus' outer shield radius. There was a mighty electrical arc reaching out into space as the one big ship's omniphasic shields met the other big ship's standard ones.

------------------------------

Hugh: Are we prepared, brothers?

Atilla: WE ARE READY!!!!!!!

Hugh: Then, brothers, let us make this dark moment our final hour! Let us show these miscreants that the New Borg are not to be dismissed! Let us--.[i]

Bromus: [i]Will you please stop grandstanding and give the order?

Hugh: Sorry. FIRE TUNNELING GRAVITON BEAM AT WILL!

------------------------------

It took something as big as an asteroid to contain and power it, but the Borg had one. It was huge and ate power like a Horta eats stone, but it could be devastating.

There was no bright flash, only a strange bending of the stars as a funnel of warped space came from Hollow World and right into the Augustus' salvo. Anything material within the funnel was twisted into a Salvadore Dali nightmare, and energy weapons fire was redirected off into space--but not all of the salvo was within the relatively narrow confines of the funnel. Nonetheless, it took a lot of the sting out of the Terran Empire's latest round of fire. The rest hit home against the asteroid ship's shields...but they held...for now.

In the meantime, a swarm of tiny, armor-plated cube ships descended not just upon the Augustus but upon her Trident-class escorts as well--and, unlike their predecessor, these were fully manned. Each had a four-drone boarding party.

The New Borg did not enjoin the unwilling--but they used absorption as a form of punishment for the criminals in their society--a form of prison. Now, they would try to make it a form of prison for a new kind of prisoner--the prisoner of war.

ISS: Augustus, Bridge
"Emperor we have lost shielding and boarding craft have landed, what will we do?"

The Emperor sighed, he was not going to die today. to much had been sacrificed he cannot let more people die for a cause that was not going to work, he had to admit he was wrong in his assumptions...the Federation strength after all was the sheer loyalty to got from those who knew it in good light.

He will have Earth, either it's the one here or the one back in his universe but one day he will see it again.

"All crew are to leave the ship immediately, the Augustus is lost. board with other vessel and go to a tactical retreat at the Devenis system where we can activate the gate back home"

As sparks fly behind him sending a man flying back he sent another order.

"Beam me and my command staff to the Yaucht attached to the ship, disengage and head back to Devenis with the fleet"

He would not try this again, not right now. Time to hide until he could either take over the Federation or his universes Terran Republic.

The Yaucht detaches just as the escape pods deploy and give it cover. all the ships move to form a barrier, all it had to do is return to Devenis and it could go back home.

Cameron was in engineering when he found the panel 5...4...3...2...

The Augustus self-destructed, another cover. The Tridents were lost by now but they could be rebuilt, they were to cover the escape.

USS Revelation
Perius stared out the screen, the Revelation was still in hiding. He knew the risks yet he never expected it to happen. The Emperor was smart, destroy the ship and deny the enemy the same knowledge that they had on the Federation.

"Captain what are your orders....CAPTAIN!" It was Jessica, yelling from behind and brought him back to his senses.

"Follow the Yacht, he cannot head back unless they know where to send a portal"

Hal: There's a transporter beam working aboard Augustus. Several life signs are now appearing in a small vessel attached to the side of the Terran ship's hull.

Bromus: An escape vessel! The cowards are turning and running! FOLLOW THEM! BOARD AND ARREST!

Hal: Power build-up in the Augustus' main reactor. It's going critical.

Zell: She's self-destructing! Get everything out of there! Bromus! Your Sphere ships!

Falsus: Get Prophet's hope between them and the other tactical--!

Bromus: The cowardly dogs! Get out! Get out! GET--!

BOOM!

Gizmo: Ohhhhhhh, Nellie!

Falsus: Damage report! Combat status!

Gizmo: Our shields are down to 3 per cent, but holding. Cloak active. Shield drain restored to 25% power.

As the blast hit, Emperor's Choice had her X+ face oriented toward the blast. As she had no shielding at the time, it suffered severe damage. 23% loss of surface functionality. Cloak down.

Friendship and Valor was directly behind us when the shock wave hit. Between that and her shields being partly active, she suffered no additional damage, but her primary shielding is completely down.

All boarding cube ships were lost. Two of the sphere ships have gone non-responsive, though their hulls remain relatively intact. The others have varying degrees of damage, but are servicable

Nuremberg had her Omniphasic shields engaged when the blast hit. She took no damage, and is still fully operational and battle-ready.

Falsus: Then have her switch to standard sheilds and give us covering fire!

Hal: Not necessary. The enemy is breaking off. All Trident-class ships are now inoperative.

Bromus: I say we pursue them and kick their--.

Falsus: We're too beat up for that. Let them go, Bromus. Concentrate on damage control and casualty prevention.

Bromus: But that will only embolden the enemy!

Falsus: We've shown them that we can go a few rounds with them and come out on top. They won't forget that. And we have a better industrial base than they do. Time favors us.

Hal: Unable to estimate damage to Gaal allies. We have lost contact.

Falsus: Then we must make their safety our first priority. Re-establish contact! Decloak! Rerout power to sensors!

Gizmo: Already on it, Chiefo!

Falsus: Thank you, Bravo.

Zell, among many others, could be heard snickering over the collective.

Emperor's Yaucht
As the fleet enters warp back to Devenis the Emperor was not worried, the Augustus was a fine ship but it could be rebuilt.

He walks into his Quaters where John was sitting, he was under supervision of a guard.

"When we get back you will be under trial, we still hold a few worlds on the frontier. I will say that you can rejoin my ranks as Admiral if you promise to stay loyal, together we can forge a new age for the Empire on home soil"

"What about here?"

"When we are ready we will return with hundreds of ships, the Federation is still weak and I know that if I called for reinforcements I could overrun Earth. I realized that this is a sign to make the Empire work in our universe before we force anything here"

"The Terran Republic will hunt us"

"Hunt is for prey, we are not prey John. I have serve in loyal service to the Terran Empire since I was recruited to the Imperial Academy on Mars. My father fought in the rebellion that won our freedom. The Terran Republic by what I received in my last reports has gone into war with the Romulans. Give me 10 years and we will be standing on Earth again my brother"

"I just wish I could of seen Earth again while I was here, it's beautiful"

"Home is always a beautiful place, we will see the Throneworld again. Come on, back to our real destiny"

USS: Revelation, in pursuit
Perius was looking out the window, Cameron he had hoped would see Earth again. He was the one man who needed hope the most.

"Did you know about his girl?" Jessica asked

"Yeah, she was a friend of mine and I introduced them. They are together now at least"

"Whats our plan of attack?"

"No attack, just making sure they leave"

"but you sa..."

"Passion of the moment, We just got to make sure they leave and then we can head back to Earth and work torwards making the Federation strong again"

"You honestly want to join the Federation?"

"What do you mean Jessica?"

"These are bad times, the Federation wont allow us to go out you realize. think about it, we will be leaving the Sector for good. 6 billion peoples lives are on the line we cannot just leave them alone now"

"What do you suggest I do then?"

"Join the Federation, but become the Governor of Devenis. The world would be perfect for consolidating Federation influence in the area, it has it's own shipyards and defence grid. It would help make the Federation stronger quicker, also with the Raw Materials gathered we could construct ships to help the Federation"

"I am not a man for politics, my place is in space"

"You just don't want to take a shot, that's why when they offered you to become a Federation Admiral on two separate occasions you turned it down. You just did not want the responsibility"

She pauses then continues

"You fought in over a hundred engagements with the Borg and in service of John you fought multiple pirates. You brought the Confederate fleet from it's infancy of a handful of vessels into a legitimate military power in the Quadrant. You fought against John power grab every step and without you to fight he was able to become Emperor in a week. The Federation might not recognize your abilities but the people of Devenis do, become it's protector and give those people something to rejoice about for a change. Do not leave them to the will of a Council that has so many other priorities to care about a small backwater world"

"When we get back to Earth I will do what I can, I will leave you at Devenis to make sure the pirates don't attack it. Hopefully something is left of a defence"

OOC: Days as a enemy are coming to a end, thought I should wrap up the Terran Empire. It was fun playing as them at first but they did become rather stale after awhile.

(OOC: so sorry for delay, hope I'm not too far behind the times. Will post tomorrow, and its going to be good :)).

"I'm sorry, Falsus," Ramirez said, "but we can't let you join the Federation. Not after what you did to our ship. You violated our sovereignty."

"I suppose," Falsus replied, "it won't do us any good to protest that we had no time for anything else, that we respected your people, and that the ship couldn't have taken part in the battle, much less play the major roll it did, without our assistance. With enemies like us, you could hardly need friends."

"No, it won't do any good--but I never said that we thought of you as enemies. In fact, I think that we would do well as allies, once you get settled...somewhere."

"I can't roll my eyes because I don't have them, Ramirez," Falsus countered. "It seems counterproductive for us to come all this way, fix your flagship for you and pull your planet out of the flames of war just to be sent back out into the stars we've been trying to stop sailing for years and years."

"Not exactly."

"What, then?"

"My information is that you recently visited a former Gaal colony. They seem not to want to live there any more. Why don't I see what I can do to set you up on that planet? I understand that you've gained the respect of at least two nearby interstellar powers. You would be among friends and we would have the chance to normalize relations."

"If you can get the Gaal to go for it. They're powerful allies, but they still haven't completely overcome the hurt that these Mechos of theirs have done to them. We're reticent to ask them for territory, even if they're not disposed to using it. It would be a horror to engage in conflict with such a brave and honorable people."

"That is why we have diplomacy, isn't it?"

"I suppose it is."

-------------

OOC: Well, VV...? How Much for Just the Planet? ;)

The Trident fired one wave of all weapons on the Romulan ship, but then the Imperial Fleet arrived and ordered it to stand down.

"No fighting, after careful thought I have decided this universe will fall under our control when the Terran Republic is burning beneath our feet"

The Revelation was cloaked in the system, staring at the fleet. Perius understood how alike he and the Emperor really were, he did not see these people as crewmen or numbers on a screen. his crewmen and his soldiers were his family, just like the crew of the revelation who have served him well over the years.

He goes back to when the Borg first attacked Romulan space, he was with his family on leave. He had only just been promoted to captain about a year ago and was told he was to take command of a Akira Class.

Cameron helped him pick out most of his command crew, they knew each other from the Academy. In the war he served in a huge amount of engagements, every single one except maybe 3-5 was a defeat. He was offered a Admiral promotion about 4 times and he declined saying his place was on the front...the real reason was he didn't want to be the person who ordered men to their deaths.

The Revelation survived every engagement because they were good Officers. He saw the portal open and the ships slowly pass through it, they were willing to follow their Emperor to the end. He supposed he had to start taking responsibility even if it was for the worst, imagine if he had become Admiral his abilities would of won more battles.

He presses his badge, ordering the ship back to Earth. Jessica was taking all the shuttles to Devenis, apparently there was a Nova Class still in the Dock. So they had something.

Perius was in the room dedicated to all the lives lost during the Borg war, a computer panel had all the names on a list. He told one of his Ensigns to also put in the name of Federation Officers who lost there lives in this forgotten frontier defending what become in only 3 years a dead ideal.

He walks to the bridge to see a empty seat at the Tactical Section. he didn't bother replacing it, he was not making any stops.

He did wonder what happened to John.

Mirror Universe, Imperial Starfleet HQ on Starbase 323

The Emperor sat in his throne, his Admiral sitting and starting at John.

"What are your plans Admiral Samuel?" said Perius

"The Republic has recently began a war with the Alliance, the Romulans are pose to start war as well. I say we attack and take Regulus, it's a military world with a ship yard we can use to finally start building proper warships again" John was actually happy with his position, his experience has told him that all inner-fighting did was destroy you from the inside. The Terran Empire needed to be strong and united if it was going to win.

The other Admirals frowned, natural assuming this was some kind of joke letting John be Grand Admiral after what he did.

"Good idea, prepare the fleet. it is time to turn this war around, once and for all"

The Imperial Fleet, of 60 ships go into warp.

The Terran Empire lives on and is posed to again become the sole Superpower of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants.

(OOC:Thats the last we will hear of the Terran Empire...for awhile MUAHAHAHA!)

Vulcan System, Negotiation Chamber:

Sol System"Pardon me, Commodore," he interjected. "I believe that you and I should also speak. The Gaal have had contact with your people multiple times over the last few weeks, though none through officially sanctioned and agreed upon channels by representatives capable of and authorized to make promises for our people as a whole. In other words, we've had no official ambassadorial contact as of yet. That can change, here and now, if your Governor's desire to establish amiable contact with us is as earnest as it has been thus far made to seem. It would be in both our interests, as well as that of the Federation," he nodded apologetically to Scott, "with whom we have already made alliance. If nothing else, the Gaal would then be able to function as a neutral party in talks between your two governments."

Zahn nodded respectfully at the bizzare animal-like alien who had made this offer. Too few Romulans respected members of other species, especially ones so bizzare, but a man in his position could not afford to let petty prejudice get in the way.

"I will contact Governor Vranik and relay your offer. In the meantime, my government requests the following garuntees from the United Federation of Planets:

First, the Federation will extend us formal recognition as a sovereign state. Second, the Federation will temporarily recognize Vulcan as an independent system, free to choose its own course, and in the meantime continuing to act as a neutral host for future negotiations. Finally, the Federation will repatriate any Romulans within its territory. In return, we will sign a non-aggression pact, repatriate any Federation citizens within our territory, and negotiate a new treaty allowing the Federation to use cloaking devices. Please relay these terms to your government at once, in the hope that we can build peaceful diplomatic relations in these troubling times."

Devenis System:

"Tactical, report!" Commadore Neera sat in her command chair, watching Devenis grow larger on the view screen. Magnified as the image on the screen was, she could make out traces of battle damage, as well as the powerful Federation-like warships on the screen. Already one of the vessels was moving forward. Most likely they had already been detected.

"Unknown vessel approaching. It seems to be of Federation design, but the class is unknown. It is heavily armed and appears to be moving to engage."

"Hail them:

To unknown vessels in the Devenis System: this is Commadore Neera of the Romulan Fleet, responding to a distress call from the Terran capital. Please respond."

Suddenly a volley of torpedos hurtled from the powerful warship, closing rapidly on the Romulan vessels. Neera felt the tension give way to the adrenaline of battle. Now was the time to do or die. Most likely this would be their final stand.

"Evasive manuvers. Try to draw them back towards the Gaal ships. Commadore Neera to Alpha Teshla: prepare to engage."

But as suddenly as it had begun, the firing ceased. The Terrans fell back, apparently regrouping. Neera gazed at the screen, rigid in her seat, trying to understand what was happening. Her thoughts were suddenly interuppted by her tactical officer.

"Orders, Commadore?" Neera hid her annoyance at the officer's lack of discipline. Their would be time to discipline him later.

"Pull back. Their's nothing more we can do here. Hail the Gaal and..." Suddenly their was a shout from the tactical officer, and at the same moment a massive burst of energy exploded into a wirling green maelstrom directly astern.

"Commadore, that's a Borg transwarp conduit!"

For a moment Neera sat stunned, trying to collect her thoughts. They had to arm the transphasic torpedos... Then suddenly a thought occured to her, a wild, desperate hope.

"Commadore, ships are emerging from the conduit. They're Romulan fighters!"

For the rest of her life, Neera would flinch with shame at the memory of this moment. But at that moment, she couldn't help herself. All the tension, all the fear and grief and despair since the Borg War had begun gave way in an instant and she couldn't stop herself. She simply burst out loud in laughter.

She had gone to Devenis expecting to die. She had gone, and her crew had followed her. Zahn had gone through covert channels to gather Gaal support in an effort to save her from destruction. And in the end, none of it had mattered. Vranik had had a different plan all along, and as soon as the Terrans opened fire he had opened the transwarp hub Tomall's fleet had captured a year before, bringing in reinforcements to the heart of Terran space while covering their escape.

As she gazed around her bridge, struggling to control her sudden surge of joy, Neera could see it on the faces of her crew. Before that day, they had followed Vranik out of duty, but they had not really trusted him. After today, they would die for him. The fleet was united behind its new leader, and for the first time since the destruction of Romulus, Neera found that she truly had hope for the future.

The Revelation arrived at Earth, and Perius hails Starfleet.

"Captain Krusi of the USS Revelation seeking permission to finally come home"

He knew that other problems still had to be dealt with, Vulcan was still neutral and the other founding planets would have to be brought back under our control. He was ready to serve the Federation, he had nothing to hold him back. Devenis was in safe hands and he will be requesting that he can get the Governors of the ex-empire to join the Federation.

He actually got a reply. every colony had signed to rejoin the federation and that also meant the Federation had a shipyard it was free to use. This will make the Federation a strong power again.

He sent all the information on the systems that madeup the Empire to Starfleet. Intelligence reports about the Romulans and Pirate factons and there leaders. The most important was a registry of the Federation citizens who had family on earth waiting to meet them again after all these years...Perius was naturally one of them.

"What do you want to do first to the ship Captain?" said the Helmsmen

"Get the ISS off my ship and replace them with whats right" He then smiles and says over communications

"Welcome home"

(OOC: for those who've forgotten, I mentioned in some detail the Borg transwarp hub that the Romulans had captured during the war early in this thread. I finally decided to have them make use of that strategic capabillity by dropping reinforcments from Romulan Space into Devenis. So their's now a small Romulan fleet their, though it should be leaving swiftly).

It did not take the Federation long to respond to the Romulans' proposals.


From: Admiral Rodriquez, Chief Diplomatic Officer, United Federation of Planets
To: Neo-Romulan Diplomatic Attache
Subject: Regarding Diplomatic Proposals that Your Government has Made

I) The Federation will be happy to recognize your nation as a sovereign
state, just as soon as you supply us with basic information about yourselves
such as territorial limits of your governmental unit, form of government,
names of leaders and diplomatic contacts, etc., etc., etc.

II) The Federation cannot honor your request to recognize Vulcan as neutral.
This would violate the sovereignty of the Vulcan world. If Vulcan were to
make this request, we would honor it, as per our Charter; however, you
must understand the impossibility of permitting a foreign government to make
such decisions for them.

III) We agree in principle with your proposal to exchange citizens who were
trapped by the unfortunate events that befell us all. Certainly, we would be
willing to renegotiate the Treaty of Algernon, regardless of what decision the
Vulcan people make, if a proper venue can be arranged.

Ironically, an alternative has presented itself, in the albeit unlikely event that
Vulcan proves to be inhospitable. I am certain that you are aware of a
sovereign people calling themselves the New Borg. They have negotiating
facilities that can be moved to virtually any location desired. They could
host negotiations if, again although this is unlikely, the Vulcans choose not
to, or cannot respond to this situation rapidly enough to meet our needs,
and if you yourselves are willing to take advantage of their hospitality.

Perius walks down his home street in St Helens, it had not changed in the years he was away. Small Boats are still in the harbour waiting for the tide to rise.

He found his wife had remarried and that he was passed as dead by the Federation. He couldnt blame her, he was going to need a new home and him retiring was now not a option.

He decided to take the next Shuttle-Bus to Sans Francisco and pretty much ask what needed to be done. The Revelation was having it's systems rebooted and having the first Matinance check since the war ended, it would be another week until it was ready for service.

He was getting a new commander and some crewmen had left to either teach or work on other projects. they were all veterans in their field so they deserved something new.

Jessica was likely to be his commander, she wants to work on the Revelation until she gets her own ship.

Starfleet HQ
He walks around it to see it was a different place in some respects, more people working simply on putting the Federation back together and the exploration area's were almost completely absent of people.

He asked to talk to the Admiral of the Fleet, to talk to him about what he personally thought had to be done.

Ramirez found himself standing in front of Captain Perius. It wasn't the easiest thing that he'd ever done.

At one point, Perius was one of the brightest stars in the ranks of Starfleet's Captains. Then, he started turning down promotions. It became clear that he had no ambition beyond what he was doing. That wasn't all bad. He was good at what he was doing. So they let him keep on doing what he was good at.

But this wasn't the same man whom the Federation had sent to Devenis colony a few years ago. How could he be? The Borg had changed everything.

But today was a new day. Rodriguez' star was burning bright now. His policies of dealing fearlessly with the New Borg, and of bringing the Gaal into the Federation, had saved earth from being overrun, and the Admiralty knew it. What humanity could not do on its own, it had accomplished not through proxy but through friends--and Rodriquez had made those friends. And, just for participating in the battle, Perius could write his own ticket if he so desired. And Rodriquez could think of nothing he would rather do to reward the intense loyalty that the man had shown.

Perius would no doubt be confused now--there was a lot for him to catch up on--but Rodriguez felt proud to be sharing a room with a man such as this, and that alone would make a good basis for conversation.

"Please sit down," he said, indicating a plush chair that was kept immaculate beside his desk.

"Thank you Ramirez, you see I have come here today to discuss the Ex-Terran Empire, Resources and naturally the Revelation. The colonies voted to join the Federation again, the Senate has been disbanded as the governors are licking the wounds of 3 harsh years of Pirate Raids and all other things. We have one Shipyard capable of constructing larger vessels, plus a Dilitium mine on Alpha-Zulu to supply ships"

He takes a deep breath.

"Last time I was offered the position of Admiral I was about to fight in the Battle over Earth, I did not accept the position because to be honest I did not think there would be a Federation left to serve. Ironically when I did arrived at Devenis I was forced by the local Governor to serve in his fleet and pretty much was the Admiral. I came here today to ask for a promotion to a Fleet Admiral, I will take this promotion because I wish to protect the colonies near the Klingon-Cardassian borders like I was before. My flagship will be the Revelation as I have grown very fond of her over the years, while I am at Devenis is you can lend me some engineers I can construct vessels for the Federations use. I would say I would do it straight away but the local Devenis engineers are simply fancy repairmen"

He looks around, it had been awhile. Everything looked the same and yet everything was different.

"I understand now from the situation on Vulcan that old Alliances no matter how strong they were can break apart easily, I thought when I went there the Vulcans would welcome us with open arms. I will spend my time trying to get the colonies on our side, the ones that by now probably feel abandoned. In the end I simply which to remind our citizens that the Federation is not quite dead yet. I will understand if there is another important matter which you want me to handle"

"Alright, Perius," Ramirez said, turning in his chair and leaning forward, to prop himself with his elbows on the top of his desk, "I'm going to be straight with you. I will remind you that some of the things I'm about to say are need-to-know only, and should not leave this room.

"This shouldn't be top secret because it's so obvious, but it is--don't ask me why: we're so critically short of everything that I'm negotiating with people I'm drop dead scared of just to hold off the monsters who want a piece of us. We got lucky this time--the Gaal and the New Borg turned out to be honest, and it saved our bacon. We might not be so lucky next time.

"You want to be Fleet Admiral? Good luck. It's a dirty job these days. Not the least of it is that it's already occupied by, and please remember this is need-to-know, the most xenophobic sycophant that this planet has ever produced. His name is Titus--Titus Smith--and he's a gifted tactician and a master of getting things done with limited resources. He won't be unseated without a fight of biblical proportions, and another fight is the last thing that earth needs right now.

"On the other hand, if you're willing to take a job like this, and you're as committed to it as you have been in the past, I have complete confidence in your ability to do it. I can't offer you Fleet Admiral, but I can appoint a Forward Admiral--a sort of an intergalactic troubleshooter--at my discretion. I was trying to groom Captain Scott for the job, but, well, your record speaks for itself. You'd have control of the Devinis ship yards, and the rank to fight even Tightus Smith if it came down to it--but it wouldn't stop there. One week, you'll be shoring up the shipyards in Devinis; the next, you'll be running security detail, and probably taking part in the negotiations, for a new Treaty of Algernon on Vulcan.

"I'd also like to run something by you. Right now, our relations with these New Borg could be described as in a honeymoon period. They respect us to some extent, and I've been able to use my clout to do enough to keep us and them in good graces, at least for the time being. We need scientists and engineers. Do you think it would be worth it for us to contract with them to give you an engineering team or two to help square away your technical needs? They're eager to show that they have things to offer us. We can get a good deal. Do you think it's worth the risk of what might happen if they start to revert to their previous ways?"

So...there were two questions for Perius to answer...

"I would be happy for the New Borg to help within reason, I think as long as we have the security needed we can deter them from trying something. But they will have to be replaced eventually by proper Federation personnel because I feel uneasy about having to rely so much on a people we barely know. If they go back to their previous ways then nothing would stop them, we have not the ships or men to fight the Borg in a open war on the last scale. They are themselves on a difficult path because deciding to keep most of there implants makes them very vulnerable to any message from the Borg hive. In fact the New Borg can either be our greatest ally or our worst nightmare"

"I agree with you. That's why it's imperative that we keep them engaged at the bargaining table. The best way to destroy an enemy is to make them your friend.

"I'll get the paperwork going for your promotion, then. With the hard work we've got ahead of us with the Gaal, the Vulcans, the Neo-Romulans and, of course, the New Borg, this one will be a pleasure." Ramirez smiled. "Get your but over to Devinis. Make everybody peaceful, prosperous and happy."

-----------------------

OOC: There. I'm blocked on all subthreadas now. You've all finally found a way to shut me up! :) :) :)

Perius smiled.

"I will say, it's good to be back" he walks out.

USS Revelation, Earth's Orbit
"We have been ordered by the Federation to devenis to build up a local fleet for the Federation to use"

"So your practically the new Govenor?" his new Tactician officer Kirith Ballu said

"More a Garrison Commander, we are going to try and bring the Federation back into the region by clearing out pirates and enforcing Federation law on our citizens"

"I noticed they have not replaced the commander" this was Helmsmen George Freemen, he was a oldie who served with him in the war.

"Captain Fisher accepted the Demotion, the Nova Class ship is going to be crewed by a few Federation Officers I know on Regulus. Fisher thought she could serve the Federation better by taking a more active role"

"So what are our orders?"

"Full warp to Devenis, then we are to Expand and Govern"

Devenis System
Alpha Teshla joined commodore Zahn in that laugh, though neither heard the other. She had been well prepared to engage a superior enemy with little hope of survival save what was lent by guile surprise. Watching the Romulan ships flood in now and the Terrans fleeing in retreat, she wondered why they had asked for her help in the first place. She sighed with relief as the combat meld faded from her mind, the cocoon pulling back with messy slurps. The felinoid could not help a soft growl at the state of her fur. She would need a long bout of grooming later to get the feel and smell of suspension fluids off of herself, even though the cocoon left her perfectly dry.

She hailed Commodore Zahn, ordering her ships out of stealth. "Well, looks like you've got everything in hand, Commodore. Was there anything else you needed or shall we be on our way?"

Messages relayed from Earth showed that the battle there was done as well. It was... intriguing to say the least how quickly the tides had turned. There was more here, she felt, than was being either said or understood. More than likely, the Imperials would be back sooner or later, and she doubted they would be so easily defeated next time.

Sol System
Elder Strongpaw heaved a soft sigh as he watched Rear Admiral Ramirez exit the command center. He knew the human was going to speak with the commander of the human fleet that had come to Earth's defense. It was good, he supposed, that the Rear Admiral would not be here right now. What was about to happen could be construed as treason against newfound allies. However, neither Elder Strongpaw nor the council nor the Alphas in the fleet above were willing to trust these "New" Borg so far as they could spit. There was an old saying amongst his tribe: "The lion in the grass will kill faster than the lion growling in front of your muzzle."

It was a simple and easily understood phrase, quite well understood by any of the Gaal. After all, most predatory species practiced some sort of ambush method whether in groups or solo. A snake is a snake is a snake, and a Mechos is a Mechos is a Mechos. Whether the humans were willing to trust these Mechos was of little concern to the Gaal Imperium. Their friendly overtures were quite obviously little more than a facade designed to cast sand in the eyes of their former foes. Even the mitigating circumstance of having returned the remnants of a colony thought lost only carried so far. The Mechos would not be destroyed out of hand in return for their help.

The aged lion leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes as he faded back into the familiar mental rumble of the combat meld. He had been a Fleet Alpha long before he had become an Elder, long before the Mechos had brought death and destruction to their home and people, but still it was like slipping into a pair of old, worn in pawshoes. Much like a conductor directing an orchestra, he called the Alphas to attention once more, subduing some thoughtcasts while bringing others to the fore. As he had earlier commanded, the Gaal ships were now mostly docked against the Borg Cubes, ostensibly for repairs. Two had managed to receive entrance to the Hollow World's docking bays.

The repair mechanoids that swarmed over each ship were his focus, and an imagined sweep of his hand sent them all scurrying away from their assigned duties. Each sought out a power conduit, a shield generator, a life support hub, anything that would be vital and harmful if destroyed, particularly those systems which powered weapons and defenses. Elder Strongpaw was careful to ensure that no Mechos were near enough any of the repair mechanoids before he brought the flow of thoughts to a sudden sharp crescendo. At once, all of the minuscule bubbles of barely cohesive thought that were the repair mechanoids blanked from the collective as they overloaded the small energy cores that powered them and exploded. The elderly feline heaved another sigh, then sent the command codes to each of the Gaal ships. Sensors would easily detect instantly the dangerous rise of power as each brought their warp core into overload and held it there, just on the cusp of failure.

"Aldreya, would you please find the Rear Admiral and inform him that I request to speak with him once he has finished with his current interview?" he asked his compatriot.

With a short nod, the grayed squirrel was off. Through his link with the ships above, Elder Strongpaw hailed the New Borg.

"I would apologize for the deception," he began, "but I see no reason to ask forgiveness from you. As you can see, you are now prisoners of the Gaal Imperium. Any attempt to interfere with our ships or personnel will result in the immediate detonation of their warp cores. I am quite certain that your compatriots within our home system have received the same treatment. For your aid in defending our allies and for returning our people, we grant you the mercy of delayed sentencing pending trial rather than immediate execution. I have ensured that your vessels remain capable of warp travel. You will proceed to the coordinates now being transmitted. There you will undergo trial."

He cut the transmission. The system they were being sent to was not the Homeworlds. Indeed it was a barely noteable star with no planetary bodies at all. Only a few pitiful asteroids orbited the white dwarf. The trial, he was rather certain, would be more a farce than anything. The council was out for blood, even though it was no longer dominated by predators, and it would have it. Elder Strongpaw was doubtful the Mechos would survive. He himself would more than likely not be able to see the trial. He had little doubt that Rear Admiral Ramirez would be highly disapproving at best and would arrest him at worst.

It had not been his call, however. "Just following orders" was an excuse and he knew it, but it was the truth. He had no honest feelings one way or the other regarding these New Borg. Though they wore the guise of the enemy, they demonstrated themselves to be other, distinct and separate. Whether they would prove themselves a threat in the future was yet to be determined, but the Council had not wished to wait and see. Now would come the waiting and the inevitable confrontation with the Rear Admiral.

Animarnian Fleet
Selinia fell over laughing after reading the message that had arrived in her cerebral node. Reshnik simply stood in confounded silence. He prodded his sister with a toe as she rolled about in mirth.

"Do they seriously think we can do that?" he asked, incredulous.

"T-t-take... Take M-miss Dul-dul-dulcinea... Prisoner!"

She was barely able to speak the words between gales of laughter. Reshnik shook his head, leaving his littermate to her hilarity as he glanced up at their appointed guardian.

"Um... the Council of Elders wants us to take you prisoner and bring you back to the Homeworlds for trial," he explained. "I dunno how they expected us to do that, but... yeah." He shrugged. "Apparently, they got the rest of the Mechos and want to make sure they get all of them."

Selinia hugged herself tightly, exhaling and holding herself breathless for several seconds, gasping air afterward and finally regaining a modicum of control.

"They... they want... Oh, that's just too funny..." She wiped the tears from her eyes and rocked herself upwards into a sitting position. "Gory, this is gettin messy. Think we should go do a prison break?"

((Well, this is just the start for me. Hehe, why should everyone else have all the fun throwing things into chaos?))

The Ex-Empire was quick to continue in building programs, they had managed to be able to finally create replicators at a rate that allowed for a pre-war economy to emerge. Nothing was going towards the huge defense projects of the Empire which allowed them to spend it on rebuilding infrastructure and building new ships.

Building from scratch was new, but they were drawing up plans for a Sovereign Class to be built in order to give the region a powerful warship to protect the area. They could not begin construction until the New Borg engineers arrived.

Several small craft like Runabouts and Raven Classes were being constructed, they with the Nova were going to be a anti-pirating fleet that will push Pirate factions to the outside of the old Federation borders. This would force them into Klingon and possibly Romulan space but the fleet wont be ready for another 3-4 months and until then the Nova is simply doing hit and run agaisnt pirates.

The Revelation was heading to DS9 in order to expand Federation influence to the Cardassian Border. they doubted the Cardassians survived in any shape or form because they were still recovering from the Dominion War.

USS Revelation, Ready Room
"So whats the story with DS9?" said George

"DS9 during the war worked with what was left of the Cardassian fleet to supply and fight back the Borg. At first it worked but as time went by the Station was suffering from lack of staff as more officers were being drafted into the fleets for war. When the Borg attacked the station was overwhelmed by Borg invaders in a matter of 3 hours, it was assimilated and used as a Borg mini-nexus for the rest of the war"

"A Borg nexus?!"

"yes, it will be heavily assimilated but we can use it as a base of operations to re-establish contact with Bajor and what is left of the Cardassians. We are carrying about 130 officers who are going to be sent to the station to practically rebuild it for Federation use. Allot of Borg corpses will be found meaning we have to be careful, if we activate the Nexus accidentally then the Borg in systems surrounding DS9 could reactivate and start running wild they wont be united but it will be annoying"

(OOC: I apologise for the delay, I've been traveling and have unreliable computer access. Will try to post today or tomorrow, though I'm interested in seeing what Perius's response is to my Romulan fleet over Devenis first.

Also to Vulpes Vixenis, it is Comadore Neera who is at Devenis, while Zahn is playing diplomat at Vulcan:))

Sol System, New Borg Collective

Gizmo: Oh, we are SO screwed.

Falsus: Why didn't we TRACK those things?

Omigott: We did. We just didn't DO anything about it. They're our allies, remember?

Falsus: Then that means...we know where every last one of those infernal drones is?

Omigott: Every last one.

Hal: So what do we do?

Bromus: We counterattack! These arrogant [bleeeeeep]s have shown that they need a GOOD, THOROUGH BEATING! Let's give it to them!

Zell: No. Attacking them directly would only lead to a great deal of suffering--and they have far less in harm's way than we do.

Bromus: Well, I don't know about any of YOU, but I would rather die a lingering death in the vast emptiness of space than kowtow to the terrorist demands of a bunch of treacherous traitors!

Diva: Why can't we just let them have their stupid little trial? How can they convict us of something we were all forced to do?

Falsus: This isn't a trial that they're offering us, it's revenge, plain and simple.

Hal: I concur. The possibility that we will get a fair trial in their court is very remote.

Hugh: That, and we cannot allow them to arrogate authority over us under threat of violence.

Diva: But if we give in, no one will be hurt. The pain will end.

Hugh: No. If we give in, we'll all be hurt, and the pain will only begin. The Gaal are at a crossroads as a people. The things we do today will help determine not just our path, but theirs, for eons to come. It is not merely our own lives that we must contend for, it's their soul as a race.

Bromus: Yes! If we allow them to do this to us, do you think that they'll stop with us? Who will be safe from them?

Falsus: So...we know where they're strong. Let's see where they're weak. Can they tap our communications?

Omigott: No. We're on a secure line.

Falsus: Good. Now...first, let's look at the worst-case scenario. Where are those bombs of theirs? What happens if they all go off?

Omigott: Well...we'd lose the tactical cubes. They've basically wrapped themselves around all the energy conduits and a few other essential systems. There wouldn't even be enough left to self-repair. The Hollow World, on the other hand, is a different story. She's an asteroid, and they only had two small ships inside of her. She's too big for them to overwhelm with those little fireworks of theirs.

Falsus: So...would our home be battle-ready if...

Omigott: Not exactly. We'd lose the Graviton Beam and most of our weapons. Shields would be a mess.

Falsus: It seems to me that they've overplayed their hand. Don't our systems automatically lock onto debris? Don't our maintenance systems automatically detect anomalies like this and flood them with nanoprobes, which absorb them?

Omigott: Normally, yes; however, their drones are equipped with a fail-safe mechanism and detonate if they detect an absorption attempt.

Zell: DETECT?

Omigott: Yes...and I'm already working on an adjustment that will hopefully allow the nanoprobes to overwhelm the bombs so rapidly that they don't have time to damage us.

Zell: The delicious irony. We can foil their stealth attack with a stealth attack!

Falsus: We'll have to stall, then move suddenly.

Zell: Yes. We'll have to overcome not just the bombs, but the ships that control them.

Bromus: We should raid them and absorb them like the criminals they are!

Falsus: Not feasible. Remember: the Gaal are immune to our nanoprobes. All we'd be doing is killing them--and that would play right into the hands of their propaganda ministers!

Omigott: Not exactly. When we were with the Animarnians, we had close contact with two Gaal. From this, we've been able to not only interface with their implants but develop a new nanoprobe that might be able to absorb them.

Falsus: Might? How did you test them?

Omigott: We didn't. Nothing to test them on.

Hugh: For once, I favor using them. We know what our standard tech will do to them. An unknown chance of survival is better than no chance at all.

Falsus: It's settled, then. How will we stall them?

Zell: That's easy. They want us all. The think they have us all. We need to show them that this is not the case.

Bromus: I like this. How will we go about doing that?

Zell: Haven't you checked your sensor readings, Bromus?

Bromus: I...one of the Sphere ships! It's regenerating!

Zell: And they don't have a single bomb planted in it.

Falsus: That's good, but we need to do more. I'll get on the line with Ramirez. We've got a host of unrepatriated Humans. Wouldn't it be terrible if these Federation Citizens were denied their return home so that the Gaal could exact their revenge?

Bromus: Yes. What would a man like this Ramirez do if it was HIS people's necks on the chopping block as well. Let us make him aware of how he must dominate...or be dominated.

-------------------------------------------

The spinning hulk of Have Your Cake, one of the two nearly-destroyed Sphere ships, came to a halt, and running lights began coming on all over the ship. She was regenerating, as Borg ships do.

Meanwhile, Prophet's Hope hailed the Federation on Earth.

When Ramirez put the signal through, he was speaking with one of the Gaal, Elder Strongpaw. Falsus wasted little time in making the situation plain to Admiral Ramirez: the Gaal were not only holding the New Borg hostage, they were holding Human Federation Citizens--among others--hostage.

Work was cutout for them, DS9's past brown shell was now just black. Scans revealed the station to be void of any Borg presence dead or alive.

The 150 officers were beamed aboard, they activated power. When the green lights appeared it became obvious that a large battle had taken place, DS9's had lost 3 of it's spires and the ring severed. The Federation didnt launch a attack, so this must either be Cardassian or Klingon work.

"Must of taken a large fleet to do this much damage" Kirith said in shock, he was a just out of the Academy ensign.

"Not really, this is practically pirate space. This damage could of been done by anyone after the Borg retreated back to the Delta Quadrant. We should be safe to properly dock with the Station"

Perius joins his security teams in assessing the situation, Jessica is at his side. They walk into what was once the bar, it had been turned into a assimilation chamber....blood stained the metal.

Perius pulls out a Borg arm from a cabinet.

"If we can salvage any weapons or parts from the station then put them into the cargo on the Revelation. The only upgrade we still have is the cloaking and transwarp but it still needs borg power to run"

It ironically reminded him of his time spent salvaging during the Confederacy days. Jessica stares at the blood on the table, she starts thinking about the war.

"Commander, don't depress yourself. Go back to the Revelation and start getting the equipment the local crew need to start putting this station into old working order"

"Yes Admiral" she walks out and Perius smiles, his crew was still getting used to calling him that.

Sure he had no fleet to control but that would be different when the New Borg Engineers arrive, sadly he didn't yet know of the situation that had befallen them.

Even if he did, he had two ships and a handful of small craft....not much help he could offer.

Quietly, word was sent to Perius and Scott informing them of the situation. Scott would need to know this the next time he dealt with the Gaal; Perius would need to understand that that New Borg Engineering Team might take a LITTLE BIT OF TIME to get to him.

Perius almost spat out his coffee and showed the message to Jessica.

"How stupid must the Gaal be to apply for the Federation and then take revenge on the wrong people. The New Borg are a threat if they become controlled by the Borg again, in there current state they are somewhat trustworthy" Jessica said this with rage, this angered both her and the Admiral.

"I knew the Gaal's would try and abuse their position, They are the most powerful faction in the Quadrant and the Federation is still licking it's wounds. Devenis needs those Engineers in order to get the fleet into shape" He presses a few buttons on his desk and opens private communications with Earth.

"This is Forward Admiral Krusi contacting Starfleet Command, we have heard the situation. What suggestions do you have because I have two ships and nothing to be spared. I know the New Borg are a touchy issue, but surely they shouldn't be punished for things they did while assimilated"

In fact he knew how the Federation was somewhat in no shape to do anything in it's current state, the best threat to the Gaal's is denying them a position in the Federation. A show of force would not work, they didn't even have a single decent sized Tactical Fleet.

But do the Gaal's want to join such a weak Federation anyway, they might see more interest in simply taking control for themselves.

Gizmo*: Hey...waitaminute. Ha ha haaa!!!! OHHH NELLIE!!! Yeah. It just might work...

Falsus: What are you going on about?

Gizmo: The space station! If its computer core is working, we can interface with it--and it can interface with US!

Omigott: You'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking.

Falsus: [i]So WHAT are you thinking, already?

Omigott: ...the Federation could use the station's computer core to initiate a Collective Override and...

Falsus: NO! That's FAR too dangerous!

Gizmo: ...but it would kinda stop us from going anywhere...while we fought it off...

Falsus: I said NO! All that would have to happen is for [i]ONE stray command path to open up and we'd become sleepwalkers again! We can't DO it! This is what we are! We'd be risking EVERYTHING!

Gizmo: ...but what if...it engaged their systems as well?

Omigott: Not a good idea. Those bombs of theirs are using an active signal protocol. If we cut the transmissions from the mother ships, the bombs go off.

Gizmo: ...but...we know the schematics of their ships. We were repairing them. We could take them over. They'd never stop sending.

Omigott: We don't need a Collective Override to do that.

Falsus: But why can't we fake one? We've been looking for a diversion. This could be it.

Bromus: Who's to say that, should we do this, the Gaal won't just detonate their bombs--after all, from our point of view, it might even be considered doing us a favor.

Falsus: You're right. But...what if it wasn't a Collective Override...what if it was a Collective Purge?

Bromus: A self-destruct?

Falsus: What would they do to escape from a tactical cube that was about to explode, with nothing that her crew could do to prevent it?

Hugh: There is no telling what they would do. They have been a desperate people for many generations. If their desperation returned, they would probably turn on us like a dog in a trap that sets its jaws on anything that comes near it.

Falsus: But would they look away from their monitors long enough for our nanoprobes to absorb those bombs? That's all it would take. Without those devices, they lose their power over us. Is it worth the risk?

OOC:

*Gizmo is a compound individual. Thus, "he" can sometimes speak with more than one voice. The different colors indicate different voices speaking.

A response came to Perius' query.


From: Forward Admiral K'Tak, Office of Tactical Diplomacy, Starfleet Command
To: Forward Admiral Perius
Subject: Gaal/New Borg Diplomatic Initiative

Regarding the current situation, your orders are to sit tight and do the best that you can with the people that you've got. We realize that you cannot provide a military solution to this situation--in fact, we believe that this situation cannot be resolved militarily.

Be advised that the Engineering Team that we had hoped to assign to you will be delayed, perhaps indefinitely. Please continue to attempt to salvage DS9 with the resources available to you.

In the event that you have additional questions, we will do our best to provide prompt answers.

Starfleet out.

They had managed to pull allot from the station, Tactical records of the battle and some Borg technology that could be research. The thought of not helping the New Borg was rational yet Perius was sad the day had come where the Federation couldn't help simply because it was too weak.

So Perius sat tight, he was a Admiral now and had to follow orders. Besides now the Federation was on the line if he screwed up which gave him less reason to take risks.

The station bumps as shuttles pull the break in the ring close enough so it can be roughly wielded back into position, the shuttles would have to keep pulling it together until full repairs were made to the section which was about 2 days. The spires that broke will stay that way until they can find a Cardassian builder willing to help the team to use the right methods.

It was quick and messy, the station wont be fully repaired for another 2 years or more at this rate. They were simply rebuilding things like crew quarters and a command center, they found a few old Federation Runabouts in the docks so they would be used as protection when the Revelation left.

Weapon systems had to be gutted and rebuilt, they had been completely assimilated to use Borg Technology same with Shields. The fact the station didn't repair itself was weird but it just comes to show the Borg are nowhere near strong enough to threaten the Federation.

No engineering teams meant construction was going to take a long time, he messaged Starfleet command on a request for at least supervisors or teachers to help the local's in building some of the smaller spacecraft.

Without a decent shipyard operating he could not hope to push back pirate space, which at the moment separated Devenis from most of the Ex-Federation.

Perius was a Admiral without a fleet or any real power, things were in fact worse now then during the Confederacy days. He had nothing except for 2 ships and in control of enough space that he needed over 200 to protect it.

OOC:

I'm blocked, waiting for RR to post something about the situation on Vulcan and VV to post something about the situation in Sol System. Have TG'ed VV, but no reply yet. That's OK. His life is complicated right now.

It did not take the Federation long to respond to the Romulans' proposals.

Zahn sighed slightly before he responded.

"Renegotiation of the Treaty of Algeron remains contingent upon the Federation's willingness to recognize Vulcan's right to choose its own course. We do not expect for you to declare them neutral against their will, but we do expect you to formally recognize their right to choose.

Regarding repatriation, their is no reason why it cannot procede as soon as we have ships to delegate to the task. Your citizens will wish to return home, and our's will wish the same.

We would apreciate your recognition of our state sovereighnty, however we ask that you delay the announcement for the pressent for political reasons. The Governor wishes to visit Earth once arrangements can be made.

Regarding the "New Borg", we cannot accept your offer, and it would be best if you did not make it again. With all due respect, no one has forgotten the death of Romulus at the Borg's hands, and even if the Governor wished to work with the New Borg, doing so would be political suicide at the pressent time."

Romulan Home System:

Commadore Neera watched the home system growing ever larger on the view screen. More than once, she had doubted she would return, and she knew the rest of her crew were sharing her thoughts.

"Commadore, their's a message from System Command."

Neera straitened her uniform.

"Put it through."

The screen crackled as the image changed, to show Governor Vranik's face. He looked tired, with new lines on his face and circles beneath his eyes. But he smiled as he saw Neera's face.

"Welcome home, Admiral. Tomall wishes to speak with you. I will brief you after."

Lou and Lin, fraternal twins, were working in the Diplomatic Compound at Federation Headquarters in San Francisco.

"Are they kidding," Lou asked. "Vulcan self-determination?"

"It is sorta comical," Lin replied. "Only a Romulan wouldn't know that the Federation Charter guarantees its members the right to drop out at any time, for any reason. Hell, after the Organian Treaty, the Klingons made a career out of trying to cajole worlds away."

"So, do we send something back?" Lou asked.

"Nah," Lin said. "Let's let 'em stew. Besides, this is Ramirez' job, and he has a way with words that we just don't. If I wrote 'em the reply that they deserve, it'd get 'em so mad that they'd probably start another war right there and then. Ramirez, at least, can keep things friendly."

"OK...so we put this on his desk?" Lou asked.

"Of course," Lin replied.

"...and you know what time that makes it!" Lou exclaimed.

"...yep," Lin said.

"Cover your behind time!" both exclaimed in unison.

A message went through the bureaucracy toward Ramirez' desk soon thereafter.

OOC:I really have nothing to post because I have nothing to be involved in :P

OOC: Ok il try

IC:

Perius sits on a chair looking out of the window of this quarters, this room was his home now. Wife had left him and was re-married and his kids barely remember him and in fact went so far as to call him be his proper name while he was there and call the new husband father.

He thought he would be welcomed home in open arms, everything would be like it was before but that was not the case in the end. Borg had managed to take away everything that ever meant anything to him. Opera plays in the background.

He was depressed naturally, in fact so much he wished he had died in the war before all of this happened. Sadly here he was wearing the uniform of a almost dead organization and a ungrateful galaxy which didn't care for the Federation's sacrifices.

The only race he awfully trusted at the moment was the Romulans because they understood sacrifice just as well as the Federation. Ironically he thought the Federation should be allying with them.

The Gaal's were simply the rising star taking advantage of the situation. They don't want to join the Federation they want to become the Federation, they want to be the dominate power in the Quadrant and I simply will not allow it.

He didn't trust the New Borg mostly because of prejudice. They keep their implants and don't realize the risk. Best example is 7 of 9 who even with a small amount of implants remaining was still able to hear the Borg, the New Borg will one day be faced with the 'Sleepwalkers' and what Perius worries about is the New Borg will become part of the Collective again.

The Federation is a shadow of it's former self. He could count the size of Starfleet with his hands and the Council is nothing more then the United Earth government. He was a Admiral with two ships, he was nothing more then a Captain still.

He drinks more wine, he was getting rather drunk until Jessica came and stole the bottle. Slapping him in the face.

"Idiot, drinking a depressant to get away from depression"

"What do you want me to do? I don't even know where to start or what to do"

"Your the Admiral now, it's your dam decision what happens. You can either sit here and whine or do your job and pull this quadrant back together. You asked for the promotion so start doing what it requires of you. The Federation needs you more then ever Perius, it's about to collapse and fall apart which can lead the whole region to anarchy. So now think what are our orders?"

"At the moment wait for me to be sober, if we really want to rebuild then we contact Andoria. Tomorrow we leave"

"And that," Falsus said, "is the situation from our perspective."

He was sitting with Ramirez and the Elder Strongpaw now. Somehow, Ramirez had pulled another miracle out of his com badge and gotten the Gaal to agree to this meeting.

"You know," Ramirez said to Strongpaw, "he's got a certain point. What do we do about our people on those ships? And, when history is to be written, how do your people want to be remembered? What would it say about you that you would take revenge upon a people for things that they were forced to do?"

--------------------

Elsewhere

A message was returned to the Romulans:



From: Federation Diplomatic Headquarters
To: Romulan Diplomatic Attache
Subject: Vulcan Self-Determination

We can only agree that the Vulcan people be allowed their right of
self-determination. This right is, after all, guaranteed in the Federation
Charter. As they would say, it is only logical that we continue to
honor our laws.

"So that is my report, Admiral."

Tomall seemed almost unaware that Neera had finished, staring off into space for a moment before finally turning to face her.

"Admiral?"

"You might as well call me by my name now, Neera. We're the same rank, after all."

"With all due respect, you are still my senior officer, Tomal." Neera felt uncomfortable at adressing her senior by his propper name. A few years before, she had barely been considered qualified to command a starship in the old Romulan Empire. Now, she held the rank of Admiral in an ill-defined nation that barely existed.

The Admiral smiled grimly.

"Of course. But Vranik doesn't see it that way. In promoting you to the rank of Admiral, he has neglected to officially declare one of us the Commander in Cheif. Essentially, I, yourself, and Zahn, and Panak are all equal in rank at this time."

"That is... unwise. A lack of a clear chain of command, even if mearly percieved, could be disastrous during a military situation." What was Vranik playing at? And why did Tomal bring this up? Neera thought she knew, and if she was right, she had to play the next few minutes very carefully.

Tomal seemed to stiffen momentarilly. Then he relaxed and handed her a glass of Romulan Ale.

"Vranik is not concerned about war. He's concerned about politics. He's undercutting my authority. He apparently feels that the services of an old Admiral are no longer nessissary."

"Sir, I am sure that Vranik values your insight..."

"Insight?" Tomal's face was livid. "Insight? I am the sole surviving Imperial Admiral. In times such as these it is I who should have been given command, not some back water governor with delusions of making the Empire's ashes into another weakling Federation pawn like the Klingons!"

Neera wanted to look away, but she knew it would be a mistake. Perhaps a fatal one. Tomal played politics the old way. He was testing her loyalty. She considered her answer carefully. Perhaps for too long.

"Sir, the Romulan people will never be weak. We have survived the onslaught of the Borg, the days of homeless wandering, this invasion from another Universe. Their is nothing we cannot achieve."

"The net is closing, Neera. He seeks to undercut my position in the Council. My supporters and agents are being targetted for survailance by that fawning pawn Vannon. I need to know I can trust you."

"I will do my duty, Admiral. You can always count on that."

Five minutes later, Neera stood on the transporter pad as the technition prepaired to beam her to the Governor's offices. She still wasn't sure what she was going to say. If what Tomal said was true, the Governor would no doubt test her loyalty as well. It was only now that she was beginning to realize some of the broader implications of her new authority. By giving her the power to challange Tomal's authority, Vranik had made her an even more important peice than before in a dangerous political game. One that could destroy everything Vranik had accomplished thus far. She would do her duty, as she always had. She just wasn't sure what her duty was. Was it to Tomal, the last admiral of the old Empire? Or was it to Vranik, and his new Romulan state?


Lightyears away, sitting in his quarters, Zahn filed away the statement from System Command.

"Congratulations, Admiral Zahn. In light of your service to the Romulan People and State, the Interim Government has deemed fit to grant you this promotion to the rank of Fleet Admiral, and with it the authority to conduct negotiations at Vulcan at your discression, within the parameters of your mission and the law."

Zahn smiled grimly as he opened a channle to the bridge. His hands were now untied at Vulcan, which should hasten negotiations. But at home, they were bound more tightly than ever to Vranik's government. His instincts as an intelligence officer warned him that matters were coming to a head in the political battle between Vranik and Tomal, and he had little time left in which to choose a side. The problem was that the situation could easily go either way, or spin completely out of control. He needed to talk to his fellow officers, and determine where they stood on the issue. In the meantime, he might as well respond to the Federation, and update Vranik on the Vulcan situation.

"Sub-commander, put me through to Ramirez at Starfleet Command. Inform him that I would like to set up a conference with him via subspace at his convieniance, and extend my thanks for his previous message. Then send a secure transmission to Governor Vranik's office. Code 7. Put the reply through to my quarters."

Perius is back at Devenis, he has turned the old Council building into a Starfleet Command Center. They are building things like sensors and defense platforms, monitoring pirate activity and keeping in contact with other colonies.

Economy wise things were improving, the colonies were pulling themselves back together after years of most of the resources going towards starships. War Economy was shattered and resources were put towards rebuilding the poorer colonies like Regulus.

Ever since the Federation came back the people were more happy then ever, refugees was the problem which meant most constructing/repairing was Residential in nature. Devenis has moved it's population to other planets to lessen the stress on it's Ecosystem.

Perius assigned himself a office to work in, he decided that Andoria would be best left for the Federation. He also knew the Romulans might try and overpower him if he makes to rash a move.

He ordered Jessica to take the Revelation to Echo 3 in order to make it more reliable since the device was all that was keeping the region in contact with Earth. It would be given shields, better security, stronger transmitter and the ability to send a distress call when attacked to any ship in it's communication range.

The Nova ship renamed the USS:Monran was to ordered to checkout station 343 to tell it to start shipping Dilitium to Earth. These colonies he hoped would help make Earth strong again so it can become a decent power.

His job at the moment was simple, give the Federation the resources it needs to rebuild.

(OOC: still waiting on a reply regarding Vulcan negotiations. Next post will likely be more internal Romulan politics. If any of you fell like interfearing in my internal affairs, it might make things more interesting. Just saying ;)).

OOC: What's there to reply to re: Vulcan Negotiations? The Feddies have agreed to Vulcan self-determination.

P.S. I'm still waiting for a reply from VV with the negotiations on Earth. We TG'ed and worked out the basics, but he hasn't posted. I'm starting to get a little concerned for him.

(OCC:Beautiful thing with making the Vulcans determine by themselves is that none of us can really have a say. You have to have a third party rp the Vulcans otherwise it would be god-modding. In a way anything done on Vulcan atm will not result in anything.)

(OOC: And their's the trick. The Romulans know they can't win militarily, so they're stalling while they look for a way to get a political/propoganda win out of it all.;)

And Marionetonia, I simply opened comunications again with Ramierez, but haven't really said anything new. I'll try to do that today. Basically Zahn viewed the discussions thus far as somewhat informal, so he's requesting a formal diplomatic meeting. I'm afraid I probably won't be able to post tomorrow though, since I'm flying back to Toronto:().

OOC: No 'blem. How to proceed with VV not posting?

(OOC: I think we're all back from holidays now, so hopefully fine. I'm going to finish updating Romulan politics, and start negotiating in earnest. I'll try to post it today).

Sol System - Starfleet Conference Room
The Elder nodded his agreement, replying, "Yes, his points are quite valid. However, as I've told you already, this maneuver is not of my design only of my execution." He paused, steepled fingers tapping thoughtfully agaisnt one another. "Please understand that this isn't a grab for power. This isn't an attempt by the Imperium to overthrow the Federation nor to take a spot at its head. We've no interest in conquest or control. That particular taste was wiped from our tongues through generations of infighting, and we have still yet to establish a true and proper balance amongst ourselves.

"The only concern here, as voiced by the Council and the Clan Alphas, is justice. Admittedly, their means of ensuring it are less than admirable, but I am assured they intend no harm save what is warranted by due process of law. They felt the New Borg would not willingly cooperate if asked politely to come hang themselves, and so issued orders to ensure they would come willingly or not. Luckily for you, I have no small measure of influence amongst the fleet. Otherwise, there would be little left of your own but orbiting scrap."

He leaned back in his chair, stroking a hand through his greyed mane. "The only reasonable outcome I can foresee requires that the Mechos agree to rendezvous at the appropriate coordinates of their own volition, and I convince the Council that they are trustworthy enough to do so without coercion. It was difficult enough convincing the more aggressive members not to simply destroy the Mechos out of hand. They are a minority these days, but still hold a good bit of sway despite their outmoded beliefs. It was mainly the aid offered by the Mechos thus far, to others as well as ourselves, that brought the Council to a more... moderate plan of action.

"If..." He punctuated the word with a jab of his finger. "If we can offer some guarantee that the New Borg will make the rendezvous unescorted and uncoerced..." He paused, then let out a snort. "Bah. I doubt they would accept any guarantee offered. Hm. Well, I was preparing for retirement anyways. Mister Falsus, if you will give me your word, I will release your vessels. Despite the fact that what I offer amounts to treason, it will weigh heavily in your favor to arrive of your own free will. Rear Admiral, in the case that the New Borg agree, I would like to request political sanctuary for myself and my compatriots for the time being. At least until the Council decides I was right."

He heaved another sigh. "Lastly... Are there any more of those... hamburgers, did you call them? I find myself feeling a bit peckish."

((Well, there's a start at least. I'll cover other bases as they arise, or as i remember them. lol, trying to figure out where things still stand all over the place. If anyone has it straight, please drop me a line so I can have a clue.))

Sol System, San Francisco, Starfleet Conference Room

"Oh, we'll be there," Falsus growled. "You have my word. That is not the question. The question is, will your people be ready when they get what they're asking for?" And with that, he all but jumped out of the seat he was in and instantly beamed back aboard his ship.

Ramirez merely raised his eyebrows. "Fascinating," he said.

He had some hamburgers brought for the Elder.

----------------------------

Animarnia (sp?)

"Alright, guys! Pack up! I've got business at your home planet, and I'm taking you with me," Dulcinea said. "You probably know more about what's going on than I do, so let's just get on with it."

Governor Vranik turned as his com buzzed, switching the screen on when he saw that the message bore Zahn's signature.

"Hello, Governor."

"Hello, Admiral. Allow me to congratulate you on your promotion."

"I should be thanking you. You have freed my hand considerably. However, I have... other concerns. Permission to speak freely?"

Vranik frowned.

"Granted."

"It is dangerous to have an unclear chain of command. Military security must come before political games."

Vranik nodded.

"I see. However, in this case military security is tied to political games. Tomal is concerned with his own power. And his view of how the Romulan people should be ruled. Not with what must be done.

Things are coming to a head quickly. The political situation abroad is very dangerous. We must force Tomal's hand and end this quickly, if we are to be prepared the next time war breaks out."

Zahn considered his next words carefully. It went against his training as an officer to question a superior, but his instincts as an intelligence officer told him to proceed.

"Governor, if you wished, you could be rid of him now. He would not be the first powerful man to meet such an end."

Vranik shook his head.

"Not unless I have to. Its not like it was during the Empire, Admiral. I do not have the power of the state apparatus behind me. Power is held by very few, and it is not yet clear on which side the neutral parties will fall. And even if the advantage fell to me, we cannot afford a civil war."

Zahn smiled slightly.

"But that's not why you won't proceed."

For a long moment Vranik was silent, staring off into space. Zahn watched him silently. Then Vranik spoke, the words clipped and brusque.

"I will not proceed because it is not in the interests of the Romulan people. We cannot go back to the way things were done in the Empire. We cannot simply hide ourselves behind cloaks, and make our enemies disappear. Fear stifles, Zahn. The old system left us unprepared to survive the Borg onslaught. And it will leave us unable to create the strong, secure state upon which our future must be built."

"And where do the other Admirals stand?"

"I can't say. I don't think they're altogether on Tomal's side, but they're not altogether on mine either. Perhaps you can determine where their loyalties lie. However, for the time being Vulcan remains a priority. Continue your negotiations, and inform me of any progress. Additionally, we need to discuss the recent conflicts, and the potential for future hostilities from either the New Borg or the Terran Empire."

"And what about the Gaal?"

"Admiral Neera will be sent to continue her negotiations with them. With the Terrans gone, we need a new alley, and the Borg or their friends will not be politically... acceptable."

Zahn nodded.

"Of course, Governor. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a meeting to arrange with Ramierez." Politically unacceptable was a sever understatement. It would be more like political suicide.


Ten minutes later...

Zahn turned to the com officer as he strode onto the bridge.

"Put me through to the Federation high command. Ask for Ramirez, and relay the following message:

Admiral Zahn of the Romulan fleet wishes to continue negotiations regarding Vulcan. I have also been ordered to open discussions regarding the "New Borg", and the recent incursions linked to the Mirror Universe. I await your reply at your conveniance."

Sol System, San Francisco, Starfleet Command

"Who sent the message?" Ramirez asked.

The room was silent.

"Don't make me pull the computer logins. Whoever did this had better tell me now."

"Alright," Lou said. "That would be us."

"Us?"

"Me and Lin."

"So you did this together?" Ramirez asked.

"...yes, sir."

Ramirez smiled. "Good job. Way to take the initiative. Computer?"

The computer chirruped.

"Please place commendations in the records of Lieutennant Commanders Lou and Lin."

Another chirrup indicated that the task was complete.

"Now, what else do we have to do."

"Well, sir," Lin said, "it seems that the Romulans got back to us."

"Well, let's hear it, then."


From: Admiral Zahn, Romulan High Command
To: Admiral Ramirez, Federation High Command
Subject: Negotiations

Admiral Zahn of the Romulan fleet wishes to continue negotiations regarding
Vulcan. I have also been ordered to open discussions regarding the "New
Borg," and the recent incursions linked to the Mirror Universe. I await your
reply at your convenience.

*** END OF TRANSMISSION ***


Ramirez rolled his eyes. "No rest for the weary," he said. "Prepare a return message, as follows:

"Admiral Zahn, this is Ramirez. Whatever you'd like to say, we'll be happy to listen. Where would you like to meet?"

"Admiral, its good to here from you again. To answer your question, ideally I'd like to meet with you in person, on Vulcan. Negotiations that might determine the future of a galaxy are best conducted face to face. After all, we are equals now, you and I. I believe I have already informed you of my promotion to the Admiralty? This will expedite any negotiations.

However, I appreciate that your attention may be occupied with business on Terra, and if so would it be acceptable to continue negotiations via long-range communications, provided that you can garuntee secure transmissions."

Perius was listening in on the transmissions, he still was de-facto ruler of the Old-Terran Empire. He also did control the 'Spy-World' of New France, the Romulans were stupidly still trying to get control of Vulcan.

The Federation no matter the state would not allow Vulcan to full under Romulan hands even if they wanted. Federation morale was tied with rebuilding what it was and changing such a fundamental thing such as the founding worlds alignment and more so to such a old nemesis would destroy confidence in the Federation.

Things will get better in ex-federation space with or without the Federation, sooner or later a few strong colonies will be able to defend themselves just like the Confederacy will take over the role of caretaker. The Goal of the Federation at the moment should be making sure the colonies see no reason in which to leave and go out on their own.

Perius was doing that by supplying the basic three needs a nation has to have be successful in his eyes.

Food, infrastructure and security. By supplying these three things he will strengthen peoples bond to the Federation and be able to expand it into Pirate Space which, like mentioned before, was blocking his space from the federation.

The Romulans were worried about the Borg and the Terrans which was another laugh. The Borg if they were in a shape to attack would already, be believed the only reason they have not attacked is they have been so weakened by the war they are no longer considered a threat.

The Terrans went back and wont return until they are much stronger, which knowing their Imperial policy they would rebuild a crap load quicker then any power in this universe. They themselves were a third-rate power in their universe and they could put every power in the region to their needs.

Federation also had to realize it had two other worlds it could contact which was Andoria, Tellar if they got ahead of the Romulans they could easily win them over. Both were very opposed to the Romulans and would re-join the Federation in hours.

(OOC:I have nothing really to do, so no point really doing more then stating my view which will very much influence my actions)

Since the Borg war that almost destroyed there entire existence there had been many smaller civil wars that erupted from the war. The collective is now a shadow of its former self. There was one Borg and one cube that would not fall into chaos. The now independent Borg Kabal sat on the bridge of his red glowing cube. Kabal had created a new Borg collective dedicated towards a more aggressive Borg policy of assimilation, although Kabal knew that diplomacy was the best course of action at times. He was not stupid to take on large nations with his vessel.

His flagship RBC-501 was a former Borg Collective cube that had recieved a slight upgrade from assimilated Klingon technology. She had a set of five Borg disruptors along with her already deadly compliment of torpedoes and Borg Phaser banks. Her scars from that struggle were already fixed, but she was almost destroyed by them. So far her only enemy's were pirates which constantly harassed her. Alone they were easy to swat away, but sometimes they brought hunting fleets with them to dispatch her.

Cube 501 exited warp above a colony world. From the looks of it was a former Federation colony, left over from the war. This world would become there new home world and to begin the process of rebuilding there new status as a power in the universe. She went to red alert as soon as she picked up three vessels in the area, Kabal's eyebrow rose slightly...they would not stand in his way for a new Borg Collective.

(OOC: sigh... bump)

It didn't take long for Hollow World and the tactical cubes to go begin warping toward the Gaal homeworld. The last of the sphere ships lingered, however, as they continued to repair their battle damage.

The Gaal bombs never did cause any trouble. True to his word, Strongpaw had them disarmed, and the Borg maintainance nanobots simply absorbed them into the ships that they had been placed in.

Animarnian Fleet
Selenia and Reshnik packed quickly. The speed with which they packed, however, did nothing to reduce the time it took. True to their nature and interests, they had managed to pick up odds and ends from what seemed like half the quadrant in the space of a few short weeks. Perhaps half of the items they had "acquired" actually worked, and half the remainder appeared to be spare parts for a variety of equipment ranging from moisture vaporators to medical tricorders. Their main problem in packing was deciding which items belong to each of them.

"Hey, that traingulating magnetometer is mine!"

"No it isn't, this one's mine. Yours is still broken!"

"Nuh uh, I fixed it two days ago, and that's it."

"How'd you fix it? I thought its control circuits were fried?"

"Well, yeah, I took apart my Romulan Disruptor and a few of those little com-badge thingies and fiddled around until it worked."

"That disruptor was definitely mine!"

"Um... oops? Well, hey, we've got two working magnetometers now?"

"If we can find mine... On the up side, here's that old multiphasic scanner you were looking for the other day. Sounds a bit rattly though... Did you do anything to it?"

"All I did was tweak it a bit to sharpen the resolution. It is about a decade out of date."

"Well, yeah, but why is it rattling? Did you- Oooh, wait, I needed a few parts a week back... oops again."

Eventually a large packing container, big enough to hold the pair of them comfortably with room left over for a week's worth of rations, was filled top to bottom, sealed, and jettisoned into an asteroid field for later retrieval. A homing beacon designed by the two was set so they could find it again when they passed back that way. All they carried upon their persons were the items they had first arrived with, along with a few extra tools they had picked up both from their home and during their travels.

"We're ready!" Selenia chimed, two hours after they had started.

Reshnik snorted softly. "And five minutes into the trip, she'll realize she forgot something."

A slap to the back of the head forstalled any further comment.

"Let's just go before she decides she needs something out of the container..."

P39-XBJ White Dwarf
After releasing the Mechos, the Gaal ships had immediately entered warp for the appointed rendezvous. What few ships of the Homeworlds defense fleet that had remained behind during the assault on the Sol system now ringed the projected arrival coordinates, reinforced by those now arriving. The Council of Elders was spread over a dozen ships, scattered throughout the formation. The obvious intent was to contain and threaten the New Borg vessels upon their arrival, to assert superiority of numbers and firepower. It was a predatory tactic, a pack tactic, and one that was historically successful. However, not all of the Elders were convinced it would be effective this time. Despite that, they stood as one, as in all things. The die had been cast.

Janeway's Echo
Alpha Teshla sat once more within the pilot sphere. Her fingers trailed idly through the scant feathers of her pilot, smoothing them over.

"This isn't going to end well," she commented.

Skeereth's head twitched to the right and a wing partially unfurled as he made a course correction before answering, "Time will show the validity or fallacy of the Council's actions."

She gave a soft snort of agreement. "Little enough time, I would wager." She ruffled the feathers of his chest, then smoothed them once more. "I can barely believe they dared pull such a maneuver. They must have eaten some bad grass or something. We don't need enemies right now."

"They Council are not the only ones who would like to see the Mechos punished for their actions." His head dipped to preen at the feathers she had misplaced. "It is not so surprising. It was perhaps a mistake to move first against them, however."

"I suppose we'll find out when we reach the Homeworlds..."

She heaved herself to her feet with a sigh and exited the sphere, closing the hatch tight behind her. With her mind abuzz, she headed back to the bridge and her place as Alpha.

((Not quite as long nor as eloquent as what I had posted before, but it'll do, methinks.))

The three former Federation vessles, two intrepids and a galaxy class, opened fire on the cube. Sparks flew out of the Cube 501 as she began to take impacts. She was already beginning to adapt to there weapons as they were firing on her.

"Unimatrix 3352 adapting shields....identifying targets...opening fire..."

At that moment Cube 501 fired upon the intrepid and galaxy class. They simply couldn't stand to the firepower of the Borg cube. Cube 501's shields hit 80% at the enemy fleet engaged them. The cube gave a red glow as did her drones. The ships were unanimously hailed by Kabal.

"We are the Red Borg Collective...lower your shields and surrender your ships, we will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own, your culture will adapt to service us....Resistance is futile."

"Admiral you will want to hear this" he hands over a datapad with a audio recording picked up by New France, also a Distress Signal. When he heard the words he went pale with shock.

"When did you pick this up"

"Just now Admiral, it came from Federation Space. Distress signal is from a old colony, I am amazed we picked it up but it's happened and we heard it all"

"Tell New France to keep it's sensors focused in the direction of the message, look for warp signatures and other communications. Until we know the strength of the enemy we are not to engage"

"Should we warn starfleet?"

"Not right now, they have enough to deal with and no means to deal with it. I will take monitoring as our responsibility until we have more information, otherwise we could send the Federation into panic which they don't need."

"Any further orders?"

"Tell the shipyards to hasten the construction, get the crewmen back to their posts because we are going salvaging to make us a fleet again. Like the good old days"

It would take 2 months to repair about 3 ships to be battle ready and in that time he had to find men to work them. He sent a message to starfleet, he would not tell them of the transmission until he was sure what he was up against.

"This is Forward Admiral Perius Krusi. I am preparing to salvage Federation vessels to rebuild my fleet, when I know what ships I can find I will send out a request for you to send men to Station 343. Things just seem to be falling apart now more then ever"

He listens again to the Borg message, the real reason is that he worried the other nations might intercept the message and use it as a excuse to do a crusade against the New Borg. He needed those engineers because salvaging ships is not a long term option, it was risky more then ever because he didnt have several ships to watch his back when he goes out.

He sent the order out to the ship to go maximum warp to Ramatis System, it was never checked by the Empire due to it's lack of importance. but he did know a small skirmish did take place their, he wouldn't get much out but maybe a few small ships.

Animarnian Fleet

The Animarnians had taken the hull of a destroyer left in the former Gaal colony and refitted it to the specifications that their Ambassador and the New Borg had worked out. The new ship was renamed the Cestus, and she'd opened some eyes in the short period of trials that they had run on her. She combined Animarnian firepower with Borg durability.

She was chosen as the ship to carry Dulcinea of Borg and her two Gaal escorts back to the Gaal homeworld.

As Dulcinea walked through the gleaming white halls, she couldn't help but notice how the bioluminescence of the hallway power conduit, that also served to light the hallway, added a certain opalescent elegance to the ship that neither culture was known for. There was something different, something special, about this ship.

She was smiling when she, Bobby and "the juvenile delinquents" met in the transporter room shortly before the trip was to begin. It was a tense smile, but it was a smile. If this was going to be her home for the next few months, she could live with it.

(OOC: Eeep :/ this is still running? holy crap I must applogise; I recived a PM telling me this RP was basically crushed by the mods under some obscure rule to do with FT and our nations or something, which is why I stopped posting? can someone summerise whats happening?)

OOC: Get ready for a GT, Ani.

(OOC:(OOC: Eeep :/ this is still running? holy crap I must applogise; I recived a PM telling me this RP was basically crushed by the mods under some obscure rule to do with FT and our nations or something, which is why I stopped posting? can someone summerise whats happening?)

I really, really hope it wasn't me who sent that.:$ I was concerned that that might happen, though I surely never claimed it did happen. Either way, I'm sure the mods would have noticed this by now and taken action if they had a problem with it.

Welcome back.:))

The system was dead, the native species had been killed by the Borg. Federation ships can be seen but only a handful could be salvaged, he had to choose carefully.

"Setup the engineering teams to board and repair the warp engines and head back to Devenis for maintenance. In the slim chance of survivors you are to send them to the Revelation for medical treatment and questioning"

He decided to salvage a Centaur Class and a Norway Class they also found a Prometheus Class which next to finding a Sovereign was a dream come true. Three ships in one will help very much with rebuild the fleet.

Perius sits in his quarters has the repairs are done, they wont be done for another 2 days so he had plenty of times on his hands to look over information.

He went over the message a few times 'Red Borg Collective' means it's not the actual Borg, they will be weaker and judging by their attack of a frontier colony they were in a weak position.

He decided that after he had a few new ships he would tell the Federation of his discovery, it was a personal matter for him. If he had more ships he could fight and destroy these Borg before they became a threat and it wouldn't be handed to another man.

He new how unhealthy it was to have such hatred towards a race, it could lead him to his doom but he didn't give a dam. Revenge was not the greatest Motivator but it would have to do, he had nothing else.

....Unimatrix 3455 adapting shields...
loading....
incoming fire...shields 75% Minor Hull damage estimated
adaption complete....self-repair initiated
engaging Intrepid class....firing..

Borg Disrupters, phaser banks and energy torpedoes ripped through the intrepid causing it to be cut in half before exploding sending debry in fiery balls down to the surface of the old federation colony. Kabal's face appeared upon the screen of the two remaining vessels. " I am Kabal..of Borg...resistance is futile..." At that moment two tractor beams caught onto the last Intrepid and the Galaxy class. Power was diverted from main weapons to shields and they began to beam drones down to the planet to begin assimilation. The two federation vessels would need to be captured to begin a new Red Borg Collective fleet.

"There was a war, and all this...all this life, that we take for granted, was gone. There were survivors, we never even knew it had started or why, but it was the machines, they took over the defence network computers, new, powerful, a malevolent intelligence hooked into everything and trusted to run it all. They were supposed to protect us, we could only sit and watch as the machines decided our fate in a microsecond, we were deemed a threat and slated for extermination. The machines used our greatest arsenals against us. Most of us were rounded up, put in camps for orderly disposal or assimilation some of us were immune to conversion neither human nor machine, zombies, kept alive to work, loading bodies. The assimilation units ran night and day, we were that close to going out forever, there was one man, taught us to fight, to storm the wire at the camps, to smash the toaster mother fuckers to junk. He turned it around, he bought us back from the brink" – A Soldiers Story, Tales of the Machine War – The Siege of Tellus V, Datalinks


The Scars of the machine war were still prevalent on the homeworld; deep craters that could be seen from space littered the surface where it had suffered orbital bombardment from the Borg. The scars of Prime; though deep bore nothing of the wounds of its colonies; entire worlds wiped out or assimilated, populations slaughtered without remorse, death camps, families turned against one another. The colonies bore the true scars of the war, the Scorched and charred wastes of the once Pearl white cities of spires and towering sky scrapers. The Third age of mankind, the age of peace had failed, but its death had brought something greater, the last hope for victory. Kara Reed, looked out over the flight deck of the Sophia; she was dressed in the standard Animarnian blue uniform pants and tunic; the gold and cobalt coloured pin above her breast marked her as a Lieutenant. At thirty-five years and with short black but slightly greying hair she wasn’t the picture of youth but her eyes, images scared into her mind forever. As she stared out into space past the force fields that kept the hanger safe from icy void; towards the dead surface of Tellus V, she could still hear the screams…

25 Year Earlier
We are the Borg, lower your shields and surrender your ships, your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own, your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile

The Monotone Cybernetic voice droned on all frequencies, in its digital voice pattern, the mood was panic; at just 10 years of age Kara Reed was buffeted around as she was quickly hurried down to one of the raid shelters by her parent mother. She was carrying just her teddy bear and wearing only kitty pyjamas; she could hear the gunfire; in the distance; the distinctive sound of large 50 calibre weapons. “Is Daddy ok?” she asked, barely a whisper as her mother cleared a path through the crowd as quickly as she could. Before her mother could answer Kara turned in time to see a large column of battle tanks and armoured vehicles heading over the hill followed by a squadron of fifteen H-Jet Gunships. She heard more gunfire and explosions and the familiar Zing of energy weapons so mesmerised by it was she that her mother had to resort to picking her daughter up and carrying her into the shelter. The last image burned into her mind before total darkness; was of the armoured vehicles, hundreds of them running back down the hill aflame and the screams of burning men. On the horizon lit by the flames of death and red laser sights were the machines, cyborgs with grey skin; many hundreds possibly thousands moving in one unanimous path

“They were gone, all gone” she said, then there was only blackness.

Present

The Sophia had been in orbit over Tellus V on salvage for a month; and it was slow going; the heavy radiation on the surface meant they could only go down for 12 hour shifts at a time before having to return to the ship and forced though de-con. They had found a couple of wrecks in orbit, again nothing to write home about; another two Defiant and an Akira; since they were certainly two of the most predominant classes of federation ship in this region of space. They had got a few power modules, some shield generators and an energy weapon cache of Blaster’s that still functioned; also a case of Romulan Ale was found on the surface; quite how that got there no body knew. The planet had been abandoned in the war after the Borg decimated it; survivors were few, now the Sophia’s mission here was to see if Tellus V could be resettled. They’d already set up radiation clearing nanobots into the atmosphere which would bring the Rads down to safe levels within a few months; but on the whole it wasn’t nearly as interesting a mission as there first salvage sight with the new Borg

The Comm then beeped; “Richards to CNC” he said; the signal mangled slightly by the radiation sounded far more distant than it actually was though still legible.

“Go ahead?” Elizabeth Doyle said

“Skipper, we got something here, those hand sensor units the New Borg gave us are getting a sweet hit; we may have found something, it’s a mile below the ice though”, Richards reported.

“Alright, we’ll send down the armadillos with the neutron laser drills; but we’re still in 12 hour shifts remember” She confirmed, Roger that

Thor Class Vessel, Near Federation Space
Captain Stewart was sat in his new command chair on the bridge of the Thor Class Ship that had been renamed ‘Revolution’ by him. The ship had come a long way in the month they’d had it; though little was actually damaged once the Tetrion reactors were restarted most of the automated repair nodes came back online to fix any minor damage that the ship sustained in battle. Above all though the AI ‘Asier’ integrated into the ship, was happy to have a crew again, but most of all she was happy to have a Captain. Her last Captain had been a good man and had died keeping his ship from the Borg; now it was likely she was the last of her kind, at 1900 meters she dwarfed the Oddessy class ship that her new Captain had previously commanded which was now stored inside one of her gigantic central hanger bays. She hoped that her return to the homeworld would be hailed as she would provide the new blue print for ships to be produced; made at the height of the Animarnian Civilisation she could provide much new knowledge that had been lost in the machine war. Little did she know, her captain had other ideas.

From: Rear Admiral Ramirez
To: Captain Scott
Subject: New Directives

Scotty:

It looks like the Roms won't bother negotiating with you, so, rather
than have you sit on your hands, I'm gong to put your talents to
use. Things seem relatively peaceful over here, so I'm going to
send Nuremberg to relieve you. When she arrives, you are
to make best speed toward the Gaal home world, to serve as an
independent observer on what is now being billed as the Trial of
the Borg. Full briefing packet is enclosed. I'll be happy to answer
any questions, etc., etc., etc.

Ramirez out.

Prometheus Class was hard work, the others would be finished in 2 weeks but repairing parts in this was a different matter because it was a case of finding parts barely in stock anywhere.

They managed to find enough equipment to repair the wiring and impulse the weapons was another matter, Perius was walking through the halls where bits of the floor and walls were missing and being attended too.

"We should have weapons online in another 3 weeks Admiral, the hull is a wreck so that's going to take 4 weeks and then the shield generator is just missing and it's going to take awhile to find a compatible one in storage. That should takes us 5 weeks"

"So 5 weeks until we have a small fleet"

"Even then sir the crew will need another month to train in controlling it, these ships were released for mass production just before the war. This technology is so much more efficient then even a Sovereign Class the only problem is the design is so new few people at the Academy were ever trained in how to use it until they were transferred to one and had to start learning by doing"

Jessica walks up behind him and hands over a datapad

"Admiral the honeymoon season is over with the colonies"

"I know, dam those bitchy colonies always nagging"

"This is not time for jokes, they are getting sick of the setbacks. The Federation has done nothing and they know it, the Governors and their councils are not stupid Perius. We have about 8 Colonies and 6 Space Stations that need supplies and support, the Space Stations are understaffed and the colonies have barely any security forces. At this rate we will be nothing more then the Confederacy again"

"I cant tell the Federation what it's priority is, they are to concerned with making allies. I see it as well Jessica, things are exactly the same except this time we can run things here more smoothly"

"The Salvage efforts didn't help things either, they thought that after the Federation came back to help they wouldn't need to resort to such desperate tactics"

"I know, I wish I did not have to either but the Gaal screwed that up when they practically kidnapped the Engineers that we needed. The Federation also hasn't even thought of sending their own, I don't care if it's a few"

"I thought things would be different, The Colonies are rapidly losing faith in the Federation and without any sign of help they will choose to go it alone and most likely elect another council to govern them. You have to think of some way to restore trust in the Federation before we end up back in square one for real"

"I cant do anything, all I can do is keep the colonies safe enough that they will hopefully be in the illusion that the Federation is doing something. I am handing you the Revelation and you are to go to station 24 and look over the Klingon Border. We are going to try and see what allies we still have that we can trust from experience"

Kurn starred at the view screen in shock. What had once been a lush green planet now was a barren waste land. From the Halls of Kahless to the battlefields that forged the empire, it was all gone. It was a prime example of worlds across Klingon space after the Borg attacked. During the open days of the war the Borg launched a rapid multi-pronged invasion of the alpha quadrant including the Empire. When the first assaults on Klingon space took place the Borg won the space battle but would suffer heavy losses and not enough gain on the ground campaigns. This resulted in their withdraw from the Klingon Empire, to focus on more easily assimilated species. The Empire enjoyed fighting the war on foreign territory and assisting other civilizations in their fight for survival, but the Klingons could not be in every engagement and quickly they lost large portions of their space. Once the Borg had assimilated enough to build a large fleet, they launched a full scale invasion of Klingon space, sadly unlike the previous attempt the Borg,.... what do they call it...adapted to the Klingons strengths and nullified them. The Borg's new strategy was genocide of the Klingon race. One by one fleets were destroyed and with them the worlds they defended were glassed and everyone on them eradicated, this process became the norm in the waning days of the war and the empire was diminished greatly.

Kurn the grandson of Mogh of the House of Martok and the 75th Attack Wing as far as he knew were the last of the old Klingon Empire and their Houses. They had been charged with defending some of the colonies near Cardassian space and thats where Kurn was the day that news came that Qo'nos had been destroyed, the Chancellor killed and his grandfather and father, all died a warriors death. Sadly Kurn was not able to defend his homeworld but the gods had seen fit to place him in defense of a handful of worlds on the Klingon/Cardassian border. By the time the Borg had been defeated he only had a handful of ships out of a Attack Wing of fifty ships, and they were determined to reestablish the empire in the name of Kahless and the fallen to her former glory.

Before the attack on Qo’nos a small group of Houses left Qo'nos and fled the genocide and destruction. They turned their backs on their brethren to die a warriors death and an honorable battle for the empires survival. When the war was over they returned and colonized Qo'nos to rebuild the world but today the wrath of the fallen would be served on the cowards.

As they passed the remains of what was once Qo'nos's moon of Praxis a small station appeared, intel said that it was a orbital weapons platform. As Kurns cloaked fleet approached the station as planned all ten of his raptor scout ships decloaked and began harassing the station.

The raptors would take forever to bring the shields down but that was not the goal the intent was to lure the ships defending Qo'nos into taking the bait of an easy kill, and they did. Two birds of prey and Negh'var battleship decloaked and began chasing the raptors. Reports were right that the cowards put stock in size over numbers and this would play into Kurns hands. A few seconds later as the ships still under the guise of cloak moved into position Kurn shouted over the comm, "ALL SHIPS, TODAY IS A GOOD DAY TO DIE." A total of eight birds of prey decloaked four pursuing the enemies birds of prey and the rest assaulting the stations defenses.

The IKV Martok decloaked head on with the Negh'var with two relic D7 cruises. The D7s flanked each side of the battleship but did not return fire. The ship had been stripped of all vital technology except warp engines, cloaking and communications, and twenty photo torpedoes lined the hulls of the old warships and lit up the view screens in a blinding flash then dimmed to superheated fireballs burning the gases released from the D7s.

“Sir, shields are down and the Martok has launched breaching pods”, said Kurns tactical officer. They launched according to the plan. The 1st and 3rd Shock Troops would breach the hull along the engineering deck and reroute control through the engine room.

“Have the raptors fall back and send their commando teams on board”, Kurn ordered. “All ships target weapons and engines of the Negh’var”, he wanted to add more ships to the fleet. They had more than enough troops but not enough ships, this would give his fleet some firepower and they would no longer have to rely on cavalry tactics as much to take on big missions, and they would need it if the other races had also began rebuilding.

“General, the 1st Squadron report that one bird has been destroyed and the other has lost life support, the crew is dead.”

Well at least once the one bird of prey is repaired they’d have three squadrons of Birds of Prey, and shipyards back in the Saxlar system would be producing their first set soon enough. “Order the assault ships to enter the system and have the 1st Squadron begin strafing the military targets on the planet.

---------------------------
Several Months Later

Kurn stood on the foundation of what would be a rebuilt Hall of Kahless, looking over the valley below. Now that they had their homeworld Kurn decided that new Houses had to be established and order would have to rule the empire so every officer in the fleet now was leader of a new House and the captains of the ships would form the High Council with Kurn as the new Chancellor, considering that he would have the IKV Rotarran and the Negh'var, he hadn't settled on a name yet, he had the strongest fleet among the houses.

Hundreds of settlers had come from the worlds he had defended during the war to work the scorched soil, hopefully it would yield a bountiful harvest. But until then they were still reliant on their Cardassian slave farmers in Cardassian space for food enough to provide for the small empire, but now all he knew was that the Klingon Empire was reborn.

ooc - I will work on something to post tomorrow for a first contact. It took me two days to post this cause the system logged me out and lost it and the second I forgot to copy and the same thing happened.

OOC:best bet is me since I control pretty much the entire Federation-Klingon border

(OOC: Huzzah :P I move towards contact again;)

It was another days of boredom; at this point there were many crew members who wished for a fire fight with the Borg; if only for something to do. Still that wish was only fleeting and the harsh reality that would bring in was more than what they could ever deal with right now. They had eight warships plus whatever ships in the sector of space that they had salvaged; which on the whole did not amount to much still eight warships was better than nothing. Though the tri-council was reluctant to send them out anywhere near as far as they would have to go to make contact with other powers, Contact that the Animarnian’s needed badly if they were to rebuild what they once were. Still, the dig on the planet kept most of them distracted the Armadillos’; automated digging robots’ had been at it day and night for days and were just about ready to break though to the cavern that had been discovered using the new sensor equipment the New Borg had provided.

Elizabeth Doyle was sat in her quarters; reading one of her trashy romance novels on a flex pad she smiled letting her mind wonder she didn’t even realise when she fell asleep but woke up to the rather rude sound of the computer AI beeping her fold-com communication window. She sat up quickly adjusted herself to make sure she was decent then told the computer to put up the display. The Holoscreen appeared almost instantly with the face of Fleet Commander Giddion Shepherd; he was the father of her tactical officer John; and the man that often gave the marching orders.

“Yes sir?” Doyle said.

“Did I wake you Elizabeth?” he asked his features crossed with a bemused smirk, being on first name terms with a flag officer had its peaks, unfortunately sleeping in wasn’t one of them, he had an aged appearance with grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard.

“A little sir, we’re a little out from Prime Standard time here” Doyle replied honestly.

“How is everything going?” he asked.

“We’re on schedule sir, we’ve discovered something on the surface that may be of use we’re excavating it” Doyle replied with a smile.

“And my son?” he asked.

“Honestly sir, a little bored” she replied and got a small laugh in return

“Of course, he is a bit of an action man, rather be fighting Borg drones than doing anything like archaeology, however unfortunately this isn’t a social call, captain”, his features changed again and the use of her rank in place of her first name singled the change to serious discussion.

“We have new orders for you; the Odyssey hasn’t reported in; we fear they may have been lost perhaps in an attack by a foreign power or pirate or who knows what. Sadly FLEETCOM can’t spare the resources right now to go look for her or her crew” he explained; getting a perplexed look from Doyle wondering what her orders were if not to go look for the Odyssey; “Captain we need you to make best speed to the Gaal homeworld. A…situation has come up involving your sister, you may want to weigh in on, However remember your representing us try not to start a war, just because we might have the firepower to take them on, doesn’t mean its good idea” he finished; “Shepherd out”

With that the image disappeared; Doyle tapped her wrist communicator; “Doyle to CNC” she said.

“CNC go” came the reply.

“Have an FTL Capable transport ship disembarked and head to the surface; then set cause for Vega, best speed” Doyle ordered.

“Aye Skipper” the man on the other end replied. Obviously Frakes voice

A transport ship; one of the old war-dog transports used as APC’s during the war took off from the massive shuttle bay flight systems and headed towards the surface before the transport had even breached the atmosphere the Sophia’s NAVCOM was already programming and executing exit vectors for FTL rigging. The huge ion engines glowing white as the ship moved far away enough from the planet to jump; a moment later there was a large blue and neon green swirl and flash as a Hyperspace window was torn into normal space and the Sophia entered hyperspace; at best speed it would take them 3 days to reach Vega, the Gaal homeworld; Captain Doyle had some reading to do having recovered some data from the computers left behind on the surface on Gaal legal proceedings….she had a lot of work to do. Elizibeth vowed as much to herself as anyone else that she was not going to loose her sister again, not after just finding her.

Kurn watch on the launch pad as his ship, the Rotarran for the last forty years of his life lifted off and headed into orbit. The High Council was not about to allow him to go galavanting around with protection, and their Negh'var, theIKS Chiang was off patrolling their Cardassian holdings, and trying to gather information on what the Cardi's, as they had come to call them, were doing. But the High Council was right a leaders place is with his people, and there was much to be done on Qo'nos.

In Orbit

Kurns former first officer now commander of the IKS Rotarran, Xaing of the House of Kurn took command of the Imperial 1st Squadron of Birds of Prey. His mission was covert, though from what he could tell they could do in daylight and no one would know. But his mission was to proceed with his squadron to the Federation's old Starbase 632. Klingon intel before the war had reason to believe that after the USS Enterprise-E's Battle of the Bassen Rift that the Federation received permission to search the wreckage for their lost Android. During that search intel reported the Federation stubbled on the Scimitar's cloaking device and took it to Starbase 632 for study. During the war intel lost track of it as intel was reaasigned to more pressing matters. He mission would be to raid the base for supplies but also to try and locate the cloak, "Set course for Federation Starbase 632, warp 7."


Starbase 632, deep across the Klingon/Federation Border

The Rotarran dropped out of warp as did the two other ships in different locations in system. First they wanted to make sure the system was clear of any activity, then they would meet up at the starbase.

Minutes later the Rotarran arrived at the station. It was differently not what Xaing had remembered from old pictures he had seen of the Federation's dull grey stations, but was riddled with hole and scorch marks that caused the station to look as a log would after a fire had been burned. Its lighting system flicked in the sections that still had power from the reserve generators. The space around the station was relatively clear of debris except for a few small system defense sentry ships. Not much compared to the larger more powerful ships in Federations arsenal, these ships probably were not designed to leave the system, much less take on Borg vessels. Federation stations were relatively well armed. Deep Space 9 had held off one of the largest Klingon fleets ever assembled but still the without a defense fleet no station would be able to withstand a Borg assault, and with the proximity to the Klingon border the Borg avoided the border regions so the Federation reassigned all ships to other fronts leaving stations like this without support.

"Sir", said Lieutenant Kron, "it appears that there has been no activity in the system for quite some time. The T'Pong and Sa'ruk have arrived and ready for their orders."

"Lt., take a team over from each ship and search the station for the device. Also download everything they have on the device, incase we can't find it. If you have time locate the channels that they Stellar Cartography systems work on, but don't allow station to send data or we will be compromised." This way, Xaing thought, we might be able to find out where the Federation survivors are and how many ships they have. If they find the channels their cartographic systems work on maybe they can track the Federation ships.

ooc - maybe the cloaking device can bring all the races into a search for it, and create some intrigue.

As Nuremberg came out of transwarp in the Vulcan system, Ramirez relieved Scotty and got ready for the biggest high-stakes negotiations of his career--the next biggest high-stakes negotiations of his career. He knew that, if he wasn't careful, all the work he had done so far would be for naught.

His main goal was to insure peace between the rebuilding Federation and the Neo-Romulans, both now and in the future. Normally, this would be relatively easy--the two governments had so many things in common. Yet, sadly, this would not be the case. The Romulans' warrior mentality all but insured that there would be a strong overtone of competition where, in Ramirez' opinion, such a conflict was not necessary. He knew that, if he wasn't careful, the situation could easily deteriorate to the point where Nuremberg would be seeing action--and this was the last thing that he wanted. Armed hostilities would mark the ultimate failure of everything that he was trying to accomplish.

Scotty left, but he left Stone behind. The Vulcans had let him wander the rocks beneath their diplomatic compound, and found him to be "fascinating."

Prime
The homeworld had grown in the last 2 months that Captain Doyle had been off salvaging, news that the war was for the moment at least over had steadily reached the population. People who had lived underground for nearly 25 years started once again to take up residence in the remaining cities; the great spires shone once more under the protection of the great barriers; immense city sized shields that protected them from the raging sandstorms of the planet. The shields were for the moment powered by Borg power modules; that had been salvaged once they were powered by power cells that extracted energy from subspace; but that technology was now lost to the Animarnian people; like much of its advancement and cultural heritage exterminated by the machines. The council had taken up there residence in the tallest spire of the capital city at its central point the tower was magnificent to anyone seeing it for the first time; silver and orange twinkling in the night sky. The council room itself was octagonal shaped; with a central table; the walls were decorated mostly sandy yellows and browns and the doors all had a certain; glass like look to them that wasn’t really glass.

“We need to be focusing on our own people Elerc” Isabelle spoke; her voice not harsh but cool headed, logical like a clear crystal water cutting though the current fire in the room. The debate raging was where to focus the new fledgling republics priorities and the policy on contact with others; the debate had got somewhat heated. The ‘loss’ of the Odyssey had brought much controversy and gave many that wanted to return to the old ways a wedge to wield against those who wanted to be more progressive. Isabelle was one who was swayed only by logic and reason, formally a professor of the sciences in the times before the war.

“Our Isolationist ways have to end, Isabelle, we knew, we knew the machines would eventually come, and when the machines came and we did nothing we left the other races to fend for themselves! We could have fought them at the start but we didn’t, it is our great shame that we did not take up the burden of this war ‘the concerns of others do not concern us’ you said; ‘pride’ and ‘presumption’ you said. But the pride was ours the arrogance was ours and then the machines finally came for us there was no one to left to help us and now you, each of you want us to return to the old ways!”, Alywyn spoke loudly at the council members. Boisterous, loud, rebellious, hard drinking, gambling and womanising, Alwyn takes great delight in being everything that a good councillor should not be - while simultaneously drawing both the ire and admiration of his fellow representatives. When the machines invaded the alpha quadrant Alwyn broke with the councils orders in contempt of their decision to hide; he then began engaging a guerrilla campaign against the machines, with some success. His exploits earning a reputation as the ‘dread angel’ a ship that would appear from no where destroy all Borg ships in sight and then disappear; though many see this as simple a hero myth.

“While I agree we should contact other powers; sending this…device to the Federation world is not in our best interests; giving them technology that could be used against us is almost certainly a mistake not to mention a breach of the highest of the old laws!” Darius was a conservative; “and if that wasn’t enough you want to offer two thirds of our own fleet defence to bolster their ranks? Have you gone completely mad!” Darius said his voice raised in anger once again; “and do I even have to mention the loss of the Odyssey”

“Aren’t we presuming the loss of that ship a little early?” Alwyn countered his palms pressed firmly into the table.

“It’s been 2 months with no contact!” Darius replied back standing

“Gentleman, Gentleman”, Treball said with a sigh as she face palmed; “We’ve been around his issue several times; neither of us are going to convince the other of there points of view; lets just vote on it; majority passes” she said. She gave a brief look to Elerc who was sat with his elbows on the table and hands formed into a bridge below his nose; he seemed to nod in approval of the Blondes plan. “All in favour say I” she said; and several raised there hands, “all against” she said; and several others raised there hands. “The Ayes have it”, she said.

“Isn’t democracy grand” Alwyn said with a smile over his aged features.

“You’ll all live to regret this!” Darius said and stormed out.

Treball sighed; “So now the question remains how do we carry this out; how do we make contact with the Federation?” she asked.

“I say we send the Obsidian; its not like its doing any good sitting in orbit here is it”, Alwyn said in response.

“An automated probe would do the job just as well; a Mark III Combat wasp fitted with a fold Comm unit would certainly allow us to communicate with them; and get there much faster than a standard vessel” Isabelle raised. “And risk no crew” she added

“Is sending modified anti matter weapon delivery platforms really the best idea?” Alwyn rebuked.

“There would be no warhead, obviously that would be removed for the Fold Comm unit” she replied looking down her glasses at the older man.

“Yes, but; sending out combat wasps, even DISARMED ones is not a good idea; it could provoke them into a rash action; plus the Obsidian could make it there in four days thanks to its re-enforced structural integrity field and being able to negotiate in person will help our position. Especially if the Gaal turn out hostile I for one am not best pleased about them kidnapping our citizens” he replied with no malice; Isabelle seemed to give this careful thought, true a unmanned vehicle could reach Earth in several hours as opposed to days but her colleague did raise a good point about sending anti-matter weapons or even shells used for such into foreign space did not make a good impression.

“Agreed” she said with a nod.

“I’ll contact Captain Santiago and tell him his new orders” Treball said with a smile happy to have sorted this matter out finally; though she knew Darius was up to something; and it was important to keep an eye on him.

HMS Obsidian
Captain Santiago was a woman; she looked somewhat mixed between Hispanic and Greek though that was of course entirely impossible; she had long dark hair and brown eyes she also spoke with a slight accent that might resemble earth Spanish had she ever grown up in that corner of the galaxy. The Obsidian was a new ship; just 2 months ago it was a wreck of an Intrepid Class vessel but 2 months of day and night shifts at Mobius had transformed it the only way to describe it was that when compared to say the Zophia; it was so much more modern; all of its screens here holographic; its weapon systems were at current state of the art at least where energy weapons were concerned and its shielding was probably twice as heavy as anything it would have to compete with in ‘hostile’ space. Still while it had its own charm it still didn’t match the grandeur of a battleship as it broke orbit it powered its Tetrion reactors for the first time and then entered hyperspace; its new ultra modern structural integrity grid and inertial dampners meant it could go two and a half times as fast as the current top of the line Animarnian warship; its destination Earth….

Admiral Zahn beamed down to the council chamber on Vulcan as soon as he had transmitted the hail greeting Rameirez and informing him that he was ready to begin negotiations. As per the previous conditions, he was accompanied by a small and unarmed detachment, though the Vulcans had allowed new orbital scans to confirm that the location was still secure. The Vulcan councilors were already present, stern in their simple but elegant robes. Zahn recognized the woman who seemed to be in charge of the council, and the old Vulcan officer who Romulan intelligence files identified as Solaren. He would probably prove the strongest obstacle among the Vulcans themselves. The Gaal seemed to be absent; weather that was a fortunate turn of events or not he was not sure. Their were no new updates on the Gaal's actions; the intelligence network was still only beginning to rebuild.

Having greeted the Vulcans, Zahn strode over to the round table in the centre of the chamber and sat, politely accepting a glass of replicated Romulan Ale while he waited for Ramierez. Glancing up in the slightly dim red light of Vulcan, his gaze was caught by the arched stone roof overhead, both ancient and elegant. The old red stone held a sense of great age, weathered by a thousand years of galactic history. Thousands of years of history, and for all the conflicts that lay between, Zahn understood why so many Romulans wanted to reclaim Vulcan. It was fitting that their future would be made here, in a strange, irrational way. With Romulus gone, Vulcan was the closest thing his people had to a home.

Zahn let his eyes fall back to observing the other negotiators, and dismissed such thoughts from his mind. It was not like him; he had never been a sentimental man. He was not sure he even approved of his people's fixation on the past, but he was here to do his duty, and he would see it done.

(OOC: I presume you're fine with the previous terms, I believe it was four per delegation and no weapons permitted though I'd have to check to be sure about the first part. If those terms are not acceptable, I will edit accordingly. Just trying to speed things up without posting the same thing twenty times;)).

Ramirez sauntered into the room. He still wasn't used to Vulcan's gravity. Though he prided himself on keeping in shape, and there wasn't a spare ounce of fat on him, at 48 years of age, he didn't have the wind that he once did--and, though things had gone well so far, the last few months had taxed him.

Behind him, Stoney shifted into the room, sounding like a grinding wheel as he rock-hard body ground against the floor. In recent days, Ramirez had relearned why he trusted Stone so much. Despite his sense of humor, the Horta had a certain timeless wisdom, the kind of thing that one would learn to expect from a being whose lifetime was measured not in years but in tens of thousands of them.

They were in good company. Ramirez had also taken the liberty of speaking with Solaren, who was tasked with keeping what must to her have seemed an unruly bunch in sufficient harmony to accomplish these negotiations. There was a lot on the line here, and had people had a big stake in it. This, Ramirez noted, had not been lost on him.

After a very brief exchange of pleasantries with the host, Ramirez walked up to his counterpart. "Well met, Admiral Zahn," he said. "Julan Tru."

(OOC: Solaren, if I remember correctly, is a male Vulcan. He was the one who wanted to join with the Terran Empire).

OCC: will post soon

Perius was drinking wine on a observation platform overlooking Devenis, the cat he saved so many months ago rests on his lap. It had a fanatical taste for raw meat, which he didn't question.

Cameron gave him this wine when he had his last wedding anniversary, Jessica comes into the room since she returned from Station 24 to report of increase activity over the border.

"I get it now, your so miserable because you ordered him onto the ship"

"I don't like ordering people to a situation where they would most likely die"

"Get used to it, at the moment every mission is a suicide mission. Problem with being a Admiral is that you have lives that you are personally responsible for"

"He was willing to give himself to any cause without a second thought, yet that's not why I feel guilty. I feel guilty because I abused that part of him, I knew I could make him do anything and I also knew their was one in a million chance he was going to live and I still ordered him to go over. He always wanted to go back to Earth and go back into healthcare"

"So what now Admiral?"

"Until we get word of the Borg again we have no reason to contact starfleet"

Kron stood in the maintenance corridor on Starfleet Starbase 632, he thought to himself, I hate wearing EVA Suits they are so limiting, cause when he looked to see his scanner he had to move the suit to see anything. He looked up and started moving to the right down the corridor toward a maintenance bay near one of the hangers.
------------------------------
LT. Tanas walked up the engineering console in the central power core on the station. He began pressing buttons on his datapad and began the attempt to decrypt the information and crack the security for all the classified files, as did the other members of his team, except Brakk. Tanas noticed out of the corner of his eye and turned back to the console and said over his helmets commlink, "Brakk find something to do. No one is one the station except us, there is no reason to stand guard."

Brakk, only 16 years old fumbled with what to do and sat down next to Tanas, "What about the Borg? What if there are some on the station, and we can detect them."

"Brakk, the Borg don't activate unless you are deemed a threat, and if there are any Borg left probably powered until another Borg ship enters the area or already left. Watch me, you could learn something about computers and be useful one day."
---------------------
Kron located the entrance to maintenance bay, unlike the others they had searched this one was locked, all the others they could pry open. "K'Noth, reach into my bag and pull out two charges", K'Noth handed the charges to Kron and he slapped them where the two doors meet to at least destroy the locking mechanisms, and armed them. He and his team walked around the corner and detonated the charges. Looked around the corner and the doors were shredded to pieces. They stepped through the doors and found three matter/antimatter reactors for what Kron could figure maybe a Defiant-class ship, "Kron to Rotarran negative, we have three Matter/Antimatter Reactors for Defiant class ships. What should we do?"

"LT., tag them, if we don't find anything the Empirecould benefit from a few reactors and continue to search the other two bays, and report in. Its all clear out here."

Kron signed, it had been six hours, he would rather be assimilated than on a hopeless search.

OOC: Is it my imagination, or is time for Perius going faster than it is for Ramirez and Zahn?

The NAVCOM detected the Earth co-ordinates as they approached the outer system from Hyperspace; the vortex generator fired tearing a hole in the fabric of subspace in a blue and green swirling vortex with a brilliant white centre. The many fractures spanning off into forks from the central point in neon green like throwing a stone at a sheet of glass. The Obsidian returned to normal space the Hyperspace rift closing behind them without the power from the Tetrion reactors supplying power to keep the window open. The Obsidian itself even to look at was obviously a heavily modified Intrepid Class; with a more reclined curve in the rear to the hull and a curve at the front also with a support wedge for a torpedo turret. To look at, other than the obvious structural changes the first thing an observer may also notice was the colour no longer Starfleet Grey it was now a combination of two tone browns and desert sand tone. This would be the ultra-thin neutronium-crystalline plate armour upgrade that had been applied over the original hull almost like a second skin. As an unexpected effect though it did look a lot more menacing especially with armoured windows and only a few red hue lights for lighting on the outside hull. Even the warp nacelles were modified; longer variants possibly from an Akira; though the swing wing pylons had been removed instead fixed pylons were added and extra armour applied as a possible weak spot. The turret itself may or may not have been salvaged from a Sovereign or and Akira, in fact the weapons package was heavily modified to Animarnian doctrine and it more likely resembled something more like a Klingon ship than it did a Federation. With at least seven torpedo tubes in the font two of which were Mark III Pulse fire variants and five rear tubes gave it huge firepower upgrade over the original intrepid four launchers total and at least thirteen muti-band phased neutron discharge arrays. Which though not much more powerful than standard issue Federation Type X Phasers worked differently using many hundreds of low power phased multi-frequency beams twisted into a single discharge as an Anti-Borg weapon. Of course these were pretty much straight off the R&D rack and there was no guarantee they would even work under battlefield conditions.

“Skipper; we’ve arrived in the Earth System; they don’t appear to have an outer Hyperspace marker; I’ll get Navcom to compensate; we are passing the planet that they call Mars” Ensign Janine Kramer said from her position on the navigation station at the front of the command deck. Most of the men were killed or assimilated in the war, which was why most new navy recruits especially officers were female.

“Communications, Open Channels” Captain Santiago (http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/1899/ccb5od7.jpg)said with a tough face, the computer beeped and the communications officer a man with a Crewe cut and short trimmed beard nodded her way.

“This is Captain Santiago, of the Obsidian, we mean you no harm, and hope for peaceful relations between our peoples; tale us to your leader” she said and closed open com link while waiting for a reply.

“Take us to your leader?” her XO said with a small smirk.

“Seemed like a good idea at the time...”

OOC: The time is not important unless we talk about it in conversation, the idea is all these events have taken place over at least a few months...otherwise it wouldn't be very realistic. Just ignore it when I mention it. At the moment I am sorta just waiting for a chance to jump in anyway.

A female Tellarite appeared on the Obsidian's comm screens. "I am Captain M'mar Gail of Tellar, Chief Undersecretary of Diplomatic Relations for the United Federation of Planets. My superior, Rear Admiral Ramirez, is away on business, and, in his absence, I am your portal to the nirvana of the Federation. A little humor there. Our friends the New Borg speak very highly of your people, Santiago, and that's why we're glad to finally meet your acquaintance again. Please come to the coordinates we're sending you and we'll schedule a Diplomatic meeting."

OOC: When you think of Gail, think of the computer geek in "Criminal Minds." Perfect disposition for a diplomat, no? :) :) :)

Dastardly Stench;14407964']OOC: Is it my imagination, or is time for Perius going faster than it is for Ramirez and Zahn?

(OOC: Diplomacy takes a while. But that's my fault, for taking too long to reply, and my computer's for seeming to malfunction whenever I try to make a long post).

(OOC: bump. I'll post again tonight or tomorrow, sorry for delay. I'm trying to think of how to make contact with the Ferengi and Klingons).

Dastardly Stench;14403696']Ramirez sauntered into the room. He still wasn't used to Vulcan's gravity. Though he prided himself on keeping in shape, and there wasn't a spare ounce of fat on him, at 48 years of age, he didn't have the wind that he once did--and, though things had gone well so far, the last few months had taxed him.

Behind him, Stoney shifted into the room, sounding like a grinding wheel as he rock-hard body ground against the floor. In recent days, Ramirez had relearned why he trusted Stone so much. Despite his sense of humor, the Horta had a certain timeless wisdom, the kind of thing that one would learn to expect from a being whose lifetime was measured not in years but in tens of thousands of them.

They were in good company. Ramirez had also taken the liberty of speaking with Solaren, who was tasked with keeping what must to her have seemed an unruly bunch in sufficient harmony to accomplish these negotiations. There was a lot on the line here, and had people had a big stake in it. This, Ramirez noted, had not been lost on him.

After a very brief exchange of pleasantries with the host, Ramirez walked up to his counterpart. "Well met, Admiral Zahn," he said. "Julan Tru."

Zahn rose as Ramirez entered the room. He noted the Admiral's confident swagger, but he knew better than to let that fool him in to underestimating Ramirez. The man was to all appearences a highly skilled diplomat. He also studied the rock creature as it entered, and made a note to enquire further as to its capabillities. As it was, he could understand Ramirez's confidence with such a formidable guard.

Walking over to Ramirez, Zahn smiled courteously and extended his hand.

"Welcome, Admiral. It is fortunate that you were able to arrive so quickly. Their is a great deal that we need to discuss. I hope the Gaal take no offense at not being pressent, but then again, they are members of the Federation, are they not? Surely you can speak for them in these negotiations? As for the Terran Empire, I think we can both agree that their absence will greatly expedite the procedings here. Though incidentally, the concern over possible future incurrsions is a matter that we should discuss.

(OOC: more coming tonight, I'm off to watch Obama get sworn in;)).

As Xaing and his brother Kron were on some secret mission, Colonel Kane was on survey runs on the Romulan border. Kane hoped for the chance that some Romulan's were on the wrong side so that he kill kill a few, but no luck yet. Instead of fighting Romulans all his sensors found was empty space, and empty planets, formerly inhabited by Klingons for hundreds of years. He was in the mess hall sparing his son Dorn when his second in command entered, "Sir", he said.

"Yes, commander?"

"We have detected a distress call across the border....", he paused, "its Klingon", he finished.

"Cloak the ship, lay in a course, maximum warp."

Ramirez took Zahn's hand and held it firmly. At once, he presented an image of strength and of peacefulness. These, he knew, were important to a Romulan.

"I speak for the former Terran Empire--or, at least, its holdings in this universe," Ramirez said. "They have returned to the Federation. The Gaal are still in the induction process. Technically, they need a majority vote from the General Assembly to get in. I can speak for them on a limited basis, but you can rest assured that I will be in contact."

Mental Note to self...remind Perius to get some reps into the GA...

"So," Ramirez continued, "let's talk."

-------------

OOC: Off to watch Obama, eh?

Curses! Another victim falls to all the hype! :p :p :p

Dastardly Stench;14422626']Ramirez took Zahn's hand and held it firmly. At once, he presented an image of strength and of peacefulness. These, he knew, were important to a Romulan.

"I speak for the former Terran Empire--or, at least, its holdings in this universe," Ramirez said. "They have returned to the Federation. The Gaal are still in the induction process. Technically, they need a majority vote from the General Assembly to get in. I can speak for them on a limited basis, but you can rest assured that I will be in contact."

Mental Note to self...remind Perius to get some reps into the GA...

"So," Ramirez continued, "let's talk."

-------------

Zahn nodded towards the round table in the centre of the room.

"I don't me to be rude, but perhaps it would be best if we proceded directly to the point. Their is a great deal we must discuss. First, the threat of these so called "New Borg," and of course, the possibillity of future Terran incurrsions. It would be best for our mutual security if we could work as partners in these matters, or at least avoid interference with one another.

However, their are other concerns, specifically regarding Vulcan. We respect the Federation's history with regards to Vulcan, and we understand that conflict is not in anyone's interest except our common enemies'; the Borg, the Terrans, and the pirates. However, you must understand what is at stake here. The Romulan people have no home. They look to Vulcan for their future. If Vulcan is to remain an independent party, and if peace with the Federation is to be preserved, some considerable concessions may unfortunately be nessissary."

OOC: Off to watch Obama, eh?

Curses! Another victim falls to all the hype! :p :p :p

If someday my grandchildren ask me where I was when Obama was sworn in, am I supposed to tell them I was on the internet?:D

Ramirez looked at Zahn. "This is a damn pickle we're in," he said. "For starters, I agree with you that we need to be wary of the New Borg and the Terran Empire, and not a day goes by when I do not long, as I am sure many do, for a peaceful reconciliation of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples. But there are some things that are simply a part of the identity of the Federation--some principles that we cannot compromise for fear of losing the things that make us what we are. One of these is a people's right to self-determination. That is why, if the Vulcan people were to reject the Federation tomorrow, we would simply leave them in peace--but if they chose to stay with us and were forcibly prevented, we would use every resource at our disposal to aid them. Personally, I don't like the thought of a Romulan/Vulcan presence separate from the Federation. It was the at the urging of the Vulcans that we negotiated the treaties that ended the Romulan-Federation war and established the Neutral Zone. Without their mediating influence, we might still be fighting that war, or, worse yet, have beaten each other so far down that the Borg would have completely absorbed us all. That is not my decision to make, however. We should be trying to drift closer together rather than farther apart. There are many relationships possible. Vulcan could choose, for example, to become part of neither the Federation nor the New Romulan Empire.

--------------

OOC: What the heck do you guys call yourselves?

-------------

IC:

Things can be complex.

"Which brings up the case of the New Borg. They claim to have broken with the Collective, and have been our most formidable ally--and yours, too--against the Dark Mirror Terrans. They're returning people to their homes, just letting them go back. They're sharing their knowledge and adaptability with us. I don't know what to make of it. They need to be watched, there's no question about that--but what if they are what they claim to be?

"And that brings me back to you. You and your people have been through a lot--we all have--in the last few years. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to begin to forge ahead again together with you, in peace. What do you have in mind?"

Ramirez looked at Zahn. "This is a damn pickle we're in," he said. "For starters, I agree with you that we need to be wary of the New Borg and the Terran Empire, and not a day goes by when I do not long, as I am sure many do, for a peaceful reconciliation of the Vulcan and Romulan peoples. But there are some things that are simply a part of the identity of the Federation--some principles that we cannot compromise for fear of losing the things that make us what we are. One of these is a people's right to self-determination. That is why, if the Vulcan people were to reject the Federation tomorrow, we would simply leave them in peace--but if they chose to stay with us and were forcibly prevented, we would use every resource at our disposal to aid them. Personally, I don't like the thought of a Romulan/Vulcan presence separate from the Federation. It was the at the urging of the Vulcans that we negotiated the treaties that ended the Romulan-Federation war and established the Neutral Zone. Without their mediating influence, we might still be fighting that war, or, worse yet, have beaten each other so far down that the Borg would have completely absorbed us all. That is not my decision to make, however. We should be trying to drift closer together rather than farther apart. There are many relationships possible. Vulcan could choose, for example, to become part of neither the Federation nor the New Romulan Empire.

--------------

Zahn nodded.

"I understand your position. And I can assure you, it is not in our interests to begin a conflict over Vulcan. What is important, however, is that we can fulfill the promises we made to our people. They expect a victory at Vulcan, be it political or military. For this reason, the Federation will have to make certain political concessions if this issue is to be resolved. However, we are open to negotiation."

OOC: What the heck do you guys call yourselves?

(OOC: Officially, Zahn is a representative of the interim Romulan Senate. A new state is still in the process of being created, and a Constitution has not yet been ratified).

-------------

IC:

Things can be complex.

"Which brings up the case of the New Borg. They claim to have broken with the Collective, and have been our most formidable ally--and yours, too--against the Dark Mirror Terrans. They're returning people to their homes, just letting them go back. They're sharing their knowledge and adaptability with us. I don't know what to make of it. They need to be watched, there's no question about that--but what if they are what they claim to be?

"Regarding the Borg, I appreciate the differences between the Old and New Borg, and so does the Governor. However, many Romulans do not feel that way. To many, they will be simply Borg, to be exterminated.

When the Borg attacked, the Federation was greatly weakened, but your founding worlds survived. We were not so fortunate. Romulus was anhiallated. When the Borg broke through the Federation lines guarding our flank, a fleet of cloaked Borg vessels was able to enter Romulan space before we could reinforce that area. They destroyed the Romulus Defense Force in seconds, and assimalated the entire world. When reinforcements arrived - two entire fleets - the Borg were already closing on Remus. They fought to the death to buy time for more civilians to escape, but in the end, they could not save our home world.

I tell you this so that you will realize how dangerous it is politically for us to even negotiate with you. Many Romulans blame the Federation for provoking an all-out attack by the Borg before we were ready to face it. Some, and I assure you the state does not share this position, but some, even believe that the Federation forces along our border allowed the Borg through, so as to eliminate the Romulan Empire. Their is a great deal of anti-Federation sentiment right now."

"And that brings me back to you. You and your people have been through a lot--we all have--in the last few years. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to begin to forge ahead again together with you, in peace. What do you have in mind?"

"Regarding our political demands, we first expect a public declaration of Vulcan's right to self-determination. While the choice to remain in the Federation is, for the time, Vulcan's, publicly reaffirming this right will reassure many of our citizens that the Federation is not forcibly sepperating us from Vulcan, and will be seen as a political victory in the eyes of those who do not trust the Federation.

Second, we wish to begin repatriating citizens from either side sepperated by the wars. Governor Vranik has made it clear that no Romulan is to be abandoned. And we do not doubt that your own citizens wish to return home. In this area, I think we can agree. We already had an agreement of this sort with the governor of Devenis, but now we shall negotiate it with the Federation.

Third, we wish for the Federation Council to formally recognize us as a sovereign nation.

And finally, we wish to discuss certain exchanges of technology, as well as strategic information on the Terran Empire and New Borg."

The bridge communication system crackled to life as the human voice came across the audio speakers; Captain Santiago smiled to herself more than anything while several others gave a sigh of relief; the loss of the first ship sent to make contact with the Federation had led many to speculate that perhaps the Federation had simply decided to anhialate the ship and claim the technology, there was a time long ago when Animarnians guided the younger races; afterall they were a space fairing civilisation for over 30,000 years before the Federation even existed but recent times had led to almost xenophobic isolationism; the machine war had rooted that even further.

"it is good to hear a friendly voice in a dark universe, one candle lights up the dark and chases away the shadows that fall, hope lives again" she said with a smile. "Navcom, take us to the co-ordinates" she ordred; the ensign on the forward holoconsole tapped at the buttons and the ship responded; its six high output engines pushing it to 26PSL in a few seconds; with massive acceloration.

"Captain Gail; we have followed your instructions"

Ramirez' comm badge beeped three times. He pulled a hand held personal data device out of his belt. He glanced down at it, then at Zahn.

"You'd better see this," he said. The words on the device were, "NEW BORG FOUND NOT GUILTY ON GAAL HOMEWORLD."

"Now, you have another political problem: what are you going to do when they ask you to repatriate Romulans who were absorbed? They have asked to do similarly on Earth and on Vulcan. We don't know if they're trying to infiltrate us. We urge that you act with caution, for your own sakes.

"As for Vulcan's declaration, I feel that your victory will be all the more sweet if it is the Vulcans themselves, rather than the Federation, who make it, and, thus, I defer to them. I'm certain that they will find it only logical to confirm a core value of the Federation.

"As to your repatriation request, consider it done. We can have our people work out the details.

"As to your request for recognition, I do not have authority in that case. It is a matter for the Federation Council, which I am sure will look into it shortly after we can reestablish a quorum.

"Finally, as to sharing technology and strategic information, we're always willing to talk."

It didn't take Hollow World long to reappear in Sol System after the trial ended. The New Borg speedily got back to the business that had been interrupted when the trial began. Perius even found himself with Prophet's Hope at his disposal, starting with the salvaging of a certain space station.

The New Borg had gone through some lean times, and had adapted by learning some impressive construction techniques. As the engineering team surveyed the space station, the tactical cube pulled in close to the nearest star and soaked up as much energy as she could. By the time the ship returned, she had already fabricated almost one tenth of the parts that would be needed. Then, the New Borg Engineering Corps began their work with a vengeance, as Prophet's Hope continued her manufacturing binge. The workers put the parts in place and the nanoprobes made the microscopic adjustments, sometimes weaving the molecules of some parts together stronger than if they had been welded. Within 24 hours, the station's hull was completely resealed, and, within 48 hours, life support was fully restored on all levels. Internal communications, auxiliary power and a general clean-up of the interior would take longer, but would be done.

And they shared all of their technology, right down to the nanoprobe software.

Gail had never handled a negotiation before, but this is not to say that she had not thought about the process. She knew that it was imperative to appear to be in charge, and to trust the people she was dealing with. This was why she shuttled over to the Animarnian ship, and made sure that she had a Lieutennant with a big, fat PADD stand behind her at all times and look like he was taking care of important business and generally fawning all over her.

"Well," she said as the doors to Santiago's ship opened, "we're here." She turned to the Lieutennant behind her. "Smithers, note the precise time," she said.

"Yes, sir!" Smithers replied. He bent down and typed some data into his device.

When Perius got the news a smile came across his face, he turned his datapad towards Captain Harrison. One of the few crew members he had, he was to be given his own ship when repairs had been done.

"Looks like we will finally get those engineers, good thing is everybody has a eye on Vulcan at the moment so we can sit here and build up the Federation Fleet while the Romulans have their backed turned. What was it you wanted to report?"

"Jessica is pleased to report that we know have eyes and ears on the Klingon Border. Also DS9 Ring has been put back together, they are now clearing out all the Borg technology and trying to use the few Cardassians Artisans we have to rebuild it's interior"

"They are using Cardassians? We could just make the inside suit our needs"

"If we ever make contact with whats left of the Union, DS9 could be a good place to hold talks"

"I suppose so, tell Captain Fisher that she is to bring the Revelation back in two days. I have something I need to do"

"Yes Admiral" he walks off, leaving Perius alone in his room.

as the Suttle touched down on the deck of the refited Intrepid the hanger deck would look mostly familer to Captain Gail and her escorts except for the presense of a few sleek looking Animarnian Aerofighters and Several large shuttle APC's which looked more like flying bricks than anything else. Captain Gail was met by Captain Santiago who fidgeted nervously; truth be told she was not much of a diplomat there was an old saying in the corp; - soliders make poor diplomats and Santiago was true to that, but she would do her duty. she herself was escorted by two large Marines in Blue and black uniforms; they were armed but only with side arm energy pistols; but this was because marines were instructed to be armed at all times more than any distrust of her counterpart.

"Captain Gail, Welcome to the Obsidian, would you like the Grand Tour?" she said offering her hand, as was the human tradition or so she read in the archives

Like eggs in a casing, the maturation chambers lined the walls of the room.

Omigott: You're absolutely certain that you want to do this?

Falsus: Those people need to live again. I've never been more certain of anything in my entire life.

Omigott: And it doesn't bother you that our gracious hosts might see this as an invasion?

Falsus: They'll warm to it when they learn that they're all Bajorans looking to come back home.

Omigott: We'd better hope so. DS9 is located in what, to them, is a very strategic place. They will be paranoid when they find 512 Borg growing there.

Gail took Santiago's hand. "Glad to be here," she replied, "and I'd love to. Smithers, what does my schedule look like?"

Smithers was a Cardassian--short and stocky but muscular, he had won Gail's heart with his ability to role-play any character. Right now, he was working up a big bonus by making her look important. Heck--he almost had her believing him, he was laying it on so thick and heavy.

"Oh, I don't know, sir," he said, looking down at that big, nerdy-looking padd of his. He took the opportunity to pick up the stylus and fiddle with the thing. Gail doubted that there was really anything important on that screen--knowing Smithers, it was a video game. "You're very busy, what with the New Borg returning from their trial and everything. Still, I suppose we could squeeze it in, if it was done quickly."

Santiago smiled to herself, the archives had said the humans were a very unusual species, needed guidance of course but had the potentential to walk amongst the stars like giants, of course they would not reach that potential for a few thousand years yet. but still, they were like seedlings that needed to be nurtured into stroke oaks. she went though the tour; highlighting points of intrest like the mess; interestingly her companions may comment on the somewhat more..spartan look of the wallls with no fancy plastic paneling everything was either screw fitted if it had to be removed for parts or had riveted re-inforced durasteel if it didn't need to be opened up. it didn't look anywhere near as shiney as it might have back whenit was starfleet but was much more durable and less prone to exploding and killing the poor yellow shirts; Animarnian design was function over form, the Cardassian might appriciate this. The tour of the ship was whirlwind and before long they reached main engineering, so far they would have noticed few changes at least none that were 'not backend' other than the less fancy nature as it were but; main engineering was changed with a lot of technology, with the upgraded holoterminals replacing Federation LCARS consoles, the gigantic hyperspace Vortex generator connected to the yellow glowing cylinders that connected to the Tetrion reactor at the ships heart replacing the warp core was unmisable to even the engineering obtuse.

"and this is main engineering; many of us say that this is the heart of any ship; its...soul if you will" she said easily enough.

The Ferengi had as a race gone through quite a bit of change since civilisation collapsed around them, firstly with a new Grand Nagus there had started to be some changes on the social scene. Female Ferengi's started to get the same rights as male, firstly to wear clothes, secondly to be able to speak with non-relatives, thirdly to earn profit and finally true equality.

All this put together meant that eventually, females were accepted as having the lobes for business as well as any man, and it also meant that a female could become the Grand Nagus, however that was not all. This Grand Nagus was a staunch reformer of the Ferengi Economic System, he started to make attempts to make the system more socialist, in the sense of allowing unions, regulation and other mechanisms leading away from their completely laissez-faire system.

This received alot of resistance, of course of it wasn't open resistance, but paperwork got lost or destroyed, and people dragged their feet in handling anything that made it through. This was unlike anything that anyone had ever seen in Ferengi History. The Grand Nagus was started to be under economic strain Ferengi were attacking his financial interests.Never before had someone tried that with the Grand Nagus.

Though that tactic didn't quite work they resorted to the last resort. Assasination.

No one knows who did it, whether the Eliminators were involved or not, and to be frank no one really cares, but that leaves the Ferengi with a major issue. Who's going to be the next Grand Nagus. Usually the Grand Nagus appoints their successor but with the Grand Nagus dead it was decided a competition for profit would be held. The Ferengi with the most profit by an undisclosed Stardate would become the new Grand Nagus, of course females were now eligible for the position and could make history as the first female Grand Nagus... ever.

------------

Zak was running a relatively small operation, he and his bother and sister Dark and Pet. It was a scavaging and salvage operation bits and bobs mostly scrap metal and barely working equipment from machines destroyed long ago.

At least that was until they came across an old Space Station. It was in relatively good nick and there were no live signs detected on it, so it was theirs for the taking.

Granted, it needed to be worked on but a Ferengi is not adverse to working hard for Latinnum.