Star Trek: Death of the Federation

[Cynical Cat]

Kadon smiled as Hizar. "But command is the issue isn't it captain? You started a chaotic free for all. I took command. Just as I commanded my squadron in battle, destroyed enemy ships, protected allied ships, successfully attacked the Cube, and sent my Marines to fight and die on other ships. And now I present an itemized salvage list to the captains so we may decide on the appropriate division of spoils. There is no question about my ability to command. Like Captain Anderson my career is both a matter of record and something you have witnessed.

"I do not speak against you Captain Hizir. You fought boldly and well and I am Klingon. I do not say such lightly and from one of us that is high praise. I have no doubts about the skills of your crew, but that is not the question. You must be able to take as well as give orders and to put the squadron first, not your own ship. That has yet to be demonstrated."

"As for the refugees we will do our best, but the Riskadh's crew compliment is almost full and Klingon ships have little extra space for passengers, especially with so much salvage filling our holds. The majority of the colonists must be left behind, barring an act of Q."

[frigidmagi]

Captain Anderson wasn't having the best day. There was the colonist problem. The Borg attack. The fact that he had fed the Argonaught into the flames for damn little if any return on the payment (not incidental killing how many starfleet personale) and now the "fleet" was quarrelling over the salvage as if the system was safe. Suffice to say he was cranky when Rog and Mak Than seemed determined to attach themselves to his party. His party was arriving last to. Yay.

"Captain, I realize you have urgent business but I must insist. Every individual is a gold mine of genetic information that can aide in the rebuilding of countless species after the war." Rog announced.

"And increase your share of the profit?" Lt. Summers asked drily. He was the offical escort for him and Cerezi, Poor Tak being left behind to mind the store again. Rog sniffed and pointed his nose in the air.

"I don't have to take that spurious accusation from a man known for his perverse love of colonial tools. I am selflessly providing a geneiune service for the galaxy preserving the genetic diversity of almost a 100 sapient species for posterity. Not all us have as narrow gene diversity as humans you know. I could be the one thing saving dozens if not more species from grim extinction!" Rog replied haughtly. He and Lt Summers had had an adversarial relationship since they got on the ship. What with Rog trying to get into bed with Commander Higgins and Lt Summers suceeding... And Rog stealing the Lt's hatchet and trying to sell it back... It had been entertaining if nothing else.

Mak Than simply crossed his arms and looked (as much as a masked sapient could) at the Captain. Captain Anderson nodded to the Breen accepting the other's silent point while ignoring the by play.

"And how much is the service fee for your chivalrous service?" Cerezi asked with a raised eye brow pointedly ignoring Mak Than.

"A mere 3% of the GDP of the species for 4 generations! Barely worth mentioning! Considering that I would rate parental pay, medical care pay, storage fees, hazard pay, consultation fees and, AND! I don't copyright any of the genes as a public service to the galaxy." Rog places his right hand on his chest and threw his left out wide.

"You're right Rog, you're a saint. A blood sucking one." Lt Summers said.

"Enough. Inform the Empryean 5 to beam out. Rog if you interupt the meeting I'll let the klin deal with you in the matter they see best." The Captain ordered.

"Of course Captain, I'll be my usual quiet and unassuming self! No need for the spotlight, I'll just quietly toil to do my part with the best of manners." Rog replied cheefully.

"Like when Mary threw you through the bar in the Rec hall?" Lt Summers muttered.

[Charon]

By now both Danava and Khoal were staring at the Klingon contingency, though Khoal was pointedly keeping his gaze away from the other Romulans in the room. The Orion woman's smile was turning feral once more and Hizir placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You presume to know much, Captain." Khoal finally spoke up. "Captain Hizir led a small fleet during the Battle for Earth, and it was because of his capacity for putting the fleet first that I am here today, as well as many crew aboard the Barbarossa."

Hizir glanced at his Tactical officer and smiled faintly before he returned his gaze to the Klingon. "I am willing to allow you control over salvage operations if you are willing to accept the advice of my ship on such matters and give us some freedom of action during salvage operations."

Hizir now looked to the rest of the table, "The Barbarossa can handle another 3,000 souls. I will have my pick of conscripting up to 700 of those to my crew, should those persons be relatively willing." For those who knew the specs of Romulan D'deridex's, Hizir's numbers suggested he had nearly 3,000 in his crew already if he could only fit another 3,000 souls aboard his ship, that or damage and supplies he had not yet mentioned were taking up considerably more space than could be anticipated. "As for the rest of the colonists, I think their best chance is to make it look like everyone was evacuated, then go find deep caverns and not use any technology more advanced than the wheel for awhile. Borg might get tricked... Might."

[Cynical Cat]

"The word of your crew, however accurate, carries less weight than what the captains of this fleet have witnessed first hand and the records of the Imperial Klingon Navy," said Kadon. "As a matter of fact I can produce members of my crew who will swear that I'm the greatest military genius since Kahless himself and that's before we get to the drunken boasting.

"As for salvage operations, I took charge because the fleet had voted me rank and responsibility and because it was turning into a chaotic free for all. I did what was necessary. Do not fear Captain Hizir. If the fleet continues to give me rank I will give you every opportunity to prove your skill and cunning.

"As for the Borg, the only value this place has is resource extraction, primarily future drones. A sparsely populated colony will be a low priority target, especially if they take steps to hide themselves from the enemy. Bajor is a military strong point and home to billions. If they are fortunate Nivoch might be ignored completely. For those we cannot evacuate I can see no better solution."

[frigidmagi]

Captain Anderson stepped off the transporter pad. The other four followed him down the hall, directed by the crew of the Empryean. He walked into the room, Lt Summers following behind with a pistol and a hatchet on his belt, Commander Cerezi behind the Lt. Mak Than brought up the rear. Rog stayed in the hall, having had the law laid down on him before. Captain Andersen swept the room with his eyes, biological and cybernetic.

"Captains. Thank you for coming, please be seated."

[Comrade Tortoise]

Inwardly,T'Lorn groaned. He also sighed and shook his head. Of course, he did this deep in a dark little corner of his mind, where no one would ever, ever see.

Do I have to have my crew transport over a set of digital calipers so they can solve the dispute regarding the respective size of their genitalia?

He did not say it, but deep down inside, he wanted to. His attempts at using logic with these sentients seemed to be falling on deaf ears. At this point, he was more than willing to just ignore them, obstinate children very seldom listened to reason until it rose up and kicked them in the teeth. If they began throwing fists, he would nerve pinch them, until then, he contented himself with coordinating with his ship. He typed messages into his datapad to his crew

Code: Select all

"Commander Genetris, have the crew begin clearing Auxilliary Labs One through Four, as well as prep the V.I.P quarters to serve as a massive passenger bunk.  We will be taking on several refugees.  Also, have them program a refugee camp into the holodecks, make it a nice refugee camp, make sure saftey protocols are engaged."

He got a text response back fairly quickly

"We have a nice resort camp with cabins, running water and nice fire pits in an idyllic woodland setting."

"That will suffice" T'Lorn responded

The Captain Anderson waled into the room. T'Lorn was already sitting, so there was no need to sit further, still, he wanted to make a good example, so instead of sitting up rigidly straight in the chair, he sat back into the back of the chair. He would admit, if asked, that sitting was somewhat more comfortable this way and he would need to do so more in the future.

"Good to see you Captain. We were just beginning to discuss the combined issues of salvage, resupply, and civilian evacuations."

The law would be laid down shortly.

[rhoenix]

Upon seeing the Captain of the Immortal arrive, and give the order for those assembled to be seated, Captain Solheim and Commander Inzeti both nodded once in respect to the Commadore of their little makeshift fleet, and took their seats.

Though it was a few seats down from the respective parties, they both sat together, on the same side of the table as the Romulan and Klingon contingents.

[LadyTevar]

Captain Kirk was obvious as the only female wearing a Federation Captain's uniform. She greeted Captain Anderson with a brisk nod and a tight smile. "More to say, we have drawn lines and attempted to find relative penis-size of various captains," Kirk added dryly to T'Lorn's simple update. "Perhaps now we can begin to get down to business."

No, she wasn't reading T'Lorn's mind; there was no need to when some things are so obvious.

[Charon]

Hizir laughed. "I am certain that I will have many opportunities with Klingons as high ranking members." He looked to the Orion woman, who seemed pleased enough with this turn of events, then over to Khoal, who looked less pleased, but willing to accept the result.

When Anderson walked into the room, Hizir looked to him and nodded his cap to him in a respectful manner, but he didn't stand up from the seat he had already taken.

If the Captain of the Barbarossa took any note of where exactly everyone was sitting, he took little note of it. He looked over at the Captain Kirk and smirked though. "Madam, if it's the size of my penis you have questions about I would be more than willing to discuss the matter in depth with you. Perhaps over some good Romulan ale?" He winked at her.

[frigidmagi]

Captain Anderson rapped his left hand, the one made up of metal against the table. The loud knock echoed throughout the room as everyone sat.

"Captains, I'll be brief. We have engaged a small borg task force and despite a lack of a unit training or a worked out chain of command have done well and bravely. My commendations and thanks to you all. That said we must move quickly. Our priorities are ensuring that every ship can achieve warp speed and will survive a trip to Starfleet Command at Bajor. To that end salvage is to be directed at finding necessary components for those repairs. Each of you will provide what experts you have available for detached duty under Captain Vlad'Stok. If possible I would like Captain Khemera to provide security for the salvage. Captain DuBios and the Empryean are to provide sensor overwatch for the fleet. I will forward all your status reports to Captain Vlad'Stok and required you make a detailed damage report to his ship in the next 3 standard hours or inform me as to why you cannot. Our next task is to provide lift for as many colonist as we can safety carry or as many as want to go. I will be meeting with colonial leadership to discuss that. Commander Cretak, Lt. Commander Kirk, I request you accompany me to that meeting. Please limit your detail to 5 additional members or less. Finally, I have special duties will detail to a number of you. The Borg salvage their own wrecks whenever possible, I intend to leave behind surprises. Captains, I intend for the force to leave this system soonest. The longer we're here the more fire we draw on these people and ourselves. Does anyone have relevant questions?" The Captain spoke while standing at the head of the table making eye contact with each Captain in turn.

[Cynical Cat]

Kadon scowled at Kirk. The pirate had attempted to take a position of power within the fleet by personal fiat. Did she think surrendering authority to a pirate was a wise idea? Did she think the pirate would stop there? He hadn't even formally committed to being part of the fleet. Lives depended on such decisions. Federation citizens were too soft. Well, some of them. Anderson wasn't.

"Commander Cretak has implied he possesses a means of providing high speed travel for the entire fleet. I suggest we surrender the floor to him so we may consider the option," said Kadon. "There is also the matter of trapping the Borg wreckage. My Marine combat engineers have considerable experience in this task. I suggest that this duty be given to them."

[frigidmagi]

"Your suggestion is accepted Captain Kadon, Captains, have any personale skilled in the matter report to the Komerex Combat Engineers. Commander Cretak, the floor is yours." Captain Anderson replied.

[Charon]

Once again Hizir's smile faded away and it looked for a moment as though it was Danava's turn to speak up before Hizir raised a hand and looked pointedly at her. The Orion woman looked at her captain hard for several seconds before she finally relented and Hizir turned back to face Captain Anderson. "As I said before you arrival, Captain, my ship can achieve warp, but she's running on the slow side. My men are also well practiced in salvage operations... as well as sabotage and explosives."

[LadyTevar]

Eoife effortlessly ignored Hizir's offer by looking to Captain Anderson as he came in and started explaining his plans. At his request for her to join him at the meeting with the colonists, Kirk nodded sharply, having nothing to add for the moment. There was a time to listen, and a time to speak. Now, Eoife listened and learned.

[Marcao]

Alpha Quadrant
Nivoch System, USS Empyrean
Diplomatic Chamber

While the others reacted to his statement about what he planned to do with the current situation, he settled on watching the dynamics play out between the various personalities within the room. He was unsurprised by the maneuverings of the commander of the Barbarossa but he was surprised by the overall lack of resistance being offered by members of the Federation. It seemed that they were more than willing to let Captain Kadon fight their battles for them, perhaps wishing for the Klingon to set up the scene in order for them to walk through it.

He did an excellent of hiding his impatience and instead settled on memorizing the social cues and body language of various people of interest. At his side Idrakht was doing much the same or so he thought. Even after having spent over a decade with the Reman, his mind was not something that he could readily predict. If push came to shove, he would take the side of Kadon. That much was obvious to anyone that cared enough to look at the manner in which his eyes shifted from the Klingon to the human in command of the Barbarossa as they spoke. It was more than the fact that the Human captain had a Romulan warship in his possession under as of yet unknown means. It was also a matter of association. He disliked most Orions on principle, especially after the incident in Argelius.

When Captain Anderson finally decided to make his entrance he nodded in his direction curtly. He was not part of Starfleet and as such, he did not feel compelled to offer the Captain anything more than politeness required. The reputation of the Immortal and her captain had spread throughout the Galaxy, but at this point in time the human had not done enough to separate himself from the others. In the eyes of the Romulan, it was quickly clear who was the primary commanding officer of the fleet. Captain Kirk attractive for a female opened the door for a path of inquiry that he knew would lead to a capitulation from the delegation of the Barbarossa. What Orion affiliated male could resist doing so? His eyes lingered on Kirk for a moment before he looked away. She was not really his type. As the thought lingered in his mind he found himself unconsciously staring at Samara for over four seconds before he blinked, caught himself and looked away.

He focused instead on the most recent exchange between Captain Kadon and his counterpart on the Barbarossa. His attention was only dispelled when Captain Anderson brushed his metal hand against the table. The sound was unmistakable, only adding to the mystique of the Federation captain who seemed to be equal parts man and machine. His head turned and settled on Captain Anderson as his body shifted enough to face him more fully. He was an imposing figure, his words hinting at mind that was still able to keenly grasp the situation and sought a firm if diplomatic solution to their current circumstances. The Klingons were the logical choice to guard the wreckage, they had already taken on that role and Captain Anderson merely confirmed it. When he was asked to accompany Anderson and Kirk to the planet, he blinked and arched a brow for a moment.

Why had he chosen me? Did he like my proposal that much or does he simply wish to leverage the presence of the S'harien overhead when speaking with the magistrate?

"I would be honored to accompany you Captain Anderson." He said smoothly. He was rather looking forward to the opportunity spending time alone with Captain Anderson and Captain Kirk. It was then that Captain Kadon spoke and he almost smiled. He had expected that the Klingon would remember his earlier comment about the capability of his ship. His eyes lingered in the direction of the Klingon and he nodded his head in acknowledgement. When Captain Anderson spoke and gave him the floor he took a deep breath and held it for a few precious seconds before he spoke.

"Captain Kadon is correct. The S'harien has the capability to move itself alongside with a small task force at transwarp speeds. I won't bore you with the details. The salient points are as follows. The S'harien is able to generate a transwarp conduit similar in nature to those of the Borg. The process that allows for the formation of the conduit requires a preparation time of a handful of hours. The ships in the fleet will have to move within a specific formation as the conduit itself is finite. Currently, we can generate a spherical conduit with a five kilometer radius centered on the S'harien. As soon as we know that our business in the system is nearly completed, I will give the order to start the process to generate the field."

He went silent then allowing the gathered captains to absorb what he had just shared with them. He disliked sharing secrets, it was not his nature to do so. Nonetheless, a part of him understood that he was on the verge of participating in something that could be great. He was also tired of fighting alone.

[Hotfoot]

Alpha Quadrant
Nivoch System
Empyrean Diplomatic Chambers


With the rest of the Captains now arrived, in particular Captain Anderson, DuBois took in a deep breath. The bickering over the salvage had been handled well by Kadon and the rest. Kirk, however, seemed to be taking lessons from her namesake’s later years, sadly. As the discussion moved to matters of more import, namely leaving the system, DuBois waited until there was room for him to speak. As Commander Cretak finished, DuBois raised an eyebrow, silently cursing and admiring the Romulan for his coy delivery. “On that note, I did not want to broadcast this information, even on secure channels. The Empyrean is capable of monitoring Borg communications, and needless to say should the Borg become aware of that we might lose what advantage it conveys. To that end, I would like to point out the Borg are aware of us and they are not taking us lightly. Despite the loss of the Heritage, we have taken on phenomenal numbers of Borg with relatively small numbers. They are under the impression that we are extremely dangerous and are possessing of technologies that could change the tide of the war. Given what information I’ve seen from scans of your various ships, from both my sensors and what I’ve intercepted from the Borg, they may well be right, though I suspect they know something we don’t. Regardless, the Borg will be coming, and coming for us. Not only do we need to get to Bajor quickly, but we need to get there without being intercepted by the coming Borg fleet.â€

[Comrade Tortoise]

T'Lorn inwardly laughed when captain Kirk spoke, however the emotion of mirth slammed into his meso-cerebral cortex and was ruthlessly oppressed--for the most part.

T'Lorn was thinking as everyone else was sitting down. He typed a command into his datapad, calling up the log data from the USS Voyager, which had extensive dealings with the Borg. While searching for Galacite deposits, they came across a small population of a race which had been assimilated by the Borg. The remaining population hid themselves in their Galacite mines and used some rather sophisticated sensor interference to hide themselves from the Borg. Once an away team detected them, Voyager helped them to increase the sophistication of their jamming.

He sat there, looking at the scan his ship managed to get of the borg sensor and communications arrays, and had an idea. He did some math in the pad, calculating energy field resonance frequencies and refraction coefficients, then he pulled up an old geological survey of Nivoch and found a large system of deep running caverns relatively close to the refugee colony. He updated his calculation to take into account the composition of the surrounding rock. Then, he calculated a rough probability of success given certain pre-conditions. It would take a few days. Not enough time given Borg transwarp speeds. Still, it was an idea to keep in mind for the future if the matter ever comes up again. The only way to save the colony was to distract the Borg and hope that they followed the fleet.

Captain Anderson began speaking. It was good to have someone who could command by sheer force of will and personality. T'Lorn supposed that the cybernetic enhancements contributed to this. He listened to the assignments and overall, they proved more than adequate. With the mention of plotting a transwarp course--which he thought was through the badlands--T'Lorn raised an eyebrow. Inwardly, his Id was giggling in glee before his freakishly strong super-ego locked it in its cage and hit it with a shock-prod.

"I agree Captain DuBois. A course through the badlands would be a logical choice. It will disrupt Borg sensors, in addition to our own. However, I will note that the badlands will also destabilize a transwarp conduit. It would be exceedingly dangerous to plot such a course. We could transwarp to the badlands and use the region to throw pursuing Borg off of our trail. I will make sure that the communications array gets to your ship."


"As for repairs, the moment my ship gets status reports, we will send over engineering crews to help deal with critical repairs, It is preferable that experts on given subsystem work directly with the engineering crews, and report progress at one half hour intervals. Time is absolutely of the essence, because we will have very little warning of an incoming Borg transwarp conduit. As a result, I would prefer to get status reports on all your ships and what salvage is needed for repairs well before three hours from now.

Captain Hizir, I would welcome your engineers in Salvage operations, and some of my engineers are weapon's designers. They can assist in the trapping of wreckage. Additionally, if any ships are low on torpedoes, let me know as soon as possible. Weapon systems, plasma conduits, and computer components are prioritized. I think the sensor array can have..." he paused, tilted his head slightly and then spoke again "Uses."

He thought about things for a second. A little stopwatch in his head was ticking down the clock to a transwarp conduit opening up with twenty cubes and support vessels right on top them.

"Captains and fellow officers. Unless we have other pressing business we need to get to work, otherwise another transwarp conduit, this one with twenty cubes could open up on top of us before we can get ships repaired."

[Cynical Cat]

Morizan watched the relays from the briefing room while a program sifted through the list of Nivoch colonists. Members of the Klingon Empire were given the highest priority, not that there were many. Next were those with valuable skills. If there were any left over a random lottery for each family would account for any remaining spots. That would leave most of the colonists stuck on the ground, but there wasn't anything Morizan could do about that.

Kirk and the Vulcan weren't taking the pirate seriously. Kirk was a junior officer so that might just be inexperience. Morizan cataloged the weakness and made a note to investigate it more closely. The Vulcans seemed to be unconcerned when the pirate tried to seize authority. It was a blindspot that was also worth investigating.

Captain Solheim took his place on the Romulan and Klingon side of the table, clearly signaling his support of his squadron leader. Interesting. Solheim himself was a puzzle. He has overloaded his shield systems before receiving heavy fire. The Defiant class was vulnerable to system overloads, more so than most designs, and this was something an experienced captain would take into account. Solheim had then pushed his ship recklessly on the offense, indicating that he was no coward despite his earlier error. Too cautious early on followed by overcompensating with too much aggression and a lack of familiarity with his own ship.

Everything pointed to Solheim being a novice except his rank. It didn't make any conventional sense, but it made another kind of sense. "My dear Captain Solheim," Morizan whispered, "what did you do for Starfleet that earned you a captain's rank, a starship, and an independent assignment while leaving you green as a cadet when it comes to commanding a starship?"

The question was, of course, rhetorical. Solheim had to be Starfleet Intelligence. Whatever mission had put the Gilgamesh at his disposal had to be important and sometime during it the ship's true captain had died. Solheim had taken over as the ranking officer. It explained everything.

It also made the man twice as dangerous as before. Solheim's true expertise lay in the world of shadow war where senators and councilors were toppled and starship captains moved like the Vanguard on a klin zha board. He had also publicly aligned himself with Kadon, making himself invaluable. "Well played captain," said Morizan softly. He hoped the gesture was sincere. Solheim was dangerous and had already maneuvered to get in close where he could do a lot of damage.

He shouldn't even be speaking, of course, but this room was secure. Too much valuable intelligence went through it for it not to be. In this room, a place too important to allow outside monitoring, the truth could be seen and spoken. Weakness could be shown, for not even the naked stars would see it.

[Comrade Tortoise]

T'Lorn's own eyes looked over a status report from his ship, tallying the number of Vulcans on the planet, he sent a brief communication to his ship to make sure that any lotteries being done to select refugees did not overlap

Something had been bothering him about the Gilgamesh. The shield overload had not been caused by an overwhelming hit to the shields. The fail-safe systems would automatically shut down power to those areas to minimize cascading feed back into the power grid, and his team had determined that the power surge had been caused by an overload from the power regulation system. They had pumped energy into the shields beyond what the plasma conduits could handle. No one who had commanded a starship would have ordered that, nor would someone who had been a science officer or engineer. No... Solheim's variant of the Defiant was a semi-experimental weapons platform, which means he could have been research and development, or Starfleet Intelligence. If the original captain had died, that would make sense. T'Lorn did not have a particularly manipulative personality. People were people, not tools to be used. Instead, T'Lorn resolved to advise him, and make sure he did not make any more other mistakes in the running of his ship.

Of course, if he was getting impressions of everyone, it stood to reason they were doing the same. Many probably wondering why he had not bothered dealing with Hizir further. The reason was of course that Hizir could not take power of any kind without the approval of his superiors, namely Captains Kadon, Anderson and Cretak. Hizir was... a boisterous and untrustworthy fool. His ship was powerful, and the skill of his crew was unquestionable. Still, he could not be trusted as far as he could be thrown. Granted, vulcans could throw a person fairly far... The other reason is that he had not fully integrated into the fleet. If he knew the general temper of Klingon's and Humans, a great deal of trust and in-group oriented thinking was brought about by fighting on the same side of a battle. It would not be prudent for him to insert himself too much, lest those of a less level-headed nature be alienated--pardon the expression. While Hizir was objectively untrustworthy, the others would not tolerate that being pointed out to them by a relative outsider, even if they thought it themselves.

Kadon's record spoke for itself, and so far he had conducted himself in a way completely in accordance with that record. With honor, and the fleet in mind as his primary concern. At least that is how he read the Klingon's behavior. He found it difficult to read Captain Cretak, but his general assessment was similar to that of Kadon, and like any Romulan, it was evident that he was gathering information for use, and was prepared to actually take action against the proverbial Pirate of Penzance, should such become necessary.

Commander Kirk was... true to her namesake. That is the only thing that could be said.

The Cardassian War Criminal Gul Tarka was a closed book. He had said hardly a word, and probably for good reason. It was not as if anyone probably appreciated the Nebula Sensor Pod bolted to the back of his ship. T'Lorn did not particularly care, then again it is not as if one would expect a Vulcan to. all that Nebula pod was to him was one more component. One more weapon against the Borg

Captain DuBois seemed more than competent. He knew his craft, both literally and figuratively. He had managed to bring the Empyrean safely home from the Gamma Quadrant, which was no easy task with the wormhole closed off. Still, something bothered him.

It is not reasonable to think that the Borg would think that this fleet has superweapons capable of--on their own--changing the tide of such a desperate war. This fleet had lost a ship, and had several others boarded trying to destroy one cube and support ships. Impressive, but not war winning. Unless there was some odd combination of things that this fleet could do when acting in concert that it would take a hive mind to calculate. Even the ability to decrypt communications could be war changing. Not winning, on its own, but changing. Still, the application of superweapons had not worked out very well for the Alpha Quadrant so far. There is no reason to suspect that they will in the future--especially if the full capabilities of said superweapon were unknown to everyone but the target. Which brings about another question. Even if we do have the capability of destroying the borg, the method by which that could be done is not known at present. Therefore it becomes imperative that we survive long enough to figure that out. That means at least getting to Bajor. Intercepting communications had with it many benefits, not the least of which was a good operational knowledge of what Borg communications look like. The question was, could they be faked convincingly? Probably not something to be tried just yet, but a step down from that perhaps? Say, projecting a false set of warp signatures on an unoccupied space for the borg to pick up?"


"Captain DuBois, You have mentioned that you can intercept information from the Collective, and could use the communications array from the cube to camouflage us from the Borg. Perhaps misdirection would be a better strategy. False sensor readings for example. If we go through the Badlands, their sensors will be unreliable. If we were to project false warp signatures into space, we can send them on a 'wild goose chase' our chances of making it to Bajor will increase dramatically. A similar strategy was used during the Dominion War to make a planetary defense battery turn against its own energy source. I was there. It was... impressive"

[Charon]

It wasn't exactly hard for Hizir, and his delegation, to figure out that the Romulans were staring. It also wasn't hard for the human captain of the Romulan vessel to figure out why they were. It was a bridge that could wait until after the meeting to be crossed however.

Hizir smiled a little and nodded in approval at the mention of the transwarp conduit. "Transwarp conduits are a dangerous technology, but it will keep the fleet together and move us faster than we normally could otherwise. I approve of this. Thank you, captain." It seemed that the pirate lord was sincere in his gratitude from his voice.

From there Hizir looked to Captain DuBois and grinned. "So that is how you knew the Borg were going to be targeting my ship. Very clever, captain, and very useful. With Captain Kadon's and your permission, if there are any sensor modules left in the debris field I will have my salvage teams begin to collect them for you." He glanced to Captain Kadon, as though to say 'See, I can be a reasonable team player'. Then he looked back to DuBois. "As for the Badlands, they're a tricky place, filled with dangers. I've been in there once or twice, and areas like it many times. Few better places for hiding, or for getting lost, or getting ambushed. Luckily we aren't likely to run into an ambush in the Badlands, few raiders left, and the Borg don't have a taste for it yet."

Hizir looked over the colony records and paused, perhaps remembering information that he had long forgotten about. "I would also like to adjust the numbers on how many colonists I can afford to take." At this both Danava and Khoal gave Hizir an odd look, clearly they had not been expecting this. "I can take up to 5,000 refugees."

For a moment it looked like Danava was going to revolt right then and there, Khoal looked rather stunned, and slightly confused, but his gaze quickly enough turned to Danava and gave her a warning glare. Hizir, for his part, looked non-plussed about the reactions of his subordinates. He had made his decision and that was all there was to it.

[frigidmagi]

"Glad to hear it. Captains, we have little time and much to do, lets be about it. Captain Du Bois and Lt Commander Kirk if I could have a moment of your time?" Captain Anderson said bringing the meeting to a close.

[rhoenix]

After the meeting drew to a close from the dismissal by Captain Anderson, Captain Solheim and Commander Inzeti got to their feet again, nodding to the others.

"Thank you for your time and for the use of the meeting hall, Captain Dubois," Captain Solheim said as he and his Commander passed by the Captain of the Empyrean. "Let us know if you'd like a tour of the luxury cruiseship Gilgamesh," he finished with an easy smile.

Nodding to the other Captains of the fleet as they passed one another, Solheim moved to out of the room with his Commander. They walked in silence to the transporter room, and were quickly whisked back to the Gilgamesh. Immediately after arriving, Commander Inzeti spoke up, speaking softly in Romulan. "You saw the looks they were giving you?"

"Yes," he replied in kind. "I didn't expect to be more interesting than my Commander."

"You have less experience than they with capital ship combat, and it showed during the battle," she replied grimly.

"Also true," he said with a small sigh as they walked back toward the bridge. "It would appear that I have some homework," he continued with a wry smile.

"Indeed," she replied with a small smile. "It wouldn't do for you to have your past so easily laid bare as a result, especially because of the branch of Starfleet your prior experience comes from."

"Yeah, I'd rather we succeed because of our skill, not in spite of it," he said quietly, looking thoughtfully at the hallway in front of him. "I know as well as anyone that an unreliable ally can be more dangerous than a determined foe, and I would rather this ship and her crew not be viewed as such."

Commander Inzeti looked thoughtful for a few moments as they walked in silence. "Flying in a fleet is the best form of practical experience to do so, Matthias," she said in a quiet voice, laying a hand gently on his shoulder. "You know that I will be there to help as well."

"Even though you flew that giant garbage scow before?" Captain Solheim replied with a smirk.

The smile Commander Inzeti gave him was enigmatic. "Some things about flying a ship don't change," she replied. "Moreover, this Captain Anderson looks to be a relatively experienced fleet commander. I will have reasonable inferences based on his decisions for our new fleet en route to Bajor that I will inform you of."

"Thank you, Samara," he replied with a soft smile.

"It is my duty to ensure my Captain is the best he can be," she replied with an equally soft smile. She removed her hand from his shoulder as the two walked back into the bridge of the Gilgamesh.

[Charon]

Once the meeting came to an official close, Hizir took the opportunity to turn to the Romulan delegation. "Once your duties planetside are taken care of, I would be willing to discuss certain matters." Hizir smiled at the Romulan. "I am certain you have many questions that need answering."

Hizir didn't make a move to leave just yet though, the aging pirate sat comfortably in his chair and watched as the various delegations spoke to one another or began to leave, his thoughts very much his own.

[LadyTevar]

"Of course, Captain Anderson, I am at your disposal," Eoife Kirk answered briskly, rising to her feet. She paused only long enough to give a quiet instruction to her second before stepping over to see what Anderson had in mind.

Serin, on the other hand, crossed to the Vulcans, Romulans, and Klingons. "I am Serin, XO of the Spector. Acting-Captain Kirk has requested I work with you on our resupply needs," he stated, pulling out his own datapad. "We have the means to manufacture new torpedoes, as well as pre-fab temporary shelters that the colonists may be able to us. Given enough raw material, we may be able to produce metal slabs suitable for internal bulkheads, but it would take time we may not have. A decision should be made quickly, so the Spector may begin manufacture."

[frigidmagi]

"Lt. Commander Kirk, you are Acting Captain of an Akira class vessel. This is a Commander billet at the least. Lucky for us there is a solution for this. Commander Cerezi if you would please." Captain Anderson said quietly. The trill officer stepped forward removing the Lt Commander pips and pinning on full Commander Pips to Kirk's collar.

"Commander Kirk, by what authority I have I brevet you to full commander and confirm you as Captain of the Spector. Congratulations Commander, I hope to be able to hold a full ceremony at a latter date but for now dismissed." Captain Anderson said with a nod.