Nathan Valdez was studying a holoimage of Earth in his war room, "Computer, show Section 31 communications, full planetary" he ordered. "Fascinating, data hubs in each major city" commented Nydon looking at the map. "We need to hit all of them at once, how are we doing on our infiltrators?" asked Valdez. "They've infiltrated the Federation Council and Starfleet Command as planned" answered Nydon. "One thing about the Federation, they have a hard time dealing with infiltrators. The Founders knew that, Species 8472 knew that as well as the Bluegills. Section 31 claim to protect the Federation but in reality they are nothing more than traitors and criminals to the Federation" replied Valdez. "The High Protector agrees, she considers Section 31 a threat to her and her people" answered Nydon.
"I spoke with her this morning, she understands that the situation warrants a military response" replied Valdez passing Nydon a PADD with Scythe's orders. "Total purge of disruptive elements within the Federation, our allies cannot fall to this corruption. Her orders are very clear on this matter" answered Nydon. "We need to start mobilizing the troops, our target is key figures within the Federation government. Find them, track them and when the time is right, we move in" replied Valdez. "The Federation government won't take likely to armed troops dragging people out" answered Nydon. "I can talk to President Ford about that, I need to speak with the Imperials as well. The Empress is angry and speaking as a parent and grandparent, I totally understand her anger. An angry Bajoran is something not to be crossed, could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on one's point of view" replied Valdez.
"I'll draw up strike plans, I'll leave you to play diplomacy" answered Nydon. "Thank you Number One" replied Valdez before Nydon left, "Computer, send a secure hail to the Los Lobos. I better notify the Empress that phase one has commenced, hail the President as well over a secure line" Valdez said afterwards, "this will be interesting."
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"How did it go?" asked Nydon. "As well as expected, we have the support of the Imperials and the Federation. This is to be considered a police action" answered Valdez. "Now we wait" replied Nydon before the Harbinger's science station lit up. "Sirs, we're reading seismic activity, location South America" reported Uhlan T'Vralla. "Nature of activity?" asked Valdez. "Volcanic, putting it up on the screen now" answered T'Vralla. "Nevado Del Ruiz, Armero is going to get buried again. I hope that area is evacuated" replied Valdez. "Armero is still populated, we have a mud flow coming down the mountain" reported T'Vralla. "That would be the lahar, prepare emergency first response teams and deploy them, I'll lead them" replied Valdez. "Sir" answered T'Vralla as the crew all stared at the screen in horror as a lahar raced into the Armero valley and buried the town. "We only have a small window to save lives, I need volunteers for search and rescue" said Valdez to the crew.
Soon shuttles were launched and within 20 minutes were on the scene. In the lead shuttle, Trianna (yellow) and Orderly Dawson were shocked at the devastation as there was no trace of the town. "Life signs, 5 km" reported Trianna (yellow) to Sub-Commander Verak. "Marines, provide security. Everyone else grab a shovel and be prepared to recover any survivors and deceased. "Did he say deceased?" asked Orderly Dawson. "Rick, you will need to remain focused. You will see the dead, don't let it bother you and work on saving lives" answered Trianna (yellow). "Land the shuttles on high ground and deploy humanitarian teams" ordered Valdez. The shuttles soon landed and the teams waded through the mud, tricorders in hand. "Found a survivor, female but her life signs are faint" reported Orderly Dawson. As soon as news of a survivor spread, everyone got digging until they got a transporter lock on the survivor. The survivor was beamed to Harbinger's sickbay and straight into urgent care. "Dad, we're reading only 20 survivors out of a population of 20,000" reported Trianna (yellow). "Then we don't stop until those survivors are accounted for" answered Valdez as he grabbed a shovel and joined the search.
After several hours, the survivors were pulled out of the mud and the grim task of recovering the dead could begin. Orderly Dawson was shocked and he even threw up out of sight before he got to work identifying the victims. Once Federation aid arrived, Valdez and his teams left the area and returned to the Harbinger. Aboard the Harbinger, Valdez got a shock when he walked into sickbay. "There's a Doctor Isabella Morales here, she wishes to speak with you" said Doctor Egren. "Where am I?" asked Doctor Morales. "You're aboard the Harbinger, you were dug out of a lahar flow along with 20 others" answered Valdez. "You're human" replied Morales. "I am, I just don't serve the Federation" answered Valdez as Egren took a blood sample form Morales. "It's standard procedure, you have nothing to fear from us" he said afterwards. "My team, did they make it out?" asked Morales. "They are among the dead, I'm sorry" answered Valdez. "Commander, you better take a look at this blood sample. It will be of interest" reported Egren, "This is Doctor Morales' DNA and this is yours. There's a match." "Doctor Morales, is your first name Isabella by any chance?" asked Valdez. "It is, how would you know that?" answered Morales as she looked at an old family photo. "I have that same exact photo on my desk, it was taken a day before the...." replied Valdez before he was cut off by a "accident" from Morales. "Izzy?" asked Valdez. "Only one person ever called me Izzy, my younger brother" answered Morales, "Nathan, last time I saw you was when we were separated over 30 years ago."
"The day I was put up for adoption, why did you do it?" asked Valdez. "I was 15, I could not be your guardian due to my age at the time so I made the painful decision to put you up for adoption" answered Morales. "You made a judgement call, no point getting angry about it" replied Valdez as Trianna (yellow) walked in to check on how things were. "Dad, Rick is not taking this well. He's in pieces emotionally" said Trianna (yellow). "Anna, thanks for bringing it to my attention" answered Valdez. "Armero is a sight I'll never forget" replied Trianna (yellow). "Izzy, meet my daughter Anna" said Valdez to Morales. "Doctor Morales, how do you know Dad?" asked Trianna (yellow). "Your father is my younger brother, we lost contact after his adoption" answered Morales. "Dad never talks about his past growing up, when he does it brings sadness. It's like he never came to terms about it" replied Trianna (yellow). "Anna, you would not understand. The accident tore us apart, it's good to see him alive and doing well for himself" answered Morales. "Three daughters, two step sons and a pregnant wife with a daughter on the way. Add three grandchildren with a fourth on the way, say bye bye to what's left of my dark hair before it goes grey" said Valdez. "Commander, she needs to rest. You can carry this on tomorrow" said Egren. "Doctor, keep an eye on her, I've got a traumatized son to calm down" answered Valdez.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Rough day" said Valdez to Orderly Dawson. "Nothing prepared me for that, not something I can forget any time soon" answered Orderly Dawson. "Nature can be very cruel and there is nothing we can do about that" replied Valdez. "It's humbling, even with our technology, we cannot stop nature from taking lives" answered Orderly Dawson. "We all die eventually and we're not getting younger, it's an inevitability" replied Valdez. "No disagreeing with that, how's Doctor Morales?" asked Orderly Dawson. "She'll live" answered Valdez. "Good to hear, when I first got here, I was scared" replied Orderly Dawson. "Your first posting is always scary, it's how you deal with it that matters" answered Valdez. "Veteran's wisdom?" asked Orderly Dawson. "Wisdom worth listening to, Anna told me that you're not taking all this well" replied Valdez. "No fooling her, she means well" answered Orderly Dawson. "Family always looks out for each other, Anna was just doing her duty as big sister" replied Valdez. "We still have our differences and tempers can flare up" answered Orderly Dawson.
"Family can drive us all mad, it's a fact of life" replied Valdez. "Thanks Dad, I need to somehow process all this" answered Orderly Dawson. "I know, at end of the day, it's how you deal with events like this. Go get some rest and think it over, if it starts affecting your job, talk to me and I'll see about getting you some time off" replied Valdez. "I won't let this get in the way of my duties" answered Orderly Dawson, "Dad, don't mind the photo." "Who is she?" asked Valdez. "Oreada, someone I care a lot about" answered Orderly Dawson, "I spoke with her during our last transmission home and she said I look good in uniform, she's supporting me though the long distance relationship is hard to deal with." "You've got a lot to learn about women young man, if she's willing to stand by you, you must stand by her. It's a compromise that every good relationship has, me and your mother don't always agree on some things but we deal with that in a mature manner" replied Valdez. "You both agree to disagree and leave it at that. No fighting" answered Orderly Dawson. "Best way, your mother has had to deal with a lot. No point adding more stress to the mix because it's no good for anyone" replied Valdez. "I better go and get my head down, thanks for the talk Dad" answered Orderly Dawson. "See you in the morning" replied Valdez before he left Orderly Dawson's quarters.
The next morning, Valdez paid a visit to sickbay, "Nathan, your doctor is very good. I can breath a little easier now but my mouth still tastes like mud" said Isabella. "You're alive, you've also been put into protective custody. They're people whom I'm after who would go after you if they knew we were family. You'll be well looked after and safe" replied Valdez. "Section 31 tried to recruit me, I told them where to stick it. They also tried to recruit our parents but their offer was declined" answered Isabella. "How do you know that?" asked Valdez. "I was there when Section 31 came calling, they did not take our parents' refusal too kindly. That was a day before the accident which killed our parents" answered Isabella. "She's telling the truth sir" said Valdez's Reman guard. "It was no accident, our parents' shuttle was sabotaged" said Valdez to Isabella. "They murdered our parents, justice must be served on them" answered Isabella. "That's what I'm doing, these people need to be brought to account" replied Valdez. "You have my blessing" answered Isabella. "You are limited to only non-essential areas of the ship and you will be under guard. I'll have some guest quarters assigned to you" replied Valdez. "Nathan, you've changed but in a good way" answered Isabella. "I got older and wiser, made some mistakes which cost me a lot personally" replied Valdez.
"Sorry about your late wife and crew, we were all shocked at what happened" answered Isabella. "Took me a long time to recover from it, my daughters decided to play matchmaker and reintroduced me to a old childhood friend" replied Valdez. "How is Joanna?" asked Isabella. "She's fine. We ended up getting married and now we have our first little one on the way" answered Valdez. "Congratulations, never thought you two would get married" replied Isabella. "Thanks, she calls me her knight" answered Valdez. "You were always kind growing up, remember the time when we went to visit the Mayan pyramids?" asked Isabella. "It started raining and we had to take shelter inside one of the pyramids, you and that giant spider" answered Valdez. "You thought it was funny" replied Isabella. "It was cute" answered Valdez. "It was a bird eating spider, it was not cute" replied Isabella. "The snakes were worse, trust me" answered Valdez. "Sir, you're need on the bridge" said Valdez's guard. "Izzy, duty calls I'm afraid. We can catch up later" said Valdez to Isabella. "We'll talk later and Nathan, thank you for getting out of that lahar" answered Isabella, "Nathan, don't let it corrupt you. You always had a kind heart as a child, remember that." "Thanks Izzy, you need to recover. Dinner with me and your niece and nephew? My quarters, 1900 hours" said Valdez. "I'll accept, now you go and do your duty as a decent human being" replied Isabella.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
We should have just killed them. We we're enjoying it too much. We lost track of our mission and got careless.
Sito Thay sat in her cell, that thought repeating in her head.
If we had done it before I left to see her... Sure I'd be dead but so would they.
She looked over at the cell next to hers. The figure in there lay curled up in pain.
"How are you feeling?"
"It still hurts," she replied. "It's still in there. I can feel it."
She still had trouble believing that she had swallowed that agonizer and it had ended up in one of her lungs. The pain it had caused however had been quite real.
Twelve hours, she moaned softly. Twelve hours of searing pain before it ran out of power.
"Why won't they take it?" She moaned.
"They haven't treated any of our injuries. Payback for what we did I suppose."
"Wrong." A new voice added.
They turned to see two more people being placed into the cells opposite them. They were surprised to see that they were wearing Starfleet uniforms. They were not surprised to see who was overseeing their placement.
"Hello Empress," Sito red sneered. "Come to check on us? Oh see you grew that ridiculous braid back. It was so much fun making you cut that off. Oh and you've made your chest even bigger. What, you couldn't stand the competition?"
The figure she had been addressing walked up to her.
"Not surprising," she started. "But everything you've said is wrong."
"Oh really? Please enlighten me your highness."
"Fine. One, the medical staff was so offended by what they saw you had done to people in your labs that they refuse to treat you. They say you can suffer like your victims did."
"If they can't take a little experimentation..."
"And second, I'm not the Empress."
"What?"
"Oh the hair was an accident, but the chest is permanent swelling from the countless hours of agonizers being used on them."
"Oh, so we have the fedrat version in our presence. Going to scream some more for us."
"I'm not the one who's going to be screaming. She is," The first lady said pointing at prime Sito laying on the floor.
"Please, you fed types don't have the guts for torture."
"But we Bajorans do," she said holding up a small device.
"What's that?"
"This," she explained. "Is a power generator. I push this button and it will beam power to that agonizer still inside you."
Prime Sito slowly shook her head.
"And it will stay on until it burns it's way out of you."
"You can't!" Red shouted. "That's..."
"Barbaric? Uncivilized? That means so much coming from you. Speaking of which, you get to watch her screaming in unrelenting agony... Just like you made Michael watch me."
"This... this won't solve anything..."
"It'll make me feel better."
"I'm sorry..."
They turned to look at prime.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "Please don't..."
The first lady walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her.
"You had a choice. I told you the truth, and you pulled my nails off. I begged you to stop, and you only hurt me more. I couldn't even think, and you made me scream until my vocal cords bled. And you want me to show you mercy. Why should I?"
"You're better than me."
"What?"
"You haven't given in completely to the pain of what you went through."
"What makes you say that?"
"Those two over there. If you were like us you would have beaten some answers out of them by now but they're unharmed."
"I brought them here to show them what I'm going to do to you."
"But you can't."
"Oh? And why can't I?"
"Because," prime said smiling. "You'd be just like me."
"I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU!"
"You push that button and you will be. You will have chosen to deliberately inflict pain on someone of your own free will. You will be the same as me!"
The first lady stared at her.
"Do you know why I hate you so much?" she said after a few seconds. "Because I should be appalled at the thought of doing this. But I find myself thinking... I can live with that."
Primes face fell in dispair as Heath stood up.
"Because I can live with that."
"...no..."
"I can live with it."
"... please..."
"Always remember. You had a choice."
She pushed the button.
She turned her back on the screaming figure to face the new arrivals.
"Now ladies..."
"We'll tell you everything!" The blonde screamed to be heard over the noise.
"Everything we know!" The brunette agreed. "Just don't hurt us!"
"How are we on those data cores?" asked Valdez to Trianna (yellow). "Getting through the last firewalls now" answered Trianna (yellow). "Excellent, how long will it take you to compile the data?" asked Valdez. "Several hours, I cannot go any faster" answered Trianna (yellow). "Carry on, Anna good work" replied Valdez. "Yes Dad" answered Trianna (yellow) before Valdez left the computer lab. On the bridge, 15 minutes later, Valdez was talking strategy with Nydon as intel from the ground operatives was being processed. "Enough to act on?" asked Valdez. "Not yet, we have to play the long game here" advised Nydon. "Agreed, we cannot get this wrong or the rats will flee the sinking ship" replied Valdez. "The rats will flee the sinking ship, I don't understand" answered Nydon. "It's an old Human nautical saying, in the old days when a ship began to sink, it was always the rats who would the first to flee" replied Valdez. "I've studied Earth's species. Rats are very intelligent" answered Nydon. "Our enemy are like rats, any trouble on the way and they will flee. Put a total blockade around Earth, every ship attempting to leave will be stopped and searched. Any coming in will also be stopped and searched, no exceptions" replied Valdez.
"We'll need to construct a sensor net, we don't have the ships to complete a blockade" answered Nydon. "Yes we do, you're just looking in the wrong place. We'll ask the Federation and Imperials to add their ships to the blockade, the more ships the better" replied Valdez. "Will they co-operate?" asked Nydon. "Hopefully, I need a contingency plan written up just in case the Imperials make any hostile moves. Better to have something and not need it than to not have it when you need it" replied Valdez. "Yes sir" answered Nydon. "Good, now let's look at what we have learnt" replied Valdez. "We've detected the enemy trying to flee Earth in sector 4, their ship refused to be stopped and searched so they were disabled and their occupants detained" answered Nydon. "Start the interrogations, any who are innocent will be released, the guilty will be detained for questioning and public trial" replied Valdez. "As you command" answered Nydon. "Rat trap indeed" commented Valdez.
I.S.S. Stadi
Ghost was busy working on datacores when Papela walked in and saw the progress, "Ghost, how long before all this is processed?" asked Papela. "Give me another hour, there is a lot of data here" answered Ghost. "Once you are done, you're going back home. Your father asked me to send you home because you need to be with your little one" replied Papela. "I know, being far from him is tough" answered Ghost. "I'll be taking my fleet back to the Empire as well, there's a rebellion to deal with" replied Papela. "I still cannot believe that they murdered hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens, show them no mercy" answered Ghost as she worked on the data core. An hour later, Ghost was finished and she packed her bags before changing into civilian clothing and boarding her shuttle. She was met by Dexter Smith outside of Sol who gave her a lift back to Brea III aboard the Aurora. "Let's get you back to your little one" he said afterwards. "Thanks, little man will get a surprise" answered Ghost.
Bajor (red)
On the surface, medical teams in EV suits were studying the plague unleashed on the world. "How many today?" asked Doctor Wren. "Another million dead, that brings the total to 34 million dead so far. People are dying faster than we can deal with the bodies. We may have to look at incinerating the bodies because the influx is too much" answered her assistant. "This disease is something we've never seen before. It's mutating to every treatment we can come up with. It's adaptable to say the least" replied Doctor Wren. "Bodies are still being recovered from Terok Nor's debris as well, we're over-stretched with the scale of this tragedy" answered her assistant. "I worry for these peoples' futures, this is an attack too far" replied Doctor Wren. "The people who did this are cowards, good news is that the Dominion have sent a medical convoy, their Vorta wish to study the disease and help with a treatment" answered her assistant. "First good news I've heard since this outbreak began, we'll combine our resources with our allies and work with them. Make sure that our people are informed" replied Doctor Wren. "Ma'am" answered her assistant.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Remember these rules when speaking to the Empress, be polite and bow when you meet her. Never show weakness, project strength" advised Trianna (yellow). "Anything else I need to know?" asked Valdez. "No hostile moves or thoughts, her guards will shoot you on sight" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thanks for the warning, has your sister made it home?" asked Valdez. "She arrived home safely, she checked in as soon as she was home" answered Trianna (yellow). "Excellent, she will have found my instructions, I've asked her to guard and protect the family. Better to play it safe" replied Valdez. "Also I'm concerned that you are going over alone and unarmed" answered Trianna (yellow). "It's an act of trust, I'm placing my trust in the Empress that nothing will happen to me" replied Valdez. "It's a gamble" answered Trianna (yellow). "I know but it's worth the risk" replied Valdez as he picked up the briefcase carrying the latest intel from the captured data cores. "Dad, good luck" answered Trianna (yellow) as she saw her father off.
When Valdez transported aboard the Los Lobos, he was met by Admiral Lot. "Long time no see Fedrat" said Naynta (red) greeting Valdez. "I no longer work for the Federation. Run a full scan on this" said Valdez passing Naynta the case. "All clear" reported the officer on duty. "You really are putting your life in our hands, something I would not expect" said Naynta. "Call it an act of faith, run a scan on this, it's a peace offering to the Empress" answered Valdez as he was scanned and then cleared, a case of of two bottles of Romulan Ale were also scanned and cleared. "Given the attempts on the Empress's life, we have to be thorough" replied Naynta. "Understandable, tough times call for tough measures" answered Valdez as Naynta escorted him to the Empress. "I thought Romulan Ale was illegal in the Federation" said Naynta. "I know a few loopholes, my daughter keeps a few bottles of the good stuff locked behind her bar" answered Valdez.
"How's the family?" asked Naynta on the way. "They're fine and under protection, let's just say if anyone tries to harm them, it will be the last mistake they will ever make" answered Valdez. "So that's why you sent one of your girls home, good move and I know what she is capable of" replied Naynta. "Not someone to cross" answered Valdez, "Sorry to hear about your mother, you have my condolences" he said afterwards. "She was murdered, my niece injured. As you can clearly understand, we're angry" replied Naynta. "Understandable, the cowards who did it crossed the line, speaking as a father and grand parent, it's an outrage that innocents were targeted" answered Valdez, "how are the twins?" he asked afterwards. "They're fine, very shaken up but thankfully alive" answered Naynta. "That's good to hear" replied Valdez, "Naynta, who's screaming?" he asked afterwards. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Let's just say they made a mistake that they are regretting" answered Naynta. "Different rules, I know" replied Valdez. "You understand us" answered Naynta, "Remember that duel we fought?" she asked afterwards. "I do, you tried to play your mind games on me and it backfired on you" answered Valdez. "Well played, was not expecting my shields to be remotely hijacked" replied Naynta. "It's an old trick, but very effective" answered Valdez. "And with my own command codes, I did not realize Humans are that devious" replied Naynta. "We can be" answered Valdez.
"We're here, when you greet the Empress, bow in respect" advised Naynta as the door to the Empress's office opened, "and bow" she said afterwards as they both bowed in respect.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
(Aboard SS Lupus) (Admiral Luperca's POV) *She's a werewolf and Sapph's former CO.*
Things have been chaotic since my former subordinate's defection to the Pridelanders. Jerome's also at the Pridelands to protect his family. My son's still asleep on my lap after having dinner with me. The Wichita pack's position on the S31 issue is clear since we don't allow anyone to attack one of our pack members and get away with it. My comms officer reports, "Admiral, we're recieving a hail from somewhere in an Indian jungle on Earth. A Queen Raksha wants to speak with you. Patching her through now on an encrypted channel."
A wolf appears on the viewscreen and says, "Luperca, I'm drawing up a plan to attack a S31 data center located a few kilometers north of my kingdom. My scouts are gathering intel on S31 troop and supply movements as we speak. Be advised, they have a strong supply network so we should attack it first to starve them. All militaries run on their stomachs after all."
"Understood Queen Raksha. I'll prepare for the attack on the network. Time to cut off the hydra's heads at once."
"The what?"
"A hydra is a mythical creature with multiple heads that regenerate very quickly. You have to cut off the heads and cauterize the wounds simultaneously to stop the regeneration Queen Raksha."
"I see. All information on my son's completely redacted to everyone except royal officers. The UFP shouldn't be aware of our activities at this point. Palace out."
I close the channel and consult with my ground commanders. We reach a unanimous vote to attack the supply network first. I walk to the mess hall to replicate some food for my son and myself.
(Sapph's POV)
I'm on a daily patrol when several lights streak past me and the Guard. I order them to follow me to a defensible position in the Pridelands. Kion orders the rest of his team to hide as I prepare to use my Herald staff. I perform a telepathic scan to find out the S31 hit squad's location and objectives. Apparently, they're sent to kill the entire Pridelander royal family in 1 go. I signal Kion to use the Roar when they get into the trap.The S31 agents fall for it and are hit by a sonic roar that's capable of tearing down rockslides. All that's left of them is a pool of blood. Kion collapses from exhaustion and I carry him to a makeshift hospital in Pride Rock. The rest of the Guard follow me and keep an eye out for future trouble.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
At the Valdez household, Trianna (red) had found instructions from her father. It read "I need you to protect the family, the people we're after would go after them so be vigilant. I know what you are capable of so use discretion." "Copy that Dad" commented Trianna (red) before she wiped the PADD. Later in the lounge, Trianna (red) was playing with her son and keeping an ear out for trouble. "He's been a little angel" said Isoisa (red) smiling as they were playing with their son. "I missed you both, it was tough" replied Trianna (red). "Well, things got a little crazy. Rick found himself hauled up in front of a judge" answered Isoisa (red). "What was the sentence?" asked Trianna (red). "Military service, he's with your dad" answered Isoisa (red). "Poor Rick, maybe he will grow up now" replied Trianna (red). "He sent us an update, he's a medical orderly on your Dad's ship" answered Isoisa (red). "That's good, how's Mom been coping with Dad being away?" asked Trianna (red). "Your father has to work away from home, military wives have to accept that" answered Joanna.
"It's tough, best thing we can do is support our loved ones as best we can" said Isoisa (prime). "Very true" replied Joanna. "How's little sister doing?" asked Trianna (red). "She's doing very well, you all need to set a good example from now on" answered Joanna. "We do anyway, we have to with little ones around. They're planning something" replied Trianna (red), It was soon followed by "don't you three even think about it" to the little ones. When Trianna (prime) and Ablim snr got back, they had news. "A girl" said Trianna (prime) followed by a congratulations from the family. "You can tell Dad when he calls home next, that's great news" replied Trianna (red). "Mom, are you spoiling the little ones again?" asked Trianna (prime). It was followed by a collective "yeah" from the little ones. "Did you get your father's instructions?" asked Joanna. "I did, my job is to make sure that you are all safe" answered Trianna (red), "Mom, the people Dad is after are dangerous, they may come after us so we all must be vigilant."
Vulcan (MU red)
"Any news on the campaign?" asked Regent Jasmine Smith-Petrofski via secure channel from Terra. "The very mention of the Empress's justice caused the surrender of two more worlds in Tau Ceti and Rigel, soon the rest of the rebellion will have no choice but to yield or die" answered Regent Solat, "how's things with Terra?" she asked afterwards. "There is support for the war, politically well things are stable and despite facing resistance, the social reforms are proceeding smoothly" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "We need to keep the people on side, it's the only way we can deal with this rebellion" replied Regent Solat. "Hearts and minds" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "Regent Lot has just arrived, we're going to be a lot busier" replied Regent Solat. "You'll be getting some extra troops, I've ordered the mobilization of the 1st Terran Guard Division. They will be arriving at Vulcan as we are speaking" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "They will be put to good use, our orders from the Empress are to complete the reconquest of the rebel worlds and bring them back into the fold. Any who resist will be made examples of" replied Regent Solat. "Understood, we serve the Empress in life" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "I'll leave you to your reforms, Vulcan out" replied Regent Solat and the screen went blank.
Regent Solat now turned to her other duties and went to pick her ward up from school. "How's he been?" asked Regent Solat. "He's doing very well, once he's focused, he's a model pupil. His temper seems to let him down but he is integrating with the others" answered the Vulcan teacher. "Keep me updated" replied Regent Solat, "Pytor, we can discuss what you have learnt today" she said afterwards. "Mother, it was the teachings of Surak. I find it hard to understand" answered Pytor. "It takes years to understand, even decades" replied Regent Solat. "It's the governing emotion that I find hard" answered Pytor. "Strength of mind, homework then even meal. If you need some help, ask me or D'Tan. We can always make time for you unless one of us is on active duty" answered Regent Solat. "Thanks mother" replied Pytor.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Valdez entered the room. There were five other people in the room.
One seated at a small table, the other four standing behind her, their weapons casually pointed in his direction.
He stepped forward and bowed.
"Empress."
"Commander, have a seat." She gestured at the chair across from her.
"Thank you."
He sat down.
"I haven't seen you since that Dominion war and my coronation."
"A lot has changed."
"Yes. Allies have defected and enemies are now allies. The Prophets move in mysterious ways."
"Indeed."
"Care for some kanar? I assure you its not poisoned."
"Thank you."
She poured two glasses and handed him one
"A Bajoran that drinks kanar?"
"I've never let where something comes from effect my enjoying it."
She picked up a PADD.
"I read you proposal. Do you think this will work?"
"Could go either way, honest answer but we will need to utilize every deflector dish, orbital platform and ESD for complete coverage. We place our ships in a grid network and leave no gaps. Stop and search every ship coming in and out, no exceptions. If the rats want to flee the sinking ship, they have to go through us first. Be prepared to tractor beam them if they refuse to stop. Only fire if fired on first, we won't start a fight but we will damn well finish it."
He took a drink.
"If the great purge springs a few leaks then the blockade is the net to keep them trapped right where we want them. I sent a report back to my government asking for extra reinforcements, so they are releasing two more battle groups to assist so that's another 140 ships. The next problem is how to land troops totally undetected into attack positions."
She looked over her glass at him.
"There's something you haven't stopped to consider."
"What's that?"
"This will not destroy Section 31 they will not even notice."
"And what makes you say that?"
" You've had Earth isolated for weeks and I can speak from personal experience that it did nothing to impede their function. Nor has it stopped the Federation from running. Earth is not the Federation, but Section 31 is. You may purge them from here but I know for a fact that there are other bases of operations. I was prisoner on one of them. Where the Federation exists, they exist."
Smiles.
"Our forces are gathered around the planet. Their enemies in one place. If I were them, I would take the opportunity and wipe us out. Quite possibly even sacrifice the Earth and blame it on us. We'd be dead and couldn't deny it, but the destruction of Earth and killing the president would galvanized the Federation into uniting like it never has before. Safe and sound. Mission accomplished."
She leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs and puts one hand on her knee.
"It's potentially the greatest trap ever set. I don't plan to walk into it blindly."
"Something me and Nydon were discussing in great detail, the raids were just to instill fear in them, they know we can strike any time, any place. However, we've kept a very low profile since. That worries them, where's the next raid?"
"You greatly overestimate the effect that you think you have on them."
"You think so? We think how the spider thinks, once their prey is trapped in their web, it is impossible for the prey to escape. The more the prey struggles, the more they are trapped"
"Tell me. Who is the spider and who is the prey?"
He looked at her in silence.
"Are you going to help?"
"Before i answer, let inform of something we recently discovered. Everything and everyone involved on Earth and where we were held was under the direction of Ford. The Sito's reported to him as well. Everything came to him and he sent it up the chain. Only he knew who that was."
She sighed.
"The only way to destroy Section 31 is to destroy the Federation. And I'm fairly certain than Michael would shoot anyone that even suggested that. But to answer your question, yes I will commit our ships to help."
"Thank you..."
"But if something goes very wrong we will leave."
"You would abandon them we they need you most?"
"I discovered on the way here that Thay is pregnant with our third child. I will not endanger her or our child."
"I understand. In that circumstance neither would I. Congratulations."
"Thank you.”
"We'll be the spider, we need to make our web secure. I had Anna do some digging, it appears Section 31 goes back before the birth of the Federation. It comes under Article 14 Section 31 of the original Starfleet charter which states that any threat to Earth and the later the Federation must be eliminated by any means. We destroy the Federation, we give them a victory and the excuse they need to restart an old war which is bad news for everyone" said Valdez calmly. "They want me and my family dead, they are a threat" replied Heath. "Evidently, they have crossed that line and they are hiding behind the Federation to avoid retribution. The fact that they will resort to murder to cover their tracks is also a concern, they were willing to destroy a city of 50,000 to hide their operations. Anyone who says no them has a habit of disappearing" answered Valdez, "my parents said no them and within 24 hours, they were dead. Their shuttle crashed, it had been sabotaged."
"That brings me to a point, are you familiar with Captain Augie McBrocken?" asked Heath. "Skipper of the Valiant, I've met her" answered Valdez. "No one has seen or heard from her in weeks, that is concerning" replied Heath. "Three theories, she may be in hiding, she may be being held somewhere or she may be dead. Three avenues worth investigating" answered Valdez. "Augie will never back down and hide, not her way" replied Heath. "The other two possibilities are disturbing, for all we know, Section 31 could have more hidden installations but there is no way of confirming their locations. How many have vanished after confronting Impostor Ford?" asked Valdez. "We don't know and that's the disturbing point" answered Heath.
"Most disturbing indeed" replied Valdez, "it gets worse I'm afraid, you better read this and make sure you have a strong drink" after he passed Heath a PADD. "They released a unhinged lunatic, how accurate is this?" asked Heath after taking a drink. "That unhinged lunatic along with my counterpart's crew stole the Astute and attacked Bajor in all three realities as well as infecting Trill yellow with a slow genocide by disease. The reports from Bajor shocked my government, Kendra and Hathon provinces were totally glassed, still no final number on casualties. I saw what that lunatic did to Medara on Betazed yellow, she orphaned 10,000 Betazoids after abducting and murdering their parents" answered Valdez.
"Regent Lot informed me that you spoke to that lunatic" replied Heath. "Krasnova showed no remorse when I spoke to her, I personally executed her myself, she was too dangerous to be allowed to live" answered Valdez. "Commander, it's necessity" replied Heath containing her anger. "Agreed, Section 31 have a lot to answer for. They have been allowed to get away with too much" answered Valdez. "Commander, thank you for your honesty. If you had tried to deceive me, you would be dead" replied Heath, "hows the family?" she asked afterwards. "They're fine, I remarried. Me and Joanna are expecting our first little one together and grand child number three is on the way as well. Ended up being reunited with my older biological sister, she's under constant guard not only for her protection but mine as well, one cannot be 100% sure these days" answered Valdez. "Congratulations, we fight to protect the ones we love and care about" replied Heath. "That's why we cannot fail, Section 31 will go after our families if given the chance" answered Valdez.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Computer, bring up a holo image of Earth, and project ship locations" ordered Heath. The image came up and soon both Heath and Valdez were looking the most efficient positions, "We'll need to cover both poles, the magnetic signature often interferes with sensors and it's an obvious escape route" commented Valdez. "This is what I'm thinking, have our ships 500 km apart and positioned so not even a shuttle can sneak past and deploy tractor mines between each blockade ship" said Heath. "If we support the blockade with drones, that can also increase the coverage and still keep spying on the enemy" replied Valdez. "Those drones of yours, can they adopt any disguise?" asked Heath. "They can, what are you thinking?" countered Valdez. "Have one of those drones disguise itself as this ship" answered Heath. "Deception, your ship remains hidden while the 'Los Lobos' is in plain sight" replied Valdez. "Misdirection" answered Heath. "We know which is the real Los Lobos, they don't" replied Valdez. The meeting was soon interrupted by a call from the Harbinger, "Commander, Battle Groups Falcata and Broadsword have entered the system" said Nydon over secure channel.
"Thank you Nydon, is my daughter there?" asked Valdez. "She's working in her computer lab, I can put you through" answered Nydon. "Please do" replied Valdez. Nydon diverted the channel to Trianna's (yellow) computer lab, "Dad, there is a lot of data here, I need more time to deal with the amount of data we're processing over here" said Trianna (yellow). "Anna, take a break from that, I've got a job for you" replied Valdez. "What kind?" asked Trianna (yellow). "I need you to do some discreet digging for me and the Empress" answered Valdez. "What are you looking for?" asked Trianna (yellow). "The correct question is who are you looking for?" replied Valdez correcting Trianna (yellow). "Go on" answered Trianna (yellow). "Her name is Augustine Mcbrocken, no one has seen or heard from her in weeks. It's like she just vanished" said Heath. "I'll be as quiet as a church mouse, it may take some time and even breaking into the President's security surveillance network. I can't guarantee I'll find something" answered Trianna (yellow). "You have a month worth of data to go through, every meeting the Impostor had and we need the footage" replied Heath. "You've got it, leave it with me" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thank you Anna, Valdez out" replied Valdez and the screen went blank.
"Commander, it's time to set up the net. Good luck and may the prophets watch over us" said Heath. "Empress, good luck" answered Valdez before he was escorted to the transporter room. Once Valdez was back aboard the Harbinger, the blockade ships commenced the building of the their sensor web, it was up within an hour as ground troops began to infiltrate into attack position across the entire planet. Aboard the Los Lobos, the Empress smiled as a drone suddenly turned into the Los Lobos and took up position as other drones began deploying cloaked tractor mines set to active scanning.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Trianna (yellow) was checking Captain McBrocken's records from the time of her disappearance, "Odd, no resignation or retirement notice" she thought before alerting Valdez, "Dad, when an officer retires or resigns, they usually hand a notice in. Is that correct?" she asked Valdez. "It's a standard procedure, why?" answered Valdez. "Captain McBrocken never filed any of those reports, something weird going on" replied Trianna (yellow). "We're going to need more than this but this is a start. Good catch" answered Valdez. "I'll keep looking" replied Triana (yellow) as she took a sip from her cup of coffee. "Carry on, remember to take breaks" answered Valdez before he carried on with his rounds.
Earth, 48 hours later (Prime)
It was the day of the Great Purge, on the ground Valdez was in position co-ordinating with his unit commanders as their troops moved out. In orbit, the blockade was in full effect as a sensor web enveloped the plant, "Begin" was the callsign for the purge to start and all units got their orders. In Paris, Alliance troops armed with lists of names arrested dozens of aides, senators and even a Federation Councillor as the trial of Admiral Nakamura played across every screen on Earth. In other cities, safe houses and data hubs were all hit at the same time as Section 31 operatives attempted to flee the planet in cloaked ships.
The fugitives were caught as tractor mines locked their ships in place as Alliance and Imperial troops boarded each ship and checked them, those Section 31 operatives who resisted were stunned and dragged away as the shock wore off. Aboard Federation ships and installations, Starfleet Security made their purges as Section 31 operatives were arrested and detained trying to flee. Every attempt to flee Earth was brought to a grinding halt as every ship was stopped and searched. On Earth, President Ford made a speech to the Federation Council and named those guilty of corruption. Those named were arrested and detained for questioning, the purge even extended to the cities where corruption was uncovered and arrest made. Earth was being cleaned up as Alliance, Imperial and Federation all worked together as allies, within 24 hours, it was over. The last Section 31 transmission was ended by "they're here" followed by phaser fire.
The purge had been thorough as the blockade had stopped any leaks, both Valdez and Heath smiled from their respective ships as the hauls of prisoners were processed for questioning. Valdez then went to Nakamura's trial, when the judge said "guilty" on the charges of mass murder and treason, Valdez smiled after shedding a tear. The families of the Oudenarde crew were in tears of joy on the verdict as the sentence was read out, it was life imprisonment and dishonorable discharge from Starfleet. Back aboard the Harbinger, Valdez was in a good mood as he prepared the family evening meal. When Trianna (yellow) and Orderly Dawson arrived, they just went straight to the replicator and got two cups of strong coffee. When Isabella Morales arrived, she was welcomed and a call went home via secure channel. Valdez just thought "oh no, this will be crazy" when Joanna Valdez and Isabella started catching up from their days together as friends growing up, "say goodbye to Dad's sanity" joked Trianna (yellow). "Dad will be a nervous wreck when our little sister is born" added Orderly Dawson. "Poor Dad, that should cause even more grey hair" joked Trianna (yellow). "Then there's our niece, poor Dad indeed" added orderly Dawson. "That will drive Dad crazy" finished Trianna (yellow).
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
2412
Sol, Earth, Paris Catacombs/center]
Emma (Prime) cursed a yet another failed attempt at contacting the fleet- well all she could do was keep going forward. The Starfleet intelligence special agent continued with her right hand running over the wall of skulls, while keeping her phaser and light aimed forward.... She turned another corner- just more polished bone, she lowered her hand and pressed into a bleached grinning skull- no button, no luck.
"Blast it to- Hurk!"
Emma was thrown to the floor, as an elbow was wrapped around her throat.
"Urg!" Her head hit floor, before she managed to throw off the surprise and her assailant. She heard the dagger that had been coming for her neck hit the floor with a clang.
"Should have known-" Emma kicked the feet out from under her counterpart. "That you'd be involved in this!"
Shade (Mirror) hit the ground before summersaulting backwards and snapping to her feet catching the incoming fist of her counterpart, as her stealth field dropped.... She was- frankly ticked off she'd lost toe element of surprise- every assassins best weapon... "The best assassin was the one the target never knew existed." This was hopefuloly not going ot be unpleasant. Her counterpart had been so kind to show her the way, now she just needed to die!
To any onlooker, the combat which ensued would have seemed a highly coriagraphed and practiced performance- a beautiful battle between the two. Every punch, kick and counter was blocked sidestepped. Every so often it seemed a strike would land only to be swept aside as the melee seemed to continue in futility.
The women stepped away from each other as one and laughed as they realized the uselessness of it all- it seemed this would be decided by stamina alone otherwise there might never be a clear winner.
Emma threw a flurry of shiriken at the imperial which she dodged with a series of flips picking up her discarded dagger and closed to knife fighting range again. Shade cursed for having broken her spring loaded dagger in her boot earlier in the fight, as she lashed out with blade.
"What's the matter old lady, questioning how long you'll last?" Shade spat as she managed to maneuver the dagger from her sleeve to her hand.
"This old lady seems to be a couple more decades experienced, then you- not to mention showing you how it's done!
Emma began a series of dodges to avoid the assassins blades, she retaliated to the new development by grabbing Shade's arms wretching her wrists forcing the weapons to fall. She growled giving in to decade s of pent up frustration for having been trapped in that horrible universe for two sodding decades and began to unleash her own offensive. She growled giving 9n to the rage.
Shades laughter was betrayed by her terror! She hadn't expected this sudden offensive as she began backpedalling across the room. This was like trying to battle a storm of needless fists and legs- on and on the Fedrat scum continued, the Assassin barely managing to hold he own form out of the reach of this awakened predator! She couldn't even take a single moment to activate her stealth field!
Emma couldn't accept it anymore to all heck with her life she had a chance to take away one of the Empress' best weapons wasn't going to squander it! Her people- the Federation every innocent at risk as long as this trained murder lived NEEDED her to prevail!
Back and forth across the room again and again, the struggle seemed to be in they Primes favour- but she just couldn't land that final deceive blow! And oh so slowly she began to slow her age finally showing.
"I....am...the BETTER!" The assassin proclaimed and she began to press her advantage, at the moment it seemed the spy was forced to agree with that statement.
Emma leanred backwards just enough to avoid a punch and grabbed the assassins arm using her own momentup against her. The assassin's world turned white as felt her face slam into the wall, and agony6 as her jaw broke- whether from the pain or a flash greneade she wasn't sure.
When she looked up a moment later the Fedrat was gone. She could feel her face swelling up, she had to get out of here! The Shadow activated her distress beacon from her com badge, and looked at the map her drones were making.
Oh this hurt- pride- she'd let pride interfere with what should have been a quick phaser shot... What was she an untrained requirt! Why had she been so determined to save the last disintegration charge for Drake. This the luck she was having today there was no section 31 base here.
Section 31 Base, Paris, France Underground (Prime)
"Shes resourceful... Tell Drake it looks like Shade's Terran counterpart is near, we may yet be able to make use of her. They've had quite the cat fight."
"Seal the Tunnels, lets get her lost- both of them."
2410
Alpha Quadrent (prime Universe), Levtro System, Vanguard Station
Altithia Soreth was silent as she finished listening to her advisors report on the recent battle in the Bajour system. So the Hurk, are essentially a 'devouring swarm'?" She held her head in her hands. "As if we needed a swarm of ravenous insects who want nothing more than to eat us!"
Why do I still play and put money into STO?
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Dad, no trace of Captain McBrocken, not even a notice" reported Trianna (yellow). "How certain?" asked Valdez. "100%" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thanks, now get some rest" replied Valdez. "Sir, the Empress has hailed us" reported Nydon via com panel. "I'll take it in my office" answered Valdez before he raced to his office and turned on his terminal. "Commander, nicely done. Earth has been purged" said Heath via secure channel. "This is only the beginning, it may encourage more Federation governments to carry out their own purges" replied Valdez, "Empress, there is no trace of Augie. Not even a resignation or retirement notice" he said afterwards. The look on Heath's face said it all, "Commander, thank you for trying" said Heath afterwards. "Just helping an ally. We need to work out the next move, with Starfleet policing itself and the Federation government cleaned up, President Ford will need all the support he can get. Bad news is Franklin Drake is still at large, we're dealing with a viper here" replied Valdez.
"Viper?" asked Heath. "A family of species of snake on Earth" answered Valdez, "let's just say I don't like snakes." "Snakes are elusive, they'll hide to avoid hostile contact and strike when threatened" replied Heath. "That's the problem with our enemy" answered Valdez. "They're slippery, we have to play the long game" replied Heath. "Agreed, we got a good result with Earth and Sol. We need to start finding those hidden stations, if the horrors you endured are being carried out, they need to be shut down. Humans and their capacity for cruelty, it seems some humans have not grown out of their ancestor's habits" answered Valdez sighing. "Your counterpart was ruthless, you just described your counterpart" replied Heath. "He was a member of Section 31, that raid he pulled was deliberate. Section 31 let it happen" answered Valdez sending Heath the evidence. "Just to provoke a war, add the fact that a Federation crew is massacred in reprisal creates anti-Terran feeling among the populace" replied Heath. "They got their war, from the accounts of the Battle of Antares, it was brutal. Well fought, it was a Federation Rorke's Drift" answered Valdez. "Rorke's Drift?" asked Heath.
"It was a defensive action, a garrison of 139 British soldiers and auxiliaries withstood attack after attack for twelve hours from a force that outnumbered them 40-1" answered Valdez. "Long odds, who won?" asked Heath. "The small garrison" answered Valdez. "Brave warriors" replied Heath. "There's brave on both sides" answered Valdez. "Agreed, Commander. I'll let you get back to your duties, Empress out" replied Heath. Valdez then updated the High Protector via secure channel that Earth was purged, after a long discussion with the High Protector, it was agreed that the campaign had achieved it's primary mission and that a new campaign would be planned. Valdez's orders were now to keep the peace between the Empire and the Federation while a new campaign was planned, "Peacekeeper, this will be interesting" he thought followed by "the crew need to rest and recover. Works out well."
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Redeploy the fleet, we're parking ourselves between the Federation and Imperial fleets. Make sure we have Earth to our back" ordered Valdez. "Either side wants to cause trouble, they go through us first. It's a wise move but risky" replied Nydon. "For the Galactic Union to survive, we must keep the peace" answered Valdez. "Fleet is moving into position now, the Imperials and Federation will notice this move" replied Nydon. "I know, we're the buffer zone between them" answered Valdez. "Fleet in position, all ships report ready" replied Nydon as Valdez watched the fleet reform. Aboard the Los Lobos, Thay commented on Valdez's move, "Why is he putting himself between us and the Federation?" she asked Heath. "He's formed a buffer zone between us and the Federation, if either side causes any trouble to the other, they have to go through him first" answered Heath. "It's risky" replied Thay. "It's smart" answered Heath, "hail him" she ordered afterwards.
Aboard the Harbinger, Valdez got the hail, "Why the buffer zone?" asked Heath via secure channel. "It's to keep the peace, any trouble from either side towards the other has to go through me first" answered Valdez. "Why are you protecting the Federation?" asked Heath. "All we need is for the Federation to clean itself up, it does not have to be destroyed. Even if your forces succeed in taking the Federation, how are you going to hold it? You would be overextending yourself" answered Valdez. "But the threats to me and my family would be gone, Section 31 is the the Federation, you'd do the same if it was your family being threatened" replied Heath. "Section 31 is an infection, cut out the infection and the Federation has a chance. I would not destroy a civilization just to protect my family" answered Valdez. "Let's agree to disagree, we see things differently" replied Heath. "Destroying the Federation is still off the table" answered Valdez. "You have your principles and you will fight for them, I respect that" replied Heath. "Principles are worth fighting for, even dying for" answered Valdez. "I forget sometimes that Humans can be so stubborn" replied Heath. "Only when we need to be, stubborn through necessity. We need a way of avoiding war that involves not destroying the Federation, we work with them as allies in helping them clean themselves up and deal with the corruption" answered Valdez. "I'll be keeping an eye on progress, if any of my captains decide to defy me, you have permission to deal with them in a manner you deem fit" replied Heath. "Thank you Empress" answered Valdez. "Commander, good luck. Los Lobos out" replied Heath and the screen went blank.
Later that day, Isabella Valdez-Morales was called into Valdez's office. "Nathan, I've been tested and questioned. I understand why you insisted" said Isabella. "I needed to know that you were genuine and you were whom you were claiming to be, good news is that you passed" answered Valdez. "Your people were most thorough" replied Isabella. "I asked them to be, for all I know, you could be an operative and you would not know it. Your test results proved otherwise so I spoke with my bosses, there's a vacancy going on Brea III. They need a geologist to advise where's the safest place to build and the places which are unsafe, it pays well and you will get the resources you need. The Star Union are offering you a fresh start somewhere safe" answered Valdez. "Nathan, I don't know what to say" replied Isabella. "You'd be safer there than in the Federation, as far as the Federation is concerned you were killed in the mud flow" answered Valdez. "Thank you Nathan, there's nothing left for me in the Federation" replied Isabella. "Izzy, new world, new life. I'd accept" answered Valdez. "Nathan, I'll accept their offer of asylum and employment" replied Isabella. "Good choice, I'll send it through" answered Valdez. "Thanks little brother" replied Isabella. "There's only three years between us, I still have not forgiven you for putting a snake in my room when we were growing up" answered Valdez. "I never saw you run so fast, it was funny. It was payback for you putting a spider on my desk" replied Isabella laughing. "Not as funny as you screaming and panicking when I put a spider on your desk" answered Valdez. "We both got grounded for that, mom and dad were not happy" replied Isabella. "It was worth it, we used to wind each other up all of the time. These days we're older and wiser" answered Valdez. "Nathan, you have a good heart. Don't forget that" replied Isabella. Later on, Valdez saw Isabella to her transport ship to her new home and parted ways. When the transport arrived 36 hours later, Isabella was greeted by the Valdez family and welcomed after questioning from the girls. "Isabella, nice to see you after all these years" said Joanna smiling. "Joanna, it's nice to see a friendly face. Congratulations" replied Isabella noting Joanna's pregnancy. "Thank you. Let's get you home, we have much to catch up on" answered Joanna.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
(Pride Rock, Sapph's POV) *Can Valdez understand telepathy? I also compare S31 to a hydra.*
I'm at the makeshift hospital treating an exhausted Kion after the battle. The doctors have assured me that he'll be in good shape after a long rest. The Pridelander royals are making preparations to prevent more S31 incursions. Luckily, S31's main base on Earth is destroyed so that means I can start an anti S31 purge on my homeworld without having to worry about an interdimensional supply network. I open a channel to the Council and declare, "All units, this is your queen. Attack all S31 bases and logistics simultaneously when I give the order which is now. Good luck. Palace out."
My officer reports, "Your Majesty, all units are commencing operation. Capitulation of S31 forces is estimated to be in 2 hours, but it will be reduced to 50 minutes due to you ordering the destruction of their logistics."
I answer, "Thank you. I'll observe from my throne room." and beam into my dreadnought's throne room. I sit on the throne and activate a viewscreen so I can observe my forces.
(Section 31 Purge)
It's the day of the purge. Icy and Myir are coordinating the assault on the ground with the rest of the commanders. Special operations teams attack the logistics behind S31 lines to hamper their mobility and firepower while the main force attacks the bases. The S31 operatives are completely caught by surprise as aerial squads of Flying and Dragon types "dive bomb" important systems. The Psychic types extract the information from the operatives' heads via telepathy as the other Pokemon extract data and destroy the bases with a combination of attacks. The commanders compile a report and send it to my desk in a matter of hours due to travel time. I save it in my Pokeworld folder and feed my little one.
I send a note saying, "Star Commander Valdez, thank you for allowing me to conduct a purge without interference from the S31 cells in your universe."
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"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
Valdez's daughters are telepathic (Half Betazoid/Half Human, their mother in both MUs and the prime universe was Betazoid), he's not. Valdez is human.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"So how long do we plan to stay here?" Thay asked "Depends on what happens next," the Empress replied. The two were walking through the ship. "I don't intend to give birth here." "We won't be here that long." "Where are we going anyway? You didn't say." "Right here." They stopped on front of a door with two guards in front of it. "Who's the prisoner?" "She's not a prisoner. I promised to look after her." The Empress turned to their guards that were following behind them. "Wait here." The guards at the door stepped aside and let the pair in. The room was dark except for the light of the stars coming through the window. The sole occupant of the room lay with her head and arms resting on the short table. The rythmic breathing they heard indicated that she had fallen asleep in this position. They walked up to her quietly. On the table were half a dozen PADDs, all of them in sleep mode as well, scattered around her. Thay smiled. "Something's are the same no matter what," she said quietly. "What do you mean?" "So many times I would come in and find you like this. Asleep in the middle of whatever you were working on." "Is that what I look like when I'm sleeping?" "Well, she's not snoring." "I do not snore." "Yes you do. It just sounds like an eppoh." "I do not..." As if on cue the sleeping figure produced the aforementioned noise. "You know," Thay started smiling, "That disgruntled look you get is just ador...a..." Thay sneezed violently. The sleeping figure lifted her head. 'Wha..." Thay sneezed again. "It has begun," the Empress said smiling. "I was not looking forward to..." she sneezed again. "i already hate this." "Get used to it, love. You've only just begun." "Why are you two here?" the sitting figure stretched and yawned. "We came to check on your progress," the Empress said. "Have you made any?" "Yes, and it's depressing." The first lady picked one of the PADDs and handed it to her. "Papela's missing too." "She is?" "She along with her first officer have vanished from the Resurrection." "Who's her first officer?' "A Bajoran, Sito Pren." Thay's eyes went wide. "Mama? My mother's alive?" "Yes," the Empress handed her the PADD. "Apparently, those two being friends is a constant across all universes" "She looks old," Thay commented looking at the picture. "It has been thirty years since you've seen her." "You have to find her," Thay said determinedly. "I'm trying," the first lady replied. "It isn't easy. So far I've found twenty captains that have just vanished. And along with Los Lobos, the Valiant, Wyvern, and 23rd Attack Group have disappeared as well.' "is there something they all have in common?" Thay asked. "They're all friends of mine/ours," the Empress said. "Is there any good news?" Thay asked. The first lady handed her another PADD. "This is an interview security did with Kestrella, Papela's daughter back on Betazed. She's not in Starfleet and they were asking her if she had heard from her mother. The last contact she had with her was her requesting a recipe for this." Thay read the description. The look of revulsion growing more intense as she continued. "Is this a joke? This is disgusting." "What?" the Empress asked? "Chopping up the organs of an animal, shoving it in to the stomach of the animal with other grains and plants, then boiling it and eating it? What kind of sick joke is this?" "It's called haggis," the Empress said. "And it's really good." "Especially when you ad a little hasperath to it," the first lady agreed. Thay look between the two of them in horror. "You've eaten this?" "Back in the academy," the Empress explained, "Augie's father used to send it too her,.. wait a minute..." "If she's asking about this," the first lady said nodding, "I'm willing to bet she knows where the crazy Scotsgirl is." "But where are they, and why did they do this?" "Those are very good questions." "If you ever eat that in front of me, I'm never kissing you again... what's that?" Thay picked up a frame from the table. As she touched it a picture appeared in it. "Just something I brought with me." Thay stared at the five people in the picture. "I know that's you in the middle, who are the other's?" The Empress looked at the picture and smiled sadly. "Those two are my parents," she explained. "And that's my little sister Asana and her twin brother Kenta. When was this taken?" "When she graduated from the academy," the first lady answered. "You never told me you had siblings," Thay said. "Her chest was bigger than yours back then." "I never thought I'd see them again," The Empress explained. "Thinking about them hurt and... Hey! Genetics is random! I'm taller than her, but Kenta is taller than all of us, including dad." "You could talk to them. I'm supposed to be detained and out of touch, but you could. Mom would be happy to know she has grandchildren. Maybe she'll stop pestering me about it." "Can you imagine trying to explain the temporal mechanics involved in us to her?" "That's why i said you talk to her." "Thanks." The door chimed and Vaylin came in. "Sorry, am I interrupting?" "Just watching the Empress arguing with herself," Thay said. "Trying to figure out how to get them to start wrestling. Preferably in a tub of melted chocolate." "Indeed. Anyway, this just came in from back home. I though you'd want to see this." Thay took the PADD and after reading it hugged Vaylin. "Good news?" the Empress asked. "Ohsa's waking up. The doctor says she'll be awake in a few hours." "Thank the Prophets. Tell the fleet to prepare to depart. We're going to be there when she wakes up. I..." The Empress trailed off as she looked down at the first lady "Don't you dare hesitate because of me! You get your Bajoran butt back home to take care of your child now!" The Empress smiled. "I just need to let him know we're leaving so he doesn't panic."
"That's wonderful news," Ford said. "So your heading back now?" "As soon as I'm finished talking with you." "Mother first, Empress second I see." "Priorities Michael." "Nice to see yours are still in place. Be careful with that artifact I lent you, it's priceless." "It shall be guarded constantly. Although it probably won't be on display for the general public. Their loss." "Good. I expect it back in the same condition." "It will be." "Good." "Before we go, I do have a proposal for you." "Yes?" "We need all the EMH programs and mobile emitters if you have them that you can spare." "Why is that?" "Sites contaminated with bioweapons. I'd like to keep the risk medical personal to a minimum while helping those infected." "And in exchange? "There are many colony worlds that were neglected or outright abused by your replacement. I will send my forces to help. They can help rebuild their infrastructure." Ford looked at the face on the screen. Those colony worlds aren't that bad, he thought. But you can't come out and ask for help. It would appear weak, and you do need the help. "Very well. I agree." "Thank you. I'll leave a ship behind to collect the materials and send the rest on the way. Be seeing you." Ford watched out the window as all but one of the Imperial ships disappeared.
Raven, I plan to have Sapph terminate her alliance with Valdez after Franklin Drake and Section 31 are dealt with. Steven and Destiny's parts will come in a future post.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
Valdez will be planning his next moves, his orders from his bosses are to keep the peace assist the Federation in it's clean up operations.
How did your characters find out about the purge? Only four people knew the plan, Valdez, Nydon, Empress Heath and President Ford.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Sapph managed to pick up a few thoughts related to it via telepathy and passed the info to her allies and superiors. If she wants to send info to Valdez or his friends, she will need a telepathic "interpreter". I'm also planning another anti Hurq op for the final quest "Home".
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
That's a big no in Valdez's rule book, he grew up after adoption with Betazoids (since they are telepaths, they have rules about personal privacy which are strictly followed). His daughters all know that rule as well, a person's mind is their own so privacy must be respected in that manner.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
T'Ratu looked over the Terran- Union temporal war again... "There! Do you see that! Right when Vel'Riz captures Marie Valdez, there's a burst of Chronitons fired at his location on the bridge."
"What's your point?" Ma'am?"
"I think it was a move by the Terrans... Drive him insane, and set themselves up for victory over the long run... They caused his temporal psycosis, made use of their own total defeat at Union-Alliance hands to set the Imperatriz on the throne and remove a critical piece of the temporal chess board. By removing Vel'Riz they weakened our efforts during the battle of Procyon... Not to mention our defense against the Empire as a whole."
"I see your point Captain.... If I may are you feeling regret?"
"Vulcans do feel emotions. I think it likely that the empire emerged from that victory with the Galactic Union in it's sights, and an advantage over us. We had the Empire defeated, utterly and fully defeated, and we're still loosing this conflict."
Why do I still play and put money into STO?
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
Shade continued to trace her hand along the wall, when he got her jaw fixed she was going to find that Federation scum and- It hadn't taken this long top get in! She put her ear to the wall and heard the gears...
"oh no the walls and changing!" Shade collapsed the floor groaning in pain, she looked to the map her drones were making... Section 31 hand bloody sealed her in the Necropolis!
At this point she'd wait for the drones to find her an exit, and pray her distress signal got through.... She'd let the hunger for her victory defeat her.
Why do I still play and put money into STO?
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Advise Alliance command to send ships to man the rifts into the mirror universe" ordered Valdez to Nydon. "Command have just received the recommendation" reported Nydon, "Orders from our superiors, we're to report back to base for refits on all our ships and the crews are being rested" he said afterwards. "The crews have earned the rest, how long will the refit take?" asked Valdez. "One month, the ships will be inspected and new systems installed" answered Nydon. "Interesting" commented Valdez. "We being hailed by President Ford" reported Nydon. "Put him through" ordered Valdez. "Commander, your government will be getting my thanks. What was started at Earth is spreading throughout the Federation, Section 31 will have no place to hide in Alliance space when we're finished" said Ford. "They'll run beyond Alliance borders, they know that they are being hunted" replied Valdez. "I called on some friends to help, let's just say that the Dominion were interested in dealing with Section 31. Ambassador Odo and Councilor Garak have contributed ships and troops to assist Starfleet. The Terran borders are a different worry" answered Ford.
"Let the Alliance police the borders, it frees up your ships to deal with other matters" replied Valdez. "Given the Star Union's history with the Empire, it would be best that Star Union ships are not present at the border" advised Ford. "Understandable" replied Valdez. "Thank you for keeping the peace" answered Ford. "Just doing my job. I'll be checking up every so often. If you need any assistance, you know where to find me" replied Valdez. "I've got a Federation to clean up. Commander, good luck. Ford out" answered Ford and the screen went blank. Valdez then gave the order to all captains to return to base.
Brea III, 72 hours later (Prime).
At the Valdez house, Valdez, Trianna (yellow) and Rick Dawson opened the door to the house and were met with a "welcome home" banner and the family all assembled. Valdez just sat down in his armchair and relaxed as Luke passed Valdez a cup of coffee. "Thanks Luke" said Valdez. "I need my bed" sighed Rick as he was also handed a cup of coffee from his brother. Trianna (yellow) and Isoisa (prime) were just sat down relaxing as Isabella and Joanna were talking home decoration. "You look tired" said Ablim snr to Valdez. "Tough tour, bit of advise here. Pregnant women are a nightmare" answered Valdez. "Tri was a nightmare the first time round, hopefully the second time round should be slightly easier" replied Ablim snr. "Never is, congratulations" answered Valdez. "Grandpa" chorused the little ones when they saw Valdez. "Looks like you've been drafted" joked Ablim snr. "Girls, who put the boys in matching clothing? They are finding this amusing" asked Valdez. "No comment" chorused the girls. "How common is this?" asked Isabella quietly laughing at her brother's confusion. "About three times a week, give or take if the girls are in a mischievous mood" answered Joanna. "How's the military?" asked Luke to his brother. "Tough bro, strict routines to follow and I have to clean and maintain my uniform. I work as a medical orderly. Anna is relentless, she had me cleaning my boots and gear for four hours, every time they did not pass, she told me to do them again and Dad is someone you don't cross. I made that mistake, never again" answered Rick as the door chimed. "Hold on bro, I asked someone to come over" replied Luke as he went to answer the door.
"Rick, was it worth your stunt?" asked Oreada as she laughed at the insanity. "It gave me a boot up the backside" answered Rick, "Oreada, meet the family. They're totally crazy" he said afterwards. Oreada was introduced to the family and soon she smiled as Rick was driven mad by his niece, "this is normal" said Rick afterwards. "Nathan, remember when we were 18?" asked Joanna to Valdez as she sat down in her armchair. "I was being yelled at by DIs when I was his age" answered Valdez. "My late father was a DI in MACO, Betazed depot" replied Joanna. "Drill Instructor William Dawson?" asked Valdez. "You poor soul" answered Joanna. "He was my DI, real mean personality and he hated us, well it looked that way from the recruit's point of view. End of the day though, we succeeded just to beat him, that's when we got his respect" replied Valdez. "My father's way, old blood and guts was a nickname given to him" answered Joanna. "He always did like Patton" replied Valdez. "My father idolized Patton" answered Joanna. "How's our little one doing?" asked Valdez. "Last checkup, she's healthy" answered Joanna. "It's good to be home" replied Valdez. "What have you done with our son? He's almost respectable" asked Joanna smiling. "Gave him a boot up the backside, he needed it" answered Valdez. "My father would have respected that" replied Joanna. "He's a clever kid, he just needs to apply himself better" answered Valdez.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The streets of Moscow were filled with people cheering as Regent Mario Petrofski led his troops through in triumph, awaiting him on the podium was his wife who gave him a kiss and a "welcome home all of you." In his homecoming speech, Mario said "It is good to see you all again, Terran brothers and sisters, it is a new age for Terra. The Empress has brought enlightenment to the Empire. Terran art, literature and commerce will reach across Empire as a beacon of light. We will still exercise our martial culture but in service to the Empire, those Terran rebels are no true Terran. They are criminals, extremists and terrorists who shall know the Empress's justice, we the people of Terra must be vigilant for any trouble makers and report them to the Inquisition. We as a people have been beaten down, subjugated and enslaved yet we fought back and forced our oppressors out, Empress Heath Layress is a liberator who takes down the corrupt, the immoral and those who would do harm to others. We must follow her example and stay on the path to enlightenment."
The crowds across Terra cheered and chants of "For the Empress!" rang out across Terra. "I shall hand you over to my co-Regent" said Mario afterwards. "People of Terra, you asked for a fairer education system. You've got it, as of now, education fees are abolished. Our schools will be public funded and under full scrutiny of the government, parents should not have to spend half their wages just to get their children into a good education. From today, every citizen has the right to a high standard of education. You also wanted more representation in government, you have that. You all now have a higher standard of living, something unheard of before the ascension of the Empress, the Empress is a mother to the Empire and we serve her in life" said Jasmine Smith-Petrofski "all of you, spend time with your families and loved ones and work hard. Let's enjoy the Pax Imperialis" she said afterwards. The crowds cheered as more captured Rebel leaders were brought in and given the Empress's justice, three were executed with the other five exiled to Imperial work colonies at Nukara. Later on, the Petrofskis just relaxed in the Regent's palace as INN played the trials of 15 Rebels. "I see Solat has been cleaning house" commented Mario. "Her campaign of reconquest is doing very well" replied Jasmine smiling.
Brea III (prime)
The girls had decided to take Isabella shopping, "Girls, how do I tell the difference?" asked Isabella. "Trianna has to use a walking stick and she has a wolf's head tattoo on her arm, Trianna Marie has a jolly roger tattoo on her arm and I have this" answered Trianna (yellow) revealing a new raptor's claw tattoo on her arm. "Very nice sis" said Trianna (red). "Does your father mind you three having tattoos?" asked Isabella. "We're old enough to make our own decisions, Dad's cool with them" answered Trianna (prime). "Dad's most likely being driven crazy by the terrors" said Trianna (red). "It's funny seeing your dad whimper as the terrors drive him crazy" added Isoisa (prime). "Explains why he's going grey at 42" joked Isoisa (red). "Me and your father drove your grandparents crazy, your father was a nightmare growing up. Some of the stories I could tell you girls" said Isabella. "We were nightmares growing up, we drove Dad mad though our Mom found it quite amusing. We did break into his computer at age seven" replied Trianna (prime). "You should have seen his reaction to us sat playing on his computer" added Trianna (yellow). "Dad got the last laugh though, he took all our toys out out of our room and locked them away for a week and grounded us afterwards" added Trianna (red). "Mom gave us a right ear bending on top of that, our late Mom was really strict" finished Trianna (prime).
"Isabella, me and my counterpart here are married to two of the triplets. Nathan has been like a father to us and has treated us like family, very wise" said Isoisa (red). "There's three years between me and my brother, I'm the eldest. Me and my brother used to wind each other up all the time, he knew I was scared of spiders so he would walk up petting his pet tarantula just to scare me" replied Isabella. "I'm guessing the payback was just as funny" said Isoisa (prime). "My brother is scared of snakes, he really does not like snakes so I slid a snake into his room. You should have heard the screams of Izzy, I'll get you back for this" replied Isabella. "I'm guessing Grandpa and Grandma laid down the law?" asked Trianna (yellow). "They did, we got extra chores and grounded, Mom and Dad never took prisoners when it came to discipline" answered Isabella. "Dad's the same, I guess he takes after Grandma and Grandpa in that respect" replied Trianna (red). "It's a good thing" answered Isabella.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Regents Petrofski and Solat were back on the front. Imperial Intelligence had picked up a Rebel military base on Alesia IV, "Population size?" asked Solat. "50,000 civilians" answered Regent Petrofski studying the map of the planet. "Defenses?" asked Solat. "Orbital defense platforms and a fleet of 50 ships, no Imperial ships among them" answered Petrofski. "Military strength on ground garrison?" asked Solat. "65,000 infantry, at least 200 ground artillery emplacements and over 400 flak positions" answered Petrofski. "This will be difficult to break open, calculations on potential losses if we attempt to storm the planet?" asked Solat. "75% losses in the first wave alone, we could be looking at 80% losses overall with the strength of those defenses" answered Petrofski. "Thank you Mario, logic teaches that there is always a way to overcome obstacles. First we will need space supremacy in orbit, make removing those defense platforms a priority. The fleet is another problem, they need to be drawn away before we attack the platforms" replied Solat.
"We could convince them that surrender would be the better option" advised Petrofski. "They won't, we will have to blast and burn them out of their positions" replied Solat. "Tough one, the Empress wants this done without civilian losses. We need to inform her of the projected loss rate if we have to storm this world" answered Petrofski. "Mario, how many troops do we have?" asked Solat. "15,000 Terran Guard, 4,000 MACOs and 10,000 Vulcan and Romulan troops" answered Petrofski. "Our troops will be outnumbered and outgunned two to one" replied Solat. "We need more troops, 29,000 is not enough" answered Petrofski. "At least we have the enemy fleet outnumbered six to one. Between Omega and my fleet, we have 300 ships to their 50. The orbital platforms however are a force multiplier with the weapons of a dreadnought on each" replied Solat. "At we are looking over 100 defense platforms. This place is a fortress" answered Petrofski. "Fortresses can be taken" replied Solat. "Usually at heavy cost, if we attack, our losses will be too great. Instead of a decisive victory, we'll have a Pyrrhic victory or worse, we are defeated" answered Petrofski. "Mario, we need to speak with the Empress and relay our findings of Alesia IV" replied Solat. "Consider it done" answered Petrofski. In Solat's office, the Regents contacted the Los Lobos via secure subspace and asked to speak with the Empress.
Alesia IV (MU red)
"This Imperial is good, do not underestimate this Vulcan" said General Yodo to his commanders. "Vulcan trash serving the w**** of Bajor, she'll die like the the rest of those collaborators" said Major Stockton. "Let's provoke the w****, how many non-Terran live on this world?" asked General Yodo. "15,000 Bajoran and Trill civilians" answered Major Stockton. "Make sure the Empress see's this, take over all the Imperial airways and broadcast what we do to non-Terrans" ordered General Yodo. "With pleasure General" answered Major Stockton. "It will make the w**** angry, what's more important to her, the lives of her troops or the lives of civilians? She will be forced to choose" replied General Yodo. "Bajorans, so predictable. Time to start the show" answered Major Stockton. "Take over the Imperial airways" said General Yodo before he got back to planning the defense of Alesia IV. Across the Empire, rebel transmissions took over every screen and what followed next was seen by every Imperial citizen.
All 15,000 non-Terrans on Alesia IV were dragged out of their homes and killed in front of Rebel propaganda news. It was followed by a "to the w**** of Bajor, this is what happens when you don't listen. Abdicate or we execute the the 35,000 Terran civilians as reprisal for your lack of co-operation. We won't surrender so the only you can stop us is to come at us" said General Yodo. On Trill (red), Terran rebels began a campaign of terror as bombs exploded in every city on Trill causing hundreds of civilian deaths and on the world of Acheron, the rebels had built a quantum singularity device and smuggled it to the densely populated Imperial colony of Arturias and detonated it, the planet was ripped apart with no survivors from the 250,000 inhabitants. The rebels now demanded that the Empress abdicate or they would destroy another Imperial world. On Betazed (red), rebel saboteurs attacked Imperial troops in the street with indiscriminate ambushes in populated areas killing both military personnel and civilian alike. The rebels had thrown down the gauntlet and openly challenged the Empress to fight them. On Terra, the people in an INN report openly condemned the actions of the rebellion and stayed loyal to the Empress. Regent Smith-Petrofski's response was that Terra stands with the Empress and that the actions of the rebels was a open declaration of war on the citizens of the Empire.
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"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
(Raven, Sapph gave Simba/Nala the only Odyssey dreadnought in her fleet btw. It's repainted in Pridelander colors and refitted with a special upgrade.)
*Sapph's POV* (PLV Temporal Lapras throne room)
My mate and I are spending some quality time together in the pool with the little one after the purge. Luckily, the Federation hasn't contacted us with an offer to return so that gives us more time to tend to our royal duties. The Terrans have withdrawn to their dimension for now. Valdez and the rest of his fleet are assisting with cleanup operations and peacekeeping. Erika and the rest of the Pokemon Council are tending to domestic issues as of now. Amy jumps into my lap and snuggles into my chest causing me to purr. Jerome turns into a wolf and hugs me with his paws. I review my plan for Operation: Toothless and send, "Sweetie, have you established contact with Hiccup and his allies yet?"
He answers, "Yes my love. Nice work clearing out the S31 presence on your world with no losses. Fortunately, the Alliance gave us free reign over our operation."
"Heh. They shouldn't have gotten on our bad side, dear. A monarch takes care of her subjects after all. I sealed the portal on the Federation's end. Only you and I have the ability to use it."
"Good. At least the Pokeworld can sustain itself without UFP aid thanks to hydroponics and advanced water filtration. The NX Refits are good ships to have for now, but you'll have to diversify your fleet.
"Thanks. I have plans for some new ship classes in the works. I also managed to get more ship types into the Council fleet."
"Nice. Amy's pretty big for a 2 year old calf. She's still our sweet princess."
Ignitus and Lapry arrive and pull us out of the pool. Lapry brings us into her mouth and swallows us into the esophagus. We end up in her warm and comfy belly (She can control her digestive system.) in moments. Lapry sings a lullaby to make us sleep while she and Ignitus snuggle into one another.
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"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
This takes place after Shade finds her way out of the catacombs and back onto her ship. Feel free to turn on "007 theme" music!- completely mandatory by imperial decree!
Alesia IV (Mirror Universe), I.S.S. Enteri'Is
"Is Ghost's program ready?" Shade asked, over the coms as she and her four person team finished donning her armor. She put her ice pack on her face one last time as they walked to the hanger, only placing on her helmet once inside the shuttle.
"Yes Shade, we're ready. The Enteri'is will rendezvous with shuttle after you've been dropped off.... The Empress is correct- why launch a costly attack when she has us."
"Agreed we're ready to go, see you soon, Medusa." The cloaked shuttle slowly began to weave it's way into the defense area, bypassing the turrets and preparing to be blasted out of space should they have S31 stealth detection technology.... They made it through letting out a combined sigh of relief.
The shuttle descended into the atmosphere, as the assassins jumped.
Rebel Strong hold
The Shadows landed just as they had at the Petrofski manor, the automated system placing them in on a roof top of a single story building. Shade nodded to her team as they spit up in groups of two, Shade crawled to the edge of the roof and dropped down on a armed form her dagger landing in the neck. Finishing the landing with a roll she threw two shririken to the sides of her taking down two watch-persons.
The two moved to retrieve the downed bodies and hid the three of them in a dumpster. Shade followed a traitor matching their footsteps to the central building under stealth field. Her eyes narrowed as she followed through the blast doors before ascending the near by lift. Finding a new area to activate her wrist console she did a short range scan of the building, seeing her prey above her....
Roy pressed herself against the back wall of the lift, as the doors opened and two rebels moved in the assassin listened to their words, learning there was a small number of Imperial prisoners still held at the poles of the world, under a glacier. Noticing that they were on the floor she needed, Emma grabbed their heads and knocked them together rending them unconscious, before endin their lives and sending the turbo lift to the basement.
Shade opened the door to General Yodo's quarters, before relocking it. The assassin injected the General with a Hypo from behind as he worked at a console, leaving him paralyzed. "General," Shade began as she dropped her stealth field. "I hereby find you guilty of treason against the sovereign Terran Empire by, thought, deed and association... You sentence is death."
Shade used her ring to disintegrate him, before dusting off the chair with her armor hand and say down. After she confirmed the machine was of Imperial construction- she smirked: "Computer activate Dark Angle protocol." With full control of the planetary defences the woman set a timer upon which the orbital defenses would target the rebel ships in orbit.
Major Stockton was simultaneously executed by the other assassin. The remaining two cut power to the other buildings, and setting several explosives through out the base and signaled their leader... The Empress's justice had been carried out, and the assassins were now ready to be extracted.
Why do I still play and put money into STO?
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"The orbital defenses have just opened fire on the rebel fleet, good news for us" said Solat. "And the base and ground defenses have powered down, what happened?" asked Petrofski. "That's our opening" answered Solat, "Regent Petrofski, ready your troops for ground assault, you will command the ground operation. Logic dictates that those civilians are dead or being killed as we speak. Show the rebels no mercy, long live the Empire" she ordered afterwards. "Make sure those flyboys of yours can give us air cover" replied Petrofski before he went to suit up. Within a matter of moments, converted Pathfinders and Intrepids began their landing approach as fighters and shuttles dropped transporter pads onto the ground. Imperial troops then beamed down to secure the LZs in readiness for the landing craft. Once the Pathfinders and Intrepids had landed their troops, they returned to orbit to pick up more troops. Shade and her team were extracted covertly and she advised Solat where the rebel troops were.
The first wave was on the ground and digging in, the rebels would notice the landings and they prepared their defenses. The Imperials however found the civilian population, all 50,000 had been killed. The Imperials were now in no mood for mercy as they began their advance, the rebels in their fortified positions awaited the assault. What Petrofski did instead was to encircle the main settlement and build two walls around it lined with sentry turrets, water obstacles and minefields to keep the defenders in and any relief force out. Petrofski had settled on a siege as troops manned their positions on the siege lines, Petrofski set up his HQ on a piece of high ground within the siege lines to get a better view of the city. The work took a month with the besiegers digging each water trap, tench and section of wall by hand with entrenching tools and what else they could get their hands on, the wall grew ever larger and soon the city was totally isolated from the rest of the planet as power was cut to the replicators.
The Imperials had also secured the city's only water source, they could now resupply water and the 20,000 rebel garrison could not. At Petrofski's HQ, Petrofski watched as his siege lines cut their way through the countryside like a giant ring shaped circle. In orbit, Solat and Shade monitored the ground situation. The Battle of Alesia IV was becoming a major engagement as INN covered the fighting on the ground. Petrofski was smiling, his troops had managed to secure a rebel artillery battery and soon they had it set up and ready to fire once they had changed the targeting scanners. "Commence artillery bombardment" ordered Petrofski. The artillery kept it's fire going day and night as quantum shells rained down on the besieged city, the Imperials could rest, the rebels could not as the artillery kept firing. INN was covering the the campaign and the citizens of the Empire were watching the battle on their screens. The Empress had already sent an extra 40,000 troops from Bajor (yellow) and Betazed (yellow) to reinforce Petrofski's 29,000 solders. Petrofski's orders from the Empress were to keep up his siege for now.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Comments
Nathan Valdez was studying a holoimage of Earth in his war room, "Computer, show Section 31 communications, full planetary" he ordered. "Fascinating, data hubs in each major city" commented Nydon looking at the map. "We need to hit all of them at once, how are we doing on our infiltrators?" asked Valdez. "They've infiltrated the Federation Council and Starfleet Command as planned" answered Nydon. "One thing about the Federation, they have a hard time dealing with infiltrators. The Founders knew that, Species 8472 knew that as well as the Bluegills. Section 31 claim to protect the Federation but in reality they are nothing more than traitors and criminals to the Federation" replied Valdez. "The High Protector agrees, she considers Section 31 a threat to her and her people" answered Nydon.
"I spoke with her this morning, she understands that the situation warrants a military response" replied Valdez passing Nydon a PADD with Scythe's orders. "Total purge of disruptive elements within the Federation, our allies cannot fall to this corruption. Her orders are very clear on this matter" answered Nydon. "We need to start mobilizing the troops, our target is key figures within the Federation government. Find them, track them and when the time is right, we move in" replied Valdez. "The Federation government won't take likely to armed troops dragging people out" answered Nydon. "I can talk to President Ford about that, I need to speak with the Imperials as well. The Empress is angry and speaking as a parent and grandparent, I totally understand her anger. An angry Bajoran is something not to be crossed, could be an advantage or disadvantage depending on one's point of view" replied Valdez.
"I'll draw up strike plans, I'll leave you to play diplomacy" answered Nydon. "Thank you Number One" replied Valdez before Nydon left, "Computer, send a secure hail to the Los Lobos. I better notify the Empress that phase one has commenced, hail the President as well over a secure line" Valdez said afterwards, "this will be interesting."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"How did it go?" asked Nydon. "As well as expected, we have the support of the Imperials and the Federation. This is to be considered a police action" answered Valdez. "Now we wait" replied Nydon before the Harbinger's science station lit up. "Sirs, we're reading seismic activity, location South America" reported Uhlan T'Vralla. "Nature of activity?" asked Valdez. "Volcanic, putting it up on the screen now" answered T'Vralla. "Nevado Del Ruiz, Armero is going to get buried again. I hope that area is evacuated" replied Valdez. "Armero is still populated, we have a mud flow coming down the mountain" reported T'Vralla. "That would be the lahar, prepare emergency first response teams and deploy them, I'll lead them" replied Valdez. "Sir" answered T'Vralla as the crew all stared at the screen in horror as a lahar raced into the Armero valley and buried the town. "We only have a small window to save lives, I need volunteers for search and rescue" said Valdez to the crew.
Soon shuttles were launched and within 20 minutes were on the scene. In the lead shuttle, Trianna (yellow) and Orderly Dawson were shocked at the devastation as there was no trace of the town. "Life signs, 5 km" reported Trianna (yellow) to Sub-Commander Verak. "Marines, provide security. Everyone else grab a shovel and be prepared to recover any survivors and deceased. "Did he say deceased?" asked Orderly Dawson. "Rick, you will need to remain focused. You will see the dead, don't let it bother you and work on saving lives" answered Trianna (yellow). "Land the shuttles on high ground and deploy humanitarian teams" ordered Valdez. The shuttles soon landed and the teams waded through the mud, tricorders in hand. "Found a survivor, female but her life signs are faint" reported Orderly Dawson. As soon as news of a survivor spread, everyone got digging until they got a transporter lock on the survivor. The survivor was beamed to Harbinger's sickbay and straight into urgent care. "Dad, we're reading only 20 survivors out of a population of 20,000" reported Trianna (yellow). "Then we don't stop until those survivors are accounted for" answered Valdez as he grabbed a shovel and joined the search.
After several hours, the survivors were pulled out of the mud and the grim task of recovering the dead could begin. Orderly Dawson was shocked and he even threw up out of sight before he got to work identifying the victims. Once Federation aid arrived, Valdez and his teams left the area and returned to the Harbinger. Aboard the Harbinger, Valdez got a shock when he walked into sickbay. "There's a Doctor Isabella Morales here, she wishes to speak with you" said Doctor Egren. "Where am I?" asked Doctor Morales. "You're aboard the Harbinger, you were dug out of a lahar flow along with 20 others" answered Valdez. "You're human" replied Morales. "I am, I just don't serve the Federation" answered Valdez as Egren took a blood sample form Morales. "It's standard procedure, you have nothing to fear from us" he said afterwards. "My team, did they make it out?" asked Morales. "They are among the dead, I'm sorry" answered Valdez. "Commander, you better take a look at this blood sample. It will be of interest" reported Egren, "This is Doctor Morales' DNA and this is yours. There's a match." "Doctor Morales, is your first name Isabella by any chance?" asked Valdez. "It is, how would you know that?" answered Morales as she looked at an old family photo. "I have that same exact photo on my desk, it was taken a day before the...." replied Valdez before he was cut off by a "accident" from Morales. "Izzy?" asked Valdez. "Only one person ever called me Izzy, my younger brother" answered Morales, "Nathan, last time I saw you was when we were separated over 30 years ago."
"The day I was put up for adoption, why did you do it?" asked Valdez. "I was 15, I could not be your guardian due to my age at the time so I made the painful decision to put you up for adoption" answered Morales. "You made a judgement call, no point getting angry about it" replied Valdez as Trianna (yellow) walked in to check on how things were. "Dad, Rick is not taking this well. He's in pieces emotionally" said Trianna (yellow). "Anna, thanks for bringing it to my attention" answered Valdez. "Armero is a sight I'll never forget" replied Trianna (yellow). "Izzy, meet my daughter Anna" said Valdez to Morales. "Doctor Morales, how do you know Dad?" asked Trianna (yellow). "Your father is my younger brother, we lost contact after his adoption" answered Morales. "Dad never talks about his past growing up, when he does it brings sadness. It's like he never came to terms about it" replied Trianna (yellow). "Anna, you would not understand. The accident tore us apart, it's good to see him alive and doing well for himself" answered Morales. "Three daughters, two step sons and a pregnant wife with a daughter on the way. Add three grandchildren with a fourth on the way, say bye bye to what's left of my dark hair before it goes grey" said Valdez. "Commander, she needs to rest. You can carry this on tomorrow" said Egren. "Doctor, keep an eye on her, I've got a traumatized son to calm down" answered Valdez.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Rough day" said Valdez to Orderly Dawson. "Nothing prepared me for that, not something I can forget any time soon" answered Orderly Dawson. "Nature can be very cruel and there is nothing we can do about that" replied Valdez. "It's humbling, even with our technology, we cannot stop nature from taking lives" answered Orderly Dawson. "We all die eventually and we're not getting younger, it's an inevitability" replied Valdez. "No disagreeing with that, how's Doctor Morales?" asked Orderly Dawson. "She'll live" answered Valdez. "Good to hear, when I first got here, I was scared" replied Orderly Dawson. "Your first posting is always scary, it's how you deal with it that matters" answered Valdez. "Veteran's wisdom?" asked Orderly Dawson. "Wisdom worth listening to, Anna told me that you're not taking all this well" replied Valdez. "No fooling her, she means well" answered Orderly Dawson. "Family always looks out for each other, Anna was just doing her duty as big sister" replied Valdez. "We still have our differences and tempers can flare up" answered Orderly Dawson.
"Family can drive us all mad, it's a fact of life" replied Valdez. "Thanks Dad, I need to somehow process all this" answered Orderly Dawson. "I know, at end of the day, it's how you deal with events like this. Go get some rest and think it over, if it starts affecting your job, talk to me and I'll see about getting you some time off" replied Valdez. "I won't let this get in the way of my duties" answered Orderly Dawson, "Dad, don't mind the photo." "Who is she?" asked Valdez. "Oreada, someone I care a lot about" answered Orderly Dawson, "I spoke with her during our last transmission home and she said I look good in uniform, she's supporting me though the long distance relationship is hard to deal with." "You've got a lot to learn about women young man, if she's willing to stand by you, you must stand by her. It's a compromise that every good relationship has, me and your mother don't always agree on some things but we deal with that in a mature manner" replied Valdez. "You both agree to disagree and leave it at that. No fighting" answered Orderly Dawson. "Best way, your mother has had to deal with a lot. No point adding more stress to the mix because it's no good for anyone" replied Valdez. "I better go and get my head down, thanks for the talk Dad" answered Orderly Dawson. "See you in the morning" replied Valdez before he left Orderly Dawson's quarters.
The next morning, Valdez paid a visit to sickbay, "Nathan, your doctor is very good. I can breath a little easier now but my mouth still tastes like mud" said Isabella. "You're alive, you've also been put into protective custody. They're people whom I'm after who would go after you if they knew we were family. You'll be well looked after and safe" replied Valdez. "Section 31 tried to recruit me, I told them where to stick it. They also tried to recruit our parents but their offer was declined" answered Isabella. "How do you know that?" asked Valdez. "I was there when Section 31 came calling, they did not take our parents' refusal too kindly. That was a day before the accident which killed our parents" answered Isabella. "She's telling the truth sir" said Valdez's Reman guard. "It was no accident, our parents' shuttle was sabotaged" said Valdez to Isabella. "They murdered our parents, justice must be served on them" answered Isabella. "That's what I'm doing, these people need to be brought to account" replied Valdez. "You have my blessing" answered Isabella. "You are limited to only non-essential areas of the ship and you will be under guard. I'll have some guest quarters assigned to you" replied Valdez. "Nathan, you've changed but in a good way" answered Isabella. "I got older and wiser, made some mistakes which cost me a lot personally" replied Valdez.
"Sorry about your late wife and crew, we were all shocked at what happened" answered Isabella. "Took me a long time to recover from it, my daughters decided to play matchmaker and reintroduced me to a old childhood friend" replied Valdez. "How is Joanna?" asked Isabella. "She's fine. We ended up getting married and now we have our first little one on the way" answered Valdez. "Congratulations, never thought you two would get married" replied Isabella. "Thanks, she calls me her knight" answered Valdez. "You were always kind growing up, remember the time when we went to visit the Mayan pyramids?" asked Isabella. "It started raining and we had to take shelter inside one of the pyramids, you and that giant spider" answered Valdez. "You thought it was funny" replied Isabella. "It was cute" answered Valdez. "It was a bird eating spider, it was not cute" replied Isabella. "The snakes were worse, trust me" answered Valdez. "Sir, you're need on the bridge" said Valdez's guard. "Izzy, duty calls I'm afraid. We can catch up later" said Valdez to Isabella. "We'll talk later and Nathan, thank you for getting out of that lahar" answered Isabella, "Nathan, don't let it corrupt you. You always had a kind heart as a child, remember that." "Thanks Izzy, you need to recover. Dinner with me and your niece and nephew? My quarters, 1900 hours" said Valdez. "I'll accept, now you go and do your duty as a decent human being" replied Isabella.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Detention cells
We should have just killed them. We we're enjoying it too much. We lost track of our mission and got careless.
Sito Thay sat in her cell, that thought repeating in her head.
If we had done it before I left to see her... Sure I'd be dead but so would they.
She looked over at the cell next to hers. The figure in there lay curled up in pain.
"How are you feeling?"
"It still hurts," she replied. "It's still in there. I can feel it."
She still had trouble believing that she had swallowed that agonizer and it had ended up in one of her lungs. The pain it had caused however had been quite real.
Twelve hours, she moaned softly. Twelve hours of searing pain before it ran out of power.
"Why won't they take it?" She moaned.
"They haven't treated any of our injuries. Payback for what we did I suppose."
"Wrong." A new voice added.
They turned to see two more people being placed into the cells opposite them. They were surprised to see that they were wearing Starfleet uniforms. They were not surprised to see who was overseeing their placement.
"Hello Empress," Sito red sneered. "Come to check on us? Oh see you grew that ridiculous braid back. It was so much fun making you cut that off. Oh and you've made your chest even bigger. What, you couldn't stand the competition?"
The figure she had been addressing walked up to her.
"Not surprising," she started. "But everything you've said is wrong."
"Oh really? Please enlighten me your highness."
"Fine. One, the medical staff was so offended by what they saw you had done to people in your labs that they refuse to treat you. They say you can suffer like your victims did."
"If they can't take a little experimentation..."
"And second, I'm not the Empress."
"What?"
"Oh the hair was an accident, but the chest is permanent swelling from the countless hours of agonizers being used on them."
"Oh, so we have the fedrat version in our presence. Going to scream some more for us."
"I'm not the one who's going to be screaming. She is," The first lady said pointing at prime Sito laying on the floor.
"Please, you fed types don't have the guts for torture."
"But we Bajorans do," she said holding up a small device.
"What's that?"
"This," she explained. "Is a power generator. I push this button and it will beam power to that agonizer still inside you."
Prime Sito slowly shook her head.
"And it will stay on until it burns it's way out of you."
"You can't!" Red shouted. "That's..."
"Barbaric? Uncivilized? That means so much coming from you. Speaking of which, you get to watch her screaming in unrelenting agony... Just like you made Michael watch me."
"This... this won't solve anything..."
"It'll make me feel better."
"I'm sorry..."
They turned to look at prime.
"I'm sorry," she repeated. "Please don't..."
The first lady walked over to her, and knelt down in front of her.
"You had a choice. I told you the truth, and you pulled my nails off. I begged you to stop, and you only hurt me more. I couldn't even think, and you made me scream until my vocal cords bled. And you want me to show you mercy. Why should I?"
"You're better than me."
"What?"
"You haven't given in completely to the pain of what you went through."
"What makes you say that?"
"Those two over there. If you were like us you would have beaten some answers out of them by now but they're unharmed."
"I brought them here to show them what I'm going to do to you."
"But you can't."
"Oh? And why can't I?"
"Because," prime said smiling. "You'd be just like me."
"I AM NOTHING LIKE YOU!"
"You push that button and you will be. You will have chosen to deliberately inflict pain on someone of your own free will. You will be the same as me!"
The first lady stared at her.
"Do you know why I hate you so much?" she said after a few seconds. "Because I should be appalled at the thought of doing this. But I find myself thinking... I can live with that."
Primes face fell in dispair as Heath stood up.
"Because I can live with that."
"...no..."
"I can live with it."
"... please..."
"Always remember. You had a choice."
She pushed the button.
She turned her back on the screaming figure to face the new arrivals.
"Now ladies..."
"We'll tell you everything!" The blonde screamed to be heard over the noise.
"Everything we know!" The brunette agreed. "Just don't hurt us!"
"How are we on those data cores?" asked Valdez to Trianna (yellow). "Getting through the last firewalls now" answered Trianna (yellow). "Excellent, how long will it take you to compile the data?" asked Valdez. "Several hours, I cannot go any faster" answered Trianna (yellow). "Carry on, Anna good work" replied Valdez. "Yes Dad" answered Trianna (yellow) before Valdez left the computer lab. On the bridge, 15 minutes later, Valdez was talking strategy with Nydon as intel from the ground operatives was being processed. "Enough to act on?" asked Valdez. "Not yet, we have to play the long game here" advised Nydon. "Agreed, we cannot get this wrong or the rats will flee the sinking ship" replied Valdez. "The rats will flee the sinking ship, I don't understand" answered Nydon. "It's an old Human nautical saying, in the old days when a ship began to sink, it was always the rats who would the first to flee" replied Valdez. "I've studied Earth's species. Rats are very intelligent" answered Nydon. "Our enemy are like rats, any trouble on the way and they will flee. Put a total blockade around Earth, every ship attempting to leave will be stopped and searched. Any coming in will also be stopped and searched, no exceptions" replied Valdez.
"We'll need to construct a sensor net, we don't have the ships to complete a blockade" answered Nydon. "Yes we do, you're just looking in the wrong place. We'll ask the Federation and Imperials to add their ships to the blockade, the more ships the better" replied Valdez. "Will they co-operate?" asked Nydon. "Hopefully, I need a contingency plan written up just in case the Imperials make any hostile moves. Better to have something and not need it than to not have it when you need it" replied Valdez. "Yes sir" answered Nydon. "Good, now let's look at what we have learnt" replied Valdez. "We've detected the enemy trying to flee Earth in sector 4, their ship refused to be stopped and searched so they were disabled and their occupants detained" answered Nydon. "Start the interrogations, any who are innocent will be released, the guilty will be detained for questioning and public trial" replied Valdez. "As you command" answered Nydon. "Rat trap indeed" commented Valdez.
I.S.S. Stadi
Ghost was busy working on datacores when Papela walked in and saw the progress, "Ghost, how long before all this is processed?" asked Papela. "Give me another hour, there is a lot of data here" answered Ghost. "Once you are done, you're going back home. Your father asked me to send you home because you need to be with your little one" replied Papela. "I know, being far from him is tough" answered Ghost. "I'll be taking my fleet back to the Empire as well, there's a rebellion to deal with" replied Papela. "I still cannot believe that they murdered hundreds of thousands of Imperial citizens, show them no mercy" answered Ghost as she worked on the data core. An hour later, Ghost was finished and she packed her bags before changing into civilian clothing and boarding her shuttle. She was met by Dexter Smith outside of Sol who gave her a lift back to Brea III aboard the Aurora. "Let's get you back to your little one" he said afterwards. "Thanks, little man will get a surprise" answered Ghost.
Bajor (red)
On the surface, medical teams in EV suits were studying the plague unleashed on the world. "How many today?" asked Doctor Wren. "Another million dead, that brings the total to 34 million dead so far. People are dying faster than we can deal with the bodies. We may have to look at incinerating the bodies because the influx is too much" answered her assistant. "This disease is something we've never seen before. It's mutating to every treatment we can come up with. It's adaptable to say the least" replied Doctor Wren. "Bodies are still being recovered from Terok Nor's debris as well, we're over-stretched with the scale of this tragedy" answered her assistant. "I worry for these peoples' futures, this is an attack too far" replied Doctor Wren. "The people who did this are cowards, good news is that the Dominion have sent a medical convoy, their Vorta wish to study the disease and help with a treatment" answered her assistant. "First good news I've heard since this outbreak began, we'll combine our resources with our allies and work with them. Make sure that our people are informed" replied Doctor Wren. "Ma'am" answered her assistant.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Remember these rules when speaking to the Empress, be polite and bow when you meet her. Never show weakness, project strength" advised Trianna (yellow). "Anything else I need to know?" asked Valdez. "No hostile moves or thoughts, her guards will shoot you on sight" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thanks for the warning, has your sister made it home?" asked Valdez. "She arrived home safely, she checked in as soon as she was home" answered Trianna (yellow). "Excellent, she will have found my instructions, I've asked her to guard and protect the family. Better to play it safe" replied Valdez. "Also I'm concerned that you are going over alone and unarmed" answered Trianna (yellow). "It's an act of trust, I'm placing my trust in the Empress that nothing will happen to me" replied Valdez. "It's a gamble" answered Trianna (yellow). "I know but it's worth the risk" replied Valdez as he picked up the briefcase carrying the latest intel from the captured data cores. "Dad, good luck" answered Trianna (yellow) as she saw her father off.
When Valdez transported aboard the Los Lobos, he was met by Admiral Lot. "Long time no see Fedrat" said Naynta (red) greeting Valdez. "I no longer work for the Federation. Run a full scan on this" said Valdez passing Naynta the case. "All clear" reported the officer on duty. "You really are putting your life in our hands, something I would not expect" said Naynta. "Call it an act of faith, run a scan on this, it's a peace offering to the Empress" answered Valdez as he was scanned and then cleared, a case of of two bottles of Romulan Ale were also scanned and cleared. "Given the attempts on the Empress's life, we have to be thorough" replied Naynta. "Understandable, tough times call for tough measures" answered Valdez as Naynta escorted him to the Empress. "I thought Romulan Ale was illegal in the Federation" said Naynta. "I know a few loopholes, my daughter keeps a few bottles of the good stuff locked behind her bar" answered Valdez.
"How's the family?" asked Naynta on the way. "They're fine and under protection, let's just say if anyone tries to harm them, it will be the last mistake they will ever make" answered Valdez. "So that's why you sent one of your girls home, good move and I know what she is capable of" replied Naynta. "Not someone to cross" answered Valdez, "Sorry to hear about your mother, you have my condolences" he said afterwards. "She was murdered, my niece injured. As you can clearly understand, we're angry" replied Naynta. "Understandable, the cowards who did it crossed the line, speaking as a father and grand parent, it's an outrage that innocents were targeted" answered Valdez, "how are the twins?" he asked afterwards. "They're fine, very shaken up but thankfully alive" answered Naynta. "That's good to hear" replied Valdez, "Naynta, who's screaming?" he asked afterwards. "Trust me, you don't want to know. Let's just say they made a mistake that they are regretting" answered Naynta. "Different rules, I know" replied Valdez. "You understand us" answered Naynta, "Remember that duel we fought?" she asked afterwards. "I do, you tried to play your mind games on me and it backfired on you" answered Valdez. "Well played, was not expecting my shields to be remotely hijacked" replied Naynta. "It's an old trick, but very effective" answered Valdez. "And with my own command codes, I did not realize Humans are that devious" replied Naynta. "We can be" answered Valdez.
"We're here, when you greet the Empress, bow in respect" advised Naynta as the door to the Empress's office opened, "and bow" she said afterwards as they both bowed in respect.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Things have been chaotic since my former subordinate's defection to the Pridelanders. Jerome's also at the Pridelands to protect his family. My son's still asleep on my lap after having dinner with me. The Wichita pack's position on the S31 issue is clear since we don't allow anyone to attack one of our pack members and get away with it. My comms officer reports, "Admiral, we're recieving a hail from somewhere in an Indian jungle on Earth. A Queen Raksha wants to speak with you. Patching her through now on an encrypted channel."
A wolf appears on the viewscreen and says, "Luperca, I'm drawing up a plan to attack a S31 data center located a few kilometers north of my kingdom. My scouts are gathering intel on S31 troop and supply movements as we speak. Be advised, they have a strong supply network so we should attack it first to starve them. All militaries run on their stomachs after all."
"Understood Queen Raksha. I'll prepare for the attack on the network. Time to cut off the hydra's heads at once."
"The what?"
"A hydra is a mythical creature with multiple heads that regenerate very quickly. You have to cut off the heads and cauterize the wounds simultaneously to stop the regeneration Queen Raksha."
"I see. All information on my son's completely redacted to everyone except royal officers. The UFP shouldn't be aware of our activities at this point. Palace out."
I close the channel and consult with my ground commanders. We reach a unanimous vote to attack the supply network first. I walk to the mess hall to replicate some food for my son and myself.
(Sapph's POV)
I'm on a daily patrol when several lights streak past me and the Guard. I order them to follow me to a defensible position in the Pridelands. Kion orders the rest of his team to hide as I prepare to use my Herald staff. I perform a telepathic scan to find out the S31 hit squad's location and objectives. Apparently, they're sent to kill the entire Pridelander royal family in 1 go. I signal Kion to use the Roar when they get into the trap.The S31 agents fall for it and are hit by a sonic roar that's capable of tearing down rockslides. All that's left of them is a pool of blood. Kion collapses from exhaustion and I carry him to a makeshift hospital in Pride Rock. The rest of the Guard follow me and keep an eye out for future trouble.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
At the Valdez household, Trianna (red) had found instructions from her father. It read "I need you to protect the family, the people we're after would go after them so be vigilant. I know what you are capable of so use discretion." "Copy that Dad" commented Trianna (red) before she wiped the PADD. Later in the lounge, Trianna (red) was playing with her son and keeping an ear out for trouble. "He's been a little angel" said Isoisa (red) smiling as they were playing with their son. "I missed you both, it was tough" replied Trianna (red). "Well, things got a little crazy. Rick found himself hauled up in front of a judge" answered Isoisa (red). "What was the sentence?" asked Trianna (red). "Military service, he's with your dad" answered Isoisa (red). "Poor Rick, maybe he will grow up now" replied Trianna (red). "He sent us an update, he's a medical orderly on your Dad's ship" answered Isoisa (red). "That's good, how's Mom been coping with Dad being away?" asked Trianna (red). "Your father has to work away from home, military wives have to accept that" answered Joanna.
"It's tough, best thing we can do is support our loved ones as best we can" said Isoisa (prime). "Very true" replied Joanna. "How's little sister doing?" asked Trianna (red). "She's doing very well, you all need to set a good example from now on" answered Joanna. "We do anyway, we have to with little ones around. They're planning something" replied Trianna (red), It was soon followed by "don't you three even think about it" to the little ones. When Trianna (prime) and Ablim snr got back, they had news. "A girl" said Trianna (prime) followed by a congratulations from the family. "You can tell Dad when he calls home next, that's great news" replied Trianna (red). "Mom, are you spoiling the little ones again?" asked Trianna (prime). It was followed by a collective "yeah" from the little ones. "Did you get your father's instructions?" asked Joanna. "I did, my job is to make sure that you are all safe" answered Trianna (red), "Mom, the people Dad is after are dangerous, they may come after us so we all must be vigilant."
Vulcan (MU red)
"Any news on the campaign?" asked Regent Jasmine Smith-Petrofski via secure channel from Terra. "The very mention of the Empress's justice caused the surrender of two more worlds in Tau Ceti and Rigel, soon the rest of the rebellion will have no choice but to yield or die" answered Regent Solat, "how's things with Terra?" she asked afterwards. "There is support for the war, politically well things are stable and despite facing resistance, the social reforms are proceeding smoothly" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "We need to keep the people on side, it's the only way we can deal with this rebellion" replied Regent Solat. "Hearts and minds" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "Regent Lot has just arrived, we're going to be a lot busier" replied Regent Solat. "You'll be getting some extra troops, I've ordered the mobilization of the 1st Terran Guard Division. They will be arriving at Vulcan as we are speaking" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "They will be put to good use, our orders from the Empress are to complete the reconquest of the rebel worlds and bring them back into the fold. Any who resist will be made examples of" replied Regent Solat. "Understood, we serve the Empress in life" answered Regent Smith-Petrofski. "I'll leave you to your reforms, Vulcan out" replied Regent Solat and the screen went blank.
Regent Solat now turned to her other duties and went to pick her ward up from school. "How's he been?" asked Regent Solat. "He's doing very well, once he's focused, he's a model pupil. His temper seems to let him down but he is integrating with the others" answered the Vulcan teacher. "Keep me updated" replied Regent Solat, "Pytor, we can discuss what you have learnt today" she said afterwards. "Mother, it was the teachings of Surak. I find it hard to understand" answered Pytor. "It takes years to understand, even decades" replied Regent Solat. "It's the governing emotion that I find hard" answered Pytor. "Strength of mind, homework then even meal. If you need some help, ask me or D'Tan. We can always make time for you unless one of us is on active duty" answered Regent Solat. "Thanks mother" replied Pytor.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
(Earth orbit)
Valdez entered the room. There were five other people in the room.
One seated at a small table, the other four standing behind her, their weapons casually pointed in his direction.
He stepped forward and bowed.
"Empress."
"Commander, have a seat." She gestured at the chair across from her.
"Thank you."
He sat down.
"I haven't seen you since that Dominion war and my coronation."
"A lot has changed."
"Yes. Allies have defected and enemies are now allies. The Prophets move in mysterious ways."
"Indeed."
"Care for some kanar? I assure you its not poisoned."
"Thank you."
She poured two glasses and handed him one
"A Bajoran that drinks kanar?"
"I've never let where something comes from effect my enjoying it."
She picked up a PADD.
"I read you proposal. Do you think this will work?"
"Could go either way, honest answer but we will need to utilize every deflector dish, orbital platform and ESD for complete coverage. We place our ships in a grid network and leave no gaps. Stop and search every ship coming in and out, no exceptions. If the rats want to flee the sinking ship, they have to go through us first. Be prepared to tractor beam them if they refuse to stop. Only fire if fired on first, we won't start a fight but we will damn well finish it."
He took a drink.
"If the great purge springs a few leaks then the blockade is the net to keep them trapped right where we want them. I sent a report back to my government asking for extra reinforcements, so they are releasing two more battle groups to assist so that's another 140 ships. The next problem is how to land troops totally undetected into attack positions."
She looked over her glass at him.
"There's something you haven't stopped to consider."
"What's that?"
"This will not destroy Section 31 they will not even notice."
"And what makes you say that?"
" You've had Earth isolated for weeks and I can speak from personal experience that it did nothing to impede their function. Nor has it stopped the Federation from running. Earth is not the Federation, but Section 31 is. You may purge them from here but I know for a fact that there are other bases of operations. I was prisoner on one of them. Where the Federation exists, they exist."
Smiles.
"Our forces are gathered around the planet. Their enemies in one place. If I were them, I would take the opportunity and wipe us out. Quite possibly even sacrifice the Earth and blame it on us. We'd be dead and couldn't deny it, but the destruction of Earth and killing the president would galvanized the Federation into uniting like it never has before. Safe and sound. Mission accomplished."
She leaned back in her chair, crossed her legs and puts one hand on her knee.
"It's potentially the greatest trap ever set. I don't plan to walk into it blindly."
"Something me and Nydon were discussing in great detail, the raids were just to instill fear in them, they know we can strike any time, any place. However, we've kept a very low profile since. That worries them, where's the next raid?"
"You greatly overestimate the effect that you think you have on them."
"You think so? We think how the spider thinks, once their prey is trapped in their web, it is impossible for the prey to escape. The more the prey struggles, the more they are trapped"
"Tell me. Who is the spider and who is the prey?"
He looked at her in silence.
"Are you going to help?"
"Before i answer, let inform of something we recently discovered. Everything and everyone involved on Earth and where we were held was under the direction of Ford. The Sito's reported to him as well. Everything came to him and he sent it up the chain. Only he knew who that was."
She sighed.
"The only way to destroy Section 31 is to destroy the Federation. And I'm fairly certain than Michael would shoot anyone that even suggested that. But to answer your question, yes I will commit our ships to help."
"Thank you..."
"But if something goes very wrong we will leave."
"You would abandon them we they need you most?"
"I discovered on the way here that Thay is pregnant with our third child. I will not endanger her or our child."
"I understand. In that circumstance neither would I. Congratulations."
"Thank you.”
"We'll be the spider, we need to make our web secure. I had Anna do some digging, it appears Section 31 goes back before the birth of the Federation. It comes under Article 14 Section 31 of the original Starfleet charter which states that any threat to Earth and the later the Federation must be eliminated by any means. We destroy the Federation, we give them a victory and the excuse they need to restart an old war which is bad news for everyone" said Valdez calmly. "They want me and my family dead, they are a threat" replied Heath. "Evidently, they have crossed that line and they are hiding behind the Federation to avoid retribution. The fact that they will resort to murder to cover their tracks is also a concern, they were willing to destroy a city of 50,000 to hide their operations. Anyone who says no them has a habit of disappearing" answered Valdez, "my parents said no them and within 24 hours, they were dead. Their shuttle crashed, it had been sabotaged."
"That brings me to a point, are you familiar with Captain Augie McBrocken?" asked Heath. "Skipper of the Valiant, I've met her" answered Valdez. "No one has seen or heard from her in weeks, that is concerning" replied Heath. "Three theories, she may be in hiding, she may be being held somewhere or she may be dead. Three avenues worth investigating" answered Valdez. "Augie will never back down and hide, not her way" replied Heath. "The other two possibilities are disturbing, for all we know, Section 31 could have more hidden installations but there is no way of confirming their locations. How many have vanished after confronting Impostor Ford?" asked Valdez. "We don't know and that's the disturbing point" answered Heath.
"Most disturbing indeed" replied Valdez, "it gets worse I'm afraid, you better read this and make sure you have a strong drink" after he passed Heath a PADD. "They released a unhinged lunatic, how accurate is this?" asked Heath after taking a drink. "That unhinged lunatic along with my counterpart's crew stole the Astute and attacked Bajor in all three realities as well as infecting Trill yellow with a slow genocide by disease. The reports from Bajor shocked my government, Kendra and Hathon provinces were totally glassed, still no final number on casualties. I saw what that lunatic did to Medara on Betazed yellow, she orphaned 10,000 Betazoids after abducting and murdering their parents" answered Valdez.
"Regent Lot informed me that you spoke to that lunatic" replied Heath. "Krasnova showed no remorse when I spoke to her, I personally executed her myself, she was too dangerous to be allowed to live" answered Valdez. "Commander, it's necessity" replied Heath containing her anger. "Agreed, Section 31 have a lot to answer for. They have been allowed to get away with too much" answered Valdez. "Commander, thank you for your honesty. If you had tried to deceive me, you would be dead" replied Heath, "hows the family?" she asked afterwards. "They're fine, I remarried. Me and Joanna are expecting our first little one together and grand child number three is on the way as well. Ended up being reunited with my older biological sister, she's under constant guard not only for her protection but mine as well, one cannot be 100% sure these days" answered Valdez. "Congratulations, we fight to protect the ones we love and care about" replied Heath. "That's why we cannot fail, Section 31 will go after our families if given the chance" answered Valdez.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Computer, bring up a holo image of Earth, and project ship locations" ordered Heath. The image came up and soon both Heath and Valdez were looking the most efficient positions, "We'll need to cover both poles, the magnetic signature often interferes with sensors and it's an obvious escape route" commented Valdez. "This is what I'm thinking, have our ships 500 km apart and positioned so not even a shuttle can sneak past and deploy tractor mines between each blockade ship" said Heath. "If we support the blockade with drones, that can also increase the coverage and still keep spying on the enemy" replied Valdez. "Those drones of yours, can they adopt any disguise?" asked Heath. "They can, what are you thinking?" countered Valdez. "Have one of those drones disguise itself as this ship" answered Heath. "Deception, your ship remains hidden while the 'Los Lobos' is in plain sight" replied Valdez. "Misdirection" answered Heath. "We know which is the real Los Lobos, they don't" replied Valdez. The meeting was soon interrupted by a call from the Harbinger, "Commander, Battle Groups Falcata and Broadsword have entered the system" said Nydon over secure channel.
"Thank you Nydon, is my daughter there?" asked Valdez. "She's working in her computer lab, I can put you through" answered Nydon. "Please do" replied Valdez. Nydon diverted the channel to Trianna's (yellow) computer lab, "Dad, there is a lot of data here, I need more time to deal with the amount of data we're processing over here" said Trianna (yellow). "Anna, take a break from that, I've got a job for you" replied Valdez. "What kind?" asked Trianna (yellow). "I need you to do some discreet digging for me and the Empress" answered Valdez. "What are you looking for?" asked Trianna (yellow). "The correct question is who are you looking for?" replied Valdez correcting Trianna (yellow). "Go on" answered Trianna (yellow). "Her name is Augustine Mcbrocken, no one has seen or heard from her in weeks. It's like she just vanished" said Heath. "I'll be as quiet as a church mouse, it may take some time and even breaking into the President's security surveillance network. I can't guarantee I'll find something" answered Trianna (yellow). "You have a month worth of data to go through, every meeting the Impostor had and we need the footage" replied Heath. "You've got it, leave it with me" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thank you Anna, Valdez out" replied Valdez and the screen went blank.
"Commander, it's time to set up the net. Good luck and may the prophets watch over us" said Heath. "Empress, good luck" answered Valdez before he was escorted to the transporter room. Once Valdez was back aboard the Harbinger, the blockade ships commenced the building of the their sensor web, it was up within an hour as ground troops began to infiltrate into attack position across the entire planet. Aboard the Los Lobos, the Empress smiled as a drone suddenly turned into the Los Lobos and took up position as other drones began deploying cloaked tractor mines set to active scanning.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Trianna (yellow) was checking Captain McBrocken's records from the time of her disappearance, "Odd, no resignation or retirement notice" she thought before alerting Valdez, "Dad, when an officer retires or resigns, they usually hand a notice in. Is that correct?" she asked Valdez. "It's a standard procedure, why?" answered Valdez. "Captain McBrocken never filed any of those reports, something weird going on" replied Trianna (yellow). "We're going to need more than this but this is a start. Good catch" answered Valdez. "I'll keep looking" replied Triana (yellow) as she took a sip from her cup of coffee. "Carry on, remember to take breaks" answered Valdez before he carried on with his rounds.
Earth, 48 hours later (Prime)
It was the day of the Great Purge, on the ground Valdez was in position co-ordinating with his unit commanders as their troops moved out. In orbit, the blockade was in full effect as a sensor web enveloped the plant, "Begin" was the callsign for the purge to start and all units got their orders. In Paris, Alliance troops armed with lists of names arrested dozens of aides, senators and even a Federation Councillor as the trial of Admiral Nakamura played across every screen on Earth. In other cities, safe houses and data hubs were all hit at the same time as Section 31 operatives attempted to flee the planet in cloaked ships.
The fugitives were caught as tractor mines locked their ships in place as Alliance and Imperial troops boarded each ship and checked them, those Section 31 operatives who resisted were stunned and dragged away as the shock wore off. Aboard Federation ships and installations, Starfleet Security made their purges as Section 31 operatives were arrested and detained trying to flee. Every attempt to flee Earth was brought to a grinding halt as every ship was stopped and searched. On Earth, President Ford made a speech to the Federation Council and named those guilty of corruption. Those named were arrested and detained for questioning, the purge even extended to the cities where corruption was uncovered and arrest made. Earth was being cleaned up as Alliance, Imperial and Federation all worked together as allies, within 24 hours, it was over. The last Section 31 transmission was ended by "they're here" followed by phaser fire.
The purge had been thorough as the blockade had stopped any leaks, both Valdez and Heath smiled from their respective ships as the hauls of prisoners were processed for questioning. Valdez then went to Nakamura's trial, when the judge said "guilty" on the charges of mass murder and treason, Valdez smiled after shedding a tear. The families of the Oudenarde crew were in tears of joy on the verdict as the sentence was read out, it was life imprisonment and dishonorable discharge from Starfleet. Back aboard the Harbinger, Valdez was in a good mood as he prepared the family evening meal. When Trianna (yellow) and Orderly Dawson arrived, they just went straight to the replicator and got two cups of strong coffee. When Isabella Morales arrived, she was welcomed and a call went home via secure channel. Valdez just thought "oh no, this will be crazy" when Joanna Valdez and Isabella started catching up from their days together as friends growing up, "say goodbye to Dad's sanity" joked Trianna (yellow). "Dad will be a nervous wreck when our little sister is born" added Orderly Dawson. "Poor Dad, that should cause even more grey hair" joked Trianna (yellow). "Then there's our niece, poor Dad indeed" added orderly Dawson. "That will drive Dad crazy" finished Trianna (yellow).
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Sol, Earth, Paris Catacombs/center]
Emma (Prime) cursed a yet another failed attempt at contacting the fleet- well all she could do was keep going forward. The Starfleet intelligence special agent continued with her right hand running over the wall of skulls, while keeping her phaser and light aimed forward.... She turned another corner- just more polished bone, she lowered her hand and pressed into a bleached grinning skull- no button, no luck.
"Blast it to- Hurk!"
Emma was thrown to the floor, as an elbow was wrapped around her throat.
"Urg!" Her head hit floor, before she managed to throw off the surprise and her assailant. She heard the dagger that had been coming for her neck hit the floor with a clang.
"Should have known-" Emma kicked the feet out from under her counterpart. "That you'd be involved in this!"
Shade (Mirror) hit the ground before summersaulting backwards and snapping to her feet catching the incoming fist of her counterpart, as her stealth field dropped.... She was- frankly ticked off she'd lost toe element of surprise- every assassins best weapon... "The best assassin was the one the target never knew existed." This was hopefuloly not going ot be unpleasant. Her counterpart had been so kind to show her the way, now she just needed to die!
To any onlooker, the combat which ensued would have seemed a highly coriagraphed and practiced performance- a beautiful battle between the two. Every punch, kick and counter was blocked sidestepped. Every so often it seemed a strike would land only to be swept aside as the melee seemed to continue in futility.
The women stepped away from each other as one and laughed as they realized the uselessness of it all- it seemed this would be decided by stamina alone otherwise there might never be a clear winner.
Emma threw a flurry of shiriken at the imperial which she dodged with a series of flips picking up her discarded dagger and closed to knife fighting range again. Shade cursed for having broken her spring loaded dagger in her boot earlier in the fight, as she lashed out with blade.
"What's the matter old lady, questioning how long you'll last?" Shade spat as she managed to maneuver the dagger from her sleeve to her hand.
"This old lady seems to be a couple more decades experienced, then you- not to mention showing you how it's done!
Emma began a series of dodges to avoid the assassins blades, she retaliated to the new development by grabbing Shade's arms wretching her wrists forcing the weapons to fall. She growled giving in to decade s of pent up frustration for having been trapped in that horrible universe for two sodding decades and began to unleash her own offensive. She growled giving 9n to the rage.
Shades laughter was betrayed by her terror! She hadn't expected this sudden offensive as she began backpedalling across the room. This was like trying to battle a storm of needless fists and legs- on and on the Fedrat scum continued, the Assassin barely managing to hold he own form out of the reach of this awakened predator! She couldn't even take a single moment to activate her stealth field!
Emma couldn't accept it anymore to all heck with her life she had a chance to take away one of the Empress' best weapons wasn't going to squander it! Her people- the Federation every innocent at risk as long as this trained murder lived NEEDED her to prevail!
Back and forth across the room again and again, the struggle seemed to be in they Primes favour- but she just couldn't land that final deceive blow! And oh so slowly she began to slow her age finally showing.
"I....am...the BETTER!" The assassin proclaimed and she began to press her advantage, at the moment it seemed the spy was forced to agree with that statement.
Emma leanred backwards just enough to avoid a punch and grabbed the assassins arm using her own momentup against her. The assassin's world turned white as felt her face slam into the wall, and agony6 as her jaw broke- whether from the pain or a flash greneade she wasn't sure.
When she looked up a moment later the Fedrat was gone. She could feel her face swelling up, she had to get out of here! The Shadow activated her distress beacon from her com badge, and looked at the map her drones were making.
Oh this hurt- pride- she'd let pride interfere with what should have been a quick phaser shot... What was she an untrained requirt! Why had she been so determined to save the last disintegration charge for Drake. This the luck she was having today there was no section 31 base here.
"Seal the Tunnels, lets get her lost- both of them."
Alpha Quadrent (prime Universe), Levtro System, Vanguard Station
Altithia Soreth was silent as she finished listening to her advisors report on the recent battle in the Bajour system. So the Hurk, are essentially a 'devouring swarm'?" She held her head in her hands. "As if we needed a swarm of ravenous insects who want nothing more than to eat us!"
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Dad, no trace of Captain McBrocken, not even a notice" reported Trianna (yellow). "How certain?" asked Valdez. "100%" answered Trianna (yellow). "Thanks, now get some rest" replied Valdez. "Sir, the Empress has hailed us" reported Nydon via com panel. "I'll take it in my office" answered Valdez before he raced to his office and turned on his terminal. "Commander, nicely done. Earth has been purged" said Heath via secure channel. "This is only the beginning, it may encourage more Federation governments to carry out their own purges" replied Valdez, "Empress, there is no trace of Augie. Not even a resignation or retirement notice" he said afterwards. The look on Heath's face said it all, "Commander, thank you for trying" said Heath afterwards. "Just helping an ally. We need to work out the next move, with Starfleet policing itself and the Federation government cleaned up, President Ford will need all the support he can get. Bad news is Franklin Drake is still at large, we're dealing with a viper here" replied Valdez.
"Viper?" asked Heath. "A family of species of snake on Earth" answered Valdez, "let's just say I don't like snakes." "Snakes are elusive, they'll hide to avoid hostile contact and strike when threatened" replied Heath. "That's the problem with our enemy" answered Valdez. "They're slippery, we have to play the long game" replied Heath. "Agreed, we got a good result with Earth and Sol. We need to start finding those hidden stations, if the horrors you endured are being carried out, they need to be shut down. Humans and their capacity for cruelty, it seems some humans have not grown out of their ancestor's habits" answered Valdez sighing. "Your counterpart was ruthless, you just described your counterpart" replied Heath. "He was a member of Section 31, that raid he pulled was deliberate. Section 31 let it happen" answered Valdez sending Heath the evidence. "Just to provoke a war, add the fact that a Federation crew is massacred in reprisal creates anti-Terran feeling among the populace" replied Heath. "They got their war, from the accounts of the Battle of Antares, it was brutal. Well fought, it was a Federation Rorke's Drift" answered Valdez. "Rorke's Drift?" asked Heath.
"It was a defensive action, a garrison of 139 British soldiers and auxiliaries withstood attack after attack for twelve hours from a force that outnumbered them 40-1" answered Valdez. "Long odds, who won?" asked Heath. "The small garrison" answered Valdez. "Brave warriors" replied Heath. "There's brave on both sides" answered Valdez. "Agreed, Commander. I'll let you get back to your duties, Empress out" replied Heath. Valdez then updated the High Protector via secure channel that Earth was purged, after a long discussion with the High Protector, it was agreed that the campaign had achieved it's primary mission and that a new campaign would be planned. Valdez's orders were now to keep the peace between the Empire and the Federation while a new campaign was planned, "Peacekeeper, this will be interesting" he thought followed by "the crew need to rest and recover. Works out well."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Redeploy the fleet, we're parking ourselves between the Federation and Imperial fleets. Make sure we have Earth to our back" ordered Valdez. "Either side wants to cause trouble, they go through us first. It's a wise move but risky" replied Nydon. "For the Galactic Union to survive, we must keep the peace" answered Valdez. "Fleet is moving into position now, the Imperials and Federation will notice this move" replied Nydon. "I know, we're the buffer zone between them" answered Valdez. "Fleet in position, all ships report ready" replied Nydon as Valdez watched the fleet reform. Aboard the Los Lobos, Thay commented on Valdez's move, "Why is he putting himself between us and the Federation?" she asked Heath. "He's formed a buffer zone between us and the Federation, if either side causes any trouble to the other, they have to go through him first" answered Heath. "It's risky" replied Thay. "It's smart" answered Heath, "hail him" she ordered afterwards.
Aboard the Harbinger, Valdez got the hail, "Why the buffer zone?" asked Heath via secure channel. "It's to keep the peace, any trouble from either side towards the other has to go through me first" answered Valdez. "Why are you protecting the Federation?" asked Heath. "All we need is for the Federation to clean itself up, it does not have to be destroyed. Even if your forces succeed in taking the Federation, how are you going to hold it? You would be overextending yourself" answered Valdez. "But the threats to me and my family would be gone, Section 31 is the the Federation, you'd do the same if it was your family being threatened" replied Heath. "Section 31 is an infection, cut out the infection and the Federation has a chance. I would not destroy a civilization just to protect my family" answered Valdez. "Let's agree to disagree, we see things differently" replied Heath. "Destroying the Federation is still off the table" answered Valdez. "You have your principles and you will fight for them, I respect that" replied Heath. "Principles are worth fighting for, even dying for" answered Valdez. "I forget sometimes that Humans can be so stubborn" replied Heath. "Only when we need to be, stubborn through necessity. We need a way of avoiding war that involves not destroying the Federation, we work with them as allies in helping them clean themselves up and deal with the corruption" answered Valdez. "I'll be keeping an eye on progress, if any of my captains decide to defy me, you have permission to deal with them in a manner you deem fit" replied Heath. "Thank you Empress" answered Valdez. "Commander, good luck. Los Lobos out" replied Heath and the screen went blank.
Later that day, Isabella Valdez-Morales was called into Valdez's office. "Nathan, I've been tested and questioned. I understand why you insisted" said Isabella. "I needed to know that you were genuine and you were whom you were claiming to be, good news is that you passed" answered Valdez. "Your people were most thorough" replied Isabella. "I asked them to be, for all I know, you could be an operative and you would not know it. Your test results proved otherwise so I spoke with my bosses, there's a vacancy going on Brea III. They need a geologist to advise where's the safest place to build and the places which are unsafe, it pays well and you will get the resources you need. The Star Union are offering you a fresh start somewhere safe" answered Valdez. "Nathan, I don't know what to say" replied Isabella. "You'd be safer there than in the Federation, as far as the Federation is concerned you were killed in the mud flow" answered Valdez. "Thank you Nathan, there's nothing left for me in the Federation" replied Isabella. "Izzy, new world, new life. I'd accept" answered Valdez. "Nathan, I'll accept their offer of asylum and employment" replied Isabella. "Good choice, I'll send it through" answered Valdez. "Thanks little brother" replied Isabella. "There's only three years between us, I still have not forgiven you for putting a snake in my room when we were growing up" answered Valdez. "I never saw you run so fast, it was funny. It was payback for you putting a spider on my desk" replied Isabella laughing. "Not as funny as you screaming and panicking when I put a spider on your desk" answered Valdez. "We both got grounded for that, mom and dad were not happy" replied Isabella. "It was worth it, we used to wind each other up all of the time. These days we're older and wiser" answered Valdez. "Nathan, you have a good heart. Don't forget that" replied Isabella. Later on, Valdez saw Isabella to her transport ship to her new home and parted ways. When the transport arrived 36 hours later, Isabella was greeted by the Valdez family and welcomed after questioning from the girls. "Isabella, nice to see you after all these years" said Joanna smiling. "Joanna, it's nice to see a friendly face. Congratulations" replied Isabella noting Joanna's pregnancy. "Thank you. Let's get you home, we have much to catch up on" answered Joanna.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
I'm at the makeshift hospital treating an exhausted Kion after the battle. The doctors have assured me that he'll be in good shape after a long rest. The Pridelander royals are making preparations to prevent more S31 incursions. Luckily, S31's main base on Earth is destroyed so that means I can start an anti S31 purge on my homeworld without having to worry about an interdimensional supply network. I open a channel to the Council and declare, "All units, this is your queen. Attack all S31 bases and logistics simultaneously when I give the order which is now. Good luck. Palace out."
My officer reports, "Your Majesty, all units are commencing operation. Capitulation of S31 forces is estimated to be in 2 hours, but it will be reduced to 50 minutes due to you ordering the destruction of their logistics."
I answer, "Thank you. I'll observe from my throne room." and beam into my dreadnought's throne room. I sit on the throne and activate a viewscreen so I can observe my forces.
(Section 31 Purge)
It's the day of the purge. Icy and Myir are coordinating the assault on the ground with the rest of the commanders. Special operations teams attack the logistics behind S31 lines to hamper their mobility and firepower while the main force attacks the bases. The S31 operatives are completely caught by surprise as aerial squads of Flying and Dragon types "dive bomb" important systems. The Psychic types extract the information from the operatives' heads via telepathy as the other Pokemon extract data and destroy the bases with a combination of attacks. The commanders compile a report and send it to my desk in a matter of hours due to travel time. I save it in my Pokeworld folder and feed my little one.
I send a note saying, "Star Commander Valdez, thank you for allowing me to conduct a purge without interference from the S31 cells in your universe."
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Earth orbit
"So how long do we plan to stay here?" Thay asked
"Depends on what happens next," the Empress replied.
The two were walking through the ship.
"I don't intend to give birth here."
"We won't be here that long."
"Where are we going anyway? You didn't say."
"Right here."
They stopped on front of a door with two guards in front of it.
"Who's the prisoner?"
"She's not a prisoner. I promised to look after her."
The Empress turned to their guards that were following behind them.
"Wait here."
The guards at the door stepped aside and let the pair in.
The room was dark except for the light of the stars coming through the window. The sole occupant of the room lay with her head and arms resting on the short table. The rythmic breathing they heard indicated that she had fallen asleep in this position.
They walked up to her quietly. On the table were half a dozen PADDs, all of them in sleep mode as well, scattered around her.
Thay smiled.
"Something's are the same no matter what," she said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
"So many times I would come in and find you like this. Asleep in the middle of whatever you were working on."
"Is that what I look like when I'm sleeping?"
"Well, she's not snoring."
"I do not snore."
"Yes you do. It just sounds like an eppoh."
"I do not..."
As if on cue the sleeping figure produced the aforementioned noise.
"You know," Thay started smiling, "That disgruntled look you get is just ador...a..."
Thay sneezed violently.
The sleeping figure lifted her head.
'Wha..."
Thay sneezed again.
"It has begun," the Empress said smiling.
"I was not looking forward to..." she sneezed again. "i already hate this."
"Get used to it, love. You've only just begun."
"Why are you two here?" the sitting figure stretched and yawned.
"We came to check on your progress," the Empress said. "Have you made any?"
"Yes, and it's depressing."
The first lady picked one of the PADDs and handed it to her.
"Papela's missing too."
"She is?"
"She along with her first officer have vanished from the Resurrection."
"Who's her first officer?'
"A Bajoran, Sito Pren."
Thay's eyes went wide.
"Mama? My mother's alive?"
"Yes," the Empress handed her the PADD. "Apparently, those two being friends is a constant across all universes"
"She looks old," Thay commented looking at the picture.
"It has been thirty years since you've seen her."
"You have to find her," Thay said determinedly.
"I'm trying," the first lady replied. "It isn't easy. So far I've found twenty captains that have just vanished. And along with Los Lobos, the Valiant, Wyvern, and 23rd Attack Group have disappeared as well.'
"is there something they all have in common?" Thay asked.
"They're all friends of mine/ours," the Empress said.
"Is there any good news?" Thay asked.
The first lady handed her another PADD.
"This is an interview security did with Kestrella, Papela's daughter back on Betazed. She's not in Starfleet and they were asking her if she had heard from her mother. The last contact she had with her was her requesting a recipe for this."
Thay read the description. The look of revulsion growing more intense as she continued.
"Is this a joke? This is disgusting."
"What?" the Empress asked?
"Chopping up the organs of an animal, shoving it in to the stomach of the animal with other grains and plants, then boiling it and eating it? What kind of sick joke is this?"
"It's called haggis," the Empress said. "And it's really good."
"Especially when you ad a little hasperath to it," the first lady agreed.
Thay look between the two of them in horror.
"You've eaten this?"
"Back in the academy," the Empress explained, "Augie's father used to send it too her,.. wait a minute..."
"If she's asking about this," the first lady said nodding, "I'm willing to bet she knows where the crazy Scotsgirl is."
"But where are they, and why did they do this?"
"Those are very good questions."
"If you ever eat that in front of me, I'm never kissing you again... what's that?"
Thay picked up a frame from the table. As she touched it a picture appeared in it.
"Just something I brought with me."
Thay stared at the five people in the picture.
"I know that's you in the middle, who are the other's?"
The Empress looked at the picture and smiled sadly.
"Those two are my parents," she explained. "And that's my little sister Asana and her twin brother Kenta. When was this taken?"
"When she graduated from the academy," the first lady answered.
"You never told me you had siblings," Thay said. "Her chest was bigger than yours back then."
"I never thought I'd see them again," The Empress explained. "Thinking about them hurt and... Hey! Genetics is random! I'm taller than her, but Kenta is taller than all of us, including dad."
"You could talk to them. I'm supposed to be detained and out of touch, but you could. Mom would be happy to know she has grandchildren. Maybe she'll stop pestering me about it."
"Can you imagine trying to explain the temporal mechanics involved in us to her?"
"That's why i said you talk to her."
"Thanks."
The door chimed and Vaylin came in.
"Sorry, am I interrupting?"
"Just watching the Empress arguing with herself," Thay said. "Trying to figure out how to get them to start wrestling. Preferably in a tub of melted chocolate."
"Indeed. Anyway, this just came in from back home. I though you'd want to see this."
Thay took the PADD and after reading it hugged Vaylin.
"Good news?" the Empress asked.
"Ohsa's waking up. The doctor says she'll be awake in a few hours."
"Thank the Prophets. Tell the fleet to prepare to depart. We're going to be there when she wakes up. I..."
The Empress trailed off as she looked down at the first lady
"Don't you dare hesitate because of me! You get your Bajoran butt back home to take care of your child now!"
The Empress smiled.
"I just need to let him know we're leaving so he doesn't panic."
"That's wonderful news," Ford said. "So your heading back now?"
"As soon as I'm finished talking with you."
"Mother first, Empress second I see."
"Priorities Michael."
"Nice to see yours are still in place. Be careful with that artifact I lent you, it's priceless."
"It shall be guarded constantly. Although it probably won't be on display for the general public. Their loss."
"Good. I expect it back in the same condition."
"It will be."
"Good."
"Before we go, I do have a proposal for you."
"Yes?"
"We need all the EMH programs and mobile emitters if you have them that you can spare."
"Why is that?"
"Sites contaminated with bioweapons. I'd like to keep the risk medical personal to a minimum while helping those infected."
"And in exchange?
"There are many colony worlds that were neglected or outright abused by your replacement. I will send my forces to help. They can help rebuild their infrastructure."
Ford looked at the face on the screen.
Those colony worlds aren't that bad, he thought. But you can't come out and ask for help. It would appear weak, and you do need the help.
"Very well. I agree."
"Thank you. I'll leave a ship behind to collect the materials and send the rest on the way. Be seeing you."
Ford watched out the window as all but one of the Imperial ships disappeared.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
How did your characters find out about the purge? Only four people knew the plan, Valdez, Nydon, Empress Heath and President Ford.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Stardate: 2857, Prime Universe
T'Ratu looked over the Terran- Union temporal war again... "There! Do you see that! Right when Vel'Riz captures Marie Valdez, there's a burst of Chronitons fired at his location on the bridge."
"What's your point?" Ma'am?"
"I think it was a move by the Terrans... Drive him insane, and set themselves up for victory over the long run... They caused his temporal psycosis, made use of their own total defeat at Union-Alliance hands to set the Imperatriz on the throne and remove a critical piece of the temporal chess board. By removing Vel'Riz they weakened our efforts during the battle of Procyon... Not to mention our defense against the Empire as a whole."
"I see your point Captain.... If I may are you feeling regret?"
"Vulcans do feel emotions. I think it likely that the empire emerged from that victory with the Galactic Union in it's sights, and an advantage over us. We had the Empire defeated, utterly and fully defeated, and we're still loosing this conflict."
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
2414? (Prime Universe)
Shade continued to trace her hand along the wall, when he got her jaw fixed she was going to find that Federation scum and- It hadn't taken this long top get in! She put her ear to the wall and heard the gears...
"oh no the walls and changing!" Shade collapsed the floor groaning in pain, she looked to the map her drones were making... Section 31 hand bloody sealed her in the Necropolis!
At this point she'd wait for the drones to find her an exit, and pray her distress signal got through.... She'd let the hunger for her victory defeat her.
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Advise Alliance command to send ships to man the rifts into the mirror universe" ordered Valdez to Nydon. "Command have just received the recommendation" reported Nydon, "Orders from our superiors, we're to report back to base for refits on all our ships and the crews are being rested" he said afterwards. "The crews have earned the rest, how long will the refit take?" asked Valdez. "One month, the ships will be inspected and new systems installed" answered Nydon. "Interesting" commented Valdez. "We being hailed by President Ford" reported Nydon. "Put him through" ordered Valdez. "Commander, your government will be getting my thanks. What was started at Earth is spreading throughout the Federation, Section 31 will have no place to hide in Alliance space when we're finished" said Ford. "They'll run beyond Alliance borders, they know that they are being hunted" replied Valdez. "I called on some friends to help, let's just say that the Dominion were interested in dealing with Section 31. Ambassador Odo and Councilor Garak have contributed ships and troops to assist Starfleet. The Terran borders are a different worry" answered Ford.
"Let the Alliance police the borders, it frees up your ships to deal with other matters" replied Valdez. "Given the Star Union's history with the Empire, it would be best that Star Union ships are not present at the border" advised Ford. "Understandable" replied Valdez. "Thank you for keeping the peace" answered Ford. "Just doing my job. I'll be checking up every so often. If you need any assistance, you know where to find me" replied Valdez. "I've got a Federation to clean up. Commander, good luck. Ford out" answered Ford and the screen went blank. Valdez then gave the order to all captains to return to base.
Brea III, 72 hours later (Prime).
At the Valdez house, Valdez, Trianna (yellow) and Rick Dawson opened the door to the house and were met with a "welcome home" banner and the family all assembled. Valdez just sat down in his armchair and relaxed as Luke passed Valdez a cup of coffee. "Thanks Luke" said Valdez. "I need my bed" sighed Rick as he was also handed a cup of coffee from his brother. Trianna (yellow) and Isoisa (prime) were just sat down relaxing as Isabella and Joanna were talking home decoration. "You look tired" said Ablim snr to Valdez. "Tough tour, bit of advise here. Pregnant women are a nightmare" answered Valdez. "Tri was a nightmare the first time round, hopefully the second time round should be slightly easier" replied Ablim snr. "Never is, congratulations" answered Valdez. "Grandpa" chorused the little ones when they saw Valdez. "Looks like you've been drafted" joked Ablim snr. "Girls, who put the boys in matching clothing? They are finding this amusing" asked Valdez. "No comment" chorused the girls. "How common is this?" asked Isabella quietly laughing at her brother's confusion. "About three times a week, give or take if the girls are in a mischievous mood" answered Joanna. "How's the military?" asked Luke to his brother. "Tough bro, strict routines to follow and I have to clean and maintain my uniform. I work as a medical orderly. Anna is relentless, she had me cleaning my boots and gear for four hours, every time they did not pass, she told me to do them again and Dad is someone you don't cross. I made that mistake, never again" answered Rick as the door chimed. "Hold on bro, I asked someone to come over" replied Luke as he went to answer the door.
"Rick, was it worth your stunt?" asked Oreada as she laughed at the insanity. "It gave me a boot up the backside" answered Rick, "Oreada, meet the family. They're totally crazy" he said afterwards. Oreada was introduced to the family and soon she smiled as Rick was driven mad by his niece, "this is normal" said Rick afterwards. "Nathan, remember when we were 18?" asked Joanna to Valdez as she sat down in her armchair. "I was being yelled at by DIs when I was his age" answered Valdez. "My late father was a DI in MACO, Betazed depot" replied Joanna. "Drill Instructor William Dawson?" asked Valdez. "You poor soul" answered Joanna. "He was my DI, real mean personality and he hated us, well it looked that way from the recruit's point of view. End of the day though, we succeeded just to beat him, that's when we got his respect" replied Valdez. "My father's way, old blood and guts was a nickname given to him" answered Joanna. "He always did like Patton" replied Valdez. "My father idolized Patton" answered Joanna. "How's our little one doing?" asked Valdez. "Last checkup, she's healthy" answered Joanna. "It's good to be home" replied Valdez. "What have you done with our son? He's almost respectable" asked Joanna smiling. "Gave him a boot up the backside, he needed it" answered Valdez. "My father would have respected that" replied Joanna. "He's a clever kid, he just needs to apply himself better" answered Valdez.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The streets of Moscow were filled with people cheering as Regent Mario Petrofski led his troops through in triumph, awaiting him on the podium was his wife who gave him a kiss and a "welcome home all of you." In his homecoming speech, Mario said "It is good to see you all again, Terran brothers and sisters, it is a new age for Terra. The Empress has brought enlightenment to the Empire. Terran art, literature and commerce will reach across Empire as a beacon of light. We will still exercise our martial culture but in service to the Empire, those Terran rebels are no true Terran. They are criminals, extremists and terrorists who shall know the Empress's justice, we the people of Terra must be vigilant for any trouble makers and report them to the Inquisition. We as a people have been beaten down, subjugated and enslaved yet we fought back and forced our oppressors out, Empress Heath Layress is a liberator who takes down the corrupt, the immoral and those who would do harm to others. We must follow her example and stay on the path to enlightenment."
The crowds across Terra cheered and chants of "For the Empress!" rang out across Terra. "I shall hand you over to my co-Regent" said Mario afterwards. "People of Terra, you asked for a fairer education system. You've got it, as of now, education fees are abolished. Our schools will be public funded and under full scrutiny of the government, parents should not have to spend half their wages just to get their children into a good education. From today, every citizen has the right to a high standard of education. You also wanted more representation in government, you have that. You all now have a higher standard of living, something unheard of before the ascension of the Empress, the Empress is a mother to the Empire and we serve her in life" said Jasmine Smith-Petrofski "all of you, spend time with your families and loved ones and work hard. Let's enjoy the Pax Imperialis" she said afterwards. The crowds cheered as more captured Rebel leaders were brought in and given the Empress's justice, three were executed with the other five exiled to Imperial work colonies at Nukara. Later on, the Petrofskis just relaxed in the Regent's palace as INN played the trials of 15 Rebels. "I see Solat has been cleaning house" commented Mario. "Her campaign of reconquest is doing very well" replied Jasmine smiling.
Brea III (prime)
The girls had decided to take Isabella shopping, "Girls, how do I tell the difference?" asked Isabella. "Trianna has to use a walking stick and she has a wolf's head tattoo on her arm, Trianna Marie has a jolly roger tattoo on her arm and I have this" answered Trianna (yellow) revealing a new raptor's claw tattoo on her arm. "Very nice sis" said Trianna (red). "Does your father mind you three having tattoos?" asked Isabella. "We're old enough to make our own decisions, Dad's cool with them" answered Trianna (prime). "Dad's most likely being driven crazy by the terrors" said Trianna (red). "It's funny seeing your dad whimper as the terrors drive him crazy" added Isoisa (prime). "Explains why he's going grey at 42" joked Isoisa (red). "Me and your father drove your grandparents crazy, your father was a nightmare growing up. Some of the stories I could tell you girls" said Isabella. "We were nightmares growing up, we drove Dad mad though our Mom found it quite amusing. We did break into his computer at age seven" replied Trianna (prime). "You should have seen his reaction to us sat playing on his computer" added Trianna (yellow). "Dad got the last laugh though, he took all our toys out out of our room and locked them away for a week and grounded us afterwards" added Trianna (red). "Mom gave us a right ear bending on top of that, our late Mom was really strict" finished Trianna (prime).
"Isabella, me and my counterpart here are married to two of the triplets. Nathan has been like a father to us and has treated us like family, very wise" said Isoisa (red). "There's three years between me and my brother, I'm the eldest. Me and my brother used to wind each other up all the time, he knew I was scared of spiders so he would walk up petting his pet tarantula just to scare me" replied Isabella. "I'm guessing the payback was just as funny" said Isoisa (prime). "My brother is scared of snakes, he really does not like snakes so I slid a snake into his room. You should have heard the screams of Izzy, I'll get you back for this" replied Isabella. "I'm guessing Grandpa and Grandma laid down the law?" asked Trianna (yellow). "They did, we got extra chores and grounded, Mom and Dad never took prisoners when it came to discipline" answered Isabella. "Dad's the same, I guess he takes after Grandma and Grandpa in that respect" replied Trianna (red). "It's a good thing" answered Isabella.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Regents Petrofski and Solat were back on the front. Imperial Intelligence had picked up a Rebel military base on Alesia IV, "Population size?" asked Solat. "50,000 civilians" answered Regent Petrofski studying the map of the planet. "Defenses?" asked Solat. "Orbital defense platforms and a fleet of 50 ships, no Imperial ships among them" answered Petrofski. "Military strength on ground garrison?" asked Solat. "65,000 infantry, at least 200 ground artillery emplacements and over 400 flak positions" answered Petrofski. "This will be difficult to break open, calculations on potential losses if we attempt to storm the planet?" asked Solat. "75% losses in the first wave alone, we could be looking at 80% losses overall with the strength of those defenses" answered Petrofski. "Thank you Mario, logic teaches that there is always a way to overcome obstacles. First we will need space supremacy in orbit, make removing those defense platforms a priority. The fleet is another problem, they need to be drawn away before we attack the platforms" replied Solat.
"We could convince them that surrender would be the better option" advised Petrofski. "They won't, we will have to blast and burn them out of their positions" replied Solat. "Tough one, the Empress wants this done without civilian losses. We need to inform her of the projected loss rate if we have to storm this world" answered Petrofski. "Mario, how many troops do we have?" asked Solat. "15,000 Terran Guard, 4,000 MACOs and 10,000 Vulcan and Romulan troops" answered Petrofski. "Our troops will be outnumbered and outgunned two to one" replied Solat. "We need more troops, 29,000 is not enough" answered Petrofski. "At least we have the enemy fleet outnumbered six to one. Between Omega and my fleet, we have 300 ships to their 50. The orbital platforms however are a force multiplier with the weapons of a dreadnought on each" replied Solat. "At we are looking over 100 defense platforms. This place is a fortress" answered Petrofski. "Fortresses can be taken" replied Solat. "Usually at heavy cost, if we attack, our losses will be too great. Instead of a decisive victory, we'll have a Pyrrhic victory or worse, we are defeated" answered Petrofski. "Mario, we need to speak with the Empress and relay our findings of Alesia IV" replied Solat. "Consider it done" answered Petrofski. In Solat's office, the Regents contacted the Los Lobos via secure subspace and asked to speak with the Empress.
Alesia IV (MU red)
"This Imperial is good, do not underestimate this Vulcan" said General Yodo to his commanders. "Vulcan trash serving the w**** of Bajor, she'll die like the the rest of those collaborators" said Major Stockton. "Let's provoke the w****, how many non-Terran live on this world?" asked General Yodo. "15,000 Bajoran and Trill civilians" answered Major Stockton. "Make sure the Empress see's this, take over all the Imperial airways and broadcast what we do to non-Terrans" ordered General Yodo. "With pleasure General" answered Major Stockton. "It will make the w**** angry, what's more important to her, the lives of her troops or the lives of civilians? She will be forced to choose" replied General Yodo. "Bajorans, so predictable. Time to start the show" answered Major Stockton. "Take over the Imperial airways" said General Yodo before he got back to planning the defense of Alesia IV. Across the Empire, rebel transmissions took over every screen and what followed next was seen by every Imperial citizen.
All 15,000 non-Terrans on Alesia IV were dragged out of their homes and killed in front of Rebel propaganda news. It was followed by a "to the w**** of Bajor, this is what happens when you don't listen. Abdicate or we execute the the 35,000 Terran civilians as reprisal for your lack of co-operation. We won't surrender so the only you can stop us is to come at us" said General Yodo. On Trill (red), Terran rebels began a campaign of terror as bombs exploded in every city on Trill causing hundreds of civilian deaths and on the world of Acheron, the rebels had built a quantum singularity device and smuggled it to the densely populated Imperial colony of Arturias and detonated it, the planet was ripped apart with no survivors from the 250,000 inhabitants. The rebels now demanded that the Empress abdicate or they would destroy another Imperial world. On Betazed (red), rebel saboteurs attacked Imperial troops in the street with indiscriminate ambushes in populated areas killing both military personnel and civilian alike. The rebels had thrown down the gauntlet and openly challenged the Empress to fight them. On Terra, the people in an INN report openly condemned the actions of the rebellion and stayed loyal to the Empress. Regent Smith-Petrofski's response was that Terra stands with the Empress and that the actions of the rebels was a open declaration of war on the citizens of the Empire.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
*Sapph's POV* (PLV Temporal Lapras throne room)
My mate and I are spending some quality time together in the pool with the little one after the purge. Luckily, the Federation hasn't contacted us with an offer to return so that gives us more time to tend to our royal duties. The Terrans have withdrawn to their dimension for now. Valdez and the rest of his fleet are assisting with cleanup operations and peacekeeping. Erika and the rest of the Pokemon Council are tending to domestic issues as of now. Amy jumps into my lap and snuggles into my chest causing me to purr. Jerome turns into a wolf and hugs me with his paws. I review my plan for Operation: Toothless and send, "Sweetie, have you established contact with Hiccup and his allies yet?"
He answers, "Yes my love. Nice work clearing out the S31 presence on your world with no losses. Fortunately, the Alliance gave us free reign over our operation."
"Heh. They shouldn't have gotten on our bad side, dear. A monarch takes care of her subjects after all. I sealed the portal on the Federation's end. Only you and I have the ability to use it."
"Good. At least the Pokeworld can sustain itself without UFP aid thanks to hydroponics and advanced water filtration. The NX Refits are good ships to have for now, but you'll have to diversify your fleet.
"Thanks. I have plans for some new ship classes in the works. I also managed to get more ship types into the Council fleet."
"Nice. Amy's pretty big for a 2 year old calf. She's still our sweet princess."
Ignitus and Lapry arrive and pull us out of the pool. Lapry brings us into her mouth and swallows us into the esophagus. We end up in her warm and comfy belly (She can control her digestive system.) in moments. Lapry sings a lullaby to make us sleep while she and Ignitus snuggle into one another.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
"Yes Shade, we're ready. The Enteri'is will rendezvous with shuttle after you've been dropped off.... The Empress is correct- why launch a costly attack when she has us."
"Agreed we're ready to go, see you soon, Medusa." The cloaked shuttle slowly began to weave it's way into the defense area, bypassing the turrets and preparing to be blasted out of space should they have S31 stealth detection technology.... They made it through letting out a combined sigh of relief.
The shuttle descended into the atmosphere, as the assassins jumped.
The two moved to retrieve the downed bodies and hid the three of them in a dumpster. Shade followed a traitor matching their footsteps to the central building under stealth field. Her eyes narrowed as she followed through the blast doors before ascending the near by lift. Finding a new area to activate her wrist console she did a short range scan of the building, seeing her prey above her....
Roy pressed herself against the back wall of the lift, as the doors opened and two rebels moved in the assassin listened to their words, learning there was a small number of Imperial prisoners still held at the poles of the world, under a glacier. Noticing that they were on the floor she needed, Emma grabbed their heads and knocked them together rending them unconscious, before endin their lives and sending the turbo lift to the basement.
Shade opened the door to General Yodo's quarters, before relocking it. The assassin injected the General with a Hypo from behind as he worked at a console, leaving him paralyzed. "General," Shade began as she dropped her stealth field. "I hereby find you guilty of treason against the sovereign Terran Empire by, thought, deed and association... You sentence is death."
Shade used her ring to disintegrate him, before dusting off the chair with her armor hand and say down. After she confirmed the machine was of Imperial construction- she smirked: "Computer activate Dark Angle protocol." With full control of the planetary defences the woman set a timer upon which the orbital defenses would target the rebel ships in orbit.
Major Stockton was simultaneously executed by the other assassin. The remaining two cut power to the other buildings, and setting several explosives through out the base and signaled their leader... The Empress's justice had been carried out, and the assassins were now ready to be extracted.
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"The orbital defenses have just opened fire on the rebel fleet, good news for us" said Solat. "And the base and ground defenses have powered down, what happened?" asked Petrofski. "That's our opening" answered Solat, "Regent Petrofski, ready your troops for ground assault, you will command the ground operation. Logic dictates that those civilians are dead or being killed as we speak. Show the rebels no mercy, long live the Empire" she ordered afterwards. "Make sure those flyboys of yours can give us air cover" replied Petrofski before he went to suit up. Within a matter of moments, converted Pathfinders and Intrepids began their landing approach as fighters and shuttles dropped transporter pads onto the ground. Imperial troops then beamed down to secure the LZs in readiness for the landing craft. Once the Pathfinders and Intrepids had landed their troops, they returned to orbit to pick up more troops. Shade and her team were extracted covertly and she advised Solat where the rebel troops were.
The first wave was on the ground and digging in, the rebels would notice the landings and they prepared their defenses. The Imperials however found the civilian population, all 50,000 had been killed. The Imperials were now in no mood for mercy as they began their advance, the rebels in their fortified positions awaited the assault. What Petrofski did instead was to encircle the main settlement and build two walls around it lined with sentry turrets, water obstacles and minefields to keep the defenders in and any relief force out. Petrofski had settled on a siege as troops manned their positions on the siege lines, Petrofski set up his HQ on a piece of high ground within the siege lines to get a better view of the city. The work took a month with the besiegers digging each water trap, tench and section of wall by hand with entrenching tools and what else they could get their hands on, the wall grew ever larger and soon the city was totally isolated from the rest of the planet as power was cut to the replicators.
The Imperials had also secured the city's only water source, they could now resupply water and the 20,000 rebel garrison could not. At Petrofski's HQ, Petrofski watched as his siege lines cut their way through the countryside like a giant ring shaped circle. In orbit, Solat and Shade monitored the ground situation. The Battle of Alesia IV was becoming a major engagement as INN covered the fighting on the ground. Petrofski was smiling, his troops had managed to secure a rebel artillery battery and soon they had it set up and ready to fire once they had changed the targeting scanners. "Commence artillery bombardment" ordered Petrofski. The artillery kept it's fire going day and night as quantum shells rained down on the besieged city, the Imperials could rest, the rebels could not as the artillery kept firing. INN was covering the the campaign and the citizens of the Empire were watching the battle on their screens. The Empress had already sent an extra 40,000 troops from Bajor (yellow) and Betazed (yellow) to reinforce Petrofski's 29,000 solders. Petrofski's orders from the Empress were to keep up his siege for now.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius