UFP - The Next Generation

It is twenty-five years after the two battles at Rura Penthe. The second fleet never moved from it's staging point and it has gradually dispersed, although the second Deathstar has remained.

The Federation has been confronted by every major player in the quadrant in the last few years. The Romulans, the Dominion, the Cardassians, the Breen, the Borg, even rebellious factions in the Klingon Empire began to take action against the pro Federation Klingon High Command, that problem was dealt with by the Klingons internally.

Although triumphant every time, each confrontation left the Federation slightly weaker and it is having trouble finding the resources to rebuild and resupply.

Reports have come back to Starfleet command that listening posts on the inner rim have stopped broadcasting...

The USS Hood slowly left Orbital Shipyard 1 at Cherek. Now the titan was 100 years old there were only two places she could go for refits and large scale maintenance. Belonging to Commodore Stryder this was one such place, the other belonged to Helix Falks, President of the UFP. No body else would touch her. Very few people understood the importance of just one ship. Falks himself maintained the Hoods sister ship, the HMS Cavalier. Technically the Cavalier was the older ship, her computer cores were brought online 35 minutes before the Hood's, but after a century of flawless service it was forgotten.


"Has AOF sent you your orders?" asked Stryder, taking a sip of tea. The AOF (Admiral Of the Fleet) office was responsible for issuing the standard, run of the mill missions like mapping new systems, checking and maintaining automated outposts and such like.
"Yes, I got them about twenty minutes ago. He's sending us to the inner rim." replied Captain Linda Harrow with a roll of her eyes. "It's gonna take us weeks to get there."
"The inner rim? What's he got you out there for?" mused Stryder.
"He?"
"Fleet Admiral Feijo. He must have a good reason for sending a ship out there, but why you?"
"It's something to do with our listening posts along the border."
Stryder looked up quickly.
"What's wrong with them?" he asked.
"They've stopped transmitting. I didn't even know we had any there, I thought that there was nothing past the inner rim. What's the matter?" said Harrow, puzzled with Stryders change in mood.
"I've realised why Feijo wants you to go. He wants an experienced ship, crew and captain on this one."

Stryder explained to Harrow what was so important about these remote automated sensor stations. They were placed there as part of the treaty between the UFP and the Romulan Star Empire. Falks had insisted on it.

The war with the Romulan Star Empire had been brutal. There was always a risk they may return. The listening posts were there as advance warning for the Federation so they could muster forces to defend themselves should the need arise.

"If those listening posts have stopped transmitting it means that the Romulans are starting trouble." summed up Stryder. "They're going to invade, either by themselves or with some other faction." he looked at Harrow. "That's why you're going."
"Ok." said Harrow. "Thanks for the clarification. I could do with the AOF offices information on this matter, though."
"You'll get it." Stryder drained his cup, stood and moved towards to door. "Right, I've gotta get back to the office. Got a meeting with some guys from The Order."
"You're not coming?" asked Harrow, slightly surprised. "I thought you'd love the chance to get out and about on such an important mission."
"Linda, I'm a busy bee nowadays. Our glorious leader Mr Falks has dumped this 'Order' business right in my lap and I've got to give it some attention." he smiled. "Anyway, you've been in some real sticky shit in your time when I wasn't there and you always pulled through."
"I know. It's just I've hardly seen you since the Cour 'Var incident, and that's nearly five years ago." she shrugged. "I thought we'd have some time to catch up."
"Sorry mate." said Stryder. "We'll catch up when you get back. Just make sure you don't scratch my ship."

A few minutes later, with Stryder back on Cherek the USS Hood approached the jumpgate. The gate swirled to life and the Hood pushed through and was accelerated to 711% of her maximum speed, and was thrown towards her next encounter.

Retired Admiral Stonesmith stood on the observation deck of his ship. He was watching his crew manage the ore as it slid into the cargo bins from the mining bay.

Shortly after the Cour'Var incident Stonesmith decided he really need to retire. Galavanting around the stars was for the young. He passed his fleets onto his friend and trusted officer Admiral Leo Trask.

Stonesmith, who began going by just Stone, bought a mining vessel when he moved to the inner rim. He found a starbase close to a massive asteroid belt. Now he spent his days ripping ore out of dead rocks. His miner could haul 20,000 tons of ore and was rigged for several different types of ore.

The command crew consisted of Mr. Jackson Tait - Second in Command, Mr. Walter Hepburn - Chief of Operations, and Chief Whatley - Chief of Mining Ops. The ship supported a crew of 200 and they all worked and earned their pay. The ship could also be used as a freighter for special trips, but only when it was profitable.

Today, the crew was working on a gold roid. They had to strip off, and usually dump, several thousand tons of cheap, nearly useless iridium. Sometimes they kept and sold it when they needed some cash. They were nearly to the gold now. Chief Whately had the crew running smoothly and Stone had no need to worry.

Stone returned to the bridge to find out what was going on. Mr. Tait resond "Nothing but the usual. Another 10 hours and we will have a hull full of gold ore. This will punch up our profit margin a bit" Stone just smiled. After years working for the Federation, doing something to make some cash was a welcome change.

Helix leaned back in his big swivel chair which was a gift from Stryder for his last birthday, His 87th birthday. Though by today's standards that was just middle aged but he felt ancient.

He looked around at the display case to his right which contained models of his ships, meddles, Awards and Photos. He stood up and walked over to it and took out a photo from a very long time ago. President Brett stood in the centre with Vice President Philidelphus on his left, Prime Minister Helix Falks to his right Fleet admiral Stonesmith to Helix'x right and Chief of Security Auronite to Phil's left.

Old friends he never saw, all retired or gone and all replaced. he placed the photo back in the case and looked out the window it was a nice day on Anico the sun was shinning and the city was abuzz with life he could see all the way out over the crater wall to the city sat in the next crater over.

"That's enough of that" He said

He turned away and retuned to his desk. He had been going over the financial reports from the last quarter and they were looking dire the Economy was out of whack and Trade was only just starting to pick up again, he tossed the report aside and picked up the next one.

"Romulans" he said with a hint excitement...

Stone, Mr. Tait, and Mr. Hepburn were just finishing up dinner in the galley when Chief Whatley lumbered in. And if Whatley did anything, it was lumber. He grabbed a quick pre-portioned meal from the galley crew and threaded his way over to the command staffs table.

"May I join you sir" he growled. "Certainly Chief. There will always be a spot at my table for you!" replied Stone.

"So Whatley, how's the dig going" asked Hepburn cooly. Whatley shoved some food in his mouth, waved his hands around for a solid 2 minutes as he mumbled something unintellligible around his food. The chief grabbed his cup of ale and downed the whole thing.

"Chief, would you mind repeating that?" asked Tait, "I had a little trouble hearing you"

"What do you mean," interjected Stone, "he said the hold was just about 3/4 full and going well. The only reason he came up to eat is cause there were no problems" finished Stone looking dumbfounded at the other officers.

"Yeah, what he said" intoned Whatley. Stone and Whatley both began to grin widely and chuckle at the two younger men.

What happened next nearly killed the chief. What sounded like a photon torpedo exploding shook the little mining vessel. Immediately systems went offline and the emergency lighting provided poor illumination in the halls and rooms of the ship.

Whatley was first up, followed by Tait, Hepburn then Stone. They ran through the corridors to the mining operations section.

"What the hell is going on" bellowed Whatley. The next half hour amounted to lots of yelling and hard work but it was soon discovered that the drill on the miner had struck something that showed up on none of the scans and was damaged. Stone made the decision that since the ship was 3/4's full of the gold ore that they would return to the starbase at Modeeb IV for repairs and to sell the ore.

"Plant the claim markers and prepare to evac the site" ordered Stone. Mr. Hepburn rushed off to make preparations.

15 minutes later, Tait fired the engines and the vessel backed off the roid. Four small torpedo type markers were fired into the dig site. Claim markers identifying this roid as belonging to Stone. The ship turned and layed in a course for Modeeb Station.

Thirty minutes after pulling off the rock Stone, sitting in his quarters, opened a comm to Whatley.

"Chief, any updates?"

"I am not sure Captain. It's hard to tell, but the drill looks burned, but it's not the normal friction burns, but......I don't know. It just doesn't look right. We'll know more once we get it back to the repair facility." explained the Chief.

"Thanks Chief" said Stone as he closed the channel.

Stone walked out of his quarters to the bridge. After a brief pause, with all hands staring at him he said "Mr. Hepburn, go assist Chief Whatley. And Walter, try not to piss him off, he is gonna be in a bad mood until the drill is fixed." Hepburn sighed "Great. Whatley in a bad mood...." as he left the bridge.

Turning to Tait Stone said "Jackson, find the Jarretts. Use an encrypted, directed comm channel. When you get them, send it to my quarters. I need to speak to all three of them. Thank you" Stone then turned and walked out of the room.

Jackson Tait began the arduous task of running down the Jarretts, and wondered why Captain Stone wanted to speak to the most ruthless family of hired guns this side of the Gibblet Nebula.

The USS Hood dropped out of warp on the edge of Federation space. At the Neutral Zone. She moved toward one of the failed sensor platforms.

"What's going on out there, Mr McLeod?" asked Harrow.
"Sensors show no ships in range. As for the sensor platform, it's working fine. The subspace transmitter is missing."
"Missing?" Harrow raised an eyebrow. "How is it missing?"
"It looks like it's been removed using a fine tuned transporter beam." said T'Vel. "Sensors confirm Romulan transporter activity. The Romulans took the transmitters."
"It had to be the bloody Romulans, didn't it?" sighed Harrow. "Ok. Mr Kenson, how long to replace the transmitters?"
"Two, maybe three days," came Kensons voice over the intercom, "it really depends how much equipment has been removed. We can synthesize the missing equipment here and transport it over."
"Ok, Kyle. Do it. I want 3 of those platforms working in five days."
"Aye, sir. Kenson out." Kensons tone said he was not impressed.

Harrow moved to her ready room, got a cup of coffee and sat down. They had to get the sensor platforms working as soon as possible. When the Hood left she would leave a complement of fifty fighters guarding each platform. The platforms were the key to advanced warning of any invasion and they had to be made operational and then protected. Harrow sighed. It looked very much like the Hood would be on an extended patrol of the Neutral Zone for the foreseeable future.

The comm panel lit up in Stone's quarters. "Captain, the Jarrets on the secure channel, just as you requested" advised Jackson.

"Thank you Mr. Tait. How far are we from Modeeb Station?" asked Stone. "Still about 6 hours out". "Thank you Jackson" said Stone as he switched over to the encrypted comm link.

"Sebastian, how long has it been?" said Stone.

"Captain Stone. How nice to hear from you, especially with all the cloak and dagger. We are just about to leave on a contract so can we dispense with the pleasantries, what do you want?" quipped the eldest Jarrett brother.

"Quite right. Are your brothers there Sebastian?" asked Stone. "Yes. All three of us. Now what do you want?" said Sebastian again.

Sebastian, Franklin and Thomas Jarrett were men for hire. The made a fortune doing things others might find unpleasant. Anything from escorting dignitaries through hostile pirate infested space to exterminating political opponents to starting wars between systems. If the customer had enough credits, gold, latinum or whatever, then the boys made things happen.

"Sebastian, I need a favor that may require your special skills, things my crew won't be able to accomplish" explained Stone.

"That can be arranged. We will be back in 22 days. We can talk pric......" started Sebastian.

"You don't understand" interrupted Stone, "I need this today, right now."

"We already have a contract. The Jarretts don't break contracts"
"This is important Sebastian. I wouldn't ask if it weren't" pleaded Stone.
"What is it?" asked Thomas, the middle child and the businessman of the brothers.

"Today, while pulling some ore out of a asteroid, we hit something that damn near tore our drill completely off my ship. I have also learned that there are abmormal burn marks on the drill face." explained Stone.
"Are you sure you want to pay our prices so you can find out what type of rock you hit" quiped Franklin.

"Let me finish. Whatever we hit pumped alot, and I mean alot of power feedback into my ship. Nearly all my system overloaded. We blew out 7 power relays from the drill back into the ship. Our scans of the rock said nothing was there. But the damage to my ship tells me something was there and somebody has gone to alot of time and expense to hide it."

"You think something is cloaked?" said Sebastian.
"I can't think of another reason something would not show on our scans. And if somebody has enough resources to cloak something on an asteroid on the backside of the galaxy, then they have enough to protect it. I need some firepower. I am asking you to check out my asteroid and see what is there, and I am suggesting you go in expecting resistance." finished Stone.

The Jarrett brothers conferred quietly for a moment. Sebastian turned back to the comm link, "Captain Stone, how much is it worth to you? Perhaps 3 times what you paid for our last deal?"
"Make it 5 times our last deal, but I need you on it right now" offered Stone.
"Done. We are at your service. Transmit the coordinates of your asteroid and we will be there." said Sebastian.
"One last thing Sebastian. I would also suggest you bring the cruiser. You can contact me at Modeeb Station. A personal report would be appreciated." said Stone.

"Ah, thank you Captain. We have the coordinates, and we should be able to meet you at Modeeb in 13 hours. And we always take the cruiser Stone." said Sebastian with a smile.

The comm link blinked out. Stone lay down on his bed and tried to sleep, but that old feeling had come around again. That feeling he always got just before people started dieing.

Helix walked onto the bridge of the Swordsman his own personal advanced Titan.

"Mr President?" said Commander Ash
"Commander Ash we are going to the Romulan neutral zone" said Helix
"Sir? may I ask why?" said Ash
"Indeed I have just read a report by the lovely Captain Harrow that the Romulans have sabotaged several of our satellites" said Helix
"I see and we are going... because?" Ash said
"Do I need a reason Commander?. Ok ok... I'm board and need to see some action" Helix said with a smile
"Understood sir, Mr Allan... set a coarse for the Romulan neutral zone best possible speed" said Ash
"aye sir" Replied the Helmsman

Helix sat back in the Captains chair as the ship went to warp.
Ash took up the seat next to Helix and leaned in "Right Sir would you mind telling me why we are heading to the Neutral Zone?"
"I want to know why the Romulans have thrown away our relations and almost flat out declared war on us... That is why Commander" replied Helix.

The next day found Stone sitting in a tavern on Modeeb Starbase. He sent Jackson to meet with the buyer of the gold and the latinum they had mined the previous week. As a pair they would sell for a high price.

Stone noticed 3 Starfleet officers enter the pub and head to the bar, but his attention was drawn away when the door to the tavern burst open suddenly. Sebastian and Thomas Jarrett stood in the doorway, their eyes scanning the room. Finally seeing Stone, Sebastian yelled "Stone, what the hell have you gotten me into!" as he moved to Stone's table.

"I wish I knew for sure. What happened?" asked Stone quietly.

"We were attacked on that roid. Franklin nearly died with a knife in his back" growled Sebastian. "I ask again, what the hell is going on Stone?"

"Again, I am not sure. Where is Franklin?" asked Stone. "He is here, in the infirm..."

"Excuse me gentlemen. Did I hear your name is Stone, as in Admiral Stonesmith?" inquired the Starfleet Lieutenant.

Stone looked at the Lt. and Sebastian and Thomas just looked surprised. "Yes Lt. I am. But that was a long time ago, what can I do for you?" replied Stone.
"Well sir, Admiral Trask sends his regards and a request. I am also to ensure I introduce myself as Lt. Trask, Phillip Trask."

"Lt. Phillip Trask. Steve's boy I presume?" said Stone as the Lt. nodded. "Lt., we will have to talk later. Sebastian, I am sorry about Franklin, but did you find anything on the asteroid?" quieried Stone.
"As a matter of fact I did. I've got a few things in my hold that Captain Stone may be interested in, but I am not so sure about Admiral Stonesmith ----do I have anything to worry about here" said Sebastian coldly.

"Sebastian, Starfleet is not involved in our agreement. Will you take me to your cruiser I need to see what you found. Lt. I will find you later."

The Jarretts and Stone went to the cruiser and they showed Stone a very damaged power generator. Thomas said "It was actually still running when we found it, and it was attached to a cloaking device. There was enough damage to weaken the cloak and cause it to phase in and out. When we began to dismantle it to take it, they came and attacked us. Attacked Franklin. Now they are dead."

"Stone, we don't know what else is there, but the only reason to put a cloak on an asteroid is to hide something." added Sebastian. "Definately Sebastian. I think I should tell the Starfleet officers about this"

"NO!" growled Sebastian. "I want them. I am going back to that asteroid to find the rest of them"

"Sebastian, what are you going to do? Kill the entire Romulan Star Empire?" said Stone as he pointed to the emblam stamped into the power supply "We need the resources of the Federation to handle this situation."

"Fine, but if Franklin dies, the prisoner I am holding dies too" said Sebastian coldly.

Stone stared through the forcefield at the Romulan. He had a bruised face and swollen lip, no doubt courtesy of Sebastian.

"You're going to have to let him go to Starfleet. You realize that don't you" said Stone.
"Only if Franklin makes it. Like I said, if Franklin dies, he dies too" replied Sebastian coldly.

Stone knew better than to argue with a Jarrett who had his mind set. "Well, I promised that Lt. I would come talk to him. Are you going to have a problem with them taking the power generator you picked up?" said Stone.

"They can have that. I will have my men transfer it to their vessel. I don't want to see anything close to a Federation transporter energy signal on my ship. You make sure to tell them that Stone" commanded Jarrett.

"I understand Sebastian, I understand." said Stone, as he began to head back to the tavern on Modeeb Station to speak to Lt. Phillip Trask.

Stone spoke to Trask and found out Leo had retired and Steven had been promoted to Admiral and taken over what was left of Stonesmith's fleet. The message from Admiral Steven Trask was a request for Stone to return due suspicious activity on the Romulan Nuetral zone. Stone told Phillip he would consider it. Stone also told Phillip about the power generator for the cloak and the cloaking device that the Jarretts found on the asteroid. He added that had yet to discover exactly what was being cloaked. Stone suggested Lt. Trask report back and request some aid so an investigation could begin.

"Captian Stone, all is tied up with our sale. Is the ship fixed yet" said Jackson Tait as he walked up to the table.

"I don't know, but need you to join us Mr. Tait. I have something to tell you" said Stone as Tait warily sat down, eyeing the Starfleet officer with keen interest.

The Hood had repaired five listening posts and had started the short journey to the last station. As she dropped out of warp, lieutenant commander T'Vel began scanning the installation to make sure no extra materiel was required to fix it. Captain Harrow was in the center chair, waiting.

"Captain," began T'Vel, "There is an anomaly with this listening post."
"You mean more than we expected? More than a missing subspace transceiver?" asked Harrow.
"Yes. I am unable to scan decks one and two, forward port quarter."
"Unable to scan? Is it being jammed?"
"Yes Captain, it is being jammed by a source on board the station. Also, the atmosphere generators are operational. The whole listening post is pressurised and habitable."
"There are people on board?" asked Commander Karl Ashford, Harrows XO.
"Not in the areas we can scan. Logic dictates that there are people in the shielded area, or at least something we are not supposed to know about."
"I want to know what's going on over there. Karl, assemble a team and go over there."
"Aye sir. Riva, Wonham, you're with me. Ashford to sickbay. Doctor T'Varn, report to transporter room two."

Two hundred yards from the shielded area of the station, the familiar noise of a standard federation transporter faded away as the away team took their bearings. Ashford pointed down the corridor.
"This way. I'll take point. Riva, cover our backs." he said. Riva nodded and moved to the rear of the group. They moved down the corridor to a sealed door.
"This is it." said Wonham checking his tricorder. "Behind this door is the source of the shielding."
"Ok. I'm going to open the door and we need to disable the shield as soon as possible. As soon as it's done the Hood will beam whoever's in there straight to the brig."

The door hissed open with the sound of a door that is not used much and spends most of its time in hard vacuum. Immediately lances of phaser fire started to hit the wall around them. The away team took covering positions and returned fire as best they could.
"I can see the shield generator." shouted Ashford. "Cover me."
Lieutenant Garion Riva leant over and sent a few wild blasts of phaser energy around their cover, and Ashford took careful aim at the generator and squeezed the trigger. With a flash of sparks the generator died and immediately the firing stopped. In the silence could be heard the transporter harmonic fading to nothing.
"Easy." said Ashford, standing up.


Back on board the Hood, Captain Harrow entered the brig. She looked into the cells and recognised the uniforms instantly.

After twenty five years, the Confederation was back.

Stone and Tait detoured on their way to the maintenance hangers to swing by sickbay. They found Thomas Jarrett there and inquired about Franklin.

"The doctor says he is stable, but still critical. The knife is practically sitting on his spine and next to his heart. So, he stablized him and sent word back to the Federation for a more experienced surgeon to come out. This doctor is very nervous about doing any surgery on Franklin, and that is probably Sebastians fault." explained Thomas.

"I certainly hope everything works out for Franklin" said Tait.
"If what is happening is really happening, then a top rate surgeon will be in this area shortly. I will put in a word when I see him" offered Stone.

"If you will excuse us Thomas, we have some business to attend to" said Stone as he and Tait left the room.
______

"You spent HOW MUCH?" said Stone in near shock.
"Now don't think of it that way Captain, think of what we are getting. We will be able to cut anything with a new hardened, titanium fortified drill with quadrite tips.....and a spare just in case." said Whatley with a smile.

Stone just grabbed his head with both hands and shook his head back and forth. "Chief, you just spent 70% of what we made on the ore. I guess we are gonna have to scrimp on the food stocks again." sighed Stone. "Where is the old drill Chief?"

"I had them move it to a unused bay down here. I figured you would want to look at it." replied Whatley.
"Good, have them move it to a secured storage bay . I don't want anybody messing with it until Starfleet has a chance to look at it" ordered Stone.
___________

Phillip Trask looked up from the PADD with Stone's account of the drilling accident and the events that happened afterward. He took a look at the power generator in the cargo bay of his corvette. He knew he was going to have to go look at that asteroid to see what the Romulans were cloaking there, but after the reception the Jarretts received, he knew that he could not do that alone or even with the assistance of his two aids.

He decided he would ask Admiral Stonesmith to take him back to the asteroid, but first he returned to his small office onboard and crafted a subspace message to be sent Eyes Only to his father. Something was happening here, something big, but nobody knew enough yet.

Sitting in his ready room in the command centers located on the new homeworld colony of rebirth, Supreme Commander Yuki Chakara reads over various reports concerning the rebuilding efforts of the long lost Chakaran empire. His mind wanders as he reads over report after report of new structures being built and new technological discoveries being made, thinking back to the time before the great exodus of his race.

Many cycles ago they where once a prosperous civilization of intelligent bipedal feline beings, living in peace among the stars. Before the attacks came, their once mighty fleets darkened the skies with their impressive display of power and technological superiority. Now they lay in ruins in a far away galaxy long abandoned by his people. Their fleets crushed under the overwhelming forces that where thrown at them, their bases now gone when the orbital bombardments started.

The Chakaran people enslaved by those that feared them, forced to feed their occupier's war efforts with their labor. For far too long they where made to be servants, for too long they where beaten down.

No longer could they put up with their forced servitude, no longer would they suffer enslavement. The rebellions began, using what combat ships they could keep hidden from their occupiers, they fought back. Many lost their lives in an effort to distract their enemies long enough for the survivors to escape, striking out into deep space in search of a new home. Their enemy fast on their heels as they went in search of a new home and hopefully a brighter future.

Finally after a long fought escape they managed to establish new colonies and started down the long road of rebuilding. Their former great leader, Grenville Armitage, was killed holding back their pursuers as his people left to make a new home. The Chakaran people's new leader is roused from his thoughts as one of his officers enters his office.

"Commander Chakara, these are the latest reports for the fleet rebuilding efforts our shipyards are working on" said lieutenant Chara

Reaching out a paw, Yuki takes the data pad and skims through the reports. His golden eyes widening as he comes across the status report for the new prototype flagship his engineers have been designing for him to lead their rebuilt space navy with "Its almost done, this is wonderful news" looking up at Chara with a excited smile on his face as he mews "You my friend have just made my day"

"Sir I'm picking up an encrypted message on a Starfleet channel emanating form Modeeb Starbase also a transmission for a skilled surgeon from the same place" Said Lashry at the comms.
Helix looked over at her "any idea who is sending the encrypted transmission?"
"Impossible to tell at this range Sir" She replied.
"Helm change course to Modeeb Starbase maximum warp"

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

An hour later Helix Was stood in the sick bay of Modeeb as his ships surgeon went to work plying his trade on Franklin Jarrett.

Phillip Trask was stood with him explaining the events as they had unfolded.

"And that about sums it up so far sir" Said Phillip
"Interesting" Helix returned "I want to see Stonesmith at his earliest convenience and once Franklin is in the blue I want that Romulan transferred to the Swordsman" he added
"As you wish Sir, good day"
Helix simply nodded to the Lieutenant as he went to find Stone.

Helix returned to the Swordsman to await Stone's arrival.

"Captian, incoming message for an Admiral Stonesmith from Modeeb Station" advised Walter Hepburn.
"Put it on audio please" replied Stone with a heavy sigh.

"Admiral Stonesmith, I wasn't aware you planned on leaving Modeeb so soon. I have word from Starfleet and the Federation. President Falks has requested you visit him on the Swordsman at Modeeb Station. Please respond quickly. Lt. Trask out"

As Hepburn was still working on digesting "Admiral Stonesmith" Stone began to speak "Walter, reply with the following. Make sure it's verbatim....

Lt. Trask my apologies. I am halfway to asteroid to investigate further. Please advise President Falks that if he can get that rusty bucket of tin cans and bailing wire he calls a ship to the asteroid before I get there then dinner is on me. Captain Stone out.

Did you get all of that Walter?" asked Stone.
"Captain, did you just call the...." started Walter. "Yes I did Walter, please send the message just as I spoke it" urged Stone.

"Mr. Tait, best speed to the asteroid, since the Chief spent most of our profit, I don't want to have to be buying extra meals" smiled Stone.
"Aye Captain, best speed" said Jackson grinning widely.

"Sir I am sorry to report that Admiral Stonesmith has already left for his asteroid but he sent this message and I quote 'Please advise President Falks that if he can get that rusty bucket of tin cans and bailing wire he calls a ship to the asteroid before I get there then dinner is on me. Captain Stone out' that is the message exactly as he said it sir" said LT. Trask

"I see thank you Lieutenant I will take it from here Falks out" said Helix.

Helix walked out onto the bridge and looked around making a point to take his time as he checked each station and fiddled with the occasional button.

Ash looked at him in confusion "Is every thing al right sir?" She said
"Yes every thing is fine I'm just making a point of taking my time is all"
"Taking your time sir?"
"Indeed taking my time to... you know look around oh! is the Doctor finished with his operation?"
"Aye sir Franklin Jarrett will make a full recovery and we are in the process of securing the Romulan prisoner now sir"
"Good, good that's good" he said as he walked toward her and sat down in the captains chair.

Ash was new to the Swordsman in fact she was new to Star Fleet Command she was assigned the Swordsman as her first command she was still trying to get used to the President, a task that was not easy especially at times like this.
Helix had done some digging on his new Commander it turns out that during her last assignment she had annoyed a Federation Ambassador and her attempts to make things better were one blunder after another and the Ambassador had pulled strings to get her a 'Bad' Command.

The Swordsman while being an impressive ship was not a desirable Command due to the fact it spent most of it's time patrolling in and around the Anico's Star system (The sight of the battle of Rura Penthe) however once Helix found out about the Ambassadors involvement, he assigned Ash and the Swordsman to the Anico BG under the watchful eye of his brother Ballard Falks where she saw action in several encounters much to the displeasure of the ambassador.

"Did I mention that we will be heading for Stonesmith's asteroid? and that if we get there first Stone will be buying us dinner?"
"No sir you did not I shall make preparations for our departure"
"Good there is no rush"
"Understood sir" she said with a slight smile

=====================================================================================

The Swordsman slowly moved away from Modeeb station until they were in open space.
Helix tapped the helmsman on the shoulder "may I" he said the Helmsman stood up "sir" he said has he walked away
Helix sat down the chair was very comfortable he remembered the time he was a helmsman for Commander Stonesmith back in the day but the seats on that old Frigate felt as if they had been taken from a Space port terminal lounge these felt like they had come from an upper market spa.

Helix looked round at Ash "your orders commander?" he said
Ash looked a bit nervous "ur, Right!... urm Mr Falks plot a course for Stonesmith's asteroid best possible speed" she said
"Right you are ma'am course entered... going to maximum warp... now!" he said as he pressed the 'Engage' button

The Swordsman shot into warp with a blinding flash.

"Sir small mining vessel 0.3 degrees to starboard" said Manning on ops
"Good lets give them a shake up" said helix as he turned the ship 0.2 degrees to starboard.

The Swordsman past within a few meters of the mining vessel.

Helix chuckled "right now Stone is shaking his fist in the air and shouting space hog!" he said

A few minuets later they dropped out of warp on the edge of the Asteroid field where Helix let the helmsman take over for the short flight to the Asteroid in question to wait for Stonesmith and his little mining ship to show up.

Just as the Swordsman departed Modeeb Station, three Starfleet officers arrived at the airlock to the Jarretts cruiser. The security guards refused to let the officers onboard the cruiser until they got clearance from Sebastian or Thomas Jarrett. One of the guards walked to a comm panel and announced the arrival of the Starfleet officers to somebody on the other end.

It was another 45 minutes before Sebastian and Thomas Jarret arrived at the airlock. They had just come from the station's infirmary visiting with a now awake and on the mend Franklin. Franklin would be laid up for about a week, just to make sure there were no infections or any other problems.

"Gentlemen, I understand you are here for my prisoner" said Sebastian. "Seeing as how Franklin is doing so well, even though he is not fully recovered, I have decided to let you take the Romulan."

The seven men, Sebastian, Thomas, the three Starfleet officers, and two of Sebastian's men made their way to Sebastian's holding area. There were two more of Sebastians guards in the room when they arrived. Sebastian said, "I will get him and bring him out." He nodded to one of the guards who pressed a button on a panel on the wall and the confinement barrier fell away.

Sebastian went into the cell and pulled the Romulan up from the bend he had been sitting on. Nobody saw the knife Sebastian let fall from his sleeve into his hand. With a quick motion, Sebastian sank the blade of the knife deep into a non vital area of the Romulans back....and twisted it back and forth. The Romulan cried out in pain and Sebastian let him fall to the floor.

The Starfleet officers began to run into the cell only to be stopped by Sebastian's men, who all held blaster rifles. Sebastian turned and coldly said "The Romulan is now Starfleet's problem. Take him and get off of my ship!" With that he walked out with Thomas on his heels.

"You heard him. Take him and leave." barked one of the mercenary guards.

As quickly, and gently as they could the Starfleet officers gathered up the Romulan and hurried as quickly as they could to the infirmary. As they rushed in, Franklin caught a glimpse of the Romulan and heard the commotion of the staff to begin the task of patching up the enemy.

"Captain, we have a massive vessel on a collision course" shouted Crewman Stiles who was manning the sensor consoles.

Stone moved quickly to view the scans. "Orders Captain?" requested Tait, who was at the helm, with a bit of a frantic tone in his voice.
"Hold your course and speed Mr. Tait" said Stone with a slight grin, as he recognized the signals given off by the Swordsman. "As long as we hold true we will be okay"

Stone's ship, which is named The Dirty Drill, but nicknamed Drill, held true to it's course and was soon overshadowed by the massive vessel Swordsman.

"Oh my god" said Walter Hepburn as soon as the bigger ship passed. "Any closer and we would have been part of it's hull" Stone just chuckled. "Never to fear. President Falks was probably at the helm himself. It's sort of a game we play." explained Stone.

Soon, the Drill was approaching the asteroid, and the Swordsman which was parked nearby. "Captain, why did you bring them here. I understand that this may be bigger than us, but we don't know that for sure and having the Federation hang around the Drill might cost us some friends." asked Hepburn.

"Walter, I understand that the Federation may not be the most popular here on the rim and that sometimes the smaller systems here are forgotten, but that ship is here for two reasons.

First all, that ship is our friend. If things go sideways out here, that ship will protect us. She will extend her shields around us to protect us, she will use her cannons and photon torpedos to defend us, she will even save our lives by beaming us away from the Drill if needed.

and secondly, but more importantly, the man commanding that vessel is my friend. He has saved my life on countless occasions. Even when it seems he is constrained by the rules of the Federation, he will find a way to do what is right. We can count on him, and right now that is vital." explained Stone.

"Now, Walter, please advise the Swordsman that a deal is a deal and invite the President over for a meal of dehydrated meat products and synthesized veggies, unless, he would rather host my crew for a meal in his spacious lounge. Mr. Tait, please park us in drilling position on the roid"

Stone sat down in his chair and waited for the invite to a meal aboard the Swordsman.

"What did you say?" asked Stryder.
"I said the Confederation had 34 people onboard one of our listening posts." repeated Harrow
"Jesus." said Stryder. "Any idea what they were doing?"
"I've got a team over there looking but most of what they were doing is encrypted. I need..." Harrow was interrupted by the intercom buzzer. "Excuse me one moment." Stryder nodded.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Lieutenant Riva here sir. Sorry to interrupt but there's an incoming fleet on long range scanners."
"Who are they?"
"Early indications say that its the Confederation. They'll be here in a hour."
"Thank you Riva." Harrow turned back to her monitor. "Did you hear that sir?"
"I did. We have a problem. You have Confederation prisoners. They're more important than those listening posts. Send me the information you have in that incoming fleet and I'll despatch a bigger one to retake the posts. You need to find Falks."
"Ok. Any ideas?"
"Yea, believe it or not he actually filed a flight plan. He's at a place called Modeeb Station. I'm sure you'll love it there. Right next to an asteroid belt. We have a friend there."
"Oh?"
"You'll find out, but right now you need to get under weigh. We'll speak later. Stryder out."
Harrow switched of her screen, drained her cup, sighed and then made her way to the bridge.


The single remaining Confederate soldier left on the listening post watched through a porthole as the fighters returned to the hangers of the titan, and then watched as she slowly came about and went to warp.

The single remaining Confederate soldier left on the listening post sneered and spat on the floor, his disgust evident.

'The stupid Federation officers assumed they had found us all' thought Deklan Swift to himself. The special aide to the Fleet Admiral of the Confederate Forces stood in the listening post. His disgust prompted him to spit on the floor of the Federation listening post.

Now that he was alone he had much work to complete. His team was hand-picked and they would be a problem for Federation interrogators. It would be days, maybe weeks, before the Confederate plans would be lost to the interrogators, but by then it would be too late. Deklan smiled to himself.

First he had to get a message to the Fleet Admiral, then he would get to work implementing their plan. Finally, the Federation would be reduced to a scattering of worlds, hardly able to pull together a scouting party, let alone a fleet. The time of the Confederation had come, and Deklan was on the tip of the spear.

Admiral Jumper had been most impressed with Mr. Swifts progress in the time since Jumper had rescued him. So much so that Jumper had decided to keep Swift. Jumper erased all record of Swift in the Confederate records and put him into an intensive training program. After which Mr. Swift had quickly become the most trusted lieutenant in the admiral's service.

Jumper had received Swift's encrypted message just a few minutes ago and was quickly preparing his corvette for launch. Those fools at the academy would be upset he had canceled on such short notice but they could reschedule. He needed to get Swift off of that outpost before the Federation got their hands on him. Swift was trustworthy, but he had turned tail on the Confederation to save his skin once and may do it again, besides men like Swift were hard to find.

Jumper was soon air born and had hit his private Jumpgate hopefully giving his corvette enough speed to reach the outpost before the federation could gather enough forces to destroy the fleet he had given Swift. Oh and those blasted Romulans would pay for drawing the attention of the Federation so soon

MODEEB STATION --

Sebastian walked quickly across the tavern and took a seat in the back corner. "What did you find out?" he asked
"Almost nothing, except something is going on with the Fed's listening posts. I heard that Lt. say that" said Matthew Colby, one of Sebastian's scouts/spies. Matthew also happened to be Sebastian's cousin.

"Listening posts" whispered Sebastian as he thought. "Matt, do you know how to run ALL the systems on the new scout ships we acquired?"
"Yes" came the quick reply.
"What about David, is he up to snuff?"
"I think so, not sure about the scanning systems, but he can fly it and he can shoot it"

"Good. Take David and you two head to the Romulan Nuetral zone. Locate and scan as many Fed. listening posts as you can. Transmit anything interesting to the Steelhead.

Thomas, who was also at the table said "Sebastian, your biting off more than we are getting paid for. I think we just need to stand down"
"No! The Romulans brought something ugly to the Modeeb sector. This is my sector. I am gonna find out what's going on and take care of it."
_________________________

Matthew and David were on their way to the border while Sebastian and Thomas returned to their Cruiser, The Steelhead. "Do we know where Stone is?" demanded Sebastian.
"Not sure, but if I know Stone he went back to get some more gold. I hear Whatley nearly bankrupted the Drill." laughed Thomas
"Helm, lets go back to the asteroid. Tactical, active scans. I don't want any more surprises" ordered Sebastian.

Admiral Jumper sighed in relief as his scanners reported the Confederate fleet still intact. The 2 day flight had been a stressful one, Cedric (his personal medic) would not be pleased at his next physical.

Turning toward his comm station he sent a coded message to Swift on a low power beam. As he settled in to wait his sensors beeped, Jumper quickly looked at the station to see that a scout ship of unidentified origin had just dropped out of warp close to the listening post. It was not federation, it would be no problem especially with a fleet available to take care of it, but not worth the fight if its crew knew well enough to leave alone. What he saw next nearly gave him a heart attack.

Enough Federation ships dropped out of warp to destroy the Confederate fleet twice over. He quickly maneuvered in to land on the listening post at the coordinates he had sent to Swift. He was suddenly thankful he had decided to remain cloaked. Within minutes of landing Swift was at the airlock and activated the controls to dock with the Winter's Dawn. Although the process required the Dawn to briefly de-cloak Swift was worth the risk.

As Swift crawled into the cockpit of the corvette the Admiral greeted him, "Decklan how are you?"
"I'm well Admiral, I managed to get all the data copied into this data storage unit and erased from the mainframe of the outpost."
"Please Decklan there is no need for rank between us, I thought i established that long ago, call me Will."
"OK...Will, where are we going now."

Admiral Jumper suddenly got a twinkle in his eye, "You know Decklan i just upgraded the phaser banks on the Dawn and haven't had time to test them myself, I think we may join the fray for a bit."
"Excuse me sir, but what fray?"
"Decklan call me Will! You know fight the Federation fleet?"
"What fleet?"
"Ah you must have kept the sensors off to avoid detection, a Federation fleet has just dropped out of warp with enough firepower to easily wipe out the fleet i gave you."
"But Will, are you sure we can risk it?"
"No, but I haven't been in a good firefight for years, besides the cloak should be good enough to keep anyone from targeting us if we need to leave"
"Ok, where do you want me?"
"Weapons, no offence Decklan but I've been flying since you were in diapers."
"Yes sir...I mean Will."

Will and Decklan took off from the outpost and headed towards the two fleets locked in combat. Admiral Jumper began to weave an almost hypnotic course through the firefight with a skill Decklan had never seen in a pilot before.

"Decklan, the point of a fight is to shoot your guns... please"

Decklan snapped out of his reverie and began to target fighters in the Federation fleet. For several minutes the pair worked diligently to slow the defeat of the Confederate forces, but it soon became apparent the Federation had hedged their bets and victory would fall to them. As the battle wore on the Admiral decided the cloak was becoming a hinderance and stopped using it, more than once Decklan had to deploy a flare torpedo off of the aft launcher to break off a missile that had locked onto the Winter's Dawn. Just as the Winter's Dawn was running out of torpedoes she came dangerously close to being severly damaged.

"I think its time to go Mr. Swift," With those words Will activated the Cloak and began to move away from the fray when suddenly a dozen Romulan Warships dropped out of warp and began to flank the Federation.

"I don't know how but the calvary is here Decklan, but we need to leave." With those words Admiral Jumper put the Winter's Dawn into warp on a heading deep into Romulan space, and "relative" safety.

The fight was going well. Fleet Captain Phillip Rhodar's battle group (or maybe armada might be closer) had taken the enemy fleet by surprise and was heading towards a quick and sure victory.
"We've just lost a battleship." said Rhodars XO, Commander Harris.
"Another one? Damn." said Rhodar. "How long do you think until we're finished?"
"Tricky to say sir." replied Harris. "If things keep going the way they are then maybe twenty minutes."
"Okay. Keep plugging away at them Mr Harris."

The fight carried on for another couple of minutes with the Federations upper hand increasing with every second. Then, of to one side of the battle, space began to shimmer. Alarms went of in every Federation ship as a Romulan fleet decloaked and began to move towards the fight and to engage the Federation.

"Bugger." said Rhodar. "Stryder and I had a disagreement about whether the Romulans would be involved. Looks like I owe him a pint." He looked at the ensign operating the comms station. "Get me Commodore Stryder, priority one, encryption Rhodar-bravo-three. Send it through to my ready room."
"Aye sir." said the ensign. Rhodar stood and walked to his ready-room. By the time he got there Stryder was already on the line.
"Have you seen your sensors, sir?"
"Yes, Phil, looks like you're outnumbered."
"Just a bit, sir."
"Told you so."
"Yes, sir."
"Anyway, not to worry, me old mucker. You want the reserves?"
"It's either that or we retreat, and that thought rankles me a bit."
"Understood. We'll be there in a few minutes. Stryder out." Rhodar stood and went back to the bridge.

"Reinforcements shall be with us shortly." he said. "How're we doing?"
"The Romulans have shifted the tide of the battle, sir. They've begun by focusing on our fighters, bombers and corvettes. The shield matrix is giving us an advantage but it's being worn away."
"Don't worry to much, the reinforcements have got two advantages. Three if you count the USS Fearless."


Out in space the battle raged, slowly the Federations numbers were dropping. The Romulans had developed weapons that had serious effects on the shield matrix and that made the Federations position even weaker.

The federations reserves arrived. Enough to double the size of the fleet, even then there were still fewer ships than the combined Confederation/Romulan fleet. At the tip of the new fleet was the USS Fearless, Stryders main capital ship. Built along the same lines as a mark two leviathen, there were enough subtle differences that Stryder had made which made her unique.

In the midst of the fleet, fresh from extensive testing, was the shield platform. The shield matrix generators discovered over twenty years ago on Rura Penthe had been reverse engineered and as soon as it was understood how they worked the federation did what they did best, and improved them. The result was improved shielding all round on any class of federation vessel. The more power that is available to a matrix generator the better the shielding will be for every vessel in the vicinity. The shield platform is essentially a collection of very powerful shield generators and an anti-matter engine. It is towed into position by a dreadnought class vessel or bigger and switched on. Field tests had seen huge increases in shield power, but this would be it's trial by fire.

The second surprise for the combined enemy fleet was substantially bigger. Stryder and other high up members of Federation government had wanted to keep it secret from enemies of the federation, until such times as it's appearance would turn the tide of a war, not just a single battle. The problem here was that the listening posts were of more importance now than ever before and they had to be protected.

The bigger surprise was a Battlestar. Similar to a Deathstar but smaller by half, a Battlestar was still an awesome sight.

The decision to not build Deathstars was simple. A Battlestar is half the size of a Deathstar and therefore half the price, half the construction time and half the amount of crew to effectively use it. The trade off in power was overcome by installing not one, but four antimatter engines. One engine devoted to movement, both sub light and warp, one engine devoted to weaponry, one engine devoted shielding and the fourth engine available to any system that may require more power. A Battlestar is faster at warp speed, faster and much more manoeuvrable at sub light speeds, and in a one-on-one fight, two Battlestars are guaranteed to take out a Deathstar with manageable damage on either Battlestar.

The Battlestar advanced on the Romulan fleet and opened fire. One thousand lances of disruptor energy speared out from each individually targeted disruptor array. One thousand fighters exploded. Another salvo. Another thousand fighters turned into debris. 10,000 points knocked of the Romulan fleet in twenty seconds.

Stryder stood on the bridge of the Fearless and watched the viewscreen as three Romulan Warbirds broke of their attack on the federations leviathans and turned towards the Battlestar.
“I think we've got their attention.” said Captain Choudhury.
“Yea.” said Stryder. “Captain, please could you hail the Romulan fleet.”
“Yes sir.” said Choudhury, who beckoned to the comms officer. Stryder sat down in the centre chair.
“Channel open, sir.” said the comms officer.

“This is Commodore Stryder aboard the USS Fearless, commanding officer of this battle group. I would like to speak with the commander of the Confederate and Romulan fleet.” Stryder sat and waited for a response. After a few seconds the viewscreen changed to an image of a Confederate Admiral.
“I am Admiral Ra'kash of the Confederation. I speak for the whole fleet.”
“Greetings Admiral.” replied Stryder. No point in being deliberately rude. “Admiral, why have you attacked us in our own space?”
“You have taken members of the Confederation prisoner.”
“They were aboard our listening posts and they opened fire on federation personnel when they tried to make contact. Do you know what they were doing on our property in our space, Admiral?”
“That is not your concern, Commodore. Return our people immediately.”
“I beg to differ, Admiral. It is my concern. You have deliberately crossed into Federation territory with the express intention of starting a fight. Your people whom I now have in custody infiltrated hardware owned and operated by the federation in it's own territory, which is in itself an act of war...”
“Be very careful, Commodore. Your federation is in no condition for a war.”
“In this situation, right now, we'll win this fight if it carries on. You have the opportunity to leave federation space unmolested ...”
“But..” the Admiral tried to interrupt but Stryder talked over him.
“Your people will be returned to you unharmed after we have spoken with them. I want to know what they were doing and since you won't tell me, or more likely don't know what their mission was, I will find out from them.”
“And if I choose to find and retrieve our people?”
“Then I will crush your fleet and use the debris to build lots more of those rather useful Battlestars. You have your choice, Admiral, and think carefully because I'm a man of my word.”
“Very well, you leave me little choice. When can I expect my men to be returned?”
“Oh, six months at the very least, Admiral.”
“SIX MONTHS!”
“I will perform a very thorough investigation, Admiral. It was nice to speak to you. You have fifteen minutes to leave federation space before I take action.” He turned to the comms officer and gave the sign to cut transmission. The combined fleet began to move off towards home territory almost immediately.

Stryder turned to Captain Choudhury.
“Captain, may I use your ready room for a while? I need to make some calls.”
“Certainly Commodore. Be my guest.”
“Thanks.”

In the ready room, Stryder got himself a cup of tea and sat down behind Choudhurys desk. He glanced at the holographs placed there. Images of Choudhurys family. He had a lot of kids. How'd he ever find enough time to get them all? He was a captain after all...

Anyway, he tapped his code into the computer and asked for Captain Rhodar, who came on the screen a few minutes later.
“Hey Phil.” said Stryder.
“Hello Commodore. A masterly performance.” replied Rhodar with a grin.
“Thanks, but this isn't over yet. Not by a long shot.”
“No sir.”
“Phil, I'm going to take the Fearless and go after the Hood, I need to speak with Captain Harrow, and I think she's with Falks at the moment so that'll help. You'll keep everything else that's here and keep on patrol. Also I want those listening posts all repaired and operational.”
“Yes sir. Anything else?”
“No, just keep it all tickety-boo, y'know? Anything you want to say?”
“Yes. I'm sorry to say that the command crew of the USS York got killed when the bridge got hit. Million to one shot.”
The entire command crew of the York? Jesus! thought Stryder. The York was a titan class vessel, about thirty years old. Good ship, good crew. Damn.
“Ok, round up a command crew from the rest of the fleet. They can run the ship from the battle bridge.”
“Yes sir. What about about a captain?” Stryder thought for a moment.
“I'll send Choudhury. He won't like it, but I won't need him for a while.”
“Yes sir. Rhodar out.”

Captain Choudhury wasn't as upset as Stryder thought he might be. He had served on board the York as a lieutenant and so was glad to get some time back with her. Choudhury left for his new post, and the USS Fearless moved away from the fleet and went to warp, heading towards Modeeb station.