A Measured Response

Posted on Wed Jul 14th, 2021 @ 12:09am by Rogue Agent

Mission: The Place of Skulls
Location: The Presidio; Archanis; Kolar; Botchok
Timeline: Mission Day 4 at 1300

- Mission Day Four -
- 1300 Hours Sojourner Time -

“And let’s pivot as we take a look at news coming in from outside the Federation Core Worlds. Let’s take a look into the interstellar commodities and finance exchange…” The reader paused for a moment to cough, “On Babel, Bolarus IX, Tulia, and Draylax have renewed their contract with the Ferengi Gambling Authority, extending the contract of Ferengi management of their casino ships until the year 2405. Farian construction stocks and bonds continue their nosedive into their third day, these events precipitated by the assassination of the Farian Commerce Authority’s Head Executive, Bala Xipher. But having said that, most investors seem to be trying to ride this out.”

Holo-imagery shifted about the face of a woman with distinctly Asiatic features as she swiped away with a pair of fingers holo-data hovering just above her desk. A plethora of linear and curvilinear lines showed the ups and downs of the foreign exchange economies while live ticker-tapes of data ran in triplicate: in Ferengi, Farian and Federation Standard.

“Yoyodyne-Zenzhou Corporation stocks continue to be flat. This despite their release of their newest series of the Elio-Ri-class racing shuttles, which are widely lauded by critics as a return to form for the company.” The newscaster paused, “But there is renewed hope as the Opposition League and the Federation Council enter their second week of negotiations on Tiburon. For background, of course, we all know, the Opposition League are Federation worlds and Protectorates that opposed the Federation Council’s unilateral ban on positronic matrix research.”

Again the newscaster paused to flick at her data, before she lifted her eyes back to the viewing public, “Among its chair members are Tulia, Catulla, B’Saar, Sirius, Bynaus, and Enceladus- opposition even in the Federation’s own backyard from longtime Federation members. And of course, the concern being that if these clauses are not revoked, the Opposition League has threatened to leave the Federation. A threat largely panned by the Diplomatic Corps as unrealistic. That sure puts the Federation Council in a tight bind, regardl-”

The screen redid out with the profile faces and lines that stated “FNN.”

“Standby Tranh, we’re getting a subspace transmission from the Archanis bureau, emergency media band, priority one,” a disembodied voice said over the studio. Tranh Nguyen’s eyes skirted to her holographics resting her chin on a finger. The graphic broadcast changed to the moving images that stated, “FNN Special Report,” followed by a subtitle, “Breaking News.”

“Get Shov ch’Vari up here,” Tranh heard her floor Director say whilst she frantically panned through images. “Tranh.” That was the anchor’s impetus- she pushed away from the desk and strolled to the Rigellian woman, her jaundiced tan face and tattoo cast in strange greens from what looked like a planetary orbit. With a flick-thump, the Rigellian rotated the footage.

Tranh studied it. Bolts of green pulsed offscreen into the starry blackness: the unmistakable silhouette of a Klingon Bird of Prey swept into view. Then another. It was firing as the footage shook and distorted. “What’s the timestamp?” She asked.

“It's fresh in via subspace. That’d put it at about six hours old,” The Rigellian touched an earpiece, “Confirmed? FNN subspace challenge code verified. Alright,” the director turned attention back to her Anchor, “We’re going live. We’ll have to cut in on the main FNN feeds. Wait for my count in, Tranh.”

Tranh nodded and spun on her heel. A hurried pace took her back to the anchor. The Director gestured at her with fingers counting down.

“This is an FNN Special Report. Breaking News. Here is Tranh Nguyen in the central studio, at Archer Commons on the Presidio.”

“Good Evening,” Tranh said, folding her fingers on the desk. She leaned into it, “We interrupt our normal broadcast and affiliate programming to bring you breaking news. FNN and our affiliates are still trying to make sense of what we are seeing. The footage you are about to see came in on emergency subspace media channels and has a time delay of six hours. But you are, for all intents and purposes, seeing this at the same time as we are. We go now to our Archanis Bureau. A reminder that this was previously recorded imagery on a subspace time delay.”

The footage crackled first visually and then with audio feedback. There was shouting. The broadcast split into three parts- live footage dominated the right part of the screen. Tranh was in the upper fourth and a subspace map in the lower fourth. On the black tactical simulation were several symbols- most of them were Klingon- either Imperial or else, House sigils. Then there were green and blue icons in strange geometric shapes.

“- Footage is coming in from the Saelis Perimeter Defense Zone of the Epsilon Orionis star system, also known as Kolar. Klingon Imperial Forces have just crossed into soverei- my apologies. Those vessels are not Imperial Klingon Defense Forces. They appear to be the personal vassal ships of Houses Mo’Kai, House K’vaal and House Martok. Can we get confirmation?” The voice-over said with a distinctly Bolian accent. “We-“ The Bolian stopped when someone off-screen gasped.

"WHOA!" The footage lit up with a blinding flash that looked to spread debris across the screen.

“- They’ve opened fire,” said the Bolian’s co-anchor, their brogue very Kriosian.

Within the footage of a tannish-colored world, Klingon Birds of Prey flanked by a number of Vor’chal-class opened fire on silhouetted installations orbiting the world. The footage broke and then reformed as a Vor’cha unleashed with a rounded whine, one of its main disruptor cannons. The scarlet energy flashed a moment later as an orbital station lit up. As the light faded, the long, tapering spire of the station, rising from a base set of rings, sparked and began to list in zero-gravity.

With a blink, the footage shifted to the aft of the Klingon fleet. More green and red energy lanced at the planet.

“Alright, we believe forces loyal to Drex, the presumptive heir to Martok, Chancellor of the High Council, may have just launched a personal raid or invasion of the Orion Neutrality, centered on Kolar. They have just crossed the Saelis Defense Zone that marks Kolar’s sovereignty.”

“Are we getting any idea of how many Klingon ships are in this fleet?” Someone said offscreen.

“So far it looks like thirty-one Klingon vessels but we’re having a hard time locking down exact numbers. Klingon vessels appear to be cl-“

The screen shifted to a static-scattered, dusty tan atmosphere image with hazy hills in the background. Bridged, copper-colored domes lit up with fires as Klingon Birds of Prey swept into view. The Kriosian spoke up, “OK we have confirmed reports of heavy fighting, repeat we have confirmation of heavy fighting on Saelis- that's Epsilon Orionis VII. Klingon forces appear to be striking the customs and securities perimeter bases. But we can’t be sure if they are avoiding civilian casualties.”

“The Royal Kolari Defense Network appears to have just gone online and is requesting assistance from any loyal Caj,” the Bolian’s voice added, “If you are just joined us, Klingon Imperial heir Drex and loyal forces appears to have just launched a personal raid on the Kolari star system, in the sovereign space of Orion Neutrality on the Federation side of the Federation-Klingon border.”

“Any reports of actual ground troops landing on Saelis, Temir?” The Bolian asked.

“Negative, no reports of ground troops at this time, Drana. But as you can see from the subspace sensor network, Klingon vessels are adv-“ There was a stuttering squeal in the studio. “Apologies, we are receiving new footage near the Kolari moon perimeter at Thaspa.”

Thanh cut in on the footage as Birds of Prey and several Vor’cha were winding their way toward a beautifully green, verdant jungle world with planetwide scatterings of blue and white lights, indicative of cities. “Shov, what are you making of this?” She asked. The image panned to a thin, weathered-looking Andorian man with hard gray-blue eyes.

“So far the Kolari have put up virtually no organized defense at Saelis. That screams surprise attack. But that is likely to change if the Klingon House Fleets reach Kolar itself. You can tell from the subspace readings,” and the Andorian flicked at the screen so that the subspace map appeared, “There are several dozen impulse and warp signatures around Thaspa, Hoan, and elsewhere in the Kolari system coming online. Those appear to be Orion vessels.”

“The defense force?” Thanh asked.

The Andorian’s antennas flexed wide and gaped, “That is unlikely. With the collapse of the Kolari Vaj, there is no certainty that their defense force is still in service. Or if so, how much of it remains ready.”

“No what about up here,” Thanh said. The subspace sensor schematics showing the collision of Klingon and Orion symbols panned up to several Starfleet deltas.

“Those appear to be Starfleet vessels,” Thanh said.

“Correct,” Shov said, “That would be the Tsimishan, the Potomac, the Hathway… another five ships. That’s the fourteenth fleet, reconstituted recently. Based at Vondem…”

“Now why wouldn’t they move to assist?” Thanh asked. The Andorian’s dark eyes flecked with detached amusement, “Didn't the Klingons just invade Federation space to get to Kolar?” The Andorian seemed reticent to add more, a quixotic, cold smirk on his face, “Talk us through what is probably going on in the mind of a Starfleet Captain right now. Surely they saw this happening.”

“This military exchange falls under the Prime Directive. This is an internal affair between the Klingon Empire and the Kolari. The hands of those Starfleet captains are tied at the moment. If they engage, they could do damage to the Khitomer Accords.”

“But didn’t the Klingons invade Federation space to get to Kolar? The Kolari could claim the Federation was complacent, correct?”

Again the Andorian flecked a dark-eyed admission of that to his media counterpart, “They could attempt to. But I feel we need to remember… we looked at a map of the Federation and it looks like one contiguous blob, yes?” Thanh made an agreeing sound. “But that’s not the interstellar reality. Federation space has dozens of nonaligned worlds inside it. Kolar is not Federation territory. We cannot hem them in. Imagine Federation space as less like a giant amoeba of sovereignty, as a bucket of marbles.”

“Let's return to the Archanis bureau’s footage,” Thanh said.

“- Forces are beginning to take some losses,” the Bolian’s voice-over announced, “The Kolari are mounting a massive counterattack. Subspace field sensors are detecting as many as sixty Kolari vessels are currently inbound…” And in the live footage, a Vor’cha’s long neck was sparkling and fizzing, split into two as its forkhead listed into a tilt. Its warp drives were badly flickering.

“It's been an unexpectedly robust response from the Kolari Caju.”

“We are, however, getting reports of Klingon vessels firing on military and subspace installations in Cadari City, and in Gal’ana. But they are taking heavy losses now as the Kolari planetary defense forces have come online.” With a white-yellow explosion, a Bird of Prey scattered, its bridgehead skidding and crashing into a humid, jungle-drenched cityscape as triangular-shaped, rusty-red vessels fired on it. Through the debris another Bird of Prey fired and then, with bolts of yellow, it too exploded.

The red ships, which resembled daggers, deployed fin-like braking wings, banked through the smoky chaos, and climbed altitude. “It appears that the Klingon flagships are signaling a regroup but we can’t be certain this is the end. They may be setting a rallying point for a counterstrike.”

“The Kolari are fighting back with everything they have got,” the Kriosian interjected as the footage shifted to orbit. The devastation was chaos- sparking pieces of hull spun with explosive momentum but a number of listing or drifting Klingon vessels glowed orange with deep inner hull breaches. Despite that, the swooping red daggers of the Kolari fleet were taking heavy fire.

“Shov,” Tranh interjected again. She swept her chin with angular fingers, “What class of vessels are those?”

“I’m not sure of the exact class,” the Andorian replied. “But I recognize several of the sigils of individual Caju.”

“Caju?”

The Andorian’s antennae dipped in a bow, like an ersatz yes-nod, “Clans or corporate extended families. Humans have no exact comparison. But I’ve noted at least six of the sigils come from the defunct Kolari Vaj’s Caju Council. The advisory panel to their former sovereign.”

“It appears that the Klingon fleet is signaling a withdrawal from Kolari space,” Tranh said after a moment. “It will be interesting to see if the Klingon Empire issues any kind of declaration on the incident, or if this was done unilaterally by Drex.”

“I would expect a press briefing from the Federation Council’s Press Secretary shortly,” Shov added, “I would expect a carefully measured response from them. They won’t want to provoke the Klingons further at this juncture. But the question remains why the Klingons did this.”

Thanh looked up, troubled. “Have a look at this. This is private social media footage from Klingon space.” She flicked at the screen and produced new imagery.

A heavily green world that looked like Kolar was smoking, with fires cropping up on several steep, rocky outcroppings inundated with greenery. The voice speaking was Orion.

“They have attacked Sirrud City. I ran away from the central plaza when Klingons landed their drop-shuttles. They are declaring martial law. We are trying to get away from them. They. They look like they have destroyed the Civic Hall… it is on fire. Green fire. I saw many many dead and some hurt… many many burned badly.” The accent was strongly Orion.

“This is coming in from one of the Klingon worlds on the border. A system called Botchok?”

“It’s an Orion planet under Klingon control,” Shov said bluntly. The footage cut out a moment later. “The Klingons control several Orion-populated worlds on their side of the Orion Borderlands.”

The screen went blank with the symbol of the Federation on a black background appearing.

“Please standby for an official press release from the United Federation of Planets,” a very calm feminine voice stated.

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Rogue Agent