5 - Reunion

"Freeze!" was the loudly voiced command from the two men that came rushing through the door, pointing large phaser rifles at Duo. They were quickly followed by another 3, all of them wearing Starfleet security uniforms, enhanced with light body armour and tactical helmets.

Duo froze, for a second, then slowly turned to face the security officers. It only took him a few seconds to assess the situation, and it didn't look good. There was no way he could overpower five armed guards, even if they hadn't been wearing armor, in his present condition there was just no way.

"OK, OK... ya got me...." He said sharply, raising his hands and taking a step backwards.

"Get on your knees," one of them yelled, keeping his rifle pointed at Duo. The others fanned out in support, all with their weapons trained on the man before them.

Duo frowned. It wasn't in his blood to give up without a fight, but he wasn't as impulsive as he'd once been. He'd wait for a good moment. One opening or weakness was all he needed. But these men were good. They hadn't made a single slip.

"Aw, c'mon... I'm unarmed an' I'm tired as hell. What am I gonna do, bite ya?" He complained loudly, the less experienced they thought he was, the better.

The leader of the security team made a decision. The unauthorised person in front of them was being uncooperative by not doing as commanded. Accustomed as he was to 'following the book', he fired his rifle. For Duo, everything suddenly went black.

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

"Aaawww... hell..." Duo groaned, popping one eye open and wincing at the stabbing bright light that invaded his already pounding head. He raised a hand to shade his face and looked to the left and right. It seemed he was in a sickbay somewhere, the beds on either side of him were empty and the room was silent except for the faint background humming of medical equipment.

He lay almost still for a few minutes, testing each muscle gently and descovering that aside from the general aches and pains that he was getting used to living with, there wasn't much wrong with his body.

"Uurgh," He groaned again as he sat up slowly and looked around again. He was definitely in a deserted sickbay. "What th' hell..." he grumbled, swinging his legs off of the bed.

The door swished open behind him, and before he could raise the energy to turn around, Duo heard a familiar voice. Not the voice he was expecting, but familiar nevertheless.

"Why the hell do you think you've got to fight everyone in the universe?" Jim Hawkins asked.

"Genetics," Duo said, half groaning as he turned around and grinned at Jim, "I'm made that way. An' I don't wanna fight everyone, I jus' wanna fight th' EGR."

"Last I checked, Starfleet Security weren't EGR," Jim smiled, walking over to Duo. He stopped on the way, picking up a small hypospray and checked it was the one he wanted. "Stay still," he said, and held it up to Duo's neck. With a burst of compressed air, the painkiller was injected into Duo's bloodstream. Jim stepped back and put the hypospray back onto the small table near the bed.

"Nnng.... Starfleet, EGR," Duo grumped, "There isn't much difference, these days." He slid off the biobed and sighed, feeling the painkiller work through his system. "How th' hell did you know I was here, anyway?"

"I didn't," Jim said, leaning against the bed and watching him. "I was here for a different reason. Why are YOU here?"

"Cap'n Aldous," Duo said lightly, a slight frown creasing his brow. "I was tryin' t' get t' Earth t' go see President Spock when I heard he was alive, an' here."

"You were trying to see President Spock?" Jim asked, chuckling. "Ambitious." He frowned. "Where have you been for the past year Duo? You went AWOL."

Duo sighed, leaning backwards against the biobed and sighing. "It's been a long year, but I couldn't jus' sit back an' watch th' EGR take over... they're th' worst kind of race, underhanded an' sneaky, they've got no honour an' no sense of justice." He said sharply, pausing to stare at Jim for a second. "I've been doin' what everyone else should've been doin' right from th' start. I've been fightin', an' runnin', an' doin' everythin' I could t' get back at them for what they've done."

"Have you succeeded?" Jim asked him.

"No," Duo said sharply, "but I tried, 'cause I had to. Tryin' an' failin' is a lot better than jus' sittin' back an' doin' nuthin'." he glanced at Jim again, "It's a lot more than everyone else has done."

"Do you know of others that have tried?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, there's still a few groups out there that are fightin' back." He said lightly, "but there's a lot more dead ones, than livin' ones."

"And how successful are those that are fighting back?" Jim asked again.

"Look, I know what your gettin' at, Jim... it'd probably been better t' sit back an' wait." Duo said, frowning at Jim as he spoke, "but y' know me, Jim, better than most. D'ya really think I could've jus' sat around for a whole year an' watched th' EGR take over? After what they did t' th' Cardassians?"

Jim sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Duo, all those that have tried to beat the EGR have failed. Those races that have tried an organised resistance, they've failed. They've been destroyed. The Borg, Duo... the Borg! They failed too! The EGR destroyed them, so what the hell makes you think you can win!" Jim was yelling, but for once, he didn't notice.

"I know I can't win!" Duo yelled back, pushing away from the biobed and turning to face Jim, his hands balled into fists at his side. "But I still had t' try! There was no way I could've done anythin' else! I couldn't live, watchin' what was goin' on! I couldn't sit back an' do nuthin'!"

"You've always had a death wish Duo," Jim shot back, facing the smaller man. "All you've done your entire life is run away to fight by yourself. Warrior code my arse, all you've wanted to do is die!"

"Do I look dead t' you!?" Duo snapped at Jim, "If you can't understand me by now, you never will!" he said sharply. "If a man can't be true t' his own sense of Justice an' put his life on th' line for what he believes in, then he's not a man at all!"

"And is it worth dying if that death is meaningless?" Jim asked him, trying to calm himself down. "Is fighting a hopeless battle worth dying for nothing? Or is it the mark of a true warrior who understands when and where to fight the battles? Do you remember the Academy training of Sun Tzu and the Art of War, or did you skip that class?"

"How d'ya think I'm still alive?" Duo asked, trying to relax as he spoke, "d'ya think I jus' went out an' charged around attackin' everythin'? D'ya think I'm an idiot!?" He asked, his voice rising again. He paused for a moment, shutting his eyes and scratching his forehead. "Jus' 'cause I was fightin' doesn't mean I was throwin' my life away every chance I got. I spent more time runnin' than I did fightin', but I can hold my head up 'cause I actually went out an' tried t' do somethin'. Even if I only got a few of them, an' only saved a few lives here an' there, it doesn't matter. I tried."

Jim's voice was quiet as he said, "And what about the hundreds or people who were killed by the EGR in retaliation for your efforts? Do you think the EGR just let you galavant around the quadrant without regard? How many people are dead because of you're selfish code of honour? It's great to hold your head up, I'm sure, but what about all those who don't have heads any more?"

"Don' you dare try t' pin that kinda crap on me!" Duo snapped, "People die in wars, it happens! An' if those people hadn't died one way, they'd have gone another," he said sharply. "An' what about whatever you plannin' to do? How many people d'ya think are gonna die when you pull off whatever plan you've got under your sleeve?"

Jim was about to reply when he stopped, shutting his mouth. He sighed again.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You're right, people die."

Duo was about to retort with a stinging remark about facing facts and being realistic when his brain caught up with what Jim had said.

"Well.... well... yeah, I am." He said uncertainly, then paused for a moment. "So... what kinda plan do you have under your sleeve, anyway?"

Jim smiled grimly, and was about to reply when someone else appeared. Literally.

"I have to say, I'm a little disappointed I can't throw you into the brig for striking a superior officer," said Captain Aldous, having just materialised to Duo's left.

Duo grinned, turning to look at Aldous and just spending a minute looking. "Cap'n... you've got no idea how happy I am t' see you," he said lightly, visibly relaxing as he spoke. "If ya like, you could throw me in th' brig for being AWOL for a year, or for conductin' terroist acts against th' Federation an' it's allies..."

"Oh, I'm sure I'll find something to throw you in the brig for," Aldous said, smiling. "Now, is there any reason why you were trying to break into my ship?"

"Yeah," Duo replied, his tone turning more serious, "I've ran outa strength t' fight on my own, my mech is just about dead an', t' be honest," He paused and glanced at Jim, "I'm not far behind. I've run outa ideas an' options, an' when I heard you were alive I knew th' only way I was gonna be able t' survive an' keep fightin was t' come here."

"If I could be considered alive, that is," Aldous said softly, mainly to himself. "But I guess you've come to the right place." He looked at Hawkins, and then back at Duo.

"Alive enough for me," Duo said lightly. Losing Aldous had been hard on him and he'd never really had time to come to terms with the loss. Getting him back and being on the Scorpion again made him feel more secure than he had for a long time.

"We've stolen this ship," Hawkins said simply, looking at Duo.

Duo looked at Hawkins, then at Aldous. "We've stolen th' ship...." he repeated, "But if we're gonna steal th' Scorpion we've gotta make a pass by Mars, I left somethin' there that I've gotta pick up."

"We're not GONNA steal the ship," Hawkins said. "We've STOLEN the ship. And we ain't in Kansas no more..."

"We're what?" Duo frowned. He had no idea what Jim was talking about, Kansas was, or used to be, on Earth. "Where are we?" He asked, still frowning.

"Beyond the rim," Aldous said. "Hopefully where they won't find us while we plan our strategy."

"Hyperdrive?" Duo guessed, settling back against the biobed and still frowning softly.

"Slipstream,' Jim said. It almost seemed as if he and Aldous were tag-teaming. "You've been asleep over a day."

"Oh..." Duo said simply, "Ok... y' didn't happen t' stop by Mars, then, t' pick up my mech? Did ya?" He asked hopefully.

To be continued...

4 - Coming Home

Jupiter loomed large in one of the transport's many view screens; it's rings glistening in the radiance of the distant sun. Getting here had taken more than he could have imagined, and help from places he never would have expected.

Friends, he mused silently, looking down at the identity document that had his face, but another name on it. Even friends who he'd long since given up on... he would've never gotten this far without them.

Duo Maxwell, A.K.A Max Weller, sighed deeply. Justice, the Mech he'd relied on for so long, was hidden in the depths of the Martian wastes. It had taken him almost a week, a lot of credits and every favour he'd ever earned to get from a small town in Mars to this point and he'd learned a lot in the process.

Captain Aldous was still alive, for one. That news had shocked him more than anything, and was the reason he'd come to Jupiter now. Aldous, and the USS Scorpion was where he had to go. Aldous would know what to do; he'd have a plan because he always did. Duo's faith in his Captain was unshakable.

He had to admit, it would have been easy to stay on Mars with his friend, and forget about everything. For the first time in months he was clean, properly clothed, uninjured, and not hungry. Quatre had wanted him to stay longer, to recover from the exhaustion that was still plaguing him. Yet he knew he wouldn't have been able to stay for long, it would have eaten at him. Quatre could do it because he couldn't do anything else, but Duo could do something, and so he had to.

Duo looked down at the identity docket, it was signed 'Captain Wufei Chang, Asst. Director of Personnel, Starfleet Command.' He still couldn't believe Chang had agreed to help him at his own risk, but, he supposed, Quatre could always convince him to do anything.

"Now docking at Jupiter Station, please make sure you take all your belongings with you. Have a nice day and thank you for travelling with us today." Said the voice of the transport's Captain, tugging him out of his thoughts and back to the present. He'd made it to Jupiter; all he had to do now was make it to the Scorpion.

As soon as the transport docked Duo stood, he pulled the baseball cap's peak a little lower and made for the exit. A station security officer checked his ID, glanced at him for a second, then waved him on with a nod. He made his way towards the nearest view port and gazed out towards the station's shipyards.

He spotted the Sovereign Class ship instantly, wrapped in the protective grid of a dry-dock. He couldn't help but grin at seeing his old ship. He'd never really became attached to any other ship like he had with the first USS Scorpion, or any other captain like he had to Aldous.

Getting onboard the Scorpion wasn't going to be a problem, his new identity carried the authorisation of a civilian expert. He made his way towards the nearest turbolift.

The dockyard was, as he had hoped, almost devoid of personnel. It was easy for him to work his way down to the Scorpion's docking umbilical without detection.
"Open dockin' hatch, authorisation Weller Pie-2-Gamma" he said lightly, using the authorisation Wufei had created for him.

"Authorisation Denied, invalid security code." The computer replied stoically.

Duo froze for a few seconds, this meant that he'd been uncovered, and recently too since he'd made it onto the station without any problem. He cursed under his breath, tossing the now-invalid ID to the deck and frowning darkly.

He hoped he hadn't put his friends in danger as he reached for the control panel and ripped off the display. A few crossed wires opened the hatch and he stepped through. He knew security would be on the way to his location, he was unarmed and exhausted and didn't stand a chance of overpowering them. Duo grabbed a handful of wires and pulled, retracting his hand quickly as the heavy door slid shut.

He didn't pause to think of anything else, but set off down the tube at a flat-out run, reaching the hull of the scorpion in record time. As he had expected the hatch was sealed at this end, too, but he wanted a different approach this time.

"Cap'n? Could y' let me in?" He pleaded breathlessly, behind him; the station’s docking hatch slid open.

To be continued...

3 - And so it begins...

The Delta Flyer came to a stop on the outer edge of the asteroid field that was just beyond Mars. Inside it, Jim Hawkins was checking the sensors at the same time. He also checked for subspace distortions, which were usually indicative of cloaked ships. There weren't any though, so his reason for being there hadn't arrived. Or their cloak, if there was a ship in the area, was better than his sensors could detect. This wouldn't have been surprising to him, considering that the person he was there to meet was a covert ops agent.

Jim knew why he'd been chosen for this 'cloak and dagger' mission. With extensive past experience in Intelligence and covert operations, this made him the ideal choice for this task. It was ordinary for him now, but he'd come to accept it. Every now and again, they would make use of his experience to carry out one objective or another. He smiled to himself, thinking back. Once you're in Intelligence, you're never out of it.

Before he had a chance to relax, his console beeped at him, registering a subspace distortion approaching fast. Raising his shields, Jim waited. He wasn't hiding, so they would make themselves known to him sooner or later.

It was sooner... An encrypted identity request was received by the Delta Flyer which, under normal circumstances, was not likely to be picked up by anyone who didn't know the exact frequency, since it was piggybacking on the background noise of space. Replying with the correct response code, Hawkins dropped his shields and turned around, drawing his phaser as he faced the transporter pad that hummed into life. He hadn't survived this long by not being prepared for anything. However, he wasn't prepared for who appeared on the pad. President Spock.

Jim's jaw dropped in surprise as the President materialised in front of him. He holstered his weapon, standing up to greet the Vulcan.

"Mister President," Jim said, moving closer and saluting. "I can't say I expected to see you here..."

"Subterfuge was necessary, Mister Hawkins," Spock replied, nodding his head in a greeting. "We are alone?"

"Yes sir," Jim replied. "This ship is secure, and there's no detectable activity within sensor range However, I'll take us into the asteroids to make sure they provide interference to anyone that might be trying to detect us."

"Very good," Spock said, moving over to a chair and sitting down, watching Hawkins take the Flyer into the asteroid field. Sitting as calmly as you would expect a Vulcan to sit, he watched the asteroids flying towards them, only to streak past as Hawkins maneuvered around them.

A large,tumbling boulder was ahead, the size of a small moon, and was coming straight at them. Matching velocity with it, Hawkins rolled the Delta Flyer to match the tumbling of the asteroid, making it seem as if the asteroid was completely still below them while he brought the Flyer in to land on its surface. He made it look easy, which, to him, it was. Too many years of flying shuttles and small ships in extremely hostile environments had given him skills that most pilots never had, and which would probably fade only when he was too old to dance his fingers across the flight controls.

Turning around, Jim sat back and looked at President Spock expectantly, waiting for the details of what they were out here for.

"Your record is exemplary," the President began. "You have experience leading highly critical covert operations against the Federation in another universe."

Jim nodded cautiously at Spock's statement. He wasn't sure where this was headed, but he didn't think he'd like it.

"I'm sure you are aware of the strategy the Erratan Galactic Republic has engaged in over the past few years to bring about the result we have today." Without waiting for an answer, Spock continued. "The Federation has become a puppet government, Mister Hawkins. To ensure the survival of the Federation, I had to bring about our capitulation. Fighting them was illogical." Spock frowned, looking closely at Jim. "Do you understand the logic in this?"

"Yes sir," Jim replied, nodding. "I never liked it, but I understood your motives. I remember your words, about the sleeping lion."

Spock nodded, and relaxed slightly, his frown seeming to lessen slightly. "I had thought you would. Now is the time for us to start acting behind the lion's back, Mister Hawkins."

"Isn't it too late though?" Jim asked. "They control the entire galaxy, and have eliminated all the races that could have helped us. We don't have the resources to go to any other galaxy, as they control the jump gates, and we've never been able to get hold of their hyperdrives. I know that we lost too many people trying." Jim paused, taking a breath. He was letting his frustration get the better of him.

"It is not too late," Spock replied. "In fact, now is the best time, when the lion is sleeping. They have destroyed all threat in this galaxy, with the remaining races unable to threaten them. The Federation has willingly subjugated itself to them, and now their attention has been relaxed. They are letting the Federation do what it will in regards to maintaining the cohesiveness of its infrastructure, while they are in maintenance mode rather than conquering mode. We have a small amount of freedom."

"I understand," Jim nodded. "But I don't know what we can possibly do."

Spock looked straight at him as he said, "You need to find the Sernaix."

Jim's face went white as the blood drained from it. The Sernaix. The guardians of the alternate universe that he'd spent 5 years in. They were an incredibly powerful race that had the ability to travel between different universes in the blink of an eye. They were also very temperamental about people who came into their universe from outside of it. In his 5 years over there, Jim had very little to do with them, but when they did involve themselves, it was brutal and decisive. They only let him stay there because of their relationship with the wormhole aliens, who had plans for him...

"Mister President, I don't know if they'd be willing to help us. As far as they're concerned we are an inferior race of insects. We're not even in their own universe, so their interest in us would be even less."

Spock nodded in agreement, but then said, "I believe Captain Aldous, from the original USS Scorpion, had developed a relationship of sorts with a Sernaix Ship Mind. You may like to get Captain Aldous in on your mission."

Jim's eyebrows raised. "I thought Aldous was destroyed with his ship at the Battle of Veragnos?"

"The ship, and Captain Aldous, are fine and well at Jupiter Shipyards. They returned only a few days ago, which led me to decide on this course of action."

Jim looked at his hands, thinking about everything that Spock had said. This was what he hadn't wanted to hear, but which he had subconsciously known was coming. If Jim accepted this mission, there was almost zero chance of success, and a high chance of being killed by either the Federation themselves or the EGR. Being a rogue agent would be a threat to the Federation. He knew that. Federation personnel rebelliong against the EGR could result in their retribution against the Federation, and already had over the past year or so. No one on Earth or in the Federation wanted a repeat of the Cardassian destruction, or the various other acts of violence done against the Federation because of attempted rebellions. As a result, the Federation would officially try to stop him.

There were, of course, various Federation personnel who tried resisting the EGR after the Carddssians were destroyed, but they failed, violently. President Spock had been forced to align the Federation with the EGR to avoid further bloodshed, and order all resistance to cease. The past year included some dark times for the Federation.

He looked back up at Spock. "If I accept this..."

"You must, Mister Hawkins," said Spock, interrupting him. "You are the only one who has the experience to do this. No one else in the Federation has led a rebellion of this nature. You are our only chance."

Jim sighed. "Yes Mister President. I understand." He'd never heard a Vulcan beg before, especially President Spock. But this was certainly begging. He couldn't refuse.

To be continued...

2 - On the Edge

The Justice Mech rolled over suddenly, rotating through 180 degrees and then flipping back again, before coming to a complete stop. The little machine was tough, but too much had been asked of it and it was beginning to buckle under the strain. Last time it had been a failed engine, which had taken him a week on a barely habitable planet to repair. This time it was an inertial dampener failure; less major but still very much a problem he could have done without. Components were beginning to break down and repairing them was getting harder and harder. He had no spares left to replace the parts and very little material to repair the old ones with.

Justice Mech had started out a few years before as the Berserker, one of three concept machines that Duo had introduced to the Federation as his pet project. The Berserker had been a multi-role air/ground/space supremacy combat machine, but the Justice was more than that. It was designed to be faster and stronger than the Berserker while maintaining the same outer shell and dimensions and it incorporated all the latest Federation technology. Plus it had been further upgraded with all that Duo could scavenge or steal, including Borg, EGR, Dominion and Romulan technologies salvaged from various battlefields and graveyards. There had been plenty to choose from, since the EGR arrived.

But now it was in a mess, operating at only around 40% of its capacity and slipping downhill quickly. Its self-repair mechanisms were all but gone and its remaining systems were operating on the edge of failure.

Duo knew, in the back of his mind, that he probably wasn't going to make it to Earth. But the part of him that had kept him fighting for over a year wouldn't let him give up. He hadn't had a wash in weeks, his long braided hair was matted, knotted, burned and, like the rest of him, disgustingly dirty. He had a few broken ribs that he knew of, plus a badly wrenched knee and a burn on his right leg that he was just getting used to ignoring.

A few focused thoughts instructed a dozen or so nano-machines tailored for automatic repair and maintenance to seal the broken system. He didn't have many of the little machines left and there was no material left to make more from. At least he wasn't going to have to set down on a planet, this time.

He'd been on the run for almost a year, after the EGR's massacre of the Cardassians and the subsequent retirement of the Federation President he'd given up hope that the Federation was going to, or was even able to do anything to reverse the mistakes they had made. For over half of his life the Federation and Starfleet had been his home, his surrogate parents and extended family. Even if he did disagree with what was happening, leaving them hadn’t been easy. It had taken the massacre of a whole civilisation to make the difference, a fact he was still ashamed of. But the day after the EGR’s announcement he took his Mech, set course for the nearest uninhabited region of space, and left.

At that time he never had any plans on where he was going to go or what he was going to do, he spent a few weeks on one planet, a few days on another, jumping from place to place without any clear purpose or idea of what to do. The fighting had started with an EGR scout that had found and attacked him, and it had carried on from there. One battle lead to another, and another, and many more as the EGR turned one of their many eyes his way.

The first few battles had been purely for survival, but they had re-kindled something within him that had been dormant for a while. The sense of stubborn, pig-headed determination that had helped him survive in the past was awakened, and it was at that point he’d decided that something had to be done. He'd been fighting and running ever since, slowly making his way towards the Earth, and the President. He didn't know what he was going to do when, and if, he got to Spock. But he did know that he had to do something, and going to earth was the only idea that seemed to make any sense.

The console beeped, something was showing on passive sensors. A single thought highlighted the image and enhanced it, showing an EGR Destroyer passing through a few light years away. The ECM Suite and Cloak installed on the Justice kept him covered as long as he stayed still. The same waiting game had been played a hundred times or more, yet he never really got used to it. His heart still did a hundred beats a minute until the destroyer was out of range.

There was, he knew, only had a few light-years to go. Earth was practically in visual range and yet he didn't dare use the active sensor suite to take a look. Sol was far too heavily guarded to be careless, or for that matter, to make a mistake of any kind. The Justice was in no state for a running battle, especially not with EGR Capitol ships.

The nanobots signalled the completion of their task and the Mech told him that the dampeners were once again working. Not working very well, but working. A thought re-started the engine and he set off once again, at half-impulse, towards earth and his still half-formed plan.

To be continued...

1 - Catching up on the past

Captain Jim Hawkins, commanding officer of the Federation flagship USS Scorpion, was bored. In fact, he couldn't remember a time when he'd been more bored. You'd think that being the CO for the most prestigious ship in the Federation would be an exciting affair, but it wasn't.

The Federation flagship was used to transport the Federation President around as he travelled from world to world. The only problem, however, was that the President didn't travel anywhere these days, and so the Scorpion spent all its time in Earth orbit. It couldn't even go to Mars for a quick journey, just in case the President needed to be evacuated at a moment's notice.

President Spock never went anywhere without a transponder device, allowing immediate transportation onto the flagship should he be threatened in any way. For that reason, the ship could not go anywhere without the President onboard. As a result of this, the Federation flagship had become the ship that no one wanted to serve on.

Hawkins had occasionally pondered how he'd ended up with this command. It was supposed to be a promotion, a reward for his years of service to Starfleet and the Federation, and yet it instead felt like a demotion. The USS Scorpion, one of the best ships in the entire Federation, had been reassigned to earth shortly after the Cardassian crisis involving the Erratan Galactic Republic, or EGR as everyone called them.

After the Cardassians were destroyed and the Federation President resigned, it looked like the Federation was in a shambles, without any strong leadership. When Ambassador Spock stepped up to the plate and took on the role as the new Federation President, a lot of people thought things would be different. And they were, just not in the way people thought they would be. Spock took a more peaceful approach with the EGR, and instead of resisting their influences, as many people thought should have been done, he instead created a stronger alliance with them.

It wasn't until President Spock requested the USS Scorpion as his flagship that Hawkins was able to find out the principals behind Spock's leadership.

"It is not logical to act against that which can easily destroy you," was Spock's comment during a meeting he'd had with Hawkins, the new CO of his flagship at that time. "A wiser plan would be to act only when the lion is sleeping."

"You have plans to act without their knowledge?" Hawkins had asked, surprised.

"Every lion must sleep, Mister Hawkins, regardless of its knowledge about the intentions of those around it. It hopes that their fear of it will keep them subdued."

The President offered nothing more during that meeting, changing the subject to something else. Nor had he ventured any further discussion, but Hawkins had never forgotten, and he had been happy, at least for a little while, to be in a position of usefulness for when the President might decide to act upon his cryptic intentions.

Something else he'd never forgotten was that the Erratan Galactic Republic had only entered this galaxy because of him, and he had not been able to correct it.

Just over 3 years ago, when he had been sent on a mission to retrieve stolen Starfleet technology, he had encountered a new race called the Kaerine. They lived where subspace was relatively nonexistent, which meant warp drives were useless. Instead, they had jump gates that used a technology allowing them to 'jump' from one area of space to another, bypassing the need for warp or subspace drives. These gates used something that was called 'hyperspace', which allowed for almost instantaneous travel over many dozens of light years, from one gate to another.

Upon entering this area of space, the USS Scorpion encountered some problems with their new slipstream drive, which was being interfered with by the subspace 'shallows'. The effect of the interference was such that Hawkins' quantum frequency was altered, and he was transferred into an alternate dimension that matched his new frequency. The universe is made of energy, and that energy has a quantum frequency that makes up everything within it. Hawkins' quantum frequency was altered, which caused him to slip into another universe that matched his new frequency.

Upon finally returning a couple of years later - only a year ago - and finding that the EGR had entered this galaxy and caused so much havoc, Hawkins discovered that the same quantum fluctuations that were caused by his ship's slipstream drive had also activated one of the apparently inactive jump gates, which is how the EGR were able to come through into this galaxy.

Hawkins had trouble understanding how major and catastrophic events could be linked to him. Wherever he went, 'destiny' seemed to follow him, one way or another. He had entered another universe back when he was a lowly Lieutenant, where the Federation had split because of a civil war. In a short space of time, he had ended up not only in charge of that universe's Deep Space Nine, but also as Bajor's Emissary, similar to what happened to Benjamin Sisko in this universe. He not only saved the Bajorans from the Cardassians, but he also managed to reunite the Federation into one single, peaceful organisation, instead of the fractured, warring states it had been.

While carrying out that 'role', he'd managed to meet Sisko himself (who had joined the beings in the wormhole) and discovered that there was only one wormhole throughout all the various universes. He had used that to get back to his own galaxy again, after 5 years as the Emissary. However, he'd tweaked the time travel aspects so that he returned to his galaxy - and ship - only minutes after he had originally left it in the other alternate galaxy. To them, only minutes had passed since they'd left him behind, but for him, 5 years had passed and he was waiting for them as they returned to the home galaxy. Much to their surprise, of course.

When he was thrown into yet another alternate universe some months later in Kaerine space, he had wondered if fate was playing some kind of game with him. He was close. It turned out to be Q, the God-like being who had played with Captain Picard and the USS Enterprise, and Captain Janeway and the USS Voyager. Captain Hawkins was next in Q's bag of tricks. This one involved more Borg. Luckily he'd managed to come through after 2 years of being stuck there, finally making it back to his home galaxy. He was almost ready to retire, but Starfleet placed him in command of the USS Scorpion again, but this time serving the Federation President.

And here he was, bored. He actually missed the 'old days', where he didn't know from one day to the next if he'd still be alive, or even if he'd still be in the same universe. He also missed his old crew. Most of them had been transferred to other ships, or killed in action, while he was away in the other universe. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to get any of them reassigned to this ship again.

'Captain, you have a message from Starfleet Command,' his XO called over the communicator.

"I'll take it in here," Hawkins replied, sitting up in his chair and wondering what they wanted.

'Aye sir,' the XO replied.

After a moment his terminal beeped at him, and he pressed the button to answer the call.

To be continued...

Federation's End - Timeline

This is a story timeline I created in a Star Trek play-by-email game I ran, but which finished early 2005. This story began during game play, but never continued beyond April 2383 (see below), when the game ended due to lack of interest. The story was supposed to be for the background story of the galaxy, which the players and games would be part of. The 'Erratan Galactic Republic', or the EGR, was based loosely on the Empire from Star Wars. The following is a timeline I created with my friend Garry's help, and which may one day be turned into a story. (If you want to write it, contact me. As an idea, it's copyrighted by me.)

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2383, March
- EGR Task Force (8 destroyers, 2 battleships, 1 factory ship) enters Kaerine space, sends out probes throughout the galaxy
- Federation goes on alert at all the mysterious probes entering their territory

2383, April
- EGR successfully control all of Kaerine space, begin building a military base there. Initial probe results informs them of all the races of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants (Humans, Klingons, Vulcans, Romulans, Cardassians, etc, etc)
- Probes provide the EGR with information about the Delta Quadrant and the Dominion, including the Founders, the Vorta, and the Jem'Hadar
- Federation stands down from their alert status a couple weeks after realising there's no more probes

2383, May
- The Dominion questions the Federation about the probes, but no one is any the wiser for the exchange of information about them
- The EGR gets information about the Borg, but that information is sketchy. All their probes are destroyed on the edges of Borg territory
- The EGR finishes building a shipyard

2383, August
- A plan is implemented where an ERG destroyer is used to lure a Borg cube into Federation space. The Borg chase it in the hope of assimilating it. The destroyer looks like it tries to make a stand against the Borg cube in an area within scanning range of a Federation starbase. Five Starfleet ships attempt to come to its aid, and the Borg cube makes short work of two of them before 2 more ERG destroyers appear. Together the 3 ERG ships and remaining Starfleet ships destroy the Borg cube. First Contact is made between the EGR and Federation and the EGR open diplomatic negotiations with Federation representatives at the starbase. The EGR request information from the Federation about the Borg, claiming to need that to help them defend themselves. The Federation gives all the information it has. The EGR thanks them and leaves 2 destroyers at the Federation starbase in case the Borg return.
- An EGR Ambassador is assigned to the starbase

2383, September
- Two Borg cubes attack the starbase, and the 2 EGR destroyers meet the Borg cubes before they can get close enough to engage Federation forces. One destroyer is destroyed and both Borg cubes damaged before another 3 destroyers jump in and assist just as the Starfleet ships arrive. The Borg cubes are destroyed.
- The EGR asks the starbase if they would like more EGR ships to assist against further Borg attacks, as well as an exchange of technology. The EGR will provide the starbase their advanced shields in exchange for the Federation transporter technology. The Starbase CO agrees to the extra EGR ships as well as the technology exchange.

2383, October
- The starbase's shields are upgraded
- Seven EGR destroyers are based permanently in the same sector as the starbase, with 5 on patrol and 2 permanently assigned to defend the starbase
- EGR ambassador travels to Earth to meet with the Federation Council and discuss a permanent treaty. After a couple of days of talks, the Federation welcomes the EGR's application to join the Federation.
- The Federation Council requests more technology exchange, in particular the EGR's hyperdrive. The EGR Ambassador quotes the Federation's own Prime Directive and states his own race has a similar policy of non-interference. Any major developments really have to be on the Federation's initiative, rather than as gifts from advanced races. The Federation Council is unable to argue against the foundation of their own Prime Directive.

2384, January
- Evidence suggests a Cardassian ship attacked and destroyed a Federation farming colony on the Federation side of the Cardassian border.
- The Cardassians deny their involvement in the attack, but the colony's sensor logs show it was definitely a Cardassian ship
- The EGR Ambassador influences a member of the Federation Council to suggest that the Cardassians may be attempting to take territory that they consider was once theres, and after having rebuilt their military over the past 8 years, feel that they are now in a position to regain what was lost to them. The Council member suggests that the EGR, with their hyperdrive-capable ships, might be in a position to help provide security along the Cardassian border. The EGR Ambassador says he would need to talk to his superiors about involving themselves in the internal security matters of the Federation.
- A week later the EGR Ambassador agrees to the Federation Council's request for providing security along the Cardassian border on the condition that their Federation membership be fast-tracked accordingly. The Ambassador suggests it might be wise to ensure that only Federation members provide internal assistance to the Federation.

2384, February
- The United Federation of Planets welcomes its newest member, the EGR
- Within minutes of the announcement, EGR places a number of destroyers on patrol along the Cardassian border
- The Cardassians protest this action, and reinforce their own border

2384, April
- The EGR finish building a shipyard at Jupiter Station and use it to help increase the production level for Starfleet, being able to turn out an increased production run of ships for Starfleet using EGR industrial technology. Two destroyers are permanently assigned to it, along with other Starfleet ships, and Federation personnel man the shipyard with EGR advisors.
- EGR spies provide the Romulan Tal Shiar with details on technology that might be useful to them, at the 'poorly defended' shipyard at Jupiter Station, along with implications that the EGR would provide further support in the future

2384, July
- EGR ships detect gravitational anomalies approaching the shipyard at Jupiter Station at warp 8 and request Federation assistance in determining what they are. Federation personnel realise they must be cloaked ships and request reinforcements. The 2 EGR destroyers move out to intercept the anomalies and then 28 Romulan ships decloak and attack the destroyers. Four Starfleet ships become involved in the battle. At the end of it, both EGR destroyers were destroyed, along with three of the Starfleet ships. 21 of the Romulan ships were destroyed in the battle, and the remaining 7 ships retreat when Starfleet reinforcements arrive from Mars.
- Public opinion, which up until this point was mildly suspicious at EGR ships in Federation space, and so close to Earth, is instantly turned around at the news of the EGR's sacrifice to protect Jupiter Station.
- The Federation accuses the Romulans of blatant disregard to their alliance
- The Romulans deny involvement, stating it was a rogue organisation that wasn't sanctioned by the Romulan Senate
- The Federation cancels the alliance with the Romulans
- The Federation requests an EGR presence along the Romulan Neutral Zone, which is welcomed by public support

2384, August
- A fleet of 93 Borg cubes attacks Kaerine space, surprising the EGR. 76% of EGR forces are destroyed in the battle, but all Borg cubes are destroyed. All of the EGR battleships remain intact.
- The EGR withdraws non-essential ships from Federation space to reinforce Kaerine space.
- The EGR begins construction of a secret base on the outskirts of the galaxy in an empty resource-rich area of planetary systems. This base is given high priority, in an attempt to create a fallback location should the Kaerine sector fall to the Borg.
- The EGR announce to the Federation that they are at war with the Borg.
- The Federation offers all the assistance to the EGR they can provide.
- The EGR requests that more EGR ships be allowed to help protect Federation resources, as the Federation is likely to be attacked by the Borg for being allied to the EGR.
- The Federation agrees, and EGR destroyers are assigned to all the major systems within the Federation.

2384, September
- Romulans ally with Cardassians and Breen
- EGR uses a Starfleet ship to unsuccessfully attack a Vorta colony in the Delta Quadrant, with it being destroyed from a 'warp core breach' in the battle with Jem'Hadar ships
- The Dominion accuse the Federation of attacking their colony
- The Federation denies all knowledge of the attack, but reinforces DS9 near the Bajoran wormhole
- Skirmishes occur between Klingon and Romulan forces along their borders

2384, November
- The Romulans engage in talks with the Dominion, advising that the Federation and EGR are attempting to subvert the balance of power and take control of all the quadrants. They suggest the Starfleet attack against the Dominion was a test of Dominion reactions, and the Romulans propose a treaty between them and the Dominion.

2384, December
- The Dominion joins the new 'Allies', offering their support to the alliance now comprised of themselves, the Romulans, the Cardassians and the Breen.
- The Federation hears about the 'Allies' and sends diplomatic teams to each of the races to try and resolve things.
- A 'Cardassian ship' intercepts and destroys the ship carrying the Federation delegation to Cardassia, and is then destroyed by the EGR destroyer that was escorting the delegation.
- The EGR expresses their sincere apologies at not protecting the delegation, saying they believed the Cardassian ship's claim that it was there to greet the delegation.
- The Federation declares a state of war with Cardassia.
- The Cardassians denial of involvement is ignored by the Federation

2385, February
- A fleet of 18 Romulan ships attacks a Federation starbase. The closest reinforcements are at DS9, comprised of EGR and Federation ships. They receive the request for reinforcements and the EGR ships jump to help repel the Romulan attack. While they are involved in the defence of the starbase and chase the retreating Romulan ships, it turns out to be a decoy, as a large co-ordinated force of 87 Romulan ships, 35 Cardassian ships, 12 Breen ships, and 76 Dominion ships coming through the wormhole, attack Deep Space Nine. The Federation defences there are overwhelmed, and the Allied fleet takes the station. However, the EGR ships, destroying the fleeing Romulan ships that attacked the nearby starbase, jump back to regain control of DS9. In the battle, approximately 60% of the Allied forces are destroyed before they run for it, seeing that EGR forces are not seriously hampered by the Allied ships defence of DS9. Just before they retreat, another 'Cardassian ship' arrives and fires a missile at DS9. All EGR ships were involved in battle, so the missile gets by them. Deep Space Nine explodes in a huge explosion, destroying 3 of the EGR destroyers in the process. The Allied ships retreat. Over 10,000 people on DS9 were killed.
- The EGR expresses their sorrow to the Federation for the loss and the EGR's inability to defend DS9 with its limited number of ships available in the area, and the Federation requests increased EGR assistance with defence. The EGR agrees to the Federation's request to place more of the EGR's ships in Federation space.

2385, March
- The EGR Ambassador offers a solution to the Cardassian problem, pointing out that the entire history of Federation involvement with the Cardassians has shown that they are completely untrustworthy and interested only in military conflict. The EGR offers to decisively end the war with Cardassia.
- The Federation Council agrees after discussing this for over a day.
- Minutes later, a fleet of 480 EGR destroyers and battleships appear near Cardassia. Twelve minutes later the entire Cardassian defence force is decimated. One hour and twenty eight minutes later, Cardassia Prime has been destroyed by orbital bombardment by the 480 EGR ships. When they leave, there is nothing left of Cardassian civilisation except for the molten surface of a decimated planet.
- EGR announces to the Federation that they will not be bothered by the Cardassians any more. An uproar occurs as a result of the action, but the EGR Ambassador advises that countless numbers of people have been killed in wars with the Cardassians, and were likely to be killed if the Cardassians were allowed to continue their aggressive stances. All the attempts by the Federation to prevent bloodshed have failed. Now there will be no more bloodshed. The Federation Council agrees.
- The Federation President resigns. Ambassador Spock receives unanimous approval and becomes the new President of the Federation.

2385, April
- The EGR sends a fleet of 820 destroyers and battleships into the heart of Borg territory - Unimatrix 01, where the Borg queen lives and where all the Borg throughout the galaxy are controlled from. After a vicious battle with the initial Borg defence force which ends up decimated, the remaining 460 EGR ships attack the Borg unicomplex, which was composed of thousands of connected structures and hubs that housed hundreds of ships and trillions of Borg drones. The weapons employed against it cause a chain reaction throughout the unicomplex, resulting in its complete destruction. With the Central Nexus of the Borg Collective destroyed, the shielding for the Transwarp Hubs and manifolds is gone. The EGR sends in hundreds of droid ships that race throughout the network, dropping powerful mines at each hub and new conduit they find. The Borg transwarp network is destroyed, along with all the cubes that were using it.
- The EGR announce to the Federation that the Borg threat has been dealt with, and all that is required now is the mopping up of remaining Borg cubes that are helpless without central control. The Gamma Quadrant is safe.

2385, July
- A fleet of over 2,000 Dominion ships enters via the wormhole and joins up with other 800 Allied ships that are attacking the EGR force that is defending Bajor. The battle is brutal, but the EGR ships are defeated, at the expense of close to 80% of the Allied ships. However, the main EGR fleet appears just as the Allied ships are celebrating, and the 600 ships are easily destroyed by the 800 EGR ships.
- Half the EGR fleet goes through the wormhole to lay waste to the Dominion
- The EGR requests the Federation Council give them permission to bring peace to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants through attacking the Romulans and Breen.
- The Federation agrees.

2385, August
- The EGR attack the Founders homeworld and, after destroying the Jen'Hadar fleet defending the planet, demand the Founders surrender or be destroyed completely.
- The Founders surrender. The EGR destroys their homeworld anyway, using the weakness the Founders displayed as sign of EGR superiority.
- The Jem'Hadar go into a frenzy and vow to destroy the EGR

2385, September
- The EGR announce to the Federation that the last of the Dominion has fallen and the Delta Quadrant is safe.
- The EGR request that the Federation allow them to bring peace to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants as well. The Federation agrees.
- With the Dominion gone, the remaining Allied powers capitulate and surrender.
- The EGR moves ships over the non-Federation homeworlds and set up EGR military leadership, dismantling current leadership structures.

2386, January
- The EGR has control of the entire galaxy, with approximately 4,000 ships per quadrant, and EGR leadership on all the resource-rich and once-powerful worlds. Allied with the Federation, which is now effectively a puppet government, the galaxy is theirs.

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UPDATE 3 Feb 2006: This blog / site has been created to write the story of what happens after the EGR won. It uses a number of characters that have been involved in game play over the years. I hope you enjoy it.