Task Force 12 by Stephen Errity Full Circle TAL SHIAR HEADQUARTERS, REMUS "Report!" "I have bad news, Commander. Our ships have failed to stop the Federation task force. Furthermore, a prototype Imperial Military vessel is accompanying them. The Ostberg." The Commander's face formed itself into an angry frown. "Were you able to track them?" "Only the Starfleet ships, Commander. The Ostberg's cloak is too advanced for us to penetrate. The fleet stopped at Rajelliak Supply Depot 106B for a day. They then moved deeper into Rajelliak space. We lost contact with them a few hours ago." "Do you have any idea what will happen if those ships make contact with the Rajelliak?" "The Federation will discover that we are using the Rajelliak to distract the Imperial Military in order to stage a coup?" "I know that, you fool. When the Rajelliak discover that we have duped them, they will immediately side with the Romulan government. Our coup will have no chance of success." "What are your orders, commander?," asked the young Tal Shiar major. "We have waited over twenty years for the military to be weakened enough so that we may stage a coup. I will not let that time be wasted. We must wrest control of the empire now, before the Rajelliak switch sides. Contact our units across the empire. Tell them to begin the revolution." "Understood, Commander." * * * USS SARATOGA SOMEWHERE IN RAJELLIAK SPACE "Captain's Log, Stardate 59782.2 Task Force 12 has been following Rajelliak trade routes for three days now. We have come across what we believe to be the Rajelliak homeworld. Hundreds of ships leave the spaceports orbiting this planet every hour. We have observed shipyards and orbital habitats in the system. Furthermore, parts of several Romulan vessels that disappeared over the twenty years since the Korvath incident have been located in a holding depot on the planet's sixth moon. This has made Commander Nalora extremely anxious to act." Captain Philip Scott finished his log entry, deactivated the desktop terminal and left his ready room. He crossed the bridge to the conference lounge, where Captain Romanov and Commander Nalora were waiting impatiently. Nalora stood up as soon as he entered. "Captain Scott," she said, "It is my recommendation that we record the location of this planet and return to Romulan space. We can organize an invasion force within a week." Romanov buried his face in his palm. He had obviously heard this all before. "Commander," replied Scott, "I do not believe that would be wise. The Saratoga and the Kursk should decloak and attempt to open diplomatic relations with the Rajelliak. Starfleet sent us here to assess the threat posed by the Rajelliak and attempt to open a dialogue with them. We've fullfilled the first objective. I say we have a shot at the second." Nalora thought for a second. "Very well," she said, disappointed. Romanov spoke up. "The Ostberg will remain cloaked. We don't want to alarm the Rajelliak." Nalora nodded to the Russian, before departing for the transporter room to return to her ship. USS KURSK "This is it," said Dimitri, "Drop cloaks!" The Norway and Akira class ships shimmered out of cloak, attracting the attention of every sensor within a light year. A booming computer-generated voice cut over the intercom. "THIS IS THE RAJELLIAK CONGLOMERATE. YOU HAVE VIOLATED THE PEOPLE'S TERRITORY. IDENTIFY YOURSELVES AND STATE YOUR PURPOSE, OR THE PEOPLE WILL AVENGE YOUR INCURSION." Captain Romanov was momentarily taken aback. He finally brought himself to say, "I am Captain Dimitri Romanov of the Starship Kursk. I represent an organization known as the United Federation of Planets. We come on a mission of peace to make contact with your people." Silence. Then, "MANTAIN YOUR POSITION. THE PEOPLE WILL CONTACT YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE" Romanov let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding in. He sat down in his chair. "Captain," asked Ford, "Should I raise shields?" "Negative, Commander. We don't want to appear threatening in any way." "Understood, sir." * * * USS KURSK TWO HOURS LATER Romanov had never been so bored in his life. 'As soon as possible'. Right. Just then, a beeping caught his attention. Lieutenant Mordock turned around. "Captain," the Benzite operations officer reported, "I'm recieving a hail. It appears to be coming from a small vessel approaching our port bow." "On screen," ordered the captain. The viewscreen flickered to show a recognizably Rajelliak craft. It was dark red and has the same tapering nose as all other Rajelliak ships they had encountered. The viewscreen promptly changed to show the dark interior of the vessel. A Rajelliak officer stood bathed in pool of light. He had a deep but raspy voice. "I am Morthar, a representative of the people. Why have you violated our territory?" Romanov steeled himself before speaking loudly to the alien figure. "We have come here because of a request from the Romulan Empire, the people you are currently engaged in conflict with. We wish to establish peaceful relations with you and perhaps negogiate an end to your hostilities with the Romulans." Morthar looked offended. "We will NOT negogiate with the corrupt Romulan government! They are treacherous savages. We must complete our agreement with the Tal Shiar." Every member of the bridge crew looked up at the mention of this. "We are aware of no such agreement. As far as we and the Romulans know, you precipitated this conflict when you attacked a science vessel on your border twenty years ago." "We attacked that science vessel as part of our agreement with the Tal Shiar!" "Morthar, I would like to hear more about this 'agreement'. Perhaps you should come aboard our ship for a discussion." "Why should I trust you?" "I can only give you my word. We are a peaceful people. We are interested only in getting to the real cause of this conflict and ending it swiftly." Morthar paused before saying, "Very well, Captain Romanov of the Federation. I shall await transportation to your vessel." The viewscreen flicked off. Romanov tapped his combadge as he headed for the turbolift. "Captain to Transporter Room 2. Prepare to transport the alien officer aboard. I'm on my way down." "Understood, captain," replied the transporter chief. The turbolift doors closed, and the car descended into the Kursk. * * * TAL SHIAR VESSEL TALON NEAR THE ROMULAN/RAJELLIAK BORDER Subcommander Sorol slumped into the commander's chair of the Talon. His crew had only just finished the repairs resulting from their unsuccessful attempt to destroy Task Force 12. Sorol was in a bad mood after the defeat and wanted to relax. Why hadn't the Tal Shiar equipped these things with holosuites?, he pondered to himself. His mental criticism was interrupted by his communications officer's excited voice. "Subcommander," she said, "We are receiving a message from headquarters. The coup is to proceed without delay." Sorol's spirits lifted instantly. "What are our orders?," he asked. "We are to attack and subjugate the drydock Aerv. Tal Shiar personnel on the drydock will assist us." "Isn't that the drydock that the Starfleet shuttle carrier is being repaired in?," he enquired. "Affirmative," replied the communications officer. Sorol sat up straight in his chair. "Excellent." * * * USS KURSK SOMWHERE IN RAJELLIAK SPACE "Welcome aboard the Federation Starship Kursk." The Rajelliak officer shrugged off Romanov's greeting. "You wish to discuss our agreement with the Tal Shiar?" "Uh… yes. If you'll come with me." Dimitri led Morthar out to the corridor. Morthar looked around him curiously at every step. They finally arrived at a turbolift. The captain motioned for his guest to enter. "Deck one," Dimitri ordered. The turbolift set off without delay. Morthar finally found it in himself to talk. "The interior layout of your ship is random and confusing, captain. A more standardized design would doubtless improve your races' efficiency." Dimitri was unsure of how to reply. He had several friends at R&D back on Mars who would have been extremely offended by that comment. Finally, he said, "This layout has been developed over more than 300 years of space travel. We find it … most efficient." "If that is your preference, let it be so." said Morthar, cryptically. The turbolift slowed to a halt and the doors slid open, revealing the compact bridge of the Kursk. Morthar looked around inquisitively for a few moments, before he followed Romanov into the observation lounge. Captain Scott was awaiting them. The Starfleet captains had decided to leave Nalora and the Ostberg out of this, for now. "Morthar, I would like you to meet Captain Philip Scott. He commands the USS Saratoga, the other of our vessels." Morthar looked Scott up and down for several seconds. "Our sensor scans show that your vessel is quite dissimilar to this one. You must find it inefficient to work with such variations in your equipment." Scott blinked, unsure of how to reply to this excuse for a greeting. Thankfully, Romanov broke the ice before he got too confused. "Umm… I guess we should get down to business. Tell us about your agreement with the Tal Shiar." "Very well. Twenty-two years ago, one of our long-range scouting vessels made contact with a Tal Shiar listening post near our border. The Tal Shiar told this vessel of the corrupt and self-serving government of Romulus. Over the next few months, more of our vessels made contact with the Tal Shiar. Together, we formulated a plan to topple the Romulan government. The Rajelliak would attack the Romulan Imperial Military, degrading them enough to allow the Tal Shiar to assume control of the empire." The two Starfleet captains stared in disbelief. Scott finally said, "Why did you agree to help them? There is no benefit for you in this internal Romulan power struggle." "Oh, but there is, Captain Philip Scott. In return for our help, the Tal Shiar will provide us with devices that make ships invisible. Devices similar to those that you have on your ships." "Devices which one of your cruisers managed to see through," said Scott, angrily. "Yes," said Morthar, bluntly, "We knew that the Romulans posessed this technology, but we were unable to defeat it. Then, one of our ships somehow detected a Romulan vessel despite this device. It was rammed and destroyed. A glorious victory for the people." Scott's eyes narrowed to slits. "That was no Romulan vessel. That was part of our fleet. Six hundred and twenty-seven people were killed when you destroyed that ship, including our mission commander." Morthar's face contorted oddly. He was displaying some emotion, though neither Scott nor Romanov could work out what it was. Morthar's voice was cracking as he spoke. "The … people are… sorry. We… did not know that there were ships belonging to… other races operating in the area. Please accept my… apology on behalf of the people." The Starfleet officers were amazed at this display of remorse. "Let's leave that behind us," suggested Romanov, "The fact is, your people have been bribed into fighting a war for the Tal Shiar. You must understand that these people have a history of mistrust and deceit when dealing with other races, and even with their own people. We can show you the records to prove it. They probably don't intend to fulfill their promise to you. In fact, they may even plan in subjugating the Rajelliak race when they are in power." "You make far-reaching allegations, Captain Romanov, but they are not unreasonable. Give me time to consult with the people. We will unravel this web of deceit and resolve this conflict once and for all." The meeting could not have ended better for the Starfleet officers. The only stumbling block now would be revealing the prescence of the Ostberg to the Rajelliak. FLOOR OF THE ROMULAN SENATE, ROMULUS The Praetor had just finished looking over plans for a redevelopment of the city of Krocton when one of the senators came storming in the huge doors at the far end of the chamber. "Your Excellency, something terrible has happened. Tal Shiar units across the empire are in rebellion. The military cannot stop them in their weakened state." A look of utter disbelief crept across the Praetor's face. This was his worst nightmare realized. "Order all units away from the Rajelliak border. We must mantain the stability of the empire!" "As you wish, your Excellency." * * * USS SARATOGA TWO HOURS LATER "Captain Scott, the people have decided to turn against the deceitful Tal Shiar. We shall fight on the side of the government to prevent these liars taking control of the empire and threatening us." "I'm glad to hear it, Morthar," said Scott. "Our vessels will withdraw from the fighting, regroup and attack the Tal Shiar. By that time, you will have informed the Romulan Military of the truth and together we can crush the Tal Shiar once and for all." There was a distinct air of triumphalism in the Rajelliak's voice. "Understood," replied Scott, "Saratoga out." The captain immediately turned to Ensign Satar. "Ensign, engage the cloak and set a course for Romulus and engage at maximum warp." "Aye, sir." * * * USS ARROMANCHES MOORED AT ROMULAN DRYDOCK AERV Captain Hayes sighed. She felt so helpless sitting here in drydock, while Scott and Romanov were making contact with the Rajelliak and makeing decisions which could affect the course of history. She took another sip of coffee and sat back in her chair. At that moment, the intercom chirped. "Captain, this is Commander Clark. We're ready to restart the warp core and bring main power back on line." Catherine sat bolt upright. "Good work, Commander. Prepare to restart the core." She walked out onto the bustling main bridge, lit dimly with emergency lights. "Bridge to engineering, restart the core." There was a sickening pause before a deep humming noise was heard. The lights returned to full strength and inactive consoles sprang back to life. There was a small sigh of relief from all of the bridge crew. "Report," Hayes asked her operations officer. "Main power is back on line. Thrusters and impulse engines are operational. Warp engines are running at 73% efficiency. Torpedo launchers are back on-line. Phaser banks 3,4 and 7 are still offline, but the rest are active. Shields are at full strength" "Excellent," said Hayes. It wasn't perfect, but it was more than anyone could have hoped for. The communications console beeped. "Captain, we're receiving a hail from the drydock command centre." "On screen," ordered Hayes. The gray-haired Romulan admiral looked up from a console. "Captain Hayes," he said, "I have bad news. A squadron of Tal Shiar fighters is approaching us. We have recieved word that a Tal Shiar uprising is taking place. We do not know why. You must help us defend the station. We possess only light armaments." "I'm sorry, Admiral, but we can't get involved in this internal Romulan affair." "The Tal Shiar do not care about your Prime Directive. They will destroy you at a moment's notice. You will either defend yourselves or die. It is not my concern," the admiral replied, frostily. He cut the comm channel. "Ensign, what's the ETA on those fighters?" "Twenty minutes, captain," replied the ensign at ops. "Conn, release docking clamps. We're not hanging around here any longer." * * * TAL SHIAR VESSEL TALON APPROACHING DRYDOCK AERV "Raise shields. Lock disruptors. Load pulse torpedoes. Target the station's command centre." "Yes, Subcommander." The Talon's crew prepared themselves for battle. "Sir," reported the tactical officer, "The Starfleet ship is emerging from the drydock." Sorol reacted quickly. "Order the Dekadar to attack it. The remaining five ships will concentrate fire on the station." The tactical officer relayed Sorol's orders to the small fleet. USS ARROMANCHES "Shields are up. All weapons systems are ready." "Target the attacking ship and fire," ordered Hayes. The Arromanches' main phaser array lashed out at the Dekadar. The Tal Shiar ship reacted with a ferocious volley of disruptor fire. The Starfleet ship bucked under the impact. "Ensign, bring us about. Prepare to lauch three fighters!" The Arromacnhes slowly turned to face the dodging Tal Shiar vessel. Two Peregrin-class fighters emerged from the shuttlebay at the front of the engineering hull. They formed themselves into a triangular attack pattern with their mothership. "Arromanches to fighters. Assume attack formation Delta Four." The three Starfleet vessels surrounded the Tal Shiar vessel and began pounding it with phaser fire. Suddenly, the Dekadar made a sharp directional change. The Starfleet fighter had little time to react and was blown to pieces by disruptor fire. The second fighter moved in closer behind the Dekadar. It released a spread of photon torpedoes, all of which impacted squarely on the fleeing vessel. The female Romulan commander was thrown out of her seat. "Contact the Talon. Tell them we need assistance!" she roared over the chaos. It was promptly provided. A second fighter, the Koranorax broke off and began firing on the Arromanches. The shuttle carrier's shields could hold up no longer. Romulan disruptor fire cut into the exposed deck plates at the rear of the saucer section. On the bridge of the Arromanches, the enginnering console exploded and burst into flames. The computer's voice could be heard over the crackling. "Warning. Multiple hull breaches on decks 3, 4 and 5. Emergency forcefields inoperable." "Return fire!" shouted Hayes, "Aft torpedoes!" "Launchers are offline!" replied the tactical officer. Another disruptor bolt slammed into the ship, causing the lights to flicker and dim. Hayes felt panic growing within her. Meanwhile, the three other Tal Shiar ships, including the Talon, rapidly approached the drydock. Sorol clenched his fist. "All ships, open..." He was interrupted by an alarm from the tactical station. "Three ships decloaking!" shouted the tactical officer, "Dead ahead!" Sorol whirled around to look at the viewscreen. In front of the drydock, three shapes shimmered into existence. Sorol recognized them instantly. The Sarartoga, the Kursk and the Ostberg. Task Force 12 was back. USS ARROMANCHES A cheer went up on the bridge of the stricken shuttle carrier as they watched the ships decloak. USS SARATOGA "Raise shields. Target the ships attacking the Arromanches and fire at will." Commander Edwards released the awesome firepower of the Akira-class ship on the Tal Shiar fighters. One exploded spectacularly within a few seconds. The other broke off to starboard. Ensign Satar matched the Romulan vessel's movements precisely. "Quantum torpedoes, fire!" ordered Scott. Six blinding pockets of light emerged from the Saratoga's weapons pod in quick succession. The homed in on the fleeing Tal Shiar ship, striking and destroying it with surgical accuracy. The Saratoga flew throught the debris and turned around, heading back towards the drydock. Captain Hayes' smiling face appeared on the viewscreen. "Welcome back Saratoga. And not a moment too soon!" "It's good to see you again, Catherine. Try to keep out of trouble while we dispense with the other three." Hayes nodded and closed the channel. The crippled Arromanches moved away as the Saratoga moved closer to the battle now raging near the drydock. The Kursk, the Saratoga and the Ostberg each singled out a Tal Shiar ship and pursued it without remorse. The Ostberg practically ploughed through its target before joining the Kursk in attacking another ship. The combined firepower of the Federation and Romulan ships was too much for the target, which was quickly destroyed. Subcommander Sorol stamped his foot in fury on the bridge of the one remaining fighter. He was tired of losing battles to these people. He quickly ordered his helmsman to enagage cloak and retreat. Sorol had evaded them once again. USS KURSK "The Talon has cloaked. We've lost it, sir." reported Commander Ford. "Thank you, commander," said Romanov. "Sir!" Lieutenant Mordock shouted suddenly, "I'm detecting a small explosion on the drydock!" "On screen!" Romanov watched in shock as a small explosion in the engineering section of the drydock set off a chain reaction throughout the massive structure. A fireball engulfed the station. Within seconds, Drydock Aerv was no more. IMPERIAL ROMULAN WARSHIP OSTBERG Nalora screamed with rage. "How did that happpen?" she demanded, "The station received only minor damage!" "There were Tal Shiar aboard that station, Commander," replied her first officer, "They must have sabotaged it." Nalora looked sullen. "Contact the Starfleet vessels. Tell them to get to Romulus as quickly as possible and warn the Senate. We are going after Sorol and the rest of the Tal Shiar." "Aye, Commander." USS SARATOGA Scott watched the Ostberg depart. He looked away as soon as it was gone. He was still pondering what to do with the Arromanches. The ship's warp engines would be offline for another three hours at least. By then it would be too late for Romulus. The viewscreen changed to show Captain Hayes' face. "Philip," she began, "I can think of only one solution. We must transfer my crew to the Kursk and your ship. Then we destroy the Arromanches. We can't let it fall into Tal Shiar hands." Her voice was weighted with regret as she said this. Scott empathised with her. He had been first officer on the Honshu two years ago when it was attacked by the Cardassians. He knew the pain of losing a ship. "Very well, Catherine. Contact us when you're ready to begin evacuation." * * * USS SARATOGA THREE HOURS LATER Captain Hayes was the last member of the Arromanches' crew to materialise in the Saratoga's transporter room. She walked slowly out into the corridor. Her crew had transferred as many of the fighters and runabouts as was possible to the Saratoga. The Arromanches was now just an empty shell. The transporter chief opened a comm channel with the bridge. "Captain Hayes is aboard, sir." "Understood, chief" Captain Scott didn't flinch as he spoke the command. "Fire." The single quantum torpedo took only a few seconds to reach the Arromanches. It tore deep into the engineering hull, ripping the Arromanches apart. The two remaining Starfleet vessels cloaked and headed for the Romulan homeworld at maximum warp, leaving the debris spinning in space behind them. KROCTON CITY, ROMULUS Constant disruptor fire could be heard in streets all around the city. Major Narvek signalled to his unit to move forward into the town square. As soon as they rounded the corner, they were greeted by more disruptor blasts. Three men were vaporized in front of his eyes. His soldiers drew back around the corner. At that moment, a civilian woman ran screaming from a house on the other side of the road. Several Tal Shiar officers followed her out, one of them dragging a young child with them. Narvek immediately ordered his troops to fire on the Tal Shiar men. They were all killed instantly. The child ran to its mother. Narvek watched in horror as they were both vaporized by a disruptor blast from the other side of the square. Narvek decided that they needed aerial support to clear the snipers from the buildings surrounding the square. Just then, a droning noise piqued his attention. He looked up. Evidently, the Tal Shiar had thought of that before him. Three Romulan scout ships were descending rapidly through the clouds. They fired, destroying the building behind which Narvek and his men had been hiding and killing them all in the process. In cities all over the Romulan home planet, scenes like this were echoed as the empire slipped into the catastrophe of civil war. * * * FLOOR OF THE ROMULAN SENATE ROMULUS The soldiers hurridley ushered the Senators and the Praetor out of the huge hall and into a shuttlecraft. Escorted by several scout ships, the shuttle made its way into orbit to the main Romulan spaceport, still firmly under the control of the military. There, the Romulan leaders were transferred to the warbird Dakora, ready to leave at a moments notice * * * USS SARATOGA APPROACHING ROMULUS "Drop the cloak," Scott ordered, "Commander, can you contact the Romulan Senate?" "We're too late captain. My sensor readings show multiple engagements in progress on the surface of Romulus and Remus." Captain Scott's hopes sank. Now, his only priority was to get his ships home. Commander Edwards spoke again, "Captain, I'm receiving a hail from the military spaceport orbiting Romulus. It's the Praetor." "Let's hear him." The graven face of the Romulan leader filled the Saratoga's viewscreen. "Starfleet vessel. I must formally request asylum with the Federation. The Tal Shiar have almost completely overrun Romulus." "Your request will be granted, sir, but first there is somthing you must know. The Rajelliak were not the agressors in this war. The Tal Shiar contacted them two years before the Korvath incident. They were bribed into attacking the military so as the Tal Shiar could take over the empire." The stunned Praetor took a moment to take this all in. On reflection, though, he thought, this was not unlike the Tal Shiar. He had suspected them of treachery from the moment he took office. Now, it seemed, his suspicions were accurate. "We can transport you aboard immediately," said Scott. "Thank you, but that will not be necessary. I am aboard the Dakora. We wish to be escorted to Federation space as soon as possible." "Understood. Saratoga out." * * * STARBASE 173 THE NEXT DAY Admiral Tajike Nakamura stared at his bottle of saki. He had been anxious from the moment Task Force 12 and had left. When the Praetor had returned to Romulus the day after, he found he couldn't concentrate on routine starbase business anymore. He was too busy pondering what his ships could be doing on the other side of the Romulan Empire. He looked around him. Starfleet officers and alien visitors were enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the starbase's recreation lounge. If they only knew the signifigance of what was going on right now. Just then, his combadge chirped. Commander Aziz's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Admiral, we've just received a transmission from the Kursk. Task Force 12 is coming back. They are accompanied by the Praetor's ship." Aziz sounded less than ecstatic as he delivered the good news. Nakamura left the bar and headed for ops, determined to find out why. USS KURSK "Open a channel to the starbase." "Aye, sir." Nakamura appeared on the viewscreen. "Dimitri! It's good to see you again." "The feeling is mutual admiral." Nakamura's demeanour changed, "I understand that the Curie and Arromanches were lost," he said, slowly. "Yes, sir. However, we were able to rescue the crew of the Arromanches." Nakamura was relieved to hear this. "What of the Rajelliak?" he asked, "Did you make contact with them?" "Yes." "And?" "Well, let's just say that the situation with the Romulans is rather more complex than we originally thought." TO BE CONTINUED...