𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚖𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚃𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚑

𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑒, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑢𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑒𝑎

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑢𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑦, 𝐵𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑑𝑢𝑒.

𝐼𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑐𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑦𝑝𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑑.

>:/

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑠ℎ𝑢𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑡𝑠 𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑜𝑐𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔

How they cavort about, as if any of it truly matters.

Thinking their lies clever, their plans and machinations integral to the universe.

The same universe that cares not for the destruction of stars, of vibrant worlds, or thriving civilizations. Why would it care for their dancing?

Like mayflies

If there is no enemy, one must be invented. The military force which is denied an external target always turns against its own people.

Caution is far better than rushing in and feeling the rope tighten on one's neck

"Yes, I have concerns and believe that your...skills...would be most effective."

𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑎𝑑𝑒, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑙𝑦 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑎𝑟𝑑

"Would you prefer 'rag-a-muffin' instead?"

𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑔𝑙𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑝𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑦𝑦ℎ𝑎𝑛

"I didn't expect my guards would allow a ruffian in here..."

𝐵𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑜𝑡, 𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑒𝑠, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟. 𝐴 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑠, ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑒𝑥𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡...

𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑎𝑡 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔!

-engineers?"

"Yes, fighter engineers. I can go with you or I can have Seevik go, she is my right hand."

"Seevik is fine, I want you to monitor the ships as we test them and keep me informed as we go."

-𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑘 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑠.

"Yes, Subcommander, does it surprise you so? I did time a fighter pilot shortly after Khitomer," 𝑠ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑑 "Bochra will take another out, so we shall need-

-want ships to be sent, to his Flotilla or one of the worlds they patrol. Now," 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑎 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑑, "I want to take one of these ships out and see how they handle."

"Rekkhai? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 wish to take one out?" 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑏𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑔𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔-

-𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑏𝑦 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ, "I have seventeen old fighters ready to be sent to the Romulan Republic; Senator Letant has given you final say, Commander."

"I am waiting for a meeting with D'Tan's ambassador for details on where they-

-hundred in four months." 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑚, 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑠 𝐵𝑜𝑐ℎ𝑟𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑟𝑎𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑝𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑔𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑢𝑙𝑙.

"Yes, rekkhai, D'Velas and Arrkial are both at full production." 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑑𝑑 𝑜𝑓𝑓 𝑎 -

-𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑡, 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑙𝑦, "They're a fair sight faster than anything we've had for close quarters, the Star Empire won't know what hit 'em."

"I have been told we have another eighty sent for delivery in the next month, with a further-

-on them since they arrived from D'Velas. They've all passed inspections, are fully armed and operational. I've had my best pilots putting them through their paces and been doing mock fights, snappy little ships." 𝐾𝑒𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑎 𝑟𝑎𝑔 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡-

-𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 "Aren't they beauties?! Fully checked, decked, and all set!"

"Shaoi ben, Subcommander Keevas, I have no doubt you have gone over every centimeter of them," Toreth smiled, looking at him, "Are they ready to go?"

"Yes, Commander, we've been working-

"We may sell him some of the old fighters...though Letant is of a mind to donate them as a sign of good will. I am not opposed to this, D'Tan needs all the help he can get." 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠.

"Shaoi kon, Riov Toreth, Erei'riov Bochra!" 𝑎 𝑠𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟 ℎ𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟-

-𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝘛𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘢'𝘢 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑝 8.4, 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑐𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑑𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑒𝑛𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝𝑠. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑦 ℎ𝑎𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑔ℎ ℎ𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑦𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑚 𝑑𝑒𝑓𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒, 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑎 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑢𝑝𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘢𝘪 𝑐𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑠

"After all the delays and reworkings I am eager to see if it will live up to expectations...we have sunk a great deal of money and time into this project, I want to see if it has been worth it." 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑙𝑖𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑢𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑟𝑢𝑏𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠.

𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓-

-𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑎𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠. 𝑆𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑑𝑑𝑒𝑑, 𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑝𝑡 𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛.

"Are you certain you want to be the one testing it, riov?" 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑑𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑜𝑟, ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑎𝑦.

"Do you doubt my ability to fly a fighter?" 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑠𝑘𝑒𝑑, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦-

>;)

My friend

I am well enough, working for my people. There is so much to do, but worth it

Ahh, greetings, Doctor...you traded up, I see

Jolan tru, I do not believe we have met