(I'm, going to post this very brief piece of Checkmate here, mostly to bump the thread but also because I quite like it, even if I do say so myself! I hope you enjoy and I will hopefully be posting more on here over the coming week) Union’s Wraith wardroom: two prime hours before arrival of Cardassian fleet. “...so I said to the Breen, that wasn’t a cryptodagger!” At this the whole room burst into gales of hearty laughter. Ferengi humour was often an acquired taste, but Pok's joke had been just the thing to relieve the tension amongst the Cardassian officers. Dijmas took another pull of his kanar and glanced around the wardroom. The other four Cardassians sat around the large table at the center of the room, each with a glass of kanar and a relaxed smile on their faces. This is how it should be, Dijmas thought. We Cardassians are social people driven by our intellects and need to connect to the greater whole. His own smile slipped from his face as he remembered the last few conversations that he had with his beloved grandfather regarding the Cardassia of centuries past from the time of the Founding to the glories of the Way... Pah! Those days are long gone Dijmas, it is to the present that you must look. He pondered that thought for a scarce few seconds and found a sad logic to them. Dijmas sternly forced his thoughts back towards the present and to his guests. Pok had just finished his fourth glass of kanar and the strong liquor had obviously left him in a high state of inebriation which amused his Cardassian hosts. The Gul had seen his men silently laughing at the Ferengi’s drunken ramblings, laughing at the short alien and his increasing slurred speech patterns. Naturally what Pok said next throw the whole roomful of Cardassians into proxies of consternation. “I did notice something unusual on my way to this system, it seems that there are several fleets of Cardassian ships randomly warping all over the sector to no apparent end and I must admit to some confusion on my part, why would a race as ruthlessly well organised as the Cardassians waste time and resources on such an odd endeavor? After all you are not hew-mons are you?” Unsurprisingly the Daimons voice was now clear of any pretence of inebriation and his eyes where now clear and calculating and he now looked around the room awaiting a response. Dijimas merely smiled politely and stated the bare simple fact to the Ferengi and his crew. “We are at war with the Klingon Empire.” The Daimon nodded sagely and seemed to appreciate the Guls forthright reply when Glinn Tavor whom obviously was not a regular Kanar drinker chose to speak up. “Besides we could not let those Forehead scrum know exactly where the fleet is headed, it would spoil the surprise”. The young Glinn smiled wolfishly and turned to his fellow Central Command officers for support. It was immediately impressed upon him by the fixed stares of his fellow Cardassians and the wide grins of the Ferengi traders that he had spoken somewhat out of hand...
(A new segment today, this time dealing with the other side. Enjoy!) On the edge of a Bat’leth It gilded slowly and majestically though the darkness of space its fearsome weapons prime and ready for battle. It resembled nothing more than a hawk about to prey upon a slow moving target, it was a dagger aimed at the hearts of the enemies of its creators. A cloak of invisibility protected it from the naked eye and from most sensor fields. It was a K’vort class Bird of Prey and on its cramped bridge the glorious captain of the vessel was steady losing what little temper he had left... “SENSORS, WHERE IS MY TARGET?” Captain Klaa flung spittle all over the young warrior at the sensor station on the bridge “Find me something to kill for the glory of this ship and the Empire or Kahless help me I’ll skin you alive!” By this point the noble captains face was but an inch from the young man who could only promise to do his best and avoid cringing shamefully in the face of such untempered fury. L’kin, the first officer of the IKS C’vort watched the display with contempt. This fool knows nothing of the ways of command he thought he is merely a strutting bully who inspires no loyalty in his men, with no real battles to his name. At least his namesake did battle with the Great Kirk. L’kin was well familiar with the tale of Klaa of the House of Dromos, he had been named after Captain Klaa of the IKS Chontay whose impulsive behaviour had resulted in a shameful demotion to the position of translator at the trials of aliens and he would have remained there had not a sneak Romulan attack not given him a chance to die with honour. However his Grandson appeared only to have inherited the name and the fearsome temper of the first Klaa with none of his warrior skill. And I must manage this petaQ and make certain that he does not kill all of us with his incompetence, L’kin bitterly thought. Indeed it had taken a mini battle in and of itself to convince the fool to engage the cloak before entering Cardassian space. The Cardassians are many things but they are not fools, they will easily be able to spot a uncloaked Bird of Prey entering their territory and they will send one of their Galor class warships to blow us out of the sky. As a seasoned and honest warrior it was L’kins duty to consider all the possible outcomes of the mission, good or bad. Of course Klaa had no doubts about the war boasting about the numbers of Cardassians that he would slay and how the Cardassian cowards would flee at the mere slight of the Klingon fleet. Naturally things had not gone to plan and at the last report from the main fleet the resistance from the Cardassians was stiffing greatly and slowing down the advance significantly. And even that was propaganda for the troops. L’kins brother, General Keleth, had told him of several battles lost with dozens of warships and hundreds of Warriors lost to no good effect and with every planet and outpost taken from the Union heaving with an almost uncontrollable insurgency. Already there were signs of the Cardassians mobilising for full scale warfare, with conveys being organised and positions undergoing fortification. The C’vok had been forced to avoid several large conveys in the last two days alone and recently had to dodge a large Cardassian fleet that had been randomly warping around the sector. And our sensors have picked up several other fleets in the area, all in different random vectors. L’kin had to admit to a certain admiration of this tactic, the Cardassians knew that the Klingons would send ships into this sector and had obviously sent several different task forces though the region in order to trap and destroy any enemy ships plus it had the useful psychological effect of reminding the Klingons that this was no mere nuisance like the Kreel that the Empire was dealing with. Several of the warriors on this very ship had cast aspersions on the mission doubting that they would even achieve anything of honour before being killed. And I had to bang their heads together lest our brave captain execute the fools L’kin though sourly what is even worst for me is that I agreed with them. Indeed L’kin was of the (very private) opinion that if the feared Obsidian Order had not fallen or the ruthless Central Command not been overthrown then the war might well have been over as soon as it began. As it is the Empire would lose many fine Warriors by the end of this conflict... L’kins musings were interrupted but the excited call of the young sensor officer. “I have a target my Captain” the young man said with a wide grin on his face “a Cardassian ship medium sized with minimal weaponry and weak shielding; I think it is a freighter sir! Captain Klaa frowned and snarled angrily “I was hoping for a Warship to engage in honourable conflict with! Gah, put the petaQs onscreen.” L’kin struggled valiantly with the temptation to roll his eyes at the young fool’s bravado and turned his gaze towards the view screen. The Cardassian ship had the same ochre colouring as the rest of their fleet but it lacked for the sleek deadly lines of their warships. Indeed the vessel was short and blocky with a midsection that was full of cargo containers and no visible signs of weapons or other offensive abilities. Captain Klaa sneered at the image of the hapless Cardassian ship, “prepare to lower the cloak and raise all weapons, we’ll use that barge as target practice!” L’kin sighed inwardly and moved to his captain’s side. “I trust sir, that you remain aware of our mission to capture all Cardassian materiel in order to gather intelligence on their war making abilities?” Both Klingon officers glared at either other in a silent contest of will whilst all around them warriors awaited the outcome. The younger and more inexperienced Captain broke first. “Very well, jam all outgoing signals and lock weapons on-target but do not fire unless ordered to. Decloak!”
Hmmm...why do I think this Klingon idiot is about to have a run-in with the Groumall? I hope to see these arrogant, one-track fools get their asses handed to them--and soon! (Though regretfully L'Kin most likely cannot be turned to the wisdom of the State, so he must die as well.)
Oh don't worry, those Klingon fools will get just what they deserve. However this is not the Groumall that they are dealing with, after all the future and illustrious commander of that most noble vessel is still on Cardassia Prime. (The crew of this ship will give a typical Cardassian greeting to the Klingon interlopers) As for L'kin, a intelligent Klingon is a sad thing to waste so he will not be dying just yet. His captain on the other hand...
I certainly look forward to seeing this "greeting," that's for sure! As for L'Kin...you do have a point there. An intelligent Klingon could be an asset...as long as that intelligence is turned towards our aims. Any plans to that effect?
Thor Damar, I really like this. I am going to have to go back and re-read when you post the next section; you're keeping me guessing as to what's going to happen next!