Meanwhile ...

[Joe Manning 0]

Admiral Fuller adjusted the cuffs of his dress uniform while he waited for the turbolift to arrive. It was a nervous tic more than anything. This was the moment of truth -- a ceremony unveiling Starfleet's most secretive engineering project, a project so classified that only perhaps three or four Admirals knew the details. All of Starfleet's top brass were gathered to find out what the Engineer Corps had been building for the past four years.

 

Blending in was going to be difficult. Fuller had known many of these men and women before his two year stint on the MIA list ... before his defection to the Syndicate. Keeping his new allegiances buried might prove difficult. But if he could pull it off, he could walk out of this ceremony with one of Starfleet's greatest secrets.

 

The turbolift doors open, and Fuller emerged to survey the scene. Admirals, Commodores, wealthy investors, and Federation Councilmembers, shared glasses of fine champagne and snippets of juicy gossip in the crowded upper tier of the USS Churchill's lounge. Fuller put on a pleasant face, nodding and smiling to nearby officers as he strode up to the balcony overlooking the lower level. More officers were seated in rows of chairs leading up to the front dais. They were the most high-ranking of Starfleet's hierarchy; Fuller could see Fleet Admiral Sawyer himself sitting in the front row, looking older and more weary than ever. Behind the dais, the lounge's viewport spanned an entire wall of the lounge. It offered a view of the gentle red haze of the Rose Nebula, which the Churchill continued to cruise through on the way to its mysterious destination.

 

Fuller leaned against the balcony's railing and watched as Admiral Thorne approached the dais. Thorne was the project's leader, directly guiding the SFCE's design and construction efforts since the beginning. He was also Starfleet's fastest rising star -- a top advisor to Admiral Sawyer, direct commander of a significant bulk of the fleet, and a popular pick to replace Sawyer as the head of Starfleet. No doubt, this ceremony would be another step forward in his advancement. Sawyer, Fuller noted, did not look up as Thorne approached the dais; the frequent disagreements between the two were not a well-kept secret in the high circles of Starfleet.

 

Thorne cleared his throat into the audio amplifier hovering at the front of the dais; it took a position next to his chin and carried his voice throughout the lounge. "If I could have your attention, ladies and gentlemen ... we will be arriving at the heart of the nebula in just a second, so the demonstration will proceed shortly. If you would take your seats, gather around on the top level ... this is a momentous occasion for the United Federation of Planets and a day which Starfleet takes a significant step forward in its efforts to restore its former glory."

 

A low hum was beginning to reverberate through the deck. Fuller felt his muscles tense as several officers gathered around him at the railing. He noticed that the haze in the viewport was beginning to thin out. If they were cruising deeper into the nebula, would that be happening? "We will soon be passing through a sonic field which keeps the nebular gasses at bay," Thorne explained, sensing that many of the attendees were asking themselves the same question. "The site of Project Legacy has been sheltered within a globe of sonic energy at the center of this nebula. You can understand how the location might keep the Project out of the sight of prying eyes." Indeed, the 'prying eyes' of the Syndicate had been searching for Project Legacy for four years.

 

Thorne stepped to the side and turned to the viewport; the amplifier followed his movement, spinning around his head. In one sudden burst, the hum of the deck plating reached a shuddering crescendo and then faded entirely, and the red haze of the nebula parted completely. The comments shared by the attendees then ranged from excited to stunned to mystified. In the wide open space beyond the sonic field, a space perhaps as large as a moon, two starships faced each other.

 

One starship appeared, at first, to be entirely unremarkable. If Fuller was not mistaken, it was Excelsior class, a vessel that had been out of commission for almost a century. At least, there were close similarities to an Excelsior class -- the size, the general shape, the layout of external equipment. What -was- interesting was that the vessel appeared brand new. This was no wreck salvaged from a derelict shipyard; it had been newly built. This was not the ship dazzling the Federation's most prominent individuals, however.

 

The other ship bore a resemblance to a Sovereign class. Size was the most immediately apparent departure. It was almost two times the size of a Sovereign. The saucer was proportionately wider, with a curious notch at the bow. Its primary nacelles were also spread wider and angled further back. The secondary nacelles were notable departure #2 -- two more were constructed within the saucer, their exhausts protruding from the stern on the port and starboard sides. As Churchill pulled closer, Fuller's eyes narrowed for a closer look. Departure #3 was not so easy to spot. Where the phaser arrays would generally be found on a Sovereign class, there were ... alternate weapon batteries. Alien weapon batteries. Fuller was sure he recognized the species; the implications disturbed him.

 

"Admirals and Commodores, Councilmen and Councilwomen, distinguished Federation guests ... " Thorne turned back to the crowd with a smile. "I give you the USS Caesar, the first prototype of Starfleet's new Dynasty class starship."

 

The chatter of the crowd picked up. More of the voices sounded impressed than disturbed. Several attendees applauded. Nothing had changed since the end of the war, Fuller thought. One person who was not chattering or applauding, Fuller noticed, was a figure in a hooded robe moving slowly around the rows of chairs toward the dais. Admiral Thorne continued his presentation as the voices faded, "An impressive piece of Starfleet engineering, I am sure you all agree. The final product of two decades of advanced research, four years of design, and four more years of construction, Caesar utilizes a number of new advancements in warp physics, weapon and shielding technology, organic engineering, and mechanized labor."

 

The lights in the lounge faded and a holographic diagram of the ship popped up on one side of the dais. Thorne pointed to glowing displays in the diagram as he continued, "Three warp cores -- one at the usual position in the engineering hull, one at the aft end of the saucer, and one at the fore end -- share the duties of powering the ship advanced technology and generating a warp bubble capable of propelling the ship through subspace at previously unmatched speeds. The need to shrink our sphere of influence will be greatly reduced when our fleet is lead by ships capable of traversing hundreds of light years in mere minutes at a moment's notice."

 

The cloaked figure had taken a vacant seat in the front row. The diagram showed a number of small dots roving through the corridors. "Caesar's crew will be supplemented by automated security and repair drones. These small hovering globes, utilized already in many of our shipyards, will perform the mundane tasks of a starship's enlisted crew and will provide immediate crisis-response in environments that have become hostile to the humanoid officers -- sections exposed to engineering coolant, for instance, or corridors that have been exposed to biological attack during a hostile boarding. Receptacles spread throughout the ship allow the drones to regularly recharge, almost entirely eliminating the necessity for crew maintenance. If early tests fare well, the system may be integrated into many of our existing starships, lessening the need for new personnel.

 

"Of course, we find ourselves in tumultuous times, when galactic powers grow insular and the Federation is surrounded by uncertainty. The Klingons have grown distant and cold. The Bajorans and Cardassians have formed an alliance, working toward the common cause of opposing us. The Orions gather supporters and openly declare rebellion against the Federation. Who knows what revenges the Romulans plot after the loss of their homeworld? Even our colonies in the Hyades cluster have grown incredibly self-dependent and routinely ignore our decrees. In these troubled times, defense remains our top priority."

 

The glistening, translucent shell of a deflector shield formed over the diagram. "Herein lie our greatest advances yet, the results of years of painstaking research by Starfleet's R&D division. For the first time, the data that has been brought back to us from our Delta Quadrant fleet has allowed us to equip a starship with functional Borg technology."

 

A wave of whispers coursed through the crowd, and Fuller sensed more unease to the voices this time. "Fear not, ladies and gentlemens, for all the concerns about this technology have been addressed through rigorous testing. The benefits, you will find, will put your minds at ease quickly. Adaptive shielding and particle weapon arrays allow Caesar's defense systems to learn and quickly adjust to the offensive and defensive configurations of enemy ships. A hull combining advanced polymers with semi-organic materials is capable of self-repairing damaging slowly and strengthening itself against future attacks of a similar nature. The ship itself will become more combat-capable after repeated engagements with a specific foe."

 

The diagram of the ship expanded to show a view of both ships, the Excelsior also shielded. Through the viewport and in the holo-image, the Dynasty class ship begin firing its beam weapon at the Excelsior. "In addition to the enhanced range of the beam weapons, just over 1.5x the range of a conventional phaser, you may closely observe that each subsequent shot weakens the shield of the USS Alamos by gradually increasing degrees. The beam weapons are making their own adjustments, on the fly, to modulation and energy output. That energy output, when compared to a conventional phaser array at maximum power, is capable of three times the intensity while consuming the same amount of power."

 

Thorne looked back at the viewport, where the Caesar ceased its particle barrage of the Alamos' shields. He looked back at the crowd with a pleased grin. "But this is not even the peak of Caesar's offensive capability. Observe the large opening at the nose of the saucer. That opening is tied directly to Caesar's foremost warp core, which was installed especially for the purpose of powering its greatest weapon -- the Plasma Cannon. If beam weapons and torpedoes prove to be no match for a foe, Caesar can go into an emergency power mode in which the two warp drive cores take on the full burden of powering the ship while the forward core stores up its plasma energy for a single burst of the Cannon. You will note that Alamos has diverted all power to her forward shields ... "

 

Thorne turned around and stepped almost to the edge of the dais, making sure everyone had a clear view of the two starships. There were anxious mutterings throughout the lounge as everyone waited for something to happen. Finally, the notch in Caesar's saucer emitted a wide beam of searing energy that soared through the space between the two starships. In half the blink of an eye, the beam ripped through Alamos' shields, crashed into the Excelsior class ship, and discarded its shattered fragments in the shockwave of the ensuing explosion. The crowd was stunned into near-silence. Fuller merely gazed ahead at this incredible display with a blank expression.

 

Did they construct an entire starship simply to be destroyed in this demonstration?

 

"The last Starfleet innovation that any who challenge us, even the Beholders, may ultimately witness." Thorne turned back to the crowd. "The energy discharge of the Plasma Cannon is capable of leveling entire continents."

 

"An interesting choice of words." It was the robed figure in the front row who had spoken, grabbing everyone's attention. Fuller had sensed that the crowd would be hearing from that one eventually. Thorne looked down with a slightly bemused face; he seemed to have expected this as well. "'Levelling entire continents.' I am curious, Admiral Thorne ... do you expect any planetary land masses to threaten the stability of the Federation?"

 

Thorne looked around the crowd and chuckled. "I was merely giving a general idea of the weapon's energy output. Starship Captains and fleet commanders -are- interested in such things." He turned his gaze back to the cloaked figure. "I hope that after everything the Federation has been through within the past forty years, it is not still going to be disputed that we must prepare to defend ourselves."

 

The figure's hooded head tilted slightly. "Is there, then, an initiative to install this weapon on our starbases and colonies, rather than on our starships? Or are we only interested in defending the fleet which has been constructed to defend us? That would seem to me a paradox."

 

Thorne smiled like a parent humoring a child's flimsy logic. "If an enemy fleet reaches so deep as our inhabited planets, than I believe we have already lost a major battle. In order to ensure the security of this Federation, we -must- establish borders and our clear intentions to defend them. The Caesar is the first in a line of ships that will stand at those borders and deliver a clear message to would-be foes -- do not even dare to threaten us."

 

"Yes, I do indeed see an 'impressive piece of engineering,' to use your words," the hooded head nodded. "I also see an invitation. The foes you are sensing in the shadows will be invited to develop defenses against this mighty weapon, and perhaps your confidence in its capabilities will prove an undoing. But far worse, those foes will be invited to build a starship the equal of Caesar. When they construct their own Plasma Cannon ... I wonder how more willing they will be to ... 'level continents.'"

 

Admiral Fuller had seen and heard enough. The politicking interested him little. He turned from the railing and slipped away from the crowd toward the turbolift. He would need to be rest, think on everything he'd just seen, and prepare a report to deliver back to the Syndicate. The chances that he would be able to board the Caesar and sabotage it were remote -- security would be airtight. He would have to content himself reporting the thought that was weighing on his mind the most heavily.

 

Within five years, the Federation would be strong enough to begin extending its reach ...