Revelations...
Posted on Thu Sep 24th, 2020 @ 7:55am by James Leyton & Makeba Brown
Edited on on Wed Apr 20th, 2022 @ 4:26am
2,087 words; about a 10 minute read
Mission:
Episode 10 - New Home, Same Pioneers
Location: SCIF - Deck 9 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD009 2200 hrs
In the SCIF aboard the USS Pioneer Makeba Brown had learned that Starfleet liked to hide its secrets in plain sight. However, they always had to be careful due to the potential of a Starfleet Admiral getting too curious for their own good and stumbling across something that could spell their own door. She was busy reading the reports that were being filed by various ships close to the Federation-Cardassian border. Even though they had left the area, she was determined to learn what she could about Leyton.
The Federation council was currently condemning the movement known as the New Maquis; some of them believed like Admiral Ford the New Maquis were "irresponsible hotheads," but truthfully, Brown saw them for the family they were rather than a bunch of traitors. She could never bring herself to look at them the same way that O Flannagain or anyone else did. As a member of Starfleet Intelligence Makeba was now privy to a number of things that she was not as security officer. Despite the fact that her access was limited, she still was able to learn what Starfleet intended to do about the New Maquis. Her mission though, her self-imposed mission was to root out Leyton. As such she would use her new access, achieve that goal.
Ford was angry by the rise of the Maquis and the threats to the peace in the area, and many of the Federation Council were just as annoyed, but truthfully what did they think was going to happen? Did they really think there would be no consequence that everyone would fall back in line just because some jumped up admiral forgave them at a time of war? When the dust settled on the Dominion War the issues at the core of the Maquis movement were still there and Makeba Brown knew that better than most.
No, people did not work like that, something the cold and icy admiral did not understand. Brown shook his head at the mess that Malbrooke and the Pioneer had gotten into.
Ford and many other Starfleet officers failed to understand when you worked hard for something important you would refuse to let it be snatched out of your hands by people who had never even looked them straight in the face and told them what was going on. Brown still had dozens of operatives on both sides of the Cardassian border monitoring the situation to make sure nothing happened that would cause problems for the Federation in the long term, and she wasn't really surprised by what she saw. In the short time that she had been in her new position, Makeba recruited many of her old friends as informants. She would promise them what she could in exchange for the information.
Now that the True Way had returned, the civilians were frightened. Many of them were arming themselves to defend themselves and their properties, the places they had worked for years to get before the Federation just abandoned them to Cardassia. They were frightened because the Cardassians still had not learned from the past. That the Detapa Council and Cardassia would seek to do as they did before. While she hated the idea, she was not surprised that the New Maquis sought leadership in James Leyton.
Already they had caused several problems for Starfleet; a large number of Starfleet officers, particularly those who had served in the region, had publicly spoken out Starfleet’s actions, some of them had resigned their commissions, just a repeat of how the Maquis formed years before. There were even some reports of officers simply going AWOL to become members of the New Maquis when they realized for themselves just arguing was not going to be the solution to the problem, using their Starfleet experience to great effect. These officers like Leyton believed that a stronger Starfleet was the answer. That a Federation that looked into itself rather than look outward would serve its people better. Makeba refused to admit it aloud but she saw the appeal to that thinking. She also knew that was the main reason the USS Pioneer sat on the Romulan border instead of at Empok Nor.
Brown stood up from her desk and walked over to the small table that she had a large glass jug of water sitting on it; she'd had the table set a fair distance away so then she would be able to get up and think about the various problems surrounding her, it also served as a way to merely stretch her legs.
Truthfully, Brown was not really surprised by the rise of the New Maquis. In fact, she had some of her contacts inspire doubt within it. Makeba knew more than most that sowing doubt in the New Maquis would be the best way to keep it alive long enough to catch Leyton. Yes, she had committed treason, at least in the mind of a shortsighted individual, but truthfully, Brown's reasons were more complex than that.
The Federation had brought the whole mess onto themselves. It was bad enough that they gave Cardassia everything it wanted in the aftermath of the Dominion War. Now for some unknown reason they pull out leaving the job half-done and leaving the colonists living there in the lurch yet again. This would put a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. When they had handed over the colonies in the DMZ to fulfil their treaty's promises to the Cardassian Union, they had risked the creation of the Maquis anyway. Now that they hand everything back again, this time to the Detapa Council they create the New Maquis. When will they learn… Makeba thought. However, intelligence inside Cardassian space reported various plans to find some way to force the Detapa Council to surrender to the military, which would launch the new Obsidian Order. Of course, those plans are now slowed down thanks to the Pioneer. A small amount of pride swelled inside Makeba as she thought about her part in the retake of Empok Nor.
It had become widely known the seeds of the New Maquis had come in the form of Captain Thomas Gately, who not only spoke out about the dangers that the Cardassians continued to be but turned renegade and used his ship to attack the Cardassians.
Nevertheless, SID had already known about the dangers and the resurgence of the Obsidian Order. They had been aware of it from the very beginning thanks to their contacts and agents in the Cardassian Defense Force, and they had been in the process of tracing the various officers of the Order. The problem was in what they would do about it. Starfleet Intelligence and SID were good at clandestine operations, but its operatives and members were aware of the dangers of carrying them out. They could have arranged for the assassination of the officers, they might even have sabotaged the ships, and if that happened it would do incalculable damage to Intelligence Operations everywhere so, SID had made the decision, risky as it was, to have the information find its way to Gately.
He was a perfect choice, really; after losing his family to the Cardassians, the good officer didn't have a reason to like or even trust Cardassians. He had exposed the Obsidian Order, and forced Gul Prenar to act ahead of schedule. Nevertheless, it was a setback and the news had alarmed both Starfleet command and the Federation Council since they knew the Cardassians were not the saints they were portraying themselves as. It also now seemed to everyone that the Cardassians would simply repeat their old ways. Hence the amass of ships at Empok Nor.
Unfortunately, three short months later, the Trivas System was in all out war. No one was happy about it. So many compromises had to be made to the Cardassians, who were such a coldly greedy race, and they had squeezed one concession after another from the diplomats, although Starfleet command believed it was the best that they would have. However, they hadn't seen that by giving Cardassia protection they would be setting the stage for a new form of rebellion.
Yes, the New Maquis would have appeared in a different form with or without SIDs interference, only in an unaltered state the New Maquis would have been driven out or destroyed anyway while the Obsidian Order merely gained a stronger foothold into and ultimately retake Cardassia. Makeba’s eyes widened as she learned that Starfleet was behind the creation of the New Maquis, an organization that she loved, and organization that she thought was on the right side of history was merely a tool for Starfleet to get what it needed in the sector. She wondered exactly how many people knew this.
But Leyton was the proverbial monkey wrench in the plan. No one expected him to resurface and for the New Maquis to follow him. Now despite the setback of the loss of Empok Nor and Gul Prenar Leyton was still poised to attack with his very own fleet. The former Admiral was bent on proving that the Federation needed to show a firm hand to the galaxy or risk invasion. The Obsidian Order and the Central Command were just the things to help him achieve that goal. It was only a matter of time the loss of Prenar was a blow. But where you cut off the head another grows. Makeba was sure they had not heard or seen the last of Leyton. In fact, her revenge depended upon it.
Makeba knew the Federation Council wanted the Cardassian Union to become part of the United Federation of Planets, but she knew they would not want their 'paradise' to become the Bajoran occupation on a galactic scale. She realized that Quinn was right; she could find a purpose in Starfleet. He purpose was to protect the Federation at all costs, and if that meant undermining alleged peace and keep the New Maquis going then so be it. The question in the back of her head was did that make her no better than Leyton.
With that in mind, Makeba had arranged for some of the intelligence collected by her contacts to be slowly filtered into the New Maquis. This information was on Admiral Leyton and what he tried to do with the New Maquis. None of her contacts knew where she was getting this intelligence from, and it was intelligence not unfounded rumor, but solid fact. That was it. Once the information was filtered through into the New Maquis, the rest was history. She would know where Leyton was and could go on the offensive.
Makeba was actually quite pleased with her work; not only would she secure the Federation and Starfleet from itself, but she would see her friends thrive unfettered. The only thing that worried her now was the potential for the New Maquis to go too far, but if that happened then Makeba would have to find a way to end them. She had already started compiling reports, and she looked for any plot by her old friends that could potentially cause harm to the Federation. Her contacts on both sides of the fence were more her eyes and ears, but Makeba would listen to them, and she would make plans about what could come. The time had come for her to choose a side. Makeba Brown chose the one side that she could, the one that made the most sense, the one that she hoped Malbrooke and O Flannagain were on. That of The Federation, and she would make sure to secure that side from enemies from within or without.
While keeping one hand and one eye on Cardassian Space she now bent her mind and her skills to the Romulans and the Tal Shiar. Like the Obsidian Order Makeba knew that the Tal Shiar could not stay silent for long. It was a matter of time before they tipped their proverbial hand and Makeba would be ready. She had a plan, it would involve some deep cover and she would need Masters’ approval. Makeba sighed as she realized that it would have to wait until after the wedding. The happy event got the Romulans off the hook. For now…
A Joint Post By
Makeba Brown
HUMINT Agent, USS Pioneer
James Leyton
Commanding Officer, New Maquis
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