The black market is booming.

Across the Alpha and Beta Quadrant, law enforcement has reported an uptick in the smuggling and trade of illicit goods. From Starfleet ships on the fringes of the Federation to the few friendly sources in neighbouring powers, accounts flood in of clandestine deals and auctions, of goods slipped across sleepy borders and bribes paid to customs officials to turn a blind eye. But this is not the usual contraband of controlled substances or mundane weapons making the underground economy boom. This is much, much worse.

The events leading up to Frontier Day caused massive gaps in Starfleet’s security. To achieve their goals, the Changeling conspiracy looted key Federation facilities, such as the black site Daystrom Station, for valuable and dangerous technologies. Even before that, they spent years routing resources and equipment towards their field agents, leading to dangerous ships like the powerful Shrike roaming freely and earning a reputation in the criminal underworld. These experimental or restricted technologies – or even well-understood equipment that is simply dangerous in the wrong hands – are still out there. Likewise, Borg technology flooded the black market in mid-2401, and not all of it was secured by Starfleet, and much of it still floats about the underground economy. Some Federation facilities, still closing gaps in their compromised security, have reported more recent theft of equipment and materiel. Frontier Day may have failed, but there are many who would pay a high price to secure these prized and dangerous goods.

The Orion Syndicate, that expansive crime organisation whose influence can be felt from Qo’noS to Kzin, is believed to be at the heart of it. These days, the Syndicate is a deeply factionalised organisation with members from a hundred worlds and species, disparate in their methods, commitment to violence, or areas of operations, but all sharing one goal: total domination of the criminal underworld. There is hardly a report of the acquisition, movement, trade, or use of these illicit technologies that does not mention at least in passing a known or suspected member or aperture of the Syndicate. Sometimes the connection is tenuous: a fixer with associations to the Syndicate arranged a meeting but played little part in goods changing hands, merely taking their tiny cut. Sometimes, known and dangerous members of the organisation have taken the lead, raiding restricted Federation facilities for weapons before selling them at underground auctions overseen by high Syndicate leaders. Everywhere, the Orion Syndicate’s fingerprints are found.

Despite the severity of this situation, the assignment of the Fourth Fleet to clamp down on this surge of the black market has been met with surprise. Starfleet ships are large units, bold in their self-identification, and their crews not always suited to subtle law enforcement. But the Fourth Fleet’s galaxy-wide mandate allows them to go anywhere to follow any lead, harnessing local knowledge and experience to get to the bottom of investigations. Furthermore, many of these incidents are highly dangerous; while the criminal underworld rarely fields forces to stand their ground in a straight fight with a Starfleet vessel, the Shrike was a powerful ship that outclassed the USS Titan. Some investigations will need a light hand, a careful following of clues without waving the Starfleet flag too wildly. Others may need to be ready for serious opposition if they stumble across the wrong foe.

Allies in this cause are thin on the ground. Relations with the Klingon Empire remain cool, Chancellor Toral keen for any chance to bloody the Federation’s nose. The Federation itself is loath to reach out to the Cardassian Union, furious still after its unilateral destruction of Underspace access. The Romulan Republic may be cooperative but has limited resources, while the Free State has little interest in sharing intelligence unless absolutely necessary. Worse, most Federation territories affected are the fringes that have felt Starfleet’s neglect the hardest and longest these fifteen years, and many in these regions are loath to cooperate. Outside of individual friends such as lone Klingon Houses, pragmatic Cardassian or Romulan officials, or obliging local governments, Starfleet is largely on its own.

This is a new challenge for the Fourth Fleet, a test of their guile and cunning more than their scientific acumen or military acuity. Some will be sent to the heart of the Federation, where white collar crime cuts deals and leaks resources so criminal operations elsewhere are well-funded and can act freely. Many will go to the furthest fringes of the galaxy, where the rule of law is weak, and authority is only what they can enforce. There they will find smugglers moving illicit goods, auctions selling experimental technology to the highest bidders, new dens of cyber-labs harvesting the implants of murdered xBs, and all manner of dangerous criminals turning these varied, volatile, and restricted technologies to achieve their own goals.

Whispers from these corners bring one new complication, one which may account for the Fourth Fleet’s assignment. Rumours abound of in-fighting among the Orion Syndicate, despite the massive profits being harnessed from this new economy. Little is confirmed, but Starfleet Intelligence has a burgeoning, terrifying theory: what became of the last Changelings of the conspiracy? They were purged from Starfleet, but the Shrike’s existence speaks of their infiltration of the criminal underworld, one sphere of influence where they could hide potentially forever. From deep within the Orion Syndicate, these Changelings can pull strings, secure power, and either eke out a new and comfortable existence as kingpins – or, perhaps, prepare for some new, more nefarious plot. Of all of Starfleet, the Fourth Fleet was the most resistant to Changeling interference; they, above all other units, can be trusted to find out the truth.

Starfleet has issued the following orders:

• To end the black market trade of illicit technologies, particularly Borg equipment or devices and information stolen from Federation facilities;
• To recover this equipment wherever possible;
• To arrest those responsible and bring them into Federation custody;
• To ascertain and, if possible, close security breaches that have allowed these illicit operations, such as failed protocols in secure facilities or corruption and bribery in local law enforcement;
• To ascertain the status of Changeling infiltration within the Orion Syndicate and, if possible, to end it.

Writing

The campaign of The Devil to Pay is a series of independent stories all contributing to the greater narrative. Writers will write the stories of their ships and crews responding to the crisis, and the Intel Office will respond to these and advance the campaign’s events.

Any member is welcome to participate in The Devil to Pay. If you have a primary command, you can write the story of your starship and crew investigating the Orion Syndicate and this new black market. You can start a Mission on BFMS under this fleet-wide Mission. If you want to write with another member, you can do so! Your ships or characters can work together on missions. BFMS supports this.

The Story

This campaign is about the criminal investigation of the black market, and the dangerous technologies flooding into it. Rather than past campaigns focusing on major threats to the galaxy or scientific curiosities deep in space, The Devil to Pay is about the less glamorous work of trying to take down the criminal underbelly of the world of Star Trek. Stories in this campaign can be set anywhere in the galaxy, though writers should be realistic about how far networks like the Orion Syndicate can stretch (they don’t have footholds in the Delta or Gamma Quadrants, after all).

Your mission can thus be as simple or as complicated as you like. On the surface, there are immediate story hooks: smugglers to be intercepted or arms deals to be stopped. The Syndicate’s surge in wealth from this trade may encourage some of their raiders to be bolder, leading to an uptick in pirate activity that needs stopping.

An added layer of intrigue and complexity is the nature of this black market. In Picard season 3, the black site of Daystrom Station was raided for its illicit technologies to help the Changelings. In this facility, we saw technologies like a Thalaron generator (from Star Trek: Nemesis) or a ‘Genesis II Device’ (invoking the device from Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan) being stored. The criminal underworld has acquired this sort of technology from Daystrom Station and facilities like it. Some equipment being sold may be less experimental, but no less powerful, no less dangerous in the wrong hands. Likewise, the black market trade of Borg components and devices from the 2023 Fleet Action We Are the Borg has not been completely stopped, and flourishes in this underground economy.

You should feel free to invent and imagine all manner of devices and technologies in the black market. Some trades may just be for traditional weapons which could nevertheless be dangerous in the hands of pirates or other enemies of the Federation. Some smugglers might be moving something as dangerous as the Portal Generator from PIC S3 across a border. And what about those who have acquired such technologies and intend to use it? What have they acquired, and what are their plans? This is a chance to let your imagination roam free with wild technologies and mysterious McGuffins. These can not only add only urgency and stakes to your story, but can make each mission distinctive and exciting.

There is, of course, the snake in the grass: the Changeling conspiracy. IC, captains and crews should know little, if anything, about this report and certainly not know if it is correct. But this is indeed the last stand of the Changelings responsible for Frontier Day, with this campaign tying off every last straw from PIC S3. In this campaign, we draw on the mysterious origins of the Shrike and its reputation, of the question of Vadic’s activities prior to the season, and the presence of Changelings in the criminal underworld as encountered by Worf and Raffi on M’Talas Prime. After their defeat, the Changelings were purged from Starfleet and fled back to areas of influence where they could be safer.

The Changelings are a feature writers can include if they want. In the fringes of the galaxy, they remain and still hold influence. It’s not beyond the bounds of possibility that in the truly run-down, most remote corners of Starfleet border units, a Changeling has managed to evade detection. But otherwise, they are shady influencers within the criminal underworld, who may or may not be encountered by your crews. Unstopped, they could become a new threat, but for now, they’re trying to secure themselves and their power.

Which leads to one last, essential factor: the Orion Syndicate. The most infamous of criminal organisations in Trek, it stands at the heart of this black market. The Syndicate is vast and factionalised, and members wanting to engage with it should read the wiki article. Antagonists may be Syndicate, or they may simply be people who’ve worked with the Syndicate or been hired by them. They add another storytelling opportunity in particular: their infiltration by the Changelings. There can exist, particularly among the more Orion traditionalists of the Syndicate, factions who know about the Changelings, hate them, and want them removing. Could these be allies to your crew, under the right circumstances? What dangers lie in trusting them, the devil you know, over the volatile criminal underworld led by Changelings?

One thing the Intelligence Office wishes to make clear is that this story is about, first and foremost, law enforcement and criminal investigation. Starfleet do not murder criminals; they try to take them into custody. Sometimes, Starfleet captains are given no choice, but if that happens, ask yourself: why are these criminals fighting to the death? This campaign is not about pitched battles between starships. Even if the Changelings field another ship like the Shrike (and you can certainly write that), they aren’t about to launch a military campaign with it. Criminals, if they fight, will want to live to fight another day, or even surrender. Antagonists in this campaign can be simple punch-clock villains, but this is also an opportunity for more nuanced enemies who need more than force to be beaten.

This is also an excellent opportunity for campaign stories focused on away teams and away missions. So many fleet-wide narratives have led to missions set on starships themselves, going from place to place and figuring things out or fighting the enemy from the bridge. This campaign has been devised to encourage sending your characters into the field, to new, strange places – however grimy or downtrodden.

Mission Ideas

The following are some simple premises for stories and plot beats to consider in this phase. They can help you get started, and are free for everyone to use – and maybe put your own spin on it!

– Raiders using experimental weapons have been a threat to traders on a distant Federation border. Your ship must stop the attacks, but also trace where these devices came from.

– An auction is being hosted by the Orion Syndicate to sell illicit technology. Your ship has been dispatched to infiltrate the event, identifying buyers and stopping the goods from falling into the wrong hands.

– Smuggling has surged across a Federation border, right under the eyes of an ancient and run-down Starfleet station. Investigate what goods have been smuggled, and whether corruption has let this crime flourish.

– When investigating the black market trade, your ship is approached by Orion Syndicate traditionalists who want their help rooting out a Changeling within their operations.

– Your ship must track down a courier transporting a dangerous experimental technology to a buyer: an enemy of the Federation standing ready and willing to use the device for their own ends.

– The abduction and murder of xBs for their Borg implants is on the rise. Protect innocent xBs and put a stop to the harvesting operations.

There are, of course, many possible stories. If you need help coming up with ideas, please contact the Intelligence Office. From the types of crime, to the types of antagonists, to the types of illicit technologies being stolen, sold, and used, there are all sorts of ways to add layers of complexity and creativity to ideas. But don’t be afraid to write something simple! Even short missions clamping down on pirates or smugglers can contribute to the Fourth Fleet’s battle of wits with the Orion Syndicate.