Bravo Fleet
On Sunday, the last Intelligence Office event of 2024, The Devil to Pay campaign, came to an end. It’s been a long six weeks, and I have been delighted by the twists and turns of the Fourth Fleet’s struggle against the Orion Syndicate – and the Changeling infiltrators making one last stand from their midst. The conclusion of this story about not only the crime network and its black market, but the fate of those last lingering Changelings and the technologies they stole from the Federation during their schemes building up to Frontier Day, ties off, finally, the last plotlines from 2023’s Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard. The final remnants of that conspiracy have been rooted out, their agents discovered or pushed so far into hiding they will never be more than an occasional, lone threat. The Orion Syndicate, likewise, will be licking its wounds for some time.
Campaigns around this time of year are always a mixed bag. Sometimes, the festive season is a great time to write, the holidays bestowing us all with the opportunity to sit at our keyboards! Sometimes, it’s not as easy as that. But I am pleased to inform you that over the six weeks of this campaign, 33 members banded together to write 306 stories with a total wordcount of 466,200 words. For context, that’s not too far off the total wordcount of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (approximately 480k words). It’s a staggering effort over a month and a half, and one that Bravo Fleet did together. Plenty of people rallied in support, too, with a total of 419 comments posted on these stories as readers expressed their appreciation and enjoyment.
You will hear more from me around the year’s end, where we’ll take a look towards the future, and what 2025 has in store. I think it’s more than clear you’ve all earned the festive break, however! So have a good holiday season, Bravo Fleet. Rest well. Recharge those creative batteries. And I’ll see you soon!
Now, for one last time… Previously, in Bravo Fleet…
Starfleet Intelligence Division
Office of the Director of Fourth Fleet Intelligence
Starbase Bravo, Mellstoxx System
TOP SECRET – Eyes Only
From: Cmdr. Elizabeth Lockhart, Senior Intelligence Advisor
To: Adm. Alexander Beckett, Director of Fourth Fleet Intelligence
Stardate: 78976.71 (December 23, 2401)
Overview: The latest intelligence reports have confirmed the culmination of multiple coordinated threats posed by Changeling infiltrators, Orion Syndicate operatives, and the spread of illicit Borg technology across key regions of the Federation. These events have revealed a broad and multi-layered campaign to destabilize Federation interests through covert manipulation, bio-engineered threats, and the use of advanced technology to gain strategic advantages. Starfleet operations have successfully neutralized the most immediate threats, with the Orion Syndicate experiencing significant losses among key operations and their leadership. Many remaining criminal enterprises are being voluntarily curtailed, and we anticipate the network’s activities to be minimal in the short-term future.
Key Developments:
Changeling Infiltration & Disruption: Throughout this crisis, Changeling agents have been identified as key players manipulating various factions and leveraging their infiltration skills to destabilize critical regions. The USS Blackbird and USS Liberty’s intervention at the Lliew Rift successfully prevented a Changeling from creating a temporal wormhole designed to alter the outcome of the Dominion War. The Changeling’s actions, combined with manipulation of the Orion Syndicate and the Romulan underworld, highlight a significant attempt to rewrite history and shift power balances across the quadrant.
Similarly, on Duraxis, the USS Diligent and USS Pacific Palisades uncovered a Changeling masquerading as a local opposition leader who had orchestrated sabotage using Borg-origin technology. This intervention prevented a long-term power shift and potential civil unrest. However, the continued presence of Changeling operatives within both Federation and Romulan spheres, as seen in reports from Deep Space 19, suggests further sleeper agents may still be at large.
Borg Technology & Bioengineered Threats: Several reports underscore the alarming proliferation of Borg technology in the black market, particularly facilitated by the Orion Syndicate. The dismantling of a Borg harvesting operation on Oltanis IV by the USS Blackbird has dealt a significant blow to these operations. However, the USS Pathfinder’s investigation into a nanite-based plague on the Hulan colony of Ni’lan raises concerns about advanced bio-weapons potentially derived from Borg nanoprobes. While the facility responsible was shut down, the spread of such technology remains a persistent threat.
Starfleet’s actions in neutralizing both bioengineered threats and Borg-derived technologies have been critical in limiting the damage. However, these incidents reflect the ongoing strategic interest in harnessing Borg assets by rogue factions, which will require continued vigilance.
Orion Syndicate Defeated but Persistent: The Orion Syndicate’s involvement in these crises has been a recurring theme. The USS Republic’s capture of Viscount Crashanburn and the retrieval of a stolen Genesis Device from Hysperian pirates mark a significant victory in curtailing the Syndicate’s operations. However, the Syndicate’s reach and resources remain formidable, and they are expected to remain a long-term threat, particularly in regions like the Archanis Sector.
On Xandaria, the Syndicate’s plans to exploit stolen technology from Daystrom Station were thwarted by Starfleet Intelligence operatives, who discovered that the Syndicate leader, Briasyraa, was a Changeling. This revelation further intertwines Syndicate operations with the broader Changeling infiltration efforts and raises questions about how deeply the Syndicate has been compromised by the Founders.
Tactical and Medical Responses: Several key Starfleet operations succeeded in neutralizing threats by employing coordinated tactical and medical responses. The efforts of the Advanced Science, Technology, and Research Activity on Archanis Station, alongside medical units from the USS Polaris, were instrumental in containing a Dominion-origin plague that swept through the station. Despite a high casualty rate, the containment of the disease and the development of a vaccine using unconventional means prevented further loss of life.
Tactical successes were also seen in operations such as the USS Republic’s successful capture of the Viscount Crashanburn, which utilized covert boarding maneuvers and intelligence to secure the pirate and neutralize a potential threat to Federation security.
Containment of Advanced Weaponry: Starfleet’s handling of advanced and stolen weaponry has been a critical component in maintaining control over destabilizing technologies. The USS Yamato’s recovery and destruction of an antimatter disruptor from the Jade Exchange and the successes of the team dispatched by Canterbury Division have contributed to significant progress in preventing such destructive technologies from falling into the wrong hands. An effective response at Eon Station appears to have curbed local black market operations. Likewise, the successful curbing of further misuse of the Fleet Formation system by the USS da Vinci underscores the importance of swift action in securing dangerous technological assets.
Conclusion: Starfleet’s ability to counter multiple, interconnected threats has been tested across the quadrant, particularly by Changeling infiltrators and the Orion Syndicate’s operations. While the immediate crises have been contained, the presence of Changeling agents in Federation and Romulan territories continues to pose a significant security risk. Furthermore, the proliferation of Borg technology and bio-engineered threats suggests an evolving strategy by rogue factions to exploit advanced technologies for power and control.
Moving forward, Starfleet must remain vigilant in its efforts to identify and neutralize sleeper agents, continue cracking down on illicit technology trafficking, and strengthen intelligence-sharing with allied powers. These events have shown that while Starfleet’s tactical and operational capabilities are robust, the threats to galactic stability remain persistent and ever-evolving.
Bravo Fleet Command
USS Blackbird
On Oltanis IV, the Blackbird’s special operations team take out the ‘chop shop’ of the Romulan Kanem, where xBs are murdered for their Borg implants. The factory is successfully shut down, with the Rooks securing key intelligence about the next move of the Changeling impersonating the Orion Syndicate lieutenant ‘Aestri.’ She has paid to have the Kairos Regulator modified, allowing its capabilities to bend space-time to be used to open a temporal wormhole. The Blackbird follows her trail to the dangerous Lliew Rift, an area pottered with subspace distortions, where Aestri has commandeered an abandoned Romulan research station to use the area to open her wormhole – and go back in time to warn the Founders about the dangers of the Dominion War. The Rooks board the station to sabotage her efforts, but do nothing but buy time – time in which the USS Liberty can race to the scene, using its powerful capabilities to launch a tetryon beam that collapses the temporal wormhole Aestri has been forming. The process destroys the station, killing all aboard. With their mission technically successful, the Blackbird returns to Gateway Station, and the Rooks reflect upon all they have lost – including the vital intelligence the Changeling might have bestowed about the fate of those abducted and impersonated.
Deep Space 19
Thinking he would have to place his mission above the love of his life, Tom Hawkins discovers that a two-year heartbreak was part of a larger undercover mission organised by Starfleet Intelligence. Now with the cat out of the bag, Hawkins works with Radcliffe to stop Briasyraa. With help from Torvak, the Romulan spy, the three operatives work against the Orion faction leader until Briasyraa discovers their subterfuge. In a race against time, the unlikely threesome work to stop Briasyraa from attacking Romulan and Federation forces. Successfully they stop the use of the stolen technology from Daystrom Station being used and in the final battle they discover that Briasyraa isn’t all as she appears. Briasyraa is in fact a Changeling. After surviving her assault, Hawkins, Radcliffe and Torvak stop her and escape from her ship. Once rescued by the Formidable, Hawkins and Radcliffe are able to return to their normal life back on Deep Space 19 – as normal as it can get.
USS Pathfinder
The Pathfinder answers a distress call from Ni’lan, the homeworld of a colony of Hulan refugees. An unknown plague that is devastating the population is discovered to be caused by some alarming modifications to borg nanoprobes. Furthermore – corruption within the government of Ni’lan is uncovered, revealing some possible ties to the Orion Syndicate and ex-borg harvesting. A treatment plan is initiated by the Pathfinder’s medical team but it is too late for many. An underground harvesting facility that was scrubbed abruptly did leave some possible clues to other locations of underground harvesting facilities connected to the Syndicate. No one knows how the outbreak happened on Ni’lan, or why the Hulan were targeted directly but it is clear someone was developing a bio-weapon using borg nanoprobes.
Polaris Squadron
The USS Diligent and the USS Pacific Palisades have successfully gotten to the bottom of the troubles on Duraxis, determining not only that the proliferation of Borg technology, the sabotage of their fusion reactor, and the false flag operation were perpetrated by the local opposition leader, but also that he was actually a changeling infiltrator. After successfully apprehending the changeling, the situation on Duraxis immediately improves, and now the Corps of Engineers is well on its way to building out new critical infrastructure that will be life changing for the colony. The crew, though, is left wondering what a changeling was doing on Duraxis, and after it becomes clear that something more is at play, Admiral Reyes arranges for the changeling to be transferred to her old associates for further questioning.
Back on Archanis Station, as the contagion of Dominion origins ripped across the station at a breakneck place, a solution suddenly arrived from the most unlikely of places when a former intelligence officer came forward, one who, for reasons he’s unwilling to disclose, already had a vaccine in his system. Although Rear Admiral Grayson was suspicious of the man’s motives, he was even desperate for a solution, and thus he thrusts the weight of the Advanced Science, Technology and Research Activity behind the fabrication and administration of a vaccine based on the spook’s blood work. In the end, the day is saved, but not before a thousand lives are lost, including a key member of the Polaris’ crew.
USS Republic
Returning from baiting local Nausicaan pirates associated with The Last Pirate King, Commander Sadovu is brought up to date on revelations in regards to who he is suspected to be. Effort is made by Commander Sadovu, and brought to light by others, to smooth troubled waters with Republic’s chief engineer. Eventually brute forcing answers out of the Nausicaan computers, Republic prepares to lay a trap for the Viscount Crashanburn, start with preparations for any encounters within a proto-planetary disc, as well as intercepting a Syndicate courier he is meeting that would be transporting a stolen Genesis Device. Successfully posing as the courier, Lieutenant Selu Levne manages to bring aboard a number of Starfleet security officers aboard the Hohenzollern in preparation for Captain MacIntyre’s plan to entrap and capture the Viscount. A plan that ultimately proves unneeded when Crewman Sadovu-th’Ven blinds the Hysperians in close quarters, jumping the Viscount and giving the Republic security teams a chance to surprise the Hysperians, capturing the Hohenzollern’s senior staff and the Viscount in one quick action. With the Viscount in custody, the phase cloaking device he possessed is reposed by the Republic before returning to Kyban to meet with a Daystrom courier to return both pieces of hardware to safe storage.
Task Force 17
USS Yamato
With the antimatter disruptor in hand, Captain McLaren and her team make their way through the Jade Exchange to their ship, evading the stations guards. Upon departing the station, and witnessing the battle ongoing, they decide to escape further into the Badlands to wait for the Orions to give up the chase. While they wait, Captain McLaren decides that Starfleet should not have the antimatter disruptor tech and sets the rifle to overload, before jettisoning it into space. The shock wave from the explosion damages the vessel and they are left adrift for some time before the Yamato locates them. After recovering the Captain and her team the Yamato returns to DS17 to report the partial success of the mission, and Commander Kane, the Intel officer responsible for the mission requests a transfer to the Yamato.
Task Force 21
Eos Division
As tensions continued to rise, the Division launched an operation to keep Nichols and his stolen weapons out of Orion hands. However, the result only worsened the already tense relationship with the Romulans.
As the dust settled, Captain Mitchell was promoted to Divisional Command, with the newly promoted Captain Harris stepping in to take charge of the station. At the same time, Starfleet, now enforcing stricter oversight, assigned Commander Tindal to the USS Yeager, replacing the USS Edison, which had sustained heavy damage.
Task Force 47
Canterbury Division
After encountering heavy resistance, the Canterbury team prevailed and successfully recovered the stolen technology they were tasked with re-acquiring. Unfortunately, they have a loss to report on their return.
Helios Division
Helios races across the Federation border into the unknown after receiving word that their source of intel is actually a disavowed Klingon agent. Unfortuantely contact with the team has been lost and the away team are none the wiser to the looing threat. As the team head into the mysterious warehouse they find a familiar face is hiding in the shadows, one with an offer to seemingly resurrect the dead.
Task Force 72
USS Albion
Having stolen the data for the Genesis Particle from the Daystrom Institute for D’Taani Varada, Commander Samantha Hyland arrives at the Former Starliner “Tonino Delli Colli”, residing at its last destination – the Cattivo Industries Recycling Facility at Vannis – Ursus #3. There, a rogue’s gallery of the Galaxy’s worst criminals gathers to bid for Genesis, but all is not as it seems and the auction proves to be a pretense for Varada to gather her enemies in one place for a murderous decapitation. All present perish in the black hole triggered by Varada – but she allows Sam to escape at the 11th hour. Back aboard the USS Albion, D’Taani Varda reveals herself to the reader to be the Changeling Agent, Bora and reveals that she was never interested in Genesis – her true mission was to steal a lethally destructive Machine Intelligence called “Chimera”from Daystrom – with which she covertly infects the systems of the USS Albion with and continues to secret herself amongst the crew – where she has been all along.
Task Force 86
USS da Vinci
Trapped aboard the USS Stavanger, being controlled by the same Fleet Formation system that had nearly helped bring Starfleet to its knee’s; the away team fail to find a way to gain access to any systems. However the suggestion that another vessel is near or docked with the ship; leads the team to a desperate attempt to escape before anyone is forced to attack the Stavanger and bring its mission to an end. The discovery and damage of a Romulan shuttle; solves only part of the mystery. But with the shuttles crew dead and the Stavanger destroyed, only one possible lead remains; the bodies placed on board.