Captain's log 141, this might be potentially my last log as a Captain. Almost a month ago, I accepted a critical mission that would potentially turn the tide of the ongoing onslaught from the Dominion in the Deneb system. But as a Captain, I made the mistake of not trusting my crew with the vital information. I thought I was protecting them from the potential dangers of the enemy lurking in the dark. However, a few days ago, I had to deal with a small mutiny because of all the tension, misinformation, and strict orders. Because of the urgency of this mission, I chose to ignore regulations and didn't report it immediately to Opaka Outpost. I fabricated a false report to bypass checkpoints, and now we are en route to the Deneb system to deliver the Dominion representatives. However, I am willing to sacrifice my career for millions of lives.

The chime of the door went off as Sazra looked at her side. “Computer end log” a beep of confirmation came from the computer. “Come in” permitting to whoever was at the door. She saw both Adrián and Silina walking into the room. “Something wrong?” Turning her body in their direction.

“We are here to give our general reports of the ship status and condition" Adrián stated. “The Mariner operational changes are flowing in well. Drata is taking control of Operation as if it was his department all along. I do miss him in my engineer” Adrián shrugged a bit, crossing his arms over each other “But every department is doing their thing. Miki is a born Security Chief. He got already the favor of his men” 

Silina follows up "The interviews are done with the prisoners. My initial report is sent to your computer. We shall lose six people to the court marshal. An additional eleven people will leave our ship with serious punishment, and the remaining people will stay on our ship. But bond to their punishment, and they will be under watch and limited in their freedom” 

The last news was something that Sazra didn't want to hear “You are way too kind….” Sazra walked to her desk and leaned on it looking at them. “I would have yeeted their ass off this ship” 

“I know” Silina replied with a soft smile on her face. “That is why I am doing this and not you. Lieutenant Miki has provided the required support in dealing with the process material regarding the mutineers. Remember we might lose more as my report is a recommendation to JAG. In the end, JAG is the one that will make the final call on what is, by law correct or not for these mutineers” 

“Mutineers..” Sazra softly replied looking out her window “Would their punishment not be softened because we failed to comply with regulations?” She looked back at them “Ignoring it for the sake of saving people. Meanwhile, these rats will be able to get back into duty not living with what they did because I am forced by the weight of this mission not to report them”

A shrug came from both Adrian and Silina. “We all agreed with those terms, and we all know what is at stake with this” Adrian was struggling with the idea of leaving the mutineers issue at a low tier in their problem list. “So we can only vow that they will get what they deserve” 

“Depending on that we are not the one in cuffs” Silina bluntly pointed out at Adrian. “We have some black marks on our record by ignoring regulations, lying against a Starfleet station, and now not responding to any for their hails” Silina shrugged. “We look like a maniac on steroids cruising to our demise"

She didn't want to agree with Silina, but Sazra knew she was right. “How long until we reach Deneb and any information on the best area to drop the Dominion representatives?” Sazra wanted to know the best approach.

Scratching behind his head, Adrian looked at her thinking about what she had just asked. “From my understanding of our current speed, we should arrive there within 24 hours. 4th fleet information dictates that Ciatar Nebula should be the best location to drop in. Patrols have swept the area a few times and noticed a patron in a battle group jumping in and out of that system” 

“Keep an eye on our movements. Well if we can drop in and send them the message we should be fine” Sazra sounded relieved. “We are almost done with this mission, and I am ready to take a day off. Be it at Starbase 86 bar or brig. I don't care now.” Sazra tried to make a joke out of seeing Silina grin. “When this is over, hopefully, we did our part by contributing to this forsaken war and potentially turn the tide” 

Silina wanted to reply as the chime went off, and the trio looked toward the door. “You…expecting someone?” Silina blinked a few times her eyes wondering who was there.

“Not really, besides you two” Sazra wondered if it was another rapport. “Maybe it is K'Nala with those navigational reports that I asked for a few hours ago” She looked at the door. “Come in” 

But to the trio's surprise, the Dominion representatives walk into the ready room and come to a halt before them as the door closes. “Captain, Commander, Commander” Dezod spoke to all of them. “You look surprised to see us right now. We did announce our request that we wanted to speak with you and your fellow command team members” Dezod looked a bit confused.

“I believe you didn't send that message dear brother” Rahis replied a bit playfully annoyed at the lack of knowledge of anything related to technology.

“Oh my….” Dezod replied shocked and looked at his sister “My sincere apology. I thought I sent the message. Federation technology is overcomplicated to function efficiently compared to our system which our gods create” He bows to the command team. “Well we are here for a good reason” 

Rahis nodded to them. “The first question, is the most important question Captain Kobahl” She placed her hands over each other “Do you trust your fellow command team members with your life?” 

Sazra narrowed her eyes and wondered what was going on in the first place. This sudden appearance was a weird occurrence. Maybe they were up to something like Rami told her over and over that eventually led to that cursed mutiny. Sazra shook her head a bit and looked at Silina and Adrián then back to Rahis. “With my life, what is this about?” 

“Good, very good to hear that Captain” Rahis tone was very demeaning towards them. “We have been part of this journey for quite some time and have seen the ship go back and forth struggling with its morale” Rahis spoke trying to explain their reason for being there.

“Our experience with Federation people is limited as we were sadly not part of the Dominion War but cloned afterward as servants of our gods” Dezod said glorifying the Founders more.  

A brow rose on Adrián's face as he looked at them with his arms crossed. “Yea, what a shame you missed out on that war. You missed some good parts” Adrián sarcastically answered as he got a hit in his rib by Silina and flinch at it looking at her. “What?” he muttered.

Dezod claps his hands looking happy at Adrián. “I am glad you understand our position in this prospect. But it has been enlightening to see how your vessel functions and operates in times of extreme pressure and stress” Dezod smiled at them. “We are impressed with you Captain that you are willing to lie against your colleagues to get this job done” 

“Please get to the point" Sazra felt that their attempt to give compliments was like rubbing salt deeper in a fresh open wound. She rubs her template feeling a headache building up.

“Of course” Rahis nodded softly to them “But what my brother wants to say, we observed you, your actions, your personality, your ambition, and your principles” She rubbed her hands calmly looking at Sazra. “Our gods have blessed us with sharing something unique. They guided us to make our judgment if you are worthy enough to have this” 

It caught their attention as Sazra's eyes kept looking at their soldier aids that stayed quiet and behind their masters and looked back at Rahis. “I am glad to be of service to the Dominion in our time of crisis. But could you come to your point as it is quite vague to me what you are offering"

Rahis gave a brief nod again to Sazra's request. “Alright, the Dominion has formulated a theory based on the endless knowledge of our gods on your current predicament"

“A nasty predicament for sure” Dezod added to his sister. “Based on the misdirected news reports from your FNN that the Breen are doing some skirmishes. Rather than saying that the Dominion Lost Fleet has invaded” 

“And that Starfleet is turning a blind eye and only the Fourth Fleet is taken action upon the arrival of the Lost Fleet” Rahis continued. “Our gods believe that something is at miss” She tried to formulate, and you could clearly see that Rahis was trying to find the words “….it doesn't add up right?” 

She started to look puzzled at Silina. Sazra also had that idea nagging in the back of her head. “Yea, we have noticed that ”Sazra pointed it out to Rahis. “But it is why our fleet has deployed to assist Deneb and the people there. We are still unclear why Starfleet is not bringing full support to our troops at the frontline" 

“Because the theory exists that reinforcement will never come,” Dezod said with a grin.

Narrowing his eyes as Adrián looked at Dezod getting annoyed with him “What do you mean?” 

“My brother means that the sudden arrival of the Lost Fleet should have been chaos. Stars not aligned, no battles to be seen on long-range scanners, and no contact with their fellow warriors” Rahis explained. “Think about it. The Lost Fleet did the opposite of what was expected of any fleet that went missing for so many years. It got organized, didn't stand down and without hesitation resumed its campaign” 

“Get to the point…” Silina repeated what Sazra and Adrián were saying as she didn't like the direction of what they were talking about. 

Giving a nod, Dezod continued “Our gods believed the theory is possible that there are separatist gods who have made contact and exploited the given situation that our lost brothers and sisters were in. If this might be the case, our gods do not approve of these actions,” 

“But understand our position in this situation also. We understand that the Federation is acting against the Lost Fleet in their best interest of defending themselves” Rahis pointed quickly out. “But if this theory is potentially true, we shall not act against our people to help you. We want to bring them home” 

The three were quiet for a few seconds realizing what they were saying as both Silina and Adrián slowly turned to Sazra who was flabbergasted by the announcement. She noticed them looking at her making her snap out of it. “Hmm…so what you are saying…and correct me if I am wrong. Your people think that there are rogue changelings in Alpha Quadrant responsible for the operational direction of the Lost Fleet?” 

“Ah changelings is what you people refer to our gods. How interesting” Rahis reacted curiously. “But yes, that is what our gods believe is a potential theory that is very applicable to the current situation” She confirmed once more.

“That is quite the news, even if its a theory” Sazra explained trying to get her head around it what was just told to her. “I…am grateful for sharing this ….vital information with us” Sazra tried to be diplomatic in her given situation. Still, she now understood the words Admiral Beckett said in his message. She needed to report this “If you excuse me I have to make a call to our people and…” But the ship shook violently as everyone tried to keep a hold on something. Sazra pressed her combadge “Brdige report” 

“Captain we have an explosion in the lower decks” T'Path's voice came over the line.

“Damage report, any injuries?” Sazra reported.

“The injured people are now coming in. It seems the explosion took down our communication system.” 

Narrowing her eyes, Sazra couldn't believe what she was hearing. She just got vital information that her fleet needed to know “How bad is it?” She continued looking at Adrián who was ready to move. “Give me something Lieutenant” 

“Drata here, the damage is quite extensive. We might need to divert our ship to the nearest starbase to fix this” 

Closing her eyes and leaning backward “Damn it…every second a life is wasted in this pointless war” Sazra muttered.

“Oh my another dilemma has arrived at our trip, sister” Dezod spoke a bit too eagerly. 

Adrián wanted to suspect them so badly but knew that they had been under surveillance for the last 24 hours in terms of protecting them, but secretly keeping an eye on them. They had a solid alibi. “Captain let me go, I will fix that system….” 

Sazra opened her eyes looking at Adrián and seeing her friend's determination. “Alright…if you cannot do it on time I have to pull out. You got less than 23 hours to fix it" She saw Adrián nodding and moving out of the Ready Room. “It would be for your safety to return to your quarters. I appreciate sharing the information” Sazra spoke to Rahis and Dezod.

“It is a delight to be at the service of you Captain. We shall return as requested” Rahis spoke and turned to exit the room.

“We shall contact you when we arrive at the given destination. You are required on the bridge then" Sazra saw a nod from Dezod who followed his sister out of the room. She tapped her combadge again. “I am on my way to the bridge” Looking at Silina “Go to medical and help where you can” With that, the two remaining officers left the room with the incredible and sensitive news, that would be kept on the Mariner longer until the communication systems were coming back.