“We’re missing something,” Taes said dreamily, staring vaguely into the middle distance. There were holo-PADDs scattered all over the room, displaying everything from star charts to schematics to mission logs, but her gaze didn’t land on any of them.

Although Fleet Captain Taes moved to stand at one of the circular sofas in the Captain’s Lounge, she lost her way in a mire of circular thoughts before she could sit down. The Rakosans had identified this lounge with a mere number, but the commanders of Odyssey and Constellation Squadrons had claimed it as their respite from the constant expectations of their crews.

Finally sinking onto the sofa cushion, Taes said, “It’s like we’ve assembled the corners of the puzzle, but we haven’t even started to see the image at large.”

Embodying habits from his days as Taes’s executive officer, Elbon Jakkelb handed her a mug of nimian pollen tea without being asked. Taes clasped it between both hands and sipped at it without looking. For himself, Elbon clutched a tumbler of whatever the Rakosans were calling hard liquor, while he rounded the corner of the sofa.

“It’s a mistake to apply our idea of logic to the Vaadwaur,” Elbon said. As an ex-counselor and captain of the research cruiser Almagest, it was natural for Elbon to narrow in on the Vaadwaur’s patterns of thought. “The Prophets know, after terrorising this quadrant for generations, their values and judgements have drifted past anything we can imagine.”

As she fetched herself a glass of water from the bar, Esthero Rattler of Meridian added, “What’s that saying? Powerful men love to line up their failures and then call it destiny?”

Sitting on the edge of one of the other circular sofas, Cambil rubbed her temple, just above her nose ridges. “I’d prefer some divine intervention right now,” She muttered before sighing. “Oh, just a little clue as to what the Vaadwaur are doing or where they are right now.”

Glaring out of one of the large floor-to-ceiling viewports, McCallister was glaring out at the Rakosan system. The simplicity of seeing this race come so far in the past three decades still astonished him. Cambil had done a fantastic job bringing them on board as quick allies for this campaign. The Vaadwaur had been relentless, and almost every day, news came of another raid of theirs against someone in the Nacene Reach. Each time, those attacks were repelled. They had slowed down their biggest slugging match with everyone now. Reports had come in now that more Kazon targets had been hit, and intelligence provided by the Haakonians that the Krowtonan Guard may have been hit too. There was no pattern to the attacks. They were just ruthless, and McCallister was intent on trying to stop it.

Turning on his heels, he looked over to the others gathered in the room. He took some pride in being comrades, colleagues and friends with them. This is what Starfleet did best: bringing people together from all corners of the galaxy. The combination of the two squadrons was making a bigger impact on this side of the galaxy. They just needed to move forward with their next step. But what direction would they take? Every captain was present in the room, including some of the senior officers from the squadron.

“Well, it’s been a few days since we’ve gathered in one place. Now’s a good time to catch up,” McCallister remarked as he crossed his arms against his chest. “Have we been able to find out if these attacks are just isolated here or in other parts of the Delta Quadrant?”

After another sip, Taes shared, “When I first received the warning from Bravo Fleet Command, I sent a communique to the Kadi’s Holy College of Abbotts. We know the Vaadwaur Supremacy has isolated the Alpha and Beta Quadrants with subspace blackouts and launched a full-on invasion.  Having just heard back from the Kadi, I’ve confirmed the Supremacy has ignored the Gradin Belt. No reports of subspace anomalies or mysterious aggressors in their corner of the Delta Quadrant.”

“It does not make sense why they would not attack others in the Delta Quadrant,” Reyas said, sitting next to Cambil. “Why attack the Alpha and Beta Quadrants?”

“Perhaps they’re scared of the Borg?” suggested Captain Niro. The Deltan officer was pouring himself a drink from the small bar that existed by one of the walls. “Perhaps they know about the removal of the Queen and are concerned the Collective might see them as a threat? Why not concentrate their focus on others who could be a thorn in your galactic conquest?”

“The Borg aren’t really much of a menace on the Delta Quadrant,” countered Horatio McCallister. The Constitution’s commander sat on a stool by the same bar Niro was pouring at. His hands held a PADD; its holographic interface floated just above the screen as Horatio manipulated it. Various pieces of data and reports moved as he swished his fingers against it. “I find it hard that the Collective will be concerned by a resurgence from a long-presumed dead empire. We know the Collective is focusing on itself, once they’ve finished that, all of us, including the Vaadwaur, will be scared.”

“Niro has a point, though,” Banfield remarked after taking a sip from her drink. She waved a finger before carrying on with her train of thought. “Not the Borg part, but concentrating their focus on others who could be a thorn in your galactic conquest.”

“Us, a thorn? Really?” Cambil quipped.

Banfield chuckled. “Think about it, though, the Federation has endured against almost every biggest threat in the past two and a half centuries since Starfleet’s inception. The Xindi, the Romulan Star Empire, the Klingon Empire, the Cardassian Union, the Talarian Republic, the Tzenkenthi, the Borg, the Son’a, the Dominion, the Breen, the Pakleds and the Borg again with Changelings we tortured and pissed off,” she paused as she stood up. “My point is, in every incident, the Federation has come out on top. Some of those races have either become allies, joined the ranks, or fallen apart, but every time they’ve failed.”

“So you’re saying the Federation is becoming a force to reckon with?” Patterson questioned from across the room. The Destiny’s captain had remained almost silent until then.

“To put it bluntly, yeah,” Banfield shrugged. “But the Vaadwaur see us and our ability to unite people as the biggest threat to their plans.”

“We’re the winning side,” Taes said, echoing the stated reason for the Romulan Free State science ministry to be working with her crew.  The Romulans were purportedly studying Starfleet’s winning luck as much as their shared mission of exploration. Taes chuckled at that private joke briefly, staring down into her mug of tea.

“So, attack the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, and you bring chaos from that approach to unifying everyone,” Patterson remarked, subtly nodding in agreement with Banfield’s perspective.