Newton's Third Law Part 1

Posted on Sat Jan 15th, 2022 @ 2:14pm by Lieutenant Aiko Kato

Mission: Respite
Location: Starbase 451

Quintus Anatolia stepped out of the docking ring onto Starbase 451, which marked the second phase of the assignment he had been given. As much as he was good at his job, he did not truly take pleasure in it. His pleasure came mostly from efficiently executing his job.

This one would be no different, if the stars willed it. In truth, he hated this particular assignment, but he had little choice in the matter.

The company had reached unanimous agreement- a rare thing these days, which spoke more to the seriousness with which they took this mission and the need to respond to the slight that had been dealt them.

Quintus had been with the company long enough to know that they picked their battles with near-Vulcan precision although never quite as free of emotion or guided as logic as perhaps it should. Still, this precision was why they had been able to survive for so long against major galactic powers like the Starfleet, Klingons, Romulans and the others. They worked in the shadows mostly, finding and exploiting weaknesses, making friends when they could. But every now and then, when forced, they showed their hands, plain as day.

New Krakow was an unmitigated disaster for the company.

He had been among those who had warned about the instability and overreach of T’Vall’s ambitions. However, the Vulcan Starfleet officers and his minions had proved too valuable an asset to simply let go. After all, how often does a crime syndicate enjoy the luxury of being able to have a Starfleet officer run point for them?

To his credit T'Vall had done it flawlessly for years but Quintus had always suspected there was something off about the Vulcan. He had an unstable upbringing that much they knew, but beneath his calm Vulcan demeanour, Quintus had always felt what T'Vall desired the most was belonging and progeny.

The company had given him both...well more of the first than the latter, but he had been given the power and resources to pursue his whims, with an unusually long and lax leash. They had made many latinum on the back of T’Vall, much as he had done the same.

In the end however, he had cost them dearly. It was almost a cosmic irony that it was his desire for belonging and progeny, which for a time the company had fulfilled, had ultimately been his undoing, and by extension the company's misfortune.

An entire section of their slavery market was now disrupted for the foreseeable future. In a foolish engagement with a Starfleet sovereign class starship, one of their battleships had been destroyed and one captured whole with some crewmembers alive to be interrogated by the Federation.

The company had, and was still spending a fortune to limit the damage. They had silenced those they could reach, threatened those they could not and bribed those that could still be of use. Vital relationships had been severed to cut off any links in what is likely going to be a massive criminal investigation.

All in all, the damage was significant, but they had put as much a lid as they could on it. That was why the company had agreed. There had to be retaliation. On that, no one had objected, despite the unusually bright spotlight of scrutiny they all were in.

The debate had largely been about how to retaliate given that they did not want to attract any further attention now that they knew Starfleet was effectively looking into their backyard.

Quintus did not remember who had suggested it, nor did it truly matter. But it was a brilliant suggestion- one that was characteristic with how the company operated.

They would retaliate alright, but it would be disproportional.

Rather than undertaking major action against their rivals, the company had unanimously settled for minor action. One that was small enough to let their rivals know the company was displeased, but not big enough to further strain tensions and attract even more unwanted attention in other areas of the business.

That was Quintus Anatolia's domain as the de facto master of shadows. And so it was under the guise of that direction that the second leg of his mission found him on Starbase 451. He was here to take retaliation on behalf of the company.

It was not a particularly exciting assignment, and he would take little pleasure in this assignment. Still, he knew it had to be done and who better than him. Besides, if this worked according to plan, he would forever be in the saving graces of the company.

And the Orion Syndicate took care of family…