Star Trek Online Literary Challenge #54, #12

http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?s=bf14b0012e26aa6133710041b66ac89c&t=933601&page=2

Notes on the Dyson Sphere By Vice-Admiral Allen of the Black Templar Fleet

The Delta Quadrant Dyson Sphere is a hyperbolic quagmire. Ambassador Janeway had worked for a very long time trying to secure positive relations with the Voth, however, the Voth believe that they were destined to defeat the Borg and rule the galaxy. Apparently they had their hearts set on it. Meanwhile all Alpha and Beta Quadrant factions are doing what they can to gain from Iconian technology, including finding Voth who are not sympathetic to the causes of their own military.

My ship The Qotsa is not designed to withstand the Voth incursion in the Dyson Sphere. We have been very lucky to have been able to inherit Iconian space travel. My newest consignment, the Aries 3 Delta, is somewhat of an unbelievable mystique. Iconian technology has proven to hold on strong. The crew is however adapting to the new ship with some misgivings. It is not a standard Starfleet vessel. We are doing our best to create a tolerable level of comfort that is not going to insult the integrity of the professionals in the field.

I have placed many of my crew members into missions in the Dyson Sphere. The repetitive nature of the structural dynamic here maintains the regularity of repeat missions. Not to say that they aren’t fascinating, I’m not sure how many times my engineers are going to be interested in restocking the control spire towers with stem bolts. My assault teams are begging to be assigned into Voth territory, and are beginning to make new risk assessments based on their new familiarity with their surroundings. My scientists and engineers alike are making radical discoveries every day. Our technological salvage alone may take decades to completely process, if our estimates are accurate. The commonality of these events are somewhat astounding. Making discoveries that are untold millennia old has become a common occurrence.

One commonly noted quality of the Dyson sphere is the fog. With no rotation or revolution occurrence natural to planets of most star systems, there is almost no atmospheric genesis. The slightly metastatic quality gaseous atmosphere contains moisture and creates ozone. In fact the nebulous ozonic regions in the ionosphere altitudes of the Dyson Sphere work much like the Earth’s ozone layer, only inverted. Combat pollution has created a new element to the atmosphere of the Dyson Sphere. The running joke is; Until the _____ arrived… [Voth, Klingon, etc.] Such a rhetorical device can work like a nice complement to our allies and add to our list of problems with our enemies. Our urban geologists have ascertained that one of the reasons for the shape of the Iconian starship design was to help with atmospheric genesis in the Dyson Sphere. The actual positioning of the urban landscape here actually suggests how air borne transit would otherwise help create storm activity within the atmosphere. Scientists and engineers have mostly agreed that within the Sphere itself, it would seem as if somehow we have yet to discover the ‘on’ switch for the weather patterns. The nature preserves have varying water tables, and in most cases altitude and reservoir depth are the only random geological qualities we have observed so far, however the actual placement for these naturalized areas are otherwise placed in a set pattern. All of the structures that we have observed are otherwise uniform in width, height and density.

The socio-dynamic data that we have gathered from the Dyson Sphere indicates that the urban centers, and much of the sphere itself was meant to be a data source compilation, a trade center, and a place for diplomacy. For the most part, Iconians were at home here and felt that the rest of the galaxy should do its best to evolve to match it. That had to be a fairly audacious stage in the psychological development of the Iconians. However it is certain that the Iconians left to help propagate their species in other parts of the galaxy, and to also help restore the rest of the galaxy from an impending Borg threat. It is clear that they created the Borg to help defend the galaxy from outside invasion, however internal political strife made the Borg an unforeseen impediment, and likely became an advanced tool to further create their own undoing.

One amazing change here is that the separate factions are communicating and working well together. Our alliances are maturing and we can learn from our enemies, and former enemies in new and profound ways. The Klingons have for the most part put aside their xenophobia, and actually appreciate the Voth as an enemy. Many Voth may choose the Empire as a common ally in the future, although we at the Federation do not know much of their previous trade alliance with the Klingons. As secreted as their negotiations were, it would seem that they had been betrayed in an equally dumbfounding manner. Like the Romulans and the Federation, this assault on the Dyson Sphere was unprecedented to all concerned parties. The Gorn however do have some misgivings about this, they share my personal disappointment in a loss of an ally, however genealogically, there is no actual reason for the Gorn to appreciate the Voth, and vice versa, although they, like the Saurian, and perhaps even the Cardasians all must share a common ancestry somehow. It is difficult to say how the Iconians or the Borg have harvested preternatural worlds, what DNA they must have planted in order to attempt to save the galaxy from intruders. Perhaps like the Voth and the Hadosaurs of Earth there are further correlations to discover. My exo-biology team will not give up on making or discovering such connections, we can be sure of this.

The Romulans never cease to amaze us. From five different sources recently, as we have progressed through the Dyson Sphere territories, have confirmed older reports and theories which acknowledged the possibility of previous Romulan knowledge of Iconian and Borg technologies. One must wonder what the Romulans can learn here. However there is a sense of humility from them when they face either Iconian or Voth technology or prowess. They respect their sources of academic discipline. It never ceases to amaze me how many New Republic Romulans have created active faction alliances with the Klingons and the Federation. The Tal’Shiar are not welcome here, yet we must still be ever vigilant of spies, even here.

There is much we can learn from this new technological source, however it is disappointing that our former ally has turned their backs on us, the technological exchange from Voth sources was something that Janeway had planned heavily on. To say the least the new discoveries from Iconian technology soften that blow, yet galactic unification is almost certainly the only way to defeat the Borg presence in the galaxy.

As audacious as it was for the Iconians to create such a galactic-centric ego for themselves, they must have been humbled to have realized their errors and attempt to secure sectors in the face of a possible elimination of their progeny. We are still looking for some kind of stasis chamber, anything at all to give us clues to any actual whereabouts of the Iconians, although the Deferi are the closest decedents that we know of to the Iconians, we still don’t know exactly where they disappeared to, or exactly how. We have also found little evidence suggesting the Borg simply assimilated them all. One theory is that they now rule the Mirror-Universe, a universe that has no Borg activity what so ever. That theory would be counter intuitive, it is difficult to assume that the Iconians would seem so rational about the Borg and responsibility here in the galaxy, yet to enslave the Mirror-Universe in the absence of the Borg . . . it is more logical to assume it is not the same Iconian species. Yet to tell the truth, we still know little of Iconian logic.

One occurrence that is also astounding is the audacity of the Voth. One must assume that they have a large empire in the Delta quadrant now. Our intelligence on the subject is varied and prisoners are never a reliable source of information. Our Telaxian informants and allies in the Delta Quadrant ensure us that such an empire only holds use as a deterrent to the Borg in that particular sector, and that once we have proven ourselves in combat effectively enough then perhaps renegotiation will occur. I’ll just hold my breath. Right now, looking at the casualty rate, I think this war might be playing right into the Borg’s tactical consignment.