By Nathan Warner
Captain Edward Churney plays a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with a mysterious renegade Klingon ship in the nebulae of the Gamma Quadrant
“Steady!” Captain Edward Churney growled as Lt. Wilder moved the U.S.S. Resistance further into the Wastral Vortex—a dangerously charged proto-nebulae region in the Gamma Quadrant that fouled sensors and cloaking technology. “You hunt big game carefully,” he added, referring to the mysterious Klingon ship they’d been shadowing for hours.
It hadn’t been long since the Dominion War concluded, when a small cult had broken from the Klingon houses, taking up residence in the Gamma Quadrant where they followed a charismatic leader named Qo’pek, who claimed to be the returned Kahless. Starfleet intelligence believed Qo’pek was non other than Toral, son of Duras.
After years of failed attempts to win back the Chancellorship, it seemed he’d surgically altered his face and assumed a new identity as a messianic figure attempting to establish his own Empire - a cult known as Kol’bak. This Qo’pek had been busy for months, ordering the destruction of Federation property as a right of passage for young warriors. Starfleet began losing an increasing number of relay stations and substations. The Klingons had proven impossible to track as they risked their ships traveling through dangerous nebulae and asteroid belts to shake pursuit and mask their trails. Not knowing where they were based, Starfleet commissioned the Resistance to hunt them down. The upgraded Defiant class was the perfect vessel to pursue through volatile and dangerous space terrains, while also keeping a low profile.
“There it is again!” Wilder said, pointing to his instruments. Churney could see the faint sensor echo moving ahead of them through the nebula. A sudden burst of electrical energy lit a nearby pocket of gas and a silhouette appeared for a moment in the background radiation. It was enough, and Lt. Wilder whistled as he read his display.
“Sir, it looks like we’ve made a Klingon K’t’inga class...but its more than twice the standard size!”
“Don’t lose them,” Captain Churney ordered, but the signal was already degrading and soon it was gone. There went their chance of getting home early. The ship jolted from a nearby plasma strike. Churney shook his head.
“It would be easier to hunt ghosts,” he sighed.
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