The Devil to Pay
The ninth Bravo Fleet campaign, The Devil to Pay covered the Fourth Fleet's efforts to clamp down on criminal activity and organisations benefitting and still trading in looted equipment and technologies stolen from the Daystrom Institute in the wake of the Changeling Conspiracy.
The Story
Background
With the confirmation of increased criminal activity, particularly that led by the Orion Syndicate, across multiple Federation sectors, the Fourth Fleet was tasked to engage in anti-criminal activities across the breadth of the Federation. This was made even more of a delicate matter for the Fourth Fleet as not only was this a civil and legal issue, but intelligence indicated that a vast trove of stolen Starfleet and Borg technologies had hit black markets across the frontier and border sectors.
Some of these technologies included experimental or outlawed weapon systems, advanced computational algorithms derived from Borg programming, and other sensitive assets of strategic worth to the Federation that are no doubt desired by her enemies.
Response
From the start, there were significant intelligence reports highlighting Orion Syndicate cooperation with other criminal enterprises across the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, as well as with elements of the Romulan Free State and some of the more belligerent houses of the Klingon Empire. With this knowledge, operations to curtail such activities were launched by the Fourth Fleet across the Federation’s border regions and occasionally beyond them as required.
In the Archanis Sector, the Polaris Squadron stumbled across a plot to stir up domestic issues on the formerly marginalised colony world of Duraxis. A Changeling plot had been in place to cause a catastrophe involving the colony’s recently installed fusion reactor and then sway a local election to put an anti-Federation figure in a key political position. A figure that was ultimately revealed to be a Changeling infiltrator by the crews of the Polaris Squadron during their investigations.
Meanwhile, USS Republic was tasked with engaging a resurgent pirate organisation in the Archanis Sector that members of the crew had history with. This turned out to be a cover by a rogue Hysperian noble who was intent on ultimately causing chaos in the region as a cover for his procurement of a Genesis Device from the Orion Syndicate. This was all in service of a plot to eventually overthrow the Hysperian crown with the assistance of the Syndicate. Not only was the Genesis Device recovered, but a phase cloaking device, kept in storage at Daystrom Station, was as well.
Blackmarket and smuggling operations all across the border came under scrutiny as well, ranging from the Ferengi moon of Ilior by the crew of the USS Blackbird, Freecloud by elements of the Eos Division, Xandaria by crew based out of Deep Space 19 and the Jade Exchange by the crew of the USS Yamato. As Starfleet operatives infiltratd such operations, Changeling interference and even active participation in the recent criminal uprisings became more apparent. With this came signs as well of the Syndicate beginning to take active anti-Changeling operations of their own, though with no coordination with Starfleet.
Outcome
As operations against the Orion Syndicate continued, both the ‘Old Guard’ and the Changeling-controlled elements, Starfleet forces were able to recover or deny a considerable amount of stolen Daystrom Institute technologies and equipment. Particularly dangerous Borg technological samples were also collected and removed from circulation. With further evidence of continued Changeling infiltrations outside of their traditional avenues of influence, Starfleet Intelligence is left needing to ascertain just how much further Changeling influence continues in the wake of anti-Syndicate operations.
Orion Syndicate operations were severely interrupted at this time, with many key members either neutralised by infiltrators or revealed to have been infiltrators themselves during Starfleet operations. Evidence suggests that the Syndicate has begun to voluntarily curtail its own operations in an effort to appease Starfleet and Federation civil law enforcement, as well as allow for their own house-cleansing operations, much as the Federation had undertaken in the wake of the Battle of Frontier Day.
Starfleet Intelligence is continuing to monitor the situation with the Syndicate, but anticipates minimal activity from the Syndicate in the near future.