‘We’re making good progress in multiple locations.’ Fleet Admiral Ramar kept his arms folded across his chest. He’d been offered a seat when he’d come in, but the other man was also standing, and he knew better than to let him stay there and loom. ‘Daloon, Agarath, Vorash…’

‘Agarath is under siege. Klingon forces remain at-large in the sector. And are we going to talk about Kuhnri?’

‘Under no circumstances did Starfleet officers kill -’ But he was not here to argue this, and Ramar stopped himself and looked away. He was fresh off his flagship, just arrived after a breakneck rush across the dangerous stars, and in truth had expected a warmer welcome. Psi Velorum had asked for Starfleet help, after all.

And yet Acting-Governor Resak stayed implacable as he stood before Admiral Ramar in his offices, the chambers that had once belonged to the Romulan governor of the whole sector. Resak kept them dark to shield his eyes, but around the walls Ramar could still see the bare patches where once portraits and tapestries had hung and left masonry pale in their absence. It left this, the beating heart of the Velorum Sector, mismatched and ill-fitting, and it was impossible to forget this was the seat of power of an insurgent government.

‘What you think happened on Kuhnri, or even what I think happened, is immaterial,’ Resak said at length. ‘I’m not to tell them how they must respond to Starfleet. It’s still a mess.’

‘One mess,’ Admiral Ramar replied, ‘among successes. We have ships hunting down the Klingon task groups. We’ve already sent several packing.’

‘While the Federation does no more than flap its hands in protest at the Klingon Empire,’ Resak pointed out, ‘and the Klingon Empire shrugs its shoulders and insists these are renegades, even if they profess to be doing this for the Empire. If they seize worlds in Velorum, you think the Empire will continue to call them renegade? Or will they embrace this new territory?’

‘If that happens then the Federation will have more grounds to protest -’

‘Protest. Not fight.’

Admiral Ramar set his jaw. ‘Starfleet officers have fought these Klingons, Governor. As for the rest, this was never going to be easy.’

Resak gave a low scoff. ‘You can do better than a platitude to a former slave, Admiral.’

‘I can. Do you think I came all this way just to check in, Governor? You’ve got problems, and Starfleet is fixing them. But we’re not just putting out fires, we’re looking to the future. Your future.’

‘Is this the part,’ Resak mused, ‘where you offer us protectorate status?’

It was Admiral Ramar’s turn to scoff. ‘Hardly. You don’t want that. I don’t want that.’

‘Then -’

‘I came all this way to see you, Governor Resak,’ Ramar pressed on, ‘because I wanted to make an introduction. If you’d let my friends in.’ He waved a hand at the door.

Resak had to tap a control button to grant them admittance, but he straightened with surprise and confusion as both a Romulan and a Reman in uniforms walked in. ‘What’s this, then?’

‘Governor Resak, let me introduce Admiral Thalax, commander of the Fifth Fleet, and General Giernor of the Commando Corps, ranking members of the Romulan Republic’s armed forces,’ Admiral Ramar said, flicking his finger between them as if this was nothing more than a quick meet-up in a bar. ‘I think you all have a lot to talk about.’

Resak’s eyes narrowed. ‘Thalax. You’re the defector.’

Admiral Thalax was a rake-thin Romulan with a perpetually amused twist to his eyebrow. ‘There are a lot of us, you’ll find.’

‘The Republic can’t protect Velorum,’ Resak continued. ‘There’s a reason you didn’t offer help before. There’s a reason I didn’t ask you.’

‘Not alone,’ Thalax agreed. ‘But a lot changes in two months. The Star Empire’s exhausting itself as it collapses. The Federation’s shoring up Velorum’s defences. I hate to swoop in at the last minute when everyone else has done the work, but Admiral Ramar said he’d make sure we got this meeting. No, the Romulan Republic couldn’t save Velorum before. Maybe we can’t save it now. But tomorrow, once Starfleet’s helped you stabilise, once the Star Navy’s been broken?’

‘Tomorrow,’ said Resak, ‘you’ll want our industry.’

‘Everyone wants your industry,’ said Admiral Ramar. ‘And you want them to want it. The difference is that the Republic won’t take it. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement.’

‘But that’s not what’s most important.’ At last, the burly Reman General Giernor stepped around Thalax and approached Resak. ‘What’s most important is the Republic is the only government that’s always stood by our people, brother.’

Resak watched Giernor, dark gaze inscrutable for long moments. Then he turned to Ramar. ‘You came here and let me tear strips off you, Admiral.’

Admiral Ramar shrugged. ‘Least I can do, considering some of these situations,’ he mused. ‘But we’ll make those right. Let me worry about that. I want you, Governor, to worry about tomorrow.’

‘Or at least,’ said Thalax, extending a hand to the seats around the desk that nobody had yet taken, ‘to talk about it.’

Sundered Wings Phase 3:

• As events in the Velorum Sector hit their crescendo, people are wondering about the region’s future: is Velorum to be independent, a Federation protectorate, or something else? But Starfleet has a different hope, acting as a liaison upon the arrival of the Romulan Republic.
• The Republic was too small to protect itself and Velorum at the initial outburst of chaos from the Romulan Star Empire. But as the situation across the Quadrant begins to settle, they have extended the hand of friendship to Velorum.
• Starfleet is still essential – their relief work, their diplomatic aid, their protection. And envoys of the Republic are not everywhere in the sector. But if the Republic can help, they are trying to help.
• The Republic is particularly appealing to the people of Velorum because it was always the most pro-Reman of the post-supernova factions. If the two powers can work it out, Velorum would be well-suited to the Republic.
• Feel free to add Republic representatives arriving to support Velorum in your story. They might just be diplomatic envoys, they might be sharing the wealth of the Republic to help, they might even be armed starships helping the defences. Importantly, they can offer Velorum a future the Federation cannot.