Know Your Enemy

Posted on Tue Feb 3rd, 2026 @ 1:03am by Commodore Wilkan Targaryen & Vice Admiral Loatha Targaryen & Starfleet NPC

2,909 words; about a 15 minute read

Mission: 7. Guile
Location: Loatha Targaryen's Office, DS9
Timeline: 2439-08-12, 20:30

Located in the Central Core of Deep Space Nine, between the Operations Center and the Promenade, the Office of Loatha Targaryen was far from the industrial style favored by the Cardassians. Surprisingly small for someone with such an important role in the hierarchy of the Bajoran Sector, the office perfectly reflected both her Betazoid-Lanthanite heritage and her status as a seasoned strategic mind.

Unlike the spartan, metallic finishes of the rest of the Cardassian built station, Loatha’s office has been styled with soft, light-diffusing panels and warm, mahogany-toned synth-wood. As a powerful empath, Loatha has ordered her office equipped subtle sonic and psychic dampening field generators to help her have a "stillness" to help her block out the emotions of the visitors to the station. A stark contrast to the chaotic hum of the Promenade below, visitors notice the serenity of the room immediately, which is complimented by the living wall behind the desk.

Perhaps the most striking feature of the office, the living wall behind the Commodore's desk brought a natural feeling to the room. Far from being just a decoration, the wall was a collection of flora from across the Alpha Quadrant and had special meaning to Loatha from her many travels. One of her favorite parts of the collection were the Blue-Ferns that had been brought from the banks of the Opal Sea on Betazed. Known for their slow growth - with some living for centuries, it helped symbolize for Loatha the need for patience. Bajoran Spring-Fever Lilies complimented the ferns, a tribute to the station’s host world. Perhaps her true favorite was the "Ice Pilot" bonzai that had been given to her by Wilkan. It was from Earth and she kept it in a pressurized stasis field to maintain its "frozen" appearance. It truly was beautiful.

Her yeoman had once said, "This office isn't a cage for a bureaucrat; it's an observatory for a guardian." It was certainly true, especially when the Wormhole opened. The massive, reinforced window in the room didn't just look at the stars of the Bajoran Sector, it was specially calibrated to track the Celestial Temple. When the wormhole opened, the office would be immediately bathed in its brilliant, rhythmic blue light. Below the window a piece of the scorched hull plating of the USS Farragut, polished to a mirror shine, sat reflecting back upon her. Next to it was a Vulcan Kal-toh Set that she used to focus her mind before high-stakes meetings.

Commodore Wilkan Targaryen walked into the office with a smile on his face as he saw his wife sitting at her desk. Like her the desk was minimalist and devoid of clutter (unlike his own back on the Enterprise). Only three holophotos looked back at him as he approached. One was a photo of himself, younger, at the New Holland Shipyards. The other was of their sons, Vezkun and Zaklim, sitting in the recreation of the Phoenix in historic Bozeman. A photo of her parents complimented the others.

Sitting across from her, the Commodore's dark obsidian desk separating them, she looked up at him and didn't share his smile, "Did you read the report from Deix yet?"

"Well hello to you too," Wilkan answered her. "To answer your question, not yet. I was planning to read it..."

"Bet you had time to get a jumja stick though," the Sector Commander interrupted.

He chuckled, "Two actually."

His wife sighed, "While you were eating snacks, I was reading about why Deix wants to meet with us. I shouldn't tell you and let you just struggle when Astran gets here, but what kind of wife would I be if I did that?"

"You," he answered without thinking.

Instead of ripping his head off, she sat back and chuckled this time. "You know, we don't make this easy on each other, do we?"

"We wouldn't be us if we did. So, are you going to save me or let me get embarrassed in front of the boss?" He really hoped she wasn't going to keep the secret from him. He also hoped that Astran got held up. Fortunately, he probably did because DS9 did have a lot of commercial traffic today.

Loatha tossed Wilkan the PADD. As he began scrolling through, "The Klingons found out you're in the Gamma Quadrant. They're not happy."

"When are the Klingons ever happy? We've both had dealings with them in our careers, good and bad, it'll blow over," he glanced at the remains of the Farragut sitting below the window as he said it.

"Tell that to the crew of the Farragut," she mumbled. "This time the Klingons are angry enough to threaten to pull out of the Khitomer Accords and I'm not sure what'll appease them."

He shrugged, "Again, another threat that they probably don't mean."

"Want a recap about how many times those insufferable toh-pahs actually followed through?" Her hatred of the Klingon Empire momentarily shining through her normally well-polished words.

Right as Wilkan was about to answer, the intricate door to the Commodore's Office slid open revealing Vice Admiral Astran Deix standing just outside the room. While both Loatha and Wilkan were essentially immortal because of their genetic heritage, Admiral Deix was a Ligonian, but you'd never be able to tell he was nearing his 80th birthday. Admiral Deix had maintained his youthful looks due to his commitment to health and fitness, as well as his ageless charm and vitality.

"I hope you don't kiss your sons with that mouth, Commodore," he said with his customary broad smile beneath his well-manicured moustache.

Both Loatha and Wilkan rose to parade rest in a flash. Loatha answered her guest, "Apologies, Admiral, we were..."

"Discussing a Federation ally with a term hardly becoming a Sector Commander," Astran said as he walked closer to the obsidian desk. "No matter how true the word choice was."

"Apologies, Admiral, it won't happen again," Loatha added.

"Yes, it will, but I'm just messing with you right now," Astran said as he looked at the two. "Would you two please stand at ease, or better yet sit back down, before you sprain something? We've known each other far too long for there to be so much ceremony between us. Hell," he looked at Wilkan, "you helped build my first ship!"

Wilkan smirked, "The Kennedy was a good ship, until you crashed it."

"Nah. Ensign Gordon crashed it, he was just following my orders when he did it." Deix reminded, remembering the conflict with the Klingons where he used the Kennedy to ram the Klingon flagship. "Might I remind you my Fleet Commander during that battle did say we had to win 'by any means necessary,' I just did as I was told."

"And now he reports to you," Loatha said, twisting the verbal knife in her husband's ribs.

Wilkan nodded, blushing slightly, "at least he's a good boss, who listened to what I had to teach."

"And now here we are again, dealing with the Klingons," Astran said with a slight coldness. "I take it you both read the report." Loatha nodded, Wilkan remained silent, and Astran shook his head, "Why am I not surprised?"

"It's been a bit of a crazy day," Enterprise's Commander reminded.

The Vice Admiral motioned toward Loatha, "Just as crazy for her and she read it."

"She's an overachiever," Wilkan replied.

Loatha nodded, "And proud of it. Still, Admiral, if there's problems brewing with the Klingons, I don't know why DS9's the site of the negotiations with them? The wormhole is right there," she motioned toward the window, "don't you think they'll be incensed every time it opens?"

"They picked the station for the meeting," the Ligonian informed. "President Alval had proposed to use Chateau Picard for the negotiations, but the Klingons insisted." He looked at Loatha, "You may want to order increased security while they're here."

"How many ships are coming?" Loatha questioned.

"Just one. Representatives of the House of Korath are leading the negotiations on behalf of the High Council. They'll be here tomorrow morning at 09:00." Astran looked at Wilkan, "Think you can read the briefing by then?"

Scrolling through the datapad's contents, "I'm reading it right now."

"I'll be leading the negotiations. Loatha, I want you to be there as my backup. Wilkan, you'll be there too. The more senior leadership that are in place the more likely the Klingons will view us as taking this seriously." Astran looked at Wilkan, "I'd also like Commander zh'Roothi there since she's going to be commanding DS47."

"Excuse me?" Wilkan questioned.

Astran sighed and rubbed his brow, "She didn't tell you?"

"Do I look like someone who knew his XO was leaving?" Wilkan asked sarcastically.

"You may want to ask her about that. We're still waiting for her decision. Fact that she didn't tell you has me wondering if she's just not going to sit down in the Captain's Chair, and there's a lot of up-and-comers that would be more than happy to take it on. She'll hurt her career by staying put on your ship, so maybe you should give her a kick in the butt for her own good?"

Loatha looked at the Vice Admiral, "Commander Ektis already informed me about his decision to accept the XO position. I really would've preferred some heads up though."

"Considering it's been less than a day since the station's crew were killed you got more than enough notice," Admiral Deix countered. "Look, we need to focus instead on getting ready for this meeting and that's the priority right now. So, are there any questions?"

"I'm still doing my homework," Wilkan explained as he read the contents of the PADD. "Is Veegg coming?"

"Rear Admiral Veegg is getting reassigned," Deix informed. "I'm still working on selecting a replacement. Starfleet Command has sent me a number of candidates, but I'm waiting until after this mission to make my decision. I want you both to look into as much as you can about the House of Korath and work on a strategy for how we can best work with their representative to achieve our goals of keeping our operations going in the Gamma Quadrant."

Loatha asked, "Do we know how the Dominion feel about the Klingons coming to their territory?"

"I'd assume not happy," Astran answered honestly. "The treaty only specifies that the Federation is approved in their territory, and we've pushed our luck a bit. Originally, only Enterprise was approved, we sent a Task Group. Now we have to figure out if what happened at 47 was caused by the Dominion, or someone else in addition to deal with the Empire."

"I have a Vorta on my ship," Wilkan reminded, "I could always talk to him."

The Admiral nodded, "About that. I was looking through some reports about your ship and I wasn't exactly impressed. The Vorta is your Tactical Officer? You have a Terran Operations Manager?"

"Both of whom are doing a great job," Enterprise's Commander quickly added.

"Are you sure about that? If Enterprise came under attack by the Jem'Hadar, would your Security Chief fire on his own people? How do we know that your Operations Officer isn't planning an incursion?" His questions were all business.

Wilkan shrugged, "How do I know that the Klingon who went through Starfleet Academy isn't going to throw a Photon Grenade at my Warp Core? I trust people to do their jobs."

"Did you vet them at all?' Astran continued.

"Commander Kuzos had been on my ship for several months before I asked him to serve as Tactical Officer, he proved his worth to me. Commander Bernadotte was transferred over by the Department of Temporal Investigations and had been a member of their team. She's proven herself too, otherwise there wouldn't be an Enterprise or Defiant right now," Targaryen reminded.

Loatha interrupted, "With her there is the matter of that override chip."

"Override chip?" Astran looked at the Sector Commander.

"When Commander Bernadotte, Commander Randall, and Lieutenant Elandorn arrived aboard Defiant they had a computer override chip that placed Commander Bernadotte temporarily in command of Defiant. I've purged the software she used, but she did take command of my ship for a minute," Loatha explained.

Astran sighed, "You can't be serious! I want her placed into custody."

"For doing her job?" Wilkan questioned.

"For being a Terran collaborator!" The Ligonian countered.

"Astran, I've already dealt with this," his voice was not one of an employee reporting to his supervisor, but more the tone he'd use on his own Bridge. "I have the chip in my custody, and I've applied safeguards to protect Enterprise. She isn't a threat to the Enterprise or the fleet for that matter. She's an asset and so is Kuzos."

The Vice Admiral laughed contemptuously at the answer, "This woman took unauthorized command of not one, but two starships and a Federation outpost in less than five minutes time with a chip that's illegal in the Federation! During that period, she could've executed any number of orders that were counter to Federation and Starfleet interests. I'm not entirely sure how that qualifies as doing her job!"

"She used her skills to recover three tactical assets that are essential for our operations in a hostile frontier, Admiral," the way he said the rank had a layer of contempt that was thinly veiled. "I'm not going to deny it, Astran, but without her efforts I'm not entirely sure Enterprise or Defiant would still be here and you'd have to explain why Starfleet needed to dust off the next letter in the alphabet for both these ships already."

The Gamma Quadrant Commander sighed, "I don't know why we're having this debate, Commodore. It's fairly clear that your ship has a security risk aboard and you're ignoring it for some reason, one that I can't exactly fathom. Then you have to factor in Kuzos. Your 'vetting' isn't just based on your gut feeling, Wilkan. It’s a background check, a psychological profile, and a loyalty oath to serve the Federation and its interests. He's a Vorta and his loyalty is genetically hardwired to the Founders, not us," Astran snapped back at his subordinate. "You think you're building a team that will stand up to the Dominion, I see a potential time bomb waiting to explode in the Federation's face."

Commodore Targaryen sighed and shook his head before correcting the Admiral, "They're resources. Sora may be a Terran, Kuzos may be a Vorta, but they give us unique insights that aren't common from just any other Starfleet Academy graduate. Plus, if I might remind you, the Department of Temporal Investigations vetted Sora and Kuzos destroyed a Jem’Hadar ship to save us from certain death when Q was messing with us. Both of these are facts, Admiral!"

Still seated at her desk, Loatha shook her head at the banter between the two as she adjusted a game piece of the Kal-Toh set, the structure shifting. Interrupting, "Admiral, Commodore, both of you need to take a minute here to look at the big picture. Wil, Astran's right that Kuzos and Sora both are a bit unorthodox choices for such high-capacity roles on the flagship of the United Federation of Planets." She turned from her husband, "Nonetheless, Astran, Wil's decisions are within acceptable parameters for Federation protocol. Kuzos is a provisional officer, and Sora is a Lieutenant Commander who was appointed by the Department of Temporal Investigations. The captain of a starship is allowed to assemble his own command crew by regulation."

Admiral Deix took a breath, listening to the logic of the Bajoran Sector Commander, "You have a point." Turning back to Commodore Targaryen, "I'm willing to accept your decisions to a point, Commodore, but the chain of command and regulations exist for a reason. That's why I'm assigning a new Security Chief to Enterprise; Lieutenant Barr will arrive tomorrow at 08:00 hours. Your new Strategic Operations Officer, Commander Nathan Bishop, will also be arriving at the same time. Arrange quarters for them."

Knowing he had no other option, Wilkan relented, "Aye Sir. I'll get Sora right on that."

"A step in the right direction," the Vice Admiral said as he stood with clenched teeth, "Be ready to meet with the Klingons tomorrow morning, I'll meet you both in the Wardroom at 08:30. In the meantime, I'll be onboard Shenzhou if you need me." The Gamma Quadrant Commander walked toward the exit before stopping right in front of the still closed door, "Oh, and Wilkan, I expect that you'll finish your homework before the meeting. You two are among the best and brightest that Starfleet has to offer, you aren't going to look like an amateur in front of the Klingons. Got it, Mister?"

"Yeah, yeah I got it," the Enterprise's Commander agreed.

Astran nodded, "Glad to hear it. Until tomorrow." He left Loatha's office.

Once the door was shut Wilkan only shook his head and looked at his feet for a moment. Crossing his arms, the Commodore looked at his wife, "I thought he liked me."

"Considering he didn't rip them both off your ship already, or you for that matter, I think he does," Loatha answered as she looked at her display. You heard him though. We only have twelve hours, and you have homework."

"Well," her husband said as he took the datapad from his wife, "let's see what we can get ourselves into in those twelve hours."

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