Star Trek: Foothold - To Relieve Paine

Forward and Warnings

This is a work of fiction set in the Star Trek universe, to which I currently hold no rights. At the point I intend to pursue publication of this work, in whole or in part, I will solicit such rights, but until that point I am posting portions of the content for readership review.

The setting of this Star Trek story takes place after the end of the Dominon war, as the empires of the Milky Way Galaxy who were embroiled in the conflict are retreating to lick wounds, winding down in victory or defeat, and generally coming to terms with the scope of loss suffered on all sides: this was a time of tumult for the galaxy, and the major players all suffered major setbacks-- including the Borg, whom Katherine Janeway and the crew of Voyager neutralized as part of their return to Federation space. There are no sincere victors of these war fronts, only casualties and setbacks for all, although terms of peace are in the process of being realized.

The Vellouwyn is a vessel of my own design, produced to sate a series of frustrations with both my beloved Star Trek franchises, but also with my fiction and fantasy in other areas, which is exhausting when cut from scratch. A small ship, the Vellouwyn is crewed by a hand-picked crew of multi-species Star Fleet representatives, but is helmed by a specially commissioned exchange officer whose philosophy and motivation have made him uniquely fit to lead a mission such as the one the Vellouwyn is set on: to explore the newly accessible, heavily contested region of space in the Gamma quadrant beyond the Bajoran Wormhole which, like the Bajoran side, resides in a dangerous and tumultuous, ill-populated  and under-resourced area of space. 

Realizing that regardless of their injuries, neither the Romulans, Klingons, Cardassians, or other key empires would leave such space alone, the Federation committed a number of retrofitted but 'expendable' vessels to the region, arguably to maintain the balance of power. In reality, the Gammorean sectors of the Gamma quadrant are a Klondike rush of competing agents trying to explore, salvage, conquer, claim, and profit, and the sealed orders of the Vellouwyn and the other ships in her mission group make it clear that the Federation is no exception to that directive. 

These fanfiction works are intended for mature audiences: my writing contains themes of  graphic violence (predominantly), coarse language, sex, adult themes, exploration of trauma, racism, and generational violence. I recklessly make things up to suit my whims, wills, and needs, and hope to negotiate a clear path should the need ever arise. 

This novel in particular addresses all of the above themes from the specific perspective of someone who has been forced, through physical trauma, to confront their past, their identity, their emotions, and the nature of their relationship with their self, their career, their crew, and their past. It blurs the lines between real and simulated violence frequently, and is notably visceral in its descriptions. Please don't read this work if any of this concerns you.