The Claw

Posted on Thu Feb 12th, 2026 @ 4:45am by Lieutenant Marques Hunt

880 words; about a 4 minute read

Mission: Tales of the Twenty-Third Century
Location: USS Jenkins in Kzin System
Timeline: 2290

The Constellation class, USS Jenkins had been assigned to Patriarchy space for the past month. It was a routine check to ensure that the Kzinti had not taken up war ships that had been a part of the Treaty of Sirius at the end of the Earth-Kzin Wars. This treaty had led to the complete demilitarization of the Kzinti. Some would say that such a treaty may have been critical at the time. But now it just seemed unfair. Earth helped found the United Federation of Planets, becoming a superpower in the Alpha and Beta Quadrant. While Kzin was limited to a police force to protect themselves. Not to mention Starfleet was given unrestricted access to their space. Apparently, there were talks of renegotiating that old treaty.

Lieutenant Marques Hunt had been assigned to this ship as the Chief Flight Control Officer about four months now and it felt good being away from the Klingon border. These were the things Starfleet should be doing. Regardless of how some may have felt about this particular treaty. But right out of the Academy, Marques had been assigned to a ship that was posted to the Klingon border and quickly found themselves engaged in nonstop battle. His career began with him the worse and the hardest part that came from serving in Starfleet. The Klingon Empire had stripped him of his innocence.

The innocence of a young man who walked across that Academy stage at graduation, wanting to explore and help people. Not learning of ways to being more brutal than the enemy in order to survive. Exiting his quarters, Hunt made his way right to turbolift that brought him to the bridge. Moving to flight control, he relieved the third shift officer.

Entering the bridge was Captain Juliana Reddick. "How long would it take us to arrive to Kzin Mister Hunt at warp six."

Marques raised a curious eyebrow. There were no plans to arrive at Kzin. "We would arrive in six hours."

"Set a course to Kzin warp six."

Simply nodding, Hunt set the course and went to warp. The Captain never explained why they were heading for Kzin and from corner of his eye, he could see the Captain in the center chair deep in thought. There was silence on the entire bridge which was suddenly broken.

"Senior staff report to the conference room immediately." With that said, the Captain vacated her seat.

When the relief officer arrived, Marques followed her into the conference room along with the communication, security and science officers. A few minutes later, they were joined the Chief Engineer and Chief Medical Officer.

Sitting around the table, senior staff were clearly at a loss on what they had been summoned.

After everyone appeared to be settled, the Captain started. "Listen up everyone. At 0647 hours there were reported an old organization, referring to themselves as 'The Claw' taking control of the capital city. They have acquired a ship, which has allowed them to gain contraol. It's already reported that the death toll is already possibly in the thousands."

There were shocked looks from everyone the table. Due to the Treat of Sirius, the Kzinti had no real military space force. But this Claw group had amassed a ship and was able to attack the planet with little resistance.

"How many ships does the Claw possess?" the Bolian first officer questioned. The man also held the role of Chief Security Officer.

"At the moment just one ship," the Captain answered. "Nothing that the Jenkins can't handle.

"But it can do quite a bit of damage prior to our arrival," Marques spoke up. "The treaty has left them defenseless to these types of attacks."

"That treaty is place for good reason Lieutenant," Commander Odan replied. "The Federation was at war with them."

"The Federation was never at war with the Kzinti," Hunt corrected his superior. "Earth was at war with them long before there was a Federation. And we have been holding them to this treaty ever since. Kzin is no kind of threat to the Federation. That unfair treaty has left them open to these types of attacks."

Before the First Officer could retort, Juliana held up her hand. An indicator that she didn't want to hear anything else from either officer. "Regardless we need to put a stop to all of this and maintain order. The diplomats can deal with the politics of the treaty."

"I'll prepare sickbay and prepare to take on the wounded," Naomi Linder spoke up. "The locals on the planet are probably struggling to provide adequate medical assistance due to the attack. Could have my people on standby to beam down to the surface and set of triage centers around the affected areas."

"Thank you doctor." Reddick took a look around the conference table. "Its going to be a lot of chaos down there and honestly, I have no idea if we're going to be in a fight before even getting a chance to help those poor souls on the surface. Be prepared for anything. Dismissed."

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Lieutenant Marques Hunt
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Jenkins

Captain Juliana Reddick (NPC)
Commanding Officer
USS Jenkins

Lt. Commander Opan (NPC)
Executive Officer/Chief Security Officer
USS Jenkins

Lieutenant Noami Linder (NPC)
Chief Medical Officer
USS Jenkins

 

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