100369.3
Perim, N.
ADDENDUM A meeting attended by myself and Captains Morton and Tungsten with Trenia, Commander of Cube 25, representing The Cooperative, yielded the following information:
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Attacks reported on Stardate 99783.6 and 99955.7 were perpetrated not by the Borg Collective, but by a rogue faction of The Cooperative.
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The militant faction is led by Matthias Prett. Their stated goals are revenge against the Borg Collective. They presently control three cubes and two spheres. They are presently operating from a base in the Briar Patch.
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The militant faction’s attacks against the Federation were an attempt to provoke the Federation into a wider conflict with the Borg Collective. They have also made small strikes against the Collective themselves, which apparently resulted in the Collective destroying a Cooperative colony.
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This intelligence is available because The Cooperative has an unspecified number of spies among the militant faction. The Cooperative was aware, in advance, of the impending attacks against the Federation. Trenia claims that attempts were made to warn the Federation, and that those attempts were thwarted by the militant faction destroying Cooperative ships dispatched to make contact with Starfleet.
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The Cooperative is requesting the Federation provide two starships and conduct a joint operation to capture or kill Mr. Prett. They believe eliminating him will result in the dissolution of the militant faction.
Despite the value of the information provided, I believe this incident has seriously jeopardized the Federation’s relationship with The Cooperative. By their own admission, The Cooperative was aware of impending attacks on the Federation via their spies. The explanation that their warnings were not delivered because the ships they sent were intercepted by the militant faction is not credible. Other avenues of communication are readily available to members of the Khitomer Alliance and The Cooperative has made use of them in the past. A simple subspace communication would easily have sufficed, and could have saved numerous lives. Further, the decision to contact the Federation via the 38th Fleet, in the Aldebaran Sector, is simply ludicrous. It is neither the location of the attacks, nor the closest Federation or Starfleet assets to The Cooperative.
This situation does not make sense unless the motives of The Cooperative are considered suspect. In that context, a picture forms:
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The militant faction has broken away from The Cooperative and intends to antagonize the Borg Collective.
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The Cooperative believes the actions of the militant faction are likely to result in retaliation against them by the Collective.
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The Cooperative is not confident in their ability to independently combat the militant faction, as evidenced by their request for Starfleet assistance.
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The Cooperative believes that eliminating Mr. Prett will result in the dissolution of the militant faction. Supposition: the dissolution of the militant faction is a direct benefit to the Cooperative in the form of returning personnel and assets.
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With adequate warning, the Federation would be able to prevent the militant faction’s attacks, either through active defense or negotiation. In fact, simply the knowledge of the militant faction’s existence entirely negates the reason for their attack - they would have no reason to attack the Federation to try to provoke a Federation/Borg conflict if the Federation is aware that they are not part of the Collective.
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Starfleet is more likely to assist in eliminating Mr. Prett if he has ordered attacks on the Federation and taken Federation lives.
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The Starfleet Officers most likely to support action against the militant faction are those who had been directly affected by the faction’s attacks.
The Cooperative’s interests were best served by allowing the attacks to occur first, and only then providing the critical intelligence directly to the elements of Starfleet most likely to support their plan to decapitate and reabsorb the militant faction.
RECOMMENDATION FDC advises Starfleet to dispatch a combat-ready task force to the Briar Patch coordinates provided by The Cooperative to locate the militant faction. While attempting to apprehend Mr. Prett and the other members of this faction in connection with the previous attacks on the Federation may seem a tempting option, it is worth considering that the link between them and the attacks is not unimpeachable and has not been independently verified by Starfleet sources. As allowing them to remain in Federation space is also likely untenable, FDC instead recommends that Starfleet order them to withdraw. It is critical to communicate to this faction that the Federation is aware of their existence and goals, in order to nullify their motivation for further clandestine hostilities.
FDC further strongly recommends that involvement of The Cooperative in any such operation be avoided. FDC believes the nature of the militant faction’s relationship with The Cooperative will be exceedingly likely to provoke hostilities if they should come into contact.