BEGIN REPORT: STARFLEET INTELLIGENCE FILE
Name: Liana Defense Corporation (LDC) (See report update about name change)
Purpose: Defense and Preparation training, combat and resource strengthening, minor PMC activities
Member Compliment: Estimated to have ~800 members and growing as of last census, multi-species but with a notable civilian Romulan presence at its core.
Alignment: Non-faction NGO, services offered to those interested or in perceived need. Existing Romulan Republic contracts confirmed (including many jobs with independent Romulan worlds), no known official government contracts with Federation or Klingon Empire. Several Delta Quadrant contracts since the opening of the gates (including Kobali Prime)
Leadership:
Antia ir-Liathis Liana-Tems - Founder, Chief Operations Officer, mixed-species.
Alidar tr'Hilian - Executive Officer, Romulan ex-Imperial.
Dren ir-Liathis - transport supplier, Romulan civilian.
D'Mehan ir-Liathis - Fleet coordinator and nominal third in command, Self-described pirate (official piracy record is dubious), bridges the gap between leadership and other members.
Kahz - aka Dhralievrelnec, former Romulan Empire covert intelligence and information retrieval specialist, presumably working for LDC now, but some Republic ties can't be ruled out. Evidence of his covert activities in the Federation are still being investigated.
Notable members:
Ikso'Talon - ex-patriot Jem Hadar and former underworld cage fighter, XO of LDC flagship, no known True Way connections
Gunzu Sarbian - Renegade Betazoid, Ship Captain, exiled from Betazed
Slav - Gorn with prosthetic claws, known KDF ex-convict, potentially unstable and extremely dangerous
"The Twins" Kalad and Kaol - Two Romulan identical twins, a genetic rarity among the race, presumably share some level of psionic ability, extent unclear. Master inventors and pirate subnet radio pranksters.
History:
Shortly before the formation of the Romulan Republic, an unauthorized Colony Aid Network that sprouted from Khazara, and Imperial colony, began circulating supplies to the lesser known or ignored worlds of the Star Empire in response to neglect by Sela and the core worlds. Reports at the time could not confirm the unauthorized involvement of former Starfleet officers John McHale (aka Joren Tems) and Sarleya t'Rllailleiu (relation to notable Romulan political figures unconfirmed) but now these seem more likely. Starting with industrial replicators on Khazara the aid network expanded covertly under the Imperial Navy, with attention being distracted by a seditious Romulan group known as Senatus Repare led by a rouge Romulan known as M'ret tr'Naiharia. Although the terrorist actions of this group were notable for a time, they started to decline after Sela's capture by the Iconians as the disappearance spurred more individual and rebellious movements leading to the Republic's formation. Before that a Joint Consortium known as S3 was considered giving an amount of Starfleet support to the Aid Network but no official partnership was formed as the rise of the fledgling Republic turned Starfleets attention to a more worthwhile political ally in D'Tan. The growing Republic would later lure members of Senatus Rapare away until the faction officially disbanded and several of the worlds in the aid network became members of the Republic or independent from the Empire, ending the need for it.
In the wake of this new galactic climate, many of the worlds however were not helped or noticed for either political or logistic reasons. Finding something of a calling after a life doing nothing nearly so important before, Antia Liana-Tems, the daughter of John McHale, started a small ship crew to continue offering aid and assistance to lesser civilizations on neglected worlds. John McHale would later go into a form of cryo-stasis due to a severe illness and due to his unclear revival chances he and his Romulan associates Dren and Alidar bequeathed their amassed resources to Antia (mostly gained by laundering the capital of the now-defunct Karlan Shipping Conglomerate that used to operate in Romulan Imperial space) and formed an official organization to properly offer the kind of support they felt the major galactic powers were either incapable or unwilling to offer to people in need, be it for political reasons or otherwise. Liana Defense Corporation, named after Antia's deceased mother's family name in her honor, was born. At the time operating out of a refurbished but older model T'Varo warbird bought from the Republic, the ship was later enhanced and through successful negotiations and contracts the company slowly grew, adding members and other independent ships to it's number.
Ostensibly the company labels itself as a home for misfits of the galaxy who no longer have a place in the major socio-political structure of the major powers but still need a purpose. LDC has been particularly amiable to former combat veterans both state military and mercenary who cannot find a way to live without combat. Due to the higher percentage of these member types many of LDCs early contracts involved defense training for smaller villages and cities to help people learn how to fend of attacks from pirates and raiders instead of fleeing or evacuate while waiting for their nearest primary government fleet to show up later. Though they did hit a notable profit margin early on, many clients have noted they never actually charged a hefty amount, mostly just coverage for operating costs. This has led to public view of the organization as philanthropists. The sizable combatant presence in LDCs ranks led to the inevitable offering of contracted defense and security work, creating a sub-group within LDC called the Starlight Hounds, which works as a PMC. However LDC goes out of it's way to distance itself from the notion that it is a PMC. Around the time of intense Undine incursions, including random attacks on Alliance worlds such as Quo'nos and Earth, LDC began a campaign to strengthen up some worlds in prep for Undine attack. Most planets they provided services for never saw an Undine attack, but four of them did, and of those 4, two of the planets successfully utilized the resources and training, as well as direct LDC combat assistance, to ward of Undine ground forces as Starfleet ships above fought bioships without any evacuations taking place. This was one of the first official instances of Federation and LDC cooperation, however incidental it was. Starfleet was on the record at the time stating they disapproved of LDCs actions since they put innocent civilians in harms way by giving them the notion they could defend against such a dangerous enemy. Ms. Tems is on record saying at least two worlds still have a home in part due to her efforts however. Starfleet began to crack down on LDC presence on Federation worlds however, having not recognized them as a legitimate entity yet.
At some point they secured access rights to travel through the Jouret Gate from the Romulan Republic (who operate the Beta Quadrant side in their territory) to the Delta Quadrant where the messy political situations there enabled them a large swath of contract possibilities. It is of no doubt that the Joint Alliance between Starfleet, the Republic, and the KDF were the primary causes of Delta Quadrant alliances due to the Vaadwuar threat, but more intense scrutiny can show LDC work also seems to have helped to shape some of the positive views of the Alpha and Beta quadrant factions there. This is particularly true on Kobali Prime, where the Alliance pumped massive resources to help train Kobali and fight off Vaadwuar forces. It was later learned the Kobali accepted help beyond the Alliance in other areas of the planet as well, with LDC providing an extensive training and resource support presence.
Back home the LDC would later face an entirely new test of their abilities when massive quantites of Herald ships started attacking Alliance worlds as the Iconian War began. Whatever successes and resources LDC could offer, their abilities were minor compared to the strength of this new enemy, which was something not even the members of the Alliance could handle most days. LDC tried to offer training and technological defensive measures to worlds as possible but despite a few lucky scrapes with smaller Iconian ships they're only successes were in ground combat and most often they served as a means to hold off enemy troops while civilians evacuated in direct contravention to LDCs intended purpose. Citing LDCs job as a means to help those who couldn't always rely on Starfleet or other faction militaries who were busy with the major issues (such as the larger Iconian War campaigns in this case) Antia activated and bolstered the Starlight Hounds and began conducting missions on worlds being attacked by Heralds with the intent to simply just cause as much chaos for the enemy as possible, even if it didn't have a major effect in the war. One notable appearance of them was on Betazed, where they became a consistent annoyance to Herald forces in the Northern highlands using a series of rapidly changing tactics to which the Heralds could not adapt. To this day, Betazed has not admitted to officially requesting their help or offering any compensation during or after the war, and LDC has not asked for anything either. Due to the stresses of the war, the Federation chose to ignore LDCs actions and temporarily remove them and Antia from their organizational blacklist. Since the war ended, due to the long recovery, LDC has stayed off the Federation's blacklist and is not viewed as negatively, however they are still not officially sanctioned either. For her part, Antia seems to have respected Federation borders more often since the war ended.
Recent intelligence reports have indicated LDC has refocused on Romulan outworlds in the old Imperial-Federation Neutral Zone regions, where a lot of its early contracts and successes started. Many formerly lawless worlds, regardless of official independence from the Star Empire, have recently been found to have much stronger justice systems and better technological resources thanks to LDC aid. This appears to be a sign that after all the combat of the war LDC is trying to revert to it's pre-war status of offering help and building up lesser worlds rather than simply being a combat tool. Inside sources say they are also taking in war refugees and relocating them as needed, and housing some younger orphans with intent on education and training to better help them on the outside.
To date, LDC has no official base of operations, though the Romulan border world of Liathis appears to be a favorite port of call due to it being where several key members grew up, including Antia herself. The once poor and destitute world is seeing an economic boom from the help now, but still does not compare to a faction-sided world like any in the Republic or Federation. Tracking of LDC ships in the Solanae sphere has revealed many of their refugees end up at established villages in unoccupied ground areas a large distance away from the Alliance or Voth controlled lands. Later research showed that before their activities in Delta expanded Antia and the early remnants of LDC helped form a non-faction village in the area of people escaping the Voth-Alliance conflict and included people of both sides living in peace. They had thrived there in almost pure obscurity after LDC had searched the area and made it safe for living by importing all the infrastructure, rather than trying to adopt any of the Solanae technology there which they deemed too risky. With so much ground area available in the Sphere it seems Antia made the decision it could become a safe area for people since you could spend a lifetime searching the inner shell of the sphere without finding anyone. Though the diminished output of the Solanae star means the village relies on LDC help to make the area more hospitable for now, they are adamant it is worth their effort. The Joint Alliance has decided to not interfere with any of this currently as LDC forces nearby get extremely protective about their established town and its residences. It is believed Antia may be looking into a farther off unused Spire facility as a base eventually but this cannot be confirmed. Starfleet Intelligence is keeping an eye on the region as such a move would be an unprecedented power grab for the the organization. For the time, the aid to the town and any Delta operations rely on Alliance permission to use the gateway, which they got permission for via their Republic channels, so they are being far more agreeable to maintain that access.
Final Thoughts and Suggestions:
Based on current intelligence, Starfleet Intelligence has decided that while there still exists no cause for any specific relationship between the Federation and LDC, there also exists no overt issues with them in the present day. Much of the issues of the past being tempered by wartime and the organization becoming more amicable to Federation restrictions have been a major help to this. The recommendation from Starfleet Intelligence is that LDC should not be treated as a rouge or criminal organization by any Starfleet fleets that should encounter them. However, they should remain cautious and maintain an open dialogue if they end up operating in similar areas. The Non-Governmental operations of LDC make them a wild card and have the potential to disrupt Starfleet operations inadvertently. As such no formal agreement exists and all Fleets have the authority from Command to act as they see fit in any situation. Additionally, extra care should be taken in dealing directly with Ms. Tems, as the young woman has a tendency to become easily angered by any hostile action. It is the suggestion of this report she be treated respectfully as long as she is not causing any trouble due to her extensive influences in the minor world networks. Past that it is up to the discretion of the commanding officer in the area.
END REPORT