The colony’s leadership assembled quickly, they had been waiting for a Federation response for some time and now it was here.  They had debated how best to convince the Federation to support their colony and now it was to be put to the test.

The screen resolved, showing Captain Ajzure in her conference with several senior officers.

“Thank you for coming, Captain Ajzure,” said an older woman with steel grey hair and grey coveralls.  “I am Governor Madison, the founder and elected head of the colony here.”

“We hope to be able to work out a solution that will be workable for all involved,” said Njessa.  “And, in that spirit, I do not intend for there to be any accusations of secret deals being made. I intend for all negotiations and communications to be fully transparent. Thus, the Coalition is able to monitor this discussion but not to participate.”

The colonists stiffened a bit at this.

“You will be given the same consideration when we talk to the Coalition representatives,” continued Njessa.  “Communication and open discussion will be vital if we wish to solve this problem.”

“The problem is being caused by the Coalition,” said Madison.  “We just want to live our lives and make something of this beautiful planet.  We followed all Federation protocols, there was no registered claim on the planet and no sign of intelligent life or the past presence of intelligent life.”

“We appreciate that,” said Njessa.  “But the fact remains that you are outside of Federation jurisdiction.  We are here in the hope of negotiating a peaceful solution to this conflict.  We are not taking sides but we will seek a settlement that benefits and satisfies both parties.”

A few of the colonists looked openly disappointed, but not surprised, by that statement.

“We hope that you can,” said Alari, a Vulcan woman of advanced age.  “We have not had much luck in getting the Coalition to see reason.  We are willing to cooperate with them  . . . if they would just show some willingness to negotiate.”

“The Coalition has held firm in demanding we leave,” added Stefan Durham, a human male whose caramel complexion resisted offering cues of his middle age, “despite possessing no economic, scientific, or cultural ties to Ardor themselves. The only substance to their claim is their very recently deployed armada.”

Miala sighed quietly. Neither her disdain for bullies nor her sympathy for the colonists could change the fact that challenging the Coalition outright wasn’t a viable option right now. Tanjura lacked the intelligence or the logistics to take, much less hold a contested planet, especially if the Coalition was willing to fight for it. She knew better than admitting so out loud, however.

“If I may ask, what led you to choose this planet out of so many others?” Mira asked.

Madison answered.  “Colony worlds within Federation space are becoming increasingly difficult to get permission to settle on.  We had applied for nine -nine!- potential colony worlds, years of work.  Applications, studies, so many studies, only to have them denied or removed from the list for colonization.  We had to look outside of the Federation for a chance to return to the ideals of the Federation.  And even here, we followed all of the proper protocols before settling.”

Keon, who had made a point to sit as far out of view as possible, looked toward the Captain. He said nothing, only raising his brow in surprise at the situation in front of the colonists.

“The Romulan supernova was the main catalyst for the repeated rejections,” Durham expounded, a fatigued undertone creeping into his otherwise level delivery. “Those refugees had to go somewhere. When the sectors adjacent to the blast radius couldn’t harbor any more, the Council directed CAB to prioritize them and other disrupted interests. In choosing Ardor, we also sought to buffer ourselves against the subsequent geopolitical instability.”

“We understand your frustration,” said Njessa.  “And I do not think anyone here would fault you for trying to build a new life.  But the Coalition claims this planet and seems willing to go to extreme measures to secure it.”  She pauses.  “Are you willing to accept some Coalition authority over the planet if you are allowed to stay?”

“We made an offer to them when they first appeared, all threats and bluster,” said Madison.  “But they have not shown much interest in coming to a compromise.”

“We are willing to work with them,” said Moll.  “There is more than enough room for all of us.  Even if the Coalition wished to plant its own colonies.  We prefer a cooler environment than most Lohalians.”

“Can we take a step back to when the Coalition first appeared, all threats and bluster?” Miala posed as she raised a hand. It just occurred to her they’d played this situation more leniently than Doctor En’ves’ summation of old Lohalian doctrine despite a lack of dissuasive circumstances their armada seemed quite aware of. “If they’re so adamant about succeeding the old kingdom, why not make the ultimate statement of it and forcibly remove the colony?”

“The fact that we are Federation citizens, I believe,” said Madison.  “We have several direct subspace feeds back to the Federation and the slaughter of civilians would not play well with the home worlds.  While the Coalition is not as . . . chauvinistic as the Hierarchies, it is not adept at dealing with outsiders.  But the Coalition leadership realizes that maintaining a friendly relationship with the Federation is in their long term interests.”

“Putting a non-militarized planet under direct siege is a terrible acknowledgement of that, even for being new to the intergalactic stage,” Miala mused aloud. The Coalition’s transporter inhibition technology in particular was a specific measure Tanjura hadn’t deduced the functionality of, but if it was anything like what Starfleet or its contemporaries could employ, it was too resource-intensive to be standard operating procedure for a general deployment. “I have to ask, Governor: has anyone associated with your colony given the Coalition a reason to expect armed resistance, sanctioned or otherwise?”

“We, as a group, are armed,” stated Alari, implying that she personally was not.  “The planet does have its dangers, more to our livestock than ourselves.  And the argument was made that we needed to be able to defend ourselves from raiders.”

“We did not expect a military intervention,” added Madison.

“Unfortunately, that was the Coalition’s response,” said Njessa.  “We will contact their negotiator and see if we can convince them to meet with you as equals.  We request that you do not initiate any actions that the Coalition ground forces could interpret as hostile.”

“We have no wish to fight,” said Alari.

“Convince them to stay out of the colony’s lands and we will see that there is no trouble,” said Madison.

Njessa nodded and looked to her staff to see if there were any points they wanted brought up.  As no one immediately brought anything up.  “I think that gives us some useful information.  Thank you for your time.  We will be back in contact shortly.  Tanjura out.”

“With that information, we can prepare for our discussion with the Coalition,” Njessa said.  “If you have suggestions or further questions for the colonists, we can pass those on.  Unless there is anything else, dismissed.”