The Price of Liberty

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Overview=
"The Price of Liberty" is the first chapter of the arc and the first overall of . Written in late 2013 and published on 2 January 2014, it is authored by .
It has gone through numerous revisions since its creation in 2014, including an extensive 2015-2016 rewrite, another in 2020, and a third in 2023.
;Summary
:The responds to a distress call from the , but is attacked en route by a Klingon vessel hellbent on gaining an advantage in the war with the Federation.
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== Synopsis ==
=== Teaser ===
A Starfleet vessel is under attack, near destruction, and the crew is doing their best to keep the ship in one piece. The captain orders Ensign Jason Fredricks to return fire on their foe, a Klingon . The operations officer informs the captain that structural integrity is failing, and the captain realizes the end is near. A volley of fired by the Klingons strikes the Starfleet vessel, causing Jason's console to explode in his face. He suddenly wakes up in his apartment in San Francisco, realizing he was having a nightmare. He calms himself and returns to sleep.
=== Act I: Graduation Day ===
On stardate 82513.9, the Class of 2408 has just graduated from Starfleet Academy. Jason enters a lounge overlooking the Academy's and approached the bar to order a drink. A Human cadet named Daniel Harvey, boasting about his family and his own greatness, steps over to him after harassing some of the other patrons. He immediately starts berating Jason, mocking him about his and even bringing up his father.
In the midst of their argument, Harvey also manages to harass or insult several other cadets. After a tense back and forth, Jason decides to leave the bully to his own vices, but he strikes Jason. When Jason still doesn't retaliate, he tries to strike him again, but is stopped by Dylyp Azeli and Norrg'k.
Jason reports to Lieutenant Ferra, the at Starfleet Academy. Ferra tells him that Captain Masc Taggart wishes to speak with him in his office. Jason enters, and Taggart tells Jason that he wants him to be his tactical officer aboard the . Jason is a bit surprised, but he accepts the position. Taggart then tells Jason to report to the shuttlebay and meet up with the other personnel.
Jason then boards the Zeus, a shuttle inbound for the Leviathan. On the shuttle, he meets some other recent graduates, Hannah Freeman, Ernie Hauser, Jhael Onika and Vance L'eher. They all gaze in awe at the sight of the Leviathan.
=== Act II: Klingons ===
Eight months have passed since graduation. Jason enters the mess hall and finds that his old friend, Lucas, has just been assigned to the Leviathan from the . They begin to discuss where their next assignment may be but are interrupted by a ship-wide announcement by Captain Taggart that they have just received a distress call from the .
The duo proceeds down a corridor when the first officer, Henry Fuller, asks where they are going. Jason tells him that they are headed for the , and the three of them enter a . Jason introduces Lucas and Fuller to each other, and they exchange greetings.
When they reach the bridge, Taggart is waiting for them. Fuller tells him that Lucas is the new science officer, and Taggart directs Lucas to his station. Taggart then introduces Fuller to the rest of the bridge crew, with Ensign Pierce at and Ensign Koja at . Taggart then asks Fuller to fill in at due to the communications officer being on leave.
Pierce informs the captain that they are approaching the location of the Break Even, and Taggart gives the order to drop out of warp. Taggart asks Jason to scan for hostile vessels in the system. He soon discovers that a Klingon ship is decloaking and charging up their weapons. The ship takes heavy damage, and both Pierce and Koja are killed. The chief engineer reports over the comm that Klingon boarding parties have invaded , and Taggart orders Commander McMary to assist down there. Lucas and Fuller move their comrades' bodies out of the way as Taggart determines their course of action.
McMary and her team meet Jhael and the other engineering staff outside engineering. They fight their way past several Klingons and eventually manage to retake engineering. Unfortunately, a straggler remains and manages to stab McMary. After a brief struggle, his fires and it kills both of them. Jhael reports their success as well as McMary's death to the captain. The surviving s – Vance, Briggs, and another officer – head to other parts of the ship to drive away the remaining Klingons.
While Taggart, Fuller, Jason, and Lucas attempt to coordinate repairs, two Klingons emerge from the turbolift. Fuller is severely wounded by one of the Klingons, and Taggart is taken hostage aboard the Klingons' ship. Jason calls upon Dr. Travis Murray, but he finds out from the nurse, Julia Cromwell, that he is dead. Fuller, near death, informs Jason that he must complete the mission and promotes him to lieutenant. Jason then makes a ship-wide announcement that he is taking command.
=== Act III: Needs of the Many ===
Julia soon arrives on the bridge, accompanied by Ernie Hauser, Hannah Freeman, and Charlie Morgan. Ernie takes the conn station, Hannah takes , and Charlie the ops station. Fuller dies shortly after from a pierced lung and internal bleeding.
Jason then orders Hannah to send a distress call to the nearest Starfleet vessel, with a second encrypted signal piggybacking the first. The Klingons hail them and their captain, Kadek, informs them that he has relayed their distress signal to Starfleet using an "old Earth method." He then offers them a deal: if Jason will give him information regarding the Federation's fleet movements along the Klingon border, as well as the ships' design specifications, he will release Captain Taggart to them. He allows them to speak to Taggart for a moment, and Taggart convinces Jason not to mount a rescue. He tells Jason to get the Leviathan to safety and leave him behind. After exchanging farewells, Jason has Hannah terminate the channel between the ships.
He orders Charlie to fire upon the Klingons, but Charlie informs him that weapons are still offline. He then prepares to ram the Klingon ship with the Leviathan. Suddenly, the warps into the system, and hails the Leviathan. Captain Vo'Lok informs Jason that they will handle the Klingons.
The and USS Renown exchange blows until the Renown finally lands a major hit to the Chot's engine. The Klingons retreat, and the Renown is unsuccessful in rescuing Taggart. Just then, the Renown receives another distress call, this one from the . Vo'Lok contacts Jason and tells him of their failure to retrieve Taggart, to which Jason insists on tracking the Klingons. Vo'Lok also tells him of the distress call, and their duty to assist the Khitomer. Vo'Lok then sends several work crews over to the Leviathan to assist them in repairs. The two ships then embark for the location of the Khitomer.
== Appearances ==
=== Characters ===
=== Events ===
*Dominion War 
*Federation-Klingon War 
=== Governments and organizations ===
*Federation Council 
*Gorn Hegemony 
*Klingon Empire 
*Orion Syndicate 
*Starfleet 
*United Federation of Planets 
=== Locations ===
*Earth Spacedock 
*Imaga system 
*San Francisco, Earth 
*Starfleet Academy 
*Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards 
=== Species ===
*Andorian 
*Betazoid 
*Caitian 
*Denobulan 
*El-Aurian 
*Gorn 
*Human 
*Klingon 
*Nausicaan 
*Tellarite 
*Undine/Species 8472 
*Vulcan 
=== Starships and spacecraft ===
* 
* 
*Demeter 
* 
* 
*Poseidon 
* 
* 
*Zeus 
=== Miscellanea ===
==== Ranks ====
:
==== Other ====
:
== Continuity ==
*Multiple cadets who graduated in 2408 but were not immediately assigned to the later join the Leviathans crew. They include:
**Leo Anderson
**Dylyp Azeli (joins in )
**Tala Jones (joins in )
**Lenerea Mendel (joins in "Researcher Rescue")
**Lucas Wells (joins later in this chapter)
*Masc Taggart states that he picked up the term "number one" from his "former commanding officer." This indicates that Taggart served aboard the at some point.
== Background and trivia ==
*This chapter is an adaptation of the tutorial missions , , and .
*It is an extensive rewrite of , 's original first chapter.
**It also uses the same title as the original second chapter of the story.
*Various characters that did not appear in "Khitomer Crisis" were added to this chapter.
**Vance, Jhael, Vo'Lok, and Kadek, among others, did not appear in the original version of the chapter.
**Hannah was originally named Hannah Morrison, and Charlie was simply called Morgan or Ensign Morgan.
=== Revisions ===
*It received a comprehensive revision in October 2015 which was accidentally published over by . It was again revised between June and July 2016; the end product was slightly different from the 2015 revision.
*It received another significant revision in May 2020. Changes include:
**The bridge scene in Act II has been extended. Jason and Lucas stay on the with Taggart and Fuller, while McMary is sent to in their stead.
**Marvolo Piers has been renamed to Marvin Pierce.
**McMary dies while retaking engineering from the Klingons.
**Kevin Briggs takes the place of a previously unnamed security officer in the engineering scene.
**Fuller now gives Jason a field promotion to lieutenant before his death.
*From February to March 2023, the chapter received another complete overhaul.
**Various details not revealed until later on (specifically in ) have been added to contextualize the timeframe in which the story takes place.
**Much more descriptiveness has been added to the narrative.
**The graduation scene has been removed, save for a small flashback of Jason's speech (which was completely rewritten).
**All of the graduates who appeared in the original scene have been moved to the shuttle scene, and their assignments are now revealed.
***Daniel Harvey, Norrg'k, Jeff Philips, Raltha Trebor, and Zarva all go to the .
***Leo Anderson, Elisa Flores, Tala Jones, T'Vrell, and Sofia Wenner all go to the .
***The group heading for the remains the same.
**Serov is no longer a graduate, but instead is a bartender at Starfleet Academy.
**More emphasis is placed on Jason's goal of ending the Federation-Klingon War.
== Notes ==
== External links ==
== Navigation ==
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