Greetings and Salutations

"Helm Officer's Log, Stardate 87759.9

The talks at Cardassia Prime ended as predictably as everyone had anticipated, with endless egotistical bigotry from the Cardassians toward the Khitomer Alliance. They seemed to completely forget that they single-handedly antagonized every faction leader within the Alliance. The air was thick with tension and unspoken grudges, a diplomatic stalemate.

But as humans say, "Not my circus, not my monkeys," so it wasn't my problem. With the Nexus being in the Alpha Quadrant and rather close to my home world of Lukar, and with no pressing immediate mission seeing how we were still planning on being at Cardassia Prime for another week, I asked Captain Praxas if we could do a quick visit home.

And he said, "Of course!"

Apparently, he always wanted to see my home world, especially since he was still a fresh captain when he made first contact with my people, the Lukari. It was our mutual friend, and my mentor, Captain Kumaarke—well, Admiral Kumaarke now—who facilitated that first contact.

So, I am on my way home, and the Captain is going to see an old friend. I have high hopes for this visit!"

—

"Approaching the Lukar system now, sir," Ensign Lusaalli announced from the ship's helm, her voice tinged with excitement.

"Bring us out of warp, Ensign," Anzyl said, sitting in his chair, holding a tiny espresso and a plate of multicolored macarons.

"Aye aye, sir," she responded, as the hum of the warp bubble ceased.

The USS Nexus flashed white as it exited warp and entered normal space, the stars around them snapping into focus.

"Lukar V is in range, sir," Lusaalli stated, a beaming grin spreading across her face.

"On screen," Anzyl calmly acknowledged, sipping his espresso.

The viewscreen lit up with hues of blues, magenta, and violets from the surrounding nebula that encased the Lukar system. Before them was an iridescent gas giant, ribbons of blue and violet swirling across its surface, orbited by several moons. One of these moons was a habitable Class-M moon, Lukar, homeworld of the Lukari people.

"We are being hailed, sir," Heluna stated from her post in communications, "It's the Lukari Concordium."

"On screen, Lieutenant," Anzyl said, setting his cup and saucer down on the small table beside him.

"Captain Praxas!" A Lukari woman called out in gleeful excitement and admiration. She was almost identical in features to Lusaalli, a typical Lukari woman with pale pink skin, completely hairless, soft curved cranial ridges, violet eyes, and magenta pink lips. "How good it is to see you, old friend!"

"Admiral Kumaarke!" Anzyl beamed at seeing his old friend. "It is very good to see you! And might I say, congratulations on your promotion to Admiral! You passed me up in rank and you just joined the Alliance!" He raised his cup of espresso in a toast to her.

"Oh, stop, Captain," she said, blushing a shade of magenta. "You very well know it's because of our whole first contact thing that led both of us into that mess with that rogue Tzenkethi captain." Then her face turned to Lusaalli at the helm. "Hello, Lusaalli. That chair suits you well, I see." She beamed with pride at seeing her protégé in such a prestigious position.

"Thank you, Admiral," Lusaalli bowed. "I couldn't have made it here without your help."

"Oh, pish posh!" Kumaarke beamed. "You earned that seat."

"Wait… pish posh?" Anzyl asked, jokingly prodding her about her use of words. "Been hanging around humans for a long time, I see."

"Yes, I have, a lot," the Admiral continued, changing her tone to slightly serious. "And that actually is why I was meaning to send for you, but when I received Lusaalli's communique that you were coming this way anyway, I absolutely had to accept. I have an important mission, and I would love it if the USS Nexus, flagship of the Khitomer Alliance, joined me and the LSS Reskava on it." Kumaarke had a hint of hope in her voice.

"Well, before I say yes," Anzyl said, setting his cup down, "how about the Nexus makes it to Lukar and while you give us a tour of your grand home planet and capital city, you can tell me and my staff all about it."

"That sounds like a wonderful plan, Captain!" Kumaarke beamed with joy. "I look forward to seeing you in a few moments," she perked up with excitement. "Also, I am pleased to inform you, the Alliance has helped Lukar install a planet-wide transportation system! You can 'beam' down whenever you are ready!" She sounded almost giddy with excitement. "Kumaarke out," and ended the transmission.

"She sounds really excited for us to 'beam' down," Keten quipped from his console.

"Teleportation and transporter technology is rather new to Lukari," Lusaalli replied, piloting the ship towards the habitable moon. "Actually, since Kumaarke and the Lukari Concordium welcomed open negotiations with the Khitomer Alliance, Lukar has seen a substantial renaissance," she continued, elucidating her people's history. "The Lukari people haven't seen this much cultural growth and distinction since the 'Great Exodus' several millennia ago."

"The Great Exodus?" Veirik asked, his brow furrowed in curiosity.

Shying away and realizing she spoke up about a troubled history, Lusaalli continued, "Ah yes, the Great Exodus. Several hundred, if not thousands, of years ago, the Lukari people and the Kentari people were one and the same, back on the original homeworld of Kentar." Shaking her head in shame, "But the Kentar people only obsessed themselves with wealth and power, completely disregarding any semblance of the planet itself. As followers of the Lukar, the Lukari people realized the planet could not sustain such selfish and power-hungry inhabitants. The Kentari people were polluting the planet well past its natural capabilities to clean itself. In an attempt to save the planet, the Lukar people revolted, resulting in the great civil war," she sulked in sadness. "Ultimately, we lost, and as a last-ditch effort, the Lukar people left Kentar in the 'Great Exodus,' leaving the Kentari to their fate on their polluted and dying world. For all I know, Kentar is uninhabitable and lost to time."

"Sure is," Anzyl added. "Kumaarke and I found the ruined planet on an excursion against the Tzenkethi." He typed on his captain's console at his wrist and pulled up the planet on the main viewscreen. "This is Kentar as of the last time we saw it."

On the main viewscreen was an ugly brown and green planet, like a muddied and toxic ball of gas.

"Now a completely lifeless husk of a world," Captain Anzyl explained, "devoid of any flora, fauna, or even helpful bacteria, polluted well past the point of habitability, covered in those disgusting endless clouds of toxic pollutants, and probably will stay that way forever." He grimaced in pitiful shame, shaking his head.

"However!" Lusaalli piped up, changing the mood of the conversation, "Lukar is a lush and vibrant world and my people have fully embraced being one with the natural world! Even our ships house some of the most vibrant hydroponics and flora bays!"

"You are absolutely correct, Ensign!" The captain nodded, clearing away the disgusting image of the broken dead world to reveal the lush blue, green, and violet moon planet before them. "And we rendezvous to meet with an old friend on the lush green and blue world down there! Take us into high orbit."

"Aye aye, sir!" Lusaalli gladly obeyed, her fingers dancing over the controls.

"And then get ready to join us down below," the captain said, standing up and adjusting his uniform. "Senior officers, let all crew teams know shore leave is available on Lukar for those that want it. Heluna, let the Lukari Concordium know to expect guests, lots of them." Captain Anzyl smiled ear to ear. "We have a new planet to explore."