The promenade was buzzing, yes it had its rotting apples among it, but it felt natural or more common to those that worked and lived there. Opening her shop, Hirni, a young Ferengi woman was eager to start her day, she has a passion for designing, repairing and selling clothing and Hecate was the crossroads she needed to exploit her creativity. She paid her taxes to the crooks, so there were no troubles there. Pushing the metal framework to the side that protected her shop from any robbery that might happen at closing, a small cozy shop appeared, warm red and orange lights that would reflect on her designs would capture the interest of potential customers.

“Good morning Hirni, opening shop?”

A familiar voice came from behind her as she looked and saw Torr and Pia standing there. They were part of the BMC or also known on the station as the Black Mining Cooperation that would perform mining operations out there in the Grim Wall. Hirni smiled at them “Good morning to both of you, I am indeed getting ready for another day of adventuring. You guys off to port 43?”

Port 43, the docking port that was actually number 4, but due to a painting mistake in the past it holds the number 43. The older looking Bolian that was known as Torr Krara the foreman of BMC, smiled at Hirni “We will be meeting up the gang there, to get operations going again”

“Hirni, please get some sense into him, he wants us to fly to Asteroid 757-H!” The young blond human female spoke to Hirni, she is the BMC Astrometric Specialist known as Pia Brehm a vital key in BMC operations in the Grim Wall.

An awkward shrug was given by Hirni “You know that I have zero knowledge of astrometrics Pia…” She looked at Torr “But if my girl feels unsafe, she has the right to decline your dangers plans”

Rolling his eyes, Torr shook his head “She selected the asteroid herself you know. The asteroid is rich in minerals that are now mostly wanted by the Klingon Empire”  Torr pointed out “I am just picking targets that benefits our business…” He crosses his arms over each other “Plus we got starlight…”

Starlight, the nickname given to the Bajoran pilot of BMC, she might be young but if anyone could pilot through the dense asteroid belt of the Grim Wall, then Mogush Goalki was your gal. Hirni smiles softly and nodded “Then you are in perfect safe hands Pia, so the Klingons are gearing up for their internal struggles?” She looked back at Torr while giving some comfort to Pia who was still pouting.

Giving a brief nod “The misty road is getting more crowded with traders and merchants traveling to and from the empire. I have seen the mineral market sky rocked after Chancellor Toral took control. The talk goes around of an internal conflict and friction brewing up struggles of the direction that the Empire should be going”  He looked over his shoulder to make sure there were no Klingons hearing his talking.

After some comfort, Hirni nodded and resumed getting her store ready “I have seen an increase of Klingons on the station also, they seem to be visiting the red rocks often”  Hirni knew to stay clear from the lower decks that was in control of the Orions, but Red Rocks was another example of crafty and shady business. She only heard rumors about it, like auctions and black market dealing being done there.

Pia shrugs “Well that is one flip side of things, I mean I don’t mind seeing them here. But Starfleet has been acting strange as of late”

Looking over her shoulder as she folds a shirt, Hirni blinks for a second “Is Starfleet getting involved with their shady dealing? I mean would not surprise me” When she needed Starfleet help, they were nowhere to be found. Sure the station was under their control, but there was like a balance between black and white, good and evil, thought seeing how they were reacting was it not more neutral and evil?

Shaking her head “No, that is the weird path, Starfleet personnel is changing. The former command team was completely replaced, including all the chiefs. Which is weird, would it have something to do with the Klingons sudden changes?”  Pia tapped her chin “Would this be impacting us?” She was worried that Starfleet neutral stand to the current situation at Hecate was going to change and making it complicated for them all.

“I personally don’t think we have to worry about it” Torr shrugged “Starfleet will not just change overnight when it comes to the operations of this station. They honestly don’t care if we die or not” He looked at his side “There are many sick and poor people that found refuge here after the Dominion War, the Lost Fleet crisis and we even see more xBs after the whole Frontier Day incident. Starfleet is lacking personnel, resources and mostly the will to get something done”

Leaning against the metal framework “Truth to be told, I just wish that Starfleet would leave this base and let it be run by the Orions or even the Klingons. They are not adding anything of value to Hecate” Torr might sound bitter, but he was mostly a realist when it came to common sense of how things work.

Shaking her head as Hirni dust off a beautiful dress “Nah, Starfleet presence, while not significant, gives a feeling of security. They might not act on wrong doings, but it does give us unknowingly protection to what the Orions or the Klingons actually would do to this place” She looks at them both “In a way I am grateful for their presence and new officers means new business. Like my people would say, new opportunities brings new values of coin”

Blinking a bit, Pia looked at Hirni “What rule would that be?”

“I honestly wouldn’t know, men in my culture just keep adding them and its throwing me off to keep track of them. So I just remember the important ones” Hirni gave Pia a wink.

Tap on the shoulder of Pia, Torr smiles “With that said, we are needed at Port 43. Let’s get going” Pushing Pia away who was reaching out to Hirni to help her “We will see you later on at the bar Hirni”  Torr smiled at her and kept pushing Pia.

Waving her hand at the two who were leaving as Hirni lowered her hand. She looked into the crowd of people as the promenade was already starting to get more lively. Hirni wondered if live would be better with this change or if this station would become a battleground between Starfleet and the criminals that had Hecate in a chokehold. She saw a customer coming to her shop and took a deep breath “Good day, we got many wears, I got some perfect fabrics that would compliment your skin”