Battleground Alpha : Prelude

Chapter 1

 

"Rogue leader to Rogue squadron, break by pairs and engage those TIEs.

keep them off the frigates"

 

Not an uncommon order, even to the newest member of Rogue Squadron, but

the 'frigates' weren't like any New Republic ship he'd ever seen.

Composed of discs mounted by a short neck on top of long sleek vaguely

cylindrical bodies with 2 more jutting parallel cylinders, the ships had

appeared only minutes before 'Mon Remonda' had been attacked by the

Imperial task force. Seeming to fad into normal space like the namesake

of the Rogues' sister squadron, they were rapidly moving to engage the

squadron of Victory class Star Destroyers that had arrived to defend the

Dakme VI mines. tagged as friend lies and classed as frigates by his

squadron leader, Rogue 7 turned his attention back to the incoming TIEs.

12 squadrons launched from the Star Destroyers, against Rogue and

Polearm squadrons. Not good odds. Ordinarily, Nova and Wraith squadrons

would have been helping , but they were busy attacking mines in the

asteroid belt of the Dakme system and were 5 minutes away.

 

Leading his wingman in dive towards the nearest squadron, Lt.Jovarth

redirected all shield power forwards and lined up with the TIE squadron

leader.

 

"Tweeter, tag the leading flight as targets and feed the data to the

torpedoes."

 

Rogue squadron had been selected to try out a new type of proximity

torpedo, which the NR government hoped would mean fewer fighters would

be required, enabling them to cut the military budget. One of the

brighter ideas they'd had, unfortunately, the Rogues hadn't had time for

live fire exercises and were dubious as to the performance of the new

torps. The NR and Imperial forces closed rapidly and Rogue 7 watched his

range finder scroll down rapidly, almost to the point where accurate

shooting would be possible. To his far right, he saw Rogues 11 and 12

open fire at extreme range, getting a couple of glancing blows against

the massed TIE formations. Glancing at his scanners, as the torpedo

began to acquire its lock, something seemed to be amiss.

 

"Rogue 7 to Rogue Leader, where's Polearm going?"

 

The lightning fast A-Wings, rather than moving up with the Rogues were

swooping round the TIEs', towards the Destroyers. Getting no immediate

answer, he was interrupted by the tone of his torpedo acquiring its

target. Hitting the fire button, he switched back to lasers and began

spraying the area, sending a couple of TIEs scattering out of the way,

as the rest opened fire. His shields held for a couple of moments as

several shots struck home, despite his furious jinking, then there was

an explosion ahead, as the 4 warheads of the torpedo separated and hit

their individual targets. Zooming through the gap in the TIE formation

and routing power from his lasers to his shields, he joined the rest of

the Rogues and prepared for another pass.

 

Aboard the 'Nelson', commanding the Federation taskforce, Vice Admiral

Boyd smiled in satisfaction, as 3 of the VSDs moved to engage his ships,

while the other 3 moved to engage Mon Remonda. Although surprised by his

sudden appearance, the Imperial commander had reacted swiftly and hoped

to neutralise the 2 unexpected guests before they could do anything.

Smaller than a VSD, the 'Nelson', a Sovereign class starship and the

'Omaha', a Galaxy class starship were outgunned, but the Admiral had a

few surprises up his sleeve.

 

"Helm initiate sequence Victor, Alpha 1. Tactical, stand by phasers and

torpedoes. Hail the 'Belfast' and instruct her to begin her run in 15

seconds."

 

Mirroring the actions of the 'Nelson', 'Omaha' leapt forwards, darting

under the VSDs, spraying their bellies with phaser fire and torpedoes.

 

"Report."

 

"Shields down 15%, damage to dorsal phaser array. Hostiles' shields are

holding. Belfast reports preparing to engage. We have 24 TIE fighters

incoming."

 

"Commence our second pass, stand by to cloak."

 

Aboard the VSD, 'Silencer', Captain Wyight felt his ship shudder under

the barrage from the unidentified ships.

 

"Report"

 

"Ventral Shields at 80%. 'Mutilator' and 'Carrion' are moving to

outflank the hostiles. Hostile 1 is at 85% shields. Hostile 2 is at 73%.

They are coming round for another pass, targeted at us again."

 

"Divert shield power from ventral to dorsal systems and roll the ship.

Standby with the heavy turbolasers. Fire."

 

From the Bridge of Mon Remonda, General Solo watched as the Federation

ships made their second pass, hammering 'Silencer', but failing to

disable her shields. The other VSDs lanced out with their turbolasers,

scoring hits, but also taking damage. Suddenly a third Federation

vessel, the 'Belfast', a Defiant class vessel, he recalled, decloaked

and strafed 'Silencer's' weakly protected dorsal hull. There was a

sudden explosion, from the VSD's reactor, which grew to engulf the ship

within seconds. The remaining VSDs, however, sought vengeance, striking

out with turbolasers against 'Belfast'. Han was surprised to see the

ship take damage to it's hull from the first few shots and wondered why

its shields had been down. A blast directly outside the bridge rocked

his ship before he could ponder further and he turned to his Mon

Calamari subordinate.

 

"What's our status?

 

"Rogue squadron has incurred no casualties. The new torpedoes worked as

expected, incurring heavy TIE losses. 3 full squadrons were wiped out in

the first pass. Polearm have engaged the TIEs that moved to intercept

the Federation ships. Wraith Squadron is now 2 minutes away and we are

transmitting targeting data for their torpedoes. Our shields are holding

and we have severely damaged the lead Destroyer."

 

"So Wedge is only outnumbered 7 to 1 and we're only outnumbered 2 to 1."

commented Han with a forced grin. "I doubt our friends'll be able to

trick the Imps again, so lets hope they can outmanoeuvre them, like they

claim."

 

"Sir, 3 Imperator class Star Destroyers just dropped out of hyperspace

on the far side of the planet. They'll be here in a coupe of minutes."

 

"Order all ships to disengage. Fall back to rendezvous point 3. Tell our

friends we'll be back for them."

 

"Aye sir."

 

Aboard the 'Nelson', Boyd grimaced as the 3 ISDs appeared on the

scanners. The news that Mon Remonda was retreating was worse, but was to

be expected.

 

"Instruct 'Omaha' and 'Belfast' to cloak. Looks like we could be setting

some new endurance records for phase cloak time. Plot a course to the

comsat at the edge of the system."

 

"Course laid in."

 

"Warp 4, engage."

 

Captain Lothlin watched in suspicion as the Federation ships faded from

view. "Sensors, track their drive emissions."

 

"Sorry sir, but there aren't any."

 

"What?"

 

"I'm not picking up anything sir. Maybe they disengaged their engines."

 

"Weapons, fire on the last known location of the hostiles."

 

"No effect sir. They're gone."

 

The grinding sound of Lothlin's teeth was clearly audible throughout the

bridge.

 

"Someone had better have some good news."

 

Chapter 2

 

The Federation taskforce sat at the edge of the system, silently

observing the movement of the Imperial fleet. There had been a lot of

traffic in the 2 days since 'Mon Remonda's retreat. They had so far

reamined undetected, but Vice-Adm Boyd was unsure how long they could

maintain the cloak. Of course, they were gathering valuable

intelligence, but lacked the firepower and knowledge to make best use of

it. Boyd had considered running, but didn't want to put any pressure on

the power grid and risk losing the cloak. Although not far inside

Imperial territory, it would still take several days to reach the NR and

it seemed best to wait for a rescue by General Solo.

 

"Sir, new contact. Matches the profile of an Interdictor class cruiser.

Not much firepower, but can keep ships from entering hyperspace. Could

potentially disrupt our warp field."

 

Boyd had heard similar reports throught the last 72 hours. Already he

counted 3 ISDs, 6VSDs, 2 Carrick class light cruisers and now an

interdictor. The chance of a rescue was growing slimmer and slimmer.

Something had to be done.

 

"Bridge to Sensors, have you made any progress analysing the radiation

ships emit when entering or leaving hyperspace?"

 

"Aye sir. It's a form of Cronau radiation, a result of-"

 

"No time for lectures today. Can we reproduce it without a hyperdrive?"

 

"Yes, but we'd have to modify the main deflector grid. Could take

several hours."

 

"Get on it. Bridge out." It didn't seem too likely that the NR would

risk an operation to retrieve them, especially considering how recent

their alliance was, but perhaps they could make the Imperials leave,

allowing them to proceed without the cloak. Then it would simply be a 1

day race to safety, praying that the Imperial fleet wouldn't be able to

track them. There hadn't been time to learn much from the NR ships

encountered, before they had been thrown into the war. A war that was

now separating them from their homes, families and duties, in a galaxy

billions of light years away. Boyd recalled how they had discovered the

wormhole, while testing the phase cloak. If the worst came to the worst

in the Dominion War, Starfleet Intelligence wanted some kind of

advantage that the Dominion couldn't expect. If that keeping the

installation of phase cloaks a secret from the rest of Starfleet, so be

it. The less people that know, the less that can be spied upon. Leaving

behind the bulk of his small taskforce - 2 Excelsior, 2 Steamrunner, 2

Oberth and 1 Intrepid class starship and proceeding with his flag group

of the 'Nelson', 'Omaha' and 'Belfast', Boyd had hoped to explore a

small part of the new galaxy he had discovered and make contact with its

inhabitants.

 

Unfortunately, First Contact had been less than friendly. Exploring the

nearest star system, 2 mile long ships appeared in front of him.

Following a brief order to surrender, the alien ships had opened fire,

forcing Boyd to retreat. Not something he was used to, but the only

available option at the time. With the phase cloaks and warp drive of

both 'Omaha' and 'Nelson' damaged by the attack, he had been forced to

flee on impulse pwer only, until 'Mon Remonda' had appeared in the

system. The tide of battle was swiftly turned as the Federation ships

turned on one of the immense ships, as 'Mon Remonda' engaged the other.

The battle had been swift, the aggressors retreating in the face of

superior firepower. First Contact with the new arrival was much more

pleasant, with a General Han Solo presenting himself as an officer in

the New Republic Fleet, the largest galactic government. The scale of

governments in this galaxy appeared overwhelming to Boyd. The Dominion

were bad, but they only occupied a small part of one quadrant. Not even

the Borg were truly galactic in their scale. The discussions had been

interrupted by a call from 'Artemis', the Excelsior class starship he

had left in command. His taskforce had been surprised by the arrival of

a huge ship, several miles in length which had advanced swiftly on them,

ordering their surrender. They had been forced to cloak and flee,

leaving the wormhole unguarded.

 

The hostiel intentions of the government he now knew to be called the

Galactic Empire, were clear. In the light of these actions, he

immediately took it upon himself to sign a treaty with the NR. In

exchange for assisting 'Mon Remonda' in several strikes against Imperial

industrial targets, General Solo had agreed to assist in an attack on

what Boyd now knew to be an Executor class Super Star Destroyer. He

suspected that the NR were eager to do this anyway, but guaranteeing

their help had seemed like a good idea, especially with the offer of a

vast amount of information about the new galaxy. Stellar charts, ship

classifications, details of Imperial weapons, all in exchange for help

in few attacks on Imperial bases. It had seemed fair enough at the time,

but now here they were, stranded at the edge of a hostile system, with a

fleet gathering to prevent further intrusions and attacks. Boyd wondered

how 'Banshee', the Intrepid class ship he had assigned to watch over the

wormhole, was fairing. Without subspace relays, he didn't want to try

and contact her. The use of such a high powered signal could easily give

away their location. Pulling up the specs on the SSD, Boyd began

pondering how many ships it would require to destroy or disable the

vessel.

 

Engrossed in thoguht, he almost failed to notice his comm badge

bleeping. Almost. "Boyd."

 

"Captain, we've reconfigured the defelector dish as per your

instructions. It's rigged to emit a burst of Cronau radiation consistent

with a ship of our size entering or exiting hyperspace."

 

"Acknowledged. Good work." A little praise now and then wouldn't do any

harm and would help keep the crew's spirits up. "Helm, take us insystem,

midway between the leading ISD and the main asteroid mine. Signal

'Omaha' and 'Belfast' to follow. This is going to require precise

timing, but should allow us to escape. We're going to decloak, emit a

burst of cronau radiation and go immediately to warp and cloak again.

'Omaha' and 'Belfast' will remain cloaked within the system and await

our signal. With any luck, the Imperial fleet will leave in pursuit of

our fake jump allowing us to proceed."

 

"We're in position now sir."

 

"Do it."

 

Aboard the ISD 'Juggernaut', Captain Kynes was carefully observing the

sensor station, hoping that some clue as to the location of the alien

fleet might be found. There was no indication that they had gone to

hyperspace, so they must have cloaked. According to Captain Lothlin,

though, they must have moved a lot faster than any ship he'd seen, to

evade the turbolaser barrage his Victory fleet had fired, in an effort

to locate them. Most perplexing. An alarm at the sensor station

interrupted his musing.

 

"Sir, one of the alien vessels just entered hyperspace."

 

"Plot the course and feed it to the helm. Signal the fleet and instruct

them to prepare for pursuit. Standard search patterns. Helm, jump as

soon as we're ready." Though he gave the orders with confidence, he felt

uneasy ; if they had hyperdrive, why didn't they use it to escape with

Mon Remonda? Something didn't seem right. Again, his thoguht were

interrupted, this time by the sound of the hyperdrive activating and the

flash as starlight elongated about the mighty ship, as they hurtled into

hyperspace, joined shortly afterwards by the remainder of the fleet.

 

"Sir, it's worked. The Imperial fleet has gone to hyperspace."

 

"Instruct 'Belfast' and 'Omaha' to meet us at the edge of the system, at

the opposite end to the comsat. We'll decloak and continue at maximum

warp. We should be out of range of their sensors, there. "

 

"Aye sir," came the replies from various stations.

 

It had been a slow day at Imperial Monitoring station 23K7X. No Rebel

movements. No pirate attacks. Little commercial shipping. And no luck

finding that pack of Sabacc cards. Lt. Jofers sighed. It was going to be

a long day. He'd sleep through it, if it wasn't for the problem with the

comms system. There was some sort of subspace distortion, travelling at

several thousand time the speed of light. Probably a bug in the system.

Turning off the speakers, Lt. Jofers lay back in his chair an tried to

get some sleep.

 

It was a full day before 'Nelson' arrived at the rendezvous point. Boyd

was pleased to find 'Mon Remonda' waiting and what appeared to be a

sizeable taksforce accompanying her. He was even more pleased that there

were no signs of Imperial pursuit. His trick had obviously thrown them

off. According to General Solo, the fleet was still searching space on

the other side of the system for them. His grin at the new of how they

had fooled the Imperial ships seemed oddly out of place for a military

man, but in fitting with the General's character. Boyd was curious about

the man's history ; he didn't seem like he'd received much formal

military training, but he had been entrusted with a sizeable fleet, so

he obviously knew what he was doing.

 

"That's quite a taskforce you've gathered there, general." 'Mon Remoda'

was accompanied by 2 Mon Calamari Cruisers ' Mon Karren' and 'Mon

Delindo' ; 3 Imperator class Star Destroyers, 'Skyhook', 'Crynyd' and

'Allegiance' ; 2 Nebulon-B frigates, 'Tedevium' and 'Warder' ; a

Marauder corvette, 'Etherhawk' ; and a Correllian corvette, 'Ession

Strike'. According to the information Solo had [rovided, Boyd knew that

this was a force almost strong enough to rescue his ships. With their

help, they could have overcome that Imperial fleet. As if on cue, 6

starships, 'Artemis', 'Hornblower', 'Agamemnon', 'Nemesis', Vigilance'

and 'Jubilee' decloaked alongside 'Mon Remonda'.

 

"Happy to see your friends, Admiral?" grinning, noticing Boyd's smile.

Instantly sobering his expression he continued, "I'm sorry to say that

this fleet wasn't gathered to rescue you. We've learned that

reinforcements are on their way to the SSD guarding the wormhole you

came through. She's the 'Palpatinian', a first generation Executor class

ship. As far as we know, she was a test bed for various technologies, a

mobile research base. She's not as heavily armed or shielded as most

Executor class ships, but still outguns the whole fleet I've assembled

here. We need to, ah, remove her, before the reinforcements arrive,

otherwise we'll have to call in a lot more ships. It looks like they may

be planning an invasion. Accordin to our intelligent, there are some

real fanatics there. That taskforce we encountered could well be

rerouted and ordered to help. On of the captains, Michael January, hates

us. Really hates us. His family was killed in a bomb. Sad story, the

kind of thing we would have used to show the villany of the Empire."

Solo looked genuinely sorry for a moment, before his serious military

demeanour returned. "We're going to have to hit 'Palpatinian' hard and

fast. The only way you'll be able to join us in time is if you dock with

our ships. Our Star Destroyers can handle 3 of your smaller ships, but

the rest will have to hard dock. We're transmitting instructions now.

Good luck." With that, Solo broke the connection and gave orders to

prepare to go to hyperspace. Within 15 minutes the fleet had departed.

 

Chapter 3

 

"So this hyperdrive is capable of travelling at 127 lightyears per

hour?" even after reading the specs, Boyd was still amazed at the speed

of these devices. They were centuries away from anything the Federation

had. As the NR/SF fleet raced for the wormhole, Boyd oversaw the

installation of a hyperdrive into 'Nelson', a gift from General Solo.

 

"Yes sir, 127. Unfortunately, you don't generate enough power for the

drive, so we've had to install a specialised reactor along with the

drive. The system is totally incompatible with your EPS power grid, so

I'm afraid that you wont get any advantage for your shields or weapons.

You will, however, no longer need your warp drive, so you could divert

power from it." 'Mon Remonda's engineers had been amazed by the

primitive hyperlight drive 'Nelson' possessed. How could they stand

travelling at such low speeds? Even back-up hyperdrives were faster by

an order of magnitude. The power generation system wasn't much better.

At least they were able to compensate for this by using exotic

technologies such as mass lightening fields. Perhaps they weren't so

much inferior as simply different. The engineer shrugged. It wasn't his

job to evaluate the technology the Federation possessed. The droid he

had sneaked on board with the hyperdrive would do that. Even now, it

should be making its way to the ship's computer cores. Soon it would be

ready to interface with them and acquire all the data the NR needed to

begin exploration of the new galaxy.

 

"My compliments to General Solo. Tell him we'd be glad to return the

favour, if we had a nacelle to spare." Boyd smiled as the engineers

departed 'Nelson', returning to 'Mon Remonda' just minutes before

arrival at the wormhole. The ship was at red alert and every station was

manned. Boyd was very proud with the record of his crew. Some of them

were veterans, who had been with him on previous ships such as the

'Aristotle' and 'Omaha'. They would acquit themselves well in a battle.

As the airlock doors closed, Boyd wondered if there would be time to

equip any other ships with hyperdrive. Probably not. The NR ships

probably didn't have enough parts to spare, to give them another drive

anyway. oh well. 'Nelson' was the most powerful ship in his small fleet

and if all went well there would be plenty of time for SF Intelligence

to study and replicate the device. It was a good thing someone like

Picard hadn't discovered the wormhole. He probably would have refused

the device, claiming that it would contravene the Prime Directive. He

didn't seem to understand how important this could be to the survival of

the Federation. Just like he had told the Romulans about the phase

cloak.

 

"One minute to real space. Admiral Boyd to the bridge." Hearing the

intercom, Boyd accelerated his pace and locating the nearest turbolift,

departed for the bridge. "Good of you to join us, sir," said Captain

Mawhiney with a grin, standing beside Boyd's chair. He knew the Admiral

liked the chair and wouldn't sit in it without permission. Why he didn't

like people sitting there, Captain Mawhiney had no idea, but as long as

he was in charge of the ship, his commands would be obeyed. "We'll be

dropping back to real space in about 20 seconds," he reminded Boyd as

they both sat in their chairs.

 

"Sound red alert again. Stand by shields, power weapons, load torpedo

tubes, ready docking systems. We don't want to be beaten off the mark by

'Belfast' or 'Omaha' do we?" Even with the seriousness of the situation,

there were a few smiles around the bridge. The 3 ships were intensely

competitive, each trying to outdo each other. As it turned out,

Hornblower was the first ship to detach as the fleet dropped out of

hyperspace. Within 10 seconds ever other ship had detached or been

launched from the ISDs' bays.

 

"Admiral, a fleet of Rebel warships has dropped out of hyperspace. I

count 6 heavy capital ships, and several smaller vessels, including 9 of

the alien vessels we drove away earlier." reported the sensor officer of

'Palpatinian'. Admiral Yarr considered the news and quickly came to a

decision.

 

"Time to weapons range?"

 

"30 seconds, sir."

 

"Launch all fighters. Hold back 3 interceptor squadrons and a squadron

of gunboats to defend us.What's the flagship?"

 

"'Mon Remonda', sir."

 

"Excellent. Chasing those Zsinj rumours still. Transmit hypercomm signal

XJ24MR70 before we reach jamming range. General Solo is out of his depth

this time. Send him my regards and ask his wookie if he'd like a kiss."

Yarr had researched Solo's character and history thoroughly and spent

the past year thinking up a way to trap and kill him. A public

assassination would only give the Rebels more support, but an honourable

death in combat would be seen as a failure on his part and win back some

planets to the Empire. Although he had declared himself a warlord, Yarr

was still loyal to the Empire. It merely lacked the leadership to crush

the Rebels and the resources. Once these returned he would happily

rejoin the Imperial fleet.

 

"Sir, we're entering weapons range, encountering jamming. Detecting

fighter launches from the Rebel cruisers and Star Destroyers. Alien

vessels are launching torpedoes. Alien vessels have disappeared." Yarr

swore under his breath. They'd done the exact same thing last time he'd

encountered them. With the jamming being put out by the Rebels his

gunners wouldn't be able to shoot down the torpedoes.

 

"All ships, initiate manoeuvre Boyd-Alpha-1. Lets hit that

battlecruiser hard and get back to help the fighters." It had been a

while since Boyd had handled an engagement of this size. It was the

first time, outside of war games and training exercises that the whole

taskforce had engaged an enemy and Boyd was enjoying it. Manoeuvre

Boyd-Alpha-1 was relatively simple ; hit your enemy hard from long range

with torpedoes, then cloak and warp round the other side of him. By the

time the torpedoes hit, the taskforce will be in position to pile on

more torps and phasers, overloading the enemy's shields.

 

"Sir, we're in weapons range. We've got TIEs and gunboats coming in from

'Palpatinian'" 'Mon Remonda's sensor officer reported. " I count 2 wings

of fighters, 1 wing of interceptors, 2 wings of bombers, 4 squadrons of

gunboats and 2 squadrons of Advanced TIEs. All but 3 squadrons of

interceptors are moving to engage us."

 

"Impressive. I wonder where he got those Advanced TIEs? That's three

times the normal starfighter complement of an SSD. Launch the X-Wings

and A-Wings. Hold back the B-Wings." At Solo's orders, 10 squadrons of

X-Wings and 9 squadrons of A-Wings leapt out of the hangers of the Mon

Calamari Star Cruisers and Imperator Star Destroyers. Although it

carried a squadron of A-Wings, in addition to a training squadron of

B-Wings, 'Tedevium' held back her fighters, knowing that her job was to

protect 'Warder', the medical frigate attached to Solo's fleet. Instead

the A-Wings were fuelled and prepped for launch. They could be in space

in seconds and headed for enemy starfighters immediately.

 

Firing full volleys, the SF taskforce had launched a total of 45 quantum

torpedoes at 'Palpatinian'. Opening fire at them, close to half of the

torpedoes were detonated by Turbolaser blasts, but the rest reached

'Palpatinian', impacting on her bow shields. At the same instant, the

taskforce decloaked 500m on front of the SSD and sprayed her shields

with a combination of phasers and torpedoes. Racing forwards, as if

preparing to ram her, they cloaked less than a second before impact,

launching more torpedoes, pushing 'Palpatinian''s shields to the point

of collapse.

 

"What just happened?" demanded Admiral Yarr. he had witnessed the abrupt

appearance of the alien ships right off the bow and their apparent

destruction.

 

"Sir, we believe they were destroyed in an attempt to ram us. We lost

their signal at the instant they would have impacted. The size of the

explosion is inconsistent with what we would have expected, but no ship

could have manoeuvred out of the way in time." stuttered a nervous

sensor officer.

 

"Why weren't they obliterated by our turbolasers?" Yarr demanded. "The

gunnery crews couldn't have missed at that range." No one felt like

responding, afraid that they would bear the brunt of the Admiral's

anger. Once, angered by a TIE pilot who had forgotten to waggle his

wings in a show of respect when taking off, he had locked the pilot in a

simulator, forcing him to repeat the manoeuvre over and over for a full

day. He had a temper, but didn't waste lives or equipment because of it,

like some officers were prone to. Considering the Empire's precarious

state, he couldn't afford to waste anything. Although publicly

denouncing the Empire, calling it a sham and setting up his own Empire

in its place, he fully intended to reintegrate his navy with that of the

Galactic Empire's, at a future date. Mercifully, they were saved from

answering by a report from the TIEs.

 

"Effective weapons range in 10 seconds. Some light fire from the Rebel

Cruisers. Nothing accurate at this range. 5 seconds to effecti-"

'Hornblower' and 'Artemis' chose this moment to decloak in the middle of

the TIE formation and open fire. The TIE formation had been well spaced

out, to prevent falling victim to mass fire from the Rebel fighters. At

the moment though, this was working against them, as the 2 Excelsior

class ships were able to slide into the middle of the formation and open

fire at a range of a couple of metres.

 

The pilot of TIE Epsilon 3, a TIE Interceptor, was lucky enough to be

looking out the side viewports, a recent addition, in an attempt to

improve survivability in dogfighting with heavy jamming. Making a quick

visual inspection of the accompanying TIEs, he had seen 'Artemis'

materialise beside him. Flinging his fighter over into a wild turn, he

evaded the blast of phaser fire that would have vaporised him, instead

allowing his wingman to fall victim to the shot. Glancing around, he saw

the entire TIE formation in disarray, explosions and debris marking the

former locations of fellow pilots. Looping round to engage his attacker,

he was in time to see it fade from view. Stabbing the firing button, he

pounded his fist in frustration as the shots passed through the former

location of 'Artemis'.

 

Han grinned as his allies pounded first 'Palpatinian', then her TIE

escorts. That trick probably wouldn't work again, and it was unlikely

that they would be able to significantly affect 'Palpatinian' on their

own, but the enemy forces' morale would have taken a beating. Rubbing

salt in the wound, he could see the A-Wings rushing in, lasers and

missiles firing , taking advantage of the confusion in the TIE

squadrons. Hoping to further depress the enemy, he ordered that firing

commence on 'Palpatinian'. Shots wouldn't do much damage at this range

and with the jamming everyone was putting out, not a lot of shots would

hit.

 

Han's tactics had the desired effect. Fuming at the loss of 30 TIEs in

seconds, to ships he had been told were dead, Admiral Yarr briefly felt

the instinct to duck as turbolaser bolts blasted past his ship. The rest

of the fleet he had gathered for this mission wouldn't arrive for

another minute and who knew what what happen to his fighters in that

time? Or to 'Palpatinian'. A lucky shot might get past the weakened bow

shields or those alien ships might attempt more trickery. No. He

wouldn't risk 'Palpatinian'. "Recall the fighters. Order 1 wing of TIE

Fighters to cover their retreat. A sixth of his force. It would be a

worthwhile sacrifice, to save the rest of his ships and in the middle of

the A-Wings, they would be more effective in smaller numbers. The Rebels

would have to be careful to avoid shooting each other. "Come about. As

soon as the fighters are recalled, enter the wormhole."

 

Han watched in satisfaction as 'Palpatinian' retreated, gathering in

its fighters and entering the wormhole. As it entered the wormhole, a

fleet of ships dropped out of hyperspace just out of weapons range,

behind his fleet. 3 ISDs, 2 VSDs, 3 Carrick class cruisers, a Lancer

class frigate and an Interdictor. Han whistled. If 'Palpatinian' had

stayed, he would have been in trouble. With her departure, however, he

outgunned the fleet rushing towards him. Realising that they probably

expected 'Palpatinian' to be attacking from the other side, executing a

devastating pincer movement, Han ordered that the jamming be increased,

hoping that they wouldn't realise until too late that their Admiral

wasn't present.

 

Boyd watched 'Palpatinian' vanish through the wormhole and immediately

ordered the taskforce to pursue, but not engage until the New Republic

fleet joined them. Checking the sensor board, however, he was surprised

to see General Solo's fleet moving away from the wormhole. "Hail General

Solo. What does he think he's doing?"

 

"Sorry sir, there's too much jamming, our signal's not getting through.

" Came the reply.

 

"Order the taskforce to engage 'Palpatinian'. Tell Captain Thompson he

can take 'Banshee' in as well. Bring us alongside 'Mon Remonda' and

ready phasers. Target his communications array. Low power only. Fire. A

beam of energy flashed between the 2 ships as 'Nelson' decloaked. There

was a yelp from 'Mon Remonda's comm officer as a tremendous burst of

static flooded the system.

 

"Sir, 'Nelson' just fired on our communications array."

 

Han remembered that Admiral Boyd wouldn't be too happy about a Super

Star Destroyer being let loose in his galaxy. "Hail him. Lasers only. "

 

"Channel open sir."

 

Boyd was already speaking before an image appeared on the comms viewer.

He had spoken like a diplomat earlier, but now Han could see the warrior

in him. His eyes clearly showed annoyance and perhaps anger, but he

spoke calmly, "General, perhaps you could explain why you are

retreating. My forces are still committed to this mission. We haven't

let you down yet ; I would like to be able to say the same about you."

 

"Sorry, Admiral, but we've got another problem to deal with." Gesturing

for the jamming to be momentarily cut, Han allowed 'Nelson' enough time

to detect the approaching fleet before resuming the conversation. "With

everyone's sensors crippled there's a go-"

 

"There's a good chance that they don't know 'Palpatinian' has gone,"

interrupted Boyd. "Understood. I'm going to rejoin my ships. I trust you

will rejoin us in short order, General." There was a hint of a threat in

Boyd's voice. A threat he didn't have the firepower to backup, but Han

still felt that disappointing him would not be a good idea. On another

screen, Han saw 'Nelson' come about and fade from view, as she cloaked.

She would have been useful against the fighters they would encounter,

but Admiral Boyd had his own job to do. Han didn't envy him. The bridge

shook slightly as the enemy fleet opened fire at maximum range, scoring

a lucky hit. "All batteries, commence fire, keep the fighters in our

shadow until they launch theirs." Han began issuing orders for the

ensuing battle.

 

Chapter 4

 

[Juggernaut]

 

"Sir, I think you should take a look at this." Kynes' sensor officer was

a fresh from the academy, but had proved himself to be a capable officer

several times already. Leading the taskforce, aboard the ISD,

'Juggernaut', Kynes was enjoying himself. He would be the one to finally

kill General Han Solo. Yarr hadn't been one of the brightest admirals he

had worked with, but he had come up with one brilliant plan and Kynes

was proud to be part of it.

 

"Hmm... jamming. What's so significant about that?"

 

"Well sir, 'Palpatinian' has some prototype jamming units. Their

signature is fairly distinctive, but they're not showing up here. I

don't see why she wouldn't be jamming if she was out there."

 

"We still can't scan past the rebels?"

 

"No, sir. We're having trouble scanning their ships at all. We do know

that they're charging straight towards us, though."

 

Kynes stared at the sensor station, pondering this news. If

'Palpatinian' was there, then he could crush the Rebels. But if she

wasn't...

 

"Helm, all stop. Drop the ray shields and power down engines and

weapons. Reroute all power to the comm system. Hail 'Palpatinian'."

 

As the bridge officers replied, 'Juggernaut' slowed to a dead stop, as

the rest of the fleet thundered silently by. Captain January, aboard

'Vengeance' was curious, but there were Rebels to kill and he didn't

wanted to be distracted by conversing with Kynes. Taking their cue from

January, the rest of the fleet remained silent and continued on their

intercept.

 

"Sir, it's no good. We should be cutting through their jamming, but

there's no reply from 'Palpatinian'."

 

Kynes sighed. It looked like Yarr had disappointed him, after all.

"Raise shields, power up weapons. Instruct 'Reaper' to cut the

interdiction field. Signal the rest of the fleet. We're withdrawing."

 

"Sir, we can win this battle!" objected his XO.

 

"Yes, but at what cost? The plan was to engage Solo with 'Palpatinian'

and crush him. 'Palpatinian' isn't here. Solo could escape and our fleet

could be severely damaged. We can't afford that. No. Order a full

retreat." There would doubtlessly be objections from other captains, but

Kynes would deal with them later.

 

[Mon Remonda]

 

"Sir, they're withdrawing!" exclaimed the sensor officer of 'Mon

Remonda'

 

"Very well. Instruct the fleet to come to a stop. Keep the fighters out

there and all systems powered up, but do not engage the enemy." Solo

knew it looked like he'd gotten a lucky break, but it could always be a

trap. No sense in leaving himself vulnerable just yet.

 

[Ession Strike]

 

The corvette was slowing to a stop, much to the relief of its captain.

His ship wasn't thick skinned enough to survive a battle like the one

they were about to charge into. He wasn't a coward, just realistic.

 

"Sir, our comm systems just activated themselves. They appear to be

transmitting a high power signal to the Imperial vessels!" reported an

anxious officer.

 

"What? Cease the transmission immediately. What triggered it and what

was sent?"

 

"I can't stop it sir, someone's overriding my commands."

 

"Looking round the bridge, Captain Ferlosh saw his sensor officer busily

working at his station. He remembered that he was a native of Coruscant,

from before the fall of the Empire. But a spy couldn't have lasted this

long, could he? "Lieutenant, get away from that station!" No reply.

Security, remove him!"

 

The bridge security officer, a big Wookie who's name Ferlosh couldn't

pronounce, strided over to the station and was about to pick up the

lieutenant, when he twirled round, lifting something out of his pocket,

that stopped the Wookie dead. Ferlosh stood up and immediately

recognised it. A thermal detonator.

 

"Sir, I've stopped the transmission. He was sending star charts, from

the other galaxy. He was able to..." his voice trailed off when he

looked up and saw the thermal detonator.

 

"What do you want? A shuttle, a transport? You can't get far, you know."

said Captain Ferlosh, breaking the silence. The only reply was a smile

from the lieutenant as he dropped the thermal detonator. Suddenly, all

Ferlosh could see was blinding white light. Beautiful.

 

[Mon Remonda]

 

"Sir, the transmission from 'Ession Strike' has ceased. They're still

holding steady, but I can't raise them. I'll try and-"His words were cut

off by the explosion on 'Ession Strike' The entire forward section

erupted in flame, vaporising half the ship and detonating the reactor,

which finished off the rest. It took less than a second for the entire

ship to be destroyed. Han was shocked to see one of his ships

spontaneously combust, but he rapidly regained his self control.

 

"What happened? Scan for life signs. Check our sensor logs. I want to

know why our ship just exploded. Did the Imperials do anything

unexpected there? Did they transmit anything back?"

 

"Sorry sir. There are no life signs. The Imperials only received, they

didn't transmit. Sensor logs indicate that there was a massive

explosion, originating in the bridge. I'm sorry."

 

Han wanted to go after the Imperials, he was convinced they had done

something. But he was a better commander than that. Sighing wearily, he

gave orders for a casualty list to be compiled, before ordering the helm

to return to the wormhole. 'Palpatinian' was on the other side. Perhaps

he could avenge the deaths some other way.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Sir, we've cleared the wormhole."

 

"All stop, raise shields, target all batteries at the wormhole entrance.

Fire at any ship that tries to come through." Yarr was still smarting

from the earlier attack and was sure that he would be pursued by at

least part of the Rebel or alien force. He would n't give them a chance

to try their tricks on him this time.

 

A couple of seconds later, the 10 ships of Taskforce Black Knight

charged out of the wormhole, firing phasers and torpedoes. Most of the

initial shots went wide, before they located 'Palpatinian' and began

more accurate shooting. The return fire, however, was much more

devastating. Hundreds of turbolasers opened fire, blanketing the

wormhole in flak plasma bursts as the Federation ships appeared,

damaging their shields. The first victim was 'Vigilance'. Under

shielded, in comparison to the rest of the ships, a heavy turbolaser

bolt sliced through the shields and up through a nacelle wing. The

Oberth class hip shuddered and belched flame and plasma into the vacuum.

 

[Vigilance]

 

"Sir, we've got a massive hull breach below the port nacelle. We're

venting plasma, shields are down and power is failing." reported a

panicing engineering officer.

 

"Evasive maneuvers, engage the cloak, get us out of here," ordered

Lieutenant Commander Arnold, as a fresh volley struck home. Seeing her

plight, 'Palpatinian' had opened fire with ion cannons,targetting the

crippled vessel. Before the cloak could engage, the charged particles

slammed into the engineering hull.

 

"Sir, the warp core's going critical! Containment fields are

collapsing."

 

"Eject the core! Full impulse, get us out of here, now!"

 

The warp core burst out of 'Vigilance', detonating when another ion

blast hit it. The ion cannons, while having little effect on the EPS

conduits, had almost collapsed the containment field which kept the

matter and antimatter separate. Without the field, the ship had come

close to total destruction.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

Despite the fact that the deck was shaking beneath his feet, a result of

the immense recoil from the turbolasers and the continued pummeling from

the Starfleet vessels, 'Palpatinian's tactical officer remained

completely calm. He knew that the attacking vessels would have to keep

this up for a quite a while before they posed a danger to the ship and

he had just uncovered something rather interesting.

 

"Sir, I've noticed a weakness in the attacking vessels. They appear to

use a highly unstable matter-antimatter reactor to power their ships.

The ion cannons, once the shields are down, are capable of making them

explode. Permission to commence ion fire?"

 

Yarr's eyes lit up. The shields would have to be dropped to fire ion

cannons, which is why he'd only allowed one battery so far to fire, but

considering the damage they could cause, it would be worth it.

"Permission granted. Commence fire."

 

[Nelson]

 

Arriving slightly late, having spoken with Solo, 'Nelson' was in time to

see 'Palpatinian' drop shields and fire ion cannons. It looked like a

wall of blue flame had erupted from her side. "Holy s-" 'Nelson's

helmsman fell silent, remembering Admiral Boyd's disapproval of

swearing.

 

"Sir, 'Palpatinian' has dropped shields and appears to be firing weapons

designated as "ion cannons" by the New Republic. They consist of charged

particles, designed to disrupt power systems. They shouldn't have too

much effect on the EPS conduits, except in large quantities, but they'll

play havoc with the warp core. 'Vigilance' just took a took. She's

disabled."

 

"Order all ships to fall back. Head for the wormhole." Boyd's voice was

very quiet, but there was no mistaking the seriousness in his tone. He

didn't want to abandon his friend, but there was nothing more he could

do.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Sir, they're retreating."

 

"Pursue them, full speed." Yarr could see victory."

 

"They're entering the wormhole. No, wait, they're coming out.

Correction, sir, it's General Solo's fleet."

 

"Maintain course, concentrate fire on 'Mon Remonda' as we pass. Is that

disabled ship tractored into out hold yet?"

 

"No sir, we'll have to swing her round the ship, passing her between

beams. I don't recommend doing it until we've cleared the wormhole."

 

"Very well."

 

[Mon Remonda]

 

"Sir, we just passed the Federation ships. They're in retreat, with

'Palpatinian' in pursuit."

 

"Bring us about, fire on 'Palpatinian' as she passes."

 

Mon Calamari cruisers were maneuverable compared to most capital ships,

but by the time they had turned to pursue 'Palpatinian', she had entered

the wormhole.

 

"Shields at 90%. We didn't do much damage to 'Palpatinian' as she

passed."

 

"Full ahead. Hopefully we can do some damage before she goes to

hyperspace. Instruct the fleet to concentrate fire on her engines.

Remember 'Ession Strike'"

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"We've cleared the wormhole, but the enemy vessels have disappeared.

They must have cloaked, sir."

 

Yarr pounded his chair in frustration.

 

"Tractor that ship into our bay and get us out of here."

 

[Mon Remonda]

 

"We've just cleared the wormhole sir. Looks like 'Palpatinian' has

already gone. 9 vessels decloaking off our starboard bow. We're being

hailed."

 

"Put them through."

 

"Nice of you to join us, General." Surprisingly, there was no sarcasm in

Boyd's voice. "I'm afraid we weren't able to do much against

'Palpatinian'."

 

"I'm sorry I had to leave you like that, but if that fleet had joined up

with Yarr..."

 

"I understand."

 

"You're a ship short, I see. We didn't see enough debris for ship on the

other side of the wormhole, but 'Palpatinian' did appear to be towing

something. One of your vessels?"

 

"Yes." The short tense reply told Solo that Boyd wasn't happy. The

captain of that ship - Solo checked the transponder lists and saw that

'Vigilance' was the only ship not present - must have been a friend of

Boyd's.

 

"We lost a ship too, 'Ession Strike', one of our corvettes. Yarr owes us

both."

 

"Yes."

 

"I've requested reinforcements. A diplomatic team is also on its way.

Our government would like to contact yours."

 

"That could be difficult. My ships are part of Starfleet Intelligence.

Officially they don't exist and very few people know we've got them. Not

even our president is aware of Black Knight's existence. I'll have to

brief your diplomats on the situation."

 

Solo was surprised at this. Boyd didn't seem like a spy. Then again, he

wouldn't be a very good one if he did. Things were getting more

complicated every minute. "If you want, we can provide repair teams for

you. We're going to hold position here for a few hours. I doubt Yarr

will be back for a while. He'll want to regroup and bring in more

forces. It's going to get messy in a couple of days."

 

"Thanks, but your engineers wouldn't know what to do. We'll have all

damage repaired within a day."

 

"Okay. We'll begin patrolling the system. Yarr might have left a couple

of surprises behind for us. Solo out." Cutting the transmission, Solo

began issuing orders to deploy his fleet.

 

[Hyperspace]

 

'Palpatinian' rushed through hyperspace, 'Vigilance' firmly secured in

its main bay. 1000 stormtroopers had already assembled and were

preparing to board the ship. Rising on repulsor lift platforms towards a

hatch, a group of them started to cut through.

 

[Vigilance]

 

"Sir, we've got batteries back on line. The bridge computer is

activating now. We'll have control in a few seconds."

 

Even as the words left the young ensign's mouth, small emergency lights

flickered on in the bridge and computer screens flashed to life. Arnold

immediately moved to ops, seeing if any sensors were operational. None

were. He knew where they were, however. Inside 'Palpatinian', no doubt

and beyond rescue. It was a disheartening thought, but Arnold had been

trained well and knew what he had to do.

 

"Computer, confirm voice print and authorisation ; Lieutenant Commander

Jonathan Arnold, USS Vigilance, commanding officer, Omega, Sigma, 5, 0,

9, 3, Epsilon."

 

"Confirmed."

 

Realising what was happening, the XO, Lieutenant spoke next.

 

"Computer, confirm voice print and authorisation ; Lieutenant , USS

Vigilance, executive officer, Alpha, 1 , 9 Alpha, 0."

 

"Confirmed."

 

"Computer, activate destruct sequence zero, time 60 seconds, silent

countdown after initial warning."

 

"Computer, executive officer confirms order. initiate countdown."

 

"Self destruct active. 60 seconds..."

 

"All hands, this is the captain, abandon ship."

 

Arnold sprinted for the escape pods, followed by his bridge crew.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Sir, stormtroopers report that escape pods are bing launched from the

starship. We've managed to cut through an airlock and the only sounds

are from the computer at regular intervals."

 

Yarr's blood ran cold. It had to be a self destruct. There mightn't be

time to detach the ship in realspace. He'd have to dump it now and lose

it. "Break all moorings, depressurise the main bay, push that ship out!"

he hurriedly ordered. As officers issued commands, one of them objected.

 

"Sir, what about our stormtroopers?"

 

Yarr gave him an icey stare. "If that ship blows, there won't be any of

us left. Besides, we have plenty more stormtroopers. Now, return to your

post and carry out your orders."

 

The officer returned, subdued, to his post.

 

[Vigilance]

 

"10, 9, 8, 7..."

 

If anyone had been left to look outside the view ports, they would have

seen the ship tumble away from 'Palpatinian' and disappear into the blue

swirling vortex of hyperspace. The escape pods from 'Vigilance' were

spreading out, dispersed along various hyperspace paths, doomed to

float forever, or to fall victim to an unavoidable mass shadow. Perhaps,

if they were lucky, some would be pulled out by Interdictors, but this

was... unlikely, to say the least.

 

"...3, 2, 1, 0"

 

The auto-destruct charges, embedded throughput the hull, exploded,

engulfing the ship in a fiery white ball of plasma and flame. The

swirling blue vortex around it took no notice, instead finishing the

job, flinging the debris in a thousand different directions. Arnold's

duty had been done.

 

[Devrot system]

 

'Palpatinian' dropped out of hyperspace, accompanied by the fleet from

the attack on Solo. They had rendezvoused earlier and were joining up

with the rest of Yarr's fleet. It was an awesome sight, as the huge

fleet formed up around 'Palpatinian'. This was leaving his territory

extremely vulnerable, but if all went according to plan, it wouldn't

matter. Yarr would have a whole new galaxy as his territory. The

information transmitted by his spy aboard 'Ession Strike' had proved to

be extremely valuable. Starcharts of the new galaxy. He had been

hesitant about entering it, because of the restrictions his lack of

knowledge would place on the hyperdrive. Now, however, he had located

the home world of the aliens he now knew to be members of a group called

the 'United Federation of Planets'. Quite laughable, considering that

there were barely more than 150 member worlds. An easy target, given

their level of technology.

 

As they prepared to go to hyperspace, Yarr looked round at his fleet :

21 Star Destroyers ; 'Juggernaut', 'Black Flame', 'Vengeance',

'Almighty', 'Warrior', 'Devastator', 'Vindicator', 'Demolisher',

'Thrawn' and 'Immortal, his 10 Imperator class ships ; 'Repulse',

'Crippler', 'Mutilator', 'Carrion', 'Venom', 'Thunder Hand', 'Inferno',

'Victorious', 'Fury' and 'Terror', his 11 Victory class ships ; 'Deadly

Strike', 'Insufferable' and 'Shadow Hawk', his 3 Carrick class cruisers

; 'Crimson Blaze', his Lancer class Frigate ; 'Reaper' and 'Inquisitor',

his 2 Interdictors ; 'Coruscant', 'Byss', 'Villany' and 'Insidious', his

4 Nebulon-B frigates ; and 3 Corvette groups of 6, 'Gauntlet', 'Dark

Lance' and 'Gryphon'. Combined with 'Palpatinian', that was 50 capital

ships, easily enough for an invasion. In addition to this, he had his

best captains, Kynes, January, Poe, Parsons, Kerkhof, Celes, Wong,

Paulsen, Saxton and Ginter commanding his ISDs.

 

There was an immense flash of Cronau radiation and the fleet was gone.

Powering up its systems, a small probe, one of many deployed by New

Republic Intelligence, transmitted what it had seen to the nearest NR

base. Completing the transmission, it shut itself down again and waited.

 

[Mon Remonda]

 

General Solo had just arrived on the bridge. "Okay, you can put it

through now." A couple of minutes ago, a priority transmission had come

in from NR Intelligence. Sitting in his command chair, Solo watched as

the holoprojector flickered into life. A recording from an intelligence

drone began playing. There was silence on the bridge, as the fleet of 50

ships formed up around an Executor class Star Destroyer and leapt to

hyperspace. The recording ended and an intelligence officer Han didn't

recognise, appeared on screen.

 

"What you just saw, General Solo, was most of Admiral Yarr's fleet

rendezvousing in the Devrot system. This recording was made less than an

hour ago. Judging from the hyperspace entry vector, it looks like he's

headed for you. Admiral Ackbar is assembling a similar strength force to

assist you. In fact, he might be coming out himself. We think that Yarr

is going to try and establish himself in this new galaxy, on the other

side of the wormhole. Your orders are to return the Federation ships to

their home planet, then return to the wormhole and await reinforcements.

We don't think Yarr has any starcharts, but if he does, he'll

undoubtedly head for the Federation.The fleet should arrive in about a

day. Good luck general." The holoimage faded and a muted conversation

began.

 

Chewie growled beside Han.

 

"Yeah, you're right. Pity we can't stay and help. Oh well, better tell

the Admiral the news. Comms, put me through to 'Nelson'."

 

[Nelson]

 

Boyd fidgeted in his seat. His ships were docking with Solo's fleet for

their run to earth. Life really wasn't fair. First they lose

'Vigilance' and now an invasion. At least the home fleet would be there

and Solo's fleet aught to be able to make up any disparity in firepower.

Maybe. There might have been a Dominion invasion while he was gone. Or a

Borg attack. Or maybe Q had whisked half of Starfleet off to another

universe, or maybe... This was silly. There was no point in worrying. It

was illogical. Worry would not change what was. Boyd relaxed and tried

to enjoy the journey as the fleet leapt to hyperspace.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Sir, the last ship has cleared the wormhole."

 

Yarr's fleet had arrived in the new galaxy and ready to begin the

invasion. Solo's absence from the wormhole had irritated him ; he would

liked to crush him before taking over this new galaxy, but he'd get his

chance later.

 

"Plot a hyperspace course for Earth and engage as soon as the fleet is

ready." Turning to his XO, he commented, "Do you really think these

charts are accurate enough?"

 

"They may be a primitive race, but these charts are of a very high

quality. We'll be okay."

 

"If we do hit a star, I'll have to dock your pay for the next year, so

you'd better be right."

 

"All ships are ready, sir."

 

"Engage."

 

The fleet vanished into hyperspace, just minutes after the departure of

'Mon Remonda' and General Solo's fleet. With the interdictors slowing

them slightly, they would arrive about an hour later. But they would

arrive.

 

[Sol system]

 

Solo's fleet dropped out of hyperspace near Saturn and began launching

the starships.

 

"General Solo, we're receiving transmissions from various sources,

demanding that we identify ourselves. I'm detecting weapons locks from

several defense stations. There's a fleet of close to 200 starships

between the 3rd and 4the planets, Earth and Mars. Approximately 50 of

them have broken off and are heading this way."

 

"Ignore their signals. Wish the Admiral luck. Bring us about and take us

back to the wormhole. We have our orders." We don't like them, but we

still have to obey them. That's what being an officer is about.

 

Solo's fleet, rotating to face the direction they had come in, engaged

their hyperdrives and departed for the wormhole.

 

[Nelson]

 

The USS 'Sabretooth', a Galaxy class starship, heading up the

intercepting fleet was the first vessel to hail Admiral Boyd. Inwardly

raging from Solo's departure, he kept a calm expression, as if he had

expected this. "On screen." the viewscreen lit up with the image of

Vice-Admiral Griffiths. "Admiral, I'm afraid there is no time to

explain, but you must prepare the fleet for invasion. I'm transmitting

relevant details now." Before the astonished admiral could reply, Boyd

signaled for the link to be cut and ordered that all files relating to

Imperial technology and Yarr's fleet by transmitted to every Starfleet

asset in the system. When this was over, there would be the small matter

of explaining the existence of Black Knight, but he suspected that

Starfleet wouldn't mind, considering that they would probably be the

ones saving Earth. then again, they were the ones who had caused the

Imperial invasion. Oh well, might as well give them all the surprises in

one go. "Activate the phase cloak and move us into orbit around Mars.

Engineering, have you found a way to jam hyperdrives yet?"

 

"I'm working on it sir. We may be able to use the main deflector dish.

It'll be power hungry and impede our warp drive, but it might just keep

those Imperial ships from leaping about and outflanking us."

 

"Good work, Mr Anderson. Keep me informed and transmit your work to

Starfleet command."

 

"You think we can do this?" whispered Captain Mawhiney.

 

"We beat the Borg, we're taking on the Dominion, we've played with Q. I

don't think there's anything that can't be achieved with human spirit

and determination."

 

"They look human too."

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