Battleground Alpha : Battle of Sol

Chapter 1

 

[Sabretooth]

 

Vice Admiral Griffiths hesitated for a moment after hearing Boyd's hurried orders. Glancing down at the data, he ordered the fleet to take up position and prepare for an invasion. What was Boyd doing in a Sovereign class ship any way? The last Griffiths had heard, Boyd was one of the admirals overseeing Starfleet Intelligence. His last ship had been 'Omaha', a Galaxy class, but she had been destroyed by the Dominion. Checking the sensor logs, Griffiths saw that 'Omaha' was among Boyd's taskforce. Something ver odd was going on.

 

"Tactical, query the Earth and Mars sensor nets. Are there any unusual tachyon signatures?"

 

"All sensors negative sir."

 

Well, it's not Romulan cloaks they're using. Griffiths suspected that Boyd would have some explaining to do when this was over. Whatever 'this' was going to be.

 

"Sir, all ships have reported in. They've assumed standard defensive formation. We're getting a lot of questions about this data."

 

Scanning through it again, Griffiths saw some impressive statistics. 50 ships, most of which would be classed at heavy cruisers, dreadnoughts, battlecruisers or battleships.

 

"Send a priority one signal to all ships within 10 light years of Earth. Inform them of our situation and instruct them to return here at maximum warp. 'Enterprise' and 'Hood' are conducting war games, aren't they? How long until they can get here?"

 

"Less than an hour sir. There's an incoming message from Starfleet Command. It's Admiral Jones, sir."

 

"On screen."

 

"Admiral, I've just reviewed the data from Admiral Boyd. I've got a lot of questions for him, but I suppose they'll have to wait until later. No doubt we've got another Admiral Ross on our hands. I'm beaming up to the 'Fearless' to take command of the fleet. I want you to take your taskforce into orbit around Mars. I'll handle Earth defence. Have you been able to raise Boyd? We can't even locate him or his other ships."

 

"Sorry sir, we've had no luck. I suspect that he may have a phase cloak."

 

Jones grimaced at this. "If the Romulans find out... that could be the end of our alliance. I want a lockdown on all communications in or out of this system, except by Starfleet personnel." His last sentence directed at someone off screen, Jones turned back to Griffiths. "Good luck, admiral."

 

The communication broken before he could reply, Griffiths immediately gave orders for his taskforce to move into Mars orbit. "Tell Captain McReynolds to take 'Endeavour' and her escorts into low polar orbit. I want Captain von Lowe to take 'Zhukov' and the rest of his group into Earthside equatorial orbit and Captain Calhoun to take 'Excaliber' and his group into the same position, 180 degrees round. We'll take our group into orbit facing the entry vector of those alien ships."

 

The 50 ships immediately split into 4 almost equal groups, 12 heading for a polar orbit, 13 Earthside, 13 far side, and Griffiths' 12 ships somewhere in between. Unknown to Griffiths, the 9 remaining ships from Boyd's fleet lay bare kilometres astern of him.

 

[Nelson]

 

"Sir, Admiral Griffiths' fleet is in position. I'm also detecting several launches from Spacedock. 'Fearless', 'Sutherland', 'Baloo', 'Tinky-winky'... sir? Should I run a diagnostic?"

 

Boyd smiled in recollection of reports of a recent meeting of the chiefs of staff. Apparently someone, probably the Tellarite chief of staff, had managed to get some Romulan ale smuggled into the meeting. By the end of the night, the governing military minds of the Federation were completely inebriated. Apparently one of the items on the meeting's agenda was the naming of a new Nebula class ship. 'Tinky-winky' was the result. The incident had been quietly covered up and the source of the name was a mystery to everyone outside of a select group that included the higher echelons of Starfleet Intelligence. Boyd had been sure that the ship would be dispatched with all due haste to a remote research post where her extensive sensor systems could be put to good use. Quietly and invisibly. Apparently, though, a large equipment module had replaced her main sensor pod. Boyd recognised it instantly as one of Admiral Sutton's babies. Sutton was one of the few men who understood the value of warships and was responsible for the development of the 'Hood', with her updated torpedo systems, extra ablative armour and significantly improved general performance. It was one of the few ships that could give 'Nelson' a run for her money. One of Sutton's latest projects was the construction of Peregrine hanger bays for Nebula class ships. The need for fighters was something had been largely ignored until the Dominion war. The Klingons had them, in the B'rel class birds of prey, the Romulans had their scout ships, but all the Federation had was Runabouts and they weren't even in widespread use. With the Peregrines and their Nebula carriers, however, that would soon change. Boyd, tired of waiting for such changes, had already upgraded his shuttles with type 5 phasers and improved shields and engines.

 

"All pilots report that combat shuttles are ready for launch. Torpedo tubes are fully loaded, phaser batteries are charged and ready, shields are standing by at 100% power, warp drive is on line, hyperdrive is on stand by, phase cloak is holding steady. We're ready for them sir."

 

"I'm sure they're ready for us," came the mumbled response.

 

[Fearless]

 

Admiral Jones, commander of the Sol Defence Fleet reviewed the data and smiled. He was confident of victory. The so-called 'Imperial' ships were impressively big, but that would just make them easier to hit, especially with their limited manoeuvrability. They were outnumbered 4 to 1 by Starfleet and Starfleet had never lost an engagement in its home system. Yes, the fleet was multi-cultural and interspecies, but when it came down to it, it was humans that made up the bulk of the officers and crewmen. 'Fearless', along with 'Sutherland' and 'Baloo' had recently been refitted with the new Type-12 phaser arrays and quantum torpedo launchers. It was an expensive refit but made the ageing Excelsior class ship the equal of much newer vessels. With her added manoeuvrability she was the perfect ship from which to command the upcoming battle.

 

[Starfleet Academy]

 

Admiral Sutton finally managed to get through to Starfleet command. He had been giving a lecture on tactics and strategy, using Captain Jelllico's famous manoeuvre against the Cardassians when all hell had broken lose. All visiting officers had been recalled to Starfleet Headquarters and the cadets had been instructed to report to their officers for an emergency briefing. All Sutton had heard was something about an invasion, before heading for the transporter room. As chance would have it, though, the main transporters were undergoing maintenance and the last hovertram had departed. Rather than waiting, however, he had decided to call Starfleet and ask them to beam him directly to Spacedock. All communications were blocked, with urgent messages going backwards and forwards between various installations. It was 5 minutes before his calls were acknowledged.

 

"Sorry about the wait, sir, we're ready to transport you aboard now."

 

There was the familiar whine and tingle of transport and one of Spacedock's many transporter rooms shimmered into view. Without even acknowledging the ensign on duty, Sutton headed for Ops.

 

[Enterprise]

 

"Captain, we're receiving a priority transmission from Starfleet Command. We're to return to Earth immediately. There's going to be an invasion."

 

"There hasn't been enough Dominion activity in this region recently and we would have noticed the Borg."

 

"It's an unknown species, sir. We're receiving a data transmission containing details about them."

 

"Set course for Earth, maximum warp. Transfer the file to my station."

 

"Course plotted and laid in."

 

"Time to Earth orbit?"

 

"43 minutes and 7 seconds."

 

"Engage."

 

[Fearless]

 

"What's the status of the planetary defences?"

 

"Shields are standing by, orbital reactors 1 through to 60 all check out. Planetary phaser banks are fully charged. 'San Francisco' is ready to leave Spacedock."

 

"The moment she clears the doors, instruct Spacedock to raise shields and link with Earth defences. What's the status of the torpedo array?"

 

"All systems on standby. 'San Francisco' has cleared Spacedock."

 

"Instruct her to perform escort for Spacedock. She hasn't even finished her shakedown cruise yet. Let's hope we don't need her." We've only just started building the Sovereigns and yet we've got 2 in system and 2 more on the way. Who ordered construction of 'Nelson'? I certainly didn't.

 

[Nelson]

 

"Sir, we're detecting a burst of Cronau radiation. 50 Imperial ships just dropped out of hyperspace on our previous entry vector. They're moving straight for Earth. Admiral Jones is taking Fearless and 100 ships out to engage them. They're approaching at impulse speeds."

 

"Move us to within 1 lightsecond. Order all ships to prepare for a run on 'Palpatinian'. Good luck."

 

[Spacedock]

 

Sutton burst into Ops as the Imperial fleet dropped out of hyperspace.

 

"Admiral on deck."

 

"This is no time for formalities ensign. Magnify image." Sutton's jaw nearly hit the floor when he saw the fleet, as did most people's, but they at least had had some forewarning from the data transmitted by Boyd.

 

"I count 50 ships, 11 of them over one and a half kilometres long. The biggest is more than 15km long."

 

Silence descended over the command centre. They had all seen the data, but had hoped that it was wrong. Ships simply weren't that big. Not unless they were Borg.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Admiral, there are over 200 Federation vessels in the system. 100 our moving to engage us. 38 or in orbit round the 4th planet, Mars, 50 more are in orbit round the 3rd planet, Earth. A total of 15 ships are approaching from further out of the system at sublight velocities. They will arrive in approximately 8 minutes. We will intercept the main fleet in 2 minutes."

 

"Instruct all Imperators to launch fighters. Hold back those on the Victories and frigates. Instruct the Interdictors to keep their fighters in close for escort. Instruct Imperator group 1 to form up 200,000km off our starboard bow. Have group 2 mirror their position off our port bow. Order our Interdictors to hold back half a light second from the engagement area, with 'Terror' and 'Fury' in close escort. I want Corvette group 'Gauntlet' to escort us."

 

"All ships in position, starfighter wings are in screening formation around the destroyers. Victories report ready for microjump. Carricks and Frigates have formed up behind us. 1 minute to intercept."

 

"Are there any planetary defences?"

 

"Weak planetary shielding, ground based weapon sites, orbital reactor systems and a small station in orbit around Earth. Mars lacks all these systems. There are some small localised shields, but that's it."

 

"Very well. We'll punch through this fleet and then take Earth."

 

[Nelson]

 

"The Imperial fleet has stopped manoeuvring. They're ready to attack. Looks like 'Palpatinian' will be leading the assault."

 

"Escorts?"

 

"6 corvettes."

 

"Instruct 'Nemesis' and 'Agamemnon' to fire torpedoes at the corvettes. I want 'Artemis', 'Jubilee' and 'Hornblower' to go for 'Palpatinian's engines while we got for her bridge. 'Omaha' and 'Belfast' can take her reactor. Remind all ships to try and stay clear of the heavy turbolasers. Any fighter launches?"

 

"Imperators only."

 

"Standby shuttles. Time to intercept between 'Palpatinian' and 'Fearless'?"

 

"10 seconds."

 

Prepare to decloak."

 

"5 seconds."

 

"Move us to within 100km.

 

"1 second, zero."

 

Space between the 2 fleets suddenly erupted into green and red flame. A couple of thousand turbolasers opened fire as torpedoes screamed from their launch tubes. The 2 met between the 2 fleets, most impacting with and destroying the other in a titanic explosion. Some torpedoes and bolts, however, slipped through. The few that did either missed, in the case of the turbolasers or were shot down, in the case of the torpedoes.

 

[Fearless]

 

"Execute manoeuvre Beta-9."

 

"Aye sir."

 

'Fearless', accompanied by 20 escorts leapt forwards, closing the gap between themselves and 'Palpatinian' almost instantly. The imperial gunners, however were swift to respond.

 

"Admiral, their turbolasers are turning to track us."

 

The small taskforce had dropped out of warp beside the huge battlecruiser's bridge and was pummelling it with torpedoes.

 

"Turbo_LASERS_? They won't even penetrate our navigational defle-"

 

Admiral Jones was interrupted by over 20 heavy turbolaser bolts striking home. Unable to cope with the sudden load, the shields of 'Fearless' instantly collapsed and several more bolts, followed by a volley of concussion missiles struck the unprotected engineering hull. A flash engulfed the ship as the warp core exploded, a missile lodged in main engineering detonating to devastating effect. In the confusion that followed, half of the strike force was disabled or destroyed by a furious broadside from 'Palpatinian'. The remaining ships spun about, launching a handful of torpedoes in a last futile gesture before engaging their warp drives.

 

[Reaper]

 

"Sir, the Federation ships are powering up their subspace distortion drive."

 

"Excellent. Power up the gravity well projectors. Order 'Inquisitor' to do the same." Captain Olon knew the importance of his ships in this engagement. They weren't going to be engaging the Federation fleet but they would be impairing its ability to engage Yarr's fleet. With the gravity wells in operation it was hoped that the Federation ships would be restricted to sub-light velocities. It would of course impede their own engines, but considering how badly they were outnumbered, it seemed like a reasonable trade off.

 

"All gravity well projectors powered up. The Federation ships have disengaged their subspace distortion drive. They are fleeing at sub-light velocities."

 

Captain Olon permitted himself a thin smile. Yarr's fleet would still be severely damaged after this, of course, but he would then be in a position to advance his importance, being one of the few captains with a completely operational ship. This would be a great day, not only for the Empire, but also for himself.

 

[Sabretooth]

 

The bridge went silent at the destruction of 'Fearless'. "My God..." whispered Griffiths, seeing the immense broadside unleashed by 'Palpatinian'. The whole fleet was now in disarray, without a central commander. Some attack squadrons were forming up for a retaliatory strike on the immense ship; others were falling back to orbit around Earth or Mars. If someone didn't assume control immediately, the battle could be lost before it had begun. Griffiths had never been a keen supporter of Jones, but neither had he tried to undermine his position as commander of the Earth fleet. He had respected him for his actions against the Borg in their recent attack, which had earned him his promotion, but it was clear that he wasn't the tactical or strategic genius people had hoped. "Broadcast this message to every ship," ordered Griffiths. " This is Admiral Griffiths. I'm taking command of the fleet until such time as Starfleet sees fit to replace me. All groups fall back to my position, including Alpha wing."

 

"We're receiving a distress signal from Alpha wing. There's some sort of gravimetric disruption preventing them from engaging warp drive. They're attempting to compensate, but they're coming under long range fire from the Imperial ships."

 

"I'm picking up the disturbance too, sir. It seems to be coming from 2 ships behind the main group. We are not currently affected, but they are closing rapidly on our position."

 

"Can you compensate for it?"

 

"It'll take a minute or so, but-"

 

"Make it so."

 

[Nelson]

 

The destruction of 'Fearless' had come as a shock to the crew of 'Nelson' as well, but they were among the best in Starfleet and had shown none of their feelings. The only noticeable change was in Admiral Boyd. About to give the order to attack, he had paused when 'Fearless' and Alpha wing had warped in and opened fire. The action of the Interdictors had not gone unnoticed here either.

 

"Engineering, There's a gravimetric disturbance originating from 2 ships out there. I want to be able to duplicate it. Mr Beverland, bring us round into 'Palpatinian's sensor blind spot. Order the rest of the taskforce to do the same. Mr Smith, lock weapons onto her engines. Mr McWhirter, the moment they engage their jamming systems, I want you to analyse them and find a way to break free. Who's assumed command of the fleet?"

 

"Admiral Griffiths, sir."

 

Boyd nodded in approval. He'd only met Griffiths a couple of times, but knew him to be a competent officer. He had earned his rank through several years of hard work and had survived the recent attack on Earth by the Borg. He had, reputedly been offered command of the Earth fleet, but being more of an explorer than a warrior, had turned it down. Now it seemed that he didn't have much of a choice. Checking the sensors, he saw that the fleet was reforming around Giffiths' ship, 'Sabretooth'. She was one of the newer Galaxy classes, upgraded with quantum torpedo launchers. The imperial fleet continued to bear down on them, exchanging long range shots that did little or no damage. A gold deck winked off the screen, as another ship from Alpha wing was destroyed.

 

"All ships report ready sir. Engineering reports that the warp drive has been recalibrate."

 

"All ships are to decloak and fire on my mark. Move us to within 5 kilometres and prepare for manoeuvre Boyd-Alpha-1."

 

[Sabretooth]

 

"All ships are in position."

 

"Instruct Galaxy wings to concentrate their fire on those," Griffiths checked a PADD, "Imperator class Star Destroyers. Ambassadors are to provide support. I want all Steamrunners and Akiras to make torpedo runs on the corvettes. 'San Francisco' is to lead Excelsior wings 1 and 2 and Peregrine wings 1 through to 4 on an attack on those Interdictors. Have all ships recalibrated their warp drives?"

 

"Aye, sir."

 

"I want everybody else to engage the smaller Star Destroyers and frigates. Keep away from that big one leading the formation. Remain at warp while launching torpedoes. Only drop out to fire phasers. I don't want any ships to sit still long enough to be caught by a broadside. Engage."

 

[Imperial Fleet]

 

Close to a hundred ships engaged their warp drives, closing instantly on the Imperial fleet. Believing that their warp drives would be useless, the gunnery crews were caught napping. 3 corvettes were destroyed immediately, falling victim to concentrated torpedo fire. Rocked by the explosions and the impact of a couple of torpedoes, the remaining corvettes returned fire, but the Starfleet vessels were already gone, vanishing into warp. A cheer went up on the deck of 'Baloo' as her target exploded in front of her, but was silenced by Captain Tavakoly.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Report!" barked Admiral Yarr, seething, "Why aren't the Interdictors doing anything?"

 

"We're not sure sir. The Federation vessels may have found a way to adapt their drive and compensate for the interdiction field," trembled a junior officer, elected earlier by a more experienced and nervous bridge crew as the spokesperson."

 

"Activate jammers, launch all fighters, order the Interdictors to find a way to jam their drives, or power down. Recall the Victories."

 

[Immortal]

 

The Imperators fared much better. With better-trained gun crews, several torpedoes were intercepted and destroyed before hitting the shields. Returning fire the instant the Galaxies dropped out of warp, 1 ship was destroyed and several more damaged.

 

"Ignore those ships, concentrate fire on the next wave. Set batteries to fire consecutively, keeping 20% of their guns in reserve. Anticipate where those ships will pass through and time our barrages to hit them. Relay orders to our companions." In charge not just of his own Star destroyer, 'Immortal', an Imperator II, Captain Wong was also in charge of the portside group of Imperators. He hoped that Kynes would give the same orders. He had some misgivings about the less experienced captain's appointment as over all commander of the Imperators group, but he had little option but to follow Yarr's orders in the matter. "Have our starfighters set up a screen round us. Feed them the projected co-ordinates of the Federation ships. If any of them dare disengage their drive, have our fighters blow them out of the stars."

 

[Juggernaut]

 

The initial attack had caught Kynes by surprise. Confident of the Interdictors', ability to stop the Federation vessels, he had allowed himself to become distracted and been working out weak spots in the planetary defences of Earth. He had been about to calculate how many nanoseconds they would old against a Deathstar superlaser, when the Galaxies had dropped out of warp, firing torpedoes and phasers. With the ship rocking under multiple impacts, he had yelled orders to return fire and had steadied himself by the time the Ambassadors initiated their run. He was satisfied to see 2 of the attacking vessels explode under fierce turbolaser fire, but wasn't sure whether to be encouraged or feel jealous of Wong's group, which had also destroyed 2, but had force the rest off, not giving them the chance to attack at close range. Instead, they were forced to attack at long range, giving the Imperial gunners a chance to shoot down the torpedoes. Unsure of whether fighters had been launched, because of the intense jamming being put out by 'Palpatinian', Kynes decided to set up a defensive screen anyway. "Order all TIE squadrons to move out several more kilometres. Have them engage any ship that disengages its subspace drive. Hail 'Inquisitor' and ask them what went wrong." Gaining a brief moment of respite from the Federation assault, Kynes glanced at the damage reports. All ships still had shields, although 'Warrior' and 'Almighty' had had to roll to present stronger shields to the most likely attack vectors, having born the brunt of the attack.

 

[Nelson]

 

"Mark."

 

Th 9 ships comprising taskforce Black Knight decloaked, simultaneously firing all phasers and torpedoes and charging at the unprepared Executor class Star Destroyer. A fierce volley of phasers struck the aft shields, followed almost instantly by a salvo of close to torpedoes. Momentarily undetected due to the jamming and their location in the area with fewest sensors, the ships were afforded a second chance to fire, before the startled Imperials returned fire. This time, only half the torpedoes struck home, but it was enough. Flickering under the onslaught, the shields flickered and died, permitting the last 10 torpedoes through into the hull above the engines.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

The mighty battlecruiser shook as the torpedoes impacted.

 

"Damage report."

 

"We've got hull breaches above the engines. Aft shields have failed. Restoring power... shields are up again. There's some damage to the engines. A repair crew has been dispatched."

 

"Who attacked us?"

 

"I'm not sure, sir. One moment they weren't there, the next they were. I didn't detect them until they fired."

 

"It's those cloaking ships again. I want them destroyed! All batteries, open fire on the aft quarter."

 

[Nelson]

 

"Engaging cloak"

 

The 9 ships rippled from view as the space around them erupted into a sea of plasma. Unable to fire for the next couple of seconds, the gun batteries were unable to shoot down the torpedoes from 5 ships from the group assigned to engage the corvettes. Slipping in 3 salvoes before the guns came on line, they succeeded in temporarily knocking out 'Palpatinian's aft shields for the second time in less than 30 seconds.

 

[Reaper]

 

"Sir, the interdiction field is proving ineffective against the Federation ships. Admiral Yarr demands to know why."

 

"Any ideas?" inquired Captain Olon, looking round the bridge. He was not a man of science and didn't mind admitting it. He already had his men's respect.

 

"It's possible that they were able to compensate for the field. We don't know much about their propulsion systems, but perhaps they aren't as vulnerable to gravitational fields as hyperdrive."

 

"How do you suggest we prevent them from compensating?"

 

"We could continually vary the field intensity. It should at least put more strain on their sensors and computers."

 

"Very well, proceed. If it works, you've just earned yourself 3 days' leave."

 

"Reconfiguring gravity well projectors now."

 

[San Francisco]

 

"Captain, we've just dropped out of warp."

 

"So I see." Captain Morgan Bateson had been conducting tests on 'San Francisco' over the last couple of weeks, making sure that she was ready for service. It was the perfect opportunity for him to become fully acquainted with 24th century Starfleet technology. He had spent the last few years after emerging from the 'temporal casualty loop' attending certain classes at Starfleet Academy, training with new technology and conducting test flights on new ships. So far he hadn't had a chance to engage in anything but simulated combat. Now, however, he was leading an attack and on board one of the most advanced vessels in the fleet. Amazing. "Full impulse, continue the attack. Time to target?"

 

"Eight seconds. I think they're launching fighters, but with all this jamming, I can't really tell. The Victory escorts are now advancing towards us."

 

"Order Peregrines to break port and starboard. Excelsiors are to cut under them. We have to knock out those Interdictors."

 

"Effective weapons range... now!"

 

The space between the approaching Federation ships and the Imperial destroyers lit up as Peregrines fired the phaser cannons, making only one pass before continuing on towards the Interdictors.

 

"Peregrines report that they've picked up some company. Small fighters, about 6m in diameter are closing on them."

 

"Order wings and 3 to drop back and engage the fighters. Wings 2 and 4 are to concentrate fire on one interdictor at a time. I want half the Excelsiors to engage the fighters and the other half to keep those destroyers at bay. Target their engines and commence fire."

 

Breaking formation, the Excelsiors sped towards their respective targets. Venturing too close to the destroyers, one was caught by a turbolaser volley and sent spinning by the impact. Engaging the fighters, the second group was able to pick off 2 squadrons before they sped out of range, leaving Peregrine wings 1 and 3 decimated. Lacking the manoeuverability of the TIEs and the phaser strips of the capital ships, the Peregrines could do little against the buzzing fighters.

 

"Sir, we've lost most of Peregrine wings 1 and 3, but the fighters have broken off. 'Rigellian', 'Yorktown' and 'Steadfast' are reporting heavy damage. They're dropping back. Peregrine wings 2 and 4 have engaged the nearest Interdictor. She matches the profile transmitted by Admiral Boyd, so we think it's Reaper. They're encountering resistance from the Interdictors' fighters. Damn! We just lost 2 Peregrines and 'Forthright' to torpedoes. Some of those fighters must be bombers. There goes another Peregrine."

 

"Order Peregrines to fall back to the Excelsiors."

 

[Reaper]

 

"Federation forces are in retreat, sir."

 

"Maintain fire, we might get lucky. Hold the fighters back, we can't risk using them against their capital ships."

 

"We've clipped one of the fighters. He's turning back towards. There's an energy build-up in his systems. I think he's going to blow. He's accelerating towards us."

 

"Evasive manoeuveres!"

 

"Against a fighter?"

 

"Intensify fire, order all fighters to engage it."

 

"It's too late!"

 

'Reaper' shuddered as the kamikaze fighter plunged into the aft portion of the ship. A huge gout of flame leapt up out of the hull breach.

 

"Engineering reports severe damage. Main engines are off-line. Aft shields are down and the generator has blown."

 

Now Reaper would be unable to protect her aft hull and still keep the Interdiction field projected over the battle.

 

[San Francisco]

 

"Sir, 'Reaper' has lost her aft shields."

 

"Take us in, recall the remaining Excelsiors. Find a way to get a solid lock on the unshielded area for out torpedoes."

 

"There's a lot of radiation coming out, we get them to target that."

 

"Do it."

 

The Federation ships sped towards the crippled ship, with the Victories slowly turning to re-engage them.

 

[Inquisitor]

 

"'Reaper' has lost aft shields and main engines, sir. The Federation ships are convergin on her."

 

"We can't risk our ship. Move us in closer to the battle, away from 'Reaper'. Order her fighters to accompany us. We've lost her." And now I'm the senior Interdictor captain in the fleet.

 

[Reaper]

 

"'Inquisitor' is withdrawing. She's ordering our fighters to follow."

 

"Sound the order to abandon ship. Plot a course for the centre of the Federation formation, with the reactors set to overload. Perhaps we can still do some damage."

 

"Torpedoes incoming."

 

"Order all gunners to remain at their posts. Continue to track them."

 

"They can't get them all without the fighters' support."

 

"Those are my orders, lieutenant. I want them obeyed."

 

"Aye sir."

 

[San Francisco]

 

The viewscreen showed the torpedoes striking home. It was lit concurrently with blue and red flames as some struck the hull, while others went wide and instead struck the shields.

 

"Their reactor is destabilising. 'Reaper' is turning towards us and approaching with whatever engines she has left. I'm reading escape pod launches."

 

"She's probably locked on a collision course with us. Target that other Interdictor, pursuit course. Engage."

 

The Federation fleet wheeled about and chased after 'Inquisitor' as she formed up again with 'Fury and 'Terror.' Suddenly the space behind them was illuminated with a fierce white light as 'Reaper' exploded.

 

[Fury]

 

"All fighters are in position sir. We're flanking 'Inquisitor' now. They won't get her."

 

"Resume fire on the Federation ships."

 

"Aye sir."

 

[San Francisco]

 

The ship rocked as several turbolasers struck, an experience duplicated by most of the remaining Excelsiors.

 

"Shields holding, but they can't take much more. 'Rigellian' has lost engines. 'Rigellian' is gone! They kept firing on her, even when she was no threat." The contempt was obvious in the tactical officer's voice.

 

"We'll have time for grief later. I want simultaneous torpedo launches from all ships on my mark. Target the 'Interdictor's reactor. Mark."

 

The mighty Sovereign class ship bucked slightly as torpedoes scremaed from their launch tubes, accompanied by those from the remaining ships. The Imperial gunners were good, filling the area with flak shots from the turbolasers. Nevertheless, several got through, impacting violently against the Interdictor's shields.

 

"Well?"

 

"It's difficult to tell how much damage we did with the jamming, but shield strength round her reactor appears to be fluctuating," reported the tactical officer the ships looped round and out of turbolaser range.

 

"Set up for another run. We'll keep at this until we've knocked her out."

 

Chapter 2

 

[Nelson]

 

"Status report."

 

"The fleet is following Admiral Griffiths' plan. Galaxies and Ambassadors are still harrying the Imperators, Akiras and Steamrunners have now destroyed 6 corvettes, 'San Francisco' has knocked out one of the Interdictors and the rest of the fleet is currently engaged with the frigates and Victory destroyers. We've lost 21 ships so far."

 

21 ships, out of the hundred that had moved to engage the Imperials. There were another hundred ships orbiting Earth and Mars, but they were too spread out for Boyd's liking.

 

"Imperial casualties?"

 

"Just the Interdictor and corvettes, along with some fighter losses. We suspect that the shields are severely weakened on several ships, but with all this jamming, it's hard to tell."

 

Boyd paused to think. 14% casualties to the Imperial fleet and 10% to their own. Unfortunately those figures didn't reflect the importance of the ships lost. Whereas the Imperials had lost their weakest ships, Starfleet had lost some of its best. 'Fearless' to a turbolaser barrage, 'Babylon' to massed fire from Imperators and 'Yorktown' to the Victories.

 

They also failed to reflect the firepower of the 2 sides. The Imperials still had 'Palpatinian' which easily outgunned a Starfleet taskforce. The only chance they had of destroying that ship was with torpedoes but supplies wouldn't last forever. Every time they knocked out shields more came on-line or she rolled to present undamaged ones. It looked like they might have to sacrifice a ship to stop her.

 

"Mr Smith, scan for 'Palpatinian's main reactor."

 

"Got it sir.

 

"Helm, plot a course and engage on my mark. Stand-by to decloak."

 

Silence fell over the bridge as the crew realised what he was about to do. He would never give an order he was not willing to carry out himself so he was going to sacrifice his own ship to stop 'Palpatinian'. They knew their duty as Starfleet officers, but that didn't stop the fear and regret. The sorrow at no longer being able to see loved ones.

 

"Prepare to drop phase cloak on my mark."

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Where are those cloaked ships? They should have made another attack run by now."

 

"We still can't find them sir. If we had a crystal grav-trap-"

 

"Well we don't so find them unless you want to look for a new job."

 

"Sir, what if they're planning to ram us?" suggested Yarr's XO, Captain Harrison.

 

"They'd never get past our shields."

 

"With that cloak of theirs they could."

 

Realisation suddenly struck Yarr. This was their home planet so they would fight to the death to defend it. The sacrifice of one of their ships to stop 'Palpatinian' would almost of been the equivalent to sacrificing a couple of Rebel fighter squadrons to stop the original Death Star.

 

"Contact all ships. Instruct them to initiate phase 2 of our attack immediately. Helm, engage."

 

Within a couple of seconds, every Imperial ship that hadn't deployed fighters vanished into hyperspace. Hastily recovering their fighters, the rest followed them.

 

[Sabretooth]

 

"Where'd those ships go?" asked Admiral Griffiths.

 

"I'm not sure sir. They're not on any sensors. Maybe they've- They're attacking the Jupiter colonies. Most of the defence stations have failed already."

 

"Plot a course and engage. Instruct every ship except those on defensive patrol to follow us."

 

[Nelson]

 

"-attacking the Jupiter colonies."

 

"Instruct the rest of the taskforce to drop back to Earth. It's a feint to lure us away. Warn the rest of the fleet."

 

"Admiral Griffiths is already instructing ships to follow him to Jupiter. He's gone to warp. No-one's listening to us."

 

There were times when discipline was a bad idea. If Boyd had been a Fleet Admiral this would not be one of them. But he wasn't.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"10 seconds until the fleet arrives."

 

Yarr laughed at the tactical ineptitude of Starfleet. Obviously their military received virtually no training in real warfare. Once he had taken over their home world wiping out the rest of their fleet shouldn't be too hard. "As soon as they arrive make the jump." It was going to be a glorious day for the Empire.

 

[Sabretooth]

 

"Going to impulse."

 

"Weapons locked, torpedoes away. Imperial ships are not returning fire. They've-"

 

"-disappeared," continued Admiral Griffiths. "It's a trap, warn the rest of the fleet. Set a course for Earth and engage, maximum warp." Gritting his teeth he resisted the impulse to slam his fist down on his chair. Within a solar system they wouldn't be able to go to their true maximum warp giving the Imperial fleet time to launch an attack.

 

[Luna Defence Base Sigma]

 

One of the officers of Defence Base Sigma was tapping his fingers in nervous anticipation. If the Admiral was right they would get a chance to test out the base's weapons systems. In order to conceal its presence from Dominion spies they had been able to test the systems in live fire exercises. Buried beneath the lunar surface was an array of torpedo tubes 10 by 10 square, each with 80 quantum torpedoes and able to sustain a firing rate of 8 per second. The base had recently been constructed to help defend against Dominion raids on earth, but would serve equally well against the Imperial vessels.

 

"Sir, Imperial vessels detected in Earth orbit. They're directly us."

 

"Fire all weapons, 4 tubes to each ship. Fire 2 salvoes than cycle to an untargeted ship."

 

The base shook slightly as 800 torpedoes, almost 3 times the complement of a Galaxy class, fired each second. Subconsciously trying to match the tempo of the deadly beat the crewman's fingers tapped faster.

 

"Sir, the ships have vanished."

 

"Detonate the torpedoes before they hit Earth!"

 

"Another ship just appeared above us. It's their flagship. She's jamming our signal, I can't detonate the torpedoes."

 

"Target that ship and fire. They've got the blood of millions on their hands now."

 

[Palpatinian]

 

The torpedoes have struck Earth, sir. There should be massive casualties."

 

"Excellent. Commence fire."

 

Hundreds of turbolasers once again lit up space. Rather than firing directly on the base, however, the bursts exploded just above the launch tubes. Torpedoes, at a rate of 800 per second slammed into the flak bursts detonating instantly. As several gigatons of explosives went off above their heads the crew had no time for a prayer, only a brief "Amen" before their world ceased to exist.

 

"Base destroyed. There are seismic shock waves rippling through the moon. Its orbit appears to have been disrupted by the explosion. I estimate that in excess of 5000 torpedoes detonated. The rest of the Federation fleet is dropping out of warp behind us. They are being joined by the Earth defence fleet."

 

"Initiate phase 3."

 

Once again every Imperial ship vanished into hyperspace leaving the dazed Federation ships far behind. On Earth a huge dust cloud blossomed, the result of the explosion of hundreds of quantum torpedoes.

 

[Spacedock]

 

Admiral Sutton was stunned by the damage done to Earth. Earthquakes, shockwaves, tidal waves, blazing infernos and massive dust clouds. Below him was a disaster on an unheard of scale. Not even the sophisticated planetary weather modification network would be able to do anything against this. Thank goodness it wasn't his planet. This thought pulled him firmly to his senses and returned to monitoring the comms station. Still no word from the Imperial Fleet. What if they're not here for me? What is going on?

 

[Nelson]

 

Admiral Boyd heard a few people throwing up behind him as they witnessed the destruction caused to both the Moon and Earth. He was severely shaken by it too and everyone on the bridge seemed paler than an anaemic Soong android. He did, however know that there would be worse to come if the Imperial fleet wasn't stopped.

 

"Sir, Pluto monitoring station has picked up the Imperial fleet. They reverted to real space at the edge of the system, turned and engaged their hyperdrive again."

 

"They weren't headed back in-system?"

 

"No sir."

 

Boyd pondered this information. Where were they going? Surely they weren't breaking off their attack at this stage?

 

"What was their exact heading?"

 

"Heading one- Sir, they've reverted to real space on the other side of Earth. The Fleet is moving to intercept."

 

"Helm, engage."

 

Accompanied by the rest of the taskforce, 'Nelson' surged into motion, accelerating round the planet.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Continue fire." Ever since the fleet had dropped out of hyperspace it had been pouring fire down onto Earth. Already there were huge craters and fires visible from space. Millions must have died in the assault. Yarr was not particularly concerned about these people. This was merely a distraction to him, a means of winning the battle. It was obvious, however, from the faces of many of his officers that he was very much alone in his lack of compassion. Over the years, Tarkin's doctrine of fear had been increasingly less popular.

 

"Federation fleet is coming into range sir."

 

"You know what to do."

 

With efficiency only the harsh discipline of the Imperial Navy could produce officers manipulated their controls and 'Palpatinian' swung about, flanked by the rest of her fleet and executed a short hyperspace hop.

 

[Sabretooth]

 

Admiral Griffiths swore under his breath. It looked like they were going to be kept dancing round Earth all day.

 

"Order all ships to move to the other side of Earth. They must be jumping back there again."

 

"Sir, I've picked up the Imperial fleet. I'm getting 2 signals. Sir, I'm not sure what's going on."

 

By making only a short jump and immediately jumping back to Earth, the Imperial fleet had out-run the subspace sensors which were now telling the Federation fleet that they were in 2 places at once. Before any orders could be issued the Imperial fleet opened fire, obliterating a Galaxy class starship instantly. As the Federation starships came about and began launching torpedoes, the Imperial vessels surged forwards, engaging them at point-blank range. This close, there was no time to shoot time torpedoes and a Nebulon-B frigate, the 'Villainous' was cracked open by the combined fire power of several Akiras. As its massive engines tumbled through the battle the Imperials began launching their TIEs. Flitting through space, easily outmanoeuvring the relatively cumbersome starships, they massed their fire, overloading starship shields at critical points allowing bombers to slip their devastating load of torpedoes and concussion missiles through. Within a couple of minutes, a score of ships had been brought down by TIEs alone.

 

[Belfast]

 

Abandoning all attempts at stealth, Taskforce Black Knight had blasted into the battle and were now using their superior systems to protect the rest of the fleet.

 

"We've picked up some fighters sir at bearing 180 mark 29, closing fast."

 

"Loop and fire dorsal phaser array."

 

As 'Belfast' looped up and around the TIE squadron pursuing her split and began jinking to avoid the incoming phaser array. With only one array able to come to bear, the starship was lucky to hit 2 TIEs before they settled back into formation behind her.

 

"Aft shields failing sir."

 

"Helm, all stop."

 

As 'Belfast's mass lightning systems suddenly cut out her velocity decelerated faster than the TIE pilots could react, most of them skimming her shield bubble and bouncing off, systems critically damaged One, however, slammed straight into her aft shields taking them off line. On the bridge several control panels exploded killing a nameless ensign and filling the room with smoke.

 

"Aft shields down. Imperator closing on our position."

 

"We're not dead yet. Co-ordinate phasers and torpedoes for simultaneous firing. Bring us about and target the Imperator's bridge."

 

"Transponder tags her as 'Vengeance'."

 

"I imagine they'll be wanting revenge after this. Fire."

 

A volley of phasers and torpedoes slammed into the destroyer's shields microseconds before she opened up with her turbolasers. Skimming along her hull, accelerating at full impulse 'Belfast' was bracketed by point defence turbolasers, rocking in the wake of the flak bursts.

 

"Get us out of here, heading 0 mark 090."

 

Changing direction, Belfast's aft shields were no longer presented to the destroyer, but rather her port ones. A heavy turbolaser blast that would have destroyed the ship if it had hit unshielded hull instead slammed into a nacelle, sending the starship spinning away, engines off-line. There was no time for a killing blow, however, as a squadron of Peregrines was now in-bound, supported by their carrier. Breathing a sigh of relief Captain Davidson turned to the engineer on duty.

 

"How long until we can get the engines on line again?"

 

"Could be hours sir. The primary warp coils are damaged and we've got hull micro-fractures along the port nacelle."

 

"Maybe you should start replicating cellotape and sticking it back together."

 

"Sir?"

 

"Never mind. Get to wok, can't you see there's a battle going on around us?"

 

"Aye, sir!"

 

[Baloo]

 

"All Peregrines away, sir."

 

Captain Tavakoly surveyed the battle. Despite outnumbering the Imperials, Starfleet was losing. At such close quarters ships were being stripped of their shields faster than against a Borg cube. His Peregrines were having some success keeping the TIEs off his ship, but they were just too manoeuvrable to dogfight against. With all the jinking they did even phaser arrays were having trouble hitting them. Proximity torpedoes would be useful, but also very dangerous at these ranges to the launching ship. At least there was little chance of missing the capital ships this close.

 

"We're coming under fire from the nearest Imperator."

 

"Ready launchers 1 through 6. Target their bridge and fire."

 

'Baloo' shook slightly as the volley struck out towards the lumbering destroyer. As flak turbolaser bursts detonated it rocked again, shields flickering slightly as the plasma was fended off. Captain Tavakoly had learnt early in the battle that the bridge was the weak point of the triangular vessels. Even so, the shields were stronger than those of any Starfleet vessel.

 

"Fighters coming in, heading 039 mark 275."

 

Juggling bearings in his head Tavakoly worked out that they were approaching from below to the front and left. When were people going to invent a simpler system?

 

"Fire proximity torps."

 

"They're closing too fast."

 

"Then fire phasers!"

 

Several beams lanced out towards the speeding fighters, narrowly missing them. Well within accurate range, they returned fire the 2 flights of TIE Interceptors pouring several terrajoules of energy into 'Baloo's shields. Splitting by wings to present less of a target they swooped away to engage 4 Peregrines recalled from attacking 'Vengeance' to deal with the TIEs. The lead wing pair dodged an incoming torpedo, but blocked the sensors of the next pair rendering them blind and unable to dodge. The Proximity fuse detonated less than 5 metres away, sending a hail of plasma, metal and energy into the cockpits of the unshielded fighters. Retaliating, the TIEs opened fire, prematurely detonating another torpedo just as it left the shield boundary of the lead Peregrine. Knocked off course by the explosion with most of its navigational systems off-line, it collided violently with another Peregrine, detonating its warp core. Illuminated by the actinic white glare of the explosion, the remaining ships exchanged fire as they passed each other, the Peregrines shrugging off a couple of laser blasts and destroying one TIE with their cannons. As the Interceptors looped round to pursue them, a furious barrage of laser fire erupted from the lancer frigate 'Deadly Strike'. Bringing close to 50 cannons to bear on the fleeing Peregrines, the frigate lit up space with an eerie green glow which was soon joined by the characteristic blue glow of Federation shields then the unmistakable white glare of a warp core explosion. Now escorted by the Interceptors , the frigate moved on, in search of fresh targets.

 

[Nelson]

 

Boyd looked on in concern at the battle. Every one of the ships in his small taskforce was damaged. Most seriously, 'Belfast' was out of the fight and a cloud of vapour marked the spot where a broadside from the ISD 'Immortal' had punched through 'Nelson's shields and into her hull. With systems strained close to breaking point it had taken a few seconds for the containment fields to activate and much of the deck 4 atmosphere had leaked out. With the help of the ships orbiting Mars they might be able to win this, but this close to the Imperial fleet, jamming was too strong to even contact the powerful comm stations on Earth.

 

[Spacedock]

 

Admiral Sutton was getting increasingly anxious. Orders had been given to fire thrusters and take Space dock round Earth in an accelerated orbit to join the battle in progress. It was bad enough that the Imperial fleet didn't seem to have come for him, but it looked like they would destroy not just the Federation fleet they were engaged with, but also Spacedock if it reached the fight in time. Killed by forces that should by collecting him. Shaking his head he ran through the options available to him one more time. He could sabotage Spacedock to help the Imperials ; he could steal a shuttle and join the Imperial fleet ; he could sit back and allow the Imperials to win and hope they wouldn't destroy the station or he could try and come up with a better plan. The information he had gathered in his 20 years in the Federation would be a great benefit to the Empire so risking his life by doing nothing probably wasn't a good idea. Certainly the Emperor would never improve if he ever found out. If he was still alive. It had been 20 years since he had dispatched Sutton on his mission to infiltrate the new galaxy and yet he had heard nothing from the Empire since. Perhaps something had happened. Something so terrible that the Imperial fleet had been forced into fleeing to a new galaxy. No, nothing could defeat the Imperial war machine. The Hapans were the next largest power and their pitiful fleet of sixty-odd Battle Dragons and a few dozen Hapes Nova cruisers would be no match for the Empire. Pushing aside all unpatriotic thoughts, Sutton made up his mind. He would take a shuttle and try to contact the Imperial fleet. Better yet, he would take a Peregrine. There should be a couple still in the dock being loaded up with torpedoes. It would be a simple matter with his rank to override the station's computer systems, set a phaser to heavy stun or kill and knock out anyone working on the ships. Just as he turned to leave, the communications officer spoke up.

 

"Incoming transmission from the fleet. It's been bounced through several relays on Earth and seems to be garbled from jamming."

 

"Put it through," instructed Admiral Collins, the commander of Spacedock.

 

"_iral Boyd o_ _S. Nels_ _more s_ _ps f_ _ars."

 

"Is that the best you can do?"

 

"Sorry sir, it's being jammed by something at the source."

 

Even through the thick static, Sutton could make a good guess at was being said. It should have been obvious to the other Starfleet officers but they had so little experience with jamming whereas it had been a part of every battle Sutton had taken place in before being sent to infiltrate Starfleet.

 

"Admiral, I believe the message is a request for ships from Mars."

 

Collins turned to the comm officer for his opinion.

 

"Could be. We wouldn't be able to relay the request though. We're entering the range of jamming equipment and would have to boost our transmission power considerably to reach Mars."

 

"We can't risk the safety of the station by diverting power from shields or weapons and the fleet needs our presence so we can't go back."

 

Collins carefully considered his options. Launching a shuttle or Peregrine to transmit the message once out of jamming range would be the best idea.

 

"Ask shuttle control for the best pilot left on the station."

 

"No need, Admiral. He's in this room."

 

The most experienced pilots were already out in their Peregrines or on starships. Sutton, however, had demonstrated piloting prowess on occasion and had more combat experience than virtually everyone else on the station. It had been a while since he had done anything but command fleets, but it was skill he had never forgotten.

 

"Very well, Admiral. Comms, have shuttle control prep a Peregrine for launch if there are any left."

 

Nodding acknowledgement, Sutton turned and entered the nearest turbolift.

 

"Peregrine Hangers."

 

A quiet whooshing sound was audible as the turbolift picked up speed on its way down. Within seconds it began to slow and the doors opened. Soon, thought Sutton, I will be free of this primitive alien-loving society.

 

Chapter 3

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Admiral, the station orbiting Earth has accelerated its orbit and will be in firing range within 30 seconds."

 

Admiral Yarr frowned. They were at a critical juncture here. 'Palpatinian' was engaged with what seemed like half the remaining Federation fleet and could not be spared to engage the station. He would have to send an Imperator instead and hope that would be sufficient.

 

"Dispatch 'Black Flame' to deal with the station."

 

[Black Flame]

 

Another Ambassador class starship exploded, gouts of flame leaping from her saucer section as the ISD's turbolasers ate deeper into her hull. Several ion cannon shots had detonated some of the self-destruct charges and she was beginning to break up. Seeing escape pods fleeing, Captain Poe was about to give the order to engage a fresh target when the new orders came through from 'Palpatinian'. Ponderously executing a turn the mighty ship put some more distance between herself and Earth before executing a micro-jump that took her within 10 km of the station.

 

[Spacedock]

 

"Admiral Sutton's Peregrine is clearing the space doors now."

 

A tremor shook the station as the inertial dampers were momentarily caught unawares.

 

"New contact dead ahead, range 10 km and matching our speed. Vessel matches profile of an Imperator class Star Destroyer."

 

"Hold back phaser arrays 3 and 7 for anti-torpedo duty. All other weapons fire at will," ordered Admiral Collins, grimacing.

 

[Peregrine]

 

Again the station shook as turbolaser blasts and ion cannons struck home. Skilfully dodging the shots, Sutton saw his chance and opened a channel to Spacedock.

 

"May day, may day. Spacedock, this is Admiral Sutton. Shields are down and I've taken a hit from a charged particle weapon that's fried half my systems. Engines are not responding to commands. I think that... that_ warp drive is engaging. I-"

 

Cutting the transmission, Sutton kicked the impulse engines up to full power and engaged the warp drive on a course that take him up and out of the system. Within the vast majority of systems, there would have been a not inconsiderable amount of risk involved in doing this, but the Sol system had been so thoroughly mapped with precision that Vulcans would be jealous of, that he could be fairly certain of his safety. Relying on the jamming being emitted by 'Black Flame' he hoped that no-one would realise his craft was undamaged. Once he was certain that no sensors could see him, he called up the position of the wormhole from the information provided by Admiral Boyd and set a course. He had insufficient fuel to make it the whole way but he knew where he had some friends he could contact on the way.

 

[Spacedock]

 

Admiral Collins looked on in disbelief as Sutton warped out of the system. With all the jamming they couldn't get a fix on his course. Chances were that unless he managed to fix it himself, they'd never find him. Right now, though, there was no time for grief.

 

"Status report."

 

"Shields holding at 80%. Phaser array 1 is off-line after a direct hit. We just lost array 2 as well."

 

"They must be trying to knock out our weapons. Rotate the station and bring other arrays to bear as soon as our offensive capacity drops below 80%. Return the favour with torpedoes."

 

Spacedock was old, but had been continually refitted and upgraded throughout its life. While its shields weren't as advanced as those on the newer classes of starship, they were stronger, inch for inch and she was matching 'Black Flame' blow for blow. While standard starship phasers had little effect on Imperial shields, the super phaser arrays the station was equipped with were equal to a couple of turbolasers each, allowing the station to bring as much firepower as a Victory class Star Destroyer to bear. The photon torpedo launchers positioned at regular intervals around the station gave it the edge in the battle allowing it to pound the destroyer with volley after volley. Although many of the torpedoes were shot down, they were at least keeping 'Black Flame' busy and reducing the number of weapons that were available to fire on the station.

 

[Black Flame]

 

"The station is rotating to present fresh weapon batteries to us."

 

Cursing under his breath, Poe realised that his plan wasn't going to work. The only way to take out a target like this was to knock out its weapons in one sector and commit fighters to attacking it there. With this possibility now denied to him, he would need reinforcements. He had no doubts that Admiral Yarr would deny him extra ships as they were already engaged with the federation fleet. Gritting his teeth, Poe gave fresh orders as his ship rolled to present fresh shields.

 

"Are there any weak points in the station's hull?"

 

"Yes sir. There is a pair of doors leading to a docking bay inside. If we could knock out the shields, we could be through the doors with a single broadside."

 

"Take us to within 1km of the station, facing the doors and hit the shields with a full broadside. Have a squadron of bombers launch and fire their torpedoes."

 

The destroyer was already moving before he finished speaking. In the viewscreen of Spacedock, it grew steadily larger as it moved into position and launched the bombers. At such close range, the gunners on both sides had no problem burning through the jamming and a rapid succession of hits on critical systems were scored. 2 phaser arrays exploded, their emitters overloaded by energy from turbolasers, while gouts of flame ripped through the outer hull of 'Black Flame', its particle shields knocked out in several places. For a moment, all firing ceased as Spacedock began to rotate and the ISD charged its gun batteries. With a fury that seemed to rise from the depth of the Dark Side, 'Black Flame's guns cried out, smashing through Spacedock's shields, followed by the torpedoes and missiles of the bombers. Resuming normal fire, turbolasers chewed through the space doors creating an opening for the bombers to fly through. At last, the stunned phaser crews returned fire, reducing the squadron's numbers to 3.

 

"Sir, Bombers Theta 1 to 3 report that they have entered the station," grinned the communications officer.

 

"Excellent. Launch TIE squadrons Charlie and Zeta to support them and withdraw to 50km."

 

Within seconds, 12 TIE Fighters and an equal number of TIE Interceptors had screamed from their hangers and were burning up space on their way to the Bombers. Too close to be hit by torpedoes, only the phasers could be brought to bear. Most of the few shots that were fired in the time it took the TIEs to enter the station went wide as they jinked and dodged. They arrived with 5 full flights, 20 Fighters, remaining.

 

[T/I Zeta 1]

 

"This is Zeta leader to all TIEs. Cut back your and make taking out defences a priority. Theta squadron, take the starship designated red 1. Charlie squadron, break by flights and take out any defences mounted anywhere else. Zeta squadron, break by pairs and blast your way through these walls."

 

Responding to Commander Dalton's orders, the TIEs split up and began their assault. Unable to fire while in the Spacedock, the U.S.S. 'Churchill', an Akira class starship being hastily patched up for the battle, swiftly fell victim to the Bombers' concussion missiles which shattered nacelle supports and engine housings. Within seconds, the engineering section was awash with flames and the Bombers had moved away to start burrowing through the station with their torpedoes. Megaton detonations ripped through the internal hull structure, overloading structural integrity fields and emergency containment forcefields. The suddenly vented atmosphere appeared as a white vapour, streaming out of hull breaches, accompanied by a few twisted and mangled bodies. Throughout the station, lights flickered as EPS conduits were severed.

 

[T/B Theta 2]

 

"Sir, we've blown through to the main reactor."

 

"Drop a proton bomb and get out of there."

 

Lieutenant Durandal stabbed down on the release trigger as his TIE wheeled about. Trailing a pair of TIE Interceptors he dashed for the space doors, moving through the hole they had burned through the hull as quickly as he safely could. Hearing the wings scrape against the rough walls a couple of times, he breathed a sigh of relief as he shot out of the hole. He didn't dare glance at the aft sensors to see how close the pursuing explosion was. His thoughts accelerated by the adrenaline that had flooded his system, he somehow acknowledged the presence of 'Churchill' as he blasted past in a split second, firing a proton torpedo at the remains of its engineering section. He was rewarded by another explosion behind him, another kill for his record. Riding the extreme edge of the explosive shockwave, he burst out through the space doors to accompany the other TIEs back to 'Black Flame'. In less than a minutes they were all docked and refuelling as Black Flame' returned to the fight.

 

[Endeavour]

 

Captain McReynolds was still debating whether to stay on station or disobey orders and enter the fight that was going on out of view on the other side of Earth when Spacedock exploded. Even through all the jamming, it registered strongly on every sensor.

 

"Lieutenant McDowell, tell me that wasn't Spacedock."

 

"Sir, I, I'm sorry."

 

McReynolds had had family serving on the station. No doubt there were 1 or 2 others on the ship who had just lost family. You expected the destruction of ships in a battle like this, but Spacedock? No. It just wasn't right. With a dry voice he began issuing orders.

 

"Contact all ships in Mars orbit. Order them to engage the Imperial fleet. Take us to warp."

 

Responding with Starfleet efficiency to the orders, the 50 remaining Starfleet ships entered the battle.

 

[Enterprise]

 

"ETA Mr Data?"

 

"1 minutes, 17 seconds."

 

Accompanied by the Sovereign II class 'Hood', 'Enterprise' had been racing at maximum warp for over half an hour to reach the battle. Ever since the preliminary call for help, there had been no more messages and they had no idea what to expect.

 

"1 minute to Earth orbit."

 

"Instruct Captain Jacques to circle the battle, if it's still going on at warp. We'll drop to impulse and provide targeting for his torpedoes."

 

"Sir, the 'Hood' has superior armour and shielding to 'Enterprise'. It would be more logical for her to endure enemy fire."

 

"Nevertheless Mr Data, we are the flagship and have the most experience crew. With any luck, the battle will be over by the time we arrive."

 

"30 seconds to Earth orbit"

 

"Is there anything on sensors yet?"

 

"No sir. There appears to be substantial jamming in effect."

 

"Alter our course to the centre of the jamming."

 

"Aye sir."

 

"15 seconds to Earth orbit."

 

"Raise shields, power up phasers, stand by torpedo bays, go to impulse on my mark."

 

"10 seconds. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5-"

 

"Go to impulse."

 

With a grace that belied her intention, the Sovereign class starship dropped out of warp and into the worst battle Picard had see. Not even the devastation of Wolf 359 or the many Dominion battles matched the scene before him. Broken and shattered starship hulls lay strewn through space, intermixed with escape pods and bodies. According to sensors, over 70 ships had been totally destroyed and many more disabled. Just beyond the desolate graveyard they had arrived in was a swirling mass of ships, bare hundreds of metres from each other, red, blue and green beams and bolts flickering hypnotically between them. About 30 of the imperial ships remained and they were each engaging several starships. At the far edge of the battle, a swarm of about 50 ships had just arrived and were knifing through the battle, phaser fire seeming to fire randomly, tracking seemingly non-existent objects. Peregrines, barely visible, fired apparently at nothing, only to be blown apart by invisible pursuers.

 

"Helm, take us in. Transmit targeting data to 'Hood'."

 

"Incoming ships. They appear to be fighter, about 6 metres wide and long."

 

'Enterprise' shook slightly as her shields absorbed the combined energies of a squadron of TIE Interceptors.

 

"Return fire, all phaser arrays. Target the nearest hostile capital ship and launch torpedoes."

 

Crimson beams lanced out from across 'Enterprise's hull, but by now the TIE pilots had learnt about Starfleet weapons and knew to jink constantly.

 

"All shots missed sir. They're too manoeuvrable."

 

"Fire again, wide beam this time."

 

Taken by surprise by this new tactic, half the squadron was phased out of the continuum before the rest peeled away, calling for back-up. Meanwhile, the combined torpedo volleys of 'Enterprise' and 'Hood' detonated prematurely, met by a solid wall of plasma, thrown up by the Imperators 'Immortal' and 'Warrior'. Temporarily blinded by the explosion, 'Enterprise's sensors did not detect the return of the TIEs, this time accompanied by Bombers. Launching their torpedoes and immediately veering off they lost only 1 Bomber to the return fire and were rewarded by the impact of 24 torpedoes against the starships' shields. As plasma flared up and around the defensive bubble, 'Warrior' moved in to take advantage of her weakness.

 

"Sir, at this range we can get a clear lock on the Imperator, but we've lost conta-" The unfortunate tactical officer was interrupted by the explosion of his console. As the bridge filled with smoke, Riker took up the post.

 

"Shields at 60% and falling. Returning fire, all weapons."

 

Phasers and torpedo engines flared as the Starfleet vessel struck back. At this moment, the TIEs chose to make another run, hoping to finish off the damaged ship. Dropping out of warp right behind them, 'Hood' launched a cluster of quantum torpedoes into the middle of their formation, wiping out most of them in one go. The rest split and fled, choosing to face the remaining Peregrines in the main battle. Manoeuvring into position directly behind 'Warrior', 'Hood' endured the wake from her engines to launch a series of torpedoes at her bridge tower. Sensors blinded by the charged wake, the ISD failed to detect and shoot down the torpedoes before they slammed into its bridge shields. Turning, it presented its bows to both 'Enterprise' and Hood', unleashing equal broadsides on each.

 

[Palpatinian]

 

"Admiral, we have target locks on all active Starfleet vessels. All combat worthy ships are believed to be engaged with our fleet."

 

"Excellent. Blow port hatches and prepare to fire."

 

'Palpatinian', before coming into Admiral Yarr's service', had been an experimental test bed. Set into its port bow was a series of proton torpedo launch tubes, disguised as maintenance hatches and airlocks. By blowing these hatches open, the ship could fire enough torpedoes in 1 second to overwhelm the particle shields of several Hyperator class Star destroyers. Furthermore, each tube could be assigned multiple targets and set to cycle through them, continuously firing until either the targets are wiped out or the tube runs out of ammunition. With every Federation starship now targeted, Yarr intended to eliminate them in a few seconds of firing. It was a trick that would probably only work once, so he had made sure he was well within range of every ship.

 

"Fire."

 

The entire port bow of the ship lit up with the engine flare of the torpedoes as they sped out towards their targets. Rolling to bring more targets in view, the tubes kept on firing. Throughout the battle field, shields flashed and imploded as the projectiles struck home. A few, distracted by the jamming, instead homed in on Imperial ships or detonated prematurely, taking out a few TIEs. These losses, however, were nothing compared to those among the Starfleet vessels. By the time the tubes fell silent, barely a score of starships remained to oppose the Imperial fleet. Cut off from each other, they soon fell victim to the combined ion and turbolaser fire.

 

[Nelson]

 

"What's our status?" enquired Boyd quietly. He was shocked at the sudden downfall of the fleet. One moment it had seemed like they might win with the arrival of reinforcements, despite the destruction of Spacedock. The next, all their hopes were gone. It seemed that 'Nelson' had been the only ship with an operative cloaking device remaining. Engaging it just before the torpedoes had hit, Boyd had watched a quartet of them blaze through the bridge and detonate on the Imperator they had been engaged with, 'Juggernaut'. It seemed that Earth had fallen. The Federation would have to make anew stand elsewhere.

 

"Helm, set a course for the wormhole, optimal warp. Engage." The New Republic had a lot to answer for, abandoning them there. Boyd was going to get answers. Switching to an aft view, Boyd saw the Imperial fleet vanish from view as stars elongated and 'Nelson's warp drive engaged.

 

"The moment we're free of the system, engage hyperdrive."

 

[Earth orbit]

 

Launching their assault shuttles and remaining TIEs, the Imperial vessels began targeting the Peregrines. As the Federation fighters regrouped for a last stand, the Imperial advance faltered. Within seconds, the pursuing TIEs were recalled and the dagger shaped vessels departed into hyperspace.

 

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