"Time of Fire" by Kyle Knopf (kylejk@netzero.net) ------------------------------------------------------------ Newsgroups: alt.startrek.vs.starwars Subject: [Fanfic]Blitzkreig:proloque From: Kyle Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 01:46:19 GMT Onboard the Starfleet research ship T'vesth's bridge. "Captain Oneth, we're getting some more subspace pulses along with the gravitic disturbances, we don't know what it is but it's very powerful." Lieutenant Sirvea the science officer finished his report to the captain. "How dangerous is it," he turned to look at his PADD and studied the power readings, murmuring under his breath, "My god, I've never seen anything like that." Looking up he ordered the helmsman to hold position from the center of the anomaly at maximum sensor range. Then, "Open a channel to Starfleet command, inform them of our find and reguest additional ships, possibly a Galaxy class ship if available we could use the shielding of one to study the anomaly at close range." He leans backs and waits, for the captain of a science vessel that's the most important trait, patience. Eight weeks later in the same desolate area of space, a virtual armada of ships has formed around a seething mass of raw energy. Three Oberth class science vessels, five Nebula class starships, seven Excelsior's, four of the Galaxy class, over two dozen Miranda class starships, and a Sovereign class starship, the most powerful ship in the fleet the Enterprise herself, flagship of Starfleet. Captain Picard sitting in his office, "Number One does anyone know where this wormhole is going to end yet, do we have any new clues." "I'm sorry sir, still nothing but they have a new theory. It seems that they are detecting a concentration of chroniton particle inside the hub. This means that there will be a temporal shift involved not just a spatial one." "Will, do they know which way its going is it forward or backward? We could have a problem with the Prime Directive. We don't want to affect our own timeline." Frowning pensively he just shakes his head deep in thought. "At least this rules out a Dominion threat, could you imagine if they had two wormholes connecting to our space." "Yes, but what if we run in to something worse, perhaps the Borg or even worse" Riker thinks about that and smiles, "Doesn't seem to likely does it." Picard smiles back "I agree, but I wouldn't mind a little action, science duty was never my favorite thing to do and the Enterprise is made for action not sitting around watching a Proto-wormhole form. No matter how scientificaly important it is, at least we're being assigned to explore it once it forms" He stands up and gesturing his first officer forward he walks on to the bridge and takes the center seat. "Captain, we're getting a signal from the Scashey, that the wormhole is forming, it appears to have reached critical mass, the speed of formation is increasing at an exponential rate." Turning in his chair, "As is the energy level." "Order all ships to keep a safe distance, and bring us to a safe distance. Launch probes as we go." "Plasma funnels in to a hole in space. The speed accelerates as the hole changes from a pinprick into a giant chasm of energy. No longer a hole in space the plasma can be seen spiralling down the edges of an immaterial tunnel. As all the energy is drained from nearby space the tube through space quiets down and nothing can be seen, then a giant flash of energy is seen as the wormhole opens and ejects a streamer of pure energy over 5km wide. The small specks at the edges can be seen if you look closely to be starships. On the bridge of the starship Enterprise, the crew gasp in wonder at the sight they have just observed. Troi turns to Riker with a look of amazement and whispers, "I have never seen anything anything that beautiful in my life, the colors..." She trails of in wonder. Standing up decisively, Captain Picard addresses his crew. "Scan the wormhole, where does it lead?" Commander Data, studies his information displays and turns, a in a matter of fact tone "The distance is immense easily millions of light years the time frame is impossible to estimate since the energy surges in the wormhole are to random to compensate for." The human mind has trouble understanding such vast distances and the crew just sits there for a second trying to understand the idea of another Galaxy. "We have our orders, inform three of the Galaxy Class ship, three of the Nebula's, six Excelsiors and ten of the Miranda's to accompany us through the wormhole." Picard sat down and once the ships were assembled ordered full impulse through the wormhole. It opened its maw and swallowed the ships whole and thrust them from one end of the Universe to another. On the other side of the Universe the energy released from the wormholes explosion has caused the Galactic Empire, still reeling from the damage inflicted at the battle of Yavin to send a small scout force from the outer rim to investigate the phenomenon in the Unknown Territories. This force consists of a single Victory Star Destroyer, and two of the old Dreadnought class heavy cruisers, with an escort force of four Carrack class cruisers and eight Corellian Corvettes. They drop out of hyperspace to see twenty two ships of unknown design sitting around the wormhole. Commodore Hillder seeing this immediatly sends out a signal to his commander Admiral Thetusis requesting he send reinforcements and including the sensor readings with the transmission. "Open a channel to the nearby ships requesting they identify themself and there intentions along with where they came from." After this he walks to talk with his tactical officer, since it should take awhile for the lanquages to be translated and the comm protocles to be standardized for use. "What type of weapons do you detect plus power readings and any other important information." "Yes sir, The weapons are a phased energy weapons using a rapid nadion effect, according to the computer infromation these types of weapons while extremely effective on simple materials and mostly effective on most composites but are of limited effectiveness against shields, the energy output is still undecided until we can see them in use they will stay that way. The reactor system is a Matter/Anti-Matter reaction type so it should be very vulnerable to energy surges. The FTL drive system is a rather primitive system using multiple subspace fields to move at FTL speeds in real space, much slower then a hyperdrive but less effected by a gravity well. Thats all we can tell so far. Except that the sublight drive is an ion drive enhanced by subspace fields, speed will be equivelant to our ships but manuverability will be much greater." "Well done Lieutenant" Hillder turns back and orders all weapons to be kept at a ready and if there was any response from the admiral. "Sir, he has informed us that he is enroute with three Imperators and his flagship the Iron Star, an Imperator II class Star Destroyer along with escorts of six Strike cruisers, an Interdictor and 8 Nebulon-Bs and four Gunships. We are to hold the enemy here until he arrives, do not let them escape but try not to engage them unless it is unavoidable." Commodore Hillder looked at his crew and said "We have our orders and we will obey, how are the communication attempts proceeding." "Very well sir, we should have contact in a few minutes" His comminication officer reports in precise military fashion. As time passes he waits and then. "Sir, we have comminications, flatscreen only" "Transfer the signal to my personal display" "This is Jean-Luc Picard of the starship Enterprise. I greet you in peace, and in the name of the United Federation of Planets. If this space is under your protection we apoligize and offer the explanation that we are explorers." The bald man stopped and seemed to be waiting for a response. "Captain, I am Commodore Hillder of the Galactic Empire. I am sorry to say this but until we have cleared up this situation I ask you to please keep your ships stationary. Admiral Thetusis should arrive soon, he is fully empowered to act in diplomatic matters. Until then under Imperial law your ships must maintain there loaction is that acceptable?" "Of course Commodore, we understand the position your in and have no wish to make it more difficult then it must be. Well I believe that is all that needs to be said for now, I look forward to speaking to you again." "And I to you captain. Good day" "Counseler" Captain Picard begins, "So, what do you sense, is he telling the truth?" I believe so I don't sense hostility and I sensed no outright lies, but he was hedging most likely it was only the usual diplomatic manuvering. He doesn't seem like he's going to attack us he seems to have adopted a wait and see attitude." "Thank you counselor, Will what do you make of them?" Commander Riker considers this and says "I won't disgree with the counselor on there motivations, I don't have her insight. What impresses me is the the ships especially that wedge shaped one. Longer then the Enterprise and much more massive and crammed full of weapons. All of those ships seem to made for war I wonder what they need ships like that for?" "A very good question and hopefully one that will have an answer we like." Picard is cut off by a sudden rocking of the ship as a new fleet flashes in and opens fire with every weapon they have, as this happens the other fleet opens fire and releases TIEs by the dozens. "All ships full speed, get through the wormhole as fast as you can." The ships turn as one and head for the wormhole, ships exploding like ablative armor until only the Enterprise severly wounded and the Brightnova an almost totally crippled Galaxy class ship fall through the wormhole bleeding energy and air. ********************************************************************* Chapter One: A Reprieve "My God! They're gone... twenty-two ships in a heartbeat." Will Riker just sits down, unable to believe what has just happened to them. As he does he notices that the Bolian manning the weapon console is injured with massive burns down the entire front of his body from the exploding weapon console. Tapping his comm. badge he orders, "Medical team to the bridge, severe burns and multiple small injuries." "Will, see if you can raise the Bright Nova see what kind of shape she's in, Data hail the Justinian and have them organize the ships for a fighting retreat if the enemy comes through the wormhole after us, also have them notify starfleet that we have a Class Omega emergency..." The bridge is as quiet as a morgue as they digest what he's just said Class Omega means an immediate and desperate threat of invasion, it had been used only twice before, when the borg invaded and when the Romulans were first encountered over two centuries before. "But first we need to repair the ship, I want full cooperation from the rest of the fleet. First priority is to stabilize the Bright Nova then to get our warp cores online then shields, followed by weaponry torpedoes first, then phasers..." Picard is interrupted by the beeping of his comm. badge, "Yes, Picard here." "Captain this is sickbay, we have an emergency here, we took severe damage and several crew people were killed including Doctor Crusher, the EMH is off line and the other surgeons are all unconscious we need help could you contact he other ships and see if they can take the wounded?" With that one very strained sounding crewman ends his litany detailing his small area of chaos. At this Picard seems to crumple inwardly, his face became tense and unmoving. With a visible effort of will the captain gathers his wits together and forces himself to go on, and ignore his feelings for now, he has a job to do, he can not fail in his duty, the Federation depends on him to organize a defense. "Data, I need some advice." As the android turns towards him the captain continues with, "We need to close the wormhole, it would be best if it was permanent but I'll settle for whatever you can do." Nodding to his second officer briskly Picard turns next to go over the various reports flooding in from all over the ship, so far in total over six hundred of his crew his dead, and the death toll will continue to climb as the damage control parties go through the ship looking for survivors and all too often finding more death, and that doesn't even include the bodies that were disintegrated or floating in the void either on this side or the other of the wormhole. Who were these people, they slaughtered mercilessly people that mere minutes before they had been conversing peacefully with, no warnings, no chance to surrender, just death. How could they stop them, the must give starfleet time to organize a defense. "Captain" The pale android interrupts his captain as he stands up after reviewing the sensor data at an inhuman pace. "I believe I have a solution to our problem, this wormhole is still unstable and is fluctuating as it works its way towards equilibrium, I believe this may give us the chance we need to temporarily destabilize the quantum-tetryon matrix of the subspace fields maintaining the wormhole by..." Trailing off quite abruptly as the meaning of Picards expression is finally understood. "Data, you can explain how it works later for now just say what to do, in as little words as you can." Regretting the harsh words, Picard nonetheless realizes his second officer could continue explaining how to close the wormhole right up till when the enemy comes through and blasts them apart like they had the other ships of the fleet they had taken through. Startled, "Yes Captain, We must launch a full spread of quantum torpedoes directly in to the wormhole. Once they enter the wormhole they will be preset to detonate in the center simultaneously, the zero point energy extraction of there warheads will disrupt the wormhole for an indeterminate but lengthy period of time." Quite pleased with himself Data waits for a response from his commanding officer." Irritated at Data's lack of motivation and heavily stressed by finding himself in the middle of a new war without any warning. Picard snaps quite unexpectedly, "Do it, what are you waiting for, the enemy to come through and vaporize the rest of the fleet?" Shocked at this response Commander Data proceeded to program, target, and launch a complete spread of torpedoes directly in to the waiting maw of the writhing wormhole. All action on the bridge momentarily stops as they watch the projectiles enter the wormhole. Surprised at this action several ships fire a spread of torpedoes towards the wormhole believing that something has come through from the other side. For a second nothing happens then the wormhole flares and glows so bright that nothing can be seen, then as it dies down a lean angular ship of about 350 meters length sits in the center of the wormhole. Sent through by Commodore Hillder as a scout to pave the way for the vanguard of Strike Cruisers, then the main fleet. This ship, the Imperial Legacy was almost through the wormhole when the torpedoes launched by the Enterprise's Android helmsman detonated and set up a massive shock wave that flung the heavily damaged Legacy out of the wormhole and the titanic stresses destroyed the entire vanguard of six Strike Cruisers and eight Nebulon-Bs and spits the wreckage out at near light speed towards the Imperial fleet. Unfortunately for the crew of one of Commodore Hillders Dreadnought cruisers the wreckage exits right as they're preparing for insertion, the ship is practically vaporized from the impact and the force of the explosion destroys her sister ship the Hell-Gate. They force of this explosion cripples four gunships and causes heavy damage to Thetusis's flagship the ISD-II Iron Star. But on the Federation side of the wormhole the Legacy powers up her engines and charges the federation fleet. "All ships open fire!" Picard screams over the fleet communication network. As he says this the orphaned Carrack cruiser lets loose a full broadside on a nearby Miranda scout and then as the target explodes, switches fire towards one of Nebula class ships in the fleet. As the Legacy's newest victim begins to take damage dozens of quantum and photon torpedoes begin to explode against the ship. As the Legacy begins to fall apart her captain orders ramming speed and takes the Nebula class starship Mutara with him. Over this apocalyptic scene a last few torpedoes explode harmlessly doing nothing as they provide a background for the scene of scattering debris. "Data how did that ship get through, is the wormhole still open." Commander Riker demands worriedly, dismayed once again by what this enemy was willing to do to achieve victory. No matter what the readings said there's no way they could possibly be human. "Negative, Sir, the wormhole is closed. That ship was most likely a scout and was almost through when we closed it, I'm analyzing our readings right now to see how long it will stay down." Intently peering at the data being transmitted to the Enterprise's science station from the rest of the fleet. Looking up at Commander Riker and speaking in a voice pitched to be heard by all on the bridge, "Sir, there seems to be have been some additional distortion caused by an unknown source, perhaps the ship we destroyed. Any way according to my sensor data we have a minimum of four months before the wormhole reopens and perhaps as many as six months, a more detailed study will further refine our information. At this information the bridge lets out a collective sigh of release almost involuntarily. "In four months, I have no doubt we can come up with a suitable welcome for this 'Empire.'" William Riker turns facing the assembled bridge crew of the Enterprise and looking all of them in the eye says, "Remember this, no matter how strong the enemy is we have fought and defeated strong enemies before and we'll do it again. We are the Federation no one has ever defeated the Federation no matter how long the odds have seemed we have prevailed. Now lets get our ship operational again." At this the crew scatter and go to work again at a redoubled pace. "Well said number one, but do you really think we can defeat them?" Picard seems to have aged thirty years since his fleet of over twenty ships entered the wormhole and only two ships returned. Looking at his captain and friend William Riker can only say. "I have to, if I don't then what the point?" Slowly walking towards his ready room Picard can only shake his head and mutter, "That the question Will, that's it, what's the point indeed." His abject mutterings are cut off as the door to his ready room slides shut behind him. Chapter Two-The News Spreads In the middle of interstellar space sat a space station. This space station was Outpost Omega, set up by Starfleet Command years ago to research and develop new technology. This was the same research station that had developed both the phase-cloak, used experimentally on the Pegasus, and the pulse phasers mounted on the Defiant class Gunships. Now this hidden station was working on the next generation of Starships. Outpost Omega had a nonstandard design; a pole with a diameter of three hundred meters formed the central hub. On both ends of the cylinder was a small disk with a diameter of 800 meters. Then going across and through the center of the primary hub was a strut that extended out a kilometer and on each end was a large cylinder laid out opposite to the rest of the station. These cylinders were the key to Outpost Omega; each one was a fully enclosed shipyard of three kilometers length with a one-kilometer diameter. Within these shipyards a team of Starfleet’s best engineers worked to complete a ship that would be the Federation’s answer to the rest of the galaxy; that you would respect the Federation. Starfleet, and the Federation as a whole, have learned that the Long Peace is over. Starfleet needed to return to its roots of a dedicated, motivated, well trained fleet, the same fleet that defeated the Romulans and beat the Klingons so badly that it forced a complete restructuring of their society and the Federation’s greatest enemy became their greatest and most loyal ally. The fleet that had tamed the Alpha Quadrant, the fleet that created Christopher Pike, Pavel Chekov, Hikaru Sulu and James T. Kirk. The early twenty-fourth century had been a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity thanks to the efforts of those officers and others like them. Unfortunately, during that time, Starfleet changed from a military force to a scientific and exploratory corps. This policy of pacifism led to a series of disasters for the Federation in the beginning of the Dominion War. Starfleet soon learned that the famed Galaxy class starship were no match for the Dominion war machine. They won, but barely, and Starfleet ordered development of new ships to replace the older ships in service and fully upgrade the fleet. Starfleet shipyards began churning out Akira and Steamrunner class ships by the dozens to patrol the borders of the Federation; the council had authorized the upgrade of all Galaxy and Nebula class vessels, along with the production of three dozen additional Defiant Gunships and a dozen Sovereign class ships to be built over the next five years. This would be the new fleet that would allow the Federation to expand and grow. They would not be targets for everyone looking for some new territory. But that was the current generation of Starships; within the station gestated the next level of warship design. The Champion class Heavy Battle-Cruiser. Commodore Montgomery Scott looked down at what his team of engineers was doing with a pleased expression on his face. They may not be quite as good as me lads and lasses I had on the Enterprise, but they're getting there after I finally knocked that idiotic belief of theirs that if it can't do everything then its not a starship. How could it be that hard to understand that you build one ship to protect the frontier and you build another ship to study gaseous anomalies? They've learned, though; I think the cap'n would've been proud to serve with them, I know I am. Of course, this ship won't be an Enterprise, but she will have a proud name. Scotty almost laughed out loud imagining what the captain would've said if he'd been alive and saw this. Aye, he would've been proud to see this ship, knowing what she'll mean to the Federation. A hesitant voice intruded his reveries gently. "Commodore, the weapons team needs you down in phaser bank five. They're having trouble getting the prefire chamber to charge right. It keeps overheating in simulated sustained rapid firing." The young ensign watched the Commodore nod his understanding, and then hurried on to her next duty. One thing Commodore Scott had made quite clear was that he wanted his people to keep busy and they better damn well know how to do their job. Walking down the hall towards the nearest companionway, the Scotsman could be heard muttering, "Damned twenty-fourth century engineers. They can recite the complete stats for a warp core from memory but you try to get them to build a simple burst phaser and they can't even maintain the temperature." With that parting remark he walks down the hall and turned to pass through an airlock. *** "ORDER, ORDER I said," The president of the Federation commanded through the pandemonium prevalent in the Federation council chambers. "Please, people calm down. We have just received an update from Captain Picard. They have temporarily closed the wormhole. Unfortunately, before they were able to, a single ship emerged and destroyed two more of our ships." "Mr. President, how long will this wormhole be closed? And what are our losses. What damage did we do to the enemy, and most importantly, who is this enemy?" This single calm and collected voice within the chaos was that of a Vulcan. "Ambassador, we have lost twenty-four of our ships. The wormhole will be closed for a time period of approximately four months according to the information sent with the update. The most troublesome part of this entire affair is the fact that we have no information on this enemy, other then a name the "Galactic Empire." I admit that the name alone seems worrisome, especially since they only lost a single ship, a small scout sent ahead, most likely, to survey before the main fleet came through." "Why did they attack, what provocation did we give them?" This came from one of the more notoriously pacifist members of the council. "There was none, and what I find disturbing is why they attacked. What enemy attacks without even trying to learn about their opponent? This, to me, indicates an enemy with immense capabilities and equal arrogance in the assumption of victory." With these dire words the president turned and then announced, "We will do our best. Even now our Ambassadors are presenting this information to our allies on Kronos and Romulus. Starfleet command is ordering a mobilization of ships. But if we are to defend ourselves, then we must pass this bill authorizing Starfleet to increase production of heavy warships and to recall all necessary reservists." The bill was passed, not without considerable infighting and politicking, but it was passed, and with that Starfleet moved one step closer. Unfortunately, even after the war just fought, few could believe that there was an enemy who would have actually been capable of such cold-blooded deceit. The key point was when they showed the sensor logs of the Bright Nova and Enterprise; the sheer savagery of the attack drove home the immediacy of this disaster. At Starfleet command, the new CINC Starfleet waited within his office, going over the latest transmission from the wormhole already being called the Gateway. Finishing the short report, he turned to the routine paperwork already piling up on his desk. Even in an emergency paperwork never stopped. Sometimes Herris wondered if even the Heat Death of the Universe would stop paperwork. He doubted it; bureaucrats were worse then cockroaches. They always survive. His door opened and his aide, a short blond woman of about thirty, walked in and handed him a PADD and began to speak. "Admiral Herris, I have the results from the council vote." "Very good, now what are they?" "I'm sorry, sir. Here they are. The council has approved nine months of emergency production and the recall of all necessary reservists." "Get the information out, ensign, then contact Vice Admiral Caffrey and order him to set up a preliminary briefing on any information we've gathered on the enemy." With that, Admiral Herris, just recently appointed Commander-in-Chief-Starfleet, concludes his conversation with his aide. The ensign hurried to carry out her task, not yet realizing what this meant. The Federation was at war, only two years after the successful conclusion of the Dominion War. Admiral Herris had commanded a fleet during the Dominion War; he knew how close it had been. He knew they were engaged against an enemy with technology that they didn't even understand and with an unknown amount of resources. Vice Admiral Caffrey should have been able to help, though; he was an extremely gifted engineer. Not much of a starship engineer, but an unbelievable technical analyst and ship designer. Later in the day, Admiral Herris assembled the most important officers available to listen to Vice Admiral Caffrey’s discourse on what his team of experts had learned so far. These officers would then present this information to there top subordinates. This pattern would continue till all officers were fully aware, or at least as well informed as headquarters, on this new threat. "To start my briefing, I believe it would be best if I started out by explaining the principles of the enemy weapon systems. I will then proceed to discuss shields power levels. Next on my list will be a discussion of theoretical power generation systems based on observed power readings. I will then conclude with a discussion of the enemy drive systems, both sublight and what we know of the hyper light drive system used. Does anyone see any problem see a problem with the proposed presentation?" Looking at the group of senior officers arrayed around the conference table and seeing no problems, Caffrey then proceed by nodding once and then activating the holo- projector in the center of the room. A large arrow-headed ship appeared, and when a galaxy class ship was shown next to it to provide a sense of scale, a single low whistle was let out as everyone present realized that this ship is over a kilometer and a half long. "This was the largest warship observed in the attack upon our fleet on the other side of the Gateway." A small section of the hull expanded and multiple small emplacements were highlighted. "These weapons appear to be point defense weapons designed to destroy a fighter type vehicle, but, unfortunately, based on our admittedly sketchy tactical data it appears that they have a fire power level about a quarter of that of a photon torpedo effective power. Going by the scan data we have detected this ship mounts around one hundred of them and we also see these weapons located here around this command tower." He paused to allow the display to zoom in on the section of ship being discussed. "There are also eight of these weapons arrayed around the super structure." Taking a breath and then turning to speak directly at the gathered officers, Caffrey continued. "They seem to have a very slow rate of fire but are extremely deadly, in all my experience as an engineer, no weapon, not even the Romulan plasma mortar compares with the destruction this weapon can cause." Noticing the skeptical looks around him, Caffrey simply hit a button on his PADD and the holo display showed the logs from the starship Truman, a Galaxy class ship. They watched in horror as this ship sweeped by the ISD, loosing a salvo of torpedoes at the bridge, and then flashing by a single heavy turret and with a single blast the ship was incinerated in an explosion more violent then a warp core breach. Staring at the officer’s shocked faces, Caffrey just nodded, and then continued. "As you can see, these ships could have cut a swath through the Federation that we could not have stopped as they destroyed our fleet. We have been granted a reprieve, though. We have several months to assemble a fleet to stop this enemy. Hopefully we can contain them at the wormhole. I do not want to imagine the devastation this enemy would cause us if he was set upon us." "I said I would discuss the principle of the enemy weapon systems, and now I will. Each blast from their weapons appear to be a contained plasma burst, like a Romulan Plasma Mortar but with a much higher degree of refinement and power." The assembled officers could only watch and listen as this litany of possible disaster continued as he informed them of the admittedly sketchy data they have on their new foe. Once the briefing concluded, the officers left and with a quick 'Thank you' to Caffrey, hurrying to brief their subordinates on the latest intell. *** The planet of Kronos, capital of the Klingon Empire, and currently home to Worf, son of Mogh. Worf had received word of the battle with in the Federation and he was now on his way to speak to the High Chancellor of the Klingon Empire and do something that didn't come easily to him. He must ask for help. In the name of the Federation, true, but still, it did not sit well on his warrior’s heart. Fortunately, Martok was not Gowron; he understood honor and duty. The Klingons would agree. A booming gruff voice thundered, "Worf, what brings you so urgently? Could not it have waited for the Tarq hunt?" Martok was sitting on a simple chair at a small table with General Jyktow, the new commander of the Klingon Fleet. "General Jyktow and I were discussing the latest fleet organizations when you sent word, so I told him to stay." Worf glowered for a second and with a forceful nod said, "Perhaps it is just as well. He would need to know eventually." Turning to Jyktow he gave the old warrior a respectful half-bow of his head and then pulled out a chair to sit on. "I bring a request from the Federation government. A new enemy has been encountered. This enemy is totally without honor; they attacked and destroyed over twenty of our ships while under a flag of truce. Only two of our ships escaped and the enemy lost only a single ship that was trapped on our side of this wormhole when the Enterprise was able to close it temporarily. Thanks to the cunning of the Enterprise we have a chance to stop this foe. Now in the name of the United Federation of Planets I hereby request the aid of the Klingon Empire in the defeat of the organization known as the Galactic Empire." With that Worf ended his short speech. "Do not worry, Worf, we will send a fleet. I am not Gowron; I understand duty and obligations. But this enemy seems arrogant. 'Galactic Empire'; they seem to think big. Well, we will teach them." Staring at his old friend, Martok asked Worf, "Continue, I know you too well. I can see you have more to say." Worf nodded and stood, heading for the single computer terminal in the room and slid a disk in it. "This is all of the intelligence we have, but it seems that there Empire may well be Galactic, just not our Galaxy." With that, Worf continued on, explaining all that is known. When he was done, Martok decided he would command the fleet himself. And what a fleet it will be; freed of having to defend his borders from raids like was necessary during the Dominion war, a massive fleet will sent, over a quarter of the Klingon Fleet. Martok was not a man who liked defense. Once the invasion fleet is stopped, he fully intended to go on the offensive. On the planet of Romulus, similar discussions were being held. When they were done, it was decided that they would send ships as well. Since the end of the Dominion war, relations between the Federation, the Romulans and the Klingons had been steadily improving. Just two years ago, a permanent treaty of Alliance and friendship had been signed by the three great powers. They were all determined that no disaster like the Dominion war would ever fall on the Alpha Quadrant again. Little did they know that soon they would face the greatest danger they would ever know; the most powerful military ever built, the Navy of the Galactic Empire, led by a man that could make the worst of history’s tyrants look like sideshows. Truly the Time of Fire would soon be upon them. Chapter Three ------------------------------------------------ **************************** Notice to all Starfleet Captains and Flag Officers From: Starfleet Command Subject: War Preparation The recently discovered wormhole now known as the "GateWay" has been temporarily closed due to the quick reactions of the crew of the starship Enterprise (NCC-1701-E). The Joint Treaty of Alliance between the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Star Empire and the United Federation of Planets has been enacted to deal with this new threat. The Klingon Empire is sending a fleet consisting of the following ships to assist in the defense of the GateWay. 1st Battle Wing 4 Battle Squadrons (36 Negh'Var Battle-Cruisers) 234th Battle Wing 4 Battle Squadrons (40 Vor'Cha Heavy Cruisers) 19th Battle Wing 4 Battle Squadrons (40 Vor'Cha Heavy Cruisers) 345th Battle Wing 4 Battle Squadrons (40 Vor'Cha Heavy Cruisers) 9th Battle Wing 4 Battle Squadrons (40 Vor'Cha Heavy Cruisers) 76th Attack Wing 4 Attack Squadrons (48 B'Rel Corvettes) 45th Attack Wing 4 Attack Squadrons (48 B'Rel Corvettes) 102nd Attack Wing 4 Attack Squadrons (48 B'Rel Corvettes) The Klingon High Chancellor Martok will personally lead this force. We have not yet been informed of the planned command structure of this fleet. The Romulan Empire has also volunteered to send ships and will be sending a potent force consisting of the following. 16th Flotilla 9 Wings (27 D'Deridex Battleships) 6th Flotilla 9 Wings (27 D'Deridex Battleships) 43rd Flotilla 9 Wings (27 D'Deridex Battleships) 74th Flotilla 9 Wings (27 D'Deridex Battleships) 12th Flotilla 9 Wings (27 D'Deridex Battleships) This is a powerful force and will be commanded by Admiral V'La. A Full dossier on the Admiral has been includes as an attachment. Of course, as this GateWay is on Federation territory, we will be ending a fleet under the overall command of Admiral Ulai. 12 Sovereign BattleCruisers 6 Galaxy Armed Carriers 16 Nebula Armed Carriers 90 Akira Heavy Cruisers 60 Halberd Light Cruisers 160 Steamrunner Destroyers 340 Saber Frigates 40 Defiant Gunships Attached to this communiqué is a listing of ships to be sent to the GateWay. The GateWay sector is being placed under the command of Starfleet Naval Division. All Exploration Division assets are to evacuate the area. By the Order of Admiral Herris CinC Starfleet Admiral Fleming Commander Naval Division Admiral Starlee Commander Exploration Division. ***************************************************** The blue screen stared out at Scotty. It was an amazing list of firepower. He had worked on the design of the Halberd light cruisers and knew them to be powerful combatants with no less then two class eight phaser arrays, and thirty-five rapid-fire torpedo tubes. Larger fleets had been assembled for the Dominion war but none as powerful. Since the war the Quadrant's dominant powers had embarked on a massive modernization plan of their respective fleets. The Romulans especially were emerging as the quadrants strongest military power. Luckily relations with Romulus were improving rapidly and had been for some time. Anyway the Klingons and the Federation together were still to much for the Romulans. The Nebula and Galaxy class ships after proving themselves unfit for front-line combat in the Dominion war had had the primary shuttle bay enlarged and reconfigured by Starfleet shipyards and had a fourth shuttle bay installed in the forward ventral section of the saucer section. The main shuttle bay was then set up to launch and recover the new Goshawk fighter. The new back bone of Starfleet was the Akira Heavy Cruisers and the Saber Frigates. The Akira was a powerful warship able to take most frontline warships. The Saber on the other hand was a small ship slightly larger then a Defiant but with much less fire power and shielding, but vastly increased range and loiter time. The Saber's main advantage was the speed and ease of production. Anyway, they could still fight a Dominion attack ship or a Klingon Bird of Prey on equal footing. As he finished going over the message, Scotty noticed the three names at the bottom of the list. After the war, Starfleet was fully reorganized, setting up several Divisions. Administartion, in charge of Starbases and other outposts; Engineering, in charge of the shipyards; Research, in command of all R and D efforts; Naval, charged with the defense of the Federation. Naval got all the frontline ships and most of the new build. They also refitted all ships assigned to them with the latest weaponry and shielding. Last was Exploration, in charge of all exploratory missions and assigned all the science ships and exploratory vessels like the Oberths, Novas, Intrepids and the like. Many older ships were also assigned to Exploration to finish out their careers before being replaced. The wormhole was originally under Explorations command with minor assistance from Naval, but with the discovery of the new threat it was now Admiral Fleming's problem. Scotty had been hearing rumors lately that Starfleet was considering a new division that would replace Starfleet Security. Usually, he ignored such scuttlebutt, but Scotty had been in charge of a small design team creating a new line of hand weapons designed for high power and extreme durability, so who knew. Shaking his head to stop the reverie, Commodore Scott straightened his uniform and went off to check on the progress of his two babies. Walking through the various corridors on his way to internal dock two, he looked at the blank walls. Many people considered it odd that a station the size of outpost Omega had no windows anywhere. Only Scotty and a few others actually knew the secret that Omega operated under a constant cloak to keep the outpost hidden. As he neared the entrance to the ship bay he greeted several officer getting off duty and on the way to the outpost's only bar, stocked with real alcohol, not synthahol. There was no way in the five circles of hell that Scotty would let that crap on board his outpost. No, it was scotch, real scotch, not that replicated shit. Though when McCoy had visited he'd permitted the bartender to stock mint juleps for the occasion. When he reached the observatory he noticed that Commander Keon was waiting for him. The tall brown haired man walked up to him with an understated grin on his face and immediately said to Scotty, "Commodore, I've just reviewed the latest test data. It looks like we've beat the heat build-up problem and should be able to maintain full firing rate continuously." Keon was the chief project engineer on the construction of the USS Mathew Decker, the second of four Champions being built at the station. Unfortunately he had encountered some sort of defect in the cooling chambers of the phaser banks mounted on his ship. Until a ship is commissioned, she belonged to the builders. This had been holding up several key tests. "But you're probably not here to listen to me talk about my problems. So what are you here for, sir?" Michael finished curiously. "Ach. Din ya hear? We're almos done wit her, time for her preliminary op test." As he spoke the commodore had pointed out through the observation window towards the ship he was speaking of. At first it appeared to be a Sovereign class ship, until one looked closer. Then, several differences were visible. The hull appeared to be smoother and more regular with almost no windows, most of the ship being covered with heavy armor. It still mounted the central turret, but it also mounted four Quantum tubes pointing forward mounted on the engineering section around the deflector and two additional launchers mounted on the saucer near where the two hulls joined. Not visible from their view, but present, were two aft-facing launchers mounted at the joining of the pylons and engineering hull and a single launcher over the primary shuttle bay. But what most observers found odd was the complete lack of the standard phaser arrays. Instead, on both the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the ship's saucer section were seven dual phaser banks arrayed around the central turret and bridge. Two more banks were also mounted on each side of the engineering hull. An additional bank was also mounted on the underside of the engineering hull facing towards the aft. The final two banks were mounted down the neck and on top of the engineering hull. These phasers were pure combat weapons designed to blast a ship's shields down and then pound the hull in to dust. Each bank's two emitters are both capable of firing five shots a second, each shot having equal power to the class XII of a Sovereign. Unlike the standard phaser arrays, these weapons did not have adjustable settings; you couldn't burn through a specific area to disable an enemy, but you could destroy the ship quickly. This was the greatest warship class the Federation had ever built. They would be named after the greatest warriors of the Federation. Scotty exited the observation bay and the small shuttle pod carried them across to the vessel. The name of the ship could just be made out on the hull, no registration number, just the name, USS James T. Kirk. Looking at it, Scotty didn't know whether to shed a tear or laugh out loud. Realizing that he'd been wrapped up in his memories of earlier times Scotty turned and looked at the young officer standing respectfully next to him and said, "Ach Wha did ya say. I guess me mind was wandering." Taking a second to figure out what the Commodore had said - Keon could never understand why his universal trnaslator wouldn't kick in when Scotty spoke - He then said, "Sir, I asked what kind of tests we were planning on running? What sytems are operational?" "Ah, Weal see but I only plan on having a simple test of low level impulse and thrusters, plus a test of weapon targeting, perhaps a test firing of the torpedos as well. Shields are only working at navigational levels though. But we should have the entire ship up and running and ready to be commissioned by the end of the month; most of what's left is jus simple calibration work and minor tunin." Keon gulped, wondering how any man could consider such delicate work to be simple. What scared him the most is when he realized is that Scotty meant it. "Aye, sir, we should have 'Decker' ready to fly." Thinking of the four warships being built, Keon remembered the most amazing fact about this incredible engineer. To Keon and everyone else on this station the ships were named after Starfleet's greatest legends; to Scotty they were named after old friends and comrades. [Three weeks later, in an unassuming spot of space that would decide the fate of two galaxies.] This was the GateWay, the wormhole that traveled through space and time to reach what many considered to be hell. Captain Jean-Luc Picard sat in his ready room, staring out the window like he had ever since the return to his own Galaxy. He had left this room for only special occasions like the funeral for Beverly and for other more mundane organic reasons. But while he stared out into Infinity, a meeting was being held very quietly in the quarters of William Riker, First Officer. Deanna Troi was the first to speak. "Will, I know you don't like this, but we have to do it. I've tried to talk to him about it, but it's like he's not there. I know you've seen it; he's not the man he once was. Will, you've seen it. The thing with Beverly was too much." "No, Deanna, we just need to give him some more time. He'll snap out of it with a little more time." Deanna just shook her head mutely and whispered, "Not here. Even if he can recover, he needs time to relax. He can't do that in a warzone." Data then spoke up for the first time. "Commander, I am afraid that I must agree with the counselor. We can no longer cover for the Captain; we must inform Admiral Ulai of what has been transpiring." Geordi followed that up with, "Damn it. I hate to say it but they're right, Commander. The Captain needs help and he can't get it here. Anyway I think Ulai is suspicious; he's been doing his best to give us time, but he has to wonder why the captain hasn't visited him on his flagship, the 'Alexandria'." Looking with his cybernetic eyes from one person to the other he ended by staring at Commander Riker. Will stood up and looked at his friends. "God damn it. I hate having to do this. Come on, we have to create a full document of evidence to send to Ulai and then sign it ourselves." The four senior officers sat down at the comm center and got to work drafting the hardest letter of their collective careers. Several days later the Romulan fleet arrived, but no one knew it yet. "Admiral, we have an incoming signal addressed to you. It's from the Romulans." "Thank you, Commander. Do they say when they will arrive?" "Admiral, I think they already have. The signal is a short range real time data transmission requesting a visual comm link up." "The Romulans do love their little games, don't they. Very well, open a channel. But first signal Captain Martin on the Halberd to move into position grid 5-7-94-32." Admiral Ulai then stood, and when the signal officer gave him the proper sign he looked towards the screen and began to speak. "Admiral V'Lar, I am Admiral Ulai. Would you and you ships mind to decloak, so we could discuss fleet positioning?" The image of a rather petit looking female Romulan officer appeared, smirking at the Federation officer. "Of course, Admiral. It's standard procedure for Romulan warships to remain cloaked at all possible times." After finishing that sentence V'Lar said something in Romulan and one-hundred and thirty- fivewarbirds appeared surrounding, Ulai's ship and it's escorts. Ulai began to laugh at the small Romulan display of power. "Very good, Admiral. Yes, very good indeed," he choked out between fits of laughter. "But I'm not an idiot." Then, in a loud voice, he said, "Martin, Decloak." On this command one hundred federation warships decloaked around the Romulan vessels. "As you can see I also understand the importance of surprise, and so do the Klingons." On these words an entire Klingon fleet that few had known had even arrived yet decloaked in a circular formation around them. "I think we have all proven that none of us are idiots. Shall we all meet at 1900 hours on board my flagship, the Alexandria, for a conference?" Her smirk now changed to a grin of mutual respect and understanding. V'Lar gave her consent, and Martok, from his flagship "Warrior's Heart," also agreed and asked if he may bring a comrade who will serve as the Federation-Klingon Liason and the general in charge of his second task force. When all the details were worked out, the three exchanged respectful comments and agreed to be on the 'Alexandria' at the proper time. After this conversation, the Romulan Admiral V'Lar sat on her command chair and looked at her flagship. "Bleeding Talon" was one of a hundred and thirty-five similar ships under her command. The Warbird was one of the most powerful warships known to exist. Each one mounted multiple disruptors more powerful then the Starfleet class XIIIs, plus a plasma mortar capable of destroying almost any stationary target with a single hit. That was hardly all, though; each warbird also had fifteen heavy launchers aimed forward and firing the new quantum missiles. Similar to the Starfleet and Klingon quantum torpedo, the quantum missile was twice the size with similar performance and a warhead three times more powerful. She had no doubt that one on one, no ship in the Federation or Klingon fleets could defeat her warbirds. Of course, she was not here to fight them but to work with them, but habits change slowly. High Chancellor Martok sat on his personal shuttle with his two closest advisors, General Jyktow and Ambassador Worf. Worf sat at the controls of the shuttle and piloted it towards the hangar deck of the Galaxy class ship "Alexandria." He looked at the Galaxy class ship, so like the ship he had once served on, but not. This ship was a warship. It did not glow with the light of thousands of windows. What few windows that were visible on the hull all had heavy blast doors ready to close over them. As the shuttle swung between the nacelles of the ship, more changes were seen. Two phaser strips were mounted on the top of the warp engines, another strip going down the neck between the shuttle bays two and three. Yet all this, even with the new quantum torpedo launchers, was not enough to make the ship a warship. With all her size, the Galaxy class design was just to slow and underpowered. So Starfleet Command made a decision. As he lined up for the final approach to the hangar deck Worf saw the result of this decision; the old main shuttle bay on the Galaxy class ships was converted to a hangar deck and the ships became carriers. They were able to hold a wing of fighters before the conversion; now they held four wings for a total of almost three hundred fighters once spares were calculated in. With that final thought, he passed through the forcefield covering the hangar and a tractor beam gently guided the shuttle in and placed it next to the Romulan craft that had landed only a few second before him. Gruyij Ulai stood with his senior officers as three Klingons exited their shuttle. From the Romulan shuttle to his right only a single Romulan exited, though a pilot and two guards could be seen inside. It was an amazing show of trust for the Romulan to board the Alexandria with no guards present. "Admiral, Chancellor. Welcome aboard the Alexandria, I hope we can make this meeting a success. Ambassador Worf I recognize, but I'm sorry General, you I do not know." Martok answered the question himself. "This is General Jyktow, one of my most important advisors and commander of the light forces in my fleet." The group of officers headed off to discuss what would be done with their combined force and to study the enemy. They decided that the primary strike force will be under Martok with V'Lar as his deputy. Ulai would command the fighter force and Jyktow would be in charge of the reserve, with Captain Martin as his deputy. They only had a few months to prepare, so they had to train at an unbelievable pace. Ulai concluded the hours long conference with, "I have also received word from Starfleet command that they are diverting several freighter to carry mines to help interdict the wormhole. I understand several Romulan weapon platforms will also be arriving soon. I think it would be best if V'Lar described how these systems operate. V'Lar?" With that he motioned for the Romulan to stand and then seated himself. "The type one Weapon Platform is based on the unsuccessful Cardassian Orbital Weapon Platform. As you are all aware, the Cardassian weapon platform nearly destroyed our fleet in the Chintoka system. If not for a faulty targeting system that allowed the platform to target their own power generator and the quick thinking of the crew of the Defiant, we would have been defeated." With that comment, she nodded her head courteously towards Worf. "Our new weapon platform is slightly more powerful and much more expensive then the Cardassian system, but is fully self contained. The system mounts one class fifteen disruptor, six class eight disruptors and four missile launchers with magazines of 200 missiles each. As you can see by looking at this diagram here," she tapped a button on the console beside her and a schematic appeared in front of the table. "It is also very well shielded with a strong armor layer. It was designed to protect our home systems and to destroy any known warship quickly and cheaply. We believe it should be quite effective against this enemy invasion force we are expecting. The Romulan Star Empire will be providing one hundred of these to protect this wormhole. Now, Admiralm I believe we have covered all necessary topics. I would like to adjourn this meeting so we can put into effect the agreed upon plans. Is this agreeable to the rest of you?" The others present gave their assent, and the meeting broke up. As he prepared to leave, Worf was stopped by Admiral Ulai. "Ambassador, I have some bad news that I think you should hear, I think it would be best if we spoke privately. Can you tell the Chancellor that you will meet up with him in the hangar deck?" Somewhat surprised, Worf agreed and walked over to Martok. "It seems the Admiral has something he wishes to discuss with me. I will meet up with you on the hangar deck. This should not take long." Seeing Martok's nod of assent, Worf walked back over to the tall Admiral. "Yes. What do you want?" Worf asked somewhat abruptly. "I understand you served on the Enterprise, so I thought it would be best if you heard the news now and not later. During the original Imperial attack, the Enterprise was severely damaged. Several crewmembers were killed, including Dr. Crusher. This death has caused Captain Picard to have some kind of mental break down; he has closed out the outside world and Commander Riker has been promoted to Captain and given command of the Enterprise." Worf was amazed to hear this news. He never would have expected to hear something like this. He wouldn't have been surprised to hear Picard had died gloriously in combat, but this, never. "Thank you, Admiral. I believe I will travel to the Enterprise later to visit my comrades and learn of the encounter first hand if you do not mind." Worf stood and turned to leave, walking out the door as the Admiral apologized for the bad news and wished him well. Captain Martin sat on the bridge of his command, the USS Halberd. Name ship for the Federation's newest warship class, there was a small resemblance to the Defiant class gunship. She had four small, heavily armored warp nacelles that blended in to the hull and each other, moving towards the front where they would have formed a tip if not for the presence of a deflector array in the center section. Two phaser arrays went around the top and bottom, with thirty-five rapid-fire quantum torpedo launchers facing forward in various places around the hull and with six more launchers covering the aft section. She was a mid-sized ship, with a length of 320 meters and very solidly built with a slight swelling in the central area to allow for the heavy armor and torpedo storage. He thought the fleet was shaping up very well. They'd been running war games starting when the Romulans had arrived and everyone was at their top performance level. All wargames had been suspended two weeks ago when the time limit set by Commander Data, the Enterprise's first officer, had passed. Now they watched and waited. They were ready too; the wormhole was covered with thousands of anti-matter mines each with a warhead rated at 500 megatons, the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of any of the navies present. It was hoped that this would be enough to stop any invasion. But if it didn't, then they still had the fleet. It was organized in to four task groups; Task Group one was the largest and was made up of most of the heavy warships. Task Group two was the reserve consisting of the Klingon B'Rels and the Federation Defiants and Halberds under the command of the Klingon General Jyktow. Task Group three was the smallest and consisted of the twenty- two carrier-class Nebulas and Galaxies escorted by eighteen Akiras and thirty Sabers. A signal is sent to the fleet from the scanners monitoring the wormhole. An energy surge had been detected; the wormhole was stable and open. Now they would wait at red alert. If no ships were detected in four days, they would send the fleet through to learn of the other side. Suddenly alarms blared to life. One of the weapon officers started screaming, "We've got incoming, multiple energy patterns. The wormhole's opening. Four ships, about eight hundred meters long each." The screen activated, showing the entire bridge crew the four Imperial Strike Cruisers. As they watched the Romulan weapon platforms opened up, blasting the ships with heavy fire. The heavy mines placed around the wormhole activate their thrusters and moved in. Then a single word is spoken by Martok. "FIRE!" And they do. Federation, Romulan and Klingon warships fired, sending huge amounts of energy at the waiting ships. It was too much; as they watched, the four ships begin to crumple as they were covered with the energy of several gigatons worth of firepower. They exploded in eye-tearing fury that blinded several sensors for a few seconds. Just enough time for a single message pod to pass through the wormhole and be received by a waiting fleet. "Damn it. What are they waiting for?" The bridge of the Enterprise was a tense and silent place. For several hours, the fleet had waited at red alert. Tempers were flaring. Some hoped they had scared the enemy off, convinced them it would be a waste of resources to attack through the GateWay. Riker did not believe it, not after what he saw on the other side. No, they were just waiting, trying to get them to relax. There was no doubt in his mind that the attack would commence in a only a few minutes. "Sir, the wormhole's cycling. Something's coming through and it's big." As they watched, the wormhole opened and a massive black tip was seen coming through. Several mines rushed towards it, but were destroyed before entering attack range. Several weapon platforms fired and did nothing; the energy just refracted harmlessly in to space. The tip fired next at the platforms, immolating several of them. As they watch in horror, the tip got bigger, even then bigger. They launched several attacks, but the mines and platforms were almost gone. Martok waited to order the ships in, wanting to see what is coming through. The wormhole finally closed, and a single massive black monster sat there and ignored the ineffectual attacks on it. The last mine and platform were blown to dust and the ship sat calmly, and then a signal was sent out on broadband to all ships in the area. "I am Darth Vader. I claim this galaxy for the Empire. You will surrender now or face the consequences. I give you five minutes to decide, do not fail to make the right decision." With that gut- wrenching warning, the black-garbed demon disappeared from the screen, and a collective sigh of relief was heard on every Alliance ship present. Almost instantly a response was sent. "I am High Chancellor Martok, ruler of the Klingon Empire. We will not surrender. YOU have five minutes to leave our space, or your ship will be destroyed." The image of Vader reappeared on the screens of the fleet. "Then you have made your decision." With those words Vader raised his hand and clenched his fist. To the amazement of all watching, Martok was raised into the air, choking till a pop was heard, his neck snapping and his lifeless body thrown across the bridge. "Now you see the power of the Force. You will pay for your lack of foresight." The bridge screen cleared and the massive black ship surged forwards, all batteries firing. Onboard the frigate Trollbait, Captain Jacques sat and stared at the monstrous ship, laughing. "My calcs show we can vaporize them with one torpedo. Lock on and fire." The crew does so, and Paul watches the torpedo hit harmlessly and do nothing. He screamed in rage. "A dud it has to be, no other option is possible! We will close and destroy with phasers." The small ship raced ahead and was vaporized with a single hit.