"Commander, have we caught you at a bad time?" asked Jodi to Valdez.
"Not at all, just spending time with my children" answered Valdez.
"This concerns your daughter" said Admiral Dawson.
"I have four girls, which one?" asked Valdez.
"Red" answered Jodi.
"I see" replied Valdez.
"As you are aware, her father was was the last Emperor of the red Terran Empire. Your daughter is his legitimate heir" answered Jodi.
"Then I'm not the person to speak to, you'll have to take it up with Red. She might not be responsive to taking over her father's empire" replied Valdez.
"Any way to contact her so we can talk?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"I have a secure channel home" answered Valdez.
"This cannot be discussed over subspace, it has to be face to face" replied Jodi.
"That will be difficult, I'll need permission from my government just for you to visit" answered Valdez.
"What about bringing her here to Deep Space Nine?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"With everything she's been through recently, she's in no fit state to travel. The doctors insist that she rests" answered Valdez.
"The people of the Empire need stability" replied Jodi.
"I do watch INN, I'm aware of what happened. There's even a chance she won't be named Empress" replied Valdez.
"There is that chance" answered Jodi.
"What if she's named Empress?" asked Valdez.
"Then she'll get good advisers, we won't let her go the way of her late sister who went insane with power" answered Jodi.
"And what if she's not?" asked Valdez.
"She'll be offered her own command in the Yellow Starfleet but there are conditions" answered Admiral Dawson.
"Like what?" asked Valdez.
"She will have to do a tour with the Imperial civilian police and once the officer in charge is satisfied with her, she'll be assigned to her aunt's ship for her command training" answered Admiral Dawson.
"How's things been between you and Red?" asked Jodi.
"Have been better, what my counterpart did to her and Ms Lot crossed that line. Things have not been the same since" answered Valdez, "I'll ask my government if you both can visit, but there are rules you have to stick to" he said afterwards.
"Thank you" answered Jodi.
"No guarantee my government will let you visit but I'll try" replied Valdez.
"So how's Joanna?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"She's well, she's not lost a step even after the birth of our daughter" answered Valdez.
"Congratulations" replied Admiral Dawson.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Having asked Dexter Smith to pick up Trianna (red), Valdez was there to greet his daughter along with Rick who had volunteered to keep an eye on his sister.
"What's this about?" asked Trianna (red), "you know this could have been done over subspace" she remarked afterwards.
"For you to stake your claim for the Imperial throne" answered Jodi.
"I saw what power did to my family, it destroyed them" replied Trianna (red)
"You are a legitimate heir to the throne in the Red Empire, we need that heir to prevent a civil war" answered Admiral Dawson.
"I do watch INN, while I may not like what's gone down, I know I am not even ready for being a ruler" replied Trianna (red), "besides, I might not be named as empress" she said afterwards.
"What about a new start in the Yellow Empire?" asked Jodi.
"I've been through hell and back in the Red universe, I see the face of the man who really badly hurt me even though he's dead. Being at home is too difficult with what happened, no offence Dad" said Trianna (red)
"None taken" replied Valdez, "end of the day, it's up to you to decide" he said afterwards.
"What's on offer in the Yellow Empire?" asked Trianna (red)
"A command of your own, there are conditions though" answered Admiral Dawson.
"Elaborate?" requested Trianna (red).
"You do a tour with the Imperial Police on Betazed Yellow first and once the officer in charge is satisfied, you will be transferred to your Aunt's ship for your training as a future captain. There's a ship lined up for you if you pass" answered Jodi.
Trianna (red) gave some thought to the offer and accepted the fresh start on the condition that her family were protected, those were her conditions.
Once Jodi and Admiral Dawson had their answer, they left for their ships and their ships went back to the Red Empire. Three days later on Brea III, Trianna (red) signed over her share of the bar to Joanna (prime) and went to pack her family's things before signing over her house to Isabella (prime) and her cousins. The family then had a going away dinner before seeing her, Isoisa and Ablim Jnr (red) off. Ambassador Smith gave her a lift to the Yellow Empire since he had to report in with Heath face to face. When she arrived, Trianna (red) was greeted by her aunt, uncle and cousins. Trianna (red) then took ownership of the former Yellow Valdez family home and made sure everything was beamed down and unpacked with the help of her cousins and uncle. She then checked in with Valdez to confirm that she had made it to Betazed Yellow safely.
She then personally swore an oath to Heath to protect and serve the citizens of the Yellow Empire after writing all her past troubles on a renewal scroll and burning it to ashes, her oath was
"I, Trianna Marie Valdez swear to serve the citizens of the Empire as a protector and guardian for those who cannot defend themselves to my upmost ability. I swear to serve Empress Heath Layress I to the best of my ability" before sealing the oath by cutting her hand with a dagger and passing it to Heath as a blood oath.
"Your oath is accepted" said Heath, "Constable, honor that oath" she said afterwards
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"SC Valdez, this is an unprecedented opportunity: the ability to place someone of trust on one of the Imperial thrones would secure a potential threat." Soreth said upon her arrival. "That being said such things would involve risk- at least traditionally have if my history is correct... Consider what ever you need in this manner granted- use your discretion."
"I agree high protector but its not my choice nor is it yours."
"I'm well aware of that, ma'am."
"Furthermore that would defiantly make the civilians - former imperial and Union living on the Fortress Eternity would likely be comforted." Soreth laughed for a moment before giving Valdez a PADD. "A Terran diplomat was ordered to provide Chevailer T'Nae with the captains complaints at the apparent insult believe it or not."
Valdez looked down from his commander in chief and read the report before he looked up giving a look of confusion. "... What?"
""My guess is those captains are crazy or just far to arrogant for their own good... Who complains that their lives were saved?"
One week Earlier, Synthis Nebula- (Terran- RSU DMZ) (Mirror universe)
Three Imperial battleships were drifting through the red dust clouds and had unknowingly crossed the Romulan Union border, an area roughly one lightyear around Star-Fortress Eternity until they finally managed to move it to the Prime Universe... The current theory on the Molindrans part was that the gravity of the blackholes and potential effect on subspace was throwing off the attempts that had been made.
The three imperial Captains were arguing over which ship they could save- having had most of their crews seemingly kidnapped after their ships had been ambushed by unknown hostiles. Their engines were useless, life support was barely functioning, and to top it all off they were only going to be able to save one of the ships- and this was a point of the extreme argument between the three... None of them wanted to explain to command why they lost their ship.
This is how a small of flight Kronous warbirds found them- drifting without power on route to a black hole.
"Imperial vessels, sensors show you're unable to alter your flight path enough to avoid the singularity. We are willing to assist you with repairs-"
"Smeg off alien!"
The warbirds grab the ships in their tractor beams and took them out of the nebula setting them to drift toward the nearest imperial star base, after placing a long range distress call on their behalf..
Why do I still play and put money into STO?
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Red, it's going to take some getting used to having to talk via a screen" said Valdez over subspace.
"It's for the best" replied Trianna (red).
"How are things?" asked Valdez.
"Work is tough but I'm kept busy. I've had Regent Iodakar and Admiral Dawson trying to convince me to put my name forward for the Red Imperial throne" answered Trianna (red).
"Are you? It could be a good opportunity" asked Valdez.
"I've sworn an oath to be a protector and guardian for the citizens of the Empire, I've decided after much thought and deliberation to put my name forward for the Red Imperial throne, I could do the most amount of good that way" answered Trianna (red).
"A ruler must first learn to obey before they can command" replied Valdez.
"That's why I'm working in civilian law enforcement, I have to listen and learn" answered Trianna (red).
"Don't get ahead of yourself, that's always been your Achilles's Heel" advised Valdez.
"I've identified that and am trying to stop myself from leaping without looking" answered Trianna (red).
"Excellent, that first step in identifying where you go wrong is a big one and you're trying to solve it. Keep that up" advised Valdez.
"I will" replied Trianna (red).
"How's everyone over there?" asked Valdez.
"We're all good over here, Isabella has been helping out here, my cousins did not take too kindly to having the remote taken off them. Obin visits and keeps an eye on me to make sure I'm doing well and Uncle Antos has been advising me on keeping work separate from home life" answered Trianna (red).
"Good advice" replied Valdez.
"Aye, it is" answered Trianna (red) as Ablim Junior (red) heard Valdez and yelled "Granddad!!"
"I think someone wishes to speak with you" said Trianna (red) as she picked Ablim Jnr (red) up and put him on her lap.
"Ablim, you behaving yourself?" asked Valdez.
"Yeah" answered Ablim Jnr (red).
"Apart from this morning, he was being uncooperative" said Trianna (red).
"The usual morning struggle?" asked Valdez.
"Exactly, you and Mom will go through it with Zoe Maria" answered Trianna (red).
"I'm still twitching from the first time" joked Valdez.
Trianna (red) just smiled and laughed before saying, "I've got work in an hour, I better let you go."
"Red, take care" replied Valdez.
"I will Betazed out" answered Trianna (red) before they cut the channel.
Later that day, Trianna (red) put her name forward for the Red Imperial throne in writing.
"You sure about this?" asked Heath.
"I am ma'am" answered Trianna (red).
"Do your tour first" replied Heath.
"Yes Ma'am" answered Trianna (red)
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The Imperial police were out on a raid, intelligence had reached them of narcotics manufacturing and distribution. In charge of the raid was Petrofski's organised crime unit who surrounded a warehouse unit in Medara. In his briefing, Petrofski was on point issuing out arrest lists of suspects for questioning.
"These are Rhuludian crystals, a highly addictive substance from the Delta Quadrant. These narcotics have a street value of 1.5 billion credits, we cannot allow these to hit the streets. Everyone understood?" asked Petrofski.
"Sir" answered the officer going on the raid.
"These are the teams, Constable Valdez will be our technical specialist for dealing with any security obstacles and gathering evidence from their computers. Brookes, Reynolds and Andred will be her cover. Gates, you lead the team covering the back to cut off any escaping perps. Perimeter team will be led by Constable Thorbes and I will lead the break in team, everyone has to be clear on this, we have to catch them in the act" said Petrofski.
"Crystal" answered his officers.
"We roll out in 20 minutes so suit up and be ready to move" ordered Petrofski, "good luck everyone" he said afterwards.
20 minutes later, the teams were moved out and headed to their objectives. At 1440 hours Medara time, the raid went in with teams assaulting the warehouse from all sides at once.
"This is the Imperial police, stand down and surrender to Imperial authority or face the consequences. This is your first and last warning" said Petrofski via loudspeakers.
"We not going to surrender" said the gang leader before firing a phaser bolt at Petrofski which narrowly missed him.
"All units, go, go, go!!" ordered Petrofski.
Imperial police then stormed the building stunning any perps who resisted as INN covered the drugs bust.
"This is INN, less than five minutes ago, Imperial police stormed a gangland stronghold in what can be described as shock and awe. To those citizens who profit from crime, the police will track you down and catch you. Crime cannot be tolerated" said the reporter as gang members were led out of the building in cuffs flanked by armed police officers.
At the station, Trianna got to work on the seized computers as suspects were questioned by Petrofski, one gang member had caught his eye.
"Mr Duella El Nar, your name keeps coming up. Manufacturing and distribution of narcotics carries a long sentence, 25 years on the manufacturing, 15 for distribution. That's how the courts will see it but if you cooperate, I may ask the courts to show some clemency and give you a 20 year sentence" said Petrofski.
"No comment" answered El Nar.
"You are looking at 40 years behind bars, cooperate and tell us who you work for since it's clear that you are a middle man" asked Petrofski.
"No comment" answered El Nar.
"These were recovered from the premises, enough Rhuludian crystals to flood the streets all manufactured by your gang. You may seem smug and refuse to cooperate but once your computers have been decrypted, you may change your tone" replied Petrofski.
"I'm not saying a god damn thing, you'll have to break me" answered El Nar.
"Don't use the lord's name in that tone, Mr El Nar" replied Petrofski as the computer evidence was sent to him.
"Interesting, indeed you are a middle man who is paid to manufacture and distribute narcotics. You seem to be in quite the wrong crowd" he said afterwards.
"If I talk, I'm a dead man" answered El Nar.
"That has changed your tone, who's your boss?" asked Petrofski.
"They do not give a name, they only sends me orders" answered El Nar.
"What kind of orders?" asked Petrofski.
"Flood the streets with narcotics and pay off law enforcement to look the other way" answered El Nar.
"So you do business on behalf of others with dirty cops, I want names" asked Petrofski.
"If you were to look the other way and let's say, let me go, I could make you wealthy" answered El Nar.
"Attempting to bribe a police officer, add another 10 years onto the sentence" replied Petrofski, "that's 50 years behind bars" he said afterwards.
"Just remember you have to sleep at night" answered El Nar.
"Threatening an officer, add another 15 years" replied Petrofski before he signalled for El Nar to be put back in his cell.
In a report to Heath, Petrofski highlighted that there were police officers taking bribes from criminals as the evidence taken from the raid and information gathered from questioning were put into the report.
"Make sure Captain Petrofski gets the resources he needs, I do not like dirty cops" ordered Heath to Jasmine Smith-Petrofski.
"As you wish, ma'am" answered Smith-Petrofski.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Bajor Red
The area around the wormhole was packed with ships. The near constant flow of ships transporting those who wished to emigrate to the other universe had made Bajor the busiest transportation hub in the Empire for the past few weeks.
However the outward flow was temporarily halted as several ships came out.
Those gathered there were in shock as they recognized the marking of the Imperial flagship and its escorts.
The reporters there to cover the migration were surprised to be summoned aboard by the Empress herself.
The were escorted to the throne room and found her sitting there smiling.
“Forgive the sudden intrusion to your routine,” she apologized. “But I have announcement to make. And since it concerns the future of the universe here, I thought it would be best to do it here.”
Transmissions were made and resources were scrambled to set up the live broadcast. The field reporters were both nervous yet surprised that the Empress kept apologizing for interrupting their routine.
“Perhaps this will help boost your careers,” she suggested. “I will answer questions later.”
As news of the impending announcement spread the flow of ships through the wormhole slowed as those gathered wanted to hear.
At last they received word that things were ready.
“This is INN. We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special message from the Empress. We take you now to the Imperial flagship near Bajor.”
Across both Empires, her face appeared on almost all screens.
“Citizens of the Red Empire. I address you for the final time as your Empress.”
The shocked gasps from the reporters there was audible, she smiled and continued.
“I was going to wait until after the migration had finished to make this announcement, but why wait and drag things out. I have done my best for you, but I have reached the limit of what I can do for you. You need a leader that can take you to the next phase of growth and prosperity, and that is not me.”
She rose from her chair and stepped forward. She removed the intertwined red and yellow circlet the composed her crown and separated them into their separate parts. She placed the yellow one back on her head while holding up the red in her hand up to the camera.
“I have worn both of these with honor. But this belongs to your new ruler. And it is my honor to bestow this upon them.”
To the left of them a door opened.
There were even more gasps as the person walked in. The statuesque brunette walked up to her smiling.
Layress return the smile and reached up to placed the red crown upon her head.
“I give you the Red Empress. All hail Empress Idokar.”
“ALL HAIL EMPRESS IDOKAR!”
“This is INN. Empress Layress has just named Regent Jodi Idokar of Betazed to succeed her as Empress of the Red Empire. The new Empress is about to speak.”
“My fellow citizens. I look forward to leading you in to a glorious new future. My predecessor had many good ideas, and it would be foolish to undo what works. However, Empress Sunshine and Rainbows here was unwilling at times to deal decisively and permanently with our enemies. I am not. If you obstruct my will for your own selfish reasons, I will kill you. If you injure or threaten the lives of our citizens, I will kill you.
Stand in our way, and I will kill you.”
She smiled.
“Long live the Empire.”
Gamma Quadrant red
“What do you think?”
“I’ll be damned if I stay here under the command of that lunatic.”
“They say she’s gotten better.”
“This will just embolden her sister to act up even more.”
“So what do we do?”
Captain Heath looked at her first officer.
“How do you feel about relocating?”
Bajor Red
The area around the wormhole was packed with ships. The near constant flow of ships transporting those who wished to emigrate to the other universe had made Bajor the busiest transportation hub in the Empire for the past few weeks.
However the outward flow was temporarily halted as several ships came out.
Those gathered there were in shock as they recognized the marking of the Imperial flagship and its escorts.
The reporters there to cover the migration were surprised to be summoned aboard by the Empress herself.
The were escorted to the throne room and found her sitting there smiling.
“Forgive the sudden intrusion to your routine,” she apologized. “But I have announcement to make. And since it concerns the future of the universe here, I thought it would be best to do it here.”
Transmissions were made and resources were scrambled to set up the live broadcast. The field reporters were both nervous yet surprised that the Empress kept apologizing for interrupting their routine.
“Perhaps this will help boost your careers,” she suggested. “I will answer questions later.”
As news of the impending announcement spread the flow of ships through the wormhole slowed as those gathered wanted to hear.
At last they received word that things were ready.
“This is INN. We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special message from the Empress. We take you now to the Imperial flagship near Bajor.”
Across both Empires, her face appeared on almost all screens.
“Citizens of the Red Empire. I address you for the final time as your Empress.”
The shocked gasps from the reporters there was audible, she smiled and continued.
“I was going to wait until after the migration had finished to make this announcement, but why wait and drag things out. I have done my best for you, but I have reached the limit of what I can do for you. You need a leader that can take you to the next phase of growth and prosperity, and that is not me.”
She rose from her chair and stepped forward. She removed the intertwined red and yellow circlet the composed her crown and separated them into their separate parts. She placed the yellow one back on her head while holding up the red in her hand up to the camera.
“I have worn both of these with honor. But this belongs to your new ruler. And it is my honor to bestow this upon them.”
To the left of them a door opened.
There were even more gasps as the person walked in. The statuesque brunette walked up to her smiling.
Layress return the smile and reached up to placed the red crown upon her head.
“I give you the Red Empress. All hail Empress Idokar.”
“ALL HAIL EMPRESS IDOKAR!”
“This is INN. Empress Layress has just named Regent Jodi Idokar of Betazed to succeed her as Empress of the Red Empire. The new Empress is about to speak.”
“My fellow citizens. I look forward to leading you in to a glorious new future. My predecessor had many good ideas, and it would be foolish to undo what works. However, Empress Sunshine and Rainbows here was unwilling at times to deal decisively and permanently with our enemies. I am not. If you obstruct my will for your own selfish reasons, I will kill you. If you injure or threaten the lives of our citizens, I will kill you.
Stand in our way, and I will kill you.”
She smiled.
“Long live the Empire.”
Gamma Quadrant red
“What do you think?”
“I’ll be damned if I stay here under the command of that lunatic.”
“They say she’s gotten better.”
“This will just embolden her sister to act up even more.”
“So what do we do?”
Captain Heath looked at her first officer.
“How do you feel about relocating?”
"Good job today" said Petrofski to Trianna (red).
"Sir" answered Trianna (red).
"Relax, this is not the military" replied Petrofski smiling, "Not being named empress has not really bothered you" he said afterwards.
"End of the day, the better candidate got it" replied Trianna (red)
"You've made some progress, takes a strong person to admit that. What I need to see from you is toughness and empathy with clear and level headed thinking. Not all criminals are in it for the career, some have been forced into that life so you need to know the difference between career perps and victims of circumstance. Trust me, you will be dealing with some really nasty people and you will see things that would normally mentally scar a desensitised person. These people will use violence and other means so we must deal with them in a language they understand to protect the public, but we never kill. Our job is to catch the perps, process them and hand them over to the courts for judgement" said Petrofski.
"I was raised by my father to be nothing but a soldier, I resented it and I hated it. I saw what my father was capable of and I was misguided. I'm not proud of what I've done and became, I used violence to lash out and I hurt a lot of people. I've been desensitised to violence since the age of 13, I don't want to be that person anymore" replied Trianna (red).
"One must admit guilt before they can atone, making that first step is the biggest one. We've both done things we are not proud of out of anger, here's the deal. No violence unless it's in self defence and done with reasonable force, torture is forbidden since it's counterproductive and we don't get the information we need" answered Petrofski.
"Because they'll tell you anything just to end it" replied Trianna (red).
"Correct answer, we will use psychology instead. The threat of a long prison sentence in solitary will make them sweat" answered Petrofski.
"Boss" replied Trianna (red) smiling.
"I'll accept boss at a pinch, remember that you are with my unit for the first part of your training. Keep your head down and get your job done and you and I will have no problems. You remind me of some of the lads I gave a second chance to, they were down and out, some on the verge of a life of crime and a lot from broken homes. Those lads proved that given a chance, they could be someone and they are some of the best people I have ever had the honour of commanding. I expect the same from you" said Petrofski.
"I won't let you down" answered Trianna (red).
"I'll hold you to that" replied Petrofski.
Imperial outer colonies (MU red)
What began as a normal day for the colonists on the frontier soon turned to terror as the skies darkened over their worlds. Soon, the suns were blotted out by vast swarms of unidentified ships as they discharged their cargoes of troops down to the surfaces of the Imperial colonies. Any distress calls were jammed by disobedient Imperial Admirals and Sector governors who ordered their ground forces to leave the the colonies to their fates. The outer colonies were the first to be consumed and when Imperial forces got to those worlds, all life and natural resources were gone. At first, it was thought that the colonists had been abducted but records gathered showed that everything had been eaten by a swarm of insectoids.
When news of the colonies going dark reached Jodi, she was not happy to find out that Imperial forces had just abandoned those colonies to their fates. When summoned to face her, the Admirals and governors who had abandoned the colonists just refused to accept Jodi's authority with a "We don't serve a half bred mongrel." Soon devices on other Imperial worlds activated and drew in much larger swarms, Valdez's (Red) supporters had just opened the Empire to death by insectoid consumption as revenge for their leader's martyrdom and the swarms were on their way to the Empire. The Empire was also deliberately weakened by sabotage of the Imperial sensor and defence grids as fleets were drawn away from vital strategic points to give the invaders the roads through to the heart of the Empire.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Majesty, I would say it is agreeable to see you but by the look on your face, you are emotionally volatile" said Solat before bowing to Jodi.
"Can I count on your support?" asked Jodi.
"You can, the most recent intelligence reports have not been reliable" answered Solat.
"We've been betrayed and we're being invaded by an unknown species" replied Jodi as she brought up the map of the Empire on display, "Our outer colonies went dark 72 hours ago, every living thing and natural resource eaten by the invaders" she said afterwards.
"Where was the fleet to protect those colonies?" asked Solat.
"They just pulled their forces back and let the colonies fall, our sensor and defence grids have also been sabotaged with fleets leaving these strategic areas" answered Jodi pointing out the locations.
"That would give the invaders a clear road to the heart of the Empire, what is the logic in helping the invaders?" asked Solat.
"To kill this Empire" answered Jodi.
"Logic dictates that who ever has done this has been planning this for years, how many fleets have gone over to the enemy?" asked Solat.
"Admiral Reynolds and Admiral Constantine have taken their fleets and refused to accept any of my orders, the Sector governors are still refusing to answer my calls" answered Jodi.
"Then we cannot count on their support, logic suggests that we take a different approach" advised Solat.
"My advisers have said the same, any ship that refuses to answer me and actively sabotages our defences are being hunted by the Hirogen. We need to to focus on dealing with the invasion, we need to know what this species is and how they operate" replied Jodi before she nearly punched the desk.
"Majesty, may I suggest you take up meditation as a way of restoring emotional balance?" asked Solat.
"Vulcans" sighed Jodi before she passed Solat a PADD of the colony attacks.
"Insects, fascinating" commented Solat, "Terran locusts" she remarked afterwards after reading the report.
"Locusts can clear an entire region of all vegetation when their swarms come through" said Jodi.
"This species looks to behave in the same manner but they consume everything, judging from their behaviour, they also operate as a hive. I'll explain with a smaller scale model" replied Solat as she called for her ward to come in with food for his ant colony in the room, "Pytor, show the empress how ants get their food" she said afterwards.
Pytor put some grubs into the tank and soon the ants went for the grubs,
"Remarkable" commented Jodi, "they swarm their food then rip it to pieces before transferring it to the colony."
"Pytor, thank you for the demonstration, go back to your studies" said Solat.
"Mother" answered Pytor before he bowed to Jodi in respect and left the room.
"The Empire will not go the same way as those grubs, how many ships and troops can you muster?" asked Jodi.
"Vulcan, Andoria and Romulus are with you, we may need the Klingons as well" answered Solat.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Ma'am" said Petrofski to Heath after he bowed.
"I've read your report, how is your newest recruit doing?" asked Heath.
"Constable Valdez has been making progress, clever girl but she needs to deal with her demons" answered Petrofski, "she's spoken about her upbringing and being exposed to violence from an early age as well as having her childhood stolen because her father wanted her to be a soldier and nothing else. She's been totally desensitised to violence which may explain why she is the way she is" he said afterwards.
"Recent events have also not helped, this is what her father did to her and my sister-in law" replied Heath passing Petrofski the PADD.
"I thought my father was bad but this is far beyond that, where is the scumbag?" asked Petrofski.
"Dead, his counterpart assisted us in bringing him to swift justice" answered Heath.
"She's spoken highly of her father's counterpart, she speaks to him via subspace and that is helping heal some wounds but I recommend that she talks a counsellor because emotional baggage could get in the way" replied Petrofski.
"Voluntary or mandatory?" asked Heath.
"Mandatory" answered Petrofski, "I've also explained that out of hand violence is unacceptable, violence should only be in self defence and done with reasonable force. She's taken the no killing rule to heart thankfully" he said afterwards.
"Make sure she gets these orders from me, as per your recommendation, she is to see a counsellor twice a week. If she tries to avoid it, take her off duty until she does" replied Heath.
"Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind. She'll get that order" answered Petrofski.
"Thank you, bad news from the Red Empire I'm afraid. You better sit down and read this" said Heath passing Petrofski a PADD.
After reading the report, Petrofski was very quiet before saying "I suggest your two girls spend some time with their grandmother, what I'm about to say is something they do not need to hear."
Papela was called in and the twins went into the garden, once they were out of the room, Petrofski did not hold back.
"I cleaned that government up, how did this happen?" he asked barely controlling his temper.
"It seems that that traitor Valdez Red had sleeper agents everywhere, they've now sabotaged the defences of the Red Empire and invited an invasion in, they're attempting to kill the Red Empire" answered Heath.
"Let me go over there and hunt those b******s down" requested Petrofski.
"You're sitting this out, it's no longer your problem" answered Heath, "you are angry, your work destroyed. You are emotionally compromised" she said afterwards.
"They murdered entire families and destroyed an entire culture. Bajor Red has lost all their cultural records, all their priests murdered along with their entire families and all their temples and shrines destroyed. Those monsters even forced them to take Terran names and used them as slave labour to strip mine their own world. Where are they?" asked Petrofski as his temper began to get the better of him.
"You're p***ed, I accept that but if you go over there on some quest of personal vengeance, you may end up doing something you'll regret later" answered Heath, "what will your daughters think? Ask yourself that" she advised.
"I'll take that under advisement" replied Petrofski.
"I don't want to see a good officer who has a family who rely on him to end up in prison because he let his anger get the better of him, I'm telling you this for your own good" advised Heath.
"I guess that Bajorans are experts in holding a grudge after what the Cardassians did to them" replied Petrofski.
"Letting vengeance get in the way is not healthy, my people learnt that and are now slowly healing those wounds. Every time the Bajorans mounted an attack on the Cardassians, the Cardassians would execute Bajorans in reprisal in a ever more violent circle of bloodshed. For years after the Cardassian withdrawal, the call for revenge was always there until we had to work with them to liberate them from the Dominion. Never let things go personal because it never ends that way" answered Heath.
"Thank you ma'am for your advice, I'll heed it" replied Petrofski.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Constable Valdez, take a seat" ordered Heath.
"Ma'am, what's this about?" asked Trianna (red)
"I'm going to be blunt with you, you need to face your past" answered Heath, "your commanding officer has raised some concerns that your childhood may be affecting you, I asked him to put everything in his report. You're a clever girl but to quote your commanding officer, you need to face your demons" she said afterwards.
"Please don't bring that up, It was stolen from me at age 10, by time I was 13, I was that used to seeing my father inflicting violence on anyone who got in his way. Mom and my father fighting did not help matters, their idea of a argument was to point charged phaser pistols at each other" replied Trianna (red).
"You bury yourself in work because you want to avoid confronting your upbringing, violence has consequences and often innocent people get caught in the middle of it" said Heath as the twins were playing, "what do you notice about them?" asked Heath to Trianna (red) afterwards.
"They're playing without a care in the world" answered Trianna (red).
"Pren, Osha, can you both come here?" asked Heath to the twins, both twins came over.
"What's your name?" asked Pren to Trianna (red).
"Trianna" answered Trianna (red).
"I'm Pren" said Pren.
"I'm Osha" added Osha.
"Do you have children?" asked Pren.
"I do, a little boy around your age" answered Trianna (red).
"Where is he?" asked Pren.
"At home being spoilt by his great Aunt" answered Trianna (red).
"Constable, look at this" said Heath passing Trianna (red) a PADD, "that injury you see was Osha's arm after she was hurt by an explosion. An explosion that claimed her grandmother who used her body as a shield to protect those two treasures."
Trianna (red) took it in and was speechless, "Anyone who harms an innocent will not get away from me, I must use this lesson to protect and serve" she said afterwards as the shock wore in.
"Now you see why violence often leads to innocent people being caught in the middle" said Heath.
"Dad's lessons and being a mother has been a start, being one of my father's last victims has broken the bond me and Dad had. I know he came to get me home but even then it's too difficult with what happened, other parts of my past are just too painful" replied Trianna (red).
"Hiding that pain only makes it worse, you tried to erase it but you can't hide from it. It will always catch up with you, here's the deal. You go and talk to a counsellor twice a week, that's mandatory as per your commanding officer's recommendation" answered Heath.
"Some things I cannot reveal" replied Trianna (red).
"I know, too dangerous for them, you and your family" answered Heath.
"That's one secret I will take with me to the grave" replied Trianna (red).
"Look to the future, you are a course to your own command. The I.S.S. Teanna is in dry dock for retrofit, once she's ready, she'll need a captain. Pass your training and you'll get her" advised Heath.
"If only my mother was around to see it" sighed Trianna (red).
"Pass your training and make your mother proud, her pah is watching over you" replied Heath.
"At least she's at peace" answered Trianna (red).
Meanwhile, Petrofski was talking with Naynta (red) via subspace, "Unlucky you, being grounded" said Naynta.
"It's to stop me from doing something I'll regret later, that favour I owe you, I might need you to hunt those traitors down for me" replied Petrofski.
"Sounds like you're asking me for a favour" answered Naynta.
"There's something in it for you, any you catch, you can have as playthings" replied Petrofski, "it would also help your war effort."
"You have my attention" answered Naynta, "consider it done."
"Have fun" replied Petrofski.
"I will" answered Naynta.
"I've got to get back to work" replied Petrofski.
"How is that?" asked Naynta.
"Got a big case which I cannot go into details on" answered Petrofski.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
In a War Council, Jodi briefed her commanders, "Three days ago, our outer colonies went dark, the fleets protecting having deserted their posts and let the colonies fall. When help eventually got to the outer colonies, everything had been eaten."
"Eaten?" asked Naynta.
"You heard right, we don't know who or what this species is but they are on their way to the Empire. To compound matters, 80% of the fleet have mutinied and have been actively sabotaging our defences in a bid to kill this Empire" answered Jodi.
"What are the current state of defences?" asked Admiral Barclay.
"Compromised from within" answered Jodi.
"That makes our jobs a lot harder, with 80% of the fleet deserting us, that will leave us overstretched" replied Admiral Barclay.
"The enemy operates as a swarm of locusts, they consume everything in their path. This is a war for the survival of every living thing in the Empire, we lose, we die" answered Jodi as PADDs were passed around with the latest intel.
"My people know who this species is" said General Kurn.
"General, what are we dealing with?" asked Jodi.
"They're called the Hur'q, 1,000 years ago, they came to Qon'oS and ravaged the world before retreating. Once the swarm is filled up, they go into hibernation" answered Kurn, "the Hur'q are a threat Never to be underestimated."
"They're just bugs" said Naynta.
"Bugs that swarm their prey and devour it" replied Kurn.
"What is the present state of loyal forces?" asked Jodi
"Loyal defensive fleets have been stationed around key worlds but if they come under attack, they're going to be overrun. Our communications net has also been sabotaged with sensor grids down across the whole Empire, we are blind effectively" answered Admiral Barclay.
"Vulcan, Andoria and Romulus can provide ships to aid in our defence, Tellar Prime has also pledged their ships to our forces" added Solat.
"Qon'oS can provide a fleet to already existing forces" added Kurn.
"Regent Solat will be overall military commander of all loyal forces, all orders go through me and her. Admiral Barclay will command the inner systems defences, Kurn will command Klingon forces and Admiral Lot will be in charge of internal security and the reserves" said Jodi as the assignments were handed out, "Solat, please brief us on what strategy can be applied to deal with this invasion."
"The Hur'q will hit us with sheer mass of numbers, we will employ a mobile defence in depth but give our ground slowly to bleed the attackers, we use the size of the Empire to our advantage. To ensure the loyalty of our forces, political officers will be assigned to each ship. They will have the authority to execute any captain or admiral who refuses to obey orders on the spot, deserters will be shot on sight. Furthermore, blocking detachments will be placed in the rear to prevent desertion and any unauthorised retreat" explained Solat.
"I know a way we can get more ships" suggested Naynta.
"Elaborate" requested Jodi.
"I can ask the Ask'kaar, they'll provide ships and troops but they'll need to see the intel first" answered Naynta.
"We can also ask the Alliance for ships and troops as well, we fall, they fall" added Solat.
"We need as many ships as possible we can get our hands on" said Admiral Barclay.
"This is a desperate situation, we will not become food for these invaders, go get as many allied ships as possible. We have a week before the swarms get here" said Jodi driving the point home.
"Ma'am" answered her commanders.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Admiral Solat's fleets poured through the wormhole, Solat having read the Federation records of the Hur'q had decided on keeping the fighting in the Gamma Quadrant to protect the wormhole. In the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Barclay was scouring all worlds of Germanium deposits by precision orbital bombardment as areas around them were evacuated, Admiral Lot was working with the Hirogen in their hunt for traitors, Solat's orders were that only the Sector governors, captains and admirals who had not accepted the authority of Empress Iodokar be executed and the ships taken intact for the war effort.
In the Gamma Quadrant, Solat looked over her fleets deployment, Imperial loyalists held the centre right with 50 battleships, carriers and dreadnoughts, 80 escorts and destroyers with over 500 fighters acting as a screen to support the escorts and destroyers. They were covered by the Ask'kaar fleet of 110 cruisers and battleships on the centre left with the Romulans covering the right flank and Klingons and Andorians on the left flank. In all Solat had 400 ships and 1200 fighters, that soon changed when the Dominion had linked up with their fleet of 200 ships.
In the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Barclay's forces were reinforced by an Ask'kaar fleet with the Voth deploying Citadels, Bastions and Bulwarks. They were soon joined by the Tzenkethi who agreed to stop their campaign of cleansing worlds when showed what precision orbital bombardment could do. Barclays forces were 500 ships and they were soon reinforced by Tellarite and Gorn ships bringing the total up to 550 ships. Admiral Lot's forces were smaller consisting of 100 ships, it was being clear to her that she was on a very tight leash.
In her briefing Solat explained the strategy, commanders were given just enough flexibility to make their own decisions though they had to report it to Solat first. Commissars were briefed on their tasks, they could only act if disloyalty was proven. To facilitate that, all commissars were Betazoid disguised to look Terran. The fleet moved to the first system in the Hur'Q's path at Idralis IV. Idralis was the site of an Imperial military outpost over 200 light years from the wormhole and as such it had been heavily fortified with bunkers, anti-air positions and artillery positions, it's garrison consisted of 3,000 Imperial soldiers who had been put on alert. Idralis would be the first battle as both sides raced to the system, the Hur'q got there first as they began to overrun the defences in orbit. The base was now under siege, Solat not far behind jumped into the system and put the first part of her plan into action as the swarmers launched from their motherships towards the fleet.
"Fighters, Escorts and Destroyers are to screen our larger ships from the swarmers, don't let any through. All capital ships, engage the enemy capital ships, reserve forces, be ready to evacuate the garrison" ordered Solat to the fleet from her command ship, the I.S.S. Surak.
"Fleet has acknowledged the order" reported Cmdr T'Pamne.
Soon the Idralis system was a battleground as fighters engaged their opposite numbers in a series of dogfights supported by the fire power of the destroyers and escorts. Meanwhile both sides' capital ships exchanged fire with each other as the swarm tried to break the outer screens, the fighting lasted for over 23 hours as both sides matched each other move for move before Solat called for the garrison to be evacuated and the fleet withdrew to their next defensive line 10 light years to their rear, losses to both sides were suffered with over 200 swarm ships destroyed and 15 enemy capital ships destroyed and another 10 disabled. Allied losses were 100 fighters, eight ships destroyed and ten damaged but they had slowed the enemy advance, the Imperial garrison lost 700 soldiers killed or wounded in the defence of the outpost. Though the battle was inconclusive, it was a tactical Hur'q victory but a strategic Allied victory. The longer the enemy could be kept away from the wormhole, the more time reinforcements could arrive and the Empire would live to see another day.
INN called the battle a victory, though the swarm had not been destroyed, it had been delayed and that raised morale in the Empire. Jodi called the battle the start of the fightback and that the Empire would not fall, the Battle of Idralis was a call to arms as volunteers and retired veterans volunteered for the war effort.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Petrofski had called a meeting, "Ladies and Gentlemen, take a seat" he ordered to his officers.
All officers took their seats.
"Constable Valdez, how are we on the computer records?" asked Petrofski.
"With the amount of data we've had, we've got enough to get convictions" answered Trianna (red).
"Interrogations of suspects?" asked Petrofski.
"Intelligence gathered from interrogations have matched what's been recovered from the their computer records" answered Brookes.
"Brookes, Valdez, good job" replied Petrofski.
"Boss" answered both Brookes and Trianna (red).
"The Empress has been given the arrest warrants and evidence on 15 Sector Governors, 12 Admirals, 25 police officers and six senators. Starfleet will deal with the Sector Governors and Admirals, I spoke to Regent Lot this morning on the matter and we've been given official Starfleet support. The Inquisition will deal with the listed police officers and we've got the senate to deal with" said Petrofski in his briefing.
"How far does this go?" asked Gardner.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg" answered Petrofski, "this afternoon, there will be a Senate meeting. I will be presenting the investigation findings, Valdez will act as my aide and coordinate the arrest team. Brookes, Gardner, Tal, Greaves and Wrell will be the arrest team. Eriksson, you will take a team and assist the Empress's security and support the arrest team" he said handing out the assignments.
"Boss" answered the officers.
"Everyone else, you are on perimeter duty" ordered Petrofski.
"Boss" answered the officers.
With the assignments handed out, Petrofski and the teams headed to the senate meeting.
At the meeting, Petrofski had Trianna (red) pass around the investigation details as he made his report. Heath and Papela were given an extra PADD each with the latest findings. Heath read the reports and after conferring with Papela, made her statement. Heath then ordered Senators Roha, Kain, Ortemis, Artega, Rihala and O'Mara to stand.
"Publicly resign, sign away all wealth and dedicate your lives to helping the less fortunate" said Heath to the guilty senators.
"Not a chance" was the response.
"Choice 2 is permanent exile to A or B, any that helped you go with you" replied Heath.
"None" answered the Senators.
"I gave you the chance to leave with dignity. Now I'll decide your fate. Take them away." ordered Heath.
"Under Article Seven, Regulation 13 of the Imperial Justice Code, on order of the Sovereign Terran Empire, you are all placed under arrest. Officers, cuff them and process them for later judgement" said Trianna (red) before a team of uniformed officers marched in and cuffed the guilty senators.
Gamma Quadrant (MU Red)
Solat's campaign was achieving it's objectives. In a series of defensive battles, the Hur'q swarms were slowly being ground down as the Allies employed a strategy of counter-attacking the swarm as they consumed the resources of the Idralis System. Both sides took losses but Solat's forces were getting stronger every day. For four days, she had the Hur'q fully engaged against the Allied lines but she was getting stronger with a constant reinforcement supply of ships and crews recaptured by Admiral Lot.
The front was now reinforced by the Royal Fleet, Empress Jodi Iodokar had come to the front and she brought more reinforcements with her, there were also 800 hundred captured mutineers who were brought in chains.
Jodi intended to make an example of them in front of the entire Imperial Starfleet. Aboard the I.S.S. Papela, Solat and Admiral Lot suggested another solution.
"You both know that mutiny is a capital offence?" asked Jodi.
"We cannot afford to execute all mutineers, give them a choice of regaining their honor or face decimation in front of the entire fleet" advised Solat.
"Executing one in ten would cause fear in the survivors" said Naynta.
"Those survivors then go into Penal Legions where they can still be useful, give them the most dangerous missions" suggested Solat.
"Examples have to be made" answered Jodi.
"Those executed will suffice" replied Naynta.
"It is the most logical course of action" added Solat.
"Interrogate them first" ordered Jodi, "Naynta, enjoy yourself" she said afterwards.
"As you command" answered Naynta.
"Solat, I'll need an update the current state of our forces" requested Jodi.
"We have created 20 defensive lines all the way to the wormhole at ten light years apart. Each line has minefields, defensive platforms and reserve fleets, our main fleets are harassing enemy feeding swarms as well as holding our lines here" answered Solat as she gave Jodi the full strategic picture.
After interrogations, the mutineers were gathered up and given the choice, 700 took up Solat's offer and swore allegiance to Empress Iodokar. 100 did not, Naynta had ten of them put into agony booths then agonised to death in front of the entire fleet and their bodies incinerated. Every crew in the Imperial Starfleet saw the decimation, soon mutineers began to surrender and swear allegiance to Jodi.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
I’m in the Avalon’s CIC looking over reports of a possible invasion by a KDF force led by an unknown figure. So far, my spymaster has given me and my mate a few days to prepare our miniscule force of 70 elite vessels to battle a massive force of 500 vessels of Klingon design upgraded with current technology. According to this report, the unknown figure is an excellent tactician who may be able to rival my mate in tactical ability. Even more worrying is the fact that a rumored superweapon capable of destroying entire fleets was created from classified spore tech from the 23rd century. I pull up a holomap to display my fleet’s formation which is in a sphere to defend our large capital ships from J’Ula’s smaller ships while our battleships and carrier deal with her capital ships. I open a channel to the combined fleet and say, “All ships, this is your queen. We are ordered to hold the line against J’Ula and her forces at Alpha Centauri to buy time for the Lopan-Pokemon Alliance Navy to fortify Sol. We will not give them quarter nor step back.” Several howls erupt on the fleet comms as a smile forms on my face. I order the fleet to warp to Alpha Centauri to prepare for her arrival.
The combined fleet of Intel ships and flagships enters the system under cloak to give the KDF fleet a nasty surprise. Our weapons are hot for hours while my collection of viruses is ready to be transmitted from my computer terminal. Suddenly, a fleet of KDF ships led by J’Ula appears in Alpha Centauri to oppose our forces. My ship’s sensors identify it as the IKS Lukara which is a upgraded battleship from the 2250s. I quickly launch my Callisto escorts and fighters to protect my carrier while my mate launches his drones.
“Destroyers, escorts, and fighters, you will screen our capital ships from those MoKai raiders, don’t let them pass. Capital ships, engage the enemy capital ships to buy time for our allies to fortify Sol.” I order to the fleet from the Avalon.
“Fleet has acknowledged the order.” my tactical officer reports
Immediately, all hell breaks loose in Alpha Cen as our fighters engage their Klingon opponents with support from the destroyers and escorts. Meanwhile, our capital ships and J’Ula’s capital ships exchange fire with one another as the raiders attempt to break through our screens to perform their ramming attacks, the fighting lasts over 48 hours as railgun slugs, missiles, chroniton beams, disruptor bolts, and torpedoes are exchanged between our two fleets with neither side willing to surrender an inch of space. Suddenly, the Lukara charges up its main weapon. A bright light illuminates the battlefield and destroys 65 of our ships in relatively short order.
Klaxons are heard all over the ship as I attempt to regain control of the fleet. My officer yells, “Your Highness, what the hell was that?!” “Wave motion gun! What’s our status?!” I growl out while sparks begin to crackle.
“Shields are down to 10 percent and we have multiple hull breaches on nearly all decks. Your Highness, another shot like that and we’re done!”
“Noted. Launch the Iconian probes, let’s see how she likes being hit with computer viruses.”
“Yes, your majesty. Launching probes now.” my cyberwarfare officer responds.
A series of viral probes crackling with mana streak past my carrier and silently head towards the Lukara. They transmit their viruses which disable the mycelial superweapon giving our surviving vessels enough time to escape. I give the order to retreat to Ganymede Station in orbit of the eponymous Jovian moon. When we arrive, a massive Confederate/Council fleet is already stationed in orbit which means that our wolf pups haven’t died in vain. Our fleet is virtually nonexistent after the battle so this will mean we will have to somehow replace our losses with more ships in time for a possible counterattack. Although the Battle of Alpha Centauri is a defeat, the time bought was worth the sacrifice of our crews and captains.
Post edited by xungnguyen on
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
"Commanders, the people of the Empire thank you for your courage" said Empress Jodi Iodokar.
"Ma'am" chorused the officers.
"We will keep to a defensive strategy, status of raiding forces?" asked Jodi.
"We've kept up the raids, the swarmers prevent any close range attack to the enemy capital ships" reported Admiral Lot.
"They are logical, they are using the swarmers as an organic shield" replied Solat.
"Pesky little critters" answered Naynta.
"Our lines are holding, we're going to thicken the line further" said Jodi as she released an extra 600 ships and crews to Solat's command.
"I'll form them into assault raiders, make the enemy waste resources having to defend itself" replied Solat.
"We have to take the offensive" suggested Naynta.
"Would the cost be worth it?" asked Solat.
"We will not waste resources" finished Jodi.
"Our commander is unimaginative and too defensively minded, I could win this war by wiping the Hur'q out" said Naynta.
"No genocide" replied Jodi.
"They are the aggressors, we are the defenders and as the Terran saying goes, we have the moral high ground" said Solat.
"They're just bugs" replied Naynta.
"Mother would not approve" answered Jodi.
That shut Naynta up.
"Admiral Lot, while your suggestion for an offensive holds some merit, now is not the time. We need to find a way of defeating those swarmers" said Solat.
"Pull them away from the capital ships" suggested Naynta.
"Which opens firing avenues onto their capital ships, it would be a short window before the swarmers pull back to defend the capital ships" answered Jodi.
"Which means, someone will have to play as decoy" replied Naynta, "why do I get the feeling that I may have volunteered myself for something?" she asked afterwards.
"Naynta, how would you feel about commanding the decoy ships?" asked Jodi.
"That's a lot of bugs chasing me, I'll need some crazy captains and crews to do it" replied Naynta.
"Take your pick of the latest inductees, I'm increasing your fleet size from 100 to 300 ships. You have two jobs, take command of the mobile strike forces and make sure those crews are politically loyal" ordered Jodi.
"Solat, please rescind the no retreat order" ordered Jodi.
Solat rescinded the order to the entire fleet.
"Let's focus on winning this war" said Jodi.
"Ma'am" chorused Solat and Naynta.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The Imperial fleet moved towards their attack positions, ahead of the main force were Admiral Lot's mobile forces who soon took up positions. The plan was simple, a decoy forces draws away the swarmers and open the capital ships up for attack. Empress Iodokar and Solat controlled the battle from the I.S.S. Papela and the I.S.S. Surak as they looked over their tactical displays.
"I see you've deployed the Redemption units in the front rank" commented Jodi to Solat via secure subspace.
"Why waste your most loyal soldiers by putting them in the front rank?" asked Solat.
"When they will be useful later, it's a valid argument" answered Jodi, "Naynta, you ready?" she then asked Admiral Lot.
"Operation This is such a bad idea is a go" answered Naynta.
"Put me through to the troops" ordered Jodi.
"You're on" answered her communications officer.
"This is your empress, all ships into attack formation" ordered Jodi.
The Imperial Fleet formed up and cloaked ready to spring their ambush. Admiral Lot then swept in blasting a hole in the swarmers before turning away and running, behind them was a horde of swarmers. This gave Admiral Lot an idea, she activated canisters of metreon gas and vented them through the nacelles, once there was nothing but metreon gas filling her viewscreen, Naynta fired on the gas cloud igniting it, the swarmers caught in the cloud were incinerated by the blast as their ships exploding in unison.
"Damage to enemy?" asked Naynta.
"80 confirmed kills, over 100 crippled. 500 still operational" reported Naynta's tactical officer.
"Keep that swarm's attention on us, activate the point defence systems" ordered Naynta to her fleet.
Back at the main fleet, Jodi ordered "All ships attack, show the enemy no quarter."
"Fighters, cover the destroyers and escorts. Capital ships, start pressing the enemy left" ordered Solat to her captains.
The fleet now advanced on the Hur'q capital ships and opened fire at pointblank range, without the swarmers, it was a more even fight as both sides soon engaged each other in a close range melee. Solat watched the battle carefully and noted to Jodi that the Hur'q left was beginning to crumble. Jodi reinforced the Imperial right and ordered them destroy the Hur'q flank, the order was carried out. Across the entire front, the Imperials moved forwards. Admiral Lot meanwhile was having fun racking up the kills, after an hour's fighting, the remains of swarmer husks littered Admiral Lot's front.
"How many Kills?" asked Naynta.
"In total, 672" answered her tactical officer.
"We've still got a swarm to mop up" replied Naynta.
"Ma'am" answered her tactical officer.
In the main fleet engagement, fighting was fierce as neither side held back. Eventually, the engagement was decided by Admiral Lot's fleet who came from above and below at the same time. The Hur'q being unable to feed were now showing the signs of weakening, having taken losses they could not afford with nothing to show for it, the survivors retreated.
Idralis had been retaken, the losses on both sides were 672 swarmers and 30 capital ships destroyed outright in the Hur'q fleet. Imperial losses were 18 ships destroyed, the crews having been evacuated, 12 ships damaged with 400 fighters lost with the pilots evacuated.
The Hur'q ground troops were now bypassed and a cordon put up around the planet.
"I think we've found someone to cover our flank" said Solat to Jodi aboard the I.S.S. Papela.
"Admiral Lot covering our flank" replied Jodi.
"A promising officer, someone I'll keep my eye on" answered Solat.
INN called the battle a victory and then announced the executions of 10 of the mutineers and their names.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Trianna (red) had been passed by Petrofski for the next phase of her training, now she was aboard a shuttle heading to Battle Fleet Omega's anchorage in Betazed orbit.
"I wonder which ship we're being assigned to" asked Officer Cadet Sumner.
"No clue, I'm hoping it's one of those Eclipse class ships" replied Trianna.
"I would not mind a New Orleans" answered Sumner.
"I.S.S. Tikal operations, your shuttle is cleared to dock in bay two" said the Tikal's Ops officer.
"Tikal Operations, guide us in" answered the pilot.
"That is one beautiful looking ship" commented Sumner when he saw the Tikal at dock.
"You have a name?" asked Trianna to Sumner.
"John Sumner" answered Sumner.
"Trianna Valdez, pleased to meet you" replied Trianna shaking Sumner's hand.
"I'm going to find this hard, I only volunteered to protect my wife and kids" answered Sumner.
"Wife and one year old son, being away from family is always the toughest part" replied Trianna.
"Know anything about the captain?" asked Sumner.
"This is going to be awkward" answered Trianna.
"How so?" asked Sumner.
"The captain is my aunt" answered Trianna.
"That is awkward" replied Sumner as the shuttle touched down in shuttlebay two of the Tikal.
The officer cadets were met by by Captain Isabella Valdez, her first officer Cmdr Larenis and Sgt. Major Edward Dawson (red).
"First things first, I would like to welcome you all to the Tikal. There are 10 captain's seats up for grabs, two thirds of you will fail this course. Those who pass will receive a commission and rank of captain, Cmdr Larenis will oversee your academic and tactical training. Sgt. Major Dawson here will oversee your physical training. It is up to my training instructors if you pass or not" said Isabella to the new cadets as she inspected them before signalling Sgt. Major Dawson.
Sgt. Major Dawson was on point with the cadets straight away,
"My name is Sgt. Major Edward Dawson, all of you volunteered for the Empire's beloved Battle Fleet Omega. Over the next five weeks with me, you will be physically and mentally tested, mess up and you all get the punishment. Here there are no social barriers, you are all the same to me, worms, pukes and the grime off the bottom of my shoe. My job is to break you all down and rebuild you and we're all going to enjoy it. Good morning."
Every cadet gulped before they were handed over to Cmdr Larenis for their squads. Larenis took the names of the cadets and told them,
"No preferential treatment here, there are only two outcomes, you pass or you fail. Some of you cadets think that just because you were selected means that you think this will be easy, it won't. Battle Fleet Omega is the Empire's shield and sometimes, even her sword. Political and family connections will not help you here, you will struggle and only those deemed strong enough will pass, you all understand?"
"Yes sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Corporal Dawson, put the cadets into their squads" ordered Larenis afterwards.
"Two groups, be sharp about it" ordered Corporal Dawson.
The Cadets formed into their two squads.
"Cmdr, all cadets in squads and ready for processing" reported Corporal Dawson to Larenis.
"Thank you Corporal, march them to the sickbay for their medical examinations" ordered Larenis.
"Sir" answered Corporal Dawson.
All that could be heard on the way to sickbay was Corporal Dawson ordering "Keep up the pace, no slacking."
"Bro, process them, Cmdr's orders" reported Corporal Dawson to Medic Dawson.
"Males, to medical bay one" ordered Medic Dawson.
"Females, remain here" ordered Oreada.
The two groups followed the orders and they were processed and their medical records uploaded to the ship's computer.
Next the cadets were shown to their quarters, everyone groaned when they were put into dormitories.
"You've got to be joking, this takes the p***" complained Cadet Foster.
"Foster, you volunteered for this. Do not complain" answered Corporal Dawson.
"Yes sir" replied Foster.
"Do I look like a bloody officer?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"No corporal" answered Foster.
"Good, because the next time you call me sir, you will run two full laps of the ship" replied Corporal Dawson.
"Yes Corporal" answered Foster.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
At 0500, the lights came on in the dormitories, in the male dormitories, Corporal Dawson walked in and yelled,
"All of you, up, washed and in PT gear. You all have 15 minutes then report to cargo bay two."
In the female dorms, Corporal Amanda Reynolds gave the same order.
In the cargo bay, Sgt. Major Dawson was counting the recruits as they came in.
"All present and correct" reported his two NCOs.
"Morning cadets" said Sgt. Major Dawson.
"Morning sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Corporal, form them up into columns. We're running two laps of Decks five through eight" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
The cadets groaned, "it's 0520" complained Cadet Riggs.
"Name, cadet?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"Riggs, sir" answered Riggs.
"What does my rank say?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"Corporal" answered Riggs.
"Correct answer. Some of us actually work around here for a living" replied Corporal Dawson, the cadets just had a quiet laugh.
"Yes Corporal" answered Riggs
"Now into line, move it" ordered Corporal Dawson.
The cadets formed into column and did the full run, the Corporals ran on either side keeping pace. Foster began to fall back but Corporal Dawson was with him every step of the way.
"Keep up the pace, follow their example lad" said Corporal Dawson to Foster, "If you cannot cope, sickbay is on this deck. No more runs, no more pain. This can be all over for you."
"I won't quit" answered Foster.
"Then quicken the pace" ordered Corporal Dawson.
At the head of the column, Sgt. Major Dawson was setting the pace and improving morale.
"What is this?" asked Sgt. Major Dawson to Trianna when he saw her helping another cadet.
"Valdez, do not help him" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
"With respect, sir. I won't leave anyone behind" answered Trianna, "Deranis, get your backside moving" she told Deranis afterwards.
After an hour's hell, all cadets were back in the cargo bay. All of them had made it.
"What a disgrace, you worms are all too slow. Some of you are slowing your squads down, some of you have shown signs of leadership" said Sgt. Major Dawson.
"Yes sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Back to your barracks, washed and get changed, breakfast time" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
After breakfast, Corporal Dawson decided to have a talk with the cadets.
"Some of you do not like me, some of you think I'm too hard on you. It's to get you used to front line service. I enlisted as a Private in the Imperial Army, I've seen people killed and wounded because they did not follow instructions and thought that they knew better. My job is to make sure that you are all on point because as potential future leaders, you need to set that example to the people under you. I am not a monster, I'm just a Terran with a heart" he said as he took his cap off.
"How old are you, Corporal?" asked Foster.
"I'm 18 years old, I've lived in trenches under fire and at the mercy of the elements. I was that scared little FNG at first but fear keeps you alive, you have to control it. Some of you fear failure, don't" answered Corporal Dawson.
"So you are hard on us in order to keep us alive?" asked Trianna.
"I am, some of you may not like it but you all volunteered for this" answered Corporal Dawson.
"How many battles?" asked Deranis.
"Several savage ones, some of you have seen battle. Your eyes tell me that" answered Corporal Dawson.
"I was trained to fight from age 10, I am a veteran of the Dominion War" replied Trianna.
"I understand you were at the Battle of the Denorios and at the rescue of the survivors of Betazed" answered Corporal Dawson.
"I was" answered Trianna.
"I was too young to fight in the Dominion War, I earned my spurs in wars against rebels" replied Corporal Dawson.
"The Corporal speaks far beyond his years" commented Sumner.
"I have the utmost respect for anyone who volunteers to serve their country, so I want you all to learn what it means to be a shining example to your fellow citizens" replied Corporal Dawson as he put his cap back on.
"Corporal" chorused the cadets.
"Finish your meals because in 20 minutes, you're all starting your first leadership tests" ordered Corporal Dawson.
"Corporal" answered the cadets.
Outside the room, Admiral Dawson and Captain Isabella Valdez had been listening.
"Wolf 359, this one will cause chaos" said Admiral Dawson.
"How is our guest tutor?" asked Isabella.
"Getting ready to teach the cadets a valuable lesson" answered Admiral Dawson.
"This I've got to see" replied Isabella smiling.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Empress Iodokar got a message from Terra, it read
"We, the Senate of the Empire unanimously vote to formally dissolve all Imperial military forces and dissolve the Terran Empire. We will not serve a mongrel half breed and demand her total unconditional surrender, refusal to heed to our demands will result in the dissolution of the Terran Empire."
"There's a last part" reported Admiral Lot. It read,
"If the Dog Empress does not dissolve the Terran Empire, we hereby dissolve the Terran Empire and declare a Republic."
Jodi's mood changed very quickly, gathering her commanders, she briefed them,
"I have to return to Terra with my forces, Admiral Lot will come with me. Regent Solat, I hereby name you Grand Admiral and Commander in Chief of all Imperial military forces in the Gamma Quadrant. Keep the enemy away from the wormhole, trillions are counting on the courage of your troops. Admiral Lot, link up with Admiral Barclay and move on Terra, it's time to confront the Senate."
With that, Jodi and Admiral Lot returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Solat's forces were now re-designated Grand Fleet Gamma and reinforced by an extra 1200 ships, Solat, honouring her deal with the Romulans named Admiral Veel'Riz (red) as her XO and put him to work planning the next stage of the defensive campaign.
The cadets all took their seats for their first test, when the tutor walked in, the cadets saluted her.
"Morning all of you, what we have planned for you all today is a test of character. All of you will be put through the Battle of Wolf 359, one of the greatest tragedies in Federation history" said Heath briefing the cadets.
All the cadets were confused at first,
"Wolf 359?" asked Sumner.
"My dad's uncle was killed at Wolf 359, I don't know the full facts though" commented Trianna.
"You will take turns in command of the U.S.S. Kyushu" said Heath.
"Who are we facing?" asked Foster.
"The Borg" answered Heath.
"Cyber-zombies, this should be easy" replied Foster.
"Since you think this will be easy, you go first" ordered Heath.
Foster went first and soon walked out of the simulation after lasting less than 10 minutes,
"How are we supposed to beat that?" asked Foster, "It was like firing blanks at that Cube" he complained afterwards.
"Valdez, you're up" said Heath.
"Hopefully I don't go the same way as my Great Uncle" replied Trianna before she went in.
She emerged after 12 minutes,
"They adapted to my weapons and drained my shields despite every attempt to counter them. Battle over" said Trianna afterwards.
Over the space of the morning, the cadets were put through the test and all had the same result, they were defeated in less than 15 minutes by the Cube.
After reviewing each cadet's performance, the instructors noted while some remained level headed and calm, others had just froze and panicked. Heath then revealed the full facts about Wolf 359 and the cadets all realised that it was an impossible situation,
"Captains must face the possibility of a no-win situation, how a captain deals with it also affects their crew's morale. Cadets Valdez, Sumner, Deranis and Thorpe, you all kept calm and tried to counter the Borg. You merely just delayed the inevitable, good job on keeping your crew's morale up and not giving into fear" said Heath.
"Ma'am" answered those cadets.
"Foster, Relora, Groves and Edwards, you all froze and panicked. That gets people killed" said Heath.
"The enemy cheated, it's like they have cheat codes" replied Foster.
"The Borg adapt very quickly, the same strategy and particle weapons do not work on them once they have adapted. Learn from that" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Foster.
"I'll hand you all over to the Admiral" said Heath
"I want to see your self assessments on my desk in two hours" ordered Admiral Dawson.
"Yes Ma'am" chorused the cadets.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"That's the last ship ma'am," Vaylin said looking up from her console. "The migration from the Red Universe is complete." "Good. I never liked that place." "Be nice Thay," the Empress chided. "I don't have to be. I'm hugely pregnant and over due!" She looked down at her bulging midsection. "I love you little one, but GET OUT!" "We'll go back to practicing your being calm..." "I have a ship coming through unauthorized," Vaylin a announced. "Red alert," Thay commanded. "Prepare to lock weapons." The ship emerged from the wormhole and came to a stop. "That's one of our deep exploration ships," the Empress said surprised. "We're being hailed." "On screen." The Empress was surprised to see herself on the screen. "Empress," she bowed. "Captain Heath. To what do we owe the pleasure?" "Permission to join you over here ma'am?" "Why?" "Not to fond that the person in charge is the sister of the one who tortured me and my friends." "Understood. Permission granted welcome to the Yellow universe." "Thank you ma'am. " "You got here just in time." "I can see. Tell me why the minefield?" "To ensure that their problems stay over there," Thay answered. "We have more than just mines here captain. Anything that tries to come through without permission won't survive to be questioned. Now if you'll be so kind as to move..." "Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am." The ship moved and behind it the mines and weapon platforms activated and vanished from sight. "Follow us back to Betazed," the Empress ordered. "We can catch up on things there." "Yes ma'am." "You know," Thay purred. "That makes four of you that I have access to." "And?" "Oh the fun I'm going to have... Once this one GETS OUT OF ME!"
The Royal Fleet had left to Terra after the Senate had tried to seize power and disband the Empire, Solat was now Commander in Chief of all Imperial Forces in the Gamma Quadrant. Her XO was Admiral Veel'Riz, they had decided to use the trapped Hur'q ground forces as a beacon to draw more swarms into their killing grounds.
Terra, 24 hours later (MU red)
The Senate had declared war on the throne, Empress Iodokar decided to make an example. Since the traitors were barricaded inside the Senate building, Jodi had transport inhibitors put into positions and civilians evacuated before opening fire on the building from orbit. By wiping out the Senate, Jodi had played right into their hands and fired the first shot of the Civil War. Across the Red Empire, traitor forces came out of hiding and the fleets that had sided with them were in position to strike at their targets.
On the ground, Imperial Army troops found themselves protecting civilians in their bases and bunkers under siege from traitor forces. In space, traitor fleets now opened fire on Imperial fleets, shipyards and supply depots, the attacks crippling the Empire's logistics. In effect, the Empire was fighting a war on two fronts, it was Imperial vs Imperial, Loyalist vs Traitor and it was a total war as the first targets hit were the cities of Medara and Rixx on Betazed. In a 24 hour period, the centres of both cities had been reduced to ash by firestorms, it was the same story across different worlds of the Empire of the traitors opening fire on civilian cities.
The War for Imperial survival had started and it would be brutal.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"This is Colonel Deissler of the 33rd Imperial Army, we are under siege" said The Imperial commander via subspace radio, little did he know that all communications had been jammed. In the fortifications, the 70,000 man garrison were sheltering over 800,000 civilians and the situation was becoming dire. Every able bodied civilian who could be put to use was conscripted with the adults helping man the defences while those between the ages of 12-18 were passing ammunition, food and water to the fighting troops and assisting the non-combatants.
The fighting was intense as tanks clashed with tanks and infantry on both sides exchanged fire, once the traitors had brought their artillery up, they opened fire on the fortifications. Among the defenders, losses began to rise as the traitors threw waves of troops at the fortress. Colonel Deissler's men were holding their own but they were under severe pressure, of their 200 tanks, 100 had either been knocked out or damaged, of their 120 artillery pieces, 60 were out of action as Colonel Deissler finally managed to get a brief message out to Imperial command.
The traitor forces now occupied their siege lines, they had 170,000 infantry, 140 tanks and 100 artillery pieces. In space, 1400 traitor ships now put up a blockade of the planet.
I.S.S. Papela, Terran orbit (MU red)
Empress Iodokar read the reports, the civilian losses were not good reading. In the first 24 hours, 250,000 civilians were either killed, wounded or missing including 60,000 on Betazed. Admiral West was recalled from the Gamma Quadrant and Admiral Lot was dispatched with a fleet to link up with West's forces and bring them to Jodi. When Admiral Phillip West arrived, he was met by an angry Jodi,
"Majesty, my 500 ships are at your command" said Admiral West.
"Majesty, Ambassador Smith has also arrived" reported Admiral Lot.
"I'll speak to him in my office" answered Jodi.
When Jodi arrived, Smith bowed before taking a seat and handing Jodi the proposed peace treaty with the Federation Alliance, it read,
"A 100 year peace which can be renewed by future generations.
A Non-Aggression Pact lasting 100 years, again it can be renewed by future generations.
The wormhole is the new border with passport controls on Deep Space Nine."
"I'm sensing you have a request" said Jodi as she read the treaty draft.
"Ma'am, permission to evacuate my mother to the Prime universe? I want to get her out of harm's way" asked Smith.
"Granted" answered Jodi.
"Thank you ma'am" replied Smith.
"Let's discuss this treaty draft" answered Jodi as she got two cups of tea from the replicator and passed one to Smith.
Betazed (MU yellow)
After the Wolf 359 test, all the cadets were gathered around in the mess hall for their assessments.
"Cadets Valdez, Sumner, O'Hara and Diralla, good job on keeping your crew's morale up. Cadet Valdez, a starship is not meant to be used as a projectile" said Heath.
"Only other choice was hurling insults at the enemy, ma'am" replied Trianna which caused some laughs, "all joking aside, weapons were useless, shields drained and the enemy was boarding my ship. The only choice was to sacrifice myself, my crew and my ship to try and damage that cube" she said afterwards.
"A Borg Cube can still function even if 78% of it is destroyed" answered Heath.
"That is resilient" replied Trianna.
"The Borg are resilient, there is a chance you may meet them for real. Their regenerative abilities make stopping their ships very difficult" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Trianna.
"Cadets Foster, Derallis, Forbes and Seisa, what happened?" asked Heath.
"We got overwhelmed" answered Forbes.
"That was painful" commented Seisa.
"They have cheat codes" said Foster.
"The Borg adapt very quickly, no same particle weapon and strategy works twice on them" advised Heath.
"They're just mindless drones" replied Foster.
"The Borg hive mind is very intelligent, never assume they are mindless drones. Anyone who thinks that usually ends up dead or assimilated" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Foster.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Non-aggression pact lasting 100 years? Explain" asked Empress Iodokar
"We've held the peace process, the recent skirmish at Deep Space Nine opened a new line of talks. To ease tensions, a century long non-aggression pact would be a good bedrock to expand on. It's flexible and a good deal for both sides" answered Ambassador Smith.
"What are the terms of the peace treaty?" asked Jodi.
"The wormhole is the border with full passport controls, any ships from the opposite side caught illegally being in each others' space is to be escorted back to the border and be sent back immediately" answered Smith.
"And the crews?" asked Jodi.
"Unharmed" answered Smith, "that was at President Ford's insistence" he said afterwards.
"Given the recent events at Deep Space Nine, the Federation Alliance have proven that they can be trusted. How quickly can this be signed and ratified?" asked Jodi.
"Next Federation Council meeting, it'll have to go through a vote" answered Smith.
"Some will oppose it, how do you intend to get them onside?" asked Jodi.
"I'll be speaking as a combat veteran, it should get the point across" answered Smith.
"The last part I like, can be renewed by future generations. This is long term" replied Jodi.
"That's the flexible part" answered Smith.
"Take this to the President Ford, tell him the Terran Empire accepts the deal" replied Jodi.
"Ma'am" answered Smith.
"Where's your personal guard?" asked Jodi.
"I've got one of the canine kind, saved my life on more than one occasion and vice versa" answered Smith as he called Attila over.
"Big dog" commented Jodi.
"He's a Terran Timber Wolf" replied Smith.
"I heard he gave Naynta quite the scare" answered Jodi.
"That was meant as a lesson, there was no harm intended" replied Smith.
"I know. Fair warning, she's on this ship" answered Jodi.
"Thanks for the heads up" replied Smith, "I never got round to saying it, thank you to your family for giving me and my crew a way out of a bad path in life" he said afterwards.
"You've earned our respect, my mother had a way of turning around people's lives and making a lasting impact" replied Jodi.
"She'll be missed, it was an honour working for her" answered Smith.
"Thank you for your service to mother" replied Jodi.
"You're welcome" answered Smith.
"I've had Kestrella contact your mother, I respect duty to family" said Jodi as a call came in from Solat, "Ambassador, go and speak to your mother, she's waiting for you" said Jodi afterwards.
"Ma'am" answered Smith before he put the agreement into his case, got up and bowed to Jodi before leaving the office.
"Regent, siutation report?" asked Jodi to Solat via subspace.
"We have a weapon that will send the Hur'q a clear message" reported Solat, "permission to deploy thalaron ordinance?" asked Solat after sending Jodi the current strategic picture.
"Granted, thalaron weapons are authorised at your discretion" answered Jodi, "wrap up the war against the Hur'q as quickly as you can, I need your forces ready to move" she ordered afterwards as she sent Solat the strategic picture of the civil war.
"As you wish, culling the swarm should persuade the Hur'q to retreat back to their homeworld. The Dominion have provided ships and troops to help in the culling" replied Solat.
"Good hunting, Terra out" answered Jodi.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Admiral Phillip West had arrived at Terra with his fleet, as per his orders, he had political officers attached to his crews. At a War Council meeting, Empress Iodokar briefed her commanders,
"Five days ago, Betazed came under siege. The Imperial garrison has fallen back to the main fortress along with the entire civilian population, we have nearly 900,000 people trapped. They have enough supplies to hold out for another month at most, they need to be relieved and resupplied. Furthermore, the traitors have erased Betazed's entire cultural history, murdered 60,000 civilians and destroyed all Betazoid temples, books and holy artefacts. That's crossing the line, this cannot go unpunished."
"That is a new low, cultural genocide" said Admiral West.
"Indeed, we are going to break the siege and we are going to catch the traitors and wipe them out. No quarter will be given nor asked" replied Jodi.
"How many traitors are we facing?" asked Admiral Lot.
"We have an accurate order of battle. 170,000 infantry, 140 tanks and 100 artillery pieces" answered Inquisitor Seisa (red).
"State of garrison?" asked Admiral West.
"70,000 infantry under siege, 200 tanks and 120 artillery pieces, 600,000 civilians under arms or in support roles behind the fortifications along with 200,000 non-combatants. Colonel Diessler's casualties have started to mount, 12,000 kill or wounded, 100 of his tanks either knocked out or damaged and he's only down to 60 artillery pieces" reported Seisa.
"This is the order of battle for the Imperial 17th Army, 150,000 infantry, 700 tanks, 500 artillery pieces and 1500 fighters. Command of the 17th Army will fall to General Cadis" said Jodi.
"The army cannot do much until Starfleet achieves orbital superiority, the blockade will be a problem" replied General Cadis.
"Five fleets will take part in the relief. Admiral West, you have the Imperial 3rd and 6th fleets. General B'tar, you will command the Klingon fleet. Admiral Lot, you will take command of the Imperial 1st fleet and I will bring the Royal fleet. I want suggestions for breaking the blockade" answered Jodi.
"The Klingons deploy a fleet of Bird of Preys carrying special forces and infiltrate the traitor blockade before landing on the surface and deploying the commandos to provide recon and link up with the garrison. The heavier Vor'chas and Negh'vars transport food, ammunition and supplies down from orbit using Betazed's magnetic poles to hide the ships from enemy sensors" suggested Admiral West
"Once the main fleet arrives, the commandos begin hit and run strikes on traitor positions to tie down their forces while the main relief army of 100,000 troops and their equipment lands and opens up the main assault on traitor lines supported by armour and air power" added General Cadis.
"At the same time in orbit, our forces infiltrate the blockade via cloak and appear between the planet and the traitors then deploy the remaining 50,000 troops and equipment via landing craft while they provide covering fire" continued Admiral Lot.
"The rest of the fleet then launches the main assault on the traitor blockade sandwiching it between the loyalist fleets, with the blockade gone, the ground battle will be a lot easier" finished Admiral West.
"It will still be costly, we are looking at potential heavy losses assaulting those traitor positions" said General Cadis.
"General, the Imperial 1st fleet can cover your landings. We've got your back" replied Admiral Lot.
"Admiral, thank you" answered General Cadis.
"Those dishonourable petaQs will rue the day they started a war" said B'tar.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Smith returned to Terra with his mother and using a transdimentional transporter, beamed to Earth. At the Terran Embassy, Smith got his mother settled in and introduced her grandson to her.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Under the cover of cloaking devices, the Imperial 1st Fleet and Klingons infiltrated past the traitor blockade and took up position behind Betazed's moon, they now began landing special commando teams. In the fortress, the Imperial 33rd Army soon reestablished contact with Imperial command.
In orbit, the main fleet warped in and took up battle position, on the right was the Imperial 3rd Fleet and on the left was the Imperial 6th Fleet with the Klingons manning the centre with the Royal Fleet positioned in the rear as a reserve and protecting the Imperial 17th Army. Empress Iodokar watched the tactical display of the battle as destroyer and escort groups moved ahead and began to screen the larger ships. Aboard the I.S.S. Belisarius, Admiral West split his forces into two groups and ordered the destroyers and escorts to commence hit and run attacks on the traitor lines to pull their ships out of formation. At first, the traitors held the blockade line but after a battleship was isolated and engaged by Inquisitor Seisa's group, the traitors were forced to redeploy their forces to deal with the destroyer group attacks. In short order, the I.S.S. Artemis, I.S.S. Hannibal and I.S.S. Sulla were knocked out of the fight with hits being scored on their life support systems.
Seeing the Traitor lines redeploying, Jodi smiled as she ordered Admiral West to commence the next phase. The 3rd Fleet moved into position and crossed the traitor's T and opened up at close range with broadsides, as the traitors tried to turn away, the 6th Fleet crossed their T again and opened up with another barrage of broadsides. The traitors now tried to evacuate their forces but Admiral West and Admiral Lot now began what could be described as a three fleet dance of death as the loyalist fleets circled rounded the traitors and kept on firing, the destroyers and escorts were also in on the act as they launched hit and run torpedo strikes on the traitors. With the blockade forces now trapped in a mobile vice, the Imperial 17th Army began it's deployment. The Imperial 1st Fleet covered the landings as the traitor ships had been caught between the 3rd and 6th Fleets.
Empress Iodokar smiled as the traitor losses were coming in, everywhere the traitors tried to go, there was a battle line hitting them with broadsides and crossing their Ts. The loyalists showed no mercy as the traitors' life support systems were hit, no prisoners were taken as each traitor ship was disabled then the crew killed by hits to the life support. 1400 ships were captured by the loyalists and their crews all killed and vaporised.
On the ground, the defenders of Betazed looked up at the battle being fought in orbit and knew relief had arrived. Colonel Deissler was ordered to hold his positions as Imperial mechanised infantry and tanks raced across Betazed from their landing zones. Closer to the lines, Inquisitor Seisa had landed with a commando team and after linking up with the other commando teams scouted the traitor lines noting each location carefully. Once the mobile relief force arrived and crashed into the traitor siege lines, mighty tank on tank duels raged as infantry dismounted from their vehicles and stormed the traitors trench lines. The commandos now struck at traitor communications and supply dumps, anything that could not be taken was blown up. The intel gleamed from these raid found a weak point in the traitor lines, General Cadis now ordered a push through the weak point and punched a hole in the traitor lines, the breach was widened and eventually, the traitor lines were rolled up and wiped out. Imperial Infantry now marched into the fortress and linked up with the defenders, after 15 days of fighting, Betazed declared secure.
The troops were greeted as liberators and heroes by the people of Betazed. Empress Iodokar led the troops in as people cheered at the troops. The Imperial 33rd and 17th Armies were merged into Army Group Betazed, they would now garrison the planet. There was more good news, in the Gamma Quadrant, Solat detonated a thalaron device against a Hur'q swarm, the Hur'q seeing their whole race potentially wiped out returned to their homeworld and went back into hibernation, a cordon of tractor mines and thalaron mines were deployed to keep them in.
Solat now turned her fleets around headed back to the Alpha Quadrant, Dominion forces now took over protecting the wormhole. When Solat arrived at Vulcan, she prepared the rest of her forces and recalled her Delta Quadrant forces.
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
I'm in my ready room with Amy on my lap. Currently, my family's intel network is giving me a lot of information on Federation and Alliance movements and strategies. The rest of my fleet is cloaked and stationed in geostationary orbit above Ganymede to avoid detection by Federation forces. My mate and her family are on Ganymede Station after our defeat at Alpha Centauri which resulted in the loss of 65 vessels out of the original 70 just to buy time for the LPC to fortify the Sol system . I open a channel to the starbase commander and say, " Admiral Luperca, my spies told me that House MoKai's regrouping at QoNos to lick their wounds and plan another attack on Sol."
"Jerome, we can't allow that to happen so I'm giving you a Fenrir class battleship named the LCS Akela as a backup. Steven's currently handling the intel side of things which leaves you to carry out the next operation. I also relieved your mate of military command due to recent intel of a plot to assassinate your kids."
"Thank you Admiral. My ally will be instrumental in the next phase."
An anthropomorphic wolf (Void) wearing armor enters the room and says, "Don't worry about the KDF's 'intervention'. I told the general and one of his allies to stay out of this conflict. Just teleport me into J'Ula's flagship and I'll take care of the rest."
"Thank you Void. Make sure you bring J'Ula and all high ranking members to me alive after we work out the plans for an offensive. I want to personally question them without UFP oversight."
"Yes High Admiral."
I feed Amy some fish and berries and open a private channel to my mate. I send, "Sapph, meet me and our allies on the station when you can. We'll discuss the plans soon."
Sapph
Ignitus cuddles me into his chest with his massive paws and says, "Sweetie, I know you lost most of your pups in the battle, but you need to stay here so your mother and I can ensure you and your heirs' safety."
"Thanks Dad. I can monitor my mate's task force from here."
"You're welcome. Let's go to the meeting." He takes me to the conference room and I take a seat next to my mate. Void, Admiral Luperca, and some Federation observers from the Prime reality.
Luperca
"Alright people, we need to come up with a plan to finish off those Klingons once and for all. J'Ula is a brilliant commander as seen in the Battle of Alpha Centauri. The fact that she managed to defeat two of my best admirals says it all." I say as I play the log of the battle on the holonet. All the Prime Federation officers have telepathic guards with a TR116 aimed at their heads. One of them laughs and says, "Oh come on. Klingons aren't that tough Admiral."
"Guard, take that upstart Captain to the holodeck. I've a recreation of the battle set up for him." I order. The guard takes the captain to a holodeck with the simulation ready and without safeties. With that out of the way, I turn to the holonet.
I say, "Listen up, intel from 2 sources confirms my suspicions. J'Ula's fleet is now comprised of 50 light ships, 10 battlecruisers, 5 battleships, and 1 dreadnought (Lukara). Jerome, isolate the flagship from the rest of her fleet to disrupt command and control. Once that's done, take out the light ships to remove J'Ula's screens. After that, mop up the larger ships and take J'Ula and the rest of her high ranking officers alive for enhanced interrogation. Her grunts are worthless so space them."
"Yes ma'am.", Jerome says and prepares to beam to the Akela. J'Ula and the rest of her House will feel our wrath when they're brought to Ganymede in chains.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
I'm in my ship's CIC at the moment. The loss of 65 vessels at Alpha Centauri out of our 70 is a huge loss for us so we need to be careful right now. The rest of my family are at the briefing room with Admiral Luperca and a contingent of Prime Federation observers. A message appears on my screen and says, "Jerome, the admiral requests your presence at the station. Sapph out"
"Roger that sweetie. Void, take care of things here" I put on my enchanted armor and teleport to the station.
Luperca
"Alright people, we need to come up with a plan to finish off those Klingons once and for all. J'Ula is a brilliant commander as seen in the Battle of Alpha Centauri. The fact that she managed to defeat two of my best admirals says it all." I say as I play the log of the battle on the holonet. All the Federation officers have telepathic guards with a TR116 aimed at their heads. One of them laughs and says, "Oh come on. Klingons aren't that tough Admiral."
"Guard, take that upstart Captain to the holodeck. I've a recreation of the battle set up for him." I order.
The guard takes him to the holodeck and activates it with no safeties. With that out of the way, I turn back to the holoscreen and continue, "Recent intel from 2 sources confirms my suspicions. J'Ula's fleet is now comprised of 50 light ships, 10 battlecruisers, 5 battleships, and 1 dreadnought (Lukara) in the Ajilon system. Jerome, take your fleet to the system and capture J'Ula and the rest of her high ranking members for enhanced interrogation. Isolate the Lukara from its fleet to disrupt command and control. Once that's done, disable the rest of the fleet so Confederate and Council assault teams can beam in and capture their objectives. After J'Ula and the rest of her House are in your brig, destroy the ships. "
"Yes ma'am." He says and beams over to his new flagship (LCS Akela). I motion Sapph to stay behind so her family can ensure her and her heirs' safety.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
Empress Iodokar was inspecting the damage along with Admirals West and Lot, Kestrella and her guards.
"Same story across the entire planet, all libraries and books burned. The entire cultural database has also been wiped" reported Admiral West.
"All our people's cultural sites and relics have been destroyed and recycled, any Betazoids who tried to protect the knowledge were killed" reported Admiral Lot.
"Those were irreplaceable, what is a people without it's history?" asked Jodi as she tried to control her temper.
"Admiral, I would watch I would say if I was in your position" advised Kestrella.
"Ma'am, words cannot describe this, he who destroys a good book destroys reason itself" said Admiral West as the shock eventually wore off, "it's an old Terran saying" he said afterwards.
"Admiral, I am pairing you up with Admiral Lot. I want the people behind this found and I want them brought to me alive and unharmed, use whatever resources you two need but leave their families out of it" ordered Jodi.
"I am going to have a lot of fun, no one makes it personal with my family and people and lives to get away with it" said Naynta.
"Admiral, bit of advise here for working with my sister, she likes to play with her opponents much to her detriment. Some fair warning" advised Kestrella.
"Kestrella, not cool" remarked Naynta.
"Try not to traumatise the poor Admiral" answered Kestrella.
Jodi stepped in and restored order, "Kestrella will coordinate the hunt from my ship, search every system if you have to and show no mercy to any rebel forces that get in your way" she ordered.
"My crews are up for a spot of revenge, some of them are Betazoid and Bajoran" answered Admiral West.
"Admirals, go rest your crews and get some rest, you two start your hunt tomorrow" ordered Jodi
"Ma'am" answered Both Admirals before they beamed to their ships.
Post edited by theraven2378 on
"The meaning of victory is not to merely defeat your enemy but to destroy him, to completely eradicate him from living memory, to leave no remnant of his endeavours, to crush utterly his achievement and remove from all record his every trace of existence. From that defeat no enemy can ever recover. That is the meaning of victory."
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Comments
"Commander, have we caught you at a bad time?" asked Jodi to Valdez.
"Not at all, just spending time with my children" answered Valdez.
"This concerns your daughter" said Admiral Dawson.
"I have four girls, which one?" asked Valdez.
"Red" answered Jodi.
"I see" replied Valdez.
"As you are aware, her father was was the last Emperor of the red Terran Empire. Your daughter is his legitimate heir" answered Jodi.
"Then I'm not the person to speak to, you'll have to take it up with Red. She might not be responsive to taking over her father's empire" replied Valdez.
"Any way to contact her so we can talk?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"I have a secure channel home" answered Valdez.
"This cannot be discussed over subspace, it has to be face to face" replied Jodi.
"That will be difficult, I'll need permission from my government just for you to visit" answered Valdez.
"What about bringing her here to Deep Space Nine?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"With everything she's been through recently, she's in no fit state to travel. The doctors insist that she rests" answered Valdez.
"The people of the Empire need stability" replied Jodi.
"I do watch INN, I'm aware of what happened. There's even a chance she won't be named Empress" replied Valdez.
"There is that chance" answered Jodi.
"What if she's named Empress?" asked Valdez.
"Then she'll get good advisers, we won't let her go the way of her late sister who went insane with power" answered Jodi.
"And what if she's not?" asked Valdez.
"She'll be offered her own command in the Yellow Starfleet but there are conditions" answered Admiral Dawson.
"Like what?" asked Valdez.
"She will have to do a tour with the Imperial civilian police and once the officer in charge is satisfied with her, she'll be assigned to her aunt's ship for her command training" answered Admiral Dawson.
"How's things been between you and Red?" asked Jodi.
"Have been better, what my counterpart did to her and Ms Lot crossed that line. Things have not been the same since" answered Valdez, "I'll ask my government if you both can visit, but there are rules you have to stick to" he said afterwards.
"Thank you" answered Jodi.
"No guarantee my government will let you visit but I'll try" replied Valdez.
"So how's Joanna?" asked Admiral Dawson.
"She's well, she's not lost a step even after the birth of our daughter" answered Valdez.
"Congratulations" replied Admiral Dawson.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Having asked Dexter Smith to pick up Trianna (red), Valdez was there to greet his daughter along with Rick who had volunteered to keep an eye on his sister.
"What's this about?" asked Trianna (red), "you know this could have been done over subspace" she remarked afterwards.
"For you to stake your claim for the Imperial throne" answered Jodi.
"I saw what power did to my family, it destroyed them" replied Trianna (red)
"You are a legitimate heir to the throne in the Red Empire, we need that heir to prevent a civil war" answered Admiral Dawson.
"I do watch INN, while I may not like what's gone down, I know I am not even ready for being a ruler" replied Trianna (red), "besides, I might not be named as empress" she said afterwards.
"What about a new start in the Yellow Empire?" asked Jodi.
"I've been through hell and back in the Red universe, I see the face of the man who really badly hurt me even though he's dead. Being at home is too difficult with what happened, no offence Dad" said Trianna (red)
"None taken" replied Valdez, "end of the day, it's up to you to decide" he said afterwards.
"What's on offer in the Yellow Empire?" asked Trianna (red)
"A command of your own, there are conditions though" answered Admiral Dawson.
"Elaborate?" requested Trianna (red).
"You do a tour with the Imperial Police on Betazed Yellow first and once the officer in charge is satisfied, you will be transferred to your Aunt's ship for your training as a future captain. There's a ship lined up for you if you pass" answered Jodi.
Trianna (red) gave some thought to the offer and accepted the fresh start on the condition that her family were protected, those were her conditions.
Once Jodi and Admiral Dawson had their answer, they left for their ships and their ships went back to the Red Empire. Three days later on Brea III, Trianna (red) signed over her share of the bar to Joanna (prime) and went to pack her family's things before signing over her house to Isabella (prime) and her cousins. The family then had a going away dinner before seeing her, Isoisa and Ablim Jnr (red) off. Ambassador Smith gave her a lift to the Yellow Empire since he had to report in with Heath face to face. When she arrived, Trianna (red) was greeted by her aunt, uncle and cousins. Trianna (red) then took ownership of the former Yellow Valdez family home and made sure everything was beamed down and unpacked with the help of her cousins and uncle. She then checked in with Valdez to confirm that she had made it to Betazed Yellow safely.
She then personally swore an oath to Heath to protect and serve the citizens of the Yellow Empire after writing all her past troubles on a renewal scroll and burning it to ashes, her oath was
"I, Trianna Marie Valdez swear to serve the citizens of the Empire as a protector and guardian for those who cannot defend themselves to my upmost ability. I swear to serve Empress Heath Layress I to the best of my ability" before sealing the oath by cutting her hand with a dagger and passing it to Heath as a blood oath.
"Your oath is accepted" said Heath, "Constable, honor that oath" she said afterwards
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"SC Valdez, this is an unprecedented opportunity: the ability to place someone of trust on one of the Imperial thrones would secure a potential threat." Soreth said upon her arrival. "That being said such things would involve risk- at least traditionally have if my history is correct... Consider what ever you need in this manner granted- use your discretion."
"I agree high protector but its not my choice nor is it yours."
"I'm well aware of that, ma'am."
"Furthermore that would defiantly make the civilians - former imperial and Union living on the Fortress Eternity would likely be comforted." Soreth laughed for a moment before giving Valdez a PADD. "A Terran diplomat was ordered to provide Chevailer T'Nae with the captains complaints at the apparent insult believe it or not."
Valdez looked down from his commander in chief and read the report before he looked up giving a look of confusion. "... What?"
""My guess is those captains are crazy or just far to arrogant for their own good... Who complains that their lives were saved?"
Three Imperial battleships were drifting through the red dust clouds and had unknowingly crossed the Romulan Union border, an area roughly one lightyear around Star-Fortress Eternity until they finally managed to move it to the Prime Universe... The current theory on the Molindrans part was that the gravity of the blackholes and potential effect on subspace was throwing off the attempts that had been made.
The three imperial Captains were arguing over which ship they could save- having had most of their crews seemingly kidnapped after their ships had been ambushed by unknown hostiles. Their engines were useless, life support was barely functioning, and to top it all off they were only going to be able to save one of the ships- and this was a point of the extreme argument between the three... None of them wanted to explain to command why they lost their ship.
This is how a small of flight Kronous warbirds found them- drifting without power on route to a black hole.
"Imperial vessels, sensors show you're unable to alter your flight path enough to avoid the singularity. We are willing to assist you with repairs-"
"Smeg off alien!"
The warbirds grab the ships in their tractor beams and took them out of the nebula setting them to drift toward the nearest imperial star base, after placing a long range distress call on their behalf..
The Foundry, and my love of Star Trek
"Red, it's going to take some getting used to having to talk via a screen" said Valdez over subspace.
"It's for the best" replied Trianna (red).
"How are things?" asked Valdez.
"Work is tough but I'm kept busy. I've had Regent Iodakar and Admiral Dawson trying to convince me to put my name forward for the Red Imperial throne" answered Trianna (red).
"Are you? It could be a good opportunity" asked Valdez.
"I've sworn an oath to be a protector and guardian for the citizens of the Empire, I've decided after much thought and deliberation to put my name forward for the Red Imperial throne, I could do the most amount of good that way" answered Trianna (red).
"A ruler must first learn to obey before they can command" replied Valdez.
"That's why I'm working in civilian law enforcement, I have to listen and learn" answered Trianna (red).
"Don't get ahead of yourself, that's always been your Achilles's Heel" advised Valdez.
"I've identified that and am trying to stop myself from leaping without looking" answered Trianna (red).
"Excellent, that first step in identifying where you go wrong is a big one and you're trying to solve it. Keep that up" advised Valdez.
"I will" replied Trianna (red).
"How's everyone over there?" asked Valdez.
"We're all good over here, Isabella has been helping out here, my cousins did not take too kindly to having the remote taken off them. Obin visits and keeps an eye on me to make sure I'm doing well and Uncle Antos has been advising me on keeping work separate from home life" answered Trianna (red).
"Good advice" replied Valdez.
"Aye, it is" answered Trianna (red) as Ablim Junior (red) heard Valdez and yelled "Granddad!!"
"I think someone wishes to speak with you" said Trianna (red) as she picked Ablim Jnr (red) up and put him on her lap.
"Ablim, you behaving yourself?" asked Valdez.
"Yeah" answered Ablim Jnr (red).
"Apart from this morning, he was being uncooperative" said Trianna (red).
"The usual morning struggle?" asked Valdez.
"Exactly, you and Mom will go through it with Zoe Maria" answered Trianna (red).
"I'm still twitching from the first time" joked Valdez.
Trianna (red) just smiled and laughed before saying, "I've got work in an hour, I better let you go."
"Red, take care" replied Valdez.
"I will Betazed out" answered Trianna (red) before they cut the channel.
Later that day, Trianna (red) put her name forward for the Red Imperial throne in writing.
"You sure about this?" asked Heath.
"I am ma'am" answered Trianna (red).
"Do your tour first" replied Heath.
"Yes Ma'am" answered Trianna (red)
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The Imperial police were out on a raid, intelligence had reached them of narcotics manufacturing and distribution. In charge of the raid was Petrofski's organised crime unit who surrounded a warehouse unit in Medara. In his briefing, Petrofski was on point issuing out arrest lists of suspects for questioning.
"These are Rhuludian crystals, a highly addictive substance from the Delta Quadrant. These narcotics have a street value of 1.5 billion credits, we cannot allow these to hit the streets. Everyone understood?" asked Petrofski.
"Sir" answered the officer going on the raid.
"These are the teams, Constable Valdez will be our technical specialist for dealing with any security obstacles and gathering evidence from their computers. Brookes, Reynolds and Andred will be her cover. Gates, you lead the team covering the back to cut off any escaping perps. Perimeter team will be led by Constable Thorbes and I will lead the break in team, everyone has to be clear on this, we have to catch them in the act" said Petrofski.
"Crystal" answered his officers.
"We roll out in 20 minutes so suit up and be ready to move" ordered Petrofski, "good luck everyone" he said afterwards.
20 minutes later, the teams were moved out and headed to their objectives. At 1440 hours Medara time, the raid went in with teams assaulting the warehouse from all sides at once.
"This is the Imperial police, stand down and surrender to Imperial authority or face the consequences. This is your first and last warning" said Petrofski via loudspeakers.
"We not going to surrender" said the gang leader before firing a phaser bolt at Petrofski which narrowly missed him.
"All units, go, go, go!!" ordered Petrofski.
Imperial police then stormed the building stunning any perps who resisted as INN covered the drugs bust.
"This is INN, less than five minutes ago, Imperial police stormed a gangland stronghold in what can be described as shock and awe. To those citizens who profit from crime, the police will track you down and catch you. Crime cannot be tolerated" said the reporter as gang members were led out of the building in cuffs flanked by armed police officers.
At the station, Trianna got to work on the seized computers as suspects were questioned by Petrofski, one gang member had caught his eye.
"Mr Duella El Nar, your name keeps coming up. Manufacturing and distribution of narcotics carries a long sentence, 25 years on the manufacturing, 15 for distribution. That's how the courts will see it but if you cooperate, I may ask the courts to show some clemency and give you a 20 year sentence" said Petrofski.
"No comment" answered El Nar.
"You are looking at 40 years behind bars, cooperate and tell us who you work for since it's clear that you are a middle man" asked Petrofski.
"No comment" answered El Nar.
"These were recovered from the premises, enough Rhuludian crystals to flood the streets all manufactured by your gang. You may seem smug and refuse to cooperate but once your computers have been decrypted, you may change your tone" replied Petrofski.
"I'm not saying a god damn thing, you'll have to break me" answered El Nar.
"Don't use the lord's name in that tone, Mr El Nar" replied Petrofski as the computer evidence was sent to him.
"Interesting, indeed you are a middle man who is paid to manufacture and distribute narcotics. You seem to be in quite the wrong crowd" he said afterwards.
"If I talk, I'm a dead man" answered El Nar.
"That has changed your tone, who's your boss?" asked Petrofski.
"They do not give a name, they only sends me orders" answered El Nar.
"What kind of orders?" asked Petrofski.
"Flood the streets with narcotics and pay off law enforcement to look the other way" answered El Nar.
"So you do business on behalf of others with dirty cops, I want names" asked Petrofski.
"If you were to look the other way and let's say, let me go, I could make you wealthy" answered El Nar.
"Attempting to bribe a police officer, add another 10 years onto the sentence" replied Petrofski, "that's 50 years behind bars" he said afterwards.
"Just remember you have to sleep at night" answered El Nar.
"Threatening an officer, add another 15 years" replied Petrofski before he signalled for El Nar to be put back in his cell.
In a report to Heath, Petrofski highlighted that there were police officers taking bribes from criminals as the evidence taken from the raid and information gathered from questioning were put into the report.
"Make sure Captain Petrofski gets the resources he needs, I do not like dirty cops" ordered Heath to Jasmine Smith-Petrofski.
"As you wish, ma'am" answered Smith-Petrofski.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The area around the wormhole was packed with ships. The near constant flow of ships transporting those who wished to emigrate to the other universe had made Bajor the busiest transportation hub in the Empire for the past few weeks.
However the outward flow was temporarily halted as several ships came out.
Those gathered there were in shock as they recognized the marking of the Imperial flagship and its escorts.
The reporters there to cover the migration were surprised to be summoned aboard by the Empress herself.
The were escorted to the throne room and found her sitting there smiling.
“Forgive the sudden intrusion to your routine,” she apologized. “But I have announcement to make. And since it concerns the future of the universe here, I thought it would be best to do it here.”
Transmissions were made and resources were scrambled to set up the live broadcast. The field reporters were both nervous yet surprised that the Empress kept apologizing for interrupting their routine.
“Perhaps this will help boost your careers,” she suggested. “I will answer questions later.”
As news of the impending announcement spread the flow of ships through the wormhole slowed as those gathered wanted to hear.
At last they received word that things were ready.
“This is INN. We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special message from the Empress. We take you now to the Imperial flagship near Bajor.”
Across both Empires, her face appeared on almost all screens.
“Citizens of the Red Empire. I address you for the final time as your Empress.”
The shocked gasps from the reporters there was audible, she smiled and continued.
“I was going to wait until after the migration had finished to make this announcement, but why wait and drag things out. I have done my best for you, but I have reached the limit of what I can do for you. You need a leader that can take you to the next phase of growth and prosperity, and that is not me.”
She rose from her chair and stepped forward. She removed the intertwined red and yellow circlet the composed her crown and separated them into their separate parts. She placed the yellow one back on her head while holding up the red in her hand up to the camera.
“I have worn both of these with honor. But this belongs to your new ruler. And it is my honor to bestow this upon them.”
To the left of them a door opened.
There were even more gasps as the person walked in. The statuesque brunette walked up to her smiling.
Layress return the smile and reached up to placed the red crown upon her head.
“I give you the Red Empress. All hail Empress Idokar.”
“ALL HAIL EMPRESS IDOKAR!”
“This is INN. Empress Layress has just named Regent Jodi Idokar of Betazed to succeed her as Empress of the Red Empire. The new Empress is about to speak.”
“My fellow citizens. I look forward to leading you in to a glorious new future. My predecessor had many good ideas, and it would be foolish to undo what works. However, Empress Sunshine and Rainbows here was unwilling at times to deal decisively and permanently with our enemies. I am not. If you obstruct my will for your own selfish reasons, I will kill you. If you injure or threaten the lives of our citizens, I will kill you.
Stand in our way, and I will kill you.”
She smiled.
“Long live the Empire.”
Gamma Quadrant red
“What do you think?”
“I’ll be damned if I stay here under the command of that lunatic.”
“They say she’s gotten better.”
“This will just embolden her sister to act up even more.”
“So what do we do?”
Captain Heath looked at her first officer.
“How do you feel about relocating?”
The area around the wormhole was packed with ships. The near constant flow of ships transporting those who wished to emigrate to the other universe had made Bajor the busiest transportation hub in the Empire for the past few weeks.
However the outward flow was temporarily halted as several ships came out.
Those gathered there were in shock as they recognized the marking of the Imperial flagship and its escorts.
The reporters there to cover the migration were surprised to be summoned aboard by the Empress herself.
The were escorted to the throne room and found her sitting there smiling.
“Forgive the sudden intrusion to your routine,” she apologized. “But I have announcement to make. And since it concerns the future of the universe here, I thought it would be best to do it here.”
Transmissions were made and resources were scrambled to set up the live broadcast. The field reporters were both nervous yet surprised that the Empress kept apologizing for interrupting their routine.
“Perhaps this will help boost your careers,” she suggested. “I will answer questions later.”
As news of the impending announcement spread the flow of ships through the wormhole slowed as those gathered wanted to hear.
At last they received word that things were ready.
“This is INN. We interrupt our regular programming to bring you a special message from the Empress. We take you now to the Imperial flagship near Bajor.”
Across both Empires, her face appeared on almost all screens.
“Citizens of the Red Empire. I address you for the final time as your Empress.”
The shocked gasps from the reporters there was audible, she smiled and continued.
“I was going to wait until after the migration had finished to make this announcement, but why wait and drag things out. I have done my best for you, but I have reached the limit of what I can do for you. You need a leader that can take you to the next phase of growth and prosperity, and that is not me.”
She rose from her chair and stepped forward. She removed the intertwined red and yellow circlet the composed her crown and separated them into their separate parts. She placed the yellow one back on her head while holding up the red in her hand up to the camera.
“I have worn both of these with honor. But this belongs to your new ruler. And it is my honor to bestow this upon them.”
To the left of them a door opened.
There were even more gasps as the person walked in. The statuesque brunette walked up to her smiling.
Layress return the smile and reached up to placed the red crown upon her head.
“I give you the Red Empress. All hail Empress Idokar.”
“ALL HAIL EMPRESS IDOKAR!”
“This is INN. Empress Layress has just named Regent Jodi Idokar of Betazed to succeed her as Empress of the Red Empire. The new Empress is about to speak.”
“My fellow citizens. I look forward to leading you in to a glorious new future. My predecessor had many good ideas, and it would be foolish to undo what works. However, Empress Sunshine and Rainbows here was unwilling at times to deal decisively and permanently with our enemies. I am not. If you obstruct my will for your own selfish reasons, I will kill you. If you injure or threaten the lives of our citizens, I will kill you.
Stand in our way, and I will kill you.”
She smiled.
“Long live the Empire.”
Gamma Quadrant red
“What do you think?”
“I’ll be damned if I stay here under the command of that lunatic.”
“They say she’s gotten better.”
“This will just embolden her sister to act up even more.”
“So what do we do?”
Captain Heath looked at her first officer.
“How do you feel about relocating?”
"Good job today" said Petrofski to Trianna (red).
"Sir" answered Trianna (red).
"Relax, this is not the military" replied Petrofski smiling, "Not being named empress has not really bothered you" he said afterwards.
"End of the day, the better candidate got it" replied Trianna (red)
"You've made some progress, takes a strong person to admit that. What I need to see from you is toughness and empathy with clear and level headed thinking. Not all criminals are in it for the career, some have been forced into that life so you need to know the difference between career perps and victims of circumstance. Trust me, you will be dealing with some really nasty people and you will see things that would normally mentally scar a desensitised person. These people will use violence and other means so we must deal with them in a language they understand to protect the public, but we never kill. Our job is to catch the perps, process them and hand them over to the courts for judgement" said Petrofski.
"I was raised by my father to be nothing but a soldier, I resented it and I hated it. I saw what my father was capable of and I was misguided. I'm not proud of what I've done and became, I used violence to lash out and I hurt a lot of people. I've been desensitised to violence since the age of 13, I don't want to be that person anymore" replied Trianna (red).
"One must admit guilt before they can atone, making that first step is the biggest one. We've both done things we are not proud of out of anger, here's the deal. No violence unless it's in self defence and done with reasonable force, torture is forbidden since it's counterproductive and we don't get the information we need" answered Petrofski.
"Because they'll tell you anything just to end it" replied Trianna (red).
"Correct answer, we will use psychology instead. The threat of a long prison sentence in solitary will make them sweat" answered Petrofski.
"Boss" replied Trianna (red) smiling.
"I'll accept boss at a pinch, remember that you are with my unit for the first part of your training. Keep your head down and get your job done and you and I will have no problems. You remind me of some of the lads I gave a second chance to, they were down and out, some on the verge of a life of crime and a lot from broken homes. Those lads proved that given a chance, they could be someone and they are some of the best people I have ever had the honour of commanding. I expect the same from you" said Petrofski.
"I won't let you down" answered Trianna (red).
"I'll hold you to that" replied Petrofski.
Imperial outer colonies (MU red)
What began as a normal day for the colonists on the frontier soon turned to terror as the skies darkened over their worlds. Soon, the suns were blotted out by vast swarms of unidentified ships as they discharged their cargoes of troops down to the surfaces of the Imperial colonies. Any distress calls were jammed by disobedient Imperial Admirals and Sector governors who ordered their ground forces to leave the the colonies to their fates. The outer colonies were the first to be consumed and when Imperial forces got to those worlds, all life and natural resources were gone. At first, it was thought that the colonists had been abducted but records gathered showed that everything had been eaten by a swarm of insectoids.
When news of the colonies going dark reached Jodi, she was not happy to find out that Imperial forces had just abandoned those colonies to their fates. When summoned to face her, the Admirals and governors who had abandoned the colonists just refused to accept Jodi's authority with a "We don't serve a half bred mongrel." Soon devices on other Imperial worlds activated and drew in much larger swarms, Valdez's (Red) supporters had just opened the Empire to death by insectoid consumption as revenge for their leader's martyrdom and the swarms were on their way to the Empire. The Empire was also deliberately weakened by sabotage of the Imperial sensor and defence grids as fleets were drawn away from vital strategic points to give the invaders the roads through to the heart of the Empire.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Majesty, I would say it is agreeable to see you but by the look on your face, you are emotionally volatile" said Solat before bowing to Jodi.
"Can I count on your support?" asked Jodi.
"You can, the most recent intelligence reports have not been reliable" answered Solat.
"We've been betrayed and we're being invaded by an unknown species" replied Jodi as she brought up the map of the Empire on display, "Our outer colonies went dark 72 hours ago, every living thing and natural resource eaten by the invaders" she said afterwards.
"Where was the fleet to protect those colonies?" asked Solat.
"They just pulled their forces back and let the colonies fall, our sensor and defence grids have also been sabotaged with fleets leaving these strategic areas" answered Jodi pointing out the locations.
"That would give the invaders a clear road to the heart of the Empire, what is the logic in helping the invaders?" asked Solat.
"To kill this Empire" answered Jodi.
"Logic dictates that who ever has done this has been planning this for years, how many fleets have gone over to the enemy?" asked Solat.
"Admiral Reynolds and Admiral Constantine have taken their fleets and refused to accept any of my orders, the Sector governors are still refusing to answer my calls" answered Jodi.
"Then we cannot count on their support, logic suggests that we take a different approach" advised Solat.
"My advisers have said the same, any ship that refuses to answer me and actively sabotages our defences are being hunted by the Hirogen. We need to to focus on dealing with the invasion, we need to know what this species is and how they operate" replied Jodi before she nearly punched the desk.
"Majesty, may I suggest you take up meditation as a way of restoring emotional balance?" asked Solat.
"Vulcans" sighed Jodi before she passed Solat a PADD of the colony attacks.
"Insects, fascinating" commented Solat, "Terran locusts" she remarked afterwards after reading the report.
"Locusts can clear an entire region of all vegetation when their swarms come through" said Jodi.
"This species looks to behave in the same manner but they consume everything, judging from their behaviour, they also operate as a hive. I'll explain with a smaller scale model" replied Solat as she called for her ward to come in with food for his ant colony in the room, "Pytor, show the empress how ants get their food" she said afterwards.
Pytor put some grubs into the tank and soon the ants went for the grubs,
"Remarkable" commented Jodi, "they swarm their food then rip it to pieces before transferring it to the colony."
"Pytor, thank you for the demonstration, go back to your studies" said Solat.
"Mother" answered Pytor before he bowed to Jodi in respect and left the room.
"The Empire will not go the same way as those grubs, how many ships and troops can you muster?" asked Jodi.
"Vulcan, Andoria and Romulus are with you, we may need the Klingons as well" answered Solat.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Ma'am" said Petrofski to Heath after he bowed.
"I've read your report, how is your newest recruit doing?" asked Heath.
"Constable Valdez has been making progress, clever girl but she needs to deal with her demons" answered Petrofski, "she's spoken about her upbringing and being exposed to violence from an early age as well as having her childhood stolen because her father wanted her to be a soldier and nothing else. She's been totally desensitised to violence which may explain why she is the way she is" he said afterwards.
"Recent events have also not helped, this is what her father did to her and my sister-in law" replied Heath passing Petrofski the PADD.
"I thought my father was bad but this is far beyond that, where is the scumbag?" asked Petrofski.
"Dead, his counterpart assisted us in bringing him to swift justice" answered Heath.
"She's spoken highly of her father's counterpart, she speaks to him via subspace and that is helping heal some wounds but I recommend that she talks a counsellor because emotional baggage could get in the way" replied Petrofski.
"Voluntary or mandatory?" asked Heath.
"Mandatory" answered Petrofski, "I've also explained that out of hand violence is unacceptable, violence should only be in self defence and done with reasonable force. She's taken the no killing rule to heart thankfully" he said afterwards.
"Make sure she gets these orders from me, as per your recommendation, she is to see a counsellor twice a week. If she tries to avoid it, take her off duty until she does" replied Heath.
"Sometimes, you have to be cruel to be kind. She'll get that order" answered Petrofski.
"Thank you, bad news from the Red Empire I'm afraid. You better sit down and read this" said Heath passing Petrofski a PADD.
After reading the report, Petrofski was very quiet before saying "I suggest your two girls spend some time with their grandmother, what I'm about to say is something they do not need to hear."
Papela was called in and the twins went into the garden, once they were out of the room, Petrofski did not hold back.
"I cleaned that government up, how did this happen?" he asked barely controlling his temper.
"It seems that that traitor Valdez Red had sleeper agents everywhere, they've now sabotaged the defences of the Red Empire and invited an invasion in, they're attempting to kill the Red Empire" answered Heath.
"Let me go over there and hunt those b******s down" requested Petrofski.
"You're sitting this out, it's no longer your problem" answered Heath, "you are angry, your work destroyed. You are emotionally compromised" she said afterwards.
"They murdered entire families and destroyed an entire culture. Bajor Red has lost all their cultural records, all their priests murdered along with their entire families and all their temples and shrines destroyed. Those monsters even forced them to take Terran names and used them as slave labour to strip mine their own world. Where are they?" asked Petrofski as his temper began to get the better of him.
"You're p***ed, I accept that but if you go over there on some quest of personal vengeance, you may end up doing something you'll regret later" answered Heath, "what will your daughters think? Ask yourself that" she advised.
"I'll take that under advisement" replied Petrofski.
"I don't want to see a good officer who has a family who rely on him to end up in prison because he let his anger get the better of him, I'm telling you this for your own good" advised Heath.
"I guess that Bajorans are experts in holding a grudge after what the Cardassians did to them" replied Petrofski.
"Letting vengeance get in the way is not healthy, my people learnt that and are now slowly healing those wounds. Every time the Bajorans mounted an attack on the Cardassians, the Cardassians would execute Bajorans in reprisal in a ever more violent circle of bloodshed. For years after the Cardassian withdrawal, the call for revenge was always there until we had to work with them to liberate them from the Dominion. Never let things go personal because it never ends that way" answered Heath.
"Thank you ma'am for your advice, I'll heed it" replied Petrofski.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Constable Valdez, take a seat" ordered Heath.
"Ma'am, what's this about?" asked Trianna (red)
"I'm going to be blunt with you, you need to face your past" answered Heath, "your commanding officer has raised some concerns that your childhood may be affecting you, I asked him to put everything in his report. You're a clever girl but to quote your commanding officer, you need to face your demons" she said afterwards.
"Please don't bring that up, It was stolen from me at age 10, by time I was 13, I was that used to seeing my father inflicting violence on anyone who got in his way. Mom and my father fighting did not help matters, their idea of a argument was to point charged phaser pistols at each other" replied Trianna (red).
"You bury yourself in work because you want to avoid confronting your upbringing, violence has consequences and often innocent people get caught in the middle of it" said Heath as the twins were playing, "what do you notice about them?" asked Heath to Trianna (red) afterwards.
"They're playing without a care in the world" answered Trianna (red).
"Pren, Osha, can you both come here?" asked Heath to the twins, both twins came over.
"What's your name?" asked Pren to Trianna (red).
"Trianna" answered Trianna (red).
"I'm Pren" said Pren.
"I'm Osha" added Osha.
"Do you have children?" asked Pren.
"I do, a little boy around your age" answered Trianna (red).
"Where is he?" asked Pren.
"At home being spoilt by his great Aunt" answered Trianna (red).
"Constable, look at this" said Heath passing Trianna (red) a PADD, "that injury you see was Osha's arm after she was hurt by an explosion. An explosion that claimed her grandmother who used her body as a shield to protect those two treasures."
Trianna (red) took it in and was speechless, "Anyone who harms an innocent will not get away from me, I must use this lesson to protect and serve" she said afterwards as the shock wore in.
"Now you see why violence often leads to innocent people being caught in the middle" said Heath.
"Dad's lessons and being a mother has been a start, being one of my father's last victims has broken the bond me and Dad had. I know he came to get me home but even then it's too difficult with what happened, other parts of my past are just too painful" replied Trianna (red).
"Hiding that pain only makes it worse, you tried to erase it but you can't hide from it. It will always catch up with you, here's the deal. You go and talk to a counsellor twice a week, that's mandatory as per your commanding officer's recommendation" answered Heath.
"Some things I cannot reveal" replied Trianna (red).
"I know, too dangerous for them, you and your family" answered Heath.
"That's one secret I will take with me to the grave" replied Trianna (red).
"Look to the future, you are a course to your own command. The I.S.S. Teanna is in dry dock for retrofit, once she's ready, she'll need a captain. Pass your training and you'll get her" advised Heath.
"If only my mother was around to see it" sighed Trianna (red).
"Pass your training and make your mother proud, her pah is watching over you" replied Heath.
"At least she's at peace" answered Trianna (red).
Meanwhile, Petrofski was talking with Naynta (red) via subspace, "Unlucky you, being grounded" said Naynta.
"It's to stop me from doing something I'll regret later, that favour I owe you, I might need you to hunt those traitors down for me" replied Petrofski.
"Sounds like you're asking me for a favour" answered Naynta.
"There's something in it for you, any you catch, you can have as playthings" replied Petrofski, "it would also help your war effort."
"You have my attention" answered Naynta, "consider it done."
"Have fun" replied Petrofski.
"I will" answered Naynta.
"I've got to get back to work" replied Petrofski.
"How is that?" asked Naynta.
"Got a big case which I cannot go into details on" answered Petrofski.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
In a War Council, Jodi briefed her commanders, "Three days ago, our outer colonies went dark, the fleets protecting having deserted their posts and let the colonies fall. When help eventually got to the outer colonies, everything had been eaten."
"Eaten?" asked Naynta.
"You heard right, we don't know who or what this species is but they are on their way to the Empire. To compound matters, 80% of the fleet have mutinied and have been actively sabotaging our defences in a bid to kill this Empire" answered Jodi.
"What are the current state of defences?" asked Admiral Barclay.
"Compromised from within" answered Jodi.
"That makes our jobs a lot harder, with 80% of the fleet deserting us, that will leave us overstretched" replied Admiral Barclay.
"The enemy operates as a swarm of locusts, they consume everything in their path. This is a war for the survival of every living thing in the Empire, we lose, we die" answered Jodi as PADDs were passed around with the latest intel.
"My people know who this species is" said General Kurn.
"General, what are we dealing with?" asked Jodi.
"They're called the Hur'q, 1,000 years ago, they came to Qon'oS and ravaged the world before retreating. Once the swarm is filled up, they go into hibernation" answered Kurn, "the Hur'q are a threat Never to be underestimated."
"They're just bugs" said Naynta.
"Bugs that swarm their prey and devour it" replied Kurn.
"What is the present state of loyal forces?" asked Jodi
"Loyal defensive fleets have been stationed around key worlds but if they come under attack, they're going to be overrun. Our communications net has also been sabotaged with sensor grids down across the whole Empire, we are blind effectively" answered Admiral Barclay.
"Vulcan, Andoria and Romulus can provide ships to aid in our defence, Tellar Prime has also pledged their ships to our forces" added Solat.
"Qon'oS can provide a fleet to already existing forces" added Kurn.
"Regent Solat will be overall military commander of all loyal forces, all orders go through me and her. Admiral Barclay will command the inner systems defences, Kurn will command Klingon forces and Admiral Lot will be in charge of internal security and the reserves" said Jodi as the assignments were handed out, "Solat, please brief us on what strategy can be applied to deal with this invasion."
"The Hur'q will hit us with sheer mass of numbers, we will employ a mobile defence in depth but give our ground slowly to bleed the attackers, we use the size of the Empire to our advantage. To ensure the loyalty of our forces, political officers will be assigned to each ship. They will have the authority to execute any captain or admiral who refuses to obey orders on the spot, deserters will be shot on sight. Furthermore, blocking detachments will be placed in the rear to prevent desertion and any unauthorised retreat" explained Solat.
"I know a way we can get more ships" suggested Naynta.
"Elaborate" requested Jodi.
"I can ask the Ask'kaar, they'll provide ships and troops but they'll need to see the intel first" answered Naynta.
"We can also ask the Alliance for ships and troops as well, we fall, they fall" added Solat.
"We need as many ships as possible we can get our hands on" said Admiral Barclay.
"This is a desperate situation, we will not become food for these invaders, go get as many allied ships as possible. We have a week before the swarms get here" said Jodi driving the point home.
"Ma'am" answered her commanders.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Admiral Solat's fleets poured through the wormhole, Solat having read the Federation records of the Hur'q had decided on keeping the fighting in the Gamma Quadrant to protect the wormhole. In the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Barclay was scouring all worlds of Germanium deposits by precision orbital bombardment as areas around them were evacuated, Admiral Lot was working with the Hirogen in their hunt for traitors, Solat's orders were that only the Sector governors, captains and admirals who had not accepted the authority of Empress Iodokar be executed and the ships taken intact for the war effort.
In the Gamma Quadrant, Solat looked over her fleets deployment, Imperial loyalists held the centre right with 50 battleships, carriers and dreadnoughts, 80 escorts and destroyers with over 500 fighters acting as a screen to support the escorts and destroyers. They were covered by the Ask'kaar fleet of 110 cruisers and battleships on the centre left with the Romulans covering the right flank and Klingons and Andorians on the left flank. In all Solat had 400 ships and 1200 fighters, that soon changed when the Dominion had linked up with their fleet of 200 ships.
In the Alpha Quadrant, Admiral Barclay's forces were reinforced by an Ask'kaar fleet with the Voth deploying Citadels, Bastions and Bulwarks. They were soon joined by the Tzenkethi who agreed to stop their campaign of cleansing worlds when showed what precision orbital bombardment could do. Barclays forces were 500 ships and they were soon reinforced by Tellarite and Gorn ships bringing the total up to 550 ships. Admiral Lot's forces were smaller consisting of 100 ships, it was being clear to her that she was on a very tight leash.
In her briefing Solat explained the strategy, commanders were given just enough flexibility to make their own decisions though they had to report it to Solat first. Commissars were briefed on their tasks, they could only act if disloyalty was proven. To facilitate that, all commissars were Betazoid disguised to look Terran. The fleet moved to the first system in the Hur'Q's path at Idralis IV. Idralis was the site of an Imperial military outpost over 200 light years from the wormhole and as such it had been heavily fortified with bunkers, anti-air positions and artillery positions, it's garrison consisted of 3,000 Imperial soldiers who had been put on alert. Idralis would be the first battle as both sides raced to the system, the Hur'q got there first as they began to overrun the defences in orbit. The base was now under siege, Solat not far behind jumped into the system and put the first part of her plan into action as the swarmers launched from their motherships towards the fleet.
"Fighters, Escorts and Destroyers are to screen our larger ships from the swarmers, don't let any through. All capital ships, engage the enemy capital ships, reserve forces, be ready to evacuate the garrison" ordered Solat to the fleet from her command ship, the I.S.S. Surak.
"Fleet has acknowledged the order" reported Cmdr T'Pamne.
Soon the Idralis system was a battleground as fighters engaged their opposite numbers in a series of dogfights supported by the fire power of the destroyers and escorts. Meanwhile both sides' capital ships exchanged fire with each other as the swarm tried to break the outer screens, the fighting lasted for over 23 hours as both sides matched each other move for move before Solat called for the garrison to be evacuated and the fleet withdrew to their next defensive line 10 light years to their rear, losses to both sides were suffered with over 200 swarm ships destroyed and 15 enemy capital ships destroyed and another 10 disabled. Allied losses were 100 fighters, eight ships destroyed and ten damaged but they had slowed the enemy advance, the Imperial garrison lost 700 soldiers killed or wounded in the defence of the outpost. Though the battle was inconclusive, it was a tactical Hur'q victory but a strategic Allied victory. The longer the enemy could be kept away from the wormhole, the more time reinforcements could arrive and the Empire would live to see another day.
INN called the battle a victory, though the swarm had not been destroyed, it had been delayed and that raised morale in the Empire. Jodi called the battle the start of the fightback and that the Empire would not fall, the Battle of Idralis was a call to arms as volunteers and retired veterans volunteered for the war effort.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Petrofski had called a meeting, "Ladies and Gentlemen, take a seat" he ordered to his officers.
All officers took their seats.
"Constable Valdez, how are we on the computer records?" asked Petrofski.
"With the amount of data we've had, we've got enough to get convictions" answered Trianna (red).
"Interrogations of suspects?" asked Petrofski.
"Intelligence gathered from interrogations have matched what's been recovered from the their computer records" answered Brookes.
"Brookes, Valdez, good job" replied Petrofski.
"Boss" answered both Brookes and Trianna (red).
"The Empress has been given the arrest warrants and evidence on 15 Sector Governors, 12 Admirals, 25 police officers and six senators. Starfleet will deal with the Sector Governors and Admirals, I spoke to Regent Lot this morning on the matter and we've been given official Starfleet support. The Inquisition will deal with the listed police officers and we've got the senate to deal with" said Petrofski in his briefing.
"How far does this go?" asked Gardner.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg" answered Petrofski, "this afternoon, there will be a Senate meeting. I will be presenting the investigation findings, Valdez will act as my aide and coordinate the arrest team. Brookes, Gardner, Tal, Greaves and Wrell will be the arrest team. Eriksson, you will take a team and assist the Empress's security and support the arrest team" he said handing out the assignments.
"Boss" answered the officers.
"Everyone else, you are on perimeter duty" ordered Petrofski.
"Boss" answered the officers.
With the assignments handed out, Petrofski and the teams headed to the senate meeting.
At the meeting, Petrofski had Trianna (red) pass around the investigation details as he made his report. Heath and Papela were given an extra PADD each with the latest findings. Heath read the reports and after conferring with Papela, made her statement. Heath then ordered Senators Roha, Kain, Ortemis, Artega, Rihala and O'Mara to stand.
"Publicly resign, sign away all wealth and dedicate your lives to helping the less fortunate" said Heath to the guilty senators.
"Not a chance" was the response.
"Choice 2 is permanent exile to A or B, any that helped you go with you" replied Heath.
"None" answered the Senators.
"I gave you the chance to leave with dignity. Now I'll decide your fate. Take them away." ordered Heath.
"Under Article Seven, Regulation 13 of the Imperial Justice Code, on order of the Sovereign Terran Empire, you are all placed under arrest. Officers, cuff them and process them for later judgement" said Trianna (red) before a team of uniformed officers marched in and cuffed the guilty senators.
Gamma Quadrant (MU Red)
Solat's campaign was achieving it's objectives. In a series of defensive battles, the Hur'q swarms were slowly being ground down as the Allies employed a strategy of counter-attacking the swarm as they consumed the resources of the Idralis System. Both sides took losses but Solat's forces were getting stronger every day. For four days, she had the Hur'q fully engaged against the Allied lines but she was getting stronger with a constant reinforcement supply of ships and crews recaptured by Admiral Lot.
The front was now reinforced by the Royal Fleet, Empress Jodi Iodokar had come to the front and she brought more reinforcements with her, there were also 800 hundred captured mutineers who were brought in chains.
Jodi intended to make an example of them in front of the entire Imperial Starfleet. Aboard the I.S.S. Papela, Solat and Admiral Lot suggested another solution.
"You both know that mutiny is a capital offence?" asked Jodi.
"We cannot afford to execute all mutineers, give them a choice of regaining their honor or face decimation in front of the entire fleet" advised Solat.
"Executing one in ten would cause fear in the survivors" said Naynta.
"Those survivors then go into Penal Legions where they can still be useful, give them the most dangerous missions" suggested Solat.
"Examples have to be made" answered Jodi.
"Those executed will suffice" replied Naynta.
"It is the most logical course of action" added Solat.
"Interrogate them first" ordered Jodi, "Naynta, enjoy yourself" she said afterwards.
"As you command" answered Naynta.
"Solat, I'll need an update the current state of our forces" requested Jodi.
"We have created 20 defensive lines all the way to the wormhole at ten light years apart. Each line has minefields, defensive platforms and reserve fleets, our main fleets are harassing enemy feeding swarms as well as holding our lines here" answered Solat as she gave Jodi the full strategic picture.
After interrogations, the mutineers were gathered up and given the choice, 700 took up Solat's offer and swore allegiance to Empress Iodokar. 100 did not, Naynta had ten of them put into agony booths then agonised to death in front of the entire fleet and their bodies incinerated. Every crew in the Imperial Starfleet saw the decimation, soon mutineers began to surrender and swear allegiance to Jodi.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Sapph, Jerome, and Void
I’m in the Avalon’s CIC looking over reports of a possible invasion by a KDF force led by an unknown figure. So far, my spymaster has given me and my mate a few days to prepare our miniscule force of 70 elite vessels to battle a massive force of 500 vessels of Klingon design upgraded with current technology. According to this report, the unknown figure is an excellent tactician who may be able to rival my mate in tactical ability. Even more worrying is the fact that a rumored superweapon capable of destroying entire fleets was created from classified spore tech from the 23rd century. I pull up a holomap to display my fleet’s formation which is in a sphere to defend our large capital ships from J’Ula’s smaller ships while our battleships and carrier deal with her capital ships. I open a channel to the combined fleet and say, “All ships, this is your queen. We are ordered to hold the line against J’Ula and her forces at Alpha Centauri to buy time for the Lopan-Pokemon Alliance Navy to fortify Sol. We will not give them quarter nor step back.” Several howls erupt on the fleet comms as a smile forms on my face. I order the fleet to warp to Alpha Centauri to prepare for her arrival.
The combined fleet of Intel ships and flagships enters the system under cloak to give the KDF fleet a nasty surprise. Our weapons are hot for hours while my collection of viruses is ready to be transmitted from my computer terminal. Suddenly, a fleet of KDF ships led by J’Ula appears in Alpha Centauri to oppose our forces. My ship’s sensors identify it as the IKS Lukara which is a upgraded battleship from the 2250s. I quickly launch my Callisto escorts and fighters to protect my carrier while my mate launches his drones.
“Destroyers, escorts, and fighters, you will screen our capital ships from those MoKai raiders, don’t let them pass. Capital ships, engage the enemy capital ships to buy time for our allies to fortify Sol.” I order to the fleet from the Avalon.
“Fleet has acknowledged the order.” my tactical officer reports
Immediately, all hell breaks loose in Alpha Cen as our fighters engage their Klingon opponents with support from the destroyers and escorts. Meanwhile, our capital ships and J’Ula’s capital ships exchange fire with one another as the raiders attempt to break through our screens to perform their ramming attacks, the fighting lasts over 48 hours as railgun slugs, missiles, chroniton beams, disruptor bolts, and torpedoes are exchanged between our two fleets with neither side willing to surrender an inch of space. Suddenly, the Lukara charges up its main weapon. A bright light illuminates the battlefield and destroys 65 of our ships in relatively short order.
Klaxons are heard all over the ship as I attempt to regain control of the fleet. My officer yells, “Your Highness, what the hell was that?!”
“Wave motion gun! What’s our status?!” I growl out while sparks begin to crackle.
“Shields are down to 10 percent and we have multiple hull breaches on nearly all decks. Your Highness, another shot like that and we’re done!”
“Noted. Launch the Iconian probes, let’s see how she likes being hit with computer viruses.”
“Yes, your majesty. Launching probes now.” my cyberwarfare officer responds.
A series of viral probes crackling with mana streak past my carrier and silently head towards the Lukara. They transmit their viruses which disable the mycelial superweapon giving our surviving vessels enough time to escape. I give the order to retreat to Ganymede Station in orbit of the eponymous Jovian moon. When we arrive, a massive Confederate/Council fleet is already stationed in orbit which means that our wolf pups haven’t died in vain. Our fleet is virtually nonexistent after the battle so this will mean we will have to somehow replace our losses with more ships in time for a possible counterattack. Although the Battle of Alpha Centauri is a defeat, the time bought was worth the sacrifice of our crews and captains.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
"Commanders, the people of the Empire thank you for your courage" said Empress Jodi Iodokar.
"Ma'am" chorused the officers.
"We will keep to a defensive strategy, status of raiding forces?" asked Jodi.
"We've kept up the raids, the swarmers prevent any close range attack to the enemy capital ships" reported Admiral Lot.
"They are logical, they are using the swarmers as an organic shield" replied Solat.
"Pesky little critters" answered Naynta.
"Our lines are holding, we're going to thicken the line further" said Jodi as she released an extra 600 ships and crews to Solat's command.
"I'll form them into assault raiders, make the enemy waste resources having to defend itself" replied Solat.
"We have to take the offensive" suggested Naynta.
"Would the cost be worth it?" asked Solat.
"We will not waste resources" finished Jodi.
"Our commander is unimaginative and too defensively minded, I could win this war by wiping the Hur'q out" said Naynta.
"No genocide" replied Jodi.
"They are the aggressors, we are the defenders and as the Terran saying goes, we have the moral high ground" said Solat.
"They're just bugs" replied Naynta.
"Mother would not approve" answered Jodi.
That shut Naynta up.
"Admiral Lot, while your suggestion for an offensive holds some merit, now is not the time. We need to find a way of defeating those swarmers" said Solat.
"Pull them away from the capital ships" suggested Naynta.
"Which opens firing avenues onto their capital ships, it would be a short window before the swarmers pull back to defend the capital ships" answered Jodi.
"Which means, someone will have to play as decoy" replied Naynta, "why do I get the feeling that I may have volunteered myself for something?" she asked afterwards.
"Naynta, how would you feel about commanding the decoy ships?" asked Jodi.
"That's a lot of bugs chasing me, I'll need some crazy captains and crews to do it" replied Naynta.
"Take your pick of the latest inductees, I'm increasing your fleet size from 100 to 300 ships. You have two jobs, take command of the mobile strike forces and make sure those crews are politically loyal" ordered Jodi.
"Solat, please rescind the no retreat order" ordered Jodi.
Solat rescinded the order to the entire fleet.
"Let's focus on winning this war" said Jodi.
"Ma'am" chorused Solat and Naynta.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
The Imperial fleet moved towards their attack positions, ahead of the main force were Admiral Lot's mobile forces who soon took up positions. The plan was simple, a decoy forces draws away the swarmers and open the capital ships up for attack. Empress Iodokar and Solat controlled the battle from the I.S.S. Papela and the I.S.S. Surak as they looked over their tactical displays.
"I see you've deployed the Redemption units in the front rank" commented Jodi to Solat via secure subspace.
"Why waste your most loyal soldiers by putting them in the front rank?" asked Solat.
"When they will be useful later, it's a valid argument" answered Jodi, "Naynta, you ready?" she then asked Admiral Lot.
"Operation This is such a bad idea is a go" answered Naynta.
"Put me through to the troops" ordered Jodi.
"You're on" answered her communications officer.
"This is your empress, all ships into attack formation" ordered Jodi.
The Imperial Fleet formed up and cloaked ready to spring their ambush. Admiral Lot then swept in blasting a hole in the swarmers before turning away and running, behind them was a horde of swarmers. This gave Admiral Lot an idea, she activated canisters of metreon gas and vented them through the nacelles, once there was nothing but metreon gas filling her viewscreen, Naynta fired on the gas cloud igniting it, the swarmers caught in the cloud were incinerated by the blast as their ships exploding in unison.
"Damage to enemy?" asked Naynta.
"80 confirmed kills, over 100 crippled. 500 still operational" reported Naynta's tactical officer.
"Keep that swarm's attention on us, activate the point defence systems" ordered Naynta to her fleet.
Back at the main fleet, Jodi ordered "All ships attack, show the enemy no quarter."
"Fighters, cover the destroyers and escorts. Capital ships, start pressing the enemy left" ordered Solat to her captains.
The fleet now advanced on the Hur'q capital ships and opened fire at pointblank range, without the swarmers, it was a more even fight as both sides soon engaged each other in a close range melee. Solat watched the battle carefully and noted to Jodi that the Hur'q left was beginning to crumble. Jodi reinforced the Imperial right and ordered them destroy the Hur'q flank, the order was carried out. Across the entire front, the Imperials moved forwards. Admiral Lot meanwhile was having fun racking up the kills, after an hour's fighting, the remains of swarmer husks littered Admiral Lot's front.
"How many Kills?" asked Naynta.
"In total, 672" answered her tactical officer.
"We've still got a swarm to mop up" replied Naynta.
"Ma'am" answered her tactical officer.
In the main fleet engagement, fighting was fierce as neither side held back. Eventually, the engagement was decided by Admiral Lot's fleet who came from above and below at the same time. The Hur'q being unable to feed were now showing the signs of weakening, having taken losses they could not afford with nothing to show for it, the survivors retreated.
Idralis had been retaken, the losses on both sides were 672 swarmers and 30 capital ships destroyed outright in the Hur'q fleet. Imperial losses were 18 ships destroyed, the crews having been evacuated, 12 ships damaged with 400 fighters lost with the pilots evacuated.
The Hur'q ground troops were now bypassed and a cordon put up around the planet.
"I think we've found someone to cover our flank" said Solat to Jodi aboard the I.S.S. Papela.
"Admiral Lot covering our flank" replied Jodi.
"A promising officer, someone I'll keep my eye on" answered Solat.
INN called the battle a victory and then announced the executions of 10 of the mutineers and their names.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Trianna (red) had been passed by Petrofski for the next phase of her training, now she was aboard a shuttle heading to Battle Fleet Omega's anchorage in Betazed orbit.
"I wonder which ship we're being assigned to" asked Officer Cadet Sumner.
"No clue, I'm hoping it's one of those Eclipse class ships" replied Trianna.
"I would not mind a New Orleans" answered Sumner.
"I.S.S. Tikal operations, your shuttle is cleared to dock in bay two" said the Tikal's Ops officer.
"Tikal Operations, guide us in" answered the pilot.
"That is one beautiful looking ship" commented Sumner when he saw the Tikal at dock.
"You have a name?" asked Trianna to Sumner.
"John Sumner" answered Sumner.
"Trianna Valdez, pleased to meet you" replied Trianna shaking Sumner's hand.
"I'm going to find this hard, I only volunteered to protect my wife and kids" answered Sumner.
"Wife and one year old son, being away from family is always the toughest part" replied Trianna.
"Know anything about the captain?" asked Sumner.
"This is going to be awkward" answered Trianna.
"How so?" asked Sumner.
"The captain is my aunt" answered Trianna.
"That is awkward" replied Sumner as the shuttle touched down in shuttlebay two of the Tikal.
The officer cadets were met by by Captain Isabella Valdez, her first officer Cmdr Larenis and Sgt. Major Edward Dawson (red).
"First things first, I would like to welcome you all to the Tikal. There are 10 captain's seats up for grabs, two thirds of you will fail this course. Those who pass will receive a commission and rank of captain, Cmdr Larenis will oversee your academic and tactical training. Sgt. Major Dawson here will oversee your physical training. It is up to my training instructors if you pass or not" said Isabella to the new cadets as she inspected them before signalling Sgt. Major Dawson.
Sgt. Major Dawson was on point with the cadets straight away,
"My name is Sgt. Major Edward Dawson, all of you volunteered for the Empire's beloved Battle Fleet Omega. Over the next five weeks with me, you will be physically and mentally tested, mess up and you all get the punishment. Here there are no social barriers, you are all the same to me, worms, pukes and the grime off the bottom of my shoe. My job is to break you all down and rebuild you and we're all going to enjoy it. Good morning."
Every cadet gulped before they were handed over to Cmdr Larenis for their squads. Larenis took the names of the cadets and told them,
"No preferential treatment here, there are only two outcomes, you pass or you fail. Some of you cadets think that just because you were selected means that you think this will be easy, it won't. Battle Fleet Omega is the Empire's shield and sometimes, even her sword. Political and family connections will not help you here, you will struggle and only those deemed strong enough will pass, you all understand?"
"Yes sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Corporal Dawson, put the cadets into their squads" ordered Larenis afterwards.
"Two groups, be sharp about it" ordered Corporal Dawson.
The Cadets formed into their two squads.
"Cmdr, all cadets in squads and ready for processing" reported Corporal Dawson to Larenis.
"Thank you Corporal, march them to the sickbay for their medical examinations" ordered Larenis.
"Sir" answered Corporal Dawson.
All that could be heard on the way to sickbay was Corporal Dawson ordering "Keep up the pace, no slacking."
"Bro, process them, Cmdr's orders" reported Corporal Dawson to Medic Dawson.
"Males, to medical bay one" ordered Medic Dawson.
"Females, remain here" ordered Oreada.
The two groups followed the orders and they were processed and their medical records uploaded to the ship's computer.
Next the cadets were shown to their quarters, everyone groaned when they were put into dormitories.
"You've got to be joking, this takes the p***" complained Cadet Foster.
"Foster, you volunteered for this. Do not complain" answered Corporal Dawson.
"Yes sir" replied Foster.
"Do I look like a bloody officer?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"No corporal" answered Foster.
"Good, because the next time you call me sir, you will run two full laps of the ship" replied Corporal Dawson.
"Yes Corporal" answered Foster.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
At 0500, the lights came on in the dormitories, in the male dormitories, Corporal Dawson walked in and yelled,
"All of you, up, washed and in PT gear. You all have 15 minutes then report to cargo bay two."
In the female dorms, Corporal Amanda Reynolds gave the same order.
In the cargo bay, Sgt. Major Dawson was counting the recruits as they came in.
"All present and correct" reported his two NCOs.
"Morning cadets" said Sgt. Major Dawson.
"Morning sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Corporal, form them up into columns. We're running two laps of Decks five through eight" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
The cadets groaned, "it's 0520" complained Cadet Riggs.
"Name, cadet?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"Riggs, sir" answered Riggs.
"What does my rank say?" asked Corporal Dawson.
"Corporal" answered Riggs.
"Correct answer. Some of us actually work around here for a living" replied Corporal Dawson, the cadets just had a quiet laugh.
"Yes Corporal" answered Riggs
"Now into line, move it" ordered Corporal Dawson.
The cadets formed into column and did the full run, the Corporals ran on either side keeping pace. Foster began to fall back but Corporal Dawson was with him every step of the way.
"Keep up the pace, follow their example lad" said Corporal Dawson to Foster, "If you cannot cope, sickbay is on this deck. No more runs, no more pain. This can be all over for you."
"I won't quit" answered Foster.
"Then quicken the pace" ordered Corporal Dawson.
At the head of the column, Sgt. Major Dawson was setting the pace and improving morale.
"What is this?" asked Sgt. Major Dawson to Trianna when he saw her helping another cadet.
"Valdez, do not help him" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
"With respect, sir. I won't leave anyone behind" answered Trianna, "Deranis, get your backside moving" she told Deranis afterwards.
After an hour's hell, all cadets were back in the cargo bay. All of them had made it.
"What a disgrace, you worms are all too slow. Some of you are slowing your squads down, some of you have shown signs of leadership" said Sgt. Major Dawson.
"Yes sir!" chorused the cadets.
"Back to your barracks, washed and get changed, breakfast time" ordered Sgt. Major Dawson.
After breakfast, Corporal Dawson decided to have a talk with the cadets.
"Some of you do not like me, some of you think I'm too hard on you. It's to get you used to front line service. I enlisted as a Private in the Imperial Army, I've seen people killed and wounded because they did not follow instructions and thought that they knew better. My job is to make sure that you are all on point because as potential future leaders, you need to set that example to the people under you. I am not a monster, I'm just a Terran with a heart" he said as he took his cap off.
"How old are you, Corporal?" asked Foster.
"I'm 18 years old, I've lived in trenches under fire and at the mercy of the elements. I was that scared little FNG at first but fear keeps you alive, you have to control it. Some of you fear failure, don't" answered Corporal Dawson.
"So you are hard on us in order to keep us alive?" asked Trianna.
"I am, some of you may not like it but you all volunteered for this" answered Corporal Dawson.
"How many battles?" asked Deranis.
"Several savage ones, some of you have seen battle. Your eyes tell me that" answered Corporal Dawson.
"I was trained to fight from age 10, I am a veteran of the Dominion War" replied Trianna.
"I understand you were at the Battle of the Denorios and at the rescue of the survivors of Betazed" answered Corporal Dawson.
"I was" answered Trianna.
"I was too young to fight in the Dominion War, I earned my spurs in wars against rebels" replied Corporal Dawson.
"The Corporal speaks far beyond his years" commented Sumner.
"I have the utmost respect for anyone who volunteers to serve their country, so I want you all to learn what it means to be a shining example to your fellow citizens" replied Corporal Dawson as he put his cap back on.
"Corporal" chorused the cadets.
"Finish your meals because in 20 minutes, you're all starting your first leadership tests" ordered Corporal Dawson.
"Corporal" answered the cadets.
Outside the room, Admiral Dawson and Captain Isabella Valdez had been listening.
"Wolf 359, this one will cause chaos" said Admiral Dawson.
"How is our guest tutor?" asked Isabella.
"Getting ready to teach the cadets a valuable lesson" answered Admiral Dawson.
"This I've got to see" replied Isabella smiling.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Empress Iodokar got a message from Terra, it read
"We, the Senate of the Empire unanimously vote to formally dissolve all Imperial military forces and dissolve the Terran Empire. We will not serve a mongrel half breed and demand her total unconditional surrender, refusal to heed to our demands will result in the dissolution of the Terran Empire."
"There's a last part" reported Admiral Lot. It read,
"If the Dog Empress does not dissolve the Terran Empire, we hereby dissolve the Terran Empire and declare a Republic."
Jodi's mood changed very quickly, gathering her commanders, she briefed them,
"I have to return to Terra with my forces, Admiral Lot will come with me. Regent Solat, I hereby name you Grand Admiral and Commander in Chief of all Imperial military forces in the Gamma Quadrant. Keep the enemy away from the wormhole, trillions are counting on the courage of your troops. Admiral Lot, link up with Admiral Barclay and move on Terra, it's time to confront the Senate."
With that, Jodi and Admiral Lot returned to the Alpha Quadrant. Solat's forces were now re-designated Grand Fleet Gamma and reinforced by an extra 1200 ships, Solat, honouring her deal with the Romulans named Admiral Veel'Riz (red) as her XO and put him to work planning the next stage of the defensive campaign.
I.S.S. Tikal, Omega Anchorage, Betazed (MU Yellow)
The cadets all took their seats for their first test, when the tutor walked in, the cadets saluted her.
"Morning all of you, what we have planned for you all today is a test of character. All of you will be put through the Battle of Wolf 359, one of the greatest tragedies in Federation history" said Heath briefing the cadets.
All the cadets were confused at first,
"Wolf 359?" asked Sumner.
"My dad's uncle was killed at Wolf 359, I don't know the full facts though" commented Trianna.
"You will take turns in command of the U.S.S. Kyushu" said Heath.
"Who are we facing?" asked Foster.
"The Borg" answered Heath.
"Cyber-zombies, this should be easy" replied Foster.
"Since you think this will be easy, you go first" ordered Heath.
Foster went first and soon walked out of the simulation after lasting less than 10 minutes,
"How are we supposed to beat that?" asked Foster, "It was like firing blanks at that Cube" he complained afterwards.
"Valdez, you're up" said Heath.
"Hopefully I don't go the same way as my Great Uncle" replied Trianna before she went in.
She emerged after 12 minutes,
"They adapted to my weapons and drained my shields despite every attempt to counter them. Battle over" said Trianna afterwards.
Over the space of the morning, the cadets were put through the test and all had the same result, they were defeated in less than 15 minutes by the Cube.
After reviewing each cadet's performance, the instructors noted while some remained level headed and calm, others had just froze and panicked. Heath then revealed the full facts about Wolf 359 and the cadets all realised that it was an impossible situation,
"Captains must face the possibility of a no-win situation, how a captain deals with it also affects their crew's morale. Cadets Valdez, Sumner, Deranis and Thorpe, you all kept calm and tried to counter the Borg. You merely just delayed the inevitable, good job on keeping your crew's morale up and not giving into fear" said Heath.
"Ma'am" answered those cadets.
"Foster, Relora, Groves and Edwards, you all froze and panicked. That gets people killed" said Heath.
"The enemy cheated, it's like they have cheat codes" replied Foster.
"The Borg adapt very quickly, the same strategy and particle weapons do not work on them once they have adapted. Learn from that" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Foster.
"I'll hand you all over to the Admiral" said Heath
"I want to see your self assessments on my desk in two hours" ordered Admiral Dawson.
"Yes Ma'am" chorused the cadets.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"That's the last ship ma'am," Vaylin said looking up from her console. "The migration from the Red Universe is complete."
"Good. I never liked that place."
"Be nice Thay," the Empress chided.
"I don't have to be. I'm hugely pregnant and over due!"
She looked down at her bulging midsection.
"I love you little one, but GET OUT!"
"We'll go back to practicing your being calm..."
"I have a ship coming through unauthorized," Vaylin a announced.
"Red alert," Thay commanded. "Prepare to lock weapons."
The ship emerged from the wormhole and came to a stop.
"That's one of our deep exploration ships," the Empress said surprised.
"We're being hailed."
"On screen."
The Empress was surprised to see herself on the screen.
"Empress," she bowed.
"Captain Heath. To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Permission to join you over here ma'am?"
"Why?"
"Not to fond that the person in charge is the sister of the one who tortured me and my friends."
"Understood. Permission granted welcome to the Yellow universe."
"Thank you ma'am. "
"You got here just in time."
"I can see. Tell me why the minefield?"
"To ensure that their problems stay over there," Thay answered. "We have more than just mines here captain. Anything that tries to come through without permission won't survive to be questioned. Now if you'll be so kind as to move..."
"Yes ma'am. Sorry ma'am."
The ship moved and behind it the mines and weapon platforms activated and vanished from sight.
"Follow us back to Betazed," the Empress ordered. "We can catch up on things there."
"Yes ma'am."
"You know," Thay purred. "That makes four of you that I have access to."
"And?"
"Oh the fun I'm going to have... Once this one GETS OUT OF ME!"
The Royal Fleet had left to Terra after the Senate had tried to seize power and disband the Empire, Solat was now Commander in Chief of all Imperial Forces in the Gamma Quadrant. Her XO was Admiral Veel'Riz, they had decided to use the trapped Hur'q ground forces as a beacon to draw more swarms into their killing grounds.
Terra, 24 hours later (MU red)
The Senate had declared war on the throne, Empress Iodokar decided to make an example. Since the traitors were barricaded inside the Senate building, Jodi had transport inhibitors put into positions and civilians evacuated before opening fire on the building from orbit. By wiping out the Senate, Jodi had played right into their hands and fired the first shot of the Civil War. Across the Red Empire, traitor forces came out of hiding and the fleets that had sided with them were in position to strike at their targets.
On the ground, Imperial Army troops found themselves protecting civilians in their bases and bunkers under siege from traitor forces. In space, traitor fleets now opened fire on Imperial fleets, shipyards and supply depots, the attacks crippling the Empire's logistics. In effect, the Empire was fighting a war on two fronts, it was Imperial vs Imperial, Loyalist vs Traitor and it was a total war as the first targets hit were the cities of Medara and Rixx on Betazed. In a 24 hour period, the centres of both cities had been reduced to ash by firestorms, it was the same story across different worlds of the Empire of the traitors opening fire on civilian cities.
The War for Imperial survival had started and it would be brutal.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"This is Colonel Deissler of the 33rd Imperial Army, we are under siege" said The Imperial commander via subspace radio, little did he know that all communications had been jammed. In the fortifications, the 70,000 man garrison were sheltering over 800,000 civilians and the situation was becoming dire. Every able bodied civilian who could be put to use was conscripted with the adults helping man the defences while those between the ages of 12-18 were passing ammunition, food and water to the fighting troops and assisting the non-combatants.
The fighting was intense as tanks clashed with tanks and infantry on both sides exchanged fire, once the traitors had brought their artillery up, they opened fire on the fortifications. Among the defenders, losses began to rise as the traitors threw waves of troops at the fortress. Colonel Deissler's men were holding their own but they were under severe pressure, of their 200 tanks, 100 had either been knocked out or damaged, of their 120 artillery pieces, 60 were out of action as Colonel Deissler finally managed to get a brief message out to Imperial command.
The traitor forces now occupied their siege lines, they had 170,000 infantry, 140 tanks and 100 artillery pieces. In space, 1400 traitor ships now put up a blockade of the planet.
I.S.S. Papela, Terran orbit (MU red)
Empress Iodokar read the reports, the civilian losses were not good reading. In the first 24 hours, 250,000 civilians were either killed, wounded or missing including 60,000 on Betazed. Admiral West was recalled from the Gamma Quadrant and Admiral Lot was dispatched with a fleet to link up with West's forces and bring them to Jodi. When Admiral Phillip West arrived, he was met by an angry Jodi,
"Majesty, my 500 ships are at your command" said Admiral West.
"Majesty, Ambassador Smith has also arrived" reported Admiral Lot.
"I'll speak to him in my office" answered Jodi.
When Jodi arrived, Smith bowed before taking a seat and handing Jodi the proposed peace treaty with the Federation Alliance, it read,
"A 100 year peace which can be renewed by future generations.
A Non-Aggression Pact lasting 100 years, again it can be renewed by future generations.
The wormhole is the new border with passport controls on Deep Space Nine."
"I'm sensing you have a request" said Jodi as she read the treaty draft.
"Ma'am, permission to evacuate my mother to the Prime universe? I want to get her out of harm's way" asked Smith.
"Granted" answered Jodi.
"Thank you ma'am" replied Smith.
"Let's discuss this treaty draft" answered Jodi as she got two cups of tea from the replicator and passed one to Smith.
Betazed (MU yellow)
After the Wolf 359 test, all the cadets were gathered around in the mess hall for their assessments.
"Cadets Valdez, Sumner, O'Hara and Diralla, good job on keeping your crew's morale up. Cadet Valdez, a starship is not meant to be used as a projectile" said Heath.
"Only other choice was hurling insults at the enemy, ma'am" replied Trianna which caused some laughs, "all joking aside, weapons were useless, shields drained and the enemy was boarding my ship. The only choice was to sacrifice myself, my crew and my ship to try and damage that cube" she said afterwards.
"A Borg Cube can still function even if 78% of it is destroyed" answered Heath.
"That is resilient" replied Trianna.
"The Borg are resilient, there is a chance you may meet them for real. Their regenerative abilities make stopping their ships very difficult" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Trianna.
"Cadets Foster, Derallis, Forbes and Seisa, what happened?" asked Heath.
"We got overwhelmed" answered Forbes.
"That was painful" commented Seisa.
"They have cheat codes" said Foster.
"The Borg adapt very quickly, no same particle weapon and strategy works twice on them" advised Heath.
"They're just mindless drones" replied Foster.
"The Borg hive mind is very intelligent, never assume they are mindless drones. Anyone who thinks that usually ends up dead or assimilated" advised Heath.
"Ma'am" answered Foster.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
"Non-aggression pact lasting 100 years? Explain" asked Empress Iodokar
"We've held the peace process, the recent skirmish at Deep Space Nine opened a new line of talks. To ease tensions, a century long non-aggression pact would be a good bedrock to expand on. It's flexible and a good deal for both sides" answered Ambassador Smith.
"What are the terms of the peace treaty?" asked Jodi.
"The wormhole is the border with full passport controls, any ships from the opposite side caught illegally being in each others' space is to be escorted back to the border and be sent back immediately" answered Smith.
"And the crews?" asked Jodi.
"Unharmed" answered Smith, "that was at President Ford's insistence" he said afterwards.
"Given the recent events at Deep Space Nine, the Federation Alliance have proven that they can be trusted. How quickly can this be signed and ratified?" asked Jodi.
"Next Federation Council meeting, it'll have to go through a vote" answered Smith.
"Some will oppose it, how do you intend to get them onside?" asked Jodi.
"I'll be speaking as a combat veteran, it should get the point across" answered Smith.
"The last part I like, can be renewed by future generations. This is long term" replied Jodi.
"That's the flexible part" answered Smith.
"Take this to the President Ford, tell him the Terran Empire accepts the deal" replied Jodi.
"Ma'am" answered Smith.
"Where's your personal guard?" asked Jodi.
"I've got one of the canine kind, saved my life on more than one occasion and vice versa" answered Smith as he called Attila over.
"Big dog" commented Jodi.
"He's a Terran Timber Wolf" replied Smith.
"I heard he gave Naynta quite the scare" answered Jodi.
"That was meant as a lesson, there was no harm intended" replied Smith.
"I know. Fair warning, she's on this ship" answered Jodi.
"Thanks for the heads up" replied Smith, "I never got round to saying it, thank you to your family for giving me and my crew a way out of a bad path in life" he said afterwards.
"You've earned our respect, my mother had a way of turning around people's lives and making a lasting impact" replied Jodi.
"She'll be missed, it was an honour working for her" answered Smith.
"Thank you for your service to mother" replied Jodi.
"You're welcome" answered Smith.
"I've had Kestrella contact your mother, I respect duty to family" said Jodi as a call came in from Solat, "Ambassador, go and speak to your mother, she's waiting for you" said Jodi afterwards.
"Ma'am" answered Smith before he put the agreement into his case, got up and bowed to Jodi before leaving the office.
"Regent, siutation report?" asked Jodi to Solat via subspace.
"We have a weapon that will send the Hur'q a clear message" reported Solat, "permission to deploy thalaron ordinance?" asked Solat after sending Jodi the current strategic picture.
"Granted, thalaron weapons are authorised at your discretion" answered Jodi, "wrap up the war against the Hur'q as quickly as you can, I need your forces ready to move" she ordered afterwards as she sent Solat the strategic picture of the civil war.
"As you wish, culling the swarm should persuade the Hur'q to retreat back to their homeworld. The Dominion have provided ships and troops to help in the culling" replied Solat.
"Good hunting, Terra out" answered Jodi.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Admiral Phillip West had arrived at Terra with his fleet, as per his orders, he had political officers attached to his crews. At a War Council meeting, Empress Iodokar briefed her commanders,
"Five days ago, Betazed came under siege. The Imperial garrison has fallen back to the main fortress along with the entire civilian population, we have nearly 900,000 people trapped. They have enough supplies to hold out for another month at most, they need to be relieved and resupplied. Furthermore, the traitors have erased Betazed's entire cultural history, murdered 60,000 civilians and destroyed all Betazoid temples, books and holy artefacts. That's crossing the line, this cannot go unpunished."
"That is a new low, cultural genocide" said Admiral West.
"Indeed, we are going to break the siege and we are going to catch the traitors and wipe them out. No quarter will be given nor asked" replied Jodi.
"How many traitors are we facing?" asked Admiral Lot.
"We have an accurate order of battle. 170,000 infantry, 140 tanks and 100 artillery pieces" answered Inquisitor Seisa (red).
"State of garrison?" asked Admiral West.
"70,000 infantry under siege, 200 tanks and 120 artillery pieces, 600,000 civilians under arms or in support roles behind the fortifications along with 200,000 non-combatants. Colonel Diessler's casualties have started to mount, 12,000 kill or wounded, 100 of his tanks either knocked out or damaged and he's only down to 60 artillery pieces" reported Seisa.
"This is the order of battle for the Imperial 17th Army, 150,000 infantry, 700 tanks, 500 artillery pieces and 1500 fighters. Command of the 17th Army will fall to General Cadis" said Jodi.
"The army cannot do much until Starfleet achieves orbital superiority, the blockade will be a problem" replied General Cadis.
"Five fleets will take part in the relief. Admiral West, you have the Imperial 3rd and 6th fleets. General B'tar, you will command the Klingon fleet. Admiral Lot, you will take command of the Imperial 1st fleet and I will bring the Royal fleet. I want suggestions for breaking the blockade" answered Jodi.
"The Klingons deploy a fleet of Bird of Preys carrying special forces and infiltrate the traitor blockade before landing on the surface and deploying the commandos to provide recon and link up with the garrison. The heavier Vor'chas and Negh'vars transport food, ammunition and supplies down from orbit using Betazed's magnetic poles to hide the ships from enemy sensors" suggested Admiral West
"Once the main fleet arrives, the commandos begin hit and run strikes on traitor positions to tie down their forces while the main relief army of 100,000 troops and their equipment lands and opens up the main assault on traitor lines supported by armour and air power" added General Cadis.
"At the same time in orbit, our forces infiltrate the blockade via cloak and appear between the planet and the traitors then deploy the remaining 50,000 troops and equipment via landing craft while they provide covering fire" continued Admiral Lot.
"The rest of the fleet then launches the main assault on the traitor blockade sandwiching it between the loyalist fleets, with the blockade gone, the ground battle will be a lot easier" finished Admiral West.
"It will still be costly, we are looking at potential heavy losses assaulting those traitor positions" said General Cadis.
"General, the Imperial 1st fleet can cover your landings. We've got your back" replied Admiral Lot.
"Admiral, thank you" answered General Cadis.
"Those dishonourable petaQs will rue the day they started a war" said B'tar.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Smith returned to Terra with his mother and using a transdimentional transporter, beamed to Earth. At the Terran Embassy, Smith got his mother settled in and introduced her grandson to her.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Under the cover of cloaking devices, the Imperial 1st Fleet and Klingons infiltrated past the traitor blockade and took up position behind Betazed's moon, they now began landing special commando teams. In the fortress, the Imperial 33rd Army soon reestablished contact with Imperial command.
In orbit, the main fleet warped in and took up battle position, on the right was the Imperial 3rd Fleet and on the left was the Imperial 6th Fleet with the Klingons manning the centre with the Royal Fleet positioned in the rear as a reserve and protecting the Imperial 17th Army. Empress Iodokar watched the tactical display of the battle as destroyer and escort groups moved ahead and began to screen the larger ships. Aboard the I.S.S. Belisarius, Admiral West split his forces into two groups and ordered the destroyers and escorts to commence hit and run attacks on the traitor lines to pull their ships out of formation. At first, the traitors held the blockade line but after a battleship was isolated and engaged by Inquisitor Seisa's group, the traitors were forced to redeploy their forces to deal with the destroyer group attacks. In short order, the I.S.S. Artemis, I.S.S. Hannibal and I.S.S. Sulla were knocked out of the fight with hits being scored on their life support systems.
Seeing the Traitor lines redeploying, Jodi smiled as she ordered Admiral West to commence the next phase. The 3rd Fleet moved into position and crossed the traitor's T and opened up at close range with broadsides, as the traitors tried to turn away, the 6th Fleet crossed their T again and opened up with another barrage of broadsides. The traitors now tried to evacuate their forces but Admiral West and Admiral Lot now began what could be described as a three fleet dance of death as the loyalist fleets circled rounded the traitors and kept on firing, the destroyers and escorts were also in on the act as they launched hit and run torpedo strikes on the traitors. With the blockade forces now trapped in a mobile vice, the Imperial 17th Army began it's deployment. The Imperial 1st Fleet covered the landings as the traitor ships had been caught between the 3rd and 6th Fleets.
Empress Iodokar smiled as the traitor losses were coming in, everywhere the traitors tried to go, there was a battle line hitting them with broadsides and crossing their Ts. The loyalists showed no mercy as the traitors' life support systems were hit, no prisoners were taken as each traitor ship was disabled then the crew killed by hits to the life support. 1400 ships were captured by the loyalists and their crews all killed and vaporised.
On the ground, the defenders of Betazed looked up at the battle being fought in orbit and knew relief had arrived. Colonel Deissler was ordered to hold his positions as Imperial mechanised infantry and tanks raced across Betazed from their landing zones. Closer to the lines, Inquisitor Seisa had landed with a commando team and after linking up with the other commando teams scouted the traitor lines noting each location carefully. Once the mobile relief force arrived and crashed into the traitor siege lines, mighty tank on tank duels raged as infantry dismounted from their vehicles and stormed the traitors trench lines. The commandos now struck at traitor communications and supply dumps, anything that could not be taken was blown up. The intel gleamed from these raid found a weak point in the traitor lines, General Cadis now ordered a push through the weak point and punched a hole in the traitor lines, the breach was widened and eventually, the traitor lines were rolled up and wiped out. Imperial Infantry now marched into the fortress and linked up with the defenders, after 15 days of fighting, Betazed declared secure.
The troops were greeted as liberators and heroes by the people of Betazed. Empress Iodokar led the troops in as people cheered at the troops. The Imperial 33rd and 17th Armies were merged into Army Group Betazed, they would now garrison the planet. There was more good news, in the Gamma Quadrant, Solat detonated a thalaron device against a Hur'q swarm, the Hur'q seeing their whole race potentially wiped out returned to their homeworld and went back into hibernation, a cordon of tractor mines and thalaron mines were deployed to keep them in.
Solat now turned her fleets around headed back to the Alpha Quadrant, Dominion forces now took over protecting the wormhole. When Solat arrived at Vulcan, she prepared the rest of her forces and recalled her Delta Quadrant forces.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius
Jerome
I'm in my ready room with Amy on my lap. Currently, my family's intel network is giving me a lot of information on Federation and Alliance movements and strategies. The rest of my fleet is cloaked and stationed in geostationary orbit above Ganymede to avoid detection by Federation forces. My mate and her family are on Ganymede Station after our defeat at Alpha Centauri which resulted in the loss of 65 vessels out of the original 70 just to buy time for the LPC to fortify the Sol system . I open a channel to the starbase commander and say, " Admiral Luperca, my spies told me that House MoKai's regrouping at QoNos to lick their wounds and plan another attack on Sol."
"Jerome, we can't allow that to happen so I'm giving you a Fenrir class battleship named the LCS Akela as a backup. Steven's currently handling the intel side of things which leaves you to carry out the next operation. I also relieved your mate of military command due to recent intel of a plot to assassinate your kids."
"Thank you Admiral. My ally will be instrumental in the next phase."
An anthropomorphic wolf (Void) wearing armor enters the room and says, "Don't worry about the KDF's 'intervention'. I told the general and one of his allies to stay out of this conflict. Just teleport me into J'Ula's flagship and I'll take care of the rest."
"Thank you Void. Make sure you bring J'Ula and all high ranking members to me alive after we work out the plans for an offensive. I want to personally question them without UFP oversight."
"Yes High Admiral."
I feed Amy some fish and berries and open a private channel to my mate. I send, "Sapph, meet me and our allies on the station when you can. We'll discuss the plans soon."
Sapph
Ignitus cuddles me into his chest with his massive paws and says, "Sweetie, I know you lost most of your pups in the battle, but you need to stay here so your mother and I can ensure you and your heirs' safety."
"Thanks Dad. I can monitor my mate's task force from here."
"You're welcome. Let's go to the meeting." He takes me to the conference room and I take a seat next to my mate. Void, Admiral Luperca, and some Federation observers from the Prime reality.
Luperca
"Alright people, we need to come up with a plan to finish off those Klingons once and for all. J'Ula is a brilliant commander as seen in the Battle of Alpha Centauri. The fact that she managed to defeat two of my best admirals says it all." I say as I play the log of the battle on the holonet. All the Prime Federation officers have telepathic guards with a TR116 aimed at their heads. One of them laughs and says, "Oh come on. Klingons aren't that tough Admiral."
"Guard, take that upstart Captain to the holodeck. I've a recreation of the battle set up for him." I order. The guard takes the captain to a holodeck with the simulation ready and without safeties. With that out of the way, I turn to the holonet.
I say, "Listen up, intel from 2 sources confirms my suspicions. J'Ula's fleet is now comprised of 50 light ships, 10 battlecruisers, 5 battleships, and 1 dreadnought (Lukara). Jerome, isolate the flagship from the rest of her fleet to disrupt command and control. Once that's done, take out the light ships to remove J'Ula's screens. After that, mop up the larger ships and take J'Ula and the rest of her high ranking officers alive for enhanced interrogation. Her grunts are worthless so space them."
"Yes ma'am.", Jerome says and prepares to beam to the Akela. J'Ula and the rest of her House will feel our wrath when they're brought to Ganymede in chains.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
I'm in my ship's CIC at the moment. The loss of 65 vessels at Alpha Centauri out of our 70 is a huge loss for us so we need to be careful right now. The rest of my family are at the briefing room with Admiral Luperca and a contingent of Prime Federation observers. A message appears on my screen and says, "Jerome, the admiral requests your presence at the station. Sapph out"
"Roger that sweetie. Void, take care of things here" I put on my enchanted armor and teleport to the station.
Luperca
"Alright people, we need to come up with a plan to finish off those Klingons once and for all. J'Ula is a brilliant commander as seen in the Battle of Alpha Centauri. The fact that she managed to defeat two of my best admirals says it all." I say as I play the log of the battle on the holonet. All the Federation officers have telepathic guards with a TR116 aimed at their heads. One of them laughs and says, "Oh come on. Klingons aren't that tough Admiral."
"Guard, take that upstart Captain to the holodeck. I've a recreation of the battle set up for him." I order.
The guard takes him to the holodeck and activates it with no safeties. With that out of the way, I turn back to the holoscreen and continue, "Recent intel from 2 sources confirms my suspicions. J'Ula's fleet is now comprised of 50 light ships, 10 battlecruisers, 5 battleships, and 1 dreadnought (Lukara) in the Ajilon system. Jerome, take your fleet to the system and capture J'Ula and the rest of her high ranking members for enhanced interrogation. Isolate the Lukara from its fleet to disrupt command and control. Once that's done, disable the rest of the fleet so Confederate and Council assault teams can beam in and capture their objectives. After J'Ula and the rest of her House are in your brig, destroy the ships. "
"Yes ma'am." He says and beams over to his new flagship (LCS Akela). I motion Sapph to stay behind so her family can ensure her and her heirs' safety.
"Simba, you have forgotten me. You have forgotten who you are … you are my son and the one true king." (Mufasa)
Empress Iodokar was inspecting the damage along with Admirals West and Lot, Kestrella and her guards.
"Same story across the entire planet, all libraries and books burned. The entire cultural database has also been wiped" reported Admiral West.
"All our people's cultural sites and relics have been destroyed and recycled, any Betazoids who tried to protect the knowledge were killed" reported Admiral Lot.
"Those were irreplaceable, what is a people without it's history?" asked Jodi as she tried to control her temper.
"Admiral, I would watch I would say if I was in your position" advised Kestrella.
"Ma'am, words cannot describe this, he who destroys a good book destroys reason itself" said Admiral West as the shock eventually wore off, "it's an old Terran saying" he said afterwards.
"Admiral, I am pairing you up with Admiral Lot. I want the people behind this found and I want them brought to me alive and unharmed, use whatever resources you two need but leave their families out of it" ordered Jodi.
"I am going to have a lot of fun, no one makes it personal with my family and people and lives to get away with it" said Naynta.
"Admiral, bit of advise here for working with my sister, she likes to play with her opponents much to her detriment. Some fair warning" advised Kestrella.
"Kestrella, not cool" remarked Naynta.
"Try not to traumatise the poor Admiral" answered Kestrella.
Jodi stepped in and restored order, "Kestrella will coordinate the hunt from my ship, search every system if you have to and show no mercy to any rebel forces that get in your way" she ordered.
"My crews are up for a spot of revenge, some of them are Betazoid and Bajoran" answered Admiral West.
"Admirals, go rest your crews and get some rest, you two start your hunt tomorrow" ordered Jodi
"Ma'am" answered Both Admirals before they beamed to their ships.
-Lord Commander Solar Macharius