Star Trek
Die a Warrior
2398
Z-3 Sector
Nell System
Martok Class Battleship IKS Lotarhkin
"Ship decloaking aft," a Klingon female at the sensor station informed. "Romulans Chancellor!"
"By all means, fire," the aging warrior answered. "Don't give them a change to decloak."
He sat clad in full armor with the heavy Chancellor robe weighing significantly on his shoulders, as had his leadership post over these past decades. His black long hair had started to turn grey. His future weighed heavy on him, would he die in bed an old man on a warrior's death in battle?
It had been almost a year since the Klingon-Romulan War broke out. the war had been brutal and that could barely describe the ground engagements. They were brutal, blood and oft merciless for the Romulans when they lost. Z-3 Sector was the third sector the Klingons fought in. Two Romulans sectors had already fallen to the Klingons and with the beloved and famous Chancellor Martok at the helm victory looked certain.
He sat in the command chair of his Battleship. A fleet numbering well over a thousand vessels crewed by veterans encroached on Nell IV, the only inhabited planet in the system. It was a mining world with a population of a mere five thousand, but the mines produced Duranium, enough for dozens of Freighters a week hauling it with filled cargo holds.
Seventeen Birds-of-Prey that acted as the Lotarhkin's support ships was joining in firing at the Warbird. The result was the vessels imminent destruction.
"Chancellor, a Wing of Warbirds is making a break through out frontlines," the ship's Commander announced.
He was a short but menacing man. He had the long hair similar to most Klingons with a long beard and a genuinely menacing voice to boot. Kor was his name. Martok had made a mental note of his name being the same as the famous Kor, the Dahar Master. not strange since it was a relatively common name, not rare at least.
"They are heading for us," Kor added.
The view screen zoomed in on them and Martok saw the desperate vessels take a pounding from all surrounding Birds-of-Prey. Two Battlecruisers and a handful of Birds-of-Prey had broken and laid in a pursuit course.
"Target them," he ordered.
"Firing Main Disruptor," Kor said, pointing to the tactical officer.
It hit an already damaged Warbird and blew it and its crew into the dark void of space.
"We are in their firing range," Kor said. "They are opening fire. Our shields are holding as expected."
The Lotarhkin was a beast of a warship and proved it while firing ten Plasma torpedoes simultaneously. It was a new type of torpedo that stronger than those previously-and mostly still-in use. At a high velocity they swirled through the void and impacted the weakened shields of three different Warbirds. The 45 Disruptor Cannons equipped across the beast of a warship was blasting away intensely. One of the Birds-of-Prey in support around it was ripped in two pieces. The Battleship's main disruptor cannon leapt into action and blew a Warbird away.
Martok thought about how this war had started as the Battleship traveled through the debris that had been a Warbird moments ago. It had been a silly thing, but easily abused. The aggressive Praetor had sought to expand without casualties and he saw a small Klingon border system that had ones been a mine planet but was mined out. It had a colony of two hundred civilians on it, a tiny thing. But fifty Romulan ships sailed through the void and into the system, dropping six thousand soldiers there and engineers to build defenses. They didn't think the empire would fight over an utterly worthless system.
However, the new generation of Klingons that grew up on tails of the Dominion War dreamt on it, and many on the High Council didn't like the Romulan slight. While some feared an unwinnable war, he did not. On a personal level he worried about dying on old age instead of the bridge of a warship in battle. With those reasons in his lap he assembled two thousand vessels and crushed the puny offenders, freeing the civilians as a bonus. That was the beginning of the war, a war he planned on ending within a year.
His only proper failure was the pacifist Federation Council that saw his people as the aggressors given as they said 'exaggerated response', referring to their war declaration and invasion of Romulan border colonies. This Martok scoffed at. He could hardly blame the Federation for wanting to ignore a threat rather than deal with it. Praetor Tormaka was a pro-war maniac that would continue his warmongering if nobody put their foot down. He had already spent two decades viciously expanding into the Beta Quadrant proper, two entire sectors worth of expansion. The Federations response had been his great failure, his belief that the Dominion War had changed their opinion and stance to desiring to act before a proper war started. That was part of what he was doing. Halting a conflict before the Romulans had the gut and confidence to start it themselves, show them he wouldn't tolerate their transgressions.
Another Warbird was destroyed as the Klingon fleet advanced. the some hundred defending ships fought barely. Time and time again he was pleasantly surprised over the Romulans fighting spirit. But the ambush tactics annoyed him greatly. The irony that his navy performed the same ambush tactics was not lost on him though.
The bridge shook lightly.
Suddenly he witnessed several of his warships suffering heavy damage on the view screen his own ship shook heavily as well.
"What was that? Report!" He demanded.
It took Kor a moment to respond.
"Mines Chancellor," he explained. "The Romulans hid a cloaked minefield that just detonated in our ranks."
"Damage to my fleet?"
"Seventeen ships destroyed, forty-eight crippled or badly damaged and over a hundred and fifty suffered only minor damages." The report came quick and in Kor's stern voice.
Martok leaned forward.
"Clever," he mumbled. "Treacherous and filled with trickery." He looked at Kor. "Continue the advance. They have played their ace up the sleeve."
"Yes Chancellor!"
With over a kilometer in length the Lotarhkin was a new breed of vessel, a larger more powerful breed, you might say a distant cousin of the Dominion Carrier or the Federation's Tempest class Carrier, though the latter was still on the drawing board. It was a transition to a new type of warfare with larger more powerful capital ships rolling into service.
The Klingons flanks had begun an encircling maneuver and started closing off the Romulans rear.
"Chancellor," Kor said amused. "The Romulan flagship is heading targeting us."
Martok laughed. If that admiral sought a duel then by Kahless he would get one!
"Target him with all weapons," he said with a vicious grin.
Kor grinned, though more menacingly than even Martok. The Romulan Battlecruiser fired everything they had on and the Martok's Battleship didn't hold back. Disruptors flared and plasma torpedoes launched. Two of the toughest ships in both sides arsenal went head-to-head. For a moment Martok thought of his son Drex, his Bird-of-Prey was out there somewhere. Probably. There was off course a possibility that he had fallen in battle already. As the bridge shook he ceased all thought on that matter.
"Their forward shields are almost down. Detecting an explosion on the bridge, a conduit ruptured." Tactical declared. His eyes than widened. "Sir, they have plotted a collision course towards us!"
Martok spared the young Klingon a glance before speaking.
"Evasive action Helmsman."
"Aye Chancellor!"
The desperate Admiral was too close already and rammed into them causing serious damage. Half the bridge crew was thrown to the floor or into consoles or walls. Martok himself had to get up on his feet and steady himself against a console before returning to him command chair. A handful of consoles was exploded, most likely exploding plasma conduits insulator malfunctions causing the volts to rise from around thirty-five thousand volt to three or four hundred thousand and result in an explosion in a poor Klingons face.
"Report!" He bellowed.
Kor who managed to remain standing answered quickly.
"Shields down, main Disruptor offline and hull breaches on six decks and damage to all decks and warp engines offline. Casualty reports coming in," he answered promptly. "Sixty-five dead, over three hundred wounded."
"Have our support ships cover us until we get the shields back online!" Martok roared over the noise of beeping alarms and fires on the bridge.
"Transmitting orders now!" Kor assured and pointed at the communications station. The middle aged woman keyed away after nodding in confirmation.
The Birds-of-Prey supporting them was already doing their best to cover them from any threatening enemy vessel when their received their orders. But two Heavy Valdore Class Warbirds with Reman crewed Dhael class Warbirds acting as escort was smashing through Klingon formations above and heading to deal the Klingon flagship a knockout blow in hopes of halting the offensive. When they reached their target only the two Valdore class starships remained.
For a moment Martok was amused and felt a hint of greater respect for the Romulans suicidal defense of their territory.
"We need shields back now!" Kor yelled at his bridge crew.
"Incoming torpedoes!" Tactical warned.
"Brace for impact," Martok said simply, remaining quite calm. "And shut the damn alarm off!"
There was a violent force that shook the bridge.
"Impulse engines are gone. We're dead in space." The man at tactical paused. "One Heavy Warbird destroyed." A salvo of torpedoes from the Lotarhkin had finished it off. "The other have lost shields!"
Kor turned to Martok.
"Chancellor, we have to abandon ship!"
The Valdore Warbird impacted a Bird-of-Prey partially and caused a crippling explosion that damaged both ships, the Romulan the most as pieces was ripped off. it had enough momentum to swirl onward towards the Battleship.
Martok narrowed his eyes on his First officer.
"I am not abandoning my flagship!" He sneered.
"Sir!" Tactical roared suddenly. "Collision in five seconds!" He sounded very concerned.
"Take evasive action!" Kor barked to the helmsman.
Martok's response to the collision was a light laugh.
"It's heading right towards the Lotarhkin!" The Lieutenant at tactical informed with a tense voice.
The Commander leaped out of his command chair.
"Put us between the Romulan Targs and the Chancellor's ship!" She barked.
"We won't make it in time!"
Commander Zazhora M'nogo spent a mere second thinking about the matter before she leaned over the helmsman's chair.
"Take us to warp for a second and close the gap, quickly now."
"Yes Commander!"
She braced for impact as the micro-jump occurred, however, the crippled Warbird was a micro second faster and dealt the flagship a crippling knockout blow. All the speechless bridge crew could do was stare as the Chancellor's ship was turned to pieces of debris.