ST: TOS/SW: KOTOR X-OVER

The Great Sith/Federation War

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Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no man has gone before.

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The Star-date is 8722.0. The United Federation of Planets still exists, but four years ago the Starship Farrago, floating precariously close to a black hole, discovered an exotic device of unknown origin within the event horizon of the singularity. When the Farrago, under auxiliary power, approached the device for further study is inexplicably activated. A waveform expanded from the device and enveloped many of the Federation's member worlds, including Earth, and sent the absorbed worlds through the very fabric of the space-time continuum. When the waveform dissipated what remained of the United Federation of Planets found itself millions of years in the past, within the outer arm of a galaxy far far away.

Three years ago, contact with the outer colony Helion Prime was lost. The battle group sent out to investigate was almost completely destroyed; only one badly damaged Constitution class ship returned. Its remaining crew told of a seemingly unstoppable alien warship that had effortlessly annihilated their forces.

This was the Federation's first encounter with a group of humanoids known as the Mandalorians, a collection of space faring warrior clans. The one clan that wasn't directly engaged with the Galactic Republic waged war upon the Federation with gruesome diligence.

After a series of crushing defeats and obliterated colonies, the Mandalorian clan Furya mysteriously surrendered to Admiral Preston Cole's defense fleet at Andoria Prime. The day before this event the Mandalorian main fleet had been defeated above Malachor V by the Revan Fleet. With the loss of their leader, Mandalore the Ultimate, the clan Furya gave up their imminent conquest of Federation space and became a Federation member within a year's time.

The surrender of the planet Furya came not a moment too soon. After the induction of the Mandalorian warships and technology into Starfleet, the Jedi Civil War erupted across the galaxy. Existing Starfleet vessels, refitted with advance hyperdrives and shielding, staved off all three advances the Sith Empire made on the Federation's frontier.

Needless to say a state of undeclared war has existed between the Sith Empire and the Federation for the past two years as the Sith press their attacks on a fledging Galactic Republic. One ship, the Enterprise, has been dispatched beyond Federation borders, hoping to spearhead diplomatic talks with the Republic at a planet called Taris. The Federation's plan: form an alliance with this Galactic republic and help bring an end to this destructive conflict before more lives are needlessly lost.

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Chapter One: Tarisian Encounter

"Captain's Log, star-date 8722.3: The Starship Enterprise has been dispatched from Starbase Nine to the Taris system in what is known as the outer rim territories by this Galactic Republic we will soon meet. The Enterprise is currently making use of the newly installed hyperspace engines. Mister Sulu informs me that we'll be able to make the trip to Taris in 3 hours as supposed to the countless years it would have taken under maximum warp speed. Computer end log," Captain James Tiberius Kirk stated into the center chair's armrest recorder.

Kirk readjusted his teal green wraparound tunic and stared out into the view screen. The stars had stretched into starlines and had a mottled, purple-and-black appearance. Just the sight of the vortex of stars in front of the Enterprise has an awe-inspiring effect on the Captain.

"Mr. Sulu, how long will it take for use to reach Taris?" Captain Kirk asked his highly skilled helmsman.

Sulu quickly looked at the readout on his console and turned his head toward the Captain and replied, "2.1 hours present speed, sir."

"Very good Mr. Sulu. Mr. Spock, I think it's about time we opened our orders," Kirk said as he turned toward Spock's science station.

Commander Spock was bent over looking through scanners view piece that jutted out of his console. "One moment captain. I am attempting to scan beyond the Hyperspace barrier."

"Having trouble Mister Spock?" Kirk asked as he approached his First Officer.

"Captain, it seems that we can only receive a minimal amount of sensor data on how should I say... normal space for a lack of a better term. I have tried everything to compensate for the spatial distortions inherit in Hyperspace travel. It is truly fascinating," Spock replied as he raised his head up and looked at the captain.

"Fascinating?" Kirk said adding, "We can talk more about this on our way to the conference room. Lieutenant Uhura, call Scotty and Bones and tell them to meet us at the conference room as well."

"Aye sir," Uhura replied as Captain Kirk and Spock entered the one turbo-lifts on the bridge.

xxx

McCoy walked out of sickbay and headed for the turbo-lift down the hall. McCoy was surprised that Nurse Chapel was now a Doctor. She had only left the ship a couple of years ago, after the Farrago incident. It seemed he'd underestimated her abilities.

He finally reached the turbo-lift door and waited there for a few seconds until the door rushed open. Scotty was clutching the turbo-lift handle.

"Ah, McCoy, how is it at sickbay?" The chief engineer asked as Leonard McCoy entered the elevator.

"Not bad. What I really need is a good nurse, not another doctor, but I guess it could be worse," McCoy commented as the lift reached its destination.

"Aye. I still haven't read all the technical journals on this new hyperdrive system. I suppose that we all have our own little problems," Scotty replied in his thick Scottish accent as the two made it into the conference room. Kirk and Spock were sitting at their usual seats looking at the blank monitors at the center of the table they were gathered around.

"Welcome gentlemen. I'm glad you can join us," Kirk greeted.

"Well, I've got sickbay ready. Now will someone tell me what's going on?" McCoy asked gruffly. He didn't like to be kept in the dark about anything.

"Of course, please sit," Kirk, replied. Once Scotty and Bones took their seats Jim spoke up. "Computer, Captain James T. Kirk, request access to order 64."

The computer beeped and stated, "Prepare for retina scan." Captain Kirk looked into the new installed retina scanner at the side of his console. A low powered scanner examined the captain eyes and the computer beeped again. "Access granted."

The slender face of Captain Samuel Halvay of the USS Valley Forge came on screen, smiling. "Hello Jim! I wish this were a live transmission so we can actually talk, but for the purposes of secrecy, well, you get it Captain. As you very well know the Federation is currently in a state of undeclared war with the Sith Empire."

Samuel's facial expressions became more somber as he continued. "The only reason why the Federation hasn't been successfully invaded by the Sith is the fact that they are currently at war with another galactic spanning power know as the Galactic Republic. Your ship is being sent out to Taris to rendezvous with a Galactic Republic fleet and open more formal diplomatic relations. We want to end this war before it reaches our front door. We can't handle another Helion Prime. There is supplemental information with these orders that you and your first officer should get acquainted with. Good luck and God speed Enterprise. Halvay out."

The four Starfleet veterans sat back into their chairs, taking what they'd heard. All of them were wondering what would happen in another two hours when the ship reached Taris. Finally, Bones spoke up and said, "Another Helion... What kind of inhuman megalomaniacs live in this galaxy!"

"If we use human history as a precedent Doctor, logic suggests..." Spock began to say.

"Logic! My god man, we are talking about madmen who I wouldn't trust with a toothbrush and a bar of soap destroying worlds!" McCoy burst out of turn. Scotty and Kirk chuckled amongst themselves at the doctor's outburst. Spock just stared at the emotional doctor and raised his eyebrow in confusion.

"Really doctor, you must learn to control your emotions. They will be your undoing," Spock commented. McCoy started to form a retort when Kirk stepped in.

"Gentlemen, please. If Captain Halvay is even remotely correct, then this mission may very will decide the fate of the galaxy. Spock, the data cards," Kirk prompted.

"Of course captain," Spock replied as he placed a yellow computer card into the terminal slot in front of him. "Computer, retrieve mission data."

"Working," the female computer voice affirmed as the computer wrote the supplemental information on the computer card.

"Report to your stations. Looks like we'll have a long day ahead of us," Kirk added as the computer finished writing the information onto the yellow card.

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Since Captain Kirk and Mister Spock were busy looking over the information on the Sith and the Republic, Lieutenant Sulu got a chance to take command for a while. "So Pavel. What was Spock talking about earlier about the sensors?"

"Well, let me see," the young Russian stated as he looked into the scanner visual scope on Spock's console. "Hmmm... Interesting. Might as well not have the scanner on while in Hyperspace. I hope that the coordinates I set are accurate."

"Why is that?" Sulu asked as he turned around in the "center chair".

"From what I heard from our new Mandalorian instructors, if we don't plot accurate hyperspace routes we could 'run into a star or bounce too close to a super nova', we can end up dead," Ensign Kyle stated apprehensively while managing the helm console.

"Well, that's reassuring," Sulu replied sarcastically.

"I wouldn't worry about it. You have a Russian as a navigator," Chekov stated jovially as he sat back at his assigned post.

"Now I feel better," Kyle quipped in return as he fiddled around with the controls. "Hey, how do you stop this thing anyways?"

"Well, you pull that small lever at the left of your console. But only when the timer next to it reaches zero," Chekov chimed in.

"Oh, that makes sense. So we still have about 30 minutes to go then," Kyle supposed.

"Really? The Captain has been down there for a good amount of time. You think..." Sulu began to say when the turbo-lift door opened up. "Well, speak of the devil," Sulu concluded as Kirk and Spock exited the lift. Sulu rose up out of the chair, relieving Kyle of his replacement position at the helm.

"Mister Sulu, what's our ETA?" Kirk inquired as he took his seat.

"31 minutes present speed," Sulu stated as he looked at the console's analog timer counting down.

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The Endar Spire and it small fleet of support ships had been orbiting Taris for about three hours now. One of the young Jedi Knights assigned to the taskforce entered the observation room where Bastila was taking the opportunity to reflect and meditate on the coming mission. She found Bastila floating with her legs crossed. She didn't want to wake Bastila out of her trance, but she needed to talk to her.

"Bastila? I'm sorry for barging in like this, but I need to talk to you," the young female Jedi knight said. Bastila woke out of her trance and slowly landed on the floor.

"Yes, what is it?" Bastila asked, a bit groggy from the recent meditation.

"I have a bad feeling about this mission," the Jedi Knight confessed. She bit her lip while saying this. She felt awkward about telling a padawan who hadn't yet passed the trials about her feelings, but Bastila was the commander and much more experienced in dealing with the Sith.

"Yes, I do too. We barely know anything about this 'Federation' we are supposed to meet. We've only had minimal hyperchannel communications with them. This will be our first real contact with them," Bastila Shan confessed as well.

"Actually I was talking about our 'Passenger'. What if he doesn't remember a thing? What if the Dark Lord should return? They've put a lot of weight on us," the nervous Jedi knight added.

Bastila rose up straight from the floor and put a sympathetic arm around the female Jedi's shoulders, "The force will guide us; always. The Sith will lose just as they have in times past. Thank you Alexia, for relieving my anxieties." Alexia, the young female Jedi knight, feigned a smile and walked out of the room.

As she walked out of the observation room she felt a disturbance in the force. One she never felt before. She took one more step when the battle alert klaxon sounded. The Sith had found them.

xxx

"Well Mister Chekov, let's see if your calculations were correct. Mister Sulu take us out of hyperspace," Kirk ordered.

"Aye sir," Sulu replied as he pulled the little lever down. The starlines contracted as the ship shuddered violently forward from the sudden deceleration. Taris was in clear view on the view screen.

"Is that always going to happen?" Chekov asked out loud. Sulu merely shrugged. He was certainly glad that the chairs had seat belts and had been bolted down to the floor during the refit. "We seem to be 100,000 kilometers off of our planned exit point sir," Chekov added as he glanced over his nav screen.

"That's alright Chekov. As long as we don't crash into a star I'm fine, but next time check your calculations with Commander Spock. Now Mister Spock, what can you tell me about Taris, and have you been able to find the republic fleet?" Kirk asked as he took his seat belt off and scratching his shoulder vigorously. Whoever had installed it had placed the belt just right to give him an intense itch.

"Taris is a Class M planet with a large cityscape along the equatorial region of the planet," the Vulcan replied.

"Large cityscape? Can you be more specific Spock?"

"Perhaps you should see for yourself." Spock stated as he put Taris's cityscape on the video monitor above him, displaying a vista of towering metallic spires jutting out toward space almost on the surface of the planet. Spock continued looking into his scanner and added, "Captain, I am reading large amounts of ionized energy and high yield plasma dispersal going on near the far side of the planet."

"On screen," Kirk ordered. The main viewer switched to what Spock was talking about. There was a firestorm of super heated red plasma streaking toward a helpless Republic cruiser Kirk surmised from its hull markings. This diplomatic mission has just changed to a rescue mission.

"Red alert! All hands man your battle stations!" Kirk called into his ship wide comm. The red alert klaxon sounded as the targeting scope on Sulu's console extended out of its hold. "Mister Sulu, bring us within transporter range of that red and white cruiser taking the pounding."

"Aye sir," Sulu replied. The Enterprise zoomed toward the battle at full impulse.

"All shield screens are at full power sir," Kyle replied from the engineering console on the bridge. As the Enterprise closed on the battle ahead, the small and nimble Sith fighters became more visible. They were attacking the republic cruiser like a swarm of bees would to defend its hive. Just where that hive was lurking was the question in Kirk's mind.

"Security and Medical personal to the transporter room," Kirk added into his armrest comm.

"The ship has lost hull integrity on several decks and two of her thrusters are off-line," Spock added.

"Once we're in range draw those fighters off with photons set to proximity Mr. Chekov. Once they turn toward our position fire a tight dispersal pattern using phasers Mr. Sulu. That should destroy most of them," Kirk ordered.

"Photon torpedoes ready sir!" Chekov stated as he placed his thumb on the photon controls.

"Closing on target captain," Sulu added.

"Fire Mister Chekov!" Kirk bellowed out. Six glowing blue photon torpedoes launched out of their mothership toward the firestorm ahead. Most of the torpedoes passed harmlessly by the swift Sith fighters. The last one however slammed into a boarding pod headed for the Endar Spire and destroyed it in a flash of exploding antimatter.

"Confirmed one hit. It seemed to be a boarding pod of some type. Enemy fighters are now closing on our position," Spock called out from his science station.

"Distance?" Kirk asked.

"30 kilometers and closing captain."

"Sir should I fire now?" Sulu asked worriedly. The swarm of fighters was heading for the Enterprise like a pack of rabid Tiberian bats.

"Wait for it," Kirk stated intensely

"20 Kilometers," Spock reported. Now the Sith fighters began firing off their laser cannons at the exotic looking ship that had killed several Dark Jedi who were preparing to board the Endar Spire. These aliens were going to pay for their insolence.

"Shield screen 1 at 79 percent! Shield screens 2 and 6 at 87 per cent!" Kyle reported as the ship rocked violently from the near constant barrage of super heated tibbana gas.

"Now Mister Sulu! Fire blind, lay down a pattern!" Kirk ordered sternly. The phaser banks on the under side of the primary hull fired wildly toward the oncoming fighter wave. All but a few of the fighters were instantly vaporized in a matter of a seconds as light blue phaser beams decimated all but a few fighters. As the Enterprise closed in further on the limping Republic cruiser additional phaser beams lanced out from the aft weapons bank located just above the shuttle bay, and finished off what remained of the Sith fighter group.

"Go to condition yellow. Spock, with me to the transporter room. Sulu, you have the conn," Kirk stated as he and Spock entered the turbo-lift.

"So much for a diplomatic mission," Chekov stated cynically as Sulu took the center chair again.