The End Of The Road
The battle was long, hard and costly to those on both sides. Star Empire every single hit, and just kept on coming. It had wiped out over half of the Destroyer Wing on its own, and the remaining Excelsiors and Ambassadors limped on with heavy damage.
"Helm, bring us about to 234 mark 112" Naomi shouted over the alarms that rang over the bridge. "Tactical! Target the Galaxy class ship to port. Fire full force at their aft shields" but no reply came as the ship lurched violently from an impact from the starboard side. Everyone was thrown off their feet except Mezoti, the twins and Naomi who gripped onto consoles or chair arms respectively. "Damage report!" she shouted.
"Port shields have failed. Hull breach on Deck 4. Hull integrity down to 67%" Azan said.
"Fire all weapons" Naomi ordered, but no reply came once more. When Naomi realised that no action had been taken, she turned round in her seat to find the tactical officer with a ceiling beam running through his head and into the floor through part of the console – quite dead. "Rebi, get to the Engineering station and use it for weapons" Naomi ordered.
"Aye, Aye, Captain" and vaulted the rail as he replied. "Locked on" Rebi added.
"Fire!" and phasers and torpedoes lashed out and found their mark – overloading the after shields of a Galaxy class vessel and punching right into the hull. Plating buckled and twisted away as the firepower of Voyager ripped right into her corridors and compartments.
"She's drifting out of control" Mezoti said – wiping the blood from her face.
"Destroy her" Naomi gave the order, and the broken vessel was turned into chucks of debris. "Steer 315 ahead one half impulse power. Status report"
"We lost another four ships outright, and seven more are abandoning ship. Enemy vessels have suffered moderate damage. Star Empire's shields are down to 91%" Mezoti said.
"That all we've been able to do?" Naomi whispered. She took a few moments to decide what to do. "Have all ships with Quantum Torpedoes remaining to target the aft shields on Star Empire. Once they are down, they are to throw every last firecracker at it until they have crippled one of the impulse units. We have got to strike her somehow"
"Message coming in from Martok" Azan said. "He reports that his cruisers are out of torpedoes"
"Thank him, then tell him to get out of here while he still can" Naomi said.
"Martok says he still has vessels with disrupters operational" Azan said after a moment.
"Never mind…" Naomi smiled grimly. "Transfer power to the forward shields. Helm, bring us about to face Star Empire. Rebi, I want you to fire everything you can the moment we face her. She'll be forced to transfer some power from her aft shields to either the forward set or to increase her forward weapons array" and Voyager shook again as they were hit by the mighty ship's photon torpedoes.
"Dorsal shields are gone!" Rebi said.
"Where the hell are our escorts?" Naomi asked.
"We just lost them. They took most of the incoming for us" Mezoti said just as a wave of flames ripped out from the stern of Star Empire. It ran in a jagged line over her impulse manifolds, rear launchers and the port nacelle.
"HER SHIELDS ARE DOWN!" Rebi shouted.
"Wildman to all ships. Leave Star Empire to the Destroyer Wing. All other vessels to take on her supporting ships" Naomi said.
"Hang tight" said the wounded officer at helm. "Coming about for another run"
"Rebi, target the sensors on the Legacy to port and fire wh-" but Naomi was cut off by a moan of painful shock.
"Naomi!" Mezoti shouted. "The Honour…" and they saw the Sovereign class ship bleeding air from all over, flames licking deep inside her shattered hull and bodies tumbling out of the ship. Naomi nearly broke her chair arm as she slapped open a channel.
"Icheb! Get out of there! Get to the escape pods!" she screamed as if it would help.
"Too late to get out" Icheb's voice was distorted from the link – clearly the Honour was in a very bad state. As Icheb continued talking, the channel kept degraded as if the damage was affecting the computer controlled systems. "Our primary systems are hit. We've got fire on all decks now…" the crew on Voyager's bridge could hear him sighing sadly. "There's nothing we can do except-" but the link was cut as the system damage was too much for the comm channel to handle.
"Icheb?" Naomi shouted "ICHEB!" but no reply came from the Honour. She came around to starboard, righted herself like a drunken fighter and engaged impulse engines at full burn. The once powerful Sovereign class ship stuck Star Empire amidships on the port side and ploughed right into her. The Honour exploded as the impact detonated her torpedo magazines and fuel stores. The explosion ripped through the other vessel from stem to stern, and, combined with the ramming of the Honour into her side, caused Star Empire to lose all power and begin to flounder in space. She was held together only by the most weak joints of her spaceframe, and she drifted out of the main battle zone.
"Icheb…" tears ran down the faces of the twins, Mezoti and Naomi as they watched the remains of his ship continue to burn in space and explode when the fires reached some combustible point.
"Star Empire is sending out a distress call. She is requesting that ships take her crew onboard" said the helm officer. He did the work himself as Icheb's friends were stunned at his heroic death and sacrifice.
"Not this time…" Naomi whispered. "Not this time you murdering BASTARDS!" and she touched a button on the comm panel. "Voyager to all remaining vessels. Target Star Empire with full power phasers and every last torpedo you have. Tear that ship to pieces – SHOW NO MERCY" she screamed and Rebi fired every last weapon he had at his disposal. He was not a killer of people in cold blood, but this was something completely different indeed. Within seconds, Star Empire's remains were being turned into their component atoms by the remaining vessels of the free fleet.
"Star Empire has been completely destroyed" Mezoti said quietly. "Other remaining vessels are offering to surrender" she added.
"Are they still firing?" Naomi asked.
"Yes"
"Then so do we" Naomi said, and looked back at the screen that showed the drifting remains of the Honour. Not much had been left after the explosion, and some of her hull plating which carried her name and registry number on the nacelles floated past. "Beam those aboard to the ready room" Naomi ordered Azan, and pointed out what she wanted. "Status report"
"Twenty seven vessels destroyed, thirty three crippled beyond repair and the rest are damaged but combat effective" Rebi said.
"What about us?" Naomi asked. "The fleet I mean" she added, and tightened her grip as the inertial dampeners failed to respond quickly enough to the turn to starboard.
"We've lost nearly three quarters of the fleet. The rest of us are either disabled or fighting in some manner" Mezoti said. "The damaged ships are attempting to withdraw, but they are being fired upon by Section 31 ships"
"Damn…" Naomi whispered out loud. "People, we are out gunned, out numbered by the enemy and we have absolutely no way to win. Continue firing until we can no longer do so" she ordered.
"And then what?" asked Azan.
"Then we go to warp, ram and take the biggest bastard down with us and go with honour" and nobody could tell if she meant the idea or meant Icheb's ship.
"All fighting has ceased!" Mezoti shouted from science.
"All ships hold fire" Naomi called, and looked at the devastation that was all around her. All she could was space littered with the broken shells of people and ships both enemy and friend.
# # # # #
"No…" Nechayev whispered. She had been following the battle from her office at Starfleet Command, and couldn't believe that her last remaining vessels had surrendered to Naomi. She vowed not to be taken alive by the brat, and tapped an activation code into her console, put her phaser in her mouth and blew her head apart.
# # # # #
Those ships of Naomi's fleet too damaged to fight were left behind to guard the surrendered vessels. Out of the hundred plus vessels that had started the campaign, only thirteen were in a situation to fight. Another three would be joining them shortly, and that meant just sixteen vessels to blockade Earth and force a surrender of a woman Naomi didn't know was dead. The Klingons and Terrik had gone, and Naomi assumed they had obeyed her order to get out of the fighting. Naomi had waited two hours for shuttles to collect those in suits that had managed to jump off their doomed ships, and then had gone to her quarters with Mezoti and the twins – leaving the bridge in the hands of an experienced Lieutenant. Icheb's loss had struck at her like a blow to the heart from Satan himself, and it had affected her other three friends in just the same way. Icheb had known what he was doing when he had rammed the Honour into the Star Empire, and he had done it to ensure victory and, most importantly, to keep his friends alive at the cost of his own ship and life. There was no need to recover the shuttles, so Naomi took the bridge for the final time in the civil war.
"All ships report readiness" said the helm officer. The bridge had been cleared up as much as possible, and the body of the tactical officer had been removed from his station and taken below to the makeshift morgue.
"Set course for Earth orbit – full impulse" Naomi said. The remains of the grand fleet moved off and were approaching Earth within a matter of three hours.
"I am picking up nothing but the defence platforms" Mezoti said.
"You're kidding"
"No… no shuttles, flitters or anything at all. Just the platforms in orbit"
"It can not be this easy" said Azan.
"It can't be" Naomi breathed. She had expected some kind of last ditched attempt to fire upon them, but it seems as if Section 31 had no more ships either with them or willing to fight for them.
"Your orders?" asked Mezoti.
"All stop" Naomi issued the ordered in a business like manner. "Hail Starfleet Command. Use Code 1 and punch it up in the clear. Find me somebody down there that can surrender to me" and the ships sat back with weapons on standby.
# # # # #
A group of Starfleet people and some of the Council had had enough, and they had stormed Nechayev's offices at Starfleet Command with heavy phaser rifles. There had been a small but determined resistance from those opposed to the takeover by Section 31. They smashed her door down and found the dead Admiral with the phaser in her cold lap. One look told them everything they needed to know about how she had died.
"Oh my gods…" said one of the Council members. "She's killed us all" he reached over and opened a channel to the blockading vessels. "I need to speak to Captain Wildman" he said.
# # # # #
"Signal coming in from Starfleet Command" said Azan. "Audio only"
"Put it up, and patch it through to all vessels" Naomi said.
"Captain Wildman! This is an emergency transmission. Admiral Nechayev is dead. She took her own life before we could arrest her, but she left a message on her desk. Two words: Scorched Earth. Captain, I believe she's turned the defence platforms towards Earth. We can't override the systems here. If you don't stop them, they'll fire in ten minutes" the Council member's was filled with emotions of worry and desperation amongst others. "Captain, the phasers and torpedoes on those defence platforms can level 40% of the planet's surface. You have to stop them before they can fire!"
"Wildman to attack fleet. You heard the message – all ships fire at will" Naomi said, and then pressed a button on her chair. "I need you"
"We are there" Terrik said, and decloaked along with Martok's Bird of Prey. The platforms altered their positioning and started firing on the attacking vessels. The ships split up to take out as many as possible in the short time they had left before the platforms fired their main arsenal on the planet's surface. Voyager was pounded like a punching bag from multiple hits, and the ship was making a mighty effort to stay in operation. From the reports that Azan was giving her, Voyager had cracked her spaceframe all the way down to the welding joints, and it was clear the she'd never make the jump to warp again. Even if they won this last fight and put the ship into drydock for repairs, it would cost too much to do everything that was needed.
"Shields are destroyed. Torpedoes impacting on all sides!" Rebi said.
"Continue firing!" Naomi called.
"I don't know how much more she can take" Azan said.
"CONTINUE FIRING!" Naomi yelled. The damage to them was great, but they kept on firing until they were unable to do so. Minutes passed and ships were hit by the fire from the platforms, but the fleet gave as good as it got. "See if you can get any ships over here to assi-" she was thrown to the floor as a mighty explosion ripped all over the saucer section. The console on the bridge overloaded and burst into flames, smoke drifted around and nearly everybody was either killed or knocked unconscious.
"Forward weapons are down!" Azan said. "We can't fire" he added.
"The last platform is coming online – ready to fire" Mezoti reported.
"Target?" asked Naomi.
"North America" Mezoti replied. "Impact point is our home, and then wipe out most of the Eastern Seaboard. Nai… there's no one else close enough to stop it" and the friends looked at each other at the realisation of what had to be done. Naomi looked at the flickering viewscreen which was showing the platform glowing with energy at the phaser emitters, closed her eyes in grim understanding and calmly took her place as Captain and Commanding Officer of the USS Voyager.
"All power to engines. Give me ramming speed"
"Aye, Captain" Azan's voice was strangely emotional as he complied with the order. Voyager's impulse engines blazed with power as every last atom was put into them, and she set off to destroy the target. The engines were overheating quickly, but there was no point regulating the temperature as there would be no more repairs made to the ship after this. The platform got bigger in the screen as they drew ever closer, and it was clear they would just make it before it rained death and destruction below.
"It was an honour serving with you" Naomi looked at her friends in turn as they stood by her in the centre of the bridge. She put an arm around her wife and pulled her close. "Don't look honey…" and the abandoned science station gave a weak bleep then failed as it attempted to alert them to a ship coming out of warp.
"Apollo to Voyager. We've monitored the situation – hold on to your hats" and she unleashed the full potential of her weapons ability. Torpedo after torpedo flew out of Apollo's forward launchers and struck the platform as it began to fire. It exploded and Voyager flew right into the cloud of fire, flames and exploding weaponry and came out the other side with her gaping wounds showing more clearly now.
"The last platform has been destroyed" Azan said, going back to his station. "We are being hailed"
"On screen"
"Captain Wildman" the flickering viewscreen showed a man in a Captain's uniform. "I am Captain Lefcourt of the USS Apollo. We are on route to your location with as many medical personnel as we can carry. We should be with you within ten minutes. Understand that you have damaged vessels among you"
"That is a bit of an understatement" said Naomi.
"We'll have tugs and teams of shuttles tow those cases to Utopia at once" Lefcourt said. "Sensors show that you have massive damage to Voyager. Do you require assistance and a tow?" Naomi looked around at her demolished bridge and felt pride that the ship had not failed them until the very end when her mission was over and done with.
"Negative, Captain. We can manoeuvre. Attend to those ships in greater need then us. Wildman out" and the man left the screen.
"We won…" Azan said.
"No we didn't… What we achieved was a tactical achievement. Too many people on both sides had to die first" Naomi shook her head. "Damage report"
"Damage to all systems" Azan said. "Life support is functional as are sublight engines. I'm reading red lines all along Voyager's lateral structure. She'll never warp again" he finished regretfully. There was silence on the bridge at the news their ship would never again jump to warp. She'd be forever confined to one system on impulse.
"Message coming in from Starfleet Command. They say we are to put in to Utopia Planetia for scrapping" Rebi said.
"Your orders?" Mezoti asked quietly.
"Stand down to cruise mode, bring the ship about to a heading of 180 mark 000, all ahead slow and assume a standard orbit" Naomi said, and Voyager flew unmolested and unchallenged by any enemies.
# # # # #
It had been four months since the final battle, and that time had been spent in debriefings and report making of everything that had happened. There had been an inquiry into the loss of the Honour, and Icheb had come out of it with a commendation for saving the lives of others, protecting the flagship of the fleet and upholding the highest traditions of the service. This may or may not have been because Naomi and Mezoti had appeared in full dress uniforms with medals at every meeting. Naomi, Mezoti and those who had supported Naomi during the fight were aquitted of any and all charges and commended for their devotion to the Federation and that their actions were within the highest traditions of service. Also given medals and promotions were the crew of the USS Emaila under the command of Captain Oskar Schindler who had taken on as many prisoners as the Galaxy class ship could hold and then kept them out of the reach of Section 31.
Those ships that could be repaired were given temporary repairs and dispersed to other shipyards for full completion. The rest were scrapped at Utopia Planetia or where they had been lost. Voyager had remained in orbit for a fortnight before she was moved to San Francisco Yards for some repairs. Her frames were strengthened for a landing in the grounds of Starfleet Academy where she would become a ground based museum for anybody who wanted to see her. The group had taken Voyager on one last trip to lay a wreath and marker buoy at the site of the Honour's last battle site. On her way back to Earth and her final resting place, she was manned not just by Naomi, Mezoti, Azan and Rebi, but also by a crew made up of Admirals and the senior most Captains in the fleet. They had given up their rank to serve under Naomi on Voyager's final cruise. Unless you used sensors to take a good look at her, you would have thought the ship was in a good state of repair.
"We are being hailed" Azan said. "Audio only"
"Open a channel" Naomi said.
"Voyager, this is Earthport Orbital Control" came the voice of an unseen woman.
"Go ahead, Control" Naomi said.
"Be advised that you are cleared for landing directly at Starfleet Academy" the voice said.
"Acknowledged" Naomi said.
"All craft have been warned off of your approach and entry vector. Traffic Information: Media shuttles and flitters operating on both sides of your approach vector. They will keep well clear at all times"
"Understood, Control"
"Smooth sailing, Voyager, and happy landings. Control out"
"Mr Torel, engage landing systems" Naomi said.
"Aye, Captain" Torel was a Vulcan and a Fleet Admiral whom had been taken captive by Section 31 while he slept. He was not a typical Vulcan as he ate meat, drank alcohol, gambled and was not bothered to hide his emotions like most of his people. "Landing system on standby" he said.
"Understood" Naomi replied. "Engineering, standby on atmospheric thrusters" she ordered.
"Aye" a captain replied.
"Helm, put us on our entry interface. Tactical, modulate shielding for atmospheric operation" Naomi looked over at another Admiral who worked the console like he had done so for a long time.
"We are in our entry window. Estimate landing in seven minutes" Torel announced and Naomi nodded in acknowledgment.
"Would you like to hear what is being said about us?" asked Mezoti.
"Put it up on the screen" Naomi agreed, and they watched different media channels showing Voyager's descent through the atmosphere. The ship hardly shook as it slipped through the skies, and soon they had slipped through the main part of the landing.
"Getting a lot of hails" said Mezoti. "Using that automatic program to respond to most of them" she added.
"Approaching landing zone" Torel said. Down in Engineering, a gaggle of Admirals and Captains mothered over the systems.
"Shall I lower the legs?" asked Rebi, and Naomi decided to do a few more tricks for addition to the Voyager legend.
"Helm, prepare to adjust your heading" she ordered. The ship swung round and away from the sprawling complex of buildings that made up Starfleet Headquarters and made its way to a spot over Golden Gate Park. Some of Voyager's original crew had been buried here years ago, and Icheb's pitiful small amount of remains had been interred so he could rest with his former shipmates.
"He would have liked this" said Rebi quietly.
"I believe he would" Mezoti said, eyes brimming with tears.
"Helm, commence hover" Naomi ordered, then activated the shipwide frequency that she knew the public would be tuned into. "Attention all hands, this is the Captain. We are now hovering above the Voyager Memorial. This ship will now observe a two minute silence in remembrance of those lives lost" and she rose from her seat. Once Naomi had finished what she wanted to do, Voyager went once around the bay area and then settled in to a gliding touchdown. All the time the rotating frequencies picked up some of the calls and channels showing her stately arrival.
"Voyager, this is American 137… my god are you beautiful…" the pilot of the shuttle said.
"American 137 from USS Voyager. Be advised this vessel thanks you for your compliment, and notes you aren't so bad looking yourself" Naomi said to the other craft. She watched the prepared landing ground coming towards them, and her mischievous side came out to play. "Mr Torel" she said, walking over to the helm, "I relieve you" and the Admiral vacated the seat. "Azan, put all power to the SIF and artificial gravity" she ordered.
"Sure thing" he beamed. The friends knew what Naomi was planning to do.
"Starfleet Command, this is Voyager requesting a flyby"
"Negative, Voyager, the pattern is full" said a voice.
"Well better clear it then" she told the voice, and rocketed over the grounds whilst performing a victory roll to port and starboard. On the viewscreen they could see people burst into applause and cheering the ship as it performed a manoeuvre that was supposed to be impossible for a ship that size in an atmosphere. Naomi lined up the ship for landing and checked her console.
"All hands, this is the bridge" Rebi called on the shipwide. "Prepare for immediate landing" and with a touch of thrusters, the majestic starship lowered itself to the ground as if settling down for a sleep.
"Bridge to Engineering…" Naomi's voice cracked, and she had to take a few moments to compose herself. Her next words would be some of the most important of the ship's existence.
"Engineering" a woman called up in reply.
"Bridge to Engineering" Naomi took a breath. "This is the Captain. Finished with engines"
"Understood" said the voice, and Naomi felt Voyager die and live on useful nothing but life support. The powerful warp core was lowered in output so it powered the lights, turbolifts, a number of compartments and the other few things part of the museum. Everybody disembarked from the ship and went about their assigned duties, and it was just the friends left on the bridge.
"Computer, how many crew persons are on Voyager?"
"There are no crew members on board" it replied. They all took one last look around the bridge and then stepped into turbolift S28 and walked off Voyager for the final time.
# # # # #
The USS Voyager landed for the final time on Stardate 63149 at Starfleet Headquarters. She would never ever fly again. Never feel the solar and interstellar winds on its hull. In her lifetime, she had been present during the most incredible things, taken part in life and death struggles, suffered damage that would have destroyed other ships… and each time brought her crew home. Voyager's legacy, already high, would be raised to the same level as the many Enterprise's that had served throughout recorded time. Some would say that the ship was haunted, and some would say that there are no such things as ghosts. Occasionally, things would move from one place to another. Or lights turn on and off when there was no command to do so. Sensor scans of the entire were inconclusive on the subject. Visitors to the ship often reported seeing figures walking around in different versions of the Starfleet uniform, speaking to one another as they went silently around the corridors. Sometimes the bridge would come to life when it was powered down, and other stations and locations would do that. My own opinion? Well, let us just say that I have seen things that nobody would ever have known about if those Children In Charge had not brought it home. Do ghosts exist? Yes, I believe they do. People may choose to think otherwise, or share in my belief. Ships that have been through as much as Voyager always have echoes or remnants of those souls departed from this world. They wait until all of them can be brought together again, so that they may serve together for infinity. Icheb joined them in the next life, and I rest a little easier knowing that one day I will join him, my friends and the large family I once had. As for the vessel herself, she has earned her eternal slumber many times over, and it should be the duty of the next generation to care for her. She did so much for me that it is the least that I can do for her…
Captain Naomi Wildman
Commanding Officer
USS Voyager
NCC 74656
A/N:
The final chapter in this fic, and part of the annual Christmas Bumper I give you!
Now then, who is for a sequel?
Pixel