Extract from: Born Midst Battle and Blood: A Story of the United Federation of Planets [Nvalnic Vos] [Botchok] [United Federation of Planets] [2213]
The failure of the T'Vron Offensive and the surrender of the Xindi Council was the decisive event of the Pact-Vulcan/Xindi War as it marked a devastating blow to the hopes of the Vulcan High Command in ending the conflict on its own terms but was most likely the underlying reason for the Romulan Intervention and what would seen as the so-called Fall of Vulcan within a standard year of the battles. What had become apparent to all the regional powers to greater and lesser degrees in the aftermath of these events was that the balance of power between the two warring factions had shifted decisively in the previous months, and more importantly was set to continue to shift further to the renewed Starfleet in the months to follow inspite of the successful retreat of a large portion of the Vulcan Battle Fleet under Admiral T'Vron to the fortifications at Weythan.
Indeed in the months that followed the battles of Xindi and Corinth the front-lines on the Andorian-Vulcan front again stabilised and stalemated with the next gain of six start systems by the Vulcans from the efforts of Admiral T'Vron as Starfleet attempted to reorganise its forces to corral the defeated Xindi who were rapidly approaching societal collapse from the conflict, and to implement the actions f Operation Percival, whose objective was to deal with the Sphere Builder threat discovered over the course of the occupation of the Delphic Expanse from the till then mysterious space-time warping Spheres discovered within the Expanse.
This of course was reflective of the overall nature of Pact-Vulcan/Xindi War with sudden major battles and decisive events occurring in between "lulls" of stalement on the front as each side probed the other for weakness and rebuilt for the next major battle, though after Corinth Starfleet strenght would continue to grow while that of the Vulcan Fleet largely stagnated due to production capacity having reached the end of its shipbuilding cycle prior to the T'Vron Offensive. While efforts were made in the aftermath of these actions till the 3rd Battle of Weythan to create a ceasefire or even peace treaty between the two warring factions, largely from the Tellarite dominated Coalition of Planets, it was to prove a fruitless endeavour as neither side could the others position as achievable by the other, mostly from the Human and Andorian governments belief which saw the prevention a Vulcan resurgence as vital to their possible survival as species and the inability of the Vulcan High Command to understand the emotions invoked within the Pact populations (and in most neutral populations) by the attacks on Earth and perceived culpability in such.
There was also a growing problem within the Pact itself in terms of the politics of the war, mostly created by the very success of the new Starfleet organisation which had rapidly evolved from a nominal combined command structure between the Human X-Com and the Andorian Imperial Guard into an effective synthesis of the two organisations owing to losses of the war and the increased integration. Quite simply by late 2154 Starfleet can be seen as a military force without a state and a clearly delineated chain to which government it reported, and the Pact itself unlike the Coalition of Planets had never been an integrated political entity rather instead been a military alliance between the various members and the friction caused from the lack of clear political and diplomatic governance was increasingly apparent as the war progressed.
Ironically some of this pressure would be relieved from outside the Pact governments by the Ferengi sponsored, and Tellarite supported, Federated Trade Council and its underlying Free Trade Region which allowed the increasing civilian convoy traffic and freight through the Pact territory to be more effectively managed through a series of tariffs, trade agreements and convoy schedules which brought something close to order to the chaotic Pact integrated economy that had developed over the course of the conflict.
Of course this was a pre-courser to the creation of the United Federation of Planets itself and clearly indicates that an eventual Union of the Pact species themselves was inevitable on some level due to pressures of the war, though it is less apparent than this Federation would have extended beyond Humans, Andorians and perhaps on an outlier the Kolari, without the efforts of the Klingon Empire in passing and the Romulan Star Empire in particular too unintentionally completely unify the Five Founders into the quadrant bestriding Federation we know today.
Indeed in the months of the second half of 2154 the relationship between the rump Tellarite dominated Coalition of Planets and the Pact of Andor continued to improve with FreeTrade Region itself a clear representation of this fact, as well as proving a significant economic and industrial boost to both factions as the trade and freight between the two almost quadrupled between July 2154 and January 2155, though this increase may have been a significant contributing factor for the events forcing the Coalition of Planets into the larger conflict the following year.
Of all the regional powers the Ferengi Alliance was the one to achieve the greatest benefit from the sequence caused by the conflict with the reversal of a situation of what had been a major economic depression due to over production suddenly been reversed since contact with the Pact as the till then excess manufacturing capacity found itself a expansive new market to fill, indeed after the Vulcan defeat and Xindi surrender the Ferengi appear to have written off any Vulcan chances for victory and a influx of Ferengi traders and mercenaries can seen to arrive to support the, now seemingly victorious, side of the conflict and reap the expected rewards of support such - if the events of 2155 had not occurred to Ferenginar then greatest winner of the Pact-Vulcan/Xindi war would definitely have been the Alliance itself in terms of economic power and diplomatic influence throughout the quadrants.
For the Pact species the new economic treaties proved major success in terms of speeding up the upgrading process of its shipyards and in further expanding shipbuilding capacity on lighter starships such as the NX-03's and logistics vessels, by the end of 2154 almost 30% of these starships been produced outside Human or Andorian shipyards which were now focused mostly on the NX-01 Heavy Cruisers and the newly designed Sevaijen Class Dreadnoughts which were intended to replace the Nova class battleships and Kumari class battlecruisers as the most powerful of the Pact's starships so as to again overpower the Vulcan Surak class in terms of firepower and durability.
With these starships being on continuous production and many reaching their final trials and combat tests towards the end of 2154 the Pact again began active operations in the Orion sector against the Vulcan backed forces their which had received a temporary reprieve in the aftermath of the T'Vron Offensive as the Starfleet 6th Fleet had been withdrawn from the sector and Operation Buccaneer suspended with the Kolari and remaining Starfleet forces going on the defensive for several months.
By the end of 2154 though a revitalised Starfleet 6th Fleet returned to the sector under Admiral Archer and with the increasing integration of the Kolari peoples into the United Kolari Colonies (UKC) from the reformed Botchok Planetary Congress the decision was reached to restart offensive operations versus the Coridanite forces in the sector who had managed to restore an effective convoy system and implement an systems of control over a network of systems that was both damaging to the UKC and also allowed a subspace detection system over the trade routes that helped improve Vulcan and Coridanite reaction speeds.
To address this the newly strengthened 6th Fleet was equipped with a significant number of the NX-01's which possess both a high warp factor and a wormhole transit drive which were deployed in a "Deep Raid" strategy under the aegis of Operation Blackbeard by utilising the NX-01's into "Wolfpacks" of between eight and twenty starships which would use the wormhole drive to transit to the empty space outside Vulcan and Coridanite defended systems before proceeding rapidly into the system (if the defences were inadequate) to destroy as much infrastructure and in-system starships as possible before again wormhole transiting out of the system before Vulcan rapid reaction forces could arrive to reinforce.
These attacks in combination with reactivation of Operation Buccaneer's commerce raiding strategy had within three standard months begun to result in significant problems within the Vulcan and allied economies as necessary war materials began to dwindle owing to attacks and the increased price of resources from the Coalition of Planets as the Vulcan High Command found itself competing with the Pact species for the resources from the neutrals, indeed rioting and terrorist attacks had begun to become a regular occurrence on Coridan, Mazar and other allied military governments as the quality of living of the civilian population began to nosedive resulting in bitterness and hate towards the Vulcan backed authoritarian governments of these worlds.
These attacks intensified as 2155 began as Starfleet began to work up its forces in the run up to a major Pact offensive that was intended to defeat the Vulcan Coalition under the codename Operation Ajax, which envision a powerful two pronged offensive towards primarily Weythan then unto Vulcan itself, along with a large-scale attack from the Orion sector towards Coridan with the intention of cutting off both reinforcements to the Weythan front but also with the intention of seizing the Coridan shipyards in the event of the failure of Ajax's primary objective.
This would turn out to be a very important decision as the Offensive was to prove both a major tactical disaster and a minor strategic success for Starfleet along with reaffirming the Vulcan Admial T'Vron as one of the great military figures of that era and led directly to what modern Vulcans refer to as The Fall Of Vulcan inspite of such a major tactical victory. Third Weythan was a masterpiece of a defensive battle as the Starfleet 3rd and 4th Fleets advanced the outnumber Vulcan fleet staged what appeared to be a phased withdrawal from the system owing to being significantly outnumbered by the attackers, all the while producing significant sensor clutter to obscure their apparent retreat; in actuality a large force of the Vulcan Home Fleet had been deployed to the system and were currently running "dead" in the asteroid belt space and wreckage of the previous Pact defences in the system with all but life support in active, the other element of the Home Fleet had also, after much argument, been deployed behind Weythan in a similar position which while leaving Vulcan virtually undefended beyond a phantom force of sensor disguised merchantmen did allow effecive concentration of virtually the entire Vulcan battle-line around the Weythan system.
Unfortunately the Starfleet forces advancing through Weythan would fall into this trap, as the retreating Vulcan fleet suddenly turned for battle as combined Pact forces occupied the system along with the sudden appearance of the two "ghost" fleets to the front and the rear of the Starfleet force under Admiral Dorian; the result is often considered the worst Starfleet defeat of the Federation Wars, or even to date, as almost four fifths of the fleets committed was destroyed, along with Admiral Dorian, in the brutal no quarter four hours of combat that would follow and end only with the rout of the surviving Starfleet forces and the retention of the Weythan system by the Vulcan Fleet.
In another war, or even earlier in the Pact-Vulcan conflict, such a decisive victory would have swayed the tides of war but not that day, as despite the this stunning success the second prong of Ajax under Admiral Archer would hit the Rigel system at the same time as Weythan was occurring and undo all the efforts of Admiral T'Vron and bring the Vulcan alliance crashing down from its aftermath. Advancing towards Rigel the 6th Fleet encountered a large Allied fleet consisting of Coridanite, Nausican and Mazarite starships, though supported by a Vulcan task-force incuding six Surak class battleships, the Starfleet force consisted primarily of Kolari starships supported by a large force of NX-01's and a number of Nova class.
The battle would be short and brutal, but also strategically decisive, as the 6th Fleet clashed with the Allied forces for around an hour of combat before the Mazarite component fled from battle suddenly, rapidly followed by the Nausicans and the sudden changing of sides of a dozen Vulcan allied Kolari Captains in the middle of the battle; suddenly finding the Vulcan task-force surrounded in the middle of battle the Coridanites and with virtually every Vulcan starship stripped from the Coridan system for Weythan,, the largest element of the Allied Fleet promptly turned about and fled for home, leaving their erstwhile allies to their gory fate.
As such the impact of the battle was felt shortly afterwards as the Coridanite fleet returned home and promptly launched a coup against the Vulcan backed government while sending out peace requests to the Pact and the Coalition of Planets in regards the new Republic of Coridan withdrawing from the conflict with the Pact while entering the umbrella of the Coalition. While the resulting peace negotiations were drawn out and chaotic, and would indirectly lead the Coalition to war, the immediate ceasefire threw the Vulcans into chaos as they were in no position with military force to prevent the Coridaite withdrawal and this withdrawal both crippled there remain industrial capacity but would lead to a domino effect in the following weeks of March 2155 as its remaining allies attempted to leave the war and the stage was set for the Romulans...
Republic of Coridan
Beta Quadrant
Combat Date 2155.05.17
The gentle hum of the human developed teleporter was the first sign of the arrival of the Starfleet Admiral and his Andorian aide de camp into the Presidential Place, We really need to get that technologyformer Commodore, now President Draeg of the newly minted Republic of Cordian thought observing as the two individuals materialised into his office to join him and the Tellarite Ambassador and his aide from the Coalition of Planets. Both were dressed in what he knew to be their standard non-combat uniforms, though both still were equipped with their personal side arms much to the annoyance of his and the Ambassadors four bodyguards.
"Admiral. Captain. Welcome to Coridan" he greeted them "It is a pleasure to finally meet you under pleasant circumstances. We have much to discuss"
The Human nodded "Indeed Mr. President. Congratulations on your successful restoration of ..ah...democratic processes to Coridan after suffering so long under Vulcan oppression."
Draeg hid a smile at the slight hesitation, thinking, Seems the Pact is still debating whether I'm the new dictator like that buffoon trying to take over in Mazar or I'm actually going to through with elections. Of course I am but seems getting everyone to believe I'm a patriot not some jumped up would-be military strongman will be more difficult than I imagined. Everything seemed so simple after Rigel. Get Home, Free Home, Make Peace, Retire to nice comfy house in the rural mountains. Nobody warned me about this...Politics.
"Thank you Admiral" he motioned to the two empty seats at his desk beside Ambassador Dral and his military aide "if yourself and Captain Shran could take a seat and we can discuss the recent problems encountered by our respective peoples"
The past two months since breaking away from the failing Vulcan alliance and rejoining the Coalition of Planets had started to see a series of increasingly disturbing and too date unexplained disappearances and attacks in this sector that had led to the Tellarite request for this rather bizarre occurrence of a military discussion between the newest Coalition member state, under Tellarite ah ...guidance... and the senior Pact representatives to prevent the tentative peace between them breaking down.
Both Starfleet representatives took their seats across from the President and the Coalition Ambassador then Admiral Archer began the conversation.
"As you've been informed three days ago near the Melona system one of the starship's under my command was engaged by two starships identified from their configurations as a Republic of Coridan Light Cruiser and a Tellarite Heavy Cruiser, our vessel, the USS Night-shadow was heavily damaged before managing to withdraw and regroup with further elements of my fleet. We initiated pursuit but the two vessels appear to vanish from out sensor track several light years from Melona.In the aftermath of this engagement my government contacted yours Mr. Ambassador and was informed that none of your vessels were in this region of space"
The Admiral looked at the Tellarite Ambassador
"And as the fact of our current meeting indicates we have reason to believe you. Having reviewed in depth the sensor readings our analysts have found several major variances in the weapons yield and phase variance at odds with combat performance seen from Coridanite warships. As ordered by my government I present the relevant data"
The Admiral then transmitted the indicated datasets to the President's and Ambassador's data-pads showing the record of the engagement including detailed sensor data on the combat performance of the supposed Coridanite and Tellarite starships, though the combat data readouts of the Starfleet vessel had been redacted.
It was President Daerg who broke the silence after two minutes as continued to scroll through the combat data "Yes I can see the issue". Ambassador Dral looked at the President questioningly.
I forgot the President thought he's not a military man.
"Our starships underwent a significant overhaul in terms of both sensors and weapons output since the start of the current conflict to stay combat capable with the Admirals starships, we've also had some Vulcan upgrades, and now again in period since we drove the Vulcans out. We've changed both the phase variance on our phase cannon arrays and our photonic torpedoes several times to increase yield" he tapped at a certain set of information on the data to indicate his point
"These variances and output yields are definitely pre-war. And they don't even account for the variance and yield increase we achieved from even the minor software improvements all our starships now have. Same here with the sensor data from the warship, its all wrong, almost a mirror image of our light cruiser sensor arrays but at the opposite spectrum output"
He sighed "someone is pretending to be one our starships and disturbingly must have alot of sensor information on our pre-war systems to even pull something like this off."
The Human Admiral nodded
"Yes we believe the same. We also have reviewed all our sensor logs of starship movements between Coalition territory and Melona and it has been judged statistically improbable two starships bypassing our sensor network" he nodded to the two.
"I'll be frank. Both of our sides have retained strict vigil over each others forces since the exiting of Coridan from the Vulcan war of aggression and both of our sides know roughly each others deployment numbers and where they are. If you were going to attack one of my starships your not going to send two starships to a back of beyond star system like Melona to attack them with all the effort it would need to bypass my pickets in between, there is also the other events that have occurred recently that both our governments have observed, is that not correct Ambassador"
Dral nodded with a calm look on his face "I believe you refer to the unexplained freighter disappearances and the Klingons, am I correct Admiral Archer"
"Yes Ambassador I do. We have also experienced a small number of unexplained disappearances of Kolari transports at the edge our territory, including the sudden destruction of one our observation posts two months ago in the Omega sector by unknown forces. Starfleet intelligence had believed that these were the act of the Vulcan Military Directorate, or the Intelligence Directorate, but with the location of these actions and these recent events my superiors believe a third party may be involved and seeks to provoke an outbreak of hostilities between our respective governments. Your government has been provided us several reports on the actions of the Klingon Empire towards Coalition freight traffic and their scouting forces. As agreed I am providing our sensor data on the possible difficulty to both our sides" he transmitted another range of data to their data-pads, though both he and his aide had somewhat unhappy expressions on their faces at having to reveal such information to a possible enemy government.
Both President and Ambassador stared at the information before Draeg spoke in a very soft voice "There's a full deployment of the Klingon battle-fleet at Rura Penthe"
The Human Admiral nodded "Yes. This information was observed twenty seven standard hours ago. In the aftermath of the events in the Melona system we began a full survey and recon of all possible escape routes for the attackers, and came across this deployment. We in the Pact of Andor have also encountered several ... issues ...with the Klingon Empire since the ascension of the United Kolari Colonies to the Pact and our advances against the Vulcans. This deployment is a significant concern to my government and I have been empowered to discuss possible measures to prevent an further Klingon aggression into this sector and to prevent any further attacks on our shipping from this possible third party"
President Draeg remained calm on the outside but inside was a storm of emotions as his thoughts reviewed the dangerous scenario, the Klingon fleet deployment was truly disturbing, with enough observed battlecruisers from the Starfleet data to easily match his own forces and the Coalition reinforcements. I need to get my own, or Telarrite, starships out in that direction yesterdayhe thought mentally cursing himself while the Human wasn't coming out and saying it the implication was that the Pact believed the Klingons, or an associated party, were mostly likely behind the recent run of mysterious attacks in the sector and was aimed at crippling the forces available to the defenders.
He marshalled his thoughts, the Humans are on the verge of winning the war with Vulcan inspite of that setback at Weythan, all the reports I've seen have Archer at least, completely on the advance since Rigel with Vulcan defences in the sector in a shambles. If I were the Klingons looking to opportunistically grab some territory then the window for getting involved while the Pact is distracted is rapidly closing, especially with the Orions of all people starting to resemble a regional power for the first time in centuries!.
"What are you proposing Admiral" Ambassador Dral asked
"The governments of the Pact of Andor and the Coalition of Planets would make a joint declaration that this region is off limits to Klingon adventurism. Starfleet is willing to offer a declaration that any attack on Coridan or other star systems such as Rigel will be considered an act of war by Starfleet and that our respective militaries would established a shared sensor network over the following sectors" he transmitted a star-map showing the proposed sensor area, all of which was well away from the current front-lines but would cover the entirety of the region bordering on the path to the Klingon Empire and where attacks had occurred.
"We would also in furtherance of the Federated Trade Region agreements propose allowing Coalition transports through the following sectors" further data on red and blue routes showing proposed convoy routes through secured Orion star sectors that would allow Coalition freighters full protection from Klingon "inspectors" on their current routes.
It was the President who enquired now "And what does your government want in exchange Admiral?"
"As indicated reciprocation on the sensor data from Coalition vessels in the agreed areas. Further we request the capacity to move military forces through Coalition territory in this sector" he held up his hand to forestall an objection as he clarified
"But only in the event of an attack on the UKC by an outside party not under the current conflict between ourselves and Vulcan which will hopefully conclude shortly. My superiors have also ordered me to offer joint patrols in several sectors and over the proposed trade routes"
Draeg's eyes widened slightly, for such a territorial species lie the Humans a significant concession "as long as we are allowed to reciprocate in the following sectors" further datasets followed.
The Ambassador and President nodded as Dral replied "Yes Admiral we are willing to discuss these matters in depth"
Weythan System
Beta Quadrant
Combat Date 2155.06.14
After two disasters in the system, once in defence and then again recently on the offensive the prestige of Starfleet, and the retention of Shras himself in the position as the Supreme Commander was very much at stake in what was to be the Fourth Battle of Weythan as well as finally forcing the invasion route to Vulcan itself and bringing an end to this bitter war.
This of course was one of the reasons that Shras himself had taken command of the Combined Fleet for this offensive, if it was to fail it would be no one's fault but his own, today was do or die to him; plus at his core Shras was an Andorian Admiral of the old school and would share the risks of the rest of the Imperial Guard and its allies rather than sitting light years from the front commanding from a holo-screen while his subordinates died for his stratagems.
With Admiral Archer launching a simultaneous offensive from Rigel it was believed the already stretched Vulcan battle fleet would be unable to resist the fully deployed strength of the combined 1st, 2nd and 5th fleets of Starfleet but still Shras remained wary of the knife eared Admiral T'Vron who at every turn had left a string of stunned and defeat enemy commanders, but this time Starfleet had a number of its surprises ready for him as Shras and the other fleet Admirals had embraced the concept of being properly paranoid for this venture in the face of there enemies.
"Commander" his human aide said as he brought up tactical details from the sensor feed on the estimated Vulcan defence "approaching Point Alpha. Signal from 2nd and 5th Fleets they are in position and awaiting further orders"
Shras nodded as studied the tactical screen noting with some surprise the Vulcan's had heavily reinforced the system, more-so that he had expected and only recently at that; Starfleet had been monitoring Vulcan movements in preparation for the offensive and from Warp signatures the Vulcan High Command had been withdrawing forces back towards Vulcan itself for several weeks followed by a large return signature just prior to his offensive.
It had been estimated by his analysts that the High Command had initially decided on retreating to make a stand in their home system but apparently something as yet unknown to them had persuaded the Vulcan fleet to risk battle, outnumbered, beyond the powerful defences of their home world, somewhat worryingly to the Supreme Commander as the Vulcan High Command and its odd logic till now had proven easily predictable on the strategic level; and this movement made limited "logical" sense from a Vulcan perspective.
"Order 2nd and 5th to remain in position as per Approach Bravo, 1st Fleet with begin assault at Point Mystral" he stated indicating an approach vector through the wreckage of the previous effort of 3rd and 4th Fleet failed effort to capture the system only a few months ago "were getting some telemetry from the destroyed vessels drone systems and the wreckage itself will mask our sensor profile and will have prevented effective deployment of a minefield".
His subordinate acknowledged this and began issuing a flurry of orders on the bridge of his vessel, one of the first of the brand new Severajiin class Dreadnoughts designed as a true joint effort of the Starfleet's member species from the lessons learned from the NX-01's; he had chosen the USS Avenger as his flag for this reason, with its massive interlocking armour belts and force fields systems, in addition to the most modern Andorian defector arrays the new starship class should survive against all but the toughest of the Vulcan weapons while remaining combat worthy; and most importantly for his plan the ship class with its new psi amplifiers and cybernetic systems would enable it to control a large number of combat drones in battle.
1st Fleet was the heaviest force available to Starfleet having been assigned to the defence of Earth throughout much of the war and Shras had further stripped the battered 4th Fleet of its two surviving taskforces of Nova's and similarly with 5th Fleet bringing its combat strength up to a hundred and eighty seven starships, though over half of these were Nova's with the remained being the new NX-01 heavy cruisers or some remaining Kumari's interspersed among the formation. Vital to his plan though were the eighty transports, many of them converted civilian hauliers purchased throughout the war that were just behind his battle wall escorted by a taskforce of NX-01's to their rear, with their cargo the staying power of his initially outnumber strike force would be increased dramatically inspite of the Vulcan defenders increased firepower and numbers.
The Vulcan defenders began to stir themselves to action as his Fleet penetrated Point Mystral and cleared the thickest of the wreckage and volleys of photonic torpedoes and long range phased canon fire began to lash out towards the Starfleet forces.
"Accelerate to72% Sub light. Initiate Phase Bravo-Two on my Mark" he ordered as the firepower directed against his fleet began to increase and several of the starships on the fringe of the Wall began to suffer severe damage.
As the 1st Fleet accelerated in a disciplined formation towards the centre of the Vulcan line his battleship heavy Nova's began to return fire from their heavy Fusion Lances and Plasma Torpedoes and maintaining overlapping shield ranks to shield the largely defenceless freighters and after four minutes had reached a position just off the centre of the Vulcan defences which had pushed the defenders back into something a U shape if it had been viewed on a two dimensional screen. It placed 1st Fleet directly in the crossfire of nearly the entire Vulcan defence and exactly where Supreme Commander Shras wanted his fleet to be
"Mark. Initiate Phase Bravo-Two. All Severajiins to activate MEFL system and target that central defensive station and surrounding forces, load for Elerium enhanced rounds"
With that order the force of freighters began to immediately dump their cargo bays of their contents before, now empty of their purpose and a liability in combat began to form up around the larger wormhole capable freighters and transit out of the system to relative safety. With the last transit of these vessels the 1st Fleet battle "Wall" began to form into an almost half spherical formation as the "cargo" came under the control of the Starfleet Psi and Cyber controllers and the thousands of combat drones and several hundred mobile disruptor platforms began to move into formation with the starships of the fleet forming an radically increased defensive belt for the force as the combined force of platforms and drones began to eliminate the Vulcan photonic torpedoes much like ancient Human anti-missile technology had functioned; even as this reorganisation occurred the six Severajiins began to reorient their firing position under the guidance of the flagship and began the firing sequence of their primary weapon system.
In real terms the Massively Energised Fusion Lance was a very simple concept developed mainly from having observed the terrifying power of the Xindi Death Star at Earth, X-Com, then its successor organisation Starfleet, had desperately attempted to design something capable of engaging such a weapon and hit upon the idea of spinally mounting a massive version of Fusion Lance system on Nova class.
While this had been initially discussed the conversion cost on these vessels, and their urgent usage on the front, had prevented this strategy and with the decision to build a "super-heavy battleship class" to combat the new Vulcan Surak's the MELF system was decided to be fitted on the flying firepower studded bricks designated Severajiin. Loading an enormous Elerium cored "slug" the size of many frigates into its primary array at the rear of each vessel it was then accelerated along the central magnetic railing spine of the dreadnought with so much energy and force that several out take valves had to be installed on each side of the dreadnaught, which emitted a plasma "plume" from each as the slug onwards.
The flagship actual shuddered Shras found as he felt a force push him back slightly into his command chair as the MELF system fired and he watched in fascination as the six plasma coated rounds flew towards the centre of the Vulcan battle line, one shell actually smashing through a Surak class on the way to its primary target! Within seconds the space station and a dozen vessels were incinerated in a emerald glow from the Elerium detonation and the previously disciplined Vulcan central formation was thrown into confusion.
He smiled slightly. "Initiate Bravo-Three now. 5th Fleet is to transit to a position 167 degrees astern of the central Vulcan formation" he ordered as the Vulcan defenders attempted to redouble their efforts by closing the range to hopefully overwhelm 1st Fleet with their numbers now that they'd discovered that the Pact had found a way to rebuild their starship firepower advantage at range after so many months.
Shras watched as six Alamo class space stations, fighter and combat drones pouring from there launch decks, the ninety four starships of 5th Fleet along with another fifty freighters carrying combat drones transited to the rear of the Vulcan formation which now found itself caught in the crossfire between two powerful combat forces and inspite of their numerical superiority were been increasingly decimated as the battle continued through the next hour of combat.
All Shras was growing concerned as he watched the engagement inspite of the comparatively light losses to his own forces and having 2nd Fleet in reserve, as it was no longer logical for them to persist in this battle yet they showed no sign of quitting the battlefield. He would receive his answer a few minutes later as his aide suddenly reported several hundred starships on route to the battle at high warp that would be identified several minutes later as an intercepted transmission to the Vulcan defence fleet.
"Children of the Forges of Vulcan your brothers and sisters in the stars long distant stand with you! Hold your lines against the savages and Victory shall be yours! Long Live Vulcan! Long Live the Romulan Star Empire!"
Combat Date 2155.06.14
Weythan System
Admiral T'Vron calmly observed the continuing battle as the Starfleet Wall of Battle continued to manoeuvre and articulate with meticulous and precise movements since the arrival of their Rihansu cousin's reinforcements; it was a mistake to continue attempting to hold Paan Mokar he knew but the Administrator himself had directly ordered the fleet to remain till reinforcement, at which point the Rihansu Admiral D'Sahen had assured the High Command of victory.
Unfortunately T'Vron noted as he observed the attempts of the Rihansu fleet to articulate at something resembling a formation the Rihansu appeared to understand the mechanics of large scale fleet manoeuvres learned from the war with the Pact but were unable to maintain them, instead reverting instinctively to the small manoeuvre groups when pressured. He was also increasingly convinced that D'Sahen was an arrogant fool who let his emotions control his actions after the mocking insults from the Starfleet Admiral had infuriated the Rihansu who continued to pit their starships in a slugging match with the Starfleet forces.
A truly foolish move he thought as his own Vulcan fleet attempted to move to flank the Starfleet left only to see the sudden transit space of another large fleet of Starfleet starships on the rear flank of D'Sahens forces watching as their combined fleets numerical superiority was further reduced; a numerical superiority they badly needed to maintain as while the Rihansu starships were quite powerful and a few had some sort of cloaking device their defences relied too heavily on their defector arrays and movement and the this slugging match with the tougher defences of the human designed starships.
He observed a section of the battlefield where suddenly the a dozen Rihansu starships including their flagship appeared to be having difficulties and was now manoeuvring erratically.
"T'Pol" he motioned to his new aide "contact the Rihansu Admiral immediately and bring up sensor readings on this section of the battlefield" noting the suddenly reduced Starfleet combat barrages on those starships.
"Admiral were having difficulty raising Admiral D'Sahen and we have reports of Human boarders from Rihansu starships near that location" T'Pol replied several minutes laters.
T'Vron nodded before replying "Get me the senior surviving Rihansu officer now. I believe the situation has turned against us"
Antares System
The Antaran government had problems.
The first of which was the alliance with the Vulcan-Xindi Coalition against the hated Denobulans which the current government had very publically agreed and lost any friendship it possessed with the nearby Orions and Andorians which had crippled trade and quality of life in the system and had recently led to humiliation by defeat.
The second problem was from its own population who had been somewhat unhappy about the resulting defeat to said hated Denobulans and reparations ordered under the peace treaty imposed upon them by the Pact.
The third problem had arrived only a few hours ago in the form of several hundred starships crewed by Vulcans who called themselves Romulans and had declared Antares a part of something called the Romulan Star Empire and was now converting the homeworld into a staging ground for an offensive against the Pact of Andor and the hated Denobulans.
And the fourth and greatest problem; the remains of the Antaran fleet, seven starships, along with the highest ranking free member of the government the former Minister of Public Works, now Chancellor, were fleeing towards the only possible hope to save Antares.
The Pact of Andor and the hated Denobulans.
Ferenginar System
The Ferengi Alliance had grown wealthy from the Pact-Vulcan Coalition War, its economy had been declining till the outbreak of the conflict and ever an industrious species the Alliance had swung its industrial strength to the highest bidders, the Humans, who were a similar minded species to the Ferengi themselves.
Now Ferenginar boomed as the system was filled with the massive haulage freighters of the Humans, Ferengi merchantmen and Orion "traders" as what had been previously worthless green rocks on the outskirts of the system and in the nearby Gavar system suddenly turned out to be highly valuable inert mineral called "Elerium" and with this discovery several Ferengi such as the now famous and wealthy Ullis had risen rapidly in status and thousands of younger Ferengi with limited prospects now flocked to the Pact in search of new acquisitions, profit and even to serve in the new Starfleet for its risky, but free, training that would cost a fortune on Ferenginar.
Due to this the system, and the Alliance in general, had become a vital cog in the Starfleet supply chain allowing the Human and Andorian economies to focus almost totally on a war footing by factoring goods and civilian services while also significantly increasing their shipbuilding capacity by outsourcing; over a hundred hulls lay near completion in the shipyards with a dozen others being readied for transfer to Earth and Andor for fitting for weapons and defensive systems.
Sadly for the Alliance today that newfound wealth and power was to have profoundly negative consequences as there was another stellar power that would not allow the development of a new regional power, be it through the battle hardened legions of Starfleet or the gold-plated latinum of a Grand Nagus; all instead would bow before the true glory of a Star Empire and know learn the price of so challenging the true masters of the quadrants.
Forty-six cloaked Romulan starships now approached the system at high warp, aiming for the twin objectives of the shipyards owned by the Grand Nagus containing the next generation of Starfleet NX-03 builds and the commercial hub near the centre of the system where dozens of freighters, including a few highly explosive Active Elerium carriers lay due to the poor safety standards of the Ferengi Commercial Authority, even as a team of operatives from the Tal Shiar, disguised as Vulcan merchants infiltrated and destroyed the central sensor section of the civilian special control centre throwing the system traffic into chaos as the cloaked starships suddenly arrived in their midst firing disruptors and high yield torpedoes.
Not a military species and now caught by complete surprise the reaction time from the defending forces was slow and fragmented and did little to impair the attacking Romulans.
By the time the attackers left the system fifteen minutes later having suffered only two lost to them, month's worth of the Pact's war material had been destroyed, the vital shipyards and processing centres they had been supplying crippled or reduce to wreckage and an entire fleet worth of starships lay as nothing more than floating wreckage amidst the dead and dying workers who had built them...
Coridan System
New President Draeg was living a walking nightmare.
He had only recently agreed a defensive agreement with both the Pact of Andor and the Coalition of Planets to protect him from the Klingon Empire, a minor miracle having only getting out of the war with Pact and Vulcans thumb so recently, and after his daughter's birthday yesterday the universe had finally seemed to be treating him and Coridan with a little piece of goodwill after all the problems of the past few years.
And now he was on armoured transport fleeing the Presidential Palace for the surviving Fleet in orbit after the installation had come under assault from what were very obviously Vulcan special forces seeking his death and the decapation of the government even while a dozen invisible starships had suddenly appeared in the system before destroying Fleet Headquarters and heavily damaging the vital shipyards before vanishing after been beaten up by the Fleet. Dead bodies of Vulcans had been found among the wreckage by sensors and now a large force of starships was on route to Coridan at high warp with very obviously hostile intentions. Distress calls and pleas to honour the defence agreement were sent to the both Starfleet Admiral and Coalition Taskforce as he moved to take command of the Fleet and attempt to save...
Botchok System
To the Kolari the Botchok Planetary Congress had been a joke of a government and useful diplomatic vehicle for dealing with the other ignorant species of the quadrant, and each colony and the closest thing to an actual government in the sector, the criminal organisation known as the Orion Syndicate, did as they wished.
But times had changed with the War as the Humans and Andorians at long last seemed set to topple the filthy abolitionist Vulcans as the great power in the sector and more worryingly other powers such as the warlike Klingons and mysterious Romulans began to encroach on Kolari systems.
So sides had been picked, bribes taken, deals made and what had had been the effective government now became the actual government replacing those buffoons on Botchok with the new United Kolari Colonies under the wise leadership of the now legitimate business-males and females of the Syndicate. With their rights to their "traditions" secured by treaties with the Humans and Andorians who had helpfully driven off the Vulcan and allied fleets who had been crippling the trade routes of the Kolari, the slave traders, weapon smiths and general merchants of Botchok were experiencing a new Golden Age, albeit with some annoying restrictions it was noted imposed by said treaties.
Now as the war appeared to be ending Botchok stood as the primary logistics hub for the Starfleet 6th Fleet, and the other Pact and Kolari military forces in the Orion sector; now when the new government spoke people in the other colonies actually listened.
Of course this meant it had become a primary target unknowingly to the military of Romulus which realised that crippling the system would serve to stop that lobe of the Starfleet while also impeding the defence against their advance into against the outer colonies of the Orions that was soon to begin. Fifty-seven of the newest birds of prey had been assigned to this mission entering the system under cloak before launching a coordinated assault on the concentrated merchantmen at the heart of the system.
Unlike in the Fereginar system the attackers would run into a problem; the concept of Orion "trader" and "pirate" were often seen as mutual overlapping and the very much disorganised state of the Kolari in general worked against easy manipulation of system defences.
While the attack would as such run into a wall of armed "traders", and while the attacking fleet would largely succeed in destroying several months' worth of the stored Starfleet stockpiles of plasma torpedoes and Elerium, and forcing the retreat of Admiral Archers 6th Fleet, over half the Romulans would not leave the system alive by the end...
