Chapter 37
Calm Before the Storm
Milky Way - Alpha Quadrant - Dauntless Spaceship
Spock ever so carefully dialed the last instrument to optimum level. Nearing completion, the magnetic corridor weapon represented the highest technical expertise he, Data, and Cienna's extraordinary brains could conceive. The Dauntless spaceship providing the manufacturing and replication resources required to build such a device; its robust production facilities unparalleled throughout Starfleet.
"How's it going Spock?"
"Very well Cienna, we are almost ready for a small scale test."
"I agree," added Data, looking into his own instrument screen and calibrating the last of his vectors. "I believe a test on a small lifeless planetary body will suffice."
"Agreed," acknowledged the Vulcan, not looking up from his own instruments.
Theoretical calculations and blueprints assembled and refined aboard the Enterprise now came into being. Replicators hummed nonstop and clanking and whirling of components continued. But the final evolution of the weapon did not occur naturally. For a little over twenty-hours ago, a Star road materialized into real space and enveloped the Dauntless. Held in ebbing and flowing black-energy at the core of the spiderweb-like tendrils, the trio worked hand in hand with the new visitor aboard their ship. Displaying over twenty limbs and even more eyes, the multi-appendage Flood form assisted in adjustments to the final build. Speaking through the creature, the Gravemind informed the officers of its intentions.
The mind-merge with Kirk had allowed the Precursors access to the unknown whereabouts of the secret and ultra-advanced ship. With no way to communicate, Spock, Data, and Cienna decided to continue the mission. At first, they were unsure of how to interact with the blob of blended Klingon and other organisms, but after a few hours, an uneasy working relationship developed. Both Spock and Data found strange alterations to code and small adjustments to process procedures programmed into the Dauntless production commands. Spock assumed the Gravemind had accessed the internal systems, the deep core processors, but could not theorize how. The onboard A.I. of the Dauntless confirmed no interaction with a foreign network, but the code had changed, for better or worse. Trapped inside the Star road, surrounded by a million Flood forms and whirling tendrils of destruction, the trio worked with the Gravemind's minion.
Currently, Cienna and Data worked along a control board, the mutated form working several meters away.
"Cienna. Are you certain the Dalek's will be unable to stop the rising magnetic field levels in a given system once the weapon primes?" This question found itself at the center of debate aboard the Enterprise as the weapon developed on the drawing board. Insufficient range seemed to be on everyone's mind, the magnetic corridor weapon, dubbed MCW for short needed to be less than 500,000 kilometers from its target.
Cienna began to answer, but the clump of bodies interrupted her with a cryptic response.
"Questions without answers…"
Considering everything she knew of Dalek weaponry, which she admitted only covered the basics, a surprise attack could work.
"I do not believe they could stop the buildup before the corridor opens."
"This is our only, best, option. No other weapon system can penetrate Dalek defenses as you have described them," noted Spock, still looking into his viewer. The weakness, if one could be pointed out, lay in the buildup of negative magnetic frequencies in the spatial area. Spock calculated that the Dalek's would only have thirty seconds to counter, assuming they employed the necessary equipment to do so. "We must test the weapon on a small planetoid or-"
"See now that we are ready," replied the creature in a slow monotone voice, its arms pointing towards the cockpit. Data led the way towards the front of the ship, walking down a narrow corridor before entering a much larger room. Filled with dangerous raw materials for rapid weapon construction, he eyed the barrels and inventory carefully as he passed. Upon learning of their entrapment, Data had quickly made a quick observation of all critical components in the unlikely event of Flood theft. Going into battle meant all weapon and material inventories needed to be at the full.
Entering the cockpit where one oversized command chair sat in the center of a window-wrapped room, only blackness appeared. The twinkling of a thousand stars now hidden by the Star roads strange center. Behind Cienna, Spock, and Data, the lumbering beast stopped at the narrow passage into the command room. Data's fingers flew over the controls before turning back towards the Flood.
"We must have access to sensor scans."
"Is this what you desire android?" Data turned slowly back towards the windows, and like an iris of a camera, a small spot of blackness began to open. The starlight came through the exotic energy barrier allowing an exit. "The end nears. Prepare yourselves. Find solace in your lives as your mission may be your last." A whirling of energy transported the mutant away, and before long, the Star road dematerialized into the slipstream realm.
After scanning the surrounding area, the trio realized the Star road had moved their ship. They now sat thousands of lightyears away in a system of lifeless planets, a perfect testing ground. Moving the Dauntless towards a dead planetary body, they activated the priming mechanism. Cienna sat in the large seat designed for a Lensman and nervously stretched her fingers. A lever stuck out of the main cockpit board and Cienna gently placed her hand upon it. The Gravemind had expressed that little time remained, and so with nervousness, she slowly pressed it forward. Deep in the belly of the Dauntless, new and entirely alien generators came to life. Magnetic fields collided with abstract and impossible elements as the weapon came into being.
Cienna pushed the lever higher along the slots,
Click... click... click...
As each small measure was passed the noise which first started as a low hum now grew into a deafening roar. Spinning whirling generators pushed a stream of unnamable elements through the main dish which shot out towards the planet.
Click… click… click…
Cienna kept an eye on the dials and another on the planet, a white sparkling beam penetrated the atmosphere and disappeared below the cloud tops.
Click… click… click…
Spock placed his fingers over his ears, deck plates groaned under the enormous load until the lever reached maximum. The beam brightened and then cut out entirely.
Everyone waited.
And waited.
Far below on the planet, the white sparkling energy grew, breaking through the cloud barrier and shining like a nuclear fireball.
Spock eyed the timer, and everyone began reporting their station readings,
"Countdown to corridor activation… 10...9...8...7...6...5"
"Magnetic levels at eighty-seven over three…"
"Ambient temperature now at seventy-three kelvin and climbing…"
"3...2..1…"
Instantly, the entire planet and for thousands of miles beyond turned black. As if a giant balloon had inflated around it, then as fast as it formed, it shrank. So quickly did both the expansion and retraction occur, it seemed to happen instantaneously.
It was over.
The planet, cosmic rays, and the ether of space disappeared into nothingness. So fast did the magnetic corridor open and close that billionths of a decimal point would be necessary on any ordinary timer. Not taken anywhere, or transported away, the very elemental fabric of reality ceased to exist. The universe, being no slouch, instantly covered the area as fast as it disappeared. It was as if the planet had never been there.
"The small-scale weapon test has been a success. I estimate the generators can create a corridor 23 million, three hundred sixty-eight kilometers in diameter," stated Data who continued to monitor the after effects.
"I agree. However, to generate a corridor that large, it would require fifteen minutes of buildup and the Dauntless would be inside the area of deletion." Cienna nodded along in agreement with Spock. Danger to both the mission and ship increased as the target size increased. They would need to pinpoint the command and control and fire. Another point of issue arose from the eroded generator sprockets after discharge. As predicted, the system required a complete overhaul after each use, meaning the weapon could only be activated every three days.
Data's eyes flashed back and forth, his positronic-brain working the scenarios over,
"I believe it prudent to install a remote override system into the Dauntless. I can remotely detonate her from a distance once the weapon is fired. My positronic-net can access the main core from another ship."
Cienna and Spock shared the same look of confusion,
"That seems dangerous Data, what if it is hacked?" Cienna made it clear early that the system needed to be as mechanical as possible, where human operation trumped automation so the Dalek's could not shut down the weapon from afar.
"I am inclined to agree with Ms. Cienna. Why would we install such a feature? The Dalek's can take over any computer network they can access. Creating a back door seems to exacerbate that concern."
Data displayed his usual agreeable face,
"It may become necessary to control the weapon from a remote point. I am attempting to predict all future obstacles."
Spock considered this for a moment, looking at the android and then back to Cienna. Doctor McCoy had made it a point to complain about his computer-like brain, calling him cold, logical, inhuman. Now those cold and calculating neurons fired, processed, analyzed.
"As am I."
Alpha Quadrant - Galactic Edge - Super Star Destroyer Vigilant
Grand Admiral Thrawn's office resembled Winston Churchill's war room in the basements of London's bombed-out buildings during WWII. Tables, chairs, graphs, and maps all strewn about on makeshift desks and working areas. The doors had been removed to allow for more space, and a large table wedged-in where Generals and commanders would meet and discuss the coming attack.
Thrawn stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes closed and ears open. Listening to conversations taking place among his officers, some with brilliant ideas, others with not. For a week, Federation worlds tasted the full fury of the Imperial war machine. As promised to Captain Kirk in their brief conversation, worlds lay in ruin and populations dwindled and died under the onslaught. Day after day, small surgical fleets dashed in and out. Unloading a barrage of turbolaser fire that flattened cities and burnt forests.
But not all was well with the Imperial campaign; in fact, it would be a stretch to call it a campaign at all. With more than half the Imperial fleet destroyed thanks to the Flood and Boskone pirate fleets, only seven-hundred star destroyers remained. No Bounty Hunters reported in, those channels long silenced due to corruption, murder, and betrayal. Equal in silence were the deactivated probe droids. The network which governed them became corrupt, with strange computer code and other oddities being found in protocol droids who monitored it. So much had occurred that Thrawn still could not believe it, let alone analyze all the implications.
Piett's enormous fleet had been destroyed with only a single emergency dispatch before all signals were blocked. What happened to the attacking force, Thrawn did not know. Unable to communicate with Imperial Command in his own Galaxy, he could only guess as to what was occurring there. He had asked Lord Vader if he could head back, but the request was denied. To Thrawn, nothing made any sense. His new orders flew in the face of all reason. To draw Starfleet away from Earth only to destroy it with the Deathstar seemed pointless. All resources he had argued, should be sent back through the wormhole to fight the infection he assumed spread like fire in his home galaxy.
But like any good Grand Admiral, orders needed to be carried out to the best of their ability. And so the final plan formed.
"General Veers, once we come out of orbit, you are to proceed with total occupation. We will protect you from orbit. Be sure that your special commandos are broadcasting on their helmet cams. The plan will only work if Starfleet is aware. Every stormtrooper and Imperial Walker is to be deployed. They must be killed in the streets and from above."
Nothing in the way of communication came from the Federation for weeks. Without probes, Thrawn could not risk walking into a trap, and so his plan provided the opposite; he needed them to come to him. Although he had to admit, he did not know precisely how many ships they had. He did not expect the entire Federation fleet to come, ideally more than half, allowing the Deathstar a softer target. With hyperspace denial systems in place, the space station would need to exit hyperspace beyond Pluto, allowing whatever defensive formations to engage it for about six hours before it could move close enough to fire. Thrawn felt it impossible to force all ships to leave Earth's defense. And so Thrawn planned to defeat them as a broken group.
Turning back to his private desk, he noted the small floating hologram. A shimmering image of Captain James T. Kirk. Scrolling slowly beside were his log entries stolen from the Federation network months ago, missions, details, etc.
All men have weaknesses… and my dear captain, I have found yours.
"Align the entire fleet. We jump in five hours. This will be the end of Captain Kirk and his planet Earth."
Milky Way - Alpha Quadrant - Earth
Four million, two hundred and fifty thousand, nine hundred and three dead. Seventeen million one hundred and six thousand injured. Irradiated soil, water, and atmosphere killing and sickening more each day.
A crater twenty-two miles across and six deep represented the awesome power of the super-atomic detonation within the Cherno 44 base. On the Californian coast, San Francisco resembled a quarry of broken buildings and wrecked structures. The ruling body of the Federation turned to atoms by Evil-Kirk's precise and deadly strikes. And yet, the damage could have been far worse. Thanks to Han Solo's piloting and Picard's Enterprise, three out of the four super-atomic torpedoes were intercepted before making landfall. Rescue efforts continued round the clock with more bodies being pulled from rubble every hour.
But like all things it seems, nothing came easy to Starfleet or it's people. Everyday member worlds were obliterated, far out from the inner core of protection, they fell to the steady stream of turbolaser bolts streaming from orbit. Impossible to stop, the planets sent desperate pleas for help, but there came no solution of rescue or repel of borders. The Navy, unable to make the journey in any reasonable amount of time, left worlds defenseless, save for a few merchant craft easily overcome in the opening engagements.
High above Earth on Spacedock 1, the remaining government body set to task the rearmament of their navy and perhaps last stand. Captain Kirk had communicated dire news. The Deathstar is heading towards Earth. With little less than a weak to prepare for its arrival, hyperspace denial beacons were pushed far beyond Pluto and into the Kuiper Belt. By most estimates, the battle station would need hours at standard drive speeds to reach its maximum firing range.
Captain Picard sat in an office aboard Spacedock 1, liaising with various admirals and political dignitaries rushed into office to help run the government.
"Yes Admiral, we are rearming our industrial mining ships with phaser coils, and the remaining torpedo warheads on Alexium Theta are on route."
Lt. Reginald Barkley buzzed the room and entered when accepted.
"Yes Mr. Barkley?"
Starting his sentence with a stutter, he fought through the words and eventually got his point across.
"Ca..ca...captain. The… the Genesis Device is not ready. We can't seem to align the coils." Picard sighed and tapped his fingers on the glass desk. Commander Data theorized the lost technology could be reactivated after a thorough analysis of his complete interconnected scan of all Federation databases. Unfortunately, without his presence the information could not be fashioned together in time. The Rebels had warned Starfleet of the Deathstar upon their arrival on Earth, and that it could be deployed against them. Picard and Admiral Ross felt it a reasonable counter to the Deathstar, but its interaction with a powerful shield could not be predicted, and hence, the outcome would be unknown.
Weeks ago, when Captain Kirk had informed the high command that he would be leaving for Kronos, Picard had lost his cool and started a shouting match with him. Compounding his frustration was the transfer of Commander Data to Kirk's Enterprise. Jean-Luc could not believe the decision and questioned why the Admiralty would authorize this considering his first officer was essential for the rebuilding of Genesis. At that time, the battle stations deployment was unknown, but the idea of it sent fear down the spines of every commanding officer. He did not realize then or now that Kinnison had made a slight adjustment to the Admirals thinking. Later, Picard made several requests to Captain Kirk to return Data, but all were denied, which further escalated the tense situation between both captains. No one outside of the tight circle onboard Kirk's Enterprise knew of the superweapon being built.
"Mr. Barkley. Unfortunately without the assistance from Commander Data, we need to refocus our efforts." Beverly Crusher now joined them and she protested the confiscation of private medical ships into the Starfleet navy. Thousands of civilians were still trapped and the sensors onboard the medical vessels were able to detect faint life signs from orbit.
"Jean-Luc, why are we arming medical transports on Mars? They should be scanning Wyoming and San Francisco!" She stated hotly.
The answer did not come easy, being a lifelong friend of the doctor, Jean-Luc knew that no matter what he said, she would not be happy.
"Beverly…" he began, "a weapon of terrific power approaches Earth. We will only have several hours to stop it. If we cannot, then the planet will be destroyed. We are trying to balance-"
"Then evacuate the planet! We can move millions of people before it arrives!"
"But not billions."
The tense exchange stopped as abruptly as it started. Beverly Crusher knew her friend to be right. Everything relied on them defeating the battle station, and those trapped below the rubble may have to die to protect the rest.
If we cannot stop the Deathstar, then evacuation would have been the best option… This thought haunted Picard since the alert had been sounded by Kirk several days ago. Both preparation and evacuation could not be completed simultaneously. One strategy had been decided upon.
After a minute of sullen quiet, the door chimed and Picard called for entry.
The door slid open and Picard's face froze,
Captain Kirk
Luke Skywalker
Kimball Kinnison
All stood just outside the doorway, shoulder to shoulder. Kirk walked in first, his face hard and unapologetic. Luke and Kimball followed and stood to each side.
"James. You are back earlier than we expected."
"How are the preparations?" asked Jim, ignoring the comment.
Picard steamed under the collar and slowly stood. He knew Luke from many meetings but did not know the other gentlemen, he thought he recognized him but could not be sure.
"They are going well. The Admirals agreed with many of your recommendations, especially the shuttlecrafts."
Without forewarning, Dr. Crusher and Lt. Barkley suddenly walked out of the room, Kimball then refocused his efforts and planted detailed knowledge into Jean-Luc's mind. For the first time, the entire truth became clear, and Picard's mouth began to open in awe at the fantastic and unbelievable Dalek's, Gravemind, Boskone, and Old Ones. The reasons, secrets, and powers all becoming clear.
As this knowledge-transfer continued, Luke felt with the Force. He sensed the goodness of Picard, the true spirit that he doubted any Lensman could reach. Past the mind and body, Luke felt there was a soul, and the Jedi saw it and its future. Despite Jean-Luc's anger towards Kirk and his more liberal way of thinking, the spirit felt pure.
After Luke's ordeal with 'John' and his experience with Kirk and Kinnison, he felt there were more to people than just mind and body. Something deeper,
What makes someone good and evil? Can someone escape their destiny? He did not know. He wished Yoda or Kenobi were around to help him, but he had not spoken to Ben or Yoda since Dagobah.
On the other side of the room, Picard sat down behind his desk to digest the information. He understood the reasoning for keeping the Dalek's a secret. They are the real threat… we have been blind. This is it… this is the end. Picard could see the Gravemind's conversation with Kirk and Kinnison, the planned attack upon the center of the galaxy and the incoming Deathstar through the wormhole. Yes of course… Data was needed for the real superweapon... He also saw something else. The brief glimpse of another enemy, a mirror-Kirk. Somehow, someway, the other Kirk had found himself inside the mind of the Gravemind just like his good alter ego and Lensman ally.
As Picard continued to digest, Kirk began,
"I have been monitoring member planet devastation caused by the Imperial fleet, I believe they are trying to draw us out from Earth. They are using quick attacks, no more than a minute of bombardment before withdrawing."
Luke nodded in agreement and added to the assessment,
"I believe they are trying to draw you out,"
"To clear the way to Earth for the Deathstar…" added Kinnison.
"While the Flood attacks the Dalek's along with Cienna, Spock, and Data, we must protect Earth. It appears, as you already know, this is a multi-faceted war. We may need to make our last stand here." Picard's painful statement resonated with each of the men. And as each sorted through their own feelings, the desk communicator buzzed and Picard pressed the button, "Yes?"
A young ensign frantically relayed the news,
"Captain! Reports of an enormous Imperial fleet. Seven-hundred star destroyers including one of the big ones. Troops landing and occupying cities. Large walking machines are smashing buildings and planetary bombardment-"
"Ensign. Calm..." Picard shut down the young officer so he could get a grasp on the situation. "What planet?"
"Vulcan."
Like a vacuum, all the air was sucked out of the room. The very race that had kick started the Federation and made first contact now found themselves under the iron heel of the Empire.
But it was more than that.
Kirk's head slowly turned towards Picard. They locked eyes before Kirk's gaze shifted further away, out past the wall and into space. He felt sick, angry, helpless. Spock… my friend… what would you have me do…
"This is a terrible tragedy…" whispered Picard, rubbing his eyes and holding his head. "Our backs are against the wall..."
Kirk's mind shifted back into the room, he felt as if he could feel every death, every murder of his friend's race. He moved slowly towards the small window and looked down at the blue Earth. My home and people about to be obliterated by the Deathstar… Vulcans being slaughtered to draw us out...
He looked deep into his own reflection. He knew. He had known the moment the word had come through the speaker.
"Heaven forgive me..."