Hey there!
Again, sorry for the lack of uploads. I have been very busy over the past few months, and I've been doing my very best to get this out to you. But fear not, my friends, for now, the book is done! This isn't the final chapter of course; that will be released next week. In the meantime, you can enjoy this, as well as the images I have put up on DeviantArt.
Speaking of which, I am edging ever closer to releasing the Special edition of The Beginning. A new image and a bit of an essay (some could call it a rant) has been uploaded since the last time I promoted it, so go check that out if you're interested.
As always, I'll see you next time.
Chapter 9: Finale
Space seemingly stretched itself into a tunnel of pure white as the Enterprise-K made it's way to the Ivor anomaly. Outside of the Constitution-K Class ship's warp bubble, multiple other Starfleet, Klingon and Romulan ships of varying eras were in their own warp bubbles, speeding along to their shared destination. It would not be long before they arrived where they wanted to; the Ivor anomaly.
On the bridge of the mighty starship, James T. Kirk was sitting back down in his command after getting up to read a report from his first officer, Lieutenant Commander Spock, about the nearby anomaly.
"Uhura, hail the Sovereign." he ordered as the Enterprise's warp bubble filled the viewscreen with pure white outside.
"Aye sir." replied Nyota Uhura, the ship's communications officer.
"Captain Trent, are you unable to scan the area where the anomaly is meant to be as well?" Kirk asked as Trent's face flashed up on the viewscreen.
"I'm afraid we're experiencing the same problems as you Captain Kirk." Trent replied. "We think that they're using some sort of powerful interdictor technology to mess with our scanners. We won't know what's there until we arrive."
"Well we're coming up on our destination in about a minute's time, so we'll know shortly." remarked Kirk.
"The best of luck Captain. Trent out."
"Dropping out of warp in 30 seconds Captain." announced Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, the ship's helm officer.
"Uhura, bring us back to Red Alert, power all weapons and prepare to engage the enemy."
"Aye sir." Uhura replied. Within moments, the ship was back at Red Alert, and all crewmembers had returned to their battlestations to await further orders.
"10 seconds." announced Sulu.
Kirk gripped his command chair in preparation for what was to come. What came, however, no one saw coming.
As soon as the Enterprise-K dropped out of warp, the nearby USS Sydney was obliterated by a huge energy beam. What was left of the once proud Galaxy Class ship scattered across the area, hitting ships as micro debris and causing chaos across the fleet.
"Report!" Ordered Kirk as the ship turned sharply to evade the onslaught of debris.
"The USS Sydney was just destroyed, Captain." reported Ensign Pavel Chekov, the ship's navigation officer. "Enemy vessels are in close range to us."
"Captain, the enemy fleet consists of over 50 Imperial Class Star Destroyers, 20 Interdictors, 30 Victory Class Star Destroyers, 40 Harrower Class Star Destroyers, 2 Resurgent Class Star Destroyers and an unknown ship spanning 17 Kilometres in length."
"Receiving a fleet-wide broadcast from the Sovereign." Announced Uhura. "Audio only. Patching it through now."
"All ships, the unknown vessel the Imperials have is their ultimate weapon; the Eclipse. We encountered this thing over a year ago at the Battle of Tatooine, and it appears they've finally repaired it. All ships attack the smaller vessels first; try to evade the Eclipse's fire while doing so. Sovereign out."
"You heard the man." Kirk remarked. "All phasers and torpedoes fire at will!"
With that, the Enterprise-K began firing all it's weapons at a nearby Victory Class Star Destroyer as the rest of the fleet also proceeded to engage the fleet upon them. Salvo after salvo of Phaser bolts and torpedoes slammed into the Victory's hull, until it finally exploded, it's debris spreading across the area as the Enterprise-K proceeded to attack another target.
Meanwhile, in another area of the battlefield, the USS Musk and a nearby Klingon Vor'Cha engaged an Interdictor Class Star Destroyer. The two ships exchanged fire with the Interdictor in a pound off of who could take the most fire before collapsing dead. In that regard, it was the Interdictor who fell first, first disruptor blows obliterating her small shield domes, before more searing phaser and photon torpedo hits caused an overload in her interdiction systems, causing the ship to implode.
Meanwhile, aboard the Sovereign, Captain Trent found himself once more leaning to the side of his command chair as the ship pulled a hard banking turn to avoid a turbolaser barrage. With swift action behind Trent, Th'etonnor responded in kind with several phaser beams directed at the enemy who fired at the starship; a nearby Harrower Class Star Destroyer. The Harrower, with it's shields already taken offline, suffered from the phaser hits until a salvo of Quantum torpedoes from the nearby USS Moscow destroyed the starship.
"Captain, I've noticed something strange about this Eclipse we're fighting." remarked Horan as he gripped onto his console as the ship suddenly stopped to avoid a massive swarm of TIE fighters. Federation, Klingon and Romulan fighters rushed behind the Sovereign as the ship slowly reversed from the impending wall of death.
"Can you wait a moment Lieutenant?" Trent asked as he attempted to multitask holding Horan off and dealing with the battle. "Hawk, get us away from those fighters. Th'etonnor, fire photon torpedoes on proximity detonation. Aim for the centre of those fighter formations."
"Torpedoes armed and ready Captain." Th'etonnor announced.
"Fire!" Trent Exclaimed.
At once, the bright orange forms of several photon torpedoes rushed forth from the Sovereign's underslung torpedo launcher. As the ship reversed away from the wall of TIEs, the torpedoes exploded, setting off chain reactions of explosions within the ranks of the TIE fighters that left far fewer TIEs than there were initially. The allied fighters engaged what remained as the Sovereign lumbered away.
"Horan, what've you got for us?" asked Trent, now free to take his attention away from the battle.
"I don't think we're fighting the same Eclipse as last time." he began.
"What do you mean?" Trent inquired.
"For a start, her quantum signature is different to that of other Imperial vessels we've seen." Horna continued. "Additionally, there are several significant structural differences between it and the Eclipse we faced with the Arizona. They're essentially two seperate ships."
"Mr Skywalker, what came of the Eclipse the Empire had?"
"Our Eclipse was far too heavily damaged after your actions at the Battle of Tatooine." answered Vader. "We did not expect to have it operational for at least another year from now. Your science officer is correct."
"Maybe this Eclipse could be from some sort of alternate timeline of their universe." Aldrin suggested.
"It probably is, but right now, we have to worry about getting rid of it." Trent reminded.
"Captain, the Eclipse is… hailing us." Announced Th'etonnor.
"Onscreen." ordered Trent. In moments, a moment he thought would never come came; Supreme Leader Kylo Ren on his viewscreen.
"Ahh, the ever elusive Captain Trent." Ren began as he snickered down on the bridge crew. "You and your crew posed quite an...obstacle to my predecessor's ambitions in this universe. But you shall not pose an obstacle to me. Once I've finished your forces here, I'll take command of my forces at the edge of the system, and we shall put an end to your attempt to stop us."
"Mr Ren, or Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, or whatever name you've given yourself. Stand down. The longer we keep that anomaly open, the more damage we do to both our universes. If it stays open long enough, both universes will merge, causing chaos and destruction on both sides!"
Kylo Ren snickered, almost tauntingly, before he replied.
"You really think I didn't know that? Of course I do. Your precious friend Q decided to push me around in an attempt to try and make me do what you're trying to do. And you know what I told him? I told him that I don't care. So what if our universes merge? It's more territory to take. Now surrender, and there will be no more bloodshed."
"I think your predecessor knew very well that that word doesn't exist in my vocabulary."
"If that's how you'll have it then. DIE!"
"Captain, the Eclipse is about to fire again!" reported Th'etonnor.
"Evasive Maneuvers!" exclaimed Trent. "Tell all ships to get clear!"
The already beleaguered Sovereign made a 90 degree turn upwards as it moved out of the way of the Eclipse's firing arc. Other ships made their own moves away from the ship, but in the end, none of them could stop the Eclipse from unleashing hell on the combined allied forces.
The superlaser struck a hapless D'Deridex Warbird, clipped the nearby USS Musk and vaporized the back half of a Vor'Cha Class. While the Musk got away barely alive, the remains of the Vor'Cha weren't so lucky, as the command region exploded in a massive fireball. The Musk, already damaged from the battle earlier, now suffered from even more extensive damage, her Port Nacelle breaking off and letting warp plasma trail from the Nacelle Pylon.
"Pauline!" Anakin exclaimed, stretching his hand out at the viewscreen.
"What's the status of the Destiny and the Olympus?" Trent Asked.
"Sir, the Olympus is attacking a nearby Imperial Star Destroyer and the Destiny is...sir, the Destiny has been destroyed."
"What?!" Trent couldn't believe it. Captain Sasha Archer, his life long friend and brother, now dead at the hands of the Empire. A deep rage curdled inside Trent, deeper than anything he had felt before.
"F### you Kylo Ren!" Trent exclaimed as he realised he was in the presence of his bridge crew. Feeling utterly devastated, he somehow managed to recompose himself before he sat back in his chair. The bridge sat in silence for a moment as they took note of how finally, after all this time, Captain Trent had cracked in front of them.
"...sir, we're receiving a hail from the Musk." Th'etonnor announced.
"Onscreen." what appeared onscreen was a sight that all in the room were familiar with now.
The bridge of the Musk was visibly on fire, with dead crew members lying across the place and those left alive attempting to put out the fires or mourning those lost. Still in the centre chair, Doctor Lopez coughed briefly before she grimly looked up through the viewscreen. A layer of static covered the screen, caused by a damaged transmitter aboard the Musk.
"The Musk still has one trick up her sleeve." Lopez remarked. "While we were at Starbase 24, one of the engineers was kind enough to give us a new prototype shield disruptor. The Musk has just enough power to fire it off at the Eclipse, which will disable it's shields and allow you to deal out direct hull damage."
"Excellent work Ms Lopez." replied Trent. "This could be what we need to get back in the fight."
"There's a problem though sir; the Musk only has enough power to fire it off. Once we do, we're powerless."
"Then send it over to the Sovereign and let us install it here."
"That would take too long. That's why we've prepared the Musk to fire it off now. We're also putting the ship on a collision course with the Eclipse to help you finish 'em off."
"But that would kill you all!" Remarked Anakin. "Surely there's another way."
"There is no other way Mr Skywalker. Besides, what other use is this hunk of junk now anyways?"
Lopez sat upright in her chair as she stared at Anakin through the viewscreen.
"I don't matter right now. All I care about now is getting my son back. And if that means I die, then so be it."
Lopez then turned back to face Trent.
"We're lining up for our shot now. Do me a favour and tear this 'Eclipse' thing a new ass for us."
"Godspeed Musk. Godspeed." Trent signed off as the channel closed.
The Musk weakly turned to port as she came about to face her fate. The ship was no longer recognizable as the sleek, compact Nebula Class ship she once was; instead, she was a representation of what this war had done to the Federation; black scars borrowed deep into her hull, with entire sections missing from the ship. It was in these final moments that it contributed the single greatest act of it's existence.
As the Musk fired it's impulse engines at maximum speed, a single, green staticy orb emerged from the ship's triangular weapons pod, hurled at great speed towards the Eclipse. It's presence was disregarded by those aboard the massive ship, who continued paying attention to the rest of the battlefield. That mistake would lead to their own downfall.
The orb slammed into the hull of the Eclipse, unleashing a wave of staticy energy across the hull of the ship. Within moments, the ship's shields were offline, and Allied ships no longer had to contend with the ship's immense shields. The Musk continued to drift forwards, powerless but still on course for it's final destination. Thus, the savage, brutal death of the Eclipse began.
Aboard the Eclipse, Kylo Ren screamed in rage as he watched his carefully balanced plans unravel before his eyes. No longer the invulnerable fortress it appeared to be, the Eclipse was now taking fire from all sides, causing tremendous explosions across it's frame and shaking the ship violently.
"Where is the ship which disabled our shields?" he demanded, his voice seething with anger.
"Sir, it's on a collision course with the bridge!" a nearby officer answered.
"I want them destroyed now!" demanded Ren.
"Too late!" the officer cried, the ship now taking up the entirety of the bridge window. Kylo Ren could only freeze in shock and horror as the ship continued approaching at great speed. The last thing he saw was the bridge structure collapsing inwards before he-
"The Eclipse II's bridge has been destroyed." announced Th'etonnor in a sombre tone. Trent stared down at the ground as he contemplated his thoughts. They had prevailed; the Eclipse II and Kylo Ren were no longer a threat to them, and they could carry on with their mission. Yet, somehow, he felt as though it still wasn't over.
"Have all other ships concentrate their fire on the Eclipse." Trent Ordered. "It's time we finished this."
"Yes sir." replied Th'etonnor.
"Captain, I'm reading a massive energy build up from the anomaly." reported Horan. "Something's ha-"
Before he could finish his sentence, the anomaly released a massive pulse of white energy across the region, vapourizing hapless ships on both sides which were too close to the anomaly. From the centre of the white pulsating orb, cracks began to tear through the fabric of space, leaving a white void in between as they grew longer and wider.
"Horan, what's going on?" asked a worried Trent.
"The destabilization of the anomaly has accelerated sir." Horan replied. "Cracks are beginning to form in the fabric of space around the anomaly."
"Captain, I think one of those cracks are heading towards us!" remarked Hawk.
"Take evasive action!" cried Trent.
The Sovereign dodged out of the way of a rapidly approaching crack, white energy sifting out of the hole in space. However, the nearby Enterprise-E wasn't so lucky. The crack stabbed right through the spine of the ship, tearing a massive hole in the mighty starship. The hole only widened as the crack grew larger, much to the horror of both crews.
"Sir, we're receiving a hail from the Enterprise-E." Th'etonnor announced.
"Onscreen." ordered Trent.
"Sovereign, you've got to close that anomaly now!" Picard Began. "Don't worry about us, my chief engineer is working on a solution now."
"Captain, something's coming out of the crack the Enterprise is impaled on." announced Horan.
"Admiral, you've got to evacuate the Enterprise now!"
"repe...Sove...garbled…" was all that came out of the transmission before it abruptly cut off.
"Sir, the Enterprise has been destroyed."
"Onscreen." ordered Trent. What came on was something no-one expected to see.
The Enterprise had been sliced in half right down the middle, explosions rocking both halves as crew members perished to the depths of space. However, another Sovereign Class ship had come through the crack and smashed into one of the halves, damaging both ships and leaving the new Sovereign Class with a crumpled front saucer. Trent tried to make out what the name of the other ship was; ISS Sove-
"Darius, if we're going to do something, now would be a good time." reminded Aldrin. Snapping back into focus, Trent turned back to the matter at hand.
"Are the tricobalt torpedoes loaded?" he asked.
"Armed and ready to fire sir." Th'etonnor replied.
"Then let's send these bastards back to kingdom come. Hit it!"
In mere moments, several tricobalt torpedoes emerged from the torpedo tubes of the Sovereign, aimed directly at the heart of the anomaly. They seemingly vanished inside the anomaly as the situation around seemed to escalate. For a moment, it looked like the plan hadn't worked.
Suddenly, a massive wall of white light blocked everything from view. The white light penetrated through the viewscreen, seeping inside until no-one could see anything but white. Within moments, the white light had filled both universes, freezing time in place as everything was re-arranged.