On the wrecked husk of the USS Arizona's saucer, Darius Trent worked at the computer core console, piecing together the complex equations in front of him. As most of the main science stations and labs had been destroyed by debris and battle damage, the core room itself was the only real place where he could get any work done. He tapped away as he worked in front of the two stormtroopers who stood at the door, pointing their blasters at him in case he turned around suddenly. The business ends of the blasters were held to the back of his head, set on stun but ever ready to fire.
"You know, it may be easier to work here without the constant threat of being shot." chirped up Trent.
"Captain's orders Federation scum." replied one of the Stormtroopers. "He doesn't want you using this wreck for your own purposes."
"So? You could achieve the same thing with a guard outside the door and a security camera system."
"Hey, I think our orders were to shoot this piece of trash if he tried to talk to us." remarked the other stormtrooper.
"Fine, fine, I'll leave you to your guns." Relented Trent as he refocused on his work. He continued to interface with the console, working away as the stormtroopers stayed in position.
"You can go now." Called a voice. "I want some time alone with the prisoner."
"Yes Grand Moff." The two stormtroopers replied simultaneously. Without a word, they lowered their blasters, and marched out the door, to Trent's great surprise.
"Whoever you are, you'd better make this damn quick." Demanded Trent. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm kinda in the middle of something here."
"Oh I don't think you'll have to worry about that right now." Replied the voice. The body which it possessed started slowly walking out of the shadows behind the computer core. "I've frozen time across the multiverse for everyone and everything except for us. No one will ever know or guess that we spoke."
"Q, you really do show up at the most inconvenient times." Remarked Trent as he realised who was now there with him.
"But those times are where I'm most needed." Rebutted Q. "And besides, there are some things you should know now."
"Like what?"
"Like a plan to rescue you."
"Oh come on. That's a load of bulls### and you know it. The Federation would never attempt to rescue me. They don't even know I'm still alive!"
"Where did I say Federation? Maybe if you damned mortals listened instead of argued, you'd actually learn something."
Trent stood still as Q continued.
"Now, getting back to what I was saying, there is a plan made by the Rebel Alliance, that's right, the Rebellion not your precious Federation, to rescue you from this facility. Their operatives are already on this station, looking for you."
"Well as far as I know, only I, those stormtroopers and Captain Beratas are onboard the saucer section, and I'm now forced to live and sleep in this wreck. They won't be able to contact me in any way, as all functions of the Arizona have now been routed through the station."
"I'll give you a hint; not all messages are obvious. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got otherworldly things to attend to now."
"Like?"
"Like maybe not pissing off a certain mad lady with a blue box. Farewell."
Q gave his familiar cheeky smile, before he once again flashed out of existence. Trent turned back to face the console as the stormtroopers flashed back into the room, completely unaware of what had just happened. Trent began to get back to work, but as he did so, something caught his eye. A small tab on the side of his LCARS menu, which flickered in and out of existence on the screen. In one of it's fleeting moments of useability, he opened it, and six words flashed up on his screen:
DECK 4, SECTION 17, 2 DAYS.
The message quickly disappeared from the screen, and the tab was never seen by Trent again.
We'll just have to see what the future brings now, won't we Darius. He thought to himself as continued to work, ever wary of the two armed men behind him.
Meanwhile, in a completely different universe, 2 Executor class Super Star Destroyers orbited the planet Nimbus 3 in formation. This planet, once called "The Planet of Galactic Peace" was now nothing more than an empty husk, long since abandoned by the inhabitants of the planet after the planet fell under the influence of the Galactic Empire. Indeed, the Empire has even established a key base of operations here, as it was essentially a midpoint between Federation, Klingon and Romulan space, from which forces could convene and organise for strikes on various systems. This had lead on to even a large resupply station constructed in orbit, large enough to dock up to 20 regular Imperial 1 or 2 Star Destroyers simultaneously, and even enough for 2 Executor Class Super Star Destroyers, although the latter was never done due to constant docking by smaller ships. Regardless, the station's key position had let it be named 'Midway Outpost' by both the Empire and anyone who dared to attack it.
Aboard Midway, Darth Vader was having an important meeting with his three leading Admirals in the war, Admirals Motti, Piett and Sloane, the final one appearing via hologram. They had become the commanders of the three Executor Class Super Star Destroyers which lead the attacks on the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, the ships Arbitrator, Executor and Ravager, while Vader had coordinated the entire war from Midway itself.
"I expect to hear good news from all three of you." Announced Vader. "It has been nearly a month since our last meeting."
"And it is good news you shall get." Affirmed Piett. "I have managed to capture the Ty'gor, Khitomer and Narendra systems from the Klingon animals. Although it is often difficult to hold onto these systems, I believe we can wait for the Klingons to run out of resources to maintain their rather aggressive war effort."
"While I hate to feel as if I have underachieved, I must admit that my progress through Romulan space has not been as successful as I had anticipated." added Sloane. "I have only managed to really hold on to the Cheron system, as all our other invasion attempts are cut short before we can even leave the system."
"You promised me you would have control of the Algeron and the Terix systems by now." annoyedly Replied Vader.
"Yes, but the issue is we can't even leave the system." Rebutted Sloane. "Their ships appear to run off gravitational singularities, and they appear to have used them as interdictor ships. This combined with their cloaking technology means we have no way of knowing where their ships are, and as of this moment we are under siege within the system."
"With that news, I can only wonder how the Federation campaign is going." remarked Vader as he prodded Motti to speak.
"Well the Federation campaign goes much better than the other two." began Motti. "Not only do we now hold the Axanar and Betazed systems, but we have also recently taken the New Sydney, Aurelia and Acitum systems."
"Interesting." commented Vader. "And how have you managed to take all these systems in such a short span of time?"
"We have used a combined strategy of hard, fast engagements and hyperspace attacks. Usually in each engagement, we drop out of hyperspace extremely close to the defending force, who are usually unprepared for a full scale attack. As their shields are down and the power of our turbolasers at this range is even more powerful than their phasers, we can easily destroy the enemy force before capturing the planet without much ground resistance. If a defending force manages to survive our first engagement, then we will continuously attack them in multiple separate engagements, wearing them down until they wear out and are destroyed."
"And yet your casualty reports are among the highest in the entire assault fleet. So tell me Fleet Admiral; how were those casualties taken?"
"Well obviously, our tactics involve extreme close range combat, meaning that debris from their vessels is more likely to hit us. And when we do bring them close to destruction and offer surrender, they more often than not self-destruct their starships or ram them into our own. And then there is the Discovery-"
"The Discovery?" exclaimed Piett. "How has that wreck been bothering you? My most loyal Captain himself has said that his ship destroyed it."
"Well it turns out, your Captain has been lying." continued Motti. "This is surviving footage from an attack group we sent out to capture the Vulcan system." He got up and began displaying footage on the conference room's viewer. On it, an Imperial fleet began to bombard the local shipyards closeby to the planet, but before it could continue, the USS Discovery and several Vesta class ships appeared. They began to lay waste to the fleet, as Imperial ships struggled to land shots on the more maneuverable ships, especially the Discovery, which used it's Spore Drive to continuously avoid any shots fired by the Imperial ships. The last footage recorded on the monitor showed the Discovery jumping directly in front of the ship filming, before the feed went completely black.
"While the Federation has only a handful of these ships, they are proving a nuisance to our campaigns in the region. I believe that should the Romulan invasion fail, we could find that Romulan ships will appear in Federation and Klingon space."
"I can see the predicament you are in here." commented Vader. "I shall have more resources devoted to the Romulan and Federation campaigns. However, before I do this, I need assurance that the rebel craft which escaped our capture at Ivor."
"You mean the small rebel fighter which blasted it's way through our staging area?" asked Motti. "There is no need to fret about it. I have a Star Destroyer loaded with TIE Defenders in pursuit of it."
"You are putting a lot of faith in the TIE Defender in your campaign."
"My lord, I already informed you that the TIE Defender is more than a match for the Federation Peregrine fighter. In at least one engagement, a full squadron of TIE Defenders was able to single handedly eliminate the entire fighter complement of an Akira Class."
"Just be sure to have variance in your attack plans Motti. The Federation is known to have a great ability to adapt."
Vader stood up as he made his final statement to the group.
"All of you still have a long way to go. As you are aware, the Empire has recently gotten wind of several other major powers in this galaxy. For instance, a probe of ours recorded this message in what is referred to as the 'Delta Quadrant' before we lost contact with it."
He pressed a button as the message played out.
"We are the Borg. Existence as you know it is over. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."
The message sent a chill down the spines of almost everyone in the room, save for Motti, who had known who it was from the very start.
"It will take time for us to conquer this galaxy. Therefore, we must ensure that our tasks here are completed as quickly and efficiently as possible. My patience is wearing thin Admirals. Should you not make any significant gains by our next meeting, you will find my tolerance to have run out. Dismissed."
Sloane's hologram faded away as the two other men walked out of the room. As soon as the doors closed behind them, Vader immediately turned to the nearest console, which displayed that he had an unread urgent message. Curiously, he tapped on it and read the contents in perplexity.
My Lord,
My name is Commander Helios Maxus, First Officer of the SSD Arbitrator. I bring in this message news of a potential treasonous plan by Fleet Admiral Conan Motti.
Ever since the Fleet Admiral has taken command of the Arbitrator, he has done nothing but remained in his quarters, except in moments where he must command the bridge or in meetings. Not only has he done this, but he has also blocked access to viewing his usage of the ship's long range communications network, and we sometimes receive transmissions from areas of the Galaxy where there is no Imperial presence. However, before we can investigate them, they are deleted by Motti himself, and he constantly avoids talking about it.
While I am only a commander and have very little power, I urge you to investigate him yourself. I have managed to convince the Fleet Admiral that the Arbitrator's crew could use some shore leave here at Midway station, and have planned out several attacks on key Federation worlds to occur in the meantime. I suggest you use this time to investigate my concerns and see if my suspicions are proven correct.
With utmost urgency,
Commander Helios Maxus, SSD Arbitrator, 1st officer.
We shall certainly see… through Vader as he stared at the doors, thinking in silence as thoughts raced inside his head.
Aboard the USS Sovereign, Commander Aldrin sat in her new first officer's seat aboard the Sovereign Class ship. While her role was very familiar to her, this ship and most of it's crew weren't. The Sovereign's crew was not too much smaller than the Arizona's being at 800 rather than the Arizona's 1000, but still, she sometimes felt as if she was in an unfamiliar, crowded environment, constantly having to push through the crowd to get to where she needed to be. She hadn't felt this way since Starfleet Academy years prior, and that was a while ago.
"Captain on the bridge!" called a voice as everyone, including Aldrin stood to attention the moment the turbolift doors opened. Out the doors walked Captain Leres, the Captain of the Sovereign and an 'acquaintance' of Aldrin's.
"At ease." Stated Leres. "Are we ready for departure?"
"All systems are green lit for launch." Answered Aldrin. "We're currently waiting on approval from Ops to head off."
"I see." Replied Leres. "What are they waiting on?"
"Apparently they want us to leave after the Enterprise does. Something about not putting too much stress on the pylons all at once."
"Very well then. We'll wait."
"Sir, Enterprise is now undocking from the Station." Announced Hawk at her new position at the helm.
The Enterprise slowly pushed away from one of the station's upper arms as the ship's power on sequence initiated. The warp nacelles returned to their illuminating colour of blue and red as the impulse engines began to flare in intensity. She ship's running lights individually came on, moving from the name and registries on the back of the nacelles to the main registries and name on the saucer. The Enterprise briefly sat still, before beginning to move away from the station, now under impulse power, towards the Bajoran Wormhole.
"Sovereign, this is Ops. You are cleared for departure." Came through the speakers as Leres sat down in his command chair.
"About time too Ops." Commented Leres. "Thanks for the stock up."
"Anytime Sovereign. Godspeed."
"Well, I don't see any point in waiting around any longer. Initiate power up sequence."
The Sovereign then went through the same process as the Enterprise, unlocking the docking clamps holding it to the station as the ship's thrusters pushed it away from the pylon. As the Nacelles and Impulse engines lit up, the ship's running lights also flared into existence, culminating in the ship's saucer running lights illuminating the name and registry. The ship stood still for a moment, before slowly accelerating away from the station at impulse speed.
Two ships were now at full impulse away from Deep Space 9, both on their respective war-saving missions. In one direction, an ancient threat was hoped to be turned into a new ally, whereas in the other, a rumoured organisation never actually seen before was willing to talk to the Federation. Both didn't know what to expect on the way, but one thing was for sure; no longer would the Federation be up against the wall in this fight.
As the Bajoran Wormhole flared into existence, the Enterprise rushed to enter it's maw. Through it's 70,000 light year long tunnel lay the distant Gamma Quadrant, a still unexplored land where the Dominion owner nearly all space in that region. The Enterprise sailed through the mouth of the wormhole, before the wormhole closed in a flash of light, swallowing the Enterprise inside it's tunnel for the journey to the Gamma quadrant.
Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, the Sovereign got itself a safe distance away from Deep Space 9. The warp nacelles of the mighty starship has been charging up for warp speed, and were just ready to send the ship at speeds many times faster than light. With a flash from the nacelles, the ship seemingly stretched out into the distance as a warp bubble formed around the ship, before disappearing into the distance with a bang and a flash.