Part 9:
Several days later, the Ajax docked to the orbital station. The commodore had argued with them the hole way in, demanding to know what was going on, insisting that Kane's rank was invalid, until finally Kane managed to convince some of the Commodore's subordinates that the Commodore needed to be forcibly relieved of command. Then, the real work began. The local colonies could be evacuated, however the slow speed of the Ithkul ships offered another opportunity. Kane ordered all of the planets in the system to immediately begin producing as many missile ships and carriers as possible. He specifically chose designs for construction that featured heavy, large, effective missiles over swarms of weaker missiles. The scans from the earlier combat suggested that the Ithkul's shields were extremely powerful, and they would need the extra punch. Within the week, the craft were in full-scale production. Reinforcements were on their way under maximum power from everywhere, including the Psilons and Meklar. A super dreadnought, the Enterprise, soon arrived from home world. A massive ship, she was constructed as an admiral's command post from the keel up. Her shields and armor were second to none, and her communications capacity incredible. Even the incoming leviathans would be hard pressed to penetrate her shields and armor, and only the fact that the enemy seemed heavily beam-reliant allowed that threat to exist. The Enterprise had no offensive armament to speak of, merely many batteries of point defense and counter-missiles. Kane knew she would come out nearly wrecked despite her defensive power. He transferred his flag to her immediately.
Kirk worried him however. The commander Kirk who had been his second in command had been ruled a clone, a spy placed to weaken his ship, to allow easy destruction to keep the wormhole secret. Kane wasn't so sure however. He'd used his authority to have Kirk transferred to a less secure set of duties until a full security check could be made, but he couldn't keep Kirk out of the loop forever. He hoped he would succeed in proving Kirk to be a traitor, but he doubted it would happen any time soon.
Soon, the time came for battle to be joined. His fleets were ready, and it was time to face the Ithkul assault. He had his com officer, Captain Barker, put him on an all-hands channel to the entire fleet. His voice was tense, but infused with the confidence required of a flag officer. He couldn't show doubt, or worry, or his crews would fall apart.
"All hands, all hands, this is Admiral Kane. I know that many of you are not from the Terran Federation and are here only to serve your own home. I speak to you as well. Today we draw a line in the stars. Today we face down an enemy beyond evil, today we face an opponent who can not be allowed to live. We have a force far superior to any ever before allowed us. Not since before the fall has such a force been gathered under any flag but the New Orions. I can not say what way this battle will go. But we will not retreat. We will not surrender, we will not give in, we will not budge. We will hold this line. I won't lie to you, many if not all of us will die. Some of us will die to protect our homes, some the homes of friends or family, others the homes of people that are only fellow citizens. There are also those that are here to help us do this, honoring the alliance between our peoples. We must remember to be thankful for their aid. Follow your chain of command, and the chain of command for the joint taskforce. It is my decision that the Psilon fighter-ace Pace shall be in command of our joint fighter wings. For those that don't know, the Psilon rank of fighter-ace is equal to our own captain, so he out ranks any of our pilots. He and his staff are in charge of fighter ops. Second in command of overall operations is Admiral JP-16-1, the Meklar commander. Should I fall or my coms fail, obey him as you would me. Should boarding operations occur, each ship has been provided with a company of Sakkra marines, under the overall command of General Godzilla on board my ship. Try to avoid any boarding actions, but if you see a tempting target or you are targeted, don't avoid them at any major cost-I doubt the Ithkul are capable of overcoming Sakkra. We had a hard enough time during our war with them after all. Ladies and gentlemen, go to battle stations. And know this: to paraphrase the ancient poet Tennyson it is 'Ours not to make reply, ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die!' Do your duty, though it take you into the jaws of death or the mouth of hell, and our glory can never fade, and all the galaxy will wonder. Admiral Kane out!" Kane's voice went from the steady, confident tone, to a much crisper tone as he snapped out orders. "Con, bring us about. Fleet to battlestations! Go weapons hot! Sensors, time to Ithkul emergence?"
"One minute from... mark!" Commander Goodridge was still as good as ever, and the Ithkul came out one minute to-the nanosecond-later.
Several days later, the Ajax docked to the orbital station. The commodore had argued with them the hole way in, demanding to know what was going on, insisting that Kane's rank was invalid, until finally Kane managed to convince some of the Commodore's subordinates that the Commodore needed to be forcibly relieved of command. Then, the real work began. The local colonies could be evacuated, however the slow speed of the Ithkul ships offered another opportunity. Kane ordered all of the planets in the system to immediately begin producing as many missile ships and carriers as possible. He specifically chose designs for construction that featured heavy, large, effective missiles over swarms of weaker missiles. The scans from the earlier combat suggested that the Ithkul's shields were extremely powerful, and they would need the extra punch. Within the week, the craft were in full-scale production. Reinforcements were on their way under maximum power from everywhere, including the Psilons and Meklar. A super dreadnought, the Enterprise, soon arrived from home world. A massive ship, she was constructed as an admiral's command post from the keel up. Her shields and armor were second to none, and her communications capacity incredible. Even the incoming leviathans would be hard pressed to penetrate her shields and armor, and only the fact that the enemy seemed heavily beam-reliant allowed that threat to exist. The Enterprise had no offensive armament to speak of, merely many batteries of point defense and counter-missiles. Kane knew she would come out nearly wrecked despite her defensive power. He transferred his flag to her immediately.
Kirk worried him however. The commander Kirk who had been his second in command had been ruled a clone, a spy placed to weaken his ship, to allow easy destruction to keep the wormhole secret. Kane wasn't so sure however. He'd used his authority to have Kirk transferred to a less secure set of duties until a full security check could be made, but he couldn't keep Kirk out of the loop forever. He hoped he would succeed in proving Kirk to be a traitor, but he doubted it would happen any time soon.
Soon, the time came for battle to be joined. His fleets were ready, and it was time to face the Ithkul assault. He had his com officer, Captain Barker, put him on an all-hands channel to the entire fleet. His voice was tense, but infused with the confidence required of a flag officer. He couldn't show doubt, or worry, or his crews would fall apart.
"All hands, all hands, this is Admiral Kane. I know that many of you are not from the Terran Federation and are here only to serve your own home. I speak to you as well. Today we draw a line in the stars. Today we face down an enemy beyond evil, today we face an opponent who can not be allowed to live. We have a force far superior to any ever before allowed us. Not since before the fall has such a force been gathered under any flag but the New Orions. I can not say what way this battle will go. But we will not retreat. We will not surrender, we will not give in, we will not budge. We will hold this line. I won't lie to you, many if not all of us will die. Some of us will die to protect our homes, some the homes of friends or family, others the homes of people that are only fellow citizens. There are also those that are here to help us do this, honoring the alliance between our peoples. We must remember to be thankful for their aid. Follow your chain of command, and the chain of command for the joint taskforce. It is my decision that the Psilon fighter-ace Pace shall be in command of our joint fighter wings. For those that don't know, the Psilon rank of fighter-ace is equal to our own captain, so he out ranks any of our pilots. He and his staff are in charge of fighter ops. Second in command of overall operations is Admiral JP-16-1, the Meklar commander. Should I fall or my coms fail, obey him as you would me. Should boarding operations occur, each ship has been provided with a company of Sakkra marines, under the overall command of General Godzilla on board my ship. Try to avoid any boarding actions, but if you see a tempting target or you are targeted, don't avoid them at any major cost-I doubt the Ithkul are capable of overcoming Sakkra. We had a hard enough time during our war with them after all. Ladies and gentlemen, go to battle stations. And know this: to paraphrase the ancient poet Tennyson it is 'Ours not to make reply, ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die!' Do your duty, though it take you into the jaws of death or the mouth of hell, and our glory can never fade, and all the galaxy will wonder. Admiral Kane out!" Kane's voice went from the steady, confident tone, to a much crisper tone as he snapped out orders. "Con, bring us about. Fleet to battlestations! Go weapons hot! Sensors, time to Ithkul emergence?"
"One minute from... mark!" Commander Goodridge was still as good as ever, and the Ithkul came out one minute to-the nanosecond-later.
