-Chapter Ten - The Sleeping Dragon-
-Imperial Exploratory Fleet 8, Delta Quadrant, Near Galactic Fringe-
-Voyager- cruised along with her squadron mates and her charges leisurely through normal space. The SWAC -Nebula- was performing a long-range scan with her powerful sensors to see if there was anything of interest in the local area. So far, this area of the galaxy seemed not to possess any major powers. Most were small one or two system polities and only a handful had recently achieved warp flight. None had possessed significant amounts of needed resources, nor had any held any useful tech. Basically this region of space was a cosmic backwater, far away from any major powers and underdeveloped as a whole. In the old days, this area would be prime real estate for colonization. But not so any longer, for with the recent breaches in Starfleet loyalty and resurgent enemies surrounding the Empire on all sides new colonization was now on indefinite hold.
"The -Aegis- says she will complete her scan in two minutes Admiral." -Voyager's- captain, Scot Cavit, reported to his CO. He had been her first officer for many years before she was bumped up to Flag rank and he assumed her seat on -Voyager's- Main Bridge.
"It's about time. In a few more months, we should be finished with this babysitting mission and we can return to the front lines where we belong." Janeway replied.
"I couldn't agree more Admiral. All this nursemaiding to Scifleet is getting stale. We haven't encountered a credible threat in weeks. Sims are fine as a stopgap, but nothing replaces actual combat to keep a crew on its toes." Janeway's head nodded in agreement on the small screen situated to the right of the Captain's chair. -Voyager- didn't have the holodisplay upgrade, but she did have three standard panel displays, one front and two to either side allowing for a wider view of surrounding space. They were currently showing the after aspects of the other ships in the Voyager Battlegroup and the three Scifleet -Nebulas- they were escorting.
"Incoming communiqué from the -Aegis- Sir." Lt. Harry Kim spoke up from behind and to the left of Cavit. "It appears that they have found something of interest. It's a system near the periphery of our scout path. It appears to be moderately industrialized and possesses spaceborn infrastructure around its fourth planet."
"Well well Admiral, it looks like we will have something of interest after all. Do you think that that system could be where our recent shadow's have come from?"
"Hmm, a distinct possibility seeing as how it's the only nearby system that seems to have the tech base to do so. Cloak all vessels." Janeway ordered. "Order the -Aegis-, -Socrates-, -Othello-, and -Wallenstein-," Janeway named the three Scifleet vessels and their cargo ship, "to form up, Theta formation. The Battlegroup will lay in a course for that system and engage warp immediately. I want a standard recon sweep from the outer system. We don't know who they are yet, and I don't want any unnecessary surprises. Once we get a close in scan, we can better determine how to proceed."
"As you command Admiral." Cavit turned toward his helmsman as Janeway cut the communication. "Mr. Paris, plot a course for the new system, warp 9."
"Aye sir. Laying in coordinates now. Battlegroup and Scifleet units have formed up, Theta formation. Warp drive is online and standing by."
"Engage."
-Interstellar Concordium System 450, System Picket Battlegroup 84-
Everything was going according to plan. The Terran Empire was as weak as it had been in a century, the ISC had rebuilt its shattered legions and had found a powerful ally in the Dominion. The time was ripe to strike. Only a few more months would be required to get the Dominion fleet back up to strength, then all would be brought under the Galactic Unity's banner of peace and brotherhood. The tech briefings on the latest Imperial and Grand Alliance starship designs showed that the ISC enjoyed a quantitative advantage over them in many areas. With a little luck, the powers of the Alpha and Beta quadrants would soon be disarmed and would embrace the peace and prosperity being in the GU offered them. Without it, the pacification campaign would merely take longer with the end result being the same.
Aboard the ISC Battlecruiser -Path of the True-, it was highly evident that the time to the kickoff of the new pacification campaign was rapidly approaching. Ships were being turned out from repair/refit slips with redoubled speed. The training regimen was constantly speeding up of late, focusing on the ships of the GA and the TE. There had even been some late model ships dropped off for study and wargaming. Granted the crews placed on the three ex-Terran Empire -Galaxies- weren't up to Starfleet standards due to their unfamiliarity with the alien equipment and it's maximum capabilities, but the -Path of the True- and her squadron mate -Forge of Unity- had handily beaten them in a 3 on 2 match up suffering only minor simulated damage in return. And the rumor mill had it that some Romulan -D'deridexes- and Klingon -Negh'Var's- were due to come in as well. They were reported to have come fresh from the hidden shipyards that birthed them for both the Romulan Star and Klingon Empires. The -Path of the True's- Meskeen captain, Grot, looked foreword to testing his mettle against the top of the line Battlecruisers of the premier members of the Grand Alliance.
"Captain, perimeter scouts report a group of starships approaching at high warp under cloak. They appear to be of Terran Empire origin!" Grot's lynx like Korlivilaran tactical officer said tersely.
The frog like Meskeen's black eyes seemed to bulge out of his head even more so than usual. No! They couldn't have found us, not now when we are so close. The Meskeen Officer's mind whirred as he sifted through the possibilities. "Do the scouts have a count and type available?"
"Unit count coming in now sir. Scout's say its five Intrepid class, 10 Saber class, three Nebula class and one Atlas class."
The Captain visibly relaxed. That meant that it was only the Deep Range Exploratory Fleet that had been nosing around the Gamma Quadrant and not an attack fleet. Yet that still meant that System 450 would have unexpected and unwelcome pests soon. The Exploratory fleet had proven devilishly hard to keep track of, despite the ISC's superior anti-cloak sensors. It didn't help that for an exploration unit they kept an extremely intense sensor watch. The SWAC Nebula's sensor dish was almost as good as a standard ISC sensor array, which meant that the tailing ISC ships were spotted nearly as soon as they picked up their quarry. Yet the Imperial Exploratory Fleet's path was taking it closer and closer to the edge of ISC space. It was therefore not entirely unexpected that they would discover the lightly industrialized system of 450 and come in for a closer look.
It appeared that ISC Pacification Fleet's recent training was about to be brought into a true trial by fire, for the Terran Empire must not yet learn of its impending doom even at this late of a date. While Intelligence said that the TE was short on Genesis warheads, with seeming proof provided by their lack of use even in the darkest days of the now stalled Grand Alliance offensive, it was best to cover all bases. The ISC had been burned by poor intelligence of the Terran Empire before, and it would not happen this time if any Commanding officers that Grot knew had anything to say on the matter.
"Orders from System Overlord Ilska sir. We are to go to red alert. All ships are to engage cloak and fall to a safe distance from the probable destination coordinates of the Imperial fleet. Once they have dropped out of warp, we will close to PPD range and take them out. The Imperial's must not be allowed to escape. Attempt to capture if possible, but under no circumstances allow them to get away."
"Transmit our acknowledgement and bring us to red alert. Order the Battlegroup to execute formation Renzik. Maintain cloak until I give the order to fire. Either they are very arrogant, which is a distinct possibility, or they think their cloak is more effective vs. our sensors than it really is. Judging from the sensor capabilities of our captured Galaxy, our cloaks are slightly better and should allow us to close undetected till we are in position to fire."
-ISS Voyager, Flag Bridge-
Admiral Janeway looked on impassively as she sat in her command chair. The wraparound display panels filled the four points of the compass on -Voyager's- somewhat cramped Flag Bridge, broken only by four doors. There was only so much room on a cruiser, and since a cruiser was the smallest Imperial warship to house a separate bridge for flag officers, it was understandably small in relation to larger vessel's Flag Bridges. Just the same, it was hers and from it she commanded one of the best Battlegroups in all of Starfleet. The ships of her Battlegroup were close enough that -Voyager's- passives could pick them up. They were drawn in on the viewscreens as transparent outlines indicating their cloaked status. The rainbow spray of stars shrank away, coalescing into fiery points of light as the Battlegroup dropped back into normal space. One point of light was slightly larger and more luminous than the rest, for it was the star who's planets she had come to investigate.
The -Aegis'- powerful passive sensors probed deep into the system, seeking out its fourth planet. It relayed its findings to -Voyager- so that she could see what Admiral October saw on the Flag Bridge of his Scifleet command ship. A small holoprojector came to life in front of Katherine's seat. A serene M-class world appeared front and center, with the massive constructs of deep space construction yards and smelters along with what could only be defensive battle stations enveloping it. While they weren't all that numerous, they were being expanded, and the sheer size of those completed indicated that this was a colony world of a major power. If, as their small number initially suggested, the orbital industry was the first attempts of a new species to build starships, there would be less of the truly massive ones. Yet nearly all of them would be capable of building a -Wraith- sized warship. It was most assuredly a colony world, no doubt about it.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Admiral?" Horatio October's deep tenor voice came over the secure whisker laser com.
"If you are referring to the apparent total absence of patrol starships then yes, I believe I am." Janeway leaned foreword and rubbed the bridge of her nose while her mouth frowned. Something wasn't right here she though as she stared at the plot. "You just don't build all those shipyards and then leave their defense to fixed fortifications alone. There has to be starships out there, and since we can't see them, they must be operating under cloak."
"Should the -Aegis- we go active with her tachyon sensors?" October asked. From the sound of it he thought that it was an unappealing option. Katherine was apt to agree with him, for Scifleet though he may be, he knew that if the new species had the right sensors, activating her anti-cloak sensor systems would give away their position immediately despite their cloak. As she mulled over her options, it became a moot point.
-[b]ISCV Path of the True-
Grot paced his bridge restlessly as a small moisturizer floating above him sent a fine mist down on him to keep his amphibian skin moist. The range wound down as his Battlegroup and others slowly closed the range to the very edge of what they knew Imperial anti-cloak sensors could detect. Finally they were all in position. Supreme Overlord Ilska transmitted the attack order and as one, the cloaked defenders of System 450 opened fire. Plasmatic Pulsar Devices had been refined considerably since the ISC and the Terran Empire last met. They had always been a long ranged weapon but Pronhoulite engineers and tweaked the design so that it was not only among the most powerful weapons known, it was also one of the longest ranged.
Erupting out of still cloaked ISC warships the PPD's crashed down on the Voyager Battlegroup and their Scifleet charges. Most of the normal defensive fleet was out on maneuvers with 101st Pacification Fleet, but those remaining were more than sufficient. The PPD's carrier beams streamed out across the vast gulf between the ISC ships and their Terran Empire targets. Once in place and on target, the carrier beam allowed plasma packets to travel FTL down its length. Their targets were basically naked, with neither shields nor ablative armor generators deployed, and the resulting carnage was to be expected when weapons that could fracture a moon met their exposed hulls.
Large though the Scifleet -Nebulas- and -Atlas- cargo ship might be, they were no where near up to current Imperial battle line standards in terms of survivability. Though the -Nebulas- possessed their Starfleet counterpart's triple, reinforced hull, they lacked their heavy external armor and internal damage control and redundant systems. Even if they had had their meager defenses fully online, it wouldn't have been enough to hold back the onslaught for long. The compact outline of their hulls were momentarily outlined in amber as the unexpected and overpowering blasts temporarily overloaded their cloaks' stealth field. Plasma slammed into their nacelles and pylons, but at the range of the engagement, launching at targets under cloak, it was far from a precision strike. Most beams hit their targets near where their gunners desired them to, but some didn't. A large section of -Socrates- saucer was cleaved away by the knife like plasma waves as the carrier beam played across her primary hull. The large ship rang like a gong as the five waves ate deep into her, exposing deck after deck to the cold vacuum of space. Her port nacelle was sheared off along with most of the left side of her secondary hull. Under the massive energy transfer, whole sections of Duranium hull matrix had no option but to vaporize into their component atoms, leaving gaping white hot wounds behind. Many trailed plasma flame as EPS conduits ruptured near Environmental system distribution trunks.
-Imperial Exploratory Fleet 8, Delta Quadrant, Near Galactic Fringe-
-Voyager- cruised along with her squadron mates and her charges leisurely through normal space. The SWAC -Nebula- was performing a long-range scan with her powerful sensors to see if there was anything of interest in the local area. So far, this area of the galaxy seemed not to possess any major powers. Most were small one or two system polities and only a handful had recently achieved warp flight. None had possessed significant amounts of needed resources, nor had any held any useful tech. Basically this region of space was a cosmic backwater, far away from any major powers and underdeveloped as a whole. In the old days, this area would be prime real estate for colonization. But not so any longer, for with the recent breaches in Starfleet loyalty and resurgent enemies surrounding the Empire on all sides new colonization was now on indefinite hold.
"The -Aegis- says she will complete her scan in two minutes Admiral." -Voyager's- captain, Scot Cavit, reported to his CO. He had been her first officer for many years before she was bumped up to Flag rank and he assumed her seat on -Voyager's- Main Bridge.
"It's about time. In a few more months, we should be finished with this babysitting mission and we can return to the front lines where we belong." Janeway replied.
"I couldn't agree more Admiral. All this nursemaiding to Scifleet is getting stale. We haven't encountered a credible threat in weeks. Sims are fine as a stopgap, but nothing replaces actual combat to keep a crew on its toes." Janeway's head nodded in agreement on the small screen situated to the right of the Captain's chair. -Voyager- didn't have the holodisplay upgrade, but she did have three standard panel displays, one front and two to either side allowing for a wider view of surrounding space. They were currently showing the after aspects of the other ships in the Voyager Battlegroup and the three Scifleet -Nebulas- they were escorting.
"Incoming communiqué from the -Aegis- Sir." Lt. Harry Kim spoke up from behind and to the left of Cavit. "It appears that they have found something of interest. It's a system near the periphery of our scout path. It appears to be moderately industrialized and possesses spaceborn infrastructure around its fourth planet."
"Well well Admiral, it looks like we will have something of interest after all. Do you think that that system could be where our recent shadow's have come from?"
"Hmm, a distinct possibility seeing as how it's the only nearby system that seems to have the tech base to do so. Cloak all vessels." Janeway ordered. "Order the -Aegis-, -Socrates-, -Othello-, and -Wallenstein-," Janeway named the three Scifleet vessels and their cargo ship, "to form up, Theta formation. The Battlegroup will lay in a course for that system and engage warp immediately. I want a standard recon sweep from the outer system. We don't know who they are yet, and I don't want any unnecessary surprises. Once we get a close in scan, we can better determine how to proceed."
"As you command Admiral." Cavit turned toward his helmsman as Janeway cut the communication. "Mr. Paris, plot a course for the new system, warp 9."
"Aye sir. Laying in coordinates now. Battlegroup and Scifleet units have formed up, Theta formation. Warp drive is online and standing by."
"Engage."
-Interstellar Concordium System 450, System Picket Battlegroup 84-
Everything was going according to plan. The Terran Empire was as weak as it had been in a century, the ISC had rebuilt its shattered legions and had found a powerful ally in the Dominion. The time was ripe to strike. Only a few more months would be required to get the Dominion fleet back up to strength, then all would be brought under the Galactic Unity's banner of peace and brotherhood. The tech briefings on the latest Imperial and Grand Alliance starship designs showed that the ISC enjoyed a quantitative advantage over them in many areas. With a little luck, the powers of the Alpha and Beta quadrants would soon be disarmed and would embrace the peace and prosperity being in the GU offered them. Without it, the pacification campaign would merely take longer with the end result being the same.
Aboard the ISC Battlecruiser -Path of the True-, it was highly evident that the time to the kickoff of the new pacification campaign was rapidly approaching. Ships were being turned out from repair/refit slips with redoubled speed. The training regimen was constantly speeding up of late, focusing on the ships of the GA and the TE. There had even been some late model ships dropped off for study and wargaming. Granted the crews placed on the three ex-Terran Empire -Galaxies- weren't up to Starfleet standards due to their unfamiliarity with the alien equipment and it's maximum capabilities, but the -Path of the True- and her squadron mate -Forge of Unity- had handily beaten them in a 3 on 2 match up suffering only minor simulated damage in return. And the rumor mill had it that some Romulan -D'deridexes- and Klingon -Negh'Var's- were due to come in as well. They were reported to have come fresh from the hidden shipyards that birthed them for both the Romulan Star and Klingon Empires. The -Path of the True's- Meskeen captain, Grot, looked foreword to testing his mettle against the top of the line Battlecruisers of the premier members of the Grand Alliance.
"Captain, perimeter scouts report a group of starships approaching at high warp under cloak. They appear to be of Terran Empire origin!" Grot's lynx like Korlivilaran tactical officer said tersely.
The frog like Meskeen's black eyes seemed to bulge out of his head even more so than usual. No! They couldn't have found us, not now when we are so close. The Meskeen Officer's mind whirred as he sifted through the possibilities. "Do the scouts have a count and type available?"
"Unit count coming in now sir. Scout's say its five Intrepid class, 10 Saber class, three Nebula class and one Atlas class."
The Captain visibly relaxed. That meant that it was only the Deep Range Exploratory Fleet that had been nosing around the Gamma Quadrant and not an attack fleet. Yet that still meant that System 450 would have unexpected and unwelcome pests soon. The Exploratory fleet had proven devilishly hard to keep track of, despite the ISC's superior anti-cloak sensors. It didn't help that for an exploration unit they kept an extremely intense sensor watch. The SWAC Nebula's sensor dish was almost as good as a standard ISC sensor array, which meant that the tailing ISC ships were spotted nearly as soon as they picked up their quarry. Yet the Imperial Exploratory Fleet's path was taking it closer and closer to the edge of ISC space. It was therefore not entirely unexpected that they would discover the lightly industrialized system of 450 and come in for a closer look.
It appeared that ISC Pacification Fleet's recent training was about to be brought into a true trial by fire, for the Terran Empire must not yet learn of its impending doom even at this late of a date. While Intelligence said that the TE was short on Genesis warheads, with seeming proof provided by their lack of use even in the darkest days of the now stalled Grand Alliance offensive, it was best to cover all bases. The ISC had been burned by poor intelligence of the Terran Empire before, and it would not happen this time if any Commanding officers that Grot knew had anything to say on the matter.
"Orders from System Overlord Ilska sir. We are to go to red alert. All ships are to engage cloak and fall to a safe distance from the probable destination coordinates of the Imperial fleet. Once they have dropped out of warp, we will close to PPD range and take them out. The Imperial's must not be allowed to escape. Attempt to capture if possible, but under no circumstances allow them to get away."
"Transmit our acknowledgement and bring us to red alert. Order the Battlegroup to execute formation Renzik. Maintain cloak until I give the order to fire. Either they are very arrogant, which is a distinct possibility, or they think their cloak is more effective vs. our sensors than it really is. Judging from the sensor capabilities of our captured Galaxy, our cloaks are slightly better and should allow us to close undetected till we are in position to fire."
-ISS Voyager, Flag Bridge-
Admiral Janeway looked on impassively as she sat in her command chair. The wraparound display panels filled the four points of the compass on -Voyager's- somewhat cramped Flag Bridge, broken only by four doors. There was only so much room on a cruiser, and since a cruiser was the smallest Imperial warship to house a separate bridge for flag officers, it was understandably small in relation to larger vessel's Flag Bridges. Just the same, it was hers and from it she commanded one of the best Battlegroups in all of Starfleet. The ships of her Battlegroup were close enough that -Voyager's- passives could pick them up. They were drawn in on the viewscreens as transparent outlines indicating their cloaked status. The rainbow spray of stars shrank away, coalescing into fiery points of light as the Battlegroup dropped back into normal space. One point of light was slightly larger and more luminous than the rest, for it was the star who's planets she had come to investigate.
The -Aegis'- powerful passive sensors probed deep into the system, seeking out its fourth planet. It relayed its findings to -Voyager- so that she could see what Admiral October saw on the Flag Bridge of his Scifleet command ship. A small holoprojector came to life in front of Katherine's seat. A serene M-class world appeared front and center, with the massive constructs of deep space construction yards and smelters along with what could only be defensive battle stations enveloping it. While they weren't all that numerous, they were being expanded, and the sheer size of those completed indicated that this was a colony world of a major power. If, as their small number initially suggested, the orbital industry was the first attempts of a new species to build starships, there would be less of the truly massive ones. Yet nearly all of them would be capable of building a -Wraith- sized warship. It was most assuredly a colony world, no doubt about it.
"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Admiral?" Horatio October's deep tenor voice came over the secure whisker laser com.
"If you are referring to the apparent total absence of patrol starships then yes, I believe I am." Janeway leaned foreword and rubbed the bridge of her nose while her mouth frowned. Something wasn't right here she though as she stared at the plot. "You just don't build all those shipyards and then leave their defense to fixed fortifications alone. There has to be starships out there, and since we can't see them, they must be operating under cloak."
"Should the -Aegis- we go active with her tachyon sensors?" October asked. From the sound of it he thought that it was an unappealing option. Katherine was apt to agree with him, for Scifleet though he may be, he knew that if the new species had the right sensors, activating her anti-cloak sensor systems would give away their position immediately despite their cloak. As she mulled over her options, it became a moot point.
-[b]ISCV Path of the True-
Grot paced his bridge restlessly as a small moisturizer floating above him sent a fine mist down on him to keep his amphibian skin moist. The range wound down as his Battlegroup and others slowly closed the range to the very edge of what they knew Imperial anti-cloak sensors could detect. Finally they were all in position. Supreme Overlord Ilska transmitted the attack order and as one, the cloaked defenders of System 450 opened fire. Plasmatic Pulsar Devices had been refined considerably since the ISC and the Terran Empire last met. They had always been a long ranged weapon but Pronhoulite engineers and tweaked the design so that it was not only among the most powerful weapons known, it was also one of the longest ranged.
Erupting out of still cloaked ISC warships the PPD's crashed down on the Voyager Battlegroup and their Scifleet charges. Most of the normal defensive fleet was out on maneuvers with 101st Pacification Fleet, but those remaining were more than sufficient. The PPD's carrier beams streamed out across the vast gulf between the ISC ships and their Terran Empire targets. Once in place and on target, the carrier beam allowed plasma packets to travel FTL down its length. Their targets were basically naked, with neither shields nor ablative armor generators deployed, and the resulting carnage was to be expected when weapons that could fracture a moon met their exposed hulls.
Large though the Scifleet -Nebulas- and -Atlas- cargo ship might be, they were no where near up to current Imperial battle line standards in terms of survivability. Though the -Nebulas- possessed their Starfleet counterpart's triple, reinforced hull, they lacked their heavy external armor and internal damage control and redundant systems. Even if they had had their meager defenses fully online, it wouldn't have been enough to hold back the onslaught for long. The compact outline of their hulls were momentarily outlined in amber as the unexpected and overpowering blasts temporarily overloaded their cloaks' stealth field. Plasma slammed into their nacelles and pylons, but at the range of the engagement, launching at targets under cloak, it was far from a precision strike. Most beams hit their targets near where their gunners desired them to, but some didn't. A large section of -Socrates- saucer was cleaved away by the knife like plasma waves as the carrier beam played across her primary hull. The large ship rang like a gong as the five waves ate deep into her, exposing deck after deck to the cold vacuum of space. Her port nacelle was sheared off along with most of the left side of her secondary hull. Under the massive energy transfer, whole sections of Duranium hull matrix had no option but to vaporize into their component atoms, leaving gaping white hot wounds behind. Many trailed plasma flame as EPS conduits ruptured near Environmental system distribution trunks.