Chapter 25 - Thunderhead
Galactic Unity forward command and control base, near Gamma/Alpha Quadrant boarder coreward
Pacification Fleet Prime Supreme Overlord Brakiel rested his towering five and three quarter meters height in a comfortable chair ringed with atmosphere hydrators. The ancient Meskeen was well past 2000 years of age, with all the wisdom his long life afforded him currently bent towards the analysis of 901st Pacification Fleet's after-action report. He had served in the ISC's Peaceforces since his youth, back when the Terrans were still using metal swords and armor to kill each other. He well remembered how the handful of species, his own included, had clustered together, combining their fates and common goals of galactic peace and unity into one political organization. And he also remembered the fateful day when the Veltressai far seers had brought their horrible vision of the future forward, changing the ISC's policies forever.
They spoke of the day when the destroyers would come, that they would endeavor to consume the galaxy and the sentient peoples of it, leaving nothing in their wake. It was this terrifying vision that had dominated the ISC's galactic agenda virtually since its inception. United, the galaxy stood a chance to stave off destruction, but divided as it then and still was, they would be picked off one by one. At first, the ISC had tried to bring other species into peaceful cooperation through peaceful means. But while they met with considerable success using this tactic amongst their local star cluster, external species, some with thriving empires of their own, were a different story.
Many were non-espers, unlike the varied species of the Meskeen's home star cluster. They as such lacked the ability to read the sincerity of the ISC's desires, many in fact afraid of the possible threats the esper races posed to them. They ignored the ISC envoy's overtures at best, starting armed conflict with them at worst. This opposition to peaceful coexistence couldn't be tolerated, especially in light of the threat the far seers foresaw. So ISC policy shifted from peaceful promotion of unity to unity through force of arms. Even so, the ISC advanced slowly, utilizing internal opposition to the current government to aid in making the shift into the ISC as bloodless as possible while always striving for a peaceful incorporation whenever possible. The ISC wasn't out to conquer after all, they were merely doing what must be done if the galaxy was to survive. In many, many cases, the vast majority in fact, once the pacified species had experienced ISC's rule of law, they rightly found it preferable to their old systems. True there were some systems that required greater means of persuasion of the rightness of ISC membership than mere examples of ISC justice and time, but they had always proved the minority.
Not so with the Terran Empire. The far seers had dreamt of them in their visions, and what they saw disturbed them greatly. The Terran Empire did not seek to unite the galaxy. They sought only to destroy and spread their cancer across the cosmos. They posed the single greatest known threat to uniting the diverse peoples of the galaxy. As such, they needed to be removed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Brakiel's immediate predecessor had not succeeded in wiping out the threat of the Terran Empire. He had come tantalizingly close, but had failed to take into account just how devoted and highly motivated the Terrans were to their misguided ideals. Nearly 200 years of propaganda backed them, making it very hard to convince the Terrans to change beliefs ingrained in them since they were babes in arms.
The first Pacification attempt of the Terran Empire had been crushed as a result. Brakiel was determined not to make the same mistakes his predecessor had made. Old Uziot had been too cautious, endeavoring to utilize the minimum amount of force possible. As a result, his Pacification Fleet Prime had been insufficient to the task of eliminating Terran resistance. By the time reinforcements arrived, they proved to be too late to be decisive. After overrunning over half of Terran held space, Pacification Fleet Prime was pushed back inexorably, finally being forced from their last foothold in Terran space nearly 90 years ago. That devastating upset had forced the ISC to flee it's home systems in the Gamma Quadrant, retreating to the Gamma/Delta boarder along the fringe of the galaxy.
But the ISC had used those 90 years to repair its shattered fleets and make them grow even larger than they had ever been previous. New, more potent weapons systems were devised and installed. Armor and shields were bettered. In total secrecy, in a remote, isolated corner of the Milky Way, the ISC had built up the largest military force in the galaxy. The hundreds of billions of souls that made up the ISC were a fairly large force to draw from, and with modern mater synthesis replication nearly all could be part of the Peaceforces. The new home worlds had been virtually stripped of citizens as the starships and ground forces were assembled. And with the addition of the ISC's newfound allies, the Dominion, the Terran Empire would finally be brought into the peaceful unity that was the ISC.
The 901st Pacification Fleet's actions finished their run on the holodisplay as the last Galactic Unity ship fled through the corridor locus. The bottomless ebon pits of Brakiel's eyes narrowed and for the first time in ages he felt the weight of his years pressing in on him.
They brash, young Q'Naabian Fleet Marshal that had commanded the 901st had failed to take all pertinent information into his decision making process. While he was almost as good at his job as he thought he was, his boldness had blinded him to the realities of his opposition. With word of the 901st's defeat, Brakiel had poured over every scrap of information in the ISC databanks about the young Imperial officer responsible for temporarily stymieing the Galactic Unity's pacification of the Prescott's Star system. What he found had startled him, which was something quite unexpected for one as 'experienced' as Brakiel was.
Ulysses Vanguard was a competent officer, carrying out his assigned duties with exemplary fashion. Yet he seemed to be prone to almost careless violence. He ascended to Captain rank by murdering his CO, and his Academy file was filled with black marks of unnecessary violence against fellow cadets. More recently, he had a band of pirates summarily executed. Yet despite all this violence, he was fiercely protective of both innocents and those serving under him. The pirate incident exemplified this, for even though there was not a proper esper investigation into the events, and the punishment he chose was rather severe and permanent, given the weight of physical evidence it was in all likelihood the proper decision.
The young Imperial Officer had also shown a flair for creative problem solving, coming up with original and unexpected solutions to the military problems posed to him by his Academy instructors. Just such an original solution was used against the 901st. OWPs that were light enough to be easily moved by an active fleet formation were not tough enough to stand up to Line Battleship and Superdreadnought weapons fire. Everyone knew this, which was why no one ever thought about bringing them along into a firefight. But not Ulysses Vanguard. He brought them along anyway, and their added firepower had given his initial volleys much heavier weight than would otherwise be the case. True the lack of protection light OWPs was the reason they were so rapidly dispatched once they were used, but the initial volleys had proved decisive, for they had chewed a gaping hole out of 901st's hammer.
And in reality, although OWPs were expensive, their replacement cost were far outweighed by the total capital ships they had allowed Ulysses to damage or destroy outright.
The fact that if 901st CO had attacked with less flair for the dramatic he would have won was beside the point. The pincer attack chosen by 901st CO had given his Imperial counterpart an opening that allowed him to defeat the attack. And the Imperial was smart enough to take it with both hands. It wouldn't save him from a future assault done with competent tactics utilizing every advantage the Galactic Unity possessed over its adversary. If the 901st had just attacked in a single massed force, even though the assault would have lasted far longer than a successful pincer attack would, it would have been guaranteed of success. 901st CO had always been far to preoccupied with the fictional deeds of Q'Naabian heroes rather than with utilization of tactics and strategies that would work best in real life.
The pincer movement attack could even had worked, resulting in the speedy elimination of the Terran's mobile forces in Prescott's star, but only if the Terran fleet did exactly as the plan laid out for them to do. Such a plan was not one to rely on, for enemies rarely were so cooperative. EW drones had fooled the ISC forces long enough for them to commit to the attack plan. They were caught nearly completely unawares when Ulysses brought the majority of his mobile forces from under the powerful ECM put out by the Battlestations. A short warp jump into the Pacification Fleet's path resulted in the range and speed advantages they possessed being nullified. The use of light OWPs towed behind Imperial warships resulted in the Pacification Fleet's slight firepower advantage being nullified. The young Imperial that had risen to control the sector after the GU's successful decapitation strike had not only made the defenders even more cohesive and better trained than they had been under their old superiors, he had stopped the pacification of the only major obstacle in the sector through his ingenuity and luck.
901st CO had failed to take all the unexpected changes the decapitation strike had wrought into account when laying out his battle plan. As a direct result, he had died when the mangled warp cores of his heavily mauled flagship breached early on in the battle.
"A pitiful performance." A matter of fact voice said from behind the Supreme Overlord.
"You feel you can do better?" Brakiel's nasally voice said evenly as he slowly pivoted his chair to face the white, sky blue and gold clad Peaceforce officer.
"Yes sir, I do."
"Such confidence from one so young."
"Sir, you know as well as I do that it was Fleet Marshal T'krit's tactical blunders combined with his overconfidence that enabled the enemy's victory over his forces."
"And you have no qualms about fighting your own kind?"
"None sir." The reply came without any hesitation and with total conviction. The human's voice went cold as he continued. "I am not Terran, Sir, anymore than you are. I resent being associated with those. animals." She voiced her view of the Imperial's like she had tasted something sickening. "I was born a citizen of the Interstellar Concordium, and will remain a citizen till I die."
Brakiel eased himself out of his large chair and began to pace, his towering frame looming over his lone companion. He found the human practice useful for collecting his thoughts. "Very well, Fleet Marshal Teresa Chora. Since you are convinced you can do better than the late Fleet Marshal T'krit, you will take the 1294th Superdreadnought Battlegroup and its escort to rendezvous with the 901st survivors in System 61003 A. You are charged with striking Prescott's Star and bringing the system and it's defenders into the peaceful unity that is the ISC."
The usually dour human's face light up with a brilliant smile. "Thank you Supreme Overlord. I shall prove your faith in my abilities well deserved."
"I expect nothing less Fleet Marshal. And I urge you to use caution with your confidence. Do not underestimate your opponent. He may be young and inexperienced, but he has done more to advance the enemy's combat readiness than the entire Fleet's worth of flag officers did before him." The middle- aged, Asiatic Human female nodded back at him, her expression serious again. When a commander as old and wise as Supreme Overlord Brakiel spoke, subordinates would do well to listen to his informed council.
The particular subordinate before him now was one of the most promising officers to come from those that had fled with the ISC during the first Pacification Campaign against the Terran Empire. Billions had chosen to join the ISC's ranks, even in the face of the resurgent Terran Empire that eventually forced them away from their final foothold in the Alpha quadrant. They were a diverse bunch, including Humans, Romulans, Klingons and a plethora of other, less populous species. They were dispossessed, not having any worlds of their own, but shortly thereafter, ALL member species of the ISC had no worlds to call their own. They had packed up their civilization lock, stock and barrel and moved as far away from the ever growing blight of the Terran Empire as was possible, almost to the direct opposite corner of the galaxy. There, they had rebuilt their civilization and rebuilt their fleets, preparing for the day when they would again send their Peaceforces out to Pacify the Terrans.
An aide entered the flag holodisplay room of the massive ISC SM-class Super Monitor One, named Unity before she had even finished construction by her first captain. She was easily comparable to Voth Cityships in size, designed from the keel up to be the centerpiece of Pacification forces operating far from ISC held space.
"Supreme Overlord Brakiel, Peter O'tole sends his regards and wishes to convey a message to you." The Gorn like Pronhoulite aide said.
"Yes, what is it?"
"He says that the self styled Grand Alliance races have refused to aid us in removing the Terran Empire. He further says that they will view any breach of their sovereign space as an act of war."
The Supreme Overlord of Pacification Fleet Prime sighed, another useful trait adopted from the Humans. "While unfortunate, this chain of events wasn't all that unexpected. The Grand Alliance species have spent to long under the cruel boot heels of the Terran Empire to recognize the truth of our offer." Inner eyelids blinked closed over his eyes, carrying the soft sheen of accumulated water droplets with them. "Issue the necessary orders to activate Battle Plan Korikuk."
"Should 17th Fleet be diverted from their impending attack on the Bajor Sector Sir? They should be in position to strike within a day, and their position will place them the closest to Grand Alliance space than any of our other active fleets."
"No. Advise them to divert into Cardassian space once they have secured the Bajor Sector. 421st Fleet will take over the 17th's assigned Imperial targets. Have a fresh list of Cardassian targets assigned to 17th Fleet as soon as possible. This Pacification Campaign has just gotten a little longer, but thanks to our Dominion allies, we have sufficient hulls to continue aggressive persecution of it."
Galactic Unity forward command and control base, near Gamma/Alpha Quadrant boarder coreward
Pacification Fleet Prime Supreme Overlord Brakiel rested his towering five and three quarter meters height in a comfortable chair ringed with atmosphere hydrators. The ancient Meskeen was well past 2000 years of age, with all the wisdom his long life afforded him currently bent towards the analysis of 901st Pacification Fleet's after-action report. He had served in the ISC's Peaceforces since his youth, back when the Terrans were still using metal swords and armor to kill each other. He well remembered how the handful of species, his own included, had clustered together, combining their fates and common goals of galactic peace and unity into one political organization. And he also remembered the fateful day when the Veltressai far seers had brought their horrible vision of the future forward, changing the ISC's policies forever.
They spoke of the day when the destroyers would come, that they would endeavor to consume the galaxy and the sentient peoples of it, leaving nothing in their wake. It was this terrifying vision that had dominated the ISC's galactic agenda virtually since its inception. United, the galaxy stood a chance to stave off destruction, but divided as it then and still was, they would be picked off one by one. At first, the ISC had tried to bring other species into peaceful cooperation through peaceful means. But while they met with considerable success using this tactic amongst their local star cluster, external species, some with thriving empires of their own, were a different story.
Many were non-espers, unlike the varied species of the Meskeen's home star cluster. They as such lacked the ability to read the sincerity of the ISC's desires, many in fact afraid of the possible threats the esper races posed to them. They ignored the ISC envoy's overtures at best, starting armed conflict with them at worst. This opposition to peaceful coexistence couldn't be tolerated, especially in light of the threat the far seers foresaw. So ISC policy shifted from peaceful promotion of unity to unity through force of arms. Even so, the ISC advanced slowly, utilizing internal opposition to the current government to aid in making the shift into the ISC as bloodless as possible while always striving for a peaceful incorporation whenever possible. The ISC wasn't out to conquer after all, they were merely doing what must be done if the galaxy was to survive. In many, many cases, the vast majority in fact, once the pacified species had experienced ISC's rule of law, they rightly found it preferable to their old systems. True there were some systems that required greater means of persuasion of the rightness of ISC membership than mere examples of ISC justice and time, but they had always proved the minority.
Not so with the Terran Empire. The far seers had dreamt of them in their visions, and what they saw disturbed them greatly. The Terran Empire did not seek to unite the galaxy. They sought only to destroy and spread their cancer across the cosmos. They posed the single greatest known threat to uniting the diverse peoples of the galaxy. As such, they needed to be removed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Brakiel's immediate predecessor had not succeeded in wiping out the threat of the Terran Empire. He had come tantalizingly close, but had failed to take into account just how devoted and highly motivated the Terrans were to their misguided ideals. Nearly 200 years of propaganda backed them, making it very hard to convince the Terrans to change beliefs ingrained in them since they were babes in arms.
The first Pacification attempt of the Terran Empire had been crushed as a result. Brakiel was determined not to make the same mistakes his predecessor had made. Old Uziot had been too cautious, endeavoring to utilize the minimum amount of force possible. As a result, his Pacification Fleet Prime had been insufficient to the task of eliminating Terran resistance. By the time reinforcements arrived, they proved to be too late to be decisive. After overrunning over half of Terran held space, Pacification Fleet Prime was pushed back inexorably, finally being forced from their last foothold in Terran space nearly 90 years ago. That devastating upset had forced the ISC to flee it's home systems in the Gamma Quadrant, retreating to the Gamma/Delta boarder along the fringe of the galaxy.
But the ISC had used those 90 years to repair its shattered fleets and make them grow even larger than they had ever been previous. New, more potent weapons systems were devised and installed. Armor and shields were bettered. In total secrecy, in a remote, isolated corner of the Milky Way, the ISC had built up the largest military force in the galaxy. The hundreds of billions of souls that made up the ISC were a fairly large force to draw from, and with modern mater synthesis replication nearly all could be part of the Peaceforces. The new home worlds had been virtually stripped of citizens as the starships and ground forces were assembled. And with the addition of the ISC's newfound allies, the Dominion, the Terran Empire would finally be brought into the peaceful unity that was the ISC.
The 901st Pacification Fleet's actions finished their run on the holodisplay as the last Galactic Unity ship fled through the corridor locus. The bottomless ebon pits of Brakiel's eyes narrowed and for the first time in ages he felt the weight of his years pressing in on him.
They brash, young Q'Naabian Fleet Marshal that had commanded the 901st had failed to take all pertinent information into his decision making process. While he was almost as good at his job as he thought he was, his boldness had blinded him to the realities of his opposition. With word of the 901st's defeat, Brakiel had poured over every scrap of information in the ISC databanks about the young Imperial officer responsible for temporarily stymieing the Galactic Unity's pacification of the Prescott's Star system. What he found had startled him, which was something quite unexpected for one as 'experienced' as Brakiel was.
Ulysses Vanguard was a competent officer, carrying out his assigned duties with exemplary fashion. Yet he seemed to be prone to almost careless violence. He ascended to Captain rank by murdering his CO, and his Academy file was filled with black marks of unnecessary violence against fellow cadets. More recently, he had a band of pirates summarily executed. Yet despite all this violence, he was fiercely protective of both innocents and those serving under him. The pirate incident exemplified this, for even though there was not a proper esper investigation into the events, and the punishment he chose was rather severe and permanent, given the weight of physical evidence it was in all likelihood the proper decision.
The young Imperial Officer had also shown a flair for creative problem solving, coming up with original and unexpected solutions to the military problems posed to him by his Academy instructors. Just such an original solution was used against the 901st. OWPs that were light enough to be easily moved by an active fleet formation were not tough enough to stand up to Line Battleship and Superdreadnought weapons fire. Everyone knew this, which was why no one ever thought about bringing them along into a firefight. But not Ulysses Vanguard. He brought them along anyway, and their added firepower had given his initial volleys much heavier weight than would otherwise be the case. True the lack of protection light OWPs was the reason they were so rapidly dispatched once they were used, but the initial volleys had proved decisive, for they had chewed a gaping hole out of 901st's hammer.
And in reality, although OWPs were expensive, their replacement cost were far outweighed by the total capital ships they had allowed Ulysses to damage or destroy outright.
The fact that if 901st CO had attacked with less flair for the dramatic he would have won was beside the point. The pincer attack chosen by 901st CO had given his Imperial counterpart an opening that allowed him to defeat the attack. And the Imperial was smart enough to take it with both hands. It wouldn't save him from a future assault done with competent tactics utilizing every advantage the Galactic Unity possessed over its adversary. If the 901st had just attacked in a single massed force, even though the assault would have lasted far longer than a successful pincer attack would, it would have been guaranteed of success. 901st CO had always been far to preoccupied with the fictional deeds of Q'Naabian heroes rather than with utilization of tactics and strategies that would work best in real life.
The pincer movement attack could even had worked, resulting in the speedy elimination of the Terran's mobile forces in Prescott's star, but only if the Terran fleet did exactly as the plan laid out for them to do. Such a plan was not one to rely on, for enemies rarely were so cooperative. EW drones had fooled the ISC forces long enough for them to commit to the attack plan. They were caught nearly completely unawares when Ulysses brought the majority of his mobile forces from under the powerful ECM put out by the Battlestations. A short warp jump into the Pacification Fleet's path resulted in the range and speed advantages they possessed being nullified. The use of light OWPs towed behind Imperial warships resulted in the Pacification Fleet's slight firepower advantage being nullified. The young Imperial that had risen to control the sector after the GU's successful decapitation strike had not only made the defenders even more cohesive and better trained than they had been under their old superiors, he had stopped the pacification of the only major obstacle in the sector through his ingenuity and luck.
901st CO had failed to take all the unexpected changes the decapitation strike had wrought into account when laying out his battle plan. As a direct result, he had died when the mangled warp cores of his heavily mauled flagship breached early on in the battle.
"A pitiful performance." A matter of fact voice said from behind the Supreme Overlord.
"You feel you can do better?" Brakiel's nasally voice said evenly as he slowly pivoted his chair to face the white, sky blue and gold clad Peaceforce officer.
"Yes sir, I do."
"Such confidence from one so young."
"Sir, you know as well as I do that it was Fleet Marshal T'krit's tactical blunders combined with his overconfidence that enabled the enemy's victory over his forces."
"And you have no qualms about fighting your own kind?"
"None sir." The reply came without any hesitation and with total conviction. The human's voice went cold as he continued. "I am not Terran, Sir, anymore than you are. I resent being associated with those. animals." She voiced her view of the Imperial's like she had tasted something sickening. "I was born a citizen of the Interstellar Concordium, and will remain a citizen till I die."
Brakiel eased himself out of his large chair and began to pace, his towering frame looming over his lone companion. He found the human practice useful for collecting his thoughts. "Very well, Fleet Marshal Teresa Chora. Since you are convinced you can do better than the late Fleet Marshal T'krit, you will take the 1294th Superdreadnought Battlegroup and its escort to rendezvous with the 901st survivors in System 61003 A. You are charged with striking Prescott's Star and bringing the system and it's defenders into the peaceful unity that is the ISC."
The usually dour human's face light up with a brilliant smile. "Thank you Supreme Overlord. I shall prove your faith in my abilities well deserved."
"I expect nothing less Fleet Marshal. And I urge you to use caution with your confidence. Do not underestimate your opponent. He may be young and inexperienced, but he has done more to advance the enemy's combat readiness than the entire Fleet's worth of flag officers did before him." The middle- aged, Asiatic Human female nodded back at him, her expression serious again. When a commander as old and wise as Supreme Overlord Brakiel spoke, subordinates would do well to listen to his informed council.
The particular subordinate before him now was one of the most promising officers to come from those that had fled with the ISC during the first Pacification Campaign against the Terran Empire. Billions had chosen to join the ISC's ranks, even in the face of the resurgent Terran Empire that eventually forced them away from their final foothold in the Alpha quadrant. They were a diverse bunch, including Humans, Romulans, Klingons and a plethora of other, less populous species. They were dispossessed, not having any worlds of their own, but shortly thereafter, ALL member species of the ISC had no worlds to call their own. They had packed up their civilization lock, stock and barrel and moved as far away from the ever growing blight of the Terran Empire as was possible, almost to the direct opposite corner of the galaxy. There, they had rebuilt their civilization and rebuilt their fleets, preparing for the day when they would again send their Peaceforces out to Pacify the Terrans.
An aide entered the flag holodisplay room of the massive ISC SM-class Super Monitor One, named Unity before she had even finished construction by her first captain. She was easily comparable to Voth Cityships in size, designed from the keel up to be the centerpiece of Pacification forces operating far from ISC held space.
"Supreme Overlord Brakiel, Peter O'tole sends his regards and wishes to convey a message to you." The Gorn like Pronhoulite aide said.
"Yes, what is it?"
"He says that the self styled Grand Alliance races have refused to aid us in removing the Terran Empire. He further says that they will view any breach of their sovereign space as an act of war."
The Supreme Overlord of Pacification Fleet Prime sighed, another useful trait adopted from the Humans. "While unfortunate, this chain of events wasn't all that unexpected. The Grand Alliance species have spent to long under the cruel boot heels of the Terran Empire to recognize the truth of our offer." Inner eyelids blinked closed over his eyes, carrying the soft sheen of accumulated water droplets with them. "Issue the necessary orders to activate Battle Plan Korikuk."
"Should 17th Fleet be diverted from their impending attack on the Bajor Sector Sir? They should be in position to strike within a day, and their position will place them the closest to Grand Alliance space than any of our other active fleets."
"No. Advise them to divert into Cardassian space once they have secured the Bajor Sector. 421st Fleet will take over the 17th's assigned Imperial targets. Have a fresh list of Cardassian targets assigned to 17th Fleet as soon as possible. This Pacification Campaign has just gotten a little longer, but thanks to our Dominion allies, we have sufficient hulls to continue aggressive persecution of it."