Chapter 27: Opening Salvoes
Reviewers:
Liljimmyurine: I would like your real name. E-mail it to me and tell me if you want to be a Starfleet captain who's loyal to the Imperium or the Federation.
Oblivionknight7: You're talking about Admiral Seela. She'll probably be leading one of the Romulan fleets.
BGTom: A knife, or a phaser blast.
SCECIALGUY: I'm still debating between Halo and the Babylon 5 universe. Good idea about the Chief, though I'd like to see him try to punch through Terminator Armor.
grayangle: Thanks. I consider you one of my biggest supporters. The Ferangi might not like what the Imperium is doing, but most of them can be bribed to side with the Imperium. If any races side with the Romulans and Cardassians, they'll be taken down along with them, but the Klingons and Andorians are already with the Imperium.
Sean: Thanks for the compliment. The Romulans probably don't stand a chance. They might join forces with the Cardassians. Section 31 will at least try to stand against the Inquisition. Babylon 5 is starting to sound like a really good choice for the next galaxy. I'll probably have the Imperium come in during the Mimbari attack on Earth. They'll destroy the Mimbari fleet and help the humans claim their rightful place. How's that sound? Note that means that Babylon 5 won't exist.
The Alliance fleet was prepared to begin the invasion of Romulan space. The Romulans had been granted many chances to join with the Imperium, but all they had received in reply was silence. The alliance had mustered an invasion fleet of three thousand ships, comprised mostly of Andorian and Klingon vessels, with only five hundred Imperium vessels. They wanted the Romulans to see that the races of this galaxy were strong enough to conquer any enemy with little or no help from the Imperium.
The Enterprise-F would be the fleet flagship. Admiral Picard was nervous. The Romulans had always been a powerful race, but with the Imperium, they would stand little chance of resisting the invasion for long. Picard had given specific orders that all pleas for surrender be honored however.
"Admiral, Lord Admiral Madthayn's shuttle has left the surface," Commander Pierson reported. Madthayn would be heading up the second wave, in case Picard's fleet ran into trouble.
"Have all vessels move into formation and prepare for transwarp," he ordered.
"Aye sir. All ships forming up. Wait a minute…One of the Defiants is falling out of formation. Their impulse drive just went offline."
"Ask them if they require assistance," Picard ordered.
"Sir, the ship's moving again. It's going for the Lord Admiral's shuttle!"
"Disable that ship, now!"
But it was too late. Pulse phaser fire impacted the armored shuttle. The first shots were deflected, but the remainder tore through the small ship, resulting in a fireball as its reactor blew.
"Open fire!" Picard ordered. The ship's batteries struck several times, one shot penetrating the shields but not apparently causing any damage. The ship then went into transwarp. "Hail Madthayn's ship."
"What the hell just happened!" Captain Dren, Madthayn's executive officer demanded.
"We have no idea. The people on that ship were al human. It must have been section 31. They somehow got a ship into our fleet and struck at the Lord Admiral when he was most vulnerable."
"Sir, we are receiving a hail from a cloaked ship," Liandra reported.
"Open a channel," Picard ordered. The face of a man cloaked in black appeared. His face was hard and unreadable. An Inquisitorial insignia was pinned on his chest.
"Admiral Picard. I am Inquisitor Malaki. I witnessed the attack on Lord Admiral Madthayn's shuttle. I have placed a tracking device on the ship that fired on him. I will track it down and locate Section 31's base. In the meantime, you are ordered to proceed with the invasion of Romulan space. The Imperium will show this entire galaxy that nothing can stop the Imperium of Mankind," he said, then closed the channel.
Picard was shocked deeply by the death of the Lord Admiral. He had been the closest thing to a friend he'd had among the Imperial forces.
"Well, you heard the Inquisitor," he said after a long minute. "We've got a war to wage."
"Laying in a course for the Romulan border," Liandra reported. The entire bridge crew was still in shock. The fleet went into transwarp, heading for the point where they would begin the Romulan Crusade.
At the point where the Alliance armada would arrive, a Romulan fleet was gathering. They still had some spies in Starfleet, though most had been rooted out by Inquisitors. Admiral Seela was in charge of the fleet. She, having been born half human, considered herself an expert on the human mind. She also knew that Picard was commanding the invasion fleet.
"Admiral Seela, the enemy fleet should be here within the hour, "her first officer reported. Seela was commanding a fleet of over fifteen hundred ships, the largest armada assembled in Romulan history. They had cloaked and taken positions that would enable them to quickly surround the enemy fleet when it emerged from transwarp.
The hour went by without incident, then the Alliance fleet arrived right on time.
"First wave, decloak and open fire," Seela commanded. She would show this Imperium that the Romulans would never allow anyone to destroy what they had created.
"Admiral, detecting five hundred Romulan D'Deridex class warbirds delcoaking and vectoring in for attack," Liandra reported.
"What?" Picard asked. "How could they know this was where we would attack first?"
"They must still have spies in the Federation government," Worf suggested.
"Have all ships assume an attack formation. Try and break up their formation," Picard ordered. Romulan warships were formidable, but weaker on their own.
The Alliance fleet split into three groups. The Klingon and Andorian fleets swung around to try and flank the Klingons. The Imperium ships, led by the Enterprise, headed straight in. They Lance batteries and other long range weapons destroyed over a hundred vessels. The rest continued on their course.
"Admiral, the enemy fleet has separated," Seela's tactical officer reported.
"Exactly as I planned. They think they're already fighting our entire fleet. Move the second and third waves into position and attack," she ordered. The main enemy group was still relatively undamaged. However, they were also alone, their support vessels attempting a flanking maneuver.
"Admiral Picard, I'm detecting one thousand additional warbirds delcoaking and vectoring in for an attack against our fleet division," Pierson reported.
"The Romulans must have mobilized a significant portion of their fleet to mount an attack of such scope. Have the fleet close ranks and open fire with al weapons," Picard ordered.
The Imperium war vessels were far more powerful than the Romulans. Even with their numeretical advantage they were being slaughtered. The fighters were also causing heavy damage. The Romulan weapons were to slow to lock onto them, leaving them free to attack with impunity. Over one third of the Romulan ships had been destroyed.
"Admiral Seela, we cannot stand up to their fighters and weapons. We should retreat and analyze the information we have gathered so far."
Seela hated to retreat from anyone, especially humans, but her commander did have a point. They had lost too many ships, and the Klingon and Andorian ships were still mostly intact and causing yet more damage. Their Imperial enhancements had made them far more powerful and resilient than they had been before.
"You're correct. Signal all ships to retreat to Romulus."
"Admiral, the enemy is withdrawing," Pierson reported. He was right. The Romulan fleet was turning and running into transwarp. "Shall we pursue?"
"No, our orders were to secure this system and await the arrival of our staging base?" Picard replied. He also wanted time to grieve for Madthayn.
Malaki's ship, the Dark Vigilance, had trailed the ship that had attacked Madthayn's shuttle, cloaked of course. The ship had led them to a hidden shipyard in the Badlands. There were nearly a hundred ships gathered there.
"It looks like this section 31 is up to something big," he said to himself. He prepared ti infiltrate the base. The Inquisition had been running experiments with Alpha Quadrant technology and had made several inventions of their own, including a personal cloaking device. Malaki would discover what this Section 31 was up to, and stop them. The Inquisition ad already come to the decision that Section 31 was a threat to the security of the Alliance and must be destroyed. And once the Inquisition made a decision, no one could change their minds.
How was that? I know, Seela got away, but you'll see her again soon. In the next chapter, Malaki will discover Section 31's plans. Also, will the Cardassians help the Romulans? Is Madthayn really dead? Find out all this in the next chapter. See ya soon, and don't forget to review!
ENTILZA