Chapter 49: Culminations
Reviewers: Sorry I'm such a moron at writing.
Silvanas: I've been busy. I was actually thinking of rapping up this story and doing a separate one about the Shadow Imperium and having them meet in a third story. But that's just the moron in me talking. If the Imperium goes up against the Death Star they'll use at least a hundred thousand ships.
Oblivionknight7: No they can't. They could still put up a pretty good fight though.
Liljimmyurine: I know, I had Tzeench bring him back early. He was supposed to banished for a thousand years.
BGTom: Yeah well, I am a moron. Morons should never interact with others. (My proverb). You agree don't you? At least in my case?
Lennox: Thanks. My ship battles will be good, I hope. I am a moron after all. The Imperium will find a way. What does the BG in BGTom stand for?
Grayangle: Oh, ok. Then let's say the twins went into a pocket of light in the Warp. I'm thinking of the Emperor moving all the 'goody' people to one galaxy and doing it the old fashioned way in the other galaxies. Yes the Chaos gods will reform, but by then a lot of their worshippers will have been hunted down. That should make them weaker. Or is that just a moron talking?
Marine Brother Shran: I know it bites. I am, after all, a moron. I'll try and make the battles better, if I don't just decide to stop the story. I think that'd probably make a lot of people very happy. You're right; I should have broken it up. Sigh. Well, Et Imperator Brother Marine.
In orbit of Earth in the second galaxy, Gateway Station opened a wormhole to the Imperium galaxy. The original wormhole had been relocated to the Delta Quadrant, near the largest Mechanicus station. From the wormhole merged the Emperor's flagship and several escorts.
On board the New Hope, the Emperor gazed down at Earth. It looked like his Terra had so many centuries ago. Clear blue oceans, lush jungles and an actual ecosystem.
"It is beautiful," he said. His Custodes guards nodded. "Hail Earth Central Command," he ordered. A moment later the face of Admiral Paris appeared. A pad was in his hand. His hair seemed grayer than the image the Emperor had seen.
"Emperor, it is an honor to meet you," he said, bowing his head slightly.
"Thank you Admiral. I am hosting a conference in one hour. I would like for Admiral Picard to be there."
"May I ask what the meeting is going to be on?"
"The future of both our galaxies," the Emperor stated, then ended the transmission.
Thirty minutes later the Enterprise came out of transwarp in Earth orbit. He took a shuttle to the Emperor's flagship so he could get a good look at it. He was amazed. The vessel was fifty kilometers long and shaped like an enormous arrowhead and had a slight slope that allowed most of the side weapons to fire straight ahead. Massive weapon barrels protruded everywhere. Picard could not imagine the amount of firepower that ship could put out. The shuttle continued in until the ship filled the entire forward view and in looked like the shuttle would crash into a wall in space. Then a hatch opened and the shuttle entered a cavernous landing bay. Hundreds of strike craft were resting in their launch cradles, like wasps ready to sting their enemies at a moment's notice. Picard saw a welcoming party of warriors in gold armor waiting for him.
"Follow us," one of them said. Picard fell into step behind the massive warriors. He couldn't pin it down, but something about them made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
The party passed through massive galleries holding everything from banquet halls to barracks for boarding troops. The entire ship was covered in brass, gold, and silver finishing. Picard could almost forget he was on board a warship. Then they arrived at a massive adamantium door. One of the guards places his hand on a scanner which hissed as it took a genetic sample. It hummed for a moment, then with a hiss of heavy pistons the doors opened, revealing a massive meeting hall. A rectangular table with over a hundred seats dominated the room. The wood was brown with tan swirls, and a hologram projector glinted like an emerald in the center. Windows ran along both long sides of the hall, providing a spectacular view. Soft black carpeting ran along the floor.
The Emperor was already seated when Picard's group arrived. Three men sat at his sides. One was Lord Admiral Madthayn, who gave Picard a reassuring smile. The other two were quite different. Both had hard, cold faces. They were men who did their job, no matter what it took.
"Please, have a seat," the Emperor said. Picard took a few places down the table to the Emperor's right. "Well, now that we're all here, let us begin. As you know, the Imperium had opened several wormholes to other galaxies. One of those wormholes collapsed, stranding the advance fleet. They have however, made contact with humans and are currently assisting them in recovering their homeworld from a dictator. They have also sent us data on several new technologies that will prove useful to us. The second advance fleet had just finished recovering the Terra in their galaxy in their galaxy from an alien occupation. Their human allies have sent us a great deal of technology, including a system that should improve our ships maneuverability five fold."
"It appears as though your expansion is going well then," Picard spoke.
"Mostly," the Emperor replied. "The third galaxy is the one that we are concerned about. From astrometric scans it appears to be much larger than our galaxies. A race of humans known as the Galactic Empire governs a great piece of that galaxy. Admiral Contsu had engaged them twice in battle," the Emperor said, turning the floor over to Contsu.
"We have determined that the Galactic Empire governs nearly as many worlds as the Imperium. Most of their heavy starships are 1.6 kilometer long ships known as Star Destroyers," Contsu said, bringing up an image of a Star Destroyer on the holo projector. Diagrams came up for brief periods, highlighting key systems. "We believe the Empire possesses hundreds of thousands of these vessels. Although their technology is less advanced than ours they still pose a great threat. We currently have a temporary base set up at the mouth of the wormhole. We moved its location after our latest battle. It is now located deep in what they call the Unknown Regions. We are analyzing ten Star Destroyers we managed to capture in our last battle. They possess two technologies we will find useful. One if known as Hyperdrive. It is a method of travel far faster than even our own warp engines. A ship in hyperspace can cross the entire galaxy in mere days. The second technology is known as the Holonet. It allows their military instantaneous communication between their ships and planets. It uses a network of satellites spread across their galaxy."
"Their Hyperdrive could make them extremely dangerous if they were able to get into our galaxies," the Emperor stated. "We have also learned that the Empire either possesses one or more battle stations known as Death Stars."
"The name seems rather ominous," Picard stated.
"Indeed Admiral. A Death Star has the power to annialate an entire planet with a single blast from its main gun. It is also heavily armed with conventional weapons. The station itself is 800 kilometers in diameter and possesses many thousands of standard Imperial weapons. Its shields are capable of withstanding a months long bombardment from any fleet."
The room went silent. Everyone stared at the image of the Death Star that had been retrieved from Imperial archives. They had only begun the process of cracking the Imperials data codes.
How can we face such a thing?" Picard asked. The only thing that had ever come close to the Death Star had been the Planet Killer vessel back in Kirk's day.
By creating a super ship of our own," the Emperor replied. "In my galaxy most of my forces are still fighting our great enemies. However two of them have fallen and our forces are even now expanding and preparing for a full scale invasion of the Galactic Empire. Our facilities in what used to be Borg space have been focusing all their efforts into creating a ship that will be impervious to damage from any weapon and able to match the Death Star's power of planetary destruction. That ship is currently nearing completion. We should be arriving at the shipyards in a few moments," the Emperor said. Holograms on the windows shimmered and vanished, revealing the yellow and green fabric of transwarp. Then it faded back to normal stars as the New Hope emerged at the location of the former Borg Unicomplex. It was now the site of a massive Imperium construction yard. Hundreds of shipyards, many with vessels under construction, dotted space in every direction. Hundreds of Imperium warships patrolled the area, like sharks waiting for prey. Then they saw it.
A single shipyard in the center of the facility dominated space ahead. Within its many construction arms and scaffolds sat the largest ship anyone had ever seen. Its hull was jet black, the only sign it was even there was the star occlusion around its massive hull. It was shaped like a massive elongated arrowhead. When the ships got closer details could be discerned from the light twinkling in the ships many view ports. Thousands of Imperial gun batteries were streamlined into its hull. It seemed to have been built by a sculptor instead on an engineer. A sense of power nearly solid emanated from the ship. The Emperor stood.
"Men, I would like to introduce you to the flagship of the Imperium. The Final Judgment. 260 kilometers long and built with the latest technology from every galaxy. It will soon embark on its maiden voyage of combat."
"You're planning to test it against the Empire?" Picard asked.
"Yes. From what we have been able to learn their Empire is extremely top heavy. Its Emperor is the main thing holding it together, and he rules mainly through fear. So we shall give the citizens of the Empire something greater to fear. We will take the Final Judgment to one of their major systems and test fire the ship's main weapon. If it is successful the main invasion fleet will soon follow."
Picard was thinking about the level of firepower the New Hope looked like it could generate. He tried multiplying that by five to find out what the Final Judgment could do and got a headache.
"Your ship will be going alone?" Picard asked.
"Yes. We believe it will generate more fear if one ship can do what we're planning. Would you care to come along Admiral?" The Emperor asked. Picard thought about it. He was curious, but the Emperor's flagship seemed to promise massive bloodshed. Still, despite how he felt, he was slowly finding himself excited by the prospect of exploring not only new worlds but new galaxies.
"Very well Emperor. I will come with you," he said finally.
"Very well. I will have a room assigned to you. Please bring aboard any personal items you wish now. This ship will embark to the wormhole in twelve hours," the Emperor said before leaving the room. Picard stood in the same spot for ten minutes, thinking about what was happening around him. The Imperium seemed to be noble in its cause but at the same time they had committed acts of extreme cruelty. He could only hope that the Emperor could soon put an end to it. When he was finally led to his room, he immediately fell asleep on the massive bed. His room reminded him of the finest hotels on Earth. Everything was crystal and silk. Just before he fell sleep he felt the shudder of the ship's main reactors powering up.
Just as the Emperor had promised, twelve hours later the Final Judgment exited the shipyard and engaged its transwarp drive, setting a course for the wormhole to the Galactic Empire galaxy. The Empire would soon face its own final judgment.
How was that? Crap, and boring crap at that right? In the next chapter it's back to the Star Wars galaxy where the Emperor will show the Empire just what the Imperium is capable of. That is if anyone still wants me to keep writing this thing. Well, see ya.
ENTILZA