Chapter Three: Contact
A trio of Brakiri Avokai class vessels plodded through space, their cargo holds full from their latest mission. Their employer would be very pleased. Once the profits were added up the freighters would likely be able to afford to use their jump engines for their next run.
On board the Brakiri ship Ignosha Captain Fleba was relaxing in his quarters, enjoying a glass of human whiskey he had purchased at an outpost some weeks ago. The brown liquid was potent, and helped to pass the long hours as his merchant fleet moved toward the jump gate. His employer had lost a good deal of money when a mining facility he owned had suffered an accident and exploded. That was the reason the Brakiri ships were so short of Quantium 40 for their jump engines.
On the bridge, the Brakiri in charge of sensors detected the formation of a jump point. The Brakiri's heart then almost stopped. The vessel exiting the jump point was large and circular, and undocking from its rings were 21 Raider Zephyr class fighters. "Combat alert!" Throughout the ships alert klaxons began blaring.
"What is happening?" Fleba asked as he entered the bridge. The Raider Battle Wagon fired its main and very expensive weapon, a heavy pulse cannon, at the lead Brakiri vessel, burning a deep gouge into the armor. "Bring the jump engines on-line! Get us out of here!" Captain Fleba yelled at his engineering officer.
"It will take at least ten minutes for the jump engines to warm up!" The engineer countered.
"Do we have communications?" The Brakiri captain asked hurriedly.
"Yes," the engineer replied as he glanced at his control console.
"Then send a distress call. To any ships in range, this is the Brakiri ship Ignosha. We are under attack by Raiders and require assistance. Please respond." The captain quickly ordered.
The Raider fighters had lined up and opened fire on the Brakiri ships by this time, their weapons cutting into the armor and disabling the one of the cargo ships' main weapons, but not before losing five of their number to particle beams and pulse cannons. They pressed their attack while the Battle Wagon moved up, deploying assault shuttles to catch their rich prizes.
…
The Qu'van and her squadron were preparing to depart their latest surveyed system. This one had no habitable worlds or valuable resources unfortunatly.
Captain Kogh took a swig from his bottle of Bloodwine as he tried to ease the headache he was developing from staring at data pads for hours on end. "Prepare to set course for the next system." Kogh said as he took another gulp of his blood wine.
"Yes sir. Wait a minute Captain... we are receiving a hail. It is on a tachyon frequency similar to the technology we discovered at the world near the second gate," K'lek reported. "I am playing it now." A voice came over the speakers. The signal was distorted by background static but It was still audible.
"To any ships in range, this is the Brakiri ship Ignosha. We are under attack by Raiders and require assistance. Please respond." The signal repeated twice before Kogh made a slashing motion with his hand and the playback ended.
"How far is the source of that transmission?" Kogh asked his trustfull subordinate.
"Two light years. Shall we set course?" K'lek asked.
"Do it. Whoever is under attack may be able to provide us with information about the systems beyond our survey pattern, as well as end this dull duty for a while." There was a murmur of agreement from the crew. They were eager for a battle after weeks of dull astrometric surveys. The four Klingon ships initiated their cloaks and engaged at maximum warp. A Battle called, and they would answer.
…
The Raider shuttles by now attached themselves to the lead Brakiri cargo ship and the boarders blasted through the airlocks and quickly overpowered the security details present at the airlocks. The other two ships would be secured shortly by the Raiders. The Raider Captain, a human named Darien Kell, smiled triumphantly. He had been a pirate his entire life. His father had taught him well until his death during a raid on a Narn supply ship. Darien was a tall man with salt and pepper hair and a long scar down the side of his face.
"How long until the other two ships are secure?" Darien asked his crew.
"Should be just a few minutes Boss," Joshua Beler replied from his station. He had lost a leg during an explosion a few years ago and now served as the coordinator of the Raider boarding teams.
"Good. Once we cash this haul we'll finally be able to afford some new weapons for the fighters, maybe even a Starfury or two." As Darien watched the Brakiri ships drifting, he noticed something odd. Space seemed to shimmer for an instant before four small green ships appeared out of nowhere. There was no jump point, they simply shimmered into existence. "Where the hell did they come from!" Darien cried out as he witnessed the unusual sight.
"Don't know, but they're hailing us. You wanna talk to 'em?" Joshua asked.
"Yeah, but keep the man gun trained on the lead ship." Darien supposed. A rough voice sounded over the bridge a few moments later.
"Raider vessel, I am Captain Kogh of the Klingon vessel Qu'van. You will cease your attack immediately and prepare to be boarded. Resist and you will die." The voice stasted harshly.
"Just who do you think you are? This is MY prize. I was here first!" As he spoke, Darien motioned for the fighters to form up and attack the new ships. If they couldn't do the job they could at least by enough time for the Battle Wagon to jump away.
…
"The fighters are moving toward us. Their weapons are locking on," M'ret reported. "Low yield pulse weapons. They pose no threat." Kogh stated with disdain and pity in his voice.
"Then let us give them a worthy death. Order the M'par and the B'mong to destroy them. Take us in close to the main enemy ship and beam an assault team aboard, and transport the intruders on the Brakiri ship to the brig." Kogh added. The Klingon sensors had determined that the three large vessels, each nearly four times the size of the Qu'van, had only one species aboard. The Raiders seemed to be all humans, a great surprise to the Klingons, one which would soon be explained.
…
Approaching weapons range," Delta Four reported over his comm. The Raider fighters were about to meet the alien ships side on. Suddenly two of the smallest ships darted forward and turned with a speed that should have been impossible. In seconds they would be on top of the Raiders. "Open fire!" Plasma bolts lashed out from the Raider Zephyrs, but it was all absorbed by a simmering green wall of energy. "What the hell! Those guys have energy shields!" Before the other pilots could react, green bolts of energy were fired from the wings of the two Birds of Prey, each shot found its mark and created a fireball as the Raider fighters were slaughtered. Within thirty seconds 20 of the Raider fighters were destroyed, the final one was caught in a tractor beam. The pilot was beamed into the Qu'van's brig and the Zephyr tractored into the shuttle bay.
…
On board the Battle Wagon, Darien was speechless. His entire fighter wing had just been obliterated with little effort. The new ships were also equipped with some sort of energy shields. His ship's pulse cannon fired again and again, but the enemy ships didn't even flinch.
"Quick, get us out of here!" Darien ordered. Then suddenly there was a whine and seven columns of red orange light appeared on the bridge. They solidified into men with dark skin and wearing metal armor. They carried pistol like weapons which fired bolts of green energy, knocking half the bridge crew off their feet in seconds. Joshua drew his PPG and put a round through one of the burly men, sending him to the floor, but a second alien drew a curved sword and cut off Joshua's head with a single expert stroke. Darien dove behind his chair and drew a pair of PPGs. He was an expert shot, and four of his shots hit their targets, but only two of the aliens fell. The largest of the aliens drew a knife and threw it at blinding speed. The weapon lodged in the PPGs barrel, ruining the weapons.
"You are a worthy opponent! Come and face me in combat!" The alien called out. Darien smiled and stood up.
"You wanna fight me? All right." Darien raised his second PPG as quick as lightingand and nailed the alien in the chest. The alien fell back dead, and Darien made a dash for the hatch. He rolled and dodged the first volley of weapons, but a bolt caught him in the hip. He dropped with a cry and one of the Klingon warriors was on him in an instant, with his hands around Darien's throat.
"You are without honor. Kornar offered you an honorable challenge, and you reply by gunning him down in cold blood!" Darien felt the warrior's hands tighten, and his vision began to grey. Suddenly the hands released him and he dropped to the floor, gulping down deep breaths of air. The man kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him slamming into the bulkhead. "I will not kill you yet P'tah. No, you will give us the information we desire, and I will be sure you will be in great pain for a very long time." He kicked Darien in the crotch as hard as he could, drawing a scream of agony. "Krell to B'mong, one to beam to the brig."
…
"The enemy ship is secure sir, and we have beamed the intruders from the Brakiri ship to the brig as well," K'lek reported. "Casualty reports are coming in. Five wounded, two seriously, including Captain Kornar."
Vogh growled. He had known Kornar for several years, and the two had hunted Targ together many times on Quo'nos. "Very well, hail the lead Brakiri vessel. It is time we obtained some answers."
So, how was that? Looks like the Raiders learned the hard way you don't mess with the Klingons, though at least they weren't too easy. So what will happen with the Brakiri? And what will the Klingons think when they learn about the EA? Find out in the next exciting chapter. See you all then! The Emperor protects.
ENTILZA