Author's Note:
I did think about Slartybartfast being the one to pick the other ancient's up but in the end decided against it.
Chapter 6 – Part Three - End Game (Cont'd)
Emerging from the mouth of the Hephaestus Starbase, the ship nicknamed Soliton One moved deeper into the solar system at full impulse. Unlike most other Federation vessels it lacked the aesthetically pleasing outlines being a somewhat boxy design, only two hundred meters long, and about one hundred wide, and about fifty high. In short it was a flying brick and not designed for anything other than space travel. The Starbase receded into the background and within minutes it was entering the scene of battle.
"Stop being such sentimental tosser" he said to the only other occupant, himself. His family had been killed during the Andromedan invasion, wife, children, and he so much wanted to die. He banked slowly - it was not capable of doing anything else, as he got into a decent firing position. "Admiral Shelby I'm in position." Surprised at getting only static he scanned the battlefield, finding dozens of once living breathing ships, now dead carcasses. "Admiral Shel…."
His mouth formed a big-O when he found her ship. Abandoning any further contact as rivulets of sweat ran down his forehead, within a minute his hair was sodden to such an extent it was as though he walked out of the shower. But now he was in the situation was finding that he wanted to live. He also wanted off this ship more than anything but he looked at the blue jewel, becoming tearful suddenly. Captain Proctor fingered his emergency beam out device strapped securely to his wrist. It was a device especially designed for this scenario. Instead of using normal subspace technology it relied on inter-dimensional technology. Don't be such a pussy, as stray thoughts continued to bounce around inside his cranium. C'mon you can do this! He had to clench his jaw shut suddenly, forced to swallow bile, his body heaved once more and he expelled a reddish liquid all over the floor and part of the console which dripped to the deck in great strings of bodily fluid.
Forced to lurch once more, but this time it was enemy weapons fire which barely missed his glanced his barely shielded vessel. But that had been why he was supposed to being protected by larger ships like the Shelby's, or come to think of it ¬any other ship would do! Right in front was the money shot, a huge conglomeration of enemy vessels, and one capital ship. "Come in any Federation ship" his voice was somewhat frenzied. "Please protect me as I'm powering up the weapon now," gulping reflexively as his shields withered and died – without which he would be a sitting duck. It was then realisation dawned, no ship was going to wrap a protective shield bubble around him, they were all too busy fighting for their own lives and the life of everything on planet Earth.
In an unknown part of the galaxy, away from the Federation the Old Ones continued to free others like them, not quite so much brothers for very few were of the same species as another – they all held similar beliefs and as such had worked together, mostly, to bring the universe to heel. She stopped, briefly, with the others to release the Abzulim, huge reptiles that had gained power over a hundred million years ago. Tiamat and Typhon surged free, breaking their chains followed by Azhi Dahaka, Apophis and Yig, each remembering the wrongs done to them by their creations. It sent its memories since its awakening.
Things had been going badly at the start of the battle, now two hours in and it was grim, very, very grim, Spock having taken over the science station was helping locate weak points in the enemy vessels, of which there were few. After the Griffon had destroyed the first Capital ship they had rapidly devised countermeasures which essentially consisted of being flanked by at least two of the flying wings which guarded the entry points. They had however destroyed over one hundred of the three kilometre vessels unfortunately the butchers bill was huge. Even old Klingon and Romulan vessels were being used as battering rams to weaken shields enough to take the enemy down.
"Drop to one quarter impulse, let their missile overshoot," he said, adding "hopefully" in a voice too quiet to be overheard.
"Admiral we cannot sustain these losses"
"I know but right now I'm fresh out of ideas"
"Well I might just have a solution for you"
At that point his vision went white as his consciousness fell down a tunnel of deepest darkness.
Captain Riker held his broken wrist against his chest protectively, but he did not have time or the luxury to stop for medical attention.
"Worf how bad is it?"
"Out of three hundred ships, 30% are destroyed, another 30% are non-combat worthy for anything other than ramming – they are leaving the battlefield at their best speeds, the rest continue to fight"
"Damn!" he tried for the life to find a way out of this. A vessel spun on its axis lifelessly, "Is that Admiral Kirk's ship?"
"Yes it is"
"Any lifesigns?"
"Beaming them to safety now"
"Good" his tones were bitter. "Ensign I want a hard dorsal 180 let's kill these bastards!"
In the distance the moon had suffered numerous impacts from crashed vessels, Starfleet and alien, but it was the damage to the Earth that made him the angriest. Bateson looked at the huge gouges cut into Europe and Britain – he sincerely hoped the bloody arthropods hadn't killed the whales when their weapons had started to broil parts of the Pacific Ocean, the last thing they needed was that damn probe to return. Since the original Constitutions had been launched, all ships now bristled with enough firepower to sterilise a planet in minutes, but even so the enemy shields still proved extremely resilient.
He glanced at the Denobulan Head of Sciences, "Any luck Trevika?"
"None Captain, they have really sown us in tight here"
"Barely room to swing a cat" he grumbled, grabbing onto the arms of his chair as the ensign executed a manoeuvre that taxed the inertial dampeners. He nodded his head at the Bu'KaH, clearly having had enough.
His fingers played over the console, "Polaron weapons ready Captain"
"Fire!"
The Formidable was designed as a test-bed for new technologies; even those subject to recent refits lacked the improved phased polaron beams. In fact they were one of the first ships to benefit from the recent installation. Sickly green energy beams struck a nearby ship passing straight through its shields, killing the organic hull as it shrivelled back on itself.
"C'mon Kirk where are your zany ideas as we need one now?" They were only one ship and only capable of doing so much.
"Yeah!" screamed the Denobulan punching the air triumphantly.
Dozens of vessels floated freely in space, barely alive, dying, the newest having been targeted and removed as a threat - among those ships was the Griffon, Discovery, and Dominance. Others had attempted to rescue the crew of Shelby's ship, and had paid the ultimate price.
Valentine felt elated so Bateson's phased polaron's were successful – let's see if our prototypes work! "Arm all protomatter torpedoes"
"We've only got a four"
Resisting the urge to make any rude noises, or gestures, settled with the third option, "Make'm count Korath."
"Count on it," he said, after but a moment, "Ready sir"
"We have three capital hips left" Karen urged. "Let's demoralise them"
"Fire!" he said, his face a grim mask of hatred and defiance.
It fled from Trailblazer heading towards its target, on impact with the shields it blasts apart then seems to consume anything it touches, shields, organic life, and any bulkheads that stood in its way. At the end barely a trace was left of the ten mile plus long ship. The success of the Trailblazer and the Dominance would be as good as painting glowing neon targets on both hulls. Yet Starfleet battled on, waiting for crucial reinforcements to arrive from the Beta Quadrant.
With a flash of light dozens of orange wormholes opened up and a newly rechristened Chruchill class – the Agamemnon was now the UFP Hammer of Justice. It was followed by over fifty Minbari White Stars, and over twenty of their sleek Sharlin and Tinashi which for all intents and purposes resembled purple coloured fish. Smaller Vor'ku'far fighters attempted to engage the new arrivals as dozens of White Stars banked together like a school of fish, used to attacking on concert they fired in synchronisation sweeping away the opposition in a wave of energy. The Tinashi and Sharlins were not far behind. With the arrival of reinforcements it was as though the breath of life had returned, tired officers were suddenly reinvigorated, ships on their last legs managed to work that tiny bit longer.
Sheridan tried to watch the battle from a detached point of view and found it impossible, the fact that aliens were close to wiping out all life on Earth, again was damn nigh unbearable. Nestled within shoal of White Stars he saw three New Orleans spin out of control impacting a flying wing. With a wince watched the explosion just as his First Officer spotted something on her console.
"Captain," Ivanova said, checking the data on her readout, "We've got a weakening in the shields again with the kinetic impacts"
Rubbing his beard thoughtfully, "Really, same as the Away Teams picked up?"
"Just on a much larger scale"
"Let's take advantage of that, it seems only fair"
"Fucking damn right" affirmed Garibaldi.
"Patch me on open frequency to all our ships" he commanded, standing to make it easier to project his voice, "This is Captain Sheridan, all vessels switch to combination strikes using kinetic and energy weapons. Their ships have the same weakness as their power armour," nodding to the Russian to close the channel.
"Do you want to switch weaponry like you said?"
Nodding once more, "Absolutely Michael, bank us on the next run with the White Stars"
Garibaldi tapped the commands into the console, and fired. The weapons of Churchill impacted with those of the Minbari, the enemy shields flexed and bowed.
"Change now Captain?"
"Phasers and Photon torpedoes Mister Garibaldi."
His console chirped as the weapons spoke death the enemy. Holes appeared on the hull of the enemy, which Michael took to mean fire again. Working in concert, commanded by the conductor, Sheridan they performed better than expected.
Concern suddenly etched across his features, "Is that?"
"It was hit but its okay"
Stroking his beard thoughtfully, "That's good, any damage?
"Minor but okay" responded Delenn, grasping his hand warmly.
They banked again heading towards another group of enemy ships beams blazing death upon the incoming fighters once more. Although slightly longer than a Constitution, their size was incredibly deceptive as a White Stars could easily out manoeuvre most Federation shuttlecraft. As it was the Churchill struggled to stay in formation.
"You certainly know how to build your ships"
Her smile lit the room. "Thank you John."
The bridge shook at another heavy impact, one of the accompanying Minbari ships exploded in bright flash of light, the ensign at navigation tried to steer them clear, watching as a small hull fragment bounced off their shields.
"If that had been any bigger we'd have a hole in our hull the size Mollari's ego" muttered Gairbaldi. Despite the gravity of the situation, they could not help but smile back.
The formation broke to avoid the incoming main weapon of the strange organic flying wing craft, re-forming almost instantly they answered with their own heavenly fire, followed by a kinetic attack and then heavy energy weapons. Although the enemy was not destroyed, it was gravely wounded and began to list on its port side heading towards the atmosphere. Unmanned defence stations opened fire, impacting the vessel but before destruction it headed into the atmosphere eventually impacting with the San Francisco in a nuclear inferno – millions dead.
"John," she gasped, covering her mouth with both hands. Grief was visible within Delenn's eyes. Having gone through something similar on their own world the loss felt the same that so many would die without cause or provocation.
"Let's kill these bastards!"
Admiral Kirk woke up in sickbay, but it was not McCoy looking down on him, but a lizard. "Where the hell am I?" His tones were petulant. "Where's my ship?"
"It was destroyed" Shenti replied, he was interrupted by another patient.
"I believe we were hit and it was rendered…." He paused choosing the right word, "inoperable" he said, unable to prevent his tones becoming more jubilant. "Jim we're on the Enterprise." The half Vulcan stated watching as his friend's eyes lit up.
"Where's Bones, and Scotty?"
"I'm here Jim" answered another familiar voice. "Scott is helping La Forge in engineering"
"Spock" Kirk shouted already standing make his way towards the doors, "You coming?"
"On my way Jim" he answered catching up, sometimes he wondered how a human could keep pace with a half Vulcan it was a testament to his indomitable willpower. It took only moments in the turbolift to reach the bridge which was hive of activity.
"Admirals on the Bridge" shouted a marine guarding the entrance and exit to the nerve plexus of the flagship.
"You're up?" remarked Riker incredulous. He noticed that the senior staff moved uncomfortably all of a sudden, as though Kirk was an infection, an invading organism that would seek to control the ship.
"I'm in Command" Kirk said without gasconade or dithyramb. "Spock" he gestured to take a position one of the science stations. "Keep doing what you're doing" he ordered walking towards the science station too.
"Yes Admiral, take us in behind the Trailblazer and give it covering fire." In his younger days Riker would have paused, unsure of what to do, which would likely have gotten them killed, not now, he obeyed flawlessly and without question. It did not change the fact – he was far from happy about it!
"Yes Captain" the ensign responded. He could not help but be curious Kirk's intentions. Another explosion shook the small ship.
"Our third shield layer is almost depleted" shouted Choudhury with alarm.
At the science terminal the Bajoran caught on to what they were intending. "What you are is illegal and unsanctioned"
"Go back to your duty Lieutenant!"
He went slightly red at the Admiral's words, not in embarrassment, but in unbridled anger. He covertly, but rapidly tapped a message which he sent to Riker, hoping he saw it in time.
"Kirk to Scotty"
"Scott here Captain" he answered automatically falling back into old habits and idiosyncrasies, "What can'nae do for you?"
"I've got a plan."
Within a minute the voice of a very distressed and very angry Head of Engineering could be heard over the communications. "Captain!" he shouted.
"Not a good time" he snapped aggressively.
"Make time!"
He sighed, "Go ahead Geordie"
"I have been ordered by Admiral Kirk to create an isolytic burst. I felt it right to let you know that I refused"
"What!" Riker turned, indignant, "Admiral Kirk you must explain to me why you intend to use a banned weapon with unknown side effects?"
"If we don't we will lose"
"We'll die before we do that"
"That is exactly what you will do at this rate. We cannot win this!"
"That is not your decision to make, Admiral" his tones tempestuous. "Get me Fleet Admiral Picard"
"We don't have time to rule by committee. I'm in command. You are ordered to complete the weapon" Kirk shouted defiantly, face contorted in rage.
"I will not" said Geordie self-righteously.
"And neither will I"
"Fine you're both relieved of command and confined to quarters, security" beckoned the Admiral.
"Yes Admiral" responded the Capellan sulkily who then walked Riker off the bridge.
James T. Kirk pressed the comm again, "Scott can you get it working?"
"In an hour, maybe" he emphasised the last word.
"You've got ten minutes, Spock go help him"
"Yes Jim" he responded already on his way to the turbolift having anticipated his friend.
The Enterprise soared high above the battlefield like an eagle ready to swoop down on some helpless prey. "Keep us out of weapons range," he only hoped this was the right decision but it was either that or die – but he could not shake that bottomless feeling in the pit of his stomach, a constant niggling. Normally he would have listened to it and held back. But something drove him onward.
"Admiral we're ready"
"Signal the fleet" he said without rancour. "All ships this is Admiral Kirk, this is an order pull back from the battle zone. I repeat retreat immediately" with that he ended the communication, not wanting to talk to anyone – feeling somewhat sour knowing that those in ships still not towed to safety – never would be. Time seemed to slow down, as though something was trying to hang onto this very moment. His mouth felt full of cotton wool, dry, rubbing his hands on his trousers in an attempt to wipe the sweat away. Once all Federation ships were clear from battle, at least those capable of doing so, the aliens turned their attention towards the remaining ship, the Enterprise, his ship.
"Fire."
Energy spewed from the deflector dish just behind the enemy as a huge rent was torn in space. The enemy were sandwiched between the Enterprise and the tear. The Sovereign turned on its axis as impulse engines ignited dragging the subspace tear towards the enemy. Subspace began to devour anything within its ephemeral grasp, destroying ship after ship. The tear seemed to pause, stretch, expand, as though something was trying to rip it apart, from the inside. Suddenly it split into two, one part continuing towards the Enterprise, the other towards the badly damaged ships sitting in orbit on the far side of Earth, having been pulled out of the combat zone being more of a danger to others. It raced towards the blue jewel, the Homeworld of the human race, without any able ship to stop it.
The fear was evident upon the Admiral's face, "Spock, it's heading towards Earth!"
"Quantum torpedoes now Jim"
"Fire!"
Five torpedoes sped into the void like angelic saviours glowing with light. The aliens had obviously understood the dilemma, knew their death was assured made sure that the Homeworld of their enemies would also perish as point defence weaponry intercepted all but one. It exploded in front of the anomaly barely slowing it down.
"My god what have I done?" he whimpered.
Earth was gone.
Earth was gone.
His legs gave way as he slid off the chair, laying in a tangle of limbs on the deck. There was a massive flash of light as the subspace tear hit the ships behind the planet as one. Their warp cores sealed the breach forever, but the other continued to run headlong at them having destroyed the invading fleet.
"No!" he screamed, "My wife" his face contorted in fury, veins and muscles standing out on his neck as though he was straining to be free from some kind of bondage. Spock suddenly emerged from the turbolift onto the bridge, wanting to help his friend but knowing there was no time. Walking to the aft science station his fingers manipulated the controls.
"Activate the deflector dish"
The beam pulsed green for brief moment hitting the subspace anomaly, stopping it dead, but not closing it. He turned to CTO, "Lieutenant, please fire three quantum torpedoes, maximum yield"
"Yes Admiral Spock"
The three stars of light flew towards the tear, impacting it in a brilliant display of light. Once more he played the controls like a master pianist, another burst of green energy and the subspace tear seemed to turn inwards, shrivelling like a burning leaf.
There were no cheers though, the occasion soured – it was a pyrrhic victory.