StarDestroyer.Net BBS

This is an updated version of a fanfic that I never got to finish. Some of the names have been changed and I hope that it is a little cleaner than last time.

Prologue:

A shuttle exited hyperspace at the designated coordinates. The Lambda shuttle carrying Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, Grand Admiral Thrawn and a few of Emperor Palpatine’s Dark Side Elite headed through a maze of asteroids both large and small. The maneuvering could be tricky, even though this was not a very dense area of the asteroid field. Two TIE Defenders came and escorted the shuttle through the asteroid field. The pilots were on the lookout to make sure that there were no rebel starfighters in the vicinity.

Onboard the shuttle, the pilot watched nervously as he maneuvered the shuttle through the asteroid field. He was scared of the Emperor, as was everyone onboard the shuttle, though the pilot and co-pilot of the shuttle showed the most fear. Palpatine sensed the fear in their hearts and their fear gave him pleasure. The shuttle soon left the densest area of the asteroid field around the base. A larger asteroid appeared and there was a base on the asteroid. The asteroid started to fill up more of the viewscreen. A shield flickered as a stray asteroid impacted it. A voice crackled in over the comm and said, “We have you on our screens. Please give your identification.”

The pilot answered, “This is the shuttle Triderius requesting permission to dock with Alpha Base. Our code clearance is Sidious.”

The voice came in again over the comm and said, “Identification confirmed. We are lowering the shield. Follow your present course.”

The pilot replied, “Confirmed. We should arrive in ten minutes.”

The shuttle approached the base and soon, the TIE Defenders veered off and headed towards one of the Star Destroyers stationed at the base. The shuttle approached a landing pad, which was surrounded by several environmental domes and its wings folded up as the ship slowly descended. The shuttle landed and the engines shut off. The ramp opened and several Royal Guards clad in crimson armor and helmets descended the ramp. They lined up in formation, four on either side of the ramp. They turned towards each other and waited. Emperor Palpatine walked down the ramp of the Triderius. He was followed by Darth Vader. Soon, Grand Admiral Thrawn and a group of the Dark Side Elite came down the ramp. Thrawn was different from the others because he was a Chiss, an alien race from the Unknown Regions. Thrawn was the only alien in the Empire to achieve the rank of Grand Admiral. Even though he was the only alien Grand Admiral, he was one of the most brilliant Admirals. He had gray skin and red glowing eyes. He wore a white uniform and had a blaster pistol on his right hip. His only flaw, in Palpatine’s mind, was the fact that Thrawn did not like the slaughter of innocent people on a rebellious world even if that world housed rebels. Thrawn hated even more, the fact that the Empire took slaves and the murder or rape of entire families because a member of a family spoke out against the Emperor or was even part of the Rebel Alliance.

An admiral came to the Emperor and said, “I am Admiral Butcher. I am the commander of this base. It is an honor to have you here at this base my Emperor. The construction on our base is proceeding ahead of schedule. We should have this base fully operational within the month. We have already begun construction of the new Sovereign and Monarch class Super Star Destroyers as well as construction of a second Death Star II Class Battlestation and of the four Sidious Class Ultra Star Destroyers. As per your orders, we are already building a new fleet of Star Destroyers and even a few Super Star Destroyers. We have also begun construction of the Mark Three and Mark Four versions of the Imperial Star Destroyers. As for ground forces, we are building more Dark Troopers, all three phases of course; and we are building the new SD type war droids. Also, the Imperial Engineering teams have already begun to arrive and are checking over everything and are beginning to help us build the new fleet. Their report should be filed within the day. We will be ready to commence extra-galactic exploration and conquest within a year or so.”

Palpatine responded, “Excellent. I may consider placing you on the Death Star over Endor. Those fools could learn something from your example.”

Admiral Butcher responded, “You honor me by your praise. It is my men that should be praised.”

Palpatine said, “You shall be rewarded for your service.”

Admiral Thrawn then said, “Tell us what you have learned about the rift.”

Havok replied, “We don’t know much about it yet. We do know that it does go into another galaxy.”

Thrawn cut Butcher off and asked, “Did your probe druids report the appearance of any organic ships in this new galaxy?”

Butcher responded, “No sir. They only reported some metal ships entering the system. We got a good look at one before the droid self-destructed before it was scanned. The ship appeared to have four large engines and almost a dozen beam weapon emplacements. It was really strange because we could only speculate as to whether those holes constituted beam weapons. We were able to confirm at least two warhead launchers. We think it launches a warhead similar to our heavy rocket. As for shield strength, we couldn’t tell. The unknown ship began to scan the droid and it self-destructed before we could override its self-destruction. The ship was a few hundred meters in length. I do not think that the ship poses any real threat to a Star Destroyer. It looked like a Carrack cruiser could destroy it.”

Admiral Thrawn looked at the ship and said, “Don’t underestimate the capabilities of this new ship. It could be stronger than we know. The ship is like a work of art. These people are explorers, not conquerors. Though explorers must often have strong weapons to be able to defend themselves.”

Butcher then said, “We are ready for the inspection.”

Thrawn and the Dark Side Elite then commenced with the inspection. They looked at the weapons systems and the shield systems to make sure that they were in good repair. They also observed the younger workers during some of their shifts. The workers were disconcerted at the presence of Admiral Thrawn and the Emperor’s Dark Side Elite. Most of them were uncomfortable with an alien Admiral looking over their shoulder. The Empire was notoriously pro-human and anti-alien and anti-female.

When the day was done, Butcher went up to Palpatine accompanied by another admiral named Havoc. Palpatine had Darth Vader, his Dark Side Elite and Grand Admiral Thrawn with him. Admiral Butcher said, “This is the report the Imperial engineers have filed.”

Palpatine said, “Good. Continue building your forces. I have already begun to order the conscription of billions of individuals for your ships. I have also begun cloning your men so that you will not have a shortage of personnel. Should a disaster happen and the Empire lose to the rebels, this fleet will be the only force left to destroy the rebels. Though I know that we will crush the rebels at Endor.”

Butcher said, “When should I send in scouting parties into the rift?”

Palpatine said, “When I order you to. I will be leaving soon.” Palpatine then turned to Thrawn and said, “When will you be ready to return to the Unknown Regions?”

Thrawn replied, “My Emperor,” he then bowed, and continued, “I wonder if I would not be of better use here on in the fleet ambushing the rebels at Endor. The Unknown Regions are quiet. The Yuuzahn Vong know that it would be suicide to attack the Empire head on at this time. I think that they are consolidating their forces for a direct attack on this galaxy sometime in the future.”

Emperor Palpatine turned and said, “That is why I want you in the Unknown Regions. You already have clones being grown should you be killed. Go to the Unknown Regions. The Vong will not strike if you command the defenses. They know how badly you beat them the last time they tried to launch an incursion in this galaxy. Let Butcher oversee the conquest of this new galaxy. We may even get some useful labor from this galaxy.”

Thrawn said, “Yes my liege.” He then went towards a shuttle and got on. The shuttle lifted off and went into space.

Palpatine then turned to Butcher and said, “This is my decree regarding this base. You are to continue building your forces and cloning soldiers until I give the word to attack. Then a portion of the Imperial fleet will accompany you into the new galaxy to help you establish a new base there. Grand Moff Merck will be the one in charge of this new galaxy. He will report directly to me. You Admiral Butcher will be in charge of all military operations in this new galaxy. Also, only I, Darth Vader, Grand Admiral Thrawn or a member of my Dark Side Elite can give the word to begin operations in this new galaxy.”

Butcher responded, “Yes my Emperor. It shall be done as you command.”

Palpatine then said, “Good. Good.” With that he turned away and grinned as he headed towards his shuttle. The members of the Dark Side Elite got in their new TIE Avengers and the Dark Side Elite boarded it. The Star Destroyer then vanished into the realm of hyperspace.

Palpatine’s shuttle soon lifted off as well and it docked with a Star Destroyer. After a minute, the ship entered hyperspace. Darth Vader was prepared to be taken to his Star Destroyer and he boarded his shuttle. He then said, “Take me to the Agonizer.”

The pilot said, “Yes my lord.”

They then headed towards the Agonizer and boarded the ship. After a few minutes, it vanished into hyperspace.

Admiral Butcher watched them leave and he said to Admiral Havoc, “You will oversee the construction of the ships and war droids.”

Havoc asked Butcher, “When do you think they’ll have us launch against this galaxy?”

Butcher responded, “Soon. The Emperor should contact us soon.” But the word would never come. Emperor Palpatine was killed in the Battle of Endor along with Darth Vader. Grand Admiral Thrawn would die five years later and a reborn Palpatine would die almost a year after Thrawn’s death. The Dark Side Elite was also killed in the reborn Emperor’s bid for power… all except one, Xecr Nist. Nist was captured by Luke Skywalker and Kam Solusar and he was sent to prison for the rest of his life. But Nist never forgot the fleet that was being built. If he ever escaped, he vowed to use it to accomplish its mission, and then use it to reestablish Palpatine’s New Order once again. And that time was fast approaching.

Well, what do you guys think?

Chapter One: The Escape

A ship emerged from hyperspace. The ship was a military version of the YT-2400 Transport. The ship approached a planet. The pilot pushed a few buttons on his console and he said, “This is the transport, Wildridet. Code clearance Red omega niner.”

A voice responded over the comm, “Transport Wildrider, code clearance confirmed. We are lowering the shield. Follow your assigned route.”

The pilot responded, “I copy.” The ship then headed towards the planet. It entered the atmosphere and two X-Wing fighters went to flank the transport. The ship descended through the atmosphere and soon leveled its descent. Soon, a massive tower could be seen. The pilot looked at the tower and he said, “Festus Nine has one of the most secure prisons in the galaxy. It even has a Stars’ End class tower.”

The copilot responded, “It has to. He’s here.”

“Who?”

“The Dark Side Elitist. The only surviving member. He’s here. Even with all of this security, I don’t feel comfortable here. Even with ysalamiri and two Jedi Knights at this prison, I still have a bad feeling about this. I’d rather be trying to infiltrate the Yuuzahn Vong military while wearing a Galactic Alliance uniform. I’m surprised the Republic didn’t execute this guy. He’s too dangerous to let live.”

An alarm sounded in the cockpit. The pilot looked at his instruments and he said, “Looks like it’s almost time to land and deliver these supplies.”

The co-pilot said, “Good; the sooner we complete this delivery, the sooner I can get out of here.”

The pilot looked at his co-pilot and said, “You really are scared of this guy, aren’t you Marlek?”

Marlek responded, “I sure am Merrc. This guy was a member of Emperor Palpatine’s cabal. This guy is one of the worst people in the galaxy. I heard that he was the second in command of the Empire during the reborn Palpatine’s bid for power.”

Merrc looked over and said, “Yeah, well he’s locked up in a Force cage. He’s been locked in that cage ever since he was captured. His force skills had to have atrophied since his capture. He poses no real danger.”

Marlek did not look very reassured. Despite his apprehension, he said, “You’re probably right. Let’s get this mission over with.”

The ship headed towards the tower and it headed towards a landing pad near the top of the tower. The ship activated its landing jets and came to a soft landing on the platform. The warden of the Festus Nine Prison Complex came out to greet the two men. With him were two of the prison guards. The Warden said, “Hello again. Have you brought the food rations for this month?”

Merrc responded, “Yes Warden. We have brought the food rations. We also brought some weapons. The Alliance fears that the Vong are getting desperate since the retake of Coruscant they are going to try to take any world that they can get their hands on.”

The Warden responded, “Thanks for the weapons. The prisoners have been getting a bit restless. The Dark Side Elitist has tried to escape twice from this prison in the last six months. He killed six guards in his last escape attempt.”

Marlek could barely contain his shock, “Six guards?!”

The Warden responded, “Yes, he even took a blaster bolt to the chest. He raised some sort of Force shield and managed to only get a slight burn. We tried to put a bacta patch on it, but he refused. I think he used a Force healing technique to heal himself. It did the job in only a few hours.”

Merrc said, “Wow, I knew that those techniques were effective, but that effective? Getting back to the state of our prisoner, we are not to deliver his meals to him, are we?”

The Warden said, “No, I’ll let Zek and Doc do the meal deliveries.”

Merrc then handed Zek and Doc the meals for the prisoners. Zek and Doc were two middle-aged men. Zek had dark brown hair, was about two meters tall and had a heavy blaster pistol at his waist. Doc had blond hair and stood at about one point eight meters in height. He too has a heavy blaster pistol at his waist. Zek had a serious look about him while Doc looked more calm and relaxed as if this was just a boring chore that he could not wait to finish. Zek responded, “Yes Warden.”

Zek and Doc then went around to deliver the meals. They soon completed the normal deliveries. They had only one meal left to deliver. Zek looked at Doc and said, “Be careful with this guy. He has killed many guards in his last escape attempt.”

Doc motioned towards the heavy blaster pistol in a holster on the right side of his hip and said, “Why are you so worried Zek? This is a BlasTech DL-100 heavy blaster pistol. This is the most powerful blaster pistol out there. If that Sith lord tries anything, he’ll have more holes in him than an asteroid has craters. Not to mention what our T-21 Light Repeating Blasters can do to the guy. There are even E-Webs and F-Webs outside the room. He’s not gonna get out of this prison.”

Zek growled and said, “Dammit Doc, that type of arrogance is what got the last six guards killed. You don’t want to invite a fight with a Dark Jedi if you can help it. If you do try to pick a fight with one, you’re dead.”

Doc then opened his pack and he pulled out a cylinderical object with an opening on one side. Zek looked at it and he said, “Is that a lightsaber?”

Doc said, “Yeah, pre-Clone Wars. I heard that it belonged to one of the Jedi that fought at the Battle of Geonosis. I was planning on selling it to a museum or selling it to Booster Terrik since his ship is now a mobile training area for young Jedi students.”

Doc then activated the lightsaber and a blade of red energy appeared. A low hum accompanied the blade. The blade was about 30 centimeters in length. It cast an eryie red glow on the walls of the corridor. Doc swung it around a few times and he said, “Whatcha think Zek? Neat huh.” Doc then deactivated the blade.

Zek said, “I don’t think that you should carry this around here. Leave it at the exit.”

Doc said, “Yeah, whatever. This thing is only really useful as a weapon in the hands of a Jedi.” He then put the lightsaber into his pack.

Doc said, “Let’s just do this already. I have a blind date with a pretty dancer tonight and I don’t want to be late.”

Zek looked at his chronometer and said, “Yes, it is getting late. Let’s go.”

They headed towards a turbolift and got on. They went down to the subterranean levels of the prison. They exited the lift and walked down a corridor. The prisoners in the dungeon, as the guards called it, were the worst of the worst. The cells in the dungeon were solitary confinement and they always had at least one or two guards outside the cells in case of an escape attempt. They then turned right and neared the end of the corridor and there was a room with four guards standing outside. Doc looked at Zek and whispered, “What did this guy do?”

Zek responded, “This is the guy that killed six guards in his last escape attempt. His name is Xecr Nist. He is the sole survivor of Emperor Palpatine’s Dark Side Elite. He replaced Sedriss as the Emperor’s Military Executor. He is also one of the strongest adepts of the Emperor’s Dark Side Elite. He is even stronger than many of the students that were present at the Shadow Academy.”

Doc said, “Oh.” He then patted his heavy blaster pistol to make sure that it was still at his waist. It was still there. Good, he thought. If this guy tries anything, I’ll turn him into charred Sith. Zek approached the prison door and he said to the head guard, “Guard, we are here to deliver the prisoner’s meal.”

The guard turned around and pushed a combination into the lock. A buzz sounded and the door opened. Zek and Doc entered the cell and saw that the cell contained a very large energy cage. Xecr Nist threw a pillow at the forcefield and the pillow hit the field and fell back to the ground black and charred. Smoke rose from the remains of the pillow. Xecr Nist looked at the two men and smiled. His face already beginning to show the signs of withering that was often associated with constant use of the Dark Side of the force. Zek spoke in a soft voice and said, “You stay back here. I’ll deliver the meal.”

Doc said, “Yes sir.”

Zek cautiously approached Xecr Nist. He still did not feel comfortable despite the fact that Nist was being confined in an energy cage. Xecr Nist looked at him and said, “You seem uncomfortable. Let me go and you will not have to do this ever again.”

Zek started Nist into the eye and said, “Your mind powers won’t work on me Nist. I know what the Sith can do and you also have this energy cage preventing you from mind-tricking me into helping you escape.”

Nist said, “Don’t be too cocky young man. The energy cage is only useful while it is still active. And you must deactivate it if you are to give me my meal.”

Zek did not respond. Nist smiled as Zek deactivated the cage and quickly slid the meal under the bar. But before he could reactivate the field that negated Nist’s force powers, the console erupted in a shower of sparks into Zek’s face. Doc saw his incapacitated friend and he went to help him. His blaster pistol suddenly flew from his holster and he took aim at Nist with his blaster rifle and fired. A series of scarlet energy bolts came at Nist. Nist dodged and the blaster bolts went over Nist’s left shoulder and hit the back of the cell, leaving a series of holes in the cell wall. Nist fired at Doc and a blue energy bolt was emitted from the heavy blaster pistol. The bolt struck Doc and left him stunned on the ground. Nist looked at the pistol and said, “Damn, he set the thing on stun.”

Nist heard slight groaning coming from Zek. He was still alive. Nist would have loved to have killed him, but he knew that heavy blaster pistols used a lot more energy than standard blaster pistols so he let Zek live. He set the heavy blaster pistol on kill and he shot the scanners in the room. After destroying the scanners, he shot several bolts at the lock. It would, hopefully, be some time before the guards could open the door. He then went over to pulse; he too was still alive. Nist then saw Doc’s pack and he opened it. He saw some energy packs and the lightsaber. He stowed the energy packs away and he clipped the lightsaber to his belt. He then saw the blaster rifle that Doc had on the ground. He picked it up and he was ready to shoot Doc when he heard some noise coming from the door. He went to where the lock was. Outside, a technician was working on opening the door. Xecr Nist activated the lightsaber and he stabbed it through the lock. The energy blade stabbed the technician in the stomach. The other guards looked horrified as they saw the energy blade. Nist moved his blade up cutting a large incision in the wall and in the technician. Soon, the technician fell over and the guards placed some explosive charges on the door. Nist could hear the shrill whine of the charges and he moved to the left. The door was blown in and two guards fired through the door. There was no one in the room that they could see. Then two more guards came in and one of them looked to his right and spotted Nist just as Nist aimed his blaster pistol at the guard and shot him. Nist then activated his lightsaber and jumped towards the exit. The guards aimed at him and fired, only to have the blasts deflected by Nist’s lightsaber, one of the guards being hit by one of the reflected bolts in the process. Nist then came crashing down upon the two remaining guards and one of the guards was cut in half by Nist. The other guard fired at Nist, hoping to take him down. Nist reflected the bolts into the walls. The guard then tried to run when Nist fired lightening at him. The guard let out a scream and he was then silent as he fell to the gound, his body charred and smoking because of the lightening attack. Nist saw that Zek and Doc were coming around. He fired a blast of lightening at the two guards and they went down, electricity still playing all over their bodies. Nist wanted to fire another blast to make sure that they were dead but he heard some movement outside of the cell. He activated his red lightsaber and he exited the cell.

Immediately upon exiting the cell, the other dozen or so guards in the corridor saw Nist exit through the door and they took aim and fired at him. Nist held up his lightsaber in a defensive position and he deflected the scarlet bolts that headed towards him. Some of the deflected bolts hit a few guards and they went down. Nist soon switched to a one-handed grip holding his lightsaber in his left hand and, still deflecting blaster bolts, he pulled out his heavy blaster pistol. He fired several shots and he hit one guard with each shot. It was too easy for Nist. Soon, he had managed to dispatch all of the guards. Nist then continued towards the end of the corridor and he turned left. He saw a turbolift and a stairwell at the end of the corridor. He approached the turbolift and he was about to get on when he saw that it was already heading down to the dungeon level. He went into the stairwell just as six guards, the assistant Warden and a few medics came out of the turbolift. They the door to the stairwell clank shut. The assistant Warden said to the medics, “Check the guards to see if any of them are alive. Vrash and Dyler, stay with the medics. Make sure that no one else in the dungeon escapes. I’ll set the prison on full alert.”

The assistant Warden then pushed a few buttons on a pad on a wall and the klaxons sounded. The lights dimmed and the red emergecy lights took their place. The medics went down the corridor and turned right where they saw the dozen dead guards lying with smoking holes in their chests. The medics checked the pulses of the guards and confirmed what they had already expected. The guards were dead. They headed towards the cell that used to be Xecr Nist’s cell. They saw one dead guard with an incision that went through the body that started at his chest and worked its way up. There was no blood since the lightsaber had already cauterized the wound. The medics and the guards went into the cell and they saw three more guards in there. They soon noticed Doc’s chest rise and fall. One of the medics checked his pulse and he said, “This one’s going to survive.”

The other medic went over to Zek and he looked at Zek. Zek opened his eyes and he croaked, “Xecr Nist has escaped… the prison must be put on alert.”

The medic said, “We know. The prison is already on high alert. There are over a dozen dead guards outside of this cell. There was nothing you or Doc could have done.”

Zek then asked in a very weak voice, “How is Doc?”

The medic responded, “He’s alright. He seems to have only taken a couple stun blasts and a bit of the lightening blast. It’s you we’re worried about. You seem to have taken most of the lightening blast. You should survive, though.”

Zek then asked, “Why didn’t Nist kill us?”

Dyler heard the question and responded, “He probably didn’t have the time. He probably expected the lightening blast to finish off you and Doc. The last we heard, Nist went up through the stairwell. We’ve placed some guards in the stairwells to cut him off. He’ll either be captured or killed.”

Zek said to Dyler, “You’re wrong. Unless those guards have ysalamiri, Nist will kill them. He is a Dark Jedi, just as powerful as any single Jedi is right now. His force skills haven’t atrophied. If anything, they’ve improved. He’s more dangerous now than he was when he served the Emperor.”

Dyler looked at Zek in astonishment. He soon activated his commlink and he said, “Warden, this is Dyler. Nist is stronger than we anticipated. Have the guards use thermal detonators and proton grenades to take Nist down if necessary.”

The Warden responded, “I’m on it. When you’re finished helping the medics, join the manhunt. Warden Starchaser out.”

Nist was in the stairwell and he climbed up the stairs. His goal was to reach the second floor, there would be too many guards at the ground level turbolifts. He reached the first floor and was about to begin his ascent to the second floor when several blaster bolts hit the floor next to him. Three guards were above him. He got out his blaster rifle and he set it to autofire and he fired at the guards, striking one of the guards several times. The dead guard fell over the rail and he fell to the floor next to the door leading to the dungeon. The other guards managed to get out of the way of the scarlet blaster bolts. One of the guards fired again at Nist while a second one dropped a thermal detonator down the shaft. It hit the floor near Nist, its ten-second timer counting down faster than normal. Nist called the detonator to him using the force and he then force-threw it at the guards two stories up. The detonator detonated and killed the two remaining guards.

He then went up the stairwell to the second floor of the prison and he opened the door. He quickly ducked behind the door as blaster bolts came through the doorway. Nist pulled out his lightsaber again and he activated it with a hiss. He went into the doorway and he deflected the blaster bolts of the six guards that were firing at him. He then charged the guards, deflecting blaster bolts into them and hacking them to pieces with his lightsaber. He pushed a button and the turbolift was coming down to the second floor. Just then, another group of five guards fired on him. Nist stretched out his left hand he was intercepting some of the blaster bolts using a force shield. Three bolts were deflected into the wall where they left some scorch marks. Nist then put his hand into a horizontal position and he fired a blast of force lightening. The guards were hit and they soon collapsed as lightening played over their bodies. Soon, another group of twenty guards came into the corridor. Nist pushed the button to summon the turbolift again. It was not coming as fast as he wanted it to come. He put away his lightsaber and he pulled out his blaster rifle again and he fired at the guards hitting several of them. The other guards returned fire, but Nist managed to dodge the bolts. Then there was a ring at the door to the turbolift. It had come. He layed down some covering fire so that the guards would not be able to get on the lift with him. The door to the turbolift soon opened and Nist got in it before any guards could reach him. One guard was firing at him as the door closed putting a small dent into the door. Nist pushed the button that would send the turbolift to the roof and he waited for it to reach the roof.

After a minute or so, he finally reached the roof. The lift door opened and he opened fire on the two guards standing outside of the door hitting them with multiple blaster bolts. Several more guards came down from the ramp of the Wildrider and fired at Nist. Nist stretched out his hand and he fired Force lightening at the guards while dodging blaster bolts. The guards went down and Nist zeroed in on the Warden. He said, “Give me the access codes to the freighter now.”

The Warden responded, “No. I’ll never let someone like you get the codes.”

Nist then closed his eyes for a minute and he smiled. Nist quickly reopened his eyes and he said, “Warden, give me the access codes to the ship.”

After Nist spoke, the Warden looked as if he was in a trance. He responded to Nist saying, “The access code for the Wildrider is Zero, Niner, Epsilon, Omega.”

Nist grinned and he said, “Excellent. Now go and say that the prisoner was disintegrated while trying to escape.”

Nist then fired another bolt of Force lightening at one of the dead guards. The intensity of the blast charred the body beyond recognition. Nist then fired a lightening blast at the Warden and the Warden fell. Nist then boarded the Wildrider.

Soon, the turbolift door opened again. A dozen guards came out, preparing to set up an F-WEB Heavy Repeating Blaster. One of the guards saw the Warden lying on the ground. The guard checked for a pulse. When he could not find one he looked at the other guards and with a sad look on his face, shook his head. Another guard saw the ramp to the Wildrider close. The first guard said, “The prisoner is on the ship. Get that blaster operational, we have to keep that ship from leaving.”

On the ship he entered the access code and he then pushed the activation button to start the power up sequence. After a few seconds, the engines were fully powered up. He pushed a few more buttons and soon, the ship lifted off from the landing platform. The F-WEB had been assembled and the guards were shouting frantic orders for the gun crew to fire on the escaping ship. If the ship’s shields were down, a lucky hit might manage to knock out the hyperdrive or even damage the sublight engines. The gun crew aimed at the ship and fired repeatedly at the ship causing some hull damage to the ship but the ship still continued to lift off.

The ship shook from the impacts of the scarlet energy bolts being emitted by the emplacement weapon. Nist checked to make sure that there was no damage to the hyperdrive. The hyperdrive was still operational. Good. Nist then closed his eyes and reached out with his anger. He used the force to manually aim the ventral heavy laser cannons at the F-WEB and he fired, destroying the weapon and the guards manning the weapon. He then sprayed fire all over the platform forcing the guards to take cover or get caught in the explosions the blasts created. Nist, seeing that there was no further action on the landing pad took off and headed for orbit. Some of the tower-mounted turbolaser cannons took potshots at the Wildrider but they missed the ship by a wide margin.

A siren soon sounded on the ship and Nist checked his scopes. He looked straight ahead of him out the viewport and he saw four X-Wings bearing down on him. He activated the ship’s shields and he reached out with the force to control the weapons systems. One of the X-Wings fired a quad burst from its laser cannons. All four red laser blasts scored hits on the shields of the Wildrider. The ship shook from the hits. Nist then reached out with the force and he saw a second X-Wing come at him. He turned the ship and that X-Wing’s quad burst missed the ship, but it put Nist in a great position to take down the X-Wing. Using the force, Nist fired the laser cannons and several double blasts from the heavy laser cannons converged on the X-Wing. The shields absorbed the first blast. The second one overloaded its shields and the third blast destroyed the craft. The X-Wing exploded and small pieces of debris hit the Wildrider. A third X-Wing decided that it would take care of business with a proton torpedo. It fired at Nist and Nist laughed out loud. He made a sharp turn and the torpedo missed. The torpedo turned to zero in on the transport once more and Nist said, “Fools, I have the Dark Side of the Force and you don’t!”

Nist then reached out with his feelings and he envisioned the torpedo zeroing in on the freighter. He then used the force to redirect it at one of the X-Wings. The red sphere streaked towards the X-Wing and it crashed into the ship and detonated in a huge fireball. The starfighter was annihilated in the explosion. Nist smiled as he saw the fate of the second X-Wing. Two down, two to go. The other two X-Wings decided to try and double team Nist. Nist maneuvered the ship so he could have a clear shot at the third ship. He fired and the third starfighter was destroyed. There was only one more X-Wing coming and Nist scanned the pilot’s mind. The pilot was terrified; excellent. The fourth fighter fired all six of its proton torpedoes at the Wildrider. This guy must be a bigger fool than I thought, thought Nist as he held all six of the proton torpedoes in a force grip. He then sent them streaking back at the final X-Wing. The X-Wing tried to manuver to avoid being hit by the torpedoes, but the six red spheres converged on the fighter and the fighter was gone. Nist laughed as he had just broken free of the gravity well. He had to go an army so that he could rebuild a new Empire. Thanks to a secret informer, he knew just where to go. He entered in the coordinates for a planet called Kargo IV. He knew that Admiral Daala was in that region of space. He could use her fleet to go to the secret area of the Unknown Regions guarding the Rift. The Rift would be instrumental in his plans. Pellaeon would pay for forming an alliance with the New Republic and helping to create the Galactic Alliance. The Galactic Alliance would eventually fall, but first he had more important business.

Tell me what you think. Is this better than the first version of this fanfic?

Chapter Two: The Gathering

Admiral Daala was seething in her ready room on her new Super Star Destroyer, Scylla, which was named after her old flagship, which was destroyed in the last attack on a Galactic Alliance base. The ready room was almost as large as the bridge of the ship. In her room, hung paintings of her one-time lover Grand Moff Tarkin. It was Tarkin that made her an Admiral in the Empire. The Galactic Empire had kept women and aliens lower in the ranks of the Empire. It was very rare that any woman would ascend in the Empire. It was her affair that with Tarkin that had allowed her to be promoted to the rank of Admiral. Now, Tarkin was dead. He was murdered by the Rebels when they destroyed the first Death Star.

She read over the reports of the casualties that her forces had incurred in the failed attack. Sixty Escort Carriers, forty three Corellian Corvettes, twenty Nebulon Frigates, and a dozen Imperial II Star Destroyers were lost in the battle not counting the massive numbers of starfighters that were destroyed. A chime rang and her second in command, Bratas, entered her ready room and said, “The surviving vessels from the attack are having repairs done as we speak. In a few days, we’ll be ready to launch another attack.”

Daala looked at Bratas and said, “We won’t be launching another attack Captain Bratas.” She looked out the window, where evacuation shuttles were carrying the injured from the previous battle. Some of the more heavily damaged starships were going to have to be scrapped. She then turned back and said in a sad voice, “We have to face facts. The Empire we knew is beaten. All that we once knew and loved has been replaced. Pellaeon has sold us out, we are no longer a force in the galaxy. Our attack on the Alliance base at Kamino proved that. It’s over.”

Bratas looked at her and said, “It can’t be over. The Yuuzahn Vong are still a force to be reckoned with. They are still causing the new Galactic Alliance trouble. We should wait out the fight here and strike at weak bases. Then we’ll be able to fight the Alliance and maybe even topple it. Pellaeon deserves to die for making an alliance with the Rebels, even if the Yuuzahn Vong forced it. He should have died instead of sold his soul.”

Daala replied, “I agree with you. Pellaeon deserves to die a horrible death for his crimes against all that the Empire stood for. We just don’t have the numbers to do it. We lost at least a dozen Star Destroyers in the assault on Kamino. We may have given just as much as we took, but in the end we ended up losing more because the Galactic Alliance forces outnumber our own forces.”

Bratas then said, “Yes ma’am.”

Daala then turned around again and asked, “Is there anything else Captain?”

Bratas responded, “No Admiral. That is all.”

Bratas then exited Daala’s ready room. She then slumped back into her chair, re-reading the painful reports. Most of her campaigns had been like this, though. All of her campaigns against the New Republic had ended in failure. All she really had now were memories of better days, when there was more order in the galaxy and she was working in the Maw Installation. Then a voice sounded over the comm saying, “Admiral Daala, we’ve picked up a ship exiting hyperspace just beyond the planetary system.”

Daala left her chair and she said, “I’m on my way.”

Xecr Nist’s ship, the Wildrider, exited hyperspace at the coordinates. He looked out the viewport and he saw a massive Super Star Destroyer. Nist smiled as he saw the 17.6 kilometer ship. “Excellent,” Nist said, “this type of ship is just what I need.”

Nist soon saw four TIE Interceptors fly at him. A voice crackled in over the comm saying, “Unknown transport, this is Major Maarek Stele of the 181st TIE Interceptor Wing. Identify yourself or we will destroy you.”

This is great, Nist thought, I was thought that I’d have to search the galaxy for him. Not only was Maarek Stele a veteran TIE pilot, he was also an Emperor’s hand. He had once saved Emperor Palpatine from a failed coup by the rogue Admiral Zaarin. He was also one of the best Imperial starfighter pilots while the Empire was still in existence. Nist opened a channel to Maarek and he said, “I am Xecr Nist formerly of the Dark Side Elite of Emperor Palpatine.”

There was silence for a few seconds, then Maarek said, “State your business here lord Nist.”

Nist replied, “I wish to make a proposal to your commander, Admiral Daala. This offer has the potential to be very profitable for her and me.”

Maarek replied, “I’ll have to get approval from the admiral first, if she approves, you may land.”

A few minutes passed and Maarek spoke again saying, “You are authorized to meet Admiral Daala. Follow us to the Scylla. Follow me lord Nist.”

Nist flew the Wildrider towards the massive Super Star Destroyer. Maarek and the other fighters in the escort veered off as the transport approached the massive vessel. The ship flew into the holding bay of the Scylla and landed. After a few minutes, landing procedures had been completed and the hatch of the Wildrider opened and formed a ramp. Xecr Nist soon descended the ramp and he looked at the stormtroopers that had arrived and he grinned. Despite the massive blaster rifles that they had trained on him, the stormtroopers were no real threat to Nist; not when he had the power of the Dark Side of the Force at his side. Soon the door to the holding bay opened and a woman stepped into the room. Xecr Nist said, “You must be Admiral Daala.”

Daala responded, “I am. Why have you come here? My most loyal, and skilled TIE pilot Maarek Stele says that you were once second in command of the Empire, yet I have never heard of you before. Explain yourself.”

A sudden rage filled Nist. Then, remembering that Daala was needed, he said in reply, “I was one of the Dark Side adepts of Emperor Palpatine. Very few people in the whole Empire knew about us. Whjen Palpatine was reborn in a clone body, I was his second in command. I was captured by the rebels shortly before my lord’s death. I have come here for a purpose. You want the Empire to be great again as do I. I have a way that we can make that happen.”

A look of hope appeared on Daala’s face. She said, “Can you restore the Galactic Empire to its former glory?”

Nist said, “No, not in the way that you are thinking. We’ll have to start from scratch. But there is a fleet in an unexplored area of the Unknown Regions that could provide us with the military forces that we would need to be victorious. The plan may seem strange, but it is the best way to beat the Galactic Alliance. The fleet in the Unknown Regions cannot keep building ships and stations indefinately. One day, they will simply run out of materiel and since the plan was secret, the commanders of the secret base cannot go to a shipyard and buy large amounts of building materials. There is also the danger that the Alliance or the Yuuzahn Vong will find out what we’re up to and come in to smash us. If either of the forces try that, the other force will be alerted to our presence and will probably decide that we are to great a danger and finish us off if the first invading force failed to do so. We do have an option, though. We have found a rift leading into another galaxy. This is the same galaxy that the secret Project Outbound Flight was going to explore. We had not thoroughly explored what is beyond the rift at the time of Palpatine’s death and I doubt that they will have explored the other side of the Rift since the commanders were ordered to remain until the Emperor or one a person speaking for the Emperor gave the order. The only people, other than Palpatine, who could give the word were one of the Dark Side Elite; of which I am the only survivor, a Dark Lord of the Sith; either Luke if he succumbed to the Dark Side or Darth Vader, or Grand Admiral Thrawn. As it is, I am the only person left alive that can give the order to expand beyond the Rift. When the word was given to begin expansion, the plan was to set up a base, conquer a few of the governments in our vicinity and conscript their people into our new Dark Empire, and see the outcome of the war between the Vong and the Alliance, we will attack the winner and crush them.”

Daala said, “I like that plan. I like it a lot. We must commence immediately.”

Nist said, “First, there is a person that I wish to be part of this mission. I want Lumiya, the Dark Lady of the Sith. She is otherwise known as Shira Brie. She was one of the Emperor’s Hands. Her addition would greatly increase the chance of a successful mission.”

Daala said, “You’re in luck Nist, it just so happens that Shira Brie joined my band of pirates a few years ago. She is also training in the ways of the Force as is Maarek Stele.” Daala then turned to an aide and said, “Bring Shira Brie to the holding bay at once.”

Soon, a beautiful middle-aged woman with red hair entered the holding bay and she said, “Why did you wish to see me.”

Nist looked at her and said, “I told Daala to summon you here. You wish to see a new Empire in place of the old Empire that has turned its back on all that it once believed in. I have the same goal. I also see great Force potential in you and I wish to train you in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. You will receive more training than you did under Palpatine. For over one thousand years, there has always been two Sith, an apprentice and a master. You are to be one of the two people granted the title Dark Lord, or in your case, Lady, of the Sith. I wish for you to be one of my apprentices. The others will most likely be Dark Side adepts.”

Shira looked at him and grinned. She then asked, “Will I be able to kill any Jedi?”

Nist said, “If any Jedi are alive from the war against the Yuuzahn Vong after we build up our forces, yes.”

Shira said, “Then I accept.”

Nist then turned to Admiral Daala and he said, “I have also heard that not too long ago, Jedi Skywalker’s Jedi Academy faced off against students of a Shadow Academy. Do you know where any students of the Shadow Academy may be?”

Daala responded, “When the Shadow Academy was destroyed, we took several of the Dark Siders and gave them food and comfort. Brie here trained the next would-be Emperor, Carnor Jax. There were several male students that sought refuge here as well.”

Xecr Nist pondered this and he said, “Inform them that one of Palpatine’s Dark Side adepts has come to his own and is now a Sith Lord. I will train them all in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force.” Nist then paused and he laughed and said, “Ha, ha, ha. I can see it now. This new Dark Empire will be the great force which will finally defeat the rebels forever. Not only that, but we will also expand into another galaxy and soon realize Palpatine’s greatest dream of all.”

Daala then said, “And you are to be the next Emperor?”

Nist responded, “No Daala, not the next Emperor, but the first Emperor of the Dark Empire! From the ashes of the old Empire, a new one has risen! The Dark Empire will be many times greater than the old Galactic Empire. We will be an intergalactic Empire that will never fall!”

Daala and Brie then bowed to Nist. Nist said, “Inform your forces of the new change in power and that they are about to be part of greatness.”

Daala replied, “It shall be done my lord.”

Daala put all ships and stations on audio and said, “Today marks a momentous day in the history of this Imperial remnant. Today, a new Empire shall rise out of the ashes of the old, which has abandoned all of its beliefs in order to have a slightly better chance of survival. A new power has risen, and at its head is the former second-in-command of the Galactic Empire. The Emperor of the new Dark Empire is none other than the Dark Lord of the Sith, Xecr Nist! All hail Emperor Nist! May he have long life and success in the restoration of the Dark Empire!”

Then, everybody responded over the speakers, “All hail Emperor Nist, Emperor of the Dark Empire!”

Nist listened to the accolades that came through the speakers. He grinned at the cheering of the men and women that were hailing him. He said, “My first act as Emperor of this new Dark Empire is to begin the expansion into another galaxy to build upon our resources. We will wait out this conflict so as to be able to strike at the heart of the winner of the war between the Yuuzahn Vong and the new Galactic Alliance. We will crush the winner of the war and we will set up our own Dark Empire in place of the old. And this Dark Empire shall never fall!”

Everybody then cheered. However, no one noticed a single Skipray Blastboat enter hyperspace when the speech was over.

Nist soon turned to Daala and he said, “Tell the capital ships to retrieve all of their starfighters and shuttles. We are headed towards these coordinates. Relay them to the rest of the fleet.”

Admiral Daala responded, “Yes Emperor Nist. It shall be done as you command.”

Nist nodded and he said, “I shall be in my new private quarters. I request that Shira Brie join me.”

Nist then left the bridge of the Scylla and Shira followed him. Upon entering his quarters, he laughed and said, “That was too easy.”

Shira looked puzzled and she asked, “What was too easy?”

Nist replied, “Convincing them as to the importance of reviving the Empire and the fact that I was planning on conquering a new galaxy before I would deal with the Alliance. They didn’t even ask a single question, not one raised eyebrow just ‘yes my Emperor.’ This is only a small example of what a master of the Dark Side of the Force can accomplish. A Sith Lord or Lady can do many things beyond take control of an army.”

Shira said, “I am looking forward to my training, but I have one question. What is the real purpose of conquering this unknown galaxy?”

Nist responded, “We sent in some probes and we found several planets rich in the resources needed to build our starships. We can build a fleet, new sets of Spaarti Cloning Cylinders, etcetera. Palpatine also had the dream of expanding the Empire into other galaxies. The finding of the Rift allowed him access to another galaxy. In doing this, we will fulfill Palpatine’s greatest dream, a dream even bigger than simply controlling this galaxy.”

“Lord Nist, does the Force exist in this galaxy?”

Nist replied, “The Force binds the galaxy together. It is in all things in this galaxy and it seems to exist in other galaxies as well. I see no reason as to why it would not exist in other galaxies.”

Then a voice cracked in over the comm saying, “Lord Nist, we have relayed the coordinates to all ships in this fleet. We are prepared to enter Hyperspace on your mark.”

Nist said, “Enter Hyperspace now.”

Then the ships all entered Hyperspace.

On a station in the base near the Rift in the Unknown Regions, Admiral Butcher stood on the command deck. He looked out the viewport at the stars. He knew that the Emperor would one day return to lead them to conquer the galaxy that was on the other side of the Rift. Even though most of the other admirals and commanders of the ships and bases had given up, he still held out hope that one day the Emperor would return. He looked at an officer and he asked, “Anything,” just as he had done for the last twenty-five years. The communications officer responded, “Nothing.” Then the officer manning one of the sensor consoles said, “Wait a minute. Sir, I am detecting a massive fleet exiting Hyperspace. I am detecting over twenty-five Star Destroyers, one Super Star Destroyer, fifty-five Nebulon B-2 Frigates, fifty Nebulon B Frigates and one-hundred Corellian Corvettes and Lancer Class Frigates.”

Admiral Havoc said, “I don’t know what they are hoping to accomplish. We have over three million capital starships at this base, ten thousand of them are Imperial Star Destroyers or Super Star Destroyers. Tell the Sovereign and the Monarch to lock on to the command ship and the nearest Star Destroyer. Tell them to hold their fire unless we are fired upon. Prepare to call our battlestation.”

The comm officer then said, “Sir, we are receiving a hail.” He then looked at his screen for a few seconds and he said, “It’s the go ahead code. Whoever is in command of that fleet knows of our mission.”

Admiral Butcher, the ranking officer at the Rift Base said, “Open a channel to the command ship of that fleet.”

The officer said, “Channel open.”

Butcher then said, “This is Admiral Butcher of the Rift Base. Identify yourselves or you will be destroyed.”

Then the response came in the form of a holographic Xecr Nist. Nist said, “Greetings Admiral Butcher. I trust that you haven’t forgotten me. There is much to talk about. Things have changed, yet the mission is still on. Permit me to come aboard your base and I will explain everything.”

When Nist came aboard, he greeted Admirals Butcher and Havoc and he said, “I have sad news to report, Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, the Dark Side Elite and Grand Admiral Thrawn are dead.”

The news shocked the two admirals and the crew members that had heard him. Nist then continued, “Even worse is that now, with the war against the Yuuzahn Vong, Admiral Pellaeon has sided with the Rebels and formed a Galactic Alliance. There is a ray of hope, though. I have recently started a new Dark Empire, which will be based on Palpatine’s old Galactic Empire. I will need your fleet to begin the mission that will make Palpatine’s greatest dream a reality. I intend to go through the Rift and build a base on the other side and use that to consolidate our resources and wait out the war between the Alliance and the Vong.”

Butcher broke in and said, “Forgive the interruption, but we have already built a base on the other side of the Rift. We completed the main base over a year ago and are now building Golan Defense Platforms to protect it. It is equipped with a cloaking device as are the Golans. Give the word and we can begin the invasion.”

Nist smiled and he said, “You two are now Grand Admirals. We will begin by sending an expeditionary fleet through the Rift to protect the base and oversee the final stages of the construction of the base.”

Admiral Havoc then chimed in and said, “My Emperor, we have also built a battlestation. We hope that you will approve.”

Nist looked out the viewport and what he saw amazed him. On the far side of a moon near a planet that was close to the Rift, a Death Star Battlestation came into view. Havoc said, “This Death Star is an enhanced Class One Death Star, we never received the plans for the Death Star II. Though it still has the thermal exhaust port vulnerability, we have equipped the shaft with particle shielding as well as ray shielding and we have put anti-starfighter laser cannons all along the surface and the trench. It’s size was increased to over two hundred kilometers in diameter. We also increased its population to over 100 million personnel. We have also finished the Tyrant Class Ultra Star Destroyer. It is over 160 kilometers long, with a Death Star Class Axial Superlaser. We have also built the Monarch Class Super Star Destroyer, which is around 27.5 kilometers and we have finished the prototype Sovereign SSD, a downsized version of the Monarch Class which has a length of 17.5 kilometers. We are planning to build more of these command ships as we get the necessary materiel and personnel. Our cloning cylinders are getting old and we are running out of resources. The sooner we begin the expansion, the sooner we can repair the cloning cylinders.”

Nist then said, “Begin the assault. Send in a few ships through the Rift. I wish to oversee the construction of the base on the other side of the Rift.”

Havoc replied, “It will be done my lord.”

Nist then smiled. A large portion of the fleet then headed into the Rift. Once on the other side, Nist looked out at the base and he said, “Impressive. Most impressive. The invasion has begun. Send out groups of fighters and even some Star Destroyers. I want to see what type of fleets the governments in this galaxy have. Once we know that, we will begin the assault in earnest.”

Finally, Palpatine’s dream would be realized and the Dark Empire would rule in two galaxies.

This is the end of Chapter 2. Tell me what you think and if I got the numbers right for the population of the Death Star.

The Federation is introduced in the next chapter.

Chapter 3: The First Encounter

Captain’s log Stardate 57986.2: It has been one year to the day since the Titan started its mission to assist in peace negotiations with the Romulan Star Empire. Things appear to be going well and yet, I have a bad feeling about the near future. However, this bad feeling has nothing to do with a possible failure of negotiations.

Captain Riker sat in the Captain’s chair of the Galaxy Class Starship Titan, with his wife Commander Troi sitting next to him on his left. Riker looked into the viewscreen and all he saw were stars. The officers were going about their normal tasks. Lieutenant Wesley Crusher was manning the helm. Captain Riker said, “Anything out of the ordinary on our first sensor sweep?”

The tactical officer replied, “No sir, except at the very beginning. For an instant, I saw an unknown vessel approximately three point five light years away from this position. It was extremely close to the neutral zone. Should we investigate?”

Riker considered this for a moment and he said, “Yes we should. The Romulans have probably detected it, but I think that we should investigate. Lieutenant Carter, set a course to zero-one-five mark three. Maximum Warp.”

Carter responded, “Aye sir.”

The Titan then went to Warp. After a half hour, the Titan came out of Warp and there was nothing to see. Riker said, “Scan for an ion trail.”

The tactical officer responded, “Scanning.” After a few moments, he said, “I am detecting small traces of an ion trail, a few thousand kilometers from here, the trail goes on for a few hundred thousand kilometers and then disappears. It’s almost as if they went through a rift or something. I have also scanned for other ion trails and there are none.”

Riker said, “That’s odd. Any thoughts?”

The tactical officer replied, “None sir.”

The second in command, Commander Robert Pierce, said, “It seems to me that they may be using an alternate form of sublight drive. What it is, I don’t know.”

Then the officer manning the tactical station said, “Sir, I am detecting a ship exiting Warp. It’s a Romulan Valdore Class Warbird.” Everyone paused. They knew that if the Valdore intended to start a fight with them, they would have virtually no chance of winning. He said, “Sir, I am receiving a transmission.”

Captain Riker knew that he was close to the neutral zone. He hoped that the Warbird was there just to inform them of their close proximity to the Romulan side of the neutral zone. He said, “Put it through.”

The viewscreen activated and the figure of a Romulan came on the screen. Some of the younger officers on the bridge gulped. The Romulan on the Valdore Class Warbird was Admiral Harok. He had become legendary in the Dominion War, managing to destroy two Jem’Hadar Battleships with only one D’deridex Warbird. The Romulan said, “This is Admiral Harok of the Valdore Class Warbird Stalwart. We had detected an unknown ship an hour ago and we came to investigate. Have you seen any unusual ships in this area of space?”

Riker replied, “No sir, though we haven’t been looking for any of these ships. Could you explain what these ships look like?”

Just then the tactical officer said, “Sir, we are receiving a distress signal from a civilian passenger transport. They are under attack by an unknown vessel!”

Riker then said, “Lieutenant Carter, set a course, maximum Warp!”

Harok then said, “We will accompany you. I wish to be there to help if circumstances force a battle.”

The channel then closed and the two ships went to Warp. After a few minutes, the two ships exited Warp and saw six starfighters, two ships that seemed to be small troop transports, and a small capital ship, approximately 150 meters long, attacking a Romulan passenger transport. Captain Riker said, “Shields up, open a channel to the attacking ships.”

Lieutenant Carter replied, “Channel open.”

Riker said, “This is Captain Riker of the Federation starship Titan to unknown vessels. Cease your attack on the civilian transport at once or we will open fire on you.”

The Corellian Corvette responded by firing a few turbolaser blasts at the Titan and the Stalwart. The shields glowed where the turbolaser blasts hit the two ships. Riker felt the bridge shake and he bellowed, “Damage report.”

The tactical officer responded, “Shields down to ninety percent. No damage.”

Admiral Harok soon appeared on screen and he said, “We’ll take the capital ship, you go after the four starfighters.”

Before Riker could agree or disagree, the Stalwart opened fire on the Corellian Corvette with a withering assault of disruptor fire. The shields of the corvette did not last very long under the assault of the disruptor fire and soon the ship was destroyed. The two TIE Fighters and one of the transports continued to attack the civilian ship, which had had its shields taken down by the corvette. Green laser fire was emitted from the two starfighters and the transport and it scortched some of the armor of the civilian transport. There were several fires onboard the ship. It could not withstand much more. The two other starfighters, which were the newer, much more deadly TIE Defenders, fired a couple proton torpedoes at the transport, which hit the ship and caused some more fires. The ship looked as if it was about to break apart. Admiral Harok soon came onto the Titan’s viewscreen and he said, “We’ll be beaming the survivors off the transport. Keep those fighters off us until the transport is complete. The two TIE Defenders came about and tried to begin an attack run on the Stalwart while its shields were down. A few lucky shots could have knocked out the Stalwart’s transporter systems. The Titan fired a phaser blast across the bow only a few centimeters from the cockpit of the lead TIE Defender. Captain Riker said, “Open a channel to those fighters and transports.”

Lieutenant Carter said, “Channel open.”

Riker then said to the pilots, Cease your attacks at once. We may be able to grant you leniency if you do.” The TIE Defenders replied by launching four proton torpedoes at the Titan. The small, blue spheres streaked towards the Titan at a slower than Impulse speed. Captain Riker said to the tactical officer, “Lieutenant Braun, lock onto those torpedoes and shoot them down before they hit the ship.”

Braun replied, “Aye sir.”

Just then, the Titan fired a few phaser blasts and the orange energy blasts destroyed the torpedoes mid-flight. Riker then said, “Lock onto those starfighters and transports and destroy them.”

The Titan soon fired another six phaser blasts and took down the two starfighters. Another few phaser blasts took down the transports and the remaining TIE Fighters. When the ships were destroyed, Riker asked, “Did any of those ships send out a distress signal?”

Lieutenant Carter responded, “No sir, none of the ships sent out a distress signal. Maybe they didn’t think that it would do them any good.”

Riker thought about this for a moment. It seemed odd to him that the ships, that had just been engaged by a Galaxy Class Starship and a Valdore Class Warbird did not ask for help. It should not have seemed odd to him if they were Orion pirates or another group of pirates, but this seemed strange. Lieutenant Braun soon said, “Sir, we have an incoming message. It’s from Admiral Harok.”

Riker responded, “Put him through.”

Harok came on screen and he said, “We have managed to get the survivors from the transport. Thank you for your assistance. A peace between our two governments might not be such a bad idea after all.”

Riker then replied, “Let us hope that the negotiations are successful as well.” Riker then had a more serious look on his face and he asked, “Admiral, have you had any more sighting from strange ships like those?”

Harok responded, “No Captain. I was just about to ask you that very same question. I have been receiving reports of a large number of strange ships in Federation, Romulan and even Klingon space, though until now, no one had ever seen these ships up close before. They just ran right when a scout would come into the system.”

The Stalwart then went into Warp. Riker then said to his wife Deanna Troi, “Did you get anything from those people on the other ship?”

Troi responded, “They were arrogant. I believe that they genuinely thought that they could make us think twice before attacking them. They also had a deep fear and loyalty towards someone they referred to as Emperor Nist. These aren’t pirates.”

Commander Pierce then chimed in and asked, “Do you think that they were scouting us? It may explain why they went and attacked an unarmed transport. Some of the people on that transport were Romulan Military officers. They may be trying to find out our strengths and weaknesses.”

Troi responded, “No, they were attacking the civilian transport to set an example to those that might resist this Empire. I believe that they think that whatever they see belongs to their emperor, and they are willing to die for their emperor.

Riker then said, “Thank you for your input. I’ll be in my ready room. I’ve got a report to fill out.”

Riker then went into his ready room and he thought, something’s definitely wrong here. He then got to work to fill out his report.

This is the end of Chapter 3. The next chapter should be up some time soon. What do you think? Is this good, is it bad? Please tell me.

It's well writen and i see that you balanced more the firepower of SW and ST.
It's very interesting.
Will the Vong be included in the Milky Way galaxy?

aThey'll be included in parts two and three. This is only the first part of the total fanfic.

Chapter 4: Departure

In Spacedock over San Francisco, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701-E was having the final touches done during its two month refit. Work bees were flying around, sparks erupting from different sections of the ship that the Work bees were working on, and workers in space suits making the finishing touches to the magnificent starship. A shuttlecraft was headed towards the newly remodeled ship. On the outside it looked the same as it had before, but it had been beefed up in the last four months. Captain Jean-Luc Picard looked at the ship and simply stared at it as if he were a child who had just had his favorite broken toy repaired and fixed so it was in mint condition. Standing next to him was a Starfleet admiral named David Hunter and his former and soon to be once again, Chief Medical Officer Beverly Crusher. The admiral turned to Captain Picard and asked, “What do you think of your newly remodeled ship Jean-Luc?”

Captain Picard responded, “It’s been my home for seven years, I am looking forward to seeing the changes you’ve made to it Admiral Hunter. I won’t be able to have any opinion on how it works, though, until I’ve seen it in action.”

Admiral Hunter then said, “I’ll tell you some of the changes we’ve made. As you know, we’ve installed a transwarp core into the ship. We’re certain that this will work. Also, families of senior and flag officers will be allowed to come on this little expedition. We’ve also enhanced the shields. They are now double-layered, modulative, fire-charged and regenerative. We’ve also added a couple photon torpedo launchers and converted some of the old photon torpedo launchers into quantum torpedo launchers. The Enterprise now has six photon torpedo launchers and six quantum torpedo launchers. Not quite a match against the Scimitar’s weapons, but she would give that Warbird a hell of a pounding before it was beaten. Not only that, but now we’re equiping the Enterprise with three squadrons of our new starfighters, the Daggers, Katanas and the Wraiths.”

Picard had a surprised look on his face and he said, “You actually got the Federation Council to approve of the new Starfighter Program? I thought that they shot it down saying that the Peregrines were good enough for the Federation in the starfighter role.”

Hunter responded, “The fact that the Remans had Scorpion fliers showed Starfleet that it might be a good idea to have a counter to the Scorpions.”

Picard then said, “But the Scimitar was destroyed, along with all of its Scorpion fliers.”

Hunter responded, “But what’s going to keep the Romulans from making more Scorpions? And for that matter, there’s nothing keeping them from making another Scimitar or two. The Federation seems to be much more eager to approve of new defensive and offensive technologies. Though Riker’s fight along side Admiral Harok in saving a Romulan civilian starship has gone a long way towards there one day being a true peace between the Romulans and the Federation, we’re not there yet.”

Hunter then looked out the window of the shuttlecraft and he saw twelve starfighters speed towards the Enterprise and when they got within range of the ship, they went into the shuttlebay of the ship, one at a time. The fighter seemed very aerodynamic. It was around seven meters long and it around six meters was the nose of the craft, which also had the cockpit. The wings were towards the back and the craft had no rudders. The two engines were near the starting point of the two wings of the Dagger. The canopy was near the front of the nose of the craft. Admiral Hunter said, “Ah, there’s Worf’s squadron.”

Picard was stunned when he heard that. He said, “Worf is flying a Dagger?”

Admiral Hunter said, “Yes, I personally requested that he try out the Dagger during the refit of Enterprise. After some convincing, he accepted and I think that he found the Daggers to be quite a deadly fighter. He seemed to be very pleased with the performance of the craft.”

Picard responded, “How many squadrons of starfighters are in service currently?”

Hunter responded, “All new ships are being refitted to carry more starfighters and fewer shuttlecraft. As for the older ships, those close to Earth are being refit. That’s all I can say at the moment due to security reasons.” David Hunter then looked at the ship and saw a civilian transport headed towards the Enterprise. He asked, “You remember the android clone of Data, B-4 is it, that was activated during the Scimitar incident, right?”

Picard’s expression and he soon had a somber look on his face for a moment. The former Lieutenant Commander Data, the only sentient android in service in Starfleet, had also been one of Picards senior staff and one of his best friends. Data sacrificed himself destroying the Thaleron radiation core of the Scimitar to prevent the Scimitar from using its Thaleron radiation weapon from killing everyone onboard the Enterprise and later using the weapon on Earth itself. For so long, Data had longed to be human, even after receiving his emotions chip, and yet in his sacrifice, he taught Jean-Luc Picard what it really meant to be human. Picard responded to Hunter’s question by saying, “Yes, I remember B-4. He looks just like Data and yet he is so different.”

Hunter then had a more serious look on his face and a serious tone in his voice when he said, “B-4 requested that he be allowed to go on this mission. Starfleet Engineering has managed to remove the programming that made him serve Shinzon. As a result, I told him that if you let him come aboard, he could come for the Transwarp flight. What do you say?”

Picard replied, “Yes, sure he can come onboard.” Picard looked out at a group four of Defiant class starships fly by the Enterprise and thoughts of Data and all of the old adventures that Picard and the senior staff of the Enterprise had experienced. It just was not the same without Data, even full year after his death. Hunter then interupted his thought by saying, “Captain, you wrote in your report that B-4 behaved like a young child and had almost a broken voice. He sounded much more confident and adult when he requested to come aboard the Enterprise. It was strange, then as he left, he looked and acted more like a child again looking around. It was very strange. I later asked Starfleet Engineering if they had made any modifications to the B-4, they said that they did not.”

Picard then said, “Yes, that is strange. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

The shuttlecraft then flew towards the shuttlebay of the Enterprise-E and a tractor beam locked on to the shuttle when it began landing procedures. The doors to the main shuttlebay opened as the shuttlecraft approached. Picard saw a few Dagger starfighters and a couple other classes of starfighter that he did not recognize. They were the Katana and the Wraith class fighters. The Katana class starfighter had an aerodynamic shape similar to the Dagger, though it was clear that the Katana was more biased towards the interceptor role due to its smaller size and seemingly smaller payload. The main difference between the Katana and the Dagger, besides the size of the two fighters, is that the wings on the Katana were closer to the canopy and that the Katana had two small rudders at the rear of the craft that canted outwards a bit. The Wraith also had an aerodynamic shape with warp nacelles for wings, thought the nacelles were similar in form to Defiant nacelles. The Wraith also had two small rudder-like objects canted out from one another.

The shuttlecraft landed in the shuttlebay and after the craft had powered down, the hatch opened. Captain Picard, Admiral David Hunter and Dr. Beverly Crusher emerged from the shuttle and looked around the shuttlebay. There were more fighters in the shuttlebay. The final tally was that there was a full squadron of twelve Daggers, a squadron of Katanas, two Wraith Bombers. Lieutenant Commander Worf was standing next to one of the Daggers when Picard saw him. Picard and the others went over to him and asked, “Welcome back aboard the Enterprise Commander. What do you think of the new fighter?”

Worf responded, “It is a capable fighter craft.”

Picard, Worf, and Dr. Crusher were soon talking to each other about what they had done the past two months. Admiral Hunter was looking around the shuttlebay and he soon saw a young starfighter pilot. He approached the young pilot and he said, “Hello David, it’s been some time.”

The young pilot, who looked no older than eighteen or nineteen turned and looked at the admiral. He had brown hair, and was lean and athletic. He had a type two hand phaser in a holster at his side on his left. Admiral David Hunter then said, “Come on son, silence is no way to treat your own father.”

The younger David responded, “I was not expecting you to be aboard the Enterprise sir.” The boy turned to his father and his father said, “You’re now off duty David. Please call me ‘Dad.’” Then the two embraced. The younger David said, “It is good to see you again father. And didn’t you say that you’d refer to me by my middle name to prevent confusion?” After saying “father” David bowed. Admiral Hunter responded, “I’ll refer to you by rank if there may be confusion if that is alright with you, Ensign; or maybe I’ll call you Dave”. Also, your mother and two sisters are coming aboard. I was hoping that you would ask for the family guest quarters. They’re much better than the quarters that you’re used.”

Ensign Hunter responded, “It’s not that I don’t want to live with Mother and my sisters, it’s that I have so much work to do right now and I can’t be distracted by a mischievous thirteen year old.”

Admiral Hunter responded, “I understand. And, Dave it is. Come on son, have one of the techs check on your fighter.”

Dave replied, “I promised Lieutenant Commander Worf that I would finish the diagnostics on the fighters before my shift ended. And I’m still on duty.”

His father responded, “Not anymore. I’m giving you the rest of the day off. One of the techs will finish the diagnostics. We have to spend some family time together. Your mother and sisters should be coming aboard shortly.”

Seeing that it was pointless to argue with his father, he followed his father as they went to search for Picard. One of the techs continued the diagnostics on the rest of the fighters.

Admiral Hunter then for Picard and he found him. His son followed him. The older David Hunter then said to Captain Picard, “Hello Captain. This is one of your new fighter pilots.” David then motioned to his son to introduce himself. Dave said, “Hello Captain Picard. I am Ensign David Hunter. It is an honor to serve aboard the Enterprise.” With that, Dave saluted Captain Picard. Picard looked at the young pilot and he said, “At ease ensign.”

The young ensign tried to stand at ease, but it seemed to Picard as if he was more natural standing at attention than he was standing at ease. Worf, who was standing next to Picard soon said to him, “Ensign Hunter here attended one of my self defense classes and proved himself to be a worthy opponent.”

Picard looked surprised at Worf’s statement and he then turned to the young ensign and he said, “That is very high praise from Lieutenant Commander Worf. You must be a good fighter for him to acknowledge such skill.”

The younger David looked uncomfortable when Picard complemented him and he said, “It was a once in a lifetime incident. It was almost as if I knew exactly where he was going to punch, kick or swing his blade, during the bat’leth round before he did it. Even then I still lost due to TKO. The sparring match was to only last five minutes.”

Picard then said, “Still, that is very impressive for an eighteen year old.”

Admiral Hunter then said, “My son does not like to stand out. I tried to get him a position in Starfleet Intelligence, but he wanted to go into the military so he could fight if called upon to do so.” Hunter then looked around and he said, “The families of the senior officers and the media should be arriving soon. We should go to greet them.”

The group then went out of the main shuttlebay and headed towards shuttlebay two. The door opened and the runabout carrying the families and media had already landed. The passengers were disembarking from the runabout they found their loved ones and got to talking about old times. Admiral Hunter did not have to look long or far, for standing in front of him when he, Picard, Ensign Hunter and Worf entered was a beautiful woman, who looked much younger than her true age of forty. Admiral Hunter himself was only forty-two. She had brown hear and she looked lean and athletic. Standing next to her were two girls, one seventeen years of age and one ten years old. The woman said to Admiral Hunter, “Hello David, I’ve missed you so much.”

Admiral Hunter embraced his wife and he then kissed her, which caused the younger girl to look away in disgust. Dave simply smiled. Admiral Hunter then said, “I’ve missed you to Sarah.”

Hunter then turned to Picard and he said, “This is my wife Sarah and the children are my two daughters, Marina,” motioning towards the older girl, “and Hannah,” motioning towards the younger girl.

Picard then said, “Welcome aboard the Enterprise. I am sure that you know the restrictions.”

The three then said hello to Captain Picard. Marina then said to David, “I’ve missed you. I hope that you’re enjoying Starfleet ensign David. I just hope that you survive the curse of the red-shirted ensigns.” The curse of the red-shirted ensigns had been around on every Enterprise since Captain Kirk had first commanded the original Enterprise. Every Starfleet ensign could not wait to be promoted to lieutenant so that they would be away from the so-called curse.

Dave responded, “I am. Right now, I am piloting a Dagger class starfighter. I also don’t intend to fall victim to the curse of the red-shirted ensigns.”

Hannah then asked, “Can I get into the cockpit of your fighter?”

Dave blurted an emphatic “No!” Picard then said, “Welcome aboard the Enterprise. I am sure that you know the restrictions.”

Dave then said, looking at Hannah, “I will throw you in the brig myself if I catch you sneaking around in a restricted area.”

His father looked at him and said, “Dave, that will not be necessary.” Then looking at Hannah, he said in a very serious tone of voice, “Your sister will not wander into any restricted areas.”

Hannah then said, “Yes father. I’ve changed since you last saw me.” Dave did not believe her and he gave her a skeptical look.

Soon, the rest of the passengers came off the runabout and Picard spotted B-4. He went over to B-4 and he said, “Welcome aboard the Enterprise. I trust you know where your old quarters are.” B-4’s quarters were where Data’s old quarters used to be. B-4 responded in a child-like voice, “They are where my brother’s quarters used to be. Is Worf still caring for Spot?”

Worf replied, “I am.”

B-4 then said, “Thank you. If it is no problem, may I care for Spot now?”

Worf replied, “Please take him back.”

B-4 turned back to Captain Picard and he said, “Thank you for inviting me on this mission.”

Picard then said, “If there is anything that I or anyone else can do for you, just tell me. We’ll be waiting.”

B-4 then said, “Where.”

Picard resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He said, “In the general area.”

B-4 then said, “Thank you sir.” B-4 then started to walk away but he soon turned back and asked, “Is Geordi LaForge still onboard the Enterprise?”

Picard responded, “Yes he is. He’s in Main Engineering right now. Do you need anything from him.”

B-4 responded, “No, not at the moment.” The answer was spoken in a different type of voice than the questions. When B-4 spoke that time, he no longer had the broken, child-like voice that he had before and that everyone had been used to. He sounded almost identical to Data. Dave looked at him and B-4 saw his skeptical look. He then returned to looking like a child and he continued to look around as he headed towards the exit. When he exited the shuttlebay, he looked around and after he saw that no one was looking, he started walking normally towards the turbolift in almost the same way Data used to. He had the look of intelligence on his face and he hardly resembled the B-4 that came out of the runabout. He then went to look for his quarters.

Dave looked at the door and he said, “That wasn’t B-4 that just walked out of here. He faked his child-like sense of wonder when he was looking around.”

His father asked, “How do you know son?”

Dave responded, “I just have this feeling. It was almost as if another personality surfaced when Captain Picard answered his question.”

Picard had a look of hope in his eyes. He then returned his gaze to Admiral Hunter’s family. He said, “Enjoy your stay onboard the Enterprise. If you need help finding your quarters, a security officer will be glad to help you.”

Sarah responded, “Thank you Captain Picard. I think that we will be able to find our quarters.” Then turning to her son, she said, “Be sure to visit your mother when you’re off duty.”

Dave replied, “I will.” With that, his mother and sisters exited the shuttlebay. Captain Picard then said, “We should get to our stations. The ship will be leaving in an hour.”

Picard then headed out of the shuttlebay and went towards the turbolift. He went in and he said, “Deck four.”

The turbolift went to deck four and there he found his executive officer, Commander Martin Madden. He was a caucasian male, about six feet in height. He said, “Hello captain.” He then stood at attention. Picard responded, “At ease commander.” Commander Madden soon stood at ease. Commander Madden then said, “All sections are doing their final diagnostics now sir. We should be ready well before the hour is up.”

Picard said, “That’s great. Keep up the good work.” With that, Madden went onto the turbolift. Picard looked for his quarters and he found them. He pushed a button and the doors opened with a hiss. He entered and he found that all of his belongings had been beamed aboard and taken into his quarters. He then began to unpack and get situated.

It was not long before the hour had gone by and it was time to get under way. Picard went to the turbolift and he entered. He bellowed, “Bridge,” and the turbolift took him to the bridge. When he exited the turbolift, reporters shoved microphones in his face and one reporter asked, “What do you think about the Enterprise-E being the first ship to outfitted with a transwarp drive?”

Another asked, “How do you think this trip will go?”

Picard responded, “We’ll see after we get underway.” Picard then went to the Captain’s chair and sitting next to him on his right was his second in command, Martin Madden. Lieutenant Commander Worf was manning the tactical station. Picard then pushed a button and he said, “Power up the ship.”

The engines came to life, and the lights flicked on. The ship lit up the area near the spider-like Spacedock. Picard then pushed a button and said, “Mr. LaForge, how are things going down there?”

Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge responded, “Things are fine. No abnormalities in the systems. We are good to go.”

Picard then pushed a button closing the channel and he said to helm, “Take us out, one quarter impulse.”

The officer manning the helm, a young man in his twenties said, “Aye sir.” The ship then started moving out of Spacedock. It was not long before the Enterprise had cleared Spacedock. The journey was about to begin again.

In the next chapter, the Federation will test its new Transwarp Drive.

Chapter 5: Encounter

The Enterprise cleared Spacedock and it was headed towards the outer planets of the solar system. The Enterprise approached the asteroid belt and Picard said, “I think that it’s about time we test our new weapons systems.” He looked in the asteroid field for any large asteroid surrounded by several smaller asteroids. He said, “Lock phasers onto those asteroids surrounding that larger one.”

After a brief second, Worf said, “Phasers locked.”

Picard said, “Fire.” With that, the Enterprise-E’s forward phaser arrays came to life, spraying orange energy blasts towards the thirty-meter long asteroids. The asteroids were vaporized by the orange blasts. Picard soon saw that the large asteroid was unobstructed. He said to Worf, “Lock a quantum torpedo onto that large asteroid.”

Worf soon said, “Quantum torpedoes locked.”

Picard then said, “Fire.” Then, a magnificent blue sphere was came streaking out from the forward torpedo launcher. The torpedo sped to its target and it then impacted. The explosion vaporized the three-hundred meter wide asteroid. Picard looked at the results of the new weapons and he said, “I think that this constitutes a successful test of the new phasers and the new quantum torpedoes.” Not only did the Enterprise-E now have sixteen phaser emitters, they were of the new type 12B class; they were at least 1.5 times as strong as the original type twelve phasers. The ship was also equipped with the new type two quantum torpedoes, which had a much greater explosive yield than the original type one torpedo.

Picard then said to the officer at the helm, “Ensign Hastings, take us to Omicron Ceti, transwarp speed.”

The ensign replied, “Aye sir.”

The warp nacelles of the Enterprise soon lit up and the ship went into transwarp. After only a few minutes, the ship exited transwarp. Captain Picard looked at the stars and he said, “Mr. Worf, launch a dozen class four probes. After they are a safe distance away, have them turn back and engage in evasive maneuvers. We’re going to be doing some more tests.”

Worf replied, “Aye sir.” After a few seconds he said, “Probes launched.”

Excellent, Picard thought. He watched as the probes came about and engaged in evasive maneuvers. Picard had them do random patterns of maneuvers. He then said, “Raise shields, lock onto the probes and fire phasers and torpedoes.”

Worf soon said, “Shields up, weapons locked.”

Picard then waited for a second and he said, “Fire!”

Then, the torpedoes and the phasers were fired at the probes. The orange beams immediately hit the manuvering craft and vaporized them. The photon and quantum torpedoes maneuvered to hit their targets and in only a couple of seconds managed to hit and vaporize their targets. Captain Picard looked with pride at the now empty viewscreen and he then opened a channel to Main Engineering and he said, “Mr. LaForge, is everything alright down there?”

Geordi LaForge responded, “Captain, we’re in perfect condition down here. No overloads to speak of. I’d say that this was a successful test.”

Picard smiled as did the other officers on the bridge. It was then that Worf spoke. He said, “Sir, I am detecting an unusual object a few thousand kilometers ahead of us. It is only a couple meters tall and only one meter wide.”

Madden then said, “A mine of some sort?”

Worf replied, “No. It seems to have some sort of thrusters.” Worf paused for a few seconds and he then said, “Sir, it is headed towards us.”

Picard then said, “All stop. Put it on screen. Try to scan the object. I want to know more about it.”

The object came onto the viewscreen. It had a round head, and a mid section that appeared to be cylinderical. There were bumps on the machine and several arms dropped from the mid section. The arms were cruel-looking. Two antennae then protruded from the head and appeared to be sending out a signal. After a few moments, Worf said, “It is made up of an unusual compound. It seems to be sending out a signal.”

Captain Picard then asked, “What sort of signal?”

Worf said, “It seems to be a data transmission. It seems to be scanning us. It should not be able to get a very deep scan. It’s sensors do not seem to be all that powerful and our shields are up.”

Picard then said, “Let’s get a closer look. Head towards the object, one-eighth impulse.”

As the Enterprise neared the probe-droid, the droid fired a few blaster shots at the ship, which did no damage to the shields, and it then exploded. Worf checked his sensors and said, “The object is destroyed, but it managed to send out a narrow, but powerful data stream. I think that it may have transmitted our presence to a nearby ship or station.”

Picard then said, “We’re over one hundred light years from any starship or starbase. Who would it be transmitting to?”

Worf responded, “Unknown.”

Picard then said, “Scan the surrounding systems for any unusual objects. I want you to identify anything that looks even remotely out of the ordinary.”

After a few moments the scan was complete. Worf said, “There are no unusual objects in the surrounding systems. It must have been transmitting to a ship beyond our normal sensor range.”

Picard pondered this for a few moments. Picard then said, “We’ll wait here for one hour. If we see nothing else, take us back to Earth.”

Patrolling a star system, one thousand light years away from the Enterprise’s location, Captain Thrasher of the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer Terrorizer stood on the bridge of the one-point six kilometer-long warship. He looked down into the crew pits as the officers went about their daily tasks. He looked out at the stars. There seemed to be very little of worth in this galaxy. The loss of the Storm Unit 6 Transports and the Corellian Corvette, Nighthunter had kept him and his crew on edge, there had been no other incidents since. Just then, he heard a call from and officer in the crew pit, “Captain.”

Thrasher went into a lift that took him into the crew pits and went over to the officer. He said, “Yes ensign.”

The ensign then said, “We have received data from one of the probe droids that we sent out. It appears to have found a ship less than one-thousand light years away from this position. It has given us the location of the system that the ship is located in.”

Thrasher was thrilled. Excellent, this is almost too good to be true. Now I can finally test out this new class of Star Destroyer. Thrasher said, “Great, tell me how far away from here it is.”

The ensign checked his instruments and replied, “It is in a cleared hyperspace path. We could be there in an hour.”

Thrasher then said, “Take the ship to the location. We’ll either have some new Imperial members or a combat test of the new systems of the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer.”

The officers smiled and replied, “Aye sir.”

The ship then powered up its hyperspace engines, then it entered hyperspace.

Onboard the Enterprise-E, Captain Picard looked out at the stars. Admiral David Hunter, who was sitting in the chair to Picard’s left, looked out as if he was anticipating something. Picard saw a concerned look on his face and he said, “Is something wrong Admiral?”

Hunter responded, “I don’t know. I just have a feeling that something is about to happen.”

Just as he said that, Worf said, “Sir, a ship has just appeared on sensors only ten thousand kilometers from here. It is on an intercept course.”

Captain Picard said, “Put it on screen.” The viewscreen then showed a one point six kilometer long ship straight ahead of them coming towards them at a slow speed compared to the Enterprise’s maximum sublight speed. Worf then snapped, “Raising shields.”

Picard then said, “Wait. Tactical analysis.”

Worf pressed a few buttons and he then said, “I am reading one hundred beam weapon cannons, twenty ion weapon cannons, and forty torpedo launchers. I am also reading two omnishield generators and multiple sector shield generators.”

Hunter said, “The ship is designed to take on a small fleet.” Hunter looked at Worf and he then asked, “Did you manage to get a power reading on those weapons?”

Worf replied, “I did not manage to get a power reading on their weapons systems or their shielding systems.” Then looking at Picard, Worf said, “Sir, I highly recommend that we raise shields.”

Picard said, “Let’s not be too hasty. We don’t want to provoke that ship into firing on us.”

Captain Thrasher looked out at the ship that appeared outside of the viewport of his magnificent starship. He looked at the ship, which was not even half the size of his Star Destroyer, and he said, “This is going to be easy.”

His executive officer, Commander Bratas, replied, “It should be. That ship only has fourteen beam weapon emitters and eight torpedo launchers. It should fall after the first salvo. The only thing that concerned our analysts was that it seems to have a very fast sublight drive system.”

Thrasher then asked, “Are we within firing range of the unknown ship?”

One of the gunnery officers responded, “We should be within a few minutes, assuming they don’t move.”

Captain Thasher then opened a channel to the crew and he said, “All Stormtroopers, get to your battle stations. All assault troops, get to your transports. All fighter pilots, get to your fighters. We’ll probably be entering into battle soon. I want you on edge.”

Thrasher looked at the unknown ship as the Terrorizer neared firing range. Thrasher then said, “Open a channel to the unknown alien vessel.”

On the bridge of the Enterprise Picard watched the massive unknown ship move closer. Worf then said, “Sir, I am receiving a transmission from the unknown vessel.”

Picard responded, “Put it on screen.”

The viewscreen came to life and showed an Imperial officer, in a dark greenish, brown uniform with a few patches on his left breast. Thrasher looked at Picard and was almost in shock, just as the rest of the bridge crew was in. What he saw on the screen was another human. It was impossible for humans to be inhabiting this galaxy. Putting all of his questions aside, Thrasher said, “This is Captain Thrasher of the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer Terrorizer. You have intruded upon Imperial space. Surrender your vessel to my forces now, and I might only take a few of your passengers and crewmembers as slaves. The rest will be interrogated and then, possibly, released back to your government.”

Captain Picard responded, “This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise. The last time I checked, this was Federation space. You have no right taking my crewmembers and passengers hostage.”

Thrasher then said, “I don’t think that you know the position you’re in fool. My ship has one hundred turbolasers, twenty ion cannons and forty proton torpedo launchers. This is the cream of the crop in Imperial Star Destroyers. Only our Super Star Destroyers are stronger. If I say that this is Imperial space, then it is Imperial space. Power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded.”

Picard then motioned Worf to close the channel. Knowing battle to be unavoidable, he then bellowed, “Raise shields, power up phasers and torpedoes. Battle stations!”

Just then, the ship shook from the impact of multiple turbolaser blasts. The battle had begun.

What do you guys think so far?

Chapter 6: The Battle

The Enterprise shook from the turbolaser blasts that impacted the ship. Picard engaged the hand clamps on his command chair to keep from being thrown from his chair. He said, “Damage report!”

Worf responded, “Forward shields down to eighty-five percent. No casualties reported.”

The ship on the screen then fired over forty small blue spheres from numerous launchers. Worf said, “Incoming torpedoes!”

Picard then yelled, “Hang on!”

The ship shook from the impact of the proton torpedoes. The shields, however, managed to hold even after that withering assault. Worf said, “Shields down to seventy percent. It seems as if the torpedoes are weaker than the energy blasts.”

Then, smaller ships were disgorged from the lower area of the Star Destroyer. Picard then looked at Worf and said, “How many of them are there?”

Worf responded, “Seventy-seven fighter sized vessels, sixteen shuttles.”

The shuttles and fighters headed towards the Enterprise. But the unknown ship wanted to get a little more of the action before the fighters would cripple it to the point where the shuttles could send boarding parties to capture or kill the crew. On the bridge of the Terrorizer, Captain Thrasher watched as the fighters and shuttles headed towards the target. He said, “Picard, you fool. Do you really think that such a small ship like that has a snowball’s chance in hell of beating my Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer? I guess I’ll have to teach you another lesson.”

Just then, the second volley of phaser fire hit the shields of the Star Destroyer. The Star Destroyer returned fire, with only half of the turbolaser blasts hitting the Enterprise. Thrasher said as the ship shook from the phaser blasts, “Damage,” almost certain that those energy blasts, while over three times as strong as an individual turbolaser blast, could not penetrate the shields at this rate. An officer responded, “Our forward dorsal energy shield is down to fifty percent. We should have it back up to full strength soon. Sir, it is odd. I’ve checked the types of shields that the enemy vessel is using and they are very odd. They seem to combine both particle and ray shielding into one unit, whereas we have a strong energy shield, but a relatively weak energy shield.”

Thrasher then said, “I don’t care about tactical reports of a ship that I’m about to either capture or destroy.. Continue pounding the Enterprise. I want to destroy their shields and weapons before that ship gets boarded. We can find out all about its technology once we’ve captured it. Use the fighters to force the enemy to split its fire. That way, it can’t bring all of its weapons to bear on us, and we’ll weaken its shields even further.” That ship’s shields should have collapsed by now. No matter, they’re just prolonging the inevitable.

The officer replied, “Aye, aye sir.” Then the Star Destroyer began firing turbolaser blasts again.

Picard, feeling the ship shake again, said, “Evasive maneuvers, pattern Picard Delta Alpha! Return fire!”

The Enterprise then went through a series of evasive maneuvers, managing to avoid most of the turbolaser blasts. Soon, orange energy beams were fired from the Enterprise. The beams struck the shields, but did no appreciable damage.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Picard watched as the Enterprise came around and fired another phaser volley at the ship. The ship returned fire in the form of ion cannons. Worf said, “Ventral shields down to sixty percent.”

Picard then said, “Lock quantum torpedoes onto that ship. Fire!”

Tremendously bright blue spheres emerged from the Enterprise’s primary forward quantum torpedo launcher. The blue spheres streaked towards the massive Star Destroyer. The quantum torpedoes passed through the energy shields unimpeded and struck the particle shields and the hull directly. The first two torpedoes took out the particle shields while the second two slammed into the hull directly. The torpedoes tore massive holes into the Star Destroyer. There were several secondary explosions. Turbolaser turrets, ion cannons, and proton torpedo launchers were ripped off the ship by the explosions. Equipment and crewmembers were being blown out into space.

Onboard the ship, consoles were exploding, killing any officer or crewman manning them. Many Stormtroopers and Imperial officers that survived the initial explosions were lifted off their feet and blown into space. Others suffocated when the areas that had been damaged were depressurized. On the bridge, sparks erupted from several consoles. One station exploded outright killing the three officers manning it. Thrasher was thrown to the floor and it took him a few seconds to regain his senses. He then yelled, “Damage report! And what the hell did that ship hit us with? There aren’t any warhead weapons in the Empire, barring a Galaxy Gun missile, that are that powerful!”

Commander Bratas responded, “There are multiple hull breaches. We have lost over forty dorsal turbolaser turrets and batteries, ten ion cannons and twenty proton torpedo launchers. Several shield generators have been destroyed, there are massive gaps in our shields and the shields we have remaining are not even close to full strength. Casualty reports coming in.” Bratas checked the listings and he then said, “There are over two-thousand crewmembers and stormtroopers dead sir. Thousands more injured, some with fatal injuries.”

Thrasher gritted his teeth. Normally casualties did not concern him. But this time, he had done little if any damage to the enemy and he had just lost over two-thousand crew members with many more injured and some of them fatally. The Enterprise would pay for this outrage. He then saw the ship come around and he swore to himself. The Enterprise fired a volley of phaser blasts at the Terrorizer and there was even more hull damage done to the ship. Several more consoles exploded near Imperial officers, killing or injuring them. Then, Thrasher saw an orange sphere get ejected from the Enterprise. It was headed towards the bridge shield generators. Thrasher said, “Oh sithspit!” and he then ran to the turbolift yelling, “Evacuate the main bridge!”

The orange photon torpedo collided with the upper part of the command tower and then detonated. The entire ship shook due to the explosion. Pieces of transparisteel shattered and were blown into space. Several surviving bridge crew members were blown into space and to their deaths. Captain Thrasher, Commander Bratas and a few other lucky members of the bridge crew managed to get on to various turbolifts and they went to the auxiliary bridge. When they had settled in, and had gotten replacements for the lost crewmen on the primaty bridge, Thrasher pushed a few buttons and he said, “All TIE Bombers, Assault Gunboats, and TIE Defenders, fire all warheads at that ship! I want it dead!” Then pushing a few more buttons, Thrasher yelled, “This is Captain Thrasher of the Star Destroyer Terrorizer to the Mangler Battlegroup. We have underestimated an enemy force that we attacked for not joining the Dark Empire and as a result of the battle my ship is badly damaged. I need reinforcements to deal with the enemy vessel.”

Then a voice replied, “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Thrasher then thought, I haven’t got a few minutes. Then a weapons officer said, “Sir, you know those warheads that hit us and crippled the ship?”

Thrasher said, “How could I forget? Over two-thousand of my people are dead because of those warheads!”

The officer then continued, “Well, I did some checking. As it turns out, I now know why those warheads were so powerful.”

Thrasher then said, “Well?”

The officer replied, “Those warheads were matter/antimatter warheads.”

Thrasher nearly fell into his command chair and said, “Matter/antimatter warheads? No wonder they caused such great damage. They had to be in the hundreds of megatons range at least.”

The officer replied, “Yes sir.”

Back onboard the Enterprise, Captain Picard watched as a group of TIE Defenders launched another volley of heavy concussion bombs. Picard then said, “Take out those bombs.”

The Enterprise’s forward phaser array then fired many small and weak blasts at the bombs, destroying them. The ship then fired again at the TIE Defenders, destroying them. Then the five Assault Gunboats came towards the Enterprise, launching some more concussion bombs. One of the bombs managed to get through and impacted the shields. The ship shook from the impact and Worf said, “Dorsal bow shields down to fifty percent.”

Picard then said, “Let’s destroy those assault fighters before they launch anymore of those warheads.”

The Enterprise’s dorsal phaser array lit up again, firing full powered energy blasts at the Assault Gunboats, destroying them. Soon, the TIE Bomber squadron decided to take a try at destroying the Enterprise. Picard said, “Fire a quantum torpedo into that bomber squadron,” indicating the squadron of twelve TIE Bombers that had just fired twelve advanced heavy concussion bombs at the ship. Worf responded, “Aye sir.” A quantum torpedo was then fired at the TIE Bombers and it then detonated, destroying all of the TIE Bombers in the blast wave. The Enterprise-E’s phaser array shot down the concussion bombs before they managed to hit the ship. Soon, the TIE Fighters, and TIE Interceptors were taking potshots at the Enterprise with their laser cannons, but not causing any real damage to the shields. The Enterprise maneuvered as more turbolaser blasts were fired at the ship by the Terrorizer.

Thrasher watched from the auxiliary bridge as the Enterprise managed to avoid all of the turbolaser blasts. He said, “Damn it, how can that ship be so maneuverable?”

Commander Bratas responded, “I don’t know, but if we could get our hands on that technology, we would be able to retake our own galaxy with only a small fraction of the ships we have now.”

Thrasher then said, “First thing’s first. We must survive this engagement and inform Emperor Nist of this technology. I think that he will also be interested in the fact that these people seem to be humans, as impossible as it may sound.”

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Jean-Luc Picard watched as the Terrorizer fired some more turbolaser blasts at his ship. The Enterprise shook from an impact. Worf said, “Shields are down to fifty percent. So far we have minor damage to the transwarp drive and the normal warp drive systems. It should be repaired in a few minutes.”

Picard then said, “Open a channel to the Terrorizer. Let’s see if we can end this without having to fight anymore.”

Worf then said, “Channel open.”

Picard then said in a commanding voice, “Captain Thrasher of the Terrorizer, this is Jean-Luc Picard. Your ship is badly damaged and you are in the middle of nowhere. We would prefer to not have to destroy your vessel, but if you do not, we will have to destroy it. Cease your attack and we will let you go.”

On the bridge of the Terrorizer, Captain Thrasher watched the image of Captain Picard give him the ultimatum. Commander Bratas said, “Perhaps we should run sir. We are no match for his ship in our current condition, and we do still have our hyperdrive. It’s risky, but we could get out of here in one piece. Emperor Nist needs to know about these vessels. If we get out of here and inform him about one of these vessels, we can capture one later and install its engine and shield technology onto our ships and then we would win in any battle.”

Thrasher responded, “I will not run! Nist would never forgive me if I ran from this battle. We have an opportunity to gain valuable technology here and now, and I intend to take over that ship.” Thrasher soon looked at his scanners and he said, “And also Bratas, we are no longer alone.” Thrasher then said to Picard, “We will never surrender. We will take your ship and make you Imperial slaves. You’ve just lost this battle fool!”

The channel then closed. Worf soon said, “Sir, a small fleet of vessels has just come out of their version of a faster than light drive system.”

Picard said, “On screen.”

Picard then watched as the ships emerged from hyperspace. He looked at the fleet and he said, “How many ships?”

Worf responded, “Three Star Destroyers, ten heavy and medium cruisers of various classes, twenty corvette sized ships, and thirty shuttles and transports.”

Commander Madden said looking at the fleet, “Do we even stand a chance at beating them?”

Worf then said, “They are still 300,000 kilometers away, which seems to be well outside of what seems to be their weapons range, but within our own weapons range.”

Picard then said, “Lock onto the nearest ships. Fire all weapons!”

The Enterprise soon began launching all forward weapons. Orange phaser bursts and orange photon and blue quantum torpedoes streaked towards their targets. The torpedoes impacted the smaller, faster corvettes and were destroyed after only one or two photon torpedo hits. The corvettes were dispatched with only one hit from the quantum torpedoes. The phasers were targeted towards the shuttles and transports. The larger Star Destroyers soon disgorged their fighter and assault compliments. TIE Fighters, Interceptors and Bombers emerged from the hangar bays of the Star Destroyers and the Nebulon B and B2 Frigates. Picard saw the TIEs come towards the Enterprise and he said, “Deploy all of our fighters.”

Commander Madden then said, “Are you sure that this is a good idea? We haven’t tested the fighters in actual combat simulations yet.”

Admiral David Hunter then said, “Now’s as good a time as any. We can’t afford to have to split our fire between the Star Destroyers and their fighter squadrons.”

Picard then said, “Make it so. Launch the fighters.”

After a few minutes, the pilots got to their fighters and the fighters were deployed. The three fighter squadrons reported in. The leader of the Dagger squadron said, “Red Leader reporting in. All of the Daggers are present.” Then the leader of the Katana squadron said, “Green Leader reporting in. All of the Katanas are in formation.” Then the leader of the Wraith squadron said over the comm, “Blue leader reporting in. All Wraiths present and in the green. We’re ready to engage the enemy.”

Back on the bridge of the Enterprise, ensign Hastings said, “Sirs, I have gotten a reading of the three Star Destroyers that have just jumped in. They seem to be weaker than the Terrorizer. The one to the right only has sixty four laser cannon emplacements, the one to the left has one hundred energy weapon emplacements, but fewer ion cannons and no torpedoes. The one in the center has one hundred energy weapon emplacements and sixty ion cannons.” The young woman then checked her sensors again and said, “One of the cruisers is deploying a gravity well. I think that they think that it will prevent us from going to Warp.” The viewscreen then showed a ship with several spherical formations on its hull coming in with the Star Destroyers and several frigates around it. Admiral Hunter then said, “Captain, if I may make a suggestion. I think that we should act worried. If one of those guys gets away and tells the enemy that interdiction fields are useless against Warp drive, they won’t bother making more of those ships. If we act worried and take it out, we can make the enemy waste resources in building more ships that will have no real use against us.”

Picard then said, “That’s assuming that we go to war with these people.”

Hunter said, “You heard the guy yourself. This Dark Empire is evil and it considers itself superior to everyone in the universe. They’re probably the ones behind the attack on that Romulan passenger transport. These guys are real bad and they won’t stop here even if we win.”

Turning back towards the viewscreen, the two officers watched as the Federation fighters went by. The fighters streaked towards the Imperial fighter formations with over a dozen quantum torpedoes flying in between the fighters streaking towards the Interdictor Cruiser. The torpedoes impacted the cruiser and it was soon destroyed. The Federation fighter squadrons were soon in firing range and they fired at the Imperial squadrons with the Imperials returning fire. There were many explosions in the Imperial formations with few to none in the Federation fighter formations. The new fighters seemed to making a very good first impression. A squadron of TIE Defenders soon came into range of the Daggers and the leader of the TIE Defender squadron fired at Red Leader. The laser blasts impacted the shields of the Dagger, but did not manage to penetrate the shields. Red Leader returned fire by firing two pulses from the Dagger’s two forward pulse phaser cannons. The phaser pulses hit the TIE Defender and vaporized the ship. Soon, TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors came in and over a wing of ships were engaging the thirty-six Federation fighters. Dave Hunter, Red Four picked up a TIE Defender on his tail. He juked and jived as the TIE Defender fired laser cannon blasts at him. The Defender struggled to keep up with his maneuvers and eventually, after tiring of the dogfight, he used the maneuvering thrusters to cause the ship to turn 180 degrees and he then fired at the TIE Defender and he destroyed the fighter. He then went to fight some of the TIE Interceptors and TIE Fighters that were trying to gang up on the Wraiths.

The Katanas were also getting a piece of the action. A TIE Defender was trying to keep up with Blue Leader’s maneuvers in the dogfight. Soon, the Katana managed to loop around and it picked off the TIE Defender. The other members of Blue Squadron were not denied their chance to inflict damage upon the Imperial formations. They were charging squadron after squadron, destroying as many Imperial fighters as they could on their first run and then flying out of range of the weapons of the Imperial fighters.

Captain Thrasher watched the battle from the bridge of the Terrorizer. “Sithspit, how can those fighters be so fast and maneuverable?” he asked in disbelief, referring to the Daggers and Katanas, the former matching if not slightly exceeding the fastest and most maneuverable Imperial fighter, the TIE Defender in maneuverability and flying much faster than the TIE Defender could ever even hope to fly even with maximum power being diverted to its engines; and the latter exceeding the TIE Defender in speed and maneuverability. Bratas responded, “I don’t know sir. But the commanders of those Star Destroyers should be worried. Even those bombers seem to match a standard TIE Fighter in maneuverability.”

Thrasher then said, “I’ve got an idea.” He then opened a channel to the captains of the Star Destroyers. He said, “When you get within range, fire all turbolasers at the Enterprise for three seconds. Then switch to ion cannons. I want that ship intact and I want it as undamaged as possible.” He then opened a channel to the captain of one of the surviving Corellian Corvettes. He said, “You have seen with your own eyes how strong that ship is. It would not be so strong if our shields were able to block their weaponry. The fact is that since we rely on a separate system for particle and ray shielding, this ship’s torpedo weapons can penetrate our shields easily. Our particle shields are weak and we can’t afford to divert power to them from weapons or ray shields. The thing is, though, that ramming does work on them and is probably our best chance of crippling that ship. When the Star Destroyers begin firing their turbolasers at the Enterprise, micro-jump to around fifty meters away. That should give you enough time to ram them.”

The captain of the corvette responded, “I will be honored to die for the Dark Empire.”

Thrasher then smiled and he waited. It would only be a matter of time before the Enterprise was his.

The Star Destroyers soon closed to within one hundred kilometers and began firing at the Enterprise. A few Nebulon B and B2 Frigates were within range and provided a body shield for the Star Destroyers. After three seconds, the Star Destroyers fired their ion cannons at the Enterprise. The captain of the corvette looked at the Enterprise and he saluted and he said, “For the Dark Empire. May it stand forever!” He then said, “Plot a course to the Enterprise.”

An officer at the helm station said, “Aye sir.”

The ship then jumped into hyperspace and it emerged a few hundred meters away from the Enterprise. On the bridge of the Enterprise, Worf said, “Sir, a corvette has appeared a few hundred meters away. It’s on a collison course with the Enterprise!”

Picard then said, “Fire all weapons at that corvette! Evasive maneuvers!”

The Enterprise then fired all of their phasers and torpedo launchers emitted torpedoes. The torpedoes and phaser blasts impacted with the corvette and its engine section exploded and that explosion was followed by a small series of secondary explosions. The remnants of the corvette then broke apart into two large pieces and hurtled towards the Enterprise. A large section of the ship collided with the larger ship in the upper saucer section. The other section hit one of the Warp nacelles. The bridge shook from the impact. Officers were thrown out of their chairs and sparks erupted from a few consoles. The rattling stopped and Worf checked his sensors. He said, “Sir, our dorsal bow shields are down to five percent. Our warp drive is offline. It will be some time before it can be repaired.”

Picard then said, “Send a distress signal.”

The Navigation officer, Lieutenant Riley, said, “Channel open.”

Picard then said, “This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise! We are being attacked by a fleet of hostile ships. Any assistance that you can offer will be appreciated.”

Picard then saw a group of Assault Gunboats and Missile Boats come into range. They had managed to get past the fighters defending the Enterprise. Picard said, “Target those assault fighters!”

The fighters then all fired their their heavy concussion bombs. The Enterprise quickly destroyed the fighters, but soon had to deal with the bombs. Since the Missile Boats must have come in while the Enterprise was distracted by the Star Destroyers and the suicidal corvette, they were too close for the Enterprise to shoot down all of the bombs. Several of the bombs impacted the shields and the bow shields soon collapsed.

Thrasher saw that this was his chance. He said to the weapons officers, “Divert all of our weapons power into the ion cannons and fire them before the Enterprise’s shields regenerate!”

The officers responded, “Aye sir.” They then did so and the ion cannons fired at the Enterprise. Blue streaks headed towards the ship. When the blasts impacted the ship, lightening played across the entire ship. The Warp nacelles and the impulse engines soon went out and the ship just sat there as if it was dead. Thrasher then yelled, “Have the Star Destroyers send in all of their assault transports and shuttles! I want that ship captured!

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Picard pushed a few buttons on his chair pad and he said, “Picard to engineering, what the hell just happened.”

Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge responded, “They hit us with an ion blast. Engines, weapons and shields are down. We still have sensors, though.”

Picard gritted his teeth. Things were not going well. At least they had sensors. Then Worf spoke and he said, “Sir, I am detecting several troop transports and shuttles approaching the Enterprise.”

Picard said quietly, “Boarding parties. They want this ship intact.” Picard then said in a stern voice, “They won’t take this ship intact.” Picard looked at Worf and he said, “Organize a group of security teams. Station them throughout the ship. The Imperial troops will try to board the ship and take over Main Engineering and the bridge. We cannot let that happen.”

Worf then left the bridge. Commander Madden followed Worf. Admiral Hunter then got a phaser and he said, “I’lll be with Security Team Two.”

Picard then said, “With all due respect Admiral, you are a flag officer and I cannot let you do this. Let me go in your place.”

Hunter said, “I have military training. I might be able to make a difference. Your place is on the bridge.”

Picard was about to argue the point further, but he was cut off by Admiral David Hunter when Hunter said, “That’s an order, Captain.”

Hunter then went on the turbolift. The battle to defend the Enterprise from Imperial invaders was about to begin.

Next Chapter: The Boarding

Chapter 7: The Boarding

Commander Madden and Lieutenant Commander Worf went to the armory and pushed a few buttons. The weapons lockers soon opened and revealed Type Two hand-phasers, phaser rifles, and photon and plasma grenades. Madden got a hand-phaser and a phaser rifle, as did Worf. He said to Worf, “Set the rifles on autofire and the hand-phasers on wide-beam kill. That way, we can take down more of the invading troops.”

Worf complied and pressed a few buttons on his hand-phaser and his phaser rifle. The two officers soon slung their phaser rifles over their shoulders. Soon, a voice from the bridge came in over the comm. It was Picard’s voice and he said, “There are three assault transports coming in. One of them is coming towards Deck Five, section two, another is bearing down on deck eleven section three, and the third is going to dock on deck twenty, section six. Security teams One, take the troopers that are docking on Deck Five. Security teams Two and Three, take the transport docking on deck eleven. Security team Four, take the one on Deck Twenty. Security teams Five and Six, stay near Main Engineering. The Imperials will wish to take control of Engineering before going up to the bridge.”

Worf responded, “Understood sir.” The other security teams responded by saying, “Yes sir.”

Worf and Commander Martin Madden then went to Deck Five and saw the security team, consisting of six other security officers, waiting for them. Madden said to the officers, “Set your phaser rifles on autofire kill. Worf and I will have our hand-phasers set on wide-beam kill. The reason for setting your weapons for autofire is because the Imperial troopers will probably out-number us by at least three to one. It will be difficult to miss since they will be coming through a hull breach, but we don’t want to risk them being able to get to any cover from the debris. Worf and I will lay down covering fire, forcing the troopers to not be able to get very good shots at us. If they do get through, you will have to take down the troopers as quickly as possible.”

The officers complied and they then felt the hull shake. A few of the officers looked nervous as they heard several sounds coming from the hull. Then, the hull appeared to bend before them as if a craft had docked with the Enterprise. They then saw sparks coming from the hull and a sound much like a motorized saw cutting wood came forth. The security officers took cover behind a few sections of wall and some cargo containers that had not yet been moved anywhere yet. The sparks continued to come from that section of the hull. Then there was an explosion and the officers had to look away because of the flash and the debris that came from the explosion. Then scarlet blaster bolts emerged from the cloud and the breach as several stormtroopers came from the breach firing wildly and hitting a few cargo containers. Worf and Madden came out and fired at the troopers. The wide-beam settings of the phasers proved to be useful since all of the troopers were taken down by the blasts. More troopers filed through and they were taken down by the wide-beam firing of Worf and Madden’s phasers. Other troopers were firing from behind the breach in the hull, and hit nothing but a few cargo containers. The third group of troopers was smart enough to duck and to try to find some cover. Still, a few more Imperial stormtroopers fell. By now, the rest of the security team was firing at the stormtroopers. Three more troopers went down. Madden and Worf, now holstered their hand-phasers and they began to use their phaser rifles against the troopers. Scarlet blaster bolts and orange phaser pulses were being exchanged between the two sides, with many stormtroopers being taken down. One Starfleet officer was hit in the lower, right abdomen, but his wound was not fatal. The officer clutched his side to make sure that no blood would flow out when the wound decauterized. Worf then said to two security officers in the rear of the droup, “Get ensign Ward to sickbay now.”

The officers responded, “Yes sir,” and one of the officers carried the wounded ensign out of the firefight and the other officer provided covering fire.

More stormtroopers were filing through the hull breach. Madden said, “If this keeps up, we’ll be beaten through sheer force of numbers.”

He then got out a plasma grenade and he pushed a button. He then told the security officers, “Cover me!”

The security officers then fired a vicious volley of phaser pulses at the stormtroopers. Those that were not killed in the volley had to duck for cover or die with their comrades. They continued to fire at the Starfleet officers, but the could not hit anyone. Madden then threw the plasma grenade into the shuttle and after three seconds, there was a massive explosion. The Imperial troopers that were filing through the door as the grenade exploded, were killed by the explosion and thrown a few feet away. Madden looked at the scene, satisfied. He then looked at the shuttle and he got out a tricorder. He tapped his commbadge and he said, “Captain Picard. This is Security team One reporting in. We have defeated the Imperial boarding party on deck Five. I wish to go into the Imperial Assault Shuttle and try to download any information that the Imperials may have. We may be able to find out more about this Empire.”

Picard then said, “Proceed with caution Commander. Take a couple people with you, just to be safe.”

Madden then said, “Understood sir, Madden out.” Madden then turned to Worf and another security officer and he said, “Commander Worf and Lieutenant Gibson come with me, the rest of you, take positions throughout the ship in case a group of Imperials get past any of our security teams.”

The two other security officers then went back down the corridor and Commander Madden stepped into the hull breach, followed by Lieutenant Commander Worf and Lieutenant Gibson. Madden stepped over some debris and he looked around, trying to find the command console. Sparks flared from part of the transport as he stepped past a support beam that had fallen. Commander Madden then heard a beep and he stopped. He looked down and he saw a dead stormtrooper sprawled on the floor. He heard a beep again. He then saw a round, cylindrical device in the dead trooper’s hand. Madden grabbed it and it beeped. This must be what’s emitting that sound, Madden thought. He then grabbed the helmet of the dead trooper and he put it on. He activated the device and a voice crackled through saying, “Trooper WD-40, report. WD-40 do you copy?” After a few seconds, the voice sounded again, “Can you hear me?”

Commander Madden pushed one of the buttons, praying that it did not shut off the link. It did not and he responded, “This is Trooper WD-40 reporting in. We have encountered some heavy resistance and have sustained heavy casualties. The initial team did manage to force the Enterprise crew members to retreat. The security team that we faced suffered heavy casualties and were killed almost to the man.”

The voice then said, “That’s good news trooper. We’re not gettin’ anywhere with these Feddies! Their weapons are just so deadly. Any help that you can provide will be greatly appreciated.”

Madden responded, “We’ll see what we can do. WD-40 out.” Madden then took off the helmet, but he kept it at his side, and he looked around for the console once again. Things seemed to be looking up. The Imperials were having trouble against the Federation Security Teams.

Commander Madden soon found the command console, and he looked over to Worf and Gibson and said, “You two stand guard. There may be some Imperials coming here.” The two men soon stood behind some fallen debris and waited to see if any Imperial stormtroopers were coming. Madden soon heard another beep. This time it was coming from the computer console. He looked for the button that would activate the comm system. He saw a button flash and he pressed it. He then heard a jumble of voices speaking all at once. They seemed to be frantic. They were saying, “This is Alpha Squadron of Aggressor Wing, we’re gettin’ annihilated out here! These fighters are just as maneuverable as our TIE Defenders, we need help!” “This is Storm Unit Team Alpha, these Federation fighters are really good! Their weapons are creaming my teams here! We need reinforcements!” “This is Transport Wing, Delta, where’s our cover? Those bombers are eatin’ us alive out here! 128th TIE Interceptor Wing, get your butts over here and help...” then there was static. Then more voices saying, “Holy Emperor’s bones, we just lost the entire Transport Wing Delta! Those bombers are headin’ straight for us. Someone get those bombers off us!” Explosions were then heard, and static. Soon, “we’re sending a third wave of transports of shuttles over to the Enterprise. All TIE squadrons, cover their approach.” “Roger that.”

Commander Madden pushed a button and the voices stopped. He soon tapped his commbadge and he said, “Captain Picard, this is Commander Madden reporting in. The Empire is sending over a third wave of assault transports to reinforce the first wave. I am going to download the data from the computer of the assault transport that I am in.”

Picard responded, “We see them Madden. Download whatever data you can, we’ll inform you as to any Imperials moving towards your location.”

Madden then said, “I copy. I’ll report back as soon as the data is downloaded. Madden out.”

Madden then got out a plug and put one end into his PADD and the other end into the main computer socket of the assault transport. Lights soon flashed on the PADD and letters appeared on the screen. There were also maps flashing on the screen as more data was downloaded.

Worf and Gibson were watching the entrance when a stormtrooper came through the breach. Gibson pointed his phaser rifle at the stormtrooper and he fired several times. The trooper went down and soon more troopers filtered in. Worf took aim and joined his comrade in fighting off the stormtroopers, scarlet blaster bolts and orange phaser pulses lit the entire vessel. Several more stormtroopers fell and soon, there was only one left. Worf took aim and the trooper aimed at Worf. Then the two fired at each other simultaneously. The stormtrooper’s blast missed Worf as Worf managed to dodge the poorly aimed blast through sheer luck. Worf’s aim, however, was true. An orange pulse struck the stormtrooper squarely in the chest. The trooper issued a grunt as he was hit and he then collapsed onto the floor. Lieutenant Commander Worf and Lieutenant Gibson looked around and saw that there were no more stormtroopers coming through the breach.

In his quarters, the B-4 unit watched the space battle unfold as Imperial starfighters engaged their Federation counterparts and get destroyed in the process. There were several flashes and the android saw a TIE Bomber meet its end at the hands of a Federation Katana just as it fired off a proton torpedo. The Katana then raced after the torpedo and fired several shots. The torpedo was hit and it detonated harmlessly. The Daggers were trying to stop the onslaught of more assault transports that were trying to dock with the Enterprise so that they could deploy their stormtroopers. Two transports were destroyed before the got anywhere near the Enterprise. Two transports, however, managed to get through and they were about to dock with the Enterprise. Then, as if moved by another force, B-4 got up and started walking out the door. There was phaser fire and he saw a wounded Starfleet officer being carried away by some Security officers. There was a discarded Type Two hand-phaser on the ground. B-4 picked it up. One of the security officers said, “What are you doing outside of your quarters? It’s dangerous out here.”

B-4 responded in a child-like voice, “I wish to be of assistance in the defense of Enterprise. May I help you?”

The officer responded, “Two more transports have just docked and we’re sending security teams to intercept the stormtroopers. Some of the civilians have taken up arms against the stormtroopers. They’ll need some help.”

B-4 responded, “I will help you stop the Imperials.”

With that, B-4 left. He went around a corner and he heard some phaser and blaster fire. A woman, Sarah Hunter, and a few men were exchanging fire with a squad of stormtroopers. One of the men was hit in the shoulder and went down. The other civilians returned fire and shot the stormtrooper that had shot the man. The stormtrooper fell, but over a dozen more replaced the fallen trooper. There seemed to be no way out and the civilians retreated, blaster fire chasing them. One of the troopers found a woman, who had been injured in the fighting. The woman lashed out at the trooper despite having a blaster burn on her left shoulder. She knocked the trooper unconscious, and she grabbed his blaster pistol and she shot him. Two troopers then fired stun blasts at her and they looked over her. One of them said, “If all of these people fight like this, these people will make great conscripts and strong workers.”

B-4 appeared from around the corner and fired his phaser at one of the troopers pursuing the civilian fighters. The trooper was killed. He then fired at the other stormtroopers, all the while dodging blaster fire. He had felled four stormtroopers when he had taken a hit in the left shoulder. He ignored the damage caused by the blaster bolt, which was not extensive anyway, and he soon felled the rest of the troopers that were firing at the civilian defenders. He then saw a trooper that had grabbed an unconscious woman. He then charged the trooper that had taken the woman hostage. The trooper fired a few shots at B-4, two of them managing to hit him in the chest, but the blaster bolts did not damage him enough to take him down. He grabbed the trooper’s arm and twisted it around. The trooper gave a cry and released the woman. B-4 then grabbed the trooper’s neck and then threw him into a bulkhead. The trooper collapsed and he lay still. The woman, who had just regained consciousness, said, “Thank’s whoever you are.”

The android responded, “You are welcome. I am B-4.”

A group of security officers soon arrived and took stock of the damage. One of the officers looked at B-4, who had massive scars on his chest and his left shoulder from where the blaster bolts hit. Some of the inner workings of the android could be seen from the chest wounds. The officer said, “Are you still fully functional?”

B-4 responded, “I have suffered a ten percent loss of reflexes and have motor control damage to my left arm. I am still capable of fighting, though.” B-4 then looked at the unconscious woman and a few wounded civilians and he said, “Take the wounded to sickbay. I’ll prevent you from being attacked from the rear.”

The civilians then headed towards sickbay, with a few security officers in the front to deal with any other Imperial stormtroopers, and B-4 and another officer to the rear in case the Imperials tried to mount a sneak attack.

Back onboard the first assault transport, Commander Madden was finishing the final download of information into his PADD. After a few seconds, a light turned off on his PADD and he said, “Looks like this is it. This information had better be worth something.”

Madden then disconnected the plugs from the sockets to the PADD and the main computer of the assault transport. He then put his PADD away and he tapped his commbadge and he said, “Commander Madden to Captain Picard.”

Picard’s voice soon replied, “Go ahead Commander.”

Madden said, “Data download complete sir. I am awaiting any further orders.”

Captain Picard said, “Security teams are reporting in from all over the ship. The Imperial invaders are being beaten back. Rejoin me on the bridge. It shouldn’t be long before main power is back on line.”

Madden replied, “Understood sir.” Madden then said to Worf and Gibson, “You two go down and help the other security teams clean out any remaining stormtroopers.”

Worf and Gibson responded, “Aye sir,” and they left the assault transport and headed down the corridor.

Martin Madden was about to leave when he felt a hand grab his right leg. The grip was incredibly weak, but soon, another hand grabbed his right leg and it seemed as if something was hugging it. Madden looked down and he saw a stormtrooper, a hole shot through his uniform in the lower abdomen section due to a phaser blast, grabbing him. The trooper croaked, “You... will become a... slave to the Dark Empire.”

Madden laughed at the trooper’s feeble attempt to sound menacing and he responded, “I don’t think so. Your boarding parties are being killed with very few casualties on my side. You have a gut wound that is probably going to kill you if you don’t get immediate medical attention.”

The trooper responded, “You... have no... clue what... you’ve... started.”

Madden responded, “I’m not that worried about that right now since when we fix you up, you’ll tell us why this Dark Empire has attacked you. If this battle is any indication, numbers are your only advantage. I will look forward to your debriefing after our doctor heals you.” With that, he grabbed the stormtrooper and carried him to sickbay.

Picard was on the bridge as the security teams reported in. Team after team reported that the stormtrooper squadrons were killed. Picard then pushed a button on his command chair and he said, “Status report Mr. LaForge.”

Geordi LaForge responded, “Main power should be restored in two minutes.”

The officer that had taken over the tactical station when Worf went to fight off the stormtroopers said, “Sir, the undamaged Star Destroyers are approaching the Enterprise. They’re only a minute away.”

Picard looked out and saw them coming in and he said, “Mr. LaForge, more Star Destroyers are coming straight at us. Can you get main power up any faster?”

LaForge responded, “No sir. It will be at least two more minutes.”

An officer at one of the sensor stations said, “Sir, those ships have their weapons trained on us, and will be within their weapons range of us in only a minute. When we get main power back on line, we will not be able to dodge their first salvo. They’ll be able to take down our shields with the salvo and use their ion cannons again.”

Soon, Lieutenant Commander Worf, Commander Madden and Admiral David Hunter came onto the bridge and assumed command of their stations. After two minutes, Picard heard the sound of the ship powering up. LaForge said, “Main power is back on line.”

Picard yelled, “Evasive maneuvers!”

The ship went hard to port and managed to avoid many of the turbolaser blasts. Worf then said, “Sir, there are three ships coming in. The Titan, the Akira, and the Thunderchild.”

Indeed, three ships had appeared, the Galaxy class starship Titan, the Akira class starship Akira, and a second Akira class starship, the Thunderchild. Each of the three starships targeted a Star Destroyer or frigate and they unloaded a salvo of photon and quantum torpedoes on the Imperial warships. The Both Akiras fired torpedoes from all fifteen photon or quantum torpedo launchers towards their targets. The Star Destroyers they targeted were quickly destroyed. The first Star Destroyer was struck by three torpedoes and those torpedoes rent massive holes in the Star Destroyer. Equipment and crewmembers were blown into space. The second salvo exploded from the interior of the massive starship and the Star Destroyer was destroyed. The second ship had ten torpedoes streak towards it and the torpedoes passed through the shields unimpeded and they detonated one after the other. The ship was destroyed in only a few seconds. The Titan had engaged a Nebulon B2 Frigate fired turbolasers at the Titan. The Titan did not sustain any major damage. The Titan returned fire by firing eight photon and quantum torpedoes at the Star Destroyer. The photon torpedoes tore massive holes in the frigate. The frigate began to break apart as the quantum torpedoes impacted with the pieces of the ship and annihilated the remains of the ship. The Enterprise then targeted the third Star Destroyer and unloaded a salvo of 8 quantum torpedoes into the ship. The ship broke apart after the first four hits. The four other quantum torpedoes destroyed the pieces of the Star Destroyer.

Captain Picard then said, “Worf, target the Terrorizer.” Picard then waited for a few seconds, and he then said, “Fire.”

Captain Thrasher saw the Star Destroyers of the Battle Group Mangler get destroyed. He looked in horror as the Enterprise’s lights lit up once again and destroy the Tyrant’s Sister. He then saw the Enterprise turn toward the Terrorizer. Soon, a blue sphere was emitted from the starship. He yelled, “Everyone off the bridge!”

He ran towards the turbolift and as soon as he was on, he pressed the button to close it despite the fact that the other officers had not yet managed to get on the lift. He said, “At least one bridge crew member will survive that torpedo.”

Commander Bratas shouted curses at Thrasher. Bratas then saw a blueish hue on the wall and he looked out the viewport. Time slowed down for him as he saw the quantum torpedo head towards the auxiliary bridge of the Terrorizer. Bratas screamed as the torpedo came through the viewport and exploded, taking the entire command tower and a large portion of the rear of the Star Destroyer with it.

Captain Thrasher felt the impact and he fell to the ground. Support beams fell around him. Several officers just ahead of him were caught in the explosion of a conduit. He saw the bodies get thrown into the wall by the explosion. He then tried to stay away from the walls as pieces of the wall were blown out. Thrasher knew that the reactor core was going critical. It would not last much longer. He then went towards the landing bay. There were still some shuttles that could be used to get him out of this junk heap. He looked out a viewport and he saw the Enterprise and the other ships that had come to its rescue. He yelled at the ship, “Captain Picard and all onboard the Enterprise, I vow to destroy you for what you have done to my pride and joy! I will not rest until you are dead! Do you hear me? I will kill you!”

Then a warning came in over the comm system. It was a recording and it said, “Reactor core has reached critical limit. Core breach imminent.”

There was not much time for Thrasher to leave the ship. He headed down to the fighter bay. When he entered, he saw that there was no one in the bay. There was debris all over the floor and all of the remaining transports were destroyed. He also saw several Imperial pilots on the floor. He looked frantically for an escape ship. He then saw an undamaged Lambda class shuttle. He ran to the shuttle and he boarded it. He quickly closed the ramp. He then heard the dreaded words, “Reactor is beyond critical mass. Core breach...”

He then pressed the button and the shuttle zoomed away from the wreckage of the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer, Terrorizer. He knew that Emperor Nist would not be happy with the loss of four Star Destroyers and many other smaller support ships, but he needed this information. Thrasher plotted a course towards the rift. He looked back as the Enterprise was preparing to fire its phasers at his shuttle. His ship managed to enter hyperspace just before the phaser beam was fired.

On the bridge of the Enterprise, Worf saw the beam hit nothing. He said, “Sir, the shuttle has gone FTL.”

Picard then said, “We should get back to Earth. Something tells me that we haven’t seen the last of this Dark Empire.”

Worf then said, “Sir, we are receiving a hail from the Titan.”

Picard replied, “Put it through.”

Soon, the image of Captain Riker and Commander Troi appeared. Picard said, “Thanks for the save Number One.”

Riker replied, “I’m a captain now, Captain. And it was my honor. We were in the neighborhood and we couldn’t turn down the call to help an old friend.” Riker’s tone then became more serious and he said, “Those were the same people that attacked a Romulan passenger transport. I have a feeling that we’ll be seeing a lot more of these Imperials. I’ve been near the Klingon border and there have been reports of attacks there as well. I have a feeling that this incident may bring an invasion on us.”

Picard looked at Riker and said, “We’re going back to Earth to report on the results of the Transwarp drive. We also intend to fill out a report on the incident here.”

Riker said, “It was an honor to be able to help you. We’re also headed towards Earth. I wouldn’t mind a poker game against an old friend when we get back.”

Picard responded, “You’re on.” Then turning to Worf, he said, "Recall our starfighters."

After the Enterprise's starfighters were recalled, the ships then went to Warp and headed back to Earth. Picard went into his ready room to fill out a lengthy report on the attack on the Enterprise by this Dark Empire. One thing was certain, though, this wasn’t the last that the Federation would see of the Dark Empire.

Next Chapter: Thrasher reports to Emperor Nist. Duh, duh, duh duh.

I don't want to offend you or anything but this story seems like an excuse to lie about Trek weapon capabilities, you make so many obvious emphasis on them being stronger than anything Star Wars can handle. A Sovereign taking on a fleet of Imperial ships? 100's megaton torpedos? Heavy Turbolasers maintain more firepower than that, its hardly a lot in Star Wars scale. Other than that, nicely written.

Actually, I'm going by what I saw Trek weapons do in the DS9 episode, "The Die is Cast." In it, twenty Romulan and Cardassian ships destroyed thirty percent of a planet's crust in maybe a minute (I'm assuming that screen time in this case is real time). Also, I'm putting 100 turbolaser cannons on the ISD II's(I've heard several sources use that number) so they have greater beam firepower, even if the Enterprise E's Phasers were four times as powerful as turbolasers, it would only have half of the beam firepower of the ISD II. Don't worry, the Federation will be blitzed by the Empire soon, and the advantage that the Trek torpedoes have over current SW shields will be eliminated. This is only part one of a multi-part work that I'm thinking out.

Have you ever read the Turbolaser commentaries on this site?

nice story son lets have a bit more then

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've had lots of school work. Well, here it is:

Chapter 8: Thrasher’s Report

Captain Thrasher looked out the viewport and stared into hyperspace. It would be a few minutes before the shuttle reached the rift. He thought about the fact that he had a duty to report this atrocity to Emperor Nist. He then sighed. He knew that Xecr Nist was only slightly more merciful than Emperor Palpatine had been when he was still alive. He was hoping that the information about the weapons that the Federation ships used would cause Nist to be merciful and let him live. He wanted another chance to get back at the Federation for what it did to his prized Star Destroyer. He especially wanted to be the one to destroy the Enterprise-E and kill Jean-Luc Picard.

A few minutes later, the ship emerged from hyperspace near the Great Rift. Present at the Rift was a large group of Golan Defense Platforms and over one hundred Imperial Star Destroyers. There were also many more smaller ships. All of these ships and stations surrounded a very large structure that was the base of operations for the Dark Empire in this new galaxy. Starfighters and transports of various classes were flying around the base and ships and defense stations. A voice crackled in over the comm saying, “Unknown shuttle, identify yourself.”

Thrasher responded, “This is the Shuttle Grinds, I need to speak with Emperor Nist as soon as possible. My code clearance is Zero, Niner, Gamma.”

The voice replied, “Code clearance accepted. Follow your present course.”

Thrasher then turned off the comm. His ship headed towards the rift. As it neared the rift, a huge hole opened with a cloud swirling towards the dark center. The shuttle headed towards the center of the hole and it went through. Inside the rift, there were blue clouds swirling all around Thrasher’s shuttle. Thrasher looked at the beautiful clouds and appreciated their beauty. It would probably be the last time he ever saw something this beautiful.

Thrasher soon emerged from the wormhole and he approached a planet. His ship entered the atmosphere and it flew towards a large structure. The ship landed on a landing pad and Thrasher emerged from the transport as soon as the boarding ramp was lowered. An Imperial official came out and he said to Thrasher, “Emperor Nist wishes to see you Captain.”

Thrasher almost fainted. Had Emperor Nist already found out about the disaster? Thrasher responded, “Lead the way.”

The officer led the way to Emperor Nist’s private chamber. The two men headed down a corridor and turned left. A few meters away, there was an opening and the opening led to a door on a far wall. Thrasher assumed that that was Emperor Nist’s private chamber. When Thrasher arrived at the chamber entrance, he stopped. “You must remove your sidearm,” the officer said, pointing to the blaster pistol hanging at the side of Thrasher’s right hip. Thrasher took the blaster out of its holster and he gave it to the officer. Thrasher bit his lower lip. He knew that he probably only had a short time to live. He pushed a button and a chime rang inside Emperor Nist’s quarters. A voice said, “Enter.” Thrasher did as he was told.

Thrasher entered the chamber. It was very dark so Thrasher could barely see anything in the chamber. He soon saw a light behind a door several meters to his right. It seemed to be lighting a room. He walked towards the light slowly so he would not trip over anything and accidentally break something that may have been valuable to Xecr Nist. He approached the lit room and he saw that it was closed. He rang the chime and a scantily clad young woman approached the door. She opened it. For a moment, Thrasher wondered what the woman was doing in the Emperor’s private chamber. He then realized that she must have been one of Nist’s concubines. Nist said to the woman, “You are dismissed.”

The woman responded, “Yes my Emperor.”

The woman then put a long, blue robe on and she exited the chamber. Thrasher went inside the chamber and he looked at Xecr Nist. Nist looked at him and he said, “Please explain to me what happened in the battle and how you were the only one to have survived.” Nist’s tone of voice indicated that he was very annoyed with Thrasher. Thrasher had heard of what happened to people who had annoyed Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine for either failing in their duty, or for suffering severe losses when a battle should have been won easily. Memories of the descriptions of their methods of being executed entered into Thrasher’s mind. Here he was, about to say something that would undoubtedly make Xecr Nist very angry. And yet, if he lied, Nist would probably know. Knowing that these words may well have been his last words, Captain Thrasher said, “My Emperor, I had sent a probe droid to scout a system and it came across an unknown vessel. Due to standard protocol, I entered the system where the unknown ship was and I told them to leave since I had just declared that area of space Imperial space. The vessel tried to say that the system that it was in was in something called ‘Federation space.’ I told the Enterprise to power down and prepare to be boarded. It did not. I then attacked the vessel for not complying with my orders. Power on power, I guess that it was at least a bit stronger than an Imperator III Star Destroyer. When my ship was disabled, I called in the Mangler Battle Group for backup since it was the closest group. Then the Federation reinforcements came in. It was those damn matter/anti-matter torpedoes my lord. Those torpedoes were able to get through the ray shielding, as all torpedoes can. But it seems as if those torpedoes were designed to be anti-cap ship weapons. The yields were in the teraton range at least. That’s stronger than our heavy turbolasers. Emperor Nist, I followed protocol. You told us that we should never retreat under any circumstances. I only retreated when my ship was a total loss and only because I thought that you needed to know this information. We have to do something to counter those torpedoes.”

Nist interrupted and said, “That’s for Dark Imperial R&D to do. Your mission was to claim more space for the Dark Empire. Instead, you made a mockery of the Imperial Starfleet. I had hoped to be able to take on the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances after we took over this insignificant galaxy! The last thing I need is for news of this atrocity to get back to this Federation, which it most certainly will!”

Thrasher then said, “Forgive me for speaking to you like this my lord, but I’m not sure you understand.” When Nist heard that, he scowled at Thrasher. Thrasher did not back down, he only continued saying, “This is something that has to be made clear to you. This Federation is not nearly as insignificant as you think it is. Their ships are fast and very maneuverable. I saw their capital ships maneuver as if they were a cross between a Carrack Cruiser and a heavily modified YT-2400 Transport. This is not a race to be taken lightly. There is also something else that you should be aware of. The crewmembers, at least most of the crewmembers, of that ship were human.”

That statement took Nist off guard. Nist, forgetting about the many ways he was planning to torture Thrasher, said, “That’s impossible. Humans are from our galaxy.”

Thrasher responded, “My lord, as you know, we have evolutionary theories about which alien races evolved from which animals. There has never been any documented evidence that humans had a lower evolutionary form. That’s why the Empire says that humans are superior to other races. There have been theories, however, that humans may have come from another galaxy. This galaxy may well be the human home galaxy. For all we know, humans may have developed this Federation. What I’m trying to say is that if we take over this Federation, we may well control the human homeworld. While it may not seem like much in terms of a strategy in beating the GFFA, it would be key in the Dark Empire being a recognized power. With this galaxy under our control, we may well have a greater power base than the GFFA does right now. From here, we could then take over the GFFA when we wish to do so, or we could make the GFFA come to us on our terms.”

Thrasher then paused. Nist did not look like he was angry anymore. Nist said, “This is all very intriguing. I shall have to send some intelligence agents to investigate this Federation. But first, I will have to strike back at the Federation for this embarrassment.”

Thrasher said, “I wish to volunteer to lead the strike. Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to meet the Enterprise in battle and kill her this time.”

Nist said, “I have already chosen Admiral Daala to lead that strike.”

Thrasher then said, “My lord, please give me a second chance. I know what my mistakes were. I will not make them again.”

Nist looked over at Thrasher and said, “No, you will not.” With that, Nist held out his right hand and lightening erupted from his fingers. The lightening struck Captain Thrasher and played all over his body. Thrasher collapsed onto the ground, but was still alive. Thrasher then went over to a console near his desk and he pushed a button. Almost immediately, two guards entered his quarters. He said, “Take this worthless thing to the dungeon.”

The guards responded in unison, “Yes my lord.”

The dungeon was a place where prisoners were often tortured for information, or executed in the most painful ways Xecr Nist could imagine. He smiled as the guards took the unconscious Thrasher out of the room. Thrasher then returned to his desk to study the reports of other reconnaissance groups. He needed a target that would be easy, but would also be noticed. Then, Nist pressed a button on his desk and he said, “Assemble the military commanders. There is something that I wish to discuss with them.”

Chapter Nine should be coming sometime soon.

Chapter 9: The Warning

The Enterprise-E and its escort were returning to Earth at high warp. Picard was in his ready room when the door chimed. He said, “Come,” and Commander Madden entered the room. Picard looked up from his PADD and he said, “Commander, what is it?”

Commander Madden responded, “I’m sorry sir, did I catch you at a bad time?”

Picard replied, “Not at all Commander. What is it?”

Madden looked at the PADD and he said, “What have you found out about this Empire?”

Picard responded, “Several very disturbing things. That Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer had sixty four, what the Imperials call, heavy turbolasers. On some ships, these are linked into quad cannons. Those turbolasers are around, if I read the stats of this other ship, the Acclamator, correctly, 50 gigatons individually per shot, and 200 gigatons for the quad HTL cannons per shot.”

Madden said, “Woah, those individual cannons are at least as strong as our Type X Phasers, most likely stronger! I guess that it’s a good thing that our Photon and Quantum Torpedoes are so easily to be able get through their ray shields and that their particle shields seem to be so weak. I have no idea how long that advantage will last, though. All these people would have to do is make an alliance with one of our enemies, or buy the shield technology from the Ferengi, the playing field is evened.”

Picard then said, “We also seem to have equal shields, but superior speed and maneuverability. And not only that, but the Empire, at its height, had twenty-five thousand Star Destroyers. They also have several million smaller capital ships. Numbers seem to indicate around thirty million capital ships at its disposal, and a space station called a Death Star. Even if this Dark Empire has maybe only a tenth of the total ships of the original Empire, the Federation will still be vastly outnumbered.”

Madden replied, “Have you told Admiral Hunter about these numbers?”

Picard replied, “I gave him a copy of the data you downloaded. I think that when he sends his report to the Federation Council, he will be there personally to send in his recommendation to the Council.”

Madden smiled at the remark. Admiral David Hunter had more than once during the Dominion War told Starfleet that it had to make more modern warships instead of older Jack-of-all-trades ships. He had often been considered a rogue in Starfleet. Many of them did not even know how he managed to make the rank of Admiral. Hunter was always the most militaristic Admiral in Starfleet. When teaching at Starfleet Academy, he often gave tests that tested the combat tactical abilities of the cadets even when the Council told him not to be so militaristic in his teaching. Madden soon said, “We should be arriving at Earth within the hour.”

Commander Madden then left Picard’s ready room.

Admiral Hunter was inside his quarters, looking over the report from the battle in the Omicron Ceti system. Soon, his wife appeared and she approached him. He looked up and saw her looking at him. She said, “You’ve been looking at that report for over three hours.”

Hunter replied, “I’m trying to think of a way to convince the Federation Council that we have to pump more materiel into military construction. If the Dark Empire wishes to attack the Federation, we would be hard pressed to stop them.”

She said, “Why don’t you rest a bit? We can worry about the Empire and what you will say to the Council when you get back to Earth.”

David Hunter replied, “If the Empire decides to fight us, we will lose. They outnumber us two hundred to one, assuming that the Federation stands alone against the Dark Empire. I also don’t think that our advantage will last long.” Hunter then thought of something. He then looked back at Sarah and he said, “I must go. I’ll be back shortly.”

He kissed her and then he left his quarters. He headed towards sickbay. When he arrived at sickbay, he entered. He went up to Dr. Beverly Crusher and he asked, “How is your Imperial patient?”

Crusher looked at the unmasked stormtrooper and responded, “He’s conscious and stable. He’ll make a full recovery.”

The Admiral then asked, “Is he in any condition to answer a few questions?”

Crusher replied, “He should be.”

Hunter said, “Good.” He then approached the Imperial stormtrooper. Hunter smiled and he said, “I have a few questions for you to answer.”

The trooper responded, “I’ll never talk.”

Hunter smiled and replied, “Yes you will.” Hunter then got a hypospray and he said, “This is a substance that will cause extreme pain. I will inject it into you if you do not answer my question.”

Crusher went over to Admiral Hunter and said, “No! If you inject too much neurocide into him, he’ll die.”

Admiral Hunter ignored the comment and held the hypospray to the neck of the stormtrooper. He said, “Why did you attack and is there a possibility that there could be a peace between our two governments?”

The trooper responded, “No. Our goal is to take over this galaxy and make it a new base of operations for the magnificent Dark Empire. Even with your advantage, we still have thirty thousand capital ships. You’re beaten. If you surrender, we may show some of you mercy, maybe.” The trooper laughed at Admiral Hunter’s seeming discomfort at the number of ships that the Dark Empire had as its invasion force. Admiral Hunter then said, “Thank you. You have been most helpful, heh heh.”

Admiral Hunter then turned to Doctor Crusher and said, “Thank you for allowing me to question the patient.” He left sickbay with a smile on his face. He knew that the Imperial stormtrooper was lying about the ship count of the Imperial fleet. But with the testimony of the trooper and the information that Commander Madden downloaded from the assault transport, he would have a convincing argument for being able to convince the Federation Council to have the Federation rearm for the probable war with the Dark Empire.

The Enterprise-E arrived at Earth a few hours later, Admiral Hunter beamed down to the Federation Council’s chamber in Paris. He had given the Council the report that he had written of the success of the transwarp experiment and of the encounter with the Dark Empire. He asked to report his recommendations to them in person. He entered the Council hall and he said, “Council members, you have summoned me here and I come bearing disturbing information. It seems as if we have a new enemy; the Dark Empire. As you all read in the report, the Empire seems to believe that this galaxy now belongs to them since they entered it. According to the information gathered from the data downloads from the Imperial Assault Transport and from the Imperial captive, it seems as if the Empire does outnumber us by a wide margin.”

One of the Council members then asked, “By how much does this Empire outnumber the Federation?”

Hunter replied, “It’s difficult to say. The statements of the prisoner and the data taken are contradictory. The prisoner says that the Empire has thirty thousand capital ships. The data readout indicates a number closer to thirty million, though that was when the Empire was at its height, which was long ago. Still, I’m more inclined to believe the data readout gathered by Commander Madden than a prisoner who would not hesitate to mislead us.”

Then another Council member, a human from one of the colonies close to the Romulan border asked, “Are you here to ask us to beef up the military again? We have already approved the construction of the new Planetary Shields and Planetary Phaser Cannons for all of the inhabited planets and moons in the Sol Solar System, Vulcan, Andor, Tellar, and the Rigel Colonies. On top of that, we have also put Heavy Defense Platforms and Phaser and Photon and Quantum Torpedo turrets up around all major planets in the Federation, with plans of putting up shields on the outer colonies in two years. What more could you possibly wish for?”

David Hunter replied, “I am here to ask you to plan accordingly and to build more warships. We have 12,000 starships, not counting starfighters, shuttles, and runabouts. A full third of them are science vessels. Of the remaining vessels, half of them are old vessels like the Excelciors and the Mirandas. I have nothing against the old ships, but we need more modern ships like the Akiras, Prometheus’, Defiants, and Sovereigns. As for our starfighters, Peregrines won’t cut it against these Imperials, we need the more modern starfighters to be produced and we need more of an emphasis on building ships that are biased towards combat. We are outnumbered with our only major advantage being one that will disappear quickly. We need ships that can fight.”

The Council member then asked with contempt, “Is that all?”

Hunter replied, “I have one more thing to ask. I want you to position defense fleets around the more heavily populated colonies and important resource planets that don’t already have Defense Platforms or Phaser and Torpedo turrets and minefields defending them. If the Empire attacks us we will need those planets. I also request that you heed this recommendation. Don’t keep the Federation too centralized. As it is now, if Earth falls, it’s all over. Also, allow Starfleet to use the forbidden weapons such as the Tri-cobalt Torpedoes, Tri-lithium Warheads, and the Transphasic Torpedoes.”

The Council member replied, “We will consider the defense fleets, but if we make an effort to move a lot of military resources, we make spark a war in this quadrant as well. The peace with the Romulans is fragile at best, and if we start militarizing, they may do the same, and possibly launch a preemptive strike against us. As for the use of the ‘forbidden weapons’ that is out of the question.”

Then Earth’s Council member, a caucasian male with short, brown hair and stood at about six feet tall asked, “Why should it be out of the question? We are facing an enemy that has declared its intent on taking over this galaxy. I think that we should be allowed to use every weapon at our disposal when dealing with such an enemy. As for the Romulans, alert them to the danger. Admiral Harok has already encountered an Imperial vessel, when it attacked a Romulan transport. The Klingons are our allies and will almost certainly stand with us against the Dark Empire.”

Then the Vulcan Council member broke in and said, “Would not a logical course of action be to wait and see what moves the Empire makes before deciding a course of action that may lead to war?”

The Andorian member interrupted saying, “And probably tally up a million or more civilian casualties when we could have taken a more proactive stance? I don’t think so. I’m with Councilman Anderson,” referring to Earth’s member of the Federation Council, “we have to do something. I’m not saying that we start a war with this Empire, and I don’t believe that Admiral Hunter is suggesting that we do. What I’m saying is that if we make ourselves look strong enough, we might actually be able to prevent a war. The report that Hunter gave us indicates that the Empire wants our galaxy only to use as a staging area so it can reclaim its own galaxy. If we make an attack on the Federation too costly for the Dark Empire, they may not consider us worth the cost and may possibly leave us alone, or at worst, remain where they are right now.”

The Vulcan member said, “I doubt that the Empire would ever leave us alone if they attack. Also, if their target is their own galaxy, it would be illogical to attack the Federation.”

The leader of the council looked at his chronometer and he said, “It is time for us to recess.” Then, turning to Admiral Hunter, he said, “We will give you our decision in three hours.”

Hunter then said, “Yes, Councilman.” He then turned and left the Council Chamber. Three hours later, Hunter entered the Chamber once more. The head of the council said, “Given the evidence shown to us, the Council has determined that the threat is not significant enough to allow rapid militarization of the Federation; especially in areas near the Romulan Neutral Zone. You must understand how fragile the peace is with the Romulans. The Reman Incident six months ago left a scar on both sides. Even though Romulans did work with the Federation in that incident, many Romulans still harbor bad feeling towards the Federation, and vice-versa. If we started militarizing too much, many Romulans would assume that we were planning a strike against them and they may strike first.”

Hunter replied, “Not if we put up the Heavy Defense Platforms. They are far superior to the Chin’Toka class Defense Platforms used by the Cardassians. And we could also alert the Romulans to the danger that the Dark Empire poses.”

The leader of the council motioned for Hunter to be quiet and he said in a stern voice, “The Council has made its decision.”

Councilman Anderson then stood up and said, “It was not a unanamous vote. It was quite close in fact.”

The head then looked at Anderson and he said, “You are out of line Councilman Anderson. Sit down.”

The Andorian Councilman then stood up and addressed the council members that voted against building up the defenses of the Rim and Neutral Zone Colonies, said, “When the Empire attacks, remember your mistake so that it isn’t made a second time.”

The Federation Council was then dismissed. As Admiral Hunter exited the Chamber, the Council’s representatives of Earth, Vulcan, Andor, and Tellar, and the Rigel Colonies approached him and Councilman Anderson said, “I’m sorry that the others did not listen to you. I fear that we may be fighting a war that we will not win unless we adequately prepare.”

The Vulcan Council member, Skolar, said, “Your arguments were quite convincing. You managed to change my mind. The only problem is that if this Empire is closer to the strength of the original Galactic Empire than to the strength that the prisoner indicated, it might not matter. We will be outnumbered so badly that victory would be nearly impossible.”

Hunter replied, “That’s why I wanted to have the Tri-Lithium torpedoes. We could lure an Imperial fleet too close to a sun, destroy it and have the fleet destroyed before they can get the fleet into hyperspace.”

The Rigel representative said, “I only hope that the Empire doesn’t attack. Though that’s probably wishful thinking. We had better prepare ourselves. I’ll send word to the Rigel colonies to be prepared for a possible attack.”

Hunter replied, “It would probably be a good idea for all major Federation planets to be on a heightened state of alert. At least that may allow us to catch a spy so we know what systems the Empire is checking out.”

Hunter then headed towards an air-tram and he boarded it. He was going to have a lot of things to think about during his stay on Earth.

Onboard the Enterprise, Picard was sitting in his ready room, filling out some reports. He heard a chime at the door. He bellowed, Come,” and Commander Madden entered. Madden said, “Sir repairs are underway and should be completed in two weeks. I have also just received word from Starfleet Command that the Enterprise is going to stay at Earth for at least two more months after the repairs are completed.”

Picard responded, “Yes, I know. Though the Federation Council hasn’t approved of increasing the defensive systems of our border colonies, Starfleet Command has ordered many ships to remain where they are for the time being. I get the impression that Starfleet Command is at odds with the Council.”

Madden then said, “I believe that much of the Council is at odds with each other. Half of the Council wants to beef up the defenses of all Federation worlds, half of it wants to wait and see what the Empire does before they commit themselves to any action. My opinion is that we shouldn’t be taking any chances and we should arm ourselves for a possible conflict.”

Picard replied, “Normally I’d wait and see what the other side would do, but with this Empire, it’s different. I just have a feeling that that failed attack is something that the Empire can’t live with. I feel as if they will have to make themselves look strong to us, and that they’ll do it by either going after the closest colony to them, or by making a blitz towards one of the more important planets, or even Earth itself.”

Madden responded, “I know sir. I’m concerned about that myself. I just wonder why the Council did not approve of the increase in defenses around those systems. At least allow Phaser and Torpedo turrets, or Heavy Defense Platforms to be built if fleets can’t be diverted to those areas.”

Picard then thought of something and said, “I wonder if this is because the Federation doesn’t want to look militaristic. With the incident with the Remans, many Federation politicians are now trying to get the Federation back to the way it was in the mid to late 23rd Century.”

Madden thought about it for a second and responded, “Maybe; the Federation was a lot more military oriented back then. I think that Starfleet was even referred to as a military. I know it at least had a military branch. I think that this attempt to remain ‘politically correct’ will destroy us, or at least cost us much more than we ever imagined.” Madden then looked at the chronometer and he said, “If you’ll excuse me sir, I must get back to work.”

Before Commander Madden left, Picard said, “Just so you know Commander, since the Enterprise is going to be in Spacedock for two weeks, the crew is being given shore leave while it is undergoing repairs.”

Madden replied, “That’s great. I could use some time to think about what we will do.”

With that, Commander Madden left. Picard then returned to finishing his reports. He too was looking forward to shore leave.

Down in Main Engineering, Geordi LaForge was finishing the final diagnostics to the Warp Core. He looked up and he saw B-4 standing in the doorway. B-4 was looking around as if he was lost. Geordi walked over to B-4 and asked, “Is there something I can do for you?”

B-4 responded, “Geordi LaForge, what are you going to do during shore leave?”

Geordi answered, “Well, I intend to try and catch up on some reading and try an experiment since the Starfleet Engineering Corps. will be taking over in the repairs to Enterprise. Why do you ask?”

B-4 then said, “I have a question for you.”

Gerodi asked, “What is it?”

B-4 drew closer and asked, “Did you ever study Data’s interior systems while he was still alive?”

Geordi responded, “Yes, many times. There were times where I had to repair Data or study his positronic brain.”

B-4 looked curiously at Geordi and he asked, “Would you consider yourself capable of building a Soong type android?”

Geordi responded, “No, I’m not that far along yet. That’s why I want to catch up on my reading and try a few experiments during shore leave.”

B-4 then asked, “Would you be able to upgrade an inferior positronic brain to Data’s standards?”

Geordi looked at him curiously and he answered, “Possibly, but it would depend on how ‘inferior’ the positronic brain that needed to be upgraded was, and even then the chances of success may be small.”

B-4 then said, “I have a favor to ask of you.”

“What is it,” Geordi responded. B-4 answered, “Ever since I was reactivated after Data’s death, I have been feeling the need to better myself. I believe that it has been the result of Data putting his memories into my positronic brain. As you know, though, my positronic brain is not as sophisticated as Data’s. I believe that these limitations prevent me from accessing all of Data’s memories. Over time, I believe that these memories may even degrade. I wish to ask you if you would upgrade my positronic network to the level of Data’s.”

The request took Geordi off guard. He responded, “Me? B-4, I’m not sure if I’d be the best person for this job.”

B-4 responded, “But were you not Data’s best friend? Did you not see into his interior workings?”

Geordi replied, “Yes, but I did it to repair Data; and he didn’t have, for lack of a better term, brain damage. Do you even realize the risk involved here? If I screw this up, you could be even worse of than before, or you may be dead.”

B-4 said, “It is a risk that I am willing to take. And Data’s memories may already be threatening me. I want this procedure done.” The tone that B-4 used was bordering on annoyance. Geordi looked at him and for a second, he thought that he had seen a different person in there, possibly Data. Geordi then said, “Alright, when I’m finished here, I’ll make the necessary preparations. When do you want me to do the procedure?”

B-4 responded, “As soon as possible.”

Geordi then said, “I’ll be able to start the procedure tomorrow at o seven hundred hours,”

B-4 responded, “Thank you Geordi.”

B-4 then left and headed back to his quarters. Geordi finished the diagnostics and he went to make the preparations for B-4’s procedure. Still, he wondered at what he saw in B-4, if only for an instant. Could Data actually be somewhere inside B-4? Geordi hoped that if this procedure was successful, he might find out.

End of Chapter 9

Chapter 10: The Imperials plan their retaliation on the Federation.

The Empire is really too weak in this fanfic.....
You said, that the Empire will blitz the Federation.... but first you should humiliate the Faderation, so that the Empire shows, that they are by far the stronger ones.....

Chapter 10: The Imperial War Plan

Emperor Xecr Nist sat in a chamber with all of his major military commanders. He said in a commanding voice, “The United Federation of Planets has made a mockery of us because of the incompetence of a certain captain who is now being disciplined.” As he said this, Captain Thrasher was brought in by stormtroopers. His clothes were in tatters and he looked as if he had been electrocuted several times. The stormtroopers dropped Thrasher onto the floor and he collapsed into a pile. Nist looked at him and stretched out his right hand and Captain Thrasher grasped at his throat. He then began to rise into the air. He ascended higher and higher until Nist closed his hand into a fist. With that motion, the Imperial military commanders heard a crack. Nist lowered his hand and opened his fist and the body of Captain Thrasher fell to the floor. Nist then motioned for two stormtrooper guards to remove the body. The went over, picked up Captain Thrasher and removed the body from the room. Nist turned his attention back to the military commanders and said, “Let that be a lesson to you. Don’t fail me. This United Federation of Planets has made a mockery of us because of this thing’s incompetence. As a result, an Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer and the Mangler Battle Group was lost. I want to strike back at the Federation immediately! Tell me how soon you will be ready to go.”

Admiral Butcher, who was sitting next to Emperor Nist, responded, “We have a fleet ready to go for battle, however, we need to know what target that you wish for us to hit.”

Shira Brie, the new head of Imperial Intelligence, said, “Given the information on the star charts that we have recently purchased from a race called the Ferengi, we have narrowed down our prospective targets to three. Given the fact that Federation torpedo weapons are very strong, and the fact that the particle shields on our starships is not very effective in blocking Federation torpedoes, we targets that we are considering are Risa, Betazed, and a colony on the third planet in the Omicron Ceti system.” Immediately, a hologram showing the three planets appeared. “Of these choices, I believe that we should hit Mira, in the Omicron Ceti system,” Shira said as the holograms of Risa and Betazed disappeared and were replaced by a larger hologram of Mira. Shira continued, “It is in the same solar system that Thrasher’s force was destroyed. By capturing a planet in that system we can send a message that the Dark Empire will succeed even if it fails the first time. It will also demonstrate the futility of trying to hold out against the Empire.”

Admiral Havoc then asked Shira, “Why did you rule out Risa and Betazed?”

Shira responded, “We ruled out striking Risa because it has no known defenses. The Ferengi who sold us the star charts of this galaxy themselves said that they were going to Risa. When we asked them about any possible defenses, the Ferengi laughed and he said, ‘there are no defenses on Risa. Even security guards are rare on Risa.’ That is why we ruled out Risa. Also, Risa is close to the Federation home planet, Earth, so if we captured it, it would not be difficult for the Federation to launch a fleet against Risa in a short amount of time. As for Betazed, we did consider attacking it, but again, it is not much farther out than Risa. By attacking Mira, we can take land on the outskirts of the Federation, build up a base close to the Rift in Federation space, and we can go from there.”

Admiral Butcher asked, “How many ships should we expect in the Omicron Ceti system?”

Shira responded, “We don’t have exact numbers yet. It is believed that there were few if any ships in the system itself when Thrasher attacked the Enterprise. If I were to venture a guess, I would say that there are around 20 ships in that system of various classes.”

Xecr Nist then broke in and said, “I highly suggest that you do some more reconnaissance in that system before we proceed with any course of action.”

Admiral Butcher responded, “I’ll have 1st Squadron of the 181st Tie Wing do reconnaissance of the system immediately.”

Nist said, “A good idea. Do it now,” then turning to the other Admirals, he said, “When the time for the strike comes, I will send Admiral Daala to lead the strike. If there is nothing further that you wish to present to us, this meeting has ended.”

The admirals then left the chamber. Nist then said, “You had better not screw this mission up.”

Two hours later, Maarek Stele and 1st Squadron of the 181st TIE Wing, flying TIE Defenders, entered the Rift. As soon as they were on the other side of the Rift, the squadron entered hyperspace. A few minutes later, the squadron exited hyperspace and they were in the Omicron Ceti system. Maarek said, “Put sublight drives to full throttle. Also, avoid engagement if possible. We don’t want to let them know that we are here or what our intentions are.”

The other fighters complied, but there was another reason that Maarek wanted to avoid combat. For a long time, he had relied on his latent Force skills to get him out of danger in many situations. When he had exited the Rift and entered the Milky Way galaxy, he felt as if that edge that he had always possessed over other pilots had just been taken away from him. It must be the fact that the stars are much farther away from each other than they are in my galaxy, he thought. He hoped that that was all it was and that there was not something else at work here. He checked his instruments and he saw several dots on sensors. He looked out his cockpit viewport and he saw several vessels, smaller than corvettes. They were in the shape of saucers with two large engines coming from the lower, rear section of the ships. There were ten of them. Another group of ships, this time only consisting of four ships had four engines sticking out from their saucers, two on the dorsal, rear surface; two on the ventral, rear surface. There were four more that looked different. They had a section below the saucer and they had engines coming from the lower section of the ships. The final two looked larger than the other ships, but very similar to the previous ships. Coming up on the ships, he said, “I’ve got contact on twenty starships and a space station. Sensors can’t yet identify what the ships are called.”

One of Maarek’s wingmen said, “We could get a closer look at them if you wish for us to sir.”

Maarek replied, “I’ll go along with three others. The rest of you, stay back. If things get dicey, enter hyperspace immediately and get back through the rift.”

The other fighters did as they were told and they stayed back. Maarek then said to the other pilots, “Don’t do anything too suspicious, and power down your weapons. I know that it seems strange, but we don’t want to risk these starships getting suspicious and capturing or killing us. Also don’t send any communincations over the comm. They may be monitoring comm transmissions.”

The other pilots responded with a, “Yes sir,” and they went towards the small fleet that was around Mira colony. Maarek looked and scanned one of the vessels, one of the saucer vessels with only two engines, and his scanners recorded that it was a Miranda Class Starship. It was weak, with only a half dozen energy weapons ports and only two torpedo launchers. Maarek tried to get a sense of whether or not anyone was on the ship. He reached out with the Force, but there was nothing. Maarek almost went into a panic. He tried again, again nothing. He then thought, either someone or something is blocking me, or the Force doesn’t exist at all in this galaxy. The latter thought terrified him. If the Force did not exist in this galaxy, or if it was on a completely different wavelength, then any advantage that force users would have over the people in this galaxy would be nullified. He then went to the other ships and got readouts on them. The ship with four engines was called a Constellation Class starship. The larger starship was called an Excelcior Class Starship by its creators, and the largest ships were referred to as Ambassador Class Starships. After Maarek recorded the data in the databanks of his fighter’s computer, he flew away from the ships and towards the starbase. He scanned it and it showed up as Outpost Delta 37. He flew close to it, but it appeared as if the station did not detect him, or the station did not perceive him as a threat. After he had recorded all of the data in the Defender’s computer, he flew away from the ships and the station. Immediately, he saw twelve Federation fighters, about fifty meters long with what appeared to be missiles underneath their wings. He got close enough to one of them to record its class name, Peregrine, and to record its weapons compliment. After that, he flew away. He then spoke to the fighters on a secure channel saying, “For up team, let’s head home.” The four fighters formed up and they headed back to where the eight remaining TIE Defenders were waiting. The squadron then entered hyperspace. While in hyperspace, Maarek thought about what was happening with his Force abilities. Soon, they exited hyperspace and they then headed into the Rift.

After they had gotten to the other side and docked with the Imperial II Star Destroyer, Liberty’s Bane, they were debriefed. Admiral Daala did the debriefing. Maarek had noticed that his Force abilities had returned to full strength, and that only partially comforted him. At the debriefing, Admiral Daala asked, “What kinds defenses were located at the colony?”

Maarek responded, “The defenses were much as Director Lumiya said. There were twenty ships, ten of them seemed to be small scout vessels, four medium cruisers, and four ships that appear to be Federation heavy cruisers. The only difference was that there was a space station present at the colony.”

Daala looked at him and asked, “Were there any indications of surface defenses on Mira itself or any evidence of a planetary shield?”

Maarek replied, “No, though we were unable to scan the planet entirely.”

Daala then said, “Alright, Major Stele, you and your Wing will report to the Liberty’s Bane at zero-eight-hundred hours. Dismissed.”

Maarek Stele then left, and he felt relieved that no one had asked him about any anxiety that he may have been feeling about the impending incursion into Federation Space. Maarek wished to return again, just to see if he would be stripped of his Force abilities, or if he would have access to them.

Daala was heading over to Xecr Nist’s private suite and as she approached, two guards stopped her and pointed blaster rifles at her chest saying, “Show us your identification.”

Daala showed her rank cylinder and they lowered their weapons and said, “You may pass.” Admiral Daala entered the suite and she saw Emperor Nist sitting in a chair that looked as if it was made to be the throne of a Dark Lord of the Sith. Daala genuflected before Nist and said, “My lord, the scouting of the Omicron Ceti system has been completed. It appears as if there should be little problems, given an appropriately sized fleet. There are twenty ships in the system, fourteen of them are light or medium cruisers, four heavy cruisers and a starbase. What fleet should I assemble for the conquest of Mira?”

Nist replied, “You will gather a fleet of twenty vessels, no more than four of them being Imperial Star Destroyers and you will attack them in two weeks at the latest.”

Daala was shocked and, knowing that she was taking her life into her own hands said, “Twenty ships; no more than four Imperial Star Destroyers? We don’t know how powerful the weapons of these ships are! Captain Thrasher may have been an idiot, but the Mangler Battle Group did not consist of idiots. Do you really think that twenty ships is enough?”

Nist responded, “Thrasher was an idiot and brought the Mangler Battle Group into a trap. I am certain that he exaggerated the capabilities of the ship he faced to cover his own incompetence. I know that you think that more than twenty ships should be used, especially with an outpost at that colony, but we need to show the Federation that we will beat them in ship to ship engagements and that they will need numerical superiority to defeat us, something that after we launch our second attack, they’ll know that they don’t have.”

Daala replied, “Yes, my lord.”

Nist then asked, “Is there anything further that you wished to inform me of?”

Daala said, “No, my lord.” Daala then left Nist’s private suite. Nist watched her leave and he said, “Your record is full of failures and very few successes to offset those failures. This is your chance to redeem yourself. Don’t disappoint me.”

Next Chapter: The Empire Retaliates. I hope to have it posted soon.

Chapter 11: Assault on Omicron Ceti

Admiral Daala pacing in her quarters on the Imperial Mark Two Star Destroyer Liberty’s Bane while she was going over the reconnaissance reports that Major Maarek Stele had brought back from his run in the Omicron Ceti system. She had been going over the reports for over a week and she still had a bad feeling about this attack. She knew that it did not take a strategic genius to know that the best way to ensure victory was to vastly outnumber the enemy. She was still not satisfied with the answer that Xecr Nist had given her as to why he wanted to only use twenty ships against Mira. She soon heard a chime at the door to her quarters. She said, “Enter,” and Commander Bratas entered. She said, “Ah, Commander. Please sit, I’d like to have a word with you.”

Bratas sat in a chair near the table where Daala had filed her reports. She pulled a chair towards the table and sat down as well. She said, “Commander, judging by the information we received, do you think that we can be victorious in the assault on the Omicron Ceti system?”

Bratas replied, “Given the mission parameters, I think that it is possible. But we will take losses in the process.”

Daala then said, “I don’t think that Emperor Nist would like it if most of the assault fleet was destroyed in the attack.”

Bratas replied, “I know. But we have to accept the fact that we are going to probably lose some ships in this assault. Like you, I would prefer a two to one numerical advantage, but we don’t have that. Now I do think that with this strategy, we can minimize the losses and take maybe only one third to one half losses in this mission, max. I say we send in the TIE Bombers, Assault Gunboats and Missile Boats to attack the Starbase orbiting Mira while our capital ships engage the larger Federation ships. The Federation fighters may pose a problem, but we’ll have the TIE fighters deal with them. How many losses we take will depend on the types of ships you send in. With only four Star Destroyers, I’m assuming that you will have Nebulon Frigates and Corvettes backing them up, right?”

Daala responded, “Here’s how the assault fleet stands so far: there are four Imperial Star Destroyers, all of them are Mark Two, I have four Katana Dreadnaughts, six Nebulon B-2 Frigates, and six Modified Corellian Corvettes. All of them have a full compliment of starfighters and other utility craft at their disposal.”

Bratas looked at the fleet and he said, “Let’s see, the Federation fleet consists of ten scout vessels, four medium cruisers and four heavy cruisers. I think that we can beat this force.”

Daala replied, “Good. We’ll begin the mission tomorrow at zero eight hundred hours. I recommend that you get some sleep before the mission. Is there anything further?”

Bratas did not indicate that he had anything further to say. Admiral Daala then said, “Dismissed.” With that, Commander Bratas left Daala’s quarters.

The next day, at zero eight hundred hours, Admiral Daala was standing on the bridge of the Imperial Mark Two Star Destroyer, Liberty’s Bane. The time for the attack had come. A young officer approached her and said, “Admiral, all units are accounted for and are ready to go.”

Daala replied, “Good, let’s get going.” Then, turning on the speakers on her ship and opening a channel to the rest of the fleet, she said, “All hands, battle stations! All ships, enter hyperspace on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!”

With that, the twenty Imperial ships entered hyperspace. Over the planet Mira, in the Omicron Ceti system, Captain Edwards stood on the command deck of the Regula class outpost that was orbiting the planet. He looked out into space as if he was expecting something to happen. He looked at a lieutenant manning one of the consoles and he said, “Have you figured out who was piloting those ships a couple weeks ago?”

The lieutenant responded, “No sir, we have not. Some have speculated that they were Imperial ships, but others doubt that since the skirmish between the Imperial battle group and a Federation task force was in this very system. The Imperials may not be interested in us, we are on the fringes of Federation space.”

“And far from any help from Starfleet if we’re attacked,” Edwards said. Then an ensign manning the tactical station said, “Sir, twenty ships have just appeared in the system. They are around two million kilometers away from the station.”

Captain Edwards then asked, “Can you identify them Ensign Wayward?”

Ensign Wayward responded, “Yes sir. They are Imperial starships. At their current speed, it should take the Imperial ships approximately one hour to reach us.”

Edwards then said, “Signal the colony that in approximately one hour the Empire is going to strike. Begin the evacuation; and get our fleet out to the Imperials. They’ll have to buy us as much time as possible.”

Wayward responded, “Aye sir.” Then, the twenty Federation starships headed towards the Imperial fleet.

Admiral Daala was watching the Federation fleet approach. She looked out the viewport and she said, “How long until they come within range?”

One of the officers in the crew pit responded, “At their speed, it will be only a minute or so.”

Daala then said, “As soon as those ships are within range, start shooting. Tell all ships to launch all starfighters, blastboats, gunboats and missile boats now. I don’t want to be caught off guard. Send the TIE fighters to deal with the Federation starfighters and to draw away their fire, and send the boats against that starbase and any heavy cruisers that get in their way.”

The fleet launched all of their fighters and Assault Gunboats, Missile Boats and Skipray Blastboats. A group of ten Federation ships, Miranda class, was closing in on the Imperial fleet quickly. A Miranda class starship fired a volley of torpedoes at one of the leading Corvettes in the Imperial fleet and the particle shields collapsed after the first torpedo hit. The rest of the torpedoes impacted against the hull and exploded, obliterating the corvette. Daala gritted her teeth and she yelled, “Fire at that Federation starship!”

Just then, the Liberty’s Bane fired a volley of turbolaser fire at the approaching Miranda class starship. A group of light and medium turbolaser blasts hit the shields of a Miranda class starship and the shields collapsed, but the ship managed to evade the heavy turbolaser fire. The ship responded by firing its forward phasers at the Liberty’s Bane. The Star Destroyer shook from the impact. Daala yelled, “Return fire!”

The Star Destroyer sent out some more heavy turbolaser blasts from their batteries. This time, a group of blasts managed to hit the Miranda. The beams sliced through the ship and the ship then lost control and soon exploded. Daala grinned as the Miranda was destroyed. She soon saw the rest of the Mirandas heading back towards the starbase. The three rear ships had suffered some heavy damage and as they retreated, some Corvettes fired on the Mirandas and destroyed them, but not before the Mirandas fired their aft torpedoes at the Corvettes and a Nebulon B-2 Frigate. One Corvette exploded as the torpedoes collapsed the ship’s shields and impacted the hull. The Nebulon, however, managed to take a couple torpedoes before its particle shield collapsed. By that time, it and the other Imperial ships had managed to destroy the straggling Mirandas. Before the ships were destroyed, several escape pods were jettisoned. Daala then said, “Have the TIEs and gunboats head towards that fleet at full speed. I want the fighters to soften up the capital ships before we engage them.”

An ensign at the communications console in the crew pit responded, “Yes ma’am.”

Bratas then said, “Why would the Federation launch ten ships like that at us? All they managed to do was destroy a couple Corvettes, with their fleet losing four ships. A fifth of the Federation’s defense fleet around this colony is now gone.”

Daala responded, “I don’t know what went through the minds of the Federation commanders, but I’ll make sure that their entire fleet is destroyed.”

Captain Edwards looked at his console as he stood on the command deck of the outpost and he saw four Federation dots disappear. He then said, “Lieutenant Miller, open a channel to the colony.”

Lieutenant Miller responded, “Channel open.”

Edwards then said, “Governor, I hope that you’re getting the people to the evac ships because I don’t know how long we’ll be able to hold off the Imperial ships when they arrive.”

The governor of the colony responded, “We are sending up the first fleet of ships now. We’ll have the Peregrines escort them away. I’m sending up a couple squadrons of Peregrines and some Raiders to help you deal with the Imperials. That’s the best I can do.”

Edwards responded, “We’ll try to keep the Imps away from you long enough for you to get your people out of there.”

The Peregrines and Raiders lifted off from the planet’s surface and they headed towards the Federation fleet. The Peregrines, however, continued to head towards the approaching Imperial Fleet. The Peregrines quickly headed towards the incoming Imperial fighters and fired their phasers at the approaching TIEs and gunboats. The TIEs returned fire, but many more TIEs were being destroyed than Peregrines. After the first pass, twenty Imperial fighters had been destroyed, and only six Peregrines had been destroyed. Maarek Stele had a Peregrine in his sights and he opened fire on it, only to see that his fighter’s laser cannons had very little effect on the larger fighter. “Damn,” he grumbled, “these things are shielded like Skipray Blastboats.” He then saw a group of Peregrines approach the Imperial fleet. He opened a channel to Liberty’s Bane saying, “Admiral Daala, a group of Federation starfighters are headed towards your fleet. They’re coming towards you at way beyond our top speed. We’ll try to keep the others from approaching the fleet.”

Daala replied, “Understood, Major Stele.” Daala then turned and saw the fighters approach. This was turning into a very bad day. She saw the fighters approach the Nebulon B-2 Frigate that had lost its particle shields and she saw the lead fighter fire two under slung torpedoes at the Frigate. The torpedoes impacted with the ship and the ship was consumed by a massive fireball. The other fighters soon fired torpedoes at other ships in the fleet. Daala yelled, “Raise shields!”

The particle and ray shields were raised on all of the ships in the fleet, and the bigger ships were able to manage to block the torpedoes fired from the fighters. Two modified Corvettes, however, suffered as the torpedoes would collapse their particle shield and the other torpedoes would destroy the ship. Daala saw the Corvettes explode and she gritted her teeth and she yelled, slamming her fist onto the arm of her chair, “Return fire!”

The Imperial capital ships fired on the fighters, but they seemed to be too maneuverable to be able to hit. One turbolaser blast hit a fighter and even knocked it off course, but the shields seemed to be able to withstand the blast. A second blast, however doomed the fighter and it exploded. Daala smiled sadistically and she watched as she turned this area of space into a shooting gallery. She soon felt the ship shake. These fighters are using the Ackbar slash on us, she thought. The Ackbar slash was a tactic developed by Admiral Ackbar, commander of the Rebel Alliance fleet, to have any turbolaser blast fired by an Imperial ship that missed its target, to hit another Imperial ship. Daala soon saw another fighter get destroyed. The Peregrines fought back, though, firing their pulse phaser cannons and firing micro-photon torpedoes at the Imperial ships. It was not long before the other fighters were destroyed or were retreating, but in the process, one Katana Dreadnaught had large holes in its shields and another Nebulon B-2 Frigate had had its shields collapsed and multiple hull breaches. Still, those ships moved on, since Daala could not afford to lose any more ships. She said, “All ships, resume course towards that planet. I want to destroy that colony ASAP.”

Meanwhile, Maarek Stele and his 181st TIE Defender Wing had his whole wing engaging the Federation Peregrines. Of the eighteen fighters that had remained behind to deal with the TIE fighters and gunboats, only six were still flying, but over twenty four TIEs of various classes had been destroyed along with four Assault Gunboats, two Missile Boats and a Skipray Blastboat. He had found a way to better deal with the Peregrines, though. He would have a TIE distract a Peregrine while he would have a Gunboat, TIE Defender, or a Missile Boat lock onto the Peregrine with Concussion Missiles and destroy the Peregrines using missile weapons. It usually took several missiles to kill a Peregrine, though. He had locked onto another Peregrine and he fired a volley of missiles at the ship. The missiles impacted with the Peregrine, but the starfighter was not destroyed. He fired another pair of missiles and the starfighter tried to dodge them, but was unsuccessful. The fighter was hit by two more missiles and it was destroyed. It took only a few minutes to clear out the other five remaining fighters, but in the end, there had been a total of thirty TIEs, four Assault Gunboats and two Missile Boats lost in the battle. After each squadron had reported its losses, Maarek said, “All squadrons, let’s carry out our mission. Our next target is that Federation fleet.”

The fighters then went towards the fleet at full throttle. After almost half an hour the Federation fleet was coming into view and Maarek said, “All fighters, listen up. These are your targeting assignments. The TIE Bombers, Assault Gunboats and Missile Boats will be attacking any transport that is coming up from the surface. If you are getting close to the station or any big capital ships, don’t hesitate to take a few shots at them. The more damage we do here, the easier it will be for our big ships when they get here. I recommend using Heavy Rockets only on the station, and large Federation capital ships, and even then, use them sparringly on the capital ships. TIE Avengers, you will concentrate fire on the other capital ships. TIE Fighters and TIE Interceptors, I want half of you to stay up here to fight off any Peregrines that may be coming up towards us, and the rest of you will go down to take out any grounded fighters and transports. The TIE Defenders will be in a swing mission, helping out if one group or another is in trouble. Any questions? No? Then let’s do it!”

The TIEs and the gunboats then headed towards the Federation fleet. They saw Federation passenger transports lifting off from the planet, escorted by Peregrine fighters. Maarek soon saw the ships enter Warp. He soon saw a new type of ship head for him. He looked at his console and saw that his sensors identified it as a Raider class vessel. He fired at it, but his laser blasts only hit shields. He decided to launch a couple missiles at the ship, the missiles also did not penetrate the shields. Soon, a group of TIE Defenders from his wing joined in the attack and fired several pairs of missiles at the Raider. The Raider took the punishment, without too much difficulty. Soon, a pair of TIE Bombers decided that the Defenders needed some help. They locked their Proton Torpedoes onto the Raider and they fired. Four torpedoes were launched and they hit the Raider. The first two managed to collapse the shield since the Concussion Missiles had already weakened it, and the second pair impacted with the hull, putting two large holes in the ship. Another salvo of Proton Torpedoes sealed the fate of the Raider as it exploded, but the Raider took one of the TIE Bombers and a couple TIE Defenders with it. Soon, a group of Raiders headed towards the TIE formations. The TIEs scattered as the Raiders fired their Phasers at them. The TIEs fired back at the Raiders, but did little damage to the ships. Maarek then got an idea and he said, “All Defenders, listen up. Try using ion cannons on those things. It’s the only thing we haven’t tried yet.”

The pilots of the TIE Defenders of the 181st TIE Defender Wing responded, “Yes sir.” With that, Maarek switched to his ion cannons. He then found a Raider and he fired at it. The ion blast splashed harmlessly against the shields of the ship. Maarek knew that that was not good. He then opened a channel to his wing and said, “All fighters, retreat immediately. Starfighter ion cannons are no good against those things.”

The Defenders then retreated. He soon received a transmission from a wingman. His wingman said, “Major Stele, our capital ships are approaching.”

Maarek then said, “Warn them that there are Raiders that are difficult for starfighters to destroy. If those Raiders have torpedoes, they could be a big danger to the cap ships.”

His wingman responded, “Done sir.”

Maarek soon saw the Raiders head towards the Imperial fleet. He said, “All TIEs and gunboats, attack the larger Federation capital ships using all of your warhead weapons. We’ve got to soften up those ships so that our fleet can beat them. And if we manage to destroy a couple of the bigger ships, that will make life all that much easier.”

The TIE and Gunboat pilots stated their affirmatives and they went to attack the larger Federation starships. Then opening another channel, he said, “All TIE Interceptors attacking the surface of the planet, return to orbit immediately. We need your help.”

The leader of the TIE Interceptor group then said, “Yes sir.”

A squadron of Peregrines approached and three squadrons of TIE Interceptors and a squadron of TIE Avengers broke off to engage the Peregrines. Scarlet phaser bolts and green laser blasts were exchanged by both sides. A few Peregrines were destroyed, but there were heavier losses to the TIEs. The Avengers soon fired Concussion Missiles at a group of four Peregrines and they managed to take them down and they only lost a couple TIE Avengers in the process. Soon, the TIE Interceptors that had been attacking the surface of Omicron Ceti entered the fray and fell on the Peregrines from behind.

Maarek approached the Federation capital ships and he said, “All fighters, mark your targets and fire!”

The fighters soon launched Proton Torpedoes, Heavy Rockets and Heavy Space Bombs at the fleet of Federation starships. The Federation capital ships were firing at the fighters and warheads and managed to shoot down most of the Heavy Space Bombs, those that got through, though, managed to do some damage to the shields. The rockets and torpedoes had an easier time getting through the point defense phaser fire of the Federation starships. Twelve rockets impacted a Constellation class starship and they managed to do some damage to its shields, but the shields still remained up. The same ship then took several dozen Proton Torpedo impacts and the shields collapsed under the withering assault. Soon, another volley of Heavy Rockets was fired at the ship and the twelve rockets impacted with the hull and the ship was consumed in a massive explosion. Two other Constellation class starships were destroyed by the TIEs and Gunboats.

Admiral Daala watched the battle unfold in space. An officer came up to her and said, “We are within range of the enemy ships.” The ships soon shook as a group of phaser blasts hit the Liberty’s Bane. Daala responded, “Open fire on all Federation ships!”

Soon, the Imperial warships began to fire on the remaining Federation starships. The capital ships began to ignore the TIE squadrons and Gunboat squadrons attacking them and turned their attention towards the Imperial capital ships. They still took some shots with rear weapons at the pursuing fighters, and managed to destroy several TIEs, Gunboats and a Skipray Blastboat. The Federation starships opened fire on the Imperial starships, focusing on the large Imperial Star Destroyers and Dreadnaughts. Several Photon Torpedoes were fired by each ship and they impacted with the particle shields of the Imperial starships. Four torpedoes managed to collapse the particle shields of a Dreadnaught. Two more torpedoes sealed the fate of the vessel. The Imperial ships quickly opened fire on the larger Federation Starships, which were still taking fire from TIEs, Gunboats, and Blastboats. The Imperial Star Destroyers fired volley after volley of Heavy Turbolaser fire at the larger Federation starships. They managed to avoid most of the blasts, but a few managed to hit them and caused shield damage to them. The Federation starships then returned fire and this time two more Dreadnaughts were destroyed by several volleys of Photon Torpedoes. The remaining Imperial starships returned fire, but this time, none of the Heavy Turbolaser blasts managed to hit the Federation starships. Commander Bratas then said to Daala, “Ma’am, I think that there may be a way to be able to hit the Federation starships more easily.”

Daala said, “What is it?”

Bratas said, “Each Heavy Turbolaser Battery has eight cannons per battery. The advantage of these Federation starships isn’t shielding and necessarily firepower, but the fact that their torpedoes are stronger than their energy weapons, the fact that our shields are more biased towards defending against an energy weapon attack, and the fact that our HTL’s are designed to hit slow moving targets. If we put the battery cannons on single fire, we will have a better chance of hitting those ships.”

Daala then said, “Yes, I never thought of that. Tell the other ships to do it now!” Just then, Daala saw an exchange of fire between an Imperial Star Destroyer and two Ambassador class starships. After a volley of Heavy Turbolaser Fire hit one of the Ambassadors, the Ambassador starship exploded, sending debris towards the other Ambassador. The surviving Ambassador then fired a volley of torpedoes at the Imperial Mark Two Star Destroyer and the particle shields of the Star Destroyer collapsed. After a second volley of torpedoes, the Imperial Star Destroyer was destroyed. Daala then said, “All remaining ships, fire at that Ambassador starship!”

They ships began opening fire at the Ambassador, and soon the Ambassador was destroyed. Soon, the surviving Mirandas were charging the Imperial fleet. Daala then turned to Bratas and said, “Now we’ll see if this plan of yours works.”

The Mirandas approached and fired torpedoes at a Katana Dreadnaught. The torpedoes collapsed the shields of the ship and caused some hull damage. The Dreadnaught returned fire and managed to destroy one of the Mirandas, but the others fired another volley at the Dreadnaught. The ship was destroyed. It’s death did not go unavenged as the Imperial Star Destroyers implemented Bratas’s plan and they quickly managed to destroy the Mirandas, losing only one Nebulon B-2 Frigate in the process. It was not long before the Imperial fleet had managed to destroy the remaining Federation starships defending the Starbase and colony.

On the Regula outpost, Captain Edwards looked at the hopeless situation and opened an intraship channel and he said, “All non-essential personnel, get to your evacuation ships and get out of here.”

All civilian personnel and non-essential combat personnel boarded shuttles and runabouts that were in the main docking bays of the starbase and when everyone was aboard, they lifted off and they joined the fleet of evacuation transports from the planet.

Captain Edwards soon opened a channel to the colony and he said, “The fleet is destroyed, I recommend that you get away from here governor.”

The governor of the colony responded, “We will go, but we will try to get you out of here as well. We’ve rigged the colony to blow once we leave.”

Soon, the last of the transports lifted off from the surface of the planet. The station shook as the shields absorbed Heavy Turbolaser blasts. The station returned fire at the Imperial fleet and it managed to destroy another Nebulon B-2 Frigate and cripple a Dreadnaught. The remaining Imperial starships, however, continued firing on the starbase. The shields soon collapsed and the turbolaser blasts were vaporizing hull material.

Onboard the outpost, Captain Edwards felt the station shake violently as the turbolaser blasts impacted the unshielded station. Consoles exploded all around him and officers were thrown to the floor. Most of them managed to stand back up. Others were attending to the injured. The transport was approaching the station and soon, the survivors were beamed off the starbase onto the evacuation transport, which was escorted by two Peregrines and two Raiders. Just then, the Liberty’s Bane fired its final volley of Heavy Turbolaser blasts at the station. After these blasts hit, the station exploded. Daala saw the evacuation transport flying away and she said, “Fire at that transport!”

The fleet fired at the transport, but their shots went wild and the ship entered Warp before the Imperial ships could find their mark. Daala saw the ship get away and she gritted her teeth and slammed her fist into the arm of her chair. She said, “Scan for life forms on the surface of the planet.”

The sensor officer responded, “No life forms detected on the planet.”

Daala then said, “Prepare Base Delta Zero operations anyway. I want this planet to be a barren wasteland when we’re through with it.”

The officer responded, “Yes ma’am.”

Daala then watched as the Liberty’s Bane and the other Imperial starships opened fire on the surface of the planet. After a few blasts, she could already see fires erupting on the planet below. The colonists may have managed to escape her wrath, but she was consoled by the fact that in about an hour, the planet would be useless to anyone.

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I've had some work to do. I hope that it won't take as long to get the next chapter up.

Next Chapter: Imperial Blitzkrieg

The Federtion is STILL TOO STRONG!

With a bit more realistic nubers, a single SD could have eliminated this defense fleet. Damn, could you just make the Empire stronger? It is really unnerving to see, that Federation low tech creates so heavy losses.

Don't worry, the ray and particle shield separation that makes Imperial ships vulnerable to Photon and Quantum torpedoes won't exist forever. This weakness is going to be an essential of the plot in this first part of the story in more ways than one. This is going to be a multi-part story.

Chapter 12: Imperial Blitzkrieg

The two Miranda class starships closed in on the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer. Apparently, the ships did not care that they were in the line of fire of four of the Imperial starship’s heavy turbolaser batteries as they fired off a pair of Photon Torpedoes. The four batteries fired octets of turbolaser blasts at the Miranda and destroyed both of the ships. The torpedoes, however, impacted against the Imperial Star Destroyer’s particle shields and did not manage to strike the hull. Admiral Havoc watched the battle unfold from the bridge of the Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer, Aggressor. These foolish Federation officers, don’t they know that these puny ships are no match against an Imperial Star Destroyer? The assault on the Federation had begun three weeks ago with Daala’s successful attack on the Federation outpost in the Omicron Ceti system. The Dark Empire had sustained moderate losses in that engagement, but in all subsequent engagements against the United Federation of Planets, the Imperial fleet had suffered only minor losses. Havoc had enjoyed watching the battle unfold as his three hundred ship fleet had begun the assault on this seemingly backwater Federation colony. Another torpedo impact knocked Admiral Havoc out of his musing. The Imperial Mark Four Star Destroyer had been modified to have heavier particle shielding than previous models of Star Destroyer since the Rebel Alliance had a certain fondness of using starfighters with Proton Torpedoes against Star Destroyers and other Imperial capital ships. Havoc soon saw another explosion outside and he knew that one of the small Federation Raider class starships had been destroyed. Havoc opened a channel and said, “All frigates, concentrate fire on the Federation Raiders.”

Soon, a Constellation class starship approached the Aggressor and it fired its phasers at the ship. Havoc said, “Return fire!” The Star Destroyer then fired single blasts from its Heavy Turbolaser batteries. Individual fire would allow the battery of cannons to better the faster, more maneuverable Federation starship. Almost half of the blasts fired at the Constellation hit the ship, as a result, the ship’s shields collapsed. The Aggressor fired again and the turbolaser blasts were tearing large holes into the hull of the ship. The ship could not withstand any more fire and it soon exploded. The thirty remaining Federation capital starships out of two hundred ships, most of them Mirandas and Constellations with a few Excelsiors and Nebulas then got out of firing range of the Imperial starships to regroup. They then came charging at the fleet firing all of their Photon Torpedoes at the Imperial ships. However, several wings of TIE fighters soon fired their laser cannons at the incoming torpedoes. The grid of fire managed to shoot down many of the torpedoes that were fired at the Imperial warships, at the expense of many of the TIE fighters that were caught in the blast waves of the exploding Photon Torpedoes. Of the torpedoes that managed to get through, though, a dozen of them impacted against an Imperial Mark Two Star Destroyer. The first few torpedoes took down the particle shields of the massive ship and the others impacted the hull and exploded, taking the Star Destroyer with them. Havoc watched as the Imperial Star Destroyer exploded. The other torpedoes impacted against the shields and hulls of other ships, mostly gunships and Corellian Corvettes and a Nebulon B Frigate, destroying the Frigate. Havoc then said to an officer in the crew pit, “Ensign Travers, report the damage sustained by our fleet.”

Ensign Travers replied, “The Imperial Mark Two Star Destroyer, Tyrant’s Love has been destroyed. Corvettes C1, C3-C6, and C24 have been destroyed. We have also lost two Nebulon B Frigates. All other ships report minor to moderate damage to their shields.” Soon, another torpedo impacted the shields. Havoc heard a console explode and the yell of an officer as he was thrown across the pit by the explosion. Havoc said to Travers, “Damage report!”

Travers replied, “Particle shields down in section three. The ray omnishield generator has been destroyed. Backup generators are coming online now sir.”

Havoc replied, “Good. Tell the fleet to target the incoming Federation starships. Let’s show them what happens to fleets that take on the Dark Empire.”

The Federation starships soon came within firing range of the Imperial warships and the Imperial ships opened fire with everything they had. Turbolaser blasts, Proton torpedoes and Concussion missiles streaked towards the remnants of the Federation fleet. The forward ships took the full brunt of the attack and were quickly destroyed. A few of the ships in the back of the fleet, a Miranda, a Constellation, an Excelsior and a Nebula pulled away from the other fleet members. The other ships turned to run as well, but they were destroyed by the fire of the Imperial fleet. The Imperial ships then fired at the fleeing Federation starships, but the Federation ships had entered warp.

Admiral Havoc surveyed the wreckage of the fleet and he soon saw a small starbase orbiting the planet. He said, “Open a channel to the starbase.”

The communications officer responded, “Channel open.”

Havoc said, “Federation starbase, surrender at once. You are outnumbered and outgunned. If you surrender, I might spare the lives of the civilians on the planet.”

The base’s commander responded, “We know what you do to planets that you conquer that have no real value to you. To quote an old Klingon proverb, ‘today is a good day to die.’”

Havoc smiled and said, “Have it your way. Open fire!”

The Imperial fleet then opened fire on the starbase. The Heavy Turbolaser fire quickly collapsed the shields of the base and soon, the starbase was unable to retain structural integrity and it broke apart. Havoc surveyed the scene and he said to the fleet, “Base Delta Zero.” With that, the fleet began firing on the planet, and within ten minutes, all population and resource centers of the planet were gone. Havoc could see the fires from orbit as the cities and forests of the planet below burned. Havoc then said, “Set course for our home base and enter hyperspace on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!” With that, the fleet vanished into hyperspace.

The briefing with Emperor Nist seemed to be pleasant. Nist had asked, “Tell me Havoc, how goes the war against the United Federation of Planets?”

Havoc replied, “The war goes very well for us. Aside from the battle at Omicron Ceti, losses have been relatively minor. We have lost a few Star Destroyers in the fighting, but that is mostly because when the Federation ships see no hope of winning, they target the biggest ships they can to try to slow us down. Needless to say, that tactic has failed miserably. There is one thing that I wish to inform you of, though my lord.”

Nist asked, “What is it?”

Havoc responded, “During the battles, it has become very clear that the Photon Torpedoes used by the Federation ships are far stronger than we originally expected them to be. They are about as strong as a heavy turbolaser blast. That is why we cannot withstand many of these torpedo blasts. They simply overwhelm the particle shielding. With your permission, I would like to try something. We know of a race that believes that money is everything. We have the money so what I was thinking was that we could go and buy shield systems used by the races in this quadrant, and maybe find a way to integrate them into our starships. Another thing I was thinking of was that during these battles, the enemy capital ships had far superior sublight speed. We could also buy or trade for this sublight speed. It may cost us something, but I think that it may well be worth looking into.”

Nist looked at Havoc with a scowl and he said, “Can we win the war against the Federation?”

Havoc responded, “As of yet, yes. There is something that I am concerned about, though.” Havoc knew that what he was about to say would probably not go over well with Xecr Nist, but he continued, “My lord, when Captain Thrasher fought the Federation in the Omicron Ceti system, he described the ships that he fought in his report. Admiral Butcher had me and the other fleet commanders looking for signs of any of these super ships. So far, we have not seen any such ships.”

Nist then broke in saying, “That’s because Thrasher tried to cover his own ass by making up ships that probably don’t exist.”

Havoc replied, “Yes my lord, but that was the reason why I wished to try to get to get this technology. I fear that the Federation may be holding back on their fleet, for whatever reason. From all reports, most if not all of the civilians that were on the planets that we attacked were evacuated because they seemed to be in the process of evacuating when we began our attacks. I think that the Federation may be biding its time and then strike us during one of our attacks and take us completely off guard when we try to attack the next planet on our list.”

Nist said, “That’s not going to happen. I have a new target. I placed a spy within the Federation, one of my Dark Side apprentices. He has informed me of a very important Federation fleet yards, one of the only fleet yards that is outside of the Sol solar system. It is called the Antares Fleet Yards. With the Antares fleet yards under our control, you’ll get plenty of opportunities to have the scientists study the Federation sublight drive. I am planning to launch an attack on that fleet yards to try to capture it. This is an extremely important mission so I am sending my official apprentice, Darth Vampirus to lead the attack. He will be in command of the Executor Super Star Destroyer, Wolf’s Fang. He will lead the attack. I wish for you to remain here for the time being. I need you to work with Admiral Butcher in overseeing the check on my Class One Death Star. Do you have any questions?”

Admiral Havoc replied, “No sir.”

Nist replied, “Good, you will begin working with Butcher immediately. Dismissed.”

Havoc then left the room. A figure then emerged from the shadows and Nist turned and saw him. The figure said, “Admiral Havoc is one of our better commanders. Are you sure that you do not want him to go on this mission?”

Nist replied, “Vampirus, I placed you in command because I need something from you. It has come to my attention that a person adept in the Force, Maarek Stele, has said that he cannot feel the Force in this new galaxy. I want you to go in to confirm this or show that it is false. I also have great faith in your command abilities. You are a Dark Lord of the Sith. You are the best of the best of the Dark siders. You will accomplish this mission.”

Vampirus responded, “Yes, my lord.” He then turned and departed from Nist’s room. Nist smiled and said, “At this time, next week, the Federation will be on its knees.”

I hope to have the next chapter up not too long from now.

Chapter 13: A Losing War

Admiral Hunter read the reports from the outlier colonies as they had come in. These battles were draining the Federation of its resources. After three weeks of fighting, the Federation had already lost two thousand starships while the Dark Empire had lost far fewer ships. The only thing that gave Admiral Hunter any sense of hope was that the Empire was destroying outdated Federation starships. He knew, though, that soon the Empire would come at a major Federation asset. All he needed to know was where the Empire would strike. A man came up to Admiral Hunter and said, “Here are the latest casualty reports.”

Hunter looked at them and said, “So Ensign Tyler, the Empire has destroyed the Delta Sigma colony.”

Ensign Tyler replied, “Yes sir, though most of the civilians managed to escape. Sir, if this keeps up, we will lose this war.”

Hunter said, “I know. If we could learn where the Empire was planning to strike next, we could set up a defense.”

Tyler then said, “Then it seems as if I have a bit of good news for you. Reports indicate that the Empire is headed towards Betazed. Given the damage it took in the Dominion War, it would be a good place to build forces for a strike against other major systems in the Federation.”

Hunter said, “Good, inform the others. We will be sending the First Fleet to Betazed.”

Tyler said, “Yes sir.” He then walked away and down a hall.

Admiral Hunter then tapped his commbadge and he said, “He’s coming”

Ensign Tyler was walking down the hall and he exited the base and made his way towards his starfighter, an old Sith Infiltrator that had been heavily modified from its original form. Making sure that there was no one present and that there were no cameras, he activated the fighter’s holonet communicator. Immediately, the image of Xecr Nist appeared and Tyler said, “Emperor Nist, I have told the Federation that you are planning to attack Betazed. I have also gotten all of the information regarding the defenses of the Antares Fleet Yards. We may have to deal with some strong weapons platforms, but we should be able to take the ship yards without too many losses.”

Nist responded, “Good work my Apprentice Trask.”

Trask then asked, “My lord, should I remain here or do you wish for me to return?”

Nist replied, “You may return.”

Trask replied, “Then I shall prepare to depart.”

The image of Nist then disappeared. Immediately, four orange pulses of energy hit Trask in the back. Four figures then approached him, pointing phaser rifles at the unconscious Trask. One of them said, “Section 31 will be eager to debrief him.”

They then carried the unconscious Trask to a transporter pad and dropped him onto the pad. One of the men went over to the console and typed in a few commands. Then, Trask vanished in a column of light. Trask reappeared inside a room with no one. He soon regained consciousness and noticed that he was not on Earth anymore. He looked down at his waist and he saw that he no longer had a phaser or a blaster at his side. He was totally defenseless. He then saw a door leading out of the room. He approached the door and it opened; and in came half a dozen men in Starfleet uniforms, with helmets that covered their entire faces that were armed with phaser rifles. They came in and pointed their rifles at Trask. Soon, another man entered and he said, “Get up Imperial spy.”

Trask got up and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The man then punched Trask in the face and Trask fell to the floor. The man said, “Listen, we know that you are an Imperial spy.”

Trask then stood up defiantly and said, “So what. I know you Federation scum. You’re too nice to interrogate me in the way that you need, AHHH.” Trask was soon struck by a rod with an electrical charge on the end of it. The man said, “You will find that I am not like most other Federation officers or members of Starfleet Intelligence. Put him on the rack. Let’s hope that he will be more cooperative.”

One of the men responded, “Yes, Commander Smith.”

Smith watched as the Imperial was hoisted onto the rack and was chained. He then pressed a button and all of Trask’s muscles began to spasm. Trask said, “You don’t know what you’re doing fool. I could kill you in an instant.”

Smith replied, “Then kill me. But since you can’t sense me, I doubt that you will be able to use that Force choke technique that you Sith seem to love so much.”

Trask laughed and said, “You should have made it so my hands weren’t pointing towards you. Now you will die.”

He then opened his hand to unleash the full fury of a Force Lightening attack on Commander Smith. Nothing happened. Trask could not believe it. The force was in all things, it surrounds, penetrates and binds the galaxy together; at least it binds his galaxy together. The machine then activated and Trask screamed as all of his muscles constricted and then expanded. Smith said, “Your Force abilities do not seem to work on us. Now, I will make this simple. You will tell me where the Empire is planning to strike after Antares.” That statement took Trask off guard. He said, “How did you find out our plan?”

Smith smiled and said, “You just told us. We believed that Antares would be a logical target, but we had no real proof that your forces would attack there. Now, for my second question, who is your leader.”

Trask responded, “Our leader is the great Emperor Nist. When he comes, you will die and your people will bow before him. The lucky ones will be executed, the remaining males will be worked to death. We have...other plans for your females.” It was a comment that got Trask another dose of muscle spasms. This time, one of the guards also touched the electrical rod against Trask’s skin. Smith then said, “What is the size of the fleet that you are sending to Antares?”

Trask responded, “I don’t know.” Trask then screamed as he was prodded with the electrical rod again. Smith said again, “The size of the fleet attacking Antares. Also, add in the types of ships attacking.”

Trask smiled and responded, “The initial fleet will have two Executor Class Super Star Destroyers. We will also have an as of yet unspecified number of Lusankya class Super Star Destroyers there as well. Other than that, expect at least a thousand ships. Though since the Empire will know that I haven’t reported in, they may not attack Antares.”

Smith smiled and said, “You have been most helpful.” He then said to one of the officers, “Release him.”

The officer released him and Trask grabbed the man’s hand phaser. It was the last mistake that Trask made as Smith and the other guards shot Trask numerous times. Trask’s body collapsed onto the ground with numerous holes in it. Smith then said, “Inform Starfleet Command of the Empire’s plans. We’ll have a big surprise waiting for them at Antares, and get this dead Imperial out of here!”

Admiral Hunter was taking a shuttle back to the Enterprise when he had heard the news that the Imperials were planning to attack the Antares Fleet Yards. Excellent, the Empire seems to be expecting an easy victory. We’ll make sure that they are very disappointed. He went to the cockpit and he said, “Pilot, how long until we get to the Enterprise?”

The pilot replied, “In a few minutes sir.”

Admiral Hunter then sat down in a passenger chair and read over some more reports.

Onboard the Enterprise-E, Captain Picard paced on the bridge. He watched as the Engineering teams were completing the last bits of work to the Enterprise. The door to the turbolift opened and Commander Madden emerged from the lift. He walked towards Picard and handed the captain the PADD in his hand saying, “Sir, we have our new orders. As soon as this ship is completed, we are to head to the Antares Fleet Yards. The Empire is planning a major assault on the shipyards. The Enterprise will be the flagship of the First Fleet.”

Picard was surprised at the statement and he said, “The whole First Fleet is going to be used to defend Antares? I thought that Antares had a large number of Heavy Weapons Defense Platforms defending it. These weapons platforms make the Chin’Toka platforms look extremely weak by comparison. And for that matter, why would the Empire attack Antares right now? Granted they’ve won almost all of the battles they’ve been in, but assaulting poorly defended colonies is far different from taking on a heavily defended shipyards.”

Madden replied, “Starfleet Intelligence seems to believe that the Empire does not know that the ships they’ve been facing are obsolete vessels that are only a stop gap measure.”

Captain Picard then read over more of the report and said, “Inform Starfleet that we’ll be ready to depart in a day.”

Madden then said, “Sir, I have also come to inform you that Admiral Hunter wishes to be onboard this ship during the battle. I guess that he just wants to do some fighting instead of having a desk job; as if repelling an invasion by Imperial stormtroopers isn’t exciting enough for him.”

Picard said, “David Hunter has always been a warrior. And it seems as if his son has the same affinity for fighting that his father does.”

Soon, Lieutenant Commander LaForge came out of the turbolift and he came up to Captain Picard and Commander Madden and handing Captain Picard a report, he said, “Sir, the diagnostics have been completed.”

Picard responded, “Good work Mr. LaForge.” Geordi then left and Picard called after him and said, “Be sure to get plenty of rest tonight. Tomorrow, we will be headed towards the front lines.”

Geordi heard Picard’s advice, but he had different concerns on his mind. He approached Cargo Bay One and he entered the Cargo Bay. He went towards the B-4 Unit as it was asleep in a small chamber. Geordi pulled out an engineering instrument and he activated it. He touched it towards B-4’s open head. Lights were not flashing. After two hours of working, Geordi closed the port to B-4’s head and he pushed a button on B-4’s left shoulder. Immediately, the android came to life. B-4 was examining his hands and feet. He then turned around and said, “Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge.” Instead of the statement being in a broken and childlike voice, it was in a voice that was exactly like Data’s. For a moment, Geordi thought he was looking at Data. Geordi asked, “What is your name?”

B-4 responded, “My designation is B-4.”

Geordi then asked, “Do you feel alright?”

B-4 responded, “I appear to be functioning beyond my original normal parameters. I do not detect any malfunctions within my positronic matrix. I appear to be in what you would call, good health.”

Geordi then asked, “Can you access Data’s memories.”

B-4 responded, “I have complete access to Data’s memories and I seem to remember them as if I myself had a part in his actions.”

Geordi then said, “The captain has granted you permission to live aboard the Enterprise, but you will only be a citizen of the Federation and as such there will be some restrictions.”

B-4 responded, “I understand.”

Geordi then said, “Keep in touch if anything goes wrong. I’ll be there to help.”

B-4 replied, “Thank you Geordi.” B-4 then left the cargo bay and headed towards his quarters. As he entered, he looked at a painting that had been painted by Data years before. He could remember making every stroke as if he himself had painted the picture. B-4 then saw Spot on the floor. Spot meowed and he jumped up onto the bed. B-4 said, “Down Spot.” Spot did not move and as a result, B-4 picked up Spot and deposited him onto the floor. B-4 then got into his bed, and fell asleep and activated his dream program.

The next day, Captain Picard came onto the bridge and took his seat. He checked over the reports and he then activated the intercom and said, “All hands, battle stations.” He then said to his helmsman, “Set a course for the Antares Fleet Yards, Warp 24.” Then the Enterprise went into transwarp.

Darth Vampirus stood on the Executor Class Star Destroyer, Wolf’s Fang. The massive ship was one of two 17.6 kilometer long warships, the other being the Tyrant. There were fifteen smaller Super Star Destroyers that were only 12.8 kilometers long. They were dubbed as Lusankya class Super Star Destroyers since the Lusankya was the smaller sister ship to the Executor. The admiral onboard the massive vessel was named Arlius. Vampirus read over the reports and he saw the massive fleet assemble before his ship. He said, “Tell me the composition of our fleet.”

Admiral Arlius said, “We have two Executor Super Star Destroyers, fifteen Lusankya class Super Star Destroyers, 500 Imperial Star Destroyers of various classes, 500 Victory Star Destroyers of various classes, 700 Dreadnaughts, 1,000 Nebulon B and B-2 Frigates, 2,000 Carrack Cruisers 5,000 Corellian Corvettes, 5,000 Corellian Gunships, and 1,000 Escort Carriers.”

Vampirus then said, “Isn’t this a bit of overkill? We’re only going to a shipyards. We could probably take over the shipyards with a fleet that is half this size.”

Arlius responded, “My orders were given to me by Emperor Nist himself. We will use this attack to show that the Federation does not stand a ghost of a chance against us. Supposedly, there are only a thousand or so defense platforms and maybe a hundred ships, not counting those that are still being built. This is also a treasure trove of technology so Nist does not want us to blow it.”

Vampirus smiled and he said, “Then it seems as if it is time for us to enter the Rift and take out this Federation base.”

The fleet then entered the Rift to prepare to take down the Antares shipyards.

Next Chapter: The Attack on Antares. I hope to have the next chapter up in a week or so.

Chapter 14: Attack on Antares

The fleet under Darth Vampirus’s command entered the Rift and within a minute, emerged on the other side. Darth Vampirus immediately felt disoriented. He sat back down in his chair as he looked out the bridge’s viewport into the unknown galaxy. Immediately, Vampirus felt as if he had lost something of himself. This can’t be. I’ve lost all connection to the Dark Side of the Force! Admiral Arlius turned and saw Darth Vampirus’s discomfort and he asked, “Is everything alright my lord?”

Vampirus arose from his chair and he approached Arlius with venom in his eyes. He said, “If you were not the admiral of this fleet, I would choke the life out of you! Get back to your post.” Arlius retreated back to Darth Vampirus’s side and Vampirus said, “Helm, set a course for the Antares system and tell the fleet to enter hyperspace.”

The ensign at the helm replied, “Yes my lord,” and with that, the fleet entered hyperspace.

At the Antares system, the crew members of the starship Enterprise were making final preparations for the battle to come. Captain Picard and Admiral Hunter walked around the bridge, assisting in any way that they could. Picard said to Hunter, “Sir, if the Empire considers this base to be important, what good will only a thousand or so starships, and two thousand defense platforms do against the fleet that the Empire will be sending at us?”

Hunter replied, “The Empire is used to fighting our older, outdated starships. The ships that they’ve beaten weren’t even modified with the most current technology. The ships that they’re going to be facing here are far superior. The Empire also hasn’t seemed to overcome the flaw in their shields which allows for our photon and quantum torpedoes to go straight through their energy shields.”

Commander Madden overheard the last part of the conversation and he asked, “Sir, if the Empire ever did modify their energy shields to be like our own shields, how much more dangerous would their Star Destroyers be?”

Hunter replied, “From what I’ve gathered, I believe that an Imperial II Star Destroyer would at least be a match for a Galaxy II Starship.”

Worf soon broke in at tactical saying, “Sirs, a large fleet has just appeared in the Antares system.”

Hunter asked, “What kind of ships,” though he already knew the answer. Worf replied, “They are Imperial starships.”

Picard then said, “On screen.” Immediately, a hologram of the fleet appeared in front of the bridge crew. Hunter saw the small Corvettes and Gunships fly by the massive Star Destroyers and Super Star Destroyers. Hunter asked, “How many are there?”

Worf responded, “I am reading 15,717 vessels in the fleet.”

Picard stared at the screen in horror and he said softly, “We’re outnumbered over five to one.”

Hunter then said, “How many of those ships are Star Destroyers or Dreadnaughts?”

Worf responded, “I am reading two 17.6 kilometer long vessels, fifteen 12.8 kilometer long vessels, 500 Imperial Star Destroyers, mostly Mark II class, 500 Victory Star Destroyers, and 700 Dreadnaughts. The rest are small vessels”

Hunter then said, “Open a channel to all ships.”

Worf punched up a command on his console and he said, “Channel open.”

Admiral Hunter then said, “All ships, deploy your starfighters now.”

The ships acknowledged the order and they were ordering their pilots to get to their fighters so that they could launch. In one of the Enterprise-E’s shuttle bays, Ensign Dave Hunter was heading towards his fighter. A friend of his from his academy days approached and he said, “Well, this is it Hunter. We finally have a chance to test these things out in a real battle.”

Admiral Hunter’s son replied, “I know Jon. Having faced Imperial fighters before, I can say that we should do well. Don’t be cocky, though. They do have the advantage in numbers and we don’t want to be too close when our capital ships start launching their photon and quantum torpedoes.”

Jon replied, “I see what you mean. Good luck, and good hunting Ensign Hunter.”

Dave inclined his head and he said, “Good luck to you too Ensign Hayward.”

They then went into the cockpits of their fighters. Dave was flying a Dagger class starfighter while Jonathan Hayward flew a Katana class Starfighter. The fighters soon launched, along with a squadron of Wraith Bombers. When the fighters were outside their ships, they quickly formed into squadrons and the squadrons formed into wings. Dave Hunter’s group was part of Defender Wing, which consisted of the best fighter pilots in the Federation. Dave was Red Three. Red Leader soon ordered all of the fighters to report in. They quickly stated their numbers. When they had reached their defense positions, they waited for further orders.

On the Super Star Destroyer, Wolf’s Fang, Darth Vampirus stood looking out the viewport. He saw what appeared to be miniscule defenses. He then said to one of his sensor officers, “Lieutenant Suth, tell me of the defenses that we face at the shipyards.”

Suth responded, “We face two thousand weapons platforms of two different classes, and eight hundred starships as the main line of defense. After that, we face the shipyards itself, which has around one hundred ships on final shakedown cruises, numerous unfinished hulls, almost certainly armed and some space-based weapons turrets.”

Vampirus smiled and he said softly, “These fools will be easy pickings.”

Suth, however, looked at his sensor board again and he said with a hint of fear in his voice, “My lord, something strange is happening. These ships, they are not like any ships that we’ve seen before. There are still the traditional ships in the force, but the vast majority of these ships are new. Another thing is that I’ve identified the lead vessel. It is the Enterprise NCC 1701-E. The mythical ship that Captain Thrasher faced.”

Vampirus looked at Suth and said, “Lieutenant Suth, that ship is merely legend. There is no way that ship exists.”

Suth responded, “But sir...”

Darth Vampirus then said slowly, “It does not exist!”

Suth resigned to Vampirus’s authority and he said, “Yes, my lord,” though it was clear in the way he said this that he did not mean it.”

Vampirus then said, “I am glad that we finally understand each other Lieutenant Suth. We will speak of this after we massacre the Federation in this battle.”

Lieutenant Suth gulped. Anyone who spoke with Darth Vampirus after having been admonished usually did not live to see another day. Then another sensor officer said, “My lord, the Federation ships have launched fighters.”

Vampirus then said, “Have the fighters begun to move toward us yet?”

The officer responded, “No sir, they are staying in formation with the Federation fleet. I believe that they are waiting to see what moves we make.”

Admiral Arlius then said, “Tell our fleet to launch our own fighters and gunboats and have them stay here. I don’t want to tip our hand to the Federation just yet. Let them come to us.”

Darth Vampirus broke in saying, “Belay that deck officer, then grabbing Arlius’s arm and putting Arlius in a choke hold, he said, “I command the mission, Admiral. You are merely here to carry out my orders. I’ll say when to launch the fighters.” He then let Arlius go and he opened a channel to the fleet and he said, “Launch fighters and have them engage the Federation fighters and starships.”

The officer then said, “But sire, starfighters are not much use against capital ships unless they have heavy weapons loaded on them. Our fighters only have concussion missiles and proton torpedoes. The Federation is also able to target high speed objects like fighters with precision accuracy. The fighters would be instantly destroyed.”

Vampirus replied, “I am in command here, lieutenant, you will follow my orders. Launch starfighters, gunboats and blastboats now!”

The officer responded, “Yes sir.” The officer then braced for Vampirus’s wrath, but Vampirus simply returned to his chair and he smiled. The lieutenant then returned to his work, relieved that he would live another day. But something soon struck him. He was not the only person that Vampirus had reprimanded today, and he had let the other person live as well. Every other time, Vampirus had “reprimanded” a person, he had killed them in the sight of the bridge crew, often in a very gruesome manner. The lieutenant also noticed that Vampirus seemed ill at ease ever since the fleet had entered the Rift. Could he be losing his force powers?

The TIEs and gunboats streaked away from the Imperial fleet. Maarek Stele saw a Federation fighter formation in front of the Federation fleet. These were fighters that he did not recognize. “Commander Marth, have you seen those types of fighters before?”

Commander Marth replied, “No major, I haven’t seen Federation fighters like those. However, I do remember Captain Thrasher’s description of the Federation fighters that he saw. They are remarkably similar to the descriptions of the starfighters he said he encountered in his report.”

Maarek then said, “Thank you, commander.” I have a bad feeling about this. That feeling would soon be realized because a wing of Federation starfighters soon moved towards his TIE Defender wing. “All fighters in the 181st TIE Wing, engage at will!”

The TIEs spayed green laser fire at the Federation starfighters, but they were remarkably maneuverable and they managed to avoid most of the laser fire. Those blasts that did hit, merely impacted against the shields of those starfighters. The Daggers and Katanas of the Federation fighter squadrons soon shot orange pulses at the TIEs, destroying over three squadrons of them in the first pass without any significant loss to the Federation fighter squadrons. Maarek got behind a Federation Dagger class starfighter and he tried to hit it, but the fighter was so maneuverable that Maarek had trouble merely matching his enemy’s maneuvers. He got off a few laser blasts, but they did not come anywhere close to hitting the Dagger. The Dagger looped and Maarek’s TIE Defender followed suit, but the Dagger’s loop was extremely tight and Maarek had a lot of difficulty matching the loop. Damn, this fighter is maneuverable. The Dagger soon sideslipped to the left and Maarek did the same and got off a few laser blasts. These hit, but only managed to do some shield damage. The fighter then went into an extremely tight turn and Maarek tried to follow the other fighter. Soon, Maarek realized that the fighter was turning even more sharply than his TIE Defender and if this kept up, the Federation fighter would soon be on his tail. Impossible! How can this fighter be more maneuverable than a TIE Defender? Maarek did not have time to dwell on the performance of his enemy, for his enemy quickly accelerated away from him. Maarek soon saw things begin to brighten for him, though. The enemy starfighter squadrons had fled back to the cover of the fleet as green turbolaser bolts were being fired at them. He then saw the Imperial fleet approach the Federation fleet. The battle was about to begin.

Next Chapter: The Battle of Antares. All previous battles were mere skirmishes compared to this battle.

I slowly get the impression, that you only intend to walk the same path as "Portal".

You do everything to weaken the Empire and everything to strghen the Federation. I think, you only want to make a Star Wars-bashing, and try to hide it better than the last, who tried this.
By the way, the Feds, and the Crew of the Enterprise especially are totally unsymathic for me.

I could be wrong, but still you bias really ruins the whole thing.