Reign of Terror
Posted: 2002-11-17 03:10am
Note: this is not a sequel to "Conquest". It is a completely separate story, with no relation at all. It's just an idea that's been rattling around in my head for a while. I'm not sure how much time I'll have to work on it, or how long it would take to sprout. I'm just curious how much interest there would be in this project.
Just had to get some of that written down.Darth Wong, in one of my more lucid moments wrote:Reign of Terror
Teaser
EARTH, THREE YEARS AFTER THE END OF THE DOMINION WAR
Space is silent. Space is a mostly dark, empty place. But for the sensors of Earth Spacedock, space is a noisy environment, full of information. And occasionally, one of those small pieces of information would herald a most important event. This was one of those times.
Without looking up, the operator sounded the alarm. "Sir, we have a small object closing fast. Came out of nowhere-" His words were cut off by a muffled thump as the object crashed into the hull.
Admiral Kinney was still trying to overcome his surprise. The object had appeared so close to the station that it had impacted before he could even give the order to raise shields. Damage control officers immediately located the impact site, and dispatched security details to investigate.
Ensign Peters was already running in the direction of the noise. He stopped with his squad outside one of the large equipment bays, and used his security override to open the sealed doors. He moved inside to take stock of the situation. The outer wall had been smashed by the impact, and he could see through the breach into space. At the far wall on the opposite side of the bay, there was a cloud of smoke and debris, and an obvious hole. He sprinted to the hole, with his men following suit. They could see into the next bay.
"Peters here." he said quietly into his comm-badge. "Looks like the object broke through the hull and through one interior wall. Emergency forcefields closed off the breach on the outer hull. There's something in the smoke ... wait, it looks like some kind of robotic jellyfish."
"Say again. Jellyfish?" came the reply.
"Jellyfish, sir. It's about two metres high, floating on some kind of antigrav. It's black, metallic, and has a large round body with several long spindly legs hanging down."
A muffled expletive could be faintly heard over the commbadge, followed by a clear order. "This is Admiral Kinney. Destroy the intruder immediately. Say again, destroy the intruder immediately. Use any means necessary."
Peters motioned to his men to move out and approach the intruder from several angles. They moved swiftly, and he raised his heavy phaser rifle. "Open fire!" he ordered. Six phaser beams struck the intruder, doing only minor damage to its armoured body. Peters was about to take a second shot, when the intruder abruptly exploded, scattering debris over the entire bay.
"Intruder neutralized, sir. We didn't do that much damage ... I think it might have self-destructed."
In the station bridge, Admiral Kinney turned to his communications officer. "Rodriguez, report!"
"It got off a transmission before it hit, sir. We were too late."
Kinney felt as if he has just been punched in the stomach. His chest felt constricted. He sat down with a heavy sigh. "Get me the President."
Rodriguez punched in the commands. The Starfleet logo filled the viewscreen, followed by the face of President Markham.
Kinney wasted no time. "Mister President, the marauder ship is headed this way."
President Markham looked drawn and haggard; the events of the past few weeks had clearly taken their toll. It was as if he had aged ten years during those few weeks. It seemed as if he had to summon a great effort to speak.
"Admiral, you know what this means. I trust you will do your best."
"Yes, sir. We knew this day would come. The fleet stands ready. We'll stop the marauder ship this time sir, or ..." the two men looked at each other through the viewscreen, both knowing what was at stake. "Or we'll die trying."
FIVE YEARS EARLIER, IN THE CARDASSIAN/FEDERATION DMZ
The Maquis raider deftly slipped through a dense asteroid field, scouting for possible places to set up a hidden shelter. Its two pilots' easy banter belied the gravity of the situation.
"How about that one?" Nitram asked, pointing at a large craggy asteroid straight ahead. He was a tall, pale-skinned smuggler pilot from the Orion Syndicate. Nobody knew his first name. To everyone at home, he was simply "Nitram".
"Nope." answered his copilot. His name was William Ando, but most people simply called him Ando. "Not dense enough. I can scan through the whole damned thing on low power from here. A Cardie ship could probably see through it from a million klicks out. Try again."
"God damn it." Nitram muttered. "You find something wrong with every damned good-looking rock I find."
"You find rocks attractive?" Ando snickered.
"Smart-ass." Nitram grumbled. "If you weren't packing, I'd come over there and beat your-" he stopped in mid sentence.
"What? Beat my what?" Ando asked, still snickering.
"Hey, check this one out." Nitram swung the ship hard right and toward an unusual looking asteroid far in the distance. "This one's only one or two klicks wide, but it's reading pretty massive."
Ando let out a long, slow whistle. "I take it back, my friend. We hit the jackpot. I don't know what the hell that asteroid is made of, but I can't scan through it for shit. Maybe it's uranium ore, eh? Let's get closer. See if we can get a clear visual."
The raider moved in closer to the asteroid, which was beginning to look disturbingly regular in shape. Nitram brought up a visual, and both men caught their breath. It was quite obviously a starship. Nitram almost fell over himself in his haste to reach the sensor station.
"That's no asteroid." he said softly.
"No shit, Sherlock. Did you figure that out all by yourself?" Ando retorted.
"Will you just shut the hell up and scan it?"
"I'm trying." Ando replied. "Its hull must be made of pure duranium or something. I can't scan through it. No power emanations, no warp signature, no impulse trail, no life signs, no weapons of any known design. Looks like some kind of derelict to me. Roughly sixteen hundred metres long. I don't see any signs of damage. I wonder what happened to it."
"I'd rather know where it came from. I've never even heard of anything that looks remotely like this beast. I wonder how long it's been here."
Ando had no answer this time. Both men simply sat in their seats and stared silently at the mile-long, dagger-shaped vessel growing in the viewscreen.
