Imperial Foundations ~ (My First Fan Fic)
Posted: 2005-07-16 07:55pm
Chapter 1 ~ Discovery
Telvalis System: Unknown Regions.
Captain Telos contemplated the new situation he and his ship, his world, and his Galaxy had been thrown in to. News was trickling through from Coruscant that the Empire had finally destroyed the rebellion resulting in a considerable lifestyle change within the Imperial forces. The military now deviating from defending top security installations and planets to a more relaxed, passive existence had slowly begun to contemplate more gentle methods of Galactic domination.
Sector fleets throughout the Empire were now broken apart and spread across Imperial space, cartographic analysis had subsequently been ordered on a scale not seen since the formation of the Old Republic, and the steady flow of refugees that were all to present in the wars had finally dwindled to a peace time trickle. The reduction in stress on the customs patrols and Imperial spaceports would be considerable; finally the Empire could do its job and keep the peace.
The Empire after concentrating on the militaristic values of peacekeeping for so long now sought about new ways to expand throughout the Galaxy and the primary motivation was mapping of the unknown regions, which, to the emperors delight, were rapidly becoming very well documented, with the discovery of several new species.
Two days ago Telos and his ship the ISD Challenge received orders to investigate a remote system in the outer rim. Imperial intelligence had labelled it an enigma due to the intense gravitational fluctuations originating from the system, but, due to the emperors special interest apparently taken in this particular subject it was best decided that an entire Star Destroyer and her escort group be dispatched to map the phenomenon.
As the Star Destroyer and her Carrack escort neared their destination, a great jolt slammed into the warship. Thrust from Hyperspace too quickly, the imperial craft hurtled into sub-light velocities, all too quickly the ships hull strained under the forces. Inside the destroyer crew members and droids were flung against the interiors, bones snapped with unhealthy tears signalling a most serious incident.
“What is happening?!” Telos demanded from his command chair. As the destroyer rotated into the uncharted system Telos quietly thanked the small, but highly potent inertial dampeners that protected him, and his bridge crew. Very grateful that he was not experiencing the unfortunate consequences of rapid deceleration the captain pitied the lower ranks who did not receive the luxury of such a concentrated dampening field as the bridge, unfortunately for them it was not deemed “cost effective” by the Imperial Administrative division.
Glancing to the other side of the bridge Telos search for answers from his first officer Michael Dickson, who, at this very moment was running from console to console trying to asses the situation. ”We have been pulled out of Hyperspace captain.”
“Rebel Interdictors?”
“No, the pattern of the gravity field is too random to be artificial.”
As the bridge crew debated on the cause of their situation a great smash resounded from the forward section. “What the hell was that?.” Telos boomed. All over the Star Destroyer claxons erupted indicating hull breeches on one of the lower tiers. White clouds of atmosphere gently floated past the bridge windows, along with the unfortunate crewmen who were in the decompressed section at the time.
“Captain, the Carrack Justice has just hit the forward hull, multiple breeches along Deck twelve thirteen.”
“The Ion cannon?”
“Its been sheered of its mounting captain.”
Debating the situation in his mind Telos was finally relieved when the Star Destroyer levelled out. The stars outside finally reached a stationary position. “What about the Justice? How much damage have they sustained?”
“Reports coming in now captain. The Justice has sustained heavy damage to its aft hull, but repairs will be able to save the vessel.”
“Very well, have both Carracks dock so we may offer aide to their crew, and scan this system, I want to know what the hell caused this……..”
Three Hours Later: Briefing room.
“It appears to be a wormhole captain, and a very unstable one at that.”
“Has the Empire any previous documentation of this kind of phenomenon?”
“Not as such, however the theory behind them is very advanced, I feel we should report this immediately to Coruscant. We don’t know where it leads, This is indeed a prime opportunity for scientific expansion, but…….I must point out that it is also a security threat.” Everyone around the room looked at the very apt science officer, it was a good move to put the military before the science, it was what the Navy liked, and what the Navy liked was the road to promotion. “I recommend we send a probe through and maintain a defensive perimeter until reinforcements arrive.”
Telos looked at his executive officer, receiving a nod in agreement it was decided. “Very well, I will relay our findings to Coruscant immediately. During such time I want a probe ready, and a full documentation of the damage we’ve received. I’m not sending anything into that without authorisation from the Palace first.”
The executive officer lifted his head. “I would like to suggest that until reinforcements arrive I advise we put the force on full tactical alert. The guns should be manned at all times.” Another round of nodding followed.
Captain Melver of the Justice looked up surprised at the suggestion. “You must be joking, most of our crews have suffered an injury in some way or form, how can we keep a round the clock watch on the guns if we don’t have the manpower?”
Telos looked at both men. “I must agree with captain Melver, a full and continuous tactical alert will put too great a strain on the uninjured crew members, however, at least half the guns are to be fully manned at all times. If there is nothing else this meeting is adjourned.” Rising from his chair Telos made his way to the holoroom, he had some important information to convey to high command.
One Day Later
The imposing shadow of the executor Star Destroyer forced itself upon the lifeless Telvalis system, on board the super star destroyer Admiral Blathe was hurriedly consulting with his fellow Moffs on what action should be taken with this….situation.
Three Moffs were present, each responsible for the security of the sector. As the system was in the uncharted regions each Admiral had a claim to the administration and jurisdiction over the growing situation in the Telvalis system. Eventually it was agreed, that Admiral Blathe would spearhead the operation.
“Well?” Admiral Harrel demanded.
“The emperor has ordered the wormhole stabilised, we are to receive immediate crews from Kuat, and a ring scaffolding is to be built.” Blathe looked on rather unimpressed.
“Congratulations Admiral, if you can make this operation a success you will have just won the emperors favour.” Harrel offered.
“Yes, but he asks the impossible. He wants the station built within two weeks.”
Both Harrel and Blathe turned to Admiral Prael. “It will be tight, but it’s possible.”
“What about the fleet?” Harrel asked impatiently.
“Its to remain here.”
“I expected as much” Prael added.
“So, I think we can ignore the administrative problems for now and get down to business.” Blathe began, utterly changing the subject. “The probe that was dispatched yesterday has finally returned some telemetric data. We have another Galaxy out there Admirals.”
“Any signs of life or space faring species?”
“Unknown, but, the Galaxy is rather comparable to our own, but we’ve yet to detect any life signs or indication of hyperspace travel. Astrometrics is currently compiling a local star chart, but we won’t know more until we send our first ship through.”
“Well, I feel that this wormhole is going to be a big mark on our future.”
Each admiral nodded in agreement. The Empire was always curious about other territory……
San Francisco
“Well what seems to be the problem gentleman?” The President asked curiously. “Its been a while since you’ve sought to trouble me over something as minor as a wormhole.” The President smiled from behind his desk, his eyes beckoning for the assembled Admirals to say more.
The three officers arrayed in front of him looked at each other cautiously. “Mr President, five days ago the USS Courage detected varying and increasing gravitational disturbances from a remote and uncharted star system. P3X 118A is at the very edge of federation territory, the courage only detected this phenomenon by chance.”
The President nodded. “Is the wormhole stable?”
“Well, we were about to bring that up, but from the initial gravitational readings the courage took no, we expected it to be intermittent like the Beta Ferrell wormhole, however, Mr President the wormhole is stabilising.”
“How odd…” The president replied. “Do we have an explanation as to why?” Turning towards the only scientist present, the president decided to put her on the spot. “Admiral Janeway, you’re the scientist in this room, can you offer any explanations?”
The aging woman responded with a sly smile. “Well Mr President unfortunately my understandings of wormhole mechanics are limited, however, I don’t believe the stabilisation to be natural.”
Rubbing his chin the president grew more curious as the seconds ticked by. “Well what do you suggest?”
“I propose that it’s being artificially stabilised from the other side. The courage sent us their data regarding the gravitational reductions and stabilisations, however, due to the nature of subspace communications the information is five days old.”
“When are we expecting the next report?”
Janeway smiled, now here was a question she could answer. “We are expecting captain Mcleod to send a further report within the next three hours. However the main point I was driving at Admiral was that this could be a first contact situation, the wormhole could be a creation of some unknown alien race, I strongly advise that we send a diplomatic team to rendezvous with the Courage as soon as possible.”
“What ships do we have with first contact authorisation in the area?” President Johnston requested.
“Well there is the Enterprise, I suppose we could have Picard alter course, he is one of our most qualified diplomats.”
Finally Admiral Hanes decided to talk. Hanes like most Admirals had a distinguished career behind him, however his most famous trait was being known as the mediating voice of star fleet. “I advise against sending the Enterprise. Picard is on his way to deal with a dispute on Veleran six, perhaps it’s time we gave captain McLeod a chance.”
The four officials looked at each other and finally the president made his decision, unfortunately it would prove to be the wrong one. “I think we shall send captain Picard. If this species is capable of stabilising wormholes then they will most certainly be technologically superior, we can’t afford to take any risks. Much as captain McLeod has served with distinction, we will send him to deal with the dispute on Veleran Six, have captain Picard alter course immediately.”
Each Admiral accepting the presidents decision as law, slowly shuffled out of the office.
USS Enterprise
The gentle sound of controls and light conversation filled the bridge. Most officers were bored out of their wits, unfortunately there was little to do apart from look ahead into the streaming stars of warp. However things could be worse Picard thought to himself as he flashed back to the Domminion wars, which had only finished three years ago. Star fleet was still reeling from the inflicted losses, ship numbers were at their lowest since the disaster at Wolf 359 almost ten years ago now, and recruitment was barely high enough to man the ships currently in service.
The victory over the Domminion had been a surprise, many including Picard thought that the Jem’hadar would fight to the death alongside their Breen allies, however fate was a fickle thing and the previously hostile Cardassians had finally sought about ending the war by betraying their supposed protectors in the heat of battle. The day hostilities ended was a day that would stick in the minds of billions, it was a day of relief and a day of mourning for those long dead. Thinking back to all the comrades and friends that lost their lives in the war Picard fell into a steady gaze. Pulled back to the bridge by a monotone sound in his ear Picard slowly realised that someone was trying to talk to him. “Captain…..Captain…..?” With a slight Jolt Picard focused back on the bridge and put all his attention on the pale android in front of him.
“Yes what is it Data?”
“Captain. You are receiving a coded transmission from Star Fleet headquarters.”
“I’ll be in my ready room data.” Picard said with some satisfaction. Pulling himself out of his command chair Picard moved to his ready room and activated his personal monitor.
The screen flickered into life and Picard was faced with the common Coded Transmission heading. Below it sat the emblem of star fleet and the standard transmission recognition number. Proceeding Picard followed the message through until Admiral Janeway appeared on the screen. Her hair was slowly turning grey along the sides, and her once pale complexion was now a healthy brown from the San Franciscan sun.
“Hello Jean-Luke, sorry to spring this upon you however we’ve had no choice. Seven days ago the Starship Courage discovered an erratic and fluctuating wormhole in the periphery system P3X 118A, it was a characteristically standard wormhole, labelled as unusable due to its gravitational fluctuations, however, four days ago Captain McLeod reported that the wormhole was somehow stabilising. So far we’ve yet to establish any comparable reason as to why it suddenly reverted to a class A phenomenon, until the Courage sent a class one probe through.
Sketchy images appeared of a great sphere slowly encircling the event horizon of the wormhole, beyond it lay masses of ships, vessels so large that it quickly become apparent that Star fleets current ship compliment couldn’t even compete with some of these new ships. The probe halted for a minute focusing on one of the larger ships. Quickly, and unexpectedly it was pulled forwards towards and then the picture went black.
Each of those vessels was, at least one and a half kilometres long Jean-Luke, we have estimates that the largest was in the region of nineteen kilometres, however, we can’t be sure, the probes readings were heavily interfered with from the wormhole itself.
Captain. You are to proceed immediately to P3X 118A, where you shall make first contact. You have been granted full diplomatic powers in this case. Secondly you are to establish their motives for stabilising the wormhole, if this is a prelude to invasion we must close the wormhole as quickly as possible.
Janeway out.
Sitting back in his chair Picard contemplated the situation, at maximum warp he could be at the system within three days, his current mission would have to wait. Tapping his communicator Picard opened a channel to Wesley Crusher, who was operating the helm. “Mr Crusher, set a course for P3X 118A, and have the command staff meet me in the conference room in ten minutes.”
“Yes Sir.” Crusher replied dutifully.
Well perhaps things are going to get interesting after all Picard mused. Nothing like a first contact situation to get the blood flowing.
USS Enterprise
“Captain.” Data announced with his usual punctuality. “We are nearing our destination, we will enter P3X 118A in five minutes.”
“Thank you Mr Data.”
Hearing a little whisper in his right ear Picard realised that his first officer had finally decided to talk. “What do you expect we’ll find when we get there?” Riker asked.
Turning as usual Picard realised that his first officer was almost as bored as he was, though as he drew closer and closer to the wormhole Picard found himself starting to feel a small rush of adrenalin. “Well…..” Jean-Luke paused for a moment. “I’ve been reviewing the information and scans taken by Captain McLeod and the Courage, and if nothings changed, we should find a stabilised wormhole, in fact it would have stabilised two days ago.”
“Time enough for whatever’s on the other side to come through.” Riker assumed.
“Yes that’s a possibility, a very remote possibility, and I don’t want any assumptions made, not yet at least, assumptions can ruin, and end first contact situations in disaster.” Rikers eyes widened a little, the captain was obviously referring to the massacre on Lebein IV, where all but three, out of an envoy of five hundred Starfleet personnel were killed. “But in all cases.” Picard reassured. “I don’t expect it, why would they go to all this trouble to try and invade a race, a Galaxy that they’ve never even met or been too, it wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Did the Dominion make any sense?” Riker added.
“The Dominions lust and desire for power and domination eventually destroyed them number one, but, I hardly doubt that domination of our Galaxy is what these aliens are planning.”
“Just incase I recommend we go to yellow alert captain.”
Picard turned and looked closely at his first officer with a degree of regret, his once inextinguishable commitment to peace and diplomacy had almost been driven out of him. His hair was greying before his time, his face marked with battle scars too deep for Dr Crusher to heal, here was a man too used to war and battle, he was more Klingon than human now, the dominion had a lot to answer for. Why do we have war? What good does it serve? Picard asked himself. Throwing unanswerable questions out of his mind Picard decided that his fist officer was correct. “Very well, yellow alert, all crews are to proceed to their stations.” The side lights around the ship altered in tint forming a dull yellow.
“We have arrived captain.” Data announced.
“The wormhole?”
“I can’t tell captain, our sensors are having severe difficulty scanning. I can’t get any return at all.”
“What about visual. On screen.” Picard ordered.
The entire bridge crew let out a gasp. In front of them sat a vast complex, already started, and already at least ten times the size of Jupiter station. “Report Mr Data!”
“Sir, the ships sensors are being heavily distorted by the gravitational fluctuations emanating from the wormhole, we will have compensated in a few moments.”
“I don’t exactly have a few moments to spare Mr Data.” Picard stressed.
“Shall I raise shields captain?”
“No Mr Worf, it might be taken as an aggressive action.” The Klingon stood back, obviously a little uneasy, but his fingers still hovered above the control panel for shields and weapons.
“Sensors have compensated to the gravitational fluctuations captain. I’m detecting a large power source emanating from the objects centre, it appears to be a power core, with smaller versions positioned throughout the rest of the super structure. I am also detecting approximately two hundred thousand life signs.”
“Two hundred thousand……..” Picard was in disbelief.
“Captain…..” Riker said warily. “Was this station present when captain McLeod made his scans?”
“No, it was not Number one.”
“Then, that would mean that these aliens have constructed this within… eleven days captain.”
“Yes I am aware of that Number one.” Staring at the view screen Picard was still in shock. Something of this magnitude was beyond any known races abilities, it was even beyond the Borg, not even they could build such a thing within eleven days, and judging by the look of it, Picard winced, it still wasn’t completed. “Are there any weapons signatures Mr Data?”
“None captain, the station appears to be unarmed….”
“Very well, open a channel.”
“Channel op…….” All at once the bridge flashed white and everyone and everything suddenly stood still.
Startled and confused it took Captain Picard a small moment to realise what was happening. “Q!” Picard boomed. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Oh but mon capitan, of course you do, I’ve even paused time so we could have a little chat, you have all the time in the universe.”
“I don’t feel like talking to you right now Q!” Picard looked around the bridge, the annoying clown was frustratingly nowhere in sight. Looking back at his command chair Picard finally found him, there he was, arms folded, legs crossed, and an annoying grin on his face. “Get out of my chair Q!”
“Oh but of course Jean-Luc.” Disappearing and suddenly reappearing on top of the helm Q still sported an infuriating grin. Taking a seat in his chair Picard could only glare at Q with disapproval.
“Q, return my ship to normal and leave at once.”
“Funny.” Q laughed. “I was just about to suggest the same to you.”
“Q, I’m serious, leave this ship now, I am in the middle of a first contact situation.”
“So I see.” Q smiled. “Big isn’t it.” He added while pointing at the incomplete station. “Its not even completed yet, but once it is the wormhole will be fully stabilised.”
So this alien race is altering the wormhole, well Q does have his uses.
“What do you want Q?” Picard stressed. “I’m really not in the mood.”
“Well, Jean-Luc, you don’t mind if I’m so informal do you? But we’re such good friends now, and I think it’s time to drop the formalities, you can call me Q.”
“We are not friends Q.”
“Oh, you break my heart Jean-Luc, your lack of love is killing me.”
“If I could kill you Q, you would soon know about it. SO Q!?”
“Soooooo…..what?” Q asked confused.
“So, what do you want!?!”
“Ahhhhhh.” Q disappeared and then reappeared next to Mr Worf, but this time he was attired in white armour, with a rather bulky square shaped helmet. Speaking through a microphone the beings voice was muffled. “I’m here to advise you to leave Jean-Luc and prepare your quaint Starfleet for an invasion.”
“Invasion?” Picard asked, now slightly worried. “From who?” Q turned towards the station, nodding his head in the Empires direction.
Fed up Picard had finally lost what remained of his stretched patience. “Q, get off my bridge, I’m in no mood to play these games. Start time again and let me deal with this in my own way. You don’t know everything.”
“Oh but I do Jean-Luc.”
“Q! LEAVE!”
“Very well Jean-Luc, I’ll be back in a few hours, you’ll need my help by that time.” Clicking his fingers Q disappeared and everything returned to normal.
“en captain.” Picard looked about the bridge, it appeared that everything was in order, sighing Picard realised that the alien station was still there. well I had better get this over with. He thought to himself.
“Unknown station, I am captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise, hailing unknown station, please come in.” A few bleeps erupted from around the bridge.
“Captain.” Data announced. “We have approximately three hundred small objects heading towards us. I believe they are powering weapons of some sort, they will be within estimated weapons range.” A shudder shook the ship as a torrent of laser fire impacted the hull.
“Red Alert!” Picard boomed.
”I guess we have our weapons range Mr Data.” Picard commented on the side. “Mr Worf status?”
The Klingon looked on dubiously while in front of him commander Riker held a face of concern, it was not often he was right over his captain, and whenever he was, the situation almost always made him regret it. Shouting over background noises and shudders Worf struggled to concentrate on both his captain and the swarm of whatever it was surrounding the ship. “Shields are down to seventy percent captain, these ships are too fast and close to the hull for the computer to target them.”
Picard quickly checked his armchair console, the sensor readouts showed almost three hundred small fighters, each one shieldless but incredibly fast and manoeuvrable. The enterprise was taking a beating, with each fighter darting a hairs length outside the shield bubble, forcing the ship to shimmer a radiant blue. “Helm, evasive pattern Delta four!”
“Aye aye sir.” Ensign crusher responded.
Jumping forwards with intense speed the Enterprise ploughed through the fighter swarm causing several of the ships to impact and explode upon the shields. “nine fighters destroyed captain, two hundred and eighty remaining.”
“Thank you lieutenant.” Picard said unconsciously. Thinking on the tactical aspects of the craft, Picard thought for a moment on what action he should take, finally he got it. “Mr Data, do we have enough energy to expand the shield bubble?” A flickering of the androids fingers on the control panel followed.
“Three days at high warp have exhausted our reserves captain, but if we evacuate the lower decks we can route power from life support.” Data suggested confidently.
Turning to his first officer Picard knew who was the right man for the job. “Number One, evacuate the lower decks.” Riker nodded in reply and headed off to the turbo lift.
“Shields down to Sixty percent captain.” Worf shouted across the bridge.
Thinking for a few moments Picard remembered a few tricks of Admiral Janeways, most of which were now indoctrinated at the academy. “Mr Warf, ready ten class seven torpedoes. Mr Crusher, vent plasma from the starboard nacelle, and decrease speed by one half.” A trail of blue super heated gas trailed from the Enterprise, engulfing three unsuspecting Tie fighters. “On my mark Lieutenant.” Picard ordered. “Launch the torpedoes into the greatest density of fighters, and Mr Crusher, take us to full impulse.”
“Yes Sir.”
Around the enterprise the attacking interceptors slowly fell to the rear of the ship. Each fighter began to tear away at the apparent wound, hoping, that perhaps the federations flag ship would bleed to death. Continuing throngs of green laser impacted relentlessly upon the aft shields, which were now glowing a deep blue, choking and spluttering under the strain of enemy fire. Finally enough of them had taken the bait for Picards trap to be sprung. “NOW!” Picard shouted. Falling back into his chair the captain realised that he couldn’t keep this up much longer. As he fell to his chair the pitched tone of photon torpedoes echoed throughout the ship, while at the same time Ensign Crusher threw the Impulse engines to full. Roaring into life the Enterprise Streaked away from the confused fighter pilots which were now being consumed by consecutive anti matter explosions. “Captain, one hundred and two enemy fighters have just been destroyed.”
Though his tactical officer would have considered that a victory Picard knew otherwise There’s still too many. he thought to himself. Slapping his comm badge, Picard decided it was time to make Commander Riker hurry things along. “Number One, what’s your status?”
“Decks one to fifteen are evacuated captain, only ten more to go.” Rikers voice stressed. “We should be done in five minutes.”
“You only have three before I route the power Number One.” Picard enforced. Sitting back into his command chair, he wondered if he really could shut down the power while men, woman and possibly children were still down there. Starfleet would demand that I route the power, but my morals demand I save as many lives as I can. Realising if push came to shove, Picard knew that he could not route the power while people remained in the lower decks. Looking down at his chair console Picard slowly realised that the sensors were losing integrity. “Mr Data?”
“Captain, we’re losing sensors.” The Android responded slightly out of sinc.
“The cause Data?”
“Unknown captain, however it is covering all known sensor bands including subspace.” Abruptly another shudder rocked the ship. As crew members and civilians grabbed onto handles and supports, the bridge officers looked around questioningly. Once again another violent shudder rocked the ship, obviously the enemy fighters were now concentrating their fire power on a single section of the ships shields.
“Aft shields down to five percent!” Warf boomed.
“Mr Crusher, bring us about, put some distance between us and these ships!” Picard said as another different, more violent shudder rocked the bridge. “Mr Data report?”
WARNING INTRUDER ALERT. WANRING INTRUDER ALERT
“Captain, we have a hull breech in the main cargo bay, unknown intruders are moving into deck twenty five.”
“Mr Warf, dispatch security teams and seal the………
“Riker to the Bridge. Captain we have intruders moving through deck twenty five, they’re taking prisoners, they seem to be in some sort of full body armour, normal phasers are having little effect.” Blaster and phaser fire dominated the background.
“How many are there number one?”
“About fifty captain.” An explosion rocked the bridge as enemy fire rained down upon the saucer section.
“Captain, the enemy fighters are moving underneath the shield bubble, they’re targeting the bridge!”
“Mr Crusher, evasive pattern alpha eight!” Picard braced himself for more attacks. “Number one evacuate that deck.”
“You heard the man.” Riker said to his security detail. Moving through the deck the commander was confident that it was evacuated, but he had to make one last sweep to be sure. Walking over a dead intruder Riker picked up his blaster, perhaps these would have better luck going through their armour? Turning into the primary corridor he was confronted by several intruders, each one looking away from him and his squad. It seems they were busy talking in a language that the translator couldn’t even begin to decipher. Lifting up his blaster Riker opened fire on their backs, the red blaster shots sent armour and blood across the corridor, it was all over before it had even begun. Passing the corpses Riker noticed one of the helmets had cracked, looking through the gap he saw a face staring back at him….it was human. “Riker to the bridge.”
“Proceed Number one.” Picard answered while barking out a series of orders. “Deck Twenty Five is clear of all friendly life, I’m leaving by turbo lift four.”
“Understood Number One.” Walking through the corridors Riker and his squad found a pile of corpses, many of them aliens, many of them friends. Moving quietly and lightly he was almost there, the turbo lift was at the end of the corridor, empty and fully powered. “Commander stop!” Ensign Yalera demanded. Pulling him away from a T junction she pointed out two blue trip lasers, most probably connected to an explosive charge.
“Can to you disable it?”
“I’ll try.” She answered, obviously unsure of herself. Flipping open her triquarter she began pressing a series of commands. “I should have it disabled in a few seconds, their technology is advanced, but it still uses the same triggering protocols as we do, they’re almost universal.” Not answering, Riker and ensign Matthews stood behind her watching for any enemy contact. Turning his head around one of the corners the first officer was surprised by several blaster shots, each narrowly missing and subsequently blowing holes in the corridor walls behind him.
“Hurry it up Yalera.”
“Almost there…”
“AHHHHH.” Matthews screamed as his arm was hit. Blood poured profusely from his wound. Looking at his arm in shock the ensign paled as his elbow, and hand refused to answer to any commands.
“Got it.” Yalera shouted. Helping Riker with Matthews they both ran for the turbolift.
“Hull breeches on decks ten through fifteen captain.” Data added to the already hectic confusion. “Enemy fighters are attacking at random, their attacks are exhibiting no discernable pattern.”
“Mr Worf, how many are remaining?”
“Still over ninety captain.”
“Try reconfiguring the tactical….” Everything went white. Grabbing onto his chair Picard felt a great wind flow over his head, it could only mean one thing…hull breech.
WARNING HULL BREECH DETECTED WARNING
Shaking his head to restore his vision Picard saw a sight that would be with him for the rest of his life. In front of him there was Data, holding on to his control console while attempting to raise a containment field, while on the other side was Ensign Crusher, who was out of his chair and being slowly pulled towards the Breech.
“WESELY HOLD ON!” Picard screamed at the top of his lungs. Clinging to the helm Wesley knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer, his arms tired, and muscles screamed from the oxygen depravation.
“I CAN’T HOLD ON!” Screaming, Wesley’s grip slipped away from the smooth console.
“NOOOOOOO” Picard screamed. “Mr Data Lock on! Lock on to him now!” Falling into space Wesley felt the water in his eyes boil off, his life flashing before him seemed so far away, his memories a dream, his life a misconception. Slipping into unconsciousness Wesley’s body convulsed in agony. The gale force winds of the bridge abruptly halted as Data erected a containment field.
“Captain, if we use the transporters we will not have enough energy for the shield extension.”
“Mr Data do it!”
“I am afraid I must refuse captain.” Data looked aimlessly into Picards eyes, which were at this moment burning with sorrow and pain, but they also showed the realisation of defeat.
“Mr Data, shut down life support for decks one to twenty five, re-route the power to the shields.” Clenching his chair in anger Picards knuckles turned white. And then it dawned upon him, what Q was trying to do, the warnings he gave, and how he had ignored him, he caused Wesley’s death…
Paying attention to nothing, Picard didn’t realise that the bridge was perfectly silent, no one daring to talk as the captain mourned his loss, mourned his friend, his godson, his family. “Mr Warf.” Picard added solemnly. “Reset the shields and have the bubble expand outwards, once these fighters are all destroyed, set a course for Earth, best possible speed.”
“Yes Sir.” The Klingon added quietly. Worf routed the extra power into the shield emitters, resetting the blue protective bubble. Displaying a smile of satisfaction as his tactical display noted the energy barrier hugging the hull of the enterprise Commander Worf ceased firing with conventional weapons. The captains plan had worked! Expanding the bubble in a blink of an eye Worf destroyed the remaining fighters as they swarmed the hull of the enterprise. The shields impacted upon one after the other causing each fighter to explode and decorate the Galaxy with newly formed space dust. The shield bubble continued to expand until it shorted out, leaving the Enterprise with no protective screen should another wave attack.
“Mr Data.” Take a shuttle and recover Ensign Crusher. “Mr Worf you have the bridge.” Leaving his crew behind, Picard moved into his ready room to mourn. Proceeding straight to the Replicator Picard thought on what he should have. “Whisky, ten year old malt.” The replicator shimmered as the brown liquid appeared into existence.
“It’s a hard thing to lose someone you care for isn’t it Jean-Luc.”
Slowly turning Picard knew it was Q, and there he was sitting on his desk. “Why didn’t you tell me it was Wesley who was going to die?”
“Would it have made any difference?”
“I don’t know, no, it wouldn’t have, I had my orders, I had to follow them, I had to make sure of this species intentions.”
“They intend to destroy Jean-Luc. They call themselves the Galactic Empire, and what they can’t have, they destroy, or consume. War is coming to this Galaxy Jean-Luc, every world will feel its grip, the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion, everyone. The Empire will stop at nothing until they have consumed your Galaxy, they will enslave or subjugate you all.”
“What about you Q, will they come after you?”
“I don’t know……” He admitted.
Inter-Galactic Wormhole
Grand Admiral Blathe was still unsure of the journey, traversing the wormhole had been….unusual to say the least, nothing in the academy had prepared him for the rather odd sensations that his stomach had to endure for the several seconds of gruelling transit, but like all things new and unfamiliar Blathe was suspicious, especially when it came to this new Galaxy.
Passing the outer marker of the landing bay the shuttle began to come alive. Hydraulics activated in the lower levels while gas thrusters fired to manoeuvre between two newly finished turbo lasers. Taking his seat the Admiral waited for the tell tale jolt to signal the completed landing. Like clockwork it happened and the overhead lights turned from white to blue, all passengers were to disembark. Quickly striding to the ramp Blathe was surprised that captain Truet knew of his arrival, it was supposed to be a surprise, if only to forgo the annoying and cumbersome parades and attentions that those in the lower ranks insisted upon.
Accepting the captains salute, and enduring his annoying small talk Blathe finally made it to the hyper lift. “As you can see Admiral the station will be completed within one more day, the gravity well will be activated and you can begin transferring larger ships through the phenomenon, we have proceeded and completed the station ahead of schedule.” Truet proudly announced.
“I am not here to check upon your progress captain, I am here to discuss why you feel the need to order two hundred and eighty nine new Tie fighters and pilots, what has happened to the current squadrons?” Truets face dropped in surprise; he had not expected the Grand Admiral to be aware of such small operational details.
“I see….. Well, I was going to inform you personally when the demonstration was completed however I see you will not wait for an answer.” Truet coughed in preparation for his carefully orchestrated excuse. “Eighteen hours ago this station was attacked by an unknown star ship, they called themselves the Enterprise. As soon as this vessel arrived the station was hit by a series of small subspace pulses, we are still theorising whether it was a deliberate attack or merely an opening of communications, however, I personally believe it was an attempt to destabilise the wormhole. Almost instantly the phenomenon suffered a point one five frequency variance, if they continued we may have had to reset the generators, or, if they increased power, the wormhole could have collapsed entirely and we would have been trapped here. Following standard defence and contact procedures I ordered the immediate launch of the fighter squadrons and a boarding craft, as you know the fighters were destroyed, however our boarding craft managed to obtain objects and data cores from their vessel.” Smiling Truet was rather confident that he was turning this rather disastrous defeat into a victory. “We have managed to secure what appears to be a protocol droid, it was found dismantled, however my chief technician has reported it should be operational by tonight.”
Blathe looked closer at this captain, if the droid possessed any knowledge of use, then perhaps he would be promoted, but if not, then the loss of over two hundred pilots would demand the fools life. “And the data cores?” Blathe nudged.
“Well unfortunately, we cannot interpret them without a more thorough knowledge of their language and operational coding.”
“Yet you can repair the droid?”
“Well, it appears to be a rather advanced version of the standardised protocol model. The droid seems to be entirely intact apart from its physical construction, its rather like connecting the polarity cables of a speeder, everyone can do it….. But, if this is a protocol droid, we are confident of being able to translate the data cores.”
The lift slowed and eventually the silver doors opened with a loud hydraulic hiss. Walking onto the bridge Blathe seemingly ignored the mass salutes and rigid postures however, he was in all reality examining every officer closely. “Excellent captain, I see you have a heavy air of discipline, no Imperial vessel can exist without it, be it an Imperial Star Destroyer or a World Devastator, each must maintain the command structure, without it, there will be chaos.” Slowly realising that the bridge was still at attention Blathe finally remembered to dismiss the crew.
“If you will follow me Admiral, I will take you to the observation deck and technical bay, we are currently forced into doubling the two up until deck nineteen C is completed. Unfortunately, droid repair levels are usually the last to be completed on any Imperial station. I did try though to get the planners to start from the droid bay but they refused, resulting in the loss of several hundred droids, which could have been easily repaired. I must let you know Admiral that the planners arrogance is affecting efficiency, in waste and…..” Blathe paused. “Time.” Continuing through the maze of corridors and tunnels Blathe pretended not to register Truets point. Following the captain Blathe Noticed with some dissatisfaction that most safety panels were not in place, but, after all this was only the observation deck, he could let protocol slip…. This one time. “Security station five open blast doors C-87”
“Yes Sir.”
Blathe looked at Truet enquiringly. “Why are the blast doors closed captain?”
“Security Admiral. The observation deck is currently open to all security clearances while technical is stationed here. I have closed the blast doors so no intruders or rebel sympathizers can gain unauthorised access to the command deck. I have also installed defence droids and shield walls in the air vents, if a rebel were to attempt to breech the primary deck, they would die rather quickly.”
“But the rebellion has been destroyed captain, surely these measures though secure, are no longer necessary?” Blathe stepped over some loose piping, while Truet dodged some overhanging power cables.
“The rebellion has been destroyed many times before Admiral. The battle of Yavin when the death star, in its final throngs of destruction rained down upon the rebel moon, there and then we believed the rebellion dead from the intense radioactive waste and wreckage impacts, but it lingered. They fought on, regrouped and rebuilt themselves at Hoth, where Lord Vader exterminated most of them, and then there is Endor, where the rebellion attempted to destroy the final Death Star, and now, just recently, we have the battle of Mon-Calamari where we have just exterminated an entire race, but Admiral, each time we believe the rebellion exterminated, they return… The rebellion is no longer an alliance of dissidents, it is an ideal, a perverse thought, and I believe that we can only remove it by controlling the minds of every civilian in the Empire, a task that is regrettably impossible.”
“Yes you are correct captain, I applaud your commitment to security, if only more of our officers were less arrogant, then perhaps the rebel alliance would have been cut down shortly after the clone wars.” Pausing Blathe and Truet waited outside two large doors.
“These are manually operated Admiral.” Pushing the doors open Blathe was confronted by what appeared to be a factory, not an observation deck. Quickly reassuring the Admiral captain Truet explained the situation. “Due to the emperors strict construction demands we do not have time to order new droids from the inner rim.” The two officers dodged a droid that sped past, seemingly carrying some form of molten metal. “Instead, we build and manufacture them on site, it’s the only way to insure that we meet our targets. I got the idea from Lord Vader, it was his idea, resulting in the speedy completion of the second Death Star.”
Very impressed Blathe had to ask more. “Where do you get all the raw materials to build them?”
“Rather simple Admiral, we recycle everything, absolutely everything. The station scaffolding, metal shards, malfunctioning or damaged droids, even the faulty wiring from storm trooper helmets, everything is taken to the smelter room and recycled, it’s far more efficient than jettisoning it into space.” Absolutely amazed at the captains Administrative finesse Blathe continued until they reached a rather messy workbench. “Lieutenant Hadley, report please.”
From the other side of the desk a man popped his head up. It was covered in oil and sweat, and his hands showed the evidence of hard and continuous work in the form of several healed burn scars. Saluting to the Admiral and then to Truet, Hadley stood at ease. “Well we have it captain, I have finally finished the reconnection of the primary motor functions, its all very simple, it seems the designer colour coded everything, not much of a challenge.”
“Well why the long delay?” Blathe demanded.
“Sir, well incase this current operation failed regarding the specimen we thought it best to download all the data present in the droids memory banks. Using our own computers of course, it would have taken mere seconds, however, as we don’t correctly understand how their systems operate we have had to use the captured data cores. I am confident that had we captured a live crew prisoner our understanding of this technology would have been greatly increased.” Blathe nodded at the acceptable excuse.
“When will it be operational?”
“I could activate it now Admiral, however I thoroughly advise we do it in a secure deck with at least several battle droids present.”
“Have you detected any weapons systems?”
“No… but it is best to be safe…”
Blathe interrupted. “I understand your concerns Lieutenant, however I feel you should activate it. If it is a war droid, I’m quite sure you would have been able to detect any weapons systems by now.”
“Yes Sir.” Hadley agreed, and left the bench to get his appropriate tools.
“Its very odd isn’t it captain, it appears its designer has attempted to make it human in almost every way, the skin, if I can call it that, is so pale, almost like a Hoth infantryman.” Blathe chuckled at the soldiers stationed upon the ice world, it had become known as the officers dead end, a post where people were stationed if some Admiral wanted their careers to abruptly end.
Truet laughed at the Admirals joke, but he too was still wondering about this new droid. “When it activates Admiral I must ask you to stand back. Truet pointed to an area six meters away. It is better to be safe than sorry…” Hadley returned with a small micro capacitor and a connector module.
“Its posotronic network requires a small jolt to activate, luckily for us the droids own capacitors are utterly depleted, so, if need be, we can shut it down by simply flipping the off switch on this here control.” Hadly pointed at the small cylinder in his hand. As the technician activated the module several storm troopers entered from the forward doors. “I hope you don’t mind sirs, but I summoned a security detail anyway.”
“Its okay Lieutenant.” Blathe reassured. For almost a minute the droid was being charged until abruptly it opened its eyes.
“Brother?”
“What’s it saying Captain?”
“Brothe…. Where am I?” The droid looked around, its surroundings unfamiliar, the people unknown.
“Who are you?” The droid sat up.
“We should introduce ourselves to it.” Blathe suggested, and it wasn’t a request… Truet walked forward to within a small distance of the droid.
“Hello… I am captain Truet of the Imperial Ring station Alpha Two, you have been salvaged by the Empire and are now Imperial Property, state your function!”
The droid looked at the officer, its brain attempting to decipher the alien language.
“I am Lore, I have no function, and I am no ones property.”
“Remarkable, it managed to translate our language in seconds, however, is it malfunctioning, it is referring to itself as though it were human?” Hadley shook his head, everything was working as it should be.
“What is your numerical designation, what company constructed you?” Truet asked.
Laughing Lore looked into the captains eyes. “No company built me, I am not from a production line, I am unique, I, am Lore.”
“What is your numerical designation and who is your contractor?”
“My designation captain, is for the final time Lore, my contractor, is no one, I was constructed by a lonely individual, a man seeking a family, perhaps that answers your question?”
Truet engineered a quick glance at Blathe before asking his next question. “Where do you come from?”
“I originated on a small, backwater colony in the Federation, hardly impressive but I make do with what I have.”
“What is this Federation?” Truet enquired. This Droid has a nack for not answering questions.
Lore laughed again. “You must know what the Federation is if you’re human, you originated from it, unless, Earth has left its pathetic alliance, or time has…… How long have I been inactive, what is the star date?”
“Our dates will not match.” Blathe interrupted.
“What is this Federation?” Truet demanded. “How strong is it? How many worlds does it command? How powerful is its star fleet?”
“You are very inquisitive, but I suppose I can divulge some of my information. The Federation.” Lore lingered. “Is a democratic organisation consisting of almost three hundred different species, however, I suspect that it has increased since the Dominion invaded. Hundreds of species running for protection under the Imperialist banner.”
“What is this Earth you speak of? Where is it?”
“You’re not from the alpha quadrant are you?” Lore suggested “Who are you, and where are you from?”
“I do not answer to a droid.”
“Perhaps not captain, but you will answer to me” Faster than a Tulana rat Lore reached out and grabbed the captains neck, glancing at Hadley Lore narrowed his eyes. “If you turn off that capacitor it will be at least three seconds before I deactivate, more than enough time to snap this mans pitiful neck.”
Captain Turet was now beginning to turn a rather interesting shade of blue, looking on Blathe was not amused. “Lieutenant!” the Admiral boomed. “Deactivate the droid.” Lore glanced at Blathe shocked and surprised, but there was no way to get to him, several soldiers had taken position between himself and the Admiral. “Go ahead Lore, kill him, it shall not trouble me. Lieutenant, when you have the droid restrained contact me, we will take his information by force…….”
“Yes Sir.” Hadley responded, flicking the remote switch Lores time was up…
Clenching his left fist Lore kindly released captain Truet who gasped forcefully for precious oxygen. Humans, how pitifully weak. Lore thought before everything went black.
Nine Hours Later, Observation Deck.
Lieutenant Hadley had just finished installing the restraining bolt when captain Truet and Admiral Blathe entered from one of the aft lifts. Hadley liked the observation deck, it was comforting to work amongst the stars, it was relaxing to view the ships and vessels docking while he worked, perhaps the captain would allow his department to remain here…. Doubtful, but it was worth a try, he seemed a reasonable man. “Lieutenant…” Blathe sounded. “Is the droid restrained?”
“Yes Admiral, it took me some time to adapt our systems to his own, but he should be under your control now.”
“Very well activate him.” Lores eyes opened, his face showing anger and hate. “He feels emotion….” Blathe observed. “Interesting.”
Lore looked up at the Admiral, sitting he glared deeply into the mans eyes. “How pathetic, a dampener, you will find that it has no effect on me.” Hadley pressed a few keys on his remote, and as Lore predicted nothing happened. “Gentleman, it seems that we’re at an impasse, I have something you need, and you have the ability to get me what I want.”
“Which is?” Blathe enquired.
“My…..brother”
“Where is he Lore?”
“He is in the federation, he serves the humans…”
“You wish to rescue your brother from this Federation?” The Admiral lingered for a moment.
“No, I wish to have him suffer…. In exchange for my services, you will provide me with the means of destroying him and everything he cares about….”
“I’m sure we can accommodate that.” Blathe smiled. “But first, you must answer our questions.”
“No.” Lore interjected, “You must answer mine before I assist you. Where are you from?”
“Another Galaxy, far far away.” Blathe answered.
“How large is your Empire?”
“It currently spans almost all of our Galaxy, excluding some minor regions and solar systems.”
“How large is your star fleet?” Lore seemed especially interested in this one
“Several hundred thousand star ships.”
“What is it you exactly need of me?”
“We need your expertise on this Galaxies weapons, we need star charts and information on the politics of this quadrant, preferably it will relate specifically to the major Empires. We need to know everything you know…”
“That can be arranged.” Lore smirked.
I am coming for you brother, we won’t be apart for much longer………
Five hours later and the first Imperial Star Destroyer exited the wormhole…
Telvalis System: Unknown Regions.
Captain Telos contemplated the new situation he and his ship, his world, and his Galaxy had been thrown in to. News was trickling through from Coruscant that the Empire had finally destroyed the rebellion resulting in a considerable lifestyle change within the Imperial forces. The military now deviating from defending top security installations and planets to a more relaxed, passive existence had slowly begun to contemplate more gentle methods of Galactic domination.
Sector fleets throughout the Empire were now broken apart and spread across Imperial space, cartographic analysis had subsequently been ordered on a scale not seen since the formation of the Old Republic, and the steady flow of refugees that were all to present in the wars had finally dwindled to a peace time trickle. The reduction in stress on the customs patrols and Imperial spaceports would be considerable; finally the Empire could do its job and keep the peace.
The Empire after concentrating on the militaristic values of peacekeeping for so long now sought about new ways to expand throughout the Galaxy and the primary motivation was mapping of the unknown regions, which, to the emperors delight, were rapidly becoming very well documented, with the discovery of several new species.
Two days ago Telos and his ship the ISD Challenge received orders to investigate a remote system in the outer rim. Imperial intelligence had labelled it an enigma due to the intense gravitational fluctuations originating from the system, but, due to the emperors special interest apparently taken in this particular subject it was best decided that an entire Star Destroyer and her escort group be dispatched to map the phenomenon.
As the Star Destroyer and her Carrack escort neared their destination, a great jolt slammed into the warship. Thrust from Hyperspace too quickly, the imperial craft hurtled into sub-light velocities, all too quickly the ships hull strained under the forces. Inside the destroyer crew members and droids were flung against the interiors, bones snapped with unhealthy tears signalling a most serious incident.
“What is happening?!” Telos demanded from his command chair. As the destroyer rotated into the uncharted system Telos quietly thanked the small, but highly potent inertial dampeners that protected him, and his bridge crew. Very grateful that he was not experiencing the unfortunate consequences of rapid deceleration the captain pitied the lower ranks who did not receive the luxury of such a concentrated dampening field as the bridge, unfortunately for them it was not deemed “cost effective” by the Imperial Administrative division.
Glancing to the other side of the bridge Telos search for answers from his first officer Michael Dickson, who, at this very moment was running from console to console trying to asses the situation. ”We have been pulled out of Hyperspace captain.”
“Rebel Interdictors?”
“No, the pattern of the gravity field is too random to be artificial.”
As the bridge crew debated on the cause of their situation a great smash resounded from the forward section. “What the hell was that?.” Telos boomed. All over the Star Destroyer claxons erupted indicating hull breeches on one of the lower tiers. White clouds of atmosphere gently floated past the bridge windows, along with the unfortunate crewmen who were in the decompressed section at the time.
“Captain, the Carrack Justice has just hit the forward hull, multiple breeches along Deck twelve thirteen.”
“The Ion cannon?”
“Its been sheered of its mounting captain.”
Debating the situation in his mind Telos was finally relieved when the Star Destroyer levelled out. The stars outside finally reached a stationary position. “What about the Justice? How much damage have they sustained?”
“Reports coming in now captain. The Justice has sustained heavy damage to its aft hull, but repairs will be able to save the vessel.”
“Very well, have both Carracks dock so we may offer aide to their crew, and scan this system, I want to know what the hell caused this……..”
Three Hours Later: Briefing room.
“It appears to be a wormhole captain, and a very unstable one at that.”
“Has the Empire any previous documentation of this kind of phenomenon?”
“Not as such, however the theory behind them is very advanced, I feel we should report this immediately to Coruscant. We don’t know where it leads, This is indeed a prime opportunity for scientific expansion, but…….I must point out that it is also a security threat.” Everyone around the room looked at the very apt science officer, it was a good move to put the military before the science, it was what the Navy liked, and what the Navy liked was the road to promotion. “I recommend we send a probe through and maintain a defensive perimeter until reinforcements arrive.”
Telos looked at his executive officer, receiving a nod in agreement it was decided. “Very well, I will relay our findings to Coruscant immediately. During such time I want a probe ready, and a full documentation of the damage we’ve received. I’m not sending anything into that without authorisation from the Palace first.”
The executive officer lifted his head. “I would like to suggest that until reinforcements arrive I advise we put the force on full tactical alert. The guns should be manned at all times.” Another round of nodding followed.
Captain Melver of the Justice looked up surprised at the suggestion. “You must be joking, most of our crews have suffered an injury in some way or form, how can we keep a round the clock watch on the guns if we don’t have the manpower?”
Telos looked at both men. “I must agree with captain Melver, a full and continuous tactical alert will put too great a strain on the uninjured crew members, however, at least half the guns are to be fully manned at all times. If there is nothing else this meeting is adjourned.” Rising from his chair Telos made his way to the holoroom, he had some important information to convey to high command.
One Day Later
The imposing shadow of the executor Star Destroyer forced itself upon the lifeless Telvalis system, on board the super star destroyer Admiral Blathe was hurriedly consulting with his fellow Moffs on what action should be taken with this….situation.
Three Moffs were present, each responsible for the security of the sector. As the system was in the uncharted regions each Admiral had a claim to the administration and jurisdiction over the growing situation in the Telvalis system. Eventually it was agreed, that Admiral Blathe would spearhead the operation.
“Well?” Admiral Harrel demanded.
“The emperor has ordered the wormhole stabilised, we are to receive immediate crews from Kuat, and a ring scaffolding is to be built.” Blathe looked on rather unimpressed.
“Congratulations Admiral, if you can make this operation a success you will have just won the emperors favour.” Harrel offered.
“Yes, but he asks the impossible. He wants the station built within two weeks.”
Both Harrel and Blathe turned to Admiral Prael. “It will be tight, but it’s possible.”
“What about the fleet?” Harrel asked impatiently.
“Its to remain here.”
“I expected as much” Prael added.
“So, I think we can ignore the administrative problems for now and get down to business.” Blathe began, utterly changing the subject. “The probe that was dispatched yesterday has finally returned some telemetric data. We have another Galaxy out there Admirals.”
“Any signs of life or space faring species?”
“Unknown, but, the Galaxy is rather comparable to our own, but we’ve yet to detect any life signs or indication of hyperspace travel. Astrometrics is currently compiling a local star chart, but we won’t know more until we send our first ship through.”
“Well, I feel that this wormhole is going to be a big mark on our future.”
Each admiral nodded in agreement. The Empire was always curious about other territory……
San Francisco
“Well what seems to be the problem gentleman?” The President asked curiously. “Its been a while since you’ve sought to trouble me over something as minor as a wormhole.” The President smiled from behind his desk, his eyes beckoning for the assembled Admirals to say more.
The three officers arrayed in front of him looked at each other cautiously. “Mr President, five days ago the USS Courage detected varying and increasing gravitational disturbances from a remote and uncharted star system. P3X 118A is at the very edge of federation territory, the courage only detected this phenomenon by chance.”
The President nodded. “Is the wormhole stable?”
“Well, we were about to bring that up, but from the initial gravitational readings the courage took no, we expected it to be intermittent like the Beta Ferrell wormhole, however, Mr President the wormhole is stabilising.”
“How odd…” The president replied. “Do we have an explanation as to why?” Turning towards the only scientist present, the president decided to put her on the spot. “Admiral Janeway, you’re the scientist in this room, can you offer any explanations?”
The aging woman responded with a sly smile. “Well Mr President unfortunately my understandings of wormhole mechanics are limited, however, I don’t believe the stabilisation to be natural.”
Rubbing his chin the president grew more curious as the seconds ticked by. “Well what do you suggest?”
“I propose that it’s being artificially stabilised from the other side. The courage sent us their data regarding the gravitational reductions and stabilisations, however, due to the nature of subspace communications the information is five days old.”
“When are we expecting the next report?”
Janeway smiled, now here was a question she could answer. “We are expecting captain Mcleod to send a further report within the next three hours. However the main point I was driving at Admiral was that this could be a first contact situation, the wormhole could be a creation of some unknown alien race, I strongly advise that we send a diplomatic team to rendezvous with the Courage as soon as possible.”
“What ships do we have with first contact authorisation in the area?” President Johnston requested.
“Well there is the Enterprise, I suppose we could have Picard alter course, he is one of our most qualified diplomats.”
Finally Admiral Hanes decided to talk. Hanes like most Admirals had a distinguished career behind him, however his most famous trait was being known as the mediating voice of star fleet. “I advise against sending the Enterprise. Picard is on his way to deal with a dispute on Veleran six, perhaps it’s time we gave captain McLeod a chance.”
The four officials looked at each other and finally the president made his decision, unfortunately it would prove to be the wrong one. “I think we shall send captain Picard. If this species is capable of stabilising wormholes then they will most certainly be technologically superior, we can’t afford to take any risks. Much as captain McLeod has served with distinction, we will send him to deal with the dispute on Veleran Six, have captain Picard alter course immediately.”
Each Admiral accepting the presidents decision as law, slowly shuffled out of the office.
USS Enterprise
The gentle sound of controls and light conversation filled the bridge. Most officers were bored out of their wits, unfortunately there was little to do apart from look ahead into the streaming stars of warp. However things could be worse Picard thought to himself as he flashed back to the Domminion wars, which had only finished three years ago. Star fleet was still reeling from the inflicted losses, ship numbers were at their lowest since the disaster at Wolf 359 almost ten years ago now, and recruitment was barely high enough to man the ships currently in service.
The victory over the Domminion had been a surprise, many including Picard thought that the Jem’hadar would fight to the death alongside their Breen allies, however fate was a fickle thing and the previously hostile Cardassians had finally sought about ending the war by betraying their supposed protectors in the heat of battle. The day hostilities ended was a day that would stick in the minds of billions, it was a day of relief and a day of mourning for those long dead. Thinking back to all the comrades and friends that lost their lives in the war Picard fell into a steady gaze. Pulled back to the bridge by a monotone sound in his ear Picard slowly realised that someone was trying to talk to him. “Captain…..Captain…..?” With a slight Jolt Picard focused back on the bridge and put all his attention on the pale android in front of him.
“Yes what is it Data?”
“Captain. You are receiving a coded transmission from Star Fleet headquarters.”
“I’ll be in my ready room data.” Picard said with some satisfaction. Pulling himself out of his command chair Picard moved to his ready room and activated his personal monitor.
The screen flickered into life and Picard was faced with the common Coded Transmission heading. Below it sat the emblem of star fleet and the standard transmission recognition number. Proceeding Picard followed the message through until Admiral Janeway appeared on the screen. Her hair was slowly turning grey along the sides, and her once pale complexion was now a healthy brown from the San Franciscan sun.
“Hello Jean-Luke, sorry to spring this upon you however we’ve had no choice. Seven days ago the Starship Courage discovered an erratic and fluctuating wormhole in the periphery system P3X 118A, it was a characteristically standard wormhole, labelled as unusable due to its gravitational fluctuations, however, four days ago Captain McLeod reported that the wormhole was somehow stabilising. So far we’ve yet to establish any comparable reason as to why it suddenly reverted to a class A phenomenon, until the Courage sent a class one probe through.
Sketchy images appeared of a great sphere slowly encircling the event horizon of the wormhole, beyond it lay masses of ships, vessels so large that it quickly become apparent that Star fleets current ship compliment couldn’t even compete with some of these new ships. The probe halted for a minute focusing on one of the larger ships. Quickly, and unexpectedly it was pulled forwards towards and then the picture went black.
Each of those vessels was, at least one and a half kilometres long Jean-Luke, we have estimates that the largest was in the region of nineteen kilometres, however, we can’t be sure, the probes readings were heavily interfered with from the wormhole itself.
Captain. You are to proceed immediately to P3X 118A, where you shall make first contact. You have been granted full diplomatic powers in this case. Secondly you are to establish their motives for stabilising the wormhole, if this is a prelude to invasion we must close the wormhole as quickly as possible.
Janeway out.
Sitting back in his chair Picard contemplated the situation, at maximum warp he could be at the system within three days, his current mission would have to wait. Tapping his communicator Picard opened a channel to Wesley Crusher, who was operating the helm. “Mr Crusher, set a course for P3X 118A, and have the command staff meet me in the conference room in ten minutes.”
“Yes Sir.” Crusher replied dutifully.
Well perhaps things are going to get interesting after all Picard mused. Nothing like a first contact situation to get the blood flowing.
USS Enterprise
“Captain.” Data announced with his usual punctuality. “We are nearing our destination, we will enter P3X 118A in five minutes.”
“Thank you Mr Data.”
Hearing a little whisper in his right ear Picard realised that his first officer had finally decided to talk. “What do you expect we’ll find when we get there?” Riker asked.
Turning as usual Picard realised that his first officer was almost as bored as he was, though as he drew closer and closer to the wormhole Picard found himself starting to feel a small rush of adrenalin. “Well…..” Jean-Luke paused for a moment. “I’ve been reviewing the information and scans taken by Captain McLeod and the Courage, and if nothings changed, we should find a stabilised wormhole, in fact it would have stabilised two days ago.”
“Time enough for whatever’s on the other side to come through.” Riker assumed.
“Yes that’s a possibility, a very remote possibility, and I don’t want any assumptions made, not yet at least, assumptions can ruin, and end first contact situations in disaster.” Rikers eyes widened a little, the captain was obviously referring to the massacre on Lebein IV, where all but three, out of an envoy of five hundred Starfleet personnel were killed. “But in all cases.” Picard reassured. “I don’t expect it, why would they go to all this trouble to try and invade a race, a Galaxy that they’ve never even met or been too, it wouldn’t make any sense.”
“Did the Dominion make any sense?” Riker added.
“The Dominions lust and desire for power and domination eventually destroyed them number one, but, I hardly doubt that domination of our Galaxy is what these aliens are planning.”
“Just incase I recommend we go to yellow alert captain.”
Picard turned and looked closely at his first officer with a degree of regret, his once inextinguishable commitment to peace and diplomacy had almost been driven out of him. His hair was greying before his time, his face marked with battle scars too deep for Dr Crusher to heal, here was a man too used to war and battle, he was more Klingon than human now, the dominion had a lot to answer for. Why do we have war? What good does it serve? Picard asked himself. Throwing unanswerable questions out of his mind Picard decided that his fist officer was correct. “Very well, yellow alert, all crews are to proceed to their stations.” The side lights around the ship altered in tint forming a dull yellow.
“We have arrived captain.” Data announced.
“The wormhole?”
“I can’t tell captain, our sensors are having severe difficulty scanning. I can’t get any return at all.”
“What about visual. On screen.” Picard ordered.
The entire bridge crew let out a gasp. In front of them sat a vast complex, already started, and already at least ten times the size of Jupiter station. “Report Mr Data!”
“Sir, the ships sensors are being heavily distorted by the gravitational fluctuations emanating from the wormhole, we will have compensated in a few moments.”
“I don’t exactly have a few moments to spare Mr Data.” Picard stressed.
“Shall I raise shields captain?”
“No Mr Worf, it might be taken as an aggressive action.” The Klingon stood back, obviously a little uneasy, but his fingers still hovered above the control panel for shields and weapons.
“Sensors have compensated to the gravitational fluctuations captain. I’m detecting a large power source emanating from the objects centre, it appears to be a power core, with smaller versions positioned throughout the rest of the super structure. I am also detecting approximately two hundred thousand life signs.”
“Two hundred thousand……..” Picard was in disbelief.
“Captain…..” Riker said warily. “Was this station present when captain McLeod made his scans?”
“No, it was not Number one.”
“Then, that would mean that these aliens have constructed this within… eleven days captain.”
“Yes I am aware of that Number one.” Staring at the view screen Picard was still in shock. Something of this magnitude was beyond any known races abilities, it was even beyond the Borg, not even they could build such a thing within eleven days, and judging by the look of it, Picard winced, it still wasn’t completed. “Are there any weapons signatures Mr Data?”
“None captain, the station appears to be unarmed….”
“Very well, open a channel.”
“Channel op…….” All at once the bridge flashed white and everyone and everything suddenly stood still.
Startled and confused it took Captain Picard a small moment to realise what was happening. “Q!” Picard boomed. “I don’t have time for this.”
“Oh but mon capitan, of course you do, I’ve even paused time so we could have a little chat, you have all the time in the universe.”
“I don’t feel like talking to you right now Q!” Picard looked around the bridge, the annoying clown was frustratingly nowhere in sight. Looking back at his command chair Picard finally found him, there he was, arms folded, legs crossed, and an annoying grin on his face. “Get out of my chair Q!”
“Oh but of course Jean-Luc.” Disappearing and suddenly reappearing on top of the helm Q still sported an infuriating grin. Taking a seat in his chair Picard could only glare at Q with disapproval.
“Q, return my ship to normal and leave at once.”
“Funny.” Q laughed. “I was just about to suggest the same to you.”
“Q, I’m serious, leave this ship now, I am in the middle of a first contact situation.”
“So I see.” Q smiled. “Big isn’t it.” He added while pointing at the incomplete station. “Its not even completed yet, but once it is the wormhole will be fully stabilised.”
So this alien race is altering the wormhole, well Q does have his uses.
“What do you want Q?” Picard stressed. “I’m really not in the mood.”
“Well, Jean-Luc, you don’t mind if I’m so informal do you? But we’re such good friends now, and I think it’s time to drop the formalities, you can call me Q.”
“We are not friends Q.”
“Oh, you break my heart Jean-Luc, your lack of love is killing me.”
“If I could kill you Q, you would soon know about it. SO Q!?”
“Soooooo…..what?” Q asked confused.
“So, what do you want!?!”
“Ahhhhhh.” Q disappeared and then reappeared next to Mr Worf, but this time he was attired in white armour, with a rather bulky square shaped helmet. Speaking through a microphone the beings voice was muffled. “I’m here to advise you to leave Jean-Luc and prepare your quaint Starfleet for an invasion.”
“Invasion?” Picard asked, now slightly worried. “From who?” Q turned towards the station, nodding his head in the Empires direction.
Fed up Picard had finally lost what remained of his stretched patience. “Q, get off my bridge, I’m in no mood to play these games. Start time again and let me deal with this in my own way. You don’t know everything.”
“Oh but I do Jean-Luc.”
“Q! LEAVE!”
“Very well Jean-Luc, I’ll be back in a few hours, you’ll need my help by that time.” Clicking his fingers Q disappeared and everything returned to normal.
“en captain.” Picard looked about the bridge, it appeared that everything was in order, sighing Picard realised that the alien station was still there. well I had better get this over with. He thought to himself.
“Unknown station, I am captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation Starship Enterprise, hailing unknown station, please come in.” A few bleeps erupted from around the bridge.
“Captain.” Data announced. “We have approximately three hundred small objects heading towards us. I believe they are powering weapons of some sort, they will be within estimated weapons range.” A shudder shook the ship as a torrent of laser fire impacted the hull.
“Red Alert!” Picard boomed.
”I guess we have our weapons range Mr Data.” Picard commented on the side. “Mr Worf status?”
The Klingon looked on dubiously while in front of him commander Riker held a face of concern, it was not often he was right over his captain, and whenever he was, the situation almost always made him regret it. Shouting over background noises and shudders Worf struggled to concentrate on both his captain and the swarm of whatever it was surrounding the ship. “Shields are down to seventy percent captain, these ships are too fast and close to the hull for the computer to target them.”
Picard quickly checked his armchair console, the sensor readouts showed almost three hundred small fighters, each one shieldless but incredibly fast and manoeuvrable. The enterprise was taking a beating, with each fighter darting a hairs length outside the shield bubble, forcing the ship to shimmer a radiant blue. “Helm, evasive pattern Delta four!”
“Aye aye sir.” Ensign crusher responded.
Jumping forwards with intense speed the Enterprise ploughed through the fighter swarm causing several of the ships to impact and explode upon the shields. “nine fighters destroyed captain, two hundred and eighty remaining.”
“Thank you lieutenant.” Picard said unconsciously. Thinking on the tactical aspects of the craft, Picard thought for a moment on what action he should take, finally he got it. “Mr Data, do we have enough energy to expand the shield bubble?” A flickering of the androids fingers on the control panel followed.
“Three days at high warp have exhausted our reserves captain, but if we evacuate the lower decks we can route power from life support.” Data suggested confidently.
Turning to his first officer Picard knew who was the right man for the job. “Number One, evacuate the lower decks.” Riker nodded in reply and headed off to the turbo lift.
“Shields down to Sixty percent captain.” Worf shouted across the bridge.
Thinking for a few moments Picard remembered a few tricks of Admiral Janeways, most of which were now indoctrinated at the academy. “Mr Warf, ready ten class seven torpedoes. Mr Crusher, vent plasma from the starboard nacelle, and decrease speed by one half.” A trail of blue super heated gas trailed from the Enterprise, engulfing three unsuspecting Tie fighters. “On my mark Lieutenant.” Picard ordered. “Launch the torpedoes into the greatest density of fighters, and Mr Crusher, take us to full impulse.”
“Yes Sir.”
Around the enterprise the attacking interceptors slowly fell to the rear of the ship. Each fighter began to tear away at the apparent wound, hoping, that perhaps the federations flag ship would bleed to death. Continuing throngs of green laser impacted relentlessly upon the aft shields, which were now glowing a deep blue, choking and spluttering under the strain of enemy fire. Finally enough of them had taken the bait for Picards trap to be sprung. “NOW!” Picard shouted. Falling back into his chair the captain realised that he couldn’t keep this up much longer. As he fell to his chair the pitched tone of photon torpedoes echoed throughout the ship, while at the same time Ensign Crusher threw the Impulse engines to full. Roaring into life the Enterprise Streaked away from the confused fighter pilots which were now being consumed by consecutive anti matter explosions. “Captain, one hundred and two enemy fighters have just been destroyed.”
Though his tactical officer would have considered that a victory Picard knew otherwise There’s still too many. he thought to himself. Slapping his comm badge, Picard decided it was time to make Commander Riker hurry things along. “Number One, what’s your status?”
“Decks one to fifteen are evacuated captain, only ten more to go.” Rikers voice stressed. “We should be done in five minutes.”
“You only have three before I route the power Number One.” Picard enforced. Sitting back into his command chair, he wondered if he really could shut down the power while men, woman and possibly children were still down there. Starfleet would demand that I route the power, but my morals demand I save as many lives as I can. Realising if push came to shove, Picard knew that he could not route the power while people remained in the lower decks. Looking down at his chair console Picard slowly realised that the sensors were losing integrity. “Mr Data?”
“Captain, we’re losing sensors.” The Android responded slightly out of sinc.
“The cause Data?”
“Unknown captain, however it is covering all known sensor bands including subspace.” Abruptly another shudder rocked the ship. As crew members and civilians grabbed onto handles and supports, the bridge officers looked around questioningly. Once again another violent shudder rocked the ship, obviously the enemy fighters were now concentrating their fire power on a single section of the ships shields.
“Aft shields down to five percent!” Warf boomed.
“Mr Crusher, bring us about, put some distance between us and these ships!” Picard said as another different, more violent shudder rocked the bridge. “Mr Data report?”
WARNING INTRUDER ALERT. WANRING INTRUDER ALERT
“Captain, we have a hull breech in the main cargo bay, unknown intruders are moving into deck twenty five.”
“Mr Warf, dispatch security teams and seal the………
“Riker to the Bridge. Captain we have intruders moving through deck twenty five, they’re taking prisoners, they seem to be in some sort of full body armour, normal phasers are having little effect.” Blaster and phaser fire dominated the background.
“How many are there number one?”
“About fifty captain.” An explosion rocked the bridge as enemy fire rained down upon the saucer section.
“Captain, the enemy fighters are moving underneath the shield bubble, they’re targeting the bridge!”
“Mr Crusher, evasive pattern alpha eight!” Picard braced himself for more attacks. “Number one evacuate that deck.”
“You heard the man.” Riker said to his security detail. Moving through the deck the commander was confident that it was evacuated, but he had to make one last sweep to be sure. Walking over a dead intruder Riker picked up his blaster, perhaps these would have better luck going through their armour? Turning into the primary corridor he was confronted by several intruders, each one looking away from him and his squad. It seems they were busy talking in a language that the translator couldn’t even begin to decipher. Lifting up his blaster Riker opened fire on their backs, the red blaster shots sent armour and blood across the corridor, it was all over before it had even begun. Passing the corpses Riker noticed one of the helmets had cracked, looking through the gap he saw a face staring back at him….it was human. “Riker to the bridge.”
“Proceed Number one.” Picard answered while barking out a series of orders. “Deck Twenty Five is clear of all friendly life, I’m leaving by turbo lift four.”
“Understood Number One.” Walking through the corridors Riker and his squad found a pile of corpses, many of them aliens, many of them friends. Moving quietly and lightly he was almost there, the turbo lift was at the end of the corridor, empty and fully powered. “Commander stop!” Ensign Yalera demanded. Pulling him away from a T junction she pointed out two blue trip lasers, most probably connected to an explosive charge.
“Can to you disable it?”
“I’ll try.” She answered, obviously unsure of herself. Flipping open her triquarter she began pressing a series of commands. “I should have it disabled in a few seconds, their technology is advanced, but it still uses the same triggering protocols as we do, they’re almost universal.” Not answering, Riker and ensign Matthews stood behind her watching for any enemy contact. Turning his head around one of the corners the first officer was surprised by several blaster shots, each narrowly missing and subsequently blowing holes in the corridor walls behind him.
“Hurry it up Yalera.”
“Almost there…”
“AHHHHH.” Matthews screamed as his arm was hit. Blood poured profusely from his wound. Looking at his arm in shock the ensign paled as his elbow, and hand refused to answer to any commands.
“Got it.” Yalera shouted. Helping Riker with Matthews they both ran for the turbolift.
“Hull breeches on decks ten through fifteen captain.” Data added to the already hectic confusion. “Enemy fighters are attacking at random, their attacks are exhibiting no discernable pattern.”
“Mr Worf, how many are remaining?”
“Still over ninety captain.”
“Try reconfiguring the tactical….” Everything went white. Grabbing onto his chair Picard felt a great wind flow over his head, it could only mean one thing…hull breech.
WARNING HULL BREECH DETECTED WARNING
Shaking his head to restore his vision Picard saw a sight that would be with him for the rest of his life. In front of him there was Data, holding on to his control console while attempting to raise a containment field, while on the other side was Ensign Crusher, who was out of his chair and being slowly pulled towards the Breech.
“WESELY HOLD ON!” Picard screamed at the top of his lungs. Clinging to the helm Wesley knew he couldn’t hold on for much longer, his arms tired, and muscles screamed from the oxygen depravation.
“I CAN’T HOLD ON!” Screaming, Wesley’s grip slipped away from the smooth console.
“NOOOOOOO” Picard screamed. “Mr Data Lock on! Lock on to him now!” Falling into space Wesley felt the water in his eyes boil off, his life flashing before him seemed so far away, his memories a dream, his life a misconception. Slipping into unconsciousness Wesley’s body convulsed in agony. The gale force winds of the bridge abruptly halted as Data erected a containment field.
“Captain, if we use the transporters we will not have enough energy for the shield extension.”
“Mr Data do it!”
“I am afraid I must refuse captain.” Data looked aimlessly into Picards eyes, which were at this moment burning with sorrow and pain, but they also showed the realisation of defeat.
“Mr Data, shut down life support for decks one to twenty five, re-route the power to the shields.” Clenching his chair in anger Picards knuckles turned white. And then it dawned upon him, what Q was trying to do, the warnings he gave, and how he had ignored him, he caused Wesley’s death…
Paying attention to nothing, Picard didn’t realise that the bridge was perfectly silent, no one daring to talk as the captain mourned his loss, mourned his friend, his godson, his family. “Mr Warf.” Picard added solemnly. “Reset the shields and have the bubble expand outwards, once these fighters are all destroyed, set a course for Earth, best possible speed.”
“Yes Sir.” The Klingon added quietly. Worf routed the extra power into the shield emitters, resetting the blue protective bubble. Displaying a smile of satisfaction as his tactical display noted the energy barrier hugging the hull of the enterprise Commander Worf ceased firing with conventional weapons. The captains plan had worked! Expanding the bubble in a blink of an eye Worf destroyed the remaining fighters as they swarmed the hull of the enterprise. The shields impacted upon one after the other causing each fighter to explode and decorate the Galaxy with newly formed space dust. The shield bubble continued to expand until it shorted out, leaving the Enterprise with no protective screen should another wave attack.
“Mr Data.” Take a shuttle and recover Ensign Crusher. “Mr Worf you have the bridge.” Leaving his crew behind, Picard moved into his ready room to mourn. Proceeding straight to the Replicator Picard thought on what he should have. “Whisky, ten year old malt.” The replicator shimmered as the brown liquid appeared into existence.
“It’s a hard thing to lose someone you care for isn’t it Jean-Luc.”
Slowly turning Picard knew it was Q, and there he was sitting on his desk. “Why didn’t you tell me it was Wesley who was going to die?”
“Would it have made any difference?”
“I don’t know, no, it wouldn’t have, I had my orders, I had to follow them, I had to make sure of this species intentions.”
“They intend to destroy Jean-Luc. They call themselves the Galactic Empire, and what they can’t have, they destroy, or consume. War is coming to this Galaxy Jean-Luc, every world will feel its grip, the Borg, the Cardassians, the Dominion, everyone. The Empire will stop at nothing until they have consumed your Galaxy, they will enslave or subjugate you all.”
“What about you Q, will they come after you?”
“I don’t know……” He admitted.
Inter-Galactic Wormhole
Grand Admiral Blathe was still unsure of the journey, traversing the wormhole had been….unusual to say the least, nothing in the academy had prepared him for the rather odd sensations that his stomach had to endure for the several seconds of gruelling transit, but like all things new and unfamiliar Blathe was suspicious, especially when it came to this new Galaxy.
Passing the outer marker of the landing bay the shuttle began to come alive. Hydraulics activated in the lower levels while gas thrusters fired to manoeuvre between two newly finished turbo lasers. Taking his seat the Admiral waited for the tell tale jolt to signal the completed landing. Like clockwork it happened and the overhead lights turned from white to blue, all passengers were to disembark. Quickly striding to the ramp Blathe was surprised that captain Truet knew of his arrival, it was supposed to be a surprise, if only to forgo the annoying and cumbersome parades and attentions that those in the lower ranks insisted upon.
Accepting the captains salute, and enduring his annoying small talk Blathe finally made it to the hyper lift. “As you can see Admiral the station will be completed within one more day, the gravity well will be activated and you can begin transferring larger ships through the phenomenon, we have proceeded and completed the station ahead of schedule.” Truet proudly announced.
“I am not here to check upon your progress captain, I am here to discuss why you feel the need to order two hundred and eighty nine new Tie fighters and pilots, what has happened to the current squadrons?” Truets face dropped in surprise; he had not expected the Grand Admiral to be aware of such small operational details.
“I see….. Well, I was going to inform you personally when the demonstration was completed however I see you will not wait for an answer.” Truet coughed in preparation for his carefully orchestrated excuse. “Eighteen hours ago this station was attacked by an unknown star ship, they called themselves the Enterprise. As soon as this vessel arrived the station was hit by a series of small subspace pulses, we are still theorising whether it was a deliberate attack or merely an opening of communications, however, I personally believe it was an attempt to destabilise the wormhole. Almost instantly the phenomenon suffered a point one five frequency variance, if they continued we may have had to reset the generators, or, if they increased power, the wormhole could have collapsed entirely and we would have been trapped here. Following standard defence and contact procedures I ordered the immediate launch of the fighter squadrons and a boarding craft, as you know the fighters were destroyed, however our boarding craft managed to obtain objects and data cores from their vessel.” Smiling Truet was rather confident that he was turning this rather disastrous defeat into a victory. “We have managed to secure what appears to be a protocol droid, it was found dismantled, however my chief technician has reported it should be operational by tonight.”
Blathe looked closer at this captain, if the droid possessed any knowledge of use, then perhaps he would be promoted, but if not, then the loss of over two hundred pilots would demand the fools life. “And the data cores?” Blathe nudged.
“Well unfortunately, we cannot interpret them without a more thorough knowledge of their language and operational coding.”
“Yet you can repair the droid?”
“Well, it appears to be a rather advanced version of the standardised protocol model. The droid seems to be entirely intact apart from its physical construction, its rather like connecting the polarity cables of a speeder, everyone can do it….. But, if this is a protocol droid, we are confident of being able to translate the data cores.”
The lift slowed and eventually the silver doors opened with a loud hydraulic hiss. Walking onto the bridge Blathe seemingly ignored the mass salutes and rigid postures however, he was in all reality examining every officer closely. “Excellent captain, I see you have a heavy air of discipline, no Imperial vessel can exist without it, be it an Imperial Star Destroyer or a World Devastator, each must maintain the command structure, without it, there will be chaos.” Slowly realising that the bridge was still at attention Blathe finally remembered to dismiss the crew.
“If you will follow me Admiral, I will take you to the observation deck and technical bay, we are currently forced into doubling the two up until deck nineteen C is completed. Unfortunately, droid repair levels are usually the last to be completed on any Imperial station. I did try though to get the planners to start from the droid bay but they refused, resulting in the loss of several hundred droids, which could have been easily repaired. I must let you know Admiral that the planners arrogance is affecting efficiency, in waste and…..” Blathe paused. “Time.” Continuing through the maze of corridors and tunnels Blathe pretended not to register Truets point. Following the captain Blathe Noticed with some dissatisfaction that most safety panels were not in place, but, after all this was only the observation deck, he could let protocol slip…. This one time. “Security station five open blast doors C-87”
“Yes Sir.”
Blathe looked at Truet enquiringly. “Why are the blast doors closed captain?”
“Security Admiral. The observation deck is currently open to all security clearances while technical is stationed here. I have closed the blast doors so no intruders or rebel sympathizers can gain unauthorised access to the command deck. I have also installed defence droids and shield walls in the air vents, if a rebel were to attempt to breech the primary deck, they would die rather quickly.”
“But the rebellion has been destroyed captain, surely these measures though secure, are no longer necessary?” Blathe stepped over some loose piping, while Truet dodged some overhanging power cables.
“The rebellion has been destroyed many times before Admiral. The battle of Yavin when the death star, in its final throngs of destruction rained down upon the rebel moon, there and then we believed the rebellion dead from the intense radioactive waste and wreckage impacts, but it lingered. They fought on, regrouped and rebuilt themselves at Hoth, where Lord Vader exterminated most of them, and then there is Endor, where the rebellion attempted to destroy the final Death Star, and now, just recently, we have the battle of Mon-Calamari where we have just exterminated an entire race, but Admiral, each time we believe the rebellion exterminated, they return… The rebellion is no longer an alliance of dissidents, it is an ideal, a perverse thought, and I believe that we can only remove it by controlling the minds of every civilian in the Empire, a task that is regrettably impossible.”
“Yes you are correct captain, I applaud your commitment to security, if only more of our officers were less arrogant, then perhaps the rebel alliance would have been cut down shortly after the clone wars.” Pausing Blathe and Truet waited outside two large doors.
“These are manually operated Admiral.” Pushing the doors open Blathe was confronted by what appeared to be a factory, not an observation deck. Quickly reassuring the Admiral captain Truet explained the situation. “Due to the emperors strict construction demands we do not have time to order new droids from the inner rim.” The two officers dodged a droid that sped past, seemingly carrying some form of molten metal. “Instead, we build and manufacture them on site, it’s the only way to insure that we meet our targets. I got the idea from Lord Vader, it was his idea, resulting in the speedy completion of the second Death Star.”
Very impressed Blathe had to ask more. “Where do you get all the raw materials to build them?”
“Rather simple Admiral, we recycle everything, absolutely everything. The station scaffolding, metal shards, malfunctioning or damaged droids, even the faulty wiring from storm trooper helmets, everything is taken to the smelter room and recycled, it’s far more efficient than jettisoning it into space.” Absolutely amazed at the captains Administrative finesse Blathe continued until they reached a rather messy workbench. “Lieutenant Hadley, report please.”
From the other side of the desk a man popped his head up. It was covered in oil and sweat, and his hands showed the evidence of hard and continuous work in the form of several healed burn scars. Saluting to the Admiral and then to Truet, Hadley stood at ease. “Well we have it captain, I have finally finished the reconnection of the primary motor functions, its all very simple, it seems the designer colour coded everything, not much of a challenge.”
“Well why the long delay?” Blathe demanded.
“Sir, well incase this current operation failed regarding the specimen we thought it best to download all the data present in the droids memory banks. Using our own computers of course, it would have taken mere seconds, however, as we don’t correctly understand how their systems operate we have had to use the captured data cores. I am confident that had we captured a live crew prisoner our understanding of this technology would have been greatly increased.” Blathe nodded at the acceptable excuse.
“When will it be operational?”
“I could activate it now Admiral, however I thoroughly advise we do it in a secure deck with at least several battle droids present.”
“Have you detected any weapons systems?”
“No… but it is best to be safe…”
Blathe interrupted. “I understand your concerns Lieutenant, however I feel you should activate it. If it is a war droid, I’m quite sure you would have been able to detect any weapons systems by now.”
“Yes Sir.” Hadley agreed, and left the bench to get his appropriate tools.
“Its very odd isn’t it captain, it appears its designer has attempted to make it human in almost every way, the skin, if I can call it that, is so pale, almost like a Hoth infantryman.” Blathe chuckled at the soldiers stationed upon the ice world, it had become known as the officers dead end, a post where people were stationed if some Admiral wanted their careers to abruptly end.
Truet laughed at the Admirals joke, but he too was still wondering about this new droid. “When it activates Admiral I must ask you to stand back. Truet pointed to an area six meters away. It is better to be safe than sorry…” Hadley returned with a small micro capacitor and a connector module.
“Its posotronic network requires a small jolt to activate, luckily for us the droids own capacitors are utterly depleted, so, if need be, we can shut it down by simply flipping the off switch on this here control.” Hadly pointed at the small cylinder in his hand. As the technician activated the module several storm troopers entered from the forward doors. “I hope you don’t mind sirs, but I summoned a security detail anyway.”
“Its okay Lieutenant.” Blathe reassured. For almost a minute the droid was being charged until abruptly it opened its eyes.
“Brother?”
“What’s it saying Captain?”
“Brothe…. Where am I?” The droid looked around, its surroundings unfamiliar, the people unknown.
“Who are you?” The droid sat up.
“We should introduce ourselves to it.” Blathe suggested, and it wasn’t a request… Truet walked forward to within a small distance of the droid.
“Hello… I am captain Truet of the Imperial Ring station Alpha Two, you have been salvaged by the Empire and are now Imperial Property, state your function!”
The droid looked at the officer, its brain attempting to decipher the alien language.
“I am Lore, I have no function, and I am no ones property.”
“Remarkable, it managed to translate our language in seconds, however, is it malfunctioning, it is referring to itself as though it were human?” Hadley shook his head, everything was working as it should be.
“What is your numerical designation, what company constructed you?” Truet asked.
Laughing Lore looked into the captains eyes. “No company built me, I am not from a production line, I am unique, I, am Lore.”
“What is your numerical designation and who is your contractor?”
“My designation captain, is for the final time Lore, my contractor, is no one, I was constructed by a lonely individual, a man seeking a family, perhaps that answers your question?”
Truet engineered a quick glance at Blathe before asking his next question. “Where do you come from?”
“I originated on a small, backwater colony in the Federation, hardly impressive but I make do with what I have.”
“What is this Federation?” Truet enquired. This Droid has a nack for not answering questions.
Lore laughed again. “You must know what the Federation is if you’re human, you originated from it, unless, Earth has left its pathetic alliance, or time has…… How long have I been inactive, what is the star date?”
“Our dates will not match.” Blathe interrupted.
“What is this Federation?” Truet demanded. “How strong is it? How many worlds does it command? How powerful is its star fleet?”
“You are very inquisitive, but I suppose I can divulge some of my information. The Federation.” Lore lingered. “Is a democratic organisation consisting of almost three hundred different species, however, I suspect that it has increased since the Dominion invaded. Hundreds of species running for protection under the Imperialist banner.”
“What is this Earth you speak of? Where is it?”
“You’re not from the alpha quadrant are you?” Lore suggested “Who are you, and where are you from?”
“I do not answer to a droid.”
“Perhaps not captain, but you will answer to me” Faster than a Tulana rat Lore reached out and grabbed the captains neck, glancing at Hadley Lore narrowed his eyes. “If you turn off that capacitor it will be at least three seconds before I deactivate, more than enough time to snap this mans pitiful neck.”
Captain Turet was now beginning to turn a rather interesting shade of blue, looking on Blathe was not amused. “Lieutenant!” the Admiral boomed. “Deactivate the droid.” Lore glanced at Blathe shocked and surprised, but there was no way to get to him, several soldiers had taken position between himself and the Admiral. “Go ahead Lore, kill him, it shall not trouble me. Lieutenant, when you have the droid restrained contact me, we will take his information by force…….”
“Yes Sir.” Hadley responded, flicking the remote switch Lores time was up…
Clenching his left fist Lore kindly released captain Truet who gasped forcefully for precious oxygen. Humans, how pitifully weak. Lore thought before everything went black.
Nine Hours Later, Observation Deck.
Lieutenant Hadley had just finished installing the restraining bolt when captain Truet and Admiral Blathe entered from one of the aft lifts. Hadley liked the observation deck, it was comforting to work amongst the stars, it was relaxing to view the ships and vessels docking while he worked, perhaps the captain would allow his department to remain here…. Doubtful, but it was worth a try, he seemed a reasonable man. “Lieutenant…” Blathe sounded. “Is the droid restrained?”
“Yes Admiral, it took me some time to adapt our systems to his own, but he should be under your control now.”
“Very well activate him.” Lores eyes opened, his face showing anger and hate. “He feels emotion….” Blathe observed. “Interesting.”
Lore looked up at the Admiral, sitting he glared deeply into the mans eyes. “How pathetic, a dampener, you will find that it has no effect on me.” Hadley pressed a few keys on his remote, and as Lore predicted nothing happened. “Gentleman, it seems that we’re at an impasse, I have something you need, and you have the ability to get me what I want.”
“Which is?” Blathe enquired.
“My…..brother”
“Where is he Lore?”
“He is in the federation, he serves the humans…”
“You wish to rescue your brother from this Federation?” The Admiral lingered for a moment.
“No, I wish to have him suffer…. In exchange for my services, you will provide me with the means of destroying him and everything he cares about….”
“I’m sure we can accommodate that.” Blathe smiled. “But first, you must answer our questions.”
“No.” Lore interjected, “You must answer mine before I assist you. Where are you from?”
“Another Galaxy, far far away.” Blathe answered.
“How large is your Empire?”
“It currently spans almost all of our Galaxy, excluding some minor regions and solar systems.”
“How large is your star fleet?” Lore seemed especially interested in this one
“Several hundred thousand star ships.”
“What is it you exactly need of me?”
“We need your expertise on this Galaxies weapons, we need star charts and information on the politics of this quadrant, preferably it will relate specifically to the major Empires. We need to know everything you know…”
“That can be arranged.” Lore smirked.
I am coming for you brother, we won’t be apart for much longer………
Five hours later and the first Imperial Star Destroyer exited the wormhole…
Update soon.
