StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I wrote:Sovereign Class USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E.

Ship’s Log; Stardate 51147.4 1030 hours. Captain Picard reporting. The Enterprise has entered the Zhukov system under cloak, investigating rumours of a small Dominion build-up in the area. If we do find a Dominion presence, we are ordered to report it to Starfleet Command.

* * *

Captain Picard sat on his bridge, reading and analysing crew reports. He was confident that all around him would do their work dutifully. Not out of fear, but love of the Federation, the shining light of civilisation in a galaxy full of brutes and swine.

“Captain. We have received orders from Starbase 274. In your Ready Room immediately.” Council Emissary Troi said to the Captain over the internal communication system. Betazoids made for good Council Emissaries, their empathic abilities made it easy for them to sense treason and dissent that could affect other crew members.

Picard got out of his comfortable, throne like chair and headed for his ready room. He was irritated to find her already sitting down. It made him feel like a guest is his own workspace.

“What is it?” Picard demanded.

“Please Captain, no need for that tone. Have a seat.” Troi said patronisingly.

Picard walked over to the replicator. “Cup of tea Troi?”

“No thank you Captain. This is not a friendly visit.”

Picard got his tea from the replicator and sat down, sighing.

Picard and Troi had a tense relationship. As the CE of the flagship, she was chosen for her uncompromising nature and work ethic. This of course made her unpopular with the crew. This didn’t bother Troi, as long as their work never suffered. Picard on the other hand was very popular; he was often willing to allow them more luxuries than a usual Federation Captain would. After nearly 10 years on the same ship, they had learned to work together, but had never really grown to trust each other.

“What is it Troi?” Picard gruffly asked.

“I have received new orders from Admiral Ross. We are to completely destroy the third planet of the system. Reduce to it a burning cinder with any force necessary.”

“Why?”

“Because the native population who have received Federation protection in the past are harbouring Dominion personnel. Rules of wartime conduct dictate that an example must be made of these people Jean-Luc, you know this.” Troi lectured without an air of emotion, this angered Picard immensely.

“But we haven’t even started our investigation!” Picard stood up at his desk, knocking his tea over.

“Because Federation Intelligence has already completed it. Do you think we would send the Federation flagship on a reconnaissance mission Jean Luc? When we turn up and immediately destroy the planet with our most powerful ship, it will send a strong message to all others thinking of dissent. They will know to remain loyal. You know we need all the manpower and resources we can get right now if we are to win this thing.”

“…Very well.” This didn’t sit too well with Picard. Though he was at least happy to be able to try the new Planet Busters. It wasn’t often he got to reduce an entire planet to ash and take some traitors with it. Federation personnel had died to help them when the Cardassians tried to annex them a few years ago. And this was how they repaid their sacrifice, with outright treason against those who saved them from insipid reptilian conquerors.

“Will this be all Troi? I must be getting back to the bridge, we are approaching the system.”

“Yes. Glory and Victory to The Federation.”

With that, Picard left the room. Troi could plainly sense how irritated he was by her nature. But as long as he remained loyal, her job was done.

I wrote:1130 hours.

Picard saw the planet Zhukov IV on the view screen. It looked like any other planet in the Federation. Since the second mass colonisation drive by the UFP a century earlier, these planets were easy enough to find throughout their space. Unfortunately, the mass colonisation drive did not work as hoped. Many planets were colonised successfully, but several also realised they could break away and not have to answer to the Federation Council.

Though when the Cardassians reared their scaly heads, many planets in this region applied to become protectorates. The Federation accepted this offer. And soon after the Cardassian wars ended, the UFP had some new member planets. The colonised planets of the Zhukov system elected to remain independent, but allied to the UFP.

Data sat dutifully at his station, monitoring everything that happened on his screen. After a small beeping noise, he raised his voice. “Captain. I’ve completed the scans of the planet. There are several places which the scanners cannot penetrate, but so far I’ve detected no signs of Dominion technology or personnel.”
Troi stood up from her seat next to the Captain. “Mr. Data, I’ve received word from Federation Intelligence that the facilities are deep underground.”

Beep. Beep. Beep. They were being hailed.

Picard stood up and adjusted his shirt. “On screen.”

An image of a shabbily dressed human appeared.

“I’m Commander Keldar, Chief of Communications here. Can I help you?”

“This is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the UFS Enterprise. We have received reports that you’re harbouring Dominion personnel.”

“I’ve not heard about that.” Troi could sense the stress in the man’s voice. Just like someone who’s lying.

Troi interrupted. “I’m Federation Council Emissary Troi. Level 4. I’m an empath and can sense that you’re lying. Where are the Dominion agents?”

“We don’t have any!” Commander Keldar looked deeply worried.

“Commander Keldar. Your planet has been found guilty of treasonous acts during wartime. Namely harbouring an enemy and failing to comply with a Council Emissary Punishment will be enacted briefly. End communication.”

The image ended on an image of Keldar’s eyes getting wide in fright.

“Computer. This is Captain Jean Luc Picard. Unlock Armageddon warheads. Authorisation four-seven-alpha-tango.”

Armageddon was the official name given to the Planet Busters. Some guy at Starfleet Sciences probably thought it sounded intimidating.

“Computer, this is Council Emissary Level Four Deanna Troi. Authorisation three-three-delta-gamma. Confirm order to unlock Armageddon warheads.”

“Commands confirmed. Warheads unlocked and ready to fire.”

Picard nodded at Daniels. Daniels froze.

Troi stormed over to his station and shoved Daniels aside. She pushed the buttons herself, and watched the view screen as they flew towards the planet.

They impacted the surface with a small burst of light. She knew it would take approximately 8 seconds for it to burrow down then detonate.

The whole bridge watched as the planet exploded. Then all eyes were on Troi and Daniels.

Troi looked furious. “Mister Daniels! You’ve failed to follow a direct order. Proceed to the agoniser. Security!”

Two guards walked in from the side of the bridge and escorted Daniels out.

The bridge crew shuddered. The agoniser was rarely used, as it’s mere presence scared people into line. No one was really sure where the idea came from. Legend had it that someone went to an alternate universe and picked it up there; it became the cheaper alternative to imprisonment or the death penalty, as it took a lot of investment from Starfleet to get someone to be able to use these devices.

Data was still attentive at his console. “There are 5 Jem’ Hadar attack ships heading towards us. 40 seconds until weapons range.

Sidewinder wrote:By the way, does Troi fulfill the role of political officer, ensuring the loyalties of the crew, including Picard?

Sidewinder wrote:Interesting... It seems there's no further need for fanfics set in the Terran Empire, now that we have a Federation whose personnel have tungsten balls.

By the way, does Troi fulfill the role of political officer, ensuring the loyalties of the crew, including Picard?

Gandalf wrote:

Sidewinder wrote:By the way, does Troi fulfill the role of political officer, ensuring the loyalties of the crew, including Picard?

Yes.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:In Happy Target's "Terran Empire" fic, I made Troi a political Commissar. How much stronger/bigger is the Union of Federation Planets in this 'verse?

Gandalf wrote:

CaptainChewbacca wrote:In Happy Target's "Terran Empire" fic, I made Troi a political Commissar. How much stronger/bigger is the Union of Federation Planets in this 'verse?

About the same.

Sidewinder wrote:Considering how aggressive the Federation is in this fic, may I assume that the Federation's enemies-- Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, and the Dominion-- are comparably stronger as well? Do the Borg have a role in this fic, other than as space zombies who serve mostly as walking punching bags for Worf and company?

Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel. - William Jefferson Clinton

FEDERATION NEWS NETWORK - Special Report

Former Ally Spits On Federation, Aids Dominion War Effort

This morning, at approximately 11:50, Councillor Satie announced that the once friendly planet of Zhukov IV had been helping the Dominion war effort. Intelligence indicated that their government had been hiding Dominion personnel and war materials, including warships.

At approximately 11:30 this morning, the mighty flagship UFS Enterprise – E, under the command of the decorated Captain Jean-Luc Picard, entered the system to try to convince them to reject the Dominion and their Imperialist rulers.

Reports state that there were some brief talks; the planet’s leaders stated they would never again side with the Federation. After claiming the planet had now joined the Dominion and would begin the fight against them, the Enterprise was forced to launch Armageddon missiles at the planet, immediately destroying it and setting an example for other local governors thinking of defecting.

Shortly after the planet’s destruction, the Enterprise was attacked by a small fleet of Jem’ Hadar warships who had been hiding in the planet’s shadow. A brief battle ensued; the Enterprise was able to inflict serious damage on them before falling back. They are expected at Starbase 274 within a day.

Supreme Chancellor Leyton later stated that the war against the Dominion has now opened an ideological front. The message was later broadcast across the Federation:

“Comrades and citizens of the United Federation of Planets, men and women of Starfleet, comrades living in our protectorates and allied nations, I address you.

“The events on Zhukov IV have shown us that good and loyal people can be corrupted by the Dominion ideologies of hate and violent conquest. Their corrupt values are like a virus attacking the body of the Federation and it’s allies. All spread through infiltrators fighting a dirty, underhanded war.

“Now is the time when war is no longer left to our valiant Starfleeters to fight and protect us with their powerful ships and incredible courage on some distant warfront. We must now protect ourselves at home with our strong will and indomitable spirits.

“Now every citizen is a soldier on the home front. Everything you do affects the warfront. Every piece of dilithium you mine helps power our warships and defence arrays. Every dish you cook keeps our citizens strong for their labours.

“I urge all Federation citizens and workers. Work as though the Dominion were behind you. Show them that you will not be scared into submission, nor turned to work for their genetically engineered overlords. Show then what we can accomplish when we set our minds, hands and hearts to one cause.

“Show them eight hundred billion working as one. Glory and Victory To The Federation!”

Gandalf wrote:Show them eight hundred billion working as one.

I wrote:A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. - Winston Churchill

Location: Pike System.

Stardate: 51300.4

The Enterprise was now based with the fleet in the Pike system. Usually Starfleet didn’t like to risk its most famous warship in these circumstances.

Evidently, Starfleet saw the Dominion forces coming, and hoped to bolster morale among those already there.

Troi accessed the internal COM in her office. “Attention Comrades. Once again we go into battle for our Federation. There will be no cowardice or fear. All crewmen found not executing their duties to the fullest of their abilities will be summarily executed. In the event of a ship mutiny, the control ship to the rear of the fleet will activate our self-destruct. Glory and Victory To The Federation.” After that address, Troi went to the bridge, and sat next to the Captain.

A few moments later, the Dominion fleet appeared. Picard stood up; ready to command what could easily be his last mission.

A voice came over the bridge’s COM. “This is Admiral Pressman. All ships fire at will.”

“Mr Daniels. Fire on the ship bearing zero-three-zero mark three-five-zero.”

The Enterprise blasted forth, the eye catching quantum torpedoes and phasers cut into the attack ship.

The Federation ships dared not move, lest they break the formation and weaken the fleet, thereby drawing on the wrath of the Emissaria.

The Dominion ships rushed towards the wall of Federation ships. Starfleet’s co-ordinated fire picked off most of the ships that went ahead of the rest of the attack fleet.

This was one of the few advantages that the Federation held over the Dominion at this time. Their phasers and torpedoes had more range than their Cardassian/Dominion counterparts.

And in the blink of an eye, the space between the fleets became lit up by phaser fire. The Federation Command Ship transmitted the “Free Action” signal. All ships were to now use their own initiative when fighting.

Aboard the Enterprise, Troi look at her bridge console. “Captain, we’ve received the Free Action signal.”

“Excellent. Mr Hawk, come around to heading three-two-zero mark zero-zero-four.”

Riker looked puzzled. “Sir, won’t that take us to the middle of their fleet?”

“Yes it will Number One. This will cause a distraction, which should ease the pressure on our comrades. After a strafing run across its hull, we fly behind their fleet. Hopefully a few Jem’ Hadar follow us… After we dispatch them, we can rejoin the fleet.” The last part was added after Picard noticed Troi staring at him.

“Captain,” Data interrupted the silence “we’re approaching the port hull of the Dominion command ship. No ships are following us.”

“Not yet. Mr Hawk; plot a strafing run across the hull. Mr Daniels, aim for any important systems you can hit.”

The bridge shook under Dominion fire.

The view screen showed a view from the bottom of the ship. It showed the phasers and torpedoes cutting into the hull.

The view screen then cut to an aft view. Three attack ships were following them.

“Picard to Engineering.”

“La Forge here.” The background noise indicated that things were tense in Engineering.

“Geordi, launch an antimatter pod as we discussed earlier.”

“Yes sir. It’ll take a moment.”

“Very well. Picard out. Mr Daniels. Prepare the aft torpedoes for a precision fire.”

The bridge waited while the Dominion ships approached.

A voice came over the COM system; “LaForge here. Pod launched.”

“Mr Daniels, fire on that pod in three, two, one… fire! Mr Hawk, come about and take us directly into the middle of those ships. Daniels, fire at will.”

The blast from the antimatter pod had disabled the pursuing ships. Picard’s new manoeuvre would now take them back into the engagement.

Troi stood up. “Captain, I have a status report.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“The Admiral’s ship has been destroyed. The remainder of the fleet is being encircled. Dominion interdiction fields are preventing escape and communications. We’re on our own.”

“Shall we fall back to Starbase 275?” This was Picard’s nice way of asking if Troi would have him charged with treason if he tried to run.

“We will not fall back. We will destroy the interdictors and continue the battle.” Troi sensed that a stern voice would quell the fear she felt coming from the entire ship.

“We will not.” Picard nodded to Lt. Daniels. Daniels pulled his phaser from his holster and shot Troi.

Daniels smiled. “A decent empath would have seen that coming.”

The remainder of the bridge crew looked on in fright. If anyone found out what had transpired, they could all be charged with high treason. Still, none of the bridge security officers stepped in to arrest Daniels. It seemed they all hated Troi too, and even now they’d still be on charges for failing to protect her.

Picard went to his seat and accessed the ship-wide communications. “Attention crewmen. Our Council Emissary, Deanna Troi has been killed by enemy fire. We will be heading to Starbase 275 and applying for a new officer. Picard out.”

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I kept expecting "Would you like to know more?" to pop up in the news story. Also, nice touch with Leyton there.

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Is Mister Daniels the ENT Daniels, by any chance?

Gandalf wrote:

CaptainChewbacca wrote:Is Mister Daniels the ENT Daniels, by any chance?

No, it's Mr Daniels from Insurrection.

ENT is a different time period.

Gandalf wrote:Daniels smiled. “A decent empath would have seen that coming.”

I wrote:Every war when it comes, or before it comes, is represented not as a war but as an act of self-defense against a homicidal maniac. - George Orwell

Location: Sol System, Earth, Federation Embassy District.

Stardate: 51304.9, 1400 hours.

The Federation Embassy district was an impressive sight. The various embassies had architecture representing their home cultures. The area was surrounded with Emissaries and Federation Intelligence posing as local citizens.

Inside the Romulan embassy, the room was dimly lit as Federation Diplomat Level Four; Luthor Sloan met with the Ambassador from Romulus.

“Comrade Ambassador. The Federation has an offer for you.”

”Of course” the Ambassador laughed, “why else would you be here? I assume you want the Romulan Empire to join the war effort?” The Romulan ambassador was his usual smug self, sitting back in his chair knowing that he held all of the power in the room.

“Yes, but we plan to offer you something in return.”

“… I’m listening.” The ambassador took a sip of kali-fal.

“How would you like to eliminate the Klingon Empire, once and for all?”

The Ambassador leaned forward, a look of disbelief on his face. He gulped the kali-fal he had in his mouth. “Pardon me?”

“The Klingon Empire. An entire race of savage, feudalist, thugs. If you join us in defeating the Dominion, you can have 68% of the Klingon held territories, including Qo’nos. You will also be allowed to annex whatever Cardassian territories you capture.”

“That’s certainly a tempting offer. But why? And why now?”

“The Federation needs you, the Dominion outnumber us in both men and equipment. We need the quadrant to get behind us, our projections indicate that the Dominion can be defeated if we get you on side, which also raises the question of post war conflicts. The Klingon Empire is never happy unless it is at war with someone. As I said, they are untrustworthy thugs. Sooner or later they will come after one of us in search of honourable something-or-other. It’s in everyone’s best interests to hit them immediately after the war, before they recover and get aggressive again.”

“Why wasn’t this done before? Like just after the Praxis Incident?”

“Because back then, our Supreme Council wanted the Klingons to achieve communism themselves, without our intervention. Sadly, that incident led to decades long upheaval and social regression. Now they fight each other for leadership instead of electing people. It’s even in the Klingon’s best interests to be liberated from their backward society. This will go a long way to ensuring a lasting peace in our part of the galaxy.”

“Well, Mister Sloan. You make an… interesting offer. I shall contact the Continuing Committee immediately and see what they think. Is there anything else?”

“No, thank you.”

“Then please leave, I have other businesses to attend to.”