Star Crossed Fanfic

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Those were Tie Avengers, which are different from the Tie Advanced.

Err the Tie Advanced is nicknamed the 'Avenger' by its pilots. The X1 Vader flew at Yavin was an early 'concept' model of the Advanced he got because of his status. The production varient of the Advanced carried concussion missiles.

Yeah you can call both types "Tie Advanced" my mistake.

[JME2]

Fucking Sith Lords, more trouble than they're worth.

You're only realizing this now?

[Chris OFarrell]

Lets see whats left.

1. The Federation and Romulan forces loyal to Skywalker havn't arrived yet, wonder what Kirk will have to say to THAT The Romulans enhanced Scimitar class ships also have failed to show.

2. Jellico's tactical wing under Kirk with the proton equiped Akira's and so on havn't engaged. Dito the last ditch subspace superweapon to use against Thrawn. Riker OTOH has been kicking ass and taking names with the Doomsday Machine.

3. I don't remember if the Reckless hope has done anything yet, but I'm sure they're waiting. Dito Leia.

4. Khan has spread his people far and wide across the Executor, actualy out thinking Thrawn *gasp* or at least so it appears.

5. Han Solo has just been sent to the bridge.

6. The New, Bigger, Better and Nicer Borg with their super cube of doom and Imperial/Imperium help is on the way, who have detected and are preparing to engage...

7...the Second Death Star, with Emperor Palpitine comming to crash the party.

8. And last but not least, Section 31 is ready to give the finger to all the extra-galactic invaders by making the sun to supernova, wiping them and everyone in the system out.

Anything I've missed?

[Hawkwings]

You forgot the assasination plot on Skywalker with the transport-sniper rifle. Or maybe I missed it?

[Chris OFarrell]

You forgot the assasination plot on Skywalker with the transport-sniper rifle. Or maybe I missed it?

Given that Skywalker isn't on Romulas, I presumed that it was a plot that either fell by the wayside or failed/was scraped 'Offscreen'.

[Valkyrie]

In responce to the TIE advanced question. Vader's Tie advanced has missile tubes but it may be different because it was one of a kind at the Battle of Yavin IV. But that was before the time the fanfic is set.

Anyway lets see Vader's Tie vs Lukes Uber X-Wing. I sense some destoyed capital ships because of the dynamic duo.

[Mr Bean]

Anyway lets see Vader's Tie vs Lukes Uber X-Wing. I sense some destoyed capital ships because of the dynamic duo.

Considering the level of TK Skywalker has already demonstrated I would not rule out him yanking some turrets around to decapitate their own ships, or Vadar going all out ala C'Boath and duing the "force neck snap" on a few bridge crews or gunners.

Either way we are going to see lots of fun things along the way before this all winds down.

Six chapters from now, you heard it hear first.

[Captain Cyran]

Poor Thrawn. I can't think of a single faction out there that doesn't want him dead. Nice to see the Imperium in action getting ready to destabalise Thrawn's plans. Looking forward to the Borg showing up as well and REALLY fucking up the party.

Poor Tarsi, getting his glory subverted once again from wtf-pwning the Devastator.

And as always, Ochoa rules and is still my favorite character.

[Captain Cyran]

Either way we are going to see lots of fun things along the way before this all winds down.

Six chapters from now, you heard it hear first.

Four chapters to finish this fight.

Four chapters of more storyline and realizing that the Death Star is out there, the universe is collapsing, and they need to somehow stop it.

Eight chapters of End Game.

[jegs2]

Well done, Stravo!

I may even get my wife to read your story...

[desertjedi]

I'm pretty sure the Scimitar class ships made there appearance when Mara and the stormtroopers attacked a Jem'Hadar training planet and took those cloning vats.

[El Moose Monstero]

I'm pretty sure the Scimitar class ships made there appearance when Mara and the stormtroopers attacked a Jem'Hadar training planet and took those cloning vats.

True, but in the final speech where Luke makes the Federation and Romulans into an official part of the Imperium, he says that he wants the Romulan fleet and the federation fleet on his right and left - implying that they're still waiting in the wings.

[Stravo]

Well, I bet some of you will be shocked, but here we have a new update. A little longer than normal but I don't think many of you will complain about that. Please enjoy the latest.


Chapter 93: Battle of Andor V



Knife Fight




“Are you ready Mr. Data?” Riker asked sharply.

“All coordinates have been calculated and fed into the navcomputer.” Data replied calmly.

“Geordie?”

“Hyperdrive has been recalibrated for a short range hop. Whether this is going to work or not is a little beyond me.” Geordie added reluctantly.

“Duly noted.” Riker nodded to his comofficer and spoke again. “Rogues? Wedge? What do you say? Are you standing by for hyperspace hop?”

“We’re right with you Excalibur. Should be fun.” Wedge replied gamely.

“Thermopylae? Are you and the Defiant squadron ready?”

“Ready, willing and far more than just able sir.” The voice of the Thermopylae’s captain replied and he could hear the smile in her voice.

Riker leaned in close to Tom Paris, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready, Tom?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s punch it.” Tom replied with a grin and took a firm hold of the controls.

“Alright. All hands standby.” Riker stood up straight, took a moment to adjust his uniform.

“This one’s for you Belanna.” Tom whispered as he called up the tactical controls as well and saw with satisfaction that the main weapon was fully charged. One full on anti-proton beam from this beast could carve a hunk out of a world or more appropriately for this battle, vaporize a stardestroyer in one shot. All that power in his hands right now. He lamented that he had not have this power at his disposal during the disastrous battle for Earth. The battle that not only lost him his homeworld but also his wife and unborn child.

Every time he fought against the Empire it was his way of little by little avenging their loss. Every TIE fighter, every stormtrooper, every single Imperial soldier that died was one little drop in the ocean of vengeance he was looking to fill.

Now as he prepared to bring the Excalibur back into the fight and he would make sure that the Imperials would never forget what they did to him.

“Alright, Lieutenant Paris, let’s make this a knife fight. Engage.” Riker announced calmly.

“Aye sir. Engaging hyperdrive.” Tom replied and palmed the controls. The view screen wavered for a moment and there was a bright burst of light from deep within the vessel like lightning flashing across a dark sky.

Then the view screen was filled with the hull plates of an Imperial stardestroyer. In fact there was nothing else visible, not even a hint of black void or a star field at all.

The collision alarm sounded before anyone could speak.

Tom was in action as Riker gripped the head rest of Tom’s seat.

“Evasive action.”

“No time, sir. We’ve only got one chance at surviving this.” Tom grunted as he tried his best to get the engines to react. Sluggish as always the vessel was less than a ship length away from the looming Imperial cruiser which had not even seen them yet as their bright emerald fire was lancing out in other directions but theirs.

“All power to main guns. Locking on.” Tom announced as the view screen flickered again. The Imperial cruiser’s view ports and individual gun ports were now clearly distinguishable as the distance between the two vessels vanished.

“All hands brace for impact!” Riker ordered and immediately threw himself back into his command seat and slapped down the folding armrests to lock in around his thighs.

“Fire in the hole!” Tom barked and savagely pressed down on the firing stud to his right.

The screen washed out in a brilliant cascade of white and gold. Almost simultaneously the Excalibur jerked backwards and the emergency lights switched on as power surged across the strange crystalline circuits and controls panels. Pale indigo tendrils of electricity leapt from panels like clutching hands, some crewmen screamed in pain as their flesh was burned and blistered by the electrical discharges.

Then the Excalibur lurched forward as suddenly as it had jerked backwards and some of the crew spilled forward out of their stations. A square panel hurtled inches past Riker’s head and clanged loudly off the view screen and flipped down to the floor.

“Mr. Paris!” Riker shouted over the din of arcing circuitry and injured crewmen.

“I’m trying my best sir. We’re in a deep dive now but I’m pulling us out.” Tom managed to grunt out as he struggled to bring the leviathan back under control with one hand, the other holding himself steady against the con.

“Data did we hit anything?”

Data was the only one who was firmly seated and did not seem flustered by the events unfolding around the makeshift bridge of the Excalibur. He calmly sat and punched up reports on his ops station.

“We have not hit anything sir, other than a thick cloud of plasma and debris. Shields have compensated but our engines experienced a flux as we passed through. We should have full operations restored momentarily.” Data reported. “I am also picking up the power signatures of several stardestoryers immediately around us.” Data glanced back at Riker. “Apparently my calculations were off by several kilometers. Instead of coming out of hyperspace in the flank of the nearest wedge of stardestroyers we have emerged directly in their midst. My apologies Captain.”

Riker grinned like a boy at Christmas and clapped Data on the shoulder.

“Mr. Data, what you call an error I call a stroke of luck we’ve sorely been lacking in this fight so far.” Riker slapped his combadge. “All attack wings form up on Excalibur and keep the enemy off our backs. Leave the big boys to us.”

“Roger that, Excalibur, Rogue squadron forming up, we have a squadron of TIE interceptors inbound. We’ll give them a warm welcome.”

“This Defiant attack squadron on your Port side, Excalibur, moving in to support.”

“Alright then, let’s do this by the numbers…Mr. Paris, if you will I want you to bring the main weapon to bear on that stardestroyer.” Riker smiled victoriously. “Let’s kick their asses back out of our galaxy.”

“You don’t need to tell me twice sir.” Tom replied eagerly.

The Excalibur lumbered through the quickly expanding cloud of molten metal, plasma and debris that was once a proud Imperial Stardestroyer and turned as sharply as the behemoth could to face the remaining stardestroyers in the attack wing.

Bright emerald bolts began to splash against the Excalibur’s shields bathing the shimmering cobalt blue hull in the incandescent light show of the exploding turbolaser blasts. She heedlessly began to lumber towards her enemies as a squadron of Defiants peeled away from beneath her shields to eagerly hunt down the bomber wings that were rapidly approaching in defense of their base ships. The silhouettes of X-Wing fighters flashed over the Excalibur like a hungry pack of wolves and swept in tightly to intercept the first wave of fighters swarming in on the Excalibur. Angry crimson bolts lanced out in a stutter fire pattern as green laser bolts churned out in rapid fire succession from the TIE interceptors closing in.

The deadly dance had begun. The Excalibur was precisely where she needed to be when fighting these deadly Imperial warmachines, she was in a knife fight with the Imperials and much like the Federation she represented, she was not going to go down without a fight.




Hope Cuts like a Knife




The cities on the Azure coast of Andor were on fire. Their pyres could be seen all the way from the Capital city illuminating the twilight sky in a harsh angry glow that heralded the coming fires that waited to consume this world and the combatants above.

The president glanced up as the night sky briefly became day and a salvo of emerald bolts slashed down out of the evening sky like an angry god’s accusations and impacted against his world. Clouds of earth and superheated gasses erupted off into the distance with a distant thunder that was much louder to the sensitive ears of the Andorians. The fire and dust were a sign that the bolts had not just hit earth but part of some distant city or installation. People were dying.

The planetary shields were reestablished moments later accompanied by a hazy nimbus of electric blue light.

Like shooting stars, streaks of fire and light scarred the night sky right above the capital for a moment then vanished into the clouds. Another ship lost to the enemy and hungrily pulled in by the gravity well of the planet.

Once a vessel lost her motive power she was a slave to Andor and the world had not been kind to many of those vessels. Pulled in with an inexorable might they caught fire in the upper atmosphere, acting as funeral barges for their crews, and plummeted down into the planet below, most of the lighter vessels like fighters and runabouts simply flared up and vanished in the upper atmosphere itself, sometimes putting on a show for those close enough to see them vaporize so elegantly but the larger vessels were another matter entirely.

Plunging down from the night sky trailing bright streams of fire and molten metal these once mighty and proud starships screamed down into the planet like arrows of light and exploded with titanic force upon impact, scattering earth, stone and debris throughout the countryside. One such vessel hurtled down into the capital city’s huge inland sea and a geyser of superheated water and steam bathed the ports and lake side villas.

The Capital had not yet been touched directly by Imperial fire. The president glanced back westward at the nearby coast. The harsh glow danced mockingly before his eyes and his antennae twitched in anger and agitation.

But the coastal cities were all on fire. How many dead or dying would never be known.

Not because of the sheer number of dead or the Herculean effort it would take to count them all and find them in the rubble of the now dead or dying cities. No. It was a little simpler than that.

He did not think they would be alive when the sun rose once again over this world. Not because the Empire would win. But because there would be no pale blue orb to rise again and certainly no Andor. This world was doomed. Her sun would consume her like a ravenous wolf.

It was only a matter of time.

Another bright pluming arrow of fire and smoke pierced the high cloud cover overhead. This one was different. The people below in the city noted it immediately as well and many pointed and shouted in excitement and fear.

The object was large, larger than any of the unfortunate starships that had fallen prey to Andor’s unrelenting gravity well. Large chunks were coming away in explosive bursts from the main body of the flaming hulk and these new chunks hurtles away into distance places beyond the hills and gentle lakeside mists of the capital. The vessel screamed down like a banshee, howling in agony and impotent rage at its fate before finally crashing down a mere hundred kilometers from the city center.

The impact sent citizens to the floors or ground as they temporarily lost their footing by the seismic aftershock of the crash. A cloud of debris and gas hissed up into the sky from the impact point.

It was an Imperial vessel no doubt, perhaps one of their Strike cruisers or a similar sized vessel. Certainly not the gigantic Imperial stardestroyers, the president shuddered to think what the impact of one of those vessels would be like on his scarred world, but Imperial nonetheless.

And it made him shake his head and sigh. For this was Kirk’s gift in this wretched war. He gave them hope. A little glimpse of victory in the long night of their defeat. Above him more shooting stars signaling the death of yet more fighters and craft flashed as he thought about their fate.

He could not bring them victory. He had not promised it, nor would the president have believed it were it offered. This was their moment to stand defiant one last time before the end. But Kirk fought on, bringing down another of the enemy’s invincible warships. What more could be asked of the man?

But damn him anyway.

Damn him for giving him some hope even now.

The communicator pin on his sleeve gently buzzed. He activated it with a light brush of three elegant powder blur fingers.

“Go on.”

“Mr. President, the battle has been joined by the Imperium and we have reason to believe that Imperator Skywalker is personally overseeing the battle.” A low growling voice reported. Not the usual whisper of an Andorian, this particular Andorian was nothing if not unique.

“So all the pieces are in play then?” the president asked casually.

“Yes sir. Imperial forces, Imperium forces and the leaders for all factions involved. It cannot get any better than now sir.”

The president said nothing for a long moment.

“I am waiting, sir.”

“Tell me this is the right thing to do, old friend.” He asked softly.

“I can’t tell you that, my friend. You must make that decision. However I will tell you this. The tide of battle is in flux.” The old Andorian on the other end of the com replied coolly.

“You think there’s a chance of victory then?” the president asked sharply. Hope. It was like a knife in his gut.

There was a long moment of silence. A deep sonic boom interrupted the silence as a dog fight that had begun in space had obviously been dragged down into the atmosphere somewhere above them. He could imagine the old Andorian calmly sipping at his tea and thinking while regarding the torpedo sitting on the launch pad before him. A torpedo aimed directly at the Andorian sun with an awful purpose.

The old general was a secret. He wasn’t supposed to exist. His records indicated that he had died in a training accident three decades ago. Instead he was inducted into the Shadowfleet. They had been the ultra secret protectors of the Federation, the naval arm of Section 31, since the inception of the Federation. But this war had even destroyed them.

Scattered and weakened the factions of the shadowfleet were flocking home to regroup and rebuild. The old general was one of them. He had returned home, to Andor, and to his government with warnings of this Imperial threat and what must be done to oppose them. He came bearing the technology of the Trilithium torpedo that could destroy a sun. Technology the shadowfleet had ‘acquired’ from a rogue El Aurian scientist.

Now that torpedo sat ready to be launched as a final defiant gesture from the Andorians who refused to bow their heads as so many others in this galaxy had done when the Empire came for their world.

But it meant the end of their world and effectively their race for what was a species without a homeworld. How could the surviving Andorians hold their heads up with pride when they could no longer feel the cool blue light of their sun on their skin?

“No. I don’t think we can win sir.”

The President bowed his head.

“But if it makes your decision any easier we can wait a little while longer. However I strongly urge you to be ready to make the decision soon, sir. There will be little time and this may be the only way to kill them all in one swift stroke.” The gravely voice replied sternly. There was little doubt that if he could he would move the president to make the decision now.

“Await my instructions.”

“I have always served Andor and will continue to do so until the end, Primarch.” The Andorian replied stoically using his official Andorian office designation.

“I never doubt you for a moment, old friend.”

“When next we speak, I will be ready to follow your will, sir. They will remember Andor for what we did here today.”

The channel switched off and the president slowly looked back up into the sky. His wife slowly walked onto the balcony. She had obviously been crying but was composed and quiet now.

She placed a cool hand on his shoulder and he glanced down at her.

“Is there no hope then?” she asked simply.

He smiled softly and gripped her hand.

“Hope. Hope is all we have now, my bonded one. And that hope is in the hands of a human named James T. Kirk. Only he can save us now.”





Holding the Beast at Bay



“Evasive!” Kirk ordered tightly as a blast of plasma and molten metal rose up to nearly engulf the Enterprise. The Victory class stardestroyer’s conning tower was gone in a roiling plume of fire. The rest of the mighty vessel was tilting forward madly like a bull lowering its head to charge. The bright white engine corona flared up as her engines burned out of control.

Small clouds of debris and hot gasses were punching out through random locations along the vessel’s wedge shaped hull.

The stardestroyer was dying.

Kirk glanced back sharply at Spock while the rest of the bridge crew began cheering and slapping each other on the back.

“Spock?”

“As we hoped, Captain, the new proton torpedoes have proven most effective against their shields.” Spock reported calmly. “I am receiving similar reports throughout the fleet.”

Kirk smiled and clenched his fist triumphantly. Something was finally going their way.

“Alright, let’s get going before Thrawn realizes we’re no longer flinging around quantum torpedoes. All attack wings closest to the Enterprise form up on us and follow us in for an Alpha strike on the lead stardestroyer of this tactical wing.” Kirk ordered firmly as he rose from his Command seat and stood behind Sulu’s station gripping the back of the helmsman’s chair.

“Target is marked and locked in.” Sulu reported proudly. “Wish you were with me on this one, Pavel.” Sulu added under his breath as a stardestroyer loomed ahead on screen. The attack wing of destroyers and supporting ships was trying to break the stranglehold that the Imperium had on the Imperial left flank.

Kirk’s job was a simple one.

Keep the Imperial fleet from relieving and freeing the trapped left flank.

Easier said than done of course especially when the rest of the Imperial fleet was wheeling around for a strike against the Imperium forces behind him. Thankfully Kirk had kept this trick up his sleeve until now. All the Federation starships had swapped out their quantum torpedoes with the proton torpedoes designed and manufactured by the Rebel Alliance and Federation engineering team.

The Federation simply did not have the power generation technology to make turbolasers feasible for ship deployment but the torpedoes were another matter entirely. Captain Jellico had made it top priority to ramp up production of the new torpedoes while he was in command of the fleet and his decision was bearing fruit now in their darkest hour as Starfleet was finally able to field a weapon that could hurt the Imperials.

Now all they had to do was hold the line.

“All wings in position.” Uhura reported.

The Imperial tactical wing began concentrating fire on Kirk’s rapidly approaching units. He watched as emerald bolts splashed against the phalanx shield system and crimson phaser fire lashed out in return fire while the two fleet elements closed.

“All torpedoes stand by. Lock onto their bridge and forward weapons array.” Kirk ordered calmly as the Enterprise began to shudder under his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Scotty working feverishly on his engineering control station as he tried to maintain the stability of their experimental shield grid.

At any other time, in any other war, Scotty would have been rewarded the highest honors that could be given by the Federation for performing far above the call of duty in all that had accomplished in this war. But it made Kirk proud that Scotty’s contributions and actions were only one of thousands made by so many of his fellow officers and men. This fleet had in essence all risen as one to heed the call.

They would be rewarded with a victory today. He swore it.

The Imperial stardestroyer easily filled half of the screen now, the emerald and crimson explosions rippling against their shields was bathing the bridge in an angry lightshow.

“Fire.” He ordered.

Hundreds of starships released their first volley of proton torpedoes accompanied by a veritable storm of phaser fire. Almost immediately afterwards another wave of pale blue streaks launched from the torpedo bays of the assembled starships and streaked towards the stardestroyer.

Point defenses roared to life as laser cannons blazed away at the incoming torpedoes. Fortunately the Rebel Alliance had trained Kirk and his fleet well. They knew about the overwhelmingly potent point defenses on a stardestroyer so they developed the tactic of firing their torpedoes nearly pointblank on the lumbering leviathans of the Empire.

The tactic had the drawback of reducing the torpedoes into dumb fire weapons but as Princess Leia aptly pointed out “At that range, it just doesn’t matter.”

The torpedoes were already impacting against their targets before the point defenses could completely bring themselves to bear. Explosions blossomed along the ship’s shields, accompanied by pinpoint phaser fire that probed for openings in the shields. The second wave of torpedoes arrived instants later before the first explosions had even begun to subside and many slipped through the weakened shields of the stardestroyer.

The Federation fleet passed overhead, as the stricken stardestroyer poured a murderous fusillade of turbolaser fire into the passing starships. Despite the phalanx shield grid many of the starships suffered under the assault. An Excelsior class starship clipped by the intense bolts spun like a mad top right into the flight path of an Akira class ship. Both exploded simultaneously with the impact as a Nebula class starship lost a nacelle to a well placed hit.

Despite the casualties, the fleet elements turned as one for another pass, their phaser arrays unrelenting in their constant peppering of the target with heavy fire while another wave of torpedoes were launched.

TIE fighters and Interceptors suddenly fell on the ships in an angry swarm. Green laser bolts spat out in rapid fire bursts as the Imperial fighters tried to pry about the tight Federation lines.

“All phasers on rapid fire, pattern Charlie Victor.” Kirk ordered sharply as objects on the view screen tumbled madly about while Sulu executed a spinning corkscrew maneuver, allowing the Enterprise’s ventral and dorsal phasers to fire in cutting scythe like arcs through the fighter swarm.

“Torpedo impacts on bridge section. We may have knocked out her dorsal shields.” Spock reported.

“Have all wings concentrate on downed shield section!” Kirk shouted over the din of a fire alarm as a panel melted behind him and showered the control station with red hot droplets and sparks. Someone screamed in pain as a power conduit arced for a moment and seared off the flesh from the hapless crewman’s forearm. “And Sulu, get those vultures off of us.” Kirk barked as he stumbled backwards from another series of hits by the hungry Imperial fighters.

“Permission to fly freely sir?” Sulu asked with a wildman’s grin as he took the Enterprise into a hard dive towards the wounded Imperial Stardestroyer’s forecastle.

Kirk glanced down at his helmsman and they smiled at each other. Years of camaraderie made them more than friends.

“I’m going to regret this aren’t I?” Kirk chuckled.

Sulu shook his head and laughed as he began furiously working on the helm controls. The Enterprise kicked up as her impulse engines flared and she spun again on her axis, firing all the while on multiple phaser strips reducing the pursuing TIE fighters into rapidly expanding puffs of fire and debris.

Above them, a Strike Cruiser loomed, firing her weapons in support of the floundering stardestroyer. Sulu marked her in on his helm and drove hard into a power climb away from the stardestroyer, the resulting fire from her point defenses that eagerly sought out the Enterprise that only moments ago was diving right for her, instead found the cloud of fighters swarming after her.

Kirk nodded and patted Sulu on the shoulder.

“Not done yet, sir.” Sulu replied as the Strike cruiser drew closer. “If you don’t mind, Mr. Hawk, I could use some covering fire.” Sulu added.

The tactical officer grinned and began laying down a heavy pattern of phaser fire that danced off the port side shields of the Imperial light cruiser. Trailing behind the Strike cruiser was a Lancer class frigate. The smaller vessel was laying down a torrent of laser fire trying to act as a supplemental point defense for the stardestroyer as the fourth wave of proton torpedoes began punching gaping holes in her armored hull.

Kirk tensed as the Enterprise began to loop in under the Strike cruiser, her weapons fire splashing across the forward saucer.

“Scotty?” Kirk asked tensely.

“Phalanx is holding but we have to be careful sair, we’re skirting at the edge of the grid’s effective range. We dunna want to be outside the phalanx right now.” Scotty warned as he cautiously watched the stuttering readouts of the phalanx shield grid encompassing many small icons representing the fleet’s ships. As if to punctuate Scotty’s warning the stardestroyers closest to the battle began lending their firepower to the defense of their command ship.

Thermonuclear fire works and blossoming clouds of plasma tore the void around the Federation fleet and drew closer and closer to the Enterprise. There was no doubt that if the starship left the protective umbrella of the phalanx shield grid that it would be instantly vaporized under the withering assault.

“You hear that Mr. Sulu?” Kirk stressed.

“A little busy at the moment, sir. Give me a moment.” Sulu replied. The Enterprise bobbed and weaved between the storm of laser bolts and point defense fire, Imperial fighters right on her tail and pouring fire at the starship.

On screen the Strike cruiser skewed hard right then Sulu committed the Enterprise into a rapid spinning side slip into the wash of the Strike cruiser. Its weapons fire skipped off the Enterprise’s shields and the Lancer frigate switched from trying to intercept the incoming proton torpedoes to help destroy the Enterprise as she passed between the cruiser and the frigate in the blink of an eye. The fighters that doggedly followed were caught between the wash of the Strike cruiser’s ion engines or the rapid fire laser volleys of the Lancer frigate.

Sulu grunted as he worked his magic for one final maneuver and the entire ship moaned, deck plates rattled and the impulse engines vibrated so hard from the effort that the entire saucer section rumbled.

Kirk clutched at a guard rail by the upper portion of the bridge and held on for dear life as the Enterprise performed a seemingly impossible high g spinning turn, end over end, to face the remaining fighters that still followed.

“Now, Mr. Hawk!” Sulu shouted.

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Hawk exclaimed and phaser fire coupled with proximity fused torpedoes bracketed the fighters and blasted them into fiery oblivion.

Kirk realized he had been holding his breath those last few minutes and smiled.

“Mr. Sulu, I think I may put you up for a promotion.” Kirk commented dryly.

“Just doing my job, sir.” Sulu winked.

“Alright, what’s the status on the attack on the stardes---” Kirk began walking away from the guardrail back to his command chair when the Enterprise lurched forward hard then seemed to dip even harder to starboard.

Proximity alarms blared for a moment and then on screen the predatory image of three assault gunboats gracefully swept by the Enterprise and intense white fire jumped from each gunboat and struck the Enterprise.

Three more gunboats surged up from beneath the Enterprise and white bolts connected the vessels again prompting the Enterprise to buck upwards like a wild bronco trying to rid itself of a troublesome rider.

White arcing tendrils of electricity leapt from console to console. Readouts and controls went dead or winked on and off intermittently. Sulu found the helm sluggish then increasingly unresponsive.

“Sir, I’m losing helm control.”

“Navigation is out.”

“Communications down, sir.” Uhura reported with concern.

“Spock?” Kikr looked back at Spock fighting to stay on his feet as the Enterprise rocked again.

“Ion cannon blasts are disabling our central systems, Captain. We are losing power on all decks and weapons systems are disabled.” Spock explained.

“I thought we were hardened against ion blasts.” Kirk demanded of Scotty.

Scotty frowned as he was simultaneously trying to coax the starship back to life.

“Captain, I can harden the Enterprise to withstand ion cannon shots but there’s only so much she can take before the defenses are overwhelmed. Those are concentrated shots directly blasted into our key control systems.” Scotty replied bitterly. “There’s not much I can do sair. The ion charge needs to be cycled out of our systems and the main computer core needs to reboot.”

“How long?” Kirk demanded as he strode up to Scotty’s station. On screen the six assault gunboats came together and banked back around quickly to pass directly overhead.

“Hold on!” Sulu warned.

The intense white ion bolts flashed down along the saucer section, dancing around the bridge module and back down key power lines. The Enterprise dipped down hard in response to the kinetic impact of the ion bolts, her impulse engines unresponsive and warp drive down she was essentially dead in space and could not compensate for the force of the blasts.

Kirk was catapulted off his feet, crashed over the guard rail and landed awkwardly on his head.

“Captain!” Uhura exclaimed in alarm.

Sulu rose from his seat to quickly attend to Kirk while Spock seemed to vault over his science station with grace and speed and landed beside Sulu.

“Station, please, Mr. Sulu.” Spock calmly ordered as he gently cradled Kirk’s head.

Sulu reluctantly nodded and returned to his station.

“Mr. Scott, if you would please endeavor to recover our systems. We are as you humans like to say, a sitting duck, right now.”

Scotty nodded, a stricken expression on his face at seeing his Captain splayed out on the floor looking so lifeless in Spock’s hands. He composed himself quickly and turned his full attention to the controls.

Spock examined Kirk closely and then gently tapped on the combadge on his shirt.

“Spock to Dr. McCoy. We need you on the bridge immediately.”

“Hold your horses Spock, I’ve got a lot of casualties down here right now. I’ll be right up.”

“Doctor, it is the Captain.” Spock explained calmly as the Enterprise bucked again eliciting a rather colorful expletive from Scotty.

There was a muffled exclamation and then the channel went dead. The doctor was now indeed rushing to the bridge.

“Jim, you must hold on.” Spock urged softly.





The Dark Side of the Moon



“Jim’s in trouble.” Leia noted darkly. Her command crew was busy keeping track of the battle on the bridge of the Reckless Hope. The Alliance frigate was station keeping behind Andor’s fortress moon accompanied by several wings of starships and their support craft.

The hologhraphic representation of the battle playing out on the tactical console in the CIC of the frigate. Her military advisors were taking notes and passing on observations to the fleet commanders.

“The Enterprise has been disabled by ion cannon fire, Princess. The rest of the attack wing is trying to rescue them but they’re being swarmed by fighters and the stardestroyer Vengeance is refusing to die.” The captain explained.

Leia did not look down at the holographic display of the battle. Instead she looked back out at the armored view port where all she could see, aside from Andor’s moon, were the bright flashes of the battle raging beyond. But it did not matter. She felt as if she could see the battle better this way. She could almost feel Jim’s distress calling to her like a beacon.

“Captain, how long before we could clear the moon and rescue the Enterprise?” Leia asked evenly.

Captain Terrel blanched.

“Princess. I must stress that we have the entire Imperial right and center wing to fight through before we could approach the Enterprise. Not to mention Kirk’s plan for us.”

“Damn the plan. I need to save that man.” Leia explained.

“Princess. I have a priority message from the Cairo. Captain Jellico wishes to speak to you.” Threepio announced from his place at the comstation.

Leia frowned. Jellico was an infuriating man and she had not forgiven him for his near mutiny.

“He requests a private com channel with you.” Threepio added with some confusion.

Leia’s raised an eyebrow and quickly stalked over to the comstation. She glanced back at Terrel. “Prepare to make a hyperspace jump on my mark past the Imperial fleet and as close to the Enterprise as possible.” She ordered.

The command crew exchanged troubled glances. Terrell nodded curtly. He was from Alderaan. There could be no argument with his sovereign, especially after all that she had done for them.

Leia slipped an ear bud on and slapped the blinking button on the board.

“Jellico, this is Leia.” She announced calmly.

“I know what you’re thinking of doing.” He began simply.

“I didn’t know Terrans were mind readers now.” She replied evenly.

“Let’s not make this a sparring match, princess. You don’t like me and frankly I don’t like you either but that man out there gave us our marching orders and he was pretty explicit on what needed to be done. He even told us that the Enterprise is completely expendable. Don’t go half cocked like you’re wont to do and try and launch any rescue missions.”

“The plan will be just fine without the Hope.”

“Bullshit.” Jellico replied tightly. “This fleet is going to get massacred without your shield power added to our phalanx network and your big guns. Aside from the Excalibur, yours is the most powerful ship in our fleet. I won’t lecture you, your highness. You’re a big girl and you know what I’m saying is true. So I’ll just make my point bluntly.” Jellico paused so that all Leia could hear was her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, her anger at his frank assessment made the color rise in her face, and the light hiss of the comline.

“Don’t fuck with the plan.”

“Excuse me?” Leia hissed not accustomed to being spoken to in such a manner.

“You heard me. I’m not your daddy, princess so I won’t coddle you. You do this, you go and rescue Jim and you just ruined whatever chance we have of stopping this war here and now. Think on that.” Jellico closed the line without another word.

Leia pursed her lips and stared at the comboard for a long moment while she composed herself.

“Captain Terrell?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, your highness.” The Captain replied stepping in beside her.

“What are the chances of pulling Rogue squadron to assist in the Enterprise’s rescue?” she asked calmly.

Terrell frowned.

“Princess, I’m afraid Rogue squadron is currently in a battle supporting the Excalibur deep behind Imperial lines. If we order them to pull back –”

Leia nodded and smiled softly.

“We may lose the Excalibur. I understand.”

“Princess, just give me the word and I will take us into the maelstrom.” Terrell said grimly.

Leia reached out and gripped the young Alderanian’s shoulder and nodded softly.

“Thank you for that, Captain.” She took a deep breath. “But we will maintain our position until the time is right.”

“Understood, your highness.” Terrell paused. “He’s a great Captain, princess. He’ll get out of that trap. You’ll see.”

“Indeed. He is a most remarkable man, Princess.” Threepio chimed in cheerfully.

“Yes, he is Threepio. Yes he is.” She felt an odd sense of foreboding. There was something hanging on the periphery of her consciousness like a half remembered dream. For a moment she thought she heard Luke’s voice, distant like an echo. Then it was gone.




You’re swatting at Cat’s-paws



He was either dreaming or dead. He wasn’t quite sure as he had never been dead before except once on Vulcan long ago.

There was a sense of floating, as if he were carried on strange but calming winds. His troubles fell away from him like leaves from a tree in autumn. The war. The loss. The heartache. The loneliness. It was all falling away leaving just James Kirk.

No longer a Captain. The hero that he needed to be was no longer so important anymore. Even the defiance that he carried with him was laid down like a heavy burden by the river.

River?

How did he come here?

He glanced around and saw the trees bending slightly in the wind. It was all so familiar yet alien. A picnic blanket was laid out neatly beneath the shade of an elm tree. A basket, half open with a loaf of bread hanging out of one corner and a bottle of wine resting nestled beneath it, sat in the middle of the blanket.

A butterfly darted out of his way.

He was walking? When did he stop floating?

“Cortical stimulator.” A voice hissed on the wind through the leaves.

“What?” his voice sounded tired and muted.

A feminine figure stepped out of the river, water running in glittering rivulets off of her soft body. She was humming a simple tune to herself. He knew her. He would know her anywhere in the universe.

“Edith.” He whispered.

She turned to him and smiled. Her smile melted his heart as surely as it did so long ago when he was also a man out of time forced to make decisions that would effect the entire universe.

Save that his decision so long ago killed the woman he loved.

“Sentimental tripe really, you humans are so self involved it’s a wonder you evolved past the stage where you could annihilate yourselves.”

He blinked and looked down at the picnic blanket.

Q was sitting cross-legged on the edge of the blanket and casually tore off one end of the loaf of bread and sniffed at it.

“Trelayne.” Kirk frowned. “I’m either dreaming or dead. I don’t want you here either way.”

Q shook his head and clucked.

“I keep forgetting the differences between you and Picard. Granted you knew me during my shall we say impetuous youth but surely you think you could treat me with a little more respect. I am, after all, on your side.”

Kirk sighed heavily,.

“You’re on nobody’s side but your own.”

“Is everything alright, James?” Edith asked. She walked over from the river bank toweling off her hair and smiling at him curiously. She did not seem to notice Q sitting on the blanket.

“Everything is fine.” Kirk assured her and hesitantly reached out to touch her.

“Is this really what you want?” Q sniffed in disdain as he glanced around. “A rustic countryside, a rather unremarkable female of your species and some barely palatable food served on a cotton synthetic fiber draped over…unprocessed” Q wrinkled his nose as he noticed the ants crowding around the edges of the blanket. “soil?”

“Get out.” Kirk snapped angrily.

“James?” Edith whispered in surprise.

“Not you, sweetheart. Never you.” Kirk replied quickly and held her to him. He closed his eyes to feel her in his arms. When he did he saw Spock’s face hover into view for a moment and McCoy growling in the background. “I said 10cc’s nurse.”

Kirk’s eyes snapped open and the beautiful world where he stood was still there but everything had died down. The wind vanished and the swaying trees seemed frozen in place, Even Edith was nestled in his arms, unmoving, eyes closed as she was enjoying the moment too.

Only Q was moving. He rose from the picnic blanket and shrugged.

“I can leave if you want but I thought it was time I reminded you of the big picture, Jim. I can call you Jim of course.”

“Are you here to tell me that the universe is still ending?”

“You are sharp, aren’t you?” Q smiled. “For a glorified ape that is.” Q added under this breath in a stage whisper to no one in particular.

“Just get to the point.”

“Impatient. You know it was your human impatience that started this whole inexorable slide. Your Katherine Janeway and her impatience at getting her crew home, her tampering with the timelines one time too many. She caused the final unraveling of all you see before you. You think this pretty little war you’re fighting is some sort of random occurrence? You think its just another entry in someone’s history textbooks.” Q strode right up to Kirk, nearly standing nose to nose with him. “Everything that has happened has done so for a reason. This war is being orchestrated.”

“The Empire?”

“The Empire are cat’s-paws, Jimmy. So is the Imperium, Skywalker, Vader, Thrawn. All this time you think you’ve been carrying out a grand crusade to save your Federation when point in fact you’ve been swatting at cat’s-paws.”

“Then help me. Help me understand my enemy.” Kirk demanded.

“Your enemy is….” Q paused as if balancing what he needed to say very carefully. “someone you already understand quite well.” He finished with a mysterious smile.

“You’re about as helpful as Rinarian Anthrax.” Kirk smirked.

“James. Listen to me now. This battle is merely a shadow play. It is a pale reflection of the one to come very soon. Battle lines are being drawn for the true conflict. Your enemy, he’s a sly one, he thinks he has me fooled. He thinks I’m ignorant to what he is planning but I’m not. He and his ally will bring death and destruction to this galaxy before the wave of entropy that has consumed more than two thirds of the universe arrives here at the locus point of it all.”

“Why?”

Q smiled softly and shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

“You…don’t know.” Kirk repeated hesitantly.

“Shocking, isn’t it?” Q snorted. “You are the first mortal I have ever uttered those words to in all seriousness. I just don’t know. But I can tell you this. You must seek them out. Here.” Q held up the palm of his right hand and the image of a great angry red and green gas giant sprang to life over it. A metal orb, half constructed and bloated with weapons and malevolence sat quietly in the shadow of that world.

“What is that?”

“The Deathstar.” Q’s eyebrows rose up and down with the answer in mock dramatic fashion.

“Where?”

“You remember your last errand of mercy where you made a stand against the gods there?”

Kirk confusion was clearly etched on his face.

“Ask around about that world, James. You will find that only you and your crew remember that mission and the treaty you helped forge.”

“Organia?” Kirk replied hesitantly.

“I will say no more,” the world around them seemed to flutter. Q looked around. “apparently your doctor is more skilled than I thought. You’re not going to die. Yet.” Q winked. The world around Kirk faded quickly like a hologram being shut off. Everything dimmed until there was only darkness and Kirk could feel hands roughly manhandling him. Something was on his forehead and Edith started to vanish as well. She looked up at him.

“I know you will always do the right thing, James.” She said with a gentle sigh and then she too was gone.

“No!”

Kirk stood alone in the dark save for Q who stood in front of him holding a guttering candle.

“You remember what I told you. Organia, James. That’s where this drama must end.”

“You bastard. I bet you could end this with a snap of your fingers. All of this.”

Q smirked.

“But where would the drama be in that, James Kirk? Every story needs a hero, a villain, a romance and a climax. Deux ex machinas are for the weak and the morons. I don’t count you among their number.”

Even Q began to fade. Intermittingly Spock’s or McCoy’s face hazily drifted into view.

“I think he’s coming around.” McCoy pronounced with a smile.

“Oh, James. You didn’t think I was kidding when I said you had two possible paths to take did you? You still have a decision to make.” Q reminded him slyly.

“Trelayne!” Kirk sat up ramrod straight, the cortical stimulator hanging off his forehead while Spock and McCoy restrained him.

“it’s alright Jim. You’re going to be OK. Just a concussion.” McCoy explained gently.

The ship lurched beneath their feet for a moment but it wasn’t weapons fire that caused it. A deep thump echoed up the hull.

“What the hell is going on?” Kirk demanded.

Spock was about to answer when the soft female voice of the ship’s computer suddenly announced “Intruder Alert. Repeat Intruder Alert.”

“The Imperial ships immobilized us and disabled our defenses.” Spock calmly explained as he helped Kirk up to his feet.

“Mr. Spock there’s another one.” Sulu stated grimly and pointed to the view screen. An imperial assault transport was descending rapidly towards the view screen and it soon covered the entirety of it. The bridge shuddered hard and a deep clunk of metal on metal reverberated through the walls and floor.

“We are being boarded.” Spock finished.

Kirk shook his head to clear it and pulled the stimulator off and cast it away.

“Alright then. All crewmen to your battle stations. Security teams to the bridge and engineering.” Kirk began ordering. There was the sound of heavy machinery moving above them and the scrape of metal boots on the ceiling. Someone was walking on the bridge module.

“Scotty lock out all controls and let the computer run things, I don’t want those bastards seizing control of the ship because they managed to get a hold of a random computer terminal here or at engineering.”

“Aye.” Scotty replied tightly.

“Everyone, draw your weapons.” Kirk ordered loudly. Sulu and the others drew their phasers and backed away from the source of the noise directly over the viewer. Suddenly sparks hissed down from a portion of the ceiling over the view screen.

“Intruder alert. Intruder alert.”

They could hear the distinct sound of blaster fire echoing up the tubolift shaft.

Kirk’s hand drifted down to his belt to grab his phaser but it was no longer there. He looked down sharply. His phaser must have come loose when he took his tumble. But another weapon waited patiently at his hip.

“I’m not going to let those sinners take this ship.” Scotty snapped angrily as he drew his phaser and powered it up to kill.

The shower of sparks and molten metal grew more insistent and the ceiling began to give way. There was a hint of motion and white armor.

Kirk drew the lightsaber and held up over his head, activating it with a sharp snap hiss and illuminating them all in its cool blue glow just as the primary lighting flickered then failed.

“Crew of the Starship Enterprise.” Kirk began looking around at his assembled bridge crew. “Loyal officers and men of Starfleet, valiant citizens of the Federation.” Kirk shouted over the sound of the burning ceiling. “Prepare to defend yourselves!”

The ceiling gave way and the Imperial Stormtroopers dropped down like a grim rain of white and black. Kirk flashed his lightsaber forward.

“The Federation lives!” he exclaimed.

[Ghost Rider]

Always teasing with the ending. Still good stuff, Stravo...good stuff

[Darth Garden Gnome]

You read that in five minutes GR?

[Ghost Rider]

You read that in five minutes GR?

I read fast...and given I'm sitting at work waiting for a return call, what else am I to do?

Plus Stravo's style of writing read faster then most. He settle for small descriptions and more dialogue then long exposition about a blade of grass.

[Noble Ire]

My favorite segment of the battle so far, I think.
I was wondering when the Princess would make an appearance again.

As usual, though, I suspect that things are going to get worse for Kirk and co. before they get better.

[Darth Garden Gnome]

Finally the Feds show they have some balls and take down a few Star Destroyers! And the ending, yes, very well done... I wonder what big villian will end up striding down the hallways of the Enterprise before this battle is through?

[Arrow]

Kirk-Fu with a Lightsaber. The stormies don't stand a chance...

[Mr Bean]

Bah!
Kirk hasn't a clue how to swing a saber, He's going to cut his own bloody arm off, you can count on that.

[Crazedwraith]

hmm. Kirk hasn't had any Jedi training that I've missed has he? He should get his ass kicked by blasterfire in short order while trying to swing that thing around.

Congradulations! 3000 Posts!-Bean

[Darth Yoshi]

Cliffhangers!

Kirk'll be fine, once an stray blast narrowly tears his shirt. I'm looking forward to the uber dogfight between Luke and Vader, though.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Cliffhangers!

Kirk'll be fine, once an stray blast narrowly tears his shirt. I'm looking forward to the uber dogfight between Luke and Vader, though.

I would imagine his shirt must already be ripped at this point, but it hasn't been mentioned yet. Remember, it has to be actually refered to before he becomes invicable, remember his fight with Boba

[fusion]

Question is will Kirk do the same thing to the DS2 as in ROTJ
I guessing your writer's block has cleared Stravo.
Seven more chapters to 100

[Jason von Evil]

I'm convinced that eventually this fic will grow to a point that its mass will begin to warp the very fabric of reality.

"The Federation lives!" Indeed.