Star Crossed Fanfic

[Soontir C'boath]

*pants slows down* you have satisfy my hunger with the battle. I thank you. THIS IS GREAT STUFF.....YOUR GREAT!

Cyaround,
Jason

[Crown]

Stravo, I have to say that you are able to depict large scale battles very affectively! This is one good, fanfic, please keep posting, please!

[FireNexus]

I gotta say, as blasphermous as this may sound, this fic is better than conquest. My only nitpick is that your dialogue punctuation is wrong.

"Your dialogue punctuation is wrong," he said, emphatically, an icy glare across his face. "Now fix it, or die."

That's correct. When you continue the sentence on after the end of the dialogue, you use a comma then the end quotation. The dialogue is part of the overall sentence, not one of it's own. Otherwise, good stuff. Can't wait to see more of the Q/Player plot.

[Stravo]

My only nitpick is that your dialogue punctuation is wrong.

"Your dialogue punctuation is wrong," he said, emphatically, an icy glare across his face. "Now fix it, or die."

I can't argue that point, I think punctation and grammar are the main reasons why I wasn't an english major, instead I majored in History. I guess I could get my lazy butt up and look at the maual of style....but I prefer to spend my time writing than reading how to write....I plan to invest in an editor if this lark of mine ever becomes a reality....

[Master of Ossus]

Great work, yet again, Stravo. No, no one cares about the Romulans, very much. And I liked the reference to THX.

[Mr Bean]

I gotta say, as blasphermous as this may sound, this fic is better than conquest.

Hey this is not the Mike Wong Fan-club here, not all of us Liked Conquest, personaly I hated the set-up, the boring fights, the one-demensional charaters(Its obvious what he put the effort into and who he did not)
The ending was good, if predictable, As soon as I heard Q had been messing with that other Imperal Admiral, I said, ahh Wongs going to say SW comes from ST.

[Darth Garden Gnome]

I gotta say, as blasphermous as this may sound, this fic is better than conquest.

Hey this is not the Mike Wong Fan-club here, not all of us Liked Conquest, personaly I hated the set-up, the boring fights, the one-demensional charaters(Its obvious what he put the effort into and who he did not)
The ending was good, if predictable, As soon as I heard Q had been messing with that other Imperal Admiral, I said, ahh Wongs going to say SW comes from ST.

SHRIEK! *covers Mr. Bean's motuh with hand, and drags him into corner*
The Admin. is every where,and no where. But I can save you!
*shoves Mr. Bean into broom closet*
He'll never find you in here! Hehehehehe!!!!! Wong god does not see broom closet.....

[Soontir C'boath]

SHRIEK! *covers Mr. Bean's motuh with hand, and drags him into corner*
The Admin. is every where,and no where. But I can save you!
*shoves Mr. Bean into broom closet*
He'll never find you in here! Hehehehehe!!!!! Wong god does not see broom closet.....

Lmao....where you from? The Protection Agency?

Cyaround,
Jason

[Mr Bean]

*Wistles as he walks by the Gnome and waves, he still being in the act of closing that door

Fear those with the power of Irony and a sense of humor

[Stravo]

Its late at night, I was bored...that can only mean one thing. It's time for a new chapter....



Chapter 11: Terrible Swift Sword


Nemesis waited patiently in his meditation chamber as he heard the voices beyond. Mara was welcoming the newcomer in and he heard the sharp click of stormtrooper boots on the deck plates outside his door. He allowed his thoughts to roam free for while longer. He was in no hurry.

He followed the visions as they came. The emperor had taught him that the force would guide you were it wanted you to go, there was no fighting it, and to force the dark side to show you what you wished to see was utter folly. It would show you your own doom, or a false vision and you would be led into ruin.

He let his vision float free and there he saw something he did not expect.

He was standing in a chamber, cold gasses were seeping in everywhere, and he heard the sound of heavy machinery moving somewhere above him. He slowly turned around, trying to peer through the smoky air. He could feel eyes on him but there was nothing he could do. He was trapped in the chamber and there did not seem to be a way out. His hand went to his lightsaber and it activated with a snap hiss.

What was it about this chamber that tripped warnings in the back of his head?

A figure was moving in the mists ahead of him and he waited patiently as it approached. He was Darth Nemesis, lord of the Sith, he feared no man or thing.

Mara Jade walked out of the mists and stopped as she saw him. He stared for a long moment, in awe of her beauty. She stood naked before him, only her long reddish blonde hair draped over her breasts covered her. Otherwise she stood completely revealed and she was beautiful.

“What is it my lord?” She asked innocently and she moved, sinewy muscles uncoiled under her taut skin. His eyes remained focused on her face, but he was aroused by her magnetism.

“Even here, in my visions you haunt me.” He replied hoarsely.

She smiled seductively and edged closer.

“You haunt mine as well, but I’m so strong, my lord. The emperor has crafted me to be devoted to him and him alone.” She purred and one of her hands touched his shoulder. There was an electric jolt on contact that made him breathe deeper.

“That disturbs you doesn’t it?” She asked and leaned in closer, her full supple breasts pressed on his chest. A bead of sweat broke on his brow.

“No. You are merely a tool.” He replied coolly.

She looked into his eyes and there was a smile on her lips.

“Ah, you lie well, my lord. But you want me. You want me so much it burns.” She whispered and her lips now hovered agonizing inches from his. He tried to center himself but his heart beat in his ears like thunder and one of his hands slowly rose to slide around her waist.

Mara’s eyes twinkled as she leaned in closer, past his lips and her own soft lips pressed against his ear. He felt his blood rushing through him like a storm.

“I will betray you.” She whispered right into his ear. He gasped as the blade entered his sternum and jolted upward into his heart. His fingers went numb and his lightsaber dropped from his grip. It sounded far away, as if he had dropped it down a long shaft as it clattered to the ground.

She gently pushed him backwards and his legs failed him. He collapsed backwards onto the heard metal grating.

“All too easy.” She whispered.

He stared up at her dumbly, seeing the blood rushing from his wound, each beating of his heart sent a new crimson gush of blood up into the air. Each beat sent him deeper into the darkness and cold gripped his limbs.

“Mara…” he gasped through a mouth filled with blood.

She smiled down on him victoriously. Suddenly her beautiful eyes were replaced by pale yellow orbs. Her sweet voice replaced by an old rasping one, ancient and corrupt.

“Young fool. Only now, at the end, do you understand.”

Mara laughed and it was a throaty raspy one and as the last of his vision failed, he heard it, deep and resonant in the background, the mechanically precise breathing.

His eyes snapped open as Mara led Admiral T’Vok into his meditation chamber. T’Vok nearly froze as he saw Nemesis floating above the floor, legs crossed.

Nemesis eyed Mara suspiciously. She did not seem to notice.

“Lord Nemesis, as you requested, Admiral T’Vok has been brought to you via shuttle.”

T’Vok knew that the distances they were talking about, a warbird would take months if not years to reach this deep into the Delta quadrant. His trip by shuttle had been a handful of hours.

“How can I be of service, my lord?” T’Vok asked softly.

Nemesis slowly descended down to his feet and casually pulled his cape around him as he strode towards Admiral T’Vok.

“Admiral, I have been reading with interest these intelligence reports from your Tal’Shiar.”

T’Vok said nothing but walked with the Sith lord as he strode past T’Vok towards the back of his meditation chamber. Mara remained a respectful distance behind.

“I was particularly interested in Project Risen Phoenix.”

“Risen Phoenix?” T’Vok repeated neutrally.

Nemesis smiled grimly to himself.

“You heard me Admiral. As I understand it, the project came about as a result of some rather fortuitous turn of events in battle against the Dominion near the end of your war with them. You recovered an artifact. A sample of their technology that they always found a way to destroy before any of your forces could get their hands on one.”

“I am aware of the Project. During the last engagement against the Dominion, our forces managed to over run a Dominion held moon in the Cardasia home system. Our ground forces captured a fully functioning lab and we quickly disassembled it and brought it to Romulus.”

“Ah, you dance around the issue like a harem girl, admiral.” Nemesis replied wanly. T’Vok did not take kindly to the comparison.

“Very well. It is a fully functional Dominion cloning tank. We have yet to decipher all of the technology and we were certainly not going to start cloning Jem’Hadar.”

Nemesis stopped and turned. He stared into the admiral’s eyes.

“I believe that we can decipher the technology of the cloning tanks. And we have a very good use for them.”

T’Vok frowned.

“Do not be so sad, Admiral. The Romulans will be carried forth upon our victorious shoulders. Your people’s place in the Empire’s ultimate victory will not be forgotten. When the Federation and your enemies grovel at your feet, you will have us to thank.”

“What is to be done then?” T’Vok asked. The very last secret they had was now revealed. His people had absolutely no weapons against them now. And what use could these people have with the cloning tanks?

“You will return and I will place you in charge of a new project. It will ensure our dominance forever in this galaxy. I have the utmost faith in you, admiral.” Nemesis replied and motioned for the admiral to leave. Mara instantly appeared by the Admiral’s side.

“Right this way, T’Vok.” She instructed gently. T’Vok took one last look at Nemesis and followed Mara Jade out. She returned and stood passively by nemesis’ side.

“You know what must be done. Find the finest specimen among our stormtroopers. I want only the finest stock.”

Mara nodded and a slow smile appeared on her face.

“I think I have precisely the one in mind, my lord.”

“Oh?” He asked warily.

“He is hiding out in secret among the troopers assigned to this vessel. He is the commander of the Emperor’s Personal Guard.”

“Why wasn’t I aware of this?” Nemesis asked hotly, turning on Mara. Mara took several quick steps backwards.

“My Lord, the emperor deploys his guardsmen throughout the fleet on a regular basis. It is to keep their combat training fresh. The hands are aware of several in any fleet in case we require assistance from someone whose loyalty is above question. But you are a Sith Lord, the personal envoy of the emperor himself. What need have you to know of the deployment of guardsmen?” She answered without hesitation.

Nemesis stared at her for a long moment, eyes peering into hers. She had no idea what he was doing, whether he could see into her mind as clearly as he saw into the others.

“Leave me. I have much to think upon.” He replied curtly and motioned her away. She quickly left after bowing slightly. He watched her leave and stared at the door for a long moment. He turned away with a flap of his cape and strode deeper into the shadows.

Save that this time, they did not soothe him.





He had not eaten in a long time. He could not remember how long it had been. Sometimes, a droid would come, he could always hear the near silent hum of its repulsorlifts and it would administer what he guessed were vitamin shots or some such. They took the edge off the aching hollowness in his belly but never quite filled it.

The irony was that his hunger was not due to lack of food. They brought him simple rations every day, he simply chose to ignore them as he sat, knees up to his chin and eyes closed in thought in the corner of his smallish cell.

He did not want the aching emptiness in his belly to go away. He wanted it to grow and eventually consume him. The shame ate at his heart like a worm inching its way through earth.

He heard the door open. He did not raise his head. Maybe they would come and end it for him. It would be such a blessing.

“Still won’t eat, eh?” The young quiet voice asked.

“Is it you?” He asked hesitantly.

“As always, I come to bring you a new plate only to find that the last one is untouched. It’s not healthy for you, Captain.” The voice replied warmly. He heard him lift the tray that had been sitting in front of him and replace it with another.

“Healthy.” He laughed but it came out more as a rasp.

“Please captain. At least drink something. The vita shots can’t be very satisfying.”

“Who are you anyway? You come, you talk, but I don’t know your name.”

The young man remained silent for a moment.

“I’m Han. I talk to you because you seem rather lonely in here.”

“How does a trooper in this bloody dictatorship care about anyone, particularly an enemy?”

“Dictatorship? I guess. But they’ve been broadcasting on ship entertainment systems some of the history of your enlightened society. Seems that order is not exactly what you’re best known for. And loyalty…they keep mentioning this Cardasian war and these rebels called Maquis. Unfortunately, I know about rebels.” The young man replied neutrally.

“So do I.” He answered stiffly.

“Oh?”

“You know, it’s ironic. I’m growing a beard, at least as best as I can tell.”

He felt the young man lean in closely for a moment.

“Yeah, you are working on a beard there. Why is that ironic?”

He sighed. Why is it that all he wanted to do was it here in silence and wait for the end, but Han always got him to talk, always got him to open up?

“My father grew a beard in a Cardasian prison camp. He died there right before the armistice. The Cardies returned my father as he was in the prison camp. I remember looking at his body wondering what he had suffered through.”

“Did you miss him?”

He nodded slowly.

“Terribly. I got my first post as an XO while he was in prison camp. My father was not an officer, he was a noncom. It made him so proud to know that his son was an officer.”

“I wonder how he would have felt knowing that you’re a captain now.”

He remained silent for a long time. Han was silent as well. They sometimes spent hours in silence in the cell. Han never pressed him for anything.

“I miss my father very much.” He whispered.

“I never knew my father.” Han replied.

“Oh?”

“He just wasn’t in my life. I spent half my youth idolizing his memory.”

“Then what?”

Han sighed deeply.

“Then I grew up.”

He nodded slowly.

“You think your beard is ironic because your father grew one in a prison camp and he died there? You think the same will happen to you?”

“Han, let’s not kid ourselves. You’re a nice guy, I appreciate your visits and these chats, but the fact of the matter is that Lord Nemesis is a stone cold killer and he doesn’t give a damn about anyone or anything. Once my crew and I are no longer useful to him, I have no doubt that he’ll space us.”

Han shifted uncomfortably, he could hear him moving about slowly, shifting from his sitting position on what he thought must have been a bed.

“Sometimes we have to look at the big picture. Lord Nemesis does as he’s told.”

“Sometimes, the freedom to say no is all that we have. Besides, many of the great holocausts of my people have been committed by men who were just following orders.” He replied sharply.

“Well, I must be going now, you’re not the only prisoner I have to feed. You’re just the most interesting.” He heard the tightness in Han’s voice.

“Han.” He called out. He could feel the young man stop from rising.

“I didn’t want to say anything to hurt you. You’ve been kind to me, and I appreciate that.”

“That’s alright, Captain Ochoa. Sometimes the truth does that to people. You have been nothing but truthful since I met you and I respect that. Now please…eat. The food looks delicious.”

He could almost hear the young man kick himself.

“You know what I mean.”

“I do, Han.” He replied softly. He thought that Han wanted to say something else, he could feel the tension in the air, the intake of breath before speaking, but then Han simply left the room.

Captain Ochoa remained sitting in the darkness.




The angry red eye of Romulus stared out into the stars. A flotilla of warbirds cruised along menacingly, patrolling the system that had once been theirs but was now firmly in the hands of an enemy power. The people still looked up at the Imperial symbol fluttering overhead on every flagpole, humming in the center of every idle holoscreen. Everywhere there were signs of the occupation.

The warbirds, once the mightiest and proudest warships in the Romulan navy, had proven completely impotent before the might of the empire.

They did not nor could not expect what happened next.

A Galaxy class and two Sovereign class ships decloaked in the middle of one of the flotillas on patrol. The ships immediately unleashed a deadly barrage of phaser and quantum torpedo fire. The phaser emitters of the ships unleashing up to three full powered blasts simultaneously along different planes, some severing warbirds in half or burning through an engine nacelle. The torpedoes detonated with awesome might, most in the depths of the great open spaces between the warbirds’ hulls, evenly distributing their explosive force.

The warbirds returned fire.

Several more warbirds decloaked in optimum position to encircle the Federation ships. However they were struck by torpedoes that seemed to spring out from nowhere. Then a dozen more starships decloaked around the warbirds surrounding the original three starships. Before long Federation starships were decloaking along the Romulan lines.

The home guard fleet was stunned by the sudden appearance of dozens of Federation warships.

“This is Bunker Hill to 2nd and 3rd wings. Fan out and engage all Romulan warships. Punch a hole for the 1st, 4th and 5th wings.”

“Acknowledged, Bunker Hill, moving to engage.”

“Essex, this is Bunker Hill. I have a feeling that our Romulan friends still have some assets in hiding, activate tachyon net, let’s light ‘em up.”

“Copy that, Bunker Hill. Initiating tachyon bursts.” The Captain of the Essex replied.

Picard listened to the entire exchange with a growing sense of wonder. The shadow fleet was far more disciplined than he had imagined. Everyone had a job and they did it without question. Durant, despite his age, was orchestrating the attack with the calm demeanor of an admiral twice his age.

The Essex was an ancient Oberth class science vessel, but there were some key differences. Instead of one secondary hull there were two. One hull was packed with delicate and sensitive sensor equipment, the other with subspace warfare equipment. The Essex was a class of ship Starfleet simply did not have, an intelligence and subspace warfare vessel.

The Essex fired a series of torpedoes. Instead of the usual red these torpedoes had a cool blue hue to them and they detonated a set distance form the rapidly growing shadow fleet. Upon detonation a shower of blue sparks spread through the area, within moments the outline of warbirds became sharp and distinct where none had been before. The tachyon bursts defeated the cloaking devices making cloaked vessels visible for short periods of time.

“Torpedo gunners, lock on the Essex’s ranging data and fire for effect.” Durant calmly ordered as the Bunker Hill led the invasion fleet into the breech. The massive warship was firing spreads of quantum torpedoes, its phasers slashing everywhere. Romulan return fire splashed against the ship’s shields and it looked as if nothing could stop the dreadnought as it continued on its way.

The long range torpedo ships were parked several hundred thousand kilometers away from the war zone. Their multiple torpedo launchers were constantly firing in rapid ripple fire mode. The torpedoes would travel at high warp and cross the distances in a matter of seconds. However, the ships were out of range of the Romulan warbirds, thus Durant’s torpedo ships were confronting the Romulan commanders with a thorny dilemma. They could divert ships away from the desperate defense of Remus to deal with the torpedo ships, or they could concentrate their forces to oppose the assault force.

The Romulan commanders were currently deciding to ignore the torpedo ships and focusing on shoring up their lines. They were paying for that however as dozens of quantum torpedoes exploded among their lines in rapid succession without letup. Some of the inbound torpedoes suddenly switched targets to the revealed warbirds, guided by the Essex’s powerful sensors.

The explosions lit up the stars around the rapidly growing Federation fleet. The Romulan commanders’ alarm grew into near panic as their planet bound scanner arrays reported nearly a hundred starships had now decloaked near their home worlds.

“Bunker Hill to 1st wing, engage planetary defenses on Remus, clear us a nice landing zone. Planetary assault ships stand by for my order. Valhalla, we’re picking up reinforcements from Romulus, you’re on.”

“Acknowledged, Bunker Hill, engaging.” Picard answered.

He turned to R-7.

“Inform the attack wing to decloak and engage on my command.”

“Aye sir.”

On screen, dozens of warbirds which had been defending Romulus were racing towards Remus as it soon became evident they were completely ignoring Romulus. Picard was unaccustomed to attacking from a cloaked vessel. It went against every instinct. But there was no other way to thoroughly infiltrate the Romulan lines. Besides, as Durant pointed out, the irony was quiet delicious.

“Move into primary attack position, prepare a full barrage from all torpedo turrets.” Picard ordered as he watched the warbirds grow quickly on screen.

Behind his attack wing he knew that the 1st wing was now engaging the orbital defense platforms around Remus. The 1st wing was led by a crusty old Texan named Jeb Maxwell and his twang was loud and proud as he announced that his wing was now engaging the planetary defense system.

Jeb’s starship, The Alamo, was a heavily modified Nebula class. The sensor pod was replaced by what Durant casually called the tactical pod. It was essentially composed of as many torpedo launchers and phaser banks that could be jammed into the space available. When the Alamo fired its full weapons spread it was a truly awesome sight as dozens of torpedoes and four or five phaser blasts lanced out at individual targets.

The orbital platforms were under heavy attack by several dozen heavily armed starships. The platforms’ shields were soon collapsing, several of them exploding in massive blasts of hot gasses. Several starships from the 1st wing were overwhelmed by the heavy plasma torpedoes. One of them exploded, another two slowly fell back, tendrils of plasma and electricity running along their blackened hulls.

“Uh, Bunker Hill, we lost the Fitzpatrick and the Savannah, the Tobruk is heavily damaged, I’ve ordered them to fall back to position six, request heavy torpedo back up, this might get hairy in a few more minutes.”

“Understood, Alamo, heavy torpedo support in bound, prepare to switch to armor on your next pass.”

“Acknowledged, Bunker Hill, switching to armor.”

Meanwhile, Picard gave the order to decloak just as the warbirds passed underneath his attack fleet’s main guns. Twenty starships decloaked and unloaded their primary weapons in a matter of seconds. The warbirds, were all struck, many of them heavily damaged as their captains had ordered power diverted to engines to clear the distance between Romulus and Remus, leaving little for the defensive systems.

The relief fleet was thrown into disarray as Picard’s attack fleet tore into them without mercy. Warbirds were stalked and hunted down, phaser fire rippled along their great green hulls, leaving blackened gashes. Torpedoes streaked into the warbirds’ formations, exploding and sending their hastily gathered lines into disarray.

“This is the Valhalla, Romulan relief force intercepted and neutralized.”

“Uh, come again, Valhalla, I read Romulan relief fleet still active.”

Picard paused. The Romulans were now in a route, half their force shattered, many ships just hulks in space, the rest were retreating back to the safety of Romulus and the still active orbital batteries there.

“Bunker Hill, Romulan force neutralized, they are no longer a threat to the task force.”

“Valhalla, this assignment calls for complete destruction of enemy forces. Neutralization means destroyed, nothing else is acceptable. Please comply.”

Picard stared dumbly at the communicator.

“The shadow fleet operates under slightly different rules of engagement than Starfleet.” R-7 added helpfully.

“You are not seriously suggesting that I destroy those powerless ships out there?” Picard breathed staring in muted horror at R-7.

“Our orders are to neutralize all opposition forces with extreme prejudice.”

“Listen to yourself, R-7. You’re callously talking about destroying lives that do not need to be taken. They’re utterly defenseless and not a threat to this task force.”

“This is Bunker Hill to Valhalla, comply immediately.”

Picard’s jaw set grimly. He would not take lives needlessly like this. Suddenly several ships from his attack fleet peeled away and attacked the disabled Romulan warbirds, destroying them with well placed torpedo and phaser fire. His face darkened.

“I did not give the order for that attack!” Picard boomed.

“Captain Durant did on the private channel, sir. I suspect he did not want to embarrass you on an open channel.”

As Picard was about to reply he saw several Klingon warships join the strafing runs on the disabled Romulan ships.

“What is that? Why are they here?”

R-7 cocked his head.

“The Klingon warships are actually Shadow fleet vessels. I believe that it is part of a disinformation campaign of Captain Durant’s.”

Picard whirled back to look at the Klingon ships as they cloaked again after attacking.

“He means to implicate them in this attack.” Picard accused.

“That is standard procedure when engaged in an operation of this magnitude.” R-7 replied evenly.

Picard stared at his android first officer and started to feel that perhaps he was in over his head. Simultaneously, as he looked into the utter emotionless eyes of R-7 he suspected that he had over estimated the android. Perhaps there was nothing in there at all, and he was alone on a ship of machines.




Meanwhile the assault on Remus was almost complete. A section of the orbital defense batteries had been destroyed by the 1st wing. The 3rd wing was setting up a perimeter around the assault area.

“Bunker Hill to Layette Gulf, I want a CAP over the assault area immediately.”

“Copy that Bunker Hill, deploying squadrons.”

The Layette Gulf was a converted Galaxy class vessel. It was an experimental warship for the shadow fleet. Four huge hangar bays had been grafted on to the hull of the Galaxy, giving it the capability of carrying four squadrons of smaller vessels. In the case of the Layette Gulf, her load out consisted of two squadrons of Delta Flyer class fighters and two squadrons of Runabouts.

The Layette Gulf launched one squadron each of Delta Flyers and Runabouts, which immediately deployed over the assault area to provide close air support and escort for the incoming planetary assault craft.

“Bunker Hill to Sword and Juno…you’re on.”

“Roger that Bunker Hill, we are inbound. Estimate planet fall in two minutes.”

Two Intrepid class ships decloaked and raced towards the open gap in Remus’ orbital batteries. The Intrepids began firing as they descended through the atmosphere, counter battery fire against the planetary disruptors whose fire was rising up to meet them as they descended. The Intrepids were heavily modified for planetary assault. Janeway would not recognize the inside of this ship. All living quarters, labs, holodecks, etc had been torn out and replaced with barracks and shield generators. The planetary assault Intrepids could take five times the damage that her non-refit sister ships could take.

As they approached the planet’s surface, enormous landing gear slowly descended from armored bays on the underside of the secondary hull and the Intrepids slowed. Some disruptor fire danced along their shields but the roving Delta flyers and Runabouts quickly descended and took out the batteries.

The Intrepids finally landed, their phasers lashing out with pinpoint accuracy against Romulan ground defenses. Heavy troop concentrations were quickly incinerated as the Intrepids fired torpedoes into them, the detonations flattening anything in their blast radius.

The shuttle bays opened and out rushed hordes of Datas, holding phaser rifles. Mass transporters were also beaming the Datas all over the perimeter of the battle field. The Datas moved with uncanny precision, firing and advancing expertly.

“Juno to Bunker Hill, we have secured beach head. Standing by.”

“Acknowledged, Juno, prepare for special delivery. Set up transporter enhancers.”

“ETA for set up, 4 minutes.”

The Datas were exchanging fire with the survivors of the Romulan defense forces, those that managed to survive the multi megaton air bursts over head from the assault Intrepid’s torpedo launchers.

“What are they doing?” Picard asked quietly, sullen and resigned to the fact that there was not going to be a way out of this without more blood.

“Setting up transporter enhancers for delivery of the strategic weapon.” R-7 answered.

Picard stiffened in his chair.

“The strategic weapon? You mean the little boy?”

“That is correct, Captain. The little boy must be beamed down into the planet itself. The transporter enhancers are necessary to do so.”

On the surface of Remus, Datas and Romulans were fighting viciously for any ground that either could gain. The androids were heedless of losses or personal danger, sometimes intentionally placing themselves in harm’s way to expose an enemy position. The androids were also merciless, killing Romulans, whether they were wounded or surrendered.

They would sidestep their fallen brethren, if the damage was too great an automated self destruct would be triggered destroying the android utterly. Those that were salvageable would be quickly picked up by follow on teams and tagged with special transporter transponders. The mass transporters, once done disgorging troops would then beam the damaged androids back.

In the center of the beachhead, between the two assault ships, the androids were setting up large transporter enhancers. Picard watched them on his screen, the androids, all with Data’s face, grimly mounted the large tripod assembly and checked all the components. One took a hit in the shoulder from a disruptor blast, it was nearly thrown off its feet but recovered and continued working without skipping a beat.

The leader activated a power switch and the enhancers began to pulse.

“This is G-99, Pattern enhancers activated and working well within parameters.”

“I read you, G-99, Juno, Sword, begin recovery operations of your troops. This is Bunker Hill moving into transporter range and preparing for delivery of Little Boy.”

Picard leaned forward in his seat as he watched the phalanxes of Datas methodically get beamed away from the frontlines. The Romulans pressed forward, unsure why their enemy was beaming out but not willing to let this opportunity escape them.

“G-99, this is Bunker Hill, set up defensive perimeter around pattern enhancers.”

“Acknowledged.” G-99 replied and he and his team quickly took up positions around the pattern enhancers, firing their phaser rifles with deadly accuracy as the advancing Romulans.

“This is Juno to Bunker Hill, recovery operations complete. Guardian force set around enhancers, requesting permission to pull back.”

“Permission granted. Bunker Hill to all fleet elements begin pullback, one AU minimum safe distance.”

The fleet quickly began to break up. The heavier ships lumbered away, cloaking themselves as the shattered remnant of the Romulan defense force tried to give chase. Flights of Defiants zoomed by, exchanging fire with crippled warbirds as they cloaked themselves as well.

As the Intrepids lifted off, they fired one last salvo of torpedoes at Romulan heavy weapons and troop concentrations, their phasers fired, gouging deep canyons in the earth around the pattern enhancers creating a makeshift earth works that kept the Romulans at bay as they lifted off and disappeared up into the sky.

“R-7, get us out of here.” Picard spat and slumped in his chair.

“Yes sir.”

The Valhalla pulled away, cloaking itself as it did so.

Within moments, the great Federation armada was gone, cloaked and under way. Only the Bunker Hill and the Alamo remained.

“Alamo, to Bunker Hill, last of our attack wings is gone.”

“Deploying little boy.” Durant replied. The pattern enhancers flashed as they caught the transporter signature and carried the signal down deep into the bowels of Remus.

“Bunker Hill, bugging out.”

“Right behind you boss.”

Both ships went to warp immediately.

Picard watched the screen, intent on the dwindling shape of Remus. He was about to say something when it became obvious to him that there was no detonation.

There was a flash of light that erupted from deep within Remus, a great geyser of earth and atmosphere exploded into space and there was a strange pattern of light that quickly spread from ground zero of the explosion and outward. The pattern of light looked like small balls of fire, each one weaving into the other, spreading like waves on an ocean, soon the entire surface of Remus was covered in the small balls of interlocked fire and then there was a brighter flash than the initial detonation.

“I’ve seen this before...” Picard whispered horrified by what he saw.

R-7 remained silent as Remus came back into view.

“What have we done?” Picard asked. The planet was nothing more than a barren rock, glass smooth surface with no sign that it had ever been a thriving capital world of a star empire.

Picard turned to R-7.

“I HAVE seen that effect before, in history class. It was the genesis device that Kahn Noonian Soongh detonated 70 years ago.”

“Indeed. The Little Boy is an extrapolation of that device.”

“This is not what that device was meant for, besides it was supposed to bring life, this only brings death, a perversion of the genesis device just as this fleet seems to be a perversion of Starfleet itself.” Picard replied hotly.

“We could not duplicate the life generating effects of the true genesis device, however we could duplicate the destructive wave. The developers call the new wave the Shiva effect.”

Picard slammed his fist down on his armrest in utter frustration, anger and desperation.

[Master of Ossus]

More great work, Stravo. And nice title, BTW. Great reference.

[Captain Cyran]

Another great chapter.

[Mr Bean]

Indeed

[Cpt_Frank]

Yep, very nice one.

[Stravo]

Thanks guys, always a pleasure to entertain. Yes, Master of Ossus, I am particularly proud of the chapter title. It just came to be in a flash of inspiration before I had even started the chapter.

[Sparkticus]

Brutal, just brutal. You weren't kidding when you said that Section 31 had some bigass teeth...

[Crazy_Vasey]

Oh dear when the Imps suss the feds did this there is going to be some serious hell to pay. BDZ on earth? I think so

[Cpt_Frank]

Perhaps Kirk will battle with Tarsi for Earth?

[Soontir C'boath]

It was absolutly beautiful and I think you captured Picard's sense very very well.

Cyaround,
Jason

[Mr Bean]

Mmmm BDZ Earth
Hey wait a mintue....

[Sparkticus]

I agree with Mr Bean, there. Not to sure I'd want my home planet set to "simmer" for the next couple o' million years. Let's hit Betazed instead. Think about it, if they're anything like Troi, we're wiping out nothing vmore than whole race of people that have been whopped by the ugly stick...

[Mr. B]

*****(out of 5)

mimics Mr. Burns "Excellent."

[Jack Lain]

Great story. I think you missed your calling. Let me know where you post the other piece of fiction you were talking about. I'd like to read it as well.

[Faram]

Great Chaper as usual

Can't wait untill the next chapter

[Darth Garden Gnome]

Excellent read, as per ususal, Stravo. But its missing the one thing that makes Trek cool: Kirk! Whatever happened to Kirk, my man! I've had just about enough of wuss Picard (you did an excellent Picard, by the way) and Janeway and Co., I need Kirk! And the whole Q/chess player theme has been missing for a while.

All in all, best darn fanfic I ever read! (sorry Wong, this guy takes the cake) keep it up!