Star Crossed Fanfic

[D.Turtle]

Me want next chapter (and the one after that, and after that, and after that ....)

[Captain Cyran]

This, should be interesting.....

[Mark S]

Gees are you ever coming out with these quick! I must say, you are on quite the roll.

[Stravo]

I tend to write quickly. I spend about two or three days formulating in my head WHAT I am going to write and what I am going to explore in my chapters. I created a simple dynamic for Star Crossed that makes it easy for me to plug in what I want. Then once I have it in my head, this may sound weird but it helps me, I actually speak the dialougue outloud, usually when I'm in the shower or alone at home and trust me, its one thing to write it but to hear it aloud is another. There were several sentences and dialogues I changed radicallyt because they just did not sound right and clanged when spoken.

Once I sit down and write I try not to stop, I can usually crank out a chapter in a few hours of writing. Its the idea and brainstorming that takes a few days.

[Glocksman]

Excellent fanfic

Keep up the good work.

[Mr Bean]

Excellent

[Mr. B]

I always figured Janeway would help in the annihilation of the universe.

Two excellent chapters.

[Mark S]

I tend to write quickly. I spend about two or three days formulating in my head WHAT I am going to write and what I am going to explore in my chapters. I created a simple dynamic for Star Crossed that makes it easy for me to plug in what I want. Then once I have it in my head, this may sound weird but it helps me, I actually speak the dialougue outloud, usually when I'm in the shower or alone at home and trust me, its one thing to write it but to hear it aloud is another. There were several sentences and dialogues I changed radicallyt because they just did not sound right and clanged when spoken.

Once I sit down and write I try not to stop, I can usually crank out a chapter in a few hours of writing. Its the idea and brainstorming that takes a few days.

Yeah, I actually do pretty much the same thing. It takes me longer to get the writing done though. Sometimes I can go for hours, other times I get about three lines down and blank.

[Cpt_Frank]

I like the part where it's said that the war will probably last many years!
Yeah still tens of chapters to come!!! The federation now can learn from the alliance how to construct kick-ass ships. Keep it going Stravo!

On a side note: YAY! 1000th POST!!!!

[starfury]

nice stravo, the war is finally starting in earnest, and Congrulations on your promotion to jedi master Cpt_frank.

nice let the gathering storm finally break

[Typhonis 1]

Cry woe,ruin,destruction,and decay,the worse of the is Death.For Death will have his day.

[Stravo]

Cry woe,ruin,destruction,and decay,the worse of the is Death.For Death will have his day.

Isn't that something, the next few chapters will have a little of evreything above....

[Faram]

Stop teasing me Stravo

Every time I open the link Fanfics and see last post in Star Crossed Fanfic / Stravo my heartbeat goes up and I start to sweat.

I need new chapters you got me hooked now supply da nice stuff do not tease me!

Arrrgh I’m going insane

[Cpt_Frank]

We need more new stuff starvo! NOW!!!

[Stravo]

Long awaited Ch. 17


Chapter 17: Battle of Sector 001 Pt. 1


“Standby.”

“All power to the main weapons grid, all gunners standby for targets of opportunity.” Kittaine ordered.

“Standby.” Branna repeated.

The bridge was absolutely quiet, save for the quiet movement of hands on control panels. No one spoke, no one made any unnecessary movements or sounds. The cascading blue tunnel of hyperspace filled the view port. Nemesis stood at the navigation station, eyes staring straight ahead into the hyperspace tunnel. He was as rigid as a statue, hands hovering over a makeshift control panel.

It was a slave unit, the entire attack fleet’s navigational controls were linked to this one control, giving Nemesis absolute control over the attack fleet’s hyperdrives. When he activated the control, the ships of the fleet would drop out of hyperspace. He assured Kittaine that he could guide the fleet into less than a planetary diameter of Earth, in fact, Nemesis was absolutely certain that he could guide the fleet into an exact spot within the Earth defensive lines.

Kittaine recognized the advantage of such a maneuver but was extremely hesitant to entrust his fleet to Lord Nemesis’ intuition. Tactical advice that aided them in battle was one thing, putting his entire fleet in the hands of the Sith Lord was another.

If the fleet jumped out of hyperspace into the Earth itself, or more likely, clipped the large satellite that orbited the planet, they could be ripped apart before the battle had even begun. Such maneuvers were usually the province of desperate commanders – that usually translated into rebel commanders. There was no need to take such a risk. The Imperial fleet was in a position of absolute strength.

Even though the Federation had assembled more ships than the Empire had faced so far, save for the Borg, the battle was as bound to be one sided as all the others. But Nemesis was now obsessed with defeating the Federation as soon as possible. He had also sent orders to Tarsi in Klingon space to accelerate his conquest of Klingon space. Obviously, Nemesis’ intuition had warned him against another threat.

Kittaine found himself wondering what could worry a Sith Lord.

“The perimeter alarm just went off, we’re within their star system, in seconds we’ll be within earth’s gravity well, what is he waiting for?” Branna muttered nervously.

“Mind your station, Captain.” Kittaine replied quietly.

“Aye sir.” Branna replied morosely.

Suddenly, Nemesis flicked a switch and hyperspace vanished all at once. The great blue green orb of Earth loomed up to fill the entire view port. The gray-white moon flashed by them.

Hundreds of starships were swarming around them.

“Launch all fighters, scramble bombers. Have the Bellicose and Bombard move to protective station around the hangar bays.” Kittaine ordered without hesitation.

“All gunners, open fire!” Branna snapped.

The Imperial fleet had come out of hyperspace right in the center of the Federation defensive fleet around Earth. Several starships had the unfortunate fate of being clipped or outright rammed by the Imperial ships as they exited hyperspace. Several of them exploded immediately upon impact, a few flipped end over end flying away on impact trailing debris and plasma.

The Imperial fleet immediately began firing into the stunned Federation fleet. The starships reacted sluggishly at first, many still reeling by the appearance of a fleet in their midst.

“A wing of Galaxy class cruisers is moving in to attack our hangar bays.” Branna warned.

“Have the Bellicose concentrate all fire on the approaching ships, direct heavy turbolaser batteries to lay down flak. Have the first Bomber squadrons set up defensive perimeter until the rest of the Bomber squadrons are launched.”

“Acknowledged, sir.”

“Admiral, I want landings to commence immediately.” Nemesis ordered as he strode back up to the command deck.

“Lord Nemesis, we have not secured the space over the landing zones. Federation resistance is only now starting to stiffen.” Kittaine responded with a hint of surprise. Dozens of starships were converging on his fleet, engaging whatever they could. Angry red phaser fire was lancing out at the assembled Imperial ships, quickly followed by fusillades of torpedo fire. He noted with a hint of chagrin that the Federation fleets were focusing their attacks on the smaller picket ships and the fighter and bomber wings. They had learned from their previous encounters. They were concentrating their attacks on what they could hurt and ignoring the Star Destroyers.

“This is not the battle we intended to fight. The Federation is trying to evacuate their leadership and vital personnel.” Nemesis replied darkly, glancing back at the beautiful planet. “I can feel their fear, their panic. They are desperately trying to cover the retreat, and this battle is all a farce. We can destroy this fleet but their leadership will have escaped. We need ground troops at the rally points to cut off all retreat.”

“I cannot guarantee that the landing ships will be able to drop without casualties.” Kittaine replied sternly. He did not need to tell Nemesis that the Empire’s ground troops were an extremely valuable commodity. They cold not be replaced, at least not yet and any military commander tried his best to protect his most valuable assets. He did not relish the thought that some of his ground forces would be destroyed before they could even land on the surface, particularly when he could secure the space in a matter of time reducing their casualties to zero.

“Their casualties will be worth it if we can capture the Federation leadership intact. We can end this conflict today if we capture the leadership and completely demoralize the enemy.” Nemesis replied coldly.

Kittaine frowned.

“Sir, we’re detecting a planetary shield grid activating on the surface. It is covering the entire planet.” Branna reported. This was new, so far they had not encountered any planetary shields in their assaults.

“Overall strength?” Kittaine asked, as outside his heavy turbolaser batteries began ripple firing. Their explosive thermonuclear flak laying waste to the waves of Federation ships trying to close the distance, many of them disappeared in the flash of energy, not to be seen again, some were limping in closer, trailing plasma and wreckage. They did not stop coming, pouring fire at the Imperial ships.

“Not strong enough to repel a standard bombardment. It will be simple to over come the shield grid at the key landing zones.” Branna replied with a satisfied smirk.

“What is the status of the Federation defensive fleet’s deployment?”

“We have over half of the fleet collapsing on us.”

“Good.” Kittaine nodded. “It is time to start closing the noose tighter. Send the signal to Captain Belladonna.”

“Aye Admiral.”

“Admiral? The Landings?” Nemesis interjected darkly.

“A few more minutes, My lord and I will secure the space above the landing zones.”

“We don’t have time. We must press them without respite or they WILL escape.” Nemesis hissed.

Kittaine stared into the young Sith Lord’s eyes.

“My Lord, we will lose many landers. We must maintain our army strength, particularly if we fully intend to hold on to these worlds. I will set up a blockade that will not allow any Federation ships to escape.” Kittaine was surprised by his bravery, normally a Sith Lord’s orders were as inviolate as the Emperor’s.

Nemesis did not seem to be surprised, an expression more akin to respect crossed his features very briefly.

“Set the superlaser to flak mode.” He ordered.

“Sir?” Branna gasped.

“You heard me Admiral. If you are unwilling to commence landing operations until we secure the space over the landing zones, then I have found a way for you to do so.”

“My Lord, a superlaser has never even been test fired in flak mode, it has rarely even been simulated on computer.”

“Good, then we are putting it through its paces as the Emperor commanded. I am not in the custom of having my orders questioned, Admiral. I trust this will not become a habit?” Nemesis replied icily.

Kittaine felt phantom fingers gently stroke his neck. Kittaine froze, his face a mask of quiet calm.

“Of course, my lord.” He replied stoically.

Kittaine nodded to Branna.

Branna paused then turned to the weapons pit.

“Reveal the Iris!”

“Aye sir.”

“Set charge for flak mode.” Branna added.

The weapons team paused in action, several turning to stare up at Branna.

“Sir?”
“You heard me, mister!” Branna snapped.

“Aye sir!”

Outside in the battle Federation starships were beginning to accelerate to attack speed, many finding their paces and range. Mirandas spun away as they swarmed around the Imperial Carracks, pelting them with torpedo fire and phasers. A wing of Galaxies stood off and fired continuous beams of phaser fire into the Imperial Strike cruisers, volleys of burst fire quantum torpedoes chased down and exploded among the Imperial fighters and bombers.

Federation Tac Fighters were hunting their Imperial counterparts, concentrating their fury on the Bomber squadrons which had yet to unleash their proton torpedo payloads into the defensive fleet. The survivors of past encounters with the Imperials knew full well the damage that they could do against starships.

One Tac fighter was clipped by a flight of TIE Interceptors that dropped down out of nowhere, firing their weapons in precise bursts that tore through the Tac fighter’s shields and sheared off a wing. The Tac fighter spun out of control and exploded against an Excelsior class ship that was trying to avoid a picket screen of Carracks to try and get in closer to the fleet. A quarter of the ship’s saucer disappeared in a flash of antimatter and matter annihilating itself, the starship slowly began to tilt forward and drop down.

Two Tac fighters immediately came in to avenge their fallen squadron mate and blasted the Interceptors into fragments.

Meanwhile at the edge of the battle field, Star Base one had finally cleared the curvature of the Earth, using its engines to race around to the point of contact, the Starbase suddenly unleashed a barrage of phaser fire. An experimental new weapons platform, the Star Base’s phasers were based on the Defiant class’ pulse phaser cannons, only much larger and obviously far more powerful.

They opened up with devastating effectiveness on the lead picket ship closest to the Starbase, a Strike cruiser that suddenly found itself under a withering barrage of pulsed phaser fire just as it began trading fire with several Akiras.

The Enterprise moved among the fleet like a messenger of the gods, flashing form one hot point to the next, shoring up battered wings, covering the retreat of shattered starships and lending her fury to an attempt to overwhelm a floundering Imperial warship’s shields.

Riker held on to his command seat as they took a broadside from a Stardestroyer far to the port. It had moved in to support a Strike cruiser’s attempt to break up an assault by a wing of Exelsiors and Mirandas.

“Status?” he asked a s conduit erupted somewhere behind him.

“Shields are holding but we can’t take much more of this sir. We need time to recharge the shields and shore up flagging systems. The structural integrity field is at its absolute maximum at this point trying to hold us together.” Geordie reported from Engineering, the worry and concern in his voice very clear.

“Time is a luxury we don’t have Geordie. Right now the Enterprise is the only starship that seems to be holding this wing of the fleet together. If this defensive line collapses we’ll have no escape corridors for the transports.” Riker replied, smiling triumphantly as a Carrack exploded far to his starboard, a victim of a concentrated burst from a wing of Galaxies and Excelsiors that had moved in after a flight of Mirandas seemed to have partially overwhelmed her shields. It was the first Imperial casualty of this war and he was there to see it.

Of course, as if reminding him how overmatched they were, a swarm of proton torpedoes flashed by the Carrack’s debris and slammed into the Galaxy and Excelsior wings. Several Excelsiors exploded, one of the Galaxies slowly listed to port, her starboard nacelle gone replaced with a glowing stump of molten metal.

“It looks as if this part of the line is stable.” his tactical officer reported. He was a good man, but Riker would have preferred Worf at that station. Unfortunately, Worf was stationed on Quo’nos and if he had heard things correctly, Worf would soon have his own hands full with the Empire.

Three ships flashed into view at the extreme outer edge of Luna’s orbit. Three Stardestroyers were now in their rear.

“Where the hell did they come from?!” Riker exclaimed as the stardestroyers began raking the rear of the Earth defensive fleet with devastating effectiveness. Starfleet had painstakingly kept the heart of their fleet away from the stardestroyers, focusing their strikes on the lighter warships and fighter wings. Now the entire fleet had slowly closed in around the Imperial fleet and were encircling them.

With the bulk of the fleet closing in around the Imperial fleet, the rear was exposed and the empire had just dropped three stardestroyers into their exposed flank. Riker watched in horror as dozens of starships exploded under a barrage of devastating fire.

“Admiral Ross is ordering the fleet to break into attack wings and spread out.” Data stated as the Enterprise was rocked by several near hits.

“Data commence firing on the nearest Stardestroyer, see if we can’t draw some of their fire away from the fleet as it pulls back.” Riker ordered, noting that several of the starships closets to the Enterprise were in serious danger, plasma venting from the nacelles, many of them sluggishly moving to fulfill the last order. He needed to protect them until their engineers could fix the problems. He quickly glanced down at the tactical display on his armrest. Hundreds of starships were either destroyed or damaged. This was not good. The battle had only just begun and the evacuations were still underway. Not a single transport had been able to lift off yet.

This could very well be turning into an absolute disaster.




“This is turning into a route.” Ross grimaced.

Ross was on the bridge of his personal flagship, the Achilles, a newly refit Galaxy class cruiser. He was watching the death dance on his main viewer. Dozens of starships were dying in flashes of green turbolaser fire as they tried to keep their distance from the lethal stardestroyers.

“Have Luna unleash their weapons. As soon as the first missile is away, send the signal to the Reckless Hope.” Ross ordered.

“Aye Admiral.”

The three stardestroyers that had jumped in on their rear were advancing hungrily, weapons sweeping the space before them. They were passing the surface of Luna when several flashes of light erupted from deep within several craters of the ghost white satellite. Missiles rocketed from the surface, paused at a high orbit and engaged small warp drives. The missiles crashed into the rears of the three newcomer stardestroyers at high warp speed coupled with a warhead of enriched Neutritium used with such devastating effectiveness by the Federation during the Dominion war to destroy fortifications and asteroid bases. There was not much to be found after the war, and it was always an unstable substance, but the Federation managed to scrape enough together to load onto a fusillade of missiles. The missiles exploded with an epic blast that nearly scarred the surface of the moon even more so than it already was.

One of the Stardestroyers slowly began to list to port, dropping out of formation. Upon closer inspection, one of her great engine nozzles was blasted apart and another was flickering wildly. The stricken stardestroyer seemed to have seen better days, great gashes were gouged into its armor and battle damage was evident throughout the mighty warship.

The other two continued onward, but trailing glittering particles of damaged hulls and engine components. They began disgorging Tie Interceptors and Bombers.

Suddenly several ships flashed in on an angle beneath the stardestroyers and their slowly launching fighter wings. The Reckless Hope led a small wing of Nebula and Defiant class ships, acting as pickets for the fleet were two squadrons of X-Wing fighters. The X-wings immediately began to peel away from the Federation formation and attacked the Interceptors. The Reckless Hope poured fire into the small cloud of fighters and bombers that had been gathering in the relative safety of the shadow of their base ships, finding to their horror just how relative that safety was. The nebulas fired rippling volleys of quantum torpedoes with proximity fuses that detonated on the outer edge of the gathered squadrons, driving the debris into the center of the fighter and bomber formations.

The Defiants accelerated and passed the Reckless Hope and Nebulas and began to engage the fighters and bombers, making a hard pass at them before passing on to the larger stardestroyers and unleashing their fury. They bobbed and weaved in between turbolaser fire, firing pulsed phaser blasts in coordinated strikes with the nebulas to tax the Imperial shields.

Several Defiants split off from the main body and provided fire support for the X-Wings as they waded into the main body of Tie Interceptors.

“Watch it Rogue Three we’ve got a wing of bandits trying to sneak through the back door.”

“Copy that Wedge, I’ve got two right above you!”

“Roger that, Hobbie, you see that?”

“Right with you boss, an element of TIE bombers trying to make a run on the Hope.”

“Rogues five and six, see if you can’t dissuade them.” Wedge ordered as he managed to avoid a steady stream of fire and fired off a snapshot at a passing Interceptor, shearing off a wing and sent it tumbling away.

“This is a lot thicker than I usually like it.” He muttered as he sent his fighter into a tight spinning dive to avoid several Interceptors.

Wedge suddenly found himself spinning through a steady stream of crimson pulsed phaser fire. The phaser fire splashed through a flight of Tie Interceptors that were about to follow him down. The Interceptors exploded upon contact and a Defiant flashed over Wedge’s X-Wing.

“We have your back, Rogue Leader.” A clam voice filtered in his ear.

“Roger that!” Wedge replied with a grin. “We could use a few of those on a strike mission.” He commented as he swung around and lined up a shot on a Tie Bomber.

“Looks to me, boss, that they could use a lot more of us too.” Hobbie added sarcastically as they passed through another wave of fighters. Wedge didn’t say anything after that as he became entangled in a fur ball involving close to a dozen interceptors. He did note however the disturbing amount of wrecked Federation hulls he had to avoid the deeper he moved into the battle.




“We’re picking up a massive energy spike on the Emperor’s Will.” Data warned.

“The super laser?” Riker asked, edging forward in his seat.

“I believe so.”

“Captain Riker to Admiral Ross.”

“I copy Riker, I know what you’re calling about, but we simply don’t have the ships to make an attack run on the Emperor’s Will. We’re having a hard enough time dealing with their picket and light ships.” Ross replied wearily.

“Admiral, that superlaser can crack continents, one shot is all it would take to disrupt our evacuation efforts.” Riker countered.

“Captain Riker, half of the defensive fleet is gone, the other half is having the hell pounded out of it, how do you propose we make an assault on the Emperor’s Will without passing through the flotilla of stardestroyers flanking her?” Ross snapped.

Riker took a breath and shook his head.

There was no other way. The Empire was going to get a free shot at Earth and there was nothing they could do. More turbolaser fire suddenly rained down around the Enterprise, the Hornet, an Excelsior class ship fighting alongside them, had one nacelle sheared off by the fire and then its saucer section was torn away by another. The ship slowly drifted down and crashed against a Strike cruiser deep in a shooting match with a half dozen Akiras.

“Full Evasive, try and get us in close to the Emperor’s Will.” Riker ordered. He did not give damn. The Enterprise would not stand idly by and let Earth suffer such an attack.

“Captain, the odds of the Enterprise penetrating far enough into the Imperial lines to directly attack the Emperor’s Will are-“

“Data, never tell me the odds.” Riker snapped.

Data paused for a moment, looked slightly bewildered and turned back to his station.
The Enterprise moved deftly among the shattered remains of their front lines. Over a hundred starships lay wrecked in this small area of the battlefield alone as they traded fire with Strike cruisers and Carracks. Riker noted with some satisfaction that a Strike cruiser was limping back deeper into the lines, pursued by a hunting party led by a Nebula that kept pouring fire into the wounded Imperial ships. Small saber class ships pivoted around the cruiser like hounds.

As they moved deeper through the lines he noted a stark change as they soon became the sole Federation starship in the lines. Massive stardestroyers, lending long range fire support to the fleet, some slowly inching forward, only to have the main line of Federation ships pull back accordingly. It was painfully obvious that the Federation did not intend to stand toe to toe with the big ships.

The Emperor’s Will loomed on the screen and Riker slowly began to wonder just how in the hell he was going to even get that behemoth to notice him.

An alarm buzzed incessantly on Data’s board.

“The superlaser is about to discharge.”

Riker closed his eyes for a moment and imagined how many millions would die.

The Emperor’s Will’s nose suddenly flared green and a beam lanced out an angle, somewhat away from Earth and more to the extreme right flank of the Federation lines. The beam suddenly splashed open like a wave crashing on the shore and there was a green flash that blinded everyone on the bridge.

“Brace for subspace shockwave.” Data warned, eyes not affected by the super laser’s flak burst.

“All hands, brace for im-“

The Enterprise lurched hard downward and more alarms wailed, lights winked out on the bridge and for a moment, it seemed that they had been plunged into oblivion.






“It worked, the Federation right flank is just…gone.” Branna breathed.

“Excellent.” Nemesis replied with a hint of satisfaction. He turned quickly to face a newcomer on the bridge. The general snapped to attention.

“General Ithis, you may start your landing. Your objectives have changed somewhat. The majority of your forces are going to be landing on or near rally points where Federation transports are loading men and material for evacuation. You are to destroy these transports, leave no survivors.”

“Of course my lord.” Ithis replied huskily. Ithis was a short man, nearly a head shorter than most men on the command deck, but his stature was overshadowed by his face, a cold mask of professionalism and a steely metallic eye that stared straight ahead, a cold green gleam in the mechanical pupil.

“You are to personally lead the main body of troops and take Starfleet command. That is the central rally point for their leadership and command staff. I want the senior commanders and politicians taken alive if possible.”

“Should they resist?” he asked coolly.

“Do not hesitate to slaughter foes of the Empire. But I think you will find their civilian leadership at least willing to surrender with a sufficient show of force, I can already feel their fear coursing through them like poison.” Nemesis replied with a cold soft smile.

“As you command my Lord.” General Ithis bowed deeply.

“One last thing, general. I am sure that Admiral Kittaine has urged you to be cautious in battle, to watch out for casualties and the like. I am telling you that speed is of the essence. Crush them without mercy, drive through them like a storm.” Nemesis ordered darkly.

Kittaine shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

“There is no other way for a soldier of the Empire to fight, My Lord.” Ithis replied with a casual smile.

“Excellent. I expect success.”

“You shall have it, my lord.” Ithis snapped a sharp crisp salute and strutted off the bridge.

“Kittaine, provide fighter escort for the landing barges, then have TIE Bombers begin attack runs on key planetary power and defensive structures.”

“The shield grid?” Branna asked.

“Bring it down, immediately.” Nemesis replied with a sharp smile.




Riker managed to clear his eyes and focus on the screen as the Enterprise slowly righted herself.

“Status?”

“Engines are coming back online, everything else shows nominal.”

“Sir look!”

Riker glanced up and saw the first of the massive landing barges slowly floating out of the Emperor’s Will’s hangar bay. Several other flanking stardestroyers were also following suits and wings of TIE Interceptors were slowly forming up around the barges.

“They’re landing troops.” Riker breathed.

“It would appear that the Empire means to take Earth whole.” Data surmised.

“Then why fire the superlaser at all?” Riker asked.

“Sir.” The voice was quiet behind him and Riker glanced back at his tactical officer. His young face was ashen.

“What is it lieutenant?”

“The entire right wing of our fleet is gone.”

“What do you mean gone?” Riker pressed, feeling dread slowly clench his stomach.

“The super laser blast was fired in a flak mode and the resulting energy blast completely vaporized our right wing.”

“That’s over three hundred starships. Lieutenant! Are you sure?”

“They’re just not there, sir.” He replied weakly.

“Sir, Admiral Ross is demanding that we return to the lines, he is forming up the fleet into a tight phalanx and is preparing to secure the escape corridor for the transports.”

“We need more time.” Riker replied dumbly.

“According to Admiral Ross, we just ran out of time. The transports leave with what they have, or Starfleet is doomed.” His communications officer replied hesitantly.








The ensigns all exclaimed when they saw the bright green flash in the sky that blotted out the sun for a brief moment. They were standing around hastily dug in trenches and fortifications. Most were carrying heavy assault phasers and looked very young and scared. The experienced officers and men were still prepping the positions, many of them ignored the fireworks overhead and getting ready for the assault they knew was coming.

Large turreted phaser cannons were calibrated by technicians and pointed down to the only viable approach to the imposing structure of Starfleet Command behind the battlefield. Artillery was slowly put in place, pre-sighted coordinates were loaded into the targeting computers.

On the sprawling south lawn of Starfleet command dozens of Delta Flyers were lined up neatly, pilots walking around each ship personally inspecting it as most pilots are wont to do. One pilot in particular was speaking fervently to a woman.

“Tom, I won’t leave you!” Belanaa protested.

“Belenna, you’re not leaving me, you’re just getting on that transport and getting the hell of Earth. I’m staying behind to fly cover for you and as soon as you’re away, we’re flying up to rendezvous with Starfleet in orbit.

Belanna eyed the sky for a moment, streaks of green would occasionally light up the sky, sometimes red fire arced like lightning in return, explosions constantly rippled like stars in the day time sky.

“Do you really think anyone is going to be left up there, Tom?”

Tom Paris took a firm hold of Belanna’s shoulders and looked into her eyes.

“I have to believe that we’re going to survive this. If someone would have told me six years ago that I would be flung across the galaxy and come back a decorated officer, having met and defeated the Borg and win the heart of a half Klingon Maquis I would have laughed in their faces. My adventures on Voyager taught me two thing, anything is possible.”

“And the second?” she asked quietly.

“That I love you.” he replied with a grin and kissed her.

They held each other for a long moment then Torres pulled away and fixed Tom with a harsh gaze.

“I’m going to get our child and I’m getting on that transport, but your butt BETTER be on its way after us or I swear you will regret the day you decided to abandon me to the tender mercies of Starfleet.” she replied caustically, her Klingon ridges flaring slightly to show that she was not kidding.

Tom decided against countering her venomous hatred of Starfleet, she would never forgive Starfleet for what happened to the Maquis during the Dominion War. Chakotay had left without saying a word and for some time, Tom had been terrified that Belenna would leave as well. It ate at him that he realized the only reason she did not leave was because of their child.

Instead Tom nodded and gave her a wry wink.

“I’ll see you on the flip side.”

Belanna stared at him for a moment, as if trying to commit his features to memory and turned away and stalked off to the Western lawn were great transports were being loaded and ready for lift off. Delegates, ambassadors, council members and Starfleet brass were milling about like ensigns on parade detail.

“Quite a gal you got there, Mr. Paris.” Wes Janson interrupted.

Tom turned and smiled softly at the young man from another galaxy.

“She is at that. Now, you are the Alliance’s liaison with us for ground operations against the Empire?” he asked as he walked over to his Delta Flyer.

“That’s right. Princess Leia and Captain Kirk thought it would be best if one of us was here to help you guys out should the empire make the landings we assume they’ll make.”

“So, can you tell me something straight?” Tom asked pointedly as he opened the hatch to the Flyer.

“Shoot.” Wes shrugged.

“Do we stand any chance at all of stopping them even for a little while?” Tom asked directly.

Wes fought the urge to glance away.

“Anything is possible, Mr. Paris.”

Tom frowned.

Wes nodded slowly.

“Quiet frankly, Mr. Paris, I wouldn’t have given you guys much of a chance of holding off the fleet above us but you have so, let’s just say that your Federation seems to be full of surprises.” Wes added and joined Tom in the Flyer.

“Why do I get the feeling that we’re not the only one full of surprises.” Tom muttered and as the hatch closed he saw green fire dance above them like St. Elmo’s fire.

“The San Francisco Shield Grid is down, repeat, the San Francisco shield grid is down.” The computer’s calm female voice announced on loud speakers.

Tom watched as large shadowy shapes dropped down from the clouds several miles east of Command. Wes peered over his shoulder and frowned.

“Imperial landing barges. This is just the beginning.”




“Captain Entebbe, I don’t think that subtlety is going to be required at this point. Grab it and secure the objective then get into position to support the Enterprise.” Kirk said as he eyed the defensive operations.

“Which one?” Entebbe replied playfully on the small communicator pin that Kirk had slapped on his sleeve. Most of the Starfleet personnel had the small devices in place of the Starfleet insignia on his uniform at the chest. He did not want to obscure his own, he was rather proud of his so called antiquated uniform but did not deny the usefulness of such a small communicator so he slapped it on his sleeve and was holding up his right arm to his mouth as he spoke.

Leia was busy on her own com link relaying orders to the Reckless Hope which was now in the thick of the battle. R2D2 and C3PO stood by her side, a strange metallic entourage.

“Captain, the one with the funny dish on the secondary hull.” he replied with a smirk.

“Copy that Captain. I’ll secure the objective now.”

“How is the battle going?” Kirk asked quietly.

“Not good, Captain. I’m looking at the greatest single battle losses Starfleet has suffered, ever.” Entebbe replied bitterly.

“So we’ll make every shot down here count. Hang tight Captain. Kirk out.” Kirk slapped the small communicator and it gave that funny little sound of deactivation.

“I take it you’ve heard.” Leia interjected seeing the dark cloud forming over Kirk’s face.

“It’s going as badly as you predicted.”

“I’m not proud of that.” she replied with a frown.

“Hold on Princess, I’ve been watching a situation develop that needs to be rectified right away.” Kirk suddenly replied and walked over to the assembled ensigns helping the hold the center of the lines.

“Ensigns! What is this? A military review? Let’s get in those trenches.” Kirk ordered stalking over to the front of the first line of trenches. The ensigns hesitated, many staring at him in that same mix of awe and disbelief that many had given him since he got here.

“I know you’re afraid, why? Because we’re all afraid, but that’s nothing to be ashamed about, nothing to hate about yourself. Fear is a healthy thing even for a Starfleet officer.”

“Sir! Have you ever really been afraid?” One ensign piped up hesitantly.

Kirk peered over at him.

“Why do you think I’ve never been afraid?” he asked directly.

“Because you’re James T. Kirk.” the ensign replied without hesitation.

Kirk smiled softly and shook his head.

“Ensign, do you have any idea how many times I’ve felt my heart pounding in my chest, the sweat collecting on my palms, the cold palpitations in my gut? I’ve seen some truly horrible things, I’ve faced enraged Klingons who would want nothing more than to hand me my own beating heart, gods that wanted me to worship them, super computers that could fry me without a moment’s hesitation, so was I afraid? YES. But do you know what makes me Captain James T. Kirk and proud to wear this uniform and honored to stand with you young men? It’s the fact that I worked beyond that fear and did my duty, because duty is what we are about, and risk, gentlemen, risk IS our business.” Kirk replied proudly.

Ensigns quickly began pouring into the trenches or taking up support positions with the artillery units, many of them nodding to themselves confidently. Some even cheered Kirk as they went to their stations.

Leia slowly walked over to Kirk with a wan smile on her beautiful face. Kirk noted that her face had not smiled in a long time. There were worry lines along her eyes and mouth and dark circles under her eyes.

“I salute you captain. You are a leader of men. The Alliance could use a man like you.”

“Once we kick the Empire out of our galaxy, I’ll be sure to consider returning with you to finish the job.” he paused and looked down at her. “You really should smile more often princess.”

Leia shook her head and there was a sharp pain in her eyes.

“I must be going Captain.”

“Leia, wait!”

“Imperial Walkers on the East slope, repeat, Imperial walkers on the East slope.” the calm computer voice announced.

Kirk and Leia looked to the east where all they could hear was the thundering boom of walking doom.

“Here they come.” they stated simultaneously.

R2 began whistling frantically. 3PO looked down at his companion and shook his head.

“Exciting his hardly the word I would use.” he replied.

[Mr Bean]

*Gasp.. Stravo Posted more!

*A Hurray goes out across the land

Bean begins to read

[Cpt_Frank]

nEed mORe!!!! ME gOInG iNsaNE iF NOt gET mOrE stUFf!!!

Excellent chapter. Love the last line.

[NecronLord]

Another very good preformance.

Bean, are you back already?

[Mr Bean]

No your behind the times Necron, go read the thread where I said I was going, My trip is put off for two days read it!

[Mr. B]

cool



















just cool

[NecronLord]

No your behind the times Necron, go read the thread where I said I was going, My trip is put off for two days read it!

I'm further out of the loop than usual, and am likely to remain that way for some time

[Captain Cyran]

“Captain, the odds of the Enterprise penetrating far enough into the Imperial lines to directly attack the Emperor’s Will are-“

“Data, never tell me the odds.” Riker snapped.

LOL, Reminds me of a certain brash smuggler.
[/i]

[Stravo]

“Captain, the odds of the Enterprise penetrating far enough into the Imperial lines to directly attack the Emperor’s Will are-“

“Data, never tell me the odds.” Riker snapped.

LOL, Reminds me of a certain brash smuggler.
[/i]

It;s my intention to insert as many favorite lines of mine from both the SW movies and the ST TV shows throughout th estory but not so as it becomes annoying, just little homages here and there. I also like to mix it up a little and give SW charcters famous ST lines to utter and vice versa as Riker just did. It's not going to bog down the story but a nice treat for those paying attention I think.

[HemlockGrey]

Trenches.

Against fifty foot machines bristling with weaponry capable of leveling Iraq.

SLAUGHTER!

[Eleas]

Trenches.

Against fifty foot machines bristling with weaponry capable of leveling Iraq.

SLAUGHTER!

Psst, Cyril: Iraq is already pretty level.

Anyway, Stravo, I officially nominate this chapter to be your best one yet. Keep it up, please.