(can't let this thread fall too far back)
"End of the Line" story reference
"End of the Line"
The Fires of Vengeance
2433.4: The Valiant and the Avenger have both completed repairs and are returning to the front lines. The Protector and the Matador have both entered long-term docking berths, and are now undergoing full scale reconstruction. It is fortunate that the damage to both ships failed to totally breach their armor, so this will be a fairly simple operation of cutting loose the remaining shreds of armor and installing new plates. While installation will take slightly longer, the Protector will be refitted with the newest replacement parts and extra-durability armor plate. Construction on the Galaxy, another BlackHole class dreadnaught, has proceeded well, and the first series of hardened bulkheads have been completed. The galaxy is being transferred from HomeWorld to our primary shipyards at X100 II, where level 2 Bulkheads will be installed.
The borders have been strangely quiet, while Section 31 has reported a great number of Phong infiltration attempts. A terrorist act has yet to slip past our counter-intel measures, but there was recently a close call involving the Protector. Phong saboteurs managed to infiltrate and capture the ship, only to find all the controls locked out, and the docking clamps resecured at the Last minute. Trapped on the ship, the Phong were taken prisoner and moved to the high security moon of Section 31. Small arms fire during the incident left only cosmetic damage to the interior, and will not hold back the repair schedule.
Scouting reports from Beta wing indicate a moderate fleet of Jreanar DNs in X19, with two on course for our space. Alpha Wing's patrols into Phong territory have revealed a Jreanar colony ship and DN passing through unmolested. Additionally, a Jreanar "Wyoming" class Carrier was spotted in orbit of X7 VI, using a Phong transponder flag. This is indeed disturbing news, for if these two galactic powers are joining forces, a major fraction of their military would be freed up to attack us. From our new political map info, it appears that the Phong and Jreanar are not the superpowers we had feared. Instead, they are but two of five equally large empires. This indicates that the forces we have seen so far are but a small fraction of the military might of the galaxy.
2433.5: Both good new and bad this year. Phong spies are being caught by the shipful, and the prison moon of Section 31 is being expanded to meet the demand. A minor communications glitch, possibly caused by one of the Phong spies, has resulted in the early departure of our newly-built colony ship. The ship left before the colonists were loaded, and it will now be another two months before the ship can reach its desitination of X100 I. With the amount of Phong spies being caught, we can only conclude that however the war started, it is not the Jreanar who are our true enemy now, but the Phong.
In other news, three Jreanar ships attempted to enter HomeSystem through the X19 wormhole, but were torn apart by the minefield. The small minefield in the Curyok warppoint was also triggered, and Phong wreckage was discovered as it dissipated from the area. We can no longer deny that the Phong have some sort of invisibility shield, and could have ships anywhere.
With the Phong ships in HomeSystem, the increased spy activity, and the destruction of our two gas giant colonies, we have decided to send a force to strike back at the enemy. Military rearrangements along the front lines mean that the Valiant is now the leader of Beta Wing, with no ships under her command. The Protector will join Beta Wing when repairs are completed two weeks from now. The StoneWall and StormCloud now comprise Alpha Wing, and are patrolling the Phong warppoint.
Our strike force consists of the remaining active ships, the Guardian, Stalwart, Avenger and Thor, who now form Delta Wing. The two Ubernaughts and BlackHoles will have to survive until reinforcements are constructed and arrive from Starfleet Academy. As of today, there are two refit Ubernaughts, two Healer 5's, four WaveRiders and the Science vessel Cochrane undergoing refits at Starfleet Academy.
2433.6: Finally, success! Plans and designs and reviews have all been completed, and we now have a working design for a machine capable of creating planets. Pieces of a prototype ship are under construction at HomeWorld, to be assembled in orbit, but the sheer size and complexity of the project means that the minimum time before completion is three years.
In X71, the solitary Phong defense DN has moved to shield the defenseless world of X7 V. Fortunately, we had no plans to attack there. Our true target is the hardened military base of X7 I, a huge chunk of rock with no discernable atmosphere, but a constellation of defense sats. As the Fleet approaches, a stream of crystalline shards erupt from the planet. A glancing blow gets a reaction from the Avenger's shields, but damage is minor, and her regenerators easily handle the impact. Polarons reach out to sweep across the sky, greeted by 8 flashes of light as satellites burn. The fleet splits up and slowly orbits the planet, PDCs firing at their maximum sustainable rate. Twelve-packs of shard cannon bursts soar upwards from the planet, but the shots are wild, slicing harmlessly through space. The gunners in the surface defense bases are clearly incompetent, and likely civilian miners, for they fail to place a second hit as the fleet slowly widens the hole in the satellite force. Seven cycles later, the Last sat's armor cracks, and it joins the hazy fog of rubble in orbit. The stalwart dives towards the surface, and buzzes one of the defense bases, rocking it with four polaron beams. The ancient HMSG I on the base is knocked out on the first hit, and the three other beams bLast bits of the rock bunker into long suborbital arcs. The Guardian follows closely behind, and pounds the rock, bLasting more rubble up and away. The third beam strikes one of the holes from the Stalwart's bombardment, and digs through to the base itself. Like a volcano, the hill in which the base was hidden erupts in polaron flames, and the shard cannons go silent.
Shard cannons blaze from the second base when the Stalward crests a hill, but none of the crystalline shards come close, and the Ubernaught strikes back hard. An even older design, this base is totally without shielding, and the first polaron beams bLast directly into the base. Shard cannons droop and the base goes dark, lit only by the flickering polaron fire that licks at the base of the cannons. The main guns of the Avenger charge up and release thick slabs of polarons down towards the spaceyard below. Three beams fall towards the planet to strike groundshaking blows, and a huge shockwave of purple fire races outwards from the point of impact.
The ships turn away to head for deeper Phong territory, leaving a dark cinder of a planet glowing with patches of purple where Phong once lived.
[This message has been edited by suicide_junkie (edited 02 June 2001).]