It had taken a few days to reach the Yecha Four sector, but the commander and her fleet had converged on the sector. Scans of the region had revealed little in traces of their presence. She also had cause for concern with all the electrical discharges in the area. They were an indicator that a massive plasma storm was brewing. Her group and a number of other groups were approaching the system that the raiders were last spotted in to look for hints. However just as they were entering the system her view screen turned to static.
“Report!” She barked.
“Sir, we just lost all telemetry and communications,” reported her science officer.
“What! How?” asked the commander.
“We’re being jammed. Combined with the dust clouds and the storm brewing, the jamming field has completely blinded our sensors. As for our comms, they aren’t cutting through the jamming field,” reported her science officer.
“Can you cut through this interference and get me my sensors and communications back?” asked the commander
“Already working on it. . . . and there got it, we have minimal sensors now. As for communications, I got them back, but I wouldn’t even call this minimal. We will only have ‘20 kilometers’ of comm range at best, and I can’t guarantee any transmissions will come through clearly. As for sensor resolution, it is spotty at best, but we could see objects up to five hundred kilometers away. Just note small objects like a raider fighter will most likely not show up on sensors,” replied the science officer.
“We need to deal with this jamming field or we will never find that ship. Any suggestions?” asked the Commander.
“Sir, if I may. Previous encounters have revealed they use jamming satellites to hide their activities after they have been in the system for a while. This jamming field means they are almost certainly still here. I recommend we launch fighters and have them search for those satellites. If we can locate and destroy a sufficient number the field will weaken to a point where we can actually see,” said her first officer.
“Why not capture one?” asked the commander.
“The last attempt to capture one resulted in the loss of the Cruiser Valtaya with all hands. Intel suspects the jammer sats are equipped with an autodestruct,” replied her first officer. Noting what her officer told her she started giving orders for her new plan.
Countryman stood on the lower level of the bridge leaning over the tactical overview console. Studying the tactical plot he watched the Valorians entering the system. They had only recently completed the refit of the ship’s weapons array when he had received the alert. The jamming field was slowing the enemy, and he watched as a blip representing a cruiser vanished. Destroyed by one of the beam satellites they had deployed. Of course, while the Vent Cannon had excellent range and power they didn’t have enough to cover the whole system, and their firerate limited their effectiveness. Each satellite took longer than the original version to fire the beam and didn’t have a wide beam mode. This meant they could only destroy a single ship every twenty minutes.
Elsewhere on the plot were the shuttles and fighters he had launched earlier. He had all of the 1205s onboard outfitted with modified fusion bombs and deployed to act as bombers. He had them deployed in squadrons of three, and since they carried three thousand X-1205s they had enough to represent a serious threat to the fleet. Although he did wish they had more 1204’s, something he planned to rectify when they had the resources. He was thinking of having most of the standard shuttlecraft taken apart and their materials used for the construction. Of course they wouldn’t provide all the materials he needed and he would need special ports for stowing the new fighters. It was a problem he would need to fix at a later date. So he put that to the back of his mind and focused on directing the battle.
Right now he had the advantage since he had both communications and a tactical sensor net. They, however, had the numbers, and there was a storm brewing. Something that concerned him since it was difficult to predict how the weather would affect the battle. On the screen he saw three X-1205 squadrons enter range of a Valorian battlegroup. Within seconds a cruiser vanished from the plot, followed by another a few seconds later. In just a couple of minutes, the group was wiped out. He received the shuttles combat report a few minutes later. They had used most of their bombs and were returning to the ship for rearming. At the same moment, he saw a few Valorian fighters approach one of the jammer satellites. He didn’t have any fighters in range to intercept, so he ignored them. He did have a few shuttles nearby, but they were better suited to engaging enemy ships than fighters.
It didn’t take long for the fighters to find the jammer. The squad engaged the sat the moment they found it. The sat however was not unarmed, and was equipped with a single dual particle cannon turret for protection. The battle between fighters and satellite lasted about a minute before the satellite was destroyed. During which time it splashed two of the attacking fighters. The fighter squadron then continued deeper into the field using an obvious search and destroy pattern. Elsewhere on the field, several blips representing a squad of 1204s intercepted another group of blips that represented a squad of Valorian fighters. The resulting battle did not last long and ended with a total destruction of the Valorian fighters.
The battle if you could call it that continued like this for the next several hours. While the storm outside the ship was intensifying. The Valorians focused on finding and destroying as many jammer satellites as they could. With each satellite they found their sensor and comm ranges increased and the fighting grew more intense. The Valorians had also found and destroyed all of the Vent Cannon satellites they had deployed. Countryman had recovered most of his craft now since he had lost a couple of fighters. Along with a few 1205s, with a good number more being disabled and no longer ready to fight. As for the Valorians thanks to the jamming field, he had managed to neutralize a full third of their remaining fleet. Just under seven thousand ships either destroyed or disabled. His last deployed combat group was three squadrons of X-1205 escorted by a squadron of X-1204. As for the Valorians they were scattered across half the system.
His last fighter and shuttle group had successfully engaged and crippled a Valorian Battlegroup sinking nine cruisers and thirteen destroyers. While disabling another five cruisers and twelve destroyers, before running out of ordinance. They had taken a fair beating in return though, having lost two shuttles and three fighters in the exchange. One of the returning shuttles even had a hull breach in the rear section. Countryman was not looking forward to reading the causality report after this battle. As there were certainly going to be some deaths. Moving away from the console he had been using to direct the battle since the start, he moved for the stairs. Bounding up the stairs three at a time, he quickly reached his chair and took a seat.
Surveying the bridge he waited for the ships he had out to dock. The moment they were aboard he had the hangers sealed and broke orbit. The ship was heading straight for the nearest Valorian Battlegroup. She barreled into the group at full speed and head-on as her batteries opened up on multiple ships. The weapon upgrades quickly proving their worth. While the new beam weapons couldn’t penetrate the powerful shields their cruisers had. The same couldn’t be said about their destroyers and frigates, both proved vulnerable to penetration. The Enterprise taking notes from observed Krall strategies focused her beams on shield generators and key systems. While closing on the cruisers, on the other hand, the Valorian cruisers attempted to maintain distance.
This didn’t work well however especially given the fact the Enterprise had a nearly full reserve of fuel. With the weapon upgrades she didn’t even need to waste the energy her Electro Cannons drained to deal with their screening forces. In a matter of minutes, she had wiped out the battlegroup having sustained no damage and moved on to the next. While multiple battlegroups closed on her position. Before long she was engaged in a massive engagement.
Multiple cruisers moved in to engage her. Opening fire with their heavier guns they focused on trying to penetrate the Enterprise’s heavy armor. While their screening forces were attempting to distract the Enterprise from their cruisers. As the battle waged longer and longer the brewing storm intensified as the Plasma front approached.
“Sir, the Vorkal reports she has lost shields, her weapons are gone and life support is failing,” reported the Commander’s comm officer.
“Order her to withdraw, have the Saris Hal, evacuate the crew,” ordered the Commander.
“Sir the Vorkal is accelerating, she is on a collision course with the enemy dreadnought!” said the Comms officer.
The Valorian Cruiser Vorkal accelerated to its top speed and slammed into the Enterprise’s port nacelle and broke apart on impact. A large chunk of the ship hit the port aft quarter of the saucer section during the impact. No visible damage was inflicted, but a massive chunk of the Enterprise’s AIF was drained. The brewing storm, however, provided energy to rapidly recharge it, while Countryman diverted auxiliary power to the hull plating. That storm was actually quite the blessing as it was providing quite a bit of power to their hull plating rendering them completely invulnerable to most of the heavier Valorian weapons. While coming about to a new heading. A nearby destroyer was in her way so she opened fire on it. Two cutting beams penetrated her shields and carved their way through her hull to the shield generators. The shields failed ten seconds into the firing cycle and the ship was carved apart. The Enterprise flew through her debris and then fired her Electro cannons into a nearby cruiser. Before emptying a volley of heavy particle bolts into the cruiser amidships leaving her crippled.
A second cruiser soon followed attacked in a near-identical fashion. The only difference is one of the bolts struck near the reactor. Disrupting the containment field for a mere fraction of a second, but it was enough for a small amount of antimatter to escape. The resultant blast claimed the ship in an impressive fireball. A nearby destroyer was too close to the ship and was cooked by the explosion. Her shields overloaded and her hull ruptured in multiple locations. The damage was severe enough that her captain ordered all hands to abandon ship. The Enterprise took advantage of the opening this created to make a beeline for the fleet flagship, the Valorian Heavy Cruiser Ukosa.
The Ukosa was a newer version designed as a successor to their highly successful heavy cruiser class the Defender. The Ukosa is of the Larger and better outfitted Protector class. Outfitted with Class III Valorian Omicron shielding it can take more than four times the punishment the Defender can and still be combat-capable. Her weapons array was significantly heavier including thirty-six Type III Pulse Cannon Banks and Eight Heavy Pulse Cannon Banks. All of this combined to make it the first true warship in their arsenal that the Enterprise had encountered. The flagship was not the only Protector class ship in the fleet, but it was clearly the most important.
The moment the Enterprise got into range she opened fire on the Flagship. Her initial volleys did little against her powerful shields, but they did get the ship’s attention. She returned fire with powerful bolts of plasma. The plasma splashed against the Enterprise’s hull, having a similar effect as the Enterprise’s guns did on the flagship. This was not the first Protector class ship that Countryman had engaged that honor went to a ship he sank half a year ago. The ship’s guns had failed to penetrate his armor in that battle as well. The same couldn’t be said for the Coto or the Umikaze as the heavy guns on the Protectors could penetrate their destroyer armor.
Both ships began to maneuver for an advantageous position. The Enterprise attempting to close so she could use her Electro Cannons, while the Ukosa was attempting to keep her distance. So that the Enterprise couldn’t use her Electro cannons on her. Several smaller vessels moved in and attempted to distract the Enterprise and keep her off the flagship. Most didn’t last long and ended up either disabled or destroyed by her weapons fire.
As the two ships were dueling in the clouds surrounded by many other ships. The Plasma front they were expecting finally appeared on sensors. However, it was closing much faster and was far more turbulent than they expected. The moment it appeared the fleet broke off contact with the Enterprise and began a retreat. The ships further out, who had not yet engaged were also joining the retreat The Enterprise also began to accelerate to get out of the area. Everyone had expected the coming plasma storm, but they hadn’t expected a class ten.
The storm front hit long before they could even clear the engagement area. Ships were thrown off course and slammed into each other. Shields collapsed almost instantly and hulls began to melt. Three cruisers and a destroyer were thrown into the Enterprise as her hull plating was buckling under the wave. The inertial dampers strained against the forces the ship was experiencing. Crewman were thrown into bulkheads, while the few mothers did their best to keep their children safe. A number of the crewman even blacked out from the high Gs
When the Storm cleared a few hours later the Enterprise found itself alone surrounded by some debris from ships that had been torn apart and deposited by the storm. Countryman cleared his head for a second and then demanded a status report.
“Hull plating has completely failed. Multiple hull breaches on decks four, seven, nine through twenty-nine, thirty-seven, fifty-four through ninety-one, one twelve, one thirty-nine, and one seventy through one ninety-three. Emergency bulkheads are in place and holding. Casualties have been reported on multiple decks. Mostly minor injuries, two thousand and twelve severe, four hundred seventy-two fatalities and one hundred three crewman unaccounted for. Weapons array reads forty-seven percent inoperable. Long-range sensors are offline, damage to both sublight and FTL engines. Main power is currently offline, and we are running on Auxiliary power. Nav computer indicates we are about half a lightyear from our previous position. There is also a lot of debris in the area including what looks to be the Valorian Flagship, but she is in worse shape than we are,” reported Misaki.
“Deploy damage control teams, and search and rescue teams. I want those missing crewman accounted for,” ordered Countryman. Reia at the same moment was walking up to Misaki. After she acknowledged the order she got to work dispatching the teams Countryman had ordered.
“Hey, Misaki can you tell me if Sali is alright?” asked Reia worried for the only other member of her race on the ship.
“I don’t know. The Brig reported her as missing, last seen on Deck 193. They didn’t have time to get her to her cell, so her guards had locked her in a storage closet. Both of her guards have been reported missing, but I ran a scan for them in the decompressed part of the deck. Her guards are both alive, but unconscious. Their armor though will keep them alive for a while, and those storage closets are airtight. If she is still in the closet she should be fine,” replied Misaki.
“Are you sure? She will be fine right? Didn’t you scan for life signs?” asked Reia.
“I did scan for life signs, and there are other people hiding in storage closets down there. Don’t worry I have a rescue team dispatched to rescue survivors in that section. They will find her,” replied Misaki. Reia settled a bit after that, but asked to be assigned to a search team.
Meanwhile on the Ukosa the commander pushed herself off the floor. Her head hurt and felt like her brain was trying to force itself out of her skull. A touch to her forehead came away with blood, which meant she might be at risk for a concussion. Looking around her bridge had not fared well. A bulkhead had collapsed and the front section was open to space. A force field being all that was keeping the air in the ship.
One of her other officers was already getting back to their station, so she croaked out a request for a status report.
“Shields are gone, we have hull breaches on all decks, weapons are gone. No casualties reported yet. Main and Auxiliary power are down, we are running on Emergency power. Engines read offline, but the damage doesn’t look all that extensive. I think we can limp home if we can get the power systems back online. Structural integrity seems to be holding for the moment but could fail at any given moment. Comms are down, so I can’t get a report on the fleet, but I am reading a large amount of debris in the area. On the edge of our sensors, I’m also picking up the Raider warship, but she seems to be ignoring us,” said the officer while the commander grabbed an emergency medkit from a nearby locker and began treating her officers.
“Their probably just as disabled as we are which means we should focus on getting the ship running again, so we can put in at a starbase for repairs,” said the Commander. Her first officer who just woke up said, “I concur if the rest of the ship is as bad as the bridge looks there is no way we can fight.”
The commander soon got her crew working on getting the ship working. The moment she had her power back and had shored up the integrity fields she set course for Valorian space at warp three point four.
Sali found herself sitting on a crate. She had been locked in this supply closet for several hours now. A few hours ago she had heard the distinctive sound of air vacating a compartment after a hull breach. So she was quite sure that if she found a way out of the closet, she would find herself in a vacuum. She had searched the closet a few times already, but found nothing that could help her. Mostly because she couldn’t open the crates, or lockers in the closet. Still, she hadn’t searched the entire closet since she was having difficulty standing, and it hurt to put any pressure on her left leg. This is why she thought it might be broken, and that it happened when she had been thrown into the wall. The only thing she did find, was something she guessed to be a toy. It was a spherical object that bounced around when thrown and lit up in fancy patterns. She figured it had been meant for a child and that one of the workers must have dropped it in here. Still, it gave her something to do and distract herself from her circumstances.
Tossing the ball she watched it bounce off the far wall and come back to her, and caught it moments before she heard a knock on the door. Followed by someone speaking, “Are you alright in there?”
She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to respond, so she tried to speak normally and hoped the other heard. “I’m fine, my leg hurts and I’m bored,” replied Sali deciding not to mention that she also had some bodily needs to take care of.
“Well, just sit tight a little longer and we will have you out of there,” replied the voice. She didn’t have anything else to do, so she just sat there and waited. It didn’t take long before someone opened the door, but before she could even try to move, someone came in and stopped her from standing. She couldn’t tell who they were because of the suit of armor they were wearing. The person brought a device she recognized as a scanner towards her leg and scanned her. They said nothing about the results, but they then pulled out an injector from the pack on their waist. The other person used it on her leg, before saying, “Your leg will be back to normal by tomorrow, your lucky it was just a microfracture. Still, it would be best if you don’t put a lot of pressure on it,” said the other person in a voice that revealed they were male. They left the room and came back in with what looked like a light version of their armor.
What happened next was an experience she found very embarrassing. The suit was designed for use with a skinsuit, and so it wouldn’t fit right with her prisoner’s garb on. So the medic had stripped her and then helped her into the suit which was more like he simply dressed her in it. Once the suit was on her, he then pressed a button on the small control console embedded on the wrist. Instantly the suit conformed to her figure, a fact that surprised her. She had seen self-adjusting clothing before but had not expected to encounter such things out here. After the medic made sure the suit was on tight, he lead her out into the corridor. Where she saw a strange material erected on either side of the corridor.
“What is that material blocking the corridor?” asked Sali.
“It's a sturdy polymer that is used to create emergency seals on rescue missions,” replied one of the others also a man. She then watched them, unseal it from the walls before packing it away. She was led through a number of corridors. The signs of damage were everywhere, and on the way back to an area with atmosphere, she was brought close to a hull breach. A massive hole could be seen in the hull, the edges melted. Looking at it she found herself wondering what breached the hull like that. She knew quite well that the ships hull was nigh impossible to breach.
“What did that?” asked Sali not expecting an answer.
“Not sure, could have been the storm or one of the ships we hit while in the storm,” said one of the escorts. The answer she got left her rather confused. Asking further questions didn’t really give her any answers. Which left her wondering why she even bothered asking questions. They stopped twice along the way after passing the breach in the hull, to rescue people trapped in supply closets or other small rooms that still had atmosphere. As soon as they got to the pressurized sections of the ship she found herself being escorted back to the brig. Where she was changed back into her prisoner's garb, before being locked in her cell.
Reia was searching another part of the deck and was promptly notified about Sali’s recovery much to her own relief. Her own group had also been successful in finding survivors in the sections she had searched and were on their way back.
Several hours later Countryman was in his office going over damage reports, and repair estimates. He had already been planning on the Enterprise having a full refit so that she could more comfortably carry a larger population by removing unnecessary systems and employing a more efficient layout they had designed over the last couple of years. Now the Enterprise was in need of full refit as soon as possible. With the damage the ship had sustained, they were vulnerable to attack. Furthermore, the ship was limited to low warp speeds. The ship could no longer safely reach warp four, and engineering believed they could only reach warp three point four nine safely. When Greyman came into his office.
“Ah Greyman my good friend, sit down. Anything good to report or just more bad news?” said Countryman. Greyman sat down on the indicated chair and replied, “A bit of both really. We finished our sweep of the ship and only two people remain unaccounted for. Most of the missing had minor injuries, two were found dead however. I also have the final repair estimates for the hull plating. The hull plating has been fused, and the plating will need to be replaced. Some of it can be salvaged, but most of it will have to be broken down and recycled. Which means that we aren’t able to restore hull plating at this time.”
“That is in line with most of the reports I have been getting. Have Eri set a course for Krall space, Warp 3.49,” ordered Countryman. Greyman left the room with his typical dignified gait. A few minutes later the ship, came about and jumped to warp. As for the Valorian Cruiser in the area they had started their limp home a couple hours before. One hundred and eight days later the Enterprise would enter Krall space, having traveled a distance of nearly sixteen lightyears at low warp.
Tika was rather bored. Thanks to the rise in tensions between the Valorian Confederation and the Krall Imperium, her ship had been assigned border patrol duties near the Velosa cluster. Her placement here was also to deter pirates. There had been a recent spike in piracy activity in the sector. While her crew didn’t know she had been privy to the recent intel and strategic update reports. This is why she knew that the Imperium was preparing for war with the Confederation and expected to be at war within the next six months. She was pulled from her thoughts about this upcoming war when her operations officer reported a ship approaching at low warp.
“She has just dropped out of warp, distance ‘half a million kilometers’. I’m reading significant hull damage, sir,” said the operations.
“Onscreen, maximum magnification,” ordered Ship-leader Tika. On her screen appeared the Enterprise. The damage was quite visible she could see multiple hull breaches and the outer plating looked melted. The appearance was quite surprising to her since she knew how tough that hull was. More so than the rest of her crew, thanks to her clearance giving her access to the latest intel reports.
“Scan the Enterprise, I want to know how extensive that damage is. Hail the ship,” ordered Tika.
“No response to our hails, sir. On any frequency, both sublight and FTL,” reported her comm officer.
“I think I know why, sir. My scans reveal that their comm system is damaged. The damage they sustained is quite extensive but is mostly confined to the outer sections. Their hull plating system is offline and I’m picking up duranium fragments fused with their hull. Their weapons array has taken quite a bit of damage and appears to be about sixty percent operable. Their warp engines also appear to have been damaged, most of their port nacelle shows signs of significant engine damage. As bad as it is, though it all looks to be repairable. A few months in drydock and they will be as good as new,” said her operations officer.
A few moments later her comm officer jumped and then said, “Sir, they just signaled us. We have been sent an invitation to land a shuttle in their forward shuttle bay. The invitation came with docking instructions and a request for parts. Specifically parts to fix their damaged subspace radio.”
“Helm, bring us alongside the Enterprise. Engineering ready a shuttle and a repair team with the requested parts” ordered Tika. Twenty minutes later she boarded the shuttle with an aide and the repair team. The flight over was peaceful enough, following the instructions they lined up with the shuttlebay, and when they got close they were guided in by guidance beams. There was a brief delay while she waited for the bay to recompress.
Tika stepped off the shuttle and took a look around. The bay was clearly not the shuttlebay you would normally use to accept visiting dignitaries or guests from another ship. This bay was clearly designed to accept cargo shuttles and small freighters. The presence of machinery clearly suited for moving large amounts of cargo quickly were one of the major hints, the other was the rather utilitarian decor. On the far side of the bay, a large set of doors opened and Countryman walked in. He came up to her and greeted her.
“Good day, ship leader. I didn’t expect to meet you here but I’m glad I did,” said Countryman.
“I was surprised to see you as well. I brought some engineers and the parts you requested to fix your radio. We have things to discuss though,” said Tika.
“Yes, we do the lift is this way. I would have preferred having your shuttle land on the deck four shuttlebay, but the doors are melted shut. It would be nice to have some news about the larger world as well,” said Countryman.
“Yes, I can see how your information is a little out of date. The last four months since you attacked New Valoria have been quite eventful. Relations between the Confederation and her neighbors have become rather tense. One month ago three of those neighbors declared war, after a few ships that survived your battle with them limped home. The Valorians are now at war with the Malora, the Voskar, and the Toral Confederacy. The war isn’t going well for them either. Losing the entire third fleet was a major blow for them, and they simply don’t have enough ships for a three-front war. They had to pull ships from anti-piracy patrol, just to hold their borders. As a result, piracy is up throughout the Confederation and is even affecting her neighbors. They have also been struggling with Voskar stealth attacks which is the only thing the Voskar are known to be good at. Their ships are designed to get in, do their damage and get out quick,” said Tika.
“Yes, I noticed. We actually fought the Voskar. Their Railguns are quite powerful if primitive an excellent weapon for a surprise attack. Just they don’t fair well against our armor, something they learned quickly. They only attacked us once, and after that they left us alone,” said Countryman.
“Well, we don’t know much about the Voskar. But that is consistent with what we do know about them. They do not pick fights they know they can’t win,” said Tika.
“So what do you know about them?”
“Well, culturally they rely heavily on slavery. Apparently, about ninety percent of their population are slaves. Their core worlds are typically closed to visitors, and they have tight rules of conduct for those visiting their border worlds. They are heavily dominated by mercenary companies, and many of those who visit their territory are there to hire a mercenary company or two for a war, or other job they have that requires troops,” said Tika as they came out of the lift on deck one. Countryman led them into the conference room, where they both took seats.
“Well, anyway I know you scanned my ship. The primary reason we came this way is we are in need of a refit. We would like to borrow a drydock slip so that we can conduct repairs,” said Countryman.
“I think that could be arranged, it will require some negotiations with the yard. There is a shipyard a few lightyears from here. I’ll escort you to the yard and try to help you negotiate for the use of a slip. What can you offer the yard?” replied Tika.
“We have large stockpiles of Duranium and Tritanium we salvaged in our cargo bays. We have little use for the metals ourselves, but it makes a good trade good. While some of them were damaged, we also have onboard factories and can manufacture goods for the yard if they provide the schematics. Also if you’re going to escort us, I recommend you bring a tug along. Otherwise it might take a while to get to the shipyard. We have spent the last three months limping along at low warp,” said Countryman.
“Alright I can work with that, and I’ll have the Teketh tow you to get there faster,” replied Tika
A few hours later the Teketh took the Enterprise in tow and set course for a nearby Krall controlled system. The Hylis system was a major industrial system just a fourteen lightyears from their present position. While it would have taken the Enterprise months to reach the system, the Teketh was able to tow them there in just ten days. The system had three colonized planets with a major shipyard complex in orbit of the fourth planet which is where they headed.
