The Battle For Caer Bannog- Act II

[will_marx 0]

THE BATTLE FOR CAER BANNOG- ACT II

 

At the edge of the system, twenty eight Federation starships emerged from warp, and deployed for battle. On board the Antietam, there was an intricate ballet on the flightdeck as fighters were prepped for launch, and with thirty seconds between them, the entire squadron of Tomcats was hurtled spaceward. As soon as the last FS-14 cleared the Antietam’s fantail, FS-15s and FS-106s followed suit. “Admiral,” Lt. Leeds reported, “the fleet has successfully arrived, and is deployed for battle.”

 

“Thank you, Vanessa,” Gloval said.

 

“Combat patrol is spaceborne,” Roy reported.

 

“Very good,” Gloval said. “Do we have a fix on the enemy fleet?”

 

“No sir. Scanners and sensors are significantly degraded, due to hard radiation and debris,” Lieutenant McMillan, at the science station reported.

 

“Launch a Blackbird. I want these pirates found as quickly as possible.”

 

“Aye sir,” Fokker said. Below the bridge, in Shuttlebay One, the deck crew began prepping one of the ship’s recon fighters for launch. As soon as it was ready, the hangar door opened, and the black delta-winged shuttle departed. “Blackbird away, sir. Beginning recon of the system.

 

00000

 

On the far side of the system, another fleet dropped out of warp. Consisting of converted freighters and bulk carriers all centered on an obsolete Daedalus-class starship, the Revenge, this fleet was the scourge of the spacelanes in the near Beta Quadrant. This pirate fleet made its way towards its ambush coordinates, intent on capturing as many merchantmen as possible.

 

The appearance of multiple warp signatures was noted by the Blackbird, located above the plane of the system’s elliptic. The sensor operator in the back seat of the two man fighter trained her instruments on the lead ship, and began relaying the data back to the Antietam.

 

“Admiral,” Lt. Young called from her station, “we’re getting data from Blackbird 301. The enemy fleet has warped into the system, and is currently on a course towards an interception point between us and the Marine convoy.”

 

“Thank you Kim. Sammie, signal the fleet: ‘Intercept and engage enemy fleet; best possible speed.’”

 

“Yes sir,” Lt. Porter replied. The message was relayed, and the fleet of starships began picking their way through the asteroid and debris fields.

 

“Sir, we’re getting another report from Blackbird 305,” Kim reported. “Another fleet of ships has dropped out of warp, and is heading for the intercept point. IFF is squawking civilian codes, sensor readings indicate Starfleet troopships. There’s a second code buried under the first one, Admiral. It’s matching codes consistent with Starfleet Marine Corps troopships.”

 

“That would be the Second Marines, Admiral,” Marx said. “They were to be the bait.”

 

“I see,” Admiral Gloval said. “Will there be any more…surprises?”

 

“No sir,” Marx replied, with his hand to the back of his neck. “Sorry about that.” Captain Sakai hid a smile at that.

 

“I can see the necessity, Lieutenant. After all, this isn’t a typical fleet operation.” He turned to face the Air Ops console. “Captain Fokker, get the rest of the wing airborne, but keep them in our sensor shadow. We’ll spring them at the right time. Kim, how long until the fleet is within engagement range?”

 

“Fifteen minutes sir, present speed.” Kim consulted her board again. “Second Marines will be in the engagement area in fifteen minutes as well.”

 

“Very well then. Sammie, signal to all ships, ‘Battlestations. Set Condition One’. Reiko, bring the ship to battlestations.”

 

“Aye, sir,” the redheaded captain said. It wasn’t the first time Marx noticed that she could have doubled for his wife. “Ms. Grant, sound battlestations.”

 

“Aye, ma’am.” Claudia hit the alert klaxons, bathing the bridge in red battle lighting.

 

“Battlestations, battlestations. Set Condition One throughout the ship,” the ship’s computer announced over the loudspeakers. The vibrations of blast doors closing throughout the ship could be felt through the decking of the bridge.

 

“Captain, all battlestations manned and ready. Condition One set throughout the ship.”

 

“Admiral, all attack fighters have launched, and are hiding in our sensor shadow,” Roy reported.

 

“Admiral,” LCDR Lowe said, “phasers charging, photon and quantum torpedoes loading. Point defense phasers online. Phaser cannon has begun power up sequence.”

 

“Admiral,” Sammie called, “the fleet has set Condition One.”

 

USS KAGA

 

“All ships, this is the Antietam. Battlestations, set Condition One. I say again, battlestations, set Condition One” the loudspeakers on the bridge of the Constitution-class heavy cruiser stated.

 

I won’t run away; I won’t run away, Commander Ikari thought to himself. “Commander Soryu,” he said a little more confidently than his last orders, but still kind of weak, “sound battlestations, set Condition One.”

 

“Aye sir,” the redheaded German said. She hit the intercom. “All hands, battlestations, I say again, battlestations. Set Condition One through the ship.”

 

Shinji was rubbing the sweaty palms of his hands on his uniform trousers, listening to the reports of the various departments throughout the ship reporting their status. “Sir,” Asuka said, interrupting his internal dialogue, “the ship is at battlestations; Condition One has been set throughout the ship.”

 

“ETA to the enemy,” he asked.

 

“Twelve minutes Herr Kapitan,” she replied, slipping into her native language, anxious to begin the battle.

 

“Very good,” he replied. This is it, sink or swim. Time to prove to the old man whether or not I can hack it. Why did they have to give me a heavy cruiser? I would have been much happier in a frigate. “Stand by phasers and photon torpedoes.”

 

“Jawhol, Herr Kapitan.”

 

00000

 

The three fleets closed towards an imaginary point in space, like asteroids plummeting towards a black hole. Roberts’ fleet was blinded by the lack of reconnaissance assets; the two Federation fleets were data-linked both together and to the Blackbird orbiting above the elliptic.

 

“Admiral, enemy forces are entering phaser range,” Commander Lowe reported.

 

“Sammie, signal the fleet: ‘Commence fire, fire at will.’ Mr. Lowe, you may fire when ready. Roy, send in the fighters.”

 

Within a matter of moments, the forward phaser batteries on the Rhydin squadrons opened fire. Warthogs and Berkuts came from around their mothership, and dove towards the pirate fleet, as the Eagles, Phoenixes, and Tomcats provided cover. Anti-ship missiles streaked off of hardpoints on the attack fighters, punching through the standard shielding of the pirate fleet.

 

Fighters from the pirates’ carriers launched, turning space into a swirling melee of fireballs, debris and vapor clouds. Every so often, a pilot would eject into the airless vacuum of space, and pray that their suit would hold up, that they wouldn’t get hit by a stray phaser bolt or chunk of debris.

 

“Captain, we’re getting multiple rescue beacons,” Claudia reported.

 

“Runabout Passaic requesting permission for rescue operations,” Roy reported.

 

“Send her out,” Gloval ordered. “I want fighters escorting them in.”

 

“Phaser cannon armed, sir,” Commander Lowe said.

 

“Target one of their carriers, and fire.”

 

At the base of the saucer section, the muzzle of the phaser cannon began to glow red, as energy was transferred from the capacitors. The ventral section of the saucer took on an evil red glow, as though Lucifer himself were looking through the muzzle, as the coherent bolt of phased energy shot from the Antietam, and hit the shields of one of Roberts’ bastardized carriers. The shields glowed red for a moment, before collapsing. A second bolt went right through the hull of the ship, penetrating the antimatter storage tanks. With the momentary disruption in the magnetic fields, all it took was one positron to leak through and touch the EPS junction box that powered the magnetic bottles. With a spark, the box blew, disabling containment. The bulk carrier erupted into a self-feeding ball of plasma, as the phaser cannon began its thirty second recharge cycle.

 

“Admiral, Yamato’s been hit!” Kim sang out, as the battle lighting on the bridge returned towards normal.

 

“On screen,” Gloval ordered. The viewscreen shifted to show the Sovereign-class cruiser, taking multiple torpedoes. The shields over her port nacelle flared into the visible spectrum, before collapsing. Pirate attack shuttles launched torpedo after torpedo at the vulnerable spot in her armor, even as her phasers tried to keep them away. Two torpedoes made it through the point-defense onslaught, hitting the nacelle. It erupted in a cloud of plasma and debris. The Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu and Soryu flew through the expanding debris cloud, phasers firing, knocking down as many pirate vessels as possible.

 

“Bohze moi,” the Russian admiral muttered. “Kim, get me Captain Katsuragi.”

 

“Sir, I have Captain Katsuragi on audio only.”

 

“Admiral, we took a good hit. Main energizer’s out, we’re running on auxiliary power only. We’ve also got shock damage throughout the ship, sir. Life support is nominal, long-range subspace is out, and fire control’s shot to Hell though, sir.”

 

“Fall back. Attach your frigates to First Squadron and have your heavy cruisers escort you out of the engagement area.”

 

“Understood sir,” the disappointment was evident in Captain Katsuragi’s voice.

 

“Misato,” he said, “you did good. Don’t worry about it. We’ll signal Rhydin to send a tug out for you.”

 

“Aye sir. Good hunting, Admiral. Yamato out,” Misato ending the transmission. The viewscreen showed the damaged Yamato being escorted out of the firefight by her smaller stable mates.

 

“Sir, I’m getting reports of pirate vessels surrendering,” Vanessa reported. “Marine transports are sending boarding parties to seize the vessels that have surrendered.”

 

“Excellent. Any word on the Revenge?”

 

“Yes sir. She’s still in the fight, and not about to give up.”

 

“Lisa, intercept the Revenge. Let’s show Roberts how Starfleet fights.”

 

The viewscreen shifted as the battleship adjusted her course, and fixed on the Revenge. Intelligence hadn’t done the reports justice to her, as it was obvious that Roberts had upgraded the ship several times since her retirement from Starfleet and stricken from the rolls as the USS Hotspur. Instead of the standard cylindrical first generation warp nacelles, she mounted the more advanced Constitution refit nacelles on streamlined pylons that were horizontally mounted. Her gooseneck was more robust, and mounted an additional impulse engine deck.

 

“Sir,” Commander Lowe said, “the Revenge is in range. Phaser cannon has entered final recharge sequence.”

 

“I want her, Commander. Target engines and weapons only.”

 

“Aye sir.” The Antietam’s phasers opened fire, impacting on her shields, something that had been upgraded, but wasn’t readily apparent. Quantum torpedoes shot from their tubes and hit the Revenge’s shields, blew through them, and impacted against the hull of the pirate ship. “Firing phaser cannon,” LCDR Lowe stated. The lights on the bridge dimmed, as energy was transferred. Two bolts of coherent phased energy shot out again, and drilled through the Revenge’s shields. Both starboard and port nacelles exploded into balls of fire. The Antietam’s standard phasers fired again, destroying the gooseneck impulse engine deck, as an anti-ship missile from a Berkut blew the main impulse engines.

 

“Signal the Revenge. Tell them to stand down, and prepare to be boarded.”

 

Lieutenant Kino, the ship’s communications specialist nodded. “Revenge, this is Antietam. You are to surrender your vessel and prepare to be boarded.”

 

“Admiral, with your permission, I’d like to lead the away team,” Marx said.

 

“Granted, Lieutenant,” Gloval said, and Marx left the bridge of the battleship.

 

“Antietam, this is the Revenge. We surrender. It was a good fight, Antietam. We will be expecting your boarding party,” the reply from the Revenge came.

 

00000

 

As Will was making his way to Transporter Room 4, something was plaguing him, as he reviewed the battle. The pirates had fought only when Admiral Gloval ordered them to attack. They had made no move towards intercepting the Marine convoy at any other point; it was as if they had wanted to surrender, not fight. Did I second guess the intelligence? Will thought to himself, as he was outfitted with the appropriate accoutrements for a boarding party. Were they actually on their way to surrender, and we attacked them? There was no flag of truce, no messages offering their surrender prior to the fight. They must have wanted to fight us. But they didn’t fire first; they made no move to intercept the convoy. He stood on the transporter pad, and nodded to the operator. “Energize.”

 

00000

 

Lt. William Marx materialized in the Revenge’s transporter room, with his seven man SOCOM team. Expecting a fight as soon as they arrived, they were clad in the latest protective body armor, and had their phaser carbines at the ready. Marx looked around the room, noting it was empty. The air smelled of smoke and electricity; the lights were down to battery powered emergency lights.

 

The team moved out into the corridor, scanning it. As they moved towards the turbolift, they cleared rooms that they could enter, and sealed doors they could not. There was still enough power to the lift, and entered it. “Bridge,” SFC Holmes growled. The computer complied, and the lift made its way to the top of the spherical primary hull.

 

As the lift doors opened, the eight man team moved on to the bridge. “Roberts,” Will said, “you are under arrest for piracy.” The crew of the Revenge were at their stations, hands resting on the consoles, nowhere near any of the controls.

 

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…To Be Continued