Sacrifice

[Cptn Corizon 0]

In the pitch black cold of space, the warship Excalibur floated amidst her fleet mates waiting in anticipation for the culmination of months of planning and preparation. Aboard the once sparkling vessel of exploration cum battle-hardened lady, her master sat alone in darkness.

 

Corizon’s thoughts coalesced from complex battle formations and minute battle strategies to the ultimate goal of the mission and the big picture. In twenty-four hours the fate of his Quadrant could well be decided. acrifice

 

 

If the battle at the wormhole went poorly, if they failed in their mission to warn the Alpha Quadrant, if their task force was wiped from existence nothing would stand between the Scorpiads and an eventual assault upon the Federation.

 

They could not be allowed to continue to hold the wormhole which allowed them to rebuild their forces. If they did, the Dominion would soon buckle beneath the sharpened stinger of the Scorpiads and then they would set all of their compound eyes on everything he held dear.

 

Closing his eyes he sighed softly. Five years had passed since the Dominion had acquiesced to the Alliance. Five years had past since their ambition had been thwarted. So many good people had died in that conflict, died protecting the Federation. And now five years later, they were helping save the very people they’d once fought so bitterly against to protect the Federation once more. The irony wasn’t lost on Corizon.

 

It was an alliance of convenience. It was an alliance of once bitter enemies who had put aside their differences to overcome a greater threat. These things happened in war—strange bedfellows.

 

Clawed fists clenched tight on the thoughts. He hated the Dominion. He despised them. They had taken his pristine world of before the War and shattered it, forever altering what had once been the shining city on the hill. That world no longer existed. Instead it had been replaced by the dull-grey hues of reality. A city constantly under siege. Morals had compromised, and men now worked in the shadows to assure the continued existence of the city, breaking the very ideals that founded the city to assure her survival.

 

And now he helped the greatest foe his beloved Federation had ever faced, to protect his beloved Federation. It was a compromise of his values that he was willing to make.

 

His jaw hardened. The survival of the Federation was paramount and any sacrifice that had to be made was worth the price—even if it were his own life he paid with.

 

--

 

Light-years away the flagship of the Scorpiad Empire, the Conquering Fury, joined her sisterships in formation, forming a wall of Scorpiad, Al-Ucard and Eritan vessels that moved in unison towards a head-on conflict with her enemies.

 

Standing alone in the darkness of his chambers, General N’Krittt considered the situation carefully. His entire life he had prepared for this moment. The end of war was near. He could feel it in his exoskeleton.

 

Soon the fate his empire would be decided by the prowess in battle. If they lost the upcoming clash of giants, the Wormhole would be lost and soon the war. Without the life-giving power of the wormhole, the larva that would grow into powerful ships like the ones he rode upon would be lost.

 

He knew, despite the arrogant predications by the war council that without their ships, the Al-Ucard and Eritan would fail to subdue the Dominion. It would only be matter of time before another race rose to challenge them outright, perhaps the Dominion themselves.

 

And of course their was what he had been told by the Emperor, and sworn to secrecy. This war was no longer just about revenge upon the Dominion. It was something more.

 

His people were dying.

 

Slowly. But surely. They were dying. Birthrates were low amongst all the sub-species, and those Scorplings that were being born were having higher and higher rates of infertility.

 

No, this was no longer about righting a wrong. This was to be the last great push of the Scorpiad Empire; the last monument to the greatness of Archanis. If their race was doomed, they would go out, not with withering frailty but with fierceness of the strongest beast. He had been tasked, by the Emperor himself with the success of this campaign, and he would see to it that the monument was complete—even if he paid for it with is life.

[Dox Maturin 0]

Ooo...the scorpiads just got a lot more interesting :)