Part 59: Turn 100
TURN 100
The Klingon High Council is obsessed with the fact that the Caldonians dared to break away from the empire. A re-invasion of the system is given the highest priority. Unfortunately, resources are limited.
TURN 101. The Cardassians' massive fleet waits patiently next to Mintaka while a fresh Troop Transport is brought in from the west.
The Mintakans know full well they must make every turn count if they are to survive the latest round of terror.
Our 2 Scouts and the 2 Troop Transports are the only ships we have at the moment. They will all arrive at Caldonia next turn. They must invade the system and send one or both surviving Scouts to Mintaka in time to kamikaze the Cardassian Troop Transport. There is no margin of error here.
TURN 102. The clock is ticking. The Cardie Transport joins the rest of the fleet and is presumably moving with them to Mintaka right afterward.
Our ships are ordered to invade Caldonia. They still have only the one Orbital Battery we built for them. If our calculations are correct, one Scout will be destroyed by it, and the other will survive.
TURN 103. Our army is victorious! Caldonia is ours once again. As expected, one Scout was killed.
For the first time in quite awhile, Klingons have something to feel good about. Yet we're only taking back what we just lost.
It's a good thing we took Caldonia back as soon as we did. Apparently the Romulans were going to make a play for the system. They casually fly a group of ships that could simultaneously obliterate everything we've ever built.
The Cardassian invasion fleet arrives on Mintaka unopposed yet again.
Our timing was perfect. We will be able to send one Scout to Mintaka just before the troops are scheduled to roll out. Our leftover Troop Transport will begin the process of building an Outpost and hopefully, a Starbase. No matter how many times we fail, we will not give up.
TURN 104. Our Scout stands alone against the full power of the Cardassian empire.
Since our entire fleet of one ship is cloaked, it gets a free turn before the Troop Transport can order its individual retreat. Hopefully the Transport can be killed during this free round.
The Scout decloaks and soars right by the massive enemy fleet, heading straight for the Transport.
The Transport takes heavy damage. Its shields are down and less than half of its hull remains intact. The Scout will fire upon the Transport again and kill it before the entire Cardassian fleet annihilates it. Is it a suicide mission? Yes. Is the crew afraid? No. They are Klingon.
The Scout is instantly turned to dust. But not before its torpedoes are fired. The Cardassian Troop Transport is destroyed. There will be no enslavement of Mintaka.
There will, however, be extraordinary death and destruction from the enemy fleet's bombardment. 44 million are killed. We had no less than 6 Orbital Batteries powered, but they don't do as much as we hoped. Thick Cardassian hulls save all but 2 of their ships.
Aside from the 2 destroyed, a few Cardassian ships sustain damage from the Batteries, including a Cruiser and a Strike Cruiser.
The bombardment destroyed much of Mintaka's vital infrastructure. There is already insufficient food to support the 158 million Mintakans. But this is no time for building farms. More Orbital Batteries!
Yridia is placed under martial law again to forestall civil war.
TURN 105. A Federation Scout has run into our Starbase on Volon and is forced to retreat. At least we won that battle. But the Scout is nevertheless a harbinger of the Federation fleet, which now has the ability to ride Romulan infrastructure all the way into our territory.
The Cardassian fleet has no Troop Transports to invade Mintaka with, but it orders a devastating follow-up bombardment. Another 31 million are killed and more important structures are ruined.
The Ferengi don't want us to forget them. We remember them, but we do not pay them.
The Cardassian fleet might have been expected to clear out, but 15 warships remain on Mintaka.
Even fewer food supplies means Mintakans are at risk of starvation. But as long as the Cardassian fleet refuses to leave, we must put defense at the top of our priorities.
TURN 106. The Cardassians break with custom and order a third assault against Mintaka with their warships. Millions more die helplessly.
Our Orbital Batteries have been unable to fully penetrate the thick skins of the Cardie warships, but they're doing significant damage. It's worthwhile to keep replacing them.
We've built two more Troop Transports and prepare to upgrade the Caldonian Outpost into a Starbase. If the Cardies want to stop us, they'll have to lift their siege of Mintaka.
TURN 107. Death continues to rain down on Mintaka. This is no longer a military operation. It's turning into genocide. Cardassian leader Gul Dukat has come under criticism for this unprecedented action, and he schedules a major speech to address the concerns.
"There are those who have questioned the actions of my fleet on Mintaka. They say that my orders are barbaric. Bloodthirsty, even. They couldn't be more wrong. From the very beginning, all I have ever tried to do was save the lives of the Mintakans. And yes, the Klingons as well.
"Not long after we made first contact with the Klingons, I pursued a policy of peace. I wanted to bring them into a grand coalition of powers to deal with our true enemy, the Ferengi. But before we had even gotten to know their leaders' names, the Klingons declared war against Cardassia. Unprovoked, inexplicable war.
"The Central Command wanted the situation resolved and they didn't care how it was done. They felt that if the Klingons wanted war, we should bring it to them. But I was convinced that a gentler hand was required to deal with the Klingons. I offered them a peace treaty. I even offered to give them two thousand credits--two thousand!--if they would only agree to end the war. And how did the Klingons react? They took the money and declared war again, spitting in my face.
"It was a humiliation, a personal insult. But did I give up my efforts to reach out to the Klingons? No. I tried again. And what did I get for my trouble? More war and more insults. On and on it went, day after blood-soaked day. Time and again, I would reach out with the open hand of friendship and time and again, they would slap it away.
"Why? Because they were blind, ignorant fools. They couldn't see that if they had only chosen to cooperate with us, we could have shared victory against the Ferengi. From the moment we made first contact, it was clear that we were the superior race. But they couldn't accept that. Their own intel reports showed it: Economically, technologically, militarily, we were light years ahead of them in every way. We did not choose to be the superior race, fate handed us our role.
"But the Klingons would not yield. When our fleets decimated theirs, they would not surrender. When our warships bombed their systems into dust, they would not call it quits. Instead, they bitterly clung to their bat'leths and their bloodwine. They launched suicide attacks with their Scouts against our non-combatant ships, knowing they would be shot down afterward. And they treated their deaths like some twisted badge of honor.
"Of course I hated them for it! Their superstitions and their cries for respect, their treachery and their lies, their smug superiority and their stiff-necked obstinancy, their braided hair and their crinkled foreheads. Yes I hated them, I hated everything about them!
"So they blow up our Troop Transports. They ruin our invasions. But I know what I should have done. I've always known it! I should never have ordered invasions. I should have killed every last one of them and turned their systems into a graveyard the likes of which the galaxy has never seen!
"And now I have the chance to make up for my mistakes. This is a message to Chancellor Gowron and every other Klingon who can hear my voice. I am not going to order an end to the bombardment of Mintaka. I am going to order the bombings to continue. I am going to kill you. I am going to kill you all. End of statement."