Part 90: Turn 405

TURN 405


Our fleet has arrived at Melina, the sole remaining system of the Romulan empire. Next door sits the Scout that somehow managed to escape death.


It's another textbook invasion plan. It appears the Romulans were still in the process of fully colonizing Melina. They will never get the chance.


TURN 406. Melina is taken. The colonists are a proud people, and they request permission to terraform the remaining planet. But Chancellor Martok has given up micromanaging even the Klingon systems. Factories across the empire lay dormant.


Our scientist seems to have convinced more Ferengi, Cardassian, and Romulan scientists to join his efforts. He's making breakthroughs even more quickly now than when his work was authorized.


The fall of Melina means the end of the Romulan empire. We will never again be forced to deal with their treachery and cloaked ships.


The fall of the Romulans has led to the ouster of President Kirk as leader of the Federation. The people wanted to know why they were not allowed to help the last remaining buffer state between them and the Klingons. Kirk had replied, "Never trust a Romulan," but it was insufficient to keep him in office. President Janeway succeeds him. Janeway condemns Kirk's racism and promises victory against the savage Klingon hordes.


Virtually all of Federation space is outside the range of our scanners. We know that a few Fed ships have flown west toward Vulcan, but we're more interested in the capital of the Federation: Sol. Our Birds of Prey and the remaining Scouts activate their cloaks and set course for Earth.


TURN 407. Well, it seems we've located their fleet.


The Federation fleet is massive. They outnumber us in command ships by more than 2 to 1, and that's not counting the fact that their Command Cruiser IIs are a stronger model than our Heavy Cruisers (Birds of Prey). They are even with us in light attack ships. They have 13 Strike Cruisers, whereas we have none. Federation ships all look similar, though they also brought the single Vulcan ship which is placed near the front of their lines.


It seems that in general, the Ferengi had concentrated on building a lot of small ships, while the Federation focused on heavy command ships. Our Scouts will target the Strike Cruisers during the free cloak turn; our Birds of Prey will target the command ships. There are so many command ships that we simply must begin taking them down.


All our ships decloak and open fire. As always, the goal is to thin the ranks of our enemy as quickly as we can to even the odds before real combat begins.


Klingon commanders smile as they see many Federation ships already exploding.


It didn't take long to start taking down enemy ships. It's just a matter of how many we got when the dust settles.


After the intial assault, even the bravest of Klingon warriors can only stare at the viewscreens and blink. That's a lot of fleet left.


We hoped that our 15 Scouts would inflict real damage against the Strike Cruisers, but they barely put a dent in their shields. We'd like to have our Birds strike the command ships again and finish off whatever Command Cruisers were damaged, but clearly the Scouts aren't doing the job. The Birds and Scouts will both target the Strike Cruisers in the second round.


The Federation ships fire their test shot. Many Klingon commanders are nervous for the first time in their careers.


If we are to die, it will be in glorious battle. We will bring as many Humans to their graves as possible.


The first advantage we have over our enemies is that our crews are much more experienced than most of the Humans. These Birds of Prey are veterans of an untold number of battles against the Ferengi, Cardassians, Romulans, and intergalactic miscreants. They have never been defeated. The Humans have hardly known war at all. We see the red explosions of Klingon ships, but our Birds have dealt swift death to their targets. All of the Strike Cruisers are killed and remaining weapons are immediately redirected against command ships.


Not only that, all of the Federation's 15 light attack ships were destroyed. Everyone is ordered to target the command ships.


Are they...are they trying to ram us?


Oh, and the second advantage we have over our enemies? We are Klingons, and they are not.


Our ships expertly track down and destroy hostile vessels. The Federation is standing its ground, but they do not appear to be doing much damage.


At last, the odds begin to favor us. Our fleet appears intact, while the Federation is losing tons of ships. Many of their remaining command ships are severely weakened.


President Janeway told the commanders that they would not be permitted to retreat under any circumstances. The Federation is still firing on us, but their aim is poor. Whenever a Klingon fires back, he hits his target.


It's as if the Birds and Scouts are dancing between the enemy weapons. They are hardly touched.


There are so many enemy ships around, but only the Klingons seem to know how to kill their prey.


Some days, Klingon warriors amaze even themselves. We killed all 64 ships, including 36 command ships. The enemy killed 3 Scouts. That's it. Unbelievable.


Among the Federation's dead are the crew of the only Vulcan ship (heretofore) in existence. Former President Kirk weeps for his friend Spock, who was reportedly on board. Coincidentally, the Federation raids Vulcan.


Klingons are pleased to hear that they destroyed the Federation's main fleet, but they are stunned to hear that President Janeway ordered the bombing of Vulcan, which has been in Klingon hands for some time now. It seems the Romulans are not the only ones capable of a sneak attack.