NationStates Jolt Archive

Captain's log, stardate 2558.17: The new Excelsior is functioning well. Sure, she is only a 22nd century Atlantic-Class type design, the construction of an upgraded Atlantic is rare. I hope, that as a patrol ship, she will still hold up to President Mew's expectations.

On another note, the Excelsior is currently the only ship captained by an AI system. Captain Richard Kine, Vice President Rachel Kine's husband, was killed when a baffle plate in Engineering ruptured. I assumed command on stardate 2558.15 after Kine was pronounced dead.

Helm) Marie? Approaching Sector 22 33 04: Barzan.

Marie) Understood. Maintain Yellow Alert status.

(OOC: Here are the ratings of the vessel classes I will use here, in simple terms.

Atlantic class vessels are very easy to capture. Like I said, they are based off of a 22nd century design. However, a group of more than 5 can create trouble.

Augusta class ships are pretty hard, but not impossible to capture. A more recent design, all of the Augustas are at least 13 years old. Generally, try to avoid groups of more than 3, or a lone Augusta with Atlantic reinforcements.

The one ship you don't want to see is the Voyager class. She can make quick work of most any vessel. Steer clear of them.)

Images: (not to scale)

Atlantic:
http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/2/26/Intrepid_aft.jpg

Augusta:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/0/05/USS_Reliant.jpg

Voyager:
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/9/99/Enterprise09.png

((Alderania, I hope I didn't burn you out with all of that chatter and those pictures.))

OOC: Alderania has developed a different system for naming space craft. To avoid confusion, here's how the system works:

skirmisher - frigate
light dragoon - destroyer
dragoon - cruiser
uhlan - heavy cruiser
cataphract - battleship
barge - carrier

IC:

Following the nationalization of all the means of production under the Order's guiding hand, the economy of Alderania had been utterly destroyed. Where once cities bustled with the life and joy of modern civlization, there was now darkness and despair. Rebellions, insurrections, and general attempts to flee the Order were very common. The constant wars and emmigration had left the Order with a massive brain drain, a situation that had to be remedied if it were to hold off the forces of the infidels.

OrdenMarschall Trath Moran, the supreme commander of all the Order's military forces, came up with his own plan. The intelligence agencies of the Order had identified the Federation of Mewsland as a technologically superior, and relatively isolated, source of potential technology. With an economy in shambles and no purchasing power, the Order had to seize what it needed to further develop its military forces. The OrdenMarschall was now in the Distinguised Guest's quarters onboard the Templar. The Templar was a light dragoon craft of the Templar class, the first, and last remaining, of its craft. Built in the period following the invention of the wormhole drive and subsequent colonization of Alderania and its worlds, the Templar had been in service for centuries. The OrdenMarschall was not too happy about having to travel aboard one of the Space Force's oldest spacecraft, but he knew that, no matter which craft he took, it would be outdated compared to that of his potential enemies.

Trath sipped his cup of tea, a rare luxury in Alderania, and activated the old holographic display unit. As the screen fired up, the image of an older man, completely bald, materialized. A hand rose from off screen to give a crisp Roman salute. The figure spoke: "OrdenMarchall, to what do I owe this honor?" Trath adjusted himself in the old seat, trying to find a comfortable position. "General, the honor is mine. For soon we shall set a new course, and we shall write a new chapter of our history. The old history of shortages, of decrepit ships; it shall all be absolved, and our eternal service to the Divine Stars will be rewarded." He paused, and smiled. "The Divine Stars have appointed you, General Specter, to carry out the latest holy task. Can you rise to the occassion?" The General's face became animated at the suggestion that the Divine Ones had chosen him, of all people, for service. "For the Divine Ones, I would do anything. Ask, my lord, and I shall do it at once." That was what Trath wanted to hear. "Good. Now listen." The OrdenMarchall fully briefed the General on his plan, and the General smiled. "I am glad the Stars have appointed such brilliant men as you, my lord. I will see to it at once. Specter out." With that, the display flickered and went dark, the face disappearing. Trath picked up his glass and finished the rest of his tea.

And so it began.

_________________________________________________

The freighter Teutoburg was a massive craft, built orginally to transport colonists to the then-barren world of Alderania. As a truly ancient craft, it would attract attention in Federation space. It was very lightly armed and armored, but its mission didn't call for it to be armed. The enormous craft fired up its wormhole drive, tearing a hole through space and, hopefully, ending up on the edge of Federation space.

Captain's log, stardate 2558.18. We are currently patrolling just outside the edge of our galaxy. We have detected a phenomenon forming in our sector.

Science) It appears to be a wormhole, Marie.

Marie) Let's get in closer. Keep scanning it.

Science) Detecting null readings at the center, but there appears to be something inside.

Marie) Okay. Let's go to Orange Alert! All hands, standby battle stations!

(OOC: Levels of Alert:

Status Purple: Used in "Abandon Ship" orders.
Red Alert: The vessel is under attack or faces a severe threat other than an attacker.
Orange Alert: The vessel is under threat of attack or is facing a moderate threat.
Yellow Alert: The vessel is under a small chance of attack or faces a light threat.
Condition Blue: The vessel is A) landing, or B) docking with a vessel or a starbase.
Status Green: Normal operation.)

The boxy freighter emerged slowly from the wormhole, its ion drives running only on low power, giving off as little signal of functionality as possible. Once the massive freighter finally emerged from the wormhole, the spatial distortion closed, and the area returned to normal. Once it emerged, the Teutoburg turned such that its long side faced the Excelsior. Being an old ship, the Teutoburg was not equipped with any sorts of directed energy weapons; it was only equipped with a single railgun, which was barely in any sort of workable order.

The freighter powered up its ion drives to full power, giving a slow, but steady, burst of speed. For a few seconds, all appeared well. But then an explosion rocked the side of the ship, putting the freighter into a downward spiral. A message was broadcast on radio frequencies, the only form of communication the Teutoburg was equipped with.

"This is the Teutoburg, spacecraft fleeing the Religious Order of Alderania. It appears that we have suffered damage to one of our fusion reactors, and we request assistance. Repeat, this is the Teutoburg, requesting assistance. Please answer."

(Another OOC: An Atlantic would be a frigate, Augustas are cruisers, and the Voyagers are a cross between heavy cruisers and battleships.)

Marie) Let's go! Drop back to Condition Blue, prepare to dock with the vessel!

As the Excelsior approached the now-damaged Teutoburg, several small doors on the side of the freighter opened, and a few long arms extended outwards from them, beckoning the foreign vessel. Radio beams lanced out from the tips of the arms, guiding the vessel in. Long before the use of transporter technology, the colonists had used a system of extensible docking arms to facilitate the docking between various ships. The arms would help keep the ships from colliding.

Komtur Alan Petrovsky sat on the bridge of his freighter, watching the foreign ship come in. He turned his chair to activate the intercomm system, broadcasting his message throughout the freighter. "This is your captain speaking. The book has been printed. Repeat, the book has been printed."
Things were going, so far, rather smoothly, save for the earlier explosion. No shots had, as yet, been fired, and no suspicion had been raised. Good. The Komtur turned to his Lieutenant. "You have the bridge. I'll be going to possibly meet with a few guests, should they dock."

Marie) Whoa! Stay away from those arms! Use the transporter beam, and send along a holographic projector with the AT (OOC: away team) so I can speak with these people.

Everyone) Aye!

((OOC: I assume you've beamed aboard already.))

As the Komtur was making his way through the arms, the intercomm system blared to life, giving a report of the situation. The foreign vessel was no longer on a docking course, and so the crew of the Teutoburg would have to improvise. Communication had not, so far as the Komtur known, been established with the foreign vessel. He wondered what caused the ship to break off when a series of alarms went off. The alarms screaming tore through the air, deafening the crew and Komtur alike. The Komtur scrambled to the intercomm system, dialing in the bridge.

"Lieutenant, what the hell is going on?" A voice laced with static called back. "Komtur, it appears some sort of transportation device has been activated. That's the intruder alarms. Some sort of away team has come aboard, several crewmen have spotted them. I have issued the general order to avoid these people until you order otherwise, Komtur." Petrovsky mused over the situation for a bit, and then gave his response. "Good. I will attempt to make contact with these people myself. Where are they to be found?" The Komtur could hear the lieutenant querying the crew as to where the foreigners were last spotted. "Komtur, they appear to be in the engineering section, compartment 32-B." With that, the Komtur hung out the intercomm and went dashing towards the engineering section.

As he passed the bulkhead labeled 32-B, he rounded a corner and found a group of people in strange uniforms, along with some sort of device. The Komtur was uncertain as to whether these people were hostile or not, but he assumed they meant no harm. "Greetings. Welcome to the Teutoburg."

The projection of Marie fizzled online, then the rest of the away team beamed back to Excelsior.

Marie) Greetings. I am Excelsior's shipboard AI and captain, Marie. It is a pleasure to see that you are alive and well.

The projection flickered once, and then Marie walked off of the projector's pad.

Marie) Relax. I merely made myself what you call solid. Now, are there any injured aboard this ship? We can help them on board the Excelsior.

This was the stuff of legend, what the Komtur was seeing. Only in the wildest dreams of an Alderanian could such technology as this exist. That such technology did, in fact, exist, and could be seen merely by traveling to a distant star system was absolutely incredible. A teleporter, itself, was absolutely amazing. But a full blown AI that controlled a starship and could become material? This was unreal. The Komtur was forced to collect his composure before continuing with his duties. "Greetings, Marie," he gave the traditional Alderanian Roman salute, "we must thank you for your assistance in our hour of need. We were fleeing from Alderanian space when our fusion reactor suffered some sort of malfunction. As you can probably see from your end, we have suffered extensive damage, and we have quite a few wounded. We just now stopped the craft from spiraling.

And as for your teleportation technology: the Divine Stars have delivered a message to our people, and They have warned us of the evils of disassembling what They have put together. Perhaps your civilization does not care for the Divine Stars, but ours does. Though your offer of assistance is gracious--and we shall pray to the Stars that they deliver a blessing unto your people--we cannot engage in any sort of magical transportation. We must be transported by shuttle or by docking."

Marie) We know of the Divine Stars, but magic? What is this magic? It was, in fact, the Divine Stars that showed us how to make transporter technology. Of course, if you won't use it, I will have the medical shuttles prepared.

Komtur Petrovsky was confused at the reply. "I do not mean that we have magic, but that your teleportation technology is like magic to us. The Divine Stars do not shine their holy light on such a monstrosity. As Komtur of this spacecraft, I cannot allow its use on any of the crew." At that, Petrovsky grabbed a nearby fold-up chair and sat down on it, seeking some sort of comfort. "We have a shuttle bay. If you wish to provide assistance to our crew, we can move the wounded to that bay, and if you have any shuttlecraft, they can be moved to your spacecraft in that manner."

Marie) Marie to Excelsior, let's get the medical shuttles going.

The Komtur ordered all wounded personnel to report to the shuttle bay for pickup by the infidels. He could do no wrong while the hologram was following him around and conversing with him, which was frustrating the plans of the Religious Order. Dammit, think. Look at the technology they possess. We have to get a piece of that, or our enemies will surely overrun us. He thought for a few moments. He moved to the nearest intercomm system, and dialed in the code for the bridge. "Bridge, this is the Komtur, speaking. Has power been fully restored to the ion drives?" A moment of static passed before the reply came. "Yes, Komtur, engineering reports that the ion drives now have enough power to maneuver." Petrovsky smiled. "Lieutenant, order our craft to align the shuttle bay with the shuttle bay on the foreign ship to facilitate the transport of personnel between our ships. Komtur out."

With the new orders, the freighter began a slow turn, aligning the shuttle bay, located on the front of the ship, with the shuttle bay on the Excelsior. The freighter closed some of the distance between the two vessels, but did not enter a distance that could be considered even remotely threatening. The Komtur turned to the AI. "Do you mind if we close any further? With our two spacecraft closer together, this process will go faster."

Marie started giving the Komtur a puzzled look, then re-opened her communicator.

Marie) Close to about 200 yards' distance.

The Komtur opened the intercomm system again, ordering that the starcraft close to within 200 yards of the Excelsior, as the medical shuttles scurried back and forth between the two spacecraft. It was time for phase two of the operation to begin. As the two ships closed, the Komtur showed the AI the engineering control room. "This," the Komtur pointed out, "is the control for engine thrust." With the ships almost at the 200 yard point, it was time to put his plan into action. "This is how you use it." The Komtur jammed the throttle fully open, his override codes enabling him to take full control of the spacecraft. The spacecraft accelerated wildly, slamming into the Excelsior. If the ship had only been going at 60 miles per hour, it would have taken only 7 seconds for impact to take place. It took only a fraction of that time.

The impact ripped apart a large section of the fore of the freighter, ejecting many crewmen into the black void of space. Death would be their reward, and the Stars were watching. They would commune with them, soon enough. Blast doors closed throughout the ship, ensuring that the remnants of the vessel would still have survivors. It was now time to radio home. The Komtur played with the controls in the still-functional engineering room, opening a small wormhole to Alderania. With the last remnants of power, the Teutoburg requested the assistance of a flight of dragoons, which were waiting for such an eventuality.

The two dragoons tore their own holes through space, ending up in the system.

On Excelsior, damage was minimal due to the fact they had shields up. However, a few minor injuries were reported aboard the 350-person vessel.

Marie) Energize! Warp to the nearest Voyager-class vessel and report the situation!

Science) No need, sir. The Voyager (MCC-1701) itself also picked up the message. It just arrived in the sector as we were getting rammed. They are raising shields and powering weapons!

On the Voyager...

Mew) That's an ancient ship, but it just rammed one of ours. Mew to (MCC-2000-A). Are you guys alright?

Marie) Yes. A little shaken, but we're fine.

Mew) Let's go. Arm phasers, fire everything we have. Keep our bow on that vessel! Auxiliary power to forward shields.

<OOC: Yet another image:
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/4/42/Christopher_Pike%2C_2258.jpg
Image) President Mew giving orders on the bridge of Voyager (MCC-1701).

The Teutoburg had had most of its fore section ripped apart by the impact, the ship being designed for colonization, not warfare. Phaser fire grazed the hull of the freighter, tearing still more of its superstructure into the blackness of space. But the fanatics of the Order were not finished yet. The Komtur had to manually pilot the vessel using the emergency controls in the engineering section, but he had a plan, a plan which he knew the Divine Ones would approve of. While the freighter was a gargantuan craft, its ion drives were relatively efficient, so far as the technology was capable. The Komtur left the throttle on full, continuing to press against the Excelsior. He knew he had to punch a hole through the shielding of the enemy spacecraft so that the contingent of soldiers could board the craft.

Suddenly the Komtur remembered the old tractor beam used for aiding the colonists terraform Alderania. With full power to the beam, he could prevent the Excelsior from breaking off. And then, with the Excelsior so close, he could demand a ceasefire. After all, if the Teutoburg were to be destroyed, it is likely that the Excelsior would go with it, being in such close proximity. He would give it a go. He pressed a few buttons and turned a dial, and the lights grew dim from the amount of energy being drained. As the tractor beam increased its grip on the Federation vessel, the Komtur gradually turned down power to the engines.

___________________

Meanwhile, the two dragoons that had come through the wormhole began to engage in the battle. They knew nothing of the enemy vessels, save for that they were heretics and deserved to die for it. Their technologies had to be added to the Order, and they would stop at nothing to accomplish the mission. The two dragoons were of the Sepulchre-class, armed with a series of missile weapons and railguns. Directed energy weapons in the Order were very rare, being reserved only for the most modern ships, usually the lumbering cataphracts.

The two komturei quickly observed the situation and began laying down missile fire on the Excelsior. Each missile was tipped with a large nuclear weapon, delivering immense amounts of energy. A single nuclear device, about 1,000 megatons, would produce 4.184 exajoules (10^18) It was the hope that, with such energies being directed towards the shields of the smaller vessel, that the ship would have its shields knocked down and some sort of boarding begun. The other ship was simply ignored, for the moment, as the goal was not to win the battle. The goal was to knock out the smaller craft, possibly destroying it, and sending a salvage crew to investigate.

Voyager jumped right through the beam, firing phasers at the emitter, and destroying the engines of the freighter, then immediately returned to fighting the cruisers, causing good amounts of damage.

Mew) Computer tie-in.

Kaia) Hello Mew.

Mew) Kaia! How good to see you've been repaired! Set a collision course with the first cruiser vessel at 3/4 luminal.

Meanwhile... on Excelsior...

Tactical) Shields at 27%!

Marie) Tractor beam is free! Warp speed!

Excelsior left the system, followed by another Atlantic-class vessel entering the system, the Augusta (MCC-0101-M), a memory to the ship destroyed in 2207.

OOC:

http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/84/sepulchreclass.th.png (http://img29.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sepulchreclass.png)
The Sepulchre-class. Something I came up with this morning.
Any comments on the ship design would be appreciated.

Just as a note, it is bad RP form to dictate how much damage your opponents receive. ....destroying the engines of the freighter, then immediately returned to fighting the cruisers, causing good amounts of damage.

IC:

The two Komturei were furious at the departure of the wounded vessel, and turned their attention to the new craft that had emerged. Once again they let loose a barrage of their missiles, all the while absorbing fire from the more technologically advanced Voyager. With only primitive shielding technology, the two dragoons had to rely on their armor to protect them from total destruction. Piece by piece, deck by deck, the two ships were slowly being ejected into space by the enemy phaser fire. Something new had to be done. It was apparent that the enemy would continuously warp in more vessels; there was nothing that could be done about that. The resources of the Order could not be committed to a large, drawn out, space battle. A cataphract level spacecraft would be required to quickly bring down the smaller craft, but sending in a spacecraft of that size would be too risky for the Order. It would ratchet up the conflict intensity.

One of the komturei developed his own plan. Angling his ship for the smaller Augusta-class vessel, the komtur of the craft ordered the dragoon to full speed. He ordered all nuclear warheads armed, and he prepared to make the fusion reactor go supercritical. His plan was to ram the smaller craft and detonate all of his warheads at once, hopefully doing enough damage that the ship would be disabled. He would sacrifice himself and his crew for the glory of the Divine Stars, that their followers might gain the technology needed to survive in the turbulent modern era.

He radioed his last words to the second dragoon, as his ship erupted in a brilliant fireball. He left an encrypted message to the second komtur, divulging his plan.

<That's why I didn't describe it down to the last system. I just provided an estimate by what my ships are seeing.>

The Atlantic-class Augusta was destroyed in the explosion, and Voyager sustained many debris impacts to her shields, including a large chunk which severely weakened Voyager's aft shield.

Mew) Hail the enemy vessel.

Comms) Channel open.

Mew) This is President Mew Mæow II, on board Voyager. I have ordered three Augusta-class vessels, and two more Voyager-class vessels to this location. If you do not cease this incursion into our space, we will destroy you. Please respond.

The Komtur thought of what he could say to the enemy vessel. The communications officer had played the audio of the transmission, and was puzzled to find that the president of the enemy nation himself was aboard this spacecraft, on the edge of his nation's territory. It was very baffling. But he had to give some sort of response. He turned to his weapons officer. "Keep the tubes trained on that spacecraft, but halt our fire. We have a different mission to attend to now." He turned, then, to the pilot. "Bring us close to the debris of that enemy craft. Weapons, prepare to power up the tractor beam. I want to grab a piece of that ship."

With that, the dragoon turned away from the enemy ship at full speed, sweeping down towards the debris field and grabbing the largest pieces of debris. As soon as the tractor beam engaged, the komtur pressed a button to activate the communications system. "Attention foreign vessel. We have now ended our visit to your space, and will proceed out of the system. May the Divine Stars have mercy on you infidels, for we have none. Out." With that, the ship engaged its wormhole drive and powered out of the system, returning to the home planet of Alderania. The Order's scientists would have a field day with the pieces of debris recovered. With an advanced energy shielding device and some type of teleportation device, the komtur hoped that it would be enough, in time, to reverse engineer.

<Pieces of debris? There was nothing left except for a holographic projector and the captain's chair.>

Mew) I want patrols scrambled! Get a Voyager-class at each sector in our galaxy!