Collapse (Part 2)

ORIGINAL WRITING This page was originally published elsewhere as part of a joint sim or fleet effort. It has been duplicated here for posterity.

Characters:	Commodore Zachary O’Connell
Location:	New Bajor
Author:	Greenfelt22
Template:Post

“We’re coming up on New Bajor now, sir,” reported the helmsman who’d been impatiently and nervously monitoring the O’Carroll’s course for the last two days.

Commodore Zachary O’Connell’s reflexes kicked in, and it wasn’t until the command left his mouth that he realized that they were dropping out of warp. He’d been pacing the rear of the bridge for the last two hours. Rather than think about the path he wore into the thin carpet, Zachary looked towards the viewscreen as the warp trails faded and New Bajor appeared on the screen.

As expected, a welcome party was prepared for their arrival. The Operations Chief called out the full roster that waited for them a good distance from New Bajor, three Consortium-controlled Starfleet ships, 3 Karemma cruisers, 4 Dosi cruisers, 3 Selamat capital ships and three squadrons. Prepared to defend Deep Space 11, the Regula-Type Station in orbit, were 6 Starfleet ships and 3 Selamat vessels.

In addition to the Commodore’s merry band of 8 Starfleet vessels were 8 Jem’Hadar Battleships and 12 Jem’Hadar fighters. It was an uneasy thought, fighting side by side with a former enemy. Although, were it not for the Jem’Hadar, the Consortium would have overpowered Starbase Unity and subsequently all of Starfleet assets in the Gamma Quadrant. Zachary could still only wonder what would have happened once the Consortium could freely move into the Alpha Quadrant.

Hell, he still wondered what damage they’d already caused by their blockade of the wormhole.

“Commodore...” said his Betazoid Tactical Chief, Lieutenant Wul.

Zachary turned to see an unusual expression on the man’s face. The Betazoid looked distraught as his eyes were fixed on the screen. “We’ve got the numbers, Mister Wul. This will all end--”

“It’s not that, sir,” the lieutenant said, looking down at his console to access the viewscreen controls. “Magnification Factor Fifty,” he said, working the controls.

The flag officer turned back to the viewscreen.

That’s when he saw it.

New Bajor was aflame. Her familiar white clouds had darkened with ash. Below, he could see the red flames of fire, still eating away at the planet.

“My God,” he muttered, nearly collapsing into the command chair. “Get a scan…”

“Most structures destroyed,” reported the tactical chief. “Lifesigns are hard to detect at this distance.”

“We’ll have to get through that fleet first,” Zachary confirmed. “Inform the Vorta that we’ll have to wait on landing troops. Who knows what we’ll be putting the Marines and the Jem’Hadar through on this.”

Only one thing was certain at this point. The Consortium knew that they had lost, and they were going to make Starfleet pay dearly for every inch of land and space they were going to reclaim.

Zachary tapped a stud on his armrest. “All hands, this is the Captain. We have arrived at Deep Space 11. The Consortium aren’t going to give up without a fight. They have razed New Bajor. We have no other information. No casualty reports, nor damage or otherwise. We get past this fleet, and we’ll get answers. Until then, I’m going to need everything you’ve got. Let’s do it for our families, our loved ones on that planet. It’s time to get our lives back.” He paused for a moment to let those words sink in. “Let’s make the Consortium regret they ever messed with us. O’Connell out.”

As he adjusted his posture in the chair, Lieutenant Wul reported, “The fleet signals ready. And, our opposition is prepared to receive us. We’ll be in firing range in ten seconds.”

The Commodore nodded. “Tell Captain Geisler to take his group straight to Deep Space 11. We can’t wait to fight one battle at time, especially since New Bajor is burning.”

“Done, sir,” replied Commander Kane, the Strategic Operations Officer on loan from Unity. Zachary had come to rely on her too much. And there was no better reward for her than to see this conflict come to a close.

“Mister Wul, target the lead Consortium vessel,” ordered Zachary. “As soon as we’re within range, let them have it.”

Read the Final Part

Accreditation

This post was originally written by Greenfelt22 for Bravo Fleet and posted on the Bravo Fleet forums. Use of Bravo Fleet's Collapse (Part 2) is permitted under the Creative Commons 4.0 License and has been modified to suit the story and purposes of the USS Black Hawk Star Trek Role-Playing Simulation.