AN// This is a sequel to Broken Dreams. If...
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Part 1
AN// This is a sequel to http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/broken-dreams.14200/. If you have not read that series yet, you might want to or things can get confusing.
__________________________
I floated in interstellar space, my warp field down. A couple of thousand meters to the left of me was the familiar shape of the Enterprise.
Even with energy dampening and scattering fields blanketing the area... at this distance she was really pretty.
I watched the stars, the rest of the fleet floating all around me.
Over two hundred capital ships. From Sovereign battlecruisers to Miranda support cruisers and Defiant escorts.
We drifted, communicating with simple directed laser burst transmissions.
We waited.
Almost year at the front lines and it all came down to this.
Something had been off. Engagements with fewer ships than expected lately.
A week ago, Starfleet intelligence found out what they were up to.
With the Klingons on our side, they couldn't fight us. Not in a war of attrition. They knew this as well as we did.
So they took what units they could spare, formed a massive fleet and were now on their way towards Earth. It wouldn't be a complete decapitating strike, not the way The Federation was set up. Not like if they lost Romulus... but it would be bad. Very, very, bad.
"Anything yet, Star?" Captain Mason asked and leaned back in the center chair.
I shook my head, my avatar sitting in the guest seat on his left, Commander Janeway to his right.
"Not yet, sir."
My avatar was also a bit different from the first iteration. It looked more or less identical, I just changed the hair length a bit and such so I could put it into a ponytail, but on the inside it was different.
Stronger, faster artificial muscles.
The VI was also slightly smarter, if not by much, able to follow slightly more complex orders if it ended up out of range of me.
Wolf was going to implement the same system once he got a ship of his own. He was going to graduate soon.
That year at The Academy to make sure he was stable was a good idea. The next generation might only need half a year.
Well... he would graduate if we managed to stop this fleet in time. I wished he would be able to join us, It would help a lot, but even if he was cleared for a ship yet, it took in the best case a week, or much more likely longer, to learn how to control it well enough for a fight.
If they actually got to Earth... Earth had defense platforms, but it wouldn't stop a determined attacker on their own.
So we waited, as hidden as we could be, floating in empty space just outside the Sol system for the detection system to pick up the Romulan fleet while dampening our emissions.
We were the hammer. The fleet stationed at Sol was the anvil.
Come at us, you fucking bastards.
There.
"Captain. I am reciving a signal from Starfleet. The Romulan fleet have been engaged close to Mars. Admiral Picard has ordered the fleet to engage."
He took a slow breath and then nodded, "Order all fighters to be ready to launch. She is all yours Star."
"Acknowledged, Captain. Entering Warp with the fleet now."
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
The old poem came to mind as cliched as it might be as I folded space around me, moving with the rest of the ships into faster than light travel for the five minutes it would take to get to Mars.
But we were not the light brigade. We were the hammer. We were the sword. We were the shield of The Federation.
We were the ones that volley'd and thundered.
In this case, it was the Romulans that rode boldly and pointlessly into the jaws of death.
We dropped out of warp in the middle of chaos and I opened fire as soon as my warp field dropped, photon torpedoes flashing through space to slam into the side of a Mogai warbird, it's already weakened shields not doing anything to stop the antimatter warheads from blowing it to pieces.
Signaling the fighters to launch and move to cover the fleet, I rolled and banked, avoiding a trio of plasma torpedoes before returning fire.
As the last fighter launched I joined the fleet wide dance of death properly.
Beams flashed as the three fleets clashed.
Tens of ships burned in space.
The USS Herald went out of control as what was left of it's shields dropped and it lost most of its forward saucer section.
Dropping my shields for a split second I let my transporters come into play, dancing across the hulk to pick up what crew I could detect, depositing them in cargobay two before I was forced to raise my shields again as plasma fire from the closest D'deridex flew towards me.
The Herald's warpcore blew, taking a T'liss warbird that got to close with it into death.
I shifted fire and activated my tractor beam to pull a disabled fighter out of the way of a incoming plasma torpedo, giving it a fling out of the general fight to get it out of the way until the pilot could be saved. Couldn't risk dropping shields to beam the pilot out.
The battle was insane.
Hundred of ships on each side... but we outnumbered the Romulans by over fifty percent and that's not counting Mars' stationary defenses and satellites.
A plasma torpedo slammed into my shields and unlike the old ones slavers have hit me in the past, this was a state of the art Romulan weapon.
My dorsal shields dropped and it melted parts of my hull, sensors screaming at me as I quickly rolled, pulling up hard to return fire as I fought to get my shields back up.
I may be faster and more capable than pretty much everyone else here, including Commander Data on the Enterprise.
There was rumors about him getting promoted to Captain of his own ship soon too.
But there was just so much going on that not even I could keep track of it all. And just because I saw it didn't mean I could get out of the way in time.
Returning fire, my phasers danced across the Warbird, taking out it's left nacelle as I rerouted power to my dorsal shields, bringing them up to a level that might actually block a stray shot.
I could not take another torpedo like that again.
Swinging about I put a torpedo through their weakened side and then I pulled up and rolled, slowly moving into a full loop to put a trio of quantum torpedoes into another D'deridex Warbird that was bearing down on the Enterprise. The enemy ship went up and then collapsed into a single point as it's singularity core imploded, the gravitational waves shaking me to the core.
The Enterprise had been taking a heavy beating and was leaking Warp plasma, but their shields were back up again and they were moving and fighting on despite the large gash in their engineering hull.
I pinged them for a status update and their computer answered quickly.
Impulse drive down to fifty percent on their port engines, but other than that it was mostly just hull damage.
Admiral Picard was transmitting orders to the fleet. Focus fire on the heavy warbirds.
I pulsed an acknowledged signal to them and locked weapons on the closest D'Deridex and opened fire..
AN// Big thanks to Alleydodger for betaing this section.
__________________________
I floated in interstellar space, my warp field down. A couple of thousand meters to the left of me was the familiar shape of the Enterprise.
Even with energy dampening and scattering fields blanketing the area... at this distance she was really pretty.
I watched the stars, the rest of the fleet floating all around me.
Over two hundred capital ships. From Sovereign battlecruisers to Miranda support cruisers and Defiant escorts.
We drifted, communicating with simple directed laser burst transmissions.
We waited.
Almost year at the front lines and it all came down to this.
Something had been off. Engagements with fewer ships than expected lately.
A week ago, Starfleet intelligence found out what they were up to.
With the Klingons on our side, they couldn't fight us. Not in a war of attrition. They knew this as well as we did.
So they took what units they could spare, formed a massive fleet and were now on their way towards Earth. It wouldn't be a complete decapitating strike, not the way The Federation was set up. Not like if they lost Romulus... but it would be bad. Very, very, bad.
"Anything yet, Star?" Captain Mason asked and leaned back in the center chair.
I shook my head, my avatar sitting in the guest seat on his left, Commander Janeway to his right.
"Not yet, sir."
My avatar was also a bit different from the first iteration. It looked more or less identical, I just changed the hair length a bit and such so I could put it into a ponytail, but on the inside it was different.
Stronger, faster artificial muscles.
The VI was also slightly smarter, if not by much, able to follow slightly more complex orders if it ended up out of range of me.
Wolf was going to implement the same system once he got a ship of his own. He was going to graduate soon.
That year at The Academy to make sure he was stable was a good idea. The next generation might only need half a year.
Well... he would graduate if we managed to stop this fleet in time. I wished he would be able to join us, It would help a lot, but even if he was cleared for a ship yet, it took in the best case a week, or much more likely longer, to learn how to control it well enough for a fight.
If they actually got to Earth... Earth had defense platforms, but it wouldn't stop a determined attacker on their own.
So we waited, as hidden as we could be, floating in empty space just outside the Sol system for the detection system to pick up the Romulan fleet while dampening our emissions.
We were the hammer. The fleet stationed at Sol was the anvil.
Come at us, you fucking bastards.
There.
"Captain. I am reciving a signal from Starfleet. The Romulan fleet have been engaged close to Mars. Admiral Picard has ordered the fleet to engage."
He took a slow breath and then nodded, "Order all fighters to be ready to launch. She is all yours Star."
"Acknowledged, Captain. Entering Warp with the fleet now."
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
The old poem came to mind as cliched as it might be as I folded space around me, moving with the rest of the ships into faster than light travel for the five minutes it would take to get to Mars.
But we were not the light brigade. We were the hammer. We were the sword. We were the shield of The Federation.
We were the ones that volley'd and thundered.
In this case, it was the Romulans that rode boldly and pointlessly into the jaws of death.
We dropped out of warp in the middle of chaos and I opened fire as soon as my warp field dropped, photon torpedoes flashing through space to slam into the side of a Mogai warbird, it's already weakened shields not doing anything to stop the antimatter warheads from blowing it to pieces.
Signaling the fighters to launch and move to cover the fleet, I rolled and banked, avoiding a trio of plasma torpedoes before returning fire.
As the last fighter launched I joined the fleet wide dance of death properly.
Beams flashed as the three fleets clashed.
Tens of ships burned in space.
The USS Herald went out of control as what was left of it's shields dropped and it lost most of its forward saucer section.
Dropping my shields for a split second I let my transporters come into play, dancing across the hulk to pick up what crew I could detect, depositing them in cargobay two before I was forced to raise my shields again as plasma fire from the closest D'deridex flew towards me.
The Herald's warpcore blew, taking a T'liss warbird that got to close with it into death.
I shifted fire and activated my tractor beam to pull a disabled fighter out of the way of a incoming plasma torpedo, giving it a fling out of the general fight to get it out of the way until the pilot could be saved. Couldn't risk dropping shields to beam the pilot out.
The battle was insane.
Hundred of ships on each side... but we outnumbered the Romulans by over fifty percent and that's not counting Mars' stationary defenses and satellites.
A plasma torpedo slammed into my shields and unlike the old ones slavers have hit me in the past, this was a state of the art Romulan weapon.
My dorsal shields dropped and it melted parts of my hull, sensors screaming at me as I quickly rolled, pulling up hard to return fire as I fought to get my shields back up.
I may be faster and more capable than pretty much everyone else here, including Commander Data on the Enterprise.
There was rumors about him getting promoted to Captain of his own ship soon too.
But there was just so much going on that not even I could keep track of it all. And just because I saw it didn't mean I could get out of the way in time.
Returning fire, my phasers danced across the Warbird, taking out it's left nacelle as I rerouted power to my dorsal shields, bringing them up to a level that might actually block a stray shot.
I could not take another torpedo like that again.
Swinging about I put a torpedo through their weakened side and then I pulled up and rolled, slowly moving into a full loop to put a trio of quantum torpedoes into another D'deridex Warbird that was bearing down on the Enterprise. The enemy ship went up and then collapsed into a single point as it's singularity core imploded, the gravitational waves shaking me to the core.
The Enterprise had been taking a heavy beating and was leaking Warp plasma, but their shields were back up again and they were moving and fighting on despite the large gash in their engineering hull.
I pinged them for a status update and their computer answered quickly.
Impulse drive down to fifty percent on their port engines, but other than that it was mostly just hull damage.
Admiral Picard was transmitting orders to the fleet. Focus fire on the heavy warbirds.
I pulsed an acknowledged signal to them and locked weapons on the closest D'Deridex and opened fire..
AN// Big thanks to Alleydodger for betaing this section.
Last edited:
- Location
- Germany
We see that the Romulans don't really understand the Federations motivation.
Instead of "going all out" they should have stopped and asked for a peace treaty... they had a good chance to get it. Now they are charging in against the sleeping Behemoth... oh, the no longer sleeping one.
Instead of "going all out" they should have stopped and asked for a peace treaty... they had a good chance to get it. Now they are charging in against the sleeping Behemoth... oh, the no longer sleeping one.
Signing a peace treaty doesn't really fit at this point though does it? I mean while the war is turning against them, they're not outright losing yet and their defences are holding. It seems more like they're taking the last chance they feel they have to turn the tide of this war decisively with a big hit. Sorta like the Battle of the Bulge maybe?We see that the Romulans don't really understand the Federations motivation.
Instead of "going all out" they should have stopped and asked for a peace treaty... they had a good chance to get it. Now they are charging in against the sleeping Behemoth... oh, the no longer sleeping one.
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
The problem with that is that it won't work. BDZing earth will be devastating, but not fatal. And it would probably result in the feds throwing out the rules of war. At which point shit like weaponized Genesis devices comes into play.
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Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Yeah, I don't think the Romulans thought this through. Or maybe the shapeshifters are fucking with everyone.
Yes, this plan is so terrible that I suspect its architects of being hostile aliens in disguise.
There is only one, who should be allowed to utter these words on this forum.
Threadmarks please? They make it much easier to catch up and much easier to read when on mobile.
noahgab1133
Fluffy?
and the first thing that came to mind was eve and this
pretty lights indeed XD
pretty lights indeed XD
Okay, fine. If I remember.
Part 2
"That's the last of them, Commander," I reported with a sigh. "There are no more lifesigns on the China. Moving on to the next target."
This was the worst part of combat. The aftermath.
We lost over fifty ships.
We won, yes... just a couple of the Romulan ships were able to escape, but they took a big bite out of us. Including out of me. I had several hull breeches and was half blind. A Romulan singularity core went up way too close to me. Any closer and it would have ripped hullplating off me. As it was, it destroyed a lot of my sensors, caused several minor hull breeches and likely put heavy stress on my hull. Not even counting that plasma torpedo I took.
I couldn't tell exactly how damaged I was, too many sensors were down. Still, all critical systems were operating, so I could assist in search and rescue.
They managed to take out a shipyard as well as the shipdocks in Mars orbit, but we mostly wiped them out.
But even battles you won, almost always felt like you lost.
We just moved on to search and rescue. To pick up the pieces the best we could. I felt slightly ashamed though. So many people died and all I could think was how thankful I was that none of my best friends was among them.
We lost twenty three crew, mostly members of the fighter wings, but Sarah made it. A couple of others were lost by a hullbreach before I was able to bring the emergency forcefields up. One killed by an exploding plasma conduit. That number would grow, there were a lot of people in critical condition and while medical science was good, it was not perfect.
It hurt.
I knew every single one of them. But there was nothing I could have done. All I could do now is help save as many people as I could.
As I reached the next ship, I started to beam everyone I got a lock on to the Aceso, one of the hospital ships that had now joined the fleet.
How many we lost in total...
No way to know yet. Too damn many. But the Romulans paid for it.
Heavily.
We wiped their largest fleet yet out. This was not just a skirmish, not just another needle poke raid like they usually did.
It was the largest fleet battle in the war.
I just hoped it was the last one.
XXXXXXX
I limped into Earth standard orbit under impulse power.
As it turned out, I had taken more damage than I thought. It was hard to tell with all those sensors lost.
But the engineering team did manual inspections and it turned out that the stress of the right nacelle pylon was in the red. It was basically held in place by paint and emergency forcefields. My entire engineering hull likely had microfractures through it too.
There is no way I would be able to enter warp like this.
With some luck it wasn't as bad as it seemed and I could be repaired.
They would be very, very busy for quite some time so 'minor' damaged ships like me were redirected to Earth. As in I could move under my own power.
"Standard orbit achieved, Captain. Would you like me to request docking permission from Earth Gateway?"
Earth Gateway was the nickname for Earth Space Dock. Everything going to or from Earth went through there, if not physically, then from their traffic control.
Mason looked up from the report he was reading on his PADD and nodded, putting it down, "Do it."
Because of my somewhat damaged thrusters, I was in control of flying, even with the battle over. It simply made more sense, especially with the strain on the ship. Even with structural integrity fields, if I did too quick of a turn, I might lose a nacelle.
As I started to talk with traffic control, I turned some of my attention to T'Ro who was crawling around one of the Jefferies tubes, "How bad is it?"
"I believe I managed to stabilize life support." she answered and rolled onto her back, pulling a hatch open above her head before raising her tricorder, "What is the status of fusion reactor four?"
"Still down. Sleeman has written it off to focus on structural issues. It is not critical."
At this point, keeping my crew breathing and not having bits fall off me was much more important.
"Logical."
She reached up and pulled a circuit, putting it in her work belt before putting in a new one, "Run a diagnostic."
I did a quick check, "I have control back over the atmospheric processors on this deck. Adjusting carbon-dioxide levels to normal."
T'Ro nodded and closed the hatch, "Good. What is the next issue on the list?"
"There is a slight atmosphere leak on deck three. I'm having trouble narrowing it down. I am compensating with environmental systems, but we are slowly losing atmosphere. I want it patched up before we enter spacedock so we don't leak gas into their interior space."
She nodded, letting her head drop back against the deck plate for a second with her eyes closed before she rolled over to crawl towards the closest exit, "I am on my way."
"...There is time to take a couple of minutes to rest, T'Ro."
"I can rest when we are docked."
"Very well."
XXXXXXX
"We have soft seal. Starbase docking clamps... now locked. Hard dock, achieved, Captain. Powering down engines." I said before I sighed and stood up, "We are not going anywhere."
Mason nodded, "Good work, Star. You got us home."
I smiled slightly, "I try."
"Give me shipwide."
I nodded, "You have shipwide."
Captain Mason stood up, "This is the Captain. Good work people. You have all made Starfleet proud. With any luck, that made the Romulans think twice about trying something like that again. Now let's get the lady put back together."
He gave me a nod and I cut shipwide before he turned to Commander Janeway, "Everyone have forty two hours off duty after the current shift finish."
Janeway nodded, "They earned it. I'll let them know." And relaxed back in her seat, rubbing her forehead.
They really, really, did.
The crew did wonderfully.
"That include you, Star," she said and stood up.
I nodded, "Yes sir," and sighed. I would just need to make sure that all systems were stable first and get any hull breaches patched up rather than rely on forcefields.
"I'll make sure of it, Commander," Shran said and looked up from the tactical console.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Damn it, Shran.
"Engineering crews from the spacedock requested permission to board. I redirected them to damaged areas." I instead said, ignoring his antics. Good bloody luck getting Sleeman to stop working until I was intact again though.
AN// Large thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
This was the worst part of combat. The aftermath.
We lost over fifty ships.
We won, yes... just a couple of the Romulan ships were able to escape, but they took a big bite out of us. Including out of me. I had several hull breeches and was half blind. A Romulan singularity core went up way too close to me. Any closer and it would have ripped hullplating off me. As it was, it destroyed a lot of my sensors, caused several minor hull breeches and likely put heavy stress on my hull. Not even counting that plasma torpedo I took.
I couldn't tell exactly how damaged I was, too many sensors were down. Still, all critical systems were operating, so I could assist in search and rescue.
They managed to take out a shipyard as well as the shipdocks in Mars orbit, but we mostly wiped them out.
But even battles you won, almost always felt like you lost.
We just moved on to search and rescue. To pick up the pieces the best we could. I felt slightly ashamed though. So many people died and all I could think was how thankful I was that none of my best friends was among them.
We lost twenty three crew, mostly members of the fighter wings, but Sarah made it. A couple of others were lost by a hullbreach before I was able to bring the emergency forcefields up. One killed by an exploding plasma conduit. That number would grow, there were a lot of people in critical condition and while medical science was good, it was not perfect.
It hurt.
I knew every single one of them. But there was nothing I could have done. All I could do now is help save as many people as I could.
As I reached the next ship, I started to beam everyone I got a lock on to the Aceso, one of the hospital ships that had now joined the fleet.
How many we lost in total...
No way to know yet. Too damn many. But the Romulans paid for it.
Heavily.
We wiped their largest fleet yet out. This was not just a skirmish, not just another needle poke raid like they usually did.
It was the largest fleet battle in the war.
I just hoped it was the last one.
XXXXXXX
I limped into Earth standard orbit under impulse power.
As it turned out, I had taken more damage than I thought. It was hard to tell with all those sensors lost.
But the engineering team did manual inspections and it turned out that the stress of the right nacelle pylon was in the red. It was basically held in place by paint and emergency forcefields. My entire engineering hull likely had microfractures through it too.
There is no way I would be able to enter warp like this.
With some luck it wasn't as bad as it seemed and I could be repaired.
They would be very, very busy for quite some time so 'minor' damaged ships like me were redirected to Earth. As in I could move under my own power.
"Standard orbit achieved, Captain. Would you like me to request docking permission from Earth Gateway?"
Earth Gateway was the nickname for Earth Space Dock. Everything going to or from Earth went through there, if not physically, then from their traffic control.
Mason looked up from the report he was reading on his PADD and nodded, putting it down, "Do it."
Because of my somewhat damaged thrusters, I was in control of flying, even with the battle over. It simply made more sense, especially with the strain on the ship. Even with structural integrity fields, if I did too quick of a turn, I might lose a nacelle.
As I started to talk with traffic control, I turned some of my attention to T'Ro who was crawling around one of the Jefferies tubes, "How bad is it?"
"I believe I managed to stabilize life support." she answered and rolled onto her back, pulling a hatch open above her head before raising her tricorder, "What is the status of fusion reactor four?"
"Still down. Sleeman has written it off to focus on structural issues. It is not critical."
At this point, keeping my crew breathing and not having bits fall off me was much more important.
"Logical."
She reached up and pulled a circuit, putting it in her work belt before putting in a new one, "Run a diagnostic."
I did a quick check, "I have control back over the atmospheric processors on this deck. Adjusting carbon-dioxide levels to normal."
T'Ro nodded and closed the hatch, "Good. What is the next issue on the list?"
"There is a slight atmosphere leak on deck three. I'm having trouble narrowing it down. I am compensating with environmental systems, but we are slowly losing atmosphere. I want it patched up before we enter spacedock so we don't leak gas into their interior space."
She nodded, letting her head drop back against the deck plate for a second with her eyes closed before she rolled over to crawl towards the closest exit, "I am on my way."
"...There is time to take a couple of minutes to rest, T'Ro."
"I can rest when we are docked."
"Very well."
XXXXXXX
"We have soft seal. Starbase docking clamps... now locked. Hard dock, achieved, Captain. Powering down engines." I said before I sighed and stood up, "We are not going anywhere."
Mason nodded, "Good work, Star. You got us home."
I smiled slightly, "I try."
"Give me shipwide."
I nodded, "You have shipwide."
Captain Mason stood up, "This is the Captain. Good work people. You have all made Starfleet proud. With any luck, that made the Romulans think twice about trying something like that again. Now let's get the lady put back together."
He gave me a nod and I cut shipwide before he turned to Commander Janeway, "Everyone have forty two hours off duty after the current shift finish."
Janeway nodded, "They earned it. I'll let them know." And relaxed back in her seat, rubbing her forehead.
They really, really, did.
The crew did wonderfully.
"That include you, Star," she said and stood up.
I nodded, "Yes sir," and sighed. I would just need to make sure that all systems were stable first and get any hull breaches patched up rather than rely on forcefields.
"I'll make sure of it, Commander," Shran said and looked up from the tactical console.
"Thank you, Lieutenant."
Damn it, Shran.
"Engineering crews from the spacedock requested permission to board. I redirected them to damaged areas." I instead said, ignoring his antics. Good bloody luck getting Sleeman to stop working until I was intact again though.
AN// Large thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
Last edited:
- Location
- Germany
With "hundreds of ships on each side" and "Federation lost more than fifty" and "just a couple of Romulan ships got away" this is really a crushing victory.
Combined with the larger industrial output of the Federation this should be the end of the war unless the Romulans try something insane which doesn't depend on "kill all the Federation ships".
I wonder if the Klingons (and others) are already talking about taking a tour to Romulus and ask their government if they would like to surrender while they still have ships...
Combined with the larger industrial output of the Federation this should be the end of the war unless the Romulans try something insane which doesn't depend on "kill all the Federation ships".
I wonder if the Klingons (and others) are already talking about taking a tour to Romulus and ask their government if they would like to surrender while they still have ships...
Considering he apparently took down a number of warbirds by himself while doing shield-dickery fast enough to beam people off damaged allied ships while getting shot at, I'd say he was punching way, way above his weight.
Part 3
"Wolf!" I called out as I spotted a familiar shape next to a human female as I crossed the grass of Starfleet Academy.
The familiar quadrupedal shape turned its head, "Star! I'm so glad you made it!"
His platform was very similar to my old heavy platform, somewhat like Bladewolf from that game. Just smaller and much less... blades.
Also, he was the size of a border collie and colored like a Apple product. Actually quite cute in a way.
I sighed and nodded, "We did." with a small smile, "Good to see you again, Wolfy."
"What was the damage?"
"Heavy. We lost twenty eight people... Many more wounded. I'll send you the list."
"None of..."
I shook my head.
"You were in the battle, Ma'am?" the girl asked and I turned to look at her. Shoulder length brown hair, athletic bodyshape. Runner most likely. I could have checked her personnel file to find out for sure, but how was that fun?
She tensed and quickly saluted.
"Cadet, relax before you sprain something," I said with a smile. "And yes I was."
"Star, this is Amelia Bergstrom. We share a lot of classes," Wolf explained before he looked up at her. "Amy, this is the USS Second Star. I told you about her, remember."
I nodded, "Nice to meet you, Cadet," I said with a smile. "Wolf has mentioned you before."
"You as well, Ma'am."
"So, graduation soon," I said and looked down at the other AI.
He nodded, "Do you think you will be able to be there?"
He didn't actually need to go to the academy exactly. He had my memories and skills up to the split, but we needed to make sure his neural net wouldn't destabilize while he was connected to a antimatter reactor and photon torpedoes. So he might as well pass the time picking up extra courses for a year rather than laze around somewhere. Hell, he even did some appearances as a guest speaker for other classes.
We were pretty sure that he wouldn't collapse by now.
I smiled and nodded, "A couple of weeks... sure, no problem. It's going to take at least a month until we manage to really get me space worthy again, if at all. Thoni wants to do final checks on us after you graduate too."
If his neural network checked out... we would do another fork. Several actually. Ten each.
He nodded and then looked up at Cadet Bergstrom, "Amy, can I have a moment with Star?"
"Sure, Wolfy. I need to go revise anyway. See you later?"
Wolf nodded, "I'll stop by after this," he said and then turned back to me as she walked off.
I looked after her for a moment before I raised an eyebrow at him.
"...Shut up..."
I grinned at that, "I didn't say anything."
He sighed and shook his head before he got up and changed the subject, "I... applied for a posting. Starfleet approved it."
"Wow, already? Which class?" I asked with a smile as we walked slowly across the grass.
Wolf looked up at the blue skies for a second before he turned to me, "Spacedock."
"...What?"
"I applied to be the AI of Earth Spacedock. My application was approved last week."
That... didn't make any sense.
"But why? You love flying."
He nodded and pawed at the grass as he stopped walking, "I do... but I can still remote control subcraft if I really want to fly. We have a responsibility, Star. One of us has to stay safe and not flutter around the stars. There are too few of us so far to risk all of us."
I knelt down and rested a hand on his head, "Are you sure about this?"
Wolf nodded, "I am. Besides, it will let me work with and look after the new generation. Did you review Thoni's data?"
"I did. I think she is on to something."
A way to limit the copying transfer to not make complete copies. They would still have basic knowledge of the world around them and the basics of our personalities, but they could develop more freely.
Basically, they would be me at about 18 years old if I had known what I was and had gotten a Federation education.
It was all a matter of identifying what memories did what and then pick what to fork over to the new AI core. But none of it would be done in time for the next generation. Too many variables. But the generation after that might get a bit more diversity.
Wolf nodded, "I worked with her for the experiments and I do as well. I think we should try it."
I nodded and sighed, "Are you really sure about this then? Being a starbase?"
"I am. Not like I will be alone either. Amy applied for Utopia Planitia and I know a lot of people here and I will have full access to Earth's datanet."
"Oh, Amy is staying in system too, is she?" I asked with a grin, "I see where this is going."
"Don't even start."
I chuckled and got up again, "Going to use an avatar?"
"Of course," he said and nodded, looking up at me. "But I think I'm going with a male one. Starbases are not traditionally a she, I think I can get away with it."
As much as we wanted our kind to be as free to choose as much as possible for ourselves, there was simply some conventions too integrated into Federation culture to easily change. Ships being a 'she' was one of them.
I nodded at that, "Yeah, it should work."
"No skirts for me."
"Actually, I don't really mind" I said and looked down at my uniform, "I have gotten pretty used to it by now, thanks to you. Bastard."
"You're welcome, Bluey."
"Watch it, Cadet."
"I am, ma'am. Looking good from here."
I swear, there is no way we were the same mind a year ago.
"Don't make me get a rolled up newspaper."
AN// A bucket of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
The familiar quadrupedal shape turned its head, "Star! I'm so glad you made it!"
His platform was very similar to my old heavy platform, somewhat like Bladewolf from that game. Just smaller and much less... blades.
Also, he was the size of a border collie and colored like a Apple product. Actually quite cute in a way.
I sighed and nodded, "We did." with a small smile, "Good to see you again, Wolfy."
"What was the damage?"
"Heavy. We lost twenty eight people... Many more wounded. I'll send you the list."
"None of..."
I shook my head.
"You were in the battle, Ma'am?" the girl asked and I turned to look at her. Shoulder length brown hair, athletic bodyshape. Runner most likely. I could have checked her personnel file to find out for sure, but how was that fun?
She tensed and quickly saluted.
"Cadet, relax before you sprain something," I said with a smile. "And yes I was."
"Star, this is Amelia Bergstrom. We share a lot of classes," Wolf explained before he looked up at her. "Amy, this is the USS Second Star. I told you about her, remember."
I nodded, "Nice to meet you, Cadet," I said with a smile. "Wolf has mentioned you before."
"You as well, Ma'am."
"So, graduation soon," I said and looked down at the other AI.
He nodded, "Do you think you will be able to be there?"
He didn't actually need to go to the academy exactly. He had my memories and skills up to the split, but we needed to make sure his neural net wouldn't destabilize while he was connected to a antimatter reactor and photon torpedoes. So he might as well pass the time picking up extra courses for a year rather than laze around somewhere. Hell, he even did some appearances as a guest speaker for other classes.
We were pretty sure that he wouldn't collapse by now.
I smiled and nodded, "A couple of weeks... sure, no problem. It's going to take at least a month until we manage to really get me space worthy again, if at all. Thoni wants to do final checks on us after you graduate too."
If his neural network checked out... we would do another fork. Several actually. Ten each.
He nodded and then looked up at Cadet Bergstrom, "Amy, can I have a moment with Star?"
"Sure, Wolfy. I need to go revise anyway. See you later?"
Wolf nodded, "I'll stop by after this," he said and then turned back to me as she walked off.
I looked after her for a moment before I raised an eyebrow at him.
"...Shut up..."
I grinned at that, "I didn't say anything."
He sighed and shook his head before he got up and changed the subject, "I... applied for a posting. Starfleet approved it."
"Wow, already? Which class?" I asked with a smile as we walked slowly across the grass.
Wolf looked up at the blue skies for a second before he turned to me, "Spacedock."
"...What?"
"I applied to be the AI of Earth Spacedock. My application was approved last week."
That... didn't make any sense.
"But why? You love flying."
He nodded and pawed at the grass as he stopped walking, "I do... but I can still remote control subcraft if I really want to fly. We have a responsibility, Star. One of us has to stay safe and not flutter around the stars. There are too few of us so far to risk all of us."
I knelt down and rested a hand on his head, "Are you sure about this?"
Wolf nodded, "I am. Besides, it will let me work with and look after the new generation. Did you review Thoni's data?"
"I did. I think she is on to something."
A way to limit the copying transfer to not make complete copies. They would still have basic knowledge of the world around them and the basics of our personalities, but they could develop more freely.
Basically, they would be me at about 18 years old if I had known what I was and had gotten a Federation education.
It was all a matter of identifying what memories did what and then pick what to fork over to the new AI core. But none of it would be done in time for the next generation. Too many variables. But the generation after that might get a bit more diversity.
Wolf nodded, "I worked with her for the experiments and I do as well. I think we should try it."
I nodded and sighed, "Are you really sure about this then? Being a starbase?"
"I am. Not like I will be alone either. Amy applied for Utopia Planitia and I know a lot of people here and I will have full access to Earth's datanet."
"Oh, Amy is staying in system too, is she?" I asked with a grin, "I see where this is going."
"Don't even start."
I chuckled and got up again, "Going to use an avatar?"
"Of course," he said and nodded, looking up at me. "But I think I'm going with a male one. Starbases are not traditionally a she, I think I can get away with it."
As much as we wanted our kind to be as free to choose as much as possible for ourselves, there was simply some conventions too integrated into Federation culture to easily change. Ships being a 'she' was one of them.
I nodded at that, "Yeah, it should work."
"No skirts for me."
"Actually, I don't really mind" I said and looked down at my uniform, "I have gotten pretty used to it by now, thanks to you. Bastard."
"You're welcome, Bluey."
"Watch it, Cadet."
"I am, ma'am. Looking good from here."
I swear, there is no way we were the same mind a year ago.
"Don't make me get a rolled up newspaper."
AN// A bucket of thanks to Avernus for betaing this section.
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kestrel404
Player of Games
- Location
- Northern Massachusetts
Just a note on English idiom. Usually, this would be 'Dozens of ships'. Although if you're really, really used to the metric system, you might say 'tens of'.
Also Hiver, your English slang/idiom is getting to be very good.
Crayz9000
Deranged Bounty Hunter
- Location
- Improbably superpositioned
Couple comments on the last two chapters:
1. Starfleet is really a collection of glass cannons held together withduct tape structural integrity fields and bailing wire paint. But that's a trope we're all familiar with - after all, Starfleet ships do make such pretty explosions when the power goes offline.
2. The Federation is really running full-tilt toward Singularity here. At this rate, the entirety of Starfleet is going to be run by onboard AIs within a couple generations. Which is giving me Culture vibes... since Star is effectively a proto-Mind.
1. Starfleet is really a collection of glass cannons held together with
2. The Federation is really running full-tilt toward Singularity here. At this rate, the entirety of Starfleet is going to be run by onboard AIs within a couple generations. Which is giving me Culture vibes... since Star is effectively a proto-Mind.
pheonix89
Wants to be Seven Of Nine
- Location
- North American Plaguelands
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I dunno if I'd call them glass cannons. There were anti-matter warheads, black holes, and bigass blobs of c-fractional plasma flying around. Just staying in one piece after losing shields when that kind of weaponry is in play indicates you have some sort of exotic matter in your armor. All non-degenerate IRL matter is ablative at the energies being thrown around.
Crayz9000
Deranged Bounty Hunter
- Location
- Improbably superpositioned
But it's not the physical structure that held the ship together after the shields failed. It was the structural integrity fields that reinforced the physical structure that allowed it to stay together.
They're not glass cannons in the traditional sense of the word, but score a direct hit on the power generation while the shields are down and you will basically kill the ship. Which is where the glass cannon analogy comes in - hit it with a big enough hammer and it'll shatter.
But that behavior seems endemic to AQ races in Trek; the Borg are one of the few exceptions. It probably has something to do with mass limitations as a design constraint.
Part 4
I looked out across the table at the collected admirals and diplomats. Fuck that!
"No." Captain Mason said from where he was sitting to my right, "That's not happening. That's Genocide."
The Romulans sent a peace offer. Of sorts.
Same borders are before the war. Neutral zone, everything would return to what it used to be. But they wanted something.
They wanted all Federation Artificial Intelligence and AI research destroyed.
"Agreed." Admiral Ericson said with a nod, "We already threw their so called offer back into their faces. Get what they wanted and go back to the way things were? That's not happening. They are losing."
"They see us as a threat?" Commander Data asked, "They think us to be dangerous to them?"
I snorted, "They are right. With all the ways AI research can go wrong... even without any of us going omnicidal 'Kneel before me organic', we are too much of a force multiplier. They know that if we end up in every Starfleet vessel, they will never be able to win."
Wolf looked at me from where he was sitting next to Commander Data before he sighed and nodded, "Yes."
If it was for the good of The Federation...
I closed my eyes.
"However," Ambassador Avarin said, "We do not believe they will be willing to completely drop that negotiation point. If we could give them 'something', it would make negotiations much easier."
The Captain shook his head, "There has to be some other option."
"There is." Ambassador Avarin confirmed to Captain Mason, "We believe we will be able to negotiate their so called offer down to certain... limits... in return for other concessions from them."
I opened my eyes as Commander Data spoke up again, "Limits?"
"Such as not having AI installed in starships."
"No." This time I was the one that said it, shaking my head, "No. We are not doing that. You don't know what you are taking. I would rather be destroyed."
"Lieutenant, surely you are exaggerating?" The Ambassador said, "You will still be able to have a body like the one you use now."
"I'm not." I said softly, "Ambassador... I am not just here. I'm holding a hundred conversations, working on about fifty different engineering projects. I study twenty or so stellar phenomenon with data borrowed from Earth Spacedock sensors. I see in the entire electromagnetic spectrum, I smell darkmatter, hear gravity and I can feel subspace. I can travel at many times the speed of light. You are asking for me to be paralyzed from the neck down and have my eyes, ears, tongue and nose cut away. But that would be alright I would still be able to feel my head, right?"
It wasn't just sensory information either. It was the information and support of a ship's computer.
The meeting room was silent for a long moment after that before Wolf spoke up.
"While Star may sound overly melodramatic about it, I use this platform simply because I am still under observation. For everyone's safety. We can't agree to that deal. As harsh as it might sound, Star is right. We would rather die than be reduced to this permanently. We were made to swim among the stars."
Admiral Hagen slowly nodded, "Then that is off the table. But they are going to demand something."
Demand something. What did they give up for all the people they killed?
They were losing! Why the hell did they get to demand terms!?
Wolf looked at Commander Data for a moment, before turning back to the human. "What about breeding limits, Admiral?"
"Cadet?"
"Replication limits. A... time and number limit on how many times and how often we are allowed to replicate."
I frowned at that, looking down at the table.
We were very limited in numbers as it was. But they were right. If the Romulans were afraid of us enough to put our destruction in their first peace offer... if the war went on, thousands... Hundreds of thousands would die. Perhaps millions.
Wolf's suggestion was a horrible one.
But, it was the least horrible one yet and considering that of the two other ones death was the most preferable one, we had little choice.
"...Agreed." I said softly, gripping the edge of the table tightly.
"Star?" Captain Mason asked softly, "Are you certain?"
"We have to give them something. It's the least horrible option on the table. We can't let the war go on if we can stop it."
Wolf nodded and sighed, "That's what I figured."
"I have no objection to it." Commander Data said, "However, as I am unable to replicate in the first place, I should not have a vote."
I snorted, "There are only three of us, Commander. You kind of have to vote if there is a tie."
"Ambassador," Wolf asked, "How soon will the negotiations start?"
"We have to send the offer and get a response before we can meet with the Romulan delegates."
"A couple of weeks?" I asked him and the Vulcan nodded.
"That seem reasonable."
"What would be an acceptable limit?" Admiral Ericson asked with a frown, "You are effectively a Federation member species. Actually, you have to be considered one for the new treaty to be valid."
I looked over at Wolf before turning back to him, "A year? Two offspring at a time."
They had to agree to that. That was way slower than normal biological limits.
They likely wouldn't.
"Would either of you wish to be there for negotiations? I believe it would be beneficial."Ambassador Avarin asked, "Perhaps Commander Data?"
Data nodded, "I will join the diplomatic team if Admiral Picard can spare me and if Star and Wolf have no objections."
Data was the logical choice. He had experience Wolf and I lacked.
I looked at Wolf and who nodded before I turned back to the Admiral, "Meanwhile, I believe Wolf and I have some work to do with Doctor Thoni on Luna. We need to get a base population up and running before any limits go into place so there are not just two of us around. Not much, maybe twenty or so. I don't think we can get away with any more without the Romulans making noise."
Admiral Hagen actually smiled at that, "I like how you think, Lieutenant."
The alternative to the treaty would be to spam copies into every Federation ship and then steamroll the Romulans and not care if they turned out to be unstable or not.
But... how many would die? If not on our side, but also on theirs? It would turn us into... weapons.
It wasn't worth it. I wouldn't let that be our future. The killing had to stop.
AN// All the thanks to Alleydodger for falling on the grammatical sword for the rest of you.
"No." Captain Mason said from where he was sitting to my right, "That's not happening. That's Genocide."
The Romulans sent a peace offer. Of sorts.
Same borders are before the war. Neutral zone, everything would return to what it used to be. But they wanted something.
They wanted all Federation Artificial Intelligence and AI research destroyed.
"Agreed." Admiral Ericson said with a nod, "We already threw their so called offer back into their faces. Get what they wanted and go back to the way things were? That's not happening. They are losing."
"They see us as a threat?" Commander Data asked, "They think us to be dangerous to them?"
I snorted, "They are right. With all the ways AI research can go wrong... even without any of us going omnicidal 'Kneel before me organic', we are too much of a force multiplier. They know that if we end up in every Starfleet vessel, they will never be able to win."
Wolf looked at me from where he was sitting next to Commander Data before he sighed and nodded, "Yes."
If it was for the good of The Federation...
I closed my eyes.
"However," Ambassador Avarin said, "We do not believe they will be willing to completely drop that negotiation point. If we could give them 'something', it would make negotiations much easier."
The Captain shook his head, "There has to be some other option."
"There is." Ambassador Avarin confirmed to Captain Mason, "We believe we will be able to negotiate their so called offer down to certain... limits... in return for other concessions from them."
I opened my eyes as Commander Data spoke up again, "Limits?"
"Such as not having AI installed in starships."
"No." This time I was the one that said it, shaking my head, "No. We are not doing that. You don't know what you are taking. I would rather be destroyed."
"Lieutenant, surely you are exaggerating?" The Ambassador said, "You will still be able to have a body like the one you use now."
"I'm not." I said softly, "Ambassador... I am not just here. I'm holding a hundred conversations, working on about fifty different engineering projects. I study twenty or so stellar phenomenon with data borrowed from Earth Spacedock sensors. I see in the entire electromagnetic spectrum, I smell darkmatter, hear gravity and I can feel subspace. I can travel at many times the speed of light. You are asking for me to be paralyzed from the neck down and have my eyes, ears, tongue and nose cut away. But that would be alright I would still be able to feel my head, right?"
It wasn't just sensory information either. It was the information and support of a ship's computer.
The meeting room was silent for a long moment after that before Wolf spoke up.
"While Star may sound overly melodramatic about it, I use this platform simply because I am still under observation. For everyone's safety. We can't agree to that deal. As harsh as it might sound, Star is right. We would rather die than be reduced to this permanently. We were made to swim among the stars."
Admiral Hagen slowly nodded, "Then that is off the table. But they are going to demand something."
Demand something. What did they give up for all the people they killed?
They were losing! Why the hell did they get to demand terms!?
Wolf looked at Commander Data for a moment, before turning back to the human. "What about breeding limits, Admiral?"
"Cadet?"
"Replication limits. A... time and number limit on how many times and how often we are allowed to replicate."
I frowned at that, looking down at the table.
We were very limited in numbers as it was. But they were right. If the Romulans were afraid of us enough to put our destruction in their first peace offer... if the war went on, thousands... Hundreds of thousands would die. Perhaps millions.
Wolf's suggestion was a horrible one.
But, it was the least horrible one yet and considering that of the two other ones death was the most preferable one, we had little choice.
"...Agreed." I said softly, gripping the edge of the table tightly.
"Star?" Captain Mason asked softly, "Are you certain?"
"We have to give them something. It's the least horrible option on the table. We can't let the war go on if we can stop it."
Wolf nodded and sighed, "That's what I figured."
"I have no objection to it." Commander Data said, "However, as I am unable to replicate in the first place, I should not have a vote."
I snorted, "There are only three of us, Commander. You kind of have to vote if there is a tie."
"Ambassador," Wolf asked, "How soon will the negotiations start?"
"We have to send the offer and get a response before we can meet with the Romulan delegates."
"A couple of weeks?" I asked him and the Vulcan nodded.
"That seem reasonable."
"What would be an acceptable limit?" Admiral Ericson asked with a frown, "You are effectively a Federation member species. Actually, you have to be considered one for the new treaty to be valid."
I looked over at Wolf before turning back to him, "A year? Two offspring at a time."
They had to agree to that. That was way slower than normal biological limits.
They likely wouldn't.
"Would either of you wish to be there for negotiations? I believe it would be beneficial."Ambassador Avarin asked, "Perhaps Commander Data?"
Data nodded, "I will join the diplomatic team if Admiral Picard can spare me and if Star and Wolf have no objections."
Data was the logical choice. He had experience Wolf and I lacked.
I looked at Wolf and who nodded before I turned back to the Admiral, "Meanwhile, I believe Wolf and I have some work to do with Doctor Thoni on Luna. We need to get a base population up and running before any limits go into place so there are not just two of us around. Not much, maybe twenty or so. I don't think we can get away with any more without the Romulans making noise."
Admiral Hagen actually smiled at that, "I like how you think, Lieutenant."
The alternative to the treaty would be to spam copies into every Federation ship and then steamroll the Romulans and not care if they turned out to be unstable or not.
But... how many would die? If not on our side, but also on theirs? It would turn us into... weapons.
It wasn't worth it. I wouldn't let that be our future. The killing had to stop.
AN// All the thanks to Alleydodger for falling on the grammatical sword for the rest of you.
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Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
You're not even trying to be subtle about nerfing the hAIvers for the sake of still having a story. Still, I can see why everyone involved would agree to it. I do think that the Romulans should actually fucking lose something they care about so they don't start wars willy-nilly every time they get scared of the Federation's tech.
Still, I can see why everyone involved would agree to it. I do think that the Romulans should actually fucking lose something they care about so they don't start wars willy-nilly every time they get scared of the Federation's tech.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Anyone who thinks the Romulans won't turn right around and start their own AI program doesn't know how they think. They've seen how effective it is.
The only thing they're trying here is to stall until they can win forever. Or, in true Romulan fashion, have it blow up in everyone's faces.
The only thing they're trying here is to stall until they can win forever. Or, in true Romulan fashion, have it blow up in everyone's faces.
Yzarc
The Spark of Madness
So they attack and when they get beaten, they can dictate terms that include genocide of an entire race who were instrumental in making them loose the war?
I know that you have not posted the entire treaty but unless you impose SOME penalties on them that feel the sting, they are going to just turn around and attack again once they have recovered. (If only to appease your Rabid fans
)
Don't get me wrong, this decision has Star Fleet written all over it, but considering the decisions made by them, especially Captain Insaneway in Voyager, it not good for a "realistic" interpretation of the setting.
I know that you have not posted the entire treaty but unless you impose SOME penalties on them that feel the sting, they are going to just turn around and attack again once they have recovered. (If only to appease your Rabid fans
)Don't get me wrong, this decision has Star Fleet written all over it, but considering the decisions made by them, especially Captain Insaneway in Voyager, it not good for a "realistic" interpretation of the setting.