To The Fight As We Fall

Posted on Oct 18, 2016 @ 12:02pm by Ensign Lynette Ryan
Edited on on Oct 18, 2016 @ 12:02pm

Mission: Fortress: Earth

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“TO THE FIGHT AS WE FALL”
(Continued from “Further Down”)

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Location: USS Oberon, orbiting Earth
Stardate: 2.16.1019.0036
Scene: Deck 1 - Conference Room -> Bridge

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“Earth.” Ryashi whispered as she gazed from the large viewport of the starship conference room. Her eyes fixated on the planet that hung in the distance beyond. Home to the United Federation of Planets, its council and Starfleet.


She tapped a few buttons on the conference table behind her and a portion of the viewport then displayed a zoomed in image of the planet upon its glass. The heart of the Japanese woman suddenly began to feel strange as with the Earth's current orbit she was able to see the large island that was Japan.


“Home.” Tears began to well up behind her eyes as she stared at the island. Ryashi Desura had not seen her home for a few years since she became Captain of the USS Oberon. A Luna class Deep Range Explorer that had been assigned to the sectors towards the fringes of the milky way in the Gamma quadrant. She was filled with pride and enthusiasm when she had been given the Oberon as she was an explorer at heart, always wanting to discover new systems, anomalies on the edge of known space and to break new frontiers. Even with this drive and passion though after the first year away beyond the reaches of Federation space her heart yearned for home.


Ryashi had been briefed at what had been happening to the Federation through discreet channels on their last re-supply at Gateway station. She wasn't able to believe what she had been told at first but was convinced by the evidence and the sincerity of who had delivered it. What had happened to her home in the years she and her crew had been away? What terrible force had corrupted the Federation's heart and soul?


That was why she was here. The Oberon had been called to join the loyalist taskforce lead by the USS Monarch. Although the Oberon was purely designed for Scientific and Exploration duties, she did have some fierce teeth and claws to strike with and she intended to do what she can to help reclaim her home.


The soft whoosh of the conference room doors sounded from behind her but she remained in her place, her view still fixated to the outside.


“Captain.” The masculine voice spoke from inside the doorway that separated them from the bridge.


“Yes, N'rethen?” Ryashi did not even need to turn to face her Tactical officer when she answered as looked the Bolian's reflection in the viewport.


“The President is about to make his broadcast.” N'rethen reported still standing within the doorway.


“Thank you.” Ryashi said softly, the Bolian stood and waited for her. She took in one last glance of her periled home hoping to plant her bare feet into Japan's soil once more. The fleets top Admirals and Captains had a plan in motion to counteract the shield array that surrounded Earth and the dead man switch that the corrupt Admiral Richard Edgerton wielded. Hopefully this would be all over soon and that the Federation and Starfleet was returned control to those souls that still believed in the centuries old dream that was the United Federation of Planets.


Captain Desura adjusted her uniform with a light tug and then moved towards the doorway following her Tactical Officer out onto the bridge, the heart and soul of her command. The bridge of the Oberon was a similar layout to that of the Sovereign Class ship, Columbia that she had served on before it had been decommissioned, but was smaller. Ryashi moved towards the chair and sat herself down.


“It's starting.” N'rethen informed from the Tactical station that sat above her from behind.


“Put it on, ship-wide.” Ryashi said and after a slight distortion the Oberon crew heard the distinct voice of their President over the comm channel.


[[Men and women of Starfleet, you are about to embark on the great crusade towards which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the quadrant are upon you. The hopes and prayers of freedom-loving people everywhere go forward with you. In company with your comrades-in-arms, you will bring about the destruction of the Neo-Essentialist regime, liberate the oppressed peoples of Earth, and forge a new future for the United Federation of Planets.]] All of the crew, all across the ship had stopped at what they were doing, listening intently on the President's speech as it came through. Their ears, minds and hearts opened for the words of inspiration that were being delivered.

[[Your task will not be an easy one, and I cannot promise that you will all live through this day. Your enemy has access to deadly weapons that threaten the lives of both you and everyone on the planet below. He will fight savagely. But I have full confidence in your bravery, in your devotion to duty, and in your skill under arms. Together, we will draw strength from our diversity, and fighting side-by-side, will we march forward to freedom and ultimate victory!]] As the speech ended and the channel closed, Ryashi felt a warmness in her heart as the words and the delivery had touched her so much that she had to fight back at the tears that once again began to pool within the corners of her eyes.


“Captain, are you alright?” The Oberon's counsellor, Sera Tanserville, had obviously noticed the touch of emotional that had gripped her Captain and she placed a comforting hand upon top.


“I'll be alright. I just so hope that we can all get through this. Get our Earth back, our Federation. To get our home back.” Ryashi almost whispered, not wanting the whole bridge crew to hear her and in turn she placed her hand on of Sera's top as a sign of thankful acknowledgement for her support.


“Thank you, Sera.” Ryashi flashed her a smile and they both returned to their normal composures.


“Forward view on screen.” She ordered and the view that had previously displayed a split screen image of the Oberon's master control display and a tactical diagram of starship positions in the taskforce then fizzled and shimmered into what they could see directly before them. In full view, starships of various sizes and designs held steady in a loose formation ready for the right order to advance. Ready for the fight that awaited them. Beyond the fleet laid Earth, still the shining jewel it had ever been, but currently it had a devil at its control that they hoped to remove from his throne of corruption and power.


Surrounding the Earth, in a close knit orbit, was the Aegis network that enveloped the planet in a tight golden web. The one main barrier to them being able to take back their home but it also was a dead man switch held in the very hand of that devil and which he could set off at any time unleashing the devastation and power that he harnessed as he had once before destroying the city of Paris.


Now all they could was wait for the order from their lead-ship, USS Monarch and Captain Mwembe. Wait for whatever plan was in effect that would allow them to shut down or even weaken the satellite network making the fleets task easier to perform and with hopefully minimal casualties.


It was as at that instant, as if her very thought had triggered this event, that the Oberon's Captain rose from her seat at the sight. The golden web that had enveloped the Earth, generated by the Aegis network, began to decay and disappear.


“The tachyon grid....its coming down.” The Bolian reported with a hint of surprise to the tone of his voice, confirming the visual details to those of his sensor feed.


“Whatever the admirals had planned looks like it had worked.” A smile started to develop on Ryashi's face at this positive outcome. It appeared to her eyes that the network was closing. That whatever plan that the top brass had put into motion had been successful.


“Any word from the Monarch?” Ryashi turned and looked up to N'rethen for an answer, hoping that the one he gave was a positive one.


“Nothing yet.” The Bolian responded.


“Captain, I am picking up a widespread energy build-up from across the network. Thalaron readings are increasing.” Lieutenant Benson reported from the Operations station.


“They are moving....reconfiguring into a defensive pattern.” N'rethen followed as he read from his tactical display.


“Message from the Century Captain. All ship squadrons are to attack the satellite network immediately. Weapons free and fire at will.” N'rethen read out the message.


“Red Alert. Helm, move to engage the nearest satellite.” Klaxons started to sound and red pulsing lights appeared from around the bridge at her order. So it had begun, what she had feared but also what had been necessary.


“Satellite twenty-six locked. Phasers and photon torpedoes at the ready.” N'rethen stated his hands moving swiftly across the weapons control panel of the Tactical station. Ryashi focused on the view before her. Groups of starships began break off in front of them each moving toward a group of satellites. The Oberon with a pair of cruisers, side by side, continued forward.


The offensive had begun. One hundred and twenty-six starships assembled together to take down the satellites and to reclaim Earth. Orange beams lashed from various points from each starship striking at the satellites in bursts but she watched in horror as the ships at the fore-front of the assault were engulfed in flame as the satellites with their onboard arsenal opened fire.

Ryashi counted each one silently...One....Two...Three...Four. Her mouth fell open at the sight. The satellites were retaliating with dreadful firepower, each one spewing out bursts of orange and green that tore into those starships as if their shields were non-existant and hulls were made of cardboard.


The number of ships was dwindling fast in the first few minutes of the assault. Fear began to set in Ryashi's heart. This was not her....she was an explorer...not a warrior. She was meant to be back out there exploring deep-space, cataloguing anomalies, gathering samples and making first contact with new species but not in a warzone, not in this. That thought echoed in her mind several times before she regained her focus.


“Engineering, I want auxiliary power to the forward shields now.” That fear brought Ryashi into quick action, adrenaline pumping through veins from it. After seeing how quickly those ships fell, she wanted to have a greater chance of them surviving this. She at least owed it to the crew she had worked with and gotten to know closely after those many years away.


“The Gandhi is down.” Lieutenant Benson suddenly reported, it was only the first of many fallen starships that she would report, but Ryashi retained her focus and watched the furious display before her. Energy danced, fiery clouds of explosions and detonations erupted across the battlefield lighting up the blackened sky. The Oberon continued to move forward. The starships Exeter and Venture moving either side in parallel.


“Coming into range now.” N'rethen reported and Ryashi glared at the satellite with hardened eyes before she issued the order.


“Fire!” Orange beams lanced from the Oberon's dorsal and vental phaser arrays striking at the satellite's shields, shimmering with an iridescent glow. Phaser fire from the Exeter and Venture struck in a parallel fashion still and with the three vessels combined firepower the glow eventually disappeared as the beams now pierced through striking at its structure. From observation, they were quite resilient as they succumbed to many volleys of phaser energy and it did not deter them as they continued to unleash their hellish energy upon the fleet.


A Defiant class ship burst into a cloud of flame after unleashing a burst of phaser cannon fire before vanishing completely. The satellite suddenly rotated and once again it began to release its horrendous complement onto a new target. Bursts of Phaser fire and volleys of torpedoes spewed from satellite twenty-six striking at the Venture's shields but luckily this was interrupted as when torpedoes from all three ships impacted against the satellite it too burst into flame.


“Satellite twenty-six destroyed.” N'rethen confirmed. This was a proud moment as with help from the Exeter and Venture they had taken down their first of the vast number of satellites of the network. That moment was not to last though as before them in a traumatic display Ryashi witnessed as two of the satellites focused their attention on the Venture class cruiser and unleash their fury. The combined firepower of both satellites was too much for the Venture's shields and in seconds they were breached the continuous barrages ripping into the starships mid-section. In that same matter of seconds, Ryashi witnessed as burst after burst of the tremendous energy ripped into the neck of the Venture that separated the primary and secondary hulls. Multiple small explosions erupted as the barrage continued, burning hull fragments flying off into space, but it was the twin torpedoes that finally doomed the Venture.


“My god!” The Oberon's Captain stood frozen in place her horrified eyes fixated on the viewscreen watching every second as the saucer section began to float away from the secondary hull, a cataclysm of explosions continuing to rise up from where it had been forcibly detached and shroud over the entirety of the saucer. A complement of nearly a thousand lives extinguished within seconds as the explosions ripped through the saucer section to its very tip, leaving it a twisted cindered hulk.


“Captain!” N'rethen was very much aware of the imminent danger that loomed before them as the blackened saucer section of the Venture now drifted towards them.


“Helm, hard to port.” Ryashi ordered sharply quickly snapping from her horrified state. The continued adrenaline pumping through her veins setting them on fire with fury. This amount of death, destruction and blood-shed all because of one man with a selfish tyrannical greed and lust for power. No, this had to end now.


The Luna class starship immediately rolled to the left, turning ninety degrees onto its side, the dead saucer passing them by a narrow margin.


“Bring us back around and then give us full impulse.” Ryashi returned to her seat, her eyes filled with a furious intent. From a casual observer, they would not have known that she had had little combat experience but by witnessing her now they would have determined she was a hardened war veteran by the delivery and expression of her orders.


“Target any satellites on our starboard side and fire ventral phasers.” The fury in her eyes had spread to her throat as her tone expressed that same intensity.


“Reinforce the starboard ventral shields.” She delivered her next order, her fingers digging into the padded arms of her chair.


Multiple bursts from the Oberon's ventral emitters lashed out against the satellite's shields as the explorer vessel turned back to its starboard side. One of the pair of satelllites, that had taken down the Venture, now moved and tracked the Oberon retaliating with phaser pulses.


“Starboard shields down to thirty percent.” The bridge rocked as the pulses impacted against the Oberon's shields. The Luna class starship began to roll back around and line itself up.


“Re-direct power to forward shields and fire.” Bursts of Phaser fire lanced from both the Dorsal and Ventral arrays striking at the shields of the satellite before them until the glow from its protective shield ceased and those pulses began impacting on its hull. A wing of Federation fighters, launched from the Midway class carrier Salamis, came out of nowhere and with a mixture of pulse phasers and micro-torpedoes they began their assault on the same satellite.


Even with the added firepower of the fighter wing now joining in on the fight, the satellites targeting system still considered the Oberon as its biggest threat and continued to fire with unrelenting force. Phaser pulses striking at the starships forward shields as it continued on its approach.


“Shields down to ten percent.” The Ops officer reported but this did not deter the Oberon's Captain.


“Photon torpedoes...fire.” Bolts of blazing orange burst from ports either side of the Oberon's deflector dish speeding towards the satellite. Ryashi watched as the twin photons struck hard against the satellite and detonated in bright flashes, the weapons platform disintegrating into miniscule fragments.


“Break us away.” Captain Desura felt pride in herself at their accomplishment. Of the twenty-nine satellites that comprised the network they had assisted in taking down two.


That pride was not to last though. As the Oberon veered away and with the image on the viewscreen matching their forward view that they did not realise that they had turned into the oncoming path of a satellites firepower. With their forward shields so weak it didn't take long before the pulses pierced through, peppering the saucer section with small explosions but the Oberon was a resilient starship and it proceeded unhindered.


Inside the command centre of the Luna class vessel though, chaos and disarray had taken over. Crew were thrown from the stations as the bridge shook violently, the lighting began to flicker and random consoles exploded showering the deck with sparks. Ryashi was one of the lucky ones to maintain her footing on deck as her hands held a titan grip on the arms of her chair that stopped her from being thrown forward. The rocking seemed to stop for a moment and everything went silent and calm. Acrid smoke started to fill the confines of the bridge from fires that burned from the overloaded consoles.


“Helm, get us out of here. Full Impulse.”


“Is everyone okay?” Ryashi stood as her eyes scanned the now crimson lit bridge, the emergency lighting having kicked in. She watched as crew scrambled to their feet and was relieved to see that aside from superficial to minor wounds everyone seemed okay.


“Give me a damage report.”


“The dorsal phaser array has been completely destroyed and there are a number of EPS conduits that have overloaded and blown on Decks four and five.” Benson answered reading off all the incoming reports of damage that the Oberon had sustained from the barrage.


“Signal the Monarch and tell them that we are withdrawing.” They had lost a great portion of their combat effectiveness and she had no intention of making a suicide run as she had made a promise to herself to keep them as safe as possible. She was not going to be reckless.


“Captain, the Monarch has been destroyed.” Ryashi stood in silence her mind thinking over again the loss of life that increased by tens of hundreds every second.


The Oberon began to roll to port on a course to move out of the combat zone when without warning the starship was hit with multiple torpedoes to all sections. One torpedo struck the saucer section meters before the bridge continually moving through deck by deck until it had punctured its way through the entire saucer, leaving a trail of blazing destructive fire in its wake.

The quiet before the storm or in this instance the eye of the hurricane that caught the bridge crew off guard had now passed as the forward section of the bridge was in an instant ripped away. The bridge was suddenly exposed to the harsh vacuum of space outside and the air immediately began to escape the bridge attempting to pull everything else out with it as it did.


Ryashi was instantly pulled off of her feet but her survival instinct kicked in and with quick reflexes she managed to wrap her arms around the base of the Operations console tightly as the current continued to fight to grab her and pull her into open space, there was no sign of Lieutenant Benson and she feared the worst. With dread, as she continued to battle the pull into vacuum, she watched as the counselor and two other crewmembers fly past her into the void outside. Their despairing screams echoing throughout her mind long after they had gone and with that she joined them screaming at the top of her lungs as she kept hanging on. She wanted so much to cry but the force of the air rushing out, placing pressure on her face, made her unable to do so.


It was then with another instant the pulling she had been fighting and the rushing air had stopped as an emergency force-field initialized. Even knowing there was no longer imminent danger of being sucked out into space like her crew, her friends, Ryashi continued to scream and this time she was now able to cry still holding the base of the Operations console tightly as if it was still her life-line. Not wanting to let go.


“Captain!” N'rethen shouted still trying to catch his breath as he rushed down from his station to assist.


“N'rethen?” She opened her tear stricken eyes and softly spoke as she saw N'rethens bloodied and battered face before her.


“We have to go. We've taken critical damage and we're losing containment on the warp core.” The Bolian explained quickly as he helped his Captain from the floor taking her under his shoulder as he moved towards the nearest turbolift. She made no reaction, her mind a wreck from what she had witnessed and experienced moments before. Sera, one of her closest friends and confidants, she watched being sucked out into space, her body flying past her screaming and Ryashi could do nothing to save her.


“There is no answer from Engineering. We have to leave the ship.” N'rethen said as they reached the turbolift and the doors parted aside. This time she reacted as they entered the turbolift pod and she turned her head towards what was left of the shattered bridge of her ship. With that instant she tried to remember it as it was when she stepped upon it the very first time, clean brightly lit and pristine. Proudly hers and then the turbolift doors closed.


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Location: Space - Outside the Oberon

Scene: Escape Pod

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Fire and flame burned brightly across the Oberon from where weapons fire had punctured and torn at its hull. Gaping holes were dotted along the vessels structure exposing broken rooms and corridors. The sensor pod that hung over the bridge was now non-existant with only parts of the pylons that held it still left in place. A majority of the starboard nacelle was missing and what was left was spewing forth warp plasma into space.


The Oberon was dying bleeding out like a critically wounded animal that could no longer stand and it wouldn't be long before it would be no more.


Various ports opened up all across the ship and as each one did an escape pod launched from inside with great velocity, hurtling out into the void and away from the dying starship, each one carrying remnants of its crew.


Inside one of the escape pods, Ryashi Desura sat and stared at the viewport behind watching as they gained more and more distance from the battered hulk that was her former command and for many years her home. From what had been her life ever since she had stepped onto that bridge and as it hurtled away at warp speeds from Utopia Planitia on its mission of discovery and exploration. She remembered like it was nearly new from inside a shuttle-pod as it approached the dry-dock that housed the Luna class starship, Oberon, the third of its class. Feeling the pride and excitement to stepping aboard, sitting in the Captains chair and issuing her first order to its crew.


At that moment, the Oberon was enveloped in a bright blue and blinding flash as its warp core breached, its matter and anti-matter clashing together to present the cataclysmic explosion. The other occupants inside the pod looked away instantly from the flash but Ryashi looked on only closing her eyes to the highest intensity of the light that hurt her eyes and opening them again as she felt it soften. As the flash dissipated, the Oberon, her ship, her life was no more.


Former Captain Ryashi Desura then looked away with a blank lifeless expression on her face as the escape pod sped away from the combat zone as the battle for Earth continued to rage on and more starships fell in its course.


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NRPG: Well here it is and done my promised Space Battle and hope one of many to come. I absolutely enjoyed crafting this together and wanting to show the emotional impact it had on the crew that served from the point of view of a single starship.


I'm happy to have Ryashi and her Tactical Officer to come back as NPC's if someone wants to write a rescue of them as I have developed an attachment to those characters :)


To our DH Players: Welcome! Looking forward to working with you all. Just to let you know this post contained no Player Characters, I just wanted to show the drama and horrors of the current battle from the point of view of a single starship.


Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this as I took a distinct pleasure in writing it.


Phillip Wright

Writing for

Captain Ryashi Desura


&


The Valiant crew of the USS Oberon

(May she rest in peace)