The Race

[K'Voth]

A very short Intro to a story I am writing at the moment.
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Fires raged in zero gravity. Rolling of the hull of the stricken vessel, her once graceful hull tendrils fanning out into the surrounding space petering out once they got out with the source of the heat. She shuddered visibly as the thrusters fought a battle against the inexorable pull of the planets gravity. Running lights blazing in defiance at the torture visited upon the ship. Sitting at the helm Mk'taran was bathed in a sick yellow glow from the various alert panels gently pulsing around the shambles that was once his bridge. Massive rents in the hull made it possible to almost see space with out a view screen. The attack had been a brutal one coming completely out of no-where and completely uneven. They had done their best against the numerically superior foe but had taken significant loss. Fingers drumming on the end of his chair arms, rage building on itself Mk'taran grew impatient.

"Report" he growled through gritted teeth. Surely there was someone even slightly competent left on his crew. The tactical officer who was sat at helm spoke up.

"Engineering reports impulse should be up in the next few moments but SIF and Warp will take some time" Swallowing the urge to personally go and...Motivate the engineering staff the CO continued.

"Current status"

"The RCS thrusters are holding a line against the planet's pull; our orbit will decay in about half a standard hour. Comms long and short ranges are still down" The next comment was interrupted; the shuddering was replaced by a shake settling to a gentle thrumming from the bowls of the vessel

"Take us out of here tactical, best speed. Set course for Klingon space" Grunting a response the officer did as he was bade. Cautiously the ship arced out of the planets upper ionosphere and moved off incredibly slowly; The SIF was after all down to around 30% she certainly wouldn't survive the jump to warp. She would have to before long, the dishonour of being jumped stung Mk'taran like a dagger strike to the back. It galled him to have been taken on a routine patrol buy an unknown foe. Still they had not destroyed him, and he had taken several of them out. Not only had they administered a pounding to his ship they had also managed to take down its computer systems, so allot of damage had come from everything just shutting down. Slowly the ship gained speed, They passed the quarter impulse mark and carried on a gentle but steady acceleration towards The light speed barrier.

The race to Klingon space had begun.....

[Berzerker]

Intriguing! Really makes me want to read more. The unknown foe is just out of range and begs the question of "who" Who could get the jump on a Klingon Vessel and hurt it so! Very engaging for it only being a few paragraphs. I want more!

Berz out.

[K'Voth]

The bridge was almost silent. Most too busy to vocalise what they were doing. The dying ships systems goosed, threatened and pushed into giving all they could back to the crew. The smell of ozone thick in the air, cooked and cooling insulation settling in the grim dark. Mk'taran sat grimly, watching the speedometer he had brought up on his command panel, between the fritzing and popping of the stations damaged surface. "I hate being toyed with, they will pay" he muttered as his ship shuddered and popped towards full impulse, Whenever he contacted the engineering staff by the only means available he got a string of invective from his engineer. He knew better then to keep asking stupid questions, he knew his foe was sat there toying with him. He typed in a few commands disabling every safety protocol on the ship.

Minutes passed painfully, the ship had started to sway as it accelerated, the lateral stabilisers had been one of the first of many subsystems to blow out during the speed up, sir we are ready to go to warp, the limited internal comm system crackled into life to coordinate the jump.

"course set"

"Stand by, intermix settings input...dampers at maximum...."

"RCS, and Damage control announce ready"

"warp core, on line and as stable as its gonna be"

Listening to the litany of chatter from various stations on the ship Mk'taran couldn't help but smile. "Do it" he barked as the last call came in. The ship Howeled. The blood curdling scream grew in intensity as she pulled forwards. Still more calls came through about failing SIF systems being corrected and various tweaks to the fuel mix. An officer flew to the deck as the ODN junction above his head blew out, But still she accelerated. Almost there, come on. The collective will of everyone on the ship must have been enough, as the stars in the view ahead started to lenthen. Relativistic speed had been achieved and super luminous was close.

"0.98C and climbing"

"Keep accelerating until we blow something up or die!"

"1.23C we are at warp" The shock wave throwing the ship into a stomach churning dance across the sky

"Hold her steady!" Yelled the CO as his pilots hands danced over the console to try and hold a flying wreckage into some semblance of course, effectively flying blind the ship hurtled through space, the scream building to a howl of pained hatred as the ship was pushed harder then design specs ever said they should. The warp bubble now formed she was free to push a little harder as it did offer a little respite from some of the forces assaulting the ships hull. She was still breached and battered. Field repairs covered every surface. as sensor packages began to come back on line. The engineering staff deserved medals, Field repairing this thing whilst hobbling to warp was beyond impressive. A human friend of Mk'Taran's would say it was a miracle. Tossing his mane of Dreads behind his head to concentrated, the heat on the bridge becoming intense. If the ship could hold out that bit longer


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Slowly sat back on the comfortable bridge. watching through screens arrayed around him the captain watched the abomination pushing into the realms of FTL travel. His own ship having taken only minor pot shots he waited. A smug smirk wandering across his face.

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[Berzerker]

FTL!!! Hmmm that term immediately makes me thing of BSG....

If thats where this is going... I had an awesome debate on BSG vs. Star Trek on another forum I am on. Keep up the good writing Kvoth!

Berz out.

[K'Voth]

The thrumming of the life support slowly wound down, The cold creeping in to the growing darkness as bodies floated off the deck and stations round the bridge, shouted words of rage and alarm slowly starting to get quieter with the dwindling air, there must have been a stress breach somewhere. Dark Yellow light strobing into the consciousness. Moments stretching into what felt like hours. Officers swimming towards the emergency contingency control panel at ops. Just moments left. A rending howl silenced as the last of the atmosphere vented. The shuddering under foot getting worse as the accelerating ships inertia became unchecked. Engineering officers fighting hard to keep the ship together, a loosing battle more and more alarms gaining the cacophony in the background. "Atmosphere vented in the bridge! Reinforce the hull get that emergency bulkhead open!" the ship fought hard, more alarms wailing, a massive explosion heard and felt throughout the old ship. "Report!" A blinding white light showed briefly until it was all for nought.


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Bridge
IKS Defiant Light
Klingon Border
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"Incoming Communication from Home" The comms officer turned away from the panel to tell her Commanding officer of the communication, the logo of the Empire staring her in the face with an exceptionally angry general waiting on the other end. It was strange the general would look the way he did, having the look of some one who hasn't slept for some time, with a bad temper and the high council being mentioned.

"On Screen" came the terse reply from the center of the bridge.

"Sir the general said your ears only" With a snarl her commanding officer stood up heavily, Tossing is locks behind his head he thought of his brother and wondered how his posting was going an as to whether it had been this drab. "Fine" Walking off the bridge into his darkly light office and folding into the chair next to his weapons and his familial ceremonial armour. "Authorisation TARAN009" The Beep from the terminal acknowledging acceptance of the code from him.

"Sorry to drag you away from the bridge but there is something you must know" came the generals usually brusque voice.

"I'm sure, what do you want" Ra'taran looked into the viewers eye and shifting in his seat. "I'm am sure i can take some time away from this mission to speak to an old friend.
After a sigh the other warrior looked at him from the homeworld, looking tired he continued "Ra'Taran its about your brother, approximately six hours ago corward of the beta quadrant his ship suffered a core breach and was destroyed" With the horror that showed up on the face of the captain of defiant light, the general Continued "The Core breach was a result of unknown offencive action from a hostile force but the destruction did not occur in battle, but in their persuit of the enemy" The horror got stronger on the captains face, was honour in question here? His family was a small but strong House and could no more afford this loss of honour then any other in the empire. "I must ask you to go and" with a pasuse of distaste "Investigate the destruction of the ship. You have your orders and I expect your report soon" With that the comm went dead. Feeling heavier then he did when he walked in the warrior stood. An impotent rage forming in the pit of his stomaches, with a roar he put his fist through the monitor staring accusingly at him from the desk. Walking out of the office on the bridge he growled at the bridge crew. "Change course 212 Mk 315, maximum warp...Do it" Storming to the center seat and sitting down. Glaring at the center seat he watched the stars streak into warp. "Engage cloak and keep Shields in readiness for when we arrive at the coordinates appearing at tactical."

The game of cat and mouse continued.