The First Battle of Sol

Posted on 20 Nov 2023 @ 9:40pm by Rear Admiral Lirha Saalm & Commander Luke Wyatt & Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant Commander Ryan Alexander

3,484 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 19 - Tomorrow's Galileo
Location: Sector 001, Sol System
Timeline: 2415

[ON]

Warp signatures appeared on the view screen, "All hands, Battle Stations". The so-often-heard klaxon permeated the silence that had been held for so long on the ship, the crew waiting for this moment to begin. It didn't matter what species you were, the colour of your shirt as for now everyone was bathed in a red hue, perhaps a sign of the bloodshed to come.

Hundreds of Klingon and Romulan ships entered visual range, not bothering to cloak. A sign of their belief in victory. Surrounding Earth and the outposts that were stretched around the Sol system's Federation ships, much fewer in number were the only thing that held the line between total defeat and the fall of Earth, though many believed Earth had been lost years ago when Starfleet moved to Starbase 1. Every battle that had been waged since the start of the war had paved a path to this moment.

The opening scene for the Battle of Earth had been set, and the outcome would be forever written among the stars. The galaxy watched, holding its breath, as the dance of starships played out, each manoeuvre and decision carrying the weight of history in the making but being carried out each as ruthless as the last as both sides made sacrifices.

A crackling image of the Federation's president materialized on the ships' view screen, transmitted from her office on Starbase 1. The flickering projection showed a woman. The weariness in her eyes was evident, reflecting the weight of the responsibilities she carried.

She was a seasoned diplomat and leader who had apparently weathered the storms of countless interstellar crises, though in frequent years those were small in comparison to the war. Her silver-streaked hair spoke of wisdom gained through years of service to the Federation. She wore a resolute expression, showing determination even in the face of overwhelming odds. Despite the gravity of the situation, her voice remained steady as she addressed the officers staring back at her through the view screen.

"You are our protectors, the guardians of everything we hold dear," she began. "This is the moment you've been training for, the moment in which your courage and dedication will be tested like never before. We stand united, a beacon of freedom, hope and unity in the galaxy. Hold the line, protect Earth, and above all else protect each other. Together, the Federation will endure, now and in the future. "Dum vivimus servimus [While we live, we serve]."

In one shattering moment... the battle commenced.

"Klingon ships have breached the outer perimeter..."

"Moon surface batteries have been destroyed..."

"They're targeting the civilian escape transports..."

"Earth has stopped responding..."

Onboard the USS Galileo-B, the crew knew that for the Federation to win here, they had to survive.

Within the Mark III Nova-class' bridge, Rear-Admiral Lirha Saalm continued her slow and methodical pacing across the small circular command area. Her green fingers had remained entwined together for several minutes as the local Earth defense stations' broadcasts relayed solemn yet expected news. She momentarily paused to look up and survey her bridge crew. Commander Wyatt, her gold-collared XO and veteran combat officer, maintained his resolve while delegating orders to ops and operating the auxiliary/tactical station. Within the science alcove, the blue-collared Vulcan hybrid Commander Sandoval-Wyatt appeared stoic at her station while scanning for incoming cloaked vessels and relaying sensor data to the rest of the fleet. And within the Operations alcove, Lieutenant Commander Alexander juggled a multitude of duties ranging from comms to every other auxiliary system aboard the starship. At the conn was a young red-collared Trill, Ensign Mal...perhaps now one of the last remaining joined Trills in the galaxy.

"Switch to Starfleet frequency 4-8 on audio," ordered Saalm. She'd heard enough of the local defenses and their losses.

"Aye, ma'am. Standby. And I have them, 4-8 channel open." Ryan said as he worked the system, giving the ships power grid most of his attention. Ryan spared a quick glance at his captain, a friend and mentor for countless years. They had experienced so much together, nearly dying on the Galileo, imprisonment, the battle near Regula I. They always were able to beat the odds together, and this was something else entirely, still, he couldn't help but the slightness of smiles of being back in the thick of it.

The new frequency chirped and quickly turned into a cacophony of incoming status reports from all of the assembled fleet's starships.

 "...Destroyer Wing 2-1, assuming forward positi--" reported a senior Vulcan commander before being stepped on by another element.

"Galaxy Wings One through Five holding position," interjected Fleet Admiral Benson's distinctive Australian voice.

"Sovereign Wings One through Three, advancing...preparing to engag--"

"Excelsior Wings Five and Six, supporting!" yelled an Andorian admiral.

Saalm quickly returned to her command chair within Galileo-B's bridge then thumbed her chair's LCARS console's external comms button. Her dark emerald eyes were trained on the tactical display console between her and her XO as she reported their position. "Nova Wings Three through Eight are in position, sweeping grid zero-two-nine-dash-one-fi--"

"Klingon and Romulan forces detected on intercept course," interjected the fleet admiral again, "bearing two-eight-one, mark-zero-five. They will be in weapons range in...two minutes."

In space, the Federation fleet numbered in the low 200s. It was a conglomeration of legacy-aged starships accompanied by the select few modern front-line vessels recalled to the defense of Earth. Among the backdrop of the Human homeworld and its moon, several loose formations of Galaxy-class heavy cruisers slowly maneuvered alongside their supporting Miranda-class, Steamrunner-class and Akira-class escorts. The Sovereign wings were composed of the Federation's flagship design at the center of their assembly with multiple Nebula, Akira, and Saber-class escorts. The forward picket lines streamed across the front of the larger fleet formation, composed of Miranda, Oberth, and Nova-classes. They were the forward probing element...the scientific vanguard which would reveal any cloaked deception from the Romulan or Klingon Empire.

Marisa Wyatt and her husband were among those recalled to active duty. They'd monitored the progress of the war and the latest advancements, which made it easier to slip back into their old roles.

Now she was keeping an eye on astrometrics and sensor data to check for encrypted messages and cloaked ships. The majority of the Klingon and Romulan ships were clearly visible, but the science officer wouldn't put it past either group to sneak in and attack from behind. The Romulans had never been trustworthy, and now the Klingons had shown a distinct lack of honor by attacking unarmed refugees. It wasn't much, but she was doing what she could. "No signs of hostile ships," she reported, knowing that could change at any moment.

With mature stoicism and the diffused light green eyes of a war-weary captain, Saalm did her best to hide the trepidation she currently experienced. The war had so far taken an extreme toll on the Federation - too high of a cost. They'd lost several key planets including Bolarus, Betazed and Vulcan. What was now happening to the populations of those worlds under Klingon and Romulan regimes...was most likely worse than death. Her own homeworld of Rigel VII, the Orion homeworld, had been re-conquered in the earliest stages of the war. Lirha had no home anymore. No family she could return to or contact. No future she could imagine without the miraculous full defeat of both the Klingon Empire and Romulan Star Empire. Starfleet had already lost 75% of its fleet power over the past twenty years. Now they'd been pushed back to Earth to defend the Sol system in a last stand. How had it all come to this? So many lives lost...so many families destroyed.

Inhaling sharply, Saalm snapped her feelings from her head as best she was able. "Continue sweeping grid 029-15," she ordered the conn, "then proceed to dash-18." She looked over to her long-time friend and now first officer, Wyatt. "Get ready, Luke. They're out here with us..."

"Yes, ma'am," the tiny conn officer replied. He didn't need to be told to keep doing what he was doing, but he understood the captain was under a lot of stress, as were the rest of them.

Luke nodded, "Send a coded message to the fighter wings standing by that we're still waiting for any confirmation of the main enemy elements, Lets be quick but thorough we don't want to miss anything but time is not on our side." Having been called back into service was no surprise to Luke he had seen it coming and was grateful for the small amount of time he and Marisa had in raising their family but not at the brink of the Federation collapse. He wondered what if anything they'd be leaving behind.

"Captain, multiple cloaked ships are approaching our flank. I'm picking up at least half a dozen. They're coming in fast and will be in weapons range in thirty seconds," Marisa announced. It looked like they were trying to keep their exact number hidden, but their intent was clear.

The intermittent contacts suddenly appeared on Saalm and Wyatt's consoles as well. They were too vague to determine the full force of the element but they were certainly an attack force of some type. And in space, thirty seconds was barely enough time to re-orient and engage. She thumbed the intraship comm button on her armrest's console. "Nova Wing 3, cloaked contacts detected bearing zero-seven-zero mark zero-five. We're engaging defensive." The Orion rear-admiral then shouted a critical order to Galileo's conn officer. "Evasive pattern Delta-Four. Bring us about!"

The Galileo's agility was beyond that of most ships within the Federation and Klingon armadas. With a swift and decisive maneuver, it quickly changed its course. The Klingon Birds of Prey materialized from their cloaked state directly ahead. Their green energy pulses surged across the expanse, converging upon the Galileo's shields with impactful bursts of light rocking the ships slightly, the shields for now holding.

"Three additional Birds of Prey decloaking off the starboard bow, bearing One-Three Mark Zero-Four!" Luke said, his voice carrying a mixture of urgency and precision as he spoke to the bridge crew making them aware of the increasing threat. Another set of vessels appeared against the backdrop of space, their unmistakable silhouettes becoming clearer, immediately joining the barrage as they fired at the Galileo.

"Their goal appears to be cutting us of from our potential escape routes," Luke continued, his mind racing to decode the unfolding puzzle. But in an instant, his assessment evolved. "Disregard that. It seems their primary objective is to halt our advance into grid twelve. This could be a screen for their main force. Thoughts? Any available options that don't unmask the fighters early?"

"Based on what we are seeing at the moment, it would seem that they are trying to get us to show our hand early, before we are ready." Ryan said as he monitored the ships systems, his hands dancing across the console to ensure shields remained activated against the energy barrage while ensuring there was enough power to to weapons. "Shields are at 74%, we should be able to hold for a little longer."

"Are they trying to get us to show our hand, or is their end goal to wipe us out as quickly as possible to show the rest of the Federation that resistance is futile?" Marisa asked. "We're outnumbered as is. The cloaked ships may just be there to take out as many of us as they can to reduce what numbers we do have."

Galileo's bridge rocked again from another disruptor impact to its lateral shield grid. Saalm listened to the tactical analyses from her long-time friends and bridge officers while also trying to determine the same question. "I believe it's a probing force sweeping their main advance to eliminate our electronic warfare assets," solemnly deduced the Orion. "If we lose our Nova wings, they'll jam our fleet comms and the battle will be over before it started. The Jem'Hadar used the same tactic during the Dominion War." She glanced back down to her tactical display before issuing new orders. "Nova Wings Five, Seven and Three, fall back to position Delta-Gamma. Destroyer Wing 3-1, advance and support--"

A bright flash on the main viewscreen paused Lirha's orders when Galileo's bridge crew witnessed one of their escorting Miranda-class starships explode under a sudden concentration of Klingon disruptor fire. Its saucer section detonated and broke into several pieces before spewing a half-intact flaming warp nacelle into the battle-stricken cosmos.

Along one side of the main viewscreen, a scrolling list of the ships that were hit and damaged appeared. Below it, in the lower corner, was a grid of the battlefield with dots to mark Federation and enemy ships. After a few minutes, Marisa stopped glancing at it and focused on her own console. The odds of a victory were decreasing by the moment, but she could not allow herself to think about it. Instead, she focused on how they could make the ship invisible to the enemy's sensors--or anything else that might give them a slight advantage. They would need that if they were to survive this battle.

Power levels spiked and fell all over the ship as wayward disruptor bolts struck the shields reducing the available energy. Ryan focused on shifting damage control teams early, rerouting power from none critical systems, and shutting systems that attempted to draw to much. His fingers danced across his LCARs screen as handled a particularly troublesome power drain. "Taking power from auxiliary systems and shifting them to, -" Ryan started as the ship shook from a direct disruptor bolt. "-shields, we are holding at 63%." He finished.

"We can't be of any help if we're out before we even have a chance to fight," Marisa said, not directing her comment to anyone. She trusted Saalm's experience, but this situation was unprecedented, even after Wolf 359.

At ops, Goldie was just trying to keep power to vital systems. Keeping the holes plugged felt like a giant game of short circuit. Or whack a mole. She almost wished they had some way of simply whacking the disruptor bolts off target. But then, if they could, the bolts would likely hit someone else. What they needed was I'm rubber, you're glue., but that was just wishful thinking.

"More cloaked signatures, they're trying to bypass us" Luke explained looking between his controls and the viewscreen bringing up the area in which the sensors had detected the anomalies, it was next to a large asteroid. "We could fire some torpedoes at the asteroids, it may be enough to knock out a few of those ships since we can't target them with any accuracy." The older ex-marine suggested.

"If we calculate it right, there's an 82.73% chance of taking out at least two of the ships," Marisa said, looking at the grid. "If the Gladiator can fire torpedoes as well, the number goes up to seven. That does depend on whether or not they continue on the same course."

"I'll take those odds," Goldie replied. She knew it was up to security to actually fire, but as far as she was concerned, any little victory was going to help morale, and right now, they needed a morale boost.

The Orion captain was focused on her console, occasionally looking back up to the main viewscreen's display which showed the real-time chaos of the opening stages of battle. Green disruptor fire and orange phaser bursts illuminated the picture. Sandoval and Wyatt's recommendations were solid as far as she could ascertain. "Do it, Luke!" she called out as their small starship rocked again from disruptor impacts. "Coordinate firing trajectories with Gladiator and inform the rest of the group to clear the debris field."

Marisa double-checked her calculations, then sent a message to the Gladiator, followed by the data. She sent the same data to their own tactical station so the two ships could coordinate. Two ships was nothing in this battle, but if every Federation ship could take out two of the enemy, their odds of survival would increase exponentially.

When she got a confirmation from the other ship, Marisa turned to Saalm. "Gladiator reports ready."

For her part, Goldie sent an encrypted message to the other nearby ships, informing them of the maneuver. Their success relied on timing--and making sure none of their allies got in the way. "Encrypted message received. There should be no chance of friendly fire."

With the coordinates set and the all clear, Luke ushered the words, "Fire full spread, maximum coverage." The torpedoes darted across the expanse passing the cloaked Klingon ships as their light glowing hue shone like a beacon. Luke could imagine the Klingons laughing as their shots passed their ships, probably thinking that Galileo and Gladiator were shooting blind. As the first of the torpedoes impacted onto the asteroid it shattered far more than he had considered as large chunks were thrown in all directions. It didn't take long for the first of the asteroid chunks to hit one of the cloaked Birds of Prey as an explosion appeared, then another and one by one, Klingon shops decloaked, their shields down and the asteroid fragments causing more damage than they ever could have hoped.

Marisa smiled as she watched the asteroid splinter, then she began to scan for cloaked ships. "Seven ships destroyed. Counting twelve ships damaged. Five have shields down. Marking them now." Five orange dots appeared on the main viewscreen, indicating the position of the vulnerable ships.

Some ships though damaged and adrift still seemed to be active and limping, "Fire another spread, this time at the damaged Klingon ships, send them a message that we will not be giving Earth so easily." The words were more to boost morale amongst the junior ranks on the ship, the more senior staff knew that their efforts were more of a delay tactic then anything, none the less this was still their home and the Klingons would pay with for every inch with Klingon lives.

Galileo's torpedo launchers again illuminated then sequentially launched a second volley of matter/anti-matter ordinance, this time with proximity-fused warheads. The photon torpedoes screamed through space with twisting flares while tracking their targets and detonating in a wide spread between the damaged Bird of Preys. With their shields down, the Klingon warships' hulls shredded from the impacts then exploded into a brilliant, flaming debris clouds.

From her command seat, Saalm watched the muted results of their weapons with private satisfaction while also understanding the battle for Earth was still in its opening stages. The comm channels came alive again and Galileo's sensors detected a mass formation of Klingon battlecruisers entering weapons range while their Nova wing continued to fall back. Multiple Galaxy- and Akira-class heavy cruisers charged forward past the Nova Wing and into the fight.

Fleet Admiral Benson's voice once again stepped on the comms. "Galaxy Wings 1 through 3, engage the first wave - fire at will."

With a sigh, Marisa began to look for other ways to disrupt the enemy--and hopefully help the Galileo and other ships around them survive.

Behind Galileo and its accompanying Nova Wings, multiple squadrons of Klingon Birds of Prey decloaked and descended upon the older Starfleet flagships now advancing. An amalgamation of lime green disruptor fire intermixed with orange phaser bursts, but the Klingons vessels didn't appear to be maneuvering in any form of coherent attack formation. On Galileo's main viewscreen, the Orion captain watched with horror as eight different Galaxy-class starships were descended upon by a flotilla of smaller and more maneuverable Klingon escorts which accelerated and rammed their Federation opponents at high impulse velocity. Multiple explosions ensued as hulls collided then broke apart, spewing flickering cyan nacelles and flaming debris in all directions as the Galaxy Wing's escorts attempted to evade the catastrophe. One warp core went critical and detonated, reducing several other nearby starships from all factions to space dust, followed by second one.

Lirha sunk back into her chair, unable to fully process the sudden loss of life of close to 8,000 Starfleet personnel in one single attack wave as well as not comprehend the Klingon Empire's apparent total conviction to dominate the Federation by any means necessary. Her breathing quickened with panic for a moment before she was able to utter her next two words: "Dear spirits..."

[OFF]

--

RADM Lirha Saalm
Commanding Officer
USS Galileo-B
[PNPC Tarin]

CDR Luke Wyatt
First Officer
USS Galileo-B

CDR Marisa Wyatt
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-B

LTCDR Ryan Alexander
Operations Manager
USS Galileo-B

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