FRONTIER (BY JAMES MOOREHEAD)
After being abandoned with his aunt and uncle on Earth, Shinji Ikari is one day summoned to the far off colony of NERV by his estranged father. He boards the Galaxy class starship the USS Tokyo, captained by Misato Katsuragi, completely unaware of the fate that awaits him..
“The Hakone is reporting in sir, the armada has reached its destination.”
“Put it on screen.” Gendo Ikari ordered, adjusting his glasses with his white gloved hand.
The viewscreen at the front of the command centre sprung to life, showing the view from a probe accompanying the aforementioned armada. The screen was then divided into six, each one showing the perspective of a different probe.
It all served to show the immense size of this imposing armada. It was an unholy union of ships from across the Alpha, Beta and Gamma quadrants. Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Jem’Hadar, Cardassian and Bajoran… so many had contributed crews to this fight.
“All these ships… all for nothing.” Fuyutsuki muttered into Gendo’s ear, “So many lives wasted, in a pointless show of strength.”
“They are necessary sacrifices.” Gendo answered him coldly,
“Their leaders need proof that only we can handle this.”
“I know but still… there must be a better way.” Gendo said nothing further, opting instead to fold his hands neatly in front of his face.
He didn’t disagree with Fuyutsuki that this was a waste of life but for now he had to let things unfold. He had to place this battle in the hands of the those around him. Unlike Fuyutsuki, he could step back and see the logic behind it, without this demonstration the various leaders of these groups would be unwilling to give NERV free reign to tackle this.
“Another communication from the Hakone, they’re picking up a new vessel entering the system.”
“Get it on screen.” ordered a Federation admiral stood off to the side.
On the view screen this new vessel now appeared. Around the command centre a number of gasps could be heard as the strange vessel made itself known. Gendo remained expressionless, content to let events unfold.
“So, this is it… the first ship of theirs seen in countless years.” Fuyutsuki murmured.
With the vessel now entirely in view everyone in the commend centre could see how visibly imposing it was.
It was roughly one and a half times the size of a Romulan Warbirds. By far, it was the largest vessel in the system. The main hull of the ship was rounded, the rear of it curving inwards. At the top of the ship was a large, blood red, half sphere, held in place by greying fragments that gave the ship a skeletal look. At the front of the ship was a circular skull like figure, it’s two disc-like eyes holding within them a jet-black nothingness.
The jaw of the skull formed into a long beak. Around the ship were little cuts into the hull, within these slits was a pulsing orange glow giving the illusion that the ship was breathing.
This didn’t look like a ship that had been designed, it looked like something that had been born from a nightmare.
“One ship against thirty… it stands no chance!” Proclaimed a Klingon General called G’bakh stood off to the side.
“Let’s not get overconfident, remember Wolf 359.” answered a Federation admiral.
The comparison was an apt one, back then the Borg had only sent one cube to face an entire fleet of Starfleet ships.
In this situation there was one ship, against a variety of ships. Five Starfleet, five Klingon, five Jem’Hadar, two Romulan Warbirds and an assortment of ships contributed by other races.
“Open hailing frequencies.” the Admiral ordered, “There might still be room for diplomacy.”
“Channel open sir.”
“This is Starfleet Admiral Jackson of the United Federation of Planets. Unknown vessel, please know that we have no hostile intentions towards you or your people. If possible, we would like to resolve this situation peacefully.”
Jackson paused waiting in hope for any sort of response from this strange vessel.
Gendo and Fuyutsuki both looked on, each knowing how fruitless the Admirals attempt at dialogue would be. This was not an enemy that could be reasoned with, it knew only one thing.
“Diplomacy is a waste of time.” G’bakh exclaimed, “We already know their intentions.”
Silence fell upon the command centre as no one dared make the next move. On the view screen the probes shown the massive fleet opposite the singular vessel.
It was completely motionless, lifeless save for the glowing orange pulse.
Finally, Jackson nodded, “Normally… firing on a vessel that had not attacked us first would go against everything I stand for but… I have my orders. We gave them a chance, we attack.” “Comms, open a channel to my ships.” barked G’bakh,
“Klingon vessels, we attack now. Show them that the empire does not back down to idle threats! Q’Plah!”
Almost immediately the Klingon ships could be seen to move forward, but no sooner had they sprung to life then so too did the mysterious vessel!
It didn’t move, but the orange pulsing brightened and there was a sudden flash of white light, followed by three phaser-like bursts from the ship’s hull. Two of the Klingon ships were instantly vaporized by the fire, their ships exploding with a unique cross shaped explosion. The third vessel narrowing managing to dodge taking the full brunt of the attack but still being left severely damaged.
No further orders were needed from the command centre as the rest of the armada now sprung to life.
For Starfleet, the Hakone, a Sovereign class ship, took the lead spreading forth a hail of quantum torpedoes towards the ship and managing to dodge a phaser burst by the narrowest of margins.
Behind it the four other Starfleet ships followed in formation, each one firing a dazzling array of torpedoes and phasers whilst also manoeuvring away from the attacks from the enemy vessel.
The two Romulan Warbirds cloaked themselves and from behind them came the five Jem’Hadar ships. Their tactic seemed to be very much the same as the Starfleet ships, attack in waves, unleashing a torrent of weaponry in a desperate attempt to destroy the enemy.
The Jem’Hadar ships were in turn backed up by the remaining Klingon vessels, whilst the Starfleet ships had been joined by the Bajoran and Cardassian ships.
Behind the vessel the two Warbirds now uncloaked, and started their own wave of attacks before cloaking again to avoid the phaser blasts from the ship.
This continued for a short while, the three different groups attacking in waves, the Romulans cloaking and decloaking and each one trying their best to not get hit. It seemed that after the initial shock of the two Birds of Prey being destroyed the mood in the armada had a grasp of the situation.
The mood inside the command centre certainly seemed to indicate as much. There was a growing sense of optimism, after all how much could one ship possibly handle?”
“It looks like we have this under control Ikari.” declared Jackson with a rather smug tone, “Perhaps we won’t be needing your help after all.”
As he said those words the fleet continued in their relentless assault, phaser blast after phaser blast, torpedo following torpedo, mines being hurled at the enemy and every other little trick this collective of ships had. Yet, frustratingly, for all the attacks it didn’t seem to be harming the vessel at all.
“This shielding… it is frustratingly persistent.” The Vorta spoke, echoing everyone elses thoughts.
“It’s an A.T. Field…” Fuyutsuki answered, “Impenetrable by conventional weapons.”
“Nothing is impenetrable! Even the Borg have a weakness, we will find theirs too!” Jackson shot back.
Unfortunately, as soon as those words left his lips, he started to regret them.
The two Warbirds had cloaked again to position themselves in a better location. The enemy vessel, which had been lying dormant for some time, suddenly sprang to life beginning to emit a white glow around it.
There was no time for anyone to give orders to the armada to fall back!
At that moment a bright spherical shockwave burst forth from the ship, a number of ships were caught up in the wave and each one, no matter the shield strength, size or speed were instantly destroyed in a similar fashion to the Klingon ships at the start of the battle.
The space around the ship was littered with white cross shaped explosions. A terrifying silence gripped the command centre as they surveyed what was left. Three quarters of a Romulan Warbird remained on screen, a Jem’Hadar warship, half a Klingon Bird of Prey and a Galor Class vessel remained.
There were no orders given, as each one of them, in a final act of desperation began moving towards the enemy. The probes recording the battle retreating further and further away as each of the remaining ships collided with the vessel culminating in one last cross shaped explosion.
The probe was knocked offline as silence continued to reign in the command centre.
No one dared to speak, all eyes glued to the viewscreen in a mix of fear and astonishment. This one singular ship had managed to wipe out the entire armada. Thousands of lives lost in a matter of minutes, this was destruction on a scale so rarely seen.
“That… has to have done it? Surely, it can’t have survived that!” The Vorta declared, breaking the silence and their shaking voice betraying what they had said,
“Get that probe back online, I want visuals!” “B-Bringing the probe back online.” Answered a scared technician.
A few moments later the probe was back online, confirming everyone’s fears.
The enemy vessel still stood, completely unharmed amidst all the scattered debris of the armada.
All ships had been completely obliterated by this terrifying entity which had taken almost no damage at all, the only sign that it had been in a fight was a few chips and cracks in the mask at the front and some other damage to the skeletal structure.
“What… is the status of the vessel?” Jackson asked.
“Holding for now; initial analysis shows an eight point three seven two reduction in its hull.”
“We… barely put a dent in it…” he answered, “Do we know what it’s doing now?”
“I’m not sure… Long range scans are faint but it… I think it might be regenerating! Our probe is showing very minute activity in and around the hull.” The officer answered.
“in which case we might have bought ourselves some extra time.”
Fuyutsuki spoke, “Do we have an updated estimate on when it will arrive?”
“Based on initial projections on how long it’ll take to get back to 100% and the speeds we have recorded previously then… it should get here in seven days.”
Fuyutsuki nodded, there was nothing else he had to ask or say regarding the situation. All he could do now was mourn the senseless loss of life. Across from him, he could hear the chattering of the four representatives, it was not difficult to figure out what they were talking about.
It was just as Gendo had predicted.
“Ikari.” Jackson finally spoke, “We’re handing over control of this operation to yourself and NERV.”
“I admit, I fail to see where you will succeed where we have failed but it is far better than throwing more of our… already limited resources at the problem. Do what you must Ikari, but know this… we will be watching you.”
The Romulan representative narrowed her eyes as she spoke. Gendo simply rose from his seat and adjusted his glasses,
“I understand, I am now taking command of this operation. Rest assured that you each have nothing to worry about, defeating these Angels, is exactly what NERV was created for.”