//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: The Battle Begins // Story: Star Trek Online: Sacrifice - Part II // by Admiral Wyatt Stone //------------------------------// "Too late, game over pal!" Surprises. We all have surprises in our lives, both good and bad. Surprises can be something great like the start of a birthday party, or horrible news such as a loved one passing on. I've had several surprises myself, like finding out Velvet Remedy used me to get herself out of Stable 2, or discovering Watcher's true identity was Spike, the dragon that lived for over two-hundred years to protect Twilight Sparkle's greatest creation. The arrival of the Enclave during my mission to destroy the Goddess was a shock I hadn't seen coming, neither was the Sonic Rad-boom Ditzy Doo performed over the town of New Appleloosa during their attack. And while I had a good idea of what was to come during this conflict against J'ula, there would be so many more things I'd see that I wasn't expecting to see here... -------- The fleet exited the wormhole and entered a large area of space a few moments after it's departure from New Khitomer, the space around the area had no stars, just a dark purple field of energy. Within the area along with our fleet was the gateway sphere, the Star Forge and J'ula's fleet nearby. I couldn't see the Lukara from where we were, though I was sure it was somewhere in that fleet. My friends and I looked at the viewscreen, aweing at the large structure that led to so many places I couldn't fathom. "And that was built by our makers?" Velvet Remedy asked as we observed the sight. "Yep, we don't know where they went, though, other than the Preserver Archive in the Alpha Quadrant." I answered my friend as I got back to my station. I heard Twilight speak up as the fleet dispersed into several groups, the Enterprise, the Great Fox, the Firefly and the Harmony being one of them. "All squadrons, check in!" "Rogue Squadron standing by." Wedge said as his squad of twenty or so fighters appeared above our ships. "Team Star Fox, ready for duty." A male voice said as four fighters formed up in front of the Harmony, they had a large fuselage with four small blue engines around it. Connected to those were two wings. "Wonderbolts on station!" Skydive said as her fighters flew in formation, they consisted of a large set of pegasus-shaped wings attached to a main fuselage, a small windowed cockpit attached to the front. Calamity whistled as he saw the graceful starfighters. "I've got t' get me one o' those sometime." He said with a smirk as the ships flew in formation, Captain Dax speaking through the ship's intercoms. "Alright, remember your orders, cover the Enterprise until she fires the weapon, then escort the Harmony in so they can beam Littlepip down to the Star Forge! Charge!" As Dax said that, our fleet sped away towards the Klingon fleet, the other allied ships firing on them ahead of us. As we approached a trio of Klingon ships, we opened fire on the Sech battle cruiser that led the small group, its hull ablaze as we tore the ship apart with Phaser beams. A Bird of Prey swooped over us before turning around, firing disruptors at our shields. The Star Fox Team all performed barrel rolls in front of the shots, deflecting them back towards the small frigate and disabling its shields. "Eat plasma, ridgeheads!" I said with a smirk as I vented plasma out of the nacelles while the Harmony flew forward, spilling the lethal gas all around the frigate, which exploded a few seconds later. Calamity whooped with excitement as he watched the Klingon ship burn to pieces. The last Bird of Prey was hit by a large green beam by the Enterprise, the one shot that hit it was apparently all it could take as it exploded, pieces of debris hitting our shields as we sped towards the Star Forge. Another group of Klingon ships approached us, a large dreadnought distracted by the Pax Celestial. The Harmony grabbed one of the Birds of Prey in a tractor beam, the Wonderbolts firing magic shots at it's shields until they dropped. Rainbow Dash tapped her console as a torpedo flew out from under the Harmony, hitting the small enemy ship as it exploded. "Shield drain on the other Bird of Prey!" Twilight said as the second frigate sped around at us, the ship getting caught in a tractor beam from the Enterprise as the Harmony fired a blue beam of energy at the ship, its shields flickering out a moment later. "One high-yield torpedo coming up!" Rainbow Dash said as she tapped her console, another torpedo flying out from the Harmony. The Bird of Prey's hull screeched as it was hit, the vessel exploding shortly after being hit. I heard Princess Celestia's voice speak up through Twilight's comms panel as we turned back to the Star Forge. "We'll take care of the dreadnought, you head for the Star Forge!" "Understood." Twilight said as the fleet continued on towards another group of ships, this one consisting of three Venomian frigates and one star destroyer, the one that we saw at Laurentia. Squadrons of fighters flew out of the ship's sides as it fired, hitting the Enterprise's shields. "TIEs coming in! We'll hold them off!" Wedge said as his ships attacked the small starfighters, some exploding as they were hit. "I've got a lock on the bridge's shield generators!" Rainbow Dash said as she tapped her console, two Phaser beams hitting two small spherical structures on the top of the bridge. The two generators exploded as the star destroyer turned, more laser fire hitting the underbelly of the Harmony until the hull was hit. "They've breached the ventral shields! I'm taking evasive maneuvers!" As the Harmony sped around the star destroyer, I tapped my Pipbuck to access the enemy comms, Captain Dax's voice speaking a second later. "They're targeting you, Harmony! We'll cover you!" "Don't worry, I've got this!" I heard a deeper voice say as one of Star Fox's fighters went directly towards the star destroyer's bridge, barrel rolling as it collided into it. "No!" I yelled as my friends and I watched in shock, the star destroyer's bridge burning in flames from the impact as the fighter rolled out of the other side, completely unscathed. We all let out cheers and cries of relief as the Star Fox team's leader spoke. "Good going, Falco!" He said as the deep voice that belonged to Falco spoke again. "What did I tell ya, Fox? It's a piece o' cake!" The star destroyer flew downwards as it lost control, colliding with two of the enemy frigates around it. As the three ships exploded in a brilliant ball of light, one of the frigates sped away towards the next group, the Enclave thunderhead taking the lead around more Venomian frigates. "Uh oh." Calamity said as the large ship fired it's beams, hitting the Harmony's shields as I tapped my console. A warp bubble struck the small fleet of ships as the thunderhead fired again, hitting the Harmony's port shield as it passed. "Can we disable her?" I heard Skydive say as her squadron flew over the thunderhead, which fired beams after them as they evaded. "Perhaps, why?" Captain Dax said as Jet joined in the conversation. "We could make it the Wasteland's first warp vessel, as well as learn what J'ula's done to get it flying again." Dax seemed to debate the idea until she spoke up a moment later. "All right, we'll send some teams to assist you in taking her captive." "Half of my squad and Skydives, take the thunderhead, the rest stick with the fleet!" Spitfire said as the Enterprise fired a blue beam and hit the ship's engine with a single Phaser beam, disabling it. Seven fighters shot at the thunderhead's turrets as they flew inside, assaulting what was once the ship's hangar bay. One of the defending frigates flew by and attempted to shoot the Enterprise as it transported away teams, but was stopped by the Stratus, which fired several Phaser bolts as she passed. The frigate sped away from the Federation flagship as the Stratus clashed with the remainder of the enemy fleet. "We'll help take the thunderhead with the Wonderbolts! You all keep going!" Snowdrop said through the comms as our fleet continued onward to the Star Forge. As the Harmony fired repulsor beams at another group of incoming frigates, I tapped my Pipbuck, putting my earbloom in as I accessed the enemy comms. "Defense Group 1, report!" I heard J'ula say as one of the frigates was hit with the Enterprises green beam, being obliterated in seconds. "They've gunned us down, we're falling back to Defense Group 2 to hold off the Alliance fleet!" I heard J'ula grunt angrily as she replied back. "PetaQ! Ensure the Enterprise does not reach the Star Forge!" J'ula said as another ship passed by the Harmony and fired, I think it was a Sech class. "Understood, my Lady! General Red Eye has departed his flagship for the Star Forge, he says he's going to protect it should the Alliance's team get through!" "Good, he must not fail us or this campaign is forfeit!" I pulled out the earbloom as I tapped my console, ejecting another cloud of warp plasma around the now damaged Klingon cruiser, which exploded a moment later. As we continued towards the Star Forge, another ship came at us, a small ship with a large section of hull with a beam sticking out the front. Two pylons held dishes at the ship's sides, a third one at the front of it's hull. I heard Captain Dax speak up as the ship arrived. "All ships, break away from the Enterprise, all hands, brace for impact!" As all of our ships got a good distance from the Enterprise, the ship rolled swiftly, hitting the small cruiser hard as it exploded, the starboard side of the Enterprise's shields flickering from the damage. We all gasped as one of the Enterprise's crew members spoke aloud. "The Arrestor cruiser's been destroyed! Major damage to starboard shields! Minor to hull!" "We'll be fine, just keep flying towards the Star Forge!" The captain spoke up again as she addressed the issue with the cruiser. "Those Arrestor cruisers could've caught us all with a tractor beam if they had a chance! If we see another one in our path, destroy it as quick as possible!" As Dax finished the fleet rejoined formation, speeding towards the Star Forge!" I put my earbloom in as the ship got closer to the large structure. "They've breached the third Defense Group!" One of the Klingons said as we saw the large super star destroyer standing guard in front of the station. "Damn, those Alliance scum are pretty good! Alert the Vengeance, she'll be in for a hell of a fight!" A gruff voice replied before we saw the large star destroyer turn towards us, our fleet closing in as the large ship fired lasers at us. Two large green beams fired from the Vengeance as the Enterprise was hit, it's shields flickering out of existence as Captain Dax spoke up. "They've taken our shields down! We need cover!" As our fleet sped in front of the Enterprise, the Vengeance fired again, two of Wedge's squadron getting hit by the laser fire. "I'M HIT!" One of the pilots cried out as the two ships exploded, the Rogues breaking off for cover behind us. "We can't hold off this much firepower!" Applejack cried out as the ship was hit, myself tapping the console as I reversed the Harmony's shield polarity. "Guys, I'm picking up another ship!" Pinkie Pie said with glee as I looked to the viewscreen. Another ship warped in through another wormhole as it fired several Phaser beams at the Vengeance's bridge shield generators, another smaller ship flying out from under it as it fired a wave of energy across the ship's hull, the turrets on the large star destroyer ceasing fire as the pair of allied ships sped at us. "It's the Chestnut!" Twilight said excitedly as Rarity spoke up. "And she's brought some friends!" As the small cruiser pulled up in front of us, I got a good look, it was a small Excalibur class vessel, with yellow and brown markings adorning it's hull. "We're being hailed." Pinkie Pie said as she tapped the console, not taking an answer from Twilight as the screen changed to show the Chestnut's captain. He was a human with a yellow and blue Starfleet Sierra uniform, along with brown hair and mutton chops on his face. "Hello again, Twilight, it's good to see you." The captain said as Twilight replied. "And to you too, Admiral! Where have you been?! I thought you were busy with simulations!" "Oh, I wouldn't miss out on a good battle when I see it!" The admiral said as he tapped his comms panel on his chair before continuing. "And about the former, I was gathering some friends to help out." I heard a metallic, accented voice through the screen as the screen split to show a robotic face with red eyes. "Rogue Decepticon Ramjet at your service! I've disabled the enemy ship's weapons with an EMP burst, so you should take it out while you have time!" "We'll take care of that, Admiral." Princess Luna said through Twilight's comms as the Pax Celestial closed in on the Vengeance, firing along with it's escorts as Captain Dax replied. "It's a miracle you've all arrived, we'll continue on to open a door for the Harmony at the Star Forge, can you help the others?" "You've got it, Captain. All of you, be careful, especially you, Littlepip." I looked at him with shock as I said my name, a smile appearing on his face as he continued. "I've heard of your record from Admiral Quinn, your work on the Lukara has given us an opening to stop J'ula and her allies. We can't afford to lose you all on this mission." I stood up as I replied to the admiral. "My friends and I won't let you down, once we open a hole in the Star Forge's shields, we'll blow that place up in now time, you can count on that!" He smiled as I sat, looking to Twilight one more time before speaking. "Indeed. Once again, we'll help out the others, you all be careful." Twilight nodded as the screen cut back to the Vengeance, the Chestnut and Ramjet flying to assist the Royal flagship and it's escorts. As the Enterprise stopped near the Star Forge, I heard Captain Dax speak up. "Firing shield breaker... now!" As she said that, a yellow beam fired at the Star Forge, the beam expanding out as a circular hole was made in the Star Forge's shields, our entrance. Twilight looked to me and my friends as we stood, our cue signaled as the princess spoke to us. "Now's your chance, get to Transporter room 1, quickly!" We all nodded as we entered the turbolift, myself tapping my Pipbuck in my ear as I listened in on the Harmony's communication frequency, the Pipbuck's speakers active so my friends could hear with me. As the turbolift sped down to the next deck, I heard another deep, menacing voice speak through my Pipbuck's speakers. "That's as far as you go, Star Fox!" "J'ula wishes to see you eliminated." Another higher pitched voice said as I tapped my Pipbuck again, a light flickering before a holoscreen displayed our new enemies. Three of them we're of the same ship, a black fuselage with red engines and four wings, two large, two small. The rest of them were different ships, it was like the one TIE Fighter I saw at Taloraan, but it's wings were curved and pointing forward. There we're eight of these things backing up the three leading ships. "Oh, how it pains me to do this, dear Krystal." Another deeper voice said as the four ships clashed with Star Fox, green and red lasers exchanged as a female voice spoke. "You're not getting through that gate on our watch!" My friends and I watched as the battle ensued, Falco's voice speaking up a second later. "Crud! It's Star Wolf!" "We'll hold off Star Wolf, you all get to the Star Forge!" Fox said as his ship did a loop around one of Star Wolf's ships, hitting it hard with green laser fire as Skydive spoke. "The Wonderbolts are here to assist!" The three Wonderbolt starfighters flew over the Harmony as they engaged the TIEs, one of the Rogue fighters heading into the fray. "I'm joining the fight! This one's mine!" An accented female voice said as she engaged one of the TIEs, which bore red markings on it's hull. "Kasen, you traitor! I'll be damned if I don't blow you out of the sky today!" The female TIE pilot said angrily as her pursuer fired, keeping pace. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" Kasen said back as the skirmish ensued, the turbolift doors opening as we raced to the transporter room. "You guys have five minutes to beam down before the shield regenerates, hurry!" Dax said as we passed through the doors of Transporter room 1, all of us standing on the pads as we nodded to the officer. As my friends and I watched, Jet's fighter shot down one of the TIE fighters, the burning ship hitting the hull hard. The room shook as our section of the ship was hit, the transporter console bursting with static. "Dammit! That hit damaged the transporters, I'll need to fix it!" The officer said as we all gasped, worried the delay might cost us our mission. "Get it fixed, we don't have time to waste!" Dax said as I raised a hoof, trotting over as I spoke. "Let me help, I can get it up and running in a jiffy." The officer nodded as his assistant pulled out a kit and set it down for me, myself floating my Pipbuck to Velvet as she held it for everyone to watch. I opened the kit and pulled out the tools. I heard a burst of flame from the transmission as I opened the tray covering the consoles insides. "This can't be happening!" The high pitched voice yelped out as I took a peek and saw one of the fighters of Star Wolf fleeing, a trail of fire bleeding from it's hull as Falco spoke back. "Stick to the desert, lizard!" As his fighter broke off from the fleeing enemy ship, Falco pursued one of the TIEs as another voice spoke up. "Fox, Panther's on my tail!" The female pilot cried out as another high pitched voice spoke up. "I'll help!" As another fighter of Star Fox closed in on Panther's ship, he did a loop, the pursued now becoming the pursuer. "Not today, toad!" Panther said as he fired, his target performing barrel rolls as it's pilot spoke. "Oh, not this again!" I looked back at the console as I saw the issue, it was a miracle, there were only a few wires that needed repairs! As I grabbed a cutter and began my work on the first of three wires, I heard another shout and burst of flame from the screen. "Why, Krystal, WHY?!" Panther cried out as Krystal came around, hitting the damaged Star Wolf fighter with several green bolts of energy as she joined her comrade in formation. "You already know who I've chosen." Krystal said as she flew with the other fighter, the two chasing after a trio of TIEs as I finished on the first wire. "You're good, Fox... but I'm better!" The first deep voice boasted as I started work on the second wire. "Three minutes to shield regeneration!" Dax said as I worked, my work on the second wire nearing completion as I heard a scream, myself taking a peek to see one of the TIEs flying in a ball of fire before exploding into a group of four other ones, destroying them all as Skydive flew past the explosion. "That's how we do it in the Wonderbolts!" She said victoriously as she pursued another TIE fighter. As I finished on the second wire, I heard Twilight's voice over the ship's intercom. "Bridge to Transporter room 1, you got that thing fixed yet?" "Almost!" I said aloud as I started work on the third wire. "We've entered the shield grid, get it fixed and then beam down! We've only got two minutes left!" "Aye!" I said as I started to finish on the third wire, myself taking another peek to see the last fighter of Star Wolf flee, a red flame burning off of it's hull as Fox's ship pursued it. "Curses!" The ship's pilot said as he rejoined his squadron, my friends and I letting out a cheer as Fox broke off and rejoined his team. "Panther, Leon, let's go! We're done here!" The lead Star Wolf pilot said as his ship's main engines glowed. "Good luck with your fool's errand, J'ula, you'll need it!" As he finished, the three ships of Star Wolf sped away, myself focusing back on the last wire. As I finished up on the last wire, I heard another burst of flame from the screen. After putting the tray back on, I looked to see the leading TIE fighter burning up in a fireball, Kasen chasing as it flew erratically. "No, NO!!!" The ship's pilot screamed as the ship exploded, my friends and I cheering as I stepped back on the transporter pad. "That's all of them!" Skydive said as she returned to formation with the Harmony, the ship holding position right inside the shield for cover. "Good timing too, we've only got thirty seconds, get Littlepip's team down there, now!" Dax said as we looked to the transporter officer, who nodded as he tapped the console. We we're all surrounded by blue fields of energy before disappearing from the Harmony. |||||| As the fields of blue faded, we were standing in a large room, it was surprisingly clear of enemies as we looked around, plain grey walls splitting into three different paths, one left, one forward, and one right. As we took in our surroundings, we all looked back to the Pipbuck's screen, the Harmony speeding through the shields with the fighters. We all gasped in fear as the shield sealed, the aft tip of the Harmony's starboard nacelle being sliced off by it. I heard Applejack cry out through my Pipbuck's speakers. "We're out! Our starboard nacelle has been damaged, we're leaking plasma!" "Seal off all plasma conduits on the starboard nacelle!" Twilight said back to her friend as my combadge beeped. I tapped it as she spoke to us. "Harmony to Littlepip! Are you through?!" "Yeah! We're all fine here!" I replied as my friends stood around me, all of them listening in. "Excellent, we're heading back to the fleet to assist with the enemy." She stopped as she took a breath, all of us looking at each other until she spoke again. "You all should use your supplies wisely, we can't beam anything through with the shield back up. From this moment, you're all on your own. Understood?" "Understood, Twilight." I said as my captain replied one last time before the transmission cut. "Good luck." As I looked around the room again, I tapped my Pipbuck as Steelhooves and I scanned the place. "So... where d' we start walkin' t'?" Calamity asked as I finished my scan, my Pipbuck laying out the map as I looked to the middle path. "I can't get a full layout from here, but the map says we should go this way." I said as my friends, Velvet's three alicorns and I began our trek through the interior of the Star Forge. If the rest of the place was like this, then our mission to destroy this place should be easier than any of us could've hoped.