Star Trek Online: Sacrifice - Part II

by Admiral Wyatt Stone

Chapter 4: Setting the Playing Field

"Either we're going down... or they are."

Tactics.

In order to defeat your enemy, to win the day and secure peace, you need tactics. They could be simple ones, like setting certain formations on the field, or they could be complex, such as setting a specific group of soldiers back for the perfect moment.

I needed to distract the alicorn in Old Appleloosa if I was going to defeat her, I needed to gain the trust of both Gawd's and Deadeyes' forces if I was going to give the former her chance of rebuilding, I needed to remove my memories in order to ensure the Goddess couldn't discover my plan to kill her. And I needed to split my army of friends up in order to wipe the slate of the Wasteland clean of evil.

And we'd need to set everything up right for this battle, otherwise, we wouldn't have a chance of stopping J'ula and her armada.

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Before we left, Blackjack contacted us to tell us she and all of her friends would stay to protect Equus while we were gone, both of us saying our goodbyes before heading out.

We arrived in the New Khitomer system within seconds, the Pastak, Sebrova, and Stratus all following us through. The sector was filled with hundreds of ships, most of them being Federation, Klingon (the good ones, not J'ula's,) and Romulan designs. The Freedom's Dawn and one of the star destroyers were here, too. There were some ships that caught my eyes though, one was a large starship with a bridge connected to a short neck, which was held by a large secondary hull boasting four wings and a large fin on the top, which had text under a fox shaped logo that read, "StarFox".

Another ship I saw was a little smaller than the first, it had a long main hull with two curved wings and several fins. I saw a word on the hull which read, "Tempest".

A third ship I saw had the appearance of a World War II Japanese battleship from Earth, except it had several fins and wings coming off of it, not to mention a large engine on its aft side.

The fourth one I saw was a small ship, it consisted of a saucer-like section with two mandibles on the front side, its left side boasting the ships cockpit and on the dorsal side a dish and a turret.

I also saw a large vessel that bore the symbols of the Sun and Moon, it looked like a large boat-shaped hull that held a tower with a small hangar bay. Around the hull were four wings, boasting several engines glowing within them. Was that the Royal Sisters' flagship? Twilight had told me she had her own starship, but I'd never seen in with my own eyes!

My friends and I gasped as we marveled at the sight of the fleet for several seconds, Calamity breaking the silence with, "That's a lot of ships."

"We'll need everyone we can get to win this battle." Twilight said as Pinkie Pie's console beeped, the pink mare turning her head as she spoke.

"We're being hailed by the Pax Celestial."

"Onscreen." Twilight said as the screen changed to show the Royal Sisters, sitting in their command chairs as Princess Celestia spoke first.

"Hello again, Twilight, it's good you and your friends are here." My friends, the alicorns, the Wonderbolts and I all bowed in respect, the Princess of the Sun looking surprised but pleased. "Thank you all, please rise, my little ponies." We all did so as Velvet wiped her eyes, Princess Luna raising an eyebrow as my friend answered her confusion.

"I'm sorry, it's just.. in our universe, your fates are worse than any of us could imagine." The two princesses gave looks of surprise as she finished. "No time to worry about that now, though, we can talk about that subject later.

"Indeed." Princess Luna said as she nodded, looking to Twilight before continuing. "The briefing is about to start in fifteen minutes, you all should gather your things and meet us in the lobby aboard the station." We all nodded as Twilight spoke for us.

"Understood, we'll be there shortly." As she finished, the screen changed back to the view of New Khitomer as Twilight and her crew trotted to the turbolift, my friends and I heading to the other one as we made our way to the transporter room.

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We made our way to the lobby after beaming down two minutes ago, there were loads of people here, I could see the Royal Sisters sitting in the back of the room, Twilight's crew, Na'Zev's crew, my friends and I joining her as we entered. As I looked around us, I noticed there were several seats next to my team that were empty, I assumed it was for the Sebrova's crew. We waited for a few more minutes before a chime sounded, a voice speaking through the room. "Attention, the briefing is about to start, all officers, please take your seats."

As everyone in the room sat, I saw a beautiful human lady in a white regal dress walking up to the table in the center of the room, two guards standing at her side. We all listened as she began. "Good evening everyone, I am Princess Leia Organa. I'm sure you all know why we're here, the rogue Klingon warrior J'ula has gathered a very powerful force that could turn the tide of the war against her in her favor, and we all have to stop it." As Princess Leia tapped a button on the console, a large hologram of the battlefield appeared above us. In front of a large sphere were several starships, including the Star Forge. It and J'ula's fleet was dwarfed by the size of the sphere.

"J'ula has managed to gain control of one of the gateway spheres within the Multiversial network, and with her new weapon, the Star Forge, she could create an unstoppable army of ships to take many more universes, effectively allowing her to create her own empire. We, however, won't allow her to succeed." She tapped another button as another fleet of ships appeared within the field, it was our fleet. "We're going to make an assault on the fleet and attempt to get aboard the Star Forge. However, the station has an effective shield generator, which will prevent us from getting a team within the station. Fortunately, we have our own secret weapon."

Leia tapped the console again to zoom towards a single ship in the Alliance fleet. it was larger than any of the other ships around it, it had a large saucer with a short secondary hull, which held two thin pylons holding two nacelles. From the way it looked, the pylons should be able to hold the nacelles without additional assistance.

"The Enterprise-J has been outfitted with a special device courtesy of the Tholians, the device will be able to create a hole in the shield of the Star Forge. Once the shield is opened, the Harmony will make it's way to it and transport Agent Littlepip and her team aboard. Once they've brought the shields down and set the Star Forge to self destruct, Littlepip and company will be beamed out by the Harmony and get to a safe distance." Several people in the room looked to me and my friends as Leia said that. My friends and I stood up as I spoke.

"We won't fail, your Highness." We all bowed before sitting down, the princess continuing as we did.

"J'ula will have several defenses around the Star Forge, however, including fighter squadrons. While the main fleet clears a path, the Star Fox team, Rogue Squadron, and both of the Wonderbolt teams will provide cover for the Enterprise and the Harmony."

As our Wonderbolts team stood, I saw three ponies stand up on the other side of our group, Twilight's Wonderbolts standing as Spitfire spoke. "The enemy pilots will be screaming for their mothers once we enter the playing field!" Some of the crowd cheered as they sat down, Princess Leia continuing as they stopped.

"Excellent, this battle will determine the fate of not only the Alliance and its people, but the fate of the entire multiverse as a whole. We can't afford to lose this battle. Go to your ships and ready for departure." As she said that, we all stood, several people heading for the doors as Spitfire and her teammates Soarin' and Fleetfoot hovered in front of Skydive's team.

"So, you guys ready for the biggest dogfight of your life?" She said with a smirk as Skydive replied.

"Definitely. Also, our most sincere apologies about us twisting the good name of the Wonderbolts up. I'd say we don't deserve the title."

"Nonsense, you've proven you're all quite fitting as far as I could tell! Trust me, if it weren't for Crash here," She pointed a hoof to Rainbow Dash, who smiled as her flight captain continued. "we wouldn't be fitting of the name either."

Soarin, the light blue pegasus who had a similar appearance to P-21 spoke up to the rainbow-maned pegasus. "We'd love to have you fly with us, Dash, but your ship needs it's pilot for this one."

"Just promise me one thing: come back alive." Rainbow Dash said as her fellow flyer nodded, the two hugging before Fleetfoot interrupted the moment.

"I hate to break up a pair of lovebirds, but we need to get going." Soarin and Rainbow nodded before the two separated, the former rejoining his squad as Spitfire and Skydive called out to us simultaneously.

"See you all on the field!" As the two flight squadrons left, we all went out the left door, talking about our plans as we made our way to the transporter room.

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We arrived onto the bridge shortly after beaming back to the Harmony, the large ship that was the Enterprise-J taking formation among the Harmony, the Pax Celestial, and the Wonderbolts' star carrier, the Firefly. After we beamed back to the Harmony, my friends and I went to the weapons room to gather anything and everything we'd need for the mission, Velvet heading to sickbay to gather medical supplies. Afterwards, we went back to the bridge, myself sitting at my station as the crew readied the ship for battle.

"So, are you all geared up and ready for this?" I asked as I looked to my friends, each of them nodding as I continued. "Good, this will be the most difficult mission we've ever had to face, and I hope we all make it out alive."

"I wish Pyrelight was here, I had Fluttershy watch over her while we were dealing with J'ula and Red Eye." Velvet said with sadness in her voice, myself also wishing the beautiful phoenix was here to fight at our side.

"Well, maybe this little guy will help!' Pinkie Pie said before pulling out a small furball and tossing it to Velvet, who caught it in her magic as it purred. We all looked at it in surprise until Velvet squeed, looking to the pink party pony.

"What is this adorable little thing?!" Velvet said excitedly, the rest of us now looking at the small furball with smiles as Pinkie Pie answered.

"It's a tribble! They're one of the most adorable little things in the universe! You can keep him, just don't feed him too much and keep him away from Klingons, most of them don't like them."

"Most of 'em?" Calamity asked as Rarity answered him.

"Some Klingons have adapted to their issues with tribbles, I know one Klingon named Kapor who doesn't mind them one bit."

"Oh, and also keep an eye on him when he's with other tribbles, they breed as fast as parasprites!"

We all ceased our conversation as we heard a sound that escalated in pitch before lowering and shutting off. The fleet was preparing for departure, the crew all stood at their stations as the fleet broadcast continued, my friends and I sitting at my station as we listened in.

"This is Captain Dax of the U.S.S. Enterprise, transmitting through the fleet network. All ships, check in!"

"Great Fox is ready for launch." I heard a robotic voice say as the next ship's captain spoke.

"Yamato standing by!"

"This is the Tempest, standing at the ready!"

"This is Captain Solo of the Millennium Falcon, we're all set." I heard a low roar through the comms after Captain Solo spoke.

"Firefly is ready for departure!" Spitfire said through the fleet channel.

After about three minutes of captains confirming their attendance Captain Dax spoke up once more. "Excellent, prepare to jump to warp on my mark!" As she said that a large blue portal opened in front of us, big enough to allow all of our ships in at once! "Three, two, one, engage!"

At that word, all of the ships zoomed into the wormhole, speeding through a large blue vortex a second later. When we came out at the other end, the battle would begin, and at that point, the fate of the multiverse will be determined by the victor of the battle: Us or J'ula.