Vindicta I
Posted on Mon Mar 4th, 2024 @ 6:59am by Princess Royal Giana Orsini & Major Sacha Lavigne & Crown Prince Paolo Orsini
Mission:
Historiae Terrae Et Imperii
Location: Axanar
Timeline: Date 2371-09-05 at 1200
2780 words - 5.6 OF Standard Post Measure
ON
The massive bridge of Imperator was a buzz of activity as Imperial Guard officers bustled back and forth, from balcony causeway to pit, and from turbolifts. The ship was built to be a fleet coordinator whenever the mood struck the Emperor, and so there were over fifty consoles on the Bridge, most of which were highly customizable. Unlike most Bridges, the command center was at the front, just behind the helm and a massive, floor-to-ceiling viewscreen which gave the effect of an IMAX theater. In that section, in functional swivel chairs, sat the CO, XO, and First First Officer, the person in charge of running Bridge operations.
Near the back of the Bridge, several paces in front of a conference table, sat an Imperial Throne. It was squat, golden, and had a broad base that fanned out on either side, framing the one who sat there in a glorious gilded light. Things had been rearranged from the last time Giana had been to the Bridge.
As the sound of the turbolift sounded, Akamu’s communications made it clear it would be the Princess. He turned his command chair around and stood in anticipation, approaching the back of the Bridge along the causeway between two lowered pits full of consoles, and walking around the large throne.
Giana and her guards stepped out onto the bridge from the turbolift. She was looking resolute and had opted for a deep navy pant suit and low dark brown heels. It was tailored perfectly to her body and had feminine shapes; the bottom of the jacket had a tulip cut that kept the ensemble from being too severe as did the silky white blouse she was wearing underneath. Her blue eyes swept around the room and she could immediately tell things had changed, but they settled on Akamu as he approached.
“Colonel.” She greeted.
“Your Highness.” The large brown man returned with a slight bow at the neck. “The Fleet has been rearranged and waiting. Admiral Leyton is prepared to command the main force while Admiral Bentine has command of the stalkers.”
“So we’ll see if the snake will obey or sacrifice thousands.” Giana commented quietly enough that only Akamu and her guards would hear. “Everything is prepared then?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ve been asked to hang back and provide observational support.” Akamu said with a frown. “That means watching and telling them what we see. A normal position for a fleet commander, but I think Leyton is attempting to sideline you.”
He turned and started walking with her, his eyes falling on the throne. It really was grand, and seemed like it grew naturally out of the room; a force of nature.
“It’s hardly a big deal, since he has the command of the fleet. But I thought you might want to know.”
“I have no doubt he would be. If there is to be glory he would like it to be his alone.” Giana sighed and then looked to the man next to her. “But I don’t forget true allies, Colonel.”
“I don’t play politics, ma’am. But I am sworn to the Crown even more closely than he is.”he said, having caught her meaning. “My first priority is to keep you safe, and for the sake of that mission, I’m glad we’re hanging back.”
“You don’t have to play politics to be honored, Colonel.” Giana pointed out. He played more politics than he cared to admit though. “Are they waiting on my order, then?”
“Not explicitly, as far as I know. But Leyton is smart enough not to start without you.” He responded. “How would you like to address him?”
“Contact his ship and let him know that this will commence on his order, but impress upon him that we should commence now.” Giana replied and then turned to look at the throne.
“Yes, ma’am.” He said, and planned to retreat, but instead held back, looking at her. “As Princess Regent, you are legally permitted to sit the throne in your father’s place.”
“Yes, thank you, Colonel.” Giana replied but didn’t look at him, her eyes remaining where they were. Finally she moved toward it and placed a hand on the arm. Suddenly she felt a fit of nervousness come over her and she wasn’t sure why. Looking down into the empty chair where her father would sit… it was all suddenly so real. She thought about when she was very little and would crawl up into his lap without apology when he would sit in his throne - he smiled at her then. Would he ever do so again?
She clenched her jaw and immediately sat down, placing her hands on the end of each armrest. “Let us begin.”
The Colonel turned then and walked the causeway to the front of the Bridge. Taking his seat between his two officers, he set his eyes on the vast viewscreen. Within the next few seconds, the ships before they started to open fire and engage the enemy. Imperator didn’t play a major role in the battle, but merely surged to places where they were most needed only to deliver some powerful weapons blasts and then retreat again to their strategic point behind the line of fire. Within a half hour, Guiseppe’s fleet had collapsed back into the system and had taken up position to fight their last stand over Axanar itself.
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Runabout
Imperator sat behind the Fleet as the rest of Giuseppe’s naval forces were crushed above the skies of Axanar. From a runabout which had only just entered the system, Prince Paolo watched the battle unfold. In his heart, he felt a pang of resentment towards his sister for having left him and, therefore, depriving him a place in the action.
“Our Fleet is winning!” Paolo said, leaning over the controls and watching the Terran ships exchange fire.
“Yeah, they are. It’s sad to see Terran ship against Terran ship.” Sacha remarked, piloting the craft ever closer to Imperator, even as phaser fire licked dangerously close to the runabout’s shields.
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ISS Imperator: Bridge
The situation was tense, as it always was when battle was on, but the fact that they were fighting there own made it all the more uncomfortable. The huge Bridge was even more busy than usual, and the number of crew members present had increased drastically from when they were running normally.
In one particular corner of the pit, an enlisted woman in service yellows winced at a screen. Something was heading directly for them, and it had the signiature of an Imperial runabout. Quickly, she forwarded the data to her boss’s computer. Within a few seconds, a voice sounded from a console on the main level, carrying her message to the ears of the CO.
“Colonel, there’s a runabout heading directly toward us. It’s registered to Lord Hale of Brazil.”
Akamu turned around in his swivel command chair and raised an eyebrow.
“Heading toward us?” He asked, redundantly. “Are their weapons hot?”
“No, sir,” the woman said, shaking her head, “they’re requesting permission for emergency docking procedures. No records indicate they’re from the traitor’s side.”
“He’s not.” Giana spoke up from where she was. What was Raoul doing here? Or perhaps it was Aurelia? She frowned in thought, looking to Akamu. “Allow them to dock. Now.”
Akamu looked at Giana for a brief moment, seeming to process her reaction, and wondered why on earth this runabout was heading toward them. He turned to the woman who had reported the information and nodded anyway.
“Signal for them to dock in Shuttlebay 5, Major.”
Giana was less than pleased by this development, but right now she supposed it couldn’t be helped. It could have been any number of people on that shuttle, and she didn’t want to deal with a single one. “Once they are docked, whoever it is have them escorted to an apartment and I’ll meet with them after this is done.”
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Runabout
“Runabout, this is Imperator. You have permission to dock in Shuttlebay 5. Please make your final approach and then enter under thruster power.” Came a harsh but distinctly female voice on the coms.
“I can’t believe we made it.” Paolo said with a hesitant smile as they waded deeper into the field of battle as the planet loomed large in the background.
“Believe it, kid.” Sacha said with a much less hesitant smile as he piloted their craft toward the hulking ship.
The next moments were a blur of sound and shaking. The lights flashed and Paolo fell from his chair into the lightly-carpeted floor. The glow of bright orange phaser fire sparkles in Sacha’s eyes. When the consoles started smoking, he finally realized what was happening.
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ISS Imperator: Bridge
“Sir, the ISS Landry has rounded on us and is concentrating fire on the runabout.” The woman said in an urgent voice.
Giana frowned deeply. “Protect them! Someone from my family is on that runabout!”
She didn’t know who, of course, but if it was Raoul’s shuttle it was a safe assumption to make.
“Tactical, concentrate fire on the Landry.” Akamu said, looking at his screen. “Give them the pulse phaser cannon turrets on the starboard side, and draw their fire.”
The devastating effects of pulse cannon fire had been made obvious first by the Defiant class. They packed quite a punch, and could knock down shields faster than any other conventional weapon known to them. Imperator at 11 in total, and two were now trained on the Landry. Several bursts smashed into the shields of the smaller ship, compromising its shields and prompting her crew to turn her hard to port.
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Runabout
The prince and his future brother in law watched as Imperator moved to defend them, even through the fog of confusion and fear. Though their efforts had turned the Landry, however, her phasers still struck true, and impacted the runabout so hard that a console at the back of the cockpit exploded and they began to spin off course.
Sacha looked down at the board with fast-moving eyes.
“Our shields are offline, and so are our impulse engines.” He said with a thickening French accent. “We’re careening toward the planet!”
Paolo looked with mouth agape at the front window as Axanar loomed closer, and they speared through the battle for control over the system. His heart was pounding in his chest, and he wondered if he was living his last moments of life. Reaching for the nearby com controls, he spoke, and a panicked voice, not having time to think or plan.
“Imperator, this is Crown Prince Paolo Orsini. We’ve lost impulse engines and shields and are in need of immediate assistance.” He said rapidly. His eyes looked down at the foreign display in front of him and he read the words that were there. “I think we’re stuck in the gravity well of the planet.”
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ISS Imperator: Bridge
Giana slowly stood from the golden throne, her eyes wide and mouth slightly open as her brother’s voice echoed on the bridge followed by a loud rushing water and pounding sound that filled her ears.
“Get to them. NOW!” She suddenly exploded, her voice a roar of panic and rage. Giana didn’t know much about matters of war, but she probably knew a little more than most gave her credit for. That message hadn’t been on a secure channel.
“Helm, full impulse, pursuit course.” Akamu ordered, much more calmly than Giana. Obviously, his family wasn’t on the line, helping him keep an objective and professional tone. He didn’t blame her, though. She wasn’t military, and it was her role to stand above the professional classes.
The ship lurched forward rapidly, firing its six impulse engines and moving all of its eighty-plus decks forward and into the fray of battle. All around them, ships clashed with each other and exchanged fire. Some of Giuseppe’s ships scored hits on Imperator, but the massive ship’s goal was singular.
As they approached the atmosphere of the planet, Akamu turned to his tactical officer.
“Colonel, target them with the tractor beam.”
The dark skinned man looked down at his wrap-around console and plugged in some short commands.
“Sir, they’re in pretty bad shape. If I hit them with enough force to stop them, I could tear the runabout in half.”
Akamu furrowed his thin brow and looked back to the grand golden throne. He wasn’t going to make this call.
Giana leveled her blue gaze on Akamu. She understood why he didn’t want to make the call, but she was disappointed to say the least. She looked to the viewscreen, trying to force down the panic and nausea she was feeling in that moment.
“What is the likelihood of that happening?”
“I estimate a range of 42%-53%.” The tactical officer answered. “Alternatively, we could let them land themselves. Their atmospheric thrusters are still operational.”
“But then, even if they land safely, that message the Crown Prince just sent made him their prime target. Prince Giuseppe will want him as a hostage.”
“Is it possible instead of stopping them, that we can help them land safely?” Giana asked with a frown. She had strong doubts her brother would be keeping Paolo as a hostage, but she also knew that Giuseppe would want to kill Paolo himself - he wouldn’t die on the planet if Giuseppe's forces found him.
“I can try to use the tractor near to steady their descent, assuming whomever is ferrying the prince is a decent pilot. But, if they aren’t, they're in trouble anyway.”
“Do it.” Akamu said with a definitive nod of his head.
The tactical officer gave his ascent to the order, and then focussed again on the console. The ship buffeted lightly from phaser fire, but it was hardly a serious threat. Imperator was built tough.
Outside the ship, a tractor beam started from the emitter and passed through the outer atmosphere of the planet. Snagging the back end of the runabout, it’s death spiral immediately stopped and it started to fly a straight path toward the surface.
“They’re still going pretty fast, but they should be able to fix that on their own.” He said, looking to the Colonel now.
“Good work.” The man said, before turning back to the front window and watching the tiny dot that was the runabout turn red on re-entry.
“Leyton to Imperator. Was that message from the Crown Prince genuine?” Came the steely voice of the admiral on the fleet communication channel.
“It was, as far as we can tell.” Akamu said. “They’re going to have an emergency landing on the surface. I’m going to send our marine company down to retrieve them.”
“Don’t bother.” Leyton said in a dismissive, yet rushed voice. “Our ships have already started deploying army personnel to the surface. I want to keep command and control clear down there, and don’t want our men fighting over who is in charge on the ground.”
“All we want to do is retrieve the Crown Prince.” Akamu said, his voice elevated but not emotional. “You can spend your resources subduing the enemy, but that is my responsibility.”
He eyed the Princess, looking to see what she was feeling more than actually looking for input from her. He wouldn’t expect her to to involve herself in this level of military discourse.
“Colonel, deploy your marines as well. Admiral, the Crown Prince is to be put into the care of the Imperator's marines and returned here at once. Your men will work in tandem with the marines to accomplish this while you return your attention to the larger fight at hand. We can’t let this setback make us vulnerable.” Giana spoke up from where she stood, surprisingly decisive.
“You heard her, Admiral. Expect marine action from us in the next two minutes.” Imperator out.
The irritation of the Admiral could almost be felt as the comm closed. Instead of turning his attention to that, however, Colonel Akamu pressed a comm button on his console.
“Marine contingent. Emergency Rescue operation for a royal. Prepare for immediate beamdown.”
END
