BATTLESTATIONS!! THE ENEMY IS HERE!!
Posted on Fri Jan 30th, 2026 @ 4:50pm by Commodore Phoenix Lalor-Richardson & Captain Gary Taylor & Lieutenant Colonel Azhul Naxea & Commander Kyle Reece & Lieutenant Commander Alicia Kelea-Salik & Lieutenant Anna Esquivias & Lieutenant Thor Magnus & Lieutenant Tate Sullivan Ph.D. & Lieutenant J'airesh Mora-Heath & Lieutenant Zuriñe Aritza M.D. & Consul Andrinn Orin & Lieutenant JG Camryn Shepard & 2nd Lieutenant Elijah Hunter & Civilian Teevs Dosivi & Lieutenant Athena Magnus & Captain George Charles [Reece] & Captain Mattias Richardson [Reece] & Staff Sergeant Liam "Swede" Reece [Reece] & Civilian Conglomerate (Reece) & Riov Olmex Thikoho [Reece] & Ensign Lorelei Lee ( Barclay de Tolly )
Mission:
Season 6: Episode 6: Conglomerate
Location: Circinus Galaxy, near Dalaota Nebula, USS Elysium, Havraha, Galtonian Fleet
Timeline: MD 6 / 1835 hours
4361 words - 8.7 OF Standard Post Measure
The massive amber and violet clouds of the nearby nebula seemed to backlight the area of space that the small flotilla of Milky Way Galaxy ships were huddling in. From a distance, it lookd like just two ships, flying in close formation. As one got closer, the swarm of starfighters from both ships surrounded the two larger ships, like angry bees, buzzing around as they looked for a target.
Suddenly, the relative calm of the space surrounding the fleet was destroyed, as nearly two dozen portals suddenly ripped open in subspace, and several vessels, of varying sizes, started to pour out into real space. The ships all hearing the creast of the feared Galatonians, quickly surrounded their targets. When the portals closed, there were ten capital ships, nearly as many support craft, and a swarm of nearly a hundred starfighter-sized craft.
In the main engineering of the Elysium, the alarms screamed in Cam's ears for a resolution. Her attuned hybrid El Aurian senses drowned them out as she remained locked in. Studying the readouts on her screen, she briefly scanned the shielded, humming warp core. It held steady. Behind her, multiple warnings appeared on the screen as Romulans and Starfleet scrambled across the deck. Grabbing the banister above her, she peered at the second floor, scanning with her steel gray eyes. Instinctively, she pulled away and rushed towards the other console, nearly colliding with another ensign.
With her hand lightly pushing the crewmember along, she pressed her hand on the wall and tapped in the console, checking against the sensors. It slowly multiplied, showing more targets. Her eyes widened, not in a panic but with strategic awe at the size of the army. As massive as it was, Cam could only feel the aftermath of it all once it was over. It felt heavy. Tapping on the screen, she recorded the interaction and quietly started a background program to begin collecting data for future purposes. Meanwhile, the signatures continued to multiply and swarm on her screen,
Lt. Athena Magnus and Ensign Lorelei Lee were helping Cam multi task.
<>
The color drained from Addison's face as she took in the overwhelming enemy contacts. "Alright, Beta Wing. keep on your assignments. Do not get drawn out of position. Wing men, cover your leaders. Make them come to us and stay with the Elysium."
The tactical display flooded Elijah’s HUD with hostile contacts, red icons multiplying faster than his mind wanted to process. Capital ships. Support craft. A swarm of fighters moving with deliberate, predatory coordination. He felt his jaw tighten as the last Galatonian portal collapsed in on itself, leaving rippling scars in subspace where the enemy had forced their way into realspace.
Too many, he thought—but that didn’t matter now.
“Beta Wing, copy all,” Elijah keyed in, his voice calm despite the adrenaline surging through his veins. “Holding position. Weapons hot.”
Around him, Starfleet fighters adjusted formation, thrusters flaring in short, controlled bursts as wingmen slid into place. The low hum of his impulse engines vibrated through the cockpit, familiar and steady, anchoring him. His hands moved automatically across the controls as he ran a final check—shields nominal, phasers charged, torpedo bay green. Muscle memory and training overrode the edge of fear trying to claw its way in.
Addison’s voice cut through the channel, sharp and unwavering. Do not get drawn out of position.
“Aye, Commander,” Elijah replied. The Galatonians wanted chaos. Wanted pilots chasing targets, breaking formation, leaving the Elysium exposed. He wasn’t about to give them that satisfaction.
He angled his fighter just enough to keep the lead enemy vector centered in his sights, resisting the instinct to surge forward. The enemy fighters advanced, their movements aggressive, almost arrogant, as if daring Starfleet to blink first.
Elijah spared a glance toward the Elysium, her massive silhouette outlined against the nebula’s bruised light. Her shields shimmered faintly—holding, for now. Somewhere inside that ship, engineering crews were fighting their own battle to keep power flowing and shields strong. Elijah and the rest of Beta Wing were the wall standing between them and annihilation.
“Contacts closing,” the computer warned.
“Alright, Beta Wing,” Elijah said, his tone hardening. “Maintain spacing. Cover your leaders. First hostile that crosses the line—light them up.”
Time seemed to stretch thin, every second heavy with expectation. His thumb hovered over the firing stud, breathing slow, controlled, senses locked in. The enemy was coming, and there would be no more waiting.
Whatever the Galatonians had planned, they were about to learn that Starfleet pilots didn’t break easily—and Elijah had no intention of letting them reach the Elysium.
<>
Alicia’s eyes widened as she saw the sheer numbers they were facing, this was a fight that could go wrong in so many ways. She kept her thoughts to herself as her thoughts went to her children, beloved husband and the rest of her family.
Kyle looked at the main viewer with a stony look. The closest he had ever come to facing a force that size, was when he was a young lieutenant, and had been placed in command of the Elysium, while the rest of the senior staff attempted to rescue Admiral Sharr down on the Mirror Univers Terra, and he lead the Elysium in battle against five Terran Empire Constituion class warships. He felt a strong urge to man the ship's tactical console, but, that was now Malakai's domain, and he had confidence in the man to do what was necessary to protect the ship.
Phoenix took a breath and lifted her chin. "Begin targeting the enemy and open fire when they are in range."
Anna kept her eyes on her console and one hand near her phaser rifle. For now, all she had to do was wait. That was the worst part, really.
"Multiple contacts, all closing fast. Phasers are locked on targets and ready to fire." Gary announced solemnly as the enemy contacts grew larger. and closer.
<>
Zuriñe was silently meditating and praying to the Goddess for strength in the upcoming conflict and her role in trying to preserve life.
Selnor began to nervously check and recheck the surgical insterments. Her mind going through what needed to be present and on hand. This was her first starship battle, and from what she knew from the simulations her indoctrination into Starfleet and the medical corps, it could be a very bloody situation; no profit to be gained by those killed or injured in the battle.
Petty Officer First Class Dennis McGaver was inhaling deeply, he hated triage and surgical prep the most as a medical technician. He hated it because it so often required making a decision about who lived and died because of the limited medical staff and medical supplies. This often meant he had to decide if a friend was to live or die, due to those parameters of the ship’s resources.
Tate took a centering breath and looked at the people around her. Times like this, she knew the best way to cope with her own anxiety was to focus on others. She approached PO McGaver and offered, “You did a great job explaining triage procedures. That’s not an easy lecture to give.”
McGaver nodded, “Unfortunate that I have had to give it. Not my first time, and I doubt it will be my last. Thanks though. I can only hope we will have a light load of patients.”
Zuriñe finished her prayer and gave out her orders 'Okay Triage team let's get ready. It will not be long before we get busy." Zuriñe had a facial expression that would due a Vulcan proud, not a trace of emotion showed, nor for that matter did she appear concerned.
McGaver sighed ~Here we go again.~ he thought.
Selnor twitched nervously as she took her place next to Zuriñe and the triage surgical table. ~How bad can it be.~ she thought. This was her first time in actual triage and starship battles.
J'Air again joined Sthilg in the Main Theatres and 'scrubbed up' yet again to offer surgery to all wounded no matter how badly hurt. It wasn't IN J'Air's medical or general Starfleet morality to decide that one wounded member of the crew (or their allies for that matter) was going to be labelled 'black' and left to die ignominiously. There were only so many medics, she acknowledged, but no one was going to be left to die on her watch without at least some attempt made to save them. In this century there was little they couldn't do to fix most injuries, even if it needed prosthetics and/or implants so it was impossible to predict, to her mind, who was to be "scrapped" at Triage level. The whole concept turned her blood cold.
They had ICU, they had auto and holo doctors and surgery to call on, they had robotics to utilise, they even had cryostorage if needed - to give a person a chance of a bit of 'waiting time' if that was all that was needed! It was unthinkable to fail to utilise all that they had and save as many as weren't blown to bits or - as was possible with this particular enemy and as seen in the last attack - savaged.
J'Air felt that it wasn't a decision or a 'prediction' that Triage staff should be asked, much less expected, to determine and she was seething that a "black" category had been allowed to creep into the standard Federation code for Triage during this Mission but she was forced to shelve those feelings for now until there could be a challenge brought into place in the proper manner and through the proper channels.
She just bled inside for those enduring the lottery that this threw up right now as the enemy approached in their mighty numbers and with their ferocity ready to rain down. She shuddered, wiped away tears of emotional pain and frustration before focussing on her first surgery case.
Zuriñe felt the groan of the ship and knew instantly they had taken a hit. She calmly looked about her, medical staff were busy preparing. “Get ready, it will not be long before we start receiving the wounded.” She had no sooner finished her comment when two medics carried a severely burned crewmember. Zuriñe quick glance confirmed electrical burns. “Take him straight back to surgery, I believe doctor J'airesh table is open and ready, let’s give doctor Sthilg a few moments to ensure we are ready.” The medics nearly nodded, one grunted his acknowledgement.
McGaver began the process of triage as the casualties started to flow in. Contrary to one’s beliefs in the triage method it was an efficient and well thought out process for identifying the most in need with staff and resources available. The practice was still taught in all medical schools and to technicians. One had to learn how to allocate resources, something he had done way to often. He had been a very young snot nosed medic, only seventeen, during the Dominion war. He had been assigned to ground forces and seen as well as done things that would make some of these doctors sick to their stomachs. One reason he was glad to be assigned to doctor Zuriñe; she knew and accepted how things worked in a battle. Doctor Zuriñe could be as cold and impassive, probably even better at it, than a Vulcan.
<>
Andrinn and Mattias were heading out of the Diplomatic suites towards the bunkers. They were in an area near where one could look straight out into open space. While Andrinn and Mattias were talking about something, Andrinn happened to look out at the perfect moment. "Oh, my god. We need to get to the bunker, now," was all that Andrinn could get out as the two men starting to run towards the nearest bunker.
<>
Teevs was in the Combat Information Centre with some of the other marines. They seemed to move as a huddle into the area once the sensor views came alive. Teevs had never seen something like this, and it scared him. His hands felt cold. Breath caught in his throat. Eyes wide at the screen. "By Thilia..." he whispered, the words almost strangled.
Liam looked up at one of the large monitors that hung in the formation area and felt his blood turn cold at the sight he was seeing. Never in his life had he been faced with an enemy force of that magnitude. It took him a moment to collect his wits and re-entered his attention on the job before him. He knew that there was nothing he could do about what was happening outside the ship. His task, was to protect the interior.
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After what seemed like an eternity, the Galatonians moved first. The swarm of bulky starfighter surged forward, followed by nearly two dozen breaching pods. Eight of the pods flew towards the Havraha, while the rest targeted Elysium. For now, their capitol ships held their fire, as the Queen had not ordered bombardment yet.
Inside the flagship, the Queen was sitting on her command dias, watching the action as it happened. Though she was a bloodied warrior, she had never, in her life, known of any species who had defeated her forces as swiftly as these aliens had. They must have possessed a weapon, far stronger than was known here, to do so. And she wanted it. There had been a sketchy report that one of the alien vessels could render itself invisible to scans. That was a technology that she truly wanted. Once it was added to her ships, they would become even more powerful.
She would have her prizes this day.
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Addison watched the incoming fighters in a protective formation in front of the breaching pods. They needed an edge. "Rico to Beta Wing! Target incoming breaching pod wave with your full sized torpedoes and set the warhead to detonate with a three kilometer spread with interlocking zones. Then target the fighters at will! Fire on my mark!" In the rear seat, Thumper's fingers were dancing over the torpedo controls. "Torpedo reprogrammed and ready!"
The enemy fighters were closing fast as Addison targeted the breaching pods. She counted off in her head as she watched the enemy closed the distance. "Three...two...one...fire!" The full sized torpedo launched and it locked onto its target--the breaching pods.
As soon shifted the Galatonians were in range, they began firing. Though their weapons were not as advanced as either Star Fleet or the Romulan Navy, they made up for that deficiency with sheer numbers.
As soon as the torpedo was fired, four of the fighters zeroed in on Addison's starfighter, closing the distance rapidly.
Behind them, the torpedo detonated in a blinding flash. Afterwards, eight of the enemy starfighters and three breaching pods were gone. However, the rest continued to advance without hesitation.
A squadron of the Romulan Talons moved through the advancing Galatonian numbers like a harvesters sickle, cutting down ten of the boxy fighters in the first pass. Twelve more quickly converged on the threat, and the battle truly began. The area of space between the two forces quickly turned into a maelstrom of energy, explosions and debris.
Three of the support vessels moved forward from the Galatonian line, aiming directly for Elysium.
From her position on Elysium's flank, the Havaraha jumped into action, moving to shield the Starfleet vessel and her civilian population as she unloaded her vast arsenal on the approaching enemy. The first support ship went up in a supernova in seconds, followed quickly by the one to its port. The third started to fire its own weapons at Havraha immediately after.
Addison pushed her fighter to full impulse, aiming at the incoming fighters, as she opened fired at the incoming fighters as several discharges struck the shields of her fighter. "Shields at 92 percent," Thumper called out. As she passed the enemy fighters, Addison jerked back hard on the joystick. In response, the fighter spun on it's axis as she locked onto the closest fighter and opened fire, scoring a direct hit.
<>
From his Raptor cockpit, George saw the battle start to unfold around them. As things moved, his sensors picked up eighteen blips approaching the forward half of the Elysium. After tuning his sensors, he saw six breaching pods, escorted by twelve of the boxy enemy starfighters. "Alpha Flight! Incoming enemy contacts, bearing four-three, mark three-nine! Contact idents...six pods, twelve fighters, range ten klicks and closing fast! Form up in defensive pattern Alpha Three, stand by to engage!"
Following George's orders, the fighters of Alpha Wing, moved into a wall formation, ensuring everyone would have a clear shot at the same time against the approaching enemy.
<>
After the starfighters had been launched, the deck crews go to work quickly clearing things away for when their birds would return. While no one said it aloud, they all knew that it was completely up to Fate, as to whether everyone would make it back.
"Alright everyone!" Staff Sergeant jub'CHO'Koon, the strong female Klingon crew chief, barked to her teams. "You know your jobs. As our birds come back in, we will complete the repairs and rearming at double-time! Stay focused on your work and keep the mistakes to a minimum!" She nodded and the teams resumed their preparations.
"Mathers!" She called out when she saw the young recruit doing what she could with the team she had been assigned to.
The freshly graduated crewman recruit turned her attention to her deck boss and sprinted over. "Roger, Staff Sergeant!" She exclaimed as she moved to the position of parade rest.
"You're with me, Mathers," jub'CHO'Koon stated firmly as she turned and hurried over to the emergency tug worker bee shuttlepod. "Help me get this pod ready for launch. We might need it if any of our birds get disabled.
The two of them then spent the next ten minutes doing all the preflight checks on the pod, powering up its fusion engine, leaving it on and in standby mode.
<>
Elijah’s cockpit lit up with threat markers the instant Addison’s torpedo detonated, the shockwave rippling across his shields like a fist against glass. From his position high and starboard of Elysium, Elijah rolled his fighter onto its side and slid into the gap Beta Wing had just torn open.
“Falcon to Rico—nice fireworks,” he said, voice calm despite the chaos boiling across his canopy. “I’ve got four bandits breaking off your six. Moving to intercept.”
He kicked the throttles forward and felt the familiar pressure pin him back as his starfighter surged ahead. The Galatonian craft were ugly things—boxy, over-gunned, and flying like they meant to drown the system in bodies—but they were predictable. Elijah armed his pulse cannons and snapped into a tight corkscrew, letting two enemy bursts stitch empty space where he’d been a heartbeat earlier.
“Come on,” he muttered, thumb brushing the trigger.
He levelled out just long enough to line up a shot. Twin pulses flared, ripping through the lead fighter’s shields and tearing it apart in a spray of incandescent debris. The second tried to jink away; Falcon matched the move, rolled inverted, and loosed a missile at point-blank range. The warhead blossomed, leaving nothing but fragments tumbling end over end.
“Two down,” Elijah reported. “Remaining pair disengaging—negative, scratch that. They’re swinging back toward the pods.”
His sensors spiked again—more contacts, more vectors converging on Elysium’s forward arc. Beyond them, he caught a glimpse of the Havaraha trading blows with the last Galatonian support ship, the void flashing white-hot as capital-grade weapons exchanged fire.
“Falcon to Alpha Flight,” he continued, tightening his turn as another enemy fighter slid into his sights. “You’ve got additional escorts pushing hard on the pods. I’m engaging from high vector—recommend you collapse inward and finish them fast.”
He squeezed the trigger once more, clean and controlled. The enemy fighter disintegrated, and the last broke away, fleeing into the growing maelstrom where Romulan Talons were already carving their bloody path.
Elijah eased back on the stick, scanning for the next threat as Elysium loomed ahead—scarred, defiant, and still standing.
“Beta, Alpha—Falcon,” he said quietly. “Pods are thinning, but they’re not done yet. Let’s make sure none of them ever reach the hull.”
Addison sighed as Falcon moved out of position towards Alpha. "Rico to Falcon. Stay with Beta Flight," she said as she targeted six breaching pods and launched her mini torpedoes. Each torpedo tracked it's target, obliterating the pods on impact. She was now out of torpedoes with only her pulse phasers to fight with as she targeted another wave incoming.
There was another terrific explosion, as another of the Galatonian support ships was destroyed, this time, being hit by the Elysium’s own powerful weaponry.
That was when the fight changed.
From the Galatonian flagship, a massive ion pulse was directed at the Elysium. Ten Romulan Talon starfighters and four of Beta flights birds were instantly vaporized by the intense energy. Their sacrifice actually saved Elysium from receiving the full brunt of the blast. As it was, her forward shield and phasers were all knocked off-line.
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The ion blast, though reduced, still wrecked havoc on the bridge. Several holo-emitters exploded, causing consoles to vanish around the bridge. Another explosion ripped through the hull behind Kyle, the force of the blast hurling him across the bridge, where he collided with the back of Phoenix's command chair, toppling over it, taking her down to the deck with him with his momentum and mass. There was an audible crunch, as Kyle landed on his left shoulder, after which he cried out in pain.
Alicia had sunk down into, and hung onto, her chair for dear life as the blast tore through the bridge. As Kyle came toppling over the centre seat, landing hard she rushed forward to help. “I need an emergency medkit over here!!” She called out to whoever could get to it.
Phoenix cursed and yelled for someone to take Kyle's station.
Anna glanced again at her console and then leaned to the side. She flipped open a small compartment near the console and pulled out an emergency medkit. She looked around the bridge. They were not breached, yet, but there were still sparks everywhere. She darted forward and slipped it to Alicia, bending low. "There," she said. She looked up to see who, if anyone, was moving to tactical.
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"What the hell was that?" Thumper cried out, trying to keep the Gryphon operating as alarms screamed out in the cockpit.
"From the readings, it was a ion cannon," Addison answered. "With those losses, there's a hole in our section.". She knew it was likely a matter of time before breaching pods would get past and reach the Elysium.
"That was a close one! Shields are down to fifty percent and we're out of torpedoes," Thumper said as she worked on getting more power to shields.
"We can't land to rearm in this fight, at least not now," Addison stated as she lined up another shot and opened fire, destroying two more breaching pods.
" Two bandits coming around on us!" Thumper reported and Addison immediately pulled her fighter into a split S. "Flacon, status!"
Elijah kept his Gryphon locked in close formation with Beta Flight, resisting the urge to break toward Addison as her fighter slid away with Alpha. The ion wake still danced across his shields, but the formation held, four ships moving as one through the debris and weapons fire.
“Falcon to Beta Flight, hold it together,” Elijah ordered calmly. “Stay tight and don’t chase. We’re the plug for that gap.”
He switched channels, feeding his sensor data straight to Addison as her Gryphon disappeared deeper into Alpha’s defensive arc. “Addison, Falcon here—Beta Flight is intact. Ion cannon was a near miss on us, but it punched a clean hole between Alpha and Beta. We’re covering it.”
Two new contacts flashed onto his HUD, followed by a scatter of smaller returns. Falcon’s jaw tightened. “You were right—breaching pods are pushing the gap. Count at least six, maybe more masked by the ion interference. Fighters are using them as cover.”
Falcon rolled his fighter, lining up a strafing run without breaking formation. Green cannon fire lanced out, forcing the enemy escorts to scatter while Beta Flight followed his lead. One pod detonated early, debris flashing past his canopy.
“Beta Flight is down to guns only,” Falcon continued, voice steady despite the rising alarms. “Shields averaging fifty-five percent across the wing. We can’t hold forever, but we can slow them.”
A bandit tried to slip past low. Falcon snapped onto its tail, driving it off with disciplined bursts before easing back into position. He refused to leave Beta exposed—not now.
He glanced at the distant silhouette of the USS Elysium, framed by fire and drifting wreckage. “Call it if you need us to reposition—but until then, Falcon and Beta Flight are staying right here.”
Several explosions suddenly erupted where enemy starfighters had been. Through the clouds of plasma and debris, six jet-black Romulan starfighters screamed by the Federation pilots. They moved into the open positions left by the destroyed fighters and took up the battle with military-precision.
From the bridge of the Romulan battleship, Olmex was issuing several commands as the battle unfolded. "Bring us about, bearing one-seven-five, mark three-five! Target enemy vessels omega-three and omega-four! Fire full disruptors!"
The sleek warship sliced through the growing debris field, her powerful weapons lancing out in deadly emerald beams, each beam finding its target, slicing through the unshielded enemy ships with deadly efficiency.
TBC
