Star Trek: The voyages of the USS Apollo

Chapter Forty Two: The Battle of Acadia

October 8th 2413

"Rear Admiral's Log: Star Date 390230.648. We have discovered the weakness to the C.I.S.S Supernova. It turns out that the star that powers it has a strong gravitational field and shield generating pylons are built around it to prevent that gravitational field from having the whole ship consumed by the star. Our plan is to deactivate the field by getting the command codes from the ship's Captain and inputting them from the Bridge. However we have to weaken the shields first and the only way to do that is to launch a frontal assault on the Supernova. No doubt some will be lost to this battle. But hopefully their deaths will not be in vain and the Cardassian Empire can be defeated. Here's hoping that the Acadian Resistance does indeed exist and that Ensign Adora, daughter of Amarla, will be able to get the rebels to help us."

The atmosphere on the Bridge of the U.S.S Apollo was one of fear and hope. The entire Gamma Quadrant Fleet had spent the previous two days preparing for the battle of their lives. Knowing that it may very well be their last battle. The Fleet consisted of only three ships that were designed for battle, them being the U.S.S Pathfinder. An Intrepid-Class vessel like the U.S.S Voyager and the R.R.W Ravon and R.R.W Gasko, two Mogai-class Warbirds from the Romulan Republic. As for the remaining five ships, the U.S.S Apollo, U.S.S Diamond, U.S.S Georgiou, U.S.S Rhode Island and the U.S.S Homecoming, they were all Nova-Class ships. Small ships with crews that could amount to one hundred and twenty and were designed for planetary survey missions. Equipped with only eleven phaser banks, two torpedo launchers at the front and one torpedo launcher at the back, the Nova-Class was better suited for small scale combat operations. Alone a Nova-Class ship was not suited for a full scale combat operation. But together, a group of about three of four could "put up a decent fight" as Captain Harry Kim put it. The two civilian Acadian ships were of course not included in the battle ahead. Mainly because they carried a combined civilian population of over one thousand Acadians. So they were kept out of the fight, hidden in a large asteroid field. They were given orders to retreat to the Bajoran Wormhole at top speeds should the battle be lost and among the people on board was the son of Rear Admiral Ethan Rivers and Lieutenant T'Vrell, Lucas. Both of his parents found it logical for him to be kept out of the ensuing battle, as a one year old child would be unlikely to survive. It had been an emotional moment for Ethan when he had to watch the U.S.S Exodus leave for the asteroid field with his son onboard and in the temporary care of the ship's Captain. Ethan felt like a part of him was leaving him and dearly missed that greater part of him. But he knew exactly what would allow him to fight on in the battle ahead and it was Lucas Rivers, his son.

On the Bridge were all of the senior officers of the U.S.S Apollo. There was Ensign Jodem Tal, the Ops Officer. Ensign William Jackson, the pilot. Lieutenant Toral Laren, head of engineering. Lieutenant T'Vrell, head of science. Lieutenant Commander Voq, head of Tactical. Commander Alisha Flores, first officer and finally Rear Admiral Ethan Rivers, the commanding officer. All of them were a long way from the Alpha Quadrant, almost seventy thousand lightyears in fact and they had all lost three years of their lives to the True Way. The Cardassian terrorist group that was obsessed with restoring the old ways of the Cardassian Union and now their descendants had done so in the form of the Cardassian Empire. A fascistic imperialist absolute monarchy that was obsessed with it's dreams of Galaxy wide domination. Now they had developed a new weapon called the C.I.S.S Supernova. A doomsday device capable of rendering planets uninhabitable with it's sun gun. Now it was high in orbit above Acadia, a planet conquered by the Cardassian Empire twenty one years prior and was now home to a slave population of five billion Acadians. Overseen by soldiers of the Cardassian Imperial Guard, they spent every day working fields to produce food that they would never eat and working in factories, making weapons that would be used against people that would be enslaved just like them. It was monotonous existence. One that they had been doomed to die for. That was until the Cardassian occupation forces left unexpectedly and without explanation. For a reason that the Acadians were not told, the Cardassians had decided to leave the planet and set the slaves free. The Acadians still on the planet were not sure why this had happened, but all they knew was that it had something to do with the bright light in the sky that was almost as bright as their star. That light was the Supernova.