[2007: NOV-DEC] Homecoming

[Toni]

This thread opened for a manuscript by Andrus Jaxx.

[+ Rykel Rior]

“Homecoming”

By Andrus Jaxx

Mike walked down the corridor with great speed. He was in a hurry; today was a very special day. The ship was bustling with activity. Everyone was in high spirits. It had been two weeks since they had seen a Dominion Ship. They had been waiting for this moment for years. Mike walked into engineering. He started checking over the power relays making sure that they had enough power for what they needed to do. Glancing around everything was at peace. “Tom?” Mike asked. “What can I do for you, Sir?” he replied. “Are we good?” Mike asked. Tom, smiling from ear to ear, “You can say that, Sir.” Mike walked out of engineering and headed to the bridge. He walked onto the bridge. He stood for minutes just staring at the view screen. He was tired of looking at that cold hard rock. He sat down in his chair and waited. The time was almost near. He looked at the report again. The same report he had for three weeks, he read it about thirty times a day. He was still a little shocked that the Dominion had withdrawn their occupation of Earth. There were very few ships left. Starfleet was nothing but a memory, the only thing left were about twenty ships, forced into hiding. What was left of the fleet had found refuge in a large asteroid field. They were able to maneuver into an asteroid, hiding…waiting for what would come. Three weeks ago, Mike received a message forwarded from the freighter, Kayzag. The Dominion fleet no longer looked to occupy Earth, and was pulling out. Mike was looking forward to leading the remains of the fleet home. He was patiently waiting for all of the other ships to check in with their status. Soon they could be under way. The trip would take the fleet eleven hours at the slowest ships maximum warp. The ship was quiet, nobody knew what to expect. They hadn’t heard from Earth since it was invaded seven years ago. From what he knew, there was nothing left of Starfleet Command. He was the highest ranking officer of the twenty ships. Two days prior to the Dominion war he had been promoted to the rank of Commander. He served as First Officer on the USS Ranger-C. It was a Galaxy Class(refit) starship. His captain, Samantha Paine, was killed during a battle with a small Dominion fleet just two years prior. It was their dream to return home. When she was killed he made her a promise that he would return them all home.

Sitting on the bridge he received that last report from the fleet and prepared to disembark. “Lori, take us out of this asteroid.” It was a grand sight, twenty Federation ships coming out of all of the asteroids in the area and forming up near the planet. Simultaneously they all went to warp. The eleven hour trip flew by. They did not see one ship their entire journey. When they reached the Sol System, they dropped out of warp and headed toward Earth. It was as if all of the activity in the system was halted. They were not picking up signals from any of the shipyards or outposts in the sector. Mike knew that what was once the Federation was now in shambles. As the twenty ships passed through the system they neared closer to Earth. Lori turned around, “Sir, we are within visual range.” Mike was excited, “Put her up on the screen Lieutenant.” They could see Earth. It was as beautiful as they could remember. Many years ago when you were at this point you could see many ships and outposts humming with activity, activity that has gone silent. The fleet neared closer to Earth everyone was excited, many of them had not been back to Earth in over a decade. As the ships passed what was once Jupiter Station, one of the ships contacted Mike. “We are being hailed by the Agincourt, Sir.” Lori said. “On screen” Mike repied. “Captain Sandor, what can I do for you?” Mike said. Sandor replied “We are picking up a faint Dominion signal; we can’t tell where it is coming from.” Mike looked up at the other captain and felt his heart drop. Out of nowhere panic broke out. “Sir, all of the ships are hailing us!” Lori yelled. “Sir, I am picking up a sizable fleet on the other side of Jupiter.” exclaimed Paul. Mike turned around, “Friendly?” he asked. With horror in his eyes Paul answered, “They are all Dominion, Sir.” Shocked, Mike asked how many. Paul answered, “one hundred and forty three, Sir.” With one swift move the entire Dominion fleet came around all sides of Jupiter. Mike yelled, “Red Alert.” As their shields went up and weapons came online, Mike did not know what to do, half of him wanted to retreat, but to where? There was nothing he could do. Mike looked over at Lori and asked, “Can you hail their lead ship?” Lori opened a channel. “This is Captain Michael Garcia, USS Ranger. We are here to return to Earth, we are here in peace. If you would allow us to beam to Earth, you can then destroy our ships.” Mike had liked the idea; they could return home and not have to worry about war any longer. The man stood staring at Mike, “That is a good idea, Captain. I think I will destroy your ships.” Mike let out a sigh of relief as if the man had accepted his proposal. “We will be in transporter range in about a half hour; it will take us about two hours to transport all of our crews to the surface.” He said. The man lowered his brow, “I didn’t say anything about you transporting.” With that comment the ship ended transmission. Mike looked up in terror as the small fleet came under fire. The massive fleet crushed the small fleet in a matter of minutes. All of the remaining Federation ships were destroyed. When the battle was over a small freighter warped into the system, it was the Kayzag. It slowly approached the lead vessel, and docked with it. Moments later, the entire Dominion Fleet went to warp, leaving the Sol System for good.