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Loyalties - Prologue

All characters (c) JP Astbury, any likeness to others is purely coincidental or not intended.

The Ribose system, star date 21072536.

"Red alert! We're under attack, those damn cowards are firing on us!" The blue furred foxtaur yelled as a second phaser blast hit the hull of their transport ship. The under armed, non armored craft shuddered under the punishment it was never designed for, another section of hull plating torn open, shields barely holding to keep internal pressure in the cabin within. The Lizzian cruisers chasing the evacuating civilian ships continued their toying, their firepower would easily tear the cargo transports appart within seconds if they chose. A third hit tore a third hole into the already battered leading transport ship, tearing through power conduits. Lights in the hold, where over one hundred colonists could do nothing but cower flickering before failing and leaving them to the emergency lighting. Children clutched tight by parents who could do little to comfort them, or even themselves.

The blue foxtaur currently piloting the lead cargo ship Geo feaverishly tried to keep control of his outmatched ship, there was little point in fighting back with the limited weapons. They were barely suitable for the task of destroying small asteriods and other minor debris that could damage the ship. He could only hope for the incomming starfleet ship to arrive in time to help.

"I'm rerouting the weapons and main life support system power to the shields and minimum support systems, it's all I can damn well do!" he growled. The human beside him understood the plan, nodding as she struggled to keep the shields in place over the damaged areas. A fuzzy com link opened from one such area, sounding rushed but still in control of their situatrion.

"All clear, you can cut power to secion 7!"

"Understood, good work!" the co pilot responded, she looked to the blue foxtaur while easily rerouting the extra power to the cargo section by touch. "We'll run out of areas to cut power on soon..." she began, another hit making their flight consoles flicker before she could end. The consoles both seemed to die, both pilots mouth open in disbelief, hands stuck mid work until they flickered once again and burst back into life, another crackling com firing up to the pair.

"This is engineering, we saw the power drop up there and rehooked the old cabling up asap, have you got power back!?"

Both pilots, were back at work the moment the power was up, the foxtaur responding fast.

"We're live! Damn good job the old conduits were left in!" he barked, "Great work we..."

The cargo ship shuddered hard, everything flickering, even warning siren cutting out as the engines were practically severed from the rest of the ship. Redundencies keeping the feedback from the explosion from shorting what was left of the main power supply. The ship groaned as it began to spin, the stablisers barely having the thrust to slow and level the flight out. The com sang once again, but this time it was not from an internal source.

"You will all now die, Invaders!" it snapped, the Lizzian captain of the lead cruiser was clearly enjoying himself, making the blue pilot of the cargo ship mad enough to turn red with anger.

"For the last time I don't know what you are talking about dammit! This system is deep inside unclaimed territory, there have been no hints of any previous owners before this date when you started firing upon INNOCENT civilians!" he barked, teeth bared and growling, he was close to hitting the control panel in a fit of rage.

There were clear sounds of laughter from the com, it was clear this interaction was not going to go smoothly.

The USS Trojan sped toward the scene, the ship shaking with the intense speed it was being put through. A blown light speed engine, if it happened, was of no importance as long as they made it to the scene in time. The whole crew of the Starfleet destroyer was ready for battle the moment the came out of interstellar travel. On the bridge, captain Silva was a red foxtaur on a mission, his crew having four years service under him, they knew well this was an important incident, for more reasons than simply saving innocent civilians lives.

"Lieutenant Fravanya, we'll have all targets in range the moment we're out of lightspeed, we have to get between the cargo ships and the Lizzian ships as soon as possible. Make sure we extend shields about any ship that needs it, use the tractor beams to pull them in closer if we have to!" the red foxtaur captain ordered. Lieutenant Fravanya, a Glixian 'alien' serving in Starfleet made her mental notes and prepped her systems for the orders.

"Aye captain, understood," the Glixian responded. The captain looked down at his personal console, tapping in several notes and commands to be sent about the ship in last minute preparations as commander Hair, a human, looked over to him.

"Captain, we're all with you in this. Whatever happens..."

The foxtaur looked up toward the commander, the usually easy going captain giving a grim nod. His years of training now in practice however as he spoke clearly and with a sense of complete control.

"Understood..." he stated, seeming to have more to say. However it was lieutenant Fravanya who spoke next, the whole of the main bridge crew looking toward him in a moment of silence.

"We're all with you sir. Don't worry about that."

The foxtaur looked about in a contemplative manor at his crew of the past four years, acknowledging each and knowing they were a tight nit family now. This incident was of great importance, it could possibly mean war between Starfleet and the Lizzian's current Queen. A being looking for the slightest break of regulations to legally declare war.

Captain Silva gave a knowing nod, the crew acknowledged and went back to their planning and preparations as did he did himself. Taking a long quiet breath, feeling all the more dramatic to himself with his four lungs, he looked up at the view screen , stars flashing by as streaks of light upon it.

"Sir, we're within communications range..." stated the communications officer, Barton.

"And so it begins..." muttered the captain, putting on a stern face. "Let's do this," he ordered, Barton knew the signal to open hailing frequencies, and the grey feline anthropamorph did just that.

"Lizzian vessels, this is the Starfleet vessel USS Trojan. You are hereby requested to cease fire upon the civilian ships. If you do not do so we will be forced to take action," stated the captain. He waited for an answer, looking briefly to Barton who shook her head, telling him they had heard the transmission but ignored it. He spoke once again. "Lizzian ships, you are hereby ordered to cease fire. Do you hear me!?" he stated sternly. There was a pause, before the view screen changed from the forward view to an image of a Lizzian captain. A look of utter disrespect for the starfleet captain's orders on his face.

"This is captain Kragma of the Lizzian Royal Guard. Turn your vessel around and there will be no further actions taken against your ship. Do not test me, ungodly being!" he snapped. The screen promptly switched back to standard view, leaving captain Silva gritting his teeth at both the arrogance of the Lizzian, and the insult. He looked to commander Hair, though spoke to the crew of the ship as he tapped the com on his chair's control panel.

"Prepare for battle, we have lives to save. Let's do this."

The short speech ended just as the helm's fox announced their arrival, the Trojan ready for battle it came out of warp exactly where planned blocking off the attack of the Lizzian cruisers as they flew between them and the lead cargo ship being persued. firing off a barrage of heavy torpedoes toward the lead Lizzan ship, phasers striking strateagic points to weaken its shields for the next spread that came moments later. Meanwhile the other Lizzian cruisers began to turn their attentions to the Trojan, several torpedoes striking the shields hard, shaking the ship violently. The Trojan swung around in an arch about the cargo ship, taking several hits that had been aimed at the fragile vessel with comfort and returning their efforts. However luck was not to be on Starfleet's side.

With the lead ship in the line of fire, the other two Lizzian ships made a bee line to help save it, leaving the Trojan to begin evasive manoeuvres.

"Roll the ship to starboard! Get a lock on that command ship, I want it drifting ASAP!" snapped captain Silva. The foxtaur eyed the main viewer, watching as the roll gave the Lizzian ship they were targeting a chance to pull away, heading straight for the already heavily damaged cargo ship.

"Screw the damned trash and get us in range damnit!" he snapped, watching the range meter on the lead Lizzian ship grow as it pulled away from them, and shrink ever smaller as it neared the Geo, he was practically snarling as the helm's fox barked out.

"Aye sir! I'm powering up sublight engines to full, bringing her between them!"

The Trojan shuddered as several more torpedoes hit their upper main starboard engine, power fluctuating throughout the ship as the systems fought to prevent overload. The helm's fox growled and hit the side of his control panel as he was forced to reenter his coordinates, while on the main view screen the captain watched as the Lizzian ship fired a round of torpedoes at the Geo. His jaw dropped as his blood went cold, fur bristling up in reaction to it as they each hit the cargo ship square on. One would have been enough, the cargo ship exploded and along with it several hundred innocent civilians, and one foxtaur pilot...

"Tarraaaaaant...!" Silva stood up faster a bolt of lightning, reaching out with his right hand, eyes wide, maw still wide open as he howled out. For what seemed like an eternity time seemed to stand still, his eyes fixed on the shattered debris, some of which no doubt were dead bodies. "M... My son..." he stammered.

The ship shuddered once more, shaking the grieving father back to his senses. He had two other cargo ships to save, and a son to avenge... He eyed the situation, formulating a plan as the two following Lizzian ships bore down on them.

"All stop! Extra Power to the latteral shields only as they pass, I want their starlight drives targeted with the heavy torpedoes, half a spread each from the upper launchers into their bellies as they fly over. Phasers set to full drain to increase chances they get through. Do it!" barked the captain.

The crew all knew what had just happened. However in the four years they had spent under his command they had never heard him speak so calmly and determinedly after such a loss before. It was unnerving for them. They each followed their orders, the Trojan coming to a complete stop as the Lizzian ships closed in and roared overhead. Phaser fire was exchanged, the Trojan's weakening their shields as planned, the spread of torpedoes slamming into their targets causing the starboard ship to lurch and begin to roll still under propulsion from its port engine. The ship to port faired better and quickly regained control, however a second barrage of phaser fire and torpedoes saw it soon exploding into scrap metal, a chunk flying off and crashing into the starboard ship. It shook violently, power and life support failing, the Trojan looming over it to send the Lizzian crew to their gods of the afterlife. Several torpedoes doing just that, slamming hard into the ships engineering and bridge.

The Lizzian command ship was coming down upon the Trojan soon after, all weapons firing, striking hard at the already damaged upper starboard engine, tearing a long gash in the unit. Luckily fuel had been drained after the first hit, little was done other than a slight explosion from residue. Still, the Trojan lurched forward, and to port as three more torpedoes struck along the hull, lights flickering all over the ship. The Trojan was an old ship, but the design was surprisingly full of redundancies and backup systems. It was not so easily stopped with four engines each separately able to power the weapons on their own. The backups were running within microseconds, the Trojan coming back to life and rearing up to the challenge of the Lizzian ship, phasers and torpedoes exchanged in abundance, shields coming down to breaking point as both captains roared commands, but it was not to be captain Kragma's day.

In the commotion the often single minded Lizzians had neglected to see the importance of the two remaining cargo ships approaching, their underpowered weapons snow able to deal some significant damage as their ship's shields failed. With the Trojan now bearing down on them, and the cargo ships backing up it was time to end the battle.

"Open hailing frequencies..." growled captain Silva. His tone stern.

"They're open captain," stated Barton. A strategic pause making the bridge crew feel that flush of cold their captain had earlier.

"...Captain Kragma. Of the Royal guard. I give you one day to prepare yourself and your crew for death. And run crying to your damned Queen. After that I'm hunting the lot of you down and stopping this damned atrocity once and for all..."

The captain watched as Kragma's ship swung around, facing them at a distance, thou heavily damaged it still retained most of its manoeuvrability. The com channel opening, the Lizzian captain appearing on the screen.

"Captain Silva, for these crimes against the Lizzian population and territories you have just provoked a war against your Starfleet! You shall pay for your arrogance ten fold! I will personally execute you myself!" he snapped. Watching the foxtaur on his own main screen, he saw him raise his right hand in a calm manor, palm toward him in a 'stop' motion.

"I'm not dragging Starfleet into this, Captain," he said. His tone unnervingly calm. "What I do now is of my own accord. I give you a day so I can hand in my resignation and make it known. You will pay for their lost lives, captain. And so will your Queen. And I will personally rip your still beating hearts from your chests for killing my son." With that the foxtaur made a 'cut' gesture with his right hand, Barton giving a nod as she cut the com link, leaving the bridge crew stunned.

"Captain..." began the commander. But Captain Silva raised his right hand to stop him too. Shaking his head. He watched the Lizzian ship turn to limp away and jump into light speed. A strategic retreat it would seem, considering they were outnumbered and heavily damaged.

"You have the bridge, commander Hair. Do not disturb me," he stated. Turning toward the lift doors, most likely heading to his cabin. He paused as the doors opened, not looking back. "Make sure any civilians needing medical care are transported over to the medic bays and treated if need be. And please... Let Bambera know..." he said. There was a hint of a break in his voice at the name. But he fell silent, and proceeded off the bridge, the doors sliding silently shut behind him.

End.