Ad Imperator Dei -- Victoria Astrii
Reply With QuoteChapter 2 First Contact
The High Justice glided effortlessly into the Enterprise's spacious shuttlebay. Compared to the typical small craft of the Federation, the Valkyrie was slightly larger than the warp-capable runabouts, though more space was devoted to the crew. Captain Picard stood behind the airlock to the shuttlebay waiting for the signal that the shuttlebay's outer doors had closed and the bay repressurized. He was flanked by two security personnel, Type II phasers prominent on their belts. Picard's first reaction was to object to the blatent display of weapons, but knew he had to weigh it against the possibility of hostility from their new guest.
The control panel near the door showed a habitable atmosphere in the shuttlbay after several minutes and the airlock opened. Picard stepped through and was able to see the transport in full lighting. The design looked serviceable, but the implementation seemed crude, with armor applied uncommonly thick and the engines unusually bulky. The High Justice faced to the outer doors and an entryway in the rear was descending.
Dana stood in front of the descending gangplank, dressed in a formal black Arbites uniform slightly larger than normal to compensate for her flak vest with her bolt pistol in full view. Next to her was the Imperial Navy pilot, his flak armor in full view along with his laspistol. The remaining Enforcers were in carapace armor with shotguns and power mauls at the ready. Three members also had electric bolos and gas grenades. The Enforcers stood to the sides, out of view of the gangplank.
The gangplank descended and the two finally saw each other at last. Picard was shocked to see his guest standing in a uniform meant for intimidation, completely black with only a two-headed eagle as an identifying mark. An incredibly large pistol was attached to her belt. In striking contrast was a face of long, blond hair and brown eyes with light freckling.
Dana gazed at the balding, older man in an unfamiliar red and black uniform flanked by two younger men in similarly tailored black and gold uniforms. At least he's human, she thought. She immediately made the sign of the aquila.
"Emperor's blessings upon you, Captain."
Picard responded with a look of confusion.
Dana dropped her hands, "You are unaware of the God Emperor of Man?"
Picard spoke, "I am unaware of any emperor who claims all mankind as his subjects. I am a representative of the United Federation of Planets, a body of over 150 worlds bound by a common pursuit of exploration and the betterment of all, not by some man who claims to be divine."
Dana's hand almost pulled her pistol out to kill this heretic where he stood for his blasphemy, but was stayed only by her recall of the orders she was under to bring the senior crew alive for interrogation.
"150 worlds, Captain? All of them human worlds?"
"No, there are non-human species who share full benefits of Federation membership."
"Captain, you have already admitted blasphemy, heresy, and treason to me. Now you admit consorting with xenos in direct defiance of the supremacy of Man. I now insist upon searching this ship and taking it and its crew into custody for interrogation, trial, and almost certain execution."
"On whose authority? You have no authority on me or my crew." Picard barked at Dana.
"On the authority of the Emperor and the High Lords of Holy Terra." Dana pulled her bolt pistol from its holster and brought it to bear on Picard. The two security guards with Picard pulled their phasers.
The Navy pilot almost immediately shot the guard on the right with his laspistol, searing the guard's torso and making vital fluids boil within his body from the intense transfer of energy. The guard screamed as he fell. Dana effortlessly shifted her aim from Picard to the remaining guard, firing the massive grenade round meant for more heavily armored adversaries. The guard's corpse exploded into a red slurry and Picard fell from the concussion of the blast. Dana immediately re-acquired Picard and held the bolt pistol to Picard's head.
Picard stared at the gun and pondered his options. He could try to hail the bridge, but would he be able to say anything of real importance before he was killed? He could try for his own Type I phaser concealed in his uniform, but would she notice or suspect such a ploy. Picard's thoughts raced until he felt an enormous blow to his body and then creeping numbness as a man in shiny black armor and helmet covering most of his face struck him with some sort of stunning device. The shuttlebay then went dark for Picard and he heard Dana's voice one final time, "Round up the rest."
The Enforcers exited the shuttlebay through the airlock and began making their way down the hallways. They split into two teams, one of three Enforcers to take Engineering, Dana, the pilot, and the remaining Enforcers to the bridge. Along the way, they either shot or stunned what opposition came from the security personnel. The Arbites were experienced in fighting in teams and their carapace armor was meant to endure more severe weaponry than Federation phasers. Crewmembers were either quickly killed or quickly surrendered as they witnessed their phasers becoming ineffectual against these intruders while the Enforcers' shotguns were able to fire Executioner ammunition capable of following targets and power mauls that left the unarmored crew twitching masses of flesh and bone.
The crew's first panicked response was to run for more securable locations like Ten Forward or Sickbay. All this bought them was ready-made cells as the Arbites merely sealed the bulkheads by demolishing the door control panels. The first time was an accidental application of a power maul to a wall meant for a crewmember, but the fact that it made doors closed barring manual opening amused the Arbites greatly and found it made the task of apprehending the crew much easier.
Riker finally received panicked communications from Sickbay about the intruders and had immediately set the ship on Red Alert and shut down the turbolifts in an effort to impede the boarders. Additional security personnel were posted in the bridge and the bridge crew were maintaining their posts. Data continued to monitor the ship's status through Ops.
"Two hundred crewmen dead or severely injured, five hundred and civilians are in emergency shelters, but have been sealed in by the boarders. Movement is focused towards the bridge and Engineering. Arrival at Engineering in ten minutes given current rate of progress, they will approach the bridge in fifteen." Data gave the latest report.
Riker gritted his teeth and wondered what he could do to stop this invasion. That a group of seven people could kill two hundred with such ease was an infathomable act for him.
"What about auto-destruct?"
"We would require Captain Picard and also need to make our way to Engineering."
"Then we use Plan B. Riker to Engineering."
"LaForge here, Commander."
"Geordi, I want you to set the warp core to breach."
"Commander?"
"Geordi, we have no other choice. The Captain is missing and we are being taken over. We may as well take them with us."
"I'm afraid that is not going to be possible 'Commander'." A very different voice came over the comm.
"Who is this?" Riker replied in an angry tone.
"Enforcer Gnaeus of His Imperial Majesty's Adeptus Arbites. We now have control of this ship and its heretical technology."
"You still need to take the bridge, first."
"Oh, that has been taken care of. Breathe deep." The Enforcer chuckled.
Riker looked over to Data in puzzlement. Data rapidly queried for the relevant data from the computer.
"Commander, there are traces of an unknown gas in life support. Attempting to adjust the atmospheric filters. We have approximately --"
Data was interrupted by the sounds of bodies landing on the floor. He turned to find the entire bridge crew unconscious. His emotion chip then began to produce feelings of sorrow and fear as he realized he was alone on the bridge with a dedicated force on its way to take command of the ship.
Dana figured out how to lock the bridge doors from the Engineering computer terminals and began investigating the ship's system.
"We can't land the ship and there are no Gellar Fields. We will not be able to take this ship into the Warp. We're stuck here."
"We can contact the Imperial Navy and see about transport to another world, maybe Bakka." The pilot suggested just a bit too brightly for Dana's tastes.
"We have no Astropath. We can't contact Bakka directly."
"Then contact the planetary government to forward the request."
Dana sighed as she headed back to the High Justice to send news. She patched in to the Arbites headquarters on San Leor and had a proper audio-visual communication over short-range vox. "This is Enforcer Urbank reporting mission accomplished. The ship is ours, but we cannot land nor safely take the ship into Warp. We request Navy transport to Bakka for processing of the crew and ship."
"Enforcer, this is Judge Davido Fortius. Your orders are to bring the ship to Talasa Prime. A vessel is already enroute to gather the ship. Fortius out."
Dana blinked at this news, "Talasa Prime, what is there?"
There was a consensus of ignorance among the Enforcers and their pilot. Dana sighed as she realized they may be here for a while with a ship full of prisoners that would attempt to eject them at all costs. It was then that the slick black ship emerged from the void and brought the Enterprise into its hold. A voice then came over the High Justice's vox, "That will be all Enforcer. Please join me in the briefing room."
There was a thunk as an umbilical attached itself over the ship near the shuttlebay. A few minutes of navigation brought Dana and the Imperial servants into familiar machines and uniforms. They were promptly escorted to a large office on the port side of the ship for debriefing. Techpriests began the task of dismantling the ship and moving the High Justice from the Enterprise's shuttlebay.
