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From: pjurado@aol.com (PJurado)
Newsgroups: alt.startrek.creative
Subject: Wargames 1/2(DS9) by PJ
Date: 4 Jun 1996 04:21:53 -0400
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Wargames
by PJ
http://home.aol.com/pjurado

     Chancellor Gowron rocked in his chair as the Negh' Var took another
disruptor hit from a passing Tholian warship.  Starships filled the main
viewscreen as the Klingon Fleet engaged the remaining vessels of the
Tholian
Assembly as they attempted to protect their homeworld.  

     "Status!"  demanded Gowron.

     "Shields down to forty-six percent.  The primary hull has taken light
damage, but repair crews are working on it," replied the tactical officer.

     "Damage to the Tholian fleet?"  asked the Chancellor.

     "Their fleet strength has been reduced to thirty-percent of optimal,
they're pulling back to protect Tholia," answered the tac. officer.

     "Message to all ships, maintain the offensive!  Advance and engage
all
Tholian ships!"

     The Negh' Var vibrated as its powerful impulse engines propelled the
ship forward, following the retreating Tholian warships.  Birds of Prey
and
K' t' inga-class cruisers sped past the battleship and fired volleys of
jade
fire at the arrow-shaped Tholian vessels, doing 
massive amounts of damage and causing one evading ship to explode in a
cloud
of orange plasma and metal debris.  The Negh' Var fired its forward
disruptors and a barrage of photon torpedoes, smashing the hull of a
Tholian
heavy cruiser and forcing it to list to port.  As the Klingon battleship
flew
past its crippled target, the port disruptors fired a broadside into the
listing ship and ripped it apart.  The Tholian ships formed small
squadrons
and massed their own disruptor fire, destroying several Birds of Prey in
brilliant explosions of light.  

     Gowron grimaced in anger at the losses he was sustaining, but he kept
silent as the battleship entered the edge of Tholia's gravity well and
fired
another disruptor volley at a small Tholian frigate.  The enemy ship
crumpled
like tinfoil, but was replaced by a larger Tholian cruiser that fired four
disruptors at the advancing Negh' Var.  The bridge shook with the impact,
and
two consoles exploded in response to overloaded power conduits.  The
Klingon
operators slumped limply in their chairs as death claimed them, and the
stench of burnt flesh filled the smoke-filled room.  Gowron coughed loudly
to
clear his throat, and the tactical officer reported in alarm,

     "Shields down to twenty-five percent!  The port nacelle's been
severely
damaged, main power is fluctuating.  Half of the disruptor arrays just
went
off-line!"

     "Are the torpedo and plasma bays loaded?" asked Gowron loudly.

     "Yes, they await orders."

     "Lock on that heavy cruiser and fire!" ordered the Chancellor.

     The Negh' Var turned slightly to port in order to follow the Tholian
ship's course, then three photon torpedoes and two plasma torps shot away
from the Klingon vessel and sped towards their target.  One photon shot
over
the top of the target, but the other two missiles smashed into the
Tholian's
fluttering shields.  As the warship skidded to starboard, the two plasma
torpedoes smashed into the hull, eating their way deeply into the heart of
the warship and its vital engine room.  The Tholian ship shuddered in
agony
before it exploded into a flower of plasma-charged death.  The bridge crew
of
the Negh' Var howled with pleasure as their foe's remains were pulled into
the planet's atmosphere and began their bright descent to the surface.

     "Status of the Tholian fleet?"  inquired Gowron.

     "The Tholian fleet has been crushed.  All ships have been destroyed
or
rendered inoperable," replied the officer with a feral grin.

     "Order all ships to destroy the crippled vessels, then move into
position for planetary bombardment," ordered Gowron smugly.

     "Aye, sir!" replied the tactical officer before several ruby beams
emerged from the planet's surface and impaled nearby Klingon warships. 
The
Negh' Var shook as it was hit by a ruby beam, and distant explosions could
be
heard from deep inside the vessel.

     "Report!" screamed Gowron as the bridge shifted hard to port and hung
at
an off-center angle.

     "Planetary defense batteries have begun to open fire!  The Negh' Var
has
sustained heavy damage to the ventral hull!"

     "Lock all available weapons on the batteries and open fire!" ordered
the
Chancellor as the battleship slowly regained its equilibrium.  The Negh'
Var
fired its torpedoes and remaining disruptors at the surface of Tholia, and
fiery plumes appeared on the cloud-obscured planet's surface.  The
surviving
ships of the Klingon fleet hurled volleys of photon torpedoes at the
helpless
planet, boiling its once rich atmosphere and reducing its defenses to
smoking
heaps of rubble.

     "All defense batteries have been destroyed," reported the tac.
officer
several minutes later.

     "Good.  Order the marine units to load the transporters and begin
descending to the planet," commanded Gowron with relish.

     "All marine units report ready and are beginning to move out."

     "Tholia now belongs to the Klingon Empire," said Gowron with a smile
as
the planet on the screen burned like a dying star.
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