7.10 Historical Articles

200 Dead in Diana Massacre

UFP Infonet — 15 May 2151

The following is an extract from an eyewitness account of the identification of the bodies of the slain composed by UFP Infonet reporter Tharnak of Tellar. Be advised that it is not for the faint of heart.

The place was full of sorrow. Nonstop crying — wails and screams of anguish whenever someone recognized one of the slain. Despite the best efforts of the extraction teams there was the smell of decay in the air. A horrible smell — no one who's even inhaled it can forget it. It permeated the place no matter where you went or what you did. I asked a nearby human guard for a rebreather. He just shook his head. "Essential personnel only," he said. "There's not enough to go around." I left him and moved on, somehow forcing myself to keep from gagging at the stench. The absolute grief of the families made them oblivious to it.

The bodies lay in neat little rows, one room after another, on and on and on. Almost half were in wrapped clear plastic. They had run out of body bags sometime after a hundred. The faces — they were horrible to look at. Twisted grimaces of pain and fear, some still spattered in blood. They had been herded together and then mowed down, execution style. Some had still been alive after they had fallen. These had been dispatched with a single shot to the head. Men and women, young and old, little children — even the pets had been killed with the same careful, cold-blooded precision by which the 200 passengers and crew of the Diana had been slaughtered. "What did we do to them to deserve this?" I asked myself, almost aloud. I didn't know the answer. I doubted if there ever would be one.

Starbase 10 Destroyed

UFP Infonet — 2 November 2155

First came the alert. "Under heavy attack by unknown force. Deploying garrison force to intercept." Fearing the worst, Commodore Tonsum Han ordered his 159th Combat Squadron to immediately break off its war games exercises and return to port. The U.S.S. Garibaldi and the entire fleet pivoted in place and swiftly headed back at full speed. Then came the distress call — the last thing Commodore Han and his ship captains wanted to hear. "Mayday! Mayday! Starbase 10 is under attack by unknown forces! Garrison forces have been led into a trap! We're taking heavy fire from enemy vessels. Request immediate assistance — repeat, request immedia—"

They were almost in visual range when it happened. The explosion blinded their sensors, and its accompanying shockwave scattered starships like leaves in the wind. When Commodore Han and his fleet finally regained control of their vessels, it was already too late. They had no homeport to which to return. Starbase 10 had been destroyed.

What might have been a simple intercept mission now turned into the grim task of looking for bodies — and, hopefully, survivors. They found plenty of the former. Thankfully, they also found some of the latter. Not enough, though. Not nearly enough. Seventeen dazed crewmen and two officers in the spinning, smashed hulk of the old Th'levrin, one of the ships that had been left behind as guard. A dozen or so from the starbase, who had been lucky enough to be standing next to escape pod hatches when the death blow was dealt. Two oxygen-starved, spacesuited crewman, who had been blown out of the hangar bay of the destroyer Gilmour when the ship went up. That was it. That was all they would ever find. The Romulans, as always, had been very thorough. Only the hand of Fate had saved these few.

Advanced Laser Weaponry Introduced

Star Fleet Newsletter — January 2156 Edition

The new lasers underwent their final testing at the Arcturus Test Range last month. They have twice the range and three times the power of previous systems. They were, to quote one observer, "Incredible." They were able to burn through the best ablative armor in the Star Fleet inventory within two seconds. Andorian, Centaurean, and Tellarite armor fared no better. Only old Vulcan armor proved to be difficult. It only took a couple more seconds than the others, though. The increased coherence of the beam means that it widens only half a meter every 50,000 kilometers, and the recharge time can now be measured in seconds. In every respect Star Fleet's new advanced laser weapons have proven to be a complete success. All that remains is to start putting them in its ships.

Now how, readers might ask, do you defend against such a superweapon that can cut through any defense you have? Easy. The answer is by using a projected energy screen. This Vulcan-based technology generates a series of force fields around the ship that acts the same way as armor would, only more effectively. Energy cancels out energy, or at the least sloughs off most of its destructive power. Energy annihilates matter, so projectile weapons such as the old rail guns have little chance. Even if a shot by either system manages to get though, it is so weakened by the force field screens that armor can easily deal with it.

Star Fleet has already contracted to install both the new lasers and force field screening systems in its newest ships-of-the-line. The Marshall class destroyers are already under construction, and the class ship is scheduled to join the fleet next year. When that happens, Star Fleet will finally have a starship that can deal with the Romulans once and for all.

Remember the Patton!

UFP Infonet — 14 October 2159

The escalation of Romulan attacks in the New Territories has now literally exploded into full scale war. Yesterday the Star Fleet destroyer Patton was ambushed and destroyed by three Romulan starships in the Eta Leonis system. They appeared to be picket ships for a massive invasion fleet that has crossed the border and is heading into Federation space. The Patton engaged the picket ships and destroyed them, gathering as much sensor data as it could on the invasion fleet. All too soon, though, Romulan reinforcements from the invasion fleet arrived to finish off the Star Fleet destroyer. The Patton's last message was garbled and cut off in mid-transmission; however, they reported seeing "thousands of Romulans" on their way into Federation space before the end came.

We must not forget the sacrifice of the Patton. Captain Joseph Spadora could have easily ordered a retreat at flank speed, saving both his ship and his crew. Instead, he stayed on the scene, gathering as much information as he could and transmitting it back to the Federation before he and his crew were killed. Star Fleet would have been caught completely by surprise had it not been for Captain Spadora. We must never forget, no matter what happens from this point forward.

Remember the Patton!

Romulans Stopped at Hell's Gate

UFP Infonet — 1 January 2160

Hell's Gate. For many space travelers this expanse of highly charged, radioactive nebulas and lifeless worlds was a necessary barrier to cross on the way to the New Territories. Today, however, it became something else: a wall to stop a Romulan invasion of the Federation.

Star Fleet has not yet released full details of today's battle. Preliminary reports indicated that the fleet's new "cylinder ships" intercepted the main thrust of Romulan forces and destroyed most of their vessels. We have confirmed reports from outside sources that Romulan warships have just attacked the Pallas XIV star system. This would be a backwards move for their invasion fleet and appears to bolster Star Fleet's claim of victory at Hell's Gate. If true, then a Romulan invasion of the Federation has been averted by the narrowest of margins.

We will release more details as they become available.

Romulans Destroy Alpha Omega ß

UFP Infonet — 26 July 2161

Yesterday, in the worst atrocity of the war, a Romulan task force cold-bloodedly killed every life form on the New Territories colony world of Alpha Omega ß via orbital bombardment. After engaging and destroying the planetary defense fleet and group defense installations, they went on to carpet bomb every inch of the planet's surface with tens of thousands of star-bomb missiles, leaving no margin for escape. Preliminary reports indicate that over 200,000 civilians and Star Fleet personnel died in the attack. Star Fleet has dispatched forces to the scene; however, the Romulan forces are long gone. Instead, they will be assessing the devastation and transmitting the data back to Star Fleet Command for further study.

Already there are cries for retaliation. In today's Federation Council session, Councilor Jarvok Th'ren of Andor railed against the Romulan attack. "Blood cries out for blood!" he demanded of his fellow delegates. "How can we let something like this go unanswered?! If we let them get away with this here, then they will do it on other worlds. They will turn the New Territories into a barren wasteland! Their gift to the Federation — a endless desert where once living worlds existed."

In response, Councilor Abraham Dannon of Alpha IV pleaded for sanity. "I know that each of us has lost someone in this war," he calmly said, nodding at Th'ren. "Some of us more than others. Be that as it may, we cannot sink to the same level of depravity as our foe. If we adapt their tactics than we are no better off than them. We too will engage in mindless and rampant bloodshed for the mere sake of killing, whatever the reason. We must not become as them. We must hold our course and cling to those morals and precepts that keep us from such barbarism. Only by staying on the high road, only by backing our Star Fleet and giving it the resources it needs, are we ever going to win this war. Nay, fellow councilors. Let us not become the new Romulans."

Battle of Cheron Ends War

Admiral Alexander Hamilton, USS Hannibal, Ship's Log — 1 May 2162

Captain's log, 1 May 2162, 1853 hours ship time.

I've just watched the last of the Romulan ships blow itself up rather than surrender. The war is over. There are no Romulans left anywhere in the Federation. The few that remained just vaporized themselves here at Cheron.

The Battle of Cheron was one of the most intense space battles in which I have ever been involved. It was also one of the worst. My initial tactics in splitting their forces with the Cochrane Deaccelleration Maneuver had left them wide open to attack. They knew we had them. They had nowhere to go, so they fought with all the desperation of a cornered and wounded animal. They stood their ground, choosing to die and taking out as many of us as they could in the process. In fifty-three minutes I lost most of my fleet to Romulan suicide tactics. When it was over, though, they had no ships left in any condition to fight. Fortunately we did, and Admiral Larson's forces were moving up from their rear. The battle was over and they knew it. Rather than surrender, though, as any sane beings would, they chose death and blew up their own ships. Madness. Utter madness.

The Hannibal could have easily been among the thousands of ships Star Fleet lost today. Instead, the old man saw us through, just like he's done throughout the war, persevering just like the Carthaginian general of old for who he was named. He's battered and damaged, yet there's still a lot of fight left in the Hannibal. It's a good thing, too, because there's one more campaign left to fight in this war. I'm going to go report in and get my ship fixed up, and then it'll be time for the last phase of the war. Next stop: the Romulan Empire.

A Letter to President Thorpe

UFP Infonet — Letters Section — 4 February 2163

Dear President Thorpe,

My daddy tells me that you are sending all the Star Fleet ships home. Why are you doing that? Star Fleet just got through saving us from the bad Romulans. Now there are bad cats who are after us, too. If you send all the ships home then anyone can come and beat us up just like the Romulans did. My cousins Anla and Joced were killed by them. They were good friends and I miss them. I don't want to lose any more cousins. I don't want anybody else to lose any more cousins. Please don't send the Star Fleet ships home. We need a good Star Fleet.

Anwar Hussein

Dear Anwar,

I am sorry to hear about your cousins. I know how you feel, because I lost some of my cousins, too. You may have even had trouble sleeping after the news, as did I. I hope your parents were there to help you through. Please understand, though, that Star Fleet right now is a lot bigger than it should be. We don't need as many ships to fight the M'dok — the "bad cats," as you call them — as we did the Romulans. We have more ships than we have people to put on them and money to keep them flying. That's why some of them are going home, but not all of them. I would never let Star Fleet get so small that it couldn't protect us. Thank you for sharing you concerns with me, though. I will do my best not to let you down.

Cristofur Thorpe, Federation President