Captain Menchez - Qo'noS, Shipyard
After transporting to the Shipyard in orbit of the homeworld, Menchez made his way to the centre of it where it was busy with high ranking officers working on their own ships remotely. Out of the large windows, the Captain could see the I.K.S. Kragoth, a Negh'Tev-class heavy battlecruiser. The sheer size of the thing blew the old Klingon away.
"Hu'tegh!" he swore. "It is impossible to believe the Empire would give me such a ship. Especially after I may have uncovered events in what some would perceive as prematurely."
Another old Klingon, a Commander Rogh walked over. "You aren't a mind reader, and, besides, no Klingon is perfect. Oh, I may be one of those anti-J'mpok hardliners. I am Rogh, and I assist Captain Klaarg in operating this facility."
"Do not fret," Menchez held up his hand. "We had J'mpok to blame for breaking our peace with the Federation. Now that it's back, perhaps he could learn the benefits of such an alliance."
Rogh shrugged. "Perhaps. But are politics and nationalism the only reason you are embarking on such a mission?"
"You get right to the point, don't you Commander? Well, if you must know, this old warrior would like to prove to himself he is still useful. So far, age hasn't weakened me— yet."
The Commander nodded. "The heart of a warrior never dies. If you believe there are more lessons and battles to be had, then allow nothing to stop you. In the meantime, your crew is boarding now, if you would like to take the Bridge of your ship."
"Thank you, Commander Rogh," Menchez replied, taking a breath and one last look at the exterior of the Kragoth.
Meanwhile, The Ha'vok drifted near the Shipyard, anticipating Menchez.
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Captain Menchez - I.K.S. Kragoth, Bridge
Captain Menchez entered the Bridge of the Negh'Tev-class I.K.S. Kragoth and nodded to his crew. Lieutenant Commander Vato, a Klingon and tactical officer, walked over and handed him a PADD.
"With the crew's battle records, we pledge you our lives and ask that you lead us as Commander of this ship," Vato said.
Menchez took the PADD. "I accept your lives into my hands. Let us hail the Ha'vok."
"Channel open," Lieutenant Kinna, a Klingon and operations officer, reported.
The Captain took his seat. "General, we are ready when you are. The coordinates I received from my contact in Intelligence are in your hands alone. We will follow you to the orbital space station around an unknown planet that contains the assumed fleet of the House of Kovog."
The general nodded in response. "We will set a course." Then his sizeable Kar'fi-class vessel set course for the coordinates provided by Menchez, and jumped to warp.
The Kragoth sped through warp along with the Hav'ok. Menchez hailed the other ship.
"General, whatever awaits us at the end of this may test us. If you don't mind my inquiry, how far would you go to retrieve the Chancellor? Would you die to get him?"
The general nodded. "Me and my crew will do whatever it takes to bring him back. If worse comes to worse, today is a good day to die!"
"I have my qualms with the man, but he is our Chancellor. Honour will have this day."
When both ships dropped warp at the edge of the Pheben Sector, they suddenly found themselves before a giant planet and an orbital space station of Klingon design; both vessels surrounded by twenty enemy ships, half of them Klingon, the other half a mess of other-faction type starships: all, likely, unaligned to anyone but, perhaps, the House of Kovog. How much of this group was even comprised of Klingons?
"Klingons, this is Tavar. Surrender your ships," came the hail of what appeared to be a tall human, appearing on the view screen. "You won't get another warning."
When the screen clicked off, Menchez returned to his communication with the Hav'ok. "Qu'vatlh," Menchez swore. "You are the ranking officer here, Kro'nok. I say we engage battle!"
"To that, I agree, captain! We will destroy them!"
The Hav'ok charged the main deflector and fired off a purplish deflector beam, generating a gravity well in the middle of the ships forward of them, and began firing a spread of antiproton arrays and chroniton torpedoes as a pair of Fer'Jai-class frigates emerged from phase shifts and began opening fire on the vessels to the aft. In a matter of moments, the Hav'ok was launching S'kul fighters as well, who began attacking the ships to the sides.
The Kragoth pushed forward into the scattering of Klingon and exo-faction ships. A Ferengi Nandi-class warship fired phasers and photon torpedoes into Menchez's battlecruiser, to which the Kragoth countered with disruptor beams, taking out the Ferengi's forward shields. Two photon torpedoes shot into its hull then exploded its forward section.
"That's one down," reported Vato. "How many more are there? Too many?"
Menchez waved him off. "There is never too many! Continue!"
"It was just an observation," Vato replied, as the Kragoth passed over a Kamarag-class battlecruiser and fired disruptor beams and photon torpedoes into its shields.
Kinna activated weapon system efficiency, reducing power drain. The Kragoth took several more disruptor beam hits, bringing its ventral shielding down a few percentages. Vato fired again, burning through the Kamarag-class battlecruiser's dorsal protection and straight into its hull. Several more torpedoes exploded the Bridge and tore through the neck of the Kamarag-class battlecruiser, sending its own starship debris and spaceborne crew off into the vacuum.
The Hav'ok continued, as the gravity well crushed at trio of Klingon Birds of Prey, as the Hav'ok fired a spread of antiproton arrays at a pair of Vor'cha-class battlecruisers, draining their shields and then destroying them with tricobalt devices.
As the Kragoth moved through the space battle field, two Peghqu'-class heavy destroyers flanked from behind and began pumping disruptor cannons and beams into its aft shields. Kinna modulated the Kragoth's shields and Vato fired a full spread of gravimetric photon torpedoes into the forward shields of each ship.
"Turn us about and finish them with the beams," ordered Menchez, as the Kragoth rotated to face them and fire powered-up disruptor beams through their shields and into their hulls.
The two vessels blew up, with their explosions rocking the Negh'Tev-class battlecruiser and lighting up its shields. From the fading debris, a Kurak-class battlecruiser, the Sevak, decloaked and began firing disruptor beams into the Kragoth. Its Captain hailed Menchez.
"Do you really think two ships against all of us is really a match?" smirked Tavar, a man and what appeared to be a Human in torn clothes. "Just because you discovered us, doesn't mean you have to attack us."
Menchez gritted his teeth. It sounded like they didn't know they were here for the Chancellor, whoever they were. "What are a bunch of humans doing siding with the a house that was thought long dead?"
"You think I'm some pathetic human?" laughed Tavar. "Would a human be capable of this?"
The Captain watched as Tavar tapped commands into his communications console, diverting the rest of the waiting ships to open fire at both the Kragoth and the Hav'ok.
"The answer is no," the man replied. "If you think you can take all of us on, you are as deluded as the rest of your Empire. You're all just a bunch of one-track-minded war beasts with no brains whatsoever. My people have made your lost House much better, and we will fix your weak Empire. If you get tired of being beaten, you may ask to join us. That is, if you're not dead by then."
Another Negh'Var-class battleship warped in and opened fire on the attacking ships, as the Hav'ok launched more fighters and started generating an anti-time singularity in the middle of the enemy forces.
Five Klingon ships became caught in the singularity, stopping them in place and knocking their shields offline. Their hulls began to buckle.
Meanwhile, the Kragoth activated its molecular cohesion nullifier field, protecting Menchez and his crew from the increase in fire. The Negh'Tev-class vessel held in place as it took out three more swarming Birds of Prey. The Sevak quickly cloaked out of sight.
The Hav'ok phase shifted, rendering it immune to incoming fire as the massive vessel fired on the enemy ships with antiproton beams.
The Kragoth rocked under the explosion of the five Klingon ships buckling and exploding from the singularity, and rocked again from the incoming fire. Menchez turned to his tactical officer. "Report on scans for the Chancellor?"
"Captain," Vato began as he turned to his other console. "I'm reading a Klingon life sign on the orbital station. The rest appear to be non-Klingons."
Menchez turned to the view screen to take in the sight of the battle before them. "Augments," he corrected. "They're augments."
"How do you know?" Kinna asked.
The Captain nodded. "Their demeanour and over-confidence say it all. In addition, there have been reports of augment encounters in this sector. Hail the Hav'ok on a secure channel."
"Channel open," Vato reported.
Menchez sat in his chair. "General, if our intel is right about us being here, I suspect the Chancellor is on the Klingon orbital space station. There are more vessels between us and it. If we can defeat them, and then either beam him out or us in, we could be on our way to completing this mission. One more thing, if this space contingency is not humans, judging by their behaviour, it is likely they be augments."
The general responded. "Acknowledged, captain. Onward!"
The Kragoth tore through several more vessels until it neared the orbital space station. Vato fired upon its forward shielding, attempting to get a lock on the Klingon aboard it.
"No luck, Captain," the tactical officer reported. "He's behind some heavy materials that is blocking our transporter."
Menchez stood. "I will take an Away Team aboard. Hold us off here with the General if you can."
"Understood, sir," he answered, leaving his position for the centre of the Bridge. He could see several Klingon ships attempt to transport augment soldiers onto the Hav'ok.
