Interlude The Journey (158 CSD-005 SDE)
In the Year 158 CSD, Humanity fought the Battle of Earth on May 23rd. It was the final battle of the Catharmari War, a war that began two years earlier in 156 CSD, soon after first contact. The battle ended with the bombing of Earth leaving the world wracked by plasma storms. Unable to land or even determine if anyone had survived on the surface, the survivors gathered what supplies they took and headed off into deep space with the only faster-than-light ships that humanity possessed, the Starships EFS Enterprise, EFS Coto, and EFS Umikaze.
Later that year, they made first contact with the Krall. Rescuing the crippled Krall cruiser IKS Teketh from a fleet of Cathamari vessels while in the Alpha Centauri system. While there they also recovered the crew of the science vessel Horizon which had been stranded in the system following an accident that crippled her engines, any talk of salvaging the vessel however had been cut short by the incident with the Krall and the Cathamari.
As thanks for the rescue, the Krall aided young humanity with furthering their warp development program, allowing them to breach the warp five barrier. A feat many of the local powers had not yet accomplished. With the new engine enhancements and the secrets of warp towing imparted, they towed the Teketh back to Krall space, where they engaged in further trade with the Krall. Purchasing a database, a number of star charts, and even a probe.
Some members of the group however were uncomfortable with the current leadership of humanity and the interaction with aliens. Coupled with the recent loss of the homeworld, the reduced population of mankind was facing a potential mutiny with low morale. Yet one never showed, as in late 158, during the final days of December, the fleet managed to capture a Cathamari cruiser, which was soon refitted for use against the Cathamari.
In early February, they used the captured Cathamari Cruiser, Drakul's Sword as an interstellar missile. One that proved successful at striking the Cathamari homeworld, killing billions and plunging the Cathamari Empire into Civil War.
The news restored morale and garnered faith in the current administration of the fleet. Helping avert mutiny and promote the stability and unity they so desperately needed.
Following these events, they changed course to avoid the rapidly destabilizing Cathmari territories. This led them to the Delta Four star system, where they would make first contact with the Valorian Trade Confederation. Despite peaceful intent, difficulties in communication and the presence of a trigger-happy fool lead to a violent exchange. During this engagement, the fleet took a prisoner, named Sali. After the battle no one inquired after her fate and they ended up stuck with an alien guest.
As a former enemy combatant, they were left unsure what to do with her, and she was eventually put on trial on May 20th, 001 SDE, where she was sentenced to 15 years of labor in the ship's factory; subject to review in five years. They would leave the Delta Four system one week later on May 28th, after completing research into subspace communications and refitting the ship's comms to allow for faster-than-light communication at interstellar distances.
Having chosen to avoid inhabited systems following the incident, the Enterprise and escort managed to avoid any further incidents until August 14th, when they detected a distress call from a neutral Valorian outpost in the Dalmine sector and the Enterprise responded. Rescuing the outpost from pirate raiders, and leaving peacefully hours later. During this same month the crew began research into AGI technology, and set a course into a known hostile region of the galaxy out of a desire to maintain minimal contact with the Valorians.
On November 8th, 001 SDE, they started experimenting with orbital mining techniques. Using shuttlecraft to mine minerals from the air. During the tests, they encountered the Chi'ran Commonwealth, a somewhat isolationist power native to the Lantaro sector. For once this encounter proved to be entirely positive and peaceful. The crew were happy to make some friends.
On the 15th of that month, they rescued the crew of a Valorian cruiser and rendered medical aid to its crew. Following the incident, the chose to escort the damaged cruiser to the Neutral Trading Port of Cantra
They would arrive at Cantra, on April 4th, 002 SDE where they planned to offload their recent rescues and possibly engage in trade. Unfortunately a Cathamari warlord was already in the system trying to build a powerful new ship, and a different warlord chose that moment to attack. The Result was the Cantra Incident, a confusing mess of a battle in which Valorian fought Valorian, and Cathamari fought Cathamari. During the Battle, the Enterprise cooperated with the IKS Teketh and sank the Cathamari dreadnought, the Grand Warlord's Throne.
During the battle the crew rescued a number of Valorians, who they proved unable to return due to the local Valorians being somewhat guarded following the incident. The Valorians Reia, Vera, and Neira joined the crew. The ship set course for Zah.
They would spend some time in the Zah system, during which time they replenished supplies, and investigated an ancient alien outpost in close orbit to the sun. The place held many mysteries in regards to whoever built it, the still-living but brainless avians on the station raised many questions. From the outpost they ended up recovering the unknown alien's research into high-energy physics, these were noted to be related to high-density energy storage and solar harvesting.
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On the 15th of May 002 SDE, the crew was suddenly attacked at Zah by cloaked Voskar ships. During the ensuing battle, they wiped out all but one of the raiders, which proved a deterrent to future attacks from the Voskar. They would conclude their business in the Zah system on the 21st of the same month.
On July 2nd, 002 SDE, they tested the second phase of the orbital mining program, during which they accidentally destroyed an entire planet. Thankfully it was uninhabited, but the destruction of the planet didn't go unnoticed. On the bright side, no one was able to identify them for the act. Around the same time, Ruri developed the Pulsar torpedo, a new weapon system that proved effective at defeating shields but could only be mounted by heavy fighter craft.
In August, of the same year they conducted a minor refit of the fleet destroyers to accommodate fighter craft. Allowing them to launch a single squadron of fighters each. On the 23rd of that month, they engaged Valorian vessels in the Battle of E-227, which started what became known as the Valorian Conflict.
On November 4th, they made first contact with the Wovnar. A remarkably friendly humanoid race with a talent for biotechnology. In the few weeks they were in contact they engaged in trade, and gained a database on biotechnology from the Wovnar.
On January 3rd, 003 SDE while Williams was funding a program to look into cloning, Chief Scientist Ruri created a robotic babysitter named Rose, featuring an advanced AGI mainframe that was personally programmed in cybernetic code by Captain Countryman. Several more such babysitters would be made in the following months to help the busy crew with the raising of their children.
On February 12th, Valorian fleets caught up with the Enterprise in the star system of Mune-337, which led to the battle of Mune. A battle that proved to be a decisive victory for the Enterprise and crew due to the Valorians lacking weapons that could penetrate the advanced armor of the Enterprise.
Following the battle the Valorians began a campaign of attrition. With a new more warlike government transitioning into power, they decided the human fleet was too much of a threat to be left alone and desired to acquire their technology. The Bountiful Treasure and her captain Reidia were dispatched to lead these fleets against the Enterprise.
These campaigns would meet some success at limiting the fleet's abilities to resupply leading to the raid on Telgros on June 24th, 003 SDE and the later raid at New Valoria the following year.
The fleet made contact with Toral in July of 003 SDE and crippled the Bountiful Treasure, forcing the battleship to return to port for refit. However this didn't stop the war of Attrition. They would be blocked from resupply and hit with numerous other attacks in the following months.
By April of 004 SDE, they were running low on reserves and forced to change course away from the Brathra sector, their intended destination. Seeking new fuel sources, they chose to cross the Valorian core in a bid to reach Krall space where they could resupply.
This bid initially seemed successful but they were intercepted by a Valorian patrol on the tenth of June, forcing them to expend valuable reserves. No longer able to reach Krall space due to insufficient fuel, they had to look elsewhere to refuel.
On June 14th, they raided the Valorian core world of New Valoria. Caught off guard, they easily blew through the defenses, but during the ensuing battle, the Coto and Umikaze were lost. Freshly refueled, they fled into the Velosa cluster in a bid to lose the third fleet. While there, they stopped at a frozen world to make repairs and experiment with advanced particle weapons. On the 15th of June, Officer Mary Williams and her dissatisfied cohorts launched their mutiny, which proved fruitless beyond allowing Countryman and the Council to clear out this thorn in their side.
Williams was sentenced and executed after her trial on August 3rd. While many of her cohorts were sentenced to centuries of labor in waste reclamation or to the factories.
The Battle of Feros was the final battle between the Enterprise and the Third fleet, during which the third fleet was destroyed by plasma storms and a supernova. The battle was fought on September 2nd.
The Enterprise escaped that battle with some damage, but nothing too crippling and arrived in Krall space by late January of 005 SDE. While there, they met up with an old friend, Tika, commander of the IKS Teketh. They made repairs and resupplied while they were there before choosing to resume a course for the Brathra sector. A course that led them to cross a war zone.
In March, they came across a dead world with an old Valorian science outpost and learned about an odd convoy. A raid on the outpost allowed them to acquire a database of Valorian scientific data and gave them clues as to the nature of the convoy.
April 8th, 005 SDE was the day they caught up with the convoy, having learned it may be carrying a stolen cloaking device, they chose to hit the convoy, and after successfully lifting said cloak they were suddenly engaged by three Valorian Yinta II class dreadnoughts. The ensuing battle was a hard fight, as the Enterprise took heavy damage and managed to sink two of them despite the odds, but she took damage to her port nacelle making it impossible to jump to warp. As a result they were unable to escape the storm when it struck, but neither was the last dreadnought. Both vessels were swallowed by the storm, their fate unknown.