The Price of War

2487

Anger.

That was exactly what Sub-Commander Torvair, of the Romulan Star Empire, was thinking.

Remembering that dreadful day of loss during the Undine War of 2464-5, in which the entire Undine Fleet was detroyed, all Torvair was thinking of, was revenge.

The past 3 years he hoped were not spent in vain. The development of a new weapon and a new ship to carry it was the heart of study in the Star Empire during those years. And now it was nearly complete.

And the puzzle pieces of Torvair's plan were slowly, falling into place, as the infamous skull avatar, of the space pirates, took its place in his plastic chest, again....

The space pirates have returned....

The Prices of War

## Part 1

The pirate Torvair ripped off his Romulan disguises to reveal a heavily scarred face. He had long silvery white hair that framed his face, giving it a very horrendous look.

Numerous Romulans turned to stare at the man whom they had believed to be a Romulan Fleet Captain. One of them called security.

Security forces entered the room, but where stunned quickly by Torvair's rapid fire reflexes.

He ran down numerous hallways, stunning every Romulan in sight. He entered a turbolift. The doors closed just before a few disruptor blasts slammed into the door.

He arrived at the transporter room. And his plan began...

On the prototype Romulan Battlebird, many other pirates were making there way to the bridge. Torvair beamed over, and began firing on all the Romulans in sight. The bridge was quickly captured.

"Full impulse power, charge all disruptors." Torvair commanded as he sat down in the Captains chair.

The Battlebird moved out of the testing area, where it was met with heavy resistance: Two Warbirds and four Scouts were moving in quickly on their position.

"Fire the wave canon." the ruthless pirate ordered.

The Romulan ships had fired only a few shots before they were destroyed by the incoming waves of wave energy. It all lasted 5 seconds.

"All enemy ships have been destroyed, sir." the pirate at the tactical station said.

Torvair acknowledged. "Set a course," he said. "For Federation space."

## Part 2

Across the neutral zone, and quite far from the brief battle zone...

It was a day of celebration on the USS Talmidon. Fleet Captain Talmid had won a successful battle against the Borg, and to celebrate, Talmid announced a rare Pizza Day.

Everybody had been called to the auditorium, where the celebration would take place. Numerous Pizza ships had been called to the event. They quickly deposited their precious cargo.

Talmid stepped up onto a large platform, when Commander Gary Vermont burst up to his side. "Sir, Pizza Transport 7 hasn't arrived."

"What?" Talmid gasped. "It were right behind us, in warp."

"Well something happened, obviously." Gary said. "I'm going to the bridge to do a full sensor scan-"

The red alert suddenly sounded. Everybody filed out of the room to their safe areas.

"Huh? Oh." Talmid realized. "All senior officers to the bridge!" He and Gary went to a turbolift.

The bridge was a sorry sight, people running around with pizza hanging from their mouths. "Computer! Eliminate the pizza!" Talmid ordered as a last resort.

The computer beeped, and lasers shot out from the sides of the bridge, disintegrating the pizza.

"Hey! That's not fai-." a guy said, before realizing that it was the Captain he was talking to. He slunk down in his chair.

"Sir, a starship has just warped in some million miles from here." the science officer said. "Its Romulan."

"Open hailing frequencies." Talmid said.

"There is no response sir." the officer said.

"Sir, they are opening fire!" the tactical officer exclaimed.

"Shields up, full power! Deploy ablative armor generators, begin modulating the shields at random frequencies!" Talmid ordered. In the split second that the Romulan starship appeared on the screen, the Fleet Captain had recognized it as-

"Shields at 12%, hull integrity at 43%!" the same officer screamed. Sparks exploded from nearby conduits.

"Get us out of here! Max warp!" Gary ordered.

-a top secret, dangerous, weapon of mass destruction designed by the Tal Shiar.

Seconds later the Talmidon was at warp 9.5, and counting.

"Sir, how did you know-" Gary began.

"I have contacts in the Star Empire, and they told me about their findings. That was meant to be a top secret project. Apparently, something happened, as it was supposed to be launched 4 months from now." Talmid said. "Set a course for Star Fleet headquarters at Earth, I need to talk with Admiral Paris."

## Part 3

Suddenly numerous bright green shots shot out of the Battlebird and locked onto the Talmidon with great force.

"Tractor Beam!" Talmid gritted his teeth.

"Sir, we are being drawn close to their shields!" a frantic officer cried. "If we make contact, we will disintegrate!"

"Fire all phasers and torpedoes!" Talmid ordered.

Phasers shot out and hit the Battlebird at nearly point blank range. Torpedoes sizzled out of launchers and slammed the shields. But the projectile and beam weapons merely bounced off, causing more damage to the Talmidon.

"Cease fire!" Gary ordered.

But it soon seemed that nothing could save them now, as the wave canon of the Romulan ship started to eerily glow.

But when all seemed lost,

"Sir, we are picking up two warp signatures!" tactical officer Dave Barker said. "They are Federation!"

"On screen!" Talmid ordered immediately. He sighed a sigh of relief. "It's the Mercury and Tashi!"

The two ships opened fire, distracting the enemy ship long enough for the Talmidon to break free.

"Sam and Ibuggabugga, lets get out of here!" Talmid said over the comm.

The three ships moved quickly in the direction of Earth, and jumped to warp in less than a second.

## Part 4

Fleet Captain Talmid left Admiral Paris's office for maybe the 10th time. He met Captain SamMercury in the hallway.

"Hey, Sam." Talmid greeted him.

"Good morning, Fleet Captain." SamMercury replied. "How did the meeting go with the Admirals?"

Talmid said, "Our spies have found out that space pirates infiltrated a secret base and stole the now not top secret Romulan Battlebird. That was the ship that attacked us."

"Oh no! Did they give any information about the pirates and what they looked like?" Sam asked.

"They said that one of the ones on the station had a heavily scarred face." Talmid said.

"I hope it helps. "Sam said. "Oh yeah, I also heard from Star Fleet Command, we are to join with a fleet of ships in 0500 hours. In the Redbrickesstan system."

*5 hours later*

"Woah! That's a lot of ships!" Captain IbuggabuggaDalien said in delight as his USS Tashi entered formation between the USS Talmidon and USS Mercury.

"Sir, the Fleet Captain is broadcasting on audio." the helmsman said.

"Lets hear it." Ibuggabugga said.

"To all ships: We're moving out. We have tracked the Pirate/Romulan ship near a colony on Delegoa IV."

"You heard the Fleet Captain." Sam Mercury said aboard the USS Mercury. "Engage warp drive!" he ordered.

The Talmidon, Mercury, Tashi, and the other Federation ships all warped out, brilliant flashes of light accompanying them.

## Part 5

The Armada of Federation ships dropped out of warp to find a horrible sight.

The pirate/Romulan Battlebird was approaching the inhabited world of Centauris III!

Talmid blew up. "BEAM THEM UP NOW!!!!!!!"

The Battlebird fired its wave canon, and the planet was blown to oblivion.

"Sir, transporter room 3 has reported a piece of rock on the transporter pad." an officer said.

Talmid was in a rage. "All ships, attack formation! Full phaser fire!"

The armada surged ahead. Sovereigns, Excelsiors and Galaxies flew in on the port side of the Battlebird.

The USS Consolation, a Generations Class, leaped ahead of the Talmidon, and charged its phasers. It barely got far, the wave canon fired, dooming the ship and its crew to nonexistence.

The ships on the pirates' port side flew into battle. The lead Sovereign fired its phasers, but the attack backfired as the phasers bounced off the enemy ship's shields and blasted the Sovereign and many of the other starships around it.

Talmid ordered full phasers and torpedoes, which streaked out of the Talmidon. A disruptor blast knocked it over, exposing the flagship's belly.

Talmid nearly fell out of his chair. "GET US OUT OF THIS VULNERABLE POSITION!" he shrieked. The helm officers frantically tried to move the Talmidon out of the way of the Wave Canon, but to no avail.

Captain SamMercury was on the bridge of his ship. The battle was so far not going so well. His Galaga escorts had suffered terribly. Then he saw. The Talmidon was fully exposed to the enemy ship, which fired.

Sam Mercury couldn't believe it. But it was almost too late. The beam breached the Talmidon's shields and was seconds away from tearing away its armor.

"No!"

## Part 6

SamMercury shut his eyes tight, unable to endure the sight of the Talmidon's destruction.

But it never happened.

All of a sudden, another starship entered the scene.

"Sir, the USS Confederation has just entered the system!" one of the Talmidon's helmsmen alerted Talmid.

Talmid opened one eye. His bridge was still there. His crew was still there, his...

"Open a channel." Talmid said.

The face of Captain Rentarno Tanaka appeared on the viewscreen of the Talmidon.

"Was it your intention to, or coincidence that you just stole my wave canon blast?" Talmid said jokingly. Turning serious he said, "Super glad to see that your new ablative shields are able to repulse wave blasts."

Captain Rentarno looked confused. A damage report was heard. "Oh, just glad we got here just in time." he said.

By now, the Talmidon was in a safer position, and SamMercury's and IbuggabuggaDalien's attack groups had converged on their target.

The channel ended, and Talmid ordered, "Full pulverization canon fire, pattern Gamma."

4 dangerous and destructive beams shot out of the Talmidon. The combined shots and the fire from the Confederation and the rest of the Fleet was able to break through the Battlebird's protective shielding.

Talmid smiled triumphantly at the destruction of the enemy ship. The Federation starships ceased fire. But then the unthinkable happened. The explosions stopped, but the enemy ship remained.

"What?!" Talmid felt like screaming. "Report!"

Dave Barker answered. "It appears that the Battlebird has some sort of armor. It is called, Gigawanium Armor."

Talmid's palm flew to his face. "Full phaser and torpedo fire." he mumbled.

Aboard the Romulan ship, Torvair decided to reveal yet another one of the ship's wonders to his pirate crew. "Set a course for Earth, maximum warp." he said evilly.

A crewman said, "But sir, we are surrounded. Attempting to warp would destroy us-"

"No it won't, every heard of Gigawanium armor?"

"But sir-"

"Do it." Torvair thought about firing his bridge crew immediately after he finished his mission.

The crewman sighed, and prepared for warp.

Back on the Talmidon,

"Captain, the enemy ship is preparing for warp." an officer on the Talmidon said.

"How desperate does he get?" Talmid said. "Attempting to warp in the middle of this battle would-"

The Battlebird turned towards a group of Sovereign and Prometheus Class ships and jumped to warp, destroying numerous of the ships.

"Sir, they have somehow survived the collisions." Dave Barker said. "Oh no."

"Oh no what?" Talmid asked.

"Sensors indicate that they are headed for Sector 001."

"Earth." Talmid said. "Signal all starships. Pursuit course, engage."

## Part 7

The crew of the Talmidon tensed. Silence hung overt the bridge as computer beeps made up the ambiance.

The Fleet Captain wrung his hands. His helmsman broke the silence.

"Sir, we are approaching the Sol system." an Ensign at the helm said.

"To all ships, this is Fleet Captain Talmid." Talmid said. "Prepare to exit warp in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1-."

The fleet jumped out of warp right in front of a Earth. Two small Star Fleet ships were desperately attempting to stop the Romulan Battlebird from destroying Earth, but they proved unsuccessful.

"All ships, accelerate to attack speed, fire at will!" Talmid ordered.

The ships homed in on the Battlebird, they phasers blaring. The surviving Akula from the initial attack was blown to pieces by the pirate/Romulan ship. Two Galagas moved in to attempt to rescue survivors.

Captain SamMercury led a group of Excelsiors in the USS Mercury.

"Battle pattern Mercury Alpha, lets see if we can get their attention." he said.

The Excelsiors streaked in, firing phasers.

The USS Generations and a Prometheus flew in and fired their phasers.

Some damage was dealt to the Romulan ship, but a Galaga class was caught in the destructive wave of energy from the enemy ship.

One of the Excelsiors broke out of formation and attacked the Battlebird from a different position. A Galaxy class zoomed in and fired its phasers. The Sovereign also began its attack.

The Battlebird then started its counterattack, striking numerous blows to the Star Fleet ships. The Galaxy was destroyed, numerous Excelsiors were damaged. Many of the Galagas were disabled.

All seemed lost.

## Part 8

The Talmidon roared into the battle, scoring several major hits on the Battlebird.

"Arm transphasic torpedoes, standby for launch." Talmid ordered.

3 deadly torpedoes streaked out of the Talmidon's forward launchers. They slammed onto the Romulan ship, damaging its hull terribly.

The bridge of the Romulan ship looked worse than it did on the outside. Plasma leaked out from the walls and sparks exploded every time there was motion.

Torvair was in a fit. He screamed in rage. "FIRE EVERYTHING!!" he screamed. "I want the Talmidon destroyed now!"

Wave canon blasts, disruptor beams, and torpedoes flew out like a storm from the pirate/Romulan vessel.

The Talmidon was overrun.

"Just great." Talmid said as he saw the USS Generations break into pieces as it ventured into the crossfire. "Return fire, all phasers and torpedoes."

"Aye sir!" Dave Barker said.

Phasers, photons and quantums, everything fired from the Talmidon.

"Not much damage to the enemy ship sir." Dave said. "They might have some sort of regenerative armor."

Talmid was deep in thought. "Set a course, coordinates 000."

"Sir, assuming that the center of the map was our Sun, then we would burn up." Dave said. "But I think I know your plan."

The remaining Star Fleet vessels all turned towards to Sun at full impulse.

"They're retreating." Torvair said, not realizing that if the Talmidon was to retreat, it would be going in the opposite direction. "Destroy them! All power to the weapons, except enough to keep us moving!" he said.

"Commander, if they were retreating-" a crewman said.

"That is an order, Ensign!" Torvair screamed. "You are now a Janitor!"

The Battlebird chased after the Talmidon.

"We are nearing the Sun's outer atmosphere Captain." an officer on the Talmidon said uneasily.

"Wait for it-." Talmid said. "Now! All ships, evasive maneuvers!"

The Star Fleet ships swung away, except for the Talmidon.

"I said evasive-" Talmid said.

"Sir, our maneuvering thrusters are offline! We cant change course!" an officer cried frantically.

Talmid lurched forward in his chair as the Talmidon streaked forward towards the raging inferno of the Sun.

## Part 9

Three starships suddenly dropped out of warp. Upon recognizing them, Talmid sighed of relief. "It's Mightyman! He's come to rescue us!"

Shrieks of joy were heard all over the bridge, such as, "Yay! It's Mightyman to the rescue!"

Mightyman's ships were the MS-2 Falcon, MS-5 Eagle and MS-7 Defiance. Mightyman was on the Defiance.

"Lock tractor beams onto the Talmidon!" he ordered.

Orange tractor beams shot out of the Defiance and locked onto the Talmidon. The Talmidon was pulled off of its dangerous course and dragged to safety.

"Sir, we are being hailed." an officer on the Talmidon said. "On screen." Talmid said.

"Hey, Fleet Captain!" Mightyman greeted Talmid. "Sorry we were late, so much ship debris on the way here, we nearly crashed numerous times!"

"I'm just glad you could get us out of our little mess." Talmid said thankfully.

But the Romulan Battlebird wasn't so fortunate. It was already being drawn in by the Sun's gravity, and its thrusters were offline and overheated.

"Hold on." Talmid said to Mightyman. "Open a channel with the Romulan ship."

"Channel open."

"This is Fleet Captain Talmid of the USS Talmidon." Talmid said. "You have committed terrible aggressions to the United Federation of Planets. But I am willing to negotiate and rescue your ship before it is destroyed."

On the other side of the transmission, Torvair gritted his teeth. "Never!" he shouted. "I would rather-"

The transmission suddenly stopped.

"Let us get out of here." Talmid said. The Falcon, Eagle, and the Defiance streaked away, with the Talmidon in tow.

Moments later, the Romulan Battlebird was consumed by the Sun's outer atmosphere, never to ever be seen again.

The battle was over.

## Part 10

The airlock opened and Commander Gary Vermont stepped out.

"Welcome back, Commander." Fleet Captain Talmid said happily. "How do you like the USS Confederation?"

"It's great, Captain. Oh boy, I've got a great story to tell you guys about." Gary said. "Sorry about the Generations, it is pretty much a piece of space debris now."

"No problem, Commander." Talmid said. "You did great. If you'll excuse me, I have to talk with the other Captains."

Talmid walked over to Captain SamMercury, and Captain Ibuggabugga.

"Sir, our casualties were very high. We lost over 15 starships, and around..." IbuggabuggaDalien said.

"This was a terrible loss for the Federation, and it proves how dangerous space pirates are." Talmid said. "Star Fleet needs more powerful ships and better technology to counter these threats."

"We have already installed ablative shields to the USS Mercury and five other Galaga Cruisers." SamMercury said. "I am being assigned to patrol the neutral zone in case the Romulans decide to take advantage of our weakness."

"I doubt the Romulans would attack," Talmid said. "But carry on. We have to be cautious."

"I will." SamMercury said. He left the room.

"Well Ibuggabugga, it was a pleasure serving with you." Talmid said. "Commander Vermont and I will be returning to the Talmidon now. Looking forward to serving with you again, but not under such circumstances."

"And you too, Fleet Commander." Ibuggabugga said.

Minutes later, Talmid and Gary were back on the Talmidon's bridge.

"Helm, set a course right past that star, warp 7." Talmid said standing up. "Engage."

The Talmidon flew out of formation with the rest of the Fleet, engaged its engines, and warped away, to continue the mission of exploring new worlds.

----------THE END-----------

## Credits:

SamMercury - For his role and his ships that appeared in the story

IbuggabuggaDalien - For his role and his ships that appeared in the story

MIGHTYMAN503 - For his role and his ships that appeared in the story

And the Lego Universe Creation Lab Moderators, who approved this all!

And of course, special thanks to the viewers, who read this story! A big thank you!