The Grand Dome had been around for nearly two and half millennia. An exact completion date had not been recorded in history, but all Xentharians knew from the history they learned as children that the Grand Dome had been built shortly after the destruction of the Risotto Empire, and the Resitad returned to those who believed in it�s power. The Grand Dome sits on the ground where the former Aphex Temple had stood to house the Resitad. But when the Risotto Empire had grown enough strength and had most of the northern continent firm in believing that the power of the Resitad was a lie, they decided to invade, pushing their way past the Aphex Guard and stealing the Resitad before they finally burned the temple to the ground. The Aphex Guard retaliated by attempting every possible military strategy to the defeat of the Risotto. Finally, in a glorious battle, the Aphex Guard retrieved the Resitad. To show for their undying belief in the Resitad�s power and their defeat over the Risotto, the Grand Dome was built. Soon, the Risotto Empire died off, and Xenthar was united under the belief of the Resitad. The metropolis that grew from around the Grand Dome became the capital for the unified planet, and the people found themselves in a golden age of peace.

But now, two and a half millennia have passed, and the Grand Dome still stands, though it has been refurbished dozens of times throughout it�s life. A beautiful park surrounds the temple, where hundreds of Xentharians enjoy their peaceful lives. The monks and priests mull around the entrances of the Dome, discussing the latest in the recent events of the world. The upcoming sprints, the death of a mediocre priest, and the launch of the Endurance IX, the second manned spaceship to leave the planetary system, which was planned to join up with Endurance VIII.

But none of this was of any concern to Beluk. He knew his history and he knew current events. All that concerned him now was that his children were playing nicely around the bench he was sitting on. His son and daughter, both less then a decade old, were already very bright for their age, and were playing with their ball, tossing it around doing childish things. The world around Beluk was green and good; the weather was among the most perfect he had ever seen. Thankfully, the weather was not like the night before, when a storm had rolled through and brought most people to congregate inside.

Beluk, confident in his children�s ability to play on their own for a few minutes, got up from the bench and walked toward the two-story high doors to the Grand Dome. He smiled as he walked past the multiple religious figures standing outside and continuing to discuss the news. Once inside, he walked straight down the beautifully decorated hallway, one of the six that went straight to the center of the Dome. It was a good two-minute walk to reach the large, open center of the dome. There, among the circles of benches, sat a small handful of people, all praying to the glowing crystal ball mounted in the center of the room. The Resitad sat on some of the finest cloth and marble that could be found on Xenthar. If something better could be found, it always replaced the outdated piece. Only the best could be used to shroud the Resitad in all its glory. Beluk got as close as he could to the Resitad, and hung his head over the railing that prevented people from getting any closer. He did not speak, but he prayed in his mind to the Resitad before him. He did the usual prayer that all Xentharians knew by heart, then stood up and looked at the crystal before him. The Resitad�s originals are completely unknown; it is thought to have existed on the planet forever. It has been worshipped for its perfection and power. Thousands of miracles written in thousands of holy books tell of the power the Resitad has over people. To the uninformed person, it would appear as a great crystal, in a perfect circle. But the Resitad is an all-knowing, all-powerful thing, unable to be destroyed. The Risotto were unfortunate to have learned that lesson. The Resitad merely say on its pedestal protected from all the elements by the Grand Dome, and the rest of the world revolved around it. No longer could anyone think of a time when harm would come to the Resitad.

Beluk stared at the Resitad some, and let his mind wander. Maybe the Resitad would give him a vision that so many had received before. He wouldn�t have much time to think; his children would need his attention soon. Beluk stared on at the Resitad, letting his imagination get the best of him. The reflections of the light off the crystalline structure of the Resitad gave him all kinds of illusions and shapes. One shape caught his eye. It was jagged, running from the upper hemisphere of the Resitad, diagonally down toward the bottom of the sphere, probably going back to the other side. Suddenly, he was aware of a barely audible, high pitched sound, something that one might consider only hearable to some animals. But it was definitely there, and he was not imagining it. He stood up, and his imagination was snapped as he came back to reality. The line was not fake; he was really witnessing something happening to the surface of the Resitad. He then realized what this was, something that no one could ever imagine. Before his very own eyes, the Resitad was cracking. He turned around, toward the people who could now also hear the sound and were beginning to stand. Unfortunately, Beluk didn�t have the time to finish a complete sentence. All he could utter was �The Resitad�!� before he was engulfed by a blinding, deafening, and massive energy wave ballooning out from the Resitad. In a moment of time so small that Xentharian science didn�t know it existed, the Grand Dome was obliterated. Nothing of it�s granite structure remained. Thankfully, Beluk�s children did not see their rapture coming, as they too were annihilated. The ground below the metropolis was shattered. Millions upon millions died within two seconds as the blast expanded out from the epicenter. The entire continent was gone within a minute, the wave continuing to destroy, never slowing. After five minutes, the entire surface of Xenthar was destroyed, shattered and broken like a million earthquakes going off in different parts of the world. The shock wave had completed its encirclement of the planet, and ended at the point exactly opposite the point where the Resitad stood on the planet. The destruction, unfortunately, was far from over. From the very core of the planet, came an even more powerful shock wave, sweeping out through the layers of the planet, breaking it down. Finally, the wave erupted from the surface, and the planet collapsed under the stress, breaking into asteroid-sized boulders, spreading out along the line of the wave. The planet of Xenthar, its entire people and their history were annihilated in what the universe would consider an instant. The Endurance IX, which had just left Xentharian orbit a day earlier, was engulfed without the crew knowing of it, for they slept through their own apocalypse.

A few minutes later, the shock wave still expanding, it collided with Synia, the fifth planet in the system. Algeri was next, and then Dil, Fenix, Levit, Regrean, and Tulniv were swallowed. All were destroyed in a fashion similar to Xenthar. The sun, Zygon, though not destroyed, was scared by it�s narrow-miss with death. Most of Zygon�s fuel was stripped away, pulled by the ever-expanding wave. The sun continued to burn, but its power had nearly been cut to a fourth of its former grandeur. Now, all that remained of this entire star system were the giant rocks that had been tossed from the planets they once had been part of, and were now settling slowly into an eternal orbit of the dimmed star. One more object remained, and it was still in the path of the finally diminishing wave. The Endurance VIII, with its crew of ten, was on the outer reaches of the system, and was next on the list of objects to be affected by the oncoming wave.

Nurik Saldier floated over to the view port on the starboard side of the Endurance VIII, looking at the ongoing retrieval of the solar sails. The steel cables pulled slowly on the corners of the main drive sail, pulling it toward it storage space located on top of the Endurance. The starboard maneuvering sail was already gone, and the port maneuvering sail almost completely drawn in. It would be another day until the final sails, the secondary drive sails, were pulled into their storage space. With the sun still pushing them ever so slightly, even beyond the orbit of, the small thruster packets on the starboard side of the Endurance hull were blowing out compressed deuterium at steady rates to stop the slight spin caused by the imbalance of sails. Nurik pulled himself along the inside of the crew cabin toward the panoramic observation dome placed in the top of the Endurance, and looked back toward the dimly lit Zygon. Telniv, and its moons Expandia and Hewt, could still be seen on the small computer screen that was attached to the ship�s short-range telescope. The crescent of Telniv was now becoming extremely thin. It would be gone before Nurik turned in for his sleep, and the second crew took over. Nurik, now the only crew member awake in his shift, headed over to the cockpit of the Endurance, and looked over the few computer screens that were running in visual mode. The ship was preparing to shut down almost completely, leaving only it�s fusion drive and sensor systems running until the time when Endurance IX would arrive to reactivate the ship. Doing their shutdown sequence, the crew would be stored in cryogenic vaults, sleeping for nearly five years.

Nurik checked the communications screen, and found that there was nothing but the continuous downloading of data from the ship�s sensors along the invisible line of communication buoys the Endurance had laid on her journey. The buoys transmitted data along the line until it reached the Control Center on the Haznar Peninsula on Xenthar. They also allowed the Control Center to communicate with Endurance, at speeds faster then normal radio would permit.

Suddenly, Nurik became aware of a slight blink in the ship�s dimmed lighting system. He didn�t think anything of it because for all he knew, it could have been his imagination. But, being the trained officer he was, he activated the ship�s sensor screen and checked over the numbers that were appearing from all different sources. Hull pressure was still the same, electrical systems were nominal, the fusion reactor was stable. Nurik then checked the external sensors. The spectrum analysis was still continuing, the solar telescope was still running though a tad fuzzy. Nurik would have to tell Shar Orin about it when he woke up. Unfortunately, the next telescope sensor that Nurik looked over, the ship�s short-range telescope, showed Nurik that his blink was more then he thought. The lens was cracked, broken up into five large pieces. The picture of Telniv was now off-center and split up, so that the narrow crescent was jagged. Nurik looked at the screen in front of him, trying to make out what had happened to the telescope. Though the image of Telniv was shattered, Nurik could make out something along the surface of the small planet. A line, barely visible, was moving along the surface of the planet. Telniv zoomed the wrecked telescope in, attempting to figure out exactly what this line was. The line appeared to be moving slowly across the surface, with a massive dust cloud being kicked up behind it. Nothing like this had ever been witnessed on a planet. He decided to move toward the panoramic dome for a better look at the big picture. As he peered his head through the clear dome, he found that the line was actually a great circle, moving toward an apex on the near side of Telniv. To the shock of Nurik, everything behind the line on Telniv was gone. Only a large cloud of asteroids could be seen. Then, suddenly, a great flash, and Nurik turned his head instantly toward Zygon. But Zygon was nowhere to be seen. Only after a few moments was a small light barely visible from where the bright light of the sun had once been. Nurik could do nothing but gawk. He turned his attention back toward Telniv, but Telniv was no longer there to be seen. Only an expanding cloud of asteroids could be seen fanning out from the once cold planet.

Nurik would have stayed in the observation window and gawked if he wasn�t shaken around in his zero-gravity environment by a strange pulse. The pulse soon grew massively, and the whole ship shook violently for a second. Nurik floated down to the main deck, past his other crewmembers who were surprisingly still sleeping in their floating bunks. Nurik peered out one of the portholes near-by, and saw the barely visible shock wave heading toward the Endurance. Along with it was a field of asteroids, all seeming to want to head toward the Endurance at the same time. It would be impossible for the Endurance to survive this impact. Nurik shoved his crewmembers around in their bunks, attempting to awaken them to the impending doom. A couple groggily awakened, but some were unfortunately sound sleepers. Nurik yelled at the men to ask no questions and get to the cryogenic vaults located toward the back of the ship. Nurik knew from how long ago Tulniv was destroyed that the wave would be at least five minutes off, but it would take nearly as long for the cryogenic sequence to be complete. Nurik dove into his cryogenic vault, slapping the Sequence Initiate button next to the door. The door shut before his eyes and the drugs began to be pumped into the oxygen inside the vault. They instantly made him drowsy, as if he hadn't been before. The temperature drop was almost immediate. Ice crystals were already forming on the glass view port in front of him. The shaking of the Endurance had now become non-stop, but he knew the big one still has to come. He was suddenly shaken to see a crewmember pounding on the glass view port. His face came close to the partially frozen glass. Nurik instantly recognized him: the commanding officer of this mission. Unfortunately, he couldn�t hear him from inside the vault. He knew that he wouldn�t be able to survive the impact, even if he got to his cryogenic vault now. Only a minute more was required before Nurik was in his deep sleep. Luckily, he got in his vault when he did, since the shock wave finally impacted the Endurance VIII. An asteroid impacted first, taking with it the main sail, ripping spindle that the steel cords were attached to right out of the central hub on the top of the ship. The shock wave followed, ripping apart nearly the entire starboard side of the ship. Unfortunately, half of the cryogenic vaults were on that side, so the lucky men who had gotten to those vaults had their luck run out, since they were instantly killed. Along with them were the men who had been unable to get into a vault, they were killed in the vacuum of space. The hull twisted and crumpled, deforming the cylindrical shape of the Endurance to look like a twisted piece of paper. The fusion reactor, which had been heavily armored to protect the crew from radiation, helped prevent the reactor from being ruptured. The hull around it was ripped away, but the piping which routed the reactor�s power to the rest of the ship kept the reactor in it�s place, lodged in it�s own cage.

The Endurance had just survived the annihilation of the entire solar system. Nurik had just survived the obliteration of the Xentharian people. The Resitad had just survived it�s own tantrum. Unfortunately, no one could guess when the next one would arrive, and who would survive.

Captain�s Log, Stardate 36113.7: The Independence is currently breaking away from our small fleet of freighters to explore a possible new mineral source in Sector 1139. Commander Morinth of the Freighter Adriatic Sea will be taking control of the fleet until we are done with this charting mission. Once we have finished this excursion, we will meet back up with the fleet at Terrill IV.

Michael Black, commander of the private transport Astral Dust, has made a personal request to me to speed up this trade route charting mission, even though two of the ships in our fleet, the Mercy and the Ho Chi Minh, are unable to go faster then Warp 6. Black has threatened to leave the fleet to arrive at Delta Vega as soon as possible, but with the ominous Tzenkethi presence here, I hope he doesn�t decide to act on that threat.

Captain Thorndike sat in his command chair, checking the two small consoles placed at the ends of his armrests. The view screen ahead of him was in standard magnification mode, showing a massive field of asteroids flying off to the sides, and a faint sun in the direct center of the screen, growing larger as the ship neared. The computer consoles surrounding him on the circular bridge hummed as they processed information at tremendous speeds. A large main console stood directly behind his chair, where two men checked over the ship�s tactical capabilities. On the stations located around the circular edge of the bridge housed different aspects of the ship�s functions, like environmental controls, engineering controls, science stations, and a small handful of others. Before him were the helm and operations consoles, where two of his relief officers were currently busily working away.

Nearly a third of the 530 people crew of the Independence was asleep at the time of day. Alpha crew was currently busy with their recreation and relaxation period. Most were probably in the main arboretum for a musical performance by Lieutenant Commander Correy. Beta crew was the one currently at work throughout the ship. He was part of Alpha crew, but most of the time took an extra 3 hours of on-duty work on the ship during Beta crew�s work period. He planned to stop by the main Mess Hall on Deck 9 for dinner before going back to his quarters. After that, it would be his usual routine: checking over duty logs and mission reports, inquiries from the captains of the freighters in this fleet, and reading over some Starfleet subspace communication traffic.

The computer suddenly beeped twice above him, and the instantly recognizable voice of the computer soon followed.

Ship-wide intercommunication channel 05 has been activated by Lieutenant Commander Nathaniel Correy for tonight�s performance. All personnel who wish to listen in on the performance should open channel 05. The performance will begin in five minutes.�

Thorndike turned his chair around, so he was facing the tactical console behind him. He nodded to the Bolian officer who was standing at the console, busily working over data. The officer, without a thought, turned on the bridge�s intercom speakers and then went back to his work. Thorndike turned his chair back to its normal position, where he could see out into the space on the view screen.

Once the chair was in his desired position, he stood up and walked to a small outcropping of the wall near the view screen. The small hole and the console above instantly made it recognizable as a replicator to almost anyone. Thorndike ordered a raktajino, hot, with double mint cream and a small bit of sugar. Before him the tall silver mug, with a Starfleet logo on it, appeared, steaming from heat of the drink. He grasped the black handle and strolled over to the outcropping on the other side of the view screen. On it hung the ship�s dedication plaque, created back when the ship was originally launched nearly half a century ago from the Beta Antares Yards. It had been tradition for centuries for such plaques to be made for all ships, sea-going or space-going. Among the information on the plaque was the line �Second Ship to Bear the Name�. The Independence before this one was a fine ship, at least from what he had read in the history files. She had been one of the Federation�s early science ships, and was responsible for all kinds of discoveries. But to Captain Thorndike, the previous Independence was nothing glorious. His Independence, this bulky Coral Sea class starship, was far more fitting of such a heroic name. His ship, though not under his command at the time, had fought in both the Cardassian and Tzenekethi Wars of the past decades. She had received six battle commendations for her actions. He had only been in command for two years, following the retirement of her previous captain, Mark Delmore. He had yet to do anything as infamous as what the Independence had done in wartime, but he was still a young captain, and would have time to make his name known.

A large collection of woodwind instruments could now be heard throughout the bridge. Thorndike, done losing himself in thought over near the plaque, walked up the set of stairs next to him and began to walk slowly along the perimeter of the bridge, looking over the consoles and the officers maintaining them. He sipped his raktajino as the music above him began to pick up it�s beat. He came to a stop beside the officer manning the helm, and looked briefly over the large console sprawled out before him. Shields, torpedoes, phasers, tractor beams, everything that could mean the difference between life and death for the Independence could be done from this single console. Thankfully, it�s full fury had yet to be unleashed on any daunting foe. Thorndike hoped that when he had to use it, it would be for the greater good of the Federation, and that it would succeed in what it was designed to do. His ship, though not one of the most modern of advanced ships in the fleet, was still not something to be brushed off so easily.

Thorndike continued his slow stroll around the bridge, coming to the large wall behind the tactical station, where a large screen displayed the innards of the ship. It showed the equipment on each deck, and could be used to pinpoint problems on the ship in times of crisis. Strolling yet again, with the music continuing above, he came upon one of the two science stations, where the massive influx of data from this mission was being routed. Data on the dimmed star ahead of them, data on the composition of the asteroids in this field, data on everything around the ship. Currently, the computer had found that the asteroids appeared to be part of a once formed solar system, but a traumatic event occurred, possibly within the sun, causing these newly forming planets to break up from fluxing gravitational effects. Lack of major organic life forms showed that these planets had not existed for very long before their demise. The cause behind the massive change in the sun is unknown, and most likely will not be known for years to come if Starfleet were to actually spend time studying this system. Starfleet had already been informed about the system, and was planning on sending a science vessel for some more in-depth research. Though Independence was definitely equipped for scientific research, she was not as good as some of Starfleet�s new Olympic class starships.

�Sir, can you come have a look at this?�

Thorndike stood up from his reading of the console and looked over at the Operations officer at the front of the bridge, who had turned to face him with a slight look of unknown. Thorndike could sense that the rest of the bridge had looked up for only the briefest moment at the least to see what was the cause for the sudden break of silence, excluding the now echoing music around them. He walked toward the tactical console, sliding past it to one side as he rounded the railing separating the center of the bridge from the perimeter. He skipped the small steps and made one giant step down to the floor below, not even stopping as he headed toward the Operations console. The officer turned back around to face forward, and the captain leaned over, placing one hand on the end of the console and the other on the headrest of the officer�s chair. The officer instantly pointed to a small screen in the center of the console, where there was a grid showing the area of space around them, a small version of the Independence in the direct center. Hundreds of asteroids were shown on the grid, moving from the top to the bottom, showing that the Independence was moving past them. But one object was not moving from top to bottom. It was moving from the top-right corner arcing toward the ship. Another object was stationary, and appeared like a partially destroyed ship.

�What is it?�

�Concentrating scans on the object now, sir. The computer can�t figure out what it is sir, except that it is a small crystalline ball. Origin is unknown. Exact crystalline composition is unknown. Propulsion system�I have no clue sir. The other object is a ship of some kind, heavily damaged. Technology appears to be equivalent of the early 21st century on Earth. She has a low-grade fusion reactor still running, though it doesn�t appear as if there is much left on that ship to run.�

Thorndike craned his neck to the side, trying to look behind him. He saw the tactical officer intuitively watching the captain in case an order was required. This time, his intuition was good.

�Mr. Shuring, go to Yellow Alert. But don�t make it known to the rest of the crew yet. I think they can enjoy their concert without knowing.�

The Bolian nodded and instantly set to work on preparing the ship for anything that could come. The music had begun to pick up it�s pace, and Correy was now beginning his operatic chants. Thorndike looked back down at the grid, and tapped one of the buttons on the console. Looking up, he could see the object on the view screen before him. It was small, perfectly circular and pulsating with light.

�Scan of the object complete sir. I can�t really give you anymore information on it, except that it�s approximately ten million years old and that it is heading directly toward us. Its surface also appears to be slightly cracked, though the computer cannot tell how or why this crack is there.�

�Can the computer tell if the thing is intelligent?�

�Not with this lack of information, sir.�

�What�s the distance?�

�4,000 kilometers and closing at a hundred kilometers per second�

Thorndike stood up and tugged on his uniform to fix it. The music above was now drumming in his ears, driving his consciousness. He turned back to Shuring at the tactical console.

�Raise the shields, prepare phasers to fire on my order.�

He turned back toward the view screen as Shuring went back to work on his console. The object was closing in on the Independence, and he had roughly only thirty seconds left until this object could collide with the ship. If it didn�t change its course soon, he would have to use his weapons against it. Only now did he think about informing the rest of the crew. The music above was still going on, and everything he did was almost in tune with the music. It had almost taken control of him.

But he shook the control as his time to choose shortened. �Fire at will, Mr. Shuring.�

Thorndike looked on at the view screen as two pulses of yellow beams came to a point on the object. He was slightly taken back as he saw that there was no effect on the object. �Fire again!� Again, no effect. He then saw the shields crackle as the object came through it with ease. Realizing that he had run out of time, he turned back toward the tactical officer.

�Red alert! All hands, brace for impact!�

Thorndike scooted over to his chair, but didn�t sit down. Instead, he gripped the chair�s armrest and prepared for the shock of the impact. He only got two seconds to prepare before the ship began to rumble.

Deep within the bowels of the ship, in Main Engineering, the crew had no time to prepare for the shock. The entire crew on the deck was knocked to the floor. When they were able to get to their feet, they found something amazing in their presence. A bright, pulsating crystal ball was now hovering a few meters away from the humming warp core. Behind it was a large hole in the bulkhead, with the rim of it red hot from heat. The hole extended through the entire side of the ship and ended on the outer hull, where the crystal had entered the ship. Luckily, force fields prevented vacuum of space from coming inside the ship. Suddenly, bolts of light arched from the crystal to the reaction chamber of the warp core, and the crystal was pulled closer. The thick plating designed to contain the matter and anti-matter reaction inside the chamber was now belting before the crystal as it moved into the core.

Lieutenant Archibald, the acting chief of engineering during this shift, staggered out of his office to view the happenings. Everyone in engineering merely stood back in awe, raising their hands over their eyes to attempt to cover their eyes from the bright pulsating light. Archibald, realizing that a breach of the warp core would be fatal, ran over to the main control console situated near the front of the core, and began to shut down the core. The object had now reached the center of the core, and the effect was causing warp plasma to build up against the force field on the outer edge of the core wall. The force fields could only contain the plasma for a few minutes before they would collapse, and the entire core would breach. Inside the core, the object sucked up the power of the reaction, drawing all the power available from the ship. Throughout the Independence, the lights flickered and systems began to fade. The crew was frantic as they had no clue what was going on around them. But the crystal continued its refueling, bringing the ship to near darkness. With Archibald�s shutting down of the warp core, the crystal could not receive the power it had sought. Its anger was quick and efficient.

The core suddenly cracked into pieces, bright beams of light emanating from them. The core then gave way, exploding outward at tremendous speeds as it blew right through the engineering bulkheads. The entire engineering deck was thrashed, the computer consoles exploding in a flurry of sparks and heat. Ceiling supports began to crack from the initial blowout and the deck above soon found itself crashing down onto engineering. The magnetic constrictors for the matter stream soon found themselves without support from below with the core now gone, and the stress of the collapsing deck frames around it caused it to finally give way. The matter injector located at the top of the ship, connected directly to the deuterium supply, was all that remained as the magnetic constrictors suddenly found itself falling downward. They collapsed down on the magnetic constrictors for the antimatter stream, knocking away at its support structure. The fragile structure of the constrictor walls shattered like glass as the tall shaft continued it�s descent. Finally, the collapse hit a snag, and the bottom of the shaft was brought to a stop. Unfortunately, the top continued its fall, and the constrictors gave way to the stress and cracked. The core began to fall forward into the now gapping hole that had once been main engineering. The hole itself was now four decks high, as support structures continued to give way. When the constrictors finally landed, they broke through the pile of rubble and ripped through another deck below. Structures continued to give way to the stress, as the Independence continued to rip itself apart from the inside. Soon, the outer hull was breached as the growing weight of material falling into the massive hole finally pushed through the deflector dish alcove at the front of the engineering hull. Large pieces of bulkheads and deck plates began to pour out of the bottom of the ship. The ship, still moving at full impulse, was now aggravating the destruction. Large cracks in the outer hull began to form as the ship pulled itself apart. Finally, the stress became too much, and the hull was peeled open. Nearly the entire engineering hull was shattered, and the waiting fuel of destruction was finally cracked open. The antimatter tanks exploded in a fury of fire and rage. The forward engineering hull was broken away and drifted away from the ship. The impulse engine reactors a few decks above the antimatter pods followed the first explosion in unison, ripping open most of the top of the ship, and setting the bridge ablaze. The ship, still carrying its inertia, began to barrel roll and twist and turn in the asteroid field. Power had long since died, and the dark ship continued on its roll, colliding with asteroids as it went. Finally, the ship lost its match to stay together, and the support structure of the mid-ship finally broke. Hundreds of pieces of the ship, including its crewmembers, flowed out of the large holes now covering the Independence. The ship continued its break up, with the nacelles being ripped from their arched pylons and exploding in a flurry of fire.

The Independence was now broken and dead, looking nothing like its former self. It was now destined to continue its life in a never-ending orbit around this dying star, continuing to be destroyed by the surrounding asteroids. Captain Thorndike and the Independence were now in the history books: As one of the many ships in Starfleet�s history to be destroyed by the unknown of space.

Federation Universal Databank File 458637271B-DX
Memory Gamma Databank
Level 3 Clearance Required
Subject: Starfleet, Starships, Destroyed, Reports
Title: Final Report on Loss of U.S.S. Independence NCC-11759
Author: Rear Admiral James Fomoco

Attachment:

Historical File of U.S.S. Independence NCC-11759: Coral Sea class command cruiser, third build of the class, launched from Beta Antares Yards in 2301. Second starship to bear the name (USS Independence NCC-747). Destroyed in Star System F-111 in 2359, cause still remains unknown. Received six battle commendations and two battle medals. Commanding Officers (in order of command): Commander Richard Durk (�01-�03), Captain T�Rank (�03-�09), Captain Phillip Sharp (�10-�21), Captain Andrew Orin (�21-�25), Captain Melissa Valhalla (�25-�34), Captain Christina Zurich (�35-�46), Captain Mark Delmore (�47-�56), Captain Michael Thorndike (�57-�59)

Following the loss of communication between Independence and the temporary freighter fleet commander of U.S.S. Adriatic Sea NCC-3021, S.S. Phoenix NGL-2265 and U.S.S. Decatur NCC-9953 are sent to scan Star System F-111. Both starships are unable to find any wreckage following three hours of searching, and return to the freighter fleet. USS Olympic NX-54784 arrives two days later to begin her planned examination of Star System F-111, but is ordered to scan for the Independence instead. Tug S.S. Miami NGL-51313 arrives a day later and, along with Olympic, locates the aft fantail of the Independence. Horizontal sections 9 and 10 are found in good condition. Section 8 is mainly destroyed, with major stress evident on the outer hull. Fifteen bodies are located inside the main shuttlebay and adjoining repair deck and are brought onboard Olympic for examination. Three Type-6 and One Type-5 shuttlecraft are found to be salvageable and are also brought onboard the Olympic. Miami successfully tractors the hulk and takes it to Starbase 115. Olympic continues to search for one week, but is unable to find any major piece of wreckage, though countless numbers of matter are found spread throughout the asteroid field. No further expeditions have yet to be sent to Star System F-111. As per recommendation of the Federation Council, the trade route being mapped by the Independence has been moved five light-years outward from Star System F-111. Case is considered closed as of March 8, 2363.

End Databank File 458637271B-DX

The lightening lit up the entire sky again. A few moments of awe before the loud roll of thunder came crashing down on the house. The rain was slamming on the roof of the front porch. If one looked out into the rain, and caught a very bright flash of lightening, the raindrops would appear to freeze, and you could see each individual one. Of course, if you were lucky enough to see this, you�d most likely have to cower at the impending thunder that would crash down soon after.

After another bolt of lightening streaking across the sky, four small lights could be seen coming slowly across the sky. Two green and two red, they clearly marked the formation lights of some sort of atmospheric craft. The lights moved closer, and as they did the silhouette of the small craft could be seen. Within a minute it was slowly beginning to hover over the front lawn of the house, and began it�s slow descent. The small antigravity plates light up as the ship was now about twenty meters above the ground, and the bright spotlight built into the front of the shuttle switched on, lighting up nearly the entire front yard. The shuttle was on the ground within moments, situated so that it was facing the porch. Lights could be seen through the large sweeping window that spread across the face of the shuttle. Small clicking sounds could be heard as suddenly a section in the middle of the window began to lift upward. It was soon followed by a section directly below, which lowered itself into it formed a ramp to the ground. The upper section acted as a roof, partially protecting the officer now stepping out of the shuttle from the rain. He stood at the very end of the ramp and looked out on the dark porch. A flash of lightening made it able to see him in detail. He was from Starfleet, an admiral to be more specific. An exact rank couldn�t be made out in the quick flash, but the man was certainly of importance.

�Is that you, Captain?�

Captain Davidson stood from the bench and moved toward the edge of the porch. The rain, falling at a shallow angle, started to spray his face and body. He tilted his head slightly as another bolt of lightening lit up the admiral�s face.

�Hal? Hal is that you? Yes, it is�well, quickly, get over here and watch you don�t slip. Come on in, Hal!�

Davidson walked over to the steps of the porch to greet the jogging admiral. A young woman carrying a satchel had appeared out of the shuttle after the admiral and was now jogging toward the porch as well.

�Hal, how are you? Why didn�t you tell me you were coming?� Davidson reached for the arm of the young lady, who has just reached the porch, and helped her up the steps. �The both of you, come in, you�re totally wet!�

Without verbal compliance, the two of them followed Matthews through the front door and into the dimly lit foyer. They tried to soak up some of the wetness with a towel Davidson had grabbed and then made their way toward the kitchen. Davidson stopped by the replicator and let it produce three coffees before he sat down at the table with the other two.

�You�ve got a beautiful house, James.�

�I hope you didn�t have any trouble finding it. This storm is quite horrible, everything is completely dark.�

The admiral sipped his coffee and thought for a moment. �James, do you know anything about the recent scientific missions in the Epsilon Omicron 14 Star System?�

A rather quizzical expression came over Davidson�s face. Admiral Hal Johnson, a long time friend of his, was getting to the point at hand almost immediately? This break from normalcy certainly pointed to something being wrong. �Epsilon Omicron 14? Can�t say I do. Its in Sector 1107, isn�t it? Mustang hasn�t been anywhere near there. We�ve mostly been performing missions nearer towards the Beta Quadrant.�

�Well, it doesn�t matter if you knew about it before, but it has become imperative that you know of its importance now.� Hal motioned for the lady sitting next to him to remove a PADD from the satchel. After looking over it to make sure the information was correct, he handed it to Davidson. �A science ship has been performing a two month scan of the entire system. It�s a rather normal system, nine planets and two small planetoids. The important thing is that three of the planets are highly valuable. Epsilon Omicron 14-1 and 2 are both Class-W planets, rich in solidified deuterium. Epsilon Omicron 14-3 is Class-T, and has found to contain deposits of duranium and other rare metals.�

Davidson leaned back in his chair, reading some of the drawn out statistics on the PADD. �What importance am I to a planetary system full of ore?�

Hal leaned forward and crossed his arms, blinking a few times to give him a chance to think. �All three of those planets have masses equivalent to Uranus. They are a literal gold mine of fuel and resources for the Federation. The Federation needs to tap these resources before anyone else. With our losses in the Dominion War, reconstruction of Starfleet has become the Federation�s greatest need. The destruction of our space stations and construction facilities has already hampered the fuel supplies of starships, and caused the recall of many deep-space exploratory missions in order to conserve fuel. In order to tap these sources, we must get starships out there immediately to stake a claim.�

Davidson continued looking over the PADD. Projections from the amount of deuterium on the planets would be enough to raise the Federation�s supply by nearly 20%. The duranium alone would be enough to rebuild most of the Federation�s smaller starbases lost in the war. �Hal, this does sound good for the sake of the Federation and everything, but what am I needed for?�

�The Federation is planning to send a fleet of freighters, tankers, and other mixed vessels to begin excavating the planet. Unfortunately, as you very well know, since the introduction of the Golnars by the Ferengi Alliance, such valuable fleets are in grave danger from these threats.�

�So you want me to escort a fleet to this valuable resource and stop it from some Ferengi? There has to be a catch, Hal.�

�I hate it when you are right, James. There is a very big catch. In order to reach Epsilon Omicron 14, a new trade route must be opened up, one that branches off from the Coridan-Terrill route. This new route will go through Sector 1139. And Sector 1139 is where the trouble all begins. 20 years ago the Starship Independence was destroyed in Star System F-111, while trying to map out the original Coridan-Terrill route. Independence was almost completely lost, and only small sections could be recovered. After examination it appeared that she was ripped to shreds from extreme hull stress, most likely caused by a breach. The fragments of Independence now orbit the massive asteroid field orbiting the star in F-111. The Federation believed that the asteroid field could be used as a hiding ground for Tzekenthi warships, yet no warships were ever sighted after the loss of Independence. Therefore, fearing the possibility of an extreme threat inside the star system, F-111 was made into one of the Federation�s �Black Zones�. These areas are restricted to be entered by Federation starships without the consent of the Federation Council.�

Davidson slid the PADD to his side, and relaxed in the chair. �I fear I may know where this is going.�

�I know it seems bad, James, but this is of the utmost importance to the Federation. Therefore, the council has allowed you and the Mustang to enter F-111, assess the threat that is there, and eliminate it. Once you see System F-111 as safe, you are then to escort the fleet on it�s way to Epsilon Omicron 14.�

�Will the Mustang be assisted in any other way?�

�No other capable starships are able to be brought out of other missions for this. The Mustang is certainly more capable of taking out a threat then the Independence was.�

Davidson looked up at the Admiral, quickly looking over at the woman at his side before looking back. He sighed out loud before he spoke again. �I wonder if Independence heard that same thing before she went into Star System F-111.�

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"No, 3 & 6 are mandatory, so you only have to do them if you want"

Alex, fellow classmate, trying to explain an assignment (2/2/01)

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"One's ethics are determined by what we do when no one is looking" Nugget
Star Trek: Gamma Quadrant
Star Trek: Legacy
Read them, rate them, got money, film them

"...and I remain on the far side of crazy, I remain the mortal enemy of man, no hundred dollar cure will save me..." WoV

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"No, 3 & 6 are mandatory, so you only have to do them if you want"

Alex, fellow classmate, trying to explain an assignment (2/2/01)