 Result: Crushing Defeat for Defileron | |
| Dates: June 24-August 15, 2376 | Location: Earth |
| Nations/Groups Involved:
United Federation of Planets |
Empire of Defileron |
| Commanders:
Admiral Daisuke Tokugawa (UFP) |
Emperor Demon-Kieran Executor Dawson Crenshaw High Inquisitor Jaeden'laek the Exile |
| Space Forces:
Three large task forces, approximately 725 capital ships, 200 squadrons (2,400 ships) of fighters (UFP) |
Mobile Omega battlestation Hand of Joshmaul and one battlefleet, approximately 2,000 capital ships, 500 squadrons (6,000 ships) of fighters |
| Ground Forces:
150,000 Starfleet Marines, approximately 320,000 Starfleet Security officers, 3500 ground vehicles (UFP) |
Two million invasion troops, 10,000 ground vehicles |
| Losses:
Four hundred and fifty ships, eighty squadrons, seven million civilians, 275,000 officers and men, 2900 ground vehicles (UFP) |
1,440 ships, all fighters, 550,000 killed, 450,000 wounded, one million captured; 2,000 ground vehicles destroyed, 8,000 ground vehicles captured |
The invasion of Earth officially began the Defileron War on June 24, 2376, when forces of the Empire of Defileron used the element of surprise to invade the capital of the United Federation of Planets. Led by the Emperor of Defileron, Demon-Kieran Devaneaux, and his military commander Dawson Crenshaw, they had managed to deceive the Federation into thinking the Empire of Defileron was a far smaller organization, no match for the Federation. Demon-Kieran, however, had managed to pull off a great deception, and his ships were crammed with nearly two million troops - Federation, Klingon and Reydovan renegades, Orion pirates and other space corsairs that plagued the spacelanes. Under the banner of Defileron, they prepared "the Great Fold" - a powerful foldspace drive onboard the mobile battlestation Hand of Joshmaul, spearheading the attack - and made the jump to Earth.
Joshua Underwood - the real life one, that is - originally intended to flesh it out in the Star Trek: Alliances storyline. However, with the closure of Alliances due to inactivity - a decision made by by the room owner and agreed on by Underwood, the co-host - Underwood wrote in the remainder of the storyline as it might have ended up. As of this writing, the siege of Earth would have lasted another two weeks.
The Invasion Begins[]
Demon-Kieran had planned the invasion of Earth as early as March, shortly after gaining awareness in Artimus Devaneaux's destroyed cloning lab in the ruins of Castle Devaneaux. He required a great fleet and a massive army to truly combat the Federation's defenses on Earth. Furthermore, he had to use the element of surprise in order to prevent the Reydovan Empire from entering the combat long enough for him to consolidate his hold, destroy what was left of Starfleet, and conquer the remainder of the Federation. Both of which he had; Starfleet knew of his existence, of course, and knew that he ruled from a place called Defileron. But where was it, and what sort of force did he have at his disposal? The questions ate at President Meriah Broussard, and her successor Talus of Vulcan, for weeks after Artimus' death. The Empire, ruled by Emperor Kieran Devaneaux and Chancellor Joshua Underwood, aided the Federation in their investigation of the matter. The Emperor, particularly, seemed somewhat disturbed by the rumors of a clone of himself, with Artimus' unstable mentality, wreaking havoc on the Empire and the Federation.
By mid-June, Demon-Kieran had rallied millions to his cause; renegades from all empires, including the Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, and Gorak'nar exiles under their former High Inquisitor, Jaeden'laek XVI. With about two thousand ships, two million troops and ten thousand ground vehicles under his command, Demon-Kieran ordered his ships to cloak as he activated the Great Fold, a very powerful fold-drive current supercharged by the Omega reactor of the Hand of Joshmaul, and led his fleet to Earth. As he had planned, the attack caught the Starfleet forces completely by surprise; they had no sensors capable of tracking their cloaking devices yet; its first prototypes were just being tested. Without warning, Demon-Kieran's entire fleet decloaked in orbit around Earth and began to lay waste to its planetary defenses. Within moments of the planetary defenses failing, the legions of Defileron began beaming onto the surface, fighting in the streets of San Francisco and Paris, the two most important cities in the Federation because of Starfleet Headquarters and the Federation President's offices, respectively.
Omega's Fury: The Demon Unleashes the Hand[]
During a particularly bloody skirmish, Demon-Kieran unleashed the power of the Hand of Joshmaul on a visiting vessel of the Shaktar Empire, the foldship Ancient Poison. With a reduced-power blast, the Omega-charged "superphaser" beam slagged the organo-mechanical ship's communication array and killed several of the ship's crew. Later on, Demon-Kieran grew irritated with the ease in which it was damaging his ships, and thus brought the weapon to full power. Fortunately for the Shaktar, Demon-Kieran immediately switched his targets to fleeing Federation starships; the carrier Honshu and several of her escorts were completely incinerated, and the entire aft section of the Marine flagship Shenandoah, commanded by General Jeremiah Neill, was caught in the powerful blast. Her engines destroyed, the shattered saucer of the Shenandoah careened through the atmosphere and crashed in San Francisco Bay, coming to rest at the Sausalito side of the Golden Gate Bridge - right next to the airtram station of Starfleet Headquarters.
With communications jammed, Starfleet Command sent Admiral Kiran Joshmaul onboard the starship Constellation - the first ship in the Fleet with transwarp and a phase cloak - to Reydovan Prime in order to inform the Emperor of the events on Earth. The Constellation, when the storyline left off, arrived at the Reydovan border but has not yet crossed into the Empire.
Field Commands and Orders[]
Both the Starfleet and Separatist forces are split into two commands - one each in the city of San Francisco, home of Starfleet Headquarters, and the Federation capital city of Paris, where the President and the Council each have their offices.
Starfleet[]
General Jeremiah Neill was in command of Earth's resistance forces, calling on both the Marines and Starfleet Security forces to rise up against the invaders. The General was badly injured when his flagship, the Shenandoah, was all but destroyed, its saucer crashing into San Francisco Bay not far from Headquarters. When the siege began, Neill divided his forces into two commands, one in Paris attempting to prevent the Separatists from capturing the President, and one in San Francisco to keep the most vital Starfleet records out of the Demon's hands. Since the crash of the Shenandoah, Neill has been taken to Marine Headquarters at the Virginia Military Institute for recovery.
Ross' Command[]
Neill's nephew, Major General Jonathan Ross, commands the situation in San Francisco; as the senior-most active commander, he is also now coordinating the entire defense from the war room at Starfleet Headquarters, while the Separatists fight in the lower levels. General Ross and his men are solidly holding the upper levels, but his men have not made any headway in retaking the lower floors. It is only by Ross' tactical skill, taught by his uncle General Neill, and the tenacity of his men that has kept the Separatists from reaching the upper levels. While he is holed up in the war room, Ross coordinates the defense of both San Francisco and Paris, and is in constant communication with his deputy, Anatoliy Britanov.
Britanov's Command[]
Ross' deputy commander, Brigadier General Anatoliy Britanov, is in command of the Marines in Paris attempting to free President Talus and the Council - including his father, Mikhail - from the besieged Palais de la Concorde. General Britanov has been having even less luck than Ross. He has set up his command post from the top of the Eiffel Tower, with a good view of the Palais de la Concorde. He has managed to keep the Separatists holed up in the middle levels, with the President and the Council on the top floor. However, the manpower compared to the Separatist force is staggering, and Britanov has been calling for reinforcements for weeks. However, with Ross holed up in San Francisco and the fact that the Marines had limited manpower anyway, it will require intervention from outside - the Reydovan Empire and the Gorak'nar Commonwealth - to prevent the fall of Paris.
Separatist Forces[]
A tactician far better than his twisted "father", Artimus Devaneaux, Demon-Kieran realized early on that a two-pronged assault on both of the Federation's most important cities would have the greatest effect, especially considering the great horde he had amassed; if they focused all on one place, there would be no order. Therefore, Demon-Kieran also split his forces into two commands: one attacking Starfleet Headquarters, and the other besieging the Palais de la Concorde, where the offices of the President and the senior Federation Councillors were located.
Crenshaw's Command[]
Dawson Crenshaw, the commander of Demon-Kieran's military, was ordered to take Starfleet Headquarters intact, and gain access to its central computer nets. Currently, Crenshaw and his forces are holed up in the lower levels of Starfleet Headquarters; they are not making any headway, but neither are the Marines. His nemesis, General Ross, has managed to trap him in the lower levels, with no chance of escaping out the front doors.
Jaeden'laek's Command[]
Former High Inquisitor Jaeden'laek XVI, now Demon-Kieran's majordomo, was ordered to take the Palais de la Concorde intact, and capture the President and the Councillors besieged there. Demon-Kieran stressed that the President and his advisors must be taken alive; while killing them would effectively cripple the government, they would be of more use to him in forcing the Federation's surrender in exchange for their lives. But like Crenshaw in San Francisco, Jaeden'laek and his elite guard of Gorak'nar warrior renegades are holed up with their men in the Palais de la Concorde. General Britanov's forces have them pinned on the 7th floor (the Palais is 16 stories), but neither force has managed to go further. Jaeden'laek is determined to reach the Presidential floor; however, what plan he has in mind is not yet clear.
Aid is Sent[]
Due to the closure of the Star Trek: Alliances room, Underwood was forced to write out the remainder of the storyline.
On July 30, 2376, after over a month in delays, Admiral Kiran Joshmaul reached Reydovan Prime, along with Captain Ashi Tokugawa of the Constellation. Joshmaul had received day-by-day analysis of the situation on Earth from the operational commander of the defense, General Ross, and the battles were not looking at all well for the Federation. Along with Tokugawa, Joshmaul tried to make the Federation's case to the Emperor, Kieran Devaneaux. The Emperor was dead set against supporting the Federation unless a reasonable explanation for the kidnapping of his wife Celest was given. Joshmaul was furious; the Emperor was stalling and being stubborn, while thousands died on Earth every day. Fortunately for Joshmaul, a new ally came out to back him...
High Inquisitor Velenkayn VI of the Gorak'nar Commonwealth, who was visiting Reydovan Prime from his homeworld, was trying to enlist Kieran's aid in hunting down his predecessor, Jaeden'laek XVI, corrupted by Demon-Kieran and now in the employ of the Emperor of Defileron. Now that Jaeden'laek - and Demon-Kieran - were both fighting on Earth, Velenkayn and his supreme military commander, Battlelord Sheka'cahn, believed that the attack should be made against the Demon's forces on Earth. Admiral Zira'gaenus, Sheka'cahn's fleet commander, had rallied more than enough ships to compliment the Reydovan Imperial Navy, and both Sheka'cahn and Imperial Supreme Commander Matthew Russell had enough ground troops to relieve the fighting in Starfleet Headquarters and the Palais de la Concorde. Finally, after much consideration - and constant requests from both Velenkayn and Joshmaul - Kieran agreed.
The Emperor entrusted the campaign to his best commander, Chancellor Underwood, and gave him explicit orders: Destroy Demon-Kieran's fleet, and run his armies into the ground. Accompanied by his personal fleet commander, Admiral Ian Taylor, Underwood's fleet, led by his flagship Absolution, Joshmaul's temporary flagship Constellation and the Gorak'nar supercarrier Fiery Justice left Reydovan Prime on August 2, 2376, and immediately set course for Earth. Three days later, the fleet smashed through the Separatist blockade, and began landing troops in San Francisco and Paris.
The Relief[]
San Francisco[]
Underwood personally led the two-pronged assault on San Francisco - half the troops landing in Oakland, the others in San José. Joining the men in Oakland, Underwood led the way across the old Bay Bridge from Oakland into San Francisco itself, and from there into the Presidio. Upon arriving in the gardens at Starfleet Headquarters, Underwood sent via a mobile communication vehicle to General Ross, in the war room on one of the upper levels: "The cavalry's arrived."
Ross, down to very few men and with probably less than a day from being overrun, was both surprised and ecstatic to receive Underwood's message. Encouraged by the fact that veteran troops had finally arrived, Ross ordered his men to time an assault with the moment Underwood's troops entered the building. Early on the morning of August 6, under the still dark skies and ocean breeze, Underwood sent two companies of troops stealthily into the building, and ordered them to "hide anywhere where you can hit them easily when the signal is given." With the fighting going on in orbit distracting Demon-Kieran's attention, at 5am San Francisco time Underwood gave the order, consisting of two words: Destroy them.
Ross' remaining troops, boosted by Underwood's reinforcements, charged into the sleeping masses in the lower levels. Like a vice, the two forces crushed the Separatists in place. Ross was in the process of aiding his men when Dawson Crenshaw, the commander of the Separatists in San Francisco, tackled him - just as Ross knew he would. But Ross was ready - he had a small hypo on his belt that would implant a microtracer along with a sedative. Punching Crenshaw in the face, Ross gained enough momentum to apply the sedative with the microtracer. Unconscious, Crenshaw slumped to the deck. Ross took the time to pull the Starfleet-issue transport beacon he knew Crenshaw would have from the former Solicitor General's belt, and activated it, returning Crenshaw to the Hand of Joshmaul. The remainder of the Separatist forces, their commander gone, surrendered to the angry Marines and determined Reydovans. Promising to consider giving them amnesty, Ross and Underwood ordered that all the Separatists surrender their weapons, then collect the wounded for treatment and the dead for burial. The battle for Starfleet Headquarters was over, but Jaeden'laek in Paris proved to be far more resilient.
Paris[]
On August 9, Jaeden'laek's troops, controlling up to the fifteenth level (directly beneath the President's office), were on the verge of taking over the Presidential level when Velenkayn, accompanied by General Neill (who had recovered from his injuries, and had been appraised that Starfleet Headquarters had been retaken), landed in Paris. Velenkayn's troops landed on the ground floor and began working their way up, while Neill landed on the shuttlepad on the roof and went immediately to the President's office, informing him that help was coming. Instructing his guards to take President Talus and the Council out of the building - thus depriving Jaeden'laek of his targets - Neill joined with General Anatoliy Britanov and his troops, and waited on the Presidential floor until, five days later, Jaeden'laek and his elite guard managed to reach them. Surprised and furious, Jaeden'laek ordered his men to charge. But the angry Marines proved more than a match for the tall, burly Gorak'nar, leaving Jaeden'laek in a vulnerable position. He knew it was Velenkayn and his successor, Sheka'cahn, coming up from the lower levels. Knowing that if he allowed the Federation and Velenkayn's troops to corner him, he was a dead man, Jaeden'laek also activated his transport beacon to return to the Hand of Joshmaul.
Demon-Kieran, amazed at the incredible losses and the sudden appearance of reinforcements, knew he was in a dangerous position himself. If he stayed, the weapon - and the fleet - would be lost. Shaking with rage, Demon-Kieran ordered a full withdrawal to Defileron, not knowing that Crenshaw had been implanted with a microtracer...not knowing that the Federation could follow him.
The Results[]
The casualties on both sides were incredibly horrendous - especially for the Federation, having lost nearly seven million civilians during Demon-Kieran's bombardment of the surface. Underwood's intervention managed to prevent further casualties, but the Chancellor was appalled at the damage that had already been done.
By contrast, Demon-Kieran lost his entire ground force (all who had not been killed had surrendered and were captured), along with over half his fleet and all of his fighters. He attacked Earth with 2,000 ships, and left with less than six hundred.
After the defeat at Earth, Demon-Kieran retreated to Defileron, and the Federation-Reydovan-Gorak'nar coalition decided to wait until Earth could be brought back on its feet before they made the final move. There was no contact between either force for another three months.