The Battle of Theta Kalyb was a conflict between Tholian shock troops, the Chakuun, and a task force of five Federation Starfleet vessels in orbit of planet Theta Kalyb in 2254. (EV comics: "The Fallen", "Futures, Part One")
Prelude[]
Hostilities began at Jubal when the Chakuun attacked the Federation colony there. The USS Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike responded to the colony's distress call but before they reached it, several Chakuun vessels were detected leaving the system. Pike ordered the Enterprise to pursue and they engaged and destroyed one of the Chakuun ghostships that turned to intercept them.
The battle[]
Eleven days later, after returning to Earth for repairs and shore leave, the Enterprise led a task force of four other starships to patrol the Diomed Cluster, the disputed border between the Federation and the Tholian Assembly. On stardate 371.6 a fragmented distress signal was detected from Theta Kalyb, so the task force responded. At the planet, medical and security teams beamed down to assist what few survivors there were in the devastated colony. Meanwhile, six ghostships and numerous fighters appeared from behind the planet and engaged the Starfleet vessels.
The USS Achilles ejects two shuttles loaded with photon torpedoes.
While the fighters were easily destroyed, the ghostships were more than a match for the starships. The USS Brazzaville was the first Starfleet ship to fall, destroyed with the loss of all hands by two Chakuun ghostships. The Enterprise was next to be hit, taking heavy damage to the secondary hull and engineering. At least three personnel were killed, including assistant chief engineer Van Hansen. The USS Achilles managed to destroy two ghostships by detonating two shuttlecraft full of photon torpedoes in their midst, but was destroyed shortly afterwards by two more Chakuun ghostships. The Enterprise managed to beam fifty-three people from the Achilles before its destruction, including assistant chief engineer Shane Samson. The USS Providence was the third Starfleet ship to be destroyed after taking a direct hit to its primary hull. The Enterprise then destroyed another ghostship using the same tactic as Captain Crowe of the Achilles with a shuttle full of torpedoes.
Meanwhile, on the planet's surface, Nurse Gabrielle Carlotti investigated a downed Chakuun fighter and discovered an injured Chakuun female. Carlotti opened a rather angry dialogue with the female and learned that the Chakuun were not slaves, but willing servants of the Tholians due in part to the way the two races understood the cosmos. The Chakuun female, a Cohort General, accused humans of being a child-race who judged others based on human values, but she also learned from Carlotti that the Chakuun themselves had judged the humans based on Chakuun values. Two Chakuun warriors then beamed down in response to the Cohort General's rescue beacon, but she ordered them not to kill Carlotti as the Starfleet officer had spared her life, so she would spare hers - A human value. The three Chakuun then beamed up to their ship.
Very shortly afterwards, the remaining Chakuun ships disengaged from the two Starfleet ships and broke orbit, leaving them to rescue the colony's survivors and thereby averting a war with the Tholian Assembly.
Starfleet starship status[]
- USS Enterprise (Constitution-class) - damaged
- USS Nelson - damaged (senior staff killed)
- USS Achilles (Miranda-class) - destroyed (53 crew beamed to safety)
- USS Brazzaville (Nelson-class) - destroyed with all hands
- USS Providence (Nelson-class) - destroyed with all hands
Aftermath[]
The Enterprise and the USS Nelson transferred all survivors to Starbase 45 at Algol II and began repairs in two of the starbase's drydocks. Carlotti was debriefed by several Starfleet flag officers, and provided a major breakthrough in the understanding of the Tholian's fluid concepts of space, and therefore, their territory. (EV comic: "The Fallen")