Personal Log: Rob Versteegt

Following Ben, I too put my cd of Birth of the Federation back in my computer, and with a few adjustments it worked! Ah yes, now I too would be in command of an empire! But where Ben chose the Romulans, I chose the Klingons. In the first couple of turns, I conquered some minor races such as the Antedeans and the Bynars. My empire was growing fast, with the (voluntary!) additions of both the Mizarians and the Andorians. But then... I encountered all the major races. None of them really seems to like me now, but there *is* an uneasy truce between us. Except of course, with the Cardassians. I'm at war with them.

The war was going well... I took over some minor Cardassian systems. No big deal. Until suddenly... well, let's hear about this from the Captain of the IKS Melora A: a heavy cruiser with the ability to cloak.

Captain's Log.

It was only a few days ago when everything was going alright. The Melora was assigned to a group consisting of the Kang, the Kling, and a scout ship. Along with the Melora, of course. Following orders, we entered the Cardassian border, into Cardassian territory. Our mission: to strike fast and strike hard. The Cardassian fleet -we did not even know its full strenght!- should not know what hit them.

Ah, those glorious days! Even though we did not encounter heavy resistance, our spirits were high! Whatever ship we encountered was no match for the combined strenght of one scout and *three* Klingon Heavy Cruisers. We kept going, straight for Cardassia. Nothing could go wrong!

Then the impossible happened. Those honourless Cardassians struck hard... in the only way they could win. If they would face us head-on, in battleships of their own, they would at least die *honourably*. Now however, they lost whatever honour they posessed.

The IKS Kang was taken from us. Not destroyed: no, if only these warriors died in battle! Then their souls would at least be crossing over to Sto-vo-kor right now. But no. The Kang -such a powerful ship, worthy of this name- came into Cardassian posession. How they did it, we are still not sure. Perhaps some honourless P'taks on board the Kang accepted large bribes. Perhaps the Cardassians found a way to remotely take over command of the vessel. I don't know. All I, and the rest of my group saw from the entire attempt, was the IKS Kang moving away from the group... and entering warp. They were gone.

The Chansellor was mad as Gre'thor when he heard! "You lost a ship?" He shouted when he was told. "How can you *lose* a ship?" Immediately, the Chansellor sent another Heavy Cruiser to our position to assist us. Not necessary in my opinion, but it it wasn't my decision to make.

A few days after this.. 'incident', (the crew's moral was no longer festive, and they really needed something to life their spirits) we were ordered to go to Cardassia itself. Three Heavy Cruisers and two scouts. Our mission: to find out what the Cardassians have there, and to destroy them. Or at least, do as much damage as possible.

When we got there, we found that the Cardassians did *not* have an impressive fleet waiting for us. An outpost, two destroyers, and some troop transports. Hah, this was going to be easy!

We decloaked, and struck them hard. Spirits on board were high: we would be victorious, defeating the Cardassians in orbit of their own homeword!

But we laughed too soon. Just when we thought we could relax and power down -all the enemy ships had been destroyed after all- a ship decloaked directly in front of us. It was the IKS Kang A! For a moment, we cheered: somehow the crew of the Kang had taken back control! Our happiness turned into rage though, when the Kang opened fire: firing Cardassian disruptors at us!

Because we were not prepared for this, the extra Heavy Cruiser, sent by the Chansellor himself, exploded. I ordered evasive maneauvres, but it was too little too late. The Kang had also targeted us: explosions shook the ship. Our shields, which had been raised quickly, fell.

But we would not give up this easily! Diverting all power we had left to our weapons systems, we fired everything we got at the Kang. For honour, and for the glory of the empire! With the combined forces of the Kling and the Melora, the Kang received quite some damage. But it was not enough!

It was at that moment that the scouts moved in. I owe both Captains a barrel of bloodwine, if not more, for their actions. Their disruptorfire was just enough to blow the IKS Kang A, along with every Cardassian on board, to smithereens.

It was true what they say. Revenge is a dish best served cold. And it's *very* cold in space...