Star Trek: The Dominion War

The Bridge of the Warbird Ael’Sarran was silent.

Not merely quiet, ritually silent. Haptic and audio feedback from the consoles was muted. Even the ambient hum of the vessel’s vast systems was filtered out by ancient acoustic dampeners. No alarms. No chatter. When someone spoke, it was with calm, composed tones, as if raised voices might break the seal of destiny itself.

Such was the custom of the Eastern Legions.

Among them, the hunt was conducted in silence. Their doctrine held that battle was not chaos; it was precision. It was art. It was inevitability.

No one would speak unless absolutely necessary until the cloak was dropped. In its place, a complex system of hand signs flowed like a second language across the bridge. Each gesture, concise, elegant, carried volumes.

From the forward pit, Uhlan Novar signed: The sensors.

Commander Telek, seated in the sunken command throne, lowered her gaze to the data display blooming across the curved surface of her console. Her black-gloved fingers moved like a ritual dancer’s, zooming and parsing the tactical readouts. A quiet nod was her answer.

Novar enabled the main viewscreen. The starfield flickered into life. Silhouettes of dozens of Cardassian vessels filled the void, maneuvering in loose formation. Keldon-class cruisers, Galor-class workhorses, a pair of dreadnoughts, and a vanguard of agile Hideki scouts.

The prey had come.

Drawn in by the automated beacons of crippled ships—old hulls cannibalized and left adrift on Telek’s orders, belching just enough plasma to sell the illusion of distress.

As the Cardassian fleet fanned out, it was clear they suspected a trap. Their lines were cautious—clever, even. The Hidekis swept ahead in skirmishing pairs, wide net formations, while the heavier warships lingered behind, holding a tight firing line. The dreadnoughts sat like coiled serpents, daring any predator to show its fangs.

They suspect Klingons, Telek subtly signed. Her movements were smooth, but not without disdain.

To the Cardassians, the Klingons were the most likely culprits. They would expect roaring disruptors, wild charges, drunken glory. Telek watched their posture: aggressive, yet outward-facing. They had formed to absorb fury. Not to avoid precision.

And that was their mistake.

Commander Telek signed sharply. A single decisive gesture.

Decloak.

The lights on the bridge shifted. A subtle change, the green ambient glow dimming by a fraction. Outside, across a dozen concealed Warbirds, the ripple of energy shimmered like falling veils. The Romulan ships emerged into visibility like predators stepping from shadow, already arrayed for the kill.

Telek stood from her throne, her eyes burning with cold fire.

“Let them breathe the White Wind…” she said aloud, her officers standing still and silent around her, “…and know fear.”

In the same moment, every Warbird opened fire.

The game is scheduled for Monday. Battle report should be coming shortly after.

To be honest, this went so fast, and easy, I just assumed that I must have done something wrong… but it was really that simple.

I just pried open some cheap tea lights that I had meant to use with some cotton wool for the classic lighted smoke maker. I found a box of pre-wired LEDs that I had grabbed from amazon for …something… a while ago. (looking them up, the pack was $13 for 20 each of 6 different colors – 120 LEDs total.)

Cliped and stripped the LEDs to length, and just stuffed them in were the old flickering led had been, drop of CA glue for moral support, and done.

We had been happily gaming our space battles at 1:7000 scale.

Then I picked up Star Trek: Into the Unknown. We stood huddled around the kitchen island looking over those ships.

We marveled over the details, the scaling the overall quality. These models were easily the best Trek gaming minis ever produced.

collectively a pressured hush fell over us after a few moments of giddy excitement. It was Dave that finally uttered  the “well… fuck” we were all thinking.

Silently nodding we all knew at that moment we were going to have to re-scale our fleets.