Scott stood on the bridge of his ship, gazing tensely out of the viewscreen. The red alert klaxon was sounding around him. He looked around at his team, and then he tapped a button on the arm of his chair. A boatswain’s whistle sounded, signaling a ship wide address. Scott closed his eyes for a moment, then he spoke. “Crew of the USS Leif Erikson, this is your captain. As you may know, the Vaadwaur are on their way to us, which means our time to prepare for this encounter is over. Right now, innocent lives – families, children, people who haven’t ever picked a fight with anyone, are being held captive by the Vaadwaur. Right now they are probably terrified, and if we don’t act, they will be forced into a life that no one should have to endure, but help is coming, and it’s us.”

He paused, reflecting on the last time he had to give a speech like this. He had never been a fan of asking those under him to lay down their lives. After a moment, he cleared his throat, and continued. “This ship, our home, was never meant to be a warship, but we are Starfleet. When people cry out, we answer, and when people seek to place others in chains, we break them! I have no doubt that this Vaadwaur ship is bigger and meaner than us, but I trust that every single one of you will do what you do best. This is what we trained for. This is why we wear our uniforms proudly. Whatever happens out there, remember who we are. And remember: I wouldn’t want to undertake this danger with any other crew by my side. Let’s bring these people home.” The whistle sounded again, and silence fell over the bridge. 

Scott returned to his seat, his usual relaxed smile replaced with an intense grimace. “Lieutenant Beckett, I need all available power to weapons and shields.”

Aye Captain.

“Commander O’Donnell, Warm up those phaser banks and load all torpedo bays. Keep your finger on that trigger.”

“Phasers hot, Torpedoes loaded, Captain.”

“Lieutenant Sargent, I want you back in that Vaadwaur fighter, we’ve got to exploit every available resource”

“Yes, Captain.” Tom replied diligently. He took Vail’s hand and squeezed it meaningfully before leaving the bridge for the shuttle bay. 

“Are you there Doctor?” Scott asked, tapping his combadge. 

Medical bay is ready to receive wounded, Captain. Sriarr replied. 

“And for god’s sake, Number One, put on your seatbelt.” Scott said, flashing a quick smile at his old friend. 

“Everyone knows their role, Captain.” Bema said, “We are ready.” 

“As ready as we can be, Number One.” Scott replied. The tense silence fell over the bridge once more. 

At first, it just looked like a few stars had flickered out. Then, a pulse of violet light shot outwards from the event horizon, and the imposing visage of the Vaadwaur Battleship all but filled the viewscreen. Scott’s hands gripped the arms of his chair as he saw the number of Polaron Cannons that were slowly warming up in front of him. “Ezra! Full Impulse, attack pattern Omega-Seven. Get us in front of that thing and draw its fire. Dathasa, hit that conduit you found. We need to get those shields down!” Ezra’s fingers danced across the console, and the Erikson pitched upwards, rolling slightly starboard. “Commander O’Donnell, time to shine.” 

The Chief Tactical Officer obliged, and all of the little Nova’s forward phasers lit up, sending beams of red light out towards the hulking Vaadwaur ship. “Minimal damage to shields, Captain.” Vail replied, “We are definitely outmatched this time.”

“Understood, Commander. Keep at it.” Scott said. The phasers continued firing, with Quantum torpedoes shining away as they launched towards the opponents. The Vaadwaur ship finally trained its cannons at the Erikson, and let loose a volley. The polaron bursts hit the shields, and the whole ship pitched violently. Vail had to hold onto the console to avoid losing her footing. 

“Dorsal shields holding at 60 percent, Captain.” Vail said. 

“Understood,” Scott said.  “Garion, can you give me more power to the shields?”

I’ll do my best Captain. He replied. 

“In the meantime, Ezra, if you wouldn’t mind avoiding those?” Scott asked. 

“I’m doing my best, Captain.” Ezra said. He was sweating now, from the pressure of trying to keep the little starship out of harm’s way. The deck plates trembled under Ezra’s chair and lights flickered overhead as another volley rocked the ship. 

“Shields down to fifty-two percent, Captain!” Vail called. Ezra’s hands danced over the helm controls and banked the Erikson hard to port, skimming back outside the lethal arc of the polaron cannons. 

“Keep their attention on us!” Scott shouted, pointing towards the viewscreen. The forward phaser banks lit again, bouncing once again off the Vaadwaur’s shields. 

From under the Erikson, Dathasa’s ship the Hecate peeled off towards the underside of the ship, flanked by Tom in the Vaadwaur fighter. She threw her little ship back upwards, flying fast at the belly of the bulky Battleship, too fast for its polaron cannons to keep up. She waited until she was close enough to be sure she was inside the protective bubble of the Vaadwaur’s shields, and hit the triggers. Flash after flash lit her cockpit as the pulse phasers fired off bolts of energy, slamming into the unguarded underside of the ship. She blew a sizable hole in the ablative plating before she was forced to turn away, skimming the large ship by meters.

“That ought to piss them off.” She said to herself with a laugh as she turned back for another go. From above she could see huge bay doors opening, and a swarm of the Vaadwaur fighters began to pour from the ship. “Oh boy. This just got harder.” She peeled away as three fighters latched onto her tail, sending bolts of fire into her aft shields. “Damnit!” she shouted, rerouting power quickly to avoid losing the shields all together. Pushing and pulling hard on the controls, she urged the Hecate faster, hoping to outrun them, but the Vaadwaur fighters were just as fast, able to keep pace. Keeping an eye on the rear viewscreen, dipping and dodging, Dathasa began to worry. She was an alright pilot, but these guys seemed like they had been born in their cockpits.

A flash of explosion caught her eye in the rear viewscreen. One of the fighters had vanished from her scope. Tom! She thought to herself as she pulled her fighter into a barrel roll. In all the excitement, she had forgotten he was riding that stolen fighter. Tom must have snuck into the column, acting the aggressor until he had them dead to rights. The second enemy fighter broke to run, not liking the two to one odds, and Dathasa whipped the Hecate around to chase. Tom moved his ship in beside her for just a second to check in before separating, the two allies attempting to pincer the enemy ship. Dathasa fell in behind him, firing her phaser cannons into his aft shields. The fighter pulled hard to the left, Dathasa in pursuit, when he came face to face with Tom’s stolen fighter. He must have panicked, because he hesitated for a split second, allowing Dathasa to launch a photon torpedo at him. It connected with the back of the enemy fighter, blowing the rear third of the ship apart. It went dark and lost momentum, drifting aimlessly until it bounced off the underside of the Battleship’s hull. 

Dathasa lined up for another run at her target. Speeding once again directly towards the underside of the Vaadwaur battleship, she loaded her second torpedo. Not taking chances this time, she thought to herself. She launched the torpedo and pulled hard up, again missing the hull by a hair, and turning the ship quickly to make sure the torpedo hit its target. The hull of the Vaadwaur ship blew outwards, sending sparks and debris hurtling out into space. One of the fighters did not turn in time, and its port nacelle clipped one of the larger sections of hull plating. Within seconds, the ship had exploded in a brilliant blue fireball.

Scott held his breath as the explosion lit up the underside of the Vaadwaur ship. A bead of sweat ran down his temple as he sat leaned forward in his chair, his right hand gripping the armrest so tightly, his fingertips were white. 

“Captain, Their shields are down!” Vail called from behind them. 

“Open a channel to the civilian ships.” Scott ordered. The hailing frequency chirp sounded, and he shouted, “Captains, now is the time.” The three civilian ships arrived at the scene, maneuvering close to the Vaadwaur ship’s hull where the intel had said the prisoners were. Dathasa, Tom and Tholak started orbiting around the trio of rescue ships, waiting for an attack from the swarm of fighters. 

Soon enough, a pack of the fighters bore down on them and the three fighters were forced to break up and intercept. Tholak’s larger corvette caught the most attention, and the Vaadwaur fighters fell in behind him, pounding the aft shields with polaron bursts. Tom and Dathasa followed after, forcing the fighters to peel off after they had dispatched two of them.

They’re headed back towards the freighter! Tholak called over the comms, and the two smaller fighters spun around quickly to give chase. Falling in behind the enemy fighters, they started firing again, causing them to abandon their run to avoid being shot. Tom dipped his fighter down and under Dathasa, following one as it tried to get in behind them. Tholak’s ship cut a wide circle around the area, using his aft phasers to keep the fighters off his tail. Dathasa followed another fighter, using a third torpedo to take out his starboard nacelle, causing the ship to careen wildly off into space, unable to stop.

Scott’s chair rocked beneath him as the Vaadwaur cannons pummeled their shields. “Our shields are at thirty percent, Captain.” Vail said, her voice strained to remain calm. “We cannot keep this up Sir.”

“We will keep it up as long as we have to, Commander. To give those civilians a chance to get away.” He turned his attention back to the viewscreen. “Beckett, can we squeeze any more juice into the shields?” 

Negative, Captain. I’ve already rerouted all of the power from the non-essential systems, and as much power as I dare from the warp core. The only way is by sacrificing weapons or life support. Garion replied over the comms.

Scott gritted his teeth. He could not disengage, but remaining in range of those massive cannons was suicide. The bridge shook violently under his feet. “Captain, that last hit took out our secondary deflector.” Bema said. 

“Target that communications node.” Scott said, pointing to a dome shaped protrusion on the dorsal side of the Vaadwaur battleship. Vail fired a phaser pattern that cut across the hull of the battleship, right across the dome, which began to smoke and spark.

“Direct hit, Captain.” Vail said. “They may have a harder time hitting us now.” The gamble seemed to pay off immediately, and the Erikson stopped shaking from the constant bombardment, instead Scott saw Polaron bursts flying wildly across the bow. 

We’re full up! Said Captain Winters, as he pulled his ship away from the battleship’s hull. 

“I will escort you to safety.” Tom replied, falling in behind the transport as it fled. “I’ll come back once they are at a safe distance.” he said to Dathasa and Tholak, who radioed their acknowledgement. He followed the ship for a good while, but they did not seem to be followed. Once the ship had made it far enough towards the planet, Tom turned around and headed back towards the battle. The awkward mass of the bulk freighter was slowly moving away from the Vaadwaur battleship. 

We’ve got them all. Came Captain Lowrey’s voice. The Hawkins and I have retrieved all of the prisoners. We are planet bound now, if you wouldn’t mind keeping the fighters off my tail. They’ve already put a sizable dent in my shields! 

Tom punched the throttle of his stolen fighter, firing his polaron cannons at the pursuing Vaadwaur ships. He caught one of the ships right through the cockpit, and the ship shot suddenly sideways, slamming into another fighter and causing both to explode. He pulled up to avoid the debris, flipping his ship over and bearing straight towards the tops of the Vaadwaur fighters, hitting one from above while Tholak hit it from behind. The Hawkins was in more trouble, having been separated from the large freighter. Dathasa was doing her best to keep the fighters off the small transport, but she was hopelessly outnumbered. A shot from one of the Vaadwaur hit her engines, and her ship lost power. 

I could use a hand! She called, her ship drifting hopelessly. Tholak pulled his ship over hers, and transported her on board his ship. She fell with a huff into the copilot’s seat as Tholak rejoined the chase, but it was too late. The Hawkins was smoking badly, and falling uncontrolled towards the planet’s surface. The Kite had just caught up as it hit the upper atmosphere, and pieces began pulling off the underside of the ship. Tholak pulled up hard as the little transport exploded, sending debris hurtling towards the ground. Dathasa winced and buried her face in her arms. With the Arve Prince out of harm’s way, the two remaining fighters turned back to the battleship. 

“Captain, they have repaired their shields. They’re turning away from us.” Ezra said, as the hulking, smoking battleship turned away from the little starship. 

“Break off pursuit, let them go.” Scott said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. “We won’t do enough damage to the ship by the time it hits backup.” The remaining fighters returned to the Vaadwaur vessel as it moved away, its light flickering from the damage it sustained. The underspace aperture reopened, and in a blink, the ship was gone. Scott stood and straightened his uniform. “Stand down Red Alert.” he said, and the ship’s normal lights came back on. “Bema, debrief Tom, Dathasa and Tholak. I’ll meet you in the conference room. I need a drink, Vail, you have the conn.” Bema stood and headed for the turbolift, Vail came from around the tactical station to sit in the center chair, and Scott stalked slowly to his ready room. He retrieved a drink from the replicator and collapsed into his desk chair, resting the cool glass against his temple. One fight over, the bigger fight still to come. He knew they needed to follow that ship, to find out what they were doing here. First, he needed to try and get a message to Starfleet. That would come soon enough, but for now, bourbon.