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NX-Class Cruiser Enterprise, System 378

Captain's Starlog, supplemental: We've found the Seleya, and we're on our way to Commander T'Uerell's research station in order to safeguard the people there in case the Romulans decide to attack it. The Coto is escorting us, and we have three more Starfleet ships on the way, but we might not be able to hold the line long enough to save everyone.

As the Enterprise, Coto, and Seleya dropped out of warp, they saw that the Romulans were indeed attacking the station - ships of all classes flying around it, firing onto the station's shields.

"Commander, it looks like your research team's got company," Archer remarked.

"Agreed, Captain," T'Uerell replied. "The Romulans are obviously the aggressors here. We must act."

"With respect, Commander," Archer replied, "I'd like to try and end this peacefully. Hoshi, open a channel to the Romulan ships."

Hoshi tapped several buttons on her console, opening a communications link with the Romulans. "Channel open." she reported.

"Romulan vessels, this is Captain Archer of the Earth starship Enterprise. Cease your hostility and break off at once."

Archer's threat was responded to by three torpedoes barely missing Enterprise, instead hitting a repair facility with active shields.

"If I might suggest, Captain," T'Uerell remarked, "Please speak to the Romulans in a language they understand."

Archer sighed. "Alright," he remarked. "Archer to all ships: engage the Romulan vessels. We need to keep them from destroying the outpost."

Enterprise fired her impulse engines, taking her forward, heading for the closest Romulan ship and firing her phase cannons. The T'varo-class warbird was completely unprepared as her shields were down and her attention focused on the station. As such, the phase cannons tore through the hull and hit the warp core, setting off a chain reaction that caused a rather large explosion. THAT got the Romulans' attention and turned it on the Starfleet ships. "You stand against us?" one of the Romulan Commanders asked. "HA! You invite your doom!"

"Well, they certainly are confident of themselves," Malcolm remarked.

A Hunter-class destroyer fired on Enterprise, only to be hit by a volley of torpedo fire from Coto and disabled. The ship exploded before the Poseidon-class ship could close in and try to board it. Unknown to the Starfleet ships, the Romulans had a simple train of thought: to know is to have power and to be unknown is to be unconquerable. Still, the Romulans had one clear goal at that moment: the destruction of the station.

Two T'varos fired at the Coto, hitting the ship's 'rollbar', but not disabling the ship's torpedo launchers. The warbirds took several photonic torpedoes from the ship's aft launcher and from Enterprise, destroying both ships.

"Commander, I think that was all of them," Archer informed, "but they have some kind of cloaking technology that shields them from detection until they attack."

The Seleya moved to dock with the station. "Very well, Captain," T'Uerell replied. "I will dock with the station and begin evacuating the personnel. If I might say so, your ships have taken damage from the Romulan warbirds. I recommend activating the repair facility in order to repair any damage you suffer as a result of lengthy battle."

"Thanks for the advice," Archer remarked, as Enterprise headed towards the repair facility and beamed a team of engineers over to it to get it working.

"Sir, another ship is dropping out of Warp," T'Pol said, and moments later a voice came through.

"This is Captain Ayame Takeo, of the U.S.S. Yorktown," the voice said. "Responding to call for assistance - hope we aren't late for the party, Enterprise."

"You've just in time, Yorktown." Archer said with a small smile. "We've got a large number of Romulan ships in the area, and we need all the help we can get." Reed's console beeped out the typical tone they had come to expect. "The Romulans didn't waste any time. Enterprise to all ships: we've got incoming. Defend the station at all costs. We can't let them through as long as there's people on it!"

"Understood Enterprise," Ayame said, "Yorktown is moving to defend - The Romulans won't know what hit 'em."

A pair of Swarm's began to approach the station, however moments later the Yorktown-class Battleship herselfdropped out of Warp, and unleashed a volley of Phase Cannon fire which rained down upon the two ships, along with Torpedoes. The Phase Cannons ripped apart their shields, as the Torpedoes quickly downed the two ships before they could return fire.

A Battlehawk fired on the Yorktown, hitting the saucer section with two torpedoes, but the dorsal rear phase cannon fired at the Romulan warship, wearing away at the shields before Enterprise followed up with a full frontal assault from her phase cannons and her forward torpedo launchers. Needless to say, the result was explosive.

"There is no escape for you!" a Romulan Commander remarked over the comm as several Swarms, well, swarmed at the Yorktown.

The swarm of Swarms were hacked down by a combination of phase cannon and torpedo fire, plus the wreckage of their fellows. "Sucks to be you, you bastards!" Ayame shouted with a smirk.

"The Praetor demands your destruction, Terran!" Dozens of T'varo warbirds decloaked and opened fire on the Yorktown, pounding it with disruptor fire. Enterprise and Coto tried to relieve the pressure, but they could only destroy so many at once.

"Cavalry to the rescue!" A trio of photonic torpedoes slammed into the trailing T'varo, downing its' shields and sending it into a deadly spiral that destroyed six Romulan warbirds. "NX-04 Discovery to Enterprise: are we late to the party?"

"Better late than never, Discovery," Archer said. "Glad to have you here."

"Drinks are on me when we get out of here, people! Engage and destroy!" Four Earth Starfleet ships were more than a match for the Romulan Imperial Navy's cannon fodder, and they knew it. The Romulans retreated, although Archer knew they'd be back. "Starfleet vessels, this is Seleya Station! They're everywhere; they're killing us!"

"Seleya Station, this is Enterprise," Archer replied, "come in. Are you receiving?" Silence. "Commander T'Uerell, what's going on?"

"Several hallucinogenic gases have leaked into the research modules," T'Uerell reported. "My crew is working to free them, but they lack environmental suits, and the damage the station has taken means there is a radiation leak. Neither we nor you can use the transporter and bring them to safety."

"Do what you can, Seleya. Archer out."

"What the hell is shit like THAT doing on a research station?" Ayame asked. "It makes no sense!"

"No clue, Yorktown, but we're not here to question it," Allen replied. "Is that shipyard online, Enterprise? Coto looks like she needs a bit of a patch job."

Archer checked the status reports from the team at the shipyard. "Yes, it is," he said. "It appears to be mostly automated, too - we just have to get into standard docking position, and it'll take care of the rest."

"We'll head in and get patched up, Discovery," Rick replied. "Hope you and the rest can keep the station covered until we finish our repairs."

"I said drinks were on me, Coto," Allen replied. "And I intend to be serving a LOT of drinks after this is done. Get patched up: we'll cover for you."

Coto moved off, heading for the Vulcan shipyard. As soon as she did, dozens of Romulan warbirds decloaked. Mostly Battlehawks and T'varos, and all were itching for payback.

"Enterprise to Commander T'Uerell," Archer began. "Another flight of Romulan ships is approaching. We're cutting it close - you'll have to hurry."

The ramshackle fleet began moving out. "Discovery, engaging targets," Allen reported. "We'll draw their fire, you shoot them!" The fourth NX-Class starship fired at the lead Romulan warbirds, using the tried and true aggro method to make them the biggest threat while everyone else went nearly unnoticed. The Yorktown was the biggest benefactor of this.

While the Romulans focused on the Discovery, they had almost completely forgot the Yorktown as it moved into position. "Open Fire!" Ayame shouted, as the Phase Cannons and Torpedoes fired from the Battleship. The Phased blasts finished off their shields, and the Torpedoes effectively finished the ships off one by one. One they were dealt with, Yorktown targeted the next closest vessel, a Swarm, as it focused its Phase Cannons, quickly removing its shields before a single Torpedo was fired, finishing off the small vessel.

"Good work, Yorktown!" Allen cheered. "You're getting whatever you want later! Enterprise, how's the evacuation going?"

"That's a good question," Archer remarked. "T'Uerell, how's the evacuation progressing?"

"It goes well, Captain," T'Uerell reported. "We have nearly everything we need. However, we will require a bit more time."

"We'll buy as much as we can, but we're getting swamped out here!" Archer informed. Luckily, they would be getting more help.

The Alaska dropped out of Warp practically on top of a Battlehawk. The Minuteman-class vessel opened up with everything it had, blasting through the shields with the Phase Cannons before its Photonic Torpedoes finished the Romulan vessel off. However, before the Alaska could do much more, a Swarm swooped in, firing off a barrage that impacted several hull plates, including a Torpedo strike directly on the Bridge.

"Discovery to Alaska!" Allen called out. "Damn it, Alaska, answer me! Respond!"

There was a few coughs before the response truly came through. "This is- *cough* -this is Ensign Takeru Yamato, Helmsman of the Alaska," the young male voice reported. "That hit we took caused a lot of damage. I think…" A pause as Takeru likely looked around his Bridge. "I think I'm the only officer left alive on the Bridge."

"Then consider yourself promoted until further notice!" Allen replied. "We need your help, kid!"

"R-roger!" Takeru replied. "If you can give me cover for a moment, I might be able to route all Bridge Functionality to my Helm Console…"

The Romulans decided the Alaska was an easy target, and decided to finish her off. They didn't think about the fifth ship in the fleet. The Coto was fully operational, and she was firing torpedoes like there was no tomorrow.

The Romulans attacking the Alaska were caught flatfooted, the barrage of torpedoes striking several of them hard enough to knock them into each other, causing major damage. Meanwhile, the Alaska eventually began moving again. "Okay…" Takeru remarked. "Helm is still functioning…"

"Do what you can, kid - WHAT THE FUCK?!" Allen exclaimed. "Where the hell is that Suurok going?!" THAT caught everyone's attention as the Seleya sped off, away from the station.

"T'Uerell! Do you have everyone from the station?" Archer demanded. "T'Pol, are there any life signs still on that outpost?"

"Captain… The lifesigns have not decreased," T'Pol reported. "Commander T'Uerell left all of the personnel on the station behind."

"That fucking - GET BACK HERE, YOU VULCAN WHORE!" Allen shouted.

A few seconds later, the outpost exploded.

"…We've lost the outpost, and everyone aboard," Archer said. "Push your engines as hard as you have to, pursuit course on the Seleya! I want T'Uerell to answer for this!"

T'Uerell's voice was heard over all the channels. "That is unnecessary, Captain. I give you my thanks: without you, we could not have recovered the protomatter we needed. We will not meet again, and my gratitude will not save you if we encounter one another." The Seleya jumped to warp, leaving the fleet behind.

"Archer, can we kill that bitch?" Allen asked.

"If we see her again, certainly," Archer replied bitterly. "I knew I didn't like her: she's like most other Vulcans - secretive and deceitful. I should have learned from the Andorians." He paused as he looked out on the debris of the destroyed outpost, the Romulans retreating. "My mistake in judgement cost these people their lives… I won't let it happen again."

"We should RTB to the closest starbase," Allen remarked. "I promised you drinks. I just wish they didn't have to be a toast to the dead."

T'Pol's console beeped slightly. "Captain, I am picking up a tritanium signature," she reported. "Shape and configuration suggests an escape pod. We may have a survivor, but the pod is damaged."

"Are we close enough to beam the survivor on board?" Archer asked.

"No, but the Yorktown is," T'Pol replied.

"We got it," Ayame said with a tired sigh. "Activating transporter now… at least we saved one person today..."

"Let's go home, people," Allen remarked. "Kid, think you can fly that thing back to Starbase 5?"

"I should," Takeru replied. "Helm functionality is still there - but I'd just finished routing everything else to the Helm, and was testing it out when that Suurok took off."

"Ensign, you did fine," Archer replied. "I'll see to it you get a commendation for bravery. Travis, sent course for Starbase 5. Starfleet is not going to be happy."

Starbase 5, Lounge

It was a rather somber group that had gathered in the lounge of Starbase 5. Archer, Ayame, Allen, Rick, and Takeru - who would occasionally idly bring a hand up to finger his newly-minted Captain's Rank Insignia - were all seated at the bar.

"I wish we could have met under better circumstances," Allen remarked. "I wanted us to be toasting the asskicking we gave the Romulans, but we don't always get what you want. Still, kid, congratulations on your promotion. Just wish it wasn't over your captain's dead body."

"Thanks, Captain Pinkerton," Takeru replied. "It's funny - a week ago, I was just transferring onto the Alaska, straight from the Academy. Now, I'm responsible for a lot more than just steering the ship."

"You'll do great," Ayame said with a smile, "Just do what I do, and stick with your training. If you ever need any help, just ask."

"Thanks, Captain Takeo," Takeru replied. "That means alot."

Allen placed his hand on Takeru's shoulder. "We're here to help, Takeru," he said as he squeezed the younger officer's shoulder lightly. "I have a bit of push. I can ask to be assigned to escort the Alaska until you're more sure of yourself if you want."

"The Yorktown doesn't have any standing assignments either," Ayame said. "My dad is an Admiral, so I can try to stay with you until Yorktown is really needed somewhere else."

"You two would make good Academy instructors," Archer said, shaking his head. "I made the mistake of not taking her back to Vulcan. Maybe-"

"Archer, Pinkerton, Takeo, Yamato! We've got orders from command for you!"

117Jorn: And Chapter is DONE! :D

Ron the True Fan: The first stone is laid. The foundation is set. (Walks away and unintelligent screaming is heard as a Scimitar goes after the population of a planet without the thalaron weapon)

Takeshi Yamato: Steadily plunking our way through the Legacy Storyline, but with ancestors of our STF Characters involved in the action. Next Chapter, we deal with a Plague in the Epsilon Theta System - but is it a natural plague?

Until then,

Everyone: JA NE!