WE DIDN'T KNOW ANYTHING

PART II

"I am detecting multiple objects on sensors," Serek intoned over the blaring alert klaxons.

"Rescue ships?" I asked hopefully.

"Too many objects to be a rescue operation," Serek regretfully informed.

"Maybe they really want to rescue us?" Lucson suggested, his voice not sounding that hopeful at all.

"It's a battle fleet," Blue replied.

A collective gasp echoed around the Bridge, this time nothing like the joyous one a moment ago.

"They…aren't here to rescue us?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"I am detecting approximately sixty vessels on the other side of the Moon," Serek reported, "They are on an assault vector,"
"Whose coming?" Lucson cried.

"Section 31," I sighed grimly as I lent back in my chair.

"It's not possible," Juli gripped my shoulder, "there's no way Section 31 could have that many ships at it's disposal,"

"We're talking about a real-live battle?" Chris slumped in his seat, "Whoa, that's some intense stuff,"

"This isn't a drill no more ladies and gents," Joey said grimly, "This is for real. They have us cornered, we've got no choice but to fight,"

"But surely there is a small chance of them being rescuers…" Fina turned to me, "right?"

I didn't answer, I just turned back to the screen in front of us, watching the ships come ever closer.

After what felt like a age of silence, Blue finally spoke up.

"All Hands…Battle Stations,"

"Well what are you waiting for?" Rai snapped at Cass and Michelle, "You two work the rear Phaser turrets, me and Joey will work the forward ones, somebody man the Torpedo launchers, let's move it people!"

"Now hold on a moment," Juli snapped as she turned to face Blue, "There could be a perfectly logical explanation for this. We may have accidentally come across a training exercise, or maybe…"
"Do you honestly think that's a valid explanation for sixty starships to be lying in wait for us?" Blue retorted.

"Yes I do," Juli's eyes narrowed as she came up to the Captain's chair, "Because there's always a chance that they might be rescue ships,"

"If you wanna dream, do it in your sleep," Joey growled, "If Blue says we fight, we…"

"But she might be right!" I swivelled in my chair and rose to face them, "If we fight then we'll never be able to get the clearance we need to return home!"

"And if we don't fight, then there won't be any part of us to receive the clearance we need to get home!" Joey snapped.

"Why don't we just dive back into the Sea?" I vaguely heard Lucson suggest, only to be ignored by the rest of the Bridge.

"We should at least try to send a distress signal!" Juli looked desperately to Blue.

"But that will give away our position!" Charlie protested.

"Power up the shields," Blue growled as he fingered his phaser threateningly, "If we attack first, they won't know what hit them,"

"Are you always this eager to get into a fight?" Juli snapped.

"Are you always this willing to wait for the ship to blow up under your feet?" He replied dryly.

"What are you saying?" She slammed her hands down on the Captain's console, "There's more then one way out of this, don't you see that?"

"If there is then tell your boyfriend at the helm what to do!" Blue gazed into her eyes, as if daring her to contradict him.

Juli stared back at him, her eyes wide.

"That's what I thought," Blue looked past her to me, "Daniel, inform all sections, Red Alert, all hands to Battle Stations,"

"No don't!" Juli slid down the ramp between the two steps to me, grabbing my wrists as though they'd stop me from completing the order, "Don't do it! This is wrong! You know it is!"

"Do what Blue says!" Joey snapped, "Or you'll be taking orders from my fist if you don't!"

I blinked slowly, slumping back into my chair, Juli's grip falling away as I did so.

What was I to do? I give the order, we might be destroyed, I don't, and I might be destroyed.

"Well?" Blue looked down at me, along with the rest of the Bridge, "What are you gonna do?"

I closed my eyes, trying to straighten out my thoughts, before I finally spoke.

"Let's say for a moment that those ships out there are enemies…" I paused, thinking out my question, "…what exactly would their attack plan be?"

"Stop talking bullshit!" Rai retorted, "We're not Betazoids, how the hell should we…"
"The most likely strategy would be a direct attack, designed to take out our shields," Serek answered, "And considering we are many times larger then they are, I would think they would want to close to us to increase their accuracy,"

"And judging from the fact those ships are on the other side of the planet," Joey added thoughtfully, "That gives us some time to prepare,"

"I admit that the chances that these ships are here to rescue us are remote," I admitted, staring stonily at Juli, "But that doesn't stop us from sending the distress call, or we could hail the ships and say we don't want to fight, we only want to be rescued,"

"Urm…what about my suggestion?" Lucson asked hopefully.

"We've got no time to run ya idiot!" Rai snapped back, causing the Zwei to flinch.

"Okay then Danny-boy," Joey looked down at me, "What do we do if they do attack us?"

I sighed as I lent back in my chair, my eyes rolling to Fina, who had been standing nearby, before turning back to Joey.

"Then we go to Battle Stations," I replied grimly, "We'd have no choice,"

"I agree with Daniel!" Fina perked up, "This sounds like the best course of action, not to mention we might be saved because of it,"

Joey glanced at his leader, unsure of what to do.

Blue didn't look at him, he just stared at me, before nodding solemnly.

"All right," Joey sighed, "We'll do it your way. Send a text message to all terminals and consoles informing everyone of the situation. Don't use the PA, that will just create panic. Keep it short and sweet,"

"Yes sir," I sighed as I swivelled back to my console, everyone else returning to their stations.

"So what do you think we should really do?" I heard Fina whisper as she stood next to me.

"Make a dash for Deep Space Twelve," I muttered in reply, "This whole situation is insane,"

"Rai, seal off the entrances to the Bridge, then take the Torpedo station," Blue spoke up, "Charlie, you take Rai's Phaser turret station, but before you do, round up twenty Engineers and send them down to the Sub-room. Daniel, send this order down to Douglas: Prepare to launch the Vital Guarder!"

"Prepare to launch the Vital Guarder?" Carlos repeated in horror, "You mean we're going into battle? Are you serious?"

"Why do you think we've been figuring out how to run this thing for the past four weeks?" Douglas snapped, "Hell of a time to get cold feet!"

"But do you know what this means?" Carlos looked mortified, "If we go into battle innocent people are going to get killed!"

"Then quit," Kurt said smoothly, causing Carlos to spin around to face him, "oh wait, that's right," He smirked, "They have hostages," He suddenly became stony faced again, "After lecturing me for four weeks, you sure got a lot of nerve to back down like this. Kinda ironic through if we all die because you did nothing,"

"Shut it!" Carlos grabbed him round the front, "Just…shut it!"

"It's the same way which no matter which side of the coin we chose. We don't fight, we blow up. We die fighting and we die with a cause,"

Carlos gritted his teeth, taking all of his willpower not to punch him so hard even his own mother wouldn't recognise him.

"I'm going to fight," Kurt said quietly, not flinching under his gaze, "What about you?"

"We've now entered geosynchronous orbit around Orillia," I reported, "Shields at maximum,"

"Sensors online," Serek added, "the ships are on an intercept course,"

"Comm. Channels open," Anina said as Juli approached her.

"Right," She nodded, as she replaced her friend, "I'm going to hail the on-coming ships,"

"Attention incoming fleet. This is U.S.S. Ryvius. Our starship has just entered orbit of Orillia after passing through the Briar Sea,"
The only sound was the hum of the consoles.

"Give it up," Joey started, "They're not going to…"

He was cut off as Blue held his hand up for quiet, nodding to Juli to continue.

"Please listen to me," her voice was getting more panicky with every moment, "We have five hundred Starfleet cadets and civilians on board. We are survivors of the Starfleet Academy Training centre of Starbase Delta. We request rescue assistance. Please, respond. I repeat, this is the U.S.S. Ryvius. Our starship has just entered orbit of Orillia after passing through the Briar Sea. We intend no harm, please respond,"

Still, silence reigned.

"Respond dammit!" Juli slammed her fists down on the console, startling Pat slightly, "This is the U.S.S. Ryvius. We have five hundred Starfleet cadets and civilians on board. We are survivors of the Starfleet Academy Training Centre of Starbase Delta. We came through the Sea… Please respond!"

"Thirty seconds until contact with the fleet," Serek reported, "They still refuse to answer our hails and show no sign of speed decrease,"

"Help us!" Juli was starting to cry, the hope slowly fading from her eyes, "We just want to go home!" She screwed up her face as she pounded her fists against the console, "Please…please…"

She broke down into sobs on the console, Pat clutching on to her, begging her to stop crying.

Lucson couldn't take it anymore. Without warning he suddenly leapt from the vacant station towards the communication console, shoving Joey out of his way as he did so.

"Hey, what do you…?" Joey barely managed to keep his balance as the former captain pushed past, coming to a halt at his friends side.

"You're giving up to easily," He grabbed the back of her chair and spun towards her to face him, grabbing her by the shoulders, "We have to keep trying! We just have too!"

But Juli by now was in hysterics, her tears splashing on Lucson's arms.

"Daniel get over here!" He suddenly barked.

"No, Daniel stay where you are," Joey snapped.

I simply scowled at him before joining doing as Lucson asked, running quickly over to the Zwei.

"Take Juli," He said sternly, gently easing her out of the console, Pat still attached to her waist, "I'm going to try,"

I nodded slowly as Juli practically fell into my arms, sobbing away into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms protectively around her.

"Attention," Lucson said calmly, "This is Cadet Captain Lucson R. Houjou, Commanding Officer of the Zwei Elite Training Squadron, youngest son of Admiral Jeffery Brain Houjou, of the Starfleet Academy Training Centre, Starbase Delta. If your going to attack us because we're on this ship, we didn't have a choice,"

Juli crying began to subside as she turned to look at Lucson, a sense of admiration in her eyes.

"The Starbase was sinking, out of control," Lucson clenched his fists as he tried to keep his voice steady, "We didn't have a choice. If you'll let us unload at Starbase Delta the ship is yours…"

"Hey!" Joey Rushed over to the console in alarm, "What do you think you're doing? You just can't hand over this ship…"

"I will do anything to defend this crew!" Lucson glared at Joey fiercely, "I may not be the best Captain in Starfleet, I'll sooner throw myself out an airlock before I let innocent blood be spilt over one pathetic starship, however large!"

Joey looked like Lucson had been slapped round the face as the Zwei went back to his console.

"We just want to be rescued," Lucson stated as calmly as he could, despite he was breathing deeply, "As representative of this ship, I beg you, show mercy, don't fire on us. Please!"

The ship suddenly shuddered as a green tinge over-come the Viewscreen.

"Each ship fired four torpedoes," Serek intoned, "Shields are unaffected,"

"What did I tell you?" Joey smirked as Lucson slumped back in his seat, "They are the enemy,"

"There is a second wave approaching," Serek called out.

"Daniel," Blue addressed me, "Get back to your station. You and I are going to have a little talk later about where your loyalties lie,"

I nodded silently as I slowly detached Juli from my shoulder, handing her over to Lucson as I headed for the Helm.

"Swile, Now unlock the weapons system," he commanded, "We have a battle to win,"

I sighed as Chris nodded solemnly, only to frown in confusion, "That's strange…All weapons systems, active,"

Blue smiled as he lent back in his chair, "All phaser banks, open fire,"

Outside, forty phaser turrets suddenly came to life, firing in almost every possible direction, forcing the fleets to scatter in different directions in order to avoid the flame red beams

"So did we hit 'em?" Joey asked eagerly.

"No," Serek replied dryly, "All turrets did not hit designated targets. They were not even targeted at anything, a few shots impacted against several ships, but they were merely glancing blows,"

Blue glared at Michelle, Cass, Charlie and Joey, "You didn't even hit anything?"

"Hey give me a break!" Michelle retorted, "I'm training to be a doctor, not a gunslinger!"

"W…what have you done?" Juli gasped, clinging to Lucson and Pat like they were the only things holding her together, "What have you done to us?"

"While we did not hit anything," Serek added, "But the blasts were powerful. If they are logical, then they will see this as a warning shot and may back down,"

"For a Vulcan that's a pretty optimistic thing to say," Joey grunted, causing Serek to raise an eyebrow in return.

Juli had apparently had enough.

Leaving Pat in Lucson's charge, she stormed down to the Captain's Chair, her eyes wide and furious.

"I should never have let you take command," She spat, "Pat could have done a much better job then you. As a member of the Zwei, I order you and your comrades of this Bridge. Now,"

"No-one," Blue raised his phaser to point directly at her head, "Give me orders. I'm not exactly going to stand around and do nothing,"

"Daniel!" He suddenly turned to me, "Get this down to Douglas, Now. LAUNCH THE VITAL GUARDER!"

"The Ryvius appears to be attempting to head towards the Starbase sir," The science officer reported.

"The U.S.S. Alaska and Guardian have reported minor damage to their shields," The Comm. Officer added.

"Send the targets data to Deep Space Twelve," The Captain grunted, "Inform them that this is a terrorist vessel of an unknown race and order them to wait until we contact them again before they do anything,"

"Yes sir. Should we give them an image as well?"

"Show it to me,"

The Viewscreen blinked for a moment, before the Black shape of the Ryvius took form. Only…

"Is it me, or has that ship lost weight?" The Captain puzzled.

Sure enough, The large bulk that had been part of the lower front of the hull was missing.

"I'll zoom out on the image sir,"

"What the? There!"

The missing half of Ryvius seemed to have detached from the main hull, apparently flying under it's own power.

"What is that?" He frowned, "That ship?"

I had no idea what was going to happen next.

Nor did I begin to fathom the amount of power possessed by the Vital Guarder.

I just…didn't know!

In fact…we didn't know anything.