Chapter 16: Diplomatic Exit
"T'vrell how bad is it?" Andre asked groaning as he leaned against a cargo container. His right shoulder had been grazed by a plasma shot from one of the Romulan guards. His uniform was burnt and signed around the wound which was open to the air. The flesh had cauterized with the heat, but the plasma particles continued to burn causing him to wince in pain.
"Significant but i don't think you will die" replied T'Vrell as she placed her hands on his shoulder analyzing the wound. She ripped a piece of cloth off from Andre's arm and tied it around his shoulder to help cover the plasma wound.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence" Andre replied as he stood up from the floor. "Did you search to see if they had anything of intelligence value on them?" He asked standing over the two dead guards.
"No nothing that can be of use to us" T'Vrell said
"Alright let's get out of here, first we need to make sure the delegates are safe" Andre said as the structure above them shook. As they looked up Andre's badge chirped and Tokath's voice could be heard calling out.
"Captain Calzado can you hear me? Do you read?" he said frantically as weapons fire could be heard in the background.
"Yes Tokath i read you" Andre replied "What's going on up there?"
"I don't know what you did Captain, but it seems to have worked and triggered Sela's plan" Tokath said, the yelp of a dying soldier could be heard as Tokath grunted "I was able to get the delegation back to their ships. I had to blow my cover but it's alright. Our paths diverge here. Stay safe" the channel closed as silence enveloped the duo and distant weapons fire could be heard.
"The ship won't be able to beam us out of here from down here, we need to get back upstairs" Andre said as he grabbed his phaser with his still good arm and walked out of the cargo bay. T'vrell followed behind him as they retraced their steps to the maintenance shaft. As they reached the end of the corridor Andre peeked around the corner and was met with a volley of plasma fire. The air heated around him as the shots nearly caught his head, Andre extended his hand around the corner and fired his phaser blindly.
"T'Vrell see if you can get into a better position, i'll cover you" he said
"Aye sir" replied T'Vrell, Andre peeked around the corner again exposing his upper half firing at the Romulan centurions down the corridor. One timed his shot badly and lifted his head up as Andre fired. The orange beam slammed straight into him and vaporized the centurion as a cry of agony could be heard momentarily. T'Vrell ran out into the corridor and ducked behind a power conduit that was barely wide enough to cover her. She looked out and fired her phaser, one of the centurions was grazed across his face by her shooting and fell to the ground in agony screaming.
"Captain, we can push forward," T'Vrell said over the sound of the weapons fire. Andre ran out into the corridor alongside T'Vrell firing where the last centurion was hiding, as they closed in on him he jumped over the makeshift barricade, it was a futile attempt as the duo shot him mid jump vaporizing in an instant.
"Here is the maintenance shaft, Can you make it up Captain?" T'Vrell asked as Andre grabbed onto the step handles.
"I'll try not to fall on you" he said as he stepped up into the tube and forced himself up the ladder rungs. Reaching the top of the shaft Andre stepped out carefully into the great hall where the banquet was to be served. The tables were overturned and dead Romulans lay everywhere, shooting could still be heard out in the courtyard and other areas of the compound as he walked slowly past the dead. He tapped his combadge "Clazado to Gagarin two to beam up"
Andre and T'Vrell materialized back on the Gagarin and were met by Commander Flores and the ship's Doctor Movot.
"What the hell happened down there?!" Blurted out Elisa rushing forward and grabbing the Captain as he stepped off of the transporter pad.
"I happened to meet some of Empress Sela's finest" Andre replied humorously, Movot stood in front of him and scanned his shoulder with his medical tricorder.
"Captain, we need to get you to sickbay, I have never seen this type of damage from a Romulan disruptor fire."
Andre shook his head and pushed past Movot "Negative Doctor, with all due respect i need to get back to the bridge"
"I'm afraid I must insist Captain, your wound is not healing, in fact necrosis is starting to set in, I need to get you to sickbay now." Movot said sternly as he grabbed the Captain's good arm.
"Captain, go to sickbay." Elisa said "I'll keep everything together while you get patched up."
"Very well, it seems i'm outnumbered on all fronts." Andre said grudgingly "Number one, get a message to Admiral T'Nae as soon as you can highest priority. Let her know Sela is launching an attack on Vulcan"
"What does she hope to accomplish by doing that?" Elisa asked in disbelief "She knows she will fail"
"Never underestimate a person blinded by revenge" responded T'Vrell "We don't know what kind of ships she has or how large her fleet is. Our only hope is Starfleet can mobilize a force soon enough to stop the attack."
"And she has a head start on us" Said Andre "Make sure that the diplomatic escorts are clear, and set a course for Vulcan maximum warp"
"Aye sir" Elisa replied, the group exited the transporter room with Andre and Doctor Movot heading to sickbay and T'Vrell with Elisa to the bridge.
"Is Kolez back on board?" T'Vrell asked "We lost track of him down on the surface"
"Yea he is on the bridge already, he got back with the ambassadors" Elisa replied as they stepped into the turbolift. "Bridge" she said as the doors closed. The trip to the bridge was relatively short as the doors opened up and Commander Flores strided in "Red Alert, All hands to battlestations" she said as the bridge dimmed and the red pulsing lights of red alert flashed.
"What is the status of the diplomatic vessel?" she asked
"They seem to be caught in a series of tractor beam arrays. We are being held here Commander by a dampening field which is disrupting our engines" Answered T'Vrell "We can disrupt it by initiating a feedback pulse from our deflector"
"Do it" ordered Elisa "Kolez where is the source of that dampening field?"
Kolez scanned his sensor display "500 kilometers dead ahead"
"Feedback pulse ready" T'Vrell said
"Lock on the target and initiate" Elisa responded, the ship hummed as the deflector dish turned a bright green, a beam shot out and slammed into the Romulan satellite before the beam widened as the pulse travelled along through it. As the pulse reached the satellite it exploded into thousands of pieces along with the asteroid it was sitting on.
"Engines are back online" Said Ensign Tarsi
"Set a course for the nearest friendly ship" Elisa said as she sat down in the Captain's seat. The Asteroid belt surrounding the planet seems to shift in angle as the Gagarin dived through the perilous rocks.
"Approaching their position sir" Tarsi said as the Starfleet vessel came into view, it was a smaller ship one of the older Vesper Class ships. Not meant to be on the front lines but more for an auxiliary role, and right now she was being held by three tractor beams that had been placed in the field around her.
"Target the nearest emitter" Said Elisa as the Gagarin closed the distance.
"Target locked" Kolez said
"Fire" came the reply, the emitter vaporized in an instant as the torpedo ripped through the rock destroying it.
"One down, two more to go" Elisa said as the viewscreen shifted showing the ships path, the trapped diplomatic ship fell out of view as the next rock holding the second emitter filled the viescreen.
"Target locked" Kolez said as his targeting scanners beeped and turned red indicating a lock.
"Fire" Elisa said as another torpedo flew out from beneath them and slammed into the rock.
"Good job, bring us about. Target the last one" Elisa said
Tarsi moved her blue colored hands across her screen as the ship turned and made its way to the final tractor beam emitter.
"Firing," Kolez said as the emitter came into weapons range. The last torpedo flew across the rock field and slammed into the asteroid causing the last tractor beam to fail.
"Good job Kolez" Elisa said "But next time let me know you are locked, Initiative is good but let me know always"
"Aye sir" replied Kolez smiling mischievously
Elisa sighed in relief as the diplomatic cruiser jumped to warp and to safety headed back across the Neutral Zone
"Stevens get me a secure line to Starbase 39, Priority one" She said
"Aye sir" replied Stevens as he tapped his console, after a few seconds the acknowledgement beep went off "Channel open" he said
The view of the asteroid belt was quickly replaced by the Starfleet Insignia on the screen for a second and then that was replaced by the face of Admiral T'Nae
"Commander, I was not expecting your call. Where is Captain Calzado?" she asked as she stared into the bridge examining who was present.
"The Captain is in Sickbay recovering from wounds sustained at the conference" Elisa replied "Admiral Sela is headed to Vulcan with an Armada. She wants to exact revenge for the loss of Romulus"
"I should have expected this to happen, the Romulans have never proven themselves trustworthy. That is why i never trust them" She paused for a brief moment as if running through scenarios in her mind "How long will it take you to get back to Vulcan"
"At maximum warp two days sir" Replied Elisa
"Set your course, I will gather all available ships to meet you in the defense of Vulcan, and I will meet you there as well."
"Aye sir, but she has a head start on us, we will arrive minutes behind her" Elisa said
"It will have to do, the main fleet is engaged along the border with the Gorn and Klingons. The handful of ships already en route to Vulcan and your ship will have to hold the line until we arrive" T'Nae said forcefully "I'll see you there, T'nae out"
The viewscreen cut back to the view of Agrama and the asteroid belt, the bridge was silent for a moment before the ship's proximity alert sounded.
"Two romulan Warbirds decloaking right on top of us" Kolez announced as he looked at the viewscreen, the massive green ships appeared before them as their cloaks dropped. The large beak-like superstructure at the front and the double wings at the back very well justified the moniker of warbird. Two of these massie ships would be a hard fight to the unfortunate ship and crew that would have to face them.
"I'm guessing sela doesn't want us leaving" Elisa said as the warbirds powered their weapons and fired. The ship shook and sparks flew from the wall panels and conduits.
"Direct hit, Shields holding at ninety percent" Kolez said
"Fire at will, Tarsi Evasive pattern Kirk-Epsilon" Elisa ordered as the Gagarin began it's graceful dance through the asteroid field. One of the warbirds turned behind firing trying to get a shot. Unlike the warbirds the Gagarin was maneuverable as it outran the romulan disruptors causing them to hit the rocks around shattering them into small pieces.
"Locking onto the warbird" Kolez said as the scanners turned red and the phaser charge indicator glowed full. The turret style phasers on the Gagarin fired in a wide pattern through the rocks, most of the hits slammed into the side of the warbird which was still trying to catch up.
"Nice shooting" Elisa said congratulating Kolez "Bring us about, target the Flanking Warbird Attack Pattern Delta"
Tarsi piloted the Gagarin over the rock ring falling on the second warbird from above. Kolez tapped his console as the phaser turrets fired their blue energy bolts at the romulan ship below. The shots slammed into the neck one after the other as the shield grid lit up, the final hit passed through the shields and hit the ships hull.
"Firing torpedoes" Kolez said as the blue spheres raced out towards the romulan ship. They found their mark causing the neck structure to crack and begin to break.
"Get ready for some heat" Elisa said as she grabbed onto her seat, the Gagarin flw straight down through the broken Romulan ship, the bottom support of the Romulan ship snapped as the weight of the Gagarin plowed through it. The ship jolted from the impact and the shield grid lit up blue as the debris from the romulan ship bounced off of its hull.
"That was close" said Tarsi her voice filled with relief
"The other warbird is closing in on us" Kolez said as the ship from earlier on a direct course in front of them.
The warbird fired its disruptors, the green energy bolts slamming into the Gagarin. The Gagarin in return fired its own phasers and torpedoes hitting the warbird straight on. The two ships closed the gap toward each other, like the lancers of old. It was a matter of whose shields would fail first and who would blink first.
"Forward shields down to thirty percent" Kolez said as the ship jolted from the romulan barrage.
"Keep your eye on the prize Tarsi, don't blink" Elisa said as the warbird grew larger on the screen.
"Forward shields failing" Kolez said "The romulans have lost their shields too!" he yelled in surprise, the warbird made to dodge out of the way below the Gagarin
"NOW!" yelled Elisa, Tarsi slid her hands over the console bringing the ship right over the warbird. Blue phaser bolts and Torpedoes slammed along the top and side of the warbird breaking it apart in seconds. The crew lout out a collective cheer as the warbird was destroyed.
"Set a course for Vulcan, Maximum Warp" Elisa ordered