CHAPTER SIX

A Call to Battle

Four hours and two minutes later, Brady and his engineering team finished whatever repairs to the disabled Yamato. Robin's communicator chirped as he finished patching down a ruptured conduit on an emergency tactical console. The station beyond the captain's chair was the main tactical station, and it was already repaired. Brady's communicator chirped again.

Robin keyed in several commands on the console, and the bridge lighting was activated. "Brady here," the engineer replied, letting out a slight groan.

"Robin, your time's up," M'Giia prompted, trying to sound calm. "A Klingon attack fleet is on the way here. They'll be within weapons range in less than forty-five minutes."

"My team's just finished with repairs," Robin replied. "We've also got a passenger: one Captain Lyle Parker. We'll need a skeleton crew to assist in commanding the ship. Request permission to use some of my staff."

"Granted," Forester answered. In less than several minutes, seven columns of blue light blossomed onto the bridge. Three officers were Lexington bridge members, while four were part of Brady's engineering staff.

Robin walked over to the seven of them, holding an engineering PADD in his hand. "I'm sure you have been appraised of the current situation," he said, sounding calm and commanding. When they nodded, understanding, Robin continued with the briefing. "I want my engineering staff in engineering, and the bridge staff here." He turned and faced his Beta shift, who were emerging from the functional turbolift.

"Sir," Robin added, addressing Captain Parker. "Your crew is in place. I'm needed on the Lexington." Parker nodded as Brady took out his communicator. "Brady to Lexington. Five to beam up."

Robin Brady and Beta shift were beamed back to the Lexington in seconds.

By the time Beta shift returned to the Lexington, the first official attack came.

The bridge jolted, but surprisingly, the shields still held from the impact. The bridge shook again, this time the impact thundrous. "Klingon Bird-of-Prey at bearing 021, mark 050," Jana reported, as the bridge continuing to shake.

Forester steadied himself as he watched the Bird-of-Prey sail by, letting fly a volley of disruptor fire. The shields once again flashed, as they held under the attack. The small cruiser was not much to worry about, especially considering how weakly shielded it was. One thing that was a worry about the ship was its speed and cloaking device. Once either the cloaking device or warp drive were was disabled, then the ship might be easier to destroy.

"How many total ships?" David asked, as the bridge shook again. Forester grabbed hold of the railing to steady himself.

Corin keyed in several commands on his console. On the screen, multiple red specks showed up. "Twelve Birds-of-Prey, twenty D-7A battlecruisers, ten destroyers, and four ships of an unknown class," he reported. "All of them targeting us."

The bridge shook from the blast of a photon torpedo. The ship reeled hard, as the shields once again obsorbed the impact. What Forester did not count on was another torpedo and disruptor bolts firing at the same time where the previous torpedo had hit. The bridge shook hard now, as one of the consoles' began to leak out smoke. "Shields down to seventy-three percent," Jana reported.

"Target the lead Bird-of-Prey's cloaking device," Forester commanded, as the bridge continued to shake. "Fire on my command."

Corin nodded and worked his console. The weapons came online in a second. "Photon torpedoes and forward phaser banks ready."

Forester waited until the Bird-of-Prey came into view on the screen. The Klingon ship began to fire its photon torpedo, but Jana anticipated the maneuver and flew the ship into an arc, avoiding the incoming torpedo. "Fire," Forester said.

The Lexington let loose a volley of photon torpedoes and two powerful phaser blasts to the Bird-of-Prey. The weapons found their mark, as they overloaded the Klingon ship's forward shields. The Federation ship fired her phasers again into the now non-existent forward shields of the Klingon ship, and in less than a minute, the ship was destroyed.

Corin repeated the same tactic for another Bird-of-Prey as the Klingon ship tried to cloak and attack again. Corin's reputation as firing the fastest phasers and torpedoes was well-deserved and quite true. The second Bird's port nacelle blew off immediately after a photon torpedo had found its mark. The phasers destroyed the ship instantaneously.

"We have an opening," Forester called out. "Engage warp drive." The bridge shook again, this blast squarely knocking some of the bridge crew off their feet. Sparks flew from the Engineering console. The bridge darkened slightly, but the lighting returned.

"Warp drive offline!" Corin reported.

"Hull breach on deck 17!" Akton chimed in.

"Do we have impulse?" Forester asked.

"Yes, sir," Corin answered.

Forester nodded. At least they had impulse, otherwise they would be adrift. "Three-quarter impulse," he said without thinking about the possible consquences. "Maximum warp once we've cleared the Archer system." The remaining Klingon ships continued their relentless attack on the Lexington. As the ship tried to outrun the warships, one of them fired their disruptors, clearly targeting the Lexington's warp engines. The other warships gave chase to the Federation ship and targeted other key systems of the ship.