- TWELVE -
The Vega Offensive
- January 16th, 2157 -
Jonathon Archer was becoming weary, as was the rest of the crew of the
Enterprise. The Romulans were three days overdue and maintaining
combat-readiness for such a long time is incredibly taxing on both the
ship and those who operate it. None of the crew has had a chance to
properly rest, fearing the Romulans will strike at any moment. The
unexpected delay however has allowed Starfleet to dispatch several more
ships to reinforce the fleet, designated Taskforce One.
The captain was reading the intelligence report for the forth time
today; just to be sure he didn't miss anything. According to Starfleet
Intelligence, the Romulans will attack Vega Sector via the Enyo system,
which is where they are stationed at, with an estimated
one-hundred-fifty ships.
In response
Starfleet has assembled its own force of three-hundred and ten ships,
outnumbering the Romulans by a two to one margin. Even with those odds,
they're still in a tough position because the Romulan ships outgun
their Starfleet counterparts considerably.
Archer sighed unwillingly, as he ran his hand over his face feeling the
small beard being grown around his jaw. On the bridge were Travis,
Hoshi and Malcolm. Both Trip and T'Pol have retired for the night and
Doctor Phlox was most likely still in sickbay triple-checking
everything.
"I hate to say it, but I wish
they'll get here, either that or give us a call saying they're not
coming." Hoshi muttered in annoyance.
"Be
careful what you wish for ensign." Malcolm replied, half jokingly. "You
might be praying for this peace and quiet before you know it."
"How are our weapons systems Malcolm?" The captain asked, breaking into the conversation.
"Still the same as last time, collecting dust." Archer grinned at the
sarcasm from his weapons officer. Just then a light started flashing
and blinking for attention on Hoshi's communications console.
"Captain!" Archer turned to her surprised voice. "The Discovery is
picking up something on long-ranger sensors." The entire crew became
immediately alert.
"Archer to T'Pol and Tucker, report to the bridge!" The captain spoke into the intercom on his chair.
"The Discovery is reporting over a hundred warp signatures approaching fast!"
"Battle stations!" Archer yelled as the lights on the bridge dimmed and the klaxon blared its warning.
"Two hundred warp signatures now!" Hoshi reported, sounding very excited.
"Hull plating polarized." Malcolm said.
"Discovery reports over three hundred warp signatures inbound!" The count just kept ticking up.
"Romulan ships dropping out of warp!" Archer could just barely hear
Travis. The view screen showed warp flashes flickering all over the
star field in front of Enterprise.
"Damn it!
They're swarming in like locusts!" Hoshi yelled, "We're at over four
hundred ships and still counting!" Fear crept into Hoshi's voice.
"Travis, get us into position and into formation with the rest of the
fleet." Archer ordered as T'Pol and Trip both entered the bridge.
"How bad is it?" Trip asked.
"I think Intel may have miscalculated!" Warp flashes continued to dot the star field in front of the ship.
"Five hundred!" Archer heard Hoshi report, followed by a curse that most likely came from Trip.
"I'm heading down to engineering!" He heard the commander yell, who was
long gone by the time the captain turned around to acknowledge him.
"Sir, the fleet is in position and ready to attack." T'Pol yelled. Just
then the warp flashes halted, signalling that the last of the Romulan
ships have arrived.
"What's the tally?" Archer asked and bracing for the answer he didn't want to hear.
"Six hundred and twenty ships sir." Exactly twice as many ships they
had... and more then quadrupled what they had expected. Damn Intel. Archer silently cursed.
"Signal the fleet to attack on my order." Archer said while watching
the Romulan fleet which was holding its position directly facing
Taskforce One.
"Sir." Hoshi interrupted, "Message from the Romulans, audio only." Archer felt a sense of déjà vu.
"Human fleet, your desire to defend yourselves and put up a fight
despite facing a superior and invincible opponent is admirable." Right.
"As such, we are offering you a chance for salvation. Surrender your
ships now, and your lives will be spared. We will not offer our mercy
again." Archer immediately turned to Hoshi.
"Open a channel to the fleet." She nodded.
"Done." Archer took a deep breath before speaking.
"This is Captain Archer of the Enterprise to Taskforce One." He let a
second drift by. "You all know what we have to do. The future of
Earth... and humanity is in our hands." He glanced at Malcolm who
nodded. "All ships... open fire."
- January 17th, 2157 -
"More power to the port hull!" Malcolm yelled at the top of his lungs as sparks showered him from above.
"I'm squeezing every last ounce we've got left!" Tucker replied with
the same tone of voice from the intercom. The Enterprise ducked and
weaved through a mixed array of Romulan and Starfleet vessels, taking
fire while dishing out some of it in the process. Captain Archer
gripped the armrest of his chair even tighter to prevent being thrown
by the violent shakes the ship is enduring.
"Sir! The Magellan's been destroyed! The left flank is collapsing!" Hoshi reported from the comm station.
"Hull breach on deck five. Sickbay is reporting heavy casualties." This
time it was T'Pol. The bridge rocked hard again. Enterprise,
accompanied by three other allies covering its flanks fired both its
phase cannons on a passing Romulan warbird, and unleashing a pair of
photonic torpedoes at close range producing a spectacular explosion as
the warbird died a fiery death.
"We got
another one!" Travis celebrated, but was cut short when one of
Enterprise's escorts fell prey to another Romulan warbird.
"Damn! Order the Pathfinder and its group to reinforce the left flank!"
Archer barked. The Enterprise took yet another hit, leaving behind a
hole on her hull that bled a trail of plasma. The battle has been
ongoing for nearly six hours and both the ship and the fleet it
commanded were being hammered, but the Romulans showed no signs of
relenting.
"Secondary power is failing!"
"And we're out of torpedoes" Malcolm added. There was little Archer
could do, but to sit and watch the fight spiral out of his control.
Outside, the battle raged on with ships from both sides burning and
flaring in loud, painful deaths. Streaks of orange, red and green
energy flew back and forth against the black canvass of space. Although
the ships of Taskforce One were doing a formidable job of holding back
a superior enemy, the vastness of the Romulan fleet was beginning to
show.
The bridge of the Enterprise was filled
with arid smoke and sparks. Wounded crew members struggled back to
their stations. Archer coughed and wheezed as his lungs fought for
fresh air. He's been in this situation once too many times. Another of
Enterprise's escorts falls, exploding in front of the flagship and
sending hundreds of pieces of debris scattering in all directions.
Travis' quick hands saved the vessel from a direct collision with the
burning hulk but wasn't fast enough to avoid a slight scrape.
"Captain!" Hoshi yelled, trying to get his attention. "The right flank
has collapsed and Pathfinder has suffered critical damage, she can't
hold out!"
"T'Pol! What's the status of the
Romulans?" Archer needed some idea of how much damage they've managed
to inflict on their enemies.
"Sensors detect
over four hundred Romulan vessels still active." T'Pol shouted amidst
the sparks and small explosions in the darkened room.
"Taskforce One?" T'Pol had already expected the follow-up question.
"Eighty surviving Starfleet vessels." At this rate, there won't be any
survivors at all. Archer blinked his eyes hard to squeeze out the tears
forming because of the smoke. We can't win this. The last of Enterprise's escorts exploded, leaving the flagship all by itself completely surrounded.
"Hull polarization has failed!" Archer wasn't entirely sure who it was
that said that, but he didn't have time to think about it as a jolt
tossed him from his chair. The view screen showed countless Romulans
pounding on the beleaguered starship.
"Captain..." T'Pol said somewhere amidst the smoke, "Sensors are
picking up more incoming ships..." There was a pause as Archer waited
for the conclusion of that sentence while climbing slowly back into his
chair. "Romulans."
The Enterprise continued
its dance with its attackers, although she was outnumbered and could
only manage to avoid so much of the lethal energy bolts being
spluttered at her. In the background, the rest of the supporting cast
of Taskforce One were steadily being wiped out from existence as more
green ships arrived via warp.
"Hoshi..."
Archer coughed out, "Signal a general retreat to the fleet... get
everyone out of here." It was a routine he was all too familiar with.
Before he could issue his next command, a volley of energy blast struck
an energy transfer conduit, creating a massive explosion that ripped
nearly a third of the Enterprise's saucer section out into space. The
jagged edges of the torn saucer grew bright red from the heat of the
blast, and the Enterprise started losing control despite Travis' best
efforts.
"Warp core breach immanent!" The
obvious statement came from Trip in engineering. Another hit, this time
it was the starboard nacelle that was the victim, half of it was
shattered into countless fragments as the attack knocked the Enterprise
into a death spiral. The fire and leaking plasma created dozens of
short, colourful trails behind the ship, before being quickly snuffed
out by the coldness of space.
Archer looked
around the bridge once more, everything was dead. Consoles flashed and
blinked but were inoperative, the rest of the bridge staff tried to
continue working. Their courage and bravery were inspirational but in
vain, and even though it was against every fibre of his being, Archer
knew what he had to do next as he reached for the intercom button on
his armrest.
"This is Captain Archer..." He
voice sounded hoarse, "All hands... abandon ship." He felt strange
saying those words. "I repeat... all hands, abandon ship." The bridge
staff stared at him for two full seconds before the words sank in and
they jumped into action, quickly filing out of the battered room. After
ensuring that everyone was evacuated off the bridge, Archer made his
way to the waiting turbo-lift. As he stepped into the small
canister-shaped elevator that would take him to an escape pod,
something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Archer
turned in time to see on the view screen where they were no less then a
dozen Romulan warbirds bearing down on the ship.
Oh... damn.
The warbirds showed no mercy, letting loose a wall of green fire that
rapidly consumed the dying Starfleet flagship. In seconds the
Enterprise was engulfed in a brilliant mixture of green and red fire
creating a chain of explosions, which faded just as fast, leaving
behind nothing but a field of twisted metal and debris floating in the
emptiness of the void.