They had flown almost eight hours at warp six without incident. Tony was busy sifting through lines of code trying to determine why the intruder restraining system didn't neutralize the romulan devices. Elaine was scanning various frequencies, listening for any kind of transmissions that could give away a possible enemy location. Tom was passively switching between various engine status views, both pleased and bored with the numbers. Tyler was rapping his fingers against the navigation console, daydreams of starships exploding right and left as he gingerly dodged between them. Stephen spent his time mentally listing the places he'd rather be and why while loyally sitting at the first officer's chair. T'Nia spent her time pouring over various short and mid range sensor scans. Boredom was beginning to set in, and in Stephen's case, fatigue. He had only gotten a two hour nap, since he had been covering second shift.
Everyone was snapped to the present when the proximity alarm went off. "Report!" Bolerov shouted above the alarm.
T'Nia quickly examined the sensors. "Single D'deridex class romulan warbird has just decloaked off the forward starboard bow, Sir."
"I wonder what..." Bolerov started.
"Their weapons are armed and have achieved target lock." T'Nia continued.
"Well, that settles that. Lieutenant Moreau, have the Devoras attempt to raise shields." Bolerov added with a smile.
Tony was turning back when T'Nia broke in. "Another warbird has decloaked above us. Their weapons are arming as well."
"Well," Captain Bolerov began, "Romulans typically travel in groups of threes. I guess we'll see if the Remans follow their strategy."
Suddenly, missile fire streaked across the main viewscreen. A hair behind the vision came the voice of T'Nia, "Captain, they're..."
"...firing!" Lieutenant Kelly Bosa's voice was panicked. The bridge of the USS Vigilant rocked with the impact.
Bolerov did his best to remain calm. "Mr. Bosa, where is the attacking Dominion ship?"
"She's high on our six, Sir!" Bosa replied hurriedly.
"Shall I take evasive action?" Lieutenant Commander Aaron O'Neill asked from behind the navigation console.
Bolerov didn't even need time to consider the question. "No," he replied quickly. "Stay with the Hood. Lieutenant Iieria, return fire."
The Deltan tactical officer replied, "Yes, Sir."
Lieutenant Bosa yelled, "They're firing again!"
"Brace for impact!" Bolerov stood up and yelled.
"Sir?" Kirk questioned.
"What?" Bolerov looked around and shook his head. The mental image of the Vigilant had faded but his heart was still racing. Slowly, he sat back down. "My apologies. I guess old habits die hard." He offered a smile with his defense.
"Sir," Kirk asked with a questioning eye, "how long do you want us to keep up the ruse? Do you want us to return fire?"
"We need to wait and see if there's a third, Commander," Bolerov replied calmly as he sat back down.
"Captain, we already saw the third. It decloaked right behind the second one."
"Right," Bolerov replied. "We... need to ensure all three are together. Once they believe our vessel is crippled, they should either close for the kill, or close to board." He turned to T'Nia. "Are the weapons armed?"
"Armed and ready, Sir." she replied. Her's was a look of curiosity as well. "Cannons charged to fifty percent."
"Excellent." Bolerov replied. "What is the status of our shields?" His mind had begun to shake free of the hauntingly real image of the Vigilant bridge.
T'Nia switched screens on her console. "Our primary shields are holding at eighty-nine percent."
Bolerov nodded. At this rate, all three warbirds could fire at them for over an hour before they'd have to worry. "Lieutenant Moreau, what is the status of our Devoras mask?"
He had been staring at the computer readout ever since the first vessel decloaked. "According to the hits we took, our cloak should be down, our shield generators are failing, forward torpedo tubes are down, life support below deck seven are minimal, and we've lost our starboard drive. Shields at eighteen percent. We're getting clobbered, Sir." Tony added with a smile.
"Very good. We're just about done for." Bolerov said with a smile. Hopefully, his crew was regaining confidence in him. "Either they'll close in together to finish us off, or they'll close in together to board us. We'll wait for a lull in their attack." Andrei sat forward in his seat at T'Nia. "Commander, get ready for a broad spectrum tachyon burst. We'll have to fire quickly or at least one will get away. Put a cannon into two of them, then destroy the third with our secondary weapons."
T'Nia nodded her compliance. "Aye, aye, Sir." She began punching in the information, switched screens on her console, then continued putting in information.
Bolerov looked on at T'Nia's console disapprovingly. He leaned over to Kirk and lowered his voice. "Put this on your list, Commander. She's doing too much. If this were a more desperate situation, we would be in sorry shape. Combining the sensor station with the tactical station sounded good in theory, but in practice, it stinks."
"Understood, Captain," Kirk began. "Sir..." his voice became more inquisitory. "will the cannons at fifty percent take out a romulan warbird?" His voice was low. He knew how the captain hated being questioned or contradicted in front of the crew.
Bolerov smiled. "Commander," he whispered back, "those cannons were designed to destroy a Borg cube. A thirty year old D'deridex-A warbird is almost an insult." He held his pointer finger up. "Remember, Commander... I was part of the design committee for this ship. I know her capabilities better than you..." he chuckled, "when it's functioning properly."
"Captain," Tony started, "our shields have collapsed and main power is out."
"They have ceased firing, Sir." T'Nia added.
Bolerov rubbed his hands together. "I believe this game of playing possum is just about over. Lieutenant Moreau, get ready to drop the mask. Commander T'Nia, prepare for the tachyon burst. You'll need to move quickly to fire on them while they figure out what what gave away their position." Bolerov suddenly had an idea. "Wait!"
Everyone froze.
He snapped his fingers. "T'Nia, don't destroy the third ship. Render is helpless. I believe the romulans will be very curious to see what and who is aboard these ships."
"Yes, Sir." she answered. Quickly, her mind began rethinking her firing strategy. Due to the greatly enhanced nature of the secondary weapons, she wouldn't be able to use previous experience with torpedoes and phasers as a reference. Thankfully, logic prevented her from the panic that would normally accompany a human with last-minute tactical changes. She dropped several torpedoes and most of the pulse phasers from the firing solution. She switched screens to the science console and waited.
There was a momentary pause. It seemed like hours. "Get ready..." Captain Bolerov slowly rose from his seat. Instinct would take over now. He silently counted in his head how long it would take the three vessels to communicate with each other and make their final approach. It was going to be an educated guess, but he wanted the Warlord to fire at point-blank range. The warbirds would never have a chance to escape the barrage. "Ready..." he repeated. "Burst first, then drop the mask, then let them have it."
There was another pause.
"Now!"