Kenyon shot Stephen a sideways glance. "What, you thought they moved it?" Kirk returned the look with a raised eyebrow. Smart alec comments would only go so far, especially in a situation like the one they were about to face. "Sir?" Kenyon quickly added with a guilty smile.
"How many ships do you see?" Kirk asked, still looking Richard's direction.
Looking at his sensor screen, he counted with his finger. "I count four right now, not including the one in front of us. Two Cardassian Galors and two Dominion Raiders. There are probably more cloaked. Do you want me to fire a tachyon burst?"
Kirk considered it for a moment, then shook his head. "No, I don't want to give ourselves away yet." Although, technically, this was the third engagement he was commanding the Warlord through, it was still uncomfortable for him. Stephen wasn't used to be the 'go to' person. He always knew he'd eventually command a starship, just because of the namesake, but he was uncomfortable with it being this soon. He only hoped that once this mission was over, Captain Bolerov would get the necessary help needed to get him back in the captain's seat. As much as he disagreed with Bolerov's leadership style, at least he HAD one.
"Elaine, tell the corvettes to get ready to detach." Stephen ordered without turning around. Instinctively, he gripped the arms of the captain's seat tighter.
"Yes, Sir." She spun around in her chair and nervously tapped her communications controls. She hadn't been this scared since their very first battle, when the ship was still technically under construction. She had a horrible feeling they wouldn't get out alive then. Thankfully, she had been proven wrong, but not by much. The damage that had been inflicted had been substantial. Try as she might to have more confidence, she couldn't help but think she'd never see Montreal again.
"Tyler," Stephen began, "where is that government building relative to our initial orbit position?"
Tyler tapped a few buttons on his panel, then looked at the navigational screen next to it. Turning his head slightly, he answered, "It's at thirty-two point two four degrees north latitude and a hundred six point eight-five degrees east longitude." He pressed several more buttons on his panel before continuing his answer. "Okay, given our current speed, we'll hit orbit about two hundred-fifty kilometers north and three thousand-twentysome kilometers west of the target."
Stephen considered his answer for several moments, trying to remeber planetary navigation. "Okay, we should still be in line-of-sight from a north/south perspective, but too far west of our target... I'm thinking it'll be faster to catch up with our target instead of waiting for it to come back around, right?"
Tyler nodded.
Kirk took another breath and sat up in his chair. "Okay, everyone. Get ready. Elaine, tell the corvettes to break as soon as we open fire." He tapped his comm badge. "Kirk to Kelly."
His badge popped. "Lieutenant Kelly here, Sir," Tom replied in his trademark Australian accent.
"Are you ready to send down our presents?"
"Present one is in transporter room one. I've got present two in the cargo bay with me now."
"Okay, keep an eye on the screen and keep a channel open in transporter room one. Once Warlord fires, the shield will be down. You can pretty much do your thing as soon as you see the weapons fire."
"Roger that. We'll play delivery boys as soon as we see the fireworks."
"Good deal. Kirk out." He tapped his badge again. Under his breath, Stephen prayed for wisdom and safety for his crew, the marines, and the hostages. The expression on his face turned grave. "Let's do this... Tyler... now!"
The course already set into the navigation computer, Tyler pounded the execute button and threw his hand over the thruster control. The great ship lunged forward, barely noticeable to the crew inside. On the viewscreen, the image of Cardassia Prime quickly grew in size, and began to slide gently to the left.
Elaine turned around. "Sir, the cardassian ship is asking what we're doing."
"Ignore them and get ready to broadcast on all frequencies." Stephen replied quickly. "T'Nia, as soon as you have a clear shot, take it."
"Twelve seconds to optimum firing trajectory," T'Nia replied calmly.
Lieutenant Davies set her communications panel to perform a general broadcast. "Ready when you are, Sir." Elaine replied.
"Commander, I've got three cardassians on an intercept course. They'll be here in seconds." Richards announced.
The ship suddenly rocked briefly as a torpedo exploded nearby.
Kenyon shook his head. "Our escort ship just fired at us."
Elaine spoke up. "Commander, they're warning us to slow down or they'll open fire. The first shot was a warning shot."
Kirk ignored the statements from his crew and looked at T'Nia. "Time, T'Nia?"
"Five more seconds," she replied. The ship shook again, this time more violently. The alarms changed pitch.
"Impact alert!" Elaine announced, a bit more loudly than she should have. The ship shuddered again.
"Turn that siren off!" Kirk demanded. "We're going to get hit a lot more than that. I need a damage report. Tony, drop the sensor mask."
"Aye, Sir," Lieutenant Moreau replied automatically. Maybe he could get used to calling his friend 'sir' after all.
"Firing," T'Nia announced. Three torpedoes launched from the bottom of the viewscreen and sped towards the planet's surface quickly followed by a small burst from a phaser array. T'Nia turned back around to face the commander as the ship shuddered again. "Shield is down, Commander. The building has sustained moderate damage on the ground floor."
The ship shuddered again, this time more violently. "Commander, I have two Dominion battlecruisers decloaking low off our starboard bow!" Kenyon yelled.
"Commander, the cardassian ship is firing on one location. No casualties, but the armor is wearing thin there." Elaine added, her nervousness obvious in her voice.
"Open the broadcast," Stephen commanded.
"You're on, commander," Elaine answered dutifully.
"This is Commander Stephen Kirk of the starship Warlord. I'm here to secure the release of several Federation and Cardassian hostages and remove the Dominion threat once and for all. My issue isn't with Cardassia. If you stand down your weapons, you won't be fired on. Keep targeting us and you'll share their fate." Kirk gave the cutoff sign to Elaine.
"It's off," Davies replied.
"The battlecruiser..." Kenyon started. The ship rocked violently from an impact. "is firing a polaron cannon," he added, shrugging.
Kirk tapped his comm badge again. "Kelly! Did you transport everything yet?"
On the viewscreen, barely visible, two small corvettes launched from the underbelly of the Warlord and quickly sped towards the planet.