Chapter 25
Hard Choices Are Made
Stardate 2366.095
Admiral Ruwon could not help but feel a measure of relief that S'Talla had managed to capture Valdran's ship. The mothers knew that anything that could help tilt the odds in their favor was welcome. It meant that she now had five warships under her command, and a significant surprise for General when he showed up. An added bonus was that the ship was equipped with rail guns – something she had not thought to put on her own ships. In her defense, she had not anticipated having to wage a major battle in the system when she and Hiro had hatched their original plan, not that she would have had time to do so before she launched, given the short time and limited resources available to her at the time.
Ruwon had to temper that good feeling against S'Talla's having almost lost his ship and the Tantalus Device. Adding to her consternation was that quite a few more people knew of the existence of the device than she felt comfortable with. When he had gotten back, she immediately brought the device and the science officer who had operated it onto her ship with orders that it be kept in her ready room, access to which was restricted. When it was needed, the science officer could operate it from there.
S'Talla had been preparing to take the captured ship to rendezvous with the General when they had received a message from Hiro indicating the Enterprise was preparing to make a run for the planet and hinting that her engineers had developed a way to substantially improve their collective odds of survival. The medium they were using to communicate, unfortunately, did not allow for any more details of what they had come up with. She hoped it was something substantial, as she was not looking forward to the upcoming fight.
On screen the planet rapidly grew in size. They inserted themselves into orbit and gradually eased lower to match Admiral Ruwon's ship on station in the tight orbit they used to maintain a semblance of comms with her people on the surface.
"We are being hailed Captain. "
"On screen comms."
"Welcome to Beta Virginis 3 Captain." The screen showed a smiling Admiral Ruwon. "Glad to see you made it here in one piece."
"Just barely Admiral, we managed to take five of the General's ships out of action but not without taking damage. We patched ourselves up while we were in the nebula, but I'll feel better after we've spent a week in the docks."
"Well, at least you're here. We've managed to capture one of the General's ships intact, so that leaves him a total of eleven compared to our side's six. Still not ideal, but better than before. We've installed rail guns on our ships so that should help."
"That's good news Admiral. We've got some news as well. We managed to figure out a way to negate the effect of the nebula."
"That's the best news yet! Send to specs over and we'll configure our ships as well."
"Admiral," Jean Luc interrupted. "The bad news is that our solution saps our energy reserves much faster than normal. Once we turn it on, we estimate we will have power for a maximum of twenty minutes before we are dead in the water."
Ruwon noted that Hiro was conspicuously silent. "What's the other bad news Captain?"
"We are being closely followed by the General's ships and you would not have time to reconfigure your systems before they get here."
"Is that so? Hiro?"
The Admiral seemed startled at first that he was being addressed, and hesitated briefly before he answered.
"The Captain is correct Admiral," he said without making eye contact.
"I see."
Jean Luc started to further explain. "Admiral, I think it best…"
Ruwon interrupted him firmly. "Captain, I understand. I am a realist. Let's not waste time dancing around an issue neither one of us can do anything about. The General will be here shortly and we need to coordinate our efforts if we wish to prevail. You presumably have thoughts about our optimal course of action. Please share."
Picard hesitated at her blunt response.
"Very well. We will have weapons and shields only for a short period of time, so we need to make sure the General's ships are grouped together as tightly as possible before we act. All of our ships will have to stay together for as long as possible as the General's fleet approaches. That will cause him to consolidate his forces against us. At the last minute…"
"That's not going to work Captain," Ruwon interrupted him. Picard was about to object when Hiro stopped him, smiling.
"Let's hear her out Jean Luc."
"Putting aside the obvious problem of being easy targets as he's throwing rocks at us, he'll never get close under those conditions. I know this man Captain. For all his faults, he is a brilliant strategist. If he sees a group of ships sitting still and not maneuvering at all, he will know something is wrong and will be more cautious."
"What would you suggest Admiral?" asked Hiro.
"You mentioned, Captain, that you took some damage. Do you know if the General knows this?"
"He most likely knows. By the time we made the nebula, we were venting plasma. Not enough to be serious, but obvious to anyone following us."
"Good." Picard's raised eyebrows indicated that he did not quite see how this was a good thing. "I suggest you remain in the rear, vent just enough plasma so it's visible, and allow the Enterprise to drift under minimal power."
"You want us to be bait," Jean Luc said matter-of-factly. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.
"Yes. General Ralaa will see the Enterprise as too great a prize to pass up and bring all of his forces to bear against you, ignoring us. We will all lead a high-speed attack as if we are trying to protect you, doing as much damage as we can before he slips through to your position. Our pass will be very fast Captain, designed more to keep my ships intact than anything else. The General will see this and assume we are too afraid to face him directly, willing to sacrifice you to save ourselves. When you are ready, you can activate your systems and attack. We will swing back around and take on any survivors you may have missed. If the Enterprise is as powerful as advertised, you should have no problem taking out most, if not all of his fleet."
"And if we run out of power?"
"That's why we are swinging around Captain." She said as if speaking with a rank Lieutenant. "You need not be concerned. As long as you eliminate or disable more ships than we have left, I give you my word as Pid Kom that no one will touch you."
After consulting with Hiro and Captain Picard, Ruwon decided to modify her plan slightly to take advantage of the Enterprise's newfound ability to negate the deleterious effects of the nebula. If she felt any resentment over Hiro's unwillingness to share the technology she quickly tamped it down. Were the situation reversed, she would have done the same thing. That knowledge would be vital in defending the system against the inevitable subsequent invasion by the Empire if any of the General's ships made it back to Romulan space.
Instead of heading straight for the middle of General Ralaa's formation, Ruwon decided to attack at a slight angle and aim for one of the ships at its edge. That would ensure she did not inadvertently break up the formation as it headed for a kill on the Enterprise. It would also greatly increase her chances of taking out at least one of his ships.
"Admiral. Commander S'Talla just reported seeing the General's fleet."
"Put it up on the screen sister. When will they reach us? Comms, alert our sister ships." Ruwon had ordered all of her ships to maintain screens at maximum magnification, aimed toward different parts of the nebula. As her screens' visual field was adjusted toward the coordinates S'Talla had indicated, she could just barely see eleven bright dots heading her way.
"They will reach us in ten minutes Admiral," said weapons. "We will need to start our attack run within the next five."
"Open up a line to the Enterprise comms."
"Go ahead Admiral."
"Captain Picard. I'm sending you the coordinates of the General's fleet. You should be able to pick up his eleven ships visually. He is ten minutes out. I will be starting my attack run shortly, but first I suggest we move well away from the planet. If you run out of power too close, we won't be able to do much to stop you from spiraling down its gravity well."
"Good idea Admiral. We'll follow you out. You'll start your run as soon as we are on station?"
"Yes, but I'll let you know. Ruwon out.
"Navigation. I need twenty million kilometers between the planet and us now. Head perpendicular and away from the General's path."
