Chapter 17: "Blindsided"

=/\= - =/\=

"Ready for ship separation?" Commander T'Luz was sitting in the command chair on the Paladin, eyes on the viewscreen, waiting for confirmation from the officers that would command the other two ship sections.

"Aye, ready," Lt. Cmdr. Edmundson's voice came back, "Though, I would much rather be on the assault team with the Commodore."

"You have made your opinion known earlier, Commander," the Vulcan XO noted, "just follow the Commodore's orders."

"We're ready as well," First Lieutenant Armello acknowledged. "Let's kick some butts!"

"All in good time, Lieutenant," T'Luz replied. "Commencing with section separation, now." She glanced at her Engineer, "Drop the cloak and separate the ship."

"Cloaked dropped, sir," the officer confirmed, "multi-vector-assault-mode engaged."

=/\=

Just like its predecessor, the Prometheus class, the prototype Hephaestus class USS Paladin was capable of splitting into three separate sections and conduct a multi-vector assault. It only took a few moments for the sections to break up and join the fray between the Galae vessels, the Tal'Shiar ships, and the Klingon fleet.

The Paladin's main mission was to keep the Romulan mining vessel from being destroyed until Commodore Greco and his assault team would be able to extract, or eliminate, Admiral Michaev and his cohorts. In a strange way, this put them in a similar spot as the Tal'Shiar ships, who were trying to do the same, protect the mining ship, though out of completely different reasons. In essence, it meant that the Paladin actually only had to worry about the Klingon fleet, which would inadvertently also help out Hvaid's forces, since he and his three other ships had to content with the Tal'Shiar vessels and the Klingons at the same time.

It was mayhem at its finest, and there wasn't really a true battle plan to follow; targets were picked according to who was the most threatening to the mining vessel at any given time. Though, now and then, one of the Paladin's sections swooped in to assist one of the Romulan Galae's ships when they were squeezed from both sides by the Tal'Shiar and the Klingons. One of the big advantages the Federation ship had was that its sections were much more maneuverable than any of the other ships and therefore managed to escape many of the shots fired at them.

As the Klingons barreled down on the Romulan ships, Galae and Tal'Shiar alike, they ended up taking a beating when both Romulan groups fought together. Though, the moment they turned back on each other, the Klingons were able to cause some serious damage. That's when the quick assaults of the Paladin's three section especially came as a welcome assistance.

One thing was for sure, this battle couldn't last too long or none of the ships present would make it out in one piece.

=/\= - =/\=

On the Lagga, the standoff between Greco's assault team and Michaev was interrupted when the shadows behind Greco and his two officers suddenly seemed to grow and a huge beast with razor claws stepped from them.

"Commodore, watch out!" Arhea called out in horror as the creature quickly slew the two Starfleet officers.

Anthony Greco whirled around, phaser in hand. But before he had a chance to shoot, the beast slapped the weapon from his hand with a powerful swipe of a paw and impaled him with one of its claws. Greco clutched his stomach and collapsed.

"Commodore!" Arhea shreeked.

The beast stepped over the prone body and morphed back to Temba's humanoid form. He pulled his disruptor. "I'm sorry to ruin your plans, Admiral," he spoke to Michaev, who looked utterly confused, "but the Klingons have other plans for this ship... and the thalaron weapon."

"Over my dead body," Michaev repeated his earlier words, firing at the Chameloid.

"That can be arranged," Temba called out coldly as he quickly found cover and returned fire at the SFI Admiral.

=/\=

"Cover me." Arhea didn't wait for Timir to acknowledge, but rushed across the platforms to Greco's side.

"Damn that woman," the Halanan muttered as he hunkered down for cover and laid fire upon Michaev and Temba. "Someone needs to put a leash on her." He sighed, drawing the two men's fire, while they both shot at each other as well.

Timir watched with apprehension as Arhea reached the Commodore's body and knelt down beside him. He began to slowly move from cover to cover, continuing to fire upon the two others, while he tried to get closer to Greco's position.

=/\=

In the heat of the exchange, Terrh ch'Vaeridh did what any shrewd Romulan would do that realized he was outgunned and had an opportunity to retreat until better circumstances would present themselves. He quietly snuck away.

His plan: to get off the ship. Shields were up; so there was no way to beam down to the planet. Besides, that crazy Admiral's collaborators had control over Engineering anyways. But there was another option.

=/\=

"Tony," Arhea's voice quivered, "Tony. Are you alive?" She gently rolled the Commodore's body to the side, checking his pulse. It was faint.

The sounds from the fire exchange just a few meters away from them didn't even register with her. The rocking of the ship as the Klingons barraged its shields faded into unimportance. All that matter at the moment was Greco, her mentor, her father figure.

A shaking hand slid down Greco's torso. When she felt moisture, she pulled it back and stared at the blood covering her fingers.

A groan caused her eyes to flick down to the Commodore's face. Greco blinked back at her. "Arhea," he whispered.

She leaned closer. "Tony, don't move. You're badly wounded. I'll get you out of here." She tapped his commbadge. "Emergency beam-out," she called to the Paladin. "One... critically wounded, directly to sickbay."

"The mining vessel's shield are draining, but still operative," Commander T'Luz's voice came back, "We are unable to beam anyone back at the moment."

"You must," Arhea insisted. "It's the Commodore. He's badly injured."

"I am sorry," was the response, "we are under attack. Even if their shields drop, we cannot drop ours right now."

"Well, make it happen somehow!"

"We are working on it."

"Hurry up," Arhea was exasperated, "he doesn't have much time."

=/\=

Timir peeked around his cover again, sending phaser fire in both Micheav's and Temba's direction, before he ducked back once more. He glanced to Arhea and Greco. The Commodore seemed to have moved, which meant he was still alive. Timir was close enough to them to hear her calling for an emergency beam-out. He figured that was probably not possible at the moment, but he was just as motivated as she was to get Greco to safety.

A shot hit the bulkhead, behind which he was hiding. He flinched. Weapons fire ceased for a second. He quickly took a look to his opponents. Another glance to Arhea. Then he darted across an opening for another cover, closer to her.

The beam from Michaev's phaser lanced out and hit the Halanan in the shoulder. Timir was flung around and tumbled to the floor. Michaev smelled blood and concentrated his efforts on taking the Halanan out, firing on him several more times. Timir managed to roll to the side, barely evading the next shot, and fired back at the Admiral. By the time Michaev's third shot hit the spot where Timir had been lying, the Halanan had scrambled behind cover again.

He cringed, feeling the pain in his shoulder. A quick check assured him it was merely a flesh wound, but it shure stung.

=/\=

Temba saw his opportunity to get himself into a better position. As Timir and Michaev were focused on one another for longer than just the split seconds they had been before, the Chameloid rushed back to Greco's location. And before Arhea knew it, he had snatched her as his hostage.

The Chameloid was strong; stronger than his humanoid form made him look. Arhea, however, not only had her Romulan strength, but also her Romulan tenacity. She wasn't about to let him use her as a shield. The moment he grabbed her, she began fighting to get out of his grip.

Timir ceased firing in his direction, just as Temba had figured, but Admiral Michaev didn't have any care for Arhea and apparently saw his chance to rid himself of her and the Chameloid. Shots from his phasers hit Arhea in the leg and Temba in the arm. But the shapeshifter quickly returned fire, driving the Admiral back behind cover, as Temba himself tried to pull Arhea with him from the open area.

This time, it was Timir who took the opportunity that presented itself when Michaev laid more focused fire on Temba. Just as Arhea was hit and cried out in pain, Timir made a run for the Chameloid. Arhea pulled herself loose from Temba's grip. The shapeshifter tried to grasped her again, but by then Timir's body collided with his. The front-on tackle knocked the Chameloid's disruptor from his hand and his body back a good two meters.

Arhea was in mid-turn, following Timir's trajectory, when he slammed into Temba. For a second, the two men teetered at the edge of the platform. And then, suddenly, they toppled over the edge.

"Timir!" She let out a scream.

=/\=

"Admiral," Kazra's voice sounded in Michaev's head, "the rift drive is installed and ready."

"Good! Activate it. Now!"

Michaev's words, spoken out loud, snapped Arhea from her momentary paralysis. She whirled around and stared at the SFI Admiral. "Activate what?"

He shot her a sinister grin. It was all the answer she needed.

Swiftly picking up the disruptor, she fired in his direction. "You damn fool!"

As Michaev dove for cover, Arhea pulled Greco behind one of the bulkheads. She dropped to one knee. "Commodore, I have to go. I need to help Timir, if he's still alive. They'll beam you out as soon as they can. I'm sure of it." She pressed her phaser into his hand. "Here. I know you're weak, but you must try and stay awake. Shoot at anything that moves."

Greco nodded with a weak smile. "Go... go help him..."

The Commodore grit his teeth as he rolled to his side and held out the phaser in the direction of where he thought Michaev was hiding. As he began putting the Admiral under fire, Arhea darted from her cover and fired the disruptor in the same direction.

Despite Michaev taking aim at her a few times, she made it to the turbolift on the far end of the level and jumped inside. She only hoped she hadn't condemned Greco to death, leaving him alone with this menace.