Before T'Lessa could tell Reeves to signal red alert, the lead Cerva ship fired on the Dauntless, causing the Hornet class starship to pitch and buck. "Shields up! Return fire!" On the screen she watched Bloodwing ripple into view and make what would be, for other commanders, a suicide run. A moment later the Robert April followed suit.

"Ma'am, Bloodwing is asking us to coordinate with their attack," Reeves said quickly. "Commander t'Dar – t'Dar – the Romulan commander says she can get us out in one piece."

"Do it, Lieutenant. Follow Commander t'Dharvanek's lead."

"Aye, Captain."

A moment later the Dauntless dove after Bloodwing and the Robert April, phasers and torpedoes biting into the Cerva ships. Five Dominion ships and only three Alliance ships were poor odds, but Bloodwing and the Dauntless were, technically, warships. So there was a chance, however small, that they would actually emerge victorious.

T'Lessa, however, was only concerned with surviving the encounter, and she sincerely hoped that was the plan Shiarrael had in mind. The Romulan commander was exceedingly unpredictable. As Lieutenant Reeves and Flight Lieutenant Shaw worked to maneuver and defend the ship, T'Lessa reopened her channel to Engineering. "Commander Shaw, status on the cloaking device?"

"It's not coming back online, Captain. We need to overhaul it, and there's no time!"

"Understood. Bridge, out." T'Lessa looked over at Toran. "Make sure Shiarrael knows we need to make a run for Starbase Republic sooner rather than later, Miss Toran."

"Of course, Captain." Barely a minute after Toran sent the message, her computer console beeped at her. As she read the message, she shook her head. "Not going to happen, ma'am. Bloodwing has lost her warp drive. The April is withdrawing, too much damage for her shields."

"Damn." T'Lessa didn't swear often, but she felt this situation merited it. Nonetheless, she got several amused looks from her crew. She ignored them.

T'Lessa. She could feel Somel prodding at her, but she only opened up slightly. We have to withdraw. We're outmatched.

We can't, Somel. Bloodwing is damaged. T'Lessa considered their options, none of which were favorable. She couldn't leave Bloodwing alone to fight off five ships, but she couldn't expect to win the fight either. "Other ships in the area?"

Toran pulled up a list on her console. "The closest is the Zephyr." She shook her head. "They won't be any help; the Zephyr is a Nebula class, and she's not carrying her weapons pod. The Achilles is en route, but they may not make it in time." She looked up with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I may be able to get a signal to the Andromeda. She has an experimental slip stream drive and could be here in fifteen minutes. Maybe less."

"Can't hurt to try. Do it."

As Toran was trying to hail the Andromeda, one of the Cerva cruisers scored a lucky hit on the Dauntless' underbelly. The Dauntless reared, consoles all around the bridge sparking wildly. "We've lost long distance communications!" Toran yelled over the noise of the alarms and crackling systems. "Sporadic local communications only!"

"Engineering to bridge! We're losing the warp drive; we have to get out of here!"

"We're closer to Romulan space than Starbase Republic. Break for Romulus. Signal Bloodwing and the April to follow."

Danielle Toran and Patrick Shaw both nodded, and a moment later the three ships, Bloodwing inside the April's warp bubble, streaked out of Cerva space. As soon as they were safely inside Romulan territory, they dropped to impulse speeds.

"Bloodwing is hailing," Toran said quietly. "Probably not good news."

"I don't imagine that it is. Put her through."

The visual came in fuzzy and the sound quality was even worse. It took Toran several long seconds to clean it up to where anything was intelligible at all. Shiarrael seemed to be waiting patiently until T'Lessa nodded for her to go ahead.

"I hope you got what you needed, Captain, because we need to head to ch'Rihan for repairs. We won't make it to Starbase Republic. Not without a functional warp drive."

"The plan was to prove they're getting ready for a true invasion, and we've done that. Thank you for your help, Shiarrael."

"You're welcome. One day, I'll ask you for a favor. Bloodwing, out."

As Bloodwing limped away, the Dauntless and the Robert April made a slow turn and started the journey back to Starbase Republic, taking the longest possible path to avoid entering Cerva space again.