Chapter 10
Tens of thousands of ionized plasma bolts fired by hundreds of Centauri warships crossed the vacuum of the interstellar space and plunged directly into the Klingon fleet, causing fireballs everywhere upon impacting on their shields. To an outside observer, the scene resembled an immense display of fireworks.
However to the utter astonishment of the Centauri, their fierce attack left only a handful of Klingon ships damaged or destroyed, not the hundreds of ships they had expected.
But before the stunned Centauri fleet could recover from their less-than-successful attack, both halves of the Klingon fleet jumped into the fight with a vengeance and the tremendous rain of disruptor fire and torpedoes that they fired immediately began causing immense destruction among the Centauri ranks. Dozens and dozens of Primuses, Vorchans and Sentris were being destroyed or damaged at every second.
"Admiral, we were caught in a crossfire. Our ships are being destroyed effortlessly while their ships seem significantly resistant to our weapons," Captain Lotoru said.
"How can such a thing be possible? Not even a Minbari fleet could have sustained so little damage after the amount of fire we unleashed. What are our sensors saying about their ships? There must be a way to counter whatever it is they are using to protect themselves," Admiral Marray asked.
"We are having difficulty in scanning their ships, but from what I've been able to discern they seem to be using some sort of energy shields that can somehow deflect our fire," Captain Lotoru answered.
"Launch all fighters. Let us use our superior numbers to our advantage. Order all ships to form in groups. Each group should concentrate all weapons on a single alien ship. The increased firepower should be enough to overcome their energy shields," Admiral Marray said.
"Right away, Admiral," Lotoru acknowledged and then went to the main control panel to dispatch the orders.
Ships of all types were turning frantically in all directions and due the intense fire nobody could avoid being hit for long. Amidst all that fire, the Centauri were clearly losing the battle. Anywhere they looked, one of their ships was being destroyed while the Klingons had only lost a few dozen ships to damage.
-oOOo-
On board the IKS Negh'Var.
"General, the enemy is changing their strategy, multiple ships are now concentrating fire on each of ours in an attempt to overwhelm our shields," The ops officer said.
"Order all ships to fight at close range; that will neutralize their tactic," Tanas ordered.
"General, at that range we won't be able to use torpedoes without risking collateral damage," the weapons officer said.
"Use disruptors only, against their pitiful ships they will be more than enough," Tanas replied harshly.
"General, we're wasting our time here and losing ships we can't replace later. We didn't come here for this," Worf said.
"Have you lost your sense of honor? A true klingon cannot allow an alien's insult to go unpunished! Have those years among the humans watered down your Klingon blood that much?" An aggravated Tanas barked.
"You should remember that there is more at risk than honor. The whole Empire is at stake. We have no idea of what we could encounter in the future, so wasting resources this way is imprudent," Worf replied.
"We can deal with whatever we encounter out there. A Klingon who doesn't value honor isn't a true Klingon! We're going to finish this and punish them for their audacity, so I don't want to hear another word on this matter, Ambassador!" Tanas threatened.
The battle had developed into two fleets trying to counter each other's tactics, the Centauri ships forming groups to increase their chances of piercing the Klingons' shields, while the Klingons were trying to get closer to the Centauri ships to negate their greater numbers.
-oOOo-
On board the Centauri Command ship.
"Admiral, the enemy is now fighting so close to us that we're risking hitting ourselves while we fire on them. We've already lost almost half of our fleet, and many of the ships that are still fighting are badly damaged. We need to withdraw while we can, or the entire fleet is in danger of being destroyed" Captain Lotoru said to Admiral Marray.
"This is madness! We can't be defeated this easily," Marray mumbled.
"Admiral, please listen to me. Certainly these must be the aliens that the Minbari talked about. So if even they had to ask our help to fight them, it is no wonder we're being defeated. We must withdraw now," Captain Lotoru begged to Admiral Marray.
Marray thought about it for a moment and finally agreed, "All right, tell the fleet to break off and jump away."
Captain Lotoru immediately transmitted the order to the entire Centauri fleet. Within seconds, all capable ships began to veer away from the battlefield and opening hundreds of jump-points. Unfortunately, in the rush to enter hyperspace and reach safety, many Centauri Captains ordered their ships to open jump-points without caring what was in their way. As a result, many vortexes formed in areas crowded by both friendly and enemy ships, which were immediately ripped apart by the powerful energy eddies.
-oOOo-
On board the IKS Negh'Var.
"General, the enemy fleet is creating some sort of spatial vortexes to escape from us. What should we do?" The Ops Officer asked.
Before Tanas could answer, the communications officer informed him that Captain Kurn's Bird of Prey on the far side of the battlefield was reporting the existence of additional vortexes forming, with wave after wave of unidentified ships exiting.
"Show me!" Tanas ordered.
Immediately, hundreds of large unidentified dagger-shaped ships exiting from vortexes similar to those used by the Centauri, appeared on the main viewer.
-oOOo-
On board the command ship of the new approaching fleet.
"Warleader Ta'Lorn, a battle is being fought at the rendezvous point. The Centauri are fighting against unknown ships, their configuration is different from anything we have on file. It appears that the Centauri were defeated, as they're trying to flee into hyperspace," a Narn officer said.
"Charge all weapons, activate electromagnetic defenses and launch fighters but do not attack until I give the order," Ta'Lorn commanded.
-oOOo-
On board the IKS Negh'Var.
"Sir, the approaching ships are powering up their weapons and launching fighters," the Tactical Officer reported.
"Are you planning on fighting them as well?" Worf asked.
Tanas gave him an unfriendly glance, but said nothing. Then he asked the Tactical Officer. "How much time until they arrive?"
"One minute at their present speed," the Tactical Officer replied.
"What is our fleet's status?" Tanas asked.
"We've lost thirty-nine ships; twenty-seven are damaged to some extent and ten are unable to go to warp," The Tactical Officer officer said.
-oOOo-
On board the Narn command cruiser.
"All Centauri ships have jumped out but several dozen ships were left behind, probably too damaged to open their own jump-points or follow the other ships through already open jump-points," the Narn Officer reported.
"Typical Centauri cowardice to abandon their own kind," Ta'Lorn said.
-oOOo-
On board the IKS Negh'Var.
"According to the tactical readings, these new ships have even more primitive technology than the Centauri. They don't even have artificial gravity or matter/antimatter reactors," the Tactical Officer stated.
"Aren't there any worthy adversaries in this part of the galaxy? I will not waste any more time with another second-rate race. Tractor one stranded enemy ship, beam its crew to the brig for later interrogation and let's go to warp," Tanas ordered.
"Why bring an enemy ship along?" Worf asked.
"We need to learn about that vortex technology, it may prove to be invaluable," Tanas replied.
Seconds later, all the Klingon ships started accelerating and disappearing in flashes of light, towing all their non-warp-capable ships plus one Centauri Vorchan.
-oOOo-
On board the Narn command cruiser.
"Warleader, the unknown ships seem to have accelerated to and beyond the speed of light and then disappeared from our sensors," A completely perplexed Narn Officer said.
"What do you mean, they seem to be accelerating to and beyond the speed of light and disappearing from our sensors?" Ta'Lorn asked.
"Exactly that Warleader. I don't find anything wrong with the sensors, but that was what they registered, The Narn replied.
"What should we do now about the stranded Centauri?" another Narn asked.
The Warleader thought for a few seconds and then replied, "Destroy them all. Leave no witnesses. If anybody asks about this, we'll say that the unknown aliens left no survivors."
Next, as the massive Narn fleet reached weapons range it unleashed all its weapons on the surviving Centauri ships that in seconds they were reduced to small bits of floating debris.
-oOOo-
Enterprise-E briefing room.
"Welcome aboard, Captain Janeway," Picard said, instantly noticing Seven of Nine's cybernetic implants.
"Thank you Captain, this is my Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Tuvok and this is Seven of Nine," Janeway replied.
"SHE'S BORG!" Picard said, flashing back in an instant to all the Borg-related events in his life, stunned that Janeway would bring a Borg aboard his ship without warning him.
"In spite of her implants, Seven is no longer linked to the Borg collective and is now an valuable crewmember of Voyager," Janeway said, surprised with Picard's outburst.
"That is beside the point. I would have preferred if you had informed me in advance," Picard said clearly upset.
"I didn't know that I needed to pre-approve my away team members," Janeway said, taken aback by Picard's behavior.
"Captain Janeway told me that you were once assimilated by the Borg. If my presence is making you uncomfortable, I will leave," Seven of Nine said.
"I'm sorry for my reaction, but seeing you brought back old memories I would prefer to forget. Please sit down so we can begin our discussion," Picard stated and then continued. "You said that Q was also the responsible for your coming here, did he told you why he did it?" Picard asked.
"Have no idea, Captain, several hours ago he appeared on Voyager and reason his presence with wanting to make me an offer that I couldn't refuse; I could either continue on our present course towards Earth and take decades to get there or then go through the wormhole he created and according to him reach home much sooner. I understood perfectly well that his offer had something behind and was risky to accept it, but since the path we have taken so far have had also many perils, I decided to take the chance of getting home earlier. So here we are. And how about you? How did you get here?" Janeway asked.
"This time things started with the Klingons, several days ago, much like he did to us at Farpoint, he put the Klingons on trial and force several of their ships to go through a wormhole to the Delta Quadrant to perform some sort of test. As you can probably imagine, in inimitable Klingon fashion their High Council completely overreacted and decided to assemble a large fleet and follow the ships that come here. They apparently also knew that Ambassador Worf had had prior encounters with Q, so asked him to accompany them so that they could benefit from his experience on how to deal with such a Being.
"We then took Worf to Klingon territory, offered our help and together with the Klingon fleet crossed the still-open wormhole. Not much later, Q appeared and said that the Enterprise had not been invited, so in order to not interfere with his plans for the Klingons he gave the choice of either go home or come here were we would find a lost Federation Officer which instead of Cmdr. Shelby, it turn out to be you. When we arrived, we were immediately attacked for no known reason by those aliens who so far have refused to answer our hails," Picard said.
"Everything indicates that by sending you here, Q knew you would be attacked and sent us to help. However, I fail to comprehend his logic of why he endangered you if he didn't want you destroyed, or why he would bring us here under a false pretext instead of telling the truth. Shouldn't he be aware that we would never refuse to help the Enterprise?" Tuvok inquired.
"Technically, Q did not make a false claim. He said that if we entered the wormhole, we could reach Earth sooner, and if the wormhole that brought them here still exists, we could travel through it and reach the Alpha Quadrant much earlier than we would otherwise. From that point of view, what he said is correct," Seven replied to Tuvok.
"But why, since he never showed any interest before in shortening our travel time to Earth." Janeway replied.
"We won't get anywhere with this discussion of Q's intentions. Our primary goal must be to find the best way out of this unpleasant situation," Picard said.
"You're right, Captain Picard, so let's get started. Since these aliens seem to be deliberately refusing to communicate, I propose that we leave as soon as possible. How soon can the Enterprise get under way?" Janeway asked.
"Our chief engineer estimates that we should have impulse power soon, with partial shields and weapons following in one or two hours. Warp will take much longer. How is Voyager?" Picard asked.
"Despite serious damage to our main hull and the loss of warp drive and shields, our structural integrity is nominal. According to our Chief Engineer, we should have warp drive and shields back within thirty minutes," Janeway replied.
"That's good news. Mr. Data, what do we know about the aliens so far?" Picard asked.
"Their real-space propulsion system appears to be completely gravimetric, comparable in capabilities to our impulse engines. I do not have sufficient data to formulate a theory on how they arrived, since the vortexes from which they came were not open long enough for detailed scans. However, what little data we did obtain indicates that they lead to another dimension.
"Their weapons are extremely powerful, with an estimated yield of 500 isotons and a recharge time of 1.425 seconds to achieve maximum output. Their hulls are composed of an organic material that generates a bioelectrical field. I believe that a combination of the organic hull and the effects of the field may allow them to adapt to energy weapons to some extent, however its effectiveness is unknown at this time," Data said.
"Mr. Tuvok?" Janeway asked.
"I agree with Commander Data's assessment, but I would like also to include several other relevant facts. Those ships are extremely agile for their size and almost on par with small Federation vessels. However, their extremely powerful weapons only cover their frontal arc, providing a weakness we can exploit. Their biological hulls, despite any adaptability they may exhibit, may work to our advantage. I spoke with Seven of Nine, and if we manage to acquire a sample of one of their hulls, we may be able to develop a weapon similar to the one used on species 8472," Tuvok informed.
"Who are Species 8472?" Riker asked
"They are an inter-dimensional race which the Borg tried to assimilate; species 8472 is their Borg designation. Unfortunately, for the Borg, they proved to be too powerful to assimilate, so the Borg had their collective asses kicked hard and to withdraw back to our dimension. However things didn't end there.
Species 8472 followed them to our dimension and unleashed their entire wrath on the Borg, destroying dozens of their planets and tens of thousands of cubes. Unfortunately, species 8472 also concluded that all other races in the galaxy were weak and should be exterminated. Fortunately, thanks to our Doctor we were able to modify some Borg nanoprobes we had into a weapon that successfully pushed them back to their dimension," Janeway stated.
"It's too bad that they turned out to be a hostile race. They would have been a blessing to the galaxy if they helped us get rid of the Borg," Riker said.
"Have you managed to feel anything more from the aliens, Counselor?" Picard asked.
"So far only their anger against us, and a vague sense that they think we're somehow interfering with their affairs," Troi answered.
"Interfering in what? They started firing as soon as we showed up. Why didn't they give us a warning of some kind? Not even the Tholians or the Sheliak are this unreasonable," Riker stated.
"For some reason, they believe that we're a threat to them. I'm sorry Captain, but I can't be more specific," Troi replied.
"That's alright, Counselor. Somehow I have the feeling that Q may also be the responsible for the aliens' wrath towards us, but unless we can reason with them, as Captain Janeway said, I think we should leave as soon as possible before more aliens arrive," Picard said.
"What about the Borg nanoprobe weapons that Commander Tuvok mentioned, Captain?" Riker asked.
"If all else fails, we may have to consider such a weapon. However, if possible we should avoid antagonizing the aliens even further." Picard said.
"If samples of their hull material are needed to adapt the weapon, it should be easy enough to obtain them. We only need to beam some debris aboard from one of the damaged or destroyed ships," Riker said.
"Since time is of the essence I think we should begin preparations immediately, unless you have other ideas, Captain?" Janeway asked Picard.
"No more ideas, Captain. I agree with you, and as soon as the Enterprise is able, we should put as much distance as possible between us and the aliens," Picard said.
"Mr. Data, please assist Commander Tuvok however you can to begin preparing this weapon. If nobody else has anything to add, I declare this meeting adjourned," Picard stated.
As everybody started to stand up from their seats, a flash of light appeared in the middle of the room, and a familiar figure materialized.
"Well, well, what did I do to be so lucky? I was just passing by when, to my surprise, I saw my two favorite Captains. Therefore, I simply could not resist and had to pop in to say 'hello,'" Q said, grinning at the surprised officers.
TBC