Chapter 3

USS Victory

Earth Orbit

Two Days Later

"USS Victory to Orbit Control, request permission to break orbit!" Called the ensign at the helm.

"Victory, you are clear to leave earth orbit. Please keep clear of Luna station and be aware of the heavy civilian traffic in transit to Mars. Also, please restrict your speed to warp 6 or lower until you clear the Sol system."

"Steer clear Luna, heavy traffic Mars, restrict speed warp 6 till clear Sol. Aye."

"Victory, read-back correct, smooth sailing on your first voyage."

"Thank you, Victory out."

"Captain to all hands, yellow alert. Prepare to go to warp!" called Terry. "Helm, Engage at warp 6."

"Sir, the Enterprise is hailing us."

"On audio."

"Picard to Anders. We are ready to undock and begin war-games whenever you are."

"I understand. We will be dropping out of warp momentarily."

"Very well. Picard Out."

Terry stood from the command chair and turned to the helm.

"Mr. Archer, drop us out of warp. Anders to all hands, Red Alert! Man your battle stations! Ops, standard war-game protocol."

"Ship-bay control to the bridge. The Enterprise has undocked and is preparing for war-game operations."

"Very well, bridge out. Weps, are we ready?"

"Indeed we are sir."

Terry felt a slight shudder under his feet.

"Sir, the Enterprise has fired on us!" Yelled Peter from the ops station.

"Weps, return fire, phasers only." Said Terry

"Phasers only, aye sir."

"Sir, the Enterprise is hailing us!"

"Perhaps they wish to surrender already? Put them on-screen!"

"Captain Anders, we are reading a slow building spike in your dorsal pulse phaser number two! I strongly recommend that you power down and we can pick this up later."

"You would like that, wouldn't you Jean Luc? So we can count this as your win?"

"That's not what I..."

"Sir! Romulan ship uncloaking to port! They are charging weapons!" Yelped Peter.

"Charge weapons to full, maximum power to shields! Take that damaged pulse phaser off-line!"

"Charging weapons, diverting power to shields. The Romulans are hailing us."

"Put them onscreen immediately!"

A romulan woman appeared.

"This is Captain Anders of the USS Victory. Is there something we can help you with?"

"I am Commander Vorell of the romulan War-bird Horbock. My government takes the commissioning of your ship as an act of war against the romulan people. I have been tasked to oversee your destruction." Said Vorell

"I am not sure that it would be wise for you to attack us by yourself... Fire on us if you dare, I will not be held responsible for what happens to you though."

"You dare? Surrender or I will destroy the Enterprise!"

"I don't think so."

"Sir!" Called Peter "They are firing on the Enterprise!"

"Weps, Target their disruptor banks, full phasers. Program a decoy to act like the Enterprise and launch when ready."

"Aye. Launching decoy and firing phasers."

Terry watched as balls of neon blue phaser energy slammed into the romulans shields and rapidly drained them of energy. Several burst later, the war-birds weapons where off-line.

"Sir, there weapons are trashed. Shall I target their warp drive?"

"No, Ops hail them."

Commander Vorell appeared.

"This is not over Captain, trust me!"

"Next time, bring a fleet. This was way to easy, therefor, no fun. Victory Out"

Terry watched as the war-bird warp out.

"Ops, what's the Enterprise's status?"

"Their COM is down, shields down to 11%, and their warp drive is down."

"Put a tractor beam on them and tow them back into the ship-bay. Hail Starfleet Command."

"Hailing Starfleet Command. Admiral Akbar responding. Putting him onscreen."

The Chief Admiral of Starfleet appeared on the view-screen.

"Victory, is there a problem?"

"Yes Sir, there is. We have been attacked and request that all available assets in the sol system come to our aid."

"Attack? By whom?"

The romulans."

The Admiral paled visibly.

"I am sending three Nova class ships to help you and the IKS Ravenous has diverted course the assist you. Contact me immediately if you need more help."

Very well. Victory out."

"Sir, four romulan ships uncloaking to the starboard!"

"Ship-bay to the bridge. The Defiant, Venture, Spitfire and Fearless have undocked and are preparing to engage the enemy."

"Sir." Peter called "The Klingons are hailing us and the romulans."

"Onscreen"

"You romulan Peta'Q. Lets find out just how willing you are to hold up your foolish threats."

"Klingon dogs. You wallow in your past, claiming glory."

"You call us dogs, then you shall feel our bite!"

Terry rolled his eyes.

"Ops, can they hear us?"

"Yes sir, that they can."

"Attention romulan ships. Withdraw or be destroyed."

"You dare threaten us? You in-spite your own doom!"

"Have you ever tried to destroy a federation star-base?"

"No, we have not. What does it matter, human?"

It matters because we are a mobile star-base and better armed and made to be impossible to destroy. I do not want to kill you and destroy your forces, but I will if you force me to. Trust me on this one, your four ships do not have the firepower to destroy this ship."

"Very well, human. We will withdraw for now. But have no doubt, we will be back with more ships and we will destroy you. No one can withstand the full might of the Romulan Star Empire."

"Please feel free to try. Victory Out"

"Captain, there is a slipstream vortex opening to our port. There is a ship coming out. It reads the same configuration as our sister ship, the Legacy." Said Peter

"What are they doing here? They are supposed to be rendering assistance to Deep Space K-7!" Asked Peter. " I am going to hail them..."

"Victory to Legacy, Respond immediately!" Called Terry.

"Legacy here... We finished at K-7 and are here to render aid. We are launching fighters and are sending emergency repair teams to the Enterprise."

"Sir! Incoming Romulan vessels! I am reading at least 30 of them!" Peter said.

"Enterprise to Starfleet! We need reinforcements! We have 30 romulan vessels inbound." Picard's voice came over the speakers.

"Sir, 5 Klingon vessels just dropped out of warp and have engaged the romulans... and... The romulans have dropped out of warp and are now engaged with the Klingon vessels."

"Anders to all ships! Engage the romulan vessels!"

"Fearless to Victory, the romulan ship Horbock has set a ramming course with you. We are unable to pursue as we have taken heavy damage"

Terry watched as several defiant class ships engaged the warbird; weapons fire flashing back and forth.

"Spitfire to fleet! We are taking a beating here! We can't hold out much..."

A gasp went through the bridge as a defiant class ship flared in an antimatter explosion. There was a flash, and suddenly 3 Nova class ships dropped out of warp as well as a Klingon vessel.

"Nova fleet to Victory, we are engaging the romulans!"

"Weps, quantum torpedoes. Target the lead warbird."

"Firing Quantum Torpedoes."

"Picard to Victory, we need covering fire. The romulans are targeting our reactor core."

"Anders to Picard, get within 100 meters of us and we will extend our shields around you"

"Understood. We are moving into position now." Picard reported

Terry watched the Enterprise move into position. He was shocked to see large amounts of plasma venting from their port nacelle.

"Mr. Davis. Get our shields around them" Yelled Terry.

"Yes Sir"

"Sir" called Peter "The Klingons have destroyed 3 Romulan ships and our forces have disabled 6 more of their vessels. The remainders of their forces are pressing forward towards us."

"Understood" Terry said as he watched the battle that was taking place through the view-screen. "What do you say we give the romulans a reason to run away?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me" replied Mike as he inspected the incoming fleet damage report.

Terry tapped in a command to the ship computer.

"Anders to fleet, stay clear of our field of fire" Terry called then he looked at Andy at weapons. "Fire at will Mr. Davis"

"With pleasure sir. Any requests?"

"Destroy a romulan ship as rapidly as possible. Let them see just how truly helpless they really are"

"Aye sir" Andy said

Terry watched as Victory's phasers raked a warbird followed closely by 2 quantum torpedoes. The romulan ship staggered then exploded in a massive core breach.

"Sir, the romulans are breaking ranks! They are retreating!" Peter called happily from Ops. "I guess we showed them!"

"IKS Ravenous to Victory! We are pursuing those romulan Peta'Q. They will meet their demise at the tip of our blades!"

"Understood Ravenous. Good hunting and may the romulans fall to you and your warriors!"

"Well said Victory! Ravenous out!"

Terry watched as the 6 Klingon ships went to high warp to chase the romulans.

"Mr. Williams, Hail Starfleet Commend"

"I would sir but my panel just went out"

Terry started over to his console when the overhead lights flickered and died.

"Anders to engineering, what the hell is going on with my lighting on the bridge?"

"Sir Warp Core 2 Auto-Scrammed again. The computer shut down ship lighting due to lack of power."

"Do we have Warp Drive?"

"We can have warp drive if we power down weapons, but slipstream is out of the question until we have additional power."

"Mr. Williams, Set a course for earth, Maximum Warp. Engage as soon as all our ships have docked"

"Yes sir."