Star Trek Enterprise Bk. 03 - The War Ch. 06

For the most part the Andorian found the humans to be skilled, determined and to possess a will to survive that reminded him of his own people and he respected it. At other times he found their ship to be antiquated compared to Andorian vessels and their attitudes in need of adjustment especially when it came to other species. This was an issue he was blind to when it came to himself and his views on vulcans. When it came to observing Archer's chosen female, Shran found it was far more difficult than expected. Being one of the shorter people in engineering, she was often working down any one of the ship's narrow tubes making repairs, something she was better at than most. It wasn't until August that he finally had an opportunity to see her in action and what she was truly made of. It was while they were orbiting a planet known as Galorndon Core.

The planet itself had been a paradise located in the Narendra Sector of the Tau Dewa sector block. At one time the surface had been covered in green lush vegetation and clear clean water. It was a place perfect for lifeforms to exist and thrive. Like Earth, it possessed a variety of ecosystems from deserts to rainforests and had been studied by the Vulcans at least a hundred years before as well as humans just before the outbreak of war.

It was because of these attributes that two of Earth's scientists had gone there. When word reached the Enterprise that the Romulans had annexed the planet, they immediately went there along with one of Earth's cruisers to extract the two humans before they were discovered. They narrowly succeeded before encountering two Romulan warbirds. Like it or not, ready or not, another battle had begun.

The lead Romulan Commander was called Chulak and on his home planet there was no more feared warrior. His maneuvers and prowess on the field of battle was legendary on Romulus and he knew that his vessel was far superior to anything Earth had created. It was he who had discovered the strange escape pod that had appeared out of nowhere with the single Romulan woman on board two years before. He listened as she introduced herself as Sela and spoke of coming from a future time where their world was destroyed by a supernova. Through tears she told everything and in particular how their people were betrayed by the Vulcans and the Federation that was just now being born. She had only survived because the escape pod was so light that it had been hurled through the black hole to this time.

At first Chulak and the others were not inclined to believe the story. Time-travel, as far as they knew, was impossible. What finally changed their mind was her insistence that she was half-human and had dyed her hair so she wouldn't appear so different from the others. They had already noted that she did not possess the slight forehead ridges typical to Romulans, but scans quickly proved what she said was true. They even took a blood sampling and tested her DNA just to be certain. They examined the technology of her pod and found that it was far more advanced compared to what they currently used.

After days of deliberation the leaders of Romulus had decided to prevent the alliance and destroy the Federation before it could happen. Once they succeeded they would begin conquering worlds so they could expand and ultimately save themselves. The first step in this was the creation of the drone ships. They had proved more useful despite the first two being destroyed. That loss had been blamed on their dependence on the Aenar and their telepathic abilities. Instead they were reconfigured so that they could be controlled from a control center located underground on the planet Cheron.

Chulak quickly became enamored with the drone fleet and really what was there to dislike? The hull of each ship was fitted with special emitters that acted as holographic projectors that allowed it to mimic a large selection of ships from across the galaxy and from various worlds. The disruptors of its weapons systems were fitted with tri-phasic emitters that gave it the capability to simulate the effects of and number of weapons that corresponded to whatever type of vessel it chose to be. Another added benefit was that you could lose a ship without ever losing a man.

Despite all these advantages, Chulak preferred to be at the bridge of his own vessel, the Raon. It was his home away from home. He had never laid eyes on a human, nor did he care to. He didn't exactly harbor any ill feelings towards the people of Earth, but he did believe in protecting and preserving his own. What little he knew of humans came from Sela who assured them that they were physically weak compared to Romulans and he assumed this extended to their intelligence and ability. Their technology so far had been inferior and he longed to bring home a section of the exterior hull paneling from the Enterprise as a trophy. Even on Romulus the old adage was true when it came to the head of the snake and he knew that was the Enterprise and Jonathan Archer.

Now, high above the planet Galorndon Core, he had the NX-01 in his sights and had no intention of letting it escape again. The ship no sooner appeared before the surprised starfleet vessel and it opened fire, targeting and damaging its engines. The entire compartment was thrown into chaos as the crew were tossed about while trying to hold onto their posts amid smoke, fire and falling debris. On the bridge Archer was ordering Lt. Reed to return fire with everything they had. For all the damage they had taken, the one thing they still had was a fully functional weapons system. Unfortunately it had as much effect as hurling rocks at a tank. There had to be a way to increase their firepower or else they would be done for.

"Trip, I need warp speed now!" The captain called out over the comm system. He was trying to maintain a calm appearance for the sake of the crew, but his heart was pounding.

"I'd like to 'cap', but I need time. I might be able to give you warp one in about thirty minutes if you can keep the Romulans off our backs. Another hit like that last one and the saucer section will be permanently separated from the engines."

"We'll do what we can," Archer sighed.

Chulak wasn't worried and felt he could strike them down at his leisure. The humans were in no position to limp away and it was more honorable to give them at least the hope of survival. Instead, he took aim at a few soft and superficial areas as target practice to remind the humans of what he could do. It wasn't so much that he was a cat playing with his prey to death, it was more like there was no fun or honor in simply butchering the enemy. Yes, give them a chance to take a few seats at him in self-defense then go in for the kill.

On the Enterprise Lt. Reed was trying to come up with anything he could think of to enhance their own firepower and put a stop to the bombardment. Being a man well-versed in weaponry, both current and historical, an idea came to mind. It would be crude and even primitive, but he was confident that it could be effective. He told his idea to Archer and was instantly given the go ahead. Knowing he would need a second pair of hands and knowing Cmdr. Tucker's were full, Lt. D'Arcy was ordered to assist him in the armory.

Lt. Reed told her what he was thinking and she immediately lit up at the idea. They started pulling torpedos and opening them with surgical skill. The two implanted nuclear devices inside the armament that was designed to go off when a bomb detonated. They then implanted a solid steel plug that could penetrate their hull, then sealed it all back inside the torpedo. They were able to create four of these weapons before Malcolm returned to the bridge and his post. Now all they needed to do was allow the Romulans to believe they were even more damaged then they were.

Archer ordered Hoshi to hail the captain of the Raon. Chulak was willing to communicate through audio but had no interest in visual contact. What the captain of the Enterprise was about to propose, he knew the Romulan Commander would never accept, but he needed to buy some time and get them to lower their shields just enough. It worked. The Romulan Commander lowered his shields to their lightest setting then listened as Archer offered their surrender and asked for help and medical attention for what remaining crew he had. As expected the request was denied with the single word 'no' before all contact ended.

The same second that communication ceased, Archer commanded Reed to fire one of his 'special' torpedoes. His finger barely hit the button and the armament shot through the tube then out into space and directly into its target. The solid plug was enough to penetrate through the lowered shielding and hull allowing it to detonate inside the Romulan vessel. The explosion of the missile easily triggered the nuclear warhead vaporizing and burning many inside the ship. The compartments were flooded with radiation causing those not directly impacted to quickly become ill

Chulak was stunned and horrified. He ordered his shields back up to full power and to fire all weapons on to the Enterprise, but the systems were severely damaged and the men needed to fix it were either dead or too ill to do the repairs. The Romulan commander sat down in his chair, his own body becoming nauseated and his head beginning to spin with dizziness, the taste of metal permeating his mouth. He thought of his wife and his own children waiting for him at home and the dire warnings of Sela about the future of his planet. He wouldn't let the humans win, he couldn't for their sakes and generations to come.

Knowing that the NX-01 did not have full power and that his own ship would not last long, Chulak made the decision to fly his ship at high warp into the planet's surface. He was certain that the Enterprise would not have time to escape the shockwaves and radiation that the impact would create. He took the helm controls himself and started towards his destiny, hoping the Enterprise would be caught by enough surprise that they wouldn't be able to facilitate an escape even if they managed to summon up enough power.

Archer saw what the Romulan commander was doing and immediately called down to the engine room and ordered the engines to warp. Despite all their best efforts they simply didn't have it and wouldn't for at least another fifteen minutes. Knowing what a desperate situation they were in, Lt. D'Arcy said nothing, but went over to the panel that controlled the shield hull plating and began rewiring it as fast as her fingers could move. She could recall the configuration of the shields from her childhood from sneaking around on the Enterprise-E and began to duplicate it as closely as she could.

"What do you think you're doing, lieutenant!!" Commander Tucker shouted, instantly getting Shran's attention who was standing nearby assisting Trip with holding the engines together.. He didn't know what she was doing to the hull plating but he knew they desperately needed it, especially now. "Our hull plating is already at maximum capacity. If you change that then you'll kill us all."

"I'm making sure we survive commander!!" she answered never looking away from what she was doing. "When we do, then you can put me on full report and I will happily sign it!." If he was still shouting then she didn't hear it. "Forgive me, father, for I have sinned. I'm not only breaking the Temporal Prime Directive, but I am flinging it to the ground and stomping it," she muttered to herself as she worked feverishly.

On the bridge Lt. Reed saw the level of power that appeared for the hull plating and was dumbfounded and told Archer what sort of readings he was getting. There was concern, and rightly so, that the shields were overloading. If it went too far and ignited the warp plasma, things would be more disastrous. By itself was not the problem, but combined with the shockwaves that were going to come from the Romulan ship hitting the planet and full warp and they would be torn to shreds. To their relief the shield power leveled out at a strength they had never had before without pushing too far. Neither Archer nor Malcolm understood it but they weren't going to look a gift horse in the mouth and ordered everyone on the ship to hold on tight to whatever they could.

On the Romulan ship Raon, Chulak sat calmly in his commander's chair and stared into the screen as the planet came closer and closer. He sang a patriotic song about the greatness of Romulus and its people. Then whispered a soft good-bye to his wife and the ship collided with the planet's surface sending powerful shockwaves across the surface of Galorndon Core that leveled everything in its wake. The waves reverberated through the atmosphere and plowing into the Enterprise. Under normal circumstances with the hull plating polarized to its highest level it still would have been shattered to pieces. With the new configuration it held firm but shook like a baby's rattle as it was pushed a far distance from the planet before finally coming to a rest. The ship would need days, weeks even months of repair but they were alive. Picking himself up off the floor, Shran eyed Danaë with a slight smirk.

"You are definitely his female," he said to her. The lieutenant said nothing and simply walked away.

For the next two months they once again tried to repair the ship as much as possible. They managed to meet up with a taskforce of seventeen starfleet ships. Limping along, they barely managed to get it wrapped in duct tape before they once again met the Romulan's in battle above the planet of Prantares. It was a short scant thirty-six minutes of fierce fighting that managed to turn the Romulan forces back, but not without losing all but a handful of Earth ships. There was no more optimism, and very little hope. Most simply wanted the war to end so they could finally go home to their families. How would they ever manage to survive another year of this?