The Cavalry

Posted on Mon Mar 14th, 2016 @ 9:48pm by Captain Liarra Von & Commander Narayn Ballard

The stars streaking past on the viewscreen almost put Captain Thomson of the Wildcat-class USS Savannah into a trance. Every captain in the task group knew that as soon as they dropped out of warp they would be flying into significant heat from a Sojourner fleet and - worst of all - the possibility of friendly fire from the starbase's phaser cannons.

"We're coming into short range communications range, sir." The tactical officer reported.

"Maintain silence, Lieutenant." Thomson replied. "We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise."

From the observation lounge of her flagship, Admiral Emily Quinn studied the reports coming in from the fleet's long range sensors. Without a communication link to the station, she wasn't sure how much opposition they would be facing, or even if Starfleet still held the starbase. But she knew that they would be finding out soon enough. Quinn was not a tactician, but her staff of adjutants were. They too poured over the reports and study tactical displays on the meeting room's viewscreens.

"Admiral, we're coming up on the Archan system," Captain Valerie Palmer announced from the bridge. While it may have been Quinn's flagship, Palmer was the Vesta's commanding officer. The Admiral's place was commanding the fleet. The details of the ship were handled by Valerie's staff.

"Understood, Captain," Quinn replied. She opened a channel to the rest of the fleet. "All ships, go to red alert and prepare to drop out of warp on my mark. We're coming in at point blank range. Just maybe we can still catch these Sojourners off guard." It was a gamble, to be sure. If the station had been captured, Quinn was putting her ships at considerable risk. But if Von still had control, they could use the station to make up for their lower numbers.

"Now we're talking!" Thomson said, leaping from his command chair on the bridge of the Savannah. "Helm, prepare to drop us down to impulse and maneuvering thrusters if necessary. Tactical, run a wide parameter targeting scan, get us as much firing data as we can before we hit the front." He smacked the com panel on his chair, the adrenaline coursing through him. "Engineering, as soon as we're out of warp divert all the power you can from long range systems and into our maneuverability. Signal the Vesta: Savannah standing ready."

The various ships in her fleet signaled that they were standing by as Quinn watched her display. The sensors counted down the distance to the station, and it was closing fast. They had to get this right. “All ships, mark!”

Another explosion rippled through the hull of the station. Even with their fighters keeping the Sojourners inside the dock at bay, they were still taking heavy damage. Operations was full of smoke, sparks, and hanging wires. It was dark, the room only illuminated by emergency lighting and the glow of the still working consoles. Even Von’s holographic display showing the station and the surrounding area had long gone dark. The station’s defenses were giving the enemy everything they had, but they were at the mercy of the Sojourners. Von gripped the back of her chair tightly, her knuckles white from the death grip. With hair frazzled and her uniform singed in several places, she looked like a mess. But her thoughts weren’t on her appearance. They were on the hundreds of thousands of people aboard the station, and the billions on the planet below.

The deck plates rumbled again as another explosion shook the station. Von’s eyes drifted shut. She knew they weren’t going to last much longer if she didn’t do something. She took a deep breath, and resigned herself to her fate. She had a responsibility to those people aboard the station, even if she knew it wasn’t going to end well for her. “Open a channel to the enemy fleet, all frequencies. Signal our... ”

“Captain!” Lieutenant Nvaiden suddenly exclaimed, cutting Von off in mid sentence. “Short range sensors are detecting fourteen warp signatures approaching the station at high warp!”

Von’s heart skipped a beat as she swallowed. She hoped, but dared not say it out loud. “More Sojourners?”

“No, ma’am. They’re Starfleet.”

Just as quickly as the star streaks disappeared, the station came into view on the viewscreen. Fires and hull breaches littered the outer surface, but the battered station fought on. Phaser and disruptor fire lit up the sky above Archa IV as the remaining Sojourner ships fought on. According to the sensors, sixteen Sojourner ships remained. Those remaining enemy ships had thinned out, bombarding the station from all sides, many of them beyond the range of the station’s defenses. Valerie Palmer smiled. The Vesta’s first combat experience was against the Sojourners. Just like during the Battle of Thane, her ship was coming to the rescue. But unlike that previous engagement, this one was not going to end with a Federation rout. “Lock weapons on the closest target and fire,” Palmer ordered, rising to her feet.

Alongside the mighty and swift Vesta, the Savannah found her target as well. The two ships in tandem targeted an old Galor class destroyer. With the enemy shields nearly depleted, a volley of phasers and a full spread of quantum torpedoes took out the stunned ship before they could even react to their presence. The other Sojourner ships tried to regroup, but the Federation starships had the element of surprise. Before they could react, they were forced into a crossfire, with the station working with the reinforcements to cut off any retreat. The Sojourners knew they were beaten.

With it immediately clear that her fleet had the upper hand, Admiral Quinn let out a sigh of relief had they been much later, there may not have been a station left to save. She signaled for one of her aides to open a channel to the station. “Starbase Three-Three-Two, this is the USS Vesta. The cavalry has arrived.”

Captain Liarra Von
Commanding Officer
Starbase 332

Commander Jordan Gunning
Chief of Security
Starbase 332