The shuddering became increasingly sharp with each shot at Odyssey. Aaen braced against his station, feeling the hull passively shifting beneath him with each missed shot despite his trying to keep the ship from being pulverized with sharp evasive maneuvers. He gritted his teeth as he determinedly glared at his screen, clicking different thruster controls at what he decided were random course corrections. He tried to dodge the bright thundering green bolts of pulsed lightning which he judged were random shots in the not so figurative dark because the Orions' targeting sensors couldn't get a fix on Odyssey. Aaen took pride in the fact that Odyssey hadn't taken a hit—yet. He felt his forehead becoming cold with perspiration, and then the sensation spread gradually to his face, head, and neck. C'mon! He glared at his screen, feeling himself starting to panic at the thought of a pulse hitting Odyssey. He started feeling pressure in his chest, and his hands were becoming clammy. The Orions' were getting closer, he realized. "I don't know how much longer I can keep us from getting shot, Captain! That Dreadnought's getting closer with each shot! I'm going to try to put more distance between the Dreadnought and us—" the hull shuddered again. The sheer force of the pulse thundered through the bridge; the lights flickered for several seconds. The sound of dwindling power hummed through the bridge.
"Captain! The battle cruisers are moving." Sensors said. "Looks like they're assuming a different tactical formation."
"Where are the Marauders heading?" Aaen asked.
"Just focus on keeping us out of their line of fire!" the Captain said.
"Captain, I need to know where they're heading so I can keep us out of their—" the main viewscreen lit up, and the ship rocked violently to port. Aaen could feel the bow gradually drifting down. A flood of alarms filled the bridge. The lights dimmed sharply, and sparks filled the bridge computer screens.
"That shot came from the Marauder to Starboard!" Sensors said.
"DIRECT HIT TO THE FORWARD SHIELDS!" Jason yelled.
"DAMAGE?" the Captain. The sound of collapsing metal bulkheads filled the bridge for five seconds.
"The forward shields took the brunt of the impact—" the hull shuddered again after a near-miss from the Dreadnought. The crew braced against their stations. A flood of pulsed lightning narrowly passed by Odyssey. Aaen was frantically trying to use the thrusters to dodge the incoming fire but doubted his efforts were going to be effective for much longer. The hull was still rattling from the near-miss. "But we did take some damage to our main power grid. The Stealth System was affected." the deck plating shuddered again, and Aaen could feel the hull's direction shifting beneath him. "We're probably registering as an intermittent radar blip on all three of the Orion ships' sensors." Operations said frantically.
"Captain! The Marauders have taken up a position at our five and four o'clock directions!" Sensors said.
"They're trying to triangulate our position!" Aaen said.
"How do you know?" the Captain asked scornfully.
"Think about it, Captain!"
"He's right." the First Officer said.
"With all of that power in the stealth system, we've put them in a position where they've probably realized that they'll need to take the steps they're taking to find us. We're gonna be dodging about five or six different waves of fire before long! I don't know how much longer I can keep us from taking damage! We're probably going to have to engage the Orion Marauders, Captain!" Aaen said.
"Are you freaking crazy, Lieutenant!" the Captain said.
"The Marauders out gun us two-to-one!" Sensors said. "And that pulsating weapon the Dreadnought's been shooting at us is being fired with one-hundred-twenty terawatts of particle energy!"
"One direct hit from that weapon will tear the ship apart, shields or no shields!" the Engineer yelled. Tell me about it! Aaen silently agreed.
"We're not gonna take on the Orions!" the Captain announced. "That's suicide, Lieutenant!"
"Does anyone have any better suggestions?" Aaen asked.
"—And how can he be right, First Officer?" the Captain asked. Another shudder.
"We take another direct hit, the stealth system may go offline, and we'll be vulnerable." Another shudder.
"They're getting closer, Captain!—" twin cannon bolts crossed on the main viewscreen.
"They're missing by less than fifty meters!" Sensors said. The deck plating shuddered.
"I strongly recommend we keep the stealth system enabled, but divert power from the warp drive to the weapons, thrusters and impulse engines!" Aaen declared. "Captain! We're running out of time, AND options!"
"I concur with Aaen." the First Officer said. "We can't keep hiding forever with three ships looking for us, and in such proximity. One lucky shot—"
"FINE!" the Captain snapped. "Operations, divert the power."
"So we are—" the hull shuddered again, this time twice as violently. Aaen could feel Odyssey was starting to get dizzy. "Urgh! Going to fight the Orions?" Jason said.
"Yes," the Captain replied.
"I'll go see if I can find Dimitri," the Doctor said as she quickly left the bridge through the main bridge hatch. Multiple cannon bolts crossed the main viewscreen; the lights flickered more violently.
"Captain, the Marauders are almost perfectly circling the ship!" Sensors said fearfully.
"They've almost found us!" Aaen said shockingly, noticing Communications turned around in her chair to look at the Captain with a fearful look on her face.
"Power's been diverted!" Operations announced.
"—Captain!" the First Officer snapped.
"Lieutenant! Full Impulse! Continue evasive maneuvers!"
Aaen nodded acknowledgment, and then replied, "Aye, sir!"
"—Tactical, keep the stealth system online, lock all weapons on the Marauders! Target their shields, first."
"Got it!"
The Captain turned in his chair to face the main viewscreen.
"All weapons locked!" Jason announced.
"I'll try to keep at least fifty kilometers distance between us at the Orions!"
"Fine. Tactical, fire cannons when ready!"
"Cannons firing!" the loud, sharp intermittent hiss of the cannons filled the bridge.
"Hit 'em hard!" Aaen said darkly. The hull shuddered again.
"Main power's holding!" Operations said.
"Shields are down to eighty-eight percent, and holding!" Jason said.
"Continue firing!" the First Officer said.
"Aye!" Jason acknowledged.
"Captain! Long-range message from Starbase One!—" the hull rocked violently to starboard. The bridge lights went dark as a dull hum filled the bridge and then gradually faded. Aaen felt himself sink into his seat and then felt himself starting to fall backward. He grabbed his station with both hands. The Dreadnought was getting bigger in the main viewscreen, he realized. Odyssey leveled out, and then Aaen starting maneuvering away and to starboard.
"The Marauders are in pursuit!" Sensors announced. The main viewscreen filled with static with each near-miss as more green pulses skimmed the forward shields.
"Direct hit on the Starboard Marauder!" Jason announced. "Their forward shields are down to ninety percent!"
"Good! Keep firing!"
"THEY'VE LOCKED TORPEDOES ON US!" Jason yelled.
"AAEN!" Operations screamed.
"HOLD ON!" Aaen yelled, trying to reassure the rest of the crew. Barrel roll! Aaen decided, pushing the applicable engine controls.
"INCOMING! Five seconds to impact!" Sensors yelled.
"I can fire a torpedo! Maybe it could negate theirs!" Jason said.
"DO IT!” the Captain yelled.
"HURRY!" the First Officer yelled.
Aaen piloted Odyssey hard to port and then started barrel rolling over the Dreadnought. The sight of the Dreadnought in the main viewscreen gave Aaen chills.
"TORPEDO AWAY!" the warhead screamed at its target.
—BANG
The bridge lights dimmed sporadically, randomly. The deck plating vibrated violently.
"IT WORKED!" Jason announced. The bridge crew cheered.
"—The other torpedo's still tracking us!" Sensors sharply interjected.
"I've got it!" Aaen said reassuringly, maneuvering Odyssey below the Dreadnought, and then sharply to starboard.
—A thundering explosion rocked the ship; the deck plating vibrated sharply and then calmed as Odyssey passed over a rushing Marauder.
"The torpedo hit the Dreadnought!" Sensors said.
"Did it do any damage?" the Captain asked.
"—No!"
"Holy tough ship!" the First Officer said.
"It's gonna take more than that to prevent them from firing that torpedo!" Aaen said.
"What was the long range message?" the Captain asked Communications.
"Fleet Admiral Williamson's sending a fleet of ships at high-warp to our location!"
"Which one's?" the First Officer asked.
"They're sending the Andromeda, Yorktown, Akira, Jamestown, Defiant. . ." she took a deep breath. "And the Voyager." Aaen heard several gasps of relief throughout the bridge.
"Now we just need not to blow up until they get here." the First Officer said. Aaen was struggling to dodge the incoming fire from the Marauders; he had a funny gut feeling about the Dreadnought. Why isn't it still firing? He wondered.
"Right. How long until the other ships get here?" the Captain asked.
"They're all traveling at warp nine-point-nine-nine-eight."
"That should get them here in about six minutes!" Sensors interjected.
"UHH! The Dreadnought's trying to lock some kind of weapon on us! —WOAH!" Sensors said.
"What's the weapon?" the First Officer asked.
"I don't know. I've never seen these kinds of readings before!" Sensors answered.
"There's gotta be some kind of weakness we can exploit on that Dreadnought!" Communications said.
"Are any of our scans getting through?" Operations asked.
"None!"
"Is the Dreadnought big enough for us to fly inside it?" Aaen asked.
"What?" Sensors asked.
"What are you—?" the First Officer asked mid-sentence.
"The only point of entry would be its forward compartment. I'm getting only a faint reading in that region of the Dreadnought. It looks like that's where it's going to launch that torpedo! We might be able to fly inside at that point."
"What are you thinking, Aaen?" the First Officer asked.
"If the fleet—Urgh!—doesn't get here in time, and if we can't take out the Dreadnought from the outside. . .then we might need to intercept the torpedo from the inside. A warhead barely small enough to fit in our cargo hold, but powerful enough to take out an entire planet. . .it might be powerful enough to destroy the Dreadnought!"
"How are we going to get out before it detonates and destroys us, along with the Dreadnought?" Jason asked.
"We'll just have to be careful!"
". . .We'll do that as a last option." the Captain said.
"Understood!"
"Captain! I don't recognize these readings, but the power levels in the Dreadnought are increasing!"
"I'll bet they're getting ready to launch that torpedo!" Aaen said. "Captain! I can't guarantee our safety for much longer!"
BANG
Odyssey rocked violently to starboard and spun horizontally so fast the crew struggled to stay in their seats against the G-forces.
"DIRECT HIT TO AFT SHIELDS!—AFT SHIELDS ARE DOWN TO TEN PERCENT!"
"How much—Urgh!—damage have we done to the Marauders!"
"I'm firing cannons, and we've used a third of our torpedoes! We've put a dent in the Marauders shields, but their shields are regenerating too fast for us to get through them!"
"I'm trying to stabilize the ship!" Aaen said. Over ten seconds the images on the main viewscreen stopped streaming from left to right.
"We're doing a good job of not getting hit! Good job, Aaen!" Sensors said. The bridge filled with five seconds of cheering. The flood of alarms continued.
"No hull damage yet! Good work, Aaen!" Jason said.
"My pleasure!" Aaen smiled.
"Captain! The fleet's two minutes away!" Communications said.
"The Marauders are still on our six!" Sensors announced. "They're locking torpedoes again!"
"Captain! There's three of them and one of us! There's only—" the hull rocked hard to starboard. Aaen struggled to remain upright. The bulkheads keeping the bridge from collapsing rattled amid the sudden and extreme turbulence.
"AFT SHIELDS. . .URGH!—ARE GONE!" the Engineer announced. "DIRECT HIT TO THE AFT-DORSAL HULL ARMOR!" sparks shot from around the computer screens, the lights flickered, and the deck plating vibrated so hard Aaen couldn't feel his knees; he felt like he was going to fall out of his chair.
Over the course of ten seconds, Aaen managed to stabilize Odyssey's directional attitude control. "I've got it! I'm continuing evasive maneuvers!"
"Good job!" the Captain said.
"One minute, thirty seconds 'til the fleet arrives!" Sensors said.
More red-yellow lightning crossed Odyssey's bow, Aaen noticed. NOT today! Aaen silently declared, refusing to let Odyssey be destroyed.
"Change course to rendezvous with the fleet! QUICK!" the Captain said.
"Roger that!" Aaen acknowledged, entering the appropriate navigational commands into his computer station. "That's a good idea! I think if we put some distance between us and the Orion ships—" the hull shuddered again. Aaen reasoned he made his point to the rest of the bridge crew.
"Kep—Keptin!" a heavily accented Russian male voice said over the bridge speakers.
"I'm here, Dimitri!" the Captain roared at the main viewscreen.
"De Doctor has healed me! I'm at my computer station! Keptin! We are faster and more maneuverable than the Orion Marauders—and the Dreadnought! De stealth ceastim will keep us off their targeeting seensors if we can put some deestance between us and the Orion sheeps!"
"That's what—!"
"That's what we're trying to do!" the Captain interrupted Aaen.
"Goot! Goot! I'm trying to work down 'eere with the Engineer up 'dere. Maybe we can—" another shudder, this one more minor than the previous shudder. The crew recovered in seconds.
"Thank you—Do what you can, Dimitri!" the Captain said.
"I will! Dimitri, out!" the line beeped closed.
"The Marauders' courses are becoming erratic! I think what Aaen's doing is working!" Sensors announced.
"Where's the fleet?" the First Officer asked.
"Thirty seconds at twelve o'clock and closing!"
"The Marauders are still looking for us!"
"Main Computer! Cancel all alarms!" the Captain ordered.
"That's better!" Aaen said.
A reverberating hum filled the bridge for several seconds and then faded out.
"What is that?" the Captain asked.
"The Marauders' are trying to scan for our location! THEY'RE USING HIGH-INTENSITY MOTION SCANS!" Sensors replied frantically.
"NOBODY MOVE!" the Captain said. The reverberating hum gradually faded over ten seconds.
"The motion scanning beam's gone!" Sensors said.
"—Have we been detected?" Aaen asked.
Five seconds later, the bridge alarms sounded again.
"Oh crap! Their motion scanning beam was more intense then our stealth field! Captain! We have incoming! The Marauders are on an intercept course!"
"Where's the FLEET?" the First Officer asked.
"Dead ahead, twelve o'clock!"
"On screen!" the Captain said.
A fleet of dark-grey hulks of differing shape and size appeared on the main viewscreen, seemingly glaring at the crew in a perfect diamond formation. The largest ship led the battle group.
"We're being hailed! It's the Voyager!" Communications said.
"Open a channel!"
"Audio only!" Communications said. The Main Computer chimed confirmation of the order's having been carried out.
"This is Captain BelaFonte, commanding USS Voyager. Calling Odyssey. Odyssey, do you read me?" a female voice said.
"We read you, Captain! You got here just in time!" the Captain replied.
"Captain, what is your status?"
"My crew and I are fine, but our ship has taken damage when we tried to engage the Dreadnought and its two Marauder escorts. The Orions have the torpedo, and are preparing to launch any minute, now!"
"First Officer, we have intercepted the fleet!" Sensors said.
"Don't worry, Captain. The Calvary's arrived. I'm having my Communications Officer patch you into the fleet communications channel.
"Lieutenant, match the fleet's course and join the formation." the First Officer said.
"Roger that!" Aaen acknowledged.
After a series of sequential beeping sounds, the comm line filled with subtle background chatter.
"All units! This is Captain BelaFonte. Odyssey has joined the fleet. By order of Fleet Admiral Williamson, I am taking command of the fleet. Our orders are to engage the Orions and do whatever is necessary to prevent the launch of the advanced torpedo they've been illegally researching and developing inside Union space. Captains, I remind each of you that they are in possession of a Dreadnought. Don't make yourself an easy target. All units: assume attack formation Del—" the communication line filled with static and distortion for several seconds as the Odyssey's hull abruptly vibrated; the bridge rocked sharply as Aaen quickly started stabilizing the ship.
"It's the Marauders! They're at twelve o'clock, and they're firing on the fleet!" Sensors said.
"Apparently they're not the best shots at long range!" Aaen quipped.
"Let's not give them an easy target," BelaFonte said. An explosion sound filled the Odyssey's bridge, followed by another sharp rocking motion. "—All units, prepare to return fire! Andromeda and Akira, break formation and engage and disable the marauder to starboard. Yorktown and Jamestown, break formation, and engage and disable the marauder to port."
Each ships' Captain acknowledged their order. The comm line filled with more background chatter as Captain BelaFonte's voice overpowered the chatter. "Defiant and Odyssey, take up attack formation Delta-Two. Set course for the Dreadnought!"
"You heard her, Aaen!" the Captain said.
"Aye, sir!"
"Target at twelve o'clock!" Sensors announced.
"Voyager confirms!" BelaFonte said.
"Jeez! That sucker's huge!" Aaen exclaimed.
"Keep it together, everyone!" the First Officer said.
"The Dreadnought's trying to lock weapons on us an' the Voyager!"
"Don't worry!" BelaFonte said. "Odyssey, keep your stealth system online!—All ships: Weapons free! Weapons free!"
The comm line filled with multiple affirmative acknowledgments.
"Lock all weapons on the Dreadnought!" the Captain said.
"I already did!" Jason said.
"—FIRE!"
Aaen started evasive maneuvers as he looked at the main viewscreen; he determinedly watched as it filled with beam and pulsed cannon and torpedo fire from multiple vectors.
"This is it, crew!" the Captain announced.
Aaen watched five huge gleaming red darts pound the Dreadnought. Multiple cascading fireballs seemingly overlapped the target.
"Firing cannons!" Jason announced. Smaller hissing twin cannon bolts filled the lower corners of the main viewscreen, impacting the Dreadnought's forward hull.
"Voyager's torpedo spread took the Dreadnought's port shields down to only ninety-eight percent! Their shields are already regenerating!" Sensors said. "Our cannons did barely any measurable damage."
"That thing's taking this kind of a beating, and they're not even acting like we're scratching the paint!" Aaen said.
"The port Marauder's been disabled! It's lost one of its warp nacelles, and it's losing main power! I'm detecting a—" The main viewscreen lit up sharply.
BANG
The hull rocked violently, tossing the crew to starboard out of their seats. The bridge lights blinked off as the hull started shuddering; the bridge was full of reverberating electronic humming sounds. The comm line filled with static. Aaen felt as though he was pinned to the floor by gravity, itself. He struggled to grab his shared desk with Communications as he pulled himself with both arms just high enough to read his screen. He became wide-eyed at the navigational readings.
"—Re—REPORT!" the Captain yelled over the humming sounds.
"Direct—hit—to forward shields!" Jason yelled.
"WE'RE ON A HARD FLAT SPIN ON THE 'X'-AXIS!" Aaen yelled over a flood of erratic alarms. "—We're losing attitude control on the 'Y'-axis! I can't get a fix on our position!"
"I can't detect the rest of the fleet!" Sensors said.
"Forward shields are offline!" Operations said. "I'm not even getting any readings from the forward shield emitters!"
Aaen noticed the main viewscreen was full of distortion.
"I'm trying to stabilize the ship!" Aaen said, retaking his seat.
The main viewscreen and the comm link cleared ten seconds later.
"Captain, we're moving at one-half impulse—and we're leaking warp flush coolant!"
"De main computer core is stable!" Dimitri said.
"WOAH!" Aaen yelled, watching a trio of bright green orbs getting larger on the main viewscreen. Barrel roll! Aaen thought. "Thrusters are a little sluggish, Jason. You still have cannons?" Aaen said.
"Affirmative!"
Aaen dodged the first orb; the second grazed the dorsal shields as an electric buzzing sound filled the bridge for a half-second.
"There's a third warhead!" the First Officer yelled.
"I see it!—JASON!"
"Torpedo away!"
A gleaming red dart impacted the green orb half-way, Aaen estimated. A flooding white shockwave rattled the hull.
"Good shooting!" Aaen said.
"Voyager to Odyssey! Captain! Report!" Delfonte said.
"We sustained a direct hit! We've lost our forward shields, and we've been reduced to half-impulse! We're also leaking warp flush coolant!"
"Acknowledged, Captain!" Delfonte said.
"Sensors are back online!—The power levels on the Dreadnought have increased by almost fifty percent!"
"My Sensors Officer confirms that reading!" Delfonte said. "Defiant!"
"Our shield grid took a direct hit," a loud bang filled the comm line. "and we've suffered some damage to our hull armor plating. We've disabled the second Marauder! We're still in the fight, Captain!"
"Good to hear! Voyager's shields are down to sixty percent, and our main power's fluctuating somewhat. The Dreadnought's got dual regenerative shielding, and we're reading more of their weapon systems powering up as we speak. All ships, converge on the Dreadnought! We have to prevent them from launching that torpedo!"
"Are anyone's sensors penetrating their hull?" Odyssey Captain asked.
"We're getting only faint readings, Captain!" BelaFonte said. "All units! Form up and lock weapons on the Dreadnought!" the comm line echoed with affirmative responses from the rest of the fleet. Aaen grinned. "All units! Fire at will!"
The cannon and torpedo fire was blinding in the main viewscreen. The Dreadnought's shields lit up brightly with each weapon impact.
"Are we doing any damage?" the Captain asked.
"Absolutely!" Sensors said. "Their primary shield strength is dropping! Eighty percent and falling!" the bridge filled with cheering for five seconds.
"Continue firing!" the First Officer said.
"More weapons signatures detected on the Dreadnought!" Sensors said.
"Odyssey to Voyager!—" the Captain said.
"We're getting the same readings!" BelaFonte said. "All units! Hit the Dreadnought with everything you've got! NOW!" the amount of chatter on the comm line tripled, Aaen guessed. He watched as a flood of weapon fire pummeled the target.
"They've got a weapon lock on us!" Sensors said.
"Going evasive!" Aaen said. He performed a tight loop maneuver.
"—They missed!" Sensors said. The bridge filled with gasps of relief.
"We've only got four torpedoes left!" Jason announced.
"We've collapsed their shields! Their weapons are nearly fully powered!" BelaFonte said. "Defiant! Attack pattern Theta-One. See if you and Yorktown can punch a hole in their hull!" After an affirmative response. The two ships joined formation and sped toward the Dreadnought.
"We're initiating a high-intensity scan of the remaining Orion ship!" BelaFonte announced. Voyager was gradually moving into view. A flood of green beams of light struck the Voyager. The bridge crew watched in horror as the beams smashed through their shields.
"Voyager! Captain BelaFonte! Respond!" Odyssey Captain asked.
"Our shields took a direct hit, and our hull integrity is down to forty percent!—We've lost cannons and our main deflector!" explosions and collapsing metal echoed in the background. "We're alright! Continue firing!"
A brilliant explosion filled the main viewscreen; debris scattered violently towards the fleet.
"DIRECT HIT! GOOD SHOOTING DEFIANT!" Sensors said. "CAPTAIN! We've blown a hole in their hull! I'm getting a reading on the torpedo! They're nearly ready to launch!"
"Is it too late?" the First Officer asked.
"No, First Officer! The torpedo isn't loaded, yet. Odyssey Captain, the rest of the fleet isn't as maneuverable as your ship. The fleet doesn't have enough firepower to take on that ship. It's up to you. You need to intercept that torpedo."
"We understand." the Captain replied directly.
BelaFonte gasped amid her heavy breathing, and then said, "—We'll give you cover fire for as long as we can. Hurry. According to our sensor data, they've started their launch sequence."
"Acknowledged!"
"Aaen. Set a course for the hull breach!" the First Officer said.
"Aye!" the hull breach was quickly in the center of the main viewscreen. The hole in the hull became gradually larger as Odyssey got closer. The main viewscreen filled with sharp flashes of weapons fire in both directions. The Dreadnought's awake! Aaen thought.
"There's the torpedo!" Communications said pointing at the moving image on the screen. The torpedo was moving to Odyssey's port side.
"We can't get in the hull breach!" Aaen decided.
"Fire cannons!" the Captain said. Odyssey's twin cannons beams narrowly missed the torpedo, instead scored the Dreadnought's secondary hull.
"Aaen, you said we wouldn't make it!" Communications said.
"Operations! Take power out of the aft shields—" Aaen said, interrupted by another rocking motion.
"Near miss!" Sensors said.
"Take the power out of aft shields and divert the power to the forward shields!"
"Do it!" the Captain said.
"Aaen!" Communications said.
"Hold on, everybody!" Aaen said.
BANG
"Dorsal shields down to thirty percent!" Jason said.
Aaen maneuvered sharply to port. A red dot proceeding down the way ahead.
"Forward lights!" the Captain said. A long tunnel became visible.
"Torpedoes locked!" Jason said.
"We're closing in on the torpedo!" Sensors said. "According to these readings, they're opening their launch door!" Sensors said.
The end of the tunnel started to part four different ways. "I can see the stars!" Aaen said.
"They're loading the torpedo! It's armed!" Sensors said. "Holy cow! They've got internal defensive systems!"
"Auxiliary power to the shields!" the First Officer said.
"It's loaded! They're launching any second now!"
"FIRE!"
"Torpedo away!" Jason announced. A bright blue dart soared at its target. Two seconds later, the main viewscreen filled with a blinding white light. The hull started to shake and rattle progressively more violently.
"MAXIMUM SPEED!" the Captain yelled.
"Cross your fingers!" Aaen said. The bridge filled with screams of terror. The bridge screens sparked and flashed.
"C'MON, ODYSSEY!" Aaen yelled hopefully, struggling to stay upright amid the turbulence.
"SHIELDS ARE DOW—" Jason's announcement was drowned out by the overwhelming hull vibrations.
Ten seconds later, the only thing visible were stars.
"Voyager to Odyssey. There's a level fifteen shockwave building up inside the Dreadnought. Get outta there, now!"
"Captain! The Dreadnought's breaking up!" a female voice said in the background.
"Odyssey, get within tractor range!" BelaFonte said.
Aaen complied with the order.
"Helm! Get us outta here!" BelaFonte said.
"Aye!"
"All ships! Accelerate to maximum warp, now!" BelaFonte said.
"The shockwave is preventing us from forming a stable warp bubble!"
"Divert all available power to the warp drive and compensate!"
"Engaging warp engines!" Voyager Helmsman said.
"Aft view!" the Captain said.
The image on the main viewscreen changed. The Dreadnought's hull was starting break up as a blinding white light permeated the hull.
"Detecting numerous internal explosions!" Sensors said. "The Orions are launching escape pods!"
A bright white shockwave expanded in every direction.
"We're barely staying ahead of it!" Sensors said.
"We're accelerating, Odyssey!" BelaFonte announced. Aaen struggled to stay in his seat amid the turbulence. The shockwave started to get smaller in the main viewscreen.
"Warp point seven!. . ." Voyager's Helmsman announced.
"Shockwave impact in five seconds!" Sensors announced.
"Point eight!. . .Point nine!—WARP ONE!"
"It's still closing!" Sensors said.
"We're at warp three! Four!—" the hull started to stabilize gradually. "Five, and increasing!"
The shockwave was now a bright dot in the distance and then faded into the darkness.
"—We're clear!" the comm line echoed. The bridge filled with cheering and celebration.
"Good work, everyone!" BelaFonte said. Over the cheering echoing over the comm line, BelaFonte said, "Let's go home."
The fleet arrived at Earth two hours later. Each ship docked at its respective docking port, the crews offloaded, debriefed, and then returned to their homes. That night, Aaen couldn't wait for next time. He started to wonder when that might be. One week later, Aaen checked the mail to find a half-inch stack of envelopes in the family mailbox—including a security envelope from Command. Aaen quickly tore the security envelope open, pulled out the document and then scanned the document. Five seconds later, he grinned at his next assignment.
'. . .Magellan.'
*****
Steve H. told Jordan Foutin, "You are the next Tom Clancy. You really are a gifted writer."
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