Runner Up 1 20209.14

Ambition’s Gift by Lt(JG) Aitrus Colso

© 2002 by Federation Space and the author pen named Aitrus Colso

“Scanning Sector 371, sir,” Lt. Silas Bradley said. There hadn’t been any activity in that sector since the Dominion War, just like all the other sectors, but they had a job to do anyway, just like all the ships patrolling the DMZ and both of the other Neutral Zones.

“Very well, Lieutenant. How long should it be before we finish our last sweep of the Zone?” Cdr. Lokar seemed a bit bored, but then again, so did half of the people on the Tiberius’ bridge. It just seemed strange to see it on a Romulan, rather than on the humans who made up the majority of the crew.

“It shouldn’t be more than an hour, sir. This is our final sector to scan before the Jupiter comes to relieve us.” At least the crews get to rotate in and out, and that our home base is DS9, Silas thought. It can’t get much better than that.

Lokar smiled briefly and nodded to the science officer. “Very good.” He hit his commbadge. “Captain, this is Lokar. We are just starting our final sweep. If all goes well, then we’ll be done in less than an hour.”

The reply came back from the comm, “Very good, Commander. I’ll come and see us in myself at 1945 hours. Taylor out.” Lokar looked back at Silas, and then picked his padd back up and resumed his reading. Not like there’s much else to do now, Silas thought.

In fact, he turned the secondary display on at his console and started to read the latest from the Daystrom Institute, which he had received just before this shift in the Gamma Quadrant. He was almost done with his third article before he remembered to look at the scan progress. He did, and saw that, once again, there was absolutely nothing of any interest there. Hey, a class-3 comet. Not many of those out here. Very little of interest, anyway.

An hour went by, and the only thing that happened on the bridge was that the sensor sweep ended. At 1945 on the dot, Captain Ben Taylor walked in, his imposing frame making everyone sit up a little straighter than they had. “Status, Commander?”

Lokar stood quickly, putting the padd into the first officer’s chair, which had been unoccupied since he had been in command. “Nothing to report, Captain. The sensor sweep ended about five minutes ago, and the Jupiter just came within sensor range.”

Lt. Cdr. Linol Rees, the Chief of Security onboard, spoke up, “Captain Satelk of the Jupiter is hailing us, sir.” The Bajoran seemed a little more than relieved to be receiving this transmission.

“On screen,” Ben said. The image on the main viewer shifted from the Gamma quadrant starscape to one of a middle-aged Vulcan, sitting on the bridge of a ship very much like this one.

“Captain, this is the Jupiter, here to relieve you. You may return to Deep Space 9 now, and you will receive further orders from there.” Something in his tone sent a chill up Silas’ spine. He knows more than he’s letting on. If four years at the Vulcan Science Academy taught me anything, it was how to read a Vulcan.

Evidently, Ben saw it too. “Is there something we should know, Captain? If there is, then please, tell us now.”

Satelk seemed to start to say something, but then he looked at Lokar and said, “Not in the company you presently keep. Until next time, Captain.” And the viewer shut off. Everyone on the bridge seemed to look warily at Commander Lokar, especially Commander Nu’Gre, who was at Tactical. Nu’Gre, being the good Klingon he is, hadn’t trusted Lokar from the minute they met. The smug look on Nu’Gre’s face told everyone on the bridge, I told you so. Silas decided to wait for a more formal answer before passing judgment on anyone.

Captain Taylor looked a little puzzled, as well, and shot an inquisitive look over to Lokar, as well. Lokar shrugged, just barely noticeable. Ben turned back to the front, and said, “Lieutenant, please set course back for the wormhole. Warp 3.”

T’Prul, the helm officer on board, hit a few buttons on her console, and then reported, “Course laid in, Captain.” She held her hand over the console, ready to engage at the Captain’s order.

“Well, then, let’s go.” She lowered her hand and the ship leapt to warp.

“Very good, Lieutenant. ETA to Deep Space 9?”

T’Prul turned her head slightly, one of her pips glinting in the light as she did so. “ETA is 20 minutes, sir.”

Ben stood up and made his way to his ready room. “All senior officers on the bridge, please come to my ready room for a moment.” Silas got up and followed, as did Nu’Gre and Rees.

Ben sat down behind his desk, and gestured to the chairs and couch nearby. Everyone sat down, with Lokar and Nu’Gre taking the chairs near the desk, and Silas and Rees taking the nearby couch. Any other time, I might have enjoyed this a lot more, Silas thought. But right now, I need to hear what the Captain is going to say.

“Okay, all of you heard Captain Satelk. Something is going on back in the Alpha Quadrant, and it seems to involve either Commander Lokar here or the Romulan Empire. Any ideas?”

Nu’Gre immediately spoke up. “Isn’t it obvious, sir?” he said in his guttural tones. “The Federation has been invaded by the Romulans. They have decided that we are weak, and that they can wipe us out easily.” He sent a look of sheer hatred at Lokar. “And this one must be a spy, sent to estimate our strength and to feed us misinformation.”

Lokar looked as if he were about to respond in kind, when Ben’s voice broke in. “That will be quite enough, Commander. We are not here to accuse anyone of anything. All this is about is to try and figure out what is going on back home. Do we have any more ideas?”

Silas sat up from the couch. “I don’t think that the Romulans would start another war, sir. They took heavy losses after they finally joined the Alliance in the Dominion War, and would most likely be trying to rebuild their forces right now.”

Lokar said confidently, “You underestimate my people, Silas. When they see an opportunity, no matter how undermanned they are, no matter how much suffering they have just been through, they take it. They would try to gain whatever ground they can whenever they can. In fact, in the middle of the War, the Romulan government tried to create a military base on a moon of Bajor. In the middle of the War, Silas. That is the measure of their ambition, Silas. When they see something they want, they will take it. Or at least try.”

The words hung in the air for a few minutes. Everyone knew that Lokar was right, but no one wanted another war yet. Has it only been two years? Silas thought. No one was ready to fight another war, to go out and see their best friends, their bothers and sisters die. And yet the Romulans decided to deliver another round.

“That decides it, then,” Ben said. “A war with the Romulans seems to be both our best and worst answer. Best, because it fits both the facts we have and the profile of the Romulan government. Worst, because we all know what this means. And no one likes what they see.”

The comm buzzed. “Captain,” T’Prul said, “we have just entered the wormhole. ETA to DS9, five minutes.”

“Very good, Lieutenant. Taylor out.” He nodded a bit absently, as if he had forgotten that everyone was in there. Then, he recovered and said, “Well, all our questions will be answered soon enough.”

After exiting the wormhole, DS9 had hailed the Tiberius, requesting the presence of the captain, the XO, and the science officer at a Code 1 meeting. Immediately, everyone knew what was going on. Code 1 is used only in declaration of war. And so, the Tiberius docked at DS9, and Ben, Lokar, and Silas went aboard.

Colonel Kira Nerys was there at the airlock when the party got there, along with two other officers, both Star Fleet. She immediately started once the captain was through the airlock.

“Captain, we have a meeting to get to. If you and your—” She broke off as Lokar stepped through the airlock. “A word, captain?”

As Nerys and Ben stepped off down the corridor, Silas made his way up to the two officers and introduced himself. One of them, a lieutenant commander, said to him, “Hello, Silas. I’m Ezri Dax, the current First Officer here, and this is Lieutenant Thrishar ch’Thane[1], our science officer.” She waved a hand at the Andorian over her shoulder. He seemed to be a bit nervous, especially with Lokar nearby.

Nerys and Ben came back just then. Nerys seemed none too happy about something, but she obviously didn’t get through to the captain. “This way,” she said curtly, and led everyone off to a turbolift.

The tension in the air was so thick on the way through the turboshaft, you could have shot it with a phaser and done true damage. But luckily, it came up to the Promenade just then, right across the way from Quark’s. And that seemed to be where Nerys was taking everyone, because they walked through the door to the Ferengi’s establishment just a few moments later.

Nerys leaned over the bar, and said to the Ferengi behind the counter, “Is holosuite 3 ready?” When he nodded an affirmative, she walked up the stairs and into a suite on the second level. Everyone followed her in.

In the holosuite, there was a boardroom from Starbase 1 at Earth. There was a table in the center, with 13 chairs: 12 along the edges, and one at the head. Nine of the chairs were occupied, with 4 pairs of command officers each having one science officer standing behind them.

Silas looked around and realized that he recognized most of the people in the room. The four science officers, all lieutenants. The two nearest the door were Vulcans, and on the far side, there was a human closest to the head, with an Iotian behind the middle pair. There’s only one ship in the fleet with an Iotian science officer. The U.S.S. Repulse. The Repulse was the leader of the 101st Tactical Wing, part of the same division as the Tiberius’ 512th. He then realized that the other officers were wing leaders in the 31st division. Captain Martin Young of the U.S.S. Moscow, 601st tactical wing; Captain Jiao-lang Tzu, U.S.S. Freedom, 275th tac. wing; Captain David Evans, U.S.S. Pendragon, 891st tac. wing; and Captain Rees Davis of the U.S.S. Repulse. The captains were all here with their XO’s, most of whom were human, but there was one Bajoran, who was the XO on the Pendragon. And sitting by himself at the head of the table was Admiral Ross. He waved the newcomers to their seats at the far end of the table from himself.

“I’ll remind all of you, this is a classified Code 1 meeting,” the admiral said. He took a breath, waited a moment, and said, “As you are all aware, the Romulan Star Empire has declared war on us as of 1800 hours yesterday. They have already made gains into our space, and that of the Klingon Empire, as well. We are dispatching the 31st division to the Andorian system, to protect the people there from this threat.” He turned to Ben. “As the senior officer of the division, Ben, you are to take command of the division once all ships have arrived. I’m going to give you the Defiant, as well, to lead your wing as you command the division.” He turned to Kira, who was sitting across the table from Ben. “Colonel, recall Vaughn and send him as the Defiant’s CO.”

He turned back and addressed the science officers there. “You science officers, I need you to coordinate a division-wide project. You are to start trying to find a way to defeat the Romulan cloaking device. They seem to have improved it considerably since the Dominion War, as evidenced by our losses at Gamma Eridon. Lt. Silas, you are to coordinate the division, with the science officers on the different wing leaders taking control of the wing. All right, everyone, you have your orders. Let’s get there and get to it. I remind you, this meeting is classified.” Ross seemed to eye Lokar for a moment as he said that, but then he turned away and winked out. Everyone stood up as the boardroom shimmered and became a standard holosuite when Ross broke the connection. The colonel walked out, already giving orders to Ezri and Shar, and then hitting her commbadge to talk to ops.

“Looks like we’re on our own to find the way out,” Lokar noted. Ben, though, was too serious right now to take that as the joke it was. He tapped his own commbadge and began to give orders to the crew.

“Ben to Tiberius. Prepare for immediate departure. Destination: Andoria. Yellow alert.” He was already out of the suite by the time he had gotten the Tiberius hailed. Both Lokar and Silas, though in top physical shape, were hard pressed to keep up with their captain. Silas, as he was getting into the turbolift with both of his superiors, did spare a moment to look out of the second level viewports. Hey, I can see the Tiberius from here. The Akira-class cruiser seemed all the more vicious with the war hanging in the air, now. No peace in our time, he thought as the lift arrived at the airlock. They boarded, and everything began to change.

The mood in the air had changed since Ben had been on the bridge last. Everyone seemed to be more alert, wondering just what was going on. And so, Ben told them. “Rees, send this message to our entire tactical wing: ‘All ships, rendezvous at Andoria ASAP. We are to protect them from the Romulan threat.’ Send that as a Code 1.

“Give me intraship.” He turned to address the crew as Rees brought the speakers on throughout the ship. “This is your captain speaking.” He paused for a moment, trying to decide how to tell his crew what he had been told. “At 1800 hours yesterday, the Romulan Star Empire declared war United Federation of Planets and it’s allies, the Klingon Empire. While no one in the Federation, or even the Klingon Empire, wanted this war, the Romulans did, and so we fight. We are on our way to Andoria to protect our people there. We may see some heavy fighting. Some of us may be injured; some may die. But remember why we fight: we fight because we have no choice. Taylor, signing off.” He signaled for Rees to cut him off.

T’Prul turned from the conn, and told the captain in her flat tones, “Course set for Andoria, sir. Warp Eight.”

He shook his head slightly. How had it come to this? “Engage,” he said aloud. She turned and did just that. “ETA?” Taylor asked her.

She looked at her console, and read off, “0900 tomorrow, sir. Approximately 34 hours travel time.” Good, Ben thought. Gives me time to get my officers up to speed, as well as the wing leaders under me. He turned to his first officer. “Lokar, set up a meeting of all senior officers in 15 minutes. You have the bridge.” Ben turned and went to his ready room as his XO gave his assent.

“As each of you now know, we are at war with the Romulan Star Empire. Already, they have made advances into Federation and Klingon space, and are poised to take even more.” Ben looked out on his senior officers, and tried to gauge their reactions. Nu’Gre, of course, relished the fight as much as any Klingon, and was absolutely thrilled with this prospect. T’Prul, in Vulcan fashion, let absolutely no emotion slip through her, but Ben thought that he saw a hint of sadness there. Rees seemed, while not happy about it, to be at least resigned to the fact that the war would be fought. She’d fought two before now, and so she could last through one more. The humans, though, all seemed mortified at the thought. Lt. Cdr. Ashley Vance, the ship’s chief engineer, seemed horrified to even think about it, while Lt. Amy Bradshaw, CMO on board, slipped into deep thought, probably about how many more lives would be lost in this fight.

“We have been assigned to protect the Andorian system, in command of the 31st division. That means that each of you will have to not only coordinate your own departments, but also those of the five tactical wings under us. It means a lot more responsibility, but I believe that each of you can handle it. Status reports.” He turned to Nu’Gre.

The commander reported, “All systems are operational, and can be optimized for combat before we reach Andoria.” Nu’Gre eyed Lokar for a moment, and then recovered. “As soon as we dismiss, I will begin working on formations for the division, to best cover the perimeter of the system.” Ben nodded his assent, and then gestured for Rees to give her report.

“The ship has been secure against the Dominion for a year now, so it won’t be that hard or take that long to be ready for the Romulans. We should have everything ready, including counterintelligence measures for both internal and external espionage, by the time we reach Andoria.” She seemed to look more at Lokar than at Ben while she talked about the counterintelligence. She seemed to be very stern while she said it, but her eyes told a different story.

“Very good, lieutenant commander,” Ben said. “Silas.”

The lieutenant jumped a little at his name being called, and then breathed deeply for a second. He definitely doesn’t like meetings. “The Science department is ready for the moment. I already have our department working on ways to defeat the Romulan cloaking device, and on maintaining our sensors. After this meeting, I will contact the science officers of the tac. wing lead ships, and make sure they spread the objective down through the chain of command.”

Ben nodded to T’Prul, on the far side of the table from Silas. She said, “Both warp and impulse engine systems are operating at peak efficiency, and we anticipate no problems to arise between here and Andoria. I have retrieved the star map of the Andorian system, and will give my estimates of approximate locations for defenses to Cdr. Nu’Gre as soon as I have them.”

Ben waved his hand at Lt. Amy Bradshaw, who was sitting directly across from Silas. She reported, “Sickbay is ready, sir. We have most of the medical supplies we might need already aboard ship, and any others we might need can be retrieved or made at Andoria. As for the crew itself, everyone seems to be in good health.”

“Excellent, lieutenant.” He looked at Ashley Vance next.

She began, “As some of the other officers have commented on, all systems are functioning normally. Our reserves of deuterium and antideuterium are running a little low, but it won’t be a problem for a few weeks at the earliest. I will be filling a request for those supplies, as well as some other spare parts, before we reach Andoria.”

Just like everything else, Ben thought. “Very good. Lokar?”

“While everyone seems to be in good health, the crew’s morale is not. I’ll try and organize some events to try and boost morale in the coming months, and have that proposal on your desk by next week.”

“Very good. Now, we have to keep our minds focused on the task at hand: protect the Andorian system and all the inhabitants thereof. We also have to keep a close eye on the morale of the people under our command. Since we are the division leader, this task is multiplied greatly for us, but it still must be done. My recommendation to all of you is to delegate as much responsibility as possible. Make sure that the wing leaders in your area are doing their job, and also try and free up as much time as necessary here on ship so you can maintain a watch on your areas division-wide. Dismissed.”

Time seemed to pass very quickly after that. Ships reported in, coming in by ones and twos, forming up into their wings. Eventually, all 174 of the ships in the division came together, and the commanders all met.

“So. Face to face at last, Ben?” Commander Elias Vaughn said. “I’ve heard a lot about you, especially from our mutual friends.” He didn’t elaborate any more, but he didn’t have to. They both knew who ‘they’ were, and knew better than to talk about them much.

“Finally, Elias. In any case, please take your seat. We have a lot to discuss.” The other Tactical leaders were already seated. Jiao-lang Tzu was seated directly opposite Vaughn, because she had the most seniority besides him. Beside them were Martin Young and David Evans, beside Jiao-lang and Vaughn, respectively, and then Rees Davis sat beside David. Ben looked them over quickly, and then dived right into the meeting.

“We have been tasked with defending the Andorian system from the Romulan threat. Now, how to do it has fallen into my hands. I have already ordered the system to be evacuated, so we won’t have to worry about civilians on the planets. It’s something, anyway.” He pressed a button on the controls next to him. The lights in the room dimmed, and a holographic representation of the system appeared overhead. “Now, I have color-coded each Tactical Wing with a different color. Jiao-lang, you and Rees are to form an outer perimeter at the eighth planet. Your primary mission there is to slow any attacking force, and then retreat and reform with the inner perimeter. Martin, David, you two get the task of forming that inner perimeter near the fifth planet. Now, both of those perimeters are already there, since the Andorians have had defense perimeters at those two locations since pre-Federation days. Luckily, they have updated them recently.” That got a chuckle or two from Martin and Rees, the youngest two of the commanders. “They have considerably more firepower than the Mars Defense Perimeter did during the Breen attack in the Dominion War. The primary tasks at both perimeters should be to try and hinder the opponent as much as possible. However, if both perimeters should break, all ships are to retreat to the main perimeter. Commander Vaughn, that will be your assignment. This perimeter will be just outside of orbit at Andoria. Now, there are many planetary defenses that are in place, including orbital weapons platforms, and several planetary defense phaser emplacements.

“Remember: the first two perimeters are mainly there just to slow down an offensive. Destroy as many ships as you can, but don’t try and take them all out. You can’t. First line should pull back if you drop below 70% strength. Same goes for the inner perimeter. Once we get to the final line,” he said, pausing slightly, “I’ll make the call.” Everyone in the room nodded somberly. Ben could tell from the look on their faces that they did not envy him his position. Vaughn’s look actually held more sympathy than anything, as if he knew exactly what Ben would have to face. “Now, go out there and deploy your ships. Report in tomorrow night, and then once every three days. Keep me apprised of all anomalous readings, everything that might be a cloaked ship. Our scientists are working on ways to defeat their cloak now, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for that. Dismissed.”

Weeks passed. The Tactical leaders made progress, laying out their forces with utmost care; the inner lines started making evac plans for the forward lines. Meanwhile, the Romulans made extensive gains. Morale hit a low after the attack at Gamma Eridon not seen since Deep Space 9 was seized during the Dominion War. All of this was extremely important, but one fact stood out in the minds of the 31st division: the Romulans were now only five light-years from the Andorian system. No longer could they think that the war would end before it got here, and they would never have to fight the Romulans. Now, they knew. The war would not only actually come here to Andoria. It would come soon. A lot sooner than anyone thought.

Captain Jiao-lang Tzu sat on the bridge of the U.S.S. Freedom, reading a status report from the line. And, since she was the senior captain, she had to summarize the report and forward that to both of the rear lines. The only part of the job I hate, she thought. She sighed, and then laughed a little. I’m getting too old for this.

“Captain!” someone cried from the science console. Jiao-lang stood up and turned around quickly, the grey in her hair shimmering in the lights. She was matched by her XO, a Bolian, in the turn. “There’s a large increase in neutron radiation off our starboard side, and large gravimetric distortions from the same location.” He didn’t need to say what that most likely meant. They all knew.

“Red Alert!” she called. The lights shifted, and klaxons sounded. “Tactical, target all weapons on that location and fire.” The viewer shifted slightly, to just off the starboard side of the Galaxy-class starship. A volley of torpedoes launched, followed quickly by a burst of phaser fire, timed so both would hit at the exact same time. They struck home.

The scene changed quickly, with a Romulan Warbird becoming visible right after the explosion died away. Then another decloaked. And another. The space all along the line was filling with warbirds as they watched.

Disruptors buffeted the Freedom as they watched the sky fill. Plasma torpedoes struck and drained away the shields as the attack continued. “Captain!” the tactical officer cried out. “Shields are at 20% and dropping!”

“Continue to fire at will.” She gestured to the ops manager. “Broadcast to the division: The Romulans are here. Then send to the Repulse: The front line is now yours.” At that moment, everyone on the bridge knew that this would be their last battle field. And very soon, it was.

“Report!”

Nu’Gre turned from the console and cried over the red alert klaxons, “The outer perimeter has broken, the inner perimeter is buckling, and more Romulans are decloaking by the minute! For every one of them we destroy, another three have appeared.”

Lokar whispered, “Like the Medusa in your Greek mythology.” He looked up at the chronometer over the viewscreen. The attack had only started 15 minutes ago! How could we have lost so much so quickly! We never even had a chance. I’m just glad that the captain had started evacuating Andoria the minute we got here.

A quick glance at Ben told Lokar that he had just thought the exact same thing. Then, the captain said, “Exactly. Send to the entire front line the order to fall back. We’ll make our stand here around Andoria.” He turned to Silas, at the back of the bridge. “Lieutenant, are you ready with the tachyon pulse?”

“Yes sir,” he said. “As soon as the entire division is here, then we’ll initiate the pulse. In theory, it should reveal the entire attacking force.”

“Good.” Ben kept on, “However, don’t wait until the entire division is here. When most of us are, then go ahead and fire. The stragglers can catch up from where they are.” Lokar didn’t like that, but realized that every moment that they waited, the Romulans would get that many more ships in.

Minutes went by. The entire bridge was listening to the inter-fleet comm of the battle going on, listening to the battle wage on. They heard ships be destroyed, both Federation and Romulan. But the Federation ones seemed to outnumber the Romulan ones by too many. They were losing ships, and losing them fast. Ben leaned over to Lokar and asked, “Has the 312th Marine division finished its preparations yet?”

Lokar brought up the appropriate files on his console, and then replied, “Yes sir. They are entrenched all around the major cities, and all the smaller towns have been evacuated. Also, all dignitaries, foreign and domestic, have been relocated to Earth, with the majority of the remaining population being sent underground as we speak.”

“Good,” Ben remarked. He shook his head a little. “How could it have come to this,” he muttered. “We’ve seen them do this again and again, and yet they still take us by surprise.”

“Sir,” T’Prul broke in, “the second line has just broken. All ships are retreating to our position.”

Ben and Lokar stood up. “Ready the tachyon pulse,” Lokar said to Silas. Lokar knew that the science officer would have started doing just that after T’Prul spoke up, but Lokar just wanted to be sure. He turned back to his console and watched the ships come in. They all came in slightly behind the perimeter, and then turned and lined back up. The ships all came in, the smaller ones first, followed by a large group of the capital ships. By then, over 90% of the remaining force at Andoria had been assembled.

“Silas, fire the pulse!” Ben yelled. The entire bridge watched as the specially-placed sensor pods throughout the perimeter split apart with the force, sending a massive surge of tachyons out from the planet. Several of the ships not yet in formation were swept backwards momentarily as the surge passed. A single Romulan ship decloaked. Then another. For a moment, everyone on the bridge hoped against hope that maybe the pulse had worked. Then they both went into a perfect decloak-strike maneuver, totally destroying a Steamrunner-class ship that hadn’t made it to the lines.

The mood on the bridge went from one of excitement as the pulse was created, to one of total and utter desolation as it went away. It had failed. And with it, the last hope of saving the Andorian system was dashed. Ben turned slightly, his head low on his breast. “Tactical,” he said after a moment, “engage at will. Give me a channel to the rest of the division.”

Rees tapped a button on her console, and then signaled Ben to start. “Attention, 31st division. We are to remain fighting for another twenty minutes. At that time, retreat. Destroy as many ships as you can. But when twenty minutes are up, retreat. We need as many ships as we can for further attacks. As much as it pains me to say, Andoria is lost. But only in the sky. God speed.” And that, as they say, was that.

Admiral Ross was sitting in his office on the Gettysburg, when he received the news. First Gamma Eridon, now this. Andoria captured, almost 50% of the division totally destroyed, over two-thirds of the remainder being seriously damaged. We even lost Captain Tzu, and she was up for promotion in a month or so. We could have used her. And what is there to show for this debacle? Absolutely nothing. We took out maybe 15 Warbirds, and a dozen other ships besides. And from the reports received so far from the Marines, the Romulan army has been able to take most of the planet, as well. He had known somewhere deep down inside that the loss of the Andorian system was almost inevitable, but it still struck him hard. Andoria had always defended itself from all threats. The Dominion hadn’t even dared to attempt taking the system. But the Romulans had just succeeded in doing exactly that. He knew then and there that something had to be done.

“Computer, bring up reports of all attacks since the war started.” It did so almost instantaneously. “Is there any one factor that links them all together?”

[Affirmative,] the computer replied. [All attacks started with a successful decloak-strike maneuver.] That’s it, Ross thought. It’s been staring me in the face all along, and I didn’t see it. That is how we’ll beat them. He brought up a channel to the bridge. “Commander, contact the Command Staff. Arrange a meeting with them day after tomorrow.”

“Yes, sir,” the commander said over the comm. The tide in this war may just have turned. If not today, then soon. Very soon.