Maximus slumped down his head tilted to the side. resting against the nearby anwar. He had been waiting and waiting, and waiting...
For any word on the results of the Federation , ISC battle. Perhaps it was all propaganda? He put his feet up on his console. and slipped into an uneasy sleep.
Sir, the federation cruiser, is slowing . Match speed , aye sir.
Sir it's changing course. ...It's , it's turned 180 degrees!!.
Maximus looked over his console. He wasn't sure , cloaks played tricks with many of the settings. Making it hard to interpret them. But he was fairly certain that the Cruiser had begun to arm it's torpedoes!
Captain, i believe it is arming it's weapons. And it has launched a shuttle.
The commander looked over at his sensor ensgin....So have we been detected?? Any tachyons emissions? Quickly rechecking his readings, Maximus. found nothing that would of given their presence away.
No sir no tachyons emissions of any sort. And our cloaking field is stable.
Engineering, Yes sir? Came the muffled response over the comm system.
Check your Systems! YES SIR!
Helm bring us to a stop, Launch bay, is the decoy ready? ..Yes sir!
Stand by then we may need it.
Engineering sir. Uh, we um, have a small vibration variance in the starboard power coupling. But it's still running within specs sir.
Fix it!! Sir, i have a crew on it already.
Sir they are closing on our position. senors show that their Torpedoes are charged. And phasers banks nearing full. The shuttle is following behind them.They are reinforcing the forward shield!
The Capitan's face hardened. ready a copy of our logs for the emergency probe. Aye sir copying them now!
All hands BATTLE STATIONS!
The federation Cruiser slowly continued toward their position. Its shuttle tagging along behind like a faithful puppy.
Engine room. reinforce our forward shield by 50%.
Helm move us 90degrees off their course. Is that probe ready?
Sir it has everything recorded , and i am adding the bridge orders copying link now.It will be ready on your command sir.
Cruiser at 100,000 and closing, SIR they are slowing, slowing, they ...
have come to a complete stop sir, 60,000 off our starboard bow.
Engineering shift the shield reinforcement. . Aye sir!.
The shuttle is still approaching sir. I can't detect any weapons on board it sir. Any life signs? Hard to tell sir , Maximus had begun to sweat.
the shuttle seemed"ordinary" but there was something odd about its movements. He just could not put his finger on it!
40,000 to shuttle, and closing. Sir the cruiser is turning again. 60 degrees . it's facing us now sir. But still holding at 60'000.
Sir, Sir .. We have the starboard coupling locked down sir.
Shuttle at 30,000, .....
Every pair of eyes on the bridge were boring down on Maximus's station. He could feel the stares through the back of his head. He wiped the sweat off his forehead And Then it came to him. The shuttle! Of course ! Why didn't he think of it earlier?
Check it's comm link fool!
Sir the shuttle is has a tight-beam comm-link, back to the Cruiser.
Ah so they don't have a crew on it? Remote? Yes sir, i think so sir!
20,000 to shuttle. 15,000
The flash preceded the blast. In an instant the shuttle ceased to exist.
and a blinding flash replaced it. Seemingly at the same time the scout ship bucked and heaved. The blast catching it full on the # 2 shield. The shield glowed then buckled as the reinforcement gave way.
Maximus rocked back, then forward ,His head glancing off the screen of his console.
Fires broke out across the weapons station as sparks flew, and the weapons officer was thrown like a rag doll. from a angry infant.
landing in a heap, at the feet of the command chair. His lifeless eyes starring straight at Maximus.
The scout ship flickered in and out of sight as the cloaking field was stripped away in the explosion. Then fought to regain its self.
But that instant was what the Cruiser had been counting on.
With the speed of a raptor, it pounced! Firing all of it's torpedoes.
In one volley. They ripped into the downed shield. Savaging the hapless scout ship. Crew and ship burned ! smoked filled the bridge. the cloak failed and the little scout ship burning broken bow snapped into plain view.
Coughing and cursing the captain, screamed!
Hard over! bring our forward shield to him!! FIRE Torpedo! looking down at the lifeless form at his feet he jumped to the weapons console. Batting the flames with one hand he punched the launch button, NO use! the console was useless now. As he spun to return to his chair. the Cruiser struck again! Its forward phasers ripped into the scout ship. But they were a second to late. the forward shield now faced their antagonist.
It glowed the ship rocked . But the #1 shield held! It held! the Commander leaped back to his chair and quickly reached over for the comm link.Launch the decoy! No reply came back. Maximus shook his head. He felt blood tricking down from his ear. and his vision blurred, the screen growing then shrinking. But still the training, the hours spent in the simulator took over. He checked his display for the decoy. YES! it had slipped out the shuttle bay and was broadcasting its fake sensor data.
Looking down he also noted the cloaking device though now off still appeared to be in working order. Knowing that the weapons had failed them
He anticipated his Captains order. He re-engaged the cloak.