Chapter 19: Cry Havoc

After saying goodbye to her human hosts, T'Pol walked out of the house towards shuttlepod 2, which was just landing on a field near the Tucker residence. The hatch opened and she stepped inside.

"Welcome back, Captain," Travis said and her answer was a silent nod.

As she moved to take a seat, she saw Hoshi sitting in the shuttle. Her friend looked pale, but otherwise much more alive than she did before she had left for Japan.

"How are you?" she asked while Lieutenant Mayweather ran through the take-off check-list.

"I'm better. Jijii is a miracle worker. It will take some time, until I get over it completely, but I'm fit."

"When we return to the ship, please report to Doctor Phlox."

"I'm really better," Hoshi insisted.

"I believe you. But Starfleet Medical requested to see all distressed personnel. Either Phlox clears you for duty or I would have to order you to report to Medical. I do prefer the first option."

"So do I," Hoshi agreed with a smile. "I'll pay Phlox a visit."

"Good Lord," Trip said as he came into the new armory area that was once engineering. "One direct hit and we'll be scattered all over the galaxy!"

"Looks like it, doesn't it," Malcolm said. "But I can assure you, it's safe. Those torpedoes cannot be armed outside the launching tubes."

"Are we trying to chase a few pirates off a space station or are we trying to start an interstellar war here? That must be – what – three hundred of 'em?"

"Actually these are two hundred Mark-II and one hundred and fifty seven Mark-III torpedoes."

"Interstellar war it is then," Trip sighed.

"I don't think we're going up against pirates," Malcolm explained, shaking his head. "Salem One is a heavily fortified facility. Their defensive armament is better than what we had, when we shipped out to Qo'nos. We didn't exactly throw with pebbles back then, did we?"

"Why would that thing be a floating battle ship? It can hardly be of much importance, else we would've heard of it before now."

"It's not exactly a place that Starfleet is likely to advertise. Word is that it doesn't only host Coalition races and some of those outsiders are keen to keep their involvement a secret. Details about it are somewhat sketchy, but it is said to engage in a lot of research. Knowing some of the Starfleet types, not all of it is legal or entirely ethical."

"Why don't I feel like asking you where that information came from?" Trip asked sarcastically.

"Because you're smart enough to know that it didn't come from the morning paper," Malcolm delivered dryly.

"Those babies any good?" Trip asked and pointed at a Mark III torpedo.

"Remember, when we accidentally put a slight dent in that asteroid?"

"You mean, when we tested the phase cannons for the first time and the system overloaded?" Trip asked, snorting about Malcolm's typical understatement.

"Yes," Malcolm answered with a nod. "What happened back then would be a failure with these things. A triple salvo on full spread and you can shave off half a mountain range."

"You can rapid-fire them?"

"Up to three," Malcolm explained. "See these connectors?"

Trip nodded.

"You put three in the launcher and they are armed automatically as soon as they are in. That way you can fire three torpedoes in rapid sequence or three single shots without having to reload, saves us a lot of time in a fight."

"I don't like it," Trip said grumpily.

"What is there not to like about better defensive capabilities?" Malcolm asked in disbelief, and slightly upset that someone would be against updating his toys.

"If it wasn't for T'Pol and me tinkering with the engines beyond duty hours, we would still be at warp 5.0, but when it comes to weapons, they churn out a new generation every six months. It's all about war, war, war."

"I see where you're coming from," Malcolm said. "But the fact remains that the Romulans are out there looking for an opportunity to strike. I'd be surprised if it isn't them, who await us at Salem One."

"Nice," Trip grumbled and left, shaking his head in frustration.

Shran inspected the attendance. Since Discovery's situation room was too small for four Captains, their first Officers, tactical officers and respective MACO detachment leaders, the meeting was hosted in an empty cargo bay.

"Starfleet command has sent the latest reconnaissance reports. A group of eight D'Kyr class vessels is hiding in a nebula near Salem One. They are monitoring the situation on long range sensors. Their readings match the signatures of eight Romulan war-birds and several unknown freighters, believed to be of Romulan origin as well."

"Why don't the Vulcans attack?" Colonel Frei, the Swiss MACO CO of Challenger, asked.

"D'Kyr class vessels are equipped for patrol and reconnaissance missions," T'Pol explained. "They lack the fire power, necessary to engage two war-birds, let alone eight."

"But they could come in handy," Malcolm said.

"You have a suggestion, Commander?" Shran asked.

"If we can include the Vulcans in our formation we're twelve against eight. The Captains of Discovery and Enterprise have extensive space warfare experience, so I would suggest we split into two groups, led by Discovery and Enterprise respectively with Columbia and Challenger as wing-men. Each of the two groups is joined by four D'Kyr vessels, who act as stingers."

"I'm afraid, I'm not familiar with all these terms," Dunsel admitted.

Discovery and Enterprise are the lead ships. They operate independently. Columbia is the wingman of Enterprise and flies in formation. Both ships back up each other and attack in a concerted effort. The same goes for Discovery and Challenger.

"I think my helmsman is quite an ace," Captain Fletcher interrupted. "But I don't think that formation flying with NX-class ships was part of the training at the academy."

"With formation flight, I don't actually mean synchronized flight," Malcolm clarified. "Our communications officer, Lieutenant Sato has created a set of routines to synchronize helm and tactical consoles between two ships. You will all receive the upload after this meeting. Helm console of the wingman ship will display the projected path of the lead ship – your helmsman will have to figure out the rest. The same goes for tactical. You will receive target coordinates in real-time, but you'll have to figure out what to do with them by yourself."

"That is a tall order for unproven personnel," Shran said.

"We don't have many alternatives, but I think that people tend to learn to swim pretty quickly, if you kick them into a pool full of sharks," Malcolm replied dryly. "Four years ago we went out so green behind the ears, we needed mowing. We learned in a hurry. Our people are good, no matter how much experience they have. You, Captain, and Captain T'Pol have to do the rest by clever leading."

"What about the station?" Shran asked. "It is said to be quite heavily armed."

"It's largely of human design, which is why we know its weaknesses." Malcolm said. "We can rig Enterprise's deflector dish to send a massive EM pulse, which should short out every system on the station for at least an hour. That's when our wingman ship comes in. While we do that, we won't have shields, so they'll have to cover our behinds."

"Wouldn't that short out systems on our ships, too?" Dunsel asked.

"No; Captain Shran's battle group could draw the enemy away from the station, while we separate and target the station. You'll all still have your shields."

"That still leaves your ship disabled," Shran warned.

"Not necessarily," Malcolm corrected. "Enterprise is the only ship in the fleet that has mechanical backup instruments – the old T-layout of historical air planes - and we have people, who can fly using stick and rudder."

Malcolm projected a picture onto one of the walls and the people in the cargo bay looked dumbfounded.

"Attitude indicator, artificial horizon, vertical speed indicator – that's all we need. Visuals will be provided by good old-fashioned cameras, which are scattered around the ships hull. Since armoury has its own sheltered backup systems, they won't be affected by an EM pulse."

"How come that no other ship has these backup systems?" Julia Fletcher asked.

"Because Starfleet didn't install them," Malcolm explained. "We designed, built and installed them ourselves. Over the last four years we lost control of helm or tactical several times, simply because some computers were down. So we installed a fail-safe system. You could install the system on just about any ship, but you'll hardly find helmsmen, who can fly with them or tactical officers, who can shoot with nothing but cross-hairs. We have both."

"Have you ever used those backup instruments?" Shran's first officer, Commander Nguyen, asked.

"Only in simulations," Malcolm said. "They were installed only a few weeks ago during the refit."

"I thought something like that," Nguyen, Challenger's science and first officer, said. "For these mechanical devices to work, you'd have to disable the inertial dampers on your ship. You could kill a lot of your crew doing that!"

All eyes were on Malcolm, but the experienced tactician shot Nguyen a triumphant smile.

"Nothing personal against you, Commander; you are surely a good scientist, but you're lacking something that we on Enterprise have in abundance – experience. From your statement I can tell that you've never flown your ship from the battle bridge?"

"Why should we?" Shran asked in defense of his first officer. "Why should we fly the ship from an emergency bridge, if we have a perfectly serviceable one with more sophisticated equipment? I wonder why your Captain hasn't yet dismissed this idea as illogical."

"I did not, because it is indeed a logical proposition." T'Pol said. "Commander Reed's suggestion is sound. The battle bridge might have less sophisticated equipment, but several factors make it the preferred option over the main bridge in battle as its name clearly suggests."

She called up a schematic of the refitted Enterprise and explained: "The main bridge is on top of the saucer section and therefore easy to target for enemy weapons. It is also at the outer perimeter of the energy shields, while the battle bridge in the secondary hull is almost at the center of the energy field and can therefore only be hit if the opponent manages to disable both the shields and the hull plating. I believe it is easy to see the logic in preferring to use the battle bridge in combat."

"Which brings us back to your question, Commander Nguyen," Malcolm took over. "Had you tested the battle bridge yet, you'd know that it has its own backup inertial dampers. All you need to do is to uncouple it from the main systems and switch to backup dampers. Now you can switch those off and leave the rest of the ship unaffected. The bridge crew will have to wear EVA suits however to cope with the G forces."

"I begin to understand your intention Commander," Shran said with barely hidden admiration. He recognized a capable warrior, when he saw one and the tactical prowess of Malcolm Reed was hard to miss.

"Commander Reed, you will relay all available data concerning operations from the battle bridge to all ships as soon as possible," Shran instructed. "As soon as the data are analyzed, each ship moves operations from the main bridge to the battle bridge for the remainder of the journey to get used to it. I expect to hear readiness reports from all ships within the day."

"Aye, sir," the other three Captains replied.

"What about the MACO detachments?" Colonel Frei asked.

"Commander," Shran said with a nod to Malcolm. "Any suggestions?"

"During the battle to retake the station, the MACO contingents should secure several key areas of their ships for the case that the enemy tries boarding us. Once the enemy ships are destroyed, all detachments should regroup with all haste to prepare a boarding force and retake the station. We must expect the occupation forces to try to destroy the station. To prevent that we will constantly bombard the station with EM pulses, so technology like scanners and such will be useless. You'll have to rely on pulse rifles, your eyes and most importantly your EVA suits, as most likely the life support systems will be down, too."

"Do we have any information about the station layout?" Frei asked. "They could still set off chemical charges with energy weapons. Your EM pulses would not prevent that."

"Very observant, Colonel," Malcolm said, handing him a PADD. "These are all available schematics. You will see that chemical charges would only guarantee destruction, if they are placed very near the machine room. It should be easy to secure this area first."

"Understood," Frei said, paging quickly through the schematics. "We will work out a tactical plan and report back to you, Captain Shran."

"I would prefer you report it directly to Commander Reed," Shran said. "I'm putting Commander Reed in tactical command for the battle. I may have more battle experience than all of you, but Enterprise had earlier encounters with the Romulans, has knowledge about their technology and they know the NX class ships inside out."

"Thank you, Captain," Malcolm said, proud of the trust the Captain placed in him.