Chaos

After one last check in with all the ships, Samji turned back from the viewscreen to check the chronometer and verify readiness with is Ferengi Operations Officer.

"Lieutenant Commander Grok, are the shuttles ready for the next phase of our operation?" asked Samji.

"Aye, Sir," Grok replied. "All shuttles are responding to pings and the warp detonation programs are responding as ready."

"Very good, commence the countdown," the Fleet Captain ordered.

With the press of a button, the Ferengi initiated a cascading program that would propagate through all the shuttles around the Anomaly.

"It requires a command code, Sir." the Ferengi replied.

"Samji-Omega-two-hotel-niner."

The female voice of the computer chimed in with the audible version of the countdown. "Sixty seconds to detonation."

"This is it. All Lotus Fleet captains, prepare your ion pulses to be distributed completely around the Anomaly within two minutes of detonation. Let's close this thing up and come on home!"

"Fourty-five seconds to detonation."

"Sir," said Lieutenant Rexil, the Trill science officer. "I'm getting readings on long-range sensors."

Samji moved to view the officer's console and saw the blips appearing near the Romulan border; quite near, in fact, to where the scimitar that resulted in the destruction of the Artemis' stardrive the previous day had snuck through. Fortunately the detection matrix Starfleet had installed along the border seemed to be untouched in the enemy's bullheaded determination to launch attacks as quickly as possible.

"Thirty seconds to detonation," the computer informed them.

"What are you reading?" Samji asked.

"I can't be sure, Sir, but it appears to be a mix of D'deridex, Negh'var, Valdore, and various Birds of Prey, both Romulan and Klingon."

"Together!?" Samji asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Sir, unless the sensors are wrong."

"Fifteen seconds to detonation."

"What's their destination. How long?" asked the Fleet Captain.

"They appear to be on an intercept course with the Alsea. At their present speed, an hour at most, Sir."

"Ten seconds to detonation."

"That's not enough time. Grok, cancel the detonation!"

"Aye, Sir, it also requires a command code," Grok said, after swiftly punching in the preliminary shutdown sequence.

"Five, four..."

"Damn, Samji-Omega..."

"Three, two..."

"Zero, one, zero."

"All Lotus Fleet ships. This is Captain Samji. A large contingent is moving in toward the Alsea. Klingons and Romul..."

That was the last the ships heard from the Fleet Captain. As all the ships surrounding the Anomaly watched through their viewscreens, they could see the shuttles before them suddenly warp the space around them, then explode in front of the backdrop of orange fire, like little firecrackers popping when thrown into a fire. When the fire, smoke, and debris from all the explosions in front of them dispersed, they could see faint lines of white start to form, and spread, like the cracks in a glass pane with too much pressure put on it. The cracks came out from the fire in front of them and wended their way toward the ring of debris left by the shuttles.

Once the cracks came together at the debris field, they merged, and grew outward like many creeks joining to form a large river. The white ring expanded and expanded until it was all the various ships could see in front of them. The effect could be felt as well, as everyone felt the gravitational shear pull them forward toward the direction of the Anomaly. Then finally, the orange fire, previously dimmed from a raging forest fire to a small campfire thanks to the efforts of the Artemis' trilithium-enhanced torpedoes, raged hotter than it had ever been before. It hurtled outward toward all ships and in a matter of mere seconds since the shuttles had exploded it was bigger than ever.

To those viewing it, it seemed like the Anomaly was going to overtake them all and burn down the whole galaxy in mere hours, but at the very last moment, the fire stopped, as if it were contained within the white ring that they could still see before them. The fire was looping in on itself, contained by the massive ring of subspace tearing.

But it wouldn't be contained for long. Just like lava filling up ravines and ditches around a volcano, eventually the subspace rifts and the fire would build up to a point where it would have no other place to go and would spill out into normal space again, leaving the whole of Operation Horizon for naught. The ships of Lotus Fleet had but minutes to seal it off and contain the raging inferno for good.

Standing right before the tactical station on the USS Lotus' bridge, Captain Kheren watched helplessly and not without a certain feeling of fear as the onrushing tidal wave of fire rolled towards them on the large viewer; he had been inside the Azimuth Horizon more often and longer than anyone else on this bridge and had felt it's debilitating and destructive effects more than he would ever cared to. More than anyone else, he knew what was coming to engulf them.

Pure, utter chaos.

Even when the subspace containement ring did it's job and coralled completely the waves of raging cosmic fire, he still felt uneasy. Now, everything relied on the solding effect of inverted ion pulses on the anomaly's paths into normal space and then on the caging miracle of looping wormholes around the one connecting them to this other universe where the whole inferno had been born; or rather, from which that other universe had been created from.

It was already an incredibly daring endeavor to even consider; and now, they were about to attempt it under enemy fire.

Klingons and Romulans joining forces against the Federation with the anomaly as the spoil to share between them? he considered inwardly upon hearing the interrupted warning from headquarters. Most unlikely... Rather, they coincidentally happen to come at us from the same angle of intrusion, where their borders meet... And, once they take notice of each other racing for it, they're more likely to jump at each other's throat out of sheer hatred, mistrust and contempt, especially with the anomaly hanging before them as a prize... Klingon Honor could never forgive the Romulans for their treacherous massacre of defenseless civilians at Khitomer, no matter what; and the shattered, vulnerable Romulan Empire can not afford to allow such a bitter and deadly enemy access to the cosmic power of the Azimuth Horizon.

As he mused over the situation, Kheren glanced with concern at Captain Gould and noticed the empty exec chair at his left. The Andorian's four eyes went back to the main viewer with apprehension.

IF... these are really who they appear to be...

Gould stood up and and moved around the bridge as he talked. "Mr. Vincent, due to the Lotus's hull condition use of the ablative shielding will be mandatory, as we are running low on torpedoes see if you can 'borrow' some from the rest of the fleet, other wise we will only be useful as a target."

He noticed the Andorian eyeing his empty first officers chair but made no quick actions on the idea that it inspired. "Captain Kheren a word?" and moved to the far end of the bridge.

He kept his voice low but not overly secretive "Captain, I find myself in need of a first officer, preferably one with ship board experience. But I would not wish to presume on you to step down to the rank of second in command under me, so.. is their anyone you'd like to suggest for this position?" He tried to make it clear that he intended Kheren for this, but wanted to leave him a graceful way to decline.

The way the Andorian looked back at him, it was almost as if he would burst out in laughter; obviously, only the seriousness of their current situation restrained him. But his voice did carry an echo of bittersweet amusement as he answered the Vulcanoid Captain.

"After loosing my ship, I will be lucky if I will even be able to keep my uniform, let alone my rank. Seconding you might very well be my last opportunity at starship command duty... And in this time of need for the Fleet, there is no place or reason to let my ego inflate larger than this... thing out there."

He made a pause to regain his full composure and his tone became as cold as the wind of his homeworld when he spoke next.

"My own first officer would have been ideal for you, but he's otherwise fully engaged in the current operation... which should resume in a matter of minutes now. So... I will be honored to second you, Captain Gould."

He stepped toward the chair at the left hand of the captain's and stood before it.

"This will feel like old times."

As he sat in it, it felt indeed like it was just yesterday that he had sat in this very chair, during the Borg Invasion. And it somehow felt also like a closure, the end of a cycle for him.

At least, if this was to be his last command duty, it would be where his whole Starfleet career had soared since his first deep space assignement; the flagship of Lotus Fleet.

And now, he immediately fell into the familiar role:

"Captain, the shuttles have all exploded and the containement ring is in place. We now have less than two minutes to implement the inverted ion pulse emission... Awaiting the word, Sir."

-----------------------------------------

Aboard the Alsea Jureth heard the frantic call of Lotus Fleet's Commander and could scarcely believe his ears. The Romulans, and Klingons together and they were headed straight for Lotus Fleet, moreover they were headed straight for his ship. Once this realization dawned on him, his mind switched into tactical mode. Somehow between the Alsea and what was left of the Spectre they had to fire the required ion pulse while keeping the Romulans and Klingons at bay. He knew he only had one choice and he knew it might mean losing lives, but the ion pulse had to be fired.

"Tactical can you confirm Starbase Ten's sensor readings?"

"Aye Sir," replied Cat Steele "I've got them in between bursts of interference from the Horizon Sir."

Jureth nodded and opened a channel to engineering "Oseno to Engineering, Mister Thompson, can the Alsea separate?"

"Sir, as Commander Lire told your earlier, if we separate there is no putting her back together, and I can't promise the two micro cores will hold up."

Jureth thought about the engineer's assertion for a moment, but only for a moment. Separating the Alsea would increase their small battle group's fire power and the alpha and charlie sections could defend the beta section while it fired the ion pulse.

"I'm sorry Mister Thompson," he told the man "but we have no choice. I want you with the primary core, but I want your two best engineering teams to spin up the two micro cores and prepare for multi-vector assault mode."

Thompson was silent for a moment before responding with a sullen "Aye Sir, Thompson out."

Jureth looked over at the Cardassian science officer "Mister Tor, repot to the secondary battle bridge. You will need to transfer your program to the command console there and use it to fire the ion pulse when the time is right. You will be in command, I'm sending Steele and Wynn with you along with Thompson's engineers."

He turned to Cat Steele "Cat, take Celes team and protect the engineers and Mister Tor at all costs."

Cat Steele looked at her friend with intensity in her eyes. This was what they had all singed up for, to protect the Federation, its people, and in this instance the galaxy.

"Aye Sir."

As the officers left the bridge bound for their positions Jureth hailed the Aegis and the Spectre.

"This Alsea to Aegis and Spectre, I assume that you heard Fleet Captain Samji. There is a combined Klingon-Romulan battle group headed our way. I am making preparations to take the Alsea to multi-vector assault mode. Our primary and tertiary sections along with the Spectre will engage the enemy while the Alsea's secondary section will fire the ion pulse at the required time. Under no circumstances can the enemy ships be permitted to disrupt the firing of the pulse. Aegis...get yourselves to a safe distance and try to stay out of the line of fire."

"Aegis here," came the unmistakably rich voice of the Deltan Doctor in command of what remained of the starship Artemis, etched with obvious controled tension. "We concur. We already have much experience in hiding ourselves from detection with the anomaly; we will proceed with the operation... and nobody will see us. But Captains... try to reason with them. Send them all our data about the anonmaly and our operation, ask them to review it, maybe even join us in the effort. It would have worked before with the Romulans if the Shavok commander had been reasonable..."

Elliago then stopped for a moment, as if interrupted by some thought just occuring to him... A moment later, he spoke again, his smile even heard in his voice.

"Captain Oseno... dispatch an... escort to your main transporter room; we have a special guest for you that should help you to find a possible peaceful solution... at least with the Romulans. Standby..."

Once aknowledgement was received, there was an shimmering column of light coming on the pad of transporter room 1 of the Alsea, which materialized into the form of a tall, lean, grey-haired and dark-eyed, pointy-eared and heavy-browed man in a Romulan Admiral uniform.

Without moving, the old Rihansuu looked straight at the security guards welcoming him and spoke with an authoritative tone yet filled with both respect and urgency.

"Tell your commanding officer that Admiral Tomalak of the Romulan Star Empire needs to speak with him immediately."

The security officer in the lead of the transporter room detachment, the Vulcan T'Lana, raised an eyebrow toward the aged Romulan now standing in front of her. She had, of course, read about the man who had battled numerous times with Captain Jean-Luc Picard, such things were required reading at the Academy, but she did not understand what he had been doing aboard the Artemis bridge module. Nevertheless T'lana tapped her combadge

"T'Lana to bridge, Captain our visitor is here."

"Who is it Lieutenant?"

"Admiral Tomalak Sir."

There was a pause on the other end and T'Lana had no doubt that her captain was having some of the same thoughts she had had. Oseno was not highly logical being Bajoran, but she found him a capable commander even through all of the stress he must be under.

"Escort him to the bridge immediately T'Lana. Oseno out."

T'Lana motioned to the other two security officers and to the Admiral and with her in the lead the small contingent made their way from the Alsea transporter room to the nearest turbolift as red alert lighting lit the passageways of the Prometheus Class warship. The turbo lift whisked them to the bridge and as they entered Jureth, who had been seated in the command chair stood and turned to faced them. He nodded to T'Lana indicating her involvement was complete and she dismissed the security detail before returning to the tactical station.

Oseno sized up the Romulan who stood in front of him now. Jureth had heard of the man, certainly, there wasn't a Starfleet officer who hadn't. His encounters with the Enterprise-D were legends of a sort particularly one in which Captain Picard had gotten the drop on then Commander Tomalak with a trio of Klingon Birds of Prey as his backup. Looking at Tomalak now Jureth couldn't possibly imagine the circumstances that had allowed the admiral to end up aboard the Artemis. Perhaps he would ask Captain Kheren about it if he ever had the chance.

"Admiral, I am Captain Oseno, commanding officer of the Alsea. The good Doctor seems to think you can help us get out of this somehow. We tried reasoning with the Romulan battle group your people sent to launch torpedoes into the Horizon. They weren't in the mood to talk, and neither was Captain Jar'rod the last time we encountered him."

Jureth recalled the incident where the Alsea had handily dismantled a group of Klingon ships and likely would have destroyed Jar'rod's Negh'var if Admiral Redding hadn't intervened. He knew Jar'rod would not be interested in negotiation.

"What makes you think Sir, that this encounter would be any different?"

The Admiral's sneer, made famous by History itself, was but for a moment glimpsed on his starkly etched face before he took a most authoritative and official posture and tone of voice to speak.

"What I think, or you for that matter, Captain, is irrelevant. We try nothing and we have a galactic war on our hands. And this is exactly what my people thought all along of your intentions with this... thing out there."

He gestured towards the screen and the ominous glare of the Azimuth Horizon. Then he sighed.

"I have reviewed your data and I know now that we were sorely mistaken. And it seems a few of us are still. And it's not just a question of security for the Empire, but of preventing the whole universe to burn. We Rihansuu are proud and wary, Captain Oseno... but we are not fools... not all of us."

He straightened himself before continuing, resuming his official mien.

"I am not only an Admiral of the Empire, but the senior Admiral of the Imperial Navy. My word carries the highest level of authority, save for the Empress herself. When I will command the Romulan fleet to turn back, they will obey... or else be branded for all eternity as traitors to the Empire, like that fool commander of the Shavok, who's name shall never be spoken again."

The famous sneer now came up as Tomalak saw the doubt in the Bajoran's eyes.

"Don't dismiss what I have just said, Federation. Your people have no sense of Honor at all, so I understand why you do not grasp what I have just said. We are creatures of duty, Captain. To us, life is utterly, totally meaningless without it; disobeying a superior officer is nothing less than condemning your very soul and that of your entire family, for all generations before and after your own... not only in the eyes of others, but in your own heart. Only a demented one like he who shall not be named again could ever even consider such a thing... unless... he had been ordered to act in this fashion."

The old Romulan officer could see that Jureth was starting to understand where he was getting at. But nevertheless, he spelled it out.

"Only another Admiral could have done so... or the Empress herself. In one case or another, it spells treachery, as plain as this alleged Klingon-Romulan joint attack does. Whoever ordered one or the other will be denounced as the vilest traitor of our Empire's History, along with anyone associated with him... or her... even their entire family, if these ship commanders refuse my order. Not only because I am senior Admiral, but also because I can now claim to the Right of Vengeance for the assassination attempt made on my person. They will all know this... in their heart and soul, Captain."

A wicked smile now played on his wrinkled face.

"Whoever the traitor is, he... or she... expect me to be dead now. But I am not. And now, disobeying an order from me would bring doom to him... or her. But, obeying me... if I'm proven wrong afterwards, I can be officially and honorably eliminated as a traitor; but if proven right, any high ranking officer responsible for these treacherous acts will be eliminated, thus pruning Fleet Command of bad blood and bringing honor to the throne. And... if the Empress herself would be revealed as having any knowledge of this... Well, who do you think, in the eyes of my entire people, will become most revered as savior of the Empire... and sought after to depose her as the next Praetor?"

Jureth looked into the eyes of the Admiral and he understood. Still there was a part of him that didn't believe, Captain Rivers was lying in a stasis unit because of the Romulan battle group they'd encountered earlier in the mission and he was hesitant to give the Romulans or the Klingons another shot at the Alsea. Still, he knew that even with the Alsea separated they would stand little chance against the full force of both empires. If Tomalak was right, and they could turn the Romulan fleet against the Klingons, then Jar'rod would be forced to retreat or die. If he was wrong, then Jureth would fight to his last breath to make sure the ion pulse was fired at the right moment.

"Alright Admiral, when they arrive I will put you on and you can give your order. I just hope you're right, otherwise we are all going to have a very bad day." Oseno turned way for a moment and addressed the ship's computer "Computer, ready all multi-vector assault mode stations, and prepare to engage multi-vector assault mode on my order. On separation slave tertiary section to primary under computer control."

"Command accepted, standing by for multi-vector assault mode."

Jureth looked at Tomalak "Doesn't hurt to be prepared."

"Indeed, Captain Oseno. But if we are to die, it will be with honor, because it will be for our duty, a duty we will all have dedicated ourselves to up to the very last moment... and knowing that our enemies will, very soon after us, lie in ashes from their own treacherous folly... and that."

With his hand, he showed the main viewer where burned the golden and orange fires of the Azimuth Horizon.

Jureth followed the Admiral's hand motion and as he gazed at the Horizon Lieutenant Tor's voice came over the intercom.

"Tor to Captain Oseno,"

"Go ahead Lieutenant"

"Sir, we are out of time, we need to fire our pulses now or the Horizon will start to escape containment."

"Understood Mister Tor, standby for separation, Oseno out."

Jureth looked over at Tomalak "You may want to hold onto something Admiral." He then sat down in the Alsea's command chair "Computer, engage multi-vector assault mode."

"Acknowledged, multi-vector assault mode engaged, ship separation in sixty seconds."

The mechanical servos and struts holding the Alsea together began to disengage as the ship's computer released magnetic interlocks one by one. Slowly, the Alsea separated into three battle capable starships each packing a considerable punch, but when attacking together gave the warship superiority over nearly any foe. This separation was different from others though because as the Alsea separated cracks began to appear in several of the struts, and interlocks were sheared off. The damage the ship had absorbed during her confrontation with the Romulans and then the Undine was showing. There would be no putting the Alsea back together this time.

"Multi-vector assault mode active," the computer chimed

Jureth tapped his combage "Oseno to Tor, begin firing the pulses as soon as you can."

"Aye Sir, we're moving into position now."

Jureth nodded and opened a comm channel "Spectre, and all remaining Spectre fighter groups, this is Alsea. Our secondary section is commencing firing of the ion containment pulses. All vessels should take up support positions. When the Klingons and Romulans arrive no one is to fire a shot unless you are fired upon. Alsea out."

Jureth closed the channel "T'Lana show me the secondary section."

"Aye Sir."

The Alsea's secondary section appeared on the main viewer and as it did the first ion pulses left the ship's deflector bound for the blazing fires of the Azimuth Horizon.

-----------------------------------------

Rogers, seated in the center seat on the bridge of the Spectre, accepted the transmission from the Alsea. "Understood Alsea."

Sighing heavily, and not without some pain, David called sickbay again for an update on Captain Summers' status. It seemed like an hour since the last on, but reality's hightened pace put the actual elapsed time at only fifteen minutes.

"Medical; Bridge. How's the Captain?"

The reply was immediate, likely due to the fact that the staff were getting interruptions from Commander Rogers every ten or fifteen minutes. David had never had any real desire for a starship command of his own. Engineering was his first love, stretching back to his forays around the alpha and beta quandrants upon numerous ships; dragged along with his father on his many forays to different worlds.

"Bridge; Medical. Captain Summers' condition has not changed. Med out."

Although he could understand their response, David actually felt a grudging admiration in the tart response. He realized he was nagging on them, but the Spectre needed her captain. Especially now, with the azimuth containment happeneing and the addition of an enemy war group approaching. Turning resigningly away from thoughts of Summers returning to take command, Rogers got down to business: Protecting the Alsea. Tapping a comms key on the chair arm, David issued orders to the remaining Spectre fighters.

"Squadron one, take up defensive positions around the Alsea's second section. Stay with it. Squadron two, deploy defensive pattern gamma-five. Keep out of sight until needed."

That accomplished, David looked to the helm.

"Get above the Alsea sections, fifty thousand meters. Tactical? Deploy DYCEP. Let's not assume they cannot see us.Soon, maybe, they won't be able to until it is too late."

As the plates started to encase the massive Akira vessel, she slowly but methodically disappeared from most sensor equipment. The Alsea sections and fighters knew where she was by tracing her emissions from the maneuvering thrusters. But once the Spectre reached her hovering attitude well above the prometheus' second battle section and slowed to a stop, even they were hard pressed to locat her nearly invisible bulk. Hopefully the enemy were also decieved into only noticing the three Prometheus class sections and her one small squadron of fighter protection. The other squadron, magnetically attatched to the main Alsea sections two pylons, were powered down awaiting their moment to attack, if neccessary.

----------------------------------------------

As those on the Alsea talked to the outcast Romulan, the Azimuth HOrizon began to stretch against the containment loops that had been put in place and connected by the shuttle explosion. Certain areas were already showing an intense buildup of plasma fire that would've already exploded directly outward as it broke through just like a solar flare trying to escape the radioactive fission occurring in a star.

Luckily some of the other Lotus Fleet ships were right on cue to begin the containment. Their respective science officers had already been preparing their deflector dish to emit the inverted ion pulse as clearly detailed by Lieutenant Commander Syntron. On the order of Captain Onia of the WIsconsin, Captain Speaker-of-Names of the Pittsburgh, and Captain Ramabai of the Steamrunner as well, the crew began firing the ion pulses in a dispersal pattern toward as many points on the anomaly as they could target.

The order had been given by Fleet Captain Samji to not let this process wait for more than one or two minutes after the shuttle detonation, so this process had kept the anomaly from expanding out beyond the containment like a balloon with too much air.

Unfortunately it also meant that those areas not being taken care of by the Alsea and the Spectre, the McKenzie, and even the flagship Lotus would eventually bulge out and break through the unsealed portions. They had to act soon or be overwhelmed!

-----------

The Lotus was as ready as she would ever be, as Gould watched the timer expire.

"Activate the pulse Sainthill. Vincent keep your eyes on the scope, I don't want any surprises while where trying to save the universe.. no pressure here.." He said it with a look of anxiety while glancing at Kheren.

"Aye sir," Josh replied. "It appears that the enemy force is heading towards the group of vessels on the other side of the anomaly, so we should have some time. I'll keep my eyes on the sensors just in case there are more coming this way."

Now back in an active role, Kheren started immediately by familiarizing himself with the ship. On the armrest monitor of his exec chair, he brought up the refit specs of the Lotus. Knowing already the former specs of his old ship where he had served from Security Ensign to Lieutenant Commander first officer, he instantly spotted the most important change... and his tactical planning mind was already at work before he even finished reviewing them all.

As they initiated the final phase of their operation, he addressed the commanding officer of the flagship with a calm, soft tone mostly for his ears.

"Captain... the Lotus is now equipped with an experimental version of the original Federation transwarp drive, which requires no transwarp conduit at all. I sumrized that it could probably be used only once in it's current untested state, but that means we can still finish our mission here and then get to the Alsea's sector in time to assist them... if things come to worst."

He already guessed Gould's next concern and answered before he voiced it.

"As for torpedoes; you still have most of your probes on board. Mister Syntron is already quite familiar with converting torpedoes into probes and established a working protocol to do it in a very short time. He... logically... can do the reverse as easily... especially considering that most of the crew that assisted him with this are on board this ship."

"Assign who ever you need Mr. Kheren, I wouldn't want to show up to a fight all bark and no bite." he then contacted engineering "Gould to Adams, looks like were going to need that transwarp drive after all, make sure it's ready and run a system simulation against the damage to our substructure, it wouldn't do us much good to get there and fall apart."

"She'll be ready sir, I've just applied another patch of bubble gum to the fracture and I sure it'll hold a while longer." Adams said cheerfully.

Realizing Kheren was unaware of this Gould quickly explained. "During our fight with the Klingon dreadnought they scored a lucky hit and damaged our substructure rather severely, that and staying at extended high warp circling the anomaly has only made matters worse, so far the Lotus has held together but we need to keep an eye on her." He patted his armrest nervously "When this is all over, we might both be out of a ship."

"Let's hope we have enough bubble gum then," the Andorian said.

When he saw the smiles and stiffled laughs his words brought upon almost everyone around him, he almost smiled himself.

At last I got it right! he silently congratulated himself.

Human humor was so dificult to master... but what a tool it was when facing the direst odds; what testament to the uniqueness and valor of the Human spirit it conveyed in circumstances such as theirs. Kheren had tried so hard for years to "get it"... It seems the bonding he had made with Tyvya and Lyrya had given him more than a second chance at life...

Getting back to the present, he opened the intraship channel as he spoke to Syntron, the only one who had not laughed... but his raised eyebrow had been enough for his former captain.

"All crewmembers of the Artemis; report to forward and rear torpedo magazine chamber on the double; implement probe-to-torpedo conversion of all class VII and IX probes. Mister Syntron will oversee you shortly after we have dealt with the anomaly."

As he got confirmation from his crew, Kheren turned again to Gould.

"That will give us only twenty photon torpedoes, Captain... but if we augment their yield with trilithium resin, like the Romulans do with their plasma torpedoes, they should pack quite a punch. In the same manner, we could use an old twenty-third century idea and get more power output to the phasers by channeling their power input from the warp engines... as they did on the Loknar class destroyer back in those days... assuming they survive the transwarp trip of course."

"With only twenty torpedoes, we're going to need some more power to the phasers," Lt. Vincent said. "If we need to use our armor, those twenty torpedoes will be all that we have. I can send one of my security teams to lend a few extra hands to Adams to get that power to phasers."

Gould thought it over but dismissed the idea "If it comes down to fighting without the armor we'll need every bit of power to maintain the structural integrity field, a little more to the phasers wont change the outcome much if were in formation, but I'll be dammed if I'll have to be rescued in the middle of the battle because the ships falling apart."

"Besides.." he mused "If it takes more than that with the whole fleet there, I don't think much of our chances." he regretted saying it even as it came out of his mouth, a starship captain should never sound discouraged about something like this, if they did indeed run out of torpedoes during a battle this moment may play out badly later in the minds of his crew.

He tried to reverse the damage "But it wont be just us this time will it? If it comes down to it we'll do our part but this time.. their facing all of us, God help them."

"I still recommend we at least prepare the relays for phaser amplification, Captain," Kheren retorted with his usual calm tone, "If and when the armor fails, and especially if shields fail as well, we might need that cover fire if we are just to survive a bit longer. And it will more than add a little, as you know; doing so will double our firepower. Yes, it might fry those relays eventually, but when and if we get down to this point, it won't matter much then... However, those few more moments could give us the little edge to ensure victory... or time to evacuate before being destroyed."

The Andorian was showing the multiplanning mindset that had justified Starfleet in rushing him into command of a Starship. He never settled with just a plan B like almost everybody else did, but always had a plan C, D and even E in mind as well... and always in the forefront of them all, the safety of the crew. That's why he had succeeded in accomplishing the miracle of loosing a four million ton starship without a single loss of life... and obviously intended to repeat the feat on the Lotus... if things came to worst.

But here, it was Vi'Rell Gould's decision to make and, despite being of the same rank, Kheren assumed fully his exec role; he provided his advice while he made sure everyone was clearly aware that the flagship captain was the one in command.

At first this annoyed Gould but that soon faded into the back of his mind and he just nodded "Never hurts be be ready for anything, make it so number one." A slight smile crossed his lips. He'd actually managed to forget for a second how much they tended to disagree, but if he denied him this suggestion the Lotus would be worse off for it, it's always good to have a back up plan, as long as you don't over do it of course.

"Aye, Captain," answered the Andorian and he nodded to Security and tactical Chief Vincent before using the ship intracom to send the necessary instructions down to engineering and the weapons rooms.

Then, once everything planned was fully ongoing, he looked up at the main viewer to observe their critical last part of their operation; the one that would either save two universes... or damn them all.