Sacrifice of One

"Sir! Vaadwaur assault cruiser appearing off the port bow!"

"Damn the Vaadwaur!" We had been ambushed by the Vaadwaur again. Their surprisingly good tech had allowed them to become the dominating force in the Quadrant. When we first encountered them, they decimated a Voth Citadel Dreadnought. And now, they're using Underspace, their old subspace corridors, to attack everyone, sometimes even for fun.

The Redemption was getting pounded, while getting drawn into a noose that not even the Enterprise could get out of.

"Sir!" Nelen Exil, my science officer, shouted though the chaos on the bridge, "Aft shields down to 10%!"

"Divert auxiliary power to shields!" I commanded.

"Aye sir!"

"Tactical! Find us a weak spot and head for it! Make a hole!"

"Yes, sir!" Commander Tallasa said.

The Redemption made a sharp right towards a Heavy Artillery Vessel. As the Redemption poured fire into the enemy ship's shields, the Vaadwaur let loose with the artillery that lent them a lot of their firepower.

"Spatial charges incoming!" Tallasa alerted.

"Helm! Rock and Roll!" I said with a tingle.

The Redemption's impulse engines flared as the ship rolled over the Vaadwaur ship, leaving behind two fast-moving, runabout-sized hunks of durasteel. Due to how fast the Redemption was moving when the hunks were released and relative velocity, the durasteel hit the vessel's weakened shields and collapsed them. Yet the durasteel lost little speed and did enough damage that the entire ship was gutted. Once the Redemption was past we had clear path to open space.

"Helm! Maximum Warp!" I shouted.

'Yes, sir!" said Shannon.

The Redemption vanished into warp as a barrage of torpedoes, phasers, and artillery passed though where the ship once was.

On the bridge there was a moment of mental silence where everyone stops thinking of anything except for one thing: We made it.

Then it broke.

"Damage report."

"Hull breaches on decks thirteen though eighteen." The petty at ops said. The normal ensign was in sickbay, a console exploded right next to her. "Emergency bulkheads and force fields active. Engineering teams on the way."

"Tactical?"

"Rear torpedo launcher down, turret down, phaser three down, cannons one and two down." Tallasa looked up at me, worry on her face. "Sir, we've lost fifty percent of our firepower."

"Thorin!" I said, "Get crews on those frontal weapo-"

"Sir!" Shannon interrupted. "We've lost speed!"

I rocketed up out of my chair. "What! How!?" I said.

"There appears to be damage on the port nacelle." He said, "We're currently at warp eight."

"Sir!" Nelen yelled. "Those Vaadwaur ships; they've used Underspace to jump up. It also looks like they gained some friends. I'm reading three new ships, an Heavy Artillery, an Interdictor and," he paused and looked up at me, dread on his face, and said, "a Juggernaut."

"They really want me dead." I mumbled, realizing what I would soon have to do. "That's thirteen ships chasing us."

The bridge crew looked at me waiting for orders that would give them hope, give them a chance to survive.

I already had a plan. But I needed their help until the last moment.

"How long before they catch us?" I asked.

"An hour and a half, sir." Tallasa replied.

"Thorin, get engineering crews to work on the forward weapons. Marlin, send out a general distress call to any Alliance ships in the area for reinforcements."

A chorus of acknowledgements followed my orders.

An hour later the Redemption was in slightly better shape than it was when it blasted out of the ambush. Shields were fully up and all forward weapons were fixed, but the hull was damaged and, if we were engaged, she would not survive.

I stood up and moved over to the helm.

"How close are the Vaadwaur?" I asked Shannon.

"Fifteen minutes from firing range." He reported.

"Alright." I took a deep breath and said, "Attention, all hands. This is the Captain. As of this moment I am ordering," I paused, "abandon ship."

The bridge crew looked at me in stunned silence as the special klaxons started going off.

"Get all the people you can onto anything with warp capability. Runabouts, shuttles, fighters, the Captain's Yacht. Anyone who can't get on the shuttles, take a escape pod. Shuttles, try and pick up pods on your way out with tractors." I looked at the bridge crew, who were at their stations, trying to comprehend why their captain was abandoning the ship. "Well? What are you waiting for?" I yelled. "GET OUT OF HERE!"

That jolted them out of their seats. "Good luck, all of you." I said, saluting. "It was an honor serving with you."

As the crew left the bridge, I slid into Shannon's seat and began diverting functions onto the console. I heard the turbolift door slide shut and turned around to make sure the crew had left when I spotted that Tallasa was still at her console. I turned back around to work my console.

"That means you too, Tallasa." I said, not looking at her.

"I'm staying, sir." She said, defiance in her voice.

I turned around again. "You know that we'll probably die."

"I know. But I've been with you since Vega. And I'm not leaving you now."

"Alright." I sighed "Take tactical and science functions. I'll take helm and targeting."

As we prepared on the bridge, shuttles lifted off and escape pods ejected. The Redemption slowed, losing speed and turning around to engage the Vaadwaur. I had planned to save as many of my crew by sacrificing my own life. That meant that I had delay the Vaadwaur. And I was going to kill lots of them before they took me down.