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[{EE} Callum Jackson]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

TAG: Will

[{EE} William Angel]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

TAG: Callum

OOC: Feel free to insert anything into the latest section.

[{EE} Callum Jackson]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

TAG: Will

[{EE} William Angel]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

TAG: Callum

[{EE} Callum Jackson]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue.

TAG: Will

OOC: Sorry for slow reply, With all the other events going on I forgot about this.

[{EE} William Angel]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue."

Will accepted the steriliser being applied to his cut head.
"Thank you, nurse," he acknowledged with a nod.
"You're welcome, sir," the medic said. "You'll need to report to Sick Bay as soon as your shift ends, Commander."
"Noted," he responded, Starfleet code for "Yeah, right..."
Satisfied, the medic left the bridge.
Will looked back at the screen.
"Well, I think we did all the hard work. Everyone else gets a chance to mop up after us, I suppose. I wouldn't mind getting a look at that wormhole tech, though. And some answers. Why the Xindi? Why now?"

TAG: Callum

[{EE} Callum Jackson]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue."

Will accepted the steriliser being applied to his cut head.
"Thank you, nurse," he acknowledged with a nod.
"You're welcome, sir," the medic said. "You'll need to report to Sick Bay as soon as your shift ends, Commander."
"Noted," he responded, Starfleet code for "Yeah, right..."
Satisfied, the medic left the bridge.
Will looked back at the screen.
"Well, I think we did all the hard work. Everyone else gets a chance to mop up after us, I suppose. I wouldn't mind getting a look at that wormhole tech, though. And some answers. Why the Xindi? Why now?"

"I'm sure we'll find all of that out in time" Callum said "Think you can stand??" he asked

TAG: Will

[{EE} William Angel]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue."

Will accepted the steriliser being applied to his cut head.
"Thank you, nurse," he acknowledged with a nod.
"You're welcome, sir," the medic said. "You'll need to report to Sick Bay as soon as your shift ends, Commander."
"Noted," he responded, Starfleet code for "Yeah, right..."
Satisfied, the medic left the bridge.
Will looked back at the screen.
"Well, I think we did all the hard work. Everyone else gets a chance to mop up after us, I suppose. I wouldn't mind getting a look at that wormhole tech, though. And some answers. Why the Xindi? Why now?"

"I'm sure we'll find all of that out in time" Callum said "Think you can stand??" he asked.

Will pushed away from the science station that had been supporting him while the medic attended to him.
"I think so. No real damage done. I'm 72 years old... still in my prime!"

TAG: Callum

[{EE} Callum Jackson]

USS Enterprise
Command Section - Bridge
1613 Hours


"Manual targeting, aye, sir," Will responded, his hands dancing on the panel in front of him.
If he was bothered by Callum's admission, he didn't show it. He'd served with the admiral for decades in one capacity or another, virtually all his Starfleet career, and knew if any man was worthy of his trust, it was him.
"All weapons online, Admiral," he confirmed. "Ready when you are."

Callum lifted his left hand and placed it on the throttle controls to his left, with his right hand is tapped a button *RCS Thrusters online* the computer announced.  Callum tapped the one to it's right *Rotation* the computer announced.

Callum tested the thrusters by rotating the ship side to side slightly.  In one swift movement Callum pushed the far left lever forward fully, engaging full thrusters ahead, there were two others, one for impulse and one for warp drive.  Though the computer would take over if the warp drive was engaged, the option was always there for the Admiral to point the ship in a direction and get it out of there as quickly as possible.

The Enterprise was now breaking formation slowly "Let's get going" Callum said, secretly enjoying the chance to pilot the Enterprise.  With a firm grip his pushed the joystick fully forward and to the right, sending the Enterprise into a nose dive towards a Xindi vessel.  Callum felt himself fall forward slightly as the inertial dampeners couldn't keep up with the sudden movement.  With his left hand he gripped the impulse throttle control and pushed it forward halfway.

"Commander, we're going to stick with this ship, where ever they move we'll follow, we will be just out of torpedo blast range" Callum announced as his gaze remained fixed on the view screen.
Before Callum knew it a swarm of torpedoes and phaser fire were heading right and the Enterprise's Command Section.

"Grab hold of something" Callum barked as he weaved between the weapons, hitting only two "Coming into firing range, fire at will....Will" Callum said with a slight pause as he dived towards the Xindi vessel, the ship must have realised what the Enterprise was going to try and began erratically trying to evade them "no you don't" Callum said through gritted teeth as he tried his best at mimicking the ships movements as well as catching up with them "full impulse power" Callum announced as the Enterprise sped up.

The smart settings on the tactical panel recognised Will's preferences and subtly altered to match them, making things far easier for the former Chief Security Officer to readjust to the role. This was a new innovation, and Will had to agree it had been worth R&D investing in it. The holographic targeting system allowed him to launch torpedoes much faster and more accurately than before, and it showed. As Callum weaved a path through the enemy barrage to keep up with the ship he'd picked out, Will was able to easily take out the majority of incoming fire while, at the same time, firing at the enemy. The tactic he'd used before to fool the enemy sensors was now working well, and the Xindi smart shields were losing their effectiveness in the face of Will's tactical advantage.

A couple of shots hit a Xindi nacelle, and the ship slowed noticeably. Then a phaser barrage took out its weapon ports.

"Sir, the Xindi ship is effectively unarmed," he reported. "Speed is 86% of maximum. We should be able to overtake in... 29 seconds!"

Callum smiled "Nice shooting Commander, lock onto their core and fire" he ordered as he came along side the Xindi vessel.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged, preparing to fire.
An alarm suddenly sounded on panel. Will glanced at it, interpreting the data.
"Admiral, evasive! They've overloaded the core... if it blows, we'll go up with it!"

Callum forced the throttle lever as far forward as it would go and banked hard to starboard "Full power to port shielding" Callum barked just as the Xindi vessel exploded, the Command Section flipped, but luckily the shields held.....just.

"Damage report" Callum said looking back at Will quickly before looking back to the view screen.

Will looked at the reports coming.
"Minimal, sir," he relayed the information to Callum. "Decks 17 to 21 took the brunt of it, but shields are holding. Casualties reported so far are minor injuries, no losses, but we haven't got the full picture yet."
He glanced away for a second, at another section of his panel.
"We have two more Xindi vessels closing in. Their weapons are primed and locked."

Callum altered the Enterprises heading so they were now heading directly for the vessels "this one should be fun, let's see if we can take out both of them" Callum said weaving through the weapons fire.

Will remained impressed at Callum's flying. The admiral clearly had lost none of his skills in that department. For his part, Will had always kept up to date with his old department, and was glad of it. He'd always preferred to think of Starfleet Security as "prevention" rather than "reaction". But for now, he was forced to concede that this occasion was more "prevention of the ship being destroyed by destroying the attackers first".

Targeting the oncoming vessels with a combination of sensor-blinding torpedoes and devastating phaser blasts, he waited until Callum had steered the ship into the optimum position.
Then he fired.
The Xindi ships vanished behind the torpedo flash, only to reappear as shattered shells.
"Targets neutralised, Admiral. No additional damage or casualties reported aboard Enterprise. We're good to continue."

Callum pointed the Enterprise towards the rest of the Xindi fleet, they all seemed to be sticking together now.

=/\=Ticonderoga to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Ticonderoga's CO announced
=/\=Eagle to fleet, we've arrived at our destination, engaging to destroy=/\= the Eagle's CO announced just like the CO before.
Over the course of the next fifteen seconds four more ships reported in and set about engaging the Xindi fleet.

"Let's get this over with" Callum said as he pushed the command section into a dive towards the attacking fleet.

"With pleasure, Admiral," Will answered, then patched communications to the new arrivals.
=/\= Enterprise to fleet, Xindi vessels are operating a smart shield system. Detonating torpedoes in front of them blinds their predictive sensors long enough for effective phaser fire. =/\=
A chorus of acknowledgments sounded from the other ships, and Will set about continuing the destruction of the Xindi fleet.

"Computer magnify three alpha" Callum said as he noticed something heading towards them, he noticed a ship that seemed to be glowing purplish in colour "Voki, what do you make of that??" Callum asked

"Automated Xindi Vessel, no life signs, interrogating it's systems, stand by........................Sensors have determined that the vessel has locked onto our section, she's loaded with matter and antimatter warheads rigged to explode on impact, collision imminent, thirty seconds" Voki reported.

"Anyone ever seen a sub orbital aircraft skim the water with the tips of it's wings??" Callum asked rhetorically, ever wanted to see a starship attempt it, but instead of water skim another ship??" Callum asked rhetorically again as he sped up to full impulse power.

"Will, continue targeting the other Xindi vessels, I can deal with this one" Callum said.

=/\=Engineering, vent all the plasma from our port nacelle and secure it for an impact=/\= Callum ordered
=/\=An impact, Sir??=/\= the Engineer asked questioningly
=/\=Yes, I'm going to set off a ships proximity sensors by hitting the ship, slightly, with our nacelle=/\=
=/\=Uhmmm, I would like to put it on the record that I don't advise this=/\=
=/\=Objections noted, impact in ten seconds=/\=

"Rotating 90 degrees to port" Callum announced as he his right hand twitched slightly in different directions as he kept making slight adjustments "impact in three, two..." Callum didn't get a chance to get to one, the nacelle hit the ship leaving the Enterprise's paint on the other ship.

Instead of traversing the length of the Xindi drone Callum pulled up sharp, "locking heading" Callum announced "prepare for the worst warp jump in your lives".  Callum clicked the warp speed throttle control into the first notch, as the ship accelerated Callum was pinned back in his seat, the force of the acceleration was that immense that Callum was barely able to to pull back on the throttle when they were at a safe distance.

*Manual control re-engaged* the computer announced before an alarm sounded *WARNING! this vessel is on a direct collision course with the USS Ticonderoga*

The Odyssey class carrier was in the process of separating the saucer section =/\=Ticonderoga, remain stationary=/\= Callum barked as he knew it would be too late to attempt to turn the ship at this speed, instead he altered the rotation of the Enterprise at .9 warp speed the Enterprise slipped through the narrow gap between the Ticonderoga's star drive section and saucer section.

Callum breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from his forehead "let's not try any of those moves again" Callum said as he turned the ship to head back to the fight.

Will raised an eyebrow and mock-sternly looked at the admiral.
"I'll have a repair team on standby to do a touch-up on the paintwork after we've finished here. I'm pretty sure I heard some scraping just now."

Throughout the maneuver, Will had his work cut out firing at the most convenient Xindi vessels he could find. Avoiding shooting the Ticonderoga into atoms was a challenge. Will was glad he'd opted to keep up to date with his erstwhile shipboard position. He glanced at the young man standing by in case he was needed and saw the frank fear and admiration in his face.

That was when Will noticed something.
=/\= Angel to transporter rooms, have we got all the Defiant survivors? =/\=
=/\= Aye, sir. All aboard and in sickbay. =/\=
=/\= Thank you, Chief. Angel out. =/\=

"Admiral, Defiant has drifted among the Xindi cluster. If we target their warp core, it'll cause significant damage to any ships close enough.  Permission to destroy a Starfleet vessel, sir?"

Callum nodded "Permission granted" he said as he piloted the Enterprise away from one torpedo only to impact with another that would have missed them.

The Ticonderoga's saucer had sped off and her stardrive was now engaging the enemy.  The Xindi only had 15 vessels remaining.

"Will, scan the area, can you determine how the Xindi brought in their reinforcements and how we can stop them doing so again??" Callum asked moments before the Defiant  met it's end.

"Aye, sir," Will responded, watching for the right moment to open fire.
As the Defiant drifted innocuous and unnoticed amid the Xindi aggressors, Will shifted the focus of the sensors. He frowned at the appearance of an anomaly.

Then the Defiant found herself at her final destination.
"Sorry," Will whispered, loath to do this to a Starfleet vessel, but knowing it was necessary. He'd never been superstitious, but he was always sensitive to how great a loss one's ship could be. A good ship was more than just your place of work; it was home. Many crewmembers, commissioned and enlisted, considered their ship to have a personality of its own. Of course, with the advent of Voki, this might become a reality...

And with that thought, he fired. The single concentrated phaser burst hit the Defiant perfectly, immediately detonating her warp core. The ship blossomed in a white flare that momentarily lit the Enterprise bridge like daylight before the filters cut in and brought the glare under manageable levels. When the flare died down, the Defiant was gone.

As were six Xindi ships.

Will made a quick check.
"Six enemy vessels destroyed, a further four disabled, sir. Also scanning an anomaly at coordinates 15, mark 62, mark 33, local. It looks like... it IS! There's a wormhole visible in the ultraviolet spectrum. Looks like they might be using it. Putting it onscreen."
The chromatic field shifted slightly, and a swirling mass of some shade that hurt Will's eyes became clear.
"I can't even begin to guess what colour that is," he said.

Then it pulsed.

"Admiral, sensors indicate a ship is coming through... scans suggest it's at least eight time the size of Enterprise!"

"See if you can find a way to close their wormhole" Callum started as he applied full thrust towards a medium sized Xindi vessel.

"Computer, lock all tractor beams onto the vessel dead ahead, transfer tractor firing control to the manual helm" Callum commanded as he moved his right hand so he could reach the trigger.

As the Enterprise reached the Xindi vessel Callum squeezed the trigger and held it down, firing the tractor beams which locked onto the other vessel.  The Enterprise slowed down to one half impulse speed sharply.  Callum tapped a command into the throttle control area and pushed the impulse engines passed the red line causing the engines to emit a whining sound as they struggled.

The Xindi vessel was trying to pull away, but Enterprise was clearly to powerful for the vessel to break free and too close for them to get a positive lock to fire.

*Warning, collision imminent, pull away* the computer warned as the Enterprise headed straight for the larger ship.

Will turned to the science station.

"Lieutenant, scan that wormhole. Is it natural?"
The science officer turned to his station and began scanning while Will scanned the incoming vessel for any signs of weakness.
"No, sir, sensors say it's artificial," the science officer reported.
"Great... if it's artificial, there must be a controller somewhere. Find it."
"Aye, sir."
While he waited, Will readied several torpedoes.
"Commander!" the science officer called, coming to the security panel. "Controllers are here, here and here," he said, pointing at the relevant locations.
"Good work, Lieutenant."
Will laid in the coordinates.
"Admiral, on my mark, you need to switch to repulsor beam and get us away from this area. If I've done this right, we don't want to be here when the torpedoes blow."

Then he fired, three torpedoes for each controller.. The torpedoes shot away to the coordinates he'd been given. Even destroying two of the three controllers would close the wormhole, but he wanted to leave nothing to chance.

The Xindi vessel realised what was happening too, and changed its focus from the Enterprise to the torpedoes. They cleared two torpedoes from one controller, and another from the second, but all three were suddenly obliterated. The immediate effect was obvious, as the wormhole snapped shut, slicing and cauterising the front end of the Xindi vessel. Even as the Enterprise reversed at maximum impulse, the section that remained on this side of the wormhole was double the size of the Starfleet vessel.

Then the shockwave hit, and the Enterprise was sent spinning. The lights failed, and Will found himself hurtling in open space before smashing into a wall and lying in a heap, the wind knocked out of him.

The restraints holding Callum into his seat dug into him, but held him tight.  The Xindi vessel the Enterprise was towing had been propelled into the larger vessel, but didn't do much damage.

The computer was now five or six thruster changes behind.  Callum was changing from Rotation to Translation that fast that the computer couldn't keep up.
The Engines at this point were screaming as one was in full reverse the other full ahead and all port thrusters burning at full power attempting to stop the rotation.

"Computer, overlay master situation display over the main viewer" the view screen changed slightly, it was now showing the status of the Enterprise's command section.  A message popped up on the port side of the screen, flashing red with a new alert siren

Port Impulse Engine Reaching Critical Limits

A cracking sound echoed through the bridge Callum looked up to see a crack forming in the ceiling and starting to run down the bulk head.

Shortly after an explosion shook the ship, the warning message now changed to

Port Impulse Engine Offline

--PART TWO ON IT'S WAY--

[{EE} Callum Jackson]

--PART TWO--

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue."

Will accepted the steriliser being applied to his cut head.
"Thank you, nurse," he acknowledged with a nod.
"You're welcome, sir," the medic said. "You'll need to report to Sick Bay as soon as your shift ends, Commander."
"Noted," he responded, Starfleet code for "Yeah, right..."
Satisfied, the medic left the bridge.
Will looked back at the screen.
"Well, I think we did all the hard work. Everyone else gets a chance to mop up after us, I suppose. I wouldn't mind getting a look at that wormhole tech, though. And some answers. Why the Xindi? Why now?"

"I'm sure we'll find all of that out in time" Callum said "Think you can stand??" he asked.

Will pushed away from the science station that had been supporting him while the medic attended to him.
"I think so. No real damage done. I'm 72 years old... still in my prime!"

Callum smiled, for some reason Will had just reminded him of his days back on the USS Majesty.  The view screen behind the Admiral flashed into life.

=/\=Starfleet Vessel Enterprise, please respond=/\= a voice called from behind Callum.

Callum slowly turned around, on the screen was a Xindi Primate =/\=I'm Admiral Jackson, representing the United Federation of Planets, to whom am I speaking?=/\= the Admiral asked.
=/\=My name is not important, we haven't much time, I fear history is about to repeat itself.  Search the classified files regarding the temporal cold war, specifically the NX-01 logs=/\= the view screen flickered and the man was gone.

"We need to regroup" Callum announced as the last Xindi vessel took a quantum torpedo and blew up.  "Will, signal all Enterprise sections, we're going to reintegrate the ship" Callum ordered.
=/\=Echo Fleet, set course for Earth Spacedock, maximum warp.  Our long range COMMS are down, signal spacedock that we're heading home and will require immediate assistance=/\= Callum ordered over the ship to ship COMMS.

"Will, as soon as the sections are reintegrated, take us to warp 9, no faster also please inform Vice Admiral Locker that the Bridge is his, and then meet me in my ready room.  Until his return from the escort section, the bridge is yours" Callum said as he brushed off some dust from his uniform.

TAG: Will

[{EE} William Angel]

--PART TWO--

"Sir!" Called an officer who was pulling herself up to the helm station "Starboard impulse engine is stuck at full ahead, you can't pull out of this"

Callum pulled a lever just below the starboard controls and the whining of the engine stopped.  With both hands Callum took the port warp control in his left hand and starboard control in his right.

=/\=All hands, brace for emergency stop=/\= Callum announced as he used the warp engines to bring the Enterprise to a dead stop causing the crack to extend a few metres.

The lighting on the bridge flashed and died, replaced several seconds later by a deep red glow. "Lieutenant" Callum said looking to the officer who had assumed the ops station "Signal the fleet, we're out.  We'll coordinate from a safe distance" Callum said reluctantly as he released his restraints "Helm, the helm is yours again, RCS thrusters only, get us out" Callum said as he stood up.

"Will" Callum turned to look at the tactical station then looking around he noticed the officer on the floor over in a corner, Callum moved over as quickly as he could in the low light "Commander, are you alright??" he asked.

Will looked up at Callum, briefly seeing a blurred image before his vision cleared. He could sense the admiral's concern.
"I'm ok, sir," he grunted, accepting his friend's hand to help him up. How are they?" He indicated the other officers who had been on the upper deck and flung about. They were starting to come to, and despite the cuts and bruises on show, nobody seemed too badly damaged.

Will wiped his brow and his hand came away sticky with his own blood.
"Oh," he noted. "Right. Did we win?"

A medic appeared on the bridge, she quickly moved over to Will and began scanning him.
"Not yet" Callum replied "But we will....Well, they will" Callum said looking over to the view screen which showed battle that was going on behind them as the Command section was withdrawing "Unfortunately the command section can't continue."

Will accepted the steriliser being applied to his cut head.
"Thank you, nurse," he acknowledged with a nod.
"You're welcome, sir," the medic said. "You'll need to report to Sick Bay as soon as your shift ends, Commander."
"Noted," he responded, Starfleet code for "Yeah, right..."
Satisfied, the medic left the bridge.
Will looked back at the screen.
"Well, I think we did all the hard work. Everyone else gets a chance to mop up after us, I suppose. I wouldn't mind getting a look at that wormhole tech, though. And some answers. Why the Xindi? Why now?"

"I'm sure we'll find all of that out in time" Callum said "Think you can stand??" he asked.

Will pushed away from the science station that had been supporting him while the medic attended to him.
"I think so. No real damage done. I'm 72 years old... still in my prime!"

Callum smiled, for some reason Will had just reminded him of his days back on the USS Majesty.  The view screen behind the Admiral flashed into life.

=/\=Starfleet Vessel Enterprise, please respond=/\= a voice called from behind Callum.

Callum slowly turned around, on the screen was a Xindi Primate =/\=I'm Admiral Jackson, representing the United Federation of Planets, to whom am I speaking?=/\= the Admiral asked.
=/\=My name is not important, we haven't much time, I fear history is about to repeat itself.  Search the classified files regarding the temporal cold war, specifically the NX-01 logs=/\= the view screen flickered and the man was gone.

"We need to regroup" Callum announced as the last Xindi vessel took a quantum torpedo and blew up.  "Will, signal all Enterprise sections, we're going to reintegrate the ship" Callum ordered.
=/\=Echo Fleet, set course for Earth Spacedock, maximum warp.  Our long range COMMS are down, signal spacedock that we're heading home and will require immediate assistance=/\= Callum ordered over the ship to ship COMMS.

"Will, as soon as the sections are reintegrated, take us to warp 9, no faster also please inform Vice Admiral Locker that the Bridge is his, and then meet me in my ready room.  Until his return from the escort section, the bridge is yours" Callum said as he brushed off some dust from his uniform.

"Aye, sir," Will acknowledged. "Helm, come about and prepare for reintegration."
"Aye, Commander."
=/\= All hands, this is the Executive Officer. Prepare stations for reintegration. =/\=
"Commander, the saucer section is signalling," the Ops officer reported. "They want to know if they should come back."
"No. Tell them to hold position, we'll integrate when we reach them. No point bringing them all the way back just to take them to Earth."
"Aye, Commander."
Satisfied that the crew were doing their jobs, Will took a long look around the bridge. This was going to be a good crew. This had been the first test, but he figured there would other, sterner, tests to come.
"Good work, people," he said, and sat in the centre seat.

TAG: Callum