The calm of Betazed’s orbit gave way almost immediately to the mania of combat as Atlantis leapt upon her targets with a speed they weren’t ready for. The Vaadwaur had clearly watched Tizona as she speed across the system, guessed the same rules applied to her larger cousin, and found themselves racing to prepare as the larger ship pounced forward.

Atlantis materialised right in the middle of the two cruisers, insane yet accurate piloting placing them in striking distance of both ships and immediately out of sight of both ship’s forward guns. Both of the smaller ships started to turn, to bring weapons to bear, their broadside cannons spewing forth fire, purple bursts of polaron energy streaking across the void in hasty shots.

As shields flared in response, absorbing the few blows that found their mark in the first volleys, Atlantis lodged her response. While most of her fire was directed on one of the cruisers, orange nadion beams cutting through the void with devastating accuracy, those few arrays that couldn’t see the primary target lashed out at the other, seeming almost like idle after thoughts.

And then the flurry of torpedoes erupted from Atlantis as she turned to face her target. Quantum torpedoes flashed forward in rapid succession, only just eclipsed in number by photon torpedoes from a multitude of other launchers along the ship’s forward arc. And as the rear launchers caught sight of the other cruiser, they too barked out in anger.

“Shields at eighty percent,” Rrr announced as Atlantis rocked under more fire, the Vaadwaur starting to find their mark after the initial surprise. “And the battlecruiser is turning our way. Two minutes until weapons range.”

“Let’s not be here when they do, then.” Tikva’s hands were like claws on the arms of her chair, leaning forward while willing her ship forward. “Kelly, get us alongside Bogey 1, then swing around behind. Use them as cover from Bogey 2.”

“Aye ma’am,” the young woman answered, fingers making demands of the ship’s systems and deftly swinging the large starship around. Something the size of Atlantis shouldn’t be as manoeuvrable as it was, yet the designers decades ago had clearly made pacts with some great power to make the Sovereign-class the dancer that it was.

Nathan had abandoned his seat at Tikva’s side, opting to swing around the Tactical railing and lend his assistance to Adelinde, taking his queues from her. While she was focusing on their primary target, he was assisting best he could while wearing at their lesser target with what was spared to him in any given moment.

“Bogey 1 is taking heavy damage,” Rrr declared as on screen the ship slid around, Atlantis coming alongside the Vaadwaur cruiser and unleashing a terrible broadside of phaser fire.

Beams traced in arcs, licking at the ship, deflected in fewer and fewer places as shields flickered and died in sustained assaults. Then a torpedo slammed into a patch of hull, shields sputtering to death a heartbeat before impact. A brilliant explosion ripped a gouge into the ship, exposing multiple decks to the vacuum of space. Lights winked out across the stricken cruiser, its weapons gave a last gasp in defiance and then fell silent.

“Bogey 1 has lost power.” Rrr’s announcement was superfluous, merely for the record.

But it brought a smile to Tikva’s face.

And then the other cruiser reminded them it existed. Sporadic cannon fire as its forward weapons came to bear pummelled at Atlantis’ shields, bleeding through with just enough force to impart kinetic trauma to the ship. Alarms blared, circuits overloaded and no doubt throughout the ship people stumbled or were thrown to the floor.

“Holy hell,” Nathan cursed. “They’re firing through their own ship.”

The viewscreen confirmed it as another hail of purple bolts of polaric death rained upon Atlantis, forward shields becoming a sustained blue bubble against the barrage. Some of the fire from Bogey 2 was in the clear, but some slammed into Bogey 1, cutting through the disabled ship, gouging a path for follow-on shots.

Follow-on shots that would also have to keep gouging through the dead ship as Kelly Tabaaha kept dancing Atlantis around it, rising to clear firing lines for Adelinde, while Nathan swatted at the large fighters, before rolling the large ship back down to cover.

“Shields at sixty-five percent,” Rrr declared. “One minute for that battlecruiser, ma’am.”

“Kelly, attack pattern echo, then get us back to Betazed. Guns, give them everything we’ve got.”

Atlantis rose out from behind the Vaadwaur cruiser, beams whipping at the still functional cruiser and answering its angry barks in kind. And then the mighty ship rolled, presenting its ventral aspect and the multitude of torpedo launchers arrayed there. And the Vaadwaur fired their own torpedoes finally, breaking through Atlantis’ shields for their efforts. But it was too little, too late, as concentrated fire, a presented frontal aspect and a willingness from Adelinde Gantzmann to demonstrate Federation torpedo technology all combined in one place.

Shields collapsed around the Vaadwaur ship, torpedoes chasing phaser beams as one explosion after another after another concussively tore through the ship. There was no clean cutting, but surgical precision that phasers could offer. This was amputation via explosives as photon torpedoes kept tearing at the ship, ripping a nacelle clean off the ship. Safety systems kicked in and rendered the ship much like the first; a floating carcass in space.

Atlantis rocked only slightly as the escorting fighters threw their fire at the large Starfleet vessel, furiously attempting to seek revenge for their broken comrades. Revenge robbed from them as the ship leapt once more to warp speed, fleeing back to Betazed as quickly as she’d pounced.

“Damage report.” Tikva’s order was for all, but aimed at Rrr at Ops in front of her.

“Shields at fifty-five percent. Those polaron weapons pack a punch. I’ll start the generators cycling back over once we have some cover from Betazed.” They tapped at a few screens, eyes drinking in the details. “Blown power relays on deck fourteen, crews responding. Minor buckling on the ventral hull. And I’m detecting a pressure loss on deck twenty. Atmospheric force fields are now in place.”

“We’ve lost a phaser array,” Adelinde added. “Forward secondary hull ventral array. Whole array isn’t responding, not even to diagnostic.”

“Rrr, let Velan know. I want that prioritised.” Tikva stood as her ship returned to sub-light, the beautiful gem of Betazed to their side as Kelly brought them back to safe harbour. “Round one to us it looks like.”

“Round two isn’t going to be so easy,” Nathan said. “They won’t let us sucker punch them like that again.”

“No, but we’ve bloodied their noses. They’ll be cleaning up those two wrecks for a while, then reconsidering their approach.”

“How long do you think?” Nathan asked, pacing down the ramp to join Tikva.

“A day, at most.” Tikva drew in a deep breath, straightening her back and smiling broadly. “Stand down to yellow alert. Rrr, give Velan everything he needs to get that phaser strip working again as quickly as possible. Guns, review sensors logs, see if we can’t retune the shields to better cope with their weapons. Gabs, pour over every sensor take you’ve got. I want to know everything about those ships.”

And before any affirmatives could come her way, she took the two steps needed to rest a hand on Kelly Tabaaha’s shoulder. “And you, Ms Tabaaha, go take a break. That was damn good flying.”