"This is boring."
"No kidding."
"I wish we'd gone with the others down to the planet," said Sam.
"Me too," sighed Jo.
Banshees 3 and 4 had been drifting darkly and quietly among the wreckage of the former weapon satellite, communicating with each other via the secure neutrino beam. There had been no counter-attack for them to ward off, so their vigil had been a long and uneventful one, and the two pilots were itching for something to do. But no sooner had the mournful sigh fully escaped from Jo's lips that her HUD brightened with indicators. As she read them, adrenaline began doing its job in her system. With eyes wide and breath shortened, she called over the comm to Sam, "Are you receiving this?"
"Yes. What should we do?"
"It's a distress call! We have to respond!"
"But the training mission...."
"This is more important," argued Jo.
Sam thought the matter over for a moment, then decided, "You're right. I'll inform the Lieutenant," but a moment later came back on the channel and said, "She's out of range on the far side of the planet. I guess the war games are still going on."
"We can't wait," said Jo. "Taking command."
"Acknowledged," replied Sam. "I'll inform SB901."
"Form up. Intercept course. Prepare for warp burst." Jo could almost hear Sam's hesitation at that last order. Warp burst had never been tested, and would severely drain their ships even if it worked perfectly. After a moment, Sam's acknowledgment came back.
Jo read the stats her in-visor HUD showed her and said into the comm, "ETA 8 minutes to intercept. Prepare to initiate warp burst." A few remaining red indicators turned green, then she called, "Now!"
Stars smeared from pinpoints into very, very long lines as the Banshee's warp engines engaged in burst mode, catapulting the two small ships at more than warp 30 toward the distress call. Despite the inertial dampeners working on overload, Jo was smashed back against the cushions of her pilot's seat, breath squeezed out of her. She fought desperately against the onrushing wave of blackness and oblivion that swam before her eyes, but it was a losing struggle.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the pressure let off as the warp engines spent the last of the quantum core's energy and dropped the fighter back into normal space. Jo's vision exploded in a blinding rainbow of flashes as blood rushed back into her vital areas, and a huge gulping intake of breath racked her body. Her hands flailed about randomly as her nervous system recovered, but quickly re-found the joystick in front of her.
Her vision also swam back into focus, and she quickly assessed the situation in her HUD. Sam in Banshee 4 was still at her side, seemingly none the worse for the wear, and the distress signal was just one minute ahead. She checked her systems, and as expected, the warp system was completely drained, but all other systems seemed operational.
Jo sighed in relief and opened a link to Sam: "You okay?"
"Yeah," came back a rather shaky reply. "I'll be fine in a sec."
"I have an ID on the ship in distress. It's a civilian freighter named the Galatea. It looks like it's being boarded by a small Son'a cutter.
"I have it on scanners," said Sam. "There's seven Son'a on board."
Jo very quickly came up with a battle plan. Still on the secure neutrino channel, she rattled off her idea, "Here's the plan. I'll go in high-speed and hit the Son'a ship with a few phaser blasts to get their attention - not enough to damage the freighter. You follow slower with your refractive shields up, and when they detach from the Galatea to chase me you let them have it from behind with your quantum cannons."
"Sounds good," said Sam.
Jo nodded in acknowledgment, even though her companion couldn't see the gesture, then said, "Going.... NOW!"
A thought to her helmet sent the impulse engines into full burn, hurtling her Banshee toward the Galatea and the attacking Son'a ship. Seconds later, it was in range of her phasers and she opened fire, strafing a line of damage across its top-side. As she hoped, the Son'a were incensed enough by her brazen assault that they broke contact with their prey and initiated pursuit.
A few seconds after that, and right on time, Jo's sensors detected a burst of energy from behind the Son'a ship, and saw a pair of crackling blue fire balls slam into its engineering section. The Son'a ship yawed and twisted out of control for a few seconds, then exploded into a brilliant orange fireball.
Jo breathed another sigh of relief. She saw Sam join formation beside her, and together they flew back toward the Galatea.
Suddenly, her comm crackled to life and a strong male voice called, [Banshee 3, this is Captain Tarik. I'm on the Galatea. We've disposed of the Son'a boarding party. The ship's engineer reports this vessel capable of no greater than warp factor two. Request towing to SB901. Alert Sickbay for casualties.]
Jo was startled to hear Tarik's voice way out here, and wondered what was going on. She answered, "Aye, sir. We're initiating tractor beam. How the heck did you get on board, anyway?"
[Now, ma'am, if we told you that, it wouldn't be a secret!]
Yup, that sounded like Tarik all right. She saw Sam swing wide and latch her tractor beam onto the far side of the Galatea. She decided to retort, "Keep up that attitude and you'll end up with schplict in your coffee, jarhead!"
"You underestimate the Romulan palate, ma'am. See you back at base!"