"Another hit, Captain! Shields are down to 25%!" Lt. Javier Tara reported. He didn't have any fear in his voice. Just slight anticipation.
"K'Lara, flight plan Omega Four. Let's get moving," Maruu ordered. "Sinclair, redirect all available power to the aft shields."
"Yes, Sir." She moved her hands gracefully around the panel. The Virgo began to pull away from the battle. They would be an easier target on the retreat, but they could also worry total about their aft shields and deflectors which K'Lara had made sure were never a target.
The Kirusan battleship fired. The ship rocked but the shield held strong. Just as planned, the battleship followed for the kill. K'Lara was upset that she couldn't pilot for either the special teams at this time, but Jonathan had ordered her to not take risks, but being only a few months pregnant, she had told him where he could stick that idea. She had planned to sit at the helm of the Lambda Flier for this one, but Nori had argued that she was now in a position that if anything happened that wasn't planned, the simplest of situations would be too much for the baby's good. After those first few months, K'Lara wasn't even supposed to lift more that 20 pounds at a time. Nori was just a bit cautious when it came to children.
"Maruu to Lambda Flier. Are you in position?"
[Yes, Sir. Awaiting for your orders,] Lataro replied to the question. He and Garek were the only ones onboard. Even though Loran wasn't an actual pilot or tactical officer, he was pretty good. Also, he was their insurance that the cloaking device was working at tops since it was so important to this plan.
"Maruu to LaForge. Are you in position?"
[We're good to go, Captain. Just give the word.] Lt. JG Valdago was with Ensign Sitto Lan in the LaForge. In this case, Lan was there not only for his expertise but also to ensure that the first real battle situation for Valdago since his ordeal with Solacetta went well. Maruu didn't look forward to loosing the LaForge again. That situation was getting old.
"Maruu to both special teams. Engage in Kirusan Tactic Alpha in exactly one minute from my mark. Mark." It was time.
Lataro was ready. He looked at his view screen. He could see the aft section of the Kirusan ship. If Valdago was doing his job, he was about 60 km to starboard. Just thinking about that made Lataro laugh. Starboard meant the right side of the ship from the ship's perspective because when sailing to the western hemisphere of Earth; Captains who had only the stars to guide them used the North Star at night. As long as they kept the North Star to their right, or starboard, they'd be sure they were going west. Almost a millennium later the term was still used even though when Commander Lataro looked out his windows, he saw stars to the right, left, up, down, forward, backward, everywhere.
Hopefully the Kirusan ship had transferred all her power to the forward deflectors. It was time to figure out if they guessed right. He ran his fingers over the controls. At the perfect time he decloaked the Lambda Flier. He could then see that Valdago was perfectly on his mark. A second later both ships fired all the weapons they could manage.
On the view screen Lataro saw six torpedoes and two phaser beams hit the battleship. Both the Flier and the LaForge backed off.
A small fire erupted from the battleship's unprotected aft section. It was soon snuffed in the vacuum of space. Even though they had hit, it hadn't caused a major amount of damage it seemed. It would only be moments before they realized what happened and returned fire.
"Let's get this thing cloaked again!" Just then he saw perfection. The initial damage was minimal, but they had seemed to affect the ship on another more major scale. Bit by bit, the battleship turned to flame. The best part about this battle method was that their would be no survivors to tell how the Virgo had won and they could use the maneuver again and again.
But, the Kirusans were like Klingons: they never gave up. Only a fraction of a second before the battleship was destroyed, a Kirusan beamed aboard the Flier. He stood right behind Garek. Quickly and instinctively Lataro pulled out his phaser and fired. The shot flew past Loran shoulder and hit the large Kirusan. The phaser was set to maximum, and the Kirusan collapsed to the ground, unconscious for a few moments.
Garek Loran was frozen. He wouldn't move. A slight smell of burnt hair was in the air. Garek moved his hand up to the side of his head. He felt a horizontal line of skin where the skin was removed. "You could have killed me!"
"I trust in my aim. You should too." Lataro moved closer to the body.
"You hit me! My head is bald!" Loran wasn't really mad. He knew that Lataro did what he needed to do, but it was aggravating that he wouldn't even apologize.
"It's just a superficial scratch. It'll grow back." He smiled. "Unless I vaporized the roots. Then you'd need a hair piece or some minor surgery. Maybe transplant some leg hair." Now Loran could sense Lataro's amusement. "Now, lets get the transporter set up so that this guy won't shoot us with those eyes of his."
The First Officer walked over to transporter panel. Garek noticed that the Kirusan was all ready beginning to recuperate. Lataro quickly began to work. They had developed a procedure to kill the Kirusans since a phaser could not do major permanent damage. The only reason Maruu allowed it was because the only other option was...there was no other option.
As the Kirusan began to sit up Lataro initiated the transport. The machine took every particle of the Kirusan and changed it into energy. Normally the energy would be moved to another place and then reassembled, but this time, the energy was scattered around the vacuum of space that surrounded the Lambda Flier.
After their work was done, they flew back to Virgo.
On the LaForge, Valdago and his friend and fellow crewmember Lan watched the battleship explode. That's when the Kirusan soldier appeared.
Before either could do anything, the huge monster picked up and threw Ensign Lan at Valdago. But, Valdago was able to catch him and safely put him down. The other Kirusan eyed the half-breed, Valdago.
"You are one of us. Why are you still here?"
"I am not one of you. I'm only half-Kirusan. I stay with my people."
"Then you will die with them."
The two stared at each other. They stared eye to eye. The Kirusan closed his eyes. Valdago realized what he was getting ready for, but he had no time to react. The other Kirusan opened his eyes again. Pure energy exploded from them. It flew directly into Valdago's stare.
But Valdago was not affected. The energy kept glowing into his head. Valdago felt pain, but it was good pain. The energy was stored in his cells. The Kirusan stopped firing and looked at Valdago in wonderment. Valdago slammed his eyes shut.
He screamed and covered his eyes as if to hold the power in. After a short time he regained his composure and opened his eyes again. They glowed bright, powerful green. He stared at the Kirusan and smiled. Then, Valdago returned the power the soldier had given him. Except, Valdago aimed for the chest. The Kirusan screamed in agony and fell to the ground, dead.
The two officers looked at each other. They quickly headed for Virgo.
"It seems they're in full working order," said Dana Nori.
"Full?" asked the captain.
"Yes. He's storing more and more energy as we speak. He's currently holding enough energy to fire continuously for 87 seconds with more power than a type two phaser at its highest setting. I estimate that he'll gain enough energy to fire for about 216 seconds. That's more power than a type three phaser rifle."
"Amazing. How's his control?"
"I'm fine. I don't even feel any different," Valdago stated.
"Keep me posted, Doctor." Maruu began to leave. "Lieutenant, come with me."
Inside the holodeck, Maruu fired his phaser at the target. Direct hit.
Valdago fired his eyes at the target. Direct hit.
"Computer, increase to level five," said Maruu.
Targets began flying faster through the darkened room. Maruu began firing.
<10 targets destroyed. 12 shots fired,> the computer reported.
"Computer," said Valdago, "restart program. Level 8."
<Restarting targeting program. Level 8.>
Valdago's eyes lit up the room as he fired at the targets.
<25 targets destroyed. 24 shots fired.>
"Evidently your control is in good shape," the captain said to Johnathan. "Computer, arch." The door appeared, and Maruu walked out.
"Computer. Reset program. Level 10."
Valdago thought back to what Solacetta had told him about four months earlier: "Don't you want to know what it's like to shoot with those eyes. They have the ability, you know. You just can't do it. Maybe if you had been allowed to convert for one more minute? Who knows."
It was obvious that he now could. What would Solacetta say about that?