The Greater Whole

[KVorlag 0]

K’Vorlag grit his teeth, his eyes stinging against the acrid smoke filling the bridge of the Vorcha-class cruiser jey’naS. The still-burning consoles at aft were just a small indication of the damage now perforating his ship.

 

It was a marvel he and the crew were still alive. True, he’d pulled an unexpected K’Tinga Arc manuever, but it had only disoriented the Dominion weapons lock during the first volley. The second barrage had pummelled the aft shields, crippled the warp drive, and nearly torn the ship apart.

 

K’Vorlag blinked, pressing a fist against his ridgeplate. The intentional use of an imbalanced microwarp burst did have the advantage of hurling them in an erratic path that was hard to target, but the accompanying wormhole lag usually earned a merciless headache. This was such a case. But a warrior did not complain about discomfort, he recited.

 

He was mildly impressed with their combined performance. With as little coordination as they’d been able to arrange, the battle had gone well. The Romulan ship had decloaked simultaneously with his ship, swooping in from the opposite direction. Their attack strategies had been so similar, he’d had to order his helmsman to make an evasive move just to avoid a collision. Recognizing the greater threat, the Dominion battleship had of course aimed to eliminate the jey’naS first, leaving the Norexian-class warbird Mextron nearly untouched.

 

Damage and casualty reports were coming in. Details aside, K’Vorlag knew his ship was smashed and unlikely to make it back to Avalon without serious assistance from his allies. Which meant, of course, that N’Kedre would be even more insufferable to deal with, since she would certainly attribute her unscathed condition to superior tactics. The very idea of asking for assistance…

 

His jaw tightened again. We succeed together in a greater whole, he reminded himself, repeating the wisdom of his great Dahar Master. Together, they’d overwhelmed one of the Dominion’s most powerful warships. Compared to such glory, accepting the aid of Starfleet, or even Romulans, was merely glob flies.

Edited February 27, 2005 by KVorlag