Desperate Gambit

Archer stared down at the monitor displaying Lt. Commanders Esmer and Naimes' faces. Naimes continued scowling and spoke while disregarding Archer's words with a gruff almost animalistic voice:

"That's enough Lieutenant. We don't have time to listen to your nonsense when you're barely out of training. We will engage the enemy head-on and make short work of them. You can tun if you like but know that won't save you."

Naimes' words immediately made something click in Archer's mind. He was indeed fresh out of school, and Lt. Commander Esmer seemed to be a rather shortsighted and incompetent commander while Naimes was a bloodthirsty and unpredictable commander.

The three of them were a perfect example of the kinds of officers you wouldn't want on your side in a war. The kind of officers whose inexperience, incompetence, or unpredictability would only make them a liability.

Archer was confused earlier as to why the Proteus and the Nomad who were much closer to the Matril's last location were not dispatched. It seems the answer was much more sinister than he anticipated.

He immediately stood up as his face drained of color and eyes sharpened like an animal caught with its back to a wall.

"Klimt, patch the call to my quarters. Lt. Commander Naimes, Lt. Commander Esmer, let's have a private talk, for your ears only."

Archer did not wait for their response, and he walked towards the bridge exit while speaking:

"Maintain course. I'll be back shortly."

Archer walked out of the bridge and directly into his quarters and made a beeline for the workstation at the corner of the room. He sat down and composed himself before pressing the call icon and bringing Lt. Commanders Naimes and Esmer's confused faces on display.

Archer's change of expression did not slip past the two commanders, so they did not delay much and similarly headed to their quarters to have a private conversation and were now waiting for Archer to speak. Archer looked at both of their faces solemnly and spoke:

"There has been something bothering me for a bit now. The Proteus and the Nomad were patrolling the near Sunse when we received the dispatch here, so why weren't they sent in as well? "

Archer looked at the two other officers with a grave look as he saw realization dawn on Naimes' face and confusion creep onto Esmer's. Archer then continued speaking:

"I believe for one reason or another, the three of us were sent here as fodder. There will be no help coming anytime soon. I have an idea why we were selected for this honor, but that is not the point. The point is, we need to work together to survive this, or we will all die here today."

Silence descended as the three of them stared at each other in silence. Naimes was at this point grinding her teeth in frustration. She stared fiercely at Archer before sighing in defeat and speaking:

"I hate all this nonsense. I don't need plots and ruses; all I want is ….Sigh. What did you have in mind, Lieutenant?"

Archer was slightly relieved at Lt. Commander Naimes' words as she seemed more rational now. He looked at Lt. Commander Esmer who was pale and sweating with a confused look still on his face causing Archer to sigh and speak:

"The Lietinna passed a cluster of asteroids as we entered the Orionis System, We had to make a detour around it, but we need to make our way in there. The Tame should be closest now, We need you to set up as many layers of mines as you can and share the layout information with us. We will make a stand there, minimize the type 3 ship's superiority, and buy time until we can get reinforcements from somewhere."

Naimes had a thoughtful look on her face as she spoke:

"That's not a bad plan, but will only buy us a bit of time, We can maybe limit the type 3 ship's maneuverability, but we can't do much about the type 2s and we'll be getting hit from all sides. Also, as you said earlier, no reinforcements are coming. We can't hold them off forever."

Archer leaned back on his chair in contemplation. Lt. Commander Esmer's shaky voice then came through the monitor:

"Can we just ask for help from everyone? The 5th Fleet sometimes patrols the Orionis System, there might be some ships nearby."

Lt. Commander Esmer's words made a lot of sense to Archer as Naimes spoke with some excitement in her voice:

"Great idea Daniel. Let's flood all emergency channels with requests for aid. They might have sent us here to die, but they won't be able to listen to us and ignore our pleas on open channels. Archer, send me the location of that cluster, and let's rendezvous there, we may yet have some achievements.

Naimes' form of address to him didn't elude Archer as he stood up and spoke:

"Sounds good. Let's try and get out of this in one piece. The enemy also had scramblers in place so please set up a booster module before they get there."

Archer immediately cut off the call as he walked briskly back to the bridge. His mind was still on the fact that they were essentially sent here as fodder, but he had no time to dwell on it. His priority was survival.

As soon as he entered the bridge, Archer spoke while heading to his seat:

"Helm set course for that cluster of asteroids we encountered as we entered the system. Comms open all hail and emergency channels for my message."

"Yes Sir. ETA 5 minutes"

"Sir, all hail and emergency channels open. Ready for your broadcast."

Archer took his seat before nodding his head and speaking after pressing the record icon that popped up on his console:

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday."

"This is the LNS Lietinna. We are engaged and pursued by multiple unidentified enemy vessels, 5 type 2s, 1 type 3. Requesting reinforcements from all nearby ships. I repeat…"

Archer took his finger off the icon and spoke:

"Comms, broadcast repeatedly on all channels."

"Sir, broadcasting now. Similar messages inbound from the Romme and the Tame sir."

"Good. Tactical, how many mines do we have left."

"Sir, we already used up half of our motion mines on the previous engagement, so we have approximately 150 units left."

"Prepare to deploy them as soon as we enter the asteroid cluster. We need to limit enemy approaches. Deploy at 10-second intervals, random pattern of movement each time but keep track in case our allies get caught in them."

"Yes sir."

Archer paused for a second before standing up and walking to the edge of the platform where his command console and captain's chair are located. The bridge crew noticed his movement and turned to him questioningly. Archer simply put his hands behind his back as he saw the old commandant of the academy do and spoke in a calm voice:

"Alright, listen up for a second. I am not going to lie to you, things are looking a bit bleak now. My plan is to buy us time with the Romme and Tame in that cluster and hunker down until reinforcements arrive. I hope that happens before we get slowly surrounded and outmaneuvered."

Archer looked across the bridge at the faces looking back at him showing a mix of emotions ranging from helplessness to fear. He felt his heart get heavy at the weight of responsibility, but didn't let it show on his face as he continued:

"I can't promise we'll make it out of this unscathed, but I can promise that I will not let you down. I promised you all not too long ago that I would keep all of you in as good a shape as I found you. That might be harder than I anticipated, but it gives me a chance to introduce you to one of my personal philosophies, A promise is not an event, it's a process, so don't be afraid to refine it. So, my previous promise will be amended to I will get you in as good of a shape as I can."

The bridge officers were silent for a second as if they couldn't process Archer's words before chuckles escaped their lips as they understood what he was saying. The atmosphere of the whole bridge shifted as the bridge crew shook their heads and chuckled.

Archer then walked back to his chair with a small smile on his lips while speaking.

"Alright, get back to work. This is not time for laughter."