Among the Elite

Nero

"Hannity, hail the U.S.S. Truman."

"All the other ships are out of warp, sir, and have arrived at Vulcan, but we seem to have lost all contact."

As I listen to the space it soon becomes clear that something is very wrong, "sir, we are picking up no Romulan transmission, or transmission of any kind in the area."

Kirk nods, as if he is dying to say 'I told you so.' "It's because they're being attacked."

Captain Pike calmly moves back to his sit, "shields up. Red alert."

The alarms begin blaring as Sulu begins to count us down, "arrival at Vulcan in five seconds. Four, three, two..."

As soon as we move out of warp we are faced with wreckage of our sister ships that had arrived before us. Captain Pike begins giving orders, "emergency evasive!"

"On it, sir!"

The alarms continue to blare as we watch. In a few minutes there is a loud boom and I am almost knocked out of my chair and Kirk, who is standing, is almost knocked over. "Damage report!"

A crewman answers, "deflector shields are holding."

"All stations! Engineer Olsen, report!" Olsen cannot give a clear report before we realize we are heading right toward a large piece of debris, "full reverse. Come about starboard 90 degrees. Drop us down underneath them, Sulu." It isn't until Captain Pike says 'them,' that I notice it is the large remaining chunk of another ship. As we come to the other side of the destroyed ship, we see the huge Romulan ship.

Spock's computer begins to beep, "Captain, they're locking torpedoes."

"Divert auxiliary power from port nivelles to forward shields." Despite Sulu's efforts we are still hit broadside, "Sulu, status report."

"Shields at 32%. Their weapons are powerful, sir. We can't take another hit like that."

"Get me Starfleet Command."

Spock whips around, "Captain, the Romulan ship has lowered some kind of high energy pulse device into the Vulcan atmosphere."

I nod turning to Spock, "it's sign is blocking our communications and transporter abilities."

Captain Pike turns back toward the observation window, "all power to forward shields. Prepare to fire all weapons."

But before we can fire, we get a call from the other ship, Uhura answers before I stand, "Captain, we're being hailed."

As the Romulan man appears on the screen Uhura stands next to me. The man is close to the screen and covered in traditional Romulan tattoos, "hello."

Captain Pike speaks to him calmly and clearly, "I'm Captain Christopher Pike. To whom am I speaking?"

"Hi, Christopher. I'm Nero."

"You've declared war against the Federation. Withdraw, I'll agree to arrange a conference with Romulan leadership at a neutral location."

"I do not speak for the Empire. We stand apart. As do your Vulcan crew members. Isn't that right, Spock?"

I look to Spock and take a deep breath. Spock stands and puts a hand out to me as if to tell me to stay where I am, "pardon me, I do not believe that you and I are acquainted."

"No, we're not. Not yet. Spock, there is something I would like you to see. Captain Pike, your transporter has been disabled. As you can see by the rest of your armada, you have no choice. You will man a shuttle and come aboard the Narada for negotiations. That is all."

When the transmission ends we all turn to Captain Pike. Captain Pike stands and starts to leave, before he even takes a few steps Kirk protests, "he'll kill you. You know that."

"Your survival is unlikely," Spock nods in agreement.

"Captain, we gain nothing by diplomacy. Going over to that shop is a mistake."

"I, two, agree. You should rethink your strategy."

"I understand that," Captain Pike looks around the Bridge, "I need officers who've been trained in advanced hand-to-hand combat."

"I have training, sir," Sulu raises his hand.

"Come with me. Kirk, you, too. You're not supposed to be here anyway. Chekov you have the conn."

"Aye-aye, Captain," Chekov nods as Captain Pike, Kirk, Sulu, Spock, and I leave the bridge.