Space was set ablaze, as another warbird was destroyed. From his command chair onboard the Titan, Will Riker surveyed the carnage; the attrition rate of both Starfleet and Romulan ships was frightening. The fighting had been intense and brought back memories of the dominion war and the utterly disgusting waste of life suffered in that conflict. And just like many engagements he had been involved in before, no one looked like they were winning this one.

The Titan shook from a disruptor blast.

"Return fire, full phasers," said Riker, then changed his mind. "Belay that order. Hail the lead Romulan ship."

"Aye sir," replied a confused communications officer.

Miraculously, a few seconds later, a bedraggled Romulan Commander appeared on the screen.

"I am Commander Cenita, what do you want?"

"Commander, its obvious that we are equally matched," said Riker, reasonably. "There is no reason for this to end in mutual destruction. Can we call a truce to discuss the situation?"

Cenita smiled, coldly. "There's nothing to talk about, return the Othallian refugees that you have beamed aboard your ships then leave. Then we will consider this affair concluded."

Riker smiled back. "Commander, I am trying to prevent any escalation to this. I am trying to be reasonable but I will not hand over thousands of people to be slaughtered by you. My proposal, is whatever it is you want on the planet below is yours. We are not interested. We just want to transport these people to safety."

"Ever the noble arbiters of the galaxy. I find the Federation sickening and your merciful acts a sign of weakness. We want the Triathian technology on the planet and the Othallians. Acceed to our terms or be destroyed."

Riker sighed. "Close the channel. Arm quantum torpedoes and target that ships engines."

"Target locked."

"Fire."

Riker watched the warbird's shields flash brightly as Titan's barrage struck its midsection. He watched the ship's lights flicker and its course sway towards the planet's atmosphere. Shaking his head, Riker turned his attention to protecting the Proxima which was being flanked by two warbirds. He gave the order to fire and more lethal lightning struck the Romulan vessels. One of the warbirds structural integrity field went offline, causing it explode in spectacular fashion taking its companion with it.

"Incoming Hail from Proxima, Captain," said the com officer. "It's Admiral Picard."

"On screen," said Riker. Picard's face appeared.

"Will, I have a way to end this but I need your help."

The Titan shook again as two more Romulan ships opened fire and moved to shield the lead ship.

"What can we do?"

"I'm sending you the coordinates for the source of the power signature. We need to concentrate fire on the middle structure but it needs to be a high yield."

"How high?"

"At least ten photon torpedoes."

Riker looked over at his weapons officer who shook his head.

"We only have two left, sir," he said.

"Ok, Hail our remaining ships and send them the coordinates."

Picard's face suddenly frowned.

"Will, we're running out of time," he said. "I think there might be reinforcements arriving."

"He's right, sir," said the com officer. "I'm reading ten Romulan warp signatures entering the system."

Riker looked at the icons on a nearby monitor. "How long till they reach us?"

"Ten minutes."

"Have all the ship's responded?"

"Yes sir, twenty photon torpedoes available."

"Open a channel to the our ships," said Riker. The channel opened. "This is Captain Riker, on the Titan. Prepare to fire on Admiral Picard's order."

He shot his former commander a knowing smile, which Picard returned.

"Starfleet vessels, this is Jean Luc Picard. Fire all weapons."

Riker watched as a cascade of torpedoes raced into the upper atmosphere of the planet. Seconds later, there was a continuous bloom of brilliant white. The destruction at the strike point must have been appalling. The last torpedoes reached the ground and once it had exploded, the light died but so did the power signature.

"Will, the Translation mechanism has been destroyed. Now we need to get out of here."

"All ships retreat and set course for Federation space, maximum warp," said Riker.

He watched the viewscreen as the remaining starships went to warp. Proxima was along side and he knew the only way to protect it from reprisals was to stay at their top speed which was warp seven.

"Coordinates laid in, sir," said the com officer.

"Are you ready, Admiral?"

Picard laughed. "As we'll ever be. Remember this ship wasn't built for manoeuvrability but she will make seven point eight."

"Understood."

"And Will," said Picard. "It's Jean Luc."

"Understood sir, er, I mean Jean Luc," said Riker. "Proxima, this is Titan. Engage."

Both ships sped away from the battle area and for some reason, the Romulans didn't pursue. This surprised Riker and he couldn't believe that a self respecting Romulan wouldn't give chase but, just from what Picard had told him, he knew he wasn't in possession of all the facts.

"I'm going down to the cargo bays to check on the Othallians. Commander Lantris, you have the con. Tell Doctor Ogawa, I'd like her to meet me there."

"Aye, sir."

The scene in the cargo bay was a harrowing sight. Most of them were sat or laying on the deck. Mothers were comforting their children, some of the male members were speaking to his wife's team. The people looked under nourished and according to Ogawa were suffering from extreme trauma and psyonic shock. The Titan's medical team plus a lot of other crew members who had volunteered to help out, were slowly working through the crowd. Riker was proud of his crew for their selflessness in such a crisis.

Searching the cargo bay, he saw Deana, counselling a young female, who was crying bitterly. Deana was comforting her.

"Are you the Captain?"

Riker turned to see an elderly Othallian female.

"That's right," he replied. It was the first time that he had spoken to any of the people they had rescued. Meeting this Othallian's gaze, he suddenly felt exposed. It was as if she could see right inside him. "Was there something I can do for you?"

"Are you responsible for unmaking us?"

"Er, I'm not sure what you mean," said Riker, a little shaken by her directness.

"Did you unmake us?"

Deana appeared. "Hello," she said. "I'm Deana, can I help? Why don't we sit down and talk about it."

The Othallian nodded. "Yes, thank you, yes."

As the two of them walked away, Deana looked back at him and smiled. In response, he mouthed 'thank you'.

Suddenly, the deck shook violently. It was unmistakable.

The voice of the first officer called for red alert.

"Captain Riker to the bridge."

As he hurried along the corridors, several more impacts caused the ship to rock. The lights in the corridor by the turbolift flickered.

As he entered the bridge, the viewscreen told him everything he needed to know. Two Romulan warbirds were in pursuit. The lead ship fired.

"Incoming, brace for impact," yelled Lantris. The Titan's bridge was plunged, momentarily, into darkness before the emergency lights came on.

"Report," said Riker, taking his seat.

"Aft shields are at thirty percent, forward shields are fine. We are maintaining warp seven point eight. I've extended Titan's shields around Proxima."

"Weapons status?"

"We have no photons left. Phaser banks are fully charged," said Lantris.

The ship took another hit.

"Ok," said Riker. "Transfer power from the forward shields to the aft, then target both of those ships; engines and weapons systems only. Constant firing until I tell you to stop."

"Aye sir," said Lantris. "Admiral Picard is hailing us."

"On screen."

Picard's image appeared. "Will, you can't fight these ships and protect us."

Riker frowned. "We can't leave you."

"Yes you can," said Picard. "We have enough charge for another pulse but you and other ships need to be at least five AU's away from us. Tell the others to engage at maximum warp for three minutes. Once we've initiated the pulse, you'll be able to come back for us."

"Understood," said Riker, turning to Lantris. "Make it so." He turned back to Picard. "Take care, Jean Luc. We'll see you in a little while."

"All the ship's have reported ready, sir," said Lantris.

"Very well, increase speed to warp nine point nine eight. Engage."