Work Text:
Enterprise Asides Part 10 - The Allied
Commander Donatra wanted nothing more than to see Shinzon blown out of the sky, but when she watched the Enterprise ram the Scimitar head on, she was taken aback. That was not something she ever would have considered. The Scimitar was massive, and so heavily armoured, not even an impact from a ship of the same size would disable it. This Federation captain was not at all what she had expected. Everything she had heard about Picard was that he was more interested in talking than fighting. He was all bluster and no bite.
But seeing him in action, she found herself deeply impressed. Although, she reminded herself, he may just be going against form because of who Shinzon was. The captain’s hatred of his enemy came from a personal place. The information surrounding Shinzon’s true identity was classified, but Donatra knew enough to guess that he was a clone. The similarity in their stature and voice were too uncanny to ignore. Without Shinzon’s tragic upbringing, the would surely look identical. Probably a failed Tal Shiar plot to replace the captain at some point. During the Dominion War, the threat of Changeling infiltrators had become so dire that information on spotting duplicates was widely spread throughout the military and government, including information about spotting clones, just in case the Dominion decided to do things the old-fashioned way. Donatra’s suspicions had been confirmed the first time she noticed Shinzon’s deterioration.
Around that same time, she’d decided that Shinzon wasn’t worth following. Her flicker of lust for the power and renown he would bring her crumbled quickly. His instability went beyond a mere physical ailment. He was emotionally stunted, prone to wild mood swings, and favoured grandiose shows of strength over sound tactics. He was an angry child wielding a large sword, and Donatra wanted him stopped before he turned his doomsday weapon on Romulus at large.
But now she had to sit and watch, unable to do anything as the Scimitar prepared to fire its thalaron weapon, its wings bristling like a terrified animal. The Enterprise was a ruin, and Commander Suran’s ship was limping toward the Valdore on minimal power. There was nothing they could do to stop him firing it.
“Is there anything you can give me?” she asked her subcommander. “Any power at all?”
He was furiously working at his console, blinking through a green trickle of blood running down from his forehead. “I’ve managed to stabilize life support,” he said, “and we’ll have minimal engine functionality soon, but weapons are gone.”
“Is there any way we can rig a weapon from any other system?” She fought to keep her voice level. It would not do for a commanding officer to show fear.
“I could turn the deflector into a makeshift antiproton cannon, but it would take too long and would sacrifice what little energy I have for engines and life support. It’s not worth it.”
“Would it help us?”
He shook his head. “We’d get maybe a two second burst, and there’s no guarantee it would get through Shinzon’s shields.”
Donatra nodded. “Very well. Continue to focus on engines. We will need to--”
She broke off as the viewscreen lit up in a sudden startling conflagration.
“I need shields!” she shouted as the shockwave crashed through the Valdore , knocking her to the deck.
“Integrity field holding,” her subcommander coughed as he crawled back into his seat, fingers flying over his console. “Inertial dampeners at partial power.”
Donatra turned back to the viewscreen, staring at the dissipating blast in shock. What had happened ? “Signal Suran,” she said.
Soon enough, her fellow commander appeared on the screen.
“Did you do that?” Donatra asked.
“No,” Suran said, gravely. “The explosion was internal. Perhaps a failure of the thalaron device.”
Donatra nodded. “Perhaps. How’s your ship?”
“Multiple system failures, but we have life support.”
“If you can spare any support craft or medical personnel, I’d like you to send someone to the Enterprise . We owe them.”
“Understood.”
When he cut the transmission, Donatra hailed the Enterprise .
They opened a voice channel, the connection tenuous. But at least there was someone left alive to answer her hail.
“This is Commander Donatra of the Valdore . We’re dispatching shuttles with medical personnel and supplies.”
A beat, and then she heard Picard’s voice. He sounded ragged and tired. But at least he was alive. “Thank you, Commander.”
She wanted to ask how his crew had fared, but decided now was not the time, so instead she said, “You’ve earned a friend in the Romulan Empire today, Captain. I hope the first of many. Valdore out.”
“Dispatch two shuttles of our own,” she ordered, returning to her seat.
She continued to stare at the place where the Scimitar had been. What had happened? Surely not a malfunction. Had Shinzon chosen death rather than firing the weapon, a mad dash to take the Enterprise out? She continued to stare, somehow unable to accept that they had rid the galaxy of that madman, seemingly by sheer fluke.
But he was gone, and there was a Federation ship nearby who was not an enemy. It was as though the very fabric of the universe had changed, and now she found herself in a landscape both familiar and terrifying new.
The Dominion War had brought the Federation together, though that alliance had dissolved as soon as the Founders surrendered. Perhaps now was the time to revisit that alliance and forge it in a time of peace.
She looked away, scanning the ruin of her bridge. First things first , she thought. Their next challenge would be to make it to Romulus intact.
They could seek out peace after that.