Hunting the Hunters

Captain's Log, Stardate 87846.70: We are approaching the Sienae System on standard patrol.

Tarah looked up from her viewscreen and turned to Rowan. "Captain, the Romulans have been meeting the Hirogen in this system, and Starfleet Intelligence assesses that they may be in talks to form a formal alliance. Which could be bad for the Federation, given that Starfleet is stretched thin, fighting Klingons on one front and the resurgence of the Borg on the other."

Rowan looked at her first officer. "Voyager encountered the Hirogen in the Delta Quadrant, as I recall. They were considered very dangerous."

"Yes, Captain. Having the Hirogen hunting in this area is bad enough. If the Romulans get them to sign a treaty, Empress Sela will have a powerful ally in her bid to regain the prestige of the former Empire.

"Our orders are to engage the Hirogen in this system and force them to find new hunting grounds. Starfleet needs them as far as possible from Federation civilians."

"Very well, let's hunt us some Hirogen. Mister MacKenzie, lay in a course around . . . Sienae V, half impulse. The moonlets and rings may be harboring our prey. And go to yellow alert."

"Yes, Ma'am." Wayfarer slipped forward as the helmsman brought her into position.

"Larrea, see if you can boost the sensor sweeps of the planetary rings as we come into range. Let's see if we can flush them out."

"Already working on it, Captain."

Before long, the quarry came into sensor view: A Hirogen hunter ship, in co-orbit with a base that had been established on a moonlet in the ring system.

Tarah called out, "Shields up! Red Alert!" The atmosphere of the bridge tensed as the lighting went from standard to the characteristic red tones and the red-alert klaxon sounded. The Hirogen ship had seen them and was moving to intercept.
"Auzzie, blind them."

"Yes, Captain." The trill played her console like a finely tuned piano, the harmonics of which sang out from Wayfarer's deflector dish, ringing in the enemy's sensors and overloading them. Torpedoes and plasma beams intended for Wayfarer went wide as Tarah let loose disruptors and and high yield payloads of her own.

Wayfarer came around for another pass, but the Hirogen had recalibrated their targeting sensors and finally had an answer for Rowan and her crew. The hunter became the hunted. Plasma played over the shields trying to eat its way through to the hull. Helmsman MacKenzie swung the ship around to bring the stronger shields between them and the Hirogen.

Larrea reported, "Captain, shields are down to sixty percent, they're attempting to lock onto us with a tractor beam."

A torpedo salvo slammed into the ship as the starboard shield collapsed under the plasma onslaught.

"Captain, hull integrity is below seventy-five percent."

"Evasive maneuvers. Polarize the hull."

Wayfarer slipped free of the Hirogen's grip. "Larrea, begin an energy siphon. Tarah, target their shield generator with a high yield salvo."

Tarah programmed the torpedoes' targeting system. "Torpedoes ready, Captain."

Rowan watched her tactical display as the enemy's facing shield dissolved. "Wait for it . . . FIRE!"
"Torpedoes away."

The bright pinpoints slipped into the Hirogen ship's shield perimeter, striking the shield generator and collapsing its already precarious defenses.

"Hard about, ready another salvo."

The Hirogen ship was attempting to flee by this point. But it was too late, Wayfarer sent forth packets of destruction, which ripped the the engineering section of the Hirogen vessel, causing a catastrophic reaction in its warp engines.

Rowan sat back in the Captain's chair in relief. "Computer, stand down from Red Alert. Well, that's one down, how many more?"