Battle of Andoria The Battle of Andoria was a conflict fought on the outskirts of the Andorian system in 2154 . Long - standing tensions between the Vulcan s and Andorian s escalated into this incident , which involved an attempted preemptive strike by the Vulcan High Command against Andoria . The battle had political repercussions in not only 2154 but also throughout the later half of the 2150s . Prelude . In 2154 , when the Vulcan High Command learned of the Andorian attempt to steal the second Xindi weapon prototype , Administrator V ' Las convinced the High Command that the Andorians were planning to use the prototype to augment their fleet and to create a weapon of mass destruction to use against – conveniently neglecting to mention that the weapon had been destroyed before the Andorians could make use of it . He proposed that a preemptive strike be mounted to decisively end the threat before it started . For the preemptive strike against Andoria , the Vulcans secretly amassed a fleet of twelve Vulcan cruisers near Regulus , a star outside the range of Andorian listening posts , while using probes to project false warp signature s near Paan Mokar . The Andorians were fooled into believing the Vulcans intended to retake the system and committed the bulk of their fleet there . The plan was for the Vulcan fleet to cross the border quickly and , with the element of surprise , quickly capture Andoria , with minimal loss of life on both sides . However , the Earth starship , informed by Vulcan Ambassador Soval of V ' Las ' plans , sought out Commander Shran to warn him of the incursion . Shran told Soval that the Vulcan attack would only be met with a massive Andorian counter - strike . The Andorians were only able to gather six warships at the outskirts of the Andorian system to face the Vulcan fleet , with " Enterprise " joining them in hopes of preventing war . The combined fleet of " Enterprise " , four Andorian warship s , and two smaller Andorian cruiser s faced off against the twelve approaching Vulcan cruisers : four large Vulcan cruisers and eight light support craft . The Andorians were outnumbered two to one , with Andorian reinforcements not due for hours . However , the combined fleet held its ground , depriving the High Command of an easy victory . The battle . In the moments before the battle began , " Enterprise " commander ordered his ship between the two fleets in attempt to buy the Andorians some time . Tucker contacted the Vulcan High Command to inform V ' Las that the Andorians , and Starfleet , were aware of what the Vulcans were planning to do , and recommended that the Vulcan fleet stand down . Undeterred by the empty threat made by Tucker , V ' Las warned " Enterprise " to stay out of the way lest it be fired upon , which Tucker flatly refused to do – since Andoria had come through for Earth in its hour of need a few months before , believing that , with the roles reversed , he owed Andoria nothing less . After making his intentions clear , V ' Las cut off communications and ordered his ships to engage the Andorian fleet . The Vulcan ships commenced opening fire on the Andorian fleet , and within seconds the " Enterprise " found itself caught in the crossfire when phaser fire from one of the Andorian ships hit the ship . As " Enterprise " attempted to maneuver out of the line of fire , its sensor s detected that one of the Andorian warships was in trouble ; its warp reactor had been hit . With a Vulcan cruiser heading towards the Andorian ship , Tucker ordered to have " Enterprise " fire on the cruiser to draw its attention away from the Andorians . This fact was relayed back to the High Command , whose response was to have the Earth ship destroyed . The Vulcan cruiser targeted " Enterprise " and opened fire on the Earth ship . " Enterprise " attempted to perform evasive maneuvers , and returned fire , only to find that it was unable to penetrate the cruiser ' s shields . Just as " Enterprise " began to be overwhelmed by the cruiser ' s weapon fire , an Andorian warship , the " Kumari " , intervened and drew the Vulcan attack back to the Andorians . As the battle waged on , the Vulcans continued to target the " Kumari " and " Enterprise " . Before long , " Enterprise " found itself on its own , and nearly removed as a threat by the Vulcans , who managed to take out " Enterprise " s hull plating , disabling its photonic torpedo launcher s and helm control , and causing a hull breach on G - deck . Just as the reality of the situation appeared grim for " Enterprise " , the Vulcan attack on the ship ceased . The battle was over , ending with the withdrawal of the Vulcan fleet . Revelation and political upheaval on Vulcan . Meanwhile , on Vulcan , the High Command was monitoring the battle . Minister Kuvak urged V ' Las to halt the attack , as even though they were currently winning the battle , they had completely lost the element of surprise and were now facing heavy casualties for both sides in a protracted conflict . V ' Las dismissed this out of hand saying " " We ' re already committed . " " When Kuvak went on to protest that none of the Andorian vessels were outfitted with the Xindi weaponry that V ' Las had used as justification for the preemptive strike , but with standard weaponry only , V ' Las ordered his guards to hold Kuvak at gunpoint , and shoot if he attempted to intervene again . Shran and Tucker were on the edge of destruction , when Captain Jonathan Archer and the Syrrannite T ' Pau transported to the High Command and entered with the Kir ' Shara , the original writings of Surak . V ' Las had already dismissed the artifact as a myth , but T ' Pau and Archer ( guided by the " katra " of Surak ) were determined that it would reveal the original teachings of Surak from which the High Command under V ' Las had strayed . Kuvak , who , upon noticing that his guard ' s attention was now focused on Archer and T ' Pau , had been able to incapacitate him and take his weapon ( V ' Las attempted to have another High Command member call security , but when told not to by Kuvak , the councilor chose to obey the order given with a gun to back it up ) argued that the possibility that it was indeed the Kir ' shara should at least be analyzed , but V ' Las dismissed the evidence right in front of him , and insisted that the artifact had to be destroyed . Before V ' Las could destroy the Kir ' Shara , Kuvak stunned him , then contacted the fleet commander and ordered the fleet to withdraw , ending the battle . Aftermath . Although from a tactical standpoint the Battle of Andoria was interrupted and indecisive , the political repercussions were greater than most that had occurred in the past century :