Chapter Text
The Battle in Space
Valley Forge
“We’re taking a pounding, Sir.” Commander Zheren exclaimed as the Valley Forge shuddered under the impact of a barrage of weapons fire from the Terran Exeter.
“Divert power to shields and strengthen the structural integrity fields.” Captain Magnussen ordered as the Constitution-class cruiser’s phaser beams struck true, damaging the Terran’s port nacelle.
“That had to hurt ‘em.” Lieutenant Commander Michaels whooped as the Valley Forge followed up with a spread of photon torpedoes only to have the Terrans successfully intercept them with phaser fire.
“They’re not beaten yet, Jeff.” Soren cautioned as he turned to his communications officer, “What’s the status of the D’ressa and Bellerophon, Layla?”
“They took out their oppo and are moving to engage with the cruiser.” The chestnut-haired communications officer responded.
“That Monbosh is moving now.” Michaels called out. “Some of its support craft are preparing to engage the Belladonna, the rest are concentrating on the Klothos.”
“Remind me to learn how to play bridge sometime.” Soren chuckled as he witnessed the Iceman’s scheme begin to bear fruit, “Signal the Aeolia. Tell Chris it’s time.”
USS Aeolia
“I see the Monbosh has finally committed.” Chris Hobson commented as he noticed the large Elachi battleship move towards the Valley Forge and D’ressa while two of its support craft peeled off to deal with the Belladonna and Klothos.
“Aye, Sir.” Commander Rysyl affirmed, “Electromagnetic pulse probe and sub nucleonic carrier wave ready on your orders.”
“Treasure?”
“Diagnostics are all in the green, Captain. We’re ready when you are.” The chief engineer responded from her station in engineering.
“Cloaked ship just went to warp.” Velen, the Denobulan science officer, reported from his science station.
“That would be our friends in the Tal Shi’ar.” Captain Hobson surmised as he stroked his chin.
“Do you think our landing parties flushed them out?” Anara inquired as she read the latest reports on her display.
“That would be a likely assumption.” The fastidious captain replied, “But you know what they say about assumptions.”
“They make an Ass out of U and Me.” Shalev bantered from the helm, receiving in return a cough from his captain. “Sir.”
“Not an inaccurate statement, Lieutenant.” The captain replied, cautioning, “One should always keep in mind the risks in overbidding, Mr. Shalev.”
“Captain?” Lieutenant Commander T’Pren called out from her tactical station. “Valley Forge says it’s time.”
“Very good, T’Pren.” Chris replied, maintaining his outward exterior of calm. “Inform the other captains to stand ready. Commander Rysyl…” the unflappable captain turned to his Deltan XO, “…carry out the plan on my mark...” After receiving acknowledgements from the other captains in the fleet, Hobson exhaled, “Now.”
Inside the base: Donkey and Donna
“Take this.” Donkey said as he took one of the rifles and handed his companion the dead Terran’s phaser. “Fire it by pressing that button but be careful what you’re shooting at. It doesn’t look like much, but it packs a punch.”
Looking down at the fallen Elachi, Donna barely kept herself from retching. “What the hell is that?”
“Damn if I know.” The gunnery chief replied, “Ugly son of a bitch though.”
“Yeah.” Donna agreed before commenting, “I think I saw those aliens…the ones with the pointed ears…before.” After pausing for several moments while she wracked her brain, she suddenly exclaimed, recalling, “Now I know where I saw them! It was on a special Emily Wong did that I caught on the extranet. They were the same as those aliens that just opened up a consulate on the Citadel…Romulans!”
“I saw the same thing on Westerlund News.” Donkey recollected. “Khalisah Al-Jilani—you know—the reporter who interviewed that woman from this so-called Federation?” As his partner nodded in response, the Alliance marine continued, “She was warning us about them sounding too good to be true. I guess she was right.”
“Maybe.” Donna cautiously concurred, “So, what do we do now?”
“Right now…” Donkey decided as he weighed his options, “We go back and rescue the others and then we link up with the Alliance marines who are probably looking for us.”
“What about if it’s not the Alliance that’s attacking?”
“Shoot first and ask questions later if they’re not wearing Alliance colors.” Donkey commanded, “Understood?”
Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Donna replied, “I understand.”
“All right…let’s get the hell out of here.”
Shelana’s team
“The prisoners should be up ahead.” Shelana whispered to the three women close to her. “What are you picking up Rana?”
“Nausicaans and humans ahead.” The asari whispered as she scanned the area with her tricorder. “I’m also picking up on several humans and two unknown lifeforms close together.”
“Probably the prisoners.” Jessica murmured. “Their guards will be under cover and waiting. They’ll also have one or two near the cells with orders to kill the prisoners, so we’re going to have to move quick and hit ‘em hard.”
“Right.” Shelana commanded, “You all know the drill. Edi. I need you to set up a quantum mortar to shake them up and detonate any mines they’ve laid. Rana…hit ‘em with a sonic pulse to knock ‘em back and disorient them and then be ready to use those biotics of yours. Nealo…take out any targets you can get in your scope.”
“Jessica…”
“I’ll lay down some smoke grenades.” The redheaded Valley Forge tactical officer interrupted as Edi fabricated the mortar. “That should cover us while we charge in. Ready?”
Nodding her head, the Andorian tactical officer gave the signal, ‘Go!”
Edi’s mortar fired off two rounds, the first round detonating a mine field in front of the enemy fireteam hunkered behind a cover shield. Rana then struck, her sonic pulse stunning a pair of Nausicaans as it also shattered the cover.
“Now, Jessica!”
On cue, Jessica lobbed a smoke grenade as Nealo locked the sights of his phaser sniper rifle on a Terran officer, firing just as the smoke filled the chamber. Moving quickly, they charged through the smoke, Rana biotically throwing one Nausicaan against a bulkhead as another fired his disruptor, hitting one of the Valley Forge security officers.
“That’s for Matthew, you son of a bitch!” Jessica cursed as she fired her phaser, killing the mercenary who had just slain her teammate.
Spotting another Nausicaan taking aim at Shelana, Edi activated her decoy function, creating a duplicate of herself close to the pirate, distracting him long enough for the AI to fire her phaser, bringing him down.
“Shit!” Shelana swore as she spied a Terran officer reaching for a button on his console. Not even pausing in her charge, the Andorian woman fired her weapon, disintegrating the officer just before he could press the button.
“That was the last of them.” Jessica announced as her Andorian compatriot caught her breath. Approaching the console, the redheaded security officer heaved a sigh of relief, “You stopped him just in time. He was about to flood the cell with a neural neutralizer/hyperonic radiation cocktail. The concentration was strong enough to kill them instantly and the hyperonic radiation would have been a rotten way to go.”
“Who did we lose?” Shelana asked, as Edi and Rana joined the pair.
“Kristof and Matthews were killed in the melee.” Edi replied, her voice tone reflecting what seemed to be one of regret.
“Nealo and the others are okay and are guarding the corridor.” Rana announced as her eyes fell on the prisoners in their cells. “A quarian and a turian? We’re going to need to replicate dextro- food and drink for them.”
“We need to check up on them first…make sure they’re okay.” Shelana declared as she tapped her comm badge. “Spoiled Princess. Team Blue reporting. Objective secured. Checking on the prisoners now.”
“Affirmative.” Nelia responded, “We’re going to have to return to the fight.”
“Understood.” Shelana responded, “Take care of yourselves.” Approaching the prisoners along with her companions, Shelana muttered in a low voice, “Shit.” Tapping her comm badge, she called out, “Team Blue to Team Red. We’ve secured the prisoners and we have a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” Ashley replied through the comm.
“Some of them are children.” The Andorian tactical officer reported, “Human. Approximately ten to fifteen years old.”
“Understood. We’re on our way to the labs and then command and control. How secure are you?”
“We’re safe. Nealo and S’kor are standing watch.”
“Losses?”
”We lost two—Kristoff and Matthews, and all of us have our share of bruises and grazes.” Shelana reported gloomily.
“Don’t blame yourself, Shels.” Ashley consoled, “We knew going into this we were going to take losses.”
“I know. Shelana replied with a sigh, “It comes with the territory and the red uniform. But it sucks when you lose people you were drinking with a couple of nights earlier—you know.”
“Yeah.” The former marine responded, “I feel you. When we get back to Drozana, we’re both getting shitfaced—my treat—deal?”
“Deal. Team Blue out.”
“Team Red Out.”
As the strangers approached their cell, the prisoners stood up. Noticing at once the strange uniforms, Captain Forrester, taking the lead, demanded, “Who are you?”
Recognizing the fear in the eyes of the grey-haired man who had confronted her and of the other prisoners—especially the children who were being protectively shielded by the two aliens, Shelana took a gentle conciliatory approach. Speaking in a soothing tone of voice, the Andorian tactical officer introduced herself and the rest of her team. “I’m Lieutenant Shelana and this is Lieutenant Rana Thanoptis, our medic…” the asari scientist, wearing her blue minidress, stepped forward “and this is Edi from USS Spoiled Princess. The other officers are Lieutenant Jessica Simpson from USS Valley Forge, Lieutenants Nealo Mtolo and S’kor, along with additional security from the Belladonna and Valley Forge. They are watching the corridor outside. We’re from Starfleet and we’re here to help you.”
“Starfleet?” Captain Forrester questioned, “You’re not from the Alliance or the Citadel?”
“No.” Shelana shook her head, “We’re from the United Federation of Planets. We found out that prisoners were being held here and are part of a rescue taskforce along with the Klingon Empire and Romulan Republic.”
“You’re from the other universe, aren’t you?” A female wearing what seemed to be an environmental suit spoke, her voice filtered by a vocalizer.
“Yes.” Shelana confirmed, her lips turning up in a slight smile, “Although from our perspective, you’re the ones from another universe.”
“But you’re asari?” The female alien declared, pointing to Rana.
“Yes I am, I arrived in this universe over two years ago with a friend of mine. Please believe us…we’re here to help you.”
“You killed the people who were about to kill us.” Captain Forrester, finally introducing himself, declared, “That automatically scores you points in my book.” He then asked, “Can you tell me who the people were who were keeping us prisoner?”
“We’ll answer all your questions.” Shelana answered back reassuringly, “But first, we need to see to any injuries you might have. I’m going to lower the forcefield keeping you in your cell, then Dr. Thanoptis is going to check you all out…okay?”
“Thanks.” Forrester agreed, “Our doctor’s still unconscious. Is your medic set up to handle turians and quarians?”
“Basic first aid only right now, I’m afraid.” Rana apologized to the quarian and turian women as Shelana lowered the shield. “We’ll have to wait until we can get you into a sickbay to properly take care of dextro species, but can you tell me if you’re hurt.”
“No. I’m not hurt.” The turian woman haltingly responded, the quarian nodding her head in agreement.
“We’re fine for now.” The quarian assured, “Please…see to the children first.”
“Are you the only ones from that freighter?” Shelana asked as Rana went to work on the prisoners, starting with the children.
“No.” Forrester shook his head. “They took most of the passengers and my crew. Like I said, Doc’s over there in that rack still sleeping off whatever they hit him with.”
“He probably got stunned by a phaser or something similar.” Rana said as she quickly rushed to him and ran a medical diagnostic scanner over him. Nodding her head, she affirmed, “Yeah…he got tagged by a heavy stun setting from a phaser.” Taking out a hypospray she injected him with it. “I gave him something for the pain. Best thing for him now is to just sleep it off. Other than a headache and maybe some muscle pains, he’ll be okay when he wakes up.”
“What about the rest of the crew?” Shelana asked.
A worried frown on his face, Captain Forrester replied, “They said something about taking them in for ‘processing’—whatever that means.”
“They also took my husband, Lorrin.” The turian woman sobbed, “You haven’t seen him—have you?”
“I’m sorry.” Jessica shook her head as she moved to comfort the desolate woman, “We’ve got people on the station looking for him and anyone else.”
“They also took an Alliance marine—Gunnery Chief Donald Keys, and my purser, Donna Welles.” Forrester interjected adding in a grave tone of voice, “Oh…” he added in a worried tone, “They took a krogan mercenary who was a passenger too. We were all knocked out at the time, but I think they took Orinia’s husband and the krogan first.”
“Shit.” Rana swore as she saw to her patients, “That’s all we need—a fucking krogan in full blood rage.” Calling out to the Andorian team leader the asari geneticist cautioned, “Shels! Better clue Ash and the others in that there might be a krogan on the loose and he’s probably not going to be in a good mood!”
“Done!” Shelana responded as a young human boy attracted Rana’s attention.
“Ma’am?”
“Yes?” Rana replied with a smile.
“My Momma would tell you that you’ve got a potty mouth.”
“Yeah.” The asari’s smile widened, “I guess I do. You can blame my friends. Now…let’s give you a quick checkup.”
“Will it hurt?”
As she ran her diagnostic scanner over the youth, Rana replied, “Nope. All done. You’re in perfect health.”
“Cool!”
Turning her gaze to a teenage girl, the asari medic smiled, “You’re next.”
Ashley
“You all heard that. Besides the other passengers and crew, we’ve got a turian, an Alliance marine, and a krogan to keep an eye out for. The marine’s liable to shoot first—ask questions later, so for now put your weapons on heavy stun.”
“What about the turian and the krogan?” Twesata asked as she and the others on the team adjusted their weapons.
“Heavy stun should work on the turian—provided they haven’t done anything ugly to him—the krogan and the turian are the ones who’ve been absent the longest.” Ashley replied with a grimace, “As for the krogan…we’re going to have to hit him hard and hope like hell that he stays down long enough so that we can get him into a secure area before his redundancies kick in. Otherwise…” she shook her head, “we might not have a choice. Any other questions?”
“Nope.” Salome responded, answering for the others, “We’re ready when you are.”
“All right.” Ashley took a deep breath as she once again channeled a certain Spectre, “Move out!”