A hush fell upon the aide center as a line of uniformed soldiers marched up the street. There were at least fifty in the orderly formation led but an all-black Lupherian in a grey wool uniform. Their boots made a rhythmic click as they approached. Sunlight gleamed off the barrels of their weapons and their polished black boots. Civilians ducked out of their way.

At the edge of the aide center the leader held up a hand and an officer shouted, “Company, halt!” For a long moment, there was silence, only the moans of the injured made a sound. “Bring the prisoners to the front!” the leader shouted.

Several Lupherians from the back peeled away from the formation dragging Starfleet officers clad in teal uniforms. The medical team that had been dispatched to search for survivors within the ruined city.  Dr. Lorsa looked worse for wear. Her Bajoran nose was canted at an odd angle and dried blood streaked across her face. Her uniform was torn and strands of hair were free of the ponytail. The rest of the medical team looked to be in somewhat better condition but they all showed evidence of rough treatment.

“Who is their commander?” the Lupherian leader demanded.

Riandri looked out of the tent and frowned. “Why is it whenever you try to help people this shit always happens?” she muttered under her breath. The heads-up from the Captain had only given her a few seconds to think about possible scenarios before this group had shown up. She glanced over at Dr Haigh, “I may piss them off.” With that, she tapped her combadge, Denver, emergency beam out for Dr Lorsa and her team. They are surrounded by a pack of Luphirians , don’t leave a single one there.”

“Commander, we are unable to get a lock. The radiation from the blast has started to move in your direction preventing the beam out,” came the voice over the combadge. 

“Damnit,” Riandri cursed. She turned to Dr Haigh, “Can you check the radiation levels, we may need some anti-radiation meds shortly.” Lavender tore her intense frown away from the Lupherians and opened her regular tricorder to scan for radiation.

“We’re alright for now,” she said in a low voice, “but not for very long. Let’s make this fast.”

Riandri sighed, “Collins, we have an issue here with the locals, the Captain has reported an assassination attempt on the Alpha and our team. We have a potentially hostile force at the camp who took Dr Lorsa and her team captive. I want your team to provide cover while I have a chat with them. Give me an assessment of your ability to neutralize them quickly.” She paused for a moment, “Will Greymane assist us?”

Collins looked at Greymane if he would give assistance. “Nothing from Greymane, commander. I will take position around them and make ready to take them out.”

Riandri stepped out from the medical team, flanked by two of the tactical team who had remained with her and the doctor. “I am Commander Nalam of the Federation Starship Denver,” she said, her hand resting on the phaser at her hip as she let her annoyance with the situation flare inside her. Beside her, the two officers from the tactical team moved to gain some cover. She stared at the Lupherian leader, “Can you tell me while you attacked my people? People who were here saving the lives of yours at the request of your leaders? Something I would have expected your soldiers to be doing.”

“General Swiftclaw,” the Luphirian leader replied coldly. “You alien invaders are no longer welcome.   You will be purged from our planet along with anyone that invited you into our packs, or gives you aide and comfort… irrespective of rank or position.”

Riandri tilted her head to the side quizzically as she stood completely relaxed, “Alien invader? Far from it General, we have come with no ill intent and are only here to provide aid to your injured and to provide assistance to avoid a similar disaster.” She gestured towards the still-smoking ruins of the city. As she spoke she tried to push a sense of calm and friendship towards the General and his troops. Though she was not well versed in her species abilities at telepathy she had been slowly acquainting herself with them.  She looked past the riled-up General quickly before locking eyes with General Swiftclaw, “Doctor, I hope you and yours are ok? I would very much like to discuss this with civility and respect.”

The General curled back his lips. “Respect? You invade our lands, and sabotage an engine so it explodes so you can weaken us and invade? There will be no respect given when such insult has been issued.  No, there will be no discussion.  Leave our world. You have one hour,  and to ensure you heed my orders we will keep your people prisoner,  and for every 15 minutes past that hour I execute one prisoner. If by two hours all you primates are not gone I will order and airstrike and kill every living organism within two square getron from here.”

“Oh, I see. So a direct threat then? And what reassurances do I have that you won’t hurt any of my people any further? ” she said as she grew tired of the threats, diplomacy had never been her strong suit. “Why do you feel that we have sabotaged your engine? What would we gain from doing so? And why would we invade your world? Space is vast, there is no need for such actions or such pointless loss of like. Ask yourself that General.”

Collins and his unit had moved into position. There was a clear line of sight of Swiftclaw and his troops. He tapped his combadge. “Collins to Riandi. In position. Give the word and we can neutralize them quickly.”

Riandri heard the report through the comms badge and tapped her fingers on her side a couple of times to indicate to Collins and the team to hold for the time being.

Collins received the message and held up his fist to show the team to hold.

Lavender desperately tried to keep her rising fury under control. Being impertinent was one thing, but roughing up her medical staff was quite another. She was stuck between her oath as her Doctor and her responsibility as a head of department, between her gang upbringing and the duty of a Lieutenant Commander. She wanted to go full gang warfare on the soldiers who were holding her staff, but diplomatically that was suicide for what they were trying to achieve and she had to look at the bigger picture. They would need the Luphirians on the side if they were going to help the population. Her small stature wasn’t particularly imposing but her scowl said plenty. She mouthed “It’ll be okay” to Ephe and gave her a reassuring and determined nod as she did so.

“We will not tolerate an invasion without fighting back.” He turned to one of his lieutenants and a moment later one of the engineers that was accompanying the medical team was pushed forward.  They had been assigned to the med teams to access the integrity of the buildings before they entered to look for survivors. 

Ensign Aoife MacKenzie had her hands bound in front of her.  Her curly red mane flew in all directions, her eyes wide in fear.  The Lieutenant kicked her knees out from under her and she crashed to the concrete.  As Aoife groaned in pain the Luphirian lieutenant drew his side arm and fired one shot into Aoife’s back.  She fell limp, blood pooling around her.

“You now have a guarantee that your people WILL  be hurt,” Swiftclaw growled. “I make no promises that I won’t hurt your people further.  You have one hour and I start executing the others as well.”

Riandri didn’t flinch as the shot was fired but rage boiled in her and she had to focus on not pulling her phaser from its holster, “I will not forget this General.” 

Swiftclaw, his fur bristling with tension, simply turned his back on the scene, his sharp eyes scanning the area for any signs of trouble. With a commanding roar, he barked out a series of orders, his Lupherian soldiers falling into formation with military precision. They herded their prisoners before them, the captured individuals casting fearful glances over their shoulders as they were marched back in the direction they had come, the echoes of their captors’ footsteps reverberating through the skeletal walls of a destroyed city.

Riandri gestured to the security officers to move up as she ran to Aoife and called for Dr Haigh. As she pulled out her tricorder she began to scan the young ensign and let out a sigh of relief as it indicated that she was still alive, the bullet had ruptured a lung and grazed her heart. “Damnit,” she swore out loud. Doctor we need you now.”

“I’m here!” Lavender knelt quickly by Aoife, throwing her med-pack open. She checked for responsiveness but the Engineer was unconscious.

“It’s Doctor Haigh, McKenzie, I’m here, okay? I got you,” she said, her voice and her grip equal in their reassuring firmness. She moved quickly, first taking a quick scan to check exactly what injuries the Ensign had, following up with a Hypospray. She manipulated the controls and shot Aiofe with three separate doses.

Fucking savages using projectile weapons… Lavender nearly spoke the words out loud but kept them to herself as she assessed what to treat first.

Riandri watched the doctor work before turning to look up where she expected Collins’ and his team to be before tapping her combadge, “Collins, get down here. We need to get our people back and need a plan.”

Without waiting for a reply she connected to Denver, “Nalam to Denver, Ensign MacKenzie has wounded. Have you been able to sort out the transporter issue? We could do with a beam out for her or more boots on the ground.”

“Not yet for your location,” Rebecca replied stain in her voice. “The Knights are in your area. I’ll dispatch Ming to your location.”

“I appreciate that. We have encountered a hostile ground force and they have taken Dr. Lorsa’s medical team captive and are threatening to kill them one-by-one if we don’t pull back. I only have a handful of security staff down here and I will not leave them with the Lupherians,” Riandri said as she continued to stare in the direction the crew was taken.

“We’re getting our people out of there. I’ll dispatch shuttles and runabout to pick up our people and any injured Lupherians.  We’re here to help so I don’t want to just abandon those we are actually helping.  As for the prisoners let’s hope evacuation satisfies the rebel contingent. I won’t put more lives at risk nor will I fight a civil war for the Luphirians.”

“Understood Captain. Can you send a couple of sets of pattern enhancers down with the first shuttle? I haven’t checked the numbers yet but with luck, they may be able to cut through the interference so we can get our team out if needed.”

“I’ll send some down with one of the shuttles.”

Collins and his team raced back to Riandri’s position. “I saw him kill her! I had him in my sights and I should have fired and ended his life.” He stood before her. “I swear that he will pay for what he did, commander.”

“She is alive,” Riandri said, “I told you to hold, and you followed the orders. He intended to do this from the get-go but we have to make plans.” She turned and looked in the direction the prisoners had been taken, “We will them back.”

“If I get him in my sights, I will kill him.” Collins posted security around their position in case of another attack.

Riandri put a hand on his shoulder, “Let’s get our people back first and then go from there. The Captain is right, we cannot fight a civil war here.”