Doctor Phoebe Andrianakis, looked up towards the entity known as Helgeshran; though whether that was its true name, she wasn’t sure.  It was the name it used; the name everyone seemed to chant in perfect unison as their minds were taken over.  It was as chilling as the Borg, collectively informing you that ‘Resistance’ was futile.  Well the bad news for them, was that it hadn’t been and nor would it be now.  She still held Lieutenant Jason Devron in her arms, having just used her powers to heal a number of injuries he’d sustained. “You really expect me to join you in destroying this Universe?” She yelled.

“Not destroyed, reshaped.” The entity replied.  “Together we can create a perfect Universe.”

“Perfect for who?” The doctor scoffed.

“Who, but the greatest and most worthy!” Helgeshran boomed; his voice reverberating off the rocky cliff behind him.

“You do know I’m here to stop you, don’t you?” Asked Andrianakis; standing up.

“The mighty Q Continuum; too scared to face me themselves.”  Helgeshran laughed.  “So they send you instead; as a sacrifice to their pathetic vanity.”

The entity did have a point; why was she here?  Surely the Q had the power to defeat him? The mask of bravery wavered for a moment, as she looked into those cold eyes.  All the meditation and training, thanks to Commander Salan, now seemed pointless.  She looked down at Jason.  “I’m sorry.” She whispered.

“She’s sorry.”  Helgeshran mocked.  “Sorry for behind a pathetic puppet to the Continuum.  Sorry she’s going to get you killed.”

A powerful bolt of energy, like a swirling mass of electricity leapt from the Entities hand; bridging the gap between them in seconds.  The ball of raw power struck and invisible barrier; crackled, sparked and dissipated.  Helgeshran tried twice more, resulting in much the same outcome.  Even though the force-field she’d hastily created to protect herself and Jason was working, Phoebe knew, just standing here wasn’t going to help anyone.  But as she attempted to summon her own weapon to fight back with, the entities fourth bolt made her stagger backwards.  He was getting stronger, as this world moved further into the Universe his influence and power grew stronger as more minds came within his grasp.

Andrianakis unleashed a glowing orb of energy towards the entity; it struck the two metre tall figure, full in the chest.  Helgeshran just laughed again and sent the doctor flying through the air.  She crashed heavy onto the ground, feeling the pain race through her right arm, like a hot knife.  Phoebe knew that even without relying on her medical training that her Ulna was broken from the impact.  She winced and gasped for breath, as a looming shadow cast itself across the ground.

Helgeshran stopped, the doctor couldn’t understand why; though it was like his attention had been drawn towards something else.  She took that moment to raise a rock from the ground with her mind and hurl it at his head with tremendous force.  The rock struck home and the entity actually staggered; Phoebe had actually caused the thing physical pain.

However it was not enough to prevent him from creating a mass of swirling energy between his outstretched hands.  Andrianakis fully expected it to be flung straight at her; so was surprised when the glowing fireball was sent streaking across the sky.  Her eyes followed the object as it raced towards some unseen target, a sense of dread rising in the pit of her stomach.

She could feel the presence of so many minds around her, minds that seemed no long linked to his, as if some outside force was attempting to block any connection, prevented both her and the Entity from focusing on any particular mind or know who it belonged to.  In an instant; several of those minds ceased to be.  Lives snuffed out in the wink of an eye.  Then the flash of light far up into the sky; indicating an explosion of some sort.  Moments  later an object came hurtling from the heavens, trailing smoke and flame as it went;  slamming itself into a distant hillside and spreading fire and twisted wreckage across the barren rocks.

“Your friends are all dead!” The entity laughed at her.  “I have destroyed their ship and taken their lives.  This is your last chance to join me.  You cannot defeat me.”

“Want to bet on it?”  Yelled Devron as he launched himself at Helgeshran, in what was basically a Rugby tackle.  The two individuals hit the ground and rolled, as the Lieutenant attempted to rain blow after blow on the Entity.

For a moment it looked like Jason was getting the upper hand, surprise had been completely on his side and Helgeshran had been totally unprepared for a physical assault from an individual he’d largely been ignoring these past few minutes.  Jason however felt himself rising into the air, his kicks and punches no longer hitting their intended targets.

He could feel an energy field around him; no, in fact he could feel two opposing forces acting against each other.  One was the entity attempting to throw him through the air, the other, Andrianakis holding him firmly.  A bolt of energy from nowhere, stuck the doctor in the chest; had she been standing, it would have knocked her to the ground.  At any rate it should have killed her, or at least killed any normal human.  It did however break her hold on Jason; whose body was sent catapulting over the edge of the cliff into oblivion.

Her scream was loud, louder than any single individual could ever possible hope to make.  It was a gut wrenching inhuman scream, a noise the likes of which, had never been heard before.  It even made Helgeshran cover his ears and screw up his face.

The Borg drone; only survivor of a scout ship that had found its way into Harpers Rift and the hidden Universe beyond, had not served the Entity long, but had served him well.  It had fired at the doctor; protecting its new master, as it always did and was just about to fire again, when the scream froze its movements.  Phoebe’s anger and rage focused itself on the drone just a few metres away from her.

One moment it stood there; a mix of cybernetics and flesh; then like a sandcastle kicked over by an unruly child in anger, the drone simply disintegrated into minute particles; dropping to the ground or swirling away in the breeze.  Where this breeze had suddenly picked up from, she wasn’t sure; it wasn’t of her creation and seemed nothing to do with the Entity either.  It was building, along with a distant rumble from behind her.

She rose like a demon from the depths of hell; all 90 metres of her.  Rising parallel with the cliffs, nose pointing towards them a mere arms span away; the USS Jaxartes came into view just over the doctors left shoulder, as in crested the rocky ledge.  Helgeshran stood transfixed, unable to believe that the ship was still in one piece, let alone pointing its weapons directly at him.  He was so sure that he had destroyed the ship.

With a whine and a hum of static, the Raven-class corvette unleased the full force of a Type IX Phaser Array at point blank range.  The Entity struck the rocks, with enough force to fracture the cliff face and dislodge several large sections that fell about him.  But the Jaxartes didn’t let up its onslaught, firing again, before Helgeshran had a chance to recover.

Doctor Andrianakis stood up, ignoring the relentless barrage of Phaser fire passing right by her head.  Closing her eyes, the young Greek woman blotted out all external sounds and influences as she focused her mind.  A transparent bubble of energy expanded around her body and spread out to also encapsulate the Entity.  Within the bubble all time stopped. Her last words were for the Vulcan Commander only.

“Lead the Pelcaza to safety, there is a gateway to Vashran within the cave system. Hurry, I can only hold time for so long. It has been such a wonderful experience knowing you all.”