Scott was pacing the length of the small room he was in, with Lieutenant Commander O’Donnell watching him pensively. He stopped and looked up for a moment when he heard a sound outside the door, but resumed after the sound had moved on. It has been two days since their run-in with the Vaadwaur and the Emerald Razor. Two days since he and this half of his senior staff had hatched a plan to destroy the ship in orbit. They had established the need to return to the Leif Erikson, to rendezvous with Garion, Sriarr and Ezra. Scott had hoped they had made progress in breaking through the comms, but there had been no word.

Dathasa, the Fenris Ranger with whom the Erikson crew had temporarily allied, had told Scott to wait here as she knew some people who would want to help, but Scott was getting tired of waiting around. He wanted to be back on his ship where things were familiar, and under his control. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of more footsteps on the rickety wooden deck that jutted from the front of this makeshift structure. The door banged open, and Dathasa swept inside, trailed by four others. 

“I’ve brought some good news, Captain.” she said, holding up an arm to present the four other bodies now crammed into the tiny room. “These captains are here to help us. This man is Captain Matthew Winters. He flies The Ellinor. Civilian Transport.” A squat man with a ruddy face and thinning hair stepped forward to shake Scott’s hand. “This” Dathasa continued, is Stephanie Howe, who commands The Hawkins.” 

“How do you do, Captain?” said the tall, lithe woman as she also stepped forward.  Scott took her hand in turn. 

“And the last two?” Scott asked with a raised eyebrow. 

“This is Captain of The Arve Prince, Douglas Lowrey. It’s a bulk freighter that operates between here and Fenris, mostly. This last one,” she said, beckoning forward an imposing Andorain Man with a heavily scarred face, “ is Tholak. He’s a fellow Ranger who is looking for some revenge himself.” 

“Thanks for your help, Ranger.” Scott said, taking the man’s rough blue hand into his own. “The first step is getting to our ship. It’s pretty far west of here, in the valley.”

“You’ll come with me.” said Tholak, “Unlike Dathasa’s ship, mine can take passengers. She will run cover for us as we escape. These three will join us at the shared coordinates before we go any further.”

“Sounds good to me, Tholak.” Scott replied, with a curt nod. “When will you be ready to leave?”

“As soon as you are packed, Captain.” Tholak replied. He then turned swiftly, and walked back out of the room.  Scott and Vail gathered their things quickly and found Tom and Bema.

“You gentlemen have five minutes to collect your things and meet us back here. We are going back to the ship tonight. With any luck, we should have a solid plan by tomorrow.” The pair took off in a hurry, and made it back with time to spare. They then met up with Tholak, who brought them to his ship. It was small and sleek, and there was not much room for them once they all got sat down, Scott taking the co-pilot’s chair. 

“This is going to be fast, and it’s going to be dangerous. The Vaadwaur are watching the ports.” Tholak said, strapping himself into his seat. Scott and his crew followed suit as Tholak warmed up the engines. Once everyone was ready, he raised the ship up out of its berth, and slammed the throttle forward, forcing everyone into their seats. “Keep and eye on that scope, Captain, Make sure no one is following us.” 

“I wish I had good news.” Scott said leaning over the console, “Looks like they have seen us. We’ve got three on our tail.” 

“Is that all?” Tholak asked with a chuckle, “I thought there would be more.” He pushed some buttons on the console, and the sound of phaser fire could be heard from inside the compartment. “Automated defenses.” he said, giving Scott a wry smile and forcing the ship upwards into the clouds.  “They should make it hard enough for them to follow, hopefully they’ll give up eventually.”

“If they don’t?” Vail asked from the back. 

“We’ve got backup.” Tholak said, pointing to the scope Scott was looking at. Scott looked down and noticed a fourth blip, which showed up as Hecate. “That’s Dathasa’s ship. Between the two of us, we should be able to handle these ships.” Scott watched as Dathasa moved up on one of the blips, and it disappeared from the scope. 

A few bolts rocked the ship, and Bema grabbed the edges of his seat. “How’s it coming up there?” he asked trying to keep his voice calm.
“A little rocky, but we are hanging on.” Scott replied from the co-pilot’s seat. Tholak was pushing and pulling at the controls, tossing and pitching the small ship up and down, ducking and weaving to escape the Vaadwaur ships. Another volley hit the ship, and a warning klaxon began to sound from the pilot’s console. 

“That’s not good.” Tholak said, his hands flying across the console to run a diagnostic. “The bastards are sharp. They took out the automation in the rear phasers. Captain, you’ll have to fire them manually.” 

“It’s been a while.” Scott said, “Let’s see if I still have it.” He tapped some buttons on the console, and a tactical screen showed up, with a rearward view of the ship on a small viewer. He watched it as one of the Vaawaur fighters came into view, and fired the phasers. The shot missed, flying over the Vaadwaur ship as it ducked back out of view. Another one came in, and Scott fired again. One of the phaser bolts slammed into the front of the fighter, and it careened out of sight, smoking badly. Tholak pulled back hard on the controls, and his ship bolted upwards, thorugh the clouds, before looping back down. The Vaadaur fighter, however, was much smaller and faster, and was able to stay on the ships tail. More bolts rocked the ship, and the warning klaxons sounded again. Tholak’s fingers flew across the console, trying to keep up with the warning lights that had began to flash.
“The aft shields are down to ten percent.” Tholak said, “They will not take many more hits. Can you do something about that?”

Scott nodded, and watched the viewscreen for the remaining Vaadwaur ship. It popped in and out of view, Scott fired a shot each time, but the Vaadwaur was proving too quick for the ship. Scott watched as Dathasa’s much more agile fighter snuck in behind the Vaadwaur fighter, then the small Vaadwaur ship exploded on the viewer, and the Hecate flew through the cloud of smoke and debris. “This way.” Scott said, pointing off towards two mountain ranges in the distance. Tholak faced the ship in that direction, and after a short flight, they flew over the Leif Erikson, setting the ship down a short distance away. Scott, Bema and the other two leapt from their seats and ran towards the ship. 

Garion and Ezra were waiting under the shadow of the saucer, carrying Type III phasers and looking ready for a fight as the four ran up to them. Scott called as he got close, and Garion lowered his rifle.

“Scott!” Garion called back, meeting his old friend and catching him in hug. “Took you long enough. We’ve been hoping you were alright. What is happening in the city?”
“They’re called the Vaadwaur. They’re rounding up people to take to labor camps.” Scott said, panting slightly. “There’s a ship in orbit, and they’re blocking communication.”

“We know that part” Garion said, pointing a finger at Scott. “We’ve been trying to get messages to you for a couple days now.” 

“We’re going to have to get into orbit to get through the comms blockade, I think.” Bema said, catching up. “Then we can send a message to Starfleet, and let them know the Vaadwaur have started an invasion.”

“We’ve got a plan to free the people they’ve taken, but we’re going to need your help, Garion.” Scott said

“What can I do?” Garion asked.

“We have a bulk freighter that’s agreed to help us. We need you to modify their transporters to transport live people.” Scott told him.

“Alright, I’ll make it happen.” Garion replied.

“Perfect, let’s get airborne.” Scott said finally, striding off towards the ship.