[Bridge]

Aakon tugged at his uniform as he sat. They’d arrived at the edge of the Typhon Expanse three hours ago and had been lurching from nav point to nav point as they did their best at avoiding the worse the Expanse had to offer. 

The ship shuddered as it dropped out of warp yet again. “You all really are making me earn my pay today; especially considering I’m not actually getting paid.” Talnot muttered. “We’re close enough to C221 that I would rather proceed at impulse. Warp drive is going to hinder us this deep in the Expanse.”

“How long until we reach C221?”

“At full impulse we’ll get there in around 8 minutes.” The Bajoran helmsman turned to look at Aakon. “Provided the expanse doesn’t cause any nav issues.”

Aakon turned to Maria. “Anything on sensors?”

“Plenty.” She tapped a few buttons to put up the sector scan on the viewscreen. It was a chaotic mess of icons and text. “The Expanse is a mess, which we already knew, but this deep? It’s a nightmare for navigation and sensors. Whoever made the decision to stick a classified research station here knew what they were doing.”

Broska leaned back in her chair, studying the map on the viewscreen. Science was never her strong suit but getting slotted into the command track has at least exposed her to more science minded situations. “Any Vaadwaur ships in the area?”

Maria sighed. “I don’t think so, it’s hard to tell. My team is currently recalibrating the sensor pallet to boost resolution in this sector of the Expanse. We pretty much have to go sector by sector out here. C221 is also inside a nebula; it’s small and pretty benign but it’s just another layer of fun added to this very messy cake.”

“Plenty of spots to hide in.” Offered Jackson. “I recommend moving to alert status; chances are something is lurking.”

“Why would anyone want to take all the effort to get out here in the first place, much less lurk around?” Maria turned to the console to her left. “Caution is warranted but I see no signs of enemy activity.”

“The station’s routine uplink was cut off for a reason.” Offered K’Vevka. “The Blackout didn’t cut off this area of space from DS17; they went silent for a reason.”

Izzy glanced at Aakon. “I agree. Something made C221 go dark right after the invasion began. There is plenty of natural protection from sensors out here; no reason to go completely dark.”

Aakon sighed; it was a valid point. “I agree. Red Alert. Raise shields, bring weapons online.”

The Bridge immediately shifted to dark lighting; red lights beginning to pulse in time with the klaxon.

“Shields up, weapons armed.”

Izzy turned to Jackson. “Deploy security teams to all decks. Open the armories and have the crew arm themselves with hand phasers.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Aakon turned to Izzy, a puzzled expression on his face. “That’s a bit out of norm, Commander.”

Izzy shrugged. She didn’t know anything about the Vaadwaur aside from what little the computer had on the topic from Janeway’s logs but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they’d board the ship in a heartbeat if needed. “Just a hunch, sir. If they’ve taken the station then I don’t doubt they’d try the same thing with us.”

She watched as Aakon’s eyes turned downward, a resigned expression crossing his face. “Here’s to hoping your hunch is wrong, Commander.”

“We’re entering visual range for C221.”

Aakon stood from his chair, taking a few steps forward. “On screen.”

The viewscreen shifted slightly, intermittent bits of static popping up as the sensors struggled to overcome the interference of the region. C221 sat right in the middle of the screen; a brown box in space with few windows and even fewer docking ports. If you had told anyone it was a highly classified research outpost they likely would have laughed at you.

“Sir.” There was an edge of Izzys voice.

His gaze shifted to the left edge of the viewscreen. A small vessel sat motionless off to the side of the station.

“Mr. Rutledge?”

“Unknown vessel configuration but the vessel warp signature does match the Vaadwaur signatures we have on record. I read two lifeforms and two energy cannons along with a torpedo launcher. Their shields are up.” He let out a soft sigh of relief. “Provided they are alone, we have the ability to hold our own.” 

“Hail them K’Vevka.” 

The Andorian opened a channel, intently staring at the screen in front of her. “No response but they are receiving the signal.”

The small vessel began to move forward before turning quickly and jumping to warp.

“Huh.” Muttered Izzay. “Didn’t expect that.”

“Perhaps they realized we had the upper hand? Our firepower is a bit superior to theirs.”

Maria turned to Jackson. “Just means they will be back with friends. Everything in the cultural database indicates that the Vaadwaur don’t run from a fight.”

Aakon turned and walked back to the command chair. “All the more reason to extract the research team and their work so we can get home. Scan C221.”

“Already ahead of you Captain.” Maria pulled up her sensor scans. “No damage of note on the sensors. There are sensor blockers in place, rather strong ones, so I’m only getting a birds eye view, so to speak.  I am reading 8 life signs across the two decks but the best I can tell you is they are carbon based.”

Izzy sighed. “There were 27 people assigned here. Safe to assume the Vaadwaur went over there.”

Aakon rubbed at his eye, irritation bubbling just beneath his normally relaxed mood. “Can we beam a team over?”

“No.” K’Vevka observed the waving blue line on her screen. “Transport blockers are in place. Can’t hail them either”

“Take a team over Izzy. Medics and security.” Aakon glanced at the floating box that was Research Outpost C221; bits of swirling green and pink matter from the nebula danced around the station. It was quite the lovely backdrop, especially since the Expanse wasn’t exactly known for its stunning visuals. He didn’t like the feeling that had settled low in his stomach; it was hard to shake the thought that those tendrils of green and pink would soon be stained with metaphorical blood.

Izzy turned to Jackson. “You’re with me, bring a security team. Bridge to Sickbay. Dr. Mottle, report to Shuttle Bay 1 with a medical team.”

“Izzy!”

Isabella turned to face Maira as she stood from her chair.

“I’m not able to get a reading of the atmosphere on the station. I suggest bringing along enough environmental suits for everyone.”

Izzy nodded as she headed for the turbolift. “Thank you Lieutenant. “

Aakon glanced back at this XO. “You’ll be out of contact until you can shut down the transport and communication inhibitors. You have 30 minutes; if I don’t hear from you by them I’m sending in the caverly to get you all out. Is that clear?”

“Crystal, Captain.”