“They’ve taken out another command platform!” Rrr shouted as Atlantis bucked from the shockwave. Sparks flew, lights flickered and somewhere deep in the hull the ship groaned like it had never before. “Buckling on decks ten through twelve, starboard, sections eight, nine, ten.”

Being on the receiving end of a concerted push wasn’t a welcome change. The Vaadwaur were finally numerous enough they were willing to take losses to achieve their goals. The two defence platforms they had taken out so far had been manned, coordinating other unmanned ones. And they hadn’t taken them out with withering fire but with fireships. The very same cruisers that Atlantis and Tizona had battered previously were used as rams, slamming into the platforms as they came out of warp. Sheer kinetic impact followed by antimatter explosions simply evaporated the platforms from existence.

It was calculated, using ships that could serve no other purpose.

The rest of the ships were directing their fire on Atlantis, ignoring whatever fire the planet’s defence platforms offered before they fell silent as the command platforms perished. Three hundred dead across those two platforms.

And more to come.

“We’re buying time for Betazed,” Tikva said to Nathan. Her XO nodded once, a sharp action that agreed with her own resigned tone and words.

They would buy time.

“Helm, intercept the transport ship. Guns, give her everything we got. I want that thing a flaming wreck yesterday.” Tikva knew her order was condemning tens of thousands of Vaadwaur soldiers, crammed into that transport and in no way able to influence this fight, to death. But eliminating them would buy Betazed more time.

Time to wake up to reality and activate the defence grid’s original systems. To let the automation bring its full potential to bear right now on a foe who meant the planet harm.

“Aye, ma’am,” came the reply from both Ensign Tabaaha and Commander Gantzmann.

And then more fire raked into Atlantis. More alarms screamed, a screech of metal and another groan reverberated through the ship. Lights didn’t flicker this time. They went out, counted a second, then sputtered back to life, before flicking to a baleful red, more dire than red alert.

“Shields offline. Main power offline. We’ve lost engines,” Rrr declared.

The viewscreen showed the Vaadwaur battlecruiser looming ominously ahead of Atlantis. Numerous gunports aimed right at them. The battle had barely lasted two minutes and now they were dead to rights.

But instead of obliteration by polaron blast, pods started to launch from the battlecruiser, screaming across the void at Atlantis. Even the Vaadwaur were limited in their use of transports by whatever effect they were having on subspace.

“All hands, prepare to repel boarders,” Nathan shouted after jabbing a key on his command console, his voice echoing through the ship.

“You do know where we’re going, right?” Sidda asked as she sidled up to the helm, a hand settling on the back of Willow’s chair.

“Better than most,” Willow answered with a smile. She was actually enjoying what she was doing right now. Flying on instinct, not referring to any maps or guides. Barely even referencing her navigational sensors.

Republic had disappeared into the open Underspace aperture with barely any issues. And once taken by the current, Willow at the helm, they had been riding the waves, making turns with no rhyme or reason.

And so, for the last five minutes, they had been travelling in essentially a straight line, with no branches to be seen.

“Just seems like we’re going nowhere fast, is all.” Sidda didn’t want to nag, but she didn’t like not knowing where they were, or how fast they were going, relative to the universe at large.

“The road is right there,” Willow said, waving a hand at the viewscreen, at something likely only she could see. “Not the most direct, but the quickest. We’ll be there soon.”

“How soon?” Captain MacIntyre asked from the centre seat.

“Couple of minutes,” Willow answered with a shrug. “Probably less.”

“Vaadwaur energy signature ahead,” announced Lieutenant Levne from her station at Tactical. “Matches a Blackout station in the data packets we’ve received.”

“All stop,” MacIntyre ordered.

“Little hard in Underspace, sir.”

“Best you can then, Lieutenant Beckman.” MacIntyre was on his feet, joining Selu to look over her readings, brow furrowing and fully concerned by the time Sidda joined him at his side. “Well, this explains why Betazed is incommunicado.”

“Sneak past, steal it, or blow it up?” Sidda asked. “I’m game for two out of the three.”

“We don’t have enough personnel to take such a facility,” Selu answered dryly. “I would suggest destruction is the best option, since once we leave Underspace, there is no guarantee we’ll get back in.”

“That’s two for blow it up,” Sidda said with a grin.

“Luckily, this isn’t a democracy,” MacIntyre responded. “Levne, load quantum torpedoes, fore and aft. Give them everything we’ve got, then fire on whatever remains as we blow past.”

Selu turned slowly to face Sidda, an eyebrow rising with the perfection the Vulcan half of her heritage would appreciate. “Yarr?”

Sidda snickered, the grin on her face growing as far as it could. “Yarr.” And then both women looked to MacIntyre. One deadpan, the other full of emotion.

He breathed in through his nose, walking back to his chair and settled himself down before finally caving, looking back to the two Orion women on his bridge. And then with the best pirate impression he could give, while shaking his head, he gave Sidda what she wanted at least.

“Yarr.”

And then all at once, the entire bridge crew repeated the declaration as Republic charged forward once more.

“Yarr!”

“Slipstream drive termination in thirty seconds,” Commander Jin Tae announced, having kept her eye on the clock the whole trip from the Thomar Expanse.

The speed at which Sundiver and Argonaut were crossing the void, casting aside such things as the Blackout, or the Badlands, or a variety of other navigational issues that warp drives had to deal with, made the entire trip almost two quick. Computer timing would ensure they’d arrive deep in the Betazed system. To avoid any major obstacles, they’d plotted a destination above the ecliptic. But only a few AU from Betazed itself. A short trip at warp or even impulse if required.

“Shields up, yellow alert,” Lorena Escribano announced, simply going through the motions of preparing for unknown hazards, not that she was expecting any. She was quietly hoping they’d find Atlantis just waiting for them, the Fleet Captain bored out of her mind and more than happy to see any other starship.

Captain Houston, on the other hand, she knew would have his ship at red alert, likely have weapons at the ready and prepared to start swinging the second his ship arrived.

“I spoke with the schools this morning,” Tae said, leaning closer to Lorena. “Classes were moved to labs and facilities as close to the centre of the ship as possible. ”

Lorena nodded, offering a thankful smile to her XO. Her own child, nestled in the heart of the ship, was a relief she didn’t know she needed. “Thank you.”

The computer then gave a little chirp. Attention grabbed from those present on the bridge, it then chimed out the last five seconds before the Lamarr-class starship exited the swirling blue confirms of the Slipstream tunnel and returned them to the mundane star-speckled blackness of normal space.

“Scanning,” Nick Johnson said. “Oh shit. Contacts. Lots of contacts. Vaadwaur warships in proximity to Betazed.”

“I’ve got a Saber-class ship locked in combat with four cruisers and it looks like Atlantis has lost power and is being boarded,” Julien Rigal announced from Tactical, adding context to Nick’s initial report.

Tae was next with an update. “Message from Argonaut. They’re going to rescue the Saber first, then swing back to Atlantis. Captain Houston suggests we head for Atlantis but assist from a distance.”

“Of course he does,” Lorena grumbled. “Helm, set course for Betazed. Maximum warp. Red alert!”