“More ships are inbound!”  Lieutenant Kondo De La Fontaine shouted as he gripped his console as the Zephyr bridge quaked under the heavy fire coming from the Crimson Foundry ships.  The other Starfleet ships were doing their best in the face of the growing number of enemy ships.  “It appears they were holding back some of their forces.”

Captain Samson Bradley gave a terse nod at the report before asking, “Starfighter report.”

“They’re taking more hits and more pressure the more this goes on.  Falcon is recommending we pull them back closer to Zephyr to give us more protection.”

Samson grimaced as the deck shook again.  “I will not argue against more protection.  Recall the wing.”

“You can see it all.”  The Constructor spoke gently as she guided the Vorethi-bot fleet closer and closer to the battle.  “I have asked for a medical officer to come on board once we arrive.  Doctor Jordan Reid has agreed.”

Ada Josephs set her teeth on edge as she manipulated the fleet.  “Jordan’s a good choice.  She’ll never let me live this down.  If I live.”

She could feel a quick surge of strength through her body, and the disembodied voice of the Constructor spoke firmly, “I will not allow this.  You will live.  Nobody dies today, Ada Josephs.  At least no one on our side will pass into eternity.  I cannot speak for the Crimson Foundry.  They will be judged for their sins.”

She could see the entire battle, and the condition of each ship – friend and foe.  Starfleet was slowly losing, and it would only be a matter of time before they would have to flee to save their lives.  Ada’s heart burned with anger, and her usually reserved fury boiled.

“This will help you.  Be ready to unleash it upon them.”

It took two more minutes before the ten Vorethi-bot ships dropped into the area.  Ada heard a transporter activate, and the voice of Jordan was in and around her.  “Dammit, Ada.  What the hell were you thinking?  I’m going to need to work on her while she works.  Is that acceptable?”

The voice of the Constructor dropped to a lower, more menacing tone. “Keep her alive.  We will dismantle the Crimson Foundry, bit by bit until nothing remains.”

Ada gripped the console in front of her and began in earnest taking the Vorethi-bot fight to the center of the chaos.  The sudden appearance of ten large ships with golden lighting and paint stunned the Crimson Foundry ships before they returned to the ongoing path of destruction through the Starfleet ships.

Something shifted in space at that moment. As the Vorethi-bot ships slid forward, banking into firing position, something filled the vacuum of space all around them.  The readings across consoles spiked, and an unknown sensor reading reverberated.  It multiplied, overwhelming computer systems with the readings.  Later reports would struggle to identify the type of power source that had activated.  In the sequence, there was a recognizable sound that followed a standard rhythm that most medical officers immediately recognized.

It was a heartbeat.

Seconds later, the Vorethi-bot ships glowed orange and gold as they separated and stalked their Crimson Foundry prey.  The heartbeat grew louder as beams of intense light streaked out into the darkness of space. They struck hard against the enemy ships, overloading their sensors at first.

Thump-thump.

The internal computers tried to compensate against whatever was pushing through every conduit, every wire, every fiber, but the signal was a monster scouring past all defenses until it struck home.

Thump-thump.

Every targeting computer exploded, shorting out.  Across the Crimson Foundry, officers switched to manual targeting, refusing to yield to whatever this madness was.  They were doing the right thing. They would subjugate the Constructor just like they would their brothers and sisters on Vorethi.  

They were unstoppable in their belief.

Thump-Thump.

The manual control worked.  For thirty seconds. The Vorethi-bot ships stopped firing their energy beams.  There was a sudden deep bass rumble across the ten orange and yellow-hued ships as bays groaned open, and large launchers dropped, aiming at the ships across the field.

Thump-Thump.

The Constructor’s Voice spoke out to every ship.

“You will surrender.  We wish to live in peace as Vorethi, together.”

A moment later, the cragged voice of Soner shouted, “That’ll be the day!  We fight on!  Destroy the False God!  Kill them all!”

The Crimson Foundry ships resumed their targeting firing.  For ten seconds.

“Then you will die.”

Thump-Thump.

The Vorethi-bot launchers exploded in rapid fire as golden fused torpedoes flew into fast formation, slamming headlong into the sides of the enemy ships.

Ripping into the hulls.

Thump-Thump.

Another volley from the launchers and more impacts against the ships as the shields were overwhelmed, and the hulls ripped apart at the seams as the golden torpedoes dug deeper into the ship.  

Thump-Thump.

They went wildly crashing and digging into the centers of the ships, deck by deck. Bodies flew out of hull breaches as more torpedoes were launched. Crimson Foundry ships were torn asunder as if the hands of a god were twisting and ripping them apart with sadistic glee.

Thump.

In five brief minutes, space filled with a hulking debris field with pieces of ships spinning in a slow death spiral.  The Crimson Foundry fleet was gone.

Thu-.

“Ada! ADA!”  Jordan Reid kneeled over her deputy chief medical officer, checking her vitals.  WIth the practiced hand of a triage doctor, she snagged the cardiac stimulator out of her bag and slapped it down on Ada’s chest.

The Constructor mumbled, “She must survive.  I did everything I knew how to keep her alive.”

Reid set the stimulator and watched as it charged and then shocked Ada’s heart.  “You missed the biggest part of human anatomy.  It pushed her heart too much. Everything else worked.  Her heart couldn’t take it.”  Another shock and Reid began old-school CPR.  She didn’t dare move Ada.  Her chances of living would drop the longer it took for them to transport and get to work on her.  

Compressions.  Compressions.  

Breath.  

Compressions. Compressions.

Breath  

The beep reminded her to step back.  Shock.

Compressions.  Compressions.  

Breath.  

Reid looked at the stimulator.  No heartbeat reading.  Charged.  Shock.

“Come on, Ada.”  She moved to start compressions but stopped at the loud beeping from the stimulator.  She put her head down on Ada’s chest.

Thump-thump.  Thump-thump.

“She will live?”

Jordan evaluated Ada’s vitals quickly.  “She’ll live.  She needs to get back to Perseveran…”  A bright light and the whine of transporters filled the air.

Reid was back in her sickbay with Ada on a biobed.  She tapped her badge.  “Triage response team to sickbay.  Bridge, we’re back.”  Jordan shook her head in amazement and amusement as her response team bounded through the doors.

They had a friend to save.