The bridge was a usual hotspot of activity, recently it had become eerily quiet as the ship continued on its course toward the distress call. There had been tension with members of the crew both on the bridge and elsewhere, with being so close to Devore’s space, though they have yet to encounter them. They knew it would only be a matter of time before that changed, either when they traveled or when they arrived at their destination.

Since returning to the bridge, T’Prel had spent the next hour sitting in the command chair. Deciding to get up and stretch she decided to walk over to where Ritru was located, leaning against the console with her back turned to make sure not to hit anything.

“Have you found anything unusual out there?” T’Prel asked looking at her.

Ritru had been so focused on her work she didn’t see T’Prel walk up to her, looking up from the console she smiled at her partner, “no everything is eerily quiet out there, no signs of the Devore yet.” Ritru responded.

“That could be both good and bad,” T’Prel replied with a heavy sigh.

Ritru nodded at that statement, “are you worried?” Ritru asked.

T’Prel raised an eyebrow unsure of what she meant, “worried how?” T’Prel asked as she cocked her head to the side a bit.

“About being affected by the blood dilithium if we come across it?” Ritru asked as she looked at her with a bit of concern written all over her face. Though there was a possibility that she too would be affected, yes she was Romulan but they were descendants of Vulcans. 

“Worry is a logical emotion for some, though I can’t say I am worried.” T’Prel replied, “I am concerned though we will cross that bridge when we come to it.” She replied as she looked at her.

Ritru nodded, “I am a bit concerned that I could be affected in some capacity.” Ritru admitted as she adjusted in her chair as they chatted. “I am not sure what I could do to help if I am affected,” she added with a sigh.

“I could assist you with some techniques that might help,” T’Prel suggested.

Ritru looked at T’Prel for a moment thinking, “if you think it would work I think it is a great idea.” Ritru replied, “when do you think would be a good time to start?” She asked looking at her.

T’Prel thought for a moment as they would be arriving at their coordinates within half an hour, they probably wouldn’t have much time after they arrived. “We will have a short time though I am sure I can teach you what you need within that time. I say we head to the observation lounge and begin,” T’Prel replied.

“Sounds good to me,” Ritru said as she stood up from her station.

T’Prel nodded before looking over to where Airje was sitting at the helm station, “you have the bridge.” T’Prel said as Deza nodded before getting up from her chair and moving over to where the center chair was just as Rass moved to replace Deza at the helm. Things once again went silent on the bridge, no one had anything to say.

Thirty minutes had passed by before they both walked onto the bridge, a short time later Azras walked out of her ready room onto the bridge. Deza got up from the chair walking back to her station as Rass moved back to the auxiliary controls.

Moments later the Saratoga had dropped out of warp, “sir we have arrived at the coordinates.” Dazra spoke up from her console, “I am not detecting any ships in the area.” She added with a bit of confusion, as she wasn’t detecting any ships or planets for that matter.

“Could they have come here to send the distress call?” Azras asked no one in particular.

Odan looked up from his console, “I mean they very well could of, maybe it was an attempt to draw attention away from home in case any Devore would intercept?” Odan asked looking at her.

“That could be a possibility,” Ritru spoke up. “Even though they are being targeted by the Devore anyways, maybe they wanted to make it look like they weren’t requesting assistance,” Ritru added with a shrug of her shoulders, though their answers would probably have their answers soon enough.

Looking over to Ritru, she was about to speak up before being interrupted by the sound of Dazra’s voice. “Sir there is an incoming ship that seems to be of Monean design,” Dazra replied as she looked up from her console to see the ship come into view.

“Hail them,” Azras ordered before turning back around to face the viewscreen.

“Aye sir,” Ritru said and a few moments later the viewscreen was replaced by the face of a middle-aged man. The Moneans were a humanoid species with bluish and brown spots throughout their head and faces with flared-out nostrils.

“Greetings, I am Captain Azras Dex of the Federation starship Saratoga, we have received your distress call and are here to assist you,” Azras said as she introduced herself to the man on the viewscreen.

“I am Norkus, thank you for answering our distress call. We were worried that no one would come to our aid,” Norkus responded as he looked tired and stressed. “The Devore has been expanding their territory and have now set their sights on Miri, our distant colony world that is located near their space.” He added looking at her, “we need help with defending the planet long enough for our colony ships to evacuate so we can return to our homeworld.” He finished speaking.

Azras looked at T’Prel for a moment before returning her attention to Norkus, “Have you had any issues with them in the past?” Azras asked wondering why they were trying to force them from their home.

He shook his head “no, granted they dislike outsiders but they have left us alone and we have left them alone for years. I just don’t understand the sudden hostilities from them,” he said with confusion in his voice.

“Lead us to your colony and we will assist in any way we can, and hopefully we can get some answers along the way,” Azras replied.

He let out a huge sigh of relief as he looked at the captain, “thank you so much for your assistance.” He replied before the viewscreen changed back to the view of the Monean ship in front of them. A moment later the ship began to move towards Miri the Saratoga shortly behind them.

Azras sat down and raised an eyebrow before looking at T’Prel, “what do you think?” Azras asked as she was wondering about why all of a sudden the Devore have become hostile to the Moneans.

“It could have something to do with the blood dilithium,” T’Prel made an observation.

“I was thinking that as well though there is one thing I don’t understand, isn’t it a world consisting mostly of water?” Azras asked.

“Their homeworld is all water except they have underwater infrastructures and dwellings,” T’Prel said after reading the information that was provided by Chon’al, “I am uncertain if Miri is the same or different until we arrive.” She added looking at her.

She nodded as the ship made its way towards Miri, which was only twenty minutes away from where the distress call had originated from. Upon arrival, they could see that the planet was mostly water with a few small islands throughout the planet. Thought, things wouldn’t be quiet for long before Dazra spoke up, “Sir there are two Devore scout ships on an intercept course.” Came her reply.

“Red alert, battle stations.” Azras ordered as the ship went to red alert, “contact Norkus and have him and a couple of other ships on standby while another assists with evacuations.” Azras ordered.

“Aye sir,” Ritru replied as she sent the message.

“ETA until they arrive?” Azras asked looking back at Dazra.

“Ten minutes,” Dazra replied as all weapons systems were now online and ready.

The evacuation of Miri had begun while the Saratoga and two other Monean ships were on standby, ready to defend when the Devore arrived. These were just scout ships and not their warships, they should be a bit easier to handle. Everyone on the bridge was now on edge, even more so than they were when they first arrived within the Delta Quadrant.

The minutes seemed to drag on as they waited anxiously, a short time later the doors to the turblift opened to reveal Chon’al as he made his way back to his station. He began to pull up any information he could find on those scout ships. “Damir can you scan those ships and see if we can find any visible weak spots?” Chon’al asked looking over at the acting chief.

Damir looked at Chon’al for a moment before nodding, “I can do that.” Damir replied as he got to work. After he finished his scans he sent all the information to Chon’al for review.

“Sir, seems their shields are weaker near the aft of the ships. I suggest that if it comes down to a fight we target those areas, they will be forced to redistribute power essentially we will be able to disable them enough where they might retreat.” Chon’al said sharing the findings with the Captain.

Dazra listened to what Chon’al had said, “once we get them to redistribute power we can then target their weapons systems.” Dazra added as Chon’al nodded in agreement.

Azras nodded and soon after the Devore had arrived, “Sir they have locked weapons on us.” Dazra said from her console as she looked up.

“Hail them,” Azras said looking at Ritru.

“Nothing sir,” Ritru replied as they seemed to be ignoring their hails.

“That is unusual, I have heard they are usually the ones confronting those that they feel have ‘trespassed’ within their system,” Chon’al replied looking at the Captain.

“Open a channel,” Azras replied.

Ritru nodded but seconds later the ship rocked as the Devore opened fire on the Saratoga. “I guess they don’t want to talk,” said Ritru.

Azras sat there as the ship rocked from the impact of their weapons, “well I guess they want to do this the hard way right off the bat.” Azras said with a sigh as she looked at Dazra, “target their aft sections firing all phaser arrays, with two spread of quantum torpedoes.” Azras ordered as they began evasive maneuvers firing weapons at both ships.

Azras then turned to Ritru, “have the two Monean ships provide support fire,” Azras ordered as Ritru sent the message.

The ship rocked from another hit from the Devore, “shields are holding at ninety-five percent.” Odan replied from his station.

“It looks like our plan is working they have begun to redistribute their shields,” Chon’al commented.

While the Saratoga kept the Devore busy, as the colony ships continued with their evacuation of Miri. They were sad that they had to say goodbye to the home they have known for so long, at least they had their homeworld to return to.

“Sir, their shields are down to sixty percent,” Dazra said looking up from her station and Azras gave her a nod to begin targeting their weapons systems. The battle went on for a while longer, both ships getting in good hits.

Odan looked up from his console looking straight at the captain. “One of the Monean ships has been disabled the other is moving in to help protect it,” Odan spoke up from his console.

“Fire photon torpedoes target their weapons array and fire,” Azras ordered.

“Aye sir,” Dazra said as she pressed a few buttons on her console as the torpedoes impacted the Devore ships. “Sir, their weapons are offline and they are retreating,” Dazra said as they watched the two scout ships retreat. 

Azras let out a huge sigh of relief, though they knew they were not in the clear yet as there was always that chance that those ships would return with backup. A few engineers beamed over to the Monean ship to assist with repairs as the Saratoga kept watch. They would be needing to get underway soon before their favorite guests would return with their friends.