Sitting in the captain's chair, it was a comfy, relaxing one of good quality. Yes, it had the perfect condition to be worthy of any Captain. Towalr could get used to it, the chair he had earned for serving years in Starfleet. Well, after this mission was done, he would claim it. No, he would demand it, as it was his ultimate goal to achieve this. Not the chair alone, but also the rank of captain. Captain Towalr has a nice ring to it.

“Commander”

Maybe they would nominate him with a Jonathan Archer Order of Merit award. Please give him a better command like, say, an Odyssey-class or one of those Obena-class. No, no, he needs to stay humble and stay with the crew of the Tokyo. They needed his wisdom, guidance, and high endurance. Towalr nodded about that conclusion and wondered who he would elect as his first officer. 

“Commander…”

Sujian had been a loyal subject to aid him when he could, but he did make clear that he sided only to protect the well-being of that brat Yozria. Doctor Ibrix is not interested in command, well good for her as she would never manage to handle the pressure of a first officer anyway. Potentially, Alavidze is a potential candidate?

“COMMANDER” 

Towalr blinked and looked over his shoulder at the loud voice, seeing Tamaz standing there. “That would be Captain, but why are you yelling at me?” 

“Captain…?” For a brief second, Tamaz was legitimately confused about what Towalr was talking about. Then he shook his head to get out of that pointless thought. “We lost contact with the away team when they entered the inner part of the cube.” 

Giving a nod, “The Captain, so not me, has informed us that it could potentially happen due to the interference of the broken cube systems.” Towalr looked back at the screen where the broken cube was. “So why are you informing me about it? It is obvious that I already knew this” 

Taking a deep breath, “Because you are the one that asked me to inform you the moment that would happen,” Tamaz said, highly annoyed now. “Your further ord….” 

“Commander, long-range scanners have detected unknown ships approaching the graveyard,” Padgok stated, looking at his console and swiping the information to the front screen.

Towalr blinked and sat up from the chair. Looking at the screen, it was difficult to determine what it was. “Give me more information.”  He looked at Sujian, who was focused on his console. “For crying out loud, Commander, your sister is alright. Focus on the current situation and give me some details?” 

“Mmm.” Sujian felt busted as he looked away from the last known information of the away team. “Yes…Commander,” He replied formally and looked at the sensor data. “They seem to be a group of ….” he swiped a few times left and right on his console. “Fighters and a cargo ship…. are arming their weapons and heading to us.”  He didn't need to wait for the follow-up command and placed the ship's weapons on standby.

“Get weapons online! We wait until they are near, and perhaps they want to chat with us?” Towalr was more trying to convince himself that everything was going okay. 

“With weapons armed and on an intercept course to us, I have my sincere doubts.” A sarcastic tone came from Tamaz as he shook his head. “We cannot move until the away team is back, Commander. What are your further orders?” 

Feeling the heat crawling up on him, Towalr opened up the top button of his uniform, looking at the screen with the ships heading in their direction. This was terrible news. The possibility of things going south now was growing. Perhaps he could use his captain charm and experience gained over the years in this situation. He nodded to himself. It would benefit him a lot in the end, Captain Towalr that scare away some low-life pirates. 

“Commander…they are hailing us,” Tamaz said in a dry tone of voice. 

Nodding in Tamaz's direction as he took a few breaths, “Is it just me, or is it warm here….never mind, put them on screen.” Towalr sat up straight as a captain should. 

A Malon male came onto the screen. “This is Captain Primer. We are the owners of this graveyard, and we do not like your kind to be here. Leave immediately, or you will force our hand and fire upon you.”