A/N: Wow, this has taken me SO LONG to get back to, and I am very sorry for all who followed it. for a long period of time I was just incapable of writing anything, even my own novel work, and I am glad to finally return with this new chapter for you all. Thanks to those two or three that are still here ;)

And seriously, huge thanks to my friends Kretolus and DrZevil, who helped me out with this, and will be helping in future. They're great guys and you should check them out!


The bridge of the Phoenix was huge, as would be expected for such a giant of a ship, but despite that - and the view from the wide, detailed viewscreen - Azhasca was transfixed by the chair at the centre of it all...the Captain's Chair. For so long she had fought against returning to it, fought every call for her to "get back out there," and now a self-righteous admiral, drunk on her own sense of power, had forced her back to it regardless. She stared in mute apprehension, stroking her commbadge subconsciously, and tried desperately to keep her breathing under control. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was-

-the flames and smoke, the bodies littering the bridge, the shimmering of green transporter beams as the Borg invaded, Bobbi being dragged-

-she shook her head as if to shake the dreaded thoughts away, screwing her eyes closed against the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks again, and she bit her lip hard. She was already tasting blood by the time Bobbi placed a hand gently against her back, causing Azh to whip round, eyes wide until she recognised her dearest friend.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie," Bobbi assured her, placing both hands on Azhasca's cheeks. "I'll be right next to you all the way. You can do this. You're a tough, scrappy little bitch who can get through anything. I believe in you, and I believe you can do this, Captain."

Azhasca took several deep breaths before replying, meeting her friend's eyes.

"...okay," she said quietly. She wiped her eyes as inconspicuously as she could, sniffed, then straightened her back.

"Okay," she repeated, more confidently this time, and turned to face the chair again. She took a deep breath, pushed the past to the back of her mind, and stepped forwards to take her position. She settled tentatively into the Captain's chair, conscious of the extra pips on her collar, and heaved a shuddering sigh.

This is going to be a long mission, she thought, familiarising herself with the captain's console at her right hand.

"Um, Lieu- er, Commander Lehar, might I have a word?"

The slightly baffled voice was from Lieutenant Lorin Toski, one of her Tactical specialists - when fixing a starship's weapons, it helps to have people who know how they should function - and Azhasca turned towards him.

"Anything I can help with, Lieutenant?"

"Ah, no ma'am, it's fine, I just wanted to confer with the Lieu- Commander on a small tactical matter."

Azhasca shrugged and returned to her console, desperate to take her mind away from her fears, and left Bobbi to talk to the younger man.

"You'll have to get a grip on the rank changes quickly, Lieutenant," Bobbi said with an easy smile, as she approached Toski's side.

"Yes ma'am. I'll do my best ma'am."

"Enough with the ma'am-ing and tell me what the problem is," Bobbi told him with a chuckle.

Toski looked over at Azhasca briefly, before leaning in closer to Bobbi, speaking to her in a hushed tone.

"I've been going over the tactical information for the ship ma'am, and...I don't want to presume anything, but every tactical system - beam arrays, torpedoes, shields, everything...it's all geared towards fighting Borg."

Bobbi frowned, looking at Toski with a mixture of horror and confusion.

"Are you sure?" She asked, matching his quiet tone, and to answer he brought up the tactical readouts.

"Antiproton beams, Quantum and Tricobalt torpedoes, multi-phasic shielding, even the ground weapons we've been supplied with are antiproton. If I didn't know any better - and by all that's sacred, I hope someone does - I would say someone knows what we're going to find, and is setting the Captain up."

"Then let's both pray you're wrong, Lieutenant," Bobbi said, before moving away to take her post at Azhasca's side.

All around them officers were rushing back to their posts, as the Phoenix finally prepared to leave, and Azhasca heaved another heavy sigh. Bobbi reached over and gripped her hand in a comforting gesture, and eventually Azhasca stood up and tapped her commbadge.

"Captain Pezhal to all hands," she began, projecting the confidence she hadn't felt for two years, "I can't thank you enough for joining me, at short notice and with sudden - often hefty - promotions, on a mission we know little about. We're going to Starbase 82, to investigate whatever has occurred there, and bring retribution to any who have attacked our people without provocation. I hand-picked most of you because I know of your professionalism, experience, and reliability, but for those of you who I have had assigned to my command, know that I will expect those same things from you. Still, I doubt I will need to worry - a ship such as this, such as ours, would only be crewed by the best, so let's get out there and prove to the Admiralty that we are precisely that.

"I look forward to working with you all. Captain Pezhal, out."

She took her seat again and breathed out, trying to hide the shake of her hands, and looked towards the helm station.

"Miss Viirtali, take us out at port speed, then set course for Starbase 82, maximum warp."

"Aye aye, ma'am," Viirtali replied, quick hands darting over the console, and the giant ship seemed to come alive as she eased out of the dock.

As the Phoenix slowly moved to its safe distance from Earth Spacedock, a ship on the viewscreen caught Azhasca's eye, and she entered a command into the console beside her. A moment later, the screen switched to show the ship in question, and Azhasca's breath hitched.

The odd little escort was more saucer section than anything else, with its nacelles tucked under the saucer and an odd trailing centre that made the whole vessel look like an Earth sea creature known as a manta ray. For all its strangeness though, it was a class that Azhasca loved dearly...or had, at least.

"A Sabre-class," she said, her voice tinged with sorrow. "I used to command one of those."

She watched the ship for a few more seconds, before Bobbi returned the screen to its standard view.

"It'll be different this time," Bobbi said, although she hated the idea that she might be lying.

Azhasca nodded, looking ahead as she heard the warp engines powering up at last.

"We'll see."

As if on cue, the stars in the viewscreen stretched drastically, then in an instant they were rushing past at incalculable speeds, as the battlecruiser sped towards Starbase 82.