Starfleet Regulation 28843

by ODST1

Substances unstable in an oxygen atmosphere must be handled with care.

4. Chapter 4

The next day, the Etherians were summoned to move down a deck, to holodeck 1.

In the process, through some cruel twist of fate, Captain Hayes found himself stuck in a turbolift with two guards, one Caitian, and one individual who was technically a princess. He could feel a migraine beginning just behind his eyes, making his temples throb.

Nothing was happening yet, but the tension in the atmosphere was so hazardous he was surprised the environmental systems hadn't declared it unsafe. Both stood on either side of the elevator looking straight ahead with her arms crossed.

"So you washed your clothes finally." Catra said at last.

There was a very, very long pause. "Yep." Adora grunted.

"Been a while since you had a real shower?"

"Yep."

"That's what you get hanging out with insurgents."

Adora sniffed the air, "I see you've washed your clothes and showered too. Got tired of licking yourself to stay clean?"

"Not my fault you never got the hang of it."

Hayes looked up at the ceiling, and silently counted backwards from ten, to prevent himself saying anything rash. The turbolift door finally opened, and they stepped out into the hall.

"Oh, here we go!" Catra groaned, rolling her eyes, "Little miss teacher's pet! 'Hi, I'm Adora, I suck up to everyone who has authority'!"

"At least I'm polite! 'I'm Catra, I'm gonna threaten and punch anyone who even has a casual thought about me'!"

"Okay, I think we get the point," Hayes said loudly, "Is there any way you two could settle this later?"

"Is there an airlock along the way?" Catra asked, turning around.

"Do you have any duct tape?" Adora asked, turning around herself, crossing her arms.

Hayes grimaced, "No one is dying today. That's what I'm here to prevent."

The two teenagers in front of him glared at each other, at him, the guards, pretty much everyone. He looked right back, doing his best to keep the glare from being too hostile.

After a long moment, to Catra's surprise, he turned his gaze on Adora. He tilted his head somewhat.

"Princess."

"What?"

He extended a hand, palm up.

Adora looked confused, "What?"

He gave her a really? Expression.

She held up both hands, "what are you…?"

Hayes pointed at the angular lump in her sleeve near her left elbow. He held his hand out again.

Adora sighed, stuck her arm out, and pulled a butter knife, made of the strange soft green material as most of the cutlery was, out of her sleeve.

Catra's brow was very low, her mouth open slightly, as she tried to comprehend such a trick. From...from Adora of all people!

Seemed she hadn't forgotten everything.

Hayes took the knife, "Princess, I politely ask you not to do that again. We don't intend any harm to you, and I don't want anyone to die today."

"How can we be sure of that?" She snapped, "how can we be sure of anything you say? You locked Catra in a force field yesterday, and you kidnapped us! And anyway, with that holodeck of yours...how can we be sure of anything?!"

Catra looked at her, alarmed, then glanced around.

Hayes looked shocked, then looked about himself, "computer, end program."

There was no response.

He pulled his combadge off and tossed it down the hallway. It fell to the deck with a small muffled thump.

He retrieved it, and jogged back over.

"See? If we were on a holodeck, it would hit the wall. It's a good-"

"That doesn't prove anything!" Catra barked, taking a step forward, "Your stupid holograms can make anything seem real! They trap you in them and might never let you out until you start seeing weird junk from... from…"

A low growl grew in the girl's chest, her rage boiling. She had had it. Had enough of it. The thought of her nightmares coming back was the tipping point.

"Just get it over with and shoot us! It'll be a mercy! Or let us go home! What on earth do you people want from us?! Why are we here?! Why is she here?! Why are you doing this to us?! Why won't you answer any questions?! What's with these stupid history lessons?! Why won't you let us go home?! Why is she here?! What do you want?!"

There was a strange feeling in Catra's gut, an almost instinctive revulsion at what she'd done. Everything told her it was wrong. It was like she'd been stabbed. Insubordination was tolerated, but verbal assault was not.

Catra didn't know what she expected in response. She braced herself for the Captain's fury, her hands curling into an attack mode. Yet she also froze at the same time. She couldn't lift her arms. She felt frozen.

An intense feeling of deja vu. She felt helpless and scared. A horrific anxiety rose in her. And anger. So much anger and hate.

Hate.

Anger.

Scared.

Frozen.

Helpless.

... weakness.

Thoughts ran through her mind like a hamster wheel.

Hayes looked down at her, an odd expression on his face. His brow slightly lowered, and his mouth curled into a frown.

Adora found herself stuck as well.

She felt nothing but fear, helplessness and a singular desire to protect Catra. To tear apart this man with her bare hands.

Yet at the same time, she still felt so weak and unable to do anything. Why?

She felt another odd emotion tugging her in another direction, an old and familiar one she had fought with.

Almost with practiced movements, this feeling was beaten and buried. She knew it was wrong...

Yet this old feeling still spoke, still insisting her protectiveness was wrong too.

They watched Hayes with bated breath.

His mouth relaxed, and his brow went upwards.

There was something in his eyes. A sadness that fit with certain lines on his face.

Hayes shook his head, and sighed. He put a hand on his hip, scratching his cheek with the other.

"Look, Force Captain, I'm sorry you're so confused. It's alright. Princess, I'm sure you're just as confused, and I apologise. I realize this is a lot to take in. But it's alright. There's more of you in the same fix. You're not alone. And believe it or not, that fact helps. It's a lot to take in, you're in a weird place, you're scared, and you're hanging around with some of your worst enemies. We've explained part of the situation already, I hope properly, and we're going to the holodeck to give you the proof you need. We have security footage received before the subspace bubble activated. We'll explain our intentions in detail later, but for now…"

He spread his hands, "We just want to help. This is our fault. Everything that happened to you, is Starfleet's responsibility. We admit that, we're not proud of that, but we're going to fix it, and help you people get the stars back. That's what we do."

"That's it?! We don't need you!" Catra snapped, "We were perfectly fine without you! Who asked you?"

"Your planet is suffering. You've got ecological disasters all over the place, you had a short-lived nuclear winter recently, and you have constant war. How is that 'perfectly fine'?"

Catra punched the wall, making the guards raise their weapons, "Go to hell! It's not your responsibility! The Horde-"

"You bomb people. You attack innocent people."

Catra's face grew even more furious, and she gestured to Adora, "You're taking their side?! The damned princesses?!"

Hayes shook his head, "No! We're not taking their side! They're causing problems too."

"How?" Adora demanded.

"Conflict causes problems! War destroys! Both sides do it, no matter what your intentions! And your scorched earth tactics tend to leave a lot of damage! Trust me, we've seen it before! You're not equal in the things you've done, but we don't know all of what's been going on. Even with all that going on, we need to stop this war. We need to bring Hordak to justice if nothing else. Ignoring," he said, holding up a hand to stop Catra, "...local politics, he's attacked our ships. He tried to steal a lot of Federation property. He's a significant officer of one of our military enemies, we're obligated to deal with him."

Hayes huffed, "look, we're not going to get anywhere here, and I don't want to have this conversation eight more times. How about this: you keep following me to the holodeck. We can show you we're telling the truth. Then, we'll talk about everything. We'll negotiate like the different nations we are. That's why we picked you up. We needed intelligence, but we also needed local leaders. We couldn't get Lord Hordak or Queen Angella, so we got you people instead."

"Oh yeah, 'negotiation'," Catra said, nodding with a sarcastic air, even putting up air quotes with her fingers, "And everyone knows the first step in that is kidnapping people."

"It is when your people are going to get shot if they try to approach diplomatically, because the people you're trying to negotiate with either don't think you're real or think you're with the enemy. This sort of thing has happened before. Sigma Iotia II, for instance. We got you so that we could explain our position, let you talk to your leaders, and get them to the negotiating table."

"So you come up to random planets, kidnap their leaders, and force them to talk on a regular basis?" Adora asked harshly.

Hayes crossed his arms, "No. This is an extreme example, but so was Sigma Iotia II. It was our fault there, just like it's our fault here. We want to stop your war, but we want you to be the ones to do it. We're not going to force you to be nice under penalty of death, we're here to facilitate negotiations. Yes, we're going to try to integrate your people back into the Federation, if that's possible, but we respect your rights. We haven't been here in a while, you're right, and figuring out exactly what we're going to do to do that without hurting anything is a problem for later. First and foremost we're here to help. We need to stop your war."

Adora felt confusion, frustration, and an almost irrational anger at this man. He'd kidnapped them. He'd hurt Catra with that field, and he blamed both of them for the war.

With reluctance, she had to admit he was a little right about that last one. And he did want to get rid of Hordak…

But how could they trust anything the Feds said?

Yet they said they had proof.

Catra caught her eye. She glared, and Adora glared right back. She noted the other girl's tail was wagging back and forth slowly, her ears straight up and turned to the sides.

She offered a small shrug, and both looked back at the captain.

"Let's get this over with." Catra grunted.

"You mad you didn't think of the knife?"

"I'll show you how mad I am. When you're asleep."

"Had plenty of opportunities for that before!"

"And I regret not taking them!"

Hayes' eye twitched a little.

"Teenagers…"

Finally reaching the holodeck, the ten locals were escorted inside. Four guards were inside, as was Commander Matthias, and another individual wearing a teal turtleneck.

He was human, an older gentleman, with silver hair, a square jaw, and lines on his face. He looked quite serious, or at least had a very neutral expression, and had his hands behind his back.

They stood beside a large console to the left of the entrance, covered in displays and controls.

Hayes sighed as he entered the room, noting the two local groups had formed once again.

Still, he put a hand on the shoulders of the girls in front of him, "Princess, Force captain, you're going to stay separate, understood?"

Catra spun about and shoved his hand off, making the guards raise their weapons.

She panted a little, glaring at each one, then turning her glare on Hayes. "We were gonna do that anyway. I don't want to be on the same ship as her."

"Right, and a dog ate your homework. I'm being cautious. Princess?"

Adora glared at Catra, "I'm sure Scorpia misses you."

"Bite me."

"I'd rather not."

Hayes grimaced, and held up a hand to his security escort.

Adora and Catra exchanged one more glare, and split off.

Hayes sighed again, and went over to Matthias' console.

"Problem, captain?" the Gorn asked in a low voice, somewhat amused.

Hayes glared at him, and took a deep breath, "I don't get paid enough for this."

"Sir, need I remind you-"

"Interrupting a superior officer, that's ten bucks, gimme."

"My paycheck goes to my family, sir."

"Now it's twelve."

"Screw you."

"Is that a to-do list, lizard? I don't swing that way."

"Gentlemen?" The man in the science uniform asked in a rich bass voice, his expression unchanging, "Can we get started?"

"Sure, Isaac." Hayes nodded, and walked toward the Etherians, clearing his throat.

"Alright, I trust we're not going to have any more incidents today?" Hayes said loudly, mentally kicking himself as he did so.

I am going to regret saying that.

"What are we doing in here?" Glimmer asked, eyeing the frames around the holodeck walls, "I'm starting to hate holodecks."

"I'll take it from here, captain." the man in teal said. He stepped up beside Hayes, his hands still behind his back and his expression still neutral.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Isaac Emerson, ship's counselor. How is everyone today?"

There were only a few murmured replies, which didn't phase him.

"I'm sure all of you are quite...unsettled by everything that's happened. As the captain has told you, this is a unique situation. We need intelligence on what's been happening on the surface, and we need to open negotiations with your people. While you are Federation colonists, you don't know anything about us and you have little reason to trust us."

"Who's side are you on?" Catra asked, smirking a little, "Seems like you're explaining why we should murder you all."

Emerson tilted his head, "Not my intention. While you are Federation colonists, or the descendants of them, and while Admiral Hordak is one of our enemies, you're part of your own independent nations. We need to understand the situation before we can act, and we must negotiate with your people before we take sides, if we so choose. But as I said, why should you trust us? We could just be lying about all of this. Well, you know the truth about the planet, but what's to prove that we're the First Ones? What's to prove we're telling the truth about anything?"

"I've got some ideas," Adora said, stepping forward.

"Oh?" Emerson asked, "Certainly, Princess Adora. Please, anything we can do for you."

Catra rolled her eyes, groaned, and facepalmed.

Adora was a little taken aback. She shook her head, and straightened up, going to her best at-ease-delivering-report posture, "Um...okay. We met a...we know someone who...knows a lot about the First Ones. She's…"

"Another weird old hologram? Do you always listen to those?" Catra demanded.

"Leave her alone!" Glimmer snapped.

"Please, everyone calm down." Emerson said, putting up his hands.

Hayes spoke up before things got more heated, "So you ran into a hologram, is that it, princess Adora?"

She winced, "Uh...well...not exactly, Yes, it told us a few things about the First Ones."

"You want to use that stuff to verify we are who we say we are, correct?" Emerson asked.

"Yeah…" Adora edged away from the counselor, "um…"

She shook her head, "Okay! Who was the original She-Ra?"

Hayes glanced at Reed, "Commander?"

Matthias looked at his PADD, entering commands. He spoke to the captain, and room at large, "Starfleet intelligence has been a bit obstructionist during our work here. There were some critical experiments being done here, so they were worried what little security they have left will vanish. Thus, they've been stingy with information on a need to know basis. Military intelligence, as I'm sure we can all relate."

There were some scattered chuckles from those with Starfleet or other military backgrounds.

Matthias' head twitched back a little in surprise as he found what he was looking for, and passed the PADD over, "this is the information on Project Recharge, captain. You're...not gonna like it."

Hayes took it, "the original She-ra was…"

His eyes bugged out.

"Commander, are you sure this is correct?"

"That's what Reed gave me, sir."

"Well?" Adora asked, unable to stop a small smirk. It was nice to see them squirming for a change.

Hayes had a distressed expression, still looking at the device, "The last lead test subject, and last project head, of Federation Science Bureau Project Recharge, was Colonel Mara Sheri, Federation Marine Corps, 13th Marine Regiment, commander of the Etheria Garrison and the 45th Marine Expeditionary Unit."

Adora's smirk vanished, but she nodded, "That's correct, her name was Mara. I never knew her full name...you said she was a Marine?"

Hayes rubbed the bridge of his nose, then let his hand drop with a sigh, "Yep. Commander Matthias, how many laws was she breaking?"

"Three or four, captain." Matthias answered calmly.

He noted the way Catra's stance shifted, and her face changed.

"Is there a problem?" Glimmer asked, glaring, "You have a problem with She-ra?"

Hayes grimaced, "Not exactly. Well, actually, I do. I'm mad she didn't tell me."

"Tell you? What?" Adora asked excitedly, getting closer, "What do you mean?"

"The colonel was my friend," Hayes muttered, "I knew her for years. She was my commanding officer for a while, we served together in the Cardassian Wars..."

He noticed the room had become silent. Hayes looked and found most of the Rebellion party was staring wide-eyed at him.

Perfuma started forward, "You knew the original She-ra?"

"You know her name?" Adora asked the other girl, "Wow, I should've asked you guys more about her…"

"What was she like? Where did she come from? What happened to her?" Perfuma demanded excitedly, clasping her hands together and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Hayes couldn't help a smile, amused at Perfuma's excitement, but his smile soon faded, remembering Mara. "She was…from Alpha Centauri. She was a very good friend of mine. We don't know what happened to her, not after she activated the subspace field."

"Alpha Centauri, that's such a beautiful name…!" Perfuma clutched her cheeks, starry-eyed with wonder.

Glimmer rolled her eyes and put a hand on Perfuma's shoulder. "Take it easy," she told Perfuma.

"But-!"

"Okay…" Adora cut Perfuma off, taking a deep breath, "That checks out. Do you know about...Light Hope?"

Hayes was surprised again, "Excuse me?"

"Light Hope. The...the holographic lady."

Hayes furrowed his brow, "Commander?"

Matthias took the PADD, hit a few commands, then handed it back to Hayes.

He looked at the device...only for his eyes to bug out again.

Hayes stuck the PADD under one arm so he could rub his face.

"Captain?"

He looked up at the ceiling, "Damn it…"

"Captain?" Matthias repeated.

Hayes looked at the PADD again, then to Adora, "Governor Light Hope Gunden. Governor of Etheria, and project head for a whole lot of projects." He shook his head, and looked at Matthias, "I'll explain later."

Emerson stepped in, "The captain's personal dealings aside...Princess Adora, did you have anything further to ask? We'd really like to accommodate you as much as possible."

"What about us?" Catra asked, "you gonna accommodate us?"

"I was talking about all ten of you." Emerson replied, looking her in the eyes.

She shivered a little. This guy was creepy, his face never seemed to change.

"I...uh...didn't have much else for now." Adora mumbled, her voice trailing off.

"Wow, Adora-!" Catra threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Catra, shut up!"

Emerson clapped his hands together, "Well then. If there's nothing else, we will continue with our presentation. We have some evidence to prove our word. Sensor logs, and video recordings of our encounters with the Gercid Empire, and what our ships picked up before the subspace field activated. Commander Matthias?"

A blue line on the gridded floor lit up, parallel to the door, and just ahead of the console. The guards gently moved the natives back behind the line, and Emerson stepped out in front of them.

"I imagine none of you are too excited to participate fully in a holodeck simulation, so we will be utilizing passive observer mode. It is much like a television receiver some of you may be familiar with, only with depth. Do not be alarmed, nothing here can hurt you. It cannot go past this line," he pointed to the blue line for emphasis, "it is physically impossible."

"Well that's a first…" Catra muttered.

The lights dimmed, and the blue line on the floor grew to run up the walls and across the ceiling. Beyond the line, the holodeck lights turned completely off.

On the left side, small pinpoints of light appeared, like someone had flipped a switch. A strange planet appeared, hovering above what had been the floor. It was not the deep green of Earth, Cait, or Etheria, but instead a tan color with splotches of lime green. There were few oceans, but nothing like the other worlds.

The perspective pulled in toward the planet, until it took up most of the view. Small dots grew bigger, transforming into spacecraft, satellites, and space stations.

They were a motley lot. The space stations were patchwork, of varying eras and designs. Solar arrays were unfurled from a giant tin can-shaped station, its hull pitted and scratched, and had been attached to a segment almost as big as itself made up of a dozen smaller modules.

Another was a spinning wheel-shaped station, with two wheels stacked on top of one another, and two spokes each connecting them to a central axis. Shuttles moved to and from the rectangular hangar deck in the center.

There were more that were simply big cubular frames, some empty and some with the skeletons of large ships contained within. Shipyards.

Even more stations and objects, some very new and some quite old, littered orbit as far as the eye could see.

Small craft with wings headed down toward the planet's surface, riding balls of fire down. There were a handful of ships that were conical shapes on top of cylindrical modules. A very primitive, but reliable design. They were as worn as the first space station.

These capsules stayed in orbit, either docking with or leaving the stations.

There were dozens of large vessels, clearly not designed for atmosphere. Some were worn down, but had obviously received more maintenance. They all had an arrowhead-shaped hull, with smooth flanks that spread outward from the bow. The larger craft looked more like spear points in their length, some with wide and bulbous stern segments. They were silver or gold in their hull plating.

All mounted the same type of massive engines, equal in shape and size. The smaller ones had two, the larger ones with two pairs.

Their bows had four torpedo tubes arranged around the end point. On their dorsal and ventral centerlines were rows of gun turrets, with one, two, three, or even four barrels.

One of the biggest, and obviously newest, was a ship with several additional turrets on the "wings" containing its outer pair of engines. A total of eight torpedo tubes, with four small double-barreled guns behind them, sprouted smoothly from the bow. Hangar decks were clearly visible on its rear flanks.

Despite their immense firepower, their size paled in comparison to the ship nearby. The "camera" focused on a vessel bigger than any of the others, two or three times their size.

It was the color of aluminum, and looked positively alien compared to the others. It had a large saucer-shaped upper hull, a rectangular lower hull, with a pair of large nacelles sprouting from either side. Their tips were red, and their sides blue. Windows covered the ship, which appeared to have no weaponry at all.

"This is the Enterprise-D," Emerson spoke up from out of the darkness, startling the Etherians out of their immersion, "It was the flagship of the fleet for a while. She was named after two of the most famous ships in Starfleet history. There have been six-well, seven now."

A stentorian, yet dulcet voice suddenly spoke up out of the darkness.

"Captain's log, stardate 42588.6. The Enterprise has been assigned to negotiations with the Gercid Empire, a power encountered by the Federation several years ago when one of their exploration vessels stumbled into a battle between Starfleet and Cardassian ships. The vessel withdrew rapidly after being attacked by a Cardassian ship and rescued by a Federation ship. They spoke to the rescuing starship briefly before quickly withdrawing. It took time to find their territory, as their ship appeared to have taken measures to prevent pursuit. We finally found one of their outlying colonies, and were quickly summoned to their homeworld. We are now in orbit, with an away team meeting their leaders."

The right side of the holodeck, in darkness up until this point, lit up, like a curtain on stage.

It revealed a strange sort of control room. It was a large chamber oriented toward a big display at the front. Carpeting was laid down, with various shades of coloration. Three chairs were arranged in the center, around which the other seats and controls were laid out, operated by a total of a dozen or so individuals.

The three chairs had controls on their armrests, and looked a little too comfortable for a warship.

A tall man in a Starfleet uniform sat in the center seat, a stern look on his face and a balding head. His uniform was a different type from the ones Hayes and his crew wore.

The shoulders were black, with the red division color shown on the chest, back, and sleeves. Piping was on the collar, shoulder, and sleeve cuff. The rest of the bridge crew had the same sort of uniform.

The man, the captain judging by the pips on his collar, was peering intently at the viewscreen. It displayed a similar view to the left side of the holodeck, but from the perspective of the Enterprise.

Beside him was a young woman in her thirties, who wore a combadge like the rest, but for some reason had an odd purple jumpsuit instead of a uniform.

Two consoles were mounted ahead of the three main chairs, each operated by a single individual. The one on the right of the viewscreen was manned by a very young individual, almost a kid, with short hair and a silver uniform.

The one on the left was almost as weird. His skin was white, beyond pale, and his eyes weren't light brown, but bright yellow, like a hawk's. He wore a gold operations uniform. What exactly he was the Etherians couldn't guess at.

Ramps were placed on either side of the three main command chairs, leading up to a raised area with a curved railing that lifted up to contain several consoles behind the command position.

Against the far wall several crewmembers went about their business, being monitored by a tall and almost frightening being. In addition to his gold uniform, he wore a silver sash. He was clearly not human. His skin was dark, with neat long hair around his head like a mane, and strange ridges that went from his forehead to the top of his head. When he bared his teeth, sharp fangs were exposed.

Satisfied with his checks, the alien went back to the consoles behind the captain, and nodded to a human who had just exited a turbolift at the back of the bridge.

This man wore a red command uniform. He had jet-black hair, and a thick, yet short beard. He moved quickly down the ramp to the third empty command chair.

"Captain, the ambassador's okay, just a few scratches. The embassy staff are a bit worse off, but Dr. Pulaski thinks they're going to pull through. No one's dead."

"Thank you, Number One." the captain replied with a stern voice, nodding curtly. By the sound, he was the one who had recorded the log entry. "Lieutenant Commander Data, what is the status on the Gercid fleet?"

The hands of the pale being at the left console moved rapidly over his controls, "Growing steadily in size, captain," he replied in a light, mellow voice, with no unnecessary change in pitch or sounds of uncertainty, "Intercepted transmissions indicate they are summoning the entirety of their local forces."

"Their weapons are powered. Sir, I recommend we activate shields and power up weapons," the tall alien with the forehead ridges said, "We don't want to be caught off-guard."

The captain sat back in his seat, "You may be right this time, Mr. Worf. Raise shields, power phasers, and load torpedoes, but do not select targets. Let us try to get out of this without bloodshed."

"Sir, I hate to say it, but wouldn't it be better to leave orbit, get some distance from their defense grid?" the bearded man asked.

"They might misconstrue that as a hostile act, Commander," the captain said calmly, then turned to the woman beside him, "...but on the other hand...Counselor? What are you sensing?"

"No more or less hostility than before, captain," the woman said slowly, "They could be preparing to attack, or they may just be scared and taking precautions."

Adora briefly took her focus off the conversation when she heard one of the crewmembers working a console on the side make a small groan sound, unheard by the senior officers but clearly picked up by whatever had recorded this incident.

"Commander Riker, what exactly happened?" the captain asked, "All we picked up was your emergency beam-out signal and something about an attack."

"It was the middle of the night. You remember the riots they warned us about? With very strong emphasis? They told us the rioters got ahold of some of the local law enforcement's equipment. That apparently included heavy weapons, and signal jammers. Our combadges couldn't get through. They blew a hole in the perimeter and came in shooting. I'm sure if one of our sentries hadn't been nearby when they attacked, we wouldn't have made it. And I'm sure they would have told you it was a regrettable incident, and apologize profusely." Riker's voice was calm, but hints of emotion leaked through, "They didn't seem to count on transporter enhancers or subspace beacons to get through their jamming."

"You think it was a deliberate attack? For what purpose?"

Riker spread his hands a little, "They seemed intent on capturing us alive. I'm guessing someone down there was after hostages."

"Yes, but who?" the counselor asked, "The commanders of that fleet? The rioters? A disgruntled political party?"

"We may have stumbled into the middle of a civil war!" the boy in silver uniform at the right-hand console said, spinning about, "There could be people on the surface the fleet has come to try and engage! The military could be acting as the good guys here."

"That does not explain why they have surrounded the Enterprise." Lieutenant Commander Data pointed out.

The captain put his hands in his lap, "There are certainly political disputes going on, but everything seems too neat. What kind of law enforcement from a planet like this needs subspace jammers? And how could things have degraded so far that rioters can reach their first embassy from another civilization? That seems like the sort of thing you'd protect. And the fleet happens to appear to deal with their politics at the same time our embassy is attacked?"

"I was guessing that, sir." Riker nodded in agreement, "But we really don't know anything for certain."

"Theft of highly-sensitive equipment is certainly possible," Data said, "In 1995, a US Army veteran was able to steal an M60A3 Patton Tank from a National Guard armory and went on a 'rampage', as the news media of the time described it. It was made possible by the negligence of military personnel stationed at the armory. Similar circumstances could have allowed rioters to get ahold of government-owned subspace jammers."

"But they didn't go after their government? They went after us?" Riker asked.

"There have been many recorded xenophobic incidents soon after first contact with an alien species. They may have targeted us as a scapegoat." Data replied.

Lieutenant Worf spoke up, "The Gercid ships have us surrounded, and more of their ships are on the way. Captain, orders?"

The captain shook his head, "This could be local politics, but it has us involved now. We need to get to the bottom of this. Data, hail…" he paused, furrowing his brow.

"I believe you are referring to Grand Admiral Hordak, sir," Data replied, "There is no need to hail him, he is hailing us."

The captain exchanged a look with Riker, "Onscreen."

The viewscreen changed to reveal a bridge much different from the Enterprise-D. This one was shaped like a cube, with grating, and metal wall paneling all visible. Harsh white light lit it somewhat poorly. A single large chair sat in the center, with a pair of seats to either side set into alcoves in the floor. Two more were in front.

The Gercid operating the ship were pale creatures, with pointed ears and red eyes. Their uniforms were shades of grey or black, and plain red insignia in the shape of a creature's wings.

A square hatchway was set behind the large chair, with no steps leading up to it. There were handrails, velcro, and straps everywhere. All the staff were each strapped in tightly to their chairs. A clipboard, or some PADD-like device floated lazily in midair beside the occupant of the main chair, no less strapped in himself.

The other ship had no artificial gravity. But that wasn't nearly as shocking as the commander of the vessel.

He was well-built, pale and cool, his face skull-like, his red teeth pointed. The other Gercid were similar, but none could match his height and his bulk.

It was Lord Hordak. He was younger, with darker hair, but recognizable all the same.

Every Etherian, even the Horde members, visibly reacted to his appearance. Some with fear, others with mixed emotions. And one completely impassive.

Entrapta furrowed her brow, studying the image. She seemed puzzled by something.

She held up one hand, closing one eye and measuring something with her index finger and thumb.

Hordak sat with one arm on his armrest, leaning to one side slightly.

"This is Grand Admiral Hordak of the Gercid battleship Warrior to Enterprise-D."

"This is Captain Picard. Greetings, admiral."

Hordak dipped his head, "I'm sorry, captain, but I must demand you power down your weapons and prepare to be boarded. If you surrender, your crew will be well treated. If you do not, I cannot guarantee their safety. Either way, your ship is mine."

Picard exchanged a look with Riker, "I'm afraid I can't do that, admiral. We command superior firepower. You do not wish to provoke us."

Hordak nodded, "that is certainly true, Captain Picard. Even my precious Warrior, our flagship, could not hope to destroy your vessel."

"Then-"

Hordak sat back, reflecting Picard's earlier pose somewhat, but his hands held up and fingers together instead of in his lap.

"There is an animal on my world. Or rather, swarms of them. Individually, they cannot hope to take on a larger foe, but they can kill something larger by working together. They close in on the enemy, smothering it with their bodies, and flap their wings at intense speed. The temperature inside reaches lethal levels, and kills the prey. Many of the swarm die, but some live, and carry on the knowledge of how best to kill the next prey faster."

"We have similar creatures on our own world." Picard observed.

"The apis cerana japonica, colloquially known as the Japanese Honeybee," Data said, "It was endangered by nuclear strikes during…"

He trailed off, Riker's gaze burning into his shoulder.

"Then you should know I am serious. Amassed here is a large portion of my people's fleets. They are a swarm, and while their wings are weak individually, together they and my planet's defense grid can hurt even your Enterprise."

"You're so willing to accept so many casualties, just to destroy our ship?" Riker said, "what kind of sentients do that?"

"Do you care so little for the lives of those under your command?" Picard demanded.

Hordak actually looked troubled for a moment, and sighed. He rubbed his face slightly, "I do this with no gladness in my heart. I imagine when this is over, I will see the faces of those young men and women I sent to their deaths today, their clans wondering why their children died, and I lived. these ships are the best our scientists can create. To lose them would be a great blow."

"Then it is a valid question, why are you doing this?"

Hordak plucked the floating clipboard out of the air beside him, peering at it. He looked up again, "I do not wish to destroy your ship. Far from it, I would prefer no harm to come to it at all. We live in a hostile universe, captain. We are much less versed in it than you are. Our swarm needs experience. We need your ship. We need your weapons, and your technology."

"We are not your enemies," Picard said, "Why do you need to steal from us? You could avoid any deaths, avoid provoking the Federation if you just back down. All your ships might survive. I can guarantee, we'll fight to our last breath if we have to."

Hordak nodded gravely, "Many of my soldiers might die if you resist. But their deaths will mean something. They will have been fighting for their futures. Next time we may not be so lucky as to run into someone such as you. Someone else might just sweep our ships aside. My people would still fight, and they would die nobly...and pointlessly. But we will accept near-total destruction if it means we get your ship, and the means to defend ourselves."

He stroked his chin, "Tell me, how are the children aboard your ship? Will they see their parents again? Will they live to see another sunrise? Or will your actions be responsible for their deaths? If your surrender now, no blood will be spilled. Your people will be taken care of, and eventually repatriated to your homes if you so wish."

"We will not surrender, grand admiral." Picard said, "Don't make us do this."

"It is only your doing, captain," Hordak replied coldly, sitting back in his chair, "What comes next is on your hands, and yours alone."

On the left side of the holodeck, the warships surrounding the Enterprise unleashed hell on the lone starship. Torpedoes, energy weapons, and even primitive railguns blasted out in a single volley, like a line of soldiers with muskets at Waterloo.

The ship shook slightly.

"Shields are down to 90% and holding!" Worf called out.

"I believe that's our cue to leave," Picard said, "Ready phasers, and lock onto his weapons and propulsion! Stand by warp nine. Heading seven seven mark twenty. Engage."

The ship seemed to stretch in space for a moment.

"Drop to full impulse! Fire phasers!" Picard barked.

The ship snapped back...into two places.

There now appeared to be two Enterprises, one where it had been, and another dangerously close to Hordak's flagship.

Plasma cannon fire and spatial torpedoes targeted the first Enterprise. The fire, enough to level cities, had no effect. For an instant the crews couldn't understand it.

The second Enterprise moved past the battleship, climbing over it with a nacelle barely clearing the smaller ship's gun turrets. Energy collected along a strip of metal that ran around the underside of its saucer section. Two beams of light sprouted from the strip, one cutting a neat gap in their port engines, and the other drew a line up the port side of the ship, mangling the nose and ruining the torpedo launchers.

Internal explosions blew the battleship into a cartwheeling spin.

Most of the ships escorting the battleship were too slow to turn, their size working against them, but a squadron of small ships were able to come about and pursue the Federation vessel.

"Get us out of here! Warp seven! Engage!" Picard barked.

The starship leveled out, stretched out into the distance, and sped off. It vanished in a flash of light, and the planet, ships, and stars on the left side of the holodeck disappeared. There was only the Enterprise-D traveling at warp speed.

The lights came back on, and the hologram faded out.

"That was our first formal encounter with the Gercid Empire," Emerson spoke, "as you can imagine, this was not conducive for further negotiations."

Catra scoffed, and rolled her eyes.

"That's not our Hordak!" Entrapta exclaimed.

Everyone, including the Etherians, turned to stare at her. She didn't seem perturbed.

"Ours is a clone," she explained. "He told me. And this one is bigger than him. That must be Horde Prime, or…" she rubbed her chin. "Maybe one of his brothers…? I don't know, I bet I could ask him…"

"Clone?" Emerson asked, curious.

Captain Hayes and Commander Matthias looked at each other. Hayes mouthed a question, and Matthias shrugged.

Entrapta nodded. "Yeah. He said there's loads of them."

Catra snorted. "That's stupid," she said.

"No, it's true," Entrapta waved a hand. "Hordak told me all about it."

"Why would he tell you that?" Hayes asked, baffled. He knew that Catra, Scorpia and Entrapta had all been working with the Horde, but from the uncomfortable looks on Catra and Scorpia's faces, they hadn't heard this information before.

"Entrapta's-um-" Scorpia glanced at Catra.

"Hordak's my lab partner!" Entrapta piped up happily.

"...what?" Hayes, Adora, and Glimmer all said at the same time.

Catra rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"Yeah, he's been my lab partner for a few weeks! We've been working together on some secret projects!"

"What kind of secret projects?" Hayes asked.

"A fusion reactor, but that's nothing too special. That's how we met actually, he was using uninsulated cables."

"What else?" Hayes was eager, but trying to keep himself controlled.

Entrapta hesitated, furrowing her brow, "I'm afraid I don't know proper Federation terminology for the technology. I could try to describe it, but it's the principle of the thing-"

"And I'm sure he wouldn't want any of the Horde's enemies to know about it!" Catra interrupted, "so don't say anything, Entrapta!"

"But-!"

Catra took one step, raising one hand slightly, and immediately phasers were on her.

"Just don't say anything!" She snarled, "it's none of their business! Hordak would be mad if you told these people!"

Entrapta's eyes widened, and looked between Captain Hayes and Catra.

"I...okay…"

Hayes grimaced. They may have to question them one at a time. "That's alright, Entrapta, we don't have to discuss it now."

He looked at Emerson, "don't we have more to show them?"

He hoped this next part would make them more willing to believe.

Emerson nodded to Matthias, "Next, we'll show you our records from before loss of signal from all Etheria stations, and Colonel Sheri's ship, Planetary Assault Ship Dokdo."

The lights dimmed again, and the holodeck activated once again.

This time, it displayed a smaller bridge, more of a V-shape than the curved rectangular bridge of the Enterprise-D. There was only one command chair in the center, ahead of which was a large V-shaped console that followed the shape of the bridge. One chair was at the point of the console.

Two more consoles were behind the captain's against the wall. The crew positions were closer to what the Etherians expected, with few standing positions.

Adora's eyes widened, and she looked at Bow and Glimmer.

Bow nodded rapidly, his own eyes massive. Glimmer's jaw was wide. The rest of the princess alliance glanced at each other, not recognizing what was the problem.

There were several personnel in various uniforms operating the vessel, their motions calm but their body language was not.

Two wore uniforms they recognized as Starfleet were different from the current uniforms, and those of the Enterprise-D crew. These were mostly black, closer to the contemporary ones than Picard's crew, but with the turtleneck color and shoulder colors reversed. The shoulders were now red, gold, or blue, while the turtleneck was grey.

Another wore a uniform less smooth than that of Starfleet. They were fatigues that had a grey as the primary color, with white, black, and brown colors for a camouflage effect. Federation Marines.

Several were wearing what looked like street clothes, like they'd just gotten out of bed.

More were working several consoles on the walls, and parts of the forward V-console.

In the command position sat a woman wearing a blue outfit. She had brown skin, blue eyes, and long dark brunette hair tied back into a braid. A golden headpiece wrapped around the nape of her neck and came out to a point above her ears.

There was something odd about her eyes. Her irises were segmented.

Her heart was starting to race, making a pair of tiny circles appear on her neck, and dark lines arc out. Again they seemed unnatural, with black right angles and following her veins with unnatural straightness. Light red scars were loosely connected to them.

Her right hand was tanned strangely, a little lighter than her wrist.

All the crewmembers were battered and covered in dust. The woman in the captain's chair was holding her side, covered in bandages, and coughed as she hit a few controls.

The atmosphere was tense, fearful and anxious. Something was very clearly wrong.

The main viewscreen ahead of the point of the V showed a grid display of space. On it was a display of a solar system, centered around a blue arrow. Arrayed around the system were many blue dots, and a handful of other blue arrows. A group of red arrows were oriented toward the planet, creeping closer and closer.

The woman hit a control, and the display zoomed in, showing even more pursuing the main blue arrow, labeled "USS Dakto".

The red arrows pursuing them seemed to be slowing, with another blue arrow hovering between them and the Dakto. It was blinking rapidly, and a small indicator popped up above it. "USS Johnston".

Orders and reports filled the air, drowning one another out.

"Sending messages to the 11th Fleet, no response yet-"

"Defense satellite sphere online-"

"What chance do we have-?"

"We're ordering evacuations of the major population centers-"

"All bases are on alert, we're relocating supplies to the bunkers now-"

"What are we going to do about the civilian air traffic-?"

"Does anyone know what the word is on Atlantis-"

"The Naval Patrol is going deep. At least we'll have something to throw at them-"

The helm officer at the front of the V-shape, one of the Starfleet people, turned in their chair, "Colonel? Ma'am? we've managed to keep them at range, and the Johnston's putting up a good fight."

The colonel didn't look at the helm officer, her gaze went back and forth from the viewscreen to her own console.

"Colonel?"

"Understood." she said, "Somebody give me a damage report."

"Navigation's working fine. Sensors got a little cooked, but they're working."

"Forward phaser banks are down," the weapons officer called out, "They're still trying to fix the damage from the last torpedo hit. Engine efficiency's down 30%. Life support's okay. So are the escape pods."

The Dokdo was a warship, but it wasn't meant for combat. Planetary assault ships were large transports designed for carrying troops and supplies for attacking a planet. They had no torpedo launchers of their own, and were primarily armed with phasers designed to shoot down enemy torpedoes, along with a meager pair of anti-ship phasers.

"Colonel?" an officer in one of the chairs behind the captain's chair asked. He wore Marine fatigues, and had pointed ears.

Colonel Mara Sheri glanced back at him, "status?"

The Vulcan Marine looked down at his console, "The 244th Planetary Artillery Regiment is reporting in as ready. Automated defensive measures are online. The 397th and 405th Infantry Brigades have been mobilized and are following dispersal procedures. The 905th Air Force Fighter Group, and all the available elements of the 45th Marine Expeditionary Unit are doing the same."

"What's unavailable?" Sheri asked wearily.

"Most of our equipment is ready for action, however we are missing several key personnel. More than a platoon's worth across all companies. The fighter wing has similar problems."

Sheri looked at him, "We might have to initiate the plan without them, then. We can't afford to wait too long."

The Vulcan officer nodded, but raised an eyebrow.

"Colonel, Johnston is getting hit hard. They're not going to last much longer." The helm called out.

Sheri cursed, then turned to the weapons officer, "does our fighter screen still have torpedoes?"

"Yes ma'am, but Aurora-class fighters are designed for supporting planetary assaults. They can certainly take on a couple of enemy ships, but they can't fight more than that-"

"I know their limitations perfectly well, ensign. They can still load photons. If they attack fast enough, they might confuse the enemy for a minute."

Sheri pointed at the viewscreen, "send them to give the Johnston some cover. That should slow them down."

The officer didn't respond immediately.

She turned back, "that was an order, ensign!"

"Yes, colonel!"

Sheri drummed her hand on her console for a moment, then pressed a control.

A small screen popped up above her armrest, displaying a figure in a Federation flight suit in an enclosed cockpit.

"Tomcat Squadron, this is Colonel Sheri. I need you to buy us some time, lieutenant. You get me?"

The pilot simply nodded, "Roger that, ma'am. We can do some damage before it's over."

Sheri nodded back, "Good luck."

Six blue icons moved from their station around the one representing Sheri's ship. They passed between the flickering dot of the Johnston and the red of the enemy. The Saber-class escort started moving again.

"Fighters engaging the enemy." the weapons officer called out.

Sheri nodded. She watched the scanners with barely a blink.

The distance between the red dots and the Dokdo grew.

Beside the Etherians in the holodeck, Captain Hayes' expression was grim, fire burned in his eyes.

In the recording, the colonel winced, and held her side.

"Colonel, we're getting a priority-one message from Greyskull Command, the Crystal Castle." the comms officer said.

"Put it through. Main screen."

Onscreen was a large control room built like a theater. The construction was very similar to that of the Crystal Castle, if taken care of better. A series of stepped ledges ran down the chamber, but where audience members would be in a theater there were instead rows and rows of computer displays and consoles, manned by a variety of creatures all wearing similar uniforms and insignia. Starfleet, Federation Marines, and a new uniform with dark green digital camouflage colors. Federation Army soldiers.

In center focus in one of the higher consoles beside a human woman in Marine fatigues was a woman dressed in a long flowing blue dress. She was humanoid, but was not human. She was a betazoid, and clearly a civilian.

"Colonel, the governor insisted." the human said, looking between the screen and the betazoid.

"That's alright, Captain," Sheri motioned, "Get back to work."

Sheri narrowed her gaze at the betazoid, and began, "Governor Gunden-"

"Colonel Sheri, what is the meaning of this?" the governor demanded, "I've got division heads all over the place telling me your soldiers are seizing almost every project we have! In particular, Project Eternia!"

Sheri beat a fist against the arm of her chair, "look at that threat board, Gunden! I assume you have one left of the screen I'm on! Do you see those red arrows?! Etheria is about to come under attack, and it's my job to keep this planet safe!"

"By activating an experimental project that could very well doom us all?!" the governor snapped, "Colonel, you don't know what you're doing!"

"I am defending this planet by any means necessary, governor." Sheri said coolly, "the fleet is too far away, and we have too few ships available. The defense grid is incomplete, and it won't stand up to a Dominion attack, especially not without ships. All I've got are a few Army garrison forces and my reinforced Marine Expeditionary Unit to defend this planet with. This planet and its technology means too much to the Federation, so I can't destroy everything and run. I won't destroy this planet. I won't fall back again. I won't let anyone else die!"

But how do you know it's the Dominion?" Gunden demanded, "Those ships were only traveling at warp 4.5, maybe warp 5! You know the Dominion-"

"I know, Hope! Damn it, I know! But can we afford to take that chance? Look at those engines of theirs, what other military has ships that can move that fast at impulse? I don't know why they were going so slow, maybe their main ship was damaged or something. Maybe they're only moving as fast as the slowest ship. Or, they're being slowed down by a supply tender, because they might be a long-range battle group for deep patrol and strike operations!"

"But-"

Sheri leaned forward in her seat, "Governor Gunden, even if we can hold, one of them will still get away and report in! We don't have the ships to chase down all of theirs. And I don't think Starfleet will be able to respond anytime soon. We can't let them know we're here. We can't let them get away. We have to hide!"

"Colonel...Mara," Light Hope said, leaning close to the console and microphone, her voice softening somewhat, "We can't do this. You know what the project can do! There's got to be something else we can do!"

"I know the risks!"

"If you do Mara, you know it's a matter of last resort! We need to verify-"

Sheri groaned, and held her side, the scars on her neck flaring. "We can't wait! They're coming on fast! They're getting more and more data as they get closer and closer. They'll find us, they'll see what we're doing, the operation will be compromised! If this planet falls, the Federation is done."

"I know that. But we'll be discovered sooner or later! Can't we hold them off for now, buy time to finish the system, and activate it later?"

"They'll send a dedicated fleet. They won't stop until the biggest threat to them is gone. Etheria is their worst nightmare. Project Eternia, Project Recharge, Project Vengeance, Qwib-Qwib, the terraforming systems, everything here is a big threat to them. All of our old tricks, the things from World War III, from before the Time of Awakening, so many of our old weapons are being brought back here. They're the only things we have to stop the Dominion. Even if they're not the Doms, we can't let them get our tech!"

The helm officer spoke up, "Colonel, Johnston is disengaging. Their shields and torpedo launchers are down, and they're venting atmosphere."

The colonel glanced at her weapons officer, who shook their head. "No sign of the Tomcats."

Sheri sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She looked at the governor, "Light, we're at the end of our ropes. Starfleet has been gutted, our armies are in retreat across a hundred worlds, and now our only chance at victory is under threat."

She looked at the helm officer, then at her own displays, "we're burning out our engines getting down there. Our fighters are gone. Dokdo doesn't have many other weapons, we've been hit already-"

Sheri moaned again, gritting her teeth and beating her fist against her console quietly, "I'm not sure if you heard, but the captain's dead! I'm not even sure we can make landfall with the state of this thing!"

"The landing gear is damaged, ma'am," the helm officer reported.

"This ship is one of the keys to making sure we'll make it, Hope. We're gonna have to bring her in no matter what."

Sheri looked at the viewscreen, "this ship's a perfect description for our situation! Hell, look at me!"

She gestured to her eyes, and for some reason her legs, and the golden piece on the back of her head.

"I lost my legs for the war effort, and it still wasn't enough. This isn't just one planet at stake, this is us. All of us. All 150 races of the Federation. Humanity, Vulcans, Betazoids, Tellarites, Andorians, Klingons, Gorn, Kzin, Caitian...the Federation is at stake. Those bastards are going to wipe us out, stamp us out, erase us all, and force those who remain to manufacture Ketracel white until the sun explodes. They'll make examples of us, those who dared to resist; they'll hit us with a plague or kill all our children to show us who's boss. Everything we've built for the last three-hundred years is going to be destroyed if we don't do something! We can't let them do this! We have to hide. We have to."

Light Hope's expression softened, pleading. She reached out a little toward the viewscreen, "Mara...we can't do this. We can't do this to all our people! Eternia is dangerous, too dangerous. It runs all around the planet! The blasted thing isn't even finished! It could destroy us! We don't have the resources, the staff, the orbital facilities...we don't have any of the equipment we need! If we activate it now, it could destroy little we do have. Don't you remember what happened to the Genesis planet?"

Sheri raised her own hand to match the governor's in the air, as if they were touching. Her voice softened, "It won't be as bad as that. Enough of us will survive."

"Certainly, Mara, certainly. A handful of bunkers will remain, the submarines. But will our databanks? Will the prototypes? Will the very things you're protecting survive? Will we even be able to turn Eternia off? Or will we end up stuck in subspace for good? Mara, think about what you're doing! There has to be an alternative!"

Sheri looked back at her threat board. The Johnston was being pursued by enemy contacts, and trying to leave as quickly as possible. An arrow representing an Intrepid-class, USS Dauntless, was moving past Etheria orbit. They did not have many larger vessels. The only one of equal tonnage to the Dauntless was the USS Calypso, a Centaur-class on the opposite side of the system. Calypso was dueling with another enemy unit, and trying to keep them from destroying two more Federation ships of the same class as the Dokdo.

"Tell Dauntless if she's not planning to do so already, pick off the enemy's flanks and take the heat off the Johnston! Don't get themselves killed!" Sheri ordered.

"The captain signals affirmative, sir!"

Sheri looked at Light Hope, "They can't hold out. Dauntless can put up a good fight, but she's just one ship and Johnston is just a destroyer. We only have a few more ships."

"Mara, we-"

"We have a Nova-class science vessel on station, Light. Oh, and we have an Oberth-class. A hundred year old science ship. That's very effective firepower," her voice dripped with sarcasm, "The Dauntless and the Calypso are the only big warships we've got! Calypso's all the way out on the other side of the solar system! We don't have a choice!"

"Yes we do!"

"No, we don't! I can't lose anyone this time! I can't lose anyone else! I can't lose you!"

Light Hope didn't visibly react. "Mara…"

"No choice…" Sheri muttered, barely audible to the recording and avoiding the other woman's eyes, "No choice. Never a choice. Never any choice."

"Colonel?" the vulcan asked.

Sheri scowled, turning her chair to face him. "I'm going to win this time. I've got to. It's my job, T'Kan. We've got to win this for the Federation. They're not going to beat me again!"

She tried to stand, then groaned and sat back down.

The ship shook suddenly with the discharge of the stern phaser banks.

"We've got another enemy fleet inbound! 50,000 klicks and closing! They're firing torpedoes!"

On the strategic view, orange dots were traveling outward from a new formation of red contacts, seeking out targets.

"Red-line the engines! It doesn't matter so long as we get there and the ship doesn't explode!"

"The starbase and all available orbital defense platforms are returning fire. They report they don't have many torpedoes to spare." The Vulcan reported, "Moonbase Alpha's defenses are out of range. Orbital defense platforms are supporting the science vessels."

As he spoke, the display of the solar system showed orange dots from the starbase colliding with red contacts, making both blink out.

Sheri glared at the sensors. There were three total enemy flotillas. And probably more on the way. "How do they keep getting so close? Did they warp in? What happened to the early warning systems?"

"I'm not sure, Colonel," the helm replied, "sensors are still cooked and the enemy's been shooting down our comm satellites. Sensors could be telling us the entire Dom fleet is on the system's outer edge and we wouldn't know."

Sheri cursed, wondering how she could forget the sensor array damage.

She looked up at the viewscreen again, locking eyes with Light Hope. She motioned to T'Kan, and he put the transmission on hold.

Sheri slowly got to her feet, groaning and holding her side, as she pulled a long familiar sword. She stumbled forward a little unsteadily, and had to lean against one of the nearby consoles for support.

An officer tried to offer help, but was waved off.

"I'm alright," the colonel said, "Can't and won't do this unless I'm on my feet."

She pushed herself off, then held out the sword, "For the honor of Grayskull."

In a flash of light, the colonel's battered form was gone. In its place stood an 8-foot tall warrior with long hair and dressed in an white and gold uniform.

Her eyes were perfect, gazing about the control center with determination and a little bit of wonder at seeing the world through natural eyes again.

She turned about, retrieved something from the captain's chair, then gestured for T'Kan. He got up from his console, and followed her to two stations in the main console. They were about two meters apart, no one person would be able to reach both of them. The stations didn't appear standard.

They each went to one. Sheri hit a control, "This is Colonel Sheri, USS Dokdo, online. All stations, report in."

On the wall, various video screens appeared, with various individuals in Federation uniforms appearing. There were two in each window. Each sounded off.

"Greyskull control, online."

"Bright Moon control, online."

"Atlantis control, online."

"Arkhangelsk, control online."

"Pompeii control, online."

"Detroit control, online."

"Machu Picchu control, online."

"Los Angeles control, online."

Sheri nodded, and pulled out an orange key, "Begin key insertion."

There were scans of each individual, and their keys, to be sure they were who they said they were and had said keys.

Once complete, a panel unfurled on each console, revealing keyholes. All inserted them, and in time with their counterpart beside them, counted off, "one, two, three!"

The keys turned. More panels unfurled. Access codes were entered into keypads. Commands were input.

Another panel popped open on the Dokdo's bridge, much larger than the key slots. Sheri lifted the sword by the handle, and stuck it inside. "Primary key insertion complete."

Sheri hit a control, putting the connection with Light Hope back on a small display to her left.

The governor looked up, "Mara...if...if…"

Sheri spoke in a low voice, "Hope. I can't bear to see them win again. I can't lose anyone else like this again, not when I can still do something."

The colonel input commands.

On the main viewscreen, a countdown appeared, and initiated. Alarms blared. The LCARS voice spoke over them, "Warning: Eternia Protocols are now in effect. Activation in twenty standard minutes. All personnel are advised to locate shelter immediately. This is not a drill. All space vessels within safety perimeter of planetary surfaces land immediately. All vessels beyond safety perimeter evacuate immediately."

Sheri looked at Light Hope, putting a hand on the screen, "Light…"

Light Hope looked up into the colonel's eyes, and saw tears brimming their edges. She touched the screen back.

"Light... it's the Federation at stake. It's you at stake. It's... it's her at stake. I can't let them win again. Too many people have died for me. Forgive me. Please."

"Mara…" Light Hope trailed off.

Sheri closed her eyes again, holding her side once again but there appeared to be no injury in her She-ra form.

She switched off the link. Sheri sat down in the captain's chair, barely fitting back into it now, and stared straight ahead at the timer.

Her She-ra form shimmered and disappeared. She winced immediately, and held her side. The bandages weren't looking good.

She watched the viewscreen, watching their ship crawl painfully toward the planet, toward safety.

Torpedoes were still flying at them, the stern phaser banks working to capacity trying to stop them.

"Dauntless cannot disengage from the new enemy fleet. Calypso is still out of range. Moonbase Alpha defenses still out of range," T'Kan reported calmly.

"Colonel! The enemy is gaining on us!" the helm cried.

Sheri cursed, "Push the engines! Don't hold anything in reserve!"

"The reactors are translucent they're so hot! We're not getting any more out of them!"

"All power to engines, stern shields, and stern phasers! Cut anything you can!"

Suddenly, another blue dot began approaching the Dokdo. One warp nacelle heavily damaged, torpedo launchers still down, shields flickering dangerously, the Federation starship Johnston was matching their course.

"Colonel, the Johnston-"

"Affirmative." Sheri said.

"...Colonel, the captain of the Johnston is blanketing comms with a looping transmission." T'Kan said calmly, "They appear to be using it to jam enemy communications, and to boost morale."

Sheri made a small hand motion.

"Just one sentence. Taffy 3."

Sheri closed her eyes.

The Johnston fired all forward phasers at the enemy. its point defense turrets intercepted torpedoes but insufficient for the numbers being fired at it.

Escape pods blasted out to either side or to the rear, several getting clipped by enemy fire. If they were hit deliberately or not they couldn't tell, there was so much incoming fire.

The shields flared and died within the first few volleys. Some attacks just went through the ship, vaporizing chunks like bullets through cardboard. A warp nacelle was sliced off and dumped plasma into space. A massive hole appeared on the starboard side of the hull, half a dozen torpedoes passing through it.

On the holodeck, Captain Hayes closed his eyes, Commander Matthias looked away, and Emerson glanced at the Etherians.

The ship made an arc as it passed in front of the enemy, and was utterly blasted to pieces.

She kept up the fire for as long as she could, but as powerful as she was, and as individually weak the enemy was, there were still so many ships against one little escort.

Johnston leaned forward, her remaining nacelle obliterated, and spun into a dance of death cut off by the brilliant explosion of her warp core.

The enemy swiftly advanced through her debris field, shouldering aside any unlucky escape pods.

And setting off proximity sensors.

Half a dozen photon torpedoes exploded in a chain along Johnston's last course, knocking the enemy back.

Four more exploded, this time with a brilliant orange-tinned blast wave, knocking out several unhurt ships and crippling those already damaged.

A ragged cheer went up through the bridge.

"Their tubes were down, so they must've dumped them out like mines! And a few photonic shockwaves for good measure!" a Starfleet officer cried.

"Everybody lock it down!" Sheri snapped, "Did any escape pods make it?"

An officer tapped at their controls. Their shoulders slumped, "A few."

Sheri shook her head, cursing under her breath. She held her side, sweat on her face. Her gaze narrowed as something shifted in her mind.

The distance between the Dokdo and the enemy grew again. Back to where it had been a few minutes ago. One step forward, two steps back.

The ship crept closer and closer to Etheria.

"Colonel, Greyskull Command is hailing us." T'Kan called out.

"Don't answer." Sheri said, watching the viewscreen.

The bridge shook again. A panel blasted off the ceiling, sparks went flying. There was a flutter in the deck, a booming echo far behind the aft hatch. A distant scream reverberated through the bulkheads.

"Life support just took a hit!"

"Engine's overheating! We're approaching a core breach!"

"Vent drive plasma! Kill the engines!"

The ship's acceleration halted, still soaring along its previous course, as a light-blue column of what appeared to be smoke trailed from the vessel's sides.

Sheri hammered her armrest, "This is Colonel Sheri! All hands, abandon ship! Repeat, all hands, abandon ship!"

The bridge crew all looked at each other, then the marines scrambled for the aft hatch.

"You heard the colonel! Abandon ship!" T'Kan said in as strong a voice as a Vulcan could possibly manage to the rest.

Many of the Starfleet officers, after a moment's hesitation, moved out as well.

The helm officer turned to look at the others, then at the colonel, still in her seat. They turned forward and continued inputting the controls. A handful of the other Starfleet staff looked at each other, then went back to their stations as well.

"Lieutenant-"

"I can cool her down enough to land, colonel! We're not leaving her until you do!"

"Lieutenant-!"

They twisted back again, "Colonel, with all due respect, you're a ground pounder, not a sailor! I know my ship! And again, with all due respect, we all know this song and dance! It's Starfleet tradition and regulations! Captain goes down with the ship, but the bridge makes sure the captain gets out at the last minute! The top officers in the chain of command leave the ship last!"

They twisted back forward.

T'Kan looked at the colonel, then returned to his station.

"Captain, Greyskull Command is calling again." he reported, "she's asking for you. She says it's urgent."

Sheri looked at her displays. The icon flashed over and over again.

She glanced at the countdown timer.

The colonel accepted the call.

"Mara!" Light Hope's eyes were filled with anger and despair, "Don't do this! I can sense what you're planning, don't do it!"

Sheri looked her in the eyes.

"Goodbye, Light."

She cut the link, and sat back in her seat. The left side of her chest was darkening. Something was running down her side and pooling on her seat.

Sheri held her side, and took her hand away, looking at it. There was no emotion in her eyes, no reaction. She made a bloodstained fist.

The escape pods were leaving rapidly, avoiding enemy fire.

They were close to Etheria now. This must've been her plan all along. Without the ship's hull to soak up enemy fire and get them there fast enough, the escape pods would've been sitting ducks. Now they could make a break for re-entry.

"Are the transporters still online? How are the evac groups?"

"Transporters are still online," the helm officer reported, "All evac groups are through. I've got shields back up, too. She'll make it through reentry if we don't take any more bad hits."

"Good." Sheri said. Then stumbled to a console, and hit a few controls.

"Colonel!" T'Kan cried, moving toward her just before the blue shimmer of the transporter made him and the rest of the staff on the bridge disappear.

Sheri sat down at the helm, entering commands, "Computer, are there any personnel remaining?"

"One life sign remaining. Deck 1."

"I need you to…" she coughed, catching her breath, "double-check my numbers, make sure I'm not gonna crash us into a mountain."

"Affirmative. Projected flight path is clear of significant obstacles. Warning; inertial dampener failure anticipated. Propulsion insufficient for crew-survivable deceleration. re-entry angle is too steep for crew survivability."

"Will the ship make it?"

"Warning; landing systems destroyed. Ship cannot land."

"I know that, damn it! Will you at least come down intact?"

"Affirmative. Chance of crew survivability is at 0%."

"Good enough." she said.

Sheri painfully shambled back to the captain's chair.

"No choice." she muttered. "Computer, transfer all essential systems to my chair. Shunt all remaining life support power to vital systems, and keep one transporter charge ready."

The spacecraft jolted with turbulence, and the colonel rocked back and forth, hard.

She leaned against her armrest, groaning and some of her composure started fleeing.

She choked back a sob, but the observers couldn't tell if it was just from the pain. Sheri continued hitting controls.

A console beeped rapidly. Sheri tapped a control, and an audio transmission came through.

"Greyskull Control, Colonel Sheri, this is Dauntless actual. Do not activate Eternia Protocols! Repeat, do not activate Eternia Protocols! Abort activation! Abort Eternia!"

Sheri tapped the control, "Dauntless, this is Dokdo, Colonel Sheri commanding. What are you doing?"

"Colonel, we discovered-"

The holodeck froze. Like a skipping record, bits came through, and Mara's simulation twitched back and forth, moments from across several seconds.

"Serenia...portal…"

As if a light switch had been flicked, darkness swallowed the bridge, and everything was silent.