"Okay just what was that you were doing while protecting us?"

"Something that has been banned by Starfleet Command but I have used my own authority as a Sentinel to override their orders. I had a feeling that fighting style might be useful so in my spare time and in secret I practiced that form as often as I could, granted it's not perfected and definitely rough around the edges but I am getting closer to finishing that style almost every day"

"How do you think Starfleet will deal with you once they find out you disobeyed their orders?"

"Nothing considering ever since I was a cadet and had explained the Force I have been allowed to act on it whenever possible and thus I can't be punished. I will tell you the full story about the style's start later but I can tell you that I had a very good reason and am very glad that the worst that will ever happen to me or innocent bystanders is that we're knocked out for a few hours"

"Wait but can't the phasers be set to kill?"

"Yes but Starfleet and I agreed that any Sentinel that has to kill will kill with their lightsabers because we do try not to kill whenever possible, all Sentinel's have their phasers permanently locked on stun it's only the level that varies"

Finally they reach the Senate and vote on the matter they were supposed to and were also asked by the Chancellor if everyone was alright besides being a little shaken from the attack and Ashland is the one that answers that question

"Everyone is fine Chancellor, all attackers are either dead from deflected bolts or they are unconscious from phaser wounds"

"When did you switch to you phaser Sentinel?"

"I didn't, I used a unique style that has actually been banned by Starfleet Command and is currently only known by me"

"Sentinel Portland are you saying you disobeyed a direct order from your superior officers?"

"Yes, however they can't punish me due to the rules laid out from the beginning"

"I think Starfleet Command needs to hear about this, besides we need to request extra security because we've been getting threats lately from a rogue group calling themselves the True Dominion"

"Understood Chancellor"

So Starfleet is quickly called and informed of the situation and they quickly pledge help in the form of six starships

"There is one other matter that Sentinel Portland needs to speak with you about"

"Admirals I have been practicing and was forced to use what I will now be calling the Sentinel Defense even though you banned that style as too dangerous even at full stun back when I was still a cadet"

"Are you talking about where you combine the style of the Jedi with the simple point and shoot of a phaser? I thought you were told never to develop it further and that you were to forget about it"

"I know, and I actually would have if not for the fact that right after you declared that style too dangerous I had a vision, the same vision that started that style's development in the first place. I saw a battle where that style was our only hope, because when I first had that vision of bloody battle everyone was dying Starfleet and Jedi alike, including the Sentinel's. I saw things improving slightly with that fighting style fully developed but also loss because I listened and didn't develop the style any further than the initial stages. The Sentinel Defense is still not completed but once it is I am going to release a full training program where I help lead them in that style for all Sentinel's to learn and use"

(Sighs) "I see we have no other option then, very well but that style but be fully developed before you let anyone else use or try it is that understood?"

"Yes sir"

Communications are then cut and the Senate talks about a few other things but finally the representative's were back in their office to take care of paperwork and a few other things that couldn't be handled in Senate meetings. Over the next two weeks things were actually pretty calm and normal when suddenly during a meeting which the Jedi were required to be at all Jedi noticeably had their hands on their heads and some of them looked like they had a brief dizzy spell or headache, once they recovered all the Jedi were looking at one person, Sentinel Portland and she knew why too

"Sentinel Portland to Starfleet vessel respond...Sentinel Portland to Starfleet vessel respond...Starfleet vessel this is Sentinel Portland I am ordering you to respond immediately...Portland to Starfleet vessel if you can hear me please respond...Chancellor contact Starfleet see if any vessel is supposed to be in the area at this time"

"Right away"

Starfleet was naturally wondering why the Republic was calling them back so soon but quickly got their answers through Portland

"Admiral Janeway was there any vessel near the Republic that you know of?"

"No, the nearest vessel is still about four months away, or at least it should be why?"

"The entire Jedi Order just felt the deaths of about a hundred people from Starfleet and as the only Sentinel available I can tell it's from a vessel"

"Understood Portland, we'll try and figure things out on our end, you stay put unless told otherwise"

"Copy that Admiral will obey orders"

Communications are cut and then from out of no where's they hear a voice talking to them, however Ashland is able to recognize that voice due to an incident shortly after she had been assigned to the Texas so wasn't completely surprised by what happened right after the voice was heard

"You people are so panicky when you think something goes wrong you need to lighten up"

And with those words and a flash of light a person just blinks into existence and Ashland is the one to speak up quite loudly in fact

"Q! I swear if this is one of your stupid games that you like to play on Starfleet personnel on occasion you are going to regret every single moment because I may have been holding back the last time I saw you but I assure you now that I am not holding back this time"

"Take it easy Starfleet and by the way when did the uniform change because this is so not you"

He snaps his fingers and Ashland's uniform changes to a mockery of both regular and Sentinel Starfleet uniforms at the same time which though she didn't want to Ashland had to admit it was impressive

"Now that's a uniform you can be proud of Ensign"

"Oh I'm not an Ensign anymore Q I am a First Junior Sentinel and I am telling you now if you have anything to do with the disappearance of that crew or if you continue to mock us you will regret it severely because I will report this to Starfleet and though we can't do a thing to hurt you physically there are other things we can do to make your existence miserable I promise you that"

He disappears in a flash but Ashland simply gathers the Force around her and waits for him to reappear which he does but she's ready for him

"I don't think you can do anything"

"Trust me I can"

With those words she holds out her hand and has him in a Force grip and when he tries to escape he finds that he can't and Ashland can feel his escape attempt failing too

"Well what do we have here? the Q Continuum has a weakness that no one knew about before, this should prove very interesting to Starfleet Command and also very helpful considering the fact that you and your kind simply annoy us and it's not very funny at times either. Now then tell me if you have any part in the disappearance of the crew and I will let you go, if you keep silent I will keep you here until I either get tired or you start begging to be let go of now which would you prefer"

"Like I would tell you anything"

Fifteen minutes later Q was still being suspended in mid air but not by Ashland, another Jedi had decided to take over for her seeing as how he could tell her emotions were starting to reek havoc on her control so he took over before she lost him, that's when Janeway called back

"Chancellor, Sentinel we have...what on Earth is Q doing there?"

"Don't know Admiral, he's not giving us any answers to anything we ask him, oh and by the way we found out something to our advantage about fifteen minutes ago"

"What would that be?"

"Jedi and most likely Sith can keep those from the Q Continuum in our reality, don't ask me how it works but it just does"

"I'll pass that along, now then we have news about that ship, it turns out the Virginia was headed to you guys to replace the officers Picard left behind when you were thought killed Portland and was about four month's away like reported but we've lost contact with them for now clear reasons, has Q admitted to anything Sentinel?"

"No sir, he's evaded all our questioning, then again there is one more thing we can try but it borders on illegal in Starfleet and the Federation still because it has yet to come to vote even after all these years after having revealed myself"

"What's your proposal?"

"A Force suggestion, but like I said it borders on illegal"

"Well I am calling for special circumstances in that regard seeing as how you're not in Federation space you can do what you need to get answers, just don't do anything that can be construed as torture or any of the darker sides of your abilities"

"Understood Admiral maybe you should watch to get an idea of how it works"

"Fine by me"

Ashland faces Q and with a wave of her hand speaks

"You will tell us about you're involvement with the Virginia"

and Q repeats what she said back because even though he was a powerful entity she used her most powerful Force suggestion she had

"I will tell you about my involvement with the Virginia"

"What did you do?"

"I made them disappear, they were being chased by foes they couldn't beat and you aren't supposed to face yet, I froze them in time until I knew they were safe"

"You will bring them back"

"I will bring them back"

"Good"

She stops the interrogation and Q stops being hazy and while he realized what had happened he also knew he had to keep his promise

"Just so you know, that might not work next time, but for now" (snaps his fingers) "I've brought back your ship they're just fine and headed here, now if you don't mind I need to warn the Continuum about you guys"

With that he disappears but they hear his voice one last time

"And next time we'll be better prepared for you and your abilities whatever you are"

"Call us Jedi Q and don't annoy us, we know we can stop you now"

"We will see"

Then they don't hear his voice anymore and the Senate talks about other issues that have cropped up because of Q's interruptions and other things that they simply needed to talk about

"Sentinel Portland, I think you should talk with your fellow Jedi about Q and the issues that could happen now that the Continuum knows about you guys"

"What about you though?"

"Don't worry I have the other Starfleet Officers protecting me and you know it I'll be fine without you for a day or longer, after all there have been times when I have requested Jedi protection but they all had their own missions and couldn't tell us when they could spare people"

"Okay then, just make sure that unless you are headed to your temporary residence you stay inside the Senate building, if you need anything send out runners is that understood?"

"But Portland..."

"That is an order Representative Collins is that understood?"

"Understood Sentinel"

"I will be telling the Starfleet Officers about my orders too and they know to obey me here in regards to the fact that I am always considered the senior officer in Republic space when we're talking about our Representative's safety besides all these threats are connected somehow I just can't tell you how"

"I just wish we weren't threatened so often"

"I know but things are the way they are"

"Be safe okay"

"Representative Collins, I'm a Jedi and a Starfleet Officer I don't think I fully know the meaning of the word safe considering both my jobs are potentially dangerous"

Ashland then goes to the Jedi temple where there was a meeting in place and Ashland gave a very thorough report on Q and what he and his race can do to a certain extent

"They are all called Q by the way and this particular Q seems to like playing jokes on us for whatever reason, though he also did put us on a trial of some sorts starting with Picard, last I heard the trial was ended but you never know with him. Now then we know our powers affect him but unfortunately they can and will try to counteract those effects next time they are up against Jedi though I wouldn't know how they would do that and quite frankly I don't even know if they can so we might as well simply all be on alert"

"Is he dangerous to us or anyone else?"

"I wouldn't say that exactly but he also doesn't exactly think of the consequences of his little games, at times he does help us through riddles but other times he really gets us into trouble, like the time he introduced us to the Borg way before we should have, the best advice I have for everyone which is in Federation files is to not trust anyone who claims to be part of the Q Continuum"

"Will they always appear in a flash of light?"

"Yes they do, don't ask me why because I have absolutely no idea but they do"

"Well at least we'll have some warning before they show up then"

"Not much, but any warning is better then none I guess"

"Oh one more thing you should know about Q and the Continuum, they technically can't do anything that would change the time line or anything like that but they are very powerful beings who can do whatever they want with the snap of their fingers and like I said our Q introduced us to the Borg pretty early so if it looks like they're about to do something..."

Ashland suddenly stops due to a sudden vision in her mind

vision

She was on Coruscant chasing someone when there was a sudden explosion and she quickly put on the Force inhibitor on to hide her Force signature and though she couldn't see the culprit's face she did see them in a bar later bragging

"I killed the Federation/Jedi officer known as Sentinel Portland"

There was cheering at that while she in the meantime went into deep hiding for safety

present

"Sorry as I was saying if it looks like they're about to do something use the Force to prevent movement as long as that still works anyhow"

"Understood Sentinel, now then how about you get some rest and you'll be allowed to return to your post tomorrow unless something comes up and we need you"

"Got it, let's hope we can get a lead on who's threatening the representative's soon though because everyone is getting a little tired of them"

Two days later there was yet another attack on the Senate building and this time Ashland would be perfectly fine and make it through without any injuries but the enemy did break windows and she managed to lose her lightsaber out of the window, but she still had her phaser and when she had an opportunity she back flipped out of the blaster bolts fire and called her weapon to her with the Force and gave the enemy a full powered stun which ended the fight quite nicely after all the jumping and fighting she had been doing earlier

"Well that settles things quite nicely I should say, but now I need to either replace my lightsaber with the spare I built or find mine"

A Jedi shows up at the window just then with her lightsaber in their hands

"Portland I think you dropped something"

She grabs her lightsaber with a nod of thanks

"The bounty hunter managed to blast it out of my hand through the window, it was a cheap shot that I wasn't expecting unfortunately"

"Got it"

She holsters her lightsaber and they get back to business when a month later with three months left for their pickup Ashland was informed of a bounty on her head being both a Jedi and Starfleet Officer

"This could get very dangerous Ashland, we'll do everything we can to keep you alive but unfortunately you do your best job protecting the Federation Representative's"

"I know, I'll do everything I can to keep both myself and everyone else safe, maybe we can draw him out somehow"

"I don't think so it's too dangerous"

"Well we'll figure out something but for now let's just do our jobs"

She heads to her temporary quarters and calls up a friend that she had made shortly before she left for Earth all those years ago and now that there was reliable communication still talked to on occasion