“Minimal defences across the structure. Only a handful of lifesigns,” Lieutenant Jenu Trid said as she pried every little secret she could from the Vaadwaur structure with Republic’s sensors. “Found the primary power generator.”

“Target locked,” Selu Levne confirmed, a satisfied sound coming from the tactical console as the ship’s systems locked onto their prey. It gave the impression that the ship itself was happy, ready to bring mayhem to the Vaadwaur.

“Attack pattern alpha.” Captain MacIntyre’s order was the soft-spoken kiss of death for the vast Vaadwaur facility. Three words said that caused a chain of events that resulted in Republic charging forward, torpedo tubes and phaser arrays firing with abandon as they closed, then passed the structure.

This wasn’t a battle, it was a drive-by. The station had defences, but none of them responded, aside from targeting sensors locking on before accurate fire crippled them. Torpedoes gouged into shield emitters before they energised, phasers cut along structural beams. More torpedoes slammed into key sections and the death of the station was assured as Republic sped past, spitting more fire to ensure the deed was done.

“Now can I take us the rest of the way to Betazed?” Willow asked.

“With haste Lieutenant. With haste.” Captain MacIntyre thought for a moment before tapping a key on his armrest. “Witches, mount your brooms.”

“Oh, I like that,” Cat Saez’s response came over the comms from the fighter squadron’s ready room. “Two ready for rapid launch already. The rest will need two minutes.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” MacIntyre answered. “Call it a hunch,” he then said to Sidda in answer to the look she was giving him. “Why would a station like that be undefended, even under-manned, such we didn’t even get shot at?”

Sidda’s confusion shifted to understanding. “Because everyone got pulled for something else.” Her mouth pursed in thought before she spun to her side console. “Hopefully that’ll have killed the Blackout around Betazed. If we’re flying into a warzone and no one is around to help, we’ll want an escape.”

“Let’s hope we’re not too late then. But otherwise find us the largest contingent of Starfleet ships you can and we’ll head for them.”

As Sundiver dropped out of warp, she was immediately set upon by the Vaadwaur cruisers circling around Atlantis. Polaron blasts licked at shields as guns came to bear. And then with cold precision, the fresh Starfleet vessel replied. There was no splitting of fire, no swiping at multiple cruisers. This was concentrated firepower, poured down upon the lead cruiser.

Multiple phaser arrays fired upon the ship, smashing at shields. As one array ceased firing, another took over. Consistent, unending fire melted away the forward shields, at which point the ship’s forward torpedo launcher spat forth five quantum torpedoes. One crippled the cruiser, the second killed all power, the third turned it into an expanding plasma cloud as the ship’s warp core gave out.

“One down, nineteen to go,” Julien Rigal announced, turning his attention to another one of the cruisers.

“Helm, back us off,” Captain Escribano ordered. “One quarter impulse. Back us into range of some of the operational defence platforms.”

“Aye, ma’am.”

“We’re not going to last long with this many cruisers,” Tae whispered as Sundiver shook under fire, the tremors growing as more cruisers closed from circling like vultures around Atlantis.

“Long enough for Argonaut to rescue that other ship and for them to come rescue us,” Lorena said, hands gripping the armrest of her chair. “Just a few minutes.”

“Ma’am, the Blackout just disappeared!” The shout came from Ops, young Lieutenant Scalzi there, turning with a huge smile on his face. “I’ve got access to the subspace network.”

“And I’ve got more Vaadwaur ships heading our way,” Nick Johnson announced. “They must have been in the Blackout under impulse. They’ve just gone to warp and are coming here. Five minutes.”

“Never rains, but it pours.” Lorena shook her head. “Lieutenant Scalzi, send out a general distress call, append our situation and-”

“There’s another ship coming in, ma’am!” Scalzi interrupted after a beep had pulled his attention. “It’s Republic! And they’re hauling! They’re overtaking the Vaadwaur right now.”

“Well, that’s not really going to turn the tide,” Tae muttered under her breath.

“It might over the next few minutes.”

“Uh, ma’am, I’ve got more ships incoming on long-range sensors,” Scalzi said. “Lots of ships. Federation warp signatures!”

“Now that’s more like it,” Lorena said. “Hail them and tell them to speed it up right now!”

“How many of these guys are there?” Tikva shouted as she let loose another shot from her phaser, pining a Vaadwaur soldier in knee, causing them to collapse face forward, right into a console, before they rolled to the floor, unmoving.

“At least one more,” Nathan answered her.

The bridge had become a redoubt assaulted on all sides. The turbolifts thankfully hadn’t been a source of boarders so far, but the Vaadwaur were pouring through every other access way they could. They’d come up through the Jefferies tubes into the conference room, in the ready room, the back and front of the bridge. And each assault had been turned back, but it was having a toll.

And then Tikva’s world went for a spin as a rifle butt slammed into the side of her face; the attacker unseen. Similar thuds, then louder ones, and she saw Nathan was down beside her, blood pouring from a gash on his forehead.

Weapons in their faces, the two officers didn’t need to be told to surrender. It was clear enough.

More fighting continued to the rear of the bridge, but it didn’t last long. Tikva caught sight of Adelinde throwing a Vaadwaur soldier into two others, another coping a kick to the gut, before they piled on her, bringing her down.

And as the fighting stopped, the air on the bridge changed. A single Vaadwaur finally emerged from the gloom, unseen till now. Beratan, the Vaadwaur commander who had made his initial declarations and then gone silent in the face of Atlantis’ assaults, or Betazed’s flippant responses.

“Pathetic,” he said, spitting out the single word. Gone was the mask of civility and charm he’d tried to use. This was a snake in a uniform now. “This relic of a ship, this crew of weaklings and cowards, held me back from my glorious triumph.” He shook his head, stepping through his soldiers to look down at Tikva and Nathan.

“A woman and an old man? What, could Starfleet not summon forth greater champions to protect this world?”

“Sorry to disappoint,” Tikva said, attempting to leverage herself up on her elbows at least, pushed back down by a boot on a shoulder. “If I had one more ship, I’d have kicked your ass.”

“Insolence,” Beratan said, a wicked smile forming on his face. “I hope you keep such spirit, Captain, when you arrive at the work camps.”

Tikva had turned her attention to one of the soldiers behind Beratan, the masked individual distracted by something. They turned away, focusing on something else, before back to their admiral, stepping up behind him. “Admiral, sir, there’s a problem.”

“Soldier, there is no problem we can’t conquer this day!” Beratan turned on the individual, a smile of triumph on his face. “We have taken their ship. We have their commanders captive!”

“But sir, the Righteous Fury reports the anomaly has dissipated and they’ve been engaged by new Starfleet vessels.”

“Impossible!” Beratan shouted, turning back to Tikva with rage instead of triumph. “What trickery is this?”

Before Tikva could utter a reply, a blue light filled the bridge, the high pitch whine of incoming transporters filling the air as a number of individuals began to take form. Some standing, some crouching, all of them armed in one form or another. Surprise gripped the Vaadwaur just long enough to give the new arrivals a chance as phaser fire filled the bridge once more.

And then there was a loud, ear-grating screech as a Klingon disruptor went off, slamming into one of the soldiers next to Beratan. The Vaadwaur screamed in agony as green energy wreathed their body, dissolving them in quick order.

Something no Starfleet officer should ever, ever do, but right now Tikva didn’t care at all. It was, after all, one less problem.

And something to which she knew only one person in Starfleet would do, in her recollection.

Commander Sidda Sadovu stood amongst the collection of security officers from Republic, a huge grin on her face as she stepped through two young men, levelled a gaze at Beratan who was busy fumbling for his sidearm in the face of sudden aggression from fresh-faced Starfleet officers, then surged forward with an actual sword in hand. The slice was as precise as it was quick, cutting through Beratan’s lower arm, his hand and pistol flopping to the floor as the man himself dropped to his knees screaming.

He was the only Vaadwaur on the bridge left conscious, clutching at his arm as Sidda stepped in front of him, sword point levelled at him. “Surrender,” the Orion woman ordered.

“Never!” Beratan hissed. “The Vaadwaur will never surrender! We’ll bring ruin and-”

The sword hilt collected him across the temple, sending him to the floor in a heap. One of the Republic officers stepped forward with a medkit immediately, attempting to stop the bleeding, while another hovered nearby with a weapon at the ready.

“Idiot,” Sidda growled, then turned to offer a hand to help Tikva up to her feet, then Nathan. “Fleet Captain, pleasure to meet you in person finally. Got to say, hell of a welcome. I should visit more often!”

“How?” Tikva spluttered, more than a little surprised to see the Orion on her bridge.

“Story for another time,” Sidda said. “Might want to look outside.”

The viewscreen on the Atlantis’ bridge was one of the few things still working right now. Static lines raced across it, but the forward view was still clear enough to be made out. More Vaadwaur ships were present now. A couple of the battlecruisers, the troop transport, a dozen cruisers. But none of them were firing thanks to the vast gaggle of ships surrounding them. White and grey glimmering hulls of Starfleet vessels, a multitude of classes, but all of them fresh, standing guard over the Vaadwaur.

Sidda’s smile could practically be heard in her voice. “Turns out, without the Blackout, the Vaadwaur are a bunch of unprepared, underequipped punks. Core fleets have been waiting around, ready to pounce. Bring enough of them and even the Vaadwaur can do the math.”

“But you and Mac were in the Expanse,” Tikva stated.

“Underspace and divine inspiration.” Sidda held up a hand to stop the inquisition. “I’ll let the boss explain. Besides, we brought some backup.” She pointed at some of the closer ships out there, the unmistakable forms of a Lamarr-class and an accompanying Gagarin-class alongside.

“You know what I really love about this job?” Sidda asked, before answering herself. “Rescuing damsels in distress.”

“It’s a pretty good perk,” Adelinde said, sneaking up on Sidda and Tikva. “Ch’tkk’va reports boarders are surrendering throughout the ship.”

“Find out who’s in charge out there, then get them to start taking the Vaadwaur off our hands. We’re in no position to take prisoners right now,” Tikva ordered.

“Aye, ma’am.”

“Welcome back to the galaxy at large,” Sidda said after Adelinde left them.

“Couldn’t have arrived a few days or weeks ago?” Tikva teased. “Forget about it,” she ordered immediately. “Thank you for the save. Now, I need a damage report.”

“Oh, you aren’t going to like this,” Sidda winced. “Kinda hard not to notice that your…”