Tiffany stood in the center of the bridge, staring at the planet below. Even from orbit, the towering clouds of smoke from the colonies could be seen. The pirates razed them, from the looks of it from an orbital position, then came down, probably did more surgical damage, and kidnapped their people. She worked her jaw as she glared at the viewscreen, fire dancing behind her blue eyes. She wanted to ask Blake to hail the colony, but she hadn’t found her voice yet. She couldn’t seem to get it out around her fury.

“It’s bad,” Vlex said from the conn, looking like she was about to cry.

Tiffany looked over at her Chief Helm and softened some. As bad as it was for her, at least she couldn’t feel the colonists pain and sorrow. She was sure it had to be hitting the Betazoid woman like a wave.

“It’s bad,” Tiffany replied with a nod, finally finding the break she needed in her anger. She cleared her throat to further steady herself, and called, “Blake, please hail the colony.”

“Yes, ma’am,” He replied, opening the channel.

A moment later, a woman covered in soot and grime appeared on the screen, her hair matted and stuck to her face from blood and sweat, “I didn’t believe you’d ever get here,” She said, her voice weak and shaky.

“I am so sorry,” Tiffany replied. “We were still en route back from Deneb when we got word. I’m Captain Tiffany Black of the USS Alita and we’re here to render whatever aid you need,” She explained, her tone gentle and kind. “Can you give me a run down of what happened?”

The woman swallowed hard and nodded, “They came. They came and they dropped bombs, and it took out our defenses. They hailed us, and they lied. And they said they were traders and wanted to trade with our colony,” The woman’s face twisted into a scowl for a moment as fresh tears made tracks down her face. She scrunched her eyes shut and took another ragged breath.

“Take your time,” Tiffany interjected, softly.

The woman let out a heavy sigh and cleared her throat a bit, then offered a weak smile, “So sorry, Captain,” She said.

“Tiffany,” Tiff corrected.

The woman smiled a bit at that, “Tiffany,” She repeated with a nod. “They uhm… Once they’d convinced us they were actually traders, we were preparing to have them send down landing craft, so we deactivated the automated defenses, and they started dropping bombs. They must have been doing passive scans or something, because they hit everything in one wave,” She explained. “When they landed–” She was interrupted by a sob. “When they landed, there was nothing we could do. The caught us flat footed,” She said, fully crying now.

“They came and the blew things up and they burned our crops and the killed so many people,” She said between tears and sobs. “We’ve only got about twelve hundred people, Tiffany,” She said, the pain and sorrow in her voice breaking every last corner of Tiffany’s heart. “We can’t find so many.”

“What is your name?” Tiffany asked, gently.

“I’m so sorry,” The woman said, still wracked with tears. “I’m Maryanne Taylor. I’m the Administrator of the colonies here,” She explained.

“That’s fine, Maryanne. You’re dealing with a lot,” Tiffany replied, her tone just shy of loving. “How many people did they take?”

“They took… They took,” Maryanne started sobbing again, “I don’t know! Tiffany, I don’t know. All of our equipment is destroyed,” She said, crying harder. “We’ve found two hundred dead, so many injured. I think at least a hundred are missing, but I don’t know. I don’t know how many they took, how many are trapped, how many we just haven’t found dead yet, I don’t know,” The woman said, barely maintaining composure. “I know all of these people, Captain. I know all of them. They’re my friends – my family – they were counting on me, and I let this happen. This is my fault, Tiffany. It’s my fault that this happened, and I–”

“No.” Tiffany said, strongly, before she could blame herself. “No, it is not. You take that thought out of your head. You followed procedure, you vetted. They played an old trick that has worked on more colonies that we probably even know. You did not do this, those bastard slavers did. We’re here now. I’m going to send my Chief Engineer down with a team, they’re going to help you find and extricate your people. I’m sending my Doctor down with a team, and they’re going to help you tend to your wounded and dead. I’m sending a security team down, and they’re going to help you keep the peace and keep you safe. And up here, we are going to follow the warp trail that these pirates left and we’re going to do everything we can to get your people back. Do you hear me? Everything,” Tiffany said. Her gentle, soft tones disappeared when the woman started blaming herself. Now her words were strong. These were not just statements, they were universal laws – right up there with gravity.

The woman on the screen regarded her for a moment, tears still streaming down her face, then nodded, “I hear you.”

“Good. Then you hold tight. We’re bringing you food, water, equipment, and people. We’re going to make this right, okay?” Tiffany replied. “Maryanne, we’re going to make this right.”

“Thank you,” Maryanne replied, crying again. “Thank you so much.”

Tiffany gave the other woman a nod, then signaled for the channel to close. She stood at the front of the bridge, between the helm and tactical consoles, quietly. Idly she wondered if anyone could see how hard she was trembling. No one said a word. It was the quietest she’d ever heard the bridge.

After a moment, she let out something between a grunt and a roar and spun on her heel, her fists still balled at her side desperately longing for something to punch, “Okay.” She barked.

She slapped her commbadge, probably far harder than she needed to, “Lieutenant French, get a team prepared for SAR operations. Take the heavy replicator, whatever tools and supplies, and your best people. You’re going to be looking for survivors and digging them out of rubble. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am! On it!” French replied, with no hesitation.

“Good. Black, out,” Tiffany said, slapping her commbadge a little too hard again.

“Commander Thatcher, put together a medical team – your best people – to go down to the surface. We’re going to use the colony’s medical facilities and setup a triage down there like we planned, so no one has to go away from the planet and their loved ones unless there’s no other option. Get your supplies, get your people, and be ready to go as soon as possible. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am,” Thatcher replied over the comm.

“Good. Black, out,” Tiffany said closing the channel and looking over at Melody.

“Commander Richards–”

“Get a crack team together and get down to the surface with them and all the equipment I’ll need?” Melody asked with a grin.

“No, actually,” Tiffany replied, pointing her fellow red head, “Get a team together and get them to the surface – your best people – but not you. You’re with me. We’re going after those slave trading sons of bitches and when we find them, we’re going to invade their ship and put phaser bolts between their eyes. I want someone who is familiar and well trained in tactical ops, and once again that’s you. So I need you here,” She explained.

“Understood, ma’am. I’ll put Kartyk in charge. He’s the best guy I’ve got,” Melody replied.

“Good,” Tiffany said with a nod, “Mister Kint, please tell me that I did not just misrepresent our capabilities to that woman and we do have a warp trail we can follow,” She said.

Her Bajorn Chief Science Officer smiled back at her, “Oh, yes ma’am. Those idiots may as well have had an open can of paint tipped over on the back of their ship. They’re leaking ionized plasma something fierce from one of their engines. We can track them, no problem,” He said, confidently.

“Good,” Tiffany replied, turning back to the viewscreen and putting her hands on her hips, “Juarez…”

Frankie stood and patted Mel on the shoulder as she walked by behind her, “Make it happen. Aye, Captain,” Her XO said as she walked toward the turbolift.

Frankie looked back at Tiffany, her own angry shining through clearly, “Those slavers can’t hide from us, Roja.”

“Oh, I’m coming for ‘em,” Tiffany replied, her tone dark as she stared at the view screen, fury burning in her gut. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry.

“I’m coming for ’em.”