The observation lounge was only really used for diplomatic matters, trading talks or sometimes a regular starfleet meeting to enjoy the stars and red glow of the Grim Wall. But now it was almost empty, as a clicking sound was heard where Sazra laid back in her chair. The chair setting was way behind functional use, but enough for Sazra to be able to look at the stars above her. Another clicking sound as in her hands she had a rubix cube, moving it around into different positions and possibilities. It was a relic of the humans, children used it to improve their problem-solving for structural issues.

She was not paying attention to details, to what she was doing with the cube. No, this was one of the times that her mind was occupied with worry, guilt, and discomfort. Sazra had not heard any word from Silina or the Gemini, adding to that layer, no word was heard from the galaxy. Except for Archanis Station, where she devises a plan to reconnect communications again by sending out the Himalaya to deploy remote repeating communication arrays. Another click, as her mind continues thinking of the Eclipse that had disappeared already a few weeks ago, while being on a very basic field trip. K’Nala first solo command task, a simple task, now nowhere to be found.

Closing her eyes, she felt the guilt getting to her, the stress level building up. She honestly had no idea what was going on, where her squadron members were, or how to actually fix this all. Was this station always feeling so empty? Without her friends, her loved one. Then she heard the door slid open, getting another click on the rubix cube while opening her eyes.

Ryom enters quietly and comes to a halt at the desk, seeing his Captain there. He had been her yeoman since the start of her new job at Hecate Station. The actions of the new commanding officer, spoke chapters by itself that impressed Ryom. He stood at attention, “Captain”.

“Anything on Gemini, Himalaya or Eclipse” Sazra asked a question she has been asking for….well she lost count honestly.

A shrug came from Ryom “Lieutenant Asipa is still trying to reach any station, including Deep Space 17. USS Himalaya is out of communication range after deployment of the fifth array. USS Kusanagi is still in search of the USS Eclipse near the Grim Wall, but no results as yet, Captain” He felt like a recorder, repeating the same answers with slight different words each time the question comes up.

A sigh came from Sazra in disappointment to the given answer, an answer she wanted to be different.

“But I am here for something different. Lieutenant Alavidze reported that long-range scanners have detected five unknown civilian ships approaching.” Ryom looks at the PADD, “They seem to be damaged, unarmed and broadcasting distress signals. You are required in the Operation Center” Ryom sees his Captain stand up from her chair and rushes to the door.

“Why did you not tell me sooner” Sazra was agitated by this, making her way to the Operation Center.

Following her “Because Lieutenant Alavidze made the observation that by the initial scans the ship don’t need immediate assistants.” Ryom just followed the advice, he even suggested calling her in, but Tamaz dismissed that after reading the initial scans.

Operations Center

“Report” A loud voice came, everyone looked at the voice seeing Sazra walking in with Ryom following her.

Tamaz looked up from his console, “We got five incoming civilian ships, their ETA is ten minutes. The CCS Artemis is flagged as the flagship of this convoy, and I have been in conversation with its captain. Of the five ships, two are using tractor beams to pull one of them due to engine failure, two of them have experienced hull damage and another plasma damage most likely from the Pilgrim Path.” He swipes up the data to the main operations table to 3D the ships.

Arriving at the table, Sazra looked at them, “Cause of their distress? Numbers of people on them?”

“Estimation” Asipa looked at the console to take the information that she received, “The convoys has about 250 people. From what the Captain told me, they have been attacked by an unknown force upon leaving Klingon space. These are merchants mostly, but on their way they found more people stranded in disabled ships or pods from destroyed ships.”

Tapping on the side of the table “Give me a readout on the scans, cross-reference it with any known ship in our database” Sazra orders were swift and direct, her earlier worries put on hold as her eyes swift over the details.

For a second it was quiet “It seems impossible” Tamaz looked confused at the readings “The impact, the used weapon, it dates back to a file of USS Voyager. The Vaadwaur?” He taps on his console again, “I will rerun the scans”.

“Vaadwaur?” Sazra repeated as she looked at Tamaz, then at Asipa “Get the message to the ships, that they can dock upon guidance of our flight operations” She taps the console “Kobahl to engineering”.

“Deem here, a little bit busy….”

“Stop whatever you are doing, get your emergency repair teams assembled and redirect them to the ports, we got incoming damage to civilian ships” Sazra swipes the data to the engineering “I send you the specs, if you need anything else, let me know. Kobahl out”.

Shaking his head, “Scans are coming back, it’s Vaadwaur that shot these ships, Captain” Tamaz felt a sudden discomfort rushing through his body.

“The cargo ships are in disarray, panic is on their ship. They are broadcasting stories of attacks and unknown threats” Asipa shrugs trying to puzzle the incomplete stories together “Whatever happened out there, they are in a traumatic shock” She looked at Sazra “The flagship captain has been acknowledging the instructions to go at guidance of flight operations to dock. He states, thanks for the help”.

Tapping on her console to send medical emergency teams also towards the docks, “Let’s focus on the problem people, get Hecate in a state of alert! We need to provide medial and repair aid to these people” Sazra orders as everyone scrambles to get going for their task.

Promenade

The arrival corridor has been repurposed as the medical temporary triage. Lighting has been functional, but dim to feel the warmth. The air smells faintly like ozone and recycled coolant. Doctors, nurses, and field medics were rushing from patient to patient as the civilian ship unloaded its wounded. Kossaal tags another person as red, “Get this man to medical hub now!” two enlisted transported the medical emergency away from the triage.

Taking a deep breath as Kossaal checks the next person “You are alright, keep calm and breathing” He placed a white tag on her so that the nurses knew she could be relocated to a housing location. Kossaal looked into the hallway and sees more people coming in, he quickly stars his assessing of the wounded again.

Meanwhile, Theetika, the head nurse of Hecate had a PADD in her hand “You get those white tags to housing-01 and 02. You provide first aid on those with green tags, if they need more immediate care move them to triage-02” She sees people rushing away from as others get to her “Get those black tags out of view, they will only shock the wounded more, but be respectful with the bodies. Use cargohold-14”.

Kossaal leans to a child, checking his vitals as the boy spoke.

“Where is my daddy? Is he alright?” The boy had some cuts and brushes.

Cutting away the brim reality, Kossaal had to lie “Yes”

Theetika looked at her supplies list and shrugs “Shit…supplies dropping faster than I can handle” She knew then that she needed to be creative with this all.

Young families, individuals with head wounds, old people wandering around dazed and scared. This was the reality that both Domam and Nirech were facing as they were white tags being escorted out of the triage. Domam guides an elder man to the direction he needed to go, “I know sir, we will do our best to find your son and his pregnant wife.” He had honestly no idea where to look for these people, but crowd control was needed. Domam was suspicious about the given situation, but showed restrained.

“Clear, thank you for your papers” Nirech was busy with the registration of everyone that walked in, this was utter chaos. People were afraid to whatever they had to witness. Nirech took a deep breath, seeing those children reminded him of the Tube Rats that had to rush to the tubes at Hecate. It was still an ongoing issue, but this situation didn’t make it any better.

Command Office

The desk is cluttered with incomplete reports of the civilians and staff. The lights were, like on the Promenade, dimmed as its power was being relocated to different areas. The screen on the desk showed a looping message “Long-range communications unavailable” on another screen it shows a long list of details about the Vaadwaur.

Staring at the map on the wall panel, Sazra narrowed her eyes at the locations where Himalaya, Gemini and Eclipse were marked as either red or blank. The situation had escalated beyond her squadron, she knew something was up with the galaxy, but the stakes were never been expected this high.

“Captain’s log, we have received five civilian ships that were damaged by Vaadwaur…” She paused for a second, “I am still progressing the idea that a death species has come back. The convoy had 250 people on it, additionally they transported 50 to 60 people died on their voyage to Hecate. The Captain of the flagship reported that the ships merge together after fleeing from Klingon space. He could only describe it as a slaughter as the Klingons and presumably the Vaadwaur clash into each other. If this is happening in our own space, I fear for the lives of the Gemini and Himalaya crews. I don’t even know where the Eclipse is, as search results come back empty. I just hope they are safe….”

Interrupted by the communication “Operations to Captain Kobahl, we have incoming ships, many more ships”

“End log” Sazra rushes to the exit of the door. It seems the floodgate has opened and arrived at Hecate.