It was quite an impressive vessel. The USS Liberty was an Obena-Class vessel fitted for exploration and scientific missions. But for some odd reasons, it had a certain amount of weaponry upgrade that didn’t fit the vessel’s bill. The ship was commanded by Captain Garrett Vance, who had a great service record throughout his career in Starfleet. 

“Quite the ship” Silina stood there, a bit uncomfortable in the turbolift.

“Quite the ship indeed” Sazra shrugs a bit, trying not to be jealous of the ship. The Obena-Class was quite an impressive ship in her opinion, “Who knows, we might find ourselves on such a ship in the future?” Thought, knowing Starfleet Command and their denial to upgrade to another ship, was something that was hitting her knee a bit too many times.

Nodding to her Captain and dear friend’s comment, “Yea I don’t see that happening quite soon. It’s not like Starfleet has a Galaxy-Class in the reserves waiting for us to command it” She scratches her nose due to an annoying itch.

“You do know that every time you scratch your nose, history has proven that we are getting in trouble of some kind or form” Sazra didn’t look at Silina. “Do you want me to order you to not scratch?” 

She stopped midway, scratching as she looked at her side, “If you do that, I will be having a serious problem, Captain. Though, what you are stating right now makes it sound that I am the source of most problems in our missions. Do you get something to prove that?” She looked back at the door, placing her hand behind her back.

“Where do you want me to start, the academy with the teacher’s pop-quiz, the Ferengi that tried to bribe his way to freedom, the troublesome Talexian, and that time with the Klingon Opera in my bag while on a scientific mission” Sazra shrugs remembering that away mission as she hears Silina laugh but quickly stops as the door slides open. 

A Caitian looked over her shoulder at the door and turned to the newcomers that entered the bridge, “Lieutenant Prrraugol and Lieutenant Rrruslanovna welcome to the USS Liberrrty. Captain Vance is awaiting you in the Rrready Rrroom” She waved to the door at the side as the two followed her to the office and entered the Ready Room with the two other officers. The Commander stops in front of the desk of the Captain “Captain, the executive team of the Jaxarrrtes has arrived” 

An older man was sitting there, with short gray hair and a somewhat full face. He dropped his pencil on the table as he was writing something. “Don’t mind me. I like to be old fashion and write my notes with a pencil rather than on a PADD” He gave a soft smile. “Please take a seat” He motions his hand to the table chairs as the three take their seats. “Welcome to the Liberty. My name is Captain Vance. I am the Second Fleet’s exploration leader in the Typhon expanse on its western part. Fourth Fleet mostly covers the southern part, I believe” He leans backward in his chair. “This is Commander Mrorri, the ship’s Executive Officer” The Caitian gave a brief nod to them.

Sazra blinked a bit and nodded, “Lieutenant Praugol, I am the Commanding Officer of the USS Jaxartes. This is my Executive Officer and Medical specialist, Lieutenant Ruslanovna” She motioned to Silina, who gave also a brief nod to them. “We do operate mostly in the southern part of the frontier. So, to be honest, we were a bit surprised by the sudden request for aid from a great ship such as the Liberty?”

The Captain placed his hands over each other, “Straight to your assignment. I like that directness, Lieutenant. Yes, I do require your ship’s help to be more specific. We are dealing with a ticking time bomb at this moment” He presses the button on the panel at his side, and a 3D model of a planet appears, “This is the planet known to our records as Yinides. It is a flourishing planet, but an incident happened that was caused by a Second Fleet’s vessel that damaged the atmosphere of this planet” 

A planet that was damaged by a Second Fleet’s ship? Sazra narrowed her eyes a bit. It was not her position to ask further questions. Primarily due to the order of ranks. But something was not right about that statement. “Right, that sounds terrible, but I fail to see how the Jaxartes can assist?”

He rose his hand, “I am not finished, Lieutenant. Please let me continue” He saw the nod from Sazra and continued, “The Yinides has an additional problem that it has a pre-warp civilization that now faces a slow extinction due to our fault. The Federation wishes to see this resolved as soon as possible without breaking the prime directive. We need a vessel that is small enough that it can be avoided by the natives of this planet. The Jaxartes meets that requirement” 

Sazra looked at Silina, who looked back at her and gave a slight nod to the explanation. But Sazra could see that Silina was conflicted about the whole mission description. She looked back at the Captain, “What do you require us to do at the planet Yinides?”

“We requirrre yourrr ship to fly close to its orrrbit and fix its atmospherrre. We cannot get close to the ship without putting the natives on high alert. It is a matter of a few days’ work, and the Jaxarrrtes is quite able to do this,” Commander Mrorri spoke.

“That sounds like a mission that one of your shuttles could also do. It still doesn’t explain why our ship is needed in a delegate situation like this?” Silina spoke her mind and looked a bit troubled.

“I would appreciate Captain Praugol if you keep your Executive Officer in line. It is custom not to ask questions to your direct chain of command,” Captain Vance spoke harshly. “But if you require knowing, the Liberty is required elsewhere, and we need this issue to be resolved as soon as possible. You have your orders dismissed” Vance smiled at them as they both stood up.

Narrowing her eyes at the comment about Silina question, she wanted to respond to that but chose not to due to their rank difference. “Thank you for your time,” She noticed Silina glare at her and ignored it, “We shall finish this mission as soon as possible” With that being said they both moved out of the office as they walked into the turbolift.

“Thanks for having my back, Captain” Silina spoke annoyed turning around “Transporter Room one”

The door closed as Sazra shrugged “Do keep in mind that he is a Captain, he might be an ass but still our superior officer” With that being said, this mission was not something that she liked at any rate. 

Everyone was already present in the conference room as Sazra and Silina walked into the room, “Well, what is today’s mission?” Rami spoke out bluntly, “We are wondering what a ship like the Liberty wants from us, a small raven” 

“Who are you calling, small?!” Adrián bites back. “This ship has seen quite a bit of action than she wants to admit” Looking back at the Captain who sat down, “But it does bring out the question of why are we here?”

“To fix the mess of the Second Fleet, without breaking the prime direct Chief” Silina took a seat herself. “But that was a wonderful talk, right, Captain” She was still annoyed at how Sazra didn’t back her up when the Captain Vance made those remarks about her behavior.

Sazra waved her hand. “Please, I am not going to do this argument again, Lieutenant” Sazra waved the problem away for now, “We are tasked to go to the planet of Yinides. Due to a recon mission with one of the Second Fleet ships, the atmosphere of the planet got damaged and seeing the state of development that the planet is in with its pre-warp civilization, they wish to have a smaller ship to go in and fix it”Everyone looked at each other as Adrián shrugged, “Well, that will be tricky. The scans that Liberty gave us state that this planet is not in the phase of satellites, but they have pretty advanced radar stations on the surface. We need to stay out of their range or make sure we will not be detected to not violate our prime directive” 

“The damage is more than just one area. Whatever hit, that atmosphere is rapidly declining, and time is against us in this matter. Captain” T’Path made the observation.

 “Which comes back to my gut feeling that this whole situation is a cover-up of a mission that went south quickly,” Silina pointed out, annoyed. “The Captain ship is already quite some time here, and he didn’t put any effort to start the repairs himself. Does that not strike you all as something odd?” 

“That does seem quite odd, but maybe the Captain had some good reasons for it. The prime directive is a good reason enough to do nothing,” Rami pointed out, even as it troubled him that something might be up.

Sazra raised her hands, “Stop…” seeing that everyone looked at her, “It is not our job in this situation to second guess another Starfleet ship their motives to not interfere with the given task. We are here now, and as Lieutenant T’Path spoke, we got to focus on the task. Fixing Yinides atmosphere. T’Path gets us close enough to work on the troubled areas. Rami keep long sensors focused on the Yinides surface. If they detect us, I want to know. Adrián work with T’Path to further coordinate the damaged areas and seal them. Silina oversees the operations, and I still got some work left in my office from Starfleet. Dismissed” 

Everyone acknowledged the briefing and stood up from their respective chairs to begin their tasks leaving the room “Silina” Sazra spoke, waving her to come back as she leaned in her chair. “Please don’t ever again question my judgment before the crew” 

Silina shrugs. “I wouldn’t have to if you protected your crew from the misdeeds of others, Captain” placing a harsh tone on the last word and leaning on the table. 

“You know as much as I do, quite a bit for my crew and protect them as well as possible. But I must respect the chain of command, even if Captain Vance was an ass. So next time act like the first officer and have my back rather than thinking about your own” Sazra said calmly yet sassy back. “In the end, we need to have each other’s back and if you jump into a fire without good reason, then don’t think I will blindly follow you”

That shocked Silina, and she pushed herself off the table and gave a firm nod, “I apologize for my behavior, Captain. Can I be dismissed” hitting that formal tone.

Sazra knew this was not spoken out yet, but she simply nodded to that “Dismissed Lieutenant,” Seeing Silina leave the room. The crew was already in a tense operating area, and Sazra could see that Silina rebellious behavior was not going to help out in the mission, “I better keep an eye on her”

Tapping on the console as T’Path looked at the screen, “Approaching Yinides, Rami already confirmed that our approach was not detectable, but he is down below the main sensory chamber to double-check” She plotted a course into the orbit of the northern part of the world “All sensors are in the green, no indication of detection so far” It was both herself and Adrián that were present at the bridge.

“Doing long-range scanners to get an indication of the atmosphere now,” Adrián lets the console do its job, “I feel rather uncomfortable with this mission. From all the times we have been out here, we always followed the rules by the letter, and suddenly we are to walk the edge of it?” Adrián shrugs it off, “I don’t know T’Path. Something does not add up. Why are we supposed to fix Liberty’s problem while they are more than able to do it themselves?” 

T’Path plots the course in orbit to stay within a certain degree of acceptable height. “There might be many reasons, Lieutenant, but the reason that the Liberty gave is rather unlogical thought” She had to admit to that and looked at the screen. “As Lieutenant Ruslanovna said, they could have left shuttles behind to solve this issue. Yet they choose to call in help from another fleet to fix the problem”

The results slowly start to come in. “That is the thing. Something doesn’t add up. They didn’t say what ship it did, why they are leaving it in our hands, and why they suddenly had to go?” Adrián shrugs, looking at the colorful blue and green planet on the screen, “It doesn’t make sense, but we are supposed to follow the commands blindly due to being outranked?” 

“Outranked, the chain of command is all questionable reasons to follow orders of those that require some work to be done. Thought this work seemed to be then just something small. The implications and outcome of this can have big after-effects for the ship that causes this problem,” T’Path pointed out as she blinked, realizing something. “The ship that caused this would have left a trail” She looked at Adrián.

Adrián looked from the screen to her, “A trail?” He thinks about what she was aiming for, and an inevitable shock of realization comes to him, “A trail of who did it…we are forced to stay in orbit to fix this problem but at the same time erase the previous ship trail that caused it” He looked at his console and started another scan. “We are covering for another person’s crime” 

Nodding, “But the current predicament leaves us to stay in orbit and act on the damage done. We have to fix the orbit, Lieutenant. Current incoming scans indicate that we are seeing a rapid degree of atmospheric pressure” T’Path showed great worry about this planet’s condition. 

“I will start putting some bandage on it soon enough. I need to have a full scan to know where to start without having it collapse in its total. But at the same time, these scans can help us in the future to safeguard our approach that might or might not be used against us” Adrián was not particularly happy about the whole idea, but they were being put into a pinch. Better to have safeguarded information that could help them. This all seems to be like a big facade. 

Leaning against another console, looking at her side at the panel information of the scans done by the bridge crew. Silina had her arms crossed over each other, still annoyed by the whole perspective of this mission. Something felt off, and her gut feeling was never wrong, “What is your opinion about this mission, Rami?” She suddenly broke the silence.

Rami didn’t look up from his console as he shrugged, “The mission is to restore the balance of this world’s atmosphere. There is nothing more to it, we are following orders that Starfleet wants us to do” He tapped a few times on the console and looked at the information trying to make heads and tails out of it.

“That is not what I meant, I know we are following orders here, Rami, but you as Security Officer should have like a billion alarm bells going off about the approach of this mission” Silina looked at him, feeling a bit of discomfort making the conversation “You can’t ignore that”

He sighed at that and looked finally at Silina. “Are you out to pick a fight with Sazra?” He leans on the console a bit, “Because we both know how she is standing in the middle of this. She has no choice but to follow the orders given to her, and we are to follow her orders. Yes, the mission by itself is beyond any parameters of being normal, but that doesn’t mean that we are to disobey orders from Sazra” 

Pointing her finger at Rami, “That is low, even for your Rami. You damn know that I am loyal to whatever Sazra says and wants us to do, I do it within a heartbeat” 

“Then just follow her orders, have faith in her” Rami looked back at the console to look at the incoming data batch. 

“I am” Silina replied with a shrug. “But it doesn’t fix my feeling that something is up. Captain Vance is the typical guy that does anything to gain glory. I bet your sorry ass that he will claim our hard work as his own when he returns from whatever black hole he came back from” Silina was agitated by the situation “And Sazra knows I am trying to protect her as well… but it seems like she is ignoring my advice”

“Just trust her judgment in this all, we have always done so, and it has come to the right end. Well, almost always” Rami blinks, looking up for a second, thinking back to another mission where Sazra did make a judgment error and then looked back. “She has been sitting in that chair for the last six years now, and she is doing pretty well for herself” 

It was something Silina couldn’t deny, “Sazra is a very ….gifted Captain and knows what she is doing. But even loyalty to every Starfleet Captain out there might be blinding. It is the task of her XO to step in and shake her to see the truth”

Rami didn’t respond to that as he shrugged. “We might have to hurry the operations, Rami, to T’Path. Whatever you do, change the ship’s direction to at least five km away from the atmosphere. They are placing their radar system at our ship position. From the scans that I got from their installations, they should not see us if you back off” 

“Understood, we shall back off” a voice came over the intercom.

Looking back at Silina, who was still stuck in her train of thought, “I believe you also have a duty to perform, Lieutenant. Something about overseeing the operations here?” Rami shrugs again, “Just keep in mind that a planet requires our help. After that, we can puzzle all we want about Captain Vance’s motives” 

Silina blinks at Rami, especially at his serious attitude. “You are right. I….am sorry I lost my focus on the task at hand” She pushed herself from the console and walked to away. “I will get to the bridge. When you are done here, get there also”

“Roger, Lieutenant” Rami replied, looking back at the console as Silina walked away.

The repairs were going smoothly. The atmosphere was recovering quickly with a natural boost with the help of the USS Jaxartes systems. Releasing a chemical that would meet the required needs of restoring it. However, a certain tension was growing on the Jaxartes as more scans indicated that there was more to this mission than met the eye. Sazra entered the bridge “Status report” as she took the chair from Silina, who respectfully stood up and took her to stand Sazra side. 

“The ship is performing within its desired scoop of operations. The planet’s atmosphere is recovering slowly and is on schedule. We are at a threshold that would make the atmosphere solo on repairing itself without our assistance. Lieutenant Valerio has done remarkable with the guidance of Lieutenant T’path. Overall, we are almost there to wrap this mission up” Silina looked at the screen and not so much at Sazra.

“Good, the quicker we are done here, the better,” Sazra had to admit, “Well done, everyone. We will have to report to Liberty about the stand on the mission. They are, in the end, the ones we report to” Sazra could hear the growls of disapproval. “Problems?” 

“The problem is that the one that most likely caused the incident with this world is the one giving orders,” Adrián pointed bluntly. “While we were busy traveling through all the weak spots of this world, we have scans indicating that the Liberty was in orbit of this world and most likely the cause of the weakness we are now repairing. By flying over these spots, we are masking the other trails, and if things go south, we are to be blamed for this whole mess” 

 Rami scratches behind his head, “Additionally, the people on the planet seem to be more on edge than a normal civilization is. Trying not to get detected is not that hard, but something has spooked them to believe that in their skies has happened” He looked at Sazra. “It is like something else was happening, and if that is so, we need to know what has happened here, Captain. The Liberty may have broken the prime directive”

Hearing the allegations, Sazra looked for a second at her side to Silina, who kept quiet and to herself mostly, then looked back at the others. “Look, I understand what you are all saying, but at the moment, we are here to provide our work towards this planet. When we are done, we are leaving the orbit and go back to our own business” Looking at Rami, “That is a very heavy accusation there, Lieutenant, you better get me some proof of that, or there is not much I can do about it” 

“Sir, the USS Liberty jumped out at the edge of the star system and hailed us” T’Path looked over her shoulder.

“Speak of the devil… On-screen,” Sazra orders as the bridge crew o the Liberty comes into view, and Vance looks back at her. “Captain Vance, I was just completing a status report with my crew here,” Sazra spoke.

“Lieutenant Praugol, I have not heard from you just yet and thought I jump by quickly to check up on you. What is the status of the repairs of this lonely planet? I must resume my duties quite quickly here, and this ordeal is holding me up” He smiled softly at them.

“Don’t” Sazra raised her hand at Silina, who wanted to say something. “We are almost complete with our operations here. The threshold is almost reached that the atmosphere will regenerate itself. I believe we can be done within the day” 

“You have four hours, Lieutenant, get it done, or I will find someone else to do it, Liberty out” The screen changed back to the planet view.

“That arrogant prick…..” Silina spoke out of frustration

Sazra stood up, her facial expression neutral, “Get that threshold done within four hours, folks…. I will be in my office” She walked off the bridge as the rest of the bridge crew looked confused at each other not knowing what just happened. 

The Jaxartes were almost done with the operations in orbit of this planet that got victim by some unknown cause. Thought the crew of the Jaxartes was skeptical that it may have been the USS Liberty that caused the destructive motion to the atmosphere. They just couldn’t pinpoint what it was that might be done it. “Captain, I did some scans over the last few hours of the surface, and the people on the ground seem to be on high alert to an area close to one of their cities. Further scans indicate residue of transportation from one of the lower layers of the mines at the given location,” Rami spoke, showing the footage of military forces around the stated area.

“Send me the information,” Sazra ordered Rami and noticed that the bridge crew was going to explode any second now, but there was no time for that. She saw the information on her chair console and tapped a few times on it.

“Sir, the USS Liberty just jumped out” T’Path acknowledged the arrival of the ship when at that exact moment, Sazra slid her finger upwards. “They are hailing us”.

“On screen,” She replied, placing her hand on her side as Captain Vance appeared on the screen “Captain Vance, so soon back” 

Vance looked at her and narrowed her eyes, “Of course, Captain Praugol, it is in my belief to support a smaller ship crew like your own. My rapports indicate that your restoration is done” He nods to another officer who handed PADD to him. “So you are relieved of your duties here, Captain. Thank you for your assistance” 

Sazra shrugged and wanted to say something, but “You are relieved of your duties? What is the convenient moment for your ship to arrive when we are done? Really?” Silina’s fury was getting out. “Captain, you have done nothing but show disrespect to this crew’s hard work and neglected your duties. Heck, if our scans are right, your fault of exposing the Yinides people to this danger! Your ship warp trails were located on our trajectory, and your ship caused this incident!” 

“Now now Lieutenant, you are making some heavy accusations there” Captain Vance placed his hands over each other as his First Officer Commander Mrorri stood a bit of unease at his side. “Being in orbit of one planet doesn’t indicate that we are at fault for this perhaps natural disaster, and we have to uphold the prime directive seeing that the natives can scan their skies”

 “The natural disaster you speak of, Captain Vance, is fabricated by once warp engines. The atmosphere of this planet is sensitive to certain chemicals that a warp vessel gives off. Our scans have concluded that your ship was too close to the planet Yinides when conducting….” T’Path looked over her shoulder to Rami and then back, “While conducting illegal operations on the planet’s surface by using long-range transportation”

Rami nodded quickly, following up, “Scans indicate that there was various transportation residue on the surface near the Yinides people’s main city. Their military is surrounding the area, and an indication of panic is shown. I did a further in-depth scan of what was going on and noticed a large amount of Dilithium ore missing from the planet mines. What would happen if we were scanning your ship, Captain?” 

A cracked laugh came from Vance as he shrugged a bit, looking around, noticing that the bridge crew on the Liberty were getting uneasy about this quite detailed rapport from such a small ship. “Captain ..no, Lieutenant Praugol, is this how you treat your superior officers? Is this the way to thank me for getting you such a simple job?!” He shook his head in disapproval. “Letting your crew go loose on their paranoid ideas that I have conducted illegal operations on that planet while damaging the ships in orbit? How ridiculous. I will let you know what….you are still learning fresh to that chair, Lieutenant. I let this slip, and I highly advise you to delete that falsified rapport that your bridge crew took, and seeing your reaction, it was done without a single consult with you! They don’t even trust your opinion. Well, Lieutenant, let this be a valuable lesson in Starfleet Command that your crew needs to be loyal to your command and not do their own thing” 

Everyone on the Jaxartes looked nervously at Sazra. They realized that their conduct of doing operations on their own was illegal because they were not consulting their Captain on this. Silina wanted to save this situation but halted as she saw Sazra raise her hand, “I am….sorry, Sazra,” She muttered.

Shaking her head to Silina, she smiled and then looked at Captain Vance while standing up. “You didn’t reply to the formal request from my Chief of Security, Captain Vance. If we scanned your ship cargo, will we find Dilithium ore?” Everyone looked surprised at her reply, as Vance shrugged at this comment and looked at his First Officer, who felt discomfort,

Vance took a deep breath and looked back, “I am in no need or time to oblige your selfish request and demand now of you to follow orders, delete those logs and get your ass back to Deep Space 17. I shall send them misconduct of your poor behavior in this situation. We have no time for this!” Vance was waving the whole situation away.

“You avoided the question once again. Must I then conclude that you are not willing to answer it?” Sazra placed her hands behind her back, looking calmly at the screen.

“Of course, I am not! This is outrageous!” Vance slammed the side of his chair as some were startled by it.

Nodding to that, Sazra took a deep breath, “Then, by the rapport that my crew has gathered over time and the refusal to answer a question of showing your inventory. I, Lieutenant Sazra Praugol of the USS Jaxartes, place you, Captain Vance, under arrest for illegal mining operations on the planet of Yinides. The second offense is that the people on the planet Yinides are a pre-warp civilization. Thus, you broke the prime directive that we, as Starfleet Captains, have to follow by the letter and the third and last offense is that you neglected your duties to repair the atmosphere of the planet Yinides when your engines caused its demise. What do you say”

The crew on the Liberty bridge got quiet and looked fearful at each other as Vance burst into laughter, “Oh, you are such a joker, Lieutenant. You? A Lieutenant of some overgrown shuttle are placing me under arrest?” Vance laughed, continued, and shook his head, “Tactical, aim your weapons at the Jaxartes and prepare for opening fire. Operations jam their communications if you know what is good for” The crew looked hesitated, but Operations did block system-wide communication block.

Within a surprising move, Commander Mrorri placed a phaser at Captain Vance. “Stand down that orrrderrr, you hearrrd Captain Prrraugol. We shall be in herrr arrest” Vance looked annoyed at his First Officer. “You know you arrre wrrrong in your actions, Captain”

Vance quickly manages to disarm his First Officer as a fistfight begins between the two on the bridge, “GO JAXARRTES! ALERRRT STARRRFLEET” The communication breaks off as the Liberty moves forward to Jaxartes position.

“They are locking weapons upon!” Rami yelled out of frustration at what had just occurred.

“Helm, get us out of here. Plan a route to Deep Space 17. Send an SOS signal to request immediate aid!” Sazra orders as she sits back down in her chair. The USS Jaxartes engines burned up and fly away from the planet’s orbit only to jump away from it, trying to make their escape. 

The Jaxartes were in the high warp, trying to get as fast as they could toward Deep Space 17. The vibe was quite tense on the bridge. They just witnessed a Starfleet Captain willing to take that extra step to cover up their mistakes or even crimes. “I still don’t have any response. It seems the communication is still being jammed somehow!” Rami spoke in frustration while tapping on his console. 

“The Liberty has some great equipment, that is for sure if they can reach out that long-distance” Adrián tried his best to boost the communication grid but didn’t get through whatever he tried. 

“We need to stay calm, people, reach Deep Space 17 and get the information about the Liberty actions…no about the actions of Captain Vance reported to Starfleet Command, and they shall act. These acts will not be overseen. Breaking the prime directive is one thing, but threatening to get rid of the evidence, aka us, is another that doesn’t go well in my books” Silina was checking the primary sensors.

A sudden heavy shake got the Jaxartes badly. “They are not far, Lieutenant Valerio. They are right behind us” T’Path spoke as the backend view was now shown on the main screen, letting the Liberty be in its view. “I am sorry that I didn’t notice them earlier, but they managed to gain on us at rapid speed” 

Sazra narrows her eyes as she taps onto her console. “Rami, can you get a lock on them? They are firing at us, so we are well in our rights to defend ourselves” 

Looking a bit puzzled at his Captain, “Yes, I can get a lock, but that is a Starfleet ship, are we even allowed to fire even if it’s in our defense?” Rami was confused as the ship took another close hit from the Liberty and saw Sazra looking at him. “Got it, self-defense it is” He tapped a few times on the console. “Locked”

“Fire photon torpedo,”  Sazra orders as a blue leaves the back of the Jaxartes and quickly gets countered by the more agile and advanced Liberty. Sazra growls a bit, “Lieutenant, is it possible to make the torpedoes detonate in a certain field so it still damages them, but before they can counter it?” 

“It is possible, but the danger is that we will get hit by the shockwave as well,” Rami pointed out. “The best thing I can advise on that is to up our aft shields to absorb the shockwave as good as possible” 

“Silina boosts the aft shields, T’Path keeps us away from their locks, Adrián gets me more power to the engine, and Rami, fire away whenever you can,” Sazra spoke, grabbing the side of the chair. The shields get redirected full power to the aft shields as the Jaxartes swing from left to right, avoiding the Liberty shots. Meanwhile, photon torpedoes get shot from the backside of the Jaxartes and explode before the Liberty to make a gap between the two ships. 

 But all of a sudden, the Liberty gains on the small ship and fires a few torpedoes that were too quick for T’Path to avoid, as its engine gets hit and throws the Jaxartes out of warp. The whole bridge gets thrown all over the place. It took a few seconds for the crew to grab their focus as the sparks flew on some of the consoles, “Status report…” Sazra pushed herself from the floor, feeling the warmth from her head as she put her hand on it feeling it wet. “Shit” 

“Engines are down. That last hit took a beating at us. We are not made for this, Captain” Adrián grabbed the console, trying to see what was functional. 

“Deep Space 17 distance?” Sazra sat back in the chair, looking at the cracked screen that showed a distorted image, but Liberty was right there. 

T’Path shook her head, “We are still too far from the space station to be even noticed. Engines are indeed not responding to my commands. Sir, we are dead in the water. They have us” T’Path could feel the panic crawling on her, “They are hailing us”

Standing up from her chair, she nods to T’Path to get the Liberty on screen. “Lieutenant Praugol, it has been some goose hunt…but it ends here,” Vance spoke with some arrogance on his face. The Liberty bridge looked a bit messy, “Your little rebellion has not worked….your journey ends right here, and you know, no one will know what happened, and we can continue our business exploiting worlds” 

Sazra looked at her crew, frozen by the idea of being captured by this corrupted Captain. Looking back at him, “Let me tell you this, Vance… You are right. You have us. Furthermore, you won your battle against a small Raven-class vessel that outsmarted you. We discovered your scamming acts, and you got us right where you want us” Sazra looked at her side to a particular panel and then back. “The truth is, I knew from the start what was wrong. Your attitude sold you out when you gave me those ridiculous orders. Think about it” She pointed her finger up. “You wanted us to clean up something that the Liberty messed up in the first place. My helmsman and engineer found out the patron of your warp trail around the planet” She noticed both T’Path and Adrián looking at her, surprised that she noticed the scans.

She points a second finger up, “Then my security officer noticed the unrest on the planet, focused on one location that had residue of transportation on a large scale. So, after he did some long-range scanning, he noticed that the planet contained dilithium. You rob this civilization of their progression to potential warp development” Rami looked at Sazra, surprised now also, then back at the screen at an annoyed Vance. “And last, as my First Officer said, you broke the prime directive of the Federation. You are guilty of being thrown in prison for everything you have done. Now seeing that your crew is seen as an accomplishment in your acts, they will pay the price also” 

The worried faces on the bridge looked at each other, but Vance clapped in his hand “Bravo, miss Praugol. Your acting in drama is almost perfect. You almost had me worried there. Yes you have me all figured out. You have all the proof, yet you have no one to send it to. Because I will destroy every inch of that ship of yours and make sure nothing is left behind. I can see it now….Liberty arrives at the scene and finds a destroyed Starfleet ship….further investigation shows that the Jaxartes blew itself up. How does that sound?”

“You forget one thing” Sazra said as she looked at the panel again and back to the screen. “I am not alone. I might die sure…maybe tomorrow, maybe next….everything is possible as a Starfleet Officer. We sign up for these risks of exploration. But…” Sazra smiled a bit. “I, nor my crew, will die today and especially not by your hand” 

“Ha! What makes you so sure about that, Lieutenant?” Vance looked amused back at her.

Everyone on the Jaxartes looked at their Captain and stared at the broken screen, “Because Starfleet already knows about your venture in this part of space. The moment I knew, the moment we left, I sent every detail of information to Starfleet Command. Before you could even block my…signal” 

That changed his facial expression of Vance from amused to furious “Kill them” The screen went back to space as the Liberty moved forward and fired a few times at the already disabled Jaxartes. 

“Hold on. We are not out of the woods just yet” Sazra felt the sudden impacts as the ship suffered severe damage. Consoles blow up by the overloads and fires begin to light up. But Sazra kept calm and focused on the screen, seeing the Liberty taking fire upon her ship as if she was waiting on something. 

Silina grabs Sazra shoulder. “Captain, we need to evacuate the ship!” A soft smile came to Sazra’s face as she pointed at the screen, making Silina look at it. A ship jumped into the sector, a Century-class ship, followed by a Nebula-class and Saber-class. “What the….” Silina looked surprised at what she was seeing. Were they going to get some help, or were they with Captain Vance?

“We are getting a broadcast from the USS Discovery! It is sent to both our ships” T’Path spoke up loudly.

“On screen,” Sazra spoke lightly, lowering her hand.

The screen changed to a split screen seeing Captain Rider in the chair, “Captain Vance stand down your actions right now!” He spoke directly to Vance.

Vance looked confused for a second, “Captain Rider, what a pleasure and perfect timing that you are here. We are here to capture this ship that has broken the prime directive of a pre-warp civilization! They were on the run and we stopped them. Sending out some falsified rapport to Starfleet Command” Captain Vance looked at Praugol, who didn’t react and smirked. 

“Is that so…” Lucas spoke, glaring at Praugol and then looked back. “You mean the falsified information that your ship damaged the atmosphere of this world? That you let their ship clean up your mess of a planet you shouldn’t be near in the first place? The same planet where you transported onto and even stole dilithium for your reputation with Starfleet?” Taking a deep breath, “Plus the need that you were going to blame it all on them?” 

“Outrageous, don’t you say, Captain? Falsifying the information of their rapport just to get promoted and taking me and my loyal crew to sink for them. I am amazed that they have done so on such short notice” Vance crossed his arms. “I think it is best to take them in and let the tribunal take care of it” 

“Right, let JAG take care of this….we shall let JAG take care of this whole situation, Captain Vance. You see, there is one small detail you forgot, and that is time” Lucas looked at him with quite a glare, “Captain Praugol here has been reporting to Deep Space 17 since she walked out of your ship office. Your neglecting behavior has cost your head, as you have been on Starfleet Security radar for some time. Now, this must have been a difficult period for Captain Praugol to accept all the nonsense from you and not be able to tell her crew our true orders. Investigate the crimes that the USS Liberty has done and report back” 

Standing up angry, “What is this? You are saying that you believe that little witch there” He moves on his bridge and shakes his head “No, no, you won’t get me for this. I will take you down with me Praugol!” The communication cuts off.

Lucs shrugs. “Send orders to USS Alberta to move into the Jaxartes and protect them at all costs! Let the USS Hanoi follow formation with us. Jaxartes, stay put!” Lucas broke off the communication as the large Nebula class moved before the Jaxartes to protect it from incoming fires. The USS Discovery and USS Hanoi opened fire only after the Liberty opened fire upon them. The Battle looked spectacular and everyone on the Jaxartes bridge was cheering on for their new allies. 

But Sazra stood there with her arms over each other and shrugged as she saw the USS Liberty disabled by the Discovery and Hanoi. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder once again and looked at her side seeing Silina “You trusted our opinion from the start, but you didn’t say anything to us…you made us doubt you in your ability to command this ship and get them the justice they deserve” Silina blinks and is looking confused at Sazra.

Sazra took a deep breath. “I distant myself from you all” Looking back at the screen seeing the space battle still going “But I knew I had to act, listen to your crew as they are the key elements of your journey. First thing you learn in the academy. Over the years, I started to understand how much that sentence has taught me. I trust every single one of you blindly with my life. So when you are saying something is not right, I know for a fact that it is not right” She shrugs a bit. “But Starfleet Security and Command couldn’t risk that Vance slipped away again as this was not the first time he did this. But no clear evidence was ever put on the table….so I kept it to myself, biting through his personal attacks to not only me but also you all. It frustrated me so badly but….I had to endure” 

The space battle halted as Captain Rider returned on the viewscreen “Captain Praugol, Starfleet thanks you for your service in this delicate matter. We will let the USS Alberta drag you back to Deep Space 17. Starfleet wants a debrief with you and the crew as soon as possible; good luck Discovery out” The screen disappeared again.

“Thank you” Sazra heard, looking at Silina, who was looking at the screen. “Thank you for believing in us. It means the world to know that we are taken into account with our opinions”. 

Nodding to that, Sazra could feel the ship being moved as the USS Alberta got its tractor beam locked onto the small ship. The USS Liberty was disabled, and the crew would be detained with the help of the USS Discovery and USS Hanoi. Without the service and help of these ships, Starfleet’s faith and the trust Praugol had in her crew to be curious to be forthright in their actions. This ship, this crew would no longer be “I did what needed to be done, and I trust you guys would do the same for me in any kind of situation” Most of them nodded to her.

“Now we just wait for what Deep Space 17 has for us. Hours of debriefing, special talks with JAG, and the prime time to see the USS Liberty get their ass dragged into port as the crew and their beloved Captain get escorted off as the punks they are,” Adrián spoke with a grin on his face and everyone laughed at that one. 

“Hopefully, yes” Sazra spoke, sitting back down in her chair and seeing Silina going to her side taking out a device.

“Let me look at your injuries Captain”