Two red shining and radiant orbs glistened and flew through space, heading towards the flickering and smoking USS Alliant, drifting aimlessly in the asteroid field.
"All hands! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Veirik yelled over the intercom.
As the two torpedoes approached the ship, there was a brilliant flash of white light, and a large blue cone of light shone down on the Alliant, pulling it out of the torpedoes' path. The projectiles whizzed by and detonated into a massive asteroid, disintegrating it completely.
The blue light of the USS Nexus tractor beam pulled the Alliant away and towards it.
"Nicely done Nolan," Neil commended from the Nexus' bridge captain's chair, "Pull the Alliant into the shuttle bay. Tactical, ready weapons, and punch a hole through the Cruiser's shields!"
Veirik appeared on the bridge's teleport pad from the Alliant. "Chief Tactical ready and willing, sir!" He saluted as he walked to his station, blood and ash still covering him.
"Veirik! Get to sick bay!" Neil demanded, "You're in no condition to…" he paused in awe as Veirik's wounds self-closed and his bones realigned, his Illyrian super soldier augmentations on full display.
"Never better, sir," Veirik cricked his neck, "Firing Tetryon Omni beams."
The Octo Omni-directional grid on the Nexus shined blue, and eight thin blue beams fired from the hull, piercing through the Risian cruiser's shields.
"Fore shields at 80%, 50%," Veirik called out. Like a battering ram of blue, the Tetryon energy destabilized and broke through the shields in a matter of seconds.
Neil nodded, "Security, ready an away team! I want you on board the second the shields are punctured." Zide'Mok nodded and left the bridge.
"10%, 5%, Fore shields are down!" Veirik called out. He looked at Neil, his unspoken request all over his face. Neil nodded, recalling the pledge that Veirik made not long before, "Let's go get him back. We won't let it happen again."
The two men left the bridge, "Nolan, you have the bridge," Neil commanded, flashing white and disappearing.
—
In an empty casino, Neil, Veirik, Zide'Mok, his squad of Jem'Hadar, and Two of Three materialized in a white flash of transporter light. Not another soul in sight. The cruise ship was evidently vacant and not open for business.
Two of Three scanned the area with his wide, Borg green eye beam, trying to locate the Praxas Symbiote, "I have it, Bridge, dead ahead." He pointed to a large door on the other side of the casino, "There are several Orion, Gorn, and Nausican security personnel in our path."
"Not for long," Veirik said, grinning to Zide'Mok, "Loser buys the rounds?" unholstering his pistol.
"You know I do not drink," Zide'Mok replied, "But I will relish the challenge!" He grinned, unholstering his rifle.
"Only one rule, you two," Neil smirked alongside them, "Just please don't kill the captain's pet slug…"
—
In a lavishly decorated ornate hall, a tall 4-story clocktower and chandelier glistened and radiated, embraced by a magnificent staircase that connected all the decks of the cruise liner. The dozen members of the Nexus away team crept through the empty grand nexus of the cruise ship, the obvious centerpiece of the magnificent vessel.
Neil walked steadily, arms in a gunner's V formation, eyes down the barrel, ready to fire, "Zide'Mok, there are too many footsteps," he glanced at his Jem'Hadar crewmates, "go for a Shroudy walk…" The dozen Jem'Hadar all nodded and activated their Shroud cloaks, fizzling and disappearing in an invisible veil.
Now Neil, Veirik, and T were left and continued on their set path towards the bridge.
"The bridge is directly above us," T reported, "as are a dozen security officers. I advise you to do the things, gentlemen." He nodded as he activated his Borg personal shielding. Bug-eyed in shock, Neil and Veirik ducked under the stairs as a rainfall of green disruptor blasts covered the hall floor.
"A little more heads up next time, T!" Neil yelled out, hiding under his cover.
"Yes, heads up, that's what I just said…" T stated as his Borg shields hissed and fizzled. Neil, fed up, turned to Veirik, "They have the high ground, can you do anything about that?"
Veirik nodded, "You two cover me," and as Neil and T laid down suppressive fire, Veirik leapt upwards, deck by deck, bounding whole stories with each leap. He reached the top, and just as fast as he set foot on the upper deck, the firing stopped, and soon, bodies of Nausicans began being thrown over the edge, crashing down to the floors below. Ackowleding the deep was done, Two of Three extended his wrist and fired a very long Borg tendril, zipping up to the top floor like a grappling hook that the Dark Knight would use.
"Hey!" Neil yelled out, stepping out from behind his cover, "Jerks! What about me!?" as he started hustling up the several flights of stairs to the top.
—
In what seemed like an endless hallway firefight, through countless hired guards and guns, they finally reached the grand doors to the bridge. Neil pushed the doors, but they didn't budge, locked and sealed tight. They fired their phasers, but the energy beams were dissipated by an unseen energy field. Veirik and T both nodded at each other and kicked it open with all their might, crashing through the barricade as if it was nothing.
"Now, hold it!" the Ferengi DaiMon cried out, his hands up in surrender. "Let's be civil here! We can negotiate!" The small man, dripping with wealth, cowered and trembled with fear.
"We are here for one thing, DaiMon Gopum," Neil said, stepping forward, his phaser aimed at the small shaking man. "The Praxas symbiote."
"I know what you are really asking for, how about we—"
"That was not a request to open negotiations, Ferengi!" Veirik roared, his phaser pistol humming, aiming straight at him. Covered in dried blood, clothes charred, he was well done with talking.
"Oh." The Ferengi's demeanor changed from cowering to standing up with confidence. "There is always room for negotiations." His golden teeth grinned madly. "Especially with my GUARDS!!!" He swung his robe in a grandiose fashion, turning away from the three in the room, and proceeded to sit on his lavish throne, his hand resting on a small liquid-filled glass canister containing the Praxas symbiote.
Neil, Veirik, and T stood at the entrance of the throne room, anticipating a troop of guards, but nothing happened.
"I said, GUARDS!!!" The Ferengi yelled at the top of his whiny lungs. Around the rim of the room, Orion, Gorn, and Nausicans fell one by one, dead. The enslaved female crew cried in horror as they clung to the edges of the throne room. With rippling light, the Jem'Hadar warriors appeared from their shrouded veils, daggers and blades bloodied from their unsuspecting targets.
The Ferengi's face was wrought with horror and surprise. Neil, Veirik, and T glared at the Ferengi. "Surely, we can come to some sort of agreement," the Ferengi stood up and pleaded; Veirik began walking straight at him.
"I am always up to negotiate…" DaiMon stopped talking suddenly, knees falling to the floor, eyes blank, as a black hole in his forehead sizzled. "Anyone else want to negotiate?!" Veirik yelled, pointing his sizzling phaser around the room.
Not happy with the decision but unable to counter the results, Neil motioned to T to retrieve the Praxas Symbiote. Just as Two approached and grabbed hold of the jar, an impact shook the bridge, like an approaching tremor. The away team looked at the entrance of the throne room as a gargantuan 4-meter-tall Tzenkethi cyborg mercenary burst through the door. "I can negotiate!" The reptilian Hexaped barged through, its 4 arms holding Gatling rail guns, body and head covered in cybernetic armor. "I LOVE to… Negotiate!" It bellowed.
Neil and T backed away slowly, while Veirik just grinned like a madman, whispering to himself, "Boss Fight."