"And you confirmed they are Fek'ihri, Lieutenant?" Anzyl spoke sternly into his combadge, completely ignoring the faces and looks from the CEOs at the table.
"Yes, sir!" she replied.
Veirik's voice came over the comms. "Tactical and Science confirmed readings, Captain! All ships' scanners were used for a double verification. It's a fleet of Fek'ihri, and they are on a direct course for New Kentar."
"EXCUSE ME, CAPTAIN!" The head of the table barked out. "We are in a meeting, and we have not adjourned it yet!"
"Shut up!" Anzyl shouted back bluntly. "Admiral, get back to your ship immediately, raise shields, and the Reskava and Rentari, get the hell out of there!" He barked orders, his tone deadly serious, causing a dreadful shock across everyone in the boardroom.
"What is going on, Captain?" Kumaarke's worried tone matched her terrified expression.
"Trust me, Kumaarke, you don't want to be here when they show up," Anzyl stated.
"WHO ARE THEY!?" the CEO blurted out.
"The Fek'ihri, nightmarish Klingons gone mad," Anzyl glared at the CEO right in his face. "If you have a military, scramble them now. You do NOT want them anywhere near you or your planet!" he shouted.
"Don't you DARE tell me what to do, Starfleet!" the CEO shouted back. "I will not suffer this kind of curt insubordination in my boardroom! I will have your—"
Completely ignoring the Kentari leader's rants, Anzyl tapped his combadge. "Captain to Nexus, two for emergency beam out!" And in a flash of white, Anzyl and Nolan left the money-hungry Kentari behind.
—
With two flashes of white, Anzyl and Nolan appeared in their uniforms aboard the bridge of the Nexus.
"Status report!" Anzyl shouted as he marched to his chair in the center of the bridge. "How far out are the Fek'ihri from New Kentar?"
Heluna reported from communications, "I have at least a dozen ships, all with Fek'ihri markings and elemental signatures from our last encounter. The fact they have no banner or registration code only confirms this."
Keten reported from engineering, "The vessels are also venting dangerous levels of theta radiation and warp plasma. It's as if they aren't even running containment."
"No basic galactic registry, no digital banners, no flags, no signal markings," Neil stated, sitting next to the captain. "Not even basic safety protocols, much less galactic standard protocols." He shook his head in disbelief. "It's a miracle they can fly a ship and not blow themselves all up."
"The 'blow it up' part is what I'm worried about," Anzyl said, looking at the main view screen as a fleet of what could only be described as barbaric weapons turned into spacefaring vessels came into long-range view.
The Fek'ihri ships looked like bloodstained, barbaric maces, cleavers, and axes, covered in red-hot spikes and rusted metal.
"I'm reading a dozen ships of various sizes and builds," Veirik reported from Tactical. "Ranging from small fighter interceptors…" he paused, "to our old friend, a dreadnought carrier in the lead."
Anzyl sat up straight, hands gripping his seat tightly, and calmly declared, "Red alert! All hands, battle stations."
The bridge's lights went dark as red lights began flashing, and the blaring sounds of red alert rang through the ship.
"Captain," Nolan spoke up from the Science station, his worried, distraught face clearly visible. "Those irradiated engines." He looked the captain dead in the eye. "We do NOT want that mixing with the Kentari atmosphere. The results would be…" he shook his head in disbelief. "Unpleasant, to say the least."
"Agreed, Nolan," the captain replied. "Helm! Bring us on an intercept course between us and that fleet. Do NOT let those irradiated engines anywhere near the planet!"
"Captain!" Tey'un's voice rang through Anzyl's combadge.
"What is it, Chief?" Anzyl replied.
"After the last Fek'ihri attack, Stitch, Brother, and I had been working on a modified version of the Cyclonic shielding. I thought I had more time to present it to you, much less implement it. But you were so busy, and then I got distracted with…" his spectrum voice rambled on.
"Get to the point, Tey'un!" The captain's patience was tested as he stared down a dozen vessels, each one a fitting opponent for the Nexus.
"Oh right." Tey'un refocused himself. "If we can install secondary cyclonic shield emitters on the bow of the saucer section and stern warp drive section, the weakness the Fek'ihri exploited last time at the poles would be nullified."
"What do you mean, Tey'un?" The captain's voice escalated. "I don't have time for a detailed explanation!"
"Oh, move over!" Stitch's voice popped up in the conversation. "Captain, instead of two poles at the north and south, where the Fek'ihri exploited last time, we are adding two more at the front and back of the ship. Two sets of overlapping and spinning shields rotating in different directions."
"Each pole covering the other pole's weakness," Anzyl nodded. "I follow you, Stitch. How long would it take you to get the new emitters online?"
"We have them built, and everything's ready," Tey'un replied. "We just need to move the emitters and plug them in! Fifteen minutes tops."
"Use the teleporters and any and all staff you can. Use the cooks if you need to. You have seven!" Anzyl replied sternly. "Captain out!"
Heluna reported from her station, "The Fek'ihri don't seem to be threatened by us, sir. They are still heading directly towards the planet." She then paused, touching her earpiece. "Aaaand, incoming hail from the Reskava, sir. It's Kumaarke."
"Put her on," Anzyl said, sitting in his chair, as the familiar pink-skinned and magenta-accented bald woman reappeared on his screen.
"Hello, old friend," she spoke with a curious and concerned voice. "The Reskava has scanned these unfamiliar ships, and I thought the Kentari ships were mad with the levels of exhaust they let out, but these readings are staggering."
"These are Fek'ihri, Kumaarke, living nightmares of Klingon hell, and they are no joke. The last time we met, they nearly took out the Nexus and wiped out an entire fleet of Delta Alliance ships. If you are without a doubt sure the Reskava can handle a tough fight, I highly suggest you take your ship and the Lukari science vessel out. The Nexus will do its best to hold up." Then, looking at the Fek'ihri's obvious intent to invade the Kentari world, "I don't know what they want with Kentar, but I'm not about to sacrifice the Nexus and her crew for a planet of money-hungry bureaucrats who can't even—" the captain was interrupted by a hard shake of the bridge.
Veirik shouted from Tactical, "The Fek'ihri have engaged us, sir. Returning fire."
Anzyl turned to his friend on the main imaging screen. "I repeat, Kumaarke, if you are not 100% sure you can handle a tough fight, get out of here. Now."
Nodding in acceptance, she replied, "You don't have to tell me twice. We are a science vessel, not a warship. Kumaarke and Reskava out. And…" she paused to look at her friend and her protégé with soft, concerned eyes, "Be careful, you two. I don't want to add a funeral to this week's agenda."
Anzyl and the crew of the Nexus nodded as the screen blipped out back to space, with a dozen hellish spaceships barreling towards them.