A red hue flashed throughout the ship as the Argo went into red alert at Captain T’Prel’s order due to a distress call. They all had increased speed; even though all three ships were fast, the Argo would still be the first to arrive on the scene. Their weapons were also online and ready, as it was unknown what they would find upon coming out of warp. Silence and tension filled the bridge with anticipation of their arrival, hoping to find a freighter still in one piece.

“We are twenty minutes out,” the voice of Rurjan from flight control said, breaking the silence.

Xiang Meihui nodded before tapping her commbadge, “captain to the bridge,” Meihui replied before tapping it again. A short time later, Serel Nal exited his ready room and walked out onto the bridge before taking his seat. Meihui gave up taking her seat. “We will arrive in twenty minutes,” she told the captain, who nodded.

“Once we drop out of warp, start scanning for the freighter and raiders,” Nal ordered.

“Understood,” Ailsa Zudoba replied from the science station.

Turning towards the tactical station, “status of our weapons and targeting systems?” Nal asked.

“They are both online and within standard parameters,” Ebylaos Ch’tethess replied.

“Let’s hope we don’t have to use them, but at least we will be prepared if we need to before the Triumph and Argus arrive,” Nal commented. Twenty minutes passed, and the Argo dropped out of warp.

Zudoba began to scan the area for the freighter and any raiders as the ship continued moving slowly. Time dragged by as the scans continued until she could pick up the freighter, but it looked like the raiders had left. “I found the freighter, sending the coordinates to flight control. I am not detecting any raiders in the area. Looks like they may have backed off.” She finally responded.

“Coordinates received, altering course,” Rurjan spoke up.

The bridge was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop as they began to approach the freighter. It seemed everyone was holding their breath, wondering what they would find when they approached. The freighter came into view and was in horrible shape, “any lifesigns?” Nal asked as his mouth dropped at the sight of the freighter.

“I am reading twelve lifesigns. Some are very weak.” Zudoba responded.

“Can you make contact?” Nal asked, looking at her.

“I can try,” Zudoba said as she attempted to contact the freighter. After what seemed like an eternity, the viewscreen changed to see the inside of the freighter bridge-like area. They could see smoke filling the bridge as there appeared to have been some small fires that could be put out, damaged consoles, and a banged-up captain who just managed to push himself up and sit in the chair.

“I am Captain Serel Nal of the USS Argo. We have received your distress call and are here to lend assistance.” Nal began looking at the battered captain.

“Is it just you?” Orlar Vaht, an older Bolain man on the other end, only sees one ship in the area.

“No, the other two should be arriving shortly. We are just the first responders,” Nal replied. “Can I get your name and what exactly happened?”

“Oh, sorry. My name is Orlar Vaht.” He said, relieved to hear that two more ships would be arriving. “We were on our way to Ichus IV with cargo and supplies when we were attacked from nowhere. We tried to fight back, but one of the ships seemed to be firing some strange weapon that I never heard of from an Orion raider. We were outnumbered and outgunned. As you can see, they gave us a good beating.” He said before taking a breath and continuing, “They stole all of our cargo and supplies we were carrying. We also have several wounded, and all of our systems besides life support are down.” He recounted what had happened.

“We will beam your wounded over to our infirmary for treatment and send over an engineering team to work on repairs. I suggest you also beam over for medical to assess Mr. Vaht,” Nal replied.

“Thank you,” Vaht replied before the viewscreen cut out, probably due to some system failures.

“We’re five minutes out,” Zann Raro replied.

T’Prel nodded as the bridge remained silent, even though they just received word from the Argo that the raiders were not in the area when they arrived. They would fill them in on the rest when they arrived. They knew they were out somewhere, even if they had ceased attacking the freighter.

A short time later, the Triumph dropped out of warp right next to the Argo, followed shortly by the Argus, who had stopped right next to them. T’Prel looked over to where Khadija Crayton was sitting. “Contact both captains and put them on the viewscreen,” she ordered before looking back and waiting.

“Aye, sir,” Crayton responded.

A few moments passed before Captain Nal and Captain Adams appeared on the viewscreen. “What is the situation going on with the freighter?” T’Prel asked, looking at Nal.

“They are in bad shape. Several wounded crew members are being brought over to begin treatment. I am sending an engineering team over to assist with at least getting them running enough to get to a starbase for complete repairs.” Nal paused, taking a breath before recounting what Mr. Vaht had explained. “We are also investigating what kind of weapon one of the raiders uses. Vaht stated he had never seen anything like this, even with the Orions, so that is a cause for concern.” Nal said.

“Indeed,” T’Prel said before turning to Captain Adams. “Take the Argus and begin patrolling the area looking for any signs of the raiders,” she ordered.

“Understood,” Adams replied.

“If you happen to make contact with them, contact me immediately, and Triumph will come assist,” T’Prel said.

“Will do,” Adams said.

“Captain Nal, keep me updated on what you find about the weapon used.”

“Yes, sir,” Nal replied.

A few moments later, the viewscreen returned to its standard view of space and the view of the two ships plus the freighter. Moments later, she saw the Argus break away from them and begin to patrol the area to try and find the raiders. Meanwhile, they were on alert in case they decided to return while the crew of the Argo assisted the freighter.