Immediately, several beams of bright orange phaser fire lanced out at us. Dax and Tuvok threw themselves to the ground, but I stood firm, throwing up a mystical shield and then transfiguring the deckplates into a chest-high wall using Potterverse Magic for good measure. The transfiguration gave Tuvok and Dax some cover, though the phasers failed to penetrate my mystical barrier. I chuckled at that, shaking my head, until I spotted a Vulcan with a pair of disruptor pistols turn from the fight against Starfleet Security and add their weight of fire to the attack.
Disruptors packed twice the punch of phasers at the cost of accuracy and precision, and with the equivalent of an infantry squad of phaser fire hitting it, my mystical shields actually started to buckle. That couldn't be borne, so I immediately reached out with the Force and used Telekinesis on the Disruptor Vulcan. The thing about going guns akimbo like that was that it was an inherently less stable shooting stance. A telekinetic nudge was all it took for the Disruptor Vulcan to stumble to the side, sending her green bolts into a pair of her comrades instead of my shield.
The weight of fire suddenly slackened by more than half the amount that had previously been fired into my shield. I moved to capitalize, using a wandless, wordless, Stupefy to stun the Disruptor Vulcan. She hit the deck even as I vaulted over the cover I'd transfigured, casting the single Ferromantic Spell I knew to render an incoming Photonic Grenade inert, the detonator not connecting to the charge. Immediately, I slammed a fist into one Vulcan's temple, knocking him out cold, even as I ducked a phaser beam at point-blank range, grabbing the other Vulcan's phaser rifle and transmuting it into a rod of fused-together base materials with Amestrian Alchemy. A follow-on elbow strike to the temple dropped that Vulcan cold.
Then Dax and Tuvok got over their shock at seeing me be awesome and began firing themselves, stunning a pair of Vulcans with their own phasers. One last Vulcan attempted to run only to be shot in the back by my recently pilfered Old-School Phaser, taking care of the group that was facing off against us. To their credit, Dax and Tuvok didn't pause their fire, simply switching targets to the Vulcan Isolationists pinning down the Starfleet Security Team. Downing another three before I took two with my pilfered phaser and a punch to the base of the skull. One of the remaining Vulcans seemed to be shouting something into a comms system and I immediately phasered him with a stun bolt. Dax and Tuvok stunned the last two, releasing the Security Team from their predicament.
Dax and Tuvok joined me as I moved forward toward the bedraggled Security team. The leader of which was a Lieutenant Commander in Command Red, one who I recognized from the show. The curly blonde hair and confident attitude of Commander Shelby from Best of Both Worlds greeted us as we arrived, though clearly she wasn't a full Commander just yet. I doubted promotion was far behind, though. She always did seem like the Admiralty's pet project whenever she showed up back when all this was just a TV show.
"Do you have wounded, Lieutenant Commander?" Questioned Tuvok, breaking me out of my thoughts.
"We do, but the Vulcan Isolationists have blocked off access to the nearest Sickbay." Admitted Shelby.
"How many?" I queried.
"Why? Are you a doctor?" Asked Shelby.
"I'm better than a doctor. Doctors can't do what I can." I grinned.
"I saw how you fought. Are you some sort of energy being? A Q or Organian, something of that nature?" Demanded Shelby.
"No, I'm very much a flesh and blood person. I assure you, if you prick me, I will bleed." I insisted, going for Picard's favorite and quoting Shakespeare.
"So what then? Some unknown type of Psionic?" Pressed Shelby.
"Not psionic, no. There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy." I quoted.
"I won't let you try untested powers on these men." Warned Shelby.
"These powers are far from untested. Look, do you want your men patched up or not?" I sighed.
"What are you planning to do?" Questioned Shelby.
"I'm gonna do the best I can." I joked, getting a flat look in response.
"Fine, I have medicine here. Alchemical healing potions, the same sort I'd use if I were wounded." I insisted, reaching into my bag of holding and pulling out a series of healing potions.
"O'Rourke is unconscious. She won't be able to drink that." Warned Shelby.
"That does complicate things somewhat, but I assume she took a phaser bolt?" I queried.
"To the stomach. She passed out from the pain." Nodded Shelby.
"Then I might have something. Phasers aren't fire, but the damage they do is still a burn. Does anyone know how to tie a bandage or is that not a thing these days?" I asked.
"I can. I took advanced wilderness survival." Answered an Andorian Ensign.
"Take these and bandage the burn. They're soaked in alchemical burn salve." I ordered, pulling a soaked roll of bandages out of my bag of holding.
"What if these don't work? I mean, Alchemy is a bit far-fetched, yes?" Questioned a Bolian Lieutenant.
"They'll work." I promised.
"What do you think, Camilla?" Queried a Red-haired Human Lieutenant.
"I cannot say either way. His mind is like an impenetrable fortress. That alone speaks to his abilities, though." Offered a Female Beta-Zoid Ensign.
"It will have to do." Insisted Shelby.
I handed out a trio of healing potions along with the burn-salve-coated bandages and soon, three Security Officers, One Tellarite Ensign, One Human Lieutenant, and one Andorian Female Lieutenant, were drinking the potions down while the younger, Andorra Ensign bandaged an unconscious, curly-haired, Human, Woman with a Lieutenant Commander's pips on her collar. The three drinking potions all found themselves healed, while the Human Woman with the large phaser burn woke up from her unconsciousness to find the pain was gone, though she wouldn't be fully healed for a day or so. As that went on, Dax, Tuvok, and Shelby conferenced with each other.
"The Vulcans could be here for a few reasons. They could be trying to capture the Admirals currently conferencing here, they could be looking to steal data on the Quantum Torpedo Project, or they could be looking to steal the Prototypes being built right now for the New Escort Project." Informed Shelby.
"I do not believe they are attempting to capture any Admirals." Intoned Tuvok.
"Why not? That would allow them the most negotiating leverage." Asked Shelby.
"Because that's not in the interests of their puppet masters." Responded Dax.
"What do you mean?" Pressed Shelby.
"She means that the Vulcan Isolation League is being propped up and directed by groups who have no real interest in an independent Vulcan, compared to having a separatist group to act as a thorn in the side of the Federation. The former can only stymie the Federation once, the latter can grow to become a sucking wound that will weaken the Federation even worse over time." I informed, entering the conversation.
"You're saying the Vulcan Isolation League is a pawn in a larger game? Sounds Romulan." Mused Shelby.
"It is. At least in part, but there's another group at play here, one that you haven't encountered yet, but clearly knows enough about the Federation to target you for infiltration. They're a species called the Undine whose main holdings are in a pocket dimension called Fluidic Space. Fluidic Space is a lot like Subspace in that it's a layer of reality that lies on top of the normal one. Their biology is incredibly advanced, allowing them to shapeshift, resist disease and infestation, shrug off damage, and more. The Federation seems to be one of their most recent targets for conquest." I explained.
"What? Why would they want to do this? Surely we can come to some sort of agreement with these Undine?" Frowned Shelby.
"There you go again, thinking every race thinks the same way you do. The Undine do not care about negotiating with what they see as Lesser Beings. They want to conquer your territory for themselves. When they do, if you aren't wiped out, you'll be little better than slaves. Their infiltration is only phase one, they'll learn your capabilities, figure out your weaknesses, and then destroy you. What part of that sounds reasonable to you?" I groaned.
Before Shelby could respond, however, a nearby blast door ground open, and out poured another squad of Vulcan Isolationists led by a Vulcan in Teal Armor flanked by a trio of what appeared to be some sort of hovering drones. Shelby seemed to recognize the drone tech because when she saw the Vulcan with the Drones she let out a shocked gasp and her eyes widened a fraction in surprise. Then the enemy opened fire and forced us to duck into cover. For my part, I snapped another Mystic Shield into place, only for the trio of drones to fire a trio of neon blue beams into my shield, cracking it before another drone decloaked and fired a pulse of energy that shattered my shield and forced me back into cover alongside the others.
"That's Tzekethi Tech! They're masters of drone technology! Those things caused us no end of trouble during the Tzekethi War!" She hissed.
"How did a bunch of separatists get Tzenkethi Tech? I thought we made disarmament of their Drone Forces a condition of the Peace Treaty?" Questioned Dax.
"The Tzenkethi must have sold what equipment they demobilized, though I am unaware of any sales going to the Vulcan Isolation League. I admit to not being completely knowledgeable about the black markets near Tzenkethi Space, however." Offered Tuvok.
"These drones are going to be a problem! I don't know if we have anything that can deal with them!" Cautioned Shelby, as one of the Tzenkethi Drones blew a chunk out of our cover.
"I'll handle the Drones! Keep the others off my back!" I insisted.
"Affirmative." Intoned Tuvok.
"Sure! But I could use a bit more of that Instant Cover!" Agreed Dax.
"Coming up!" I grunted before transfiguring another Chest-High Wall out of the deckplates.
As I did so, more neon blue beams came in and blew chunks out of our existing cover, forcing me to snap another Mystic Shield into place. By the time that shield was blown through and our first layer of cover practically demolished, however, I had transfigured a chest-high wall to cover us all. Then, with a mystic syllable and tug of Ghur, an Amber Spear coalesced in my hand as I stood, tossing it into one of the Drones. Unfortunately, the Drone was shielded. Fortunately, the Amber Spear slammed into the shield and popped it like a bubble.
Then, with a shout, I leaped over the newly transfigured cover and charged into the fray. . .
XXXX
AN: The next chapter is already up on my Patreon, so check the link in the threadmarked post if you guys feel like throwing me a couple bucks to get chapters in advance. Everyone who does is super appreciated and I can't thank my patrons enough.
All right, here's the next chapter. Things are really cooking now at Utopia Planetia and we also get to see another familiar face via Commander Shelby from Best of Both Worlds. You might remember her as Starfleet's supposed Borg Expert from that two-parter who took up a spot as Riker's XO in Part Two, while Picard was Locutus. She's not quite a Full Commander yet, here, but odds are she'll get that promotion after this. This little encounter with the Undine might even make her more willing to become Starfleet's Borg Expert than in canon. The similarities between the Undine and Borg are pretty striking, after all.
As for Tzenkethi Drones and whatnot, I'm using STO for a lot of stuff in the Star Trek bits of this fic. That means Tzenkethi are drone tech experts and use Tetryon weaponry, which is super-powerful, but also super-unstable. As to how Vulcan Isolationists got hold of that tech, well the Tal Shiar have connections. While we're on the subject of STO stuff, you can also expect to see Fluidic Antiproton Weapons from shapeshifted Undine at some point before this is all over.
As for the New Escort Project, that's Prototypes that would eventually become the Steamrunner and Akira Classes, though they have a ways to go before reaching that phase of the project. It would take the Defiant becoming a thing to work out how to build better escorts, and that isn't even on the drawing board yet. The Project is in Early Days still. Of course, the Undine don't know that and just want to grab every project they can for the inevitable showdown with the Federation.
At any rate, the next chapter will have this fight, plus one more as they try to stop the downloading of data related to the Quantum Torpedo Project.
Stay tuned. . .