Star Trek: Nexus

"Sir!" Heluna reported from her station, "We are being hailed again, this time by the Kentari flagship, the KDW Monopoly."

Rising quickly from the surface of the planet, an elongated spaceship, covered in rusted and corroded metal, looked like it was being consumed slowly by the atmosphere it just left.

"Scans show it's a large Braanur-class cruiser," Eroga reported from her station. "Weapons, shields, and armor are absolutely no match for any Fek'ihri ship." She shook her head. "One of our shuttles could take that ship out."

Scoffing to himself on his captain's chair, Anzyl smirked. "Monopoly. Fitting name for the Kentari flagship." Then louder, he addressed his communication officer, "On screen, Lieutenant."

"Captain Praxas!" The CEO from before shouted, still in the boardroom. "How dare you leave before we adjourned the meeting!"

"Do you have any idea who is approaching your system, Chairman?" Anzyl asked sternly, unmoving.

"I only see potential business partners and allies. The Ferengi 'Rules of Acquisition' have taught us Kentari a thing or two about business dealings, and I believe Rule of Acquisition #194 comes into play: 'It's always good business to know about new customers before they walk in your door.'" The CEO bragged, clearly oblivious to the crew's disinterest.

"What about Rule 203?" Veirik retorted. "'New customers are like razor-toothed gree-worms. They can be succulent, but sometimes they bite back.' You have no idea who you are messing with."

"I wasn't talking to YOU, SIR!" The CEO chuffed, then glared at Anzyl. "Get your people in line, Captain. And get out of the Monopoly's way. We have business negotiations to begin!"

"You don't want to do that—" The captain was cut off as the crew watched the large rust-covered ship approach the Fek'ihri dreadnought.

The two ships paused in front of each other. It seemed the RSS Monopoly was trying to parlay or hail the Fek'ihri dreadnought.

However, not even a minute had gone by when, like a praying mantis glaring at a fat caterpillar, the Fek'ihri dreadnought quickly raised its massive scythe-like metal arms and cleaved the RSS Monopoly right in two. A swarm of drones flooded from the dreadnought like an angry hornet's nest. The red-orange drones flew out and honed in on the two halves of the Monopoly, swarming the Kentari vessel and ripping it apart within seconds, deck by deck, room by room, panel by panel.

The crew of the Nexus watched in horror as the RSS Monopoly was shredded into nothing in seconds, like it was sent through an office paper shredder.

"OPEN FIRE!" Anzyl yelled from his seat. "Helm! Take us in and make sure we are the only threat the Fek'ihri see! Tactical! Fire at will!"

"Yes, Sir!" Lusaalli shouted as she piloted the ship.

"Firing all antiproton beams!" Veirik shouted from Tactical.

The Nexus roared as all impulse engines lit up, and it dove headfirst into the Fek'ihri fleet. The omni-directional beams hummed as eight neon-orange antiproton beams fired out from all angles of the ship.

Ripping through the hulls and destabilizing the molecular cohesion of the metal on the Fek'ihri ships, the Nexus quickly garnered the attention of the Fek'ihri fleet. All ships turned their full attention to the Khitomer Alliance vessel.

"Fek'ihri fighters and interceptors incoming!" Eroga yelled out as the smaller and faster vessels blitzed toward the Nexus at full speed. They resembled metallic scorpions with large metallic claws in the front and sharp spikes for legs.

"I see them!" Veirik replied, his hands dancing with precision across the tactical firing console. "Targeting the small ones first!"

The eight orange beams danced and flashed from the hull of the Nexus. The antiproton beams instantly exploded the smaller Fek'ihri ships like small firecrackers in space. The small fighters were no match for the eight directional beams of destruction emanating from the Nexus.

"And now the cruisers and warships are right behind them!" Eroga yelled out as the Nexus was greeted by villainous ships that looked like barbaric weapons from hell. Shaped like spiked axes, maces, and cleavers, with red-hot spikes and large protruding claws, the ships began firing red-hot beams, cannon fire, and plasma flamethrowers in space.

Veirik replied back, "Targeting one ship at a time, focusing fire on single points to break through their shields. Let's see how they like the taste of their own medicine!"

Rushing through the debris of the smaller fighters, the Nexus blasted all eight of its beams on a single warship that resembled a barbaric spiked war mace. The eight beams converged on its fore shields, and within seconds, the single point where the beams converged buckled and shattered like glass. The antiproton beams ripped through the hull of the warship, drilling and digging deep before it exploded in an eruption of hellish fire.

"One down, umpteen to go!" Veirik yelled out, his hands moving like a blur across the console.

The Nexus flew past the burning rubble of the warship and was met with a dozen more warships and battle cruisers, all blasting the Nexus with everything they had.

"Shields at 85%!" Keten reported from Engineering as the ship rocked from the barrage.

"About that!" Anzyl shouted back, tapping his combadge. "Captain to Tey'un, how are those shield upgrades coming along?"

"Fore emitter is installed, and aft emitter is almost installed," he replied back, as he, Stitch, and a dozen other engineers frantically worked on installing a new massive machine. Screwing bolts here, connecting cords there, plugging in microchips and other futuristic components all over.

"Can we turn the fore emitters on?" Anzyl replied as the ship shook and rattled. "We're getting pounded out here!"

Around the Nexus, like a shiver of sharks swarming a whale, the dozen or so Fek'ihri cruisers and warships blasted the Nexus with all they had, endless barrages of red-hot beams and cannon fire. As one by one, eight beams from the Nexus pinpointed and converged on a Fek'ihri ship, ripping through their shields and exploding it; the Plasmonic Leech system absorbed the energy from within their exploding hulls, empowering the Nexus to continue its relentless onslaught.

The bridge of the Nexus shook like a violent earthquake as it was being bombarded from all sides.

"Shields at 24%!" Keten yelled out from his bridge Engineering station. "The cyclonic shielding isn't getting a chance to regenerate as it spins around; each blade is getting pounded out there!"

"DONE!" Tey'un shouted, raising his hands in victory as the aft shield emitter roared to life. "Now, Keten! Activate fore and aft cyclonic shielding!"

Outside, the vertical spinning bands of shielding sputtered and flickered as they were pounded by endless gunfire. Suddenly, horizontal energy bands formed from the front of the ship to the rear, spinning on a horizontal axis around the Nexus, creating two vertices of spinning shields.

"Okay, now I'm seeing two shield readings," Keten spoke in shock. "It's working, Tey'un. Topside and underdeck shields at 25%, with fore and aft shields at 100%!"

Tey'un came over the comms and elucidated how they worked. "The fore and aft shield bands are currently one millimeter above the top and under shield bands. When one emitter array axis is weaker than the other, the next rotation cycle swaps places, making the top and under one millimeter above the fore and aft. The two will continuously swap back and forth whichever is weaker and stronger."

Anzyl nodded as the ship halted its rocking. "I'm not entirely sure I understood all of that, Tey'un, but I like it so far! Good work! That sounds like double the shield energy output. How are our energy levels looking? Status report!"

"Auxiliary and engines are at 25%," Eroga reported. "Standard for Red Alert in defensive posturing."

Veirik grinned his maddened grin. "Weapons at 100% and holding steady. The more we deal with our omni-banks, the more the Plasmonic Leech absorbs and redistributes to the ship."

"Shields at 35% and 98%!" Keten reported from Engineering. "The excess Plasmonic energy is being rerouted to shields and nanite hull repair!"

"And that's the last one!" Veirik shouted in applause from Tactical. "The last Fek'ihri vessel is the dreadnought, sir!"

Heluna added, "Sir, the Kentari fleet has finally arrived— a dozen Braanur-class vessels." She looked worried at the captain. "I'm not sure if they will help or hinder us, sir."

"Only one way to find out." Anzyl said, straightening his captain's uniform. "Helm, take us directly to the Fek'ihri dreadnought. Let's show them what our new and improved shields can do."

"Yes, Sir!" Lusaalli replied, as the Nexus zoomed through the debris of dozens of Fek'ihri vessels, facing down their familiar and greatest opponent: the Fek'ihri Dreadnought.