Chaos would be an understatement, people of both officer and enlisted ranks were placed in makeshift operational tables to support the ongoing calls for aid and support with flashing comms warning. Overloaded screens showing incoming traffic, docking queues were getting stretched past its capacity, only to finish it off with a low hum of the emergency systems that was put into active mode.

Drata took a deep breath as he just finished relocating some power to new refugee bunks. He saw the operation center, the beating heart of Hecate unravel slowly under the pressure that is put on their shoulder. Drata wonder honestly if they could keep this up, his eyes looked at the direction of a forward leaning Captain. Sazra showed fatigue from the lack of sleep, she was leaning forward on the table looking at the latest data “Fourteen ships, Captain” He finally spoke.

For a second, Sazra didn’t respond and then looked at Drata direction, “How are we on taking care of these people?” It was more a question for herself, she was struggling to keep her command presence noticeable, but the pressure was building up. “Status report, Lieutenant Ch’Kaoverh”

“I am barely handling it here, Captain” The young Andorian struggles with keeping eye on the traffic and taps quickly “Freight 104-Bravo-Charlie, hold your ship in safety distance and wait your turn” He taps seeing the ships getting impatient as he pressed his earplug “I understand you got wounded, but so do the other ships around you. We are doing our best” He was to focus to continue his report to Sazra.

Letting out a deep breath, “The kid is barely holding out, it’s utter chaos out there. From what is happening out there in the galaxy, it’s total mayhem” Drata concluded with a shrug “If it is true, they might be at our doorstep next”.

Sazra looked back at the operational table that shows the ships as her eyes drift off to a red dot of the last known location of Eclipse. Drata was right, the situation was getting out of control, but the bigger problem was not the refugees, it was what they were running away from. The Vaadwaur. These creatures that were supposed to be wiped off the galaxy map, had made a bloody good return, and they were touring the whole galaxy. Hecate could be next.

“I have Security focus on the potential threat, Kusangi is out there taking check of all incoming ships. Ukiah is performing logistic and support duties out there” Sazra concluded, rubbing her template. This headache was not going away, it was already crawling throughout her head for hours.

Then out of the corner, Asipa voice raises as she stood up from her seat, “Captain! I am receiving mayday signals, they are barely coherent, but they are on the way to Hecate”.

Looking at Asipa direction almost immediately “How many” Sazra pushed herself from the table she was leaning on.

Asipa looks at her console, “At least seven”

“That would mean we got twenty-one ships here demanding for assistance, we need to redirect them to another starbase, Captain” Drata saw the glance in Sazra eyes, and by now he knew what she was thinking “The Copernicus-class is not made for such a large scale refugee camping” He felt the frustration growing within him.

Sazra felt as if the heat of Hobus supernova could be felt on her skin, yet she stood there motionless. “Deep Space 17 is out of reach, Archanis Station is not responding, nor is K-74. The star systems Krios Prime, Valt Minor and Boradis will not help us either, because they have the same problem. No communication.” Sazra looked at Drata “We are the only ones that are able to reach out and help. We can’t simply say go away, we can’t help you. We try, be creative, be resourceful”.

Before Drata could respond to that, Sazra climbs onto the operation table with the 3D imagine of ships. “ATTENTION” She spoke up, grabbing everyone focus. She points to the direction ships were coming from, “We got seven more ships inbound, I understand very well that it’s not ideal, far from it. But I will not turn them away, because we simply can’t handle it. Hecate can handle it and will handle it. So this is what we will do, Chief Tae-Young, you are my liaison to the enlisted, help in the management of them”.

Ryom was rather quiet, observing the whole situation from afar, but nodded “Understood Captain”

“Lieutenant Asipa, I know you are busy, but contact Hirni that we need the merchants at our side, send Palema” Sazra saw her nod and looked back at Iress and Drata “Boys, get those ships with wounded unloaded as fast as possible, give the Ukiah the task for repairs in coordination with Commander Deem. Let Deem focus on re-modular cargo bays into refugee hubs” She claps her hands one time, “Get to work everyone!” She jumps off the table.

Promenade – Ledger Hall

The Ledger Hall, a symbol of the council of merchants that helped Starfleet to fight back against their oppressors, the Syndicate. It became the room of hope, accords were made, deals were forged and trade became possible again without any dirty trick that would cost money or lives. But now its first real test came, the council sat in the room, at a round table that everyone could see each other. Merchants were talking with each other about recent events.

There was tension in the room, the civilians that lived and worked at Hecate were in a state of crisis. Refugees were on the station, needing medical care, food, and repairs to their damaged ships. The discussion started to heat up, arguments were heating up and echo over live feeds of ships outside the station. The fear of losing control over their future, was slowly gripping on their throats.

“Silence!” Hirni yelled as she stood there, the Ferengi had proven herself to be worthy of where she stood and what she had done. The first one to stand against the Syndicate, now stands for her people. The room gets quiet “I open this meeting, to discuss the crisis that has fallen over Hecate, Starfleet will explain the whole story as to what is happening right now. Lieutenant Palema?” She sat down.

The room was quiet as everyone looked at the station’s diplomat that stood up “It has been weeks since the blackout has hit us, it has been days since we last heard of the USS Gemini, we have lost contact with the USS Eclipse, Himalaya is providing a desperate attempt to reconnect us to Archanis Station. Now we receive these refugees”.

“That are taking our spots, our food! They need to go!” A merchant spoke up.

A harsh slam on the table came as everyone looked at Torr, “Let the woman speak, then complain. We are not going back to the disrespectful ways when Syndicate ruled” The Bolian was not in the mood to deal with this crap again, but the message was accepted.

Taking a deep breath, as Palema continued, “These refugees bring storms with them, stories of an invading force that is wrecking havoc across the galaxy.” She raised her hand, seeing questioned eyes in her direction “We don’t know what is happening, if the Vaadwaur are back, we don’t know what they want, why they do this and most importantly, why they have not attacked us yet”.

“The possibility is that Hecate is very isolated from the known galaxy points, we don’t catch a bird’s view, if we don’t shine too bright” Pia spoke up, seeing an approving nod from her boss Torr.

“We might be Starfleet, we want to race out there and help our people, but…” Palema struggles a bit, not knowing how her home, her people at the Romulan Republic, is doing right now. Are they fighting for their lives? Wiped out? She simply didn’t know, “Captain Kobahl, and we are doing our duty, to help those that need it. We might be blind, but we won’t turn a blind eye to those that require our help” She looked around seeing some civilians talking to each other “The next move is yours, we gave you the freedom to act on your own, we do our best to support you. But this crisis, is also your crisis” Sitting down as she looked at Hirni with a soft smile.

Taking a deep breath as Hirni pressed a button, a male voice came up “They came out of nowhere, they showed no mercy and our pleads met with deaf ears. They wanted to see us suffer, enjoyed it and laughed as if we are no more than mere bugs” Than the next voice, a younger woman’s voice “They killed my father, because we argue with them about, water. I lost my father, because I refused to give him water as my mother was dehydrated” A sobbing child’s voice was now heard, “Do you know where my daddy is?” Hirni closed the audio, seeing people either shrug or very uncomfortable. “We need to do something, I am not saying to grab your tools, march to these monsters and beat them up. We are no match for them”.

“How do you want to help, then?” A merchant said, looking disturbed by what he heard.

Torr growls “I am not staking my mining operations for this, we have a quota in the reach at the end of the month” He was not willing to sacrifice his daily cost for these refugees, even if he heard these dreadful stories. After the Syndicate, he became deeply distrustful of everything. “We need to provide controlled aid, not just some open-door policy”

Looking at Torr with slight disgust, Hirni kept herself cool, “We need to do something for these people, I will provide clothing on my cost to help these people have something on their bodies. I hope you all have some decency to help those that need it” Hirni looked around the room “A few weeks ago we were in their position, begging for scraps, debt in gambling and sold off to work in their mines.” She looked at Torr for a second and then continued, “I know this is not on the best terms, but we have to help Hecate, support Starfleet”.

“Well my voice might be bias, I do support Hirni in this” Palema tried to temper the fears with facts “Starfleet is limited in resources, experience people, and we need help. This humanitarian action can only succeed if we unite, else it would damage Hecate in more ways than you might imagine”.

Pia looked up at the live feeds of ships, with new ships arriving, the damage seen on the hulls, ships leaking plasma as her eyes stopped at one ship and points. “That ship, it’s a civilian transport, and It’s drifting off course.” She recognized the navigational points after sitting next to Mogush for so long.

The moment shifts in the room, from a debate to a dawning horror as Palema was already in contact with Operations. “Ukiah is on its way!” Palema stated as everyone saw the California-class ship on intercept course.

The moment might be bad, but also gold. There was profit to be made out of this, in the most decent way “They require our help” Hirni started her plea “So help not only them, but also yourself”.

With the ship now in tractor beam lock with the Ukiah, the people in the room slowly nodded and ayes were heard throughout the room. An agreement was made, a ship crisis was averted, but this was only the tip of their problems.