So, this is my first fanfiction and I hope you'll enjoy it. Please review and let me know if you like it and if I should keep writing, critique is always welcome.
EPISODE 1: TRAINING CRUISE
Cadet Lyzara Dalis sat on a bench in Starfleet Academy and looked around. The building was huge, with round corners and big windows. There were also several smaller round buildings in the vicinity, all metallic grey colored. Between them lay a park with several small ponds between the bushes, trees and flower beds. Farther away she could see the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone was busy and didn't pay much attention to their surroundings. It was one of the busiest days of the year, because the young cadets of 2409 would get their first assignment on a starship. She had been through this before and could recall the memories of her symbiont's previous hosts. Lyzara was a Trill; a species native to the planet of the same name. A small percentage of the Trill co-exists with a symbiotic organism inside their bodies. When joined, the symbiont merges with the host and it results in a synthesis of two beings, allowing the skills, memories and, to some extent, personalities to transfer from previous host to the next one. Lyzara was the fifth host of the Dalis symbiont and therefore had some experience with serving on a starship. Two of the previous hosts had been Starfleet officers, both in the tactical department, but Lyzara was more talented as an engineer and therefore the experience was quite different from what she remembered. To repel her anxiety, she decided to meditate for a moment and set her head straight. Lyzara had light complexion with dark purple spots and circles, not very different of a leopard's, on the sides of her face and going all the way down to her toes – a pattern distinctive to the Trill. Her hair was dark, almost black, with some lighter brown highlights, and tied back to a bun. Her eyes were ocean blue and eyebrows thin. She was quite fit and had a height of about 180 cm.
Lyzara woke from her thoughts when someone was loudly calling her name from afar. She opened her eyes and noticed a cadet waving excitedly at her – Elisa – maybe she had heard something about their assignment. Lyzara rose and ran towards her. Elisa, being a human and a tactical officer, was also well-trained and had short, dark brown hair that hung loosely around her face. Her eyes were a bit lighter shade of brown than her hair and her skin had a nice tanned look, which made her lips seem even fuller than they were. Or was it lipstick?
"Finally, I was beginning to think you forgot what day today was," Elisa said as soon as Lyzara was close enough to hear her.
"How could I? You've reminded me every day of the past month. Did you get your assignment?" Lyzara answered with a smile.
"Of course, I was first in line! Oh, before I forget, Razkii is just ahead, he wanted to thank you for helping him cram for the astrometrics final," Elisa continued.
"I'll better accept the thank you then, maybe he'll even buy me a drink," Lyzara said. Both of them laughed and she made her way towards the Saurian cadet. Razkii had smooth matte pink skin and large yellow eyes.
"There you are! I wanted to thank you for helping me pass that final… and for all other times you've helped me. I've always admired you, Lyzara, I hope Starfleet recognizes all you've done to lead our class. What ship did you get?" he said with one breath. Lyzara blushed and answered:
"I haven't received my assignment yet." He seemed a bit surprised.
"Well, good luck! Before you go to lieutenant Ferra, talk to T'Vrell. She seemed to get emotional."
"She's a Vulcan, she doesn't get emotional," Lyzara said, to which Razkii only shrugged, and she continued towards T'Vrell. T'Vrell had long black hair and pointed ears. Also her facial lines were quite sharp and defined well her blue eyes. Her body was also a bit slimmer, but not untrained, as scientists didn't have to be physically as capable as tactical officers.
"Greetings," T'Vrell said as Lyzara approached her.
"Razkii said you had something to tell me," Lyzara enquired.
"Yes, it was good of you to encourage me to retake the linguistics final. I was willing to accept my original results, but you saw that I was not at my best that day. My score increased by 12, 8 percent on the second attempt. Now I am qualified to serve as both science officer and communications officer," she said calmly.
"M'Rew would like to see you as well; he is ahead of us in the path. Live long and prosper." Lyzara could never understand how the Vulcans could stay calm and rational in every situation. She knew that they suppressed their emotions, but they never looked like robots. Somehow Vulcans had managed to stay in-between of those two things. Anyways, she continued to talk to M'Rew.
"Oh, there you are!" M'rew said with his usual purring voice.
"Getting excited yet? Once we finish our training cruise we'll all be full-fledged ensigns," he continued.
"So, what's the buzz?" Lyzara asked from the yellow-furred Caitian. He looked in every aspect like a cat, except he could talk and walked around on two legs. His eyes were yellow with black slit pupils and his ears had darker brown tufts at their tops, likewise his tail ended with a furry tuft. Lyzara had always liked cats, but there was something really cute about the Caitians. Of course, she would hurt every Caitian's feelings if she told them they were cute.
"The buzz is," he said, "Captain Taggert hasn't named all his senior staff yet. From what I heard the advanced phaser training is tripping people up."
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Lyzara said and stated walking toward lieutenant Ferra.
She entered one of the buildings on the far side of the park and recognized Ferra in an instant. He was also a Caitian, although his fur was grayish colored and his body a bit skinnier than M'Rew's, the latter doing a lot of mountain climbing, the effects of which could be seen in his well-defined muscles.
"Good afternoon, cadet. What can I do for you?" he said when Lyzara looked at him with a face full of questions.
"Is this where I get my training cruise assignment?" Lyzara asked.
"Yes, I have the complete assignment list here. Name?" he enquired.
"Lyzara Dalis," she answered.
"Let's see, interesting… report to Captain Taggert, he's in his office," he continued, pointing at the red turbolift.
"Is there a problem?" she asked before going.
"That you're going to have to ask him," Ferra said a bit coldly.
Lyzara rang the bell on Captain's door.
"Come," a voice said. She entered the office and walked towards Captain's desk.
"Cadet," Taggert said. He was a Denobulan, and therefore had two bony ridges on his forehead; his shoulder-length hair was light brown and his face was reserved and calm, showing the experience of his long years in service.
"You asked to see me, sir?" Lyzara inquired.
"I did. I've been following your progress here at the academy and I must say, I'm impressed," he proceeded.
"Thank you, Captain," she answered.
"I'm just looking at your final test scores, but I don't see your results for advanced phaser training program," the Captain said, slightly rising his eyebrows.
"I know this program is advised, but I thought I had more time to take it," Lyzara uttered but before she got strung-up, the Captain continued.
"I want everyone on my senior staff to run that program and I want to see good results. No exceptions." Lyzara thought about what she had heard and then asked:
"Did you say "senior staff"?"
"I did. Like I said I've been following your career here at the Academy and if you complete that program I can put you on my bridge. I'll ask my tactical officer to set it up." Taggert continued.
"Your tactical officer, sir, who is that?" she proceeded to enquire.
"Another fine cadet like yourself. Her scores were almost as good as yours, but her record has a few… blemishes. Still, I'm sure cadet Flores will settle down and become a fine officer someday." Taggert concluded.
"I'll tell Flores to meet you out in the quad. Talk to her to start the phaser training and I'll see you when you're finished. You're dismissed, cadet." Lyzara saluted the Captain and left his office. That went well, she thought.
Cadet Elisa Flores was standing outside the building waiting for her.
"I got the tactical officer spot, just what I wanted. Where did you end up?" she looked extremely pleased.
"Captain Taggert says he wants me on the senior staff, but I have to pass advanced phaser training first." Lyzara told to the cadet that had in last few years become one of her best friends.
"You never did that? I thought you were Ms. Extra Credit. Everyone knows that Captain Taggert expects all his top people to pass the program," Elisa said like it was something very obvious.
"Now you tell me…," Lyzara shook her head.
"Don't worry, you'll do fine. C'mon, I'll take you to the holodeck and set it up," She took Lyzara's hand and pulled her through the park into the main building of the Academy.
"Setting up the training program now. I hope holodeck two is your lucky holodeck," Elisa said when they reached the door.
"Have any advice for me? I want to pass this," Lyzara inquired, seemingly uneasy.
"Shoot stuff, don't die. Pretty basic really," she answered with a smirk.
"Okay, here goes then. I'll just grab a phaser," Lyzara went to a weapons locker around the corner and grabbed a pistol. Then she entered and began the program.
When she left the holodeck, Taggert and Elisa were already waiting for her.
"Well done, cadet. You're not going to break the Academy record, but your score was more than satisfactory," he said, seemingly pleased.
"Thank you, Captain. Do you have an assignment for me now?" she asked.
"Absolutely, I have a new first officer. Congratulations," he said. Lyzara looked quite surprised and stuttered:
""First officer", sir?"
"Yes. You should be proud of your accomplishments here, cadet. You have a promising career ahead of you in Starfleet," Taggert smiled.
"Thank you, sir. It will be an honor serving with you," she could finally say without jumping into the sky out of happiness. Captain nodded and walked away down the hallway.
"First officer! Way to go! Just a little jealous, I'll admit. At least now you can boss us all around like you've always wanted," Elisa said with an amused smirk.
"It's a lot of pressure, I hope I'm up to it," Lyzara answered and still looked a bit unbelieving.
"You'll do great, but we should head up to the shuttlebay. Everyone else is waiting there for the ceremonial send-off toast," And again she took Lyzara's hand and started pulling her, but this time Lyzara yanked her hand free and laughed:
"I'm your senior officer now; you can't keep pulling me around like this."
"Fair enough," Elisa answered and pretended to be offended for a moment. Then both of them giggled and they continued to the turbolift.
"OK, all of the senior staff is waiting in the lounge. I'm sure everyone's a bit nervous, this being our first real assignment and all. So I'm expecting an inspiring speech out of you, something heartwarming, make T'Vrell cry. This mission could determine the rest of our careers. No pressure," Elisa said in the turbolift. A moment later the doors opened and they stepped into the shuttlebay. They walked into the lounge where other cadets had already opened a bottle of champagne – hopefully one without alcohol – and they were handed glasses.
"May I have everyone's attention please," Lyzara said once she was in the middle of cadets. "We are the senior staff of the U.S.S. Altair. Each and every one of us has trained for the task at hand. And we are ready," she continued: "I have the utmost faith in each of you. You're the best the Academy has and together we can do anything. We will go forth boldly like Starfleet has trained us, putting to use everything we've learned here. To Starfleet Academy! To U.S.S. Altair! To her crew!" she raised the glass of 2409.
"I can't believe we're finally doing this," Elisa said when she, Lyzara, M'Rew, T'Vrell and Thel were sitting in a shuttle and flying to the orbit and toward the Earth Spacedock.
"Ah, look at that," she continued her thought, watching out of the shuttle window and admiring a ship that was currently flying out of the open doors of Earth Spacedock. "The U.S.S. Vesta, first of her class. She's got subsystem targeting, a crew of 750, auxiliary phaser cannons and even a quantum field focus controller. I can't wait to captain one someday," Elisa said with sincere admiration.
"But here's our ship. Miranda class, 200 crew, average speed warp five point nothing. She's a tough little ship though, I think I like her," she said, but with far less admiration. Miranda class was quite small, compared to the other ships in the fleet. U.S.S. Altair, Taggert's ship, had a round saucer section, to which connected two pylons on the underside of the ship and a bridge module, connected to the upper side of the saucer.
"We're the final shuttle to arrive, we need to get to the bridge," Elisa noted just before they docked in the shuttlebay.
After the docking, Lyzara's shuttle-mates headed for the bridge and she proceeded to talk to Lt. Brikkars, the duty officer in the shuttlebay, a human with short red hair and stern look.
"Name and position," she said bluntly.
"Cadet Lyzara Dalis, acting first officer," Lyzara answered.
"I have your record right here, sir. Welcome onboard the Altair." Brikkars warmed up a little. Everyone seemed to have Lyzara's record these days so she wasn't surprised about Brikkars having it.
"Captain Taggert is waiting for you on the bridge," she added. Lyzara thanked her and proceeded into the turbolift.
When she stepped out of the lift everyone was already on their positions.
"Welcome to the bridge, Number One," Captain Taggert said to his new first officer.
""Number One"?" Lyzara asked, wondering what to think of that.
"Early in my career I served with captain who called his first officer that. I always liked it. As my Number One I expect you to ensure that my orders are carried out and to advise me on the best course of action in any situation. But first, we need to out of drydock. Get clearance from control, close the shuttlebay doors and then disable the tractor moorings." Taggert ordered.
"T'Vrell, get clearance from traffic control for the Altair to leave the dock; Flores, close the shuttlebay doors," Lyzara started carrying out captain's orders.
"Earth traffic control has cleared us to depart, sir," T'Vrell replied.
"Shuttlebay doors are closed, sir," Elisa confirmed also.
"Very good, Number One," Captain seemed satisfied.
"Potter, wait for me to disable the tractor moorings," Lyzara said, approached one of the consoles and released the moorings.
"Potter, take us out one-quarter impulse," Taggert ordered.
"Captain, may I remind you that Starfleet regulations specify thrusters only while in vicinity of the spacedock," Lyzara reminded a bit hesitantly.
"Just checking to see if you are paying attention, Number One. Potter, take us out, maximum thrusters," Captain Taggert said with a smirk.
"Cleared from drydock, captain," Elisa announced a few moments later.
"Good. Let's start with something easy. Set course for Vulcan," Taggert proceeded with his orders.
"Course laid in, sir," Potter, the ship's pilot said.
"Engage," Ordered the captain and made a fitting hand gesture.
"Captain, I'm picking up a distress call from the S.S. Break Even, audio only," T'Vrell reported.
"Let's hear it, T'Vrell," Taggert commanded.
"This is the S.S. Break Even. Our warp core is failing and we are in need of assistance," a voice of a Ferengi could be heard through the comm.
"Let them know we are on our way. Potter, lay in a rendezvous course," Taggert ordered.
"Altering course, sir. ETA three minutes," the pilot answered.
"Transporter room, prepare to beam over survivors," the Ferengi could be heard again over the comm.
"Sir, sensors can't read anything in the vicinity of the Break Even," M'Rew notified.
"Communications are out as well," T'Vrell also reported.
"Keep trying to hail them, T'Vrell," Taggert said calmly and continued:
"Number One, let's discuss the situation. You heard the distress call, what do you think we should do?"
"Is this a test, sir? Part of the training cruise?" Lyzara asked, although she was quite sure it wasn't. It never hurt to ask though.
"Absolutely not. We're the closest ship to the S.S. Break Even so it's our duty to assist," Taggert said with a slightly aggrieved tone.
"It's strange that the transmission was audio only. A warp core emergency shouldn't affect communications." Lyzara stated, quickly adapting to the situation.
"Good, what do you advise?" Captain asked.
"Shields up, sir. Better safe than sorry," Lyzara recommended.
"Raising the shields does seem to be a reasonable precaution," he agreed.
"Yes, sir. It could be a trap," she nodded.
"I agree, Flores, raise shields. Number one, get down to the transporter room, you'll oversee the rescue effort from there," Captain ordered. Lyzara rose from her chair and entered the turbolift.
"R'raak, the Break Even should be in range, give me an update," she ordered while driving down to the transporter room.
"I'm getting some weird readings," the Caitian transporter officer said. Lyzara was given no time to wonder about the number of Caitians serving on the Altair – there were quite a few of them.
"I can't get a solid lock. There may be interference. Trying to compensate," he continued.
"I think I have it. This is a lot different than the training scenarios. Beaming them over now." There was a moment of silence and then R'raak said:
"Klingons?"
"This vessel is now the property of Captain Kadek of the I.K.S. Chot," Lyzara heared a Klingon voice over R'raak's communicator. Then several shots could be heard.
"R'raak! Come in! What happened? R'raak!" Lyzara yelled into the comm.
"Stop! Security is reporting disruptor fire in the transporter room and Klingon transporter signatures are showing up all over the ship. They're boarding us," she heard Taggert's voice over the comm. Klingons were a proud warrior species, currently in war with the Federation. Their complexion was dark and they were all well-trained soldiers, wearing leather armors with steel gauntlets, spiked shoulder pads and boots. They had large bony ridges on their foreheads and long, usually braided, dark hair.
"What can I do to help?" she asked.
"You have the command codes to unlock an armory near your position. Arm yourself and any security team members you find," he answered.
"What about the enemy ship, sir," Lyzara enquired.
"We still have weapons; I'll do what I can. For now I need you to concentrate on getting those Klingons off my ship. Taggert out."
"Yes, sir," Lyzara said and proceeded to the weapons locker. She entered her command codes and picked up a phaser rifle. The moment she exited the armory two Klingons came around the corner, but she and two other cadets were able to defeat them. She was going to proceed forward, but about twenty meters ahead of her a shot by the enemy ship was fired directly into the ships hull, resulting in a hull breach and several Klingons were sucked into the vacuum of space. She got the hold of a console on the last moment and immediately a force field appeared covering the hole. Then she proceeded into the transporter room, killing several Klingons in there. Lyzara noticed R'raak lying on the ground and checked his pulse. Luckily he was alive and she quickly injected him with a hypospray. She then continued down the hallway.
"Number One, we're doing our best to cripple this klingon marauder, but I need your help. Time to show off that academy training," the Captain said through the comm.
"I can improve the ship's structural integrity field, sir," Lyzara offered. She proceeded to take the turbolift down into engineering. When she entered the lower section of the ship she encountered several Klingons, but was able to dispose of them quickly, coming at them from behind. Lyzara made her way to one of the consoles and rerouted power to structural integrity field. That should do the trick, she thought.
"Number One, we've got injured up here and the Klingons could send a boarding party at any time. I need you back on the bridge," Taggert said through the comm.
"Aye, sir," she answered and went down the corridor to the turbolift. When she entered the bridge she saw captain beam off the ship with a Klingon warrior. She wasn't given much time to think about it because two Klingons attacked her. She quickly took cover behind a console and fired at the Klingons, one of them falling with several phaser burns to his chest. The other wasn't going down that easily and instead of firing his disruptor, decided to use his melee weapon and threw himself on Lyzara. The next moment he was dead, killed by Elisa's phaser blast. Then she crawled away from under the dead Klingon and Elisa help her up. Lyzara saw, that several cadets had been injured, but nothing serious that couldn't have been fixed with a hypo.
"Incoming transmission from the Klingons," Flores announced. And they turned their looks to the view screen.
"This is Captain Kadek of the I.K.S. Chot. You may have forced my boarding parties off your decks, but our ship remains cloaked. You have no hope of finding us. Your choice is simple: surrender or we'll kill your Captain and destroy your ship," Kadek said.
"Never," Lyzara answered.
"Perhaps your captain will change your mind," Kadek said with a grin.
"Order your crew to surrender, captain or I will blow them out of the sky, it's your choice, Captain, do you want these children to die?"
"Very well," Taggert said, "Number One… you are now the captain of the ship. Your orders…," he breathed raggedly, "Your orders are to lock on my comm badge and fire!" Captain commanded.
"PeHegh tohzah," the Klingon Captain yelled and raised his dagger, stabbing Taggart into his chest.
"Make… me… proud…," He said over the comm, before it ceased.
"We have target lock, Captain," Elisa said a moment later.
"Fire," Lyzara gave her first command as an acting captain. Not the command she would like to be her first. A torpedo was fired at the Klingon ship, disrupting its cloak and taking out its weapons and shields. But the ship was able to recloak before they could destroy it.
"We've lost their signal. What now?" Elisa asked.
"We… we survived. But the captain… Captain Taggert knew what would happen, but he gave the order anyway… the ultimate sacrifice, one that we all might be called to make one day. And he trusted me to take command. All we can do now is survive… and remember him." Lyzara answered and slightly bowed her head.
