I don't own Star Trek, and I don't own Atlantis: The Lost Empire either. I do love them both though. Milo Thatch is an epic nerd!

- 1. Prologue -

This world was the farthest from home the Empire had ever stretched, and it already covered nearly one quarter of the galaxy. But their thirst pushed them to continually expand their borders, to include more worlds in their society. This particular world, third in a series of nine bodies that orbited a central yellow star, was not inhabited by sentient life, but still provided fascinating study opportunities for their scientists and scholars, as well as inspiration for artists and musicians. They could also come here for relaxation once the colony was established.

The colony. That's why they were here, to establish their newest colony, the newest part of their vast empire. An empire built not on conquered worlds and battles won, but rather on the expansion and sharing of knowledge and technology. Of course, being the far more advanced civilization they were, they couldn't share EVERYTHING with the peoples they encountered. They knew some of these races would use their technology not to explore and learn as they did, but to destroy and conquer and oppress those who did not possess the technology. As a result, only things like cures for diseases and safer way to obtain resources were shared, as well as languages and history. For those races that had developed space travel, ways to improve their vessels were shared, as well as information about various star systems and areas of the galaxy they had explored.

The queen surveyed the area where they had arrived. It was a large island in the middle of an ocean, only accessible by flying in or sailing in on the water. Or possibly swimming, but given the distance between the island and the other landmasses, that was unlikely. Yes, the island would be the perfect place for the colony. It was safe, not easily accessible to others, and easy to defend, as they would be able to see any possible threats well before they reached the island. She sent a message back to her ship, which would then spread it to the small fleet that had come here with her. Already, she heard the sounds of her people and various bits of cargo being transported to the surface from the ships high in orbit. Construction would begin immediately, beginning with the defensive forcefield system and the lifting mechanism that could lower the colony beneath the sea in order to conceal it from detection by orbiting spacecraft

At long last, the colony was complete. It was a cluster of buildings that resembled a city on their homeworld. They were large and spacious, providing comfortable living spaces for all the people of the colony. One building housed medical facilities, another held science labs, and yet another served as the center of government and home to the archives. Parks and plazas provided beautiful and scenic views enhanced by towering sculptures placed there by skilled artists. Botanists had planted gardens in the parks and now beautiful, colorful plants filled them. Its enormous crystalline power source hovered over it like a miniature sun. The Queen herself had come to personally congratulate all who had made the colony possible. Now that it was fully functional, the studying and exploration of this new world could begin.

Centuries passed and the colony thrived. Its residents carefully and closely observed the ever changing world around them. They watched, fascinated, as new species appeared and others died out. Still others simply changed over time, their features adapting them to the changing environment. One species in particular soon developed into primitive tribal civilizations. They were careful to avoid any contact with these civilizations who were still so primitive they were constantly at war with each other.

One day, however, they could not avoid it.

A rather flimsy contraption carrying the sentient bipedal organisms washed up on their shores. Being the peaceful people they were, they took pity on the creatures and took them in, expertly nursing them back to health using shards of the power source from above the colony. During this time, they gained more knowledge about the ways of these creatures, learning their primitive language and developing other ways to communicate with them. In return, they provided the creatures with food and places to live, as well as clothing and materials to make their own things with. Over time, the creatures advanced rapidly, and soon forgot their counterparts from off the island. They were content to share the island with the colonists, learning from them and studying with them, becoming a society in themselves. This society called itself "Atlantis" after what the colonists guessed was some deity of theirs, or perhaps it was their name for the power source hovering over the colony, which the creatures seemed to worship. It was understandable why they would, the crystal shards of the power source the creatures wore had greatly extended their life span while also providing them total immunity from disease and even the ability to heal minor injuries instantly. They also sped up the healing of major injuries. Rather than trying to explain the scientific and technological reasons for this to beings who were nowhere near being able to understand it, the colonists were content to just let them see the crystal as some kind of deity or supernatural force. Despite their lack of understanding about how it worked, the creatures quickly developed the ability to utilize he crystal's power through their personal shards, using it to power lights and even their stone vehicles and machines. These machines eventually were upgraded to add defensive capabilities, so they could help the colonists defend themselves if they needed to. Not that either group expected any threat to arise. And for many years, none did.

Neither group saw the catastrophe coming. The colonists, who recognized an attack from orbit, had no time to react, and the Atlanteans had never seen such things. Beams of light raining down from the sky, sweeping all over the island. And yet it was all over in a flash. But the aftermath was devastating.

In that one fell attack, all of the colonists had been wiped out, leaving only the Atlanteans, who mourned the loss of those who had been their friends for so long. But even in death, the colonists hadn't forgotten their charges. For in the hand of the colonists' leader was a message to the Atlanteans. Fate had been kind enough to let the message be finished before its creator died. It told the Atlanteans all they needed to know to continue using the power source, and to ensure they didn't run out of resources. It also instructed them on how to use the colony's defensive systems in the event that they needed them. As was their tradition, the Atlanteans cremated the colonists, and scattered their ashes from aboard their flying vehicles.

Generations later, the Atlanteans made the grave error of trying to use the crystal itself as a weapon, resulting in a massive wave the likes of which the planet had never seen before. Panicking, the Queen accepted when the crystal scanned for a volunteer to activate the defensive systems, leaving her tiny daughter behind as she was transported upward and became one with the crystal, thus initiating the defenses. Once they were activated, a forcefield dome covered the island and the enormous crystal. With the protective shield in place, the lifting mechanisms activated, and the island sank into the ocean, disappearing far below as it phase-shifted right through solid rock, into the concealed protective chamber the colonists had carved out long ago when the colony was built. It was safe, but at a cost, for in maintaining the shield for so long against the unforgiving ocean, as well as running the lifting mechanisms and phase shifters, the Queen had expired her own strength and her very life force, her body then becoming fuel for the final parts of the process. Devastated by what his error had caused, the King buried the enormous Crystal beneath his city and silenced all talk about it. As millennia passed, the crystal itself was forgotten, except by the king himself, who would only venture to its chamber to retrieve a shard for a newborn child, an occurrence that became rarer as time passed. Their civilization fell into ruin, a mere shadow of what it used to be. People forgot how to read and write their own language. The great stone flying machines remained grounded, relics from a time long past, their use forgotten. Only knowledge of the healing power of the crystal pendants and the health and longevity they provided remained unchanged. Small lights were the only things the pendants powered now. The city no longer thrived, but it still lived. The people still had enough food and resources to survive and carry on their daily lives without worry. And due to their seclusion beneath the sea, they lived a peaceful existence, free from threats by anyone else, though the king still had giant mechanical guardians created and posted to prevent anyone from coming down and discovering their secret chamber. Thus, Atlantis remained undisturbed.

Until the year of 1914, Earth reckoning, when an expedition led by a young linguist finally made it to the sunken colony. The leader of this group was nothing more than a greedy mercenary, out for only himself. He attempted to steal the ancient crystal, despite the warnings and pleas of the linguist, who claimed it would kill the entire city. The outsider had no idea just how right he was. Though he cited various writings and pieces of physical evidence, it was his gut that told him the crystal couldn't be taken. He could somehow sense that the crystal was older than ancient and far more powerful than it appeared, especially when he witnessed it take the princess into itself. The king, realizing too late that he was being repaid for having made another error in his efforts to correct the first, passed his crystal shard on to the linguist, charging him with saving the city and returning the crystal. Even as the dying man spoke, the linguist felt the pull of the crystal's power and had a vague, brief flash of the devastation it could cause on the surface. The flash, together with the crystal's power, penetrated his very being, striking his heart of hearts, igniting a flame he didn't know he had, transforming him from a shy timid boiler operator to a brave warrior. Steeling himself for the likely possibility of death, the linguist had mustered a small armada of his friends and the few warriors Atlantis had. They charged the mercenary head on and engaged his forces in battle, the linguist himself taking on the mercenary, certain he would not survive the encounter.

But the crystal protected all of its charges.

It passed some of its energy to the linguist when he picked up a shard of the glass it had touched, giving him a burst of new strength, even as the mercenary, now insane with greed and rage as his plans fell apart, grabbed the poor man by his neck and raised an axe in his free hand, preparing to strike the death blow to the linguist. In a last desperate attempt to save himself, the linguist slashed his foe with the crystal shard. The crystal's power combined with the man's rage and greed, completely consuming him. Yet a small part of him remained, enough to chase the linguist up the chain rigging. In a moment of sudden clarity, the linguist threw his entire weight toward the ground, pulling his side of the rigging down with him. Too late did his foe realize the trap as he was lifted upward by the sudden force into the blades that shattered him into glittering dust shards, which rained down breaking the chains and freeing the crystal. With the help of the remainder of the small armada, it was returned to the city in time to activate the defensive forcefield to protect the city from the eruption the battle had caused. At the end of it all, the crystal once again hovered over the colony, and the civilization began to restore its former glory with the help of the linguist-turned-hero, who helped the people reclaim their lost knowledge through his ability to read their language. His reward was the love of the princess, who had been restored by the crystal when it no longer needed her to run the defense system. Together, the two ascended to the throne of the city the linguist had always dreamed of discovering, which he now called home. But his greatest discovery of all was still to come.