They came without warning, the two people who have the powers of star ships in their hands, they wiped out San Fransisco, and destroyed starfleet headquarters. Now all that is left, is the ships in the fleet. We are the only bastian of human life still in existance. Twenty years after the Androids created by Doctor Gero attacked and Earth became their personal play grond.
My name is Jean- Luc Picard, I am the Captain of the star ship Enterprise, and once we were a ship of exploration. We are once again, but we are exploring for a new Earth since the Androids conqured our last one.
Picard looked to the haggered and worn down faces of his crew, the monsters on Earth insisted on making daily calls out into space to flaunt their domination over the planet. Picard wanted to die inside each time he saw their youthful, almost childlike faces that denied their melovelance. He heard Commander Troi say "Channel to Earth open Sir."
"On screen" Picard saw them, the faces of the young man and woman responsible for almost destroying the entire human race. "What do you want?" He said as he eyeballed the two people walking through the remains of starfleet command.
The young boy steped forward, "Well you are all far away in another solar system arent you?" He turned his eyes to the ruined computer consoles, "Its amazing even after all the damage we caused to your world the computers here can still track your ship. That pretty counsilor Troi isnt hard to look at either. Ever since Eighteen and I conqured the world its been so booring for us. No one to fight, not even starships to blow up anymore. What do you think we should do Captain Picard?" Seventeen was such a snobby brat, that's what he reminded Picard of, but he knew there was nothing to be done.
Troi sat down, shaking her head as she remembered the death of her secrete lover William Riker and Weasley Crusher died on a last ditch mission to save humanity. It was all the young woman could do not to break down and sobb like a baby, and she knew she wasn't the only one. Dr. Crusher was the same way, she had lost her son, and as a result almost lost hope in humanity.
That blonde woman stepped forward, "Tell them what you want to say Seventeen, tell them and then get on with it." She seemed to be the older of the two for some reason, but it didn't really matter at this point, nothing did. Picard had seen her hold out her hand and demolish an entire starship. How could anyone compete with something like that? How on Earth could there be a power to fight a young man who never aged, who had unlimited strength, and who riped through a fleet of ships like they were nothing? He shook his head as he remembered the battle their fleet fought with the two people, and he remembered the screams of the young men and women aboard the starships as they died. After that battle only twelve ships were left in the fleet, and many of them lost contact with each other. Picard had to fight to keep looking at those monsters.
"Well the very last survivors of your silly race are hiding in a bunker, in what used to be England. Eighteen and I are heading there and are very excited. We want to destroy them, and after that trust me my dear Captain Picard, we will come after your beloved Enterprise." The young boy switched to an old computer read out of England, and showed the deep bunker. "I suppose they survived when we blasted the city of London to pieces. After a while destroying your cities and governments has gotten really boring to tell the truth." He sighed, Picard was full of fury, he knew they had to do something, the search for the new Earth was going poorly and nothing but trouble was coming from thence.
"What are you going to do after you destroy the last people, and by that I mean what are you going to do to Earth itself?" Picard asked, and then he saw everyone, even the klingon security officer look up towards the view screen.
Both shruged, "We'll probably just destroy it, and then hunt down the rest of you in space." He grinned, his long locks of black hair fell around his face and he brushed it back with his hand. "Don't worry Jean Luc we will be sure to transmit the last moments of this god awful planet. See ya around." He said, then the view screen went into static mode. The faces of the bridge crew were stonefaced, and solid. Picard could feel their distress and could only imagine what Troi felt.
"We must stop them Captain, when I scanned him, I felt no emotions at all, and when he showed that blip of the bunker under London, I felt them as well. Those people are scared and holding on to any vestiges of hope and faith they have. Captain we have to do something." Troi hated wearing this red command shirt, she hated it, and she wanted to give it back to her lover, but he was dead and gone. He and Weasley both had been taken from the family, and she knew it destroyed Beverley as well as Picard. She felt his heart fall when the huge fleets of ships fighting the Androids
Data turned around in his chair, he had the same non emotional look on his face as he always did, and the same yellow uniform he always wore. "Captain, a new idea has occurred to me."
Picard looked around the crowded bridge, Worf, Troi, and Lieutenant Ro were all there. "Everyone lets give Mister Data our complete attention and see what he has to say."
Data was used to holding meetings in the bridge now, before the Android invasion he would go into the confrence room, but now that had changed. "The last time Captain Janeway reported from Deep Space Twelve she showed the technological virus she was working on to attack the Borg. However since they are no longer a priority the virus was put into cold storage there. I do noth think there is anyone alive who seems to think otherwise. My point being if we can rewrite the virus to attack androids, then we can stop the two creatures before they destroy Earth." Data tried to examine the quizical expressions of all the other crewmembers he was family with, and wished his friend Will Riker had still been living.
Picard looked around as well, "We have tried attacking them every conventional way, our ships have no effect on them Mister Data. So perhaps we can use this virus to attack or destroy their computer systems, but how are you going to test this virus Data? Furthermore how are you going to use it to attack their systems?"
Another pause, then Data answered "Well Sir, I am an android, and I will sacrafice my life in order to stop the Androids and give Earth back to humanity. Also if we can infect me with the virus, then perhaps I can transfer that to the Android killers."
Picard shook his head "Out of the question Mister Data. You are too important to our people to be given as a sacrafice to these things, however nobel a move it may be."
Data sat back down in his chair, "I believe you are mistaken Sir, I believe the search for another planet is being done in vain, and the planets we have found are either inhabited, or unable to support humans. We cannot relocate unless we break the prime directive, and yet even though there is no starfleet, you cling to principals that will not support us anymore. I belive this is the only way to stop the Androids, and you know I am right Captain." There was a silence in the bridge, not even the computers hummed, still as death.
Picard slumped down into his chair, he knew Data would not have offered himself up like this unless there was a real reason. He also knew that the three senior Captains of the fleet that were left had the same thoughts, that the prime directive was no longer relevent. Janeway would be willing to go through with this, and it would take some damn good engineering to manage this plan. "Alright Mister Data, estimate how long it will take the Androids to destroy that bunker under London, and set course for Deep Space Twelve at maximum warp." Picard stood up, and began walking out of the bridge, he had to speak to his chief engineer.
Seventeen walked out into the ruins of scociety, and he was followed by his sister. "I cant believe taking over the entire planet took twenty years, and we were taking out time. They put up a fight here Seventeen, and I think they will at London as well."
The boy shook his head, "I know, I know, did you see the Enterprise make a course correction before the computers at Starfleet finally gave out?"
"Yea, I wonder where Captain Picard was going. He should have been able to find a new planet by now, but he's still flying around there." Eighteen sat down on a pile of rubble, "I suppose we should have tried to keep some starfleet personel alive to question them about the good Captain." She sighed, "Life isnt as much fun as we thought it would be without Goku to fight."
Seventeen noded his head in agreement, "I know, but you have to admit fighting starfleet people was pretty amusing there for a while."
Eighteen shook her head as the two walked past the ruins of a crashed space craft, and wondered how much fun she could have chasing down humanity out thereā¦
Captain Kathryn Janeway looked at the lonely silent computers that had not been active in years, and she hated them. She hated the displays of the holding cells for the genetic experiments because they went nowhere. Janeway wanted to explore, she wished starfleet had built the Intrepid class ship like she had been promised her before the Androids showed up. Tears formed at the sides of her eyes as she realized that was only days before her father died.
Kathryn remembered watching the Androids turn the solar system into a graveyard and recalled the brave men and women who put up one hell of a good fight. She never thought two androids could have destroyed a space going scociety in such a short amount of time. One galaxy class starship had been grabbed by a Android, the young woman, and she had thrown it into the Jupiter Space station. She couldn't believe such a thing was possible, and in the middle of the night those images still haunted her. Doctor Zimmerman, and Lieutenant Barcley were her only companions on this floating genetic storage unit, and she was lamenting the death of her people. She was lamenting the deaths of her beloved scociety, and she looked at the stars, that mocked her.
The stars mocked her, and they mocked the few remaining starships as well. When the two young people destroyed the main fleet and killed off all the settelments in the solar system they made a proclimation. The female found a wrecked Excelceor class ship and transmitted galaxy wide. "To all spacefarring races and cultures. If any of you shall harbor the people of Earth, if any of you shall help them in any way, then once we are done with humanity, we will come after you. Vulcan, Romulus, and the Klingons will fall." Her face was genuine, and her words made clear.
Soon after that battle, their long term allies the Vulcans left Earth, they and soon after she watched as the federation disbanded. The Klingons, the Romulans, and everyone went off into their own yards. She almost cried watching that institution fall apart, and now it felt like crying was all she could do. The beeping of the incoming transmission echoed into her command station. "Computer on screen."
The stolid face of the youthful woman Commander Troi came on, "Hellow Captain, in case your long range systems have not picked us up yet the Enterprise is enroute to your location. We may have a plan to defeat the Androids, but we need help." For a moment, the anger, the self loathing, and the fear went away for the first time in years.
In the engineering bay B'Elanna told her people how the Enterprise was going to sneak back into the solar system. "So, were going to park on the outskirts of the system, just past Pluto, and then we are going to launch a shuttle. Only Commander Data may be allowed on board, and once that happens we wait. We will have to power up the warp core to its maximum ability, then we transport it to the shuttle craft where Data will be stationed."
A hand went up, "Lieutenant, why are we going to detonate, and then destroy the warp core?"
She shook her head, it was such a high risk mission, and yet she knew they had to be told. "Data is going to hover above the Androids position, he is going to send transponders to their location, and beam them onto the shuttlecraft. He thinks, the explosion of our warp core, on their bodies after their systems have been shut down will destroy them for good. Now it will leave the Enterprise disabled, but we will have saved the Earth." She looked at the youthful men and women, all of them had grown up watching the Androids commit horrible atrocaties against the people of Earth , and saw the determination in their eyes. As much as she hated them, she had to secretly admire their creator who had been smart enough to actually create the technology she was about to destroy.
B'Elanna walked down the corridor into the small room adjacent to engineering where what she jokingly called her office had a holographic representation of their foe. "Hello Doctor, so tell me why, and how did you create the androids, just so we can be clear."
The old man with a long white beard and tall top hat with the double R initials on there turned and spoke to her. "Hello mongral. My life existed back in the era you know as world war three, my army the Red Ribben Army was trying to conqure the world and bring order to scociety. We were succeeding and then a extremly powerful alien boy attacked our people. He destroyed every force we sent against him, and then I began my design. I took two healthy children, let them grow into adults, and placed robotic brains in their human bodies. The two are called Seventeen and Eighteen. They have tiny power sources within their brains called white dwarf stars that give them their power and therein lies your answer." B'Elanna shook her head at this, the very idea one boy, one fighter could take on a whole army, and that this man created the two out of vengence was mindboggeling.
"Computer deactivate Gero hologram." She sat down, the idea of a miniature dwarf star as their power source was astounding, and even moresoe that a man from world war three developed it. She was thrilled that that man's diary was on record and that a way to overload their power had been found. She thought back to her days at the academy, and never imagined she would have been stationed on the famous Enterprise. Nor could she have imagined such widespread destruction in such a short timeframe.
Picard stood in the darkened room, Beverly was not the woman she was twenty years ago, of course none of them were the same people. She was sitting by the large window, looking out of the glass at the starfields passing by. Picard felt for her tragey, she lost her husband years ago, and then she even lost Weasley when the Androids destroyed his ship. He watched her grieve for years after, and then she tried to impregnate herself artifically years later with a random donner. The baby died in her arms seconds after her birth. Beverly was almost beside herself, and soon after quit medical studies for good. She looked down at the floor when she acknowladged his pressence. "What have they destroyed now Jean-Luc?" She asked in her quivering voice as she fought to keep her attention in the stars.
"We may have a method of stopping the Androids, and I would want you on the bridge to see it work Bev," Picard sat down beside her without asking permission. "We may be living in the last days of humanity, a handful of ships inking out a living in the stars,with no friendly ports to call home, and now we have a way to take our home back." He couldn't imagine the loss he was about to feel, loosing Data forever, "I don't know how Im going to handel the price though."
She turned, her deep eyes with age lines around them, her fallen checks, and the greying hair showed her age. "What is the price? Whatever it is Jean-Luc we have to pay it, we have to get Earth back."
"Data has to die Bev," he felt hot tears welling up behind his eyes, "We have to sacrafice an Android, to kill the two androids." He was sobbing, he was sobbing and trying not to. "I lost my friend when Commander Riker died, and Weasley was like a son to me, and they died. Geordi died as well during that battle. I have lost my biological family, and yet I know Data is going to do this."
Beverly saw the man of stone fall apart in her arms, she held him "He wants to, maybe he feels like he has to atone for the sins of other Androids, but whatever the reason, its his alone to make. We need to do this Jean-Luc. We need to stop them, and you will always have family." Beverly let him cry, where no one but her could see him, and she gave him a slight kiss.
"Personal log, stardate, unkown, Captain Janeway reporting, The Enterprise has docked at Deep Space Twelve and Doctor Zimmerman is struggeling to lock down the virus. He claims to be close, and we are all holding our breaths and crossing our fingers to hope this virus goes well." She walked across her quarters and handed Picard his tea. "I remembered how you liked your tea Jean-Luc, and I somehow knew you would cling to that hint of normalcy."
The man chuckled for the first time in a long one, "Data is convinced he has to make up for what the other Androids have done. He wants to stop them because he is one, do you hold any resentment towards him for being a artificial life form?"
Janeway had to think about that; just saying the name Android made her skin crwal with hatred towards Data, and yet she knew he was a fellow starfleet officer. She knew he lost his best friend when the USS Defient was destroyed and must have left a deep impact on his thought. "I don't think so Captain, I just hope the Earth will be in such a state that we can rebuild after we destroy the warp core so close to the planet. Hopefully B'Elanna has done her studies on such a matter."
Picard shook his head, "She gave me some trouble starting out, but she has turned out to be a really good engineer to be sure. She gives me her word that it will leave no ill effect on the planet's environment, but it is something we have to do. Maybe we can even rebuild starfleet after.I will say this though, this is the first time in years that people on my ship have shown even a scratch of hope in their eyes and the support has been overwhelming. I know people will miss Data when he goes, but I cannot think of a better way for him to leave us, then to give his existance up to save all us."
Janeway shook her head, and she knew it was the only way to stop them. "Lets just hope those poor people in London can hold out long enough for Zimmerman and Barcley to upload the virus into Data. We have a lot of people who are holding out hope for us Captain, we cant fail here."
They had lived their lives in fear, Libberty Cross and the people who were cowering in the shleter knew that the Androids would find them soon. She was their unelected leader and as she walked through the humans who had made this bunker their home she mourned for the race. She mourned for her family that was slaughtered during the great battle twenty years ago, and for the children who would never know adulthood. It was odd to think that people were born all around her, and she could only think about death. Once the men here had been part of a resistance, and then the Androids found them and destroyed them in full force.
Libberty watched as her boyfriend walked into the control room, the skelleton of a old Excelceor class frigate was resting in the main holding bay. "Hey Libby, so hows the construction going?"
She laughed, even though she had only been a cadet in San Fransisco when the Androids hit he still called her Captain and everyone else around here did as well. The Androids hunted down all the starfleet officers one by one, and for some reason they had left the bunker alone. "I heard from Captain Picard today Ryan."
Ryan Collins turned, "Oh yea? So is the Enterprise finally going to forget all about us?" He held resintment in his heart, that damned hero of her's left his fleet to be slaughtered by the Androids as the Enterprise flew away on a bogus mission. Ryan hated that man for leaving them, and not dying with the rest of his people. He saw the hurt look in her old eyes as he said that, Libberty Cross was fourty years old and the years had taken a toll on her. He immediately felt sorry for her, and shook his head "Sorry, I know you think of him as a hero."
Libby shook her head in dissmisal, "Now, its ok, he says he has a way to stop the Androids, and he is coming back to our solar system right now. He told me to expect to see him in a few days if all went well." Libby heard her twelve year old daughter outside the corridor talking to her friends and felt a glimmer of hope in the sound of youthful voices.
"Seriously? Captain baldy has actually come through for us?"Ryan forced back excitement as his wife walked over and placed her hand over his lips. "Maybe this old ship here is going to be finished some day after all dear."
She smiled and gave him a kiss, wrapped her arms around him and said "I think so, he says his Android, Data is going to sacrafice himself to stop the Androids." For a moment Ryan wasnt worried about the Androids, he felt his wife hold him, and took comfort in his lover. "So maybe we can have that victory party someday after all." He heard her laugh, he could aways make her laugh even when things looked desperate like this. That's why she loves me, he reminded himself.
The city of London had no buildings standing, not a one. Seventeen remembered blowing them all up as easily as he could swat a fly. He hated looking at the flat landscape without any fun around. "Hey Eighteen, do we even know where this underground bunker is here?"
She shrugged, "Just power up, and launch a energy bomb into the ground until we expose them."
Seventeen smiled, "Alright, this is going to be fun," he levitated high above the flatened city of London and saw his sister rise with him. He turned to her and asked "Ready?" She shook her head, each held up their right hand and began to release energy. The last time they were here doing this, charging up power for a attack, the Earth ground forces were launching everything they had at them, and loosing. Seventeen remembered the last land battle and he thought of them as he made his power ball as large as it could get. "Now let it go!"
Libby and Ryan shook in the shelter, their daughter Jessica came running into the small room and shouted "Mommy, daddy what made the bunker shake like that?" The young girl, deep in her mind, knew the horror of the ages was right outside London.
A older man in a cadets uniform came rushing into the room, he was never at starfleet but found the uniform in the bunker when he moved here. "Captain Cross, the Androids are outside, they are tyring to digg their way to us."
"I'll be right there George" Libby placed her hand on her husband's face, "Gotta go, stay with Jessica, and be safe."
She kissed her daughter goodbye, and rushed away. She knew that those energy attacks would break through the miles of rock and dirt soon, and then they would be exposed. Libby silently curse Jean-Luc Picard for giving her false hope, and then went into the command room.
The silence was profound, Data piloted the shuttlecraft past the ruined wreckage of the last starfleet armada towards the former home of humanity. He checked the transponders, and then the transporters. As he passed the wreckage of the Defient he said "I will make up for your death Geordi, I will stop thos monsters." Data sat back down at the helm as the graveyard of ships passed by one by one. He knew this may be the most important mission in the history of humanity but to him all that mattered was killing the Androids.
He recalled the words of Doctor Zimmerman "Remember Data the virus upload is all around you in this shuttle, it infects any cybernetic lifeform and destroys the neural circuts. All you have to do is transport them to the shuttle, that's it." Data was approaching Mars, another cemetary void of all life and human civilization that he cherished as much as the crew that called themselves his family. Maybe, since he had no emotions, this was the only way he could experience humanity.
Captain Picard was on the edge of his seat, looking closely at the screen as the shuttlecraft Goodard passed Mars coming closer to Earth. He turnd to his crew, "Now separate saucer section, and engage auto timmer." B'Elanna turned back towards the engineering section computer and watched as the people began rushing back towards the main hull of the ship. "Will Lieutenant Roe be able to pilot the battle section all the way to Earth from her station at helm?"
B'Elanna shook her head, "Yes and the increased speed of warp seven will occure when she inserts her command key. After that there is only two minutes before the core detonates." She was as anxious as everyone else, she puzzled at the screen and mentally said goodbye to Data.
"He is outside the orbit of Earth Captain." Roe shouted from her station, he could her the nervousness in her voice giving way to excitement.
Debris fell onto them as Captain Liberty Cross watched her people rush about the control room, "Were detecting the starfleet shuttle in orbit, but the Androids keep shooting bombs down on us. A few more pop shots like that and we wil be looking them in the eye."
"Just hod on for a little while longer, we can detect the Enterprise on the outer solar system, and we can see it separate. So we know the plan is going well, we just need to hold out long enough." Libby wished she had a chair to lean back in about now, but knew it may be for the best not to have one. She saw how close the Andoirds were to her on the schematic readout of the terrain outside. Only a few more feet and they would be standing on the roof. Hurry up Data, hurry fast.
Seventeen laughed wildly as he fired, blast upon blast down into the rubble, then he saw something out of the corner of his eye, "Hey whats that?"
He stopped powering up, and Eighteen turned with him. "Yea something stragne is over there."
Data activated the energy transponder, and waited. Soon the two young people who terrorized the planet were standing beside him. The female blarred "Where the hell are we, and how did you snag us like that?" She saw Data, steped back "My, my, my, are you a Android like us?"
He shook his head, "Yes I am, and I am most insulted by the lack of consideration you have towards the people of Earth. For that reason, I am ashamed to be a artificial lifeform."
Seventeen shouted "Ashamed? You wear that stupid yellow shirt like they do and you dare to say your ashamed of us Androids? Never mind about talking to him Eighteen, Im just going to blow him up right here and now." Then he passed out, "What, what have you done?" He asked as he hit the floor and his dead empty eyes peered up at his sister.
Eighteen staggered, "What, what's happening to us?"
Data felt the toll on his own systems, "A virus that attacks only cybernetic life forms, it is infecting all three of us, and now you die." Data fell to the floor followed by Eighteen. Her eyes remained open long enough to see the battle section of the Enterprise fly overhead. A loud explosion, then brightness.
The people in the bunker broke into cheers, yelling and celebrating as they watched the fire above. Libby felt tears of relief brust forth as she watched the battle section explode and then she knew the rest would be a waiting game. If a warp core explosion at such a close range was really the only way to end them she would have to wait a while. "Establish contact with the Enterprise. Lets see what they have to say boys."
Picard could not cry, he knew that his friend was gone, and he was left to celebrate. "Captain we are receiving a transmission from the bunker under London, audio only."
He shook his head, "Put our friends through here."
"Captain, nice to meet you at last, may I ask you to scan the spacial area around the shuttlecraft? Just to make sure the Androids physical bodies were destroyed as well?" She looked haggared and worn as she spoke, and Picard could only sympathize with her.
"Of course, Lieutenant Roe, lets here it" he sat back and relaxed a little.
"I am detecting no suffient amount of matter that would quallify as a Android, from any of them." She turned the computer over to manual control and began piloting the saucer back to Earth.
Picard sighed for the first time, in twenty years a sigh of real relief, "Well Geordi, Will, Weasley, we finally killed them all, and thank you Data. Thank you Data for more times then I can remember." He looked at the smiles around him and gave the long awaited order, "Lieutenant Roe set a course for Earth, full impulse power."
The End
