Captain's log, Stardate 44307.3, we seem to have been transported beyond our Galaxy, to one which is almost identical. The interstellar state we have found calls themselves The United Republic of Planets and after a brief meeting aboard one of their ships, we are in route to their home solar system, which appears to be the Sol system. Hopefully, we can discover a means of transportation back to our own Galaxy, as Mister Data has calculated it would take thousands of years to return through conventional means.
Chapter 2- Preparations
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D
Bridge
The duty shift was about to end, Data was watching over the bridge, as he does so during the night hours. He gazed at the Starship ahead of him, it was there on their view screen for about two days. Data made note of every starship they passed, many using the same RSS Prefix that the Endurance uses. Data wondered if there was or is a ship named Enterprise. RSRN-1701 perhaps?
The Command Chair's console beeped, indicating a shift change. Data watched as all of the officers that he had been working with for hours leave the bridge, replaced by many of the Senior Staff. Suddenly, the turbolift doors opened, and Captain Picard and Commander Riker exited. "Report Mister Data"
"Since I have been on night watch, we have passed 64 starships most with an RSS Prefix." Data informed.
"64? That is nearly double what we encountered last shift." Picard said in awe.
"It would be logical to assume that as we get closer to their home world, the denser the population of starships." Data concluded.
At this point they were passing by Terra Nova, and the Captain retreated to his ready room, only to be welcomed by a very unwelcome entity in his chair with his legs on the table.
"MON CAPITANE!" Q yelled.
Picard just stood there, for the longest time when Q said.
"Well don't just stand there, say something!"
"GET OUT OF MY CHAIR"
Q sighed and snapped his fingers, and the Captain and Q switched places.
"Q, I thought you were destroyed when the singularity formed-"
"Mon Capitaine, surely you have figured out by now?"
"It has been suggested that the universe has somehow merged with another one" Picard said as he leaned forward.
"Well actually it was seven universes merging into one- "
"But you actually expressed fear… the look on your face before you disappeared was pure dread"
Q seemed to be embarrassed, until he spoke.
"Well, erm… this has actually never happened before, when more than one universe collapse into each other, I thought we were falling into the void… and that would have killed me." Q said grudgingly.
"Q, is there a way for us to get back to our Galaxy?" Picard inquired.
"Of course, the merging has formed an intergalactic wormhole network, you just need to find them"
After that statement, Q was gone.
The Captain just sat there, silently for about five minutes. He then pressed a few buttons on his computer terminal and it opened a channel to the senior staff.
All the Captain said was "Conference".
The Captain then left the ready room with intent.
RSS Endurance RSRN-1702-D
Commander Braxton was sitting in his chair.
"Captain, you have a priority one transmission from Starfleet Command, on secure channel" Soren said.
"Send it to my ready room" The Captain replied, getting up and heading to his ready room.
The doors opened, and he was greeted by his terminal, which was made of glass. He sat down at his desk, and pressed a few buttons and the Computer spoke. "Please enter security code"
"CCX-1235-2514-1142" Replied the Captain.
"Access granted, opening secure channel" the Computer informed.
It was him, the Supreme Commander of Republic Starfleet: Daniel Flynn. The Commander was without words for a few seconds. "Supreme Commander, what can I do for you sir?" Braxton smiled.
"Commander Braxton, I have heard that you have made contact with a USS Enterprise, correct?"
"Yes Sir"
"Have you read my extraordinarily detailed report on them?" The Supreme Commander asked, sarcastically.
"Yes… Sir"
"You are in route to the Republic Military and Science Core?" Flynn asked.
"Yes Sir, we are a day away at warp 7" Braxton replied.
"Good, you are to escort the Enterprise to the RMSC, they may dock at Mars Spacedock, or assume a standard orbit… Flynn out" The channel closed, and the Captain of the Endurance slumped in his chair. This was the first time the Republic made first contact with a being from one of the parallel galaxies… officially.
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D
Observation Lounge
The Enterprise's bridge crew sat at the observation lounge for yet another one of their conferences.
"It would appear that Q has confirmed the Endurance's theory about us being here, and as far-fetched as it sounds we appear to be in a different, yet parallel Galaxy." the Captain started, "Q added that the 'merging' of the four universes has somehow created a wormhole network, and that we would need to find the right wormhole for us to get home"
"We are about 24 hours from the coordinates that the Endurance gave us, Sir" Data added.
"Captain, crew morale has taken a hit from this incident, some are even thinking that they will never see home again" the Councilor warned.
"Councilor, please do your best to reassure the crew, we must not allow fear and doubt to cloud our judgment. Data… is there a reliable way to scan for wormholes?" the Captain asked.
"Wormholes often emit tetryon particles… it is possible to localize one by scanning for tetryon particles, however Q seemed to have implied that the wormholes are stable. The Federation has no record of any stable wormhole, therefore it is impossible to know what exactly to scan for." Geordi said.
The Captain hummed in acknowledgment, and finally concluded.
"We will keep on our current course; this Republic seems to be hospitable enough Number One?"
"Aye, sir"
RSS Endurance RSRN-1702-D
Duty shift alpha was finished, and Soren was relieved from duty, he was looking forward to getting back to Mars and rejoining his team, being a tactical officer wasn't really his cup of tea. He was designed to fight. He entered the Turbolift, doors whooshing shut as it descended. Hopefully the Republic will find a replacement tactical officer for the Endurance, Soren thought as the Turbolift doors opened. He exited, and made way for his quarters, he decided he was not going to be social tonight. It was a very conscious decision, as socialization in general didn't come natural for him. Which was very odd considering he was a commando, which literally in the job description states that he must be able to socially blend in and adapt for infiltration purposes. This wasn't to say he couldn't do his job. It was just that this specific portion he wasn't a natural at. This would be surprising for anyone who was an outsider glancing at his file, considering he was a natural at nearly everything else.
Soren entered his quarters, he was very organized, with all of his things neatly organized. He cast his helmet lazily on his couch, and wandered over to his closet. His armor hissed, and the sound of locks unlocking pierced the silence of the room. After the last lock disengaged the armor seemed to split in the center, with both sides opening to a 90-degree position, revealing the rest of Soren's body. He had a tactical division uniform on underneath the armor.
All officers were issued combat armor, although most only wore it during scenarios that called for yellow alert. His combat armor however was the Commando variant, which was only assigned to Second Generation Starfleet Commandos. He was using slightly dated combat armor, a Mark XVIII.
He then walked forward without his armor, and after he was clear, the armor sealed itself shut. Soren then went and got his helmet, and secured it on his armor where his head would be. The empty combat armor hissed again, signifying it has been pressurized. At that moment, his helmet's visor stopped glowing.
Soren sighed and walked to his replicator and ordered a glass of water. He then sat on his bed… gazing at his armor. Soren couldn't help be grateful, the Republic has given him so much, when he had so little. The Republic gave him purpose, a reason to fight unlike those who originally brought him up. One day he might come to terms with what they did to him. It took fifteen different surgeries just to get his body back to normal. At least for one of his kind. He owed everything he had to the Republic, and he would give his life to uphold it… even if that went against his old comrades.
USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D
Councilor Troi exited a turbolift and headed to ten-forward, she was still pondering her experience aboard the Endurance. There was a sense of loss aboard the ship, something happened recently… the ship lost someone. She felt the exact same amount of loss when Tasha died aboard the Enterprise. Then it came to her, Soren wasn't even the tactical officer at all, he was a temporary replacement for Tasha which would explain the anxiety to leave the position of tactical officer she felt from him.
Troi entered ten-forward, she saw the Endurance only a few kilometers from the Enterprise, traveling at warp speed. They were only a few light years away from their destination. Sighing, the councilor walked over to the bar, only to be greeted by none other than Guinan.
"Is there something I can get you?" Asked Guinan.
"Yes, I would like a chocolate sundae." Replied the Councilor.
Guinan nodded, and headed to the replicator, only to comeback with two chocolate sundaes, apparently one for her as well.
Guinan took a bite from her sundae, and asked "So, are you going to tell me what's on your mind?"
"It's this tactical officer on the Endurance, Soren, he seems to have this... aura of guilt, pain and loss. It is like something happened to him during his early childhood, and this Republic saved him from it"
"Could be abusive parents, Dianna." Guinan suggested.
RSS Endurance RSRN-1702-D
Soren couldn't sleep. And he decided he wasn't going to sit here wasting time staring at the ceiling. He opened his closet, and found his armor. He took the helmet off, and pressed a few buttons on the armors wrist to open the armor. He then stepped in, and the armor sealed shut. He put on his helmet and immediately his HUD appeared. It informed him that he didn't have another duty shift scheduled, due to his last one being the last one on this ship. It also informed him that they wouldn't be arriving for another six hours. He dismissed the notifications with his thought and exited the room, on the way to the holodeck.
As Soren walked down the hallway, he saw two officers kissing, one in combat armor, another in fatigues both male. Just before Soren walked by, he scanned the officer in combat armor's transponder. He looked up his file and said. "Sub-lieutenant, aren't you on duty?"
"Y-yes sir, I was just on my way to engineering" the armor clad officer replied nervously.
"Make it so, be sure that you do not get… distracted again" Soren finished as he walked away.
He approached the holodeck doors, he briefly glanced at the control panel to see if it was in use. It was not. Soren walked up to the doors, with them opening he found himself in the empty grid.
"Computer, activate tactical scenario delta-two-one" ordered Soren.
Immediately the holodeck changed to a jungle setting. The holographic sun was intense, someone without some form of sun protection could would get burned within minutes of exposure.
"Computer, spawn a PR-25 rifle."
At that moment, a PR-25 appeared on the ground. The PR-25 is classified as a type III phaser.
Soren grabbed the rifle, and moved through the jungle. He activated his interphase cloak which allowed him to not only be completely invisible, but to be able to phase through normal matter. The ultimate cloaking device. Its downside is that it took great amounts of energy to cloak, and is not sustainable for long periods while moving. Normally he would have just activated his active camouflage, which takes significantly less power. But could be spotted with a keen eye.
Soren remembered the purpose of this scenario. Free the enslaved miners inside the enemy base, ensure they escape unharmed.
Soren reached a clearing, only to find a base stylized as a castle. It was heavily guarded by a battalion of Breen. This is going to be interesting Soren thought. Soren moved to the castle wall. He had his back to the wall, ready to phase through when a warning appeared saying that auxiliary power was failing. Grudgingly he switched to active camouflage, to allow his armor's power cells to recharge. He saw a lone Breen soldier veer from his post, away from the castle, most likely to go on patrol.
Now is my chance Soren thought.
Soren followed him into the jungle. Once they were out of sight Soren de-cloaked and put his wrist mounted energy sword through his back. The Breen dropped his weapon. Soren then used his holographic disguise cloak to take the form of the fallen Breen. As a Breen, Soren turned heel and walked through the Breen's defenses, without them even batting an eye to him. Soren then took the turbolift to the mines. When he arrived, a Breen asked in their electronic tongue "Identification please"
"Sure" Soren replied, in the Breen language.
At that moment, time seemed to slow down the drops of water leaking from the mine's roof slowed down about 3 times. He undisguised, drew his energy blade and jabbed it right through the Breen's torso. Before the guards could react, he drew his rifle and set it to level 12 wide beam, and eliminated them all in one swift strike.
"GO!" He yelled at the miners.
The miners scrambled on to the Turbolift, and after all the miners got on he got in front of them and pressed the button to ascend. Soren slowed time again when the doors opened. He shot five Breen in half a second. He ran out, and dropped the guards stationed on the castle wall before they could even comprehend there was a breach.
The miners began to run through the courtyard, heading for the exit with Soren covering them. Some of the guards resorted to shooting the prisoners, but Soren took them out first.
As the last miner escaped the simulation froze, the computer then spoke.
"Mission Successful. Time: 1 Minute and 45 Seconds"
Definitely not breaking any records today… thought Soren.
"Again" Soren said.