Disclaimer: None of us own Star Trek. None of us own Star Trek Online, though we all have Accounts there, and Takeshi Yamato and Ron the True Fan have Lifetime Subscriptions. We only own our OCs and OC-Specific Plotlines. Anything else you may recognize is the property of its respective owner.
Chapter 12: Of Gods and Demons
2410 AD - Earth Spacedock
"Computer, locate Captain Takeo." T'Sani said as she stood in the hallway of the Starbase.
"Please Specify." The computer said, and T'Sani rolled her eyes.
"Captain Jaden Takeo," she said, "Seriously, too many Takeo's around..."
"Captain Jaden Takeo is in Holodeck 2." The computer responded, causing T'Sani to blink.
"Thanks..." T'Sani said as she headed down the hall.
"Hey T'Sani!" A voice called out, as she turned and saw Takeshi, Linda, and Jessica approach her. "What's up? You seen Jaden around?"
"I was just looking for him," T'Sani said. "He and Hikari just up and left… and then I heard Mirror Jaden did the same, and so Riza went missing too from Ptolemaeus… the computer says they're in the holodeck..."
"The Holodeck?" Jessica asked. "Why would they be there?"
T'Sani shrugged. "Don't ask me," she said. "Come on, hopefully he doesn't move..."
The three just shrugged, as they followed T'Sani and a few minutes later they arrived at the door to Holodeck 2. T'Sani was about to open the door… before there was the sound of explosions inside.
"What the hell's going on in there…?" Jessica asked, before T'Sani finally opened the door…
BGM: "Dragon Force - Fairy Tail OST"
…and inside was a total chaotic battleground, as giant robots duked it out with one another, men with swords jumped around, and women casted spells on one another, all the while rather epic music was playing.
"What… the… fuck/frak…?" the group said simultaneously.
"Is that music playing?" Theo asked over Jessica's commbadge. "What the hell is going on?"
Before anyone could say anything, suddenly a building exploded and none other than Jaden came charging out of it- not wearing a Starfleet uniform, but rather wearing a type of samurai-like power armor, shouting out a battle cry as he cleaved a 15 meter tall robot in half. "TAKE THAT!" He shouted, before he ran up a wall, while blocking bullets with his sword.
Suddenly appearing from the other side appeared Hikari, only she was wearing some type or ninja-like armor, wielding a pair of short swords as she jumped in the air "HEY! YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THAT COST?!" she shouted, as she and Jaden crossed swords, as bolts of electricity seemed to spark between them.
"What the actual fuck is going on here?" Linda muttered.
"Ah… apparently Hikari and Jaden use the Holodeck to host battle royales against one another," a voice said, as Mirror Jaden appeared from some rubble - wielding a Gatling gun on his back. "They talked me and Riza into participating..."
"Riza?" Linda, asked, as Mirror Jaden pointed upward where Riza Pinkerton was fighting what looked like Demons with her molecularly sharpened scythe - and having a good time doing it.
"Geez! What kind of battles are going on here?" Jessica asked.
"Everything you could put your mind to," Mirror Jaden said. "Mecha Battles, magic battles, sword battles, they even put in some RTS elements into the simulation here… pretty much any kind of fight you can imagine, they made the Holodeck able to let you replicate and take part in it."
"I know that much," Jessica said. "But… this is a bit over the top!" She swept an arm around at the chaos.
"That's why its awesome!" Jaden shouted as he flew past with a Jetpack. "Feel free to join in!"
"JADEN!"
"Oh, gotta run!"
"GET BACK HERE!" Hikari shouted, using magic to sprout wings and fly after him.
"Wow…" Takeshi remarked as he watched the action. "This is… certainly impressive…"
"I'll say," Riza said as she landed next to Mirror Jaden, a wide grin on her face. "Jaden and Hikari said they custom made this program themselves."
"Why they didn't become game programmers is beyond me," Mirror Jaden said with a chuckle. "Certainly could use new high-end games… after the 21st century both here and in my universe Games just started getting repetitive and worse."
"How worse?" asked Linda, though a little fearful of what he might say.
"Call of Battlefield Honor XII: Starfront." Mirror Jaden said with a groan."That was the worst game ever… of all time… it just ripped off every FPS you could think of… and your version isn't any better than ours."
The others cringed at that.
"I hate to see your version." T'Sani said.
"Imagine yours, only with a shitton of imperialist propaganda." Mirror Jaden said, as he hefted his Gatling Gun. "Now, if you excuse me, I've got a battle to win!" He grinned as he let loose a volley of lasers into a Supermutant. "FOR THE BROTHERHOOD!" And he just marched on forward, gunning down anything that poked its head out of cover.
The group felt like sweat dropping at the scene.
"Why do I get the feeling they're gonna be doing this every time after a mission...?" asked Linda, before the klaxons got their attention.
San Francisco Shipyards - Dock 16 - USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B
"Now what?" Ron muttered as he checked the science station for whatever was causing the alarm. Due to his experience in commanding an Excelsior-Class ship, Ron and Sonja had been put in de facto command of the Enterprise-B's refit. Of course, both of them knew who was REALLY in charge.
"What in the name of hell is going on up here?!" A scottish voice said, as Montgomery Scott marched onto the bridge of the Enterprise. "Ron?"
"Scotty, I'm fucking clueless." Ron said, as the console showed a new contact: a Federation starship, unknown classification. "You STILL haven't replaced the computer cores?"
"I might be a miracle worker, lad, but even miracles need time!" Scotty shot back.
Ron pulled out his communicator with a sigh. "Pinkerton to Yorktown: are you reading that new contact?"
"Yorktown here, we've got it." Jaden said, having beamed back to Yorktown the moment the alarms went off. "One sec… alright, its Ambassador-class, ID'd a… USS Independence… wait… records show she's been missing since 2373!"
"Great, MORE time travel." Ron shouted. "DTI is going to be yelling at me AGAIN for this, I just KNOW it. Scotty, keep working over here: I'm beaming back to the Ptolemaeus."
"Aye, lad. Do what you need to do."
USS Independence - Bridge
"Status report!" said a young man wearing a Starfleet Uniform, with the shoulders of his uniform colored bluish-grey, while a red turtleneck shirt showing he was a Tactical Officer, with the rank of Lieutenant Commander.
"One moment sir," said a female voice, as a Bajoran woman with Brown hair secured in a bun checked the computer for any damage to the ship.
"No lasting damage," she said. "We should be able to limp back to a starbase for repairs."
"I… don't think we'll need to do much limping," The The Science Officer, a female Trill said, pointing forward. "There's Earth right there."
"It appears that nutjob immortal did us a favor for once," said an Male Andoran, while the Tactical officer nodded.
"Yeah," he agreed before turning to the Bajoran, "Verys, contact Starfleet Command, tell them we need immediate assistance..." he said, before frowning, "...And could someone PLEASE make sure he's still not on board!"
"Commander, I don't think we would KNOW that he was still aboard." The Trill said, before the tactical console sent out a brief tone, indicating they were being hailed. "Commander, we're being hailed by a starship: Constitution-Class, name, USS Yorktown." However she then blinked "This is odd. the registry is NCC-90417. We don't have any ships with that high a registry."
The Commander blinked in surprise "What?" He asked. "But that's… put them on."
A few moments later, the image of a connie bridge appeared before them, and the Commander saw who appeared to be the Captain - a young man in his early twenties in a red Starfleet uniform. "This is Captain Jaden Takeo, of the USS Yorktown to the vessel USS Independence," he said. "Are you receiving us?"
The Tactical then nodded at the Bajoran, who after a few moments nodded.
"This is Lieutenant Commander Joseph Cobb, Tactical Officer of the USS Independence, to Captain Takeo," said Joseph, as he introduced himself. "We suffered some damage in four decks, including engineering, and we need some assistance."
Jaden nodded. "Well, you certainly came to the right place," he said. "However… we will need to confirm the identity of your vessel."
Joseph blinked in confusion. "And why must you confirm our vessel's ID?" he asked. "It's written on our hull, and on our IFF."
Jaden sighed a bit. "Commander..." he said, "I… hate to be the bearer of bad news but… your ship has been missing for nearly 40 years… it's 2410 AD."
It was quiet for a moment until Joseph spoke again.
"E-Excuse me? Did you just say FORTY YEARS!?" he yelled the last part before placing his head in his hands and let out a groan, the other members of the bridge crew all had shocked looks on their faces at the revelation. "If I ever find a way to kill that son of a bitch, I will gladly do it!"
"You can elaborate on that in a bit, Commander…" Jaden said. "You're clear to park at Dock 18. Once you do, beam over to the USS Ptolemaeus… I think we've got a lot to talk about."
Joseph lifted his head up and gave a tired sigh.
"Copy that. Helm, do what he says, let's get big Indie home," he said, and the Human at the helm station nodded as the Ambassador-class Heavy Cruiser went toward the said dock.
"I can't believe this... we've been trapped in that dimensional pocket for FIVE months, and when we finally get out we end up FORTY YEARS in the future!?" said the Andoran, who had a look of distress on his face.
"This… this can't be happening..." The Trill said, shaking her head. "This can't be happening!"
Joseph gripped the arms of the command chair hard. He had only knew one person to blame for this.
"Aw, I hope you are not blaming me, Commander Cobb." said an annoying voice, that the Lieutenant just wished he would never hear again.
A flash of light signalled the arrival of Starfleet's biggest pest, wearing the standard uniform of the 2360s-era Starfleet. "Now, now, Cobby boy, I try to help you and THIS is the thanks I get? I feel unloved."
"Help us? HELP US!?" Joseph asked in outrage. "You trapped us in that damn pocket of yours for FIVE MONTHS! FIVE MONTHS! And when you finally let us out of that little trap of yours, you dumped us FORTY YEARS in the future! What the fuck, you dumbass immortal!"
"Watch your tone, boy. At least I didn't send you centuries into the future." Q shot back. "One of the people you're going to meet didn't have that luck: he's got nothing left. At least your families are still alive. A bit older, but alive. Four decades is not even a twitch of the cosmic eyelid. Show some gratitude."
Joseph gritted his teeth at that. "How in the hell Picard and the Enterprise didn't go insane because of your little pranks is beyond me!" he growled out.
"Oh, Jean-Luc LOVED my little diversions!" Q said. "Though I think I went a BIT too far with that temporal anomaly a while back. Oh, well, I'll be back. See you soon." Q snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash.
Joseph's left eye began to twitch violently as soon as Q left.
"I hate him… I really do."
The rest of the bridge crew nodded, showing that they were in full agreement.
USS Ptolemaeus - transporter room
Ron stood in the transporter room, a more sour than usual look on his face. He KNEW DTI would be knocking on his door for this. Other than Kirk, Ron had the biggest (and the most classified) file on their records, not including the incident that sent him to the 25th Century in the first place. 'I HATE the Department of Temporal Investigations.' He thought before he sighed. "Energize."
The transporter chief engaged the device, beaming the members of the Independence party on board. Appearing in short beams of light appeared Commander Cobb, along with an Andorian, and a Bajoran female appeared.
"Commander, welcome aboard the Ptolemaeus," Ron said. "I'm Admiral Pinkerton. I'm going to make one thing clear: you have RUINED what is left of my day."
Joseph blinked, as did his two crewmembers. "I'm… sorry… sir?" he said.
"Sorry isn't going to cut it when I'm the one who gets a visit from DTI for the second time in FIVE MONTHS!" he shouted. "Make your way to the bridge: I'll be joining you in a few minutes while I update my shitlist."
When the Admiral turned around and left, Verys stood next to Joseph who was still shocked at Ron's outburst.
"What was his problem?" the Bajoran asked, while Joseph shrugged, confusion still on his face.
"I have no idea..." he said before a scowl formed, "...but I blame Q for this."
Verys nodded, until the Andorian spoke up, "Didn't you notice his uniform Commander?"
"Yeah." He said. "It was one of the older ones: 2279 to 2250, I think."
"Yeah, you're not the first people to time travel in the past few months," A voice said, as appearing from the door was Jaden Takeo. "Captain Takeo, of the Yorktown."
Joseph and his group gave a salute, "Sir! Lieutenant Commander Cobb, de-facto Captain of the Independance."
Jaden rolled his eyes. "Lower the salutes," he said. "I'm a Captain, not the goddamn President."
The others lowered, as Jaden caught up to the de-facto part of the Lieutenant Commander's posting. "You said acting Captain," he said. "What happened to the original Captain of the Independence?"
The three crewmembers of the Independance were unsure how to answer that.
"He, uhh… how should I put it? He… had a nervous breakdown, along with the First Officer, so, that put me in charge." he said honestly, as Jaden blinked.
He then groaned "I'm not even gonna ask..." he muttered, "Come on, we gotta get to the bridge, won't take Ron too long to get there, and lord knows he's been having some VERY bad days these last few weeks."
A grimace appeared on Joseph's face on that. "So I noticed... I bet it's not as bad being stuck in a Dimensional Pocket for FORTY YEARS for the Galaxy at large, let alone five months for us." he said, as the Federation officers continued on to the bridge.
USS Ptolemaeus - bridge
Ron sat in his chair, trying not to crush the armrests. 'When I am done with this shit, I am visiting a Noh play.' He thought. 'I deserve to treat myself after all the fucking BULLSHIT I've gone through since I got here!' No less than four visits from his mirror counterpart, an attempted abduction, being used in a Terran powerplay AND having to deal with someone from the Mirror Universe on a daily basis: not good for someone like Ron, who took pride in his job. 'I hate losing more than Kirk does.'
The doors to the bridge opened, as Jaden and the crewmen of the Independence stepped in. "Ron," Jaden said with a nod.
"Jaden." Ron said with a short nod as well. "As the good commander here doesn't have much of an idea as to what the fuck is going on now, I'll give it to him in a nutshell." The admiral spun the chair around to face Joseph. "The Khitomer Accords broke down 11 years ago and we're at war with the Klingons, an evil version of our universe tried to take ours over a little while back, ancient Gorn attacked Alcyone 5 months ago and the Borg are pissed off at us. Anything else, you're going to have to ask Jaden or Captain Yamato."
Joseph blinked at that statement, before he glanced at Jaden. "Uhh… a bit of help please?" He asked, and Jaden chuckled.
"Well, the Klingon War bit is pretty self-explanatory," he said. "However now an ancient gorn empire - descendants of the Gorn Empire from thousands of years ago - attacked Alcyone and are slowly advancing through our space and Klingon Space, liberating worlds that must have once been controlled by the Gorn, and freeing Gorn Hegemony Space that was assimilated into the Klingon Empire. However now we've also got an alternate mirror universe attacking us, lead by a 'Terran Empire' which is like an evil version of the Federation."
Joseph and his crewmen all blinked in surprise. "Wow..." The Andorian said. "That's… a lot..."
"Indeed," Jaden said, "But… exactly how did you end up here?"
"That would be MY doing!" A voice said, before A flash of light signalled the arrival of someone most Starfleet personnel were familiar with at this point. Ron and the Ptolemaeus crew being an exception. "And who the hell are you?" Ron demanded.
"Why, my-" He began to say before he looked at Ron. "That's an older uniform. I thought you Starfleet types liked wearing the same thing."
"This is the regular uniform from MY century." Ron growled. "Until I'm told otherwise, I'll stick to 23rd Century Starfleet uniform regulations."
"Whatever floats your boat."
"Q!" Joseph snarled, and Jaden's eyes widened, before they narrowed as he glared at Q.
"I told you I'd be back-" Q began to say, before Jaden moved in front of him, and proceeded to kick him in the nadds. "OHF!" He shouted as he fell to the ground, "What was that -" he couldn't continue as Jaden then proceeded to beat him into a pulp.
"This is for the Acadia System you ASSHOLE!" Jaden shouted, as he kicked him one last time in the nads. "And everyone else you got assimilated!"
"Jaden, what-" Ron began to ask.
"This is Q," Jaden growled out, pointing at the figure "He's from a self-proclaimed Omnipotent race called the Q. This guy's been the bane of the Federation for years, he's the very reason the Borg discovered the Federation in the Alpha Quadrant to begin with!"
"Oh, so I have him to thank for losing the Exeter?"
"Yup."
"Get the fuck out of my way." Ron said as he pulled out his four foot long Romanian scimitar. "Even if I can't kill him, I'm going to make him WISH he could die."
Jaden grinned as he stepped aside. "He's all yours," he said, glancing at Q. "Payback time."
Q, clutching his crotch, looked at the angry Admiral with the monomolecular kilij in his right hand. "Uh… Mercy?"
"Why does everyone say 'thank you' to me in French when I'm about to do something horrible to them? Well, anyone for death via a thousand cuts? Rhetorical question!" Ron stabbed Q's left arm, carving off the skin without causing much actual damage.
"Well, this is a first. Oniisama's never had the chance to hurt a semi-omnipotent being before."
"I wanted to kill the bastard myself," growled Joseph, "He's actually the one who caused the Captain and the XO to go nuts! The former into a blubbering mess, and the latter so hostile, he thought everyone one of the crew was Q. We had no choice but to knock him out, tie him up, and throw into the brig."
Ron pulled the absurdly sharp weapon out of Q's liver (or the equivalent) before flipping it over so he held it by the flat of the blade, hilt first, before offering it to Joseph. "Have fun. Bad news, though: you can't kill him. Organians, Metrons, those aliens in that wormhole near Bajor: we can't kill them with conventional weapons. We can hurt them, though."
Joseph smirked a bit as he accepted the weapon.
"That will give me some closure," he said, and stomped over towards Q.
"Hey! What a minute Cobby! I made you the captain of the Independance, remember!?" begged the omnipotent being, while Joseph just glared.
"Not the way I wanted!" he retorted. "I worked my ass off to be the Tactical Officer of a ship, and I intended to keep it that way, until you played that damn prank of yours! Consider this as payback for what you put us through!" And then he stabbed him again.
Q screamed in agony before a woman's voice was heard.
"That's enough, boys." Another flash signaled the arrival of another Q, this one being a woman. "Q, the Continuum's warned you about pulling those kind of things with humans. They might be… lower on the intelligence scale than most species, but they are VERY inventive. They might find a way to kill us if you keep this up."
"I assume you are also Q?" Ron asked.
"You assume correctly…" She checked Ron's rank pin, "Commodore? I'm sorry: I don't pay attention to mortal ranks."
"Admiral."
She shrugged, not really caring.
"While Q has pulled worse in the past, this is still bad enough to get him in trouble with the Continuum." She said. "He's lucky I'm bothering to pull him out of this."
"Oh come on, I was having a little fun!" griped Q, while the female Q gave him a scolding look.
"By trapping an entire crew in a Dimensional Pocket for over FORTY years, and driving it's captain and Second-in-command crazy?" she retorted.
"Enough, both of you." Ron growled. "If you're going to get into a fight, please, take it off my ship. I have ENOUGH shit to deal with without two demigods inching toward a fight that will probably DESTROY MY SHIP. So, would you KINDLY take this back to wherever you came from?"
The female Q huffed in amusement. "I like you." She said with a smirk. "You know what we can do and you're not afraid."
"I'm too annoyed to care." Ron said, as he pointed in one direction. "Please. LEAVE." The female Q snapped her fingers and both of the Qs disappeared.
Jaden sighed in relief, smirking as he cracked his knuckles. "That felt… surprisingly good…" he said.
"I'll be in Japan watching a Noh play if you need me," Ron said. "Commander, you have something that belongs to me, and I would like it back."
Joseph nodded as he handed the absurdly sharp weapon back to its owner. "Thanks," he said.
Ron slipped the weapon back into its' specially made sheath. "Sonja, take over on the Enterprise-B." Ron said. "I'm heading down to Earth."
"I'll warn Command you're not to be contacted." She responded, as Ron entered the turbolift and left the bridge. However as he did that, Jaden's eyes narrowed slightly, as he hummed in thought, glancing at Ron, then at Sonja.
"Hey Sonja," he said, catching the engineer's attention. "Your from the Mirror universe, right?"
"Yeah, what of it?" She asked.
"If that's true… exactly how did you and Ron get along?" he asked. "He can barely tolerate being around my mirror counterpart despite the fact he's been more than friendly and helpful, yet he's perfectly fine with being around you."
"It took him over a year to get used to me, and I was actually forced on him by a certain organization," Sonja said with a shrug. "Besides, unlike your counterpart, I was less inclined to blow things up using illegal equipment."
"Point," Jaden said. "I'm trying to get Ron more warmed up to Mirror Jaden - they make better allies than enemies afteral. Maybe have them spend some time together outside combat or something."
"He's probably going to Itsukushima Shrine to watch that play: whenever we have more than two weeks of time at Earth, he ALWAYS goes there to watch the performances." Sonja said, "Calms him down somehow. And he's less inclined to start something when he's actually calm."
"Hmm… me and Mirror Jaden might head down there then," he said. "Best chance we've got afterall…"
Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan - Itsukushima Shrine
Ron waited for the boatman to steer the boat he was in through the torii gate. It was tradition, after all. 'Keep calm: yelling at the shrine is NOT ALLOWED.' He thought. 'You came here for a play to clean thyself of your troubles.' Ron had been doing this for years, always coming back to the sacred shine to watch the performances. It was like a confession, only without the priest.
The boat came to a stop, allowing Ron and the others to disembark into one of the 'floating' shines. "Excuse me?" He asked one of the attendees of the shrine looked at Ron, noticing the Starfleet uniform he wore.
"Is there a problem, sir?"
"None: I just wish to know when the plays begin." He said.
"Oh, they begin in half an hour." The woman said with a small smile. "Your Japanese is very good, almost as though you're not using a universal translator."
Ron sighed. 'Why does EVERYONE think that?' He thought before he spoke. "I'm NOT using a universal translator. I was born in Japan."
She blushed when he said that. "My apologies!"
"Not your fault." Ron said, "Everyone makes that mistake."
"Well, at first glance you don't necessarily look Japanese, Ron," A voice said, as Ron turned around in surprise, and saw both Jaden and Mirror Jaden stepping off the boat behind them.
"Oh, wonderful. One of the people I came here to AVOID." Ron growled. "And here I was, planning on NOT making a scene today." Knowing him, that was EXACTLY what was going to happen.
"Then why don't we try not to make a scene, Ron," Mirror Jaden said. "Here, we're not fighting anyone… we both came here to relax, and given the last few months, we all need this."
Ron wasn't happy about it, but shooting Mirror Jaden was very much out of the question: no one gets born or dies anywhere near the shrine. "Alright, but don't piss off the shrine tendees," he said. "The LAST time I did that, I was thrown into the water. NAKED."
"Noted," Jaden said. "We know the rules - My own parents took me to a few of these when I was younger - and so have his since they had something similar."
Ron nodded stiffly as the group entered the shrine.
"So, how're our friends from the Independence?" the Admiral asked.
"They're getting use to being in the future," Jaden said, "Thankfully a lot of their families are still alive. As for their ship, Starfleet's working on repairing its damage, and fitting it up with modern tech where it needs it."
"Considering the difference between the Independance and the Ptolemaeus, I suspect that the retrofit is only going to take a few days rather than weeks." The Independence was a ship from the 2370s, and the difference between a ship from that era and a ship from 2410 was minor power generation in comparison and a few add-ons to the shields that didn't exist back then.
"I actually came down here to avoid work." He said, "This is one of my few guilty pleasures."
"I know what you mean," Mirror Jaden said. "We all got something to get away from work… "
"At least I can keep myself entertained easily with a simple book. Kids and your holodecks. We didn't have any of that back in the 23rd Century. We had 3D chess and our crewmates to talk to."
"We still do," Jaden said. "If we kept using the holodeck for everything, it would get repetitive and boring. It's nice to just sit down and read every now and then, or play a board game or something."
"At least something stayed the same." Ron said. "Now, the play should be starting soon." He led the pair through the shine, taking them to the millennia old theater. "I hope you actually enjoy this, otherwise, you'll have come here for nothing."
"You don't seem to like people from my universe very much." Mirror Jaden commented.
"I don't hate you for where you come from," He said. "I hate you for what you represent."
Mirror Jaden rose an eyebrow. "And what do I represent to you, Ron?" He asked.
"My darker side. You've seen how my counterpart acts," he said, and Mirror Jaden sighed, nodding.
"Yeah… I have." Mirror Jaden said. "He's a bloody monster… dedicated his life to the Terran Empire like how you dedicated yours to the Federation…" He then glanced at him. "You do realize that, even if he looks the same and has the same name as you, you're not him?"
"That's the point - he is me," Ron growled lowly, making sure his voice didn't rise. "We have the same blood, same name, same DNA - the only difference is how we were raised. I know that if our positions were reversed, I'd be just like him."
"But you're not," Mirror Jaden said. "You aren't a psycho who fights for the conquest and glory for an empire - you fight for the Federation, for Starfleet. You can say what you want, about him being your 'Darker Half', but he still isn't you - you are you, and he is who he became. "
"You would think that. You would think that." Ron sighed. The truth was that he feared that universe. If he didn't stick to the Federation's rules and regulations, or else he would become the evil fucker he was on the other side. "Did Riza ever tell you how she joined the Exeter's crew?"
"Yes," Mirror Jaden said, nodding. "She was a Romulan Clone of you to defeat you - but when she beamed over to kill you, she didn't fight and you let her join. And yes, I also know what your Mirror Counterpart had done to his version of Riza."
"Did she tell you how close I was to pulling what he did?" At their silence, Ron continued. "I'll take that as a no."
"No…" Mirror Jaden said. "But the fact of the matter is that you didn't."
"Only because I followed Starfleet's rules and regulations to the letter." Ron said. "My counterpart, on the other hand, did the same, but since the Imperial Starfleet's regs are more vague…"
"I know…" Mirror Jaden said, with slightly narrowed eyes. "Believe me, I know… "
"Now you know why I don't like you," Ron said. "Every time I look at you, I see him. Every time I see that, the more self-loathing I have for myself. And there's nothing anyone can do to change that." Ron's communicator, set to vibrate, went off. "Fuck." Ron pulled the device out. "What is it?"
"Admiral, sorry to disturb you, but Starfleet Command wants to know if our task force can make its way to the Jouret system."
"Why?"
"Admiral Tuvok is holding a conference in the Delta Quadrant. He wants extra security and we seem to be the best."
"Aren't we suppose to be on shore leave?" Jaden groaned slightly. "We're good, yes, but even we need a break after all the crap we've been through these last few weeks. Can't they go one week without us?"
"Clearly not." Ron muttered. "Tell the Admiral we are currently unavailable, as our ships and crews require triple-R."
"Aye, sir. Ptolemaeus out." Ron closed the communicator and put it back on his belt.
"What about Sonja?" Mirror Jaden asked, causing Ron to blink and glance at him. "She is from the Mirror Universe… yet you both get along great."
"Sonja and I actually didn't get along so well at first." He said. "It took 10 months and Section 31 forcing her on me for me to actually get used to her and get to actually know her. Besides, I might not like you for what you represent, but I DO like you for WHO you are. Why the fuck do you think I keep running interference for you?"
Mirror Jaden chuckled a bit. "True… and I am grateful for it." He said,
"Also, I've noticed how you've been looking at my sister." Ron gave him a glare that sent chills down his spine. "If you touch her in any way without her permission..." The glare turned demonic. "I will skin you alive and LEAVE you alive to suffer for it."
"I-I got it!" Mirror Jaden said hurriedly, "I-I'd never do that!"
Jaden just chuckled a bit, shaking his head "Ah, I remember when Matt was super-protective of Amy..." he said nostalgically, "The things he'd say to anyone who so much as gave her a passing glance… glad I ain't in a relationship."
"Oh? So you haven't been sending looks towards T'Sani?" Mirror Jaden shot back with a smirk, "In fact, you also seem to be… rather close to Hikari, now aren't you?"
Jaden blushed several shades of red "I-I have no idea what you're talking about..." he said. "We're just friends!"
"Keep it down: the play's about to start, and I'd rather not be kicked out of the shrine." Ron sat down, and gestured the two 'brothers' to follow his example.
USS Independence
As Ron predicted, the Independence's refit was going much swifter than the Enterprise-B's, and because of this, they were about to get an early warning.
"Uh, Commander? Sensors are picking up something entering the solar system." The engineer checked the console for what exactly it was. "Correction: a LOT of somethings."
Commander Gerald Maddox marched over to the science station, looking over the data. "What is it?" He asked.
"At least 100 contacts," The engineer said, "but the computer's not identifying them."
Maddox pressed several buttons on the control panel, running an active scan of one of the contacts. The signature of whatever it was was definitely travelling at warp speed, but it had an organic hull. 'The Breen use organic technology, but not to that sc-' He thought, before Maddox's eyes widened. 'Oh, SHIT.' Those weren't Breen. They were Undine. "Get me Earth Spacedock and get everyone back to their ships!" He shouted. "We've got an inbound Undine fleet!"
Itsukushima Shrine
Ron's communicator vibrated again. 'In the MIDDLE of a play.' Ron stood up, apologizing to the other theatergoers as he left the shrine. "Sonja, this had better be important!"
"Big ass Undine fleet important enough?"
Ron blinked. "...Fuck."
"Yeah, I thought you'd say that."
Earth Orbit
There weren't too many Federation ships in the area - most had been responding to Undine Incursions elsewhere in the system. They were outnumbered a fair bit by the Undine ships.
That said, they were definitely putting up a fight, with the Raging Tempest currently leading the charge.
Takeshi snap-rolled to avoid a blast from a Nicor-Class Bioship, then pulled the trigger on his Manual Steering Column, unleashing a barrage of Phaser Cannon fire that ripped through the Nicor's shields, then a press of the secondary trigger launched off a volley of Quantum Torpedoes that tore through its carapace.
"One down, several dozen to go," Kim remarked from Sensors.
"We can't let the Undine have their way here!" Takeshi replied. "What's the status on the rest of our forces?"
"The Ptolemaeus is stuck inside spacedock: engine trouble and the space doors are jammed shut!" Rina reported. "The Yorktown is trying to regroup with the Yamatashi, but the Undine are keeping them cut off, and the Escalvastine is being surrounded."
"Kim, we closer to the Yorktown and Yamatashi, or the Escalvantine?" Takeshi asked.
"The Yorktown is closest, but there's a LOT of Undine ships between us and them."
"Maybe we can level the playing field a little." The Alliance came alongside the Raging Tempest, her refit long since complete.
"Thanks for the assist, Alliance," Takeshi replied.
Before anything else could be said, another message came over the comms. "Wolfram to all ships," Nanoha's voice said. "We are deploying the Susanoo to thin out the enemy ranks a bit. All ships stay out of our line of fire. Repeat: We are deploying the Susanoo - stay out of our line of fire."
"Susanoo?" Ishmael asked.
"Some sort of prototype weapon R&D cooked up," Takeshi remarked, even as data sent from the Wolfram appeared on the viewscreen, showing him where not to be. "It's all top secret, but there are rumors that it could potentially take out a Borg Tactical Cube in a single blast."
Before anything more could be said, a beam of energy erupted from the Wolfram, appearing bluish-white on the edges and bright red in the core, tearing through a massive swath of the Undine Fleet - ships that were in the center of the beam's path were utterly vaporized, and even glancing blows caused tremendous damage.
"Son of a bitch!"
"We're going to need to recharge the cannon to fire another shot. The problem is-" A large number of Undine ships converged on the three ships, all VERY pissed off. "Yeah, THAT."
"Good evening, retards!" A torpedo volley hit most of the Undine ships, followed by an Excelsior-Class ship flying past. "You interrupted my play, assholes! NOW you're going to pay for that!"
"Looks like Ron decided to commandeer the Enterprise-B for this fight," Takeshi remarked.
The fifth Excelsior-Class ship wasn't being flown by Riza, as the ship wasn't doing what Takeshi knew she was capable of making it do, but it was flying in a similar way. "Raging Tempest to Enterprise."
"Jaden here! Ron's kinda busy at the moment!"
Takeshi blinked. "Wait… Ron's flying that thing?" he asked, a bit shocked that Ron was capable of taking the helm. He supposed it wasn't unlikely, given Riza was a clone, but it was still rather surprising.
"Yeah, he's flying the Enterprise! I was kinda surprised when he took the helm, but it works!"
"All ships, this is Admiral Quinn! Hold the line and keep the Undine from Earth Space-" The transmission ended in static.
"Well, that didn't sound good," Mirror Jaden said, as the Vengeance moved alongside the Enterprise.
"No Shit," Prime Jaden said, "How the hell did the Undine sneak up on us like this?"
A grunt was heard before Ron's voice finally came on. "Because the defense grid is down! None of the satellites in the outer edge of the system are actively targeting any of the Undine ships that are still incoming!" The Sol defense grid was one of the deadliest defense networks the Federation had. The Klingons had to capture a ship and torture its' captain just so they could hit Utopia Planitia without being detected, and even then, it cost them dearly.
At that point, five ships warped in: Voyager, the Enterprise-F, the IKS Bortasqu', the Tulwar-Class Warbird RRW Lleiset, and a D'deridex-Class warbird, IDed as RRW Khyber.
"This is Admiral Tuvok of Voyager," Tuvok said over the comms. "What is your status?"
"Rather shitty, Voyager," Ron replied. "The defense grid is down and the Undine are pounding ESD!"
A familiar voice chuckled over the comm. "Maybe I can help, Admiral." They knew that voice: Saren, the Romulan that was kidnapped by the Solanae.
"Any help at all is welcomed, Khyber," Takeshi replied. A map appeared over the viewscreen. "From what I can see, the main points getting hit are Luna, the orbital facilities on the far side of the planet, and ESD itself. And we've got more contacts warping in - we'll need to split up to cover everything."
"Enterprise-F will take care of the Lunar colonies," Shon informed.
A female Klingon's voice joined in, sounding angry. "Fine. Jarok and I will handle the Undine on the other side of the planet."
"Then the rest of us will push to ESD," Ron said. "Come on, lets go!"
"We're right behind you, Enterprise-B," Mirror Jaden said, as the Vengeance followed the Enterprise-B to defend the spacedocks.
"Agreed," Takeshi remarked. "IKU ZE!"
The five ships pushed towards the station, Voyager's two forward torpedo launchers spitting out three torpedo volleys at as many Undine ships as possible while the Vengeance and Raging Tempest fired their disruptor and phaser cannons at the bioships. "Damn it, our weapons aren't having that much effect!"
"Idiots. Stop thinking of these things as ships and stop thinking like tactical officers..." The Enterprise-B's forward phaser bank fired a narrow beam at a Nicor, literally cutting the ship in half. "And start thinking of them as living beings and START THINKING LIKE FUCKING DOCTORS! SERIOUSLY, DID ANY OF YOU GO THROUGH THE MEDICAL TRAINING COURSES AT THE ACADEMY?!"
"Basic training, but that's it!" Takeshi replied. "Basic Med Training is about the only required course if you're not on a Medical Track!"
A strangled scream was the response to that. By the end of the day, they were sure two things were going to happen: one, they would have a new strategy to use against the Undine. Two, Ron was going to beat the living shit out of the admiralty.
"We'll worry 'bout that later," Jaden said. "We know how to kill these bastards now. Let's rip them a new one!" The Enterprise-B fired another narrow phaser beam which pierced through yet another Undine vessel, slicing it apart like sushi. In fact the beam not only cut through the ship, but it also cut through the ship behind it as it cleaved off a big chunk of it. "All ships, modify your phaser banks into cutting mode - time for some Undine Sushi!"
The Vengeance's disruptor banks opened fire, the beams more narrow, but not as much as the Enterprise-B's phasers. This was more of a technological limitation for disruptor technology than anything else. Phasers could be modified easily into cutting, drilling or welding tools. Disruptors, on the other hand, could only be used as weapons.
The Raging Tempest's phaser cannons also had the same problem, as they didn't produce a constant beam, but rather pulses, hence the term 'pulse cannon'. Still, the Tempest was still useful in drawing aggro, which it was doing wonderfully.
The Yamatashi, her captain having listened in via the comm, sped around to another bioship and deployed her phaser drones, this time the formation being of a much smaller triangle and powered up the cannon. The cannon fired, sending its beam right through the focuser shield and using it like a cutting edge, gashed an Undine ship right in half. The remaining phasers on the vessel let loose with narrow beams to finish the job. Then the vessel pivoted using its maneuvering thrusters and pulled the same trick on another Undine vessel attempting to creep past. "Now that's the way to go about it!" Jessica exclaimed.
"The Undine on the far side of the planet were no match for the might of Klingon warriors! Windstorm, your advice was… useful. Perhaps we will use it against the qa'meH quv in the future!" The Bortasqu' and Lleiset charged in, cutting mode plasma and disruptor weapons firing at anything Undine.
"The Lunar colonies are secure, Admiral!" On the opposite side came the Odyssey-Class 'sister' to the Enterprise-B, more powerful cutting phasers ripping apart the Undine ships faster than the rest of the fleet.
"Let's hurry up and clear out the rest!" Takeshi called out. "ESD's taking a beating!"
Two Dromias bio-cruisers fired their focused beams at the station, breaching the hull. It could have been far worse: Voyager had reported ten Nicors supplying extra power to a Dromias, making it capable of destroying a planet. "Ok, you fuckers, NOW you die! ESD survived the Cestian probe, the Borg, the Dominion War and this bullshit with the Klingons! IT WILL SURVIVE YOU, TOO! NOW FUCKING DIE!" The Enterprise-B charged in, firing all of her cutting phasers at every Undine ship in sight.
"Admiral, pull back."
"Up yours, Tuvok! Kirk told me I was a wrecking ball once, and now the Undine are about to know WHY!"
At that point, one of the largest Undine ships seen to date, a Tethys Dreadnought, warped in.
"Oooh, I've never killed one of YOU before. Think if I CUT YOU OPEN WITH MY KNIFE, YOU'LL SPILL OUT LUCKY CHARMS?!" The Tethys identified the Enterprise-B as the largest threat, mostly because it was the first ship to discover that cutting modes could easily destroy their ships and that it was destroying most of the invading fleet. The antiproton beams hit the upgraded shields, but the Enterprise held fast before unleashing the full force of all eight dorsal phaser banks, hacking the Undine dreadnought into tiny chunks.
"Man, Ron's on a tear today," Takeshi remarked offhandedly.
"To any ship in range, this is Earth Spacedock Control! Undine boarding parties are everywhere! We need assistan-" The transmission cut out before it could be finished.
"Alright, people. Anyone up for an Undine murder fest?" Ron asked.
"Oh I sure as hell am," Mirror Jaden said, "I'll get the boarding party ready."
"It'll give me a chance to test my new blade," Takeshi remarked. "Brok'tan, you have the Bridge."
Earth Spacedock - Main level
The entire level was in ruins as the structural supports actually bent inward, partially caving it in. "Yup. They will DEFINITELY pay for this," Ron said. He was wearing an EV suit, despite the fact that the atmosphere was perfectly fine, if a bit smoky. Of course he was not the only one, as the rest of the boarding party were wearing EV suits as well, and armed to the teeth to protect them from Undine blood if any got on them.
"Alright, let's clear this place of Undine," Mirror Jaden said, wearing his own custom armor. "What's the plan, Ron?"
"We need to find Admiral Quinn," Ron said. "The Undine like replacing our officers with infiltrators, according to the reports we took from the Klingons. And we need to find my sister: knowing her, she's wreaking havoc with that scythe of hers."
"Right," Takeshi replied, wearing a new set of armor that had recently come out of R&D, that looked a fair bit bulkier than most armors that had come before. The armor was primarily black, actually looking somewhat similar to the armor Mirror Jaden had only not as bulky, complete with a small glass-like visor on the helmet over the eyes, designed to operate in EV environments. His sword was in his hand. "Looking forward to seeing how well this cuts through Undine flesh."
"Considering that thing can cut through something 21.7 times harder than diamond, organic material shouldn't be a problem." Ron said. "Just remember not to do anything fancy with that thing: it'll hack through that armor of yours like wet tissue paper." Ron performed the HK slap on his G36C (the K was too large for CQB scenarios like this one) and gestured them to move out. "Keep an eye out for survivors."
"Got it," Mirror Jaden said, as he armed his rifle. "Lead the way."
"Ow..." Ron gestured the team to follow him as they made their way toward the source of the sound. When they rounded a corner, they discovered the source: a male Caitian, likely an ensign. "Well, shit. Come on." Ron approached the wounded Starfleet officer, who was disoriented. "Oi, what the hell happened here?"
"The walls… They just… the walls!"
"Great, one of THOSE types." Ron backhanded the ensign in an attempt to get some sense back into his head. "What the hell happened here, Ensign?"
"The… the Undine, yes," the Ensign began again. "They just appeared in close orbit. We were taken by surprise, and none of the defense systems worked… I-I don't know why…"
"I think I know. Takeo, activate the fire suppression system, then go two levels up. That'll take you to the security office. Takeshi, you're with me: we're going to find Admiral Quinn."
"Gotcha," Takeshi replied.
"Understood," Mirror Jaden said, as he moved to activate the fire suppression system.
The fires blocking their way were put out, allowing the team to move on. "Keep your heads on a swivel, your asses covered and your eyes peeled for the Undine. Aim for the head and move on: no prisoners!"
Takeshi nodded as he moved forward, sword at the ready..
A pair of security officers were found shooting at a squad of Undine, using modified phaser rifles that actually did damage to the Undine. "That's a new one," Ron said. "Why don't WE get that shit?"
"Likely we're not slated to test the experimental gear," Takeshi replied. "Which I'm assuming is what those things are - experimental."
"Fuck that: I want one of those rifles." Two more Undine went down, and five more came down from the ceiling, only to be cut down. Literally. A familiar looking plain scythe hacked the Undine in half, sending them to the deck with a loud scream.
"Wait, I've seen that thing before." Jaden said.
"Course you have." Ron said, as the scythe was pulled back into a waiting gloved hand. "Riza, nice to see you've joined the fight."
The younger Pinkerton (also wearing an EV suit) turned to face her brother. "Oniisama." She said, "The Undine weren't attacking the Ptolemaeus, so I decided to leave the ship and help repel the Undine boarding parties."
"Well, it's certainly appreciated," Takeshi replied. "Right, Jaden?"
"That it is," Mirror Jaden said nodding, before he glanced around "But… anyone else have the feeling we're… missing something?"
"What do you mean?" Takeshi asked.
"I dunno..." Mirror Jaden said, "Just… it feels like there's something we're missing in all this… The Undine are attacking yes… but why do I have the feeling they're holding back?"
"We'll find out later: we've got an admiral to find." Ron said. "Riza, did you see Admiral Quinn?"
"He's on the other side of the station, under siege by a LOT of Undine." She said. "He told me to bring reinforcements to assist. I found you."
Ron patted his sister on the shoulder. "That you did." He said, "Split up! Two teams: Takeshi, with me! Takeo, you're with my sister. Find the Admiral and make him safe."
"You got it!" Takeshi replied.
"Got it," Mirror Jaden said, prepping his Rifle. "I'll follow you, Riza."
"This way: it's the fastest route, although it's crawling with Undine. Oniisama, the other route's a bit longer, and just as packed with the bastards. I hope you brought your sword." Ron tapped his side, and Riza saw the handle of his monomolecular kilij. "I don't use it much for a reason. Move out, people!" The team split up into two groups, with Ron leading Takeshi down one corridor and Riza leading Mirror Jaden down another. "If he touches my sister, he'll be wishing the Undine got their hands on him."
"Try not to be too overprotective," Takeshi replied. "She can take care of herself nicely."
"Clearly, your grandfather never told you that my family is known for being overprotective of our siblings." A squad of Undine made themselves known as they rushed down the beaten corridors.
"I guess not," Takeshi replied, bisecting an Undine cleanly. "Well, still, don't worry too much. I think he knows not to touch without permission."
Ron opened fire with the G36C, the Beta-C drum magazine supplying him with enough bullets to easily pepper several Undine with 5.56mm bullets. "At least I know one thing! Before today is over, there's going to be a LOT of dead assholes!"
The Undine began to fall, and they quickly retreated, but not before Ron pulled out his RG-6 grenade launcher and fired all six grenades at the retreating fluidic space natives. "BOOM, BITCH! AHAHAHA!"
Meanwhile - With Mirror Jaden and Riza
"BOOM! Headshot!" Mirror Jaden shouted, as an Undine's head exploded in a gory mess from a successful headshot from the Sniper Rifle he had brought with him. He then proceeded to snap headshots on three more Undine that charged at him. "Come on! I can do this all day! I've had more trouble fighting Ferengi Pirates than you assholes!"
Riza's scythe hacked apart several Undine at one, but one seemed to live after her assault. It raised its' antiproton wrist weapon at her, but its' arm fell off, cut off at the midpoint on the gauntlet. "I'm sorry, did you need that?" The Undine's other arm fell off as well, then the being split in two, head to groin. "Admiral Quinn's this way! Come on!"
"Coming!" Mirror Jaden said as he moved to follow. "They just never give up, do they?"
"At least we can kill them easily enough," Riza said, as they ran down the hallway. "Let's just hope they haven't gotten to the Admiral yet."
"Yeah, I-" Mirror Jaden began to say, before he heard something falling, as he looked ahead at a stairway and saw a small organic-looking object which reminded him of…
"GRENADE! DOWN!" He shouted as he quickly shoved Riza out of the way as the Undine Grenade went off, resulting in a rather large explosion causing some debris to fall down around them.
Mirror Jaden coughed from some of the smoke. "You alright Riza?" he asked.
"Yeah..." Riza said, however she was blushing a bit. "But uhh… could you get off of me please?"
He blinked, before he suddenly realized the… rather compromising position they were in, with Jaden over top of her, and their faces just mere inches away from one another. "Oh! Uhh, right!" he said, as he quickly backed away before helping her back to her feet. "Sorry..."
The blushing helmsman spun around and hacked an Undine officer (the massive amount of bio-organic armor it wore was a clear sign of that) in half, covering the floor in Undine bodily fluids. "Admiral Quinn!" Another Undine 'officer' tried to get to the Admiral, but a green-tinted phaser beam hit the 'officer' an stunned it before Riza chopped its' head off.
"Your arrival is most timely, Commander." A voice said, and Riza looked at the source of the beam, finding Admiral Tuvok holding one of the anti-Undine phaser rifles. "Admiral Tuvok, what's the situation?"
"The Undine are regrouping. I barely arrived in time to assist."
"Right," Quinn replied. "Now we can-" his attention was drawn to one of his other officers, Commander E'genn, as he began moving. "Egg? What are you-"
The alien officer looked at one of the dead Starfleet officers: an Andorian who got too close to an Undine for comfort. "Starfleet's resistance is unexpected. But that matters little. We are strong. you are weak."
"And I've got a fuckton of bullets, asshole!" E'genn recoiled from several bullets hitting him in the side, followed by Ron jumping down from the upper level, firing his G36C at the Undine infiltrator.
E'genn shed his disguise, shifting into his Undine form, and everyone opened fire on him, as Takeshi closed in and lopped one of the Undine's arms off.
The Undine attempted to use its' wrist weapon, but Riza used her scythe to hack off its' arm, followed by a quick strike that took off its' head.
Soon after he collapsed, everyone started looking around for another attack. There wasn't one. Ron, Tuvok, and Quinn started discussing what to do next, when Tuvok suddenly collapsed.
"Tuvok!"
"...Tuvok? Tuvok?" The Vulcan admiral awoke in some...astral plain. Facing him was the humanoid form of Eric Cooper. "I know you can hear me, Tuvok." Tuvok stood up, facing 'Cooper'.
"Cooper."
"E'genn was weak: he spent too much time around humans. He served his purpose, and you will be too late."
"Too late for what?" Tuvok asked.
"Your realm will be cleansed of infestation. The weak will make way for the strong. You will not stop us."
Tuvok stood before Cooper. "Perhaps, but now I know your plans. You may have looked into my mind, but I have looked into yours."
"What?!" Cooper said, shocked.
"I see now what you plan to do," Tuvok continued. "You will not succeed."
Cooper began roaring Tuvok's name in rage as the Vulcan awoke in the real world. "Oi, Vulcan! WAKE THE FUCK UP!"
Tuvok sat up, shaking his head while trying to clear Ron's loud voice from his head. "There was no need, Admiral," he replied. "Earth was only a diversion."
Quinn kneeled beside Tuvok. "What?"
"The Undine's real target is Qo'nos."
"Oh, that's not good," Takeshi remarked. "We need to get to Qo'nos ASAP, then."
"Riza, get your ass back to the Ptolemaeus!"
"The doors won't open, oniisama! We can't leave!"
"BLOW THEM OPEN!" Ron pulled out his communicator. "Jaden, we're going to be a bit delayed in leaving, but get your ass to Qo'nos! Consider yourself captain of the Enterprise from here on out! All Yorktown crew are to transfer there NOW!"
"Dammit! Then this whole thing was a setup!" Jessica remarked over the comm.
"Looks that way," Takeshi remarked. "Raging Tempest, one to beam up, and set a course to Qo'nos, Maximum Warp!"
"Son of a bitch, I knew this felt too easy!" Jaden shouted, "We'll warp over to Qo'nos once the crew's here! Just make sure you get over there ASAP too!"
"Considering my ship is trapped inside the station, that's going to take time! Pinkerton to all Task Force Death personnel: return your your ships and set course for Qo'nos! We'll be there as soon as we can!"
A few minutes later, the ships in Task Force Death, minus the Ptolemaeus and Yorktown, joined Voyager, the Bortasqu', and the Khyber as they all warped to Qo'nos.
Qo'nos, capital world of the Klingon Empire
The Klingon homeworld was under heavy attack, and for good reason. The Klingons hated the Undine more than any other race in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. Hell, Ron was probably the only one who hated the Undine more than the Klingons on principle alone. They also had the largest actual military in the form of the Klingon Defense Force, and the Undine wanted it destroyed. TFD, Voyager, the Khyber, and the Bortasqu' dropped out of quantum slipstream near the planet. "We have arrived at Qo'nos. The KDF forces are slowly being overwhelmed by the Undine. We-"
"Wait! Where is the Enterprise?! The rest of your fleet?! The Windstorm?! We cannot be all there is!"
"Ron's ship was needing to blow its way out of ESD," Takeshi remarked. "And he went with his ship - he said he'd catch up. Besides, if you haven't read the reports, we've got his ancestors and grandniece with us!"
The Yamatashi dropped out of warp, coming to a stop alongside the others. "Don't worry though! The cavalry has finally arrived!" Jessica remarked.
"All hands, man your battlestations!" Jaden shouted. "Focus fire on the closest Undine ship! Let's show them just who they're fucking with!"
The Enterprise-B led the charge, firing her cutting phasers at the closest Undine ship, destroying it before the ship could fire at a Somraw-Class raptor. The energy had to go somewhere, though, and caused an explosion that vaporized the organic ship. The Yamatashi fired her turret-mounted phaser cannons at another Undine ship, but they had the same problem as the Raging Tempest: they could only burn, not cut, and the ship only had two dorsal mounted phaser arrays. The amount of help the prototype ship was going to be was rather low.
That said, the Raging Tempest herself was doing the best she could, mainly by Takeshi doing what he always did - Alpha Striking his targets, and overloading their shields and hull carapaces with sheer offensive firepower. It wasn't as effective as the cutting Phasers, but it worked by way of sheer brute force.
Of course, by sheer virtue of numbers, the ship doing the most damage wasn't the Bortasqu' or Voyager, but the Enterprise-B and her 18 type-V phaser banks. Still, the Enterprise was going to get overwhelmed.
The Lleiset warped in at that point. "The Llieset is here to lend a hand," Commander Jarok reported.
"Nice!" Takeshi replied. "Pick a target and start shooting!"
The Tulwar-Class dreadnought warbird's plasma weapons fired on the Undine, actually doing more damage then the Bortasqu's disruptors due to a little bit of advice from Ron. 'If the fuckers are organic, use shit that's harmful to organic material!' As such, the Lleiset's plasma weapons were being enriched with contaminated antimatter, which contained, amongst other things, theta radiation. Even if the ship survived, the radiation would kill it and the pilot.
Meanwhile, the task force was continuing through the Undine forces, but more Undine ships were warping in by the minute.
"Dammit! How many of these guys are there?!" Jessica snarled as she snapped the Yamatashi into a roll using the maneuvering thrusters, dodging a few attacks from a couple of Undine ships.
The Undine fired on the Enterprise-B, downing the shields as a Dromias and nine Nicors entered what had been called 'the Planet Killer Maneuver'. "Oh, shit!" Before the Dromias could fire, a phaser beam hacked the ship in half, and the feedback destroyed all ten Undine ships. "Sorry we're late for the party..." The familiar form of the Ptolemaeus entered view from below, having fired the shot. "But we had to blow a hole through ESD!"
"Better late than never Ron!" Jaden shouted, as power to the shields was restored. "Glad you could make it!"
"Just in time! We'll need all the help we can get!" Jessica remarked as the Yamatashi fired off several missiles from its launchers. Although powerful, they only did minor to no damage against the Undine ship. Yet they did provide a decent distraction for the ship to dart off.
"You talk too much, Miller! Push to the shipyard!" The fleet began their push, firing their phasers and torpedoes at everything that was Undine, saving several Klingon ships in the process while making their way to the Qo'nos orbital shipyard facility. Of course, that was when things got rather interesting as a fleet of Nicors, Dromias, and Vila bioships, accompanied by no less than 15 Tethys bio-dreadnoughts emerged from a fluidic rift.
"We are in a severe tactical disadvantage," Tuvok remarked.
"Think of it as an increase in your opportunities to die with honor!" Captain Koren of the Bortasqu' replied.
Of course, at that time, the Enterprise-F warped in. "Sorry we're late," Shon remarked.
"Just one more ship?" Koren asked.
"Not necessarily. We brought in a few friends," Shon replied, as about three dozen other Federation Starships warped in.
"This is Admiral Pinkerton on the Ptolemaeus! I'm taking command of the fleet! All ships, rock and roll: kill every single one of these fluidic motherfuckers!"
With so many ships firing whatever weapons they had, either in cutting mode or with modifications to be harmful to organics, or just with sheer volume of fire, the Undine numbers dropped significantly.
That was when it came. Fluidic rifts opened, allowing large tendrils to enter normal space, followed by something the size of Olympus Mons on Mars. "Ayame, dearest?" Allen asked. "What. The. Fuck. Is that thing?"
"I… have no fucking idea..." Ayame said.
"Whatever the fuck it is, sensors are going crazy!" Jaden said. "Whatever that thing is, its generating a LOT of power! And I have a pretty good idea what they want to use it for!"
The Undine monster fired a massive antiproton beam in their general direction, barely missing the Enterprise-B and scoring a hit on the Ptolemaeus before it hit the shipyard, obliterating it. And that shot was nowhere near full power.
"NO!" Jessica yelled. "That's going too far!" Yet she didn't even dare to attack it. She knew better.
"The Undine have a new Planet-Killer!" Koren remarked.
On the Escalvantine, Lelouch surveyed the situation. Turning to his tactical displays, he asked, "C.C., can we damage that thing?"
"Not easily," came a female voice over the speakers - the voice of the Circumstance Calculator, otherwise called C.C., an AI Program Lelouch had recovered from a Preserver outpost that was designed precisely to determine strategies based on enemy units and behavioral patterns. "I can only see one weak point on that thing - its primary weapon port. It's impervious to our weapons everywhere else."
"Any ideas would be appreciated!" Jessica snapped. "Anything that we can do would be useful as well!"
USS Ptolemaeus
Ron clambered back into his chair. "REPORT!" He shouted.
Sonja checked the MSD. "That shot destroyed the portside engineering section torpedo launcher, the undersaucer sensor dome and that torpedo launcher!" She said. "I'm seeing a lot of broken structural supports, too. She's had it."
Ron sighed. "That's it then." He muttered, "Riza, plot a course to ram that motherfucker. We'll shove the Ptolemaeus down its' throat at Warp 9."
Riza's console beeped out a warning. "Looks like Captain Shon has the same plan." She said. "He's launching the Aquarius from the Enterprise-F."
Ron looked at Corpsa. "Disable it." He said before he pulled out his communicator. "All hands, this is the Admiral," he said. "Report to the shuttlebay. Abandon ship."
USS Raging Tempest
Takeshi watched as the Ptolemaeus began moving towards the Planet Killer, even as the Aquarius Module from the Enterprise-F did the same thing.
Then, when shuttles began launching from the Ptolemaeus, Takeshi knew what Ron was doing. "Raging Tempest to Aquarius," Takeshi said over the comms. "Might as well park it again, Shon - Ron's going to hit that thing with a large amount of mass - namely his ship, I'd suspect."
"I've read his file. And his family's. That seems to be their trademark." The Ptolemaeus started its' run, speeding toward the planet killer. And standing between the two was a big fucking Undine fleet.
"Crazy Bastard..." Jaden muttered, as Shuttles began to launch out of the Ptolemaeus. "Please tell me we've got a Transporter Lock on the bridge..."
"The ship's unmanned: damn thing's being run by computer! Wait...there's a shuttle flying beside the Ptolemaeus!" There was, indeed, a shuttle: a Class-1, commonly called the Class-F refit, near the Ptolemaeus' saucer section, escorting the ship.
The sleek grey form of the Yamatashi barreled past, firing off her phasers at any Undine ships, using the cutting mode. A burst of gas from the maneuvering thrusters put the ship into a tight turn before leveling off and firing the Lancers, barely scratching an Undine ship's hull/skin before the phasers cut into the bioship like a surgical scalpel.
The Raging Tempest flew ahead for a few seconds, cannons on scatter volley mode firing out intense fire as spreads of Quantum Torpedoes annihilated enemy ships.
Meanwhile the Enterprise-Balso moved forward, as it unleashed a volley of its Cutting Phasers as they dissected into the hulls of any Undine ship that got between Ptolemaeus and the Undine Planet-Killer, literally slicing some ships in half.
"Amun-Ra to Enterprise," Ron remarked, "get ready to receive us! Sonja, do it! NOW!" The shuttle banked before the Ptolemaeus' warp nacelles began to light up. The Excelsior-Class ship was going to become a railgun round going at 50 million times the speed of light. The ship jumped to warp, hitting the planet-killer at warp 9.6.
The Planet-Killer detonated spectacularly, the Raging Tempest and Yamatashi making their way away from it at best speed, the Enterprise-B following once the Amun-Ra was recovered.
"Yeah! That's one planet-killer down!" Jessica said. "Nice work on Ron's part, even if it did cost him his ship."
"Let's just hope we don't have to do such a tactic," Theo added.
"We won't. Not with this vessel," the captain assured him.
"To all Undine ASSHOLES!" Ron yelled. "This is Admiral Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the Enterprise! I just blew up your fucking planet killer! Withdraw, or be annihilated!"
The Undine seemed to hesitate for a bit, before they fled, opening up rifts into Fluidic Space en masse.
"Huh. I was half expecting to get shot at for that one."
"Well, you DID just blow up their ace in the hole," Jaden said with a laugh, "AND we just slaughtered half their fleet!"
A voice none of them expected came through the comm. "To the Starfleet vessels… This is Chancellor J'mpok of the Klingon High Council. I wish to address you all in person! You are Heroes of the Empire, Starfleeters or no!"
"This is Takeshi Yamato of the Raging Tempest," Takeshi replied. "Sounds like fun - where should we beam down?"
"The Great Hall, Captain. The coordinates have been sent to you. I look forward to seeing you all!" The transmission was cut a second later.
"Bring a weapon," Ron remarked. "Klingons might be honorable, but I trust that fucker as far as I could throw a brick of neutronium."
"Right," Takeshi replied. "I'll bring my sword - doesn't really need to be concealed."
"I'll just bring a gun," Jaden said. "They try to take it away from me, they'll regret it."
"Then I'll see you both down there. I'll take the Amun-Ra down to the surface. God knows it's my only real command now."
Qo'nos - Great Hall of the Klingon High Council
The Klingons were surprised to see the captains of Task Force Death enter the Great Hall, as well as their senior staffs. Ron, Riza and Sonja were all armed with a bladed weapon and a firearm each, and the Klingons knew better than to fuck with Riza and her scythe.
Takeshi and Linda each had their respective weapons - Takeshi's katana, and Linda carrying a TR-116B on her back.
Jaden and T'Sani both had their weapons as well. They both opted to carry a specialized Combat Knife, however they both also had side arm weapons as well, carrying both a Type-2 Phaser, and Colt M1911 Semi-Automatic Pistols.
Jessica and her away team possessed their firearms for defense, but that was it.
The Klingons were not comfortable with the Starfleet officers having their weapons, considering not 2 hours ago, the Federation and the Empire were still actively trying to kill one another. Not to mention that these were the ones responsible, collectively, for the destruction of at least 150 Klingon starships. "They don't seem happy to see us." Jaden muttered.
"Considering Imperial Intelligence once said that the only time I would set foot on this planet would be before my execution, I would certainly hope so." Ron said.
A Klingon approached the group, wearing the robe of the Chancellor of the High Council. "You fought well…" The Chancellor, J'mpok said, "For someone from Starfleet."
"Thank you, Chancellor," Takeshi remarked.
"Your actions today have saved our homeworld from the Undine and their dishonorable weapon." The Chancellor said. "You have earned your places in Sto'vo'kor. Which of you is Jaden Takeo?"
Jaden stepped forward, chuckling sheepishly. "I am." He said.
J'mpok studied Jaden for a moment, then gestured a warrior to bring him a d'tang. "You have fought with honor with and against us." He said. "I have learned of your actions against our fleet, and of your fight against the invaders from another universe. May you die with honor!"
"Personally, dying with honor is overrated." Ron said. "Living to tell about it is much better."
Takeshi piped in, saying, "Agreed - dying with honor may be good, but living with honor is even better."
"Thank you, Chancellor," Jaden said. "And may you die with honor as well."
"Then I expect you to do so. Your Admiral Quinn arrived only a short while ago, and we will be discussing a ceasefire in lieu of… this."
Ron chuckled. "Of what? The Voth, the Undine, the Mirror Universe, the Borg, those Gorn that came back? Me?"
"All of the above," J'mpok replied. "Though I admit that many of my warriors would enjoy the thought of a glorious battle against you, Windstorm, that would only deplete our resources for fighting our true enemies."
"I agree," Jaden said nodding. "With all these enemies coming out of the woodwork, continued fighting between the Federation and Klingons would only make things worse. Only together are we going to stand a chance in hell against them all."
J'mpok looked to Ron. "We count on your strength for what is to come, Windstorm." He said. "I have the feeling we will need it."
"Talk to me after my court martial." Ron replied. "I still have to go through that. AGAIN."
"Hey, don't worry about it, Ron," Takeshi remarked. "Yeah, you lost your ship, but from what we got from sensors, it was BER anyway. And it was the best option we had."
"It's protocol," Ron said. "If you are the commanding officer of a starship which is lost under your command, you can and will face a general court martial. I had to for the Exeter, even if the records were sealed after a certain incident." Jaden suddenly felt VERY lucky not to have been the actual commanding officer of the Archeron when he rammed it into a Negh'var, otherwise he would have undergone a court martial.
Takeshi nodded. "I see," he said. "Well, still shouldn't go too badly."
"Two years at Starfleet Academy would say otherwise." At this point, J'mpok had left them, and the captains were standing off to the side, waiting for J'mpok to begin his speech. "Today, many warriors have earned their places among the honored dead in Sto'vo'kor, and we have discovered something I once thought impossible: that honor exists within the Federation still! To that end-"
Takeshi suddenly felt a flash across his Spatial Awareness. "Something's coming!" he said, seconds before a portal opened in front of J'mpok.
Those who had crossed over into the Mirror Universe knew this all too well. "It's a fucking Iconian Gateway!"
"Dammit!" Jessica snapped as she reached up and removed her eyepatch, exposing her right eye. "This is not good!"
A tall being walked out of the gateway, appraising the attendees. It looked female, and had a body that was an iridescent blue, aside from a glowing yellow 'core' on its chest. It wore elaborate things that looked like armor, only there was only enough of it to cover the 'private bits' and an elaborate headdress. It had six eyes which glowed the same color as its chest core.
"So...you are the 'saviours' of the Milky Way." Ron quickly moved his G36K to a shooting position, followed by Riza unsheathing the blade of her scythe and extending the handle while Sonja aimed her Type-2 at the intruder.
Jessica and her team grabbed their firearms and held them at the ready, every one of them tense for possible fighting or worse.
Takeshi drew his sword, while Linda armed her TR-116.
Jaden and T'Sani both quickly drew out both their Colt pistols and Phasers, duel-wielding them pointed at the Iconian.
"And who the fuck are you?" Ron shouted.
The Iconian looked at Ron, seemingly narrowing 'her' eyes. "We thought the Borg had killed you." She said. "It seems we were mistaken." 'She glanced at Takeshi and Jaden next. "All three of you have made the mistake of garnering our attention."
"Silence, demon!" The Klingon High Council all pointed a weapon, it being a disruptor or bat'leth, at the Iconian. "We stand united! You cannot-" The Iconian waved 'her' arm, causing the Klingons to be levitated before being vaporized, one of which screaming in a familiar way.
"NO!" Jessica shouted. She nearly lunged forward, but Steven and Tony grabbed her arms while Vanessa wrapped her own arms around her.
"It's too dangerous!" Steven snarled, although he was just as pissed. Yet he knew to keep a level head in such a situation.
"Much as I don't like it, that thing's too powerful for us right now," Takeshi remarked. "That will change when next we meet."
"We'll kill you," Jaden growled out at the Iconian. "I don't know why you're here right now, but we will kill every last one of you."
"Do not gain our attention again. Or you will suffer the consequences." The Iconian turned to leave, but Sonja had the last laugh as she pulled out her knife and threw it at the being, managing to stab it in the back between the 'armor plating'. As such, the Iconian stumbled through the gateway instead of gracefully walking back wherever it came from.
"Sonja, did you just KNIFE that asshole?"
"I wanted payback for the 30 years of bullshit those fuckers put on the Federation."
"Hell, I was about to shoot the bastard." Jaden said, holstering his weapons. "Sonja just beat me to it."
Sonja looked at Jaden. "You don't get it," she said."The Undine, the destabilization of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, the time those assholes in subspace tried to kidnap Ron: it's all on them! Hell, they're probably responsible for introducing T'Uerell to the Borg, blowing up Romulus and for those Gorn fuckers coming back!"
"If that's the case, then we need to think of a plan," Vanessa said as the three officers released Jessica. "And I don't mean that lightly."
"I do get it - that's why I said I was about to shoot it before you beat me to the punch Sonja." Jaden said. "I make it no secret that I hate anyone like the Q, Iconians, or the Organians."
J'mpok and Quinn got to their feet, having being knocked down by the Iconian's attack. "That… was our real enemy."
"No shit, Quinn!" Ron shouted. "J'mpok, quit being a retard about it already! You fucking NEED us now!"
J'mpok wanted to glare at Ron, but the human had a point. "The war between the Empire and the Federation is over." J'mpok faced the rest of the Great Hall. "The war against the demons of air and darkness has begun!" The Klingons cheered at this, mostly because they no longer had the threat of Ron sending them to a quick grave over their heads. "Captain Takeo!"
"Yes, Chancellor?" Jaden asked as the Klingon Chancellor called out his name.
"If Admiral Quinn and your president have no objections, I will have one of my warriors join your fleet." J'mpok said. "May you bring the Iconians to their knees!"
Jaden glanced at Admiral Quinn, who shrugged. "I have no objections," he said. "And the President should be fine with it as well."
Ron sighed. "I'll have my shuttles move onto the Enterprise-F before we head home. Kirk's Enterprise took me home when I lost the Exeter. Shon's might as well do the same."
The three members of the Ptolemaeus' senior staff walked toward the doors leading out of the Great Hall, heading back to where they parked their shuttlecraft.
Odyssey-Class USS Enterprise NCC-1701-F - Qo'nos orbit
The Ptolemaeus shuttles landed in the Enterprise-F's main shuttlebay, making space slightly cramped for the F's regular shuttles. Still, it would only be temporary until they got back to Earth. That was the part the former crew of the Ptolemaeus were dreading. At the moment, though, Shon was making sure they did get back to Earth. "Helm, put us in formation with the Enterprise-B and set a course back to Earth." He said. "I don't think the JAG wants to be kept waiting."
"Aye sir." The Helmsman said. "Message from the Enterprise-B."
"Enterprise-B to Enterprise-F,"Jaden's voice said, "Been a pleasure working with you - hope we get to do it again sometime." He then chuckled a bit. "Oh, and don't let Ron give ya a hard time."
"We'll try. Enterprise-F out. And congratulations. I think the Enterprise-B just gained her finest captain." The comm cut out. "Take us to warp." The Enterprise-F's warp nacelles flashed as she and the rest of the fleet jumped to warp, heading back to Federation space.
117Jorn: Well, that was quick now wasn't it?
Ron the True Fan: The war's over, the Undine have gotten their asses kicked, Q's been punted in the balls and the Iconians are out in the open. A lot of things for one chapter.
Takeshi Yamato: Still, there's a lot more we still have to do, especially with T'Uerell… so keep your eyes peeled.
Titanic X: And next time, things are about to heat up! So be ready! :D
117Jorn: So until next time…
Everyone: JA NE! :D