Michael watched as the new system appeared on screen, the moon with a little atmosphere that tinged green all over its barren surface. Though on her monitor, it had a stable core and mantle to support life, water locked away in ice or vapour. The planet just never had the opening chances of life….

She couldn't help but marvel on Stamets's terraformation plan and the mechanics behind it. A global stable network of spores; no doubt going to be classified as soon as it's done. It didn't cross her the fact that the moon's placement was firmly in Starfleet territory; preventing random alien ships finding a moon of exotic spores.

"Are you ready, Lieutenant Stamets?" Admiral Cornwell called, her gaze ahead to the screen though she looked remarkably pleased.

"Yes, locked and loaded, Admiral." Paul's voice run through the ships comms

"Detmer, put us in geostationary orbit."

The helmswoman nodded, "Locking in approximate 800 kilometres above the moon's surface" the ship gently shifting in position.

"Copy that. Initiating mycelium ejection protocol."

Echoing though the ship, Michael could feel the soft rumbles before the sounds of release caps; then the warped sound of energy pulsing as the hanger force field was penetrated; then the cargo bay fell silent but her eyes on the monitor could see as the darts left and began their decent, spreading out.

"Engaging agri-transport boosters…"

The darts began to heat up but none seemed to tick-out on their systems. All was looking good. Michael smiled softly.

Then they were landing but it was all looking quiet. The air filling tense with anticipation; it hung in the air as the minutes ticked on

"Status, Lieutenant Stamets."

"Sensors from the darts are reading well. All samples have been deployed, terraformation fields have spread; the atmosphere had shifted in our favour and root structures have already started to form in zones 923 and 5043."

"Ready the EM darts."

"Darts calibrated." Tilly replied lightly

"Fire." Cornwell spoke.

The optical screen shifted now, getting a deeper look to see the tops of the darts before they began to emit energy pulses across the surface; simulating the roots into rapid growth…

Michael vaguely heard the rapid patter of feet before Stamets darted to her side, letting go of Tilly who immediately wobbled and swayed though Michael grabbed her arm to stabilise her.

"Ugh…" Tilly swallowed thickly, her fingers coming to hold onto her station too, "I feel like I left my stomach behind."

Paul ignored her, his body tense in nervous excitement as he stared ahead. "Come on…"

His red eyes flickered all over the screen then to her monitor. Moving to get closer readings. Michael shifted a little, allowing it though she felt a welt of relief as bright, bioluminescence structures seemed to break through the surface, growing rapidly up and departing into firm plants and stalks… climbing higher and higher until they stopped, regaining new colours before the glows began to brighten… then after a few minutes, the glow of spores, shredded off the plants, spreading up into the air; ready to spread around and geminate the soil.

"Spore germination at 4 %... 5 %" The computer counting up as it got higher and higher.

A spread of cheer rang through the bridge. Michael tore her gaze from the screen, letting go of Tilly to pat his arm. "Good work."

Paul glanced at her them smiled, "Once it hits 100%, we can run a harvest of the spores, then I can collect some of the crop from the surface for the ship's supply."

Cornwell's head turned to him, the smile on her lips resting there still. "How long?"

"Two hours until they fully mature to the necessary development needed for spore jumps."

"Then get preparations underway, Lieutenant. I'll send you coordinates of our jump to Quo'noS once we're ready to depart" Cornwell moved from her chair, "Burnham, go down to our guest as discussed. What you'll need is outside the door."

Michael eyed the admiral before she nodded, her mood being punctured now. "Yes, Admiral."

"Commander Saru, you have the conn." With a lingering look at her, the admiral darted away, disappearing into the ready room.

Michael sighed though she turned to Tilly. The woman in question looking to have recovered from her trip with Stamets but eager to leave as Michael nodded her with her into the turbolift "How are you feeling?"

"I don't think we fleshy people are designed for such haste." Tilly groaned out, prodding her in the arm. "I thought it'd be fun but…meh… by body does not agree."

Michael chuckled, recalling how Sarek had said something so similar; though she knew he had more experiences if Cornwell had mentioned him avoiding whiplash. But the experiences weren't going to make it all easier.

"I'm sure you'll bounce back, Tilly. You always do."

Tilly gave her a disgruntled look. "So who's our guest?"

"A new born vampire…"

She could feel the sharp look cross Tilly's face, wiping away her discomforts of her speedy-trip in a heartbeat. "New born? we haven't been—" Tilly stopped, her blood flushing with a sudden welt of discomfort. "It was a terran, wasn't it?"

Michael stared ahead. Allowing the silence to speak for her.

"Who?"

"You'll find out, Tilly."

This didn't content the cadet who stepped in front. "A vampire terran, Michael… This isn't good. It's bad. Very, very bad." Her blue eyes filled with concern, "I know that you killed a lot but… the risks… It's unfathomable."

"I know." Michael reached forwards, her hands touching onto her shoulders assuring. "I'm worried too but… I have already asserted myself as the dominant leader over her. We've got things in place to ensure the safety of this crew."

Tilly didn't look convinced, her pulse increasing in her veins as well as the flush of many different emotions. Michael patted her arm, stepping around her and looped an arm with her to move her along.

"Once all this is done with the war, I'm being removed from Discovery to oversee her adjustment to not only what she is but to this universe. Not to mention, I can catch up on vampire etiquette once I'm surrounded by my own kind… not a sentence I'd ever thought I'd say."

Disappointment flushed through Tilly next, her shoulders slumping and her expression dropping "You're leaving?"

Michael nodded, swallowing down the fact she had been burying. "I've been pardoned from my crimes but I don't know what will happen after that. I haven't been reinstated and it's still all on my record. I suspect Starfleet won't have me but they need to keep tabs on me. It'll be likely I'll have to stay at the facility."

Tilly scoffed. "I'm sure the next captain of the ship will take you on if we put in a good word, Michael!"

Michael stopped, though she smiled fondly. "I know and I do appreciate the thought. But it's not so easy. I was allowed to stay here because Lorca conscripted me in the time of war. When that war is over…I'm not needed here anymore."

Tilly's face flushed pink, her eyes welling up. "No. There had to be a way for you to stay. I mean…. You…you made Stamets."

"No, I believe his parents made him." Michael accepted the thump to her arm in good humour, her comment enough to hear Stamets himself snort up on the bridge and to reduce the tension in the air.

"You know what I mean. Surely that'll be enough."

Michael shrugged. "He's out of his new-born phase. He won't need me as a support."

Tilly groaned. "Stop shooting down every idea!" her hands came up to her face, huffing into them as she wiped her eyes. "I don't…want you to go. You've earned your place here."

Michael bit her lip softly, though still began to guide Tilly along. "its not up to me. But… right now I could really do with borrowing your jacket."

Tilly's hand dropped with an incredulous look then down. "My—Why?"

"I want to wave it in front of the new-born so she gets used to human scents."

The look she got was almost seething in annoyance but after a moment, Tilly nodded, unzipping the jacket to revel a simple long-sleeve, navy shirt underneath. "After we're done with everything, I want us to have a really good talk on your tact and… cry a lot on how much I'll miss your sparkly presence." Tilly handed the jacket over, her hands resting on her sides, a stern look on her face before she diverted off.

Michael ended up with a small collection of jackets, requesting a few from passing crew members—despite the odd looks before she slipped into the room; the bag Cornwell producing in her other hand.

She watched though as the ruby red in Georgiou's eyes turned a very solid black as the scents travelled up, tossing Tilly's first though there was a slightly hidden look of disappointment that there wasn't an actual human. Georgiou picked it up though Michael watched the quizzical look appeared in those black eyes.

"I want you to get used to them."

"It burns my throat."

"Then feed and get used to them." Nodding her head to the replicator. Georgiou glowered, bringing the blue material up to her nose before she wrinkled her face up in clear discomfort, her hand coming to her throat.

"Is this what all humans smell like?"

"It always hurts when you're new or...you know, haven't fed for a week."

Michael tossed the other jackets around the room to saturate it then opened the bag. Inside, her eyes found the collar that Admiral Cornwell was talking about. Unlike hers that only produced disorientating sound, this looked to have been upgraded since then.

It was much sleeker and slimmer in design that's sit more visually comfortably around the throat like a choker necklace. A smooth metallic rimming along its edges and up-panelled ridges that ran down its centre. It was only visible at the back of the necklace where it opened and closed and the lock mechanise looked to be designed to stay at the back of the head to hide its panel.

In a sense, it felt breakable in her fingers but it wasn't activated nor on so she'd have to wait until it was on to see how it'd affect Georgiou. If the federation had reversed engineered Mudd's weapon and applied it to other technologies just as Lorca did, she could feel this was now much more crippling. It almost made her shudder if she needed to.

Lorca. That damn device had frozen her up and nearly reopened her own wounds; her left wrist seemed to be considerably weaker too so she'd need to strengthen that in her time away.

"Philippa." Michael started, drawing the vampire's attention as the replicator began to hum. Georgiou's eyes lowered then narrowed scathingly at the collar, lowering Tilly's jacket.

"No!"

"We need you for this mission, but you're too much of a trigger hazard without precautions."

"I'm not going to wear a collar like a feral animal, Michael." Her voice turning into a growl, her demeanour shifting from passive to defensive. Her shoulder upturned to a slight hunch as her knees bent a fraction and she bared her teeth with another growl; shredding away the image of a person to a vampire in that instant.

Michael could feel her own instincts crave to follow; to push compliance over her by brute force if it came to it. The hostility of the new-born tingled a new edge within her too… the scale of power was slightly tipped in her favour; that this was just a threat display by Georgiou. She wheeled it back with a hiss of her own. "It's temporary and can hide under your clothes. No one will notice." She reasoned. Michael didn't want to physically force this onto the woman but she had to wear it if she was coming along.

Georgiou didn't relent, the growl humming through the air.

Michael echoed it back, unable to help but bare hers back. "It's so you don't kill everyone, Philippa." She called back, allowing her tone to harden. "I would have thought you of all people would want to maintain control over yourself than allow your instincts to control you. You are a new vampire, you cannot find control without a leash or motive. Quicker you do that, quicker you will wash through the facility."

Georgiou's lips closed over her fangs but her words did seemed to have caused some level of internal conflict; the desire of self-control and freedom would sing far higher than the principles of wearing a collar.

Michael waited.

For five minutes Georgiou stayed locked in her position, dark eyes eventually turning to a dark ruby but she straightened up, the displeasure didn't leave her face.

"Only for this trip."

"I can agree to that."

Michael walked forwards though she could feel the glare to the metallic crescent as she rose it to her neck. She kept her gaze down, slipping it around Georgiou's throat before dating to stand behind her, moving to push her long hair from the way over her shoulder before she clipped both ends together.

Georgiou hissed as it activated. A holographic projector appearing up from the back panel; enabling her to modify the restrictions levels. Michael purse her lips. Eying the options. She knew not to push her luck, nor could she allow the loose cannon full range. The three settings were the most basic interface.

The first was the most restrictive; a continuous resonation to slow the vampire speed to an average human run; any faster could cause physical damage on risk to shatter. The setting includes the sensory aspects, such as frequencies that could be uncomfortable to their hearing. Any attempts to remove it without authorisation would activate it to cause the vampire form to freeze up and worse, a shatter response to long exposure. It was recommended for a New-born.

The second was the same but not to the same degree. Allowing a faster speed of movement and less effective against the senses. Removal would cause the freeze up response. Recommended on a last-month of the new-born term with human exposure

The last setting was the most basic of those options.

But Michael opted for the second option. She did want to put trust with Georgiou and the woman hadn't gone feral upon Tilly's scent. A good sign but it wasn't a full guarantee. The second option did give Georgiou leeway to the possibility of needing her speed and the benefit of trust to not jump to the worse conclusion. Trust wasn't going to be built by a full lock down with Georgiou's fragile nature in that regard. Michael pulled her hair back to cover the back. Georgiou's hand came and touched briefly over the metal band though it sat at the base of her throat; allowing for a shirt collar to cover. It was tight so the panel couldn't be moved to the front or tinkered with.

"It feels weird." Her tone dripped with distain.

"It's at a medium setting, you won't be nearly so fast but your strength is the same." Michael explained. "Thank you."

She got nothing back but a dark look so Michael returned to the bag. "From what I've read of Cornwell's plan, you'll be taking over the place of our Philippa Georgiou until this mission is over. This maintains the secrecy of the Terran Universe from everyone else."

Georgiou again said nothing but Michael ignored her as she pulled out a blue set of uniform. Captain's uniform. Her stomach tightened as the clean new badge but it wasn't unexpected; of course Cornwell would make logical use of the vampire's appearance… it just didn't feel easy. The Emperor slipping into the skin of her old Captain. Even if it was for show and for a brief moment of time. Saru would know of course… but all those on the Shenzhou that got drafted here, like Detmer? It was pulling on a very delicate thread that should not be touched…

Silently, Michael handed it over to her, crossing her arms though Georgiou took the uniform with an impassive expression though Michael took the long stare to move away and turn—preserving some dignity despite the fact Michael had otherwise seen the emperor in the state of undress a few days ago.

"Stamets is collecting a new batch of Spores for the jump to Quo'noS and should be done within the next hour or so. You're role, as I understand is to lead the team on the surface. Myself, Stamets and Tyler."

"Four Vampires and a human on the Klingon homeworld; how colourful." The dryness hung in the emperor's tone, the sliding of fabric following as it hit the floor.

"Tyler has a benign Klingon id from a Klingon that was graphed into his mind. He had sufficient inside Intel into Klingon Culture and the planet. He helped devise this plan with the admiral. We're to get to point A to B but the locals know where B is."

"Ah, so it's a reconnaissance mission. What are we looking for?" There was almost sarcasm in Georgiou's tone though there was a serious edge to it.

Michael could hear the tugs as the cotton was pulled up. She turned in time to see the clean black vest being pulled down and the blue jacket in hand. "Location for an active volcano system that's in a Molor Shrine. From what I know, it's on some…Orion outpost on the planet."

Georgiou snorted. "Orion outpost, I know the species. Slave traders, pirates and delinquents."

"Yes, a trait shared with our version of them too."

Georgiou nodded, though her lip curled up a fraction as she slipped the blue jacket on and steadily zipped it up. Michael stared softly; though the hair down was straight; wavier than it had been. It would steadily regain its natural curls though it still would need to be tied up.

"Pony tail, then you're all set." She flicked the bobble to the Emperor and snapped the badge into place on her uniform.

Michael walked with Georgiou, her senses half tuned to the new-born as they walked through the ship; getting her used to that too; it was unmistakeable to see the tenseness in the woman's posture, her breath was held and her eyes were almost black. Her eyes darted around, taking in the details until they got into the turbolift,

Then Michael heard Cornwell speak, directly to the bridge crew though she turned her attention back to the Emperor.

"You going to handle the bridge?"

Georgiou didn't move though she licked her lips. "My throat burns."

"You've got a replicator for blood in the ready room. Go there once we're in action and feed. It'll help. Hold your breath unless you want to speak. Cornwell's not going to hide the fact of what you are."

"I know all that. Don't keep telling me." Annoyance laced through the emperor's tone, "It's a bother to have to keep to scripts but you seriously need to back off from this. I know what I'm doing. I did read through Cornwell's debrief."

Michael eyed her for a moment then nodded once.

"…the long assumed dead, Captain Philippa Georgiou."

he turbolift doors opened and Philippa straightened herself up, red returning to her irises before she stepped out smoothly and paces; the evidence of her vampiric nature immediately showing by not only the slight glittered effect but the air around her was different; one that Detmer immediately knew having known the original—or the human one.

Michael followed behind her though moved to take her station, reliving the office from duty there.

"As many of you can see, Georgiou is now one of us. We recovered her from a Klingon prison ship we raided prior to Discovery's reappearance. Now, with her experiences, she's able to help us make this final push against the Klingons."

Michael's eyes lingered to Saru, noting the tense muscles of his face, his ganglia extended though putting up the brave-face to this. She could feel his body flush and how his heart raced; she could imagine his distaste of the vampire Terran using the face and clothes of the kind, human Captain they knew, loved and missed.

Detmer too, her jaw was tense, her eyebrows were pulled in but despite the look of eagerness in the woman's eyes, she didn't seem all relived. A hunch that something was off? Michael didn't know though she watched as The Emperor took up her role with a smile.

"Our jump to Quo'noS is nearly here. We all have our roles to play and if we're successful, the war end. Today." Georgiou spoke, directing to the Bridge crew, moving ahead towards the captain's chair, the front of her posture so open…so warm it was almost disconcerting.

"Let us win, Discovery." Cornwell Finished before she darted away.

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Paul grumbled as he puled up the sleeves of his leather jacket with full displeasure. He didn't like the idea of it. Starbase One was one thing he also didn't need to have happened, nor this. This was far out of his comfort zone. Jumping into a cave, good. Advertising his vampire nature to intimidate Orions, to get information…. Not so good. It was far out of his area; he never trained for that. Dressing up in this new gear; one that he had help with via his trusty cadet; Tilly was able to help establish his 'look'.

All of it was dark. Low cut pants with deep pockets, tight shirt but had a leather jacket with a scarf that sat around his neck. Tilly had added pits of metal studs to it to add an edge to it and had helped style his hair to look more rugged than his usual sweep back. It felt weird to feel like he was someone else.

He could feel that Hugh's eyes on him as he set up ready for the jump; feel his appreciation to this look; his attraction and interest. Paul couldn't blame him; this was far out his usual style and Hugh hadn't seem it so drastic before. He shouldn't be surprised Hugh would have liked to see him experiment with his wardrobe.

"You don't need to be so stressed" Hugh replied, his arms across over his chest, a smile on his lips. "You'll do great."

Paul pursed his lips, undoing the other zip to his sleeve to expose his augments to his arms. "I hate a rush order. Jumping them having to go to the transporters to the surface… something could go wrong!"

Hugh reached forwards, touching his cool flesh. "Then you'll be zipped back to help."

The vampire gave his mate at the remark, not falling for his attempts of comfort though he was touched, relaxing into his hand before he slipped his arms around him, pulling him close. Hugh moved, catching his lips into a kiss…

"We're ready!"

Paul pulled away with an annoyed hiss as Michael called though the comms. He could hear her and the others walked; disappearing towards the transporter's room. Conforming that he had to get to place.

He pecked Hugh's lips once before darting into the cube, his augments flickering open before the drive began to get ready.

"Are you ready, Lieutenant Stamets?"

"As ready as I ever will be jumping our ship into a Klingon Cave on an old, Vulcan map, Sir." He replied to Saru, glad for once it was him, not Georgiou

"Very well. Black alert."

Paul took a redundant breath in and held, feeling and hearing as the spores were released into the drive… the energy shifting in the air…then the needles before he felt the ship rumble and twist…

Then the low sensations of distortions that ran through his mind, images and flickers…it rattled own his spine but it felt natural; familiar…. He could tell the vast differences; finding the pocket concealed so deep….

Then the ship twisted out of the motion, coming to a steep stop before gravity kicked in…

They had made it.