Title: Dauntless: Forgotten Heroes (7-8/?)
Author: Shadowlander1@gmx.net
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Star Trek: The Next Generation; or the X-Men and their sister team the New Mutants; they belong to others and are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: PG
Pairing: still working on that one, I'm afraid. :)
Archive: The usual places all others please ask first.
Summary: The mystery deepens or something to that effect anyway.

DAUNTLESS: FORGOTTEN HEROES (7-8/?)

Captain's Log
Stardate: 41798.2
Recording -

We have finally left Starbase 344 and have returned to our original heading for the Turkana system at high warp. The more I think about this mystery that has been dropped into our laps, the more puzzling it becomes. An indirect inquiry made on the Enterprise shows that our sudden need of additional supplies was ordered just a little over a week and a half ago... right after my initial report to Starfleet Command was made. It makes no sense, what does Fleet Command know that they have saw fit not to tell us? Why the additional supplies that will keep this ship operating continuingly for the next fifty years at a minimum without limited rationing?

The Dauntless is not a deep space explorer; such supplies are not needed for our primary ship functions. And yet the preliminary cargo and supply inventory all show that we have been stocked for continuous deep space... as well as prolonged military operations. This latest revelation troubles me, my ship has been prepared for war and Starfleet Command has neglected to inform me whom the enemy is.

My contacts at Headquarters have all gone quiet; save for Jean-Luc and Moira who have both pledged to use their own resources to help find me some answers. I'm not sure what they will be able to find, they are both tied to their respective ships, but I have found over the years they are a lot craftier then many give them credit for. If there are answers they will find them, of this I have little doubt.

Another, equally troubling mystery is this "Slayer" that has been assigned to my ship, with the 'honourary' rank of Lieutenant. According to Starfleet, Elizabeth Ann Summers has never attended the Academy and yet holds a commissioned rank. Furthermore, the Federation Council has sealed most of her record, what connections does this young woman have with the governing body of the Federation?

My first encounter with the Slayer has left me with more questions when answers, however I was able to order a 'truce' between this Chosen One and my Security Chief. Sacred duty or not, I cannot have her staking my Second Officer, even if he is a vampire. While I am not totally sure what I'm supposed to do with a Slayer, I will find her something to do. She will learn every department and function aboard this ship, in the process I am hoping that we will learn more about her. From my initial impression I gather that Lieutenant Summers does not 'play well with others', perhaps her presents here is just as much of a mystery to her. As for Professor Joyce Summers, her record is impeccable I'm lucky Jean-Luc hasn't gotten hold of the woman first. Professor Summers will make a valuable addition to the Science Department, her knowledge of ancient art and culture alone has my Chief Science Officer practically drooling.

On a final note, the return of one Riley Finn to the ranks of my crew has caused a minor problem. Lieutenant Finn outranks the cadets I have assigned to key positions. Giving his prior actions and known hostilities toward non-humans I have taken steps to ensure that he will be unable to pull rank on certain members of the command staff. Effective immediately, Cadets Kitty Pryde, Douglas Ramsey, and Rahne Sinclair are field promoted to the rank of Lieutenant with all rights and privileges there of. Cadets Cordelia Chase and Willow Rosenberg are field promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander permanently assigned to the positions of Operations Officer and Chief Engineer respectfully.

End Recording.

***********************

"Rahne... you can't kill him," Commander Yar said to the growling young medic seated opposite her in the main crew lounge. "That's an order."

With another low growl Lieutenant Rahne Sinclair acknowledged the executive officer, "Aye... I won't tear out his heart." Crossing her arms over her chest, the short haired redhead tried to get control of her temper, as much as she wanted too, she wouldn't rip out Riley Finn's heart and hand it back to him.

Knowing that it was the best she was going to get out of the younger officer, the Commander turned her attention to other matters, "Now that we got that settled, we can talk about your other problem. Commander Blood wants you in Security... he feels your unique abilities can best be used in his department, of course so does the Chief Medical Officer," she said with a slight grin, referring to Sinclair's ability to shape shift from human to wolf. "I happen to agree with both of them, your enhanced senses alone make you invaluable on Away Team missions in unknown and possible hostile territory. You are able to follow the faintest of scents anywhere that makes you ideal for rescue and recovery operations. Your ability to use your senses to assist in administrating first-aid is just a bounce... Commander Blood would be a fool not to want you on his staff. He also likes the idea that you come with your own set of claws and fangs to aid in 'scaring the hell out of the enemy when he is otherwise indisposed'." Yar added with a smirk.

"Aye... he has mentioned that a time or two," Rahne replied dryly, remembering the little Ferengi he was willing to feed to her when they were looking for their missing Captain last year. While she wasn't all that sure she would want to eat a Ferengi, at the time growling at the annoying little twit and shifting to her tallest transitional form did have the desired result. Kitty Pryde only had to threaten to phase the Ferengi into a wall once to get him to shut up.

"Aside from the claw thing... the very things that makes you ideal for Security makes you ideal for working in the Trauma Bay," Yar said after a moment, brushing aside a lock of her own short blonde hair out of her eyes. "Now after a lot of thought I've decided to permanently assign you to the newly created post of Chief of Emergency Operations, you will work with both Security and Medical. Your responsibilities will be to provide additional support for both departments, aboard ship and on Away Teams."

"Okay," Rahne said a bit unsure, "who do I report to?"

"Me," Tasha replied, her eyes shining with mischief, "I will be your immediate superior. You'll pull your staff form the other department ranks; its strictly volunteer but all of the Cadet force will serve at least six months with you. I want to exploit as many of our talents as possible."

"Ya seem like your expecting something," Rahne noted, cocking her head to one side and giving the First Officer a closer look using those enhanced senses the CSO and CMO seemed so fond of. 'Interesting... her adrenaline level is up, heart rate a bit evaluated too... blood pressure... not bad. But she's worried about something,' Rahne thought, her hearing picking up the Executive Officer's heartbeats and noting the minute changes in Yar's scent. Making a mental note to keep an eye on Tasha, a little feeling telling the young werewolf that something bad was about to happen. Rahne hated that feeling, it was usually correct and often meant she was going to end up doing something really inhuman and down right disturbing to someone or something. Shaking her head slightly, Sinclair refocused her thoughts on what Yar was saying, the two soon into a deep conversation about sitting up and running the newly created department of Emergency Operations.

***********************************

"Chief of Emergency Operations... it has such a nice ring to it," Lieutenant Commander Willow Rosenberg said from the open hatchway of Rahne's new office, a big goofy looking grin on her face as she regarded her friend and roommate.

"Na ya too," Rahne groaned, with a shake of her head, as she looked up from her desk. "Don ya have something to be checking in tha' engine room of yours?"

"Rahney... I'm hurt, you actually think I would miss your office warming party?" Willow cried sounded offended as she stepped further into the room, "its not everyday my roomy gets promoted to a brand new post." She said sounding offended, "er, just what exactly is it you do?" She questioned after a moment.

"I'm not quite sure... all I know is tha' Commander Yar sat me down an' told me that I could na kill tha' git Finn an' then told me I had a new job," Rahne said with another shake of her head.

"That sounds like our XO... when in doubt confuse the lower ranks," Willow said with a laugh having given up trying to figure out the first officer's sense of logic shortly after meeting her. Commander Yar tended to be an enigma, just when you think you understand her, she changes on you, some new aspect of her personality emerges blowing your perception of her right out the window.

"Er... excuse me," a new voice said as a petite blonde appeared in the hatchway, "I'm looking for a Lieutenant Sinclair."

"Aye, ya found her... ya must be Lieutenant Summers," Rahne replied as the two redheads turned to regard the new comer.

"How did you know?" Buffy Summers questioned a bit hesitantly.

"Process of elimination... I know just about everyone on board," Rahne replied with a calm smile, not exactly lying to the blonde, she did know most of the crew and passengers aboard the ship. Mainly through their scent, but she did know who was and wasn't apart of the vessels compliment, but she didn't think Summers was ready to learn that little fact just yet, most people tended to get nervous when they found out they were talking to a werewolf.

"Okay," Buffy replied, absently wondering how anyone could know well over a thousand people enough to know if there was a stranger in the neighbourhood or not. "The Captain said I had to report to you."

"Cool... your first subordinate," Willow crowed happily, "this is so neat, you have someone to order and growl at... not that you actually growl at people on a daily bases because you don't you usually go into the holodeck and beat up defenseless holograms for hours and hours."

"Ya have to forgive our Chief Engineer... she got hit with a sonic wrench the other day and hasna been the same since," Rahne commented dryly.

"Ha ha... I'll remember that the next time you destroy your uniform," Willow replied playfully swinging at her friend. "I'm Willow by the way," she said introducing herself to the blonde, "don't listen to a thing Wolfy here has to say about me... she's known me all my life and is quite biased in her opinion of me."

"Ah huh," the blonde acknowledged, giving the two a puzzled look. At first she had mistaken them for siblings, both had red hair and green eyes, although Rahne wore hers very short and on closer inspection her eyes had a touch of blue in them as well. About the only difference she could tell in them were their accents; Lieutenant Sinclair had a thick Scots blur.

"Hey no tormenting the new guy until after she's been aboard for more then a week," Lieutenant Miller said coming up behind Buffy, "you must be the Slayer, I'm Lieutenant Miller Assistant Chief of Security," he said holding out his hand to her. "I've been looking forward to meeting you... hoping you'll drop by Security and give us a few pointers in the slaying department, we always like to get the opinion of a professional."

"Huh?... Wait, wait... you know I'm the Slayer?" Buffy questioned panicking a bit.

"Small ship, not many secrets around here," Willow replied gently, "well there are, mainly the really important ones, like the transponder codes and the exact contents of Doctor Crusher's favourite hypo but other then that, we're pretty open about everything."

"Don't let it bother you... in fact by our standards you are pretty normal," Miller said taking pity on her, "we take great pride on our diversity we never had an actual Chosen One among the crew... we're planning a large welcome aboard party for you and everything."

"You're going to throw me a party," Buffy said slowly wondering if Miller was some escaped patient out of Sickbay's mental ward.

"Well why not? We like being different any ship can be the finest in the Fleet but how many do you know that have a vampire in charge of Security, a sorceress in engineering," he went on indicating Willow as the magic user with a nod of his head, "and an actual werewolf in charge of Emergency Operations?" he continued with a nod to Rahne.

"You see around here... Graham there is a complete freak of nature, being all boring one hundred percent human," Willow added helpfully.

"I love you too," Graham replied dryly, "you see what I have to put up with around here?"

"Okay," Buffy said shaking her head dismissively, then something occurred to her, "you guys are okay with a vampire being in charge of Security?"

"Why not? He gave his word not to snack on any of the crew and Commander Blood would sooner take a bath in holy water then break his word."

"Don tell anyone but his conscience won let him," Rahne said sitting back in her chair and studying the Slayer. 'Well hello? What is this?' she asked herself picking up something on the blonde she usually only associated with Commander Yar only a bit stronger coming from Buffy.

"A vampire with a conscience, yeah right." Buffy replied with a laugh sure the three were putting her on now.

"Really he does... he hates admitting it but he does have one," Willow said, "we're not saying that all vampires have a conscience.., because a lot of them don't especially the really young ones."

"It has a lot to do when they are turned, the Commander was turned when honour still played a large part in society," Miller continued, "it's like the memories... the demon shares all of its host's memories... well it also tends to share in its emotions and conscience they bleed right on over as much as a vampire hates to admit it. Commander Blood happens to respect our Captain he would sooner stake himself then disgrace that respect."

"Now th' young ones they tend to have na such quarks in their psyche... they are more inta blood and mindless violence... those vamps we stake," Rahne said.

"So the Security Chief has a soul," Buffy said making sure she understood properly.

"No... he has a conscience... he's still one soulless bastard of a vampire but he's an honest one." Miller corrected, "look... once you're been here for a awhile you're start to notice a few things, one is that the Security Chief is one strange as hell demon and he likes being that way. Two we tend to be stubborn, possessive, and very territorial about who and what we consider ours... especially Rahne over there she is the absolute worse about it."

"I am not possessive or territorial," Rahne cried in outrage.

"You'll note she is not denying the stubborn part," Miller said in a conspiring whisper to the Slayer, a wide grin on his face.

A low growl brought Buffy's attention back to Rahne who was giving the male a dark look, "And you're a werewolf... don't you have a little problem with the whole moon thing?" She asked remembering her few encounters with werewolves in the past that usually involved a lot of growling and drooling.

"Why does everyone keep askin me tha'?" Rahne questioned to no one in particular looking mildly offended. "Na the moon doesna cause me to 'wolf out' an' try to rip people apart... I am na cursed, silver only ends up annoying me an' na ta mention puts me ina very bad mood. The only time I've ever instinctively shape shifted was when I've been scared... but a lot of mutants tend ta have the same reflexive action... ya probably do the same thing when sufficiently startled." She explained with a calm smile, wondering if she was ever going to live down thousands of years of persecution, you say werewolf and people automatically think she is some snarling mindless creature come to eat them.

"Ah... yeah," Buffy replied sheepishly, recalling the time she accidentally put her fist through a metal wall just after she was 'called' and was still getting used to the sudden change in her strength. That was one of the toughest things she had to get used to, not knowing her own strength any more.

"The only time the moon has ever effected me is when we have been in orbit around a planet for a prolong period of time and I've become acclimated to its lunar pull." Sinclair added with her own sheepish grin.

"Its not the fullness of the moon that causes problems for her... it's how strong the lunar pull is, it tends to throw off Rahne's control," Miller added, "she doesn't go wild or anything, it just makes her moodier then usual and more prone to lose her temper."

"Ah but what happens if we're in orbit around a moon?" Buffy asked with a wicked grin, deciding to just go with it and see what happens, her little inner Slayer voice saying that she was going to feel right at home.

"You know... I think you're going to fit right in around here," Willow replied with a grin, liking her new friend already, as Rahne and Miller laughed.

After the laughter died down, "Look I got to run, due in a meeting in twenty minutes... once you get settled in, swing by Security and we'll get you fitted for a stiletto," Miller said, casting a glance at the office wall clock.

"Stiletto?"

"Yeah... a little invention most of Security carries," he added, holding up one arm and extending the eleven inch razor sharp blade from the its hiding place under his uniform sleeve, "prefect for staking a bothersome vamp while on away team missions and is also useful against other possible threats." He said with a wicked grin, "it's made of Klingon iron wood damn near indestructible and very deadly."

"All the properties of wood for dusting of the undead, but still versatile enough to be used as a knife in hand to hand combat," Willow continued, "a lot of the crew carry them, using them as a back up incase they lose their phaser and such."

"And the vampire... Commander Blood approves of this?" Buffy questioned studying the blade and it's housing as Miller shoved up his sleeve to give her a better look at the stiletto.

"Approves? Bloody hell... the man helped design it," Rahne said with a laugh. "Ta him... we're his kids the whole bloody lot of us... and if ya think I'm possessive ya should see him when it comes ta those he considers his."

"Vampires can be very possessive... dangerously at times," Buffy noted filing away the information automatically.

"Aye we know... an' in other situations he would be tryin to turn the lot of us, if it wasna for the Captain," Rahne acknowledged with a slight grin.

"He even thinks of turning one of us without our consent and the Captain would happily beam him into the nearest sun," Miller replied with a wicked grin of his own.

"Hey, if you wanted to serve on a sane ship... you should have gotten transferred to the Enterprise," Willow suggested helpfully with a wide grin.

End Parts Seven and Eight.

Note 1: The butchering of Rahne's accent was brought to you by me... I'm German what the hell do I know about a Scots blur? If anyone out there can help me out in that department your assistance is most helpful. :)

Note 2: For anyone who is interested, the stardate I used was for the Next Gen episode "The Arsenal of Freedom"... while to most non-Trekkers the date doesn't mean much. To die-hard, and somewhat fanatical, Trekkers the date is rather funny, you see Arsenal was episode 21 of the first season of the Next Generation. In episode 22, "Skin of Evil" Tasha Yar was killed off; the stardate for that was 41601.3... strange how she managed to pull that one off. Episode 23 was even stranger; it was Yar's last appearance in the series but was shown after she got killed! Figure that one out. :) {No stardate was given for episode 23, "Symbiosis".} I know I know, no pulling out 'The Star Trek Encyclopedia" to look this useless trivia up in, I just find the information amusing is all.