Nintendo Trek: Voyager
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Paramount Productions. All Nintendo characters belong to Nintendo and Shigeru Miamyoto. I wish Malon was mine though. **drool.** Anyway, enjoy the story.
Chapter 1
Caretaker Part One
The Nintendo Federation has since made a treaty with the Koopa Empire. The war between the two is over, but the treaty leaves a large strip of 'neutral' space that the Federation does not patrol. Taking advantage of this fact, the ruthless Koopas raid the planets and colonies in the neutral zone mercilessly. A small band of rebels, calling themselves the Maquis, have risen up to oppose the Koopas. They have antagonized both the Koopas and Nintendo Fleet, who they believe should have fought more for their rights. As we join the story, a lone Maquis Arwing flees from a Koopa warship.
Boom! The fire from the Koopa vessel rocked the small cyber ship. The captain of the ragtag crew gripped his seat. His name was Fox McCloud, and he was worried. He didn't show it, of course, but the shots from the Koopa warship were getting rather close to the warp core. His engineer, Malon Torres assured him that the ship still had some life left in it, but his gut told him that the Koopas were getting close to disabling them. He glanced around the bridge. He knew every face here. At the helm, Zelda, a Sheikah. Logical in all things, but a darn good officer. Malon Torres-half- Kremling, half-Hyrulian, all spunk-was the engineer, one of the best he'd seen in a long time. Ruto controlled the weapons, and was inflicting almost as much damage to the Koopa ship as they were inflicting on the Arwing. They were his three most trusted officers, and the three best on his ship. Another blow rocked the ship. The view screen beeped, and the ugly face of a Koopa appeared. "This is Gul Bowser of the Koopa. Surrender!" "Options?" Fox barked, ignoring the Koopa officer. "Not many," replied Malon, her console displaying the ship's schematics. "Wait.all systems draw from the same source. If we stop firing, the impulse engines will have more power to work with. We should be able to make it into the Badlands. The Koopa ship may be bigger, but that's a disadvantage in the middle of a plasma storm." "Do it!" Fox ordered. Ruto immediately ceased fire and cut power to her console. The small ship sped up just enough to fly into the Badlands ahead of the Koopa warship. Possessed of greater maneuverability, the Arwing dodged around the plasma eddies-the trademark of the Badlands, capable of destroying a ship in one shot. The Koopa warship was not so lucky. A plasma blast caught one of its wings, and it was forced to veer off before it sustained more serious damage. Fox let out a silent sigh of relief. "Let's get out of here." he said. Their celebration was short-lived though. "Sensor are picking something up," Zelda stated, hands flying across her console. "A beam of some sort, tetrion based." "Evasive maneuvers!" barked Fox. The tiny ship lurched in an attempt to avoid the oncoming tetrion beam. It failed.
The sun beat down upon the lush Kakriko landscape. The town had once been a bustle of activity, a popular vacation spot. It now served as a very pretty penal colony. In one part or another of said penal colony, a man was hard at work. He was dressed sparsely in a loose green tunic and matching pants. A lock of blonde hair fell over his face. Absent-mindedly, he brushed it away. He ran his tool over the broken down machine in front of him, deciding where to start. He didn't notice the redheaded woman approaching behind him. "Link Paris, right?" Link jumped, startled. Behind him was a pretty young woman dressed in the command red of Nintendo Fleet. Her red hair was cropped up into a bun. To his surprise, she was smiling warmly. "My name is Kathryn Nabooru. I served with your father on the Game & Watch." Link nodded curtly. "I suppose you're a good officer then. He only accepted the best and the brightest." Nabooru nodded. "I've come for your help." Link arched an eyebrow. "I guess I'm yours." Nabooru frowned slightly. She'd heard of this, his roguish charm. "Three days ago, a Maquis ship entered the Badlands and disappeared. That ship had my security officer aboard. She hasn't reported back in. I've been assigned to find them." "No Nintendo Fleet ship could maneuver through the Badlands." "You haven't seen Voyager." replied Nabooru. "You want me to help track down my old 'friends' in the Maquis?" Link spat out the word 'friends' like a doctor says the word 'Ebola.' "I was only in the Maquis for a week or two. I don't know the locations of most of their secret bases." "You're still the resident expert." said Nabooru, smiling as usual. "And you also know there's no love lost between me and the Maquis. Let me guess who was captaining that vessel. Fox McCloud?" Nabooru nodded, but didn't say anything. "Fox was a patriot, taking up arms to defend his planet from the Koopas. He hated me from the start. As far as McCloud was concerned, I was a mercenary, just in there for the money. And he was right." Nabooru listened intently to the story. Then Link changed the subject. "So what's in it for me if I help you?" "You will come aboard as an observer, and help us track down the Maquis ship. If you cooperate, we'll put in a good word for you at the Parole Board." Link was incredulous. "An observer? I could be the best pilot you've got!" "We've got a pilot already. You would be an observer and nothing more." Link paused a moment before agreeing.
It hadn't taken long to get Link looking acceptable. He was issued a Federation uniform, shaven, and generally cleaned up. Before he knew it, he was on the shuttle pod up to BSL Deep Space Station #9 where Voyager was docked. The pilot rattled off some technical information about the ship, including the bio-neural gel packs that sped up its response time. When they docked, he headed straight for the bar.
A lone Starfleet officer sat at the bar. He had only one pip on his collar, dressed in a green jumpsuit. An ensign, thought Link. Probably fresh out of the Academy. As he watched, the young ensign was accosted by the bartender, a Happy Mask, the salesmen-and con men-of the universe. When the poor Italian ensign made the mistake of saying he was 'warned about Happy Masks,' the cunning alien threw a tizzy fit designed to force the ensign to buy the worthless jewelry he was selling. Link decided to step in and help. "I think I saw someone selling those same stones over there.at half your price." he told the Happy Mask. The bartender moved briskly towards the end of the bar Link pointed to, muttering about unfair business practices. "Didn't they warn you about Happy Masks?" Link asked jovially. The ensign grinned and offered his hand. "My name's Kim. Luigi Kim." "Link Paris. Nice to meet you, Luigi."
The two boarded Voyager soon after, and checked in with the Chief Medical Officer. It was not altogether a pleasant visit. The CMO knew Link-or his reputation at least-and was curt and even a little rude with him. When Luigi asked why the doctor thought so low of Link, the young man brushed him off. "It's a long story, and I'm tired of telling it. Won't take long for someone to tell you."
The bell to the captain's Ready Room beeped. "Come in!" she called out. The doors slid open, and Link and Luigi entered. Nabooru stood up and greeted them warmly. "Thank you, sir." replied Luigi. He realized his error a moment later and amended, "I mean, thank you ma'am." "Ma'am will do in a crunch, Luigi. I prefer Captain. Now at ease, before you strain something." She showed them to the bridge and introduced them to her first officer. While he warmly welcomed Luigi, he only grudgingly accepted Link's hand. Kim looked over his Ops station. "Satisfactory, Mr. Luigi?" asked Nabooru "Yes ma'am." replied Luigi. "It's not crunch time yet. I'll tell you when." And so the ship began to move away from the space station.
Luigi sat down next to Link in the mess hall. "Someone just told me." "Told you it wouldn't take long." Link interrupted. "Is it true?" "Was the accident my fault? Yeah. Pilot error. Took me a while to admit it." "I'm told you falsified the record." Link only nodded. "Why?" "Who cares? I lied." "And then you came forward and admitted it?" Paris nodded again. "I'm going to tell you the truth, Luigi. All I had to do was keep silent, and no one would have known. But the ghosts of the three dead crewmen haunted me in the night. So I confessed. Worst mistake I ever made, but not my last. Once I was thrown out of Starfleet, I joined the Maquis. And on my first assignment, I was caught." "Must have been hard on you, being the son of an admiral." "I think it was harder on my father than on me. Listen, Luigi. They've told you to stay away from me. Listen to them. I'm no good luck charm." Luigi shook his head. "I don't need anyone to pick my friends for me." It was then that Nabooru hailed them. They were approaching the Badlands.
Looking over maps and data forwarded by Gul Bowser, they plotted a course, and entered the Badlands. They had only been in for a few minutes when Luigi's console started beeping. "We're being scanned by a tetrion beam of unknown origin. And.great. We're being pursued by a displacement wave." They attempted to neutralize the wave, and failed. They couldn't go to warp in the Badlands. Nabooru had just enough time to shout "Brace for impact!" before the wave engulfed them.
When the wave broke, the bridge was a tangled smoky mess. Casualties were being reported on deck after deck. Corpses littered the ground. Link clawed his way to a console and pulls himself up. The pilot and the first officer were dead. Luigi reported a hull breach on deck 14, and Nabooru ordered a repair team down there. Then Luigi noticed something else on sensors. "There's something out there." "Get me a visual." demanded Nabooru. The view screen fizzled to life, revealing a huge tree-like array floating in front of them. Every few seconds, it let out a pulse of energy. None of them were quite sure what it is. Luigi had more news. "Captain. If my sensors are correct.we're 70,000 light years from our last position. We're.we're on the other side of the galaxy." Everyone stood and gaped, not knowing what to do.
They hovered next to the array, which dwarfed them just as Voyager dwarfed the Maquis Arwing floating next to them. It was the ship they were looking for, but there were no life signs aboard. The array was shielded from their scans. Engineering called in noting that the chief engineer is dead, and the warp core is near breaching. No word from sickbay. Nabooru ordered Luigi and Link to sickbay while she took care of engineering.
Sickbay was burning. Luigi and Link assessed the damage and searched for survivors. None. Both doctor and nurse were dead. Luigi busied himself putting out the flames. After sickbay was pronounced stable, the casualties started pouring in-some on their own, some with assistance. Luigi called out to the computer and activated the Emergency Medical Hologram, a system designed by Dr. Tom Light for use when a 'real' doctor is unavailable. When the EMH materialized, it became clear that the good doctor had modeled him after his own appearance. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." said the Holodoc. "Multiple percussive injuries." replied Luigi. "Status of your doctor?" "He's dead." Luigi responded crisply. Doc held out his hand, expecting a hypospray to be slapped into it. "The nurse is dead too." Link explained. Annoyed, the EMH grabbed a hypospray himself, and injected it into a bleeding crewman on the table. "When can a replacement doctor be expected?" the doctor queried, finishing up with yet another crewman. "That's going to be a problem, Doc.we're a long way from home." Luigi responded. The EMH moved to the next bed. "Tricorder." he demanded Luigi unstrapped the tricorder from his belt and slapped it into the doc's hands. Holodoc scowled. "Medical tricorder." Link tossed Luigi the appropriate device, and the doctor continued his work. "You'll have to find a new doctor soon. I'm designed only as a short-term emergency supplement to the medical team." Link shook his head. "I've got a feeling you're going to be here for a while, Doc."
In engineering, Nabooru seemed to have the situation well under control. The warp core breach had been averted. Then the bridge contacted her with the news that they were being scanned. Before she could ask what kind of scan, people started to disappear. She tried to shout an order to the computer, but she was gone too.
In sickbay, the Doctor gave a female crewman the once-over. "You're not seriously injured. You may return to your station." She nodded, pushed herself up into a sitting position, and disappeared. Doc blinked, not used to having an order obeyed so quickly. As he looked around him, the rest of the people in sickbay vanished as well. "They forgot to turn me off." he muttered, sitting down on a bio-bed.
Nabooru, Link, Luigi, and some other crewmembers materialized in what looked like an Iowa cornfield. They took some scans, indicating that they were on the Array. As they left the cornfield, they found themselves at a 'Little House on the Prairie' style log cabin, complete with a plump, friendly woman with a tray of cookies standing in the door. Their confusion only increased as more friendly yokels appeared. Glasses of lemonade were being thrust into crewmembers' hands, banjo music was playing, and pretty farmer's daughters were making goo-goo eyes at Link. This would be disconcerting enough in Iowa. In a tree-shaped space station 70,000 light years from home, it was downright scary.
With nerves set on Red Alert, the crew began taking more scans. Link reported that the whole crew was accounted for, scattered throughout the 'farm.' Nabooru nodded. "You and Luigi go look for the holo-generator that's doing this." The two nodded in agreement and set off, just as the plump woman came down, offering corn on the cob, and repeating that she was 'sorry for the inconvenience.'
Link and Luigi found themselves being followed by a friendly ranch dog and one of the aforementioned farmer's daughters. When the girl suggested they go down to the Root Cellar, which, she promised, was nice and private, Luigi pulled out his tricorder and instantly started scanning in that direction. Link, meanwhile, seemed to have his tractors set on the girl next door. "She's only a hologram, Link." Luigi warned. "That's no reason to be rude." replied Link, smiling at the beautiful, young.hologram. Luigi's readings finally got interesting when he scanned a big red barn. "I'm picking up a floracystian life form inside." he stated, heading for the barn. Link followed, choosing duty over booty. The girl attempted to block their way and convince them to look elsewhere-which only made them more determined to see what was in the barn. Luigi detected a holo- generator, and more life signs-Sheikah, and two Hyrulian-behind the back wall. They headed straight for it, but the girl blocked their way. Her face was different now. Angry. "I'm not ready for you yet!" she growled. Behind them, the ranch pup snarled like an attack dog. Link tapped his communicator to contact Nabooru, but the girl backhanded him, knocking him into the wall. He had managed to get the message off, though, and Nabooru and the rest of the crew arrived at the barn. The Delta Quadrant yokels got there first. They were holding pitchforks, and didn't look so friendly anymore. The plump woman stepped forward. "Since none of you wants to try my corn on the cob, we'll proceed ahead of schedule."
Darkness. Screams. Nabooru lay on a bio-bed, illuminated by blue light. She bit back a moan as a needle plunged into her chest.
.And awakened back on Voyager. She hailed the bridge, demanding a status report. An ensign reported that they were on the Array for three days. And the Maquis ship was powering engines. Nabooru ordered a tractor beam. In sickbay, Holodoc followed Link, demanding answers. Link ignored him, and hailed the captain with the news that Luigi had not been returned. He blew out of sickbay and headed back to the bridge.
Nabooru stepped out of the turbolift. The computer reported that only Luigi had not been returned. Hoping that he had been mis-transported, she hailed the Maquis ship. Fox's face appeared on the screen. "Commander Fox McCloud?" "How do you know my name?" Fox asked. "We were sent to find your ship after you disappeared. One of our crewmembers is missing. Is he on your ship?" "No," Fox replied, "But one of our crewmembers is missing too. Malon Torres." "We have the same problem then. It would make sense for us to work together." Fox looked at Zelda, who nodded. The Maquis ship dropped its shield and the three were beamed aboard. Link arrived on the bridge just in time to see the three armed, back-to- back Maquis materialize. Nabooru assured them they wouldn't need their weapons. Slowly, the three lowered their phasers. Nabooru smiled at the Sheikah. "It's good to have you back Mrs. Zelda." Fox's jaw dropped. Zelda stood at attention, and informed Fox that she was Nabooru's chief of security, sent to infiltrate the Maquis. "And deliver us into Nintendo Fleet's waiting hands." finished Fox. "No," corrected the Sheikah. "I was to gather all information on the Maquis that I could. Then I would deliver you to Nintendo Fleet." Fox's face soured even more when he saw Link on the bridge. "Good to see you too, Fox." Link said mock-amiably. "At least Zelda was doing her duty as a Nintendo Fleet officer. What was your reward? Freedom from prison? Rupees? What was your price this time?" Nabooru stepped between them and addressed Fox. "Mr. Link is a member of my crew, and you will treat him with the same respect as you would have me treat one of yours." Fox nodded, and his anger slowly receded. Nabooru reminded them all that their purpose was to find their missing crewmen, and asked for suggestions. Zelda spoke up, hypothesizing that the holo-representation was a sort of waiting room, designed to make them feel comfortable before the experiment was preformed. Nabooru agreed, and decided that she and Fox would take compression phase rifles and search for their missing crewmen aboard the Array. Zelda would also come aboard with them, and attempt to learn as much about the Array as he could. As they left, Link ran up to them. "If this is about Fox." Nabooru began. "It isn't!" Link said sincerely. "It's just that.I don't want to see anything happen to Luigi." Nabooru paused, then nodded her approval. The four strode off the bridge.
Aboard the Array, Nabooru, Fox, and Link walked through the cornfields, guns in one hand, tricorders in the other. There didn't seem to be any life signs. Zelda joined them soon afterward with a similar report. Then they noticed one of the banjo players from before sitting underneath a tree. They converged upon him in seconds. He wasn't happy to see them. "Why art thou doing back? Thou dost not have what I need." "We want our crewmembers back. And to get back home." "Thou art contentious for a minor bipedal species." the 'Banjo Man' laughed. "This 'minor bipedal species' doesn't take kindly to being abducted." rebuked Nabooru, hands on her hips. "Thou dost not have what I need." the old man repeated. "They might. Thou shalt have to leave." Nabooru repeated her demands for their crewmembers, but Banjo Man waved his hand dismissively and explained that they were no longer on the array. Nabooru started to lecture him about responsibility. "No, I do understand that." the old man replied, the lecture striking a chord. "But I hath no choice. There's no time left." "Time for what?" Nabooru demanded. "I must honor a debt that can never be repaid." Nabooru offered him all the Federation resources at their disposal if he would tell them the problem. Banjo Man laughed. "I hath tried things thy puny comprehension would choke on. Thou cannot help." Nabooru repeated her demands to be sent home with her people. The Banjo Man reiterated that there was no time, that 'sending them back was terribly complicated.' In exasperation, he waved his hand dismissively, and the away team vanished and reappeared on Voyager.
Luigi awoke in a strange, green, sterile-looking room. He was surrounded by strangers, who were talking in hushed tones, telling him he was ill. He began to protest that he wasn't ill, until he noticed the strange, lumpy outgrowths on his arms and chest. He wasn't alone. A cry of 'NO!' came from the bed next to him. A red haired woman leaped up from her bed and started knocking the green-robed strangers aside in a rush to get to the door. One of them signaled an alert. Just as Malon Torres reached the door, it opened, another of the strangers beside it. He injected the half-Kremling with a sedative, and led her back to her bio-bed. Luigi looked on in shock.
Captain's log, gamedate 48315.6. We've traced the energy pulses to the fifth planet in the neighboring system. We believe they may have been used in some fashion to transport Luigi Kim and Malon Torres to the planet's surface. Nabooru sat in her darkened quarters, nursing a galactic migraine. Zelda entered, dressed once again in a Nintendo Fleet uniform. She noted that the Array's energy pulses were increasing in frequency, though she had no explanation. Nabooru added that the planet the energy was going too had no water, and no nucleogenic particles, meaning no water could be produced. She decided that an environmental catastrophe must have occurred. "You should get some sleep. The crew will not benefit from the leadership of an exhausted captain." Zelda noted, all business as usual. "You're right, as usual." Nabooru responded with a grin. "I talked to your family before I left. They're worried you." "Sheikah do not worry." Zelda replied, reminding the captain of the Sheikah's practice of suppressing their emotions. "They miss you." Nabooru amended. "I miss them too." Zelda admitted. Nabooru smiled and promised to get her home. Zelda left, leaving Nabooru to stare out into space, and at the Array that had brought them here.
Disclaimer: Star Trek is the property of Paramount Productions. All Nintendo characters belong to Nintendo and Shigeru Miamyoto. I wish Malon was mine though. **drool.** Anyway, enjoy the story.
Chapter 1
Caretaker Part One
The Nintendo Federation has since made a treaty with the Koopa Empire. The war between the two is over, but the treaty leaves a large strip of 'neutral' space that the Federation does not patrol. Taking advantage of this fact, the ruthless Koopas raid the planets and colonies in the neutral zone mercilessly. A small band of rebels, calling themselves the Maquis, have risen up to oppose the Koopas. They have antagonized both the Koopas and Nintendo Fleet, who they believe should have fought more for their rights. As we join the story, a lone Maquis Arwing flees from a Koopa warship.
Boom! The fire from the Koopa vessel rocked the small cyber ship. The captain of the ragtag crew gripped his seat. His name was Fox McCloud, and he was worried. He didn't show it, of course, but the shots from the Koopa warship were getting rather close to the warp core. His engineer, Malon Torres assured him that the ship still had some life left in it, but his gut told him that the Koopas were getting close to disabling them. He glanced around the bridge. He knew every face here. At the helm, Zelda, a Sheikah. Logical in all things, but a darn good officer. Malon Torres-half- Kremling, half-Hyrulian, all spunk-was the engineer, one of the best he'd seen in a long time. Ruto controlled the weapons, and was inflicting almost as much damage to the Koopa ship as they were inflicting on the Arwing. They were his three most trusted officers, and the three best on his ship. Another blow rocked the ship. The view screen beeped, and the ugly face of a Koopa appeared. "This is Gul Bowser of the Koopa. Surrender!" "Options?" Fox barked, ignoring the Koopa officer. "Not many," replied Malon, her console displaying the ship's schematics. "Wait.all systems draw from the same source. If we stop firing, the impulse engines will have more power to work with. We should be able to make it into the Badlands. The Koopa ship may be bigger, but that's a disadvantage in the middle of a plasma storm." "Do it!" Fox ordered. Ruto immediately ceased fire and cut power to her console. The small ship sped up just enough to fly into the Badlands ahead of the Koopa warship. Possessed of greater maneuverability, the Arwing dodged around the plasma eddies-the trademark of the Badlands, capable of destroying a ship in one shot. The Koopa warship was not so lucky. A plasma blast caught one of its wings, and it was forced to veer off before it sustained more serious damage. Fox let out a silent sigh of relief. "Let's get out of here." he said. Their celebration was short-lived though. "Sensor are picking something up," Zelda stated, hands flying across her console. "A beam of some sort, tetrion based." "Evasive maneuvers!" barked Fox. The tiny ship lurched in an attempt to avoid the oncoming tetrion beam. It failed.
The sun beat down upon the lush Kakriko landscape. The town had once been a bustle of activity, a popular vacation spot. It now served as a very pretty penal colony. In one part or another of said penal colony, a man was hard at work. He was dressed sparsely in a loose green tunic and matching pants. A lock of blonde hair fell over his face. Absent-mindedly, he brushed it away. He ran his tool over the broken down machine in front of him, deciding where to start. He didn't notice the redheaded woman approaching behind him. "Link Paris, right?" Link jumped, startled. Behind him was a pretty young woman dressed in the command red of Nintendo Fleet. Her red hair was cropped up into a bun. To his surprise, she was smiling warmly. "My name is Kathryn Nabooru. I served with your father on the Game & Watch." Link nodded curtly. "I suppose you're a good officer then. He only accepted the best and the brightest." Nabooru nodded. "I've come for your help." Link arched an eyebrow. "I guess I'm yours." Nabooru frowned slightly. She'd heard of this, his roguish charm. "Three days ago, a Maquis ship entered the Badlands and disappeared. That ship had my security officer aboard. She hasn't reported back in. I've been assigned to find them." "No Nintendo Fleet ship could maneuver through the Badlands." "You haven't seen Voyager." replied Nabooru. "You want me to help track down my old 'friends' in the Maquis?" Link spat out the word 'friends' like a doctor says the word 'Ebola.' "I was only in the Maquis for a week or two. I don't know the locations of most of their secret bases." "You're still the resident expert." said Nabooru, smiling as usual. "And you also know there's no love lost between me and the Maquis. Let me guess who was captaining that vessel. Fox McCloud?" Nabooru nodded, but didn't say anything. "Fox was a patriot, taking up arms to defend his planet from the Koopas. He hated me from the start. As far as McCloud was concerned, I was a mercenary, just in there for the money. And he was right." Nabooru listened intently to the story. Then Link changed the subject. "So what's in it for me if I help you?" "You will come aboard as an observer, and help us track down the Maquis ship. If you cooperate, we'll put in a good word for you at the Parole Board." Link was incredulous. "An observer? I could be the best pilot you've got!" "We've got a pilot already. You would be an observer and nothing more." Link paused a moment before agreeing.
It hadn't taken long to get Link looking acceptable. He was issued a Federation uniform, shaven, and generally cleaned up. Before he knew it, he was on the shuttle pod up to BSL Deep Space Station #9 where Voyager was docked. The pilot rattled off some technical information about the ship, including the bio-neural gel packs that sped up its response time. When they docked, he headed straight for the bar.
A lone Starfleet officer sat at the bar. He had only one pip on his collar, dressed in a green jumpsuit. An ensign, thought Link. Probably fresh out of the Academy. As he watched, the young ensign was accosted by the bartender, a Happy Mask, the salesmen-and con men-of the universe. When the poor Italian ensign made the mistake of saying he was 'warned about Happy Masks,' the cunning alien threw a tizzy fit designed to force the ensign to buy the worthless jewelry he was selling. Link decided to step in and help. "I think I saw someone selling those same stones over there.at half your price." he told the Happy Mask. The bartender moved briskly towards the end of the bar Link pointed to, muttering about unfair business practices. "Didn't they warn you about Happy Masks?" Link asked jovially. The ensign grinned and offered his hand. "My name's Kim. Luigi Kim." "Link Paris. Nice to meet you, Luigi."
The two boarded Voyager soon after, and checked in with the Chief Medical Officer. It was not altogether a pleasant visit. The CMO knew Link-or his reputation at least-and was curt and even a little rude with him. When Luigi asked why the doctor thought so low of Link, the young man brushed him off. "It's a long story, and I'm tired of telling it. Won't take long for someone to tell you."
The bell to the captain's Ready Room beeped. "Come in!" she called out. The doors slid open, and Link and Luigi entered. Nabooru stood up and greeted them warmly. "Thank you, sir." replied Luigi. He realized his error a moment later and amended, "I mean, thank you ma'am." "Ma'am will do in a crunch, Luigi. I prefer Captain. Now at ease, before you strain something." She showed them to the bridge and introduced them to her first officer. While he warmly welcomed Luigi, he only grudgingly accepted Link's hand. Kim looked over his Ops station. "Satisfactory, Mr. Luigi?" asked Nabooru "Yes ma'am." replied Luigi. "It's not crunch time yet. I'll tell you when." And so the ship began to move away from the space station.
Luigi sat down next to Link in the mess hall. "Someone just told me." "Told you it wouldn't take long." Link interrupted. "Is it true?" "Was the accident my fault? Yeah. Pilot error. Took me a while to admit it." "I'm told you falsified the record." Link only nodded. "Why?" "Who cares? I lied." "And then you came forward and admitted it?" Paris nodded again. "I'm going to tell you the truth, Luigi. All I had to do was keep silent, and no one would have known. But the ghosts of the three dead crewmen haunted me in the night. So I confessed. Worst mistake I ever made, but not my last. Once I was thrown out of Starfleet, I joined the Maquis. And on my first assignment, I was caught." "Must have been hard on you, being the son of an admiral." "I think it was harder on my father than on me. Listen, Luigi. They've told you to stay away from me. Listen to them. I'm no good luck charm." Luigi shook his head. "I don't need anyone to pick my friends for me." It was then that Nabooru hailed them. They were approaching the Badlands.
Looking over maps and data forwarded by Gul Bowser, they plotted a course, and entered the Badlands. They had only been in for a few minutes when Luigi's console started beeping. "We're being scanned by a tetrion beam of unknown origin. And.great. We're being pursued by a displacement wave." They attempted to neutralize the wave, and failed. They couldn't go to warp in the Badlands. Nabooru had just enough time to shout "Brace for impact!" before the wave engulfed them.
When the wave broke, the bridge was a tangled smoky mess. Casualties were being reported on deck after deck. Corpses littered the ground. Link clawed his way to a console and pulls himself up. The pilot and the first officer were dead. Luigi reported a hull breach on deck 14, and Nabooru ordered a repair team down there. Then Luigi noticed something else on sensors. "There's something out there." "Get me a visual." demanded Nabooru. The view screen fizzled to life, revealing a huge tree-like array floating in front of them. Every few seconds, it let out a pulse of energy. None of them were quite sure what it is. Luigi had more news. "Captain. If my sensors are correct.we're 70,000 light years from our last position. We're.we're on the other side of the galaxy." Everyone stood and gaped, not knowing what to do.
They hovered next to the array, which dwarfed them just as Voyager dwarfed the Maquis Arwing floating next to them. It was the ship they were looking for, but there were no life signs aboard. The array was shielded from their scans. Engineering called in noting that the chief engineer is dead, and the warp core is near breaching. No word from sickbay. Nabooru ordered Luigi and Link to sickbay while she took care of engineering.
Sickbay was burning. Luigi and Link assessed the damage and searched for survivors. None. Both doctor and nurse were dead. Luigi busied himself putting out the flames. After sickbay was pronounced stable, the casualties started pouring in-some on their own, some with assistance. Luigi called out to the computer and activated the Emergency Medical Hologram, a system designed by Dr. Tom Light for use when a 'real' doctor is unavailable. When the EMH materialized, it became clear that the good doctor had modeled him after his own appearance. "Please state the nature of the medical emergency." said the Holodoc. "Multiple percussive injuries." replied Luigi. "Status of your doctor?" "He's dead." Luigi responded crisply. Doc held out his hand, expecting a hypospray to be slapped into it. "The nurse is dead too." Link explained. Annoyed, the EMH grabbed a hypospray himself, and injected it into a bleeding crewman on the table. "When can a replacement doctor be expected?" the doctor queried, finishing up with yet another crewman. "That's going to be a problem, Doc.we're a long way from home." Luigi responded. The EMH moved to the next bed. "Tricorder." he demanded Luigi unstrapped the tricorder from his belt and slapped it into the doc's hands. Holodoc scowled. "Medical tricorder." Link tossed Luigi the appropriate device, and the doctor continued his work. "You'll have to find a new doctor soon. I'm designed only as a short-term emergency supplement to the medical team." Link shook his head. "I've got a feeling you're going to be here for a while, Doc."
In engineering, Nabooru seemed to have the situation well under control. The warp core breach had been averted. Then the bridge contacted her with the news that they were being scanned. Before she could ask what kind of scan, people started to disappear. She tried to shout an order to the computer, but she was gone too.
In sickbay, the Doctor gave a female crewman the once-over. "You're not seriously injured. You may return to your station." She nodded, pushed herself up into a sitting position, and disappeared. Doc blinked, not used to having an order obeyed so quickly. As he looked around him, the rest of the people in sickbay vanished as well. "They forgot to turn me off." he muttered, sitting down on a bio-bed.
Nabooru, Link, Luigi, and some other crewmembers materialized in what looked like an Iowa cornfield. They took some scans, indicating that they were on the Array. As they left the cornfield, they found themselves at a 'Little House on the Prairie' style log cabin, complete with a plump, friendly woman with a tray of cookies standing in the door. Their confusion only increased as more friendly yokels appeared. Glasses of lemonade were being thrust into crewmembers' hands, banjo music was playing, and pretty farmer's daughters were making goo-goo eyes at Link. This would be disconcerting enough in Iowa. In a tree-shaped space station 70,000 light years from home, it was downright scary.
With nerves set on Red Alert, the crew began taking more scans. Link reported that the whole crew was accounted for, scattered throughout the 'farm.' Nabooru nodded. "You and Luigi go look for the holo-generator that's doing this." The two nodded in agreement and set off, just as the plump woman came down, offering corn on the cob, and repeating that she was 'sorry for the inconvenience.'
Link and Luigi found themselves being followed by a friendly ranch dog and one of the aforementioned farmer's daughters. When the girl suggested they go down to the Root Cellar, which, she promised, was nice and private, Luigi pulled out his tricorder and instantly started scanning in that direction. Link, meanwhile, seemed to have his tractors set on the girl next door. "She's only a hologram, Link." Luigi warned. "That's no reason to be rude." replied Link, smiling at the beautiful, young.hologram. Luigi's readings finally got interesting when he scanned a big red barn. "I'm picking up a floracystian life form inside." he stated, heading for the barn. Link followed, choosing duty over booty. The girl attempted to block their way and convince them to look elsewhere-which only made them more determined to see what was in the barn. Luigi detected a holo- generator, and more life signs-Sheikah, and two Hyrulian-behind the back wall. They headed straight for it, but the girl blocked their way. Her face was different now. Angry. "I'm not ready for you yet!" she growled. Behind them, the ranch pup snarled like an attack dog. Link tapped his communicator to contact Nabooru, but the girl backhanded him, knocking him into the wall. He had managed to get the message off, though, and Nabooru and the rest of the crew arrived at the barn. The Delta Quadrant yokels got there first. They were holding pitchforks, and didn't look so friendly anymore. The plump woman stepped forward. "Since none of you wants to try my corn on the cob, we'll proceed ahead of schedule."
Darkness. Screams. Nabooru lay on a bio-bed, illuminated by blue light. She bit back a moan as a needle plunged into her chest.
.And awakened back on Voyager. She hailed the bridge, demanding a status report. An ensign reported that they were on the Array for three days. And the Maquis ship was powering engines. Nabooru ordered a tractor beam. In sickbay, Holodoc followed Link, demanding answers. Link ignored him, and hailed the captain with the news that Luigi had not been returned. He blew out of sickbay and headed back to the bridge.
Nabooru stepped out of the turbolift. The computer reported that only Luigi had not been returned. Hoping that he had been mis-transported, she hailed the Maquis ship. Fox's face appeared on the screen. "Commander Fox McCloud?" "How do you know my name?" Fox asked. "We were sent to find your ship after you disappeared. One of our crewmembers is missing. Is he on your ship?" "No," Fox replied, "But one of our crewmembers is missing too. Malon Torres." "We have the same problem then. It would make sense for us to work together." Fox looked at Zelda, who nodded. The Maquis ship dropped its shield and the three were beamed aboard. Link arrived on the bridge just in time to see the three armed, back-to- back Maquis materialize. Nabooru assured them they wouldn't need their weapons. Slowly, the three lowered their phasers. Nabooru smiled at the Sheikah. "It's good to have you back Mrs. Zelda." Fox's jaw dropped. Zelda stood at attention, and informed Fox that she was Nabooru's chief of security, sent to infiltrate the Maquis. "And deliver us into Nintendo Fleet's waiting hands." finished Fox. "No," corrected the Sheikah. "I was to gather all information on the Maquis that I could. Then I would deliver you to Nintendo Fleet." Fox's face soured even more when he saw Link on the bridge. "Good to see you too, Fox." Link said mock-amiably. "At least Zelda was doing her duty as a Nintendo Fleet officer. What was your reward? Freedom from prison? Rupees? What was your price this time?" Nabooru stepped between them and addressed Fox. "Mr. Link is a member of my crew, and you will treat him with the same respect as you would have me treat one of yours." Fox nodded, and his anger slowly receded. Nabooru reminded them all that their purpose was to find their missing crewmen, and asked for suggestions. Zelda spoke up, hypothesizing that the holo-representation was a sort of waiting room, designed to make them feel comfortable before the experiment was preformed. Nabooru agreed, and decided that she and Fox would take compression phase rifles and search for their missing crewmen aboard the Array. Zelda would also come aboard with them, and attempt to learn as much about the Array as he could. As they left, Link ran up to them. "If this is about Fox." Nabooru began. "It isn't!" Link said sincerely. "It's just that.I don't want to see anything happen to Luigi." Nabooru paused, then nodded her approval. The four strode off the bridge.
Aboard the Array, Nabooru, Fox, and Link walked through the cornfields, guns in one hand, tricorders in the other. There didn't seem to be any life signs. Zelda joined them soon afterward with a similar report. Then they noticed one of the banjo players from before sitting underneath a tree. They converged upon him in seconds. He wasn't happy to see them. "Why art thou doing back? Thou dost not have what I need." "We want our crewmembers back. And to get back home." "Thou art contentious for a minor bipedal species." the 'Banjo Man' laughed. "This 'minor bipedal species' doesn't take kindly to being abducted." rebuked Nabooru, hands on her hips. "Thou dost not have what I need." the old man repeated. "They might. Thou shalt have to leave." Nabooru repeated her demands for their crewmembers, but Banjo Man waved his hand dismissively and explained that they were no longer on the array. Nabooru started to lecture him about responsibility. "No, I do understand that." the old man replied, the lecture striking a chord. "But I hath no choice. There's no time left." "Time for what?" Nabooru demanded. "I must honor a debt that can never be repaid." Nabooru offered him all the Federation resources at their disposal if he would tell them the problem. Banjo Man laughed. "I hath tried things thy puny comprehension would choke on. Thou cannot help." Nabooru repeated her demands to be sent home with her people. The Banjo Man reiterated that there was no time, that 'sending them back was terribly complicated.' In exasperation, he waved his hand dismissively, and the away team vanished and reappeared on Voyager.
Luigi awoke in a strange, green, sterile-looking room. He was surrounded by strangers, who were talking in hushed tones, telling him he was ill. He began to protest that he wasn't ill, until he noticed the strange, lumpy outgrowths on his arms and chest. He wasn't alone. A cry of 'NO!' came from the bed next to him. A red haired woman leaped up from her bed and started knocking the green-robed strangers aside in a rush to get to the door. One of them signaled an alert. Just as Malon Torres reached the door, it opened, another of the strangers beside it. He injected the half-Kremling with a sedative, and led her back to her bio-bed. Luigi looked on in shock.
Captain's log, gamedate 48315.6. We've traced the energy pulses to the fifth planet in the neighboring system. We believe they may have been used in some fashion to transport Luigi Kim and Malon Torres to the planet's surface. Nabooru sat in her darkened quarters, nursing a galactic migraine. Zelda entered, dressed once again in a Nintendo Fleet uniform. She noted that the Array's energy pulses were increasing in frequency, though she had no explanation. Nabooru added that the planet the energy was going too had no water, and no nucleogenic particles, meaning no water could be produced. She decided that an environmental catastrophe must have occurred. "You should get some sleep. The crew will not benefit from the leadership of an exhausted captain." Zelda noted, all business as usual. "You're right, as usual." Nabooru responded with a grin. "I talked to your family before I left. They're worried you." "Sheikah do not worry." Zelda replied, reminding the captain of the Sheikah's practice of suppressing their emotions. "They miss you." Nabooru amended. "I miss them too." Zelda admitted. Nabooru smiled and promised to get her home. Zelda left, leaving Nabooru to stare out into space, and at the Array that had brought them here.