"Wings of the Future" by Ryley Breen aka Shadow Master
email: ryley_breen@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: This is to say that I do not own either the characters from Star Trek Voyager or any of the Gundam cartoons and am not making any profit from them whatsoever. So I would appreciate it if the lawyers of those who do own these respective shows do not arrive at my door with a cease and desist order because I really do not mean any harm in using them. I just want to tell a story that I thought up.
Note: I apologize in advance to fans of both shows if there are any mistakes made in the content, portrayal or anything else of the two shows. I watch Voyager always even if it is in reruns and have Gundam Wing Endless Waltz taped so most of my information will becoming from these sources. I have seen the cartoon series Gundam Wing but since it has been taken out of regular programming by the station I watched it on I must rely on websites and my own memory of the show itself in order to fill in certain gaps. If any of you notice any mistakes and know the truth please do not be afraid to email me and I will try to make the appropriate changes. Also anyone who approved/liked the pairing of Seven of Nine with Commander Chakotay should not read this or at least refrain from sending me flaming emails about what I intend to do in this fanfic.
Summary: Voyager enters a new region of space and is confronted by enemies unlike anything they have experienced before. In order to survive it will take the ambition of a certain passionate lieutenant and a large portion of luck.
Wings of the Future Stardate 51253.3, Delta Quadrant, U.S.S Voyager"You're not going to win this one Jason!!" yelled Zechs as he pushed his right arm forward to make the Epyon to block the beam saber coming down from above.
"Says you 'Lightning Count'!" Jason Stone declared in return as he tried to force his beam saber downward to complete his attack.
It had been like this off and on for awhile now with neither of them managing to score a serious hit. His Wing Zero was an even match for Zechs Marquise's Epyon and it was quite possible for the battle to continue indefinitely. That would not deter him though because deep within him burned a desire unlike anything else that compelled him to keep fighting until he was either defeated or victorious. Still he had to admit that he may have underestimated his opponent in this instance, he was better than his sources had led him to believe. Turning his thoughts back to the action for a minute he dodged to the side for a moment to avoid a slash from the Epyon's blade and brought up his twin buster rifle. It took him only a section to line up his shot and once the targeting crosshairs confirmed a targeting lock he pulled the trigger. With a bright burst of energy the energy was released causing it to streak towards it's assigned target with great speed and accuracy. However just as it seemed that the attack would be successful Zechs fired his mobile suits engines and got out of the way. Fortunately the blast seemed to have at least done some damage as the crackle of energy and a scorch mark were visible on the right wing.
"Not bad kid but a singe mark like that is still a long way from decisive as far as this battle is concerned." Colonel Marquise said with a bit of admiration as well as determination to do better with his next attack.
"Don't worry Zechs a decisive blow is close at hand and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by who it'll be who deals it!" Jason said as he fired his own engines to chase after his nemesis.
How I'm going to make good on that boast I'm not quite sure but that's the point. , Jason thought to himself as he laid down a volley of suppressive fire with his shoulder mounted gatling guns to keep Zechs occupied, This program is a lot better than the others Jake sent me and it is the only one I haven't been able to beat so far.
An example of why made itself evident when the Epyon turned tightly to the right leaving him to wrench the controls in an attempt to bring his shield around to cover his exposed side. No sooner was it in place then the green blade of Trieze's ultimate creation made contact and Jason had to strain in order to keep his defense from being broken. While wondering what to do next a sudden inspiration hit him and with no warning he ceased pushing his shield against the Epyon's blade and used his boosters to fire him upwards and over the Epyon. Not prepared for this Zechs's suit continued forward leaving him vulnerable to attack for a few precious seconds. Not one to spurn such a chance he brought his twin buster rifle and zeroed in ( no pun intended) on the engines of the Epyon. He would only get one chance at this working because regardless of whether or not he terminated this simulation the Zechs he was facing would remember everything and would not fall for the same move a second time. That was one of the benefits of this program, while it was not a sentient program like Vic Fontaine it did learn from every encounter and that is what made it such a good program. It forced him to push himself with every encounter and it was a challenge like that which kept bringing him back to this program every chance he got.
"Got you now Lightning Count!!" Jason said as he watched the crosshairs turn red.
"Valia to Lieutenant Stone! Get out of the holodeck and get to engineering now!!" , came a female's voice over the comm., "Your shift started twenty minutes ago and B'Ellana is on the warpath today!"
"WHAT!!" Jason said as he brought up the holodeck's chronometer to check the time himself.
Unfortunately his friend Ensign Valia was telling the truth which meant that unless he left right now and made up a convincing cover story he was going to be cleaning the plasma ducts for a week. Still he hated to leave not when he was so close to beating this program but as luck would have it the choice was made for him. No sooner did he look at the forward monitor than he saw the emerald blade of the Epyon's saber slam into him. The action sliced the Wing Zero in half and the program came to an end with a flame ridden explosion as the Gundam's fuel cell exploded.
"Program terminated." Said the computer's voice emotionlessly as his hopes of victory rained down in little pieces in front of him.
Sighing to himself he straightened out his uniform and exited the holodeck hoping he could make it to engineering before Xena wannabe Torres decided to go all scary Xena on him. On the plus side though it was a fairly routine day on Voyager, no spatial anomalies or hostile alien forces to fight against. On the down side however the half-Klingon half-human Chief who gave him orders was on the outs with her on again off again boyfriend Lieutenant Tom Paris which meant trouble for those in engineering. Not that she did anything to unreasonable to them but hearing her snap at them constantly about trivial things or just because she felt like it was not how he wanted to spend his shift.
Ah well! With any luck something will happen with the forward power cuplings and I'll spend the next five hours in the jefferies tubes. he thought to himself trying to look on the bright side of things.
True a job like that would be murder on his neck and back but at least the chances of Torres actually coming all that way to give him a piece of her mind was unlikely. After all no one really wanted to make their bad moods worse which meant that the Chief Engineer would stay in main engineering. Finally approaching the doors that lead to his destination he took a deep breath and stepped in to face whatever fate had in store for him. Inside he could tell that he was right about B'Ellana's temper because everywhere he looked people were going much quicker than was usual. Most likely they were attempting to fix all the mistakes and/or problems they could so as to appease the angry goddess they answered to and improve their work environment. Ensign Susan Valia noticed him immediately and strode towards him as quick as she could without attracting attention to herself. From the look on her face it had been a task and a half keeping Torres from realizing he was late for his shift. No doubt she had spun some sort of wild story about him coming into work early to work on a problem with the EPS manifolds and just hadn't returned yet. He doubted that it would fool someone as cynical as B'Ellana but as long as he sounded convincing when she no doubt grilled him about the 'results' of his diagnostic she would probably let him go with an insult.
"I can't believe you're late AGAIN!!" , Valia exclaimed as she grabbed him by the arm and gently dragged him to an out of the way station, "You were playing that Gundarn program again weren't you!?"
"That's Gundam Susan and I didn't intend to be late" , Jason said in his defense as he kept an eye out for trouble, "I just got a little distracted and loss track of time."
"Whatever! The point is I'm getting tired of pulling your ass out of the fire!!" , Valia said as she picked up a data pad and after tapping the controls a few times shoved it into his hands, "Here! I told her that you were dealing with a fluctuation in the aft power relay and that you'd be back soon. Here is what you'll have to know and say in case she decides to pursue it further."
Bringing it up he began to memorize the information, paying more attention to some sections than to others, hoping that it would save his hide when the time came to use it.
"Lieutenant Stone!" came a voice that made it obvious whose volatile personality generated it.
Steeling himself he turned to see B'Ellana stride towards him with a look on her face that made him wish he was facing the Borg right then. At least then he wouldn't have to wonder what was going to happen next, they may be powerful but a Borg was also predictable.
"Yes Chief?" he said as casually as he could so as to keep her from being too suspicious.
"Where have you been!? Your shift started twenty minutes ago!" Torres said with her bad mood obvious in every word.
"I was running a diagnostic on the aft power relay. I had detected a minor fluctuation there earlier and thought it worth looking into." He said with the faint hope that she would buy the explanation.
"I checked with the ship's sensors! You were in the holodeck so unless aft jefferies tube 23 has suddenly been relocated to deck five you're lying." Torres said with eyes daring him to come up with a better excuse.
For a moment he considered doing just that but thankfully Fate it seemed had decided to take pity on him as the ship suddenly rocked violently. This sent many a crewmember up against their consoles while others were simply knocked flat on their backsides. He was lucky enough to be near one of the supports holding up the walkways on the upper levels so he had something to hold onto. For B'Ellana though she had the misfortune of tumbling into Ensign Valia and sending them both to the ground. Falling back into his training in Starfleet he went immediately to the nearest active console and tried to get an external view of the ship with the sensors. It would have taken something pretty powerful to cause the ship to shake like that and that usually meant things would get stressful really soon. Usually it meant something big like a Borg cube or maybe Species 8472 but came up on the screen was the last thing that he had been expecting.
U.S.S Voyager, Bridge, Same Time"Report!" Janeway demanded as she exited her Ready Room and made her way to the Captain's chair.
"A large contingent of ships just came out of Warp and immediately began attacking." , Chakotay replied as he began to sift through the sensor readings and reports he was getting from the computer beside his chair.
As the ship shook again Tuvok decided to add something.
"They are of unfamiliar design but sensors indicate that their weapons compliment is significantly stronger to Voyagers." The Vulcan said as he continued to work his station.
"Mr. Kim any answer to our hails?" The Captain asked as she braced herself against another attack.
"Negative Captain. I have continuously hailed each ship but no response." Harry replied in a tone that indicated he was decidedly nervous about their chances.
"Shields are down to 70%." Tuvok reported as he braced himself against his console as another shot from the unknown ships slammed against the protective barrier surrounding the ship.
"Helm, evasive pattern beta sigma. Engage." Janeway ordered as she began to pour over the same data as her first officer.
"The ships are in pursuit and are continuing their attack." Tuvok reported as he watched the sensor contacts on the screen in front of him.
"Fire aft torpedo launchers! Full spread!" , Janeway commanded, "Helm come to heading 115 mark 62, full impulse."
Everyone on the bridge watched as the torpedoes impacted against their adversaries shields and waited eagerly for the report from Tuvok as to how much damage was done. They all knew that it was generally in these first few moments of battle that the most likely outcome would make itself known. It was not set in stone but if their own ship's weapons proved to be too weak then the best they could hope for was a successful retreat. They had been lucky these past few years in the Delta quadrant but with no reinforcements from Starfleet and limited resources to draw upon they all knew that it was only a matter of time before that luck ran out.
"Minimal damage to three of the five ships. Their forward shields are holding." Tuvok reported with some concern that could only be heard by those who knew him well.
"Alright. Time for some unconventional tactics." , The Captain said with a look that told everyone that 'unconventional' was an understatement, "Helm come about hard 180 degrees and divert auxiliary power into the impulse engines."
"A game of 'Chicken' Captain?" asked Tom Paris from the helm position as he followed the orders he had been given.
"Exactly." , Kathryne replied with a smile that made it clear that she had no doubt who would flinch first, " Tuvok when the enemy ships close to half a million kilometers fire all phaser banks and three full spreads of photon torpedoes."
The shaking of the ship grew more violent the closer they got to the enemy ships but not once did the Captain look as though she was going to order a retreat. She just sat there and looked at the view screen with a expressionless look on her face that almost made her look like a Vulcan if not for the lack of pointy ears. Chakotay was almost as stoic but most bridge personnel could tell that he was waiting with baited breath to see if the enemy ships would veer off. While not all of them were as fascinated by the euphemisms of ancient Earth they all knew the general premise of what their leader was attempting. If the enemy ships did not veer out of the way they would receive serious damage from Voyager's weapons at that close range. If they did turn away then Voyager would have a clear escape route to go to warp and continue on their way home. That is of course assuming that these hostile forces weren't part of a more militant faction because if that was the case they would be flying right into the hornet's nest.
Attention returned to the screen as it lit up with the crimson beams of energy and brilliant explosions that were the result of a full onslaught from Voyager's weapons. For a few brief moments no one could see anything as anti-matter explosions and the impacts of phaser fire on the shields of the enemy filled the screen. Just as things were beginning to clear up the ship shook with a violent jerk as if their shields had just scrapped against those of another's ship. This was a positive indication that the enemy ships had indeed veered away although no doubt a bit later than the Captain had originally thought they would.
"Tuvok?" Janeway asked as open space became visible on the screen.
"Three of the four ships have taken heavy damage. All five are taking up a position twenty million kilometers off our bow with the two least damaged ships taking up defensive positions." Tuvok reported as he brought the enemy ships' position visible on the main screen.
Just as the tactical officer had reported three of the ships appeared to have taken serious damage with the two positioned between them and Voyager only moderately better off. While this made them less of a threat than before the bridge crew by no means relaxed their posture as they all knew that their own status had yet to be ascertained.
"What kind of shape are we in Tuvok?" Janeway asked as she turned to look at her longtime friend and chief of security.
"Sheilds are down to 30%, forward torpedo launchers are offline and there is damage to decks 10, 13 and 19." , Tuvok replied as the reports appeared in front of him on his console, "Remarkably well considering our close proximity to the attacking vessels."
"Perhaps now with more than half of their fighting force severely damaged they might be willing to talk." , Chakotay said grimly, "I'd sure like to know what we did to warrant an attack like this."
"Indeed. Seven do you recognize the ships?" Janeway asked the former Borg drone and resident expert on Delta quadrant species.
"Negative Captain. The low concentration of planetary bodies in this region made it a low priority for assimilation and thus ignored by the Collective." Seven replied with a slight shake of her head as nothing in her vast knowledge could identify their attackers.
"Well then we'll just have to do this the old fashioned way." , Janeway said with a frown due to the lack of information, "Mr. Kim open hailing frequencies."
With a press of a button Kim said "Hailing frequencies opened Captain."
"Unknown vessels this is Captain Janeway of the Federation starship Voyager. We are on a mission of peaceful exploration and mean you no harm." , Janeway stated in as diplomatic a way as possible to prevent hostilities from breaking out again, "Please explain why you launched an unprovoked attack on my ship."
For several moments every member of the bridge crew waited for a response, waited for this unknown but hostile enemy to explain why it had fired upon them. However nothing answered their questioning minds and they were left to wonder about a new problem of why there was no response. It could be any one of a number of things from incompatible communications equipment to simply a lack of a universal translator. Most including the Captain hoped that it was the former because if it was then they could deal with it accordingly but if it was the latter then things would become complicated. Just then Tom Paris noticed something beneath the ships that was different then it had been before but he was uncertain as to what exactly it was he was seeing. Fortunately Janeway saw it a moment later and helped to remedy that problem.
"Mr. Tuvok, magnify the area directly beneath the three ships." Kathrine ordered as she squinted slightly to try and make out the small dots beneath the enemy ships.
A few moments later the section of the screen enlarged to roughly five times the norm and the little dots became a little more recognizable. They appeared to be spacecraft of some kind and there were definitely a lot of them but other than that little could be made out about their possible function.
"Magnification 10." Janeway ordered as she began to compare what she was seeing against what she had seen during her time as a Starfleet officer.
Once more the screen enlarged and what it showed them was a clear picture of something none of them had ever seen before outside a planet-side engagement. They looked like humanoid robots but their design made it clear that they were military oriented in nature from the numerous weapons ports on their surface. The only indication that there might be a pilot inside was the presence of a simple external camera that was focused on their position. True it could simply be a computer controlled attack drone, she had certainly seen enough of those used by some of the more primative species in the Alpha quadrant. Still something told her that was not the case, there was something about how they were arranged that bespoke of an organic mind.
Well only one way to find out. , Janeway thought before saying, "Mr. Tuvok analysis?"
"There are approximately fifty-two spacecraft armed with high powered plasma rifles, twin torpedo launchers and an unknown weapon stored in their sides." , Tuvok replied as the information scrolled up his screen, "I have confirmed that each of the spacecrafts have at least one humanoid life forms in them although there are ten with two life forms."
"Still not a credible threat. We should be able to defeat them easily." Said Seven of Nine from her position at the console directly behind the Captain's chair.
"True but I would rather that this conflict not proceed any further than it has already." , Janeway said as she almost rolled her eyes at the former Borg's analysis of the situation, "Continue hailing them Mr. Kim. Make it clear that we do not wish to continue hostilities but that we will defend ourselves if they attack."
"Aye Captain." Harry responded.
Engineering, U.S.S Voyager"Well there's something you don't see everyday." Jason thought to himself as he looked at the fifty some alien ships heading towards them.
He and the rest of the crewmen in engineering had been busy dealing with the repairs of the battle and had only recently had a chance to take a breather. The first thing he had done was punch up the video feed from the bridge so that he could see what had been so kind as to save him from B'Elanna's wrath. Not that he liked being in a ship that was being shot at, in fact he hated it, but still if he had to choose between an attack and facing an unhappy half-human half-Klingon female he would take his chances with an attack. At least that would give him some chance of survival instead of none at all. Still nothing could have prepared him for what appeared on the view screen and left him at a loss for words. Despite their obviously alien designs he could recognize them as mobile suits right off the bat and it floored him to think that there was actually a species that employed them in battle. Near as he could recall no species used them in battle in the Alpha quadrant with the only thing coming close being the land based battle armors. Those of course were only a little bigger than the person wearing them and he had never heard of them being used successfully in space combat. Looking at the readings from the primary sensor array he could see that they were fairly well armed but their appearance made it look as though they were just foot soldiers. After all they were all identical to one another and you would think that a special pilot/soldier would personalize his suit or at least have some sort of distinguishing mark. Of course that was beside the point which was there were over fifty ships heading in Voyager's direction and only he had any idea of what they might be capable of which only made him worry more.
What could this species be thinking? Surely they realize that if we can disable their weapon's array with our weapons we can take care of something barely the size of a shuttlecraft. he thought to himself as he tried to get enhanced scans of the weapons and propulsion systems.
He knew something was wrong with this scenario but the question was whether or not it was them making the mistake or the commanding officer of the opposing ships. Unfortunately he didn't receive much information from the sensors and from the fractal patterns in the data he suspected the mobile suits were shielded somehow from sensor scans. Probably the only reason he was getting this much information as this was because this was a first contact environment and both sides were just getting used to what the other had to work with. Next time neither would have that luxury which made him determined to get as much information as he could get his hands on just in case his bad feeling turned out to be accurate.
He didn't have long to wait since once the first of the enemy mobile suits reached the fifty million kilometer range they opened fire. In the seconds that passed he wasn't sure what hit him harder the floor or the fact that such small weapons actually managed to rock the ship like a hit from a Romulan Warbird. Needless to say he needed a few moments to recover from both but he only got one as a series of smaller jolts rocked ship and caused a engineering station beside him to explode. Using a nearby support column he got himself back to his feet and returned to his station to see what was going on and help with repairs. The ship's shields were being hit hard but so far they were holding strong but on the offensive side of things matters weren't nearly so positive. Again and again the flair of phasers or the explosions of photon torpedoes filled the screen but despite the valiant efforts of Lt. Tuvok, whom he assumed was at tactical, the number of enemies destroyed seemed inconsequential. He was amazed at their speed and maneuverability and when you add in the fact that these mobile suits had shields and you had one BAD situation.
Thankfully though their closer proximity allowed for better scans of their systems but at the speed they were going he could only concentrate the scans on one mobile suit at a time. However that was stopped by another thunderous shaking of the ship after which his station went dead. Cursing for a second he left his station to look for one that was operational when another shot hit but this time the consequences were worse than a blown console. A familiar klaxon began to echo throughout the room and it only took one look at the warp core to know what that meant. Already B'Ellana was ordering everyone out of the room and he wasn't about to defy an order from her when he was already on her bad side forget staying to get killed. He was among the first to get out but that didn't make him feel safe in the slightest because as long as those powerful mobile suits were out there they were vulnerable.
I have a feeling it's just gonna be one of those weeks! he thought to himself as he shook his head in dread of what was to come.