Disclaimer: You know, as I was proof-reading this chapter, I came to the realization that there's so much extra stuff missing...so, I've decided to split it up into three (maybe four, depending what I do) separate chapters. The reason for this is because, A) My stuff has been getting pretty damn long, (as well as my posting intervals), and B) This is the only project I've got going on. So, before I start rambling, and have to edit the crap out of this thing, I'll get onto the disclaimer... I don't own Digimon, or Star Trek. Just the crap that I can fish out of my non-sensical mind. So, DON'T SUE ME!!!
Unknown Place, Unknown Time
"-Report!" Snarled out the slim, furry woman, as she climbed into the seat at the center of the room. Shrouded in darkness, with only their consoles, and the sparks surging forth through broken glass for illumination, they stumbled, and rushed to keep things together.
"Statues updates are coming in; Damage across all decks; main weapons are available, but we've run out of torpedoes, and our shields are holding at thirteen percent!" Replied a larger, hog-face man before her.
"The Tulum's got a core-breach in progress!" Shouted the lieutenant from behind the tactical consol.
"Have the Shi'kalon commence emergency beam-out of the crew-" Before she could finish, the screen lit-up in brilliant flash; The Tulum, as it's anti-matter breached it's containment seals and reacted to all 'normal' matter on contact. By the time the explosion was over, barely anything was left of the aged Excelsior-class starship.
"Report from the Zeron--they only were able to rescue seventy-two of the crew and refugees..." Her bronze ears perked; the words hitting a cord.
"There were over fourteen-hundred people on that ship." She whispered to no one in particular. The deck lurched, bringing her back to the present. She herd a sizzle emanating from above, looking up, she saw Bridge structural field disk sparking. Without giving it a second thought, she leapt from her seat, just as the generator came loose from it's housing, crashing down on her seat.
"Captain!" Shouted the hog-faced man from the other side of the room.
"I'm fine lieutenant!" She shouted. Pulling herself up to the seat before her, she tapped in her personal access code.
"Captain, enemy forces are in full retreat!" Shouted the lieutenant behind the tactical consol. She had to fight back a wave of relief, knowing that this wasn't over just yet. Then the bridge rocked once again, causing the long tactical consol on the other side of the bridge to erupt in a blaze of fire, and debris. Scanning the destruction for survivors, she saw her chief tactical officer laying on the scorched deck; injured, and bleeding.
Steeling herself, she turned back to the workstation before her. "Lieutenant Busencchi, I want you to activate the distress beacon, and open a channel, all frequencies!" After a second, Busencchi gave her a curt nod. Tapping the controls with her claws extended, she triggered the live signal transmission.
As she began to speak, another set of tremors shook the deck below. "This is captain Nimar of the Federation Time ship Ronin, requesting assistance!"
Primary Sickbay, USS Stargazer, Unknown Time
"Ahh!"
"Hold still, Captain Fink, I'm almost done repairing one ruptured organ, I don't want to damage another in the process!" Said the doctor, as he ran a pen-like device over the captain's abdomen. Beck had had him beamed down there as soon as they had stabilized their orbit. Broken and damaged, Beck had ordered their newly installed cloaking device to be activated as soon as he'd realized what had happened. The image that he'd seen on the main view screen still haunted him, but glancing over at the door on the other side of the bay, knowing that his first officer was suffering so much more felt worse then the feeling of his ruptured appendix.
"There, you're done." Said the Doctor. "But I want you to take it easy for the next week or so; no hand to hand combat!" Fink couldn't help but chuckle at his dry bed-side manner. He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't The Doctor, the one whom they'd all grown attached to during their time aboard the U.S.S. Voyager, but all the same, he enjoyed the familiarity...
"If you don't mind, sir, now that you're healed, I have other patients that require that bio-bed more so then-" The doors slipped as a pair of officers rushed in carrying a Bolian man. Even in the dim light, the young captain could see cobalt-blood seeping from the burns all across his upper body.
"What happened?!" Asked the Doctor, as he rushed up to the group, tricorder in hand, as he began scanning him.
"We're not sure--We found him in a Jefferies tube on deck thirty-seven!" Replied the woman carrying him. Fink leapt off of the bed, and rushed the group, helping them lift him to its surface.
"He has massive plasma-burns to approximately twenty-nine percent of his body; all thirteen ribs on his left side are shattered, his left lung has been torn to shreds, his right one has collapsed, multiple ruptured organs and his air passage have partially swelled from plasma inhalation!" The Doctor shouted, half-pleading as he assessed the man's condition. Fink looked to his collar, noticing the two golden pips gleaming in the dim light against his golden undershirt. Looking to his face, he saw his eyes staring out at him. Watching his inverted irises dilate as the Holographic Doctor called for a nurse, Fink held his hand above his mouth, trying to feel for his breath. When the feeling of warm air that he'd been hoping for didn't come, he settled a pair of his fingers below his left ear. "Prep the auxiliary operating room; we need to get him into immediate-"
"Doctor," The captain said, stopping him mid-sentence.
"Captain, I don't have time to treat any discomfort from your patchwork, right now I have a man-"
"Doctor." He said again, this time looking up to his pale face. His eyes were blank, as pulled his hand away from the lieutenant's neck. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that's going to be necessary. He's already dead." The EMH pulled out his tricorder, and ran its small probe over his body. The high-pitched squeal that emanated from the small device told the Doctor what he already knew.
"He's lost too much blood... His synapses have already begun depolarizing." His voice was grim as he read the information on the small screen. Steeling his breath and turning away from the group, Fink pushed past them, and out into the corridor. Making his way to the turbolift, he hit its wall panel, smearing the still-fresh blood across its surface in the process. Looking down at his hands, he saw that they were both smeared with the grey liquid; the lieutenant's blood. He ignored an urge from deep within himself to wipe the substance off, onto the closest surface, instead opting to let his limp; allowing to fluid to drip off. He lowered his head, and tried not to look at the pools growing below him.
"Captain, are you alright?" Appeared a familiar voice from behind him.
'Strange,' he thought to himself. 'He's usually the only one I can ever feel coming.' As the feeling of the blood already starting to dry and crust-over on his hands, he leaned against the side wall, remaining silent.
"I know how you feel sir; watching the final moments of someone's life slip away, and not being able to do anything about it--It's a horrifying feeling..." Fink looked up to his lieutenant, whom also was leaning against the opposite wall, his arms crossed.
"It's not like that Ryo. I've seen this dozens of times over- hundreds..." The words became caught in his throat, but he refused to choke them out. So instead, he forced them back down, and the anger which had been lodged within them to come first; reducing the burst from the potential of a loud howl, to the form of a low growl. He tried not to look into the lieutenant's eyes as he continued. "...But every time someone under my command died, they always fought for every last second." Afraid to go any farther, he stopped. Looking down to hands, the blood was now almost completely dry, contrasting darkly over his light-brown skin. A single image, one which he'd spent a very long time trying to bury, forced his way back to the forefront of his mind. Something which he had always kept to himself.
"To seemingly give-up so easily, I can see why it's bothering you...especially after what happened seven years ago" His head shot up to eye-level, a dangerous glair piercing through the lieutenant. The young captain frantically searched his face for some kind of clue as to what he was talking about. Partially out of anger, then, in fear.
"How do you know about that?!" His anger very prevalent, Ryo stood before him seemingly unfazed. It was incredible rare for the young command officer to become angered, but since that time in their Digital World, were he'd accidentally channeled all of his emotions at the time into his friend Guilmon, thus, turning him into the Partially mindless monster Megidramon, no one ever dared to try and bring back to that state again; to never endanger the things closest to his heart.
His lieutenant grinned, what Fink feared to be a knowing grin. And then, as a hum from the turboshaft appeared and quickly grew louder, the lieutenant said: "It's simple," the turbolift doors opened to an empty car. With the lights inside of it shining at full intensity, lieutenant Akyama stepped through to its center. "Because I was there, captain. The day you changed your command crew's fate forever--The day you all became Starfleet officers...and, the day he died."
Primary Shuttle Bay, USS Stargazer, Unknown Time
"Plasma leak! The Illyria's warp-core's going critical; prepare to launch it!" Shouted a panicked voice from the overhead speaker. Belshka's hands flew over the shuttles controls as countless alarms droned on around her. Super-heated plasma scorching the glass viewport in front of her. She tapped the chevron pinned to her chest.
"Thunderchild to shuttle control, I'm attempting to get a lock on the Illyria's anti-matter; don't eject it from the bay just yet!" She said. Cracks began to form in the transparent aluminum panel before her, but she didn't take any notice. Instead, she activated a force-field around its over-heated glass, to, at the very least, keep her alive.
"Belshka, don't! Get out of there; the Thunderchild's transporters aren't strong enough to hold that much anti-matter safely!" Filtered the voice over the speaker. Ignoring the woman's pleas, she continued to work, locking onto every last drop of the volatile substance.
"Belshka-" Within an instance, the alarms silenced, leaving her in complete silence. The super-heated plasma still bombarded the viewport, obstructing her view, but the crewmen scattering around the small shuttle seemed to have at least, stopped trying to run away. She breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back into her chair, watching them vividly as they cut off the flow of dry plasma. Deciding it finally safe, she made her way out of the large vessel. As she walked down the ramp, she noticed the officer in charge of the bay standing just outside of the control room on the upper level, glairing down at her. Heading over to the ladder beside the broken cargo lift, the reptilianoid woman ascended its cold braces.
"How the hell did you manage that?" Asked the officer, placing her hands on her hips, as she arched an eye brow. She couldn't help but giggle at the action, much to the officer's annoyance, or possible amusement; she still wasn't sure.
"Your transporters use a basic fermion-shift pulse to stabilize the signal, so all I had to do was activate the warp-core and use that to boost the signal..." Was her reply. Mimicking the Human woman's stance, she playfully grinned at her. Shaking her head, the officer turned to head back into the control booth. Glancing down to the landing bay, she watched as the techs worked on repairing the Thunderchild, their only Delta-flyer-class shuttle, as well as the Illyria, one of their type-two shuttles. As the doors closed behind her, the officer turned back to her.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" She asked. "Using the transporters like that- If something were to go wrong during the transport, the anti-matter could be released into the bay and ignite with the surrounding normal matter!" Surprised by the officer's outrage, the reptilianoid woman took a step back, but without taking her eyes off of the stout Human.
"If I hadn't, then you would have been forced to eject all of the shuttles, and since we don't know where we are, it would have caused a lot of trouble for us as an anti-matter flare!" She shot back.
"Its better then risking blowing a hole through the hull-!" Suddenly, Belshka felt her head start to throb, as if someone had wrapped their hands around her temples and began pushing them together. She staggered back, slamming against the metal bulk-head. Sliding down its smooth surface, she felt the pressure increase.
"Belshka?" Asked the officer. She barely noticed as she grabbed her arm.
"Voosalek tamukkalan..." Whispered a voice. The pressure increased, and she felt something warm, and wet pooling against her palms. The voices around her blurred into a baritone haze; the dim light becoming too intense for her stand, so slammed her eyes shut.
"Zilldat tubo! Halt kro medtat!" The whispers became louder, and louder. "Haldikar miian. Roun daami Yau klaouq! YAU KLAOUQ!"
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" She screamed in agony, the pain coupled with the voices becoming too much for her. She felt as if she was about to pass out, when without warning, it stopped.
Main Bridge, USS Stargazer, Unknown Time
"Astrometric scan initiated..." Said the digitally distorted voice of ensign B4. Captain Beck looked over his shoulder, as the human-like android's hands danced over the dark surface the consol. Images, and raw data scrolled across its screen at near-blinding speeds, as the last original Soong android processed the incoming information.
"Fascinating..." He said, manipulating more controls. Beck bowed his head in an attempt to catch even the slightest glimpse of the data.
"What is it B4?" Just barely catching a screen or two of raw details, B4 didn't take his eyes off of the display as he spoke.
"According to my sensor analysis, I am only detecting six planets within this star system." Shocked, the young captain leaned farther in to slow down the scrolling speed.
"Six? Wait, I thought astrometric sensors confirmed our location in the Sol system; how could there only be six planets?" Asked the Human-Klingon from the rear of the bridge. Reading, and rereading the sensor information, Beck cocked his right eyebrow; intrigued by what he was seeing.
"No... I think he's right." Those who weren't steeped in repairs turned to the pair of Digimon, working at the barely functional starboard science station. "We're only picking up six planets, because there are only six planets; three rocky, inner worlds, and three gas giants orbiting beyond the systems asteroid be-" His partner stopped, leaning in closer to the scorched consol. Watching the pair as they both began working furiously, Beck began having a sense of déjà vu; something that he never liked.
"Hey, um detecting weapons fire on the edge of the system... And some of it's got a Federation signature!" Stunned, Beck turned back to B4, whose seemingly flaccid fingers were already hard at work refining the sensors. Glancing over his shoulders, he eyed the svelte lieutenant working the surface of the tactical arch, a heavy scowl mimicking his cranial ridges.
"Confirmed. But I am also detecting numerous other weapons signatures... Romulan, Breen, Cardassian, Kazon, Ferengi, Tholian, Dominion-"
"Ensign..." Said the captain in slight annoyance. The android stopped, cocking his head slightly
"Among other documented Alpha, Gamma, and Delta quadrant species." Once again raising his right brow in curiosity, he asked:
"That's it? What about other Spices from the Beta Quadrant?" Watching the ensign's head twitch in multiple directions as his fingers danced over its dark surface. From all across his bridge, the captain could hear the various sounds circuits, tools, and other machines doing their jobs, but one particular sound, the hissing of the turbolift doors, caught his attention.
"You're late number one..." He said, not turning to his old friend. When he didn't hear a smart quip from the other captain, he turned to watch his friend, as he worked the damaged starboard-most science station. Glancing back over to the turbolift, he spied lieutenant Akyama standing at the edge of the bridge. Images began to fill his mind; many of which he couldn't make any immediate sense of. Pushing them to the back of his consciousness, he looked back over to the other captain.
"Gene-"
"-The internal sensors are down, we're getting maydays from just about every part of the ship..." Realizing what was going on, he dropped the issue. He would have to deal with the repercussions for what the lieutenant had done later, but for now, they were in an emergency, and they were all needed if they wanted to find a way out of this mess. Turning back to ensign B4, the eldest captain looked down at his readings.
"Inconclusive... Great, now we're lost upstream without a paddle, and a compass." Running his hand through his course hair, flinching slightly at the unexpected pain that shot through his hand. Although the wound had been healed, the scar was still tender.
"Captain, I'm picking up a distress signal from one of the unknown Federation starships!" Said lieutenant Roganko. Both Fink and Akyama snapped to attention. Ignoring their sudden, querying glances, he stood back up to his full height.
"On screen." The fuzzy image on the main viewer changed, from the visage of the blue, green, and white sphere looming in the distance, to static and almost unclear image of vaguely familiar form.
"This is captain Nimar of the Federation Time ship Ronin, requesting assistance! We've taken heavy damage, and have heavy casualties... Please, we're transporting over one-hundred thirty thousand refugees! Message repeats. This is-" Captain Fink hit the mute button on the edge of the tactical consol. On the screen, the darkened image of captain Nimar continued to silently speak; pleading for help. The reddish-brown fur, which glowed vibrantly on her slim, Caitian face in the erratic light.
"They made it?" Said a soft voice from the lower level. Looking down, Beck watched as both Ryo, and ensign Monodramon stepped closer to the main screen; coming in from both sides of the bridge. The captain knew that look; the lieutenant's mouth hanging open slightly, his eyes opened widely...
"Lieutenant?" He asked, knowing that his near-duplicate would keep his blank stare unless he took down the image from the over-sized screen.
"Nimar... She's the captain of the Time ship Ronin, one of the last Sovereign-class Starships to have survived to the very end of the war." He replied. Looking back up to the screen, the young tamer watched his steel-blue eyes retract as a flash of light lit-up one side of her face.
"I thought the Phoenix squadron was the only task-force to make it through the Bajoran wormhole...?" Said lieutenant Roganko from beside him.
"We don't know how old the Wormhole is, lieutenant--There's a thousand variables which could cause an accidental and uncontrolled temporal shift..." Said his version of Monodramon. Not taking the time to look up from the starboard science station, the small Digimon continued to work on his damaged sensors. Beck looked back up at the viewer, hardening his gaze as he watched the image of the other captain.
"Whatever the reason, we're still a Federation Starship, and so are they." He said, making his way back to his command chair. "Helm, set an intercept course, best sub-light speed." Lifting his hand, he cringed as he felt something teetering on the edge of his consciousness; voices whispering--No, they were shouting... For the moment he ignored them, even as he recognized part of the unfamiliar words.
"Engage!"
Main Bridge, USS Ronin, Unknown Time
"Busencchi hang on, the medics are on their way up!" Said captain Namir, as she spoke to the Orion lieutenant. Below her, the lieutenant was lying on the deck, a bulking piece of shrapnel sticking out of his chest; lime-green blood seeping out from the wound. Normally the Caitian captain wouldn't have worried all that much about the sturdy Orion, but the fact that the lieutenant's normally dark-green blood, coupled with his heavily labored breathing made her fear the worst.
"It's alright captain..." He struggled. "...It was an honor- ...To serve with you..." With that, his eyelids dropped. Settling her soft golden hand on top of his shoulder, she was about to leave, when without warning, her ears twitched. A ploom of a silvery silhouette lit-up the darkened bridge, leaving a group of five Starfleet officers' behind as it faded. Although she didn't recognize any of them, she was at least grateful to see that someone had come out of this worse-case-scenario more or less whole.
"Over here; I've got someone critically injured!" She said as she waved her hand over to the officers. A pair of them rushed over to them, and began checking the lieutenant. As the Andorian medic did his work stabilizing her chief tactical officer, the other whom was crouching along side him, turned to her. He was young, but looking into his eyes, she could tell that was just as battle-hardened as the rest of them. His sapphire eyes contrasting against his red-tanned skin, which blended into the red of his undershirt.
"Captain Namir I presume." He said in a matter-of-faculty tone. Something didn't seem right to her, especially as she noticed the four pips on his collar. Not many Federation starships had been able to escape the slaughter of Bajor, but she did know all of the commanders in her fleet, if not by name, then at least by face, and his was one which she didn't recognize.
"Yes." She replied. The young captain gave her a wan grin.
"I'm Captain Gene Fink, first officer of the Federation Starship Stargazer." He said. "Don't worry; our ship is taking care of the casualties throughout your fleet." Not believing what she was hearing, she gave him a one-over, paying critical attention to his attire. Although his uniform was torn, and crusted with multi-colored blood, it was nearly identical to the one which she wore.
"How did you survive? The starship Shigure sealed the Alpha-quadrant entrance of the Bajoran wormhole from the Grigari when they detonated their Omega reactor!" The grin that had occupied his lips faded. Something didn't feel right, not with him; he was hiding something. He turned toward her full-on, his face contorting with worry.
"You're injured..." He said, pulling out his tricorder and aiming it at her left arm. Although it was too dark to see, the black sleeve of her uniform; even with the thick layer of fur beneath, was soaked in her own blood.
"I was hit by a piece of shrapnel when the main structural field disk collapsed..." The young officer closed his tricorder, instead reaching for the med-kit that had been left behind. Grabbing a hypospray from its padded surface, he tapped the small buttons on its back before bringing it up to her neck. She pulled away.
"It's alright," He rolled his eyes at her reaction. "It's thirty cc's of Asinolyathin--a pain killer." Pressing the tip of the syringe to her neck, she felt the cold hiss as it's content's emptied into her blood-stream.
Grinning wryly, her sharp canines shined in the dim light; reflecting in the young captain's eyes. "As long as it's not a tri-ox compound..." He pulled back from her in surprise.
"Tri-ox?!" Repeated Fink, "But that stuff hasn't been used since the introduction of Himetsazine products well over eighty years ago!" Namir couldn't hold back from laughing as she listened to the human. Meanwhile, the teen had crossed his arms as he waited patiently for her to stop.
Noticing this she reined in her humor. "Sorry captain, but we've been rationing our power wince we got here. In case you haven't noticed, we have well over one point two-seven million people inhabiting an armada of about forty ships...And not all of them are Starfleet." Fink looked away, shame filling his eyes. Deciding to change the subject, Namir stood up, and made her way to the tactical station. Being careful to avoid the ruptured paneling, she pulled up the controls to the sensor grid.
"Captain?" Fink asked, peeking over her shoulder as she worked. "I see; your sensor grin heavy damage during the battle-" As the sensor data flashed before the screen, the young captain lost the words which had been about to roll from his tong.
"No..." Watching the sensor logs, Fink realized came to a disturbing realization.
"I know what your thinking captain, and before you get any further down that train of thought, stop. It's not what you think." Namir said. Giving him a second to assimilate everything that he was seeing, she noticed Fink's gaze harden into a glair.
"What? Impossible...This signature, it's Grigari! But their weapons-" The young captain said. Namir manipulated several more controls.
"Actually, they're Voth."
Unknown Place, Unknown Time.
'HELP US! THEY'RE KILLING US!' Screamed a nuance of voices through the darkness. Commander Riggley tried to cover her ears, but she had no control over her arms. Before, when they had first appeared, she couldn't understand them. But, as what seemed like days had passed by her, the commander realized that she could understand them.
She screamed in terror. "WHO ARE YOU?!" Several seconds passed with no answer. Again, she tried to cover her ears; to shield herself from the onslaught of raw emotions. Pain, anguish, fear...Death. It all invaded her every thought--every cell of her being. But then, in the darkness, she felt a hand. The commander willed her eyes to look, to see in the black. As the fog of the abyss began to clear, she began to make out a face. The face of someone she thought was dead.
"COMMANDER!" Shouted the woman before her. Part of her didn't want to believe it, after everything she'd been through. But then the sound of the voices began to fade, if even in the slightest, as the woman she had known as Princess Belshka grabbed her in a firm grip. The darkness seemed to become slightly less crowded as the reptilianoid woman pulled her close, into an embrace.
"Commander, I need you to focus on my voice!" She shouted. The commander cleared her mind, pushing her chaotic thoughts of everything that had happened to the back of her head, and listened.
'HEELLLLlpppppp!!!' The sharp edge of the voices began to fade, and it was becoming easier for commander Riggley move her limbs in the slightest. As distance came between her and the chorus, she realized that it wasn't just a few hundred voices speaking in unison, but instead millions all making a similar plea. Listening haphazardly, she could make out the odd tones. Some asking for death, and others wishing it upon the many, even as they fizzled out themselves. Then, within the span of a single, short second, she felt herself emerge from the pull of the dying. The grasp which held the commander in place loosened, and released, and she could finally move herself freely. She looked into the smiling, yet sad face of her savior.
"They are waiting, ma'am...we should return." As the princess finished, she gave one last glance to the sphere which had entrapped them, before dissolving into a flash of light. Though she understood what she had meant, commander Riggley had no idea how she was to do it. Shooting a glance at the crowd just as Belshka had, she came to the realization that it had disappeared. She looked around for it, but found nothing.
"Great," she said to herself. "Careful what ya' wish for Dee, you might just get it." She sighed, and tried to think of what she looked like. The older teen cringed at the thought of her skin being sickly pale, and having numerous Borg implants and amour covering her body. And then she felt herself be consumed by the same kind of flash. Her entire body felt as if it was melting, but she didn't feel a single itch of pain. As the darkness faded into the light, a strange mist began to form, and within the mist, she saw the destruction of Earth.
Main Engineering, USS Stargazer, Unknown Time
"Level five diagnostic complete; errors found in nano-repair system. Control junctions five, eight, nine, sixteen, and thirty-one." Said the cool and crisp synthesized voice of the main computer. Lieutenant Roganko made a few quick notes on the PADD in his hand before he handed it off to the crewman beside him.
"Hear that? I want those junctions repaired and operational in twenty minutes, do I make myself clear cadet?" The tall woman quickly took the PADD from his hand, and gave it a clear one-over. Looking back up, she realized that he was still looking at her.
Ignoring his accusing glair, she said: "Have them ready by thirteen hundred-hours, aye sir!" Without giving him so much as a second look, she was off; quicker then he'd seen any of his staff since they first ended up in this god-forsaken mess. He knew that he was only supposed to train the new cadets as make-shift crews for rushed-into-service starships, but the most valuable thing he'd learned since his days in the Dominion War as an officer in the Klingon Defense Force, was that the best trained crewmen often had the best chances of survival, and ultimately, success in battle. He turned back to the main diagnostic table where he tried to see if he could at least run a manual bypass on the nano-repair system in main engineering. The system had given them nothing but trouble since they first had it installed. First, it had refused to initialize after the installation, then when they had fixed that first interface error, the system patch that they had installed for their older isolinear-based network had somehow become corrupt, thus forcing the main computer to think it was being infected with Borg nano-probes and initiated a complete systems lock-out. Needless to say, after a series of bad luck and system-failures, they had finally got it to work properly a few days before the Deadalus returned. Then the Borg had to pop their ugly, cybernetic noses back into view, and hack into their systems, once again disabling it. It was all enough to make the Human-Klingon hybrid to start scratching his ridges off. But instead, he decided to settle with flinging various PADDs across the bay every time his temper began to spike. Speaking of which...
"Hey lieutenant, how's it goin'?" He held back a sigh as he herd that voice. Adrian already knew who it was that had entered into his half-smashed domain, but he decided to feign ignorance as he turned to his greeter. There, standing in the middle of his bay, was Lieutenant Ryo Akiyama of the Prometheous. He held back the urge to pull out his CheQ'Met dagger to stab the Human with, and instead settled with a low growl.
"I'm busy...Or can't you see that?" The lieutenant asked, not liking his own reply. The Tamer simply returned his glair with a gleam of amusement in his eye, before glancing down at the half-blasted and smashed consol. pulling a small device from a pocket hidden in the seam of his uniform sleeve; he touched the twin prongs on its short end to the workstations surface. Within seconds, a dim light surrounded the table. The engineer's eyes widened as he watched whole sections which had ruptured, and, in most cases, where still logged in the surrounding wall and deck, seemingly grow back in place. The light faded, leaving behind a perfectly clean and new-looking work-station in its place. Its panels came to life, displaying the activities, and data which they had been presenting the second they all went off-line. He snapped his head back up to Akyama.
"How did you-"
"-Restore the consol? Dimensional shifting," He replied easily with a calm shrug. The Klingon engineer tapped in several new commands, and realized that the all of the software for the nano-repair systems had also been restored and awaiting instructions. The Human Tamer walked up along-side the consol; the hybrid engineer barely gave him so much as a glance.
"This is more than dimensional shifting...It has to be." His hands froze in their place, as understanding calmed the rage of the Klingon side of his mind. "You also manipulated space-time in order to restore the data that was lost." His statement only seemed to make the grin on his face widen even more.
"Nah, not really," he rubbed the side of his head with his free hand. "All I did was use the quantum signature of the consol that was still intact to scan the local universal shifts until it found a reality were the consol was still intact, after that, it was a simple matter of replicating a replacement." Lieutenant Roganko snorted at his reply; though it explained exactly what he did, the Klingon within him was growling at his arrogance. He'd heard a partial and fragmented explanation from the captain about the lieutenant's situation, but that didn't mean that he completely agreed with his decision to let him wander the ship as he was without an escort.
Berp berp. "Damage control targets verified, beginning regeneration." Another growl escaped the engineer's throat, at the computer's statement. Within seconds, the sparks which were escaping from a nearby damaged power junction ceased, as new insulation and covering seemingly grew over the damage. The lighting returned to full intensity, and the whole of engineering seemed to be putting itself back together, while the debris which littered everything from the deck to the walls, and ceiling simply melted away. When all of the cosmetic work in the section was complete, Adrian tapped a control on the consol.
"Engineering to Bridge, we've got the nano-repair system working again, we should be back up to full power in..." He manipulated a few more controls on his consol, "a little over nine minutes. Engineering out." The channel closed automatically, but he wasn't done there.
"Roganko to cadet Agathemn, we...found a way to restore the NR system from here; report back for your next assignment." He'd expected the annoying lieutenant to get smart with him as soon as the channel was closed, but when one didn't come, he made an about-face back to the Prometheous engineer, only to find that he'd disappeared. The one thing he wanted to do right now was to get back to work, but since Akyama just had to appear out of nowhere--and now apparently disappear to nowhere--without giving him a reason why. And that could mean only one of two things: A, there was something that he didn't want just anyone to hear, or B: There was something that he wanted him to see, and couldn't move. But at the very least he could have left him a clue before he left! After spending a few seconds searching the area for the now missing lieutenant, he silently cursed under his breath. He turned back to the consol.
"Finally, I thought you'd never turn around," said the lieutenant from behind. The Klingon hybrid, for a split second, went into full defensive mode. When the only thing the other engineer did was chuckle in reply, he relaxed his stance...a little.
Ryo smiled as he shifted his weight form leaning on the table station, back to his own two feet. "Now then, down to business..." The lieutenant was about to tell him off, for playing these games with him, but before he could, the lieutenant instead lifted his hand, and touched the bulkhead which made-up the starboard wall. He eyed him suspiciously, even as he turned back to face him; his mad grin growing as held his hand out, which he didn't take immediately.
"C'mon, it's the only way you'll find out exactly what's going on." Half of his engineering staff was staring at them, now that they weren't busy trying to keep the ship working; they all had a little more free-time on their hands. Deciding to leave it not to be easier to risk one of his staff, he grabbed hold of the lieutenant's out-stretched hand.
"This better be worth it." His words were flat, but it didn't seem to matter to Ryo. With the flick of his hand, a small device attached to his fingers switched on, and they both leapt through the wall.
"What the-" Was all that the engineer could get out before he too feel through the wall. It felt strange to him...it felt as if he were walking through thin air. He knew that it shouldn't be possible, but they weren't just walking through solid metal, but plasma conduits, and anti-matter injectors! Just being their, should have caused some kind of interference, but it didn't feel like they had. Then the lieutenant stopped without warning, and realized that they weren't within the ship anymore; they were standing on its outer hull. His eyes went wide at the sight, and he tried to pull his hand free of the lieutenant's, but his grip held firm.
"Don't let go!" He said. "Right now, my molecular manipulator is the only thing protecting us from the elements, if you let go-"
"-I'll be exposing myself to the vacuum..." Roganko's voice was calmer now, but the instinctual urge to pull free and run just wouldn't disappear. Above them was the fleet of refugee Starships, among other things. Bits and pieces of scattered debris drifted throughout the battlefield, occasionally hitting something or sizzling against the weakened shields of a ship; many of which were in little better condition then the others. Behind it all, he could see, though small, the halo of one of the systems gas giants, beaming a searing orange with Sol looming twice as big some way beside it. Roganko felt something as he looked into the void, but never the less, the engineer had to pull himself back to the moment: He had a job to do.
"Over there," quickly said Ryo. Adrian scanned the area he was pointing to, and noticed something strange on the hull. He stepped closer to the object with the lieutenant in tow. As they got closer, he realized what he was looking at.
"Kaless help us." [1]
Officers Conference Room, UTS Ronin, 1314 hrs.
"The materials the Stargazer gave us for repairs have been transcendent! If nothing else happens, we should have the entire fleet restored to full strength within the next few hours," Said the Tarkalian engineer sitting on captain Namir's far left. The Caitian officer perked her ears at the news. They had been running on emergency power since the battle of Bajor, and really, she'd all but forgotten what the bridge looked like with all of its lights on. The conference room too--If one could call it that--had been nothing more than a long metal table that was bolted to the bare deck ever since the entire port-side of the bridge had been blasted-out during a boarding several weeks earlier. She could still smell the scent of torched duranium from the blackened walls, which blended in with the lone panel display situated on the far wall.
"Captain Namir, I suggest we leave this system as soon repairs are complete." Said the Romulan commander whom occupied the screen. She wasn't alone there either...the screen itself was split up into different sections, one for wing commander within the fleet; ten boxes for each of the eleven wings, barring their own. The felineoid commander was in complete agreement with her Romulan counterpart. They had taken heavy losses since they first arrived, but out of their entire journey, the Terren system seemed to have been the deadliest of all. But one question still bore asking, and she wasn't going to let it go unanswered.
"Agreed, but were do we go after this?" She asked, and each of her counterparts seemed equally stumped by the question. Namir continued, "Virtually every corner of this part of the quadrant seems to be crawling with cozmozian life-forms, and not the kind that'll just send us empathic signals of curiosity either..." The lone Ferengi Demon on the screen looked up from the spot with which he'd been staring at off-screen.
"I still say we try to make a run for the Haldikar system; rule of acquisition number 93: Act without delay! The sharp knife cuts quickly." The lone Gorn commander snorted at the businessman's statement.
"We have no idea what has occurred at Haldikar...We haven't been able to get a clear reading on that star-system, there's just too much trans-phasic Omega fallout." His tongue slithered out, flickering in the air before returning to its place. Namir had always wondered if the reptilianoids tasted the air around them consciously or if it was something akin to blinking in most mamaloids, and her time talking with the Gorn hadn't done much to clear that up, but, when talking her Caitian physiology into account, it gave her an edge that few others at the table that few of the others had, she could tell the general direction it was aimed at. Looking across the screen to the other commanders she saw the same thing. Worry, fear, exhaustion, all of the things which they didn't need right now.
"While I was speaking with Captain Fink, the Stargazer's first officer, he said something strange about the Voth's sensor signatures, but when I asked him about it, he changed his entire composure..." She rubbed the bottom of her fur-covered chin as she spoke aloud, deep in thought. "I have a feeling they know more about what's going on than they're letting on." Now all eyes were on her, gazing querying onto her statement.
"So what are you planning to do with them, captain? I doubt asking them directly will be very conducive," said the elderly Bajoran captain of the Federation starship Kiri'Kinshar. Namir's ears pulled back in annoyance. The time she had spent with the young first officer had been brief, but it didn't take much to see that there was more to this whole ordeal than what met the eye...Too many variables which just weren't known, and she hated being in the dark. [2]
Making up her mind on the subject, she let a devious smirk curve up across her lips. "It looks like we don't have any other choice..." The captain turned to Kelek, the commander of the lone Kazon torpedo vessel which had escaped the Delta-Quadrant in the beginning of the war. "Kelek, do you remember that shuttle you found a several weeks ago; the one among the wreckage of that unknown vessel?" The commander nodded in agreement.
"Yes captain, though, none of the researchers have been able top figure out how to access the inner compartments-" The image of the Kazon commander disappeared, leaving behind a screen of static.
"Kelek? Namir to bridge, we've just contact with the Velaka, what happened?" She snapped. Several of the other fleet commanders were doing the same, or something similar as the static on Kelek's screen went black, being replaced the seal of his clan.
"We're receiving an automated transmission from the Velaka...captain; I think you may want to hear this..." A low growl escaped her throat.
"Put it through, ensign." Static filled the speakers before a low beeping could be herd in regular intervals. Then a low, male voice spoke.
"A hostile, unidentified bio-digital life form has been identified. Quarantine-lockdown has been initiated on this ship until further notice. All personnel and passengers are to report to escape transport if able..." The droning of the voice continued on, but Namir stopped listening. Instead, she looked over the remainder of her fleet commanders.
"I want the five ships closest to the Velaka to move in and assist with the-" The deck lurched hard beneath her feet, nearly knocking her off balance. Without even giving so much as a second glance to the screen, she quickly turned to the door leading to the bridge while saying: "Meeting adjourned!"
[1] Kaless, pronounced "Kaye-less", is the lone God of Klingon religion, as well as the man whom, in Klingon ancient history, was the one whom laid down the Klingon code of honor used throughout all of the series, and up through the present.
[2] Kiri'Kinshar, an ancient Mathematician and philosopher from the planet Vulcan, whom specialized in metaphysics.