Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek, I don't own the terms that are canon. Pretty
much if you recognize it, I don't own it. Most of the characters are my own.
The admiral is not my own, her name isn't mentioned, but it is meant to be Janeway.
All of the other characters are my own, though the mention of Kahless and his
wife is canon and I do not own that.
Summary: The USS Ares is deployed and meets their new species,
whom the Klingons have met before, and regard them as dangerous.
Special Guests:
Admiral
Kilin
Security Officer
A year ago conflict between Shinzon, Romulus, and the Federation finished, and only five years have passed since the Treaty of Bajor was signed ending the war against the Dominion. Earth seemed positively peaceful, but out in space was a whole other story.
An older lady entered the open admiral's office. Her white hair almost seemed to be glowing in the bright sunlight coming through the nearby windows.
"Captain Liron Richards, reporting for duty, sir" the older lady said standing at attention in front of the back of a turned chair. The chair turned revealing a smiling slightly younger looking lady with dull, long brown hair.
"Welcome Captain," the lady answered gesturing for Liron Richards to sit, "It's nice to see you again, how are you?" The captain sat down at her gesture.
"I am quite well, Admiral," Captain Richards replied keeping a straight face.
"Good, good. Well, down to business… You have been on medical leave for over a year now, and Starfleet Command has decided to assign you to a new ship," the admiral began with a deep breath.
"Admiral, with all due respect, I must decline, I still ha-" the captain began but was cut off.
"Just wait until you hear the assignment before you decline," the admiral replied quickly, "This isn't any normal assignment Captain. In the last five years we have been exploring the Gamma Quadrant more than we could before, given the war, of course. However, far beyond Dominion space, we have discovered something of great importance. You must not tell anyone except those who already know, which is very few. We want to keep this new discovery away from the Romulans, Cardassians, Ferengi, Breen, and everyone else, given the last time we discovered something like this."
"Another wormhole…" the captain said in a slight whisper, piecing everything together.
"Yes, captain. A new wormhole has been discovered; we refer to it as the Alexander Harrison wormhole, after the one who discovered the passage," the admiral continued, "We are still rebuilding from the past wars, so we don't have very many ships to spare. Starfleet Command has decided to send the USS Ares, an Intrepid Class starship to the wormhole and explore the space it leads to."
"Admiral, if I could ask a question…" the captain replied thinking of the new space to be explored.
"Ask away," the admiral answered.
"Where does the wormhole lead exactly?" the captain asked.
"It leads all the way to another galaxy, the Andromeda galaxy," the admiral answered, before continuing with the mission briefing, "Starfleet Command has placed you in charge of the Ares. Your mission is to explore, report, establish contact between sentient life, and uphold the Prime Directive. However if a threat comes about that poses as much of a threat as the Dominion had, you are ordered to destroy the wormhole, but only as a last resort. We cannot fight another war."
"Understood. When is the Ares scheduled to leave?" the captain questioned curiously, standing up and adjusting her uniform.
"Two weeks. Everything you will need will be sent to you in all due time," the admiral replied.
"Thank you, it is an honor to be selected for this task," the captain replied with a small smile escaping her seeming expressionless face prior.
"Dismissed," the admiral replied with a nod. Captain Liron Richards left the room letting a large smile form on her lips.
USS Ares NCC-2485-A, the fastest Intrepid ship with Maximum Warp at 9.98. A beauty to behold, even though the Intrepid class had been around for many years before. The last, final Intrepid class starship to be made.
"I may not be a genie, but I can make your dreams come true," a man said leaning against the bar in the mess hall of the USS Ares. A Bajoran woman simply laughed and walked away from the man.
"The fire suppression system must not be working, because you are smoking!" the man said turning to another nearby woman, who was quite gorgeous.
"Ciro!" a loud voice came from behind the man, "What are you doing? I thought," the voice began to tear up, as Ciro turned to face a pixie haired woman, Bajoran, whom he recognized, "I-I thought that you said that you would always be m-mine and you would n-never leave me!"
"Wha-?" Ciro said confused, making the woman he was talking to previously roll her eyes and leave the mess hall, making the room quite filled with people merrily toasting their glasses and having a good time.
"Ha! Told you I would get you back!" the woman said playfully with a huge grin.
"Oh come on Celes! You take your revenge too seriously!" Ciro replied with a fake pouting face.
"That's Lieutenant Akorem to you!" the Bajoran laughed playfully leaning against the counter herself, much like Ciro had done previously.
"Oh you're going to play that game huh? Well in that case it's First Officer Lieutenant Commander Rodriguez!" Ciro said seriously, trying not to play along, but with the history between them, it was quite hard.
"What? They made you First Officer? Dang, I thought I finally beat you, being Chief Engineer," Celes said in fake admiration and disappointment.
"Well too bad for you, you won't ever get that chance as long as I am alive," Ciro teased with a smile.
"Wait, isn't it improper for you to be in a relationship with those under you?" Celes asked with a smile.
"And when was I one for rules like that? Never, you know me," the first officer replied with a laugh.
"Lieutenant Akorem please report to the Engine Room, we are having troubles with the Inertial Dampeners, we can't get them online," a man's voice came over the communications system.
"I'll be right there," Celes answered tapping her badge before speaking then sighing shooting a smile over to Ciro, "You better not get yourself into trouble. It took you forever to earn this commission, wouldn't want it to be taken away on your first day. See you around Ciro!" Celes exited after Ciro said his good-bye, and Ciro simply leaned against the bar and sighed.
"What did you do to her?" a voice ask from behind the counter, where a young man, could be seen simply standing behind the counter.
"Ah, I stole her Bajoran earring a year ago," Ciro laughed turning to face the man who had addressed him.
"Oh, not a smart move my dear sir," the man replied.
"I returned it, I mean I just was playing a joke on her, we do it all the time," Ciro answered with a chuckle.
"Just when did you return it?" the man asked.
"You're quite perceptive. I didn't return it until, what last week? Forgot about until I saw her on the crew roster," Ciro laughed.
"I see, it makes sense then. I have a feeling her revenge isn't quite overm," the man said with a smile.
"That's a scary thought," Ciro replied thinking of all the horrors Celes could pull without him being able to prove it, "Who are you? I don't remember you on the crew roster."
"Oh, my name is James, but you can call me Jay if you prefer," the man replied holding out his hand in greeting, which Ciro shook with a smile.
"Nice to meet you James. Exactly what are you going to be doing?" Ciro asked, having not heard about him before.
"Well I tend the mess hall, and the airponics bay," James replied, "But I haven't been around too long, just was assigned here today."
"I see, I guess we'll all be depending on you for our fresh fruits and veggies," Ciro laughed happily, "And our fresh meals I suppose as well?"
"Yes, sir!" James said proudly.
"I like your attitude James! Where do you hail from?" Ciro asked with a smile.
"Actually I don't know. Apparently I have amnesia. Can't remember anything before a month ago," James replied trying to remember anything before, but nothing was coming up, like he didn't exist before then or something like that.
"In that case, welcome!" Ciro exclaimed patting James on the back in his ever lightening happy mood.
"Thank you sir," James replied.
"I would assume that you haven't met that many people here," Ciro stated, and James nodded in acknowledgment, "Good, I'm going to make you what I call a wingman, James…"
After the gathering in the mess hall was complete, a young ensign was strolling down one of the corridors, heading for his quarters, quite obviously tired.
"Ensign!" a voice came from behind, one he had recognized, but only slightly.
"Captain!" Jace said stopping and turning, standing at attention, straightening his body to a rigid position.
"Ensign Jace Knight, at ease before you break your back," Captain Richards said in a calm demeanor, "Ensign, I want you watch after Ambassador Kordak, he's the Klingon ambassador."
"Sir, I thought the Klingons as well as everyone outside of the Federation, including her allies did not know of our mission," Jace stated surprised at a Klingon ambassador coming along.
"Somehow the Klingons caught word of our plan, and insisted on sending someone to observe," the captain replied calmly and with a strong presence.
"I see, I will take care of the ambassador, show him around, tell him what he wants to know, right, sir?" Jace replied trying not to grimace at the task he was given.
"That is correct Ensign. The ambassador is in his quarters on Deck 3. I will be on the bridge," the captain nodded and walked off down the corridor.
Jace Knight sighed before returning to the turbolift going from this deck (number 4), and to Deck 3. Jace headed down the hall towards the VIP quarters and stopped in front of the one for the ambassador, ringing the bell.
"Come," a deep voice came from the other side of the door. Jace slowly entered, seeing a dark room, decorated with a various Klingon weapons and statues, one Jace recognized as Kahless and Lady Lukara both wielding weapons looking like they were about to fight hoards of enemies.
"Ambassador Kordak?" Jace called not seeing anyone in the room. There was no answer, but a slight shuffle of feet causing Jace to turn his head to his side.
A roar came, and a large Klingon came into view, brandishing a Bat'leth, causing Jace to jump to the side, avoiding the sword which was heading for his head. Jace quickly dodged another blow sent his way, but the Bat'leth caught his shoulder, but leaving only a scratch. Jace quickly jumped onto a nearby table, this time not dodging the Klingon's attack, holding up his foot kicking the flat side of the Bat'leth up, sending the sword flying up. Jace jumped up again, catching the Bat'leth and turning it on his attacker.
"You are with great honor," the Klingon said with a hearty laugh, "I am Ambassador Kordak, son of Murak, observer for the Klingon Empire."
"Ambassador Kordak, you obviously don't know our rules, so I will spell them out for you," Jace said loudly in an assertive voice, "Attacking a person on this ship is prohibited. Do not make it a habit to attack anyone else coming through that door, unless in self-defense." Jace handed the Bat'leth back to Kordak.
"I vow on my famiy's honor that I will not," Kordak said taking his Bat'leth and mounting it upon the wall where it had previously been.
"Good. Now Ambassador I have been told to give you the tour of our ship, so if you will come with me," Jace stated in a very powerful voice.
"I shall follow you with honor. But Starfleet, are you of Vulcan, you shed green blood," Kordak stated noticing Jace's scratch oozing light green blood.
"I am half Vulcan, half Human. I'll have the doctor heal that scratch when we visit sickbay, now come," Jace answered with a slight smile.
"Lead on Half-Human," Kordak laughed and Jace led the way into the corridor, down to the turbolift where they silently rode their way up a few levels. Jace simply told the ambassador what was what, visiting the engine room, as well as the bridge. Their final stop was at sickbay.
"And here is sickbay, where wounds and injuries are healed, though I doubt you will spend too much time here," Jace announced as they entered the spacious sickbay.
"May I help you Ensign?" a worn voice came from Jace's left, from the office.
"Yes sir, I'm escorting Ambassador Kordak around, and here is our next stop," Jace replied as Kordak had decided to walk around and examine the sick bay.
"Thank you, ensign. Welcome Ambassador Kordak, please make yourself comfortable, if you wish," the doctor said watching the Klingon explore the sick bay.
"This will do fine," the Klingon roared happily, continuing his exam.
"Doctor Galen, could you possible heal this scratch, the ambassador got a little carried away when I came to meet me," Jace asked ignoring the Klingon traveling through the room.
"Yes of course Ensign, sit down on one of the med beds, I need to get my dermal regenerator," the doctor said with no expression on his face to be seen. Jace went over to one of the beds on his right, and sat down. The doctor ran the dermal regenerator across the long scratch on Jace's shoulder.
"Make sure you are careful from now on when the ambassador gets carried away," Doctor Galen said with a small grin.
"Don't you worry Doctor!" Kordak interjected, "I won't injure your ensign here."
"I won't let you Kordak," Jace responded with a laugh.
"Good, you're all healed Ensign Knight," the doctor said chuckling slightly.
"Are you sure about that, Mr. Half-Human? Do you want to test that out?" Kordak laughed in a challenging manner.
"When and where?" Jace replied smiling.
"Next week, 21 hours, holosuite 1," Kordak stated with a smile showing his very Klingon teeth.
"You're on," Jace accepted.
"Don't hurt yourselves, be careful," Doctor Galen warned, "The safeties are known to go off unexpectedly."
"I promise I won't Doctor," Jace said with a huge smile.
Several hours later on the bridge, the captain and the first officer exchange a few words of greeting and sit down in their respective chairs. The captain rises and looks around with a smile.
"We are about to embark on a mission like no other, to a completely different galaxy. Every world, every planet, we will bet the first people from our galaxy to see them, up close, and get more information than we could studying from afar. Let's make history, we will have the name of the Ares go done in history," the captain said fluently having prepared the speech for almost a week and a half, "Ensign Knight, lay in a course for the Alexander Harrison wormhole, Warp 8."
"Aye sir," the ensign replied hitting the buttons on his console.
"Engage," the captain ordered, and the ensign hit the button sending the ship to light speed, "I'll be in my ready room." The captain left the bridge and headed to her ready room.
"You have the bridge Commander Eris," the first officer Ciro said curiously following the captain towards her ready room. Ciro rung the doorbell to the room, and the captain allowed him to enter.
"Commander Rodriguez," the captain said looking up at the first officer with a smile, "What do I owe the pleasure of having you come here?"
"Captain, I was just curious why you left the bridge. In my experience the captain usually stays on the bridge for the first hour or so on a new command of a ship," Ciro stated, "So I was wondering if there was something wrong."
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm fine, a slight headache, nothing major," the captain replied.
"I'm sure Doctor Galen would cure your headache in a second if you were to visit him in sickbay," Ciro said with a slight smile.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be just fine," the captain insisted with a smile, "Sit."
"So how's your command going so far?" Ciro asked sitting down as she had ordered.
"Just like it did in the past," the captain replied.
"I've heard about your previous command, the USS Sirius, destroyed by a Romulan war-bird, of course when that Shinzon guy was in control of them," Ciro stated having read up on the captain, and most of the crew as well, except Celes whom he already knew.
"Yes, it's true. I miss my Sirius, but the Ares will do just fine, I suppose," the captain replied not wanting to thinking about the Sirius too much.
"I also know that you specifically requested me as your first officer, may I ask why?" Ciro asked curiously leaning back getting comfortable.
"While your record wasn't the greatest, commander, I saw potential, greatest potential in a long time," the captain said, though everything wasn't being said, almost like she was holding back on saying something, "You disobeyed orders of your commanding officers a multitude of times, you have entered relationships with those below you, but you show courage, honesty, and a great sense of duty. You rarely have disobeyed orders in which something bad had happened, you have fought in both the war against the Borg and Dominion. I felt you would be a great first officer Mr. Rodriguez."
"Well I appreciate you saying that, I hope to live up to the potential you see in me captain," Ciro replied standing up, "I will take leave to the bridge if that is okay with you sir."
"Dismissed," the captain replied, leaning back in her seat once her first officer left.
Several days later, they were at the wormhole. They stopped to look at the swirling orange (unlike the blue greenish glow of the wormhole by Bajor) wonder, before entering the passage, making the first step into the Andromeda Galaxy.
"I detect a nearby solar system, five planets, the second planet is class M," Lieutenant Eris, chief of Ops, said as she scanned the nearby area.
"Lay in a course and engage at Warp 7 Ensign Knight," the captain ordered watching the crew on her bridge. The captain stood up and began walking around the bridge, as she had done for the past couple of days, getting the grip on the reality she had another ship, and another chance at making history. The trip to the nearby solar system took only about an hour.
"One unidentified ship bearing 101.25, they're hailing us," Eris stated relaying the data on her screen.
"On screen," the captain said, "Seems they are our first contact out here, let's make it a good one." The screen went from blank to showing a face upon the screen. The face wasn't human, nor too similar. The face was pitch black, except for where the eyes were, which on this face were circled and lined a few times by a glowing neon green. The alien before them was wearing some pitch black clothing which almost blended in with the skin.
"Greetings, my name is Kilin, I am the leader of the planet Trickan, who are you who violates our territory?" the alien said almost sounding like an adolescent human boy.
"I am Captain Liron Richards of the United Federation of Planets. I command this vessel. We hail from a planet called Earth, it is a planet in a different galaxy, we can share information if you would like," the captain greeted, "We come in peace." Kilin nodded.
"Come to Trickan. The council will meet with you and discuss this proposition you propose. If a representative could transport aboard your vessel, they could learn more about your species beforehand, and provide witness," Kilin replied.
"Witness?" the captain asked.
"Yes, they will observe you, and tell the reports to the council. We need only a few minutes to understand most species," Kilin answered.
"I see, we can transport your representative over immediately," the captain replied.
"You need not worry," Kilin's voice came from behind, "We have our own transporters."
"Welcome Kilin of Trickan to the USS Ares," the captain said slightly surprised turning to see the bipedal alien, two arms, two legs, completely covered in coal black, even the skin, but of course the eyes had a neon green trimming in various designs.
"My pleasure to be aboard," Kilin replied with a bow of his head, holding his arms in front of him one on the other.
"Lieutenant Commander Ciro Rodriguez, my first officer," Liron introduced, but stopped as Kilin interrupted her.
"Yes, Eris Landon, Jace Knight, Jemelle Iscari, I could name their positions, if you wish me to further exhibit my abilities," Kilin interrupted.
"Do you have a sort of telepathy?" the captain asked.
"Yes, my species can take in thoughts, not just thoughts now, but past thoughts as well. So in a way, we can tell your whole history in just a few minutes, and determine if you truly mean peace. However, we only use our power to know if one is lying or telling the truth to us, otherwise, only with permission," Kilin explained, "And now you want to assign the Lieutenant Iscari to keep an eye on me, just in case. Good idea. Better safe than sorry, as you humans say."
"That is very interesting, I bet Doctor Galen would love to take a look at you, and yes, Lieutenant Iscari will escort you around," the captain confirmed in a welcoming attitude.
"If you are proved worthy by the council you can have all of our research on our anatomy, if you would like," Kilin replied, "But I take it your sense of exploration would prevent such answers to be just given." As the Trickan said this, however, a racket occurred in the nearby turbolift, and a large Klingon stepped through in all of his traditional Klingon wear, with a security officer behind him, who pushed through.
"Sorry, sir, he insisted on coming to the bridge," the security officer explained.
"Who is this?" Ambassador Kordak insisted nearly yelling.
"Ambassador, please calm down," Ensign Jace Knight interjected standing up from his helm console and walking towards the ambassador.
"Ambassador, this is Kilin, he is one of the first species of life we have met out here," the captain said sending a death glare towards the ambassador.
"This man, he is Klingon? I cannot read into his thoughts, I wonder why not?" Kilin said curiously talking almost like he was talking to himself.
"He is not a friend," Kordak insisted as Jace was shielding the Klingon from attacking the visitor, "Hegh are not to be trusted."
"Hegh?" Eris Landon, the chief of Ops asked out of nowhere.
"Death Bringers. His kind brought about a massacre on Kronos. They cannot be trusted," Kordak shouted.
To be continued…
Eh, I didn't really like this episode too much, but it really was slightly
hard to introduce all of the characters I wanted to introduce, and didn't
do a great job with a few of them. More personality will be added to the
characters.
Please! R&R please! I love any and all feedback!