Disclaimer
Nothing here belongs to me except the AU storyline and my characters. I am not making nor do I intend to make any profit whatsoever from this, so PLEASE DON'T SUE ME!
MANDALORE THE REVIVER (SI)
Prologue -or- The universe gives me a great big swirly:
Somewhere, Somewhen
In a Where and When set beyond the reality of Place and Time itself exists a vast, endless field of white. The ground and the sky unable to be told apart as they are the same color and consistency of each other. Ground or sky, neither could do anything to break the Screaming Silence that permeated this impossible place. Until, that is, it was broken by a strange hissing, crackling sound.
Following the sound to its origin, one would find… a fireplace of all things, freestanding and made of weathered fieldstone and mortar. From the back all one would see would be a rectangular arch of stone, clear and empty above and below. Move around to the front, however, and the scene would be surprisingly different.
Behind a wrought iron grate and within the cavity of the fireplace, roared a warm, cozy fire, itself the source of the hissing, crackling noise. Before the fireplace sat an armchair, its upholstery once a rich brown leather, now faded and careworn. The leather itself softened and sueded from years and use. However, as strange and surprising as these things may have been in that impossible place, none was as strange or surprising as the being resting deep within the soft, warm confines of the old arm chair.
It was a man, or at least male; tall and lean, dressed in a black uniform painted maroon across the shoulders with piping of maroon and gold across the chest area and tunic cuffs. His upper arms and elbows rested on the arms of the chair while his forearms were brought together at an apex of steepled fingers in front of his face. The face of the being appeared to be set in thoughtful contemplation with a healthy dash (or unhealthy, depending on one's point of view) of annoyed boredom.
His hair was a slightly wild dark brown, resting high on his forehead above a pair of sharp eyebrows of the same color, one arched slightly above the other. The eyes were a piercing hazel which turned down slightly at the edges followed by a patrician nose and lips half turned up in a very minute sneer that itself seemed as if it had always been and would always be there. All of this above a strong, slightly cleft chin. All these little signs hinted at one thing, this being was indeed deep in thought.
The being known by many, with both trepidation and awe, as 'Q' mumbled softly to himself as he contemplated, "…So many variations… Possibilities…but Maximum Fun? No…" At this, Q sprang from his seat by the fire and proceeded to pace back and forth in long almost frantic strides, his right hand tucked under his chin while its elbow was cradled in his left that was stretched across his chest. After a few moments of this he froze in place, eyes widening as if experiencing an epiphany.
The fireplace and armchair disappeared in a flash of brilliance to be replaced in another flash by a large, body length mirror several paces behind Q. A full length antique Victorian Pier Mirror, edged in walnut with a marble shelf set on an intricately carved platform. The mirror itself topped with indecipherable carvings and incised gold etchings. It sat, or hung, where it appeared. In that white nothing space, it was impossible to determine which.
Q about faced and moved towards the mirror. In an instant he stood in front of it with his hands now folded neatly behind his back. He stared at his reflection: A tall and almost predatory dark brown-haired man in the latest iteration of a Starfleet Captain's uniform. Soon Q's reflection began to blur. As it blurred, Q spoke out loud and clearly for the first time, whether to himself, to the white void or to those observing through either mystical means or the written word (Let's be reasonable. He is Q, he probably knew he was being observed the very same moment he, himself was noticed. If not sooner) no one would ever know.
"Alpha Quadrant, Beta Quadrant, Delta Quadrant, Gamma Quadrant… Federation, Federation, Federation, Federation. That's the problem! Infinite variations are available to watch or… play with but at its base it's all the same. Same beginning, same origin point." By then Q's reflection had completely blurred and the color of the blur began to change from black and maroon to a more encompassing gray-green.
His face in the reflection cleared up first and with a wider sneer and a narrowing of his eyes, Q continued, "I've been playing this game long enough… Let's tip the board!" With that, the rest of his reflection cleared and there he stood, in a more militaristic uniform with double-breasted tunic, high, round collar and matching trousers, a pair of knee-high black boots with a high shine, a belt Around his waist with a rectangular silver buckle and kepi cap perched jauntily on his head. On Q's left breast was a rank insignia plaque.
The Plaque sported two rows of colored squares. The top row had six blue squares and the bottom was split: three red and three yellow squares. On either side of his chest, level with the rank insignia plaque were two pockets. Each pocket held two silver code cylinders.
It was Q.
As a Grand Moff from Star Wars.
One could almost hear the dramatic music rise in the background.
"Now that the game is decided and the new board is set, we just need the players…" In front of him, at waist height appeared an old-fashioned rolodex. With a regal movement, Q flipped the lid back and started shuffling through the endless cards at an incredible rate, the actions making a buzzing, shuffling sound due to the speed. Many moments passed before he suddenly snatched two cards from the 'dex. His eyes widened as his sneer spread into a full toothy grin as he stared down at them when, in a triumphant voice, he declared, "Yes… yeees! I think these two will be perfect for their new roles. It should be most entertaining!
"Well, no time like the present!" Q declared finally and with a grand motion, he raised his arm and snapped his fingers enveloping everything in a bright flash of light. When the flash subsided, the impossible white space was empty once again and the Screaming Silence resumed itself.
-oo000oo—
Earth, Now
"Player 1"
So how did it all start? Not as epically as you might have thought, really. I was out in the yard, raking and picking up sticks that had fallen from the trees during winter. I wasn't exactly what you'd call 'in shape' so I was a little dizzy and out of breath from repeatedly bending over, picking up the bundles of sticks and standing back up again. I didn't realize what I was doing to myself until it was too late because, of course I wouldn't. So, when it happened, I thought I was simply blacking out from the blood rushing to and from my head.
Everything started to tunnel out and darken, sounds going tinny and distant. About what you'd expect when you're on your way to passing out. And then my perception of… well, everything… started warping. Time seemed to expand and contract, it felt like a moment and an eternity were passing at the same time. My physical senses were all over the place, I was uplifted, smashed down, stretched out infinitely and compacted into a ball the size of an atom or smaller all in that same amount of time. Everything was screaming and I couldn't hear a thing.
There were two things that I would have dismissed as strait up hallucinations had I not ended up where I did next: Through the maelstrom I saw what I thought at first to be my reflection, blurry though it was but for an eternal instant, it cleared up and I realized it wasn't me at all. It was the image of my best friend. Someone so close to me that I considered him to be my Brother, in soul if not in blood. Sure, time and life had gotten in the way but it never altered our regard for each other.
Then the moment passed, the image disappeared and then I saw, at the center of all that chaos, as if it were spinning around his form… John de Lancie?! And dressed like Grand Moff Tarkin! He didn't say anything, or at least nothing that I can remember. He just gave me a toothy shark's grin, a little jaunty wave and then chaos swept me away again. There was more but, even now, I fail to find the words to express or describe the experience.
Once that roller coaster ride of crazy was over, whatever it was that I was experiencing did a total 180. Instead of bright, screaming chaos where I felt as if I were being shredded apart and the pieces tossed out in all the directions of existence, I now felt as if all those pieces were snapped back together and I was sinking into something, slowly filling it up with myself. All the while, all around me were words, ideas and concepts whispering and flowing in, bit by bit, becoming part me.
After a while, the sinking feeling ended and whatever it was that I had been filling up now held all of me. I remember wondering at odd moments what 'It' could possibly be. There was still so much room! The best I could explain it would be like occupying a single floor in an otherwise empty Empire State building. Talk about strange sensations!
So, as I said, the sinking feeling had finally ended only to be replaced by a persistent floating sensation. The strange words and Ideas and such continued their flow, adding to me and helping to fill, however minutely, this vast space I had come to inhabit. Occasionally I would feel a warm, thick liquid against my skin (SKIN! I had SKIN again!) as well as a green glow all around me whenever I managed to open my eyes. Let me tell you, knowing I had eyes perked me right up when I realized it, despite the continuing weirdness that surrounded me.
Long (or not long?) after that the Flow of concepts and ideas tapered off and without that constant interference to my thinking, I came to realize a few things; First, I wasn't in my own body. How did I know that? You spend your whole life in your body. Trust me, you knowwhen that changes. Also, I felt strong in way I had never, in my life, felt before. Physically and in ways I couldn't yet quantify.
Secondly, I knew things. Skills, concepts, theory, practical knowledge. None of which I had the faintest inkling of before that fucking storm of chaos sucked me through a cosmic straw of NOPE! Where before I could do middling level math, now I could calculate Hyperspace Jump Coordinates and Mass Variables! What the SHIT does that even mean!? But I knew it and I knew how to do it.
But what ultimately drove it all home and freaked me out the most, were the names associated with all this new knowledge I'd had stuffed inside me; Names like Palpatine, Vader and Coruscant! I would have thought it was a giant prank were I not in my current, undeniable situation. Now, most people would be jumping in joy screaming about 'The Force, Fuck Yeah!' but not me, uh-uh.
I've never been the brightest crayon in the box but I wasn't stupid either. I've been a Star Wars fan all my life and as much as I love the genre, there's one thing I've learned from my lifetime of fanboying and it is this: George Lucas' Corsca Galaxy is a Death Game World. People die in droves and they die badly. All these realizations culminated into one thought.
This is not good. This is VERY not good!
Now, you all need to understand that these thoughts and realizations didn't come to me in a lightning bolt flash of insight, or with any kind of speed at all really. It was pretty evident to me at that point that I was in a cloning chamber. Clones aren't supposed to be aware until they are decanted. In the chamber they, or their minds at least, are meant to be kept in a suspended state of activity. Sort of a Blue| Dos Programmable screen if you get the reference.
The fact that I was even semi-aware was a miracle. Cough! Q! Cough! Putting two thoughts together faster than the speed of drying cement just wasn't happening. How long I was in that molasses state of mind, I couldn't tell you. Time doesn't have much meaning in a cloning chamber. Eventually, all things, good or bad, must come to an end. My new reality had decided to rip me from my mechanical womb.