David was in the bathroom of The Vengeance Captain's quarters. He was at the sink, rinsing the vomit from his mouth. He looked in the mirror.
hmm, I need a shave.
He opened the mirror to look inside. on the shelf, there was gauze, bandages, toothpaste, shaving cream, and a razor. He picked up the razor and looked at it.
They have teleporters, holograms, FTL drives, and matter replication technology, yet they still use shaving cream and razor blades? What the hell is wrong with the future?
He grabbed some shaving cream and rubbed it on his face. He took the razor and started shaving.
I need to assess the damage. The data we got from the enterprise includes information on planets suitable to begin my work, but I'm going to need to use the holodeck to create some technology first.
He rinsed the razor and began shaving again.
Did I kill Scotty? No Spock was too angry, it had to be someone he...Uhura. it must've been
Uhura.
He puts down the razor, grabs a towel and starts wiping his face. When he finished drying his face, he grabbed his great coat and slipped in it. He looked into the mirror again and brushed his hair to the side.
He left his quarters and headed for the holodeck. as he walked, he noticed centurions were dragging damaged droids away and the StructSand was still patching up minor damage.
I didn't talk to Uhura a whole lot. In fact, I pretty much avoided her throughout my stay on the enterprise. The only time I actually saw her was when they took me to the sickbay when I first arriv….no.
He arrived at the holodeck, and saw that it was in shambles. The screen of the computer for controlling the simulation was cracked, the computer itself smoking. Inside the holodeck, panels on the upper right of the room had fallen off, revealing the complicated machinery underneath.
He ran to the holodeck terminal.
fuck, fuck, FUCK! the terminal is fried! I can't access the simulations!
He pulled a panel underneath the screen open. The data chips were scorched and beyond repair.
Fuck. I can still repair the holodeck room itself, but it can't run anymore simulations without the data chips.
He stands up and starts pacing.
No matter. I'll just have to find more, but how? I can't take on the Enterprise right now and it will take too long to find someone who sells it. I'm a wanted fugitive to Starfleet and I doubt the Klingons can help me.
He thinks back to his attack on New Vulcan.
What about those Vulcan Cruisers? They were weak and easy to defeat, and they probably have what I need on one of them. Maybe there's something on the Vengeance database.
He stops pacing and starts for the bridge.
When he arrives there, he walks to the database terminal and opens the console. He finds a list that details all Vulcan Cruisers.
Spying on the Vulcans, are we Admiral Marcus? Guess 'war is inevitable' is true for the Vulcans as well.
He scrolls down the categories.
Warships, Cargo ships, transport ships….Exploration ships?
He tapped on the Exploration ship category and is shown the names of three ships. One of the names in particular caught his eye.
The T'pol? isn't that the Vulcan girl from Star Trek: Enterprise?
He tapped on the name.
" The T'pol is a Vulcan exploration ship, named after the Vulcan crew member of the first warp capable ship built by humanity. The T'pol runs numerous exploration, diplomatic, and research operations and its defenses include a standard deflector shield and phaser cannons." I smirked "It is equipped with a transporter room, a dining room for diplomats, and a holodeck."
My smirk grew even wider.
The T'pol was in impulse right above a huge comet. They got reports of huge amounts of radiation emanating from this sector, and was sent in to investigate. When they left warp, they detected radioactive elements from a nearby comet, and they went after it.
On the bridge of The T'pol, Captain Nadi was sitting in the Command chair with her first officer Serek at her side. their expressions were completely devoid of emotion, as it is not uncommon in Vulcans.
Captain Nadi was a tall, slender Vulcan female, and wore a red, skin tight uniform with pointed shoulders. Serek was a Vulcan male of average height and average build and wore the same uniform as Nadi, though his was white.
"keep a safe distance, helmsman" Nadi ordered.
"yes Captain."
Despite what her facial expression said, many worrisome thoughts were going through her head.
New Vulcan was attacked. Hundreds were killed, and The Satori, the ship... he, served on was destroyed. no survivors. But I have to keep control over my emotions. We'll get back as soon as we are finished a few operations.
Her first officer Serek leaned in close to her. "Captain, I do not recommend grabbing the comet in a tractor beam. there is a risk of it exploding and endangering the ship." he added
"you are correct." She states in a flat tone.
He glares at her without any emotion "Captain, are you sure that you are 100% in control and that your judgement is not clouded by recent events ?" he asked rather bluntly.
"Yes first officer, I am 100% in control and my judgement is not impaired." She answered. Deep down, she was rather annoyed.
"good." he said.
she stands up "prepare a runabout team equipped with protective gear to collect a sample of the comet."
"Yes Captain." replied a bridge officer, and he repeated her orders on the intercom.
She sat back down.
A radioactive comet? Is it naturally occurring or is it artificial? whatever the team finds will tell the truth on the matter.
She sighs (or at least does the Vulcan emotionless equivalent of a sigh which is basically just breathing.)
She had read the report on the ship that attacked New Vulcan. The USS Vengeance is a classified starfleet dreadnought built secretly by the rogue starfleet Admiral Marcus. The Vengeance is equipped with warp capabilities that allow it to pursue other ships in warp. It has a much more powerful phaser cannon which can be fired while pursuing a ship in warp. The ship itself has been commandeered by a human who starfleet identifies as David Lord. He has somehow built an army of droids and planetbound primitive fighter aircraft drones. He has even gone so reckless as to build nuclear warheads, which are too dangerous to have anywhere near a warp core.
Unnoticed to anyone in the bridge, Nadi clenched one hand into a fist.
She read the summary of David Lord's attack on New Vulcan. He strategically bombed the city to lure The Enterprise and laid a trap for them. He was after both the HELIOS machine AND the navigation data of the enterprise. She couldn't find any information on David Lord himself, but he is most likely an ex-starfleet officer, possibly an Admiral. By the details in the report of the battle, she could tell that he is a genius strategist. Equipping his drones with primitive weapons to make The Enterprise lower its guard for when he attacked it with nuclear warheads. Using a nuclear explosion to block any fire from The Enterprise giving the Vengeance time to escape. These were all the signs of a masterful strategist. He was also ruthless. Bombing the city of New Vulcan, his droids showing no mercy when they attacked the HELIOS research facility. The Satori never stood a chance….He, never stood a chance.
"Captain, the runabout team has landed on the comet." reported a bridge officer.
"Establish a feed." she ordered. After this operation, she would return to New Vulcan and...mourn.
a feed was established and she heard static in the transmission. "Captai...foun..arge machi...emit...radiatio…"
what? did she say machine?
"runabout team, what is it ?" something isn't right.
"capt….we'r….takin….fir…!" they were shouting.
"zoom in on the landing site." on the screen, a close up of the landing site was shown. she couldn't make out anything due to the ice trail made by the comet, but she could see lights created by green phaser pulses and repetitive yellow flashes.
"something's wrong, beam them ou-"
"Captain! an unknown object launched from the comet and is heading straight for us!" interrupted a bridge officer.
"WHAT!?" Nadi shouted.
On the comet, centurions are firing at the Vulcan team. around them, barrels with leftover radioactive materials used for David's warheads are mixed with StructSand which is dispersing the radioactive materials in clouds, creating the radioactive emissions. Behind the centurions in a crater, a mobile large missile launcher vehicle fires a nuclear warhead at The T'pol.
The warhead explodes near The T'pol. alarms ring out across the ship.
"shields are at 20 percent"
"weapons 56 percent"
"Unknown ship has exited warp."
Just behind The T'pol, a ship exited warp.
"On Screen!" ordered Nadi.
On the bridge main screen, the ship that had just appeared was shown.
That design...Black, saucer shaped front, and two long thrusters with a blue light just below the saucer. This is the ship that attacked New Vulcan. The same ship that destroyed The Satori. The same ship that killed...him.
"Captain, I advise that we enter war-" Nadi interrupted Serek.
"we can't. It is capable of pursuing us in warp and we will be defenseless." I countered.
"Then perhaps we should hail them. The Vengeance is more than capable of annihilating us." Serek re-advised.
"Yes, but according to the report of its battle with The Enterprise, it was badly damaged." now that Nadi thought about it, she could make out patches into the hull of The Vengeance. They were slightly discolored and had different textures than the surrounding hull.
"Captain, they're hailing us." what? why would they hail us? they clearly have the advantage here. Unless…
"Open a transmission." Nadi ordered
On the screen, a human ad-no. wait. The person on screen was definitely human, but appeared young, much too young to be a starfleet officer. In fact, he appeared to be in puberty, probably in his late teens.
"To whom am I currently speaking to." He said. The way he spoke suggested he possessed a high intellect, rare for human teens.
"I am Captain Nadi of The T'pol. Identify yourself." she demanded.
"I am David Lord, current Captain of The USS Vengeance." he answered.
Wha- what? This is the human who attacked New Vulcan? This is the master tactician who destroyed The Satori ? The terrorist who killed…him.
" Why have you attacked us?" she asked.
"you have something I want." He said with a grin on his face.
"Which is?" she asked, tightening her fist in hidden rage.
"Captain, the runabout team has returned." a bridge officer reported. good, they're okay.
"The holodeck chips on The USS Vengeance is damaged, so I need yours." He calmly said with a grin.
All this for holodeck chips?
Nadi stood up "Listen, you are obviously too young to be this David Lord. I demand that I speak with him and properly convey what he wants with himself and not a child soldier he recruited" There's no way this person is the David Lord she's been hearing about. He is much too young and wouldn't be able to commandeer a Starfleet Dreadnought. A military-grade Starfleet dreadnought.
"If you're not going to give it to me, then my boarding party will." He states flatly.
"No more games! I wish to speak wit-"
"Captain! We lost contact with the hangar!" a bridge officer reported.
"That was surprisingly easy." David said, nodding his head with a smirk on his face as the transmission suddenly cuts.
In the hangar, the runabout lands. medical teams are on standby waiting to receive any wounded from the comet. however, instead of Vulcans coming out of the runabout, centurions come out and start shooting everyone.
"Security is reporting droids advancing through the halls of the ship!"
"alert the rest of ship, Serek draw out your phaser and keep me covered, helmsman you are in charge while me and the first officer help neutralize the boarding party." Nadi orders as she walks to the bridge door.
"Yes Captain" replied Serek and the helmsman.
Serek and Nadi left the bridge and out into the hall with their phasers drawn out, Serek right behind Nadi.
"First Officer Serek, you read the rest of the report on David Lord, did it say anything about why Lord wants the holodeck?" Nadi asked Serek as they rounded a corner.
"In the report, it said Lord found out he could use the Artificial Intelligence of the holodeck to research new technology and weapons at an astonishing rate." Serek explained.
"If his holodeck is damaged" Nadi said "then the weapons and tech he has now is the only weapons and tech he has available to him." she spoke with a tone of realization.
"The holodeck is now our main priority. we cannot allow him to be capable of making more new weapons." she ordered.
What Nadi is still trying to wrap her head around, is why would David Lord recruit child when he appears to have an army of droids at his disposal.
They started in the direction of the holodeck. They heard gunshots. In front of them, at an opening on the right side of a hallway intersection, a security guard was shooting his phaser rifle at something while walking backwards. His chest then exploded in holes of blood, and he fell to the floor, as droids came from the same direction he came from.
Nadi raised her phaser and shot at one of the droids, hitting one of them in the head as it stood for a second then fell to the ground. The rest noticed and opened fire as Serek and Nadi took cover, firing their phasers at them. The droids kept firing and walking backwards, in the direction of the holodeck.
Security guards arrived from the left and right side of the hallway intersection, taking cover and firing at the droids. They kept advancing at the droids as a few guards were wounded or killed, as well as a few droids. The droids reached the holodeck and one droid opened a panel. It pulled out two of the chips, and placed them in a compartment in its chest. It tried to grab the last one, but Nadi aimed and fired a shot at the chip, rendering it useless.
"They have nowhere to go! keep firing!" Nadi shouted.
Unfortunately, they did have somewhere to go: out the window. A droid pointed its gun at a window.
Nadi's eye's widen "close the blast doors!" she commanded.
Serek ran to a button on the wall and broke the glass case and pressed the button. The blast doors closed as the hallway the droids were in got vented.
Outside, the centurions were ejected out of the ship. They used built-in thrusters to grind them to a halt, allowing The Vengeance get a lock on them and beam them back on the ship.
The Vengeance angled away and entered warp.
Back on the bridge of The T'pol, Nadi was back in her chair, assessing casualties.
"casualties?" Nadi asked.
" 16 dead, 3 wounded." Serek reported, looking at a datapad. "plus the 5 dead we sent to the runabout."
Nadi breathed.
"set course for earth." she commanded the helmsman.
"Captain?" Serek asked.
Nadi didn't look at him "I have to report this directly to starfleet."
"But Captain, we could just send a trans-"
"At ease first officer." Nadi interrupted.
"Yes Captain." Serek relented.
What Nadi really wants to know is more about David Lord, and why he would send a teen to talk to her when he could have done so himself. Whatever Lord's plans are, she has a feeling this is only the beginning, and despite the logic focused teachings she received her whole life, she wants to do this out of justice…. for her father.
"MOTHER FUCKER!" David smashed a chair into the wall of the holodeck. The pieces started floating around in mid air.
The centurions returned to him with the data chips needed for the holodeck. the holodeck itself was repaired, the but objects inside it were acting strange.
some objects floating around, some would explode all of a sudden, and some were completely immobile.
You see, the holodeck uses a powerful computer to generate the simulations. But the computer needs data as a way to figure what it's simulating. There are three important data chips that store three types of data: The object chip, which stores full objects and digital constructs. The AI chip, which stores the programming for the artificial being's behaviour and intelligence. And the Environment chip, which stores the settings, environment, and physics of the simulation itself.
The centurions, did not get the environment chip, which is key for the artificial intelligence to run its research into new technology. Without it, the simulation cannot properly run.
"COCKSUCKER!" and now, David is really pissed about it.
A/N: third chapter done. please tell me if I made any errors so I can fix it.