Author's Note:
Okay, this has been sitting on my laptop for a month. Longer than that, actually, if you also count the many false starts. But it should been uploaded a month ago, except for the fact that I no longer have Internet at home. *sob* So this was the first chance I've had to post this up (hence breaking longstanding my no-Sunday-posts rule).
Anyhoo, after those false starts, I gained inspiration from reading up on Star Trek… and I ran with my idea. Expect to see a lot more Star Trek here in the future, especially as it's more compatible with BLoSC than Star Wars is. Galactic travel has now been retconned from hyperspace to warp speed, because the latter, too, is more compatible with BLoSC than the former. (Lightspeed just can't get you across the galaxy in one day—c'mon, BLoSC writers, remember Einstein?)
Also, welcome four new cadets, all boys this time: Indy, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch. Expect to see a lot more of these guys in the future!
Btw, this fic now has its own TV Tropes page: http : / / tvtropes . org / pmwiki / pmwiki . php / FanFic / ForGood Please check it out!
To my reviewers:
Kgirl1: You're welcome—thank you! I think Erin's going to be needing that luck in this chapter… ^_^ Nooo, no Beer yet (yes, that is what it's called! *grins*), I'm afraid, but quite possibly a hint of it in the next chapter! I'm trying to be careful and realistic with the development of that relationship, as well as respectful to the canonicity of the series. But it WILL come, I promise you!
Historian1912: Oh. *grins* So I can't really respond to your comments on chapter 9, but thanks for making them! As far as the summer scenes go, scroll down to my review response to Darkmatterfangirl—that should make you feel better. =D I think you'll be happy with the further development of the girls in this chapter—and hopefully pleased to see some new male characters. Ha-ha, glad you like Windy, even if it's due to shared geography. And, no, I'm an Eastern-Midwesterner pretty hard—I don't feel bad about saying that online, 'cause that's just part of my personality. I did know about the "y'all," but thanks anyway for pointing that out. I always welcome help in fleshing out characters. Every team member will have some kind of special skill eventually, count on it. That's just the rules of team dynamics in any form of fiction. While I've no doubt that all Ranger cadets learn patching up, battle surgery is much more involved, so that will be Windy's expertise (along with a general sort of psychiatrist attitude). In response to your P.S.s, glad you liked the "years" scene, and I haven't seriously thought about Star Command's ranking system in a long time. The series itself follows a police system, but Erin's generation of cadets might well be held up to a double standard of police and military. Will have to work on that. God bless!
Ranger-Nova: Ha-ha, surprise! I'm glad that you're glad! =D And, yes, you really did majorly inspire me to continue. Rabid Trekkie? I Vulcan-salute a girl who knows far more about Star Trek than I. ^_^ I'm having difficulty finding TOS stuff on YouTube… or TNG, for that matter… but more serious download sites would not be advisable to use with my laptop. *sighs* So I just read up as much as I can. Ha, I was finally able to watch "Yukari Imprint" the other day for the first time in years, and I recognized Nichelle Nichols! That was cool! You might well be the only reader who caught the deleted scene quote, but I'm glad you did! I was first introduced to that scene through a wonderful fanfic, and then I discovered the whole thing when I found the script on IMSDb. I'm glad that quote made your day! I'm also glad that you like the new direction of the story! Well, we'll see what happens—even I'm not quite sure at this point! All I know is that this development will make the events of "War and Peace and War" that much more interesting! Thank you so much! God bless.
Darkmatterfangirl: Thank you! Ha-ha, I'm glad you enjoyed the summer scenes so much—I think I will do some kind of series extra that takes place in Summer 3009. I do like those scenes; it's just that they didn't fit with the new flow of the fic. Neither chapter 9 nor 10 are flashbacks: 9 takes place the day after 8, and 10 takes place three or four months later. Sorry for the confusion! Glad you like the interaction between Warp and Erin, and very glad you like Zomega! I've put a lot of work into her. Re your comments on the previous chapter: aww! *blushes hard* Thank you so very much! God bless!
Disclaimer: Songs and quotes do not belong to me. Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, and Stargate SG-1 do not belong to me. Erin and her dorm-mates, Indy, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch most emphatically belong to me.
==Chapter XI==
Challenge the Future
Listen as your day unfolds
Challenge what the future holds
Try and keep your head up to the sky
—"You Gotta Be," Des'ree
"Doggone it, I'm a writer, not a tactician!"
"Aaand you win the Internet for your McCoy impression," Windy declared, smirking.
Erin growled and leveled a warning finger at their resident sawbones-in-training. "Watch it, or I'll agree to be captain just to toss you into the brig." Erin and her dorm-mates were clustered with another dorm-team, all male: Indy St. James, Cody Ricardo, Eda-Ji-Kep, and Clutch Donnell. At the training simulations, dorm-teams practiced both on their own and with other dorm-teams—and, sometimes, the cadets practiced entirely separately from each other. Thus far, there had been groupings of only two teams, but the cadets had been informed that they would train in large groupings in the future.
Dorm-team 76, Erin's team, and dorm-team 95, Indy's team, had been paired up with each only as of yet. The current simulations were space combat, with the cadets learning to handle an Andromeda-class Star Cruiser as well as the larger naval Pendragon V-class Battle Cruisers.
"C'mon, Erin," Indy urged, "this is basic stuff. Ricki, Cody, Eda-Ji-Kep, and I have all done just fine with it."
Erin laughed humorlessly. "You are a born leader, Mr. Space Cowboy, and Ricki is too intelligent to fail at whatever she does. Cody made it through sheer dumb luck—" Cody protested at that point—"and Eda-Ji-Kep… Well, to be honest, I don't know how he made it—no offense, Eda-Ji-Kep."
"None taken, Er-In-Frame," the young alien said somberly. Despite the fact that Eda-Ji-Kep was basically a scale-covered humanoid, Erin couldn't stop picturing him as T'ealc from Stargate SG-1. He was big, terminally solemn, quiet, and deep-voiced… and he had the T'ealc-ish habit of saying people's whole names, though technically that was a characteristic of his race, the Ged-Ti-Mana.
Ice leaned into the conversation. "Look, Erin. I don't want to be captain. Clutch doesn't want to be. Windy… what was it you said, Win?"
"Captaincy ain't my thing?"
"Yes, that was it."
Windy cocked an eyebrow. "Does the word 'ain't' not register in your vocabulary?"
Ice tilted her head to one side. "Should it?"
The Southern girl glanced aside sardonically. "Good grief."
Erin sighed loudly. "Guys. Just the thought of being the captain in the simulation scares me to death. I'd much rather be the helmsman—we already know I'm good at it."
"Yeah, and as the helmsman, if the captain and first officer are down or away, you have the conn," Indy pointed out. "You've gotta do it sooner or later."
Erin winced and threw her head down into her folded arms. "I'm gonna fail miserably," she groaned.
"Okay, so what if you do?" Windy demanded. "Go fail. Learn from it, and get over it."
Erin raised her head to glare at Windy. "Y'know what? You make a lousy shrink."
"C'mon, Erin," Indy urged, with a crooked smile reminiscent of his hero, Indiana Jones.
"Erin," Windy said firmly. Something in her tone made Erin really look at her—the other girl's bright blue eyes were unnerving in their intensity. "Go. Fail. And learn."
Erin sank slowly into the captain's chair. Like the helmsman's chair, it was remarkably plushy to take some of the stress off the officers' bodies.
The bridge of a Pendragon V-class Battle Cruiser was shaped as a semicircle, with the captain's chair in the center background and the helmsman's and navigator's consoles in the center foreground. The Pendragon V itself was shaped like a curved arrow, with two massive thrusters above and below the hull on each rear tip of the arrow. Unlike Andromeda-class Star Cruisers, none of the Pendragon Battle Cruisers had been designed to land.
Of course, Erin couldn't see the "outside" of the ship, nor had she ever seen one in real life. The Ares Naval Tech Pendragons had supposedly all been scrapped after the last war, and they were generally considered outdated anyway by the Andromedas as well as Zurg's Diabla II-class Dreadnought.
Neither supposition was true, according to Lt. Commander Sulu, their veteran ship instructor. Two Pendragon Vs remained in an abandoned spacedock orbiting one of the dozens of moons in the Capital System, as per Commander Nebula's orders. Captain Lightyear was the only senior Ranger still in active duty who knew that secret.
As far as the Pendragon Vs technology was concerned, their weapons systems could pack twice the punch that Zurg's Dreadnought could. He had the jump on them in shields and communications, undoubtedly, but the sleeker Pendragons had at least 1.5 Zurg's maneuverability. An Andromeda, on the other hand, had smaller laser cannons, weaker shields, and lesser communications than a Pendragon V—the only area in which an Andromeda came out on top was in speed and maneuverability, having nearly as much capability there as one of the old Saber starfighters.
Ice, who was seated at the comm., said, "Receiving a distress call, sir."
Erin prayed her voice wouldn't squeak or crack. "Put it on screen." Well, it wasn't Patrick Stewart, but it wasn't bad, either, thank goodness.
A static-filled image flickered to life on the forward viewscreen, which, unlike an Andromeda forward viewport, was a monitor screen rather than an actual window. The image showed a Caucasian male Ranger on the bridge of an Andromeda. "…elp us," the Ranger was saying. "We…re…ng…ttack…rion…bula…"
"Ranger Ellemore," Erin called.
"I'm trying, sir." She heard Ice working furiously at her console. "He said 'Orion Nebula'—the cloud is interfering with the signal."
"…nought…eav…ire," the transmission continued.
Erin nodded, even though she knew Ice would not be able to see her. "Ranger St. James, set course for one lightyear outside the Orion Nebula."
"Aye-aye, sir."
"Ranger Sunflare."
"Yes, sir?"
Erin motioned Ricki over.
"Captain," said Indy, "course laid in."
"Very good." Erin smiled tightly. "Warp nine—punch it." The ship shot forward into warp, and Erin turned to her First Officer. "Well, Rick, what do you think?"
Ricki arched one dark teal eyebrow.
Erin groaned. "Okay, Miss Vulcan—quit the roleplaying. In all seriousness, do you have any ideas about what might be going on?"
Ricki pursed her dark green lips briefly. "We didn't hear the entire transmission, Captain, but I note that we never heard anything that sounded remotely like the name 'Zurg'. He said that they were under attack, but any Ranger under attack from Zurg would have specified."
"He said 'nought,' Rick," Erin pointed out quietly.
The alien girl shrugged. "Zurg is not the only being in the galaxy with a Dreadnought. They do pop up from time to time."
Erin considered this for a moment. "Ranger Eda-Ji-Kep. I need you to do a data search on Dreadnoughts—sightings, registries, known owners, anything."
"Aye, sir."
"Ranger Ricardo," Erin continued, "I want our laser cannons primed…"
She could feel Cody's dark eyes on her. "Sir?"
"Better prepare the torpedo launchers, as well, Ranger."
"Aye, sir."
Erin flicked a glance at Ricki, standing impassively to her right. "Number One, return to your station and stay sharp."
Ricki saluted slowly, a glimmer of humor in her violet eyes. "Aye, sir."
Erin leaned back in her seat, folded her hands together, pressed her forefingers to her lips, trying to remain the picture of perfect command calm. It wasn't easy. Her heart had to have been pounding ten lightyears a minute.
"ETA: five minutes, Captain," Indy reported.
They were going to be the longest five minutes of Erin's life.
XXX
When they came out of warp, the Orion Nebula loomed around them in all its majesty. Not one of the cadets could fail to be moved by the awesome sight.
"Sweet mother of Venus," Windy breathed.
"Who is man that Thou art mindful of him?" Erin whispered.
Then several consoles were beeping all at once, and the eight cadets snapped back to reality. "Red alert," Erin ordered. "Shields up."
The white lighting on the bridge turned red as klaxons began to wail.
"Forward shields at maximum," Clutch reported.
"Ranger Ellemore, hail that Dreadnought and get a transponder ID if you can," said Erin. The Dreadnought in question was immense, unquestionably a Diabla I-class and about twice the size of Zurg's familiar flagship.
"My gosh, look at the size of that thing," Windy muttered.
An Andromeda wove among a storm of laserfire from the Diabla I, but it was painfully clear that the little ship was losing. "Captain, if we don't open fire, they're going to destroy that Cruiser," Cody urged.
"Ranger Ricardo is right," said Ricki. "Sensors indicate that the Star Cruiser is basically being pummeled apart."
Erin shifted her jaw. "Ranger Ellemore?"
"Transponder ID makes no sense," Ice reported bemusedly, "and they're not responding to our hails."
Erin felt all eyes on her, and she hated it. It sounded simple, clear-cut. One of their own was being pounded into oblivion out there, and they had a duty to their fellow Rangers. On the other hand, could Erin really order the destruction of an entire ship without knowing who was aboard or what its intent was?
It was then that she realized the purpose of this particular simulation. It was not just to put the cadets in combat situations where they had to do or die—it was to test the character of the cadet in the captain's seat. What decisions would he or she make, and how would they affect the situation, the captain's comrades, and the "galaxy"? Erin felt entirely justified in her earlier refusal of captaincy.
All this flashed through her mind in less than five seconds. She felt her face harden. "Ranger St. James, take us forward. Ranger Ricardo, fire cannons 1, 3, 2, and 4."
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir."
Erin heard confusion in Cody's affirmative, and she understood why. She hadn't given permission to go in guns blazing, which was what they would need to have any sort of advantage over a ship roughly twice their mass. But she didn't want an advantage. Not yet. The Dreadnought was simply ignoring them.
She wanted to get its attention.
"The Cruiser is hailing us," Ice called, forgetting to say sir or Captain. "It's a simple SOS."
"Try to engage—"
"Sir, I think their communications are damaged beyond that."
Oh. Erin's jaw tightened as just one word presented itself to her mind: Crap.
Cody's shots hit the Dreadnought and splattered seemingly harmlessly on the massive shields. "Sir," he said uncertainly.
"Ranger, keep firing those cannons, and keep hitting those spots."
"Aye, sir." There was mild relief in his tone, as if his captain was finally making sense. Even the most substantial shields could not hold up under pressure when the same sections were hit over and over again.
Erin did not smile. "Ranger Ellemore, send the Cruiser an Evacuate signal. Let's hope they can receive that and have the sense to abandon ship."
"Aye, sir." A loud, insistent beep from Ice's console. "Sir, we're being hailed by the Dreadnought!"
Erin's heart shot up into her throat. Finally. "Put it on, quarter screen."
An image of the Dreadnought's bridge flickered to life in the top left corner of the viewscreen. The person facing the transmission pick-up startled them all: dusky violet skin, glowing crimson eyes, human facial structure. A Zeretanaen.
"Of course," Ricki muttered. "The last known Diabla Is were property of the Zeretanaen Empire."
Erin stared into the larger-than-life red eyes and felt her facial muscles tense further. "Unidentified Dreadnought, you are hereby ordered to—"
"Captain Erin Frame." The voice was cultured, pleasant, and it froze them all.
Simulated beings were not supposed to know their names.
C'mon, c'mon, Erin told herself, UNFREEZE. She did, and leaned forward marginally. "You are violating the Verdentian Peace Accords by firing upon a police vessel in Alliance space." The hardness in her voice surprised her. "You will desist immediately and prepare to be boarded, as per the dictates of the VPA."
The Zeretanaen smiled disarmingly. "Captain Frame, the Alliance is violating Zeretanaen space."
"You will cease firing upon the Star Cruiser immediately," Erin reiterated, inexorable.
"Captain," Ricki said quietly.
Erin glanced at Ice and made a slashing motion. Ice nodded, and Erin turned to the Derriyan. "What is it, Number One?"
"Ranger Eda-Ji-Kep transmitted his search results to my station," Ricki explained, "and Ranger Ellemore transmitted the transponder ID, as well, sir. It matches one of the Dreadnoughts of the Zeretanaen Imperial Military Forces: the ZIVS Triumphant."
Erin swallowed hard. She knew that ship—they all did. It was the former flagship of the Zeta Empire, the most powerful Dreadnought in recent history. "Thank you, Ricki," she said quietly. "Ice, restore audio."
Ice adjusted something on her console and nodded, and Erin whirled back around to face the Zetan. "Commander of the ZIVS Triumphant," Erin said coldly, "stand down now and allow for an investigation of your claim." She heard Indy give a low whistle that she hoped wasn't received by the mike.
The Zetan lifted his chin. "I will not. The Orion Nebula has no rightful part in the Galactic Alliance."
Erin leaned forward again, human brown eyes flashing at alien red eyes. "The Orion Nebula was ceded to the Alliance nearly fifty years ago by Emperor Zuriel Zurg in the Zeta Quadrant Pact, and even he continues to honor the agreement."
"The concession was made because the young Emperor, may he distort in the galaxy's center, did not have the manpower to hold on to all his possessions. Today, we reclaim what is rightfully ours, and no one shall stand in our way." Emotion in Zetan eyes was different from emotion in human eyes, but Erin was sure that the commander's gaze softened marginally. "Leave now, and you will be unmolested."
Erin's eyes narrowed. "You have already molested a police vessel in direct violation of galactic neutral travel laws over a century old, and you will answer accordingly. Stand down now, Triumphant, and prepare to be boarded."
The Zetan shook his head. "You leave me with no choice, Captain Frame." The transmission dissolved, leaving their view of the heavens unobstructed.
One powerful blast rocked their ship and nearly threw Erin from her seat. She swore aloud and snapped, "Ranger Donnell, damage report!"
"Shields down by thirty percent!"
Erin swore again. "Ranger Ricardo, arm torpedo launchers, lock onto Engineering, and fire!"
"Aye, sir!"
Even as their ship rocked again, several beautiful lances of deadly light streaked towards the Dreadnought. The massive ship shuddered.
"Captain, shields are down by another thirty percent!" Clutch wailed. "We have hull breaches on Decks 7 through 12!"
"Sir, we won't survive a fourth blow like that," Indy said quietly.
"Sir, the Rangers have jettisoned and are approximately two miles from us," Ricki announced.
Even as Ricki spoke, Erin was snapping off another order to Clutch, the Chief Engineer on this venture. "Divert all secondary power to the forward shields. Ice, give me shipwide comm."
"Aye, sir!"
"Aye, sir."
Another rocking blow. Clutch made a relieved noise, and Erin knew that she had bought them only a little time.
Erin depressed the comm. on the armrest. "Attention. This is Captain Frame speaking. All crewmen retreat to Decks 2 through 6 and enter escape pods. Repeat, all crewmen retreat to Decks 2 through 6 in the next thirty seconds and enter escape pods." She deactivated the comm. and said, "Ranger Donnell, in twenty-five seconds, reroute all power from Decks 7 through 14 to the thrusters."
"Sir?"
"That's an order, Ranger! Ricki, are our people docked yet?"
"Affirmative, Captain."
Their eyes met, Captain and First Officer, brown and violet, human and alien. In that moment, Erin knew that Ricki knew what she was planning. And the realization Erin received could have sent her back into her seat with crushing force.
Just weeks ago, Ricki had pegged Erin for being the Kirk of their team, and had quoted Spock from The Wrath of Khan, calling it her "first best destiny." Now… Now, Erin just knew, beyond a shadow of her most debilitating doubts. This was where they were meant to be, the two of them.
"Ice, comm. the Rangers from the Star Cruiser and tell them to get to an escape pod ASAP."
"Aye, sir."
"Range Donnell?"
"Five seconds, sir."
The huge torpedo launcher on the underbelly of the vast Dreadnought lit again. "Do it now, Ranger!" Erin shouted. "Ranger St. James, !"
Indy obeyed, and the ship shot forward, throwing them all back against their seats at the sudden increase of G-forces. The torpedo shot harmlessly past them.
"Cody, fire at Weapons!" Erin called with a distorted voice.
"Aye, sir," was the weak reply.
"Ricki, are all the pods full?"
"Affirmative! All life forms aboard the ship are in escape pods! It's just us."
"Thank God," Erin breathed. "Jettison immediately!"
She felt everyone's gaze upon her again, and she knew why. They believed she had just doomed them in a suicide run.
"Erin," Windy said gently, "this isn't Star Trek."
Erin nodded. "No, it's not. But it's not right, either. It almost is a Kobayashi Maru, except…"
"Except," Windy prodded.
Erin smiled slowly, her gaze focused on the Dreadnought filling their viewscreen. "Ranger St. James, is the autopilot still functioning?"
Indy eyed her. "Yes, sir."
"Lay in a warp speed one course for the Dreadnought's bridge. Ranger Donnell, reroute the navicomp's AI to Deck 1."
"Sir?"
She felt Ricki get it. "We're going to jettison the bridge, Ranger Donnell."
"No way!" Windy shouted, her blue eyes wide. "Erin! You're a Tradeworld gambler!"
"Don't you forget it," Erin shot back. "Indy, Clutch?"
"Course inlaid, sir."
"AI rerouted, Captain."
Here's where it would have gotten difficult, had Erin not known about one more little trick the designers had put into the Pendragon V. Pulling up her armrest console, she quickly keyed in a captain's override code. It was still risky, but they stood a far better chance this way than if Indy was performing both functions alone. "All right, Ranger St. James. On my mark."
"Sir." His voice just barely reflected the anxiety she felt.
"Three. Two. One. MARK!" As one, Erin and Indy punched it.
They felt a tremendous lurch. One second later, they watched in silent awe as the Pendragon sped towards its target like the arrowhead it was shaped as. Five seconds later, the viewscreen darkened, but not in time to prevent their vision from being overwhelmed by the unbearable brilliance of the explosion as the Battle Cruiser collided head-on with the Dreadnought. The detached bridge rocked in the waves of the aftermath like a sailing ship in the North Atlantic.
"Is everybody—" Erin caught the croak in her voice and cleared her throat. "Is everybody alive?" She didn't dare open her eyes—they hurt fantastically.
"Blinded like heck but in one piece," Windy reported. "Y'all agree?"
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, sir."
"Aye, Jim." Ricki.
Indy made a confused noise. His real name was Jim—understandably, he went by Indiana or Indy, instead.
But Erin understood. "At ease…" She smiled. Why bother fighting it? If their lives paralleled a science fiction classic from a thousand years ago, so be it. "Mr. Spock."
Author's Note:
I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that IMMENSELY. From Windy and Ricki fulfilling their roles as McCoy and Spock respectively to Erin's development under fire as a captain. My apologies if the sci-fi was not quite up to par—it's been years since I've tried to write a scene like this. In my defense, it all looked really good in my mental camera.
And not only do we have a massive tribute to Star Trek (including a mention of a Sulu!), but we also have tributes to Indiana Jones and Stargate SG-1! *cheers* The TV Tropes page is right—these shout-outs just keeping multiplying like the "jelly-squishies" in "Enemy Without a Face". ;D
…y'know, I think we could safely call this fic "BLoSC meets Star Trek meets girl power meets Star Wars." LOL.
Next up, some Buzz, some Mira, and maybe even some Warp. Stay tuned!
Please review!