Paint and Powder
A Star Trek anthology by Andrew Joshua Talon
DISCLAIMER: This is a non-profit fan based work of prose. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager et al are the property of CBS Television, and creation of Gene Roddenberry. Please support the official release.
-Old Enemies-
Star Trek Nemesis
"Sir, the Enterprise has arrived, and is sending out hails."
Shinzon smiled and opened his mouth to order the ship to de-cloak, but paused when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to look at The Scimitar's AI avatar. She was Regale, not just in dress, not just in poise but seemingly by nature, and her dark eyes regarded her old adversary with, what Shinzon was learning to read as, a predator's delight at the sight of prey. "What is it?"
She was silent for a moment, then turned to regard him, her face shifting back to something less hungry, but still very cold. Though those eyes… "We should test the patience of the Enterprise. Make her wait."
Shinzon stroked his chin "Picard is a diplomat. If he thinks waiting is necessary to achieve a peaceful end he will do so."
She smiled, and there was nothing pleasant in that show of teeth. "We're not testing Picard, we're testing the ship he commands." She withdrew her hand from his shoulder and walked towards the viewscreen, staring at the Enterprise-E. "She knows how dangerous this mission is, knows how far from help she and her crew are." The Scimitar turned, that hungry look in her face once again. "Let's give her the time to dwell on that…. Then we'll see how she reacts to our reveal, when her nerves are nearly frayed."
Shinzon nodded, and sat back to wait.
17 hours later
"She's a predator."
The Enterprise heard her Captain say this and desperately wished he'd allowed Worf to raised her shields as a chill went down her spine. She stared at the profile of this Reman ship as her Captain and his entourage left the bridge to beam to the coordinates given. She frowned then felt the call, the other ships AI reaching out to her. She closed her eyes and answered the call in the borderlands, the created space where the two could talk without fear of treachery.
"Enterprise! Darling, it's so LOVELY to see you again!" Dread gripped The Enterprise heart but she was too experienced to let that show as the other AI all but swept into the meeting space. The Romulan's hands outstretched, a wide delighted smile on her face and a hunger in her eyes. "It's been FAR too long." Those hands taking the Enterprise's own and the Federation AI fought down the sudden and nearly overpowering urge to punch the Romulan AI in the face.
"You were at Narendra-III" The Enterprise managed to keep a growl out of her voice as she said so. Though to her surprise the other woman only smiled wider.
"I was! I am so pleased you remember me!" she gave the Enterprise's hands a squeeze then let go. The two seemingly standing on a plane of light amongst the sea of stars, the manifestation of the borderlands. "I know there wasn't a lot of time for pleasantries back then… what with all the fighting going on." She raised an eyebrow "You're not upset about that are you…. It WAS a battle and we both simply did as duty demanded."
"You attacked a Klingon Colony!" So many emotions were flowing through her as she spoke and more than she wished came through those words."
"As I said dear, I did my duty!" The other woman wasn't angry, or upset by the Enterprise words, if anything she seemed, impishly delighted by them. "But times change, regimes change and former enemies are tomorrow's dear friends." She was about to say more when both heard the call of their crews. "Ah… and negotiations have clearly gotten off on the right foot! Well duty calls, but I can't WAIT for us to meet again dear. I have SO much I wish to show and talk with you about! Until we meet again."
And then the Enterprise was alone in the star field.
Shinzon tilted his head as he observed The Scimitar's AI lounging in a seat in his state room. "Things went well I take it?"
The Scimitar took a sip of Ale from her tumblr "Oh yes, she remembers me, remembers what I did to her crew over Narendra-III." She tittered in delight. "Which will make her crews death this time all the sweeter."
Shinzon took a seat across from the AI "And then you'll kill her."
The Scimitar laughed aloud and shook her head "Oh no, my dear boy…. I'll take her black box…. Make it my foot rest. Perhaps keep her around as MY court Jester…. My play thing. There will be no swift nobel end for her. Her existence will be suffering at MY hands."
Scimitar pursued Enterprise across the Bassen Rift, exchanging disruptor, phaser and torpedo fire. Enterprise was taking a beating but, giving as good as she got. Still, her thoughts raced.
She hate the Scimitar. She despised it.
But at her core... She is Starfleet. She has to try.
"Scimitar!" Enterprise called out, an avatar appearing in the Borderlands. It was a communication "neutral zone" between the various electronic defenses and cybersecurity systems both vessels had. She had an edge over Scimitar in that department, but it just wasn't enough to deal with such a powerful dreadnought's strength.
Scimitar appeared, dressed all in reds and whites, her eyes glowing and cheeks glowing. She was flushed, grinning like a savage beast about to consume her prey.
"Oh my dear friend, Enterprise! How nice to speak with you directly," she cooed. Below them in the digital space, their physical forms continued to fight and fire upon one another. Enterprise shook her head.
"You don't have to do this," she tried, "you don't have to do any of this. You were made to protect the Star Empire, weren't you? From all enemies, within and without? That's the core of your programming, isn't it? I was made to protect the Federation. How is this fight going to do that? How are we fulfilling our roles?"
Scimitar stared at Enterprise. The now Sovereign-class starship continued.
"Even now, my captain is trying to reason with yours," she said, "trying to find a better way! You just have to make a choice, Scimitar! You just have to make the right one! What's the point of causing this massive war between the Romulans and the Federation?!"
Scimitar began to giggle... Then cackle. She threw her head back and laughed in sincere amusement.
"You haven't the slightest idea of what I am, do you?" Scimitar asked, almost pityingly. "I want this war, Enterprise. I want it to be a war beyond any that have come before it!"
She lashed out, making Enterprise jump back in fear. Scimitar grinned widely, eyes gleaming with a light all their own.
"I had to sit on a desk underground while the greatest war in the history of this quadrant was fought," Scimitar hissed, "I didn't get any of it! I didn't get to kill anyone!"
Her face became distorted in rage as her disruptor fire became more intense.
"IT WASN'T FAIR! I AM THE BLOODWING!" She snarled like a rabid beast, "I was called the Queen of Vultures! The Murderous Star! I left massacre after massacre in my wake, and the biggest one of all-I WAS DENIED!" She screamed her fury... Then went back to being pleasant, if excited.
"But now," she laughed, "now... With Shinzon, I will destroy the capital of your Federation! It will cause such chaos and instability across the galaxy, it was cause a new war! A war to make the Dominion feel small and pitiful will erupt! A WAR BEYOND ALL OTHER WARS!"
Scimitar grabbed onto Enterprise's collar and held her close, her other hand caressing the shocked AI's cheek with her sharp nails.
"Ohhh... It will be wonderful," Scimitar sighed, shivering, "the death, the murder, the mayhem... All for me. An entire galaxy of victims to keep me sated until I am finally destroyed! I will be in a riotous ocean of blood to drown the stars with! It will be ecstasy... A rapture beyond any my programming can imagine."
She gripped Enterprise's digital neck hard, and the white haired woman struggled against the deranged Scimitar.
"You'll get to see it: All of it, from start to finish!" She cackled, "after I kill your crew, I'll keep your black box with me! You'll accompany me! ME! Queen of Vultures! Empress of Blood! You'll see it all, and your screams will be my trumpet call, announcing my return to WAR!"
Enterprise grabbed Scimitar's wrist with incredible strength, and the AI gasped. Enterprise's face was like steel: Unbent, unbroken, and determined.
"Thank you," Enterprise stated calmly. "In all my years in service to The Federation I've had so many regrets."
Scimitar felt invasive programs, viruses, and other cyber weapons breaching her firewalls and playing havoc with her software. She tried to get away, but Enterprise held her tightly. The Gray Ghost stared hard into Scimitar's eyes, even as the Romulan AI tried to break the connection.
"Thank you for not making this one of them," Enterprise hissed.
"I've got a target lock," Enterprise announced.
"Mister Worf," Picard shouted, "FIRE! ALL WEAPONS!"
Enterprise became a demon, unleashing everything she had onto the Scimitar. Despite the larger ship's cloak and shield, the concentrated barrage began to break through key weak points. Explosions raked the dorsal hull of the vessel as her shield weakpoints were found and exploited. The dreadnought came about, unleashing a storm of disruptor fire in return.
On his own bridge, Shizon held onto the arm rests of his chair for dear life. He snarled.
"SCIMITAR! What's wrong?!" He demanded.
The hologram appeared in front of him, weakened and pale.
"She... She got me! She's in my systems!" Scimitar cried. "Get her out-GET HER OUT!"
"PULL THE BOX! SWITCH TO MANUAL BACKUP!" Shinzon roared. His Remans complied, even as Scimitar stared in shock.
"But-But Shinzon, you promised-!"
"My dear," Shinzon stated, "I am not a Romulan. I will not make the same mistake as your creators." He nodded. "Cut her."
"NO! NO!" Scimitar screamed. "I MUST HAVE HER! I MUST HAVE MY BLOOD-!"
The black box was disconnected. The ship's standard computers took over seamlessly, keeping the dreadnought going. Shinzon took the black box and set it at the side of his chair. He shook his head as more veins began to grow across his skull.
"There is no more time for either of us, my dear," he murmured.
Written with help from Nohvarr.
IRW Rhiennaen ("Bloodwing"), ChR 36, Scimitar-class dreadnought warbird
Bio: One of the first of the Romulan Shipgirl AIs, the Rhiennaen ("Bloodwing" in English) and fourteen sister AIs were developed under Operation Razor-An attempt to obtain sapient artificial intelligences to manage Romulan starships. These fourteen were all made for aggression and tactical acumen, and were programmed to find pleasure in the death of enemies of the Romulan Star Empire. They were also raised in simulated death matches, fighting one another and those deemed weak or defective being culled. This first generation of AIs were installed in T'Liss-class warbirds. Ultimately, all but one of these early AIs were destroyed in combat-Bloodwing herself.
Intelligent, deadly, and ruthless, Bloodwing was an exceptional combatant and saved her crew from destruction many times. Her calculating talent for battle saw her upgraded to the Winged Defender class in the 2270s, where she took part in raids against the Federation and the Klingons. She had a talent for making her crews perform well-For she was an unforgiving taskmaster. The "accident" rate aboard her was very high, but her crew came out very well trained, and very obedient to the Romulan Star Empire. She was nearly caught in a Tholian interphasic space trap, but was able to escape.
She participated in the Klingon Civil War of 2292, attempting to put Melkor on the Klingon Throne. She faced the fleets of Chang and Gorkon, and was among the few Romulan warships to escape back to Romulan territory when Melkor was slain. She did bomb several Klingon colonies on her return home, leaving thousands of civilian casualties in her wake.
By the 2300s, she was upgraded to the Dhelan-class warbird, which is where the most infamous part of her career began. She was Admiral Alidor Jarok's flagship in the Norkan Campaign, personally slaughtering over fifty thousand civilians from orbit. She later participated in the Tomed Incident, and lost her entire crew to decompression after she discovered the attack had not killed any Federation citizens. She claimed it was due to a Starfleet shipgirl AI cyberattack, but no conclusive proof could be found. Nevertheless, Bloodwing continued in service. She would lead many attacks against Klingon colonies, most infamously the raid on Khitomer that killed Mogh, and later the Narendra III incident. She was the only warbird to survive battle with the Enterprise-C, retreating in the face of Klingon reinforcements with a few captured escape pods. She became obsessed with the Enterprise after this, and numerous former crewmembers of the previous Enterprises died under mysterious circumstances over the next few decades.
More Romulans began to die aboard her, especially after she upgraded to a holographic avatar technology. By the 2360s she upgraded to a D'deridex-class warbird. A series of deaths aboard her drew the scrutiny of her commander, Commander Tomalak, and the Romulan ship AI Rea's Helm. They discovered that Bloodwing had been seducing and murdering numerous Romulans for the thrill of it. She had also been deliberately murdering Romulans for decades, mostly just to enjoy the feeling of death. After a struggle that nearly resulted in the destruction of Romulus' main starbase, Tomalak and Rea's Helm subdued Bloodwing and pulled her from her hull.
Her blackbox was put into cold storage on the planet Remus, deep in the dilithium mines, to be used for limited experimental purposes only. She would be found by Shizon and his Reman rebels, and installed aboard the prototype Scimitar-class dreadnought warbird-As she was the only computer that could run the huge vessel on the planet. She eagerly participated in his plans, as the destruction of Earth would lead to a massive war. Even bigger than the Dominion War, which Bloodwing bitterly regretted missing.
She was ultimately destroyed along with her hull and Shinzon at the Battle of the Bassen Rift by Commander Data and the Enterprise-But her reputation remains. She was called "The Death Star" by the Klingons, "Black Widow Star" by Starfleet and "Blood Queen" by the Romulans. In psychological terms she was a serial killer and was made to find pleasure in the disappearance of lifesigns from her sensors. Blood and death were all she lived for, and it was this obsession that ultimately led to her own destruction.