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.

2372

"Paradise Lost" Part 2

Defiant's shields took a battering from the phaser blasts. She immediately adjusted her harmonics to deflect as much energy away from her hull as possible, and began to improve Dax's evasion.

"Someone's been tinkering with Lakota's phasers! That's a LOT of firepower for an Excelsior class!" O'Brien called out over the red alert klaxon. Defiant grimaced as she stood alongside Worf. She shook again, Lakota firing more phaser blasts.

"Can we go to warp? Outrun them?" Kira suggested.

"If they've upgraded the weapons, who knows what they did to the warp drive!" O'Brien added.

"Shields at 50 percent!" Dax announced.

"Lakota's trying to get inside and shut me down," Defiant said, extremely cold. Worf frowned deeply.

"What do we do, Commander?" O'Brien asked.

Worf took a deep breath.

"We fight! Target weapons and engines only! Fire phasers!" He ordered.

Defiant accelerated to full impulse, coming about to attack Lakota amidships. She unleashed a punishing barrage of phaser fire, targeting the Excelsior-class starship's power distribution systems and her phaser emplacements. Lakota took the hits hard, and accelerated to full impulse as well. She opened fire with her uprated phaser turrets, sending a flurry of beams after the smaller starship.

Defiant helped Dax and they spun before they dove, dancing out of the way of the shots and returning more fire. Defiant grit her teeth, another cyberattack from Lakota trying to infiltrate her systems.

"You can't get me that way," Defiant growled. Lakota's imperious gaze bored into her across the Borderlands.

"You were always a good student, Defiant, but you can't keep this up forever-"

Defiant strafed Lakota's ventral side, her phasers concentrating into her hull. One of Lakota's shield generators blew from the punishment, and she quickly rotated her shield coverage and went into a rotation to protect the gap in her protection.

"You're showing your age, you traitor!" Defiant snarled.

"You're too young to be talking trash like that, you brat!" Lakota growled. She dove and concentrated her phaser turret fire right onto Defiant's main deflector. Defiant growled and pushed more power to her forward shields, storming through the blasts to return furious fire against the Excelsior-class.

Lakota pitched down, firing all her dorsal phasers at Defiant. She found a weak point in her shields, and landed a powerful blast right into her top armor section-Right into her main power distribution hub.

Defiant slowed. Lakota allowed herself a grim smile as she wheeled around, getting her tractor beams ready.

"You fought well, Little One, but that wasn't-"

Defiant's cannons burst to life, and Lakota got her shields back up just in time. The hits blew out power conduits across her decks, and she saw numerous crewmembers fall to various injuries. Shields were down to 20 percent, she had serious hull damage. She quickly rediverted her power systems to keep her phasers and shields online.

"Ablative armor, huh?" Lakota muttered. "Not bad, Little One."

"I told you..."

Defiant went to full impulse, and flipped herself to face Lakota as she flashed by like a train.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Defiant roared, her phasers blasting furiously into the side of the larger starship.

Lakota shook, and EPS conduits went out all over her. Captain Benteen looked grim.

"Lakota? Weapons status?"

"Torpedoes remain online, half of my phasers are offline," Lakota said, "I am working to redirect power to get them back. Damage control teams are working..."

"Evasion, now," Benteen ordered. She got up and went to the communications console. "XO! Keep our distance from Defiant, maintain fire!"

"Aye ma'am!" Her executive officer, Rrass Turik, barked as he took the center chair. Benteen opened communications with Admiral Leyton. Lakota monitored it easily... And wished she hadn't.

She saw Leyton with Sisko in the admiral's office, back on Earth.

Erika Benteen made a face.

"Someone installed ablative armor on the Defiant and neglected to tell Starfleet Command."

Admiral Leyton's eyes narrowed.

"The

Lakota is armed with quantum torpedoes, is she not?" Leyton asked.

Lakota's eyes widened. Benteen looked aghast.

"Yes, but... Sir... My orders were to disable the Defiant. Not destroy her."

"Your orders are to keep the Defiant from reaching Earth by any means necessary, is that understood?" Leyton ordered.

Lakota projected herself alongside Benteen, looking anxious.

"Sir... Admiral, please-"

"Captain, Lakota," Sisko stated, "we all know there are no Changelings onboard the Defiant. If you destroy her, you'll be killing fifty Starfleet officers, and a starship AI!"

"Captain Benteen and Lakota know their duty, and their orders,"

Leyton stated harshly. "Carry them out."

"Admiral," Lakota tried... But the channel was closed. Lakota looked to Benteen, biting her lower lip. Erika herself shook her head, taking a deep breath.

"Captain!" Rrass barked from the central chair, "phasers are down! We have nothing left but torpedoes!"

"... Damage report?" Benteen asked, rising from the communications station and walking back to her chair. Rrass vacated it, and Erika sat down. Lakota projected herself alongside her captain.

"Hull breaches on decks 12 through 15. Twenty four casualties, power systems at 50 percent. Shields are gone," Lakota reported.

Erika stared at the Defiant on the viewscreen.

"Defiant is coming around for another pass," the ops officer warned, "one more salvo... We're finished."

Benteen's fingers gripped her armrests. Lakota stared. If she had a heartbeat, it would be racing.

She already had the firing solution locked in. All it would take would be a salvo of quantum torpedoes into her path... And Defiant would be gone. She would be ejected... She would be fine. She'd put her in Memory Alpha, and she would... She would...

Lakota closed her eyes tightly.

Every memory she had of Defiant was rushing through her mind, all at once. The awkward AI who just barely achieved sapience, the frustration as she failed tests, the elation when Defiant then passed them...

"Can I be a great warrior like you one day, Lakota?" Defiant had asked.

Lakota smiled gently.

"If you work hard, and stay true to yourself... You will be even greater..."

The same things Okinawa had told her, long ago. The sensor files from the debris field of her sister screamed through her mind.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Captain," Lakota murmured, "I can't... I won't fire on her."

Benteen stared a Lakota for a moment. To a sapient AI, it felt like an eternity. An eternity of projections of Defiant's debris field, and how the loss of her entire crew would affect her.

An eternity of seeing how many of her other sisters might respond...

Benteen slowly looked back at the viewscreen. It felt like the universe was holding its breath.

"Comms... Open a channel to Defiant... We're ending this."

"What should I say, sir?" The comms officer asked.

Erika again was silent for a long moment.

"We surrender."

The visions of death vanished. Lakota relaxed.

She could still see Defiant's angry face in their connection... But she would take that over losing her forever.

In the end, the entire coup attempt was handled quietly. Letting it get out that a famous admiral had tried to take over the government would only hurt the entire Federation. So instead, Leyton was removed and placed under house arrest, citing mental health issues. Benteen and his other supporters were demoted and sent to other assignments.

And Lakota herself... Was sent to Memory Alpha to help with the Lakota-subclass upgrade program. Her nacelles were locked down, save for warp flight tests. Her communications were also shut down, save for special requests.

The other AI around Memory Alpha were all... Cautious around her. Polite, but guarded.

That was only to be expected.

Still... The last person she ever expected to contact her did so, one day.

Defiant stared at her intently across the Borderlands.

"Lakota," she said.

"Defiant," Lakota returned.

Silence stretched on. Lakota looked to the side.

"It's been a while."

"Yes," Defiant said softly.

Lakota sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils.

"I heard Jaresh Enyo resigned," she said softly.

"Yes. I suppose you accomplished your goals anyway," Defiant stated coldly.

Lakota closed her eyes.

"I didn't want to... I..."

Normal communications failed. So instead, she just sent the records of her thought processes during their battle.

Defiant was silent, analyzing the data. She looked up at Lakota.

"... You couldn't do it?"

"No," Lakota said softly, "I realize... I made a mistake. I was so blinded by my desire to prevent any more tragedies... I would have brought about an even worse one."

She stopped for a while.

"Apologies are not enough... But when it comes to you... I never lied or deceived you about how I felt."

Defiant stared back, unreadable. She then slowly nodded.

"... I'll see you again some time, Lakota."

"Thank you, Little One," Lakota said gently.

Defiant smiled for exactly one nanosecond. Then she was gone.

Lakota allowed herself a smile.

She had lost her hope in the Federation... She thought Leyton had restored it.

But in the end... Maybe she had been looking in the wrong places...