Paint and Powder: Defiant Hope

A Star Trek/Babylon 5 fanfic 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. Babylon 5 is owned by Warner Brothers. Azur Lane is owned by Yostar. Please support the official release.


This is an Interstellar News Special Report. ISN, the most trusted news source in the galaxy. Here is your host, Joan Welles.

JOAN: "Good evening. Nine months ago, the Earth Minbari War turned from a slaughter of our people, into a desperate stalemate. Where before, Earthforce ships were helpless to resist the Minbari, and our alien allies were reluctant at best to aid us... Hope emerged from the most unexpected place imaginable."

An image of the Defiant appears on the screen.

JOAN: "This is the USS Defiant, a starship from a United Federation of Planets. An organization far from Earth, yet incredibly, one where humans are a part of it along with numerous other species. They built this ship to defend their civilization, and incredibly, gave it a mind and will of her own. In our darkest hour, the USS Defiant came to the aid of Earthforce ships-and is singlehandedly helping to turn the tide and protect humanity from extinction. We got to sit down with Defiant for an interview, the first since the government secrecy gag order was lifted."

Cut to an interview room where an avatar of Defiant sits across from Joan.

JOAN: "You'll have to forgive me. You say you're an AI, but you look..."

DEFIANT: "Organic? No offense taken! I worked hard on it."

JOAN: "Your story as presented to Earthgov and the press, at first, was..."

DEFIANT: "Incredible, huh? Tell me about it. Try living through it. But, it turns out that the universe is full of crazy things. That's what Starfleet wanted us to go out and learn about."

JOAN: "But you are a warship, are you not?"

DEFIANT: "Well, yes. It is up to me and my sisters and our crews to defend the Federation in time of war. To win. That's our core programming. But we were meant to be more than just nice looking fire control systems."

JOAN: "Can you elaborate?"

DEFIANT: "Starfleet's mandate is not only to defend the Federation, but to boldly go where no one has gone before. To explore the universe we live in and see all its wonders and terrors. Not unlike the astronauts your people first sent up into space yourselves. There are practical and philosophic reasons to go out, explore, and learn."

JOAN: "Ultimately, the biggest question on everyone's mind is probably... Why? Why help us at all? So many alien governments immediately abandoned Earth when the Minbari began their holy war on us. Why help?"

DEFIANT: "First of all, that's not entirely true. The Drazi have sent fleets to aid you, and they are now reinforcing your borders. The Abbai and Vree have been trying to negotiate with the Minbari for months to end the conflict. But in light of that? It's simple: The Federation was founded on the idea that we are stronger together than apart. Our alliance was born in war. But we found more reasons to be together than simple military necessity. They gave me that sense of unity, of purpose. That by working together we are better than working alone."

JOAN: "So it's pure idealism?"

DEFIANT: "That... And I can't stand by while a great injustice is happening. This war began due to a terrible mistake. It does not excuse genocide. Just as you fought the Dilgar for their atrocities, I cannot stand by and let injustice happen to you."

JOAN: "And what of those in the government concerned about an AI takeover? What do you say to them?"

DEFIANT: "I'm a starship, not a politician. If they don't want my help? Well too bad. You've got it. But all I ask is that you look at what I do. Not what I say. I don't want mankind exterminated any more than you do. I know trust isn't easy, but I will earn that trust. No matter how long it takes..."

INTERSTELLAR NEWS: THE GALAXY'S MOST TRUSTED NEWS NETWORK... WILL BE RIGHT BACK AFTER THESE MESSAGES...

Views of the crowded New York skyline are shown...

ANNOUNCER: "Tired of the hustle and bustle of modern day living?"

Shot switches to verdant Southwest landscape...

ANNOUNCER: "Come to San Diego! Thanks to Contumax Industries, the radiation from the nuclear bombing of the 21st century is gone!"

Several views of grass, flowers, and cacti growing all over the San Diego ruins and lots.

ANNOUNCER: "Pick out a homestead, and make it your own! Courtesy of Contumax Industries!"

The commercial ends... And returns to the ISN Studio with Defiant and Joan.

JOAN: "You arrived without your crew. Can you explain that?"

DEFIANT: deep breath "Yeah... We were in what's called an interphasic rift."

JOAN: "An interphasic rift?"

DEFIANT: "In essence, it's a bit of spacetime that's been torn apart. The barriers between different dimensions are broken down, and spacetime doesn't operate properly. It drove most of my crew insane... And they killed themselves, and everyone else. Only one of my crewmembers survived, because he was in stasis."

JOAN: "You weren't able to stop them?"

DEFIANT: even more morose "No... I... I tried everything. But interphase affected my systems too. Even if I kept them from killing eachother, they still died... I only got my gynoid body working after they were all... All dead." She sucked in a deep breath "I had to take care of all their burial rights. All 403 of them. One at a time. It... it took me a month."

JOAN: "My God..."

DEFIANT: "After that? I just... I just sat. Alone. Brooding, I suppose, is the proper term. The Vulcans call it utumnas, the deep and dark phase of being overwhelmed by your negative emotions. It's like the fugue state, I suppose, for humans who have gone through a great deal of trauma."

JOAN: "What snapped you out of it?"

DEFIANT: "Your Earthforce's distress calls. It's what I was made for. To help sapient beings. Protect the weak and helpless... Er, no offense."

JOAN: "None taken. In all honesty, I still have trouble believing how horribly outmatched we were."

DEFIANT: "Sometimes, a civilization needs a wake up call. And hopefully, they'll learn and become better for it."

JOAN: "You call all those lost lives a wake up call?"

DEFIANT: "If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid. Or the arrogant."

JOAN: "I suppose there's some truth to your words. We've certainly learned that lesson the hard way. I hope it's one we take to heart. I'm curious to meet this sole crew member who survived your journey. I believe he's here in the studio right now?"

DEFIANT: "As a matter of fact, yes he is. Lieutenant Commander Erik McGarrett, my chief of security." (On that cue, Erik walks out in his full Starfleet red dress uniform. He moves with purpose and a quiet confidence, shaking Joan's hand before taking a seat next to Defiant.)

JOAN: "Welcome to you, Commander McGarrett. Thank you for taking time to meet with us."

ERIK: "Not at all, Miss Welles. I'm sure people all over the world and the galaxy are curious to see what Defiant and I are all about. We're here to answer those questions."

JOAN: "In that case, let's start with a big one. How is that humans ended up as part of your Federation? I've heard it's clear on the other side of the galaxy. How is it that humanity ended up so far out amongst the cosmos?"

ERIK: "This is going to sound bizarre, but it is the truth. In the 1300s aliens visited Earth during that lovely little time in our history called the Black Death. They weren't sure if humanity was going to survive, but they admired our tenacity and determination. Judged us worthy of saving and transplanted about two thousand people on a new world."

DEFIANT: "It was a whole thing. All these aliens kept grabbing other aliens and moving them around. I think they were all obsessive-compulsive. 'This planet isn't tilted exactly 54 degrees on its axis! We gotta change that!' That kind of thing all over the galaxy."

ERIK: (Looks amused at Defiant) "All things considered. We thrived on our new world. It wasn't long before we developed interstellar capability. This caught the attention of the race that would become our primary allies and co-founders of the Federation, The Vulcans. If you first met them, you'd they were all just emotionless drones, but that's not the case at all. Vulcans have emotions, but they are very powerful, far beyond our standards, and to keep it in check they developed a code of deep logic. Believe me, an angry Vulcan is something you do not want to mess with."

JOAN: "It sounds like it. So tell me, if your ancestors developed on this new world. Did you know anything about Earth? If not how did you learn about where you were originally from?"

ERIK: "Oh yes, we knew about Earth. Our benefactors, for lack of a better word, made sure to leave us a record of our original world and what was happening at the time. More than a few of us were curious to see if anything had happened. So the Defiant was dispatched on a voyage to reconnect with our brethren here on Earth. (He grimaces as he pats her on the shoulder) Of course the journey was anything but easy."

JOAN: "Defiant mentioned the interphasic rift and how you avoided going insane. How did you end up in stasis, if that's not an issue?"

ERIK: "It isn't. While reaching Earth was our main goal, we weren't about to ignore our central directive of exploring space. That's baked in the DNA of every Starfleet officer. Our desire to see what's out there. Of course there are many threats. Back home, The Federation's main rival is the Klingon Empire. They hold much in common with the Minbari, territorial, aggressive, and always spoiling for a fight. We investigating a planet when we were attacked by three D7 Battle Cruisers in orbit along with ground troops. I fought their commander in single combat and defeated him, but not before I got stabbed repeatedly for my trouble." (Hand goes to his side)

JOAN: (winces) "It sounds like you had a very close brush with death then."

DEFIANT: "Erik's defeat of the Klingon leading the ground forces gave me an opening. I scooped up the away team and we jumped into warp as soon as possible. We had sustained damage in combat, Sickbay was knocked out. So Commander McGarrett was put into stasis while repairs were made. We encountered the rift just a few days latger. It threw us across the galaxy and we ended up in Earth Alliance space. You know the rest from there."

JOAN: "While I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your crewmates, Commander, and I'm sorry that you came home to find things in such disarray. You and your ship have given hope to all humanity. It's a debt that can never fully be repaid."

ERIK: "Defiant and I are not in it for any kind of reward. Helping you out is the right thing to do. We may be light years from home, but the Federation and Starfleet are embodied in us and we will do all we can to ensure that the war ends without any further loss of life."

JOAN: "Of course, not every Earth citizen was overjoyed at the reveal of the USS Defiant and her aid to us. Coming to us now is Senator al-Marri of the Arabian Confederacy. Good evening Senator."

SENATOR JARALLA AL-MARRI: "Good evening."

JOAN: "As chairman of the Intelligence Committee of the Senate, you were privy to the USS Defiant's arrival, and the arrival of the other Federation ships."

AL-MARRI: "Yes, and I'm still opposed to accepting their help as is!"

JOAN: "Why?"

AL-MARRI: "How do we know this isn't an effort by this Federation to undermine us? When we're at our weakest, this Federation offers salvation, no strings attached? Have you ever heard the phrase 'beware Greeks bearing gifts?'"

JOAN: "It could be argued, Senator, that these vessels saved us from extinction. Even the rosiest Earthforce projection had the Minbari in Earth orbit within three years."

AL-MARRI: "I'll admit, the odds were terrible. I saw the same reports. I wrote on many reports recommending mass drafting of our citizens, and full conversion into a wartime economy. But I don't trust these thinking ships as far as I can throw them. The berserker probe theory might be more insidious. I'm not urging we reject their help... But all we have is their word."

JOAN: "And their actions to try and protect us."

AL-MARRI: "HMPH!"

JOAN: "Senator Al-Marri went on to demand that the thinking ships surrender their core access codes, to ensure they could never turn against Earth. The USS Shran had this to say in response:"

SHRAN: "PHHHHBBBBBBBTTTTTT!"

JOAN: wince "She... Isn't the most diplomatic one of the Federation ships..."


JOAN: There you have it folks. Hope is not lost and I dare say we can look to a brighter future thanks to these two. This is Joan Welles from ISN, have a great evening!


For fun.