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Star Trek: Victorious - In Cold Blood (FanFic)
ryan218
Member Posts: 36,106 Arc User
in Ten Forward
In Cold Blood
Chapter One: Chances.
U.S.S. Victorious, Ambassador-Class Support Cruiser. Federation Space, Andor Sector. Stardate: 88001.5.
Ryan watches out the window as stellar dust streaks by the ship at warp speeds, deep in thought.
It’s been several days since the attack on Andoria by a Nausicaan raiding party. At least 15 Andorian citizens were abducted and 8 civilians killed. Starfleet Command has a pair of frigates tracking the Raiders, but they’re only Centaur-Class patrol ships and need heavier support to ensure the rescue of the hostages – the Victorious.
On top of that, Ryan has a personal matter to deal with concerning one of his crewmen. He walks over to his desk, seeing a message from the Commandant of the Imperial Guard’s Home Command, Commandant Kronn Tr’zanac.
After a few moments, he hears the doorchime sound, looking over at the doors and granting entry, “Come in.” The doors hiss open as an Andorian security officer steps in, standing at ease as the doors close. “Tala, I’ve told you about standing at attention when you see me.”
“It’s at ease, actually sir.” She smirks slightly as she relaxes.
“Sit down, lieutenant.” Ryan takes his seat as his Chief of Security sits down opposite. “How are you holding up?”
“Sir?”
“Your homeworld was just attacked and over a dozen people abducted. That doesn’t scare you?”
“Permission to speak—“
“Always.” Ryan gives her a warm smile.
“It’s frightening. The fact that they managed to sneak past all the orbital defences designed to keep them out, beam down into our capital, kill 8 people and abduct 15 more – probably to be sold into slavery...”
“And the fact that your sister is among the wounded...” Ryan looks at her suggestively. “If you want to take leave to go see her...”
“You need me here, sir.”
“We can manage. Your sister is in critical condition – she could die.” He hands her a PADD. “I’m authorising you for 2 weeks’ leave and to take shuttle Eden to Andoria for a family emergency.”
“Sir—“
“Tala.” He stands up, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re the best security officer I know – I’d dare say the best in the fleet. I couldn’t ask for a better Security Chief. I don’t just respect you, I consider you a friend. So, as your friend, I’m telling you: I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my parents – you have a chance to say goodbye to your sister if she does die. Don’t waste it.” He puts the PADD in her hands. “Go. That’s an order.”
3 hours later, Lieutenant Tala Tr’zanac’s Quarters.
Tala is busy packing a pair of duffel bags with a variety of clothes and amenities, including her Imperial Guard uniform and training gear when she hears her doorchime sound. “Who is it?”
“It’s Elisabeth.” A feminine voice sounds over the comm.
Tala sighs a little. “It’s not locked.”
The doors hiss open as Dannover steps inside, taking a quick look around. “Well, nice to see you’re leaving prepared.”
Tala looks at her for a moment. “What do you want, ‘Liz? My shuttle leaves in 20 minutes.”
“I know. I’m your pilot.”
Tala gives her a light glare. “I know how to fly a shuttle.”
“No one ever said you didn’t, but Starfleet considers Andor System to be a warzone until the Raiders are dealt with. That means at least two personnel per shuttle on leave.”
“Y’know, I’m sure there’s something in the protocols about sending two Senior Officers on leave at the same time.”
“I’m not on leave. Commandant Tr’zanac apparently asked for a Starfleet liaison to keep him apprised of the rescue mission.”
Tala curses in Andorian. “The captain would pick you.” She smirks a little at Dannover.
Dannover tilts her head to one side, smirking back. “What are friends for?”
“Who said we were friends?” Tala shoots back sarcastically. “Have you packed?”
Dannover nods as Tala picks up the case containing her personal defence baton. “It’s already on the shuttle.”
“Survival gear?”
“Type B.”
“I’d go for Type A. They’ll probably still have the scattering fields up around the caves by the time we arrive. That means at least 1 hour on the surface.”
Dannover looks inside one of Tala’s bags. “You’re only using Type B.”
“I’m Andorian. My body temperature is 20-degrees Celsius; I can adapt to the environment. You can’t. I’m not lugging your unconscious body through a blizzard.”
“And here I thought the Imperial Guard trained you to carry all kinds of heavy equipment in the harshest conditions.”
“It’s not the weight, it’s the smell.” Tala smirks at her again.
Dannover shakes her head. “So, what can you tell me about your sister?”
Tala stays silent for a moment as she packs a set of Starfleet Grey vests into a bag. “We haven’t spoken since I joined Starfleet.”
“Loyalty problems?”
“Put it this way, Dannover. On Earth, if you want to join the Space Service, you have one option; Starfleet. On Andoria, we have a choice. The Imperial Guard may be small compared to Starfleet, but out of 8 attacks in the Core Worlds this year, 5 of them have been repulsed by Guard Battle Groups. A lot of people on Andoria feel our safety is with them, not Starfleet. Kala felt like I was acting as though Starfleet was more important than Andoria.”
“Sounds like things got pretty cold between you two. No pun intended.”
“Actually, it got pretty hot. She went out of it with a broken arm and I had to spend 6 hours in Sickbay with a fractured collarbone. The problem with two sisters both training in the Imperial Guard is that both of us knew how to beat the ice out of each other.”
Dannover looks at her. “Did she ever win?”
“A couple of times, in training.” She looks up at her as she packs a winter hat and picks up a pair of padded MMA-style gloves. “Why do you ask?”
“I look forward to meeting her. Anyone who can clean your clock is definitely worth learning from.” She laughs as Tala throws the gloves at her.
15 minutes later, Shuttlebay.
Ryan and Carter are inspecting the shuttlecraft, with Carter admiring the Victorious’ Registry code painted on the side. “You know, I’ve never been to Andoria.”
Ryan gives him a look as he turns the corner around the cockpit. “I’m not sending three senior officers on shore leave, Mike. I’m only letting Dannover go because the Commandant specifically asked for a Senior Officer to serve as Liaison.”
“You could have sent Alpha.”
“I need Alpha more than I need Dannover. He’ll be vital if we need to get creative in finding the raiders.” Ryan walks towards the shuttlepad control console.
Carter turns on his heels and follows him. “You do realise you just said you needed an android with no concept of creativity in order to get creative with the Nausicaans, right?”
Ryan smiles as he makes the last maintenance check. “All green. I miss doing these shuttle inspections.” He looks at Carter. “So, how long do you think they’ll last?”
“Two days. You?”
“If they last 2 hours without one of them throwing a right cross, I’ll put them in for a commendation.”
“What was that about commendations?” Tala walks up behind them, looking at Ryan as Dannover trails behind her.
“Lieutenant. Lieutenant...” Ryan raises an eyebrow to Carter. “We were just talking about you.”
“I figured. Who’s getting a commendation?”
Ryan looks at Carter, who shakes his head. “Oh no, you got yourself into the pit. You climb out of it.”
“And there goes your promotion.” Ryan looks at Tala. “Don’t you two have a shuttle to catch?”
Tala gives him a teasing look as she walks onto the shuttle. Dannover walks up to him.
“We’ll drop out of warp just long enough to get you aweigh. After that, you’ll be in the hands of Andorian Space Traffic Control until you reach the system. Then, you’ll report to Imperial Guard Orbital Command. Your landing code is Alpha-Foxtrot-Two-Four-India. It’s all in your mission briefing.”
“Understood.” Dannover checks the PADD for the code. “Any other instructions?”
“We’ll transmit a mission report every 6 hours on Channel 8. It’s secure, but if you don’t download the data after 10 minutes it’ll be erased from the transmission buffer. I’ve already called ahead to tell the Guard to expect it. The first transmission will be at 1700 Earth Standard Time. Other than that... Make sure Tala is alright.”
“Consider it done. Permission to disembark?”
“Granted. Good luck.”
Dannover nods and steps onto the shuttle as the launch klaxon blares through the bay and Ryan and Carter stand clear. After a few minutes of pre-flights, the shuttle lifts itself off the pad and glides out of the bay, with the loudest noise being the crackle of the containment field as it passes through.
Author's Notes:
And we're off! I'll be making a serious effort to get at least one update out before the 30-day grace period this time (there should be at least one per week ideally). As always, opinions and such down below. Thoughts?
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My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!
I have the thread faved and ready to follow!
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
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Isn't that a contradiction in terms?
Well, so far we have Ryan + Crew chasing after a group of Nausicaan Raiders and Tala visiting her sister who may be dying and whom she has a bit of bad blood with. And trust me, considering this story is going to be exploring the Imperial Guard a fair bit, as well as the friendly rivalry between Tala and Dannover, we'll be seeing more than that.
I don't usually pay the DSEs all that much attention (it was always a game--design decision to give new characters something to shoot at in the old Sector Space), although I did often think about how unlikely it was a Klingon fleet would actually get through all the way into the Core Worlds. Orions or Nausicaan Raiders on the other hand? Very possible, since the Orions used to operate out of the region (and probably still have extensive facilities there) and the Nausicaans tend to operate in small packs. Starfleet is stretched thinly, so it makes sense several of these groups could penetrate the inner defences, and as Ryan pointed out, obsolete patrol frigates like the Centaur are virtually all Starfleet can muster to protect the core worlds.
That's part of the rationale behind the sibling rivalry we'll see later on. Andoria has a proud military tradition and an historic rivalry with Starfleet. This combined with the lack of Starfleet capabilities in the Core Worlds, not to mention the raid on the 3rd Fleet at Utopia Planetia (is that mission still in the Klingon line-up?) means that many Andorians feel left out in the cold (if you'll pardon the pun) by Starfleet.
I dread to think what the situation is on those Core Worlds without their own defence forces. Andoria, Vulcan, Tellar, etc at least have their own fleets to defend themselves with.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
"If Starfleet can't deal with such minor threats, are they really equipped to win the war against the Klingons?" would be that line of thinking.
Christian Gaming Community Fleets--Faith, Fun, and Fellowship! See the website and PM for more. :-)
Proudly F2P. Signature image by gulberat. Avatar image by balsavor.deviantart.com.
Andor Sector, 6LY from the Ushilev Nebula. U.S.S. Medusa, Centaur-Class Frigate.
Commander Torias Jan watches on the viewscreen as the two Nausicaan Raiders flee at high warp towards the green-hued cloud of stellar matter known as the Ushilev Nebula. It’s burning out the Medusa’s warp coils just keeping pace with them at Warp 8. Jan looks over at the Ops console. “How long until they reach the nebula?”
His Vulcan Operations Officer reports without taking his eye from his readouts. “3 minutes 28 seconds, Commander. I should caution you; our sensors will lose contact with them within moments of them entering.”
“I know, Lieutenant. Helm stand by to drop to Warp 4. Signal the Santissimo; we’re going to assume a patrol pattern around the nebula until the Victorious arrives.”
Captain’s Log, Stardate: 88001.7. Commander Ryan Allington. U.S.S. Victorious.
We are proceeding to rendezvous with the U.S.S. Medusa and U.S.S. Santissimo outside the Ushilev Nebula, after they pursued the Nausicaan Raiders believed to be responsible for the attack on Andoria into the cloud. Given the situation, I’ve ordered all personnel to Battle Stations.
Because this just stinks of a trap.
End of Log
“Time?” Ryan paces around the Bridge as Heja looks over from her station.
“2 hours 28 minutes, Captain.” She returns to her diagnostics.
“A lot can happen in 2 hours…” Ryan looks at Carter. “Those raiders could decide to jump the Medusa while she’s isolated and break out.”
“The Medusa will signal us if she makes contact, sir.” Carter is seated in his chair. “There’s not much we can do right now except listen and wait.”
Ryan nods. “When there are 15 innocent civilians at stake, that’s not my strong point. Have we had anything from Starfleet regarding reinforcements?”
“There aren’t any. Medusa and Santissimo were in the area. Command won’t pull any more ships off their patrols for this - that’s the reason they had to go all the way to DS9 to find a ship free for this mission.”
“Great…” Ryan sighs as he goes back to pacing. “Alpha, recount the course of those raiders for me again.”
“Yes, sir.” Alpha turns in his seat to face his Commander. “Upon departure from Andoria, both Raiders attacked the Federation Science Council Research Station above Andor. They then entered warp and proceeded towards the Orion System, before being intercepted by the Santissima en route and driven into the Tazi System. Both ships then entered the asteroid belt, using photon torpedoes to destroy the asteroids and spread debris in the Santissima’s path, forcing her to break off pursuit. They then doubled back on their course, disabling the Santissima’s warp drive and entering warp towards Tellar Prime. They were then intercepted by the Medusa, which chased them to the Ushilev Nebula before assuming a patrol pattern around the nebula with the Santissima.”
“Thank you, Alpha.” Ryan sits down. “They’ve been giving us a run of the mill.”
“Sir?”
“It’s a figure of speech. Why double back? They managed to lose the Santissima; they could have made it to Orion. What do we know about the Orion System?”
“The system’s been abandoned ever since the Orions purchased their new capital from the Klingons. Starfleet has a reconnaissance drone in the system; they’ve never come back.” Carter looks at Ryan with confusion.
Ryan returns the look. “It doesn’t make sense. If they were running for the Orion Outpost in Kazonus, it would make sense, but they were heading on a perpendicular course.”
“Maybe they knew the Medusa was in the area and wanted to draw her towards the Santissima so they could make a break for Tellar unhindered.”
“The Tellarites have a massive defence fleet in orbit.”
“It’s no crazier than a raid on Andoria.”
“Good point. But if that was the case, why head back into the Andor Sector? It’s in the opposite direction! The Paulson Nebula would have been easier to reach. But they headed back towards a now-mobilised Andorian Empire.”
Carter shrugs his shoulders.
“I don’t like this. There has to be a reason for them to enter the Ushilev Nebula. It smells like a trap. It looks like a trap. It feels like a trap. I believe it is a trap.”
4 hours later. Andoria Orbit, Andor.
Dannover rests her head gently against her pillow in the shuttle’s sleeping cabin as a soft melody of classical music plays. Suddenly, the tune is interrupted by the chiming of the shuttle’s proximity alarm. Dannover opens her eyes, muttering under her breath. “TRIBBLE.”
Tala is busy typing away at her console as Dannover storms out of her cabin, pulling her jacket on. “Tala, what the Hell is going on?!”
Suddenly, the ship shudders violently as a blue flash appears around the forward window before an Andorian Fighter swoops ahead of them, it’s own shield flickering after grazing theirs. Tala grunts as she stabilises the shuttle’s course. “That answer your question?”
Dannover steps into her seat, trying to open a channel. “They can see we’re Starfleet, can’t they?!”
“Oh, trust me, they know.”
“Then why the Hell--?!”
Suddenly, there’s a loud screech as a transmission forces it’s way past the communications buffer. “Unauthorised Shuttlecraft, you have entered Andorian Imperial Space. Cut your engines and prepare to be boarded.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Dannover taps her comm panel to respond. “This is Lieutenant Dannover of the Starfleet Shuttlecraft Canarias. We have clearance and are on our way to--” She’s interrupted by a chime from the comm panel. “They just hang up.”
“What were you expecting?” Tala quickly dodges another fighter. “The Guard only give you one warning when you enter a warzone.”
“Which Andoria technically is right now.” She reaches over and cuts the engines and shields.
“What are you doing?” Tala looks at her, surprised.
“Do you want to cause a diplomatic incident?” Dannover stands up as Tala takes a Type 1 ‘Cricket’ Phaser from the weapons locker. With a high-pitched whir and a teal swirl of particles, two Andorian troopers emerge at the back of the cockpit, carbines raised. “My name is Elisabeth Dannover, Lieutenant with Starfleet Corps of Engineers. I’m from the U.S.S. Vic--”
“Elisabeth…” Tala interrupts, stepping next to her. “They don’t care.”
One of the troopers, a female roughly the same age as Tala, walks over to the two, resting her carbine on its shoulder strap. “Tala Tr’zanac. What the Hell are you doing here?”
“Hello Thira.” Tala carefully places her phaser on her hip. “Actually, I’m on Shore Leave. Seeing my sister.”
Dannover clears her throat. “Which makes me the Officer in charge here.” She walks over to Thira. “Now, do you mind explaining why this shuttle was attacked without warning and boarded in direct contravention of Federation Traffic Regulations?”
Thira gives Dannover a look. “You entered Andorian Space in the middle of a state of emergency, Lieutenant. We’re under orders to stop any and all ships entering orbit and assume they’re not friendly unless they’re a Starfleet Ship of the Line.”
“Ah. So it’s just tough luck that that order directly contradicts Federation Law, is that it?”
“Exactly.” Thira shows her a PADD. “Now, if you don’t mind reading and signing this.”
Dannover takes the PADD, reading it carefully. After a few moments, her eyes widen with anger. “‘I hereby agree totally and faithfully to revoke command of this vessel from both myself and my superiors’?!”
“I’m sorry, our Universal Translators can be difficult with text sometimes if it’s not clear.”
“Oh, it’s clear all right! Listen, I am not surrendering Starfleet Property to an illegal siezure!”
“Look, it’s not like this is my idea. I’m just following orders. I have to give you that waiver and you have to sign it or I arrest both of you. It doesn’t have to be difficult.”
“Oh yeah? Well, how about you take this waiver and shove it up your--!”
Tala quickly covers up her mouth before she can finish that sentence. “What she means to say is, if you’d waited 5 seconds before threatening to shoot us out of the sky, you’d have realised we’re authorised to be here.” She passes them Dannover’s PADD, which Thira examines before walking over to her colleague, still at the back of the shuttle. They can hear the two Guardsmen talking over a communicator as Dannover looks at Tala.
“I had that under control.”
“Uh-huh. Which part? The part where she was about to smash your face into the bulkhead? Look, I know the Guard. They don’t mess around. You insult one of them during a seizure, they’ll take it as resistance and make you feel it for days. You do not mess with the Guard.”
Dannover’s face turns red slightly as she leans against the console, waiting a few moments before Thira walks back over, returning Dannover’s PADD. “On behalf of the people of Andoria, I offer our apologies for any inconvenience you have experienced.”
Dannover raises a still-vexed eyebrow at her. “Inconvenience?”
“Liz…” Tala looks at her again, “That’s their way of saying ‘sorry for threatening to vaporise your ship’.”
“Oh, I got that part.”
Thira rolls her eyes, passing Tala her carbine. “You know, I’ve done enough of these to know how much it irritates people. Officially, I should have decked you for the ‘shove it’ comment, but that would cause a diplomatic incident. Instead, I chose to handle it like a Human. Now, if you want to handle the offence I caused you like an Andorian, go ahead and hit me. No repercussions, no retaliation. You get a free pass - I’ll consider this a personal grudge.”
Dannover looks at Tala, who nods subtly, before giving Thira a sharp haymaker, knocking her back almost a full meter. Thira steadies herself, feeling the bridge of her nose where the fist made contact. “Apology accepted.”
Thira gives a slight smile. “Not bad. For Starfleet.” She looks at Tala. “I’ll be planetside again after tomorrow if you wanna get in touch and catch up.” She looks back at Dannover. “You’re free to land. Just follow us in. Word to the wise, though: a snow storm’s rolling in, so I’d suggest waiting it out in here before you head for the Capital. I’ll let Commandant Tr’zanac know you’re coming and he can send a squad to pick you up.” With that, the two guardsmen return to their ship.
Tala smiles at Dannover as she sits back in her seat. “I think she likes you.”
“I just punched her in the face.” Dannover sits back down next to her, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Exactly. I don’t care if she was trying to be fair, Thira never lets anyone get a free hit on her if they actually try to knock her out. The fact that she not only gave you the chance, but gave you credit for it, says something. If nothing else, you earned her respect.”
“Must be my Brooklyn personality.”
“More likely it’s the fact you didn’t take her TRIBBLE and actually stood your ground.” Tala smiles at her. “But if you ever tell me to ‘shove it’...”
“Uh-huh?”
“Let’s just say I won’t be the only one who’s blue afterwards.” She gives Dannover a knowing smirk as she sets in a course to follow the patrol craft.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
Yeah, I've been meaning to update those. I'll probably post them on my profile page instead and just link to that, since it is starting to get tricky to fit them all in on my signature. Besides, that way I can also link to the LCs they've been featured in (the Victorious was first introduced in 'Myths and Lore').
All the FanFics can be found by typing their names into the search bar (though it may take a while to find the older ones). I recommend reading Trials of Blood and Fire as well as Moving On to catch up with what's happening. In terms of the characters themselves, Dannover is developed in the LC 'Stranded' and in 'Old Wounds'. Carter is first introduced in the LC 'Myths and Lore' and Alpha also features prominently there. Ryan recieves character development in the LC 'Nightmare Anomaly' and in the two fanfics I recommended. Tala recieves development in the one-off 'Heritage' (it's very short, don't worry). Heja Kalynn is introduced in 'Trials...' and developed in 'Moving On'.
If you want to know exactly what happened to Andoria, 'Moving On' is definitely a must-read. Namely Part Three. A quick warning, because of personal issues, I uploaded Part Four seperately so as not to anger the Forum Gods. :P
Right, with that out of the way, which parts of the story do you like so far?
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Let us explore it... together. Each man hides a secret pain. It must be exposed and reckoned with. It must be dragged from the darkness and forced into the light. Share your pain. Share your pain with me... and gain strength from the sharing.
Okay, the links in my signature should be working now. Just as a note, I noticed that the speech and quotation marks have vanished from 'Trials...' when the forums updated a few weeks ago. I've still got the original file, so I'll fix that tomorrow and check 'Old Wounds' as well.
As for my LCs, I went ahead and put those into text files, so I might create an anthology of them on FanFic.net so they're in one place.
So, story-wise, anything you really like (other than the fact my characters seem real)?
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Andoria, 6 hours later.
Tala and Dannover are seated inside the shuttle, each looking at their PADDs as snow collects on the forward window. The storm is blowing snow onto the shuttle at wind speeds up to 30mph. Since they landed, the computer has displayed warnings that both nacelles have been buried under the snow and that the rear hatch is now frozen shut. On the bright side, the storm is supposed to pass in 20 minutes.
Dannover looks at Tala as she types on her PADD. “D4.”
Tala smirks back. “Miss. A14.”
Dannover sighs, putting the PADD down. “You sunk my Battleship.”
“So, what’s that now?” Tala smiles as she counts on her hand. “Three games… that comes to 60 credits.”
“One more, winner takes all!”
“You said that last time.” She smirks a little. “How about this? If you manage to actually land a punch on me next time we spar, we’ll call it even.”
“Oh, you are such an arrogant… You’re on.” They both laugh as they look outside. “How much longer?”
“Weather report said around 20 minutes, but blizzards have been known to last days depending on our position relative to Andor and the Star.”
“Days?”
“We live underground, remember? Neither us nor the Aenar typically come up to the surface except training and geological studies. Unless, that is, the Guard have to send a squad out to find a pair of lost Vril’ka like us.”
“Vril’ka? Is that like a sheep?”
Tala wobbles her hand in a ‘so-so’ gesture. “More like a docile wolf. Except it has fangs. Oh, and it’s fur is an excellent insulator. We used to use them as livestock for furs to make clothing before we developed industrial replicators. Now they’re mainly cared for in the domesticated animal enclosures. A few are still out here in the wild, but rarely this far north.”
“So, they’re not dangerous?”
Tala shakes her head. “Not unless you threaten them. The fangs are defensive only. Ice-borers on the other hand… If you see water dripping from the ceiling of the caves, stand clear. Those suckers burn hot enough to give you third-degree burns and they travel in large groups, so if you get caught in the middle of their path they can kill you.” She puts her feet up on the centre console between them as she leans back. “They make great lamp lights though.”
Meanwhile, Ushilev Nebula.
The Victorious drifts alongside the U.S.S. Medusa as Ryan escorts Commander Jan through the corridors to the Deck 8 Conference Room, leading him inside as Alpha and Carter are already waiting. “Commadner Jan, may I introduce Lieutenant Commander Michael Carter, my First Officer; and Lieutenant Alpha, my Operations Officer.”
“A pleasure.” Jan nods to both of them respectfully before taking a seat at the conference table, followed by the three Victorious Officers. “I just received another report from the Santissima. The Nausicaans still haven’t emerged from the nebula.”
“If they know we’re trying to rescue the hostages, then they may be willing to wait it out and try to ransom them.” Carter puts his fingers together on the table.
Ryan shakes his head after a moment. “If they were willing to ransom them, we’d have heard something by now.”
“Not necessarily, sir.” Alpha looks between the two Captains. “The Ushilev Nebula has been used as a staging point by the Imperial Guard multiple times in the past; including the Forge Incident in 2254. The nebula blocks all but the most powerful sensor sweeps and can also hamper communications.”
“Exactly.” Jan looks at Ryan. “My Science Officer thinks they’re waiting for us to come in after them and try to slip out while our sensors are adjusting to the nebula’s interference.”
Ryan thinks on this. “Alpha, can the Medusa and Santissima maintain a full sensor watch on the nebula without us?”
Alpha processes for a split-second before responding. “Yes sir.”
“Alright. The Victorious can go in after them. The Medusa and Santissima will hang back at the edge of the nebula and go to silent running. We’ll launch two probes as we enter the nebula to account for your scanning beams. When they leave the nebula, you jump on them and we’ll assist as soon as we can.”
“We’ll do our best.” Jan stands from his seat, as does Ryan.
“Remember, our mission is to rescue the hostages. If you can’t disable those ships, pull back and shadow them until we get there. We’ll proceed at 2000 hours. In the meantime, I think it would help all of us if we got some sleep.”
“Understood. Good luck, Commander.”
Andoria, 30 minutes later.
Tala watches as the rear hatch of the shuttle opens up, crunching against the snow-filled ground before she steps outside, pulling her arctic coat on. “Okay, the storm’s gone.”
Dannover follows her out, wearing a heavier survival coat designed for the cold conditions. She looks around at the flat terrain surrounding them, before noticing a rocky outcrop in the distance. “Is that it?”
Tala nods to her. “Takara City. It’s almost 500 metres underground, built on a geothermal deposit which keeps the temperature above 10 degrees in winter - just warm enough that plants will grow.”
“Where does the sunlight come from?”
“There’s an ice-sheet above the farmlands which lets enough light in to sustain the crops.” Tala takes a pair of binoculars and looks into the distance, seeing a group of figures walking towards them. “There’s our welcoming committee.”
After reaching them, the squad of Imperial Guard troopers escort the pair into the city, with Dannover admiring the architecture. The city lies within a massive chasm, with the lower levels walled off by rock before switching to ice a few dozen meters from the surface, a kaleidoscope of blues, greens and purples shining through the ceiling of the chamber, reflecting off a central spire of silver metal alloys. Far below the spiral walkway in the rock they’re walking on, Dannover can see a group of Guard hoppers and Federation Security Service vehicles surrounding what she assumes to be Shran Plaza; the location where the Nausicaan attack took place.
After almost an hour of walking from the shuttle, they enter the Imperial Guard’s main Operations Centre for the planet, with the two being screened by security - including a blood screening - before being admitted into the War Room, where an Andorian male of roughly 50 years, and wearing a uniform with silver braiding in his left shoulder indicating his rank of Commandant, is looking over a PADD. Dannover recognises part of the Andorian name tag on his uniform. She and Tala walk down the steps towards him as Dannover takes the lead. “Commandant Tr’zanac?”
The Commandant looks over at them, smiling as his silver hair glistens in the light. He strides over to them, holding a hand out to Dannover. “Lieutenant Dannover, I presume?” Dannover shakes his hand. “Welcome to Andoria. First, allow me to apologise for the incident in orbit upon your arrival. With the attack, communications have been less than reliable. Orbital Command were supposed to be expecting you”
“It was no problem.” Dannover nods in respect before Tala brushes past and hugs the Commandant.
“Hello, Uncle.” Tala smiles before giving the Commandant an Andorian salute and turning to Dannover. “Lieutenant, may I introduce Commandant Kronn Tr’zanac, my Uncle.”
Kronn rests a hand on her shoulder, smiling. “It’s good that you’re here, Tala. It’s just a shame you couldn’t be here sooner.”
Tala’s face turns graver. “Kala?”
Kronn relaxes her. “She’s out of danger. She’s now recovering at the hospital.”
“We were stuck at Deep Space Nine for repairs. We came as soon as--”
“I know. So do your parents. Your duties didn’t allow you to come as soon as you might have wanted. No one blames you for that.”
“What about Kala?” She folds her arms, raising an eyebrow inquisitively.
Kronn clears his throat slightly. “This isn’t the time for this discussion. I’ve sent for Rala to take you to see your sister later.” He looks at Dannover. “Now, Commander Allington informed me that you had a status report for us?”
Dannover nods before walking over to the table in the centre of the war room, pointing to the Ushilev Nebula. “The U.S.S. Medusa managed to pursue the Raiders into the nebula from the Tazi System. It, the U.S.S. Santissima and the U.S.S. Victorious are currently holding a patrol pattern around the nebula to keep them contained until they come up with a course of action.”
“Only three ships?” Kronn frowns slightly. “Starfleet managed almost a dozen for the raid on P’Jem.”
“The strategic situation was different 3 years ago, Commandant. The Third Fleet is still being repaired at Utopia Planetia and everything else is busy fighting the Borg incursion in Klingon Space. The Medusa and Santissima were the only ships in the region and the Victorious was the closest unassigned ship with the tactical ability to force a rescue mission.”
“I’m aware of that, Lieutenant, but my people are not. If you fail, the first thing our people will latch onto is how few ships Starfleet sent.”
“Then we’d better not fail.” Dannover smiles before looking back at the map. “I did notice that you have at least 3 frigates in orbit of this moon near the nebula.”
“Yes, Patrol Squadron 4. The Orions threatened the mining colony last night. The rest of our fleet is still engaged with the Orions at Kolornas. We don’t have any major warships to spare.”
“The time from here to Squadron 4’s position is only 3 hours, Commandant. You have a full battle group in orbit of Andoria compared to 3 frigates over that moon. Commander Allington could use those ships to capture the Raiders.”
“In 3 hours, the Orions could wipe that mining colony from the face of the Galaxy, Lieutenant. I’m sorry, but I can’t spare the ships. At any rate, I only have authority of the ships directly in orbit of Andoria herself.”
“Well, who does have authority over Squadron 4?”
“Captain Chan Kr’toric, the Squadron Commander. However, due to the emergency, I cannot contact him.”
“So there’s no way for him to even bring his ships to defend Andoria?”
“Not unless he chooses to. Planetary comms have been restricted to incoming transmissions and Priority One messages only.”
Tala chimes in. “Uncle, I’m sure the Federation would agree that the threatened lives of 15 of our people is a potential disaster given the political situation.”
“I don’t have the authority to make that call, Tala, as you well know. Only the Imperial Council can.”
Tala folds her arms in defeat, before Dannover straightens up. “Alright. That’s all the information I have so far. The next status report is in a few hours. If you prefer, I can stay here until it comes in or…?”
Kronn nods before motioning over a security guard. “I had quarters prepared for you at the Reservists’ Complex. We’re short on space with the city on lockdown, and I thought Tala would appreciate being near the closest thing she has to a home here.”
Tala smiles at him and nods. “Thank you, Uncle.”
“I promise, as soon as I can get away, we’ll talk about your sister. Rala will meet you at the Barracks and escort you to the hospital.”
The guard nods to the two Starfleet Officers, before gesturing ahead of himself. “If you’ll follow me.”
Author's Notes: So, it's a little slow right now, but we're starting to get towards our first action scene with the Nausicaans and Tala's first encounter with her sister. As always, leave your thoughts below!
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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Ushilev Nebula, U.S.S. Victorious. 2000 Hours Earth Standard Time.
“The Medusa has signalled, sir.” Alpha turns in his seat to Ryan. “They and the Santissima are ready to mask their energy signatures.”
“Thank you, Alpha.” Ryan stands up and looks at each member of his bridge crew. “All right, listen up. We can’t afford to mess this up. When we enter the nebula, we will launch two inactive reconnaissance probes from the aft torpedo bay. Our friends out there will then mask their energy signatures at the edge of the nebula and begin intensive scanning of the nebula’s boundaries. Once we enter, we can expect those Raiders to try and jump us. When they do, they’ll most likely try and escape the nebula. The two frigates out there will then unmask themselves and try and delay the Raiders until we can assist. Failing that, they’ll shadow the Raiders until we catch up. I don’t think I have to tell you that we’re about to walk into a trap so obvious that a blind man could see it even if it was behind a 3-inch neutronium bulkhead on the other side of a planet. Any objections?” The rest of the crew shake their heads. “Then let’s get to work.” Ryan turns and sits down in his seat. “Ensign Heja, take us into the nebula, one-half impulse power.”
“Aye, sir.” The young Bajoran ensign taps the commands into her console, swiftly sliding the impulse power gauge up to the halfway mark. “Time to threshold: 2 minutes.”
“Mister Carlisle, stand by to launch those probes.”
“Probes are ready for launch.” The reserve Security Officer looks over the tactical console behind Ryan to give the reply before returning to his own readings.
“Now, Commander.”
Carter nods before tapping a button on his control panel as the lights dim and a red hue fills the bridge, the red alert klaxon blaring over the comms. “Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands to Battle Stations! This is not a drill! Red Alert! Red Alert!”
“Alpha, give me a report the second all stations confirm.”
“Yes, sir.” The Android pays careful attention to his console, sifting through dozens of reports every few seconds.
As the minutes roll by precariously, the Victorious accelerates ever-closer to the blue-hued cloud, the saucer slowly being engulfed before two small projectiles are fired from the aft torpedo tubes, arcing around the nebula in opposite directions. In only a few more moments, the cloud swallows the Victorious whole as the Ambassador-Class starship glides into the unknown abyss.
Time rolls by slowly now, as the crew wait for contact. Ryan finds himself fixated on the viewscreen, watching the layers of gas drift past before Carlisle speaks up from his station. “Sir, I’m getting something. It’s a metallic object, approximately two meters across. It’s now within the shield perimeter of the starboard bow and… Sir, I’m reading a power signature!”
Ryan leaps out of his seat. “Helm, hard to port!” Heja quickly unleashes a burst of speed as she attempts to avoid collision with the object, which glides meters from the ship’s secondary hull, before releasing a flash and suddenly throwing itself into the engineering section, as arcs of energy flare around the impact point. On the bridge, the lights and an aft console explode into sparks before darkness consumes the scene.
Carter steps out of his chair to help an ensign thrown across the Bridge when his console exploded. “Alpha, damage report!”
“Power overload, sir. Switching to emergency backups.” The android uses his console’s emergency power cell to start up the Bridge’s auxiliary power systems as the lights return to a dim red hue.
“An ion mine!” Ryan looks over at Alpha’s console. “The Orions and Nausicaans used to use them to capture civilian ships! They unleash a massive surge of energy into one section of a ship’s power grid to cause an overload and force a system shutdown!”
“Correct, sir. The mine appears to have struck near Main Engineering.”
“Get Main Power back, Alpha.” Ryan looks at the tactical station. “Carlisle, divert warp power to the main deflector and go to active scanners! If this was what I think, we’re about to be in for a world of hurt!”
“Aye, Commander!” Carlisle quickly sets to work and a medical team arrive to evacuate the injured crewman, as Carter stands clear and moves beside Ryan.
“We’re a sitting duck.”
“Sir?” Carlisle’s voice cracks nervously. “Two objects, closing fast! 024 and 350!”
“Divert power to forward shie--!” The order comes too late, as the ship shudders violently under the combined fire of the two Nausicaan raiders, which scream past at high speed, one of them firing a torpedo into the Victorious’ port nacelle before disappearing into the mist. “Alpha, track them!”
“Attempting to now.” Alpha taps his console at superhuman speed, trying to follow the two raiders, to no avail. “They have left effective sensor range.”
“Give Heja their last bearing. Ensign, I need you to follow them, full impulse!”
“Aye sir.” Heja lays in the course and speed as the ship lumbers into a 180-degree turn. “Sir, there’s something you should know. That last hit knocked out the port warp drive. We’re stuck at sublight.”
“I knew this was a trap…”
Andoria,Takara City, Imperial Guard Reservists’ Barracks.
Tala is lying down on her bed in the Quarters arranged for her. The Quarters of an Imperial Guard Barracks are very different from what she had on the Victorious - it made even the NCO Quarters look luxurious in comparison. There are two rooms; a washroom with toilet and a bedroom, with a desk built into the wall holding a computer console. The bed is single-size, with another folded into the wall above so the quarters can be shared by two people. There are two footlockers by the door. The room is a cool 15-degrees celsius; though even this is temperate by Andorian standards.
Tala spent one year of her life in a room like this during her basic training with the Imperial Guard before she moved on to Starfleet Academy. She stands from her bed, groaning as she stretches her back from the hard mattress of the bed. “I swear to the Maker, I will never complain about Starfleet bedding again.” She groans louder as she hears her doorchime ring. “It’s 4am!”
“Actually, it’s 1400 Takara.” A feminine voice she recognises rings over the comm.
Tala mutters something about getting used to the time zones again before standing up and opening the door. “Sorry, still used to Terran time.”
“Don’t mention it.” The source of the voice is revealed to be Thira, the trooper from the shuttle inspection. “I thought you’d be at the hospital.”
“Kala was released before I could see her…”
“I know. She’s here on base right now. She’s on internal leave in her Quarters if you want to see her.”
Tala seems to hesitate, chewing over the prospect as she turns and walks into her quarters by a couple of steps. “I’m not even sure she’ll want to see me. There’s a lot of bad blood between us.”
“You can’t ignore each other for the rest of your lives.”
“I can ignore her for the rest of hers.” Tala shakes her head at the wisecrack. “Give me ten.”
Thira looks at her in puzzlement. “Ten what?”
Tala smiles and lets out an amused sigh. “Starfleet jargon. It means 10 minutes.”
“Would these be Starfleet minutes or…?”
Tala’s smile widens as she shakes her head gently. “Andorian minutes.”
“Okay. I’ll wait out here.” With that, the doors hiss shut.
For the next 10 minutes, Tala gets changed out of her sleepwear and into uniform, save her Starfleet jacket. Given her rocky relationship with Kala, she decides looking too official might push her too far. she decides to stick with the uniform grey tank top and black trousers, pinning the hollow silver combadge to the left side of the torso before stepping out to follow Thira.
“Just a warning...” Thira mentions as they dodge a drill squad marching through the corridors. “Kala has only just made Lieutenant with the Guard and that was in recognition of her action during the raid.”
“I wasn’t going to gloat about my rank if that’s--”
“That’s not what I mean. I’m just saying, be delicate. The last thing you two need right now is to get into a rivalry over rank on top of everything else.”
“Got it.”
They enter another wing of the Barracks before Thira stops them at a set of doors, tapping the doorchime and moving Tala to the side. “Wait here.”
A voice rings out over the door’s comm panel. “Who is it?” The voice is similar to Tala’s but slightly higher-pitched.
“It’s Thira. Can I come in?”
The doors slide open as Thira steps in to find a young Andorian girl with long silver hair who looks similar to Tala, but with a shade of green irises as opposed to Tala’s light blue. She is also at least an inch shorter. “What is it, Thir’?”
“There’s someone here who wants to see you.”
Tala slowly steps inside, exhaling through her nose and giving her sister a nervous smile. “Hi, Kala.”
Kala narrows her eyes, glaring at her as Thira moves into a corner of the room as the doors hiss shut. “What do you want, sika?”
Thira chastises Kala quickly for that insult. “Kala, Tala took leave from her ship, traveled here from DS9 and put up with a forceful shuttle inspection to see you. You could at least show her some courtesy.”
Tala gives her a look, smirking. “You forgot to mention it was your inspection that I had to sit through.”
“Shut it.”
Kala shakes her head at the two, before exhaling deeply. “Alright. I’m sorry. Why are you here, Tala?”
Tala looks at Kala, still feeling the barb from just a moment ago. “You nearly died, Kala.”
“That was nearly a week ago.”
“I know that. My ship was stuck in spacedock for repairs. I came as soon as I could.”
“Next time, come sooner. Preferably before the Nausicaan raiders land and shoot me.”
“Kala!” Tala grips her head in frustration, grunting. “You are, by far, the most stubborn, pig-headed, slow-witted--!”
“What?!”
Tala glares at her. “I came here because I wanted to put things right, Kala! I came here because, if you were going to die, I wanted to say sorry!”
“Yeah? Well, you’ve said sorry now. Leave.”
Tala turns around briskly, before slowly facing her again. “Wait a minute. This isn’t about what happened to you, is it?”
Kala shuffles uncomfortably. “Okay, fine, you want me to say it? Thank you for coming to see me.”
“That’s the most sincere thing you’ve said to me in 5 years.”
“But I still shracking hate you!”
“You just couldn’t let the most sincere thing you said to me be a nice one, could you?”
Kala grunts, getting in her sister’s face so close their antennae have to move back to avoid contact. “Get out of my life!”
Tala stands her ground, both of them tensing up their muscles and forming their hands into fists as the situation reaches vapour point, before Thira forces herself in between them and pushes them apart. “That’s enough! Both of you need to calm down! If you’re going to beat this bad blood out of each other, at least do it somewhere you won’t risk killing each other!”
Kala growls a little under her breath, before looking Tala in the eyes. “Training room, 1800. You still remember Andorian time zones, sis?”
Tala matches the stare. “You want a fight, Kala? You’re on.”
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Captain’s Log, Supplemental. U.S.S. Victorious, Commander Ryan Allington recording.
It’s been an hour since the Nausicaan ambush in the Ushilev Nebula. The Medusa and Santissima have broken off their attack on the Raiders and are shadowing them at the edge of sensor range. The Victorious remains disabled.
End of Log.
Ryan walks into Engineering, finding Assistant Chief Engineer Chief Petty Officer Kyle Ford working with the repair teams at the Master System Display table. “Chief.”
Ford looks over, handing one of the team leaders a PADD. “Get those injectors back online.” As the teams head to their assignments, Ford waves Ryan over.
“How long until warp power’s restored?”
“It’s hard to say. The Nausicaans destroyed one of the plasma coils and that ion mine overloaded the port plasma injectors. To make matters worse, the plasma itself is--”
“Chief.”
“6 hours. Maybe more.”
“You have 2. I want to catch up with the Medusa as soon as possible.”
“I’ll do my best, but I’m no Dannover, Captain. She might have some ideas, but I think even she’d say 2 hours is impossible.”
“Make it possible.” Ryan nods to him and walks towards the door.
“Oh, well, in that case…” Ford sarcastically muses as he returns his attention to the MSD. “Okay, forget the warp coil. We can bypass it.”
Andoria, Takara City, Command Centre.
Dannover walks over to Kronn, sighing. “The Victorious was ambushed in the nebula and has been disabled. The other two ships are tracking the Raiders now, but their reporting at least 4 hours before the Victorious can get underway again.” She looks absentmindedly at the table map.
Kronn exhales quietly, watching the deployment of the Imperial Guard’s fleet. “What about the other two ships?”
“They don’t have the firepower to rescue your people safely. If they engaged, they could be forced to destroy the Raiders to defend themselves. That’s why Starfleet bought the Victorious here in the first place.”
“Do you know where the Raiders are headed?”
“We don’t know their final destination, but…” She taps her PADD, transferring the positioning data to the map as the Victorious is shown near the nebula and a track is shown following the Raiders’ course. “They’re on a course which will take them towards Starbase 24. They might be trying to get to the Paulson Nebula and lose the Medusa and Santissima. The Enterprise-D hid from the Borg in that nebula for hours before Wolf 359, so if the Nausicaans reach it…”
“We’ll lose them.” Kronn straightens his stance. “I can send a ship to assist the Victorious with repairs.”
“I’m sure Commander Allington will appreciate that, Commandant.” She gives a weak smile, before letting out a yawn.
“I understand that humans require eight hours sleep every day. You’ve been awake for more than 24 Earth hours, Lieutenant.”
“I’ll sleep once Victorious finishes sending status reports.”
“Lieutenant, I underestimated you.” Dannover looks at him, confused. “Here,commitment to duty is greatly respected, even at one’s own detriment. It’s respected, but it can also foolish. I can follow one status report without you. Get some rest.”
Dannover smiles a little, nodding in resignation. “All right, I surrender. Thank you.” She picks up her PADD and leaves the War Room, being escorted by a guard back to the Barracks. Thira meets her in the Lobby. “Lieutenant…” she trails off, before finishing, “Sorry, I don’t think I got your last name.”
Thira smiles respectfully, “Ch’reac. Thira Ch’reac.”
“Were you waiting for me?”
Thira nods. “The Commandant told me you were on your way back. You’re Tala’s friend, so I was wondering if you could talk to her and try and calm her down.”
“Calm her down? What happened?”
“She and Kala got into an argument earlier and arranged a match in the training room in 2 hours.”
“That’s… 3 hours in human terms, right?”
“More or less.”
Dannover shakes her head. “If Tala’s been set off, she won’t back down. Not easily, anyway.”
“You sound like you’ve experienced that yourself.”
“Sometimes I mock her just enough that the nasty side of her starts to show.”
Thira sighs. “Why do I get the feeling she knew this was going to happen?”
“Because she did. She was reluctant to come here because she knew she’d end up at odds with Kala.” Dannover steps into the corridor, heading for her quarters. Thira follows her.
“She didn’t want to come?”
“She wanted to come, she was just apprehensive about what would happen.” She stops outside her quarters, turning quickly to face Thira as her eyes light up for a moment. “Do you think you could arrange a meeting with Kala? Maybe I can give her a second opinion on Tala.”
Thira chews on this for a few seconds, before, “Alright, that isn’t too difficult. She’s in the Training Room right now.”
After a few minutes, they enter the training room. Like the rest of the city, the temperature is roughly 15-degrees Celsius. The room is well-lit, around the same size as the gymnasium on the Victorious and is separated into different areas, with one servicing exercise machines, another containing training bags suspended on rails, a third being used for a series of dummies and a type of polearm, and a ring in the centre, with the base built into the floor and six posts, with padded metal cross-bars between them: one at shoulder height, another at waist height and the last at shin height. There’s a gate built into one side to allow entry and exit. Inside, they can see Kala training in a black vest and shorts with tape around her hands and feet. With no one else inside, Dannover assumes she’s just practising technique. “I take it that’s her?”
Thira nods. “Don’t take it personally if she’s hostile at first. She’s not much of a fan of Starfleet.”
“I gathered from what Tala told me about her. Don’t worry, if she gets too mouthy, I’ll deal with her according to an old saying: when in Rome…”
“I don’t get the reference.”
“It means to act like a native.”
“Ah. Just checking, Starfleet has free medical, right?”
Dannover gives her a look. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
Thira smiles at the sarcasm. “You’re welcome. Can I have it back now?” She walks over to the ring, getting Kala’s attention. “Kala?” Kala looks at her. “Someone I want you to meet.”
Dannover walks into view. “I’m Lieutenant Elisabeth Dannover. I’m the Chief Engineer from Tala’s ship.”
Kala sighs in exasperation. “Thira, can’t you just leave it alone?”
“Actually, I wanted to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because anyone who can give Tala more than just a black eye is worth my talking to.”
Kala gives her a look, walking over with a curious smile. “Okay, I’m listening.” She gives Thira a look.
Thira nods in understanding. “Be gentle with her. The Commandant wants her back in one piece in 10 hours.” She then turns around and walks out.
Kala returns her attention to Dannover. “So, you a friend of Tala’s?”
“You could say that. We watch each other’s backs, show each other respect… She cleans my clock everytime we spar…” Dannover smirks a little. “Yeah, we’re friends.”
“So maybe you can tell me why it took her a whole week to get here.”
Dannover thinks for a few moments, carefully phrasing her reply. “We needed her to help with repairs. I guess she felt duty bound to stay until we were ready. Once we left, it was quicker for us to swing past Andoria and drop her off.”
“So, basically, she put her duty to you above me.”
“No. She probably didn’t think she’d be able to get leave. Shuttles headed to war zones need at least two people on board and everyone was busy either managing repairs or on shore leave themselves.”
“What about you?”
“I needed to be there to supervise the repair work. A Chief Engineer can’t leave their ship while it’s undergoing a major repair or refit.”
Kala quickly turns away, pacing with frustration. “Okay, I can accept that. So--”
“Look, I’ve been getting looks since I got here, so just go ahead and ask.”
Kala turns around. “So why wasn’t Starfleet here to protect us? Where the hell were you?!”
“Our captain was abducted. Our ship almost got shot to pieces rescuing him. We couldn’t leave spacedock. We didn’t even hear about the attack until it was already over.”
“And the rest?” Kala folds her arms impatiently.
“We’re at war, Kala. Starfleet is too busy worrying about the Klingons to--”
“To protect one of their allies!”
“If it wasn’t Andoria, it would have been Regulus, or Archanis, or any other Federation Colony in the Neutral Zone! As much as i hate it, the fact is Starfleet just doesn’t have enough ships to be everywhere at once! We barely have enough to defend the border.”
Kala paces again, processing this for several moments before responding. “You’re right. I’m sorry, i shouldn’t have gone off at you like that. It’s not your fault. It’s just…”
“I know. It’s not easy, feeling safe and then being seriously wounded.” She gestures to the skin-tinted Borg optical implant above her right eye. “I got this at Vega. Our ship was dropping off food and provisions for the colony when the first wave attacked.”
“I didn’t realise.”
“Nobody does. Some people don’t even notice the implant, that’s why it’s been recoloured to match my skin. Who knows? Maybe one day they’ll finally be able to take the damned thing out. My point is I know how it feels to have your mortality get the jump on you. But contrary to what you think, Starfleet isn’t shy of fighting. We risk our lives every day, just like you. We just do it somewhere else.”
“And Tala?”
“She’s one of the bravest people I know.”
Kala seems to acknowledge this, before cracking a smirk. “She’s still a targ though.”
“Oh, definitely. Especially when she’s winning.”
Kala laughs with her, before going back to training. “Feel free to watch. You might learn something.”
Dannover watches her for a few minutes, before noticing her throw a roundhouse kick, her right arm being left lower in the guard afterwards. “You’re dropping your right.”
Kala breaks her stance and looks at her. “You know, if I want to be coached I can go grab an instructor.”
“Just trying to help.”
“Look, no offence, but if I wanted help, I wouldn’t be looking at Starfleet Self-Defence for it.”
Dannover raises an eyebrow, folding her arms. “Meaning?”
“Well, you’re not exactly impressing the Klingons, are you?”
“Oh, really?” Dannover gives a chuckle, her voice irritated with wounded pride as she takes off her jacket. “Alright, time to show you how we do it in Brooklyn.” She opens the gate and steps inside.
Kala gives her a bemused smirk. “Look, don’t take this the wrong way, but if you couldn’t beat Tala, what makes you think you’ll do any better against me?”
“The fact that me and Tala don’t try to hurt each other?” Dannover puts her fists up in a guard, spacing her feet out by about half a metre.
Kala puts her fists up into a similar guard, but her feet are almost a whole metre apart. “Alright, but I’m not going easy on you just because you’re Starfleet.”
“Did I ask you to?” Dannover smirks as she throws a right jab, quickly dodging to the right as Kala throws a middle kick.
Kala blocks another jab, ducking below a right hook and twisting around Dannover’s body, slipping her left foot in between Dannover’s leg and tripping her out and to the canvas. “Lesson number one: Andorian’s don’t believe in ‘matches’, we believe in winning. We get a chance to knock you on your TRIBBLE, we take it.” She helps Dannover up.
“Noted.”
After a few moments to catch her breath, and a little coaching from Kala, the two try again, with similar results. They repeat this process for 15 minutes before Dannover finally gets past the first exchange, sliding her caught foot out of the way of Kala’s. Kala breaks her stance after. “Not bad. You’re getting it. Word to the wise; you want to beat Tala some day, actually make her work for a win. If you’re trying to hold back, she’ll just use her energy to embarrass you for it.”
“Got it.” Dannover lets out a yawn.
“It would probably help if you were awake, too.”
Dannover nods, stepping out of the ring and putting her jacket back on. “I’ll sleep as soon as I know which one of you wins later.” She gives Kala a raised eyebrow. “Unless you’re willing to talk it out with her?”
Kala shakes her head. “No amount of vouching you do for her is gonna erase the last 5 years of bad blood between us. We need to settle this once and for all.”
Dannover sighs a little, nodding as she walks off.
“Hey, Lieutenant.” Dannover turns around at Kala’s call. “Remember, treat it like a first dance: watch their feet.”
Dannover smiles. “Got it. I’d say good luck, but…”
“I get it.”
Dannover walks out of the training room, with a new appreciation for Tala’s family problems - not to mention a new appreciation of just how tough Tala is to have gone through adolescence with that kind of fighting style.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
And the Victorious is definitely in some deep trouble. I hope Captain Allington will have support in getting through this, since I am sure getting thrown back into something this dire again was a very rude surprise.
Also, do you have any material detailing Dannover's recovery? Also, am I right to assume her time in the Collective was fairly short? Despite the degree of Redmond's physical disfigurement that was a major factor in my own liberated Borg retaining her name and personality so strongly too.
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Thanks. Nothing specifically on Dannover's recovery, but one of my LCs (Stranded) does bring it up and make mention of her Borg past, as does 'Old Wounds'.
As for Ryan, so long as he has those hostages to worry about, he should be fine. What happens afterwards is another matter.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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My forum single-issue of rage: Make the Proton Experimental Weapon go for subsystem targetting!
I can't find it, because of the old links to things not working (and the size of your post history!!
Yeah. Plus I just realized that afterwards when it sinks in, those people will have been in the same situation he was (held captive). Whether that turns out to be a cathartic thing for him or one that sets him back, that will be a big question.
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Okay, it was an entry for Redux 3.0. Third entry down.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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By the way, I found another Dannover-centric LC entry. Same link as last time, just scroll down to my next post in that thread. That's probably a better story in terms of her development (other than Old Wounds, any way).
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
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Now I'm going anymore into further details, but I will point out that the story will revolve around several ships and at least 2 different stations. But the main focus will be on USS Dragonstar - a prototype vessel first in her class with artificial sentient AI (this means ship can practically operate without crew, but only in extreme situation. For example: Ship has been captured by enemy and her crew is not aboard. In such case ship will automatically activate itself and start making it's way out from the enemy ship/station/base even by using her armaments which she has plenty ofc
The ship is under command of relatively young (about 30+ years or so), but experienced captain Sirius Verax (yes, that's my main character in STO I know, but not related with this story) and his diverse crew of various aliens. Ofc, Sirius Verax himself is not entirely human, but a human-cardassian hybrid.
And few more interesting things about the story:
- it is happening after Nemesis in prime universe (during 2380's)
- all TNG/DS9/VOY crews will appear in the book
- the story itself will feature most of the famous alien races seen in Trek from entire Milky Way galaxy and 3 extra races from another galaxy (Zyraxeen alpha & beta, and Morians)
- there will be plenty massive space battles, and when I say massive I mean a space battles involving thousands and even tens of thousands of vessels
- the war my story will feature will be far more brutal than Dominion war and logically because of that our heroes will have some serious loses, but one certain weapon will turn the tide of war (HINT: weapon is called transquantum torpedoes which I'm going to explain in the story)
- there will be some new powerful alliances created (for example: Alpha/Beta quadrant races joining together against the common foe)
- another extremely xenophobic, but not hostile race will come in aid to our heroes near the end of the book and if you think Romulans cloaking tech is top notch, then you have no idea what is going to come, because this race (called Morians) will feature entire spacestations capable of cloaking
- there will be approximately over 100 new classes of stations and ships introduced in the book including some heavy retrofits too
- some seriously powerful and highly advanced weaponry and defense systems are going to be featured including some rather nasty superweapons
- and last but not least, I will try to make the story at least 10 times better from what we've seen in JJ Abrams movies and show that a true Trek story with lots of great action can be made
I think that's enough for the beginning and I hope you'll like my idea. Iconians are no match for Zyraxeen btw
Now this may sound as my self promotions and it really is that, but I just wanted to here thoughts of other people about it, and the most important of all I wanted to praise your writing ryan218. It is truly an awesome work and you're honestly better writer than me. I enjoyed the story this far and I'm sure I'm going to enjoy it in the future too. I just hope you'll find mine at least equally interesting.
SUPPORTING PLAYABLE CARDASSIAN AND DOMINION FACTIONS!
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What gulberat said... I'll look forward to reading your work, sovereign, but putting all that info in the middle of ryan's work is rather disrespectful and distasteful... :-\
One thing I will say is this; if you keep rewriting it until it's perfect, you'll never finish it. In my mind, the beginning and the end of a story aren't nearly as important as how you get there. Most of what I write is spontaneous: I have a vague idea of the plot and where I want to take it, but everything else is what pops into my head as I write. The sparring match between Dannover and Kala? That was completely spontaneous. I had no plans to do it until I started typing it. Don't worry about making your work perfect. Just make it good enough for you.
Another thing is don't worry about what others think of the story. You can't please everyone and if you try you won't get anywhere. I've had several stories which failed to go anywhere because I tried to make something others would enjoy instead of something I'd enjoy. While I do appreciate feedback (and have been known to take ideas from that feedback), I usually only concern myself with addressing problems pertaining to plot holes (which I seem to have avoided so far, somehow) or just basic errors and inconsistencies.
Write it how you want to write it, and it'll turn out great.
Oh, and don't think too hard about it. If you do, you could burn yourself out or get 'writer's block'. That's part of the reason Moving On Part 4 took so long for me to get out (that and a major school problem).
Chapter 6 will be up tomorrow. I was going to get it out today, but I was jumped by a surprise trip to the cinema to see Star Wars (which was amazing!).
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood
Looking forward to the new section, and also, I read the other Dannover fic you linked me and I thought it was excellent. That had to be terrifying for her, for sure.
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Oh yeah. In fact, Old Wounds deals with the repercussions of that experience.
Trials of Blood and Fire
Moving On Parts 1-3 - Part 4
In Cold Blood