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Personal Log: Azera Xi
sparklysoldier
Member Posts: 106 Arc User
TABLE OF CONTENTS (Chronological Order)
Azera Xi's Biography
The Roanoke Crew's Biographies
Personal Log: Aboard the Salamanca
Personal Log: When it Rains
Personal Log: Ghosts of Donatu
Azera Xi: In Memoriam
Personal Log: The Wild Blue Yonder
Literary Challenge: Fools and Children
Literary Challenge: Repondez s'il vous Plait
Personal Log: Blast from the Past
Personal Log: Days Gone By
Literary Challenge: Original Sin
Personal Log: Fall Seven Times
Literary Challenge: Dead Drop
Incoming Message: The Truth (by marcusdkane)
(This is my first character and, though I'm proud of her story, her bridge crew's bios and the logs I've written for her so far, there doesn't seem to be any way to make those things available for other people in the game (please, please Cryptic, fix that blank character info bug!). So I thought I'd post them in a thread here instead, for anyone who'd like to read them...)
Azera Xi
Female Alien, Science Officer (Captain)
Legends are told of the earliest days of the Delta Quadrant, though few archeologists have managed to sort out the facts from the myths. Some of those myths say that when the Borg Collective first emerged from the cybernetic network that birthed it, it began to assimilate the worlds its own people had colonized centuries before. It hunted down every last trace of the organic species it had once been, a grim reunification that left no one to warn the galaxy of what was to come.
Those are the stories.
What's known for certain is that 12 years ago an alien child was found in a stasis pod, following a course that traced back toward the Delta Quadrant. Its near-light impulse drive made it impossible to guess the pod's age and it contained no computer records at all; it seemed designed to use as little technology as possible. As for the child, the only name anyone could find for her was the one inscribed on the hull: Azera Xi.
She awoke shouting in a language the universal translator couldn't decipher at first, in a thrashing, telekinetic fury from a nightmare she refused to believe had ended. Azera grew up on Earth and joined Starfleet as a young ensign with little memory of her past but a cheerful idealism toward the future. She relapsed, however, the first time she saw a Borg cube, covering her ears and whispering fearfully about the "machine-priests," the "black cubes" and "apostate worlds" before crying out for her parents and collapsing.
Azera Xi doesn't remember what she said, and she's continued to prove herself a resourceful, if impulsive, officer, but the incident prompted Starfleet Command to quietly order a more thorough examination of her pod. Though the ship's hardly more advanced than a 22nd century Earth shuttle, there's no doubt about the power readings and metallurgical scans. Out of all the known spacefaring species in the galaxy, the closest match in the Federation archives is Borg technology.
Azera Xi's Biography
The Roanoke Crew's Biographies
Personal Log: Aboard the Salamanca
Personal Log: When it Rains
Personal Log: Ghosts of Donatu
Azera Xi: In Memoriam
Personal Log: The Wild Blue Yonder
Literary Challenge: Fools and Children
Literary Challenge: Repondez s'il vous Plait
Personal Log: Blast from the Past
Personal Log: Days Gone By
Literary Challenge: Original Sin
Personal Log: Fall Seven Times
Literary Challenge: Dead Drop
Incoming Message: The Truth (by marcusdkane)
(This is my first character and, though I'm proud of her story, her bridge crew's bios and the logs I've written for her so far, there doesn't seem to be any way to make those things available for other people in the game (please, please Cryptic, fix that blank character info bug!). So I thought I'd post them in a thread here instead, for anyone who'd like to read them...)
Azera Xi
Female Alien, Science Officer (Captain)
Legends are told of the earliest days of the Delta Quadrant, though few archeologists have managed to sort out the facts from the myths. Some of those myths say that when the Borg Collective first emerged from the cybernetic network that birthed it, it began to assimilate the worlds its own people had colonized centuries before. It hunted down every last trace of the organic species it had once been, a grim reunification that left no one to warn the galaxy of what was to come.
Those are the stories.
What's known for certain is that 12 years ago an alien child was found in a stasis pod, following a course that traced back toward the Delta Quadrant. Its near-light impulse drive made it impossible to guess the pod's age and it contained no computer records at all; it seemed designed to use as little technology as possible. As for the child, the only name anyone could find for her was the one inscribed on the hull: Azera Xi.
She awoke shouting in a language the universal translator couldn't decipher at first, in a thrashing, telekinetic fury from a nightmare she refused to believe had ended. Azera grew up on Earth and joined Starfleet as a young ensign with little memory of her past but a cheerful idealism toward the future. She relapsed, however, the first time she saw a Borg cube, covering her ears and whispering fearfully about the "machine-priests," the "black cubes" and "apostate worlds" before crying out for her parents and collapsing.
Azera Xi doesn't remember what she said, and she's continued to prove herself a resourceful, if impulsive, officer, but the incident prompted Starfleet Command to quietly order a more thorough examination of her pod. Though the ship's hardly more advanced than a 22nd century Earth shuttle, there's no doubt about the power readings and metallurgical scans. Out of all the known spacefaring species in the galaxy, the closest match in the Federation archives is Borg technology.
Post edited by sparklysoldier on
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Corspa
Female Andorian, Tactical Officer (First Officer)
A fellow survivor of the Borg attack on Vega Colony, Ensign Corspa had only served aboard the USS Khitomer for a few weeks before her ship came under attack. After Azera Xi averted a warp core breach on the Khitomer, Corspa returned the favor by helping restore the Roanoke's crippled systems and devastated chain of command. As fiercely combative and calculating as any Andorian, she quickly took charge of the remaining security detail and managed to bring the ship's weapons back online just in time to fight off an approaching Borg cube. When Azera Xi was promoted afterward to acting captain of the USS Roanoke, Corspa accepted a transfer to the Roanoke's crew as its tactical chief and first officer.
Nyzoph Ythlip
Male Andorian, Engineering Officer (Chief Engineer)
When Azera Xi took full command of the USS Roanoke, one of the first bridge candidates assigned to her from Earth Spacedock was the ingenuous Andorian engineer Nyzoph Ythlip. Unfortunately, Nyzoph's reaction upon arriving on the bridge was outrage at the sight of Corspa, and their argument quickly led to a physical confrontation that ended with a phaser being drawn on both of them. Despite her better judgement, Azera accepted each one's apology and claim of responsibility, and approved his assignment. The two Andorians have developed a grudging respect for one another, while the rumors about their animosity range from Corspa and Nyzoph being rivals in the Imperial Guard to their being former lovers.
Auslaz
Female Trill, Science Officer (Operations)
Auslaz had always dreamed of becoming a joined Trill. They seemed almost like gods to her, with memories spanning centuries and lifetimes woven forever into the symbiont's being. That sense of reverence may have been the very reason the Symbiosis Commission rejected her as an initiate, though her skittish, timid demeanor probably also played a hand. Left without a sense of purpose, she eventually applied to Starfleet Academy and, after graduating with honors, became an astrophysicist aboard the Roanoke. When Corspa and Nyzoph nearly came to blows during their first meeting, she was the one who drew a phaser to break up their fight, and since then she's gradually begun to regain her self-confidence.
Umliz Kwam
Male Bajoran, Science Officer (Chief Medical Officer)
Umliz Kwam's resignation from the Vedek Assembly sparked a wave of controversy on Bajor, and his subsequent decision to reenlist in Starfleet, on the condition of an immediate transfer to Azera Xi's command, raised questions about his mental health. Having already served aboard the USS Venture during the Dominion War, he was immediately assigned to the Roanoke as a bridge science officer alongside Auslaz. A calm, spiritual figure even under the most trying circumstances, Kwam explains his motives only by saying that he serves the Prophets. He's also become something of a mentor to the young captain, and hints in their conversations that he believes she may be far older than she suspects.
Angel Jermaine Cragin
Male Human, Tactical Officer (Security Chief)
Angel Cragin never really believed his father's nostalgic stories about the Federation. Born and raised on Cestus III, a colony world that began its history with a massacre and now sits on the front lines of the Klingon war, he enrolled in Starfleet less out of ideology than to protect his home from its enemies. His cynical outlook served him well as a criminal investigator, though, and after meeting Corspa at a Tactical Ops seminar and later helping the crew capture a Ferengi arms dealer, he transferred from Starbase 114 to become the ship's security chief. His presence aboard the Roanoke has attracted the notice of baseball fans, who still remember his previous stint as star pitcher of the Cestus Comets.
Luverala Onploz
Male Betazoid, Engineering Officer (Helm)
Luverala Onploz may be Betazed's most reluctant telepathic prodigy. As a psychically gifted child, he made both medical history and military history during the occupation of Betazed by using his empathic powers to reduce an entire Dominion base to a cataleptic stupor. That he did so by instinctively projecting his own terror at being captured by the Jem'Hadar into the minds of everyone around him is less well known, though it led to his becoming a Starfleet engineer, a career where he need never read another person's thoughts. As a bridge officer on the Roanoke he's gradually befriended Auslaz, whose shy demeanor he shares, and Azera Xi, who likewise struggles with controlling her telepathic abilities.
Stardate 90713.37
It's been almost a week since my promotion to Lieutenant Commander and our reassignment to the USS Salamanca. Starfleet's still researching the unusual chroniton signature found on the Roanoke after our mission in the Azure Nebula, and they haven't dared to guess when, or even if, we might have our old ship back. Even if it's cleared by Utopia Planitia, the quadrant's becoming so dangerous that they might start phasing out Miranda class starships altogether. I've placed a request to rechristen our new ship the Roanoke if necessary: vessels may come and go, but her spirit lives on in every ship we call home.
Two months ago I was an ensign fainting at the sight of a Borg cube. It's still crazy to think about how much has changed since then. I'd give up every accolade just to have our old crew back. Captain Taggart, Commander McMary, Ensign Nara...
Nara was the first person I saw when I woke up that day, after I passed out on the bridge. She'd volunteered to help out in sickbay until I woke up. Two hours, and she just joked that the bridge is boring anyway. She tried to talk to me about what happened, but I didn't really want to think about it. I brushed her off and went back to my duties, and told myself we'd catch up later.
...and she's gone now. Everyone's gone.
* * *
But we've done a lot of good since then, and I think they'd be proud of us. We completed the mission and saved Vega Colony from a fleet of Borg ships. And there's Corspa, and the USS Khitomer. Together we saved both our ships, and when Admiral Quinn assigned me to the Roanoke as acting captain, I couldn't have asked for any braver or more steadfast first officer.
Honestly, had our positions been a little different, had it been the Khitomer that lost its senior officers, she could have been promoted to captain every bit as easily as I was. Not that she'd call that a fair trade, any more than I have, but still, she's never the least bit jealous. She says she's gone from ensign to first officer in record time, and that's more than enough for her. Still, I'm glad the ship's in such capable hands when I'm not around.
Then there's Nyzoph. I thought we were lucky to get such a celebrated genius on warp theory right out of the Academy, but the moment he and Corspa met, they practically started an Ushaan right there on the bridge. It turned out that wouldn't have been the first time: they fought one before on Andoria, though neither one wanted to get into the reasons for it. From what I gathered, Corpsa won the battle, and she spared his life for... well, more of those reasons they didn't want to talk about.
Each of them apologized and, without knowing what the other would say, blamed themselves entirely for the incident. That's the only reason I decided to overlook the matter and approve his assignment as chief engineer, but I haven't regretted it. Despite their rivalry they work well together and, strange as it seems, completely trust each other. Whatever their history, I think they were friends much longer than they've been enemies.
* * *
That first meeting on the bridge could have been so much worse, though, if Auslaz hadn't already arrived. I didn't even notice her until then. She'd been working quietly at the helm, never looking up or introducing herself, and I'd nearly forgotten we were expecting another Academy graduate that day, an astrophysicist. She told me later she felt like a stowaway on her own ship, trying to hide so we wouldn't notice her arrival and make a big deal out of it.
But while I was frantically trying to calm Corspa and Nyzoph down, and not doing such a great job at it, she leapt right to her feet with a phaser set to stun and aimed at them both. Our security staff was still on leave at Earth Spacedock, but we never even needed them. One shy young Trill clutching a phaser as she stared down two enraged Andorians, barking at them to stop fighting and listen to their captain - and they did exactly that.
Then she sat down again and went back to quietly running diagnostics on our navigational system. Corspa and Nyzoph didn't say a word. I hardly dared to say a word either. When I called Auslaz into the ready room later, she thought she was in trouble and was bracing herself for anything from a reprimand to a court martial. Her voice practically squeaked when she thanked me for giving her a commendation for quick and decisive action.
Even now, she's busying herself with the readings from a nearby pulsar and trying not to make eye contact with anyone. But I haven't forgotten the bold, assertive officer who leapt to the occasion that day, and we can always count on her to show up again and again during our away missions. Auslaz claims to be scared of her own shadow, but maybe that's exactly what makes her the bravest one among us when she needs to be.
* * *
Umliz Kwam is our chief medical officer. He transferred from K-7 during the quarantine situation, and it was his experience as a Starfleet doctor in the Dominion War that helped us avert a disaster. He's something of a mystery, though. He'd make an El Aurian jealous with the way he can listen to people's problems: I've found myself telling him more about growing up on Earth and wondering where I came from than I've ever told anyone. I guess it comes with the territory when you've been a Vedek.
Even though I'm supposed to check the background of my crew, I felt a little guilty looking up his records. He doesn't really want to talk about himself and believe me, I can appreciate that. Still, his past only makes him more of a mystery. He resigned from Starfleet after the Dominion War and became a Vedek on Bajor, joined the Vedek Assembly - and then he suddenly resigned to reenlist in Stafleet and request a transfer to the USS Roanoke. Well, not the Roanoke exactly, but to "Azera Xi's command."
I haven't brought that up with him, and when I mention how strange his circumstances seem, he just smiles and says they're strange for him too but he lets the Prophets guide him where they will. Prophets, or wormhole aliens, I guess. The day before Kwam resigned from the Vedek Assembly he consulted one of their orbs, the "Orb of Prophecy and Change." The attending Prylars believed he had a vision. I think maybe it was about me.
Should I ask him about it? Probably so, but there's a part of me that doesn't want to know what he might have seen. It's the same part of me that didn't want to listen to Ensign Nara that day, when she tried to tell me about what happened when I fainted on the bridge. That I didn't just faint away: I said something first, something that sounded important. Whatever it was, it's probably listed in my medical files. I haven't looked to find out yet.
* * *
The dreams have been getting worse again, ever since we engaged the Borg fleet in Sirius sector and destroyed Vessel Four of Ten. I'm in a city, an empty city in the middle of a rocky plain that used to be a forest. There's nobody there, but the city isn't in ruins. Everyone just left. I'm alone, but then a shadow sweeps across the buildings like an eclipse. I don't dare look up, I'm afraid it'll see me if I look up. But even without looking, I already know what it means. It's the people from the city. They've come back for me...
And I wake up.
Well anyway, it's probably just stress. The whole crew must be exhausted after all the missions we've been sent on lately, especially the Orion raiders and the planetary surveys in the Hromi Cluster. And don't even get me started on all the chaos Q's been causing back on Earth. Between living snowmen and miniature Q clones, he's been keeping us busier than the Klingons. He greeted me when we first met as his "favorite lieutenant." I don't know whether to be flattered by that, or very afraid.
We have a backlog of routine maintenance to catch up on: we'll set course for Risa so the crew can enjoy some shore leave while we're waiting. That'll also keep us close enough to Earth for two new bridge officers who should be arriving by shuttle later this week. Angel Cragin's the starbase tactical officer who helped us capture the SS Nandi a few weeks back, and Luverala Onploz was part of the very same engineering group that designed the USS Salamanca. I'm looking forward to meeting them both.
Stardate 90718.56
Another day, another confrontation with Klingon "Ambassador" B'vat. I question the use of that word to describe him, but then again, this is a culture that managed to go all the way from prehistory to a spacefaring empire without ever inventing a word for peace. Maybe it's to be expected that Klingon ideas about diplomacy are a little more roughshod than our own.
We still don't know what he's up to other than that it involves developing weapons that can pierce solid neutronium. Auslaz has been practically indignant ever since our mission in the Briar Patch, insisting that what he's trying to do is impossible. Not just difficult or beyond our technology, but literally impossible. It seems that way to me too, but after reading the historical logs from ships like the Enterprise, impossible doesn't sound like such a safe bet. And any weapon that could dent neutronium would be more than a match for anything else in the universe.
Our leads have dried up for now, but we have Admiral Quinn's assurance that they're continuing to question Marta and will contact us with any new information about B'vat's plans. We've also been offered the dubious assistance of a strange intelligence officer who claims to represent Section 31. I heard the rumors about them in the Academy and, needless to say, I'd be wary of accepting his offer even if he's being completely honest.
Especially if he's being completely honest.
* * *
I'd hoped to investigate our mysterious Mr Drake further, but the Borg apparently had other plans. They launched another offensive in the Sirius sector and this time we couldn't gather enough starships to drive them back. They didn't attack any star systems, though, or even make an effort to assimilate the disabled ships in our fleet. One of the Borg command ship's probes scanned our bridge and then... they just stopped. All the Borg ships simply left, as though they'd already accomplished their goal.
I swear I can still feel that cold green sensor beam sweeping across my skin. It's been almost an hour since the Borg fleet vanished from long-range sensors, but I can still hear their voices in my head. Vessel Six of Ten, Unimatrix 47. Biogenic analysis complete, set course for Matrix 010, Grid 23...
It's going to be another bad night.
* * *
On the bright side, our visit to Risa went great and I think our two new bridge officers are going to work out well. I only spoke with Angel Cragin through the viewscreen when he helped us arrest Captain Mok, but he's every bit as charming in person as he seemed then. A bit on the cynical side, perhaps, but a little skepticism can be a good thing for a security chief.
I just hope the three messages I've already received from the crew asking for his autograph aren't a sign of things to come: handling a famous baseball player turned Starfleet officer's adoring fans isn't really something they teach you about at the academy.
Luverela Onploz hasn't quite had such a celebrated arrival, but he's certainly no less interesting. Betazoids are naturally telepathic, much more so than I am, and I couldn't resist trying to greet him by thought. His mind answered me with a musical clarity I've never felt from anyone, but then he spoke aloud to make it stammeringly clear that he'd prefer not to use his abilities.
As renowned an engineer as he is today, he was considered a telepathic prodigy as a child. I wonder what happened?
Stardate 90729.12
We've just returned from a mission in the Neutral Zone at the behest of Franklin Drake and, though I have my doubts about working with any self-professed member of Section 31, so far his assignments have seemed legitimate enough. What we found, though, was chaos, a battle raging between the True Way and the Klingons with Starfleet caught in the middle. Drake thinks that the Cardassians are trying to stir up trouble between the Federation and Klingon Empire in the Neutral Zone. Their plan might have worked better if they hadn't used their own ships.
The fleet's disarray made more sense, though, when we beamed over to their flagship, the Axon. I've never been aboard a Cardassian vessel before. Kwam had, during the Dominion War, and he said they look just as inviting as ever. Steam pouring out of the open vents, lighting so dim that you can't even make out the end of the corridor... I doubt the SCE would approve.
But apart from a few Cardassian guards, who seemed to attack us more out of panic than organized defense, we couldn't even find most of the crew. Its senior officers had simply vanished. As we ventured deeper into the ship, we began to realize why.
Flashes of an eerie blue world began to appear around us, accompanied by triolic bursts of radiation and sinister apparitions. I think all of us were a little relieved when Corspa asked if we were seeing them too: personally, I was starting to doubt my senses. From what we could make of the ship's logs and the few bodies we found, those drifting phantoms had secretly stalked the crew, draining their nervous systems of electric energy.
Even that didn't prepare us for what we found on the Axon's bridge. When we got there, it'd been completely transformed into that alien realm: a ghost ship crewed by faceless spirits.
* * *
They're called Devidians. I remember reading about them in exobiology class, bizarre creatures out of phase with normal space that feed on neuroelectric energy. Also, something about a snake, a portal to Earth's past and Mark Twain, but I honestly never understood that part. The teacher told us not to overthink it, that time and causality don't work the same way when you're dealing with organisms from different subspace domains.
We fell under attack almost instantly: they reached right through our personal shields to suck the life out of our bodies. They nearly killed Nyzoph. I saw him staggering back against the railing and barely managed to telekinetically fling away the thing hovering above him. Usually telekinesis is just a party trick for me: it takes so much concentration to move anything that it's quicker to fire a phaser or just walk over and pick something up. But the blast ripped through the phantom like it was made of paper.
A quick tricorder scan thankfully showed that Nyzoph was fine, and the room changed back to normal after we defeated the last of the Devidians. We're going over the Axon's records now aboard the Salamanca: I don't think I've ever been so relieved to see blue panels and grey carpet in my life. Still, if it could happen to their ship for no apparent reason, then who's to say...
* * *
Anyway, Commander Wildman contacted me a little while ago to answer the questions I'd sent her about the Delta Quadrant. She didn't mind my asking at all, and we had a lot of fun talking about life on Voyager. I'll have to warn our newly promoted Lieutenant Cragin to keep an eye out for telepathic pitcher plants.
She couldn't remember seeing any species that looked quite like mine. I've read Voyager's logs in the historical archives, so that didn't really surprise me. But it's still fascinating to listen to her stories, to think that any one of the planets she remembers could be just one step removed from my homeworld. Did they ever trade with the Talaxians? Were they enemies of the Kazon, or even the Vaadwaur? Did they ever encounter the Voth's city ships? Maybe someday I'll have the chance to ask them myself.
Naomi suggested a few other people from Voyager who might know more. I think I'll check with the Doctor, their former EMH, next. He's away on a medical conference right now but he should be back next week, and his literally flawless memory would be a big help. She insisted that he wouldn't mind talking about it, that I'd get bored listening long before he gets bored telling me about their adventures. I doubt that'd be possible, but we'll see.
I'd better pause for now so I can feed Cho. That's the name of the tribble Ensign McMillan picked up at Drozana Station. I promised to watch her while Kaitlyn's attending the Gratitude Festival, and she's adorable. Oh, but she's sterile, so there's no harm in keeping her aboard. Though I'm a little worried about the five unclaimed tribbles we've found roaming the decks since then...
Thanks for reading it!
Exactly.
Awesome, a true Borg, from before they were even The Borg
zomg ... I do this too! Ok, this is inspirational stuff. I've started reading these and I am enjoying it all. Keep it up
That is an amazingly detailed background! :eek: I haven't finished reading it all yet, but it's very well-written so far. And I may take you up on that offer! There are all kinds of story elements that are hard to write about from Azera's perspective, and having Marcus Kane, a Borg specialist who's been studying them since the Hansens' days, uncovering the truth and presenting it to Starfleet Command would be really fun to write.
Thanks - I'm glad you like it! She just hit commander in the middle of the Devidian arc, so a new log should be coming once those pesky time ghosts are taken care of, hopefully sometime this weekend.
In the end, I felt there wasn't anything more I could do with the character, and following the 30 year time jump of the timeline, decided to retire the crew of the Endeavour and permanently kill him off (although I want to still explore previous events from points of his life before his death) so am more than happy to share the character if he would be of help with the development of yours, and it would be interesting to see him brought to life by another writer
Just curious...is there a pic of this character anywhere? I'd be very interested to know how you envision Species 1.
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Sorry I vanished for a bit! I started writing a story with Marcus as the main character that fleshes out the plot elements in her background, and I kept writing... and kept writing... and wrote through a caffeine-fueled night of Toonami... and also wrote through most of last night, so I'm kind of loopy at the moment.
I'll post that story in a separate thread, since the sheer length of it would break this one completely. It only touches briefly on Marcus's past with the Hansens and focuses more on him as an investigator and the voice of reason, but I hope you'll enjoy how he's written - thank you for lending him out that way! The timeline doesn't quite fit together since I have him alive and well as the head of Starfleet Intelligence in the present day, but this is no time to be arguing about time, we don't have the time ...what was I saying?
http://sto-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=558361
Thanks! And sure, there's a few screenshots below.
From there, it just became a matter of making her look at once young, innocent, as seemingly human as the old TNG-era Borg would look without their implants, but with a few difference to make it clear she's not human. Her dark eyes are a dark violet color that shows up in the right lighting, her hair is a faded pink hue that's not a natural color for humans, and her ears are external eardrums ringed with cartilage that she deliberately hides under her hair, since she grew up on Earth and is embarrassed by them.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8487563044_858f0588af_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8507/8486472297_b8eaca2a23_c.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8519/8486472337_ecaf119840_c.jpg
Cool, I'll look forward to reading it
Awesome to see how Azera looks as well :cool:
The story's all set! I tried to be vague on Marcus's personality: he can be friendly and informal, can also have a temper under the right circumstances, is an expert on the Borg who's a little haunted by the Hansens' fate, and is a dedicated Starfleet officer who believes in the Federation's ideals. He may even seem a little too formal in this story, but it's a serious situation, and I didn't want to second-guess what his personal relationships with the NPC admirals might be or how he acts when he's not on the clock.
Absolutely awesome, I was engrossed all the way through, even though I knew what was coming, it was really nicely done
You wrote Marcus exactly as I'd always envisaged ^_^ The formality was fine, as don't forget, he spent the formative years of his childhood on Vulcan, and underwent Vulcan emotional training to overcome the grief of his mothers death: His emotional responses would appear 'flattened' compared to other Humans, other than the occasional outburst of temper, so that level of formality was perfect, as was the casual interaction with the shipyard mechanic
[Edit to add]
I just realized that if the investigation of the pod took place in 2412, it would be 58 years since the Hansens vanished
I haven't seen the second Riddick movie yet, though I really should, as many people as I trust have said that it's really good.
And ouch ouch ouch... I can sympathize completely. You spend an hour or more typing in a burst of creativity, the computer kills it and you're just left sitting there in a daze and going "I will never remember any of that again." I'm glad you mostly got it back, though! And by the way, having read over almost all of your background for Marcus - there's not just enough story for a novel, you could write a whole series of them, with each and every one of those career stages as a book.
As films go, it's nothing special, although I would say it's worth watching if a fan of Pitch Black/Riddick, but mostly, it's the Necromongers which are worth the look for the reference, as they are so similar to the Borg in terms of practice. It is very easy to imagine a society before the Collective became fully cybernetic that had a caste of machine-priests who eventually take over completely, somewhat like the mentats, the Human Computers, in the Dune universe... If you watch David Lynch's Dune, what is seen of Giedi Prime at the beginning, made me think that that is probably what the Borg homeworld would be like: Dark, polluted, heavily industrialized, and with cybernetic augmentation which most other species would consider vile, and which even ordinary citizens would find terrifying, before they rise to power and the society completely embraces the synthetic...
Yup, not fun at all, but I knew that if I didn't re-do it, I would have either lost the flow of the story, or even passed on the LC completely... I think it was worth doing though ^_^
You definitely got the essence of his character, even if you haven't read the entire biography ^_^ Originally, I planned to write him as a guest Borg Specialist in a DS-9 manuscript I had planned but never completed, and started with a few basic notes such as his immortality, and having been an Academy classmate of Riker. As the series of Voyager progressed, and the dates for the Hansen's disappearance filtered through, it seemed a reasonable suggestion that Magnus lectured at the Academy to be given access to the Raven, and the dates would have coincided with Marcus' freshman year, so I just decided to go for it... I thought it was a really nice touch when you had Marcus mention Annika Hansen by name, as having known her parents as well as he did, he probably would have contacted her, or been contacted by her, at some point after Voyager's return to the Alpha Quadrant, and he would indeed be one of the few people to think of her as Annika, rather than Seven... If I was to ever write Marcus' story fully, yes, it probably would need a series of novels to cover fully, the only problem would be either having the permissions to use the TrekVerse, or altering enough details to be considered unique, such as Commonwealth of United Systems, rather than United Federation of Planets, but I think under such a writing, it would simply read as derivative, rather than set in the TrekVerse
I'm glad to have brought him to life so well, and that you liked it! He really was the one crucial thing missing from the bits and pieces of her origin story I'd had floating around in my mind: a single smart, likeable and down-to-earth protagonist who'd unravel the mystery and decide what to do should do with it. I'd vaguely considered writing her bio into a bigger story a few times, but without a character like Marcus leading the way, it'd just never have worked very well. This was actually the first Star Trek fanfic I've ever written: your bio of Marcus did a great job of explaining the heart of his character and what he's all about, so the biggest challenge was just writing technical stuff that's both faithful to the canon and really means something.
Mary Sues are a much-villified trope, but I think it all depends on what we're aiming for with them. If I were writing a serious story that's meant to be a living, breathing world all its own, then I'd be very careful about fleshing out a very complex, realistic character who doesn't overshadow the story she's in. But for a fun romp in an RP setting, why not make a character who has a little bit of wish-fulfillment? If everyone was too self-conscious to write characters who are handsome, brilliant, charismatic, quirky, immortal, superhuman and totally dominate the universe... well, we'd never have had Doctor Who.
And I know what you mean about feeling like a puppeteer: the bad thing about writing is that you can never be surprised by your own plot twists precisely because you're the one who wrote them all. Everything that happens to our characters happened because we thought it'd be interesting (or, when it comes to an MMO, because the game said so in a mission). The best we can do is let other people read the stories and see what they, as readers who don't already have the whole thing mapped out in their heads, think of it.
It's the genre mix of Conan-style fantasy in a deep-space setting that a lot of my friends have really praised, and it looks interesting from the trailers, screenshots and reviews I've read, especially since Pitch Black was such a straightforward sci-fi movie. The critics aren't fans, which originally put me off from watching it, but some movies just weren't made for critics.
I've always imagined the Borg homeworld's now an obscure, abandoned world buried in the unreachable depths of Borg space, but I could see it being exactly that way right before they left, a Borg empire that stretched across every inch of the planet and consumed it entirely before gradually giving way to the cubes and unicomplexes. And I definitely like the idea of the Borg's humanoid society having gradually become that way over many years, of having "evolved to include the synthetic" as the Queen said, rather than the quick, catastrophic events that the non-canon stories tend to suggest.
Okay, I admit it, I had to turn to Google to realize what LC means. But that sounds like a promising topic - you've helped me pick my next reading project!
Maybe it's just the Borg fan in me talking, but it's his connection to the Hansens that captured my imagination the most, even if it was a last-minute thing.
And agreed, I think his personality and themes are tied so well into the rest of Trek that there's no way to write him outside of it without having to recreate a lot of other stuff around him. Why not bring him back as a character here in STO? If you're worried about him being a little overpowered, you could say that some of his more superhuman traits were lost when he was revived, and his connection with the other canon characters would both be less relevant and a fun angle for him in the STO era: he could tell crazy stories every now and then about this or that character and leave the rest of his crew to wonder whether he's making it up to tease them or if really happened...
(Okay, my next post will get back to the logs! It might take a day or two, but they're coming...)
I think it's a fine line, and in fanfic, it's all too common to see a Mary Sue, even though I can understand why some writers go down that route, especially when RP actively encourages it to a certain extent. I think the ironic thing is that I was scared that as Marcus was a complex character, he came across as a Mary Sue, so decided to despatch him, yet seeing him being written by another writer, as a character, he was effective and plausible, not just a two Dimensional Super Hero ^_^
Chronicles of Riddick is defintely such a film... It is quite watchable (if cheesy) but I think it is the Necromongers which really stand out. I'm not sure if they were based on the Borg in any way, but they certainly do make a reasonable parallel to how Species 1 went from being Species 1, to being the Borg. Equally, I rather liked the episode of Voyager which featured the Vaadwaur, and how in their time, the Borg were considered little more than an annoying eccentricity
Personally, I think it would have had a little of both elements... I can see the planet being something of an industrialized nightmare, where the organic population lived with a fearful knowledge of the machine priests, but only as an abstraction which would rarely be encountered in day to day life, and then some kind of event occurring which would lead to the machine priests taking over, almost like a reverse of the Butlerian Jihad in the early Dune Universe when the society turned against any kind of 'thinking machines'. What that event would have been, I wouldn't like to say, but I think that would have been what would have begun the assimilation of Species 1, and Azera's parents putting her in the pod (somewhat like Jor-El launching the pod before Krypton is destroyed, knowing that he is doomed, but that there is still hope for his son) and Species 1 then expanding to what the Vaadwaur knew of.
If you haven't read it, I hope you will enjoy the Haunting of Deck 13, it reveals a side of Marcus which would have rarely showed. And as for the Literary Challenges, I think they're a fantastic way of being challenged as a writer, by having to take on stories which one might not normally choose, they make good 'homework' ^_^
I think my overall goal with Marcus, was, not so much to put myself into the TrekVerse with a Mary Sue, but to create a thread which linked several elements together in what I hoped, would be a subtle and plausible way. And I'm glad that the connection to the Hansens had that effect ^_^ My thoughts were that while he'd always grown up tinkering with projects and trained as an engineer, it was working with the Hansens which would have given Marcus a topic of focus, and even through everything else that happened to him in his life, that foundation with the Borg (before they were even known by name) would have always kept coming back and getting his attention ^_^ And yes, that was my thinking exactly of the relationship between Marcus and Seven: He would simply have seen the daughter of his mentor, and I suspect, have harbored a lot of anger towards Magnus for inflicting that life upon her through his own research... I think Marcus' thoughts on what happened to Annika would have been "That didn't have to happen..."
Absolutely so... In the Doctor Who manuscript I'm working on, while Marcus and the crew of the Endeavour feature as 'guest cast', they are modified enough to not be TrekVerse, however, that really only works as they are not being explored enough for all the subtleties of the characters (which are solely TrekVerse) to come under the microscope, so to speak. Equally, I suspect I am going to have to edit and re-write some sections, so they do not take over from the Doctor and Rose as the story's leads, merely provide springboards for them to act off of ^_^
I could do that, as there's always a way to revive an immortal. I had written him giving up his immortality as a way of 'Humanizing' him further, but I think Marcus is too much a person of the TNG/DS-9 era, and by keeping him in the STO era, is not only keeping him out of time, but blocked the chance to write other characters, so I think I made the right choice to have him killed. I do still want to explore events from his life as the opportunities arise, but I want them to be more flashbacks for the new characters, rather than his own experiences, if that makes any sense?
Looking forward to reading them :cool:
Stardate: 90744.71
I don't think I'm ever going to trust a strobing blue light again.
Our investigation of the Drozana Station led to a paranoid Section 31 operative, a crash course on Dabo and more lost Energy Credits than I'd like to admit, a battle of wits against a malfunctioning hologram and, most importantly, the Devidians' blue world hidden in the abandoned sublevels. We traced their incursion to a portal leading almost 200 years back in time and, with Starfleet's slightly hesitant approval, we crossed the threshold to pursue them onto a Drozana Station still in service as a Federation starbase.
If I recall my classes on the mid-23rd century correctly, we might have bumped into one or two rather famous historical figures along the way. The history books don't mention our presence, though, which means either I'm mistaken or our attempts to stay out of history's way worked better than I'd hoped. If they were who I think they were, I'll just say it probably serves them right for all the temporal misadventures they went on to have.
Lieutenants Onploz and Auslaz accompanied me through the portal. It was Luverala's first away mission: I suspected we'd need a very experienced engineer to work with the outdated technology, but he was more brilliant than I'd ever expected. He came up with this idea to use a warp-field paradox to override the computer's security lockdown and even managed to turn the station's shields into a kind of focusing lens for the portal, in an age when they didn't even have the technology yet to detect the Devidians. To be honest, I don't entirely understand everything he did, but it worked, and we got home safely after saving dozens of victims in the past.
Luverala and Auslaz made such a great team together, and they're both so shy, brilliant and modest about themselves: I really can't help but think they'd make a great couple. Not that I'd say anything about that, of course. The last thing we need on this ship is the acting captain trying to play matchmaker with her crew.
* * *
We finally had to bring the Salamanca itself into the past to destroy Driffins' Comet and stop the Devidians' plan to warp Donatu Sector into their realm. It's really a shame: the comet's was a natural wonder that deserved to be studied with respect, and the celebrations on Drozana Station were so uplifting. Sure it was mostly just a Ferengi scheme to sell more drinks, but it was nice to see people so excited for the kinds of astronomical spectacles we've mostly come to take for granted. Destroying it in the past felt like robbing the future of that small sense of wonder.
And though I hate to admit it, the alien realm is fascinating in an eerie sort of way. When our ship arrived we found the whole sector nearly pulled into their space. I don't know if the heavy black shapes looming against the stars were just nebula brought into sharper relief by the blue-shifted light or something in their realm that has no counterpart in our space, but it almost made me want to keep exploring, to find out what ghostly landscapes might lie over the horizon of that blue looking-glass realm. Does Earth look like Earth in Devidian space, or is there another world with its own mountains and oceans obeying some other physics?
Unfortunately Captain B'vat didn't quite share my sense of wonder. No matter the time period, we seem to be cursed to run into trouble with our favorite rogue Klingon ambassador. His younger, though no less belligerent, self hardly seemed to notice the transformation the sector had undergone as he attacked our ship, whose holographic D-7 disguise he mistook for a ship from the House of Duras. You know, between B'vat's confusion and our strikingly similar misunderstanding with the USS Reuben James, I have to wonder if Drake's holoprogram was meant to cause us trouble in the past. Maybe he didn't want us coming back, and was hoping we'd sacrifice ourselves to complete the mission.
Thankfully we never came anywhere close to such a choice.
* * *
The Salamanca's in drydock now, ostensibly so Temporal Investigations can go over the records and scan it for any residual effects. That, and any ship that's been tampered with by Section 31 could have any number of eavesdropping devices and remote override programs that need to be cleaned out. And on a much more personal note, Drake secretly installed Borg technology on my ship. Borg technology. He claimed it was necessary to get us back to the present, but we got to the past just fine without his help, and beside... well, let's just say he should count himself lucky if he ends up in the brig with a force field between us.
We've been assigned to a new ship, a modified Akira-class escort straight from Utopia Planetia. Since it's a newly commissioned vessel, I had the honor of giving her a name, and so we're aboard the Roanoke once more. It might seem silly since it's an entirely new ship, and I've no doubt the Salamanca will make a fine ship for her next crew once the investigation's complete, but being aboard the USS Roanoke feels like coming home again.
The Roanoke also comes with a newly commissioned runabout, which I've named the Shirakawa. I used to ride my bike to school each day along the Shirakawa River when I lived at the institute in Kyoto, and I loved the cherry blossoms and the restaurants along the riverside in the historic district. That bike was pretty much a rolling disaster: you had to lift the front wheel off the ground just to get it to turn right. But I'd never let the teachers or nurses replicate a new one, or even replace the parts. It was like an old friend, and fixing its quirks would have been as wrong as changing someone's personality to make them fit yours better.
Still, there's probably quite a few people who walked that route each morning who'd have frantically disagreed. I wonder if that bike's still in storage? I couldn't take it with me to the academy, for which I'm sure the pedestrians of San Francisco are grateful, but I hope it still has a home somewhere at the institute.
* * *
We're having a celebration tonight for Luverala and Corspa, who have been promoted to Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander after our success against the Devidians. Crewman Whelir's requested another performance of his band "The Beasts of Tanagra" and I've reluctantly agreed to let them play a few songs before the end of the night. When they performed last month sickbay apparently ended up flooded with requests for sedatives, but what they may lack in talent they make up for in... well, enthusiasm.
I don't plan on mentioning it to the crew until tomorrow, since this is their night and they think of me as "captain" anyway, but I've also been promoted by Admiral Quinn to the rank of Commander. If things keep going at this rate, I may have to start learning to drop the "acting" part from my rank when I introduce myself.
Azera Xi definitely has quite the admiration of the wonders of space. Heck, even this log's title suggests such wonderment. That's something that doesn't always seem to be present in Starfleet officers, who take things as either a matter of course, or dangerous. And I loved how, even though the Devidians had threatened her, she still managed to see aspects of their realm that were beautiful and contemplate what Earth might be like in their frame of reference. That is a REALLY endearing trait in her, and one that makes me want to read more of her stories.
(I also got a kick out of how you incorporated your DOFF assignments into the logs, too!)
I almost find myself wondering what she would think of meeting a real, live Devidian serving in Starfleet.
Finally...I keep meaning to ask you, have you ever heard Symphony X's album Iconoclast? It features a story, or at least themes, very similar to what you seem to have envisioned for Species One.
And honestly, I wonder if Azera Xi would have flashbacks if she heard it. The "machine takeover" story is framed in very strong quasi-religious terms, very much the way it appears in your story.
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That I do.
Reading Aloysha's stories, Azera Xi actually has a lot in common with him: they both awoke from stasis with an unknown origin and enrolled in the academy, until Starfleet eventually realized their connection to a very dangerous enemy that needed to be kept secret. While his nature forces him to confront that origin head-on, she's still trying hard not to think about her past or what all the clues surrounding her suggest.
Thanks! I'd imagine it's easy for Starfleet captains to start taking space for granted: they see stars, nebula and alien planets every week, usually as just the background for a battle or cover for the enemy. She's a natural scientist, though, and loves the very idea of seeing something for the first time, with the universe itself in the foreground. She also has something of a Dorothy in Oz perspective: she doesn't remember her past but her personality comes from who she was then, so she has a vague feeling of being surrounded by wonder, like a time traveler or an explorer on the far side of the universe. The downside is that the feeling of being slightly outside everything means she's also homesick for a place she doesn't remember anything about.
Oh, the blue realm really is intriguing, and the Devidians are so mysterious, and part of a whole different reality with its own laws and ecology, that she doesn't really see them as purposefully evil: they're more like tigers or sharks to her, predatory beings living in their own environment that can be fascinating and beautiful, so long as you keep your distance. If she were to see Aloysha's true form, she'd probably be panicked for just for a moment or so before her curiosity takes over and she starts doing things like waving her hand through his body and asking questions about how he perceives linear time, a bit like Medtech Anene.
Oh, I love the DOFF assignments in the game - they really do feel like the B stories in Trek episodes! My very first failed assignment was the band that tried to perform in the mess hall, and that was just so absolutely perfect for Azera Xi's character and crew. I could just see her sitting there with a pained expression, listening to them wailing on the instruments and trying so hard to look diplomatically patient...
Her telepathy's very untrained and mild, but there might be enough to make her sense him indirectly: a vague feeling of wrongness and dread, the color blue keeps drifting into her thoughts, something seeming troublingly familiar about him that she can't place. I don't think she'd sense his exact nature or true form, but it might become strong enough that she'd actually whip out a phaser with a wide-eyed "who are you really," certain that there's something wrong here. That might actually make a fun story, along with the similarities she discovers once she lowers the weapon and they start talking about themselves.
I think the best way to handle things like that is vagueness: they were both separately involved in the Donatu Sector incident, they both played a pivotal role in stopping the Devidians and they both dealt with Drake, with the details left up in the air. Though the idea of everything happening in one continuity, so the poor USS Khitomer just keeps getting into trouble with the Borg over and over again, and giving up every last one of its ensigns to the horde of rescuing ships that comes along, does have its appeal...
Not yet, but I'm intrigued... it's downloaded and ready for listening. :cool:
Yeah, I can definitely see that, though I suspect there are some differences in their personalities (though not the kind that I think would get them at each other's throats). I think Alyosha is more cautious, and quieter. Part of this owes to how he has been treated at certain times in his life, because unlike Azera Xi, he knows how toxic his secret could be (and has been) with certain people. :-/
You definitely got that across well.
That's interesting, that there may still be some residual effect of her old personality and knowledge in there, even if she can't access it.
That's interesting...though I imagine I would've only drawn that kind of comparison in the case of non-sentient beings.
Ironically (given that he is much closer to the matter), Alyosha judges the other Devidians quite a bit more harshly. As Earth-raised, I think he would be quick to compare them to the absolute worst humanity has had to offer--the most twisted societies that became the most callous and inhumane towards others. Total depravity. His opinion has only worsened since his two direct encounters with them, and the contemptuous exchanges that passed between him and the Devidian leaders.
Waving her hand through his body (if they were not in phase)? I'm imagining him in his natural form, speaking in English in his "human" voice (which of course has to be really weird in and of itself) and saying, "Could you please stop now? That's really creepy." (I love the irony of that thought.
His is more "trained," though the way it works is that he must deliberately turn it on, if that makes sense. He does not receive passive indications from people of their emotions; he must make the effort to focus on them and become receptive, or in the case of another telepath, to speak to them. (He might have a "passive" telepathic sense with other Devidians--but with humanoids, it only occurs with conscious intention.) It's not that strong with humanoids under normal circumstances.
His telekinesis, on the other hand, is significantly more powerful than what Azera Xi described (he can do what you've seen the Devidians do in the game).
Interesting. If she caught any sensory impressions from him I imagine they could be very disturbing, unintentionally, since certain senses of his are fundamentally different from those of a humanoid.
That would definitely scare Alyosha. It could take a little work to get him comfortable again after that.
That could work.
Let me know what you think!
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Of course, that may be psychological, a result of the rest of the universe being out of phase with them, and thus not feeling "real" to them - but that doesn't really explain Aloysha. I'm beginning to think he was abandoned in San Francisco because he was a "freak", a mutated child with a different sort of consciousness, and just didn't "feel" right to the others. Empathy isn't exactly the classic Devidian strong suit, after all...
See...I'm not so sure about that, given some of the awful things good ol' human nature has proven itself capable of, throughout history--up to and including passing laws deeming certain ethnic groups to be non-persons, and then carrying out campaigns of atrocities based on said determination. I won't post links or anything, but if you read literature from such regimes, or from really racist individuals, it is absolutely shocking what humans have put into writing and into effect.
You also have some pretty chilling things like the Bystander Effect, and the results of the Milgram and Stanford Prison Experiments, when it comes to human psychology. Put simply...I think that humanity itself is actually capable of hitting and sustaining such a level of depravity under the "right" circumstances. We might go to more lengths to disguise it from ourselves--at first--but I never underestimate just how messed-up human nature can really get.
That's why I decided to take the approach I did, though others can certainly take their own approaches in their works.
Alyosha wasn't yet "hatched" when he (and the other young) were abandoned; it was simply because the two we see in "Time's Arrow" were killed and couldn't return to the creche. But since he was raised by humans, and never "desensitized" to humanoid thoughts and emotions, he accepted them without question as people and equals. He's never known anything else.
You can bet, though, that to a native-raised Devidian he feels ten kinds of wrong. It's to the point where someone aptly described it as his falling into the uncanny valley from their perspective. That's part of what drove them into such a fury when they encountered him in Drozana Station. Even in his natural form, his body language reads wrong...there are clear, human aspects to it. And when he tried to fire back against their telepathic attacks with a memory of his own, it came across to them as messed-up and contemptible.
(What's weird is when I played the episodes again with that toon--without doing anything differently, or having any points in threat control, I aggroed way more Devidian mobs, and far more quickly, than with any other toon I played that series with! I would get jumped by a mob just because I happened to be walking by, before I would even mess with a console or have a combat objective in the mission. It was like they REALLY had it in for him! :eek: )
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Oh, they definitely have very different personalities. He seems much more mature and serious, a more introspective character who weighs and considers each situation carefully. She's less mature at this point, and a bit unsure of herself as a result, and a little more naively trusting of people. She's also been able to more or less seamlessly blend into Federation culture, so she hasn't had to deal with xenophobia the way Alyosha has: her idealism comes a bit from being sheltered, but it does have a genuine core. I think they'd get along well, just in an aloof big brother/cheerful little sister sort of way.
Exactly. An important aspect of Azera Xi's personality is that her memories haven't been erased: it's more like she has a blind spot over them. But everything she's experienced still shapes who she is. She still feels everything from before, just without knowing (or really wanting to know) why, and that plays into much of her thinking and dialogue. Like in "In Memoriam" when she says that the Borg "are everything we were afraid of as children, they're the bogeyman except they're real," what she's really talking about is her own childhood, growing up during the war.
That state of mind won't last forever, though. She's hiding from a past that's quickly catching up with her, and it's going to culminate in an upcoming story about her learning the truth and how it affects her.
I think you just hit the nail on the head with her thoughts about the Devidians, and jonsills summed it up perfectly with "sentient but not sapient." She's not entirely sure how they think or feel yet and, since she hasn't seen any ships or technology, or had very much communication with them, she's imagining that they're like the Horta or the Crystalline Entity: sentient, but so far removed from humanoid life that our morality doesn't necessarily apply to them.
Alyosha, having an inside perspective on the Devidians, could clear that up for her, revealing that they do have free will, understand the damage they cause and are capable of changing their ways, it's just that most of them don't care. That wouldn't even hurt her sense of wonder about them so much as raise her hopes that maybe actual peace can be achieved someday. A school of jellyfish may be beautiful but it can't sign treaties, while even Ghengis Khan might back down if his enemies don't give him any other options.
That's exactly how I'm imagining it too.
"Oh, sorry! It's just really, well, neat..."
Azera's psionic powers can, with more effort than she'd usually give it, work that way: she can concentrate and speak to someone telepathically (as she did to talk to Luverala when they met), but it mostly never crosses her mind at all and she's not good enough to read people's minds for information, tell if they're lying or so on. It works passively for her much like the game trait mechanic in that she can sense someone who's hiding or know something's wrong.
Her telekinesis can get stronger with her emotions: it's hardly better than using her hands while she's calm, but as a terrified child in "In Memoriam" she was smashing consoles and tearing the ship's sickbay apart. Still, she'll never do anything stronger than that and her TK's not intended as a problem-solver on its own. It's partly there just because I like psychic powers and liked Kes, and also because it's a great way to express her feelings. Young Azera Xi throwing med-kits around by hand wouldn't convey her panic and fury nearly as vividly as her unleashing a telekinetic cyclone.
That actually makes a good explanation of why blue keeps coming to her mind: it's the only thing her conscious mind can actually make sense of from his impressions.
Alas, she's kinda impulsive like that, and very twitchy about negative telepathic impressions thanks to her experiences with the Borg's "song." Still, she'd have enough restraint to wait until they're alone to suddenly start a barrage of suspicious questions, and the moment she learns the truth, the psychic "pressure" of everything being off would dissipate: her "what are you hiding" attitude would very quickly change into "so you're a Devidian in Starfleet - that's amazing!" I'd imagine that happening at the start of a joint mission, and a rapport emerges during the assignment itself (which allows plenty of time for her "so what's it like when you do this and that" questions, and realizing that she can relate to his situation in some ways).
It's really good! The vocals kinda remind me of Queensryche, though with a much faster and more orchestral sound. I especially like Electric Messiah, Children of a Faceless God, Iconoclast and, because I'm a sucker for pianos, When All is Lost. And you're right, it'd fit nicely with some of what I'd imagined. :cool:
There actually is a story half-written detailing a little bit of that era (it was almost the first thing I started writing, just to better understand her background), and I know in my mind how it happened, but I don't want to mess too much with the canon or contradict anyone else's ideas about the Borg. If her story feels incomplete without it, I might post it as a kind of apocryphal chapter in her story.
A non-canon story for a non-canon character in a non-canon game based on a timeline that's diverged from the current movies... it'll be so far from canon it'll wrap around and become its own series!
I could certainly see that dynamic. I think he'd find her bubbliness endearing.
(Incidentally, his strongest feelings of love, he always frames as being like siblinghood, since he cannot feel physical attraction to humanoids. He does love--it's just platonic. He's too alien for that, even beyond, say, a Cardassian, where it has been established that they are still similar enough for a physical relationship to develop.)
Now that line makes more sense. For a moment I had wondered if she was having a flashback of sorts, or if it was tales of the Borg from her growing up on Earth.
It's extreme desensitization in my stories. Think of the way the citizens of the Capital acted in the Hunger Games trilogy--how inured they were to the fact that they were casually torturing children and betting on their lives. Or what has gone on during periods of genocide on Earth. Imagine adding into that mix a society where there is no taboo on the consumption of sentients, and you've got a really horrible society on your hands.
Genghis Khan isn't a bad comparison, though I suspect Alyosha himself would throw out a far more incendiary name or two, to compare with.
If they got to discussing very personal matters (i.e. Alyosha's secret), he might react more positively than Luverala to using telepathy. He'll feel better knowing he's not going to be overheard.
But he can only pick up any impressions from a person if he deliberately tries. Unless her body language or voice tips him off beforehand, or a spike in neural energy suggests she's getting agitated, he will be completely blindsided when she turns on him. He won't pick up any empathic cues at all without intentional effort.
Yep...that could be true. Hearing would actually be the most "relatable" sense that he has, though. And my goodness, he does love music...even to the point where he wonders if there is something innate to him as a Devidian that makes him SO passionate about it (the vocal structure to me suggests a "sung," cetacean-like language).
It's good things would quickly become more positive. I think that if negativity stayed too long, he'd seem much moe cautious and closed off.
I could imagine Alyosha accidentally giving her this album as part of a collection. One of the things he often wants to do when he starts to get along well with a new person is to trade music. It would be done totally innocently, though...I figure he'd pick out a big collection of albums and genres and eras.
Gald you liked it!
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That makes sense, and it's even a little similar to her attitude on romance (saying no more, it'd mean spoilers
When someone makes a broad statement about people or life, they're generally using themselves as a frame of reference even if they're not aware of it. A line from Futurama's one of my favorites for making exactly point...
Azera's doing the same thing in that line: "they're like the bogeyman," she says as though referencing stories on Earth (which she is, to some extent - it's been two generations since Wolf-359, so there's plenty of time for children to be born and raised hearing about the Borg), but what she really means is that they're her bogeymen, and everything she's been afraid of ever since waking up.
True, and it'd be interesting if part of that also comes from how alien we seem to them, and how we inhabit a realm set apart from their own. Feeding on humanoids may seem a lot like fishing to them, dipping into an uninhabitable region to snare the creatures dwelling within for food, and hold just as much moral significance to them as it does to most of us.
I'd certainly be interested in reading this story, if you're ever inspired to write it! I might give it a try it too, though there's a few stories to be writtten beforehand (and a big, big one's coming up soon - she's at level 23 now, and at level 30 she's going to learn the truth), but I'd trust your interpretation of her character if you find the free time and inspiration to tackle it someday.
That'd lend itself to a neat psychic impression too: that with the flashes of blue comes a slight echoing effect (his perception of their conversation overlapping hers), almost giving a sense of being underwater to her.
Oh, she's nothing if not an idealist, and very trusting of people and authority: it wouldn't take much to win her over. Even Drake would have had a much easier time manipulating her had he simply claimed to represent Starfleet Intelligence instead of almost instantly going into his "I'm with Section 31, you may not trust us, but we're what the galaxy needs so get used to it!" spiel (for a secret organization, they're surprisingly honest about their intentions!).
I'd imagine she'd get drawn into it, puzzled and increasingly haunted by a sense of deja vu and vague images and thoughts that she should know about this, that it's reminding her of something... and she'd be left at the end shaken, confused but respectful of how much it affected her. At the time, she'd give a nervous "that was really interesting, but one listen is enough for me," but it'd later become a part of her music collection once she's fully aware of her origin and has become comfortable with it.
Stardate 90811.23
We've just returned from the Imaga System and our battle against the Planet Killer. It's been some time since I've had a chance to make a log entry, so this one may be a little rambling.
It all began with a report from Admiral Quinn on the rogue Klingon raids on medical ships, apparently another one of Ambassador B'vat's schemes. Our investigation uncovered a series of grim medical experiments intended to splice both Klingon and Gorn DNA with that of the 20th century Augments, creating hybrid monsters that seemed more like rabid animals than sentient beings. That anyone could call that an improvement is... well, it's madness.
Apparently this isn't the first time it's happened either: Chirurgeon P'Trell mentioned a similar experiment hundreds of years ago that turned into a plague and created a whole generation of Klingons that could almost be called half-human. We never covered that in Klingon history at the academy; I guess it's something they don't like to talk about, though it does explain some of the pictures from the first Klingon War. Does every planet have to repeat the same mistake for itself just to learn the same lesson? Can't they see how badly it went for Earth and just leave well enough alone?
But it's hard blame the Klingons too much since a human orchestrated the whole thing: Amar Singh, some distant relative of the infamous tyrant Khan Noonian Singh. He seemed to nearly worship Khan as a god, though between his almost mindless creations and a raving lunacy that makes Doctor Frankenstein sound reasonable, I don't think his ancestor would have been impressed. We apprehended him without any trouble and he should be settling into a detention facility cell as we speak.
* * *
Still, as childish and petty as his megalomania seemed, it was men like him who created the Augments, men who were simply better at hiding their madness and convincing themselves of their goodness. Their success had more to do with luck than skill: they were fumbling in the dark with selective breeding, hormone treatments and in vitro chemicals, with hardly any clue about the genome itself. For each Augment they created, hundreds of embryos died, or were born with horrible defects. They didn't care. The failures were just natural selection to them, the price of perfection.
But it worked, better and more terribly than those scientists dreamed, and for a time there were two species of humans, masters and slaves engulfed in a war that nearly tore the world apart, that set the stage for the war that actually did tear it apart just a few decades later. I can't help but wonder what things would be like today if none of that had ever happened. Would first contact and a united Earth have come that much sooner, or were those wars something humanity had to endure, to learn the lessons that allowed it to become the Federation we live in now?
* * *
We continued our pursuit of Ambassador B'vat, who, even if he didn't dream of genetic conquest himself, certainly gave Amar Singh all the support he needed for it. The chase led us to an unlikely ally, a Klingon named K'Valk who claimed that B'vat's plans were without honor, that defecting to the Federation was the only way to save the Klingon Empire from the ambassador's treachery.
He believe it too, and sacrificed himself without a second thought to save countless lives, both Federation and Klingon. We may be at war with the Klingons right now, but I've sent a request through the Diplomatic Corps that his sacrifice be honored by High Council. That seems unlikely for now, but maybe someday, when B'vat's been dealt with and peace has been restored, they'll agree.
We also worked closely with Lieutenant VanZyl, Commander Burgess's aide, and I've recommended a commendation for her work in stopping the Doomsday Machine's rampage. To be honest, she looked so much like Auslaz at first glance that I wondered if they might be related, but the hair and Trill spots are where their similarities end. She proved so confident and self-assured that I had to remind myself that being shy isn't so much a Trill trait as it is an Auslaz trait. I think our science officer was a little relieved when her more gregarious counterpart left for Earth, though we wouldn't trade her for the most outgoing Trill in the quadrant.
* * *
We learned that B'vat had found a second Doomsday Machine in the T'Ong Nebula, apparently guided there by information about the future a Klingon cabal received during the Temporal Cold War. Is "during" even the right word for something like that? Anyway, the mission to stop it gave us a crash course in all things Klingon, and I have to admit, being a Klingon isn't without its appeal.
K'Valk lent us a set of holoemitters to disguise ourselves as Klingon warriors, and it turns out my kendo lessons really paid off with the Nausicaan sword he gave me as part of the disguise. I think I pull off the leather armor look pretty well, though maybe not the teeth and forehead ridges so much. Dr Umliz had it far worse: apparently K'Valk only had one emitter for a male Klingon, so Kwam ended up as the extra female warrior. He handled the situation with, well, the boundless patience you'd expect of a former Vedek.
Imaga itself was beautiful, a rose-pink sky with giant mushrooms overhead like the Caterpillar's garden in Alice in Wonderland. Maybe the fact that the Klingons chose such a planet says something about their own sense of beauty and poetry. Okay, maybe it's more likely they just picked a strategic location, but they didn't cut or burn down the mushroom forest around their bases.
I wonder what my life would have been like if my stasis pod had been found by a Klingon ship rather than the Columbia? I probably would have been stuck working in a factory or a mine - the empire doesn't seem to have much respect for its subject species. Still, I bet I could have made a great Klingon warrior. Qapla'!
* * *
A Federation fleet managed to hold back B'vat's forces while we attacked the Doomsday Machine, using the same strategy that K'Valk attempted with a shuttle and that had disabled the weapon encountered so long ago in System L-374. We didn't have a Constellation-class warp core handy to throw into its maw, but the Hargh'Peng torpedoes on K'Valk's ship managed to destroy its engines with just a few shots. It's a shame that the only way to subdue these ancient machines is to completely destroy the technology within their neutronium shells: we could learn so much from studying them. I wonder who built them, and why?
We're on our way to rendezvous with the USS Kirk and hopefully follow a new lead on B'vat's plans. If he really does know the future, maybe fighting him is like trying to challenge fate. On the bright side, we've been giving fate a run for its money so far...