STO Phoenix Compendium

Author's notes: This was written as part of the STO forums role play thread Earth Spacedock in June 2016.​

Earth Spacedock, Pages 22-23
Civilian Transport Elysium

Lydia made the decision to remain at the rear of the transport, away from Elihu, who was at the front with the brass.

On all of the monitors on the transport, a Federation reporter's face appeared and spoke: “According to Starfleet Intelligence, despite the apparent death of The Infamous, the Bajorans have elected Colonel Ro Laren as their leader, and Bajor has been accepted into The Infamous' Empire, with intentions to subjugate the Cardassians.”

Various Klingon, Orion, and Gorn vessels suddenly decloaked around the Elysium and opened fire, but their shots connected with the shielded, cloaked hulls of a dozen ships, of various species' designs belonging to The Infamous and his loyalists. The Infamous fleet decloaked as their ablative armor grew around them.

Above the attacking ships decloaked the Rahab. A single black torpedo was launched from the massive dreadnought then split into sixteen slightly smaller torpedoes, and found their targets. The Klingon/Orion/Gorn task force was sucked into a bunch of mini-black holes, which were left in their wake as they continued unabated at warp toward the Caldos colony.

As far as the sensors were concerned, something appeared and then disappeared a second later, but they could not detect what it was exactly. The Rahab and the fleet of protecting vessels cloaked again, and nobody on the Elysium ever found out what had happened...except for Elihu, who could sense something, but was not sure what.

Little did they know, more Klingons, Gorn, and Orion would be waiting for them at Caldos III.

Krystal moved up to check on Elihu. "I have made peace with Admiral Nat, and all of his people," Elihu said. "At least... I have forgiven them in my mind, as well as my heart."

"Eli... need to talk. It's about him... and an offer he made. He asked me to be his successor," she whispered. "And after hearing some of the news... I think I might have to take it just to keep things from falling apart."

Elsewhere on the transport, Seifer sat back in his seat as he studied the PADD before him. Sitting with the group, he could sense a hint of uneasiness in the air, but wasn't sure if that was just his imagination. With much of Elihu's people around, he could question them about the murder, even though they had previously witnessed D'Ren attack several Starfleet officers, escape prison, and Steve Jedden attacking and being possessed, the murder was still of the highest priority.

"You think you're going to figure it out?" asked a security officer who was sitting next to him.

Seifer jumped in his seat in shock. "Whoa! Where did you come from?"

"I was here the whole time. Lieutenant Aramaki. I was the guy who Aeris told to go for a jog around ESD a bunch of times."

The Captain shook his head. "I don't recall. Anyway, it's my duty to pursue this, because who wants to deal with a diminishing Earth Spacedock situation and a dangerous Captain Terry? Seems irrelevant, now that I'm several lightyears away, if you ask me."

"You were right to forget about those things. But, isn't questioning Elihu's people, one by one, going to make a long trip even longer? Your active time is so infrequent, not to mention we're just going to a funeral. We have to get there at some point?"

Seifer waved him off. "What? There's no time for logistics, man! A person's life is on the line here, whom quite possibly cares whether I succeed or not. Maybe. I'm sure my efforts are totally worth it."

He collected himself and then approached Lydia.

"Hi. Captain Seifer from Spacedock. I'm looking into the murder of Alyce Rose Kassidy, a Federation citizen, who was also an Infamous slave. My questions are, where were you during the murder, and can any of Elihu's past crew mind meld?"

---

Captain Menchez - I.K.S. B'Cnah, Bridge

The Vorcha-class vessel sped through space at warp, cloaked and unnoticed. Captain Menchez had been sitting at his chair for far too long and was growing wearisome of their pursuit.

"Status of the distortion?" he asked his crew.

Kvok replied, "We can still see it. But it appears we've entered Federation space!"

"Ugh. I swore I'd never go back here. Did you know Starfleet officers sleep on cushioned beds? I mean, what is up with that? Am I right?"

Kvok nodded. "And they're always trying to 'help others'. What does that even mean? Like, make sense or something for once."

"Exactly! Well, anyway. It is our duty to put a stop to whatever this thing is. Heghto, how are the calculations coming along?"

The Klingon science officer perked from his console. "I believe a modulated, low-bandwidth tachyon emission may eradicate what we've been able to learn of that distortion."

"Captain!" Kvok interrupted. "It's disappeared from sensors!"

Menchez sat up. "Take us back to the point we lost it. Drop warp in that area."

After some work, the B'Cnah dropped warp at Earth Spacedock. Scanning the base, the crew found that there were barely anyone aboard it.

"What is going on?" Menchez questioned. "Is there no one in command over there?"

Kvok checked his console. "No replies to hails, Captain."

"Heghto, join me and several warriors in Transporter Room 2, where we will beam aboard the Earth mushroom. If that distortion is there, we can attempt the tachyon emission." He looked to the other officer who nodded in compliance. In seconds, they left the Bridge to continue their hunt.

---

Civilian Transport Elysium

Lydia M'Konel, who was sitting at the back of the transport, glared angrily at Seifer. "I was being held prisoner on The Infamous Dreadnought Zipporah.... Sir! The only Phili crew member who can do a Vulcan mind meld is Lareth. If you think he murdered the woman to protect Elihu, you're incredibly dim. He was on my side during the... 'mutiny' on the Phili, and let Eli go rather than attempt to detain him and cause an even bigger uproar. And for the record..." Lydia leaned forward, curling her twitching lip. "Eli cannot do a Vulcan mind-meld. So we know it was not him anyway."

Seifer took down the information Lydia was offering, neglecting her seething, negative emotionalism and unstable lip-tick for alternative matters. He glanced at a nearby flight-status screen and saw that the transport was nearing Caldos III.

"Thank you, Lydia. I don't suspect Elihu, but I think the higher-ups in Starfleet have it out for him. The odds of me actually catching who did it are slim, but I believe the information I collect here, for my report, will, in fact, help him when he goes to court with his lawyer."

He was about to move on to Krystal Jade, but found her and Elihu speaking until they passed out. Since time was becoming short, another question came to his mind.

"We found a microscopic, partially organic nanite in Alyce's blood stream. Is there anyone, or group, you know who would have access to, or developed, that kind of technology?"

"Yes, of course," Lydia answered Seifer, as she indicated her forehead. If scanned, Lydia would appear to have the same nanite in her. "The Infamous runs things behind the scenes. He was the man in the cell who escaped earlier. He tags whomever he wants, and there's nothing anyone can do about it."

---

Captain Menchez - Earth Spacedock, Main Concourse

The Klingon commanding officer, and his away team of several warriors, walked through the main area that was mostly empty, except for a few busy Starfleet engineers. He found that the lighting was in a state of fast flickering. It soon went off, and he heard a nearby man curse in the distance.

"This is impossible!" Batou said to his own men. "If only Suvel and Seifer had gotten to those generators in time, they wouldn't be in temporary state of repair. The prolonged dampening fields have ruined the mag coils and now resonance-EM mode won't stick. Uggh."

As the Starfleet officers trotted off in the dark, Menchez received a communication from the B'Cnah. "Captain," came KVok's voice. "We finally got a hail, but it's from the U.S.S. Al-Batani."

"Replay and connect me," Menchez tapped the controls on his forearm bangle.

A voice came through. "This is Commander Collins of the Al-Batani. Before she left, Admiral Chekov gave orders to not allow any ships near here. I believe a Klingon war cruiser counts as a 'ship', even by your own standards. Please identify, and yes, we can see you."

"You can detect Klingon cloaks now? It amazes me how over-powered you people are on a consistent basis. Your transparent attempts to antagonize me aside, I am not here as a threat. We're tracking an unusual energy distortion that was responsible for the destruction of I.K.S. Meghta, in the Qo'noS Sector. I am already aboard your abandoned Earth base-monstrosity of soft cushions, tracking it. I will have the B'Cnah forward you our data, but it is my duty to stop whatever this thing is."

Collins sighed over the air. "Very well. Feel free to use any of our security personnel."

He cut off the transmission at the sound of distorted space, near them. His men pulled up their disruptors and Heghto prepared his tachyon emitter. Ukoth, the first in command, altered his disruptor settings as soon as the distortion became visible.

"We found it!" Menchez said in both shock and amazement. "Heghto, prepare the device and nullify that thing."

Instead, Ukoth aimed his rifle and fired into the distortion. The distortion began to grow into a portal. "Sorry, Menchez, but the people I work for would rather see Earth crumble."

"Traitor!? You used the B'Cnah to get to Earth! And after we shared that giant bowl of gagh together??" He pulled up his rifle at Ukoth, but Iconian Herald Constructs and Thralls began stepping out and opening fire at the Klingons.

Menchez and his team turned their attention to the Heralds and began exchanging fire. Ukoth smirked, amused, and he and two more Klingon officers broke off from the group and into the darkness.

The two dozen or so Starfleet security officers who remained on ESD attempted to assist the Klingons in their defense against the Heralds. A few more security guards beamed onto ESD from the Al-Batani and other nearby starships.

---

Civilian Transport Elysium

Elihu, who was adept at keeping an emotional connection while also being awake, looked around and glared at Seifer as he questioned Lydia.

---

Captain Menchez - Earth Spacedock, Main Concourse

Menchez was hit in the shoulder by a Thrall anti proton beam. He was sent to the ground, but used his lowered angle to blast the unsuspecting creature in the head with a disrupter pulse. The remaining Heralds were taken down by the combination Starfleet officer and Klingon group. When the portal was destroyed, Menchez was helped to his feet.

"You looked like you could use some assistance," remarked Commander Barnes, a Benzite officer from the shipyard.

The Klingon nodded and tapped his wrist communicator. "Menchez to Al-Batani. It would appear we have boarded your base against your regulations. For that, and for what we have brought, I apologize. Now, Ukoth and two of his men have betrayed my crew and escaped onto Spacedock for reasons we do not know. Allow my away team and I to reclaim our honor and track him down. We will make him pay for what he has done."

---

Captain Aeris - Unknown Undine biobase

Aeris and Winry slid down a slimy path to the floor of the enormous chamber. They walked passed the giant energy-fused organic, alien structures to the cell wall which separated them from the large crowd of Starfleet officers by a powerful, horrifying scented transparent membrane.

"Captain??" came the voice of Reeve. He walked over to where Aeris approached. "How'd you get here?"

The woman replied, "Brought here by Kohogeth, like the rest of you."

"He's been taking men, one by one, and injecting them with different kinds of serum. He appears to be of the mad scientist-type."

Aeris shook her head and approached an organic device, sticking out of the cell membrane. "No kidding. He never had this kind of power before; the power to pull people from our dimension. And this base was certainly not this big."

"No, but I was able to tap into your precious anti-Undine devices," came the ominous voice of the mutant psi-master Undine himself. Kohogeth had re-entered the massive lab without any of them noticing. "When I thought I had lost your signal, people from all over your home base began transporting over. I then decided to use them for my experiments as a consolation prize."

Captain Aeris found her wrist was suddenly strapped into the very same console she was trying to hack, by strange Undine vines. "You bastard! I thought you were done with all this? And you modified your physiology so you could speak?"

"After you escaped, I pledged to do everything in my power to find you again. I resumed my work in genetic creation, here, on Vokughvegh Base, and grew several devices to access and modify cross-dimensional wavelengths."

She gritted her teeth. "Kohogeth, you were a monster. You stole the Zephyra and the Kitana from our space for your own devices. After I got away from you, I was hunted down by the Tal Shiar."

"Ah, the Kitana," the Undine recalled. "Terry was the only experiment I was really successful at. But I am so close to replicating it now, and now that we are together again, I am certain we will succeed!"

The sound of a bio-molecular phaser rifle loading up, caught Kohogeth and Aeris' attention off guard. "How about you get together with this?" Winry aimed her weapon at close-range to the enemy, but was suddenly attacked by a slimy, energy-laced, slithering tentacle worm-creature. Two more slithering worm-creatures joined and took her down.

"Do you like them? They're called the Sleri. I've had them from the very beginning and now there are thousands of them."

Aeris pleaded with the misshapen Undine. "Kohogeth, stop this. You know I'll never willingly join you, but... But if you return everyone back to Spacedock, I'll stay."

"Captain, no!" Reeve called out. "He's a monstrosity! Not the join-type! Plus, he thinks algae is good human food??"

Kohogeth breathed through his makeshift mouth, ignoring the ungrateful prisoner. A green steam permeated from his unnatural orifice and it creaked to the side in a sort of smirk. After some thought, he answered Aeris, "Very well."

---

Captain Oroku Seifer - Civilian Transport Elysium

As Seifer walked down the aisle of seats, he could have sworn Elihu was glaring at him in an odd way. He wondered if it was something the hybrid ate during the trip. Despite the food, Seifer had enough information to pass on that it would help Elihu in court. Entering the Bridge, Seifer met up with the three operators of the vessel. The Elysium dropped warp at Caldos III.

"How's it looking, team?" Seifer asked. But the visual on the view screen displayed the exact answer to that question.

Lieutenant Edward at helm swallowed her saliva nervously. "Uh, not good, Captain."

Several unmarked, unaffiliated alien starships comprised of two Klingon battle cruisers, a Gorn Tuatara, and an Orion Brigand approached the Elysium and locked tractor beams.

 

Okay - totally a fan of the Valley Klingons...

Thanks!! rbs

 

lolol Me too. I figure he spent some time in L.A. ordering Chai Lattes.

 

Author's notes: This was written as part of the STO forums role play thread Earth Spacedock in July 2016.​

Earth Spacedock, Pages 23-24
D'ren – T.I.S. Ra'Quella, Caldos III

Ra'Quella's face appeared on a monitor by the captain's chair. “They're locking onto the Elysium with tractor beams!”

As D'ren stood up to examine the data on the main view screen, he replied, “Signal the Valdore to move to intercept the Klingons.”

As the Romulan warbird approached, the two Klingon Vor'chas moved away from the harmless transport and turned their attention on Donatra's ship.

---

Captain Oroku Seifer - Civilian Transport Elysium

Seifer attempted to go through a holo screen of ship's systems. The intensity of the situation hounded him. "What kind of weaponry does this thing have?"

"Nothing, sir," replied Edward. "It's a transport vessel."

Suddenly, they received a hail which was directed to the screen. A bald and green Orion appeared. "This is the Pirate ship Volocron. After hours of droning high warp, we have laid claim to your pathetic ship and all its contents therein."

"It's not supposed to be a comparable vessel!" Seifer countered, defensively. "And this is Federation space. You have no claims here!"

The Orion was too busy addressing his ship's controls and slave girl orders to indulge properly. "Our systems say otherwise! The Syndicate will have your ship, one way or the other. Prepare to be boarded."

As his screen clicked off, several Gorn soldiers beamed onto the ship, beginning to harass and attempt to control its passengers. Seifer attempted to kick one, who had appeared on the Bridge, but his leg was caught with one scaly hand. The Captain then pulled out a phaser and shot the large, reptilian alien down.

---

Captain Menchez - Earth Spacedock, Corridors

As the Klingon group sifted through the darkened decks, they aimed and readied themselves for any type of enemy they may come across.

"Sir, should we not have waited for word and orders of Starfleet assistance from the humans before we spread ourselves throughout this giant Earth stick?" Heghto asked.

Menchez rolled his eyes. "Well, of course not! We have honor we must reclaim, and mine is wearing thin. At this point, if I don't get something soon, I will have to evoke the hegh'bat on myself and anyone near me. Besides, those prissy, Starfleet perfect-hairs were taking too long to respond."

"Understood, sir," the other Klingon responded moments before they heard a noise in the dark.

All the Klingons turned toward it and fired mercilessly into the dark corridor. Upon completion, Menchez held a light up to illuminate their hard work. Instead of Ukoth and his men, they found several Starfleet engineers now crippled beyond functional movement.

"Ugghh," one of them moaned, injured and in pain. "Why...??"

Menchez aimed his disruptor rifle away. "We thought you were someone else. Fortunately, you have not experienced the stinging betrayal of Commander Ukoth. Anyway, carry on."

"Bloody Klingons," another groaned as they watched the group trot off.

---

Civilian Transport Elysium

The Gorn leader of the enemy party wore a device on his belt that caused phase weapons to temporarily malfunction. The bridge was just out of range of this device, but firing phasers in the crowded transport hold would not be a great idea anyway.

Eli stood up, as did Admiral Chekov. Daggers drawn, the Gorn moved in to quell the resistance and panic. A Gorn soldier said, “We will fetch a fair price for you in the Orion slave trade!”

As Krystal stood up between Eli and the Gorn officer, Eli leaped over his chair and into the second row behind his, shoving a Klingon over several seats. Eli then turned back to fight several Gorn with Krystal Jade, taking the fight to the Bridge before finishing them off.

Eli looked around at Seifer and the others. "Well?"

"Thank you," Seifer replied to both Elihu and Jade. "There's a Gorn and an Orion ship locked onto us. A Romulan ship appears to be taking care of the Klingons, and it looks like a prison ship and an Undine vessel are just sitting around. I'm going to be honest, I was not briefed as to why the Undine were here in Federation space to begin with. I'm sending out a distress call, but, in the meantime, if there's any way we can take these two pirate vessels out, without harming innocent lives, the planet or ourselves, we should give it a shot. We don't have weapons, but the transport is built with some of the Federation's more wide-spectrum beaming technology. We may be able to get through any weak points in their shields, while simultaneously transporting non-essential passengers to the surface."

Suddenly, a vent from above busted off from two feet and Captain Terry dropped down to join them. His eyes had a green hue, strands of energy flowed around him, and slithering worms of Sleri moved all throughout his body, under his skin. Terry approached Seifer in pure anger. "This is what I was built for. I'll take care of the Gorn ship, and then I'll come back for you."

"You were on board the whole time?? You can't go out there. You're in no condition to be doing anything!" Seifer replied in shock.

The half-Human, half-Sleri grinned as he activated the transporter systems. In a few seconds he was gone.

"I have to go after him," Seifer said. "I lost my fighting teacher, Master Chivaul. He was like a father to me. The only way for me to come to terms with that is by not allowing myself to lose anyone else under me, present or past. That includes Terry."

"This is Lesset of the Volocron. We have your piece of junk garbage scow. We'll be salvaging what we want from it now," came the hail and growl of the Orion Captain.

Seifer smirked. "Your boarding party was easily defeated, Lesset. You're next."

"You insolent fools! You think your precious Federation's in control here? You're just puppets, being managed by a vast interstellar shadow group! You're pathetic!! Prepare for another boarding party!" He clicked off communications.

Oroku turned to Krystal Jade and, by-extension, Elihu. "Captain, clearly you and Elihu have got some skill here. Take that Orion ship down how you see fit. Edward, transport everyone we don't need to the Starfleet base on surface, and me to the Gorn ship."

"Do you really think you stand a chance against Gorn?" Edward asked as she turned to him.

Seifer shook his head. "It's the Gorn who doesn't stand a chance. Terry was bio-engineered as some kind of weirdly, worm-filled ultimate weapon by a maddeningly perverse Undine geneticist. If I don't get through to him, the extent of his transformation could go far enough to kill him and any innocent lives therein."

"Understood," Edward nodded, activating the transporters.

---

Captain Aeris - Biobase Vokughvegh

As promised, all the thousands of Starfleet officers were transported back, through universes, using the anti-Undine devices aboard Earth Spacedock as a proxy, back to Earth Spacedock. With the chamber empty, a pinned Winry and a released Captain Aeris were all that were left.

Kohogeth approached her and nearly put his slimy hands on her chin. "You are as beautiful as I remember."

"You're absolutely not what I remember. You're not the man I fell in love with," Aeris replied.

The Undine nodded. "I was in human form when you and I were together. But, does not your adversity look passed physical appearances? We are all the same inside, yes?"

"It's not about how you look, Kohogeth! You presented yourself as a decent human being aboard the Zephyra. You may have acquiesce to returning those people, but your base-self is that of a lair. Back then, you were just luring mine and Captain Terry's crew to your facility."

Kohogeth nodded. "Yes, but I have changed since then. Let me show you what experiments I have done."

---

D'ren - T.I.S. Ra'Quella, Bridge

Ra'Quella's image appeared on a small screen to his right. "Most of the Gorn, Klingons, and Orions are from a colony on the other side of the Beta Quadrant. G'arto Prime. It's about the size of Earth, with a population of 4 billion."

D'ren inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, already regretting what he was about to do. "Execute."

In the space between the Ra'Quella and the battle-damaged Elysium, D'ren had fired a single black hole torpedo, which opened a wormhole, and then vanished into it; the wormhole vanished as well.

---

Captain Menchez - Earth Spacedock, Operations

Menchez and his away team found Ukoth and his two warriors in the Operations center, attempting to hack the command ring. The lights returned all throughout Spacedock and Starfleet officers were re-apppeared everywhere. When the Klingons raised their disruptors, the enemy was forced to take notice.

"Oh, you old fool. Do you not see how pathetic this Federation is? Rumour is they can't operate on their own without a baby-sitter," Ukoth argued.

The Captain nearly squeezed his trigger. "I do not care what you are speaking of, Ukoth. I'm just here to reclaim my honor and protect this base!"

"You can reclaim that by joining me. Never mind. You're too far gone as a Federation-sympathizer. That war we partook in was a complete farce! We should have joined the Iconians instead of allowing ourselves to be led around by that incompetent Kagran! Well, I've seen to it we gained T'Ket's trust."

Heghto's device went off. "Captain, my data extrapolation of that portal is complete. It was emitting a massive radius of triquantum waves, at warp, through subspace."

"Large enough for our own personal transwarp conduit," Ukoth smirked. "A little experiment we were happy to attempt. You see, the real Klingon war is only beginning! Now if you'll excuse me, but we must test out our new tunnel."

Suddenly he and his two dishonorable men disappeared in a red transporter effect. Outside the window, the Negh'Var-class Mogholegh and two accompanying Birds of Prey decloaked.

"Those jerks!" came the annoyed reaction of Commander Allura. She then turned to Menchez and his team. "Need a boost to that ship?"

Menchez nodded to the blind Aenar woman. "That would be most appreciated. We must stop whatever damage they intend to do."

"Leave it to me," she replied as she accessed the command ring holo consoles. She overloaded Spacedock's safe mode phaser banks and fired into the shields of the lead ship. Menchez and his away team were then beamed aboard it before the ship and its two companions entered the transwarp conduit.

---

Civilian Transport Elysium

Eli perked a brow at Seifer. "I would not doubt that once the Gorn and Klingons beamed aboard the Elysium, they raised their shields again immediately."

"Like I said," Seifer replied. "These transports are built with some of the Federation's more wide-spectrum beaming technology. If you boost one of their annular confinement beams, hot enough, you could get through the weak points of lower-grade shields, like the Orions and Gorn. I suspect the Dominion have the same principles in their technology, and that Terry, moving quickly, enacted on the same procedures. Wait. Why am I continuing to explain everything in some kind of ongoing exposition dump and not transporting?"

Edward turned from her chair. "Looks like Terry overloaded the transporters with whatever bio-electric energy source he's become. Elihu was right. There's no chance in transporting anyone, anywhere."

She went to the control deck to try to work things out. As she did so, bright flashes could be seen through the windows of the Gorn vessel, while all the ships stopped their actions from watching the projections. In a matter of a minute, large explosions began to blow from out the Gorn ship's sides and its tractor hold disappeared. The Volocron and the Elysium moved out of range as the Gorn were destroyed. Large chunks entered the planet's atmosphere.

"No!" Seifer's jaw dropped. "Captain Terry??"

Lieutenant Edward covered her eyes from the flash. "He may have gotten off yet. We know we can't detect him with sensors."

"An explosion like that? There's no way," the Captain replied.

A transwarp conduit opened nearby and the Mogholegh went spinning out, with two of its accompanying Birds of Prey exiting as well.

The Ra'Quella projected a hologram of the planet G'arto Prime between the two parties. The Valdore, severely damaged, stopped fighting to watch. All of the enemy ships did the same.

The black hole torpedo exited the wormhole, which promptly collapsed behind it, and then went straight for G'arto's sun. The sun slowly started to be sucked into the black hole formed by the projectile.

An announcement from D'ren went out over every comm channel: "Cease. Or die."

"This is Captain Menchez, taking command of the Mogholegh," came a call to the Elysium. "We do not know what is going on, but our business with Iconians brings us here."

Seifer took the helm seat and tapped its controls. "Menchez! Standby. There's a large space-projection indicating a disaster at G'arto Prime."

Eli and Krystal made their way back to their seats. After the pirates transported back to their respective vessels, the small fleet limped away, though the Gorn ship had been destroyed by Terry.

Admiral Chekov stood at the front of the transport. "May we please go to our memorial now? We're over an hour late."

"This is insane," Seifer got up and turned to Chekov while everyone else meandered over to their seats, nonchalantly. "That decloaked ship just committed mass genocide, and, if my hunch is correct, it's by the same man Lydia said runs the galaxy behind the scenes."

Menchez replied over view screen, "That is some serious case of over-power. Like, overly-serious."

"Wait. You two know each other?" Edward asked, interrupting her own work.

Seifer was caught off-guard. "Huh? Oh, yeah, we both shared a horrifying situation of being undead from the Calibus VII virus, once upon a time. It's a long story."

"What the Gre'thor? Are you telling people about that??" Menchez erupted.

The Captain waved him off. "Forget that! I'm changing course for G'arto Prime to help save as many people as I can from that doomed planet before it's too late."

"Transporters are dead, sir," reported Edward. "And there's not even a chance we would get there in time?"

Seifer nodded, understanding. "We have to at least try, Lieutenant. Complacency is the mother of death." He turned to the screen. "Menchez, will you accommodate?"

"Seeing as we destroyed this specific conduit section leading to Earth, stopping the Klingon-Iconian threat and recovering my losses, I am currently free to assist. An entire world left to die is a grave dishonor, tenfold. There may be several other conduits that we can take."

The Captain stepped into an open space on the Bridge. After a moment of hesitation, Edward joined him, as did Aramaki. He addressed Chekov. "If you all can live with letting The Infamous get away with mass murder, time and time again, and go about your daily lives, then you're no better than him. His blood is on your hands, as well. The least you could do is try to clean them once in a while." At that, the three were beamed off the Elysium and onto the Mogholegh. The Klingon ship turned and entered another conduit.

 

Always a fan of the meta-moment when a character says something like... "Woah - you caught me monologuing..."

Thanks!! rbs

 

Author's notes: This was written as part of the STO forums role play thread Earth Spacedock in July 2016. Sections with D'Ren/Eli were written/created by another player (the0infamous); cut down for brevity, here.​

Earth Spacedock, Pages 24-25
Captain Aeris - Biobase Vokughvegh, Human Lab

Kohogeth led Aeris into a dank and disgusting room. There were blood and green stains all throughout the organic enclosure. Several bowls of indiscernible food lay against the wall, and a giant pile of something bad sat in the corner.

"Captain, I promised my masters I would find a way to bridge the gap between humanity and the Undine. We have had such a shaky past and what we learned of you fascinates us. I've finally found that gap and I bridged it. Joined it into one."

The Human turned to him. "Kohogeth, this is madness. You've gone to such extreme lengths for your passions in making a difference. It's that passion we often spoke about. But you've lost focus on what kind of difference you should be making. We all have potential, though many of us make the wrong decisions and push forward in them. Come back with me to my universe. If you truly love me, you'll abandon all this for me."

"Aeris," there was a moment of hesitation from Kohogeth. He breathed in to consider her offer and what it could possibly mean for him. But he was too far into it. He had put so much of his life and sacrificed many things he held close to him. "I cannot. This is what I made."

As giant doors opened, out fumbled a massive conglomeration of Sleri worms with dozens of human and Undine limbs in unsymmetrical, random places. The giant creature moaned and slithered and moved around in eternal pain.

"What... what have you done...?" she muttered in dire shock, speechless and tearful.

Kohogeth raised his arms in success. "I've united our universes!! I've united us!"

"Take two?" came Winry's voice. "Alright, take two. Unite this!" Entering the room holding energy flowing Sleri she finally was able to over-power, Winry threw several Sleri from her arms into an attack at both the massive hybrid creature and Kohogeth.

Free, Aeris ran over to the Engineer. "What did you do?"

"They spoke to me, telepathically, and I convinced them the Undine were their enemy," she answered. "They're disabling this base as we speak, and using its last remaining functions to open a portal in fludic space to our realm."

Aeris slapped her slime-covered suit. "Nice work, Lieutenant! You just might make the perfect senior officer one day, after all. Now, let's get back to the Zephyra, whatever's left of it."

"Oh, man," Winry complained at the thought of all the repairs she would have to endure.

---

U.S.S. Zephyra, Bridge

Climbing through the large hollow tentacles, the two women returned to the slime-covered Sovereign-class starship. Barely even getting it to move and detach, the Zephyra impulsed toward and through the portal as the biobase began to shrivel up behind them.

"Was it worth it?" Winry asked.

Aeris pondered, relieved they would finally be returning to Earth Spacedock. "To know what a man is made of, versus what he is capable? I suppose it's always worth it; just not always a universal worth. Let's go home, Lieutenant. Engage."

---

Captain Oroku Seifer - I.K.S. Mogholegh, Bridge

Seifer took the Bridge with Captain Menchez and his away team, in a moment of appreciation of their work, as the ship entered into transwarp. "I'm impressed you were able to take over such a large vessel with such a small group of warriors. That, and the two Birds of Prey. Were you thorough?"

"Are you kidding me, Starfleet? Of course we were thorough! We defeated the enemy with the beating drums of our hearts and the blood quenching thirst of our stout souls," Menchez reaffirmed seconds before Ukoth and a group of enemy Klingons stormed the Bridge.

Captain Seifer glanced at Menchez disapprovingly. "Really?"

"Perhaps actual tactics may have been required, but that is always second to a Klingon," Menchez defended. "Brawn over brains for life! Yeah!"

The two pulled out their weapons in an eruption of a fire-fight. They, Menchez's away team, and the two Starfleet Lieutenants hid behind the Bridge consoles and fired disruptors and phasers at the group near the entrance.

"Don't give me that look, Seifer," argued Menchez, between disruptor blasts. "Like you were even going to stop a black hole to begin with? Are you going to stop the next one too? Or the 43t45034348 ones after that??"

Seifer took out one of Ukoth's closest men, and turned to the Klingon. "What? When did I say I was going to stop a black hole?? If only I wasn't so much more moral than Tuvok, the head of that unscrupulous Section 31."

"Didn't they burn down a Syndicate orphanage once?" Menchez asked, as he witnessed one of his own men taken down in horror.

The Trill's power cell ran out, so he threw his phaser into Ukoth's head. "Whoa, hey now, those kids were planning to create a divergent alternate universe full of flashy lens flares and non-stop adrenaline runs. Time traveling Pavel Chekov was all in a last-ditch tizzy about it."

"What the hell?" cried Ukoth, as the shooting all stopped. He picked up Seifer's phaser and rubbed the bump on his forehead. "Who just throws a phaser like that?"

Seifer stood up. "Uh, I do. I prefer to take things into my own hands, even if it means throwing everything I've got in a ridiculous manner. Serious things are still serious to the guy doing them."

"Well, it's played out and unoriginal. Not to mention, you'd have to throw your phaser at every enemy you came across, as it would have to be your signature move. I declare that this is so!"

The Captain crossed his arms. "Just because I tried it, doesn't mean I expected I was going to be successful at it. Also, thanks for trying to write me. Really appreciate it."

"Maybe you'll appreciate this!!" Ukoth slammed his palm into a nearby console, causing the Mogholegh to begin to self destruct. Panels and warp coils began to explode all over the ship as it and the two Birds of Prey exited transwarp to normal space.

Menchez turned to his fellow officer. "I think your attempts at doing things is being thwarted. It seems like failure is your style, Captain."

"I think you're right," Seifer replied as he and Menchez approached the transporter controls. "Next crazy, out-of-control-but-mundane-compared-to-over-powered-beings-adventure, then?"

The Klingon nodded, before they and their teams dematerialized. "Until then, Captain."

---

I.K.S. Furt'gh

Seifer and his two Lieutenants, Edward and Aramaki, beamed onto the Bridge of the Furt'gh and took command. They watched as Menchez had taken the other Bird of Prey, the I.K.S. Keghgh, and taken chase to escape pods from the exploding Mogholegh.

He hailed the Odyssey-class U.S.S. Valhalla on the long range relay network. Admiral Cid, a silver-bearded, aging Human, appeared on screen. "Captain Seifer," he greeted. "I received your message and am now nearing G'arto Prime to beam as many cut throats and thieves as I can off the planet as possible. Many directly into our Brig."

"Thanks," Seifer replied. "It looks like my transwarp conduit paths are down so I don't think I'll make it on warp before unapproachable damage is done."

Cid nodded. "We'll do what we can. Just keep these low lifes and murderers in your thoughts. They deserve to be remembered for their love of pillaging and general breaking of the laws."

"I will," Seifer said, feeling the heart crushing tinge of loss, once again. "Seifer out."

---

Caldos III

The Furt'gh dropped warp and returned to the planet where the Elysium had been forced to the surface to undergo repairs. The ceremonies for the dead had been put on hold until their arrival, and the planet's largest and most elaborate cemetery was set up for visitors.

Seifer joined the proceedings in dress uniform, recalling his closest mentor, Chivaul, lost cause, Terry, and the planet of thugs who somehow numbered in the billions and were able to function as a world together. Perhaps his discontent was selfish. His thoughts about them could have really been about him. Did he care about them, or were they just representations of his own abilities as a Captain?

Looking around, Seifer decided to momentarily clear his mind of regret. It was only with a clear mind he could operate better, as an officer, as a person, as an observer and participant in galactic events. With the Bajorans gaining some kind of oddly non-canon power, worlds like Cardassia were suddenly now under threat.

He noticed Elihu, who was in the most calm state he had ever seen. He had read that the quadruple hybrid was betrayed by The Infamous in the past, but they somehow appeared to maintain an interpersonal relationship of some sort. If The Infamous's power was shifting to people, would Elihu be a potential as one of those leaders, despite their apparent history?

Hell. Elihu M'Konel stood with his comrades, staring first at the names listed on the the gravestones of his friends and family who had died months ago, and then at the list of names on the marble wall behind it. There was a lot of silence at the memorial, indeed as well as the entire Scottish-colonized world. Hundreds of people surrounded the wall, each remembering and honoring the dead in their own way.

---

The Park

It was starting to get dark. A fog was rolling in. D'ren was hiding behind a tree in another plot of land several hundred meters away from the cemetery. He was sitting with his back against the tree, facing away from the memorial. Bringing his shaking hand up to take a swig from his flask. Pain seared through his throat and stomach. He coughed and groaned, and then laughed at his own weakness. He'd spent his entire life gathering armies, building armadas, enslaving worlds... and nobody could ever say why.

Elihu M'Konel, but not the one attending his friends' memorial service, walked over and stood over the dying man. He shook his head with contempt and leaned against the tree above him. This Elihu had a goatee and short black hair.

D'ren forced himself to painstakingly sit up. “I told them the truth, mostly. The Infamous armada will continue.”

Elihu shook his head. “Under my authority, sure.” He pointed the gun at D'ren's head.

“They don't know about G'arto,” D'ren told Eli. “They think it's a planet full of... of pirates. It won't matter. The planet will be gone in a few minutes.”

Eli nodded. “Good. And so will you.” He leaned down and placed a hand on the dying rogue's temple, performing a very painfully invasive mind-meld.

---

Memorial Center

Elsewhere, near the stone, Seifer approached the original Eli. "Sorry to bother you at this time, Elihu, but I think I have a suspect in mind for your case. You were framed by someone who wanted to get rid of you, in favour of more power from The Infamous. It must've been someone in The Infamous' camp, with access to his nanites, so that they could simulate you murdering Alyce. Someone who displays a thirst for revenge and power, and possibly wants more of it, including the power that may have gone to you. It may have been Ro Laren."

Elihu turned to Seifer and shook his head. He patted Seifer's shoulder in a friendly manner. “It is not Ro Laren, but thank you for your continued diligence, Captain. There is no longer any need for an investigation. If I am guilty, I should be arrested. If I am not guilty, you will never find the person who did it, if The Infamous is actually involved.”

He gave Seifer a pointed look, a stern gaze that was in no way meant to convey friendship. It was a threat. Drop it.

When Seifer was done speaking with the Vulcan-mindset Elihu, he was surprised to encounter a threatening gaze. It seemed like he wanted Seifer to drop the case for some reason. On top of that, Elihu wouldn't say whether he was or wasn't guilty.

Aramaki approached with a tricorder. "Well, scans of The Infamous, from several vessels, when he was onboard his ship, have completed processing. I think you'll find this interesting. We detected chroniton particles, indicating he's from another time."

"Fascinating," Seifer said as he took the device to read it.

The tactical officer handed him a medical tricorder. "Not only that, but this data indicates DNA on The Infamous, that isn't his own; it's Elihu M'Konel's. I think he had some kind of interaction with that time travelling The Infamous."

"Whoa! His connection to D'Ren, that guy who just killed 4 billion people, is confirmed, which could mean any number of things, including that of having access to those nanites to cause the murder of Alyce himself."

Lieutenant Aramaki nodded but then stopped before handing over another tricorder. "Oh! Something else. This is a picture of my neice. Isn't she so cute? Soooo cute."

"Thanks?" Seifer handed him back the three tricorders. "Unfortunately, Starfleet refuses to acknowledge adorableness as they're too busy minding their own hypocrisy. Anyway, as for the case, it would seem I didn't have a chance in figuring out who the murderer was to begin with."

Aramaki tapped his chin in thought. "The universe is a mysterious place. Want to search for anaphasic lifeforms? They looooove the Caldos star system."

"Can't. The Infamous' army has the entire place blocked off. We're not allowed to leave until we sign a release acknowledging fear for life. Also, my own plots may finally get some much anticipated traction. You see, I just saw one of my past love interests in the crowd and our whole complicated history is just about to unravel in a whirlwind of drama and passion, and—" Suddenly, he lost sight of the woman. "Damn! Never mind."

---

Earth Spacedock, Infirmary

Hours later, 23:00. Elihu M'Konel was lying in the infirmary of Earth Spacedock. The now-shaven Vulcan/Betazoid hybrid was completely unresponsive. Doctor Shran-Vix, blood-stained and covered in black soot, was exhausted but remained by his side as she shakily performed her medical duties. Lydia M'Konel was leaning up on her side, fearfully observing her nephew from the bed on his right. To his left was another patient, one who had not survived the ordeal. A sheet was covering them head to toe.

The former chief of the Tal'Shiar, Toreth, was being taken to the brig by several security officers. However, she was not wounded either. Later, she would say, "I, Toreth, confess to personally overseeing the kidnapping and torture of several Federation, Romulan, and Klingon officers and soldiers, including one Captain Aeris..."

Outside the sickbay on a large display was yet another list of recently deceased. However, the memorial terrorist attack was not what had sent Elihu M'Konel spiraling into a catatonic state. The breaking point came a little later...

---

Civilian Transport Elysium

Hours earlier, after the Caldos III terrorist attack, officers were beamed back to the Elysium and set course for Earth Spacedock. A transporter beam had deposited Talitha Roseblade in the center aisle of the passenger hold. The young lady collapsed onto her side. Her mind was unable to maintain any coherent thought. She did not even recognize her husband-to-be.

Eli simply could not handle it. After asking Jade to take care of her, Eli crumpled into his seat and did not speak or move again. Before long, he fell asleep, and when Shran scanned him, she reported that he had descended into a coma.

---

Gre'thor

Future D'ren entered Gre'thor and found himself standing on the Barge of the Dead, surrounded by dishonored Klingons and another version of himself. The first Infamous turned and grinned over his shoulder at the back of the boat, where the new D'ren stood. The Infamous announced, "Prepare for the Fek'Ihri!"

D'ren turned and looked at all the "dead" men and women around him; they'd been slain in battle with the FekIhri. But as The Infamous made his announcement, they all got to their feet, ready for yet another shameful and dishonorable death. Repeated dishonorable death was their eternal retribution.

And now it was D'ren's. The man from ten years future released a battle cry and picked up the closest weapon he could find before lunging forward...

---

Captain Krystal Jade - Earth, 602 Club

Krystal leaned against the bar as she nursed a beer bottle. Granted it was technically her first, right now she looked a little lost. No one approached her, as it was obvious she kinda wanted to be left alone.

"You gonna be alright, Captain?" the Bartender asked.

"Eventually," Krystal replied as she took a sip. "Just need time."

---

Captain Oroku Seifer - Infirmary, Earth Spacedock

As the Infirmary was being emptied out of its excess patients, Seifer was just finishing up treatments for his flesh wounds. The trip back from Caldos III had been so much faster than the trip there, that he wondered if Edward was just toying with everyone beforehand.

"Everything checks out with you, sir," reported Lieutenant Cetra. "You'll be free to go in a few minutes."

Seifer looked on as Lydia had been screaming in sheer madness at the comatose Elihu M'Konel for what seemed like hours. The sound rang through in his ears. "Wow. That really is terrible."

"Trauma comes with the territory when dealing with complex inter-personal relationships augmented by the vicious actions of unclear entities," she said, passively as she healed his hand with a dermal regenerator.

Confused, the Captain replied. "Yes? Anyway, doesn't all this bother you, since you're a Betazoid?"

"Actually, I've always injected myself with a compound that suppresses my empathy. All my life, I've been unable, nor willing, to deal with the pounding headache of telepathic power." She wrapped up and patted him in the shoulder.

Seifer smirked. "Yeah, those are the worst. Anyway, it looks like you're stuck here on Spacedock with all this like I am. I know how stale this station can get. If I hear about any deep space assignments befitting a nurse, I'll let you know."

---

Main Concourse

Stepping out into the main concourse, Seifer was met with Captain Aeris. He had skimmed her report of her time in fluidic space and was amazed that she survived.

"It's been a long time, Captain," Seifer said.

Aeris crossed her arms. "It could have been longer. But it was only after my time with Kohogeth, in the past, that I was eventually boarded by the Tal'Shiar on what I've come to learn were orders by Toreth. They wanted to know everything we did of the Undine."

"Now she's captured. A gift from someone, perhaps. Are you going to go into the Brig and beat her to a bloody pulp?"

The woman did a double-take. "What kind of a monster do you think I am? I dealt with my emotional reaction to that long ago. It was only Elihu's telepathic attack on me that regressed it out of my subconscious." She looked at him. "Anyway, the Zephyra is just as out-of-commission as your old ship, the Phoenix-X. I could crew it and fly it, but the damage by that Undine protoplasm makes it unfit for prolonged use."

"Drydock's getting full," Seifer realized.

She laughed to herself. "At least you're getting re-assigned. They told me to tell you that you've got a new ship, finally."

"What!?"

Aeris gave him a PADD. "Congratulations, Captain. The U.S.S. Ragnarok is yours. It's a Pathfinder-class starship modified with Discovery-class pylons."

"This is amazing!!" Seifer took the PADD and rushed through its stats. "Sure, it's not as powerful as some, but I can finally get off this cesspool dump— err, I mean, wonderfully constructed space mushroom?"

The other Captain waved him off. "It's fine. I'm stuck here until they find me a new ship too now. But, this time, after what I did in bringing the disappeared crew back, they won't keep me locked down here anymore. I'll be just as free as you, soon."

"Good to hear, Aeris," Seifer complimented. "I'll be recruiting that engineer you were with in Undine space, by the way. Lieutenant Winry sounds brilliant."

Shocked and insulted, Aeris dropped her arms. "You jerk?? Now I don't want to divulge the second piece of news I was going to bring to you!"

"The Infamous was responsible for everything malicious that's been done up to this point?"

She shook her head as she directed his gaze to their left. "No, Winry and I brought back your old fighting teacher, Chivaul, from fluidic space."

"Master Chivaul??" Seifer turned to see the old, greying Vulcan standing afar in wait to speak to him. He had thought he'd never see him again, and had already dealt with the effects of losing his own father-figure. The Trill turned back to Aeris, preferring the cognitive dissonance to the alternative. "Thank you, Captain."

Aeris smiled. "Sure." She watched as Seifer went off to speak to the man. Her duties now lay elsewhere, so she left as well.

 

Loved the opening slime scene - I could definitely see that. Also the comic timing with Menchez. And lots more lampooning than even normal for your entries:

 

Haha, sooo much Lampooning! Thanks! Don't know why, but Species 8472 makes me think everything they make is slimey.

 

Author's notes: On the Star Trek Online Forums, I wanted to do a thread that just focused on Captain Seifer and his new ship. Unlike the previous entries, these weren't motivated by any prompts, or played as an RP, but rather, I was going to try standalone shorts masking connective-story. I also seeded a bunch of new crew for the Ragnarok in the Earth Spacedock RP for eventual pay-off in these. These shorts were done a-la carte, around my ULC entries and other RP posts, so these more "pop-up" every once in a while. Written in August 2016.​

Anthology of Ragnarok #1
Tabletop Beginnings

Captain Oroku Seifer spent the better part of his morning at the Synthbar located within Earth Spacedock's Club 47. But instead of drinking martinis, he had several PADDs in a mess before him, working on a few at a time.

"Can I just ask you something?" approached the El Aurian bartender who had already made a big deal about Seifer not drinking and taking up bar space. "Why couldn't you just compress all your data into one device? What is the point?"

Seifer looked up, aimlessly, and in momentary realization that the bartender was speaking again. "Huh? Oh, the point is that's how we Starfleet officers organize our information. Sure, there's a minor strain on bulkhead material resources, but the more PADDs, the more clutter, the more Starfleet one is! It's well-established, standard officer tradition, actually." And then, a second realization, "Bartender! Another PADD!"

"Ugh," Nelan moaned as he turned away to replicate one more, finally giving up on freeing that spot.

Commander Allura, in command of Spacedock's operations division, approached the bar and sat next to Seifer. "Congratulations on your new command, Captain. That of the U.S.S. Ragnarok," she said by way of exposition and greeting.

"Thanks," Seifer answered, pleasantly surprised by the blind Aenar's presence. "I've been finalizing the paperwork for my new Bridge officers. Much of it crossing t's and dotting i's as is the style of this incomplete font we're using now."

She nodded. "It was implemented as punishment for our reluctance to arrest Sela after the Iconian War. What we were on, I will never know." Then, "Oh, and by the way, you're taking up bar space when you should be working in an office, or, at least your ship's Ready Room."

"Since I've been grounded and working here at Spacedock by the malfunction of my old ship, hit by two Breen dissapators, I've come to think of this place as a second home. I know this station is massive, but it turns out all 1000 guest offices are currently being used by equal segmented groups of an Evora delegation."

After Allura was handed a drink, she slammed it on the table for dramatic effect. "Damn! What the Evora lack in height, they make up for in pure, unrelenting numbers. The truth is, they're here for another head-bead ritual, only, this time, the entire station has to partake in it."

"Phew! Perfect timing, since I'll be heading out into sectorized space with the Ragnarok soon. I skipped my ship and crew inspection due to excitement-paralyzation. That's a thing in this century, you know."

The Aenar gestured to what she sensed as two Tellarites in a single trench coat, one standing on the shoulders of another, both behind Seifer. "This is our seat, buddy!" the double man argued, both completely identical.

"Tomsin and Tomsin??" Seifer turned in shock and surprise. "I thought you were reassigned to the Valhalla?"

The bottom Tellarite grumbled in his own realization at whom he had just encountered. "They wouldn't accept us as a single officer, claiming we were two separate entities now!"

"Captain, please don't tell me you had something to do with this?" Allura interrupted.

Seifer began stacking his PADDs neatly for a possible quick exit. "Well, after more of the overtly dark, unaided whodone-it mystery from the attack at Caldos III, Starfleet wanted me to focus back on the science and weirdness of our original theme. As usual, the Admirals took excitement in the 'return to our roots' thing— an odd obsession of theirs— and when I attempted to initiate artificial atmospheric distortions in a small patch of Earth's atmosphere to lure anaphasic lifeforms, a transporter confinement beam, whence doubled, containing Tomsin, interacted with it and Riker-duplicated the Tellarite back to Earth's surface."

"And we would've been able to live a normal life if Seifer hadn't promised us a position on Admiral Cid's ship! Now we've got no where to go and our acts of illegally boarding the Valhalla are on our permanent records!" the top Tomsin argued.

The bottom Tomsin added, "Yeah! And the duplicate thing too."

"Hey! You'd better watch how you speak to a superior officer, Ensigns!" argued Seifer, annoyed.

Top Tomsin slammed his drink down on the table next to the Captain in yet another dramatic effect. "Well, we've been drinking, so our aggressiveness is easily excused through a bar-based social paradigm! How many have you had, sir?"

"Err," Seifer looked at his space, which contained PADDs and no drink as not preferred, apparently. He saw no way to play into the suggested cliché. Instead, he pointed at the seemingly unmoving line to the club's lavatories by way of distraction. "Whoa! Did they just move up one!?!"

Both Tomsins, actually interested in that, turned in hopes to witness, when Seifer suddenly took the opportunity to activate an emergency transport unit he had held in his hand this whole time. Allura sensed and heard the dematerialization beam take Seifer away.

---

Meanwhile, on the Bridge of the Pathfinder-class, with Discovery-class pylons, U.S.S. Ragnarok, the new crew had just finished preparing everything and all systems for departure. Seifer beamed in, unexpectedly, and took his place at the center.

"We have to exit immediately. No time to explain! Just trust me whoever you all are!" he commanded in a general non-direction at who-knows who.

Aramaki walked over and handed him a duty roster PADD. "Admiral Cid used his connections and had two Ensigns, a Tomsin and Tomsin, transferred to us before we were to leave. Just waiting on that before we go."

Suddenly the tactical officer's console beeped, confirming another transport.

"Oh, that should be them!" Aramaki confirmed, happily. "Yes, we're ready to go now. Shall we, Captain? We polished the holo-consoles and everything. Not that they needed to be polished, since they're holographic."

Caught, suddenly mis-sorted, Seifer lost his train of thought and patience, quickly. "Uggh! Those guys again?? Can't I be one of those Captains that just runs away from things? We literally don't have any Captains that do that." And then, "Well. I suppose it's going to be up to me to be a different kind of Starfleet commanding officer, completely off from the Picards and Kirks of the past! All of a sudden, I no longer feel that combo excitement-paralyzation syndrome my old chief medical officer, Doctor Lox, diagnosed me with. I'm just left with just the excitement."

"Should I have the Tomsins meet you on the Bridge for assignment?"

Captain Seifer just waved it off. "Just post them in a corridor somewhere. In the meantime, I'm going to replicate myself a celebratory martini. It would seem our adventure, to hopefully be accompanied by a powerful orchestra-based melody, is just beginning! Seifer out."

Since he wasn't on comms to begin with, he just turned and headed to his Ready Room. The 25th century, in whatever fashion he would be meant to find it in, was now his to command.

 

Author's notes: This was written in August 2016, as part of the Star Trek Online forums Unofficial Literary Challenge #26. This started my entries for my KDF faction crews to eventually team up, like previously with my Federation crews. Ship classes are from the game and Captain Sigon was last seen in ULC 19 The Officer Exchange, where his preceding ship was taken down by a pan-dimensional tribble invasion.

Unofficial Literary Challenge #26: Prompt #1: Your captain, or one of your officers, is starting to see things. What it is that they see could vary-- it could be a long-dead crewmate, walking around and talking ais though still alive. It could be strange, alien figures crossing the halls. It could be ghastly apparitions, crawling between doorways. As much as your captain insists at the existence of these apparitions, no one else can see them. Already, many of your captain's officers are starting to whisper to one another that their commander may be mentally ill. Write about what happens to your captain-- is his/her mind actually playing tricks on them, or are the apparitions real?​

Unofficial Literary Challenge #26
Apparitions

The Kurak-class I.K.S. Baetal trekked, instinctively, through space in the utmost of Klingon ways. Captain Sigon sat at the Bridge of his vessel, unsure and disoriented about his ship in general.

"I still cannot sit properly with the awkward angle of this chair, not to mention the lack of cup holder. And why is it so drafty in here?" Sigon asked, suddenly paranoid.

Poroka, the Chief Engineer spoke up. "Sir, the targ cages are currently being aired out."

"Well, no wonder! At least the scent is good," Sigon realized. "Ah, do I love the smell of targ in the morning. Anyway, our first mission aboard our new vessel is to acclimatize to it, and I can think of no better way to do that than to celebrate with profuse drinking!"

The view screen displayed Captain McCary on the Bridge of his own ship, the U.S.S. Tsunami, several light-years away. "Are you going to acknowledge me on your main viewer or what? My crew is starting to question my ability to express authority."

"Captain! So, to conclude the conversation before I drifted off there, we shall see you aboard the Baetal to celebrate our new vessel!"

McCary rolled his eyes. "Dammit, Sigon. You are constantly partying! Don't you have enemies you're supposed to kill or something?"

"Perhaps. But, according to Klingon Rule of Drinksquisition 34: Never dishonor a barrel of bloodwine, especially if it's been sitting in your cargo hold for more than a week."

The Starfleet Captain snapped at him. "That's not a thing you guys do! Anyway, see you in a few hours. Tsunami out."

"What was that?" The sound of the viewer going off acquiesced with the movement of something small on the Bridge. Sigon turned, having sworn he saw something fly passed him.

Lieutenant Tenogh, the Operations officer, looked up from his console. "Sir? Perhaps your mighty Klingon eyes are seeing things. The Doctor said the effects of our last mission, that of which was the infestation of our previous vessel, by talking-and-humanoid-infecting-Tribble, would remain within us for quite sometime."

"I'm telling you I saw something more than your claimed 'things' and 'remainings'," Sigon said, taking out his tricorder and scanning. "Adding to that, I refuse to lose another ship to those horrible fur-spreading creatures!"

Bekk Tars swallowed, nerved, recalling their last encounter. "That festering breed of Tribble infused us with their venom, turning us into them. We thought we had reversed it and the damage to our ship, but we were deadly wrong on both accounts. If McCary hadn't found the solution to the genetic invasion, we would all still be giant fur-monsters right now."

"His solution was to go through with our resulting pregnancies! And, as we agreed, we were never to speak of that part of it again!" reminded Sigon.

Bekk Tars nodded. "Yes, Captain. I will give myself 30 lashes, as per Empire protocol."

"It is tough, but it is the law. Anyway, I detect nothing here. Perhaps that little fluff-ball has evacuated to the corridors. You have the Bridge."

---

Entering into the corridors of the Baetal, Sigon started to feel even more paranoid than before. He passed a crossing corridor and, his vision beheld the motion of something flying by.

"Die, tribble scum!!" Sigon took out his disruptor, turned the corner and fired.

But at the turn, instead of a tribble, was Lieutenant Commander Gozer, a Gorn and the Baetal's tactical officer. Gozer swiftly dodged the disruptor pulse. "SSss'Targ hunting again, Captain?"

"Huh!? Oh, my apologies, Gozer," Sigon said as he realized what he had done. “You were almost Gorn with the Wind.” Putting his disruptor away, Sigon added, "By the way, did you see a Tribble come in this direction? It was what I was attempting to yell and fire at, simultaneously."

Gozer shook his reptilian head. "Sssssssn'No. In fact, it is my asssssertion that there are no tribble onboard the Baetal at all anymore. We did, in fact, jettissson our tribble ssssspawns out into ssssspace, once we returned to normal."

"But what if one or more came back? We know that specific breed was spaceborne, and could navigate the stars freely," Sigon countered. "You will assist me in The Great Tribble Hunt!"

The Gorn crossed his arms. "I can not further your delussssionsss, Captain. Besssidesss, that title wassss already taken by your people centuriessss ago."

"Do not correct me in my time of distress! You swore a supplementary oath to that," Sigon demanded. Then, "The Search for Tribble? The Wrath of Purr? Any of those doing it for you?"

Gozer rolled his eyes and took out his own disruptor. "That issss ssssufficient."

As they turned another corner, Sigon beheld the most horrible sight to be seen. The end of the corridor was filled with visions of tribble, crawling and vibrating all over each other!

"AUUGGGH! Their delightful rehash is so horrifyingly disgusting!?!?" Sigon took out his mek'leth and began hacking at all the creatures, incessantly. "Why would anyone partake in more adventures with you annoyances???"

Gozer attempted to hold the delirious Klingon back, but was incoherently pushed aside to facilitate the murderous rampage. "Captain Sssssssigon, no! Thossssse are our targ ssssupply!"

---

Entering the Bridge, Gozer helped a blood-covered Sigon to his seat.

"Well," Sigon muttered. "It appears I have unintentionally depleted our entire targ count. On the bright side, we will have triple the celebratory feast for the next few days! Qapla'!"

Bekk Tars approached him. "Sir, your behavior has been unacceptable as of late, and I am here to challenge you for command."

"Not now, Bekk Tars," Sigon got up, annoyed, and pushed the other Klingon to the floor. "The truth of the matter is, my Tribble pregnancy had a miscarriage. It is possible the incompletion resulted in a deficient rescinding of their venom within me, causing me residual hallucinations."

Gozer spoke up. "It isss more honorable to admit the truth of the losss of one'sss sspawn. Pre-birth contentionsss effects one in every four Klingonsss, and we should all have courage enough to ssstart a dialogue. Captian Sssssigon, would you like to see my ssscanss, confirming there are no Tribble anywhere on the ssship nor in the syssstem?"

"Yes, Gozer, that would be a great help," Sigon admitted, walking over to the tactical station. "And thank you for those inspirational words."

Suddenly, a nearing object on sensors caught Sigon's attention and sent him into panic mode.

"It's the Mother Tribble!?!? Kill her! Kill her with fire!!!"

Blasting disruptor and torpedoes out into space, the Baetal unloaded nearly its own weight in firepower onto the unsuspecting U.S.S. Tsunami. In no time flat, escape pods began ejecting out into space, leaving the Steamrunner-class Federation starship in near-complete ruin.

"What the hell, man!?!?" came the hail from Captain McCary from his escape pod. "All my stuff was in there??"

As soon as Sigon realized what he had done, it was too late. "Ohhhhh, warrior. By the rock opera voice of Kahless, I thought you were the Mother Tribble??"

"Clearly, I am not!"

Sigon moved around to approach the view screen. "By the Children of Grethor, I do apologize for my actions. They were not of conscious mind. You know the weird stuff that goes on in space. This time it was I, a male Klingon, who was reacting to my own miscarriage."

"Ugggh! And I got this ship in a starter pack from a third party dealer."

The Klingon Captain made a mental note not to shoot at Federation vessels anymore. It also appeared that everyone on the Bridge, including McCary, were now perceived by him as giant Tribbles.

"Well, anyway, who's up for that celebration? Blood wine for everyone!"

 

Seriously... you need to write a story about were-tribbles. Klingon by day... marauding giant tribbles by night...

And the Gorn's name is Gozer? Wasn't that the name of the goddess chick in Ghostbusters?

The hits just keep coming... Thanks!! rbs

 

Haha, it is!

 

Author's notes: I dropped off the Earth Spacedock RP for a bit, and then decided to jump in later with a new character and STO toon (Captain Elric) that would be meant exclusively for RP. Took a different approach and tried to mesh him with the other players' RP style of near line-by-line posting. As a result, this ends up being more character intro and acclimatization. Written in August 2016.​

Earth Spacedock, Pages 42-52
Captain Elric - Earth Spacedock, Operations

Captain Elric, a human and tactical officer, entered Operations aboard Earth Spacedock. His ship had been near-destroyed in a fire-fight with Na'kuhl, so he was awaiting re-assignment. Approaching the command ring, he nodded to Commander Allura, an Aenar and the station's Operations department head, who was at a console, working.

"Any word for me?" Elric asked, to Allura's consequently shaking head. "Well, I did do the Picard-ramming-ship-saucer-first thing, so it might be a while."

---

Admiral's Office

Elric was soon called into the Admiral's office, where Quinn handed him a PADD with mission details. "You're to join Captain Jade and Alternate Nat in acquiring proof of a suspected invasion from the Mirror Universe. Connect with them on what's going on."

"An invasion? That's serious. Yes, Admiral."

---

Infirmary

Elric wandered into the medical aid center, where patients and staff were in and out. There, he saw Nat and Krystal.

The Captain walked over. "Oh, hello. Sorry to interrupt. I'm Captain Elric of no starship in particular. I was assigned to assist in your mission. What's going on? You two look concerned."

Nat turned to Elric. "They're assigning captains who have had no involvement now. Welp, we're doomed." He relaxed a bit. "Just kidding. Captain Nat of no starship at all, probably. You know Admiral Nat? I'm an alternate version of him. A non-crazy one, luckily. As for the captain here..." He turned back to Krystal. "Could the nanites be capable of reproducing as to prevent removal? Maybe mirror Nat lied? Maybe he left another nanite and is doing this on purpose to get you out of the way?"

"Don't know," Krystal replied before turning to Elric. "Krystal Jade, U.S.S. Lexington."

"Nice to meet you two. As for me," Elric began. "I suppose the fact I nearly destroyed my last ship in a Na'khul battle kind of freed me up here. I got 'em though."

"Yea... well... I got rep for getting all the weird assignments," Krystal replied with a shrug.

"In your universe, maybe. In mine... well, I guess I--" Nat was stopped when he saw 11 of 14 walk in, coming over and handing Nat a PADD, then walking out without even saying a word.

"Alternate universe, huh? I imagine my counterpart is constantly on some adrenaline-running, high octane mission, like, all the time," Elric surmised.

Krystal again pushed herself up as if she was going to jump off the biobed to Nat's disapproval. "Nat, we've got a potential invasion in a week or so," Krystal said. "We don't have time for me to be poked with stuff to figure out what's going on."

"How bad is your condition, Captain Jade?" Elric asked.

"I feel fine right now," Krystal replied, unaware of the fact her right hand was enveloped in a light blue energy field. A nearby Medical Tricorder was also surrounded by an energy field of the same color.

"Whoa! Are you doing that?" Elric pointed to Jade's enveloped hand.

Krystal then saw her appendage, right before the medical tricorder floated over and landed in her hand. The glow dissipated shortly after that. "What... the frak... was that?"

"Some kind of telekinetic power? I'm impressed," Elric said.

Krystal looked at the tricorder. "Maybe this was a contengency plan? On the off chance I had to face off against someone with powers?" she said. "Probably can only do so much though, but it would still be quite a surprise. The only problem is... I don't know how to use this."

"Perhaps you won't know until you really need it," Elric figured. "Until then, you could test your abilities?"

"Maybe. But we still have a problem to deal with," Krystal replied as she got off the biobed.

Nat replied. "Yes. The mirror Alliance."

---

Admiral's Office

Later, Nat found Sarah and then they arrived at Admiral Quinn's office. "Sir, we have reason to believe that mirror Nat is planning to attack during the meeting with his alliance. We need to prepare."

Admiral Quinn nodded. "I'm already setting up large fleet 'patrols' in the core systems, but I have a feeling we're going to need more than that if they turn hostile."

Nat replied, "We considered the possibility of modifying ships to generate anti-tachyon pulses that would send their ships back to their universe, but we don't have any ships that can generate that amount of power. That said, I'd recommend we start making those modifications to our starbases immediately, starting with Earth Spacedock."

"Sounds like a good idea to me," Quinn replied. "Dismissed."

---

Infirmary

Nat arrived in time to find several nurses sprawled out on the deck, and Krystal being held at gunpoint by an Agony Phaser being held by the doctor, and a blue barrier protecting Krystal.

"As I have tried to explain, you're not going anywhere," the Doctor said in a dark tone.

Nat pulled out his phaser and pointed it at the doctor. "Put the phaser down, now."

"I think not," the doctor replied. "Admiral Leeta would be very interested in this... creature. Someone who's powers will in time rival those bestowed upon her by the Pah Wraiths themselves? Something like that can't be allowed to oppose her."

Krystal reached out, and a blue glow formed around the doctor's leg.

Nat aimed his phaser, set for stun, at the doctor, and fired. The blast struck the doctor square in the back. A personal shield flared up, and he staggered, but turned and aimed at Nat. Krystal made a wild sideways throw gesture, and the doctor suddenly had his feet taken out from under him, giving Nat an opening.

Nat lunged at the doctor and pinned him to the ground. "Start talking. Now."

Elric aimed a phaser from behind, backing Nat up.

"I'm not afraid of you," the doctor said as he continued to try and work something in his mouth. He seemed to be getting frustrated though with his lack of success.

"Problem, doctor?" Nat asked, knocking the doctor out with a swift hit over the head.

"It looks like he was fiddling with something in his mouth?" Elric observed. "A device, maybe?"

Krystal kept looking at her hand. "Poison tooth maybe," she said. "Oldest trick in the book."

"Classic," remarked Elric as he watched the security guards apprehend the unconscious Doctor. "By the way, Nat, how'd that meeting go?"

"Yeah, he took my recommendation that we modify our Starbases to emit anti-tachyon pulses, to protect them from anyone from the mirror universe."

A young Ensign Graff Elliot Sandara next arrived in the Infirmary. He noticed the scent of ozone and saw several security guards dragging an officer in a medical uniform out the door. Thoroughly weirded out by now he stepped inside. "Pardon me, I was told to deliver this PADD to sickbay." Graff handed over the PADD to Nat while looking at Krystal. "Ma'am! I studied the Lexington's voyages at the academy. The Iconian war, True Way, Captain, your ship is one of the most talked about ships!" Graff said with an incredulous look.

"Any mention about how I threw my ship at the Na'khul and nearly blew it to pieces last week?" Elric asked. "Well, ex-ship."

Graff looked and Elric and smiled awkwardly, "Sorry sir, I haven't been keeping up with the news lately." Graff turned his attention back to Nat. "Sir, is there anything on that PADD?"

Nat looked at the PADD. "Evidently not, but if it's classified, it may be hidden."

"I have experience in both local and alien decryption, including Starfleet Intelligence protocols. Quinn even cited me as an expert once, though I think he was just trying to get me to do more work. If there's something on that PADD he wants us to have unofficially, I can find it."

Nat handed the PADD over to Elric who got to work at a nearby console. "Go for it."

Graff looked at Elric and Nat with a confused stare, "Sirs, is there something here that I'm not being told about? With all do respect sirs, I do have a level 6 security clearance. My rank besides, I just was assigned to the U.S.S. Chamberlin as her fist officer. Captain Tritten thought that I was right for the job. The assignment was honestly a surprise. I guess I just did really well on the test scores."

Nat replied. "Well, I guess that works." He turned to Elric. "Anything?"

Elric had been working through the PADD until he was able break through the protection. "It appears to be recovered data on some alien artifact. How it relates to our mission, I'm not sure. I'll have to study what's on here."

Nat looked at Elric. "Does it resemble a medallion?"

"The data behind the protection itself appears to be fragmented. Though, part of what it depicts could be interpreted as a medallion, but possibly part of a larger whole." Elric glanced over at Nat. "Wait. Why'd you suggest that?"

"Apparently The Infamous used some kind of anti-Q medallion against some Q on ESD before he was captured. I figured they got the medallion and that they thought we could use it against Admiral Nat." Nat replied.

Graff looked around, obviously confused.

Elric nodded. "Perhaps the Ensign and I should be briefed on some things."

"Probably should be somewhere more comfortable than sickbay," Krystal suggested. "My ship. My rules. Crew Lounge to meet up, then we can go to my Ready Room. Figured the junior officers might feel more comfortable with a more public location to start."

"Very well," replied Elric. "As soon as I can, I'd like to investigate the aformentioned data on this medallion further. In the meantime, I'll see you on the ship."

 

Author's notes: This is a part of my Ragnarok series posted on the Star Trek Online forums, focusing on Captain Seifer and his new ship. This carries on from "Tabletop Beginnings". Written in September 2016.​

Anthology of Ragnarok #2
Department Heads

The Pathfinder-class with Discovery-class pylons U.S.S. Ragnarok trekked through space, aimlessly and haphazardly. Captain Oroku Seifer met with his senior staff in the ship's briefing room. Everyone's attention settled and turned to the Joined Trill.

"Now, I'd like to go around the table and have everyone introduce themselves and say one thing interesting about you," ordered Seifer.

Lieutenant Commander Winry, human and chief engineer, raised her hand. "Sir, permission to not engage in such a lame exercise?"

"It's not lame. Captain Shon of the Enterprise-F did the exact same thing, he told me once, while smirking, at a party," defended Seifer.

Lieutenant Edward, human and helm operator, added her own remark. "Yeaaah, it's a little dumb."

"Uh, it's not that bad," Lieutenant Commander Aramaki, human and tactical officer, interjected. "It's a way for us to get to know each other. Am I right, Cetra?"

The telepathically suppressed Betazoid and ship's doctor, replied, "I don't care. I just want this conversation over with."

"Ugh!" Everyone then looked over to the science officer and Caitian, Lieutenant Commander Moggs, who, instead of adding to the discussion, coughed up a hairball. "Ack! Sorry. Note: Do not have the replicated soufflé after a self-bath."

Seifer waved all the kafuffle away. "No, no. You guys are completely right. It's the poster child of annoying team exercises. I move we all look up each other's profiles on the Federation social media network. All those in favor?"

"Aye!" the rest of the group rung in unison.

The Captain activated the presentation screen behind them and brought up everyone's entrance test results. "Next item on our list, your aptitude numbers. Now, I know there is only so much one person is capable of, but we have to compete with other ships and then gloat about it in their faces, a-la LaForge and his warp engine addiction."

"Aptitude, sir? Is that really necessary? We all aspire to be more than the sum of our parts— that is, our organic parts," said Winry, trying not to subconsciously mimic an android.

The Captain nodded. "Although we have only been together for a short time, I know that you are the finest crew in the fleet and I would trust each of you with my life."

"That is crazy. How would you even just know that out of nowhere unless you’ve been time traveling? Are you saying you’re from the future, Captain?" asked Moggs.

Seifer crossed his arms defensively. "I very well could be. Would that make you comply? Is time travel still fresh and new to you?"

"Quite the opposite, sir. I feel like it's been done to death, gone back into the past, and done to death again," argued Winry.

Aramaki nodded. "Actually, I would interject that it's gone into the future, seen its death, and tried to reassert itself in the past."

"Okay, that's enough. Time travel is never dead. Never so long as there's a selfish desire to crossover things!" the Captain refuted.

Winry continued. "But that's just it. The self-indulgent use of it has only now soured our tastes and any such mention of going forward or back is anything but exciting."

"I suppose I used to think just like you, recoiling at the thought of a quick jump or temporal reset. But, in my dragging days or weeks aboard Spacedock— I don't even know— without a ship, I've grown to appreciate the access we now have to such madness. Together we can make it fresh again!" Seifer preached.

Edward pulled out an ancient alien statue out from underneath the table and placed it on the top for everyone to see. "Ahhhh, fresh like this?"

"Sir??" Doctor Cetra said. "Are you pro-time-travel because you couldn't figure out this really old artifact?"

Seifer looked at the turn of events, perplexed. "Huh? Oh, somewhat. But that's a statue from the Verath system. It's a depiction of one of their sub-ossemites. Captain Terry acquired it before he blew himself up during my Spacedock days."

"It appears to be eating a baby ossemite," observed Moggs.

The Captain tilted his head. "Wait. You know about this stuff?"

"Ehhh, I don't know about you guys," started Winry, "But I eat ancient architecture papers for breakfast. Helps with engine indigestion. This Verathan top likely rotates to align one of the three sub-ossemite statue sides with the baby at its bottom."

Moggs pointed. "That baby's head looks like a bilitrium jewel. It's a highly powerful mineral."

"Well, yeah, actually, the Verathan inscriptions on its side depict the baby as a power source," Seifer explained. "I suspected the second sub-ossemite to be the power consumer, so I switched it to him before you all entered the briefing room."

Aramaki leaned in to take a look. "You would be correct, had the second one been wearing the energy symbol, but according to what we know of their upper-class society, sometimes their energy responsibilities lay with the third sub-ossemite."

"Of course!" Seifer snapped his fingers. "Wait. You study anthropology?"

The tactical officer shrugged. "It ties into behavioral performance. That, and there's this smoking hot Tellarite chick who's into it too."

"Well, I'm not going to comment on that last part, but your logic is perfectly acceptable, I assume," Seifer agreed.

Everyone watched as the Captain took the statue and rotated the upper half until the side with the third sub-ossemite aligned with its open mouth over the jewel-headed baby. The object then started to emanate a low-level glow from its cracks, and the baby's head began to emit hovering, short-range clumps of energized matter.

"Something inside of that thing activated the bilitrium," reported Moggs as he scanned with his tricorder. "Harmful radiation levels are rising."

Seifer placed his commbadge onto it. "Captain to transporter room. Lock on to my signal and beam it out into space."

"Right away, sir! Except, I can't get a lock due to some kind of interference," Ensign Khalid answered over air. "Huh. I guess any of us can fall victim to the 'some kind of' trope after all."

The Captain took his commbadge back and unsuccessfully rotated the statue, whilst perplexed. "Why'd they make a device that powers up like this?"

"Uhhh, huh. Worship reasons, me thinks," spoke up a quirky Lieutenant Edward. "Yep. I know religions. You offer your statue praise. Praise it, yes!"

Cetra sighed. "There was once a supposed Verathan event where massive offerings of flower pedals, native to their planet, was unloaded at one of their power-shrines." Then, to explain: "Doctor and occasional history buff. Don't ever ask me why."

"A Saurian flower comes close to what some botantists believed was the molecular construct of Verathan flowers," offered Moggs. "Though, there wasn't much by way of confirming this."

Seifer put the statue on the table and went over to the replicator. "Well, there is now. Anyone want a coffee or tea while I'm up here?"

"Sir, the radiation will pass the kill-us threshold within seconds," continued Cetra. "Seconds!"

The Captain nodded at her over-acting as he brought the replicated flower before the statue. The matter around it then began to fade and the flower started to wither.

"Levels dropping," reported Moggs, who then eyed the flower. "Anyone going to eat that?"

Winry sat up. "You know, we could have all just gotten up and left the room. Basic Survival 101."

"In the middle of a briefing?? That's crazy talk, Winry," argued Aramaki. "That goes on our permanent records, you know."

Seifer sat down and examined the statue. Its glow completely faded. "Fascinating. Since it only took one flower, this thing could be a mini-home version of something much larger. Perhaps something at that event Cetra mentioned."

"Captain, you were right about the madness," offered Winry. "Perhaps such things are worth it after all."

The Trill put the statue down. "And we make a pretty good team. —Computer! Delete the crew's aptitude information."

"Acknowledged," the computer chirped. "Crew academic records deleted from the Federation-wide database."

Aramaki threw up his hands. "Now we'll never be able to transfer to another ship!"

"Is that all for this meeting, sir?" asked Winry. "Are we ever going to do space stuff?"

Seifer changed the presentation screen. "Well, there is this request from a Deferi colony world for Starfleet assistance. But I told them to stop being whiny babies. Now that we're a well-oiled machine, we can say those things."

"Oooh! Gonna make ship go, go, go!" Edward sat up, excited.

The Captain rolled his eyes. "Oh, alright. We'll go check it out. But after that, you all have to develop a poker routine, where I come in at the end of seven years and you all love it."

"Fine. But no time travel, ever," bargained Winry. "Especially if that's the result of your planned-poker-reluctance."

Seifer sat uneasy. "Uggh. I guess. But you'd all better have an unrelenting affection for me by the end of it all." Then he turned to the crew, excited for the future and their adventures. "Dismissed!"

 

They don't teach those survival courses at Franchise Trek... Always a fun read - Thanks!! rbs

 

Haha, a casual stand up and stroll out the door is a new class they're offering.

 

Author's notes: These are compiled posts for Captain Elric, my new toon for STO that would be meant exclusively for the Earth Spacedock RP on the Star Trek Online forums. Written in September 2016.​

Earth Spacedock, Pages 52-59
Earth Spacedock - Deck 47

Krystal smiled and lead the way from the Infirmary over to the Lexington. Nat followed, still a little annoyed by their choosing such an obvious location. "Jade to Lexington. Do a sweep of the ship for anything out of the ordinary. Also run a check on the ship's computer for any anomalous programs or anything."

Graff headed for a weapons locker, retrieved a hand phaser and phaser rifle, body armor and personal shield generator. He then followed the others to the Lexington. "It pays to be prepared!" he said, noticing the others stares.

As Captain Elric was walking, he couldn't shake his own incessant curiosity. There was something about the fragmented data's described dimensions and composition that he just couldn't pin. Elric was certain he was seeing familiarity to what he surmised were extrapolated scans on the PADD in his hands.

"Excuse me for a moment," he said to the others, apologetically. "Please continue to the briefing. I'll meet you there."

Instead of heading to Deck 47's giant transporter pad, he turned and headed for the turbolifts.

Krystal led the group to where the Lexington was docked. At the airlock was an attractive young Andorian woman leaning against the wall. They made their way to the main lounge at the bow of the ship.

Elric stepped into the storage facility next to Spacedock's security office. He accessed the database and located Storage Locker 38. After inputting his clearance code, the small door along the wall opened and he took out an average-sized medallion.

"Well, that's something," he said to himself. "The etchings on its front appear to be of an alien god, similar to the data on the PADD, similar to a stone tablet that was recently discovered on Leora IV."

He turned it over and noticed its back contained grooved teeth as if it was part of a mechanism. Further study would be needed, but he had a meeting to get to.

Elric made his way through Earth Spacedock to the transporter pad on Deck 47. He nodded to the operator when Elric was suddenly dematerialized, instead, by a non-Starfleet confinement beam.

---

U.S.S. Lexington

After a minute, Krystal started tapping on the table. "Something feels off," she said. "Elric should have been here by now..."

Nat nodded in agreement.

Ensign Aurelia Banks, research and analysis expert, looked up immediately. "You think so? Where was he going, d'you know?"

Graff gripped his rifle more closely. "He needed to check on something or othe... damn it!"

Nat sat there. In a moment, he seemed a little worried. Almost as though he could sense something bad coming.

"Nat... better check with ESD," Krystal suggested.

Nat shook his head. "No, not that. Something else entirely. Something. Yeah, check with ESD about Elric. I have something else to check up on..." He got up and walked over to a comm panel nearby, evidently contacting Starfleet Command. After a few minutes, he came back and practically fell back into his chair.

11 of 14 scanned Nat. She raised an eyebrow. "Nat, you've got chroniton particles, particularly in your brain."

Nat replied, "They did say time went by a lot faster inside the Chronostorm. I suppose it's possible that when they returned us to 'normal' time, we didn't quite align with it properly. I can see the future, and Krystal seems to have been developing powers a lot faster than she should have."

---

Captain Elric - Brig

Elric found himself in a darkened starship holding cell, with no idea where he was. Looking around, his first thought was to find a method of escape. While feeling the walls for a hidden control panel, he was suddenly surprised to see an emblem decorated on the side; one he recognized immediately. The Terran Empire.

---

U.S.S. Lexington - Ready Room

Krystal motioned for everyone to follow her before heading up to the Bridge. After a brief check in with her crew, she went into her Ready Room and sat behind her desk to continue with the others.

---

Captain Elric - Brig

Elric continued searching for a way out of his cell, appalled at the fact he was kidnapped before the meeting with them, though, not surprised. It was then he noticed the force field was off all along. He was never confined to begin with. To that, he left the Brig and began walking the ship.

---

U.S.S. Lexington - Ready Room

Aurelia nodded in silence as she listened to Krystal. "That reminds me, Captain Elric still hasn't arrived. We should ask them if they know where he is."

Nat nodded in agreement.

"I don't know who it is you want to send for from Earth Spacedock, but I can ring up about Captain Elric," Aurelia volunteered. She went over to the comms panel and evidently made a call to ESD Ops. "This is Ensign Banks, can you tell me the current location of a Captain Elric? He was to meet some people here and he hasn't. We're a bit worried about him."

"Let me bring up the... He's not here. Down as having left the station 22 minutes ago, by transporter."

"For the U.S.S. Lexington?"

"That's right."

"I see. Thank you. Just a moment." Aurelia puts her hand over the panel. "Well," she says, unnecessarily, "he's not here."

"Computer, locate Captain Elric," Krystal said.

"Captain Elric is not aboard this vessel," the Computer replied.

---

Captain Elric - I.S.S. Ameratsu

Elric had raided a weapons locker and trained his disruptor forward as he entered an empty Bridge. He could see that the ship was on course for Leora IV. Suddenly, the view screen clicked on and he saw himself— or, rather, the mirror universe version of himself.

"Elric, I've been watching you and I've given you my ship for one purpose: To track the source of that find, the data of which you have acquired from Admiral Quinn. You do not have to share anything with me, nor do you owe me anything. There is no catch. We merely have similar goals. Now, be forewarned, the transwarp beaming device on this ship is faulty, and may still transport people at random from your Spacedock. It's damaged Jem'Hadar technology, but it's not like more crew would do you harm. I'd be there myself, to prove who's the better Elric, but, unfortunately, I'm indisposed with other matters at the moment. We'll have to contest another time. Elric out."

Later, Elric slouched in the Captain's chair, flipping through the fragmented data on his PADD. He had sent out a message to Starfleet Command, informing them of his situation, and requesting orders. He expected to be returning home, but when the communications signal chriped, indicating a reply from Admiral Quinn, all it said was, "Proceed."

When Elric's ship reached Leora IV, he went to the helm and put the vessel into orbit. Getting back up and walking passed the ship's dedication plaque, he noticed its name. The I.S.S. Amaterasu, the mirror version of his own ship, which he had previously nearly destroyed. "Computer, set a new rule: If that unpredictable transwarp beaming device pulls anyone from home onto the ship, transport them down to my coordinates. Acknowledge?"

The computer chirped in agreement. Elric nodded and then went to the transporter room, himself, and beamed to the planet surface.

---

Leora IV

After Captain Elric spoke with the archaeologists at the dig site on Leora IV, he left them and began touring the uncovered ancient structures on a grey, cloudy evening. There was once a human colony on the planet, but what his tricorder could determine from these stone buildings was that these constructs, instead, dated back to several thousands of years. As he pondered the catalogue of unknown ancient god etchings discovered here in the past decade, and how they were similar to what was on his PADD and the medallion, he thought he heard something moving and following him nearby.

"Hello?"

He paused for a second and determined the sound was of something small, scurrying around. Then, before he could decipher what was in the shadows, the ground beneath him broke through and he fell into a vertical tunnel feeding deep within the planet.

 

Author's notes: This was written in September 2016, as part of the Star Trek Online forums Unofficial Literary Challenge #27. Qu was last seen in ULC 14.​

Unofficial Literary Challenge #27: Prompt #1: While investigating strange extra-dimensional anomalies, you are surprised when a bright flash of light washes over the ship. Everyone is blinded momentarily. For a second, all seems normal. Then hundreds of nude bodies appear all over the ship falling from nowhere. One body in particular appears on the bridge...Q! It seems that something or someone has ousted the entire Continuum from their realm and into ours. Who could do such a thing? And how do you plan on helping the Q regain their realm? And for God's sake, could someone get these people some pants?!​

Unofficial Literary Challenge #27
How the Mighty Have Fallen

The Kurak-class I.K.S. Baetal sat out in deep space, plotting its next big celebration. Captain Sigon paced the Bridge, trying to narrow down his list of venue choices on a PADD.

"Did we ever conquer the Cardassian homeworld? I seem to remember it being taken in a Klingon attack?" Sigon asked.

Gozer replied, "No, that wasssss a Dominion War battle, which we shared with the Federation."

"Ah. It's probably full of bubbly Federation babies of the chubby variety and whatnot. Definitely not party material," concluded Sigon. "Scary, though."

Lieutenant Tenogh looked up from his operations console. "Captain, I am detecting a surge of lens flares coming from within the ship!?"

"Quickly, Tenogh, lock out the main computer!" Sigon snapped.

Tenogh looked at him quizzically. "Is that a human British accent, sir?"

But before Sigon could reply, the entire Bridge flashed with naked Q bodies everywhere. One of them stood up and brushed himself off. "Sorry," he said. "The Continuum just sneezed us out."

"It's a Q??" reacted the Captain. "I have always vowed to catch one of you, steal your latinum and make you grant me three wishes."

The naked man held up his hand. "Uh, the name is Qu. It sounds the same but is spelled differently. Also, that myth is only true during Earth's St. Patrick's Day for some reason."

"Why were you deposssssited on the Baetal considering the U.S.S. Ragnarok is in the next sector?" the Gorn tactical officer asked.

Qu rolled his eyes. "We were aiming for them, but it's not exactly easy when omnipotent mucus is in your eye. Anyway, several groups of Q have been plopped onto various ships this passed month. It seems some hyper-Q called Admiral Nat is bloating over-poweredness until nothing makes sense anymore."

"Have you tried a Civil War motif?" Sigon asked.

Qu spun around, flailing his nudity. "That was the first thing we tried! Alas, the only thing left to do is wait for the resulting omni-snort, which will bring us back in."

"Ugh!" Sigon recoiled at the nakedness. "At least you people could materialize with some clothes?? Even Picard's people maintained properly adjusted attire after their 'youthening' from a molecular reversion field."

The omnipotent being snapped at him. "Hey! We trot around all eternity like this, in our realm, completely comfortable with who we are. It's your backward mortal society that demands everyone be dressed all the time. And what is up with your uniform having no discernible updates? Even Starfleet got the Odyssey uniform which no one follows?"

"We do, as a people, place over-bearing social exssspectationssss on everyone for various things," Gozer admitted.

Sigon nodded. "Even the Empire's rules are hard-demanding compared to other cultures. Perhaps we can learn something from the Betazoids, and their naked weddings."

"Well, I'm glad we the Continuum could help open your eyes," Qu said as he and the rest began to feel the rising pull of the universe on their backs. "Looks like our realm's respire is immanent! You might want to scrub the extra-dimensional mucus off your hull before it hardens! Qu out!"

And, with that, all the Q flashed away in an odd form of love and togetherness, back to the Q Continuum where they came from.

Sigon began taking off his uniform. "New rules for the ship! We must all be clotheless during duty!"

"Captain, wait," Gozer interrupted, placing a hand to stop his commanding officer. "The Cardasssssianss employ nudity in their interrogation proceduresss, and they may misconstrue our dominance if we ever encountered them."

The Captain stopped. "Oh, right. Well, what's that planet with all the weirdly dressed, half naked people? Rubicun III, right? The Edo? Let's go there!"

"Yes, Captain," Gozer conceded. He would have to work out before their arrival. Suddenly, all the crew on the Bridge eyed each other, untrustingly, in immediate competition for gym time. It begins, the Gorn realized.

The Baetal then turned in space and jumped to warp.

 

Always my favorite... that line about sounds the same but spelled different is National Lampoon worthy. Thanks!! rbs

 

Haha! Right? How else would you know it was him?