Captain Elric - Earth Spacedock
Elric leapt to his feet and accessed a nearby console. "Clear the Changeling!" he ordered. He then put a forcefield around Changeling Sarah. On another console, he noticed a warning message notifying Operations that there was suddenly invasive technology located in the cargo bays. It appeared as if the anti-Undine devices were phase-shifting into their universe and malfunctioning.
He brought up the cargo bay scans and looked at the data quickly.
"Well, there they are. But they appear to be broken now, possibly by what suppressant this Undine is using."
Doctor Melzine got up, annoyed. "Are you going scan things, or are you going to deal with the situation?" He threw Elric a hypo. "Anti-Undine nanoprobes. I never pack a medical kit without them."
"You sure are prepared for things," Elric observed. He then approached the Undine Sarah and readied the hypo in his cybernetic hand. "Stand down. Are you with Captain Jade's armada?"
The Undine, seemingly angered by the thought, swatted Elric away, glaring at him. Now, Elric somehow just knew that the Undine was very angry now. They were probably an enemy of the armada. Armour materialized on the Undine, as did a ground-scale antiproton cannon on the Undine's wrist, aiming the miniature planet-killer at Melzine, while motioning for them all to put their weapons down.
The changeling, by now, was standing there, glancing at the Undine. "For some reason, I sense that we're here for the same thing." They turned to Elric, continuing. "Stand down and give us what we want, and no one will be harmed."
"What is it you want?" Elric asked.
The changeling went to say something, but the Undine motioned them to stop, whilst looking at the Sally outside the window.
The Undine narrowed its eyes at the dreadnought, quickly turned to Elric, then abruptly shot the window, blasting it open and venting the air and numerous redshirts out into space. The Undine darted out the window moments before a force field materialized and went flying at the Sally. Before the Undine even hit the ship, the ship had already visibly lost power.
---
U.S.S. Sally
The Undine smashed a window open and forced itself inside the vessel before a force field (powered by emergency power) appeared.
---
U.S.S. Sally, Main Sickbay
The lights went out completely, but then the room lit up from the lights on the armor of the two MACOs, and a red glow from 8 of 14's eyepiece. Nat turned to them furiously. "What the hell was that!?"
The MACO replied to the admiral. "Main power and auxiliary power were taken down by an Iconian computer virus. We have a security breach, apparently from a single Undine operative."
8 of 14 added. "I'd guess the Undine may be affiliated with the Undine faction of the Behemoth. They may be here for Krystal and her armada."
---
Earth Spacedock
Scott rushed over to the nonexistent window filled with forcefield, at the empty space that once contained the Sally. "They just disappeared into subspace."
"Well, so much for our down-time," Elric said as he used Spacedock scanners on the spot outside the window where the Sally was. "It appears as if their transition into nothing is subspace, much like the Solanae or Elachi. If the Sally was hijacked, where did they take her? Back to that Armada?"
Scott sighed. "I'd guess they're after Krystal, like the Undine, and this changeling here..." he finished, motioning to the changeling.
"Definitely worth a sigh. Maybe even two," Elric agreed.
The changeling sighed. "I only know that I was sent to replace Sarah Walker, and acquire Krystal Jade. No one said anything about Undine, Elachi, Solanae, or anything of that nature. They must have plans of their own."
Scott turned to the changeling, then to Elric. "You never know how many different factions might want her for one reason or another, most, if not all reasons regarding the armada. We need to track the ship and try to follow them. The Chronostorm might be able to."
Elric sighed. "Oh, great. Now you've got me doing it. Never mind. We should take command of the Chronostorm. Commander Scott, are you familiar with that ship?"
Scott replied. "Me and Captain Nat have already got the ship nearly operational. We're not very familiar with it, but we're figuring it out, slowly."
Elric almost sighed, but didn't. "Very good. Let's make it so." After Scott beamed out, he turned to Captain Lyras. "Any assistance from your end would be appreciated, unless you've got other plans."
"Of course, my crew and I are at your disposal." The Vulcan paused. "Before we get started, however, there is the matter of the woman the undine and changeling was sent to impersonate. It is likely that she is incapacitated somewhere, or worse, in order to avoid walking in on the imposters and ruining their plans." Lyras's brow furrowed, her voice somber, "Efforts should be made to determine her fate, if at all possible."
Elric nodded. "Agreed. Your logic is impeccable. If any of your men want to assist Spacedock's security chief, Commander Reeve, in a search, that would be fine. Though, it's also possible she was on the Sally before it was lost. In the meantime, perhaps we should join the others on the Chronostorm, if what Scott says about about its abilities to track a ship in subspace is true, we may not have much time." He then tapped his commbadge. "Elric to Commander Reeve."
"Reeve here."
The Captain continued. "Start a search for Captain Sarah Walker and detain this changeling for questioning." He tapped his commbadge again. "Elric to Commander Batou."
"Batou here, in Engineering. There better not be a window breech in Operations or anything."
Elric hesitated. "How'd you—? Never mind. Just get up here and fix it. And it's not our fault." As he turned, he was met with Doctor Melzine.
"Your arm seems to be in working order. But don't forget, you have to meet me for regular calibrations," Melzine said.
He groaned. "After you did this without my permission? It's like you don't care about procedure at all! How many other officers have you fitted with cybernetic components? Menn Hilo seems to have been sitting on that bench for quite some time now. Anyway, I'll be on the Chronostorm."
---
I.S.S. Chronostorm, Bridge
Nat sat around in the captain's chair, watching the bridge crew prepare the ship for travel. He then noticed a Captain Sarah Walker by the right-side helm and tactical stations. Scott pulled out his relativity phaser and walked over to the so-called Sarah. "Mind if we get a blood sample to be sure?"
Sarah nodded. When Salora, the ship's medical officer walked over to Sarah and got a blood sample, everyone looked at the results curiously. "Yep, she's human alright."
Nat sighed then hailed Elric. "Cancel the search for Sarah. I think we've got her here."
"Oh, I'm right behind you," Elric said. "Was here for a while actually." He then tapped his commbadge. "Elric to Reeve. Call off the search. Sarah's on the Chronostorm, as am I."
*Click!?* came the eruption of the android spider clamped to his shoulder.
"And so is Zeta, which he wanted you to know as well for some reason," the Captain finished.
The Chronostorm began generating a rift to subspace, entering the rift and scanning for the Sally after crossing the rift.
Lyras was unsure of what to make of that information. She couldn't help but feel like a third wheel in all of this... everyone else seemed so much more... Knowledgeable? Confident? she sighed internally. Maybe I should have stayed back at the space dock... After all, it's not like they need me here. I barely know what's going on! Oh well, too late now...
Elric watched the screen intently. Everyone was doing their job perfectly as the Chronostorm cloaked before nearing the Sally and the I.S.S. Firestorm. Nat Q-disappeared to deal with Mirror Nat. Elric and Lyras appeared to be in auxiliary roles. Elric knew being Captain meant waiting in many cases, but neither he nor her were in command. Elric turned to Lyras.
"Think we have time to find the bar?" he said half-jokingly, though toying with the idea as well.
Sarah sighed. "They never should have put a bar on the ship anyway."
Scott then pulled Lyras outside the Bridge to talk and Elric turned, momentarily. "Whoa, wait. Is there a secret bar that Scott knows about? Also, it seems Nat used his powers again. He told me he was being tempted by power hungry insanity but was restraining it. Now he may have just opened the door to his own madness."
Sarah sighed. "No, he's just using the only obvious option to undo this mess. Besides, if anyone captures Krystal, we're all done for."
"I'm not as ready to believe that," replied Elric. "Anyway, are we able to determine what is happening down there? What is the status of the ship?"
Sarah got up and walked over to the captain's chair, waiting for a report. Some other relief officer spoke up. "There are intruders everywhere of every known species. Mirror Nat currently controls the ship, but appears to be in the grip of Captain Nat."
"Well, you better hope the captain doesn't go power crazy. We already tried the anti-Q medallions here on the ship." Sarah replied to Elric. "They disable his powers alright, but the powers come back just as quickly when he's away from the medallions as well. It'd take something a lot more powerful to actually get rid of the powers indefinitely."
"Hm. I may have something just for that," Elric suggested. "There's an amplifier which increases the power of the medallions. Though, there may even yet be more pieces to it still to be discovered."
A Caitian Starfleet officer, apparently one of the crew, walked passed Elric and accessed a console. The cloak suddenly began to fluctuate around the ship.
Sarah pulled out her phaser and stunned the Caitian. "There weren't any Caitians in our crew."
"What? Then who is this?" Elric went over to the fallen officer and checked him. He looked normal. "He may be brainswashed like the other Caitians I've encountered. What's the status of our cloak?"
3 of 5 replied. "The cloak just dropped. The Firestorm isn't reacting, however. They must know what's going on."
---
Engineering
A Caitian in Starfleet uniform entered and began sabotaging internal systems. She placed a handheld device against the temporal and engine controls, sending a disruptive and continual spike into the ship. Several consoles throughout the place exploded.
4 of 7 shot down the Caitian, and the engineering crew removed the devices.
---
Bridge
4 of 7 called up to the bridge. "Sir, a Caitian sabotaged the--"
Sarah shouted at Elric. "How the hell did this happen!? It was because you just had to come with us, you..." She turned to 3 of 5, glaring angrily. He reached out with a mobile emitter, activating a MACO style emergency security hologram. "Capture every Caitian on this ship." Sarah ordered the holographic MACO. "Use whatever force is necessary, and take as many security officers as you need to help you. Just bring them down."
"I what, Sarah? If we had known Nat was going to use his powers, no one would have needed to come. He could send the entire invasion crew off the Sally and Mirror Nat back to his universe with the snap of his fingers."
A Caitian suddenly broke out a jeffery's tube and fired a disruption device into the weapons console. 3 of 5 dodged the attack easily, but the console exploded. Sarah shot the Caitian.
Sarah glared at Elric. "So you only came because you don't trust the captain? Well, that's great. Now look what you've done."
Scott walked back in, evidently saving his conversation with Lyras for later. He looked over at one of the viewscreens, which now displayed a Terran Empire Galaxy-X-class dreadnought I.S.S. Sally, incoming. 3 of 5 seemed very bothered. "That incoming dreadnought is beaming somebody to the..."
A figure started to materialize on the bridge. It was... Data? It didn't seem possible. He looked around, noticing Elric. "Captain..."
He picked up Elric with one hand, and threw him across the bridge. The crew opened fire on the android, but their weapons did no damage against his shields.
Elric landed on his feet then bolted back toward Mirror Data. Zeta leapt off Elric, ahead of him, launched several cables into the android and shocked the enemy with energy currents. Elric then met Data with a punch to the android's face with Elric's left android arm. Data went flying back into the helm console, destroying it by impact.
"For the record," Elric said as Data returned, fast, to Elric to launch a kick. "I came because I was concerned about the other crew."
Elric caught the incoming leg with his left arm and then swung Data around into a wall console, smashing it. Zeta crawled along the wall and then injected the android's head with two of his spider legs, firing another current of energy into him. The Captain followed up with a force-palm into the other man's head, burying it deep within the console.
"Honestly, I never thought I'd have to do that to Data," he said, shocked.
Data came back up and swung at Elric, knocking him off his feet. He then proceeded to grab Zeta and squeezed until Zeta starting sparking, disabling the robot spider as Data tossed him aside.
Sarah smiled. "He's immune to electric shocks and such, ya know." She shot Elric with her phaser, stunning him.
The bridge crew shot up and attacked the evidently now-exposed mirror Sarah, but were all beamed off the ship, along with everyone else on the ship (Data aside), finding themselves on the U.S.S. Sally.
---
U.S.S. Sally, Engineering
Mirror Sarah glanced down at the disabled robot spider by her feet, and kicked it aside as she walked over to mirror Nat. "Game over."
Mirror Nat glared at mirror Sarah. "I don't believe this..."
Mirror Sarah shrugged. "Was on the Chronostorm the entire time. Silly crew thought my blood was assurance enough that I was the real one. By the way, the Chronostorm is mine now, as is this copy-cat of a ship." She continued, turning to Captain Nat, who seemed to be in a bit of pain. "Also, I got an anti-Q medallion on hand, so don't try anything."
Admiral Nat sighed. "What do you want? Don't tell me you're after Krystal too."
Mirror Sarah raised an eyebrow. "Oh, of course. Everyone is."
8 of 14 tried to wake Elric, and 11 of 14 crouched by Zeta, examining the robot spider.
Mirror Sarah walked closer to Admiral Nat. "Now, as for my demands in exchange for your lives." Mirror Sarah turned to Krystal and grabbed her by the arm. "You."
The glowing Trill then grabbed her. "You wanna know what kind of day I've had?" she asked before throwing Mirror Sarah to the ground and pulsing energy through her. It was as if she was experiencing Krystal's pain for herself. It was pretty clear now that Krystal was not thinking like a Starfleet Officer right now. She was angry, and she wasn't holding back.
The Undine then came crashing in through a wall, knocking Mirror Sarah away and sending Krystal flying across main engineering. The Undine narrowed its eyes on Krystal. Captain Nat tried to stay sane and not exercise his powers.
Captain Nat leaned over to Krystal. "It's your control over the Infamous Armada. That's what they're all after."
"Well they can forget that," Krystal replied. "I've got plans to help people in need and to be ready for any galactic level threats. I'm not a Conqueror. I'm a Guardian." She shook her head. "As far as the rest of the galaxy is concerned, the Armada is the Boogyman. A rumor. Let it stay that way." She looked at Captain Nat. "Control of the Armada is off the table. It is my responsibility. My burden. I can't let anyone who could abuse that power have control."
Elric sat up and clutched his head in pain. "I feel like I just was hit by a Delta-class shuttle."
The hand-sized crystal spinner-looking android spider Zeta sparked momentarily and then popped up to his feet. *Click! Cccckkkkllick!?* Three of his legs were malfunctioning as he wandered, confused, a few steps to the right and bumped into Elric.
The Captain then picked up the spider and placed it on his own arm so it could regenerate and run self diagnostics. "Anyone have an ice pack or a bag of frozen vegetables?"
11 of 14 sighed and walked over to Zeta, specifically. "You're welcome, by the way."
Nat then deadpanned to everyone else. "Get off this ship." He snapped his fingers and the various intruders were returned to their ships, and their ships returned to their space.
The Sally appeared outside Earth Spacedock in a white flash and the captain turned to the admiral. "We're back at ESD and the intruders are back where they belong. Oh, and I think I can change probability so no one can kidnap Krystal or anything, but give me time on that one, I'm still figuring out how these powers work."
Burt raised a hand. "Um, what did you do with the Chronostorm?"
Captain Nat went blank for a moment. "Oops."
---
Starbase 144, Mirror Universe
The Chronostorm, piloted by Mirror Data, arrived at Mirror Sarah's headquarters, Starbase 144, and docked within the base's powerful anti-Q field. The vessel was immediately boarded by mirror Sarah's androids and, evidently, couldn't be rescued now.
---
Earth Spacedock - Operations
Elric entered the busy area where Engineering had just finished replacing the large window. He approached Commander Batou, who was looking upon his repair work in satisfaction.
"Just think, if that hadn't happened, you wouldn't be feeling a sense of achievement," Elric suggested.
Batou furrowed his brow. "That isn't worth all the damage you people do to Spacedock on a regular basis. The Undine, Mirror Borg, an Armada, Q-powers. What's next??"
"A little convoluted OP madness to realize that good should be the decisive force behind any type of power is worth it in my opinion. What the?" Elric then was given a report from Ensign Otis. "It says that Q is sitting in a giant chair in the Main Concourse."
The Engineer cringed before walking away. "Ugh! He appears far too often within a single year promoting his Winter Wonderland! I'm going to extract more Borg components."
