Star Trek: Phoenix-X
Vitality Remake, Part I
In the vast, interstellar vacuum of the cold, hard emptiness, a lone, run-down space station drifted through the void before incoming company. A desperate Emergency Medical Hologram, a man of stylized brown hair and a half-chiseled jaw, stepped into the medical center to check on the end-progress of his five large bio-reconstruction alcoves.
"Regeneration cycle complete," came the computer's voice after an alert klaxon.
Taking a deep, simulated breath the EMH walked over to a console in front of the chambers. Inside each one was an unconscious, peaceful person, frozen in-place, all of whom wore varying uniforms.
"Thanks, Computer," the simulated man anticipated. "Here goes nothing."
His last hope. The hologram began moving several hovering shapes above his console, prompting each alcove door to slowly dematerialize and disperse the cold, preservation gas out onto the floor. Each person then began waking up.
"Ugh," grogged Jean-Luc Picard as he slowly opened his eyes and took in the medical bay before him. "What? Where am I?"
The EMH held up a palm. "Greetings. It's going to take a moment or so before your cognizance focuses."
"What the hell is going on?" O'Brien furrowed while stepping out of his chamber as the others had begun, as well.
Picard took notice of Miles O'Brien, an officer he had worked with in the past. "Chief." Then, he saw Tuvok, Ensign Hoshi Sato and Doctor Leonard H. McCoy. Everyone took everyone else in.
"Now, just be calm, everyone. I know you have questions," the EMH staggard.
McCoy's eyes widened at the sight of the flickering hologram. "Questions. You're damn right we have questions!"
"This is going to be somewhat of a shock to all of you," the EMH continued. "But you're all clones."
At that moment, the space station was suddenly hit and wracked by enemy projectile fire. A beam fell in the background of the already distressed facility as everyone held their footing.
"Clones?" Hoshi repeated in continued shock, glancing at Tuvok and then back at the EMH. "That's impossible. I feel exactly like me?"
The EMH then moved to begin unlocking a highly sophisticated matter-reshaping lock for a storage container. "I cultivated all of you from gene programming in the Federation database. Unfortunately, the choosing process as well as the age targetting was somewhat arbitrary, as I was short on time."
"You may forgive my skepticism," Tuvok added, with a raised eyebrow as the station was hit again. "As Starfleet officers, it is not out of the realm of possibility to be what humans call duped."
Nodding as he opened the compartment and took out a glowing white ball of energy, contained inside the claws of wrapping-technology, the EMH replied, "Duping is not in my programming."
"What year is this?" Picard demanded, beginning to get a feel for the situation while the EMH engaged with a few control shapes on the tech surrounding the energy ball.
The EMH stabilized the object everyone's eyes were now confusingly-locked onto. "I'm not sure," he conceded as he went to another console and worked to unlink the wireless security lock to the device. "Likely, no one knows. All I can tell you is that we're sometime way passed the 35th century."
"That's a load of bull!" McCoy snapped.
The holo-man then gave the sphere to Picard. "Trust me. It's not. There hasn't been anyone on Deep Space Graeca for months. In fact, this is probably the last place in the galaxy I know of that has anything to do with humans."
"Now, hold on just a minute. Humanity does not just die out without a fight," Picard started.
The opponent shook his head. "Who's to say they didn't? Either way, I created you because I need you to deliver that sphere to the High Command." Another hit and the station shook even more. "There's a starship prepped that I've manned with a holographic crew."
"You can't just expect us to believe all this?" McCoy substantiated. "Why us?"
Leading over to a holo-table with projections of star systems and ship locations, the EMH replied, "Because you're some of the best the Federation had to offer. Whatever it is you did, you made a difference. And that's what I need you to do now."
He then panned over to another set of star systems and interstellar matter as the group exchanged awkward glances.
"High Command is here," he continued, pointing to a section on the map. "They'll only let people with bio signatures through the intense gravitic force fields."
Hoshi smirked. "Now it all makes sense. We can get in, but you can't."
"Yeah," the EMH confirmed as he led them to a hallway with a window showing the Steamrunner-class starship hovering inside the large starbay. Another hit from outside. "The U.S.S. Vitality. I'm no engineer, so I sort of went through several replicated versions while the others on the station found this the easiest to refit with updated tech and bio-grids."
O'Brien was too lost, staring away in reactive thought. "The last thing I remember, I was taking up a teaching job at Starfleet Academy."
Then, a large part of the other side of Deep Space Graeca exploded after a barrage of projectile hits burned through the shields.
"The memories will get you. Sorry. But you guys have to get going," the EMH hasted while pushing Picard. "Just follow your command structure, and if you have any questions just ask the crew!"
Another hard hit, and the lights and systems blinked defectively. The EMH snapped offline, forever.
"I, for one, don't believe him," the Doctor defied.
Picard glanced down at the sphere in his hands and then at the crumbling station all around them. "Believe him or not, but he's right. We all know who we are, and what we're capable of. Perhaps in some ways that stands on its own, and perhaps, for now, that will have to be enough. We have to get out of here."
"Agreed," Tuvok corroborated as another blast shook Graeca violently. From through the windows, two alien attack vessels could be seen coming about, firing disrupter gels at them.
