Star Trek: Phoenix-X
"Triple Phoenix, Part II"
The effervescent and prolonged Prometheus-class U.S.S. Phoenix-X sped through warp, through deep space, on a wish and a dream. Seifer collected several of his staff in his Ready Room.
"Sir, I think we're all in agreement here that you deserve Captaincy and you just taking it for yourself is, how they used to say, very ballsy," Briggs arbitrated. "Also, what does 'ballsy' mean?"
Seifer used carpenter's glue to attach a fourth pip to his uniform. "It's just a thing people like to focus on way more than they should. But you're right that I am taking a liberty here for several reasons; one of which is that you guys are owed a Captain."
"Being that I'm from the future, I don't actually remember you at that rank when I returned to the Phoenix-X from, what you have called, my 'frivolous galivanting'," BOB pondered. "Either the timeline is changed, or you get demoted again at some point. By the way, don't ask what happens to Kaelon II."
Tong stepped up. "Either way, we are grateful for the temporary up in status that puts us back a level above those Vancouver-class crews, let alone the questionable California-classes."
"Mr. Tong, your preoccupation with status is what is questionable at best, considering the actions you took upon Arloff IX in interfering with de-escalation efforts," Veker interjected.
The Esper-high human nodded. "I'll accept any disciplinary repercussions, as I was way out of line for reasons of excess personal ambiguity. But, if not, I hope my promise not to circumvent your command again, Captain, would suffice."
"I'll decide your temperament, Mister. But, in the meantime, I want to know what the hell is going on with that other ship? The Phoenix-H should not exist. It's us this far and no further!" Seifer looked around for a rifle for dramatic-throwing-intentions-into-little-ships but couldn't find any.
Veker handed him a PADD instead. "Technically, the Phoenix-X shouldn't exist either. We don't appear in most general database strings, unless directly queried, due to our special operational status as a transwarp development starship." He continued, "As we all know, every Phoenix-ship before us was wrecked in transwarp trials until us."
"Aw snap! This says the Phoenix-H was reconstructed after said-wreckings and relaunched as a Gagarin-class special operations starship, specializing in archaeology," Seifer read. "But, since we all operate within a thinly-veiled, one-level-down-Starfleet's-radar, they achieve the same autonomy that we do."
Gewdeque perked. "They're us, but for different reasons."
"I will not have this paralleling of starships," the new Captain continued. "You don't see multiple Enterprises or Voyagers floating about at the same time?"
Briggs shrugged. "You kind of do, if you count the Fleet Museum. The Saratoga has a whole compartment of stuffed self-variations in so much that they can't even close said-compartment's doors."
"Nacelles caught in other nacelles," Veker realized. "The point is, we're tracking the artifact-snatching Phoenix-H right now and should catch up with them soon. They have a lot of explaining to do, assuming they're as expositiony as we are."
Muko suddenly called over the comms. "Are you guys going to man your own Bridge at any point? Said-enemy vessel is coming into range and we Omni get antsy as randos in front of unlocked and restricted enemy ship controls."
---
As the senior staff evacuated for the Bridge, where several Omni were standing, Captain Night Seifer could feel his symbiont fluctuate momentarily within his abdomen. The Phoenix-X then dropped warp before the Ordek Nebula.
"Still no response to hails and they are approaching this random supernova remnant for some reason," Tong observed from sensor readings. "We could track them in it, but we'd have to stay close due to interference."
Muko observed nearby, "As I previously juxtaposed, you could be less cringeworthy had you any dominion over your abilities, including that to sense movements without the need for instruments."
"The proposal is this, Muko. We get your people back and you never return to Arloff IX, or any other inhabited planet without their consent again," Seifer negotiated. "The Cardassians did that on Bajor once and it was this whoooole thing."
Suddenly, they observed the Phoenix-H entering the Ordek Nebula, prompting the Phoenix-X to pursue course. "Aha! I see you're one of those persistent Commanders," came the onscreen hail from Captain Navarro, a Tiburonian male. "In that case, I must order you to desist and not interfere in our classified mission. Any further action will result in a defensive posturing from our vessel."
"It's Captain now, Navarro. So, I don't take orders from you, nor must I comply to an operation that conflicts with our efforts to secure the Arloffians," Seifer defied. "Also, Starfleet doesn't fire on Starfleet, so tell me again how kidnapping people is a mission objective?"
Navarro scoffed. "If you actually understood the concept of being a special operations vessel, you would know we execute our tasks in obfuscational silos, separate from relentless Starfleet virtuosity. Accountability is annoyingly constraining!"
"Except that's our whole thing? Not this multiple Phoenix-ships in service procession," Seifer struggled. "We seek out new life and boldly crash Enterprises for sequential letter progression."
The other Captain shook his head. "You don't even realize we're both part of the Phoenix Operations contingent, who don't wait for starship renewals and are here to facilitate Starfleet existence! Since we're achievable only through compartmentalization, if you interfere with one, we will get aggressive."
As the screen clicked off to the external view of the Gagarin-class Phoenix-H, the crew watched it fire a phaser at them and turn away, escaping deeper into the orange nebulous matter. "So, now we're universal-greeting-when-you-don't-like-someone-ing each other? Hachi, pursue course! Tong, hit them back."
"Recommend not getting destroyed like the Constellation, the Grissom, the Reliant, the Odyssey, or those Typhon Expanse Enterprise-D's," BOB insisted to Seifer and Tong as the Prometheus-class Phoenix-X became submerged in an orange and red wasteland of variable cloud clusters before said-Phoenix-X hit the other ship with a return phaser beam.
Both ships were suddenly engulfed in separate, fluctuating and stringy matter clusters as sensors became so blinded as to no longer detect either vessel. An intent suddenly reached out to anyone with extra-sensory perception, flinging Tong out of his tactical concentration. "Don't think we can promise that because this section of the nebula is basically some kind of sub-sentient, mindless entity."
"It's the Xeenar," Muko observed in awe. "The morphogenic matter organism that is basically half this nebula and feeds off stragglers. It evolved from the supernova material that expulsed this interstellar dust cloud. Your other Starfleet Captain must be on orders to siphon its multi-planar energy core."
The Phoenix-H shot itself out of its gas cluster and fired a scattered volley of photon torpedoes until one of them hit the hidden Phoenix-X. Seifer held on. "His abjection to our interference is about him feeding that artifact!"
"Then let's feed him projectiles," Tong suggested as the Phoenix-X also vapour-exited and traded photon torpedoes with the likewise-circling Phoenix-H before both ships hid themselves again in tendinous, gaseous matter. "Hope you guys liked my one-liner."
Briggs examined the ship's systems, as both vessels once again popped out and fired down shield ventral strengths until they hid again. "It was acceptable, but not as sustainable as this blind, no strategic whac-a-mole contest."
"We could increase our success rate in multi-vector mode," BOB suggested. "We'd be marginalized, but pliable, ungovernable targets with versatility."
Seifer arched a brow. "Mr. BOB, you're a clever Ferengi— in any time. Specifically, this time." Then he turned. "Tong, Briggs, initiate multi-vector mode! But not that wireless-controlled kind. What if there was a connection issue or signal-based interception?"
"Commencing common sense, sir!" the two men acquiesced in unison as they ran off the Bridge before the Phoenix-X shot out again, this time splitting into three separate modules: Seifer/Vector Alpha, Tong/Vector Beta and Briggs/Vector Gamma.
In response, the Phoenix-H flung out of clustered nebulae, spreading photons, but was quickly flanked by maneuvering Prometheus-class Vectors' Gamma and Alpha, whom tractor beam-held said Gagarin-class to a single trajectory. "Reporting a veritable 'gotcha' of bad guys," Briggs called. "Wait. Does that mean their Captain is the bad version of a badmiral? A badptian?"
"Whatever he is, he intends harm upon Ordek entities here-in," Tong cut, with intensifying mental distraction, as his Vector Beta swooped over and phasered through Gagarin-class shields until damaging its hull and primary systems. "And so did we! But against him, just to clarify."
Suddenly, spiraling clusters of controlled vapour moved themselves to cover both propelled-ships. Gewdeque called over open comms from Vector Gamma, "Reporting additional harm. The EPS conduits are draining while in these dust composites??"
---
Captain Rujon Navarro sat upon the Bridge of the damaged Gagarin-class Phoenix-H, looking around at their predicament.
"Our Kahn-style surprise fight is being preempted with seizures and who-knows how many taglines from that other crew," he realized. "Don't tell me the Xeenar is feeding off us like we're Wogneer creatures?"
Selene Atlas turned from her Science console. "You can't make us not-report things, Captain. Also, it's that. It's very much that." She gestured. "Maybe if we weren't firing on our own people, we could work together?"
"That is a terrible suggestion! Autonomy is the pinnacle of narrow scoped achievement," Navarro countered. "Except when it comes to the Omni. Once those in our possession plus the Xeenar charge the ancient artifact, we will return to Starbase 103. Kenshin, abandon this fight and take us to the singularity. Post-haste!"
The Phoenix-H burned off the tractor, exited its unsolicited cover and darted off into the distance. Every clutch of the self-governing Xeenar matter, momentarily slowed its progression and maneuverability. Kenshin observed, "Apparently haste is not on the menu, Captain."
---
Meanwhile, the Phoenix-X recombined all its vectors and continued, fast, dodging strand after strand of nebulous matter in chase.
"Records show that medium-sized starships replicate the appearance of the Wogneer creatures, that of which are typically food for the Xeenar," Veker explained, holding a PADD.
Seifer nodded. "By the way, didn't Picard risk his life to protect the Wogneer creatures once? How did he handle it? Seems awfully vague and random, no?"
Veker looked more into the PADD before learning, "Wait a minute. Picard just bored the nebula with a long speech?" The crew turned to Captain Seifer at that.
"Of course. Brilliant! A main skillset of any Starfleet Captain is to tedium an enemy into submission," Sefier gritted as he stood from his chair and Tong took his station. "Tong, open a channel. To the Xeenar: This is Captain Seifer of the Phoenix-X. Long ago, the great whales of Earth would mouth-gape various water-bound Pinocchio's who, themselves, were a preemptive Data's with no strings—"
But, he suddenly felt the crunch of his reactive symbiont, struggling with Captaincy within his abdomen before it sent him to his chair.
"Ugh!"
Tong took command as Doctor Xyrenia was called to the Bridge. "The Seifer symbiont is trying to no-string itself from its host body," Xyrenia reported. "Becoming Captain must be ego-driving it to madness."
"Damn. And it seems we have our own disquietness to contend with," Tong turned as they followed the Phoenix-H into a sudden open area where they found a condensed, white singularity presiding: The core of the Xeenar.
Briggs entered the Bridge as Tong looked on in awe with the consciousness of the nebula entity became more and more clear to him. The U.S.S. Phoenix-H swooped around and began siphoning power from its nucleus into its deflector, then into the artifact.
"This area is like a blind spot to this divine, god-like thing, and it has no idea what's happening to it," Tong realized. "It's as victimized as I was when I was lured and pushed into the Galactic Barrier that created my own powers."
Briggs replied, "Hey man, what they did to you was not cool."
"At the very least, I can now sense the nebula entity better here and all I had to do was persevere in myself to achieve personal potential." Tong shut his eyes into mental connection. "The Xeenar never wanted to harm the Wogneer creatures nor us, but any trajectories to its core are clear enough. It's just trying to protect itself and the Ordek Nebula. The food thing was secondary."
A controlled current of earned Esper energy suddenly began to flow along Tong's arms while the screen showed them swooping to a flanking position above the Phoenix-H, targeting its dorsal hull. "Then our motivation in stopping Captain Navarro expands to saving the Xeenar as well," Briggs reveled as they began phaser hitting the Phoenix-H's EPS layout.
"Exactly! And, to aid in that, I can influence the entity to help disrupt the artifact storage," Tong added, opening his palm straight. He then stopped the ship to call upon several nebulous matter streams to converge upon the Phoenix-H. Suddenly, Muko stepped up.
The Omni looked upon the situation and Tong's Esper advancements. "We were wrong about you, Tong. Your abilities do have relevance." He then launched a tendril of his own siphoning energy at the Lieutenant Commander. "You see, the Tkon site on Arloff IX was the perfect growth soil for us, after having struggled as a group for so long. But your Starfleet high-roading is more revelatory to me than you intended, as I now see other maturation options."
"Uggh! What!?" Tong fell to his knees, clutching his head at this disruption. Muko completed his absorption and then ran off the Bridge with the other Omni, confused. Tong gritted, "Of course. The artifact is Tkon in origin."
The Phoenix-H dropped its beam in disablement as the Phoenix-X ceased its attacks and the matter streams dissipated. Muko leapt right into cold space, toward the Xeenar singularity core. There, he restarted the siphoning but, instead, all of it into himself.
"Getting some strange readings! The nebula is decreasing in density! Like a failing of its existence," Veker reported from science. "Its negative mass is now self-moving passed the damaged shields of the Phoenix-H, and into the ship??"
Seifer groggily awoke and struggled to pinch off the extra glued pip before finally throwing it across the Bridge. Xyrenia helped him to his feet. "That's a hell of a lot of events at once," Seifer observed. "Guess I'm back to Commander too."
"Phoenix-X, this is the now more self aware Xeenar," came the sudden hail of the body-possessed Captain Navarro as a secondary screen showed the now-powered-up Muko sending himself into an escape warp. "I have taken control of this Phoenix-H crew and must pursue the nefarious being that has stolen my surplus power. Do not interfere. Do not pass GO. Do not attempt to Picard me to sleep with one of those unending speeches."
The screen clicked off to a view of the now half-dense Ordek Nebula. The Phoenix-H turned and jumped to warp moments before another starship approached: A Federation Discovery-class vessel.
"This is Captain Daphne Armstrong of the U.S.S. Phoenix-J," came a new hail. "We were so lost in the nebulous mist and now, suddenly, we can see where we're going. And, as part of that sight, can see you copying our ship name??"
Seifer gawked in awe of what he was looking at, before recalling and realizing, "Bloody hell. Phoenix Operations is a real thing."
