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Do you seek adventure beyond the treacherous waterfalls?
Do you seek the mythical being that dwells in this uncreachable place?
If you do, then you must first find me...

Heh, I couldn't resist that. Welcome one and all to The Best of Both Worlds, my own little contribution to the Star Trek/Star Wars crossover genre. As was printed on the Golden Ticket, "In your wildest dreams you could not imagine the marvelous surprises that await you!"

So sit back, relax, and enjoy The Best of Both Worlds.

Disclaimer: Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount Pictures. Stat Wars created by George Lucas and owned by Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm. I own the story and any original characters/species. No copyright infringement is intended.

Star Trek/Star Wars: The Best of Both Worlds

Dramatis Personae

The United Federation of Planets/Starfleet

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Commander William T. Riker

Counselor Deanna Troi

Lt. Commander Worf, son of Mogh

Lt. Commander Data

Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge

Dr. Beverley Crusher

Admiral Kathryn Janeway

Admiral Alyssa Necheyev

President Jaresh-Inyo

Commander Elias Vaughn

Lt. Alexander Munro

The Q Continuum

Q

Lady Q

Q2

The Prophets

Benjamin Lafayette Sisko AKA The Emissary

The Quintessence

The Stranger

M

Ayelborne

The New Republic

Han Solo

Lando Calirissian
General Garm bel Iblis

General Wedge Antilles

Admiral Traest Krey’Fey

Ambassador Leia Organa Solo

Jedi Master Luke Skywalker

Mara Jade Skywalker

Jaina Solo

Jacen Solo

Anakin Solo

R2-D2

C-3PO

Chief of State Borsk Fey’lya

Senator Viqi Shesh of Kuat

Dif Scaur, Director of New Republic Intelligence

Kyle Katarn

The Yuuzhan Vong

Supreme Overlord Shimrra

Warlord Tsavong Lah

Executor Nom Anor

Priest Harrar

Shaper Nem Yim

Supreme Commander Nas Choka

Author’s Notes: In the Star Trek universe, this story takes place before the

events of the feature film Star Trek Nemesis, in order to allow Data to play a pivotal role in this story given his death in the film. It also allows the possibility for an appearance by Shinzon and the Reman Warbird Scimitar depending how heavily I involve the Romulan Star Empire, but rest assured for you Romulan fanatics; they will be here.

In the Star Wars universe this story takes during the eighth book of the New Jedi Order series, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth, in order to allow the appearance of Anakin Solo given his death in Star by Star as well as the fall of Coruscant. Also, the Dramatis Personae is subject to revision and additions (ex. Klingons, Imperials, etc.) as the story is being written. One final note is that the title is a nod to that classic Next Generation two-parter and one of my favorite episodes of all time.

Enjoy!

- Dedicated to the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia.-

-Heroes all. Rest in peace. -

The Best of Both Worlds: Part I


Location: Q Continuum
Somewhere in the Universe


"It's so grand being a Q," the omnipotent being known to the Milky Way Galaxy as Q stated as he did any other day to his wife, the Lady Q, and his son Q2. But then again, a day was but a linear concept, another measurement of time. In the Q continuum, it had no real meaning. With the powers at their disposal, the Q could go anywhere, anytime and do anything. Q had done it many times before, the most recent having been against good old Jean-Luc during the resumption of the continuum trial against humanity and that anti-time anomaly.

…

How long had it been again?

Oh well...

"Oh really? Next thing you'll be telling me to not get maudlin. Weren’t those your exact words to that Spock fellow you were with,” his wife snorted. Q rolled his eyes in annoyance over his little escapade with an asteroid headed towards Earth and his encounter with an unbelievably uptight Vulcan ambassador.

I’ve got to do something about her behavior-I know!!

"Really, dear; do you think I married you just for your witty humor?"


Lady Q allowed a slight grin to cross her face. All three of them knew that the primary reason that the two had wed was in order to end the civil war that had raged across the Q Continuum by doing what no Q had ever done before: mate with each other, not just with another species as it had been done with Amanda Rodgers. And while Junior had not exactly been what they had expected, everything still had worked out for the best.

"No. And you're starting to lose it dear; an eon ago you could've-"

"I think that's now enough," snapped Q towards his mate. His wife just chuckled and Q2 finally piped in.

"You know dad, sometimes, I can't understand how you can take this abuse from Mom."

“May I remind you that you are partly responsible for this abuse, son,” the boy’s mother plainly stated.


Q grinned slightly at this statement. The Lady Q had blamed him for their son’s problems in the first place. And although that week with Janeway on board Voyager had undoubtedly helped him, Q2 still had things to learn about the ways of the universe, especially about mating in the continuum. At least I should be thankful that per Continuum directive, he hasn’t provoked the Borg in almost two years and…

There I go again, thinking in linear terms. Ah screw it.

"Well, son its all in-"

He was cut off in mid sentence. For a moment, something hadn't felt right in the totality known as the universe. It felt like a dark feeling at the core of his being, what some outside of the Continuum would call a Q's sixth sense. It was a rare occurrence, usually occurring once in an eon, but was still worth investigating.

"I'll be back in a moment dear."

With the well known snap of his fingers, Q vanished. Q2 look at his mother, wondering
what could have possibly startled the great Q.

***
Location: United Federation of Planets, Alpha Quadrant
The Milky Way Galaxy

“Space. The Final Frontier”

Captain Jean-Luc Picard leaned back in his ready room’s chair, closing his eyes and listening to the magnificent hum of the warp engines at work. As it had happened many times before, he marveled at being in command of Starfleet’s flagship, the U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701-E. Though there were occasions when he thought back on the marvelous times aboard his prior commands, the Stargazer and the Enterprise-D. Before they were lost, anyway; the Stargazer to the Ferengi at Maxima almost twenty years before and the 1701-D to the rouge Klingons Lursa and B’Etor of the House of Duras at Veridian III simply seven years prior.

Beyond the ready room’s window, stars streaked by as the mighty Sovereign-class ship made its way to Sector 001. The was heading back to Earth to begin the final preparations to be made for the Earth segment of Troi and Riker’s wedding. And since Deanna was the daughter of Betazoid Ambassador Laxwanna Troi, Command had diplomatically approved the mission.

Picard was very happy for them, of course, but he was going to miss them. The ship would seem... incomplete without them. Yet, Picard understood, even envied them. They had made important choices, choices that would present great challenges ahead of them, new worlds to conquer...

The captain turned his attention from the wedding of his first officer and counselor and instead looked out of his ready room’s window. Watching stars at high warp was something that he had always found comforting and fascinating, particularly during the numerous most challenging and pressuring days of his forty year career in the Federation’s Starfleet.

Including the Dominion War…

Picard sighed as his thoughts drifted to first few months of the conflict between the Dominion and the Federation. It had been a dark time for Starfleet, fighting against a relentless enemy, always on the defensive, defeat always imminent; it was like the Borg except the threat had occurred on a daily basis for two years. He had lost good friends during the course of the war, more names to join those in recent years who had died.

Yar, Keel, Hawke…

But in the end, Starfleet had been triumphant. It had been the courage of officers such as the late Captain Benjamin Sisko, commander of Deep Space Nine and the Bajoran Emissary, that had pushed back the Dominion threat and had won the war for the Federation Alliance in November of 2375.

Unfortunately, the effort to push back the enigmatic Founders, the administrative Vorta, and the ruthless Jem’Hadar had cost the entire Alpha Quadrant heavily in lives and equipment. But of all the major powers, the Cardassian Union had probably been hit the hardest. Though it had been the Cardassians fleet’s betrayal of its Dominion allies that had won the Battle of Cardassia, the action had led to a Dominion-inflicted devastation on the Cardassian homeworld- and the death of over a billion Cardassian civilians.

The Enterprise-E however had not been part of the joint Starfleet-Klingon-Romulan armada that had led the final assault on the Cardassian Union. It had instead been in dry-dock around Earth, undergoing repairs from damage sustained from fighting in the Briar Patch during the Ba‘ku relocation incident. The repairs lasted only a few weeks and the Sovergien-class flagship should have been back at the front lines.

However, Starfleet had felt that the Sovereign would need more firepower to compete with the Dominion’s newer ship designs, most notably the gigantic warship that the Defiant-class U.S.S. Valiant had foolishly engaged. Most especially, the rearward torpedo coverage was felt to be a little lacking, something that Riker had agreed with given how much damage two of the late Son’a leader Adhar Ruafo’s cruisers had inflicted during his first officer’s retreat through the Briar Patch and how difficult it had been to hit the pursuing vessels.

As a result, Starfleet had decided to proceed with an uprated version of the ship and so, the Enterprise remained at the Earth shipyards to undergo the refit. Three extra aft facing photon torpedo tubes were added, along with two more forward facing tubes; a twin launcher aft of the bridge, a single launcher above the aft hangar deck, a single launcher at the base of the bridge terracing, and a single launcher near the bow. Additionally, four extra phaser arrays were added to the nacelle pylons.

The recall had also served a secondary purpose. It had allowed Picard and his senior staff to testify directly before the Federation Council about the plot of the late Admiral Dougherty and members of the Son’a Solidarity to relocate the people of the Ba'ku world in order to harness the regenerative metasphasic particles in the planet’s rings. Their testimony had led to a series of chain reactions that had resulted in the resignation of several prominent officers and councilors.

Yet these scandals had been overshadowed in the news nets when the Federation fleet at Cardassia had transmitted the first holo-images of the Dominion’s revenge against its ‘allies’ throughout the Quadrant. Picard had seen these images himself and felt the horror and sorrow for the Cardassian people. Yes, he had never liked the Cardassians any more than anyone else; he had fought them in the Cardassian Wars of the 2350’s, he had been tortured by the sadistic Gul Madred, and when he had learned of their alliance with the Dominion, he had been furious as hell.

But not even the Cardassians had deserved what the Founders had ordered. And while some Bajorans viewed the incident as poetic justice, even those who had fought against the Union during Bajor’s occupation were simply horrified at what happened. Even though the war had ended nearly three years before, Cardassia Prime was one of dozens of planets that was still receiving Federation aid to recover from the devastation.


In any event, the end of the Dominion War meant the Alpha Quadrant was in a relatively stable position. Everyone was too busy dealing with their own internal problems to consider armed conflict against their old foes, particularly the Romulans. According to Romulan contacts that Starfleet Intelligence had, there were voices in the Romulan Senate that called for another period of isolation while factions in the military urged an attack on the Federation before it was too late.

But with the losses that the Empire had suffered during the war, it was extremely unlikely that they would be able to mount any kind of offensive against Starfleet or anyone else for some time. And Picard was happy with that.

“Yellow Alert. Captain Picard to the bridge.”

Riker’s voice on the comm system brought Picard out of his thoughts and he tapped his Starfleet combadge.

"What is it Number One?”

“We’re receiving a distress call about one light year from Earth.”

Picard was up and about in a moment. He marveled again at the size and sparkles of Sovereign-class bridge.

“Mr. Worf?”

“Sensors indicate it is a Kyoto-class freighter, the Roddenberry. Their message and sensors indicate they are on the verge of a warp core breach.”

Right to the point and no side banter. Good old Worf. It was good to have him back on board the Enterprise. When the Klingon had transferred to Deep Space Nine, Picard had felt a twang of regret in losing his tactical officer, his friend, and as he stated to Worf above Earth during the Borg’s attempt to stop First Contact, the bravest man he had ever known.

At the end of the Dominion War, when it was announced that Worf had accepted the position of Federation Ambassador to Qo’noS, the Enterprise’s senior staff had had a good laugh. They had known Worf for a decade and while he was undeniably a great warrior, still, a Klingon as a diplomat? As Worf himself had stated, “I was not suited for the life of a diplomat,” and had at the first available opportunity rejoined the Enterprise.

“Helm, lay in a course to Roddenberry.”

“Aye sir. We’ll be in range in ten seconds and- Captain their core is going critical!”

On the screen he saw the stars return to their normal configuration-

-just in time to witness a massive explosion that hit the Federation flagship with full force.

“Shields are holding. Minimal damage on decks six and twelve,” reported Worf.

“Sensors are not picking up any survivors, Captain.”

Picard sighed, knowing that as a starship captain, he couldn’t save every life in distress, but he still hoped to. At least the Enterprise had been there in the first place. As it happened at times like this, Picard thought back seven years to his experience in the Nexus and the conversation he had had with the legendary Captain James Tiberius Kirk shortly before Kirk had sacrificed his life to help Picard stop the mad El-Aurian Dr. Tolian Soran from destroying the Veridian sun…

“Close to retirement?”

“I’m not planning on it.”

“Well, let me tell you something - don't. Don't let them promote you... don't let them transfer you... don't let them do anything that takes you off the Bridge of that ship... Because while you're there, you can make a difference.”

“Fascinating.”

Picard looked the android, his words bringing Picard out of his memories..

“What is it Data?”

“I have scanned the area and our sensors indicate that the area where the Roddenberry was destroyed, I have detected something odd. Sensors are reporting a large traces of developing verterons and unusually high neutrino and proton levels.”

“What are you saying Data?”

“It indicates the possibility of a stable wormhole forming.”

The bridge was silent. Finally Picard spoke.

“How can that be? Is there anything remarkable about this area of space?”

There shouldn’t be; Sector 001 is one of the most heavily sensor-swept regions in the entire Federation. If there was, I for one would damm well know about it.

“The warp core detonation occurred in the vicinity of the transwarp conduit that opened on Stardate 54973.4, Captain.”

That date Picard most certainly remembered. The Enterprise had been at Izar negotiating a territorial dispute when the Starfleet emergency communications channel had began blaring with the reports of a transwarp aperture opening a light year from Earth.

The entire bridge had been silent as images coming directly from the hastily assembled fleet showed a Borg sphere emerging from the conduit--

--And had erupted with cheers as it had exploded and the long lost Intrepid-class U.S.S. Voyager had come blazing out of the fireball, its seven year journey over at last. The entire crew had spent the night celebrating the ship’s return to Federation space, including Picard.

Yet, as soon as the festivities had ended, he had eagerly looked forward to reading Janeway’s report and after having perused it, he couldn’t help but wonder if the Borg Collective was still a threat. Thanks to Janeway and her crew, they had lost one of the transwarp hubs as well as its networks and there was also evidence that the Borg Queen had died again, taking a good chunk of the Unicomplex, the Borg’s headquarters, with her. They probably would be, but not as the Borg that Starfleet had fought for the last decade.

But that was in the past and in the future, Picard was uncertain what to do. If the warp core breach had reopened the now collapsed transwarp conduit, which by all accounts was not possible given--

Picard’s thoughts were interrupted when out in the vacuum of space there was an explosion of red and silver light and suddenly, the folds of space parted, revealing an aura of light and energy. The Enterprise shuddered and the image of the wormhole loomed ever closer on the view screen with each passing second.

“Captain, we are being sucked into the wormhole.”

“Full Impulse,” shouted Picard.

The mighty shipped shuddered as plasma flowed through the manifolds and circuits to the engines like blood through a living being. Alas, it was to no avail.

“No effect sir!”

“What if we went to warp?”

“I wouldn’t recommend that.”

La Forge’s voice urgently came over the engineering comm system.

“The core’s already under enough pressure. I can’t even begin to-”


“We are going in,” Data announced.

“All hands brace for impact!” ordered Picard.

There was another flash of light and the portal of energy folded back onto itself. The Enterprise-E , the flagship and pride of the United Federation of Planets’ Starfleet, was gone from the Alpha Quadrant.

***

Location: Naboo system, New Republic
That Galaxy Far, Far Away...

“Han, they’re coming in around for another pass.”

“I see them!”

Han Solo grunted as he felt the reverberation of the Millenium Falcon’s quad laser cannon drill into a Yuuzhan Vong coral skip from behind, circumventing its dovin basal.

Another down and, oh, at least ten more to go. Then of course there’s the carrier that deployed the ships and whatever escort it has.

He was getting too old for this. Two decades ago, he would have howling with glee alongside Chewbacca in the face of battle. Back then of course it had been Imperial craft, smugglers, and…

…

Chewbacca.

Han sighed. While he had finally gotten a hold on himself and had snapped out of his grief for the death of his friend and partner, it was still hard to look over at the empty, Wookie sized copilot seat.

Not that it matters; none of us may survive this war at the current rate...


A little over six months had passed since the invaders from beyond the Outer Rim, the Yuuzhan Vong had taken Duro, six months since the Vong's Warmaster Tsavong Lah had claimed that his forces would stop their conquest at Duro and would give peace to the New Republic in exchange for handing over all of the Jedi, particularly Jacen who had humiliated Lah in combat while trying to save his mother.

His claims had initiated the first Jedi purge since Emperor Palpatine had seized power half a century beforehand. Over a dozen Jedi were dead, the Academy on Yavin 4 had been seized by a combination of Vong and Peace Brigade forces…and the incompetent and bureaucratic Chief of State Borsk Fey'la hadn't even made a sound of protest. Han had never liked Fey’lya during the Rebellion and this dislike had intensified during Grand Admiral Thrawn’s campaign when the Bothan had had Admiral Ackbar, whom Han had admired and respected since he had first joined the Alliance, arrested on charges of treasons.

By all accounts, Borsk Fey’lya should have gone bye-bye from politics after Talon Karrde’s hacker Ghent had proven that the Imperials had fabricated the evidence against the Mon Calamari Admiral and that Fey’lya had known about it. It had been guaranteed as well as his total disregard for Alliance comrades during the failed attempt to capture the long lost Katana Fleet.

But he hadn’t.

His political connections coupled with Leia’s resignation and the peace accords with the Imperial Remnant had allowed to re-ascend into his lauded positions of power and finally achieve the rank of Chief of State of the New Republic. It was a shock and despite suspicions from their family that Fey’lya had had the election rigged, nothing had been proven by New Republic Intelligence, which pretty much felt the same way about the Bothan. But because of their duty to the galactic government, they couldn‘t do anything about it.

And now, the Jedi were in hiding throughout the galaxy. He, Leia, Luke, Mara, the Solo children, and several trainees had decided to set up a Jedi refugee outpost on Leia's mother's homeworld, Naboo, in the weeks since the Vong had taken Yavin 4, the site of the Jedi Academy. Leia had known about Naboo since the conclusion of their mission to Tatooine right before Thrawn’s campaign.

They were certain they would not be betrayed since the peace loving Naboo and the amphibious Gungans still owed their independence from the Trade Federation decades earlier to the Queen Amidala and Anakin Skywalker, Luke and Leia's parents. Besides, the Naboo system was a long way out from Duro and the Vong's territory.

But the Vong coral skips in the system had been a bad sign. It wouldn't have surprised any of them to find out later that Fey'la, as with Yavin, had sold them out. The Bothan's paranoia and delusions had probably convinced him that by handing over the Jedi, peace would be his. But they knew the Vong better than that.

“The next wave is coming. The Falcon’s shields may not be able to take more of this,” he heard Leia yell over the conn.

“Don’t worry; she’ll hold together!”

Especially after what this ship has been through. From evading Imperials in the Hoth asteroid belt to Lando flying it into the superstructure of the second Death Star, you’d better believe that she’ll hold to together.

Han swung the Falcon around, readying his concussion missiles from the tactical panel to his left-

-when out in the vacuum of space there was an explosion of red and silver light and suddenly, the folds of space parted, revealing an aura of light and energy. From the center of this halo of light and energy, a white blur came hurtling out. There was another flash of light and the portal of energy folded back onto itself.

“What was that?”

“If I didn’t know any better, sir, I believe that this would qualify as a wormhole, which is an --”

“Shut up Goldenrod. I am quite aware of what a wormhole is.”

The vessel with a saucer shaped bow, as sleek as a Mon Calamari cruiser was coming towards the old Corellian YT-1500 cargo hauler. And for all the ships he had seen, this one was pure beauty, almost like a work of sculpture. He looked at the registry emblazoned on the saucer.

U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E.

***

Location: Q Continuum
Somewhere in the Universe

Q had been gone for, at least in Earth time, five minutes at the most, something that should not have taken a member of the Continuum with infinite control over space and time that long to investigate.

"Think Dad's trying to trick us?" Q2 asked. Lady Q shook her head.

"Good luck, if he is; that rouge won't-"

Lady Q stopped in mid sentence as with a snap and flash of light, Q materialized in front of her. And even as her husband materialized, she went silent when she saw the grim look on Q‘s face. For something to startle and terrify a Q was indeed a feat; it had unfortunately happened before in the past, most recently with the Continuum’s Civil War.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The Merging," Q stated with a serious tone that only a select few throughout the depths of space and time had ever heard him use. Lady Q's face paled as well. Q2 looked confused.

"What the hell is this Merging?"

Both Q and Lady Q were absolutely silent. Finally Q spoke.

"It is something that is out of our reach, something we cannot control, and something that we cannot stop. The fate of two galaxies are hanging on the brink of merging, connecting them forever."

Q2 piped up "So two galaxies merge, what's the big deal?" Q spoke again.

You’ve got a lot to learn, my boy.

But Q kept his thoughts to himself.

"It is an old prophecy spoken by the Q who have been in existence just a teeny tiny bit longer than I have: When the two jewels of the sky merge, than destruction will befall all. In other words my son, as those sentient, yet still barbaric bipedal hominids of Earth would say, ‘all hell's about to break loose…’"

To be continued


***

Disclaimer: Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount Pictures. Stat Wars created by George Lucas and owned by Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm. I own the story and any original characters/species. No copyright infringement is intended.

Star Trek/Star Wars: The Best of Both Worlds

Part II

“The plunge of civilization into this abyss of blood and darkness…is a thing that so gives away the long age during which we have supposed the war to be…gradually bettering”

-Henry James

Author’s Notes: I definitely mean no copyright infringement in a reference that will be made towards a member of the Star Trek art department; it’s simply a little historical humor; the same kind of applies to a reference I‘m making to the best-selling game “Elite Force” (It’s uncertain at this stage, but I am considering the possibility of incorporating the Hazard Team into the story; however, this is no guarantee.) Also, I have read the Voyager re-launch novels Homecoming and The Farther Shore and though I do not consider them totally cannon, I am willing to apply a few little bits here and there. The same applies to the Deep Space Nine re-launch novels; however, since I stopped reading them after the Avatar duology, there is simply too much material to simply “catch up” on. I’m also displeased with the new senior staff and so, as a result, for segments that will feature DS9, don’t look for familiar faces from the re-launch novels. Aside from that, enjoy.

Location: Starfleet Command, Earth

The Milky Way Galaxy

“State Item of Selection.”

“Coffee, Black.”

Admiral Kathryn Janeway, formerly of the Starship Voyager, smiled as her mug materialized in the replicator‘s dispenser. She still didn’t see how, at least in one possible future, how she would go for tea over a good pot of black coffee. True, it was probably putting her kidneys through hell, but the stuff was just too good to pass up. It was coffee that had played just as major a role as her former senior staff had in getting the U.S.S. Voyager out of the Delta Quadrant.

And on the subject of which…

She looked out of her office window and smiled. There was Intrepid-class U.S.S. Voyager, its landing gear extended out on the Presidio, just as her future self had told her. And there were people of all races lining up to glimpse and tour the ship that had gone all the way to the Delta Quadrant and back. The amount of people waiting to get in to see the Voyager museum was not surprising.

After all, Starfleet had kept the ship in dry-dock during most of the last year while teams of personnel from the Starfleet Engineer Corps had disassembled and examined all of the alien equipment and modifications that B’lanna and her staff had made during their seven year trip. As a result, the museum had only opened the month before and already it was becoming one of the top tourist attractions on Earth alongside the Fleet Museum and the Starfleet Mausoleum, now the final resting place of Captain James T. Kirk.

Janeway had been well aware of the extraordinary events on Veridian Three and the task force that had been sent to salvage the wreckage of the Enterprise-D right before the Voyager’s mission into the Badlands. It had made sense, of course. Veridian Three was uninhabited, but Veridian Four had a pre-warp civilization. If future explorers from that world found the bulk of the Enterprise and its advanced technology, it would most certainly contaminate the development of their culture.

The same had also applied to Kirk’s body, which Captain Picard had placed in a simple cairn of rocks after their battle with the deranged El-Aurian scientist Dr. Tolian Soran. The discovery of an alien body on their neighboring world could have damaged their culture just as much as an isolinear chip from the Enterprise wreckage

Thus, seventy-eight years after his presumed death, Kirk had been brought home just as the Voyager had its date with destiny. Kirk’s body was in the Starfleet Mausoleum, entombed alongside the Federation’s other heroic captains from Garth of Izar to even Jonathan Archer from the days of Earth‘s first warp exploration and the Earth-Romulan Wars.

Of course, Voyager was giving it a run for its money and she wasn‘t just taking about tourism. Many of the modifications that B’lanna had made were already turning up in the shipbuilding procedures in shipyards across the Federation. Other equipment, most notably the ablative armor generators and the transphasic torpedoes, would probably not be deployed any time soon, however. Since both of these pieces of technology were technically from an alternate future, the Department of Temporal Investigations and Starfleet Command were hard at it trying to figure out what to do with it.

Given Starfleet’s losses in the Dominion War as well as possible foes like whatever was left of the Borg Collective or a renewed Dominion threat, Command was pushing for the deployment of the weapons technologies in order to give Starfleet the upper tactical hand. The DTI on the other hand was stressing preservation of the timeline and had already chastised Janeway for accepting help from her future self; oh yes, Agents Dulmer and Lucsly had seen to that. Add to the fact that Federation Council was uncertain on the issue and there was no chance of it being resolved anytime soon. Janeway herself was torn between both issues herself.

Just another example of the stress that the Admiralty brought.

Now she knew how Kirk had felt after he had, against the advice of his famous senior staff, accepted a promotion to the admiralty…and to a desk job following the completion of his historic first five-year mission. There were, of course, some advantages to the job. For example, there was little chance of being transported 75, 000 light years across the galaxy when you were stuck behind a desk. The same also applied to meeting threats like the Kazon, the Borg, the Hirogen, and all of the other hostile species that Voyager had encountered on nearly a day-to-day basis.

But still after seven years of living on a spaceship, it was indeed difficult to get used to living on a planet again. The same also applied to her senior staff. She missed seeing all of them at once, although many of them were still based in the Terran System, thankfully. Tuvok, for example had accepted a teaching post at Starfleet Academy and thus was also keeping an eye on Cadet Icheb, who was quickly becoming one of the top stars of his class. Her old Vulcan friend, however, would probably soon transfer to one of the Academy facilities on Vulcan, in order to be close to the family that he had not seen in seven years.

The Doctor was working with his creator, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman on the Jupiter Station in an attempt to improve the EMH proGarm and also to further study the mobile holo-emitter that the crew had recovered during their encounter with Captain Braxton five years ago. He was also, in his spare time, hard at work in writing a sequel to his popular holo-novel Photons Be Free. Dr. Zimmerman himself was giving suggestions to the writing of the book.

He too, like the Doctor, hoped that the EMH Mark 1 models would redeemed and treated with respect and that it could be accomplished through literature as Voltaire and others had done over the centuries. The last thing either Doctor wanted was a violent uprising; the EMH remembered all too the one he had mistakenly participated in with Iden two years prior. The Doctor was also becoming close friends with former Enterprise-D engineer Reginald Barclay and Janeway had been told that the two of them played a mean game of holographic golf.

The others were pretty much spread out across the confines of the Federation and beyond it. B’lanna and Tom had temporarily retired from Starfleet and were on Qo’noS at the moment. B’lanna was putting the affairs of her late mother in order and had expressed a desire to learn more about her Klingon heritage in order to fully appreciate it, something that she would never have done when Janeway had met her during Voyager’s first months in the Delta Quadrant.

Tom was not only supporting her with her endeavor, but was also in contact with the Starfleet’s Starship Design Bureau or the SDB. The SDB had taken tremendous interest in the second Delta Flyer which they had been given the rights to study once the examination of Voyager’s technology had begun. They had asked him if he was interested in joining their advanced design team.

The reason for this was that the SDB had been one of the Starfleet buildings destroyed during the Breen attack of 2375 and even after two years, it was still not fully back on its feet. It needed experienced designers who were willing to design new craft and pilot the most experimental ships in Federation.

Needles to say, Tom had been greatly interested.

He was doing preliminary work for the SDB at the moment, working on designing more variants of what he had termed a 24th Century ’hot rod’ and was planning on accepting the job full time once he and B’lanna and their daughter Miral left the Klingon Empire and returned to Earth.

Harry, now promoted to Lieutenant as he had so much wanted during the sojourn, had accepted a posting as Operations Manager on board the science vessel U.S.S. Rhode Island NCC-72701. He had been accompanied by Libby Webber--

Correction, it was now Libby Webber Kim.

Libby had been Harry’s fiancée when the Caretaker had pulled Voyager halfway across the galaxy. She had never married and after news of Voyager’s situation had reached Earth, she had always hoped and believed that the two would be reunited again. They had indeed and the two had renewed their romance and ultimately married right before Harry had accepted his new posting.

Personally, she wondered what the hell he was thinking and not just that the ship was on a four year deep-space assignment or that he had brought his wife with him. The Rhode Island was of the Nova-class and for the last three years, she for one had been unable to look at that type of ship the way she had in earlier years. Not since their encounter with Captain Ransom and the Equinox, which of course brought up the subject of the five surviving crewmembers that had been beamed to Voyager right before the Equinox’s destruction.

Noah Lessing, Marla Gilmore, James Morrow, Angela Tassoni, and Brian Sofin had been tried by a Federation court and found guilty on the counts of the murder of the nucleonic aliens and their cooperation with Captain Ransom. They were currently living out their five-year sentence at the New Zealand penal settlement, the very one where she had recruited Tom Paris all of those years ago.

But of course, it was Harry’s choice and she had no influence in any decision he made. Besides, in bringing up the bad memories of the Equinox, she had forgotten the fates of the rest of her senior staff…

Seven of Nine had been temporarily reassigned to Starbase 324, which had become Starfleet’s think tank for anti-Borg tactics since the Enterprise-D’s encounter with the Collective twelve years prior. Even with the state that Voyager had left the Collective in during its return home, Starfleet was taking no chances and thus, Seven’s vast knowledge of the Borg and its technology had become a welcome addition to the Starbase’s personnel.

Her main contribution to the staff thus far had been the refining of the Infinity Modulator or I-Mod, which she and Voyager’s unfortunately disbanded Hazard Team - an elite team of operatives meant for missions far too dangerous for standard away teams - had used.. Its purpose was to continually adapt to Borg personal shielding and thereby allowing a user to actually strike a Borg drone without having to deal with the Borg’s adaptation. Starfleet had very much wanted to get their hands on the weapons to prepare as defenses for another feared Borg assault.

Personally, Janeway hoped they never would if her future self had indeed fatally crippled the Borg during her suicide mission to the Unicomplex. Yet while she was glad Seven was taking further steps in embracing her humanity and atoning for her actions as a Borg drone, she still missed her very much; Seven was in so many ways, the daughter that she had never had.

And then of course, there was Chakotay.

Her former first officer, as well as the other Maquis, had been cleared of all criminal charges and had been offered a captaincy. Chakotay had declined for the time being, though he was still interested. What had drawn away was the opportunity to travel to the former Federation-Cardassian Demilitarized Zone. There, he was helping to rebuild both Federation and Cardassian colonies that had been destroyed during the course of the Dominion War.

Personally, she was proud of him for doing something like this. She knew that even before he had joined the Maquis, he had hated the Cardassians and that Seska’s defection to the Kazon-Nistrim hadn’t helped it. But even he had been shocked silent when he glimpsed the recordings of the horror that the Jem’Hadar had unleashed on Cardassian Prime during the final battle of the war. It also helped him to have some time to himself, since he and Seven had mutually agreed to end their romance right after Voyager had returned to Earth, a romance that had confused many on both Earth and among the Voyager crew.

It was not that she was jealous, it simply was that she trusted him more than anyone else, with the exception perhaps of Tuvok, and his judgment in perusing a relationship with Voyager’s former Borg drone had been to her, well--

“Incoming Call from Starfleet Communications, Admiral Janeway.”

For once in her career, the Admiral was grateful for the computer breaking her out her thoughts. She tapped the Starfleet laptop and a familiar face flickered into existence.

“Mr. Barclay, good to see you again.”

Barclay had been in Starfleet for twenty years and had become something a notoriety while he had been an engineer onboard the Federation flagship Enterprise-D and then later the E. He had suffered from holo-addiction, transporter psychosis, and had been the namesake of Barcaly’s Proto-morphphosis Syndrome, a disease that activated dormant genetic codes in a person‘s genetic makeup.

After the incident at Viridian Three, Barclay had stayed on to join the crew on the Enterprise-E and had departed the ship shortly after the mission to stop the Borg from altering First Contact between Earth and Vulcan. He had pursued a career with Starfleet Communications and after Voyager’s situation had been discovered, joined the think tank Project Pathfinder, which had been charged with finding a way to communicate with the long lost starship.

It was Barclay who had utilized the MIDAS array and had initiated the ship’s first contact with Starfleet in two years. He had been responsible for the upgrades that had allowed Voyager monthly contact with the Federation. And then the lieutenant had outdone himself with Project Watson, which had allowed real-time communication with the Delta Quadrant. If it hadn’t been for Barclay, the crew would never have been able to achieve the level of morale that they had had when Voyager had undertaken the transwarp hub mission.

“Likewise, Admiral Janeway.”

“So, what can I do for you Mr. Barcaly?”

“As you know, the Enterprise-E was returning to Earth to conduct a diplomatic mission…”

Janeway smiled.

“Yes, the marriage of Cmdr. Riker and Counselor Troi.”

“Yes, they were headed through Sector 001 when less than a light year from Earth, it vanished.”

Janeway frowned.

“What do you mean it vanished?”

“It simply vanished off our sensors, Admiral.”

“Anything unusual about the part of the space it was in before we lost contact?”

Barclay nodded.

“Well, we did detect neutrino emissions and it was in the vicinity of where, well, where you came home.”

Janeway sat back, frowning and understanding at once.

“The transwarp aperture. Could they have fallen into it?”

Barcaly shook his head.

“I’m not expert on transwarp physics, but if you want my honest opinion, I doubt it was a transwarp aperture; your destruction of the subspace manifolds had collapsed much of the Borg’s transwarp network. There was no way it could have been reopened. Unless the Borg created a new conduit…”

She had met Picard both before and after the Voyager’s sojourn and had greatly respected him and his abilities. She considered him not just a fellow officer, but a good friend and most assuredly one of the most valued Captains in the Starfleet. And then of course, he was also the former commander of Barclay. He had good friends about the Federation flagship and she could imagine just how he felt.

“Dispatch a task force and get a scanning team out there; find out what happened.”

“Aye Admiral. Barclay out.”

As the channel closed, Janeway couldn’t help but wonder where Picard was and what he was thinking.

***

Location: Naboo System
That Galaxy Far, Far Away...

“Sacre Merde”

Picard rubbed his head where it had come into contact with the armrest on his chair of command a minute before.

“Report.”

Riker looked up from the incoming reports.

“Minimal structural damage on Decks 10, 13, and 15. Shields, weapons, and sensors are still operational though our warp drive is offline at the moment.”

“The Plasma Transfer Conduits overloaded the connections to nacelles and so they short-circuited . I‘ve already got repair teams on it, so we should be able to bring the warp engines back online in less than an hour. Thankfully, the impulse engines are in good shape,” LaForge stated over the comm.

“Excellent. Mr. Data, where the hell are we?”

The android was back on its feet and had already begun to scan his console, crosschecking the location of stars around them with the star charts stored in the Enterprise’s databanks.

“Sir, according to our astrometrics data, we are no longer in the Milky Way galaxy. I estimate we have traveled at least six million light years.”

Picard was tempted to curse in French or any of the other alien languages that he was familiar with. The last time this had happened to an Enterprise had been fifteen years ago, back when the Enterprise-D had been in the first year of her service. The incident in mind was the one involving the intergalactic Traveler and their unexpected trip to the M33 Galaxy.

“What about the wormhole or rift or whatever the hell that was that we passed through?”

Data glanced at the scientific readings displayed on the OkudaGarms. They were named after the Starfleet engineer from a century before who had started Starfleet on the road towards phasing out the old jewel buttons that had characterized Federation computers and equipment during the time of Captain Kirk.

“As with the Bajoran Wormhole, it is closed for the moment yet it is still there and is intact. Once we adjust our engines, traveling through it would not be a problem again.”

Picard gave a sigh of relief. If the wormhole had been gone, then short of a miracle or transwarp or quantum slipstream drive, the Enterprise-E and her crew would never have seen Earth again, at least not in their lifetime. The last thing he needed was for the Enterprise to become another Voyager.

“Captain, there is another matter, though.”

“What is it Data?”

“It’s simply not just a question of where are we. As an aficionado of twentieth century Earth cinema would say, ‘the appropriate question is when the hell are we.”

Picard’s brow furrowed.

“What are you getting at?”

“Captain, we are at least several million years in the past.

***

To be continued…

Interesting.....

I was about to nitpick on the errors you made in Part 1 when I saw the revised edition...whew, thank goodness I didn't have to do that!

I want to see how you handle Trek weapons vs. the Yuuzhan Vong.

Um, does Janeway die in this fic?

Agent R wrote: does Janeway die in this fic?

Maybe, maybe not; I'm not telling, in part because it's still being written. But in your case, well, let's just say we can expect a visit from a certain autonomous agency as the story progresses...

JME2 wrote:

Agent R wrote: does Janeway die in this fic?

Maybe, maybe not; I'm not telling, in part because it's still being written. But in your case, well, let's just say we can expect a visit from a certain autonomous agency as the story progresses...

Oh my God! Not the BBC! By all the God's, anyone but them...

*televisions burst into the room*

We are the Beeb... lower your newspapers and put down your glasses. We will add our weird dancing figures to your mind. Your timetables will adapt to survey us. ITV is futile.

I'm reading... but this place simply ain't as good as ASVS for inserting dozens of comments.

The first real test for me is when Fed and SW (Imp, NR, Vong) militaries interact violently. I'm not TOO sensitive to things like lousy characterization and if your story is articulate I don't care about your grammar.

You are also "lucky" (arrogantly presuming your goal is to impress me) that you are doing Vong vs Feds. I'm less tight with Vong and NR than Imps - a subjective personal preference.

But the battles is a place where a lot of stories fall down on me. So let's see how you do...

With NDF, phasers might actually be more effective consideing what Vong ships/troops are made of...

I'll try to get Part III up soon, but I may just wait until The unifying Force comes out and see how the NJO ends.

Admiral_K wrote:With NDF, phasers might actually be more effective consideing what Vong ships/troops are made of...

Yeah, which is why I'm even less sensitive to Vong than NR. More unknowns, and quite probably more chance for Trek advantages to show up

It is still an uphill climb - NDF might "amplify" the power, but they still have orders of magnitude to go

Well the thing is, Vong ships/armor seem to resist the brute force attributes of NR weaponry, and their main defense is the Dovin Basils which essentially "absorb" the NR's torpedoes and blaster bolts (usually a direct hit does serious damage to their ships). But, With NDF their very armor would feed on itself in a chain reaction. They don't have shields which are the best effective defense against phasers, and their dovan basils might have trouble blocking the omnidirectional phaser arrays found on most fed ships.

Their shielding could be technobabulated to defend against the exotic Vong weaponry as well given the right literary license . Also, since vong ships don't have shields, maybe the Trekkie wet dream of beaming a torpedo onto a Wars ship would become reality, albeit not in the fashion they originally concieved

Granted their is more to this than just weapons and shields, but you could definately make a feasible Federation military presence.

Admiral_K wrote:Well the thing is, Vong ships/armor seem to resist the brute force attributes of NR weaponry, and their main defense is the Dovin Basils which essentially "absorb" the NR's torpedoes and blaster bolts (usually a direct hit does serious damage to their ships).

Well, if they are even surviving at all, that's a lot better than a Fed hull in terms of pure energy resistance.

Admiral_K wrote:But, With NDF their very armor would feed on itself in a chain reaction. They don't have shields which are the best effective defense against phasers, and their dovan basils might have trouble blocking the omnidirectional phaser arrays found on most fed ships.

Basically, I see dovin basals (in addition to their propulsion roles) as a sort of pinpoint barrier. The crisis is which side has the better "electronic slewing."

NDF would depend on the real density of the material. Granted bio-material is probably not as dense as neutronium-impregnated hulls, but...

Admiral_K wrote:Their shielding could be technobabulated to defend against the exotic Vong weaponry as well given the right literary license .

With the "right literary license," you could with no reason create a Trek weapon that can effortlessly defeat ISDs too. Considering lots of Vong weaponry are simply heated plasma with enough heat content to hurt SW ships, there is no real defense against high energy content.

Admiral_K wrote: Also, since vong ships don't have shields, maybe the Trekkie wet dream of beaming a torpedo onto a Wars ship would become reality, albeit not in the fashion they originally concieved

Edge of appropriate "artistic license." They don't have sheilds, but they have plenty of other interference, like their sheer power output.

Oh well, too early to really discuss this in detail. I propose that we get back together and discuss this after he writes the first battle

I'd also be evaluating (if other ST species get involved,) how well they perform compared to the Feds - for they are roughly of the same tech level:

I might be hallucinating, but I keep getting this feeling that despite being on a comparable tech level, in FanFics the Empire does not have trouble crushing the Klingons, Roms ... but when they bump into the Feds, they get trouble. Even before the treknobabble and miracles come out, it seems like the Wars ships go through ANOTHER power reduction (they often get one just moving into the ST universe.)

Maybe that's artistic license, but if I'm not just hallucinating, IMO this kind of thing should be done a little more subtly.

Well, if they are even surviving at all, that's a lot better than a Fed hull in terms of pure energy resistance.

Actually from the books I've read, it would seem that without Dovin Basils for protection their ships are actually quite vulnerable. Besides, where as wars weapons do their damage through brute force, trek weapons use exotic technobabble (NDF) which considering the exotic nature of Vong weapons, armor, and other techs this makes for a time where technobabbly has a legitimate use.

Basically, I see dovin basals (in addition to their propulsion roles) as a sort of pinpoint barrier. The crisis is which side has the better "electronic slewing."

NDF would depend on the real density of the material. Granted bio-material is probably not as dense as neutronium-impregnated hulls, but...

Well again, without the Dovin Basils I don't think Vong ships really are all that strong structurally. The fact that they can generate mini black holes to suck in torpedos and blaster fire is what gives them combat survivability.

The fact that they are Bio Matter would make one think that perhaps they are vulnerable to NDF. I'd have to read over Mike's NDF page a little more closely to be sure but the potential is there at least.

With the "right literary license," you could with no reason create a Trek weapon that can effortlessly defeat ISDs too. Considering lots of Vong weaponry are simply heated plasma with enough heat content to hurt SW ships, there is no real defense against high energy content.

Ah but this isn't using some sort of strange high end calcs, or some convuluted technobable scheme. Again, it is the Dovin Basils and their ability to somehow absorb the shields of NR ships that makes them dangerous. Without these, War's ships seem to be able to easily deflect most vong weaponry (at least as of the books I've read, again with so many authors their capabilities can change rather frequently).

It has been theorized that Fed ship's shields don't work on the same principle, thus again with the right literary licences you could argue that their shields are not affected or could be modulated to not be affected by Dovin Basils.

Edge of appropriate "artistic license." They don't have sheilds, but they have plenty of other interference, like their sheer power output.

No reason to think though that you couldn't beam anything aboard though. Maybe you couldn't beam a bomb directly into the reactor or whatever they use for power, but you wouldn't have to. And that would eliminate the primary defense of Vong ships the Dovin Basils.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a trek fanatic but I think against the Vong they have their best chance against anything from the War's galaxy of being a threat, and possibly even be favored in some areas.

Admiral_K wrote:Actually from the books I've read, it would seem that without Dovin Basils for protection their ships are actually quite vulnerable. Besides, where as wars weapons do their damage through brute force, trek weapons use exotic technobabble (NDF) which considering the exotic nature of Vong weapons, armor, and other techs this makes for a time where technobabbly has a legitimate use.

I hadn't read too much NJO, but AFAIK, the most exotic thing is merely the fact they are organic. The plasma they use is Direct Energy Transfer. Their dovin basals are pinpoint barriers with a bonus that they are able to "suck" away weak shields (fighter shields to my recall.)

Well again, without the Dovin Basils I don't think Vong ships really are all that strong structurally. The fact that they can generate mini black holes to suck in torpedos and blaster fire is what gives them combat survivability.

They aren't that strong compared to Star Wars hulls. But yeah, of the conventional stuff the Vong use, the biggest trick is the dovin basal. Which should work against photon torpedoes as well, even if they MIGHT not have the tracking rate to suck in a rapidly slicing across phaser beam.

The fact that they are Bio Matter would make one think that perhaps they are vulnerable to NDF. I'd have to read over Mike's NDF page a little more closely to be sure but the potential is there at least.

Yes, they are vulnerable roughly based on density.

It has been theorized that Fed ship's shields don't work on the same principle, thus again with the right literary licences you could argue that their shields are not affected or could be modulated to not be affected by Dovin Basils.

I don't remember offhand any cases where a Fed shield was literally "sucked away" by gravity. But then, this dovin basal business is really only effective at sucking fighter shields, and the problem went away almost completely with a change in inertial compensation.

Their big threat is that they suck up most of the weapons, reducing the effective Attack Strength. In that they are little different from an ordinary Pinpoint Barrier Shield.

One thing is for durn certain, though. JME got until his first fight to decide whether Fed shields have that vulnerability or no. If he decides they DO have that vulnerability, then I'm afraid given the weakness of Trek, their size won't save them from the pull. Also, changing the phase modulation of the shield won't cut it.

On the other side, if he chooses to use the inertial compensation trick for ST ships, he can also decide that ST compensators aren't good enough, and the shields get ripped away anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a trek fanatic but I think against the Vong they have their best chance against anything from the War's galaxy of being a threat, and possibly even be favored in some areas.

My sentiments exactly. So I'm reserving judgment until I see how he handles this. Lots of people (relatively) can write good characters and good plots.

Those that can do that and solve the TA problem to a fair degree ... not as many.

And those that did it to my overly demanding standards? I think Mike Wong did it. Stravo's first half of his story did it. I think Michael January's Galaxy at War (left unfinished after about Chapter 14) did good. That's about it.

Even when you write the same thing, insert the same playbalancing measure, your writing style helps affect how obvious it is. That's another part of handling playbalancing.

Come on, JME, give me the second chapter!!!

I want to thank all of you for your feedback; it's been invaluable. Just one quick Question - What does NDF stand for?

JME2 wrote:I want to thank all of you for your feedback; it's been invaluable. Just one quick Question - What does NDF stand for?

Nuclear Disruption Force i think, could be wrong.

Thank you. My goal for this story was never to have the Imperials vs. the Federation - as fun as that would be, it's been done. No, I wanted something new, yet something that was in the Expanded Universe and the NJO was the key. Besides, it will add wrinkles such as the Federation meeting with the same hostility towards outsiders that the Dominion had toward them from the NR (as a result of the war, of course).

Part III is almost ready; look for it by tomorrow.

JME2 wrote:Part III is almost ready; look for it by tomorrow.

i didn't realise part II was up till u said that.

Disclaimer: Star Trek created by Gene Roddenberry and owned by Paramount Pictures. Stat Wars created by George Lucas and owned by Twentieth Century Fox and Lucasfilm. I own the story and any original characters/species. No copyright infringement is intended.

Star Trek/Star Wars: The Best of Both Worlds

Part III

“Forget your hope of ever seeing Heaven: I come to lead you to the other shore, to the eternal dark, to fire and frost.” -The Divine Comedy: Inferno-



Author’s Notes: This chapter contains a mentioning of the “M Continuum” and it is not my creation; John deLancie (Q himself) devised this group of omnipotent entities for his best-selling Star Trek book I, Q. I am simply adapting it to this fan fiction format; expect further mentions or a possible appearance from them as the story progresses - and believe me, this will be a long story if all goes to plan. Also, the U.S.S. Gormenghast is both an original ship and a tribute to the Gormenghast novels/BBC miniseries several years ago; I had the fortune to view it and I’ve become a big fan. Well, as always, enjoy and thanks for reviewing.

Location: Q Continuum
Somewhere in the Universe

“Wait a minute Dad. Are you telling me that there’s something out there that the Q can’t solve simply by snapping their fingers?”

Q nodded soberly.

“Yeah, pretty much.”

The younger Q raised his eyebrow Vulcan-style.

“I don’t believe it.

“Oh really? Well then, watch Junior and be amazed.”

Q snapped his fingers once, waited a few moments, and them snapped them again. He turned to his son.

“Now, center your being. Reach out to the farthest reaches of the cosmos and tell me, does anything feel different to you?”

The younger Q was silent for a moment, his eyes closed as from a certain point of view, he became what pitiful little Earth’s Buddhists and many other religious sects throughout the universe had dreamed of.

He was one with everything.

Then his eyes opened and for the first time since the beginning of the crisis, there was a touch of seriousness in his being.

“No, there’s no change.”

“Aha, you see. No, this is going to have to take more than just a single snap of a finger to solve. But then again, Junior, you’re forgetting about the continuum’s civil war -- that certainly couldn’t have been ended with the snap of one’s finger. Instead, your mother and I had to do that thing that hormone-driven adolescents (and Betazoids reaching a certain age if I may add) are obsessed with doing and we got stuck with you --”

The traces of seriousness in the younger Q’s person vanished, shot down as his humorous side came rushing back to the surface.

“Hey!”

“-- and of course, one mustn’t forget our problems with the M Continuum, my boy. You may never have tangoed with them but believe, that wasn‘t exactly an easy problem to solve either.”

The elder Q spoke the truth here. The M Continuum was, at least to the Q, one of the greater mysteries of the universe. Their origins were unknown; they claimed to be descendents and/or ancestors of the Q and given the Q’s knack of traveling through the ages in the blink of an eye as well as the similar omnipotent powers exhibited by the M, it held merit for some Q. However, neither Continuum had exactly gotten along during the first contact with them and so, for about several million Earth-years, they were at war and though they had made a peace, there were still disagreements between both omnipotent parties.

***

Location: Sector 001

The Milky Way Galaxy

In the region of space less than a light year from Earth, there was a flash and a starship came hurtling out of warp speed. Those familiar with Starfleet designs and ships would easily recognize it as an Excelsior-class ship. The Excelsior-class had been introduced in the 2280’s as not just a platform with which to replace the outdated Constitution-class, but to also test the experimental transwarp-drive that Starfleet had been greatly interested in.

Although the project had been a complete failure, the Excelsior design had proven to be a popular one and in the aftermath of the Khitomer Accords, had gone on to become the workhorse of the fleet. Several of the most famous ships in Starfleet had been part of the Excelsior-class and included the prototype itself as well as the Enterprise-B, the third Starfleet ship to bear that famous name.

This ship was the U.S.S. Gormenghast NCC-24601. Under the command of Captain Elena Maxwell, the Gormenghast had undertaken many a mission of exploration and defense in the name of the Federation. She also had an astounding survival record, especially given the number of conflicts she had participated in. She had had survived the battle to repel the Borg in 2373 and had been part of the fleet that had run the Cardassian-Dominion blockade the following year in an attempt to take back Deep Space Nine before the Cardassians had brought down the wormhole minefield.

Now, it had a new mission, courtesy of Admiral Kathryn Janeway of Starfleet Command. It’s goal was to find out what happened to the Federation flagship, the Sovereign-class U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-E.

***

Location: Naboo System

That Galaxy Far, Far Away...

“Captain, we are at least several million years in the past.”

Picard’s desire to curse in a multitude of different languages returned in a space of a few moments. This was bad. This was very bad. The only benefit was that the Enterprise’s engines were still functioning. Still, they couldn’t go anywhere; otherwise if they went anywhere and then returned through the wormhole, Picard would get raked across the coals by the DTI again; Agents Dulmer and Lucsly, as they had the previous year with the now-Admiral Janeway, put him through hell over the staff’s decision to tell Cochrane and his assistant Lily Sloane about the future. Still it had been either that or let the man who brought humanity out of a new dark age sink himself in 20th-century music and alcohol-

“Captain, we are picking up a vessel signature from coordinates 235 point 835, roughly two hundred thousand kilometers from our current position.”

Despite his Starfleet side screaming at him not to, Picard’s archeological side won out; he couldn’t help but be curious at what kind of ancient space-faring civilizations traveled the stars.

“On screen,” ordered Picard.

The main viewer flickered to life and it brought a sense of relief to Picard. He had greatly detested the holographic view-screen that the Enterprise-E had been launched with in early 2372. Still he had had to bear with it until he had managed to persuade Starfleet to install a more traditional view-screen. This had occurred shortly after the mission to 2063 while the Enterprise was docked at Earth Station McKinley, having the Borg technology removed and analyzed.

There, lay a saucer shaped craft, coming towards the Enterprise.

“Analysis, Mr. Data?”

"It is roughly half the size of a Defiant-class warship and…curious. Captain, I am not detecting detect any sings of a warp drive."

Riker frowned.

"No nacelles, no Bussard collectors...nothing?"

The android shook his head.

"Their propulsion system appears to possibly be a variant on transwarp and quantum slipstream drives, but we would need a more detailed scan.”

“I for one would like to see the results of the scan,” chimed in LaForge.

Picard shook his head.

“No, a detailed scan could be interpreted as a hostile act. And we are six million years in the past - who knows, perhaps ancient space-faring races did indeed use-”

“Captain, I’m not sure if that is an ancient space-faring race on that ship.”

“Data, what do you mean?”

“Captain, I’m reading seven life-signs on board - all 100% human.”

***

Location: Sector 001

The Milky Way Galaxy

“Sensor readings are unchanged, Captain Maxwell. They’re still reporting large traces of verterons and unusually high neutrino and proton levels as well as plasma exhaust from a Starfleet ship but nothing else.”

Maxwell smiled at her science officer, Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Tobin. She had known him for years and despite his attempts at being serious, she could never forget his Academy-days and how he had been something of an extreme humorist. She forced this out of her mind and turned to face her first officer, Commander Alex Noice.

“Commander Noice, your opinion on the matter?”

As with Tobin, she had known Noice since their days at the Starfleet Academy. He was so drawn to her command abilities that he had vowed, if she ever attained a captaincy, to become her first officer.

She had initially laughed this off, but two decades later, it was no laughing matter and he had become, in her opinion, one of the best first-officers in the fleet. There was a strong bond of friendship between the two. Some of her older friends had urged the two of them to get together, but she politely pointed out that they were just friends and fellow officers

- nothing more.

“I wouldn’t take us through yet - no telling where we’ll end up or if Enterprise-E is still intact.”

“I concur. Commander Noice, inform the Torpedo bay to ready a Class-Five probe and prepare to launch it through the wormhole at my command.”

“Aye Captain”

***

Location: Naboo System

That Galaxy Far, Far Away...

Every mouth on the bridge dropped in an instant.

Humans in this galaxy six million years ago?!

Humans were native to the Milky Way galaxy and had evolved to its present state of development only with a few thousand centuries. What were they doing here? That changed everything in Picard‘s opinion.

“Counselor, I need you to do a telepathic scan; we need to know if Data’s sensor assessment is correct.”

For all we know, it could Changelings or God knows what.

Counselor Troi closed her eyes, preparing to concentrate and use her empathic/telepathic powers. But before she could, Worf’s tactical console beeped.

“Captain, we are being hailed. Audio only.”

“Then let’s hear it. Mr. Worf.”

“This is Ambassador Leia Organa Solo of the New Republic Freighter Millenium Falcon to the un-identified ship in Naboo space.”

Here we go…

“This is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. We hear you loud and clear.”

“Captain Picard, we request asylum aboard your ship.”

***

Han Solo knew he should never have let his wife take over the communications board. He had expected her to ask for aid in a diplomatic manner, but requesting asylum?

“Asylum? Honey, the Falcon -”

“- is not exactly up to the task of combating the Vong ships that are no doubt on their way, Captain Solo. The deflector-shield is fluctuating and the hyperdrive took serious hits during the battle. Now, if you‘d like me to go into - ”

“Thank you for your brilliant tactical analysis, General Goldenrod. And remember, I told you to never tell me the odds!”

But as much as he hated to admit it, Threepio was right. The Falcon probably couldn’t take more than a few hits before the deflector-shield collapsed and just as it had two decades before at Hoth, the lights on the engine board were fluctuating between green and red, not a good sign for those in desperate need of a getaway into lightspeed. Even with the quad-laser cannons and the four concussion missiles that were left in the forward launcher, they wouldn’t make it.

***

Well, this is certainly an interesting development.

Before Picard could ponder the matter any further, Worf’s console started beeping. The Klingon leaned forward and analyzed the data spilling out on the displays.

“Captain, sensors are picking up a cluster of ships moving in at high velocity towards our vicinity.”

“How many, Mr. Worf?”

“Twenty craft, mainly the size of a Danube-class runabout. There is also a frigate sized craft, possibly a carrier of some sort.”

“Analysis, Mr. Data?”

“According to sensors, they appear to be organic-based.”

Organic based.

Starfleet had encountered several organic-based ships of various species during its two centuries of life. There was the enigmatic Breen Confederacy used partial organic technology in their frigates, as the Federation had learned all too well during the Breen’s last minute entry into the Dominion War three years prior.

The most other notable species was Species 8472, the only race that had truly given the Borg a run for their money - the Species 8472 vessels had pushed the Gomtuu out of its position of most fascinating organic ship at Starfleet‘s Exobiology department. Hell even Starfleet to some extent did, thanks to the bio-neural gel packs being used in palace of isolinear circuits since the beginning of the decade.

“Do they match anything in the Federation database, Data?”

“No sir.”

“They’re called the Yuuzhan Vong and they are the reason why we requested asylum.”

Picard’s brow furrowed.

“If we take you on board, will this species, the Vong, fire on us?”

“Captain, it wouldn’t matter if you didn’t take us on - they still would. The Vong are a race from outside our galaxy - their religion dictates to them that their gods have given them our worlds and have spent the last two years invading our galaxy. They hate machines and will fire on you anyway.”

“They’re telling the truth Captain; I‘m not getting any emotions of untruthfulness,” stated Troi.

As much as this intrigued and moved Picard, he was torn. Starfleet regulations required him to honor requests for asylum. But if they accepted, they could come under attack by an unknown foe. If they didn’t, these people would die and the Enterprise may or may survive. Either way, the timeline for an entire galaxy could change. Yet, in that moment, as if a ghost were speaking in his ears, Kirk’s words rang in his ear again.

“While you’re there, you make a difference.”

In an instant, Picard had made up his mind.

To hell with the Prime Directive; people are in danger and I need to know what humans are doing here in this galaxy six million years in the past.

“Asylum granted. Mr. Worf, extend our shields around that ship. We’ll beam you aboard and -”

“Beam?”

“It’s part of our transporter system. The transporter essentially breaks down an individual‘s molecules into energy and directs them to another location”

There was silence again.

“I take it you don’t have that kind of technology in your New Republic?”

“No, and I can’t speak for everyone on our ship, but we’d prefer docking in one of your shuttle-bays.”

“One moment. Number One, would the Millenium Falcon be able to fit in the Enterprise’s aft shuttle bay?”

Riker tapped the console on the side of his chair, the computer performing the calculations instantly.

“No; It would be too tight a fit. But there is room in the upper shuttle bay. Of course, all of the shuttles, workbees, and such would have to be lowered into the holding dock. But yes, it would work.”

“Make it so. Prepare the upper shuttle bay to receive the Millenium Falcon.”

“Aye sir.”

“As soon as we’re on board, we’ll join you on your command deck - you’ll need tactical help.”

“Understood, Picard out.”

As Riker headed for the turbolift, Picard looked at the raised tactical console to his right.

“ETA of those ships, commander?”

“Three minutes, twelve seconds.”

Picard was silent for a moment.

“Go to yellow-alert.”


***

“Millenium Falcon, you are cleared to land.”

“Wow. Your sure don’t see that kind of thing on a New Republic Warship.”

Leia smiled at her son Anakin, his eyes glued on the forward viewport, at the glimpse of the shuttle bay that Han brought the old YT-1300 Corellian freighter through the doors and was preparing to set down. And personally, Leia didn’t blame her second son. The shuttle bay had a streamlined, aerodynamic design, as accommodating as possible. New Republic warships tended to be more harsh and more bulky; they were not built for exploratory purposes.

The reason for this was simply that there was no exploration left to do. The Old Republic’s exploratory programs, which had gone on right up until the last minutes before a certain Naboo senator-turned-Chancellor had declared himself Emperor, had explored all of the known galaxy. With the end of the Galactic Civil War, the Republic had thought about sending new expeditions to explore Wild Space and the Unknown Regions.

The plan had been abandoned due primarily that the mysterious Chiss, the blue-skinned, glowing red eye race from which had emerged the frighteningly brilliant Grand Admiral Thrawn, did not like intrusions into their region of space, the Unknown Regions, as Luke and Mara’s skirmish on Nirauan nearly a decade before, had shown.

Secondarily, these plans had been proposed just as the Ex-Gal outpost on Belkadan had picked up the vector prime of the initial invasion force of the Yuuzhan Vong. Now it was no longer an option. Every ship from frigates to fighters to capital ships were needed for the war effort. No, exploration was simply an unneeded luxury and the harshness and bulkiness of the New Republic ships showed that line of thinking.


But not this ship, not the Enterprise.

To Leia, the sleekness of this ship’s design reminded her very much of the Mon Calamari warships that had been such an essential part of the Rebel Alliance’s fleet, particularly during the Battle of Endor.

Endor.

She sighed to herself again. Historians viewed Endor, the last major battle of the Galactic Civil War, as the formation of the New Republic and the retreat of the Imperial Empire. But that had been twenty-two years ago. Twenty-two years of losses, work, and lives, all of which were being thrown away by the incompetent leadership of the Advisory Council and Borsk Fey’lya in their thus far, losing struggle against the Yuuzhan Vong.

Unless the Bothan and the rest of the Senate came to their senses, the Vong would soon overrun Central Core; they had already begun to, but the Warmaster‘s proposition of peace in exchange for the Jedi had brought the gears of the Vong’s war machine to a standstill at Duro. But she knew perfectly well that it would not end there, even if the Jedi would turn them over. Fey’lya and his cohorts, however, appeared to think differently.

“All right, that’s it.”

Han grinned at the Falcon came to a rest on the deck. She noticed that the pilot-console was still blinking, signaling that the power core was on hot-standby.

“Han, aren’t you going to shut down the Falcon?”

“I’d prefer to leave it on, just in case we need to get a quick getaway.”

Han Solo heard his brother in law chuckle as Luke leaned against the cockpit door. Luke Skywalker was a legend in throughout the galaxy. Many credited him with single-handedly turning back the darkness of the Empire as well as being reviving the Order of the Jedi Knights, an order that was being decimated by Yuuzhan Vong Warmaster’s offer and the reason why the Solos and Skywalkers were here now at Naboo.

“It’s all right Han. Neither the kids, Mara, or myself detected any hostility, only a genuine desire to help us.”

“I agree with Luke, honey.”

“All right. But I‘m taking my blaster with me.”

Anakin piped in at that moment.

“Well, whatever you do we’d better move. The Vong ships will be on them in a few minutes and they’ll need our help.”


With the tap of a console, Han lowered the Falcon’s boarding ramp and got out of his chair, trying not to look over at the copilot‘s chair, its fabric still bristling with brown Wookie hair. But his eyes met briefly with it and it took all of his strength to tear himself away from it.

Yes, he missed Chewbacca. But he was still embarrassed and angry at the way he had acted for the six months after his old friend’s death. Six months of mourning and moping around while his closest friends and family had been risking their lives for the Republic as they had for the last quarter of a century, fighting and failing to slow the advance of the Yuuzhan Vong’s forces through the Outer Rim and into the Core.

But now, the smuggler that had gone ‘respectable’ as he liked to put it, was back in the act. And if the people on board this Enterprise in anyway threatened his family, then they would have to get through Han Solo.


***

“Mr. Worf, ETA?”

“One minute sir.”

“Mr. Data, put out a message on all frequencies and the universal translator to those ships.”

“Done sir.”

“I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship Enterprise. The crew of this freighter has requested asylum and is under Federation protection. Any attempt to attack this ship will result in your destruction.”

There was silence of a long moment. Then a voice so harsh and cruel that Picard, for just a moment, felt goose bumps on the back of his neck, came filtering onto the bridge speakers.

“You will know the true meaning of destruction, infidel.”

The channel closed and Worf’s console began beeping. The Klingon officer scanned the readings and his expression darkened.

“Captain, they are coming around for a lateral run and appear to be charging some manner of plasma weapon.”

Picard’s face became grim and he instantly went into battle mode.

“Red Alert, all hands to battle stations.”

The cool, comfortable lighting of the Enterprise’s bridge vanished as the familiar red lights began flashing and klaxons started sounding. Display boards that had displayed scientific data vanished, replaced with systems diagnostics and statuses and warnings of Alert, Condition Red. Picard turned in his chair towards the tactical station.

“Mr. Worf, ready our forward phaser banks and torpedo bays, stand by on the aft launchers.”

“Done sir.”

“Then prepare to fire on my mark.”

Data spoke up from the operations console, speaking his typically calm, business-like manner.

“Enemy ships in range in eight seconds…five…four…three…two…”

“Now Mr. Worf!”

***

Location: Q Continuum
Somewhere in the Universe

"So, as you can see Junior, we‘re in a bit of -”

He stopped, a feeling of dread coming about him, his aforementioned Q-sense kicking in again. He turned to Lady Q.

“We’ve got problems.”

The Lady Q gave her husband a look.

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

Q sighed.

“I mean that we now have more problems. An, how shall we say, explosive contact is about to made between both galaxies. As humans are so fond of putting it, we’re past the Rubicon now.”

***

To be Continued...

Ok, I'll admit that I've been waiting to see this for a while. To say the least, I am intrigued. I was getting pretty tired of watching the Imps crush the Feds and the entire Milky Way, and this was a fair change of pace.

But still, you cut it off too soon! Are you stalling the Enterprise/Vong battle because you can't decide how it should go? If so, then I'm fine with it.

By the way, it's "Yuuzhan", not "Yuzzhan".

Agent R wrote:Are you stalling the Enterprise/Vong battle because you can't decide how it should go? If so, then I'm fine with it.

No, I've got it all planned out; i'm simply building up suspense of the climactic first shots.

Agent R wrote:By the way, it's "Yuuzhan", not "Yuzzhan".

It's my computer's auto spell check that keeps doing that, that and spelling Jedi as jedI. Annoying, isn't it?

Decent chapter. Thougg as the Falcon ebtred the shuttle bay you incrrectly identified it as a YT-1500 instead of a YT-1300

Crazedwraith wrote:Decent chapter. Thougg as the Falcon ebtred the shuttle bay you incrrectly identified it as a YT-1500 instead of a YT-1300

My bad.

I'll try to get Part IV up when I can. However, bear in mind that the final book of the New Jedi Order comes out in a little over a week - that may or may not sidetrack me as I read to find out how the war is won by those heroes far, far away.

Then it'll be MY turn. AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

(need oxygen)