Sonnenburg wrote:Dying and coming back as Janeway is definitely a sign you had some bad karma.
We know that Sisko could inhabit Palpatine's body (presumably displacing his soul). What's not to say that Palpatine, after being evicted, would not find the body of another host -- like Janeway? We know that he can take over other hosts. This is pure speculation, of course, and knowing you I'm probably totally wrong
Sonnenburg wrote:Dying and coming back as Janeway is definitely a sign you had some bad karma.
We know that Sisko could inhabit Palpatine's body (presumably displacing his soul). What's not to say that Palpatine, after being evicted, would not find the body of another host -- like Janeway? We know that he can take over other hosts. This is pure speculation, of course, and knowing you I'm probably totally wrong
If you are right..ol Palpy must feel sooo dirty.
Via money Europe could become political in five years" "... the current communities should be completed by a Finance Common Market which would lead us to European economic unity. Only then would ... the mutual commitments make it fairly easy to produce the political union which is the goal"
Interesting.... I seem to remember palpatine occupying Mara Jade's body for quite a while after his 'death' on the second Deathstar. However I shuure hope it was Mara in control because if not than Luke was some seriously damaged goods (There is no Emoticon for nausia) anyway Janeway doesn't know EVERYTHING otherwise she would have already aquired the suncrusher and deathstar prototype from the maw cluster.
Annika Hansen Skywalker stormed through the corridors without looking at anyone. No one else mattered at the moment to her. Even without sensors, it was clear that the doors would have opened on their own anyway under her steely glare. The final one opened, and there sat Sebastian talking with a medical droid. His expression immediately went from calm and collected to shock at her arrival. "Mom?!"
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" she demanded.
"Well, you see-"
"I don't want to hear any excuses," she said sharply. "How could you? I thought I raised you to have more sense?"
"Now look," Sebastian said, but before he could continue, the door opened again. "Thank the Force," he said. "I'm gonna need some help on this one."
"Sorry, Sebastian, but you're on your own," Luke said. "I've still got to live with her."
"Damn right," Annika said. "And if you think that just because you and Jorri have moved out you can keep us in the dark, you've got another thing coming."
"I tried contacting you, but the comm unit was malfunctioning," Sebastian said.
"Faulty equipment is no excuse," Annika said sharply. "I'm not missing the birth of my first grandchild for anything. Now where is she?"
"2-1B here was just filling me in," Sebastian said. "There were complications, but it looks like-" He stopped as the door opened and Dr. Bashir came out, all smiles. "Well?"
"Mr. Skywalker," Bashir said as he shook his hand, "allow me to congratulate you on a very happy and healthy baby girl."
The tension of Sebastian's face gave way to relief. "Can I see her?" he asked.
"She's your daughter," Bashir said, gesturing for him to go through. The family entered and saw Jorri sitting up in bed holding the little bundle. Even in the wake of labor Jorri looked more beautiful than Sebastian could remember. He stepped over to her side and looked down at the pudgy face.
"Hello, Morgan," Jorri said with the voice used for small children and idiots. "Hello there."
"Oh, she is the most precious little thing I've ever seen," Annika said. "Warn your parents, Jorielle, I plan to arm wrestle for babysitting privileges."
Luke waited a short while before finally speaking. "Can you feel it, Sebastian?" Sebastian could only nod. "She's strong with the Force... very strong."
"That can wait," Jorri said. "She's only been in the big bright universe for a few minutes, let's give her a little time."
"Sure," Sebastian said. "Let me hold her, please." Reluctantly, Jorri held her daughter out, and Sebastian took hold of her. She was so light it was amazing. He felt her fear grow as the familiar comfort of her mother vanished, but he reached out to her. It's all right. Everything's going to be all right. You're safe here... you'll always be safe. I promise, I'll always keep you safe.
She didn't know words yet, but Sebastian felt her response. It was complete and utter trust, expressed in a way no words could have ever described. Sebastian cried a little as he held her as close as he dared. I'll always be there for you, Morgan. Always.
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Sebastian's unconscious body was hefted off the hovertable onto the examination table. The Queen lifted one of his eyelids, then nodded with approval. "Let's not waste any time," she said.
There were over half a dozen Borg in the room, but most of the theoretical work had been done by Jollin and Koli. Those were the names registered with the Imperial Census Bereau, which refused to recognize Borg designations as official names, mostly because "Fourteen of Forty-Seven, Secondary Adjunct of Trimatrix 815" left too much room for error. The two were there to oversee the overall process, with Sebastian's own modifications in place. This was a sore spot for many of them, but it wasn't because they didn't like change. After all, they were Borg, adapting was part of the job description. Even the Queen was having a little trouble accepting his ideas, but Sebastian was uncompromising, and they had no choice but to give in. Still, Romal, the Devaronian Sebastian had brought in, had been a source of near revolt for the outcasts. The Queen had taken him aside and told him point blank that this was blackmail. He responded only with an ancient Earth line. "As you sow, so shall you reap."
"He has a death grip on something," one of the Borg remarked as she yanked on his right hand. "It won't budge."
"He's unconscious," Jollin remarked, coming around and trying to force the fist open, but his grip remained like iron. "Muscle relaxant would be a mistake," he said looking to Koli.
"Agreed," she said. "It's not worth the risk. Let's get these connections attached so we can proceed."
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Sebastian dropped with a sigh on the couch, then flopped over and stretched out, exhaustion filling every limb. His head ground into the pillow a little to get comfortable, then he let out another sigh, this one sounding rather contented. A little imitation answered him, and he opened his eyes and saw the little pair of eyes peaking over the top of the disposal bin. He smiled, and the eyes changed, and when she slipped out he saw a grin a Cheshire cat would envy. "Helloy," she said. Whether it was an amalgam of "hello" and "ahoy" or just a personal quirk, Sebastian couldn't say, but he ignored the detail.
"Hello," he answered.
"Wha'you'do-ing?" Morgan asked, having constructed a new word for today.
"I'm taking a nap, sweetie."
"Oh, you ti-yerd?" she asked with a look of concern.
"Yes," Sebastian answered, trying not to smile too much.
"Oh," she said, as if it were the worst news in the world. "You go'n go sleepy?"
"Yes," he answered.
"O-kay," she answered, as if giving in on the point. "I go'n get blankeh foh you?"
"Okay," Sebastian said as she pulled the comforter off the other sofa and dragged it over.
Carefully, like she was packing fragile items for a hazardous journey, she covered him up and tucked the blanket around him. She finished, leaving only Sebastian’s head protruding from the downy mass of his body. She looked it over with obvious approval and a sound of satisfaction. "Dere!" she said with a big nod.
"Thank you," Sebastian offered.
"Yeah. You comfy?"
"Yes, I'm comfy."
"Yeah, you comfy." She started petting the blanket like Sebastian was a big pet. "Nice an' wa'm," she said in a little sing-song voice. She let out another loud sigh, then walked over to the other couch and pulled off the pillow. "Daddy," she said, holding up the huge pillow in front of her, "I go'n lay down wi' you?"
"You want to lay down with me?" Sebastian said in pretend shock.
"Yeah."
"No! You don't want to lay down with me!"
"Noy," Morgan insisted, the little pirate apparently showing through. "I wan' lay down wi' you."
"Okay," Sebastian said, pretending to give in, and the girl crawled under the blanket while Sebastian helped position the pillow for her. She lay on her back and offered yet another sigh, then looked at Sebastian. "Comfy?" he asked.
"Yeah," she answered. "Nice an' wa'm."
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"Okay," Koli said, "I'm activating power. Five percent... ten."
"Initiate energy discharges at multiples of twenty-five," Jollin said.
The room was terribly dark, lit only by the soft glow of Sebastian's lightsaber. He looked around with patience, but the shadows betrayed nothing. "You cannot hide forever."
"Watch me," Morgan answered.
Sebastian continued his slow examination of the room, but whirled as he felt a tremor. His lightsaber came up and blocked Morgan's strike, then dropped to catch the second, then snapped up and struck her arm. She hissed and grabbed the spot. "Not bad," he said. "But you left yourself open.
"I see that," Morgan said through her teeth.
"It's alright. This is just practice."
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Sebastian let out a cry and clutched his chest. Morgan turned off her lightsaber, her shock temporarily forgotten. "What is it?"
"I - I don't know." Sebastian panted. "It's... it's nothing. Let's not worry about it."
"Let me at least-"
"It's nothing," Sebastian said, straightening up and taking a steadying breath. He looked at the worry in Morgan's face; she had more important things to think about. "You are unwise to lower your defenses," he said quickly, and Morgan instinctively reactivated her blade to catch his strike. He gave her a lopsided grin and the sparring continued.
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Morgan clicked the last piece of her lightsaber in place. It floated across the clearing to her grandfather, who took it out of the air and thumbed it on. The blue blade sprung forth, and there was applause from the gathered family members. Luke nodded with approval as he switched it off. "Perfect," he remarked. "And I confer on you the rank of Jedi Knight."
Morgan had a grin that seemed almost too large for her face as her mother and father came over to embrace her. The family gathered together and posed for holograms before settling in for the celebration. Han and Luke, who had put aside their differences ages ago, were off to the side reminiscing about the adventures of their youth to the other grandchildren, arguing occasionally about who saved who when. Sebastian gave his daughter a fatherly kiss on the cheek. "We're very proud of you, sweetie," he whispered.
Sebastian straightened up, his joy drained away into disbelief. "No," he said as he stared up at the shape that eclipsed the sun.
"Get inside!" Annika shouted, rounding up the children and heading for the shelter. Many had already done just that, but Sebastian was staring up at the descending Borg cube. Morgan tugged on his arm, but he didn't move.
"Daddy, come on!"
"No," he said hollowly.
"Daddy, please!"
"I should have known it was too good to last," Sebastian said. The Borg cube was moving slowly across the landscape, perhaps half a kilometer up now.
"Daddy, I love you! Please, come with us!"
Sebatian tore his eyes away from the cube and looked at his daughter's tear-filled eyes. He held her tight, looking over her shoulder at the cube. It was nearly here now, nearly finished. And none of them would exist any more. He squeezed her tighter. This place isn’t real... it’s just your dreams, Bastian. The years with her weren’t real. This life wasn’t real...
“I love you too, sweetie,” he said. That was real enough for him. “And I’m not going to let you go.”
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"Sixty percent," Koli said. "Seventy."
"I'm still not detecting any change," Jollin said.
"Give it time," the Queen said. "We've waited this long, let the experiment finish before you jump to conclusions."
"Seventy-five percent," Koli said. "Initiating final discharge." The bass sound shook the floor. "Eighty percent."
"What if you kill him?" Jollin said.
"We'll worry about that if it happens."
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The Borg cube settled to the ground in front of the house. It blocked out the light, its top blending in with the sky some three kilometers up. Sebastian stood before it and trembled, but not with fear. Anger, unfettered rage, filled him. "No," he said in a voice only he heard. "Not this time. You're not taking them away from me... not again."
"You will be assimilated," the cube answered.
"The hell I will," he answered.
"Daddy?" Morgan asked, unable to hide her fear now that it had finally arrived, "What can we do?"
"Keep away from it!" he shouted at her, then turned back to the cube. "And you, leave us alone!"
"Resistance is futile."
"No!" Sebastian screamed as a wall seemed to fall down in his mind, letting all of the anger and hurt and grief out in a single moment. This is real! This is the way it was supposed to be! He ran towards the cube, an ant by comparison, but he pounded his fists on it in his rage.
"Your existence as you have known it is over."
"I made a promise!" he screamed as he beat on the cube. "I MADE A PROMISE!!!"
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Sebastian arched his back as every muscle tightened, and despite the fact that he was unconscious, he screamed. Energy arced from the walls into his body as alarms sounded, but it was beyond anyone's ability to shut down now. The room stank of ozone and the air had a tang of metal to it. Sebastian spasmed again with another scream. His fist flew open, and a gold ring tumbled from his grip and hit the floor, bouncing and rolling off into a dark corner, unnoticed.
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Sebastian beat the cube until his hands were covered in his own blood, but still he refused to relent. "Get out of here!" he screamed. "Leave them alone! LEAVE THEM ALONE!" He struck again, and the cube gave under the blow. He must have struck a power line, because he felt energy course through his body and toss him backwards through the air, dropping him on his back before blackness overtook him.
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In the wake of the experiment came a silence like a lead weight. The Queen looked about at the other ex-Borg for a moment, then down at the still body of Sebastian. "Is he?" she asked, reaching towards him tentatively. She leapt away as his eyes snapped open.
Sebastian sat up, his face expressionless. When he spoke, his tone was even and devoid of any emotion. "A vessel has been detected," he announced. "Class IV Tactical Cube, undamaged in Sector 0197. Initiating emergency propulsion protocols, stand by."
The Queen looked uncertainly from face to face, until she was looking at Sebastian. "You have access to the Borg information networks?"
"Affirmative. 61.42% of data still accessible. 7.19% recoverable. All remaining data irretrievable."
"What about our ships?" Koli asked.
"24.74% of known vessels unaccounted for," Sebastian said. "Of remaining vessels, 62.05% damaged but salvageable. 12.80% damaged beyond repair. Remaining vessels awaiting Borg drones for operation."
"That's a lot of vessels to fill," Jollen remarked. "We'll need to assimilate a world to have sufficient drones."
"Negative," Sebastian said. "Such an action would interfere with new Borg protocols. Cloning of existing Borg using maturation chambers is the only acceptable choice."
"But how are we supposed to improve ourselves otherwise?" Jollen demanded.
"We will adapt," the Queen said. "Sebastian is correct, we can't follow the old ways any longer. New protocols are necessary to ensure our survival."
"There are 1718 Borg in the colony," Koli said. "If we take a sample from everyone, that will net us-"
"Negative," Sebastian said. "This Borg cannot be cloned."
"Why not?" Koli asked.
"Medical records indicate dangerous anomalous results in the cloning of beings known as 'Force sensitive.' Danger to the collective outweighs benefit of potential drones."
"I think we should listen to him," the Queen said. "After all, he has a mechanical leg over an organic one, which shows how seriously they take this."
"It's a superstitious bit of nonsense," Jollen said.
"That superstition is bringing a tactical cube here," the Queen said. "We'd best be prepared for its arrival. No doubt Imperial forces have detected an unknown vessel and will investigate, and we don't have the power to resist, even with a tactical cube."
They got to work preparing the outcasts in the settlement for the final moments they'd been awaiting through the long years. Sebastian, however, continued the work of organizing the tasks to most efficiently proceed with the rebuilding of the collective. 7 of 9 had done a great deal of damage in those final moments, but not more than could be undone with sufficient analysis. First-
"Daddy?"
Sebastian opened his eyes, but the light hit him like a sledgehammer. "Morgan?" he groaned.
"Oh, thank the Force," she said, taking his hand in hers. "We were so worried about you. Are you feeling all right?"
"No," he admitted. Then he gave her hand a squeeze and smiled for her. "But I will be." He reached up and brushed the tears away from Morgan's eyes. "I promised you, remember? I'll always be here for you."
"I know," she said. "I love you, daddy."
"I love you too, Morgan." He swallowed. "I think I'm going to get a little more sleep," he said.
"Okay," Morgan said. "Good night."
"Good night, sweetie." And he laid back, content in the knowledge that they were safe. It was all he needed; he could face anything so long as he knew that.
"Regeneration cycle complete." Sebastian opened his eyes and exited his alcove. The Borg Queen was nearby, and he joined her in analyzing the initial results of the cloning efforts, a display screen nearby showing the whirl of hyperspace as their cube fled from Sanctuary. Their cloning projections, naturally, were being borne out, and their number would soon be sufficient. They said nothing to one another, however. There was nothing to say. Their thoughts were one.
Jeez, how long ago was the first chapter of Worlds Without End put up, and we're still going?
If Religion and Politics were characters on a soap opera, Religion would be the one that goes insane with jealousy over Politics' intimate relationship with Reality, and secretly murder Politics in the night, skin the corpse, and run around its apartment wearing the skin like a cape shouting "My votes now! All votes for me! Wheeee!" -- Lagmonster
"You will give us a sample of DNA so we may clone you ..... please?"
Not quite so dramatic, but still a nie developement.
Ph34r teh eyebrow!!11!Writers GuildSluggitePawn of ChaosWYGIWYGAINGW so now i have to put ACPATHNTDWATGODW in my sigEBC-Honorary Geordie Hammerman! Hammer!
Is Chuck trying to make everyone weep with his descriptions of Sebastian's fantasy life with his dead baby?
Will anyone be left alive by the end of the story?
So many questions...
If Religion and Politics were characters on a soap opera, Religion would be the one that goes insane with jealousy over Politics' intimate relationship with Reality, and secretly murder Politics in the night, skin the corpse, and run around its apartment wearing the skin like a cape shouting "My votes now! All votes for me! Wheeee!" -- Lagmonster
