Ghost Rider wrote:Great twist, and your writing of the evil bitch Janeway makes it all the more enjoyable. And I did like the Sebastion bit to how truly down he is. Gives more the impression that his life is just that and that alone.
Thanks. I think I'm going to counter consequences post ends with my own:
Sucks To Be Bastian.
Annika's felt fear grip her as she looked Darth Whind in the face once again. On instinct, she cloaked herself, and she saw her enemy's eyes widen in shock. Whind pulled out her lightsaber and lit it, but Annika’s strike came too fast, knocking it away from her as she drove her into the wall, her hand at the Sith's throat. She assessed the situation very quickly: she was on an Imperial starship, alone with this Sith, and-
And wearing an Imperial uniform.
Theory 1: She was here in some undercover capacity.
Theory 2: She was attempting to escape.
Then she noticed her rank badge, that of an Imperial captain. You don't normally try to pass yourself off as the captain of a ship.
Theory 3: She was what she appeared to be.
Whind blasted her with a Force push, and Annika stumbled back to the desk. She glanced, and weighed her options. Last time she'd fought Darth Whind she'd won, but barely, and she had been on top of her game. She didn't even know what this body was capable of. Taking a gamble she put Theory 3 to the test by dropping her hand on the alarm. Almost instantly the door opened and a squad of stormtroopers appeared, an officer in the rear. Whind turned and faced them, and they pointed their blaster rifles at her. "Stand down, ma'am," they said sternly, clearly ready to fire.
"That's not the captain!" Whind said firmly.
"Stand down," the officer said even more sternly. Whind looked between them and Annika, venom in her expression. She deactivated the lightsaber and tossed it aside. The stormtroopers quickly rushed in and locked binders around her wrists. The officer came forward and stood at attention before Annika. "Orders, captain?"
Annika straightened her uniform front and tried to look accustomed to authority. "Throw her in the brig for now," she said. "I'll decide what to do later." The officer nodded and Mara was led out the door; as she left another came in. Annika noticed his rank badge. "Commander," she said. "I assume you heard her accusation."
"Yes captain," the commander said.
Annika nodded; time to put that eidetic memory to use. "You'd be within your right under Section 7 of the General Security guidelines to have me submit to tests to verify my identity."
The commander smiled faintly. "Captain," he said, "we know you and the Emperor's Hand have been at each other's throats. For what it's worth, I think I've been your XO long enough to prove whose side I'm on."
Annika smiled slightly in return. "I can always count on you, commander." He nodded and left, and Annika slumped onto the desk. "What has she gotten me into?" she mused quietly. Then she checked her uniform pockets and found a code cylinder. "Well, why don't we find out?"
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An alarm sounded, and Sebastian Skywalker cursed quietly and deactivated it. "Morning, sir," Janet said, standing nearby. "Are you getting up?"
"Am I dead?"
"No, prefect."
"Kriff. Then I guess I'm getting up." Janet pulled out a datapad while Sebastian pulled himself out of bed.
"I was told you were up late, prefect," Janet said. "No one would fault you for taking some time to rest, approach things with a clear head."
"My head's as clear as it's going to get," Sebastian said with a scowl.
"You won't do the Alliance any good if you drive yourself to an early grave."
"I'm fine, never felt more youthful and alive, now where the hell's my cane?" He found it and limped into the sonic shower. "I want a situation report on the Vong shield in three hours," Sebastian called. "Instruct the Borg to have their report ready, and the senior military commanders to be on hand so we can discuss our options."
"Yes prefect," Janet said.
"Anything I need to be aware of?"
"Things remain hairy with the annexed territories," Janet said.
"There's a shock." Sebastian rubbed his face, cursed, and switched over to standard shower mode. Sometimes you needed hot water in your face. "Cirule on top of it?"
"Yes prefect."
"Good, I'd rather this thing get settled quickly and without too much collateral damage."
"Of course." Janet hesitated. "About the Vong, prefect... are you sure we can do this? I mean, with the shield-"
"Janet," Sebastian said, "If I thought we couldn't win this, saying so out loud -even to you- would be the last thing I would ever do, so the point is moot. For now, I am going to proceed on the assumption that we can and will win, because I cannot accept any alternative, clear?"
Janet nodded. "Yes. Thank you, prefect."
"You're welcome. Pick me out some clothes please. I'm too tired, and I can't go stumbling about dressed like a blind Telaxian."
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Luke Skywalker entered Annika's office, a look of obvious contempt on his face. "Who are you?" he demanded quietly.
Annika put the paperwork down; fortunately it was all rather elementary, so that even she could work through it. "I'm who you think I am, in the abstract sense."
"I don't sense anything from you," he said with quiet accusation.
"I know. I have the ability to cloak myself from Force-sensitives."
"Then turn it off."
"I'd rather not."
"Then I don't believe you," Luke said. "You're not Seven-"
"I am," she said firmly. She took a deep breath and lowered the cloak, which of course meant he could sense she was telling the truth. He could also sense everything she was feeling... the ache that the sight of him filled her with.
"What's going on?"
"We're pawns in the game of a Sith," Annika said. "And what's worse is we don't know the rules. Look, I'm not from your reality, but I am Seven of Nine... just a different one." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "I understand some things are different here; I'll do my best not to cause any trouble."
"Good. Then perhaps you can get my wife out of the brig."
The word stung her harder than Annika had thought it would. "No," she said. "Not until I have a firm grasp on things."
"She's done nothing wrong-"
"She attacked me!" Annika said. "And believe me, she and I have tangled more than once, and I did not like it! She stays locked up until I can trust her not to kill me."
"You're her best friend," Luke pleaded. "She saw something happen to you and was afraid of what it was. No harm was intended; can't you let it slide?"
"Look," Annika said firmly. "I have spent the past ten years either wasting away from a disease or locked up and tortured, so I am not inclined to just sit back and let things slide, all right?" Her voice softened. "But, there are other forms of persuasion... I'll make you a deal, Luke. I'll let Mara out of that cell and drop the charges, but from 1900 to 2100 hours tonight you are mine."
"No," Luke said firmly.
"Let me finish," Annika said sternly. "Your only obligation is to join me for dinner in my private dining room, to engage in civilized discussion. That's all. Circumstances may progress beyond that-"
"They won't," Luke said even more firmly.
"Then you've nothing to worry about," Annika said. "Just two hours of your time, and we can leave this mess behind us, all right?"
Luke glared at her. "Fine," he said through his teeth.
"Good," Annika said, returning to the paperwork. "Don't be late."
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Sebastian hobbled into the war room and took his seat. The various military authorities were all on hand, either real or in holographic form. The Borg Queen stood, naturally; the Borg seemed to have little use for chairs. "Well," he said, "I know we've all been rather busy of late, but there's one very important matter we haven't had time to attend to: the Vong."
"A dark day for our alliance," Marnisch said quietly. "Victory within our grasp, only to have it stolen away..."
"This can still work," Sebastian said. "They're dug in; they're not going anywhere for a while, and I've got long range scans constantly watching. If they try to move, they'll have to lower their defenses, and that could give us an edge."
"But respectfully, prefect," Admiral Cirule said, "despite what you said to the populace, time is on their side, not ours."
"I agree, which is why we need to formulate a plan now, before they break out of their territory and put us on the run." Sebastian turned to the Queen. "You've examined all the data?"
"Yes," the Queen said. "The Vong's shield is created by a series of organic nodes, capable of impressive feats of regeneration. One of the nodes sustained a direct hit, and was regenerated back to functional capacity within minutes. Clearly their biotechnological skills are greater than we've imagined."
"How can they generate that kind of power?" Sebastian demanded.
"We don't know, there's no clear data on the subject. But we do know that the recharge rates for the Enterprise's primary weapon aren't fast enough to catch the shield when it's weak. It's our estimation that it would take over 87% of the entire Alliance fleet to bombard the shield for it to collapse."
"That'll never work," Cirule said. "The Vong would figure out what we were doing if we tried assembling that many ships, not to mention how wholly impractical it'd be to pull our ships out."
"I agree," T'lin said. "The Vong would simply abandon that world and go into hiding."
"While our enemies took advantage of our weaknesses and annexed our territories," Marnisch added. "No, that is no plan, that's a suicide note."
Sebastian nodded. "What else have we got?" he asked. "Can we use some kind of weapon against the Vong?"
"Yes," the Queen said. "The answer is obvious. We construct a second superlaser."
Sebastian dropped his datapad onto the desk in defeat. "Sure, not a problem. Why don't we build two and see if we can get a discount on parts?"
"Can we do that?"
"No we can't do that!" Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose; his exhaustion was getting to him. "I'm sorry. Look, someone please, please correct me if I'm wrong, but the superlaser for the Enterprise was one of the earliest components built, and that with the plans kept so secure there's no guarantee we'd ever find them. That means we'd have to learn by examining the one we have, is that right?"
Cirule cleared his throat and nodded. "The Emperor was vehement, especially after the mess that took place with the Mystrl."
"Figuring out how to build the damn thing's going to take too long," Sebastian said. "And that's just to get the blueprints. Then we have to build it, while fighting a war against the constantly growing and expanding Vong fleet."
"If we devote more people and resources," T'nil said, "perhaps we can speed up the research."
"There's an old engineering saying: you can't get a baby in one month by hiring nine pregnant women." Sebastian turned to the Queen. "Assuming a best case scenario, how soon can we have this built?"
"Six months," the Queen said. "But the greatest probability puts it at eleven."
"I think we all can see that that's just not going to work," Sebastian said. "The Vong's numbers will grow too rapidly, and they'll figure out what we're doing eventually... they'll disappear. We need something that can work now, not a year from now. What else have you got?"
"Nothing," the Queen said.
"The kriff you mean, 'nothing?'"
"I'm afraid no other weaponry would suffice, Sebastian."
"Do you have any alternative at all?" Sebastian asked. "I mean, come on! The people in this room are notorious for pulling off long shots with all kinds of crazy notions, surely there's got to be something else that could actually work, some, some kind of ray that can sap strength from their shield or, or, or a transporter that can penetrate the shield so we can blow those things up on the ground. Something! Anything!"
"Anything?" The Queen asked.
"Yes, I'm open to damn near any idea at this point."
"Based on our analysis of the data, yes, there is one alternative. Put someone on the planet before the battle begins. When the Enterprise arrives, destroying even one of the nodes will cause enough of a loss of power that the superlaser will penetrate and destroy the planet."
"But we can't put someone on the planet," Admiral T'nil said, "the Vong will raise the shields."
"They did not raise it for our probe droid."
"You expect a probe droid to accomplish this?" Marnisch said. "The Vong destroyed the last one with ease."
"A probe droid would not work, but the principle is sound." The Queen held up her hand and a hologram appeared of the probe droid in its pre-launch form. "The housing is large enough to hold a person. We can modify the design to turn this into a hyperspace-capable escape pod."
"It'll come in too fast," Sebastian said. "Those things hit like a meteor impact. They're designed to do that, to maintain the probe's cover. This thing hits and the passenger's reduced to tomato paste."
"We would have to improve our inertial dampeners," the Queen said. "If we can reduce the response time, it would be possible for a humanoid passenger to survive the impact."
"The Vong would investigate," Cirule said with a shake of his head. "They're going to be on the lookout after the last probe droid."
"We would have to disguise it to appear to be a large meteor," the Queen said. "The number of meteors that bombard planets on a daily basis preclude the possibility of them assuming that all of them are probe droids. We are certain the Vong will be unable to see through the deception."
"It's ridiculous," Sebastian said.
"Then we must build the star destroyer," the Queen said.
"There's no time!" Sebastian snapped. "We can't do it!"
"Then it seems this is over, Sebastian," the Queen said. "Evacuate as many as possible through the wormhole and destroy it, and leave the Milky Way to fend for itself."
"That is not an option," Sebastian said sharply.
"Sebastian," the Queen said, "we cannot win if we cannot penetrate that shield. That fact is undeniable. If we cannot win, then logically saving as many as possible is the only way to proceed-"
"NO!" Sebastian snarled. "No one else is going to be abandoned, do you understand that?! We don't leave our people behind! We-" He stopped; he didn't even have the energy to rant any more. He just leaned forward on the table, face buried in his hands. Eventually they slid back; he seemed calmer, but no less tired. "Your probe droid pod idea," he said slowly. "Can you actually build it?"
"We are Borg."
"How long?"
"That would depend on the success of testing. This would require technology that hasn't been designed before and materials construction that hasn't been used. Conservatively, six weeks."
"That's conservatively?" Cirule asked.
The Queen looked at him. "We would be simultaneously testing a number of techniques, day and night, without risk of fatigue. Our nature provides many advantages."
"But you can't use it to speed up the superlaser work?" T'nil asked.
"Devising improved components for known technology will be child's play compared to developing a weapon capable of annihilating entire planets."
"Why didn't you do this kind of research before?" Cirule asked suspiciously.
"It is not efficient. Here efficiency must yield to necessity. Naturally, there is still the matter of the occupant."
Sebastian nodded slowly. "Yes. It'd have to be only one, to make it as small as possible. And only one pod, or the Vong would realize something was up." He tapped the table absentmindedly with his cane. "You'd need an individual who could sit cooped up in that thing for days. Someone capable of handling any resistance single-handedly. Someone experienced in fighting the Vong face-to-face. You'd need a Jedi..."
"There's not many Jedi," Cirule observed. "The Academy has only a handful of students-"
"Students won't do," Sebastian said. "Even an experienced Jedi is going to have a hard time of it."
"Respectfully, prefect," Marnisch said, "I think you sell my soldiers short. One of our number could do this."
"I respect the abilities and courage of your soldiers, all of your soldiers," Sebastian said to the general group. "But we will have only one chance at this, after that the Vong won't let their guard down. We need every possible edge we can get."
"Who do you have in mind?" Cirule asked.
"There's really no choice, is there?" Sebastian said. "There's only three fully-trained Jedi left. Jaina Solo's good, but her experience is limited because of her involvement in running the Academy. I'm obviously no longer up to the challenge. That leaves only one, Anakin Solo. He's strong in the Force and an experienced soldier."
T'nil cleared his throat. "Despite your efforts, prefect, I'm afraid it's no secret that you and the Academy don't see eye-to-eye."
"Anakin won't back down from what needs to be done," Sebastian said.
"But this isn't just some errand," T'nil said. "You're-"
"I know," Sebastian said, a little stronger than he needed. "I know. The shield won't fall until the planet's blown up... I'm asking him to die."
Very Nice but since I'm reading SOTNr parrallel with this, shouldn't the borg still have the plans for a Borg Star. Why not just build Pyramid 02 and be done with it?
Janet brought that up earlier, actually, and the Borg Queen said that that information was part of the data lost when Seven dismantled the Collective. Back in BOH 30 Sebastian established that they were only able to recover less than 70% of all data in the Collective, and given that there's a hundred thousand years worth of information, that's a lot of stuff to go missing.
Still I do like that Sebastion is making really ugly choices, Seven has enough facilities and last but not least...the whole shadowing of Anakin's death or possible demise is there, but better still it won't because of "Damn...super breeded dog...." He actually has a mission that is more then just suicidal.
Good setup
MM /CF/WG/BOTM/JL/Original Warsie/ACPATHNTDWATGODW FOREVER!!
Sometimes we can choose the path we follow. Sometimes our choices are made for us. And sometimes we have no choice at all
Still I do like that Sebastion is making really ugly choices, Seven has enough facilities and last but not least...the whole shadowing of Anakin's death or possible demise is there, but better still it won't because of "Damn...super breeded dog...." He actually has a mission that is more then just suicidal.
Good setup
I will admit that I bailed out of NJO after Vector Prime, but let me just continue to say that the more you guys alude to it, the more I'm convinced it was the right move.
Elessar wrote:The number of people happy and alive in your universe can probably be counted on one hand. And now you're foreshadowing this for Anakin.
You are a horrible, horrible person.
And Kill Janeway Already!
I was explaining the story to EvilKneebler the other day, and the conversation went something like:
EK: Sooo you torture Seven of Nine, then you drive her into a coma, then you give her her true love only to snatch it away, chop off her leg, then have Mara beat the living crap out of her.
Chuck: Yeah.
EK: Then when things start looking better you infect her with a debilitating illeness, brainwash her son, let the Vong kick her ass before torturing her, then kill her only true love.
Chuck: Um, yeah.
EK: After that you drive her so close to death her son has to make a deal with the devil, you have the Sith capture her, and then they spend a looong time kicking her ass.
Chuck: I suppose...
EK: Now you've sent her into an alternate reality where she has to live with her only true love being married to her worst enemy.
Chuck: When you put it like that...
EK: And that's not including the various realities where you flat out kill her, right?
Chuck: Right.
EK: And this is the character you really like?
Chuck: Yeah, I have no excuse, I'm just kind of fucked up.
I've been thinking, exactly how hard is it to build a superlaser from first principles? I mean all they really need is to build a frelling big hold out blaster. It doens't even need to be a good design it just needs to fire once and your done.
Crazedwraith wrote:I've been thinking, exactly how hard is it to build a superlaser from first principles? I mean all they really need is to build a frelling big hold out blaster. It doens't even need to be a good design it just needs to fire once and your done.
I really like the Seven's switching place. I can imagine that the one in Sebestian's demision is going to cause a lot of trouble.
EK: Sooo you torture Seven of Nine, then you drive her into a coma, then you give her her true love only to snatch it away, chop off her leg, then have Mara beat the living crap out of her.
Chuck: Yeah.
EK: Then when things start looking better you infect her with a debilitating illeness, brainwash her son, let the Vong kick her ass before torturing her, then kill her only true love.
Chuck: Um, yeah.
EK: After that you drive her so close to death her son has to make a deal with the devil, you have the Sith capture her, and then they spend a looong time kicking her ass.
Chuck: I suppose...
EK: Now you've sent her into an alternate reality where she has to live with her only true love being married to her worst enemy.
Chuck: When you put it like that...
EK: And that's not including the various realities where you flat out kill her, right?
Chuck: Right.
EK: And this is the character you really like?
Chuck: Yeah, I have no excuse, I'm just kind of fucked up.
Just to make it even better, you should make Nelix (I know he died off camera) wind up being the richest and one of the most respected persons in the galaxy or something.
Crazedwraith wrote:I've been thinking, exactly how hard is it to build a superlaser from first principles? I mean all they really need is to build a frelling big hold out blaster. It doens't even need to be a good design it just needs to fire once and your done.
The devil is in the details, really.
That's pretty much what I thought. I have no doubt that the Alliance could build one even without the Enterprise as a model, but it's simply an issue of time.
Star Empire wrote:I really like the Seven's switching place. I can imagine that the one in Sebestian's demision is going to cause a lot of trouble.
Just to make it even better, you should make Nelix (I know he died off camera) wind up being the richest and one of the most respected persons in the galaxy or something.
I think I'm already stretching disbelief by making Seven the captain of a star destroyer. Neelix would break the story.
Just posting to say that I am scanning this forum everyday for no other purpose than to see if this story has been updated. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The saga that started years ago with WWE and is wrapping up here is an alternate (and better) EU for both franchises.
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
It's been a great ride watching characters embrace destiny and even entire governments and civilizations redeem themselves over all these chapters. I must applaud your writing. Never have I found myself so attached to characters in a story in the way I have been here. Bravo Chuck.
Also I must concur with the rest of the posters and ask that you kill Janeway/the Oracle in the most horrible and humiliating way possible.
Spice Runner wrote:It's been a great ride watching characters embrace destiny and even entire governments and civilizations redeem themselves over all these chapters. I must applaud your writing. Never have I found myself so attached to characters in a story in the way I have been here. Bravo Chuck.
That people can embrace characters I've come to love is very rewarding. Thank you very much.
Spice Runner wrote:Also I must concur with the rest of the posters and ask that you kill Janeway/the Oracle in the most horrible and humiliating way possible.
I've written the first draft of the Oracle's final fate and... well, we'll see what everyone thinks when the moment arrives.
Annika stepped out of the shower and toweled off, trying to quell her nervousness. She hadn't had to do anything like this in a long, long time, and was hoping she wasn't going to screw anything up. She sighed, then looked up at the mirror, and paused. It was amazing what happened when you took a quarter century of time away from the body. There was only the golden blond there, rather than the white. The lines had vanished, leaving just smooth and unblemished skin. She glanced down then opened up the towel; she let out a low whistle.
"Okay girls," she said after a few seconds. "Good to see you on top of your game. You'll be our primary assault force as always. I shouldn't have to remind you how to do your job; you two have never let me down before, and I'm sure once again you'll breach enemy defenses and ensure victory." She slipped her robe on and dropped into the chair in front of the mirror. "Feeling a little stressed, Annika?" she asked the reflection. "No, not really; why do you ask?" "Oh, well, it's just that it's not every day I see you talking to your boobs." "Oh sure, I do it all the time. 'How's it going, ladies? Feelin' kind of perky today? Little bounce in your step?'" She slowly shook her head. "The jokes aren't helping, Annika," she said. "You're still nervous as hell, and no amount of levity's going to change that. You're trying to seduce a man away from his wife... is that what you've been reduced to?" She made a fist while she grimaced at the reflection. "Luke Skywalker is my husband," she insisted. "He fathered my only child. I'm just taking back what's mine." Grief spread across her face. "But not this one. This one married Mara." She closed her eyes and swallowed, then slammed her fist onto the vanity. "She gets him in every reality!" she insisted. "She has more than her fair share! Can't one version of Annika Hansen be happy?!"
Annika turned away from the mirror and stared upwards. "What kind of sick game is this?! You take my husband away from me, then show him to me again and tell me I can't have him?! Kriff that! I'm not playing by your twisted rules!" She turned back to the mirror. "You will use those breasts and every other asset you have at your disposal and if he says no it will be the hardest no that ever passed a man's lips! You are not just going to roll over and let her have him, do you hear me?! You beat her before, and you'll beat her again here!" And she got up and stormed out of the fresher.
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Seven looked at her hands. "Why like this?" she asked Janeway. "Why not just bring me into your realm physically?"
"Because I'm hoping that you can interface with the Borg Collective," Janeway said. "You see, Seven, your counterpart has contacted them on more than one occasion to help them thwart our efforts. That's how things have gotten this desperate."
"I still can't believe any version of me could resort to that," Seven said.
Janeway looked leery. "You remember the dream of the baby, Sebastian?"
Seven stared at her in shock. "How did you know about that?"
"Your minds were linked during the shift," Janeway said. "It's complicated, but I know you experienced it. Anyway, it wasn't a dream, it was a memory. For some unknown reason, you and Luke were able to have a child here... unfortunately, what seemed a miracle turned out to be a curse. Your child rebuilt the Collective after he killed Luke, rejecting the Jedi ways for his Borg heritage." Seven's eyes widened in shock. "That's why your counterpart helped them. You're not evil, Seven, but you're human, and that means you love your son. In her place, I might have done the same." She shook her head. "But we don't have the luxury of emotion in the face of this new Borg threat. We have to destroy them. That's why you're here, like this. If I brought you in physically the Borg would be able to detect the differences between you and your counterpart, and I can't risk that."
"You want me to link up with them?"
"I'm hoping you can slip something past their defenses, weakening or destroying them." She shook her head, showing images on the screens around the room. "They built a primitive Death Star," Janeway explained. "And used it to destroy Chandrilla. We managed to pierce their defenses and destroy it, but I lost a lot of good people, including Luke's old friend, Lando." Seven watched it play out. "Sebastian murdered the Emperor," Janeway continued. And she watched a young man very much like Luke do it. "He's harmed innocent people," she watched him in full Borg appearance grab a woman on a Cube and snap her neck, while the Borg Queen looked on in approval. "He even murdered his own wife when she tried standing in his way." Seven watched in horror as some helpless woman in a spacesuit said she loved him, and he responded by blowing her away with a starship. "He's evil, Seven," she said. "And together with the Borg he will assimilate every living thing unless he can be stopped."
Seven breathed deeply and shook her head. "I find this so hard to believe, Kathryn," she admitted.
"I understand," Janeway said. "And I wish I could bring you some old friends to tell you, but they're all dead. Han may be alive, we're not sure, and it's possible Harry managed to escape, but all the rest... Chakotay, B'Elanna, Miles, Naomi, Jacen, Leia-" She shook her head. "The death toll is unimaginable. I'm afraid that the only one left to talk to you is me, so I'm asking you, Seven-" She looked into her eyes. "As the woman who brought you out of the Collective and into individuality, please... trust me!"
Seven stared back. It was all hard to believe, but with the evidence she'd seen, and the memory of what Janeway had done for her over the years, she was close to accepting it... very close... so much so that a master of the Force could easily nudge her the rest of the way. "I trust you," she said. "And I'll make sure the Borg, and my son, are stopped for good, Kathryn."
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Luke had been waiting in the captain's dining room when the door opened. It was obvious from his appearance that he was unprepared for what stepped through.
Word had gotten around the ship about the issues between the captain and Luke and Mara, and while it made for amusing discussion, at the end of the day they were Seven of Nine's crew. She'd brought them out of certain death more times than they could count, and she'd proven a fiercely loyal captain to her people. Maybe she was a Borg, but it didn't matter to them. So when word leaked out that she was making a move on Luke, they'd rallied behind her, with offerings and services coming from all levels and departments, so that the woman who strode through the door was the final result. In the battle of the sexes, the Visage crew had prepared a Base Delta Zero.
The ship's tailor had done a true masterpiece, providing her with a dress that complimented all of her feminine assets while still being tasteful. Some of the female officers took over the barber shop for a while and did magic on her. Her long blond hair curved seductively down and over her right shoulder. Her lips were painted, her eye shadow matched her gown, her face was radiant, they'd even polished her implants until they gleamed. As they admired their handiwork the senior gunnery officer commented that it wasn't even sporting sending her in looking that good. Annika had appreciated the sentiment, but she knew Luke; this wasn't going to be easy, she needed every edge. So when she entered the room she walked that walk, the one like a brass knuckle to the libido. "Seven?" he said.
"Luke," she said, with a small smile on her face. "Thank you so much for coming. Crewman?" A young man nodded to her and uncorked the wine. "A gift from my Logistics Officer," she said. "He was quite insistent, and well, the vintage is too fine to refuse."
"I see," Luke said, taking the proffered glass. Annika did the same.
"Thank you, crewman," she said, "that will be all." The young man nodded and slipped out, and she looked into Luke's face. "A toast," she said. "To... Ben Kenobi."
Luke looked puzzled; he'd been expecting her to toast "love lost and found," or something ridiculously obvious like that. "Why?"
"For taking a young farmhand and shaping him into a man that shook the galaxy," she said. Luke had confided over the years how much he'd admired Kenobi; it was a tactical strike. I know you, it said. Wouldn't you like to get to know me?
Luke raised the glass. "To Ben," he said, and drank. Annika did the same; fortunately her counterpart had invested in some tablets to help her body cope with alcohol for social functions. She'd taken a little extra just to be safe. "This is excellent," he commented.
"I agree," she said, refilling the glasses. When they were both emptied she took them and set them aside. "Dinner will be just a few minutes," she said. "How about some music?"
"You're the boss," he said, but the expected antagonism was gone. The defenses were crumbling. She switched on the music. Like everything else, it'd been meticulously calculated. Luke was expecting a frontal assault; her flanked attacks were getting through, as she'd known they would. After decades of marriage, she knew his strengths and vulnerabilities. Roxette's "Do You Get Excited?" began playing. It was just the right tone to avoid sounding like a love song while at the same time capturing all the right elements. It was also something you could dance to slowly, close together. When she took his hand, he didn't resist.
After a short while she gazed up into his eyes, and she could see it all coming back to him. He smiled just a little as he looked into her face, and she could read that expression like bold print. When the music and the movement and the look all came together, she moved, ever so slowly, to kiss him. He kissed back. And they held each other like that, while the music played on. And it was a perfect moment.
"I love you," she whispered. And she realized that despite all her calculations, she hadn't anticipated her human element. It had been eight years, seven months, sixteen days, two hours, forty-three minutes and eleven seconds since she'd last kissed Luke, and in the wake of the blissful experience she'd floundered and deviated from the plan. It broke the spell, and she could see all the careful planning crumble before her as reality came flooding back. Luke looked down, clearly embarrassed and ashamed with himself for what he'd done. "Dinner should be here in a moment," she said. "Why don't we sit down." A temporary withdrawal to rally was called for. Fortunately there were fallback positions planned, though if she'd avoided screwing up she wouldn't have needed them. Damn! She'd been so close! She'd won, only to stumble at the finish line.
Several crewmen arrived with the main course, Romulan-style sea bass, Luke’s favorite. But he’d rebuilt the defenses and was on guard now; she’d have to play this just right. They ate in silence for a while, so that Annika wouldn’t be putting any pressure on him. Crewmen came and left with things, and Annika had the sinking feeling it wasn’t going to get any better.
Eventually, Luke cleared his throat. "Captain-"
"Annika," she said. "Or Seven; I answer to both."
Luke started over. "Seven, I assume that in any dimension, you'll check up on history to thoroughly understand the situation. You were always very analytical."
Annika nodded slightly. "Yes, I did. I know that, just like in my reality, you wiped out a Borg fleet to save my life."
Luke looked down. "I did... and I don't regret it. I loved you, more than life itself. But things change, Seven. Mara and I found each other..." He didn't seem to want to finish it.
"I know," Annika said, trying to put on her best face. "I was 'a stepping stone.' 'A convenient tool of fate - nothing more.'"
"Not nothing more," Luke said sharply. "We shared something very special-" He stopped. "No, strike that! We shared nothing! You're not my Seven!"
"I can be."
"No you can't!" Luke said. "Because my Seven was capable of accepting the fact that Mara was the one I loved... that together the two of us were able to overcome the Dark side and return to the light, and so long as I was happy, so was she! My Seven was a friend to Mara through thick and thin! You may be older, but you don't even have half the maturity she did, because she knew that the world didn't begin and end with what she wanted!"
"Maybe she didn't realize what she was giving up!" Annika shot back. Her lip trembled. "Or maybe she was just afraid. You don't know how long I loved you, Luke; how long it took me to say the words out loud. I'm a Borg; burying my emotion is too easy a temptation."
"Look, Seven," Luke said, trying to keep himself under control, "I am very sorry for whatever you've been through, really, I am. I would love to do something to help you, but what do you think this-" he gestured at Annika's dress "-is going to do? You think I don't know how beautiful you are? That I don't remember how incredible of a lover you are? I remember and cherish every moment Seven and I shared and wouldn't trade them for anything. But my heart belongs to the woman you locked up in your brig, and you can't change that. Even if we crawled into bed right now, I'd only be thinking about her, you understand that?"
Annika nodded slightly, trying not to show any emotion as she slowly looked down. She cleared her throat. "By the terms of our agreement," she said, "you still owe me another hour and a half. However, I'll waive that on one condition." She looked up into his eyes. "A mind-meld."
Luke took a deep breath through his nose. "Out of the question."
"Fine," Annika said as she wiped her mouth with a napkin and tossed it on her plate. "Then we can try to make uncomfortable small talk. So, how're things?"
Luke sat there in pained silence. "What is this supposed to prove?" he finally asked.
"That you mean it," Annika said firmly.
Luke took another deep breath. "Fine," he said, though clearly unhappy about it. He walked down to the other end of the table, and Annika got to her feet. He put his hands on the sides of her head, and said the words, and-
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Force lightning ripped through Luke's body where he lay, and he screamed. Darth Whind watched in bitter agony, as if she was feeling the same thing. "Please, master," she begged.
"This is the penalty for failure," the Emperor said, blasting Luke again.
"Please stop," Whind pleaded, tears running down her face. She thought getting him out of that Federation prison Leia put him in would make everything right again, but obviously the Emperor had other ideas. "Don't hurt him any more," she said, weeping.
The Emperor glared at her. "You're growing weak," he said, then blasted Luke again. "He's already poisoned you. The Sith cannot abide such failings."
Whind looked into Luke's face one last time, and Mara turned on her lightsaber. She screamed and ran at the Emperor, but he struck her with a heavy blow from the Force, her lightsaber slipping from her hand and bouncing away. One of the Emperor's massive guards stomped over and scooped her up.
There was blaster fire, and the guard jerked and roared, but the shots never ceased until it collapsed. Mara looked up and there stood Seven with a blaster rifle. "I get the feeling I'm going to regret that, Ben," Seven said to Sisko, who stood next to her.
"You'd be surprised," Ben said, stepping towards the Emperor. "Let them go," he said.
"No," the Emperor rumbled.
"No more intermediaries," Sisko said. "Just you and me."
Mara ran over to Luke and looked him over while the two argued. "I'm so sorry, Luke," she said, crying quietly. "What a fool I've been!"
"You came back," Luke rasped. "You figured it out... in the end."
She cradled him in her arms. "I love you."
He shook his head. "I know you do," he said. "And I always knew how much." She put her hands on him, putting a little of her lifeforce into him to keep him alive. They looked up as Seven arrived.
"They're already at it," she warned. "We've got to get out of here, like right now."
Mara called her lightsaber to her. "I'll lead the way, you bring him."
Seven nodded, slung the rifle over her shoulder, and picked Luke up. "Isn't this familiar," she teased, running behind Mara while the former Sith led the way, cutting down anyone who tried to interfere. They found their way to Mara's private shuttle in minutes and were heading away from Bastion.
"What's going on?" Mara asked. "Why are you helping us?"
Seven stayed focused on the controls, although it probably was just so she wouldn't look at Mara. "Well, you know, you only took away the Enterprise, the Federation, and my fiancé, hey, why shouldn't I help you." She took a deep breath and looked at Mara. "Ben said if I didn't Luke would die. He may be yours now, but I'm not going to stand by and let that happen."
Mara didn't know what to say. "Seven-"
"Don't," she said. "Just... I know how you make him feel." She looked back at the panel. "You just swear to me, Whind, that you will always make him happy."
Mara took Seven's hand. "I'll make him the happiest man in the galaxy," she promised.
Seven looked into her eyes. "Yeah... yeah, I know you will." She cleared her throat. "So, Starfleet's gone. Know if the Imperial Navy is hiring? I'm sure there's a real high demand for science officers in your military."
"You never know, Seven," Mara said. "Things change sometimes... people most of all."
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The tavern had fallen silent when Luke and Annika entered, and remained so as they took their seats at the bar. Then the whispering started, and the stares, and Luke glanced around at them. One word kept coming up; "Borg," and it wasn't in a positive context.
"It doesn't bother me," Annika lied to Luke, and he could sense it. You never get used to it, do you? No matter how much you give, you will always just be a monster, despite the fact that your Borg nature had been an instrument of salvation. And the most shameful thing about it was that there was a time when Luke could have been one of them. Had he not seen the good person underneath it all when he first laid eyes on her in the arena, would he have been staring right alongside them?
A Wookiee left his table and walked up to the bar, deliberately standing right up against her. Annika tried to ignore it, but after a little while he got more and more overt until he backhanded her right off the stool. She hit the floor hard, her face bleeding. Luke immediately stood face to face with the Wookiee. "What's your problem?!" he demanded.
"[Keep her kind out of here,]" the Wookiee barked.
"She's pregnant, you kriffing furball!"
"[Maybe I should hit her again then,]" the Wookiee said. "[One less Borg in the galaxy.]" The Wookiee shrank back a little as the lightsaber ignited right in his face.
"What?" Luke demanded. "What did you say?" There was the sound of blasters being pulled, but he ignored them. "I freed your people," he snarled, "and you threaten my unborn child?!"
"Luke, Luke!" Annika said. "I'm fine, let's go." She grabbed his arm, but he stayed for the moment, staring at the Wookiee. "Let's go," she said firmly.
Luke shut down the lightsaber and stared at the bar patrons. "Any of you people hurt my wife again and I'll kill you, you got that? Spread the word, 'cause this is your only warning." He walked with Annika out into the street. "Are you okay?" he asked.
She nodded. "And the baby. Just superficial; if I wasn't pregnant I probably could have moved quick enough-"
"You shouldn't have to," Luke said with fury.
Annika wet her lips. "It's never going to stop, Luke. You realize that, right? They hate what I am..." She glanced up into his face. "Any regrets?"
"Only in not beating the hell out of that furry oaf," Luke said. "But being with you, no, I regret nothing, except that the galaxy can't see what I see when I look at you."
"And what do you see?"
"My wife," he said. "Who’s human and Borg, both sides that I cherish." He kissed her cheek. "I love you, Annika. And I swear I'll protect you, no matter what. I'll always be there."
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Annika backed away, panting; Luke was doing the same. They both looked up at one another, and in the wake of years of memories they'd exchanged their previous animosity was replaced by compassion. "I'm sorry," Luke said. "Oh, Seven, I had no idea..."
"No, Luke," Annika said, tears forming. "I should have known." She covered her eyes. "God, I'm so selfish!"
Luke grabbed her and pulled her close. "I wish I could give you what you need," he said softly. "You deserve to be happy, Seven."
"I was lucky enough to have you once," she said. "I should have remembered that." He held her tightly, like a very dear friend. Strangely, that was enough. She released him. "Stay here," she said, and walked out, not even bothering to change. She ignored it when a platoon leader accidentally led his squad into a closed turbolift door and made her way to the brig. Mara stood up when she arrived. Annika wiped her eyes again, then forced a smile to her face. "Mara," she said. "There's something that you need to know."
Mara glared at her. "What?" she rumbled.
"You," Annika said with a small shake of her head, "have no idea how lucky you are... how lucky you are in every universe. And you have no idea how much I envy you." She opened the cell door. "Never - ever - stop appreciating how blessed you are to have him in your life."
Mara's expression changed. "I won't," she said. "Maybe... maybe we should take some time off. Maybe spend a little time together."
Annika nodded. "Start now," she said. "The captain's private dining room is at your disposal, as is the VIP suite." She wrapped her arms around Mara, who after a moment's shock did the same. "Don't take him for granted," Annika whispered. "Or one day you might find out he's gone."
Mara got a little misty-eyed. "Don't worry." She pulled back. "Are you going to be all right?" Annika shrugged and tried to put on a good face. "Well..." She whispered something in her ear.
"Really?" Mara nodded. "That works?" Mara nodded again. "Thanks." She watched Mara take the steps two at a time out of the brig, then took a deep breath and walked through the ship.
"Captain's on the bridge," the officer announced, accompanied by the sound of people arising and, oddly enough, the sound of things being dropped.
"As you were," Annika said. "Commander, I want us to fully examine the area in detail, top priority. Maximum possible speed until I say otherwise." And she turned, strolled into her office, and locked the door.
very nice.... and I'm still waiting on the bitch, I mean the oracle, well no, the bitch to die..... lol
CERC
Sum Senatus
And thus, the Padawan and the Master are dispatched, and it falls to the champion of the Force, Yoda to save them; whom in his near infinate power, displays little intelligence, by stopping the piller with the force instead of jerking his underlings out of the way so that his fight with Dooku can continue.....
I started reading this by accident, thinking it was Shadows of the Night. I stopped when I realized what was wrong, but let me just say, Seven talking to her boobs=fucking hilarious.
"I want to mow down a bunch of motherfuckers with absurdly large weapons and relative impunity - preferably in and around a skyscraper. Then I want to fight a grim battle against the unlikely duo of the Terminator and Robocop. The last level should involve (but not be limited to) multiple robo-Hitlers and a gorillasaurus rex."--Uraniun235 on his ideal FPS game
"The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant compared to the power of the Force."--Darth Vader
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