Without war to guide me (40k / Star Trek TNG)

[FaxModem1]

Okay, I just now read this, and I'm very intrigued to see where this fanfic is going. Keep it up.

[Tandrax218]

So basically they have an Imperial Fist or successor chapter marine runing around acting like a World Eater

[LadyTevar]

The cyberskulls are bad enough, honestly. I'd be fully creeped out by them. What I was worried about when they said "faint life-force" were small demons.

[Tandrax218]

by the wh 40k fluff demons cant exist in the material realm for long, because they are nonmaterial
i mean they need a host body, or the place/planet they appear in/on is located inside a warpstorm or the eye of terror. So i think they are not demons.

Would love to see Worf worshiping Khorne.....

[Venator]

Daemons were my first worry as well when I read the mention of "life signs". Of course, there are a lot of variables - if the Warp exists at all in Trekverse, if it functions the same, if the Gods themselves exist or are as powerful. But if any of those are true, Geordie and co fiddling around with a milllenia-old Warp field can't end well.

As far as Worf worshiping Khorne - I think a lot of places in Trek would be easy pickings (or at least have natural affinities) for the Ruinous Powers - Khorne gets the Klingons, the scheming Founders fall into Tzeentch's ways, Slaanesh gets Risa and... I guess Nurgle would take the creeps from the Delta Quadrant that harvest people's bodies?

[MondoMage]

if the Warp exists at all in Trekverse, if it functions the same, if the Gods themselves exist or are as powerful. But if any of those are true, Geordie and co fiddling around with a milllenia-old Warp field can't end well.

Well, since our rampaging warrior somehow wound up in the Trek universe, I think it's safe to bet that either the Warp exists there in some form as well, or that there's the possibility of it finding it's way in under the right circumstances. First thing that comes to mind is the subspace rupture that formed when that activist detonated a warp core to prove that warp travel was destabilizing the fabric of subspace. Possibly beyond the scope of this story, but interesting to ponder.

[Todeswind]

Reginald Barclay knew that he shouldn't be this close to the holo-decks, the temptation to go back and lose himself in one of his little worlds was still greater than it ought to have been. And he really did intend to keep from loosing himself in fantasy again – honest – but Data asked him to consult on the holo-program holding the Giant of Antiea. Reginald didn't often praise his own work, but he was very good at constructing holographic programs.

Reginald was a lonely man. Nobody called him “Broccoli” any more, well not to his face anyway, but he still never quite felt like he fit in. Geordie did his best to make him part of the group but the truth was that he wasn't quite part of things. He stuttered and slurred his words. He grew quiet when women spoke with him. Lanky and awkward, he never quite seemed to fit into his own skin.

Reginald tried to fit in. He went to meetings with Deanna Troi, he told her how he felt, but there was always that damn barrier that he couldn't get past – separating him from forging lasting relationships. How was someone like him supposed to be on even footing with someone like Commander Riker? The man oozed sexual charisma from every pore. Or Worf? The Klingon had no respect for anyone who was not up to his code of honor – something Reginald could not hope to be. Geordie was probably his best friend – if Reginald even had such a thing – and no matter how hard he tried he knew that Geordies relationship with Data would be stronger than anything he could manage.

And Data wasn't even capable of emotion. How was he less charismatic than someone incapable of comprehending charisma? But there it was, all the same, Data had managed to woo more women than he.

No – If he was honest, Reginald knew what they had. They had respect – respect for doing important things. How could someone not love Data? The man had saved the lives of the crew a hundred times over. He'd sacrifice himself for them without blinking an eye simply because 'that was the most logical course of action.'

“More Vulcan than most Vulcans,” He muttered to himself, nodding to the security guards as he passed the first check-point. Security was abnormally high. Shields separating the holo-decks from the rest of the ship were guarded by teams of three security officers. They were only armed with their phasers, but any obvious armament on the Enterprise was uncommon.

He smiled at the security officer and was rewarded with an irritated grunt from the guard for his effort. The man didn't even bother to glare at him, dismissively waving him along as though he hardly merited notice. Reginald was used to it.

But that was about to change. This was finally his big break, a chance to do something that for which his fellow crewmen would respect him. If he could find some way of breaking though to the Giant, his name would be in the history books. People would want talk to him – maybe even women – maybe even Troi.

He bit his lip, thinking about Troi as security rifled through his bag – checking it's contents, two padds and some tools. Deanna had been especially kind to him. She was a beautiful, caring woman. He had developed feelings for her - strong feelings. The sort of feelings you really don't want to be having about a telepath. She never looked down on him. She never made him feel small.

He really liked her. And maybe, just maybe, if he did something important enough she would see him as a man. Maybe he would do something big enough for him to seem as wonderful as Riker.

He could dream.

As he passed the third barrier Reginald had a horrible thought. What if he couldn't help? What if they blamed him for the failure of the project? That would be a convenient way of dealing it, bring in a patsy who could take the fall. His heart beat a mile a minute as he imagined a court martial for his ineptitude.

“No,” He reminded himself. “Data wouldn't do that to me – neither would Geordie.”

He knew it was true, but his palms still sweat all the same. Damn it, why couldn't he just ignore stupid thoughts like that? Other people did.

“Other people weren't Reginald 'Broccoli' Barclay though, are they?” He muttered to himself as he fed the cables from his padd to the holo-deck door, checking the current readings.

“Not bad, Data,” He muttered to himself. “But not quite perfect either.”

Data had been very precise in his re-creation of the Vulcan Archive's subterranean chamber. The temperature, lighting, physical items, and even the smells of the archive were being mimicked with a 4% margin of error. Not a mean feat for something he'd put together in a couple of hours.

Reginald could get that up to a 2% margin of error. He smiled, highly pleased with himself. Data was highly efficient but as an android he lacked certain qualities necessary in writing the proper holo-program. He couldn't quite get the ambient noises and sensations of a place correct – he couldn't feel out the space.

It would only take a matter of - Reginald paused, examining the radiation readings within the program. “That's not supposed to happen.”

Reginald checked the rad-scrubbers to make sure that nothing was malfunctioning but be damned, there it was again. There was a concentrated source of radiation coming from within the chamber – some sort of a fission emission coming from within the chamber. A rapid reaction of concentrated microwave fission, but that could only mean – Reginald dropped his Padd and ran towards the security officers screaming, “It's a bomb!”

He hardly had time to slap his hands over his ears before a concussive wave of holo-deck door fragments and melted bulkhead burst forth, thick smoke poring down the corridor. Shrill klaxons howled, warning that main power to the section had been cut. Dull red emergency lights automatically switched on as the primary illumination died, bathing the smoke-filled passageway in hellish light.

Barclay coughed, squinting through the smog as he dropped the the floor to be closer to fresh air. He crawled along the ground, edging towards the turbo-lift. He felt the floor shake as a massive yellow greave collided with the floor next to him, the foot of a titan. The Giant ignored him, running through the thick smoke as though it were not there. He charged towards the nearest trio of guards, disabling them with laughable ease.

Barclay winced in sympathetic agony as he watched the Giant twist Bolian man's arm the wrong direction, crushing the bone and pulping the arm. He tore the Bolian man's phaser from him and fired it at the other two security officers, rendering a Vulcan and an Andorian inert.

The Giant stared at him with wild, crazy eyes the phaser held in his massive fingers like a child's plaything. Reginald was too terrifed to run as the Giant picked him up, lifting him by the shirt collar and lifting him so high that his feet dangled in the air. Barclay whimpered as the Giant sniffed him twice, tilting it's head in confusion. “Du bist nec aliena – nec xenos.”

“Oh god,” Barclay felt hot tears in his eyes. “Please don't kill me. Please don't hurt me. I just wanted to help.”

The creature sighed in apparent exasperation, dropping him to the floor. “Ich werde nec vyksta morte.”

It was not till the giant strode off into the thick smoke that Barclay reconciled himself to the fact that he was not going to die. For once in his miserable life, Barclay was thrilled to be unremarkable. Barclay tapped his comm-badge, “Barclay to – well anyone – can anyone hear me?”

“Status reportLt. Commander Barclay,” The worried voice of Commander Riker replied nearly instantly.

“Sir,” Barclay wandered though the smoke. He was following the Giant, though God alone knew why. “The Giant has escaped. He incapacitated the guards – they need a doctor, fast. Three to beam directly to sick bay.”

“Are you alright Lt. Commander?” Riker riker asked.

“Yes sir,” Barclay stuttered. “But I couldn't stop the Giant – he's heading towards sector 3. You have to beam him to the brig.”

Riker swore, “Barclay, I need you to listen to me. Our sensor readings for the sector are going wild because of whatever it was that he did. We can't get a lock on him. Worf is leading a team to you, but they're going to take time. I need you to stand near the wounded so we can get a lock on them. ”

“Sir I don't think he's going to wait,” Reginald shuddered as he moved closer, looking at the still sobbing Bolian with pity. He was very pleased to see pale blue light enveloping the three men.

“Is Data with you?” Riker's voice colored with concern. “Is he harmed?”

“I don't know sir,” Reginald coughed as he fiddled with an emergency wall panel behind which would be breathing masks and survival gear. “Power is out to the deck. Has he contacted you?”

“Communications are misbehaving due to power fluctuations, you are the only one on that deck we've managed to hail so far.” The Commander grew deadly serious. “Lt. Commander – what direction did you say the Giant was heading in?”

“He was heading starboard towards the – oh no, he was heading towards the school!” Reginald wrapped the mask around his face, grabbing the emergency cutting torch from the wall as he went. It was an engineering tool intended to break open doors in a crisis but he suspected it would work on the Giant's armor just as well.

“No, no, no, no,” Barclay muttered to himself. “What are you doing Reg? What are you thinking? That guy is the size of a house.”

It was stupid – monumentally so – to believe that he could do anything to harm the Giant if it came down to it. But if he could delay it for even a couple of seconds that might be enough for the power to come back on and for someone to trap him with shields – time for Worf to come.

Cowardice be damned, he wouldn't let the Giant harm children.

The Giant had simply run roughshod through the ship's security personnel. Broken, bleeding and stunned men lined the corridors heading towards the school. Stunned – it seemed that the Giant did not know how to switch his stolen weapon's settings. Small mercies were still a blessing.

His eyes still stinging from the smoke, Reginald ran towards the massive yellow figure as it pried open the school room doors.

He could hear the children's confused and frightened voices as well as the soothing voice of Miss Kyle shouting, “It will be alright children – just file into the back room," over the din.

The Giant grunted in frustration as his fingers slipped, slamming his arm between the pressurized doors. He struggled against the pneumatics, trying to get leverage with a single free hand.

Reginald activated the cutting torch, waving it around to get the Giant's attention. “Hey! Hey you! Over here. Look over here.”

The Giant's eyes focused on the flame, his free hand batting at Reginald in frustration as the federation officer jabbed blue flames towards the behemoth. The flames sparked and scorched the man's armor-doing little visible damage but irritating him immensely.

“Th-that's right y-you bully,” Reginald's stutter accompanied the wave of terror he felt as the Giant yanked his arm from the door and strode towards him with deliberated menace. “Follow me!”

Dropping the still lit torch, Reginald cut and ran in the opposite direction. His heard beat a million miles a minute as he heard the Giant's lightning fast footfalls behind him – quicker than he could hope to outrun.

Luckily he wasn't going far. Reginald knew the ships internals inside and out, giving him a unique perspective of the Terrain that the Giant couldn't hope to match.

Ducking down a jefferies tube as the Giant grabbed for him, shoving his hand through the wall in fury. Sparks showered down from shattered circuitry as the man tore his gauntleted fist from the wall and reached down the tube, struggling to reach him.

“No-not so b-big now are you!” Reginald yelled as the scooted down the tube. “Catch me now – oh no!”

Reginald flinched as a gauntleted hand holding a stolen phaser poked down the tube, firing energy beams blindly into the passage. He tucked to the right, hiding behind a support strut as the phaser beams cut down the tube, the bright red hue of them a clear indication that the Giant had discovered alternate power settings.

He flinched as a beam bored a hole in the strut he was hiding behind, missing his big toe by centimeters. Feverishly tapping his comm-badge, Barclay stuttered into communicator, “Th-this is B-Barclay. I'm at the p-primary school. I n-need help.”

“Acknowledged Lt. Commander,” Replied the precise tones of the Android Data. “I will be there imminently.”

Reginald did not even have time to thank him before the sound of tripolymer alloy colliding with ancient armor clanged it's way down the tube. There was the sound of struggle as Data's unconcerned retort of, “Two to beam up, contingency plan Data 3 Echo Charlie 9 commence,” preceded the flashing blue light of a transporter.

Curious about the sudden silence Reginald hesitantly poked his head from the tube, looking to where the two men had been only moments ago. There, still frozen in the throes of battle, was the massive suit of yellow armor – noticeably bereft of an occupant. It's legs moved forwards once, some mental command still being processed by the armor's internal computers before it fell to the ground – dead.

Reginald tapped it nervously with his toe before calling up to the bridge. “Barclay to Riker – can you hear me.”

“This is Commander Riker,” The furious voice of the first officer replied. “Reginald just what the hell is going on down there?”

“Data transported the Giant away – I don't know where,” Reginald flinched as the armor's fingers pulsed. “It's safe to send repair crews when you can.”

“Oh you've got to be kidding me.” Riker's sighed in exasperation. “Data why?”

“You found him?” Reginald asked, worried for the Lt. Commander.

“Oh I found them both alright,” Riker whistled, “Ten kilometers off the port nacelle.”

[Tandrax218]

As if a little vacum could harm an Astartes.

I think that Data just ended any chance of reasoning with the marine...

Next part pls

[InsaneTD]

Interesting choice of teleport location. How did they miss the metlabomb? Those aren't small and I didn't think they had any scanner blocking metals in them. Am a little surprised just how easy he was able to punch through the Jefferies tube. Would of thought those were stronger then the rest of the walls.

[MondoMage]

Interesting choice of teleport location. How did they miss the metlabomb? Those aren't small and I didn't think they had any scanner blocking metals in them. Am a little surprised just how easy he was able to punch through the Jefferies tube. Would of thought those were stronger then the rest of the walls.

I'm somewhat surprised that they managed to beam him out of his armor. Can't wait to hear Data's explanation on how that particular course of action came to be.

As for the Jefferies tubes, they're not structural as far as I know. All they provide is access to various parts of the ship that can't be gotten to by corridor. No reason for them to be all that tough - as opposed to actual struts and other framework (or the outer hull). Of course, construction on TNG-era Federation ships tends to be rather contradictory. Sometimes you can pound the snot out of them and not much really happens until some coolant pipe for the warp core cracks or something like that. Other times you so much as sneeze in the general direction of a ship and she'll blow to kingdom come.

[Borgholio]

Sometimes you can pound the snot out of them and not much really happens until some coolant pipe for the warp core cracks or something like that. Other times you so much as sneeze in the general direction of a ship and she'll blow to kingdom come.

I would not feel comfortable flying on TNG-era starships. The whole "Walking three feet away from a fully exposed anti-matter reactor with zero safety or backup systems" thing kinda bothers me.

[InsaneTD]

I always got the feeling from the look of them and the locations that the Jefferies tubes, while not structural, would of had decent strength, but thinking about it now, they are basically just glorified conduits. Still, if I'd been building/designing those ships, the Jefferies tubes would be as strong as any bulkhead.

Those that take a pounding are the ones that have their plot shields up.


Edit: spelling error.

[MondoMage]

Those that take a pounding are the ones that have their plot shields up.

Tell me about it. I think one of the most egregious ones was in the "Generations" movie. The Enterprise gets blasted six ways from Sunday by an antiquated Bird of Prey, and the worst that seems to happen is some ensigns get tossed around as their control stations blow up. I mean, seriously, have they forgotten what fuses are for? Geez!

Then, after they survive that and blow the bad guys to smithereens, a coolant pipe cracks and they have to abandon ship because apparently no one thought that a backup cooling system might be a nifty thing to have? I realize that structural integrity varies in direct proportion to the needs of the plot, but seriously?

Of course, Trek isn't the only show that's suffered from this sort of thing. It's just that with so much material to pull from they have a lot of instances of it to point to.

[Eternal_Freedom]

Those that take a pounding are the ones that have their plot shields up.

Tell me about it. I think one of the most egregious ones was in the "Generations" movie. The Enterprise gets blasted six ways from Sunday by an antiquated Bird of Prey, and the worst that seems to happen is some ensigns get tossed around as their control stations blow up. I mean, seriously, have they forgotten what fuses are for? Geez!

Then, after they survive that and blow the bad guys to smithereens, a coolant pipe cracks and they have to abandon ship because apparently no one thought that a backup cooling system might be a nifty thing to have? I realize that structural integrity varies in direct proportion to the needs of the plot, but seriously?

Of course, Trek isn't the only show that's suffered from this sort of thing. It's just that with so much
material to pull from they have a lot of instances of it to point to.

If you want a Generations-exampleof bullshit plot shields, look at the damn BoP. The same class was outgunned ten to one by Kirk's Enterprise, and yet the E-D has to find some stupid trick to kill it rather than just blasting away at will. That and the "they're shooting through our shields, we should totally do nothing about this, like changing frequencies or whatever." Fuckers.

[Todeswind]

Theoretically first contact situations were supposed to be enacted without indulging in ego, in spite of whatever ills might beset you. The delicacy of contacting a new sentient species was invariably dangerous – potentially fatally so – meaning that any crew agreeing to make first contact with a new species tacitly acknowledged the very real possibility one or more crewmen may well die in the name of the federation. Being in Starfleet came at a price, and it was not a slight one.

The burden of leadership in these situations meant that one was forced to do what was right rather than what one wished to do. For example, Will Riker very much wished that he had given the order to destroy the Giant with the ship’s main phaser banks rather than recovering and restraining the giant. It would not have been the diplomatically appropriate solution or his duty as a Starfleet officer, but it would have been deeply satisfying.

Will Riker hated the Giant of Antiea as much as he could recall hating any man. Five – the giant had killed five crewmen and had done his damnedest to kill another fifty, most of whom hadn’t even been part of security. It was pure chance that he hadn’t killed a room full of elementary school students.

So it was that when Lieutenant Worf voiced his concerns, William found himself agreeing with his Klingon counterpart.

“I do not understand why we are allowing it to continue to live.” The Klingon smashed his hand on the table. “The very notion that it continues to breathe is offensive after the carnage it caused.”

“Mr. Worf – this is a first contact situation. One that we have grossly misjudged.” Captain Picard steepled his fingers in thought as he leaned back in his chair. “We assumed – incorrectly – that Mr. Data’s deception would be sufficient to fool the Giant. We detained a sentient against his will and he reacted to that situation with fear and anger. I am to blame for this – not he.”

“With respect Captain, might you be allowing your interest in the distant past to cloud your judgment for the present? This thing is a cold blooded killer without remorse. It would skin you as soon as look at you.” The Klingon growled. “You can’t negotiate with a rabid dog.”

“I wonder, Mr. Worf, if the Federation might not have said the same about the Klingons not so long ago?” The Captain sighed. “The birthing pains of forging ties with a new species – especially one who represents as unique and strange of an opportunity as the Giant does – must be endured. If the Federation declared every species who killed someone in a first contact situation irredeemably anathema to us, there would be precious few sentient beings in the Federation.”

“Fewer still if the Giant has his will.” Lt. Worf growled. “He fights without honor, attacking those without weapons to defend themselves – killing without mercy.”

“Did he not allow Lt. Barclay to pass by him unmolested?” The Captain asked. “His report seemed to indicate that the Giant had every chance to harm to the Lieutenant but the Giant just walked past.”

“The Giant’s… aggression was primarily directed at non-humans.” Worf’s lip curled, exposing fang. “The human officers were attacked for trying to protect the wounded or acting aggressively to his person.”

“Captain.” William interjected, “I share a number of Mr. Worf’s concerns. Every effort to communicate with him has been met with violent and unwarranted aggression. Even if we don’t incarcerate him for his actions on this ship, I don’t know how we can justify forcing a diplomatic engagement without considering it a wanton violation of the Prime Directive.”

“We woke him up Will.” Deanna replied. “We’re responsible for everything that’s happened to him since. This isn’t some species we can just leave alone and give time to mature – he has no home upon which we might drop him off. He’s an orphaned son of a dead society older than the Federation by countless ages. There likely isn’t a society left for us to affect.”

“But this is still a thinking being.” Will retorted. “He has free will, the will to choose what happens to him, and nothing he’s done indicates that he would chose to remain with us.”

“Actually, that might not be precisely accurate.” LCDR LaForge said, furrowing his brow. “When we beamed the Giant up to the ship we ran a standard pattern recognition routine to detect and transfer him up to the holodeck. We didn’t account for a number of rare atomic particles used in the Giant’s cyborg components, specifically those in his brain. The rare elements were left behind, affecting functionality.”

“Are you telling me that we lobotomized the man’s brain?” Captain Picard said in horror.

“Not precisely Captain.” The android Data replied. “He has a network integrated into his brain which would, in theory, allow him to continue operating after massive cerebral trauma or to modify cognitive function. Without the rare elements used in the cybernetics, the components misfired randomly – presumably defaulting him to a survival state. One can only speculate how complex his thoughts were, but it is reasonable to assume that his higher reasoning skills were deeply impaired.”

“So he is a wounded and cornered animal – that makes him more dangerous, not less.” Worf Growled.

“Yes, but it’s an issue that we can hopefully fix. The cybernetics in the Giant were clearly designed by someone who indented for their technology to be easily repaired with more primitive tools than were involved in their fabrication. I think that a standard medical tricorder and hypospray could be used to restore what we undid.” LCDR LaForge tapped his visor. “The implants in my head work on similar principles.”

“I confess that I’m reluctant to expose a medical team to the potential dangers of the Giant in open surgery.” Captain Picard chewed his lip. “Can he be sufficiently sedated to even try it?”

“I don’t need to remove him from the brig Captain. Presumably I can program a remote hypospray to inject him with the necessary inoculation of nanomachines to restore his cybernetics. That’s not our problem.” Dr. Crusher sighed. “That’s the least of our problems. Exposing him to the vacuum of space has activated some sort of willfully induced comatose state. His body has started secreting a viscous waxy oil that is hardening over his dermis, presumably to protect him from radiation.”

“Tough bastards aren’t they?” Joked Will.

“Tougher than you could imagine.” Data nodded, immune as ever to the intended humor. “As you are aware, it took a full fifteen minutes for the Giant to be rendered unconscious. The Giant spent those fifteen minutes attempting to crush me. Though he was unable to do more than superficial harm to my exoskeleton, I do not believe that I would have been able to extricate myself from his grip under my own power. The doctor had to forcibly separate me from his interlocked arms with the aid of a muscle relaxant.”

“You’re telling me that the Giant managed to keep trying to murder you while he was in a coma?” Will chuckled at the sheer absurdity of it. “This guy is so ornery that he’s even trying to kill people in his sleep.”

“So it would seem.” Captain Picard smiled sadly. “Dr. Crusher, it was not my intention to endanger this crew when I brought this man aboard. And yet I must burden you with the unfortunate task of ministering to our most ’ornery’ guest.”

“I’ve faced ornery patients before. Rage I can handle.” Beverly sighed. “No, my problem is going to be having a recovering patient responsible for the majority of the other patients in sick bay or the morgue. There are going to be a lot of angry crewmen that we’re not killing him outright.”

“Their rage will have to be subordinate to their duties as members of the Federation.” Picard’s words slowed with deliberate intensity. “We cannot allow our passions to overwhelm what is right.”

“Passions or no, I may not be able to fix him at all. It’s hard enough to fix injuries in someone whose physiology has been studied for centuries but I’ve got less than two days of documentation on how to treat the Giant.” Dr. Crusher bit her lip in agitation. “I’m largely operating blindly. But even I can see that if he doesn’t wake up soon, his organs are going to collapse due to sheer stress. Not to put too fine a point on it, but he hasn’t eaten since before the dinosaurs and he has about 0% body fat content. I can get intravenous nutrients going, but that’s a stop gap at best. He needs to actually digest some solid food and his body has currently put the digestive process on hold.”

“Can you wake him with a stimulant or something?” Will asked.

Beverly shook her head. “I’ve already tried all the cerebral resuscitation methods I dare. I don’t feel confident enough in my knowledge of his chemistry or cybernetics to try anything stronger. I could end up damaging him even more than when we started this process.”

“Captain, I’ve looked over the readings on the Giant’s brain.” Data intoned. “There are similarities between the cybernetics inducing the Giant’s coma and known technologies used by telepathic species. It seems likely that the Giant’s trance might be broken with the use of a telepath.”

“Absolutely not.” Will interjected before Deanna could offer to do some damn fool thing. “The last time the Counselor tried to make contact with the Giant’s mind he used it as a way of attacking her. We can’t assume that he won’t do the same twice.”

“No, we can not. But it is still our most viable option.” Data replied. “The situation remains, if nothing is done to ameliorate the Giant’s current condition he will die. Deanna is the most powerful non-Vulcan psychic to whom we have access. Vulcans appear to elicit excessive violence from the Giant. Logic dictates that it must be the Counselor.”

“Will,” Deanna put a comforting hand on his arm. “It’s ok. I will be ok.”

“Deanna, he had you in tears for hours.” Will replied.

“Yes, but I’ve been sifting through the memories. Trying to piece them together in a way that makes sense.” Deanna stared out the viewport at the stars. “It’s like watching several movies at once. There is a lot of noise and motion that doesn’t all seem to mesh together the right way. I think – I think it is worth trying if it means I can save a life. Enough people have died today Will. I have to try.”

“I can modify a force field generator to specifically bind the giant.” LCRD LaForge offered. “He shouldn’t be able to break out of it.”

“He should not have been able to break out of the Holodeck either.” Lt. Worf asserted. “And yet he was more than capable of repurposing components of his armor into an explosive device.”

“Well it’s not like we could have removed the power supply from his armor without him noticing,” The dark skinned head of Engineering shrugged. “And I honestly didn’t even know that that sort of a power supply could be turned into an explosive. I’ve only even seen it used in theoretical mock ups for entire star ships.”

“Indeed.” Agreed the android. “However he no longer has the use of his armor. We have removed all power sources to ensure that they can’t be activated remotely, and have moved them to a runabout off ship just to be doubly assured of their security. The relative threat he represents should be neutralized with the use of localized force fields, rendering him impotent.”

“Having seen the man, I don’t believe ‘impotent’ is necessarily the appropriate choice of words, Data.” Dr. Crusher replied with a puckish smile. “But I would appreciate some additional security around him, for the Giant’s protection as much as my own.”

“I will see that the detail are all human.” Worf replied in a voice of world-weary resignation. “If we are to try this foolishness again.”

“Good,” The Captain sighed. “Very well, you have your orders. Make it so.”

Will chose to stay, even as the other officers filed out of the room. He took care to let the door shut behind the last of them before saying what had been on his mind for hours. “Captain, you know that even if we manage to heal the Giant, we’re going to have to address the fact that he killed five people and assaulted an entire deck crew. That can’t just be swept under the rug.”

“Nor should it be.” Picard replied. “But if it is true that we are responsible for his current mental state the one who will have to respond to the charges is I.”

“Captain you can’t be serious.” Will blanched.

“I very much am.” He walked away from will to the replicator, addressing the computer firmly. “Earl Grey, hot.”

“Why? Why in God’s name would you do that?” Will massaged his forehead with the palm of his head to address the sudden pain in his temple.

The Captain sipped his tea in thought before looking out the viewport. “Commander Riker, when the Borg took me and used me as their interlocutor I became the instrument of many deaths – Federation deaths- as a result of what was done to me. By no will of my own I was forced to do things that were – and still are – abhorrent to me. In our fumbling efforts to connect it would seem that we have undone this man‘s– this Giant of Antiea’s – sanity. We robbed him of free will, took away choice.”

“Sir…” Will’s voice softened, recognizing the genuine hurt in the Captain’s voice. “What we did is nothing like what the borg did to you.”

“Are you so sure of that Commander?” The Captain raised his tea cup to his lips, looked at it, and set the cup back upon its saucer without drinking. “I fear that in our arrogance and haste we well many have done a greater disservice to the Giant than you realize. There is blood on his hands thanks to us – blood that we caused him to spill. I doubt the Giant will see me as any less of an antagonist for having made him a murderer than I see the Borg. No, I will not belittle him by claiming my innocence.”

“But you are innocent. We are innocent. We had no way of knowing that transporting him would cause him harm.” Will shook his head. “The odds of him having those elements within him – “

“The odds of his very existence are astronomical. For us to presume that a being older than written history would fit within the boundaries of our own limited understanding of the universe was foolish.” Picard sighed, adjusting the front of his uniform. “Lieutenant Worf was correct. I allowed my eagerness to touch the past and connect with a living, breathing mystery cloud my judgment. Were I thinking I would have sent some sort of holographic transmitter to the planet rather than brining him up to the ship. I was just so thrilled to have the mystery of Antiea within my grasp.”

“Captain.” Will trailed off at the man’s title, unsure what words of comfort to offer.

“Commander Riker, we will see this through to the end. We will see the Giant mended and I will not allow his actions resulting from my lack for foresight destroy a historical treasure.” He fixed William with a steely gaze. “Is that understood?”

“Yes Captain.” Will replied. “And Captain?”

“Yes Commander.”

“For what it’s worth. We don’t blame you for what the borg made you do. Make sure that you’re not using this as an opportunity to punish yourself for what the Federation wouldn’t.”

Picard’s lips tightened as his eyes flashed in anger. “That will be all Commander.”

“Yes Captain.”

[Argosh]

Oh, they sound so naive compared to their prisoner/patient. Its refreshing

[Tandrax218]

Oh nice im looking forward to more episodes of this story

Does the marine have a name? Is he Imperial Fist ? What period is he from ? Preheresy, M32-40? or M41?

I wonder if they ever manage to communicate, will the federation goodie-two-shoes ever understand the reality of a galaxy in war, chaos beings and gods and the Emperor.

[Borgholio]

I wonder if they ever manage to communicate, will the federation goodie-two-shoes ever understand the reality of a galaxy in war, chaos beings and gods and the Emperor.

Oh they can easily understand it. A powerful telepath who is the self-proclaimed Emperor of Mankind has used fear of aliens and superstition to whip Humanity into an expansionist and genocidal frenzy.

Trouble is, they would probably try to convince the Emperor of the error of his ways and "redeem" him, while not believing the Chaos gods even exist until they actually show up and start mind-fucking the Federation.

[InsaneTD]

And maybe not even then, thinking it's Q screwing with them.

[Grimnosh]

And maybe not even then, thinking it's Q screwing with them.

Not sure on that, I mean Q DOES screw with them a fair bit (ok far more then a fair bit), but this way would not be in his style.

[Borgholio]

but this way would not be in his style.

Q's style is simply whatever makes him laugh. He has demonstrated that he's willing to put the Enterprise in harms way where people actually die just to prove a "point" to Picard. He's fucked with the very fabric of spacetime itself as a test for Picard as well. I see no reason why he wouldn't be up to introducing a Chaos god or two just for shits and giggles.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I doubt Q would do that though, as a full-strength Chaos God might not be easily removed, even by Q.

Although I am now imaging Q and Tzeentch competing with each other in games of "Just as Planned" with the ST universe at stake.

[Diverball]

Oh they can easily understand it. A powerful telepath who is the self-proclaimed Emperor of Mankind has used fear of aliens and superstition to whip Humanity into an expansionist and genocidal frenzy.

Trouble is, they would probably try to convince the Emperor of the error of his ways and "redeem" him, while not believing the Chaos gods even exist until they actually show up and start mind-fucking the Federation.

To be fair to the Emperor, the Imperium bears no resemblance to anything he ever intended. It's a total mockery of his vision, largely because he is no position to guide it.

This is not going to end well. Trek represents one of the most idealistic conceptions of the future, whereas 40K represents probably the most cynical. Nere the twain shall meet. And Picard has unresolved issues regarding the Borg, not to mention his own self-righteousness. I'm almost surprised that Worf and Riker did not register formal protests in the Ship's Log about this course of action.

[Tandrax218]

considering the state of affairs in the wh40 galaxy,the shape of the imperium is somewhat normal
i mean yeah they said "screw" public liberty's, religious rights and other democratic non-sense but hey they are SURVIVING against :

1. Warp deities
2. Demons
3. Demonic/renegade Transhumans
4. Tyranids
5. Necrons
6. Orks
7. Tau
8. Cultists
9. Mutants
10. Traitors, and random alien species's like the Hrud

If you look at it this way they don't seem that bad, and again in a dark place a bright beacon of hope always shines

and if old E. was alive he would do some changes


on the other hand the federation looks like a spoiled child that always got what it wanted and does not have the problems in the same order of magnitude that the Imperium has.

[FaxModem1]

No. The Imperium is decaying and dying a rather slow death because they stick to their anti-progress dogma and fear of any change, even positive change such as science, technology, and diplomacy because of their corrupt church.

The Federation may be soft, but they'll adapt to problems given time and do what they can to come to a peaceful solution. They have dealt with shape shifters infiltrating, worms infecting the highest echelons of Starfleet, and a massive war against things like the Borg and the Dominion, while still being good and peaceful. Not to mention crap like Q, the Crystalline entity, V'ger, the Whale probe and all the other weird crap that hits them. The Federation may look soft to him, but they're no pushovers.