/ooc Both of my ships also have Chrono Drives, although I use them more for plot points than any sort of ships' power. If they do have to be included in the standard equipment and take up slots, let me know . . . guess I'll have to get rid of a few things if that's the case.
ooc/
/ooc Actual post now available below. It's a bit silly and threadbare to what I wanted, perhaps, but I'm not working on it anymore.
ooc/
On the viewscreen of the
Kronos, Julian watched as Kali expertly brought the ship around for another pass, and fed the targeting data into the Weapons Officer’s control board. Another barrage of Chrono weaponry lashed out, slipping past the Guardian’s faltering shields and finishing the job of rending the robotic ship’s hull apart. As one of the time displacing blasts slipped through a crack in the Guardian’s hull, all of the ship’s running lights went out. The Sensors Officer declared a moment later that the Guardian had completely powered down, and that the last hit had probably destroyed the computer AI running the ship.
That piece of junk Guardian is DEAD, Julian.
I can see that Kali. Good job. For once, you actually managed to accomplish being more than an annoying AI with an ego problem.
I do NOT have an ego problem! Well, ok, maybe a little bit, monkey boy.
“Uhhh . . . . sir? I’m reading a massive power spike from the Guardian . . .”
Not again! Why can’t you AIs ever STAY dead!!?
Julian directed his attention to the information coming in over at the Sensors station, and downloaded it into his brain for further study. A moment later his eyes went wide as he realized the obvious: the Guardian was about to self-destruct.
Well, if that’s how you feel . . .
Kali, get us out of here! The Guardian is about to blow!
Understood. Booking it now.
With reflexes far superior to a human’s, Kali immediately imputed the commands necessary to send the
Kronos speeding away from the Guardian. Five seconds later, the ship exploded, sending a massive shockwave of energy in all directions.
Despite the quick response and the
Kronos’s great speed, the shockwave still impacted against the rear shields, brutally twisting the ship about and causing the deck of the bridge to lurch sickeningly for a moment. Then the shockwave was passed, and the world returned to normal.
Well, I guess that solves the problem of who’s going to get the Guardian technology . . .
Greedy b*stard . . . that d*mn Guardian kept it all for himself.
With the Guardian dead, the
Kronos and the other allied ships were allowed to explore the wormhole system at their leisure. As per the mission objectives, the
Kronos fired several probes into the wormhole and took detailed sensor scans of the rest of the system. With the mission evidently finished, the allied ships began to jump out, one at a time. The
Kronos was the last to leave, but as Kali powered up the FTL generators to create a Trans-warp conduit . . .
Oooohhhh shit. Julian, I’m picking up a MASSIVE temporal gate opening two light seconds off of our port bow.
GREAT. So, who’s coming to mess with us this time? Our old friends the Chronians, or the Devorans?
My money’s on the Devorans. The signature is too big to be any known Chronian ship.
As the temporal gate continued to form and coalesce, preparing to spit out whatever was going to come through the rift in time, Julian felt a presence approaching. It was a familiar presence, and yet alien at the same time. In a sudden flash of insight, Julian realized just who he was about to face, yet again.
“He’s coming . . .” Julian murmured with a sense of dread, and yet at the same time, anticipation.
A moment later, the temporal gate finally finished forming, and a ship emerged. Not just a ship, but a
planet, made out of layer after layer of armor plating and weapons. It was obviously of Devoran make, although such a large ship had never been seen before.
“Sir, the Devoran ship is hailing us. Shall I put it through?” The Comms Officer asked.
Go ahead. Let’s see give the b*stard a chance to blow hot air.
As the Comms Officer opened the channel, Julian allowed Kali to see his own insight into what they were about to face. Kali swore profusely and then the Comms Officer was finished establishing the channel.
On the viewscreen, a vast expanse appeared. Just like a Borg ship, hundreds of thousands of Devoran drones moved about in the background, carrying out the instructions they had been given. In the foreground, however, and taking up most of the viewscreen, was Nathan Hunt. As in Julian’s dream, Hunt was covered with Chrono Borg instruments and barely appeared human.
“Hello Julian.” Hunt said, his voice sounding as alien as his body looked. Evidently Hunt had a Devoran voice-box now along with all his other “upgrades”.
“Hello Hunt. I’m somewhat surprised to see you still alive. Last time I saw you, you were lying at my feet with a nice big hole in your chest.”
Sub-consciously, Hunt raised a clawed hand up towards his chest, before he realized what he was doing and stopped himself.
“I wanted to thank you for all this in person, Julian. So, I have come here in my personal ship to do just that. If not for you, Julian, I would not have died right before I entered that temporal rift. If not for you, I would not have been picked up by the Devorans. If not for you, I wouldn’t have been revived and become . . .
one . . . with the Devoran Hive.”
“Well, congratulations Hunt. I’m surprised you’re taking this so well, however. I’d have thought Devoran Drone is a bit of a . . . step down from Emperor of the Known Universe.”
For a brief moment, irritation flashed over Hunt’s face, but then it returned to the bland, expressionless face that seemed so common for members of the Borg Hive.
“I am now above such petty things, Julian. Likewise, I have forgiven you for your crime of murdering me. Instead, I am here to offer you a priceless gift. I am here to offer you the chance to join the Devorans. Willingly. The addition of you and your crew to the Devoran Hive would only serve to strengthen it . . . and you will join us. I want you to join us of your own free will, but mark my words: you
will join us. One way, or the other.”
“And since when have I given a d*mn for what you want, Hunt!? Kiss my already-Borgified *ss. You, and all those billions of Devorans you brought with you.”
Kali, get that Trans Warp conduit up NOW.
I’ve been trying to do just that for the past couple minutes. The Devorans are somehow blocking me from opening up a Conduit.
“Very well Julian, if that is what you will.” Hunt replied, and then his eyes took on an empty look as he intoned, “We are the Devorans. You will be assimilated. Your technological and biological distinctiveness will be added to our own. Resistance is futile.”
“Channel has been cut, sir.” The Comms Officer reported, and the Sensors Operator swore. “They’re powering up weapons . . .
all of them. It’s like someone plugged in a f*cking Christmas tree.”
Get us the H*LL out of here NOW, Kali!
I’m trying!! There, conduit open.
On the viewscreen, an aquamarine tunnel opened between the massive Devoran warship and the
Kronos. The
Kronos’s Helmsman wasted no time in heading into the gaping maw of the tunnel, and a few moments later the ship was surrounded by the Trans-Warp conduit.
“Set course for Ankaa, and get us there as fast as you can. We’ve all got some serious prob –“
“There’s a massive surge of energy in the Trans-Warp conduit, sir!! It’s directly behind us!” The Sensors Operator shrieked, and then he suddenly turned dead pale.
“Dear God . . .”
The stunned Sensors Operator numbly tapped a key, and the viewscreen shifted to a view of the
Kronos’s aft. Beyond, there was a massive flash of light: presumably the energy surge. And then suddenly the light faded, revealing the unbelievable sight of the Devoran planet-sized warship following after them in the Trans-Warp conduit.
“Im – impossible! Nothing can enter a Trans-Warp conduit except the ship that created it!” The Helmsman said, starring in horror at the image of the Devoran warship slowly closing on them, inch-by-inch.
The Devorans obviously can. Alright people, give me some options here.
“Surrender?” The Tactical Officer helpfully suggested, and then shrugged when Julian glared at him.
We could try using the Chrono Drive to escape through time. Obviously the Devorans can follow us, and maybe even track us, but with any luck we’ll be able to lose them in a series of small time-jumps.
Well Kali, if that’s your recommendation . . .
It’s my only recommendation. The Devorans are now one minute, twenty four seconds from extreme firing range: we don’t have a lot of time left.
Do it.
Activating Chrono Drive now.
Within the aquamarine tunnel of the Trans-Warp conduit, a new tunnel opened. This tunnel was a shade of dark blue, flecked by flashes of lightning (think DS9 wormhole), and was a visual representation of the Chrono Drive’s time travel. Not sparing a moment, the
Kronos dived into the tunnel of time, Nathan Hunt’s massive ship right behind.
What followed was a wild and harrowing chase through time, as Kali sought to elude the Devoran pursuit through a series of time jumps. The Devorans relentlessly followed, and ever slowly began to close the gap. Soon, they were in extreme firing range, and then long range. Still, the Devorans continued to close, and held their fire except for the occasional volley that shook the
Kronos like a rag doll. Clearly, some part of Hunt was enjoying this, and wanted to prolong the game for as long as possible.
This isn’t working, Julian. The Devorans will soon be in range for transporter boarding. And then, I’m sure Hunt will be all too happy to end this game by blasting our shields down and transporting a couple thousand Devorans over.
Yes Kali, well what do you want me to do about all this? Turn you into a bomb and somehow take out Hunt’s freaking mobile planet in that one blast?
Suddenly, Julian noticed on the viewscreen an offshoot from the time conduit. It was marked by far more lightning than the average conduit, almost certainly indicating that it was quite dangerous.
Kali . . . what if we ducked down that side conduit up ahead?
Have you become suicidal as well as insane? That little side “conduit” is filled with temporal distortions. If we get hit by one of those . . .
We’re dead anyway. I’d rather not give Hunt the pleasure of killing me, so do it.
Alright . . . fine. I never wanted to live forever either. Let’s just hope Hunt isn’t as crazy as we are.
The
Kronos raced down the conduit, and towards the lightning-filled maw of the side conduit. As the ship approached the tunnel’s mouth, Kali took direct control of the Helm.
I think I had better drive through this part . . . you apes will be too busy hanging on to pilot as fast as I can. Let’s just hope I’m fast enough to dodge all those temporal eddies. Strap yourselves in tight, we’re going . . . shit.
Just as the
Kronos reached the entry point of the side tunnel, it was rocked by a focused volley of firepower from the Devoran warship. Evidently, Hunt had seen the side tunnel as well, and most certainly didn’t want the
Kronos going in there. Wave after wave of fire sleeted off of the war-planet, hammering the
Kronos.
Shields failing!! We’re entering the conduit now!
Just then, the ship lurched sickeningly as a last blast of fire from the Devoran warship struck the aft section of the
Kronos, skewing it around while the destructive energies ate away at the hull.
Engines have been hit! We’re starting to drift . . . oh sh*t.
Looking at the viewscreen, Julian could see that with the wounded
Kronos was heading directly for one of the lightning bolts traversing up and down the side conduit.
“Oh sh*t indeed.” Julian muttered, and then braced himself for impact as the lightning bolt filled the screen . . .
There was a brilliant flash of light, and the room spun crazily for a moment. When the light faded, Julian found himself somehow standing on a beam of brilliant white light, in an endless plain of white.
“Where the h*ll am I? Hello!!!???”
An-all too familiar voice answered him.
“Welcome to Oblivion, Julian. I hope you enjoy your stay.”
Whirling around, Julian found Nathan Hunt standing a few feet away. Hunt’s various mechanical parts whined and clumped as he walked forward until he was nearly nose-to-nose with Julian. His mouth then split open into a wide grin, revealing the all-too-perfect set of teeth he had: one of the few things the Devorans had seen fit not to change, evidently.
“You’re dead, Julian. Oh, perhaps not dead just yet, but when you wake up you’ll wish you were. You’re trapped Julian: trapped inside of time itself. I couldn’t think of a worse death for you, although it saddens me somewhat that you won’t get to experience the bliss of the Devoran Hive Mind first. Nevertheless, you are as surely dead as if I had shot you myself. And even if you do somehow escape from your current predicament, understand this: the Devorans
will control the entire Eridanni sector soon. You’ll have no place to run, no place to hide. And after I tie-up a few loose ends for the Hive Mind, I’ll have the rest of my life to await your improbable return. Good-bye, Julian.”
Hunt then took a step back, and began to slowly fade away, like a picture overexposed to the sun. Snarling, Julian leapt forward and drove his fist through the fading image, scattering it as easily as if it was a cloud of dust. Then, a wave of weakness crashed through him, and Julian collapsed onto the floor, blacking out almost before he had hit the ground . . .
Minutes, hours, or perhaps even days later, Julian was able to claw his way back to consciousness. He had no idea how much time had gone by, if time even had any meaning in the bizarre environment of the time warp. As awareness of his surroundings slowly returned to him, Julian realized that he was lying on the all-too familiar floor of the
Kronos’s bridge, face-up. Grunting, he pushed himself up into a sitting position, and even his Borg-enhanced muscles ached from the strains they had been put under.
Is everyone alright? Kali?
Taking a deep breath to steel himself for what he knew was going to be painful, Julian pushed himself up onto his feet. His body exploded into pain, although it faded to a dull throb once Julian managed to get firmly onto his feet. His body wasn’t quite done punishing him, however, and the deck under him spun crazily, and for several moments Julian thought that he would blackout once again. Fighting for consciousness, he staggered over to the nearest source of support: the Helmsman’s chair.
When he was only a step or two away from the chair, Julian’s knees buckled, and he was almost thrown to the deck. Growling, Julian flung himself forward, and wrapped his arms around the top part of the chair. His legs temporarily out of commission, Julian had to support his entire weight by his arms, and he could hear the steel frame of the Helmsman’s chair groaning beneath the leather cushion as he hugged the chair with all his Borg-enhanced might.
Finally feeling somewhat secure in his perch, despite his legs still rebelling, Julian turned his head to try to have a look around the Bridge to see what condition it was in. Immediately his vision exploded into stars, and once again Julian nearly blacked out. The pain nearly caused Julian to loosen his hug on the chair, but a second later he retightened his grip, this time causing the steel frame to actually squeal as Julian squeezed even harder than before.
Hoping his helplessness was only temporary, Julian reluctantly placed his chin on the top of the chair, and waited. Since he couldn’t scan the bridge by turning his head, his eyes would have to do, and Julian focused on each thing within his field of vision, one thing at a time.
One of the first things Julian noticed was that the Helmsman was still present, slumped back into his chair. His head hung at an odd angle just inches below Julian’s chin: the kind of angle one’s head would hang at when their neck was broken. Careful not to accidentally slip off or break the chair, Julian used his bearhug position to shake the chair back and forth, and jiggle the Helmsman’s body. In response, the Helmsman’s head lolled about in a completely unnatural way, confirming in Julian’s mind that the Helmsman was most certainly dead. Fearing the worst, Julian once again attempted to contact his crew via the Mind Link.
Hello!? Is everyone alright!? Kali!? Answer me, d*mnit!
“Jul . . . ian. You are . . . a . . . live.” The voice came from the direction of one of the bridge’s speakers, instead of from all around him, as it was in the Mind Link. The voice was laced with static and quivering, but it was clearly that of Kali. Upon hearing the voice, Julian instantly realized that while they might still be alive, some very bad things had just happened to his ship. Among those bad things was almost certainly the complete loss of the Mind Link, as the link between Julian and Kali was the strongest aboard the ship, and if they were unable to communicate, neither would anyone else be able to.
Realizing that the Mind Link was gone, perhaps forever, Julian swallowed and thrust his growing fear back down to where it belonged: in the pit of his stomach. And then, he began to speak to Kali, perhaps the first time he had done so since they had met.
“Kali . . . how are you looking?”
“He . . .h . . . heh . . . like h . . . ell. My comp . . . uter . . . banks are . . . dam . . . aged. Ship sys . . . tems . . . out . . . all o . . . ver place. I’m . . . try . . . trying . . . to . . . repair.”
“Well, I’ll come try to help you, once my legs start cooperating again. How are the crew?”
“They . . . all . . . dead.”
“WHAT!?? How the bloody h*ll can the entire crew be dead!!?”
“You . . . are . . . Borg. I . . . am . . . impress . . . ive . . . AI. They had . . . no . . . chance.”
Feeling the very air being driven from his lungs, Julian felt his arms let go of the chair, and he crumpled to a heap on the deck.
“No . . . it can’t be. It has to be bullsh*t . . . complete, utter bullsh*t.”
“It . . . is . . . true. My in . . . ternal . . . sensors . . . are . . . down, bu . . . t . . . before . . . they . . . collapsed . . . I . . . did . . . scan. One . . . lifesign . . . on Bridge.”
“So my Borg implants were the only thing that save me. I guess if I’m this bad, everyone else would have to be dead. But you’re sure that there were no survivors anywhere? Isn’t at least one other person on this entire ship also Borg?”
“Posi . . . tive. And . . . you . . . were . . . first. And . . . now . . . last.”
“Great. Just f*cking great. So, what do we do now?”
“Die . . . althou . . . gh . . . I . . . suppose . . . you won’t . . . accept . . . that.”
For a moment, Julian’s lips curved upward in a wry smile.
“That’s exactly right. Now then . . .” Julian grunted as he shifted himself over onto the more comfortable resting position of his back, and straightened out his legs.
“Exactly how long will it take for my Borg nanites to repair whatever damage I’ve obviously suffered to my brain and spinal column?”
“Depend . . . ing . . . on . . . sever . . . ity . . . up to . . . two . . . weeks . . . or . . . never.”
“TWO WEEKS!!? What am I supposed to do, gnaw on myself and drink my own p*ss?”
“Your . . . nanites . . . should . . . sustain . . . you. I . . . would . . . recommend . . . doing . . . . some . . . thing . . . after . . . a few . . . days. You . . . should . . . feel . . . much . . . better . . . then.”
“And what about you? I assume you’re somehow repairing yourself.”
“No.”
“NO!? I thought you were a freaking super-genius AI that could do anything.”
“Not . . . this. It . . . would be . . . like . . . you . . . doing . . . brain . . . surgery . . . on yo . . .urself . . . with . . . a b . . . utter . . . . knife.”
“Well fine then. I’ll fix you once I’m better. At least one of us is still useful.”
“Ha . . . ha.”
One Week Later . . .
Julian took a deep breath, and carefully began to climb down the turbolift shaft. Every now and then the lift would spin around, but the feeling would quickly fade. At least it would, until Julian stopped to look down. With power out in most sections of the ship, the turbolifts were no longer functioning. Therefore Julian would have to climb down several levels to get to a Repair Hold to gather the necessary computer repair equipment, and then down several more levels to get to the Main Computer Hub.
Although Kali had nodes and data lines throughout the
Kronos, making her virtually impossible to destroy without taking out the entire ship, Julian suspected that the
Kronos had, indeed, been nearly destroyed.
With the bridge near the top of the turbolift, and the gravity generators apparently being one of the few things that hadn’t failed, Julian would fall quite a long ways if he slipped. As he began to slowly clump down the turbolift ladder, Julian wondered if his Borg-enhanced body could possibly survive such a fall. Considering his weakened state from the muscle and nerve damage he received, Julian doubted it.
Suddenly, Julian felt his feet lift off from the rungs of the ladder. Thinking that his feet had somehow slipped off and he was about to fall, Julian gave out a yelp and clenched his fists, crumpling the steel ladder as his hands closed about the metal in a death grip.
Fortunately, his mind took over from his reflexes a moment later, and Julian realized that someone had turned off the anti-gravity. No doubt it would make his climb somewhat safer, if not easier, and Julian breathed a sigh of relief as he loosened his grip and rotated himself so that his head was where his feet were a moment before. Then, he began to pull himself down the ladder with his hands, rung by rung, letting his legs drift free.
“Thanks.”
“You . . . wel . . . come. I . . . need . . . the p . . . ower . . . any . . . way.”
Forty-six Days Later . . .
“There . . . that should be the last circuit panel. Now, you d*mn well better work, or I’m going to go crazy.” Julian muttered, half to himself as he fitted the last replacement panel into place.
“Well . . . that certainly feels better. Took you long enough, monkey boy.”
“Welcome back. I, of course, had to take you offline to do full repairs . . . you’ve been gone for forty-two days.” Julian said after consulting his mental chronometer for a moment.
“Well, while I understand you’re just
one human, surely you could have worked a little faster?”
Tears of joy filled Julian’s eyes, as he slumped against the nearest wall, feeling utterly drained.
“I . . . was so worried . . . that I would miss a panel, or something, and that . . . that you’d be gone. And then I would be utterly alone . . . on this f*cking graveship.”
“Sshh . . . it’s ok dearie. Momma Kali is here now, and she’s going to give that ruffian Nathan Hunt a good kicking in the *ss for you.”
For this comment, Kali had opted to mimic a quavering old lady’s voice, and for some reason Julian found it so funny that he began to giggle. Then he began to laugh, and finally was reduced to howling laughter as he rolled back and forth on the floor. A few minutes later, feeling much less stress and at least five years younger after his nerve-wracking work over Kali’s “brain”, Julian straightened up again and began to wipe tears from his eyes.
“Thanks, I really needed that.”
Kali didn’t reply, causing Julian to worry if perhaps some circuit had suddenly failed, and he would be alone after all. Then, she spoke again.
“Julian, I think it might be best if we put you in some sort of cryogenic stasis soon, while I finish up the rest of the repair work myself. I will, baring another circumstance like this one, undoubtedly will live forever, or at least as close to forever as anything is going to get. You, however, have a definite timeline, and despite your Borg implants significantly extending your life, you may
still not see the end of the repairs.”
“May not see the end of the repairs . . . just how long do you think it’s going to take to make full repairs on yourself?”
“Full repairs are at this point impossible. Both Chrono Phaser 3s have been sheered off by the temporal displacement that we struck, along with all of the other damage we sustained by Hunt’s mad rampage of firepower with his worldship. The Cloaking Device has also been lost, along with a fairly significant portion of my hull, and a few other, more minor, items.”
“Great. So how long will it take to get everything that is possible to repair, back in tip-top shape? Assuming the two of us work together.”
“Assuming the two of us work together, and using just the stores of spare parts we have, plus whatever we can fashion, plus whatever I can actually build from scratch using nanites and interstellar dust – yes, I know I’m a genius, you can thank me later – it will take us . . . ninety-four years, eleven months, and thirteen days, and eight hours. Give or take a couple minutes.”
It took several moments for Julian to realize that his mouth was hanging agape, although he quickly regained his composure. However, his next comment revealed that while he appeared to have regained his composure, it was only skin-deep.
“Ninety-four YEARS!!??”
“Plus eleven months, thirteen days, and eight hours. Although I’ll admit I’m at a rather diminished state, still, as most of my secondary computer banks are still offline, yes, I can still do basic damage and repair calculations. I would give you the basic data, but since we don’t have the Mind Link anymore, I can’t exactly force feed you the simple arithmetic step-by-step. Therefore, while your upgraded sack of electrolytes might be able to figure out the equations yourself, you’re just going to have to trust me on this one.”
“Fine. So by the time we get out of here, I’m going to be an old, old man.”
“I wouldn’t put it at exactly old, old . . . you’d probably be the biological equivalent of a man in his late fifties, early sixties . . . something like that. And the ninety-year timeline is only assuming we ARE completely undisturbed. I’m not strong enough yet to start throwing in all sorts of other nasty variables, like micro-meteoroids plowing through the hull, or a gang of space pirates showing up, or knock-on-your-thick-oaken-head, Hunt showing up again.”
“Lovely. Do you even
know what’s around us, currently?”
“Actually . . . no, I don’t. D*mn your pig-headed brain for actually asking the one question I can’t answer at the moment. Currently, all of my sensors are fried, both short-range and long-range.”
“Wonderful. So we’re a crippled ship, currently adrift in space, with no idea where we’re going, or what’s going on around us. Some warship you turned out to be.”
“Don’t forget
when, buddy boy. Last time I checked, we were in a time conduit, heading who knows where, when we plowed straight into a temporal distortion, and everything went to h*ll.”
Julian chewed his lip thoughtfully for a moment, and then made his decision.
“Alright. The very first thing we need to do is figure out just what, exactly, is around us, and where, exactly, we are. So . . . the next repair job is the sensors. Would you like me to work on short range sensors first, or long range?”
“Long range would probably be best. If needed, I can cut the long range sensors’ range down to sweep the area immediately around us. The resolution will be sh*t, but it will be better than blank space.”
“Ok then, let’s get to work. How long to repair the long-range sensors, assuming both of us work together?” Julian asked, pushing himself back up to his feet. Fortunately, Kali had enabled gravity in this section of the
Kronos before Julian had began to work on her, otherwise Julian would have went flipping head-over-heels. As it was, he was a little bit shaky getting back onto his feet: the strain of being alone for so long had obviously affected him more than he had expected. And now, it would be possibly weeks, or maybe even months, before they could have
see where they were. Kali, at least, would be there to talk to now, and Julian knew that after another few months of endless work single-handedly replacing seemingly every piece of equipment on the ship, Kali might be all that stood between him and insanity.
“It should take roughly six weeks, assuming you actually hustle for once in your life. Oh, and I have taken the liberty of finally dispatching the cleaning bots to remove the decomposing bodies from those parts of the ship I still have some control over. Your Borg-enhanced body should have no trouble dealing with any bacteria produced by the decomposition of the bodies, but knowing your “delicate” sense of smell, I would recommend deactivating your olfactory sense for a couple weeks.”
Slinging his trusty repair kit over his back and firmly tightening all of the straps, Julian walked out of the Main Computer Hub room. As he left, he paused in the doorway and turned to regard the glowing panels of circuitry that was all he had left now.
“Thanks.”
Then he left the room, allowing the doors to slowly slid shut behind him as he made his way to the turbolift doors, and begin the long Zero-G climb back up to the Bridge.
Thirty-seven days later . . .
“There. The last d*mned burnt out wire for the long-range sensors grid should now be fixed. Go ahead and try funneling power into the sensor grid through those jury-rigged conduits I made up.”
His back complaining to him about being held in one position for too long, Julian slowly slid himself out from under the very cramped quarters of the sensor station’s interior. Careful not to bang his head against the edge of the console (something he had learned not to do very quickly during his repair job), Julian sat up, and pushed himself up onto his feet.
Grateful to sit down and rest for a couple minutes, he hobbled over to his command chair in the center of the bridge, and settled himself in comfortably to wait. Soon, the hum of power began to come from the sensor operator’s console, and although dozens of the status lights were red, a few were green or yellow. Although cracked, the
Krono’s viewscreen could still generate a picture from the sensor data it was being fed. And indeed, although laced heavily with static, a picture began to slowly form on the viewscreen as Kali probed the area around them with the repaired sensors.
As expected, the viewscreen’s picture was quite blurry, due to the low resolution of the long range sensors when used to scan the immediate area around the
Kronos. However, Julian was able to see that a dark, hazy shape took up more than half the viewscreen, and beyond that was a dark blue background.
“Is that . . . a ship?” Julian wondered out loud, leaning forward and squinting his eyes in an attempt to sharpen the dark image. It was, of course, a futile effort, and the identity of the dark blot filling most of the viewscreen remained unclear. Frustrated, Julian leaned back into his chair and said, “Alright Kali, enough looking around at our immediate area. Switch back to long range.”
The viewscreen flickered a moment, and then presented a scene so shocking that Julian actually leaped off of his command chair and run up to the viewscreen for a closer look. Eyes wide, Julian simply shook his head in shock at the h*llish scene before him.
On the viewscreen, large enough to be clearly discernable, drifted no less than fourteen crippled and gutted ships. The dozens of dark blots visible beyond those fourteen ships suggested that those fourteen ships weren’t the only casualties. As a backdrop for this captain’s nightmare, a dark blue shimmering could be seen, flecked with the occasional lightning bolt.
Although her artificial voice did not hold any note of shock in it, Julian could tell that even she was awed by the sight.
“I count one hundred and twenty-six different vessels within scanner range. All of them are of different origins, and sizes . . . no life-signs on any of them, and only a few power readings. Several of the vessels aren’t even in my data banks . . . hmm . . . three of the vessels are actually of Chronian make. How odd.”
“Kali . . . is it just me, or do I see a time conduit behind those ships? It certainly looks like one.”
“I do not detect any time conduits in the area currently, but my sensors only extend for a short distance beyond the ships I have thus far detected. For all I know, the entire area for a lightyear around us could be filled with nothing but dead ships.”
“Ok then, what am I seeing on the viewscreen if it’s not a time conduit? You’re supposed to be the expert on your own systems: explain to me where that blue background is coming from.”
“The viewscreen’s picture is an amalgamation of the various sensor packages throughout the ship. Obviously, most of my sensors are down at the moment, but there are a few of the long range packages working: the ones that you fixed. I am analyzing those sensor packages to determine which one is providing the blue background . . . let’s see here. Ahah: a visual sensor is responsible for the background. Obviously, anything relying on visible light will have a longer range than any of my other sensors. Of course, those sensors also yield the least useful amount of information, in most cases, and so are ignored.”
“Well, those visual sensors are one of the few things that can tell us about our surroundings for now. And since they have the longest range of our working equipment, we’ll probably have to rely on them to explore wherever the h*ll we are. Funny . . . centuries ago mankind relied on the naked eye, enhanced by various instruments, to explore space. It would seem that we are now in a similar situation.”
“Indeed. And maybe next time, we’ll fight the Devorans with sticks and stones. Give me a fully operational sensor suite anyday.”
“You’ll have to wait awhile for that . . . say, five years? For now, visual will have to do. Hmm . . . is there anyway you can ignore all of the data from the other sensor packages, and just display the visual sensor’s data on the viewscreen?”
“I’m the sentient AI for a highly advanced, temporal warship. Of course I can do something that simple.”
A moment later, the viewscreen’s picture shifted, blurred, and then became clear again. Julian could see that this was indeed un-augmented visual data, as all of the ships in view were nothing more than small hazy flecks of black against the lightning-streaked blue background. Usually, the more advanced sensors of the
Kronos provided a visual magnification to the viewscreen, making an object even a few lightseconds away appear as if only a few meters away instead. That magnification was clearly lacking here, but at the same time Julian was given a wider field of view of the area of space around the
Kronos. A fair trade-off, considering all Julian was interested in at this point was the temporal conduit-like background. Now able to see a wider patch of that background, Julian was convinced that the
Kronos was indeed in some form of temporal conduit.
“So . . . are you still going to tell me that we’re not in a temporal conduit, when all visual evidence says that YES, we still are in one!?”
“Yes I will, if only because you humans will believe anything your primitive light sensing organs will tell you. It is a scientific fact that ships left to drift in a temporal conduit are quickly pushed out of it: often in one of several places and times. This graveyard of ships was obviously the scene of an important battle: therefore, it is a strong temporal node, and a natural place for us to be deposited upon leaving the time stream.”
“Ok then . . . explain the presence of the other Chronian ships, and the fact that instead of seeing the star-lit blackness of space, I’m seeing the blueness of a temporal conduit!”
“Well, as I said a moment ago, this location is obviously a strong temporal node, so any crippled Chronian ships could have found their way here. As for the visual illusion of a temporal conduit surrounding us . . .”
Kali continued to prattle on, citing several cutting-edge theories in temporal mechanics, but Julian ignored her attempt to explain away the background. Instead, he watched in wonderment as a series of lightning bolts intensified in one section of the viewscreen. Normally in a temporal conduit, the lightning strikes, or temporal distortions, were fairly regular and even. Here, the lightning bolts were forming and dissipating rapidly, and the process seemed to be accelerating.
“Kali . . . what is that? On the viewscreen, that mass of lightning strikes.”
“I’ve never detected anything like that before. More than likely, it’s a visual illusion, just like the time conduit coloration of the space around us that your eyes are detecting.”
The lightning flashes abruptly stopped, and then suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light in the same location the lightning strikes had been a moment before. When the light faded, Julian was shocked to see that the blue coloration in that area was gone. In its place was a watery and shimmering view of deep space. Through this “window” Julian was able to see that the area of deep space he was seeing wasn’t entirely empty.
A small fleet of ships swarmed around a large space station and several truly massive ships. It appeared that an evacuation was underway. A few moments later, Julian could see what they were fleeing, as a Devoran Battlegroup exited hyperspace. Most of the escorting flotilla of ships broke off to engage the Devorans, attempting to keep them away from the massive ships by the space station: evidently transports or colony ships of some sort. Although the fighting was fierce, it was quickly obvious that the Devorans had the upper hand, and the defending ships began to fall, one by one. The situation quickly turned even grimmer, as a second Devoran battlegroup warped in on the opposite side of the space station, catching the defenders in a pincer maneuver. With most of the convoy’s defenders away engaging the first Devoran group, fighters deployed by the Devoran Command Carrier in the second battlegroup tore the massive transports to pieces. As the first transport fell apart and exploded into a cloud of debris, there was another brilliant flash, and the blue background returned.
“Oh sh*t . . . now I know where we are. I can’t believe it . . . this place is supposed to be a myth . . .”
Noticing another series of lightning flashes were starting up a short distance away from the first one on the viewscreen, Julian tore himself away to face the rest of the bridge, and the speaker that Kali was using to communicate with him.
“Myth? Well, clearly it’s not a myth if we’re here now. So, how about you tell me this “myth”.”
Kali sighed, and then explained. “While I refused to believe it until just now, I had a few suspicions before that little show confirmed it. We are currently in the Crossroads of Time, a mythical place to the Chronians. According to the myth, the Crossroads are a secluded, quiet place within the time conduits. From the Crossroads of Time, it is believed that one can instantly travel to any point in time, unlike the normally slower point to point travel of the time conduits. The trick, of course, is to
find the Crossroads of time. The Chronians searched for this place for ages: eventually they gave up after losing several ships. Evidently, those missing ships found the Crossroads alright, but the crews didn’t live to report their success.”
Turning back to the viewscreen, Julian was treated to another space battle, this one above a large ocean planet. Darting about in orbit like gnats were hundreds of ships: a formidable defense fleet. Julian realized that large fleet or not, the planet was doomed as the first wave of Devoran ships jumped in. Consisting of what appeared to be thousands of ships, the Devorans clearly outnumbered the defenders, and with their technological edge as well, it was a slaughter. Julian watched the battle in silence, and turned away from the viewscreen and back to Kali after the fight degraded into a mop-up for the Devorans.
“So, the fact that the Chronians sent expeditions out looking for this place explains the Chronian ships here, but what about the other ships? What are they doing in this . . . Crossroad of Time?”
“They were probably “destroyed” by various temporal distortions. That is another supposed purpose of the Crossroads of Time: to give temporally destroyed ships a place to go. I highly doubt any of the ships’ crews survived the journey however, and if you’ll look closely you can see that all of the ships are heavily damaged, just like we are.”
“Wonderful. So we have the power to go to any point in time, but we’re too heavily damaged and crewless to do all that much once we get there.”
“That’s it in a nutshell. And from the look of things, it doesn’t seem likely that we’re going to find a place to stop and rest anytime soon. The Devorans appear to have launched their final assault, so unless you want to go back to prehistoric times, where we won’t find a place to rest and restock anyway, or ahead into the distant future and find a galaxy’s worth of Devorans waiting for us . . .”
“We’re going to emerge in the thick of the fighting.” Julian finished.
“Righto. And as you said before, a badly damaged ship with a single crewman and a genius AI isn’t just a bad tactical situation: it’s suicide.”
Hearing the familiar description for most of his escapades, Julian smirked. “So what else is new? We’ll figure something out. For now Kali, I want you to start analyzing all of the battles against the Devorans you can find via the time portals. See if you can find a battle where the entrance of a single ship into the battle at the right time might tip the scales against the Devorans. Meanwhile, I’ll get to work on repairing the short-range sensors.”
“I doubt I’ll find any such battles, but I’ll do my best.”
Forty-Six Days Later . . .
“So, what’s our situation now? Are we almost ready to dock with that Chronian Strike Destroyer?” Julian asked, pulling himself up into the bridge from the turbolift shaft.
“Yes. ETA is about five minutes. Lining up the airlocks using only a handful of maneuvering thrusters is going to be tricky, even for me. When I tell you that we’re about to dock, I suggest that you’re prepared for a bumpy ride for a couple minutes.”
“Alright. So, are you finished with that analysis of when and where we could make the most difference?”
“While I’m not finished with analyzing
every battle, I have calculated the odds of one thousand, five hundred and sixty-one battles. I have determined from these calculations that the addition of a single ship, at any point during the Devoran War of Annihilation on the Eridanni Sector, will have absolutely no effect on the outcome, except adding another dead human and one AI to the war’s final body count. On an individual battle basis, there is only a handful where the addition of a single ship could even come close to improving the odds. Paradoxily, of all the battles I have analyzed since arriving here, it was the first battle that we viewed that had the closest odds of going for either side. Compared to some of the battles to come, that first battle is a mere skirmish, however the low number of ships for each side means that the addition of another adversarial ship might just have turned the battle against the Devorans.”
“Ok then . . . let’s get you fixed up, and go.”
“If you remember, Julian, it will still take years to repair me, even with the resources of the other deserted ships at our disposal. And even once you repair me, there are still the following facts: we still have only one human and one AI at our disposal; the Mind Link may or may not be repairable, and if it is not we will not have instantaneous communication and control over the ship; and it will be highly difficult, or not impossible, or me to control and repair the entire ship by myself in a combat situation. We need a crew of some sort, Julian. I suggest we go back a week before the Devoran attack, and get ourselves a full crew together.”
“Yeah, and what if the Devorans scout out the system before the attack, and discover that there’s one more ship than they were expecting? They’ll probably send even more of their ships in, and make our odds of pulling this off even lower. No, we have to appear right in the middle of the battle, preferably towards the end of it so that the Devorans don’t have enough time to react and send in additional ships.”
“Fine then . . . tell me how you intend on crewing this ship then, so that we will at least be effective in a combat situation.”
“Actually, I think the answer to that is right here. Do you remember that robotic ship we passed a couple of days ago?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well, if we can figure out how to reproduce the robots that crewed that ship, and reprogrammed them to follow our orders . . . we’d have a crew again, wouldn’t we?”
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but . . . that might just actually work.”
“Ok then. Shall we stop by there are we get what we need from this Chronian Destroyer?”
“Hmm . . . your plan still won’t work. The robots will need some sort of guiding intelligence. You and myself will be busy once we enter combat, so who’s going to be giving all the robots needed to crew this ship their orders?”
“Actually . . . I have an idea for that as well.”
Twenty-one Years Later . . .
Julian rode the turbolift up to the Bridge of the new battlecruiser-class warship
Kronos, a feeling of pride sweeping through him yet again. In just a “short” twenty-one years, far sooner than any of Kali’s predictions, they had been able to not only fully repair the
Kronos, but also upgrade it, welding additional armor plating and weapon mounts onto it from the other ships drifting in the Crossroads of Time. They had even found a very intact Attack Frigate, and were able to quickly bring it back up to operational capacity. Therefore, it would also be joining them in their little jaunt to the selected battle using the Crossroads of Time. Appropriately enough, the Attack Frigate had been named the
Phoenix, by whomever had owned it before the ship had found its way to the Crossroads.
Kali, are we ready to crash the Devorans’ party?
We are. The portal leading to our selected battle will open in five minutes. I suggest you make your way to the Bridge.
Already on my way.
The turbolift slid to a stop, and the doors opened on a clean, brightly-lit Bridge. Numerous consoles around the Bridge had been replaced and added through the years, and many of those consoles were connected to a small box of electronics: one box for each of the consoles central to the
Kronos’s main systems.
You’re here: good. I’m activating all of the robots and awakening the Link Intellects.
All around the Bridge, each of the boxes began to hum, and lights flashed along the boxes’ sides. One by one additional presences began to enter the Mind Link, as the separated algorithms Kali had created to run the ship came to life. Although far more limited in scope and power than Kali, each of the algorithms was capable of controlling the robotic crew in their assigned section of the ship. Rather than arbitrarily divide the ship up into separate parts, however, Julian had decided that the algorithms, or Link Intellects as they were called, would run each of the ship’s systems like regular officers.
“FOLI, First Officer Link Intellect, online.”
“ELI, Engineering Link Intellect, online.”
“COLI, Communications Officer Link Intellect, online.”
“SLI, Sensors Link Intellect, online.”
“HOLI, Helms Officer Link Intellect, online.”
“FLI, Flight Link Intellect, online.”
“MOLI, Marine Officer Link Intellect, online.”
“MLI, Medical Link Intellect, online.”
“WOLI, Weapons Officer Link Intellect, online.”
“PALI, Phoenix Artificial Link Intellect, online.”
Alright. Is everyone ready?
Julian settled himself into his command chair, and after a moment of thought, strapped himself into it as well.
“We’re ready boss.” The First Officer reported.
“Weapons are charged: just give me something to shoot.”
“Yeah, let’s get this show on the road!” The Flight Officer shouted into the Mind Link, proving that while most of the Link Intellects had slowly been developing personality, some of them had developed more personality than others.
Ok then let’s go . . . Kali, when the portal opens, take us in. Our target is directly behind that Devoran Command Carrier, shortly after it arrives in the battle and has launched all of its fighters.
Understood. Taking us in now.
On the viewscreen a series of lightning strikes began to appear, and then intensify as a portal out of the Crossroads began to form. It had taken Julian and Kali a number of years to realize that the views of important events throughout time that they saw while in the Crossroads were really the entrances of time conduits leading to those events. But now that they knew, or at least thought they knew how the Crossroads of Time worked, Julian had decided not to wait any longer. Today, after years of preparation, Julian would either alter the end results of the minor battle he had watched so many times, or die trying.
After carefully analyzing the parts of the battle they had been able to see before the portal closed once more, it had been decided that destroying the Command Carrier of the Devorans would be within the abilities of their small flotilla, and at the same time have a dramatic effect on the battle. If nothing else, the loss of their main strike craft platform should hurt them.
The lightning flashes had reached their peak now, and in a bright flash of light the opening parts of the battle appeared before Julian on the viewscreen, close enough to touch. As the
Kronos and
Phoenix came to the very edge of the portal, Julian could see the weapons fire from the ships fighting the main battle several lightseconds from the station; the explosions as the defending ships spent themselves, one by one, trying to stop the unrelenting assault of the Devoran Concordats. That was the defenders’ battle to fight alone, however, and a moment later Julian could see his own fight as the Devoran Command Carrier appeared and began to launch fighters.
I don’t know how close I can bring us in to the Command Carrier: I, for one, certainly don’t want to emerge inside the bloody thing.
“Just get me there, and I’ll get us to where we need to go: quickly.” The Helm LI replied.
Alright . . . see if you could put us just inside one lightsecond out from the Command Carrier’s aft section. That should give you enough leeway that if you’re off by a bit, we’re not screwed.
I should be able to handle that.
“I presume that you wish me to follow as closely as I can?” The Link Intellect charged with controlling the
Phoenix asked.
Yeah, keep close to us on the way through the time conduit, and then once we get into combat hang back and let us deal with the Command Carrier. You hang back and harass it with your Fusion Beams: with your Cloaking Shield, you should be a natural for that task.
“Understood sir.”
“Here we go!” The Helmsman announced as the bow of the
Kronos entered the temporal portal leading to the battle. There was a brilliant flash of light, and suddenly the viewscreen was filled with the image of a time conduit.
Both the
Kronos and the
Phoenix appeared to be moving much faster than was normally possible for temporal travel, likely a result of using the Crossroads of Time. Soon, like a h*llish light at the end of the tunnel, Julian could see a view of the battle going on at the end of the conduit. Yet more of the defenses protecting the large transport ships crumbled, as one of the defending ships creating an unstable slipstream gate, destroying itself while causing only minor damage to one of the Concordats.
I hope you know what you’re doing Julian: this battle is not going well at all.
“Ah, don’t worry about it! If I have to, I’ll kill ‘em all!” The Weapons Officer bragged, underlining his point by bringing the last of the
Kronos’s new armament online.
Engineering . . . as soon as we’re clear of the temporal conduit, I want you to take the Slipstream Drive’s faster-than-light functions offline, and redirect the energy into the weapon and shield systems.
“Aye sir. You are . . . aware that we will be unable to warp out immediately, should things go . . . badly?”
Yes, I’m aware. If things go badly, then we die. We’re not going to run, because it’s quite obvious that we have nowhere to run to.
“Understood, sir. Preparing to redirect power now. Let me know when you want FTL again.”
Good. Weapons, get ready to fire. We’ll probably be at long range, so save the Quantum torpedoes until we get close. Target the Command Carrier’s aft section. Once we’re clear of the temporal conduit, you should be able to start charging the Chrono weapons as well. Flight, I want our fighters to start launching as soon as we’re clear as well. You know the drill: Slips stay back to play guard-dog, Shogun and Nials on the attack. Finally, I want you to open a channel to all friendly ships once we arrive, Communications.
“Friendly ships, sir?”
That’s simple: any ship that’s not Devoran.
“Very well sir, I’ll let you know when the channels are open.”
The rest of the very short trip was made in silence, and after another brilliant flash, Julian found himself in the midst of the battle. As planned, the
Kronos and the
Phoenix emerged a short distance behind the Devoran Command Carrier, currently oblivious to their presence.
“You’re on, sir.” The Communications Link Intellect informed him, and Julian straightened himself in his command chair, before beginning to speak.
“This is Captain Julian Pierce of the Temporal Warship
Kronos. I have returned to offer my assistance against the Devorans. My target is currently the Devoran Command Carrier. Might I suggest that we combine our efforts? I have also been away for some time, so any information you can offer on the current situation would be welcome. Pierce out.”
An instant after the communication was finished, Julian switched back to the Mind Link.
Weapons, you know what to do: hit them.
“Oh, most certainly, sir!”
A variety of beams leapt forth from the
Kronos to slam against the rear shields of the Devoran Command Carrier, causing its shields to flare but doing little else for the moment.
“Well, that got their attention: I’m reading a number of Devoran fighters closing on our position: most likely the Command Carrier’s outer fighter patrol.” The Sensors LI reported, causing Julian to frown at the rapidness of the Devoran response.
Helm, get us closer to that Command Carrier. Weapons, switch the Particle Array over to Anti-Fighter Defense, and start picking them off. Flight, feel free to have your Slips engage at will.
“Understood, sir.” The two LIs reported, and on the viewscreen Julian watched as the leading wave of Devoran fighters were vaporized in a hail of pulse phaser fire, and a number of the
Kronos’s Slipstream fighters breaking away to engage the following waves of Devoran strike craft. Meanwhile, the Devoran Command Carrier began to grow in the viewscreen as the
Kronos moved into a more optimum firing position for the Chrono Phasers and Quantum torpedoes.
“The Chrono Phaser 1s will be fully charged in another minute or so, sir. Shall I fire them immediately, or wait for the rest of the weapons to cycle so that I can paste that behemoth with all our guns at once?”
Wait for all guns to cycle, Weapons. While you’re at it, start charging the tractor beam: I have a feeling we’ll need it to either stop missiles, and try to hold the Command Carrier in place while we continue hammering its aft.
“Very well sir, you’re the boss.”
As the seconds continued to tick by, Julian glared at the Command Carrier, watching as its own captain no doubt wallowed in the same situation he had placed the defenders in: continue to engage the enemy in front, or turn to fight the enemy that had suddenly appeared from the rear.
“Come on, you b*stard, let’s see what you’ve got.” Julian muttered under his breath.
/ooc The additional AIs and robots are just like normal crew and officers (i.e. they can be “killed” and “injured”). Once this mission is over, Julian will be looking for human officers and crew again assuming a) he survives, and b) there are enough extra humans in the escort fleet that are willing to join him. Ooc/
Summary
- Time Warp in, directly behind the Devoran Command Carrier
- Both
Kronos and
Phoenix are to fire weapons into the aft section of the Command Carrier
- Firing these weapons:
Kronos
4 x Light Ion Cannons (4 Turret Mounts, 4,000c)
3 x Heavy Disruptors (12 Turret Mounts, 9,000c)
1 x Nova Cannon (3 Turret Mounts, 1,500c)
Pheonix
3 x Fusion Beams
- Chrono weapons are to begin being charged
- The FTL function of the Slipstream drive is to be temporarily taken off-line, assuming it will only take a few posts to recharge, and all the energy is to be directed into weapons and shields
- The
Phoenix is to launch its fighters, and then fall back to long range from the CC, and commence with hit-and-run tactics using its cloaking shield and fusion cannons. The ship's fighters are to break off a short distance so they don't call attention to
The Phoenix's real location, but they are to be close enough to provide fighter support if necessary
- The
Kronos will close to short-range with the CC, at all times trying to remain in the aft weapons arc of the CC. On the approach, evasive maneuvers are to be taken, as well as a Battlecruiser-sized ship can evade.
- The Tractor Beam MK40 on the
Kronos will be made ready to intercept any missiles or fighters from the CC, missiles getting first priority.
- The
Kronos will launch all fighters, keeping the Slipstream fighters back as fighter support, while the Nials and Shogun harass the Devoran CC.
- The
Kronos's Particle Array, Pulse Phasers, and Gatling Lasers are to be set to AFD-mode.
Owner of 
Hofficial HrH Spanish Hinkwisitor and Hofficial HrH Webby Manijjer of the 
, normal Gatling Lasers, with perhaps some increased/decreased mods such as accuracy and firepower. Charging time will probably be 3 posts as that seems to be the standard, unless stated otherwise.
Linear Mode
