Scott replied. "The transporter that beamed her out was evidently a long range one, leading to somewhere out in the Iconian Sector. We already sent a ship to find the source, but it was gone. Put simply, we don't know where she is. The Alliance probably took her, but we can't know for sure."
Admiral Nat's descendant (also called Admiral Nat) spoke up. "Before we do anything, I need to have a word with you, about the future."
Elric nodded. "The mirror Amaterasu has a long range Dominion transporter on it, although it's not in perfect condition. If we could find out where she is, we could possibly make use of it to reach her." He then turned to Nat's descendant. "Yes, of course. There's a briefing room beneath Quinn's office, right over there, if you'd like."
"Wait out here, Zeta," Elric said, prompting the android spider to pop up on his arm and jump off onto the wall. Zeta scurried off as Elric went to Spacedock's briefing room.
Elric sat at the long table trying to work out all the groups involved with the Alliance, Mirror Alliance and so on. When the Nats entered, he turned to address them. "What took you so long?"
The cryogenic pod opened and deposited D'ren clone Omega onto the sand of some unknown distant, barely habitable planet of barrenness. In fact, the only other person in the cavern was one of The Infamous' trusted companions, Captain Aenlyn. As the naked barbarian struggled to gather himself and put himself upright, the Trill woman just stood there, arms crossed. D'ren glanced back at the pod that looked like it had been built right into the cavern rock face. When his eyes returned forward, he grinned, only to be decked in the jaw. As his bearded face winced, he rocked backwards, nearly falling back into the tube.
"What in the bloody hell!?" D'ren Omega yelled at Aenlyn.
It was Aenlyn's turn to smirk. "That's what you get for leaving me all alone like that."
"I'm not him," he chuckled. But he quickly stepped forward, grabbed the woman around the waist with one arm, and yanked her into him. "I'm not The Infamous." He kissed her passionately.
She made like she wanted it to stop but they both knew better. Eventually, after more than a minute, she managed to push his face off hers. "Ugh, you're all the same." But she barely concealed her attraction as she glimpsed him up and down.
D'ren chuckled and let her take a reluctant step back; the masquerade, the game... It was just as fun as the prize for both of them. "Now ye know bloody well that ain't true."
She drew twin Klingon disruptors from behind her back and shoved them into his chest. "We have work to do. TIS r'Llaillieu is in orbit."
"Well Aen, ye're gonna have to fill me in 'cause I'm the Omega, which means I have the memories of every D'ren clone - which is very disconcerting by the way - except for The Infamous." His neck and cheek twitched slightly, rolling his shoulders.
"Three is on the run; 47 controls Gre'thor; 17 and 65 are dead. God only knows what happened to the others since The Infamous from the future turned over his armada to that other Trill," she visibly spat.
D'ren gave her a look of frustration. "And The Infamous? Where is 14?"
Aenlyn shrugged. "If he was available, I'd be with him..."
"Truer words and all," said D'ren. "I'm not him. I don't love ye." He pointed both pistols at the woman and shot her point blank in the chest, causing her molecules to break apart.
Aenlyn's scream echoed throughout the dark cavern. "Bollocks," he groused. "I should've asked for me clothes first..."
Admiral Nat sat down. "What took us so long? We were away for, like, 10 seconds."
Captain Nat sat down as well. "Ok, maybe 11 seconds."
Admiral Nat's descendant sat down. "Do you two always argue like this?"
The 2 present Nats turned to the descendant. "We practically just met, actually."
The captain thought for a moment. "Though, if I'm stuck in this universe indefinitely, I wonder; which one of us do you descend from?"
The descendant Nat shook his head. "Temporal prime directive, you know?"
Captain Nat sighed. The descendant turned to Elric. "Anyway, about the future..."
"Before you divulge, I have to ask, doesn't the Temporal Prime Directive apply to all information sharing? Not that I don't want to know. The Na'kuhl were responsible for the deaths of my crew."
The descendant nodded. "It usually does; although I think my Starfleet has made an exception in regards to the Alliances. Also, I don't think the Na'kuhl have anything to do with the Alliance, actually. I don't know why they can even still--"
Admiral Nat looked the descendant in the eye. "Why is this an exception?"
The descendant turned to the admiral. "Put simply; we lost. Every one of us, and for all the wrong reasons."
Captain Nat turned to the descendant. "Such as...?"
Descendant replied. "Ironically, trying to work with the changeling causes it. In the end, we all end up meeting to discuss having the Alliance work with us to defend against the Mirror Alliance, and they take that opportunity to steal the Firestorm and it's Q power stealing technology, then use it against us to turn Mirror Nat into a hyper-Q, after which he wipes us out and takes over the universe."
Nat gasped, as did Nat. Their descendant continued. "Luckily, the admiral here gets away with the Firestorm K's schematics, gathers our forces, and our allies, in the Dyson Sphere and the Delta Quadrant, all into the Jenolan Dyson Sphere, then retreats to the Andromeda Galaxy, avoiding any contact with the Mirror Alliance at all. Eventually we settled down there, and formed a new Federation with the Alliance and ourselves."
Captain Nat replied. "So why did you come here?"
The descendant answered. "Mirror Alliance launched an all-out invasion, forcing us to go to all-out war. Long story short, we lost, but fortunately built my Firestorm K again, gave her to me, and then sent us back to try to undo the damage."
Admiral Nat spoke up. "You mentioned "we" at, like, the start of your story. Do you mean to suggest your coming here was the cause of the events you just told us about?"
The descendant lowered his head a bit. "Not really, actually. The alternative isn't much better. We ran simulations; turns out the changeling just tosses out the Firestorm F instead of mine, but the end result is basically the same..."
Captain Nat put a hand on the descendant's shoulder. "What if we do something unexpected?"
The descendant raised an eyebrow. "We already thought of everything. Guarding the Firestorm. Draining the changeling's powers. Having the changeling use his powers on the Mirror Alliance; literally everything. Worse part is, they know about me, too. I wouldn't be surprised if Mirror Nat had the support of his future descendants and their entire Mirror Alliance in the distant future."
Admiral Nat replied. "So long story short, we don't stand a chance. Well, if worse comes to worse, you might as well give me the Firestorm K's schematics, just in case."
The descendant waved a hand. "Already done, and trust me, you'll know where to find them."
The sound of a transporter came to everyone in the room. The energy started to form into a female figure... wearing a Starfleet Sierra 1 uniform with red shoulders.
"Hi guys! Miss me?" Krystal Jade asked as soon as the Transporter let her go, unaware that she was standing on the table. "Uh... why is everyone so short?"
Krystal blinked before looking around at the group and noticing there were more people than expected. After that, she jumped down.
"I'm surprised you're not jumping me to make sure I am me and not a Changeling," she said. "I mean... I kinda did get abducted right off the bridge..."
The descendant spoke up. "For one, I'm present Nat's great grandson, an admiral, from the 26th century, and commander of the U.S.S. Firestorm K that you and the others encountered. We came back in time to prevent the Mirror Alliance from taking over the galaxy, and eventually destroying the new Federation that present Admiral Nat would assemble in the Andromeda Galaxy between the survivors and the Alliance, but we failed. We've tried everything, so long story short, you're all doomed."
Captain Nat corrected him. "Unless we can do something unexpected that no one has thought of. Then we mighthave a chance."
The descendant continued. "Emphasis on might."
Scott took the sample, glancing at the descendant. "I think she was talking to me, actually."
"Well... I know why the Dominion was interested in me," Krystal spoke up. "As I'm supposed to be The Infamous' successor, I could free the Dominion from being a part of the Armada. I cut a deal with them. They help us out, I do everything I can to get them out of being an active member. Basically give them what they want while still keeping them as an ally."
As soon as the hypo did its job, Krystal crossed her arms across her chest.
"And I don't buy the doom line," she said.
Elric sat up. "I had a taste of an alternate future during my fight with the Na'kuhl. The Amaterasu picked up a moment of their inter-channel chatter leaked from a time-phase effect. They mentioned the Alliance in another era. Captain Jade, if you do this, you could prevent that, but you could also lose your life."
The descendant replied. "I know about the Dominion and Infamous armada situation. Meanwhile, the Firestorm F remains unguarded and is stolen by Mirror Nat, who uses it to steal the changeling's powers and become a hyper-Q himself."
Admiral Nat turned to Krystal. "Apparently guarding the ship doesn't help us at all."
"What powers?" Krystal asked. "I saw no powers other than natural shapeshifting. The Changeling I was dealing with appeared to be Nat before shifting to look like me, before I called her out on the situation."
"Still didn't see any powers from her," Krystal replied. "Even if she did... she would have known about this."
She held up her hand, which was soon eveloped in an ethereal blue glow for a moment.
Stumbling from the mouth of the cave, D'ren Omega found himself under the tertiary red giant suns above, and he felt their wraith immediately. Panting and sweating, D'ren sauntered a few meters away from the rocks and looked around, noting the extreme lack of terrain. Aside from the cave that protruded unnaturally from the sand, there was nothing but sand. Already his normally pale skin was beet red. After a sigh of annoyance, D'ren glanced down at his dual disruptors. He dropped one in the sand and shot it with the other one on a lower setting. Then he knelt in the sand and pulled apart the damaged weapon. After a little under ten minutes, he discovered Aenlyn's secret.
With a smirk, he shot himself with the other disruptor on the highest setting, but his smirk quickly became a visage of agony as he painfully transported up to the BortasQu class heavy cruiser TIS r'Laillieu. D'ren collapsed to his knees, dropping the weapon. Glancing around frantically, he recognized he was on the bridge, behind the captain's chair. From the chair stood Provisional Warlord Aenlyn Yirit.
All twenty officers on the bridge shot D'ren with disruptors set to high stun.
Soon D'ren Omega was being hauled by four brutish Klingon women into the brig. He was screaming, "Why can't I fight!? I should be killing all ye traitorous bints by now! What's wrong with me?! I'm the Omega! The Final clone!"
"That's right," said Aenlyn once D'ren was secured behind a force field. "You are the final D'ren clone, but the Omega was not designed for combat."
A hissing sound informed D'ren he was being gassed. He promptly passed out in the brig, still nude.
Aenlyn turned to a guard, "Get him something to wear." She smirked down at the disruptor she'd taken off D'ren.
A burnt-faced female Romulan strode up behind her. "I told you it'd work, Aenlyn," said General Lydia M'Konel.
Admiral Nat seemed curious. "Maybe they just don't make a habit of showing off their powers?"
Captain Nat shrugged. "Well, what are the alternatives? I mean, would it make sense for someone else to have the Q powers? I mean, it evidently isn't anyone in this room right now..." he said, motioning for Elric to show Krystal the medallion.
Elric held up the medallion. "It's El-Aurian, and there's a second, box-shaped artifact that I recovered from an underground city on Leora IV. When both are joined, the space-time effects are greatly amplified. There may still be more pieces to it, but what we have right now appears to be quite powerful. I believe the El-Aurians from ancient times used to successfully deal with omnipotent beings."
Captain Nat motioned to Admiral Nat. "So if the changeling Nat isn't the one with the Q powers, than either he just lost his powers willingly, or there's another Nat replacement running around, which would only make matters worse."
Admiral Nat's descendant (also called Admiral Nat) spoke up. "Before we do anything, I need to have a word with you, about the future."
Winning.
Winning.
Winning.
The cryogenic pod opened and deposited D'ren clone Omega onto the sand of some unknown distant, barely habitable planet of barrenness. In fact, the only other person in the cavern was one of The Infamous' trusted companions, Captain Aenlyn. As the naked barbarian struggled to gather himself and put himself upright, the Trill woman just stood there, arms crossed. D'ren glanced back at the pod that looked like it had been built right into the cavern rock face. When his eyes returned forward, he grinned, only to be decked in the jaw. As his bearded face winced, he rocked backwards, nearly falling back into the tube.
"What in the bloody hell!?" D'ren Omega yelled at Aenlyn.
It was Aenlyn's turn to smirk. "That's what you get for leaving me all alone like that."
"I'm not him," he chuckled. But he quickly stepped forward, grabbed the woman around the waist with one arm, and yanked her into him. "I'm not The Infamous." He kissed her passionately.
She made like she wanted it to stop but they both knew better. Eventually, after more than a minute, she managed to push his face off hers. "Ugh, you're all the same." But she barely concealed her attraction as she glimpsed him up and down.
D'ren chuckled and let her take a reluctant step back; the masquerade, the game... It was just as fun as the prize for both of them. "Now ye know bloody well that ain't true."
She drew twin Klingon disruptors from behind her back and shoved them into his chest. "We have work to do. TIS r'Llaillieu is in orbit."
"Well Aen, ye're gonna have to fill me in 'cause I'm the Omega, which means I have the memories of every D'ren clone - which is very disconcerting by the way - except for The Infamous." His neck and cheek twitched slightly, rolling his shoulders.
"Three is on the run; 47 controls Gre'thor; 17 and 65 are dead. God only knows what happened to the others since The Infamous from the future turned over his armada to that other Trill," she visibly spat.
D'ren gave her a look of frustration. "And The Infamous? Where is 14?"
Aenlyn shrugged. "If he was available, I'd be with him..."
"Truer words and all," said D'ren. "I'm not him. I don't love ye." He pointed both pistols at the woman and shot her point blank in the chest, causing her molecules to break apart.
Aenlyn's scream echoed throughout the dark cavern. "Bollocks," he groused. "I should've asked for me clothes first..."
Captain Nat sat down as well. "Ok, maybe 11 seconds."
Admiral Nat's descendant sat down. "Do you two always argue like this?"
The 2 present Nats turned to the descendant. "We practically just met, actually."
The captain thought for a moment. "Though, if I'm stuck in this universe indefinitely, I wonder; which one of us do you descend from?"
The descendant Nat shook his head. "Temporal prime directive, you know?"
Captain Nat sighed. The descendant turned to Elric. "Anyway, about the future..."
Winning.
Admiral Nat looked the descendant in the eye. "Why is this an exception?"
The descendant turned to the admiral. "Put simply; we lost. Every one of us, and for all the wrong reasons."
Captain Nat turned to the descendant. "Such as...?"
Descendant replied. "Ironically, trying to work with the changeling causes it. In the end, we all end up meeting to discuss having the Alliance work with us to defend against the Mirror Alliance, and they take that opportunity to steal the Firestorm and it's Q power stealing technology, then use it against us to turn Mirror Nat into a hyper-Q, after which he wipes us out and takes over the universe."
Nat gasped, as did Nat. Their descendant continued. "Luckily, the admiral here gets away with the Firestorm K's schematics, gathers our forces, and our allies, in the Dyson Sphere and the Delta Quadrant, all into the Jenolan Dyson Sphere, then retreats to the Andromeda Galaxy, avoiding any contact with the Mirror Alliance at all. Eventually we settled down there, and formed a new Federation with the Alliance and ourselves."
Captain Nat replied. "So why did you come here?"
The descendant answered. "Mirror Alliance launched an all-out invasion, forcing us to go to all-out war. Long story short, we lost, but fortunately built my Firestorm K again, gave her to me, and then sent us back to try to undo the damage."
Admiral Nat spoke up. "You mentioned "we" at, like, the start of your story. Do you mean to suggest your coming here was the cause of the events you just told us about?"
The descendant lowered his head a bit. "Not really, actually. The alternative isn't much better. We ran simulations; turns out the changeling just tosses out the Firestorm F instead of mine, but the end result is basically the same..."
Captain Nat put a hand on the descendant's shoulder. "What if we do something unexpected?"
The descendant raised an eyebrow. "We already thought of everything. Guarding the Firestorm. Draining the changeling's powers. Having the changeling use his powers on the Mirror Alliance; literally everything. Worse part is, they know about me, too. I wouldn't be surprised if Mirror Nat had the support of his future descendants and their entire Mirror Alliance in the distant future."
Admiral Nat replied. "So long story short, we don't stand a chance. Well, if worse comes to worse, you might as well give me the Firestorm K's schematics, just in case."
The descendant waved a hand. "Already done, and trust me, you'll know where to find them."
Winning.
"Hi guys! Miss me?" Krystal Jade asked as soon as the Transporter let her go, unaware that she was standing on the table. "Uh... why is everyone so short?"
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
"I'm surprised you're not jumping me to make sure I am me and not a Changeling," she said. "I mean... I kinda did get abducted right off the bridge..."
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Captain Nat corrected him. "Unless we can do something unexpected that no one has thought of. Then we mighthave a chance."
The descendant continued. "Emphasis on might."
Scott took the sample, glancing at the descendant. "I think she was talking to me, actually."
The descendant replied. "Oh."
Winning.
As soon as the hypo did its job, Krystal crossed her arms across her chest.
"And I don't buy the doom line," she said.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Admiral Nat turned to Krystal. "Apparently guarding the ship doesn't help us at all."
Winning.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
"Then why the kidnapping?' she asked. "Not only that, why let me go?"
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Winning.
She held up her hand, which was soon eveloped in an ethereal blue glow for a moment.
The resident forum voice of reason (I HAZ FORUM REP! YAY!)
Stumbling from the mouth of the cave, D'ren Omega found himself under the tertiary red giant suns above, and he felt their wraith immediately. Panting and sweating, D'ren sauntered a few meters away from the rocks and looked around, noting the extreme lack of terrain. Aside from the cave that protruded unnaturally from the sand, there was nothing but sand. Already his normally pale skin was beet red. After a sigh of annoyance, D'ren glanced down at his dual disruptors. He dropped one in the sand and shot it with the other one on a lower setting. Then he knelt in the sand and pulled apart the damaged weapon. After a little under ten minutes, he discovered Aenlyn's secret.
With a smirk, he shot himself with the other disruptor on the highest setting, but his smirk quickly became a visage of agony as he painfully transported up to the BortasQu class heavy cruiser TIS r'Laillieu. D'ren collapsed to his knees, dropping the weapon. Glancing around frantically, he recognized he was on the bridge, behind the captain's chair. From the chair stood Provisional Warlord Aenlyn Yirit.
All twenty officers on the bridge shot D'ren with disruptors set to high stun.
Soon D'ren Omega was being hauled by four brutish Klingon women into the brig. He was screaming, "Why can't I fight!? I should be killing all ye traitorous bints by now! What's wrong with me?! I'm the Omega! The Final clone!"
"That's right," said Aenlyn once D'ren was secured behind a force field. "You are the final D'ren clone, but the Omega was not designed for combat."
A hissing sound informed D'ren he was being gassed. He promptly passed out in the brig, still nude.
Aenlyn turned to a guard, "Get him something to wear." She smirked down at the disruptor she'd taken off D'ren.
A burnt-faced female Romulan strode up behind her. "I told you it'd work, Aenlyn," said General Lydia M'Konel.
Captain Nat shrugged. "Well, what are the alternatives? I mean, would it make sense for someone else to have the Q powers? I mean, it evidently isn't anyone in this room right now..." he said, motioning for Elric to show Krystal the medallion.
Winning.
Winning.
Winning.