Nat sighed. "Could be worse. It's not Jim randomly showed up with..."
The group heard the sounds of somebody descending upon them with rocket boots. Jim, Sarah, and Sek, all wearing the rocket boots, slowly hovered down, grinning at the admiral. Jim spoke up first. "We came looking for you after all hell broke lose. Don't worry, most of the others already headed out for main engineering, via the emergency turbolift between the bridge and the battle bridge, so they came out ahead. We of course came for you. Want some help?"
Nat glared at Tala, then glanced back at Jim. "Fine. How many people can you guys carry?"
Sarah shrugged. "6 people total. That makes you, 8 of 14, Krystal, her other two officers here... and one of the MACOs, unless Sek can carry three of you somehow."
Sek nodded, and took on 8 of 14, and the MACOs. Nat hopped over with Sarah, noting her unexpected strength, and then motioned to Krystal to come aboard, as Jim motioned to the other Lexington officers.
Krystal just gave Sarah a distrusting look. "How do I know you're the real Sarah?" she asked, sounding a little haunted and emotionally tired. "Already been abducted once by a fake Sarah, then assaulted by a Mirror Betazoid out for revenge."
Krystal climed on with Jim. "I honestly don't remember how it happened," she said. "One minute I was walking around ESD, the next... I find myself in a bioship with Sarah wanting me to out the whole Armada out of revenge for her dead brother. Talked her out of it and said we'd find the one's responsible."
"I'd like to avoid that," Krystal deadpanned. "especially considering how I came out of the last one. Was just fine... then BOOM! I'm getting attacked by a Mirror Betazoid out for revenge!"
Nat nodded agreeing as the group arrived on deck 36, offloaded the "passengers", and then turned off the rocket boots. Jim lead the way to main engineering, followed by Nat, who was flanked by the 2 MACOs, and then the others. Sarah was watching their backs.
Sounds of an Undine running around in the distance, a couple decks above. Sarah seemed uneasy about that.
"I do," Kayla replied. "I also know that worrying about it every second won't get the job done. Just like when I was a Mercenary with the Eridani Light Horse. Infantry hiding from a battlemech can't really do anything about it, so why worry. Focus on the job."
The group arrived at main engineering. The warp core was dark, evidently offline. The place was swarming with MACOs and other security guards. 11 of 14 walked over. "Good, you showed up."
"I... see." Lyras replied, unsure of what to make of that information. She couldn't help but feel like a third wheel in all of this... everyone else seemed so much more... Knowledgeable? Confident? she sighed internally. Maybe I should have stayed back at the space dock... After all, it's not like they need me here. I barely know what's going on! Oh well, too late now...
Elric watched the screen intently. Everyone was doing their job perfectly. He and Lyras appeared to be in auxiliary roles. He knew being Captain meant waiting in many cases, but neither he nor her were in command. Elric turned to Lyras.
"Think we have time to find the bar?" he said half-jokingly, though toying with the idea as well.
11 of 14 sighed and kicked a random console. The warp lit up again, and stayed online this time. "Good riddance. Now we'll--"
The lights flickered, and turned red. Nat looked on as a hologram materialized nearby. Mirror Nat.
"Well well well admiral, we meet again... and so soon, even." Mirror Nat went on, motioning to the consoles. "Don't bother using your secret command codes to retake control of the ship, as I already did that. And, 11, don't bother with yours either. My you did the same. The ship is mine."
Nat grabbed a random container and threw it at the hologram, shouting, to no avail. The box phased through "Mirror Nat" as he replied. "Don't bother throwing boxes at me either, stupid. This is only a hologram."
"How the hell... how'd you get on my ship with all the transporter inhibitors around?" Nat asked, angrily.
Mirror Nat shrugged. "Advanced transporters. Everyone seems to have them. Tholians. Tal Shiar. Elachi. Solanae. Iconians. Undine. Na'kuhl. Krenim. Oh, and us, of course. Maybe some Terran aligned Terrans kicking around, and probably Klingon-Cardassian rebels, too. I think we spotted a team of Breen somewhere, too, and maybe a group of militaristic Deferi. They were nasty, I tell you. Crewmen Ella will never forget that one."
Mirror Nat laughed. "My you had a very good morning. Heh heh."
Jim sighed, and continued. "Run, while you still can. You see, you call yourself Nat, but I know that everyone else in your crew in your universe go by their middle names. Turns out, your momma decided to switch your first and middle names at the last second, to make you different. Technically, your birth name is Adam. You know the advantage that gives us?"
"You're very good at peeking into people's personal histories?" Mirror Nat guessed.
Jim sighed. "This rule applies; you don't find Nat, Nat finds you."
Mirror Nat scoffed at that. "I just caught him."
"You missed one" Jim replied. "He'll be here any time now..."
Captain Nat appeared in a flash of light. "Hey there."
Captain Nat walked over and grabbed Mirror Nat by the shirt. Mirror Nat went to say something, but realized that somehow, he wasn't a hologram now. The captain pressed him against a wall. "Get off the ship, now."
There are bars on these ships? Lyras thought, surprised. All I had on the Centuria was a little rec area with some entertainment tapes... She cringed a little inside, imagining the havoc that some of the rowdier members of the crew - especially her Tellarite chief engineer, Hizrah - could wreak with unlimited access to a bar... She wondered if there was something less... alcoholic the bar on her new ship should stock. If I catch even one crewmember drunk on duty...
Krystal grabbed Mirror Nat's shoulder, and he felt a jolt of pain. "You WILL leave our universe and NEVER return," she growled. "And take your Betazoid with you. If I EVER hear of you again... no deity in any universe will save you from me."
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The group heard the sounds of somebody descending upon them with rocket boots. Jim, Sarah, and Sek, all wearing the rocket boots, slowly hovered down, grinning at the admiral. Jim spoke up first. "We came looking for you after all hell broke lose. Don't worry, most of the others already headed out for main engineering, via the emergency turbolift between the bridge and the battle bridge, so they came out ahead. We of course came for you. Want some help?"
Nat glared at Tala, then glanced back at Jim. "Fine. How many people can you guys carry?"
Sarah shrugged. "6 people total. That makes you, 8 of 14, Krystal, her other two officers here... and one of the MACOs, unless Sek can carry three of you somehow."
Sek nodded, and took on 8 of 14, and the MACOs. Nat hopped over with Sarah, noting her unexpected strength, and then motioned to Krystal to come aboard, as Jim motioned to the other Lexington officers.
Winning.
"How do I know you're the real Sarah?" she asked, sounding a little haunted and emotionally tired. "Already been abducted once by a fake Sarah, then assaulted by a Mirror Betazoid out for revenge."
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Nat raised an eyebrow at Krystal. "Ride with Jim then. We need to keep going down. Tell me about this abduction en route."
Winning.
"I honestly don't remember how it happened," she said. "One minute I was walking around ESD, the next... I find myself in a bioship with Sarah wanting me to out the whole Armada out of revenge for her dead brother. Talked her out of it and said we'd find the one's responsible."
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"I feel like most of the intruders on this ship are looking for something like that." Nat replied. "Or the armada in general."
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Sounds of an Undine running around in the distance, a couple decks above. Sarah seemed uneasy about that.
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The group arrived at main engineering. The warp core was dark, evidently offline. The place was swarming with MACOs and other security guards. 11 of 14 walked over. "Good, you showed up."
Winning.
Sarah spoke up. "Setting a course for the Sally."
Winning.
"Think we have time to find the bar?" he said half-jokingly, though toying with the idea as well.
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Winning.
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"We've been working on it. Should be ready right about..." 11 of 14 continued, as the warp core lit up with power. "...now."
The warp core stopped and went dark again. 11 of 14 deadpanned. "Or not."
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The lights flickered, and turned red. Nat looked on as a hologram materialized nearby. Mirror Nat.
"Well well well admiral, we meet again... and so soon, even." Mirror Nat went on, motioning to the consoles. "Don't bother using your secret command codes to retake control of the ship, as I already did that. And, 11, don't bother with yours either. My you did the same. The ship is mine."
Nat grabbed a random container and threw it at the hologram, shouting, to no avail. The box phased through "Mirror Nat" as he replied. "Don't bother throwing boxes at me either, stupid. This is only a hologram."
"How the hell... how'd you get on my ship with all the transporter inhibitors around?" Nat asked, angrily.
Mirror Nat shrugged. "Advanced transporters. Everyone seems to have them. Tholians. Tal Shiar. Elachi. Solanae. Iconians. Undine. Na'kuhl. Krenim. Oh, and us, of course. Maybe some Terran aligned Terrans kicking around, and probably Klingon-Cardassian rebels, too. I think we spotted a team of Breen somewhere, too, and maybe a group of militaristic Deferi. They were nasty, I tell you. Crewmen Ella will never forget that one."
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Sarah picked up another crate and tossed it at Mirror Nat, screaming. "YOU NUT!"
Again, to no avail. Mirror Nat chuckled. "Told you about the boxes. Save your energy."
Jim kept his cool, however. "You won't be able to take us alive, so why waste your time? Run, before he finds you."
"Huh? Before he finds us? Who's "he", some hyper-Q?" Mirror Nat asked, raising an eyebrow.
The Chronostorm neared the Sally, using temporal cloak to remain undetected by the I.S.S. Firestorm.
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Jim sighed, and continued. "Run, while you still can. You see, you call yourself Nat, but I know that everyone else in your crew in your universe go by their middle names. Turns out, your momma decided to switch your first and middle names at the last second, to make you different. Technically, your birth name is Adam. You know the advantage that gives us?"
"You're very good at peeking into people's personal histories?" Mirror Nat guessed.
Jim sighed. "This rule applies; you don't find Nat, Nat finds you."
Mirror Nat scoffed at that. "I just caught him."
"You missed one" Jim replied. "He'll be here any time now..."
Captain Nat appeared in a flash of light. "Hey there."
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Mirror Nat started sweating a bit. "Can't do that with you holding me like this."
I.S.S. Chronostorm, Bridge
Sarah sighed. "They never should have put a bar on the ship anyway. Isn't that against regulations in our Starfleet?"
Scott seemed wary of Lyras, and motioned her to follow him outside.
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"You WILL leave our universe and NEVER return," she growled. "And take your Betazoid with you. If I EVER hear of you again... no deity in any universe will save you from me."
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