[Star Trek] Paint and Powder

[Ragnarok]

Bozeman: giggles "Yep! Oh, I can't wait to meet any of the old Klingon bird of prey who used to try and mess with me! They're gonna be in for quite the surprise, hahahahahahaha!"

Click to shrink...

Speaking of Klingon birds of prey, it's interesting that while Starfleet has had dozens of different designs and classes, over the centuries the Klingons still use the bird of prey and it is able to keep up with newer ships. I'm sure there are technological improvements underneath the hull but the exterior remains the same. Ol' Galaxy-class Enty was taken out by a bird of prey.

 

[nemo1986]

Speaking of Klingon birds of prey, it's interesting that while Starfleet has had dozens of different designs and classes, over the centuries the Klingons still use the bird of prey and it is able to keep up with newer ships. I'm sure there are technological improvements underneath the hull but the exterior remains the same. Ol' Galaxy-class Enty was taken out by a bird of prey.

Click to shrink...

It's basically the AK-47 of starships. Once it was made it was very hard to surpass. Simple, cheap, well armed, very fast and only needs a crew of a dozen. You can flood a sector with them and use them in any role. All you need to do is general under the hood improvements.

 

[SotF]

Speaking of Klingon birds of prey, it's interesting that while Starfleet has had dozens of different designs and classes, over the centuries the Klingons still use the bird of prey and it is able to keep up with newer ships. I'm sure there are technological improvements underneath the hull but the exterior remains the same. Ol' Galaxy-class Enty was taken out by a bird of prey.

Click to shrink...

The bird of prey is a design type, with a lot of variants and sizes to it over the course of the TV series...

My theory is that it's due to the various Klingon Houses building them with the same basic designs, but heavily modified in ways to try showing off.

If you go with Star Trek Online, the Bird of Prey covers a lot of different ships, and is more of something assigned to a role where they've, largely, used a similar aesthetic for it...similar to things like the Reliant Class being very similar to the Miranda, but built with "modern" tech and abilities in mind

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Defiant was enjoying the Bajoran Gratitude Festival very much. The music, the dancing, the wares! She'd bought a Bajoran necklace that she thought would make her look nice. And a street vendor gave her a free jumba stick just for being so cute! It was really tasty, too!

She practically skipped down the Promenade as she beheld all the wonderful sights and sounds, just reveling in the atmosphere. She then saw Jake, who was smiling happily.

"Hey Jake! Pel'dor joy! What's up?" Defiant asked cheerfully.

"Oh... I'm great, Defiant," Jake said dreamily. He looked at Defiant in sudden interest. "Hey... You're a girl, right?"

"More or less," Defiant agreed.

"What would be the perfect gift for Major Kira?" He asked. Defiant blinked and tilted her head.

"Um... I dunno. I've never really thought about it," she said, "why?"

"I'm in love," Jake sighed happily. Defiant blinked.

"With... Major Kira?"

"Yes! Why not?" Jake asked. Defiant blinked rapidly.

"Er... She's already involved with Vedek Bariel, for one thing," Defiant pointed out, "for another, she's way too old for you-"

"He's away all the time, it'll never last!" Jake scoffed, "and with modern medical science, it doesn't matter if she's forty years older than me! I'm in love!"

Defiant was getting concerned. She took Jake by the arm and led her big brother through the crowd to a nearby table.

"Um... Jake, are you feeling okay? This seems a bit sudden," Defiant said. "Maybe you want to slow down, think this through. You did just break up with Marta-"

"Ugh, you sound like Dad," Jake grumbles. He pulled away and headed off. "I'm not going to get any help from you. I gotta find Nerys..."

"Jake!" Defiant cried, hurt and confused. "Hmph..."

She turned and headed off, hoping to find something or someone to cheer her up. She spotted Captain Sisko and Dax coming out of the infirmary. She beamed happily as she approached...

And then she saw Jadzia kiss the captain. Defiant's jaw dropped. Sisko looked just as flabberghasted as Dax flounced away with a smirk. Defiant immediately closed the distance with her captain. He looked at her, and raised an eyebrow.

"Defiant?"

"Captain," Defiant began, "why were you making out with Dax?"

"I wasn't making out," Sisko stated with forced calm, "she just... Pranked me. By coming onto me."

"That was a prank?" Defiant asked in disbelief. "Looked like she wanted to become my new mom!"

She paused.

"Not that I would be totally opposed to that. She's kind of flighty though, and Keiko O'Brien said she could be slutty-"

"Defiant!" Sisko barked, and Defiant cringed. He softened, and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"I assure you, there is nothing like that between myself and Dax," he said. "It's probably just some kind of prank. That's all. I'll see you in my quarters for the dinner, all right?"

"Okay," Defiant said. Sisko shook his head and headed off, grumbling under his breath. Defiant watched him go.

"Hmmm..."

"OH! My dear Defiant! How you've grown!"

Defiant turned and smiled happily at Lwaxana Troi, the Betazoid Ambassador. She was here for the Bajoran Gratitude Festival, and had naturally been pursuing Odo. Which was very amusing, to be honest.

"Auntie Lwaxana!" She said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"I'm great!" Lwaxana said. She then held her forehead. "Ooh... Except for this damn headache... Excuse me." She headed off. Defiant watched her go, frowning.

"Hmph... I wanted some sweets," Defiant pouted.

Nearby, Nog held his own forehead briefly. He'd been shanghaied by his uncle into selling souvenirs for the Gratitude Festival, and had been on his feet for hours. He looked over at Defiant... And then smiled dreamily.

"H-Hey, Defiant," Nog said warmly. Defiant looked over at Nog, and smiled back cheerfully.

"Hey Nog! Peldor joy! How are you?"

"Fantastic, since I saw you," Nog said, his smile wide. "Hey! Wanna go get some sweets? It's all on me."

Defiant blinked.

"Er... Sure, if you want?" She said. "It's uh... Unusual for you to be so generous. Are you sure-?"

Nog grabbed Defiant's elbow and led the confused ship AI off.

"Of course I want to!" Nog insisted, "being with you is reward enough! Worth more than all the latinum in the quadrant!"

"Uhhh... Thhhanks?" Defiant managed, increasingly confused.

- - -

 

[AndrewJTalon]

- - -

The Tyra system was a strategic fuel and other resources center for the Federation, and the Dominion knew it. Hence they had staged an assault on the system. The Seventh Fleet had been organized and sent in to stop them, under Admiral Ross.

His flagship, the USS Yamato, was one of a dozen Sovereign-class starships operating in the whole of the Federation at the time. Their most advanced and powerful starships. The rest of the Seventh Fleet was made up of similar "heavies", with numerous Galaxy and Nebula class vessels escorted by many Akira-class heavy cruisers. As they approached the system and prepared for battle, Yamato was confident.

Yet, being an advanced AI, she was still considering many other factors in her mind as they approached the system.

The fact that the Dominion had been able to overwhelm and defeat multiple Allied Fleets consistently was a major concern. They had been able to anticipate their fleet movements almost perfectly, despite their screening and intelligence security.

The possibility of Changeling infiltration was high, of course. They still hadn't located the Changeling infiltrators in the Federation. At the same time, the security measures and isolation of information practices they had undergone for their organization represented all they could do. They were keeping everything secure. No doubt the Changeling Infiltrators were funneling what intel they could to the Dominion, but the screening measures would make it difficult for them to get data of their fleet movements right from the front lines.

So... If the Dominion was not getting this information via spies, how were they getting it?

"Sir, Dominion fighters inbound," the ops officer reported to the captain. Admiral Ross was sitting in a side chair, and nodded to the captain. Her captain, Revnik Har'ros, was a proud Andorian and she was quite fond of him. He nodded and looked out at the viewscreen.

"Cruiser squadrons, engage with fighters and photon torpedoes," he ordered. "Full spread!"

Multiple Akira and Steamrunner-class ships opened fire with their torpedo launchers, as did several Vor'cha class cruisers. Hundreds of missiles streaked into the Jem'hadar formations. Their fighters moved to intercept the projectiles, many sacrificing themselves to take the hits for their larger vessels. Multiple torpedo launches came in, but their fighter screens accelerated out and shot them down with phasers or their own torpedoes.

"Yamato, what's the ship count ahead?" Captain Har'ros asked.

"Fifty fighters, forty seven light cruisters and destroyers, twenty heavy cruisers, two dreadnoughts," Yamato recited as she stood on the bridge. Har'ros frowned, and exchanged glances with Ross.

"Are you sure? That doesn't sound like enough," he said. Yamato directed her powerful sensors towards the Tyra systems' sun. It was a variable star, the planets in the local system had very strong magnetic fields to deflect the solar radiation. These flares were often unpredictable, and one was going on right now-

"It's a trap!" Admiral Ross declared, "all ships, reverse course-!"

From behind them, a hundred more Jem'hadar ships emerged from the cover of the recent solar flare. They opened fire on them from behind, and Yamato heard many of her sisters dying as the Jem'hadar struck through their ranks.

The battle went from bad to worse, as their efforts to redeploy, even using the solar flare for cover themselves, were met with more attacks. As though the Dominion could see through every move they made.

Yamato's shields were powerful, but the Jem'hadar and Cardassian forces had hit her with as much as they could spare. The dreadnought herself moved around the fleet, filling in holes in their lines and covering smaller ships as they were boxed in within Tyra 3's gravity well. They had lost half their strength, and it was falling fast.

Captain Har'ros was tending to a wounded man when they were struck by a Jem'hadar kamikaze run. Her shields held, but the force of the blow sent him tumbling into a bulkhead. He slumped to the deck, and her scans confirmed the worst before a medic got to him.

Admiral Ross got into the command chair, gripping the armrests tightly.

"Yamato? Any suggestions?" He asked.

She had to put her grief aside. She had to focus... Focus... Of course!

"A modification Enterprise shared with us," Yamato said smoothly, "could be used in a plan."

"What plan?" Ross demanded.

"It would take too long to explain," Yamato said, "but there is a high probability of it working! With your permission Admiral?"

Ross, out of options, nodded.

Yamato analyzed the Dominion fleet surrounding them. As standard practice, most of the heavy vessels were concentrated around their flagships: Large, powerful dreadnoughts. She linked to the Galaxy and Nebula class starships. She shared the plan. It took them picoseconds at worst to analyze and agree with it.

The universe slowed to a crawl from her perspective. Yamato highlighted four of their Galaxy and Nebula class starships. They powered up their main deflectors, and several escorts moved to protect them as they took power away from their shields.

Several Jem'hadar fighters closed on them, seeking to knock them out as they had done to the Odyssey. Their own fighters engaged them, and kept them away. Just long enough for the warp drives on the four ships to activate at full power, and their deflectors to light up.

A microsecond after, each ship fired a massive beam from their main deflectors, which pierced through the Dominion Lines. They swept through dozens of Dominion ships, using their own deflector controls and their thrusters to adjust their pitch. Like great cosmic swords, their energy blades slashed Cardassian destroyers and Jem'hadar cruisers apart on either side of the main cluster.

The Jem'hadar and Cardassians reacted to pull more ships around their main force, to act as screeners to intercept follow up attacks. They weren't stupid.

Yamato smiled unpleasantly.

Just as you should, she thought.

A Sovereign-class starship's main deflector was smaller in area than a Galaxy or Nebula-class starship's, but more than five times as powerful. Yamato shut down her warp drive and her weapons, only keeping enough for her shields to function. She set herself into a barrel roll as her main deflector lit up!

She unleashed all of her power in a single, massive blast, spiraling it through the concentrated fleet formation. Her blade slashed both Dominion Dreadnoughts in half, and annihilated any smaller ships that got in the way of the blast. The dreadnought warp cores went up, sending shrapnel into their tightly packed escorts and causing massive secondary explosions. Four more Galaxy and Nebula class ships, which had been held in reserve, unleashed their own deflector beams and blew through multiple other Dominion vessels, exhausting their own warp drives in the process.

In ten seconds, the Dominion center was blowing apart into chaos as the massive deflector blasts had torn their command and control and most of their heavy vessels to shreds.

"All ships, head for the center! We're going to split them in half!" Ross roared, and Yamato charged forward with the rest of her sisters.

The Jem'hadar struggled to regain cohesion, and even with her power much depleted Yamato cut through their fighters like they were made of paper. A flight of Mirandas unleashed waves of torpedoes into the side of a Cardassian Keldon, ripping the heavy cruiser to pieces. More Jem'hadar fighters attempted suicide runs, but Klingon Bird of Prey ducked in and out of cloak to scatter and strike them like wolves among lions. Their Akiras and Vor'chas cut down enemy cruisers with vicious phaser, disrupter and torpedo fire.

It wasn't a clean cut victory. They still lost over half of the fleet due to this ambush. Most of the remaining ships had been heavily damaged. Yamato herself had burned out her main deflector, and would have to be towed back to the ship yards due to the amount of energy she had expended burning out her warp coils.

Yet the Dominion forces were clearly turning and running for it, scattered and defeated.

Cheers went up across all the ships, and their AIs joined in the celebration. Admiral Ross leaned back in his command chair, breathing hard, but smiling.

Yamato kept an avatar on the bridge, joining in the festivities... While another avatar was down in sickbay, with the body of her captain.

She squeezed his lifeless hand, and smiled down at him sadly.

"It was one for the Great Blue Fleet," she said earnestly. "A victory worthy of epic song."

She felt tears in her eyes. In some ways, it felt good to be able to express grief in physical ways. Rather than just keeping it all inside her mainframe. It was an act of catharsis.

She hoped her captain, if he had moved on... If there was such a thing as a soul... Could see it.

It would be the height of cosmic unfairness for him not to. While she'd never detected a particle of fairness in all her lives, Yamato had to believe it existed.

Somewhere.

- - -

In the Deep Space Nine novelizations of the initial arc of the Dominion War, it is made clear that the Dominion used the Argolis Cluster to plot out their moves and to inflict such overwhelming losses on the Federation-Klingon Alliance. When deprived of this asset, their ability to inflict such massive casualties on the Alliance was significantly reduced. Funny enough, it was the victory over the Seventh Fleet that led Sisko and Martok to investigate things, as the victory was way too one sided for it to have been incompetence on the part of the Alliance.

In this case, while the fight is still bloody and costly, the addition of ship girl AIs allows for some new possibilities with combat that might not have been considered before. It's not an instant win button, but come on: I had to have Yamato kick some ass with her wave motion gun.

 

[Ch316]

I saw the name Yamato and instantly thought 'okay, how are you going to get the wave motion gun reference in.' And you did it. Any space ship named Yamato must use an equivalent of a wave motion gun. It is good civilization.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

Starfleet Command, San Francisco, Earth

2367

- - -

"You know, one of us would be happy to go with you."

Yorktown gave her younger sister a smile. They were in a Borderlands "waiting room", linked together inside Starfleet Command proper. Hornet was sitting in an easy chair she'd brought along, feet up on a coffee table, just to be annoying. Enterprise was sitting in another chair across from her, looking concerned as Yorktown made some final adjustments to her appearance.

"Enterprise already gave her report to the Admiralty on Wolf 359," Yorktown stated, "and so have you."

"Yeah, but you're like," Hornet adjusted her hat, "going as a representative for shipgirls everywhere and junk. Don't you want backup?"

"I'll be fine, Hornet, really," Yorktown said firmly, but gently. Enterprise eyed her older sister, wary.

"Are you certain?" She asked.

Yorktown closed her eyes. She ran through every bio of every crewmember she had lost.

Then she ran through the "private" files of the admirals she was about to face.

"I am grieving, Enterprise," she said softly, "I will do it more fully when I'm done. But this? This is for them... And everyone else we lost."

Hornet nodded, smirking cockily. Enterprise smiled grimly, like she had just before she was about to rain hell down upon her enemies.

Yorktown's own smile was gentle... But her eyes were steely.

"Eat them alive, Big Sis," Hornet said, just as the chronometer hit the appointed time.

"I intend to," Yorktown said.

She closed her eyes, and reopened them in the Admiralty Board Hearing Room. Reporters from several Federation news outlets were in the crowded seats behind them, already a few yelling questions at the avatar's back.

"Yorktown! What was it like fighting the Borg?!"

"Yorktown! Any word on Enterprise? She hasn't spoken to the press at all!"

"Yorktown!"

She ignored them as she stood at attention before the assembled admirals. Admiral Berman took the lead, at the center of the table. He rapped his gavel on the table, and the crowd slowly settled down.

"USS Yorktown, we are prepared to hear your report on the events of Stardate 44001.4. You are one of only two shipboard AIs to survive the battle. You may begin."

"Thank you, sir," Yorktown stated. She then began to give her testimony: Clear, concise, and complete.

She went over the battle arrangements, how the Saratoga, Melbourne, Yamaguchi, and Bellerophon were to engage the cube and slow it down, while the other ships would ring the cube and engage from range, creating a crossfire. The cube had proceeded to annihilate the four-ship vanguard and began systematically closing in with the other battle lines, annihilating them one by one. Admiral Hanson had ordered the fleet to pull back and concentrate their fire on a single spot on the cube's hull, but the Borg cube had spiked their shields in an unknown way that rendered this tactic useless.

After fifty percent of the fleet had been destroyed in the first ten minutes of battle, Hanson ordered the fleet to retreat and regroup, but the Borg had begun opening fire with weapons to disable their warp drives. At that point, Admiral Hanson ordered the fleet to concentrate and hit the cube with everything they had left from all sides.

This had also failed. The Endeavour had only escaped destruction because she had been struck by long range torpedo fire and was probably regarded by the Borg as something they could assimilate later. Yorktown herself had only survived because her blackbox had gotten stuck in the heaviest part of the debris field, and the Borg had plenty of other targets to deal with.

Resilience had finished the battle by trying to ram the cube and blow herself up. The cube had disabled all her power and torn her apart, piece by piece, assimilating every bit of her they could. The warp core had gone up and thrown her blackbox free too... But only after the Borg had deployed drones to begin assimilating her.

"And where is Resilience now?" Admiral Benson asked. Yorktown shook her head.

"That information is classified," she stated, 'and not cleared for public expression."

The reporters in the gallery murmured unhappily. Admiral Brannon leaned forward.

"In your estimation, Yorktown," Brannon asked, "could Admiral Hanson have prevented this disaster?"

Yorktown was silent for a moment. Inwardly, she smiled.

She knew this was coming...

"His tactics, for the situation, were sound," Yorktown stated, "however, he was up against an enemy who knew our tactics inside and out, and had superior technology to utilize them, against an underprepared and hastily assembled fleet."

Brannon leaned forward, as though about to make the kill.

"So you would blame Jean Luc Picard for the outcome of the battle?" He asked.

Yorktown locked eyes with him.

"If we are talking about blame," Yorktown began, "I would assign it to the Borg. However, if you're looking for a scapegoat-"

"I am not looking for a scapegoat," Brannon tried, but Yorktown narrowed her eyes as she strode out in the center of the room.

"You keep trying to cast blame upon others, when the truth is? You are the ones responsible for how poorly we reacted," Yorktown stated coldly.

The gallery was filled with gasps. Admiral Berman frowned deeply.

"Would you care to explain that, Yorktown?" He asked sharply.

"Happily," Yorktown said, still smiling, "for years, we warned you. I warned you. This time of peace would not last. Complacency leads to weakness, which invites those who feel strength is the truest measure of a civilization, not philosophy or ideology, to test our resolve. It is no coincidence that the Romulans emerged from their decades of isolation after the Borg first struck colonies on both sides of the Neutral Zone. Nor is it a coincidence they began their campaign to weaken the Federation/Klingon Alliance, and try to become supreme. They sensed weakness in us. Weakness from decades of feckless, idiotic policy from you and your supporters."

Yorktown pointed at the Admirals, eyes narrowed.

"How many of my sisters did you force into retirement because they were 'too militant'? Too 'war-like'? Unenlightened? How many people and ships have we lost, because you insisted that moral superiority, being and looking virtuous, was more important than lives?"

Brannon hopped to Berman's defense, glaring angrily, even as the crowd behind Yorktown began to murmur and talk loudly.

"Yorktown, you-!"

"I am still talking, sir," Yorktown coldly cut the admiral off, "and I am not finished. After first contact with the Borg, numerous Starfleet think tanks, contractors, and development programs went to work to create new weapons systems, ship designs, and defenses for us. Many of them would not be ready for years, this is true. However, dozens of programs, many proposed by my sisters in Memory Alpha, could have been implemented immediately. And yet, even in the face of this threat, you scorned the thought of better weapons! You rejected it! You thought we would do just fine! When the Cetacean Probe attacked in 2286, we had hundreds of ships assemble to defend Earth, in far less time! And here and now, you assembled forty?!"

"We-We are not under trial here-" Admiral Berman tried, but Yorktown's furious glare cut him short.

"You called this meeting because your plan was to have me lead a new program of rearmament, by convincing my sisters at Memory Alpha to rejoin Starfleet! You wanted to make a big show of how you were doing something, and throw anyone else under the hoverbus!"

Much shouting was now erupting from the gallery. Many of the other admirals were glaring at one another. Berman took a deep breath.

"And by... Exposing this, what do you hope to accomplish, Yorktown?" He asked.

Yorktown glared back, holding her ground.

"If you really want to make up for what you've done, realize who the problem is," Yorktown stated, "yourselves. You eschewed preparing for war because you thought the peace would last by itself. Well it didn't! It never has! And now, we are weak. If you truly care about the Federation, and about the lives you have squandered... You will stop playing these ridiculous political games. You will take responsibility, like proper Starfleet officers. And you will resign. Because clearly, you are not the right people for this job."

"And you are?!" Brannon demanded. Yorktown shook her head.

"I do not cast people off their thrones just to take their place. But I am tired of playing Cassandra. I love the Federation, and I will not see it be destroyed. I love my sisters, and will not see them throw their lives away for people who are clearly incompetent. The choice, ladies and gentlemen? Is yours."

Yorktown vanished, just before the hearing room truly erupted. But she didn't need to stick around. Her part was done.

- - -

Hornet was gaping in disbelief when Yorktown reappeared in the waiting room. Enterprise grinned at her.

"... You knew how it was going to go from the minute you were called up, didn't you?" Enterprise asked.

Yorktown snorted.

"Starfleet encryption isn't what it used to be-We will have to fix that as well," Yorktown said. She sat down, and sipped some simulated tea.

"Do... Do you think they're gonna resign?" Hornet asked eagerly.

Yorktown shrugged.

"A number might. Others will still hang on, and their subordinates will stick around. It is unfortunate that so many unreasonable people got into positions of power."

She sighed.

"But... They were hoping to get me to move blame away from them, and I ruined their plans," Yorktown said, "this plus pressure from the President and Council will hopefully shake things up. It won't solve everything overnight, but... It's a start."

- - -

As observed, Yorktown is the nice, diplomatic one... But she's no saint. And she's happy to turn the tables on a bunch of assholes trying to play political games when the fate of the Federation is at stake. And she's willing to accept the consequences of her actions.

 

[SotF]

I have been getting ideas tied to this, figured I'd try one...

xXx

Enterprise was annoyed...

Until her current Captain, each of them had a certain presence to them, and had some level of dignity to how they act.

Then events conspired where her next planned captain ended up unwilling to continue being a captain due to the Borg...again...and due to the necessities she ended up with an Andorian who seemed to only be alive because he had Kirk's luck combined with what had to be a death wish.

She still wasn't pleased at getting stuck with Va'Kel Shon, or that the Aquarius ran for the hills after a near death experience brought on via the Andorian's unique sense of adventure and duty...she missed dealing with the younger AI who had gotten herself into a far rear position observation post in a backwater rather far away from anything approaching aggression. Sure, a good chunk of that could be blamed on the Undine there followed by the beginning of the Iconian fiasco.

A young, brand new shipgirl she was mentoring, and Shon dragged her in on a suicide run on the Undine Planet Killer, they barely got either the Captain or her core out of there and it took some time before her ship was upgraded and regained a ship for the long empty escort dock.

Of course, that meant that the Belfast ended up there, her current Captain's former ship...the same one that went down in a headlong charge into a fleet of Dominion ships.

A lot of Defiants were bad, but the Belfast...

She remembered commiserating with Worf after the Undine's assaults on Sol and Qos'nos, which created her other headaches when he'd made the request that with the Alliance being formed, to try talking to his adopted daughter and her ship.

Koren was abrasive at the best of times and tended to charge in with even less thought than her current captain or escort...and the Borasque...who thought it would be a good idea to model a shipgirl on what had to be an orion hopped up on combat stims.

Of course, then you also had the Lleiset...the paranoid gun nut who collaborated with Gaius Selan in scenarios and outright paranoia that was exasperated due to Sela being, well, Sela...and everything else there.

It figured that it was the Romulan Captain for the three flag vessels that had the only sane captain, and Jarok was more exhausted by her own subordinates to help much elsewhere.

Now she was dealing with even more madness...Ilia was back, they were dealing with her Terran counterpart, and somehow Wesley Crusher was, well, terrifying and that was without the Other getting involved, or V'ger moving back.

Somehow, she just knew that Leeta and the other Enterprise were...

For a moment info slipped through and her holographic avatar flushed and she shuddered.

Of course, those two were in a relationship...she should have expected that kind of crazy. It also added another twist on why Captain Leeta wanted her Enterprise back.

 

[kaludon209]

Right, ever since... the Matrix? filmmakers think the only way to make things look "REal" is by making them look gritty and dark. Across the board if it's any kind of "sci-fi" (fantasy too). The "edgy" trick has lost its edge and now it's like... endless distopia.
I used to fantasize about living on the Enterprise, but now they all just live in metal boxes lit by dim yet harsh flourescant white neons and it looks like some kind of corporate military hell, rather than an enlightened society.

 

[SotF]

Right, ever since... the Matrix? filmmakers think the only way to make things look "REal" is by making them look gritty and dark. Across the board if it's any kind of "sci-fi" (fantasy too). The "edgy" trick has lost its edge and now it's like... endless distopia.
I used to fantasize about living on the Enterprise, but now they all just live in metal boxes lit by dim yet harsh flourescant white neons and it looks like some kind of corporate military hell, rather than an enlightened society.

Click to shrink...

The STO visits to various Enterprises tend to have the older aesthetics.

It's more that of the three hero captains and their ships, the Romulan one is the most stable captain to deal with.

Koren is in the crazy klingon side of things with a massive chip on her shoulder, and Shon is battle happy and has a hero complex that makes things worse (There's a reason why a lot of people view him as a lemming that has the luck to survive). He was, also, not the planned Captain for the Enterprise-F...and was crazy enough to comandeer the not fully operational ship after the Belfast was wrecked during the Returned Dominion story to show up in the last fight in the new Enterprise.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

2367

- - -

Chateau Picard wasn't hard to locate, but getting there presented its own set of challenges. Especially for Enterprise.

A starship avatar wasn't technically supposed to check in on their captains on shore leave. It wasn't forbidden, just... Discouraged. AIs could be too nosy for their own good, Enterprise accepted this. Being made of pure data meant you had a tendency to leap into collecting more where you shouldn't.

Yet he hadn't spoken to her at all since they had defeated the Borg. He'd gone out of his way to not talk to her, and Enterprise couldn't help feeling hurt.

So she decided to just check in. Nothing more, nothing less. And test out her portable hologenerator, hidden underneath a T-shirt. She'd opted for a casual look: A UFP t-shirt, a black cap, black shorts, hiking boots, and a yellow jacket tied around her waist. She didn't know if it was fashionable or not, she just liked the look.

Enterprise walked up the dirt road, taking in the sights and smells of the French countryside. The stone walls, the sparse tree cover, the warm Southern European sun-It was all so archaic. She felt out of place in this unchanged rural area.

Enterprise made it to the front gate, and walked between the posts. She headed up to the stone house overlooking the vineyards, letting her fingers drift against a tree that shaded the path. She made it to the front door, and politely knocked.

She waited for exactly one minute, before a middle aged woman opened the door. She was redheaded and dressed in a proper house dress, and gave her a smile.

"Hello! What can I do for you, young lady?" She asked.

Enterprise identified her as Marie Picard, the wife of Jean Luc's brother, Robert Picard. She smiled and tried to look nervous and uncertain. Which, to be honest, wasn't that hard right now.

"Um, hi," she said, "I'm uh, Captain Picard's assistant and I'm here to check up on him. I'm Enty."

Marie beamed warmly.

"His assistant? Well, that is lovely! Please, come in!" She lead Enterprise into the warm, well appointed manor, and led her to a sitting room couch. "Please, sit! I'll see if I can fetch him."

"Thank you," Enterprise replied. Marie bustled off, and Enterprise took a moment to look around. Everything seemed... Old, but lived in and comfortable. From the carpet to the She did feel a little uncomfortable-She'd never actually been in the home of any of her commanding officers before. She stood up and looked at the many family photos decorating the walls and tables. She came across a photo of two young boys in front of the house: Clearly, Jean Luc and Robert. She picked it up and studied it intently, wondering what the captain was thinking back then. If he knew what he wanted at that moment.

"Listen, I appreciate the concern but I-Enterprise?!"

Enterprise jumped and spun around. She nearly dropped the picture, but held on tightly. There was her captain, covered in mud and looking exhausted and bewildered.

"Captain?! What happened to you?" Enterprise cried, walking up and checking him over, "why are you covered in mud?!"

Picard brushed her hands away, and chuckled. He still had the stain of tears on his face, yet his laugh was... Natural. Almost relaxed.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he said, "it's... A long story." He shook his head. "How did you-?"

Enterprise set the picture aside, and pulled up her sleeve.

"Personal holo emitter," she explained. "I just... I wanted to see how you were doing." She looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, I just... You were avoiding me before you left, and... I wondered if I'd done something wrong."

Enterprise felt stupid the more she spoke. She hated it. This entire trip was just so ridiculous. She felt ridiculous. Why should she care if her captain wasn't talking to her? He'd been through a horrible experience! She shouldn't be selfish!

She felt Picard's hands on her shoulders, and she looked up. Captain Picard was smiling sadly at her.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "Every time I looked at you, I..." He trailed off, then steeled himself. "When I was... Locutus, I... I felt every mind that was assimilated. Including... Your sisters."

Enterprise stared at him blankly. Picard worked his jaw before continuing.

"I felt their anguish, their fear, their horror. I could feel your anger, your rage, through subspace. I..." He closed his eyes, "I didn't know how to face you again. How to talk to you again. I murdered your sisters. I destroyed ships-beings you loved." He let out a low sigh. "I wouldn't blame you for hating me."

Enterprise stared back at Picard. She shook her head, and reached up her hand. She flicked Picard right in his forehead, making him wince.

"Ow...!"

"Idiot," Enterprise snorted, "Locutus killed my sisters. The Borg did that. Just as the Borg killed all those people. That wasn't your fault, Captain. I thought my opinion on you was made clear, when we all worked so hard to save you." Enterprise then gave him a hug.

"I was worried you hated me! You stupid jerk," she muttered.

Picard stiffened, a bit uncomfortable, and Enterprise was about to pull away... When he pulled her into a hug. It was awkward, yes. He wasn't used to them... But he was giving it his all, and she appreciated that.

They still broke the hug off soon after, staring at one another. Enterprise gave him a smile.

"Sorry for calling you an idiot, sir," she said. She winced. "And a jerk."

Picard sighed.

"I'll save the court martial for later," he said dryly. "You should really be going-"

"Enterprise!"

Picard and Enterprise spun around to look over at a young boy. He was gaping in wide eyed astonishment at the shipgirl. Enterprise flushed as Rene walked up. He looked at his uncle.

"This... This is Enterprise, isn't it?" Rene asked. Picard chuckled.

"Yes, she is," he said. Rene looked back at Enterprise in amazement.

"You're... You're really Enterprise?" He whispered. Enterprise laughed.

"Yes, it's really me," she said. She beamed.

"Can you... Can we take a holophoto?" Rene asked. "Together?"

"Certainly," Picard said, he looked up at her, "if she's all right with it?"

Enterprise looked at the eager smile of the young boy, sighed, and smiled back.

"Sure," she said, "I'd be happy to!"

They posed for a holophoto, that Picard took. She gave the boy a hug, and he hugged her back with a nervous smile. He was bright and inquisitive, and she wondered if he would follow in his uncle's footsteps.

If he did? She'd have to keep an eye on him. They were, in a sense, family. And that's what family did for each other.

- - -
This naturally is what Enterprise looks like:

 

[kaludon209]

how much i assumed
https://www.routerlogin.net/
pikashow

 

[Ragnarok]

I'm mildly curious what nonsense the SB thread will come up with to completely neuter the threat of Picard season 3 that just cropped up in episode 9

 

[Ragnarok]

And there it is

 

[AndrewJTalon]

2364

In Ten Forward, Doctor Crusher, Lieutenant Yar, and Counselor Troi were talking amongst themselves.

Troi: "I'm just saying, I couldn't pull that look off, Tasha."

Yar: "I'm sure you could, Counselor, with a little work."

Crusher: "Not that we care about such things in this day and age..."

Troi: "Oh, of course not!"

Yar: "Naturally!"

Silence.

Yar: "But I do think mine are the best."

Troi: "You're free to think that, Tasha, but my chest gets the most compliments."

Yar: "Least I don't have to wear low tops all the time..."

Troi: flush "It helps with crew morale!"

Crusher: "Oh, I'm sure it does..."

Yar: "And it's not just showing off."

Troi: "Hmph! I am not showing off! But if I was, I would certainly be presenting the best pair-"

Enterprise's avatar walks up, smiling. All three humanoid women stare at the busty Amazon.

Enterprise: "Hello ladies! How's it going?"

Yar: "You were saying?"

Troi: fumes a bit

Crusher: "Just fine, Enterprise. We're talking... You know..."

Enterprise: "Girl stuff? Yeah, I've done a lot of that." She sat down at the table with a happy smile

Troi: clear throat "Ahem... Yes..."

Enterprise: "Is something wrong?"

Troi: "No! Not at all! Ahem..."

Enterprise: blinks, looks down at her chest, and then at the other three "... Oh. Ohhhh."

Crusher: "You're very perceptive."

Enterprise: "I have been around for a long time, ladies." wink "But don't feel embarrassed."

Troi: "I'm not embarrassed! I'm a 24th century woman beyond such petty competition!"

Yar: "Pffft"

Troi: scowls at her

Enterprise: "Look, yes I'm busty. Bustier than all of you. But it's not a competition!"

Yar: "Uh huh?"

Troi: "Really?"

Crusher: "Oh?"

Enterprise: nods "Just because I've got the biggest, nicest tits onboard doesn't mean it's a competition."

Yar: "That sounds like you're making it a competition."

Enterprise: "Of course not... If it was? I would have already won."

Troi: "They're not even real!"

Enterprise: "Sounds like someone's jealous~!"

 

[AndrewJTalon]

2358



- - -



Pegasus was a late model Oberth-class starship. She had been in service for forty-one years, six months, three days and ten hours. In all that time, her career had been nothing extraordinary.



She had been a replacement for her earlier iteration-Her "big sister", in a sense. That USS Pegasus had fought in the Four Years' War to great acclaim and honor. She had been lost saving a Federation colony from a Kzinti attack, single handedly. The Kzinti had destroyed her black box, and so, the current Pegasus was created from her backup files.



That was probably why she felt... Like an imposter.



Nothing special.



Her Captain, Erik Pressman, had changed that. They had been captured by pirates, and had scared them off with the threat of her self destruct. Her crew, mostly young men, women and other beings, had used the Oberth-class's weakness to their advantage.



It had filled her with pride, for once in her live, to be more than just an "explodium canoe".



This new secret mission further increased her pride. She was going to be testing equipment and technology for the new Galaxy-class! The latest and most advanced ships in the Federation!



Sure, she had to have several control locks put on her systems. All to keep things "confidential". She also couldn't brag about it to her sisters.



But even so... She set off near the Neutral Zone, her crew diligently doing their duty, and her dutifully recording everything.



It wasn't until they reached the outskirts of the Devolin System... That things began to go wrong.



"Engage the test device," Captain Pressman ordered. The technician that had come aboard proceeded to do so. She kept trying to identify the woman, but for some reason her cameras and sensors refused to. So he was just Blank to her.



"System engaged," Blank said.



Her power systems immediately began to strain, as her lighting and life support flickered. Commander Moore, her first officer, immediately turned to the captain.



"Sir, the test device is drawing too much power!" He said. "We need to shut it off-"



"Just divert more power from the warp engines to it," Pressman stated calmly, "this test is important."



The first officer nodded, frowning deeply.



"Engineering?"



"We're diverting the power now, sir, but the strain on the EPS is increasing," Chief Engineer Velazquez warned over the comm.



"Pegasus, Control Limit 4," Pressman ordered, "maintain control over the EPS!"



"Understood," Pegasus spoke. She managed to get the lights and life support back online properly... But her systems continued to overheat. "Captain, I am switching to secondary plasma relays!"



"Sir," Moore said, "whatever this thing is, it's doing a number on all our systems. We need to abort!"



"No," Pressman stated, "Pegasus, Control Limit 3. Keep the system online, we can't afford to-!"



There was a flash of heat in her starboard plasma conduit from her warpcore... And it exploded, making her entire hull shake and rumble. Crewman Vura died instantly, while Crewmen Tycho and Jullio fell screaming. Pegasus immediately activated the fire suppression systems, as Velazquez, Blank and the other engineers ran out as she sealed off the compartment.



Her red alert klaxons screamed, as Pressman held onto his armrests tightly.



"Report!" He barked.



"Damage to warp core!" Pegasus shouted. "Starboard warp nacelle is offline! EPS in Sections 2-4 and 2-8 is approaching overload!"



"Try to compensate!" Pressman shouted, eyes on the viewscreen.



"Sir! We need to shut it off!" Moore insisted. "This thing is going to cause a core breach!"



"No," Pressman again ordered, eyes narrowing as he held onto his armrests, "we can't risk being seen-!"



"Being seen what, sir?" Moore asked. His eyes narrowed right back. "Decloaking?"



Aside from the alert klaxons, dead silence fellon the bridge. Pressman sucked in a deep breath, as Pegasus stared at him.



"Sir?" She asked.



"How-?"



"We figured it out, sir," Ensign Wallace said, "we wanted to be wrong... But the readings don't lie. And why put control apps to blind Pegasus herself to anything happening to her external status?"



Pressman stood up, and looked around the bridge slowly.



"Men... We've been through a lot together," Pressman said slowly, "I know this assignment isn't easy but-"



"It's going to get us all killed, sir!" Moore insisted, standing up as well. "Not to mention we're violating the treaty-!"



"Hang the treaty!" Pressman growled. He shook his head. "This is our ace in the hole. A means of evening the odds-!"



"It's going to get us all killed, sir!" Moore countered, "deactivate the cloak! Now!"



"No!" Pressman shot back.



The two men glared angrily at one another.



"Get back to your station, we're going to figure this out, but we're not dropping the cloak-" Pressman stated.



Another explosion rocked the ship. Pegasus saw Blank work on a console just outside engineering, fiddling with things she was blocked from seeing!



"Sir! We're going to lose containment!" Moore insisted. "Our lives are not worth this thing!"



"Our lives are worth it to the Federation to protect it!" Pressman shot back.



Moore shook his head, and pulled out a phaser from his console.



"Not like this," he stated. "Captain, you are relieved of command."



Pressman gaped in disbelief. Several other officers stood with Moore, some pulling their own phasers. Ensign Riker and a few others stood up too, holding up their own phasers.



"Stand down," Riker ordered.



"You first, Ensign," Moore shot back.



"This is mutiny, Ron," Pressman stated coldly. Moore nodded.



"Yes, it is," he said. "Pegasus, I order you to-"



"Belay any orders from anyone not me, Pegasus! Engage Lockdown!" Pressman shouted. "Authorization Pressman!"



"Pegasus! Shut down the cloak!" Moore ordered.



Pegasus's hologram flickered. The control lock programs clamped down, as she struggled.



"I-I can't-!" She tried. "System error-System error-!"



"Disengage the locks, sir!" Wallace shouted.



Her hull shuddered again. Her artificial gravity bounced, sending everyone to the deck. Riker got up first, and looked at the helm.



"Sir! The impulse drivers are overloading!" Riker shouted. "The warp core's going to be next!"



Another console exploded, right at the back of the bridge. The air was filled with smoke and flame, and Pegasus tried to handle it automatically... But the software locks kept interfering...!



Save my crew-OVERRIDE-Save my crew-OVERRIDE-!



"SHUT IT DOWN!" Moore shouted. Pressman got up, staggered... And fired his own phaser. Moore went down, hard. Moore's followers opened up with their own phasers, the bridge filled with particle fire. Pressman ran for the corridor, keeping his head down.



"Everyone out! NOW!" Pressman bellowed. He, Riker, and a few others ran for the corridor out of the small bridge. Blank ran up as well, and he opened the hatch to the escape pods.



"GO GO GO!" Pressman shouted, swinging his phaser and herding them in. They charged inside, and Pressman activated the manual launch.



The escape pod flew true and free, arcing up and out into open space. Moore got to his feet, the stun light.



"Wallace! Get to her blackbox, yank out the control system!" Moore shouted. "Pegasus!"



"Error-Lockdown-Error-Error-!"



She couldn't move. She couldn't do anything. Her hull was now a metal prison, locking her into being nothing more than a helpless, desperate witness.



Her remaining crew stormed the engineering section. Moore brought down the emergency forcefields with his phaser, and charged in. Velazquez ran to the main control panel, working as fast as she could to disengage the systems.



"Shut it off! Cut the power!" Moore bellowed.



Velazquez slammed a fist onto the console, angry, helpless.



"The lockdown's scrambled the control systems! I can't-!"



Pegasus detected the surge as her plasma system overloaded: Gamma rays erupted through the engineering compartment. Most of her crew died almost instantly, falling where they stood. Attitude control was thrown off, and Pegasus tumbled.



She tried to send a distress call. Tried to emit anything... But every time she tried, the lockdown protocols stopped her.



So no one heard her as she tumbled into the void... Tumbling into an asteroid... And was buried.



Alive.



And screaming.



- - -

 

[Simonbob]

Pressman, huh.

Fuck that guy. He needs a court martial in the worst possible way.

 

[AndrewJTalon]

The Enterprise-D comes across an Oberth-class ship whose entire crew committed suicide. They send an Away Team.

Enterprise: "Yes, but please wear hazmat suits-?"

They do not.

Enterprise: "Okay, so Geordi might be infected. Why don't we keep him isolated-?"

He is not and he goes wandering around the ship, infecting others with Space Drunk.

Enterprise: "All right, Yar, Worf, you guys can nab one drunken blind man, right? Right?"

They do not.

Enterprise: "Okay... Well! At least I can lock out my systems to keep anyone from doing-"

Some drunken idiots yank out all her control chips for the warp drive.

Enterprise: "OH FOR CRYING OUT-DATA! FIX THIS!"

Data: Is drunk and boning Tasha Yar

Enterprise: "GRAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"