#the voyager had far too many shuttles

[sshbpodcast]

Shuttle, Shuttle, Boil and Buttle: Shuttlecraft in Star Trek

By Ames

Diagrams emphatically not to scale here.

A Star to Steer Her By is hitting the open road today. Or open space, I suppose. Pack a lunch for a nice day trip because you can’t get too far in a shuttlecraft in Star Trek, but you still need some flexibility outside your massive hero ship. We’ve covered all those Federation starships before (check out parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 here!). Like they say, “warp’s fine if you like going fast in a straight line,” but what if we wanna do some offroading? Now it’s the little guys’ time to shine!

We’re only going to be looking at classic Trek shuttles from The Original Series through Enterprise because newer series just have too many types of shuttles to count and also because Ex Astris Scientia has a great selection of these shuttles chronicled for easier reference. So strap in and scroll on to see all the screengrabs we could find and listen to this week’s podcast episode (discussion at 1:01:56) for a couple games of “I Spy.” It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.

[Images © CBS/Paramount, Ex Astris Scientia, Eaglemoss Ltd., probably others]

TOS: Class F

This simple boxy affair is probably the most recognizable shuttlecraft, especially after the Galileo-7’s starring turn in the eponymous “The Galileo Seven,” among many other episodes throughout TOS. It’s definitely function over form with this basic brick of a vehicle, but that just makes it more endearing.

TAS: Aquashuttle

The Animated Series had a little more flexibility to showcase some new designs, though just how much was getting designed is still really minimal on that cheapskate show. It was nice to see a craft that could transition from space to atmosphere to water when we saw this eraser stub of an aquashuttle in “The Ambergris Element,” so that’s something at least.

TAS: Copernicus-type

We meet the Copernicus in “The Slaver Weapon” and it’s a cute little mosquito of a ship. Everything about her is just so pointy and sharp, and she looks fast to boot. We know very little else about this type of craft, but we appreciate her typical nacelles and her speedboat shape.

TAS: Heavy shuttle

Comparatively more bulbous than the Copernicus we just looked at is this much heavier-looking shuttle from “Mudd’s Passion.” Again, we don’t see much of this thing, but it looks like it’s more durable and able to take a bit of a beating, and it even has a little bit of curve to its windshield!

TOS Films: Travel pod

There’s much more budget by the time we get to The Motion Picture, so the model for this small travel pod that ferries crewmen around spacedock is pretty logical even if some of the compositing is… less so. The purpose of the pod is so simple that its design really reflects that. It even returns for a hot second in the final scene of The Voyage Home.

TOS Films: Executive shuttle

We catch a couple of glimpses of the SD-103 Executive Shuttle from The Undiscovered Country, and again, it’s a pretty simple shape that does its job and then goes home for the day without needing to do much more. This one has a polite little wedge shape, clearly allowing the most room it can to move people back and forth and that’s that.

TOS Films: Type 4 Shuttle

In The Final Frontier, we have a new Galileo and it’s looking like a pretty obvious progression from the original television show. This is what the Type F would look like if they’d had the money and time in the 60s, and we’re digging it. It has the same kind of pointy front, a window that could still stand to be bigger, and empty cavernous space inside that we expect from a shuttle.

TNG Films: Hawking

I’m putting this one back to back with the Type 4 so you can appreciate the very slight differences between the Galileo and the Hawking that we see in Generations. Is it just the added side windows that’s particularly different? And why did it take them so long to add side windows in the first place?

TNG: Type 15 Shuttlepod

Let’s step back to the rest of TNG, now that we’ve already gotten things out of order. We see these things throughout Next Gen and they’re like tiny little remote-controlled toy cars. You can barely fit one person in these things, let alone anything more than that. We hope you’re not flying too far because these flying mousedroids look cramped!

TNG: Type 6 Shuttle

We see these things throughout TNG and Voyager. You’ll notice they are very very similar to the shuttle from Generations above, but a little more squished. One could surmise that the model designers whipped out the Type 4 from The Final Frontier since it was already of the necessary quality for film, and decided to take a cue from this shuttle for the extra windows!

TNG: Type 7 Shuttle

A new design for yet another new Galileo. These things run concurrently with the Type 6 as we also see them consistently throughout TNG, but their design is much more distinct. Their edges are more rounded and their rumps more spankable. Their nacelles also look more like the Enterprise-D’s nacelles. They even come with two options for their much more curved window unit: long and extra long!

TNG Films: Type 11 Shuttle

Picard and Worf chase Data around in Insurrection in one of these cute little doorstops. Everything about these shuttles looks pointy, from the face to the windows to the nacelles! It pretty much clicks that this is the kind of craft you’d find on the Enterprise-E, a ship that’s much longer and more streamlined than the rounder and more bloated D.

TNG Films: Captain’s yacht

In Insurrection, we also steal a glimpse of the Cousteau, also known as the captain’s yacht. What the hell a more weaponized ship like the Enterprise-E needs with a yacht is debatable, but it’s got some of the more movie-era design elements on it, like the pointier nacelles and tapered face. We also like that it looks like those nacelles tuck in for easy storage!

TNG Films: Argo

One last instance from the TNG films and it’s not a favorite (both the film and this vessel). In Nemesis, Picard and friends go down to a primitive planet in the Argo (great name; I’ll admit that), whose purpose seems mostly to be carrying a dune buggy for no damn reason. That aside, this shuttle also just looks unfriendly. More like a fighter jet than a diplomatic craft and that’s not our thing.

DS9: Type 10 Shuttle

Apparently this thing, the Chaffee, lives on the Defiant, though we’re damned if we can figure out where because the Defiant doesn’t even seem big enough to house a full-sized shuttle of any kind, much less a shuttle bay. But in “The Sound of Her Voice” we do get a quick shot or several of this weird little dustbuster of a ship that shares the same tucked-in nacelle look as its mommy ship. Weird.

DS9: Type 18 Shuttle

Oh boy, I’m glad Deep Space Nine mostly used Runabouts instead of these things because they’re goofy as all get out. They do get used in season 3 episodes “The Search” and “Destiny” before we settled into the Defiant, and it’s a good thing because the Type 18 just looks like an old school UFO or something, with a protruding undercarriage like a submarine ride in an amusement park. This design is just trying too hard.

VOY: Type 8 Shuttle

We see these things mostly in early Voyager before the Delta Flyer is introduced, and they look so similar to the Type 6 in TNG that they may as well have not bothered with the update. When in doubt, always check if the nacelles look like they belong on your hero ship or not. That’s my rule of thumb, anyway.

VOY: Type 9 Shuttle (AKA Class 2)

That rule also works on the other shuttle we see pretty frequently in Voyager, especially notably in “Threshold” when the Cochrane breaks the warp 10 barrier. It’s a nifty little ship, closer to the shuttles that we saw in Insurrection than the other series ships in that it looks streamlined and zippy and a little bit like a phaser without a handle.

VOY: Delta Flyer

Once Voyager introduces the Delta Flyer in “Extreme Risk” early in season 5, we use this thing all over the place, even replacing it almost perfectly after it shatters to confetti in “Unimatrix Zero.” And it’s a solid design! It’s clear Tom put a lot of effort into the ship because it looks incredibly sturdy with its triangular shape, embedded nacelles like the Defiant has, and nifty front window that almost reminds me of a stained-glass window.

VOY: SC-4 Shuttle

This special, slightly futuristic shuttle visits us in the series finale “Endgame.” It’s a lot like the Class 2 shuttle in its shape and resemblance to a phaser, but this one’s also got nifty shields like a suit of armor that it fits within! So that’s something to look forward to later in our watch.

ENT: Inspection pod

Moving on to Enterprise, the last leg of our day trip. We’ve mentioned before how much we appreciate the design elements in Enterprise looked like the stepping stones between today’s space technology and the future aesthetics we see in Star Trek, and this little pod with its docking side and its conical shape flat out looks like the module on a modern rocket ship! Cool!

ENT: Shuttlepod

We see an absolute ton of these things in Enterprise (in a majority of episodes, as a matter of fact!) because the transporter didn’t quite work consistently yet. So it’s shuttles or nothing for our prequel friends and this one is actually incredibly cute, with its sorta submarine feel and its cyclops-eye window like a porthole looking out into space.

— Get that barricade ready as we come into the shuttlebay. It’s so good to be back because we’ve got so much to do around the ship! We’re still traveling through the Delta Quadrant with Voyager over on SoundCloud or your favorite podcast application, we’re still sending out a distress signal on Facebook and Twitter, and we’re shuttling off to buttle-oh!

#star trek #star trek podcast #podcast #shuttlecraft #the original series #the animated series #the next generation #deep space nine #voyager #enterprise #the motion picture #the voyage home #the final frontier #generations #insurrection #nemesis #galileo #delta flyer

[jessicas-pi]

this AU all started because a mutual started liveblogging lesser-known classic lit.

and then i started reading said classic lit.

and because i have permanent Rebels brainrot, i thought, "hmm. it's giving kanera."

So.

Fair warning, this AU is only like 65% thought out, and I haven't even finished The Shuttle HOWEVER I am very close sooo. I'll just outline the basic character bits and come back and give more details once i have more thoughts.

Also, I just want to add: this is not just a Rebels/The Shuttle crossover AU. This is a Rebels/The Shuttle crossover, BUT with plenty of The Secret Garden mixed in, and maybe a touch of The Little Princess? (Which, btw, were all written by Frances Hodgson Burnett!)

ANYWAY!

Hera as the Betty Vanderpoel (The Shuttle) character, a rich American heiress who is going to England to cause problems for someone. I haven't quite figured out who that someone is, or if the reason she's going to cause problems for them is that they married her sister and then proceeded to emotionally abuse her and separate her from her family, and if so, who the sister would be, but quite frankly that can all be worked out later. Hera Is Here And No One Can Stop Her.

Kanan as the Mount Dunstan (The Shuttle) character, an English nobleman. Due to the actions of his (now dead) father and brother, his reputation is basically worthless. Also, he's raising Ezra, for reasons to be explained. (He's trying his best to Be A Dad but He's Struggling.) Due to Bad Circumstances, Kanan is low on money but refuses to consider marrying a rich American heiress to pay for rebuilding his estate. Side note, he is madly in love with a rich American heiress.

Zeb as Kedgers (The Shuttle)/Ben Weatherstaff (The Secret Garden), a gardener at the English estate that Hera has crashed and is fixing up nicely. He's friendly to her but bristly when it comes to kids.

Okadiah as the Penzance (The Shuttle) character, a mentor and friend of Kanan's and also a total Kanera shipper. Also, the cool grandpa for Ezra and Sabine. And speaking of the kids:

(Here's the part where I gotta explain more because this is where we get into Multiple Crossover Territory.)

Sabine as a Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)-inspired character, a ten-year-old American girl who is stubborn and rude and never listens to anyone. Her parents decide they have no choice but to send her to an English boarding school to teach her, if not manners, then at least how to not be a feral dirt gremlin. Being old friends of the Syndullas, they entrust her to Hera's care for the oversea voyage. This is a mistake. Sabine wheedles and begs and finally gets Hera to let her skip out on boarding school and come along to the estate.

Ezra is a Colin (The Secret Garden) sort of character, but also Sara Crewe (The Little Princess) too. He's an orphan who went to a boarding school, and lived pretty well, until he was nine and his mysterious benefactor disappeared, at which point he had to work there, and he's sad and miserable. Kanan, looking over his lousy-and-now-dead brother's bookkeeping to figure out just how many debts the guy had, discovered payments to a boarding school, investigated, and found out about Ezra. Given his brother's life, Kanan knows it's not too far fetched to consider that maybe this kid is his nephew, so he takes him in and brings him to his estate, but Ezra (age eleven--he's slightly older than Sabine here, instead of being younger than her) is sickly due to his awful life at the boarding school. He mostly stays inside, and it's only rumored that he even exists; no one sees him. He only goes outside to work in the hidden garden Kanan gave to him. Sabine, who is still very much a feral dirt gremlin, is intrigued by this rumored kid, and because she's bored, she sneaks onto Kanan's estate and finds him and befriends him. (Also, Ezra is also a Dickon (The Secret Garden) character, because he's really good at befriending wild animals.)

I wish I had more to say about Kanan and Hera and their plot, but I think first I have to figure out why she's going to England and I can form her plot around that. Because I need a villain here to really shake things up. Maul is kinda my go-to villain but I don't think he quite has Nigel Anstruther's specific type of rancid vibes. Also, maybe I'm missing someone obvious, but I'm just totally stuck on what SW character Rosalie could be. Suggestions are welcome for any of those things!

That's all for now but it's likely I'll think of more later!

#this might turn into a doodle or two eventually? #jessica's writing nonsense #rebels au #i am fully aware of how weird and niche this nonsense is btw. i take no pride in it. it is simply The Brainrot.

[heliads]

everything is blue • conrisa space au • Chapter Eight: Time Must Pass

Risa Ward escaped a shuttle destined for her certain, painful death. Connor Lassiter ran away from home before it was too late. Lev Calder was kidnapped. All of them were supposed to be dissected for parts, used to advance a declining galaxy, but as of right now, all of them are whole. Life will not stay the same way forever.

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Risa Ward planned on living in the Graveyard as long as she could, but that doesn’t make it any more enjoyable. It’s been what, more than half a standard year by now, if not getting close to a full turn by Centerworld standards, and the days keep stretching out, one by one into hundreds. This is what survival is really like, not one grand and glorious battle but a slow thing, hiding in back corners and watching the time pass as a mute observer. Risa knows this, but it doesn’t make the tedium of it all any easier to stomach.

She tries to be a good sport about it all, though. She won over the other kids working in the med wing by sheer utility. After their shifts let out, they’ll often sit around talking about their old lives. Risa stays quiet most of the time, listening to the others discuss school trips or offworld voyages. 

The State Home back on OH-10 didn’t have the budget for any unnecessary expenditures, obviously, so she doesn’t have much to tell them, but it’s still interesting to listen to their stories and imagine what it might have been like to grow up in that way. If her parents hadn’t given her up, if Risa hadn’t gotten a bad draw in the luck of life and actually had a childhood where people wanted her as more than just a sum of parts, maybe she too could have stories to tell about growing up with friends and family who liked having her around.

None of these kids had that, though, not really. In the end, despite their new toys at birthdays, stellar report cards, and everlasting athletic victories, they were all discarded and sentenced to distribution. Nothing off of their highlight reel was ever enough to save them.

In the end, that’s Risa’s saving grace. Maybe she didn’t have a heavenly upbringing, but when people talk about her, they won’t just mention her childhood. The stories will come from what she still has yet to do. Risa doesn’t know where she’s going, if she’ll even make it to eighteen or find a fulfilling career after that, but in the many months since she escaped the StaHo shuttle that should have taken her to a distribution colony, she’s learned that she’s made of far tougher stuff than anyone envisioned, even herself. Risa is a survivor. She can do incredible things when she sets her mind to it.

Until that happy day when she can finally say goodbye to the Graveyard for good, Risa’s only choice is to throw herself into this life before she trades it off for a better one. She’s promoted to head of the medical workers, and utilizes her position effectively to organize the straggling ranks into a well-oiled machine. These kids need her, and she’ll be damned if she’s going to let them down now.

Besides, Risa’s not doing this alone. In addition to the med wing kids, she’s been introduced to the groundsless in the ComBom, and, of course, she’s still got Connor. Although Risa would certainly never admit it to his face, she was secretly afraid that he’d get tired of her after meeting so many other kids in the Graveyard. There are plenty of girls here willing to throw themselves at his feet, but for some reason, Connor has never paid attention to any of them. Risa has witnessed many girls batting their lashes at him, but the second Risa walks into the room, Connor abandons them to be at her side.

It certainly helps her ego, to say the least. Every time it happens, Risa can’t help a bright spark of something from lighting up her spine, making the back of her neck prickle with heat. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy every jealous look, every pining stare. Connor’s hers. The others can try to intervene every chance they get, but it doesn’t matter. Connor picked her. Risa might not entirely understand why, other than the sheer necessity of having flown a stolen ship together, but she’s quite glad for it.

Truth be told, Risa can’t really explain why she’s chosen Connor so many times either. She does know him better than the others, but only by a few days. She sees the kids from the med wing more often, certainly, but when it’s been a long day and she only wants the sweet relief of having to do nothing at all until lights out, Risa thinks about him and him alone.

There’s a reason for that, of course, but Risa won’t admit it, not even to herself. Now is not the place nor the time. They’re stuck in a rotting cruiser by fate, but even this rusting prison won’t hold them forever. At some point, they’ll both age out of the Graveyard, and then there’s no guarantee that they’ll ever see each other again after that.

It’s best not to think about it, then. Still, when Connor grabs her hand to catch up to her after she gets out of medical duties, when their shoulders brush together as they walk down the hallway, Risa can’t help but think about it. Sometimes, she thinks he must have to think about it too. There’s no way that he doesn’t feel a thing when Risa feels as if she might burn alive from the inside out from the sheer force of trying to hide it.

There was, of course, the one day they came the closest to saying something. Connor had insisted on leading Risa away from the crowds of other distributes. He said he’d found a secret spot while fixing things up that day and he just had to show her. Risa had glimmered with the proud knowledge that she was the first and only person he thought to show, and let him tug her down a few corridors and deep into the twisting web of Graveyard rooms and backrooms.

Connor’s secret place ended up being one of the dozens of storage closets littering the Graveyard. He’d laughed at her disappointed expression when they first stopped in front of it, and asked her for a little faith, Risa, please, after all this time, and carefully unlocked the door. The room was bigger inside than she’d expected, and twisted down into shadowy corners that went so deep she would never find the end just by looking. It had been dark inside, too dark to see, and she’d relied on the firm lock of his hand around hers to know the way. 

Risa had thought that she might go on that way forever, stumbling blindly through the shadows with only Connor to guide her. She’s still not good in the shapeless dark, even months after leaving Cleaver’s ship behind, and as they went further inside and it felt as if they might never see light again, Risa’s breath had started to catch in her throat involuntarily.

He must have been listening to her somehow, keeping track of her even in that shifting blackness, because his grip had tightened a little, two of his forefingers straightening to tap twice against her skin. A physical heartbeat, just like when the two of them were back in that never ending night. Despite the pounding of her heart, Risa had felt herself start to relax, the pattern of her breathing starting to even out again.

At last, they’d come to a stop in front of a tall panel of glass facing the outside of the ship. Risa couldn’t fathom why someone had put a window here of all places; maybe it had made more sense in the Graveyard’s past life as a military cruiser, before it had been stolen away from the shipyards and used to hold hundreds of dead children walking. Still, it’s one of the larger ones on the ship, and it hasn’t yet been covered up by decades of cracks or scuffs, making the view even more pristine than usual, and better yet, a secret known only to the two of them. No wonder he liked it so much.

Connor had steered her in front of him so she could get a look. She’d craned her head up to look at his expression first before fully committing to the cosmos outside, so she would know how to properly react. An entire galaxy of stars in front of her, and Risa wanted only to look at Connor. If she didn’t know before, she knew then, the secret she would never tell him until they took away her very lungs. Even with her heart in someone else’s chest, it would still beat for him.

Connor’s expression was soft for once, untouched by the stress of staying alive that has furrowed his brow for as long as she’s known him. His eyes were wide, the light of a thousand stars reflected against the pupils. It’s a view he must see every day, but it still has the capability of rendering him awestruck every time he’s confronted by it. His mouth slackened slightly as he took it all in, and Risa mentally traced the bow of his lips as his expression shifts into one of peace.

He’d looked down at her then, catching her in the act, and grinned. “What do you think? Good, huh?”

“Yeah,” Risa had managed, her head tucked against his collarbone, “Really good.”

Connor had grinned proudly, as if he had single handedly been responsible for dragging each and every constellation here for her to witness. “I know. You’re not paying attention, though.”

She’d laughed at that, finally turning her eyes to the unfolding night sky with no small amount of reluctance. It was a wonderful sight, really, the inky spill of it. Somewhere before her were dozens of star systems, hundreds of planets. In the milky droplets of the galaxy, other ferals were staring back at her. Maybe they know they’re going to die soon, maybe they haven’t figured it out yet. They’ll have time to come to that conclusion, though. We all have time.

Connor’s hands were still loosely on Risa’s hips from where he’d guided her to the window; she wasn’t sure if he remembered they were still there or not, but she couldn’t forget it if she tried. Risa has never associated touch with a good thing before; a punch is skin against skin, but in a terrible way, and pressing cloth to someone’s face to stop it from bleeding is not a sensation she cherishes. This was different, though. This was Connor, and he has always been different. This was a feeling she wanted to chase forever.

It had ended, of course. All moments do. No matter how she stood there, pressed against him in that billowing darkness, wishing upon every star she saw that they could be like that and never leave, they did. Good things come to a close much faster than torment. Risa had fallen asleep that night dreaming of his hands on hers, gently guiding her through the darkness towards panels of infinite light, and for once woken up the next morning to find herself wholly rested.

She had waited for Connor to say something about that day, but any explanations of just why they had spent so long alone together were seemingly unimportant on his end. Risa didn’t dare bring it up for fear of revealing herself for feeling too much, but she thinks about it often, and hopes that he does, too.

Connor has enough to worry about, though. He’s off-put by Roland (who isn’t) and Starkey (again, who wouldn’t be), so if he sees Risa as a dependable constant, who is she to mess with that? He’s been burning the candle at both ends as of late; the ship is having even more troubles than usual, apparently, and of course it’s up to Connor to fix it. Never mind the fact that cruisers like the Graveyard have an expiration date even when they’re just being used to house several hundred groundsless, never mind that asking a handful of teenagers to keep a behemoth like this spaceborne is completely insane, Connor has been assigned a job to do and he’d rather die than let them all down. He’s fiercely protective, her boy. Risa has come to appreciate that about him.

Still, Connor makes time for her and for himself. He hangs out in the ComBom more often, and Risa likes to join him when she can. There’s something about Hayden that makes their smiles come easier. Although some selfish part of Risa will always wish she was the sole one making Connor laugh, she’s grateful to the blond comms master for being able to carry on the task.

They’re all together now, actually, the three of them plus Jeevan and a few other comms kids completing their daily tasks in the background. Technically, Risa doesn’t think she or Connor are supposed to be in there with all the tech just lying around, but Hayden’s not a snitch, and they all have a better time joking around together than trying to force their way through work shifts anyway, so no one ever complains.

Well, not about them. Hayden complains plenty, mainly about the terrible inconvenience that he wasn’t born into the body of an established deity on a resource-lush planet or at least put on this earth with naturally straight teeth so he wouldn’t have to go to the trouble of straightening them just to die. He does it all with a natural charm that leaves Risa laughing more than she ever plans to. There is no disliking Hayden. It’s simply inhuman not to get along well with him, which is a good trait for someone to have when they’re in charge of the cruiser’s connections to the galaxy around them.

So no, Risa doesn’t mind Connor meeting up with her after their shifts end just to head over to Hayden’s little hideaway. Risa swears Hayden both starts working earlier and finishes much later than any of them, but he also gets to sit down all day, so maybe there’s a reason for his extended shifts. Honestly, the long hours might be enforced by Hayden and Hayden alone. The kid’s practically glued to his radio channels and beeping readouts. He’ll probably avoid distribution by accidentally burning the shifting lines into his retinas from staring at them too long, if it wasn’t his plan already.

Hayden’s squinting at a computer readout when they arrive. The tech in the ComBom is incredibly outdated, as Hayden has groused about at length; physical screens instead of holographic readouts, clunky buttons that aren’t even fingerprint locked, and so forth. Hence the old-fashioned 3D monitor in front of Hayden.

“Sorry,” Hayden mutters absentmindedly as he clicks around, “Forgot you two were swinging by. Lost track of time, I was having so much fun.”

Risa slides into one of the available chairs, Connor doing the same by her side. “What sort of fun, if you don’t mind me asking?” She queries.

She probably should know this by now, but a concise explanation of just what Hayden and the rest of the groundless of the ComBom do on a daily basis has eluded her for months now. She’s probably a bad friend for forgetting, but there’s only room in her head for so much, and Risa finds it more useful to remember how to set a bone than the results of random button-mashing up here.

Hayden, thankfully, doesn’t point this out. He’s got a sort of quiet tact that Risa has come to appreciate. He has a knack for sensing when certain topics are off-limits or what bad habits shouldn’t be a source of teasing. Although he’ll loudly proclaim to anyone around that he’s one hundred percent incorrigible, as evidenced by the removal of his grounds license, Hayden’s still very careful when he wants to be.

“I’m monitoring radio waves,” Hayden says, leaning back in his chair so she and Connor can get a better look, “All sorts of stuff is sent out in space. Most passengers have no idea that we can pick up their comms channels even lightyears away from where they were sent. The signals just keep bouncing off of stars, and we can collect them sooner or later.”

Risa nods. “What are you listening to now? Classic pop hits of the 3000s?”

Hayden pulls a face. “That would liven things up around here, certainly. I know Jeevan would love it if I started breaking out into song.”

Across the room, Jeevan lets out a trademark exasperated groan. “I hear enough of your singing thanks to your little radio show. I know you insisted on picking a theme song to end your broadcasts, but just because it’s stuck in your head doesn’t mean you have to hum it until it’s stuck in ours, too.”

“What’s yours is mine,” Hayden says affectionately. “Hey, maybe I’ll get distributed and you can permanently have what’s stuck in my head. Every time that song plays in your mind, you can always blame it on my faulty cerebral tissue. Consider it a parting gift from me to you.”

“Just as pleasant as always, Hayden,” Connor chides, but he’s grinning. Risa too. Usually, she doesn’t find distribution jokes all that funny, but among the aptly nicknamed Deadmen, gallows humor is kind of the way to go.

“Besides, my radio broadcasts are nothing to bat an eye at,” Hayden carries on. “I get a dependable four listeners every time, and I’m certain that no more than half of them are Juvey-cops trying to find my location. They’re absolutely mad for my music taste, of that you can be certain.”

Risa’s eyes widen. “You’ve got Juvey-cops listening to your show? Hayden, what if they track us?”

The last thing they need is someone tracing Hayden’s broadcast, but the blond doesn’t seem that concerned. “They’ve got no chance of it. We’ve whipped up the best signal mufflers this side of the galaxy can offer. Trust me, if they could hack it, they would have found us months ago, but they can’t get through. All they can do is hang onto my every word in the hopes that I’ll give something away, but I’d never kiss and tell about the Graveyard.”

Connor doesn’t seem convinced. “So if you can’t give any location information because the Juveys are listening, then what’s the point? Are there groundsless across the galaxy who just can’t get enough of your motivational speaking?”

Hayden points a finger at him. “Obviously yes, but there’s more to Radio Free Hayden than just my overwhelming charm. The radio show provides ways to stay alive. Clues. I have a remote beacon they can signal if they need to be picked up, that’s how we’ve found a lot of rogue distributes recently. We see them, but they can’t see us. And more than that, it gives them hope. The Collective makes it seem like there’s nothing out there. I make sure that no one believes that.”

Despite Hayden’s normally cavalier attitude, a fervent light begins to shine in his eyes as he says it. He truly believes that his show can do some good, and even though they’d all been making fun of him earlier, it’s hard not to lean in and want to hear more.

“What kind of hope?” Risa asks. Her voice drops closer to an awed whisper than she’d really meant, but it seemed to suit the mood.

Hayden grins, entranced by the sheer idea of it. “It means there’s someone else out there than just the Collective. They can’t stand the thought of it. They went out of their way to shut down resistance, but they can’t stamp out every pocket of it.”

Hayden’s voice takes on a darker tone. “Suns know they tried, though. All of humanity came from just one planet, and now we’re on all of them. Something happened to eliminate whatever came before us, but they went too far.”

Risa shudders. This is something that’s plagued her before. How do you get rid of hundreds of civilizations across the galaxy? Some of the worlds the old-Earth explorers discovered were uninhabited, yes, but not all of them. The Collective killed off their opposition, but they didn’t just kill the inhabitants. They killed everything.

There are no living things left in the galaxy, not anymore. All that’s left are replicants, synth-plants and lab-grown animals. You can blame the mass extinction on anything you like, but in the end, the truth is this:  we choked out life itself because we were so desperate to grow that we forgot to leave space for everything else. Every flora must be grown by hand. Every fauna must be cloned. It’s an exhaustive cycle, and extraordinarily inefficient. Hence the need to strip ferals of their parts so any leftover bit of living matter can be injected back into the dying galaxy.

Hayden’s gaze has gone cold. “It’s not just the Collective we’re fighting, though. One government can’t hold back the population of the entire galaxy forever. Luckily for them, they’re backed by the richest people in all the worlds, and they had to go make the Proactive Citizenry.”

Connor’s expression flickers over with distrust. “I hate those guys. They used to send representatives out to my system every now and then to warn us against misbehaving. It happened like once a year or something, they’d leer at us about how our eyes would end up in someone else’s sockets if we didn’t keep our grades up.”

Risa nods in assent. The Proactive Citizenry may have started out as a small grassroots organization, but it’s become severely inflated over time, bloated with the weight of its own moral superiority. Turns out, all it takes are a hundred or so extremely powerful donors, and you can do just about anything. Distribution might have disappeared on its own within a few decades of its creation, but the PC made sure that would never happen. Whenever distribution rates start to plummet, the PC steps in with several large donations, spreading their message far and wide across the galaxy. All it took was one man, one Dorian Heartland, to start it up around the same time humanity started exploring space centuries ago, and his gory machine has kept them all in check ever since.

Risa can never be sure why in sunfire they feel the need to do it. All the big donors in the Proactive Citizenry are well above the age of distribution, obviously, so they’ll only benefit from having new skin and organs to pass around, but certainly some of them should have gained a conscience after all this time. Instead, they pass on their ideals from generation to generation, and the wheels of lost flesh keep turning.

They’ve fine-tuned their message over the years, turning the public focus away from the kids losing their lives to the galaxy who needs all the help it can get. That’s how the PC makes money, supposedly, by turning raw distributed matter into life again. Recycling. Rejuvenation. A redistribution of creation into the ecosystems that need it. 

Despite the moral overtones, it’s impossible to ignore that their grand society is built on blood. Risa, for one, does not intend to forget it anytime soon. However, she’s only one girl without even a grounds license to stand on. How can anyone fight the richest people in the galaxy? How can anyone take on a system like that and walk away with the victory?

Hayden must be thinking the same thing, because he lets out a harsh sigh before continuing on. “That’s what I’m trying to do, at least. If someone can stand up against the PC, maybe it’ll have to be me. I’m the only one with the means of contacting anyone outside of this cruiser, anyway.”

Connor nods, half in his own world. “The Admiral knows about your little talk show?”

Hayden pulls a face that makes it quite clear what he thinks about the Admiral, but agrees. “Yeah, he knows. I may like the sound of my own voice more than my handful of listeners, but I wanted to make sure it was actually safe. Even so, he was pretty harsh about it. All of the comms systems have to be locked down every night, and no one except the ComBom workers are allowed inside here. Except for you two, of course, but I make an exception for my fans. It’s just not worth the risk of anyone else getting their hands on this stuff.”

Risa shudders. “It’s dangerous, is what it is. All it takes is one kid wandering in here and we could send out a signal the PC could pick up in no time. Then we’d have an entire army of Juvey-cops on our tail, and stars know the Graveyard is in no condition to fight or fly.”

A shuffling sound outside the door makes all three of them startle. The door’s half open– environmental controls have been shoddy as of late, despite Connor and the other engineers working to fix the issue, so anything to encourage air flow is a must– and although she can’t see anything in the glimpse of the corridor outside, Risa swears she heard something.

Jeevan grimaces, temporarily glancing up from his work to aim a glare at the door. “Gotta be a runner. Man, those starspawn piss me off. Always strutting around like they’re so important just because their jobs let them hear everyone’s gossip.”

Hayden chuckles. “You’re just bitter because one of them caught you admiring your reflection in one of the polished viewports and told half the ship. Anyway, Risa, I wouldn’t worry about the odds of our discovery much more than usual. Like I said, I’ve been doing this a while, and nothing has happened.”

“Nothing has happened yet,” Connor clarifies.

Risa leans back in her chair, lost in thought. She’s always known that their situation in the Graveyard was precarious– put a couple hundred runaway distributes anywhere and you’re going to have people looking for you, obviously, but this puts things in an entirely different light. Hayden made it seem like the Juveys are actively listening in, just waiting for one of them to slip up and send out a tracer they can’t pull back. It’s easy to forget that the rest of the world exists when she only ever sees her friends on one behemoth of a star cruiser, but the galaxy isn’t as inclined to return the favor. All it takes is one mistake, and they’re all gone. All of this work, running and hiding and fighting, and it would be for nothing.

Connor senses her paranoia, and casually drapes his right hand over the arm of his chair so he can tap twice against her left forearm. It calms her down immediately, like she’s some kind of sleeper soldier who can only be activated by him. Hayden watches this happen with a faintly bemused expression, but says nothing.

“No one’s finding us, Risa,” Connor says. “How could they?”

unwind tag list: @schroedingers-kater, @sirofreak, @locke-writes

all tags list: @wordsarelife

#unwind #unwind imagines #unwind oneshot #unwind series #unwind fanfic #unwind dystology #unwind dystology oneshot #unwind dystology imagines #unwind dystology series #unwind dystology fanfic #connor lassiter #connor lassiter imagines #connor lassiter oneshot #connor lassiter series #connor lassiter fanfic #risa ward #risa ward imagines #risa ward oneshot #risa ward series #risa ward fanfic #conrisa #conrisa imagines #conrisa oneshot #conrisa series #conrisa fanfic #connor x risa #connor lassiter x risa ward #connor x risa imagines #connor x risa oneshot #connor x risa fanfic

[sadnesslaughs]

You are a lich who, in an attempt to escape the hero, managed to telekinetically throw yourself into space and landed on the moon. After countless years, you’ve managed to create a comfortable life for yourself, only for a space shuttle and some astronauts to land nearby and plant a flag.

(A writing prompt response.)

In a vain attempt at self-preservation, I doomed myself to a lonely fate, blasting myself into space, landing on the moon. At first, I seethed, cursing the hero with all my might. How I would have loved to drag the hero with me, hold their neck as they suffocated before me. Watch them flail and try to scream as the life faded from their eyes. Though, with each passing year, my hatred faded. The hero would have died long ago and my grudge died with them. It’s hard to hate a dead man.

The moon became my home, and I did my best to make it comfortable. While I missed the comforts of a good book or even the aroma of a patch of flowers, I found other beauty to admire. I spent my days voyaging around the rock, finding a pleasant spot to sit and stare at the Earth, in awe of the fantastic nature of it all.

“Marvelous. A place of life and death, that turns even when the greatest people fade. I’m starting to see why you liked the place, hero. I think I liked it too at some stage, before I lost myself.” I stared at my boney hand, feeling a hit of melancholy, grieving something I longed to remember.

Then they arrived, a strange sight that mesmerized me. People on my rock? The shuttle disturbed the ground, sending dust floating away while I stood on and watched. How long had it been since I saw a human? Instantly I had the desire to control them, wanting to flee this cursed place. My left hand gripped my right, steadying it, stopping me from doing something I would regret.

Two figures emerged, both dressed in white spacesuits. They carried with them a flag of little importance. The symbols on it foreign to me, belonging to a group or leader on Earth. The figures descent down the stairs slowed when they saw me staring at them. One could only imagine what they were thinking. The pair seeing a skeleton staring at them, my green glowing eyes locked on the group, watching them hesitate.

I motioned them off the stairs, pointing towards myself. I had no intention of hurting them, at least not until I knew why they were here. They looked at one another before proceeding down the stairs, landing across from me. If I had skin, I would have smiled. Instead, I gave them a wave, trying not to show any hostilities.

“Hello, mortals.” I greeted.

They didn’t hear me, and I couldn’t hear them. When I learned talking was pointless, I moved aside and sat on the stairs, allowing them to do whatever they came to do in peace. They were wary of me, constantly looking over their shoulders. After a few minutes, that wariness faded, the two planting the flag while I watched, surprised to see how far humanity had come. When it came time for them to leave, I left the stairs, standing in front of their vessel. One of them paused before rushing up the stairs, finding a helmet and passing it to me. They motioned me to put it on and when I did; I heard a female’s voice.

“You’re actually real, aren’t you?”

“As real as any other creature. Why are you here, mortal?”

“To place a new flag on the moon. We also had to gather some samples.” She waved a small see through bag towards me, showing me a collection of small rocks gathered inside it. “Neat, right?”

“It is. What are your names?”

“I’m Luna, he’s Eric.”

“Don’t tell him my name. He might curse me.” Eric hissed, keeping his distance from me. He had better survival instincts than Luna. If I hadn’t spent so many years alone, I may have cursed them.

“Lighten up. Curses aren’t real. You sound like my great grandpa, Fredrick.”

“Fredrick?” That name sparked my attention. Hadn’t someone referred to the hero by that same name? I stood up, trying to peer into her helmet, unable to see anything but my own decayed face. She didn’t back away when I neared, allowing me to sate my curiosity.

“Yeah, he was a big deal, apparently. Said he got rid of a great monster or something like that. He must have been an author with the stories he made up. Also kept telling people to stay away from the moon. That’s why I wanted to explore it. I wanted to see if there actually was a monster up there.” As she said that, the realization set in, causing her to back up.

“Please tell me you're joking, Luna. Why didn’t you mention that before?” Eric tried to move towards the ship, only to realize I was blocking it. If he wanted to get on the ship, he would have to pass me. Noticing his dilemma, I stepped aside.

“He was a strange man, your great grandfather. Most people would crumble when they find themselves against unbeatable odds. Frederick instead thrived, working best when his back was against the wall. He forced me to defeat myself, banishing myself to this lonely place. Heh, it’s funny that of all people, his great granddaughter would give me a chance of returning to Earth.”

“Like hell I’m going to let you return.” That fire in her words made me laugh, like a recording of Frederick himself. Eric had already fled into the confines of the ship, leaving me and Luna to have a standoff.

“How would you stop me? You have no powers.”

“I would tackle you and let Eric escape.”

I laughed again. So careless and defiant, Frederick lived on. “You can’t keep me down for long. Without powers, you’re as good as dead. Still, I’ve lost my interest in destruction and death. Theres a beauty to the Earth that I couldn’t see while I was there.”

“There is, isn’t there?” We both stopped, staring at the Earth, admiring it in silence. If it wasn’t for Eric, we would have stood there for hours. When his voice called Luna back to the ship, we both snapped out of our stupor.

“You should go.”

“Do you want to come?” Luna offered.

“No, no, no! How would we even explain that to anyone? He’s better off staying here.” Eric said, fearing me as any normal human should.

“I suspect my place isn’t on the Earth anymore. At least not at the moment. Maybe some day I’ll return. For now, I wish to stare a little longer.” Before she left, I stopped her, asking her a question. “Do you think there’s anything left of me?” I asked, gazing at Luna.

“Anything left?”

“Of what I was before this. A human.”

“In great grandpa’s journal, he mentioned you appeared troubled. You’re not as much of a monster as you like to think you are.” She smiled, offering me her hand to shake. I reached up and shook it, feeling another touch of nostalgia as I watched her leave. As the ship took off, I saw her face in the window, those bright green eyes staring at me before she went to her seat. She even had those same green eyes.

#short stories #writing #writing prompt #story #writer

[starwarsoutcast]

Chapter 1

"Preparing for final approach. Access code should have transmitted by now." Shud watched the comms array and kept one hand resting on the sensor jamming controls, just in case.

The New Republic was just too understaffed to keep track of all the small transports making blue milk runs in this sector. Even if the bogus code didn't pass muster, there was no one to give chase. No one to try and scramble a transponder signature from the shuttle. There was too much space traffic, and too few peacekeepers. Still, a bored engineer might track their exit vector. It was just easier to be cautious. Precious cargo, Shud thought.

This particular lump of iron ferrite, no bigger than one of the lesser moons of Bogden, was considered the Republic's only substantial hub in the region. No one stayed on the Rings of Kafrene for long, they just grabbed whatever rest possible and passage to somewhere better. It was a dingy little outpost among flat grey asteroids, and there was no sky. That's what made it perfect. Shud angled the little Incom vessel for a circular landing, knowing full well that no one would give them a second glance among the rest of the space trash.

"Access is affirmative, Shuttle Purrgil Song. Proceed to dock platform, space number three-oh-two-three."

Shud grinned. The hard part was over. They looked over one shoulder to the trio of Gand adolescents strapped in to the seats bolted to the floor of the cargo hold. "We've got a landing clearance, folks. All that happens now is a nice easy stroll to your next charter."

The eldest of the squat little insectoids, a male, was rubbing one three-fingered hand across his respirator device nervously. The two younger Gand, the little sisters, droned out a few low tones punctuated with clicks and buzzing noises. It was a subtle language, and Shud didn't follow it. But the older brother hissed out in Basic. "This Gand is very grateful for your help. Is there time for a meal before the next voyage?"

Shud shook their head. "Sorry, my friend. We've timed this very precisely. But there is food to your liking aboard the next ship. I requested it specifically."

"You have done much for this clan already. Many thanks."

Once the shuttle dropped out of the hustle and bustle of orbit and rested demurely in the space on the landing pad, Shud was finally able to unstrap and stretch. Big around the middle these days, and boasting more wrinkles and folds across the muddy brown face than a Clawdite should at their age, they were positive it was all from over-worrying about Republic entanglements. Not that they had anything against the Republic. Shud was born hating the Galactic Empire--it was a family motto--and the democracy that replaced it had the right sentiments. Just a tragic sense of self-importance. One would swear that was how the Old Republic fizzled and died in its last days, and the fancy lordships on Chandrila and Coruscant seemed determined to set everything back exactly to where it was nearly half a century ago. Shud would prefer the galaxy move forward instead, but what did they know.

The three Gand seemed to relax once their feet hit the landing platform. Their species was not at ease in space, or really anywhere far from their homeworld. But they had come this far, over two hundred parsecs. If the elder sibling could get them all safely back to their planet after all this, Shud was confident that the young fellow would earn his clan's name for his effort. Until then, he continuously referred to himself as merely 'this Gand,' which was adorable in its humility but admittedly inconvenient for communicating in Basic. The little family looked around in all directions, like tourists, letting their compound eyes take in the mass of consumption that Kafrene saw each day.

Vendors barked at them in every language as Shud herded the passengers down the grimy trench toward the next landing platform. Luckily, Gand had largely unreadable expressions of fear or uncertainty to the unfamiliar eye, and so their vacant trudge was uneventful to the locals. One human had decided to wander along with them for a spell, goading them with Huttese insults. Shud could tell it was a bad peddler's act; the accent was ghastly, and it was a common human belief that Huttese could act as a universal language in place of Basic in the lowest places in the universe.

The pilot waved off the wretch, and then pointed out to their charges how high the shanty walls of the trench reached these days. "When I was a youngling, a sturdy climber could reach the top of these and make better time crossing to the other side. Not so, these days." They kept pace, and were thankful the next ship was only a half-klick away instead of on the other side of the junker spaceport.

"Pardon me," another human voice came, though this one was far more civil and purposeful. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but we are checking baggage and documentation for anyone lifting off."

Shud looked to the voice and saw a human female, barely old enough for their species to be considered a matured adult. She wore a Republic uniform, something semi-formal in a light grey over beige, and carried a datapad. Shud had not panicked, but the Gand became distressed almost immediately, looking over to their keeper with as much desperation as their bugeyes could demonstrate. The landing platform was within shouting distance of them all. They had almost made it undetected.

"This clan has no belongings," the male Gand warbled unsteadily.

The Republic officer balked. "Carrying nothing? What is this, a religious pilgrimage or something?"

Shud laughed hard at the comment. Harder than one should. They felt the mistake only a moment too late, then decided to commit to it. "Hahaha, something close to that, as a matter of coincidence. These fine friends of mine were, ah," they struggled to find the word, and felt an involuntary tightening of the skin across their jaw. "Visiting. The pilgrimage is back to their kin, where they belong."

"Visiting...Kafrene? Really." The slack, pale face turned stern and the woman brushed dark brown curls from her eyes and scanned her datapad. "Might I scan your identification?"

The smallest of the three Gand trilled and bounced on her heels.

Shud tried their best, but started to stammer. "I-I-I believe Sector Authority can help with that. Spoke to an Ubese fellow who gave these three special refugee clearance. Not me, I'm just seeing them off. These are rough streets here, you understand."

"Refugee status? That's completely against protocol for a simple pleasure visit."

Over the officer's shoulder, an unassuming sight on the landing pad captured Shud's attention when an L-1g model droid staggered closer and closer to their exchange. The general purpose clanker was even older than Shud, and boasted a dark blue paint scheme across its casings with little lemon yellow streaks running up and down it. This was the other pilot in their relay, PV-21.

Shud used sheer will not to wave off the droid, lest the officer catch on to what was happening. Instead, they glared hard and tried to convey the message silently. It didn't help when Shud's face contorted and a more pronounced browline suddenly jutted out over their eyes.

"Good grief!" the Republic official recoiled. "Are you a shapeshifter?"

"Hey!" Shud snapped back. Their face returned to normal. "You don't use that word. I'm a Clawdite. My appearance is my business, savvy?"

The young woman blinked. "I meant no offense, please forgive me. You just startled me is all."

"Well...I am offended. So offended, in fact, I'm just going to turn back and take my dear little ones with me!" Shud seized the male Gand by the hem of his rough poncho and waved the others back. Before turning around completely, they could see that PV-21 had halted but was now standing aimlessly, wondering what to do next.

But the officer followed. "Wait just a minute! Nothing you're saying makes any sense!"

This is going to be one of those rotten days that never ends, Shud knew. "Uh, well...hmm." All that extra cargo around their belly was finally going to come in handy, at least. Twisting to put their body between the government agent and the three Gand, Shud actually shrugged apologetically before ramming one shoulder into the much smaller being as hard as possible.

The lithe little human rocked back on her heels and dropped her datapad before falling on her backside with an oomph of breath.

Shud grabbed the brother Gand roughly this time and shouted into his big multifaceted eyes, "This Gand needs to run, come on now!" And all four of them went careening off back into the crowded walkway, knocking persistent cart dealers and con artists out of the way with wild abandon.

Huffing and puffing within only perhaps a hundred steps, Shud grumbled. "I really don't like breaking the law. But you know, travel regulations are not the worst ones to break! Maybe they'll take it easy on me." The big Clawdite didn't even carry a blaster, so no one could call this 'armed assault' or 'armed resistance' or 'armed' anything. Right? Sure, Shud. Relax yourself on that basis. It's not like you just shoulder-tackled a human in uniform or something bad like that.

The little gang rounded a corner into an alley and flattened against the makeshift walls that looked like old pre-Empire durasteel plating. Unable to catch their breath silently, Shud hoped the hum of the ongoing marketplace would drown it out. They remained there until a clacking of boots echoed past the general noise, approaching from the direction of the platform.

The smallest of the Gand tugged at the utility vest Shud wore. Forgetting the language barrier, they leaned down to listen to her hushed thrumming of vocal distress. Big brother put his rough hands on the young one's shoulders to quell the speech, but Shud stared her in the eyes and listened. Small, breathy tones beat rhythmically from her. She was terrified, and what was more was that even Shud couldn't answer any questions even if they had the answers.

Fear was one thing, the anxiety of being nabbed by authorities. But the Gand had no clue where old Chancellor Mothma's sloppy hold on this sector would send them if they were detained. It was just as good a bet they would stay locked up on Kafrene indefinitely, or that they would be shipped off to a New Republic peacekeeping outpost as wards of the Senate. Gand was not a member planet, and never would be, the ammonia clouds hiding the entire species and their culture from any greater galactic hegemony. Chief among their cultural sticking points, the little insectoid race held no tolerance for clan members who left their home.

The cacophony of boots rumbled up to their alley and Shud watched as five New Republic agents trudged through the din of the main trench, brandishing stun batons. All of them were humans of at least ninety kilos, with broad shoulders and grim looks of determination. But after a moment, the pilot and their passengers breathed easy as the contingent kept moving past them.

Shud looked down their alley and tried to remember which direction the Purrgil Song was docked. If the Gand weren't able to board PV-21's transport, then Shud's little ship was their only way of escape. But before a proper course could be plotted in their head, they found their eyes drawn to something no one tended to see on Kafrene: white.

Specifically, Shud saw a humanoid shape up the slope of the alley wearing a stark, bone-white set of plate armor. And a matching domed helmet with dispassionate black eyes. Though the figure was solid of shape, Shud was certain they were looking at a ghost, and one whose presence was far less welcome than the Republic's penchant for arbitrary transit restriction.

The Empire had been dead for twenty years...but that right there was a shiny new stormtrooper, and no mistake about it.

***

#star wars fanfiction #gen fic #oc fanfiction #new republic #rings of kafrene #clawdite #gand #star wars outcast #nonbinary #sfw fanfic #starships #first order #resistance

[wemblingfool]

Admiral Hayes: First off, Captain. We at this review board would like to say welcome back home, to you and your crew. Not even Jim Kirk himself managed such a miraculous feat.

Captain Janeway: Thank you, Admiral. It's good to finally be home.

Admiral Cho: We're here today to review your performance over the last seven years, and discuss one reoccurence that troubles us deeply.

Captain Janeway: About that. I am fully prepaired to face the music. Our disregarding of the Prime Directive is my fault and mine alone. Please don't fault my crew.

Admiral Cho: Oh, no no no no! Those were exceptional circumstances, and we have no doubt that you acted in good faith. You were in an impossible situation, and did what you had to.

Captain Janeway: Then what...?

Admiral Hayes: It's the shuttles.

Captain Janeway: I'm sorry, The shuttles?

Admiral Hayes: Yes. When you left spacedock seven years ago, you were equipped with six shuttles. More than enough for your assignment, and almost as many as such a small ship can carry.

Admiral Cho: Yet your logs show you blew through those within a few months.

Captain Janeway: Well we were in impossible circumstances!

Admiral Hayes: We understand that. However, you kept losing shuttles, long after you exhausted your supply.

Captain Janeway: .......

Admiral Cho: You even designed a shuttle, after you assessed that your shuttles weren't "up to the challenge." The Delta Flyer, I believe. And then proceeded to lose it, as well.

Admiral Hayes: ...only for The Delta Flyer II to turn up.

Captain Janeway: ......

Admiral Hayes: The fact is, Captain. Not only have you lost far more shuttles than you left with by order of magnitude, you have returned with more shuttles in your hold than you left with. This is very disturbing.

Admiral Cho: Do you care to explain this, Captain?

Admiral Janeway: ...no. No, I don't.

#star trek voyager #star trek: voyager #star trek #st:voy #captain kathryn janeway #captain janeway #admiral janeway #starships #starship #uss voyager #voyager #the voyager had far too many shuttles

[myenterpriseisparked]

The Voyager Bunch

Or, Rascals: Voyager Edition

-----

Based on this post

This is dedicated to @jellybeansarecool @bizships @emilie786 @joyful-voyager and @subtle-spock for providing ideas, encouragement, and for generally being really awesome people. Also they are the nicest folks ever. Go follow them.

This ain’t my first fanfiction rodeo, but it is my first Star Trek fanfiction rodeo so I beg for your patience. Also, I am perfectly aware that there are some plot holes in here. This is because I am an animal scientist, not a Starfleet physicist/biologist/whateverist. Swiss cheese also has holes and swiss cheese is good so please consider that.

Click here to read on AO3, if you prefer. Thanks for reading!

-----

Despite having only been a captain for a few years, Kathryn Janeway had seen more unusual occurrences, courtesy of the Delta Quadrant, than most Starfleet captains combined. Some days, she felt a little overwhelmed by the summary of the last three years of experiences. Other days, she was grateful for the callouses such challenges had built over her nerves, preparing her to face even the strangest incidents without panicking.

Today was a day to be grateful, because without having seen everything she had seen, the prospect of her Chief Engineer, Chief of Security, Head Helmsman, and most brilliant Ensign being reverted into child-like versions of themselves would have launched her straight into a spiral of panic.

“How-” Janeway paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, “how exactly did this happen?”

“Well, ya see, ‘Lanna and Harry and I were in that shuttle and then this big black thing showed up and we flew into it and there was a big flash and-”

Janeway held a hand up, cutting off the shockingly fast string of prattle. “I think I understand that part, Tom, thank you.” She spoke as gently and patiently as possible. “What I don’t understand is how Tuvok got into this.... predicament.”

She turned toward the tallest of the four children, who stood with his hands behind his back in a way that would have been exactly like Tuvok, if the pre-teen boy weren’t fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and looking around the bridge, open mouthed and starry-eyed. “Tuvok?”

The Vulcan turned toward her. “The shuttle was stuck in the anomaly and the tractor beam wasn’t working, so I rammed my ship into theirs to dislodge it.” Tuvok nearly smiled, which was jarring to see on his features, no matter how much younger he looked. “It worked, but I got sucked into the anomaly too. When we came out the other side, we looked like this.”

He motioned to Tom and B’Elanna, who were standing next to him, both of which appeared to be around the age of 5 or 6. Harry, who looked to be about a year old, was currently tucked into Chakotay’s arms, playing contentedly with the rank bar at the large man’s throat.

Janeway looked the group over, ignoring the humored smiled playing at her first officer’s lips. With a sigh, she turned to the members of her senior officer team that were not currently under the age of 13. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“I would like to run some experiments first, but I am wondering if I can age their DNA back to the correct age in a process similar to the one I used to turn you and Mr. Paris back into humans after the, ah, Warp 10 incident,” The Doctor said.

“That might put their bodies back at the right age,” Kes said, brow furrowing, “but their minds appear to have reverted to their new biological age as well. Will the DNA reversal process fix that?”

The Doctor tilted his head. “I’m unsure. I need more time to research and run simulations.”

Janeway nodded. “Get started on that right away. In the meantime,” she turned back to the children and her commander, “let’s get you four something to eat.” 

Neelix jumped to his feet, practically lighting up the room with his enthusiasm. “I’ll fix you kiddos up something real nice!” He dashed over to the door with a wild grin. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll have the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever smelt!” He saluted the whole room and practically bounced out the door.

Janeway glanced over at Chakotay who, for the first time since he had picked up baby Harry, looked nervous. His worried glance met her own and he tilted his head.

“Well,” Chakotay sighed, “hopefully these guys aren’t as picky of eaters as I was.”

-----

As unappealing as Janeway found Neelix’s cooking to be, it was, apparently, perfect for kids, as evidenced by the unrestrained glee with which Tom, B’Elanna, and Tuvok devoured their sandwiches.

The captain couldn’t help but smile as Tom downed the second half of his sandwich in a few bites and think how the older version of Tom would have been appalled to see himself eating Neelix’s cooking with such enjoyment.

As the older children ate, Janeway found herself spooning some kind of mashed vegetable mix into Harry’s waiting mouth. At first, she was a little uncomfortable with the idea of feeding one of her best officers, but, once she was able to get past the strangeness of the entire situation, she found herself enjoying the funny expressions and eager attitude of the baby in front of her.

“Gosh, he’s such a cute baby.” She said with a grin for the fourth time.

Chakotay leaned over, his shoulder brushing hers as he smiled at Harry. “I’d like to agree with you, Captain, but you keep hogging him so I can’t get a good look.” He turned to look her in the eye, raising his eyebrow teasingly.

She shoved him playfully with her elbow. “You got to hold him earlier in the conference room. It’s my turn.”

“I think your turn ended about ten minutes ago,” he grinned.

“I think I can find something else for you to do if you’re going to take Harry away from me, Commander.” She returned his grin.

“Fine,” Chakotay shook his head with a chuckle, “but I get him later.”

-----

Several hours had passed since lunch and, much to Chakotay’s disappointment, baby Harry was still firmly in Janeway’s possession, perched on her hip and looking for all the world like he belonged there.

Chakotay tried not to think too much about how naturally Kathryn had taken to caring for Harry as he watched her pace the bridge, checking on various scanner readings and flight paths, from his position on the floor by their command chairs. Beside him, Tom and B’Elanna rolled a ball back and forth between them, excitedly chattering about... well... everything.

“Do you think the whales were really THAT big?” Tom spread his arms out to the side.

“Yeah they were!” B’Elanna exclaimed loudly enough that the entire ship could probably hear it. Despite Chakotay’s best efforts to get her to lower her voice, the young girl seemed to only have one volume. “I saw a big fake one in a museum once and it was HUGE!”

“Whoa!” Tom’s eyes widened. “Bigger than this ship?”

B’Elanna tilted her head. “I don’t know, but it was definitely bigger than me!”

The two kids laughed, rolling the ball back and forth faster.

“Hey Tom?”

“What?”

“You’re my best friend!” B’Elanna suddenly reached forward and gave Tom a hug.

Chakotay glanced up at Kathryn to exchange a look of awe before he turned back to the kids on the floor. “But B’E, I thought you just said a few minutes ago that I’m your best friend.” He raised an eyebrow, hiding his smile.

The young girl gave him a look that he had seen far too many times on her older counterpart’s face whenever he said something particularly dumb. “I can have two best friends, duh.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

Suddenly, he saw Kathryn’s purposeful walk stop out of the corner of his eye. 

“Chakotay,” her voice was even and tense, “where’s Tuvok?”

Eyes widening, Chakotay glanced around the bridge. Tuvok was no where to be seen.

“Chakotay to Tuvok.” He stood as he tapped his commbadge. “Tuvok, please acknowledge.” They waited a moment and, upon receiving no response, moved simultaneously toward the turbolift. 

“It’s possible he hasn’t figured out how to use his comm.” Janeway tucked Harry closer to her side as they stepped into the lift. “Computer: locate Tuvok.”

“Unable to comply.”

Janeway gave the ceiling a glare. “Why?”

The computer did not respond.

“Maybe the de-aging effect has made it difficult for the computer to locate him.” Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s alright; he’s probably just exploring the ship; you saw how amazed he was by everything in the conference room earlier.”

She nodded tightly. “Let’s hope so. Where do you think he’s gone?”

“Maybe to the holodeck?”

“Or his quarters.”

“What about the mess hall?”

“He just ate.”

They both paused, mulling it over.

“Alright.” Kathryn straightened. “I’ll check holodeck one and his quarters, you check holodeck two and the mess hall.” She turned back to the lift door. “Holodeck one.”

Chakotay swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying not to think of all the ways a small child could get hurt on a spaceship like Voyager. As the turbolift began to move, Janeway’s badge chirped.

“Kes to the captain.”

Her brow raised as she tapped the emblem. “Go ahead.”

“I think I’ve found something you’re missing.” Kes’s usually lighthearted tone was even lighter, clear amusement seeping through.

Kathryn turned to look Chakotay in the eye, a hopeful smile brightening her face. “I’m on my way.”

-----

Honestly, Janeway was a little ashamed of the fact that she didn’t think to go looking for her best friend among the orchids and other plants in the aeroponics bay, considering his horticulturally-related hobbies. As she and Chakotay stepped into the room, smiles crept onto both of their faces as they watched Tuvok carefully transfer one of Kes’s sprouts to a bigger pot. After patting the soil around the plant firmly, he wiped a hand across his forehead, smearing dirt on his face to match the dirt on his uniform.

Kes smiled up at the command team. “He came down and asked about a hundred questions about our system and then offered to help me with my work while we talked because its ‘more efficient to talk and work than simply talk.’” 

Janeway chuckled at Kes’s approximation of Tuvok’s speech pattern. “Thanks for letting us know, Kes.” She reluctantly handed Harry to Chakotay, who flashed his dimples, and crouched next to Tuvok. “Hello there.”

Tuvok glanced up quickly before resuming his work. “Hello, Captain. Did you know that these Talaxian green beans take only a week and a half to reach maturity?”

“I did not.” Janeway raised a brow and tilted her head. “That’s very impressive.”

“I thought so too when Kes told me.” He patted the soil around another plant and set it aside, retrieving another sprout.

“Tuvok,” the captain reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, “I’m glad you’ve found something to do, but you have to tell someone where you’re going before you wander off. We didn’t know what happened to you and Chakotay and I were really worried.”

Behind her, Chakotay’s heart flipped. There was something rather... intimate about the way she had referred to both of them being worried about a child.

“I’m sorry, Captain.” Tuvok nodded his head. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Janeway smiled and stood. “Why don’t you help Kes down here for a while and then come back up to the bridge when you are ready?” She looked at Kes. “That is, if Kes is alright with that.”

The young woman smiled. “Of course, I’d love some help.”

Janeway nodded and turned back to Tuvok. “Be sure to let us know when you’re on your way back up.”

“Of course, Captain.”

She patted him one last time on the shoulder and turned back to Chakotay. They fell into step beside one another and entered the elevator.

As the doors whooshed closed, Janeway turned to Chakotay with the intention of reclaiming Harry, but stopped. A smile grew across her lips as she watched Chakotay bounce Harry gently, allowing the little boy to palm his tattoo in curiosity. Even as one of Harry’s chubby fingers poked him in the eye, Chakotay simply chuckled and took the tiny hand in his own.

He finally turned to look at her. “What?”

Kathryn just shook her head, grinning wider. “I was going to take Harry from you, but I can’t bear to break up this cute little arrangement.” She motioned to the two of them with a long finger.

The corner of Chakotay’s mouth kicked up a little higher. “Captain, did you just imply that I’m cute?”

Her brow arched, but her smile didn’t diminish. “It would be hard for anyone to look unappealing with a cute baby in their arms.”

Her heart stopped suddenly as she realized what she had just said. From the look of Chakotay’s face, he had caught it too. Implying that he and the baby were cute was one thing; calling him “appealing” was another. Before she could say anything else she might regret, Kathryn turned back to the lift door, schooling her features back into the face of the Captain.

If she had turned but a half-second later, she would have seen a wide smile break across Chakotay’s face.

-----

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I need more time. I won’t deactivate myself until I have a solution, but this situation is very delicate and I can’t risk rushing my tests. You’ll need to find somewhere for the children to sleep. Hopefully I’ll have a solution tomorrow.”

Kathryn nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Doctor.”

With a grim smile, the feed from sickbay switched off, leaving her to look at her dark reflection in the black screen. Something like relief swept over help alongside a touch of regret. On one hand, she could really use her senior officers back in functioning shape. On the other hand....

Her eyes drifted back down to Harry, who had pulled a bit of her hair out of it’s ponytail and was curling it around his tiny fist in unbreakable fascination. A smile tugged at her lips as she cuddled him a bit closer. 

She could get used to this.

The thought struck her before she even knew what she was feeling and, as soon as she admitted it to herself, she took that feeling and shoved it as deep into the recesses of her mind as she could. She was the captain of a ship that was constantly in danger and she shouldn’t dwell on things she couldn’t have.

Kathryn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, Harry, looks like we need to find you a place to sleep.”

Turning back to the computer, she moved to set him down so she could use both hands to search the crew quarters layouts for a suitable place to keep the children overnight. As soon as Harry’s feet touched the ground, a wail rose from the back of his throat and his face scrunched.

Kathryn quickly scooped him back up. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

The boy’s cry of protest faded into whimpers and he buried his head in her shoulder, clinging to her tightly.

A warm feeling washed over her. “Ah,” she smiled, “I see.”

She pulled him closer and turned back to the computer, tapping buttons with one hand. “You can stay up here with me, then.”

The door to her quarters chimed.

“Come in.” 

Before she could turn to greet her guest, mischievous giggles rose from the door. Eyebrow raised, she whirled around to find Chakotay standing in the doorway, a stack of PADDs in his hand, a tiny engineer on his left leg, and a tiny helmsman on his right.

He stepped forward with far less difficultly than she would have expected, given the extra weight on his legs. He crossed the room quickly and passed the PADDs to her. “The crew reports you requested.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, glancing down at the still giggling forms. “Not to alarm you, Commander, but it would seem that you have a couple of lifeforms attached to you.”

Chakotay’s eyes grew wide in mock surprise. “Really?” He turned his head and shuffled around, as if to look at his back. “Where?”

Tom and B’Elanna’s laughter grew. Suddenly, Chakotay leaned over and scooped the two of them off his legs, lifting them both up over his shoulders as their shrieked in delight.

He turned back to Kathryn with a wide smile. “Not to worry, Captain, I’ve apprehended the life forms.” 

She smiled back with a soft chuckle. “We need to find a place for the life forms to stay tonight.”

Chakotay’s smile faded into a more serious, but not displeased look. “The Doctor doesn’t have a solution yet, then?” He lowered Tom and B’Elanna to the ground. They scampered off to the viewport, excitedly chattering about the stars.

“No, he needs a bit more time.”

Chakotay nodded. “Maybe I could take them for the night, that way someone is there to keep an eye on them.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I have no doubt in your babysitting abilities, Commander, but four children is a lot for one person to watch alone and your quarters are not big enough for Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 to run around in.” She gestured to the kids at the window. 

“Fair point. Maybe I should take Harry and Tuvok then, and you could take Tom and B’Elanna?”

She turned Harry away from Chakotay. “Trying to take my boy again, are you Chakotay?” 

He chuckled and shook his head. “Do you have another idea, then, Mom?”

Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to smirk at him and continue speaking without any indication that his previous sentence had impacted her. “My quarters are the largest on the ship. If we set up cots here in my living room we could easily both keep an eye on the children overnight.”

“Sounds good to me.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “How about I go collect Tuvok from aeroponics and some food from the mess hall while you get the cots set up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He gave her one last lingering smile, which she returned, before heading out the door and down the hall.

-----

Apparently the lunch they had shared earlier that day had been misleadingly easy. Supper was, to put it lightly, a challenge.

“B’Elanna, eat your own food and stop taking from Tom’s plate,” Kathryn said firmly.

“But Tom isn’t eating it!”

“I was going to eat it! I’m just a slower eater than you are!”

“Well eat faster then!”

“B’Elanna!” Chakotay set down the spoon he had been using to feed Harry and fixed her with a stern look. “That food isn’t yours, and Kathryn already asked you to stop taking Tom’s food. You won’t be asked again.”

B’Elanna mumbled out an apology and stuffed another bite of her own meal into her mouth.

Kathryn shot Chakotay a grateful smile and turned to Tuvok, who was holding up one of his vegetables to the light. “Tuvok? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the xylem and phloem of this plant.”

She bit back a smile. “I appreciate your curiosity, Tuvok, but I need you to stop studying your food and start eating it.”

The young Vulcan turned to her and nodded. “Of course.” He politely chewed and swallowed his food and turned back to the captain. “Did you know that this particular plant is a distant cousin of Terran broccoli? You can tell by the-”

Chakotay smiled as he watched Kathryn listen to Tuvok’s fourth lecture of the evening on plant biology. Neither of them were certain of what he was talking about most of the time, but his enthusiasm for the subject was nearly infectious and neither of them minded listening.

“Chakotay?”

He turned away from the scene across the table and looked at Tom next to him. “Yes?”

“After dinner, will you read to us?”

“Of course.” Chakotay smiled and ruffled Tom’s hair. “Anything particular you want to hear?”

“I want to hear about your missions with the Maquis!” B’Elanna bounced in her seat, all of that barely-contained Klingon energy starting to spill over. 

“Or perhaps you could read to us from a classic story,” Tuvok raised a brow. “I’m fond of the works of Tolkien, maybe Tom and B’Elanna would like ‘The Hobbit’ too?”

“What’s a hobbit?” Tom’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Maybe,” Kathryn interjected before Tuvok could give a detailed recounting of the beloved childhood book, “Chakotay could tell us a story from his tribe.” Her eyes met his across the table. “He is pretty good at recounting ancient legends.”

Heat crept up the sides of Chakotay’s face as he held her stare. “Maybe.”

“Nah,” Tom’s voice broke through the pleasant tension between them. “I wanna know what a hobbit is!”

Chakotay chuckled. “Alright, ‘The Hobbit’ it is.”

-----

It took some time to get the older three to settle into bed, but finally, they began to yawn and snuggle deeper under their blankets. As their heads grew heavier, Chakotay wrapped up his story telling and the command team began to tuck their young companions in for the night.

As Chakotay wished Tom and Tuvok a good night’s rest, Kathryn carefully extracted B’Elanna from where she was snuggled into her side and took her over to her cot. As she got the small girl settled, she suddenly reached up and captured Kathryn in a tight hug. Surprised, Kathryn’s eyes widened, but she returned the gesture in earnest.

“Kathryn?”

“Yes, B’Elanna?”

“You’re my best friend.”

Kathryn blinked and pulled back to look B’Elanna in the eyes with a small smile. “I thought Chakotay and Tom were your best friends.”

“I can have more than one best friend.” B’Elanna’s voice was filled with deep confidence, despite how sleep-laced it was.

“Fair enough,” Kathryn chuckled, pulling the blankets tightly around the girl. “Goodnight.”

She met Chakotay in her bedroom, Harry still in his arms.

“Any time I try to set him down he starts crying.” Chakotay grinned sheepishly. 

She grinned back. “I had a similar experience earlier today.” She reached up and brushed hand over the boy’s soft, black hair. “Its a good thing he weighs next to nothing.”

At Kathryn’s gentle touch, Harry stirred. His dark eyes found Kathryn’s and he reached out for her. With a look of mock hurt, Chakotay transferred the boy to his desired location.

“I’m trying not to be offended right now, Harry.”

Kathryn simply grinned and bounced the baby in her arms gently. “It’s alright, Chakotay. He has excellent taste.”

Chakotay shook his head, dimples flashing. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

She turned toward the bed and settled herself on one side, her back resting against the pillows and Harry resting against her chest. “Let’s see if we can get this one sleepy enough to not notice if we set him down.” She looked back at Chakotay, who was still standing, rather awkwardly. She patted the bed next to her with a smirk. “Come on, Commander. Get some rest. We’ve has a big day, wrangling the kiddos.”

He smiled and crossed the room to the other side of the bed, gently sitting next to her, his legs stretched out. “It has been a long day,” he said with a sigh. “But, I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it.” He tilted his head to look at Kathryn, who was already looking up at him.

“Nor I.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, Chakotay was very aware of how close their faces were. He watched as Kathryn’s eyes slid down to his lips. Before he could do something he couldn’t take back, he took a deep breath and turned away.

“Well,” Kathryn cleared her throat, sounding more like the Captain now, “it’s been fun but we should get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Harry here and take him to his cot in a few minutes. You should go ahead and rest, Commander.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head and gave her a small smile. “Goodnight, Kathryn.”

She grinned back. “Goodnight, Chakotay.”

-----

Apparently, Kathryn didn’t stay awake long enough to take Harry back to his cot, as evidenced by the weight on her chest as she stirred awake the next morning. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and the previous day’s events came flooding back to her.

She also became distinctly aware of the warm, comfortable presence beside her. As she opened her eyes, she realized that her first officer’s arm was settled around her shoulders and that his shoulder was currently her pillow. His head rested atop hers and the hand that was not draped around her shoulders was resting on top of Harry’s back next to her own.

The situation was all rather snuggly and, were it not a violation of every professional barrier Kathryn had erected between her and the commander, she would have had no issue in savoring the moment.

Then again.... maybe she could allow herself just a few moments to pretend that the baby in her arms wasn’t her star technical officer and that the man holding her close wasn’t her XO and that this was a perfectly normal situation.

Before she could get too far into her fantasy, however, Chakotay stirred next to her, his dark eyes fluttering open to find her own.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice huskier than her own as sleep clung to it.

“Good morning.” 

They looked at each other for a moment before Chakotay carefully extracted himself from her side, helping her up so she could carefully place Harry in his cot in the living room without waking the boy or the other children who were still sleeping. Without a word, they quietly prepared breakfast and coffee, steeling themselves for another day of handling the kids.

-----

“I’m afraid I’m a bit.... stuck,” The Doctor ground out with obvious difficulty.

The captain raised an eyebrow. The EMH admitting that he was struggling to solve a problem was a rare instance indeed. “How so?”

With a huff, The Doctor turned back to his desk, flipping through experimental results from a stack of PADDs. “Kes was right; the DNA reversal process I initially thought might work will not account for the de-aging of the officers’ brains, so I decided to look at the type of radiation that might have caused this and, to be completely honest, Captain,” he turned back to look her in the eye, “I have absolutely no idea how this even happened. There’s no evidence of radiation, the temporal energy around them is unidentifiable, and I can’t figure out how their cells and their minds were reversed.” He lowered his head. “I’m unsure of how to even proceed from here.”

Kathryn nodded, taking the emotions that were beginning to tumble in her chest and stuffing them as far down as she could. “Very well, Doctor. Take a rest and we can all come back to the issue later once we’ve had time to think.” She rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. “Don’t despair yet; there’s a lot of other brilliant minds on this ship besides your own. We’ll figure it out together.” She smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze before heading into the turbolift.

As the doors slid open, she found Tuvok waiting in the lift for her. She smiled down at him and stepped inside, calling for the bridge.

“Chakotay to the captain.”

She tapped her badge. “Go ahead.”

“We need you on the bridge, there’s a bit of a situation.”

She raised a brow, glancing down at Tuvok, who was gazing at her intently. “On my way.”

-----

“So they want to.... interview us?”

“They want to interview you specifically.”

“To see if we are worthy of going through their space.”

“Something like that.”

“And going around their space isn’t an option?”

“It would add another 7 months to our journey, so this interview is our ideal option.”

“No pressure, eh, Commander?” Janeway shifted Harry from one hip to the other with a long sigh. “Alright. Hail them.”

After a moment, a blue and red humanoid alien appeared on the screen.

“Greetings, Ambassador.” The Captain flashed a polite smile. “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.”

The alien woman inclined her head. “Hello, Captain Janeway, I’m Ambassador Tel Parah of the Doonian Delegation.” Her eyes swept the bridge. “You’re ship is heavily armed, which, according to the laws of our people, requires that we do a personal interview of the commanding officer to ensure that violence or other manners of chaos will not be instigated as you pass through our space.”

“Of course, I understand.” Janeway smiled again. “What questions may I answer for you?”

Over the course of the next 30 minutes, Janeway was grilled on their purpose in passing through Doonian space, the types and numbers of weapons they carried, and the journey they had made so far. Just as Janeway thought there wasn’t possibly anything more she could tell them, Ambassador Parah paused and looked up from the computer device in her hand to study Janeway. After a moment, she spoke again.

“Just one more thing, Captain Janeway,” a slow smile slipped onto her face, “What’s your son’s name? He’s absolutely precious.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows in surprise and glanced down at Harry, who she had nearly forgotten was still in her arms. At some point, he had removed her combadge and was currently turning it over and over again in his tiny hands, taking a moment here and there to bite parts of the object he must have found particularly interesting. Kathryn exchanged an amused glace with Chakotay, who shrugged off screen, before turning back to the ambassador. 

“This is Harry.” Janeway smiled, turning the boy so the ambassador could see him better.

The other woman smiled widely. “How adorable. He has the brightest eyes.”

“He does.” Kathryn smiled back down at him.

“You know,” Parah leaned back in her chair, “I usually don’t allow anyone through our space that isn’t from a system or planet we are already know and trust and so I wasn’t planning on letting Voyager pass. However, when I saw your baby and how well-cared for and happy he seems, I felt that I could trust you somehow.” She smiled again. “We value children highly in the Doonien Delegation. Children are often a reflection of a parent’s character. I can tell by Harry’s disposition and curiosity that you are of a fine character, Captain.”

Janeway cuddled Harry a little closer, heart warming. “Thank you, Ambassador, I take that as a high compliment.”

“As you should.” Parah leaned forward again. “You may pass through our space. We will have you stop at three checkpoints on your way though which I will send you the coordinated for in a moment. Have a safe journey.”

The screen went blank and Kathryn turned to Chakotay.

“Should I feel bad that I let her believe Harry is my son?”

Chakotay chuckled, stepping close enough and lowering his voice enough that the rest of the bridge could pretend not to hear him. “Are you saying he’s not?”

Her gaze grew softer. “I guess he’s sort of been like a son to me since we got on board.” She looked back down at him. “I feel very protective of him.”

Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I know.”

They smiled at each other again. Chakotay opened his mouth to say something more but, suddenly, there was a tug at Kathryn’s elbow.

“Captain? Now that the negotiations are over, I think I have an idea about how to fix Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, and me.” Tuvok’s eyes were bright and eager.

“Alright,” Captain Janeway smiled down at him. “Let’s get The Doctor up here and we’ll hear your idea together.”

-----

Chakotay exchanged glances with The Doctor and the Captain over the table as he bounced both Tom and B’Elanna on his knees. “Could that really work? It seems almost too easy.”

“Well, if this is a phenomena that’s inexplicable and is tied only to the anomaly the shuttles passed through, I feel like sending the children back through isn’t our worst idea.” The captain rubbed the back of her neck. “Doctor?”

The holographic man continued typing into his PADD for a moment before stopping and reading. “I- I honestly think this could work.” He slid the PADD over to Janeway. “It’s hard to predict, since we have no idea what exactly caused this, but if we send the shuttles through the anomaly opposite of the way they first went through, I think it just might turn them back to their usual ages.”

“How do we know it won’t just make them even younger?” Chakotay watched as B’Elanna slipped off of his knee, pulling Tom along with her to go play in the corner.

“We’d have to run some tests to be sure that they don’t. Perhaps we could send a plant through first, or some other organic life form.” The Doctor took the PADD back and made a note.

“We would also have to make sure that, if the tests show some promise, Tuvok can take the shuttle back through the anomaly.” Janeway turned to the boy sitting at her right. “Well, Tuvok? Do you think you could pilot the shuttle?”

He shook his head. “Since I don’t have my older self’s memories I don’t think I could.”

“We could use the tractor beam to send the shuttle through,” Chakotay said. “If we give them enough of a push to go through the anomaly, they should be able to pilot themselves back to Voyager once they get out the other side and have returned to their normal ages.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows. “Well, it’s worth a shot and I don’t have any better ideas. Commander, set a course for the anomaly. Doctor, prepare the experiments.”

-----

Tom and B’Elanna seemed to sense that something was up as they suddenly became even more clingy. The whole trip back to the anomaly, B’Elanna shared the captain’s chair with Kathryn, insisting with all of her Klingon passion that the older woman tell her more stories from earlier in their journey through the Delta Quadrant. At the helm, Tom hung on to Chakotay’s arm, watching the stars go by and asking Chakotay a hundred questions about piloting starships. Tuvok sat in Chakotay’s usual seat, interjecting with questions of his own here and there, and Harry sat on Kathryn’s knee, chewing on her jacket sleeve, her combadge still clutched tightly in his left hand.

After they reached the anomaly, it took a couple of hours for The Doctor to complete his experiments and, once he had declared that plants that had gone through the anomaly twice were returned to the same age the started as, they began preparing the children to enter the anomaly themselves. 

“Will it hurt?” B’Elanna asked in the smallest voice she had ever used in her life as Kathryn tucked the small Starfleet uniform that she had come through the anomaly with around her shoulders.

“It won’t,” Tuvok said. “It didn’t hurt when we came through the first time, did it?”

She shook her head, but didn’t look very reassured.

“It’s okay, ‘Lanna!” Tom grabbed her hand. “I’ll be right beside you.”

Kathryn stood and took a step back, feeling almost as if someone had filled her chest with some of Neelix’s heavy stew. She had to let them go, of course, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to be, but she was certainly going to miss seeing the level of innocence her officers had now. B’Elanna was unburdened by trust issues, Tuvok was passionate and bright, and Tom - well, she supposed he hadn’t changed all that much, but at least he seemed to be genuinely happy, not just putting up a front of humor to protect himself.

It would be hard to see them go back, but maybe, now that she understood how the world and time had changed her friends, she could help them.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a tug at her collar. She looked down to see Harry pulling at her pips, completely enamored by the gold metal.

“Oh, Harry.” She nearly choked on his name. Since he was so young now, she didn’t have any insight into his personality after having seen him as a baby, but she was going to miss his innocent curiosity and familiar weight on her hip.

Before she could think too much about it, she handed Harry over to Tuvok. The younger boy scrunched his face up and whimpered at the change of hands, but Tuvok bounced him gently and he settled down, reaching for the pointed tip of Tuvok’s ear.

Kathryn took a step back, feeling Chakotay step up behind her so that they were nearly touching. “Best of luck, you four.” She gave them her most reassuring smile. “See you on the other side.”

She and Chakotay hurried up the bridge and gave the go ahead for the ensign who had taken over Harry’s post to begin using the tractor beam to move the shuttle out into the anomaly. They stood side-by-side on the bridge and watched the shuttle go through. At come point, they grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed each other tightly.

There was a flash as the shuttle passed through the anomaly. After a few terrifyingly quiet moments, the shuttle came bursting out of the other side and a voice crackled over the comm.

“Cochran to Voyager,” confusion leaked through Tom’s voice. “What the hell just happened?”

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled at each other in relief. “What’s the last thing you remember, Tom?” Chakotay asked.

“B’Elanna, Harry, and I were coming back to Voyager when we- wait a second, how did you get here, Tuvok?”

Janeway laughed. “Why don’t we get you four back on board and then we’ll explain everything.”

“Copy that. See you in a few.” Tom’s voice grew quieter, like he was leaning away from the comm. “I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a story.”

-----

After everyone had been debriefed and left to process the last two days of strangeness, Chakotay found Kathryn in her favorite spot; on her couch and staring wistfully out at the stars as they drifted past. She had shucked her jacket and taken her hair out of it’s clip, leaving her in her grey turtleneck with her hair falling around her shoulders and face.

“Got a lot on your mind?”

She turned to smile at him, a note of sadness in her eyes. “It’s been an interesting couple of days.”

He settled on the couch a ways down, turning to face her. “It sure has.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to miss our kids.”

“Me too. It was fun having little ones around, playing at being a parent.” She fidgeted with the seam on the couch. “It was different and they sure did give us some challenges,” she chuckled, “but I loved it.” 

“Have you ever thought about having kids of ou-” he coughed, “your own?” 

Her crystal blue gaze caught his. “Yes.” She smiled and looked out the window again. “I always thought someday I would be a mother.” With a snort and a smirk, she continued; “Of course, I never thought I’d be mothering my helmsman, security officer, engineer, and technical officer.”

Chakotay laughed softly. “I think you were mothering them before they were turned into actual children.”

“Perhaps.” A pause. “What about you? Did you ever think about being a father? Outside of the whole instance with Seska, of course.”

He nodded. “When I was in the Maquis, no. My life was too fast-paced to be a proper father. If I was going to be a dad, I wanted to do it right and I couldn’t have done that from a Maquis ship.” He took a deep breath. “After joining this crew, though.... I’m in a better place now, and I think I’d be thrilled to be a father.” He looked over at Kathryn to find that she was already looking at him with something like wonder in her eyes. He held her gaze for a moment and, finally finding a bit of courage, he said: “I’m more at peace.”

A smiled played at the corners of her lips, and her eyes looked a little like they were silver-lined, though Chakotay couldn’t quite tell for sure in the low light of her quarters.

“You were really good with the kids. You would make an excellent father, I have no doubt.”

He smiled. “You would make an excellent mother. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you, but I barely felt like I knew what I was doing.” She chuckled.

“You could have fooled me.” He grinned for a moment, before his countenance grew more serious. “I hope you get your wish someday, Kathryn. I hope you get to be a mother.”

She was quiet for a moment, and Chakotay suddenly felt his chest tighten. Had he said too much.

Before he could fall too far into his panic, her hand slid over to his, giving it a squeeze. He looked up into her eyes, which definitely had tears in them now.

“I hope you get to be a father too Chakotay. Someday.”

He squeezed her hand back and they both fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the stars outside Kathryn’s window.

#whew okay that got emotional there at the end #lets all take a breather and remember cute little Harry #Okay that's better #anyway #thanks for reading! #hopefully this wasn't too plot-hole-ridden #star trek voyager #kathryn janeway #captain janeway #janeway #chakotay #harry kim #b'elanna torres #tom paris #tuvok #neelix #kes #the EMH #the doctor

[itsclydebitches]

Voyager. Now that’s a kettle of fish. Obviously watch/enjoy whatever you wish, but I do recommend also checking out SFDebris’ reviews of the episodes (he’s the rwde of Voyager). He is a lot smarter and more eloquent than me.

Putting these two asks together since my thoughts on both are all jumbled! 

Now, I want to emphasize that I’ve only watched the first 16 episodes (Season One + Season 2 premiere), so idk if Voyager is going to go seriously downhill later on, but right now I do really like it. And not in a, “Lol yeah compared to the other crap on it’s good, I guess” way, but in a completely honest, “It has its flaws, but is overall a solid, compelling show with lovable characters” way. Out of curiosity I watched SFDebris’ review of “Phage,” though I’m afraid I didn’t agree with it. The only part were I was like, “Yeah okay” was pointing out that they had the Doctor using a keypad when he supposedly wasn’t solid, but that’s precisely the sort of continuity error that, in an otherwise strong show, I’m willing to shrug off. For all the major points, it sounds like SFDebris is concerned primarily with the show he wants Voyager to be, rather than the show Voyager actually is. Which I know sounds familiar--I’ve heard that criticism leveled at my own work: “You just want RWBY to be a totally different show”--but the difference is that Voyager is a part of an established franchise, following three other TV shows, an animated series, and a collection of films. It’s not an original show (like RWBY) that can take itself in any direction the story may need/claim to want (again, RWBY). It has a brand and those established characteristics seem to be bumping up against SFDebris’ critiques: 

Hating Neelix as a character - You’re supposed to hate him. Or at least find him frustrating (I don’t personally hate him) because that’s what all the characters are grappling with too. From Tuvok forced to have an awkward conversation while Neelix is in the bath to Janeway dealing with him taking over her dining room, Neelix’s conflict revolves around how others learn to accept him. Star Trek as a franchise is about “Infinite diversity in infinite combinations.” Voyager begins with the problem of how the trained Federation officers are supposed to work with the more violent Maquis. Difference doesn’t just create “Wow, you’re so amazing!” reactions, it also includes frustration, disagreement, and outright hostility. Creating an outsider character with a kind heart but incredibly overbearing personality is a great way to test the other characters’ convictions. Do they actually care about all life in the universe? Or do they only care about life when they personally find it palatable? Having Neelix around is a great reminder for them--and the viewer--that just because someone annoys you at times doesn’t mean they’re any less worthy of love, respect, and companionship. It also doesn’t mean they don’t have something to offer: he keeps the crew fed even if his cooking is horrible, he provides information about this area of space even if he sometimes gets it wrong, we roll our eyes at the “Morale Officer” stuff, but Neelix does provide much needed perspective for characters like Tuvok. If Neelix made fewer mistakes, stopped bugging the crew, became a “cooler” character for the audience to root for rather than be frustrated by... a lot of the point of his character would be lost. 

Frustration about discoveries not carrying over to the next episode - AKA, the crew finds inanely powerful, alien tech and then (presumably) never uses it again. This would indeed be a big problem in a serialized story (like RWBY) but Voyager maintains much of Star Trek’s original, episodic nature. Though we have continuity in the form of them inching towards home and evolving as characters, the world still resets to a certain point at the end of each episode. This is what allows Star Trek to explore so many different questions and have so many different adventures. If you demand that serialized continuity--this character needs to have an arc to deal with this traumatic experience, the crew has to follow the thread they just discovered, our Doctor needs to do something with the new tech they just found--then you lose the variety that Star Trek is known for. Instead of a new story each week (or, occasionally, across two weeks) you’ve got a single story spanning months. Neither form is better or worse than the other, it’s absolutely a preference, but there’s a very specific, structural, intentional reason why the characters “forget” about the things they’ve discovered and, at times, experienced. Unlike Ozpin forgetting that he has a nuke in his cane for seven volumes, or Ruby forgetting to use her eyes at crucial points, Star Trek deliberately sets things aside to ensure there’s room for new ideas and questions next episode. 

Janeway doesn’t kill the Vidiians to get Neelix his lungs back - No Starfleet captain would. At least, not during this period of Star Trek. Sisko has development in that regard (making morally gray choices), but that’s built into the heart of the show from the start: he’s on a station, not a starship, that is jointly run by the Federation and the Bajorans, and built by the Cardassians. The rules of the Federation always had a tenuous hold there and Sisko as a character always pushed the boundary of the Federations expectations (Q: “Picard never hit me!”) Janeway, in contrast, is 100% a Federation captain and, more importantly, has explicitly told her crew that they will be operating as a Federation vessel, despite being so far from home. That’s the conflict between the officers and the Maquis. That’s why Tuvok accepts the alien tech in “Prime Factors,” recognizing that Janeway can’t. That’s why Seska is a compelling antagonist, pressuring the crew to abandon their ideals for survival. The series (or at least that first season) revolves around questions about identity and whether they’re willing to give that identity up now that they’re out from under the Federation’s thumb. Overwhelmingly, they choose not to... which would make murdering the Vidiian a complete 180 for her character. We’re not necessarily supposed to agree with Janeway’s choice, we’re supposed to acknowledge that murdering another sentient being is not some simple choice to make, especially when you’re a leader devoted to a certain set of ideals. We’re supposed to recognize the challenges here (many of which SFDebris doesn’t acknowledge) like how you’re supposed to keep a prisoner for the next 75 years when you’re already struggling to feed and take care of the crew you have, or the fact that they claim to take organs from dead bodies and this was a rare time when they couldn’t. (It’s only in “Faces” that we learn this is complete BS and they actively kidnap people to work as slaves and then be harvested.) The frustration that Janeway doesn’t act here stems from wanting her to be a character who is, fundamentally, not a Star Trek captain. 

Granted, I only watched one review, but that’s what the whole thing felt like: wanting a series that’s not Star Trek. Something without a token, challenging character, without hand-wavy science, that’s more serialized, and doesn’t adhere to a “do no harm” code. (I just started “Initiations” and Chakotay asks a vessel to stand down three times, while actively being attacked, before finally retaliating and then he tries to reestablish communications and then he warns them about their engine and then he beams them aboard his shuttle. That’s what Star Trek (usually) is: that idealized love of life, even when that life is actively hostile). And like, that’s obviously fine! As you say, Flawartist, “watch/enjoy whatever you wish,” but just based on this one review I wonder if SFDebris just wants something other than Star Trek. 

I think one of the reasons why I feel passionately about this (beyond my love of context and recognizing when shows are actively trying to accomplish something specific) is that I went through this with DS9. For years I heard about how horrible the show was. It’s trash. It’s a mess. It’s not TNG, so don’t even bother. Or, if you do, be prepared for disappointment. There was this whole, strong rhetoric about how silly it all is--Star Trek is, by default, silly, so supposedly only the Shakespeare loving, archeology obsessed captain is sophisticated enough to save it--and then... I found nothing of the sort. I mean yeah, obviously Star Trek is silly as hell (that’s part of its charm), but DS9 was also a complex, nuanced look into everything from personal agency to the threat of genocide. There’s so much wonderful storytelling there... little of which made it into my cultural understanding of DS9. And now I’m seeing the same thing with Voyager. When I did some quick googling I was bombarded by articles saying how bad it is and now I have an ask comparing it to a show I don’t think has even a quarter of the heart the Star Trek franchise does. Which is is not AT ALL meant as a knock against you, anon. I’m just fascinated by this cultural summary of Star Trek: TOS is ridiculous but fun if you’re willing to ignore large swaths of it, TNG is a masterpiece and that’s that, DS9 is bad, Voyager is bad, and to be frank I haven’t heard much of anything about Enterprise. It’s weird! Because I watch these shows and I’m like, “Holy shit there’s so much good storytelling here.” Is it perfect? Not on your life, but it’s trying in a way that I can really appreciate. It’s Star Trek and Star Trek (at least at the time) meant something pretty specific. Criticisms about divisive characters or idealized forgiveness feel like walking out of a Fast and Furious film and going, “There was too much driving and silly combat. Why didn’t they just fix the situation in this easy way?” Because then we wouldn’t have a film about lots of driving and silly combat! If you make all the characters palatable, make Janeway harder, extend the impact of all the discoveries, remove the ridiculous science that doesn’t make any sense... then you don’t have Star Trek anymore. 

#star trek #ST #mymeats #flawartist

[twentiethcenturymoviesandtv]

Star Trek: Legacy and Impact

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

In 1964, Gene Roddenberry pitched a little science-fiction show to NBC as an adventure show, a western in space, going so far as to name his pitch Wagon Train to the Stars.  While this may have seemed like a falsehood, at the time, it made sense.  Westerns were tried and true, ol’ reliable.  And while by the late ‘60s, westerns were riding off into the sunset, well past their prime, there were those who remained a little suspicious of the phenomenon that rose to take its place, stirred into fervor by the Space Race: Science fiction.

Still, Roddenberry got his pass, and his ‘Wagon Train’ began, somewhat humbly, completely unaware of the giant it would grow into.

For a giant it was.

In 1966, the episode The Man Trap dropped, and Star Trek changed history.

Not just the history of television, or the history of science fiction.  History, big H, forever.

See, Star Trek wasn’t The Twilight Zone, or Lost in Space.  Despite the setting, it wasn’t all little green men from Mars, with Kirk and Company zooming around the galaxy like space-cowboys.  Star Trek told dramas, character stories with depth and meaning, stories that took a hard look at humanity from the outside, holding up a sometimes uncomfortable mirror to audiences.  The stories of Star Trek were often analogies, pointing to the problems of society, but also pointing ahead, to a brighter future, a future without discrimination or war.

And the nation listened.

From the moment Star Trek debuted, it was destined to become one of the most important shows in television history.  At the time of its release, it was a game changer, a groundbreaking show in terms of storytelling, characters, and even diversity, with a crew that personified the unified future that Roddenberry was looking towards.  Star Trek became the first live-action American television show to have a multi-ethnic cast, including two Americans (Captain James Kirk and Dr. Leonard McCoy), an African woman (Nyota Uhura), an Asian man (Hikaru Sulu), a Scotsman (Montgomery Scott), a Russian man (Pavel Chekov) and, most memorably, a half-human, half Vulcan (Mr. Spock).  While it may not seem terribly impressive now, at the time, it was incredibly notable for the time, especially where communications officer Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, was concerned, to the point where Nichols was persuaded to remain on the show by none other than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. himself.

Lt. Uhura was immensely important during a period where most black characters on television were servants, going so far as to inspire the first African American woman astronaut Mae Jemison, among many others, and laying the groundwork for more diverse television programs in the future.  

But Star Trek’s importance and legacy doesn’t stop there.

Star Trek went on to influence leaps and bounds in technology, influencing the shape of the first non-vehicular cell phone, and inspiring the creation of the Apple company.  It had a huge impact on space exploration, with NASA’s first orbital shuttle named after the show’s Enterprise, and multiple asteroids named after people associated with the original show.

Although these are huge examples of the influence of one television show from the 1960s, the average person has a knowledge of Star Trek that, while not as in-depth, still demonstrates the show’s effects.

Your average non-Star Trek fan probably won’t know that the model of the Enterprise was a Smithsonian exhibit, but they probably do recognize Mr. Spock’s iconic pointy ears, pointy eyebrows, and bowlcut, and that he says things like ‘Illogical’ and “Live Long and Prosper”.  They probably know who Captain Kirk is.  They may even be familiar with the other characters on the show, or recognize the many tropes named and invented by the show itself.  Odds are, even people who have never watched a full episode of Star Trek know what it is when they see it.  

Despite only three years on the air, the original Star Trek became a cultural phenomenon, a juggernaut that inspired one of the first franchises ever created, and certainly the first platform for fandom.  Star Trek practically invented the fandom as we know it today, opening avenues for fanzines, fanfiction, and conventions where fans could gather and celebrate the show.  Star Trek’s fanbase is enormous, and dedicated, to the point where a revolutionary letter-writing campaign brought the original show back from the brink of cancellation for one more season.

For get cancelled, it did.

In 1969, Star Trek went off the air, just in time for Apollo 11’s successful launch and mission to send a man to the moon.  That event sparked a new interest in Star Trek, but it was already too late.

It seems hard to believe, but Star Trek’s best years occurred after its untimely death, where fans continued to discover and watch it on reruns, increasing its popularity to the point where it got a series of films that lasted from 1979 to 1991.

Although the last installment of the Original Star Trek brand occurred in 1991, years after its cancellation, Star Trek remains a cultural giant, spawning multiple other installments, reboots, novels, comics, and video games to its name in the time since it’s release over fifty years ago.  Its fans remain as loyal as ever, with many not simply fans of the ‘newest version’ to come along, but still dedicated to the original that made it all possible.

The question is, why?

Star Trek, for all it’s leaps and bounds for the time, seems like it would long be outdated by now, overblown throughout the years, with a reputation greater than the actual show itself.  Especially considering that the original show was cancelled after three seasons.

What brought people back?  Was it nostalgia?  Curiosity?  Random chance?  Or was there really something incredible about that campy, but heartfelt, show?  

That’s what we’re going to be investigating.  Our mission is to discover after decades of changing television, of even better versions of Star Trek, why it is that audiences still fondly return to the original show and characters.

What is it about Star Trek that audiences still find relevant and enjoyable fifty four years later?  What is it about these characters and stories that audiences still point to as some of the best ever created, and keep coming back to again and again?

That’s what we’re going to be looking at in the articles ahead. Stay tuned, and thanks so much for reading.

#Television #TV #TV-PG #Star Trek: The Original Series #Star Trek #Drama #Action #Adventure #Science Fiction #Sci-Fi #60s #William Shatner #Leonard Nimoy #DeForest Kelley #Nichelle Nichols #James Doohan #George Takei #Walter Koenig #Majel Barrett #Gene Roddenberry

[woodstockbtswriter]

Voyagers

Genre: Fluff/Headcanon

Pairing: Yoongi x Reader (Female)

Summary: A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join BTS on a Bon Voyage adventure leads to once-in-a-lifetime love.

Author’s Note: I feel like this is going to end up having a million parts if I continue with this amount of detail, but I can’t help myself. This is just how my brain works. 😄 Anyway, I’m not sure if I need to say this, but I wrote this from the perspective of an American ARMY. Hope that doesn’t bother anyone. Also, I imagine you to be the same age as Yoongi, so you’re not technically a noona to him, but I don’t like using “Y/N,” so I’ll just use “noona” as his nickname for you for now. Oh, and one last thing: for the purposes of this story, let’s just pretend there’s no language barrier between you and the boys, okay? Okay! Let’s get it!

Part Three

Countdown to Bon Voyage

When you returned home from Korea, a group chat was started so you and the boys could keep each other updated and get hyped for your trip

You heard from at least one member every day during the weeks leading up to your departure

The boys had the month off from all BTS obligations so they had a lot more free time

Most of the boys went home to visit their families

Yoongi was working on his mixtape and occasionally shared lyrics (and you’d tease him for working during their break)

Jin was living his best life just sleeping and gaming

Namjoon reported on the many art museums he visited

Hoseok was working on a song collaboration and would send videos of his dance

Jimin was traveling and checked in every time he arrived somewhere new

Taehyung shared photos he took while traveling with his friends

Jungkook was writing some songs and bounced ideas off of everyone

You worked as a home stager and the boys (especially Yoongi) loved hearing about your job and seeing before-and-after pictures of your work (no one could appreciate a well-chosen lamp quite like Yoongi)

When you weren’t working, you spent all your time preparing for the trip and would occasionally ask the boys what they would recommend for you to pack

By the time departure day arrived, you felt like you had already grown close with all of them and you couldn’t wait to see them again

Departure Day

Logistically, it made the most sense for you to meet the boys in New Zealand instead of flying together

You were a little bummed about it, but you knew you’d have plenty of time together in the coming days

The morning of your flight, a two-man camera crew met you at the airport so they would have footage of you on your way

They also gave you a GoPro camera, which you were a little self-conscious about using

But everyone in the airport was already staring at you because you were being followed by a camera crew, so you decided to just go with it

As you boarded your flight, you were amazed by the first-class seat that had been reserved for you

Your phone chimed with a message as you settled into your spacious and private seat

You fell asleep soon after takeoff, and slept most of the way

When you weren’t sleeping, you rewatched the The Lord of the Rings movies (‘cause, you know, New Zealand)

Reunited in New Zealand

After flying all day with a brief layover in Los Angeles, you finally arrived in Christchurch, NZ

The view out your window as the plane landed was nothing but snow-covered mountains as far as the eye could see, and it was incredible

You texted the boys as soon as you touched down on the runway

You and your cameramen made your way through the airport to meet everyone at baggage claim

You spotted Jungkook first, though you almost didn’t recognize him because his hair was noticeably longer than the last time you saw him

When Jungkook saw you his face lit up with a huge smile and he called out to you

The other boys looked up at Jungkook’s exclamation and several of them rushed you

Almost before you could say “hi,” you were swept up in Jungkook’s arms and he was spinning you around as you laughed

As soon as he placed you back on your feet, Jimin wrapped his arms around you, lifting you a few inches off the ground too

“Yah, let the girl breathe! You’re suffocating her!” Yoongi scolded as he approached

You looked to him as Jimin let go of you and your heart did a thing

It wasn’t like when you first met him last month either

That had been nervousness, anticipation, excitement

Now it was like... relief

Because you’d missed him, and you were so happy to see him again

And also relief that he was real, and you hadn’t been imagining all this

Then he gave you a shy smile, and your heart did an even bigger thing

Because, dang it, he was cute

Even with - no, especially with - a mask under his chin, sunglasses on his face, and his hair held back by a headband

You moved to give him a hug and he met you halfway

His embrace felt even better than you remembered, warm and comfortable

You just fit together

But when you wrapped your arms around him, you noticed he felt thinner

You asked him if he lost weight as you leaned out of the hug

Hoseok answered for him, saying he’d lost 4 kilograms over break

“He wanted to impress you, noona,” He teased

Yoongi swatted at him, but Hoseok evaded his reach

After you’d greeted all the boys (minus Jin, as the boys informed you he’d be arriving separately a little later), you headed out of the airport as a group

As soon as you stepped outside, you were met by a cool, fresh breeze, and you were glad you wore long sleeves and leggings

A shuttle bus with a luggage trailer was waiting for you and the boys started loading up their bags

You rolled your suitcase over, but before you could load it, Yoongi wordlessly took it from you and lifted it into the trailer

You tried to thank him, but he shrugged it off

You then climbed into the bus with Yoongi right behind you, and he sat down next to you on the front bench seat

As you waited for the shuttle to leave, the boys asked about your flight and you asked about theirs

They told you all about laying over in Singapore and the awesome airplane with seats that folded down into beds

You told them about your layover and how this was your first time flying first-class

The boys also taught you the Bon Voyage cheer they had come up with for this season, but you decided to wait to actually do it until Jin was there

Then you were on your way to pick up the camper and the SUV you would be using all week

Ready, Set, Go

As you drove through Christchurch, you discussed the clear skies and beautiful weather and your mutual excitement

At the rental company, you and the boys signed forms to be drivers, then were led to a room with a table and office chairs to watch an instructional video

Yoongi held your chair for you as you sat so it wouldn’t roll out from under you, then took the seat next to you

After the video, you went back outside to get a tour of the camper and saw that Jin had finally arrived

You and the boys greeted Jin with enthusiastic hugs

An employee then gave instructions about the camper and pointed out its features

As he explained how to empty the wastewater tank, the boys joked about coordinating their bathroom schedules and showering two at a time (Yoongi’s suggestion)

But they ultimately agreed that, unless there was an emergency, only you would be allowed to use the onboard bathroom and they would use the campsite bathrooms

They also agreed that you would have one of the onboard beds to yourself and they would share the remaining beds or sleep in the tents

Once instructions were finished, the boys started loading the luggage into the camper and once again, Yoongi took your suitcase for you

And you smiled to yourself as you realized his chivalry was going to be a trend throughout your trip

When you were all loaded up and ready to go, you gathered with all the boys and did your first official “Bon Voyage” chant (and you couldn’t help but giggle at the way they pronounced “voyage”, with a long “e”)

You then divided into vehicles, and you followed Yoongi, Jin, and Namjoon to the SUV

Jin got in the driver’s seat, and Yoongi and Namjoon tried to offer you the passenger’s seat, but you declined and opted for the backseat, so Namjoon sat up front and Yoongi joined you in the back

Then, with one more cheer out the window with the camper team, you set out, finally starting off on the real adventure

Previous - Next

#bts #min yoongi #bts imagines #bts suga #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #bts imagines suga #bts fanfiction #bts fluff #bts bon voyage #bts headcanons #bon voyage 4 #bon voyage season 4 #yoongi x reader

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4 (6 of 6)

To round of my look into season 4 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, here are my reviews of that season’s last two episodes.

Episode 25: In Theory

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Lt. Commander Data and Lt. Jenna D'Sora are in the torpedo room configuring several probes with which the Enterprise will explore a nearby nebula. D'Sora explains that her ex who she just split up with has asked her to dinner, prompting Data to remind her why they broke up as part of a standing agreement between the pair of them. Later they play together in a chamber concert along with Keiko O'Brien. D'Sora complains of her abilities as a musician, but Data insists that he could not hear anything wrong.

 Later, on the bridge, Data is reviewing the information from the probes sent into the nebula. He theorises that life might have evolved differently in the nebula because of the volume of dark matter detected. Captain Picard orders the ship to the nearest planet within the nebula. Data and Jenna configure further probes, when she kisses him on the cheek and then on the lips, before leaving the room. Data seeks the opinion of his friends, specifically Picard, Guinan, Geordi La Forge, Commander Riker, Counsellor Troi and Lt. Worf. Data decides to pursue the relationship and goes to Jenna's cabin with a bunch of flowers, where he informs her that he created a romantic subroutine for the relationship.

 Meanwhile, the Enterprise is approaching an M-class planet within the nebula. Picard enters his ready room and finds his belongings scattered on the floor. He calls in Worf, who cannot explain their displacement. Jenna arrives at Data's cabin where he is painting. She tells him to continue, but is then annoyed when he does so, causing him some confusion. The ship arrives at the coordinates for the planet but finds nothing there. Then it suddenly appears as the ship's computer warns of a depressurization in the observation lounge. The crew investigate and find all the furniture piled in one corner of the room.

 Data visits Jenna, but she seems unhappy and he is acting erratically in order to find an appropriate response to make her happy. It becomes evident to the crew that the nebula is causing distortions in space; Picard orders the ship into warp to leave the nebula as quickly as possible but this speeds up the distortions. Whilst investigating them, Lieutenant Van Mayter is killed when a distortion embeds her into the deck. Data discovers that dark matter is causing the distortions. The ship can detect the pockets at short range, but not in enough time to move out of the way. Worf proposes using a shuttle to lead the Enterprise out, and Picard insists on piloting it alone.

 Picard pilots the shuttle through the field of distortion pockets; he is initially successful, but the shuttle is damaged near the perimeter of the nebula. Chief Miles O'Brien transports the Captain back to the ship before the shuttle is destroyed. However, the Enterprise is now near enough to the edge of the nebula to no longer need the shuttle to scout ahead, and they quickly depart. Afterwards, Jenna reveals to Data in his quarters that she broke up with her boyfriend because he was emotionally unavailable and then pursued Date because he was the same. Data realises that she is breaking up with him and explains that he will delete the subroutine. Jenna departs and Data is seemingly unperturbed, although his cat, Spot, jumps into his lap as if to comfort him.

Review:

This episode was Patrick Stewart’s directorial debut on the show, following on the heels of fellow cast member Jonathan Frakes taking a shot at directing during the previous season.  Like Frakes, Stewart was handed a Data episode to do, and in some respects it’s a good episode.  In others, it’s less brilliant, specifically having a techno-babble B-plot thrown in because TNG was very much enslaved to the idea that the character always had to have an enemy or an anomaly putting them at risk, regardless of whatever else might be going on.  This plot doesn’t inter-connect with the A-plot except for both things happening in the same episode, and it includes Picard playing shuttle pilot when he’s not really the TNG character of note by way of piloting skills.  In fact, TNG and DS9 never really had a definitive helm officer in the way that the original series had Sulu and Voyager had Tom Paris, which when you have to do an episode with this kind of B-plot is a bit of a must.

 However, the meat of the episode is Data making forays into the world of romantic relationships, and to some degree I appreciate how some of his behaviours in this area are quite autistic.  His asking around the majority of the main cast and Guinan for advice, his inability to pick up relationship skills ‘on the fly’, and his emulation of stereotypical romantic interactions rather than just being himself are all things I can see someone on the spectrum doing.  Hell, I’ve done them all in my own unique way, and I can’t help but cringe a little reflecting on that.

 However, Data is only able to go so far both with his relationship and with his representation of the autistic mindset in this scenario because he lacks emotion.  I understand that this was meant to be the point; according to Memory Alpha, a lot of original series fan mail for Spock was from women who felt they could reach the character’s suppressed emotional core.  This episode was born of a fascination with this aspect of fandom, only it was written to see if a romantic relationship could work with a being who was hard-wired not to feel any emotion, to really explore the ‘ghost in the machine’ concept through Data.

 This, for me, is where the episode’s main plot really loses efficacy, because by definition a romantic relationship requires emotion, and as such Data was never going to succeed.  Frankly, I’d rather have seen them hold this plot off until the films when Data is finally given license to have emotions.  It would have been great to see Data have a romantic relationship then, because it would have been a more complete, well-rounded exploration of his status as an autism metaphor within the world of Trek.  As it is, characters like Voyager’s Doctor and Seven of Nine end up serving better in this capacity.

 It’s also disappointing to see that, not unlike some of my own early experiences in romance, Data isn’t being approached out of a genuine romantic interest on the part of Jenna.  To her, he’s basically a re-bound fling; she’s struggling with being single again, keeps having to be reminded why this is so, and tries to make something happen with Data to ‘fill the void’.  It’s not unlike how some girls used to pretend to go out with me to test, and mock, my gullibility, and for me it’s right up there with people who go out with someone just to avoid being single (done that), or to get something else like a roof over their head or cash.  To my mind, no one should ever do anything like this; if you want a romantic relationship with someone, it should be real romance or nothing.

 If you want a fling, a rebound or anything similar, then you seek out something more casual like friends-with-benefits, and you say that’s what you want up-front.  Leading people on is never ok, and it seems to me it only happens because of neurotypical selfishness and unwillingness to talk about you want before anything happens. The model of discussion-first-action-second is something that already exists within certain forms of sex play, and it’s probably going to gain wider and wider use over time for consent in general, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that would not only make all relationships more autism-friendly, but it would also vastly reduce the potential for being misled.

 What would have improved this episode, aside from Data actually having emotions, would have been to see the female guest character seek him out just from general attraction with no recent ex being mentioned, and perhaps having the B-Plot put the A-Plot characters in danger more directly.  That would have helped the B-Plot gain some additional worth and would have created a dramatic scene that would have more conclusively answered the ‘ghost in the machine’ question around Data.  As it is, it’s a middling episode and a poor showing for something Data-centric; I give it 5 out of 10.

Episode 26: Redemption (Part 1)

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

Captain Picard and the Enterprise are asked to attend the installation of Gowron as the Leader of the Klingon High Council, as it is Picard’s final duty as the Arbiter of Succession. Gowron intercepts the Enterprise en route and informs Picard that the House of Duras will challenge Gowron's position, which may lead to a Klingon civil war. Picard states he cannot intervene beyond his role as arbiter, and asks Worf to escort Gowron to the transporter room. There, Worf informs Gowron of the truth about his discommendation; Gowron thanks Worf for killing Duras, but explains that he cannot clear Worf’s name because he needs the support of the council, many of whom are loyal to Duras. Worf then requests a leave of absence from Picard to visit his brother, Kurn, who controls a small fleet of Birds of Prey, and to urges him to back Gowron. Worf plans to use this support as leverage so that once installed as the Leader, Gowron can reinstate their family name.

 Interrupting the ceremony, the Duras sisters present their deceased brother's illegitimate son, Toral, who has the lineage to challenge Gowron. Picard is called on to determine Toral's candidacy. Relying on Klingon law, Picard comes to the conclusion that Toral is too inexperienced to be Leader, and secures Gowron's candidacy. This, however, prompts a majority of the council members to abandon Gowron. Gowron returns to his ship to meet with Worf, who offers his brother's fleet's support in exchange for the return of his family name to honor. Gowron initially refuses, but they are attacked by two ships loyal to the House of Duras. Worf and the arrival of Kurn's fleet dispatch the attackers. Picard completes the rite and installs Gowron as Leader; Gowron restores Worf's family honor.

Gowron and the Enterprise crew learn that the Duras sisters are assembling a fleet to incite a civil war. As the Federation cannot get involved in internal affairs of the Klingon Empire, Worf resigns his commission from Starfleet to assist Gowron and Kurn. As the Enterprise evacuates the area before fighting begins, Toral and the Duras sisters consider Picard a coward, but their Romulan ally, a woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to the late Tasha Yar, emerges from the shadows and warns them that Picard may return.

Review:

Apparently, this episode was originally planned as the season 3 cliff-hanger finale, but had to be delayed because those working on the show who wanted this episode really had to fight for it.  Apparently, Gene Roddenberry didn’t want to do any kind of war stories, even if that war was internal to the Klingons and not something the Federation got involved in.  Granted, I don’t think this episode could be as good as it is without everything leading up to it, and part of that groundwork lays here in the fourth season as well as the third and second.  Nevertheless, it seems that once again Roddenberry was taking his idealism one step too far, and I’m guessing him having to step back from production of the show due to increasingly ill health around this time was the only reason we got this episode.

 Being only one part of a larger story, of course, the episode loses out a little for not being quite as self-contained as it otherwise would be as a one-part episode.  However, it delivers a lot for part 1 of a two-part narrative; we finally see Worf get his discommendation lifted and Gowron take command of the Klingon Empire, only to then see Worf resign his commission when Picard won’t wade into the civil war, even though we all know by now Picard should realise it’s not even remotely an all-Klingon affair.  Picard and Worf are well aware that the Duras family are thick as thieves with the Romulans, and they’ve had the recent events of ‘The Mind’s Eye’ to illustrate to them that dividing the Federation and Klingon Empire is high on their agenda.  Surely Picard should have been able to put 2 and 2 together in this part and sided with Gowron outright, rather than appearing to cling to the Prime Directive.

 This is where TNG, and Trek as a whole, falls down a little; it can’t seem to come up with a consistent approach to the Prime Directive.  Some episodes it gets broken, others it gets adhered to, and at times you’ll get a non-adherence for a situation that in a later or earlier episode saw the rule being upheld. Back in season 1, Picard was willing to dare the wrath of the Edo’s ‘god’ to save Wesley Crusher from execution, but in this episode, Picard won’t act to save Worf when Gowron’s ship gets fired upon. Both times someone from the Enterprise was in danger, so surely Picard should take the same actions, but he doesn’t. I can’t tell if this meant to be a follow-on from ‘The Drumhead’ and they stupidly cut out some exposition where Picard says ‘we have to be extra careful now to avoid another Satie-style witch-hunt’, or if it’s just a lack of attention to continuity.

 For me, this episode really relies on Worf and Gowron to carry it, as Picard’s so-called ‘tightrope walking’ just makes him look decidedly unheroic and not a little ruthless.  Honestly, this episode would have benefited from a more Kirk-ian/Sisko-esque style of captain.  Overall, I give it 7 out of 10.

[ezrisdax-archive]

Thoughts on a fun way to make a Star Trek/Mass Effect crossover? Or characters interactions cross-series?

like a full crossover? hmmm, certainly it’d be a parallel worlds type situation where I feel in Trek world the Leviathans didn’t evolve and create the Reapers and thus life wasn’t constantly wiped out and that’s why there’s more of an alien populace in the galaxy to explain the stark differences. And then time travel would get involved too since ME takes place before Trek.

So depending on which Trek you’re gonna go with (which for me I can pick any) there’s some wormhole shenanigans going on only what they call wormholes are the dark energy spots that Reapers use in ME time. The crew is investigating them when they go through it and end up in ME time (or if you want the ship accidentally goes through a la Voyager crossing over quadrants).

At first the crew is clearly trying to not get involved but can’t resist the chance to explore and learn the differences and when they realize this isn’t their actual past and can interact with the place more, which brings them into contact with the Normandy which has been sent to investigate the strange readings so we get to crew interactions of (which I’ll put under a cut cause it got long):

Spock and/or Tuvok, and Liara discussing the Vulcan Mind Meld versus the Asari meld and coming to the conclusion that they might have a genetic link back

Tali and B’Elanna having a field day comparing notes (and complaining) on what it’s like keeping a ship together when you don’t have all the parts you really need since Tali used to do that with the Quarian ships and B’Elanna does that now

Kirk and Shepard discussing choices made that shape worlds for better or worse despite the best of intentions and geeking out over model ships. You can’t tell me that doesn’t happen.

Bashir and Mordin are the only people able to understand each other in their speed talking and excitedly sharing notes about different aliens.

Worf and Wrex and Grunt immediately start a fight (bonus points for Wrex insulting Worf for sounding like Uvenk whom Dorn voices)

Seven and Legion (in a world where he lives, what do you mean he dies) discussing what it’s like going from a hive mind to being individuals and coming to find yourself and who you are as a person, like Legion clearly was more involved in finding this aspect for his people as opposed to Seven who had it forced on her but they share the desire now to learn and become an individual and protect those they care about

Janeway and Shepard blow something up by accident while trying to investigate something because of course they do

Samara and Deanna sitting down and just discussing life because I feel like these two would be friends and smirking at their friends antics and secretly betting on who’s gonna get into what danger

I actually have a lot of thoughts about paragon!Shepard and Michael being similar characters in the sense of having this burden of the galaxy placed on them and speaking out against things that people refuse to see except for the crew they’re apart of and trying to warn people of a war and do their best to prevent it and bring people together

Tilly and Tali and Gabby together would be a delight I feel, just talking excitedly about everything under the sun. including the sun.

Sulu and Joker arguing who's a better pilot and Sulu being fascinated how Mass Effect fields work when it comes to piloting and Joker proudly explaining it

Sisko tries to adopt Grunt from Shepard (no I’m mostly kidding, I think that Sisko and Shep have a great deal of respect for each other in caring for the crew and having in placed in an almost god like reverence in certain situations and the struggles with that. and then also Sisko brings back baseball to the Mass Effect world. Shepard absolutely hates that)

I figure the EMH would actually be most interested in biotics and the science of that and writing down to make a paper to publish as the first hologram to do so.

Likewise EDI is fascinated with hologram technology that Trek’s have and if the ships have ever developed sentience in any way and if she can incorporate some of that technology into the Normandy to further her own development

I think Kira gets along with Wrex and is angry at Salarians on his behalf once she hears what was done to the Krogan because the genocide of a species hits hard with her

Tilly and Samantha are even worse than Bashir and Mordin at talking so fast no one gets it but them and they very much do enjoy talking to each other

Tom and Steve have shuttle races until they’re ordered back by their bosses because really guys

Geordi has a lot of talks with EDI, some about his friendship with Data and the human side of interacting with a being that’s trying to learn about humanity themselves but most about the ship and the benefits of integration with it that allow you to be aware of everything that’s happening on it

also Data and EDI tell the worst jokes and everyone regrets this

Picard and Thane drink tea together and discuss philosophies and Thane talks about his species old artifacts and how they were lost to his culture and Picard just listens with interest and some ideas on how you could maybe get those back

Jadzia and Jack get along surprisingly well, they have a holodeck fight at one point and Jadzia takes tricorder readings of biotics and then they go out drinking together

on the flip side Ezri and Miranda get along in terms of being forced to live up to unreasonable family expectations (all though far less harsh in Ezri’s case) and having to carve out your own identity and also like...weirdly everyone hating you for no other reason than your character exists

Bev gets into playing poker with Kaidan and Steve and now they’re all trying to beat each other constantly at it

Saru and Liara get along the easiest at first and discuss the wild things their crews get up to and how they eventually just started to go along with the madness

Kasumi keeps trying to steal from Tuvok but can’t manage it and thinks it’s the best challenge she’s had in years. Tuvok just wants to talk to Thane and get back to the Delta Quadrant already captain.

Harry and Jacob get to talking about having to prove themselves and always being looked over and the troubles of trying to get your own command

Bones hates all of this, Kirk what the hell have you done now. That said he and Zaeed get to drinking and talking about the bullshit that comes from space travel. All though Zaeed’s is more about how annoying it is to try to kill someone in it. Bones thinks he’s just over exaggerating and not a mercenary at first.

James keeps showing off for literally everyone and turning things into a competition with whoever he can when it comes to physical activities, he’s still sulking that Data beat him until he finds out that Data is an android and then calls foul on it.

Odo and Zaeed grumble about everything together

B’Elanna and Ashley have a book club that they don’t tell anyone about and share romance novels and poetry while complaining about how everyone doesn’t expect it from them and that’s part of why they don’t tell people those parts of themselves

Uhura gets the translators turned off on the Normandy to listen to everyone’s dialect and language and is quick to pick up on it, she’s especially good with Drell and enjoys conversing with Thane in it

Liara is absolutely freaked out that Deanna sounds like her mother and Deanna is absolutely using this to troll her whenever she can because it amuses her

Grunt and Chekov get into arguments about history of all things despite that people keep pointing out that they’re from alternate worlds and therefore it’s different anyway

Chakwas and Chakotay sit down to talk about what it’s like sorta taking care of the crew and just ridiculous stories of things they’ve put with

Riker at one point talks to Miranda about clones and dealing with someone who is the same genetically as you but isn’t you and do you have a relationship with them or leave them be (they don’t come up with an answer really)

Mordin gets banned from taking samples of other aliens

Nog and Gabby talk one point about being sorta new to the experiences of war and frontline suddenly and the horrors that come with it and share their experiences of being trapped by the Reapers vs being in a Jem’Hadar fight and coming back from that

Guinan doesn’t care much for Javik but they do have one good discussion about what it’s like being one of the last of your species and seeing so many of them die due to a machine race (and worse, converted to serve that race) that you just can’t fight back against no matter how much you try (or that’s what they thought at the time)

Samantha and Spock and Kirk and/or Airiam have strategy game nights and really get into it and Spock will typically leave while Sam and Kirk are still geeking out over it until the morning

Quark is banned from the Normandy point blank

Worf tries to get everyone to appreciate Klingon opera, the only one he manages to get into it are Grunt and Legion

Scotty is especially fascinated with the drive core of the Normandy and talks to Adams about it constantly

Chakotay and James having a boxing match at one point

Jake interviews like everyone and is thinking about turning this experience into a novel and enjoys listening to everyone’s stories

O’Brien and Garrus get caught up in calibrations, can you come back later

okay this literally is getting too long already but I could keep going. I think then there’s a group discussion about the Borgs vs the Reapers and the troubles everyone faces in those fights and a lot of back and forth about things that have worked for one crew that may help someone else out (like the Changeling cure to maybe help the Genophage cure or vice versa)

#mass effect #star trek #beej talks mass effect #beej talks star trek #Anonymous #replies in thirty minutes or its free