NationStates Jolt Archive

"This is the starship Voyager (MCC-1701)! We have come under attack by ships of an unknown origin! We are located-" bang "- just inside the edge of the Milky Way Galaxy! Need assistance! Shields have failed! Sensors and weapons are nearly dead, and engines are buckling!"

Computer) Message transmitted.

Mew) Hopefully we get some help. What is the status of all ship's systems?

Computer) Primary engines at 24% efficiency and falling.

Secondary engines offline.

Tertiary engines offline.

Primary shields failed.

Secondary shields failed.

Tertiary shields failed.

Offensive cannons offline, repairs needed.

Defensive cannons at 18% efficiency and 94% heat capacity, recommend deactivation and repair.

Sensors operations 21% efficiency and falling, repairs needed.

Life support 69% efficiency, repairs needed.

Mew) I hope they show up.

The Xharnian Dreadnought Valiant Heart was on patrol with her patrol group along the edge of the Interplanetary Union of Xharn’s frontier space near the edge of the Milky way. The IPU was a Union of human colony worlds that had united under one banner to defeat several alien invaders that sought to wipe human presence out of this area of space…

The militant Xharnian Union Space Navy was in a constant state of deployment and performing several policing actions along their border when the Voyager’s distress call reached them…

The Dreadnought being the commanding ship promptly began to investiagate this call for help by sending a sortie of ten Xharnian Star Hunter class Patrol Ships toward the source of the message with orders to engage the aggressors and begin neogations with the crew of Voyager..


Ten artificial wormholes opened up and the ten Patrol ships moved in phalanx formation towards the area with shields up and weapons charged and ready. They were going to come out ready for a fight…

Science) Xharnian vessels, sir! Ten of them!

Mew) I hope they're here to help. Hail them and tell them our status.

Comms) Aye. Voyager to Xharnian vessels: We are currently under attack by no less than one hundred small fighter shuttles and three capital ships. Nearly all systems have failed. Respond.

The Xharnian Patrol ships listened to the transmission and promptly performed scans of the attacking force and decided to help the Voyager with it’s little problem..


The Patrol Ships were larger and more powerful than most standard fighters and could go toe to toe with frigates of rival navies but against a capital ship they would be hard pressed to defeat such an opponent. The phalanx formation promptly began targeting enemy fighter craft and a wave of Anti Proton energy bolts promptly fired at them with the goal of wiping the attacking waves of the enemy…


The lead Patrol Ship XUS Valagrade lead by L.T. Commander Leopold Rocheimer sent a transmission back…

Voyager, We are attempting to relive you of enemy fighter craft, The Captial ships will destroy us easily enough if the larger ships in our patrol do not come to help in this engagement. We are sending a distress call back to the Vailent Heart with a request for a number of Captial ships for assistance…

The Patrol Ships fired and prepared their Kinetic Ship Killer Warheads for salvo fire upon the larger capital ships…

Mew) Voyager to Xharnian vessels, we will give off some phaser and torpedo fire to keep the capital ships off of you while you take on the fighters.

Mew) Fire a full phaser spread, elevation set to zero. All banks on my command. Scan for impacts to their shields, standby on photon torpedoes.

Tactical) Aye, sir.

Mew) Fire!

The Star Republic Venator Class ship emerged from Hyperspace. They had picked up a battle on sensors and decided to take a look. As soon as the Ship slowed she launched Fifty ARC-170 fighters.

Science) Lingard vessel launching fifty fighters, sir.

Mew) Let's hope they're here to help. Open a channel.

Comms) Channel open.

Mew) Lingard vessel: This is President Mew Mæow II of the Federation of Mewsland. State your business here.

"You look like you need a bit of trouble Mr President, we're here to help"

Mew) We need trouble like I need a kick in the pants. We need some assistance getting these ships out of our hair. There are three capital ships and about eighty fighters remaining in the system. Ten Xharnian ships are currently dealing with the fighters, and we are making a diversion for the capital ships. However, Voyager cannot hold out for much longer with this onslaught. See if you can get these capital ships off of us long enough to get the shields back.

"Consider it done" THe Captain replied "Tactical, fire full turbolasers at the lead enemy Capital!"
A withering barrage of Turbolaser fire came from the Venator Class's batteries

Mew) Engineering. We need those shields! The superluminal drive is secondary!

Brain Jar decloaked, bringing her ID signal online as she did. The 100-meter saucer seemed tiny and five deck guns and a missile launcher seemed minuscule firepower, but many a ship across the galaxy had challenged those guns to find itself on the bad end of an unequal struggle.

Voyager was still broadcasting an ID signal--right now, Brain Jar was going by her Marionetonian registration, though she had others--as were the Xharnians and the Lingards. This could not be said for the other ships, however. Nonetheless, the Metal Man, piloting the little ship along with Pete, its AI, had decided to pursue a more diplomatically cautious approach than their counterparts.


Attention Unidentified Ships. This is Brain Jar. You're drawn quite a bit of
attention with your military action. Xharnians tend to travel heavy. You can
expect another wave. Recommend you stand down for a short time and explain
the reasons for this conflict before we all start doing things we're going to regret.


OOC:

Marionetonia and Dastardly Stench are owned (for lack of a better term) by the same person.

(MCC-1701 is a Mewsland registry number. Right now she is broadcasting on all frequencies using all registry numbers. If it shares a designation with another ship with another nation, it is merely coincidental.)

Mew) They don't seem interested in talking.

"Alright, Pete. Time to stop the violence. The others seem to have the fighters in hand, and it looks like Voyager is going to last long enough for the fighters to be shot down or recalled. Plot a series of jumps that will allow us to take out those Captital Ships' engines. Leave the hanger decks alone--we don't want to kill the fighters."

"Got it, boss."

Suddenly, the enemy vessels opened a barrage of fire right at Voyager. However, the starship had just got her shields back, and escaped destruction.

Engineer) Shields are back online. Weapons are back too. The engines are shot, though, Mr. President. It would take three months to replace the distribution coils, assuming we can even get to superluminal speed.

"Alright, Pete. Time to make some noise. Let's go full hot on this one, one round only. ENGAGE!"

The little ship showed its mettle. She wasn't large on the outside, but her information technology was simply incredible. She could engage her jump engines, fire and jump again all before most ships in the galaxy could so much as determine a firing solution. Sometimes, they couldn't even move their deck guns fast enough to track her.

Whishp! She faded out of existence and simultaneously faded in behind the nearest Capital Ship. The ship was huge, but a multi-megaton nuclear missile up the engine cone will do considerable damage to even the largest of ships.

Whishp! She disappeared, reappearing behind the bridge of a second ship--inside the big ship's shield radius. In less time than the point defense could move to fire on her, the little saucer had burned through a thin spot in the armor plating...and taken out the main power junction box for the ship's command center. It would take them approximately twenty seconds to reroute power, but, during that time, the ship's defenses would be completely off line. She was helpless.

Whishp! Brain Jar appeared alongside the remaining Capital Ship, the one going toe-to-toe with the Venerator. just as she opened her missile doors to deliver a broadside. Before they could move, five plasma cannons had fired simultaneously into the nearest missile tube, detonating its payload. The ship shuddered as the missiles began going off in a chain reaction.

And then, the little ship was back where she had started.


Attention unidentified ships:

This is Brain Jar, operating under Police Authority from the Independent State
of Marionetonia. Stand down or face additional counter-measures. This is your
final warning.


"Uh, Boss?"

"Yes, Pete."

"Don't you think it would be a good idea if we coordinated with the other groups in this area?"

"Yes, Pete, I do. Open general communications."


Attention erstwhile allies:

This is The Metal Man, piloting Brain Jar. I have Police Authority under
the auspices of the Independent State of Marionetonia. On their behalf, I
would like to thank you for showing up and helping to maintain order in this
sector of space.

Since we're here, I think it best that we communicate and decide how we're
going to handle this situation, and who has jurisdiction. As a mere Police
Patrol, I will gladly allow any military presence to assume authority in this
bailiwick.

Voyager, our facilities are geared much more toward peace than they
are toward warfare. If there's anything that we can do to help you get
your ship going once these ruffians have been dealt with, just let us
know.

Brain Jar out.

OOC) Venerator? It's Voyager.

IC) Mew) Open a channel to the Marionetonian ship.

Comms) Channel open.

Mew) This is President Mew. We were the ones attacked, for some reason. We would like to deal with this area, as we have had three ships attacked here in the last week. For information on what repairs we need for the ship, I am turning this over to my engineer, also known as the miracle worker, Angeline Scott.

Scott) There's severe scorching on our deflector dish and port nacelle, along with torpedo hits on the saucer, so if we can get that fixed, we'd be fine except for the engines. The distribution coils blew when a phaser hit our port nacelle, causing catastrophic damage to our superluminal matrix, destroying the coils and three of the field generators. Back to Mew.

Mew) We will not be able to make it back to our galaxy without the repairs to our engines and deflector dish, but the other areas we will be able to handle when we get back home. Voyager out.

OOC: Venerator is a Lingardian ship. I did make a mistake, however: the post said that the ship was a Venerator-class vessel, it did not name the ship. I apologize for my cluelessness.

IC:

The fighters were all but completely rebuffed now--the few that were left were turning tail and heading back to the Capital Ships. Those weren't in much shape to continue fighting. With her port-side firepower obliterated, the third ship was no match for a Venerator-class. Already, her shields were near faltering from the persistent turbolaser fire that the ship delivered. The second was having more trouble rerouting power than the Metal Man had counted on. She was still dead in space. The Metal Man was waiting for the Lingardians to sieze upon the opportunity and turn her armor into so much interstellar dust. The first--she was in the best shape of the three, but with her main engines severely damaged, she was a sitting duck. She wouldn't be able to stand against the combined firepower that could soon be brought to bear against her.

The Metal Man thought it safe to turn from the battle and aid in the repairs.

"Those distribution coils are going to be a mess to repair," he said. "Do we have anything we can turn into a superluminal field detector? If we can detect the field, we can isolate the damaged areas in the coils. Beats the heck out of trying to replicate the entire coils without a gravity well to polarize the crystals."

"I think we might be able to adapt the zeta-field conduit analyzer that we used on that mining colony a few months ago...maybe."

"Sounds good. I'll be in the workshop. Let our friends know."

"Sure thing, boss...

"Voyager, this is Pete the AI. We're going to try to improvise some measuring tools to help get your engines back up and running. Sit tight. We're on the case."

-----------------

OOC: going to leave the ships for the others to deal with.

the mi-amigo bridge
"were picking up a distress call from a ship called the voyager"
"really?"
yes its quite powerful too"
"lets go take a picture of it blowing up"
"sounds like fun, tell the guys in the studio"
the mi amigo studio
"yo guys were gonna see a ship blow up"
"cool we'll broadcast it live for everyone in the tri galaxy area to see"

the pirate TV ship powered its wormhole drive and jumped right into the battle
MI AMIGO BRIDGE
"yo voyager this is CS-mi amigo were gonna broadcast your demise!!"
"yo attackers were neutral please don't shoot at us"

Mew) NERV vessel, this is Voyager. We have been able to destroy the enemy fighters and cripple the capital ships. No need to watch the explosion of us. Pete, we are standing by.

"thanks voyager, we'll still report the battle's end"
the studio

"and today on pirate intergalactic news, a mewsland vessel was attacked by an unknown..."
as the news readers hair was being set on fire by one of the other presenters
"...task force, many ships have come to their aid and the unknown ships are crippled, now to our mobile crew on board one of the crippled ships."
inside one of the crippled ships
yes that's right , we are currently in one of the few areas that hasn't been flooded by the vacuum and there's a computer panel, it reads, well i cant understand it even with the psychic translator, this is weird, wait that bulk head, transport us back now!!"
the team escaped as that part of the ship started to leak atmosphere
"our team is back safe and sound, we are now going live to the bridge of the voyager..."

OOC: mewsland you can come up with the interview or i can your choice?

(OOC: You go ahead.)

IC) Mew) We have a NERV press group coming aboard, I want everyone at their best, or at least the best they can be on this damaged of a ship.

OOC: its pirate tv like pirate radio

IC:
"captain what are your thoughts on the nature of the attackers?"
"well what i believe is that they came here to destroy the voyager"
"what people or nation do you think they belong to?"
"we cant know at this time, the translator systems aren't working so we cant contact them"
"what do you think the intergalactic community will think about this?"
"well at this time its very hard to know, the ships are unmarked so there will probably be a meeting of the newly formed GA but its really hard to know."
"do you think it was terrorists?"
"well its more probable that its just pirates but we need to wait and see"
"well thank you very much captain, back to the studio"

"that was thick Kev interviewing the captain of the valiant ,more on that later. now in other news ,the smoking ban over NERV has now been lifted, after numerous complaints from the emperor himself..."

OOC: any other developments will be broadcast LIVE :)

The Metal Man, clad now in a technical suit that, at that moment, looked more like a merry-go-round of tools than a humanoid, drew back an implement of some kind from the insides of a large, round object on a table. "Well, let's give it a test run. Power it up."

"Powering up..."

The spherical object began to glow.

"30%"

The glow intensified. Behind the object, a bank of gauges and such came to life.

"50%"

A bright spot formed on the sphere and began to circle. A large slider on the gauge console lazily began to show blue marks.

"75%"

The slider slid into the green zone.

"95%--100%"

The slider moved up through the green and into the yellow.

Pete laughed.

"I've got good news and bad news," the AI said.

"Don't tell me," the cyborg replied, "the sensor runs without blowing up, but the readings are useless."

"How did you guess?"

"OK...hang on...I'm going to try adjusting the input/flux ratio." The merry-go-round rotated, and another implement slid into the sensor. As it turned, the slider on the console moved back down into the green. "How's that, Pete?"

"It's working, but just barely."

"Will it do the job?"

"Probably."

"Then power it down. We need to get a move on. How long has it been, anyway?"

"Hardly any time at all," Pete joked. "Only about eight hours."

"That was quicker than I thought. Let's see about attaching the unit to the Science Pod. That way, you can take the measurements while I see what I can do about that deflector dish. I'm going to have to change suits again. How long to prep The Hornet?"

"The Hornet? That's a combat suit!"

"Yes, but her plasma cannons double quite nicely as precision welders."

"A novel use, but practical."

An hour or so later, two small vehicles exited through a hatch in Brain Jar's underside.

"Mew, this is Pete. We're dispatching a Science Pod to find the breaks in your coils, and the Metal Man is coming out to do some work on your deflector cable. Do you trust us enough to lower your shields?"

Mew) The coils were totally fried, they will need to be replaced. We are lowering shields to allow you to get to the deflector array. Be careful, it's charged with anti-protons. You could destroy half the ship if you hit the array with your welding torches. Lowering shields... now. <beep>

Voyager's shield flickered out, followed by an explosion as one of the shield emitters gave out.

Mew) Dang! We just lost a shield emitter, too. Is there anything that works anymore on this ship?

"OK, Pete. Rig cannon #3 to fire positron beam, 10% power, and fire when ready."

"Already on it. Positron beam coming online...now. Anti-proton contamination neutralized. By the way, they're right. The readings I'm getting from those coils show that there's not enough left to stabilize. Yuck!"

"Roger that. Let's concentrate on the deflector dish for the moment. If we get it working, they can do without a shield emitter for a while. If not, every meteorite with big plans is an instant threat."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Good thing I brought the patching materials with me. Work commensing...now. Estimated completion time: six hours.

"Mew, can your engineering teams get to those coils? That port nacelle looks pretty beat up."

"voyager this is Mi amigo bridge, we are available to block any meteorites that come your way, Mi Amigo out."
the mi-amigo moved towards the side of the voyager and cast a shadow over the work teams on the hull

Mew) I've already got teams on the way, they should be there in about thirty seconds. The ship's dish needs to take priority, you are correct. And the anti-protons aren't contamination, they're what we use to run the darn thing. Here is an image of the starship.

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/b/b5/Uss_enterprise_self_destruct.jpg
Image) The refit of Voyager (MCC-1701) severely bugged up during testing in 2529, triggering a cascade failure which tripped the self-destruct. Only one half of the saucer was destroyed, as a result of the bugs.

(and bump)

"Either or," the cyborg replied. "The positron beam discharged the dish, and now the reconstruction is complete. Do me a favor, though. Test the section marked C-12. Not sure I got all the conduits aligned properly.

"Pete, how long before we can fabricate an entire new set of coils for that ship?"

"That's a tall order. Something that size could take a couple of weeks. IF those semi-derelict ships don't fire up and start shooting at us again."

"Roger that. We might be better off towing them to safety. Unfortunately, it looks like the other naval presences have left the area. Otherwise, I could ask them for a safe berth.

"Mew, I can get you to the Golenmus Shipyards in about four days. They're Marionetonian, which means they'll barter with you, but they won't just give you the parts you'll need. And the first thing they'll do if you let them is plug in a power conduit and charge you for the services. You don't have to let them, though--but they won't ask. You have to tell them before they start. You care for a little tow?"

Mew) I don't know what we can give them that we either can spare or isn't damaged. And as for towing us, are you sure your engines can handle it? The Voyager is the biggest ship in the fleet. Get ready. We are charging our deflector dish... now. <beep-beep-beep>

The deflector charged to full power within a few seconds, then section C-12 exploded, just as everyone had feared.

Angeline Scott) Borgus frat! Somebody get a stabilizer on that power coupling! Reinforce the starboard interlock!

Mew) Darn. Our telemetry readings show that section C-12 shorted out just before the explosion. Anyone care to explain why?

"Well, I did ask that you test it before powering up," the Metal Man said. "Pete, can you confirm my suspicion that one of those anitproton conduits had a microleak or two?"

"Finishing the sensor data analysis now...yep. Two leaks."

"Well...there you have it. 20% power would have been enough to expose the leaks without detonating the plating. At least the damage isn't as sever this time as it was originally. Pete, can you send out another unit or two of plating material? And Mew, getting an engineering team or two out here wouldn't hurt. This is your technology, after all.

"And we're not going anywhere until we get these shields working. Micro meteors are dangerous enough when you're standing still. When you're at two thirds C, they're positively unacceptable."

I wonder, the cyborg thought, how long it's going to take them to notice Brain Jar's mass discrepancy. She's bigger inside than she is on the outside. She can hide the size, but she can't hide the mass. Heck--I'm such a packrat that, if I'm not careful, she's going to start generating a gravity well before too long. When they do, they just might figure out what that ship's engines can really do.

the mi-amigo
"yo capt, we,re getting strange readings on the brain jar,its mass is massive compared to its size"
"and?, we've seen other ships with this setup, remember gallifrey?"
"ohh yea"
"good times,good times, but capt we should call in the sisters, we need to take a look at the tech"
"good plan,tell the news guy to assemble the sisters here and now"
"righto,hay guys we need to get the sisters,here now!"shouted the unnamed crewman
"got it!!"shouted one of the TV crew

mi-amigo studio
"hay i have a message for all the sisters, come to coordinates 114495495/Caroline/29981, and remember folks, these are not normal coordinates these are coded and don't try to jump here otherwise you may die."

planet pacific,mystander constellation,NERV space
4 ships, 4 FTL transmitters, 4 names-bebop,Ross revenge,timor challenger and communicator 558, these where the sisters ,all part of the pirate TV station FTLCL the only FTL pirate TV station,the 4 ships received the message, they all took off from they're respective moorings then jumped

near the voyager

a huge amount of comm,s chatter opened up as the sisters arrived, they all moved in and docked with each other, forming a makeshift space station

OOC: The TARDIS hides its mass somehow. For example, in a recent episode (current actor--not that Smith Fellow, who technically is still the FUTURE doctor*--playing the part) four of the Quantum Lock Assassins (angel statues--I forget what they were called) were able to lift the TARDIS completely off the ground, unsettling its occupants at the time. It is unlikely that the pirate TV guys would equate what they found on Brain Jar with something from Gallifrey.

* This is not to say that he won't be good as The Doctor, but merely that no episode with Mr. Smith in that role has aired as yet, to my knowledge.

OOC: thanks info the info on the TARDIS,my current fave doctor is David tenant,
my men where referring to the" bigger on the inside" part

Nerv, it's Voyager, darn it!

sorry,he he

Suddenly, the massive Voyager started swinging into the gravity well, nearly clocking the Metal Man on the head.

Mew) What the devil? Please tell me we aren't getting pulled toward that ship!

Helm) Negative, sir! We are being pulled towards bearing 101 mark 263: It's Brain Jar, sir. I'm reading an unusual amount of mass for her size! We're getting pulled in! Impact in three minutes!

Mew) We need engines, now! Fire up the impulse drive, give it everything we have!

Helm) Aye!

Mew) Pete, this is Mew. We're getting pulled towards your ship, which is creating a gravity well of intense power!

(OOC: I gave you the wrong image. This is after Voyager's second refit in 2556. Here is the correct one.)

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/d/d2/USS_Enterprise_(alternate_reality)%2C_profile.jpg
Image) President Mew on approach to Voyager in 2558.

And another image)
http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/4/42/Christopher_Pike%2C_2258.jpg
Image) Mew Mæow II on Voyager, giving orders during the Great Battle of 2558.

"the voyager is being pulled into the brain jars gravity well"
"what about us?"
"we,re fine the gravity manipulators are keeping the station in position"
"then we should help the voyager, split the ships and then take up positions to keep the voyager in position.
"on it now"
the sisters broke apart and took up positions around the voyager
"mi amigo to all sisters, activate tractor beams now"
the tractor beams activated stopping the voyager instantly.
"all sisters, tie your controls into the mi amigo."
"got it"
"already done"
"ready"
"controls altered"

mi amigo
"hows the engines?"
"they're fine, remember our engines where lifted from old military tugboats"
"right,bring the valiant out of the gravity well"
"on it"

Science) We are being pulled out of the gravity well by the NERV vessels! However, we currently do not have enough power, even with six ships, to break free!

Mew) Push it right to the edge!

OOC: the sisters usually use a form of gravity manipulation to maneuver and move but they allso have a set of sprint engines usually used to escape the NERV navy

IC:
"guys, we cant hold em"
"push the engines into the red, select low range, anything!!"
"we could activate the sprint engines?"
"okay, go on then, activate the sprinters"
the usually unused engine outlets started to warm up,as the engines fired up the group shuddered then slowly started to move,the sisters running on full power, they're old systems working at 100%, the valiant slowly started to edge away from the gravity well
"were escaping the gravity well, the valiant is nearly free, just a few more seconds"shouted the pilot of the MI-AMIGO over the huge noise that the sprint engines where making.

OOC: i have a picture of the mi-amigo (http://fc04.deviantart.com/fs45/f/2009/135/2/8/MI_AMIGO_NS_by_seb_deadzedcomics.png)

(OOC: Voyager, not Valiant, NERV)

IC) Helm) We're breaking free!

Mew) Excellent! Keep going!

"Pete, what's with the gravity well? You been eating something you weren't telling me about?"

"Oh, so funny! Sorry, boss, but I'm lean and mean. I have no idea what's happening here. It's like some kind of mass vortex opened up around me!"

"Can you get out?"

"Not sure I want to."

"Why not?"

"Everyone else is having a tough enough time as it is. If I move, it might disturb something and make the vortex even meaner."

"Can you hold out where you are?"

"So far."

"OK, then. As you were--but let me know the moment there's even a hint of trouble."

-----------

OOC:

Read the post, folks. It said that IF TMM put MORE stuff in Brain Jar, it MIGHT START TO DEVELOP a gravity well. It did NOT say that she had one--in fact, it implied that she DIDN'T.

(OOC: It was created by a combination of the large mass of Brain Jar and the mass of Voyager attracting each other)

(IC)

Science) We're clear.

Mew) Phew. That was close! What caused it?

Science) A combination of Brain Jar's mass and our own in nearly the same spot created a gravity well around Brain Jar, as it was the heavier ship. Breaking free nearly sent us into a tailspin.

<Shbump.>

"thank the ancestors,we made it, engine room ,how are we?"
"not in one peace, the main matter conversion coil is severely damaged,all the sprint engines are out and if we activate the gravity manipulator, we could cause another gravity well" he explained in his soft Scottish accent
"so we,re dead in the water?"
"aye capt'n, the main reactor,....has just died, im switching to the backup generator, also the rust that was detected around the transmitter array, well its sheered off, the whole transmitter has gone, and the other sisters aren't in any better shape, i suggest we call the repair yard"
"thanks Carson, im calling voyager now"

this is the mi amigo to the voyager, may we use your long range communications to contact our mobile dry dock, our ships where badly damaged due to the sudden exertion of our little used sprint engines

Mew) Activate our transmission dish.

Comms) Aye.

Mew) Open a channel.

Comms) Open.

Mew) We have powered up our comms dish so you can bounce a transmission off of it.

thanks voyager, bouncing transmission now
"this is mi amigo to Tilbury docks, come to position zz3 plural z1wst 5fkjrr/pie/beta"
"this is Tilbury docks , mi amigo we are on our way, hold steady we are coming now"
"thanks tilbury"
a huge black disk appeared near the voyager, a large ring shaped ship exited and stopped in front of the voyager, the voyager could almost fly right through the huge ring
"this is tilbury to voyager,please move your ship back approximately 1 mile, as we have the one engine and you just saw it work"
the voyager moved back
"thanks voyager, all ship prepare for spacial disturbance"
the huge ring started to glow then in the center a small reflective ball started to form it then grew into a huge wafer thin puddle filling the ring it then became apparently transparent but if you looked trough it you would see a huge shipyard, as big as a solar system with gantries going on for light years
"this is tilbury tractor tug A.I i are now pulling in all damaged ships for free repair
ship names are :mi amigo,bebop,Ross revenge,timor challenger, communicator 558 and voyager.
suddenly 6 thin blue beams exited the event horizon and started to pull the 6 ships in

Mew) Disengage all main drive systems and engine/navigation relays now.

the voyager and the 5 sisters where pulled in, the sisters where taken to a large pier like thing where they stopped and landed, the voyager was towed into an empty area of space then gantries started to appear from the horizon then stop immediately around the voyager men exited from hidden shafts and cocooned the ship with men and machines to complete the repairs, the repairs wouldn't take too long, but the mechanics had a thing with ships, if they can be upgraded they get upgraded, it was a simple rule which they always followed

The Voyager was found to be state-of-the-art, with the best weapons, engines, everything in the fleet. The vessel was one year out of testing after her refit in 2556.

IC:
"alright boys, move the new hull plates into position, this ship is state of the art in some respects but in others she is bad like shielding,engines, Armour and she lacks firepower, oi, did i say tilt the crane? just move it down, now!"the foreman shouted
he sighed "if that is state of the art, then its no wonder she was damaged by those enemy ships."
the desighn room
"hay Markus"the captain of the mi-amigo said as he approached
"john, its great to see you have you seen this ship? she's beautiful but technologically she is 34 years behind the NERV ships, the design is strange but beautiful, i propose that we don't mess with the structure but we add more Armour over the entire hull, a new shield generator at least triple the power, an entire second skin to house hidden weapons bays and turrets, a diamond type engine system she'll go at least twice as fast in hyperspace and in normal space,a NERV ZP-reactor core and for the icing on the cake she wont weigh any more than when she came in, hows that?"
"well sounds great, have you got the mews people up to speed on the systems yet?"
"yes i have teams talking to the different people involved but to be honest the controls are exactly the same as their previous controls so it shouldn't be a problem"
"okay but please listen to mew i am going to summoned him to see the plans for his ship"
"all right"
OOC: lets say that the summoning happens off screen?

"Anybody hear me?" came the cyborg's now-familiar voice.

He was holding onto Voyager's deflector dish. He had been there all along--and, when they took Voyager to their dry docks, they took him along for the ride.

Unfortunately, that left him some distance from Brain Jar, and Pete wasn't happy about that. He was polite, but not happy.

"Gentlemen," the AI's comm signal shot out, "can you please reunite me with my counterpart?"

<NERV, even a state of the art vessel can be taken down by well over three hundred fighters (the starting count), and three capital ships. Voyager is only a heavy cruiser.>

Mew) Hello, Pete. And no, we can't re-unite you with TMM. Right now, we are held in a tractor beam. And get this NERV junk out of my ship! It's bugging all the systems. Didn't I tell them we just needed new distribution coils for our superluminal drive? And now they're asking me if I want to put a new shield generator, new engines, new armor, the whole ball of wax. We're not here for an overhaul!

In the meantime, the ship's comm network was being overloaded with calls about all the bugs. The communications officer had the channel on speakers. All the transmissions overlapping sounded like this:

"Ajhhbsudirofjsa-adhriugefa-SQUEEAK-SQUEEAK-aslhfaukhjklfsad"

Mew) Communications! Turn off those darn channels!

The enemy ships showed no power and no life signs. Hulks.

It appeared as though the Metal Man was safe enough where he was, so Pete decided to try a little forensic examination before he picked his friend and caretaker up again. All in all, rather boring.

And then, all at once, the enemy ships self-destructed.

The shock wave was on the little ship almost as fast as she could raise shields. In the confusion of the plasma field that they had generated, station keeping would be impossible. Brain Jar fired up her maneuvering thrusters and did her best, but, with her sensors blinded and violent turbulence, all bets were off.

The shock wave badly affected the ships in the NERV dock, especially Voyager, which was slammed against one of the gantries, shearing off the starboard superluminal engine.

Mew) Shields! Shields!

BANG!

Eng. Scott) Our starboard engine has just been sheared off! The superluminal matrix is collapsing!

Mew) ALL ENGINES FULL REVERSE!

"Boss, you out there?"

"Boss, can you read me?"

"BOSS!!!!!!!"

The crippled Voyager began to list badly with the imbalance in the mass, nearly smacking the deflector dish (and The Metal Man) into another gantry before she broke free of the dock and started tumbling through space.

Mew) All thrusters to full power! Inertial dampeners to maximum! Get us stabilized! Beam the Metal Man on board!

in dockyard control
"boys we got a problem, the voyagers loose from her gantries and is listing heavily, deploy emergency mooring cables now!"
suddenly blue glowing tractor beam like cables shot out of hidden ports in all the gantries and locked themselves onto the voyager, the voyager slowly came back into her mooring position, meanwhile a large anti-grav crane lifted her engine pod back into position
"who the hell forgot to secure the voyager!!??"shouted the foreman"secure it now, also we've got word from mew to put the ship back to before the damage, no upgrades today, just repair the engines and prepare for relaunch"
gateway control
"how did the blast wave get trough our gateway? , this system is supposed to be blast proof"
"it appears that the shield was down for repainting"
"great, just great"

"Pete, I think I know what's going on. We've got a mass imbalance. Your ion field is interfering with Voyager's damaged engines. You've got to get away from th--."

"Boss! Glad to know you're still there! Boss? BOSS!!??!?!"

<.... the mass imbalance was created by the starboard engine being sheared off. The ion field would cause an antimatter imbalance.>

The deflector dish blew out thanks to the force of the NERV moorings, but this time, it was much worse. Sections 11-15 on rows A through C blew out, nearly hitting The Metal Man with anti-protons.

Mew) Dang it!

repair gantry 44577b
"get a shield over that deflector dish, prepare for replacement in 3...2...1..NOW!"
the deflector dish disappeared and a new one reappeared with men already connecting it to the voyager
"hows the repairs on the engines going"
"they're going great we should have her ready for relaunch in two hours"
"great, get it finished"

Mew) Fire up the new dish.

The new deflector dish fired up to full power, and never quit.

Mew) Yes! It works! About time this ship was (somewhat) back in the game!

"Don't worry, Pete. I can take care of myself. Just get away from that portal door. I'll join you in a few minutes, if they don't beam me away or some--."

ZAP!

OOC: Mew DID order TMM to be beamed aboard Voyager, no?

<Yes, Mew did order TMM beamed aboard.>

Mew) Welcome aboard Voyager.

"--thing.

"Oh HI, Mew! I was just chatting with my AI. Don't mind the smoke coming off my right side--it just got a friendly little dose of explosives. You might not want to get too close. It might be radioactive."

"re-launch of voyager in 1 minute, re-launch of voyager in 1 minute" sounded the intercom the voyager was completely repaired and ready for launch, a crowd had gathered on the dockside which had appeared apparently from nowhere, the champagne was ready all that remained was for mew to press the button to launch and release the champers. then the voyager would be launched down the magnetic rail slipway into the Gateway to normal space, thus signifying the completion of repairs.

Mew) Let's go. <beep> Clear all moorings. Standby full subluminal power once we're clear.

"Ummm, Mew? Could you do me a small favor and let me get back aboard my ship before you zip off somewhere?" the Metal Man asked.

the slipway started to crackle and electricity started to ark between the different gravometric rails, slowly the voyager started to move, it sped up to at least 50% LS then left the track hurtling towards the gateway, it went straight through back into normal space

Mew) I will put you on your ship. Do not worry.

Science) We're clear, sir!

Mew) Full subluminal to Brain Jar.

Tactical) Sir?

Mew) What?

Tactical) Reading at least nine of the same ships that attacked us! No- make that twelve!

A pause. For about ten seconds, the whole ship went silent. Then, a whole flurry of activity began to show.

Tactical) Weapons free and-

Helm) Engines go, sir. We're-

Science) Targeting scanners aligned-

Comms) MCC-1701 requesting backup at sector 27-17-35-42-63 in Milky Way Galaxy!

"Pete, you there?"

"Boss! You're back!"

"I guess. Could you do me a small favor and tell me if there's some reason for all the commotion around here?"

"Sure is. We've got more company. Multiple bogies of the same type we encountered at the beginning of this little soiree."

"You doing anything about it?"

"I plan on cloaking before they get in weapons range, but I'm staying lit so that Voyager can have something to send you back to."

"Sounds like a plan.

"Mew, how long until you can beam me back? The sooner the better, for both of us."

Mew) Not until this is over, I am afraid. Once in red mode, every nonessential system shuts down to save power. Transporter will remain non-operational until one of two things happen: one, we destroy the enemy, or two, we abandon ship. Pete, please remain decloaked until the rest of the fleet arrives. I don't want any ships slamming into you when they drop out of warp space. I am pretty sure you are wondering why we need the whole fleet? Here's your answer: Almost 20 Voyager-classes would be hard-pressed to beat one of these things. We were lucky because of our fresh refit in 2556.

Captain's log, stardate 2558.17: Another round of attackers is en route to our current position. The rest of the fleet is on course to here and should arrive at any moment. The enemy is two minutes out, so we should have enough time to mount a defense. The reason for this escalation in attacks from this unknown nation is still a mystery. However, I have a feeling that the reason will be uncovered...

"hay guys im reading multiple enemy ships on the other side of the gate, im gonna send a pirate ship to aid the voyager"
"gate control to black pearl you are to emergency launch now"
"righto, moving now"
a large black colored battleship moved through the gateway at tremendous speed

normal space
"hay voyager, heard u needed some assist, the black pearl will help, she's got some of the biggest guns in the verse,"
"this is black pearl to unidentified fleet, do not fire upon any of the ships in this area or we will be forced to take action"

Nearly one thousand rips in space became visible, and the same number of ships poured out of them. The new fleet gathered into clumps of 81, one clump to each enemy vessel.

"You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men, don't you, Pete?"

"I take it that this means you won't be beaming over any time soon."

"Doesn't seem that way."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to wait here. This suit is too big to fit through the door, and I somehow don't think that our friends would understand if I used the onboard weapons to start blowing holes in their walls. And I suppose that this means that--oh no!--I'm going to have to trust you to see this through."

"I love you too, boss."

As the enemy dropped out of warp, the massive gathering of ships engaged. However, one stayed behind: Voyager. Anyone who scanned the ship would find a massive energy charge building in her main phaser banks....

the black pearl stormed at the enemy ships, destroying them each with one shot of her main batteries of witch there where many
"79,80, guys we got 80 ships down!"

You know, Pete mused to himself, we never did find out what this was all about. It was true. The intruders had made no attempt to contact anyone. They had just appeared and started unloading ordinance.

What will it take to get through to them? Will anything work?

Brain Jar hung back from the combat, preferring to wait and see just whom and what it was fighting.

Tactical) Three minutes.

Mew) Good. We'll have enough power for a phaser wave soon.

Science) Mr. President. The last time a ship did a phaser wave, it overloaded the ship's phaser banks.

Mew) That was an Augusta-class, which didn't have near enough power.

Tactical) Two minutes!

black pearl-bridge
"sir, i have what appears to be a phaser build-up in the voyager, suggest we remove ourselves from the blast zone"
"agreed, we will enter the gateway as soon as we finish with these enemy's"

Mew) Fire everything!

The Voyager roared through the enemy vessels, firing barrage after terrifying barrage of phaser blasts at each enemy ship as it cut right through the enemy line.

"Pete, tactical!"

"It looks as though the intruders are seriously under-powered. They can't seem to mount a decent attack on your postion, but your weapons can hit them. Unless this enemy of yours starts to show some firepower in a hurry, I'm going to be able to relax for quite a while."

"Let's hope. The last thing I want is to be blown to bits in the middle of a war I was stuck sitting through."

Mew) Recharge the shields!

Tactical) Already on it!

Meanwhile, on one of the intruder vessels...

All ships: Target Voyager with all weapons! Her shields are down!

"helmsman, bring us about so we can defend voyager, extend the shields, i dont want tilburys fine handiwork destroyed"
"yes capn"
the black pearl turned rounded an put herself between voyager and the unknown ships

"Pete, we need a distraction. ANYTHING that can put this mindless conflict on hold!"

"Working on it."

"Can you just jump somewhere and then set off a plasma torpedo in the mouth of the wormhole? That looks impressive but doesn't cause much damage. If they stop pounding each other for a moment, maybe we can ask them what this whole thing is about!"

"I'll try it, but I don't know if anybody's going to stop once they figure out what's going on."

"Well...let's hope this does the trick."

"OK. Jump in four...three...two...one..."

A large fireball erupted where Brain Jar had been. She appeared instantly some distance away, still out of weapons range.

Mew) I don't think that's going to work, Pete!

"Do I dare call home for reinforcements, boss?"

"Are you kidding? They'll probably send a battle plate! Those things are 12 kilometers in diameter. The shooting would never end."

"Maybe, but maybe something that large might intimidate these guys long enough for cooler heads to prevail."

"And if they keep on doing things the way they're doing them now?"

"Lots and lots of heat, not much light."

"So let's do what we can to contact the newcomers, and to keep them off of Voyager while she recharges her shields."

"Roger, Boss. Wilco. New jump coming up in three...two...one..."

Brain Jar appeared between Voyager and the closest bogey.

Tactical) Still reading over one hundred ships still operating!

Mew) This isn't working...

Tactical) You're right!

Mew) Set a collision course with the largest ship.

Helm) But sir-

Mew) Do it! Standby warp drive.

"sir, the voyager is preparing to ram the enemy fleet"
"stop them, then use our trump card"
"but sir that's a heavily guarded se.." he cut her off
"just do it!"
"sir, we cant, its too late now"
"ah hell, record there last moments"
"yes sir"

"What's going on, Mew? Why are things so quiet all of a sudden?"

"BOSS! Voyager is firing up her engines! It looks like she's going to ram one of the intruders!"

"Go to private channel, Pete."

"I'm there."

"Good. Now the Mewslanders can't hear this. I'd say 'over my dead body,' but that would hit too close to home. Thanks, Pete. Tractor beam ready?"

"Firing up now."

"Good. Lock this ship down and get ready to make a run for it. I feel a rampage coming on. I'm switching back to the public channel."

"Mew, if you're trying what I think you're trying, don't expect to get away with it."

Mew) Don't even think about it, Pete. I know what I am doing. Warp speed- bring us inside that enemy ship.

"I don't think they're trying to commit suicide, Pete. Can you do us a favor and open a hole?"

"I'll do my best."

So fast that the communications line barely went dead, Brain Jar jumped into weapons range of the ship that Voyager was about to ram. A precision-aimed barrage of weapons fire--plasma guns and a missile--blew a hole in the ship's outer hull plating. A force field formed to keep the ship's insides on its insides, but the hole was there.

Before the missile had even detonated, Brain Jar was back out of weapons range.

"I hope we're doing the right thing, Boss. We've just crossed the line. We've entered a conflict that we really have no business being in."

"Not exactly. I'm stuck in here. That was merely an act of self-preservation."

The Voyager roared into warp, but never seemed to come out... then, the ship she was targeting exploded spontaneously. There was Voyager, totally unscathed.

Mew) It was aptly named: The Mæow Maneuver. Jump inside a ship and raise shields at the same time- POOF! It blows, and your enemy comes out none the wiser.

The Terror class warship Deception jumped out of hyperspace. It noticed the exploding vessel and immediately raised weapons and shields. Who knew what kind of mess they had landed into. The Deception hailed the Mewsland vessel.

" We are the Children of Kash, we have detected a fire fight in this region of space and came to investigate, please respond."

OCC: Need to get warmed up with my new race ^^

"BOSS! YOU ALRIGHT?!!"

"Never better, Pete. Looks like there were some laws of physics that I didn't know could be exploited quite the way they were."

"Wow! That was disgusting!"

"I'm glad they didn't try that on you, though. Your ion field would turn that whole mess into a quantum singularity. You, this ship and everything in them would end up seeding a black hole. It's also good that we cleared a path for them. If there had been too much metal around us when we arrived, this place would be a boom town."

"Boss, we've got more company."

"Who this time?"

"They're calling themselves the Children of Kash. No entries in the database."

"Well...the more the merrier. See if you can get their attention."


Attention Children of Kash:

This is Brain Jar, operating under authority of the Marionetonian Space Patrol.
We welcome your arrival in this sector. At present, we are attempting to establish
order in this sector. Unidentified forces have appeared and fired on several ships.
All attempts to contact them have proven ineffective.

Please state your intended course of action.

Brain Jar over.


Then, Pete made another move. Calculating that the violence was escalating, he sent word back toward Marionetonia, requesting back-up.

Mew) This is President Mew Mæow II of the Federation of Mewsland. These invaders attacked us during a mission of exploration and have returned to finish the job. Cut the transmission.

Comms) Aye.

Meanwhile, just outside of the battle...

This torpedo will kill two birds with one stone: Voyager and these other people. Suck them right into the quantum singularity it creates!

You mean shoving them down a black hole's throat?

I believe I just said that.

The Deception refused to help the parties involved. It needed more information before engaging an unknown enemy with little knowing of who these people asking for help were. Another hail was sent to the vessels.

" We will assist if you tell us why they are attacking you."

Brain Jar to Deception:

We are unable to discern the reason for this attack.
The ships will not return our attempts at communication.
Our warning shots were likewise ignored.

We will respect your decision to remain uninvolved.
We, too, are attempting to better discern the nature
of this conflict. However, we warn you that, by
remaining in the region, you may be subject to fire
from these mysterious ships.

Brain Jar out.

Just outside of the battle....

Fire!

A lone torpedo was released from the unknown ship, and shot off towards the battle.

Back on Voyager...

Mew) That? What is that?

Tactical) It appears to be a torpedo. However, it is heading nowhere in particular.

Mew) Magnify!

..........

Mew) I know what that is! Tell our allies to get the heck out of this sector! Bring us about and prepare the jump to superluminal speed!

The deception prepared to jump with the Mewsland vessel should the need arise. On board soldiers and other personal were preparing for the jump.

Tactical) Detonation in 15 seconds!

Mew) Get us out of here!

The superluminal matrix flared, however, the ship didn't enter the luminal stream.

Mew) Don't tell me the computer bugged up again!

Engineer) Try it now!

Mew) Punch it!

The matrix flared again, sending the Voyager into warp just before a black hole opened up due to the torpedo's explosion.

Rather than jumping into hyperspace they decided to follow the Voyager through the luminal stream. The crew gave a sigh of relieve, realizing how close they were to being torn apart by the black hole that would continue to get bigger. The Deception flowed through the luminal stream, its gleaming white paint job was complimented by a large gold hand painted on the side, reflecting the C.K

<NC, the Deception would enter the luminal stream, not the superluminal matrix. The matrix on a starship is what opens a stream.>

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/a/ad/USS_Dauntless_in_quantum_slipstream.jpg
Image) A prototype Mewsland starship navigates a luminal stream.

<IC>

Mew) That was close. Hail our allies and tell them to regroup at sector 27-19-32-45-59.

-edited it

Mew) Mew to all allied ships: Head for sector 27-19-32-45-59. I know this seems like gibberish, but what it means is encoded in a datastream in this message. We'll use the superluminal hub there to reach the Mewsland Galaxy and the rest of our fleet. We are transmitting a hub image now.

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/en/images/3/35/Transwarphub.jpg
Image) A hub under attack by pirate cubeships.

The Deception hailed the Voyager.

" We were on a peaceful mission to bring others into out cause until we detected the battle. May we tag along so that we may bring our cause to your galaxy?" The Children of Kash needed more members and they needed them badly.

Mew) Go ahead. However, it is unlikely you will get many followers in a foreign galaxy. You'll be lucky if very many people can speak your language.

Helm) Entering Galaxy 27 Cube 19 Area 32 Sector 45 System 59.

Mew) Take us out of the luminal stream. Now, Deception, I bet you are wondering how our superluminal drives and corridors work.

<bump for Calaveras>

Another message was sent to the Mewsland vessel.

" We are interested but we trust our own drives, yours seemed convenient to hitch on. Please refer to us as children of kash, he is the one that drives us to our ultimate path to ascension where we will sit by his side forever."

Mew) Sorry. It is general procedure to refer to a ship by its name until asked. But since you have asked otherwise, that is fine.

Once again, the Metal Man and Brain Jar were out of contact.

"Mew, how far from the event horizon are we?" the cyborg asked.

...and how many of the foreign ships got out to come and torment us?

OOC:

Well, I found a kludge that seems to work. I (DS and Marionetonia are the same person) can post again.

Mew) We're clear. We are in a different sector. And none of the foreign vessels found out where we were, but some got away from the hole.

"Good--now, how big is that black hole, and can you put me back near it? My ship should be in the area."

Mew) We pulled your ship into the luminal stream with us via our tractor beams, but I don't know where it ended up.

OCC: what are we gonna do now ha?

"Unless you've still got it in your tractor beam, it will return there and wait for me."

Mew) We let it go once inside the stream. It wouldn't have been able to get out of the stream without getting blown up by hitting the stream's wall. A stream only goes one way. It should pop out right about... now.

Another blip on the sensors appeared.

<once DS's ship arrives, then the allied fleet will head through the superluminal hub, to arrive in Mewsland Galaxy in three days.>

"Pete," the Metal Man said over the comlink, "you there?"

"Depends. Where's 'there,' and how the heck did I end up...'there?'"

"Never mind. Can you find Voyager on your sensors."

"Yes. She's right...well, not 'there,' because that's where I am."

"Alright. I got the joke. Please move to our position."

"Roger that. Wilco. Brain Jar out."

The little saucer once again closed in on the larger star ship.

The Deception pulled up next to the Mewsland vessel waiting for any information that needed to be given to them.

Mew) Voyager to all Mewsland and allied vessels: Prepare to approach the superluminal hub. All vessels over 700 meters long will go to the larger apertures (broadcasting a signal of three beeps), ships 350-700 meters in length will go to the apertures broadcasting two, and ships under 350 meters will head to the apertures broadcasting one beep. All ships need to have inertial dampeners at maximum and neutralize all ion fields! An ion field will kill the conduit and your ship with it. End transmission.

Science) I'm pretty sure that our ships know where to go.

Mew) Not on this one. It was just built. The older models (4, 5, and 6) have 300, 600, and 900 meters as their borderlines. This is the first one of the 350/700 Model 7 hubs. It's much faster, considering it only runs three types of apertures.

Comms) Which dialing code shall I use?

Mew) Give it to me. This uses a new code set. Here we go. Alpha-Kappa-Epsilon-Pi-Delta-Beta-Gamma.

Science) Why did they make us use the Greek alphabet for the codes?

Mew) It offers the most possible permutations that the dialer can understand. However, the Model 7 will soon start using constellations as a guide. The Greek alphabet offers 24x23x22x21x20x19 possible combinations, or 96,909,120 codes. However, the new dialers will recognize 39 symbols, meaning there are 39x38x37x36x35x34 combinations, or 2,349,088,560 codes.

Science) How do you know all this?

Mew) You need to remember, I'm the one that invented the dialer for these things. Before 2463, you just had to hope you hit the right aperture.

The Deception came about and hailed the Mewsland vessel.


" What exactly are we planning on doing? our mission was of conversion, we will follow you if your people are willing to hear us and at least give us a shot."

Mew) If you want to convert people, convert our attackers! If you're here to help us win this war with these people, then come with us and help make a battle plan!

The captain of the Deception was a Alversian(human) by the name of Frederick, his pure white face and gold hair appeared on the front of the hailing screen. His gold eyes peirced the Mewsland vessel.

" We cannot convert people unwillingly, that is why we would like to ask if any of your people would want to follow our path and come with us. We will assist in your way as long as survivors are given the chance to join us."

"Mew, this is Pete. I can't do this your way. Brain Jar's ion field keeps up her hull integrity. It simply can't be shut down. If you can give me coordinates of your next location, I can use my jump drive and hopefully join you soon."

"As to your mission, Captain of the Deception, I humbly recommend that you make contact with Marionetonia. They could use a good conversion!"

Mew) I already figured that in, and retuned the corridor your ship will be using to contain an EM signature that will neutralize ion signatures, but only the ones that hit the side of the corridor. If you can narrow your field, the corridor will work as if you never had an ion field.

Frederick was impatient, they needed to move quick with whatever they were diong and the Deception didn't like staying in one place for very long. Chances were they were going into a fight, the Alversian rubbed his chin and sent another hail.

" We must move quickly so that we gain the initiative."

"OK, Mew," Pete said, "I'm going to trust you. I've reconfigured the field aperture to give the ship a 'hard edge.' I'm ready whenever you are."

Mew) We'll be coming with you just in case there are problems. Do you trust us enough to allow Voyager to project an anti-ion field around your ship as a precaution? It won't interfere with your structural integrity.

"Of course," the AI replied.

Pete still thought that this was a bad idea. If they had given him a decent set of coordinates, he could run some calculations and use the jump drive. With the proper level of detail, it could allow him to cover enormous distances in a relatively short time.

Mew) Pete, you seem a little reluctant. Is it because you think you should use your jump drive? If so, I have to kill that idea right here. The defense perimeter doesn't recognize your ship's identification in the database, and will see your ship as hostile. Plus, tell me HOW you would travel 6.5 million light years.

"Your point is moot, Mew," Pete replied. "I've already agreed to trust you. Just give me a few seconds' warning before we depart."

Fredrick replied in kind. " Yes, warn us before we begin our journey. May I ask what enemy vessels may we be engaging and what kinds of weapons they have. We must be prepared for a battle."

Mew) We will not be engaging any vessels here or in the Mewsland Galaxy, but once we gather the rest of my fleet, we'll be heading off towards Andromeda where we believe our attackers are located. Mew to all ships: Head to your appropriate corridor on the hub. Brain Jar, you're with me. Voyager out.

" Understood, heading out." The Deception changed course and followed the Mewland vessel and the Brain Jar.

Frederick got out of his chair and walked to the holodeck where his troops were training for battle, they had not had conflict in so long. They were headed to an alien civilization, untouched by Kash's hand, but soon it would be. The enemys would be offered the path to ascesion by his forces and if they refused there only escape would be dust...

Helm) Hitting the corridor in 3... 2... 1... now.

A very loud bang rent the starship as she hit the corridor and rocketed to speeds past warp 9.9999.

Mew) All power to inertial dampeners!

Brain Jar's alarm console lit up like a Christmass tree, but Pete held firm. The superluminal stuff was causing subspacial anomalies within his ion field, but they were extremely small--just enough, in fact, to drive the sensors crazy. For the time being, everything appeared to be holding together. How long this would last was anybody's guess, but it looked OK for now.

Mew) Mew to Brain Jar: The early part of the corridor is extremely unstable! It should level off in about three minutes.

<Shbump.>

"No problem, Mew. Nothing I can't handle so far."

Suddenly, Voyager's proximity alarms lit up like Christmas trees on fire. The Science officer found out why, and it wasn't good.

Science) Reading stellar masses in the corridor!

Mew) WHAT!? You're telling me the corridor goes through STARS!? <bleep>! Tell Brain Jar to turn the heck around! Merde!

"Pete! Stellar mass ahead! Get out! Get out!"

"I can't break the tractor beam in this dimensional reference! It'll destroy my hull!"

Science) Brain Jar can't turn around in this dimension!

Mew) Merde! Open a corridor connection!

Science) Sir, that's untested-

Mew) That's an order.

Science) But sir-

Mew) Just do it!

The starship opened a connection to a nearby corridor designed for large ships, and pulled a hard starboard turn, sending it and Brain Jar into the next corridor, away from the star.

"Pete, are you alright?"

"I don't know. The interdimensional anomalies--they were all over me. I can't tell exactly what happened. Half the sensors have gone dead. I'm moving in some maintainance drones."

"Essential systems?"

"I'm still up and running, but I'm not sure how. Something's happened to the main power coupling."

"Mew, Pete needs a space dock. How much longer will we be...doing this?"

Mew) For about three seconds.

As expected, three seconds later, the massive fleet dropped out of the corridors near the Kardon System at the heart of the Mewsland Galaxy: The fleet had traveled 6.5 million light years in a matter of 16 hours, far ahead of schedule.

Mew) Those new corridors are working well. Brain Jar: We will tow you to one of our shipyards, however, for our shipyards to reconfigure themselves for your technology, we will need some info on your vessel.

"That's OK, Mew," the AI responded. "I think I can make it in on my own propulsion. What I really need is the Metal Man. He designed and built most of my systems. No one understands them the way he does. He can assess the damage."

Mew) I'm afraid not. Transporters are still out due to interference from the corridor, and shuttlecraft use is restricted to high-priority missions in this sector to avoid a ship-vs-shuttle collision. Especially because there are about 650 ships that are going to emerge from this corridor. That only leaves ship-to-ship docking, which is dangerous considering there is a lot of power behind Voyager's engines. There is a way, however. If we were to null all of Voyager's movement, could you maneuver to Docking Bay V? It's on our saucer's starboard.

"Moot point, Mew," the Metal Man chimed in. "This suit I'm in is too large to fit through your doors. I'm afraid that, until you get your transporters working again, I'm going to be stuck in this room."

Mew) Not all of them -- the within-ship transporter is functioning again. We can beam you to Docking Bay V.

"That would be good. From there, I can go directly to my ship."

Mew) Beam TMM to Docking Bay V. Pete, the Metal Man is waiting in Docking Bay V. Can you maneuver to where you can dock with us?

"That won't be necessary, Mew," the AI replied. "While he's wearing that suit, the Metal Man can survive in a vacuum. He can come to me. He was repairing your ship in it, remember? On the outside. That's what he was hinting at earlier."

Mew) Protocol, Pete. Our airlocks cannot open unless there is a ship docked!

"How do you get repair teams to your external hull?" the AI asked as the ship drew nearer. "My sensors are a little shaky, so please bear with me. I should be able to adapt to your docking mechanism, as long as you don't try to hook up a data/power feed."

Mew) Airlocks designated for repairs are strictly engineering personnel allowed only.

Mew) Standby to open Docking Bay V's airlock.

"OK. Looks like we're adjoined. Should be able to get an air-tight seal."

Mew) Opening airlock doors when pressure equalization is reached. 3... 2... 1... now.

The airlock opened very quickly, which would allow TMM to return to his ship.

Mew) The airlock is open.

Four Hours Later

The engineering team had been quite helpful. They had reinitialized the back-up power coupling and, as the Metal Man set to work on the primary, had begun work on the internal sensors.

Brain Jar was built so that, if she got hurt, she could be healed in a hurry. So it was that she was able to continue under her own power, even though there still remained some work to be done.

Pete, of course, loved the company. It had been a while since he had entertained. He chatted and fussed, and the Fabricator was busy turning out small but thoughtful gifts.

And the engineers were bedazzled. Just from doing the repairs, they forgot more than some of their peers had ever learned. It would take Mewsland years to completely sort out what they had seen in a few hours.

In return, somehow, a tretice on the basic concepts of Superluminal Drive found its way into Pete's memory banks. Hopefully, if Pete and the Metal Man analysed it thoroughly enough, they might find a way to navigate the corridores unencumbered.

Thus it was that, with things finally under some semblance of control, the Metal Man sent word to Mew that they were ready to resume their travels--if they could trust him with a few of their techs.

Mew) Technology? What technology? Why the sudden interest in our technology?

"No, not technology, technicians!" the Metal Man exclaimed with a smile (he'd changed suits now, and looked like an old humanoid). "We still need a few hands to help mop up around here!"

Mew) ...

Engineering) We can spare a team.

Mew) Which one?

Engineering) Team VII, sir.

Mew) Okay. Brain Jar, we can spare Team VII to help you "mop up". However, we need them back by the time we head out for Andromeda!

Team VII would be returning with details of a computer data bus that used quantum entwinement to transmit information instantaneously. Of fuel cells so efficient that one that fit in the palm of your hand could run a starship for a week. Of a species that had created a bubble universe and piped the plasma of a dozen stars into it to use as an energy source--and then been suddenly destroyed, leaving only their buildings and the bubble universe as a legacy, as proof that they had once lived. These things the Metal Man and his AI gladly shared, if only so that the team could repair the parts of Brain Jar that transmitted data over the bus, drew power from the fuel cell and logged into the species' system to take extra power from the bubble universe if an emergency put too much strain on the little ship's own internal systems.

It was quite a bedazzled crew that returned to Voyager--on time. And then it was time to leave.

<The war room is one of the many bridge modules that can be fitted onto starships, this one designed specifically designed for Voyager.>

At precisely 1500 hours on stardate 2558.69, the whole Mewsland fleet began to mass. The Kardon Sector became unrecognizable as more than 1600 ships poured in. Aboard Voyager, Mewsland's flagship vessel, the war room was in chaos. Orders were being given, communications were all over the place, and starships were tracked as they prepared for the mass invasion of the attackers' galaxy.

Mew) Mew to all ships: Standby for dialing of Andromeda's 7th hub.

"You know, if we just tie the space density sensors into the system, it'll solve the problem," the Metal Man said.

"Too much CPU time," Pete replied. "If we put an aperture governor on the ion flux capacitor, the whole thing will be self-regulating."

"You're both wrong," said Scratch, one of the technicians, butting in. "Your problem is that the conduits' variable space density is interfering with your space displacement field, right?"

"Yes..."

"All you've gotta do is put a bypass mechanism in the sensor relay monitor. If you do that, the whole system basically functions without modification. All it takes is dumbing down your software a little--makes it slightly less CPU-intensive, too."

"Ummm, Boss?"

"Yes, Pete."

"You do realize that some tech we imported to do fix-up work knows more about the system you designed than you do."

"That's why we teach 'em, Pete. By the way, thanks, Scratch. You're absolutely right."

"You're welcome. Can I get back to my ship now?"

"Sure. When you get there, tell your Captain that we'll be ready whenever you are."

Mew) Thanks, Pete. By the way, Team VII is our best team. Begin the sequence and program new symbols into the computer.

<Native Mew is a combo of many languages, mostly German.>

Helm <in native Mew>) Programmierende neue Symbole in Computer.

Science) Chevron man hält.

Computer) Chevron man ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Science) Chevron zwei hält.

Computer) Chevron zwei ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Mew) Der neue Dialer scheint zu arbeiten.

Computer) Chevron drei ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Tactical) Erinnern Sie sich Mew, es explodierte, sobald Chevron sechs gewählt wurde.

Computer) Chevron vier ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Mew) Angegangen. Arbeit, dang es!

Computer) Chevron fünf ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Mew) Lassen Sie den Wissenschaftsoffizier tun es, Computer!

Science) Chevron sechs ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt.

Mew) Dieses ist, insoweit wir überhaupt in der Lage gewesen sind zu erhalten!

<Alarms begin sounding on all ships as massive energy is required to open all of the corridors simultaneously.>

Science) Chevron sieben!

Mew) Angegangen!

Science) Chevron sieben ist an der richtigen Stelle verriegelt!

<All corridors open as the 7th symbol locks.>

Mew) All ships: Proceed to Andromeda.

<Translations are not provided as the dialing was not communicated to all ships.>

"What did they say, Boss? I didn't get a sample of their native language yet."

"Oh, mostly tech-speak. Things like announcing Chevrons locked in place."

"So...that would mean that they're basically speaking German."

"Ja. Einfachtig."

Mew) How'd you get our language so fast?

Mew) Mew to all ships: Proceed inside the corridors. Be ready for a fight when we get through!

"I speak fluent German, Mew," the Metal Man replied. "I learned it from the natives."

------------------

Brain Jar hit the corridor behind Voyager, and, though the sensors weren't completely happy, the system modifications seemed to work.

Mew) German, German, German. Did you notice we didn't say eins for chevron 1?

The Metal Man chuckled. "Of course, Mew," he replied. "Just because I speak a language similar to yours does not mean that I can't learn the difference. I noted the fact that you use 'man' instead of 'eins'--and I look forward to learning to speak your dialect with the same fluency that I can the original language."

Science) Durchbrechen des Flures in drei… zwei… man.

Mew) Note that Mew is not all Germ-

BANG!

Mew) Merde! I knew they were here! All hands, red alert and battle stations! Mew to all allied ships: They're here! All ships to red alert and battle stations! Mew out!

Tactical) Ablesen mindestens von tausend fünfhundert Schiffen!

Mew) Von tausend fünfhundert? Merde! Waffen frei und Schilder oben! Hast, Leute! See, Brain Jar, we curse in French!

"Pete, they've got--."

"I know, I know--fifteen hundred ships and all with an attitude."

"Battle mode!"

"Cloaking now!"

"Cooridnate with the Mewsland fleet. Send them our transponder codes so they can tell where we are!"

Mew) Brain Jar, get away from that corridor! Do you want to get smacked into by 1600 ships!?

A nearby starship <the Concord <MCC-1054-B> exploded due to damage to her core matrix, sending Voyager through space.

Mew) Engines to full power! Get us stabilized!

Tactical) We need to get out of this clump of ships!

Mew) <sigh> It's a slap in the face or a kick in the pants.

The tiny ship was away from the corridor before anyone noticed. She stayed cloaked, and did not fire on the enemy. The truth was that Pete and the Metal Man were still confused as to what this conflict was about, and had decided to supply tactical support but not take part in any direct aggression.

Then, the Concord went up, and Mew started hissing out commands.

"How about a yank in the boot straps?" the Metal Man asked. "Pete, tractor beam."

Above Voyager, Brain Jar grappled her hull and pitched her into relatively open space. Then, before the enemy could lock on her, she was gone again.

Mew) WHOA.

The starship was still tumbling around, but inertial dampening fields were working towards stabilization, and above all, the ship was out of the group. Finally the starship quit flying all over the place, and Mew ordered the crew to rejoin the battle.

15 minutes later, the situation had not changed much. Losses were mostly equal as the near-even matched fleets continued to blow up each other.

Trapped in the middle of it all was Voyager, though she was barely recognizable. The starship had taken so much weapons fire that she was almost black: Only a V and a 7 were visible of the once-threatening registry. The engines were hopeless, the weapons were dead, shields had long since failed, and the ship had many fires breaking out.

The inside of the starship was not much better.

In any corridor, it was lucky if you could find even three feet of space that didn't have some sort of debris. Engineering was almost totally wrecked. Deflector control had been totally destroyed by fires.

The bridge was the worst.

A large number of beams came loose and collapsed, causing the inner hull to cave in. The outer hull was still intact, but for how long remained to be seen. Most of the other bridge members had been plucked from the wreckage, whether dead or alive.

Mew, fortunately, was in the best shape, and so was rescued last.

Medic) Are you alright, sir?

Mew) Yes. Get me to secondary control.

Medic) Can't do that, sir. Not even for you. The CMO's orders are for everyone here to head to sickbay for a check-up.

Mew) I need to get to secondary control.

Medic) Sir, you are 173 years old! You are the oldest Mew ever, and you need to be checked for injuries!

Mew) One: I will go. Second: I am 183, not 173!

Five missiles detonated just outside the damage radius of Voyager's outer hull, shot down by phantom plasma beams. A direct phaser shot slammed into...something before it could detonate the Mewsland ship's power core. Other Mewsland ships came in and herded the interloper away.

All the while, a hailing signal desperately tried to get the attention of the enemy fleet. Cloaked somewhere in the Mewsland fleet, a small ship was trying to contact them and find out who they were and why they had been moved to fight a war.

In secondary control, Mew had taken the comm station and was furiously working on something.

Science) What are you doing?

Mew) What do you think? I'm calling Voyager-A.

<Everyone on the bridge gasps>

Tactical) The A.... sir?

Mew) Yes. The A. I hate to do it, but it's all that will get them to talk to us.

The Voyager <MCC-1701-A> was built as a "mobile station": 5000 times the size of the original Voyager, and 5000 times as powerful. When stationed it was referred to as Starbase 01 Beta. The A had a reputation round the universe, and just as well, it was planned to be the next ship in Voyager's lineage, hence the registry.

Near the battle, a massive luminal stream exit portal opened. Everyone knew something ferocious was coming.

"We have to withdraw, Boss! One more hit and our shields are history!"

"Alright. Get us out of here. Any response to the hails?"

"None, but I'll keep--oh brother! Boss, you're not going to like this."

"What?"

"Sensor anomaly--similar to our cloaking device, but much larger."

"How much larger?"

"The last time I saw one this big, it was--."

The Mariatonian Battle Plate Agressor decloaked off of Brain Jar's starboard bow--all 12 kilometers of her--with weapons armed. She was saucer-shaped, but that was her only similarity to Brain Jar. Where the smaller craft was agile and sleek, the larger one was more like a heavily-armed city in space. What she lacked in agility, however, she made up for in speed and firepower. The Marionetonians had put to good use the technology that they had received from their dealings with the Metal Man.

"You're right, Pete. I don't like this. The Marionetonians are notoriously trigger-happy. Still, we might as well try to use this situation as much to our advantage as we can. Hail them, please."

"No need--they're hailing us."


Aggressor to Brain Jar: we received your request for back-up and followed
you here. Do you still require assistance, and, if so, in what form?



Brain Jar to Agressor: we're alright, but we wouldn't mind a good ol'
fashioned docking bay where we can recharge our shields.



You got it, Brain Jar. Come on in. Do you need any help with the combat situation.



No thanks, Agressor. This isn't my war. I've only been able to contact the
Mewsland forces. The others refuse my hails. I have taken no direct action
against them, and recommend that you stay out of the shooting war until you
can determine the nature of the conflict.



Roger that, Brain Jar. Wilco.



How soon can you clear me for a docking bay, [i]Aggressor?



Brain Jar, you are cleared for docking bay 112. Our traffic controller will guide you in
as soon as you synchronize your comlink.



Roger that, Aggressor. Brain Jar out.


Some distance away from the battle, the tiny saucer decloaked and, guided by an
automatic pilot, came in for a landing in the huge Marionetonian ship's docking bay.

<it's kind of hard to believe they didn't notice the luminal stream, considering something 38 kilometers long, 9 1/2 kilometers tall and 17 kilometers wide is going to emerge.>

Mew) Metal Man, can you still hear us? That's some ship you got there, so you better move it! A luminal stream is right behind the thing and a ship at least 5000 times our size is about to emerge!

On board an enemy vessel....

All ships: Target that thing!

The mass of enemy starships unexpectedly swung around towards their new target, apparently known as the Aggressor.

On Voyager....

Tactical) They're breaking off!

Mew) Where to?

Tactical) The Marionetonian ship, sir.

Mew) WHAT!? Comms, open a darn channel!

Comms) Aye, sir. Channel open.

Mew) Marionetonian vessel: In case you didn't notice, you've got a luminal stream right off your stern with a ship even bigger than yours about to come out, and you've got 1200 enemy vessels coming for you!

Aggressor to Voyager: We roger your comms and are moving.


Marionetonian Battle Plates were some of the heaviest hitters in the galaxy. They were so heavily shielded that one was even rumored to have been at ground zero when a sun went supernova and survived. As the big ship lumbered out of harm's way, she also gave some hint of her armaments, as several hundred torpedo tubes unceremoniously fell open.

The Marionetonians were a warrior culture. They did not believe in running from a fight or even a challenge. When the unknown ships turned toward the Battle Plate, it accellerated towards them and armed thousands of plasma cannons, columnized electron beams and rail guns. She would not fire first, but anything that happened to fire on her would be taking quite a chance with its own existence.

In her docking bay, the Metal Man was horrified.

My God, what have I done?

Out of the luminal stream, a truly massive starship appeared. 38 kilometers in length, she dwarfed all the enemy starships into insignificance. As soon as they saw this terror of a starship, the enemy vessels stopped dead in their tracks. Many of Voyager's crew had never seen the Voyager-A, and many shocked voices were heard over the comms network.

Mew) About high time you showed up. Beam all the crew aboard, however, do not beam me over until I give the signal.

Voyager <MCC-1701-A> transporters) Aye, sir.

Mew) Computer, engage self-destruct sequence Omega. Recognize voice pattern Mew Mæow II, authorization Mew-7-7-charlie-orange.

Computer) Destruct sequence completed and engaged. Awaiting final code for 3 minute countdown.

Mew) Code: Alpha-Alpha-7-6-9.

Computer) Warning: Self-destruct in three minutes.

Mew) Beam me up!

The last person on board the once-great ship beamed away, and Mew assumed command of Voyager-A.

Mew) As of 1639 hours on stardate 2558.69, I hereby assume command of this vessel under Regulation 169-C. Open a comm channel to the Aggressor.

Comms) Channel open.

Mew) Aggressor, Mew, be aware I have transferred my command to the Voyager-A.

Comms <in background>) Sir, the enemy vessels are hailing us audio only.

Mew) It seems like this ship has allowed cooler heads to prevail. Open a conference channel to the Aggressor and the enemy vessels. A conference channel connects more than two vessels. Italics are comms from the enemy vessel.

Comms) Open, sir.

Interlopers, your presence is not appreciated. Your invasion of our space is an act of war.

Mew) And is it not an act of war to attack a starship on a mission of exploration on purely xenophobic grounds?

I do not understand. We are not a xenophobic species.

Mew) That will be the day. On the day we discovered your species, we tried to open communications to no avail. On stardate 2472.69, you destroyed the Concord <MCC-1054-A>. Ever since, you have destroyed 145 Mewsland vessels. Do not try to deny it: I got the recorder buoys back from all the ships you've destroyed.

Surrender or prepare to be destroyed.

Mew) Surrender, my foot. Cut the channel. Arm phasers, fire everything we have.

The Marionetonians, who were listening in on all of what went on, did not wait to be fired on. They simply charged the nearest concentration of enemy ships--where it was safe to launch a wave of missiles without fear that too many Mewsland ships would be accidentally hit--and filled the space around them with high-tech composites. It was plain that they regarded the foe with contempt, and felt that they could take them out all by themselves, with no help from the Mewsland forces.

As they came in range, it became obvious that Aggressor had weapons that didn't show as hot until they were actually used--wave-motion guns, meson neutralizers and an ionic pulse weapon that blasted straight through an enemy's shields to damage her engines. It also became obvious that Aggressor could regenerate her shields. She was tough as well as posessed of great firepower. Enemy weapons fire bounced off of her almost as if it wasn't even there.

It didn't take long for the enemy's numbers to start falling. Worse yet, a great many ships were simply stalled in space, their engines destroyed. Aggressor could simply move in and pound them at her liesure.


To Enemy Ships:

You have attempted to assault a ship of the Marionetonian Fleet.
This is unacceptable. Now, it is you who must surrender,
self-destruct or prepare to be destroyed.

The Voyager was performing well. All 38 kilometers of her bristled with weapons, and her shields were impenetrable. Any offensive against the massive station on superluminal drives failed miserably, as the ship simply returned their assaults in even deadlier measure.

Tactical) No recordable change in shield strength.

Mew) Watch out for the Aggressor.

Suddenly, Voyager had to turn hard to starboard to avoid hitting the Marionetonian ship, slamming right into a Mewsland vessel, flinging it through space before it exploded.

Mew) Dang, I wish that hunk of a ship would get out of the way. Aggressor, Mew, please be careful where you're going: This ship can't exactly turn on a dime!

Aggressor pulled away from the giant Mewsland ship, leaving a trail of fizzling hulks in her wake.

One particularly large vessel, however, she did not destroy. Rather, she launched smaller craft at it. About the size of a large destroyer, there were about 20 of them. They contained something that the Marionetonians were known to use sparingly: boarding parties.

Marionetonians did not take prisoners, and they fought to the death rather than being take prisoner.

The only known way to even put a very tiny dent in Voyager's shield was to turn kamikaze and make a run at the great ship. A good number of enemy vessels turned on Voyager, and the massive ship began firing all weapons at the enemy vessels. One totally missed the massive Mewsland vessel and just went flying- right at the Aggressor.

Mew) Aggressor, Mew, you've got a starship turned kamikaze that missed us and is now heading for you.

Not a problem, Mew.


A volley of missiles headed toward the ship, but it broke through somehow. Slamming into the Battle Plate's shields, it exploded on contact.

Aggressor's shields weakened slightly for a few seconds, then regenerated.

A few missiles that were directed at the enemy kamikaze instead flew in Voyager's direction, striking the shields of the ship.

Mew) Aggressor, Mew. You mind telling me what the heck that was for?

Aggressor to Mew:

We did not feel that the ordinance would constitute any threat to you.
You were not our intended target. We regret any incidental damage
that we may have caused, though none is visible to our sensors.


And then, from the middle of the battle came another message.


STOP!!!! PLEASE!!!!! EVERYONE PLEASE STAND DOWN!!!!

LET US END THIS SENSELESS VIOLENCE AND NEGOTIATE LIKE
SANE ADULTS!!!!!

THIS IS THE METAL MAN! I HAVE A REPUTATION AS A BRINGER OF
PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MILKY WAY GALAXY!

I OFFER MYSELF AS MEDIATOR!!!

Mew) Our shields were still in a state of flux after those kamikaze ships impacted, we did not have time to stabilize the shield. However, we have it back up at a lower power setting.

STOP!!!! PLEASE!!!!! EVERYONE PLEASE STAND DOWN!!!!

LET US END THIS SENSELESS VIOLENCE AND NEGOTIATE LIKE
SANE ADULTS!!!!!

THIS IS THE METAL MAN! I HAVE A REPUTATION AS A BRINGER OF
PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MILKY WAY GALAXY!

I OFFER MYSELF AS MEDIATOR!!!

Mew) EEP. Someone tell the Metal Man to quit screaming!

By then, four of the modified destroyers had rammed the enemy ship, and she was crawling with boarding parties.

Transporter Room 6) Houston, we have a problem here!

Mew) Go for transporter room.

Comms) Aye.

Mew) What is it?

Transporter Room 6) One of our transporters malfunctioned due to interference from weapons fire! It beamed one of our boarding parties into space!

Mew) I know how to fix that! Transporter Room 5, I need you to beam that party back yesterday! I'm on my way, 6! <"Yesterday" in this case doesn't mean go back a stardate, it just means "Hurry the heck up!">

In the crowded corridors...

Mew) Move, move, move, move! Move, move, move!

<Mew almost crashes through Transporter Room 6's doors before they're whisked open.>

Mew) Phew. Give me transporter control.

...

Mew) Narrow the matter stream... and... there. That should do it.

BANG!!!

Mew) Don't tell me that it's here! I should get back to the bridge!

...

Back on the bridge...

Tactical) My goodness!

Mew) Dang it!

Out of a luminal stream, a new ship emerged. This one was, instead of the normal shape, a round ring with a cylindrical area in the center.

Mew) Aggressor, Mew. Watch out for that weapons platform! It could take out our shields in ten shots! Your shields probably won't fare too much better!

"I'm not getting a transponder code from that thing, Mew," the Metal man said, his message obviously having fallen on deaf ears. "I've relaunched. I'm in space now. Is that thing friendly or enemy?"

Mew) Welcome back, Metal Man. And that is an enemy vessel. Can I talk to Pete? Our sensors are going nuts for some reason.

"Pete listens in on all my communications. You're already talking with him."

"No idea on the sensors, Mew. Can you be a little more specific?"

Mew) It's almost like there's an anti-Voyager somewhere. The sensors are picking up a luminal stream exactly to the reverse frequency of ours.

"Scanning...."

OOC:

What is he supposed to find? Or would you like me to ad lib a little? :) :) :)

<Voyager's luminal transmission frequency is 367.47762 c/sec. You'd find a stream with a frequency of -367.47762 c/sec, exactly the same as Voyager's but in the other direction.>

Science) It's definitely a stream.

Mew) Okay. What is the luminal transmission frequency?

Science) 367.47762 to the negative, sir.

Mew) Computer, what is Voyager's luminal transmission frequency?

Computer) 367.47762 cycles per second - positive.

Science) Do you have a hunch, sir?

Mew) Yes, I do. I just hope I'm wrong. Brain Jar, scan the luminal stream for a transmission frequency. We're seeing 367.47762 to the negative.

"Confirmed," Pete said. "It's almost as if somebody knows you."

"Cloaking," the Metal Man said. Brain Jar[i] disappeared from all sensor screens.

"All allied vessels, this is [i]Agressor. We, too, confirm your sensor readings and are preparing to engage the enemy's latest entry into the theater of battle. Can we coordinate our offensive?"

OOC:

Agressor can do the dirty work. TMM is a pacifist.

Out of the stream came a ship only one crew could believe wasn't a coincidence. It was definitely Voyager, but darker, a dimmer grey instead of Voyager's gleaming silver color.

Mew) That's not one of their vessels, Aggressor. That's a mirror of one of ours.

Suddenly, the new entry opened fire on the prime Voyager, which, being evenly matched, began to return fire in earnest.

Mew) I'm afraid our mirrors don't like us too well. Fire everything we have.

Aggressor moved behind a debris field left over from the previous battle and started firing on the mirror Voyager. Her sensors were better, and, as such, she could shoot around the hulks of the destroyed ships where the other ships would more often hit them. This had the affect of enhancing Aggressor's shields.

There was also enough shrapnel to interfere with the targeting of the weapons platform, if it chose to engage them.

Tactical) Shields at 99.7%!

Mew) Keep firing! Make a run for that debris field!

The massive Voyager began a sharp turn towards the debris field where Aggressor was located, moving downward as it slowly came closer. However, she was not moving down fast enough, and if Aggressor ran a scan, they would see that the lumbering starship would hit at least three hulks.

Aggressor's main batteries came online and turned the hulks into pebbles before Voyager could run into them.

"Well, Mew," the Metal Man said, "it looks like it's sometimes good to have friends. Do you think we should call in more Battle Plates, folks? Is Abusor available? How about Pandora's Surprise?"

Mew) I think that would be splendid! <bang> We're really taking a beating here!

Tactical) Shields down to 91.5%!

Mew) Get some more ships in here now!

Comms) Aye, sir!

Before there was any answer, Aggressor opened up on the dark Voyager. Against her counterpart, she may have been evenly matched, but against the two ships, she was in an unequal struggle.

The Metal Man watched as Aggressor kept the debris field not only between herself and the dark Voyager, but also between herself and the weapons platform, which she did not engage. It was quite a gambit that they were taking. Though the battle plate's immense firepower and shielding would make a slugging match between her and the dark Voyager too close a match to call, the weapons platform and the dark Voyager would probably wipe out the other two ships, if they fought together.

---------------

OOC: All this pointless violence is beginning to bore me. Any chance we're actually going to get some of the back story any time soon?

<You'll see.>

Tactics) Shields weakening!

Mew) She's packing quite a wallop!

Comms) We are being hailed. So is Aggressor.

Mew) By who?

Comms) The mirror Voyager, sir.

Mew) Why would they want to talk this time? Open a channel.

Comms) Sir?

Mew) Do it!

With a channel open, the prime Voyager <and Aggressor> could see who was on her dark counterpart. Instead of Mew, however, a girl Mew was on screen. With long pink hair, she was clearly recognizable as Voyager's first officer's counterpart. <The "girl Mew" is just a Mew girl, not a girl version of Mew.>

Mew) Aelita. A pleasure to see you again, as usual. Where is my counterpart?

Mirror Aelita) Dead. We found him... a little too benevolent.

Mew) Alas. I see your megalomania has landed you in command.

Mirror Aelita) Not just here, but of the Empire as well.

<The mirrors are not exactly equal. Prime Mewsland is a federation, but mirror Mewsland is an empire.>

Mew) I see. Can you give us a moment to explain what is going on here to our allies?

Mirror Aelita) But of course.

Mew) Aggressor, I am turning the time over to the prime Aelita.

Aelita) 91 years ago, we encountered the mirror universe and the Mewsland Empire. At first, they weren't too fond of us, but then, we found our counterparts on the mirror of the ship of that day: Concord <MCC-1054-B.> Mew, and, well... Mew got along very well. Myself and my counterpart, on the other hand, did not. You would think we would be similar, but no. Ever since, she's been trying to hunt us down.

Mew) When my counterpart was alive, he was able to keep mirror Aelita's extremism in check. I get the feeling she got to convince these people to join her in the fight against us and our "silly little federation".

The channel then snapped back into conference mode, and mirror Aelita once again appeared on Voyager's and Aggressor's viewscreens.

Mirror Aelita) Okay, I think you've had enough time. Alas, it won't matter anyway, considering I have friends on the way.

Mew) Aelita!

A message went out fron Aggressor calling for more back-up.

At the same time, a tiny ship appeared within the shield radius of the dark Voyager. It was Brain Jar, up to her old tricks again. At almost point blank range, she launched everything she had on the bridge of the much larger ship. Then, she recloaked and jumped elsewhere before the dark Voyager could lock weapons on her.

Seeing the Metal Man's tactics, Aggressor stopped her assault. Then, though it took quite a while, it disappeared from all sensor screens. Aggressor, it seems, was an engineering marvel. Not only had the Marionetonians mastered the cloaking technology that they had traded the Metal Man for, they had found a way to make it work for the entire expanse of a Battle Plate.

Aggresor was cloaked and probably reloading all of her missile tubes while she moved in to a good position to use them.

--------------

OOC: Marionetonia only has four Battle Plates. The last of them was completed shortly after the disintegration of The Empire, an alliance based on the Roman Republic of which the planet was a member. Since the Empire broke up, Marionetonia has not had the resources to build and man another ship of that size and complexity.

On the dark Voyager...

Mirror Aelita) Not so fast. We can do the same trick. Cloak the vessel.

The mirror Voyager disappeared, and the comm channel cut.

Back on the prime Voyager...

Mew) What's she doing?

After a few moments, they knew: The dark Voyager was right on top of them, opening fire of an amount almost never seen before.

Mew) ALL ENGINES FULL REVERSE!

...And when they decloaked, Aggressor instantly opened up on the mirror Voyager with everything she had. She wasn't as large as her counterpart, but her technology was more advanced. Though outgunned and out-sheilded due to her target's sheer size, Aggressor was faster and more maneuverable and could reload her missiles faster--and the missiles had better guidance systems. Thus it was that a volley of over a thousand of them curled around Voyager to attack her mirror counterpart's shields.

The Metal Man began to relay comlink signals. Voyager would know where both Bran Jar and Aggressor were. He couldn't tell what he'd done to the big ship's bridge, but he had bypassed her shields completely. If not for her cloaking device, the little saucer, with her puny firepower, would have been at the mirror Voyager's mercy.

"Well," the Metal Man said to no one in particular, "at least we came down on the right side of this one."

"You can say that again," Pete said. "I've got data on the dark mirror universe, and the empires there tend to be mob free-for-alls. You don't want that kind of social system here."

As usual, the two of them agreed.

"Keep providing Voyager with tactical assistance. Any idea how the bad guys' shields are doing? And is that weapons platform allied with the mirror guys? If not, maybe we could turn this love fest into a three-way."

"Voyager, this is Pete. You got tactical on that weapons platform? You think they're allied with the mirror folks? If not, can we get the two of them to engage?"

Mew) Put up the tactical on the weapons platform.

Computer) Tactical readout shows alliance with Mewsland Empire.

Mew) Merde. Sorry, Pete. It looks like our friends who built the platform seem to have an alliance with mirror Mewsland.

"Well, it's a good thing they haven't chosen to engage us yet. If they did, things could get complicated in a hurry."

A beam shot out from the weapons platform, striking Voyager's shield before the other Voyager opened another barrage of fire.

Mew) Looks like you spoke a little too soon.

By now, however, the mirror Voyager was starting to feel the affects of the Marionetonians' bombardment...which kept coming, as the ship decloaked to unleasch her full fury on the large but distracted target. Strangely, the Marionetonian ship appeared to be moving to get closer to the mirror Voyager.

"Try to draw the mirror ship's fire, Mew," the Metal Man said. "Aggressor has a Graviton Hellbore, and it's devastating as short range."

Mew) We have our own problems!

Tactical) Shields collapsing!

Mew) Great!

Then, the mirror Voyager recloaked.

Mew) Now all we need to worry about is that weapons platform. Pete, we are putting the ship's shield into regenerative mode, which means we'll be burning through a ton of power. Keep the weapons fire off of us for a few minutes.

The only problem with cloaking while taking fire is that your shield radius gives you away. Aggressor continued to pound the mirror Voyager, adjusting her aim to keep the big ship under constant fire. The mirror Voyager quickly changed her act--when they figured out that the smaller ship had enough firepower to actually threaten them, they began to return fire.

One-on-one, Aggressor would have won the day. Her shields self-regenerated faster and her weapons were more accurate and she was more maneuverable--which allowed her to get in a shot from her Graviton Hellbore that almost took out the mirror Voyager's shields with one shot. But this was not a one-on-one battle. The weapons platform quickly noticed the threat that the Marionetonian ship posed and opened fire on her closest shield hits. Many of the shots were only glancing blows as Aggressor danced around her prey, but, with two ships with firepower of that magnitude concentrating their efforts on the Marionetonian ship, it was only a matter of time before even those Marionetonian shields wore down.

And then, Brain Jar appeared right in front of the mirror Voyager's bridge again, and let loose another full volley. This time, the missile contained a cluster warhead. This time, the hit did more than just cut through armor. An explosion ripped through the mirror Voyager. The precise damage was uncertain, but the little ship had done things that her larger counterparts could not.

And then, once again, before the mirror Voyager could lock her point defenses on the little ship, Brain Jar jumped back out of range. This time, however, the weapons platform found the jump scar. Immediately, it opened fire.

Mirror Aelita) I love this armor. Keep firing at that battle plate!

Back on prime Voyager...

Mew) Let's play with that weapons platform.

Voyager engaged the weapons platform, which clearly had a weakness: It couldn't engage anything less than 1500 kilometers away. Voyager exploited this, and pummeled the station without taking too much return fire.

Mew) Now, Tactics!

Tactics) Aye!

Shields gone from the first hit, Brain Jar just barely managed to jump out of range before the next shot came. They were out of action for a while.

Meanwhile, the boarding parties had gotten enough of the enemy ship working to pilot her back to Aggressor for a thorough investigation. With communication jammed so she couldn't be destroyed from a remote distance, they watched as the big ship decloaked and then headed towards her.

Aggressor's shields were down to 30%, but they were still holding. This was not the case for the mirror Voyager. As the smaller but technologically better Marionetonian ship continued to rain fire down on her, blasts began to punch through her shields occasionally and slam into her hull. The way things were going, it was only a matter of time.

"Status report, Pete."

"That was a close one! They burned our shields completely off! I'm surprised we had the time to make the jump out of there."

"Any other damage?"

"You mean besides having our shields completely fried and not being able to take another hit?"

"Yes, exactly."

"Well, there's always the fact that our long-range comm antenna got turned from something that sticks OUT of the hull to something that is bored INTO it. Other than that, not much."

"How long to get our sheilds back?"

"Without a docking bay in something like Aggressor? Forever. The generator coils burned out. We'll need a stable dry dock to replace them."

"Well...I guess that means we're out of this battle. I guess we can always keep relaying tactical info."

"Sure."

"Speaking of which, Pete, do you see what I see on the long-range scanners?"

"Jump blip. Looks like something pretty big, too."

"I think we're going to have company some time soon."

"Let's hope it's friendly company."

Another Voyager-type from the mirror Mewsland decloaked, and opened fire on Aggressor while using a repair beam to re-energize the dark Voyager's shield.

Mew) Dang it!

<This will be my last post until 8-17-2009.>

OOC:

"Instantly recharging shields from another ship, eh? Seargent," said the Ubergeneral, "it looks like we might have a godmodder. Charge up the Insanely Giant Normal Order Rending Energy weapon."

"No," the Seargent said, "you don't mean--."

"Yes," replied the Ubergeneral, "the I.G.N.O.R.E. cannon."

<It isn't instant. It takes 10 minutes at least. Back early :)>

OOC: Doesn't matter if it takes a few minutes. It's godmodding. So...

IC:

"Did you see that, Pete?"

"Sure did. In fact, I have a complete telemetry on it."

"How long do you think it'll take US to improvise one of those?"

"Oh, that? I've already done it."

"Good. Contact Aggressor and let 'em know."

"Already on it."

"While you're at it, let 'em know how to make one of those things themselves."

"If they haven't figured it out already."

Within moments, Brain Jar and Aggressor were recharging each others' shields. In the meantime, the second Dark Voyager class vessel had appeared a little too close to Aggressor for its own good. It took the full force of the big ship's Graviton Hellbore at almost point blank range.

A third enemy vessel appeared, and then a fourth, and so on until there were at least 9 starships.

Mew) How many ships do these guys have?

<You need to remember that this is the 26th century. Anything can happen in 550 years!>

OOC:

Usually, it doesn't. For example, at the rate your going, it'll be more than 550 years IRL before this thread gets out of its INCREDIBLY BORING "I shoot you, you shoot me" phase. That would be not much happening at all in 550 years.

IC:

The Metal Man had to laugh. With the shield-recharging technology, it didn't matter how many ships there were. The battle--if indeed "battle" was an apt description--was doomed to an eternal stalemate.

Only one step away from peace. The cyborg smiled again at the sarcasm of the thought.

And then something occurred to him.

"Aggressor, would it be too much to ask if I were to be allowed to come aboard and talk strategy with some of your people."

"One moment, Brain Jar...you are cleared to land."

Shortly, the little ship was once again docked in one of the larger ship's docking bays.


Aggressor to Voyager:

We can use the technology that we have just pirated to recharge
your shields if you desire. Would you like this?

Mew) That would be splendid, Aggressor! We're really taking a severe beating here!