[FAN FICTION] The USS Cathexis - WARPED!

[squiggy]

Please note this Fan Fiction is also available at the Delta Prime forums..
A Star Trek Cathexis storyline, based upon the adventures of the USS Cathexis, and the ideas and concepts it was founded on created by Katharyn King.
Star Trek Cathexis - Where dreams have no end. -
Chapter 0: Time slip.
Please note, while this Fan Fiction USES SOME PARTS OF THE STORYLINE of the SIMM, it is not restricted to it's storyline, or the cannon which Cathexis was based upon.
IN ADDITION, while the storyline may be similar to the Cathexis RPG here on the site, it is also not limited to the same rules.

It's been 20 years now, since the betazed massacre, and Fleet Admiral Laurent was still in the fleet. He didn't know why, peace had ruled this quadrant for almost 15 years now. Ever since the signing of the Romulan/Naian/Klingon/Federation treaty, The Cardassians and the Dominion have refused to even agitate the massive powers.
However, some 30-odd some years ago, far off in the Delta Quadrant, a ship called the USS Voyager encountered a group of aliens known as the Krenim, which had the ability to tamper with time by obliterating entire planets from the time/space continuum.
It was thought that the Voyager had defeated them, however, they merely pushed back the time-ship's launch.
With long-range sensors indicating possible changes in the Delta Quadrant, Laurent was glad to know he was on the bridge of one of few starships protected from time-alteration.
However, The Cathexis WAS almost 20 years old, and Starfleet was contemplating dis-continuing it's service as a Starfleet ship.
It's not that the Cathexis couldn't hold it's own, it's that it was OLD, and that it was under-staffed.
Not that that mattered. At the moment, Laurent was flying it without any other crew onboard.
The Cathexis was equipped with an ATAI, and an Emergency Command Hologram, as well as a complement of 20 repair bots.

Laurent was taking the Cathexis, his wife of some 20 years now, on one last trip before decommissioning.

"Alert. Temporal Distortion off the port bow. Estimated starting point: Rihanna homeworld." The feminine ATAI, who had been programmed at his request to speak, and act like Admiral Janeway, said.
Laurent cursed.

And Time froze.

Romulus:
The Praetor of Romulus stared up at the sky. A strange non-alliance ship was there.
It glowed for just a single instant.

And Romulus faded from history.

The Guardian of forever screamed.
ENOUGH. Q, we have to do something! We have to right this wrong! It exclaimed.
But the omnipotent being had already been dragged into another time-stream.

[squiggy]

Welcome to Second History, Q. A strange being said.
Q lay there in this strange new continuum.
"I am.. well.. I, actually." A perverse mirror of himself said.
He looked around, and saw several other Q's looking at thier respective I's.
ENOUGH. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? The guardian of forever asked.
"We did not, however, now that we are here, we are not giving up easily." 'I' said.
Q glared.
"Time cannot exist in a mutated form. You and I both know that. The universe will go insane." Q said.
"Ah, and then it will be destroyed, and once we get rid of YOU, we will be the only creatures able to survive in the new environment." I retorted.
THERE IS ONE THING YOU WERE NOT EXPECTING, YOU UN-NATURAL CREATION. The guardian said.
"Oh? And what is that?" I asked.
They call it the Cathexis. In some tongues, it means an unknown name. In the tongue of the ancients who built me, it translates into Catalyst or Hero. The guardian replied.
"HAH! You mean the Associated Allied Peace Keeping planets? Without the romulans, most of their fleet is demolished." I retorted.
The guardian smiled.
Perhaps you underestimate the FEDERATION starship Cathexis. It replied.
"What federation Starship cathexis?" I asked.
You can not sense it. Mixed with it's multi-phasic shields, which distort it out of space/time, I am also protecting this vessel. The guardian thundered.
"You will fail. One ship cannot take on the four Krenim Temporal starships. AND thier fleet in both HERE and the past." I thundered back.
Now you are under-estimating a slightly more dangerous power. The guardian replied.
"Oh? What is that? Q?" I asked.
No. It calls itself Van den Haus. It's real name is the Naian word for Catalyst, Crystalis.. The guardian retorted.
I simply laughed.
The guardian laughed louder.
It was time for a hero's journey to begin.

----

Time resumed.
It did so with such a turbulence, that Laurent was thrown across the bridge.
"Space/Time alteration complete. ERROR. Location/Timeline/starchart mis-alignment." ATAI said.
"Hail starfleet command, get a fix on our location!" Laurent yelled at it.
"Please wait." ATAI replied.
"AAPK Command, who the hell is asking for Starfleet? That hasn't existed in 12 years." Came the crisp british voice of Fleet Admiral Morrow.
"Admiral Morrow, you are NOT going to believe what I have been through." Laurent said.
"LAURENT? The AAPK Cathexis was destroyed 4 years ago during the first Krenim attack!" Morrow exclaimed.
"Umm. Admiral, this is going to be hard to come to terms with. I'm Fleet Admiral Laurent Van den Haus, Acting Commanding officer, and only crew member of the USS Cathexis." Laurent said.
"So it's true! What S31 reported! We AREN'T in the right timestream."Morrow said.
Laurent shook his head.
"RED ALERT! ALL HANDS TO BATTLESTATIONS! ACTING CAPTAIN LAURENT TO THE BRIDGE!" ATAI exclaimed.
Laurent Cursed.
"Umm.. Morrow, let me get back to you." Laurent said.
"But of course, Laurent. Survive long enough to fill the hole in our fleet, eh?"Morrow said, and the line went dead.
Laurent shook his head. That did NOT sound like the Morrow he knew.
"Computer, Advanced Battle Tactics screen, please." Laurent said.
The computer played it's affirmative sound.
"Captain Laurent, Sensors show 3 Krenim warships inbound." the ECH said.
"Bloody hell. Activate Tachyon Phasers, arm Polaron Torpedoes. Raise Multi-phasic shields!" Laurent yelled.
"Affirmative. All defence/offence systems activated." The computer replied.
"Alert. A Krenim Temporal Destroyer has shown up on sensors." ECH exclaimed.

Time Froze.
Laurent looked around. A strange being showed up.
"Who the hell are you?" Laurent asked.
"I am Q, not to be confused with I." 'Q' said.
Laurent shook his head.
"Or atleast I was, in your timeline." It said.
"Timeline... so this really IS altered time?" Laurent asked.
"No time for your silly questions, Crystalis. You must destroy THAT, and 3 other Krenim Temporal vessels before going back in time, and repairing what they have done. YOU have to be the one to do it. They can't detect your ship, and the I continuum can't detect you. The guardian and... for clarification, Q, not I, are protecting you from them." Q said.
"MY NAME IS LAURENT. DO NOT EVER CALL ME CRYSTALIS." Laurent yelled.
Why deny who you are, child? The guardian's voice reverberated through the walls.
"FINE! WHATEVER! WHY ME?" Laurent asked.
"You are the only one who walks in both worlds, Crystalis. It has to be you, because you have the most to lose." Q said.
"What?" Laurent started...
and time resumed.

"Awaiting orders, Captain." the ECH said.
"TARGET THAT TEMPORAL BUGGER, AND BLOW IT OUT OF THE SKY!" Laurent yelled.
"What about the cruisers?" ATAI asked.
"Secondary targets. Two priorities, gentle-programs. 1) Destroy that temporal bastard, 2) Stay alive. We can run from those ships if necessary." Laurent said.
The ECH nodded, and the ATAI played it's affirmative sound.
"Main target locked, Polaron Torpedoes away." ATAI said.
"No Effect." ECH said.
"Non-temporal Cruisers inbound." ATAI said.
"Polaron torpedoe spread! Tachyon phasers ONLY for that temporal starship." Laurent ordered.
"Aye sir".
The ATAI played the Affirmative sound.
"Hull breach, deck 7, subsection 3." Atai exclaimed.
"Repair Bots on the way." ECH retorted.
"Fire the Tachyon cannon." Laurent said.
There was a moment of silence.
"Authorization code for experimental weapon please." ATAI asked.
"Laurent Alpha Delta 1 1." Laurent said.
"Fleet Admiral authorization accepted. Firing now." ATAI replied.
The Tachyon Particle cannon hit the temporal destroyer.
It's shields wiggled, wobbled, fell, and the ship...
was erased from time.
Atleast in this time frame.
The other battleships started to retreat...
but the quantum wave emitted from that time edification hit them, and they dissapeared.
Laurent stared in utter amazement.
"Raise Admiral Morrow." Laurent said.
The machine played the affirmative sound.
"Laurent! Again! Glad to hear from you!" Morrow's voice came through the audio speakers.
Laurent smiled.

[squiggy]

Two days later; AAPK Head office, Sector 1
Laurent sat across the conference table of the USS Cathexis from Admiral Morrow.
"So Laurent, let me get this straight. An omnipotent being named Q is fighting other omnipotent beings collectively named I, and meanwhile, you show up in the middle of no where, and take enough annoyance with these beings that THREE destroyers AND a temporal cruiser come after you, and you, armed only with your ship, and two AIs, and you actually won." Morrow said.
"You forgot the Guardian of Forever." Laurent said.
Morrow shook his head.
"And other then your ship records, you have no evidence." Morrow asked.
"I wouldn't exactly say that, or more of Q wouldn't exactly say that." A chair said.
Morrow looked at it.
Q popped into being.
"You must let him." Q said.
The sanity and sanctity of time and space requires it. Came a voice from everywhere and no where.
Morrow crapped himself.
"*erm*... well, I guess I'll have to assign you a basic crew then." Morrow said, and quickly ran for the nearest replicator.

-----
Some time later...
-----

Laurent stared around the new crew of the USS Cathexis.
"I'm sorry, captain. This is all I can spare." Morrow said.
Laurent shook his head.
"Morrow, I can do this job on my own." Laurent said.
Morrow shook his head.
"You don't understand." Morrow said.
"Then enlighten me." Laurent said.
"Alright, "Fleet Admiral" Laurent, first off, in your time, AND NOW, I command you. More to the point, Laurent, These people need you, and you need them. So, may I introduce, Commander Tramira Van den Haus, Your new first officer, Retired Admiral Miranda Delora, Your mission specialist, and Ensign Valera Traunnel, Your weapons officer. We've also upgraded your EMH and ECH." Morrow said.
Laurent stared around the table. He saw the similarities among his crew. Valera Traunnel was still naian, although her hair..appears.. shorter. Miranda Delora.. was an older version of the Miranda he knew. Tramira... was NOTHING... like Aldera. Her hair... was BLONDE. and... she was taller, and even worse, had a "typical" vulcan air to her.
Morrow watched carefully.
"Fine. That works." Laurent.
Morrow nodded.
"You depart in 2 hours. The fleet techies rooted through your database on this multi-phasic shielding stuff. We're equipping it on all our starbases and starships within the next day or two. Then we'll be something to mess with." Morrow said.
Laurent smiled.
"Well, you better get ready, and settled." Morrow said.
Morrow left first, followed by Miranda and Valera.
Tramira sat across from Laurent.
"You... are not my Laurent. But... you are close. Your hair... it's different." She said.
"You... are not my Aldera." Laurent whispered.
"Aldera?" She asked.
"That was her name. She wasn't a typical vulcan. Her hair was black too." Laurent said.
"She was...a deviant?" Tramira asked.
"Yes." Laurent said.
"I am too. But no one knows it." She whispered. "I've been on exile for 4 years."
Laurent nodded.
"Aldera... was a weapons specialist. She even used her psychic powers to harm another. However... she died... some... 20 years ago." Laurent said.
Tramira nodded.
"I'm sorry." Tramira said.
Laurent nodded.
"It was 20 years ago." He said.
She nodded.
There was a bright flash.
"How adorable." Q said... or was it Q?
"You... you are... your not Q!" Laurent said.
"Very good, Crystalis." I said.
And all of the sudden, ANOTHER flash showed up.
"YOU SAID YOU WOULD KEEP YOUR FIGHT IN THE CONTINUUM." Q yelled.
"Ah? But I had to see this hope you trust so much." I replied.
Q frowned.
"YOU, and YOU." Laurent said, pointing at the two omnipotent beings.
"I take no orders from anyone." I said.
"Wanna see a cool trick, then?" Laurent asked.
"What's that, puny thing." I replied.
Laurent winked at Q.
Q raised his eyebrows.
"Computer, activate Multi-Phasic shield upgrade Alpha Laurent 1 1." Laurent said.
Time/Space bent.
"Try your tricks now, I." Q said, with a smile.
I snapped his fingers.
Laurent laughed.
"Your tricks don't work here. This time/space alteration prohibits I abilities. Q can get out. You can't. You want to leave, you have to ask nicely." Laurent said.
I glared.
He snapped his fingers.
Q laughed, and snapped his giners, and dissapeared.
I glared.
"You will pay for this." I said.
"Now you have to ask nicely, AND APOLAGIZE for threatening me." Laurent said.
I snapped his fingers.
And dissapeared.
Laurent looked around.
"What the hell?" He asked.
"Alert. Multiphasic shield failure. We are under attack by a Krenim warship." ATAI said.
"Without multi-phasic shields... aren't we erasable?" Tramira asked.
Laurent stared out the window.
"Wanna see the coolest trick ever, Tramira?" Laurent whispered.
"Sure." Tramira whispered.
"Auto-Repair complete. Multi-phasic shields are on-line." ATAI said with a happy tone.
Tramira blinked.
"Alert! Krenim Timeship detected." ECH said.
Laurent glared.
"I don't like those guys." Laurent said.
"Laurent... we're still in spacedock! Starbase 1 doesn't have multi-phasic shields! We have to stop them!" Tramira exclaimed.
"Departure time?" He asked.
"The Cathexis is set to leave in 1.5 hours." ATAI said calmly.
"Blow the connection tubes, Fully automate, arm weapons, and multi-phasic shields." Laurent exclaimed.
"Attention USS Cathexis, this is starbase control, you do not have clearance to leave the starbase." A voice came.
"Check your damn sensors, starbase control. Either we leave now, or you won't be here in 20 minutes." Laurent retorted.
"I'm not opening the doors." Came the reply.
Laurent glared.
"Close channel. Arm Tachyon phasers." Laurent said.
The ATAI played the confirmation noise.
"Max IMPulse, blow us a whole." Laurent said.
"Um... Captain, that's assaulting star..."ECH trailed off.
"Actually, Emmet, it's ALLIED property. We're not bound by ALLIED rules, are we?" Laurent said.
The ATAI played it's affirmative sound.
The ECH shook his head.
"T-Phasers locked. Firing now." ATAI said.
Tramira lowered her eyes.
Miranda walked onto the bridge just in time to catch the last of that.
"We're in combat already?" She asked.
"No, We're getting out of spacedock." Laurent said.
Miranda smiled.
Then she saw the big smoldering hole in Starbase 1.
"Laurent... that's not very nice." She said.
"Neither is the dockmaster here." He retorted.
Miranda laughed.
"CATHEXIS! THIS IS MORROW! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" A voice came through the speakers.
"Sorry, Admiral. Section 31 Starfleet Regulation 1-1-A: No S31 operative or commanding officer will take orders from a mutation, or clone of his commanding officer. I'm TAKING OUT that temporal warship. Next time remind your dockmaster that I don't serve the alliance. I'm Starfleet. Can't touch this." Laurent said, and cut the channel.
This time, it was Tramira's turn to smile.
"So ladies, ready for a REAL fleet uniform?" Laurent asked.
Looking one to the other, he saw smiles in return.
Tramira was happy. She had the one thing she had wanted back, back.
Valera was happy. No more allied ass-kissing.
Miranda was happy. She was needed again.
Somewhere, far off in space, the Guardian was happy. Laurent had re-asserted his authority over his mission. Perhaps... he stood a chance now.
After all, how could a catalyst do it's job, if it was ordered to wait?

[squiggy]

Chapter 1: Sparks a' flyin'!

Starbase 1 was sending out repeated hails for the Cathexis to return to base.
And Laurent was ignoring every damn one of them.
"Feed them the starfleet order again." Laurent said.
The ATAI played the affirmative noise.
"Alert. The Allied starship AAPK Twisted has been launched with orders to pursue, and aprehend." the ECH said.
"All hands to battle stations!" Laurent yelled.
Miranda sat down at Ops, and Valera sat at the conn.
Tramira sat down at science, but Laurent knew exactly where she wanted to be sitting. The empty chair next to his.
"Red Alert. Krenim vessels have raised shields, and are arming weaponry." Miranda yelled.
The Red Alert Klaxon started up.
"Polaron torpedoe spread! DON'T TARGET THE TIMESHIP. ONLY THE CRUISERS." Laurent yelled.
"Aye captain, what of the Twisted?" Miranda asked.
"Emmet! Send them a message. Tell them to back-off or the Cathexis will consider them a hostility, and act accordingly, and remind him of what I have just done to SB1." Laurent ordered the ECH.
"Aye captain." the hologram said, and began speaking binary code to the main computer.
"Krenim Timeship prepping time-out sequence!" Tramira exclaimed.
Laurent considered the problem for a second.
"COMPUTER! MULTI-PHASIC SHIELD CONFIGURATION LAURENT ALPHA 1 BETA." Laurent yelled.
The ATAI played it's confirmation noise.
"Sir! Word from Twisted. They say they have multi-phasic shields and aren't afraid of you." Emett said.
Laurent laughed.
"Tell them to watch from a bit of a distance, and THEN say that again in a minute." Laurent said with a large smile on his face.
"Aye sir." Emett replied.
"ATAI, Charge the Tachyon cannon. Fire when ready." Laurent said, and keyed in his authorization code.
"Firing now." ATAI's voice said.
The time-ship's shields wobbled, bent, broke, and the ship... stayed there.
Laurent looked puzzled for a second.
"Captain, it appears that each time-ship reacts differently to our weaponry due to harmonic differences in their shielding. THAT ship only lost it's shields with the tachyon cannon. Now that they are unprotected... perhaps... a different approach?" Emett asked.
Laurent smiled.
"Polaron torpedoes! Full spread, one target." Laurent yelled.
The ATAI played the affirmation noise.
8 sparkling balls of energy flew out of the Cathexis, and hit the time-ship mid-ship.
It tore in half, exploded, and dissapeared from time.
"THAT is what I call a time-out sequence." Tramira said with a smile.
"Glad to know you have the same sense of humor." Laurent said with a larger smile.
"Captain. The Twisted is calling for re-enforcements." Emett said politely.
"Raise morrow." Laurent said.
"LAURENT, I'LL HANG YOU FOR THIS! YOU BLEW A HOLE IN MY BASE!" Morrow yelled through the intercom.
"ATLEAST YOU STILL HAVE ONE. DO YOU HONESTLY THINK STARBASE ONE, WITHOUT MULTI-PHASIC SHIELDS COULD HOLD UP AGAINST A KRENIM TIMESHIP?" Laurent yelled back.
A sigh of annoyance came from the other side of the comm link.
"Laurent, you have another call comming in." Emett said.
"Thanks Emett, Admiral, please hold for just a quick second." Laurent said.
The line switched over, and the Tellarite high-muckity-muck, who's name Laurent couldn't pronounce showed up.
"Greetings, Crystalis." He/She/It said.
"Greetings, Tellarite." Laurent replied.
"Chrystlis, as the naians call you, We have received word that there is a Krenim envoy on it's way here to Tellar. Would you mind... disposing of it?" S/He/It replied.
Laurent nodded.
The channel went off, and the screen switched back to morrow.
"Look, James, either I blow more holes in your base, and in every ship you throw at me, which will deplete my stock of energy, which I WILL need for the Krenim 2 remaining time-ships, PLUS a time-warp, and then another FOUR time-ships to handle after that, or you can shut up, let me get the hell on with this mission, and go save Tellar." Laurent said.
Morrow shook his head.
"Your just like the Laurent I know. But worse." Morrow said.
"Your just like the Morrow I know. But worse." Laurent Retorted.
The comm-link went dead, and the screen switched back to visual.
"Twisted is under orders to return to starbase to... assist with repairs." Emett said quietly.
Laurent smiled.

----------------
The Continuum.
----------------
Q, and his small group of comrade Q's were sitting in what, to a human or naian, would have appeared to be a battle bunker, which was protecting them from I weapons.
"My friends, we must protect the continuum!" Q said.
"WITH WHAT?" a different Q retorted.
"What about Laurent's shield thingy?" A third Q asked.
"No, that won't work. It only works on a confined area, and we would need to stay on a ship or planet to implement it." Q1 replied.
As a disturbing thought, Q's, There are FOUR time-ships out there. Crystalis has handled two. One is en-route to tellar, and Crystalis is en-route to play with them. What of the fourth one? As a slightly more intriguing question, gentle-q's, what were to happen if the Guardian of Forever planet was erased from time? The guardian asked.
The Q's looked amongst eachother.
Q1 frowned.
"Time would cease. Or worse, it would all run together, and it would... collapse. Or explode. Or both. At the same time." He said.
Perhaps, Q's, you should consider implementing this trick on MY world. the guardian suggested.
The Q's muttered about eachother.
"I like that idea." Q said.

[squiggy]

Laurent sat casually in the captain's chair.
Now that they weren't in combat, Tramira was sitting next to his chair.
"Laurent..." Tramira began to ask something.
"Yes?" He asked.
"... 'can't touch this'?" She asked.
Laurent started laughing maniacly.
Tramira shook her head.
Miranda and Valera smiled quietly.
"Attention, Associated Allied Peace Keepers! This is the planet Tellar! We are under attack!" The comm speakers started yelling.
"I want slipstream! NOW!" Laurent yelled.
"Admiral... they just patched up the LAST hole in the starbase. Is it really necessary to add another one?" Tramira asked.
"Depends on if the dockmaster opens the doors." Laurent said.
Miranda grinned.
Tramira shook her head.
"ECH, Raise the dockmaster." Laurent said.
"Ergo, Catheixs, this is Starbase 1 control, what can I do for you today?" The crisp accent came through.
"You just heard that distress call. You want to do this the easy way or the hard way?" Laurent asked.
The comm line went dead.
The bay doors opened.
Laurent smiled.
"Slipstream. Maximum speed to Tellar." Laurent ordered.

But it was a little late for that.
The ship, and starbase one, was hit with a temporal distortion wave.
Of course, both space vessels had multi-phasic shielding on, so they weren't aware of the time-change.
However, the loss of Tellar impacted the federation so much, that the history that had been formed was a much more violent one. Without the tellarites to keep the andorians in balance, these violent terrors gained rather powerful positions.
The Klingon wars had never started. They respected the more warrior-like federation. The Vulcans had become more vicious then the romulans had ever been.
The Krenim did one thing they never should have done:
They destabilized the powers of the federation.
Now, they had to handle the Imperium.

Morrow stared at the databank differences between Starbase 1 and Earth Headquarters.
They were STAGGERING.
Without the Tellarites, who complained and whined about EVERYTHING the andorians did, HALF of the weapons research restrictions were nullified. MORE TO THE POINT, 20 weapon-developments projects had come about.
There were listed, now, over 500 starships in Imperial Services. Starbase 1 had, equipped, 4 AAPK starships, and a single federation leftover.
The data-stream finished.
The Imperial Service Starships had already received word of the Multi-Phasic shield upgrades. They'd be ready in ample time.
The fleet that erased Tellar had encountered an ISS Dreadnought class starship, and a few of it's friends, who were on routine patrol.
They made it out, barely.
The dreadnought had been shattered.

-----------------
Cathexis
-----------------
"I'm getting bloody sick of these time changes." Laurent said quietly.
"Cathexis, this is the ISS Voyager." a crisp female voice, sounding similar to the ATAI came through the comm line.
"Janeway?" Laurent asked.
"Morrow has already filled me in, Starfleet. I'll give you a run-down of why you aren't seeing me in or near morrow's shoes. The species you know as the cardassians were out-right defeated before the Imperium could try peace-negotiations, as that's not the Imperial way. Command and Conquer. THAT is the Imperial way. We did the same thing to the Naians, your people. Because there was no peace talks, there was no maquis. Because there was no maquis, we weren't in the "badlands", as you call them. No badlands, no temporal disruption wave, NO delta quadrant." Janeway said over the comm-link.
"I see. Glad to be in the some brigade as you, Captain." Laurent said.
"Oh... Brigade, Captain? We're your' backup. You ARE the flagship, you actually are flying what, based on armaments and shielding alone, the Imperium would classify as a dreadnought. That, along with the fact that the Captain is actually an Admiral, means you get your own entourage." Janeway said.
"I see. So... who are the other captains in this entourage?" Laurent asked.
"Captain Rhonda Devonston, Deviant class light cruiser Icarus, and Captain Lenara Denatra, Illumina class light cruiser Flare, and of course, Myself, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Impala class Elite Cruiser Voyager." Janeway said.
The second name hit Laurent HARD.
"LENARA?" Laurent exclaimed.
"That is EXACTLY the reaction MORROW gave." The bright young woman said with a smile.
"RED ALERT! ALL HANDS TO BATTLE STATIONS! KRENIM TEMPORAL DESTROYER NOW IN SENSOR RANGE." the ATAI yelled.
"Hey! That's MY VOICE." Janeway exclaimed.
"Later, Captain." Laurent said.
The Krenim temporal cruiser was almost limping along. The Dreadnought apparently did a little damage to it.
"Captain. I'm showing SEVEN Krenim Starcruisers on an intercept course." Lenara said quietly through the intercomm.
Laurent cursed.
"ENOUGH OF THIS." He said.
His 'Crew' looked at him.
"NO MORE. NO MORE CHANGES OF THE TIMELINE. NO MORE PEOPLE I CAN'T HANDLE TO MEET. DAMNIT Q, I CAN NOT LOSE LENARA AGAIN." Laurent yelled, and collapsed.
"Medical emergency on the bridge!" Tramira yelled into the nearest comm-panel.
"Emergency Command Hologram Protocols engaged." the ECH said calmly.
"Raise Multi-phasic shields. Arm Phasers, Polarons, and the Tachyon cannon. Something shoots at us? shoot back. Something shoots at our imperial friends? Shoot back. Something is flying a krenim warship? shoot back." Miranda siad.
"Syntax error, Miranda. In the third example-" The ECH started.
"Shut up. Fly the ship." Miranda interjected.
The ECH nodded.

[squiggy]

Laurent lay there in a strange place.
"What is this! Where am I?" He asked.
An explosion not far from him sent strange debris at him.
"Your in the continuum, Crystalis. I brought you here to see what more is at stake." Q said.
"What do you mean?" Laurent asked.
"There is more at stake then your petty emotions. Lenara should already be dead, but the timestream is being twisted beyond even the Krenim's control. The I are attempting to twist time to permit thier strange bodies to exist outside the confines of the continuum. The I are attempting to lure you away by throwing these strange events at you, to attempt to break your ability to stop them." Q said.
Another explosion, this time closer still, sent a rock flying at Q, who batted it away rather quickly.
"You have to do this. It can be no other. If you do not, then nothing will exist." Q said.
Laurent looked down.
The dirt and dust fell away, and he awoke on the floor of the Cathexis.
"Krenim warship is prepping thier Time-out sequence." Tramira said from the science station.
"Multi-phasic shield failure in half a minute." the ATAI said.
"WHAT IN HELL'S NAME IS GOING ON! EMMET, STOP BREAKING MY SHIP. TARGET THAT TEMPORAL BASTARD WITH EVERYTHING WE'VE GOT, AND FIRE." Laurent yelled.
Miranda smiled, and entered in the sequences.
"You are not in command, Captain Laurent, you are medically unfit for duty." The ECH said.
"Computer, Laurent Alpha Delta 1 1, De-activate the ECH." Laurent said.
The ATAI played it's confirmation noise, and the ECH dissapeared off the bridge.
"DO IT!" Laurent said, looking at Miranda.
She nodded.
The entire ship shook.
The Cathexis locked all it's Tachyon Phaser banks, the Tachyon particle cannon, and 8 Polaron torpedoes on the temporal ship.
The temporal time ship prepared to fire.
The multi-phasic shields went down.
But it was already over.
The cathexis fired so much energy at the time ship, that it just dissapeared. No explosion, nothing.
The surrounding Imperial fleet was a little shocked.
Then the remainder of the fleet attacked.
The Cathexis was still in re-stock cycle.
"Laurent! The Voyager is gone!" Miranda said.
He cursed.
"Thaleron Phasers! Any Krenim target! Fire at will!" Laurent yelled.
"Aye sir!" Miranda replied.
"Hull breach on deck 4!" Valera yelled.
"Keep firing!" Laurent yelled.
"Laurent! The Icarus just lost warpfield containment!" Tramira yelled.
"The Flare is requesting emergency back-up!" Miranda yelled.
"BLOODY HELL." Laurent yelled.

The Icarus flew straight into one of the attacking Krenim battlecruisers.
RIGHT as it's warpfield destabilized.
The corresponding explosion sent all three remaining cruisers in dis-array, threatened the Flare's hull integrity, and seriously taxed the Cathexis' auto-repair systems.
"Lower shields! Beam every life form you can off the Flare!" Laurent yelled.
"Captain... there's only one life form left alive." Miranda said.
As the petite woman materialized on the bridge, Laurent stared in shock. It was Lenara, but her foot was severed.
"Medical Emergency on the bridge! Activate the EMH." Laurent yelled.
The ATAI played it's affirmative noise.
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency." the EMH said.
Laurent glared at him, and pointed at the woman missing a foot.
"Help her. I've got a battle to finish." Laurent said.
The EMH nodded.
"Polaron Torpedoe compliment has been restored, captain. We've lost Tachyon Particle Cannon control for another four minutes, and our Tachyon Phasers are currently on a burn out cycle." Miranda said quietly.
"Fire them! We have 8, right? pick the two biggest ones, give them three each, the little one gets two. FIRE DAMN IT." Laurent exclaimed.
The bridge crew nodded quietly.
The torpedoes hit the opposing fleet, and shattered what was left.
Laurent sat there exhausted in his chair.
The smell of burnt wires was everywhere.
"Captain, Slipstream is down, we are missing 3/10's of decks 12, and 13, we've lost planetary landing capabilities, and we have no tachyon particle cannon for another couple hours. Our multi-phasic shields are running at 7 %. I'd recommend we return to a starbase for a little bit." Tramira said quietly.
Laurent simply nodded.

[Seven of Nine]

That be interesting

[squiggy]

And contreversial, according to some of the PMs I got about it.
And apparently, also confusing, according to a certain dutchie who likes killer easterbunnies.

[squiggy]

Chapter 2:

Laurent stared calmly and quietly about.
"Captain! I'm picking up a temporal distortion wave." Miranda said queitly.
"Another one?" Laurent asked.
Lenara sat quietly at the helm controls, while Miranda was at Ops. Tramira was at science, and Valera was skulking about in engineering, harassing the repair bots about the multi-phasic shield stability.
"Source?" Laurent asked.
"Captain... this is not possible! It's source is... EARTH!" Miranda said quietly.
"EARTH?" Laurent yelled.
The sheer magnitude of the temporal shockwave almost blew the multi-phasic shields off-line.
"Attention unknown vessel! This is the VSS Sotar. Prepare to be boarded." A voice came from the audio controls.
"VSS?" Miranda asked.
Tramira's eye widened.
"Laurent. That's a Vulcan ship. If the temporal shockwave erased EARTH... Those chaps aren't going to believe our story." Tramira said quietly.
"Hail them." Laurent said, somewhat annoyed.
"This is Fleet Admiral Crystalis of the Temporal Starship Cathexis. We are here to correct the time-line from alterations made by a specie known as the Krenim. You WILL NOT attempt to board this vessel. Any Vulcan Starship attempting to attack, destroy, alter, take-over, or board this vessel will be destroyed." Laurent said, and then signaled to cut the communications channel.
"Captain... this isn't possible. According to the Vulcan time and navigation beacons... we have done more then just switch time-lines. We're in the PAST." Tramira said.
"*beep*! Red Alert! All hands to battlestations!" Lenara yelled.
She had been the only one paying attention to her console.
"Krenim Temporal Battlecruisers inbound." Miranda yelled.
"Battlecruisers? But... Oh no. We are in the past, and a different time-line." Laurent said calmly.
"Try SEVERAL CENTURIES in the past. Roughly around when First Contact should have happened." Tramira said.
Laurent looked shocked.
"BUT HOW! THE KRENIM SHOULD NOT HAVE..." Laurent trailed off.
"From what I am able to determine, the massive changes to the time-line, including the erasure of the BORG home planet, the Romulans, Earth, Tellar, and several planets in the Delta and Gamma quadrant, including the suspected Dominion home-world, the Krenim are the new borg. They come, take over whatever they want, and erase others from history." Tramira said quietly.

Time Froze.

A bright flash appeared.
"We are losing, Crystalis. However, this is a twist of fate. ALL FOUR Temporal starships are here. But destroying them here won't help! You have to some-how re-create Voyager's trip into the Delta Quadrant, and destroy the Krenim Fleety yards, ANOTHER century and a half ago, in "un-maulled time." Q said quietly.
"Your saying, we need a wormhole to the Delta Quadrant?" Laurent asked.
Q laughed.
"No, my friend. You have slipstream." Q said.
"It's not functional! Whenever we use it we become weak to temporal attacks!" Laurent said.
Q smiled.
"If any alteration occurs, Crystalis, it will still be you. You will still do what it is you need to do." Q said.
Q dissapeared, and time resumed.

Laurent stared around the bridge.
"Screw them. Slipstream, Let's go to the Krenim homeworld, someone prep for a time warp, I want it a century and a half further into the past." Laurent yelled.
"SLIPSTREAM? BUT-" Tramira started up, but Laurent cut her off.
"HOW ELSE ARE WE GOING TO GET TO THE DELTA QUADRANT?" He yelled.
She nodded.
"Slipstream engaged." She said quietly.
"Multi-phasic shields are... holding??" Miranda asked.
"They should. Even if they don't, I seriously doubt we can be erased from time." Laurent said quietly.
"Captain... Temporal Battlecruisers in pursuit... using Transwarp. They'll arrive about a decade after we show up." Lenara said.
Laurent laughed.
"That will Still be 2 centuries to late." He said.

----------------------
The Continuum
----------------------

Q stared, and smiled. The Guardian of Forever was being protected by members of the Continuum, who, in turn, was re-enforcing the Cathexis' multi-phasic shielding.
Q, on the other hand, was fighting a war.
A large beam of energy flew at him, and he dis-regarded it.
It didn't damage him.
He was winning. These beings seemed almost incapable of harming the Q.
Q fired volley after volley of pure liquified energy at these beings.
They were becomming de-polarized. They were becomming DAMAGED. They were becomming DESPERATE.
Q smiled.

----------------------
USS Cathexis
----------------------
"ETA is now 12 minutes. Pursuit shows as 12 years behind." Lenara said calmly.
"Engage time-warp." Laurent said.
"Engaging." Tramira said calmly.
The starship fired a pure-tachyon beam through the Tachyon phasers direcly infront of them, which caused the Slipstream tunnel to warp, and shifted them out of time, and into the past.
"Time-warp complete." Tramira said quietly.
Laurent nodded.
"Krenim battleship inbound, apparently on an intercept course." Lenara said calmly.
"Warn them off, or blow them up. Your choice, Miranda." Laurent said with a laugh.
"Firing Polaron torpedoes." She said calmly.
The battlecruiser flared on the view-screen, and dissapeared.
The fleet yard came into view, and with it, several HUNDRED battlecruisers. Not a single temporal ship in view.
"Captain... the Fleet Yard has a variation of multi-phasic shields... if we are going to be taking them on... it would have to be a collision, at the exact moment of a Tachyon Over-charge." Tramira said.
Laurent looked down.
"Then so be it!" He yelled.
"Full IMPulse! Prep tachyon over-charge!" He yelled.
The crew nodded, and went about thier tasks.

The Cathexis flew into the fleet yards at .9999 warp. At that exact moment, a Tachyon over-load occured, causing the Tachyon Particle Cannon to explode into pure temporal energy.

-----------------------
Guardian of Forever Planet
-----------------------

Laurent fell out of the Guardian's portal.
All is as it was... almost. The guardian said in his everywhere/nowhere voice.
Laurent looked up.
"This is... first history?" Laurent asked.
Indeed. But not... quite as you remember it. Your starship, the USS Cathexis, is indeed, in orbit of this planet, however, it's crew, and it's capabilities are likely not what you remember. The Guardian said.
"So that's it? I live my life now?" Laurent asked.
Silly Crystalis. It was never yours. It should be pointed out the Laurent Van den Haus is not your correct name in the repaired first-history. You ARE Crystalis. That's it. No first name, no last name. The Guardian said calmly.
"Thank you, guardian." Laurent said, and tapped his commbadge. "Crystalis to the Cathexis. One to beam up."
No child, Thank you. The guardian said.
And the world dissolved around him.


Laurent walked around the ship a bit, prior to going to the bridge. It appeared similar and different in many ways.
Curiously enough, he could not find either the Tachyon Phasers or Particle Cannon, perhaps indicating that they were not supposed to be on this ship. Then he saw the current date.
The Crystalis, he had noticed, was short on supplies, and had alot of it's technology stripped.
It was the day it was going home for it's decomissioning.
He stepped onto the bridge.
And saw the last person he expected to see.
"Katharyn!" He said, slightly startled.
She smiled at him.
"Where too?" She asked quietly.
"What.... how....?" Laurent asked.
"Your memory is still not working... some kind of Naian disease, according to the EMH. Your on the Cathexis, we've been decomissioned, and we're just taking her out for one last pleasure cruise... After all, Don't you think it's fair that she gets to come with us on our honey-moon?" Captain Katharyn Reid asked.
Laurent stared into her brilliant blue eyes, and smiled.
Thank you, Q. He thought.
This is how it was meant to be. Perhaps someday, you will learn what caused the time to warp, and keep the two of you apart, but it isn't today. After all, even heroes get a day off. Q replied.
Laurent laughed.
It was a good Time to be alive.

[Cathexis]

OH I love that ending.

Awww..how sweet Katharyn and Laurent. Awwww.
Hmm...sound familiar ?

[squiggy]

Well.. the characters WERE designed as reflections of us.