章 43: Within the Storm
While I was able to return to the Fae Dragon without too much difficulty, I collapsed with pain once I transformed back to my humanoid form. When I was in my Dragon form, all of the damage that I had taken was spread out over a large body, so in my smaller form, many of the injuries compounded on each other. It was so bad, in fact, that Filigree and Katye had to start healing me before I could focus enough to use my own healing spell. I ended up passing out by the time that we reached the Voyager, but when I woke up later, my body was healed, even if I was a little sluggish from the Soul damage that could not be easily remedied.
"How long this time?" I asked with a yawn.
"Five hours, so your best time yet," Raven said, nuzzling the side of my neck.
"I don't know if I am proud or disappointed at this point," I retorted.
"If you slept more regularly instead of using the Mind Linker all the time, it might have only been three," Katye teased.
"Is it really sleeping when I'm living someone else's life?" I asked as I sat up with Raven still attached to my side. "So, what's our status?"
"The core is at fifty-two percent and the Voyager has another ten to twelve hours' worth of repairs still to be done. We're still in the nebula, and there are about sixty ships spread around the perimeter, including one giant monster of a ship," Katye explained.
"The Krawon, I imagine after what Danara told us," I replied.
"Whatever it is, it's nearly double the size of a normal warship, and armed to the teeth," Echo said.
"It wouldn't be a challenge if it wasn't," I retorted. "I'll still take these odds over Iseto's army or the Disciples. Damn, things would have been a lot easier if I could have turned into a two-hundred-foot-long dragon back then."
"Perhaps, but that would have made things a lot more fucked up for the rest of us," Katye retorted dryly to which I chuckled. "Janeway wanted to see you when you woke up."
"Alright," I said, before giving Raven a quick kiss and standing up.
Katye and Echo also gave me a kiss, each, before I left the room with them following behind me. Raven walked off the ship with me, but we parted ways when I got to the turbo lift, as she continued onto Engineering to help B'Elanna. There were some happy faces when I stepped out onto the Bridge which made me feel better since I had not interacted much with the crew since I revealed my newest form. Giving a nod to Chakotay, I headed for Janeway's Ready Room and pressed the chime on the side of the door, before waiting for permission to enter.
"Rebecca! I'm glad to see that you've recovered," Janeway said, standing up from behind her desk, as I walked in.
"Thanks," I replied.
She motioned towards the couch, and we both walked over and sat down. "The replicators are currently offline, or I would offer you tea."
"I understand," I chuckled. "We all took a beating in that exchange. I hope there weren't too many injuries among the crew."
"A few more than last time, but nothing serious, thankfully," she replied.
"Good," I remarked, looking out into the softly glowing, red nebula, then sighed, "Quite a mess we've pulled you into; I'm sorry."
"I have Harry looking into the feasibility of trying to navigate our way through the nebula while Tuvok is coming up with some possible plans, but the situation doesn't look good for us. I have a meeting with the Senior Officers scheduled at zero eight hundred hours where we'll discuss what we will do, that I'd like you to attend."
"I'll see what ideas my group and I can come up with before then," I agreed.
We talked for a bit longer before I excused myself. Raven was still gone when I returned to the ship, but that was not surprising with the amount of repairs that the Voyager needed. I found Katye and Echo upstairs meditating on the couches with their mana low which meant that they had likely been refilling the core. They both stopped after sensing my arrival, and looked over at me as I sat down on my usual couch.
"I've got a meeting at eight where Janeway and the Senior Officers are going to discuss what to do. Harry is looking to see if we can navigate the nebula while Tuvok is making possible plans," I explained.
"The Voyager won't be able to. There are two unstable subspace vacuoles near the center of the nebula that are causing chaotic gravitational currents that get stronger the deeper you go in," Katye explained.
"Chaotic, huh? I guess that was why the nebula was easier to convert into my Chaos Storm, but I thought sensors didn't work well in this environment."
"Conventional ones, but Fae's are designed to detect mana, and can calculate things based on that data. It uses a bit more mana to do, but I also thought about flying through the nebula, so I checked," she replied.
"It would be too easy if we could just sneak out the back," I retorted.
"What I don't understand is why the Vidiians are just waiting outside the nebula. With their numbers, we would not be able to pick off too many ships off so long as they stayed in formation," Echo remarked.
"Well, we've shown that our ship can cloak, and I pulled a disappearing act on six of those ships, two of which escaped, so they might be hesitating to figure out a solution, but I think you're right. Klingons and Romulans have used cloaking to their advantage throughout the different shows, yet the Federation is still standing, so it's not a fool-proof strategy," I replied.
"Do you think that we can take the fleet?" Katye asked.
"In a direct conflict, no. We're simply outgunned, but that was the premise of this show; one ship facing off against impossible odds. We need to borrow the idea of the show, and come up with some clever solution, or strategy, that plays to our advantage while also giving us a real test," I chuckled, putting my hands behind my head and leaning back.
"Easier said than done," Katye sighed.
"Which has been our life through this wonderful, yet twisted journey, that Tori arranged for us," I retorted.
Using the Mind Linker's time-bending abilities to their fullest, we discussed different ideas, and tried out a few strategies, using data that Fae had collected during our fights with the Vidiians. Things were not turning out in our favor until I had a crazy idea that made Echo smile, though we had no way to test it, since the Krawon was the biggest variable as we knew so little about it. Raven also liked the idea once she joined later that night.
We kept trying things throughout the night, more so as practice than anything else. I skipped breakfast to give us more time, but I had to leave eventually for the meeting. Our plan was simple, and a little dangerous, but it was the most adaptable to whatever situation presented itself, so I had the chance of convincing Janeway.
"...I've sent out a couple of probes, but ten thousand kilometers outside of our location, there are strong gravitational currents which have destroyed any that I sent towards the center of the nebula. I don't think that the Voyager can pass safely through the heart of the nebula," Harry explained at the conference table.
"From what information my ship has gathered, there are two unstable subspace vacuoles in the center which are acting as the anchor for this nebula. Trying to predict their patterns would have us here for days at minimum, but more likely, longer," I added.
"Couldn't we just skirt around the edge then? We're in deep enough that their sensors can't detect us accurately," Tom suggested.
"From my research, we were only able to enter this far without being affected by the currents because there is a large planetoid that is causing an eddy of sorts that's roughly five hundred thousand kilometers across. If we leave this region, we'll be forced to move to two to three hundred thousand kilometers from the edge of the nebula which puts us into their sensor range," Harry replied.
"We can't fight that many ships, even if we just focus on running," Tom complained.
"I must agree that the odds are not in our favor," Tuvok remarked.
"Not in a direct conflict, no, but my group and I have an idea that could work. We've gotten past their shields before, and while those were designed for camouflage rather than defense, we have other ways to disrupt their shields long enough to transport ourselves on one of their ships, more specifically, the Krawon. It's the most likely place to find Sulan and General Wudan who are the only ones that can end this. I want all four of us to board the ship, so I would ask that L'Naan come onboard to pilot our ship, if she is willing," I explained, laying out the basics of my plan.
"That would put your group in a lot of danger," Chakotay warned.
"Honestly, it's the safest idea that we can think of. Only Raven would have difficulty fighting a security team alone because she specializes in technology, so with all of us present, the true risk is minimal."
"What's to stop them from destroying their ship, killing you all in the process?" B'Elanna asked.
"Because this is all happening because of greed. The cure for the phage is one thing, but they are after the abilities of my kind as if what gives us these powers has something to do with our DNA. They want us just as much as they want L'Naan, if not mo..."
My words trailed off as I noticed a streak of yellow light heading straight for us out the window behind Janeway. Before anyone else could turn their heads, the missile exploded against the shields, shaking the ship. As everyone stood up, I realized that there were more than just missiles coming.
"They're done waiting," I remarked.
"Battle stations! Rebecca, launch your ship," Janeway ordered.
No one argued with the Captain, and we all rushed out of the room, either towards the Bridge or out into the corridor. B'Elanna joined me in the turbo lift, which we took down to our respective decks.
"Can you spare L'Naan?" I asked while we were together.
"Yes," B'Elanna agreed.
I tapped my badge and said, "Rebecca to L'Naan. Can you meet me in the Shuttle Bay? I need your help."
"Yes, I'll be there in two minutes," L'Naan replied.
The doors opened and I stepped into the corridor. It was a short walk to the Shuttle Bay, but instead of going inside, I waited for L'Naan. The Voyager was taking heavy fire, so I could only think that the full force had entered the nebula.
"B'Elanna said she can spare you for us. I want you to pilot the Fae Dragon while we beam over to their flagship... At least, that was the original plan, but we'll have to adapt to the situation," I explained as we hurried onto the Fae Dragon.
"What took you... Oh, good thinking, we're going to need your help," Katye started then saw L'Naan behind me.
"I have my moments. How bad is it?" I asked as we walked towards her since she was poking her head through the door to the Bridge.
"Full force, sixty-eight ships now," she replied. "We are going to have use Plan C or D."
"Of course," I sighed with annoyance.
Why did I ever hope for the easiest path within Tori's Inner Realm? Everything here was meant to test us and force us to grow. My Dragon Body was proof that we had the potential to fight starships while normal people were becoming less and less of a danger to us.
"There will be hundreds of Vidiians on that ship; are you two confident?" I asked, looking between Raven and Echo.
"Yes," Echo replied with no hesitation while Raven just nodded.
"Plan D. I need to pull some fire off of Voyager, so stay cloaked and coordinate with them. When you give me the signal, I'll open a hole for the Voyager to launch a volley of V-1 torpedoes," I sighed.
Plan D meant the Raven and Echo would be the only ones to beam over to the Krawon. Katye would switch between manning the Tactical station and launching her powerful Lotus Bloom spell while I fought in my Dragon Body. It spread us thin, but if we all did our parts, we should be able to pull this off.
I gave them all a nod and then teleported myself outside of the ship while transforming. Immediately, I conjured my Chaos Storm Clouds and let them eat away at the nebula, while I manipulated them to act as a wall between the Voyager and the Vidiians. It was a struggle to balance their corrupting nature normally, but with so many missiles coming at the Voyager, I used so much mana destroying them that they could not expand faster than I could control. It was a stalemate for as long as my Soul Power could hold out while I was forced to defend.
Voyager was racing out of the encirclement, but that meant that they had to battle the gravitational currents. I could only defend their back while the Fae Dragon moved into position, cloaked. My focus was split between blocking attacks and keeping Voyager's position in relation to the Krawon as I waited for Katye's signal.
{Now!} Katye's voice echoed through my mind.
I opened a hole in my Chaos Storm and the Voyager fired a series of torpedoes before I had to close it to ensure that nothing hit the ship.
{We need another shot. Get ready... Now!}
Another hole opened in my Domain and Voyager fired again. The shields did not fall, but then Katye released her Lotus Bloom spell and hit the Krawon. For a moment, the shields held back the beam of energy before they collapsed, and the blast hit the ship directly. This was the moment that we had been waiting for; the Krawon's shields were down, I just had to hold on until Raven and Echo could complete their task...
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