章 93: The Good, the Bad, and the Worse
I sat at the Conn Station with my feet propped up on the console and leaned back in the chair as I waited for the others to arrive. Since I knew that Seven would take some time to set up the link, I did not call them until I was already on board the Fae Dragon. Echo and L'Naan arrived first as the pair had been waiting for this episode to begin while Katye took fifteen minutes to make it here.
"What took you so long?" L'Naan asked impatiently.
"I was in the middle of a diagnostic on the main bio-bed and wanted to finish it. It's not like we are ready to leave yet; Seven still isn't here," Katye replied.
::Seven of Nine is approaching the ship.:: Fae chimed as if on cue.
L'Naan gave Katye a deadpan look while she simply smirked and took her position at the Science Station.
"Let her in and inform Voyager that we are about to set off," I said, sitting up straight.
::Understood.::
Once Seven was onboard, I took off from the Shuttle Bay and flew a few kilometers away from Voyager before I engaged maximum warp towards the array. Voyager followed behind at a slower pace until they were forced to stop due to the gravitational forces. Fae was burning through energy at a much higher rate, but it was not enough to require more than one person to top-off the core regularly.
Katye, L'Naan, and Seven worked together to stabilize the containment field with a few polaron pulses, then started downloading the message from Starfleet. Echo and I kept a constant lookout for Hirogen ships as we knew that one would be coming to find us. As a villain for two different two-parter episodes, my entire group agreed that there was no way that we could avoid the Hirogen, so we could only lean into it. Their culture was based off the 'Hunt' which was Echo's obvious path, which meant that avoiding them would do more harm than good; in Tori's universe, it was better to accept challenges than avoid them.
Through our connection, I could sense Echo using her mana subtly, infusing it into the Fae Dragon as she watched the sensors. Hiding my surprise behind several mental barriers, I focused on her, slipping past hers carefully, so I could understand what she was doing. It was an instinctual process, fusing her understanding of the Hunt with Fae, boosting the ship's sensors.
The process was impressive, as I had never seen her do anything like this before. She had been studying sensors for years at this point, so it was not surprising that her skill had reached this level, but there was more to what she was doing. The way she was blending her power with Fae was similar to how Raven's did with machines.
A memory of Echo working with Raven to track down all of the surprises that Seska had hid in Voyager's computer core played through her mind. She could hear Raven's voice coaching her through the process of blending their techniques together, but this time, Echo was doing all the work herself. I felt a pang of sorrow and guilt and could not help but look down at my hands, a constant reminder of what had happened.
[We'll get her back.] Echo's voice spoke directly to my mind.
[I know we will.] I replied, glancing her way with a light smile.
::A Hirogen ship has been detected on an intercept course.::
"Echo, ready the phasers. Katye, get your exo-suit and get ready. Seven, can you take over the Conn Station? L'Naan, refill the core as much as you can, then get back in here and focus on getting the message," I instructed as I stood up.
"Why does Seven get the Conn?" L'Naan asked with frustration.
"So that you can switch out Echo if the core falls below fifty percent. Quit your bitchin'," I chided, calling out my own exo-suit to appear on my body.
L'Naan huffed with annoyance but did not continue to argue and, instead, headed for Engineering. Seven walked over and took my place while Katye summoned her own exo-suit and continued working on downloading the message. The Hirogen ship grew closer, and I signaled Echo to hail them.
"Hirogen vessel, this is the USS Fae Dragon. We know that you are on an intercept course to meet us for using your relay station, but we have a dire need to access the message. Please stand down, and we will leave as soon as we have the message downloaded," I said in my most diplomatic voice.
Echo was amused by my antics, but the Hirogen were not. They did not answer my hail and remodulated whatever cloaking technology that they were using, but it was not enough to throw off Echo now that she was locked on.
The Hirogen released some kind of subnulceonic beam at us which knocked out Fae's navigational sensors as well as our long-range communications, warp engines, and even our weapons. Echo slammed her hands on the console in anger, then turned and headed for Engineering, since L'Naan was the most likely one who could get the systems back online quickly. I gave Katye a nod and we both teleported ourselves out of the ship.
They were approaching from the port side as Seven navigated the ship blindly away from them. Surprisingly, the Hirogen fired their phasers at me rather than the Fae Dragon, but I activated the shields built into my exo-suit in time to block the damage, though it took over twenty-five percent of my battery. Katye vanished from my senses, but I knew that she must have activated her own cloaking before they locked onto her. With a dismissive snort, I shifted into my Dusa form and launched myself at the ship with a flap of my wings.
When I drew within a few hundred feet of the ship, they released a red bolt of energy, which I barely dodged out of instinct as I knew that it was dangerous to be hit by it. A moment later, a violet lotus of pure mana bloomed in space and fired a beam of concentrated mana at the backside of the ship's engine. There was a small explosion, but it was not strong enough to stop them.
In the next moment, I reached the Hirogen ship and dragged my talons against the hull as I stopped myself since I had been going the opposite way. My talons finally caught on one of the plates of the hull armor, and I was able to use the magnetic lock within my exo-boots that were somehow still usable, despite my transformed state. I shifted into the Yin Realm, thinking that I would be able to slip in and handle the two Hirogen with ease, but that would have been simple...
Inside the Yin Realm, every type of shielding that I had seen within this universe always took on a greenish color, forcing me to combine Lightning mana with the Yin mana that I was using while I was in this Realm, but the Hirogen ship was coated in a bright orange light, with no hints of blue. I tried combining Space and Yin first, then Space alone, to slip past the exterior of the ship, but with no luck, as it would need finesse to find the proper balance, and I had neither the time nor skill to do it quickly; the main weakness of my 'overpower it' mentality that I used for my power.
Shifting back to the normal 'world', I transferred what I had learned to Echo while also debating whether or not to use my Dragon form. Destroying the ship was the least of my concerns but revealing that I could transform into a giant beast that was able to destroy starships to a race of hunters was a dangerous thing. Instead, I conjured up my Chaos Storm and focused it on the hull of the ship, eating away at the shielding and plating.
"Becca is eroding the hull of the ship. Katye, aim for her location with a Lotus Bloom," Echo instructed through the comm system.
"On your mark," Katye said, a few moments later.
I let my storm eat away at the hull, then kicked off the ship and used the thrusters to get out of the way. "Now!"
The violet lotus bloomed and fired a bolt of pure mana at the spot where I had been moments before. A large explosion rocked the Hirogen ship, but instead of retreating, I launched myself at the ship and slipped onto the ship through the hole that Katye created. I landed on the floor heavily and looked around, since I knew that the armor that the Hirogen wore could allow them to survive the vacuum of space.
I was not disappointed as a cyan ball of energy was fired at me despite the smoke that filled the room. A maroon shimmer danced across my scales as I activated the shielding of my exo-suit, negating the damage and draining my suit's core by five percent. I conjured my storm and let it fill the room as I teleported myself out of the way of his follow-up shots and closed the distance between us.
I appeared in front of the one firing at me and stabbed out with my talons. He used his rifle to deflect my hand, but I followed my initial attack with a left hook to his side. Smashing my full strength into him only caused him to stumble half a dozen steps back, surprising me as few Mortals could handle such a blow.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," I said with a smirk, cracking my knuckles.
The Hirogen also smirked then tossed his rifle aside and pulled out a long knife. I summoned a curved dagger from my ring and held it in a reverse-grip while my other hand stretched forward, egging him on with a small wave. He gave a savage smile that turned into a snarl as he charged forward... unfortunately, someone else entered the ship. An arrow of violet energy struck him in the chest, and a second flew out at the Beta Hirogen, killing both with no mercy.
"Damn," I sighed, turning around to an annoyed Fairy Queen as Katye was transformed as well.
"Their friends just entered long-range sensors, so we can't waste any time here. L'Naan got Fae back online properly and Echo already sent a message to Voyager, telling them to move out before the Hirogens spot them. The array is stabilized for now, but starting a fight here will destroy the whole network, just like it did in the show," Katye reminded me while tapping her foot with her arms crossed.
"I was learning about our next opponent. He was able to take a full punch of mine with that armor on," I defended.
"You just wanted a fun physical fight," she retorted with a knowing look. "But you're right... That isn't normal. You tell Echo to beam us back and to also take one of the dead Hirogen, so that Seven doesn't hear. While she wouldn't have a problem with us examining the Hirogen's body and armor, Janeway likely will."
I sighed, but did not argue, as I knew that she was right. I used our link to give Echo Katye's message, and we were beamed away in the next moment, after returning to our normal forms. Katye and I rematerialized on the transporter pad with the body of the Beta behind us. While I stepped off the platform, she stayed and started tracing out different runes in the air. It was far more complex than anything that I had seen her use before, but strangely, her spell felt different as well.
Typically, Katye's magic made me feel uncomfortable and a sense of wrongness as it was the opposite of my own. Now, though, the 'wrongness' almost felt tempting, taunting... challenging. It was weak compared to the uncomfortableness, but it made me realize why my past-self had been drawn to each other; two sides of the same coin, just like what Tori told me after he showed me the battle that claimed both of their lives, when 'I' became the Embodiment of Chaos.
When she completed her spell, she pointed her finger at the Hirogen and a streak of violet flew out. The light encased the body before causing it to levitate off the ground and float upstairs, out of sight. Katye turned around and noticed that I was staring at her.
"The spell will preserve his body. I don't plan on doing anything more than some minor scanning and getting a sample of his DNA. The armor is the most likely cause of how he was able to match your Dusa form," she explained.
"It's not that; you're the last person I'd expect to turn into Mount Weather doctor," I replied with the shake of my head.
"Then what?"
"This is the first time that you've really used magic around me since... Your power has been refined by a significant amount; I can tell the difference... and also why Dystina was drawn to Alkatyenia," I said with an awkward smile, rubbing the back of my head.
She smirked and stepped closer to me, then kissed my cheek. "I know the feeling, every time that you use your Chaos Storm... From Chaos comes Order while Order dissolves into Chaos; it's why we are tied together."
"Do you ever regret it?" I could not help but ask, as 'I' was the reason why 'she' had to struggle and build up her power.
Her aura rippled and, instead of only Alkatyenia's voice, a chorus of feminine voices overlapped as she said, "A hundred, a thousand, a million lives would still not be long enough if they are spent with you. You are my other half, no matter who 'we' are."
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes as I felt the love and devotion coming from Katye's Soul, and I smiled back at her. Leaning in, I kissed her, which she returned readily, pulling me into her embrace. We stayed like that for several minutes before we broke apart slowly, resting our foreheads against each other's.
"I love you," I whispered, caressing her cheek with my thumb.
"And I love you," she replied.
Echo was already flying the ship back to Voyager, so the two of us returned to the bridge after our little moment. We met up with Voyager an hour later and landed in the Shuttle Bay. While Seven and I gave a report to Janeway, Katye and L'Naan started looking over the Hirogen and his armor. While we were able to hide what we had done from Janeway, it took the pair over a week to unravel the secrets that were hidden within the body of our new enemy.
"Not to make things ominous, but you never discuss business over dinner," I remarked as we sat down at the table, looking at the other three as they all had been keeping things from me for the past week.
"How do you want it? The Good, the Bad, or the Worse?" Echo asked with a smirk.
Shaking my head, I decided to make a change and replied, "Let's go with the Good for a change."
"The Good is that, while the Hirogen are much stronger than the average human, they are not at the 'magical' level," Katye replied.
"The Bad is that their suits are more advanced than our exo-suits, healing them, strengthening them, enhancing their senses," L'Naan said.
"And the Worse?" I asked.
Echo reached into her pocket and pulled out a gold coin that she tossed on the table. "We have a chance to save Raven if we leave Voyager for a month and a half... Placing our return in the middle of the 'Killing Game' episode. It's my 'favor'."
I sighed and picked up the coin with a smirk. "So, we save Raven then come back for Voyager and save them too. It sounds like an action-packed adventure."
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