บท 108: Growing and Advancement
Echo and L'Naan faced off against their opponents in the Mental Plane which allowed them to go all out; we watched with Boothby and Bullock on the bridge of our little ship on the monitors. Sadly, L'Naan did not last long against her opponent as she had the same weakness against Mental magic that Echo and I had, but she had not trained against it much. Echo managed to win against her opponent, splitting her mind to deal with the mental attacks and relying on her stealth to get in close to deal a killing blow with her Absolute Zero spell which froze her opponent solid.
"So, how do you want to do this?" Boothby asked as Echo's fight ended.
"Am I fighting you?" I asked with a smile.
"I will be your opponent," Bullock replied sternly.
"Told you," Katye chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah," I replied dismissively. "I've reserved Holo-Deck Two for us and have a simple coliseum program for us to use. There is also a viewing platform, so that you can watch the fight with my group. They have been taking bets on whether or not I will be infected again and have to lose my powers for a few weeks to treat it."
Boothby huffed with mirth, "You're a strange lot."
"You're not the first to say such things," I retorted, smirking, as I stood up.
Katye and I led them to engineering where Echo and L'Naan were followed by the two 'lieutenants' who had been their opponents. From there, our group made its way to Holo-deck Two, where I started the program. When we walked inside, Boothby's eyes widened with surprise.
"Time-Space manipulation?" he asked.
"This is one of the primary places that we train our abilities, so we need more room to really test them out, and the Time dilation is so we can squeeze in a few extra hours when we have this to ourselves," I explained.
"How did you create the formation?" Boothby asked.
"It was an Elder of our race who created this technique, we only copied the instructions. I have been working on my own designs based off this design, if you are interested in looking at them; I would just ask for some feedback," Katye replied with a bit of excitement.
"Why do you want my opinion?"
"Even when Becca and I cross the threshold, we don't 'feel' the change, yet you did. You are bound to have some insights to my attempt to recreate his work, which I would be more than happy to demonstrate, if my notes are not enough explanation," Katye said.
Boothby smirked, "Let's see it."
Katye retrieved a data pad from her storage ring and handed it to him. "This is my understanding of Space-Time formations."
"Well, would you like to head down while they exchange notes?" I asked Bullock.
He gave me a curt nod and waited for me to lead the way down to the arena. I copied the coliseum from my training room in the Mental Plane for the program and, thanks to the modifications to the holo-deck, I could infuse my mana into the rock and water as if they were real, and not just projections. We took our positions with about twenty feet between us.
"Would you like to return to your true appearance?" I asked after shifting into my Dusa form.
Bullock looked up at the box where the others were and waited for a moment before his body released a bright white light along with a large amount of mana. When the light faded, 'Bullock' was in his true appearance as a member of Species 8472. He looked like the first one that I had faced off against with three legs, pinkish-purplish skin, and golden eyes. Honestly, not too attractive, but like that, he had the strength to rip through bulkheads which put him on my level in terms of raw power.
I retrieved a coin and a metal staff from my storage ring and said, "When the coin hits the ground, we begin. Okay?"
He did not answer me with words, but shifted his stance and raised his hands in a defensive position. I flipped the coin high and studied my opponent as I waited for the coin to hit the ground. The moment it touched the sand, I dashed forward with a flap of my wings while also using my Lightning-based Superspeed. Despite reaching speeds that created a sonic boom, he was able to react in time and raised his arm to block the swing of my staff. The metal bent upon impact, but twisted around his arm under my control. Before he knew what was happening, I spun, pulling him off his feet and into the air, and then whipped him around like a lasso before I launched him towards the far end of the arena.
He did try to counterattack with mental attacks, but like Echo, I shrugged them off easily by dividing my mind. As he flew through the air, he righted himself and landed on his feet while pushing his mental attacks to the extreme. I could create ten different 'minds' at once, which I imploded when he used more illusions than I could handle, causing a minor backlash for both of us with each 'mind' destroyed.
I was used to the minor backlashes as it was how I dealt with Wanda's illusion spells, though Loki and Sun Wukong could still overpower me. My opponent did not have the same resistance to my unconventional 'defense', so he was taking more damage than I was. He gave up on attacking my mind directly, but that did not mean that he was out of tricks.
His mana flared and he pointed a finger at me, firing a beam consisting of a fusion of Fire, Lightning, and Yang mana. While I naturally had a high affinity with Fire and Lightning, my instincts warned me not to underestimate the attack, so I teleported to the left and counterattacked by launching a dozen knives, created from the metal of my staff, which one of my 'minds' controlled. He dodged the initial barrage, but when they came back around to attack his back, he locked them down with a bit of Yang energy. Hoping to catch him off-guard, I teleported right in front of him and threw out a heavy punch, enhanced with Soul Power and mana.
He threw up a hasty shield of Yang mana, but I broke through it and landed my attack heavily on his chest. It sent him flying backwards, yet he managed to claw into my wing and dislocate it. I groaned in pain as I shifted back into my normal form, so that I could take advantage of the Borg technology to stop the parasitic bacteria before it became a real problem; Echo was not the only one to figure out how to direct mana through the Borg nanoprobes to direct the technology.
"Damn, that stings," I complained as the damage was translated to my upper right back with several bones fractured and three deep scratches.
My opponent sailed back and smashed into the back wall, though he righted himself enough to land on his feet. He wobbled and held a hand over the wound as he narrowed his eyes.
{Again?} he asked telepathically.
I chuckled and sent back, {Only if you are done holding back.}
{You've proven that I do not need to.}
I smirked since I knew that he was still underestimating me, but I also wasn't going to use my Chaos element in any of my attacks, so I was holding back quite a bit as well. Due to my quick action, the nanoprobes were able to deal with the parasitic bacteria within a minute, allowing me to switch back to my Dusa form quickly. We had about a dozen more exchanges, just like our first, and I came out on top, though I certainly looked worse for wear as black blood dyed my uniform from all the cuts that his claws managed to land despite my scales.
Echo and L'Naan enjoyed watching the spar, but Katye apparently spent most of the time discussing her notes with Boothby. No real surprise that she had impressed him with her understanding and was on the way to making a new friend; the woman could charm a brick wall, let alone a former enemy.
Voyager spent a week with Species 8472, enjoying their recreation of Starfleet Headquarters. The crew got a taste of home while Katye was able to work on her Space-Time formations with Boothby and made some noticeable improvements. Overall, it was a great outcome for every party involved and gave me hope that Species 8472 would disappear back to Fluidic Space, just like they seemed to after this episode.
We had another couple of weeks that were normal enough onboard a starship filled with explorers in an unknown region of space. There were two interesting nebulas to peek at, several uninhabited solar systems to check out, and we stumbled across a space station, which we managed to leave without getting pulled into any unexpected drama. Janeway sent the Delta Flyer out on a few simple scouting missions, which had been offered to my group, but I politely declined, reminding her that it was best to ignore the presence of my ship now that they had the Delta Flyer. Not only were there episodes tied to the little ship, prying Echo and L'Naan from the holo-deck was annoying enough for their duty shifts, so up to a week without access would cause a riot from those two... They were cooking up something against me, I knew it, but they also had yet to beat me in a spar, so I could not blame them.
A Delta Flyer episode popped up, but with my group around, things did not get as serious as in the show. Tom, Tuvok, and Samantha Wildman, Naomi Wildman's mother, took the shuttle to scout a solar system that was slightly off course while Voyager surveyed a nebula. Sensors had shown some traces of some different metals in the uninhabited system, so they were sent out to see if it was worth Voyager's time to head over and do some mining. Unfortunately, they took some heavy damage from an ion storm and crashed into a planetoid, getting buried several hundred feet due to the low density of the planet's crust.
Originally, I had not planned to get too involved as they all survived, and our presence alone would speed up saving them. What I had not counted on was Filigree. As they both had similar age appearance and temperament, Filigree and Naomi were close friends, so once she overheard about her friend's mother in danger, she decided that she would help her no matter what...
"Please! We've got to go help Samantha!" Filigree pleaded.
"Voyager is already heading for the location of their last signal, and Echo will help once we reach the solar system," I replied with a frown, looking to Katye for some help.
"But Voyager has to avoid the ion storms! With you, we could break through them! Please!" Filigree whined, fully explaining her plan.
"Please, Captain Cox?" Naomi asked, standing side by side with the begging fairy.
"I caught them going through Fae's database when I got off duty. They fully researched the strength of the storms, and the route that 'we' could take versus the one that Voyager has plotted, which would cut off fifteen hours from the journey," Katye said with an amused smile.
I sighed with defeat and replied, "Hand it over."
Excitedly, Filigree handed me a data pad with a brief report of the ion storms, and the fastest route to the last known location of the away team. The ion storms carried a nasty punch, but in my Dragon form and using my Chaos Storm Clouds, I would be able to prevent any damage to Fae. Filigree had even calculated elemental properties of the ion storms, which would make it easier for my power to 'digest'. The kids had really thought of everything.
I sighed again and gave the pair a hard look, making them both shrink back, before smiling. "You are going to be a great Assistant Captain one day, Naomi, and good job, Filigree. I don't see why Janeway would refuse this idea."
"Really?!?" Filigree and Naomi exclaimed.
"Yep. The two of you go tell Neelix, and I will present it now, if the Captain is free, and let you know the outcome."
"Thank you!" the two of them exclaimed with broad smiles then ran for the stairs together. I chuckled at their antics as I stood up and walked over to Katye.
"Was this really done by the two of them?" I asked with a smirk.
"Yes... Naomi was the guiding force while Filigree hacked the Disciple-level lockout that I had written on Fae's systems, specifically for her, mind you," Katye retorted.
"You've taught her how to hack into computer systems? I'm guessing that the encryption is based off of the Arcana?"
"Spell breaking at its simplest. If she could manage that, she deserves access to our sensor systems. Her biggest problem is a lack of direction and, while I could provide it, it's better that she finds it herself and helping friends is a good guide. You can always try it yourself and see how you do," she teased with a smirk.
"I'd rather not," I grumbled, knowing that I was at a significant disadvantage if she was making the test. "You know this was supposed to be a growing point for Naomi and 'Neelix'," I stated, emphasizing his name.
"He'll be fine. Filigree overheard a conversation in Sick Bay about the downed ship. She snuck off, saying that she wanted to take a nap, and since it had been a slow day, I didn't think about it. Naomi has already called him out for lying to her so, if anything, this will just mend their relationship quicker," Katye explained with all the reason and foresight behind her.
"Dragon Age or Skyrim, you take the lead... I'm done with planning this stuff. I can do it, yeah, but I'd also rather take a back seat and relax until I'm needed," I complained.
"Fussy Dragon," Katye chided with a light laugh and pulled me into a kiss. "Go do your job and we can be 'heroes'. The two children that you just promised are waiting on you."
"Yes, Heda," I retorted then retreated out of her reach before she could smack my ass.
"You know that you are in trouble when I get my hands on you, right?" Katye growled with a light smile.
"I'll take my chances," I taunted and added, "Don't act innocent with this. I know you were planning this; I can see your fingerprints all over this, even if you deny it."
"I have no idea what you mean," she replied innocently, but I did not believe her for a second.
I left our ship and made my way to the Bridge. While it was after hours for the main duty shift, I knew that her Ready Room was still the most likely place to find Janeway. Sure enough, she invited me inside when I pressed the chime on the door panel.
"Rebecca? What brings you here?" she asked with surprise.
"An Emergency Rescue Plan that was presented to me by the two most junior members of our crews," I replied, handing her the data pad that they had given me. She gave me a look to which I chuckled and added, "There is some real merit to their work. I could protect a ship the size of the Fae Dragon in my Dragon form with my powers and cut straight through the ion storms. From there, it's a simple matter for Echo to track them down."
Janeway hummed and turned her attention to the data pad. It did not take her long to read through the report, and she smiled with amusement.
"Did they really write this up?" Janeway asked.
"Yes, but Katye has been guiding Filigree's training, and she has an eidetic memory. With Naomi giving her some ideas, she used our sensors to formulate the plan… It was not a specific test that Katye put in front of her, but Filigree's ability to access our systems means that she was able to decrypt a spell formation that should be a bit too advanced for her, so we wanted to reward her by going with her plan," I explained.
Janeway sighed with a light smirk on her face and slid the pad back towards me, saying, "Away mission approved. After you rescue the Delta Flyer crew, wait for us in orbit."
"Yes, ma'am. I'll see you in a few days," I replied and headed out the door.
As I walked to the turbo lift, I paged both Echo and L'Naan to have them meet me at the Fae Dragon. I took the lift to Deck Two and headed to the Mess Hall, where I guessed Neelix, Naomi, and Filigree would be. Thankfully, all three were in the room, and were alone, due to it being between lunch and dinner.
"What did the Captain say?" Filigree asked upon seeing me walk in.
"She agreed, and we're leaving as soon as everyone is aboard the ship. You ready to head out, Filigree?" I asked.
"Yeah! Don't worry Naomi! We'll get your mother to safety, and I will let you know right away!" Filigree said excitedly.
"Thank you, Filigree. And thank you, Captain Cox," Naomi replied.
"No problem. Your plan shows a lot of promise, and we had not thought of it yet. Let's go, kiddo."
"I'll see you later."
"Bye."
The two of us headed for the turbo lift and took it down to the Shuttle Bay. Both Echo and L'Naan were already on the bridge of the Fae Dragon while Katye was waiting in the engineering section.
"Why don't you go tell Echo that it is time to take off?" I asked Filigree.
"Sure," Filigree agreed and ran off towards the bridge.
"Oh, don't be so fussy. This won't be too difficult or dangerous, and Filigree is growing up. Overall, I think it's a good thing," Katye replied with a smile once the little fairy was gone.
"That's not my issue, and you know it. While you did not orchestrate the plan, or give Filigree the idea, you're obviously pushing her. You only started training her seriously a few months ago, and yet, she can break a Disciple-level encryption."
Katye chuckled and asked with an amused grin, "How old do you think Filigree is?"
I frowned, realizing her point; I was thinking of Filigree like a human child. Even Naomi, with half-Ktarian genetics, looked to be six or seven, but in truth, she was a little over two years old.
"How old is she?" I sighed.
"Well over three hundred," Katye chuckled, knowing that I understood. "I know that she reminds you of Madi and Hope, but she is older than all of us. She isn't ready to join any type of fight by a long shot, but she is a part of this group. I'm not training her to fight any time soon, but there is still plenty that she can contribute."
"You're right, as usual." I grumbled with a smile.
She smiled and closed the distance between us, running a hand up my arm before cupping my cheek, then teased, "Say that again."
"You're right," I chuckled.
Katye chuckled as well before she kissed me. We walked onto the bridge together and found that we were already moving at warp speed.
"There are at least fifteen ion storms throughout the region; six of which are on our direct flight path," L'Naan explained.
"We'll need to drop out of warp whenever we get close to one," I said.
"I already have an alert set if we come within a hundred thousand kilometers. I know that you can't reach warp speed," Echo taunted.
"You want to compare speeds?" I mocked since Echo could not break the sound barrier, which I could when using my Dusa form.
Echo huffed, but did not argue. I sat down at the tactical station, Katye at operations, and relaxed while I waited for something to do. It did not take long, as Voyager had already been flying in the closest path without the storms to rescue the away team. As soon as we heard the chime, Echo dropped out of warp, and I teleported myself outside the ship with my exo-suit on.
I did not waste any time before changing into my Dragon form, and then conjuring my Chaos Storm to blanket the Fae Dragon. In the distance, I could sense a mass of chaotic mana which made me smile at the 'tasty' meal ahead. I grabbed onto the ship carefully, making sure that my talons did not dig into the hull, and let it carry me towards the ion storm.
Powerful electric currents washed over my storm clouds, but I stripped away the violent mana with ease, though it did leave a tingle throughout my body. After I consumed the ion storm, I dismissed my storm clouds and teleported myself back into the ship after shifting back into my normal appearance. Thankfully, none of the other ion storms that we crossed were stronger than the first, so we made it to the planetoid where the Delta Flyer had crashed into with no damage to the Fae Dragon. Echo and L'Naan put on their exo-suits and joined me outside the ship, so that we could excavate the shuttlecraft. With my powers over the Earth element and Echo's 'eye', we made quick work of uncovering the Delta Flyer, and we teleported ourselves inside, once we were close enough.
"Whoa!" Tom exclaimed as the two of us appeared on the bridge of the Delta Flyer.
Out of instinct, Tuvok drew a phaser, but he lowered the weapon quickly as he recognized us. Samatha was laying in the back, propped up on some pillows and blankets, clutching her side with a painful expression. I did not hesitate and hurried to her side, kneeling down and placing a hand on her stomach to start healing her.
"Thank you, Captain," Samatha said weakly.
"Actually, it's your daughter that you should be thanking. She and Filigree came up with the plan on how to get the Fae Dragon here quicker than Voyager," I replied with a light smile.
"Naomi did?" she could not help but ask with surprise.
"Yep, and their report even impressed Captain Janeway. She approved their mission, and my ship flew out right away. We're here to help with repairs and get you guys unburied. There, all good, but you should rest for a while; the spell can be draining on the patient's stamina, but nothing that a good night's sleep can't fix," I explained.
"I should help with the repairs. I haven't done much since I've been injured," Samatha argued, sitting up properly.
"Exactly why you should rest up, as the Captain directed," Tuvok chimed in with his usual dry logic.
"Yes, Commander, Captain. I didn't mean to..." she agreed then started to apologize, but I stopped her.
"Samantha, you're fine and not in trouble. Filigree is just waiting to tell her friend that you are okay," I said with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Captain Cox," she replied, before lowering herself back down on her makeshift bed.
I stood up and conjured up my Wind Domain to block the sound of our conversation while the five of us discussed repairs. There were several hull factures from the impact that I took on to handle. L'Naan and Tom got started on the propulsion system while Tuvok looked into a glitch in the shield matrix, and Echo expanded and reinforced the tunnel that led back to the surface, which I helped with once I finished fusing the tiny cracks.
By the time that Voyager reached us, the Delta Flyer was able to drag its way out of the hole and fly into the Shuttle Bay under its own power. There were several happy reunions the next day, and then, we returned to our normal course, towards the Alpha Quadrant.
A/N: I should be back a normal release schedule, but the rest of the month could have some issues as I don't have a reliable computer to write on.
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