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 Post subject: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-17 12:29am 

Author's Note: Hey everyone this is my attempt to write a serial based on Star Trek. The stories are short but they'll be generated with the idea of the series on TV: short missions where things may or may not work out. We'll be following the crew of the USS Hyperion, an Akula-Class frigate in the late 24th Century. Hope you enjoy this little teaser of her first mission: Mechanoid

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---

Between the stars lies darkness and void. Stray ions, long floating for millions upon billions of years criss-crossing the void, rarely if ever colliding with any other atoms. Occasionally crossing this dark void are starships, warping the very fabric of space and time to make the voyage that would take years even for short trips and making them in mere days or hours. Every so often, junk in the form of scrap metal, refuse and organic waste are ejected into the void, left to drift for eternity. When pirates or warships attack, damage sends even more drifting into this void. Most of it remains warped and twisted and useless, but every so often, something monumental is found among the wreckage.

The silence of this interstellar void is never broken, though sounds are conveyed within the suits of the strange creatures crawling over the wreckage of one of these ancient derelicts. The creatures had two eyes, a nose, a mouth, a single head, two arms, two hands with four fingers and an opposable thumb. They had no outstanding facial features such as boney ridges or pointy ears. They called themselves humans, and they were one of the most advanced organic species flittering about. And they were about to make a discovery that would completely change their entire evolutionary track.

One of the humans, clad in a suit to protect his fragile body from the rigors of the interstellar void, was operating alone rather than in groups as the others were. Boots with graviton generators allowed him to walk on the metal plates of the ship whose inhabitants had long since ceased their biological functions. They were similar to the humans roaming through the remains of their vessel, though they possessed three arms rather than two, each hand having three fingers and two opposable thumbs. They were also half again as tall as the human, leaving the human feeling dwarfed by the corridor. His white space suit had a mostly clear transparent aluminum alloy permitting him to see as he walked down the brightly painted yellow corridor.

As he neared a set of doors, he took a small device and folded it open, letting it scan the area on the other side. When nothing of interest registered, the human male placed a device on the doors, causing their seal to part. With assistance from a pry-bar, the human opened the door and stepped inside. Like all rooms it dwarfed the human and made him feel insignificant. Setting a small device down on the deck, it began to flash briefly every few seconds, the light lost as it tried to pierce the darkness of the enormous room. Tapping a triangular insignia on his chest, the human finally spoke, "Lieutenant Preston to Aristocracies. Moving to room one four three."

His sonic emissions were converted via an on board digital construct into an electromagnetic signal, broadcast across the empty void, and intercepted by an operating vessel floating nearby, the Aristocracies. A large metallic saucer with a rectangular end, it sported two flattened cylinders mounted on pylons below the main portion of the vessel. Aboard the vessel, men and women of a myriad of species move and carry out functions, with a female human responding to the male aboard the derelict vessel, "We copy, Lieutenant Preston, carry on."

With permission established, the human male began to explore. As his lights tried to pierce the darkness, they settled upon a cobalt blue orb settled on the floor. The object had never been encountered before on the strange derelict vessel, and the human's curiosity caused him to approach. With his scanning device in his hand, he began to examine the strange object. Within, facets caused it to refract the light and make it appear to glow inside, yet no energy readings were evident. Picking the orb up, he examined it with his eyes. The strange blue orb continued to refract light, a secret aboard a vessel of mysteries.

As the human continued his examination, a device further within the vessel became active. Shaped similar to a spider from the human's homeworld, it came to life and began to crawl towards the blue orb and the human examining it. Without warning, the creature launched itself towards the human, catching him by surprise. Before he could utter any sound other than a cry of surprise, the creature drove a rod through the human's suit and into his neck, severing his vertebrae and leaving him helpless.

---

"Lieutenant Preston, this is Aristocracies, come in. Lieutenant Preston, this is Aristocracies, come in please," the human female from before spoke into her microphone. Her long black hair was tied back into a simple bun, her uniform mostly black except for grey shoulder pads covering all but a yellow collar denoting her rank as a lieutenant with two full brass pips. She looked up and spoke, "Commander? We have a failure to report in. Lieutenant Preston in room one four three."

A humanoid creature with blue skin, possessing a ridge separating one half of his face from the other approached. Unlike the human female, he possessed a red collar and three solid pips. "Do we have a team nearby to investigate?" he asked as he came to look at the wireframe diagram of the derelict.

Tapping a few commands, the lieutenant answered, "We have team forty three two decks down. It'll take them fifteen minutes to get to Lieutenant Preston's location."

"Why was he alone in the first place?" the commander asked, looking at the display intently, "And fifteen minutes might not be fast enough. Prepare a team to beam in to investigate."

"Aye sir. Extraction team sixteen prepare for site to site transport. The log indicates Ensign Gomez came down with a stomach virus and was unable to report to her shift," the lieutenant said, before tapping a new series of commands into her terminal, "Transporter room two reports the team is beaming aboard now. Patching in audio."

On the speakers, a male voice spoke, "Arriving in room one four three. There are lights... it looks like the lieutenant. But he's just standing there. Jacob, watch the door. Samantha, with me." Silence for several long moments was finally punctuated with, "Nearing the lieutenant... Lieutenant Preston? Are you... Oh my god!"

A second voice, this one female, came over the speakers, "Aristocracies! Emergency beam out! Beam us directly to sickbay!"

Tapping a flurry of commands, the lieutenant spoke, "Transporter room two, beam the team directly to sickbay. Emergency."

---

In the sickbay of the Aristocracies came a flurry of activity as the four forms materialized. Two materialized holding a third, the limp form of Lieutenant Preston. The medical team immediately rushed forward to help the limp form onto a bed. A doctor with a blue collar and two full and one hollow rank insignia stepped forward, "Get that suit off him," as her scanner went to work.

Preston's clear transparent aluminum helmet was covered in crimson blood, his face frozen in pain. As the suit came free, the medical team immediately backed away as the sight of the lieutenant's body revealed extensive cybernetics laced throughout his body. The doctor scanning his body stared at the readings, "What in the name of the creator..."

---

"Captain Reynolds?" a man in a similar yellow uniform to the female spoke up, "We've lost contact with sickbay."

Reynolds stood up from his command chair and turned. He wore a red-collared uniform with four solid brass pips. His short cropped hair was beginning to turn grey, but his eyes still retained the sharp look of an experienced commander. "How the hell do we lose contact with security?"

The security chief shook his head, "I don't know, sir. Shall I send a security team?"

Heading for the turbolift, Reynolds didn't stop, "Yes. And erect force fields. Evacuate the surrounding areas."

A quick turbolift ride deposited him on the deck not far from sickbay. A shimmering force field was erected around the door of sickbay, with three men in armor guarding the door. Over their standard yellow-collared uniforms they wore heavy armor and carried rifles, with a look of intensity. "Sir," the lead officer said as the captain approached, "I wish I had answers for you as to what happened, but..."

Reynolds hurried to the door and looked inside. What he saw caused him to stagger back, "What have we uncovered here?"

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-19 05:24pm 

Interesting so far, although I don't recognize the alien thing they uncovered. Is this an original creation or a crossover with something else?

Since you already established (in the subject, no less) that this is set in Star Trek, I found the super-descriptive prose at the beginning somewhat unnecessary. Even casual readers will know what a human is, or that Federation starships are generally shaped like saucers with a cylinder and two pylons. Having said that, I understand that this is a prologue/teaser and that a little bit of extra description helps, so as long as you don't go overboard on prose in future installments you should be fine.

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-20 09:19am 

It was meant to appear like an alien observer pondering the humans. There will be more of it later but more obvious from the eyes of the alien presence. And to answer your question, yes, it's an original creation.

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-20 10:02am 

A dusty orange world hung in space, orbiting a distant red star entering the last stages of its life. A small shuttle, boxy in design with two stubby engines hanging underneath. Aboard, a human male in a red uniform tapped a few controls to cause the shuttle to drift slightly to port while the other man watched on, wearing a similar uniform. He was standing, watching with his hands clasped behind his back. Spots started on his forehead and framed his face, descending down to disappear under his collar. His hair was jet black and his eyes had an intensity to them but he gave off an aura of calm.

As the pod drifted past a partially disassembled vessel similar to the Aristocracies, her engines missing and half of her superstructure gone, leaving the framework visible. The young man at the controls spoke up, "Gotta keep on your toes around here, sir. With so many hulks around and ships moving between them, it can get dicey around here."

The standing captain nodded, "I know. Makes me somewhat concerned to find out my first command is somewhere out here in this mess."

The pilot chuckled, "Don't worry, sir. If a ship isn't hauled off to the breakers, then it's just as good as the day she was left here. Just fire up the engines, pump in some fresh air, some clean carpet... and a complete overhaul and refit. Sometimes it's easier just to build them from scratch. Ah... just as we come around this old Galaxy we'll spot the Hyperion."

Without comment, the standing alien watched as the pilot brought them around the large battleship to reveal a smaller vessel. Consisting of a round saucer, it possessed one engine slung underneath and one higher and further behind. Mounted on the pylon leading to the underside engine was a boxy structure for firing torpedoes. Around the edges of the saucer was a raised black strip, and in proud black lettering against her light grey hull read U.S.S. Hyperion and in smaller letters read NCC-7224.

"She's a sight, isn't she sir?" the pilot asked.

"From the registry alone she's got to be over a century old. Hope they built things to last back then," muttered the captain.

"Don't worry sir, I'm sure she'll be just as sturdy as anything coming from Mars over the last few years." Tapping a command, the pilot spoke again, "Hyperion docking control, this is shuttle two five delta on approach vector bravo with Captain Benell aboard."

The response was almost immediate, "Shuttle two five delta this is docking control Hyperion. Proceed on course to shuttle bay two. Welcoming party for Captain Benell will be standing by."

"Confirmed, Hyperion. Shuttle two five delta out." With a few deft commands, the shuttle began its final approach. Lights on the rear of the Hyperion came to life and began to guide the shuttle in. For the last few meters, the shuttle was buffeted as a tractor beam took the shuttle and guided it into the hangar.

As the shuttle powered down, Captain Benell stepped clear of the shuttle to find several officers and crew standing at attention. A human female in a red uniform stepped forward and came to attention as Captain Benell came to attention as well, "Permission to come aboard, Commander?"

"Granted, Captain," the human woman said, offering her hand, "Commander Jessica Noland. With your permission, Captain, I'll let you take command of the Hyperion." She had long crimson hair that, if left to fall naturally, would easily reach her shoulders. She kept it tied back in a simple tail, which made her lightly tanned face appear slightly paler than it should. Her emerald green eyes focused on the Captain, her eyes inquisitive but also hinting at weariness from working long hours with little sleep.

Shaking Commander Noland's hand, Captain Benell stepped over to stand in front of the assembled crew, then read from a data pad, "By authorization of Starfleet Command on Stardate 53184.2, by order of Admiral Toddman, I hereby take command of the refurbished vessel Hyperion and her crew. That is all." Putting away the data pad, he let Commander Noland approach, "Yes, Commander?"

Commander Noland clasped her hands behind her back, "Sir. Just wanted to ask if you'd like a tour of the ship. We're still not 100% but we're almost ready for departure."

Benell nodded, "Very well. I'm interested in meeting with the department heads and this will bring me up to speed faster. Lead the way, Commander."

---

The doors to main engineering slid open as Noland joked, "One definite advantage of a ship this old is they never bothered to upgrade the showers to sonic. They're all still using water."

Benell let a small smile come to his face, "Must be nice when the stress gets to you," he said, following the Commander into engineering.

The central warp core was pulsing with life as it fed deuterium kept near absolute zero into the reaction chamber, where it encountered anti-deuterium and became pure energy, mostly in the form of heat. This heat was transferred into plasma coolant, which was then transferred throughout the ship to the outlying generators that powered localized systems. During warp, the core's output would be channeled mostly to the warp coils, where the electromagnetic distortions would warp space and time.

The sound of clanging metal alerted them to the work going on overhead. A small human woman who looked more suited to a high school rather than a starship was poking her head out of an access tunnel with dirt covering her forehead, "I thought I told you I wanted this thing checked BEFORE we installed that new EPS conduit! Yes I know I also told you to get the computer junction in section forty six working but I expected you to do both!"

Commander Noland called out, "Moira? Can you spare a moment?"

Without looking, the small engineer called out, "Sorry Commander, but unless it's that Captain you were telling me to get ready for, I'm busy trying to fix this damned..."

"Moira... it is the Captain."

A loud clang was immediately followed by the small woman clamoring out of the tunnel and scrambling down the ladder to come to attention before Noland and Benell, "Terribly sorry, sir. I mean, sirs. Lieutenant Moira Simpson, sir."

Captain Benell took a moment to look the small human woman over. Her blonde hair was streaked with dirt and grease, and like Commander Noland, her brown eyes weary from working too hard. She indeed was small, standing at five foot five, the bare minimum to get into Starfleet. It was surprising to see someone so small, but not completely uncommon.

"Relax, Lieutenant. Captain Losk Benell, your new Captain," he offered his hand, which the diminutive woman shook, "A pleasure."

Moira fidgeted a bit, "If you don't mind sir, I've got a list stretching from here to the bridge needing to be sorted out before we get underway. With your permission, I'll get back to work."

"Very well Lieutenant. I'd like to hold a staff meeting at 1200 tomorrow. Dismissed."

As Moira set back to work, Jessica guided Captain Benell out of engineering to the turbolift, giving the simple instruction, "Sickbay."

As the turbolift set into motion, Losk commented, "Seems our engineering officer is a busy woman."

"She's been busy for a few weeks now, as have I," Jessica commented, "When we got out here, there wasn't a single battery working. I'd say she's been a miracle worker."

"I never said you haven't accomplished great things here, Commander. I think you both are working too hard and should spend a few hours in bed."

Jessica sighed, "You're starting to sound like Dr. Mallard. He's threatened to chase after us with sedatives if we don't get more sleep."

"Sounds like a doctor I met once on Earth," the turbolift doors opened and they stepped out into the corridor across from sickbay. The doors slid open to reveal an empty sickbay. Losk walked around, looking at the idle equipment, "Computer, locate Doctor Mallard."

"Don't bother don't bother," said an old human male as he came out from behind a closed door, "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Doctor Francis Mallard," Jessica indicated Captain Benell, "This is Captain Losk Benell, our new CO."

"A pleasure, Doctor. Would you happen to be related to Rear Admiral Mallard?" Losk asked, offering his hand to the doctor to shake.

Rather than shake the Captain's hand, he seemed to peer at the Captain intently, "A Trill, that much I can tell, though your file never said you were joined with a symbiote. Not many Trill get respect enough without a symbiote. You must have missed an opportunity when you were younger, Captain."

"Perhaps, perhaps not, Doctor. Either way, that doesn't diminish the fact that we're here now. Are you prepared to get underway?" Benell asked him, surveying the elderly man.

"Yes yes, everything's stowed and we're ready to depart. Oh and yes, Admiral Mallard is my cousin on my mother's side. Gives me hell about it since he's younger. Uptight bastard," muttered Dr. Mallard as he disappeared back into the other room.

Silently, Captain Benell and Commander Noland stepped into the corridor and into the turbolift, Losk being the first to break the silence, "Bridge," he commanded, and the turbolift set into motion.

"Captain I'm terribly sorry about Dr. Mallard's behavior. I'll personally see to it that," Jessica tried to say, but fell silent as Losk waved her concerns away.

"Don't worry about it, Commander. I read his file before arriving. Quite an interesting man. He should be an admiral himself sitting at Starfleet medical, but he refuses to go anywhere but a starship. He's eccentric and stubborn, which is how I like my medical officers. I don't want a doctor bending over backwards to make me happy when something's a clear threat to the health of my ship," he fell silent as the turbolift doors opened to reveal the bridge.

Unlike most ships, the computers on the bridge didn't have the LCARs displays so common on most other ships. She still possessed the older controls from when she'd been commissioned, which was a rather odd sight at first. However, because the bridge had never been refit, sitting proudly in the center was a lone chair, reserved strictly for the officer on duty.

"Captain on the deck!" snapped a young human with the rank pips of a Lieutenant Junior Grade, and everyone on the bridge stood and snapped to attention.

"At ease," Losk said, walking in and taking note of everyone present. All eyes were on him as the crew took in their new CO. Walking to the command chair, he rested his hand on the back of it, "I'm Captain Losk Benell, your new Captain. Commander Noland? Would you care to carry out the introductions?"

"Certainly, sir." Walking to the forward consoles, she gestured to a young, blonde haired man who looked a little nervous but didn't look away from the Captain, "This is helmsman Lieutenant Bradley Richards," and a gesture to the Vulcan woman who appeared unflappable and calm, "And this is weapons officer Lieutenant T'Nol."

At the mention of their names, helmsman Bradley nodded his head, "A pleasure, Captain, sir," while Lt. T'Nol bowed her head, "Greetings, Captain."

Continuing around the bridge, she introduced a blue-skinned Bolian as Lieutenant Junior Grade Ador, their science officer, who greeted the Captain with, "Wonderful to meet you, sir." At the rear of the bridge, directly behind the Captain was communications officer Ensign Lee Xiang, a black-haired young man with distinctive Asian features, who appeared to fidget a little out of nervousness, "Uh, a pleasure, Captain."

With the introductions out of the way, Captain Benell nodded, "A pleasure, all. We'll be getting underway the day after tomorrow, so please make sure to," he stopped as an alert on Ensign Xiang's terminal.

Tapping several commands into his terminal, he announced, "Priority One message from Starfleet, Captain."

"I'll take it in my ready room," Losk said, heading for the door to the ready room. Inside, it was sparse and felt a little empty. He would correct that soon enough. "Computer, connect with the priority one message, authorization two two six echo lima."

The screen changed from the United Federation of Planets logo, a circular starfield flanked by two olive branches, to the aged face of Admiral Toddman, "Captain Benell."

"Admiral Toddman," Losk said, sitting down, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Captain, I know you're still getting ready but we have a situation. Yesterday at 14:24 hours the USS Aristocracies reported a strange entity on board. At 14:33 hours they reported it had escaped containment and was spreading. And at 14:59 we lost all contact with the Aristocracies. Normally I'd send a ship from starbase 301, but 4th fleet just shipped out and two of her patrol ships are in for an overhaul. If there was anyone else in range I'd send them and let you get things settled in, but we don't have the time. I'm ordering you to sector 63 to find out what happened to the Aristocracies and contain whatever it is they found."

"Understood sir. We'll get underway as soon as we can. Benell out."

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-26 11:08am 

I'm running behind on writing the next segment until my schedule clears up a little. Expect the next segment early next week.

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-26 11:57am 

Interesting choice of a ship for the title characters. What made you pick one of the TOS-era kitbashes?

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-10-26 09:41pm 

Mostly because I like ships that scream "We are so fucked we're rooting around in the rubbish bin". Plus, there's something special about TOS era ships. They just feel... more utilitarian. They're on a ship that was revived because Starfleet is in desperate need of ships (this isn't long after the Dominion War) and they just have one lying around, so... "Congratulations Captain. You're getting a ship that's older than I am!"

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-11-02 07:18am 

nice story, nice that someone's trying their own spin off.


i disagree, you need a bit of artistic flair to help draw in the reader. i liked it.


harry kim's twin brother?

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-11-02 09:33pm 

I'm not saying that prose is bad. It's just that writing prose is like walking on a tight-rope. If you go too far in either direction (either under- or over-descriptive) you may lose the reader's attention.

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-11-03 03:22am 

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay guys! Life decided to get interesting and what with trying to get certified over the weekend, it's been rather hectic. I'm glad to know someone's reading and enjoying my writing. I decided this portion would introduce the main antagonist of this episode, which was hinted at in the beginning.

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Captain Benell stood behind his desk in his ready room, looking over the faces of his assembled officers. Only Ensign Xiang was not in the room, on watch on the bridge. Unlike a larger ship such as a Galaxy Class, where there were numerous officers to take the bridge during all shifts, the Hyperion only had a handful of officers available. Ensign Xiang would get an update later.

"Admiral Toddman has sent word that we're needed to respond to a missing vessel in Sector 63. He regrets not having any other ships available, but it seems we're the only ones available to respond. Lieutenant Simpson? How soon can we get underway if we make it a priority?"

"At the rate we're going, I'll have us able to head out in about six hours at warp five. I'll have us up to warp eight by this time tomorrow," the diminutive woman said, looking at a datapad in her hand.

"Excellent. Commander Noland? Have all personnel reported for duty yet?" Losk said, turning his attention to his Exec. Officer.

"A shuttle from Starbase 102 was delayed due to a warp coil imbalance, so we're still shy a few crewman, but I think we can compensate. Engineering might be a little short-staffed until we can pick them up," Jessica said, without looking at the pad she held in her hand.

"Unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Moira? Think you can get by, shorthanded?" Losk asked, looking at the short engineer.

"All I had when I got here was myself, two junior officers and a drunk Andorian. I'll make it," Moira said, managing to say it with a straight face.

"Hah! Sounds like my first Captain. Kept a bottle or two in the counselor's chair, because he couldn't stand her nagging. You ask me, he did better without one than with," Dr. Mallard said.

Holding up his hand, Benell said, "Thank you, Francis. If there are no further questions or comments, I'll be on the bridge." Standing up and straightening his uniform, Losk stepped away from the table and onto the bridge. There, Ensign Xiang sat in the command chair, instantly standing up when the Captain stepped onto the bridge, "I have the conn, ensign."

"Aye sir, you have the conn," Xiang said, "ETA to Aristocracies's last known position is 15 minutes."



The floating hulk of the once derelict vessel once more hummed with life. Roaming its once empty corridors was an army of semi-organic creatures, their mechanical components glistening as the lights automatically came on, though the army of drones required no light. Most were conducting repairs, though some were herding the captured crew from the Aristocracies. Each person had a spider wrapped around their necks, with thin slivers of wire laced under their skin. Herded by the controlling spiders, they were moved to an area of the ship with no vital systems.

On the bridge of the Aristocracies, an alarm began to sound. With no crew manning their stations, the alarm was unheaded as the Hyperion dropped from warp and began her approach.

"Showing two vessels bearing zero one one mark one zero six, 15 million kilometers," helmsman Bradley reported.

"Slow to one quarter impulse, begin scanning both vessels," Commander Noland ordered from the engineering terminal. It had been reconfigured to give her an overview of the ship.

"Go to yellow alert and raise shields," Captain Benell ordered, entering commands into his command chair.

"We'll be in weapons range of the Aristocracies in 20 seconds," Lieutenant T'Nol called.

Within the floating derelict, one of the mechanical spiders stopped to peer into the sky, focusing glowing red sensors at a patch of the stars that was changing. It spotted the distant Hyperion and sent a signal into the hull of the ship. Deep inside, a new creature stirred, awakened by the tending of the miniature army. A sphere, corroded in sections but otherwise perfectly spherical save for a glowing blue eye that shifted as small servos inside adjusted. The eye began moving, floating above the deck towards the controls of the bridge.

"I'm registering 463 lifeforms on the derelict, but none on the Aristocracies. I'm also picking up over a thousand energy signatures moving about, but I'm having a hard time getting exact numbers, Captain," reported Ador, examining the figures coming in from the sensor suite located in a node below the saucer at the ship's bow.

"Any indication of what those energy signatures are up to?" Captain Benell asked, never taking his eyes off the screen.

"None yet, sir. Working on it," reported Ador.

The eye moved closer to the controls, where a spider moved and began manipulating controls under the direction of the eye.

"Sir," reported Xiang, "We are receiving a hail from the derelict."

Captain Benell narrowed his eyes, suddenly suspicious of the change. He glanced at Commander Noland, who was just as surprised and could only offer a shrug of her shoulders. "On screen," Benell ordered as he stood to address whoever was contacting them.

The screen came to life, revealing the floating eye that began to focus on Captain Benell. "Vessel of unknown construct," the eye said in a harsh, grating metallic vessel that clipped its words at the end, "State your business in Natolli space."

"I'm Captain Losk Benell of the Federation starship Hyperion. We come in peace."

The eye focused on them closely, as if sizing them up. Then it said, "You are a threat to the Existence. Power down your defenses and prepare to become one with the Existence."

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-11-21 01:19pm 

No I haven't forgotten the story, but I've had a dull ache in my head for the past few days making my muse curl up in the fetal position and cry. I'll try to hammer out the conclusion by Wednesday so I can go see the folks for Thanksgiving and not feel as guilty. Hopefully. In the meantime, here is some pie.

 Post subject: Re: Star Trek Hyperion: Mechanoid

Posted: 2011-11-23 01:34am 

Author's note: I'm very sorry for the delay. Life sucks and then you die, and right now life is making sure to remind me of that horrible, horrible fact.

---

---

Captain Benell adjusted his uniform and said, "In case I didn't make myself clear, I said we come in peace. We are only looking to defend ourselves."

The mechanical eye focused on Captain Benell and spoke, "You are a threat to the Existence," and severed the communication.

"Captain, they're powering up their weapons," Lt. Ador said, watching the increased energy readings coming from the former derelict.

"Red alert. Have they raised shields?" Losk asked, eyes focused on the main screen.

"I can't tell sir. Some of the readings indicate they have, but others aren't. I can't make heads or tails of it," Ador said, fingers dancing across the inputs and trying to figure out what's going on.

"T'Nol, fire a low intensity phaser across a derelict section, give us an idea of what they can accomplish," Losk said, turning to look at Commander Noland, "Any idea what happened to the crew of the Aristocracies?"

"If I had to take a guess, sir," Jessica said, looking at the screen, "The strange presence took them somewhere. But since it's still here, either we can't scan them, or it changed them into something we can't detect with our sensors."

As the Captain asked Commander Noland what she thought, Lieutenant T'Nol dialed the yield back on the phasers and fired a brief burst. The phase-shifted energy, fired at high-energy frequencies at very short wavelengths, crossed the distance between the two vessels... and promptly vanished, leaving no visible impact on the former derelict ship.

"Captain, phasers are reading no effect on the enemy vessel," T'Nol reported, which was confirmed by Ador a few moments later.

"I think I understand what's going on, Captain," Ador said, punching in information and regarding the data that was presented, "I was detecting a slight subspace disturbance from the derelict when we came into the system, but it kept fluctuating. I think that the ship may be here in our universe, but something is making it flux in and out of subspace."

"So we're not looking at everything that's over there?" asked Commander Noland.

"Correct, Commander. We might be able to pull it into our universe, but we'd need to create a subspace distortion to do so. We might can pull it off if we detonate the warp core out of the Aristocracies, but I have no idea how large this thing is or if we'd be able to get it all," Aton said, regarding the information coming from the computer.

Pressing a command on his command chair, he called Moira down in engineering, "Moira, I have a special project for you."

---

---

"I don't think this was on the recruitment pamplet, ma'am," called one of the engineers in the group of three rigging charges to the warp core of the Aristocracies.

Moira was pressing commands into the detonator while she spoke, "Yeah well, no one expects to be paid to rip apart the fabric of space and time to stop a monster, now do they?"

Finishing, they retreated back to the beam-out point, with Moira tapping her commbadge, "Moira to Hyperion, charges are set."

---

---

The army of mechanical spiders moved in what seemed to be aimless wandering, but in reality they were working to try and complete vital repairs. The mechanical eye was aware of everything, and knew that soon, the alien vessel would be unable to escape. Suddenly, something happened, and for the first time, the mechanical eye had to stop and figure out what had happened.

---

---

"Detonating now," Moira called from the engineering console, working beside Commander Noland. The explosion barely registered at first, but the sudden flare revealed an open wound in subspace. The entire ship began to shake as the alien ship was ripped violently into the universe.

When the rumbling was done, Captain Benell called, "Report!"

"All systems stable," Noland reported, checking her readings, "No casualties."

"Captain... look!"

Looking at the view screen, the derelict was still there, but it was lanced by a massive pillar. The pillar stretched so far away that it was impossible to gauge the distance. In all directions, there was a giant spherical enclosure around the ship.

"I'm reading an unknown metal sphere surrounding us, sir," Aton called from his station, "Diameter of approximately 7,000 kilometers. There's some energy reading in the very center, and we're off-center by almost 200 kilometers."

"We're being hailed by the.. thing we spoke to earlier, sir," reported Ensign Xiang.

"On screen," Losk ordered.

The metal eye was back, this time very, very upset, as indicated by the ring of red glowing around its eye. "YOU HAVE ENDANGERED THE EXISTANCE!"

"We are defending ourselves," Losk said, then to T'Nol, "Prepare a spread of torpedoes, aim for the top of that spire."

"The Existence will not be terminated! We have existed before you, we will exist after you!"

"We have no problem with the Existence existing! All we want are our people back and to end this peacefully. If you'll return our people, we'll let you continue to exist and go on about our way," Benell said, trying to remain calm.

The mechanical eye considered them. It had never encountered this situation before. "The Existence must defend itself," it said, as if telling itself that more than anyone else.

"We don't mind if you exist, and we won't attack. But we want our people back," Benell calmly explained.

"No... the Existence will continue!" And suddenly, the ship shook.

"They're firing weapons sir," T'Nol calmly explained.

"Evasive maneuvers, fire as you bear," Losk said, holding onto the arms of his chair.

The ship began firing, aiming for the top of the spire. Mechanical spiders scampered around the derelict, each firing small energy weapons built into their hulls. Each was weak, but concentrated en masse, they were wearing away at the Hyperion's shields. Torpedoes crossed the darkness and impacted the spire, leaving gaping wounds.

One shot pierced part of the derelict's hull, exposing it to space and the sensors of the Hyperion. While the room itself was empty of everything but spiders, it allowed the Hyperion to detect the crew of the Aristocracies.

"Captain, I've located the crew," Aton reported.

"Transporter room beam the survivors to cargo bay two when you get a lock," Noland called from her station.

"Shield status?" Losk asked.

"Shields down to 74% and holding, sir," Noland reported, "But we're having an effect on that eyeball that keeps calling."

The ship shook violently, "What just happened?" Losk demanded.

"We destroyed the metal ball, sir... but the entire sphere is shifting and... breaking up. Uh... captain? The energy field in the center is creating a gravitational attraction and pulling in the pieces."

"Mr. Richards, get us out of here!" Losk ordered.

"Working on it, Captain!" the young man called, hands frantically entering commands.

The Hyperion spun and her engines flared as she began moving towards some of the shifting metal plates. As a gap formed, the Hyperion flew, cutting it tight enough that the shields flared against the brush. Consoles sparked as the shields gave, filling the bridge with acrid smoke, before the entire ship lurched sickeningly.

---

---

"Captain's Log, stardate 54207.3. After almost a week of limping home with a broken nacelle, we've finally arrived at Starbase 301 for repairs. Admiral Toddman wasn't happy the strange vessel was destroyed, but has still put in for a commendation. Still, you can't win them all I suppose."

"I'm telling you, a star burning that bright with that much mass is impossible! We're only looking at 1% of its total mass, with the rest of it in subspace," Aton said, explaining the situation.

"That's fascinating, but what I want to know is why that thing fired on us," Richards said, sipping coffee as they convened around the conference table. They were finishing up reports and had all sort of gravitated here for quiet, only to find each other.

"Perhaps the isolation damaged its ability to rationalize problems," T'Nol said, without looking up from her pads, "It was a 'rogue' AI as you humans call them."

"Maybe. How long do you think it was... Attention on Deck!" he called as Commander Noland and Captain Benell entered.

"Don't mind me. Just thought I'd stop in and congratulate everyone on a job well done," Losk said, leaning on the back of his chair, "Starfleet can't wait to study what we've found. Normally we'd be debriefed about the affair, but that has to wait. We've already gotten orders cut, and we're needed elsewhere."

"Already, sir?" asked Xiang, a little nervous, "Is it serious?"

"Apparently so," Losk said, "Because we're leaving port just as soon as our nacelle is fixed, which has been given top priority."

"I bet Moira's happy. A fresh crew to nag to death," Richards joked.

"She most certainly is," Jessica said, "But that means we'll probably be out of here in two days. Get your stuff in order and make sure you're ready."

A chorus of "Aye, ma'ams" came from around the table, and everyone set to work.

To be continued in... Star Trek Hyperion: Spy Master