Caught up in the aftermath of a suicide attempt by a being far beyond the mortal ken, a man from a different Earth is transported to a universe not his own. With a form not his own, she now tries to stop a war she hopes is not destined to come. While juggling the abilities, responsibilities, and consequences of her own alien biology.
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Cerulean Stars: An Asari Security Officer in Commander Sisko's Court
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Chapter 1
- Location
- Oblivion
Caught up in the aftermath of a suicide attempt by a being far beyond the mortal ken, a man from a different Earth is transported to a universe not his own. With a form not his own, she now tries to stop a war she hopes is not destined to come. While juggling the abilities, responsibilities, and consequences of her own alien biology.
Shock and a feeling of almost airy disconnect settled over him as he stood in the midst of an alien looking forest watching a young Gerrit Graham mutter almost unintelligibly to himself.
"I was sure that was going to work, nobody bothers with the sexagen dimensional axis for the very reason that it's just that unstable."
"What about?" He continued, snapping his fingers as the watchers entire world suddenly lurched and got bigger.
"Almost that time, I could all but feel the nexus point about to give." He snapped again, and this time the watcher's vision blurred and lost focus as an earthen rumble knocked him on his ass.
He rubbed his eyes, trying really hard to ignore the fact that his hands were now blue as he did so. Only for a shivering panic to set in as his vision came back and he saw how a few hundred feet away the planet he had been standing on now seemed to be missing it's other half.
"Damn." Gerrit Graham muttered as he looked up, his eyes focusing somewhere off in the distance. "That was a fast one, must be getting close."
He snapped his fingers a third time, vanishing in a flash of light.
A moment later another identical flash occurred and John de Lancie was standing almost right next to the spot where Gerrit Graham had disappeared. He looked around, an almost disappointed expression on his face as he took in the quickly falling apart world around him.
"What a mess." He tsked, shaking his head as his arm began to come up.
"Wh-what!?" The watcher finally got out in a squeak.
John de Lancie's arm paused as his eyes snapped over, the watchers' utterance seeming to finally have altered the man to his existence.
"Well you shouldn't be here." He muttered, his head tilting slightly in contemplation as the disappointed look returned. "His carelessness is even dragging mortals into this now."
"Pa… Planet…" The watcher stuttered, pointing at the now very falling apart world around me.
"Oh right." He exclaimed, his look turning almost considering. "Well, I suppose this could be my good deed for the century. So shoo, go home little child." He continued, waving the watchers direction as the world twisted for a moment, before he found himself standing in the middle of an odd looking street, in front of even odder looking buildings, as honest to god flying cars flew through the night sky a few hundred feet above his head.
"..."
She tapped her foot impatiently, a motion matched by the little girl standing behind her as she waited for the cog shaped airlock to finish cycling. After a moment, the door gave a very customary hiss of depressing hydraulics, before finally beginning to recede into the wall.
Reshouldering her bag, and checking to make sure she was still being followed. She finally began to walk forward into the station's promenade. Only to make it less than a foot past the door before an alarm started sounding.
"Hold it there lieutenant." The gravelly voice of the station's dimly remembered security chief called out.
Turning to address the man, she was greeted with the recognizable beige uniform of Bajorian security, and the even more recognizable face of the changeling Odo.
"Constable?" She asked, her eyes flicking over his uniform, and taking note of the lack of rank pins. As the crest on her head began to itch slightly in the station's dry air.
He checked something on his pad before walking over.
"Would you care to tell me why the security scanners detected Trellium dust in your bag?" He began, holding out his pad so she could confirm the results.
"Of course it would be that." She thought to herself, holding back an annoyed look as a pair of little arms took that cessation of motion as an opportunity to hug the uniformed leg of her five foot ten form.
"Species necessary nutritional supplement." She offered with a sigh. "It should be in our travel file under unique medical requirements."
"Hmm?" He muttered, tapping a number of inputs into his pad before giving a nod as he read over what she had little doubt was the two's travel file. "Very well, just make sure to keep it away from any of the vulnerable races Lieutenant Raine."
"It'll be secured the moment we get our quarters." She agreed, holding back a wince. One accidental poisoning of a friend had been enough, thank you very much.
"Very well, carry on then." He offered with a brisk nod before turning and walking back to oversee the others disembarking from our transport.
"His face doesn't move right." The eleven year old bravely defending my rear muttered sulkily.
Knowing the truth of that statement, she wasn't entirely able to hide the slight cringe on her face as she turned to look down at her daughter. "I know Saya, but micro-expressions tend to be difficult for shapeshifters, so it's something they need a lot of practice on to get right."
"Then he should practice harder." Saya humphed with the certainty of a near teen that knew she was right.
Raine sighed and looked away, hiding the roll of her eyes she knew would just make Saya dig in harder by digging in her satchel for the padd with the details of her assignment on it. Habitat ring of course, which was a good walk away from the promenade where the Vanoben transport had docked. But given the favors she had to call in to even get the assignment, beggars couldn't really be choosers when it came to transport options.
"Looks like we're in the outer habitat ring." She offered to distract the little girl. "So we should get a good view of the wormhole when it opens.
"They better have blinders." Saya muttered, finally easing her grip on Raine's leg enough that the Lieutenant could at least begin walking again.
Heading to a nearby lift, Raine paused to look back down at the padd she had yet to put away as she brought up a map of the station.
"It's the other way isn't it?" Saya asked, holding in a giggle after seeing her annoyed look.
With a sigh she turned back the way they had just come and, without further word, began walking.
Commander Benjamin Sisko held in a sigh as he dismissed the colorful looking lieutenant. Taking a moment to read over the padd handed to him by her once again, he turned to Kira Nerys, the Bajorian liaison officer standing next to him.
"So what do you think?" He asked, sliding the pad over to her.
"Odo's not going to like it." She offered as she picked it up and began reading.
"I know." He agreed with a nod. "But from everything I've seen so far, Starfleet's reasoning on this isn't wrong."
"He's still not going to like it." She repeated with a shake of her head as the beep of the padd registered the woman going on a deeper search into the information then he had.
"Esper rating?" She asked in confusion looking up from the device to give him a questioning gaze.
"Starfleet's official scale for people with psychic abilities." He returned, hiding the surprise that she had an official rating at all given how rare it was to find people willing to volunteer for the necessary testing to put a definitive number to such things.
"There's a scale?" She wondered, looking back down at the padd.
"Yes." He confirmed with a nod. "Though it's mostly a holdover from Starfleet's earlier days."
"What does it say?" He continued, holding out a hand to prod her into handing the padd the back.
"A two ninety three with an RM quotient of four seventy two." She replied with a bit of uncertainty as she handed the device back.
"Then that would be." He began, wracking his brain for the conversion. "Limited touch telepathy and." He paused, a look of shock he couldn't quite suppress going over his features.
"Oh?" She asked, her tone suddenly reminding him of a shark scenting blood in the water.
"Moderate level telekinesis." He finally replied, giving the woman a somewhat judging stare that he hoped would convey the request not to pressure the young lieutenant about it.
"All right, I won't ask." She acquiesced with a grimace. "I suppose that will be at least one plus on her sheet for Odo though. He's always wanted a telepath that could get into people's heads."
"So how do you want to tell him?" She continued, circling around to the front of his desk in a movement he knew was likely the precursor to her suggesting he be the one to inform the man.
"Because I'll tell you now, even if the undertones will be there no matter what. Out right admitting that Starfleet doesn't trust his ability to tiptoe around any diplomatic security issues that might occur here. Is going to go over about as well as Gul Dukat showing up with an armful of Bateret leaves at the next Gratitude Festival."
Neither of them were quite able to hide the wince that particular mental image caused.
"Which is why I was hoping you would do it." He offered a somewhat impish smile making its way onto his face as he did. "You've known him longer after all. So I'm sure you'd have an easier time than I would have, of convincing him that an officer with Lieutenant Brooks' skills would be a welcome addition to his team."
For a moment it looked like Kira was going to say more, before she lightly shook her head and let out a sigh of acceptance.
"All right." She began as she turned to leave through the large double doors of his office, only to pause after less then a step. "But he'll probably be up here to complain about it a few minutes after."
"I know." He admitted with a sigh, leaning backwards in his chair and clasping his hands together.
Raine tried not to shuffle nervously as she stood in a ready position in front of the security desk, waiting for Security Chief Odo to finish whatever it was he was very likely pretending to be busy with.
She knew the technique of course, and had even had the chance to practice it herself a few times during her short stint as security chief on the Sutherland. But knowing that didn't change the combination of annoyance and unease which settled over her while waiting for the shapeshifter to show any form of recognition to her presence in his office.
He finally set the padd he had been reading down and looked up at her, his eyes roving across her more inhuman features in an almost clinical manner.
"Lieutenant Raine Brooks." He finally began, his finger tapping lightly on his desk as he spoke. "Failed to meet the necessary qualifications for the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps training after an incident during their Khitomer scenario. You instead transferred your coursework to the operations division where you graduated fifth in your class."
"Yes sir." She agreed with a nod, trying hard not to let the still stinging annoyance of being rejected for being too creative with her solution show.
"Served six months as an ensign on the USS Carlsbad." He continued, and she silently ground her teeth knowing what was coming next, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her anger at having it called out. "Before you ended up getting pregnant during your first shore leave on Risa and requested a transfer to a ship more suited to raising a child."
"An unfortunate way to discover birth control implants do not work with my species sir." She returned, his slight smile at the terseness of her response telling her he had noticed her anger nonetheless.
He gave a slight hum of acknowledgement before continuing.
"Served the next eight years on the USS Malinche, before you were promoted to lieutenant junior grade and transferred to the USS Sutherland. Where you spent the next four years as a member of the gamma shift's security team."
"Yes." She agreed with a nod.
"You were finally promoted to lieutenant last year, after an event that I don't have security clearance to know about." He shot her a question look that quickly passed when he realized she wasn't willing to expand on it. "Wiped out a third of your ships crew, forcing you into the interim position of security chief."
"That same event however also drove you to request reassignment to a more stationary posting out of a desire for, and I quote 'a more stable location to raise my daughter'. Which was quickly authorized by Admiral Strickler."
"His son is an ensign on the Sutherland." She offered as a minor olive branch, knowing it wouldn't have been hard for the security chief to dig up that particular connection if he had put his mind to it.
"I see." He murmured, reaching down to pick back up his padd and enter a few commandes into it. "I suppose your assignment here was a win-win for the admiral then."
"Sir?" She asked, not having to feign the confusion that crossed her face at his statement.
"Nothing." He offered with a shake of his head as a slight smile made its way across his face's smooth features.
"Given your experience." He continued as he once more set the padd down, his tone turning somewhat sweet as he did. "I suppose gamma would be a suitable shift to assign you to."
"If you say so sir." She agreed with a nod, trying not to let her annoyance at being regulated to the worst shift possible show. While wondering just who's downhill shit she had gotten herself mucked up in this time.
"I'll expect to see you here and ready for duty in nine hours then." He stated as he swiveled his chair around and waved her off. "Dismissed Lieutenant."
Raine tried not to let her relief show as the doors to the security office swished shut behind her. Because the hardest part of plan 'try to stop a war'' so far, had in fact been getting herself assigned to the station in the first place.
Which left her wondering just how many damn strings Commander Sisko had had to pull to get Lieutenant Dax assigned here with him.
"No focus." She muttered to herself, fighting the urge to pinch her leg. A meditative trick she had unintentionally developed to help keep her mind on track with the biological equivalent of a teenager's impulse control constantly throwing a spanner in her ability to keep focused.
"I have nine hours to finish unpacking and get Saya situated." She continued to herself, turning and beginning to make the trek back to her quarters.
"I'll just need to." She stumbled slightly from the kinetic transfer as someone slammed into her from behind, bouncing off the instinctive low level biotic field that she still hadn't been able to completely stop forming whenever something above a certain mass and velocity looked like it was about to hit.
"What the hell!?" A somewhat nasally voice exclaimed as Raine turned to take in the small Ferengi that had run into her.
"Watch where you're going lady!" The Ferengi continued, rubbing his bald head in very likely not feigned pain. "I could have broken something, you're lucky I don't." He trailed off as he looked up and his eyes took in the very visible and distinctive yellow of my Starfleet security uniform.
"Eh, hehehe." He laughed a bit awkwardly, shooting a somewhat panicked look to a young boy standing a few meters away with a look very clearly advertising that he was sure he was going to get into trouble for this. "Sorry officer. I was just playing with Jake and…"
"It's all right." She interrupted, holding back a smile as she offered the young Ferengi a hand to help him back up to his feet. "I have a daughter of my own around your age, and I know how stifling being locked up all day with nothing but schoolwork to do can get."
She paused, giving the two a somewhat impish look as she took a minute to indulge her often suppressed inner gremlin.
"I also don't start duty for a few more hours. So if either of your parents ask, I'll just say that I didn't see anything." She finished, giving the two a friendly wink.
"Thanks lady." The Ferengi offered with a sharp toothed grin as he turned and began walking, only to pause and make a not so subtle motion to Jake that they should get out of here before she changed my mind when it seemed like the boy was a bit too lost in his own head to hear him.
"Ah, yea, thanks." Jake finally got out, shaking himself slightly as he turned to follow.
With a sigh and shake of her head she turned and continued walking. The boy really needed to learn to be a bit more subtle when it came to checking out women. But she had learned enough about reading body language over the years. To distinguish honest appreciation of her form, from something more likely to end up with a person getting their fingers broken.
A trip on the turbolift had her back at their assigned quarters with only a few minutes of walking. The door opened with a swish at her code to reveal the dreadfully dark interior of the twin bedroom quarters who's settings she had yet to take time to adjust.
She entered the room, only to pause in her step and quirk an eye ridge as the recognizable sound of her daughter's favorite adventure book echoed out from the half closed door of the room she had claimed for herself.
Making sure to keep her steps silent, she crept over to the door and peered in. A light smile playing across her mouth as she took in the small curled up teal form passed out on the bed.
"Couldn't even wait for me to finish reporting in." Raine mused as she activated the control to fully close the door.
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Authors notes: This is a thing that's been rattling around my head for awhile. Don't know how much I will end up being able to do for it. Or how long it will go on. But I hope it will be longer then just this chapter.
Cerulean Stars - Chapter 1
Shock and a feeling of almost airy disconnect settled over him as he stood in the midst of an alien looking forest watching a young Gerrit Graham mutter almost unintelligibly to himself.
"I was sure that was going to work, nobody bothers with the sexagen dimensional axis for the very reason that it's just that unstable."
"What about?" He continued, snapping his fingers as the watchers entire world suddenly lurched and got bigger.
"Almost that time, I could all but feel the nexus point about to give." He snapped again, and this time the watcher's vision blurred and lost focus as an earthen rumble knocked him on his ass.
He rubbed his eyes, trying really hard to ignore the fact that his hands were now blue as he did so. Only for a shivering panic to set in as his vision came back and he saw how a few hundred feet away the planet he had been standing on now seemed to be missing it's other half.
"Damn." Gerrit Graham muttered as he looked up, his eyes focusing somewhere off in the distance. "That was a fast one, must be getting close."
He snapped his fingers a third time, vanishing in a flash of light.
A moment later another identical flash occurred and John de Lancie was standing almost right next to the spot where Gerrit Graham had disappeared. He looked around, an almost disappointed expression on his face as he took in the quickly falling apart world around him.
"What a mess." He tsked, shaking his head as his arm began to come up.
"Wh-what!?" The watcher finally got out in a squeak.
John de Lancie's arm paused as his eyes snapped over, the watchers' utterance seeming to finally have altered the man to his existence.
"Well you shouldn't be here." He muttered, his head tilting slightly in contemplation as the disappointed look returned. "His carelessness is even dragging mortals into this now."
"Pa… Planet…" The watcher stuttered, pointing at the now very falling apart world around me.
"Oh right." He exclaimed, his look turning almost considering. "Well, I suppose this could be my good deed for the century. So shoo, go home little child." He continued, waving the watchers direction as the world twisted for a moment, before he found himself standing in the middle of an odd looking street, in front of even odder looking buildings, as honest to god flying cars flew through the night sky a few hundred feet above his head.
"..."
Stardate 46418.1 - - - 21 years later
She tapped her foot impatiently, a motion matched by the little girl standing behind her as she waited for the cog shaped airlock to finish cycling. After a moment, the door gave a very customary hiss of depressing hydraulics, before finally beginning to recede into the wall.
Reshouldering her bag, and checking to make sure she was still being followed. She finally began to walk forward into the station's promenade. Only to make it less than a foot past the door before an alarm started sounding.
"Hold it there lieutenant." The gravelly voice of the station's dimly remembered security chief called out.
Turning to address the man, she was greeted with the recognizable beige uniform of Bajorian security, and the even more recognizable face of the changeling Odo.
"Constable?" She asked, her eyes flicking over his uniform, and taking note of the lack of rank pins. As the crest on her head began to itch slightly in the station's dry air.
He checked something on his pad before walking over.
"Would you care to tell me why the security scanners detected Trellium dust in your bag?" He began, holding out his pad so she could confirm the results.
"Of course it would be that." She thought to herself, holding back an annoyed look as a pair of little arms took that cessation of motion as an opportunity to hug the uniformed leg of her five foot ten form.
"Species necessary nutritional supplement." She offered with a sigh. "It should be in our travel file under unique medical requirements."
"Hmm?" He muttered, tapping a number of inputs into his pad before giving a nod as he read over what she had little doubt was the two's travel file. "Very well, just make sure to keep it away from any of the vulnerable races Lieutenant Raine."
"It'll be secured the moment we get our quarters." She agreed, holding back a wince. One accidental poisoning of a friend had been enough, thank you very much.
"Very well, carry on then." He offered with a brisk nod before turning and walking back to oversee the others disembarking from our transport.
"His face doesn't move right." The eleven year old bravely defending my rear muttered sulkily.
Knowing the truth of that statement, she wasn't entirely able to hide the slight cringe on her face as she turned to look down at her daughter. "I know Saya, but micro-expressions tend to be difficult for shapeshifters, so it's something they need a lot of practice on to get right."
"Then he should practice harder." Saya humphed with the certainty of a near teen that knew she was right.
Raine sighed and looked away, hiding the roll of her eyes she knew would just make Saya dig in harder by digging in her satchel for the padd with the details of her assignment on it. Habitat ring of course, which was a good walk away from the promenade where the Vanoben transport had docked. But given the favors she had to call in to even get the assignment, beggars couldn't really be choosers when it came to transport options.
"Looks like we're in the outer habitat ring." She offered to distract the little girl. "So we should get a good view of the wormhole when it opens.
"They better have blinders." Saya muttered, finally easing her grip on Raine's leg enough that the Lieutenant could at least begin walking again.
Heading to a nearby lift, Raine paused to look back down at the padd she had yet to put away as she brought up a map of the station.
"It's the other way isn't it?" Saya asked, holding in a giggle after seeing her annoyed look.
With a sigh she turned back the way they had just come and, without further word, began walking.
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Commander Benjamin Sisko held in a sigh as he dismissed the colorful looking lieutenant. Taking a moment to read over the padd handed to him by her once again, he turned to Kira Nerys, the Bajorian liaison officer standing next to him.
"So what do you think?" He asked, sliding the pad over to her.
"Odo's not going to like it." She offered as she picked it up and began reading.
"I know." He agreed with a nod. "But from everything I've seen so far, Starfleet's reasoning on this isn't wrong."
"He's still not going to like it." She repeated with a shake of her head as the beep of the padd registered the woman going on a deeper search into the information then he had.
"Esper rating?" She asked in confusion looking up from the device to give him a questioning gaze.
"Starfleet's official scale for people with psychic abilities." He returned, hiding the surprise that she had an official rating at all given how rare it was to find people willing to volunteer for the necessary testing to put a definitive number to such things.
"There's a scale?" She wondered, looking back down at the padd.
"Yes." He confirmed with a nod. "Though it's mostly a holdover from Starfleet's earlier days."
"What does it say?" He continued, holding out a hand to prod her into handing the padd the back.
"A two ninety three with an RM quotient of four seventy two." She replied with a bit of uncertainty as she handed the device back.
"Then that would be." He began, wracking his brain for the conversion. "Limited touch telepathy and." He paused, a look of shock he couldn't quite suppress going over his features.
"Oh?" She asked, her tone suddenly reminding him of a shark scenting blood in the water.
"Moderate level telekinesis." He finally replied, giving the woman a somewhat judging stare that he hoped would convey the request not to pressure the young lieutenant about it.
"All right, I won't ask." She acquiesced with a grimace. "I suppose that will be at least one plus on her sheet for Odo though. He's always wanted a telepath that could get into people's heads."
"So how do you want to tell him?" She continued, circling around to the front of his desk in a movement he knew was likely the precursor to her suggesting he be the one to inform the man.
"Because I'll tell you now, even if the undertones will be there no matter what. Out right admitting that Starfleet doesn't trust his ability to tiptoe around any diplomatic security issues that might occur here. Is going to go over about as well as Gul Dukat showing up with an armful of Bateret leaves at the next Gratitude Festival."
Neither of them were quite able to hide the wince that particular mental image caused.
"Which is why I was hoping you would do it." He offered a somewhat impish smile making its way onto his face as he did. "You've known him longer after all. So I'm sure you'd have an easier time than I would have, of convincing him that an officer with Lieutenant Brooks' skills would be a welcome addition to his team."
For a moment it looked like Kira was going to say more, before she lightly shook her head and let out a sigh of acceptance.
"All right." She began as she turned to leave through the large double doors of his office, only to pause after less then a step. "But he'll probably be up here to complain about it a few minutes after."
"I know." He admitted with a sigh, leaning backwards in his chair and clasping his hands together.
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Raine tried not to shuffle nervously as she stood in a ready position in front of the security desk, waiting for Security Chief Odo to finish whatever it was he was very likely pretending to be busy with.
She knew the technique of course, and had even had the chance to practice it herself a few times during her short stint as security chief on the Sutherland. But knowing that didn't change the combination of annoyance and unease which settled over her while waiting for the shapeshifter to show any form of recognition to her presence in his office.
He finally set the padd he had been reading down and looked up at her, his eyes roving across her more inhuman features in an almost clinical manner.
"Lieutenant Raine Brooks." He finally began, his finger tapping lightly on his desk as he spoke. "Failed to meet the necessary qualifications for the Starfleet Diplomatic Corps training after an incident during their Khitomer scenario. You instead transferred your coursework to the operations division where you graduated fifth in your class."
"Yes sir." She agreed with a nod, trying hard not to let the still stinging annoyance of being rejected for being too creative with her solution show.
"Served six months as an ensign on the USS Carlsbad." He continued, and she silently ground her teeth knowing what was coming next, but not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing her anger at having it called out. "Before you ended up getting pregnant during your first shore leave on Risa and requested a transfer to a ship more suited to raising a child."
"An unfortunate way to discover birth control implants do not work with my species sir." She returned, his slight smile at the terseness of her response telling her he had noticed her anger nonetheless.
He gave a slight hum of acknowledgement before continuing.
"Served the next eight years on the USS Malinche, before you were promoted to lieutenant junior grade and transferred to the USS Sutherland. Where you spent the next four years as a member of the gamma shift's security team."
"Yes." She agreed with a nod.
"You were finally promoted to lieutenant last year, after an event that I don't have security clearance to know about." He shot her a question look that quickly passed when he realized she wasn't willing to expand on it. "Wiped out a third of your ships crew, forcing you into the interim position of security chief."
"That same event however also drove you to request reassignment to a more stationary posting out of a desire for, and I quote 'a more stable location to raise my daughter'. Which was quickly authorized by Admiral Strickler."
"His son is an ensign on the Sutherland." She offered as a minor olive branch, knowing it wouldn't have been hard for the security chief to dig up that particular connection if he had put his mind to it.
"I see." He murmured, reaching down to pick back up his padd and enter a few commandes into it. "I suppose your assignment here was a win-win for the admiral then."
"Sir?" She asked, not having to feign the confusion that crossed her face at his statement.
"Nothing." He offered with a shake of his head as a slight smile made its way across his face's smooth features.
"Given your experience." He continued as he once more set the padd down, his tone turning somewhat sweet as he did. "I suppose gamma would be a suitable shift to assign you to."
"If you say so sir." She agreed with a nod, trying not to let her annoyance at being regulated to the worst shift possible show. While wondering just who's downhill shit she had gotten herself mucked up in this time.
"I'll expect to see you here and ready for duty in nine hours then." He stated as he swiveled his chair around and waved her off. "Dismissed Lieutenant."
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Raine tried not to let her relief show as the doors to the security office swished shut behind her. Because the hardest part of plan 'try to stop a war'' so far, had in fact been getting herself assigned to the station in the first place.
Which left her wondering just how many damn strings Commander Sisko had had to pull to get Lieutenant Dax assigned here with him.
"No focus." She muttered to herself, fighting the urge to pinch her leg. A meditative trick she had unintentionally developed to help keep her mind on track with the biological equivalent of a teenager's impulse control constantly throwing a spanner in her ability to keep focused.
"I have nine hours to finish unpacking and get Saya situated." She continued to herself, turning and beginning to make the trek back to her quarters.
"I'll just need to." She stumbled slightly from the kinetic transfer as someone slammed into her from behind, bouncing off the instinctive low level biotic field that she still hadn't been able to completely stop forming whenever something above a certain mass and velocity looked like it was about to hit.
"What the hell!?" A somewhat nasally voice exclaimed as Raine turned to take in the small Ferengi that had run into her.
"Watch where you're going lady!" The Ferengi continued, rubbing his bald head in very likely not feigned pain. "I could have broken something, you're lucky I don't." He trailed off as he looked up and his eyes took in the very visible and distinctive yellow of my Starfleet security uniform.
"Eh, hehehe." He laughed a bit awkwardly, shooting a somewhat panicked look to a young boy standing a few meters away with a look very clearly advertising that he was sure he was going to get into trouble for this. "Sorry officer. I was just playing with Jake and…"
"It's all right." She interrupted, holding back a smile as she offered the young Ferengi a hand to help him back up to his feet. "I have a daughter of my own around your age, and I know how stifling being locked up all day with nothing but schoolwork to do can get."
She paused, giving the two a somewhat impish look as she took a minute to indulge her often suppressed inner gremlin.
"I also don't start duty for a few more hours. So if either of your parents ask, I'll just say that I didn't see anything." She finished, giving the two a friendly wink.
"Thanks lady." The Ferengi offered with a sharp toothed grin as he turned and began walking, only to pause and make a not so subtle motion to Jake that they should get out of here before she changed my mind when it seemed like the boy was a bit too lost in his own head to hear him.
"Ah, yea, thanks." Jake finally got out, shaking himself slightly as he turned to follow.
With a sigh and shake of her head she turned and continued walking. The boy really needed to learn to be a bit more subtle when it came to checking out women. But she had learned enough about reading body language over the years. To distinguish honest appreciation of her form, from something more likely to end up with a person getting their fingers broken.
A trip on the turbolift had her back at their assigned quarters with only a few minutes of walking. The door opened with a swish at her code to reveal the dreadfully dark interior of the twin bedroom quarters who's settings she had yet to take time to adjust.
She entered the room, only to pause in her step and quirk an eye ridge as the recognizable sound of her daughter's favorite adventure book echoed out from the half closed door of the room she had claimed for herself.
Making sure to keep her steps silent, she crept over to the door and peered in. A light smile playing across her mouth as she took in the small curled up teal form passed out on the bed.
"Couldn't even wait for me to finish reporting in." Raine mused as she activated the control to fully close the door.
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Authors notes: This is a thing that's been rattling around my head for awhile. Don't know how much I will end up being able to do for it. Or how long it will go on. But I hope it will be longer then just this chapter.
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Avalon Aurora
Eldritch Horror
- Location
- Unspecified Quantum Location
I was hoping for more Star Trek stuff! Hope you get the inspiration to continue this and keep it good!
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
Man, you never really get to see Asari stuff. Let's see if biotics could help with anything on DS9.
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I officially LOVE THIS.
Avalon Aurora
Eldritch Horror
- Location
- Unspecified Quantum Location
More comments/speculation:
Possibly not exactly like a normal Asari due to different setting physics, perhaps that supplement is the closest element equivalent to Eez0 in Star Trek, but not an exact match, would probably be easy for Q to compensate.
Depending on if they arrived with a biotic implant or not and on any adaptations Q might have done, their biotic abilities might be significantly weaker than the typical Asari we see in mass effect, due to lack of aid from a biotic implant, as I have my doubts about Federation/Starfleet's willingness to help develop that kind of tech if it doesn't already exist.
The SI has been around for quite a while, a chunk of it seems to have been spent adapting to the setting and getting Starfleet training and working up ranks to their current position, and they don't seem to have been particularly involved in too much in major events so far in the Star Trek setting, but I wouldn't be surprised if they, with their outside of context nature and awareness of things, might have had some more subtle influences and ideas spreading around, perhaps bringing up ideas related to things from their original universe or the Mass Effect universe to various engineers they've been friendly with, such as ideas related to things like the distinctions between AI and VI artificial intelligences, and the development of something like an omni-tool (although perhaps as a wrist or forearm wrapping attachment method, rather than implant) with minor holographic interface elements and working in sensors, basic tools, communicator, and the like into a single versatile device, elements of more modern touch-screen OSes and application interfaces from our world (which we see brought in by the Star Trek: Picard era to some degree) for slightly easier and quicker to handle UI, and some types of modern sensibilities for safety standards and ideas (seatbelts or some high-tech alternative like built in battery powered additional independent inertial dampeners and protective forcefields in chairs, more safety railings, more power-loss or energy field weirdness backup systems like actual barred doors on brig cells), perhaps suggestions that lead to earlier implementation of EMH type systems, etc. Not all of such kinds of suggestions might have caught on, but some of them might have.
There also might have been more fairness/political suggestions that might have taken hold, perhaps related to beurocratic and legal handling of telepathic and telekinetic races, especially in Starfleet, that previously didn't have much in the way of rules and procedures due to simply handling things individually based on the race they came from, but this would be someone without a whole racial government and culture entering the picture with such abilities to defer to like the Vulkans or Betazoids. Also developing policies for handling of children who have two parents, but one served as a genetic material randomizer based on their nervous system rather than providing genetic material, so have only one direct genetics contributing parent, and how trying to come up with laws/regulations related to that might lead to adjustments to other laws related to things like artificial or modified life-forms or cross-species adoptions.
There is also the question coming up of how the SI's Asari mental abilities will interact with Changelings and Ferengi, who are usually immune to Betazoid versions of telepathy, but at least the changelings have their own species internal touch-telepathy hivemind thing they can do and are also able to be involved in telepathic effects related to Trill ceremonial techniques, so changelings at least are not immune to telepathy in general, just the Betazoid version, might be interesting if they perform a non-mating type melding with Odo for some reason and he finds it instinctually reassuring due to melding perhaps being similar to the Great Link, and helps him understand much better humanoid minds and perspectives due to the experience at a relatively early point in the story, and even be able to relay that understanding of Federation/Starfleet in particular to the other changelings once he meets them.
Then there is the SI having a kid who is likely to end up running around playing with Jake and Nog, which could have interesting dynamics and little butterflies.
And perhaps the SI's discomfort with the dryness aboard the station (Asari being from a relatively more humid and aquatic world) being brought up leading to modifying rules and standards for individual residences aboard the station to make people have things closer to their natural healthy environments, including Garak, and even slight adjustments to some other areas when possible and it makes sense, such as perhaps slightly adjusting the temperature in Garak's shop, not enough that it would spread much outside of the shop, the SI might care more about such because they have a kid on the station, when in canon most children would be human, bajoran, or ferengi who are more comfortable with relatively shared environmental control standards between them. This might be a good policy in particular for preparing for visitors from the new Quadrant, to have options to adjust your own rooms. Or maybe some other option to compensate rather than environmental controls adjustments, like simply bringing up the issue with medical and them checking what various races might need to remain healthy in this environment in terms of supplements, clothing, special suits or worn devices, and special treatments they can do.
If the SI does have a biotic implant, what might be the opinion of the likes of some of the more anti-borg members of Starfleet on that sort of augmentation? Has it been properly reverse engineered for maintenance and perhaps even eventually making one for their kid once they are fully grown enough that it won't be an issue with their growing body?
How about how things were dealt with regarding a possible telekinetic and telepathic baby/toddler aboard a starship when the SI's kid was younger, what methods were used to possibly compensate for the additional issues that could create, even with relatively weak such abilities as a baby?
I am very eager to see how some of this stuff is dealt with or if it is brought up at all and such.
Possibly not exactly like a normal Asari due to different setting physics, perhaps that supplement is the closest element equivalent to Eez0 in Star Trek, but not an exact match, would probably be easy for Q to compensate.
Depending on if they arrived with a biotic implant or not and on any adaptations Q might have done, their biotic abilities might be significantly weaker than the typical Asari we see in mass effect, due to lack of aid from a biotic implant, as I have my doubts about Federation/Starfleet's willingness to help develop that kind of tech if it doesn't already exist.
The SI has been around for quite a while, a chunk of it seems to have been spent adapting to the setting and getting Starfleet training and working up ranks to their current position, and they don't seem to have been particularly involved in too much in major events so far in the Star Trek setting, but I wouldn't be surprised if they, with their outside of context nature and awareness of things, might have had some more subtle influences and ideas spreading around, perhaps bringing up ideas related to things from their original universe or the Mass Effect universe to various engineers they've been friendly with, such as ideas related to things like the distinctions between AI and VI artificial intelligences, and the development of something like an omni-tool (although perhaps as a wrist or forearm wrapping attachment method, rather than implant) with minor holographic interface elements and working in sensors, basic tools, communicator, and the like into a single versatile device, elements of more modern touch-screen OSes and application interfaces from our world (which we see brought in by the Star Trek: Picard era to some degree) for slightly easier and quicker to handle UI, and some types of modern sensibilities for safety standards and ideas (seatbelts or some high-tech alternative like built in battery powered additional independent inertial dampeners and protective forcefields in chairs, more safety railings, more power-loss or energy field weirdness backup systems like actual barred doors on brig cells), perhaps suggestions that lead to earlier implementation of EMH type systems, etc. Not all of such kinds of suggestions might have caught on, but some of them might have.
There also might have been more fairness/political suggestions that might have taken hold, perhaps related to beurocratic and legal handling of telepathic and telekinetic races, especially in Starfleet, that previously didn't have much in the way of rules and procedures due to simply handling things individually based on the race they came from, but this would be someone without a whole racial government and culture entering the picture with such abilities to defer to like the Vulkans or Betazoids. Also developing policies for handling of children who have two parents, but one served as a genetic material randomizer based on their nervous system rather than providing genetic material, so have only one direct genetics contributing parent, and how trying to come up with laws/regulations related to that might lead to adjustments to other laws related to things like artificial or modified life-forms or cross-species adoptions.
There is also the question coming up of how the SI's Asari mental abilities will interact with Changelings and Ferengi, who are usually immune to Betazoid versions of telepathy, but at least the changelings have their own species internal touch-telepathy hivemind thing they can do and are also able to be involved in telepathic effects related to Trill ceremonial techniques, so changelings at least are not immune to telepathy in general, just the Betazoid version, might be interesting if they perform a non-mating type melding with Odo for some reason and he finds it instinctually reassuring due to melding perhaps being similar to the Great Link, and helps him understand much better humanoid minds and perspectives due to the experience at a relatively early point in the story, and even be able to relay that understanding of Federation/Starfleet in particular to the other changelings once he meets them.
Then there is the SI having a kid who is likely to end up running around playing with Jake and Nog, which could have interesting dynamics and little butterflies.
And perhaps the SI's discomfort with the dryness aboard the station (Asari being from a relatively more humid and aquatic world) being brought up leading to modifying rules and standards for individual residences aboard the station to make people have things closer to their natural healthy environments, including Garak, and even slight adjustments to some other areas when possible and it makes sense, such as perhaps slightly adjusting the temperature in Garak's shop, not enough that it would spread much outside of the shop, the SI might care more about such because they have a kid on the station, when in canon most children would be human, bajoran, or ferengi who are more comfortable with relatively shared environmental control standards between them. This might be a good policy in particular for preparing for visitors from the new Quadrant, to have options to adjust your own rooms. Or maybe some other option to compensate rather than environmental controls adjustments, like simply bringing up the issue with medical and them checking what various races might need to remain healthy in this environment in terms of supplements, clothing, special suits or worn devices, and special treatments they can do.
If the SI does have a biotic implant, what might be the opinion of the likes of some of the more anti-borg members of Starfleet on that sort of augmentation? Has it been properly reverse engineered for maintenance and perhaps even eventually making one for their kid once they are fully grown enough that it won't be an issue with their growing body?
How about how things were dealt with regarding a possible telekinetic and telepathic baby/toddler aboard a starship when the SI's kid was younger, what methods were used to possibly compensate for the additional issues that could create, even with relatively weak such abilities as a baby?
I am very eager to see how some of this stuff is dealt with or if it is brought up at all and such.
I wonder if there have been any shenanigans regarding the racial asari trait that subtly encourages other species to see them as physically similar. As I recall, on Illium in ME2 the player can overhear a conversation between a human, salarian, and turian all claiming the asari resemble their race.
- Location
- Oblivion
Yup, for this story's purposes Trellium is the local equivalent of Element Zero. And it being toxic to Vulcans and a few other races, is why it wasn't really investigated till pretty much everyone was well past the point that any low hanging technological fruit of the material. Would be even comparably useful when pitted against similar technologies they already had.
I was wondering if anyone would catch that.
Yup, the station is both a little too dry and a little too dimly lit for Raine and her daughter to be completely comfortable. Sort of the opposite of the problem Garak had with the Bajoran set enviormental conditions.
Though, she's waiting to bring the issue up with the Commander till she's more established in the command staff's social circle.
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
So is her and her daughter the only two asari in the universe or are there more? Also is the millennia lifespan bit with the added stuff about how she is still a teenager/young adult/maiden in her species timeframe going to come up? Cause if your trying to convince me she is at the matron stage it's not coming through.
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- Location
- USA
Pretty sure she's in the Maiden part of the Asari life cycle. It's pretty heavily implied here:
She'd have to be equivalent to late teens at the youngest to start Starfleet Academy. Probably had to have to be tutored to actually qualify. Her child is 11 and was conceived about six months into her first duty tour it looks like? Or conceived during the post academy preposting leave.
So we're looking at, bare minimum, someone who is solidly in their thirties. For Asari that's still the Maiden phase, which to my understanding is functionally being a teen for a couple hundred years.
Yeah, I would be surprised if she was in the Matron stage.
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
If she's thirty, she isn't even an adult in Asari parlance. If she is under 100 she not technically even a madien, she is a child, again, in Asari timeframes. 30 for us is pretty adult. For Asari, that's like, damn way too young.
Kylia Quilor
I Have Two Moods, and Bitter is One of Them.
- Location
- Hiding in the corner of your vision.
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I am curious how she's explained where the rest of her species is. She's from a distant part of the universe, closed off society, tumbled through a wormhole?
- Location
- Oblivion
As far as she knows they're the only two. Buuuut. There may be some clones running around made by less scrupulous intelligence agencies who saw useful potential in her telepathic/telekinetic abilities.
As to the lifespan, her genetic workup showed she would likely live 1000+ years with proper medical care. It did not show just what her species would consider "an adult", and she had a lot of incentives not to tell them.
And you're right, she's Maiden at best, and that aggressiveness/impulsiveness has gotten her into no end of trouble. Even with the Vulcan meditation techniques she picked up over the years to try and keep it in check.
Biologically somewhere between 31 and 36 years of age, with no additional datapoints to work off of somewhere between 10 to 15 years of age was where the tests pegged her when she was found. (Out of universe, she's 32.)
When found and talked to she was in shock and started babbling almost uncontrollably about Q and exploding planets.
So Starfleet pretty much chalked her arrival up to act of energy being and went from there. Which had a bit of an up side since it ended up with her getting adopted by a moderately well placed Starfleet officer who wasn't that much on the nose when it came to what to expect from an alien teen.
- Location
- USA
Do we know how old the SI was before the transfer? If they were say, 17, and they were transferred into the equivalent Asarioid body, she'd still have decades of being a teen left.
What we do know is that the SI is physically adult enough to pass as one to UFP/Starfleet while still having teenager like urges. So that could be as early as the equivalent of a human's 14 while being linearly something like 20.
We do know that Asari physical maturity comes before, around, or at the Citadel standard age of 40. Because the Ardat Yakashi syndrome manifests after ceasing to be a child and becoming a maiden. Because that's when Samara's daughters Falere (42, when she went to the Monestary) and Morinth (40, ran away) were discovered to have AY syndrome.
One of the Eclipse mercenaries on Illium talks about leaving the home at the tender age of 60.
Liara has a professional doctorates degree at 109.
100 is not a child. 100 is well into adulthood. Careers have been started, certifications earned, professional skill is accruing.
But it's the equalivalent of someone in their 70s treating a 26 year old like a child because they're that much older. But worse because 100 is only a tenth of 1000.
30 would be a child. Equivalent to early to mid teens. With the bulk of final physical maturity happening in the 40s? 60 seems to be a high school graduate culturally.
Oh, what's this? I have been author STG'd
Mmmm.
If we assume a stretched out puberty for Asari, then SI reached the ability to be preggers at something like the equivalent of a human's 15 at the Asari age of ~twenty? I'm assuming their age data points come from some sort of organic carbon dating and not pelvic x-rays.
So SI is juuuuuust about reaching full physical maturity in the next decade, but is functionally full on teenager/Maiden is my take?
(Is she 32 out of universe at arrival or now? Because that's some really good writing if you're 11)
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- Location
- Oblivion
That's more or less what I have been running with.
In universe it was an amusing case of Starfleet's human centric age minimum meritocracy working against them. Since there were suspicions about an extended mental development cycle for her species. But since Raine ended up passing the coursework, there wasn't really anything they could do about it. (Her diplomatic corps file even has a "check back in a hundred years" note on it.)
In universe she's biologically 32, but the author is somewhere in their late 30s, and that's all I'll say about that.
Did she name drop Q specifically? Because if so, I could have seen her transferred to the Enterprise; especially after Tasha Yar's's death. After all, Raine would have helped to fill the ranks from the bottom/middle up after the shift in personnel that happened post Yar's death and would have put her somewhere where if Q decided to get curious about what he did in the past he would have went to were the people who know how to deal with him are. But since she didn't...
Also, now I'm wondering how "Death Wish" will go; what with Raine becoming a hostile witness if Q and Riker called her to the stand.
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- Location
- Uk
Given that the her child is 11 yes old the MC is literally a teen mom both by human and asari equivalent.
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
Biotics being referred to as "Moderate level telekinesis" leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Like is making a mini-pseudo-black hole "moderate". On demand personal barrier that deflects kinitic impacts is "moderate". She doesn't have a biotics teacher so I can understand it to a extent, but like, she is manipulating dark matter making variable grav fields isn't.
- Location
- Oblivion
She did.
And it amusingly caused a very small butterfly in that Picard actually had something to look up during the Enterprise's encounter with Q at Farpoint. Which resulted in a slightly faster resolution to the situation because he came at the issue from the position that Q was capable of feeling at least some level of empathy for other sentient beings. (And after the second Q encounter there was a transfer offer made, but well, the Borg frankly scare her enough that she did what she could to get stationed as far away from potential encounters with them as possible.)
As to Death Wish, if the story ever makes it there I do actually have plans for the encounter.
The indicators Starfleet used to statistically measure telekinetic strength only had a partial crossover with her biotic abilities.
They actually ended up creating a completely different ranking system for her species due to it. And then Starfleet Intelligence promptly classified that, to the Captain and above level. Which neither Commander Sisko nor Major Kira are.
Chloe Sullivan
Subdefective
- Location
- 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale CA
15 is rather late by presently day US standards and may suggest food insecurity.
the age at which a girl enters puberty varies on a number of factors but high fat diets and plentiful nutrition push the number down. For modern first world countries "the age where we expect a girl is old enough to potentially get preggers" is closer to 12.
Some hit puberty as early as 9.
For humans, the age when you *can* get pregnant I has pretty much always been earlier than the age where either your body or psyche are ready enough that it can be considered even remotely healthy to.
Just because a girls started ovulating does not mean the rest of her body is any state to survive a pregnancy - not without major health problems.
Honestly, if the Asari do develop significantly slower than humans, it's a good thing federation medical tech is advanced, because having kid that young doesn't not sound safe or healthy at all.
- Location
- Queensland, Australia
As I said on the other site, Biotics are probably more accurately described as being Gravitokinesis (Gravity Manipulation) expressed as a result of Spacetime Manipulation which has a heavy emphasis on the Mass aspect of Spatial Manipulation, whilst coming with a corresponding deemphasis on any Temporal Manipulation. Not a lack of Temporal Manipulation because some of the effects of Biotics absolutely has me shouting that there has to be some time twisting going on, but it is absolutely minor compared to anything else and likely can be thought of as a consequence of the degree of Spatial Manipulation pulling on Spacetime, rather than actually having Temporal Manipulation itself.
- Location
- The Darkness,USA
…what is with intelligence agencies in shows like ST and SW classifying information that could be important for some people in an area with a soon to be hot Cold War to know about. I'm gonna assume we are all aware of how bat shit some biotic abilities are yeah? I don't think that that info shouldn't be shared with Sisko at the least. She is gonna be on his station, and while I would not call her a risk to station integrity, the knowledge of those abilities could allow some of the nastier bits of the war time effects on DS9 to be lessened some what. At most it changes some of the calculus.
- Location
- Oblivion
Bureaucratic inertia.
Starfleet absolutely does think her commanding officer should know about such things. But like many things in giant organizations, the paperwork to authorize that is lagging far behind her actual arrival.
