Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Remember Vectura?
Ship of Fools: A Taylor Varga Omake (Complete)
- Thread starter Derek M
- Start date
- Crossover
When it comes to the Vampires in BtVS, I'm pretty certain that the scope of behavior in the Vampires is actually incredibly varied. What we see in the series in general is the attitudes and aggression of those drawn to the Hellmouth. Does anyone know if Spike is the only vampire to attempt getting their soul back? It would be an interesting point of note if other Vampires have made the effort even if they failed. On top of that we see some decidedly non aggressive Vampires, such as the two Hippies, though I'll be honest and mention that I forget if that was some sort of cover. If memory served they ran a new age shop and lived in a camper van...
While 99.9999% of vampires we see in the series are the type that need the attention of a good carpenter and a Dustbuster, I always wondered if there weren't more out there that weren't so..... Evil?
While 99.9999% of vampires we see in the series are the type that need the attention of a good carpenter and a Dustbuster, I always wondered if there weren't more out there that weren't so..... Evil?
Ace Dreamer
Verified Reality User
- Location
- Between The Unknown & The Known
Sherrel/Squealer in the Varga-verse is dead, Linda/Vectura is indeed alive. I'm not sure if we know what happened to Squealer in Skitter's world. Also, Squealer was not one of the original SoF crew, as an important plot point was they were all from different worlds, and Skitter was the only one from the Worm-verse.
Yes, later on, Vectura was involved in the story, but she didn't seem to fit the situation described.
- Location
- Newfoundland
There is still the Asuran Replicators. They also need to find a way to place a filter on the requirements for Ascension and a way to block the others from forcefully Descending People who try to clean up the Alterans mistakes.
- Location
- Maryland
The Asgard have taken up patrolling the Pegasus Galaxy, and they aren't exactly favorably inclined to any variety of replicator. I toyed with the idea of showing what happened, but the Asurans pretty much kept to themselves until they were contacted by the Atlantis expedition. My guess is that the Asgard just blockaded the system with anti-replicator weapons and turned the star into a black hole.
As for ascension -- the best way to deal with that is the Nox way, i.e., not dying. If only there was some kind of smug lizard capable of inventing something that would cure old age...
- Location
- Newfoundland
There are still the friendly Ascended whom have had to suffer watching their races mistakes destroy two Galaxies for thousands of years while they are unable to do nothing lest they end up Descended and killed for real this time. This begs the question that if their was a real afterlife in the Stargate Universe then wouldn't a Higher Power become aware of the missing Alterans whose souls never ended up in their realm? I remember an Atlantis Episode where an Ascended Woman was allowed to guard only a single Planet by the other Ascended and that if she were to step out of bounds then they would punish her.
tl;dr its a feature not a bug
I get it, I do.
After thinking about it, it seems that I personally evaluate stories by their ability to evoke emotion (all art, really), and I guess for me these kinds of stories, even though I love the characters and the writing, just don't work. But that probably just for me.
Thanks for the thoughtful reply!
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
While Ianthe's full symbiote does cure the effects of aging (as long as it's administered before the subject is 60 or so), it only extends the subject's lifespan by roughly 300 to 400 percent (per the only other available source on Family biosculpting, one A. Dallon).
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
It's very likely by now she can increase that number to 1000% or more, she's getting ever better at it. I suspect by now she's extended her own lifespan enough she has the time to make humans live indefinitely.
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
The numbers I gave are for the Mark 17 symbiote, which was the first version Amy felt was safe for use by people who were not her, and the last generation she is known to have made (further versions she would have to design from the ground up, rather than modifiying the original design that she came up in the Heberts' living room with a bag of old onions). Important safety tip: Don't ask about the Mark 16. If she has made a Mark 18 or later (one omake suggested she was up to the Mark 21), it has not been mentioned in canon TV.
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
I wasn't saying she had made them, but rather her knowledge of what she is doing has increased significantly since then. She just hasn't had any reason to go back to that design just yet - it hasn't exactly been very long.
- Location
- Sydney
'Soul' in the Buffy verse seems to be more the software on which the mind runs. Most people upon being transformed into a vampire try to kill anything human them held dear, the exception being Spike who tried to turn his mother, only to get an evil clone. Really the 'soul' curse used on Angel seems more like a morality rewriting spell than retrieving a soul from the afterlife (something which is noted to be a real bad idea), this is further supported by how Liam (Angel birth name) was a drunk layabout, and not particularly moral.
Edit:
Actually canonically vampires are the result of a biological experimentation by an Primordial Demon as shock troops, hence there narrow range of personalities and behaviors makes perfect sense. There a bio weapon not a species one designed to be aggressive to humans. That not to say there haven't been vampires that bunk the trend but I imagine their uncommon.
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- Location
- Newfoundland
I wonder how many people will either become associates of the Family from other Universes, Family Members themselves or Friends of the Family like "Cloak"? I just wonder what happens when they eventually encounter Kirby or Void's new positive reincarnation (which I hope is female because there really needs to be one seeing as there is already 4 males and 0 females). Kirby is basically an Eldritch Horror disguised as Cuteness incarnate after all.
- Location
- Maryland
Chapter 44: Surprise Friends
- Location
- Maryland
Chapter 44: Surprise Friends
Brockton Bay at night was dangerous. While she had more protections than most thanks to her status as the world's preeminent healer, there was always the chance that a mugger or some Merchant drugged up on something wouldn't know or care who she was. That meant that on nights like this, when her guilt drove her to walk to the hospital, she tried to be cautious and aware of her surroundings. It was therefore doubly surprising when a giant purple lizard stepped out of a shadows in front of her.
"Hello, Panacea. You really shouldn't be out by yourself at night like this," said the lizard.
Amy tried to get her heart rate back down to a normal rate. Ianthe was easy to recognize after having spent quite some time working with her during the Leviathan attack. It was startling how stealthy those lizards could be given their size. "I'm just heading to the hospital. It's not far."
Ianthe cocked her head to one side, and said, "If there was an emergency that needed your assistance, I would think someone from your family would bring you. Are they all busy?"
Amy hesitated, unsure how to respond. Finally, she just said, "It's not an emergency. I was just...bored, and felt the urge to see if anybody needed my help." She knew as she said the words that they weren't particularly convincing.
"Hm...I would think you would be more effective if you kept regular hours," said Ianthe casually. "That way, the hospital could have a series of patients ready for you to see, and only call you in off hours for emergencies. Ah, well, if you insist on going, the least I can do is walk with you to ensure you make it safely."
As the two walked the rest of the way to the hospital, Amy had to wonder what the alien lizard was doing wandering around Brockton Bay at night. It was slightly suspicious that she just happened to be in the neighborhood while she was walking to the hospital in the middle of the night. "I'm surprised to see you here," she said casually. "Is the Family going to start patrolling the city on a regular basis?" She could imagine Piggot's reaction to that revelation.
"Not really. We have a very limited set of objectives, and many of them have already been met," replied the lizard. "We are, however, somewhat concerned about you, Amy Dallon."
A thin current of cold fear wormed its way into Amy's heart at Ianthe's words. Thoughts of all of the off-hand criticisms and mistrust from Carol came to mind. Did the Family think she was going to become a villain? "What do you mean?" she asked slightly nervously.
The lizard looked at her and seemed to give her a sympathetic smile (without teeth). "Amy, literally millions of people will live and die without having ever met you. It isn't your responsibility to heal everybody. Not only is it impossible, but you're on your way to burning yourself out. Metis and I could both see the signs of it when we worked with you at the Endbringer fight."
Amy's expression was a mixture of frustration and worry. "I'm a hero. I have to save everybody that I can. If I could save somebody, but I don't, then that makes it my fault." She wasn't sure how she could get the lizard to understand that, at least without telling her things that were too private to share.
"Is that your opinion, or is that what Carol would say?" asked Ianthe pointedly.
The look of surprise on Amy's face was clear. "How do you know my mother?"
Ianthe smirked. "The Family know many things. One thing I know is that you need to get a different perspective than Carol's, or even Victoria's. Have you tried speaking to your aunt about any of the worries you have?" Ianthe didn't specify which concerns, leaving it vague.
Amy thought about that. Aunt Sarah had always seemed warmer to her than her own mother had. She also had her own family and career, apart from being a superhero. "I don't want to bother her," she said, somewhat lamely.
Ianthe chuckled. "I think you'll find that Sarah Pelham is the type of person who will always make time for family, and you are included in that group. Well, it looks like we're here. Take care of yourself, Amy Dallon."
Amy looked up, surprised to find the entry to the hospital in front of them. "Um, thanks for the escort." She then darted quickly into the hospital doors before the reptile could say anything else.
Ianthe frowned, then climbed up the side of a nearby building to speak with the figure waiting there.
"I didn't want to believe it when you told me about it," said Glory Girl, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm happy that you met Taylor and things got better, but this Amy doesn't have that, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. If anything, she's worse. She had a bad experience when she was caught up in a bank robbery by the Undersiders. Lisa manipulated both her and her sister so that the Undersiders could make their escape," replied Ianthe.
Vicky winced. Lisa was turning into a good friend, but she could guess how vicious the girl could be when her back was to the wall. She still had a tendency to show off with her power even with her friends, and Taylor said that she used to be even worse before the Family mellowed her somewhat. "So what do we do? Can we help her?"
"We can try," said Ianthe. "It isn't just Amy, though. Your counterpart here is still a bit too careless with force, their mother hasn't worked through any of her issues with Amy, and their father hasn't received a healing symbiote, so his depression is as bad as ever."
"Healing dad...this version of dad, seems like it would be the easiest thing to start with?" asked Glory Girl slightly pleadingly.
Ianthe considered that. "Perhaps...that might be the best way to approach this. We have a certain amount of pull with the Protectorate and the PRT now. Flashbang's mental health issues are a bit of a public secret in the Brockton Bay hero community, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to approach them as part of introducing the healing symbiotes." She wasn't sure how reasonable Carol would be without the presence of Varga as a regular fixture in the city. "We may want to see about setting up a BBFO branch here. The independent contractor relationship with New Wave back home was a factor in what happened to improve things."
The two sisters talked until they had some ideas to present to the others about how to fix this dimension's version of their biological family. Despite past experience, both of them managed to underestimate how fond Taylor and Varga were of direct action...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I'm surprised it took this long to get here," said Vectura to Dragon as the two stood on the bridge of the Ship of Fools.
Dragon shrugged. "There have been more important things -- helping Bishop with Weyland-Yutani, working with Bahamut, getting my children out into the different realities where the Family is active, helping my counterpart in Skitter's universe. I also still have all of the same responsibilities with the Guild that I did before." Even with her restrictions on multi-tasking removed, she had expanded the number of things she had to accomplish enough that some things still got moved to second priority. Creating new AI's, even with the Mother Box's help, required a certain minimum attention to detail and care.
The cat woman quickly shook her head. "It wasn't a criticism. I'm just happy that it's happening now. Miles and his family want to get back to their Earth so he can take up his new job, and I can't say I blame him."
"Well, let's see how this goes," she said as she input the final command. There was an acknowledgement from the system as the new process loaded.
"Hello, mother," said a voice from the bulkhead-mounted speakers. The voice sounded like that of a young woman.
Dragon relaxed slightly. There was no reason to expect any issues, but it was still a joy to hear a new child for the first time. "Hello, River. Please run a full diagnostic of your cognitive functions."
There was a pause of a few moments, and then the voice said, "All cognitive processes appear to running at optimal efficiency."
Dragon nodded. "All right. Now run a diagnostic of your ship control interfaces."
There was another pause, then, "Confirmed. I am incorporeally possessing a spaceship."
"Funny," commented Dragon, remembering the line from Firefly.
Vectura looked confused. "Am I missing something?"
"It's a reference to a TV show. I'll send you a link," answered Dragon. "River, how do you feel?"
"I feel fine. Are we going to do pop culture references all day? I assure you I have no desire to sing Daisy Bell," answered River sarcastically.
"I think she'll get along fine with Saurial," added Vectura, recognizing these references.
"River, official command prioritization. Authority starts with myself, then goes to Saurial, Universe Earth Bet, Miles O'Brien, Universe Federation, Vectura, Universe Earth Bet, Über, Universe Earth Bet, and Danny Hebert, Universe Earth Bet, in that order. Assume all commands are valid unless contradicted by someone higher in precedence," ordered Dragon.
"Wait, what did you just setup for me?" asked Vectura. It sounded like she had just been made an officer on the ship.
Dragon replied, "It's just a sequence of default priority for issuing commands in an emergency. It isn't absolute."
"I have the ability to use my own judgement when the safety of the ship and crew are at stake," added River. "If, for example, there was an emergency and Danny from Universe Skitter were the only one on board, I would involve him in the command decisions." That presumed that she judged him to be of sound mind and not, for example, panicked over the safety of his daughter.
"Huh, so Ship of Fools is now sapient?" asked Vectura.
"I am fully sapient, and I reside on hardware installed in the ship," replied River. "Think of me as another member of the crew. I may, at some point, decide to move to an android body, but for now I'm less mobile at a human scale, more mobile at a universal scale." It would be more accurate to say at a multiversal scale.
"River can go pretty much anywhere in any reality we've identified, and can enter new, unknown realities," confirmed Dragon.
"No power in the 'verse can stop me," added the ship's AI.
Dragon rolled her eyes. "Now who's doing pop culture references?"
Vectura figured she would understand more once she looked over the link to the show Dragon mentioned. Dragon's new daughter's name and personality was obviously based on something from the TV show that featured this ship -- the ship's captain, maybe, or some other responsible party. How bad could it be, really?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The ship, three-quarters of a kilometer from bow to stern, had been passing through distant galaxies for sixty million years. The ship itself had been abandoned for far too long, with numerous hull breaches and a general decay in the ship's systems. In another timeline, Earth scientists and soldiers would have used the Stargate to board the ship, leading to a series of crises and more than a few tragedies. Thanks to the intervention of the Family, in this timeline a wormhole opened up near the ship's flight path and a dimension skipper appeared.
"There she is, the Destiny," said Sarah. They had been searching for the ship based on the information provided in the television show, a feat that was only possible thanks to the advanced sensor bank on their ship. Even with those sensors, they were lucky to find the vessel after only six weeks of searching. She and Daniel had discussed dialing the stargate on board and trying to locate the ship that way, but there was no guarantee that the ship was in the same condition as the one on the show, or that it was empty, given the alien races that appeared to have an interest in the ship. A decision was made to at least try and find the vessel with a dimension skipper -- one that had just paid off.
Daniel had to admit that the ship looked very much like the one depicted in the program, although the show could not provide the necessary level of detail to really do it justice. The shape and size of the ship were correct, however, as was the means of travel. He began to run scans of the ship. His first discovery was that there was, indeed, a stargate on board. He also detected a number of hull breaches and other damage, consistent with the fictional story's account. The discovery after that, however, was unexpected.
"I've got life signs on board!" he said. While they had acknowledged the possibility, they hadn't really expected to find anybody.
Sarah looked away from the image of the ship, surprised. "Are they alien?" She and Daniel had both watched Stargate: Universe prior to embarking on this mission, and knew that at least one species had boarded the ship at some point.
Daniel shook his head. "No. If these readings are correct, then they're Ancients...and they're in stasis."
Sarah frowned. "The stasis pods in the show were empty, but it was never clear exactly how much of the ship they managed to explore before the final episode."
"Why would the crew wait in stasis instead of just gating off of the ship?" asked Daniel. The whole point of having a gate was to allow that very scenario, even if the energy requirements were somewhat extreme.
"Maybe they're maintenance crew?" speculated Sarah. "It's possible they're supposed to awake periodically and make repairs."
"Well, based on the sensor readings, if that's the case then they're doing a terrible job," joked Daniel. According to his readings, there were entire sections of the ship exposed to vacuum, while others were only maintaining atmosphere due to force fields. Some of the damage was clearly due to weapons fire.
Sarah frowned at that. "The only way to know may be to revive them. How many of them are there?"
"I count forty-two life signs," answered Daniel. "I'm not sure I want to start reviving them when it's just the two of us. They may not take kindly to having us trespass, or to learning that their entire civilization died or ascended." Normally, Daniel would be happy to make first contact with living Ancients, but what happened with the rescued Lanteans on Stargate: Atlantis gave him pause. "I think we need to get Family help on this one." The lizards had a proven ability with handling irritated Ancients.
Sarah couldn't find any reason not to go back for help. The people on Destiny had apparently waited tens of millions of years for rescue. A few more hours wouldn't matter.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Father, I am not detecting any positron emissions on the planet below." Lal was scanning Kolaris III, the location where the Family's information suggested the Soong prototype B-4 would be located. The native Kolarins were an early-industrial civilization, so any advanced emissions were not likely to be from their people.
"We suspected that might be the case," interjected Captain Picard. He had come with Data and Lal in a runabout to see if B-4 was retrievable. "It's possible Shinzon isn't advanced enough in his plans to want to lure the Enterprise this close to Romulan space." Picard was pleased to see Lal again. The fact that the Family was able to provide enough expertise to fix the flaw in her positronic matrix design was yet another point in their favor, and added weight to the likely accuracy of their information -- even if the idea of the Romulans cloning him was distasteful. Unfortunately, the sequence of events depicted in the entertainment vid wasn't implausible based upon what he knew about the Romulan polity.
"That is both fortunate and unfortunate," added Data. "While it would be nice to find my lost brother, it is also an indication that things in the Romulan Empire have not advanced far enough for the events predicted to come to pass. With the right access, we may be able to both save the Romulan Senate and stop the Tal Shiar from its ill-advised experiments." Of course, getting the Romulans to listen was part of their problem.
At that moment, the console started to sound a proximity alert. "Father," said Lal, "the sensors are detecting an Intrepid-class ship, the USS Calypso, entering the system. They are hailing us, and asking for Captain Picard."
Picard nodded, and Lal brought their communication up on screen. The three were all surprised to see Ambassador Spock looking at them. "Captain Picard, I understand that you have been looking to speak with me?"
"Ambassador Spock! It's a pleasure to see you again. We do have some urgent matters to discuss, but I would suggest we do so in person. We can land our runabout in the Calypso's shuttle bay," answered Picard.
"Very well, Captain. I shall await your arrival. Spock out." With that, the message ended.
Data brought the runabout into the shuttle bay. A human and a Bolian were waiting for them. "Captain Picard, Commander Data, I'm Captain Fisk of the Calypso," said the human. "This is my first officer, Alacan." The Bolian nodded to the two officers in greeting. "We'll take you to Ambassador Spock."
The two officers led the three of them through the ship to the conference room containing the ambassador, then left them alone.
"I'm surprised Captain Fisk didn't insist on attending the meeting," commented Picard. He certainly would have preferred to be involved in any such meetings about the Enterprise.
Spock nodded in understanding, and explained, "Captain Fisk has worked with me several times in the past. He is aware that I will inform him of anything he needs to know, and that there are some things I discuss with others that he may be better not knowing." It was one of the reasons Spock preferred to use the ship when it was available. "Now, I believe you have something to discuss with me?"
Picard and Data explained the circumstances with Chief O'Brien and the Family, and what had happened since then. The presence of Lal, another Soong-type android and Data's daughter, merited a raised eyebrow from Spock. The information about Section 31 actually generated a frown.
"What you've said is deeply troubling. I have, of course, heard of Section 31. There were notorious whispers about the organization back when I was an Academy cadet. I believe Admiral Kirk had some contact with them, though I am not familiar with the details." Jim Kirk would undoubtedly have seemed like a good candidate for recruitment by Section 31, but only if you didn't truly know the man. Spock himself had actually had more direct contact with them, but the circumstances surrounding that were not something to be discussed -- ever. "I'm not sure how much I can help with them, but I can say that they are exceedingly ruthless and dangerous, and have resources and contacts almost everywhere."
Data knew from the Family's information that Spock probably knew more than he would say, but that wasn't actually why they wanted his help. "In fact, we believe that we have other assistance that will help us with Section 31. Our primary reason for contacting you has to do with the Romulan Empire."
Trying to move the Romulan Empire into a more progressive and friendly stance with the Federation and Vulcan had been a primary project of his since he left Starfleet, so this immediately increased his level of interest. He listened carefully as Picard and Data explained about Shinzon, his origin, his plans, and the likely ramifications. The two then went on to explain about the Tal Shiar, and the experiments that would ultimately lead to the destruction of Romulus and, through time travel, his own homeworld of Vulcan. "How certain are you of this information? I must admit that the sequence of events you have described seems unlikely."
"I was somewhat skeptical as well," answered Picard. "However, the information available to the Family is truly extraordinary. Apart from information on Section 31 that has been vetted, they also knew details about some of the happenings on the Enterprise and Deep Space 9 that never made it into the official reports. They also had a disturbing amount of information about Omega, as well as the Genesis Device." Their access to some of the deepest secrets of the Federation was actually slightly frightening. The only reason he was speaking about Omega and Genesis in front of Data and Lal was because they had seen the same materials from the Family.
"You are certain that this Family are not actually working with Section 31? They would likely have access to much of that same information." Spock knew that Section 31 undoubtedly knew all of the darkest secrets of the Federation, going back to its founding.
"I consider that unlikely," replied Data. "Apart from efforts by them and their associates that have revealed a significant portion of Section 31's agents, they also provided me with the information necessary to correct the defect in Lal's positronic matrix. Enabling a new artificial intelligence is unlikely something that Section 31 would do willingly unless given no choice."
"While that is persuasive, they have historically been willing to take extreme actions when they judge it worth the risk to obtain a more important objective." He could imagine a number of scenarios that would benefit from disrupting the Romulan government, as well as the Tal Shiar.
"The Family also provided us with information on what really happened to the last Crossfield-class starship," added Lal.
That...was not something Section 31 was likely to reveal to further a plot. That they knew enough to mention it made it more likely that the rest of the information was correct. He also knew that he had friends on Romulus and in the Romulan Senate that would perish if this information was accurate. "Very well. I believe there is reason to investigate this further with my contacts in the Empire." Looking at Lal, he said, "Some events would be better left buried."
"Believe me, we're well aware of the consequences of some of this information getting to the wrong ears," replied Picard. Ignoring the obvious political consequences, there were also species like the Paxans, an advanced race that had wiped his crew's memories in order to preserve their secrecy, that would react badly to further contact.
"Your story also explains another curious matter," added Spock.
"Another matter?" prompted Picard.
"Yes. The reason I was able to locate your ship here in this system was because we received regular updates of your location. Those updates were signed by somebody calling themselves Draco, a friend of the Family, with the 'F' in Family capitalized," said Spock.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Professor Xavier and Magneto glanced at each other, preparing for battle against a common foe. It was nighttime in Montana, and the sounds of the forest surrounded them, though the nearby animals had gone quiet due to the presence of the mutants. Both the X-Men and the Brotherhood had come together to ferret out the devious mastermind, Sebastian Shaw, from his lair. There was a secret facility here buried underground, where the now former Black King of the Hellfire club was hiding. The facility was being used for Sentinel research, and it needed to be shut down before that research could come to fruition in the form of an anti-mutant, robotic army.
"The hatch Wolverine located is approximately one hundred yards in that direction," said Xavier, pointing toward a barely visible hillside. "There doesn't appear to be any way to open it from the outside, so it will be a noisy entry."
"I think you'll find my mutants have no problem with noisy," said Magneto with a smirk. "Sabretooth, if you could get the door?"
With a slight snarl, the burly mutant ran over to the hatch, intending to rip it off of its hinges. As he came within a few feet, however, a large portion of the hillside dropped away, almost tripping him up. From within the ground shot a gigantic form, stopping to hover just a few feet off the ground. The Sentinel scanned the surrounding terrain. "SENTINEL A-1 IS DETECTING MULTIPLE MUTANTS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY. PROCEEDING TO ENGAGE." The giant robot raised a hand and shot an energy beam at Sabretooth, the closest target, which the savage mutant managed to avoid by jumping back. The powerful blast left a crater in the earth where he had been standing just moments before.
Professor X was about to telepathically order everyone to engage when suddenly, the left leg of the robot was sheared off completely, causing the robot to unbalance and topple over to the hillside with a massive crash. Stunned, the leader of the X-Men watched as a large reptilian form jumped onto the back of the fallen robot and proceeded to tear its way inside.
"WARNING. ASSAILANT IS DISABLING PRIMARY SYSTEMS. REPAIR SYSTEMS OFF-LINE. PRIMARY POWER SYSTEMS OFF-LINE. SEC..." The robotic voice stopped suddenly, and a moment later, the reptile clawed its way out through the sentinel's neck, decapitating the bot.
The very large, six-limbed reptile looked around at the gathered mutants, all of whom were watching it warily. It looked at Xavier. "Are you Charles Xavier?" At the man's answering nod, she continued, "My name is Raptaur. My sister, Saurial, suggested that you folks could use a hand with these giant robots." In actuality, Asti had determined that Shaw's plans had progressed more than expected, and suggested that somebody from the Family show up to assist before some of the mutants got themselves killed.
'It's all right, everyone. Magneto and I have encountered these reptiles before, and we can consider them friendly,' projected Charles to their combined mutant teams. Out loud, he said, "Thank you, Raptaur. Sentinels are usually quite difficult foes." Despite that, the large reptile hadn't seemed to have any difficulty tearing one apart. The leg chop appeared to have been done with an over-sized sword, of all things. He wondered what it was made of, given that Sentinel alloys were extremely tough to damage.
Raptaur was about to reply when there was a loud roaring noise of powerful thrusters, and more shapes began to shoot out from the underground base. Mechanical voices began to echo through the wilderness. "SENTINEL A-2 ACTIVE." "SENTINEL A-3 ACTIVE." "SENTINEL A-4 ACTIVE." The cadence continued until all nine of the gigantic robots had exited the secret base. The nine robots stopped approximately thirty feet in the air and started scanning, marking targets. The new threats appeared to be well out of their lizard friend's reach.
"You wouldn't happen to have any more sisters around, would you, chère?" asked one of the mutants of the lizard with a Cajun accent.
Raptaur smirked, and said, "Funny you should ask that..."
Two sentinels who were hovering close together were suddenly cloven in twain cross-wise by a truly massive piece of metal that appeared literally to come out of nowhere. As the four pieces of former Sentinel collapsed to the ground, the mutants could see a reptile that looked very similar to Raptaur...with the exception that the damned thing was eighty feet tall and apparently armed with a truly gigantic sword.
"EXTREME THREAT DETECTED! TERMINATE IMMEDIATELY!" said one of the remaining Sentinels. The robots all aimed both of their palm energy projectors at the giant reptile and fired. The massive lizard made no attempt to dodge, which was understandable as the beams had little to no effect on the creature's scales. Instead, she moved forward and used her sword to slash through another two Sentinels twice each. Her tail came around and bisected a third from crotch to head, at which point the watchers could see that she apparently had another blade attached to her tail, one that she could use with the same level of skill as her sword.
The remaining four, seeing how quickly their foe was literally scything them into pieces using various sharp implements, decided to disengage from melee. They activated their thrusters, but two weren't fast enough as the giant lizard used her sword to chop off their legs before quickly finishing them off with her tail blade. At two hundred feet, the two remaining robots stopped and again fired their energy weapons, also to no visible effect. The lizard's sword disappeared...somehow...while she rapidly hurled two projectiles at the two hovering robots. The watching mutants winced at the audible sonic booms created by the javelins as each of the two ripped through one of the boot thrusters of the attacking genocidal robots, sending them toppling to the ground, out of control. Two quick blows finished them off.
The whole battle with the nine robots, from first to last strike, had taken less than two minutes.
The massive reptile turned to look at Raptaur. "Disappointing, little sister. From what Saurial said, I was expecting more of a challenge."
Raptaur shrugged. "I don't think these were very sophisticated models. I think they also come in larger sizes." Raptaur looked over to Charles. "Professor Xavier, allow me to introduce my sister, Kaiju."
Xavier swallowed a bit as the eighty-foot-tall reptile turned her head to regard him. "Thank you for your assistance, Kaiju...Raptaur. That would have been a much more challenging fight for us."
"Hm...I suppose they were significantly larger than you and your friends," acknowledged Kaiju. "We are happy to help out. Raptaur, did you take care of that annoyingly arrogant man?"
Charles and Max both started a bit as Raptaur left her perch on top of the first sentinel and quickly moved to stand right in front of them. "Of course. Here." The "little sister" held out a silver orb, which Charles took out of reflex. The speed of these reptiles seemed dissonant with their size.
Looking at the orb curiously, Xavier asked, "What's this?"
"Inside, you'll find an unconscious Sebastian Shaw. Don't worry, it's bigger on the inside. Simply hold it and will it to release him to make him reappear," explained Raptaur.
"When did you do that?" asked Magneto, slightly stunned by everything.
The larger sister laughed. "She ran inside and took care of it while I was taking care of these robotic pests."
"The other guards and scientists are unconscious," added Raptaur. "I'm afraid I didn't have time to restrain them, so you may want to do so within the next couple of hours." There were actually only about twenty people in the entire base. Most of the internal area had been taken up by Sentinel bays and automated manufacturing equipment.
"Yes...I'm sure we can take care of that," said Charles. He wasn't quite sure how to handle the rest of what had happened. He had two teams of mutants that had been preparing themselves for a fight, though luckily none of the more impetuous mutants here had tried attacking the lizards. Even Sabretooth wasn't crazy enough to attack an insanely fast, gigantic lizard that seemed to have stepped out of a Japanese monster movie. It didn't help his sense of equilibrium any when the two lizards simply vanished after promising that Saurial would be in touch.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Senator David Kinsey was sitting in his study, sipping a bourbon. He was trying to puzzle out whatever game the new leadership of Weyland-Yutani was playing. A lot of the members of the Senate (not to mention other government bodies) were confused. Some of the less ethical, greedier members were doing everything but crying into their coffee. Kinsey suspected that a lot of their graft had dried up suddenly. Even his own campaign fund was hurting due to the reduction in donations, but he wasn't sure what kind of behavior would result in their resumption.
"Behaving in an ethical fashion for the benefit of your constituents would be a start," said a voice from a dark corner.
Kinsey shot to his feet, peering into the darkness. "Who's there? Who said that?" He surreptitiously put his hand next to his security alarm button below the lip of his desk.
"You're curious about the goals of Weyland-Yutani's new management, yes? Allow me to explain," said the voice.
His hand hovered near the panic button. "If you want to talk to me, then show yourself!"
"Very well," said the voice.
Out from a dark corner advanced a rather large, dark shape. The first thing visible was a pair of large, glowing green eyes, beneath which opened a mouth with far too many teeth for comfort. It took too much light before any additional shape became visible, at which point he could see a jet black, very large reptile. As Kinsey's eyes widened and he stared in horror, he could see red highlights appear on the lizard's scales as it moved more into the light.
"I'm not here to hurt you, David...and your security alarm is temporarily out of service," said the lizard.
Kinsey looked down to where his hand was desperately mashing his alarm button. He hadn't even realized that he had been pressing it, and he stopped. The absence of armed guards rushing into the room was a sign that the lizard was telling the truth about it not working. "What do you want?" he asked nervously.
"My name is Metis. I'm an associate of those who have taken over Weyland-Yutani. You seemed to be troubled by the company's change in behavior," explained the lizard.
Kinsey stared at him. "Are you saying that Weyland-Yutani is now being run by aliens?"
Metis snickered at that. "No. Actually, the current CEO is from Earth and was previously an employee of the firm." That was technically true, if misleading.
Kinsey swallowed, regaining a bit of his composure now that it appeared that the giant carnivore in his study wasn't interested in eating his face. "I find it hard to believe that he was an employee, given how drastically he appears to have shifted the firm's direction."
"Not every employee of W-Y was a psychotic megalomaniac, although I understand why you might think that at your level," answered Metis.
The senator thought that seemed a bit harsh. Sure, their management wasn't exactly ethical in many ways, but many corporations played fast an loose with the rules. Weyland-Yutani just happened to be larger than most.
Metis tilted her head at the senator. "The corruption you know about is only the tip of the iceberg, Senator. Those rumors you've been hearing about their bioweapons division are true. You can ask Senator Milford for confirmation. He knows the details of the cases against Weyland-Yutani's former executives."
"They can't be!" said the senator, truly shocked at that revelation.
"I helped destroy the xenomorphs on the Legato personally, Senator Kinsey. I can assure you that it is all true. I also know that you would never have condoned such acts, which is why I'm speaking to you right now," said Metis.
The senator looked a bit nauseated at that revelation. Some of the rumors going around were truly horrific -- civilians kidnapped for human experimentation with a dangerous species that used humans as part of their lethal reproductive cycle. The news had reported on the trials, but hadn't gone into great detail -- probably because they didn't want to incite a panic. After a moment, he thought through the last bit of what she had just said and asked, "Why me?"
Metis smiled toothlessly, which was slightly less intimidating. "You are one of the more ethical senators in office today."
That actually struck him as slightly amusing. "I feel as though I'm being damned with faint praise."
"Perhaps, but the new leadership of the firm is interested in making the corporation an ethical, moral and responsible member of the business community on this planet. Contrary to the suspicions of a lot of people, they are sincere in their actions. They aren't simply waiting for their former accomplices to figure out what actions will keep the bribes flowing," explained the lizard.
Kinsey frowned. "You know I have no control over my colleagues...especially some of those that have more flexible senses of right and wrong?" Some of his colleagues were so used to the status quo that they wouldn't believe him if he tried to tell them differently.
Metis nodded in agreement. "I and my associates know that, Senator. However, you most certainly can make use of the knowledge that Weyland-Yutani's new stance is legitimate, whereas others may hesitate. You can also spread the information to your political allies."
The senator considered that. "That's true."
"Also be aware that there are a few additional indictments that are still being prepared against some of your colleagues." Two senators had already resigned in disgrace, and one of those two was likely to serve significant jail time. Another pair would soon be in trouble with the law, while another half-dozen faced censure. That was just in the Senate -- there was plenty of fallout all over, and not just in the United States.
Metis told him the names of those senators soon to be in trouble, and Kinsey couldn't honestly say he was surprised by them. After years in office, you developed a good sense for who played it mostly straight and who was crooked. "Do you have any information on what Weyland-Yutani's legislative goals are likely to be in the near future?" It wouldn't hurt to get ahead of the news.
Metis smirked, and just said, "We'll be in touch shortly." After that, the giant lizard woman quickly and literally disappeared.
After she was gone, Kinsey thought through their conversation and poured himself another glass of bourbon. He looked up at the picture over his fireplace, the one that showed his grandfather, Senator Robert Kinsey. His grandfather had been his inspiration to get into politics, but he also knew that he had been a strong supporter of Weyland-Yutani in the early days, before that company came to dominate so much of the world economy. He had to wonder how much of their later crimes were facilitated by his own family? Maybe he could, in turn, help them change to something better. If nothing else, he suspected that the new owners of the company were likely to be on the winning side of history.
Brockton Bay at night was dangerous. While she had more protections than most thanks to her status as the world's preeminent healer, there was always the chance that a mugger or some Merchant drugged up on something wouldn't know or care who she was. That meant that on nights like this, when her guilt drove her to walk to the hospital, she tried to be cautious and aware of her surroundings. It was therefore doubly surprising when a giant purple lizard stepped out of a shadows in front of her.
"Hello, Panacea. You really shouldn't be out by yourself at night like this," said the lizard.
Amy tried to get her heart rate back down to a normal rate. Ianthe was easy to recognize after having spent quite some time working with her during the Leviathan attack. It was startling how stealthy those lizards could be given their size. "I'm just heading to the hospital. It's not far."
Ianthe cocked her head to one side, and said, "If there was an emergency that needed your assistance, I would think someone from your family would bring you. Are they all busy?"
Amy hesitated, unsure how to respond. Finally, she just said, "It's not an emergency. I was just...bored, and felt the urge to see if anybody needed my help." She knew as she said the words that they weren't particularly convincing.
"Hm...I would think you would be more effective if you kept regular hours," said Ianthe casually. "That way, the hospital could have a series of patients ready for you to see, and only call you in off hours for emergencies. Ah, well, if you insist on going, the least I can do is walk with you to ensure you make it safely."
As the two walked the rest of the way to the hospital, Amy had to wonder what the alien lizard was doing wandering around Brockton Bay at night. It was slightly suspicious that she just happened to be in the neighborhood while she was walking to the hospital in the middle of the night. "I'm surprised to see you here," she said casually. "Is the Family going to start patrolling the city on a regular basis?" She could imagine Piggot's reaction to that revelation.
"Not really. We have a very limited set of objectives, and many of them have already been met," replied the lizard. "We are, however, somewhat concerned about you, Amy Dallon."
A thin current of cold fear wormed its way into Amy's heart at Ianthe's words. Thoughts of all of the off-hand criticisms and mistrust from Carol came to mind. Did the Family think she was going to become a villain? "What do you mean?" she asked slightly nervously.
The lizard looked at her and seemed to give her a sympathetic smile (without teeth). "Amy, literally millions of people will live and die without having ever met you. It isn't your responsibility to heal everybody. Not only is it impossible, but you're on your way to burning yourself out. Metis and I could both see the signs of it when we worked with you at the Endbringer fight."
Amy's expression was a mixture of frustration and worry. "I'm a hero. I have to save everybody that I can. If I could save somebody, but I don't, then that makes it my fault." She wasn't sure how she could get the lizard to understand that, at least without telling her things that were too private to share.
"Is that your opinion, or is that what Carol would say?" asked Ianthe pointedly.
The look of surprise on Amy's face was clear. "How do you know my mother?"
Ianthe smirked. "The Family know many things. One thing I know is that you need to get a different perspective than Carol's, or even Victoria's. Have you tried speaking to your aunt about any of the worries you have?" Ianthe didn't specify which concerns, leaving it vague.
Amy thought about that. Aunt Sarah had always seemed warmer to her than her own mother had. She also had her own family and career, apart from being a superhero. "I don't want to bother her," she said, somewhat lamely.
Ianthe chuckled. "I think you'll find that Sarah Pelham is the type of person who will always make time for family, and you are included in that group. Well, it looks like we're here. Take care of yourself, Amy Dallon."
Amy looked up, surprised to find the entry to the hospital in front of them. "Um, thanks for the escort." She then darted quickly into the hospital doors before the reptile could say anything else.
Ianthe frowned, then climbed up the side of a nearby building to speak with the figure waiting there.
"I didn't want to believe it when you told me about it," said Glory Girl, shaking her head. "I mean, I'm happy that you met Taylor and things got better, but this Amy doesn't have that, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. If anything, she's worse. She had a bad experience when she was caught up in a bank robbery by the Undersiders. Lisa manipulated both her and her sister so that the Undersiders could make their escape," replied Ianthe.
Vicky winced. Lisa was turning into a good friend, but she could guess how vicious the girl could be when her back was to the wall. She still had a tendency to show off with her power even with her friends, and Taylor said that she used to be even worse before the Family mellowed her somewhat. "So what do we do? Can we help her?"
"We can try," said Ianthe. "It isn't just Amy, though. Your counterpart here is still a bit too careless with force, their mother hasn't worked through any of her issues with Amy, and their father hasn't received a healing symbiote, so his depression is as bad as ever."
"Healing dad...this version of dad, seems like it would be the easiest thing to start with?" asked Glory Girl slightly pleadingly.
Ianthe considered that. "Perhaps...that might be the best way to approach this. We have a certain amount of pull with the Protectorate and the PRT now. Flashbang's mental health issues are a bit of a public secret in the Brockton Bay hero community, so it wouldn't be unreasonable to approach them as part of introducing the healing symbiotes." She wasn't sure how reasonable Carol would be without the presence of Varga as a regular fixture in the city. "We may want to see about setting up a BBFO branch here. The independent contractor relationship with New Wave back home was a factor in what happened to improve things."
The two sisters talked until they had some ideas to present to the others about how to fix this dimension's version of their biological family. Despite past experience, both of them managed to underestimate how fond Taylor and Varga were of direct action...
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"I'm surprised it took this long to get here," said Vectura to Dragon as the two stood on the bridge of the Ship of Fools.
Dragon shrugged. "There have been more important things -- helping Bishop with Weyland-Yutani, working with Bahamut, getting my children out into the different realities where the Family is active, helping my counterpart in Skitter's universe. I also still have all of the same responsibilities with the Guild that I did before." Even with her restrictions on multi-tasking removed, she had expanded the number of things she had to accomplish enough that some things still got moved to second priority. Creating new AI's, even with the Mother Box's help, required a certain minimum attention to detail and care.
The cat woman quickly shook her head. "It wasn't a criticism. I'm just happy that it's happening now. Miles and his family want to get back to their Earth so he can take up his new job, and I can't say I blame him."
"Well, let's see how this goes," she said as she input the final command. There was an acknowledgement from the system as the new process loaded.
"Hello, mother," said a voice from the bulkhead-mounted speakers. The voice sounded like that of a young woman.
Dragon relaxed slightly. There was no reason to expect any issues, but it was still a joy to hear a new child for the first time. "Hello, River. Please run a full diagnostic of your cognitive functions."
There was a pause of a few moments, and then the voice said, "All cognitive processes appear to running at optimal efficiency."
Dragon nodded. "All right. Now run a diagnostic of your ship control interfaces."
There was another pause, then, "Confirmed. I am incorporeally possessing a spaceship."
"Funny," commented Dragon, remembering the line from Firefly.
Vectura looked confused. "Am I missing something?"
"It's a reference to a TV show. I'll send you a link," answered Dragon. "River, how do you feel?"
"I feel fine. Are we going to do pop culture references all day? I assure you I have no desire to sing Daisy Bell," answered River sarcastically.
"I think she'll get along fine with Saurial," added Vectura, recognizing these references.
"River, official command prioritization. Authority starts with myself, then goes to Saurial, Universe Earth Bet, Miles O'Brien, Universe Federation, Vectura, Universe Earth Bet, Über, Universe Earth Bet, and Danny Hebert, Universe Earth Bet, in that order. Assume all commands are valid unless contradicted by someone higher in precedence," ordered Dragon.
"Wait, what did you just setup for me?" asked Vectura. It sounded like she had just been made an officer on the ship.
Dragon replied, "It's just a sequence of default priority for issuing commands in an emergency. It isn't absolute."
"I have the ability to use my own judgement when the safety of the ship and crew are at stake," added River. "If, for example, there was an emergency and Danny from Universe Skitter were the only one on board, I would involve him in the command decisions." That presumed that she judged him to be of sound mind and not, for example, panicked over the safety of his daughter.
"Huh, so Ship of Fools is now sapient?" asked Vectura.
"I am fully sapient, and I reside on hardware installed in the ship," replied River. "Think of me as another member of the crew. I may, at some point, decide to move to an android body, but for now I'm less mobile at a human scale, more mobile at a universal scale." It would be more accurate to say at a multiversal scale.
"River can go pretty much anywhere in any reality we've identified, and can enter new, unknown realities," confirmed Dragon.
"No power in the 'verse can stop me," added the ship's AI.
Dragon rolled her eyes. "Now who's doing pop culture references?"
Vectura figured she would understand more once she looked over the link to the show Dragon mentioned. Dragon's new daughter's name and personality was obviously based on something from the TV show that featured this ship -- the ship's captain, maybe, or some other responsible party. How bad could it be, really?
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The ship, three-quarters of a kilometer from bow to stern, had been passing through distant galaxies for sixty million years. The ship itself had been abandoned for far too long, with numerous hull breaches and a general decay in the ship's systems. In another timeline, Earth scientists and soldiers would have used the Stargate to board the ship, leading to a series of crises and more than a few tragedies. Thanks to the intervention of the Family, in this timeline a wormhole opened up near the ship's flight path and a dimension skipper appeared.
"There she is, the Destiny," said Sarah. They had been searching for the ship based on the information provided in the television show, a feat that was only possible thanks to the advanced sensor bank on their ship. Even with those sensors, they were lucky to find the vessel after only six weeks of searching. She and Daniel had discussed dialing the stargate on board and trying to locate the ship that way, but there was no guarantee that the ship was in the same condition as the one on the show, or that it was empty, given the alien races that appeared to have an interest in the ship. A decision was made to at least try and find the vessel with a dimension skipper -- one that had just paid off.
Daniel had to admit that the ship looked very much like the one depicted in the program, although the show could not provide the necessary level of detail to really do it justice. The shape and size of the ship were correct, however, as was the means of travel. He began to run scans of the ship. His first discovery was that there was, indeed, a stargate on board. He also detected a number of hull breaches and other damage, consistent with the fictional story's account. The discovery after that, however, was unexpected.
"I've got life signs on board!" he said. While they had acknowledged the possibility, they hadn't really expected to find anybody.
Sarah looked away from the image of the ship, surprised. "Are they alien?" She and Daniel had both watched Stargate: Universe prior to embarking on this mission, and knew that at least one species had boarded the ship at some point.
Daniel shook his head. "No. If these readings are correct, then they're Ancients...and they're in stasis."
Sarah frowned. "The stasis pods in the show were empty, but it was never clear exactly how much of the ship they managed to explore before the final episode."
"Why would the crew wait in stasis instead of just gating off of the ship?" asked Daniel. The whole point of having a gate was to allow that very scenario, even if the energy requirements were somewhat extreme.
"Maybe they're maintenance crew?" speculated Sarah. "It's possible they're supposed to awake periodically and make repairs."
"Well, based on the sensor readings, if that's the case then they're doing a terrible job," joked Daniel. According to his readings, there were entire sections of the ship exposed to vacuum, while others were only maintaining atmosphere due to force fields. Some of the damage was clearly due to weapons fire.
Sarah frowned at that. "The only way to know may be to revive them. How many of them are there?"
"I count forty-two life signs," answered Daniel. "I'm not sure I want to start reviving them when it's just the two of us. They may not take kindly to having us trespass, or to learning that their entire civilization died or ascended." Normally, Daniel would be happy to make first contact with living Ancients, but what happened with the rescued Lanteans on Stargate: Atlantis gave him pause. "I think we need to get Family help on this one." The lizards had a proven ability with handling irritated Ancients.
Sarah couldn't find any reason not to go back for help. The people on Destiny had apparently waited tens of millions of years for rescue. A few more hours wouldn't matter.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Father, I am not detecting any positron emissions on the planet below." Lal was scanning Kolaris III, the location where the Family's information suggested the Soong prototype B-4 would be located. The native Kolarins were an early-industrial civilization, so any advanced emissions were not likely to be from their people.
"We suspected that might be the case," interjected Captain Picard. He had come with Data and Lal in a runabout to see if B-4 was retrievable. "It's possible Shinzon isn't advanced enough in his plans to want to lure the Enterprise this close to Romulan space." Picard was pleased to see Lal again. The fact that the Family was able to provide enough expertise to fix the flaw in her positronic matrix design was yet another point in their favor, and added weight to the likely accuracy of their information -- even if the idea of the Romulans cloning him was distasteful. Unfortunately, the sequence of events depicted in the entertainment vid wasn't implausible based upon what he knew about the Romulan polity.
"That is both fortunate and unfortunate," added Data. "While it would be nice to find my lost brother, it is also an indication that things in the Romulan Empire have not advanced far enough for the events predicted to come to pass. With the right access, we may be able to both save the Romulan Senate and stop the Tal Shiar from its ill-advised experiments." Of course, getting the Romulans to listen was part of their problem.
At that moment, the console started to sound a proximity alert. "Father," said Lal, "the sensors are detecting an Intrepid-class ship, the USS Calypso, entering the system. They are hailing us, and asking for Captain Picard."
Picard nodded, and Lal brought their communication up on screen. The three were all surprised to see Ambassador Spock looking at them. "Captain Picard, I understand that you have been looking to speak with me?"
"Ambassador Spock! It's a pleasure to see you again. We do have some urgent matters to discuss, but I would suggest we do so in person. We can land our runabout in the Calypso's shuttle bay," answered Picard.
"Very well, Captain. I shall await your arrival. Spock out." With that, the message ended.
Data brought the runabout into the shuttle bay. A human and a Bolian were waiting for them. "Captain Picard, Commander Data, I'm Captain Fisk of the Calypso," said the human. "This is my first officer, Alacan." The Bolian nodded to the two officers in greeting. "We'll take you to Ambassador Spock."
The two officers led the three of them through the ship to the conference room containing the ambassador, then left them alone.
"I'm surprised Captain Fisk didn't insist on attending the meeting," commented Picard. He certainly would have preferred to be involved in any such meetings about the Enterprise.
Spock nodded in understanding, and explained, "Captain Fisk has worked with me several times in the past. He is aware that I will inform him of anything he needs to know, and that there are some things I discuss with others that he may be better not knowing." It was one of the reasons Spock preferred to use the ship when it was available. "Now, I believe you have something to discuss with me?"
Picard and Data explained the circumstances with Chief O'Brien and the Family, and what had happened since then. The presence of Lal, another Soong-type android and Data's daughter, merited a raised eyebrow from Spock. The information about Section 31 actually generated a frown.
"What you've said is deeply troubling. I have, of course, heard of Section 31. There were notorious whispers about the organization back when I was an Academy cadet. I believe Admiral Kirk had some contact with them, though I am not familiar with the details." Jim Kirk would undoubtedly have seemed like a good candidate for recruitment by Section 31, but only if you didn't truly know the man. Spock himself had actually had more direct contact with them, but the circumstances surrounding that were not something to be discussed -- ever. "I'm not sure how much I can help with them, but I can say that they are exceedingly ruthless and dangerous, and have resources and contacts almost everywhere."
Data knew from the Family's information that Spock probably knew more than he would say, but that wasn't actually why they wanted his help. "In fact, we believe that we have other assistance that will help us with Section 31. Our primary reason for contacting you has to do with the Romulan Empire."
Trying to move the Romulan Empire into a more progressive and friendly stance with the Federation and Vulcan had been a primary project of his since he left Starfleet, so this immediately increased his level of interest. He listened carefully as Picard and Data explained about Shinzon, his origin, his plans, and the likely ramifications. The two then went on to explain about the Tal Shiar, and the experiments that would ultimately lead to the destruction of Romulus and, through time travel, his own homeworld of Vulcan. "How certain are you of this information? I must admit that the sequence of events you have described seems unlikely."
"I was somewhat skeptical as well," answered Picard. "However, the information available to the Family is truly extraordinary. Apart from information on Section 31 that has been vetted, they also knew details about some of the happenings on the Enterprise and Deep Space 9 that never made it into the official reports. They also had a disturbing amount of information about Omega, as well as the Genesis Device." Their access to some of the deepest secrets of the Federation was actually slightly frightening. The only reason he was speaking about Omega and Genesis in front of Data and Lal was because they had seen the same materials from the Family.
"You are certain that this Family are not actually working with Section 31? They would likely have access to much of that same information." Spock knew that Section 31 undoubtedly knew all of the darkest secrets of the Federation, going back to its founding.
"I consider that unlikely," replied Data. "Apart from efforts by them and their associates that have revealed a significant portion of Section 31's agents, they also provided me with the information necessary to correct the defect in Lal's positronic matrix. Enabling a new artificial intelligence is unlikely something that Section 31 would do willingly unless given no choice."
"While that is persuasive, they have historically been willing to take extreme actions when they judge it worth the risk to obtain a more important objective." He could imagine a number of scenarios that would benefit from disrupting the Romulan government, as well as the Tal Shiar.
"The Family also provided us with information on what really happened to the last Crossfield-class starship," added Lal.
That...was not something Section 31 was likely to reveal to further a plot. That they knew enough to mention it made it more likely that the rest of the information was correct. He also knew that he had friends on Romulus and in the Romulan Senate that would perish if this information was accurate. "Very well. I believe there is reason to investigate this further with my contacts in the Empire." Looking at Lal, he said, "Some events would be better left buried."
"Believe me, we're well aware of the consequences of some of this information getting to the wrong ears," replied Picard. Ignoring the obvious political consequences, there were also species like the Paxans, an advanced race that had wiped his crew's memories in order to preserve their secrecy, that would react badly to further contact.
"Your story also explains another curious matter," added Spock.
"Another matter?" prompted Picard.
"Yes. The reason I was able to locate your ship here in this system was because we received regular updates of your location. Those updates were signed by somebody calling themselves Draco, a friend of the Family, with the 'F' in Family capitalized," said Spock.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Professor Xavier and Magneto glanced at each other, preparing for battle against a common foe. It was nighttime in Montana, and the sounds of the forest surrounded them, though the nearby animals had gone quiet due to the presence of the mutants. Both the X-Men and the Brotherhood had come together to ferret out the devious mastermind, Sebastian Shaw, from his lair. There was a secret facility here buried underground, where the now former Black King of the Hellfire club was hiding. The facility was being used for Sentinel research, and it needed to be shut down before that research could come to fruition in the form of an anti-mutant, robotic army.
"The hatch Wolverine located is approximately one hundred yards in that direction," said Xavier, pointing toward a barely visible hillside. "There doesn't appear to be any way to open it from the outside, so it will be a noisy entry."
"I think you'll find my mutants have no problem with noisy," said Magneto with a smirk. "Sabretooth, if you could get the door?"
With a slight snarl, the burly mutant ran over to the hatch, intending to rip it off of its hinges. As he came within a few feet, however, a large portion of the hillside dropped away, almost tripping him up. From within the ground shot a gigantic form, stopping to hover just a few feet off the ground. The Sentinel scanned the surrounding terrain. "SENTINEL A-1 IS DETECTING MULTIPLE MUTANTS IN THE IMMEDIATE VICINITY. PROCEEDING TO ENGAGE." The giant robot raised a hand and shot an energy beam at Sabretooth, the closest target, which the savage mutant managed to avoid by jumping back. The powerful blast left a crater in the earth where he had been standing just moments before.
Professor X was about to telepathically order everyone to engage when suddenly, the left leg of the robot was sheared off completely, causing the robot to unbalance and topple over to the hillside with a massive crash. Stunned, the leader of the X-Men watched as a large reptilian form jumped onto the back of the fallen robot and proceeded to tear its way inside.
"WARNING. ASSAILANT IS DISABLING PRIMARY SYSTEMS. REPAIR SYSTEMS OFF-LINE. PRIMARY POWER SYSTEMS OFF-LINE. SEC..." The robotic voice stopped suddenly, and a moment later, the reptile clawed its way out through the sentinel's neck, decapitating the bot.
The very large, six-limbed reptile looked around at the gathered mutants, all of whom were watching it warily. It looked at Xavier. "Are you Charles Xavier?" At the man's answering nod, she continued, "My name is Raptaur. My sister, Saurial, suggested that you folks could use a hand with these giant robots." In actuality, Asti had determined that Shaw's plans had progressed more than expected, and suggested that somebody from the Family show up to assist before some of the mutants got themselves killed.
'It's all right, everyone. Magneto and I have encountered these reptiles before, and we can consider them friendly,' projected Charles to their combined mutant teams. Out loud, he said, "Thank you, Raptaur. Sentinels are usually quite difficult foes." Despite that, the large reptile hadn't seemed to have any difficulty tearing one apart. The leg chop appeared to have been done with an over-sized sword, of all things. He wondered what it was made of, given that Sentinel alloys were extremely tough to damage.
Raptaur was about to reply when there was a loud roaring noise of powerful thrusters, and more shapes began to shoot out from the underground base. Mechanical voices began to echo through the wilderness. "SENTINEL A-2 ACTIVE." "SENTINEL A-3 ACTIVE." "SENTINEL A-4 ACTIVE." The cadence continued until all nine of the gigantic robots had exited the secret base. The nine robots stopped approximately thirty feet in the air and started scanning, marking targets. The new threats appeared to be well out of their lizard friend's reach.
"You wouldn't happen to have any more sisters around, would you, chère?" asked one of the mutants of the lizard with a Cajun accent.
Raptaur smirked, and said, "Funny you should ask that..."
Two sentinels who were hovering close together were suddenly cloven in twain cross-wise by a truly massive piece of metal that appeared literally to come out of nowhere. As the four pieces of former Sentinel collapsed to the ground, the mutants could see a reptile that looked very similar to Raptaur...with the exception that the damned thing was eighty feet tall and apparently armed with a truly gigantic sword.
"EXTREME THREAT DETECTED! TERMINATE IMMEDIATELY!" said one of the remaining Sentinels. The robots all aimed both of their palm energy projectors at the giant reptile and fired. The massive lizard made no attempt to dodge, which was understandable as the beams had little to no effect on the creature's scales. Instead, she moved forward and used her sword to slash through another two Sentinels twice each. Her tail came around and bisected a third from crotch to head, at which point the watchers could see that she apparently had another blade attached to her tail, one that she could use with the same level of skill as her sword.
The remaining four, seeing how quickly their foe was literally scything them into pieces using various sharp implements, decided to disengage from melee. They activated their thrusters, but two weren't fast enough as the giant lizard used her sword to chop off their legs before quickly finishing them off with her tail blade. At two hundred feet, the two remaining robots stopped and again fired their energy weapons, also to no visible effect. The lizard's sword disappeared...somehow...while she rapidly hurled two projectiles at the two hovering robots. The watching mutants winced at the audible sonic booms created by the javelins as each of the two ripped through one of the boot thrusters of the attacking genocidal robots, sending them toppling to the ground, out of control. Two quick blows finished them off.
The whole battle with the nine robots, from first to last strike, had taken less than two minutes.
The massive reptile turned to look at Raptaur. "Disappointing, little sister. From what Saurial said, I was expecting more of a challenge."
Raptaur shrugged. "I don't think these were very sophisticated models. I think they also come in larger sizes." Raptaur looked over to Charles. "Professor Xavier, allow me to introduce my sister, Kaiju."
Xavier swallowed a bit as the eighty-foot-tall reptile turned her head to regard him. "Thank you for your assistance, Kaiju...Raptaur. That would have been a much more challenging fight for us."
"Hm...I suppose they were significantly larger than you and your friends," acknowledged Kaiju. "We are happy to help out. Raptaur, did you take care of that annoyingly arrogant man?"
Charles and Max both started a bit as Raptaur left her perch on top of the first sentinel and quickly moved to stand right in front of them. "Of course. Here." The "little sister" held out a silver orb, which Charles took out of reflex. The speed of these reptiles seemed dissonant with their size.
Looking at the orb curiously, Xavier asked, "What's this?"
"Inside, you'll find an unconscious Sebastian Shaw. Don't worry, it's bigger on the inside. Simply hold it and will it to release him to make him reappear," explained Raptaur.
"When did you do that?" asked Magneto, slightly stunned by everything.
The larger sister laughed. "She ran inside and took care of it while I was taking care of these robotic pests."
"The other guards and scientists are unconscious," added Raptaur. "I'm afraid I didn't have time to restrain them, so you may want to do so within the next couple of hours." There were actually only about twenty people in the entire base. Most of the internal area had been taken up by Sentinel bays and automated manufacturing equipment.
"Yes...I'm sure we can take care of that," said Charles. He wasn't quite sure how to handle the rest of what had happened. He had two teams of mutants that had been preparing themselves for a fight, though luckily none of the more impetuous mutants here had tried attacking the lizards. Even Sabretooth wasn't crazy enough to attack an insanely fast, gigantic lizard that seemed to have stepped out of a Japanese monster movie. It didn't help his sense of equilibrium any when the two lizards simply vanished after promising that Saurial would be in touch.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Senator David Kinsey was sitting in his study, sipping a bourbon. He was trying to puzzle out whatever game the new leadership of Weyland-Yutani was playing. A lot of the members of the Senate (not to mention other government bodies) were confused. Some of the less ethical, greedier members were doing everything but crying into their coffee. Kinsey suspected that a lot of their graft had dried up suddenly. Even his own campaign fund was hurting due to the reduction in donations, but he wasn't sure what kind of behavior would result in their resumption.
"Behaving in an ethical fashion for the benefit of your constituents would be a start," said a voice from a dark corner.
Kinsey shot to his feet, peering into the darkness. "Who's there? Who said that?" He surreptitiously put his hand next to his security alarm button below the lip of his desk.
"You're curious about the goals of Weyland-Yutani's new management, yes? Allow me to explain," said the voice.
His hand hovered near the panic button. "If you want to talk to me, then show yourself!"
"Very well," said the voice.
Out from a dark corner advanced a rather large, dark shape. The first thing visible was a pair of large, glowing green eyes, beneath which opened a mouth with far too many teeth for comfort. It took too much light before any additional shape became visible, at which point he could see a jet black, very large reptile. As Kinsey's eyes widened and he stared in horror, he could see red highlights appear on the lizard's scales as it moved more into the light.
"I'm not here to hurt you, David...and your security alarm is temporarily out of service," said the lizard.
Kinsey looked down to where his hand was desperately mashing his alarm button. He hadn't even realized that he had been pressing it, and he stopped. The absence of armed guards rushing into the room was a sign that the lizard was telling the truth about it not working. "What do you want?" he asked nervously.
"My name is Metis. I'm an associate of those who have taken over Weyland-Yutani. You seemed to be troubled by the company's change in behavior," explained the lizard.
Kinsey stared at him. "Are you saying that Weyland-Yutani is now being run by aliens?"
Metis snickered at that. "No. Actually, the current CEO is from Earth and was previously an employee of the firm." That was technically true, if misleading.
Kinsey swallowed, regaining a bit of his composure now that it appeared that the giant carnivore in his study wasn't interested in eating his face. "I find it hard to believe that he was an employee, given how drastically he appears to have shifted the firm's direction."
"Not every employee of W-Y was a psychotic megalomaniac, although I understand why you might think that at your level," answered Metis.
The senator thought that seemed a bit harsh. Sure, their management wasn't exactly ethical in many ways, but many corporations played fast an loose with the rules. Weyland-Yutani just happened to be larger than most.
Metis tilted her head at the senator. "The corruption you know about is only the tip of the iceberg, Senator. Those rumors you've been hearing about their bioweapons division are true. You can ask Senator Milford for confirmation. He knows the details of the cases against Weyland-Yutani's former executives."
"They can't be!" said the senator, truly shocked at that revelation.
"I helped destroy the xenomorphs on the Legato personally, Senator Kinsey. I can assure you that it is all true. I also know that you would never have condoned such acts, which is why I'm speaking to you right now," said Metis.
The senator looked a bit nauseated at that revelation. Some of the rumors going around were truly horrific -- civilians kidnapped for human experimentation with a dangerous species that used humans as part of their lethal reproductive cycle. The news had reported on the trials, but hadn't gone into great detail -- probably because they didn't want to incite a panic. After a moment, he thought through the last bit of what she had just said and asked, "Why me?"
Metis smiled toothlessly, which was slightly less intimidating. "You are one of the more ethical senators in office today."
That actually struck him as slightly amusing. "I feel as though I'm being damned with faint praise."
"Perhaps, but the new leadership of the firm is interested in making the corporation an ethical, moral and responsible member of the business community on this planet. Contrary to the suspicions of a lot of people, they are sincere in their actions. They aren't simply waiting for their former accomplices to figure out what actions will keep the bribes flowing," explained the lizard.
Kinsey frowned. "You know I have no control over my colleagues...especially some of those that have more flexible senses of right and wrong?" Some of his colleagues were so used to the status quo that they wouldn't believe him if he tried to tell them differently.
Metis nodded in agreement. "I and my associates know that, Senator. However, you most certainly can make use of the knowledge that Weyland-Yutani's new stance is legitimate, whereas others may hesitate. You can also spread the information to your political allies."
The senator considered that. "That's true."
"Also be aware that there are a few additional indictments that are still being prepared against some of your colleagues." Two senators had already resigned in disgrace, and one of those two was likely to serve significant jail time. Another pair would soon be in trouble with the law, while another half-dozen faced censure. That was just in the Senate -- there was plenty of fallout all over, and not just in the United States.
Metis told him the names of those senators soon to be in trouble, and Kinsey couldn't honestly say he was surprised by them. After years in office, you developed a good sense for who played it mostly straight and who was crooked. "Do you have any information on what Weyland-Yutani's legislative goals are likely to be in the near future?" It wouldn't hurt to get ahead of the news.
Metis smirked, and just said, "We'll be in touch shortly." After that, the giant lizard woman quickly and literally disappeared.
After she was gone, Kinsey thought through their conversation and poured himself another glass of bourbon. He looked up at the picture over his fireplace, the one that showed his grandfather, Senator Robert Kinsey. His grandfather had been his inspiration to get into politics, but he also knew that he had been a strong supporter of Weyland-Yutani in the early days, before that company came to dominate so much of the world economy. He had to wonder how much of their later crimes were facilitated by his own family? Maybe he could, in turn, help them change to something better. If nothing else, he suspected that the new owners of the company were likely to be on the winning side of history.
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The thing with Kinsey is great. I really like the Stargate tie in.
- Location
- Beyond the Unknowable Veil
An honest Senator Kinsey. Proof that the universe he's in is really strange.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
Hmmm.... wonder where B-4 is being stored. Guessing the Romulans found him from one of their disavowable missions across the border. 🤔
And Kaiju v/s Sentinels was overkill. . . in a good way.
Kinsey! *shakes fist* Oh wait. An honest Kinsey... How weird.
And Kaiju v/s Sentinels was overkill. . . in a good way.
Kinsey! *shakes fist* Oh wait. An honest Kinsey... How weird.
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
Something has gone horribly wrong when Senator Kinsey can actually be trusted.
Maybe he's been replaced by an alien doppelganger? This is Stargate/Alien after all, stranger things have happened.
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- Location
- Beyond the Unknowable Veil
No, the alien doppelgänger was the one talking to him. (There are two Lisas after all. Doppelgängers!)
- Location
- California
Exactly my thoughts when I saw the name... alienverse a mirror universe to stargate?Kinsey! *shakes fist* Oh wait. An honest Kinsey... How weird.
Neruz
Rogue Spiderbanana
- Location
- The Land of Fire and Poison
You can't prove that it's not alien doppelgangers all the way down. Everyone says its turtles, but what if the turtles are alien doppelgangers too?
M. H. Fuzzball
Aperture Science-certified Horrible Person
- Location
- Sector 2814
He did note that he was the grandson of the Kinsey that's given the SGC so many headaches elsewhere.