Chain 200: NuTrek

Chain 200: NuTrek

Location: Delta Vega
Age: 26
Identity: [-50] Drop-In, Human
Drawbacks: [+500] Stranded, Object Of Revenge

[100/1450]  Specialty: Command
[Free]      Sciences: Physics
[Free]      Operations: Engineering
[Free]      Command: Navigation
[150/1450]  Command: Command
[350/1450]  Pull Yourself Together
[550/1450]  Anomaly Detector
[650/1450]  I Dare You To Do Better
[850/1450]  Potential Vision
[1050/1450] Subprime Directive
[1350/1450] Vice Admiral
[1450/1450] Companion Import: Demona and the Conspiracy

Well, appearing on a frozen world in the Vulcan system was not something that I had on my list of things that I wanted to do this morning. Delta Vega is a nice enough place if you hate ever being warm, but for some curious reason, I found myself unable to reach Hyperion. A short bit of experimenting showed that for some odd reason, I also couldn't exit the atmosphere under my own power - I couldn fly just fine, but even trying to fly at high velocity saw me stopping at the edge of space.

Irritating, but at least a simple point-me spell found someone to walk toward. Wildlife was essentially a non-issue, considering I could literally tell them I'm not food nor a threat after all, but meeting Spock was not something I expected. I'll admit, my inner fanboy went 'squee' momentarily, before I tamped it down and realized the case:

"Oh, fuck, this is THAT timeline, isn't it?"
>"Who are you, and how did you get here?"
"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. I'm Crux. Nice to meet you, Ambassador Spock."
>"Ah. You look younger than I recall, but your presence is logical, with Section 31 working with the Department of Temporal Investigations. Are you here to set things right?"
"Er... I think we've gotten our timelines crossed, sir, this is the first time I've met you. How well do you know me?"
>"Well enough to know better."
"I see. Care for a warming charm?"
>"Please."

And so Spock filled me in on a great many things that had already happened, from his perspective. The supernova and its destructive effects. The number of star systems annihilated, including Romulus. His mission to stop it from consuming the entire galaxy, successful, even if he was lost in the attempt. His miraculous survival, only to see his capture at Nero's hands. And then the worst part:

>"Nero blames you even more than I."
"Me?! What the hell?"
>"Apparently the Tal Shiar thought you were somehow responsible for the incident, considering your position, and were more than happy to disseminate that to certain parties."
"That's... ridiculous. Wasn't it something to do with the Q Continuum having some sort of civil war?"
>"I had not heard about that, but the ramifications of that are disturbing indeed."

Vulcan later imploded, and we made Kirk's acquaintance roughly the same time, before our merry band met the duo of Starfleet engineers at the outpost. And while Spock didn't come along, I did. Once I was on board the Enterprise... only then was I able to reach Hyperion. Apparently there was just something about that damned planet I was stuck on. I kept my head down - and by keeping my head down, I mean I kept myself cloaked on reappearing and told Kirk that while he handled taking command, I had a different task that I'd explain later. And so things proceeded apace, with Nero attacking Earth, only to lose the Jellyfish to Spock and subsequently start chasing it down.

Of course, what they did not realize is that I had also made my way aboard the Narada, until it was too late to do anything and Kirk tried to hail the ship and saw my smiling face.

"Vice Admiral Crux reporting, Captain Kirk, damn fine job you all did there. Unfortunately Nero locked the controls of the ship and its course will send it into the nearest star in about sixty seconds, would you kindly beam me the hell out of here?"

Because if Nero is willing to fall into a black hole, he's probably equally willing to get the sunburn of a lifetime. Though I'm not merciless enough to subject him to that, really; he didn't make it halfway through his screaming at me.

After that... well, I threw my lot in with Admiral Marcus. Although, by "threw my lot in" I mean "I slapped him upside the head but still worked with him after I vaporized the Augments". But essentially... I tempered the more ridiculous of his tendencies and gave something of a leg up with technology, as Starfleet was anomalously advanced but only in certain ways. In return, my position of Vice Admiral was affirmed by him, and I taught him how black ops should work, since apparently this universe lacked intelligent ways to do that sort of thing other than being hilarious ham-handed. At least, until I started putting the Bureau together properly. Marcus was wholly unfit to be a part of it, of course, but I found others who were in fact well suited for it; he was happy knowing that someone was willing to get the job done and understood the gravity of it all. It takes a special kind of temperament, after all, to have been born in what promises to be a paradise and be willing to go against all of its principles in the hopes that one day you'll work yourself out of a job.

A shadow fleet is a stupid idea, very true, but the thought that one can only abjure violence because others are prepared to endure violence on their behalf... that's unfortunately a fact of life when it comes to this universe. Utopia doesn't exist but for where it can be carved out of the wilderness, and this galaxy is wild indeed.