Messenger --------- Colin Brian Witz Part 1 Federation Expatriate Colony Zathurstra, Klingon Empire (Small, too small to see, but she was the most lethal weapon ever devised in centuries by the Children of Sol.) Doctor Kelly smiled to herself, her 'Messenger' was ready. The Fools in the Federation High Command had been as stupid as most on Zathurstra, though for different reasons. Whilst the federation still clung to the fear of the Past and Khan, outright banning the study of Genetic Engineering despite the many obvious benefits, the majority of the researchers at Zathurstra had been repeating the mistakes of Khan and Darwin Station; attempting to build a better human. Kelly, realizing the inherent problems with altering a complex genome of a developed species, had concentrated on altering bacteria and virii instead. Kelly's 'Messenger' was a symbiotic bacteria, with a Trojan retrovirus. The bacteria acted to produce an Addictive high, coupled with an increase in metabolism and reaction time. Waste from the Bacteria produced a natural explosive, that stored itself in the fat cells of the body. The virus had many secondary effects, the chief one was an Immuno-enhancer that was strong enough to "eat" Borg nanoprobes. The secondary effects were many, including a new addition that created a permenant allergy to the Imperial treatment of choice, Bacta. The Plan was simple, taken from earth's dark past; the Assassins. Her Emissaries would spread terror through all of her enemies, the explosive nature of their demise would destroy the evidence, as well as act as an additional weapon of terror. Authors Note: (Figure a core army of Fanatic youths sent back to their respective empires, waiting their secret call to arms, along the way passing on that annoying Retrovirus (Damn ST lax morals) which won't be noticed at first because it is primarily an immune-ENHANCER.) Part 2 The "Messenger" bacterium, loved sugars, particularly those linked to high energy proteins like in milks. It's waste products bonded to organic waters, until they came in contact with the chemicals in adrenaline, when they began stoking a metabolic "furnace" to super critical. At the point of no return, the primal fight or flight response would trigger the newly stored organic explosive in the body within 10 minutes; sooner if the body encounter a significant level of thermal reaction (Such as the discharge of an energy weapon). The explosion was usually enough to clear a room. However some of the infected would spontaneously combust if denied sufficient sugars to keep their enhanced metabolisms going. Dr. Kelly had assigned the first batch of her new recruits to strike at the Federation's Universities, for their treatment of her, other's were sent out to visit the Cardassian territories for their mistreatment of scientific minds. Through Ferengi and Orion traders, she had been able to send infected supplies, to the slave worlds of the Imperial occupation. Soon her and her colleagues would release their new children, and pave the way for the domination of two Galaxies. Author Notes: (God, I love being truly evil) Part 3 First strikes: Cardassia: The office of Gul Dorgin (Interrogation specialist, Obsidian Order) Dorgin, was actually confused. This particular human had surrendered voluntarily, claiming he had a message. After intense screening by Cardassian security, the human was found to possess no weapons, and was led naked into the cold cell for the Gul's interrogation to begin. "How many lights do you see?" "Can't you Cardassian's come up with a better interrogation line?" "Well, how about what's your name?" "Emissary." "An Emissary is a job, not a name!" "I am dead already. I am nothing now, but a message." "And what message do you have to give?" "Death is coming, with a mask of a thousand faces." It took Cardassian slave crews a week to clean up the the office after the subject went berzerk and exploded, killing the Gul. Starship, Avalon NCC 1984 "Security, what was the damage to Ten Forward?" "The viewport was breached by an explosion, the bulkheads sealed over immediately." "So what was the cause of the explosion?" "It appears that Cadets Winton Smith and Julia Daniels were kissing, when Cadet Smith exploded. Cadet Daniels was killed either by the explosion, or when the vacuum sucked her body of out the 5 cm hole in the Viewport that was created." Imperial P.O.W. Camp: The main Exercise area had had to be quarantined, and cleaned up by droids. Trooper X386 was worried, everyone had seen the boss in a bad mood before, especially the time when that idiot had stolen the his personal ride, but the exploding Ensign had taken out all of the newly arrived Fed Prisoners. At first the whole guard detail thought it was just one more of the bosses displays of power, but no, someone had been Kriffing in the wrong territory. That someone was in for it good! Messenger Colin Brian Witz Part 4 Delta Quad. Imperial Occupation Zone (IOZ) Deep in space a Victory class Star Destroyer releases a small shuttle. The shuttle veers away from the ship and enters hyperspace. Following the Imperial Remnant's invasion, the planet of vast savannah plains and swamps had been taken from the Kazon, and made the home of one of the Imperial forces most brilliant young Scientists. Rumors surrounded the young geneticist and cloaked her like the Ion storms that guarded her planet. Some say she is the daughter of the Emperor, others say she is the most sadistic interrogation expert the Empire has. With the plague spreading through the workforce, and several stormtroopers infected by exploding prisoners, The Empire knew they had to get her working on a cure to the Messenger. Planet side: The Hirogen had been sent to kidnap the Imperial Scientist from her planet. They knew she had many planned defenses, however since the Imperial Military force consisted of a single TIE pilot kept as her concubine, the Hirogen thought they could take her captive. They had not taken her many "pets" into account. The last three members of the Hirogen strike-team ran across the Savannah, hoping to lose the army of giant rodents that scampered after them. Chittering and chirping, they fried one the fleeing Hirogen with their E-11's. Firing a Space Marine Bolter, one of the Hirogen blasted a rodent into furry bits, but was cut down by the fallen Squirrels Squadmates. The two remaining Hirogen noticed that the human-sized squirrels stopped at the edge of the swamp. Thanking their good fortunes the Hirogen tracked deeper into the swamp. Suddenly Net-guns opened up from nowhere, pinning the Hirogen to the trees. It was only then that the amphibian commandos allowed themselves to be seen. Two prisoners captured alive, their mistress would be most pleased. Perhaps they would be allowed to watch as the Squirrels lab assistants interrogated them. S31 secret HQ (Somewhere under the Pacific Ocean) The two prisoners were forced into the meeting rooms and their blindfolds were removed. Seated next to one another, were the most wanted thief in the Entire Galaxy, and the most deadly Romulon spy anywhere. The Messenger attacks over the last month and a half had spread fear thoughout the Alpha Quadrant. The reason for the uneasy alliance was obvious, they needed a stop to the terror weapon. Zathurstra: The first group of converts had spread the terror and had created new hosts for both the bacteria and it's accompanying Virus. While the saboteurs that had the Bacteria in their system enjoyed the benefit, those contaminated with their blood or semen would be infected with the Virus. The virus would enhance the immune system, creating sterility*, a rejection of all cybernetic implants, and a powerful allergic reaction to Imperial medical and interrogation chemicals. the next steps for the Zathurstran conquest had began. The Klingon government owed the Geneticists of Zathurstra a big favor, for it had been their brilliance that had brought their spiritual leader back from the dead after many thousands of years. (It had been a pity that the Klingon priests had not taken their suggestions on 'Improvements' to the original). Still, the vessel they had built was strangely enough a cybernetic organism, The hull was a living Causation with warp engines, and weapons, implanted inside it, The secondary weapon of the ship, was a thousand Vat- grown Vulcan and Betazed brains kept in a state of constant pain. The scream of the vessel could be heard from across space, and would immobilize their enemies with madness. The vessel was lined with a fungus that handled life support and released spores that would dissolve most any organic life form that it encountered. The crew was also unique created from strands of a variety of Insects, and sea creatures. They were armored, expelled both digestive and Paralytic venoms, moved very fast and their appearance was designed to cause fear in those that they encountered. This was the first vessel and crew. They christened the ship Yog-Sogoth, and her Crew were to be know as the Ga'hûl. The vessel had one other secret too, she also had an Imperial hyperdrive generator. Imperial Space: The Emissary had just about had enough of this woman, not only had she kept him waiting while she interrogated the Hirogen prisoners, but she had left him in the company of her damned chittering alien servants. He most definitely wanted to activate his new double-bladed Lightsaber and kill all of these human sized rodents, however his father had told him under no circumstances to start a war with a Sith Witch like her. Why did she think she could keep him waiting, she was his age after all. Authors Note *It makes the female immune system attack sperm. Part 5 Amore Ex Machina Delta Quadrant: IOZ The planet had once been, infested by Species 8472, it had been assaulted by them several times in attempts to recapture that world. The one machine that had taken it from them years ago still stood there, a lone guardian waiting.... The Borg had come, the Kazon had come, the Hirogen, and others; all to take the planet from the machine that ruled the surface. The Devastator's programming had detected a massive debris field in orbit, and then below - ruined shuttles, and ground craft from dozens of races, perfect materials to add to Admiral Sheppard’s fleet. Upon descending it was challenged by another Artificial Intelligence, (Not, one of Imperial Design.) Warning shots were fired and then a strange dance began; across comm. channels the War machine and the Devastator dueled, the droid had had it’s programming enhanced by Master Phong, and could defeat any other computer it had previously encountered, it took 527.18547 seconds for the battle to take place, an eternity between two machines, before they reached a conclusion. To this day No one knows which side won. The Devastator began harvesting the orbital debris and repairing the ancient machine, sensors indicated that the unit 587-KDK of the Line was over 300 years old and from another universe’s Sol star system. It’s Psychotronic systems and files had intermingled with the Devastator changing it on a fundamental level. She now called herself Kali goddess of creation and destruction, her ‘mate’ she called ‘Shiva’ but his true name was Kodiak. The machines she created for Admiral Sheppard, were their children, Kodiak was healing and improving on a continual basis, however when a distress call came from Kali’s ‘sister’ devastator in a Gamma Quadrant Asteroid field the Bolo volunteered to help. “You cannot fight in space, you are not designed for that.” Kali stated. “Attach incomplete VSD engine section to the Repulsor sled you designed for me, I possess sufficient weaponry to deal with any Dominion force.” Replied Kodiak. An hour later, as the massive tank activated the ion reactors and the hyperdrive control through remote linkages, She responded. “I love you Shiva.” As he transitted into hyperspace the monstrous tank responded with the entire text of Coleridges Kubla Khan followed by a promise to drive their enemies before him, and take their resources. Gamma Quadrant: Asteroid Belt Imperial Mining/Survey Team. Kaz had been bored, he ‘knew’ the forces he could destroy with his strike cruiser if Theala would just let him. Instead he was stuck playing baby sitter to a devastator that needed little protection from anything. Others knew that those in power didn’t yet trust the young officer with anything at the moment, preferring to let him refine himself and lose his rough edges. So bored had the crew been no one had noticed the hyperspace transition of the alien vessel until it was too late. The Vessel attacked by sending a telepathic assault that no crewman was prepared for, the strike cruiser‘s crew had no time to do anything as they were overwhelmed and paralyzed with pain. The living ship docked with them and, projecting terror and fear before them, it's own crew began their boarding; they slaughtered without mercy. The Devastator was able to transmit a final warning while Kaz’s command was consumed by the Gu’hol. It took Thelea approximately 15 minutes to reach the battle, and her SSD was attacked in the same manner, however, almost coincidental to this a new vessel entered the fray. Smaller than a cruiser, it fired a pair of Heavy energy cannon’s from a massive double turret wounding the living ship. It’s attack was beyond reason, when the Alien appeared to be on the brink of taking the Devastator the newcomer broadcast an apology before utterly destroying the Devastator with concentrated missile and cannon fire. Of the forces at the battle, Thelea was the first to recover, she had mentally retreated into her maths and physics calculations, stringing together old memories of cold dispassionate lectures by her mentor, Grand Admiral Thrawn. Some would never recover, on the wreck of the strike cruiser they found a half- eaten Captain Kaz, alive, but traumatized to a near vegetative state. It would take careful work to repair the damage he had suffered along with his vessel. Still the question remained what to do with this Alien Droid ship, that was calling itself Unit 587-KDK of the Line. It looked like a huge Jawa crawler, ringed by massive Repulsors and it’s rear turret was partially obstructed by the command tower and rear sections from a VSD that had been impromptly wedded to it’s body. Whatever the attackers power it had had no effect on the machine. Zathurstra: Kelly was lost in her memories, the human colonists on Phaze Delta 4, had been dying of a disease, they had asked the Federation for help. Kelly had been the junior member of the five person medical team that had quickly concluded that the ‘plague’ was merely 300 years of inbreeding catching up with the colonists. The whole team had made the decision to perform corrective genetic modification, on the colonists; she had been the survivor of the Debacle that had followed. She had been the one that the Vulcan’s had stripped of a Medical License, the one who had spent 12 years trapped in New Zealand. The others had died in the Rioting that had consumed Delta 4; They say the planet still burns to this day. Then one day Maximillian Rourke came and took her from that hell. Rourke had founded the Zathurstra foundation based on his reading of suppressed books from humanity’s dark ages. A fan of Nietzsche, Hitler, and Khan, he could still seem very reasonable even when he talked about planetary genocide. For a while when he first recruited her, Rourke had loved her, but his attentions had gone over to the newer recruits to his cause. Kelly had hoped that Rourke would take her back, but he had continued to ignore her, which was beginning to unsettle her. The plans were set, and the diversions were planned, the chaos would be good for the Galaxy, all that was neccessary now was for him to make his diversionary raids on 'Voyager' or 'The Revenger' and steal a quantity of Nanoprobes. With these he could evolve himself into the next level, beyond any others - even Khan. He would become a superman, and all of his descendants would too. Kelly was getting more demanding and she was just too old for his taste, Rourke remembered with a slight tingle the time he killed his sister Juliet after she had told him that they were going to be parents. Perhaps it was time for him to take matters into his own hands again. Delta Quadrant: Imperial Space (Raven's World) Spike glimpsed her for the first time, she was being followed by a pair of her human sized Rodents, she was a goddess, however her appearance troubled the young sith warrior. Concentrating on his rage and focusing his anger he was able to see the shimmer of the illusion. She was using a 'glamour' manipulating his senses, so he could not see her properly. "Admirial Sheppard needs you to come at once to the Revenger"Spike Commanded "I will need equipment and Facilities here's the list."she replied as she handed him a data pad full of her demands.