Klingon vessel – IKS nuQanjaj

General G’bakh stood proudly before the viewscreen, and watched as it sprung to life illuminating the cramped and darkened space that was the ready room. It was a brand-new vessel, which meant everything was pristine, spotless and unlived in. The ship was yet to face its first battle, yet to have its walls adorned with the spoils of war or relics to celebrate the glory of the empire. There was little here to inspire him or its crew, not a bat’leth, d’ktahg or gintak to be found.

G’bakhs tenure as the commanding officer of the ship was only supposed to be a temporary one. A short venture into the Gamma Quadrant to observe a battle and then return to Qo’Nos to hand it off for another captain. He was certainly not expecting to captain it a second time, nor did he expect to be taking that long journey back to NERV.

The order irritated him and made him wonder if he had some enemy within the high council mocking him. This was no duty for an established warrior such as he was, yet he was a loyal servant to the empire and if this was what they wanted then he would comply.

He was very surprised however to see that the person on the viewscreen was not from the Klingon empire but instead a Vulcan Starfleet admiral. Whilst it was certainly a surprise to have someone from Starfleet contact him, what made things even more suspicious was that they were contacting him on a secure and secretive subspace channel.

“Greetings General G’bakh.”

“Admiral.” G’bakh answered firmly. His orders had not mentioned any contact with Starfleet, if anything he was told to avoid contact with others as much as possible. Councillor Telvorn had been very clear that the priority was to transport the Evangelion class ship as quickly and discretely as possible.

It was more secrecy, something he disliked immensely. Warriors like G’bakh did not operate in the shadows. They stood proudly in front of their enemies, ready to fight and ready to die. If someone wanted this ship, they could come and prise it from his cold dead hands.

“I appreciate that this communication might seem strange given the circumstances.” She spoke, “It is regarding your current mission to transport the ship designated Evangelion 02 to the NERV colony in the Gamma quadrant.”

G’bakh frowned, “Tell me admiral, what interest does Starfleet have in orders given to a Klingon general?”

“Considerable interest, the craft that you are escorting was developed in part by Starfleet.” She responded calmly, “Therefore we are just as invested in its safety and mission as you are.”

“If it is safety that you are concerned with, then allow me to reassure you, the nuQanjaj is more than capable of performing its mission.” G’bakh replied, keen to finish this conversation with the admiral, “We do not require the assistance of Starfleet.”

“I have little doubt of your ships capabilities nor any doubts regarding its crew.” She answered, “It is not assistance I am offering, neither I nor Starfleet has any intention of interfering. Instead, we are requesting a favour from yourself.”

“A favour?”

“As you are no doubt aware, your journey to NERV will take you through the Bajoran wormhole.” She started to explain, “We have an officer stationed at Deep Space Nine that we wish to send to NERV to conduct some internal investigations. We are requesting that you alter your course and transport him to the colony.”

“You want to place one of your officers on board a Klingon ship?” G’bakh laughed loudly, “No offence admiral, but I do not believe one of your officers could handle being aboard one of our ships. A Klingon ship is a home for warriors, not one of your diplomats.”

“Under normal circumstances I would agree, but this particular individual should have little problem with the atmosphere aboard your vessel.”

Barely a second later G’bakh saw an incoming alert on the computer below the viewscreen. He tapped a button and grinned on seeing the information sent to him by the admiral, “The son of Mogh himself! Very well Starfleet, I will be more than happy to do as you ask! Let him know he is to prepare his bat’leth and that we shall sing songs of past glories together!”

888

USS Tokyo – Holodeck 2

“Computer, end program!”

Shinji cringed into his seat as he heard Asuka’s angry command to the ship’s computer. He remained as motionless as he could until suddenly, he fell to the floor, landing hard on his backside as the simulated bridge fell away around him. He didn’t even dare yell out, lest he bring Asuka’s wrath onto himself.

At first, he had been excited to train with Asuka. Sure, he had found her a little bit brash and arrogant on first meeting her, but Misato had told him that Asuka was one of the best cadets to come out of Starfleet in terms of piloting. She had told him just how good Asuka was and that he’d be able to learn a lot from her. What the captain didn’t seem to take into account was that as good a cadet or pilot Asuka was, she definitely wasn’t a good teacher.

For three days they had been training together and this must be the twentieth time over those three days he had failed to follow her commands and ended up either getting destroyed by his enemies and having the ship blow up, crashing into asteroids and having the ship blow up or in one peculiar case accidentally hitting the self-destruct button and ending in the ship blowing up.

Everything was just too advanced for him. He was in ships he wasn’t familiar with, fighting enemies he wasn’t familiar with, through space he wasn’t familiar with and Asuka gave him no time to get familiar. It was as if she was hoping that it would just suddenly click into place for him rather than taking time to explain a damn thing.

“Why they picked someone like you to be a pilot I don’t know!” She called out, her tone scathing, “This is beyond useless!”

Shinji couldn’t help himself, even for his usually meek self she was getting to be too much, he sighed in frustration and spun his head around angrily, “It’s too damn hard! Captain Katsuragi didn’t have me doing things like you’re asking!”

“Captain Katsuragi was going soft on you! That’s why!” She immediately fired back, “Scanning and shooting pathetic little asteroids? That’s kid’s stuff! How can they expect you to fight when that is all they have you doing? You’ll get nowhere doing that!”

“I’m not going to get anywhere being blown up by Romulan Warbirds either!” He shot back, “Can’t we just… do something a little bit easier? A Ferenghi ship or something?”

“Oh, so what, we can learn how to buy the Angels off?” She snapped at him, “My job is to get you ready to fight! I watched that display of yours last time and it was pathetic! You know, just because you’re the golden on, chosen by your daddy doesn’t mean you’ll get any special treatment from me.”

Shinji stood up and faced her, struggling to not shout back, “It isn’t like that! You don’t… my father…”

She glared back at him, completely unfazed by his outburst, “What? Go on… tell me what it’s like then!”

“I didn’t come here by choice!” He answered, “None of this is what you think!”

“Then tell me civilian, what is this?” She took a slow intimidating step towards him.

He narrowed his eyes at her, supressing the urge to walk out of the holodeck and give up. He had made the decision to stay on the ship and he was going to give this a try, if anything to repay Misato back for her kindness.

“It doesn’t matter.” He shook his head, “You wouldn’t understand. Just load up another simulation, I’ll try again.”

He decided that there was no point in arguing with her further. She had already made up her mind regarding him, so he would just deal with this for now and then speak to Touji and Kensuke about getting some real help. Maybe that would prepare him properly for her ‘guidance.’

“You know, some of us had to actually work to get where we are.” She added as he turned his back on her, “Some of us can’t rely on preferential treatment.”

“Just run the simulation again.” He spat back.

“So, do you think you can actually follow my orders this time?”

“Yes.” He glared ahead of him as the holodeck changed once more to resemble the bridge of a starship. The bridge lights were already a deep red, sirens blared around him as he took his seat at the console. Behind him he could tell Asuka was already taking position in the captain’s chair.

“Prepare for battle.”

888

Maya Ibuki sat themselves down opposite the captain. They lay down a PADD displaying a number of departmental reports from around the ship. It was coming up to three months since the Tokyo had launched. This was the third ship Maya had served on, their first as a first officer.

The Tokyo was a significant step up from the smaller Miranda and Oberth class ships Maya had served on previously. The crews of those ships had been significantly smaller, and their focus purely on scientific research rather than the exploration focused galaxy class that was the USS Tokyo. They had been sad to leave their last posting, but a chance to serve as first officer on something like the Tokyo didn’t come along often.

Yet, if they had to sum up their experience so far in one word, that word would be ‘disappointing’. They had travelled a great distance further than ever before. Not many officers could say they had ventured this far into the Gamma quadrant but beyond that all they had done since arriving at this colony was stay in orbit and perform mundane day to day maintenance.

“All department reports indicate that the ship is running smoothly.” Misato sighed as she dropped the PADD back onto her desk, “Even had time to clean up the Jefferies tubes on deck 14. How exciting… Remind me once again Maya, what exactly was this ship built for?”

“To explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilisations?” Maya smirked, “As the famous saying goes.”

“That’s what I thought.” Misato replied dryly, “Yet, here we are, stuck in orbit of this godforsaken planet and going absolutely nowhere. This can’t keep up! I’d ask how the crew are doing but I already feel like I know the answer.”

“They’re getting restless captain.” Maya answered, “Of course they understand the situation. They’ve all seen the battles, they know why we are here but it’s just not what they wanted. They, like you and I do, want to be out there exploring and encountering new life, not sitting here and doing nothing.”

“At the end of the day, our orders from Starfleet come first.” Misato replied, “We were all made to understand this at the academy. This uniform doesn’t come without its downsides.”

Maya nodded, “It is an unprecedented situation for all of us.”

“These ‘Angels’ and NERV itself… it gives us a reason to be here but there is so much uncharted and unclaimed space beyond this system it seems irresponsible to not explore it.” Misato sighed, “But I can already hear the admirals yelling at me if I so much as dare to take the saucer out of this system.”

“Have they indicated how long we’ll be here?”

“Like hell they have! As long as it takes is all I’ve heard.” Misato sighed in frustration, “To be honest with you, given the situation with Shinji and that I’ve agreed to see to his training I don’t think it’ll be any time soon.”

Maya nodded. They had not had the chance to really meet with crewman Ikari yet but the young man had been a big topic of conversation amongst the crew since they had arrived at the colony. There were varying opinions on him. Some bitterness from crew members who felt he was getting too much attention, whilst others felt sorry for this civilian that had been thrown into this role.

Maya was amongst those that felt sorry for him. Ikari was a complete outsider and Maya had the advantage of being privy to Ikari’s past. Maya themselves knew what it could be like to be an outsider. Despite the many advancements made over the past few hundred years, growing up on Earth was not without its complexities. People still had prejudices, be it race, gender or sexuality it was just more hidden than it ever used to be. Maya had been on the receiving end of such people growing up, especially in the early stages of them figuring themselves out.

Ikari’s issues were naturally quite different to what Maya’s were, but they could still relate to that feeling of being an outsider. They could also however understand why some crew members might feel a little bit of resentment. They weren’t fully aware of the situation developing at NERV or surrounding Ikari. It was all very much on a ‘need to know’ basis, and many of the crew didn’t need to know. To them it seemed like this civilian was getting special treatment over the rest of them who had worked hard either through the academy or other fields. Ikari was suddenly a crewman, despite no experience with anything.

“Want to tell me what’s on your mind Ibuki?” Misato asked, “You look deep in thought.”

Maya nodded, “Just the things we’ve been speaking about, the current situation here at NERV and how to progress with perhaps allaying some of the crew’s fears.”

“Any suggestions?”

“None that wouldn’t involve you being shouted at by an admiral unfortunately. So many of them feel in the dark right now. They don’t know what this colony is, they don’t know what the angels are and it’s not as if we’ve been asked to do anything about it beyond sit and wait. They’re disgruntled and we can tell them it’s all a part of wearing the uniform but how long is that going to last before we have people asking for transfers?”

Misato nodded, “I see your point. I’ve admittedly not been completely present over the last few weeks. Between my meetings with NERV, Starfleet or just dealing with Shinji I’ve been a bit absent. Maybe we can do something, some sort of holodeck exercises or more team building.”

“I think the crew would appreciate that.” Maya nodded, “I did however have one other suggestion, it might be a bit of a grey area but we wouldn’t technically be breaking any rules.”

Misato raised a curious eyebrow at the sound of this, “Go ahead first officer, I do enjoy a good old fashioned grey area.”

“We have ten shuttlecrafts aboard the Tokyo, all of which are warp capable. We use at most two to transport personnel between the facility and the ship.” Maya began to explain, “We’re not in Dominion space right now, and there are a few star systems maybe a day or twos travel from here.”

Misato nodded, “I think I see where you’re going, but continue.”

“Why not make use of a few of them? Load them up with a crew of 6, have them travel to one of the star systems and do a bit of exploration and research. We’re not technically going against orders as the Tokyo is staying here but we are giving the crew something to do.”

Misato smirked, “I like the way you think Ibuki. Come back to me this week with a plan, speak to Aoba and other members of the senior staff for their input and what we’d need. Let’s see if we can do this.”

888

Shinji took a deep breath and aimed the rifle, he waited for the target to come into view and pulled the trigger feeling the recoil jolt his arms. He waited until he heard the loud smash of the target before lowering the weapon. Ahead of him he could see the debris falling to the ground and he felt a strange sense of pride as the counter above the wall registered the hit. On the wall, behind where the target had been was a number of scorch marks, evidence of his prior attempts.

“And he finally hits one!” Came a loud and excited exclamation from behind him, provided by Touji Suzahara.

“Haha, well done Shinji!” Kensuke chimed in, “Caught the outside but a hit is still a hit.”

Shinji shook his head as he turned to see his two friends sat on a bench nearby, “Sorry, I’m not very good at this, am I?”

Touji stood up and shrugged, “Not gonna get any good without practice. Besides, it’s not about being good, it’s just about having fun and letting off some steam.”

Kensuke gave a nod, “Exactly, you think we started off being able to use these things properly?”

“I guess not…” Shinji answered, “It’s just… I don’t really feel like I’m learning as fast as I need to.”

“Hey, this isn’t training or anything.” Touji answered him as he stepped forward and took the rifle from Shinji. Around them the scene cleaned up, the scorched wall was cleaned up and several targets now started to move in a linear pattern, “This is just for fun.”

“That said…” Kensuke chipped in, “It can’t hurt for you to know how to defend yourself. After all, you are one of us now.

‘One of us now.’

The words echoed in Shinji’s head. Over the last week and a bit both Kensuke and Touji had been playing their part in trying to make Shinji feel like he was one of them. He had hung out with them in the canteen, been part of these holodeck sessions and they had even helped him learn about the layout of the ship.

Their methods of teaching had been a big contrast to that of Misato’s or Asuka’s. Theirs wasn’t about regulation or rules, there was no structure or expectations. It wasn’t even a proper lesson, it was what it seemed to be, an attempt by them to reach out and be friends.

Shinji had, for his part, been making something of an effort too. He had picked up duties he was capable of performing and carried them out without complaint, listening and managing wherever he could. He had tried his best but was still very much aware of the wide gulf between someone like him and the many officers aboard the Tokyo.

There was also of course, the dealings with Asuka. Shinji couldn’t help but replay all of the failures in his head. He knew logically it wasn’t his fault, she was pushing him too hard and he knew it. He knew there was no justification for her lambasting him but that didn’t help, logic did little to keep the negative feelings at bay.

He let out a sigh, “One of you… I don’t think there are many on board who’d agree.”

“Like who?” Touji asked, “Hey if anyone is giving you any grief you just let us know! We’ll deal with them.”

“Touji, we should probably treat carefully given what Katsuragi said to us last time.” Kensuke reminded him, “What’s going on Shinji?”

“It’s this training with Asuka…” Shinji admitted, “I know she’s supposed to be good but her lessons are just too difficult and every time I fail, she just yells at me and reminds me how I’m not supposed to be here. I’m trying but she just… isn’t giving me a chance.”

“Forget about her!” Touji called out as he swiftly shot down three targets, “She’s just an ensign like the rest of us, she’s just like us.”

“I know that but…” Shinji trailed off trying to think about what to say and how Asuka would react if she was here now watching him try to shoot down the targets. Would she berate him for being bad at that too?

“One on one lessons with Soryu?” Kensuke exclaimed, “Damn… you’re lucky!”

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

“I don’t feel it.” Shinji replied, “All she does is yell at me.”

Kensuke laughed, “Well she’s good… but I guess being good doesn’t mean you’d be good at teaching it. Have you spoke to her?”

Shinji nodded, “She didn’t care. Just told me to get on with it.”

“I don’t understand though.” Touji turned around and handed the rifle to Kensuke, “We’ve seen you pilot that thing, you’re not bad at it at all. I mean you won both your fights.”

Shinji decided to not correct Touji that he technically had no control over the Evangelion during the first battle, “It’s different though, in the Evangelion it just does what I want because of the interrace but a starship console is harder with so much more to keep track of. Asuka just wants me to do these harder simulations, Mis- the captain had me scanning asteroids and planets, not combat against Romulan Warbirds.”

“Warbirds, eh? Anyone would have a tough time with them.” Touji shook his head, “Well look, me and Kensuke here, we might have not gotten the same grades as Asuka but I bet the two of us can be just as good, why don’t we teach ya what we know?”

“Yeah!” Kensuke added as he took aim, “We can at least go a bit slower and prepare you for whatever she throws at you.”

Shinji nodded, “I… I’d like that. Thank you.”

888

Asuka groaned as she stepped out into the familiar courtyard and once again felt that wall of heat hit her. She really couldn’t fathom why Hikari liked she place so much when the canteen on the Tokyo was perfectly serviceable. It was far too hot; it was too uncomfortable to move around in the constant chirping of whatever wildlife lived in the forests beyond was annoying loud.

She started to cross the courtyard to her and Hikari’s regular spot. She couldn’t wait for this assignment to be over and done with. She felt that it was a complete waste of both her and the Tokyo’s time. The ship should be out amongst the stars, not babysitting some colonists.

Her mind immediately turned to her own ‘babysitting’ duties as she looked around for Hikari. That was a major source of irritation for her right now. To say that things weren’t going well, would be an understatement, it felt like a complete disaster. So far, Shinji had completely failed to perform anywhere near the standard she expected and if this continued it was only going to make her look bad. To make matters worse, the captain had arranged to oversee one of the lessons herself.

As he was now, Shinji was just going to fail and that means Asuka would have failed and she couldn’t have that. Shinji needed to learn how to pilot and Asuka was going to make sure he could do it. She did wonder if maybe she was pushing him too much, but was it her fault if he just couldn’t keep up? The captain had been treating him softly up until now, that had to stop.

With Hikari nowhere to be seen Asuka looked around and noticed the figure of the other pilot, Rei Ayanami stood alone and staring off into the forest. Asuka knew very little about Rei aside from the obvious. Rei was a former Borg drone that had come to live at the colony years ago; she was also the first person selected to pilot an Evangelion.

An idea started to form in Asuka’s head. She was already working with one pilot, so why not bring in the other one? It was very likely that having been here longer, Rei would probably be a bit more competent than Shinji so she could probably train her up easier. If would be advantageous to do so as well, after all, how could would it look for her career if she was responsible for training two Evangelion pilots?

Smirking, Asuka started walking over to Rei and called out, “Well, if it isn’t the other pilot! I see you’re no longer injured.”

Rei slowly turned around and met Asuka’s gaze. There was very little, if any emotion in the woman’s expression and Asuka immediately felt a cold shiver run down her spine. She ignored it as Rei spoke, “That is correct.”

“So, will you be piloting again soon?” Asuka asked, keeping up the friendly façade.

“That is also correct.” Rei answered coldly, “I am to undergo an activation test tomorrow with Evangelion 00.”

Asuka felt another shudder run down her as Rei fixed her red eyes firmly on her. She swallowed, trying to ignore the implant on Rei’s face and the coldness of her voice, “So… who is going to be training you?”

“Both Commander Ikari and Dr Akagi have devised a basic training regimen for me.” Rei answered.

“Do you have any experience?”

“I am more than proficient with the basics of starship operations, before the accident Dr Akagi had me undergoing regular simulations involving a number of basic starships, my knowledge from the collective also aids me in operating Starfleet craft.”

Asuka repressed a shudder, “Well, just so you know… I’m training the other pilot… that civilian and I think it’d be beneficial for you to join us!”

“Why?”

It wasn’t the answer Asuka expected but she pressed on, “Well, I was one of the best pilots to come out of the academy and it’d be advantageous. I’m training the other one, if you were both training together than it’d help. Let’s be honest simulations on your own are one thing but you need to know your team!”

Rei’s expression didn’t change, “If I am ordered to participate than I will.”

“Ordered? What are you, some sort of do-“

Asuka stopped herself immediately as she felt the anger inside her rise. She knew exactly what Rei was and she knew where this could lead if she didn’t stop herself. Rei was a former drone, free now but that didn’t mean normal by her standards. That attitude whilst irritating was understandable.

“Well… consider it. You know where to find me.”

“I will… consider your offer.” Rei answered, “It is time for me to go now, farewell Soryu.”

888

Evangelion 00 - Bridge

Ritsuko kept her eyes fixed firmly on the screen, her hand hovering over the abort command, ready to shut down the entire operation at the first sign of trouble. Moments passed, Ritsuko could hear the sounds of people moving around behind her, reporting data from the test but she still didn’t move. Finally, the image of Rei appeared on the view screen and Ritsuko could breathe out, it was done.

It wasn’t just her that had been nervous going into this. Every person there for this activation test had been tense. It was hard to blame them, especially after what had happened last time. If the same thing happened again then it wouldn’t just be the pilot they lost, they could lose the whole facility.

Her eyes came to rest on one figure that stood towards the back of the room, Gendo Ikari, his shadow as Ritsuko often called him, Fuyutsuki, also standing beside him. Fuyutsuki still looked visibly nervous but Gendo looked unmoved by the entire thing, his body language changed from how it was moments ago. A rare display of emotion for the NERV commander.

‘Of course, he’d be nervous… if we lost Rei, then that’s everything out of the airlock, isn’t it?’

Ritsuko was proud of Rei for managing to do this, it couldn’t have been an easy feat after what had happened last time.

“Ships systems are all coming online.” Announced an officer, “Pilots vital signs are looking good, her sync rate is holding steady at 42%”

“Very good.” Ritsuko nodded, “How are you feeling Rei?”

“Everything is functioning within acceptable parameters.” Rei answered, “I am currently able to interface with all of the ships systems as expected.”

‘I don’t care about the damn ship Rei.’ Ritsuko thought to herself, ‘I want to know about you! How do you feel? What about the thing inside Evangelion 00?’

She knew there would be no point in pressing Rei for anything further, especially in front of Ikari, so she simply dropped the subject. She could speak to Rei afterwards. There was still a lot of concern on her part and Ritsuko was her doctor at the end of the day. Ritsuko could see Rei’s vital signs; see all the spikes in blood pressure, the changing of her heart rate and the subtle shifts in Rei’s demeanour.

“In which case I think we can call this test a success.” Ritsuko spoke, “I’d like to schedule further testing over the next couple of days but for now hand over control to the bridge crew and come out of the control centre. I’ll meet you in sickbay.”

“Okay.”

Rei’s image vanished from the viewscreen and with that, Ritsuko’s work on the bridge of Evangelion 00 was done. She got up from her seat and made her way to the exit, and had to repress a sigh of frustration as both Gendo and Fuyutsuki followed her out.

“Doctor Akagi, a word please.” Fuyutsuki spoke.

“Of course.” Ritsuko nodded as they moved out into the corridor.

“Rei seems much more at ease today. Do you anticipate any problems going forward doctor?” He asked.

Ritsuko shook her head, “Not at the moment, no. I’d like to run some tests on her and ask a few questions but I see no reason as to why we shouldn’t be able to start running some basic sync tests over the next week or so.”

“What about deployment, is she ready to fight?” Gendo asked.

Ritsuko shook her head again, “I’m not really sure she’s ready for active deployment just yet. I’d really like to schedule more tests before we think about active combat.”

“Time is not a luxury we have doctor.” Gendo’s words were cold, “I’d like you to arrange for Rei to undergo training with the other pilot. Speak to captain Katsuragi about what can be done, it is my understanding that one of her ensigns is assisting with this.”

“Ensign Asuka Langley Soryu, yes.” Ritsuko nodded, silently thankful for Gendo’s order. In her eyes getting Rei under the watchful eye of Misato and interacting with others would be one of the best things for her, “Will that be all?”

“We’ve received word that a Klingon escort will be transporting Evangelion 02 to NERV within a matter of weeks.” Gendo added, “I want to make sure we are prepared for its arrival.”

“Of course. What will you need from me?” Ritsuko asked, although she had a feeling that she knew what he wanted. Section 31 had already been in contact to tell her about the transport and who the potential pilot was going to be.

“Medical records and biometrics of all the officers that have graduated from the academy that now serve on Katsuragi’s ship.” Gendo confirmed, “In particular that of Ensign Soryu.”

‘So, it’s just like they said. Soryu is going to be the pilot of the next one… poor woman, after all she has been through already and her not even knowing what she is…’

“Of course. I’ll arrange with Katsuragi to have her staff undergo medicals alongside ours. It should provide a good opportunity to get the data and she should agree to it without any issues.”

“How you obtain the data is irrelevant, just see to it that it is done.”

888

USS Tokyo – Holodeck 2

Asuka stood in the centre of the bridge, a confident smile on her face that mirrored the confidence she felt inside. The last few days had been good to her. Hikari had persuaded her to not push Shinji quite so much and maybe dip the difficulty of her simulations a touch. This was getting some results; he still hadn’t managed to pass one of them but he was making progress.

This particular simulation was not one those though. Asuka had spent the last evening creating a bespoke simulation purely for this event. It wasn’t as difficult as the training simulations she had been putting Shinji through but it was definitely more advanced than what captain Katsuragi had been using.

Gone was the more complicated Sovereign class ship, replaced by a Defiant class which Asuka had modified to simplify the controls to suit Shinji. He would no longer be tackling bigger prey like a Romulan Warbird but there would still be a threat. She had been careful to structure the simulation carefully. Shinji would enter the sector as commanded to. He would then have to scan several ships for stolen resources before having to engage in combat to disable the ship. His job would then be to transport the resources and fugitives aboard. It was simple and even he couldn’t fail it.

It was perfect.

Asuka looked around the bridge again. Shinji was sat in his position at the conn and behind her, occupying the captain’s chair was captain Katsuragi.

“Ready when you are ensign.” Misato smiled.

“Computer, begin training program Soryu-Beta-02”

‘Beginning simulation Soryu-Beta-02’

Asuka folded her arms as the simulation began. A few seconds later an alert sounded from Shinji’s console and he turned to face them, “We’re receiving a hail from Starfleet.”

Asuka nodded, “Put it on screen.”

Shinji tapped his console and up on the viewscreen appeared the image of a Starfleet admiral, he spoke “Soryu.”

Asuka smiled, “Admiral, how can we help?”

“We’ve received word of several raids on Federation outposts and ships close to the Over-The-Rainbows current position. We suspect it might be a well-organized team of Orion Raiders. More troubling is that during their last raid they’ve made off with valuable medical supplies.”

“Sounds bad, how can we help?” Asuka answered.

“We have reason to believe they’re using the Antos system to fence their goods. As the closest Starfleet vessel, we would like you to investigate immediately and if possible, recover those supplies.”

“Sure thing, Admiral, we’ll lay in a course immediately.”

“Very good.” He replied, “Oh and Soryu, be careful. We’ve had some reports recently about ships going missing in the Antos system. It could be related to the aforementioned raiders but something definitely had people spooked out there.”

“Will do, Soryu out.”

Asuka frowned as the image of the admiral faded away. That warning had not been programmed in by her last night, all she had done was make mention of pirates using the system to fence goods, nothing about ships going missing. Then again, she hadn’t programming anything not relating to that. From previous experience she knew that unless you were incredibly explicit, the holodeck computer could do a bit of a job at filling in some blanks. It did make sense as well, if pirates used the system, then ships could go missing.

“Well, you heard the admiral. Lay in a course for the Antos system at warp 7 crewman, we have some raiders to track down.”

“Laying in a course.” Shinji answered as he set about laying in the course. Asuka couldn’t help but notice he had gotten a lot better at operating the consoles recently. She had to wonder if maybe her training was getting through to him.

For Shinji, he had noticed immediately just how different this simulation was to the others Asuka had put him through. No timers so far, no diving immediately into combat or red alert sirens yet. This was much calmer and thought out.

Behind him, he could hear Misato and Asuka talking.

“Orion Pirates huh?” Misato asked, “Old classic for these sorts of simulations.”

“I think keeping it simple is best.” Asuka replied, “Don’t want to push people too far, you know what I mean?”

Shinji resisted the urge to shake his head at hearing Asuka’s words. All she had done for the past couple of weeks was push him too far and yell at him when he made a mistake. The only reason he was making any progress was because Touji and Kensuke were giving up their time to teach him.

He had no further time to dwell on it as the ship dropped out of warp on reaching the Antos system, “We’ve arrived.”

Asuka looked at the viewscreen and almost immediately something didn’t feel right. Shinji was right, they had arrived in the Antos system, at Antos-VII to be precise but this didn’t look right at all. For one the station that was supposed to be orbiting Antos-VII wasn’t present and for two, what was supposed to be a lush looking M Class planet was anything but, Antos-VII looked grey with flourishes of dark green.

‘Has he screwed up and taken us to the wrong planet? No, he can’t have done, I can see clearly it says Antos-VII but… what the hell? Has the holodeck glitches? I only programmed the damn thing last night too!’

“Soryu, is everything okay?” Katsuragi’s sudden question snapped Asuka out of her thoughts.

“Fine.” Asuka answered, “Crewman, perform a long-range scan. Look for any ships operating in the system.”

“Scanning now.” Shinji answered as he tapped commands into his console.

Time passed and Asuka could feel herself becoming impatient. Is this what it was like to be captain? Standing around and waiting whilst your subordinates carried out your orders? No, that probably wasn’t it at all. The problem here was Shinji! He was boring, he had no input on anything. He just carried out his orders. The only spark of life she had seen from him was when he dared to argue with her last week, and even then, he backed down almost immediately.

“Well?” She prompted.

“I’m picking up one lone vessel, currently in orbit of Antos-IV.” Shinji finally answered.

‘One vessel? That doesn’t make sense at all, this was supposed to be a smugglers hub, there should be hundreds operating in this system!’

“What vessel?” She asked, hoping that the next words out of his mouth would be a cruiser class ship.

“I… don’t know.” Shinji answered, “Our scans aren’t identifying it.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Asuka snapped as she made her way over to his console.

‘It’s clear that this idiot just can’t read or process the data coming through! And I thought I made things simple for him! God damnit, he’s making me look stupid.’

Asuka looked down at the console, “Look, it’s pretty obvious that it’s a cru- “

She trailed off as she confirmed exactly what Shinji was saying. The vessel in orbit was providing little to no data at all. It wasn’t giving dimensions, composition or whether or not there was any sign of life.

“Ensign Soryu, is there a problem?” Asuka turned around to see that Katsuragi had now gotten out of her seat. She couldn’t tell is the captain looked annoyed or worried at what was unfolding in front of her.

“N… No problem.” Asuka replied as she spun back towards the console, “It’s just a… variation on this simulation. Teaching how to deal with an unexpected situation. I thought it’d be good practice.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Something had gone very very wrong here and it was beyond her control. She just couldn’t admit that to the captain, not yet. Instead, she had to do everything she could to get things back in line.

‘It’s just a glitch, that’s all. Probably the holodeck computer filling in more blanks. We can do this.’

“Okay then crewman.” Asuka took a step back, “We have a ship that we can’t identify hiding behind that planet. What does that tell us?”

“I… I don’t know?” Shinji answered with some embarrassment in his voice, “Sorry.”

It tells us that whoever is here doesn’t want to be identified. They’re clearly masking themselves to prevent detection.” Asuka informed him, almost managing to convince herself, “We can’t rely on our scans to we’ll need to make visual confirmation.”

“Okay, should I lay in a course to intercept them?”

“You catch on fast.” Asuka answered, “Get to them before they have a chance to escape.”

Asuka felt herself calming down as her attention turned once more to the viewscreen. In just a few moments she’d see that cruiser appear, Shinji would scan it, she’d hail it and demand they turned over the stolen goods and from there it’d be easy.

“Um… As-… Ensign? I’m picking up movement from the vessel.” Shinji suddenly reported, “It’s on an intercept course for us.”

“Try hailing them then.” Asuka ordered.

“No response.”

“Try again and bring us to yellow alert.” Asuka asked, “Make sure we get it on screen as soon as it comes within range.”

Asuka’s eyes were glued to the viewscreen as she waited for the cruiser to come into view. At first, she saw nothing but then she could make out the vague outline of a ship, it edged nearer and nearer. Her stomach dropped as she saw exactly what they were dealing with. The outline of the ship told her straight away that this was no Orion cruiser, nor was it a Romulan Warbird.

This was something different, much more terrifying and she could feel fear growing as the metallic grey sphere got closer. She felt sweat on her forehead and her stomach tightening as she caught sight of the green mist emanating from parts of the sphere. This was a vessel that would strike fear into any Starfleet officer, never mind her.

“A Borg sphere!” Misato exclaimed, “What is the meaning of this?”

“I never… I… I didn’t…” Asuka spun around pleading with Misato. Her face had turned the whitest shade of pale by now, her eyes were wide open with shock. Misato looked from Asuka to the sphere on screen and then back at Asuka.

‘This isn’t right, Ensign Soryu wouldn’t do this… not with her history! What is going on?’

Realizing things had gone completely wrong and seeing her ensign barely able to speak or move Misato decided now was the time to bring an end to things, “Computer, end program.”

There was a pause and Misato waited for the program to shut down but nothing happened. She gave her command a second and then a third time but to no avail. Suddenly the lights on the simulated bridge dipped, this was followed by a voice, the exact one Misato hoped she’d never hear.

“We are the Borg… Starfleet vessel, you will lower your shields and surrender your ship to us. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Resistance is futile.”

“Like hell it is. Shinji, red alert, shields up.” Misato ordered, “Ensign Soryu…”

She turned to see the woman was still frozen in place by fear, the voice of the Borg terrifying Asuka to her very core. She could even see tears forming in the young woman’s eyes. Misato stepped forward, placing her hand on Asuka’s shoulder.

“Ensign Soryu… Asuka.” Misato’s voice was calm and reassuring, “I need you to focus and listen to me. We are in a holodeck right now, what we are seeing and hearing is just a simulation. It’s not real and you are safe. You have to understand that, I’m not going to let them hurt you… I know what this must be like for you, but you can get through this.”

Asuka blinked as she muttered a word, “Safe…. S-Safe….”

‘Safe… Safe from them… Safe from the Borg… safe from the dolls.’

Asuka shook her head as the word doll echoed in her mind, another hand came down to rest on her shoulder, “I….”

“Asuka trust me, you are safe!”

“Do you… do you promise?” Asuka looked back at Misato and blinked feeling tears slowly rolling down her face.

Misato nodded and smiled, “I promise.”

Asuka took in a deep breath and nodded, “I… I can do this.”

“Good, then get to that console next to Shinji, you’re the best pilot the Academy has to offer, so let’s put that to work.” Misato ordered, “Shinji, transfer control of the ship’s navigation to Soryu, she’ll be piloting and you’re going to be tactical. We have two objectives, destroy that damn sphere and end this nightmare of a holodeck program.”

Misato tapped her combadge, “Misato to Ibuki, we’ve got gremlins in holodeck 2, program seems to have glitched out and is throwing something pretty nasty at us. I’m gonna need someone to shut it down on your end or get the three of us out of here as soon as possible.”

“Ibuki here.” There was a pause, “Captain, we’re unable to get a transporter lock on you. I’m sending a security team there now.”

“Make it quick Ibuki.” Misato ordered, “Okay Soryu, engage your favourite attack pattern. Shinji, our tactic here is no different to when we fight an Angel but you don’t have to worry about navigating this time. Only thing different is you’ll need to make sure you rotate the phaser frequencies to compensate for their ability to adapt. Our one advantage is this is a defiant class ship, built to take on the Borg so that should be simple. First bursts then rotate, keep that up in one location until we carve ourselves a nice little hole then quantum torpedo their ass. Understood?”

“Y-Yes…”

“Okay. Soryu, take it away.”

The ship began to move forward as Asuka began her attack pattern. Misato felt tense, she had no history herself with the Borg and if she was being honest, she’d like it to remain that way. They were a unique and terrifying enemy; she was thankful that this was just a simulation.

Asuka continued to push the ship forward when suddenly the sphere emitted three bright green pulses. Asuka worked frantically at her console doing her best to evade but it was too late, the projectiles were far too fast to dodge. The bridge shook violently and Misato was knocked back into her seat as the first projectile slammed into the ship.

A second projectile connected and the bridge shook again only much more violently. Around Misato consoles popped and fizzed as their shields were rapidly depleted. There was a thick smell of smoke in the air as Misato was thrown unceremoniously onto the ground. Ahead of her was a sudden yell as Shinji’s console suddenly went up in flames, the young man cried out in pain and he too was thrown to the ground.

Misato had little to no time to react as the third projectile slammed into the ship. Around them more consoles went up, and this time it was Asuka who cried out in pain.

Suddenly, it was all gone, almost as quickly as the attack had started. The smell of smoke faded, the Borg sphere disappeared and what was left of the bridge vanished, leaving the three of them alone in an empty holodeck.

Misato quickly scrambled forward to where Shinji now lay, she rolled him onto his back fearful of what might have happened to him. His chest was rising steadily bringing her some small comfort, he was alive but unconscious, his face was a mess, covered in blood from a wound on his forward and his hands were covered in burns.

Misato turned around to see Asuka stood over the two of them, her face white as a sheet, aside from the trickly of blood from a cut above her right eye. Her hands also looked to be burnt.

“I… I…”

Asuka stammered, trying to scramble for something to say to the captain or in fact trying to speak at all. No words would come out and she was sure that Katsuragi was saying something to her, asking her a question, maybe asking if she was okay but she couldn’t hear the sounds or make out the words. All she could do was feel a weight in her body as her eyes closed and she sunk to the ground.