Destiny's Child: The Reboot

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or Stargate both franchises remain the properties of their respective creators. However the crew of the Resolution are my creations and should not be used by anyone else without my permission.

Authors Note: My thanks to Ashen-Shugar over on spacebattles for beta reading this.

Chapter Three

Captain's Ready Room

USS Resolution

One Hour Later

Darien resisted the impulse to swear as he studied the reports from Lieutenant Ashton and Lieutenant Commander T'Lar on the extent of the damage they'd sustained during the passage through the anomaly. An anomaly that had transported them from the universe they knew well into a completely different one, albeit one where the laws of physics appeared to be the same aside from the different quantum resonance caused by this being another reality.

The reports reminded him of classic horror tale.

The violence of the transference had caused a considerable amount of damage to the Resolution. Though engineering had been able to restore main power to the bulk of the ship it was still not functioning in several compartments across four decks of the primary hull due to the primary EPS conduits to those sections being ruptured in a dozen places where relays had blown out and taken out a few of the plasma flow regulator nodes. Until the damaged conduits, relays and nodes could be repaired those sections had to rely on local auxiliary power supplies from each decks' micro-fusion generator and while that was sufficient for life support, environmental maintenance and artificial gravity it meant food replicators and other non-essential systems were out in a large number of crew cabins and living areas. Though it was an annoyance for the crew who lived in those parts of the ship it wasn't the worst of their problems… not by a long shot.

No the worst damage was to their main propulsion systems.

Both warp and impulse drives were currently completely inoperative. The impulse drives mostly because of the emergency venting of plasma from the driver coils and impulse reactor cores had caused some of the coils for the magnetic fields that contained, directed and accelerated the plasma stream through the drive to overheat and melt into useless lumps. They could be replaced from ships stores but it would be a very long, sweaty job for T'Lar and her engineers especially as they would have to thoroughly clean the plasma manifolds afterwards. They could still move using the ion thrusters but they were meant for manoeuvring not for propelling seventeen million tonnes of starship forward through space at any speed other than a literal crawl.

Warp drive was even worse off as the plasma that had been leaking from damaged warp plasma conduits had flooded the port nacelle with large quantities of theta and gamma radiation. Radiation clean up had already begun and really wouldn't take that long with the advanced methods the Federation had developed over the centuries to cope with such things, that wasn't the problem. The problem was what the irradiation had done to the warp coils themselves the inner layer of the coils had been burned away rendering them useless until they could be rebuilt.

Which meant they wouldn't be getting warp drive back anytime soon; as while they could synthesise the complex elements needed to build new coils it would take a considerable amount of time and a disproportionate amount of energy to do so due the incredibly dense and complex molecular structure of the materials involved. Repairs to the warp engines would go faster if they could find some of the raw ores used in the creation of the alloys and composites in question as it would be easy to mine, refine them and combine them in the right ratios but that was unlikely. Especially as even back home two of the materials bi-silicate viterium and mono-crystal cortinum were not that easy to come by and were thus strategic metals even though replicating them was possible just nowhere near as efficient as mining and refining was. He hated to think how difficult they would be to find in this new reality, if they existed at all. Certainly finding them wouldn't be easy given that the ship couldn't go anywhere fast and the fastest of the small craft that were packed into their hanger bays was only capable of warp six and even then not for more than a few days meaning its range and endurance was limited.

The reports pointed to one thing they were stuck here drifting in the middle of nowhere unless they allowed the Asgard to tow them to whoever these Tollan were. The only good thing the reports confirmed was that while some of the crew had been injured – some quite seriously – no one had been killed. Which given the violence of their transference into the universe was both a minor miracle and a testament to the engineering skills of the Resolution's builders.

How are we going to do this, Darien thought as he finished scanning the reports and closed down the terminal before leaning back in his chair and letting his eyes rest on a painting of Starfleet Headquarters as seen from the Golden Gate Bridge on the opposite wall. For one of the few times in his career as a Starfleet officer he had absolutely no idea how to proceed as there was nothing in his training about what to do if you and your ship found yourselves teleported into another universe. He had no protocols, no precedents to follow, even the logs from Voyager weren't that much a help as while the Caretaker had dragged the Intrepid-class ship seventy thousand light years from home Captain Janeway and her combined Starfleet/Marquis crew had at least had an obvious – if very long – way of getting back home. He didn't even have that. He and the crew of the Resolution were completely on their own, trapped in a universe and galaxy that – if Thor had been speaking the truth and he was inclined to believe he had been – was dominated by a species that would enslave or destroy them given half the chance. And while the Resolution was a powerful vessel – she was after all designed to be fully capable of going toe-to-toe with and destroying a Jem'Hadar dreadnought – the odds against her and her crew surviving alone for long against a galactic superpower weren't good.

The sound of the door hailer chiming jolted him out of his thoughts. "Come," he called out straightening back up in his chair. The door opened with the normal soft swish allowing Commander Urlet and Lieutenant Commander Beach to enter the room.

"Captain we've completed our review of the data file Commander Thor sent us on the Tollan," Urlet reported with her normal calmness as Darien indicated for the two of them to sit down opposite him.

"And," Darien asked as his two fellow officers sat down.

"I believe their world would be as good a port to put in for repairs as any we are likely to find," Urlet replied. "Maybe even make a permanent base until we can find away of returning to our own universe assuming of course the Tollan would allow us to stick around for such a length of time."

"Interesting tell me more about these Tollan."

"Sir the first thing to note is that the Tollan are humans, apparently taken from Earth thousands of years ago presumably by the Goa'uld Thor mentioned however they apparently threw off the Goa'uld yolk a very long time ago. Technologically they've advanced considerably since then to the point where they're roughly comparable to us in most areas," Beach reported, "the data file indicates they are ahead of us in some areas specifically power generation and faster than light travel as they – and apparently most other species in this universes version of our galaxy – don't use warp drives but something called hyperspace for faster than light spaceflight which from the data file seems to be even at its most basic level comparable to transwarp and slipstream velocities. In others we're ahead of them as the Tollan apparently lack transporter technology and their molecular replication systems are at least five generations behind our own."

"Which is understandable given our own replication systems are only as sophisticated as they are due to our knowledge of transporter technology," Urlet pointed out. Darien nodded knowing that the core elements of transporter and replicator technology were more or less identical as both involved matter-energy conversion principles. "The Tollan systems instead from the data file rely more on nanotechnology than the matter-energy systems we possess."

"What about culture," Darien asked knowing it was important that they be able to get along with the Tollan as they would need all the friends they could get in this universe.

"Culturally the Tollan appear to be peaceful and somewhat isolationist when dealing with species and worlds less advanced than them and appear to possess their own equivalent of the prime directive forbidding the transfer of technology to less advanced civilisations," Urlet answered. "However their rules appear to be slightly harsher than our own as while the Federation Council will consider tech requests on an individual case by case basis the Tollan leadership the Curia have imposed a blanket ban on technology transfer to less advanced worlds.

"From the Asgard file the Curia introduced such a blanket ban after they provided advanced power generation technology to a neighbouring industrial world called Serita," Urlet continued. "Only the Seritans misused the power sources the Tollan gave them turning them into weapons of mass destruction that literally shattered the planet apart. Since the planet was in the same system as the Tollan's original homeworld Tollan Prime the disruption of the systems gravitational forces caused by destruction of Serita also resulted in the Tollan homeworld's death in massive geological upheavals caused by the planet being violently pulled into a new orbit around its parent star."

Darien winced slightly hearing about the tragic deaths of two worlds though also wondering just what power source the Tollan had given the Seritans that could do something like that. He doubted it was something as basic as fusion power as not even the most advanced fusion power sources produced anywhere near the power output or explosive force needed to rip a planet apart if perverted for military use. Potentially blast a civilisation back into the Stone Age and cause an ice age yes but not blow the planet to bits. Something analogous to an antimatter based power source on the other hand did have the potential to cause such wholesale destruction which was one of the main reasons why no Federation world indeed no world in the entire Alpha Quadrant used antimatter reactors planet side as it was just too damned dangerous. Instead most relied on a combination of advanced fusion, geothermal and other renewable sources to supply their energy demands.

"I think I can somewhat understand their stance," he admitted after a few moments of silence. "Do you believe they can help us?"

"Given the level of their technology sir I believe they will be fully capable of assisting us," Urlet replied.

"I agree sir I believe they can help us even if it's just with repairs to the ship," Beach added in support of his superior.

Darien made an 'hmm' noise and leaned back thoughtfully weighing the pros and cons of allowing the Asgard to tow them to these Tollan for repairs and possibly a deeper relationship. There didn't seem to be that much harm in it and who knew they might be able to help and trade with the Tollan as well given they had some technologies the Tollan didn't and vice versa. There was the prime directive to consider but the rules that came with it were a lot looser and a lot more open to an individual captains discretion when dealing with species with an equal or near equal level technology than when they were dealing with civilisations who were a lot less advanced. Though even then there were restrictions mostly relating to weapons and defence technologies.

"Bridge to Captain Parker," Lieutenant Rakan's voice abruptly came over the comm. Darien immediately tapped his comm. badge.

"Yes lieutenant?"

"You better get out here sir long range sensors have picked up three unknown vessels heading our way on intercept course. They appear to be travelling through a very deep subspace layer and are moving at transwarp velocities."

"Time to intercept," Darien asked urgently.

"Five minutes thirty six seconds."

Darien exchanged concerned looks with Urlet and Beach before answering. "We'll be right there," he replied standing up. "Hail the Beliskner and ask the Asgard if they can identify the approaching vessels."

"Aye sir," Rakan acknowledged. Darien tapped his comm. badge again closing the communications link before walking around his desk and heading out the doors onto the bridge with Urlet and Beach a few steps behind him, both immediately moving to their respective stations on the bridge.

"Report," Darien ordered as he sat down in the command chair.

"Sir the Asgard have responded to our hail," Lieutenant Ashton reported from ops. "Supreme Commander Thor is waiting to speak with you."

"Open the channel."

"Aye sir," Ashton acknowledged hands dancing across his console. A moment the holographic screen at the front of the bridge shimmered and changed from showing an image of the Asgard cruiser to a view of Thor sitting on the vessels bridge.

"Supreme Commander Thor it is a pleasure to speak with you again," Darien said to his alien counterpart with a polite nod. "Have you been able to identify the approaching vessels?"

"Captain Parker I to find it agreeable to speak with you again," Thor replied with a polite nod of his own. "To answer your question I have indeed been able to identify the incoming vessels, they are Goa'uld. To be specific the approaching force consists of a single Ha'tak-class mothership and two Alkesh medium range bombers from the make up of the group it is very unlikely that they are on a combat mission."

"A reconnaissance mission," Darien asked.

"That is the most likely reason why they are coming," Thor agreed. "These coordinates are not far from the outer edge of the territory claimed by the System Lord Yu Hang Shang-Ti, a Goa'uld who is renowned for his caution. The sensors that monitor the borders of his domain would certainly have detected first the subspace anomaly and the presence of both of our vessels. That would prompt Yu to dispatch a ship with a small escort to investigate while being sure not to appear to be provocative."

"Still it probably would not be a good idea to be here when the Goa'uld ships arrive," Darien replied not liking the idea of being confronted by the Goa'uld with his ship in her current condition. While they had gotten their shields back they were currently extremely vulnerable as everyone of the Resolution's weapons systems was currently non-functional due to the damage they'd sustained in the transference as restoring the supply of power to the weapons grid had not been a priority for T'Lar's damage control crews. Without weapons and with both main propulsion systems currently disabled they were literally a sitting duck right now.

"No it would not be" Thor agreed knowing from his ships scans of her that the Resolution was currently virtually defenceless and thus would be easy prey for even a small Goa'uld force like the one that was approaching and despite his cautious nature and unusual sense of honour Yu – like all Goa'uld – was not above taking advantage of any opportunities to grab new technology or slaves that came his way. And even a basic scan would reveal that the Resolution was an advanced vessel with potentially very useful new technologies on board not to mention more than a thousand new potential slaves or hosts. Both of which would bolster Yu's own ambitions to succeed the late Ra as Supreme System Lord.

"Though you need not worry about the Goa'uld attempting to take your vessel," Thor hastened to reassure his counterpart. "Should they attempt to attack you I would not hesitate to intervene to stop them."

"That is very kind of you to say Thor but I cannot ask you to risk your ship and crew for mine."

"It would be no risk," Thor replied calmly. "The Beliskner is much more powerful than a Goa'uld mothership even if outnumbered we would have no difficulty in defeating them though I would naturally prefer to avoid an armed confrontation at this time. Therefore I must ask have you considered my offer to tow your ship to new Tollan homeworld Tollana for repairs."

"I have indeed," Darien agreed, "we have also reviewed the files on the Tollan that you kindly transmitted to us. After careful consideration of the matter I've decided to accept your kind offer."

"Excellent. We will move into towing position and engage a tractor beam momentarily in the meantime I would suggest you make whatever preparations you need to for high speed travel. Given the mass of your ship it will take us several minutes to reach Tollana from here."

Darien raised an eyebrow even at transwarp-like speeds several minutes wasn't a huge distance in interstellar terms, barely a few dozen light years. "How far it is to Tollana?" he queried.

"One hundred and thirty two light years," Thor replied promptly. Darien blinked in surprise realising that the Asgard must have highly developed hyperspace technology as crossing that kind of distance so fast was far beyond most known forms of transwarp technology – even the Borg weren't capable of travelling so fast as to cross such a distance in several minutes meant they would be travelling approximately nineteen light years a minute.

"We'll be crossing that distance in just several minutes impressive," Darien said at last and was sure Thor gave a very subtle and alien smile in response.

"Thank you," Thor replied before looking aside and saying something in a high pitched, fast language that the universal translator couldn't pick up presumably giving orders to his crew then turned his attention back to Darien. "We are moving into position now captain we will take you in tow momentarily."

"Understood Thor and once again I would like to thank you for your help," Darien said, "if you weren't here I'm sure events would have gone quite differently for us."

"You are most welcome captain," Thor answered before breaking the communications link from his end. The image of the Asgard ships bridge disappeared and the view of the Beliskner reappeared in the field of coherent force field contained photons. Only now instead of simply sitting their in space the Asgard vessel was under power, moving into a wide arc that would take her over the Resolution as the Asgard manoeuvred their ship into the proper position for a hyperspace tow.

"Ensign Querr set inertial dampeners to maximum and prepare for tow," Urlet ordered from the first officer's station.

"Aye sir," the Katarian helmswoman responded immediately her hands flying across the console making adjustments to the settings of the field that prevented the crew from feeling the tremendous acceleration and deceleration forces that the starship was exposed to on a daily basis forces that without inertial dampening would turn everything organic onboard into multicoloured paste on the bulkheads. Within moments she's made the appropriate adjustments to the field settings and not a moment to soon as a soft shudder ran through the deck.

"The Asgard ship has locked onto us with a tractor beam," Beach reported as his console chirped softly. "Sensors report a large energy spike onboard the Asgard ship, I believe they are powering up their hyperdrives."

"Understood, Lieutenant Rakan please bring all of our sensors and data recorders online. I want to get as much information about hyperspace as possible before, during and after our flight," Darien ordered, "Lieutenant Ashton monitor structural integrity if the flight has any affect on any part of the ships structure let me know immediately."

"Aye sir," came the response from the two officers even as their hands began flying over their consoles to carry out the tasks he had just assigned to them. Beach's console chirped again.

"Sir sensors report a spatial distortion forming several thousand kilometres off our starboard bow," he reported.

"Show me," Darien ordered immediately. Instantly the view screen shimmered and changed pulling in an image of what looked for all the world like a large purple cloud in space. For a moment nothing happened then it seemed to pulse and three blurs shot out, one large and two small. In seconds they resolved into the three Goa'uld ships they'd been tracking.

Darien blinked in surprise when he saw them. Species in this galaxy have a really weird sense of design, he thought as the design of the three ships was bizarre to his eyes at least. The central ship – a Ha'tak-class mothership Thor had called it – resembled nothing so much as a giant Egyptian-style pyramid identical to the ones that to this day stood on Egypt's Giza Plateau but larger and made out of a gold coloured metal as opposed to stone. Surrounding it was a vaguely hexagonal structure of dark metal. As with a Borg vessel there were no visible engines.

The two smaller vessels continued the tetrahedral design theme, though the pyramid was more squashed and bulbous and blended into a triangular hull. Cockpits were visible at the front of each vessel and a dual cannon turret was visible on the underside in comparison to the mothership which didn't appear to have visible turrets though Darien wouldn't be surprised if they were present as many ships back home didn't generally have visible turrets despite having enough firepower to reduce a planet to a burned out cinder in relatively short order. In another departure from the bigger ship they were escorting the two smaller vessels – Alkesh as Thor had called them – had large visible thrusters on their aft surfaces that glowed with a soft blue light.

"Sir we're being scanned," Beach reported. "Or rather the Goa'uld are attempting to scan us, the navigational shields and reactive armour are partially refracting their scans. There sensors appear to be considerably less advanced than ours they're comparable in capability to those used on the first generation Constitution-class starships."

"That's old," Urlet commented.

"But still relatively effective if absurdly low resolution and short range compared to modern sensors," Darien reminded her a moment before the ops station bleeped.

"Message from the Asgard sir," Ashton reported. "Thor wants to know if we're ready for tow."

"Advise Thor that we are," Darien replied.

"Aye sir."

"Sir," Beach called out as his console chirped an urgent warning. "I'm reading a power build up on the Goa'uld ships, I believe they're powering up their weapons. Picking up targeting scanners they're attempting to lock onto us."

"Jam them," Darien ordered.

"Aye sir," Beach acknowledged hands dancing across his console as he accessed the ships ECM suite and set it to work on jamming the Goa'uld's targeting sensors. A smirk appeared on his face as the Goa'uld weapons systems lost their attempted targeting lock, ECM technology had advanced considerably in the decades since the end of the Dominion War enough that the Goa'uld attempts at weapons locks were child's play for the system in comparison to blocking the more sophisticated targeting sensors of races like the Klingons, systems that were designed with countering ECM in mind.

The sensors chirped. "Sir sensors are reading a spatial distortion almost identical to the one that preceded the Goa'uld arrival forming directly ahead," Lieutenant Rakan reported.

"I see it," Darien confirmed as a brilliant aquamarine cloud appeared in space directly ahead of them. The effect was almost the same as that of the Goa'uld but the colour was different and the cloud was more compact and – if it was at all possible for such a thing – appeared almost more elegant, more refined than the anomaly created by the Goa'uld ships. It was beautiful to look at in a strange almost hypnotic fashion.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen then with a startling suddenness and with a force that the inertial dampeners weren't completely able to counteract the ship surged forward and a brilliant flash of light momentarily filled the holographic field. Automatic filters cut in instantly dimming the light to prevent the crew getting badly dazzled or worse, but they need not have bothered as the light cleared near instantly to be replaced by a blue-white tunnel or conduit that seemed to stretch into infinity.

They were on there way to the Tollan homeworld.

Authors Note: Sorry about the delay with this people but writers block and plot bunny attacks can sometimes be a right pain. I know that not much happened in this chapter but it was meant to be filler to before they get to Tollana and things hopefully start to get a bit more interesting.