Unstoppable Forces - Part Two

Posted on Sat Oct 5th, 2024 @ 4:15pm by Captain Nycolas Temple & Unknown
Edited on on Sat Oct 5th, 2024 @ 4:19pm

Mission: The Only Thing Left Was Hope
Location: Unknown
Timeline: After Part One

ON:

Nyx had been working on the door for some time now. Inch by inch it was slowly being pushed up out of position. If he let go, it would fall back shut again. The voice of his kidnapper had remained silent but was no doubt watching Nyx work. He was aware of that whatever ship he was in had slowed down considerably now - probably warp three or four. They were no longer in a hurry to get somewhere.

Feeling the door starting to give more freely, Nyx summoned what strength he could and with one hard push, palms laid flat on the surface, he heaved the door upwards. It rolled back up into the roof with a satisfying movement, and Nyx gave a little smirk. In front of him now was the darkened cabin of the transport shuttle; there were no lights on apart from the dim flickering of a few console panels on the wall. Just enough to give a vague outline. The cabin had a slightly rounded frame and was - as he previously guessed - about 6 meters long, but he couldn't tell for sure as the end of the corridor was pitch black.

Reaching out a hand tentatively forwards, his hand made contact with a security shield. His fingertips rebounded back at the touch of the field.

"Now what?" Came the voice.

Nyx looked ahead of him into the darkness, knowing the voice no longer came from the speaker in his cell - but it was in the room with him.

"Give me time and I'll find a way to bring down the shield." Nyx replied simply. His arms ached from lifting the door, but he wasn't about to slow down or show that strain now. "Everything has a weakness; I just have to find it."

The lights in the corridor flickered on and Nyx could see the man in front of him now. Black suit, black helmet. A weapon by his side. Nyx looked him up and down with quiet disdain.

"What's your weakness?" The man asked.

"Lactose." Nyx snarked as he began looking around for the shield's origins. He theorized that a craft this small would need to have an internal generator, there had to be a power source somewhere hidden in the compartment.

"I'm going to let you out, Captain Temple." The man claimed, "I always intended to. I just wanted to chat first. Your weakness is your impatience."

"Lies." Nyx growled, "Then why wait for me to lift up the door?"

"Because a destination is only worth the journey you take to get there." He said.

Nyx gave a haughty laugh, "Ugh 'the destination is only worth the journey'... Give me a break. You know what mate, if this whole mystery man job you're doing doesn't work out, you've got a stellar career ahead of you writing terrible motivational quotes. What a load of bull - "

"It's your own saying, Temple." The voice interrupted. "I thought you'd recognize it."

"Well I'm sure I said it better than that." Nyx replied, as he returned to his search. "So, you've got until I find the shield's weakness to talk to me. You better have something better than that to say."

"I do." The man said. "The Pandora is hidden in a bubble universe. I intercepted her enroute from Luna shipyards to Mars and, originally, I had hidden her on the opposing side of Sol's sun, to ensure she was always on the opposite side of Earth's orbit and away from standard travel routes."

Nyx stopped and looked back at the man in black. "Originally?" He pinpointed that one word the man had deliberately chosen.

"I used a beacon to open the bubble like a doorway, and it ensured the Pandora was secured with the access code only I could enter." The man continued. "Should something happen to me, the doorway opens and the Pandora returns."

"Yes, I know." Nyx sighed loudly, "What do you mean that's where the Pandora was 'originally'?"

"The beacon was the doorway, but now the beacon is gone." The man answered.

"Gone?!" Nyx cried.

"Gone." Was the calm replied.

Nyx was floored. He placed his hand firmly to his forehead as he lowered himself down onto the ground.

"If I'm hearing this right," He began slowly, "I left the Pandora to be repaired at Luna shipyards. Starfleet decided to take her to Mars for further testing in secret, then you decided to take the Pandora from Starfleet and hid her in a bubble universe, and now someone else has taken the bubble from you?"

The man shook his head, "Not quite. The bubble is stable, it exists outside of our perception of reality in a gap between dimensions. It was never in a location you could reach by travel alone. The beacon was the only way to open up the bubble and retrieve the Pandora and now the beacon is gone."

"You didn't put in security measures for your beacon?" Nyx was incredulous, "Even navigation beacons have some kind of anti-theft tech. A location device?"

"Of course there was." The man said plainly, "Before I came to see you and your crew, the beacon reported a subspace disturbance. A singularity event. Then, the beacon was gone, and its location tracking was severed."

There was something vaguely familiar about that, Nyx felt right away.

"What kind of subspace disturbance?" He asked cautiously.

"Like the kind your shuttle encountered enroute to Risa." The man replied. "It appeared to be a ship, but then it wasn't. The data was inconclusive except for that it appeared out of nowhere, travelled at sub-light speed, and disappeared without a trace. Whatever it was, it has taken the beacon with it."

Nyx could feel the dread filling his stomach as the news sunk in. "So, the Pandora is still very much missing?"

"Indeed." The man replied. "I needed your crew to find it."

"But they're looking for the Pandora, not a beacon!" Nyx cried out in frustration.

"If they search for the Pandora, they will find the beacon." He answered, "We just have to hope that the beacon is somewhere... spacious."

More dread from Nyx. "Do I dare ask why?"

"Because if they find the beacon and activate it, the Pandora will return." The man said in a heavy tone, "All at once."

"And an entire starship is going to pop back into this universe." Nyx caught on, feeling a headache forming, "Surely I need to warn them before that happens?"

"You will." The man said, "But you have another mission first. The subspace disturbance. I believe whoever is behind it has intentionally interfered with you finding the Pandora. My role was to keep her safe away from danger until the crew could be reunited again and reclaim the ship. Someone or something is preventing that from happening. Your crew's job is to find the Pandora, but your role is to ensure that they can without further interference."

Nyx raised himself back up to his feet to look at the man. "Why can't you do it? I should be helping my crew instead."

"Because this is where I leave you, Captain Temple." The man replied calmly, "I have played my part, my journey here has almost come to an end. I was to safeguard the Pandora and remind you of your purpose. This new development has created a new path that must be followed before you all reach your destination, and I was here to show you it. But now, you must find the source of the subspace disturbance and prevent them from stopping the Pandora from being found."

"Again, my crew and I could do that together." Nyx huffed, still protesting his kidnapping and separation from the others.

"You need to move in the shadows to do that, Captain." The man said as he indicated down to the ground in front of Nyx.

A light illuminated the area, and Nyx saw a neatly folded black uniform, helmet, and some kind of wrist device sitting before him. Nyx looked to the clothes then back up to the man and knew immediately what he intended.

"Only you have the training to move as I do. To become a Protector." The man continued, "You must be an unstoppable force by yourself. You will use my ship and my technology to move in secret, find the source of the disturbances, and ensure your crew are able to freely find the beacon without interrupting their mission. You must do so in secret, as I have done, or you will risk their lives and yours, and you will fail. But, if successful, you will find the Pandora and retrieve her back in a safe space."

"A Protector?" Nyx winced at the name; but he was intrigued, nonetheless. "But... How do I know where to start looking? Who am I looking for? Surely you know something."

"I can only show you the destination, Captain." The man replied unhelpfully. "I cannot help you on the journey."

Nyx frowned and he shook his head, "What if I refuse?"

"Then you will lose the Pandora and your crew's mission will fail." He replied. "Is that what you want? Is that what you've fought so hard to let happen now?"

"No." Nyx answered sullenly, as he looked back to the black uniform in front of him. He knew the Protector was right - he hadn't started this journey just to give up now. And he genuinely did believe there was something special about the Pandora - enough to warrant its continued presence in service of the Federation. Nyx also knew that this crew was something special - a collection of people with so many differences and yet united by their time together on the Pandora that they had become a family. A family who would fight tooth and nail for each other if need be. He had to ensure they succeeded in their mission and was safe from this unseen entity.

"I will protect the Pandora and my crew." Nyx declared. He looked seriously to the man, his gaze boring through that helmet. "But know that after we have done this, there are no more games, no more string pulling. We will be free of this role you have forced upon us."

The man raised his hand to his other wrist and nodded slightly, "You will. Good luck, Protector."

There was a bright orange light surrounding the man and he seemingly beamed away. Where to, Nyx had no idea. As soon as he was gone, the shield holding him into the cell switched off and the shuttle hummed back into full power. Immediately, Nyx started walking towards the opposite side of the cabin, which he knew would contain the cockpit. But he stopped after a few steps and turned back again towards where he had been.

Reaching down, Nyx slowly picked up the black uniform and held it up to his eye level. His face pulled into a determined stare.

"For the Pandora." He said emphatically.

OFF