Fandom When Stars Collide II (Star Wars/Star Trek crossover)

[Steel Accord]

Senotho arose from the bed, this wasn’t the kind of thing you told someone lying down on a hospital bed. Torah helped him to stand but Senotho waved him away, his strength had returned to him.

“It was through the Force. What the Force is can’t be boiled down so simply in a few words. Life creates it and it is created by life. It is time and destiny. It is the power by which all we see and what we don’t see is possible. Through it, a Jedi mind trick is a trivial display.”

 

[NiceKid]

The captain offered a frustrated sigh. He was starting to get angry with the lack of cooperation he was having from Senotho, who claimed it would help them.

"Doctor Evan!", the captain called out, and a man quickly came towards the captain.
"This man escaped the brig in a very curious way. Figure out how, is that clear?", the captain then ordered. HIs voice carried some frustration as well.
"Aye captain", that was the reply. Evan wasn't even sure what the captain was talking about. Probably he would have to ask for the security footage, and ask Senotho about it.

The captain then turned around to leave. He was a very busy man, and could not afford to loose time in that kind of conversation.

 

[Steel Accord]

Immanuel shook his head.
"Even when I try to help, he refuses to listen."

"To be fair General, informal policy for us when it came to the Force was just to nod and follow orders." Senotho turned to his friend. "Even when we fought alongside the Jedi, we didn't really bother with the specifics of how you did what you did." Senotho was annoyed but he did understand the skepticism.

"This is partly why Jedi are trained at . . . such a young age." An idea bloomed in his mind.

"If you want Master, I can give the Captain a detailed recounting of Jedi Master Uzeema's Flow: the Force in action," said Torah. The Jedi shook his head.

"No, that will be fine. However, you can do something else for me. Both of you can." Grid put himself at parade rest, ready to receive his orders.

"Of course Master Senotho. What can we do for you?" Torah asked.

"While I'm here answering the doctor's questions to the best of my ability, I want you to check on Maul," Senotho said nodding his head at Grid with his hands folded in front of him.

"What am I checking him for?"

"For one, to see if he's conscious. Secondly to see if he's secure. Thirdly, I want you to asses him. His mental state. Maybe try and commiserate with him about being on this side of the Bridge."

"I'm under armed watch. They may not let me through to speak with him."

"Then simply report to me what you see."

"Yes General," Grid left the medical center.

"Torah? I want you to find the young Patel and ask him to pay me a visit." The droid bowed to the Jedi and he left. Immanuel Senotho meditated briefly in preparation both for his (hopefully less harsh) interrogation by Star Fleet's personnel and to meet the young man more properly this time.

After some time passed Torah returned but said that the boy was upset. Senotho nodded. He didn't blame the boy.

"Sir?" The two of them looked to see the young man, this time out of the Star Fleet uniform. Immanuel approached the young man.

"Reginald was it?"

"I'm sometimes called Reggie."

"Reginald is a fine name though. I'm Jedi Master Immanuel Senotho. I thought I might speak to you. Apologize for earlier." Reginald looked at his feet.

"What's to apologize for? I'm the one who broke protocol."

"You were, but only because I asked you to."

"I could have said no."

"You could have, yet you didn't really want to. Do you know why, I think that is?" Senotho got down on one knee to be at better level to look Patel in the eye. "I think it's because you sensed my friends and I weren't really dangerous. You knew that we didn't need to be in a cage and that we weren't going to hurt your crew-mates." Patel conceded. He did know that. He didn't know how he knew it but he didn't even think to question how he instinctively trusted this green, silver-haired man. "In all honesty I tricked you. If their is fault it is mine, not yours. Which is why I wanted to apologize for putting you in this situation. I'm sorry." Patel nodded.

"Lieutenant Commander Malakhov still took me off-duty."

"I'll talk to him. And if he still holds you responsible for something I asked you to do, then that lies on me and him, not you. In the meantime though." He put a hand on the young lad's shoulder. "I think there are some things I could teach you. If you'd be willing to learn." Reginald straightened up.

"A Star Fleet officer is always ready to learn."

"Maybe he can teach his captain that," Senotho thought. He patted the boy on his arm.

"Good man." Senotho rose to his feet. "Remember this. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. This is the code of the Jedi Order. My order. My code. Tell me Reginald Patel. What do you think this code means?"

"It sounds like a command to ignore base instinct." Senotho nodded.

"Partly true, but think not on the big words but rather the little ones in between. 'There is no chaos, there is harmony.'"

"That emotion, ignorance, and all those things, don't exist?"

"Don't exist or . . . ?"

". . . Don't matter?" Senotho smiled warmly.

"Truly wonderful the mind of a child is."

"Jedi Master Yoda," Torah said.

"Thank you Torah, I know who I'm quoting."

"Of course Master." The droid's tone left no mystery as whether he was intentionally trying to get a rise out of his friend or not.

"Master Senotho?" Patel raised his hand. Immanuel pointed and nodded, giving him leave to ask his question.

"If all of those things don't matter. What does?"

"What's the Code?"

"There is no emotion, there is peace."

"What else?"

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is . . ."

"Serenity."

"Yes! Serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony."

"Exactly. And what do those things have in common?"

"They're all about peace and scholarship?"

"Yes, but what's the last verse?"

"There is no death," Patel started.

"There is the Force," Senotho finished.

"But what exactly is the Force, Master?"

"What is the Code?"

"There is no ignorance, there is . . ." his eyes lit up as he put the pieces clicked together in his mind. "Ohhhh!" Senotho smiled and nodded his head. Lesson taught. Lesson learned. "That's so cool! I want to learn more."

"I can teach you more. But that's enough for right now."

"Aww," Patel said as he hung his head.

"Now, now. Trust me, I've already taught you much. For now, I'd like you to meditate on the Jedi Code. Do you know how?" Patel nodded.

"My mother taught me meditation. My father didn't really like it though."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Nevertheless you have that skill. Now I'd like you to find somewhere quiet and meditate on the Jedi Code. Repeat it again and again until it becomes natural. Then return to me when you have some time and I'll give you another lesson."

"Okay!" Patel ran from the room, more excited than when he entered. Senotho was less excited than Patel, but far more happy.

"Master Qui-gon Jin advised mindfulness of the future should not come at the expense of the moment," Torah said. Immanuel turned to his droid companion.

"And you're citing this particular wisdom because?"

"Teaching a Star Fleet officer the Jedi Code might not be the best course of action for his sake."

"And why would you say that Torah? Grid I can understand as he and I have been under . . . intense scrutiny to put it lightly but you've been more or less free to wander."

"Much as I was in the Jedi Archives. For more than a century I walked in the mixed company of many. Anticipating exactly what information someone might need required the programing of quickly assessing their goals and ideals."

"Torah did you access their computers?" The droid deployed a scomp jack from his arm and looked at it.

"I had considered it but the very likely possibility that they'd considered that an intrusion lead me to reconsider. Aside, I learned plenty from passive observation."

"And what did you learn?"

"That Padawan Patel would be learning in an environment far from nurturing and constructive to what is being taught to him." Senotho shot Torah a sideways look.

"I never said anything about making him my padawan."

"You did not," Torah stated. Then let the pause hang heavy in the air. Immanuel looked into Torah's lens eyes and inscrutably unchanging face. Given how eager to assist Torah was, it was often easy for Senotho to forget that Torah was far older than some Jedi Masters and if wisdom was measured by age, only Master Yoda beat him in that category. Humbled. Senotho resolved to meditate on his actions and plans.

 

[NiceKid]

It didn't take not even a minute after Senotho began to meditate, and he was interrupted, yet again, but this time, by the doctor. He was reading the security cameras, and speculating how to find out. He decided to prepare for a full medical scan.

"We are just about ready..", the doctor said, motioning for Senotho to go to a specific direction, and just giving a glance at Ensign Patel. That direction, there were a bed, well, a different one. The entire bed was a medical scanner, much more accurate and nice than these medical tricorders. They were hoping to do a complete brain scan, a complete body scan, and try to find anything that could explain what happened with Ensign Patel.

"Don't worry. It is completely painless, and won't take too much time", the doctor explained.

"Ensign... You go on that one", the doctor then motioned to another identical bed. There were only three of these in the infirmary. Evan wanted to make sure Ensign Patel was not contaminated chemically or by a virus, or anything. Besides, both scans could be useful.

 

[Steel Accord]

This time Patel looked to the Jedi. He of course knew that the medical scanners were harmless but he didn’t want Senotho to be mad at him. Senotho gave him a minuscule nod as he himself laid down on the bed.

 

[NiceKid]

Sure, they were harmless.. but.. maybe not so much.. because.. as soon as Senotho lied himself down, the doctor pressed some buttons, and a force field was activated.

"Try not to move..", the doctor said. Ironic.. the force field was preventing Senotho from getting up from the bed anyway. The same thing with Patel, in his own separate bed. The doctor than began to do a full brain scan, and body scan, searching for anything out of the ordinary.

 

[Steel Accord]

The field reminded him of a ray shield in some ways. Often used to capture or hold people. Which at this point didn't even phase Senotho. Since near the beginning of his relationship with Captain O'Neil he had been a prisoner. Why stop now? Nevertheless, for the purposes of cooperating and trying to build trust, he submitted himself to being tested.

The scans would find no evidence of chemical alteration to Patel's brain, nor any comparable brain pattern in Senotho's head to any psychic species Star Fleet had on record.

 

[NiceKid]

That force field was normal medical procedures. Even Ensign Patel was 'imprisoned' by one of these force fields. It prevented movement: something very good when one is doing highly sensitive medical scanning. And so the machines did what they were designed to: collecting a huge amount of medical data: enough to make a holographic image of everything inside. And quickly enough, the computer were quick to notice something about their guest: there were no match to known species. Senotho was a new life form. Maybe to collect more data? What a wonderful idea!

While Ensign Patel finished in two minutes, Senotho's scans continued for the next 10 to 15minutes, until the doctor finally deactivated the force field, ending the scans.
"We're all set", he told Senotho, indicating that he could get up, if he wanted to. The doctor, polite as usual, would go to immerse himself into the new data, only after he made sure Senotho was comfortable.

 

[Steel Accord]

Meanwhile . . .

Grid made his way to the detention center. He tried to limit contact with anyone. When he came to the detention center, it wasn't under guard but the door was locked. He tried using the badge given to him by Captain O'Neil by it denied him access. He punched the console in frustration, though not a full on wail, just an expression of exasperation. Grid looked at the apparently useless gift of the pin in his hand and, seeing no other option, pressed it with his thumb.

"Computer?" The computer does beep, indicating its readiness to receive commands. "Why isn't the door to the detention center opening?"

"Access to detention four has been restricted, and can only be accessed with security clearance 8 or greater"

"Can access be temporarily granted?"

"Negative. Detention four can only be accessed with security clearance 8 or greater"

"And who has security clearance 8 or greater?"

"Captain O'Neill, Commander Ewald Heiner, Lieutenant Commander Gurway. D. Malakhov, Lieutenant Adrian Taghug, Lieutenant ...." Grid grits his teeth. Of course it had to be Malakhov. Still there were others. He interrupted the Computer.

"Where is the Captain now?"

"Captain O'Neill is in the main bridge"

"At least I can talk to him." Grid made his way to the turbolift. "Leave it to Star Fleet to put a damn clanker in charge of their ships. My brothers must be looking on shaking their heads at me."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Back in the medical wing, Senotho was rising from his place of rest.

"Thank you for attending to me Doctor. You have exquisite bedside manner," the Jedi said. He would follow the doctor researching his new data. "I could maybe provide some insight if you need it. It is my biometrics you're looking at."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After a humiliating stint of asking Malakhov to give him leave to speak to the prisoner, where Grid swore he saw the man smirk as he presented himself with all the bearing a soldier owed a superior, he at last had access. Captain O'Neil was at least somewhat sympathetic to Grid and tried to speed the process along. This part was familiar to Grid as he had dealt with his fair share of procedure upon procedure. At last he was escorted in with some other officer and Grid entered the cell area. There he was, the Sith Lord Darth Maul, in being if no longer in title. He paced across his cell like an agitated predator.

"Ah, Senotho's lackey come at the behest of his leader. Your master continues to show his true colors. Shadows and soldiers do his work while the one time he does face me, I crush him. And here you are afterwards. Still licking his wounds?"

"He's just as much a prisoner as you are Maul. Speaking of which though, where's your lackey?"

"The groveling wretch is in a separate cell as far as I know. Good for him too as I'm certain I would have choked the life from him already if he was in here with me."

"At least they know to keep the cowards filed away from the lunatics."

"They. Implying an other, a difference, a divergence. You don't trust Star Fleet."

"No."

"Yet you stand before my cell rather than in your own. Your master has allied you with those you don't trust. A good soldier would call that fraternizing with the enemy."

"You, are the enemy Maul. An entirely new Galaxy and you've already racked up a body count. The first of which were civilians."

"Civilians yes, and then those 'peacekeepers' that were less formidable than the undisciplined scum of the Hutts. Look around Commander. There is no place for soldiers in the Federation."

"Is this the part where you try to turn me?"

"Consider it more, a reminder. A reminder of exactly what we've both found ourselves in, a whole Galaxy with no place for us, aside from that which we build."

"You're not building anything from in here."

"No . . . no I'm not." Maul smirked and turned away. Grid exited soon after to return to the medical wing.

 

[NiceKid]

Maul was wrong. Soldiers are employed by the Federation. The Dominion wars, and the latest Borg attacks, was a constant reminder that not everyone shared the peaceful goals of the Federation. A few admirals and the president decided it was the time to begin a more militarized fleet, and to supervise the formation and increase of ground troops, especially given the rise in influence of the Romulan Star Empire. Economics was also different, thanks to the radical economic reforms implemented by the Ferengi Alliance in the end of the Dominion wars. Everyone was trynig to adapt in the new political and economical landscape, left when the Dominion was defeated. That was also part of the reason Prime Minister Jaro was trying to make reforms at Kareba: Given the shift in economic and political power happening throughout the quadrant, he wanted to seize the opportunity and give Kareba its rightful place in the sector, because, afterwards, after everyone had adapted to the changes, it would be too late.

Speaking of which, the Ferengi cruisers arrived. Their plan was to carry an inspection team to verify the ruins. Minister Jaro wanted to integrate the ruins into the Romulan and Ferengi stock markets, something the Federation was trying to avoid, or, at the very least, to also participate into the share of new scientific findings that were happening down there, at Kareba.

The captain began hailing frequencies at the Ferengi Cruiser. He wanted to have a talk.

------------------------

"Sure. I'll call for you if I need anything", the doctor said, and then began to read the data. Also, the doctor gave a padd with a copy of the data to Senotho. The data had.. nearly everything: Blood pressure, chemical constituents, protein information, cellular level information, DNA information, and more.. There were even stuff such as the ratio between isotopic hydrogen and normal hydrogen present in the molecules. Needless to say, not a shortage of information. That was why, the report on the padd easily filled 200 pages -- and that was after computer analysis, the one that the computer felt there were discrepancies and needed human attention. Because, the full report had much more than 2000 pages.

"I'll admit, it would be much easier if I knew what I was looking for. How did you do the.. thing with Ensign Patel?", he politely asked Senotho. Maybe Senotho would be truthful, and speak the truth. What did the doctor had to loose? Besides, the doctor was a very trusting person. He had no problems in trusting someone, or, giving someone a chance.

 

[Steel Accord]

Senotho read over the results. It was humbling to remind one’s self that he could be broken down into these quantifiable elements. That he was, as Master Yoda put it, crude matter. He tried to assist the doctor, comparing the dataslate in his hand with that on the Doctor's console.

"The Force doctor. That's how. You won't find it in my blood but my blood can point to something that might be a bit more helpful in corroborating my statement." Senotho's hand waved a bit through his biological data readouts on his screen until he found what he was looking for. "There Doctor. Those are what my order's own physicians and researchers named, the midi-chlorians. They exist in all life . . . . as . . . far as we knew. Some Jedi believed they were our direct link to the Force, a naturalistic expression of something transcendent of nature. Others said they, in essence, were the Force itself as the Force creates life and is created in turn by life. Whatever school of thought though, it was found there was a correlation between high midi-chlorian counts and the potential to be sensitive to the Force." He pointed to the screen. "See my count is around seven hundred and forty. Which is actually on the low side of average." He shrugged. "So there were skills that didn't come as quickly to me as some of my peers but I exceeded where I did because I pursued them just as hard if not harder than them. So while one's midi-chlorian count is a more or less hard measure of one's potential to be sensitive to the Force, it doesn't mean some have it and others don't. At least . . . that was the thinking. From what I've seen, the Force appears to be a completely unknown phenomenon to you and your crew. Which leads me to believe that maybe those of the Living Force school of thought may have been right all along, that the midi-chlorians in my, and by extension Maul's, blood are what keep us in communion with a power that grants us gifts. Gifts such as the Jedi Mind trick I used on the young Patel."